Chapter 24: Here, Now and Future
Stifling a yawn in the early morning, Hiccup casually walked through the hallowed halls of the Arendelle palace. Soldiers on guard duty gave a snap salute as he walked by them. To be honest it still felt awkward to have the soldiers salute to him every time. It certainly didn't happen back when he was the chief of Berk.
"Times sure have changed," Hiccup thought to himself as he climbed up the stairs towards the royal living quarters of the palace. Another wave of exhaustion passed through Hiccup as he tried to stifle another yawn.
"Maybe I shouldn't have woken up so early," Hiccup thought to himself. Walking through another long set of halls, Hiccup suddenly stopped as he looked out the window. From the top of the highest tower of the palace Hiccup could see the entirety of Arendelle city from below and situated right after it was the new and improved Dragon Mountain.
It had been months since Hiccup's first arrival and now the mountain was nearly double in size. But the real work to be seen was on the inside. Opening the doors to the royal private chambers of the Queen, Hiccup couldn't wait to show it to everyone,
"Wakey wakey Elsa, it's morning and I have something to…." a flash of blonde hair flying a million miles per hour straight towards Hiccup and knocked him down onto the floor.
Hiccup could feel a rhythmic vibration on top of him and the melodic sound of uncontrollable giggles.
"Elsa?" Hiccup said questionably, unsure what has happened to Arendelle's queen.
"Why didn't you tell me Hiccup?" Elsa said excitedly as she snaked her arms around Hiccup's neck and gave him a bear crushing hug.
Hiccup's eyes widened with slow realization. Rising off the floor with Elsa still hanging onto him, Hiccup escaped the clutches of Elsa by pulling Elsa's hands into his own.
"I wanted it to be a surprise," Hiccup explained with Elsa staring back at him with rapt attention, "By the time I showed you the truth, I wanted you to know everything before hand."
"I can't believe I ever forgot about you Hiccup." Elsa said,
"You were just a small child back then and they were a dream. I certainly don't remember any of my own dreams. And each dream grows more vivid in my mind with each passing day," Hiccup said as he let go of Elsa's hand and raised it up and pointed towards her heart, "The important thing is that you still remembered it here, in your heart. I knew with a little bit of a push it would all come back to you someday."
"I guess," Elsa mumbled, not taking Hiccup's excuses to heart, and still feeling bothered by it.
"Enough of that for now Elsa, I have something to show you and Anna," Hiccup said.
"It's finally done?" Elsa asked excitedly. As Queen of Arendelle, Elsa insisted that she needed to "inspect" Dragon Mountain for safety purposes. But Hiccup remained adamant that Elsa would not see the work of him and the dragons until it was complete.
"Yea it's finally done, and now all we have to do is grab…"
"Hiccup!" a high pitched voice shouted and a wave of deja vu flowed over Hiccup once more as a flash of brown hair flew at a million miles per hour straight towards him and gave him a bear crushing hug.
"Anna," Elsa said in surprise as she watched her younger sister knock over Hiccup. Uncontrollable giggles echoed through the halls once more.
Straining his neck backwards, Hiccup looked to Elsa as he struggled to escape the clutches of Anna who was rubbing up against his chest with her head.
"Anna played a part in our shared past as well so I thought it would be a good idea to show her the dream," Hiccup explained.
"But enough of that already," Anna said, quickly hopping to the next thing in typical excited Anna fashion. With quick haste Anna pulled herself and Hiccup off the ground. "I got Hiccup's terror mail just a few minutes ago. Common we are wasting the morning away, I wanna see the new and improved Dragon Mountain!"
Grabbing one arm each from the pair, Anna wrapped them underneath her arms to make sure they wouldn't escape and dragged them towards the courtyard.
Awaiting for them on the courtyard was of course their dragons lazilly bathing in the morning sunlight. The dragons perked up from their rest upon hearing their riders on the courtyard grass. However, an unexpected person was waiting for them.
