Chapter 7

(Hiccup's POV)

The giant claws gripped my arms as we soared through the skies. I couldn't hear the wind in my ears; I could hear Merida's screams of protest though.

I bobbed up and down as the wings of the powerful creature flapped majestically. We got nearer and nearer to the island and I stopped struggling. And, thank the mother of chocolates, so did Merida's screams. We both knew what would happen if the creatures dropped us; imminent death. With no water to cushion our fall, we could break our heads or worse.

Thankfully, they lowered us to the ground slowly. That was probably the only gentle part of this though. As soon as we landed, some people riding on the back of the creatures hopped down and shoved us through rows and rows of houses. People came out of their houses to look at us, whispering among themselves. Merida walked silently beside me while our captors walked behind us, poking us occasionally with their crazy big weapons. We hiked up the hill, passing by many more houses. At the top of the hill, we stopped. There was a single house there, but I could sense something different too. First of all, the decorations were a bit different. While the other houses had furs and horns, this one had beautiful carvings on the side and paintings too. The horns on the rooftop looked bigger than the ones we saw on other houses. This house felt like it had more authority or something. And there's something else. I can't explain it, but I feel like I'm already inside. It's like there's another half of me was in there already. I shook my head, bewildered. This is weird.

One of our captors, a big burly man with a long brown moustache and beard, strode forward and knocked on the giant wooden doors. The door opened a bit and Merida leaned forward, probably hoping to catch a glimpse of the person behind the door. I took this opportunity to admire her red, bouncy curls. I normally hated girls with those kinds of hairs, but on her, it seemed natural.

I put my attention back to the door just in time to hear the man on the other side gruff a reply. Then the doors were opened and we stepped into darkness. I noticed our two captors stayed behind.

The house was very dark and I could barely see anything at all. Merida nudged me forward and I realized I had stopped.

"Hello?" I called out as we cautiously stepped forward.

"Why have you come, Human," a deep baritone voice replied. "Into a realm where you could die with a snap of my fingers?"

I could imagine some scary dramatic music going with that.

"Show yourself." Merida said firmly. "I don't have time to play hide and seek."

I whirled my head around and mouthed the words "shut up" to her. We don't know what we're dealing with here.

The deep voice rumbled with laughter. "Alright, but tell me your names first."

Before I could reply, the door behind us banged open and my eyes squinted against the light as I turned around. Two giant men (very similar to our captors) strode in quickly.

"Stoick?" The bigger man spoke. "You don't know who you're dealing with."

I heard a grunt and a short reply. "Then tell me."

The shorter man took a step forward. "They're the Chosen Ones."

I heard a sharp intake of breath and the doors banged shut, leaving us in the darkness again; with the two men. Almost as immediately as the door was shut, fire blasted in the middle of the dark room and both Merida and I jumped back. In the middle of the room was a giant bonfire and a long table surrounded it; at the end of the table stood a large man with a lot of red hair.

He spoke after looking at me for what seemed like forever. "Welcome home Hiccup."

(Merida's POV)

How did that fat guy know Hiccup? Does he know me too?

I could tell Hiccup was as surprised as I am by the way his square jaw popped open and his eyes widen in surprise.

"Do I know you?" He asked my question.

The fat guy chuckled. "You know me, but you don't."

What on earth is his brain made out of?

"Um, I don't understand." Hiccup frowned.

The man smiled. "I'm Stoick the Vast, your grandfather."

I felt Hiccup stiffen beside me. "No, my grandfather is in Scotland. He sent us here."

Stoick frowned. "Your parents never told you?"

"Told us what?" Now I was curious.

Stoick's vast chest heaved as he sighed.

Hah. Stoick with a VAST chest. Concentrate, Merida.

"It would be best if we waited for the others." He said and Hiccup walked towards him.

"Where's Jack and Rapunzel?" He asked.

As if on cue, the door opened and both of them strode in. As soon as I saw them, I smiled, ran towards Rapunzel, and hugged her. I turned to see Jack and Hiccup greeting each other.

Stoick cleared his throat and we all turned to face him.

"You may want to sit down," he talked like he was a king of authority. "I'll tell you all your truths; all of you. But the truth will cost."

