Chapter 288
Hiccups POV:
It's been six weeks since I returned from training under the master's to become a Zodiac Master and in that time a lot has happened with me since I had a lot to catch up on with my family, my dragon and my people. I spent the entire first day back with my family up in the sky on the backs of our dragons with the kids constantly switching between me and their mothers. I swear I don't think I've ever been so happy to be in the air but then again, it's been years since I was up in the air flying and I'd forgotten what it felt like to be up in the air and so free. I know Toothless was happy to have me back in the air with him since he'd do all sorts of crazy maneuvers when the kids weren't on him with me, and these were maneuvers we'd do together when we were eager for a thrill. The dinner that evening was spent with me telling my family about all I did while training under the master's to be a Zodiac Master and I swear I saw Brant and Chara gulp, probably thinking it gave me ideas for their own training and I admit, it did but they were in no way ready to do that sort of training.
After dinner we all turned in for the night with me and my wives barely sleeping since they wanted to help me make up for the time, I lost in the seventy years I was gone, even though it was only seven weeks for them. As anyone could guess, after seventy years of not being able to truly enjoy the company of any women, I spent hours enjoying their bodies and although I was a little rough with Blanca and Hadasa, I was gentler with Astrid who was with child and only had one round with her while the others went five. We were up till two hours before dawn and by breakfast time, I had a knot in my back that felt like it was the size of my father's fist, so I had a tough time walking. This of course was something everyone in the village noticed when I went to visit them all after breakfast and sadly this resulted of a lot of teasing from the people who knew why I was walking funny.
When we reached the Great Hall, I had to deal with a typical question and answer session as was expected, but it was easy to tell my dad was proud of me when he found out I won the tournament and became a Zodiac master if the way he hugged me was anything to go by. Then I had to spend six hours showing them the various challenges I had to go through, the ceremonies and then the training I had to go through when I began training to be a Zodiac Master. Tuffnut then asked me how wearing boots and gloves were training and feeling someone might ask me that question, I brought the boots and gloves with me before asking Tuffnut to hold them. When I placed them in his hands, he dropped them since they were so heavy and unfortunately, they fell right onto his feet, and he let out a scream that could be heard on the far side of the village.
At first everyone thought he was acting stupid for a prank until Gobber picked them up and dumped them on a table which then broke under the combined pressure shocking everyone at which point, I asked them how they thought I felt since I wore them for seventy years. Fishleggs then asked how I was able to move with them on to which I replied, 'with a lot of difficulty at first but the more I wore them, the more muscle I built in my arms and legs so the easier they were to move in and the faster I became. Snotlout then asked how strong and fast I could have possibly become to which I walked up at him and then performed a leg sweep that took as long as it takes a person to blink so to everyone else it looked like Snotlout just jumped and fell back. I then walked up to a spare shield that was meant to go to the armory when the person who was taking it got caught up in the crowd who wanted to see what I'd been up to. I had Spitelout hold it for me before I punched it in the middles metal part with my bare fist and not only smashed the metal piece right through the shield, leaving a dent in it doing so but also slamming it right into Spitelouts stomach, with Spitelout falling to his knees. Knowing how Spitelout was a man who endured pain and would often bludgeon his own head for fun, causing him enough pain to make him drop to his knees was an impressive feat. I then had to spend another six hours demonstrating various complex moves that were taught to me by the master's and dealing with multiple people asking me to teach them the moves.
Then evening finally came and I was able to go home with my family and enjoy a little down time while also being able to take care of was opening the package the Buddha gave me. Turns out it contained the helmets me and the other challengers wore when we were going through the challenges, shrunk down but they all grew back to their original sizes when I brought them out. I left them in the library for the evening while I went to enjoy dinner with my family and decided to sort them out in the morning along with my other stuff. That night after the kids were put to bed my wives took me to bed of another night of fun knowing I hadn't enjoyed their company in seventy years making me think I needed to go on long trips without them more often if this was how the evenings were going to be.
