A little quote by A. Huxley for this chapter: "That men do not learn very much from the lesson of history is the most important of all lessons history has to teach."

Chapter Seventy-Nine: When everything makes sense

If Hiccup looked back at that fateful day in 'The City of Fallen Heroes', he would probably say that it was the most shocking and important day in all of his life.

Granted he behaved like an idiot most of that day and the events that took place that morning and early noon would only really help him weeks later, but he could not deny its importance.

Or as the others would say 'You can't chose your family'.

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Kate insisted that they still catch a few hours of sleep after Hiccup had revealed his plans concerning Illiona to them.

He should have know that it would be a bad idea but he agreed, feeling exhausted after the revelations they had only an hour before.

Still, sleep didn't give him the break he wished for.

The familiar darkness of sleep settled over him only to be replaced second later by a blinding white light.

When he could see again he was standing in a hallway in some kind of golden palest. The window next to him looked over green fields and a white and golden city. There were stars in the sky despite it being broad daylight.

He knew exactly where he was of course.

Asgard.

Home of the gods.

He gritted his teeth.

Great.

Just the place he wanted to be.

He looked around, trying to find Loki, expecting him to be the one who called him, probably to talk, but the prankster god was nowhere to be seen.

Who he saw instead where Odin and Heimdall, walking slowly side by side a few feet ahead of him, talking in low voices.

Well, since he already was here, he might as well take advantage of it.

"…cannot believe it. And for so long." Odin just said, shaking his head grimly as Hiccup caught up with them.

Heimdall kept quiet and just walked next to the obviously angered King of the Gods.

"I warned him it would happen. But he was too stubborn to admit it. Now at least we can dispose of the boy. As we should have done long ago." Odin ranted on.

"I tell you Heimdall, it doesn't surprise me to be honest. Fate has its way of repeating itself and this is the same all over again. I actually regret that I have not acted earlier but I thought it would turn out good and right. But I looks like I was wrong and now I will have to intervene. And no one will stop me this time. By Yggdrasil!"

Heimdall lifted his head slightly.

"And what are you planning to do Milord?"

"I will kill the boy for the sake of everyone. Too long have we let him roam free, thinking it would play out fair and nicely. But that boy was destined to fail." Odin snorted and stroked his beard.

Hiccup felt angry. They were talking about him.

"That so called destiny was changed the day he was born." Heimdall said slowly.

"Please" Odin snorted "as if that changed anything. It may have delayed things but certainly didn't stop them."

"Do you really think it's necessary to kill them?" Heimdall asked.

Odin laughed coldly.

"Look at them! They might not know it now but it's them! They may be kids, most of them. But there is no doubt. They're back. But I'm not letting any of this happen ever again. That In a way you could even say I'm merciful to end their lives before they destroy themselves."

Hiccup's breath stuck in his throat.

Kill them all? Where they talking about his friends?

But what was the rest suppose to mean? Regrouping? Them? Being back? Fate repeating itself? What did that mean?

"Is your faith in mankind really that broken?" Heimdall asked without any emotion.

Odin stopped and turned around to face the Keeper of Asgard.

"I loved Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second like he was my own flesh and blood. I would have made him a god had he succeeded. My faith came from him." He said softly. Then his voice hardened.

"But it had to be betrayed. I'm not letting that happen again."

"These children are nothing like their ancestors." Heimdall argued slowly.

"Of course they are." Odin said, turned around and resumed walking.

"I don't think so. They show traits, yes, but that's not avoidable. If anything it's necessary. I believe their ancestors spirits lives somewhere inside their souls but I think what defines them is what makes the kids different from them."

Odin snorted.

"You've seen the little devil-spawn Hiccup the Third. He's the exact reflection of his ancestor. He's easy to influence. Humans are weak by nature. Why do you think Darkness managed to turn him against us?"Odin asked angrily.

"Darkness didn't make the boy turn his back on us. It was us who did it. We took the boy for granted. We assumed he would just follow. We treated him wrongly. Like Hiccup the Second did. But he's not the same man. He lacks at obedience and forgiveness, that may be true, but that was what kept him alive all this time."

"I will not have the fate of the world put into the hands of a stubborn teenager with authority-problems." Odin said through gritted teeth.

"You've made your opinion quite clear already yet it's not you who decided upon that." Heimdall said with a trace of sarcasm in his voice.

"So why talk to me about that?" Odin asked.

"I just think you're acting to soon and don't see what's really going on, because you don't know for sure, what's going to happen. I say that you are making a grave mistake."

Heimdall's voice grew louder.