"I knew if I waited here long enough, your highnesses and sir Hiccup would show up eventually,"
"Councillor Eric," Elsa greeted, "Is there anything that needs addressing before I leave?"
"Just a minor issue your majesty," Councillor Eric said, his usual calm and cool demeanor was missing and replaced with a hint of frustration, "The Hero Arbridge is once again being quite persistent on meeting you and is making it quite difficult for us to ignore him,"
"Elsa's white knight is back?" Anna said, laughing once more as she recalled the antics Elsa had to do in order to get the hero to leave.
"He is not my white knight," Elsa retorted, "He is just really persistent ,"
"The Hero Arbridge?" Hiccup asked completely out of the loop,
"Someone who you need not concern yourself with Hiccup," Elsa said walking passed her protesting councillor and hopped onto her Nadder. Without another word or thought, Elsa took off towards Dragon Mountain.
With a confused shrug Hiccup raced towards Toothless and took off after Elsa and her dragon.
"Seeya later councillor," Anna waved back as she quickly followed Hiccup and hopped onto her own orange and black Triple Strike.
With slouched knees and shoulders, Councillor Eric could only imagine the terror that he was about to face as his only hope flew away.
A lot has changed since Elsa and Anna's last visit. The mountain was initially created by the icy breath of the Bewilderbeast but was now replaced with soft earth and rock. Gone were the rough and tough. The ice walls and ice ceilings were no longer opaque dirt whiteness that bordered on being called gray but was now translucent, sparkly and very similar to Elsa's style of ice.
In stereotypical fashion, the threesome walk towards the white light at the end of the tunnel. Crossing to the other side their vision was filled with soft green grass, rolling hills, thinly sparse tree and dragons scattered all over as they lazed around. Being at the top of Dragon Mountain, Elsa and Anna looked up in amazement as they saw the open sky and natural sunlight that shined down upon them.
"Welcome to the air biome!" Hiccup said with his arms waving in the air to direct the eyes of Elsa and Anna to take in everything they saw.
From behind, Toothless and the Arendelle sister's dragons raced past their riders to join in on the fun of the other dragons and almost knocking the sister's over. Luckily Hiccup was there to steady sisters and lead them around the perimeter of the biome.
"The air biome is the largest biome on dragon mountain," Hiccup started to explain as Elsa and Anna continued to take in the sights, "The large area and open skies allows for a number of various activities while also giving people a chance to relax,"'
Stopping and turning around Hiccup lifted his fingers, "There are three other biomes underneath dragon mountain. Lava, water, earth. And finally we have an exhibit to tell the story of the vikings and my people.
"Well what are we waiting for? Lets go!" Anna shouted as she lead the charge towards the cave exit, excited to go see the other biomes.
OoOoO
Many hours later Hiccup, Elsa and Anna finally returned home to the palace. Hopping off their dragons, the three continued with their discussions.
"With Dragon Mountain's low cost and the amount of people it will bring to Arendelle, we can easily have the state fund this project, although we will have to speak to the councillors and wait for the next budget term," Elsa started.
"The real issue is that we might not have enough people," Anna said, "We would need people for security, emergency care, guides, and a bunch of other jobs that would need filling."
"Baby steps you two," Hiccup said, "We want to make sure that there won't be any problems in the future by properly taking our time to plan everything out."
"But this is going to be like the coolest thing to happen to Arendelle ever," Anna shouted back excitedly to which Elsa gave her a raised eyebrow, "uuuh besides you of course Elsa,"
"My queen, I have finally found you!" A voice yelled from behind the group. Heavy metal rattled against the pavement as a tall man clad in shiny metal armour ran after them. Long flowing blonde hair with a handsome face with his rigid jawline shined against the sun. His eyes lit up and his smiled revealed pearly white teeth upon seeing Elsa.
"Here comes Elsa's white knight," Anna singed in amusement.