The following day I spent my morning preparing a place for the items in the trophy and ended up hanging the sword up on the wall, the pendant above it and circling around them were the helmets while resting beneath them on a pedestal was the uniform I wore, folded up. I wanted to use them as a reminder of how far I'd come as a warrior compared to when I first learnt how to fight using dragon style Kung Fu and how tough it was to gain the skills I now have. After that I spent my day training with my kids who were eager to show me how much they improved in the time I'd been gone and although it wasn't much, they had improved a bit and every bit counted. Other than that, I'd mostly been enjoying my week and spending time with my family while coming up with ways to incorporate my new kung fu skills into my own fighting style which included my ninja training which had gotten a little rusty since I had to focus on kung fu for so long.
After that, I spent my day enjoying some peaceful time with me and my family and undergoing some intense chief training under my father while also helping Gobber in the forge. We'd all been pretty busy since our annual fall holiday 'Dreadfall' was only a few days away so we'd all been coming up with plans to make the Dreadfall festival fun for everyone such as coming up with new games, surprises, treats and other things. I knew my family was looking forward to the festival with it being fun for everyone with the both Brant and Chara loving the last one which was also their first one and Hadasa never seeing it herself but hearing about it from the family and people. It was also because of the festival that she had been using her ability a lot more in the crop fields, using her powers to make the pumpkins grow faster so they could be carved up for decorations with the insides being used to make pies. When the festival was over, the outsides are then used to make fertilizer which so none of it goes to waste so all in all things have been busy for her while the rest of my family just helped where they could.
Now though I was enjoying a little down time in my garden, laying against Toothless as he chowed down on some fish as I watched the clouds go by. I smiled hoping this peace could go on for at least a few more weeks before I had to leave and handle some sort of problem either normal or magical. I closed my eyes while letting out a sigh of relaxation, but it was then a shadow fell on me while Toothless growled in confusion meaning it wasn't a member of my family or an island resident. I sighed and opened my eyes before I opened my eyes to see who was there to bother me but the second, I laid eyes on them I immediately kneeled and bowed before the one before me since the one standing in front of me was lord Hermes, messenger of the Greek gods who I asked.
"Lord Hermes, to what do I owe the honor of your visit to my humble island?" He frowned.
"Bad news I'm afraid, bad news in the form of an old threat being brought back." I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.
"An old threat being brought back?"
"Have you ever heard the legend of Lycaon?" I nodded.
"Yeah, he was once the king of Arcadia who was arrogant and served Zeus the flesh of a young boy who was sacrificed which angered Zeus who punished him by turning both Lycaon and his sons into werewolves who were said to be hunted down by the people who once served them." Hermes nodded.
"You know your Greek legends."
"With the number of things, you and the other Greek gods have me go up against, I feel it necessary to do research on the legends and get an idea of what I'm facing." He nodded.
"Well, this legend is back and is out to feed his hunger for mortal flesh." I raised an eyebrow.
"How when from what I've heard, he's meant to be bones and ashes in an urn in a temple of Zeus?"
"A group of mortal bandits raided the church for the remains, killing the priests and worshippers before stealing the urn with the remains of Lycaon and various offerings to Zeus."
"I'm guessing Zeus wasn't too happy about this."
"It's why the bandits are now spending eternity in Tartarus."
"Anyway, I'm guessing that another reason is they were the ones who brought Lycaon back?" He nodded.
"They thought he'd be so grateful that he would join them and help them in their future raids, attacks and defending against those who come after them."
"Let me guess, he was grateful but instead of helping them he turned them into the first meal of his new life." Hermes nodded.
"Indeed, they didn't stand a chance."
"Anything you can tell me about him that I should know?"
"He's been able to fully absorb the magic Zeus used to absorb him and take control of it, making it his own which has given his power a boost to the point that the only thing that will be able to harm him is silver."
"What about my god made weapons, they worked on the last werewolf I faced back in Ireland." (AN: Chapter 64)
"I heard of that little adventure of yours, but that curse was nothing compared to this one since this curse was brought about as a punishment from the king of the Greek gods and that magic is now his which is his which has enhanced his strength, defense and given him the ability to turn every night, even without the light of the full moon."
"So, my arrows won't do him any harm?"
"Not your arrows nor any of your other weapons."
"Then how can I beat him?"
"There's only one thing that can stop him and that's silver, but it'll have to enter his body to do any damage which is not going to be easy since after absorbing the magic, his fur has become hard enough to be armor while his claws can slise through metal like a hot knife through butter and his fangs can pierce metal easily so be careful."
