Chapter Seven
A/N: Yay! Motifs are fun! XD
Pink, early morning sunlight dabs the clouds above village. Hiccup grimaces at the feeling of its warmth on his cheek. Soon, people will start waking up. His father will rise and notice his son is gone... He and Toothless will track him down and... Hiccup bites his lip and runs faster, sprinting through the center of town just as a few lanterns are being lit within the Great Hall.
Oh great! He fumes. I'm later than I thought! But the prison is right in front of him. It will only take a few more minutes to reach it... Maybe his dad will sleep in today? Sending a quick prayer to every god he can think of it, Hiccup grabs the prison door and expertly slips inside, his other hand still hovering protectively above the bottle in his pocket.
Aragwen watches with mild interest as Hiccup appears in front of her cell. He's breathing heavily as if he ran the entire way here, which he probably did. The boy settles down on the other side of the bars and takes no time to catch his breath before producing the vial. A smoky, white liquid sloshing around inside of it.
"There." He grumbles as he slides it into the room. "I kept my end of the deal. Now leave Astrid and the others alone!"
Aragwen smirks at him, almost coyly. "Oh sure, I have no interest in your friends now..." She gently picks up the bottle, turning it over as if to inspect the potion within. "After all...what use are they now? I have what I came for..."
Hiccup pauses, getting a slightly bad feeling at the tone in her voice. "What do you mean...?" He growls, suspiciously.
Aragwen uses her long thumb nail to pop the cork out of the bottle, watching as a misty substances wells up and spills over the lip of the vial. "Oh come now, Hiccup." She tuts. "You didn't think I was going to let you off the hook that easily, did you? I mean, you did force Hinrik to betray me."
Hiccup snarls and jumps to his feet. "I didn't force anyone to do anything! Hinrik betrayed you because you're a horrible-" He gasps, his lips sealing shut on their own. Terror spikes through him when he realizes what this means... Aragwen is back to her full power. He's being pushed! He stares in horror at the potion in her hand. Not for the first time, he wonders what she's going to do with it...
Aragwen shakes her head in disappointment and glares at him. "It will be such a relief to finally be rid of you. You're such an annoyance."
Well, it seems she's done playing the innocent act...
The witch lifts a slim finger, curling it toward herself as if beckoning Hiccup forward. His body obeys without his consent and he's sent stumbling into the bars of her cage. He grunts and sinks to the floor, his eyes level with hers. He's shaking now and he feels cold. Side effects of being pushed, he supposes. His mind feels...cloudy and he can't think straight. It's just like before...
"Now," She purrs, holding out the vial which his hand automatically moves to receive. "Drink up. We have a lot of work to do before we can appease the Dark One."
Hiccup whimpers, unable to control himself as his fingers wrap around the bottle and slowly tip it toward his lips. Squeezing his eyes shut, he wishes he'd been a little later. He wishes his father had found him before he managed to get here. This is all a big mistake...!
Aragwen notices the look on his face and smiles. "Don't feel bad." She whispers. "It's not your fault you were tricked. Even if you hadn't agreed to help me, I would have killed you one way or another, anyway. At least this way, none of your friends have to die and I'll get to impress the Dark One..."
As soon as she's done speaking, Hiccup tips the vial up. He grimaces at the bitter flavor of the potion as it spills down his throat. A ghastly tremor runs through his entire body as he swallows, the bottle instantly falling from his numb hands and shattering on the floor.
His head spins, his heart slows down, he feels cold.
"Just relax..." Aragwen breathes.
His limbs feel dead, his eyes flutter shut...
"Let yourself go..."
Hiccup groans as the world turns black in front of him. He collapses to the floor with a heavy thud.
Aragwen giggles, joyously while she watches her potion kick in. As soon as Hiccup swallows it, his skin loses all color. He goes so pale she can almost see his veins through his skin. His body trembles from being pushed but the tremors increase and the potion vial falls out of his hand as his limbs go numb. She watches his pupils dilate and then his eyelids slowly fall shut...and he blacks out. The boy's unconscious body slumping onto the floor in a matter of seconds.
She nods, satisfied that he's ready for the next step. She reaches through the bars, holding out her hand above his prone form. She closes her eyes and begins to mumble strange, foreign words under her breath.
Once her incantation is complete, she looks down at Hiccup and nearly jumps for joy at the sight of him.
Hiccup's entire body is glowing a pale white, the same color as the potion. The light that seems to emanate from nowhere dances around him as if it were alive, curling and twisting into the air.
One, adventurous tendril of Hiccup's visible soul reaches a bit too far upward and Aragwen takes advantage of its closeness. She hisses one, last word under her breath and brushes her fingers over the ghostly veil.
As soon as the witch touches it, an evil, black smoke begins to spread within the pure white like an obsidian forest fire. Hiccup spasms, an agonized yelp escaping his throat. The darkness creeps further and further into the light, choking out the glow. Hiccup would have continued to scream in pure agony if Aragwen hadn't forced him to close his mouth.
She watches with a morbid fascination as her corruption reaches Hiccup's heart. His body spasms once more, his back arching off the ground, a silent scream ripping out of his sealed mouth.
Then, as quickly as it began, it ends. Hiccup goes limp and falls back to the floor, his head lulling to the side. The glow of his invaded soul vanishes, leaving him looking pale and deathly.
Aragwen sits back in her cell, observing her handiwork with a proud smile. "Now you'll do as I say." She purrs. "Medium or no medium. You're mine, Hiccup."
Hiccup only lays there, motionless. His eyes shut, his breaths shallow and ragged.
"Get up." She tells him, firmly.
His eyes suddenly snap open and he sits up, getting to his feet.
Aragwen nods. "Come here."
And he does.
Aragwen opens his vest, carefully slipping something inside it. "Keep that with you." She whispers. "It will come in handy."
He nods, his expression blank as he stares off into the distance.
"Meet me here again tonight. But, for now, go home. Forget you were ever here." She commands.
And, a moment later, Hiccup strolls out of the prison, still caught in his trance. He makes his way home without anyone seeing him and silently climbs the stairs, laying down in his bed before either his dragon or his father wake up...
A/N: DUN DUN DUN! XD What do you guys think?! Don't forget to review!
