Chapter 25-A Matter of Trust

Jack was hesitant to lower the ships now that the search was over. The vessels are still in good conditions to be use again once the waters are drain, but there's no time to surface them completely; he was afraid of leaving the ships under for too long, not knowing what salt water will do to the entire vessels. But Hiccup insures Jack that leaving them down there for a day wouldn't be too bad, reasoning that the wood would have to be soaking for years before become fuzzy or soft. Also, there was no use worrying about any of the material items on them, they either survive the sea damage or not.

Wanting to reach the castle as fast as possible, Merida had Elsa and Anna ride Angus, with Anna holding the reins, and Elsa ridding sidesaddle. Meanwhile, Merida rode with Hiccup on Toothless, but they didn't fly. Hiccup had Toothless snake around the buildings as to not be seen while following Angas, all for the purpose of not spooking the soldiers. Jack also copied Toothless' stealth mode for the same reason. However, the streets leading to the castle were filled with wounded soldiers, crowding their way to be treated at the castle, in which Elsa couldn't understand why. Before leaving for the other world, Grill had suggested turning the ball room of the castle into a medical station, as well as placing several others around town to avoid difficult traffics and collisions. So why are so many soldiers flocking to the castle? Was it because of Rapunzel?

Upon nearing the bridge leading to the castle, the group saw that there was no way through the front gates. Not wanting to force their way through the injured, Elsa suggested taking a side door around the castle; it would lead them into the courtyard and from there then they can make their way into the castle to find Lukas and Rapunzel. The door that she suggested was near the very back, appearing to be an emergency escape way by boat, but it isn't very secretive, seeing how it can be seen on the other side of the shorelines. "That's strange. No guards" noted Jack. He was looking to the high walls of the castle, making sure no one was going to shoot them by mistake, but there was no security.

"This passageway hasn't been use for a while," Elsa explains, "sometimes it would be forgotten; so often that the patrolling guards would forget to maintain regular security on it."

"That's good and all for us, but can we get in though?" Merida asks.

"If not, we can always break in."

"Nice, so there's a rebel side to you," teased Jack, which was received with a smile from Elsa. He drifted towards the door first to be sure, but no alarm was raised. Soon to follow was the sisters. Elsa held on tightly to Anna, while she tightens her grip on the reins. With a little encouragement from Merida, Angus took a great leap towards the stony shore next to the door. It was quick, and there was a bit of a jolt when he landed, but Jack caught the sisters and steadied them so they wouldn't fall. Next was Toothless; with a flap, he landed on the opposite side where the others stood.

Merida dismounted and tries to open the door, while Jack helped Elsa and Anna to dismount Angus. "No choice, we're breaking an entry," Merida announce.

"Wait, let me," offered Elsa. Reaching the door, she shot a tiny bolt of ice freezing the whole lock. There was a clank. She turns the latch. And the door opens.

"Rebel," Jack said quietly.

XxXxXx

Reaching the courtyard, they saw that it was even more chaotic then it was outside the gates. It was decided that Toothless should be left in the passageway until it was safe to call him out. Earlier, Merida had agreed to have Angus be taken to the stable, so Anna quickly arranged it with a passing by servant to take him there. For Jack, he wanted to cover his hair and face by adding a hood to his poncho, now giving him the appearance of a ranger. Merida had pulled up her own hood to hide the redness of her hair; meanwhile, Hiccup did his best to be inconspicuous with his silver shield and his physical outlook, by concealing himself as much as possible following closely between his friends.

At first, the group had to force their way through the men as they try to make it to the ballroom. But eventually, the Arendelle soldiers started recognizing their queen and princess, and immediately started making a hole for them and their strange companions to go through, by means of announcing their presence, or a light push and shove. When the group finally reached their destination—to the farthest corner of the room, they found Lukas, Eugene, and Rapunzel arguing angrily with both the commanding generals of Arendelle and the Southern Isle military.

"Now what is going on here?" Elsa asks, approaching the group with the others trailing behind her.

At the sight of the Queen and Princess of Arendelle, the commanding general of Arendelle straighten his form and bowed to them, while the Southern Isle commander did the same, though bowed his head slightly lower for a respectable greeting. "Your Majesty, Princess!" greeted the Arendelle commander with a grand smile, "Welcome back, we've been waiting anxiously for your return."

"And now we're back, but what is going on here?"

