AN: It feels so surreal to be posting this chapter... Anyways, I hope you all enjoy! This one everything happens pretty quick.
Music: "Monster" from Frozen: The Broadway Musical
NOTES!: "They say 'you can't love someone until you love yourself'. I say that's bullshit. I've never loved myself. But you? God, I loved you so much I forgot what hating myself felt like."
Chapter 33: Monster
"RRAAAGH!" Pitch roared, swiping his arm through the cloud of smoke that displayed images of yet another one of his fleets sinking into the ocean. Because of Dragons. Because of Him.
"Years of rebuilding and establishing ourselves, all down the drain because of one boy!" The Monkey King growled bitterly. "You should have killed him when you had the chance! And there were many chances!" He spat at Pitch.
The Dark Sorcerer turned his furious gaze on the ape, and he immediately began to shrink backwards as Pitch stalked towards him. Even the shadows and Nightmares backed away out of fear.
"That boy was supposed to belong to me!" Pitch shouted down at him, the dim flames around the room flaring with darkness.
"While that may be, it does not change the fact that our forces are dwindling. The tides have turned, and the Allied forces are wiping us out. We have no way to defeat them while they are still able to send dragons down upon us." Gothel stated, her arms crossed as she glared down at the map, removing one of the fleet pieces from it.
"Enough of this!" Pitch screamed, throwing his arm out and turning to walk up onto his pedestal. His gaze swept around at his gathered generals and soldiers. "They will regret opposing me! They will all feel my wrath! Tonight we will gather all of our forces and march directly into Hogwarts!" Pitch bellowed and the darkness cheered, rising up around him. "We will finish them, once and for all! No Guardians, and certainly no Council, will be able to stop us then! Gothel! Prepare the troops! We leave immediately!"
The cheering continued as Gothel bowed and left to make the Call to the rest of their forces. Pitch twisted around and planted his hands on the map before him, scowling down at the marker set down for that blasted castle. He picked up the little figurine and grinned wickedly.
"So you've decided to fight against me, little Hiccup?" He chuckled quietly. "In that case, I should warn you; I've heard it said that we only gain wisdom through suffering, and tonight I intend to make you very wise."
He whipped away, the darkness billowing out all around him...
The dungeons were cold and damp and dark, but Hiccup could at least be thankful that the dragon root arrow had finally worn off. He had a massive headache, but the rest of the symptoms were gone. He was curled tight in on himself in the corner. His hands were bound by enchanted shackles to keep him from casting magic. The enchantment only made his fingers itch and his own magic kept trying to lash out at the spell and tear it away.
He leaned his forehead against the cold stone of the wall, peering up through the small, barred window at the moon. The faint glow and immense power seemed to reach towards him, but he drew back.
That was the whole reason he was here. He was the reason for all the Fear and Pain in the castle. And he was going to be hanged for it... Maybe burned at the stake. Or maybe they'd assume he was completely impervious to fire and just behead him...
"Well, that's a pleasant thought." Hiccup scoffed at himself.
His self-pitying was interrupted by the sound of the heavy door opening down the corridor. It was late, far past any meal time, and the guards had all retreated to the central post of the dungeons for the evening. Leaning forward a bit, Hiccup watched as a hooded figure stepped out of the shadows and up to the bars of his cell. The hood went back, and Bunnymund stood before him with a determined set to his brow.
"Bunny?" Hiccup asked, getting up to his feet and slowly approaching the bars. "What are you doing here? Frollo could accuse you of conspiring just for being here!" He hissed.
"Then I guess it's a good thing no one knows I'm here." Bunny replied, fishing in his cloak pocket. "Not even North or Percy. This is just me."
"Why? What are you trying to do?" Hiccup wanted to know, and Bunny finally lifted his gaze to look him right in the eye.
"North has been training Jack. Tooth has been guiding Merida. And Sandy has been teaching Rapunzel what it means to be a Sorceress." Bunny told him, holding out a small bundle of cloth to him. "It's my job to look out for you."
Hiccup paused, but took the tiny wrap and pulled the cloth away to reveal a key. It was just a simple, black-iron key, but he could sense a very old magic resonating off of it. He looked back up at Bunny in surprise.
"You need to know that I never believed you were capable of what that prophecy suggested. I always figured we got it wrong, or that you'd all prove us wrong. And you have. Over and over again. I'm not going to let them kill you for being Different, Hiccup. This key is magic. It'll open any lock and break past any guard spells." Bunny told him, fixing him with a serious look. "I want you to get out of here. Take your dragons and run."
"Bunnymund..." Hiccup whispered, his eyes welling up as he stared at the key, but guilt and shame weighed heavily on his shoulders. "I can't."
