Her eyes opened but everything was blurry. She stared at the dark turquoise ceiling for a few seconds, trying to process where she was.

Tears. That's why everything was so blurry.

She sat on the bed and wiped the tears off her face. It took her a bit but once she recognized the simple white sheets and minimalist blue and white furniture it helped her realize she was in her bedroom. Or, well, the room her father got set up when she moved in, what she remembered to be about three months ago.

Three months ago? No, that was impossible. She spent months away, right? She looked around trying to find something to check the date and found her phone right next to her. It had been so long since she had access to advanced technology she had almost forgotten how to use a smartphone. It took her a minute to get to the calendar app. February 17th, supposedly, barely 8 since the last time she remembered being in that room. Was it all a dream then? No, it couldn't be.

It wasn't the first time it happened. The first time she managed to convince herself that everything was just a weirdly realistic dream she had, product of her RPG marathons, and that places like Alefgard were just in her head. But a second time? No dream is so long and coherent, right? And if it was a dream, how come she remembered so many details?

— Miss Hela? — A voice bursted her thought bubble from the other side of the door. It was the voice of a woman, one who sounded kind and soft.—Your father would like you to join him for breakfast
— Bessie?
— Yes? — She replied, waiting for an order.

Bessie was a kind soul. She was hired as a maid right before Hela arrived at that house. She was petite, barely 5 foot tall and a bit chubby, with fair skin,  ashy brown hair, and a warm and friendly smile. In a house so big and cold, she was like a beacon of light.

— Is everything alright? — Asked Bessie after not receiving a response from Hela.
— Yes, sorry… Tell my father I'll be there in a minute. Thank you, Bessie.

She heard the steps get further from her room as she got out of bed and she looked in the mirror. She didn't look any different, same blond hair, same blue eyes. There were no scars from the endless battles and building accidents she remembered having or any kind of evidence that her memories were anything more than a dream. She scanned the room looking for her hair brush and picked it from the bedside table. Instinctively she tried to tie her hair into two ponytails, then realized she didn't have any ribbons or hair ties at hand. Maybe it was for the better. Her father didn't like "extravagant" hairstyles.

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Hela walked quietly down the stairs. She could hear music from the dinning room, classical music. Her father was indeed waiting for her. It wasn't something usual. Her father would generally be out on a business trip or leave early in the morning to go to work, to later arrive late at night, so she barely saw him ever.

She peeked out from behind the door frame and saw him. Dirty blond hair and blue eyes, he seemed to be reading something on his phone as he took sips from his coffee. She walked in, trying not to make a sound that could interrupt his reading. Maybe he wouldn't notice her and she would be able to make it out without a conversation.

— Took you long enough — She very much did not succeed.
— Sorry, I'm having a...bad hair day?
— It's alright. I just wish you would hurry so that we could spend these rare moments of my free time together. — And now she felt guilty.

It's not that she didn't like her father. She didn't really know how to feel about him, really. Her parents broke up right before her mother found out she was pregnant with her, and she never told her father, so growing up she never had her father by her side. It wasn't until her mother passed away that she actually met him.

His father was a busy man. Not rich, but certainly in a good economical position, good enough to have a somewhat big house for just him, his daughter and a few maids. He was married to his work and barely spent any time at home. No hobbies or likes that she knew of aside from listening to classical music and good coffee, nothing she could say they shared, she was more of a tea person really. Still he would try to spend any spare moment he had with her. Which she appreciated, ofcourse, but also would lead to awkward conversations that made her uncomfortable.

— Everything alright at school? — He asked, leaving the coffee on the table.
— Uh...yes, everything's well
— What about your marks in geography? — He did catch her there. Geography was never a strong point for her.
— I'm... working on it.
— I really hope you are. You need good grades this year if you want to get to a good university.
— I know, I know… I'm getting better marks this time, I promise.
— Good… I asked Bessie to make you some tea. You don't usually have anything else for breakfast so I assumed it wouldn't be different today.
— It isn't… What type of tea?
— Black, I'll help you study. I've heard it helps with concentration.
— Oh… thanks.
— You're welcome. — He went back to his reading for a few seconds. — Oh, by the way. I took a day off today. Maybe we could...spend some time together? We can do whatever you like. Shopping? You teenagers like shopping, right?
— Yeah, shopping sounds… nice.
— Great

An uncomfortable but slightly less uncomfortable than usual silence filled the room. Yeah, she did avoid spending time with her dad, bit goin shopping didn't sound that bad, right? Plus maybe trying to avoid him earlier after spending months away wasn't the best idea on second thought. Her dad had time to spend time with her for once, shouldn't she try to bond with him for once?

