Third Person POV
The Viking merely sat there, on his bed, staring blankly at the corner of the room, as if there was a demon there that was about to pounce at him. However, there was none. His mind was elsewhere but in the physical world.
Hiccup was still processing what happened in the past hour. Little did he know, an hour had actually passed since Anna left and that happened. An hour of him staring doing nothing but sitting. It was actually impressive that no demon had decided to possess him.
A lot of voices were ringing inside his mind. Voices arguing about what to do next regarding Anna's confession. It was as if there were multiple people in a heated debate shouting and screaming inside his head.
Finally, Hiccup reached the point where he scratched his hair in irritation and looked up to the clock on the wall. He was unsure of when he last checked the time, but seeing that it was already nearing afternoon, he was shocked.
"OH god, how long has it been…" Hiccup slapped himself to resurface his consciousness. He then looked over to the left where the door to his bathroom was located. "Nothing a bath can't fix."
And so, Hiccup grabbed his towel and entered the bathroom. He took his time to enjoy the bath, especially with the castle's facility to provide warm water. Once he got out, he was as fresh as a daisy.
But was his mind in a similar state? Not really, as a mental image of the kiss immediately flashed by right after he stepped out of the bathroom.
"Darn it," Hiccup cursed. "I don't wanna think about it for now. How do I distract myself?"
Hiccup thought about the answer as he dressed himself up. He was still having a hard time suiting himself with Arendellian outfits, but he could not deny that they were very comfortable. He put on simple black trousers, a long sleeved olive green shirt, and a cream cardigan.
Right after he put on his final piece of clothing, his mind came up with an idea.
"Library. That should work."
With that idea, Hiccup embarked on his quest. He had mapped around 70% of the castle's interior so he found the said room fairly easily. A few servants stopped at the sight of him walking. He convinced them that he was doing okay and could walk just fine.
Right in front of the door of the library, Hiccup hoped that, "I hope Anna isn't here though…"
He opened the door and was greeted with a fairly large exterior. At least a dozen of shelves stood in a row, with several desks dividing them. On the opposite end of the room sat glass windows that provided the lighting of the room. Since it was already afternoon and it was lovely, more than sufficient lighting was provided.
As a cherry on top, it seemed that he was alone!
"Lovely!" Hiccup complimented.
The Viking headed to find a genre of his book. He did not have anything specific in mind, thus, he skimmed the labellings by the shelves to stop by one he would find interesting. After three rows of shelves, he stopped on one. Fantasy.
"Well… might as well indulge myself in another world to escape this current one," Hiccup explained his reasoning.
There were many titles that interested him. He checked several synopses and eventually decided to grab this one.
"Oblivion," Hiccup said. "Kinda dark. I like it."
Hiccup took the book and headed to the table located by the glass doors. He sat on the edge and started reading.
At first, he had no trouble reading the first few pages. However, the story progressed to a direction where he found it a tiny bit relatable to his life, especially his current circumstances. Thus, his mind naturally brought up again the very last event to take place in his life. The confession. The kiss.
"Out of all books, I CHOSE this one," Hiccup said with an irritated tone and shut the book. Feeling desperate, he walked out of the glass door where a balcony was there.
On the front edge of the balcony, there was the view of the fjord. On the left was the view of the town of Arendelle. Even from afar, the town seemed lively with people going about with their lives.
But one man on the balcony of the library of the castle of Arendelle was not so lively. He grabbed the railing and stared, once again, blankly at the view. This time, there were the natural elements to accompany him. There was a gentle warm breeze. There was the smell of air itself. There were the greeneries of the entire kingdom that pleased the eyes.
Hiccup never knew that he actually yearned for mother nature's touch. Little did he know, a creation of mother nature herself was approaching him. It was in the form of a tiny reptile who could summon fire. One could say he was the tiniest dragon to ever exist. And possibly the only magical one. And honestly? He might very well be. Bruni!
Bruni jumped on the railing from the rooftop, right next to Hiccup. The fire spirit's sudden landing caught Hiccup by surprise.
"Bruni! Hey!"
The lizard smiled and licked his eyeball in response.
"What's up? Eheheh…" Hiccup used a finger to pat him. After several caresses, Bruni tilted his head, which screamed curiosity. Hiccup caught that well.
"Nothing's up to me… Well…"
'There is certainly something up with me, though,' Hiccup continued his sentence mentally.
The Viking looked down at Bruni, who was smiling innocently and waiting for a response.
