Chapter 120
Hiccups POV:
It's been two weeks since a crook known as Dammen stole Cloudjumper and I was forced to retrieve him and in that time a lot has happened. To begin with some people had stopped pestering me to make them armor from polar quartz and alpaca fur since with the furs I supplied the people they weren't having as much trouble with the cold. Still some people still wanted the armor except now they wanted the inside to be lined with the furs I brought back with me. Along with this people who'd gotten so sick of the cold had continued to bother me to let them stay on my island until thaw which was still a few months away till then so having them on my island would be a pain.
Then there's the dragons we rescued from Dammen's fortress, they've all joined the nests and are quite happy and settled into their new homes from what I can tell. As for the eggs we rescued from being auctioned off to the highest bidder, I am happy to say they've all hatched and had found mothers in the female dragons of their respected species that called the nests home. Aside from all this the main thing I've been doing is studying the map that was held by the bells of Frey, trying to find the location of the foreverwing but so far I've come up with nothing other than a headache from staring at the maps too long. I tried to find a little peace enjoying a stroll through the jungle, napping in the great planes, riding Aylen through the grassy fields, meditating and training with my ninja's, drawing up designs for inventions and other things to calm my nerves. Of course I knew it wouldn't be smart to go out and get the foreverwing during winter or devastating winter and should wait till thaw but that doesn't mean I can't prepare for it.
Besides that things have been peaceful for me with no problems coming up except for some typical problems in the village caused by the heavy snowfall and my dad asking me to help him out when dealing with them. These problems weren't too troublesome though since they were mostly clearing up the snow-covered paths, helping people move wagons through the snow and delivering food and firewood to some of the more distant part of the village where people were stuck inside. I smiled at this last one as the last time I delivered food and wood to the farms of Berk one of the little girls was so impressed she told her father when she grows up she's going to marry me to which her father asked his wife to handle the problem. I rolled my eyes when he said this since it was a typical fatherly response for the man to ask his wife to handle any problems concerning these kinds of problems with the daughter. I had to say I was enjoying having a little down time to just sit back and enjoy my island, helping out those on Berk, playing with my animals, swimming with Kal and flying on my dragons.
Now I was in the great hall enjoying dinner with my parents since they insisted that I enjoy at least one meal with them a day as they felt that I might be banned from travelling but it doesn't mean I won't some how get sucked into another adventure. I laughed when they first told me this, not because I thought it sounded ridiculous or stupid but because it sounded pretty much like the exact kind of thing that would happen to me. I took a bite out of the chicken leg on my plate as I was smiling at these thoughts a loud boom echoed through the hall making everyone turn their attention to the fire pit in the middle where the sound came from. At first I feared that the twins some how got a hold of some of my spark stone but these thoughts quickly died when the flames became a tornado before bursting open to reveal a being made of burning brimstone with his lower part covered in flames, flaming wings coming from his back and a crown made of the same brimstone that had two large horns forming from the sides of it and looked to actually be apart of his head. (AN: Picture Hades from Percy Jackson film.) Everyone ran for his or her weapon but I just looked at him and took a sip of my drink as he screamed.
"HICCUP HADDOCK, COME FORTH!"
I sighed and stood up before I began walking towards him as my dad tried to stop me but I just gave him a look that told him not to interfere making him back down. As I walked towards the being I saw the Jorgensons charge at him with their weapons ready but they were forced to retreat when the being threw a ball of fire at them, which ended up hitting a table that was immediately destroyed. I rolled my eyes at the Jorgensons stupidity believing they could stand a chance against the ruler of the underworld who happened to be a god that not even I'd be stupid enough to mess with. It was then I reached the front of the being and looked up at him as I said.
"It's nice to see you again lord Hades but what brings you to Berk?" I raised an eyebrow. "If my time has come and you're here to collect my soul I assumed it would be a Valkyrie who would come and carry me to the realm of Asgard." He looked down at me and smirked.
"Hiccup Haddock, it is still a long time before your soul is bound for the afterlife but then again with the messes you often get pulled into it is hard to say." I shrugged.
