Author's Note: Argh! Dammit! I'm really sorry readers for the long hiatus. I thought that I would have lots of free time during semester break to commit to this story but…it turns out I have a life. This isn't sarcasm, or me trying to brag, mind you. I never thought that I would have so many activities with friends and family when I'm on break. For a somewhat an introvert guy, I'm quite surprised by this!
That and I'm actually more motivated to write when I have work/study to do...so yeah. Since my semester break is over...faster update I guess?
I also have quite a massive writer's block with this chapter because of my OC, Varin Hafrson. Now OCs, well, some people don't like them because they were afraid that they're going to steal the spotlight or becoming Sues and among other stuff. But they're kind of necessary because I need villains! And HTTYD (movie-verse) and Frozen is kind of lacking in them.
That and I also don't want to re-use canon villains because they're kind of cookie cutter? You know, they're like, "I'm the Villain because I'm EVIL in one-dimension!" That's kinda boring. I want villains that make heroes question their motivations! So, yeah.
Anyway, I also have some other fanfic stories going on and one of them is another HiccElsa story! It is a completely new thing for me though because it is set in modern world, have no fantasy/sci-fi elements, only romance and drama. Whaaaat? Yeah. So if that's your kind of thing, go check An Unlikely Fairy Tale.
Chapter 17 – His Story Part 3
"What? Hiccup, I don't understand. You said that you were a villain to the Vikings before you became their hero?" Elsa asked. She was confused and at the same time, felt betrayed.
She felt betrayed because Hiccup had straight up admitted that he has been a bad person, a villain. During the short moment they were together, Elsa didn't think Hiccup was evil. Capable of evil, yes, but to Elsa, Hiccup wasn't the type of person to commit into it. True, he had done things that could be considered evil to others but it was…necessary. Furthermore, the stories that Hiccup had told her painted him as a flawed hero and as a person that Elsa could relate.
But then Elsa remembered Hans. Of how the Thirteenth Prince had almost perfectly deceive everyone in her kingdom, including herself.
Instantly, frost began to form on her hands. Hiccup doesn't seem to notice this as he stared at Elsa.
'If he tries anything…' Elsa prepared herself.
"I got you hooked now, huh?" Hiccup smirked before he got to his feet and stretched. Elsa wasn't amused as she glared at him. Hiccup wasn't fazed however as he took his time to prepare himself mentally and emotionally.
It wasn't easy for Hiccup to tell Elsa or anyone this story as it contained the darkest chapter of his life yet. It was the story of how his selfishness had caused so much pain to others. It was the story of how he became had created a monster and villain.
"Before we get to that. You must first understand about another person, Varin Hafrson because this story was about him just as it was about me," Hiccup then sat down and sighed before he pulled out a peculiar pouch from his vest. Before Elsa could eyed the pouch in more detail, Hiccup pulled out its content; a journal.
Elsa eyed the item as Hiccup patted it a few times on his hand. "What is that?" she asked.
"Varin's private journal," Hiccup said and he opened it to inspect the pages. "Luckily for me, he wrote everything down here. It was how I learned his part of the story, although, a bit too late,"
Hiccup then stored the precious item back into the pouch before it went into his vest again. He then patted his chest a few times before he was satisfied. Elsa was disappointed that she might not be able to read it. Private journals were perhaps, the best written source of a person's mind. But alas, it was also the most private so she understood if Hiccup didn't want her to read it.
"After I became the Chief, everything was perfect for a while. Being a Chief was…surprisingly easy and it was all thanks to my dad," Hiccup smiled. "Before I became the Chief, my dad listened to my suggestions on how to improve Berk. Of course, not all my suggestions were gold buuut my dad reasoned that it was better for me to make my mistakes at that time and learn from it before I became the Chief,"
Elsa smiled. Stoick's had finally learned to listen to his son. What was more, Stoick's method was good. He allowed Hiccup the room to experiment and make mistakes during his reign. That way, any damage from the mistake was lessened.
