"Of all the irresponsible and foolhardy things you ever done, this takes the cake!" Mimir yelled furiously.

Hiccup and the others had returned to the Academy, where they were now facing a furious Mimir.

Mimir then turned his eyes to Eret. "And you, Eret, I can't believe you would go along with this."

"Hiccup was very convincing," Eret admitted.

"Mimir, I know we disobeyed orders that we couldn't just sit around doing nothing, especially if a friend was in trouble," said Hiccup.

"But he wasn't in trouble, what he?" Mimir barked.

"No, but if they hadn't followed me that, we would never have been able to get our hands on the mirror," Ragnar pointed out.

Mimir's eyes then turned to the mirror on the table. "That may be so, but your actions have endangered the Academy. If it weren't for the fact that we would need you here, I would expel everyone apart from Ragnar."

"Don't you think that's going a bit strong, Mimir?" Viggo asked as he entered the room. "Hiccup and his friends were merely using their initiative, and thanks to them, we now have a new weapon."

"The weapon we don't know how to use is not a weapon at all," Mimir pointed out. "And don't think I haven't forgotten your involvement in all of this."

"I'm actually with Viggo on this one," said Gobber. "Holding ourselves up and waiting for an attack to happen isn't what I call a concrete plan."

"Can't believe what I'm hearing?" Mimir groaned.

"While we don't know how the mirror works, the fact that Loki went behind Gullveig's back to retrieve it does help," said Viggo.

"I suppose that's true, but I still fear that their hatred for the Aesir is stronger than their distrust in each other," said Mimir. "Have Wrinkly look at the mirror; if anyone can figure out how to operate this, it would be him."

Viggo nodded and left with the mirror.

"As for the rest of you," said Mimir, looking at every single one of them. "I do stand by what I said earlier, but you may be right."

Everyone's faces lit up upon hearing this.

"Though I am still angry that you went behind my back if I had one, that is, I can understand your concerns. To that end, I can't see the harm of reaching out to more allies, so Ragnar and Heather, your best return home and see if you can't get us additional Elven aid."

"We'll leave right away," said Ragnar.

"And will be back with help," Heather nodded.

"What about the dwarfs?" Fishlegs asked.

"Gobber can handle that," said Mimir.

"Why Gobber and not any of us?" Astrid asked.

"Gobber is a skilled blacksmith and a respected warrior; these are both qualities that the dwarfs respect," Mimir explained.

"Don't you need me here to man the defences?" Gobber asked.

"I'll leave that to our renegade demigods here," said Mimir, looking at them. "Consider that your punishment for disobeying the rules."

"Yes, sir," everyone nodded.

When they stepped out of the office, Hiccup was immensely relieved.

"That could have been worse," he said.

"We were damn lucky," said Astrid folding her arms.

"Come on, Astrid, at least we were able to do something," said Hiccup.

"I admit what we discovered was interesting, and we were able to help Ragnar, but the fact remains that there are rules and regulations. We can't just go off on our own like this."

"Sometimes a soldier needs to make their own choices, not just follow orders."

"Every soldier did that, then they would be at knocking. The chain of command must be respected!"

"That does not mean it can't be inflexible!"

They then heard a small cough, which came from Ragnar. "Maybe the two of you should calm down. You are making a scene here."

Then the two of them realised they were practically nose to nose with one another. The two of them instantly turned bright pink and quickly backed away from one another.

"Uh, maybe we should start on the defences," said Astrid.

"Good idea, I'll go and check the magical wards," said Hiccup.

"You know, for a moment, I thought the two of them were about to kiss," said Tuffnut.

That made Hiccup's face glow a much brighter shade of pink.

"And me and Heather probably should get going," said Ragnar. "With luck, the two of us might be able to convince people to help."

"Though I don't know if they will get back here in time, we still don't know when they might attack," said Heather.

"We'll be ready for them no matter what," said Hiccup.

Hiccup was doing exactly what he said, checking the magical wards and improving. The wards were designed to keep monsters and other evil creatures away from the Academy, but there is no telling how strong they would be against gods as powerful as Loki and Gullveig.

"How are they looking?" Jill asked, approaching him.

"Still going strong, but this place is no fortress; it has always been a school," said Hiccup.

"Which is home to very powerful demigods," Jill pointed out.

"True, but Loki is no doubt going to send a very powerful force to attack us. The wards may very well slow them down, but I'm not certain they will be able to stop them."

"So what we do have they do break through the magical defences?" Jill asked.

"That Astrid's department, we decided to work separately," said Hiccup.

"Is something going on between the two of you?" Jill asked. "From what I've been told, the two of them were very close friends, but now you seem to view each other as enemies."

"I don't know," said Hiccup honestly. "I mean, this only started happening after you…"

"After I joined the Academy," Jill finished.

Hiccup nodded.

"Guess she must be concerned that I'm stealing your way from her," Jill finished.

Hiccup looked at her, confused. "What do you mean by that?"

