Hiccup was currently on his mobile, informing his father that he was going to be late going home. Of course, talking on his mobile was not easy, considering that he was over 500 feet in the air riding on the back of a dragon.
"You're saying that a bunch of zombies attack you while you are on your date?" said his father.
"Yeah, and it was not a date," said Hiccup strongly. "And maples me and Astrid heading back to the Academy because clearly, something is wrong."
His father sighed. "I suppose it was too much to ask for you to have a normal day out."
"Believe me, Dad, I am more than anything."
"Just try and stay safe."
"I'll try, but you know who I can't promise anything."
With that, he ended his call and looked back at Astrid, who had just clearly gotten off the phone with her mother.
"So, did your mum take it well?" Hiccup asked.
"Probably as well as yours," Astrid sighed.
"Tell me, is it normal for the zombies to attack a pair of demigods in the movies?" Hiccup asked.
"No, and they don't usually come in such large numbers. Also, we call them dragurs, and there are many different variations of them."
"Okay, but why were there so many?"
"Not a clue, but you can bet it's not something good."
"Yeah, I think I got that."
"Normally, dragurs, all those who were never given proper funeral rites, but the ones that attacked us, most of them looked perfectly fine."
"Apart from the fact that dead, you mean."
Astrid narrowed her eyes at him. "I mean that they most likely came from Helheim."
"Where the dishonourable dead are doomed to roam?"
Hiccup hadn't been there himself, but he had been there spiritually. In fact, he had actually talked to his brother Balder, though he seemed perfectly fine with accommodations.
"Which is concerning considering that Hel likes to keep all the souls she possesses in her domain."
"Didn't she agree to release Balder one time?"
"That was an exception, and thanks to her father, Loki, that never happened."
"So what do we do?"
"The only thing we can do is get the Academy and tell Mimir about the attack. Though I wouldn't be surprised if you only knew about it."
"Looks like we're about to find out because we're here," said Hiccup looking down.
Hiccup could see the Academy resting in a valley that was surrounded by tall hills and thick forests. Normally one would think it would be strange to see a building the size of a mansion in the middle of nowhere, but thanks to the glamour, mortals were not able to see the place.
They flew down and landed in front of the Academy, where Ragnar was meeting them.
"Nice of you to finally show," said Ragnar as he approached them.
Ragnar was Hiccup's best friend and a fellow demigod. However, he wasn't human; in fact, he was actually a Light Elf from Alfheim. He had chocolate long brown hair and eyes as brown as bark, he had pointed ears, but they were hidden behind his long hair.
"You are expecting us?" said Hiccup.
"You made the news," Ragnar explained. "According to the BBC, a bunch of angry protesters attacked a cinema, which so happened to be very close to where you live, Hiccup."
"Hey, it wasn't our fault," said Astrid.
"I very much doubt that you invited a bunch of zombies to crash your date."
"It wasn't a date!" Hiccup and Astrid yelled in unison, both bright pink.
Ragnar didn't look convinced, but thankfully he didn't seem interested in pushing the topic. "Mimir is expecting you."
Ragnar led them into the Academy, which was far larger inside and out. It was almost stepping into Doctor Who's tardis only instead of stepping into a time machine though stepping into Hogwarts.
"You know what's going on?" Astrid asked.
"No, but you should know this is not the first sighting of dargurs we've seen. In fact, we've actually seen the bloodsucking kind."
"Wait, vampires?" Hiccup stared in disbelief.
"Every culture has a version of demons, giants and vampires of some kind," Ragnar explained. "In fact, there is very little difference between zombies and vampires if you think about it."
Hiccup really didn't want to think about it; dealing with a bunch of zombies was bad enough. The last thing he wanted the deal with was vampires.
"And what have they been doing?" Astrid asked, getting the topic back on track.
"Mostly, they seem to be attacking demigods such as yourselves, experienced demigods that were out on holiday. We've been trying to get the message out and getting them back here, but it's not been easy."
"Anything we can do to help?" Hiccup asked.
"You can help by staying here; we can't afford to lose any more demigods as is."
"What do you mean?" Astrid asked.
"Surely you've noticed this year that we've been getting fewer and fewer students. The more powerful ones have been attacked by monsters constantly every time they step outside. We're also finding it difficult to locate new students; they seem to disappear before we get to."
