Helloo! Welcome to the next chapter and I hope you enjoy!

Shout Outs!:

CHSHiccstrid

Yeah, yeah I do. I love little Zephyr, so cute and fun to write! Thank you, couldn't leave it out entirely, just was too much for the HTTYD3 segment of this story.

SmolAvidReader

I do so love ruining fluff, I get you all comfortable and happy then-BAM! Thanks. We shall see her sometime soon, I have not forgotten her.

Journal 2, Entry 10: "Not So Gone"

Astrid walked down from the loft that was now designated as Zephyr's room. Frigga sat at the table on the main floor, sipping some tea that she'd brought with her from Asgard. Berk had nothing to do with the drink except for medicinal purposes.

Frigga smiled at her as she took a seat and accepted the offered cup, surprised that the leaf-juice was actually quite pleasant. "What did you wish to discuss, my dear? You seemed quite adamant that Hiccup not be around for this discussion."

She blushed and set her cup down. "I wanted some help with, well, telling Hiccup I'm pregnant again. I, I wanted it to be something special and… well maybe this is overstepping but-"

Frigga breamed and stared at Astrid's belly before meeting her eyes again. "I would be delighted to help you."

Astrid grinned. "Thank you—I would have liked to have done something with Zephyr's…except I was afraid of Toothless spoiling it if I had waited any longer. I'm actually surprised, he's a lot calmer this time around—though I've still caught that look in his eyes, thank the gods Hiccup can be an oblivious idiot sometimes."

Frigga laughed and leaned back in her seat, ideas already swirling in her mind. She smiled warmly, she did so enjoy these mortals—or a little lack thereof.

*O*

Hiccup sat in the meadow, meditating and focusing on expanding his shifting abilities. The other dragons of the island were eager for him to take their form, more than once Toothless had chased them off in a fury to let Hiccup focus.

Loki was far too amused by Hiccup's new 'friends'. "You know, after my Naming Day, I heard magic whispering in ways it never had before—in ways that I never thought it could. It was shortly after that day that I first discovered the paths of Yggdrasil."

Hiccup looked over at him, eyes wide with childlike curiosity—leaning back on his elbows and taking a break from magic practice. "Really? That's cool. Do you still hear it…does it ever go away?"

Loki caught him sending tired glances at the pack of napping Nadders and chuckled. "I wouldn't say 'goes away'. It's a part of you now…but it does lessen to a drone over time. Like how you tune out the twins or Snotlout's incessant ramblings."

Hiccup nodded. It was at least acceptable.

Toothless laughed beside him, flooding their bond with a loud 'voice' just to annoy him.

Hiccup flicked his ear and stood, looking at the setting sun. "We should be getting back…need to beat Astrid to the dinner prep."

Loki shivered. "Please."

Hiccup smiled and barely withheld a laugh. He patted Toothless' side and wandered over to the tree line to gather the notes and books they'd left there when they decided to wander somewhere with a better view for meditating.

He folded the papers and neatly placed them in his notebook, brushing the grass seedlings off its pages before closing them. He started to grab the book on mind magic that Loki was emphatically drilling into his head—any shielding is better than no shielding.

A cold and leathery hand clamped over his mouth while the other arm snaked around his chest and pinned him to his attacker. He squirmed in the man's grasp and tried to scream for either Toothless or Loki but the hand prevented anything verbal while a rope of scarily familiar magic coiled around his chest—cruelly cutting off all his magic and bonds.

Loki whipped around as soon as he felt Hiccup's fear spike then in almost the same instant fall deadly silent. Toothless crouched, spines and mouth glowing blue as he faced Hiccup's attacker.

The Nadders and any dragon nearby stood erect and hissed warningly but didn't dare yet attack.

Loki felt his heart stop and fought to control his shaking nerves. "You…this is impossible."

The man tightened his grip on Hiccup, mouth next to Hiccup's ear but what little breath came out was cold. "So is this." He shook Hiccup, now frozen in terror—no, oh gods no! "But here he is. You didn't really think you could be rid of me forever, did you? I have a score to settle."

Loki flicked his hand and a dagger flashed into existence. "Grimmel, release my child."

Hiccup felt him grin and tried calling for his knife but it was not forthcoming—whatever magic it was that was binding him blocked everything.

"I don't think so, not yet at least. I'll tell you what. If you can follow me, you might get him back."

