AN: Hey, hey! Hope you're all doing well! Happy New Year! Some exciting news!: I have finished this story! I have written the final chapter! There's still a lot of editing and whatnot to be done, but you guys don't need to worry about me missing anymore updates because I have all the chapters written out and ready to go! That being said, I am very tired and this whole series has been a very long adventure. I've learned a lot and I really have loved it and the amazing love and support from all of you, but as I'm entering the new year I'm beginning to evaluate my art and where I want to go from here. I'm not one hundred percent certain yet, but I did want you all to know that with the end of this book may come the end of this series. I may just take a break and then continue, I may decide that I love it too much and am not ready to let it go yet, but right now I'm looking forward to moving on to other projects and improving myself in big ways over the next year. Above all, I just wanted to give a big, huge thank you to all of you who have supported and encouraged me throughout this series. I can't thank y'all enough, and I hope the last eighteen chapters of this story are everything you've all been hoping for! :)
Warning!: Mentions of blood and abuse at the end of the chapter.
Music: "Golden" by The Score
NOTES: "People wish for all their dreams to come true, but they forget that Nightmares are Dreams, too."
Chapter 18: Golden
The sky was a bright blue, but a thick layer of fluffy clouds separated it from the world below. Hiccup was grateful for a cloudy winter day in the Allied Kingdoms because it allowed him and his flock plenty of cover for flying. Though he could sense the dragon's were on edge, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't; there was the charge of battle in the air. In some places Hiccup got the skin-crawling feeling of lingering Dark Magic.
Remnants of battles in an on-going war.
Hiccup chose to push those things out of his mind for now and simply focus on getting his companions back to safety. After he parted ways with them, he could turn his attention to finding Emma. He'd been dreaming when she removed the protective spell and fought the Jabberwocky, but that was nearly two days ago and all dreams and visions since then had been impaired. The last look he'd managed to get of Emma was in the Medical Wing in Hogwarts, so he had to assume sedatives were the cause.
"We're getting close." Toothless rumbled, breaking through Hiccup's thoughts. "Are you sure we shouldn't leave them closer to a town?"
"Do that and we risk our own necks. They'll be fine. There's a town just a few miles from where we'll leave them." Hiccup replied silently, glancing back over his shoulder at the vikings. They were all smiling and joking with each other, and Hiccup felt a pang in his chest over the fact that things couldn't just stay this way.
But still, he had other obligations to see to. A wayward apprentice being one of them.
"We're going to reach the drop point in just a few minutes!" Hiccup called back to the others. They perked up and turned to him with varying degrees of enthusiasm. "Remember what I said; it's gonna be a steep dive! Just try not to scream too much."
There was quite a bit of screaming.
Hiccup stood beside Toothless, openly staring at the others as Snotlout yelled at Hookfang for not warning him first, Fishlegs puked, and the twins were draped over Barf-Belch's heads as the chattered about how cool it was they almost died. Astrid, though, seemed fairly intact and shook her head at the others.
"Do you mutton-heads want all of Scotland to know we're here?!" She demanded, fists planted on her hips as she glared at them with a scolding look.
"Oh, come on! We're way out on the countryside! What's the worst -!" Tuffnut started.
"Uh, uh, uh, uh!" Hiccup tutted, cutting off Tuff's last comment before he could finish. "Never ask that question when I'm around."
"Oooookay. Well, where are we? What are we gonna do now?" Snotlout asked. Hookfang nudged his elbow, and Snotlout absently reached out to rub his snout.
"There's a town about three miles in that direction," Hiccup said, pointing inland. "You can go there and find a way back to Hogwarts. But I have other business that needs my attention and I'm only willing to help so long as it doesn't risk me ending up in prison. Or worse." He made the comment half-jokingly, but he knew they were smart enough to get that it was a valid concern.
