For starters, I just saw the new movie and wow. All I can say is wow. It rates a 10/10 on the feels scale. Please do yourself a favor and go see it! Sooooooo good! DO IT.

Okay, back to the story. Anyway, I suck at updating I know. I'm sorry! It's just that I had a 15-page research paper to write, monologues to rehearse for drama class, songs to learn for musical auditions, and a dreaded physics final to study for. But I'm done with those now so I can write more often! Enjoy! (Also, there is some vulgar language in this chapter but nothing too bad. Just a warning though!)

PS: See the sequel. It will change your life.

Chapter 16:

Hiccup was frozen in place as Erika's eye started right in to his soul. The world around Hiccup started spinning and he became dizzy and weak. Time slowed down and all the emotion spilled out of his body. Except this time, there was no knife driving in to him and all of his emotions were replaced with nothing but unalloyed animosity. He stared right back at her, letting the information sink in. Erika took a slight step forward and Hiccup instinctively jumped back, picking up the nearest object, which was ironically a beautifully crafted Spartan knife. He turned the tables and aimed the weapon at her, ready to pounce at any second.
"Put the knife down, Hiccup." She commanded.
"Funny. I should have said the same thing to you before you stabbed me!" The words "stabbed me" were spoken louder then the rest of the sentence and hung in the air before Erika spoke again.
"Look, Hiccup. I just want to talk. Put down the knife, please."
"Sure, you just want to talk. Next thing you know you're trying to hide a body. I've wised up to you, Erika. I'll talk. But this knife isn't leaving my hand."
"I'm a changed woman! I swear to the Gods I'm not going to hurt you. Plus, you and I both know you're not man enough to actually kill me." When she said this, Hiccup gathered up all his courage, walked toward her, and looked her square in the face.
"Well, I'm a changed man." In reality, Erika was right. Hiccup didn't have the nerve to actually kill her personally. He couldn't even kill a dragon let alone an actual person no matter how wicked they were. He'd leave that to the rest of the citizens of Berk.
"I'm not sorry for what I did..." She began.
"I don't expect you to be."
"But I do regret it."
"Wait? Whoa, that doesn't make any sense. How can you not be sorry but regret it? Sorry and regretting are the same thing. If you've come here to beg for my forgiveness then you can just forget it and..."
"No, let me explain before you interrupt me again, G**dammit!"
"Gods."
"Right..." She signed again, preparing to speak. "I don't feel bad for what I did. In order to get what I wanted at the time, it had to be done. There was no other way. There might have been, but it was too late. I wanted power, Hiccup. I wanted it so bad. I was willing to do anything in order to get it, even kill you. Hell, I'd try it again, right here and right now if I still wanted power. But after passing by Borg recently and seeing my own stepfather murdered, mutilated, torn limb from limb by the very people he once ruled, I don't want it anymore. I realized something that day, Hiccup. You can rule over the entire world with an iron fist, but that doesn't mean you are powerful. At the end of the day, you are just a single person. No mater what, the masses will always be more powerful than you. With enough people, you can be overthrown, impeached, killed, mounted on a stake and used as a morbid warning sign. Power is truly in numbers. Majority always rules. I... I didn't realize that back then. I blinded myself, Hiccup. I... I didn't realize that eventually the same thing might have happened to me. If I could go back and change the way I thought, I would. I regret being so power hungry. But in the end, it's what I wanted then. And if I had to kill someone to get it, I would have done it. I regret my choices, but I'm not sorry for them." Erika spoke in a very dry, monotonous voice. All the charming, siren-like qualities she once had were now gone. Her outward appearance made it's way inside and changed her very soul to the core. Hiccup listened to her story and understood. But he felt no form for sympathy for her. In fact, he hated her even more now. He could clearly see she could have opted out of trying to kill him but she decided to. That made her actions even more unforgivable.
"Five years ago," Hiccup abruptly began. "All I wanted was to be accepted by my peers and my father. I'd do anything to get that acceptance. Even kill. When I saw that dragon in the sky, I knew it was my chance to finally have what I've been yearning for. I blew him out of the night sky but when I went to go get him. I..." His voice trailed off. This was always a painful story to think about. He stared at Erika and suddenly flashed back to the beach. He saw the whole scenario go down again from an outsiders perspective. He saw her stab him and he felt the pain again. He gingerly reached for his wound and tried to stop a pain that wasn't really there. He snapped back to reality and look at Erika with a renewed anger.
"I couldn't kill him! I wouldn't! It was wrong, absolutely wrong! No matter how badly I wanted acceptance it wasn't worth taking that poor dragons life! I'd rather be shunned by society than kill that innocent creature! Don't you get it? What you want, no mater how badly you want it, isn't worth another life. What you did to me, though I understand, was unacceptable. There were so many other things you could have done but didn't do. You had to try to kill me. I will never forgive you for that."
"I don't expect you or even want you to forgive me. I just wanted to tell you my side of the story. I had no other options, Hiccup. I really didn't."
"I thought I didn't either, but I gained acceptance another way. Why couldn't you?"
"But your other way still involved killing a dragon! You just completely contradicted yourself!"
"That's different. I had to do that, Erika. For the good of my village. What was I going to do, let all my friends and family die?"
"The friends and family who shunned you? They were depending on you in that moment. After a lifetime to ignoring you, they needed you. You should have given them a taste of their own medicine and let them die." Hiccups blood was boiling at this point. He gripped his weapon tighter but held back all his fury. He tried to calm himself down slowly, but Erika was pushing him over the edge.
