Drago was at his wit's end with Astrid Hofferson. Despite Hilda's assurances that the girl would be gone in a few days, she was still in Berk after almost three months! He'd heard that she not only had a place to live, but that she also had a job with Valka at the shelter. It made him sick to know that the troublemaker was still there, in a perfect place to ruin his plans. What made it worse was that he knew he couldn't dispose of her himself. She had too many friends who would come after him—worse, he'd become an outcast for murdering an innocent woman. The only solution would be to hire some thugs to take care of her, something that could be described as a random act of violence by Mala.
His hands would be clean.
"…are you sure, sir?" Krogan inquired.
"She's dangerous. I've heard things about her—a criminal record that would make you look innocent. She was a gangster in Boston, a top member until she quit to come here. I have no doubt she intends to burn our town to the ground."
"Okay. We'll take care of her." Krogan pulled out his phone and took the animal shelter number from Drago.
"Make sure it's where nobody will see."
"Hello?" Astrid asked on her end.
"Um, hello, miss. I'm calling to report a stray animal in the woods. I can't get close because of my allergies."
"Okay, where in the woods?"
"Half a mile from the town line, about five hundred yards into the woods on the right-hand side."
"Okay. I'll be out there in twenty minutes. Stay put."
Click.
If there was one person in Berk that Signy knew nobody trusted, it was Mayor Bludvist.
He was the kind of man who fed off the fear and intimidation he caused just by walking down the street. Everybody avoided his office at all costs, particularly the small-time criminals that tended to wander the streets. They wanted to avoid getting pulled into his world of intimidation and blackmail, where they were more likely to be tossed in jail permanently. That was the way things were. Signy knew the likes of Krogan, Ryker, and Viggo were dangerous as well, hence why she avoided them. In fact, there was a dim memory in her mind of a time when she'd been held captive by Ryker and he'd cut her throat. She'd been narrowly saved by Hiccup and Snotlout, who had rushed her to Dr. Gothi in time to save her life.
So she was surprised when she saw Krogan walk out of Drago's office.
"What did he want?" she heard Viggo whisper. She pressed herself against the wall and listened in, ignoring the pain in her belly.
"He wants us to take care of Miss Hofferson so she isn't a problem for our town."
"Define 'take care of'," Ryker chuckled.
"I already made a call, luring her into the woods. She'll be half a mile away from the town line, five-hundred yards in on the right-hand side. She'll be there in fifteen minutes and you two will stand guard. I'll tie her to a tree and use a knife."
Dammit! They're going to kill Astrid!
Signy headed off to where her car was. She hadn't driven it since her second trimester out of fear of something happening, but Eret used it on a daily basis to drive her to work. The pregnant woman opened her trunk and found the bat she'd stashed there in case of an emergency. She made it a point to keep a bat under her bed at the loft, too, just in case. She ran back into the loft and grabbed her keys off the counter.
Okay, Signy. You have to save your roommate. There's not enough time to get Mala out there.
Signy ran to her car and sped to about five hundred yards away from where she'd heard Krogan say they'd meet Astrid. She got out and crept into the woods, being careful to avoid the Grimborns as she did. She could see Krogan standing over a bound Astrid, who was struggling against the tree as he raised the knife to plunge it into the blonde's heart. Astrid squeezed her eyes shut and Signy raised the bat.
CRACK!
Krogan slumped onto the ground, the knife falling from his hand. Signy picked it up and cut the ropes holding Astrid.
"What the—Signy?!"
"Shut up and let's go! Viggo and Ryker will be here any minute!"
The two went through the woods as quickly as possible and to Signy's car. Just before they got in, Signy let out a yelp of pain and clutched her belly, leaning against the car so she wouldn't fall over.
"Sig, are you okay?!"
"I… the baby's just kicking extra-hard!"
"How long?"
"It's been on and off—" Signy gasped. "I'm in labor. Oh, God, I'm in labor!"
"Get in the car!"
Astrid started driving like a madwoman towards the hospital. Signy took out her phone and dialed Eret's number.
Ring, ring!
Eret grabbed his phone and saw that it was Signy calling. He went into the back room and hit answer.
"Hey, Angel!"
"Eret!" Her voice sounded pained, and it sounded like she was in a car.
"What's wrong?!"
"I-I'm in labor, and Astrid's taking me to the hospital! Could you grab my bag from the loft and meet us there?!"
"No problem! I love you!"
"I love you, too!"
Eret hung up and ran back into the main room before grabbing his coat from behind the counter.
"Hey, where are you going?!" yelled Ruffnut.
"Hospital!" he yelled back, dashing to Signy's apartment. He found her bag without a problem and hopped on the motorcycle he'd stopped riding when he started dating Signy. Within minutes, he'd arrived at the hospital. Signy's dark-blue minivan pulled up a few seconds later at the ER entrance, and he ran up to it just as Astrid got out of the driver's seat. Several ER workers came out and put Signy on a gurney.
"Stay with her!" Astrid barked as she got back in the car to go park.
Eret didn't need to be told twice.
"You can't be in the delivery room, sir!" a nurse said, blocking his path.
"But I'm the father!" he lied. Strangely, it didn't feel like a lie.
"Okay, then you have to scrub up if you're her support."
