3rd person p.o.v Dreamscape
Toothless and Jokul flew to Olympus while Hiccup perched on the dragon's back and asked the god one thousand and one questions about his life now and what it would mean for him and about the war.
In Olympus, Jokul parted with the two and handed them over to Iris and Hestia before making his way to Athene's rooms.
She smiled at her brother before whacking him upside the head. As Winter rubbed the sore spot on his skull the goddess admonished him.
"What has Seraphina told you about creating new blessed without her permission? I know you couldn't get involved in the conflict directly but did you really have to do that? You know she's still angry at you for stealing away her lover."
"I had no other choice and you know I have no control over who falls for me, I didn't even sleep with him!"
"You know that and I know that but she's still angry." Athene sighed. "You'll have to tell her some other time. We've finally found Lilith. She's trapped in a pearl currently being worn by the princess of the Bog Burglars."
"I know her!" said a voice from the other side of the door. The door swung open to reveal Hiccup and Toothless standing there with an out of breath nymph kneeling on the floor behind them.
"I am a wind nymph…huff… how in Zeus' name did you two outrun me?" Hiccup turned to the nymph and gave her a hand up.
"I'm sorry Ariana, I should have warned you that I have the stamina and speed of this guy since he chased me around the island almost every week, not to mention the years of bullying where running away may have become a speciality." He turned back to us and smiled sheepishly. Athene shook her head and mumbled something about multiple Jokul's running around the mountain.
"So what did you need and how you know the princess?" the goddess asked once Hiccup had sat down on one of the plush stools in the room, Toothless curling up at his feet.
"I wanted to know if there was anyone who could teach me how to speak Dragonese and I know Camicazi because we were betrothed at one point, although I haven't seen her in years." Athene and Jokul shared a glance and a small smile spread over their lips.
"And how do you think she'd react to seeing you again?" Jokul asked.
"She'd probably try to kill me at first but then after I'd spilt a bit of blood she would probably listen to what I have to say. Why?"
But the two spirits just grinned.
"This is such a bad idea." The Viking muttered from his seat on Toothless. Jokul snickered but didn't respond, keeping a look out for any of Pitchner's soldiers. They came close enough to see the Chief's house on the main island before they were being fired at. Stones, arrows and knives were being thrown at them but they all bounced off the shield Jokul had erected around them. They landed in the square where Hiccup took off his helmet and a stunned silence fell over the women of the tribe. It was broken by a loud cry of 'Hiccup' followed by the sound of running feet.
She appeared from behind a dark haired woman like a storm, blond hair whipping about an invisible wind.
"Cami." He breathed out and braced himself for the inevitable onslaught of punches and kicks. But all he felt was a petite body hanging off his neck and unruly hair pressing up against his face.
"You stupid idiot. Where have you been? I haven't seen you in eight years!" She pulled back to scream at him, hitting him so hard in the gut he doubled over.
"And on a dragon no less! Do you know how many times I was in Berk while you were gallivanting off on your Night Fury? Six! I was there six Thor damned times and you didn't even have the decency to be there! So why are you here? And explain everything." And they did. They moved the discussion to the living room of the Chiefs house and stayed there until the sun had just passed its highest point.
"So inside my pearl is a spirit who you need to free so that women can start to become equals to men. Sure, I'm all for a bit of girl power. But what's in it for me?" Her eyes were calculating as she stared at Hiccup, eyes flickering to Toothless for a brief second. That's when he knew he had her.
"I can get Berk to send over a Trainer with a few dragons to show you how to ride. Does that seem acceptable?" He said, holding out a hand. She clasped his hand with her own and shook once.
"We have a deal. But I want to see the spirit being freed." The last sentence she said to Jokul who'd been sitting on a stool sipping mead for the entire conversation.
"Great. Now that that's settled, do you happen to have a spring nearby? One that humans don't really use? We need a source of clean and generally untouched water to break her free."
"Yeah, follow me. It just a bit into the woods."
The spring was perfect, surrounded by trees and the water was as clear as glass. He could feel the spirits lurking in the shadows and if the princess was to be believed, only the chiefs were allowed to use it to bathe so the water was relatively untouched by humans.
The ritual to break the seal on the pearl was relatively simple but required a lot of magical power so Jokul called upon the nearby female spirits to help him release Lilith.
