"Hiccup?" Kara said gently, stepping up to him. "You...don't look good."

He wanted to give his stepmom a dry look, but she was right - he hadn't slept a wink last night. There were dark bags under his eyes.

After the witch had appeared to see him, Hiccup had ran, Toothless right behind him, all the way back to the house. He had climbed in through the window.

The window. The window, in the secret passage, led to a whole other...world? Parallel universe? The land of dragons? It was hard to tell.

"Um...nightmare," he said quietly. Kara nodded hesitantly, looking like she was going to say more, but instead, walked away, sighing with a troubled look on her face.

Whatever she was worried about, Hiccup doubted that it was as big as being chased by a chaos god. And having a dragon.

Thor, he had flown yesterday. The tail needed adjustments for sure, but with a few, he could probably have Toothless flying soon. Maybe a few nights in the forge…

Hiccup sat down dizzily. Too much had happened yesterday.

A dragon was one thing, but an entire other world was an entirely different thing.

Heather seemed to be particularly quiet today in the library. She looked nervous, and kept looking behind her shoulder as she read a book.

"Are you okay?" Hiccup finally asked, gazing at her. "You seem jumpy."

She bit her lip, but nodded quickly. "I-I'm fine, but I have to - can't help you today, sorry. I actually have to go."

She left before he could say anything, so Hiccup put his things in his bag and was going to go find Fishlegs when the mayor appeared in front of him. Hiccup's heartbeat sped up considerably. He hadn't done anything wrong, had he? (Or at least nothing noticeable.)

"Mr. Haddock," Viggo said quietly, "would you walk with me?"

Hiccup narrowed his eyes. The mayor shouldn't even have been in the school, and now he wanted to walk with him?

"It's quite urgent."

Quite urgent, sure. Hiccup told himself that the man wouldn't try harming him because his father owned the most important artifact in the town, but then again, the man had almost killed a dragon. He was clearly unafraid.

As they walked, Viggo took great measures to get them out of sight until they were outside of the school and walking towards an alley.

At first, the mayor only gave pleasantries, asking him how he was adjusting and how school was. Hiccup responded with vague answers, but for a second, he thought maybe it was just a formal visit and nothing more.

And in that second, Viggo had him pressed against the rough rock of the wall and was blocking his airway.

"Stay away, boy," he hissed, as Hiccup gasped for air, "stay away from the dragon, and stay away from the east wing."

With that, he dropped him and walked away as though nothing had happened, and Hiccup breathed heavily, hearing the bell ring. He was going to be late to his next class.

It took Astrid's help (after he explained to her exactly why she couldn't see the dragons), but eventually, the pair of them convinced Fishlegs that dragons existed. At first, Hiccup had been against it, but Astrid had insisted that if he really wanted to know where and what the east wing was.

It took even more convincing when they told Fishlegs that they might run into a Night Fury there. Both of them followed Hiccup inside the house and into the secret door he always used, now having a bit of an idea where he was going.

It was risky to go into the passageways during the day, especially after Viggo's threat, but Hiccup didn't want Astrid and Fishlegs to get caught sneaking out of bed at night. It was simply too much of a risk. And then they would all get in trouble.

"Where's the dragon?" Fishlegs whispered loudly.

"No idea," Hiccup whispered back, a little quieter, "he comes when he wants to. Which way is the east wing? Astrid said you're good with mazes."

Fishlegs furrowed his brows, turning his head and taking out a compass. "If you follow me, I can probably remember which way we came when we want to go back."

Astrid exchanged a slightly amused glance with Hiccup as Fishlegs didn't wait for them to respond, choosing to just walk. Every door they entered, they left open. And did so silently. Astrid's shoulders were tensed, and every once in a while Fishlegs would let out a whimper.

It gave Hiccup some time to think. He had never been in the East Wing, but Viggo clearly thought he had. What was he hiding in there?

And...an even worse thought came to him. If Viggo knew that Hiccup had set Toothless free, that meant he had come inside the house again. It wasn't a nice thought. What if they ran into him?

"Guys," he said quietly, "we should be -"

There were footsteps. Fishlegs squeaked and Astrid put on a defensive pose, gesturing for the boys to get behind her. Hiccup only hesitated for a second before complying.

Scratch that. It wasn't just one person, but a few people. Three or four, if he'd have to guess. They pressed against the wall.

Someone grabbed the door in front of them, and shoved it open.

"Hey, guys. I a-door this house."

The next thing he knew, Astrid was screaming. Not in fear, but in anger. She leapt forward and jumped on Tuffnut Thorston, who cried out (very much in fear) as she pummeled him.

"Did - did you guys follow us?" Hiccup asked a sheepish looking Snotlout. "Why would you do that?"

"Hey, it was their idea!" Snotlout pointed to a still shouting Tuffnut and a gleeful Ruffnut. "I'm the innocent one here!"

"Alright, alright, break it up." Hiccup sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Astrid gave Tuff one final punch in the stomach and stood up, clenching her fists. "You muttonheads!"

Hiccup gave her a pleading look, and she relented, stomping towards one of the doors without asking Fishlegs if it was the right one. Meanwhile, the boy with the compass gave Snotlout and the twins disapproving looks.

Ruffnut crossed her arms. "I'm not apologizing."

He was about to respond to her when Astrid let out a strangled sound, calling his name quietly. He stepped inside the room, and again, there was writing on the wall. There were no more doors save for the one they had entered from.

This time, the writing was in runes. He was about to sigh when Astrid read, in a slightly choked voice.

"When person and dragon are the same in body and mind, only then can Bludvist return to his kind. A great danger comes to the land of Berk, it will rise to the sun or drown in dirt."

Hiccup furrowed his brows. "I - so Drago is coming?"

"Yes," Astrid murmured, "and someone will stop him. You. You're here to save Berk."

He chuckled nervously, looking around at all the teens and waiting for one of them to contradict her. "You're kidding. I'm a high schooler. I'm...me."

"There is a flaw." She tilted her head. "You and your dragon aren't the same in body and mind. You said he had a missing tail fin. Unless you were to lose your leg or something...it can't be you."

It wasn't him whether he had his limbs or not. Hiccup was certain of it. But that meant one thing.

There was another person with a dragon out there, and the teens needed to reach them before it was too late.