"What about the sentient metal I was given, won't they be able to harm him?" Hermes shook his head.
"I'm afraid at most it will be able to do is leave a shallow cut." I sighed before I smiled.
"Then I guess it's a good thing I've been training for seventy years to be a master of all twelve forms of zodiac animal kung fu which has turned my entire body into a weapon to fight against any threat." He smiled.
"I've seen your skills and I have to agree about you becoming a weapon with those skills which will serve you well in this fight but be warned, Lycaon will not be an easy opponent, even with your skills." I nodded.
"Can you tell me where in Greece I can find him?" Hermes shook his head.
"Since he's been revived, he learnt from his past and now moves around a lot during the night when he can transform and hides away during the day so it's harder to find him to be slain."
"Do you at least have an idea of what area he's in?" Hermes smiled and pulled out a scroll.
"That I do!" He passed the scroll to me. "That's a map to the area where he can be found but that's all I can give you to help find him."
"Don't worry, I can track him using my golden falcons, automatons and tracking skills." Hermes nodded.
"Well, I wish you luck in stopping this beast, he's already slaughtered three villages with few people living to warn others what's happened." I nodded.
"I'll head out as soon as I can put some supplies together along gather some silver items from my vault so I might be able to do some damage to him." Hermes nodded.
"Well, I wish you good luck in the coming fight since it's not going to be an easy one."
"I can't say I've ever had a battle against a mystical being that's being an easy one." He nodded before I blinked, and he was gone, and I sighed. "Well bud, looks like we're off to Greece again to handle another magical beast that's causing problems." He growled while rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
"I know bud, seriously those Greeks have more mystic beasts that need to be killed than Berk has people who wonder through the town drunk on Stump Day."
We both rolled our eyes, remembering the big celebration where a bunch of people who lost a limb get drunk together and then parade through the streets, making idiots of themselves which is why on that day I stay at home in case they try to rope me into it.They were able to do that last stump day and my wives have yet to let me live it down since it ended with me needing to climb out of the village well and washing yak butter parfait mixed with mead out of my hair. I was glad the kids were staying at home during that time since the drunks were using a lot of colorful language that was not fit for children to hear. I shook myself out of the memories before I mounted Toothless and said.
"Come on bud, let's go talk to Arachne, she might have some information on Lycaon that could help fight against him." Toothless growled and nodded before we took to the air and towards the forest where Arachne had set up her nest in the trees and finding her was not that hard as she was in her web in the trees and we came to land beneath her, gaining her attention as I looked up and asked. "ARACHNE, COULD WE TALK?" Arachne lowered herself down on a web as she said.
"My oh my, it's a rare thing for the leader of the island and future chief of Berk to come visit me." She landed on the ground. "So do what do I owe this great honor oh leader of the island and his mighty mount." I rolled my eyes.
"For starters you can stop using sarcasm when there's something serious, I need to discuss with you."
"Alright, what seems to be the problem?"
"Tell me, do you know anything about Lycaon?"
"The man who fed human flesh to Zeus?" I nodded. "Why on earth would you want to know anything about that beast?"
"Because some idiot bandits stole his remains and revived him so now he's back, but now he's fully taken in the magic Zeus used to transform him and used it to enhance his power."
"I take it that means your arsenal of god made weapons won't be as effective as they normally are?"
"Try not effective at all according to Hermes." I sighed. "The only thing that'll have any effect on him whatsoever is silver and that's if it enters his body somehow."
"That means you'd have to get it into him through his mouth or the other end."
"I think I'll stick with trying to force it down his throat since it may be more dangerous but it's less disgusting and that way, I won't have to boil either of my hands when I'm done." I shook my head at the thought. "All jokes aside, what can you tell me about Lycaon?"
"From what I heard, he may have been a fool to anger the king of the gods, but he was also a smart man who enjoyed making friends with those who he knew would be helpful to him in the future thanks to their talents and he would often seek them out for lessons on what they specialized in."
"I take it some of those friends were strategists, hunters and other such people." She nodded.
"He was a king and like most kings he wanted to be prepared for any challenges he may face."