Finally, he gave in and rested his chin on his hand. "Hahh… it's just… Anna has confessed to me."
Hiccup looked down to see Bruni bulging his eyes, as if his eyes were not big enough already. Weirdly, the Viking did not even question how the fire spirit was able to understand him.
"I don't know how to respond to her confession. Why? It's because I don't even know how to feel, to begin with. Anna is an amazing person, she truly is. There really is no reason why a guy like me would not be drawn into her. Well, of course, there's this thing called type. I don't necessarily know what my type is, but Anna is… well… to my liking, let's say."
"She's beautiful. Very well dressed. Well, she's queen. But she even looks good with casual outfits. She's strong. She's a good leader. Cheerful. Can be funny at times. I think I can go on if I keep thinking hard. But you get the point."
"Back then, I used to like her. Big time. But that's the catch. Used to. You might ask, 'well, what made you no longer like her?' It's because of our different backgrounds. Our distance. Our responsibilities. There was no way it was going to work. I had to be in Berk to take care of everything. Being the son of the chief means I have to bear the responsibilities of that position. Of course, I do have the help from my friends and colleagues, but that doesn't mean I can just leave Berk. She is the daughter of royalty. Of course she's going to be a queen someday. I just didn't expect it to be this soon."
"I started to catch feelings back when I was around eighteen. Teenager era, I know right… Whenever we would send a shipment to Arendelle, I would come up with excuses to tag along. I think it was at that age, too, when I first brought Toothless to Arendelle. I remember taking her up to a flight for the first time. Elsa, too. I think this was only months after she was coronated. Anna took the flight like a champ. No panicking, just screamings on top of her lungs to enjoy the moment. Elsa, on the other hand? She demanded me to land merely minutes after taking off. I think Anna and I flew around for nearly an hour. They really do complement each other well, hahaha…"
"Ah, on that day, other Berkians who came with the shipments with their dragons also took some villagers and castle personnels up for a flight. The day we showed up, dragons swarmed Arendelle's airspace. Haha! That was such a good day."
"Oh, I'm getting off topic. So yeah. I like Anna. Correction. I used to. Romantically, anywah. After dad disappeared and I was declared Chief of Berk, I abandoned the idea of approaching her. Berk is my home. It took me some time to move on from her, but I managed it. I mean, I'm still friends with her. Don't get me wrong. If anything, she hasn't changed into a person that I happen to despise, so there's no reason for me to dislike her. She has become more… mature. More composed. Wiser. She essentially possesses a lot of strong points that no man on earth would not dig."
"And now that she has just… done that. Eh, you're not getting what I mean, are you? Well… she kissed me. On the lips. And it wasn't even a peck. It had a duration. It lasted for a, well, not for a while, but she made sure to… ahah… press it, you know what I mean?"
"Gosh, I sound so stupid right now. Anyway, she did that and said that she's had feelings for me for years now. I couldn't see it, if I'm being honest. I wonder when she specifically started to feel that way? Granted, as friends, we do share a lot of… physical touch. Ever since Anna found me literally in a ditch with multiple wounds on my body, she's been so emotional. I guess, for a good reason. I am her friend. I would react the same way if I were in her shoes."
"Anyway, now that that has happened… I don't know how to react. I've gotten rid of my feelings years ago. Or did I bury them? I can't exactly label how I'm feeling at the moment. On top of that… I don't think I'm supposed to catch feelings, either. I am still the chief of Berk, and God knows what's happening out there. As I'm explaining this to you, more lives are probably lost. I can't exactly do anything with my current situation, either."
"My people have probably made their way to the underground maze… since that's what I commanded them to do. You see, New Berk is quite the piece of land. I remember landing there for the first time last year and it was, almost in every way, better than Old Berk. We have high ground, lush trees, diverse resources; it was a piece of Valhalla. Truly. However, when we were mapping the entire ground, we discovered many entrances leading underground. They are dotted here and there on the surface and each led to a maze of caves that we haven't even finished mapping yet. To be fair, I don't exactly know how long it will take us to map it."
"It is, at the moment, my people's last line of defence. I know that there are open spaces within the labyrinth, but will there be food? Water? Hell, light? No! And I'm mad that I can't do anything about it. Yet."
This time, Hiccup took a pause and looked at the view ahead of him. Bruni has been diligently listening in the entire time. Only he himself knew whether or not he understood what Hiccup had been blabbering about.
