Hi! I'm back with ch. 25 =) I've been working on this chapter for a while and it is currently 4am so I apologize for any mistakes/nonsense, but I really wanted to get this chapter out quickly as an apology for the last delay. For further explanation of Rapunzel and Flynn's past see the AN at the end of the ch. I own nothing but the plot and hope you enjoy reading!
"NO!"
The walls, ground, and ceiling quaked as the two teens fell to the floor. They ducked when the windows shattered, Hiccup finding himself wedged between Rapunzel and the wall. Then, all was still. Only the sound of panicked breaths penetrated the silence that fell across the ruined home. Pascal was the first to venture out of the huddle, climbing up golden locks to sit atop his companion's head. A couple moments passed before he chirped. Rapunzel slowly lifted her head, spring green orbs examining the state of their surroundings. Forks, knives, spoons, lamps, small cabinets, and shards of glass littered the floor. The bundle in her arms shifted and squirmed, a mop of auburn hair peeking out beneath yards of gold. Hiccup glanced around, eyes widening when they saw the room they had fled from.
"R-rapunzel, we-we have to go back," he spoke reluctantly, but urgently, nudging his friend.
The blonde gazed down at him doubtfully, fear flickering in her eyes, "She did all this and you want us to go back? I know you said she wouldn't hurt me, but I think she gave up on that promise. We need to get out of here before she traps us again."
The freckled teen looked back into the other room and sighed, "Rapunzel, she exhausted her energy and we're the only two around she could even try to draw from. I don't think she has the energy to hurt us anymore…I have to at least try to talk with her."
"But why? I sang, so why…" she trailed off, searching forest green orbs for answers.
Hiccup could feel a headache blooming in his skull and a weight settling on his shoulders, "Gothel thought you were magical somehow. I don't really know what she expected to happen, but whatever it was didn't happen and she freaked. I've never seen a ghost so…so broken before. I have to try to help her cross over."
Rapunzel stared at him intently, before she shuddered and cradled her head in her hands, "Oh, Hiccup. This is crazy, but okay. Just give me a second."
The brunette nodded. He leaned back against the wall as his friend steadied her breathing. She stood slowly, offering a hand and pulling the younger teen up beside her. The trio made their way back into the room where Gothel sat huddled on the floor, trembling. Hiccup sat a few feet away from her and Rapunzel settled beside him.
The freckled teen inhaled deeply before beginning, "Gothel?"
"What?" she tried to sneer, but only managed to sound miserable.
"What did you think would happen when Rapunzel sang?" he questioned gently, as if coaxing a wounded animal out of hiding.
The specter's head lifted, gray orbs narrowed and glistening, "Rapunzel's hair was magic, she was supposed to bring me back to life."
"People don't return from the dead, Gothel, ever. The only way they can move is forwards," the brunette said resolutely, but with a sad smile.
"I was supposed to live forever," she growled without venom.
He frowned, voice gaining volume, "No one lives forever. You have to accept the fact that you're dead."
Horror flashed through gray eyes, panic weaving into her words, "B-but if it didn't work–"
"It never worked. You abducted an innocent child, caged and abused her, caused her and her family grief and pain, all for the sake of something that never existed in the first place. You stole a year of her life, for nothing," his voice was low and hard, pinning the specter with his gaze, "That wasn't enough, so you stayed even after you died, to torment her and her friends, and destroy her house. With no justification for your actions."
"No…no," she breathed, tugging at the black curls framing her face.
Hiccup glared, "Yes, yes you did. You have to acknowledge what you've done. You have to accept that you're dead and all that you've done to Rapunzel, which would've still been inexcusable had her hair actually been magic. If you ever want to move on, you can't stay in denial."
Gothel dropped her head into her hands, "I-I…"
The freckled teen waited, allowing the ghost time to come to terms with her actions. A warm hand touched his shoulder, prompting the brunette to turn towards his friend. A small, worried frown adorned the tired face, green eyes searching his own. He offered a crooked smile of reassurance to let her know everything was alright at the moment.
Remorseful gray eyes lifted, face drained of color, "I…I'm…I'm s-so, so…"
The brunette nodded as the ghost trailed off, unable to voice her redress, and turned to his friend, "Rapunzel, Gothel wants to apologize."
The blonde seemed startled, but nodded slowly, opening and closing her mouth a few times before speaking, "I appreciate that, but I-I don't think I can forgive her...not yet at least."
"Wh-" anger flashed across the specter's face before falling once more, "I see. I guess I'm stuck here then."
