A/N Hi! Well, the show I was in (Aladdin the Musical, Jr.) was AMAZING! We all had so much fun! And...school ends tomorrow! YAY!

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Zoha Ven: Well...I mostly prefer the Dreamworks version of events, if they lessened a bit of the stupidity in the shows I'd like them more.

And, yes, Hiccup's destiny...well, in the books there's this discussion of fate and destiny and the difference between them, and I like to think that the dragons only went extinct because Alvin the Treacherous got jealous, changed fate, and caused Hiccup's existence...and really, Hiccup didn't start the war (though everyone blamed him for it). It was Fishlegs's fault. But I suppose what I mean is that when I finished reading the 11th book, I had this whole imagined version of what the Dragon Jewel could do.

In The Chronicles of Narnia, in The Magician's Nephew, Queen Jadis of Charn (who would become the White Witch of Narnia) spoke a word called the Deplorable Word, which, when spoken, would kill every living thing in the world except the person who spoke it. I sort of imagined that the Dragon Jewel would do something like that, meaning, kill every dragon in existence when a human broke it open. That's what I'm imagining Hiccup's destiny is (totally by accident, of course). He wouldn't try to do it, totally the opposite, in fact. But destiny is destiny, and according to the books, destiny cannot be changed, whereas fate can be.

Anyway, I'm sorry if it seems terrible or morbid or whatever, Hiccup's destiny being what it is, but that's the way this story is going.

Chapter Six

I glared down at my breakfast.

Ick, I thought.

I'd had an awful morning. After telling Percy and Annabeth about the fate of Berk and Vikings, I'd realized I did NOT like outhouses. Not in the slightest. I found myself doing something I never thought I'd do: missing public bathrooms. And sacrificing a page of one of my precious books. It was one of the blank pages at the back though, so really no damage done.

To add insult to injury (literally, I had a scrape on my shin to prove it), breakfast was boiled mutton and some form of unidentifiable grain. In an unsanitary bowl that looked like it hadn't been washed from last night.

I shuddered.

"What's wrong?" Astrid asked, plonking down a bowl and sitting next to me.

"Ugh," I muttered. "Just early morning grumpiness. I'm just a zombie in a bad mood right now."

"What's a zombie?" She asked with her mouth half-full.

"Drat," I said under my breath. I scrambled around in the murky depths of my sleepy brain for an excuse, then just settled on the truth.

"A zombie is a pretend creature. It's a human that died and was sort of brought back to life and is a rotting, walking corpse with an unsatiable desire to eat human brains. It's an expression to say you're a zombie when you're tired because zombies are slow and clumsy."

Astrid swallowed and remarked, "Well, let's be glad they're pretend, then."

"Yep." I mumbled. I put my head on my arms on the table.

"Where's Wisdom-Speaker and Seafarer?" Astrid asked.

"They went exploring," I replied, my head still on the table.

Astrid giggled.

"What?" I asked, lifting my head. Astrid wasn't known for such things.

"Well," she said, "your story last night? You know, about female spirits of trees?"

I stared, unsure where this was going. What about dryads?

"...Yes?"

Astrid started chuckling.

"Well," she said, "Snotlout has decided it's not a story."

I stared blankly, my sleepy mind not making the connection.

Astrid burst into unrestrained peals of laughter.

"Snotlout has been talking up trees this morning," She finally managed to say.

I smirked.

"Really?"

"Yep."

I started laughing too.

"That's hilarious!"

She stopped laughing, and said in mock sincerity, "The poor idiot believes that the old pine tree behind his house is in love with him."

We started laughing again, and a minute later we heard someone say, "What's so funny?" And Hiccup sat at the table across from us.

Astrid continued snickering, and I said, "Snotlout thinks a tree is in love with him."

"Because of your story last night?" Hiccup asked while Toothless curled up under the table...or tried to.

Well, Hiccup's certainly more bright than some of us, I privately observed, but out loud I said, "Yeah, it's hilarious."

Hiccup smirked. "We're not going to let him forget this."

"Definitely not," Astrid said with a wicked smile, having recovered from her laughter.

I suddenly brightened up.

"Speaking of forgetting things..." I said. I reached under the table for my backpack, which Toothless had been sniffing at suspiciously. I rummaged about in the lunchbox before pulling out the only good thing to eat on the island of Berk (literally, scientific tests had proved that these things never went bad): a McDonald's cheeseburger.