Running after the hero was General Grahm and two of his subordinates. Making eye contact with the queen, the general raised his hand giving the order to halt and waited for further instruction from their queen.
"Hero Arbridge," Elsa greeted, "Is there something I can help you with?"
"I have returned for your hand once more," the hero said gallantly before turning to face Hiccup.
"So you must be the so called Dragon King. I thought you would be taller," the hero said, his eyes sizing up Hiccup and showing a clear expression that said that he was not impressed.
"That's me alright, the Dragon King. Nice to meet you Hero Arbridge," Hiccup greeted back while waving his hand. Before Hiccup could say anything further, the hero raised his hand and pointed towards Hiccup with a challenging metal gloved finger.
"Dragon King, I challenge you to a duel for the hand of the Queen of Arendelle," the hero stated.
Anna let out a gasp before a wave a silence passed through the area. Time stopped as everyone waited for the response of the Dragon King.
With a nervous smile, Hiccup raised both of his hands, open palmed to the hero in an act of surrender, "sorry Hero Arbridge but I have no interest in fighting you," Hiccup answered.
"You would not defend the hand of your queen?" the hero said in surprise.
"I will defend Elsa and all of her interests," Hiccup stated, "But the her hand is free to do as she wishes,"
"Is this what you desire for a mate, my queen?" the hero asked, turning to face Elsa, "A man who is unwilling to fight for her queen?"
"Hiccup is willing to fight whenever it is necessary," Elsa cut in icilly, "This is not one of those situations.
"M'lady is not simply a fair maiden but a queen. A queen that rules a growing and thriving kingdom. She needs a true king that is strong enough to lead but also to protect your royal highness. How can the Dragon King protect anyone if he is too weak to fight and won't survive the first attempt on his life?"
"My hand remains steadfast with Hiccup's. Whether Hiccup wins or loses does not change anything, thus this fight is pointless," Elsa reasoned her patience slowly waning.
Elsa gave a quick glance towards her general. Understanding her signal the General Grahm placed a hand on his hilt and prepared the men to remove the hero from the area.
"As the Queen of the kingdom in which we reside in, I officially declar…"
"Hold on Elsa," Hiccup said cutting off Elsa and halting the soldiers behind the hero that were about to apprehend the hero, "the hero's words has some truth to them,"
Elsa, Anna and everyone turned to Hiccup curious about what he had to say when the situation was just about to be resolved.
"I've been away on Dragon Mountain working on my projects. I have been neglecting my duties and have forgotten to do my due diligence," Hiccup said, "If I am to protect Elsa, I need to know how I would fare against the people of today. If you remove the stakes Hero Arbridge then I will happily have a duel with you,"
"As queen I will not accept any blood spilt before my eyes. I will only allow this fight to happen if both sides agree to use only wooden swords," Elsa interjected giving her own stipulations as well.
The eyes of the hero lit up. Grinning from ear to ear and revealing his pearly white teeth, the hero looked like the cat who just caught the canary.
"I gladly accept your terms and conditions, my queen," the hero said with a wide sweeping bow to the queen." Still bowed but head popping up, the hero looked towards Hiccup. "I will see you at the training grounds in thirty minutes," the hero said before quickly taking his leave.
OoOoO
The training grounds was more like an arena and could be considered a miniature coliseum. Inspired by the Romans, the training area was a simple large flat ground of dirt. Boxing in the area were high walls and the stands. The trainers and the occasional children watched from the stands.
In a dark passageway leading to one of the four entrances to the ground arena. Hiccup leisurely walked through the passageway, a wooden training sword resting on his shoulder.
"Why are you doing this Hiccup?" Elsa asked walking alongside him. Anna following closely behind them, "I thought that after all that has happened to you that you would be done fighting,"
"We don't always get to choose when we fight. Sometime it's inevitable," Hiccup explained turning his head and giving Elsa a heartfelt smile, "when there are things that we wish to protect we have no choice but to fight,"
"And this is one of those time?" Anna piped in.
