Chapter Forty-One:

Temenos

Under the littered sky and darkened canopies, Hiccup told Azel everything. As Toothless lay alert next to them, he told her of his and Astrid's wanderings, Aster's radio calling, Accalia, Leo and Lonza (which now seemed to have happened one lifetime ago). Astrid's sacrifice drove the boy yet to another round of tears, and Azel offered her shoulder with such tremendous kindness… When the boy mentioned Helheim, Azel's eyes glowed in voracious interest.

"Helheim is real after all…" she muttered mysteriously. "It all makes sense now…"

"What makes sense?" Asked Hiccup. Azel then rummaged through the small sack she carried strapped to her belt, until she pulled an old and rather torn parchment roll.

"This, here…" she unfolded the paper so Hiccup could see a complex, if not confusing, grimoire. "When the Raptum occurred, do you remember the book of Sotanaht Grim? The one with the dark curses?"

"The one that got stolen the night of the attack?"

The girl affirmed more enthusiastically. "Precisely… you see, I've had plenty of time to study it while I had it. Turns out there were tons of rituals there which referred to a path to the underworld, a bridge of the gods, so to speak. What we had thought to be the Killing Curse, the grimoire called the Raptum – in translation, it was more of a life stealing curse, not necessarily killing."

The boy followed her line of thought. "So you believe the place me and Astrid found…"

"Could be the place all the cursed souls went… For months I've been discussing this with the Minister; only Granger ever listened to me… these dais and portals have appeared everywhere for millennia! You have just been transported from the underworld yourself!"

Hiccup held his head in his hands, as if compressing his skull into sense. "None of that explains how Aster could've ever sent me a message… all those people in there, I couldn't talk to them, they were so… frozen into place," he shook his head in concentration.

"Stealing a soul, killing a soul, it hasn't stopped wizards and even muggles from trying to rip through the fabric between life and death… We see that all the time; dreams with lost loved ones, we love people who have died; even muggles are constantly sharing supernatural tales of their own. And that's for dead souls, the ones we can't bring back. Now stolen souls? The ones trapped in the netherworld? The rules might as well apply differently to how we navigate those dimensions, it's an entirely new field, I'm not even sure there are laws of magic regarding that sort of death…"

"So if we can find a way back into Helheim… we could do what, some reverse ritual?"

Azel shook her head negatively. "We need something else first; we need a dark… more than dark, a powerfully dark and sinister wizard to perform the curse."

Hiccup gave a humourless laugh. "Great, any idea where we can find one of those? Let's visit Azkaban, I'm sure there's someone left, maybe an old Death Eater…" He grimaced at his own brooding humour, but Azel eyed him cautiously.

"I'm not sure you've still caught up on all the news…"

The sky had golden stripes on the horizon, dawn coming inevitably. Eventually, Merida's unmistakable mane made itself seen.

"There's a meeting startin' now. I don't think yer want ter miss this one out." She spoke, noticeably more stern and distant. The two friends recollected themselves. Toothless shook itself free of the leaves and earth, and the three marched back to the camp.

The clearing had undergone a complete rearrangement. They found a huge gathering of all the Black Army and the Ministry. A makeshift court had been installed at the slope in the heart of the clearing; several benches made of woodchucks and stones were set in circular fashion, surrounding a central pulpit with the bonfire still cindering its contents. All the creatures, wizards and centaurs, goblins and elves, sat precariously around her. Her speech, however, was cut short when Hiccup appeared with Azel and Toothless, the shadow of the dragon distinguishing from the greyish-purple sunrise behind them.

"She'll expect an answer, Hiccup." Azel whispered only for the boy to hear. "You've got to make up your mind, now."

Hiccup took a deep breath. "Stay with me."

"Of course."

Dragon, boy and girl strutted towards the witch, who eyed them warily curious. Hiccup could feel every pair of eyes glued on him and Toothless. The Minister would want his allegiance. The Black Army would demand his loyalty. But he had his own personal agenda to look into. It was his time to bargain.