The shocked, but not surprised looks they passed around confirmed that. The twins turned to Barf-Belch to say goodbye like a pair of kids that were just told their favorite pet yak died. Snotlout pursed his lips, but said nothing as he, too, gave Hookfang a few last pats and remarks. Fishlegs and Astrid said their respective goodbyes as well, and the dragons also looked pretty disappointed to be saying farewell. Waves of Sad and Miss You washed over Hiccup from his flock as he leaned against Toothless, watching the exchanges.
"Seems they've given you something to think about." Toothless smirked. Hiccup didn't bother to respond, but rolled his eyes with a smile.
"Don't suppose you'll tell us where you're off to or what that business you talked about is?" Astrid quipped, walking over to him casually once she finished her goodbye with Stormfly.
"Nope." Hiccup grinned behind his helmet, and part of him wished she could see it.
She nodded, understanding, but looked back up at him with a soft look that caught him off guard. "Will we ever see you again?"
"Oh... I'm sure I'll be around." Hiccup shrugged. No promises, but not never either.
Astrid seemed to accept this with a small smile and stuck out her hand. Hiccup looked at it, and then straightened up onto his feet to shake her hand. The others came forward too, and there were mostly handshakes. There was one, slightly soggy, hug from Tuffnut. After sending the male-twin back to his sister, Hiccup turned and climbed up onto Toothless's back. The Night Fury gave the vikings a friendly warble and Hiccup gave them a mock salute.
With a glance, the two shot up into the air with the rest of the flock following close behind.
It was late at night when they finally made it back to Hogwarts. The town "Cat" told them about had only been about two and a half miles away, but it had still taken them over an hour to get there because of the terrain and no visible paths in the area. From there they discovered that the next town over was one of the medical stations set up in strategic places to help in the war and the civilians who got hurt because of it. These medic stations were connected to the Floo Network more often than not, and they found themselves lucky because after getting checked over by the nurses and eating, they were able to portal themselves back to Hogwarts Castle directly.
When they arrived at the castle, Stoick and Professor North greeted them. They both looked relieved to see them well, but the shadows under their eyes and the tight frowns on their faces made Snotlout pause for a moment.
The success of their mission was welcomed news, apparently, but Stoick told them to let Dr. Sweet take care of the Buffalord saliva and that they could report to the Council in the morning after they'd rested. None of them argued with that idea. Snotlout was glad to be passing off the jars of green spit to the doctor, and even more glad when he was able to collapse into his bed in the Slytherin dormitory.
Morning saw them heading to the Great Hall, but they were all shocked by the damage they found there. The stone floors were all smashed up, and there were a few of those moon rocks sticking out of the floor along the edges of the room. One of the massive double doors had a big crack in the middle of the wood and the other was hanging slightly off one of it's hinges. As their group sat down to eat their breakfast they each tried to look around for someone who could fill them in on what happened while they were gone. Snotlout got frustrated waiting around for someone they knew, so he snatched up a toddler running by, grabbing hold of the back of his shirt and dragging him over to their table.
"Who are you? What happened while we were gone?" Snotlout asked him.
"I-I'm Eli. I'm a fifth-year from Durmstrang." Eli stammered, staring up at him with wide eyes.
"You look twelve." Snotlout told him. "What happened to the Great Hall? Why does everyone look like someone died?"
"Um, well..." Eli stuttered, but he eventually got out what happened from the attacks from a mysterious creature, to Angor Rot attacking the school, to Emma Frost killing the creature and then going completely dragon-shit crazy. Apparently the Trollhunter guy also opened a portal to some dark world and hasn't come back for several days.
"Wow." Tuffnut said after the kid was finished. "Never would've seen that coming."
"Where is Emma now?" Astrid directed this at the Eli kid, who pushed his glasses further back on his nose with a sniffle.
"Rapunzel couldn't figure out a way to remove the Moonstone without killing her, so it was brought to the Royal Council. By then Professor North and the others were back, so I think Mr. Frost and some others convinced the Council to give them more time to try and help her." Eli shrugged. "The Prime Minister said she was too dangerous though, so they compromised by sending her to an asylum where they could continue to study her condition but she couldn't hurt anyone."