"You think that Johann is involved?" Hiccup assumed.
"We know that he is trying to gather an army, you've managed to slow him down, but each one of his moves seems to be getting more daring."
"I don't get it. How are we not able to hunt him down?" Astrid asked frustratingly. "I mean, every single god and goddess is after him as well as us students."
"Children of Loki have never been easy to track down, not with the way they're able to manipulate people and shapeshift. He then found a way to hike the eye of Odin, no doubt thanks to his father."
Johann was, in fact, a pilot from the Viking Age, who so happened to be a son of Loki, the god of tricks. Apparently, after a fight with his ancestor, he had been frozen, and thanks to global warming, he was now on the loose.
Here came to the Academy posing as a man named Johnson, but in fact, he had been gathering intelligence trying to undermine the Academy. He tried to kill Hiccup numerous times and tried to start Ragnarok on behalf of his father.
They soon reached the headmaster's office, and Ragnar knocked on the door.
"Come in," said a voice.
Ragnar opened the door, and they stepped inside and found lying there on the desk was the severed head of Mimir. Now one would find it unusual to discover the severed head sitting on the headmaster's desk if it were not for the fact that said severed head was, in fact, the headmaster.
His name was Mimir, and he was Odin's uncle and adviser; he had literally lost his head when he tried to maintain the peace between the Aesir and Vanir after a blooding war. Odin managed to be emanated head; now, he was the headmaster of Midgard Academy.
Sitting on a pair of chairs next to the desk were Gobber the Belch and Viggo Grimborn. Both were einherji, that acted as teachers and councillors to the Academy, who so happened to be Hiccup's ancestor as well.
"Headmaster, I've brought Hiccup and Astrid here," said Ragnar, just into the two of them.
"Thank you, Ragnar," said Mimir and looked at the two of them. "I understand that you had some gatecrashers that wound your date."
"It wasn't a date!" Hiccup and Astrid yelled in unison, starting to get annoyed.
Viggo gave a small chuckle. "Just tell us what happened at the cinema."
Hiccup and Astrid explained everything in great detail.
"Just as we feared," said Gobber.
"Ragnar told us that this is not the first time this has happened," said Hiccup.
"Sadly, no," said Mimir. "We're still trying to figure out what is going on."
"Please tell me this is not another sign of Ragnarok," Hiccup pleaded.
"Too early to say," said Gobber.
"Even if this has nothing to do with Ragnarok having a bunch of zombies forming the entire country is not good," said Viggo.
"But you still believe that Johann is involved?"
"Krogan was executed, and he had committed many crimes, which denied him entry into Valhalla," said Viggo thoughtfully. "He should still be in Helheim, but now he's one of Johann's top lieutenants."
"Hel is Loki's daughter. Are we surprised that she would help him?" Astrid asked.
"Hel is not completely loyal to her father," said Mimir. "She was the only one of Loki's three monstrous children that actually gained domain by Odin, and by all accounts, she is grateful. Plus, when Ragnarok starts, she loses some of her prized possessions within Helheim, including Balder."
"But at the same time, she does help him out every now and then," said Ragnar. "To put it bluntly, she is working both sides, though I imagine she does draw the line starting Ragnarok."
"Sadly, Loki is a master manipulator, even the most subtle of movements have a purpose," said Mimir.
"So what are we going to do?" Astrid asked.
"Right now, I suggest you carry on with your training," said Gobber. "We'll let you know once we know more."
"But we can't just—"
Hiccup then placed a hand on Astrid's shoulder. "Astrid, I want to stop Johann as much as you do, but until we know more, there's nothing we can do. Besides, I think the rest of our dorm is eager to see us."
Astrid sighed. "All right."
"Ragnar, will you be so kind as to take them to the dorm?" Mimir asked.
"Of course, headmaster," Ragnar nodded.
Ragnar then guided both Hiccup and Astrid out of the office.
It didn't take them long to reach the Thor common room. Midgard Academy had four houses, each one representing a god, which was Thor, Odin, Tyr and Loki. Each House competed against one another for points, and right now, House Thor was in the lead.
Most of that was down to Hiccup taking over as commander; it was mostly down to his leadership that they were now winning. When Hiccup first started House Thor was getting trounced by House Loki, who had made deals with the other houses to undermine them. Of course, now that she was on the other foot and House Loki was now in decline especially considering most of its members had left no doubt to join Johann's army.