"I learnt from my dad; what he did right and what he did wrong and how I can improve his administration. And it helped tremendously in making my administration running smoothly. Heck, I was even surprised at how well I was doing as the Chief!" Hiccup chuckled and Elsa smiled softly. It was rare for Hiccup to acknowledge that.
"We were happy. But I wasn't satisfied. I want to make them happier," Hiccup continued. "And I thought that in order to do so, I need to explore beyond the Viking Archipelago. I want to meet other culture, learn from them and use that knowledge to improve my people,"
Hiccup sighed and shook his head. "And of course, I decided that I would be the one to do the exploring…alone,"
Elsa narrowed her eyes before asking. "Why alone?"
"Well, if I had brought the entire gang, it would attract a lot of attention, something that I want to avoid. Plus, the travel distance would be quite far. And since Toothless was the only fastest dragon, the travel time would be a lot longer if I went with others,"
Elsa pursed her lips and Hiccup glanced at her. "I know, I know. It was a foolish thing to do. Had anything happened to me…well, I did leave Astrid as the acting chief…but yeah, it was a stupid thing to do,"
Elsa didn't say anything and Hiccup continued, grateful for the silence.
"Usually we would travel east or west and when we found land and I would find a good hiding spot for Toothless before I would venture into the nearest town. After a few days, I would return to my village before going out for adventure again. My adventure was successful for a number of times until…we got careless and we were caught by the East India Company," Hiccup said and Elsa perked up at this.
She was familiar with the East India Company. After all, the company was responsible for half of the world's trade, particularly trade in basic commodities that included cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, tea and among other things.
The East India Company was a British joint-stock company created to pursue trading with the Eastern parts of the world. Although they were most famous for their trade influence in India, hence their name. However, they weren't just a mere trading company. They have their own private army that was strong enough to conquer Arendelle more than 5 times if they wished it.
Needless to say, the East India Company was not a force to be taken lightly. And the fact that their interest in Arendelle has been increasing in the past year was worrying Elsa.
"It was a bad situation at that time. As you can imagine, the East India Company became very interested in the Vikings and dragons," Hiccup sighed. "They wanted me to lead them towards the Viking Archipelago but I refused. They tried almost everything, from offering me riches to torture when that didn't work,"
"Hiccup…I'm sorry to hear that," Elsa offered and Hiccup shrugged.
"Eh, it was the lesson for my idiocy anyway. And it has a silver lining for me too," Hiccup said and Elsa raised an eyebrow at him. How could something horrible have a silver lining? "Because that's how I met Varin,"
Hiccup smiled fondly as he remembered the memory. "At that time, he was known as Malcolm Page and he was working for the Company. Fortunately, there was still a Viking in him to help out a fellow Viking,"
Hiccup chuckled. "You know, although he helped me escape, he didn't want to escape himself. He said that he still has things to do at to the Company," Hiccup said and Elsa raised an eyebrow. Hiccup knew what it was but didn't want to elaborate on it. It would take too long.
"So I abducted him and just like that we became fugitives," Hiccup chuckled again.
"Still, we couldn't fly back to Berk as Toothless was still captured. So Varin and I have to work together to get him out. So you know, it was an adventure of sorts to us," Hiccup smirked. "It was during that time that I learned what Varin had been through,"
Hiccup's face turned sad and Elsa knew that Varin did not have an easy life. Hiccup sighed before he continued.
"He was...a hiccup like me. You know, sarcastic, witty, smart, talented," Hiccup smirked and Elsa gave him a coy smile.
"I'm not sure about smart. You've done a number of idiotic things," Elsa retorted and Hiccup faked a pained look.