They all looked around at each other, sharing looks that said more then they could while in front of the kid. Snotlout raised an eyebrow at Astrid in silent question and she shook her head, so he gave the kid a nudge on the shoulder.
"Alright, thanks for catching us up. Now scram." He gruffed. The kid was up and gone the second the words were out of his mouth.
"Sounds like Jack and Rapunzel are having a pretty bad week." Fishlegs said quietly, glancing up at the dais where the two were gathered with the Royals and the Guardians as they poured over maps and battle plans.
"Yeah. Think you can get a minute to talk with her and check in?" Astrid asked, but Fishlegs shook his head.
"Even before our quest, Rapunzel wasn't spending any time in the dorms. She's just too busy. I've barely seen her for the new school year started." He shared.
"We probably shouldn't bother them anyways." Astrid sighed with a small shake of her head. "I'll ask around the Dueling Club. See if I can get more details about what's happened since we've been gone and how we can help out now that we're back."
"Unless we get assigned to another quest." Ruffnut pointed out, waving her fork around a bit before stabbing a piece of ham. "From the looks of things, I'd say the Royal Council isn't in great shape either."
"Yeah," Tuffnut agreed, his chin rested on the top of the table. "This whole war thing would be a lot easier if we had some pet dra -Mmphff!"
Ruffnut stopped him by shoving a roll in his mouth.
"We can't talk about that here." Astrid hissed from across the table. "We probably shouldn't ever talk about it."
"Astrid's right." Fishlegs nodded. "Just because we were lucky enough to experience what we did, doesn't mean anyone else is going to be nearly as appreciative. We need to consider... Our northerner friend's safety."
"Our northerner friend?" Snotlout repeated mockingly, and Fishlegs gave him a sour look.
"Enough." Astrid cut in, keeping her voice soft. "We don't talk about this. Okay?"
Everyone gave silent nods of agreement, and the rest of breakfast was pretty quiet. When they were done eating they were called to report to the Council, and Astrid gave her full report... The official one that left out certain bits of information. The story they'd all agreed to go with instead of the truth. They were got in the storm on the way back from the north, but managed to get to a small island village in the Archipelago and make their way from there.
No one questioned it. And they were praised for bringing back such an important medicine.
When everything was said and done, they walked out of the Great Hall together. Astrid and the twins went off to Dueling Club and Fishlegs went to the library. Snotlout wandered down to the docks, but instead of going out to where the traders were peddling their wares, he went to other way to stroll along the beach and think.
Snotlout wasn't the type to take long walks in order to think about all the complicated things in life, but he supposed in this one instance, perhaps it was called for.
He knew that there was a chance he could be wrong... But he just knew he wasn't. He didn't know how to explain it, but he knew that Cat was Hiccup. It was totally insane. But, then again, so was the idea that dragons could be trained, and he had seen that for himself. Had ridden on the back of a Monstrous Nightmare for crying out loud! And Snotlout knew he wasn't the only one questioning what they'd been taught and whether or not it could change. They all were.
But he was beginning to think his rebellious thoughts ran a bit deeper. With Hiccup being "dead", Snotlout was next in line to be Chief. This was a terrible situation to be in because Snotlout didn't want to be Chief. It was too much responsibility and... He was raised to be the Chief's second. Hiccup's second.
Hiccup was the true heir to Berk and, in all honesty, the heir Snotlout would prefer...
Rapunzel was going to lose her mind, she was sure of it.
It had been two weeks since that awful night. Two weeks since Hogwarts was attacked directly for the first time in the war. Two weeks since they lost Emma to whatever magics had her in their grip. It had been two weeks since Jim decided to ignore all of her instructions and go running off to the Darklands of all places.
The only good news Rapunzel had heard in weeks was the safe return of Astrid's team just a few days ago. Since they returned with the Buffalord Saliva in hand, Dr. Sweet had made remarkable progress towards finding a cure for the Dark Plague victims. Even that victory, however, seemed hollow when one added the knowledge that they couldn't attempt the cure for Emma as well now that she was locked away in some asylum of the Prime Minister's choosing.