"But now he's able to use those skills to use his new form to the best of way he can and attack villages without giving the guards or people a chance to react."
"By the sound of things then you're in for quite the fight."
"Fortunately, I've also studied multiple strategies and I've learnt how to read my opponents movements and quickly understand their strategies so I can quickly come up with a counter strategy to deal with it."
"Just what kind of training did those zodiac animals put you through?" I chuckled.
"Intense training for combat and balance along with how to read my opponents movements so I could counter them but strategy reading is something I learnt from generals and other strategists who I've met in my travels across the world."
"Hiccup, you really need to spend a little more time on your own island with your family and find more peaceful hobbies that don't involve preparing for future fights that may not happen."
"As my master's always said, fortune favors the prepared, and besides in my life I'm pretty much attracting dangers left and right whenever I leave the island." She nodded.
"True, Chara tells me the same things when we're talking during her weaving lessons." I groaned.
"To think that my own daughter is making comments like that behind my back." I sighed. "At least my son doesn't do that sort of thing."
"Actually, when he comes by while training, he claims he needs to be in top fighting condition in case one of your former enemies show up so he can help protect the family and the others who call the island home." I smiled.
"That's my boy, always doing his best to ensure the safety of everyone on this island."
"Especially that young wolf walker girl, Robyne." We both chuckled. "Do you think I should start preparing the clothes for wedding."
"Not for a good few years Arachne but with that boy, I'm just hoping he doesn't do anything crazy like take on some dangerous beast to get Robyne's attention like I tried to do with Astrid when I was young."
"You should be more worried about Robyne." I raised an eyebrow. "Recently while you were away, I heard her talking to that adoptive sister of hers about how to gain Brant's attention like maybe wearing her hair differently or trying out some new clothes." I rolled my eyes.
"Kids!" She nodded before I sighed. "Well Arachne, it's been nice talking to you, but I need to go let my family know about what's going on and look through my vault for any silver items I can use." She nodded and climbed back into the trees while I willed my automatons to alert the family that I was calling a family meeting.
1 hour later
I was in the vault going through the various silver weapons I had gathered over the years along with the gold, bronze and other assorted items and it made me think that I've really had too much stuff to collect and not enough places to either sell or spend it. I made a mental note that it might actually be a good idea to open up a stall in a market somewhere to get rid of some of the items I honestly didn't need. As I selected a couple of silver weapons, I went over how my family reacted to what I told them and long story short, none of them were happy to hear that I was going to need to deal with another problem only a week after I got back. What's worse is after I told them who it was that I'd be going up against they were actually tempted to put me under house arrest until I told them what he'd done to anger Zeus, what he did after and what I'd been told he'd been up to since reviving. They all still didn't like it but accepted that this beast needed to be stopped before he could harm anymore people and destroy any more peaceful villages. I sighed knowing taking this guy down was not going to be easy without my god made weapons or most of my equipment since I relied on them a lot in my battles but thanks to my training, my entire body had become my weapon. I just hope it combined with all my training would be enough to bring Lycaon down for good this time before he's able to harm anymore innocent people. With this in mind I continued to go through the various silver items, focusing on things that I might be able to shove down the wolfs throat like daggers or small throwing knives.
3 days
I was now in Greece thanks to my portal door, not wanting to spend any more time relaxing on my island and immediately left after saying goodbye to my family since every night I wasn't in Greece was another night for Lycaon to reap chaos on the people. Now me and Toothless had been flying around the area where the map Hermes gave me and so far, there's been no sighting of him, even with my automatons looking around in the farther away parts of the area. What we did find were multiple bodies of his victims on various roads and pathways with there being only one survivor out of all of them. I tried to save him but when I knelt down to take a look at his wounds which was a set of three very deep and nasty claw marks that stained his clothes with blood, he grabbed onto my coat and begged me to flee. Told me the beast was too fast and too powerful, that it would easily kill me should I face it and should abandon all hope if it sets its sights on me. The poor man was delirious with fear and kept chanting, abandon all hope before he died in my arms and it made me wonder how powerful Lycaon had become.
Now though, me and Toothless were on the hunt again, up in the air and when I looked up at the moon and saw it was a full one here in Greece which meant Lycaon would most likely be more powerful than ever which meant I would need to be more cautious than before since he'd probably more powerful under the moons light. It was then Toothless let out a growl, getting my attention as he gestured with his head to some large source of light in the distance and I patted his head as I said.
