Flipping the Switch

Chapter 6: Cursed

Author's Note: Wow, thank you to all my loyal readers who have waited another year and a half for the next chapter! So much has happened since I last updated... I graduated college, moved to San Francisco, AND HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 CAME OUT!

I have really sucked at updating this thing and I'm so sorry! In my defense, I did begin writing this chapter immediately after I published the previous one, I just never finished it...Oopsies. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next installment, I had a lot of fun writing it as always. Again, some of the mythology stuff is made up to fit the context of this story.

Another thanks for all the reviews, you're all awesome! One review that stood out to me pointed out that Astrid's portrayal is nothing more than a shallow stereotype...While I definitely can't argue that, perhaps she will surprise you as the story continues to unfold. ;)

So here is my Christmas present to all of you. Or Hanukkah, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, whatever kind of present you want it to be. Chapter 6.

~ kitty

"What?" Astrid asked.

I simply stood there staring at my phone screen, my mouth agape. I was speechless.

"What is it, Hiccup?"

Gripping my phone tightly in one hand, I let my face fall into the other and shook my head. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Come on, Hiccup, what?!"

"The janitor..." I replied, my voice slightly muted by my palm. "It was Loki."

She lifted an eyebrow, not following. "Loki? What is that?"

"Not what. But who. It says right here." I moved back to my desk and then pointed to my laptop screen. "'Loki is the god of mischief and a notorious trickster,'" I read aloud. "'One must beware of Loki, for he is a shapeshifter and can take on the form of any earthly being.'" Astrid leaned forward and skimmed over the webpage.

She blinked and turned to me. "You think this is how we got switched?"

"Can you think of a better explanation, princess?"

She bit her bottom lip and sat back onto the bed, breathing a defeated sigh. "Well, how do you know?"

I plopped down next to her. "It was on his nametag."

Her eyes- my eyes- widened in astonishment. "Really?"

Too anxious to stay seated, I stood up again and began pacing around the bedroom. "Really. I'll take my chances on this one. There's no way it could be a coincidence."

Astrid threw her palms toward the ceiling. "Well how are we supposed to find him?"

"I don't know. But I think I know someone who does."

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"You must be joking."

Elias Fishlegs stared blankly at us from his swivel desk chair. Astrid and I were sitting on his couch, the three of us inside his dungeon of a basement.

"Dude. I wish we were," I replied.

Fishlegs is the smartest kid in our junior class and a notorious mega nerd. He also has a huge crush on Ruff, and comes to all our shows. That's how I know him. He's a little socially awkward, but he's a nice kid. For the most part. I give him shit sometimes but it's only to help him build character.

I came to him in hopes that he would know what to do about the curse Loki had bestowed upon Astrid and I, or at least point us in the right direction.

His living space was adorned with lava lamps, tall shelves lined with mythology books and Dungeons & Dragons figurines, empty potato chip bags, and a plasma screen TV hooked up to every video game console you can imagine. Lord of the Rings and Zelda posters covered the walls and even his bed frame was garnished in fucking stickers of the Transfomers and other nerdy shit. The only source of natural light came from two small windows in the corner.

Fishlegs squinted at me, then looked over at Astrid. "Did Astrid just call me dude?"

"Dammit Fishlegs," I groaned. "That is Astrid. I'm Hiccup."

"Okay. Ha ha, very funny. Like you guys switched places, or something."

I clapped my hand to my face. "Are you fucking kidding me, dude?" For such a smart guy, he could be pretty fucking oblivious sometimes. We had told him everything about our situation, crystal clear, and he still didn't get it.

"Yeah, have you like, not listened to anything we've said?" Astrid asked with her ever-so-characteristic sass, sitting back in the couch with her arms and legs crossed.

"Yeah, Fishlegs. What the fuck."

"Okay, this actually isn't funny, guys," Fishlegs squeaked with a nervous chuckle. His eyes darted back and forth between to the two of us. Then he lowered his head and leaned towards Astrid. "Hiccup- I didn't know you knew Astrid," he whispered to her before glancing at me. "I didn't know she was so...vulgar..."

"I heard that," I called out.

Astrid shook her head and stood up, disregarding Fishlegs' skepticism. "Look," she said firmly, planting one hand on her hip. "We'll prove it."

As if the girly mannerisms weren't proof enough.