"Elsa, good timing," said Rapunzel, moving to stand beside her. "We've been trying to tell Commander Gorm and Commander Atlas that I am here to help; I can heal the men instantly if they will just let me."

"Your Majesty," said Commander Gorm, "I believe Prince Luka's words when he told me that this young lady here is a new ally of ours, and that she has remarkable healing magic. Her skills are vouched by our witnesses Prince Eugene and Princess Rapunzel, but please understand why I don't trust a…stranger, for taking care of my men."

Stepping up, Eugene decided to speak. "Commander Gorm, Bellflower has already healed some of the soldiers along the way, if we can find these men and have them speak, you will see she's trustworthy," he argues.

"I have to disagree with you Prince Eugene," voice Commander Atlas, "Until now, we had little knowledge of what we were going up against in this war, and after today's battle, it proves that there is something unnatural about Hans' new powers, and Hans himself, considering what he has become." This response from Atlas was a surprise to Elsa. Isn't he aware of the existence of the Promise Book? "I suspect Miss. Bellflower is of the same nature, unnatural. And at the moment, I don't trust an unnatural stranger to tend to the men either."

"Sharp as always Commander Atlas," said Lukas, his eyes narrowing dangerously, "But that was completely out of line and rude to our new ally."

"…Prince Lukas, you have known me for quite some time now. And you know I only speak my honest thoughts in any situation out of the well fair of my country and men. And here it is; I don't trust her."

"—Commander Atlas," said Elsa, her tone firm and controlled, "You are right about one thing and that Bellflower is different. But don't go lumping her in with Hans. Bellflower is our ally; she is offering to help fight this war in exchange for nothing—"

"Nothing you say. I don't quite agree. I believe there is a motive for her for fighting alongside us. No one just gives up their life for a war so blindly without reason or motive." Elsa couldn't respond, not knowing how much she should reveal about the spirits and Guardians. Would they believe there's a whole other world of Beings?

"You are right Commander," Hiccup said, speaking up from behind the group.

"…And you are?" asks Commander Gorm, eyeing Hiccup with a critical eye.

Hiccup moved towards the front to show himself full, and Elsa saw how unimpressed the Commanders are. "My name is Hiccup; I also signed up to aid in this war."

"…You are only a boy, what can you do exactly?" ask Commander Atlas.

"Never mind that, the issue right now is that you don't trust Bellflower. Or rather, I should say you don't trust any one of us." Hiccup said, waving a hand over himself and the rest of his fellow Guardians.

"So all of you are the same as Bellflower?"

"Yes. And I can tell you what our motives are for helping." Elsa turns to see if the other Guardians approve. Merida's expression was angry, but Elsa couldn't tell if her anger was directed at Hiccup, or at the Commanders for their doubts about them. Rapunzel's expression was unreadable, while Jack was looking calm, even smiling slightly. "You see Commander, you are right about us being different, and unfortunately, your Prince Hans has made contact with a rather dangerous man, or rather, a dangerous spirit name Pitch."

"Spirit?!" Gorm spat. "But that's—"

"What's hard to believe? There are rock tolls in Arendelle, mermaids near Denmark, bridge trolls somewhere, fairies, dwarfs, elves. Why not spirits? The point is, Hans has entered into an agreement with Pitch; if Pitch lends Hans his power and helps him conquer Arendelle and the Southern Isle, he will have to help him with something in return."

"And what does this Pitch wants in return?"

"We don't know—but whatever it is we know it isn't good, and this leads to why my friends and I are helping in this war. We've been tasked to stop Pitch. You can even say it's our job to stop him in general." The two commanders looked at each other, and both returned their gaze—glaring at Hiccup and the other Guardians. "…Commander Atlas, Commander Gorm…spirits are born with purposes: some for good some for bad. We are spirits born for the purpose of stopping those like Pitch. Most of us here are more than hundreds-of-years old. We know Pitch, we faced him before. Whether you choose to believe it or not depends on you; but it still doesn't change the fact that we're here to help, and we can help." Hiccup side-step past Gorm to reach Lukas. "Prince Lukas, why are there so many of the injured here? I know the castle is large, but isn't it inconvenient to have the men come here if they're stationed far away?"

"We had several medical stations placed throughout the town, and a little ways away, but it seems most of them have been destroyed during today's battle, so most of the men are being brought here."