"The future is not set in stone and so is fate. It may repeat itself but I don't think to do the same mistakes twice. That would be fatal. No I think it does it for quite the opposite. I think fate knows what it's doing and I think we should let it! This is our chance to make things right again where we screwed up last time."

Odin's knuckles were white around his staff.

"And what's not better than to kill them all? It would save us a lot of problems."

"But it wouldn't solve our war with Darkness. It would delay the unavoidable confrontation for another thousand years and then this would all start again and again with the difference that this time we would be helpless and unable to defend ourselves. Then we will certainly die."

"And seeing how the odds are so are we going to so in near future too." Odin growled.

"You're wrong. There is still hope. There is still a light. It may be faint but each flame can grow if giving the opportunity and the necessary things." Heimdall said convinced.

But Odin would have none of it.

"Do you remember the despair and the hopelessness that threatened to take over when Hiccup the Second attacked the Archipelago and was killed as the result? When his legacy was forgotten and all his hard work was lost in the wind? We were lucky that Darkness didn't rise then, that he still needed more power. But we won't be that lucky again. I can't see the light you speak of. That's why I'm not taking any chances. Because if killing Hiccup the Third is going to prevent the end of the world then I will hesitate at nothing to smite him off the face of this beautiful earth."

"That boy is no threat! He's the solution!" Heimdall growled.

Odin's face hardened.

"As Safe-Keeper and Protector of Asgard and the realm I order you, you will do as I tell you." "And what will that be?"

"You'll kill that boy who hasn't yet turned into a man. He must never grow up, must never become what his uncle became."

"You want me to kill a sixteen-year old boy in cold blood?"

"I want you to do your duty and protect what you've sworn to protect!" Odin's eyes blazed with ager.

"I swore to protect the realm from those who threaten it. But as I said before: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third is not a threat. He's the last of his blood, the last of his line. He's the last hope to this realm and as such of great value."

Odin was furious.

"You are all blinded! You put faith where it will die! You trust too much in human's ability to change!"

"And you don't trust it enough."

"Trust is like a broken mirror Heimdall. You can fix it but you'll always see the cracks. I stay with my sentence. Hiccup Horrendous will die. And that's the final word I will have in this matter."

He started to walk away from the mighty warrior-god.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, it wasn't anyone's fault but our own? That we were too blind to see what was right in front of us? I sometimes wonder if we could have prevented the past and how the future would look like if we had."

Odin stood, his back turned at the other god. His voice was hard as steel.

"Hiccup the Second chose his way. It let away from us. We did what we could. Now Loki did what he could. Hiccup the Third chose his way. It too let away from us. I will not let him make our enemy stronger. Darkness depends on Hiccup making the final mistake, just like his uncle did all those years ago, so he can get that last bit of power he needs to take form and plunge the world into chaos. That boy holds all strings. He decides which to pull and which to let go. That is what makes him so powerful and so dangerous. Take that power, let us hold the strings again and we can ensure that darkness will never rise again."

"And for that you have to kill him?"

"What is the life of one person compared to that of billions?"

"That is not what I asked."

Odin paused shortly.

"Your fate, your path, your destiny, ends only with your death. Death is the one barrier even we cannot overstep. Death is the end. Kill him and everything will be over. Darkness will lose his power again and peace will return."

Heimdall shook his head and starred at the ceiling. "Yeah, nothing can go wrong with that plan." He mumbled.

Odin looked at him angrily. "Why?"

"Have you been listing at all to what I told you? Do you honestly believe that this is the right way? More death and destruction? More sorrow and pain? Isn't that what Darkness wants?" Heimdall asked softly.

"It is the only way."

"You keep saying that yet I cannot believe you. Face it. You're wrong."

"Excuse me?"

"I said you're wrong. That boy was chosen for a reason. You can't really think that killing one boy will solve all your problems."

"You will do as I tell you!" Odin snarled.

Heimdall's eyes suddenly blazed with a dangerous fire and his voice grew deeper.

"I protect the realm form those who threaten it. I stand under nobody's command and if I say that the boy won't be harmed, he won't!"

Odin's voice too changed.

"We'll see about that."

then he stormed away, cape flying dramatically behind him.

Heimdall remained where he stood and watched the King of the gods disappear.

Hiccup lat out a long breath. That had been intense. Although only understood like ten percent of what had been said.

His attention was drawn back to the Keeper of Asgard when he said without averting his gaze from where the other god had disappeared around the corner:

"I really hope you have a plan young hero."

Hiccup froze. Besides them there was no one else there.

"Yes, I mean you Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III." The giant protector slowly turned around and looked at Hiccup.

Said young man was more than ever irritated, confused and slightly scared.

"But…but…no one…ever saw me…." He stuttered.