Still, Rapunzel wasn't ready to give up hope yet. Jim's friends were already plotting to open Killahead Bridge again and rescue their Trollhunter right under the noses of the Troll Tribunal. Blinky had been kind enough to keep her informed after she'd caught them stealing the pieces to the bridge in the first place. Rapunzel had helped them finish retrieving the bridge, but they were all well aware that her disappearing for even a few hours would draw too much attention. As much as Rapunzel wanted to go save her stubborn, stupid apprentice, she had to make sure no one went looking for the missing bridge in the Forbidden Forest. Once the rescue was done and Jim was home safe, they would come and find her.
For the time being, however, she stood in the Great Hall with the members of the Troll Tribunal and Professor North. The curtains were all drawn to keep out the sunlight for the trolls, and glowing crystals had been placed on the table where they had spread out a map. Everyone was panicked over the missing bridge while Rapunzel kept her expression carefully neutral. The Tribunal wanted to know where Blinky and AAARRRGH! were, but Rapunzel feigned ignorance. The most out-spoken, Queen Usurna, glared at her with skepticism. Rapunzel lifted her chin a bit higher and stood her ground.
"How is it that the Trollhunter has been apprenticed under you for half a year, and yet you have absolutely no knowledge about him or his friends currently?" Queen Usurna scowled at her, and Rapunzel shrugged in response.
"If you were going to do something incredibly stupid, would you tell the person responsible for you about it?" Rapunzel returned, crossing her arms over her chest and lifting an eyebrow.
The Queen growled and turned sharply back to the rest of the group. Rapunzel, however, was distracted by the sudden reappearance of a familiar presence in the back of her mind. She tilted her head, focusing in on that feeling. It was Jim, she was certain of it. Previously, their bond was nearly severed because of Jim being in an entirely different realm, and there were points when Rapunzel was gripped by anxiety because she couldn't sense of he was alive or not. Now his presence was Warm and Bright and Joyful. The rescue was a success, then. It gave her a rush of relief, and she cheerfully nudged his presence with her own to let him know she was aware he'd returned.
Jim's magic nudged back in greeting, his feelings rushing up through their connection, and his elation was almost enough to make Rapunzel forgive and forget everything that had happened. Almost, being the key word. Honestly, if Eugene hadn't taken her frying pan away earlier that day when she was talking to him about it...
It took another hour before the Troll Tribunal finally took their leave from Hogwarts, heading back to Troll Market. Rapunzel and North saw them off personally, and promised to send out a search party for the bridge. After the Tribunal was gone, North turned to her with a knowing look and a heavy sigh.
"Where are they?" North asked her.
"If I don't tell you, then you'll be telling the truth when you tell the Council that you didn't know anything." Rapunzel replied, facing him directly. North gave her a slightly surprised look, but then rumbled seriously.
"You'll be confronted and questioned by the Council. He is your apprentice." North warned.
"I know that, and I will take full responsibility for Jim's actions. Besides, the Council is the least of our worries." Rapunzel said, glancing back at where the Tribunal had carved a portal with a Horngazel and disappeared.
North gave another heavy sigh and placed a large hand on Rapunzel's shoulder. "You're learning well. But you need to be careful."
"I know." Rapunzel rested her hand on top of his and then turned to go. "I have... Things to attend to, Professor. I'll see you later at the meeting."
North didn't say anything more as Rapunzel took a brisk pace down the corridor. She marched out of the castle and down towards where the lake met the forest. The sun was setting, throwing out bright reds and oranges into the sky. The light offered little warmth, though, as her feet sunk into the snow nearly two inches. Rapunzel stood by the lake, looking out over the frozen surface as she waited there in the silence.
She sensed them coming long before she heard the crunching of snow and the snap of a twig, but Rapunzel didn't turn around to greet them. She could feel Jim's hesitance, and she heard Blinky shuffle forward.