Jill rolled her eyes. "She's jealous; she sees me as competition, and that's why she is rather hostile with you."

"B-but that's ridiculous mean it's not like we're—"

"Together," Jill smiled. "To be honest, when I first saw the two of you, I thought you were together."

"Why did you think that?"

"Because the two of you are made for each other," said Jill.

"What makes you say that?"

Jill raised an eyebrow. "Because my mother is the goddess of love, and I do sense a connection between the two of you. You should go talk to her and ask her out."

"Any guy that does that ends up in the infirmary."

"I have a feeling it will be different for you. Besides, if you need to, he doesn't get this sorted; it's only going to get more dangerous, especially when the enemy attacks."

"I don't know," said Hiccup, rubbing his head.

"Hiccup, if Astrid dies and you don't tell how you feel, you will regret it for the rest of your life," Jill pushed.

Hiccup couldn't disagree with that statement, but he still wasn't certain if this was a good idea, especially after everything that happened between the two.

"Hiccup, trust me on this one," Jill smiled.

Hiccup sighed. "All right, but if I wind up in the infirmary, I'm going to blame you."

He found Astrid in the dorm; she was currently going over plans and maps of the Academy and the surrounding grounds.

"What you want?" she said coldly.

"I-I just wanted to talk," said Hiccup awkwardly.

"Now is not a good time," she said bluntly.

"When would be a good time?"

"Never."

Hiccup was starting to regret starting this conversation, and he had a mental image of himself in the infirmary in a full-body cast. The only problem was he wasn't certain if this was his imagination or the future.

"As you know, what's going on between the two of us," said Hiccup.

Astrid immediately stopped what she was doing and looked at him, narrowing her eyes. "And what do you mean by that?"

Hiccup was starting to believe that mental image was indeed the future, but he pressed on regardless.

"I just mean, we haven't been on the same page for a while now," said Hiccup, carefully choosing his words.

"Maybe you don't always jump into danger. That wouldn't be an issue."

"We're demigods. It's an occupational hazard," Hiccup reminded her.

"Don't start!" Astrid snapped. "You've been taking too many risks ever since that girl showed up; it's like you're trying to impress her or something."

"That's not the case, and this has nothing to do with Jill!" Hiccup snapped. "I am just trying to prevent Ragnarok from happening, and with the end of the world nearly upon us, we can't play it safe."

"Then how come you're spending quite a lot of time with her?" Astrid glared.

"I spend time with everyone else," said Hiccup.

"Yet you seem to lean on her more than the rest of us."

"Because you're acting against me."

"I'm just trying to keep you safe!" Astrid yelled at the top of her voice.

"I appreciate that, but with Loki coming, that might not be the case."

Astrid then turned her back on him, folding her arms. "I know, but I don't know what I'll do if I lose you."

Hiccup then slowly made his way over towards and placed a hand on her shoulder. "And I don't know what I'll do if I use you."

"You seem perfectly fine without me," she said without looking at him.

"Astrid, I rely on you more than anyone here," said Hiccup gently.

"I find that hard to believe," she said with tears in her eyes.

Hiccup then spun her around and hugged her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Astrid, you are the most capable warrior that I know. You're the one person I trust completely. Sometimes, I don't even think I should be leading."

Astrid looked stunned, and Hiccup then felt her arms wrapping around his waist. She began to cry into the shoulder.

"I am the person I am today because of you," she said. "I've never told you that, but it's true. Before you came along and were driven, I didn't have time to make friends, and I most certainly hated my mother. Then you showed up and showed me that I didn't need to be alone and that I could rely on people. You are the bravest, most stubborn, most determined knucklehead I know at a greater need than I could ever hope to be."

"Even after everything?" Hiccup asked.

"I was the first to believe in you, and I have watched you doubt yourself ever since, but another how many times you fell, you got right back up. Nowhere near as strong as you, and sometimes I asked myself if I'm worthy of you."

Hiccup pulled them apart and looked into her eyes. "I should be the one considering if I'm worthy of you."

The two of them looked at one another and slowly began leaning towards one another, but just before their lips touched, the door swung wide open, and Fishlegs entered.

"Guys! We got some urgent news!" he yelled.

Hiccup and Astrid quickly pulled away from one another, and their faces turned bright pink.

"What is it, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked, clearing his throat.

"Just Mimir has called an emergency meeting between the heads of houses," Fishlegs informed him and then looked at him and Astrid. "Did I interrupt something?"

"N-no, you were just discussing something important," said Hiccup.

"Okay, but it's going to have to wait. Mimir insists that it happens right away."

Fishlegs then left, closing the door behind him, leaving both Hiccup and Astrid in an awkward silence.

"S-so, it sounds like I'd better get going," said Hiccup, rubbing his head.

"I-I guess it does," said Astrid awkwardly. "Umm, maybe it's best we have this conversation another time."

"Yeah, like when the fate of the entire universe is not in our hands," said Hiccup.

They gave an awkward chuckle and left the dorm room together, making it even more awkward.