AN: Another day, another chapter. Hopefully you all find this as funny and amusing as I did.
Music: "What's My Name?" from Descendants 2
NOTES: "The Ghost of the Child I Never Was has finally caught up to me."
Chapter 23: What's My Name?
Jack walked through the halls at a brisk pace, eager to make it to the Great Hall for breakfast. It had been nearly two months since Merida, Rapunzel, and Jack were all at Hogwarts together. The winter holidays had come and passed, and though winter was clinging to the earth, the winds were changing.
Dr. Sweet and Rapunzel had already developed a medicine for the Dark Plague, and while the incident with Emma had been tragic as a whole, the attacks on innocent people had stopped. Several Auror's had taken the head of the creature, intending to study it under high security, but it had mysteriously gone missing from the evidence locker. That was right before the first Dragon Rider sighting. Given everything that had happened, for most people it would seem they'd solved one dilemma just to find another one. Jack, however, was feeling a little optimistic for the first time in what felt like forever.
Walking into the Great Hall, Jack spotted his two friends almost immediately in one of the back corners close to the dais. No one else was with them, but that worked perfectly considering some of the topics Jack hoped they could discuss before the Royal Council's meeting was called to order.
Merida was the first to notice him when she looked up from her breakfast. "Jack! It's been a while! I heard you and Bunny got to visit Altea!"
"Yeah. Unfortunately the only thing we got to see was the battlefield." He replied, sliding into an open seat beside her and reaching for the food at the same time.
"I know how you feel. Even on our supplies run to Arendelle we were attacked by Pitch's forces." Rapunzel sighed, shaking her head as she poked at her food with her fork.
"I heard about that. Is there really a full battalion there?" Jack asked, scooping up a roll and some cheese for himself. Rapunzel nodded.
"There could be more. That's just what we saw when Cass and I went to investigate." She said, her brow furrowing as she looked down at her food. She took a breath and opened her mouth to speak, paused, but then kept going. "I also ran into a... person of interest." She finished, looking up at Merida and Jack.
"Person of interest? How so?" Merida questioned, tilting her head just slightly.
"Well, he had a friend of sorts... of a different species." Rapunzel hedged the question, glancing between them again, like she was trying to gauge their reactions. That caught Jack's attention and made him curious, so he leaned forward and talked low.
"Do you know something?" He lifted one eyebrow.
"Do you know something?" Rapunzel returned quickly, looking straight into his eye.
"I might know something." Jack admitted, as Merida looked back and forth between them.
"Oh, for the love of -!" She grumbled and then cut in. "You ran into the Dragon Rider, didn't you?"
"Did you know?!" Rapunzel hissed incredulously as she turned to stare at the redhead.
"Only after the battle at the Inland Sea." Merida held up her hands defensively, but then pointed a finger at the blonde. "How long have you known?"
"I found out in Arendelle!"
"Hold on! So... We all know?" Jack whispered, holding his hands out on the table as if to pause them all for a moment.
"That the Dragon Rider...?" Merida prompted, looking at them both.
"How long have you known, Jack!?" Rapunzel demanded accusingly, and Merida also turned to him with a sharp look.
"You were the first one to ever see him." Merida added.
Jack threw his arms up. "I swear I didn't know a thing until I blasted him and his helmet went flying off."
"You what?!"
Before they could continue, the doors to the Great Hall opened wide. The Prime Minister and several of the Royals who were not already seated in the hall. One of the guards stepped forward, acting as bailiff to call the talks to order. Jack, Merida, and especially Rapunzel were all expected to at the very least pay attention, most of the time they were called on to actively participate, so ignoring the talks and whispering to each other like rowdy first-years wasn't really an option.