"Nice spotting bud, let's go take a closer look at what's going on."
He growled and nodded before we turned towards the light and began flying and a few minutes later, we arrived at a wide and long valley wau and what I saw made my heart tighten in horror at the sight. Down below us were a couple of wagons that had been overturned with the light being from the fires that had ignited the wagons and was now burning them and their cargo. I looked closer but didn't see anyone, so I steered Toothless down and said.
"Come on bud, let's check for any survivors." He growled and nodded before we began our decent, coming to land in the middle of what could only be described as an absolute massacre. "Keep you guard up bud, whoever or whatever did this might still be around."
He growled and nodded before the sound of something falling caught our attention, making Toothless quickly turn while growling as I got ready to fight until a man came out. I looked the guy up and down and saw he had messy black hair that went down to his waist and a beard that was just as long and as for clothes, he was wearing some ripped up brown clothes. He looked up at us and begged.
"Please, help me." He stumbled towards us as Toothless growled, making him stop.
"Who are you?"
"I am a slave, and I was with my master on the way to do some business in a nearby city, but my masters wagons were attacked by some sort of wolf creature that destroyed everything."
"Where's your master?"
"He and his companions took the horses from the wagons and ran, leaving me behind in the hopes that the beast would focus on me and buy them some time." I nodded.
"Did the beast follow them or is it still around?"
"I'm not sure, it was too dark for me to see." He seemed to be honest but what he didn't know was I'd checked him out with the eye of the dragon and listened to his heartbeat and knew he was mostly lying and had a powerful magic around him, meaning he was the one I'd come to stop.
"One last question." He gestured for me to go on. "Do you really expect me to believe this your lies Lycaon?" He looked at me in shock before chuckling.
"I suppose I should not have expected the champion of the gods to fall for such a cheap trick, but it was worth a try to get the drop on you." He growled as his eyes turned red. "No point in hiding it any longer I suppose." He then turned into a very vicious looking werewolf with blood red eyes, dark brown almost black fur, black mane surrounding his head and going down his chest, a long muzzle filled with fangs and black claws that looked like they could tear through metal. "You don't seem afraid of this form."
"To be honest, we've seen a lot of thing that are a lot scarier than you." I patted Toothless. "Right bud?" He growled and nodded making Lycaon growl.
"Then how's about scarier than this?" He let out a howl and horse sized wolves with glowing red eyes came up to the edges of the valleys top and from behind the wagons. "These beasts have been given a small sliver of my power, completely under my control and ready to rip you and your lizard to shreds." I smirked.
"You really think your wolves can do that?"
"We easily outnumber you, so I believe so." I smirked.
"Then let's even the odds a bit." I looked up to the sky and cried out. "ADAL!" A loud howl echoed through the valley as an ice cold wind blew past all of us before a portal opened behind me and Adal came charging out with his sons and his pack. "Lycaon, meet the son of Fenrir and his pack." Lycaon chuckled.
"You really think that mutt and his friends will stand a chance against me and my minions?" I smirked at him.
"Their power comes not only from Adal but the bond they share as pack mates while you've turned the wolves into puppets with no minds of their own so yeah, I believe they can." Lycaon growled.
"KILL THE RIDER AND HIS OVERGROWN LIZARD BUT LEAVE THE WOLVES ALIVE AS NEW RECRUITS!"
With that said the battle begun with multiple wolves attacking my own as Adal's pups went into their battle form alongside their father who ended up needing to fight of a small pack that kept targeting him.While my wolves handled the pack, Toothless and I focused on fighting Lycaon and Toothless started with a plasma blast to Lycaon's chest, but he didn't even flinch and instead laughed. He then pounced at us, knocking me off Toothless who screeched in worry until I slammed my feet into Lycaon's stomach right before a flaming bull, burst out of his back and pulled him off me. I quickly stood back up as Toothless ran up to me and crooning in concern before I smiled at him as I noticed the edges on the valley walls and smiled as an idea formed in my head as I grabbed Toothless' saddle and gave him some hand signals to tell him what I wanted him to do. He growled not liking it but nodded before he took off while I turned back to Lycaon who was charging at me and smiled as I took my stance and curled my fists as I got ready to fight.
