"How can I help?" Mia asked Rapunzel handed her the book and showed her the riddle.
"Do you know what the heart of flight is?" Rapunzel asked. Mia read the riddle,
"Maybe the king of the birds, the golden eagle, has it." She suggested, Rapunzel jumped up and down.
"Of course!" She said "The golden eagle! Does anyone know where it is?" Merida spoke up,
"Last time I knew, he was around Australia." She said
"Why thank you for your help." Said an unfamiliar female voice, that is unfamiliar to all except Rapunzel.
"Mother!?" Everyone turned to Rapunzel in surprise.
"Mother?" They exclaimed. Rapunzel grabbed some of her hair so she could use it as a weapon, and said
"She not actually my mother, but it's a long story." The voice came again and a woman appeared from the shadows,
"Well I'm offended, my own daughter turning against me." Said the woman who had dark hair and wore a long red dress. Rapunzel scowled, and the other four looked at her in surprise, they had never seen her like this.
"I'm not your daughter, never have been, never will. Now leave us alone." Rapunzel said, glaring at the woman. 'Mother' laughed,
"If you say so flower, but i suggest joining us or you will die with the rest of the guardians. Now I really must go, Pitch is waiting for the location of the key" she vanished into the shadows "good luck getting out of here." The woman chuckled and a dark shadow passed over any possible exit. Merida ran to the door and tried to open it, but the shadows held the door shut.
"Mia! Can you help?" She called. Mia, who had looked rather shocked at the scene that had passed, walked over and attempted to tap the door, instead she tapped the shadow.
"I can try but this is magic, dark magic at that, and against magic my strength is no stronger then jack was when he tried to push Toothless off him." She said, and leant her shoulder on the door, she then pushed but the door only opened enough a small person to squeeze though before the shadow overpowered her and the door bounced back into place.
"Sorry" she said, she sat on the floor in defeat.
"Hey, don't worry about it, you tried." Rapunzel said, Hiccup nodded im agreement.
"Thanks" Mia gave a small smile. "But now you can't get out, pitch will get the key and you won't be able to get the ultimate power."
"Ow!" Merida yelped, the four turned to see her rubbing her head.
"I can't teleport out of here." She said. Rapunzel sighed and sat down.
"So we're stuck here until the magic wears off" she groaned. Hiccup suddenly had an idea,
"Merida can you teleport anything other than yourself?" Merida looked at him in bewilderment, and nodded
"If I'm holding it, yes."
"Then if Mia opened the door as much as she can again couldn't you teleport some of us out." Hiccup questioned. Rapunzel jumped up,
"Then we wouldn't be stuck in here!" Rapunzel said excitedly, she didn't like being shut in because of her past. Merida smiled,
"It's worth a shot, but I can only take two at a time and the dragon is too big." Mia shrugged,
"well i don't mind waiting until the magic wears off cause I have my books, and if you are out I don't need to worry about the world ending. So you only need to get yourselfs out" Rapunzel looked at her
"Are you sure?" She asked Mia, who smiled and nodded
"I'm sure" she replied "Anyway, I need to hold the door open for you to get out, and I can't both hold the door open and teleport out" Rapunzel sighed, she didn't want to leave her new friend trapped but they did need to go find the key before pitch. Rapunzel was just about to say she would say when Hiccup spoke up,
"I'll stay" He said. All the emotions there were flitted across Mia's face, she didn't know what to say. Of course she wanted Hiccup to stay but she was worried that she would say something stupid.
"Oh, y-you don't have to do that" She said. Hiccup shrugged and smiled.
"I don't want you to be lonely, besides, I'm not just going to abandon Toothless" He said. Mia smiled and Rapunzel cheered up.
"So Mia won't be alone, and Merida, Jack and I don't need to waste any extra time with Merida going back" Rapunzel summed up.
"Speaking of wasting time" Jack said "I'm tired of being stuck in here let's go, it's not like they'll be stuck in there forever" Mia lent against the door and started pushing while Merida grabbed Rapunzel and Jack's hands. Soon there was a small hole in the shadow and Merida immediately teleported them out. "we're free!" Rapunzel yelled as Mia stopped pushing and the door closed. Jack pushed Rapunzel in the direction of North's office.
