Astrid's footsteps was muffled through the carpeted hallway, in front of her was Rapunzel and her two minions not taking a single glance. The hallway was damp from the boarded up windows and the broken air ventilation since after the breakout, dirt and dust in a form of footsteps decorated the entire hallway.
Everywhere she looked was unnaturally dull, as if all of happiness had been sucked out. Maybe it was just Astrid, but she couldn't tell, and she didn't care. As they went to a corner as they passed a broken elevator, the metal door was still open but the room inside it was tilting. Astrid looked around, all of the doors had the same basic concept, the Leader could live anywhere. They've stopped at a metal door with a sign that said stairs, the paint was fading away.
One of the Stabbingtons opened it and let his brother pass, Astrid looked up as she came inside the stairwell. The apartment had more stairs than she had imagined, curious shadows were everywhere as the light from the windows failed to light up the whole stairwell.
Astrid felt a hard nudge on the back of her shoulder, Scar-face Stabbington narrowed his eyes at her.
"Go on…" The man said gruffly.
Astrid frowned, but did as she was told. She let both the Stabbingtons to go first, she would never feel easy with any one of them behind her anymore.
They walked slowly up the stairs, Astrid was looking down towards every flight, wondering what will happen next. Rapunzel broke off from the Stabbingtons and went to her, earning a confused glare from Astrid.
"Hey, how're you holding up?" Rapunzel said softly, she almost seemed empathetic.
Astrid barely looked at her. "Fine…" She replied bitterly.
Rapunzel went gloom, then she went on. "Hiccup will be fine, it's okay. This won't take long, my mother is usually nice to people… Usually…"
Astrid glanced up.
"Yeah, I am the Leader's daughter. She doesn't go easy on anyone except me, which is the reason I saved your friend's life." Rapunzel said, the she added. "She wouldn't go easy on you, I can tell that she wouldn't. You've been marked as a psychopath after that stunt you've pulled, maybe you should try to be calmer in front of her.
"I can take care of myself!" Astrid basically spat, then she immediately stopped when one of the Stabbingtons glanced at her before looking away.
"Because isn't everything is about Hiccup?" Rapunzel replied simply. Astrid wasn't going to take that easily, but can she deny it? "Can I ask you a question?" Rapunzel asked.
"No…" Astrid said quickly, she wondered if she'd gone too far.
Rapunzel stared at her for a moment, her face suddenly became wary. "What is it between you with Hiccup?" She asked anyway.
Astrid was surprise that she would bring that up, talking about Hiccup was the one thing she wouldn't want to do now. But somehow Rapunzel decided to take the risk, Astrid stood her ground. "What's it to you?"
"You know what? No, you don't!" Rapunzel snapped, furrowing her brows at Astrid. "Maybe you haven't notice but I am trying to help you! If you don't want that, then fine. The least I could do now is to wish you good luck." And with that she rejoined her minion, leaving Astrid behind the group alone.
Astrid stared at her weakly, she felt mostly guilty. After they passed a couple of floors, then came the last one. One of the Stabbingtons pushed it open and Astrid went passed it last again.
It was another hallway, similar to the last one but this one had abstract paintings on their walls rather than the glass panes which looked down to the city skyline. Rapunzel guides them toward the door at the end of the hallway, which was the only door on the floor apart from the elevator. She pushed it open and waited in front of it, Astrid immediately knew that she was the only one who should enter.
Once she was inside of the suite, she looked up at the glass chandelier hanging above her with little glass hanged with golden chains like stars. The room itself was bigger than the rest of the apartment rooms, there were two stairs which reached to the second floor of the suite. Between the two stairs was a row of glass panels looking at a pool outside of the balcony. Rapunzel closed the door behind her, Astrid was sure to be expecting someone by now.
"Hullo, dear… Sit down, will you?" Said a high voice of a woman, Astrid looked around. At the stairs she saw a woman in her late 30s wearing a beautiful ruby red gown with a bronze ring as her belt, her long curly dark hair went gracefully over her back. Astrid looked at her momentarily, doubting if the woman was really Rapunzel's mother.
"I told you to sit down…" The leader repeated again, but this time with a commanding voice. She pointed to a pair of sofas with a glass table in the middle, Astrid quickly sit as she said.
The leader approached her sofa, when she had settled herself she called to the other side of the room. "Get us wine please!"
An older and shorter woman came hurrying into the living room from the kitchen, she was also dressed in gown but what she was wearing had the color green. She was carrying a bottle of wine and two wine glasses on a tray, the woman settled the contents on the glass table. Then she bowed to the leader and came hurrying off again.
