Half an hour earlier…

'It's so boring here in the academy,' Wendy thought as she finished changing her clothes after taking a shower. 'I guess I'll just visit Will for now. I hope he's back from his meeting with the King.'

She had just left her room when she saw her Big Sister Charlotte walking in her direction with a big smile on her face.

"It's good to see that you're finally back. I missed you," Charlotte said as she gave Wendy a light hug. "Where have you been?"

"I missed you too, Big Sister," Wendy returned the hug as she replied to Charlotte's question. "We went to the North-- North to train! That's right, Sir William wanted to perfect our team formation so we had to leave the academy to train."

"Is that so? I hope that the Knight Commander isn't pushing you too hard." Charlotte frowned. "Make sure to tell me if he bullies you. I don't care if he's the Knight Commander or not, I'll shove a fireball right up his a*s."

Wendy giggled when she imagined William holding onto his bum while running away in fear.

Seeing that Wendy seemed to be fine, Charlotte remembered her reason for looking for her.

"Here you go, some candies for you." Charlotte handed the pouch filled with candies with the "Be thankful I care for you" expression on her face.

"Thank you, Big Sister." Wendy happily took the pouch from Charlotte's hand. "You're the best!"

"You only say those words when I give you gifts. Well then, I have to go. There are still documents that I need to work on for the Third Years. I only came here to check up on you and see that you're in one piece."

"Thank you once again, Big Sister. I'll treat you to something good tomorrow."

"You'd better remember those words." Charlotte patted Wendy's head before going back to the Third Year Dormitory.

Wendy was about to eat a candy when she suddenly remembered what had happened in William's room when she gave him a candy. Her face reddened as she reminisced about the passionate kisses that she had shared with him.

'I'd better give him some candies as well,' Wendy thought. She was looking forward to another kissing session with William that would only become possible because of the candies that were in her possession.

Wendy had been a regular visitor of the Solaris Dormitory that the guards only nodded at her and allowed her to pass without question. They knew that the beautiful lady was a member of the Knight Commander's personal knight squad and gave her the respect she deserved.

William's room had a special enchantment in it that prevented anyone from entering without permission. Fortunately for Wendy, she was one of the few exceptions that could enter the room without using a key.

'He's still not here,' Wendy thought as she scanned the room. 'It's fine. I'll just wait for him to arrive.'

The blonde beauty immediately headed towards William bed and sat on top of it. She then opened the pouch of candies and started eating.

'I'll only eat half and share the rest with William,' Wendy thought as she put a red colored candy inside her mouth. 'This way, it's a win-win for both of us.'

After eating eight candies, Wendy suddenly felt drowsy and slept on top of William's bed, while hugging William's pillow.

------

Somewhere in Asgard...

"Captain, please wake up! We are being dispatched to the battlefield to collect the souls of warriors. We are the team that is currently on standby, so we have to hurry before our superiors deduct our wages!"

"Just let me sleep for five more minutes."

"What are you talking about, Captain?!" a beautiful lady with dark-brown hair raised her voice as she shook the sleeping beauty violently. "If we don't go soon, Commander Gunnr will deduct our wages! I plan to have a date with my boyfriend this month. I need to buy a new dress!"

"You're so annoying." The sleeping beauty finally relented and propped herself up from the bed. Her long, silky, blonde hair shimmered briefly as the rays of the sun fell upon them. "I'll be ready in five minutes. Wait for me outside."

"Understood. Please, hurry, Captain."

"Okay, stop nagging and just wait for me to finish changing my clothes. Sheeesh!"

The blonde beauty who seemed to be in her early twenties, walked up to her closet and began to put on her light-weight armor that was designed for the battlefield. After strapping on her protective gear, she walked towards the mirror in order to fix her hair.

The image of a beautiful lady with long blonde hair and a pair of blue eyes, that were as clear as the skies of Asgard, were reflected in the mirror. She then began to comb her hair until she was satisfied with it.

The blonde beauty then picked up the winged circlet lying on top of her table, and looked at the mirror one last time before going out of her room. As the Captain of her squad, it was her duty to lead the other Valkyries on the battlefield to collect the souls of the brave warriors that had fallen in battle.

An hour later, twelve Valkyries with their Captain in the center descended towards Midgard where a battle had just ended. They had done this duty countless times before and they were already used to guiding the souls of the brave warriors to Valhalla.

However, this time, the scene they encountered was different.

"T-There are no souls?" one of the Valkyries, that were hovering above the dead bodies, stuttered.

"Captain Wendy! There are no souls on this battlefield," one of the Valkyries reported. "It was as if they have vanished into thin air. This has never happened before."

"Calm down." Wendy raised her hand as her eyes scanned the bloody battlefield that was bereft of any signs of life. "Go in teams of two and investigate. Maybe there are still lingering souls somewhere on this battlefield. We need to know what happened."

""Yes!""

Usually, hundreds, even thousands of souls, could be harvested on the battlefield where the fighting had just ended. Not all souls could go to Valhalla. Only those that fought bravely and for a righteous cause were invited to the great feast that the Gods had prepared that watched over the Nine Realms of Yggrasil.

The Valkyries investigated the battlefield in pairs, and just like Wendy mentioned, they did indeed find souls, but their number didn't even surpass ten.

While the rest of the Valkyries were doing one last sweep of the battlefield, Wendy flew towards its center and saw a young man with arrows sticking out of his body and a bloody hole in his chest.

Clearly, the young man was already dead, but Wendy couldn't help but admire the warrior because he was the only one in the battlefield that had remained standing even after he died.

The young man had long silver hair that fell behind his shoulders. His face was stained with blood, but that didn't prevent his good looks from showing through. Wendy caressed the warrior's face, and felt a very subtle fluctuation in his body.

Wendy immediately used her powers and coaxed the warrior's soul, that had refused to separate from its mortal vessel, out.

"I, Wendy, the Valkyrie Captain of Lady Brunn have come to take you, Oh Brave Warrior, to come with me and enter Valhalla," Wendy said in a respectful tone.

This was an etiquette that the Valkyries had learned during their training when addressing the brave warriors that had died in[on] the battlefield.

Soon, the soul of a young warrior appeared before Wendy. According to her estimate, the young man was still in his late teens and hadn't even grown a beard, which was very uncommon among the warriors that had ascended to Valhalla.

"What is your name, Brave Warrior?" Wendy asked.

"William," the young man answered. "William Pendragon."

Wendy extended her hand in a gesture of invitation.

"Come, Brave William," Wendy said softly. "The Halls of Asgard are waiting for you. Your duty in the mortal world is over. Your duty to protect the Nine Realms is about to begin."

William looked at Wendy's delicate hand before reluctantly raising his own. The Valkyrie Captain could see the unwillingness in his eyes. Those were the eyes of someone that still had unfinished business in the mortal realm.

Wendy had seen these kinds of eyes many times in the past. However, she knew that the young warrior would gradually forget about his ties with the mortal world the moment he stepped into the halls of Asgard.

The beautiful Valkyrie firmly gripped the young man's hand and flapped her wings to ascend to the sky. Soon, the other Valkyries joined her in flight as they took the surviving souls to their final destination.

William glanced at Midgard one last time before he closed his eyes to weep. He still had promises to keep…

Promises that he would no longer be able to keep.