I slapped my palm on the table as we sat down. "Name your price."

"You don't pay me," Stoick was dead serious. "You do what the Brothers of the Sun and Moon tells you."

"So now you're telling us the truth, don't they have to be here to hear you spill so we can do what they want us to do?" Jack asked, leaning towards the big burly man.

"They already know," Stoick replied. And to answer our questioning stares, he continued. "They prophesied about this day when your parents left."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rapunzel held up a hand. "Freeze. What do you mean our parents left?"

Stoick let out a deep breath. "They never told you, did they? Well, they probably knew what the cost is if you out about the truth."

"Then tell us the truth," I said. "Tell us everything."

Stoick sighed. But he told us:

Your parents were all about eighteen years old when it happened. Hiccup was here with me, training dragons and learning to fight. Merida was back at her place which was about two hundred miles from here. Rapunzel had just married Eugene, and Jack was assuming his duties as a Guardian. Everything was at peace around here, until one day a messenger came to Rapunzel's parents warning them that a vast army of demons, vampires, and werewolves have come to take over our world. Her parents immediately alerted the surrounding kingdoms; Merida's, mine, and Jack's. Merida's family quickly gathered their army; 10,000 soldiers armed for battle. Hiccup and I prepared ours; 5,000 strong fighting men and dragons too numerous to count. Rapunzel prepared their army, also too vast to count, and Jack prepared the Guardians. We knew that the evil would first attack Rapunzel's kingdom and the plan was to lead them outside the palace grounds, join forces there and attack. But they took us by surprise. A large army did attack Rapunzel's Kingdom and we did fight back there. However, while we were busy fighting there, another large quantity had been attacking the surrounding kingdoms. Many defenseless people died. We fought until dawn, but they were too powerful. The vampires could lift sizes that were five times their weight and move very fast, the werewolves were large and could swipe three people at the same time with their giant paws. The demons could summon the souls of the dead and many other things. Many people and dragons were lost and we were forced to retreat.

When we came back to our kingdoms, there was nothing left. That caused anger in your parents and they were determined to find out who did this and kill them. But there was something you must know about your parents; they were different. Hiccup had a bond with his dragon, Toothless; a very strong bond. Whatever the dragon felt, so did Hiccup. Rapunzel could heal and do things with her mind no one ever thought possible. Jack's power in the staff is so powerful he could rip apart an entire mountain with a wave of the stick. Merida could shift into a horrifying beast that had the strength of ten werewolves. But if she lost control, the strength of the beast would double.

Why did they never use these abilities on the war, you may ask? It was because of the Law that the Brothers of the Sun and Moon had created. No one was to use their abilities, or the Sources, when their hearts were filled with hatred and anger. You must be free of those to be able to use it. No one knows why they made the Law, but if you don't follow it, there will be consequences. But the four of them, blinded with their rage and hatred, pursued and vowed never to stop until evil was gone. We tried to stop them, but they would stop at nothing to get their revenge. They took their loved ones with them. Rapunzel took Eugene, Jack took Toothiana, Hiccup took Astrid with him, but Merida did not take anyone with her. The seven of them searched and searched until they finally found out who had started the evil. It was Pitch and Hades. They found them both in the Underworld, eating and drinking. Using their Sources, they killed thousands of demons, vampires, and werewolves that were protecting their masters. Pitch and Hades were taken by surprise but they quickly recovered and fought back. Eugene, Toothiana, and Astrid all suffered fatal injuries; that spurred the Big Four on. Blinded by their fury, they attacked both Hades and Pitch at the same time. But right before they were going to end it, the Brothers of the Sun and Moon appeared. They banned the Four and their loved ones to the mortal world forever. But the Four refused. So the Brothers of the Sun and Moon raised all their enemies back to life and promised to lock them away in the Abyss of the Underworld if the Four went to the mortal world. The Four finally agreed reluctantly. But to make sure they stay there forever, the Brothers told them that if they tried to cross dimensions to come back to our world, the gates of the Underworld would immediately open and release their enemies of old; so the Four went to the modern world using Jack's staff. He was the only one who could open the gate in which you could come and go from the modern world.