The silence remained  until Bessie entered the room with a cup of black tea. She left it on the table and turned to look at Hela's father.
— Mister Eide… I'm sorry to interrupt your morning coffee but you have a call from work.
— Again? — He sighed — They really can't leave me a day of peace, can they? — He took a last sip of his coffee and put his phone in his pocket. — I'll be taking my leave then… Goodbye Hela. We'll do that shopping day next time ok? I promise.
— It's alright. Goodbye dad…

And back to things usually were. Not that she could blame him, it's not his fault, if anything it was hers. She shouldn't have gotten her hopes up in the first place. She finished her tea and Bessie went to get the white porcelain cup and take it to the kitchen, but stopped in the door frame.

— I'm sorry your father had to leave again.
— It's alright Bessie, he has work to do, I understand it's not his fault.
— If you'd still like to go shopping after class, I could take you there instead.— Shopping was the last thing Hela was thinking about, but the offer succeeded to put a smile on her face
— Thank you Bessie. I would love that.

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She left home early, worried that she wouldn't remember her way to highschool. The streets felt confusedly nostalgic. She was sure she spent months away but somehow it was still the same month and year it was before she awoke in a prisoner ship and a skeleton started ordering her around. Captain whitebones… It was sad to admit it, but the skeleton that was supposed to kidnap and kill her at first had been a better father figure than his dad. Well, not necessarily better, just… more present.

She looked at the shop windows along the way, not really paying a lot of attention to the products, but rather trying to see if she still remembered the order of the shops. The little boutique that the lady who moved next door recently opened, the caffe, the Japanese snacks shop she always says she's going to visit sooner or later because she wants to take a look, but never does… There's a poster taped to the glass from inside, "new kelp flavored chips". Kelp flavored?

Before she even realized, she's inside the store, in front of a shelf of different flavors of chips and other snacks. Oh well, she's there already, might as well check the price- 5$ for a bag of chips?! That's obscene! Who the hell would pay that for a bag of chips?!

She would.

She was paying 5$ for a bag of chips, in fact. With a 10$ bill because she wasn't carrying any smaller bills, which made this decision even more regrettable.

She walked out the shop and headed to class again, this time with a bag of chips she had paid 5$ for and didn't even know why. She opened the bag. They looked like normal chips, except that they had tiny bits of green. Understandable since they were kelp flavored. At least the bag was almost full and not one part chips two parts air.

She arrived at the high school early and stood at the entrance. She didn't think going back to class after winning a war was going to be difficult, not that she had thought about it for more than a few seconds, but now that she was there…

For some reason the metallic gates made her feel small. It felt like going back to Moonbrooke and facing Atlas, but this time all by herself. She still had more than half an hour until classes started, she didn't have to enter right away, right? There was still time.

She decided to walk around the outside of the school walls while time passed and spotted a wooden bench nearby. There was nobody around and the place seemed quiet thanks to the early hours and low traffic. She sat carefully, avoiding a piece of gum that was stuck to the other side of the bench and looked at the bag of chips she still had in her hand. It was open but she hadn't even tried them. Why did she even buy kelp flavored chips anyways? It was a weird choice for a chip flavor.

She took one and put it in her mouth, thinking it'd probably taste weird. Not bad, nothing can taste bad after Lulu's welcome back cake, just weird. However It did not, and now it made sense why she had bought those chips. Maybe she did this subconsciously, not realizing she was buying, but the kelp flavor brought a rush of memories. If she closed her eyes she was back at the beach, in the Isle of awakening, trying to make a decent bed out of dry grass while Lulu and Malroth argue about literally anything. The day the sea currents  dragged her into that isle was one she would never be able to forget, no matter how much time could pass.