"A simple sparring match with wooden swords? Hardly," Hiccup laughed as he compared it to how painful his sparring sessions with Astrid was. Hiccup knew that this was going to be as easy.
"This match is a very important step in the right direction with very little risk" Hiccup started to explain, "Either I win in which case it will deter others from challenging me in the future or I lose and that tells me I need to get back into it and train harder."
"Either way, I will be rooting for you from the top of the stands. Break a leg Hiccup!" Anna cheered to which Anna felt a frost build up on her spine and let out a yelp, "what was that for Elsa!"
"There will be no leg breaking," Elsa declared angrily, "You are to return with both of your legs intact. Is that understood Hiccup?"
"I will obey your command my queen," Hiccup said mockingly before making his way towards the arena.
"What was that all about?" Anna asked rubbing her back to produce heat and watched as her sister glare at the back of her future brother in law.
"Long story short, Hiccup used to have only one leg before Ragnarok rejuvenated his leg back," Elsa explained.
"What?" Anna said, her brain frozen as she tried to comprehend what her sister just said. By the time she had returned back to reality. Her sister had already left, making her way towards the stands. "Hey wait up Elsa!"
OoOoO
Hiccup walked out to the arena in awe. What Hiccup thought was a simple sparring match turned into a full blown event. The stands were nearly filled with spectators.
"What is going on?" Hiccup wondered.
"They have come to watch your royal highness fight," General Grahm said from behind, "Curiosity makes the soldiers wonder what kind of fighting prowess the being known as the Dragon King has."
"If they are expecting me to conjure fire out of thin air in similar fashion to the queen then they will be sorely disappointed," Hiccup commented.
"I'm sure a good fight will suffice," the hero said as he emerged from the entrance from the otherside. Gone was his shining white armor and replaced with simple a light tunic and trousers,"
Looking up to the segregated booth, the general saw the two Queens of Arendelle take their seats. With a simple nod and confirmation from the Queen of Snow, the general proceeded to the center of the arena.
"This is a sparring match between the Dragon King and the Hero Arbridge, are both fighters ready?" the general shouted.
Hiccup raised his sword as did the Hero Arbridge. Seeing that both contestant appeared to be ready. The general raised his hand to the air.
"Begin," the general yelled.
Hiccup instantly charged towards his opponent as did the hero. Meeting in the middle their wooden swords struck with a mighty clash. The easily distinguishable sound of wood hitting against wood repeated rhythmically as their words clashed.
Hiccup was quickly impressed with the hero known as Arbridge. His sword attacks were swift and they hit hard. The hero charged in with zero hesitation and followed through with pure confidence. With each counter or strike Hiccup fell further and further behind in his defence and forcing Hiccup to step back to give himself enough time to react.
Familiarity washed over Hiccup, the way his breathing became shallow, the sounds of the crowds and their cheering began to dull. Nothing mattered except for the opponent that stood in front of him. The blood inside of him began to boil and his body grew hotter and hotter. Hiccup's eyes turned red and watched as the movement of the hero became slower.
Berserker blood awakened, the progress of the hero stopped dead in its tracks. The power spike of Hiccup was enough as the momentum turned the other way, pushing the fight back into the middle.
The fight came to a standstill with neither side budging. It seemed that neither side has enough of an advantage to end the fight. But time was on Hiccup's side. With morbid fascination Hiccup watched as the hero's breathing slowly grew heavier and heavier. An incredible feat of endurance for the hero who has continued to fight for this long
*Clash*
Splinters flew into the air, as the two wooden swords broke into halves.
As the fight came to a brief stop, Hiccup could see a glimmer of hope in the hero's eyes grateful for the chance to regain his breathe.
"We will resume the fight once more when we get new training swords," General Grahm said, halting the fight.
