Chapter Seventy-Seven: Another confession
Hiccup had no clue if what he planned would work but it was worth a try. Loki wouldn't talk to him, fine. He was sure Illiona would.
He tried to picture her face, her cave, the tapestries, the smell of hot broth in the air and the sound of her many bracelets.
Then he called out for her, relying on their connection.
"Illiona? Are you there? Can you hear me?" he called out. He tried to reach farther for her.
There is no answer.
And just when he thought there would be no answer, the darkness dissolves around him and a light grows.
In the next moment he finds himself standing in the dimly lit cave of his seer-friend.
It's dark in there. The fire in the pit is nearly burned down. Only few torches spend enough light to make out the outlines of the furniture.
"Illiona? Are you here? Please, I need to talk to you!"
There was something in the air that made Hiccup uncomfortable.
The sudden sound of metal-scratching-over-stone behind him made him flinch. He turned and saw Illiona emerge from somewhere behind him holding only a small candle in one hand.
The small flame painted strange shadows all over her face.
She looked tiered with dark circles under her eyes but when she saw him, her eyes widened in shock.
"Hiccup? How…how are you here?" she whispered confused.
"I need to talk to you. So I tried to contact you, the way you usually contact me and by the looks, it worked." He explained quickly.
She nodded understandingly and stepped closer.
Again there was that sound-of-metal over stone but it was too dim for Hiccup to see where it came from.
"So you found out?"
It wasn't a question.
He pulled a face.
"I'm not sure yet, what I found out. Aside the fact that gods are backstabbing assholes." He growled. "And that you have foreseen some kind of danger concerning Alvin."
Illiona nodded. "Yes. Come and sit."
She pointed at one of the many colorful and fluffy cushions around the fire-pit. He re-lightened it with one snap of his fingers.
Illiona sat down on the other side of the fire and pulled the blanket around her shoulders closer. It looked as if the shadows had swallowed her body and only her pale face hovered in the darkness.
"Are you alright?" he asked concerned.
She smiled faintly. "Just cold. Now, I'm sure you want to know what I saw?"
He nodded. She sighed and rubbed her face.
"Well to begin with, Alvin has told your father you're still alive."
Hiccup frowned. "Why would my father think I'm dead?" he asked confused.
She gave him her 'Are-you-kidding-me'-face.
"Hiccup, when you didn't show up for your final exam, they went looking for you. They found the cave, the marks, your helmet, and your footprints and concluded that you must have been carried off and eaten by a dragon." She explained shortly.
"Oh." Hiccup mumbled. He felt a painful tugging sensation in his heart. He'd never meant for his father to think he was dead.
But then again maybe that was better than to let him know what a real disappointment and disgrace his only son really was.
"Carry on." he mumbled. "Alvin told my dad I'm still alive. So what?"
"Well" Illiona said "That is not our main-concern. It just complicates everything for you. The other…more…bad….problem, is Alvin himself."
Hiccup frowned. "How so?"
"We already established that Alvin is in league with Darkness. Don't ask me how or why but what that isn't the point. What we haven't realized until now is how serious it is. Alvin is not just a pawn for Darkness like Hamish was; no, he's far from it. It seems as if Darkness is channeling all his powers through Alvin into this world."
Seeing his confused face she tried again.
"Darkness isn't ready or strong enough yet to take full form. He's still formless gust of wind you could say." "Try tornado." Hiccup muttered. "So he needs someone to represent on earth. Or someone to channel all his dark energy into our world. Like a gate or portal." "You mean Alvin is like his side-kick?"
"In a way. Until Darkness is strong enough. Then he will take over Alvins body completely, take on a solid for and that would be most fatal because then the world would end." She muttered dryly and sighed, her shoulders slumming forwards.
Hiccup just blinked at her.
"WHAT?" he yelped.
Illiona nodded solemnly.
Hiccup started massaging his temples.
"Okay, right, that's really bad, no wonder Loki was so upset." He mumbled and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"So, what do I have to do that this will not happen? Because I thought Alvin as just an annoying bug or an always returning rash. But not that he was so…important. Really, that is disturbing."
The girl looked down.
"There is only one way. You have to kill him the next time you see him."
Hiccup stared at her shocked.
"You want me to kill ALVIN THE TREACHEROUSE?"
"I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do or think you can't do. It's your call."
There was a long silence between them.
Then Hiccup asked very softly: "Illiona, what happened?"
She looked up confused but also afraid.
"What do you mean?"
"Something happened. You are…not yourself."
She laughed dryly. "The world is about to end Hiccup. That kinda makes you gloomy."
He shook his head.
"I'm not talking about that. Something happened. This place…it's different. And you, you are too. It's not like you to hide like that." He said pointing at her, the blanket and the shadows.
"Hiccup, don't." she said softly.
He shook his head again, got up and walked over to her, right through the blazing fire.
"No. Whatever it is, you can tell me! I'm your friend. You help me, I help you; that is how it goes."
He knelt down next to her and put his hands on her trembling shoulders. "So tell me."
He'd expected her to swat his hands away, flinch, shout at him but he didn't expect her to break down in tears in front of him.
Somehow his words must have triggered something inside the small girl, because she was sobbing so hard into his shoulder the blanket slipped off her skinny frame.