"Wrong." Heimdall said.

"I always knew you were there. True, this is the first time I can actually see you but I felt your presence before. And I could hear you. You know quite a lot of swear-words when you're angry or upset." He said with raised eyebrows, looking slightly amused.

Hiccup blushed.

He may or may not had let go off some profanities at his last visits.

"After all, I am the Keeper of Asgard. It is my job to know who enters the realm and who leaves it, even if their bodies remain somewhere else." "Sorry." Hiccup muttered, not exactly sure what he apologized for, after all he had no control about it, where his ghost was shipped off to when he slept but it felt right to say sorry so he did.

"I don't blame you for anything." Heimdall said shrugging.

"You were right most of the time anyway."

Hiccup arched an eyebrow. That was a first. A god admitting that he was right.

"What does he mean with me holding all the strings?" Hiccup asked, nodding to where Odin had stood.

Heimdall sighed.

"It's a little complicated."

"Try me, I've had a lot of complicated already and I'm sick of you gods hiding things from me and being not honest and leaving me in the dark."

Heimdall started to walk and Hiccup tagged along.

"I can understand that you are angry Hiccup. But believe me that Loki always had your best at heart when he did what he did. I don't agree with his methods but he has always tried to be honest with you."

Hiccup didn't answer. This was not what he wanted to hear.

"The truth can hurt Hiccup."

"But so do lies." Hiccup growled.

"There have never been lies. Just untold truths." Heimdall cut him off.

"What are you keeping from me then?"

"The truth."

"Could we stop this riddle conversation and get to the point?" Hiccup asked annoyed.

"Do you really think you are ready to face the truth?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You might not like it."

Hiccup snorted. "And I like it even less when I'm plunged into things head first without even knowing what's going on. Half the people who tried to kill me did it because of my ancestor and all I know about it is a thumbnail-big sketch of who he was, how he lived and what he did."

Heimdall sighed. "Well, you know the basics, about how he was a dragon-rider and how he tried to rejoin humans and dragons to fight Darkness all those years ago, right?" "Right." "And you know how his grief and how his anger towards the Vikings for killing his friends and family turned into rage and how he eventually succumbed to it and attacked them? And was killed the process and everything that followed?"

"Yes. I had a nice conversation with Hamish of Port East about that."

"Well, there are still things you don't know. Parts of the story left out on purpose. Truths about your ancestor and his companions. And truths about what those things mean for you."

"Then tell me!"

Heimdall was silent for a long time.

Then he finally spoke.

"Darkness thought after he turned Hiccup the Second against us he would be able to rise. Would be able to use him the way he now intends to use the Outcast like. As an anchor. A manifestation in the physical world. But he was still too weak. Thank the gods for that or the world would have been lost back then. So he needed to wait. Wait for the right person to come along. Little did we know that we were waiting for the same person. He for his liberator, we for our savior. And that person is you."

Hiccup didn't say anything.

"The prophecies are quite clear. Only the heir of one of the first ancient riders would be able to fulfill his ancestors work. Your mother was that last heiress but she was not the right one. You were. You combine great blood inside your veins. That of riders and that of leaders. It gave you power. The moment you were born the fate of the world was literally pushed into your hands. We tried to guide you, help you become the person you are today."

Hiccup didn't look convinced. "How did you do that?"

Heimdall didn't look at him but Hiccup could see that the god seemed slightly edgy.

"Do you know that you were born too early?" he asked silently as the turned and walked down yet another endless corridor.

"No." Hiccup said frowning.

"Well, you were born four weeks too early, to the end of devastating winter. You were supposed to be born in the first month of spring when life blossoms and is at its strongest. Instead you were born at the end of winter where there is no life, and the ground is too weak for life. But that was all planned."

"How can you plan to be born too early?" Hiccup asked but when the god gave him a pointed look he muttered: "Oh…so that was your doing."

The Keeper nodded. "You had an entirely different life destined at first. Had you been born when you were supposed to, you would have been an entirely different person. You would have been the big and strong son, the heir your father always wanted. You would have been a great dragon-slayer, like your father and you would have been a great chief one day. You would have found the nest and destroyed it with your wits and your strength.

But that way your mother side would have been nucleated, destroyed and the legacy of the riders would have been forgotten. We couldn't let that happen.

So we had to interfere. You were born too early, you became ill; it affected your health, your growing, your strength and inevitably your whole life. You became who you are today. It was necessary."

Hiccup was shocked.

"You mean to say you took my life, the life I could have had, my happiness in a sense, so you could have that hero that could safe your asses?" he shouted in disbelieve.

Heimdall stayed calm though Hiccup could see the nervousness in his eyes.