Hiccup shook his head, "You're not trapped, Gothel. It's not Rapunzel's forgiveness you need to have to cross over, it's your own."
"Forgive myself?" she questioned skeptically, studying the young teen's face.
"To an extent," the freckled teen shrugged, playing with his fingers, "You have to accept what you've done in life and that you can't change what's already happened. If there's nothing left for you to do or learn here, then it's time to move on."
Gray eyes narrowed, "But how? I told you boy, had it worked I was going to get rid of you and I would've had no regrets! Look at what I've done to Rapunzel! How can you suggest I just 'move on'? Where would someone like me 'move on' to?"
"Yeah, while I'm still not too thrilled about all that, it didn't work. You have to stop worrying about the what ifs and focus on what actually happened, the cause and effects. Yes you did terrible things and planned to do terrible things, but not all of them led to terrible outcomes. Without you, Rapunzel's life would've been completely different – for better or worse I don't know, but I doubt she would've ever met Pascal or Flynn, her best friend and her boyfriend. I'm not saying this justifies anything you did, because it doesn't," he paused, running his hands through his hair in mild frustration, "Okay, here's a question. Are you happy with what you did?"
"No," the specter spat, glaring at him.
"Alright, good. Would you do it again if given the chance?"
She scoffed, "Of course not you daft child."
The brunette smiled at her response and gestured to the room, "So, that means you learned something out of all this, right?"
Her eyes widened after a moment, "Perhaps."
"Is there anything left for you to do?" he questioned, glancing around the tarnished room.
The specter looked to the blonde sitting nervously next to her friend, one hand still grasping his shoulder, "Rapunzel…"
"Unless you have enough energy left to clean up this mess, the only thing you can do to help Rapunzel is leave," the freckled teen tried to lighten the mood with the joking lilt in his voice.
Gray orbs stared questioningly and almost fearfully up at the blonde, before flicking back to Hiccup who questioned, "Er, right Rapunzel?"
The elder teen frowned at his wording, "Well, any help cleaning would be much appreciated, but other than that, no thank you."
"See?" he grinned crookedly at the confirmation.
Gothel sighed and glanced down, scowling at her lap. Moments passed in silence as the ghost clenched and stretched her hands over and over again. Eventually, gray eyes lifted to meet forest green and pale hands relaxed in her lap.
"Okay," the voice was calm, candid, and resolute.
A comforting warmth filled the room as an oval of bright light took shape. Hiccup allowed his tense shoulders to sag as a content sigh escaped his lips. Gothel stood and faced the portal, reaching one hand towards the blissful radiance.
When she took a step forward, the brunette bit his lip, "Hey, Gothel? W-would you do me a favor?"
One dark eyebrow rose in askance and slight disdain.
"Tell everyone I say hi."
She paused in surprise and then nodded, a kind, genuine smile alighting her features. The next moment the ghost was gone along with the oval of light. Hiccup groaned and flopped backwards, lying on the floor.
Laughter bubbled up from his chest, though it left as light, airy giggles, "Oh gods, that was exhausting."
Wide, spring green orbs stared down at him in concern and thin fingers brushed away the bangs from his forehead, "Are you alright? Is…is she gone?"
"I'm fine, uh, a-okay," he offered a thumbs up and smirked, "Gothel crossed over. You will never have to deal with her. Ever. Again."
The freckled teen was not expecting the sudden welling and release of tears, "R-Rapunzel? Oh gosh, y-you're crying-I'm s-s-s-sorry. What-what's wrong?"
Before he had the chance to sit up, the elder teen grabbed him and pulled him into her rather tight embrace, "Oh Hiccup! I-I'm okay, I'm just so relieved."
The brunette did his best to return the hug, but with his arms trapped between himself and his friend, it was a little awkward. After a while she released him and sat back, wiping at her eyes while Pascal chirped soothingly from her shoulder. Hiccup continued to observe his friend with concern until she flashed him her stunning smile, a sight that had been sorely missed that past week. Pale hands brushed long tangled tresses out of her face before spring green eyes widened.
"So…I'm free now…" she mumbled, as if speaking to herself and not to either of her companions.
Dark brows quirked, "Y-yeah. She can't get to you now that she's crossed over."
Rapunzel stood slowly and lifted one of the chef knives from the floor, gripping it tightly in her right hand. She marched out of the room, Hiccup scrambling behind her in confusion.
"Uh, er, R-rapunzel? W-where are you going?" he questioned nervously, watching out for the broken glass and cutlery that littered the floor.