And Hiccup gasped.
Nor did he only see the connecting chains in her wrists and ankles and the torn bloody skin underneath them but also the patchwork of dark bruises that littered her whole body.
The alto familiar feeling of hot rage expanded in his chest.
He'd always known that something wasn't right with Illiona from the first moment they had met. But this…this went beyond his wildest dreams."
"Who. Did. This?" he growled.
Illiona just kept crying.
He held her close, stroking her head but he was shaking with rage.
How could anybody do this to a child?
This was the final straw for him.
He'd dealt with a lot in the past forty-eight hours but this really topped everything.
"Illiona, please tell me." He whispered.
For a long time she couldn't manage full sentences but once she'd calmed down he could understand what she was mumbling.
"I'm so sorry…you shouldn't have come….he will kill you….I knew I was lost, I saw it…but I also saw you…here….I'm such a bad person!"
Hiccup frowned.
"Illiona, that makes absolutely no sense. What are you sorry for, who will kill me, what…" he tried but she sobbed again.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."
"What for?"
"I'm such a horrible person! Such a horrible, horrible person!"
He grabbed her shoulders and shoo her.
"Illiona, you are not a horrible person, I would know! You are a wonderful person! You are sweet and caring and helped me so much! Despite even not knowing me! Why would you think you were a bad person?"
Her lips quivered and her cheeks were wet from all the tears.
"No Hiccup" she whispered "I am a horrible person. I condemn people to death; I lead them to me, I make promises of gold and gems, even though I know it's a trap. Even though I know they will be killed."
Hiccup looked at her shocked.
"What…what are you talking about?" he mumbled, not understanding a word she said.
Illiona avoided her gaze and stared into the shadows.
"I haven't been totally honest with you Hiccup. In…in fact I lied. Or at least…haven't told you the whole truth."
Hiccup frowned.
"I…I was going to get you killed. But now….now I don't have the heart anymore." She whispered.
"Illiona what…" he started but she turned away from him.
"It'll be better if you leave now while you still can. I won't tell them anything. Forget me and I will cut our connection. You'll never hear a word form me again, I promise."
"Illiona if you don't stop talking in riddles this very moment I swear to the gods I will….well, I'm not sure what I will do but heaven help me something will come to my mind!" he shouted and made her look into his eyes.
Gentler her said: "Now take a deep breath and tell me. And stop with this nonsense about killing people and condemning me to death, alright?"
New tears were forming in her eyes.
"You don't want to hear what I have to say." "Try me."
Illiona clenched her fists but then relaxed them again.
"Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Hiccup remained silent.
"It is true that I have visions and can see parts of the future. But…but the only reason I decided to help you was…so I could use you." She whispered
"Use me for what?" Hiccup asked confused.
"I saw it all. I saw myself free, away from here. I saw you. I thought that you would be my key to freedom. I thought you were going to free me from this prison."
"What…what prison? Why didn't you tell me earlier? Did the same guy beat you up?" Hiccup shouted, as suddenly everything made sense in his head.
Illiona flinched.
Him shouting at her must have scared her.
He grabbed her hands and said determined: "Tell me exactly where you are and I will get there and make sure the guys who did this to you will never see another sunrise once I'm there."
She sobbed and shook her head.
"You can't Hiccup. He will know you'll come. He always knows! And he always kills them!"
Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
"And I'm worse than him. I…I know that he knows. I know that he'll kill them. Yet…yet I always beg them to come and save me. I'm so sorry Hiccup. Please believe me. First I thought I could convince you to come too but you….you are different from the others I begged to come. You…you care for me. You…want…to help me."
"Of course I want to help you silly. I owe you. You helped me so much!" Hiccup muttered.
"But I'm a killer! I condemn people to death. Innocent people! I make them promises of cold and jewels! I make them come here without knowing the full extent of the danger they walk in to." She rambled and shook her head.
"Illiona, stop! You are not a horrible person. You are scared, you are desperate. Let me help you!" he whispered.
"I can't you will die!"
"I've lived until now."
"You don't understand. I never meant for you to find out like this. I was going to trick you like the others. But you….you actually care for me. No…no one ever….cared for me. You make it so damn hard to betray you." She whispered.
"Were are you Illiona? Tell me and I will drop hell-fire on that place and kill everyone who stands in my way to you. I will save you, if you let me!" Hiccup begged her.
"Why are you so nice to me? I did nothing to deserve it." She whispered.
Hiccup pushed a strand of hair out of her face.
"Because you are a good person. Because I like you. Because I can feel it."
She suddenly looked over his shoulder and panic filled her eyes.
"Someone's coming." She whispered.
"Tell me where you are." He urged.
She bite on her lip.
"I can help you, save you, make it stop!" he whispered.
"I can save you."
She looked into his eyes.
"And I will." He added.
"Fire-Wall-Lands. Island of Tomorrow. Ask your friends about it."
With that everything shattered and darkness consumed Hiccups mind.
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AN: Yeah, so I'm back.
This is no good chapter but I need it because otherwise what happens next won't make any sense and seemingly come from no-where. Bare with me a little longer, the end is…not close… but closer.
As always leave a comment and if you have questions PM me.
Love Kate