Chapter 4

(Jack's POV)

No. Not in a million years am I playing Truth or Dare. Not after the look on Rapunzel's face when Merida suggested that. She looked terrified. Hiccup isn't the best player either. One time he dared me to drink straight from the milk carton; and when I did it, his eyes bugged out. I guess his family was really strict with him.

Merida strode across the room and sat on the plush rug at the bottom of the bed. Hiccup sat beside her. Rapunzel and I looked at each other, shrugged, and sat down to join them. We sat cross-legged in a circle. Merida took out a whiskey bottle from under her jacket (I don't even want to know how) and spun it in the middle of the floor.

We watched as the bottle spun and the tip pointed to Rapunzel.

"Truth or dare?" She asked me.

I hesitated. "Dare," I replied. This version of Truth or Dare seemed a bit different to what I played. In the game I know, if the bottle pointed to you, it means someone asked you truth or dare. But the way they played it, if the bottle pointed to you, it means you get to ask anyone you like. I think.

She placed a delicate finger under her chin, scrunched up her nose, and started thinking. I could practically see the wheels turning in her gorgeous head.

Then her eyes lit up and she looked back at me.

"I dare you to make it snow in here," her green eyes twinkled.

"I'll try, but I don't think Sandy will be ok with this," I said, while taking out my staff from my pocket.

"Pffft!" Merida waved her hand. "That's his problem. Now do it!"

I sighed and held my staff. I tapped into my Source and focused on the image of snow falling from the ceiling. I felt a tingling in my belly and when I opened my eyes, the room was snowing.

Rapunzel giggled as a snowflake fell on her nose. She shook her head and the white snowflake drifted away.

Merida and Hiccup just sat there, staring at the snow as if they see it every day. I think Rapunzel told me something about getting older emotionally. I guess we're used to seeing magic all the time now.

We spun the bottle again while snow fell. This time, it pointed at Merida.

I could hear Rapunzel gulp.

Merida had a mischievous look on her face. She turned to Hiccup.

"Truth or dare?" her voice sounded lower and a little smile played across her mouth.

"Erm…" Hiccup looked to my side and so did I.

Rapunzel was waving her hands desperately mouthing, "Don't choose dare. Don't choose dare."

Hiccup was having a hard time reading her lips and he squinted. Merida turned her head around and Rapunzel immediately stopped.

"Dare," Hiccup said and Rapunzel slapped her forehead.

"I dare you to summon Toothless using your Source and Jack will open a portal to my house. Then I want you and Toothless to step through that portal, take my cousin's diary, then come back."

I lifted an eyebrow. "That is the weirdest dare I have ever heard."

Merida shrugged. "I know and I don't care. Just do it. If you don't I'll be calling you a whimpy chicken for the rest of your life."

Hiccup gulped. Then he nodded slowly and closed his eyes. In less than a minute, Toothless came banging on the door and Hiccup got up to open the door for him. Toothless entered and sat down like a puppy, his tongue lolling out as he panted.

Then Hiccup sat back down, cross-legged. Apparently, Toothless had other ideas instead and gingerly sat on Hiccup's lap.

"Toothless! Ugh you weigh a ton, so get off of me." Hiccup groaned but Toothless had already placed his head between his huge paws and had totally ignored Hiccup's muffled shouts of protest.

There was a look of amusement in Rapunzel's features. Not that I've been staring. Nope.

Merida nodded at me and I sighed again. I'm going to regret this.

I tapped in my Source again and I felt it in me. I felt it shake and vibrate in my bones. I focused my thought on Merida's house. Just those two words; I knew my Source would find it. Then I watched in awe as a crystal blue portal morphed from thin air. It wasn't those whir-y kinds that have so much wind it causes things around it to fly in different directions. No, this one was much like the opposite.

It made the room seem more at peace, like time was frozen and yet it isn't. It was like water in the atmosphere that made me feel soaked but I'm not.

The portal was of ice and frost. All you have to do is crack open the ice to go through that portal, I felt my Source explain. I've opened portals before, but they were always with my eyes closed. Not this time.

I explained to Hiccup what he had to do to get through.

"Seems easy enough," he wheezed and he tried again to shove away Toothless but to no avail.

But be careful, my Source whispered in my mind. Once you crack the ice, you'll be sucked right in if you stand too close.

I nodded and was about to explain to Hiccup but I was too late.