The first order of business was the ongoing discussions of the Arendelle situation. In the days since Rapunzel and Cassandra reported the coming siege, Queen Elsa had been pleading for assistance from the other Kingdoms. There was a lot of hesitance due to their forces already being spread so thin, though many Kingdoms were trying their best to free some of their troops and collectively form enough numbers to take on the battalion. They'd been making steady progress until a final scout made it out of the Arendelle capital through the Floo Network just one day ago; the dark forces had come down from the mountain and blockaded the city, cutting off all roads leading in and out.
"I plead with the Council to approve the movement of troops ahead of schedule." Elsa spoke before the others with calm and dignity, though her eyes burned with stress and worry. "Princess Anna has already gathered our defensive forces and we are vastly outnumbered. Ships came from the north-west just this morning and have cut off our ports. Food has already been scarce due to the war effort. If these conditions continue, my people will starve!"
"Though we may all be sympathetic to your nation's current crisis, your majesty, you must remember that we are in a time of war." The Prime Minister replied before another Royal could speak. "Requesting such large forces to be moved to defend Arendelle may be exactly what the enemy wants. Though your port provides many valuable goods to multiple Kingdoms, our forces will not be largely affected should your capital be captured until such a time when we win the war or are able to spare that kind of forces."
"Speaking strictly in the terms of numbers, there is simply no way to provide the kind of support you are asking for in such a short amount of time!" The Duke of Weselton replied, having been given the duty of running numbers and configurations by the Royal Council's estimates on this particular matter.
"Well, when would you be able to send help?" Elsa demanded.
"To provide enough forces to overcome an enemy battalion, as well as ships to free your ports, it would take at least a month of re-configuring our current forces." The Duke announced with a click of his heels.
"Arendelle doesn't have a month." Princess Allura retorted with a sharp look. "What about the Guardians? Sandman may still be positioned at the Inland Sea, but there are still many other Guardians who could assist." Allura pointed out, looking to North for confirmation.
"Unfortunately, with all of the extra cases the Prime Minister has entrusted to us, we are also spread quite thin." North admitted reluctantly before suggesting quite blatantly. "We also must ensure the safety of Hogwarts itself, which requires at least two of us to remain here. If the Council could approve postponing a few of our quests, there are several I know of that can easily wait until conditions in Arendelle have been sorted."
"I do not take the decision of selecting the Guardians for particular quests lightly, Deputy Headmaster." The Prime Minister intoned, giving North a hard look.
"I mean no disrespect, your Grace, however we must consider all options and weigh the priority of our quests when resources and man power are both stretched so thin." North gave an equally hard look back.
Percy and Bunnymund nodded along with North from where they stood more off to the side. Jack shared a few glances with Merida and Rapunzel with tired knowledge of just how thinly they were spread at that moment.
Tooth was away on a quest. Bunny and Percy were present at the castle, but they were in the middle of assignments that could potentially do without them. Jack had just finished one of three quests that were specified for him, Merida was given another quest the same night she returned from the Inland Sea, and Rapunzel had been caught up in assisting Dr. Sweet whenever possible. Not to mention, the Troll Tribunal had apparently gone into chaos when one of their own was discovered to be a traitor, so Jim had been away a lot, helping Vendal and Blinky regain order in Trollmarket.
"If we cannot defeat the enemy forces entirely, we should at least maintain a strong defensive position. Corona has already sent our wizards and flyers to aide Syracuse, but I'm certain we can manage at least a few of our ships along with troops. If we can free the ports, it will give Arendelle more time." King Frederick offered, and Elsa gave him a grateful smile.
"It may take us too long to transport the numbers, but the tribes can spare some of our wizards now that we've finally secured the northern route. We're willing to do whatever we can to help." Stoick added in with Gobber nodding over his shoulder.
Before anyone else could pitch in or argue, the doors of the Great Hall opened once again. This time, a skinny guard donned in the gold armor of the Ministry hurried down to the dais, huffing and puffing for breath as his armor rattled and clanked. Captain Phoebus, head of the Ministry Guard, stepped forward to meet the man, perhaps worried that he was interrupting the talks for an insignificant matter, but the man gasped in a breath and managed to get a few words out.