"Like hell, you can't!" Bunny snapped. "If you stay here, they will kill you. Everything you've done, everything you've taught everyone, will have been for nothing because you'll be gone! A future of peace with dragons will be lost because that idiot set you up from the start!"
"But I can feel it, Bunny!" Hiccup cried, catching himself and glancing down the corridor for a moment to make sure he hadn't alerted the guards. He softened his voice. "I can't hide this time. There's so much Fear, and it's all my fault..."
"It's not, Hiccup." Bunnymund started to argue, but a noise from up the corridor drew both of their attention.
"You have to go!" Hiccup hissed, and though his expression clearly said he didn't want to, Bunny nodded and threw his hood back on.
Talia pressed her back against the stone wall, holding her arm out to warn Eret of the coming guard. They waited for the man to go by, yawning as he did so, and then they slipped passed towards the door of the primary cells. Once inside, it was only a matter of glancing into each of the prisons to see which one Cat was in.
It was a bit depressing that seeing him in jail was such a familiar sight.
"Cat, get up, it's time to go!" Talia snapped, as Eret pulled out his lock-picking kit.
"You guys shouldn't be here." Cat told them.
"Where else would we be? You're in jail. Therefore, prison break." Eret waved his tools around as gestured, speaking as if this was the simplest equation ever. It really should've been, but whenever Cat was involved it normally wasn't.
"You don't understand what's going on... This runs deeper than you think!" Hiccup tried to explain, but Talia rolled her eyes.
"Who gives a shit about some dusty old prophecy? Honestly? I've seen you do more incredible and amazing things than anyone else I've ever met!" Talia told him. "Don't you dare give me any crap about 'staying and facing destiny even if it means dying'. Okay, no! Fuck that! You are coming with us right now! Because if you die, the only other person in this world who can connect with dragons in some way, is a total psychopath! Not to mention, Emma still needs you to help her heal. If you die so does she! We all need you, Cat. So we are going. Now!"
"What she said." Eret nodded. "He stabbed you then pretended he was the one who was bleeding. Don't let him win."
Cat looked at both of them for a long moment, the gears turning in his head as emotions flickered across his eyes. Finally, he settled on a determined set to his jaw and a fire burning behind his eyes. He gave them a single nod and dug out something from his pocket.
"What is that?" Talia wanted to know.
"Key that opens all locks." Cat responded simply as his shackles fell to the floor and he smiled at them, holding it up. "Bunnymund gave it to me."
"You had that this whole time?!" Eret demanded as Cat got the door to his cell open by himself.
"You should know by now that I've always got something up my sleeve!" Cat grinned at him, and Eret scowled, about to lay into him with a lecture, but before he could there was a massive rumble and the entire castle shook.
They looked at each other in confusion when the shaking stopped, but there was a lot of shouting coming from outside. Cat closed his eyes, and Talia and Eret waited for him to do his magic thing.
"Hogwarts is under attack." Cat told them, his eyes opening wide as he looked at them.
"A perfect distraction to get out of here!" Eret pointed out, but before the words were even out of his mouth, Cat groaned in pain and bent over, grabbing at his head.
"Cat!" Talia called out, putting a hand on his should to support him. "What's wrong?"
"It's Emma," He gasped, forcing his eyes open against the pain. He was already moving back towards the inside of the castle.
"Whoa, wait, where are you going?" Eret demanded.
"She's in trouble!" He called over his shoulder. "I've got to help!"
"He's going back?!" Eret asked incredulously, turning to Talia since Cat was already almost out of sight.
"Eret, meet Hiccup. Of course he's going back!" Talia retorted, hurrying after her stupid brother.
Emma was outside with Jim, Toby, and Claire when the first catapult launched, striking the outer wall of the castle. They had been trying to comfort her, but with her master in prison and her dragon in a cage, there wasn't a whole lot they could do. She'd already told Angor Rot to get off of castle grounds and wait for her to send word before he returned. Of course he refused and stayed, but he was hiding himself somewhere on castle grounds.
When the strike happened, and soldiers started flooding towards the direction of the attack, the four young wizards only glanced once at each other before following. They were the only wizards close to the outer wall, and it showed as the first wave of Nightmares came at them.
Jim donned his armor and the four of them leaped into battle, cutting down as many Nightmares and Fearlings as they could. The sounds of battle echoed across the grounds as more and more of the enemy came, overrunning their position. Soldiers and wizards came rushing out from the castle to meet them while women and children sealed the entrances and exits.
It all happened so fast, and then Emma was knocked hard onto her side by a charging Nightmare. As she struggled to get up, a dark figure came out of the mist, heading straight for her. Pitch Black grinned with sharp, pointed teeth and his chuckle made her skin crawl.