They stayed there for many years. And as the years went by, they started to become mortals. They started losing their immortal bloods and their Sources. Their appearances started to change as well. Jack's white hair turned brown and so did his blue eyes. Toothiana, his wife, lost her wings and colorful feathers. It was replaced by brown hair and Irish features. Rapunzel's blonde hair turned brown but Eugene didn't seem to change. Merida still looked the same and she married a mortal man. Hiccup still looked the same and married Astrid (who also did not change). But they had one thing in common; they lost their sources and their immortality. They all started building their lives there. Then they gave birth to children that looked (almost) exactly like them when they were immortals. Those children were you. You all looked so much like the Big Four they named you after themselves. Jack, you have your father's hair back when he was an immortal. Your eyes are mixed because your father's immortal eyes were blue. But you are also part human so it has a bit of brown. Rapunzel, did you notice that you're golden haired yet both your parents had brown hair? Well it was because your mother had golden hair when she was immortal. Hiccup looks exactly like his father back when he was his age. Merida is the splitting image of her mother. Your parents may be mortal, but you also have immortal blood in you.

The moment you were born, a new prophecy was added to the Book of the Bothers (That was how I knew the story of your parents). It was said that someone would open the gates to the Underworld and start one of the largest wars on our world.

However, it was also said that the children of the Big Four were to come back to this world and put an end to evil. They would be allowed to use their Sources because of their pure hearts.

Stoick stopped and looked at us.

I could feel my eyes about to pop out any second now. I looked at the others and saw my emotions reflected in their faces; sadness, hurt, and confusion.

"Why didn't our parents tell us this?" Rapunzel murmured.

"The Big Four wanted to protect their children. However their loved ones believed that evil must be stopped."

"That's why my mom helped us," Jack said, his face saddened. "But why did she tell us to hurry?"

"You're going to have to ask her yourself, I'm afraid," Stoick said. "But now the four of you must begin your training on how to control your Sources; especially you, Merida. The Beast itself was Zeus' secret bodyguard when he enters the realm of Hades."

"I have one more question," Hiccup raised his hand in respect. "The gods of Olympus exist, right?"

Stoick nodded.

"Then why don't they help us defeat Hades and Pitch?"

"They have their own businesses," Stoick sighed. "No one knows why, but they don't seem to care about this world. Besides, even if we want to ask them to help us, we couldn't because Mount Olympus is in the mortal realm."

(Rapunzel's POV)

That sucks. I learned in history class that Hades, Zeus and Poseidon were brothers or something. Well that's just great. There's the four of us against an entire army of who knows what nightmares and there's no one there to help us. Unless…

"The four of us can go to Mount Olympus and ask for help," I suggested.

Stoick shook his head. "It's too risky. We need you here to protect us and yourselves. You need to train here," he continued. "and if the prophecy is correct, the gate will be-"

The door burst open and a young boy about our age entered, running.

"Stoick, I bring news from the Kingdom in the North."

Stoick rose from his chair. "Proceed."

The messenger took several deep breaths before he continued. "It was said that the gates of hell have been opened."

We all took sharp intakes of breathes as this news sunk in.

"WHAT!?" Stoick roared. "It can't be!"

We all looked at the messenger who was taking out a piece of paper or something and began to read it. Stoick strode forward and covered the space between them in a few steps. He snatched it from the boy and read it.

Then he calmly rolled up the paper and turned back to the boy who was smiling sheepishly. He smacked the boy at the back of the head with the rolled-up-old-times-newspaper.

"You mean a demon escaped," he chuckled while ruffling the boy's curly blonde hair. "Better be more attentive next time to keep anyone from dying of heart attacks, alright?"

The boy nodded and smiled shyly, leaving the room.

As soon as the door closed, Stoick turned to us, clearly trying to fake a smile. "The four of you must be exhausted. Armlug here will escort you to your rooms. You begin training at dawn. We don't have much time."

"Why do we need to hurry?" Jack asked as Armlug, a man with a long beard and a bushy moustache lead us out the door. "A demon escaped; so what?"

Stoick stood rock still as he looked at us with grave eyes, his smile no longer there.

"The Book of the Brothers said that after a demon escaped," he talked as though it was hard for him to breathe. "One of you will die."