Sorry for the delay. One of the authors sort of got married. But now we're both back!

Leaving seemed to be the pretty obvious choice. Hiccup had his cup with which to do whatever he would wind up doing with it and all he really needed to do was give a friendly wave and farewell and be on his way.

But things didn't go that way. The next thing he knew he was in a chair at one of the impossibly long tables while dead warriors surrounded him swearing, laughing, eating, and drinking.

Valhalla was pure chaos.

A friendly farewell was far from acceptable. Not after what Hiccup had done. He had taken out Odin himself. Got him with the sword. Right there on the battlefield. Everyone had seen it, or had at least claimed to. Whatever the Valkyrie had said about Odin going easy on Hiccup had been missed by the rest of the hoard of warriors. Far from being allowed to leave the hall, Hiccup seemed to be the guest of the night, pounded on the back and cheered to no end. It was a good hour before conversation from the subject of him.

Even then, Odin, healed and alive save for that missing eye, spent the night gazing at Hiccup with a knowing smile.

Having gods stare at him was really awkward. Hiccup kept wondering if he would suddenly find himself in a ball of flames.

The cup rested on his lap. No one had said anything about it. Was that what Odin noticed? Hiccup had the feeling that single eye could stare through anything. What would happen when Hiccup left? Would Odin cry out, and would a million angry warriors beat the bulp out of Hiccup's soul to retrieve the cup? That was so the last thing he needed.

He tried to push it out of his mind and enjoy the madness of a Valhalla meal. There was more food and drink than he had ever comprehended before in his life. Another discovery of death, he supposed. He hadn't eaten since his death. Food was strange. Did the dead need to eat it? Yet he seemed as solid as the food around him, and the taste of it seemed real. Better than anything he had ever had, in fact. But he was far from eating it with the gusto every other warrior possessed.

At least things seemed to calm. The rowdy conversations split into separate groups, and many warriors collapsed on the table, snoring loudly. If Hiccup squinted enough, he could spot the entrance where he and Disa had entered hours before.

Where was Disa? He hadn't seen her since she had spotted her husband. Well, he would just have to meet up with her later. Hiccup stood up from the benches and surveyed the Hall. So this was the final resting place of warriors until Ragnorak. He had to admit, other gods had been right. The place really did not appeal to him. This was the place Snotlout would end up when he died, and quiet happily, too. Hiccup clenched the cup in his fist and made his way to the door. There were enough warriors still making a scene that he could get through distracted. Hopefully.

He was almost to the door when a voice stopped him.

"Hiccup." It wasn't particular loud, but somehow managed to fill the entire Hall, an impressive feat judging by the size of the place.

Hiccup's hand froze at the door, and he felt the same way he felt when his father caught him doing something he shouldn't. He bit his lip and turned. "Your Lordship."

Odin, in this form, was the tallest man Hiccup had ever seen and it occurred to Hiccup that if Odin so chose he could fill the Hall with his own body. He wore the garb of a warrior, but finer than anything a warrior would wear. Hair the color of fire swept over his empty eye socket. He did not reply, but looked down at Hiccup with a completely unreadable face.

Oh, gods that were present. Hiccup gulped. "Sir, if I can, I need to be on my way." The cup was in plain sight. Like an idiot Hiccup shoved it behind his back.

Odin gave a faint nod. "I see. And where do you need to go?"

"I…" Did he need to bring up the fact that he didn't belong here? That he had pretty much just wandered into Valhalla on his own without a single Valkyrie in attendance? Well, if Odin was worth his salt as a god he would already know that. Why not just admit it? "I didn't die a warrior's death. I don't belong here."

Odin threw back his massive head and laughed. He laughed long and hard until the Hall rang with it. It still not enough to wake up a single snoring warrior.

Hiccup just felt awkward.

At last Odin ended his personal joke with a wiping away of a tear. "That's for sure. You're the least likely candidate I've ever heard of. Trust me, if my Valkyries had seen you dead in a battlefield, they probably would have assumed you had been dead long before the battle had started. Probably had tripped over a rock or something or chocked on a bug. No, you are definitely not Valhalla material. Going easy on you back there was hard, if you can appreciate that. I couldn't use a fraction of my power."