"What can I say other than I've always attracted danger like a fly to honey." He nodded. "Now if you're not here to collect my soul then why are you here since I doubt you'd come here yourself unless it was serious." He growled.
"A Barbarian warrior by the name of Blood Skull has stolen two of my most prized possessions and intends to use them to take over Rome and you are the one who shall stop him."
"What are these items he stole?"
"The first item was my mystic branding iron built by Hephaestus when I first took the throne of the underworld, 'the iron of hell'."
"What can this iron do since if it was made by Hephaestus it must have power?" He nodded.
"Those with the iron are able to use it to brand any man or beast they choose stripping them of their free will while enslaving them to those who hold the iron." I raised an eyebrow. "Zeus had it made for me as the underworld was chaotic back then and he feared I'd be in danger so with the iron I would be in control of the more rebellious souls and beasts." I nodded.
"I take it he's already used it on one of your beasts." He nodded. "Which one?" He simply answered.
"Cerberus!" My eyes widened.
"CERBERUS?" He nodded. "AS IN THE THREE HEADED DOG THAT GUARDS THE GATES OF HELL, PREVENTING THE SOULS AND BEASTS FROM ESCAPING!" He once again nodded and I knew that with Cerberus gone from the gates it meant big trouble not just for Rome and Greece but all of Midgard. "Have any souls escaped yet?"
"Before he enslaved Cerberus, Blood Skull and his men rounded up a small army of souls that belonged to thieves, assassins, traitorous soldiers and some strong warriors and lead them out of hell to join the army he was building."
"Do you know what his plans are?"
"He intends to use my brand to enslave mortals into doing his bidding allowing him to rebuild his army which Caesar destroyed allowing him to take Rome for himself."
"Why don't you handle this threat?"
"With Cerberus at his side the gates of the underworld are unguarded leaving me to fill the post as the guard of the gates, a post I dare not leave in fear of more souls escaping." He gestured to himself. "The form you see before you is a message formed by a small piece of my power while I remain in the underworld."
"And what of the other gods?"
"They themselves cannot take on Blood Skull without the risk of killing Cerberus leaving me to eternally guard the gates." I nodded.
"Alright but will I be immune to his control thanks to the vase the Arabian gods gave me to protect me, my dragons and animals from mind control." He sighed.
"That vase protects you from any mind control magic of the mortals but this form of magic is of the gods."
"So he could take control of me?"
"No, the blessings of the multiple gods you have received shall protect you but your dragons and animals are susceptible to the branding irons power except for one of your animals."
"Which one?"
"It is the wolf you call Adal as with the blood of Fenrir running through his veins he cannot be controlled by such magic for like his father before him he is immune to the control of the gods and when the time comes he shall share that power with his pack." I pocketed this piece of information for later.
"Do you know how large is his army is?"
"It's continuing to grow as he marches towards Rome so it now numbers in the hundreds."
"Okay so Blood Skull has an army of both the living and undead but how am I going to take him on since even with Adal, my Anubis warriors and ninja I won't be able to take on an army."
"Ask for the aid of the Roman army from Caesar and he shall give the aid to you." I nodded.
"Alright but will normal weapons have any affect on the undead?" Hades held out his hand offering me a black ring with a red circle crystal that had his mark carved in it.
"Point this ring at any weapon or rack holding them and a light shall shine on them infusing the weapons with my power which shall enable them to send the souls back to hell with a single wound caused by them so the soldiers shall have no problems and neither shall you as I already altered all of the weapons gifted to you by the gods or made from the monsters of Japan." I nodded as I took the ring and put it on my left ring finger.
"Alright."
"Do your best to avoid killing the living mortals as many of them are victims of the branding irons power." I nodded.
"I'll do my best but once I've taken it back how do I free people from its power?"
"Simply raise it above your head and say 'I release you all from my power' and they shall be free." I nodded. "Now I ask that you hurry as time is of the essence." With that said he wrapped himself in his wings while another flaming tornado encircled him before the fire pit went back to normal as I sighed as I turned around only be met by my parents as my father yelled.
"WHAT WAS THAT?" I looked up at him.
