At the Guildhall everyone was celebrating the return of the Cove Island Team and they can believe that they had been in in suspended animation for seven long years. To Ruby it was like something out of a book and she couldn't believe that she experienced anything like it.

They spent the entire night celebrating drinking and eating as they celebrated their return. They had never had so much fun in their entire lives let alone the past seven years. There was one thing that they can all agree upon, it was nice to be home.

They were still celebrating the next morning.

"I see you've learned some Fire Magic, Gustav," said Hiccup.

"Yeah, look I can even make cold flames," said Gustav producing an icy blue fire.

"That is quite cool," said Skullcrusher. Gustav then produced a sticky purple like claim that stuck to the table. "And what's this one?"

"It's a purple flame that can stick to anything its cast on," said Gustav. "I took some lessons from Gobber, he was the one that the basis of Fire Magic wasn't the?"

"Yeah, along with many other things," said Hiccup. He then frowned slightly. "Though I swear that I recognise these frames before."

"That's because I've also been taking lessons from Master Blaze," said Gustav.

"Get out," said Eret with a smile. "I didn't know he was teaching."

Skullcrusher smiled at him, it was a rare sight to see him smiling.

"Yeah, I remember him he was one of the Element Four of Phantom Lord," said Hiccup folding his arms. "The two of us couldn't even use magic against one another we had to fight hand-to-hand. Until I found a way to combat his fine manipulation powers."

"I have to say I didn't expect you to taking role as Guild Master," said Stoick as he and Valka sat at the bar with him.

"Someone had to, but to be honest I don't think I did a very good job," said Gobber honestly.

"Nonsense," said Valka dismissively. "You manage the whole the Guild together while we were gone."

"Yeah, but I'm glad that you're taking over the reins Stoick," said Gobber as he took a drink of mead. "This job is far too tiring."

"I suppose that would be for the best," Stoick nodded.

Spitelout was with his two children and he was immensely relieved to see that they were alive and well.

"You don't know how worried I've been," he said looking at the two of them.

"It's not like we invited that thing to attack," said Snotlout.

"We're just sorry that it took us so long to get here," said Adelaide.

"Well, you're here now and that makes your old man quite happy," Spitelout smiled and pulled the two of them into a massive.

Toothless and the other Exceeds were looking at one another.

"Do you think the others Exceeds were worried that we were gone?" Toothelss asked.

"I doubt they noticed," said Cloudjumper.

"He is correct, time flows differently for us Exceeds," said Skullcrusher.

"I suppose that's comforting," said Stormfly.

Stoick then looked at Brila, who was busy cleaning the tankards. "I must say, Brila, it looks like the last seven years have treated you well."

"That's so sweet of you," she said with a large smile. "Thank you, Master."

"So, tell me, have any of your memories come back yet?" Stoick asked.

"No, nothing so far," she said looking slightly disappointed. "I wonder why? Although there have been times when I can hear someone calling to me. 'Let me hear your voice,' they say and sometimes I feel as if I know them. They're so familiar and gentle."

The doors then swung open wide and there stood five figures.

"Welcome," said Brila turning towards them. "May I hope you?"

"Wonderful, it seems the rumours were true," said a familiar voice.

"Who are these bozos?" Snotlout asked.

"I think I know," said Adelaide.

In fact they all knew, they were in fact Jura, Lyon, Ashelin, Torn and Veger of Thor Hammer. Jura had now a massive long beard and Ashelin was now sporting an engagement ring on her finger. The others however hadn't changed much apart from growing a bit.

"Hello my lovelies," said Ashelin with a large smile. "I'm glad to hear that your deaths were exaggerated."

"You appear to be in great health," said Jura.

"The sentiment is a little redundant when they haven't aged in seven years," Veger pointed out.

"Hmm, you barely back two days and you've already trashed the place," said Lyon shaking his head.

"No way," said Ragnar staring at Lyon.

"Whoa, it's Thor Hammer," Ruby gasped.

"Blue Pegasus and Thor Hammer help us search for Cove Island longer than anyone else would," Wartihog explained.

"We appreciate it," said Astrid.

"Well, I guess we owe you one," said Ragnar placing his hands in his pockets.

Lyon closes eyes and smiled. "I love to take you up on that offer, but I've got seven years on you now and I'm not the kind of guy that takes advantage on children."

"Yeah, rub it in," Ragnar grumbled.

A few minutes later everyone got themselves settled in in the Guildhall.

"So, you see things haven't been completely bad well you guys were taking your seven-year siesta," said Ashelin. "In that time, Thor Hammer, climb the ranks to Septem's second-best Guild. No hard feelings, right, Ruby."

"Second, huh?" Ruby frowned. "Is Pegasus number one?"

"Yeah, real funny!" Torn roared.