The blonde didn't answer, though she was careful not to injure her bare feet. The freckled teen followed her into the kitchen. Rapunzel used the back of the knife to clear away the debris on the counter, then climbed up the counter and jumped out the window. Hiccup yelped and hurried after her, struggling up the counter and tumbling out the window–not his best idea for it left him with a few scrapes from the glass in the grass. His blonde friend was already turning the corner of the house to the front yard, though some of her hair was still dragging across the kitchen floor. He finally caught up to her standing a few feet away from the sidewalk, knife held securely in her right hand. With her other hand, she held her hair in a taut bundle to the side of her head.
"Rapunzel, wh-what are you doing?" the brunette asked, stopping beside her.
She continued to stare straight ahead as Pascal leapt to his shoulder, chittering away, "I've always felt this-this need to keep my hair long, like I had to do it or something terrible would happen. It was like I didn't have a choice in the matter and I never knew why. But now I remember. Every night, every day, every hour she told me over and over never to cut it, never to hurt it, never to damage it…it-she-she took me because of my hair – all because of hair. All this time–thirteen years later and I'm still listening to her, still trapped by her. Well, not anymore!"
Rapunzel positioned the knife beside the bunch and sliced through, gritting her teeth with the effort.
Yards of golden locks fell to the earth, lifeless once they were no longer connected to their source. Spring green orbs peeked open, glancing at the motionless strands. The knife clattered to ground as she lifted her hands to feel what was left of her hair. The short locks seemed darker, more of a light bronze than a bright gold, as they had yet to be bleached years of sun exposure. It hung just above her shoulders, choppy and wild. Wide spring green eyes narrowed as laughter escaped his friend's lips. She hopped around in a circle giggling as she continued to run her fingers through the shortened strands. Hiccup just stood there, gawking at the elder teen dancing around the lawn.
Eugene groaned, dropping his head against his desk with a loud smack. Despite the slight pain the man refused to get up, instead worming his phone out of his pocket and staring at the bright screen underneath his desk. No missed calls, no new texts, no voicemails. The brunette pouted and sat up, then glared at the enormous textbook laying open before him. His stomach growled.
"Well, nature calls," he spoke to himself, turning his back on the daunting work to head down the hall for a bite to eat.
Once he reached the refrigerator, he paused, looking down at his phone. It was almost dinnertime and still nothing. Eugene frowned and wandered away from the kitchen, subconsciously making his way towards the front door. Normally, he'd awaken to a 'good morning' text from Punzie and then more periodically after she got out of school. It was strange that she hadn't contacted him once and it nagged at him constantly. Not wanting to seem clingy or controlling, the brunette had refrained from contacting his girlfriend all day. However, she seemed a bit off the last couple of days and he was beginning to worry. Eugene didn't realize his plan until he was already out of the house, keys in hand. He would just stop by at her house and see if she wanted to go eat dinner at The Snugly Duckling. That could always bring a smile to her face. If not…well, he would think of something.
Eugene allowed his thoughts to drift as he went into autopilot, having driven to her house so many times he could probably do it in his sleep. He snapped out of his admittedly concerned ramblings when a splotch of white caught his eye. The brunette slowed down as he recognized the teen speed-walking down the empty street.
He rolled his window and called out, "Hey, Jack! What's up little man?"
That comment could usually rile up the tall youth into a jesting match, but this time only served to startle him, "Oh, hey Flynn!"
At the whitette's wave, Eugene quirked an eyebrow and pulled to the side of the road.
Before he could question the teen, Jack spoke up, "You wouldn't happen to be heading over to Punzie's, would you?"
"Yeah, how'd you guess?" he answered with a smirk and an eye-roll, knowing it was obvious.
The whitette only offered a nervous smile, "Just my awesome intuition. Think you could give me a lift? I, uh, I think she accidentally grabbed my text book during lunch and I kinda need it back."
Eugene frowned, but shrugged off his disappointment, "Sure thing. Hop in kid, we're almost there."
Jack grinned and slid into the passenger's seat, leg bouncing with his apparently unlimited supply of energy. Within a few turns they were pulling up Rapunzel's street. His foot slammed onto the accelerator when the brunette caught sight of her house. Eugene jolted to a stop beside the mailbox and leapt from his car. A trail of golden hair lay limp on the grass. Something glinted on the ground next to it, what appeared to be a knife. A boulder lay just to the side of the front door that had tiny square holes instead of windows. Dread and confusion knotted his stomach as Eugene dashed to the door, Jack a few frantic steps behind him.