"Ouch! Well, I admit that one," Hiccup said before he continued his story. "Anyway, there were so many similarities between us. The only difference was…luck," Hiccup said and Elsa looked confused. "My life was-is fortunate, blessed even. Even though my early years were rough, they weren't entirely bad,"
"I was fortunate to be born as Stoick the Vast's son because being the Chief's son protected me in a way. Can you imagine what would happen if I wasn't Stoick's son?" Hiccup asked and Elsa nodded.
Hiccup might have been ostracized even further.
"And my father, despite everything, still loved me. True, he didn't know what to do with me when I was young, but he still loved me. Do you know that I was born premature?" Hiccup said and Elsa's eyes widened and her mouth was open, ready to speak but Hiccup continued his story. "Had I been born to a different Viking father, he might have me killed,"
Elsa didn't say anything. That practice wasn't unusual and were practiced in some cultures. Some cultures would not only kill weak babies, but also newborn daughters just because they wanted sons.
"But my father believed in me. He believed that I could become the strongest Viking there is. And it wasn't just my father. The people of Berk was among the nicest Vikings in the world. Sure, they might have ostracized me during my Useless period but that was it. They didn't harm me or enact vengeance on me for my destructive mistakes," Hiccup smiled and his eyes went towards the horizon. Elsa could guess that Hiccup was looking at Berk.
"I destroyed their houses? They would be like, "no time to ponder on what Hiccup did! We need to rebuild quick or we won't have houses for the dragons to burn!" " Hiccup said, mimicking a voice that Elsa surmised was one of his people.
Elsa giggled.
"They're good at moving on, at letting bygones be bygones. It was one of the reason I didn't give up back then. The worse that I would get from my mistakes was a slap on the wrist," Hiccup said.
Elsa smiled. The people of Arendelle were similar to Berk. They didn't hold grudges on what Elsa had done to them. It made her feel happy for both kingdoms. Berk and Arendelle could coexist peacefully despite the differences.
It also made her think about her life.
"I am blessed as well," Elsa started and Hiccup turned his attention towards her. "I was born to royalty and it protected me. If I was a commoner, I would be killed," Hiccup pursed his lips. "And my father, he mirrored yours, Hiccup,"
Hiccup understood and he nodded.
"He could have done better, that was true, but that was because he didn't know any other alternative at that time. However, deep down, I know he still loved me," Elsa continued. "And then I have my sister, Anna,"
'And you did not experience the luxury of having a sibling,' Elsa thought sadly. Hiccup smiled.
Elsa sighed and Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. "We are fortunate, huh? And to think that all of it was because of our parents,"
Elsa nodded before Hiccup sighed.
"But Varin...he wasn't fortunate at all," Hiccup continued. "He was born premature to a father that only wanted healthy sons," Elsa frowned. "He survived because of his mother's love. Even then, he would grew up physically frail,"
"And to make it worse was when he believed he was cursed," Hiccup continued and Elsa gave him a curious look.
"Was the belief enforced to him?" Elsa asked. It could happen. Varin's father could have said that he was cursed and he would believe it.
Hiccup nodded and turned towards Elsa. "In a way, yes. You see, his village had a fortune teller. She told that Varin would bring change to the world, but he could only do it with death,"
Elsa had a horrified look on her face. "That's horrible!"
Hiccup smiled sadly and nodded. "But it rang true…"
Elsa's eyes widened. "What? How?" Elsa wasn't the type to believe in fortune tellers and prophecies so she was skeptical of it. But to see Hiccup believe in it…
"He wanted to prove that he was a Viking, so he joined his father and brothers on an expedition to find new lands. They landed on a village that was lightly guarded. You could expect what happens next," Hiccup said and Elsa nodded.
Raid, pillage and murder.
"Their victory was short lived however because they were in British territory. The British army responded quickly and annihilated all of them except Varin," Hiccup continued and Elsa's eyes widened.