Now, normally, I wouldn't eat McDonald's unless I had no other choice. The day before, I'd bought one early for my lunch before the incident had landed me here. I unwrapped it and poked at it experimentally.

"Darn," I said. "It's cold."

"What in Midgard is that?" Astrid asked.

I looked up.

"It's a cheeseburger," I said. "It's...well, it's food. By a rough definition. Where I come from..."

What do I say to explain why it hasn't rotted? I wondered.

"Well, where I come from, it's made from..uh..magic ingredients that prevent it from rotting. You could keep it almost forever and you could still eat it."

"Can I try a little?" Astrid asked curiously.

"It's cold." I said. "I'll have to warm it up first. That way it'll taste better, and also be easier to chew."

"Okay," Astrid said. She and Hiccup watched interestedly as I took it all the way out of the wrapper and put it on the hearth. Toothless got up to inspect it.

"Don't you dare, Toothless," I said. He turned to look at me with those big innocent eyes. I poked him in the nose.

"Oh, no you don't, Mister," I said while he snorted and went back under the table to pout. I called out to him, "I know all about your sneaky means of stealing food."

I heard a gasp behind me and turned to see Percy and Annabeth coming toward us.

"Is that a cheeseburger?" Percy asked almost reverently. "In this place? No offense," he added to Hiccup and Astrid.

"None taken," said Astrid, taking another bite of mutton.

I glanced at Percy. He was staring at that cheeseburger with an intensity that bordered on utter fascination. I stifled a giggle. I knew about his great love for cheeseburgers. What Percy Jackson fan didn't?

"Oh, go on, Jackson, take it," I said, gesturing to the cheeseburger. "Hang on," I paused. "I said Astrid should have some, too." I considered. "Let's break it in half."

Astrid and Percy agreed, and Hiccup offered his little dagger to cut the cheeseburger. So I tested the cheeseburger (to find that it was warm), cut it in two, and gave one half to Percy, and one half to Astrid. Astrid took a tentative bite before her eyes widened and she said, "This is really good!" Then she downed the rest, regarded her bowl, and said, "I will never look at breakfast the same way again."

Percy watched, amused, then offered some burger to Annabeth (who refused) before raising it to his lips...

And Toothless pounced.

Percy screamed.

I kid you not, he screamed in a very startled way, you know, just a quick burst of loud noise. (Actually, we all made some type of startled noise, but Percy was very loud.)

He fell backwards onto the floor, and the burger disappeared into Toothless's mouth.

We girls burst out laughing, Hiccup looked greatly embarrassed and said, "Toothless! Really, bud?" And Percy...well, he was mad.

Now, most people will say angry things in a rather loud, high(er)-pitched voice if they are as indignant as Percy was. Because, honestly, he was more indignant than mad. If it was me, I'd probably say: "Toothless! You bad dragon! YOU ATE MY CHEESEBURGER!" Then I'd pout a little bit, and be done with it and laugh about it later. But Percy? Oh, no, he was REALLY aiming for overkill.

So...

Well, lets just say Toothless got rather wet. Actually, lets explain the whole thing.

While Astrid, Annabeth and I were cracking up and Hiccup was scolding Toothless, Percy got up off the floor with murder in his eyes (not really, but you get the idea). All the water in our mugs flew out of the mugs and doused Toothless's face. We stopped laughing. Toothless sputtered. Percy looked shame-faced. A couple heads had turned when Toothless pounced, and so they, too, had seen the water moving by itself.

I shot Annabeth a look, like Get him out of here NOW.

Thank God she understood.

She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him out to the steps in front of the Great Hall, and I swear I heard her slapping him.

I turned to Hiccup and Astrid. Astrid's eyes had narrowed, Hiccup was staring at the door, Toothless still looked bewildered, and mutters were starting to spread through the Hall.

"What was that?" Astrid asked. All friendly-ness was gone from her tone. I hesitated. Then I had a thought.

Well...it's a long shot, as I'm mortal, but I'll give it a go.

I stood up and snapped my fingers. I could feel the ripple as the Mist shimmered. I blinked. So did everyone in the Hall.

What the hel..um, clownfish?! It worked?

"Seafarer dumped the water." I said calmly and loudly. "The water didn't move by itself. He picked up the mugs and dumped them."

Everyone blinked, then all the others went back to their conversations. Hiccup went back to scolding Toothless. Astrid continued eating her breakfast. Snotlout sauntered over and sat next to her.