"Rapunzel!" he shouted, pounding his fist against the wood.
Instead of a response, the door swung open, already ajar before their arrival. The brunette rushed inside, unaware of the shards of glass decorating the floor and deaf to the calls of his young friend behind him. He skidded to a stop outside the kitchen, halted by two pairs of shocked, green eyes.
"Eugene?" Rapunzel whispered, almost foreign without the long stream of hair behind her, but still causing his heart to quicken and warmth to flood his veins, "Eugene!"
The blonde launched herself at her stupefied boyfriend, wrapping her arms and legs around him, and showered his face in kisses. Still in shock, the brunette embraced her, returning a couple pecks on the lips before turning his head to the side so he could get a word in.
"Rapunzel," he breathed in reverence and relief, hugging her closer to himself.
His worry wasn't gone, but it was greatly reduced now that he knew she was safe, though he still had to ask, "What…what happened."
Hiccup almost jumped out of his skin at the sudden bang and muffled shouting. After Rapunzel celebrated her expression of freedom, she unblocked the doorway and the trio tiptoed inside. They had just gathered brooms and begun their cleaning, Rapunzel deciding it would be best if they discussed the paranormal while they worked, when the interruption came. Footsteps thudded down the hall and before he could react, Flynn tumbled into the doorway. Rapunzel practically tackled her boyfriend, who somehow managed to stay upright, when Jack and Mr. Frost dashed into the room. Icy blue met forest green and the freckled teen abruptly found himself without the ground beneath his feet.
"Hiccup!" Jack shouted as he lifted the smaller teen into the air and crushed him against his chest.
The younger teen gasped in alarm, "J-J-Jack…c-can't…b-br-breathe."
The whitette immediately released him and the little brunette sucked in a lungful of air. Large, cold hands clamped onto his shoulders.
"Hiccup, what happened? Are you alright? Where's Toothless? Where's the ghost?" the elder teen spouted off question after question without allotting him any time to respond.
"S-slow down a little, so I can–"
A chilly palm settled softly on his cheek, gently tilting his head to the side, "You're hurt."
Heat traveled up his neck to his face and his heart fluttered. Hiccup quickly pushed the cool hands away, trying to steady his breathing. Then the freckled teen registered the whitette's words. He lifted two fingers to his face, brushing them lightly across his cheek until he felt the slightest sting. He drew back to see a thin streak of crimson.
"Oh, heh, this? That's what I get for jumping out of broken windows," a small crooked grin appeared as he shrugged.
Pale brows rose and icy orbs widened in horror.
The brunette berated himself for his poor word choice, "I-I mean it's just a scratch Jack. I'm fine, see? And so is Rapunzel. We're both good."
A relieved sigh exited the elder teen before he smirked, "Ah, ah, ah, you're not off the hook yet, Freckles. What's all this about jumping out a window? And where is that demonic cat? Usually he'd at least have hissed at me by now."
"Yes Hiccup, where is Toothless? My wife said he would be here with you," spoke the voice of a parent already aware of their child's misdemeanor.
As Jack glanced around the kitchen, the freckled teen swallowed nervously, speaking slower with each word, "I, uh, I actually didn't end up bringing Toothless…"
"What? But you promised to get him! Hic, what if something happened and–" the elder teen began his rant only to be cut off by his young friend.
"If I took the time to get Toothless, Rapunzel could've gotten hurt! Gothel was already losing her patience by the time I got here," he spoke fervently but tried to keep his voice down so as not to raise Flynn's notice.
"Oh, Eugene you'd never believe me if I told you," Rapunzel sighed, though still managed snatched Hiccup's attention immediately.
The young brunette side-stepped Jack to carefully approach the couple, wary of the hazardous floor, as Flynn chuckled, "Try me."
She took a deep breath before continuing excitedly, "Okay, I'll start from the beginning. Now, wait until I finish for questions, Mr. Impatient, and trust me, you'll have a lot. Alright where was I…oh yes, the beginning. So I woke up this morning fairly late, around or maybe even a little after noon, because my alarm clock had mysteriously decided to stop working. At the time I didn't know, but now I'm sure it was m-Gothel. Pascal was chattering up a storm, though that's probably because he knew she was there, right? Oh, I'm sorry sweetie, I should've paid you more attention…We rushed downstairs since I thought I could still make it to some classes, but I couldn't get the door open! It kept locking on its own and then a boulder appeared in front of the door. So I thought I'd just go out the kitchen window, pretty logical, right? But then knives started flying at me and I couldn't get out. So, for the next, well I'm not sure exactly how long, but at least a couple hours, I fought off flying knives, flying knives Eugene! Then Hiccup came down the steps–oh I still don't know how he got inside, I'll have to ask him–and then he started talking to the air and everything stopped. I thought I was going mad, but no! It turns out Gothel, the woman who kidnapped me when I was little, remember? You found me in the little shack in the woods? Well, she died and came back because she thought my hair was magic! How crazy is that? And then, oh then Hiccup managed to talk her into leaving or something of the sort and then I cut my hair. We were just cleaning up, did I mention she shattered all of the windows? Well, she did, so Hiccup was helping me clean up and goodness, you almost scared me half to death! I thought she was back, but I guess she really can't do that…oh I'm so happy you're here!"