He did as asked.
"Mom, where are you?"
"I'm at the hospital, Sera."
"Why?"
"Because Signy went into labor, sweetie. She's having her baby!"
"YAY! I'll tell Daddy!" Astrid heard her on the other side of the line. "Daddy! Miss Larsen went into labor!" Sera returned to the conversation. "Daddy says we're coming to the hospital!"
"I'll see you then!"
Within fifteen minutes, Hiccup and Sera had arrived. Sera had proudly told Astrid that Cami had been called into work at the last minute and wasn't able to come. Hiccup had glanced at Astrid awkwardly and sat down in the waiting room. Before Astrid could ask a nurse how Signy was doing, Eret walked into the waiting room, rubbing his hand as if part of his circulation had been cut off.
"It's a girl," he sighed in relief. "I am never going to unsee what I just saw."
"How's Sig?" Astrid asked.
"Asleep. She was exhausted."
A memory suddenly came to Astrid's mind—a memory of being in a hospital, giving birth… with Hiccup and Signy by her side. Dr. Gothi, a blonde woman she recognized as her mother, and Valka were there, too. She realized it was the memory of giving birth to Sera.
I've been having a lot of these flashes, ever since that first night here…
She didn't know that Hiccup had a similar situation.
It wasn't long before they were allowed to see Signy. She was sitting up in her hospital bed, holding a dark-haired baby swaddled in a pale blue blanket with a magenta stripe. The baby had her eyes closed, clearly asleep, and Signy was looking at her with nothing short of adoration.
"Isn't she beautiful?" the teacher whispered.
"Her face looks a little scrunchy," Sera commented before Astrid covered her mouth. Signy laughed.
"All babies look like that when they're first born," she explained to her student. "It takes a while for them to become the cute babies we all think of."
"I bet I was cute right out of the gate! Right, Daddy?"
"Yep, you were." He ruffled his daughter's hair.
"What's her name?" Astrid inquired.
"Lily Anne Larsen. I picked it out a while back." Lily blinked her eyes open and stared around the room, unfocused. "Hi, Lily. This is your family."
"Yep! She's my cousin!" Sera declared. "Can I hold her?"
"If it's okay with your mom and dad."
"Fine with me," both of Sera's parents said at the same time. Signy showed the ten-year-old how to hold a baby properly, and Sera smiled down at the infant.
"Hi, Lily! I'm Serafina, but everybody calls me Sera…"
A feeling twisted in Astrid's gut. She'd never gotten to hold Sera like that. Something had torn their family apart, and torn her away from them. She'd missed all of Sera's milestones—first steps, first words, first loose tooth, first day of school… and she felt sick thinking about it. She had no right to call herself a parent in any sense of the word. Not like Hiccup or Signy. And from what she'd heard from the twins, Hiccup had started dating Cami when Sera was about two, meaning that she had more of a right to be Sera's mom than Astrid did.
Whatever had torn them apart was cruel and unfeeling.
Maybe if they hadn't been separated, Astrid and Hiccup would've had more kids, and Sera would've held her own sibling like that. Maybe Cami would've been Astrid's friend. Maybe Sera wouldn't be so insistent on a curse—
The curse.
"I'm going home," she told the others.
"Have a nice night!" Signy chirped.
"I'll try."
Astrid headed out and drove Signy's minivan back to the loft. She then called Snotlout to take her out to her car at the edge of town. She opened it and watched him drive away before getting in. The blonde leaned back in her seat and let tears fall down her face. It was real. It was all real. She'd had a relationship with Hiccup and had Sera, and they'd been separated. Hiccup was in love with somebody else and there was nothing she could do about it. Her eyes landed on the ring that was on her left hand. She'd had it for so long and yet she had no clue where it had come from. She yanked it off her hand and turned on her car light. Astrid could make out an engraving on the inside of the band.
Milady, I'm yours forever. HHH III
A signature was on the band as well—an H followed by three lines.
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third.
HHH III.
This was an engagement ring. She and Hiccup had at least been engaged.
Before she could wrap her head around everything, there was a loud thump in the trunk. Astrid got out of the car and opened it to see two packages—one was long and about half as wide as it was long, and the other was a simple rectangle. She chose to open the smaller package and found… Sera's book?
The second her fingers touched the leather, memories flashed through her head. Memories of flying on dragonback, of being with Hiccup, of fighting bad guys, of everything from her life before. She gasped and stumbled backwards, landing on her ass on the grassy part of the side of the road. Her heart was pounding and her head was screaming with the memories.
The curse was real.
The curse was real.
Shakily, Astrid stood up and steadied herself by leaning against the car. Panting, she opened the book and really looked at the pages.
Hilda cast the curse. She did it at Drago's request. Drago wanted to beat Hiccup.
He ripped us apart.
She slammed the book onto the seat and headed back to the trunk, back to the long package. Astrid opened it to find an old familiar friend—her axe—and a note.
Thought you might need this. I've had it the entire time you've been gone. Now, go get your family back.
-A Friend.
WHOOOOOOO!
So close to the end of this arc! I'm sorry if it's moving too fast. The big time-skip was necessary in order to get here.
Next time…
Well, next time, a curse is broken.
So long and thanks for all the fish!