"That was the Greek god of the underworld Hades here to ask me for help."
"Well he's going to have to go somewhere else because I am not going to let you go on another life risking adventure to save some foreign land."
"Dad I've already agreed to it and this isn't just to save some foreign land but the world and trying to stop me would be an idiots move."
"Are you threatening me?"
"No, I'm warning you since if you don't let me go you'll make hades mad and I'd rather not be forced to go to Tartarus in the underworld just to visit you in a cold, damp cell that you might be sharing with some form of monster that could use your bones for toothpicks." He stared at me. "That's a fate that will await you if Hades is in a good mood and I'm able to convince him to go easy on you." He gulped at this before he sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. "Just be careful son." I nodded as my mom ran up and hugged me while whispering.
"Come back safely." When she pulled away I looked in her eyes.
"Don't worry mom, I will but I can't promise that all of me will be back since I might lose a limb or two." She glared, as I held up my hands in mock surrender. "Kidding!" With that said I walked up to the portal door I had set up and made my way through before I went to the door that lead to my house and let out a sigh as I entered the portal room. "Time to prepare for another battle filled adventure to determine the fate of the world." I then walked out of the room to prepare for a big fight.
Afternoon the next day
I was on my kappa shell making my way towards Caesars palace in my regular armor with my ice claw rings on my fingers, my spider pack on my back, the pelt of the Nemean lion covering it with the head on mine. Toothless was running next to me on my left and Adal on my right as I looked at the coming palace with the intent on asking Caesar for the help of his army in this coming battle. As I rode the kappa shell I was getting many looks from people but I ignored them and focused on the task at hand as I thought about what I'd done last night and today in preparation for this trip. First thing I did when I got back was gathered my dragons and animals to let them know what's going on. When they were all caught up I began preparing for the trip grabbing my weapons, practicing my combat skills and trying to explain to Toothless why he couldn't come with and obviously I failed to convince him. This meant I'd have to make sure he stayed at the back of the forces or up in the sky away from Blood Skulls forces since the last thing I wanted was for him to fall under enemy control again. He's already been under enemy control twice and I did not want to see a third time since it was just too painful for me to see my best friend turned into a mindless minion. (AN: Check chapters 52 and 103.) I was brought out of my thoughts when I finally arrived at the stairs leading up to Caesars palace and looked up at the top to see five guards waiting for us. I walked up the stairs with Toothless and Adal behind me and looked at the lead guard as I said.
"I need to talk to Caesar." He nodded.
"As you command Hiccup Haddock but I am afraid you shall have to wait as Caesar is meeting with his most trusted generals about a threat lead by the barbarian Blood Skull."
"That's exactly why I'm here, I not only have information on Blood Skull but a way to even the odds against him."
"If what you say is true then please come in and bring your beasts with you."
Toothless and Adal growled but I held up my hand silencing them as we made our way into the palace with the guards leading us. We walked through the multiple halls decorated with magnificent pieces of art, multiple guards holding weapons who looked uneasy as we passed but I'm sure that was because of Adal. We continued walking until we arrived at a large golden door with ten guards standing outside it with their spears at the ready in their battle stances. The guard who was leading us signaled us to wait before he went up to the guards and whispered something that I couldn't hear to them. The guards nodded as they stepped aside while opening the doors allowing him to walk inside and closing them again while we waited for a few seconds before the door opened once more and the guard walked out saying.
"They will see you now!"
I nodded before I walked past the guards but signaled Toothless and Adal to guard the door making them growl and sit down as I walked into the room. When I first entered I found myself in a large room made of Roman concrete with white pillars holding the ceiling up, torches on each of these pillars lighting up the room, in the center was a large white marble table with a marble map on it and surrounding said map was Caesar and six other men all in golden armor made for generals with their helmets resting in front of them. Caesar smiled at me as he opened up his arms and said.
"Welcome Hiccup Haddock, I am glad to see you here at this time of crisis."
"It's good to see you to Caesar and by the sounds of things you already know about Blood Skull." He looked down.
"Indeed I do." He sighed. "I don't know what to do about this threat to Rome, I've sent two legions with my top general at him but none have returned for some reason." I made my way towards the table.
