The first impression was that of largeness. This room alone probably filled at least half the castle. The floor was made of white marble, and the edges of the floor ran with black and blue, with a thin line of gold set before them. The room was bare, apart from numerous colourful tapestries hung on the walls. They, too, were enormous, and depicted scenes that Hiccup couldn't make sense of. One of them, for example, was a dragon burning a tree. Why anyone would make a tapestry of that, Hiccup couldn't guess. Somewhere above, coloured light filtered through into the room.

At the very end of the room was a series of progressively smaller marble rectangles, though they were all the same thickness. They tapered upwards and plateaued, and upon that plateau was a throne.

The king filled the throne. There was no other word for it. He managed to occupy the space in just the right way.

If the room had a sense of largeness, the king radiated hugeness. The term larger than life has been used to describe many people, but the king gave it physical form. He was expansive, but there wasn't a hint of fatness about him. He appeared to be made entirely out of muscle. The only person to compete with him in size would have been Stoick, but whereas Stoick remained approximately the same width from top to bottom, the king's chest constituted a healthy portion of his average width. This was not to say that he had small legs, because he definitely did not, but his torso appeared to have gotten the preferential treatment.

His attire was composed of silver and blue. Everything about him was covered, but it was, understandably, strained over his form. Blue had taken charge of the leggings, shirt, and the outside of the cape, while silver took responsibility for the streaks along the sleeves, the gauntlets and the chestplate, and the inside of the cape.

And of course, no king is complete without a golden crown. This one had points fit for impaling, and was perched over a neat mass of black hair. The enormous beard, too, was black, and no word could better describe it than 'bushy'.

And from a pale yet tanned face, shrewd blue eyes looked out at them.

Omegas saluted. Everyone else stood awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

"Hello, your uncleness. We're back," he said with a grin.

The king sighed. It sounded like a breeze in a mineshaft.

"Omegas. I've told you to stop calling me that." His voice was so deep it rumbled.

"Sorry, uncle."

The king nodded at the company behind them. "And you have brought Vikings with you. Why?"

Hiccup opened his mouth to speak, but Omegas beat him to it.

"Looks like Myre's taken their island, your majesty."

The king looked at him. "Uncle is fine. You don't have to be overly formal with me, you know that. You say Myre has taken their island? It is a pity."

"I think it's a lot more than just a pity, uncle."

"Myre has taken many territories. If we attempted to free them all, our forces would be stretched very thin indeed. I must ask, though, what kept you for so long?"

Omegas hesitated. "I think you should hear that from Alphas, to be honest."

"Alphas?" the king boomed. "Where is the boy?"

"A healer, uncle."

"Healer? Since when does he get hurt?"

"It was necessary, uncle."

"Doubtless he shall fill in the details for me." The king turned his attention to the Berkians.

"As you can hear, I know your language. Speak. Who are you? Where are you from?"

Everyone looked at each other. No one wanted to be the one to speak, but they didn't want to hold up a king either. With some jostling, Hiccup was pushed forward.

"Uh…"

The king waited. Hiccup took a deep breath and tried again.

"We're Berkians. From… Berk. Um… I'm the chief, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third."

Omegas looked at him with a vague astonishment. Hiccup just knew what was going to be asked.

"You're name's 'Horrendous'? And two other people have had the same name?"

Hiccup sighed. "Yeah."

"Leave their naming traditions, Omegas," the king said. The bass resonated in the room. He looked back at Hiccup. "You are the chief, you say? Of Berk?"

Unsure of what else to do, Hiccup nodded. The king looked vaguely perplexed. It was a confusing expression to watch on his face.

"What of Stoick?"

"He… died," Hiccup said quietly. "He was killed in a battle with Drago."

The king sat forward. "My condolences to you. You are his son, yes? He spoke highly of you. I am sure there is no better way he would have wished to go."

Hiccup looked up into the king's face. "You knew him?"

He got a nod in return. "Your father would visit every few years."

Hiccup felt astonished. He knew he probably looked the part, and everyone else probably did too.

"He visited? And never told anyone?"