When he was within striking range, I channeled my internal strength into my arms and slammed both fists into his gut, which would have sent any normal man flying back but with Lycaon, it just sent him sliding back a few feet. He growled as Toothless ran past me and I brushed my prosthetic against his saddle as Lycaon charged at me again and this time I didn't have as much time to react since my view was blocked by Toothless. Lycaon swiped at me with his claws, but I leaned back, succeeding in avoiding them by an inch as I felt the wind pass by my face before I did a backflip, kicking Lycaon in the lower muzzle. Unfortunately, I'd backed myself right against the valley wall but before I could react, Lycaon charged at me and slammed me into the wall and pinned me letting out a growl of victory and asked.
"Any last words?"
I smirked and activated my Noe Mask surprising him before I let out a banshee like scream, making him let me go and cover his ears in pain which gave me the opportunity to climb the walls. Lycaon looked up glaring at me as I smirked down at him before he leapt up to grab me but before he reached me, I whistled for Toothless who quickly flew past, and I jumped on. We flew to the other side, and I jumped off onto the side of the cliff and ran across the edges as I made my way down to the bottom of it before looking around for Lycaon and spotted him charging at me again. I smiled and began running, leading him through the battle of the wolves but I knew I needed to put my plan into action before any of my wolves were killed.
5 minutes later
It's been five minutes since I began my battle with Lycaon and since then I've prepared everything to put the plan, I came up with to stop Lycaon who now had me pinned against the upper part of the wall. Lycaon growled at me with one clawed hand holding me against the wall while pinning my arms down and the other wrapped around my neck as he glared at me and said.
"Don't even think about trying that masks scream again."
I glared at him but then smirked opened his mouth wide to sink his fangs into my body which is exactly what I wanted from him before I quickly spat out the contents of my mouth right into his mouth and down his throat making him choak. He let go of me and I used this opportunity to slam my fist in the stomach, pushing him off the edge and sending him falling and making me smile. I yanked my prosthetic back and in doing so, pulling all the wires me and Toothless had been tangling up all over the valley by attaching them to his saddle when he passed and hooking them on edges when I was near the wall. When I was done pulling them, they'd wrapped around Lycaon, leaving him tangled up in them with his arms and legs pinned to his sides and dangling five feet above the ground. I chuckled as I jumped down from the side and walked up to his head and asked.
"Did you think I was stroking my dragons saddle because I like the feel of leather?" He coughed. "I was setting up the wires and waiting for the right moment to strike and I'm glad it was that time since that silver did not taste good." I saw his eyes widen as he began hacking, trying to spit it up while struggling. "You need to relax a bit, maybe try some acupuncture." I released my sentient metal needles and had them stab into him, all over his body and although they didn't sink in more than an inch each, they struck nerves making Lycaon roar in pain as my spider pack slipped five more balls of silver into my prosthetic hand. "And this is for all the lives you've taken!"
I then slammed my prosthetic into his maw that was wide open with pain, slamming the balls down his throat before pulling my prosthetic out while releasing my blue flame chains. I quickly wrapped them around his muzzle and tightened them to close it before bringing out my sentient metal tail and having the joints wrap around his muzzle to help keep it closed. For a few minutes he struggled as Toothless returned to my side and the wolves continued to battle around us, but my mind was focused solely on the werewolf in front of me. After three minutes, red lights began to shoot out of his body as he screamed in pain as more red lights burst from his body and then his body burst into flames and slowly turned to ash that fell to the ground leaving only his skull and a pile of ash as the wolves he enslaved howled in pain as the magic left them, looking like a red fog leaving their bodies as they shrunk down to their original sizes.
I summoned my tail and needles back to their original places as the wolves came to and looked around confused before Adal let out a howl gaining their attention as his pack members lined up at his sides. The wolves who were once under Lycaon's command walked before Adal and bowed to him, showing they submitted to him as I walked up to him, and he leaned down to greet me. I rubbed his head as I said.