"Your Highness! You'll be pleased to know that our rescue was entirely successful!" Blinky told her, and she finally took a breath before turning to look at them.
"Thank you, Blinky." Rapunzel smiled at him and then looked around at the rest of the group. They all looked scratched and bruised and tired. Jim, especially, looked awful. But she supposed that should be expected after being imprisoned in the Darklands for two weeks. "If you all wouldn't mind, I need to speak with Jim. Privately."
There was a bit of awkward silence as they all looked at each other uncertainly. Jim ducked his head when she looked at him. Finally Blinky nodded.
"Of course, your Highness." He bowed before turning and ushering the others away and down the path towards the castle. Toby was the most reluctant to leave, looking back worriedly at them, and Rapunzel gave him a small smile to assure him everything would be okay.
Once they were all gone, Rapunzel turned back towards the frozen lake. Jim stepped up beside her slowly, and she listened as his armor disappeared into the amulet and then fell into his palm. They stood quietly for a long moment as Jim sorted through his thoughts, but he finally cracked with a heavy sigh.
"I know you must be really disappoint-!" Jim never got to finish because Rapunzel had reached out and yanked him into a hug. Jim froze for a moment, but slowly relaxed and hugged her tight back.
"Don't ever do anything that stupid ever again, do you understand? The next time I leave you alone after a battle, it's going to be under armed guards!" Rapunzel threatened him as she blinked furiously.
"I'm sorry." Jim whispered. Rapunzel held onto his shoulders, pushing him back gently so they could speak face-to-face.
"Oh, believe me, once I'm done, you will be. Don't think you're getting out of trouble just because I'm happy you're home safe." Rapunzel told him firmly. "Your mother has been trying to contact me every day. She's worried sick about you. Everyone was! What exactly were you thinking when you opened Killahead?"
Jim looked up at her eyes, but dropped his gaze as his shoulders drooped. "When I saw AAARRRGH! die... And then Emma... I couldn't bear losing anyone else. Gunmar wanted revenge on me for killing his son. I thought that I could protect all of you, but the Darklands just turned into a complete failure and, Classic Jim, you guys had to come rescue me. Some hero I am."
"The amulet made you a Trollhunter, but you made yourself a hero."." Rapunzel said after a moment. She dropped her hands from his shoulders, but used one to tip his chin up. "I won't lie to you: the Royal Council and the Troll Tribunal are furious. Politics are never fun. I'll be held responsible by the Council."
"But it was my decision! I'm the one who disobeyed you." Jim insisted, his eyes going a little wide with panic and worry. Rapunzel rested a hand on his shoulder again to calm him.
"You're still my apprentice." Rapunzel reminded him, but offered a small smile. "The Council won't do much to me. A slap on the wrist is all they can do, really, especially right now. But I won't be able to protect you from Troll law. We'll have to find a separate solution for that."
"Hopefully Blinky can think of something." Jim said.
"I'm sure he's already looking into it." Rapunzel nodded. She tilted her head. "Oh, and Jim?"
"Yeah?" Jim looked up at her, but Rapunzel lifted one hand and cuffed him on the back of the head.
The walls were padded. At one point they might have been white, but they had since turned a filthy brown. The floor was filthy, and there was a small puddle in one corner. The light above buzzed like an angry insect. Emma sat hunched over her knees, but a flash of white light made her lean back against the wall and peer up at her visitors.
The doctor and the nurse. Both rather large around their bellies. His coat and her apron both had old, faded blood stains and bright recent ones. They sneered down at her from behind long noses.
"Can't distinguish reality from illusion. Remember your last journey? An elephant never forgets where she left her trunk. When traveling by train, a valise never bigger than your head." The doctor remarked as Emma stared at him, watching the walls warp behind him. "I may be wrong, Your Grace, but I doubt it. Down this path of primordial ooze... and sideways... once again."