But she was there now. Yesterday she was upgrading the bar for Babs and her father and today she was eating chips alone in an uncomfortable uniform, waiting for class to start. She went to sleep there and woke up here, but how? Trying to remember any dream she had, all she could remember was a vague memory of a femenine voice, unable to tell what the voice was saying… Again.

The first time when she ended up in Alefgard was the exact same thing. Went to sleep in one world, waking up in the other, with no opportunity to say goodbye to the friends she made along the way or thank them for everything. She came back to her "real" life, one that was not so colorful, and had to deal with everything she left here. That's when she had to move with her father and change schools, house, routine… Being completely honest she wasn't happy about being back to this life, to this world. But it's not like she knew how to go back, so there was nothing she could-

— Look who's here! The little princess! We were starting to think you got sick. — A boy with messy hair and an annoying smirk arrived, killing the little silence Hela was trying to enjoy. Not even 8 in the morning, yet she couldn't enjoy a moment of peace. — What? Cat caught your tongue? Well, you would need to have a tongue in the first place.
— C'mon now, don't be cruel! It's enough that she's alone all the time and has no friends already— A girl with black hair lightly pushed the boy to take his place. If this was a movie time would stop and the names of the characters who just walked in would be displayed on screen, but you're here to read. If you wanted to watch a movie you'd be on Netflix.

This little group of three had been making Hela's life impossible since nearly day one. The boy with messy hair's name was Dante. He was mildly attractive, dark brown hair, brown eyes and a caramel color skin covered in freckles. Girls liked his flirty attitude and confidence, but he was a self centered prick. The girl who pushed him was Andrea. Fair skin, brown eyes and in terms of behavior if you put her next to a gremlin you'll barely spot the difference. She was the official class clown, pranking and making jokes about anyone she wanted, no escape. Behind them there was a third girl. She looked a bit like Hela, both were the textbook example blond hair blue eyes. She had her hair in a ponytail and was one of the few girls at school who could get away with wearing makeup or a shorter uniform skirt, which made her popular with guys for whatever reason. Although she never looked comfortable with the attention guys gave her, attention one would think you'd expect if you're the "populars squad".

— Whatcha got there? — Dante approached Hela and snatched the bag of chips from her hands.
— Wha- hey! Give that back!
— Woah relax! It's just a bag of chips… Kelp flavor? You really are a weirdo.
— What flavor? — Andrea took one to try and immediately spit it out — Eww it tastes like shit. How can you eat this?
— Just- give it back! — She snatched the bag back — Leave me alone, I wasn't even in your way this time…
— Huh? Well that's unexpected. Looks like someone finally grew a pair! But that won't-
— Dante — Mona interrupted him. — We're here early because you have to talk with Miss Woods and you're gonna be late. It's in five minutes and it's on the second floor.
— Oh shit you're right… — He checked his watch. — Alright little miss perfect, we'll leave you alone. For now. See you later in class.

And just like they arrived they left. Mona glanced at Hela right before turning the corner. She looked concerned. That confused Hela, but the last thing she wanted to do now was give those three more space in her brain. She'd just put up with them until class was over and go home, maybe go shopping like Bessie suggested.

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Now that she was back to class she realized it was not just her impression. This world was definitely a downgrade. Everything was so plain, colorless, boring… white walls, wood and white metallic chairs and tables a big old blackboard that the teachers wanted to replace with a digital board but it never happened because all the money went into the sport related activities. There was a cross above the blackboard. It was a christian highschool so that should be expected. The idea of believing in a god was stupid for Hela before, but now she had met, defeated and even befriended gods. Maybe more than befriended if she hadn't left.

— Ok class! Today we have two new students that just moved to the city.— The teacher was talking but Hela was staring at the window and thinking about Malroth. At least here she didn't have a whole island teasing her about her really obvious crush in Malroth. Crush everyone knew she had but Malroth and Herself.
— Alright, welcome guys. Your names were Lulu and… — The teacher stared at a piece of paper — Oh god I'm sure I'm going to pronounce this wrong… Malroth? — Wait

What?!

☆゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜★

Hello! Hope you enjoyed this first chapter! It's been a while since last i tried to write and it's also the first time i try doing this in English XD

Thank you for reading!