"Here we go," Veger sighed as Torn began ranting angrily. "Torn, you're embarrassing yourself again."

Jura placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Now. Torn's wild rant aside we're just glad to have you back with us."

"That's right," said Torn, who finally calmed down.

Ragnar then noticed that Lyon was staring at Heather almost transfixed.

"My Thor," he said and then to Heather's complete bewilderment he placed his hand on her shoulders. "I never believed in true love until now."

"That's unexpected," said Astrid.

"I think Heather agreed with you," said Hiccup.

Heather quickly backed away from Lyon much to his surprise. "Don't you think your jumping the gun?"

"Looks like we got a love triangle," said Ruby nudging Ragnar.

Ragnar immediately blast. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't," she teased.

"Anyway, turns out that I'm a father," said Gildarts gesturing to Agatha.

"Just don't go overprotective on me," she said.

"I'm your Dad, I'm supposed to be overprotective," said Gildarts.

"Now I know how, Hiccup feels," Agatha groaned.

"Boy, talk about a curveball," said Wartihog.

"Is it discovering that they were alive wasn't crazy enough," Speedfist nodded.

"So how did you get your voice, Sven?" Merrill asked curiously.

"And why does it sound so terrible?" Stormfly added.

"It was blaster Twilight Ogre, the first time they were and are Guildhall I finally found me voice," said Sven proudly. "The some reason machine don't seem to like it?"

"Jeez, I wonder why?" said Stormfly shaking her head.

Ruby just laughed as he looked around at everyone laughing and crying over their return. To them it only a week had passed, but with their friends and family it was seven years which involved pain and suffering. Ruby can't even imagine what they went through and found guilty for causing such pain.

Finally everyone had managed to calm down and will be starting to make her way towards her flat.

"Ah, man, I cannot wait to soak in my own back again," she said.

Unfortunately, when she got there she came face-to-face with her landlady, who gave a sTorng sense of foreboding.

"Crap, it's the landlady," said Ruby shivering.

"I heard you are back, Mrs Heartfull," said the landlady. "I hope you and your pocketbook are in good health, because you only seven years rent. 5,888,000 Gil." Ruby just stared at her crestfallen, she had completely forgotten about the back rent. "I'm not letting you into this house until I have been paid in full."

Soon the door was slammed in her face and she sat on the pavement completely crestfallen.

"5,888,000 Gil, how am I supposed to get that kind of cash?" she said depressingly.

The only upside to this situation was that he wasn't the only one who suffered from back rent. While the boys have their own houses, most of the girls had apartments in Dragon Hills, which somehow survived despite the guilds decline.

"That all the money I have," Merrill cried as she and Stormfly found their purses completely empty.

"We were just considered the best a debt okay," said Phlegma kindly.

Astrid, Heather and Rubbella were in complete depression as they were suffering from back rent as well. At least this meant that they would all be broke together.

Ruby still can wrap ahead around the seven-year time gap, they missed so much. Especially missing how Gustav had become a handsome young man. Plus everyone was recovering from Gildarts and Agatha bombshell.

Naturally this causes a think about her own Dad, she had planned to make contact with in the moment she returned from Cove Island, but that was seven years ago and he been waiting for so long since he heard anything from her.

"He must be worried sick," she sighed. She then began to remember the hard Gildarts and Agatha share. "Maybe it's time I pay my old man visit. If Hiccup can patch things up with his dad, I can do the same."

However, those seven years they last weighed heavily upon the Cover Island Team.

At the Guildhall, Bucket and Mulch approached Astrid.

"Astrid," said Mulch. "I thought you might want to know about… Jellal."

"Jellal? Is he here?" But could asked looking around frantically.

In the Guildhall, Jura was sitting next to Stoick and looked at him business-like.

"By the way, Stoick, the Viking Lords will be holding a meeting very soon. You should come you need to be debriefed," said Jura. "And there's a matter of importance to discuss."

Ragnar and Lyon were on the roof of the Guild shirtless.

"You know a woman named Ultear and a girl named Orara don't you?" said Lyon.

Ragnar looked at him surprised. "Yeah, but how do you know about those two?"

Mulch, Jura and Lyon explained everything to them and what they have to say was quite grim indeed.

"So you're still alive after all, Drago," Stoick growled.

The next morning, Ruby was making her way to Cornful to visit her father. Accompanying her was Hiccup and Toothless.

"Remind me again why two tag along with me?" Ruby asked.

"Because I figured that you might need someone with experience on your hands," said Hiccup. "I did exactly send any messages to my Dad over the five years training I did. Also it would hurt that you had someone to back your story, you have to admit that it is a bit unorthodox."

"Good point," said Ruby.

"Surprised you're not asking your Dad for money," said Toothless.