As he neared the witch, it became clear there was a division in interests. The Wizards from the ministry sat behind Granger, as in a supportive stand, meanwhile the creatures from Merida's camp were facing the witch directly; to be persuaded into joining her numbers, an ultimatum. Black Army against the Ministry. Fighting against hiding. Time had come to stop running, he had been running this whole time…

"Mister Haddock," Granger greeted him, nervousness palpable in her voice.

The boy stared at her and then turned back to the crowd of the Black Army. "So this is the deal; I can be persuaded to perform as an ally to the Ministry," he gave some time for the small celebratory cheers to erupt from the Wizengamot in front of him, and Granger gave out an expectant smile, but then Hiccup raised his hand. "But I've got some conditions;"

The boy turned to the creatures opposite to the Ministry, from who different expressions were noticed: the centaurs frowned at the dragon, but nodded at the boy; the elves gave out squeals of adoration, and all the goblins wore the same impassive look on their faces 'My allegiance pledges on with the Black Army. We might have not stood together for the time being, but I'd be betraying myself to turn my back on you right now."

Some of the elves seemed about to faint. Merida, sitting next to the unimpressed Angus, smiled at him encouragingly. The goblins nodded faithfully. Hiccup turned back to the Minister. "If we are to work together, the Black Army receives the full ministry support;" The other wizards shifted uncomfortably on their improvised benches. "You'll grant them help, supplies and shelter to those in need. Otherwise, all deals are off."

Granger looked cautious. "We might-"

"—The same applies to all magical creatures in need." Hiccup interrupted. "No help will be denied from them, no effort is too great. And I'm not done..." He looked at the dragon standing proudly next to him. Toothless eyes met his, and he knew his next demand. "Secondly, Toothless shall not be turned into a weapon. We are not to be separated, and should anything happen to me and he's left behind, he shall be set free. No one shall tame him." There were no objections. "And thirdly, we must search for Astrid Hofferson."

There was a second of silence. "Your friend?" Asked Granger. "The one you've… lost?"

"Yes. I know where she is… I just don't know how to get there. As far as I understand, this is where our interests converge, Minister. I can get you in the Underworld, but my mission is Astrid Hofferson. Nothing more."

Azel approached the Minister. "This is our bridge, Granger. He was exactly where we wanted to go." Hermione had her mouth open in wondrous shock. Azel eyed back to him. "I guess you've got your bargain game, after all."

Jack observed the small mug of tea heating his fingers, still fuming faintly. In the woods surrounding a small pond, the boy had found a rock big enough to sit on. The sky had gone from golden and purple to dusky blue again. A short walk away from the Black Army's camp, it was silent enough for him to hear his own thoughts. He could never go much further anyways, the Ministry had casted a tracking spell on his sorry self; should he attempt to go beyond a five hundred metres radius, there would be an entire squad of wizards ready to curse him into oblivion. Luckily for him, he didn't plan on going anywhere.

No one could see what a war was raging inside his head. Jack held his curse the way a fire consumed the walls of a home, silently and in agony. He checked the black veins trailing down from the inner side of his wrists, the spreading of death. Hiccup hated him, that much had been answered. There was a vengeful part in Jack's mind that begged him to abandon his quest, to leave Hiccup to his odds. But there was also this other side, much greater and far more fiery, the one which since seeing the boy again had resurfaced proudly like a lion's roar, and it drove him to protect Hiccup at all costs. His survival was far more important.

However, knowing that he hated him was much too painful, much too unbearable to sustain… Jack's mind shifted between allowing the other boy to have his space and bursting into his bubble altogether. He needed to know how much he meant, how much he still meant to him. That leaving had been the worst, the most agonising, the most regretful thing he had ever done in his life.

A repetitive cracking sound neared behind him. It was both weighty and soothing. Jack turned his neck just enough to see the massive black figure of Toothless, in full blown dragon size, stepping towards the lake. If the dragon had seen him or not, Jack didn't know. For a moment, he thought he'd see Hiccup, and his heart skipped another beat; however he soon noticed that Toothless was alone. It didn't do much to calm his nerves, until Toothless' eyes locked on his.