"Hey babe," he said.

"Go away," She replied. I sat down and smirked.

"Hey, Snotlout," I said.

He looked over.

"Yeah, beautiful?"

Inwardly, I shuddered, but kept on talking.

"What's all this about a tree?" I asked, smiling. Hiccup looked up from his bowl and grinned.

"Yeah, Snotlout," he said. "Which tree thinks you're soooo hot?" He snickered.

Snotlout puffed out his chest and said, "For your information, she doesn't think I'm 'hot', she thinks I'm ruggedly handsome, and it's the pine tree behind my house," he said proudly.

I gagged.

"I'm leaving now," I said. "Come get me when you're gonna start training." Hiccup nodded and went back to teasing Snotlout. I got up and went back to the room where I'd slept. I pulled my backpack out from under the bed and opened my compartment with my toothbrush in it. I pulled out toothbrush and toothpaste and was about to close the bag when I noticed an envelope.

Funny..that wasn't there before.

I pulled it out and looked at it. It was addressed to me. So I opened it. On one side of the paper inside there was a single word, spelled out, complete with dashes: M-I-S-T. The M was much fainter than the others. On the other side was a note.

Sarah:

I knew you were going to need this. It's good for four uses of the Mist. You're going to need it. Expect gifts from others as well. -Hecate

I sat down hard on my bed. I stared at the word. Hecate. Why on earth would the goddess of magic give me a present? And...expect gifts from others...Oh dear. What could this mean? Did the Olympians decide to help Percy and Annabeth by sending me gifts? Why would they do that? What did I have to offer? I wasn't smart. I wasn't strong. I wasn't wise. I didn't have special powers. In fact (as my mother had told me more than once), I couldn't do anything right, I failed at almost everything I attempted, and I was no good for anything. I never argued when she said that. It was perfectly true.

What is going on?

I stared at the note again. I curled up, pulling my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.

So tired.

What could I do? With my luck, I'd end up killing someone. I shuddered at the thought. Someone else dead would be horrible. Me dead would be...well, not so horrible. I remembered that old Shakespeare quote: In the world I but fill a space, which would be better used when I have left it.

Perfectly true.

What should I do? I knew I had to help the demigods, but being here, knowing what was going to happen and being powerless to stop it...well, it hurt almost as bad as when I'd lost..well, someone important. No...it hurt worse. I knew these people. I knew their brilliance. Their love for each other. They would be as close as family one day, and then be torn apart...

Nothing I can do.

I was gasping now, trying to breathe with lungs that felt constricted, crushed. Tears started pooling in my eyes. I really was worthless. No...Useless. Hiccup wasn't Useless, I was.

Nothing I can do.

Actually, that wasn't completely true. I had been told that when I got this bad, to just do something meaningless. Something inane and pointless, but it would be something. I had to get up. I pushed the envelope back into the backpack, got up, swiped at my eyes, and determinedly (if a bit wobbly) marched through the Great Hall, outside, down the stairs, and found a well. I pulled up a bucket of water, rinsed my toothbrush, and started to brush my teeth. My mouth was still full of blue foam when I heard a voice behind me.

"Hey, Songbird!"

Tuffnut.

"D'you think she can hear us?"

Ruffnut.

"Songbird, Mildew says you're a witch."

"Yeah, he says you put a spell on everyone in the Great Hall."

I sighed though my nose and turned around, trying to talk around my toothbrush.

"I mosth shertainly am noth a withs," I said.

Their eyes widened and they backed away.

"Whath?" I asked.

"Witch!" Tuffnut screamed.

"Witch!" Ruffnut echoed.

"Aaaaaaaaaaagh! All witches have blue spit!" Tuffnut screamed to Ruffnut.

"You don't say!?" She yelled back.

"Gotta tell Hiccup!"

They ran down the hill, screaming, "Witch! Witch!" as they went. I sighed, rinsed out my mouth, and followed.

"Stupid blue toothpaste," I muttered. I thought a moment. "Mildew...dang it! He was watching from outside when I used the Mist!"

I followed the twins down to the Academy, where they were screaming and shouting, trying to convince Hiccup I was a witch. I sighed again. This would take some explaining.

A/N So, what do you think? I was thinking Mildew might be a problem...witches and whatnot. ;)

Anyway, I will not be writing again till Monday, so see you all then!