"I believe the reason is the soldiers in those legions now serve Blood Skull." All heads turned to me as one general with a shaved head asked.
"Are you saying that those men have betrayed Caesar and Rome?"
"Not at their own free will." The men looked at me confused before Caesar asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Blood Skull has a mystic item that allows him to enslave men and beasts, bending them to his will." Another general with blond hair tied into a ponytail asked.
"How would you know this?"
"Because Hades came to the island I was born on and told me what Blood Skull was doing and ordered me to come and help." Before any of the generals could say another word Caesar raised his hand silencing them as he asked.
"What is this item he's using Hiccup?"
"The iron of hell." They all looked at me in confusion. "It's a branding iron Hephaestus built for Hades when he first took command of the underworld to help him control the more rebellious souls and beasts that are condemned to spend the rest eternity there, any man or beast branded with the iron will lose their free will and be a slave to who ever holds the iron." They all stared at me wide eyed. "Along with this he's got a small army of souls that he helped escape from hell and are now under his command." Another general with short brown hair asked.
"Why didn't Cerberus stop Blood Skull and the souls from leaving?"
"Cerberus was the first one Blood Skull used the iron to enslave which makes things more difficult since without Cerberus there to guard the gates of hell Hades has to do it himself so he can't help us while the other gods can't do anything without running the risk that they'll kill Cerberus, condemning Hades to guard the gates for all eternity." They all began to mutter at this before Caesar said.
"By the look in your eye I assume you have a way to even things." I nodded.
"Outside I have a wolf that was fathered by Fenrir, a wolf that is the son of the god Loki and is the one being that can go up against Cerberus and" I raised my left hand showing them the ring. "a ring given to me by hades that will allow me to give the weapons the soldiers use a boost so a single cut will send the souls back to hell." The bald general replied.
"We still need to plan things out so we are able to use this advantage against him." I nodded in agreement and looked at the map.
"Any idea on where Blood Skull and his army are now?" They shook their heads.
"As our leader Caesar said before our legions never returned so we have no idea where he could be now." I nodded.
"Good thing I brought a gift from the Egyptian gods that can help us out with finding where he is." They all raised an eyebrow before they jumped back in shock as my spider pack came to life with the left leg at beneath the top pulled away from my body, reaching into the skull, pulling out my golden falcons and placing them on the table before returning to its original place. "These falcons can help us find out where he is and get an idea of what we're up against." They all continued to stare at me before the general with brown hair asked.
"What is that thing on your back that held these falcons?"
"A souvenir from my latest foreign trip but that story will have to wait till after we've dealt with Blood Skull and his army." I could see they all wanted to ask me more but they held back knowing I was right as I turned to my falcons. "Take flight my eyes of Horus and fly to the path that Blood Skull and his army march on." The words were said and it took flight before disappearing with Caesar and the generals watching as I looked down at the other falcon. "Show me what your brother sees."
When the words left my mouth we a projection against the wall was shown to all of us and we were all shown a large army marching down a large road with two legions of Romans in the fourth row from the front. At the front of it all was a large number of people, all armed with no hair and skin that was white as now, marching behind them were multiple beasts such as manticores, giants, Cyclops and giants that made me glad I packed some arrows that had their heads hydra blood, behind this group were the roman legionaries marching in perfect sink, after them came multiple people I recognized as civilians people who must have been caught and enslaved. The thing that caught my attention the most however was what was marching behind all these forces, a large golden platform on wheels being pulled by none other than the three headed dog Cerberus who had pure black fur and looked to posses the heads of wolves with eyes that looked to be burning with an intense fire. The platform was large and looked to be made of black marble with a manticore laying down at the front edge of it, wearing a collar with a chain attached to it and the other end attached to the floor in front of a small stairway. This stairway lead up to a golden throne where a man wearing barbarian armor, a shaved head, messy black beard and on either side of him sitting on the arms of the throne were beautiful woman wearing hardly anything with the one on the right having brown hair and the other blond. The things that caught my attention the most was his skin, which was blood red and gripped in his right hand was a black metal branding iron with Hades symbol on it. I knew this had to be Blood Skull since the branding iron had to be the one he stole from Hades meaning if I took him down then this would all be over but getting past his army was not going to be easy. It was then I was brought out of my thoughts by one of the generals saying.