"He then got sold as a slave to a wealthy family that had a daughter. Her name was Celestine Augusta. She was the same age as Varin and she was also a hiccup," Hiccup chuckled. "She wanted to do more with her life instead of just living on her family's riches. She wanted to be more than just a tool for her father. And of course, the two of them fell in love with each other,"
Elsa smiled, grateful that Varin could find some happiness. However, she suspected that it won't end well.
"She wanted to run away from her family and Varin tried to stop her. After all, Varin knew that they wouldn't get very far. But Celestine didn't care so Varin went along with her. They managed to escape, be free and be happy…for a while. Their happiness was cut short when they were caught by their pursuers," Hiccup became silent after that and it made Elsa antsy.
"What happened after that?" Elsa asked.
"It turned out the pursuers didn't want to return Celestine. They wanted to sell her," Elsa gasped. She knew what would happen to most female slaves. "Celestine didn't want to live like that and so she chose death," Hiccup said. "Varin was spared however and he would be sold again. This time however, because of Celestine's influence, he didn't want to become a slave anymore and tried to help his fellow slaves to escape,"
Elsa could guess what would happened.
"He was captured but not before half of the slaves managed to escape. The rest however...most of them were killed, but Varin was spared again," Hiccup said and Elsa raised an eyebrow. Varin, despite Hiccup claiming that he was unfortunate, had quite a lucky streak. He was spared twice when he, logically, should have been killed.
"This time, however, he would be sold as a soldier. He fought a number of battles and every time, he would survive. His brother in arms however, weren't so lucky. As such, he was wrecked with survivor's guilt. The people around him...tend to die while he survived,"
"And it made him believe in the prophecy," Elsa said and Hiccup nodded.
"But Varin, despite all that had happened, still had a good heart. For his 'excellent' service, he was offered a choice; his freedom or become one of East India Company's slavers," Hiccup continued and Elsa frowned.
"That was…generous of them," Elsa said and Hiccup shrugged.
"It happened. The East India Company made him believe that he could do more as a compassionate' slaver. He could make a difference to the slave's lives while still doing what the Company wants," Hiccup said and Elsa gave him a skeptical look.
Elsa knew that not all slavers were truly evil as some slave masters truly cared for their slaves.
"Did it work?" Elsa asked and Hiccup's lips became a thin line.
"Sort of. Varin was indeed a slaver that was kinder than others but the slaves took advantage of that," Hiccup said and Elsa's eyes widened. "They tried to escape and usually, death was the punishment for them. In order to avoid that, Varin had to be a bit ruthless,"
Elsa pursed her lips. She wasn't sure what to think of Varin at the moment. Sure, he had a kind intention but the way he tried to achieve it was questionable. However, she could tell what Varin felt. "And it weighed heavily on his conscious,"
Hiccup nodded "Hearing all that made me feel bad. I felt angry, sad, and guilty! I have everything that I could wished!" Hiccup said and spread his arms wide, as if gesturing towards everything.
Elsa was the range of his arms and she blushed for second. Fortunately, Hiccup didn't realized it.
"But other people…didn't. It's...sad because for someone to be fortunate, someone else has to be unlucky," Hiccup dropped his arms to his side.
Elsa nodded. It was cruel but that was how the world works. Everything has its pair and without it, they would be meaningless. They give purpose to each other. Death could not exist without life. Without cold, would people appreciate heat and vice versa? And if everyone in the world was lucky, then it would have lost its meaning.
"However, I still want to try and change other people's life for the better. Hearing what Varin had been through made me want to not only improve my own village, but for the rest of the Vikings. I want to stop another 'Varin' from happening," Hiccup continued.
Elsa smiled. Hiccup was emphatic and she admired that quality of his. Most people would not care about the suffering of others. Hiccup could have just return to his old life and live happily but he didn't. He didn't want to be happy alone, he want others to be happy as well.
"And so I told Varin of what I wanted to achieved and that I needed his help," Hiccup said. "He was reluctant of course but I could be persuasive," Hiccup smirked but it didn't last long. "He agreed to help but not in the way I expected,"
At this point Elsa had an idea of what Varin did to help Hiccup.