"Ti chiamiamo dal profondo di queste acque, Juturna, per liberare uno spirito ingiustamente imprigionato[1]." Jokul murmured into the waters and dropped the pearl into the water. Nothing happened and Cami sighed, a little disappointed. Jokul just shushed her and turned towards the spring once more where the water had started to bubble. A woman with flowing black hair swam to the surface from the darkness of the water, she had the darkest eyes and the palest skin either of the two teens had ever seen.
"Jokul, it's nice to see you. Have you come for the favour I owe you?" Her voice was quiet, no louder than a whisper as she smiled up at Winter.
"Yes, I've come to collect your debt. I need you to break Lillith out of the princess's pearl and since you two used to be close I thought that it might be best to ask you to do it."
"You!" Cami shouted, pointing at the goddess. "You're my attendant when I came for the cleansing ritual to become chief!"
Juturna turned to the princess and gave her a smile before holding out her hand. Cami hesitated but she crouched at the edge of the spring and handed the pearl over.
The spirit cradled her friend's vessel close to her chest and smiled as she felt the familiar energy lock in with hers.
"Jokul, you can go. I'll keep her safe. I can't even begin to thank you" the goddess sunk back into the waters with a wide smile and tears in her eyes.
Jake p.o.v. Reality
"They… I mean, you… WHAT THE HELL MAN?!" I shouted at my brother. "First Eva with Hodr, now me with Juturna. Really you are just the worst person ever. You need to tell a guy when he is going to confess to a girl who swings for the other team. Not cool, Jackie. Not cool at all." I shouted at my brother who looked guilty and wouldn't meet my eyes.
"I- it's really not the point… and anyway I did tell you- you were just too drunk to listen and decided that spilling your alcohol on her was a good way to chat her up."
"I did what? You know I don't remember anything when I've been drinking! Why didn't you tell me! I could have apologised to her the next day but since I didn't know I tried to chat her up and got flung into the Mediterranean sea for my trouble." Really! What kind of brother does that! Jack even had the nerve to look sheepish.
His daughter proceeded to shush me and pointed to the scene in front of us.
3rd person p.o.v. Dreamscape
They were back in Athene's quarters and Eva had joined them on the soft cushions of Athene's rooms. She looked weary and her skin was as pale as Jokul's. Morgan, the second spirit that had been taken by Pitch, was unconscious on a pile of blankets behind the goddess.
"Even though we recovered two of the three spirits we set out to free, we're too late to save Yule. He's been corrupted by a fearling, just like Pitch and if we do not hurry his apprentice will be infected too. I need you to take care of him. If we had the time I could try to extract the fearling but I fear that the balance of the seasons has already started to shift. You need to sever his connection to Winter and to his student before I can even try to cure him but he will no longer be Yule." Athene said. She could see that Eva was having a hard time with the task her brother needed to accomplish but Jokul had already gotten into his old frame of mind; that of the best soldier in the Great War. She remembered his first day under her command and the utter relief and fear of the aftermath of the battle. The thousands of fearling corpses already starting to revert to the golden sand of dreams while Jokul kept swinging each weapon he found on the ground at his next target. The rest of the troupes were lingering behind and she really couldn't fault them. The frightening picture he painted was enough to keep even the primordial gods a good way away.
The war ended soon after Jokul and his siblings had joined the ranks of the spirits, but no one really knew what or who they were as none had used any unique powers or techniques. They were classified as spirits of war until the day Seraphina Pitchner had been captured by the commanders of the spirits in an attempt to locate her father.
One of the commanders got too rough and killed her. The next thing anyone registered was his head rolling and the four heroes of the war holding Seraphina in their arms as she was reborn into a spirit. They took her with them leaving the remaining commanders with the promise that anyone who harmed their 'Mother' would be dealt with accordingly.
Jokul stood and promised her that it would be done and waited patiently for her to open up another portal. Athene knew that Jokul was going to take this hard as soon as he let himself feel anything and prepared herself for the aftermath.
"I know you'll do it. I just hope you won't beat yourself once everything is over." She said as she drew on the mirror.
"You'll keep us safe but destroy yourself in the process." She kissed his cheek as the light of the portal shone behind her.
"Just come back to us in one piece." with that she pushed him through the portal and held Eva as she wept.
[1] I call you form the depths of these waters, Joturna, to free a spirit unjustly imprisoned.