Flynn stared blankly for a couple of moments, obviously having missed much of what she said in her haste, and offered a nervous laugh, "Okay, okay, I get it. I'll lay off on the exaggeration when I enthrall you with my tales of college. So, what actually happened?"
The room froze. Blue orbs flicked anxiously between the couple and Hiccup. Rapunzel stuttered and unwrapped her legs around Flynn, lowering her feet to the floor.
The freckled teen felt his heart clench, but forced out a chuckle, "Heh, you-you caught us, um, actually I was just stopping by after school to say hi and, uh, it-it turns out Rapunzel's house is on some sort of miniature fault line. So, when a little t-tremor hit earlier, well, her house g-got hit worse than the others and yeah, you can s-see the damage for yourself. I was just helping her clean up."
"Gotcha. Got any more brooms, Punzie?" he gratefully accepted the fabricated excuse.
Rapunzel seemed taken aback, still hurt that such an important experience was brushed to the side. Guilt slithered around the young teen's stomach for inadvertently dragging her into his world. A world where truth was met with incredulity and lying was a necessity.
Before the blonde could answer, her stomach growled, "Actually, I haven't really eaten anything all day. Maybe we should eat first."
"Oh, well, why don't we head to The Snuggly Duckling? My treat," Flynn grinned, eager to brighten her day, "Then I can help you clean up, though you might want to stay at my house until we can replace your windows…"
"Thank you, Eugene, that's so sweet of you," she smiled and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
At the expectant spring green orbs, Hiccup shook his head, "Uh, actually, I should, uh, you know, head home. My dad'll be worried if I'm not there when he gets home, but, uh, I can stop by tomorrow to help you clean up, yeah?"
"Yeah," Jack chimed in, wrapping an arm around the smaller teen, "I'll walk Hic home. You two love birds go have fun."
Flynn shot them both an appreciative smile, but Rapunzel still seemed troubled, so the freckled teen spoke up, "We can, um, catch up more tomorrow, alright?"
"Alright," she nodded, brain undoubtedly buzzing with questions that would have to wait.
With that the two groups separated, Pascal sitting smugly atop Rapunzel's story and glaring at the elder brunette from time to time. The younger teens waved the couple off.
As they were pulling onto the street, Hiccup could hear Flynn ask, "So, what's with the hair? I thought you liked it super long?"
"I…I guess I was ready for a change," the blonde answered lightly, glancing out the window as they passed the duo.
The freckled teen could hear the smirk in his voice, "Well, I don't know how you managed it, but somehow it makes you look even cuter."
That sparked a small smile from the young brunette as the car sped out of hearing range. The arm around his shoulders tightened, pulling him close to the whitette.
"So, you gonna tell me what really happened?" Jack questioned, as his father nodded in encouragement.
Hiccup allowed his head to rest against his friend's cushioned shoulder, "Yeah, but I'd rather wait until we get home. Dad's working late tonight so it should be fine…ugh Toothless is going to kill me."
"That's what you get for lying. I might actually side with the little devil for once," the deep chuckle rumbled through his chest, comforting the brunette.
"Hey, no fair. That's two-er-three against one. You've got your dad on you side. This, sir, reeks of prejudice!" he teased tiredly, glancing up at the darkening sky.
"What happened to all that 'raw Vikingness'? Three on one should be a piece of cake to a muscle head like yourself," Jack snickered, earning a grin from his father.
The brunette pouted, "This Viking has done enough work for one day, thank you very much, and has no time to deal with your scrawny butt."
"And what exactly did you plan on doing with my 'scrawny butt'?" the whitette smirked deviously.
Hiccup shot up and attempted to push away from the elder teen, but the strong arm kept him in place, "Wh–you-you, gah, y-you're s-so immat-tr-true."