"If I did that it would make me look like a huge jerk," said Ruby. "In case you've forgotten he tried to do the same with me.

"Yeah, but at least you're not acting like a stalker," Hiccup pointed out.

They soon reached the Merchant Guild where her father worked, but there was no sign of him. So they made their way towards the reception desk.

"Excuse me, Miss. May I ask you something?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, ma'am," the receptionist smiled.

"Do you happen to know whether Mr Magnus Heartfull will be coming in today?" Ruby smiled. "He is still registered here isn't he?"

The receptionist stared at her openmouthed. "Uh, would you be Magnus' daughter by any chance?"

"Yep," Ruby nodded.

The receptionist attitude changed completely.

"Is there a problem?" Hiccup asked.

"Is he out sick?" Toothless asked.

"Do you have his home address?" Ruby asked.

The receptionist looked at her very reluctantly. "Actually… I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, but…" Ruby's eyes widened as she sensed a great foreboding. "Magnus passed away a little over a month ago. It was a shock to all of us."

Later that day, Ruby bought some flowers and made her way towards the graveyard where she found a grave marker right next to her mother's. The grave marker had several words engraved which read, Magnus Heartfull, ADW 745-X791.

It soon it became reality that the weight of those seven years kept piling on. After Ruby place the flowers on the grave marker they started to make their way back to Berk and walked in complete silence. Neither Hiccup nor Toothless knew what to say.

"Ruby, I—" said Toothless.

"Toothless," said Hiccup and shook his head.

Toothless stopped talking and continue to walk down the path in silence.

Ruby then stopped. "Sorry for putting you through all this trouble," she said without looking at them.

"Are you going to be okay, Ruby?" Toothless asked.

"Yeah," she lied as she turned to face them. "I'm just shocked about my dad is all. I'll be just fine."

"You don't have to lie us," said Hiccup. "Look, I'm not going to pretend that I know what you are experiencing. I was lucky enough to be reunited with my Mum after believing that she was dead for 20 years and I was able to patch things up with my Dad. But we are here for you if you need us."

Ruby smiled. "Thanks, Hiccup. I know a few years have passed, but it feels like I saw him alive and healthy a couple of months ago. It's hard to accept that I will never get to see or speak to him ever again. It's weird, but when I think back I never really got along with my dad when I was growing up in the same with Phantom certainly didn't help matters.

"But then what happened at Cornful, I truly felt my relationship with him had changed for the better. It's just like to work himself sick. Guess it was too much this time what bothers me most is that even if I'm sad and I miss him, I can't cry. The tears are just not there. Does that mean in the end he meant nothing to me?"

"No, of course it doesn't," said Hiccup. "I don't know how to explain it, but I don't think whether you cry or not means that you cared any less about him."

"Thanks, Hiccup," said Ruby smiling. "You're right. I know that, I already feel better."

The next day at Berk, Stoick was meeting the Guild Master of Twilight Ogre with Astrid and Adelaide to discuss money.

Their Guild Master, Agnar the Aggressive looks more like a gangster than a Guild Master and it was a surprised by the way they acted that they were the Dark Guild.

"I'm done playing games. I've got nothing else to say to you, okay," said Agnar as he smoked a cigar. "There ain't no way that I'm going to back down until you and your guild pay the debt you owe me."

"I would like nothing more to pay you, but I'm sure you're well aware of the financial right that we found ourselves in," said Stoick.

"Your business records have a lot of holes in," said Adelaide cheerfully. "It makes you wonder if we are paying you more than we really owe."

"Would you care to explain that?" Astrid asked narrowing her eyes.

"You tramp!" Agnar roared getting to his feet. "Are you accusing me of fraud or something?"

"Not at all," said Stoick calmly. "You can be assured that we repay whatever we owe with proper interest someday."

Agnar was now getting even angrier. "You're starting to try my patience, Buster."

"Then clearly you misinterpreted," said Stoick folding his arms. "What I mean is that we should start renegotiating our interest rate."

"What?" Agnar yelled. "I don't negotiate with dead beats that my boys and don't pay their debts, understand!"

Tabor and the rest of his cronies were heavily bandaged after their dealings with Hiccup and the others.

"You think your tough, old timer, but I'll make you pay for disrespectful. Me and my boys have a reputation to uphold," said Agnar gesturing to the clip on his cape which was the Twilight Ogre emblem.

"Understood," said Stoick not looking intimidated in the slightest. "We only came to discuss money, but we can discuss your reputation as well. I have no problem telling you what I think."

That made Agnar even angrier and he kicks the table in a rage. "You want to wear cement shoes, fatso?"

"'Get payback for what old,'" said Stoick. "If memory serves that the Twilight Ogre creed." He then narrowed his eyes in fury at Agnar. "Much like an eye for an eye."