"It is a duty to maintain relationships. He also had ties to Nisi, which must have provided a better incentive to come," the king replied. "It is my hope that you shall take his place in this honoured tradition."

Hiccup just stood there, still processing the information.

"My da- my father had ties here?" he asked after a while. The king nodded.

"The blood may be diluted, but it is always present."

Hiccup didn't know what to make of that. He resolved to leave it until later.

"But… why wouldn't he tell me?"

"It is my understanding," the king said, "that he endeavoured to tell you once your training was complete. How long has it been since his death?"

"About… two years, I guess," Hiccup said after a pause, chewing his lip thoughtfully.

"Then he would have told you of us within the next two."

The king waited for a few seconds before he spoke again.

"You say he was slain in a battle with Drago Bludvist?"

Hiccup nodded.

"I see. Bludvist is a crude warrior. He has no refinement."

"Was a crude warrior," Hiccup corrected before he could stop himself. The king tilted his head.

"He is dead?"

"Just a day later."

"Fortuitous news, indeed. Unfortunately, others would command the forces under his control."

Hiccup didn't know what to make of that, so he shrugged. This, he thought to himself, was probably not how you should converse with a king. At least he didn't seem to mind.

The king stood up and walked down the steps from his throne until he stood right before them. Hiccup managed to fully appreciate the scale once he tilted his head completely back to take in the sight. He towered over all of them. Hiccup had thought of Alphas and Omegas as tall, but the king was probably a couple of heads taller than even them.

"And your party?" the king inquired.

Hiccup stepped back so he could talk without feeling ridiculous. "My friends, your majesty."

"I see. Their names?"

"Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Astrid," Hiccup said, indicating each one in turn. The king inspected each of their faces with extreme precision. His eyes could have been made of scalpels. He seemed to dissect them with a glance. The king nodded, then turned and went to sit back on his throne.

The doors clanged as Alphas leisurely walked in. His clothes were still torn and bloodstained, but the wounds underneath had disappeared. The king looked over his shoulder, then turned completely to appraise his second nephew.

"Alphas. You appear to have found yourself in some trouble on the way back."

"Right you are, uncle," Alphas said, standing to perfect attention. He relaxed after barely a millisecond had passed.

"Hm." The king sat down in his throne. "Will you report to me of your, undoubtedly valiant and glorious, escapades?"

Hiccup realized that, without cracking even the hint of a smile, the king had made a joke. His face seemed to be eternally set in an expression of calm sternness.

"I would appreciate if you called in the Commander, uncle. I think he should hear about it as well."

"As you wish, my nephew." The king beckoned somewhere to the side, and Hiccup jumped as someone materialized from the shadows.

"You heard Alphas, yes? Do as he says."

With a curt nod, the attendant vanished through a set of doors in a dark corner of the room. The king turned his attention back to Alphas.

"Are you feeling fine now?"

Alphas nodded. "Yes, uncle."

"And you, Omegas?" the king said, turning to the other brother. "You were not injured?"

"Nothing that won't heal on its own."

The king nodded, and then turned to Hiccup.

"And I hope none of your party were injured either?"

Hiccup blinked, then turned to face everyone.

"No one was hurt, right?"

A chorus of 'No's and quickly shaken heads gave both him and the king the answers they sought.

"Excellent," the king said. The attendant returned. The doors clacked as he shut them.

"The Commander has been summoned, your majesty. He says he will be here in a few minutes."

The king raised a stolid eyebrow. "And what were his exact words?"

"I believe they were, "Tell his majesty I'll be along when this damn bastard's lost a couple of teeth," sir, or something along those lines," the attendant said, his face unflinching. "At the time I called upon him, your majesty, he was involved in a conflict. With his ability, sir, I believe it should not take more than some minutes."

The king nodded, seemingly unperturbed. "I see. We shall wait for his arrival."

Alphas took out his book, the one he had used back in Berk when he mindwiped Gothi. Hiccup peered over the pages. On every yellowed page, a symbol. Alphas flipped through them until he reached a blank one with a complicated design in the corner. He put his thumb to it and peeled the page from itself, again, just like on Berk. Then he took out a brush and began to draw.