For some reason, my heart started beating faster in fear or anticipation I don't know. All I could do was stand there as I watched the scene unravel before me in horror.

Hiccup and Toothless had broken the thin layer of clear ice. The moment they did this, I only had a glimpse of something red, dark, and in a forest; before they were wrenched inside.

Rapunzel and I stepped forward to try and stop them, because obviously that is not Merida's house.

So did Merida, and that was a mistake.

In his panic, Hiccup grabbed Merida's wrist and she followed them into the portal, screaming.

The ice closed again and Rapunzel and I tried breaking it open. My fist connected with the ice again and again, trying to break it. But before we could, the portal cracked, crumbled, and fell. The moment it touched the ground, it turned to fine dust. So fine and tiny it looked like there was nothing there at all. And it's true. The portal was gone.

"Do it again Jack!" Rapunzel's eyes were panicked. "Merida's in there!"

I tried. Oh, how I tried, but I couldn't.

I was getting frustrated. I had to save my friends. Who knows where I sent them and what trouble they're facing because of me.

My Source entered me, but I felt like something was blocking it. I shut my eyes close and focused all my mind and willpower to re-opening that portal.

"It's working!" Rapunzel cried and I opened my eyes to see a small circle of ice suspended in air. I tried harder.

Just a little more, I thought to myself. I pushed a bit more, and I crumpled to the floor.

(Rapunzel's POV)

"Jack!" I screamed as he fell to the floor. He was shivering and his eyes wouldn't open. I scrambled down and put his head on my lap.

"Jack come on, please," I said as I touched his cold face. Panic started to rise in me and I put my head to his chest, listening for a heartbeat. Please…

There it is; so faint, so weak, but it was there. I sighed in relief and yelled for help.

Sandy burst through the door along with Corwin behind him.

"What happened?" Corwin asked as he rushed over and took Jack from my arms.

"H-he's fine," I stammered, still a bit in shock. "Just get him warm. Hiccup and Merida are stranded somewhere."

Corwin raised a brow, but did not ask questions and carried Jack to his room to take care of him. I had just recently noticed that those three boys have gotten closer together as days went by.

Then Sandy came and ushered me to the parlour.

"What happened?" I was shaking. "He's going to be ok, right?"

Yes he is, he replied, the words floating above his head was hasty. But that doesn't matter right now. A friend of mine saw what happened and told me. Rapunzel, Jack's portal was blocked and was hacked by some undefined organism. His face looked worried. When Jack tried to re-open the portal, they tried to block him. It drained his Source and that's why he's passed out.

"Do you have any idea who could have done that?" I asked, after reading his explanation, which was difficult because I found out that when he talked fast and was nervous his words are a bit garbled; almost as if he was writing it in a hurry.

Sandy shook his golden head. Nobody knows who. But we do know this; whoever they are, they want Hiccup and Merida's Sources. Not only is their Source powerful, but it is also evil. That's why they still have to go through training. If they don't learn to control it, it could cause the worst damages not only to earth, but to other planets too.

I nodded and slowly sat down. "We need to find a way to help them," I pleaded.

Sandy shook his head sadly. We cannot enter from the outside. We'll just have to hope they can break out from the inside.

I felt my eyes widen in anger. "You mean to tell me there's nothing we can do?" I stood up and started pacing. "We have to do something! We can't just stand here acting like a bunch of idiots!"

I'm sorry, Rapunzel, Sandy held me gently by my shoulders. But for now we have to focus on your training. Hiccup and Merida will be fine. They have Toothless to protect them. They'll find a way out. I promise. Then he took me in his arms and held me in an embrace that definitely calmed me down.

Suddenly, I heard a crash. I whipped my head to the door in time to see Jack leaning on the door heavily and half a second later Corwin followed, running.

"Jack, come on buddy," he held Jack by the shoulders and tried to steer him back. "You need to rest."

"No," Jack gasped. "You have to listen to me Sandy."

Corwin shrugged and helped Jack cross the floor to us. I ran halfway to help him.

"Listen to me," His voice sounded hoarse. "I know what Corwin's mom means by the queen bee."

"What?" Corwin asked him.

"Humans can literally create other worlds by making movies and writing books," Jack continued as we slowly helped him sit down. Then he gripped my arm and looked in my eyes, his own wide with fear and realization.

"Their target is Earth," he was shaking. "Control Earth and you control the universe."