There was a rumbling, shrieking noise. It was quiet, but now it was growing louder in her ears.
"Indeed Doctor, well demanded, I'm sure. I mean to say it's... very hot in here... I mean to say... Fuzzy! And she's not helping. Oh no! No help at all!" The nurse crowed.
"Humiliation, I say. They approve your living among the sane, and yet here you are. Reputation in ruins! People talk, Miss Frost." The Doctor continued. "I'm an old dog... buried the bone... don't you know? Loyalty... You must never run away from home. Stay, Emma. Sit!"
There was another flash of white light. Suddenly she was standing in the center of the room and the Doctor and nurse were gone. She looked down with fuzzy vision to see her bare feet and her eyes continued to drift to the puddle. Her reflection. Her dress was simple, the same filthy white as everything else, but the sleeves were tied about. A straitjacket. It was too big for her, leaving one of her shoulders exposed. She vaguely remembered the nurses shaving her head. The dark shadows around both her eyes gave way to reddish trails down her cheeks. One matching trail went from the corner of her mouth down to her chin.
She slowly looked up. The door was wide open to her. She started forward, wanting to run, but only managing an awkward hobble as she swayed with each movement.
The corridor outside was long and poorly lit. Heavy metal doors lined the walls on both sides. There were distant sounds of groans and screams as she walked along the hall. She saw faces of other "patients" as she walked; twisted with terror and mauled into nightmares. Some jumped out at her, others turned to stare as she passed by, and others still flinched away from her. One of the ghostly white figures was banging their head against the wall, staining it red.
She pushed on, though, occasionally choosing paths when met with a crossroad. She turned one corner in particular and came to an operating room. The doorway was open, and Emma stepped inside, her eyes immediately falling onto the operating table. Blood stains marked the hard cushions, splatters of it covered the floor, and it dripped from a ceiling covered in dark, dark red. Pain shot through her head, and Emma doubled over as her vision filled painfully with memories.
"The instruments are gruesome, but a hole in the head gives the troubles more space!"
"Some mental conditions are relieved by blood letting..."
Smoke. The scent of something burning broke through the painful visions, and she found herself back in her cell. She was sitting and leaning back against the wall with her head tilted back. She rolled her head to the side, looking at the door. The little window had bars on it, but she could see a warm, flickering light that was growing brighter.
There was shouting and running. Panic. There was a scream close to her door, and something large and heavy slammed against the door. There was a muffled, distant roar.
Emma grinned.
The door suddenly flew open as if the heavy metal weighed nothing at all. Emma crawled to her feet with her arms bound by the dress. She walked out into the hall to find the nurses and doctors and security groaning or completely unconscious. Some were slumped against the wall, others passed out on the floor, some still curled up in a ball. There were scorch marks and claw marks on the walls and a small fire burned further down the hall.
Emma hurried along, stepping over bodies and puddles of blood. Her bare feet slapped on the tile floors as she moved on through the corridors. Eventually she found her way to the waiting room just inside the main entrance. She stepped out onto the entry stairs, her eyes burning in the natural light even though the sky was covered in grey clouds. Billowing pillars of smoke rose up to the sky in the surrounding area and people were shouting and running and screaming.
Emma looked up and spotted a red tail disappearing in the clouds. She felt the air shift behind her, and a looming presence at her back brought comfort to her clouded mind. The darkness on the edges of her mind gave way to light. Grass grew beneath her feet, massive flowers bloomed through cracks in the earth, and giant mushrooms colored the corners of the street before her. Her arms fell to her sides as they were released from the binds. The white dress returned to the same blue garbs the Moonstone graced her with.
"Ah, Emma. We can't go home again. No surprise really. Only a very few find the way, and most of them don't recognize it when they do." Cat's voice echoed through her mind. "Delusions, too, die hard with memory. Only the savage regard the endurance of pain as the measure of worth. Forgetting pain is convenient. Remembering it: agonizing. But recovering the truth is worth the suffering and our Wonderland, though damaged, is safe in memory… for now."