"I was optimistic at that time but Varin was realistic," Hiccup continued. "When I told him of my plan to unite the Vikings, he had already found two problems," Hiccup raised a finger. "One, despite my achievements, I'm still young. I haven't been a Chief for two years and suddenly I want to be the Chief-of-Chiefs? The Vikings already Chiefs with years of experience, so why would they want to follow me?"
Hiccup sighed. "Sure, I have good ideas on how to improve everything but it doesn't matter if its execution wasn't done well. Being an inventor has thought me that. The other Chiefs could probably do a better job as a King if they wanted to,"
"But they didn't like your idea," Elsa said and Hiccup shrugged.
"What was more, I also need to prove my strength and resolve," Hiccup said and Elsa gave him a sad look.
'And the only way to do that is by fighting,' Elsa thought.
"But that's just the first problem. Even if I managed to show them that I can be a strong and a capable King, it doesn't mean that they have to agree to my ideals. After all, my ideals were…you get the idea," Hiccup said.
Elsa nodded in understanding. "Your idea is life changing and change can be hard to accept, especially massive ones," Hiccup nodded.
"I didn't see it at that time but Varin did. He knew that even if I managed to unite the Vikings by force, my reign could be short. Disgruntled Vikings that preferred the old ways could incite a civil war to remove me from the throne," Hiccup explained. "In order for the Vikings to truly accept me, they need to see that their old ways were destructive to them in the long run,"
"A social revolution," Elsa said calmly.
Hiccup nodded. "A social revolution was inevitable. The only difference was when. I thought that I could achieve it after I united the Vikings and show them that my ideals were better. However, it might take too long and by then, it would be too late. Varin planned for the social revolution at the same time as the unification. He wanted to show that that their old ways were worse. That way, they would be more…receptive,"
Elsa's mouth opened and closed in astonishment. From what Hiccup had told her, some of the Vikings' old ways were already horrible and they were fine with it. So how in the world could Varin convince them that it was bad for them?
"At that point, Varin had two ways to help me. He could either fight by my side to unite the Vikings…or unite the Vikings against him," Hiccup said and Elsa's eyes widened at the realization. "Of course, Varin believed that if he stayed by my side, I would die because of his curse. That and it would be hard for him to incite the social revolution. So he became my enemy instead,"
Elsa's eyes widened as the realization hit her like an avalanche. "So that's what you meant!" Elsa said and Hiccup nodded.
It all made sense now.
"When you announced your plan to the Vikings, you became the villain because you wanted to destroy the old ways and replace it with something that was alien to them!" Elsa explained in place of Hiccup. "What was more, you became a threat because of your dragons and your resolve to unite them no matter what!"
Hiccup smiled and nodded again. "That was how I became the villain to the Vikings,"
Elsa understood now what Hiccup meant when he said he became their villain. If someone wanted to destroy her kingdom's culture and replace it with something that was…unacceptable, that person would be Arendelle's and Elsa's enemy.
However, in a way, Elsa had done this as well many times before. She had face it a number of times from her administration. She wanted to change a rule, someone would try to fight against it. She wanted to change how things were done, there will be people that would disagree with her. In those people's eyes, she was the villain that tried to destroy their way of living.
Elsa pursed her lips. She had done the same. Forcing her ideals to her people. The difference was that she didn't have to resort to war to do it.
Hiccup sighed. "Varin also knew that I wouldn't agree with what he was going to do, so he acted like he didn't like my plan. He acted like he was afraid of the outside world. Well, that fear was true, but it wasn't the primary reason. Regardless, he managed to fool me with that,"
"Our disagreement eventually got so bad that we split up. Varin said that he would do things his own way and he made good of his word," Hiccup smirked. "The next time I met him was during the Chieftain meeting where I was going to announce my plan. Imagine to my surprise that he was already a Chief!"