"No!" Loki threw his dagger and it split the air where Grimmel's head had been a heartbeat before.

Toothless roared and shot at a defenseless tree in sheer anger before turning and snarling at Loki.

"Yes, we are going after them!" Loki hissed back, mounting the black dragon. "Give me a moment…"

He chanted the tracing spell silently, frowning as it led him to an odd location…his eyes widened. No, that's not possible—nothing should be able to come or go through the barrier…

He leaned forward and pressed his palm against Toothless' neck and teleported them out of the Archipelago to a forest that was near black—an eerie aura permeating the place from the rather thick minor branch that led to he knew not where, only that Hiccup's mark and Grimmel's magic lingered on it.

*O*

The festive air of Berk smothered everything of ill intent, making it easy for the shadowed figure to hide amongst the trees and follow the people and dragons of Berk as they traveled to and fro to prepare the Naming Day.

He was disgusted by the thought, infuriated that it had been allowed to happen, that the mortal had her blessing! Now he was being given a Name—revolting.

He was unable to act for the next several days. The boy was always too crowded—he needed him alone, or near enough to being alone. He needed Loki around but anymore could unnecessarily complicate things, alerting the All-Mother was the last thing he wanted.

His opportunity came a little over a week after the Naming Ceremony—god and Chosen were alone for some much needed magic practice. He waited and watched until the boy was within snatching distance.

He grinned maliciously as Hiccup picked up a book on mind magic, glad he could at least leave Loki with that lasting scar, and struck. He silenced the boy before trapping his magic, delighting as he tried to fight back—making sure to keep his hands well away from the numerous weapons he kept hidden on his person.

He grinned at Loki and easily bated him before teleporting away with Hiccup to a little known branch of Yggdrasil.

Hiccup thrashed as soon as ground was beneath their feet again and he lost his hold on the boy's mouth. No matter, it wasn't necessary to keep him silent anymore. He dragged him through the dark, thick pine forest towards the branch and started to open it.

Hiccup felt the magic in the air stir and thrashed again, almost breaking out of Grimmel's grasp—his fingers just barely clinging to his arm. He turned to snarl at the madman but faltered before he could fully bare his teeth and reared back, horrified by the sight, but was still held firmly in Grimmel's grasp.

Grimmel toothily grinned at him from a decaying mouth, then used his prisoner's shock and yanked him through the branch.

Hiccup tensed as he was dragged through the branch and light exploded into the dark world around him. Soon enough, the light of the branch began to fade, leaving him nearly blind again as they exited in another dark forest—but this one was not crowded with pines so close that their branches would block out even the noon day sun. This was simply dark because it was night, the trees thick but sparse enough to not block all the light—the eerie feeling of the previous woods was amplified threefold, though, making his skin and magic crawl.

Grimmel laughed and pulled him along, farther away from the branch they jumped from.

Hiccup threw himself backwards, unbalancing Grimmel and ramming his head into the man's nose.

Grimmel hissed and released Hiccup but the ropes remained in place.

Hiccup scrambled away from the draugr—the true draugr, there was nothing else the decaying man could be.

Grimmel laughed, his now broken nose not seeming to bother him—it was not even bleeding, and followed Hiccup at an easy pace. "Come now, Lokison, must we go through this futile song and dance again?"

Hiccup backed up and nearly tripped over an exposed root, feeling along his clothes for any weapons. He grasped Loki's dagger on his forearm and drew it, quickly slicing through the bonds.

Grimmel growled in annoyance and leapt at Hiccup, Hiccup swiped at him with the blade but he quickly blocked it with his own. Hiccup whirled around to attack and drove him back before bolting away—but he caught Hiccup's hand this time, holding it tightly and preventing Hiccup from dropping the dagger and recalling it to his other hand.

Hiccup felt his heart race as he twisted away from Grimmel's other reaching hand but he still held his one…He reached down on his belt and felt the small dagger sitting there, as it had for a year. Unable to rid himself of the blade after Hela had given it to him, but Loki had been distrusting of the blade even after finding nothing about the blade to bode ill or come up with a reason why she might've given it. He drew the obsidian blade and went to jab Grimmel's hand.

Grimmel yelped before the blade even made contact and released his hand, jumping back several feet. He scowled at the blade and muttered, Hiccup just barely catching it, "She could have warned me about that."

