A/N So...I really don't have a viable excuse for not updating in so long. Sorry about that.

Review Replies:

EnigmaticPhoenix (Guest): I'm glad you liked it. Here's the update.

turtlekier42: Thank you! And your wait is over.

Zoha Ven: Yes, it was indeed a very depressing chapter. And would you mind keeping your deduction on the low-down? It's supposed to be a surprise, where Percy, Annabeth, and Sarah end up. ;-)

Chapter 11: To Hate, Or Not To Hate? (No Contest)

I woke up the next morning rather depressed. Annabeth and I had been woken in the night by Percy screaming in his sleep, quite obviously back in Tarterus in his dreams. Annabeth and Percy hadn't known that I was awake, and I watched as Annabeth climbed into Percy's bed to wake him up and calm him down. He had started sobbing into her neck once he'd woken, and they'd stayed wrapped around each other until they'd both fallen asleep.

Did I feel as though I had been intruding? Yes. Yes, I did. However, I also felt lonely. Very lonely. I wanted someone to love me as much as those two loved each other. And, as much as I realized that their love had been strengthened by all the horrible things they'd gone through together, I didn't want to go through anything that bad. Even with someone else. Well, that was cowardly. But still. It was an unshakable truth that the horrors they'd experienced had forged an unbreakable bond.

Okay. That sounded familiar. Really familiar. The phrase "unbreakable bond" tickled something in the back of my mind, something I was sure was very important. But I couldn't remember. I glanced over at Percy's bed, where he and Annabeth were still asleep. I sighed. I was still tired, but there was no going back to sleep with my brain in such high gear.

So, I dressed in a new outfit from my bag and headed out into the Great Hall. It was still early-ish, and only a few people were there. Among those people were Mildew, sitting in a corner with Fungus, muttering under his breath. That reminded me that I wanted to yell at him about the incident from "In Dragons We Trust." Besides, I got very crabby when I was depressed and wanted an excuse to yell at someone.

I stalked over to Mildew's corner.

"Hello, Mildew."

He glared up at me balefully.

"What do you want?"

I carefully took off my glasses, folded them up, then set them on the table before putting both my hands palm-down on the table and leaning toward the disgusting man.

"I may not be able to prove what you did, but I promise you that I will never forget it," I hissed, quoting Hiccup.

Mildew looked slightly confused, before realization hit him, followed by contempt.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

I laughed derisively.

"Okay, Mildew, let's get something straight. I know what you did. I know why you did it. I know what happened. And you know what? I will never forgive you. I will always hate you. And if you tell anyone that I know, I will be having mutton for dinner." I kicked Fungus lightly, and he bleated in annoyance.

Mildew's eyes narrowed.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, wouldn't I?" I sat back and fixed him with a deadpan stare. "Think carefully about your next move, Mildew. I know things you wouldn't even dream I know. I could make life very hard for you."

Mildew snorted.

"All right, what do you want?"

That startled me. I hadn't really wanted anything, but now that I thought about it...

"I want you to confess."

"What?!"

"Confess."

He faked confusion.

"Con-confess to what?"

I rolled my eyes.

"I want you to confess to taking Monstrous Nightmare claws and clawing the pillar over there to frame Hookfang, and also to taking Hideous Zippleback feet and taking boots to frame Barf and Belch."

"And what exactly will you do to me if I don't?"

I pretended to think for a minute.

"Well...I could kill you...but that's too fast, too easy." I leaned forward and lowered my voice. "How would it feel if no one saw you? If you were there, but no one saw you...no one heard you...it would be as if you weren't there at all, to people around you. Animals, too. And it would go on for so long that you would wonder if everyone was right...if you didn't exist at all."

Was I bluffing? Yes I was. Not only did I not have the means to do that, but I wasn't that evil. I wouldn't do that to someone even if I could. And I may or may not have taken inspiration for that threat from a different Dreamworks movie...anyway.

Mildew stared at me with real fear for a second, and I was victorious.

Hate clouded his features and he growled out, "Alright, you foul hag. I'll do as you say."

I smiled. "Lovely." I trilled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be going now. I have someone else to talk to."

This was perfectly true. I had just seen Hiccup and Toothless come in to the Great Hall, shaking water off themselves. I ran over to greet them.

"Hey, guys!"

"Hey." Hiccup said, wringing out his sleeve. Toothless gave me a sloppy dragon kiss. I wiped it off with a gag of disgust.

"Raining out there?" That was odd, I couldn't hear any rain.

Hiccup huffed in annoyance.

"No, the twins decided it would be a brilliant idea to dump a couple troughs of water on Toothless and I as we walked out of the house this morning."

I laughed. "Do they get a punishment?"

Hiccup snorted. "Them? No."

"Point taken."

As we took a table and waited for everyone else to show up, Hiccup asked where Percy and Annabeth were. I gave him the short version. That they had been through something really horrible together, they still had awful nightmares, and that they had been up last night and were probably still sleeping. He didn't seem too bothered that they were sharing a bed.

In time, the others showed up, and talk turned to the Academy lessons today.

"Well, I didn't really have anything planned for today," Hiccup said. "I just sort of thought we'd go and figure something random out."

My head snapped up from where I was contemplating my bowl of questionable cleanliness.

"Or," I said holding my fork up in the air, "I could teach."

All eyes at the table turned to me.

"You?" Tuffnut asked.

"You don't even know anything about dragons!" Ruffnut snorted.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, really?" I rattled off the dragon classes, then named the weak spots of each dragon that the dragon riders had. I even mentioned Hookfang liking getting his horns wrestled to the ground.

They stared at me.

"But that's not what I was planning on teaching." I finished.

"What were you planning on teaching?" Fishlegs asked curiously.

I shrugged.

"You guys have got enemies, right?"

They nodded.

"Do you know how to bluff convincingly? Can you drive your captors to distraction in a way that won't get you killed? Do you know which dragons to talk to instead of trying to train? How good are you at lying?"

They looked at me funny.

"Well, we all know that Hiccup is a terrible liar." Tuff ventured.

I grinned. "Then that's where we'll start! With your permission, Hiccup, I suggest we head to the Academy."

Hiccup shrugged. "Why not? Just let us finish breakfast first."

"Of course. I'll see if Per-uh...if Seafarer and Wisdom Speaker want to come too."

I smiled. I was so looking forward to this.

A/N So, there you are! It took me exactly an hour to write this, can you believe it?