"That's one large army and there'll be trouble taking on the giants and Cyclops." I heard the men in the room grumble out nods as I shrugged.
"I've been up against worse." They all turned to stare at me with their eyebrows raised. "Long story." I turned back to the image. "I can handle the giants and Cyclops with some of those beasts but I can't take this army on alone, I'm going to need the Roman army to help hold the forces back." They nodded as Caesar said.
"Rest assured Hiccup Haddock the armies of Rome shall be at your disposal." I nodded.
"Thank you Oh Caesar but for now we need to come up with a strategy to go up against this threat." I turned to the map. "If we can figure out which route they're taking we might be able to set up an ambush for them." They all nodded in agreement before we began planning.
Nightfall
Night had fallen over Rome and I was now laying down in one of the solitary barracks meant for generals since we intended to start marching in the morning as soon as the sun rises. Toothless and Adal were sleeping in the stables resting for tomorrow but I prayed that things would go well in this battle. As I lay there staring up at the ceiling I went over the plan in we had come up with in my head one more time trying to think of any possible flaws in it. We intended to ambush Blood Skull and his forces in a canyon they had to pass through in order to get to Rome since there we'd be able to form a shield wall that they wouldn't be able to get around. When we met them we'd trick them into sending the souls and monsters in first causing him to send in his living troops which is when I'd strike. I'll cause a small landslide between them and the army and another between them and Blood Skull, trapping them since we wanted to ensure Blood Skull wasn't able to force us to hurt the people under his control. While the men dealt with the souls I'd handle the monsters with my Anubis warriors, ninja and I attacking from above before Toothless and I go up against Blood Skull with Adal keeping Cerberus at bay. So far there didn't seem to be any flaws and Caesar even gave us command of half his army to combat him head on while the other half would be setting off after us and standing guard at the halfway point between us and Rome incase we failed to stop him.
I let a sigh since the meeting was took a long time for all of us to plan out our strategy to take on these forces before they reached the city. Along with this as soon as the plan was set out I was immediately bombarded with questions from not only the generals but also Caesar himself who desired to know of all the gifts I'd received from the gods and what I'd done to receive them but I informed them that when the battle was over I'd answer all their questions. After the meeting ended I spent the most of my day using the ring Hades gave me to ensure the soldiers who were coming with us would be able to take on the souls. When it was all done Caesar pretty much demanded I join him and his generals for dinner since he wanted us to be able to enjoy the honor of being his guests before we set out to fight a battle we might not survive but I knew we would come back alive since I'd gone up against impossible odds before and come out on top.
I shook my head since dinner was an interesting thing to go through and it was something I found interesting but it wasn't the food I found interesting but it was delicious. It was the conversation that I found to be more attention grabbing than the entertainment of the dancers who were performing for our pleasure. It was at this dinner I learnt the truth about who Blood Skull was and how he came to be and what I learned about him made me feel both disgusted by him and sorry for him at the same time. Apparently he was the son of a simple farmer until some rogue soldiers attacked his home, murdered his father and raped his mother before killing her and then taking him to sell as a slave. On their way though the soldiers were attacked by a group of barbarian bandits who killed them before taking Blood Skull to their leader who supposedly saw potential in him and took him under his wing. As he got older he trained, becoming skilled in a lot of combat forms, strategy and more quickly rising up to become the leader of the barbarians while being famous for cutting off the heads of his victims before holding them over himself so the blood drizzled down onto his body. He'd done it so much that his skin had been died red because of all the blood that was often covering him but his reign came to an end when he launched an attack on a large town. Sadly for him Caesar was visiting the town that day with four legions of his finest troops so long story short the men were either slaughtered or captured but Blood Skull escaped and apparently vowed to return one day only when he'd be able to bathe in the blood of Caesar and avenge his fallen men. I sighed and shook my head before laying it against the pillow and going to sleep knowing tomorrow would be the day of possibly one of my biggest battles since Cronus.