Elsa raised an eyebrow. "How did he became a Chief?"
Hiccup shrugged. "He killed the previous Chief,"
"I see…"
"Anyway, after I announced my plan to be the King, as you can expect, everyone didn't like the idea. Even the 'good' leaders were skeptical of me and it was made worse when I said that I would unite them no matter what," Hiccup continued. "At that time, all of the Chieftains were more likely to unite against me,"
Hiccup smiled fondly. "Then Varin made his move. He also declared that he wanted to be the King, except that he wanted to unleash them upon the world. Now you would think that the Vikings would like Varin more than I do, right?"
Elsa nodded.
"Not really. He fooled everyone into thinking that he was a psychopath. What was more impressive was that he managed to scare the living shit out of everyone," Hiccup said and Elsa was shocked and impressed at the same time.
It was not easy to scare warriors that were not afraid to die.
"And just like that, the Viking Archipelago was split into four factions; mine, Varin's, the faction that wants to eliminate the both of us and the neutral faction," Hiccup chuckled. "As you can imagine, my faction wasn't very popular and neither was Varin's. However, that would soon change,"
Elsa perked up at this. She was curious at how Varin would achieve his plan.
"Varin's faction was getting stronger every day as he was extremely aggressive, even to Viking standards. Also, he wasn't just aggressive. Remember when I say that he acted like a psychopath?" Hiccup asked and Elsa nodded.
"Well…he did a great job at that. He flayed the skins of the Chief's that he had conquered and would wear it into battle or just gift it to the neutral Chiefs," Hiccup said and Elsa gasped. "He would also sew body parts from corpses on still living people. I've once encountered a three headed soldier. And that wasn't the worst thing that he could do,"
Elsa looked like she wanted vomit. "That is-! And his faction was okay with that?!"
Hiccup shook his head. "No. They've tried many times to kill him but he was…abnormally strong, even before he discovered his…power,"
Elsa's eyes widened at this. "Power? Do you mean…?"
Hiccup nodded. "He has control over death,"
"What?!"
Hiccup nodded. "He could raise corpses to fight for him and that broke the Viking's will. Before this they weren't afraid of death. They welcome it because they knew that they could go to Valhalla. But if you fight against Varin, he would deny you that. At that point, the Vikings weren't very eager to head to their deaths,"
Varin managed to actually make warriors that weren't afraid of death, afraid of death.
Hiccup looked saddened at this. "At first, he didn't know that he had that power. He awakened it when he was poisoned by a traitor early in the campaign," Elsa's looked horrified at this.
"He became an undead?!" Elsa asked.
Hiccup nodded. "Even in death…" Hiccup tightened his hand into a fist. "Even when he gained mastery over death, he still has a good heart. He knew that his work wasn't finished yet, so he rise again,"
At this point, a tear fell from Hiccup's left eye. "And so the prophecy rang true,"
'The only way he could bring change to the world around him, was with death,' Elsa remembered.
"No…" was all that Elsa could say.
"And that was went he became insane," Hiccup said. His eyes were closed as he remembered a section of Varin's journal that chronicled his thoughts after the discovery.
MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER
The same word were repeated again and again in ugly scribbles. When compared to his other entries that were well written, it revealed the heartbreaking truth that Varin had snapped. He had became the mask that he wore. Instead of acting like a psychopath, he became a true psychopath.
Hiccup sighed and he opened his eyes again before he wiped another tear. "Even when he was insane, he still went with his plan," Hiccup shook his head in admiration.
"Everyone was afraid of him, even his allies. He was near unstoppable and the only person that has a chance to defeat him, was me," Hiccup continued as he wiped his tear away.
Elsa gasped as the realization hit her again.
"He became the villain and made you the hero!" Elsa stated and Hiccup nodded before he gaze into the horizon again.