"Expect to be bombarded by questions," said Ragnar as he reached out for the door.
"Just so long as no one says that we were on a date," Astrid groaned.
"Just try not to murder anyone," Ragnar pleaded as he opened the door.
"They're here!" Fishlegs cried.
"We heard that you were attacked by zombies!" Tuffnut yelled excitedly.
"How come none of that happens to us?" Ruffnut complained.
"Are you two all right?" Heather asked.
"So, how was your date?" Snotlout asked.
"Settle down! Give them a chance to talk," said Ragnar.
This was their squad; there were about seven different squads in each House, and theirs was one of the best. Fishlegs was a husky boy with short blond hair with extremely skinny legs; he was the son of Tyr, the God of Courage and War. Next were the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who both had extremely long blonde hair and very mischievous looks, understandable considering their mother was Loki himself. Then there was Heather, a dark elf with long raven black hair and forest green eyes; she was the daughter of Heimdall, the guardian of the Bifrost Bridge that connected Midgard to Asgard. Then, of course, there was Snotlout, a dwarf with greasy black hair, a very proud muscular body and a snobbish face; he was the son of Odin, so national, he believed that he should be the one in charge.
"Hey, guys," Hiccup smiled.
"What exactly happened on your date?" Heather asked. "We heard that you were attacked by zombies or something."
"For the love of Thor, it wasn't a date!" Astrid yelled.
"We were certainly attacked by zombies, but as to why they weren't exactly talkative," said Hiccup.
"Okay, but does Mimir know what's going on?" Fishlegs asked.
"Either he doesn't know or won't tell us," said Astrid folding her arms. "He says until we're called to carry on with our training."
"So we're supposed to remain perfectly calm while zombies roam around the country?" Snotlout huffed.
"Until we know more, it's the only thing we can do," said Ragnar.
"Besides, everyone knows that a zombie apocalypse never goes well for the protagonists," said Tuffnut.
"It never goes well for anyone, actually," said Ruffnut.
"But he does believe that Johann is involved?" Heather assumed.
"That does seem likely," said Hiccup.
"I can't wait to get my hands around his skinny throat," Snotlout snarled. "I mean, pirate causes no end of problems."
"For once, I have to agree with Snotlout," said Astrid.
Hiccup sighed as he looked at his squad. "Hey, I want to get back at Johann as much as you do, but we know absolutely nothing."
"Since when has that stopped us?" Tuffnut asked.
"Yeah, we usually make the stuff as we go along," Ruffnut nodded.
"And have we actually managed to capture Johann in that time?" Hiccup asked. "No matter how many times we boil his plans, he always works on the next one."
"And we just keep on ruining them as usual," said Snotlout.
"By the skin of our teeth," Hiccup reminded.
"I'm with Hiccup," said Fishlegs. "If we want to stop him once and for all, we need to know all the details. I mean, we know that he plans on attacking the Academy at some point. Ideally, we stop before he does so."
"And he might be trying to accomplish that by creating a zombie army," Astrid concluded.
"As if orcs and goblins weren't bad enough," Heather muttered.
"Not to mention Dark Elf terrorists and several demigod deviances," Ragnar added.
"And who knows what else," said Hiccup. "My point is until we can figure out what is going on, we can't really do anything. Plus, I'm still trying to study Rune Magic and believe me when I say it's not an easy subject to learn."
"Hopefully, we can learn more about Johann's plans once Eret returns," said Ragnar.
"Where is Eret anyway?" Hiccup asked.
Eret was a demigod like themselves, but he had graduated a few years ago. He was the son of Skadi, the goddess of winter, who so happened to also be a frost giant before she gained godhood. He joined up with their squad last winter to help save Astrid.
"He's trying to track Johann down, but according to his last report, he has yet to find him," Ragnar explained.
"When was that?"
"Last month."
"You mean you haven't heard from him for over a month now?"
"Which probably means that he is undercover or something has yet to send a message. I don't like it any more than you do, but until we get the go-ahead, we have to stay here and train." Ragnar then looked at his watch. "And it's almost 9 PM; I suggest that we get ready for bed."
Hiccup sighed and looked at everyone. "You heard the man; let's turn in."
There were a few grumbling, but everyone complied and started getting ready for the night.