"Indeed," said Astrid as a purple aura surrounding her. "And when you think of it in those terms. You owe us for seven years of property damage and abuse."

Adelaide was surrounded by a dark blue aura. "So it seems you owe us. It's only fair that our Guild will be paid back for each and every claim during that time."

A golden aura surrounded Stoick as he began to grow so much so that he almost touch the ceiling. "The suffering my charges endure at your hands, all the years that I wasn't there, it brings tears to my eyes!" Agnar started to quiver in his boots as Stoick towered over him. "You hear me! So if its war you want its war you're going to you get!"

Astrid was now wearing her Rumblehorn armour and Adelaide was in her Wrath Demon form. Upon the side of the two ladies looking threatening at everyone scare the entire Guild.

Outside was Gobber, Spitelout and Valka and suddenly they heard the cries of Twilight Ogre as Stoick and the others went to work.

"One minute," said Valka looking at her watch. "That a new record for him."

"Make you wonder why we allowed ourselves to be kicked around doesn't it?" said Spitleout looking at Gobber.

"Because we were both devastated over the last of your kids and me with everyone else," Gobber reminded.

"Ah, I forgot," said Spitelout. "Still, it's nice to watch their work. It makes the past seven years nothing more than a bad dream."

"Couldn't agree with you more," Gobber nodded.

"I see that Dad is using his famous diplomatic skills," said Hiccup as he and Toothless approached them.

"You know your father, he doesn't let anything go," said Valka. She then looked at him. "Speaking of fathers, how did things go with Ruby's?"

Hiccup looked at her grimly. "Not good."

Ruby was in the park and watched a little girl playing with her father.

"Hey, there pumpkin," said the father picking his little girl up.

"Daddy!" she laughed.

She then heard footsteps and looked up to see her landlady approaching her.

"The landlady?" she stared.

Then without warning she grabbed Ruby's leg and dragged her way.

"Someone help me!" she cried.

A few minutes later, she was tossed right into her apartment much to her surprise.

"My apartment?" she stared. "But it looked exactly the way I left it seven years ago?"

"I've been cleaning it every week," said the landlady. "Everything held up pretty well over the years. I left all your mail on the table there."

Ruby then noticed a whole pile of presents much to her bewilderment.

"Without fail, they would show up every year on the same day," said the landlady.

Ruby examined the present and saw a note on them which read, 'To my dear daughter, Happy Birthday, from Papa.' She soon realised that they were birthday present from her father. Her father never really remembered her birthday, because he was so busy with work in fact during one horrible time when she was about eight years old, he dismissed causing her to cry.

"He remembered," Ruby breathed.

"Oh, yeah," said the landlady she then pointed to a parcel on her bed. "The one on your bed arrived this morning."

Ruby saw that the parcel also came with a letter and she opened it up and began to read it.

My dearest Ruby,

Happy birthday.

As I write this letter, I find myself wondering whether when you'll get to read it. A long time has passed since the news of your disappearance reached me. I'm very worried, but I have faith that you're safe.

You're so much like your mother, stubborn as a rock and blessed with luck. I'm sure you're fine and that I'll see you again some. As for me, business is booming and I'm about to close a big deal with the Western Region. It keeps me busy, but I'm still living a fulfilling life.

I think of you and Crystal every single day, those memories keep me going. I miss you terribly, where ever you are I hope that you're living life to the fullest and following your own path. Please, never forget how proud that I am of you.

"I won't dad," she said as tears ran down the cheek and she continued reading.

Ruby, I love you. That is one thing that will never change.

Ruby can hold back the tears anymore as they trickled down her cheek onto the letter. "By daddy," she cried. "I love you too."

She then laid against the bed and began to cry.

The landlady then decided to leave and then found that Hiccup and the rest of Team Asgard were outside waiting.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"We were wondering if Ruby was home," said Hiccup.

"She is, but it would be best if you leave her alone for now," the landlady advised.

"I thought that you kicked out of her apartment until she paid the backrent," said Toothless.

"A letter came this morning with seven years worth of rent," the landlady explained. "Honestly, it's amazing what some parents will do to support their children."

The door opened and Ruby saw all of them.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked.

Astrid then approached Ruby and gave her big hug. "Hiccup, told us what happened," she said.

"We're sorry to hear about your old man," said Ragnar rubbing the back of his head. "I know the two of you weren't terribly close, but…"

"What he's trying to say is that we're here for you," said Merrill.

"Are you doing all right, Ruby?" Stormfly asked.

"I'm fine," she said smiling at all them. "Thanks, guys."

The past seven years might have left a painful mark on every member of Dragon Tail, but that's okay, because they were gonna keep living this life to the fullest.