Astrid was taken aback from the hospitality, she never could've guessed that a butler was working here.
"I just found this particular bottle of wine stored in one of the cabinets, I didn't bother to leave it there though. It is a prized thing in this world we live in today, don't you agree?" The leader said as she poured the wine to the two glass, she lends one to Astrid and gave a wicked smile.
Astrid quickly accepts it, forgetting her purpose there. "Oh… Yes, I do. Even though I'm not actually a big fan of it, I'm more of a beer kind of person…" She laughed awkwardly, seeing the leader didn't laugh back.
"Yes, yes… I thought so too, young people love beer. My daughter tried one with her friends, I stopped her at it before she finished the can." The leader said, she looked like she was trying so hard at getting the memory out of her head. She shook her head many times, then she drowned herself in wine. "I brought you here to talk about your group…"
Astrid felt a little lurching in her stomach, she kept her cool just like what Rapunzel said. "Yes?"
"Are you aware that one of you is bitten?" The leader asked again.
Astrid held her anger. "Y… Yeah…"
"And I personally think that chopping his infected leg won't be so much help, dear… And I don't know what particular time that he was bitten, so it would be just a matter of time that anything in his blood will spread." The leader said with a slight worried tone, mostly filled with disgust towards her as if she was responsible.
"You got it wrong." Astrid corrected. "He was bitten seconds before he got his leg…"
The leader raised her hand to shut her up. "Cutting his leg raise another problem, you have been classified as too dangerous to be near my daughter or anyone else."
"Who classified that?" Astrid snapped
"I did. If obvious things obviously didn't get to you, I won't bother to tell you to shut up again." The Leader gave an insulting snort, she smirked as she saw the rage filled face on Astrid. "Are you the leader of your group?"
Astrid tried to think, Hiccup was the obvious leader. Maybe if she said yes she would have the same ground as her. "I suppose I am."
"Well then, I take full responsibility of you and your group from this day on." The Leader said with a cackle.
"You can't tell us what to do!" Astrid raised her voice.
"Oh yes I actually can." The Leader said in a matter-of-fact kind of tone. "Everything in my city is under my control, I will keep an eye on you starting tomorrow if you want to live under my protection. I am the Leader, and I make everything clear in this city."
"Some leader you are." Astrid spat the words without knowing it had slip.
"In fact. You are now put under detention." The Leader jabbed her finger sharply at her. "I will not be having a psychopath running around my city freely, same goes for the bitten, and your redhead friend."
"She's got nothing do to with this!" Astrid fought back.
"Do you want her to be?"
Astrid's eyes widened in fury.
"I am the Leader, Gothel if you may. And just like I said before, I run things around here. And I will not have a maniac, an archer, and a wimp as a townsfolk. I don't like all of it, not one bit." Gothel gazed coldly on Astrid's eyes.
On Astrid's head however was near the breaking point, how could her called Hiccup a wimp. She was about to pounce on her as if she pretended herself a lion, but too many risks to attack Gothel and kill her.
"Well, that would be all." Gothel said again. "Take her away!"
Astrid was now standing up, quickly than she'd ever did. "You can't do that!" She yelled, realizing that she had involved everyone in this. Astrid felt two large hands held both her shoulder tightly, the Stabbingtons were watching her from behind all the time.
Gothel stood up as well, she walked over the table and went to mock on Astrid's face. "When I say the word, all of you goes bye-bye… Bye-bye!"
And with that Astrid was being pulled out of the room, she saw Gothel's wicked face in front of her before being dragged around like some kind of ragdoll. Rapunzel stood there thunder stricken, watching as Astrid was now struggling to get out of the Stabbington's grip.
Rapunzel quickly got to her feet and went inside the suite, there she saw Gothel. "What are you doing?!"
Gothel's face scowled when she noticed her goddaughter. "What are you doing here?! I thought I told you to go to your room!"
"You're sending Astrid away! She hadn't done anything wrong!" Rapunzel shouted.
"She spat at me! And she raised her voice at me! I have had enough of this, what I say goes. UNDERSTAND?!" Gothel shrieked, Rapunzel jumped backwards a few inches. "NOW GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM!"
Rapunzel was in a verge of tears, she was unsure of what to do. Gothel and her stared at each other eye to eye, anger in their auras.
"So?! What are you waiting for?!" Gothel snapped again.
Rapunzel gritted her teeth, but she ultimately give in. She couldn't do anything to help them, now she could only walk up towards the stairs in shame. Her eyes narrowed in denial, she could do something. Just not here, her mother must not know.