"My, my, my, what luck is this?" He drawled, looming over her. Emma growled and lunged forward, her blade aimed straight at his lungs, but Pitch side stepped and grabbed her arm. He twisted it painfully, her shoulder popping loudly, and Emma cried out as she was forced to drop her weapon. "You know, I'd gotten reports about you, Miss Frost. I do believe young Hiccup has taken an interest in your training. And then I heard you'd taken the Moonstone and, well..." He lifted her up by her arm until they were face-to-face, her feet dangling in the air. "I knew I was going to enjoy making you squirm. I just had to get you away from your master first."
Pitch let her drop back to her knees on the ground, but didn't let go of her arm. He pushed her palm open to reveal the Moonstone and held up his own hand in front of it. Emma threw her head back and screamed. Pitch's dark magic reaching out to the stone and cutting through her connection to it.
Very slowly, the stone began to float away from her palm, dark tendrils slicing through the blue ties that kept her bonded to it. With each string that snapped, Emma could the corruption rising up again and reaching for her core. The Vorpal Blade vanished completely, and she felt as if someone were gripping her throat, closing off her breath.
Pitch grinned maliciously and gave a final yank, completely severing the stone from her grasp.
Emma made no sound as the connection was lost. She fell forward into the dirt, unmoving aside from the shaky rise and fall with each labored breath. Pitch was cackling as he stood over her, the Moonstone in his grasp. He held it up triumphantly, clutching it tightly as the Moon high above turned a deep crimson color, bathing the earth in red. Shadows rose up around Pitch in a giant whirlwind, his power increasing exponentially. He apparated away, leaving the courtyard in near silence, but she could hear Jim's voice calling out to her in desperation.
"EMMA!"
Rapunzel watched as North hit the ground hard and Bunnymund was flung into a wall hard enough to crack the stone. Jack and Merida ran forward together, pairing their ice and fire attacks, but they were swatted away like nothing, and Pitch sent Nightmares chasing after both of them.
Rapunzel rushed forward and met Pitch spell-for-spell, their magics locked in a stalemate. Pitch was grinning madly, the Moonstone flickering weakly against the darkness in one of his hands while the other was wide open to cast spells. It took both of Rapunzel's hands and all her strength to hold the attack, sweat gathering on her brow and the back of her neck.
She was losing strength, but Pitch wasn't even getting started. He had both the shadows and the Moon under his command.
When Pitch pulled back, Rapunzel had to drop her attack as well because she simply didn't have enough energy. Pitch followed through with a shadow attack, and then a corrupted moonbeam that turned into a few jagged stones when it hit the ground. Rapunzel was diving and rolling side to side to avoid his attacks until she finally ducked into the covered walkway, behind one of the pillars.
"Look at all of you! The Great Guardians of Childhood hiding and cowering away!" Pitch laughed as he held out his arms, standing in the center of the main courtyard of Hogwarts. "Is there none of you who can stand against my power?"
Bunnymund made a dash to cover, and Pitch shot another blast at him that very nearly hit, but Bunny managed to get behind a wall just in time.
"Well, perhaps there was one. But where is he now? Still locked away, or perhaps your Prime Minister has already done the deed?" Pitch cackled tauntingly. "Oh, I must say, Percy! Your daughter's memories have been almost as useful as the Moonstone itself!"
It was Jack who lost his temper at that, though. He raced forward, coming at Pitch from behind. He leaped up and shot a hundred icicles at him. Pitch used the Moonstone to raise up a stone, blocking the attack, and then his dark sand whipped around the side and grabbed Jack's ankle, throwing him away like a piece of garbage.
Jack hit the ground and rolled to a stop a few feet in front of Rapunzel's position, so she ran forward and slid on her knees, throwing up a shield just in time to block Pitch's attack. Two Nightmares came charging at them, but flaming arrows from behind them destroyed them both and Merida dropped down beside Rapunzel from on top of the covered walkway.
"Aww, and just look at you! An incomplete generation of Guardians." Pitch turned to them with glee. "Do you want to know a secret? I learned about the prophecy some time ago, and when I discovered that North and the others had their doubts, I decided to make sure that I would have my Dark Apprentice." Pitch turned as he chatted, glaring at the places where North, Percy, Tooth, and Bunny were taking cover. Pitch growled at them and shouted, "He was supposed to be mine!"
"No!" Jack bit out, pushing himself up against the pain, and Pitch's glare snapped around to him. "Hiccup doesn't belong to you. He never did!"
"And yet where is he now? Not fighting alongside you, that's for sure!" Pitch spat. "I did everything to make sure that boy would come to me. I was the one to attack the Hamada boy! I shot the killing curse to make sure he believed the Guardians wanted him dead! I welcomed him with open arms when he became the monster... And still he fought me. Still he resisted and fled. But I suppose if I couldn't have him, this was the best possible outcome! Now I have command of Fear and the Moon! The Night Belongs to Me!"