"Okay now let's get the key and get Hiccup, Toothless and Mia out of the room." He said. Mia and Hiccup listened as they ran down the hall. Soon all was silent except for the sound of wind rushing round the room.
"Sooo" Hiccup attempted to start a conversation. "You like reading?" Mia smiled and sat down on a window seat.
"I love reading, do you like reading?" Hiccup picked up a book and looked at it trying not to look at Mia for fear he would blush.
"I like reading, but the only book I laid hands on, that wasn't one of my notebooks, was the book of dragons" He said,
"Well feel free to read any of these" Mia gestured to the books. But the conversation died quickly. Then Mia beckoned to Hiccup and pointed out of the slightly darkened window.
"Look there they go" she said. Hiccup and Toothless walked over to the window and looked out. North's sleigh was flying across the sky, and Hiccup could just make out the figures of the rest of the guardians.
"Now we just have to wait until the shadows are gone" Mia said. She cuddled her knees to her chest and studied her silver shoes. Hiccup sat on the other side of the seat and looked at Mia.
"Mia? Do-Do you protect anything? I mean, well, everyone protects something, I protect change, so what do you protect?" Hiccup stammered. Mia chuckled at Hiccups awkwardness
"I protect emotions" She said, then she was silent again. Hiccup looked at Mia, she was deep in thought. 'She is beautiful' Hiccup thought and Toothless laughed. Hiccup ignored the dragon and studied Mia's eyes again. They seemed to hold all the emotions of the world, but as he looked, fear seemed to fill her eyes. Hiccups mind wandered, and he began to wonder if he should be helping the others, 'after all, I'm just a hiccup, I'll probably ruin everything' he thought
'Hiccup!' Toothless yelled. Hiccup winced and asked what was wrong, toothless seemed really worried about him. 'What if you get hurt, fighting pitch! Are you sure we should be helping them?' Hiccup forced a smile and told toothless he would be fine. But then he worried about toothless. Why was he scared? Toothless was never scared. He worried sometimes but he was never scared. Then it clicked, Mia was the protector of emotions and her eyes were filled with fear. Her fear was affecting him and Toothless. He wondered what she was afraid of, but he didn't want to ask, so he he said the first thing that came to his mind
"Penny for your thoughts." She seemed to wake up, then cuddled herself tighter.
"They're not even worth half a penny" she said. Hiccup took her hand and held it tight. She looked at him in embarrassed surprise but didn't pull away, so hiccup spoke
"Look I can tell you're afraid, your eyes say so, and I know it helps to tell others your fears. So if you want to talk I'm right here" He looked at him then sighed,
"It's pitch, I'm afraid of pitch" she said. "I managed to avoid him for 333 years but now thats going to be hard and I'm worried he'll recognise me." Hiccup looked surprised,"Recognise you?" He asked.
"I have met him before, face to face, before I became Mia Wind. I was sixteen and it was dark. I was playing with my brother, Jack"
"Wait, Jack?"
"Yes Jack but there were six other Jacks in the village I lived in. Anyway we were playing just outside the house, when a shadow rushed at us. I grabbed my brother and ran round the house to the door. I got in and slammed the door. My mother was visiting a friend but my dad was inside, I ran to find him but the shadow slipped under the door, my brother and I watched in terror as the shadow turned into the boogieman. Pitch laughed and attacked us, or rather, me" Mia was sobbing, but Hiccup was patient and let her relive herself of her fears. "He just threw my brother to the side, knocking over an oil lamp in the process. I managed to get away from pitch and I rushed my brother out of the house. I yelled to dad but by then the house was a huge ball of fire. Then I felt a searing pain in my side, and I heard my brother's screams, the everything went black. The next thing I know, I'm invisible. My dad only lived long enough to see my little sister born. I left after that, because I saw pitch. He didn't recognise me then, thankfully, but I still avoid him just in case." Mia had calmed down. She finished. There was a small silence, then Hiccup spoke softly.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" He asked.
"They were all so busy and kind, I didn't want waste their time. Thanks for listening, it really helped" Mia answered. Hiccup smiled,
"No problem" Mia smiled.
"Hey look!" She exclaimed, and pointed to the door. The shadow was fading.