Hiccup scowled—so he was in cahoots with Hela. Well, he was going to give them a Hel of a time dragging him back. He raised both blades against Grimmel.

Grimmel growled in annoyance and charged.

Hiccup threw Loki's dagger, hitting Grimmel's knife and knocking it away then recalled it.

Grimmel drew his sword and didn't break stride in his attack, swinging down on Loki's dagger but giving Hela's a wide berth.

Hiccup grunted under his pressure and threw a wave of magic out before sheathing Loki's dagger and fully baring Hela's—whatever reason it was that Grimmel was afraid of it—he had every intention to use it.

Grimmel dubiously eyed the dagger but attacked again.

Hiccup shifted to evade most of the attack then lash out with the smaller blade—something a little longer would've been nice—then nearly lost his footing and yelped when the tiny push-dagger elongated to a sword, barely leaving him a moment to redirect his attack and block Grimmel's.

"Hiccup!"

Grimmel smirked at the familiar cry then disappeared.

Loki and Toothless both fired at Grimmel—destroying the tree behind him. Loki dismounted Toothless and ran over to a harrowed Hiccup. "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you again, did he?"

"No, he-" He barely saw it with time to push Loki away before a rope wrapped around his arm where Loki's neck had been moments prior. He yelped as he was yanked back into Grimmel's waiting arms, reaching for Hela's dagger again.

Grimmel snagged that hand and held both well away from the boy's body. "Now, now, play time's over."

He smirked at Loki then took a step back and disappeared in a white flash of Yggdrasil.

Loki roared while Toothless howled, the latter sliding the former down his neck and racing towards the branch. Loki opened it and felt his stomach drop as Toothless raced along it—knowing where it ended when the branch's light began to waver uncertainly.

Not soon enough, they landed on the wispy, dreary planes of Niflheim. Toothless' back arched and a permanent snarl etched on his maw.

Loki dismounted and scowled at the fully formed and no longer decaying Grimmel standing just yards away with Hiccup who was glaring at something a little ways away from both groups. "We are here, draugr, now what do you want?"

"Honestly, I give you back your son and then you don't even visit? Dear brother, it's been a year. I even extended an invitation for you to come at Yuletide when last you came."

Loki slowly turned, to regain some amount of calm, and faced Hela. "Is that what this was about? A family reunion?"

Hela's crestfallen expression didn't last long before twisting into a laughing smirk. "Brother, I'm hurt—at the fact that I had to resort to kidnapping for it to happen."

Loki crossed his arms but kept a close eye on Hiccup. "Alright, we are here, what do you want?"

She turned and waved for them. "Come, let's walk."

He only started moving after Grimmel began walking with Hiccup being reluctantly drug along, still twisting and trying to throw off Grimmel's grip.

Grimmel growled and tightened his grasp. "Stop that, I'm not letting you go."

Hela stopped with a sigh and turned. "Grimmel, release him. Come here, Hiccup."

Hiccup attempted to side step away from both of them but Grimmel shoved him towards her.

Loki's heart leapt into his mouth when Hela's fingers wrapped around his Chosen's wrist.

Hiccup froze as she drew him close and resumed walking. "What do you want?" He asked quietly.

She breathed softly, resting her head on his hair—making the hair on his neck stand on end. "How are you adjusting to being in the land of the living again?"

Hiccup frowned and couldn't help but keep his shoulders tense. "Fine—great."

"Good." She smiled.

Toothless growled and crept closer to his other half, uncertainly eyeing Hela.

She snickered at his hesitant approach. "So this is the beast they named after me…I approve. It really only is fitting for my child after all."

"Hela," Loki growled. "Why are we here—I did not peg you for the sentimental, start a family kind of woman."

She hummed and looked back at him, still firmly holding Hiccup. "From the stories I've heard about you, you did not strike me as the type either—yet here we are."

Loki continued to glare at her until she grew bored and huffed.

"Am I not allowed the same chance? Yes, I am banished—but look at this gift you have brought me!"

Hiccup stiffened like a board and looked pleadingly back at Loki.

Loki flicked a dagger out, his magic swirling angrily.

She sighed. "Very well—he does not stay here. Though I would like an occasional visit without having to resort to drastic means."

"It's barely been a year." Loki snapped.

"Yes," She said sweetly and started carding her fingers through Hiccup's hair who was too scared to swat her off. "And so much can happen in that time."