"Your Majesties!" He sputtered, tilting his helmet back when it slid forward over his eyes. "The Dragon Rider! He's been captured!"
The hall erupted into gasps and chatter. Several of the Royals stood up in their surprise. Rapunzel and Merida turned with wide eyes to look at each other and Jack. He was sure his expression probably matched theirs as he hoped for all he was worth that this was some kind of mistake. He looked up at his dad and Bunny, both had furrowed brows, but where Bunny looked more focused and calculative, Percy looked confused. Maybe doubtful.
"How can this be?" Prince Proteus was the one who managed to ask the question.
"Two of the Ministry Soldiers, your Royalness!" The guard squeaked. "They found him a few days north from here! Managed to capture him, they did! Brought him back to the rest of the company! They've just reported in and they've got him outside!"
More chatter and nervous glances went about the room. Jack wanted to get to the bottom of it, but moving from where he was would raise attention. He was essentially stuck waiting to find out alongside everyone else, and he was worried that by then it would be too late for him to do anything. Another glance at Merida and Rapunzel showed that they were feeling much the same with their fidgeting and anxious gazes.
"Only two guards against the Dragon Rider, himself? They must be quite formidable." The smooth and deep voice cut through the droning mutters and brought a silence to the Hall as Viggo Grimborn stepped forward. "I must offer my congratulations to you and your men, Captain." He aimed this comment at Captain Phoebus who nodded hesitantly in response.
"We are trained to be the best." He replied confidently, though he did clear his throat after glancing at the scrawny soldier beside him. Turning to the Royal Council, he continued. "How would the Council like us to proceed?"
"The man has already been confirmed as a criminal. We should have him sent straight to the Ministry to be imprisoned until his execution." The Prime Minister answered immediately.
"No." Stoick's booming voice overruled, his brow drawn in a deep glare.
"Your pardon, Chief Stoick?" The Prime Minister asked with a clipped voice.
"I want to know how dangerous this man is. Bring him in and let him face the Council. Then we decide his fate." Stoick never raised his voice, speaking low, but firmly.
"I second that motion." Elsa agreed, folding her hands delicately in front of her. Several other Royals followed suit in wanting to see the Dragon Rider for themselves, and with the majority giving over to curiosity, the guard was sent away to bring back the Dragon Rider and the two guards responsible for catching him.
As they waited, Jack sent the girls a purposefully wide-eyed look, trying to silently ask 'what the hell do we do?'. It didn't help because they were giving him the same look. As Jack was slowly resigning himself to the large possibility that this day may very well end with a whole lot of treasonous activities, more and more people were rushing into the Great Hall. They drawn in by news of the Dragon Rider and so students, soldiers, professors, dragon hunters, medics, and many others squeezed themselves into the hall, leaving plenty of room along the center for when the man was finally brought in.
When the double doors finally did open, a rush of sound grew with chattering, gasps, shouting, and even some curses. Two gold-armored soldiers walked in, flanking the Dragon Rider whose hands were chained behind his back. His helmet was nowhere to be seen, leaving his face on complete display. The teens from Berk looked on from the sides with wide, disbelieving eyes along with many of their other classmates. Meanwhile the hunters shouted curses and mocking remarks at him. One even screamed that they should 'muzzle the beast'.
Hiccup was brought to the foot of the dais and shoved to his knees. Despite the distance between them, Jack noticed his lip curl up in a small snarl as he half looked back at the larger of the two guards. When he looked up at the Council and Viggo who was standing on the steps themselves, he eased back to sit on his heels, lifting up his chin.
"Quite the surprise. I never would've taken you as one to be caught by mere ground troops, Cat." Viggo greeted conversationally. "Perhaps it has something to do with your precious Night Fury being missing?"