"I can't believe you! I honestly cannot believe you! You are one of the most stubborn, arrogant people I know and Snotlout is my cousin. If you just came here today to tell me you had no other option that would make you a liar too. You could have confessed. Conspiring to kill is less punishable then attempting to kill. That was just one thing you could have done. There were so much more but you had to try to kill me. Why? "
"I can't make you understand and I'm not even going to try. I'm done. I've said what I wanted to say and you've refused to believe me. Fine, I don't care. Just call your dad down here now so he can arrest and kill me. My life is a living Hell anyway so what's the difference."
"No, I'm not done. Now I want to talk," Hiccup had just thought of the perfect topic to talk about too. He knew it would get Erika so angry, so he had to say it. "What you did was unforgivable. I hate you more than words can describe. But I'm not your only victim right?"
"My stepdad is dead if that's what you're insinuating."
"No. You're mother." Those two words make Erika cringe. How could he have known about her mother?
"I... Don't know what you're talking about."
"My gods you're a bad liar. You killed your mother! Believe me, I know. Astrid told me. You mother was just an obstacle, distracting you from the only man who could give you want you wanted. Good or bad, she was a distraction. You needed to get rid of her. So you did. You're just a murderer at heart," something clicked inside of Hiccups brain now. "Wait! I get it now! Murder is the only way you know. That's why you chose to kill me. You blinded yourself to all the other options. Killing you mom worked so you figured you can kill me too. Well, news flash. It didn't work. I've got you all figured out. You know, you're actually just like your mom." Now, it was Erika's turn to get mad.
"Take that back, Haddock! I'm nothing like that dirty, thieving whore!"
"Oh but you are! You are also a dirty, thieving whore. You are both blind, manipulative sirens who can weasel their way in to getting what you want. You both tried to basically sleep your way to the top! You are your mother, Erika. No matter how much you hate her. You are her." Before he knew it, Erika jumped on him. She was incredibly fast. Hiccup barley had time to react. She launched at him with pure anger, grabbing the knife from his hands, twisting herself around so she held him from the back, and placed the knife parallel to his neck. Hiccup swallowed his fear and kept his neck up, giving the knife ample cutting room.
"I'll do it. I swear to the gods I'll do it." She spoke through gritted teeth.
"Good, I want you to." Hiccup said with false confidence. "You don't know this, but death is actually relieving. It'll take me away from all the problems in my life and I can finally relax. Go ahead, do it. I'm waiting. A flick of the wrist and I'm instantly dead. Do it. I dare you." Erika tightened her grip on both Hiccup and the knife. The cold medal pressed on his neck, millimeters from cutting into the skin. But Erika didn't move it. She wasn't expecting his sort of response at all. She was prepared for begging or pledging, but not dares to do it. Now that he wanted it, it wouldn't give her the same satisfaction. The last thing she wanted was to give him joy.
"I hate you, Haddock."
"I know. Believe me, I know."
"Why do you have to make things difficult?"
"Why did you try to kill me?"
"Shut up! I told you! I had no other way. End of discussion!"
"I'm going to enjoy watching your execution."
"Good."
"Actually, I have a better idea. You know what? When you let me go, I'm not telling anyone you're here. I'm just going to go back up and continue living my life. And I'm going to let you live yours. It's a living Hell according to you. Good. I'm not letting you experience the sweetness of death. You don't get that right. I'm going to give you the worst punishment of them all. You are hereby sentenced to eternal life." In a flash, the cold feeling of the medal blade turned into the burning feeling of a cut. Hiccup choked a little and gasped for air. He broke free from Erika's grasp and wrapped his hands around his neck. He felt the all too familiar feeling of blood on his hands. He lifted one of his hands up to his eyes to see the red liquid on it. He swallowed the pain and tried to speak but only coughed.
"If I'm going to live pain then so are you, Haddock. Good luck trying to heal that cut quickly. It's a trick I learned from the dad. It's a fairly deep cut but not deep enough to kill. Just enough to make someone suffer." Hiccup recovered from his coughing spell and spat on the floor. He raised his head to meet Erika's eye and stared at her. He removed his hands from his throat because his wound had already started clotting. He once again walked up to Erika and started her in the face. For a moment, he remembered when they shared their first kiss in the woods. It was a time in his life when he was truly happy and relaxed, despite what Erika turned out to be now. There was something charming about her that he loved and wanted. It was gone now but it had existed once. And when it did exist, Hiccup was in love. Even if it was fake, it still made him happy. And for that, he thanked Erika. He stood there now, looking into her eye and remembering. Then, he did something even he thought he wouldn't do. He leaned in and kissed her one last time.
"What the Hell was that for?" She asked after the split.
"When I was with you, I was happy. You showed me what love felt like. And because of you, I realized my love for my wife. I hate you to the moon and back, don't get me wrong. But I also thank you for un-blinding me and opening up my eyes. You did the opposite of what you set out to do, so thank you. That kiss was my last thank you. And this is my last screw you. For now that is." He proceeded to slap her across the face with all his strength. She was so baffled from the kiss that she didn't have time to defend herself. She practically went flying across the room and ran into the barrel of gold nuggets, knocking it over. Some pieces rolled over to Hiccup and he picked them up. The gold shined like the sun and reeked of value. He placed the nuggets in his pocket as Erika got up. He kicked the remaining nuggets over to her and turned around to leave. But as he started walking out, he said:
"Um, Erika. You've got a little blood on your face. Is it from my cut or my slap? I guess we'll never really know, will we? I hate you." With that, he left.