Loki continued to glare at her, ignoring Grimmel's far too pleased grinning form standing nearby. "Alright, fine…We will visit at least once a decade."

"A decade?!"

Loki's fingers twitched as she shook her head.

"No, that will not do. After all, I can send Grimmel at any time I like to retrieve him." She sent a dangerous smile at Loki. "Or I can always have him wait until you've left for Asgard again—then I will have, what, months to visit with him?"

Hiccup mentally groaned, he didn't want to be here for five minutes—let alone months!

Hela felt him flinch at the suggestion and rubbed his arm. "Oh come now, you are a child of Death as much as Magic—I'm sure given the proper amount of time you will learn to love it here."

"I just want to go home—back to Berk and my friends and family there. Please?" He asked softly, afraid of angering her.

She sighed loudly. "Fine. I did have another reason to call on you, however."

Loki lifted his chin and stared pointedly at her.

She rolled hers. "Hm, clearly not one for a little fun right now."

"Not when you kidnap my son with the person that killed him," He hissed.

She waved off the accusation. "He's the only one I could trust with such a mission. Now, to my warning…"

"Warning?" Loki asked, staring at Hiccup then locking on to Hela, taking a step closer—mouth and eyes narrowed. "You said nothing about a warning—if this is some plan of yours-"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "The only plan here is to keep Hiccup out of my realm—uninvited—for as long as he naturally lives now."

Loki took half a step back in confusion. "What?"

She tightened her grip on Hiccup again before relaxing. "Rumors spread that there has been an increase of souls recently from outside the Realms—a rather strange increase. So I questioned it and, as it turns out, an old suitor of mine has finally decided to put his plans into action."

Loki watched her dubiously but he would be a fool to outright refute her claims. "And who would such a madman be?"

She laughed. "A madman is correct. While I killed without mercy for the glory of Asgard and conquering Realms for her—I would always leave alive those who did not resist and would allow themselves to be ruled over by Asgard."

"How gracious," Loki snarked.

She shrugged. "I know. They created such dreadful tales about me—if they were at all true then there wouldn't be people on Vanaheim, Alfheim, Nidavellir or anywhere else for Asgard to rule over. But my suitor was different—he wanted extinction. Oh, he claimed it was for balance but he failed to take in to account too many variables for that to be completely true—he would have left half the planets living. But he did not. And what good are souls to me if I cannot have them coming to me for all eternity? To kill every living being at once would be pointless, and wasteful."

Loki felt oddly sick—if Hela spoke of him in such a degrading tone it did not bode well.

Hela noted with a pleased gleam that Loki was taking her seriously. "I tell you this because the recent bout of souls are of his doing. For now, the fear of Odin keeps him far away from Asgard's Realms, but the time will come…And also to warn you that if he learns of Hiccup being a child of death, he will hunt him down."

Loki felt ice flood his veins and not from his Jötunn blood.

Hela nodded solemnly and looked down at Hiccup who tried shrinking in on himself—already uncomfortable enough with the attention he did have. She looked back up at Loki and smiled almost pleasantly. "I would so like to have you, brother, and your dear child by my side when I take back the throne."

Loki frowned. "That is Thor's right now."

She wrinkled her nose. "Then you best convince him otherwise. I wouldn't want this family affair to get any messier than it already has become."

Loki said nothing but leveled her with a firm glare.

She ignored it and patted Hiccup's back, encouraging him to return to Loki which he did gratefully. "Now, I expect a visit again—and not a decade out! Or I shall have to send Grimmel to fetch our dear Hiccup again."

Hiccup pressed against Loki, still too scared to speak out against the literal goddess of death. Loki did not hold such a high regard and snarled at her. "Don't you dare send a scum like him back out to 'fetch' Hiccup."

She sighed and twirled a strand of hair playfully. "I suppose…uh, let's see. I think I heard mentions of a Drago, Viggo… Johann sounded particularly incensed about his death—I'm sure any of them would love a chance to escape into the living world."

Loki gripped Hiccup so tightly he was bound to bruise.

She sent him a pitiful gaze. "I merely wish to have some semblance of a family, and I will have it by any means." Her eyes turned dark and smirked at Hiccup. "A means you so kindly gave me. And to think I didn't think I had a brother beyond the annoying child of Thor."