Hiccup watched in fascination as he quickly made a new pattern of shapes. It looked somewhat familiar. Hiccup frowned, racking his memory to try and remember where he had seen it before. You never saw things like this often.

Alphas made a sound and handed him the page, which Hiccup took, surprised and not entirely sure of what to do with it, so he just kept holding it.

Alphas took out another replica of a page, and began to draw again. Hiccup watched as Alphas made the same bizarre symbol again. Then, right as he reached the end of it, he made another few strokes, and added something new to the drawing.

"That's magic, isn't it?" Snotlout asked. He'd also come to watch. At the mention of this, everyone else began to nonchalantly sidle over to watch.

"It's not magic yet," was Alphas' mystifying reply. He dabbed something transparent on the back of the parchment, then snatched the first page out of Hiccup's hand and gave it the same treatment.

He stuck the first page on Hiccup's head, who felt bewildered.

"What-" he began as Alphas stuck the other page to his head, then gasped. Something felt different in his mind. Something else lay on the edge of perception, so close yet so, so far. It was like a mental itch that couldn't be scratched. Hiccup's eyes watered.

"What is this?" he asked, wiping his eyes.

Alphas frowned, then ripped the page of his head. Hiccup just felt confused.

"What did you do all that for?"

"Do you know what I'm saying?" Alphas asked him.

Hiccup furrowed his brow. "Yeah? Why wouldn't I? And what kind of question is that?"

Hiccup paused as he heard the gasps from his fellow Vikings. Something about the words hadn't sounded quite right…

"I gave you some of my knowledge," Alphas said as he stuck the page on Snotlout's head.

Hiccup considered this sentence, and then realization exploded.

He'd spoken Greek.

He'd learnt a language in a second.

Hiccup just watched in awe as Alphas spoke to Snotlout, who replied in the same language ecstatically, and he could understand it.

The process was repeated with the other Vikings, and they were all excitedly chattering to each other in Greek when the large doors slammed open and a man staggered in.

His clothes were a musty, dusty black, the kind of black you get after dragging your clothes through a thousand miles of desert and then vigorously washing them every day of the year because of how much dirt you've rolled in. His coat reached all the way to below his knees and looked tough enough that a knife probably wouldn't penetrate the material. Underneath was a faded brown. He wore numerous buckles, which were attached to straps made of leather.

The face was tired in the way that it's already kept going for this long, what does a few more years matter? He had brown hair and stubble. His eyes were dark, like those of Alphas and Omegas.

He was also sporting an interesting shade of violet on his jaw.

"Sorry for the wait, your majesty," he drawled. Hiccup found, to his delight, that he perfectly understood the Greek.

"No matter, Commander. Did the 'damn bastard' lose any teeth?" the king inquired without the slightest shift in his expression.

The apparent Commander paused. "A few, sir. I could show them to you if you like," he said carefully. "Can I ask, your majesty, how you knew?"

"How I knew what, Commander?" the king asked, his face blank.

"Er… nothing, your majesty. My mind must have been elsewhere." He noticed the Vikings, and his face took on some complicated expressions.

"Can… can I ask, your majesty, why they are here?"

"They have sought refuge on Nisi. My nephews have brought them here."

"Really now?" the man said, an unblinking stare focused on the Vikings.

"I trust, Commander Leonidas, that you have no objection?" the king said sharply. You could have used his voice to hammer swords into shape.

"What? Oh, no, no, not at all, your majesty," he said hastily. "For what purpose have I been called here, may I ask?"

"Alphas?" the king said.

With a deep breath, Alphas recounted the events which had transpired over the past few days. The Commander shot them a dirty look when he mentioned how they had attempted to take him prisoner. When he got to the attack on the ships, Alphas stopped.

"What I'm going to say now is extremely important, alright? So listen closely."

The king leaned closer. The Commander strived to look more attentive than he had been before. This was difficult, since he had been paying close attention.

"Caird took me by surprise and caught me. I couldn't use my magic."

The king frowned. The Commander looked a little confused.

"What do you mean, you couldn't use magic?"

"I don't know how," Alphas told them, "but Myre's managed to use sigils. He bound us and the dragons."