"You might wanna look behind you." Jack smirked, still holding onto his side but sitting up straight.
Pitch glared at him, but glanced over his shoulder. The sight made him whip around in shock.
Hiccup stood at the wide-open gate of Hogwarts. His eyes glowed a bright green as he glared at Pitch, but otherwise his stance was perfectly calm and still.
"Hiccup!" Pitch forced out a pleasant greeting, extending his arms to the young man. "So you are alive after all. How thrilling."
"It was you." Hiccup growled, taking slow steps forwards as his upper lip curled into a snarl. "You're the reason for all of this! It was never my fault!"
Pitch he raised himself up into a looming posture, baring his teeth right back at Hiccup. "Such is the power of Fear."
"Perhaps. But you keep underestimating me." Hiccup retorted.
He held out his left hand, and the Moonstone went flying right out of Pitch's grip despite his protests. It flew into Hiccup's palm and his fingers closed around it as the stone shattered. Pale blue smoke and sparkling pieces of the stone burst through the air along his arm. The black scales that had only reached up to his elbow extended all the way up to his shoulder, the sleeve of his light shirt tearing apart as the energy of the wild magic caught it. The black scales began to glow blue as the stone's magic returned to it's rightful heir, and Hiccup opened his glowing eyes to face Pitch again.
The red stain across the earth began to fade, and the moon shone through the darkness with a glowing power as bright as the day.
"I guess you were kind of right, Pitch." Hiccup said as he took another step forward, and Pitch stumbled back. "Men don't fear swords. They fear Monsters."
Rapunzel looked up at Hiccup and he turned his head slightly to lock gazes with her. She nodded, and they moved together. The both gathered their magics and shot them forward at Pitch. The Dark Sorcerer was caught in the middle, forced to use one hand for each of their spells as he defended himself. The combined lights of the Sun and the Moon chased out all of the shadows and Nightmares from the Courtyard, leaving only Pitch as he crumbled under the sheer brilliance of two Sorcerers.
"No! Noooooo!" Pitch screeched as the light began to burn into his hands, overcoming him. People were beginning to gather all around them, filling up the edges of the courtyard as Pitch Black shrank beneath the overwhelming light. "This isn't over!" He screamed. "I will return! You have not seen the last of me!"
He gave one final roar before the two lights finally met and overcame him with a blinding flash of light...
Hiccup and Rapunzel were left panting even minutes after their lights had faded. Pitch was gone, and the only mark that was left was a small scorch mark where he once stood. Rapunzel finally lowered her shaking hands and felt her face split into a big smile as tears dripped down from her eyes. A laugh bubbled out of her almost hysterically, and then she went running, throwing her arms around Hiccup's neck.
He laughed, too, hugging her in return. There was no sudden spark of energy when their equally powerful magics touched now. There was warmth and coolness, calm and wild, familiarity in the opposite.
Jack and Merida tackled them, joining the group hug and cheering loudly as they all laughed together. Hiccup grew quieter as tears started falling from his eyes too, and Rapunzel knew there were some aches and hurts that still needed to be addressed, but for now they had won. For now they were back together, and that was what mattered.
The other Guardians, their friends, and allies started coming forward as well, cheering and celebrating the end of a long and hard conflict. Spring had come at last, and the war was finally over.
Amongst the celebrating, though, Hiccup froze suddenly. Everything slowed for Rapunzel in that moment as she looked to him in confusion, but he turned and looked up.
"Hiccup! Look out!" Stoick's voice boomed across the courtyard as he raced towards Hiccup, throwing himself between his son and incoming dark arrow. There was a burst of fire as Hiccup disappeared and then reappeared in front of his dad, taking the arrow himself right to his chest.
There was a scream, and Stoick cried out for help as he caught Hiccup's collapsing form. The Prime Minister stood atop the wall, sneering down at them. Soldiers grabbed onto the man, arresting him on behalf of several Royals' orders. Rapunzel ignored it all though as she dove forward, assessing the wound and trying to administer aide as Hiccup gasped for breath, his eyes slowly sliding closed. Talia appeared at Stoick's side, and Eret behind her, both looking just as terrified.
"Don't you dare close your eyes, Hiccup! You understand? Stay awake!" Rapunzel ordered as she tried her best to stop the bleeding.
"You heard her, Cat! That's an order! You've gotta stay awake. Emma's hurt pretty bad, she's gonna need you, okay?" Talia informed him, but Rapunzel wasn't sure if he was registering much at all. He reached up a hand, grasping at air, and Stoick grabbed onto it, squeezing. Hiccup's mouth moved, but his words were too quiet. Talia bent down so he could speak into her ear.
Her eyes went wide with horror.