"Please young hero, calm down."

"Calm down? Are you kidding? I just found out that my life was so miserable because of you. I could have had everything! Why did you make me suffer through all of this? If I had been destined at first to be such a great warrior wouldn't that be better than for me being such a small wimp?" he shouted furiously.

Heimdall held his hands up appeasing.

"Sacrifices have to be made Hiccup." He tried to reason.

"Oh shut up. I'm sick of you demanding sacrifices at every second turn. I sacrificed so much already for you. And now you tell me that you manipulated my whole life, destroyed the life I could have lived and expect me to be okay with it?"

"It was the only way!"

"There is always another way!" Hiccup shouted.

"Just listen Hiccup! Had we allowed your life to fold out like that, you would have succumbed to darkness at one point and would have become what Alvin is now for Darkness, what he first planned for your uncle. You would have been his anchor. The personification of evil and darkness!"

Hiccup was speechless.

"Do you see now why we did what we did?" Heimdall asked exasperated.

Tears dwelled in Hiccups eyes.

"You had no right." He whispered.

"That was my life you were messing with. You gods think just because you are immortal and have powers you can do whatever you want." He whispered with tears streaming down his face.

"You are heartless creatures. You aren't much better than Darkness. You just want to be saved. You are so desperate because your powers are not strong enough. So you decide to ruin the live of some innocent person so it fits your needs. You created me. You made what I am!"

His voice grew louder.

"And it will be your fault when everything fails!" he shouted.

"I'm just a pawn for you. My life means nothing to you in the end."

"Your life means a lot to us." Heimdall argued.

"I don't see that."

"We never formed you Hiccup. We merely gave you a push in the right direction."

Heimdall stopped and grabbed Hiccups shoulders.

"I know you are hurt, I know that you want answers, I know that you are miserable. But don't give up. You have a good plan. You are on the right way. This is your destiny now. I know that you know. You are just hurt by the truth I have given you. I told you, you were not ready for it. But that doesn't matter now. This is your chance now to do things your way. Do the right thing. Because you are the only one who can. We are trying to help you. But it's difficult. We're under constant assault and can't fight at two fronts at once. This is why we rely so desperate on you Hiccup. Asgard may be our home but our powers are bound to Midgard, you humans and the dragons. Do you understand that? Do you understand why I have told you the truth though no one else dares too? Because this is what they feared. That you would turn completely against us, become a servant of the dark. I'm trying to prevent that. Do you see?"

Hiccup nodded numbly.

The part of his brain that always thought, always argued logically and always put emotions and personal matters and conflicts to the background told him that the god was right.

He fought the oncoming wave of emotions, tried to concentrate on that little voice of reason. Heimdall was right. Heimdall was right.

He chanted that sentence over and over.

He's trying to help, he's risking everything by telling me this. He knew that this plan could backfire. But I won't let that happen. There is too much at stake.

Those thoughts swirled through his head.

Finally he gained the control over himself back and asked in a low voice:

"What must I do?"

The god smiled relieved.

"Continue as before and trust your instinct. It has brought you here. Trust your friends. Keep them close. All of them. Be strong."

Hiccup nodded.

Heimdall smiled.

"Odin is right about one think young hero. History repeats itself over and over again. What you are going through…your ancestor went through the same. You have to learn from his mistakes so you don't end up failing like he did."

"He didn't fail."

"He didn't succeed either." Heimdall said calmly. "We all are, in a sense, trapped in an endless loop of recurrence. How do we learn from that? We do things differently. That's how."

Hiccup scoffed. "Well, I learned that when you know the future and you try to prevent it from coming true it comes true more than ever."

"The future is an unstable things. Many things have to be considered. Your seer will be able to tell you a lot about that, I'm sure. But one thing first."

Heimdall straightened up.

"Find the blind man. He will be able to answer some of your other questions. And remember Hiccup. Family is not only our blood but also who we decide to call family. Family is the most important thing ever. It can change the very fabric of the universe. Loki himself proved that. You will soon find out the rest. I'm sure of it."

Hiccup wanted to strangle the god for speaking again in riddles and again keeping things from him. But he controlled himself and said silently: "Thank you for being honest with me."

"Don't make me regret it." Heimdall just answered.

"Now, sleep." He said and touched Hiccups forehead with his index-and middle-finger.

Around him everything faded into oblivion and he knew no more.

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AN: Hm, I said in the title of the chapter that everything would make sense now but nothing makes sense yet. Well, if I had continued with the chapter as I had planned, it would have been 19 pages long so I thought NO, you can't do that, so I divided it again.

The rest is coming soon,

Love Kate