"Yeah," I said, backing her up. "Wait- what? How?" I watched Astrid move to the center clearing of the room. She just winked at me, and then snapped into an upright stance, her arms glued to her sides. She was smiling big.

I had a bad feeling about this.

And then came the clapping.

"Come on crowd, yell go Vikings go!"

Oh, no.

"Go! Vikings! Go!"

She chanted the line again in a sing-song voice, this time with flashy arm motions. The sight made me wanna puke. What was she doing to me!

"Go! Vikings! Go!"

Astrid then finished off the chant with a perfect round-off back handspring.

"Go Vikings!"

The room was suddenly silent except for Astrid's heavy breathing. Fishlegs and I sat there wide-eyed and open-mouthed. She stood there for a few moments, her arms still held up in a high V. Her skin was slightly flushed, a big cheerleader smile still plastered on her face.

"Now do you believe us?" she breathed, her chest heaving a bit.

"Astrid?" Fishlegs asked, awestricken. He then turned to me, an even more bewildered look on his chubby mug. "Hiccup?"

I looked to Astrid. "I think he took that well."

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"Fishlegs? Fishlegs, are you alright?"

"Whoa- yeah- I mean- huh? I'm fine. Uh- what happened?"

Astrid scoffed. "Duh. You fainted!"

Fishlegs squinted at Astrid and then looked at me again. He had passed out only seconds after he realized that Astrid and I were switched. He was on his rug now, having slipped out of his desk chair upon fainting, and was looking up at us with an even more puzzled look than before. Poor kid had maybe been out for a minute or two before he finally snapped out of it.

"You okay, dude?" I asked.

Fishlegs blinked at me. "H-Hiccup?"

I smiled meekly and nodded. "Yeah. It's me."

"Finally he believes us," Astrid said with a roll of her eyes.

"Astrid...?"

"Come on, let's help him up."

As Fishlegs plopped back into his swivel chair, he stared wide-eyed off into space for a moment before exchanging dazed looks upon Astrid and I. "So I wasn't dreaming..." he muttered. "You guys are really switched."

Astrid and I glanced at each other. "Trust me," I said with a laugh. "I'm not creative enough to think of an elaborate prank like this."

Fishlegs took in a deep breath and then exhaled. "Okay. Okay," he said, regaining composure and his usual calculative persona. "Gimme a second." In one brisk motion he swiveled his chair around to face his computer and immediately began typing away at lightning speed.

I took a seat on the couch once again, Astrid following. "I think we were cursed."

"Curse... Spell... The work of dark magic... It could be a number of things."

"Do you know about Loki?"

The typing stopped. Fishlegs turned back around to face us.

"Loki? The Norse god? The son of Farbauti and Laufey, the brother Helblindi and Byleistr-"

"Yeah- we get it," I interrupted. "That one."

"Loki is the trickster god," Fishlegs continued. "The god of mischief. Don't either of you remember learning about him in History of Mythology last year?"

Now that I thought about it, I vaguely remembered going over something like that.

"Was that the one with the huge boring textbook? Like a thousand pages long?" Astrid piped. "Wait, you two were in that class?"

"I've read it like seven times," Fishlegs replied with eyes lit up like fireflies. "Loki is a true master of deception. A shapeshifter."

He then got up from his chair and pulled out a massive book from one of his shelves. As he flipped through the pages, Astrid and I exchanged looks of amusement. It was the History of Mythology textbook.

"It says here," Fishlegs began. "'Loki, the infamous trickster, is a prominent god in the realm of Norse mythology. His scheming and manipulative character is paired with an ability to shape shift, often taking on the form of cats, wolves, bears, and in rarer instances, an elderly man.'"

"I fuckin knew it!"

"'Should you come across Loki, do not fall for his unassuming persona. He may appear to be helpful, but only seeks outcomes that are most pleasurable and advantageous to him.'"

"I don't get it," Astrid butted in next. "What does any of this have to do with us?"

He kept reading. "'If you are not careful, Loki can bestow a curse upon you through a number of ways. These curses may seem harmless at first, but can ultimately result in one's demise.'"

I swallowed.

That meant death.

"'Any and all of his curses are seemingly unbreakable, as they feed upon mankind's tendency to be selfish, ignorant, and foolish. Only an act of true selflessness can lift the curse.'"

The room fell silent. Fishlegs lowered his book and looked at us apprehensively.

I slumped back in the couch. "Da da da, we're dead."