"There is no need to wait, " Hiccup said, having the idea to have Elsa show off a little. Tilting his head Hiccup looked towards the booth, where the queens sat watching. From above Hiccup could see how excited Anna was ashe was barely able to stay put in her chair. In contrast to her sister, Elsa remained coldy stoic in her chair.
"If you could help us out Elsa," Hiccup called out. Without a word Elsa waved her hand and a light mist began to form from beneath Hiccup's knees and slightly above the ground. Hiccup felt a small pull from his arm and a sword made out of ice was formed right in front of him. Looking from across the arena, Hiccup could see that Elsa did the same for Arbridge.
Waving the ice sword a few times, the Hero Arbridge was clearly impressed by Elsa's impressive power. This gave him an extra boost of motivation as returned his focus back to Hiccup, ready to fight once more.
Hiccup's raised his ice sword ready to fight the hero once more when a new idea popped into Hiccup's head.
"It may not be flashy," Hiccup thought to himself, "but at least it will be something to show off."
With the signal from the general, the fight between Hiccup and the Hero Arbridge began once more.
Putting some distance from the hero by stepping a few meters back. Hiccup broke into a complete sprint. But to the surprise of everyone ,Hiccup wasn't sprinting towards his opponent but around him.
Hiccup was literally running in circles around the hero,
The hero maintained his cool and did not panic. Instead the hero stood his ground and merely swivelled, making sure to keep watch of Hiccup and making sure not to expose his back. Hiccup was far away enough that the hero was confident that he could react in time to whatever it was Hiccup was doing.
Standing still to recover from his fatigue, the hero would let himself gain that advantage and let Hiccup tire himself out with whatever theatrics Hiccup was trying to pull.
Around and around Hiccup ran and at the center the hero known has Arbridge spun. Never letting his focus stray, the Hero Arbridge kept his entire focus on Hiccup. The cheers and roars of the crowd slowly died down as the suspense continued to build, confused and wondering what would happen next. Any moment now, the hero and the spectators expected for the Dragon King to collapse from exhaustion.
But a Berserker feels no pain and does not get tired. A Berserkers fights until he is killed.
After running nearly a hundreds laps, to the disbelief of everyone, Hiccup sped up and ran three more record laps with each one faster than the next before finally sprinting straight at the Hero Arbridge.
With ample amount of time to react, the hero raised his ice sword up high and swung his sword directly at Hiccup's head.
The sword flew true but the hero's body did not as he tilted off to the hero's balance completely distorted from all of the spinning he did. So focus on Hiccup that the hero was unaware what was happening to his own head. Running around in circles was a strategy that only a Berserker could do and by the time the hero realized what was happening, it was already too late.
Charging forward with little fear little from the hero's ice sword, Hiccup disarmed his opponent's sword, lifted the hero across his shoulder and threw the hero across the arena.
OoOoO
"Winning a fight with vertigo, honestly Hiccup," Elsa said sitting at her vanity and tying up her hair for the night.
"I thought you would be happy that I managed to get through the fight without getting hurt. Certainly gave people something to talk about for awhile and hopefully now we might get some peace and quiet," Hiccup said, entering the room clad in nothing but shorts and a wet towel over his head. Steam radiated off his body after a nice hot soak in the bath.
"I'll be the judge of that. Get on the bed Hiccup," Elsa ordered, taking one last look at herself to make sure her hair was in place.
With zero resistance, Hiccup tossed his towel aside and climbed onto the bed face down and still shirtless.
"Oof," Hiccup let out an exaggerated grunt from all of the weight that climbed on top of him. Hiccup couldn't see the glare that Elsa was giving him but he could definitely feel the painful pinch at the top of his back.
"Ow!" Hiccup let out his body jerking slightly on the bed from the pain.
"Quit being a baby and hold still you big jerk," Elsa said, her hands pushing down on Hiccup to hold him still.