The deathly slits of his pupils dilated into black circles of pure adoration, and suddenly there it was, that familiar grinny face Jack had never thought possible to see in a dragon; Toothless opened a gummy smile allowing his lizard-like tongue to slip down to his draconian jaw. The dragon tapped its paws against the earth excitedly, and with a heavy earthshake, plunged towards Jack. Boy and dragon crashed to the ground, the dragon pushing his huge scaly head into the boy's chest, a gurgling sound echoing deeply. Both pain and an unbearable amount of bittersweet happiness filled the boy's heart – he'd hit his head on the fall.

"I've missed you too, bud…" Jack said in between a choked laughter, his hands petting Toothless scales too fondly as the dragon licked his face rather disgustingly – he could barely bring himself to care. This had been the most joyful he had felt in so long… "How have you been? All big and mighty now, huh?" He coed, and he found Toothless' coed back with a deep throaty sound. "Yeah, I've missed you too…" He coed again and again as Toothless practically melted over his chest like a gigantic dog. "At least one of you still loves me, huh?" Toothless rested his chin on Jack's stomach, eyeing him so innocently, such adoration displayed in his big features. The boy caught himself crying. "I love you too… I haven't said these words in so long… and God, I'm saying them to a dragon." He smiled sadly and lovingly to Toothless's bright green eyes. "Your human hates me now, doesn't he?" He spoke. "I guess that's my fault too… I guess a lot of things are my fault… but you still love me, don't you? You little fool… that's alright, I love you too."

He didn't see Hiccup nearly sobbing from behind a tree, watching the scene from afar. He never got to witness the devastation seeping through the boy's tears.

When Hiccup tried to leave, however, he stepped on a dry twig, the sound of snapping wood drawing the attention of both Jack and Toothless. The dragon jumped up off Jack, and the boy's blue eyes opened in fear and hope.

"Hiccup!" he cried out. And for his wonder, Hiccup stopped moving away. Unable to step any further or to turn back to look at him. Hiccup didn't trust himself to answer, nor to move. He simply stood still. "Please, wait."

Jack rose up to his feet, wondering whether he should go towards the boy or remain in his place.

"We need to talk." He stared at Hiccup's back. "Regardless of you hating me or not, we need to… I need to talk. And I need you to listen."

The other boy swallowed the lump in his throat enough to release his voice. "You said you were dying." Hiccup started.

"I am." Jack answered, and the sentence had barely bothered him, but the possibility that Hiccup was affected by that in any way had made him beyond hopeful.

"What…" Hiccup pondered on his words, focusing deeply on not showing just how torn he was. "How long do you have?"

"I don't know. Not long," He replied.

"Azel told me of your curse."

That caught Jack's breath. "Yeah, I suppose she did… I assume that makes you happy?"

Hiccup didn't turn back. But he shook his head visibly. "I'm sorry to hear that." Was all he muttered. There was a long silence. And then Hiccup turned around, angrily. "Has that been your plan all along?" He spat. Jack stared at him, dumbstruck by his matured face.

"I'm not following…"

"You show up, dying and pitiful, just to get me to pity you into forgiveness— is that why you're here?"

Jack looked hurt, but did not answer. "I have no plan, Hiccup. I'm not here to get you back." An unreadable expression formed on the boy's features. "The others are hunting you." There were more urgent things to be said, Jack decided. "The other Obscurials hunt for the dragon rider. That's why I'm here… Before they could."

Hiccup displayed indifference. "Why?"

"I don't know," He said honestly. "I believe they're convinced you're the Guardian of Shadows."

Hiccup finally displayed a reaction. "What do you know about the Guardian of Shadows?"

Jack stared at him as if mesmerised for a second, before putting himself back together. "So you've heard of them?"

"That's who they called for before I entered Helheim with Astrid." He spoke. "In Hell, they want a Guardian of Shadows."

"Who's they?" Asked Jack. Hiccup shook his head.

"I wouldn't know either." It was the first non-hostile look Hiccup had sent Jack since they had met. "I believe that whoever they are, they're meant to bring everyone back."

Jack's eyes widened. "Back from Limbo?"