"Good work pal." I then looked at my other wolves. "Good work everyone." They all howled in victory as I turned to the wolves that Lycaon enslaved and then turned to Adal. "Looks like these guys have decided to follow you so can you take them back to the island and make them part of your pack." He barked, making me smile. "Thanks boy, I knew I could count on you to take in those in need." He then let out a howl opening another portal and leading the wolves through while I turned to the remains of Lycaon. "Now what are we going to do with your remains Lycaon?" A voice from in front of me replied.
"You can leave that to me Hiccup." I turned to see lord Hermes standing there with a smile on his face before he snapped his fingers and the dirt below and around the ashes of Lycaon forming an urn with the ashes within it along with the skull with the urn then floating into Hermes arms. "You better take a break Hiccup, that move you and Toothless did was impressive, so you deserve it but please remain in Greece." I nodded.
"Of course, Hermes, we'll go to that place we have on the island off the coast of Athens." He nodded.
"That'd be helpful." With that said he vanished while I turned to Toothless.
"Come on bud, Athen's is only three hours away and it'll be nice to do a bit of free flying around after being stuck in a confined Valley." He growled and nodded in agreement before I mounted him, and we took off.
1 day later
It's been a day since I took down Lycaon and since then I've had goodnights sleep with Toothless in our home off the coast of Athens but before that, I contacted my family through mine and Blanca's wedding rings. They were all relieved to hear I was alright and were proud I took down my foe and wanted me to come home as soon as I could since it was Dreadfall and my dad wanted help preparing the decorations and to help out with the celebration by creating some monsters with my illusions. Now though, me and Toothless were laying on top of the mountain my Greek home was built into and laying down while enjoying a little down time and soaking up a bit of the sun's warmth. It was then a shadow landed on us and I opened my eyes and saw Hermes standing over me and I stood up before bowing as I asked.
"Is it time to find out why the gods wished for me to stay in Greece." He smiled and nodded.
"Sharp as ever Hiccup, now let's get going to Mount Olympus since we can't keep the king of the gods waiting." I turned to Toothless who looked up and tilted his head.
"Don't worry bud, I'll be back in a bit." He crooned. "Toothless, I'll be fine, this isn't my first meeting with the gods."
He rolled his eyes and turned to Hermes and placed a hand on my shoulder before I was blinded by a bright light and when it died, I was at the entrance to the home of the Greek gods. I took a breath to calm my nerves and made my way down the familiar hall and found myself standing before the gods who were gathered around me on their thrones. I bowed to them as I said.
"I am honored to be in your presence once more, mighty gods of Olympus." Zeus replied.
"Stand tall Hiccup Haddock as you have once again done us a great service and have been brought here to be rewarded for your services to us." He clapped his hands before Artemis stood up.
"Hiccup Haddock, please give me your bow and quiver."
I nodded, releasing my bow while reaching into my coat and having my spiderpack pass me my quiver which to be honest I haven't seen in a while since I kept it in my spiderpack, before they floated to Artemis. She brought them together creating a blinding light and when it faded, all that was left was my bow that floated back to me as Artemis said.
"I have combined both your bow and its quiver so if you wish for an arrow, simply pull the string back while thinking of the arrow you wish for, and it shall form." I smiled knowing this would save me a little time and in battles, every second mattered. "Now please pass me that mask you wore to knock Lycaon away using a scream." I activated my Noe mask before taking it off and holding it out to her before it floated up to her as she took out a small golden ball which she pushed into my mask, and I watched as it shifted taking the form of a snarling wolfs muzzle. "I have given it a small sliver of the power Lycaon used to give the mask an enhancement which you shall need to use in order to understand its powers." The mask floated back to me, and I put it back on before having it return to its earring form and bowed.
"Thank you, lady Artemis." She simply nodded and sat down before Aries stood up and said.
"When you first confronted Lycaon, you knew he was lying to you, how?"
"My ninja training allowed me to hear his heartbeat and tell that he was lying while the eye of the dragon allowed me to see the magic around him."
"Well don't think that enemies are always that easy to spot which is why I'm giving you this as a gift." He tossed something at me that I quickly caught and when I opened my hand, I found a round silver pendant with square patterns that had a blue-evil eye in the middle. "That pendant was forged by the same silver you used to kill Lycaon, and it now has the ability to sense when enemies are near, but the full extent of its abilities is something for you to find out on your own." I nodded and put the pendant around my neck.