"Well, you know how it is, sometimes you can sink an entire fleet, and sometimes you twist your one good ankle and fall flat on your face." Cat shrugged casually, offering a wicked smile. "How are your ships doing, Viggo? Oh, wait!..." He trailed off purposefully, and Viggo frowned.
"You will state your name before the Royal Council of the Allied Kingdoms." Captain Phoebus declared with a formal tone.
Hiccup looked at him with his signature dry look that hadn't changed one bit. Even a couple of the Royals paused at the request, though Stoick the Vast seemed to not be responding too much. His face was void of any emotion and he was just staring at Hiccup.
"Captain Cat of the Western Skies, at your service." Hiccup, or Cat apparently, bowed his head, glancing up at the Council with a mocking look.
"Under what authority do you hold the rank of Captain?" The Prime Minister demanded from his seat at the center of the dais.
"Well, it would be awkward if I was one of the Pirate Lords and didn't have the rank of Captain." Hiccup replied, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.
"You are confessing to Piracy?" Prime Minister Frollo barely let him finish speaking before fixing him with a hard look, but Hiccup didn't seem put off by it.
"...Yeah, I guess we can focus on that one." Hiccup said blandly. He looked over at Percy with a questioning look that said 'really?'. Percy shrugged. "Why, exactly, are you pretending to not know any of this?" Hiccup continued, looking back at the Prime Minister.
"Don't try your trickery on me, demon." The Prime Minister growled back. "Speak the truth! You have betrayed all of magic by drinking dragon's blood, have you not?"
"You first! From what I can tell, you're the only one who's told any lies so far!" Hiccup retorted sharply. "You know, I have met some real pricks in my time, but you are the fucking cactus."
Jack couldn't help the snort, he really couldn't, and Merida had her lips pressed together tightly to hide her laughing smile.
"Well, if any of us had any doubts that it was actually Hiccup..." Rapunzel muttered under her breath, and Jack nodded in agreement. Their little friend, who wasn't so little anymore, had developed an even bolder wit and mouth to go with it, and while Jack did find it amusing, he was a little worried Hiccup was going to get himself killed.
"Seriously! The human body has 7 trillion nerves and somehow you manage to get on every single fucking one of them."
Scratch that. Jack was very worried he was going to get himself killed.
"I'm not looking for your approval! I know who I am." Hiccup lifted his chin, his brow narrow and his eyes snapping as he regarded the Council as a whole. "And I wouldn't be here if not for your sake's. Yet here we are!"
"Enough of this foolishness!" The Prime Minister shouted, throwing himself out of his throne to glare down at Hiccup. "Are you, or are you not, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third?"
Hiccup looked up to meet the Prime Minister's gaze. His eyes briefly flickered down a bit, and Jack suspected he was looking at Stoick, but then Hiccup answered.
"I am Captain Cat of the Western Skies, Champion of the Brethren Court!" His voice was strong and rang out in the Hall a bit.
"To name a Champion the Brethren Court would have had to elect a new King!" The Prime Minister snapped. "You expect us to believe such nonsense?"
"Well, I still can't believe that not a single one of you has realized that I'm just the distraction!"
With that remark, Hiccup leaped backwards, out from between the two guards. He jumped up and pulled his arms forward so they were in front of his body now, and then he gave another tremendous leap backwards, this time flipping in the air. Fire trailed behind his form as his flying leathers changed into trousers and a long coat, the shackles fell to the stone floor with a loud clatter. When Hiccup landed in a crouch, he immediately stood up straight and with a fiery flourish of his hand, flipped a floppy, wide-rimmed hat with a large red feather sticking out the side onto his head.
He grinned and raised an arm as he moved slightly to the side, the doors to the Great Hall opening behind him.
"Allow me to introduce the King of the Brethren Court!" Hiccup declared with another mocking bow.
Toothless bounded into the room first, leaping over the long table in the center to get to the same side as Hiccup and only stopping when he had his nose pressed into Hiccup's hand from over his shoulder. Several men that Jack would've known as traders were it not for the tattoos suddenly adorning their skin marched in with drawn weapons, flanking either side of the long table.