The king sat back. "Are you sure?"

"I had firsthand experience, uncle. Yes, I am completely sure."

"This is serious," the Commander said. "Myre was dangerous enough before, now he has magic on his side? We can't afford to ignore this."

"I don't think any of us planned to, Commander," the king said, frowning. "And you say he has taken Berk?"

"I believe so, uncle. A Bewilderbeast within the limits of the Archipelago was killed by an Impactor. It is my opinion that Myre has extended his control there."

The king nodded to the Commander. "We must ensure that it does not submit to him."

"Your majesty, are you sure of this decision?" the Commander asked.

"Are you questioning me, Commander?"

"Yes, your majesty. A king needs people to tell him when he's being a fool."

The room was silent.

"Well put."

Hiccup whipped around in shock to look at the king. For the first time, he had a faint smile on his face. It was difficult to see under the beard, but it was definitely there.

"The rest of you, leave us. I have something to discuss with our Commander."

The sorcerer twins bowed. After a moment's hesitation, the Viking bowed as well, then straightened up and followed the Arcanums out. The doors were carefully shut behind them, and a murmur of muffled conversation rose behind the giant wooden frames.

Alphas and Omegas sat cross-legged on the marble floors, and leaned back against the wall. Hiccup and the rest joined them on the floors.

"So… we just wait?" Fishlegs asked.

"Yeah. Whatever they're talking about, they'll call us in when it's done with," Alphas said. Omegas looked at the doors.

"Don't bother," he told Tuffnut, who had put his ear to the door. "We tried once. Couldn't make anything out. The doors are made to scramble sound."

Tuffnut dejectedly came back and sat down with the rest of them. Omegas patted him on the shoulder.

"It happens."

"What happens if they decide not to take Berk back?" Astrid asked.

"Then I'm afraid we'll have to mount a solo mission, which would most likely end in failure," Alphas replied.

Astrid took her axe from her back. The intent was all too clear. "They'd better hope they make the right decision."

Alphas laughed. "You can't even beat me. You think you could take Buzzard?"

"Who's Buzzard?" Hiccup asked as Astrid glowered.

"The Commander, of course. Leonidas. Old Buzzard, we call him. He fights like the bird."

"What bird?" Fishlegs asked.

"A buzzard."

"And how does he fight like a buzzard?" Hiccup asked.

Alphas sighed. "Ever seen one in action?"

Ruffnut raised her hand, and looked around. "Come on, I can't be the only one."

Everyone else guiltily shook their heads.

Alphas made a gesture. "Why don't you explain to them how it fights?"

Ruffnut made some wild gestures of her own, nearly nailing Snotlout in the throat. "It's just, like, wild animals fighting. They just do their best to scratch the other one first."

Alphas grinned. "And that's how our old Buzzard fights. He'd take your eyes out before he went for his sword. And whatever you do, try not to be in the way of a punch."

"Why?" Hiccup asked, against his better judgement.

"He generally goes for the mouth. It's strong enough that you bite your own teeth."

"You bite your teeth?" Hiccup asked, his mind conjuring up some horrifying images.

Alphas grin widened. "I said what I said."

Hiccup decided not to ask anymore. Beside him, Snotlout tentatively opened his mouth.

"Doesn't the king mind… you know…"

"Things like 'that damn bastard'?" Alphas finished for him. "He's got nothing against street language, if that's what you mean. And Buzzard doesn't care enough to make everything formal."

"And… the king doesn't care?"

"I think uncle just likes to leave things be. As long as everyone's comfortable." He shrugged.

The doors opened, and the attendant poked his head out.

"His majesty requests your presence," he said, then disappeared.

"Right," Alphas said, and stood up smoothly. He just seemed to transition from sitting down to standing up. Everyone else followed him back into the room, where the king and the Commander stood side by side. The Commander only came up to the king's chest.

"It has been decided," the Commander said, "that Nisi will provide its assistance to Berk in fighting off Myre's forces."

Hiccup and the rest breathed an audible sigh of relief.

"However," he continued, "we will make a single attack. If this fails, all important personnel will be retrieved from Berk and provided refuge on Nisi. The island will fall under Myre's control, but the people will be safe."