Hiccup nodded, and then returns his attention to the commanders. "Commanders please, the majority of the medical stations are down, and there are many injured soldiers, but there isn't enough room or space to tend to the mass of them. And right now, there is just as much chaos as there was when the battle started. So what can you lose by letting Bellflower use her healing magic?" There was no answer from either commanders. "…Fine, if you insist on not letting her do so, that's fine. But will you at least be fair and allow her a trial run? That way you can be the judge for yourselves, and no one will criticize either of you for not giving her a chance."

"...And if we were to refuse once more?" ask Commander Gorm.

Lukas was the one who answers, and he made a firm statement out of it as well. "Well I've tried ordering the two of you to let Bellflower use her magic, but that wasn't working. So this time if neither of you obey, then the both of you shall be relieve of your duty immediately." He didn't want to resort to this action, for Atlas is a good commander, and for generations his family has been in loyal and faithful service to his family, as well as the whole Southern Isle Kingdom. But there's no room for disobedience, not if he and the other's wanted the Guardians to have the peoples' trust, as well as free range to do what's needed to help win this magical war. "And you Queen Elsa, do you agree?"

"…I would hate to lose a valuable man like Commander Gorm; you have been a loyal soldier to the family for years, and your skills as a worrier and leader are exceptional…But if you cannot obey this critical order, then I'm afraid you will be removed from your position."

"—Prince Lukas, Queen Elsa, wait, there's no need to remove them from their post," said Hiccup. "The agreement I've purposed to them is just to let Bellflower have a trial run, and let them be the judge of her performance. If they agree to give her a chance, then that works in our favor, but if not, then they'll be the ones to face the criticisms. There's no point in removing two of your kingdoms' favorable military commanders; that may cause some disagreements with the soldiers instead of helping them to get along with us."

"Then what do you expect us to do Hiccup?" ask Lukas, "We can't have people under our command undermining our authority. That can hinder our control as a leader and ruler of our kingdom. What do you want us to do?"

"…I want you, to trust me…" He had said it so gently; he had said it with a small smile on his face, and yet, his head was held high and his chest was ever so slightly puffed, reminding Elsa of what she'd seen in his memory during the Pact ceremony. It is what made him special. "Let me perform my Pact…" he said even quieter, before turning to the commanders again. "The two of you have my promise that your post is safe, no matter what your decision is."

The two men were silent, deep in their own thoughts. When it seems as though they reached their own conclusion, Gorm made to speak but Atlas stops him. "I know how you feel but there is no need to say anything yet Commander Gorm," said Atlas. "Let's agree to this trial run first. If the performance doesn't subside our doubts by any rate, then our original answer is final. Agreed?" Gorm nodded.

"Alright!" express Merida, walking over to Eugene to dig for something inside the rucksack. "Let's get these first batches of men heal-up, shall we?"

"—Now wait a minute," said Atlas sharply, "This is a trust trial is it not?"

"Yes, it is," Rapunzel reply hesitantly.

Atlas turns to look sternly at Hiccup, pointing a finger at him dead in the chest. "Then I want this lad here to run the trial."

"Now hold on Commander," said Lukas, "the agreement was to have Bellflower—"

"I know the agreement, but this lad here was the one to suggest a trial of trust. So I would like him to perform the trial and gain what little trust from us the best he can."

"Commander—"

"It's alright Prince Lukas, I can handle this. If you really want me to replace Bellflower for the trial, that's fine with me, but I don't process any healing magic."

"Then perform whatever ability you can; the point is to prove that we can trust spirits like you and your friends here."

"If that's the case, then I think I have just the right thing. However, I can only show you one at a time."

"And why's that?"

"Because this is about trust, and my special magic is not like my friends here. It's not extravagant, it isn't visible; it's not something that can be shown off. It can only be convey and feel. So who wants to go first?"

Both commanders volunteered to go first, but it was decided by the group that Atlas should go first. He was skeptic on what Hiccup has to show, but eventually was led away pushing their way through the crowd of soldiers. Hiccup didn't say where they were going, but Elsa saw how the other Guardians were smiling as the two left; she will have to inquire them about what they know later on. For the meantime, Anna was assigned the tasked to go and look for the councilors and arrange a public presentation of the young Guardians. Eugene made the Rapunzel doll act sick to the best of his imagination, and then made the excuse to take her to rest. Meanwhile the rest of the group decided to help with the medical team tend to the wounded, manually.