Peaceful silence was created within the chambers of the queen as Elsa massaged Hiccup's back.
"Hey Hiccup, something's been bothering me ever since I woke up this morning," Elsa started as she continued her work in Hiccup's back.
"We have time now, something on your mind?" Hiccup asked.
"Just as I promised my mother. I returned the Gem of Ice to my mother. But now it is out there, at the bottom of the sea, along with my parents. After a so many years my family ended up losing the gem and breaking our promise to you. Won't you get in trouble as Guardian Hiccup?"
"The Gem of Ice is safe and sound," Hiccup said enjoying the massage Elsa was giving him, "why would I get into trouble when she is sitting here, safely on top of me?"
"What are you trying to say Hiccup?" Elsa asked, her hands stopping in confusion to what Hiccup just said.
"To be more precise, the powers that once resided in the gem has for some reason transferred to you," Hiccup explained.
"Why would it do that?" Elsa asked.
"My guess is that the gem was unable to hold the power after so many years and so decided to transfer onto a new host. For all intents and purposes, you are the Gem of Ice now Elsa, you are the portal between worlds and the key to Asgard," Hiccup answered.
"So then my mysterious ice magic, the magic that I've had since my birth, it came from the gem?" Elsa asked.
"I don't know for sure but that is where I would place my bets," Hiccup returned. Craning his neck to look behind him, Hiccup wanted to check to see if Elsa was upset. His attempts were stopped short as he felt Elsa's hand pressing her hands down on his head commanding Hiccup to stop. Pausing to make sure Hiccup wasn't struggling anymore Elsa slowly returned to her massage.
"Does it make you upset Elsa?" Hiccup asked as he felt her hand lowers down to his lower back. "I chose to become the Guardian to protect Gem of Fire and Ice. Elewynn chose to protect the Gem of ice in my stead as a promise. But you were never given a choice to become the Gem of Ice, to have you magical powers,"
"If you had asked when I was younger, the answer would have been definitely yes. My powers hurt my sister and kept me away from her. I would have gladly thrown away my ice powers if I could be with my sister again. But now I feel like these ice powers are a part of me. It took me many years but I now know how to control my powers. And now thanks to you, the mystery of my powers is gone, it makes them feel less scary now that i know where my powers came from. And most important of all is that these powers brought you to me." Elsa, described.
Feeling her hands tingling, Elsa's cool hands pressed down to the raging fire that was Hiccup body in order to soothe his muscles. "Shouldn't you be the one that is upset? I am the Gem of Ice and got these cool ice powers. But you have have the Gem of Fire but I don't see you shooting fireballs at of your hands," Elsa teased.
"Why shoot fireballs out of my hands when I can just have dragons do that for me," Hiccup quipped.
A satisfied smirk passed to Elsa face, satisfied with the work that she did to Hiccups muscles as they have been thoroughly untightened and relaxed. Still sitting on top of Hiccup, Elsa lowered herself making sure her body brushed up against Hiccup's back, and moved up until she could whisper into Hiccup's ear.
"Turn around now Hiccup," Elsa said in a husky voice, "I gave you a reason to come me and now I am going to give you a reason to stay.
Another day, another night, this was the life he had now, with many years in the making. Hiccup certainly still has his regrets and guilt but thanks to Elsa, he would build a new life and future here in Arendelle.
Feeling Elsa's lift herself off of him, Hiccup turned around so that he was lying on his back to a flushed Elsa. Eyes dilated and her breath slightly hitched, Elsa was desperate to get herself satiated and her desire quenched. Hiccup let out a low groan of satisfaction as Elsa swept through his hair with her hands. Closing his eyes Hiccup let himself get consumed by the pleasure of Elsa as she took control and her presence drew closer and closer.
Hiccup and Elsa continue on with their lazy days in Arendelle after having everything finally answered.
One more chapter to close off a few more plot points and then we will be all done!
Reviews and comments are appreciated