Loki pulled Hiccup back with a quick nod at Hela, making sure Hiccup had a hold of Toothless, and stepped into the branch to Midgard.

Hela watched them leave with a little wave. "Don't forget to come back soon!"

Grimmel watched them leave with a distinct irritated air, waiting for their signatures to vanish from Niflheim before turning to Hela. "That was it? I thought we were going to have some fun with them." He jabbed his finger at the spot the two Jötunns disappeared to. "Do you know what that Órikr Dǫglingr did to me!? It was humiliating."

She sighed and turned away. "Death is a part of life, Grimmel. It is your own fault your death was so."

He shook with anger as he followed her. "I was trying to free you!"

She paused and smiled at him. "And it was such a kind thought—but you failed and he retaliated." She smiled wistfully. "It was such a beautiful retaliation too. Tricking me into freeing the soul that was sacrificed to keep me imprisoned—killing you in such an ingenious way. You ought to be honored, it is sure to make history."

He huffed, lips curling up in disgust, growling, "Half a millennia hiding from Odin and that is the death I received."

She smiled and slipped an arm around his. "Yes…You imagined such grand ways to die—ways your soul would forever become mine. Never once thinking of Valhalla."

He grinned at her. "Your presence has no place there. Why would I want to spend eternity there?"

She laughed. "Well. For now we must concern ourselves with ensuring the entitled warlord does not encroach on my territories. I will not have him stealing my souls—living or dead."

Grimmel shook his head with a chuckle. "You do not appreciate his 'gifts'?"

She scowled. "No! It was a fling that should have ended centuries ago—the thick headed moron he is just doesn't take no for an answer." She stalked away into the deeper parts of her prison. "And besides, if he accomplishes his dream—then the souls he does take will never belong to me!"

Grimmel tsked. "Now, we can't have that."

She stopped and turned back to him. "Go back to Midgard and keep an eye on our friends. They are safe for now but sooner or later Thanos will test Odin and reach out that far. Odin was a fool for hiding such a treasure on Midgard."

Grimmel rolled his eyes. "Loki is bound to figure out the shield's weakness in a matter of days—and then I'm stuck."

She waved her hand. "Then stay at its borders. You have your magic."

His nose wrinkled distastefully. "Why don't I just set up a ward and alarm around the stone—it would be far simpler and less taxing."

"Fine." She relented. "But find a way to circumvent Loki's wards, I want access to Hiccup in case something comes up. And I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to see them more. It gets so dreadfully dull here. And the only way they'll come is if we drag Hiccup here."

Grimmel fought back a groan. "It would be simpler to wait until he leaves the boundaries of the wards. He's an explorer at heart—he will leave sooner rather than later. Did I tell you he has a Name?"

Hela's face brightened. "No! When did this happen?"

"Just recently. Hiccup Lokison, god of dragons." He smirked.

"Well," She said slowly and with a twisted smile. "Isn't that interesting?"

*O*

Hiccup stumbled out of the branch with Loki still clinging to his arm. He barely took a step away before he was thrown onto Toothless and said dragon was running to the place with the minor branch. They continued at the brisk place until they were back at New Berk and locked securely in his hut.

Hiccup was a bit miffed by Loki's terrified silence, it reminded him too much of when they found the dart back on Berk and Loki shut him out—it scared him when he became like this. Although he himself was still quite shaken by the ordeal, he could only watch in dismay as the god etched runes all over the insides of his home while Toothless practically laid on him and prevented him from interfering.

Loki muttered near silent spells as he carved the runes, never having thought that he'd need spells to ward off the dead. He wasn't satisfied until he was positive that Hiccup would be safe from Grimmel in the hut until he could fix whatever loophole Grimmel had exploited.

Hiccup waited until Loki was calmer and ceased running around like a Terror looking for a fish. "Great, now that—whatever that was, is done…What in Odin's beard did she mean by that!? At first she didn't really care about me then-then this! What is this? And who is the psycho she courted—what crazy person would court her?"

Loki tried to wave a calming hand towards him but he was too jittery for it to be effective. "I—am not entirely certain. There have only been rumors, but I do not know his name—just 'the Mad Titan'. And I do not know why her attitude has changed so. She has been alone, more or less, for five hundred years—she's bound to have gone crazy."

Hiccup crossed his arms and glared into the fire. After a time to process he sighed, arms falling and leaned exhaustively against Toothless. "Mental is more like it. I guess I'll just have to watch my back more carefully from now on. Just great. I was enjoying being enemy free for once."