Hiccup nodded. "The place I found with Astrid was filled with statue-like people; we thought they were dead at first, but as we found out... I believe a Guardian of Shadows could perform a magic powerful and sinister enough to return them."

Jack furrowed his brows in deep concentration. "And you're sure it couldn't be you?"

Hiccup laughed humorlessly. "Do I look like a Dark Arts wizard to you?"

Jack nearly laughed. Hiccup had not been unkind… that sarcastic remark was much more like the Hiccup he had known… He decided to try his luck.

"Hiccup, I…" there was so much he wanted to say, but the words were too many to pick. "Can I apologise?" Hiccup's frown had returned. He knew he had made a mistake. "Please!" Jack took a step forward. "Please, you don't have to forgive me, but let me apologise… for whatever I've done to you, just let me, please-"

"Whatever you have done?!" Hiccup snapped. "Whatever— after all this time, this is what you have to say to me?"

"I had my reasons for leaving then, you should know that." Jack took his ground, but Hiccup's face started to redden in anger.

"Oh, I'm sure they were just as spectacular," He spat.

"Hiccup, please…." Jack pleaded again, it was so much he began feeling quite pathetic. "Just listen for once, what you're doing to me… as much as I deserve it, please… This is torture…"

Hiccup eyed the skies in annoyance, not at Jack, but at the veracity of his words. He knew it wasn't fair to punish the boy further, but he did not like to be on the wrong side of the spectrum.

"I'm sorry I left." Jack's heart was beating so strongly inside his ribcage, it was like it was attempting to flee its own body. "I'm sorry I've never given you a choice."

The green eyes found the ground, the leaves much more bearable to stare than the blue irises before him. "Okay." He said at last.

Then he eyed Jack, but some small shine caught his attention — resting over his chest, in between the collar of his cloak: the silver moon charm, still wrapped around Jack's neck. That Christmas felt like a million deaths ago, but there it was; Jack still wore his gift proudly.

Jack saw where his eyes were, and looked down to his own chest. He then held the charm between his two fingers.

"I thought you'd have thrown that away by now." Hiccup admitted, now a little flustered.

Jack merely shook his head. "I don't think I've ever taken it off."

Hiccup had a curious expression, and Jack didn't know if he was safe being face to face with him. Jack pulled out his wand, letting it fall on the ground.

"If you're still angry, you can hex me. I can take it." He extended his arms.

But another voice answered from deep into the woods, and it wasn't Hiccup's.

"Oh Jackie, don't make it so easy for me to kill you."

Hey you! Yes, you! Thanks for all the support!

My life is about to get real chaotic and I don't know how much time I'll have for writing afterwards, so, I'll be posting all I've written so far.

I'd like to say some things, it's a bit personal; I don't think I've ever written about myself quite like this and I'd like to share a bit about myself:

My name's Go.

I'm starting a new life in Europe in a couple of days... I've ran out of plans in my home town, and I've ran out of goals to achieve, things to do and be, therefore I need to figure out what to do with myself next... I'm reinventing me, so to speak.

And I'm terrified.

Yet, I'm strangely cool with it. I think fear can be a good feeling; when I'm scared, it's usually because something important is about to happen. I'm not a particularly anxious person. I like making plans. I like running away from places... I like disappearing. I draw getaway plans on the backcovers of old Atlas and execute them on the go. Not that any of my plans actually work out wonderfully, but the last one had me jumping off a plane (I mean it) only to faint at landing - safe to say that my folks were not happy. I like skydiving, midnight rides, rooftops and skyscrappers. I also love sushi. I hope I get the drive to make new plans like that once I reach Europe... I'll be landing in Paris next Thursday, then next on the list is Dublin, London, Rome, Athens, Corinth, and then there's a blank space on the list.. I'll figure a way to fill it up. I don't plan on going home... I don't quite feel like there's much of a home to go back to, therefore I guess anywhere will do.

Either way, that's me. I don't mind having only few readers, but I adore the fact that people are reading this at all. I only hope what I'm writing means something to you. If it comforts you, or gets you to think, or if it just counts as a nice passtime, thank you for staying with me. I write it for me. I hope you like my mind.