Back on the deck of the boat, Hiccup watched as people did business. He even saw his own father agree to trade sheep wool for a pair of new undies. People just went about their daily lives not knowing anything about what went on downstairs. Hiccup took the collar of his shirt and tried to cover his wound with it. However, there were still bloodstains on it. He started to walk away but he heard his wife call from behind. A million excuses started to run through his head in that moment.
"Hiccup! I was looking for you. Where did you go?" She asked, stepping in front of him.
"I was doing business with the first mate downstairs." He lied.
"I hope it wasn't violent! What's the cut on your neck? Hiccup?" She reached her hand out to touch it but took it away when he winced at the pain.
"Oh, that. Um... She was showing me some Anglo-Saxon battle moves and kind of slipped. It's no big deal, really. Just a scratch. To make up for it, she gave me free gold!" He pulled the nuggets out of his pocket and showed Astrid. She smiled at the sight of it and kissed him.
"Oh, Hiccup. You're always getting into trouble. C'mon. Lets go home and get that all cleaned up." The two of them walked hand in hand into the sunlight, sharing a kiss before they left the boat. Once they had left, Erika, who had been watching the whole scene, turned her back toward the sun and began her sentence of eternal life.

I'll be posting again soon! The story is basically wrapped up at this point, but there is still a little plot twist left in the next chapter. I'll have it out by the end of next week, I swear! Love you guys! 3 (Insert cliche make sure to look out for my upcoming works promo here).