Finally, Talia Eagle strutted into the hall. Gone were her Hogwarts robes, replaced by black heeled boots, a magnificent red coat, and a classical three-point pirate hat. She stepped up onto the bench seat and then the dining table and walked along the top as she threw her arms out to the sides with an expression of wicked glee.
"Oh, it feels absolutely wonderful to be back in my own skin!" She exclaimed.
She came to a stop at the edge of the table, one hand on her hip and flanked by Hiccup and Toothless on her left and a very large man with face tattoos on her right. She was still grinning as all of the Royals faced her, having risen from their seats out of surprise or to prepare for a fight, either way the two parties were now staring each other down. North had stepped forward, too, confused and concerned as he stared at Hiccup and Talia, but Percy grabbed his shoulder and kept him where he was.
"What is the meaning of this?" King Frederick demanded on behalf of the Council.
"Well, you see your Majesties, the Prime Minister has been spending quite a lot of time and resources hunting down my people. Not nearly as bad as it was a year ago, but I'm going to guess that's because we sunk one of his fleets." Talia explained, flicking a lock of loose hair back behind her shoulder. The Royals were glancing at each other with the occasional hard look towards Prime Minister Frollo, especially Queen Elsa. "In any case, I'm here to clear up what I consider to be a miscommunication. In fact, I think we could benefit from this situation."
"What exactly are you proposing?" The Queen of Gabylonia voiced.
"An alliance."
There was immediate outrage from civilians to politicians and even some soldiers and Knights. Talia wasn't affected by any of it. She simply kept her gaze on the Royal Council.
"I ask that you consider this offer carefully. We are no more fond of Pitch than you are. All you have to do in order to have our help in fighting him is agree to some simple terms that mainly consist of 'Stop Killing Us'." Talia said, her voice calm and light but with a warning edge to it.
"And what makes you think we're so desperate as to turn to a bunch of Pirates for help?" King Fergus rumbled irritably.
"Unlike any of you, I have a fleet prepared to enter your territories and take back Arendelle on my command." Talia boasted, and Elsa's eyes went wide at the prospect. "One word, and our Champion will go lead our forces to free Arendelle of it's siege." Her hand moved slowly and calmly to gesture towards Hiccup with Toothless looming menacingly around him.
"And if we refuse this offer?" Princess Allura's expression was hard, her tone sharp, but there was a contemplative undertone that shared she wasn't entirely decided on the matter.
"Then we will no longer yield the sky." Hiccup cut into the back and forth, stepping forward with a commanding presence that was definitely new. At least, to Jack it was.
"You dare threaten -!" The Prime Minister began, but Hiccup stopped him.
"Neither you, nor Pitch, have any significant way of fighting dragons. Whether you like it or not, we own the skies." Hiccup told them, his voice raising a bit. "I've already defeated the dragon hunters in a war once before, I'm not afraid to do it again!"
A tense silence gripped the Hall as the Pirates and the Royal Council stood off against each other. It was Talia who finally made the first move to break it. She pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment from her coat's inner pocket.
"These are the terms of our Parlay. If you agree, the Brethren Court will fight alongside you." Talia swore, holding the scroll out to them.
Prince Proteus gave a nod to Phoebus, and the Guard Captain stepped forward cautiously, retrieving the parchment. It was handed off to the Royal Council for each of it's members to review before opening discussions on the matter. When the treaty was placed on the table, Elsa was the first to speak.
"If this is the only way to save my people, then I must insist that we accept the proposal." She gave a look that dared any of the other nobles to question or accuse her while her people suffered.
"Traitorous Pirates are not bound by their word, and now they run about with demons among them! Such an alliance will only end in disaster." The Prime Minister growled, still glaring at Hiccup, who crossed his arms over his chest and smiled.
"A vote then." Queen Arianna determined, and all the others nodded.