"Near the end of the war, every Viking joined my side, even Varin's allies. All Varin had left was his undead soldiers…" Hiccup said sadly. "Of course, at that point it doesn't matter anymore because he won. His plan worked. He made me the hero that united the Vikings against the greatest villain they had ever known,"
"It was only when he had achieved his…" Hiccup hesitated. "…destiny…that he allowed himself to be permanently killed,"
"I'm sorry to hear that," Elsa said, saddened by the ending. Hiccup shook his head.
"It was what he wanted. I guess for someone that was associated with death, it completes his journey," Hiccup explained.
"Still…" Elsa tried.
Hiccup sighed before he pulled out his pocket watch. He then opened it to reveal Varin's portrait before giving it to Elsa. She took it carefully and ran finger to admire Varin's portrait.
It was no wonder why Varin looked so sad in that portrait. The burden that he shouldered was immense. What was impressive was that Varin shouldered it willingly without being forced. Even more impressive was how strong Varin's will was. Despite all that he had been through, he didn't give up or give in to the temptation brought by his power. He could have just…stop. He didn't have to give everything to help Hiccup. And he could have brought chaos to the world with his powers if he wished. But he didn't.
'Why? Why would he go so far? What made him go to such great lengths?' Elsa wondered but she knew the answer.
Because Varin has a good soul that wished to do good things, just like Elsa and Hiccup. It was just that, the only good that he could do was through death. When all you have was a hammer… By helping Hiccup with his dream, in a way Varin ultimately achieved his own dream of doing a good deed as well, even if the world might not see it that way.
A tear fell from Elsa and it landed on Varin's portrait. Elsa empathized with Varin. Before she had learned to control her power, she had tried so hard not to hurt anyone. She tried so hard not to give in to her powers, to not become evil. But no matter how hard she tried, it only made things worse. It was only with Anna's help that she was saved.
Elsa wondered what would happen if she had managed to escape Arendelle at that time? Would she become...different? Or perhaps evil?
At that moment, she felt a deep respect and admiration for the unsung hero.
"To the Viking, I'm their hero but…" Hiccup started and Elsa turned her attention to him.
"A hero is nothing without the conflict that he has to overcome or the villain that he has to defeat. Before I united the dragons, the conflict was the misunderstanding between dragons and Vikings and the villain was the Dragon Queen. Before I became the Chief of Berk, the conflict was when Drago wanted to use the dragons for evil purposes and he was the villain. And before I became the King…" Hiccup said and got to his feet.
"He knew that I would need a grand conflict and a greater villain than before!" Hiccup said in a rather excited tone as he spread his arms again. But Elsa knew that Hiccup wasn't happy. "I…" Hiccup started in a defeated tone. "I created my own conflict and villain. What kind of hero am I? And I have to keep this secret to the grave! If the Vikings knew…Varin's sacrifice would be pointless!"
"I wanted to make things better for people like Varin and yet, he was the one that suffered the most! What kind of person am I?" Hiccup said sadly.
It was then that Elsa had finally understood why Hiccup was so hard on himself about his leadership. The price that he had to pay was high. It was a price that if Hiccup had knew beforehand, he might not choose to pay at all.
And it also become part of the fear of why Hiccup was afraid of the outside world. He was afraid that he might lose his throne and that would make all the sacrifice pointless.
However, although Elsa had helped Hiccup overcome his fear, there was one more obstacle in the Viking King's way; guilt. Guilt at what he had done, at what he had paid to come this far.
"You know, after Varin's sacrifice…I became afraid of the outside world and my people. But I also hated them," Hiccup said and Elsa's eyes widened.
"I hated the outside world. I hated how they could be so cruel to each other," Hiccup continued. "But most of all, I hated the Vikings because they were much worse,"
"I hated them for making things hard! If only they weren't so stubborn! If only they would just…listen! And what's worse, a few months after Varin's death, some of them acted as if his sacrifice had never happened!" Hiccup said through gritted teeth.