He reached out for the door, intent on finding Astrid and resuming his chiefly duiries, but was stopped by Loki grabbing his wrist. "Where are you going?"

Hiccup glanced at him then the door. "Out—I still have chiefing. They're probably wondering where I've gone."

Loki pulled him away from the door, voice stern. "You are not leaving this hut until I fix the wards."

Hiccup backed up a step, mouth open in disbelief. "No way, I can't just hide in my hut. It's my village, they need me."

Loki stepped in front of the door, arms crossed and staring intensely at Hiccup, daring him to defy him. "Take a sabbatical or I'll force you to take one."

Hiccup scowled at him. "You can't just hide me away every time something happens! If you did that I'd never leave this hut, something is always happening to me."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Try me. And it's only until I fix the wards."

Hiccup still stood defiantly. "And how long will that take?"

Loki opened the door, sending a warning look back at Hiccup. "A few days possibly."

Hiccup gaped but couldn't argue further as Loki slammed the door between them. His eyes narrowed and ran up to Zephyr's loft and grasped the shudders.

Toothless plodded up behind him, grumbling and glaring at Hiccup.

Hiccup ignored him as he undid the latch. "No bud! I'm tired of him treating me like I'm five every time something happens. I have a village to run and I can't just stop because Loki freaks out—Grimmel won't come this soon. I hope."

He yanked on the shutters then frowned when they didn't open, he pulled on the wooden doors again but they still remained firmly shut. His arms fell to his sides in furious shock. "Come on!"

Toothless laid down, front paws crossed over each other, and looked at Hiccup with a 'what did you expect' look.

Hiccup growled and glared at the window before stalking downstairs and sitting at the table and staring into the fire Toothless started. He sat like that for several minutes until he sighed angrily and grabbed his notebook, going over the Dragon Fly designs again. He hated feeling idle and useless.

It was after sundown before anyone returned—that person being Astrid who was glowing.

Hiccup looked up from his work and lost some of his miffed anger. "Hello, M'lady—you look beautiful.

She smiled and grabbed his hands, Hiccup stealing a kiss. "So this is where you were after we saw Loki storming through the village. Thought you were practicing magic today?"

"We were." Hiccup ran a hand through his hair.

Astrid tilted her head and grabbed his arm. "What happened?"

Hiccup was silent for a long time before he said quietly, "You can't tell anyone, gods forbid grandmother—I really won't ever leave this hut again. Grimmel he, he came back."

Astrid's heart stopped and gripped Hiccup tightly with cold hands. "That's impossible."

"He was a draugr…An actual draugr." He shook his head then shivered and told Astrid about their 'wonderful' day.

She was shaking, in both fear and anger. "I can't believe it!"

Hiccup leaned back in the chair and poked at his fish that he'd prepared during the talk. "You're telling me. And because of that I'm under house arrest by a mother-henning god. I take that back, that's an insult to Chicken, Loki's worse."

Astrid kissed him. "It's only for a few days." Hiccup shot her a betrayed look. "I'm not taking his side but I can't really fight against him…And I kinda agree with him, I don't want to lose you again. Come on, I have something I want to tell you now. Not the way I had intended on telling you but now that you're under house arrest…Hopefully it'll make up for a little bit of this mess."

Hiccup followed her silently, curious as to what it could be.

Hiccup stood next to Fishlegs while Astrid stood by Heather, Dagur overseeing the wedding. Fishlegs and Heather stood proudly and happily across from each other as Dagur spoke, uniting the two and quietly growling warnings at Fishlegs—much to Heather's consternation.

Hiccup glanced over at Zephyr who was holding a month old Nuffink. He couldn't help but grin like an idiot at the two before turning his focus back to the star couple of today.

Heather and Fishlegs kissed and the gathered Berkians and Berserkers cheered. The feast was grand—Dagur was not going to skimp out on his baby sister.

Hours into the party, Zephyr was passed out in a corner curled around baby Nuffink. Astrid smiled and cooed, carefully picking Nuffink out of his sister's arms, Hiccup picked Zephyr up and hushed her as she started to wake with the movement. They made their way to the guest huts where they would be staying for the duration of the celebrations.

The next day Dagur found his brother and dragged him away from the crowds.