Meanwhile
Unknown location
Nobodies POV:
Blood Skull was sitting in a wooden room on a throne of gold with Hades branding iron gripped in his right hand, a blond woman sitting on the left arm rest and a brown haired woman on the right, both wearing hardly anything with blank stares in their eyes and the mark of Hades on their foreheads, glowing red for all to see. Blood Skull was looking down at a marble map of Rome as he focused on planning out the most efficient strategy for taking Rome for himself. It was then a man with black haircut into a Mohawk that had been braided back, sun kissed skin, a small beard, wearing brown leather armor walked into the room and bowed. This man however did not have the mark of Hades on his forehead showing he was doing it at his own free will as Blood Skull looked up at him as the man said.
"Blood Skull my lord I bring news from Rome."
"Speak!"
"Julius Caesar has sent out his army to confront our forces." Blood Skull smiled.
"As I predicted and we shall be there to meet them."
"But my lord, there's more!" Blood Skull raised an eyebrow. "The warrior Hiccup Haddock has returned to Rome with his dragon, new weapons from the gods and a wolf that can match Cerberus in size." Blood Skull stroked his beard in thought. "Should we call off the attack my lord?" Blood Skull shook his head.
"No, this only complicates a little but I will need to make adjustments to my plans, how long till our forces reach Rome."
"Five days my lord!" Blood Skull smiled.
"I believe things might actually be more interesting with him here." He then chuckled in a way that made the man shiver in fear but the women didn't even flinch as they were nothing more but mindless drones thanks the branding irons power.
Four days later
Afternoon
Hiccups POV:
It's been four days since we came to Rome and in those days I'd had very little time to rest since when we first got here I had to join a battle strategy meeting, infuse an armies worth of weapons with the ability to take on souls and the day after that lead an army of soldiers for three days to a canyon where we'd be taking on an army of souls, beasts and magically enslaved people. When we did get here I had to help set up a base camp and ready everyone for the fight of a lifetime but now everything was set and we'd be ready for the army to send the souls back to hell, slay the beasts, capture and save the enslaved people and defeat a mad, power hungry barbarian in order to reclaim what he stole from Hades, return Cerberus to his post at the gates of hell where he belonged and see to it that Blood Skull is punished for what he's done.
Now I was sitting on Toothless in my battle armor with my prosthetic in its dragon claw form, all my kappa shell on my head, spider pack on my back, flaming ox boots on my feet and ice claw rings on my fingers. We flew over the canyon scouting out the area for Blood Skulls forces. It was then I saw a large dust cloud in the distance and using my eagle eye I saw it was Blood Skulls army heading our way and knew I needed to warn the men. We flew down and landed in front of the two generals who accompanied us which consisted of the bald and blond general as I said.
"Blood Skull and his forces are on their way and there are a lot of them by the looks of things." The bald general slammed his fist to his chest.
"We shall strike them down without mercy."
"Just remember that the living people are victims in this to." He nodded. "Good, now I've got to get into position so ready the men." He nodded as we once again took off as I looked down at Toothless. "Hopefully we'll live through this battle bud."
He just growled as looked down at the ledges of the canyon looking down into it and smiled at the twenty-five Anubis warriors on either side of the canyon ready to jump down and strike the enemy from above. I looked at the oncoming cloud of dust signaling how close the enemy was and took a breath before bringing Toothless in for a landing on the ledge while looking down at the canyon and knew things would be tough on the men down there. They were soldiers though and knew what they'd signed up for but I just prayed they'd survive to go home and see their families. I looked to the summit and knew it was time I got ready for the fight before I put my helmet on.
AN: Hey guys! Two chapters in one week, I'm on a roll and yeah I know this chapter is short compared to the others but I wanted time to come up with a few scenes for the coming battle. Anyway I was also hoping to make this a multi-chapter adventure, which is another reason I cut it short today. Also just a heads up I'm going to be putting up some polls shortly after I post this so keep an eye out and remember to vote but take your time to make your decision as these ones will be up for a while and you shall be given warning to when they're being taken down.