Jack just cackled until his blushing friend settled down, "Serves you right for lying. Next ghostie that pops up, I'm coming along!"
"And h-how, pray tell, are you supposed to help?" he deadpanned, cheeks cooling in the wintery air.
Pale brows lifted in challenge, "Well, I'll at least be better than that mangy devil, I'll actually be there."
The freckled teen stumbled for a moment before regaining his footing, "Oh, uh, speaking of Toothless…I need to stop by a grocery store to buy him some cod."
"Why?" his nose wrinkled in disgust.
"If we want to get in without getting our faces clawed off, it's a necessity," Hiccup shrugged, starting to pull his friend towards the closest store.
"I do like my face," the whitette grinned, picking up the pace, "But as soon as we appease your demonic familiar, you have to tell me what happened and no skimping on the details."
The brunette was already nodding before he finished the terms, "Deal."
"Alright, cod here we come!" Jack shouted, tearing off down the street.
The elder teen all but dragged his protesting friend while Mr. Frost floated behind them, shaking his head fondly at their antics. Vermillion light painted their path as the sun began its slow decent and the moon rose to brighten their way home.
Thanks for reading! Yay the fluff has returned (at least a little bit). I have a head cannon that Hiccup can sass anything you throw at him until it starts to get flirty and then he's just a little blushing ball of dork. Also, Flynn is not well educated on fault lines or earthquakes. I might include a more in depth explanation on how Gothel crossed over next chapter if Hic talks to Jack about it, but I'm not sure yet, so let me know if you have any questions on that because there is reasoning behind it (whether or not it's good reasoning is debatable). But yeah, Toothless is super pissed that Hiccup put himself in danger, Hiccup is right to fear his protective wrath.
Okay, regarding last chapter, it's been a while since Flynn's backstory has been mentioned and it may help make the last chapter less confusing. Eugene grew up at the Burgess orphanage and started calling himself Flynn after his favorite protagonist. He liked to go on adventures in the local woods and bring back treasures for the other kids at the orphanage (weirdly shaped fruits, nuts, sticks or strange mushrooms, or pretty flowers, etc.) and stumbled upon an abandoned shack which he obviously had to explore. He found a girl and a chameleon and thought they'd be awesome side kicks so they played for a while, got lost and Eugene took them back to the orphanage, figuring one of the employees could locate her not-so-abandoned house. Rapunzel was looking at their billboard and found a missing-poster of herself.
animelovernewbie - you were right, Jack did turn up (cause he got worried when Hiccup didn't come to the orphanage so he went to go check on him) =)
kitty.0 - nobody really knew Gothel was out there and she was never found, even after Rapunzel returned home. And thank you so much! It would really help to have someone to bounce ideas off of when I get stuck ^^
LittleWretchedJane - Gothel isn't on drugs but she is definitely mentally unwell - she lives out in the woods alone, obsesses about a flower, then projects a fairy tale onto reality, and yikes, yeah, the broken mirror from Rapunzel's memory is kind of an indication of her grasp on reality - she couldn't see what was actually going on (when singing the song with Rapunzel's hair didn't make her appear any younger, she shattered the mirror since it didn't add up to her perception of the world) so yeah, Gothel's got issues and she just got a reality check. So, yeah, the hair is not magical, but your idea is really cool, that it wouldn't work on Gothel because she had no physical form present to heal. Protectors of Hiccup is just something that popped out of my head when I was answering the review, so it's not a thing yet, but it could be - if it is/becomes part of the story Hiccup is ignorant of its existence. It will be a pain to clean everything up and explain it Rapunzel's parents when they get back from their trip on Monday, these dorks have some work to do. And thank you! You guys are so awesome it would be really great to discuss ideas with you and I love hearing random ideas! They're what inspire me to write, so I would love to hear yours ^^ Also you have pretty great powers of prediction if this ch. is anything to go by - yeah, I've already planned some trigger warnings for when Dagur's role becomes more prominent. There is a reason Dagur is so obsessed with Hiccup and I really look forward to writing that ch. from Dagur's pov, but it won't be for a while.
httydfreakforever - Thank you! I will definitely come to you for aid as their relationship develops =)
Warning/notice thingy - The summer is coming to an end and with it my free time. I don't know how many more chapters I'll be able to write before I head back to school, though I will do my best not to leave the last one on a cliffhanger-that would be too cruel. Once school does start I have no idea if I'll be able to get any recreational writing down until my fall or winter break. Thank you all again for reading my story, please review or pm me if you have any questions regarding it or my schedule.