"That's really the best deal you're going to get with Buzzard in charge," Omegas whispered to him. The Commander frowned at the exchange, not that he could hear any part of it.

"Alright," Hiccup said reluctantly. "We accept your help with gratitude."

The Commander nodded to him, and some unknown expression flickered across his face. It was gone in an instant, but Hiccup knew it had been there.

"What's the strategy?" Alphas asked.

"Kick ass," the Commander replied. The king frowned at him.

"Commander, I am sure that our guests would appreciate a more detailed explanation. The fate of their home, after all, is on the line."

The Commander sighed irritably. "We're going to get a squad on dragonback to attack the ships. Another squad will be airdropped onto the island and combat any resistance on the island. A special unit led by me will see to it that all the island's inhabitants are secured and ready to be transported if the need arises. Any questions?"

"Aren't there any specifics?" Astrid asked. "You've just said that someone will do this, someone will do that. You haven't said anything about who will do what, or where from, or when. This isn't a strategy. You've just decided to attack."

The Commander waved her away. "I'll be handling all that, don't you worry."

"Are you," Astrid said through gritted teeth, "treating our island like a game?"

There was dead silence all around.

The Commander blurred in front of her so suddenly that she stepped back, a gasp of surprise escaping her mouth. He didn't do anything, just stood there with his hands clasped behind his back.

"I assure you," he said, his cordial tone easily conveying far more danger than if he had shouted, "that I will handle it."

And with that, he walked out the doors.

"Oopsie," Alphas said. "You pissed him off."

=0=

A soldier by the name of Quintius was standing guard at the docks when a ship suddenly entered his peripheral vision. He jumped, and looked up to see someone wave at him. He relaxed, and went to help with the lowering of the gangplank. He set his pike down and, with another soldier he didn't recognize, caught the gangplank. They both grunted under its weight, and carefully, with not a little struggling, positioned it on the pier. Quintius picked up the pike and saluted as Caird walked down the gangplank, followed by another man he didn't recognize. This one seemed to have a faint, ever present smile on his face.

"This one is Berk, correct?" Caird asked him.

"Yes, sir!"

"Good," said the mystery man. That smile neither left nor widened. Quintius was beginning to feel a bit unnerved. People shouldn't have faces like that.

"The people were not harmed, I presume?" Quintius realized with a jolt that the smiling man was addressing him. He was waiting with no small amount of attentiveness. Quintius got the feeling that he could have gone out for a drink, a roast duck, and a good few hours of sleep, and when he got back the man would still be here, waiting patiently for a response.

"No, sir! We were very careful, sir! Non-lethal force only, sir, as per our orders!"

"Excellent news."

The man nodded to him, greeted the other soldier, then walked off with Caird in tow.

Quintius looked at the other guy, who shrugged. You got some odd types every now and then, it couldn't be helped, was what the shrug seemed to say.

He looked up to see if anyone else was coming down the gangplank, and was met with a complete absence of people. He looked at his companion, gave him a brief nod of farewell, then walked back to his original post.

The other guy was frowning at the sky. Quintius looked, and saw nothing. He looked back questioningly at the other guard. He saw him watching and beckoned to him. Quintius looked around, and saw no one watching, and so hurriedly went over.

"See something?" he asked. The guard pointed at a seemingly random spot in the sky.

"It just me, or is something flying this way?"

Quintius looked at him as if he was dumb. "Probably just birds, ya daftie. We're on some island. There's gotta be birds around, right?"

"Oh, yeah." The other guard looked sheepish. "My bad. What's your name?"

"Quintius. You?"

"'M Lambert."

"Want to get a drink after this shift? Sounds like you need one."

"Ah sure. You're paying though."

"Ach, fine."

Lambert squinted up. "Ya know," he said slowly, "those don't look an awful lot like birds."

Quintius looked back at the sight. They did not, indeed, look a lot like normal birds. For one thing, they looked a lot like dragons.

"I'll… uh… I'll just go and tell Caird about this real quick."

"Okay."

Quintius sprinted after Caird. Not fast enough, as it would turn out, as a split second before he reached them, he died.