Hiccup followed curiously, arms crossed in good humor. "So what's the big news that you would miss Heather's wedding celebration?"

Dagur took one of Hiccup's hands and enclosed both of his around it. "Would you be by my side when Mala gives birth?"

Hiccup choked on air, staring wide-eyed at Dagur. "Wha-what?"

Dagur smiled widely. "She's pregnant and is due in about seven months."

Hiccup's eyebrows rose. "It took you this long to tell me?"

Dagur shrugged. "Took us a bit to realize it." He looked seriously back at Hiccup. "You'll be there though, right? I'm going to go crazy if I don't have someone there. I mean—Throk is nice but sometimes I just want to strangle him…Which I am very likely to do on that day if you're not there to keep me from running to her side. Actually, you don't even have an option in this—you are going to be there."

Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah, I'll be there—if only to keep you out of the midwives' way."

Dagur sighed gratefully and slung an arm around his brother's shoulder. "Great! Let's get back before Heather drags us back."

Hiccup patted his hand then smirked. "Am I going to have to knock you out on that day?"

Dagur eyed him before laughing loudly. "Oh, little brother, you would try."

Hiccup laughed mischievously. "Oh, I would do more than try."

Dagur stepped away suspiciously. "Keep your dark magics to yourself."

Hiccup continued to walk ahead while Dagur fell behind in uneasy surprise. "There's absolutely nothing dark about casting someone into sleep. Annoying, sure. Not dark. That's bringing someone back from the dead."

Dagur huffed. "Of course there's levels of magic."

Hiccup shrugged. "Just like sword play."

Dagur's eyes narrowed, remembering their last spar. "Yes, you and your collapsing sword are cheaters."

Hiccup laughed. "No, just innovative."

Loki walked through the palace with no destination in mind. The only reasoning behind his actions was stretching his legs.

The scare of Grimmel had placed him on edge for months after the incident and even while he was off on Asgard, he kept a close watch on their bond and the ward indicators he'd set up in his room. Thankfully, there had not even been a whisper of his presence.

He had been researching ways to close off branches of Yggdrasil but he'd read every book and decaying scroll thrice and found nothing. He brooded as he walked…Perhaps the simplest solution would be to set a ward up around Midgard's connection point with runes repelling the dead. At least then they could not leave those woods…however, then he might travel through other realms. It is much more difficult to track the dead…does Grimmel even still have his magic outside of Niflheim?

Gold and white intruded on the barren hallway. Aggravation built up within Loki and he turned sharply on his heel, walking in the opposite direction.

"Loki, wait."

Loki froze but he seriously considered blowing off the All-Father's command. With an unperceivable huff he turned around and greeted Odin with a carefully constructed neutral expression. "Yes, All-Father?"

Odin's eyes became heavy with regret, having rarely spoken to Loki since the death of his Chosen. "Walk with me. It has been too long since we have spent time together as father and son."

Loki stiffened and glared at the back of Odin's head. "Wouldn't you rather be with Thor, preparing him to take over your throne? He is woefully prepared and still acts like a child."

Odin looked over at Loki who was reluctantly walking beside him. "Of my blood you may not be, Loki, but you are still my son even if I have been a terrible father."

Loki's eyes widened, surprised by the admission.

Odin locked eyes with Loki and couldn't keep the sadness out of them. "If you fought Grimmel, then he must have told you about Hela—who and what she is?"

Loki nodded. Yes, let's leave it at stories he told and not me actually meeting the crazed woman.

Odin stopped and stared silently at Loki for a long time. Eventually placing a hand on his shoulder and saying, "You had to do a hard thing, choosing between your Chosen and Asgard—eventually the Realms…I am proud of you, my son. Lesser men would have chosen selfishly, it is something that I question if Thor could have done had he been the one to stand in your shoes."

Loki watched him leave in shock and confliction. Still infuriated at Odin but his praise—the admittance he'd done something that Odin questioned Thor's ability on—it stoked the coal that he'd thought was dead. He wasn't sure if he should feel elated or infuriated that it had taken Hiccup's death! to incite such an action from Odin.

In the end, he decided to file away the interaction but otherwise forget it. A few pretty words from Odin was not going to make up for the centuries of secrets and injustices to his person.

He continued to his rooms, eager to practice his magic and distract his mind.

Haha, we are finally making some progress to the MCU. Good gosh. Well see you soon!