So Hiccup killing Odin had been the joke of the Hall, apparently. Hiccup chewed again on his lip. "So, anyway, thanks for not killing me again, but yeah, that's really why I should leave."

"I understand," Odin said, running his fingers through his beard. "Pansies by nature can't withstand much of Valhalla."

Hiccup's jaw dropped. Had he just been insulted by a god?

"Not that you're a pansy, Hiccup. Just in battle. I know that you were a blacksmith. That's Thor's area. Yet I'm impressed you would come this far to steal from me."

Hiccup sheepishly brought forth the cup. "Yeah, about that. I guess you want this back."

"Nah, keep it," Odin said with a wave of his hand. "The cups are pretty much useless here. Always getting broken. I'll have to commission another set soon anyway, and hey, you did kill the Great Odin."

"Oh." Hiccup stared at the cup, trying to comprehend how something of such beauty would be meaningless. "Thanks. I mean, thank-you. Thank-you so much."

"What do you need it for? A scrawny dead boy like you?"

It sounded so stupid. "Well, Hel asked me to steal something from you."

"Why did she ask that?"

"I'm…" Hiccup sighed. "I don't have all my souls together yet. She said she would accept me into Hel anyway. If I brought her something back. But then I changed my mind. I don't want to spend eternity there. I just stole it, I guess, to steal it. I figured, why not?"

"Mm." Odin crossed his great arms over his chest. "So now it's a souveneir. "

"I guess so," Hiccup relied as he examined the cup. Fat lot of good it was going to do. He was still dead, he still had no place to go… His fingers brushed over the carvings of the cup as an idea came to him. Not a request, he couldn't be so bold. A question. Nothing more. He could ask a question of Odin. Couldn't he? "Your Lordship, can I ask you a question?"

Odin's smile returned. "I know all things."

Hiccup held up his right wrist where the gold thread of the Norns was tied. "My life thread has been cut." What was he asking? Was he seriously asking what he was asking? "Can… can it be fixed?"

As soon as the question was out he knew it was a stupid question. But even then it burned in the air around him, exciting and full of promise. He wasn't supposed to die. It had been an accident, nothing more. He was still a boy, had done nothing in his life worth attention. All those years he wasn't going to get… maybe he could still have them. Maybe they could still be his. He stared up at Odin, fearing once again the burst of flames but suddenly having to know.

"The Norns," Odin said slowly, "Are women unknown to the gods. The "all things" I know do not include them. The fates they weave are their business."

"But you're Odin. You could say something to them. Make them—"

"The Norns hold my life thread as well. I can't make them do anything. You'll find that there are few things you can make anyone do. Loki, for example, would like nothing more than to get to this Hall. Am I correct in assuming he's become involved?"

Hiccup nodded.

"Loki is a good friend to me. But he can't make me allow him in my Hall, not like I allowed you. It was my choice, and my choice alone. You had a choice. You are choosing not to give this cup to Hel. But life and death are not choices you get to make, Hiccup. Not in this situation."

Hiccup nodded again. Of course. He knew that. He knew it even as he was asking dumb questions. It still wasn't fair. "I understand."

"So what are you going to do with that cup?"

The question was so out of context that Hiccup nearly dropped the cup. "I… I mostly just wanted to see if I could get it. I didn't expect it to be handed to me."

Odin laughed. "You can't fool the god Odin."

Hiccup smiled weakly. "I know that now."

"Do you want my advice?"

The advice of a god? Did he dare refuse it? Hiccup nodded a third time.

"Go home. Back to your village. Wait like everyone else. You'll meet your fate soon enough. Besides, it might be good for you."

Seeing Berk again. A Berk he wouldn't participate in. Friends he couldn't talk with, a dragon he couldn't ride. He resisted rolling his eyes. Yeah, home was the last place he wanted to be. But he couldn't say that to Odin. "Thank-you," he said.

But when he pushed the doors open, he was not in the line of trees.

A village spread out beneath him covered in snow.

He was back in Berk.