"Thank you, lord Aries." He simply nodded and sat down as Hephaestus stood up.
"I've been keeping an eye on you, and I've even visited that armory of yours in the golden dragon head and I have to say, your works as always are impressive, but I am a little surprised you haven't used the new Sentient metal I gave you."
"I meant no disrespect lord Hephaestus; I just haven't figured out what to make them into since it's hard to decide." He nodded.
"That's understandable so I won't give you more until you know what you can do with the ones you already have." He pulled something out from behind his back. "Instead, I'll give you these." He tossed me some items and when I caught them, I found a pair of brown leather gloves and a black leather belt. "They may not look like much, but they do have power and like always, I can't tell you what they can do." I nodded. "I can tell you one thing the belt can do though." I raised an eyebrow. "It holds your pants up, it is a belt after all." We all chuckled at this.
"Thank you, lord Hephaestus." He nodded and sat down before lord Hades stood up.
"Hiccup, it is thanks to you Lycaon's soul which escaped Hell by returning to his body and I can resume punishing him for his crimes and for that you have my thanks and I ask that you summon the wolf that is connected to your coat." I nodded and released the shadow wolf before Lord Hades blew into his hands, creating a black flame which he then threw at my wolf, igniting it as it howled in pain and then absorbed the flames. "I have given your wolf an enhancement to its powers, but you will have to discover its new capabilities yourself." I nodded.
"Thank you, lord Hades." He nodded and sat back down as Zeus stood up.
"Now for the final gifts to you Hiccup." He snapped his fingers and a large silver wolf skull appeared in front of him. "The skull of Lycaon, a trophy to remember this great service you have done for us." I nodded as it floated up next to me. "And finally, a weapon created from the very bones and ashes of Lycaon himself with the connection to his soul being completely severed to ensure he can never return." He snapped his fingers and a walking stick with a wolfs head on the top of it that floated up to me. "It holds great power Hiccup, but you shall have to figure out what this power is yourself." I nodded.
"Thank you, lord Zeus."
"Now it is back to the Mortal realm we send you with these gifts." There was a bright flash, and I was back on top of the mountain with Toothless who stood up to greet me and I smiled at him.
"Hey bud, I'm back." He crooned in greeting as I rubbed his head. "Now that that's taken care of, let's go home since we need to get ready for the Dreadfall festival tomorrow." He growled and nodded before we headed down for the portal door.
1 day later
Nightfall
I was back on Berk, and I am happy to say that the dreadfall festival has begun and things were going well with kids enjoying the games, people enjoying the treats and everyone just having a good time. It was truly something I needed since the moment I got back I was quickly welcomed back and asked to show the illusion of my battle with Lycaon after giving a quick history lesson on who he was and what he did to anger the gods. Following that I was swept into helping make the final preparations for the festival, helping wherever I could which meant helping carve the pumpkins and making costumes for the dragons for a sky performance they were doing which included Toothless and Twilight who each got painted for the performance. Honestly, I'd been so busy I hadn't even had the chance to test out any of my new equipment or what they could do but I knew I'd have plenty of time when the festival was over.
Now I was standing in the crowd with Chara on my shoulders, looking up and enjoying the performance that the twins were doing by creating various things in the sky like skulls and bones using zippleback gas and then igniting it. It was easy to tell everyone was loving it if the various cheers and screams of excitement were anything to go by and I had to say, it was truly enjoyable after all I'd been through. I'd taken on seventy years of training, went through a week of hard work to prepare for the festival, taking on a werewolf with the power of the king of the Greek gods and being thrown into a very busy final day before the festival. Now looking at the festival and all the joy it was bringing the people, made all my trials, long nights and hard work worth it in the end, especially seeing how my family was enjoying it. I just hoped that after it's all done, I'll be able to at the very least learn the new capabilities of my gear and new gear while also enjoy a couple of days off to spend with my family.
AN: I wanted to get this chapter our sooner but things have been busy at work and I would have been done earlier today but I was helping out for an event so sorry for the delay guys and I hope you all had a good Halloween. Now though, I'm off to bed and I hope you will all review as I do enjoy reading them so catch you later and have a nice day.