Elsa stood up and went towards Hiccup. "Do you still harbor that hate?" she asked.
Hiccup was quiet for a moment before he replied. "No," Hiccup said and turned towards Elsa with sad eyes. "Because I'm the same,"
The Viking King's gazed turned towards the floor, ashamed to look at the Snow Queen. "If only I wasn't so stubborn, if only I had listened. And I…hated Varin because he caused Astrid's death,"
Elsa's eyes widened in shock. She wanted to ask how but she knew that it would only make things worse. And what was more, she knew that Hiccup felt disgusted at himself for blaming Varin when Hiccup was the true cause.
'Astrid and Varin wouldn't have died if I wasn't so selfish!' Elsa guessed in her mind at what Hiccup was thinking.
And she was correct.
It was clear that the guilt was tearing Hiccup apart. Something must be done or Elsa feared that Hiccup would only destroy himself. But how?
Before hearing his story, Elsa didn't know what to truly say to Hiccup to make him be less hard on himself. However, now she knew just what to say.
"Hiccup," Elsa started by placing her hand under Hiccup's chin to bring his eyes to her. "Why do you keep having these negative views on almost everything? Yes, the world can be cruel but I thought we've established that it can be kind as well? I would be very disappointed and angry to learn that what we've been through was for nothing!"
Hiccup smiled a little smile. "And yes, the Vikings might be the worst people in the world but from what I've seen so far, they're a diamond in the rough. They're waiting for you to bring out the best in them. And so far, you're doing a great job,"
Hiccup's eyes became soft.
'Astrid,' Elsa wanted to say but she was surprised that she couldn't. She didn't know much about her as Hiccup was extremely secretive about her. It shows that Hiccup might not be ready to talk about her since he was willing to share about Varin.
And so Elsa chose not to talk about Astrid.
Elsa sighed as she closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them again. "As for Varin…yes, you've made him into a villain. However, he had already accepted that that was the only way that he could achieve something good!" Hiccup's smile faded but Elsa pushed forward.
"Don't you see Hiccup? If given the choice of using his power for someone else, for himself or for you, who do you think he would choose? You've given him a far better fate than if he had never met you. And what was more he didn't just do it for you but he did it for himself as well," Elsa finished and Hiccup's eyes widened as he remembered Varin's last moment with him.
"Dammit! It doesn't have to happen this way! It didn't have to end like this!" Hiccup scrambled towards Varin.
"This is my choice," Varin said. Even when his body was riddled with arrows and crossbow bolts, Varin was still quite healthy for someone in that situation. Varin also had regained his sanity.
"Why?! Why dammit why?! I don't want this!" Hiccup said and Varin laughed.
"The story doesn't just revolve around you, hero. No," Varin shook his head. "I did this for myself. I want to be the villain to the Vikings rather than…" Varin's eyelids then drooped before the light in his eyes started to fade.
"Varin!"
"Thank you Hiccup. You've given me a wonderful role," Varin finished. His eyelids didn't close completely but his eyes were already devoid of life. His body then went limb and dragged against the tree that he was leaning on until the ground stopped him.
Varin Hafrson would not die unless he wished for his death. And now, his wish was fulfilled.
Much like Hiccup, Varin had a sarcastic streak. At that moment, Hiccup thought that Varin was mocking him with his final words as a form of revenge. Hiccup, because of his guilt and self-punishment, had never thought that Varin had actually been honest.
The revelation struck Hiccup hard and for the second time in that day, he cried his heart out again. Elsa smiled and lend her shoulder as she embraced him.
And for the moment, there was only The Snow Queen and The Viking King in the world.
Author's Note: Alright! Elsa has been doing a great job at thawing Hiccup's heart! Wait a minute! This chapter's title should be How To Thaw A Frozen Heart IV! Oh well. Tell me what you think, readers! Oh and do review, as of now, this story has 666 reviews. That's kinda creepy, hahaha.
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