To continue his rant, Hiccup took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I think I'm just gonna stall it for the time being… I have no idea how I'm feeling. And I don't want to think about it. I have to put my mind on Berk. It's totally unfair that I'm out here, getting spoiled and whatnot, while my people are out there, suffering."
Hiccup stared at Bruni, who no longer had his goofy smile. He seemed to have been paying serious attention to Hiccup's rant. At this sight, Hiccup scoffed.
"Will you come along with us on our way back to New Berk? I bet you'll be so useful. Man. Or your other friends. Who was it? There's the water spirit, earth, lightning–wait, that's not it. Fire, yourself, and wind. And there's Elsa in the middle, acting as the fifth spirit."
Hiccup scratched his hair at that information. "I still don't get how she's the fifth spirit. Oh well."
The Viking then took his time to take in the view ahead of him. Hiccup had been to many places with Toothless, and Arendelle was certainly in the list of one of many beautiful places he knew.
"It's so beautiful… this place," Hiccup commented. What came after was spoken unconsciously, which was, "Much like Anna herself."
Bruni caught that, but Hiccup did not. It took Hiccup a few seconds to realise that.
"WHAT AM I SAYING? Oh Gooood…" He covered his face with his hands. "I'm so hopeless…"
Hiccup proceeded to continue his day with Bruni to vent his current situation more. Meanwhile, on the other side of the castle, Elsa and Anna were in their office, going about with their daily paperwork.
Elsa carried a stack of papers onto Anna's desk. Upon putting it on her desk, the pile made quite the vibration. It caught Anna by surprise. Seeing the height of the stack made Anna click her tongue.
"Oh come on, right after I was about to take a small break? What do these ones need?" She complained.
"Your sign on each right corner bottom spot. They are land certificates from each house that renews their period this year," Elsa replied. "Here, I'll help you sign them."
Elsa sat on the desk and handed Anna the paper one by one. After signed, she took it and handed the next one. Since there were hundreds of houses in Arendelle, the number of certificates were within the same area.
While doing the signs, Anna came up with a question. "Where's Honeymaren?"
"She left to the town. Says there's business to take care of," Elsa answered.
"Huh. Did she show up here just because she missed you?" Anna smiled dirtily.
Elsa smiled in the same manner. "I don't know. Well, it has been a while since she last visited the kingdom. So there's probably that."
The two went silent once again, focusing on signing the papers. It was such a boring task but someone had to do it.
"You know…" Elsa broke the silence. "Why don't you tell me that story you wanted to tell? While we're doing this," she proposed. Anna looked up to her sister with a confused look.
"What story?" Anna asked.
"The story that you mentioned right before we started working, missy," Elsa poked her sister's shoulder, urging her to remember. That poke did the trick.
"Oh! That story," right after mentioning this, Anna's face visibly reddened. Elsa very much noticed this.
"I have a feeling this is something embarrassing," Elsa said, crossing her arms.
"It's exactly that…" Anna paused her task for a moment and looked up to her sister again. "I um… confessed. To Hiccup."
Immediately, joy filled Elsa's being, and it showed through her expression. "You did? How did you do it?"
"I uh… I…" Anna faced away from her sister. "I… did it physically?"
The statement was not computed well inside Elsa's mind. "What do you mean?"
"I… kissed him."
The ice queen blushed and deeply gasped. She hugged her sister from the side like the proud sister she was.
"Ahahaaa! I can't believe you took my advice seriously!" Elsa said while shoving her arm on her sister's.
"You mean that was not an advice at all?" Anna asked, disbelief sounding in her tone. "You were joking?"
"I w-was! AHAHA–Oh Anna…"
"Elsa, I can't believe you!" She playfully pinched her sister's cheek. "Oh God…"
They remained hugging each other for a while before letting go.
Elsa wiped off some tears building up on her eyes. Her sister's boldness was truly something else to behold. "So you kissed him… and?"
Anna grabbed her feather pen and continued doing the signing. "He asked me to give him some time to respond. At this point, I'm just preparing myself to be rejected. You know, expect the worst, hope for nothing, but do your best, kind of thing?"
Elsa raised a brow. "From a person like Hiccup, you can very much expect and hope for the best out of him. I mean, he glued the dragons and his people together. That feat is quite something else, you know?"
"Yeah, I know, but this is about something else. It's romance. If I happen to not be the one he loves…" Anna paused, processing that statement briefly and tasting the bitterness of that possible outcome. "...Who am I to judge?"
Elsa scoffed in response. "I guess… Well, you two do get along very well. But I'm no mind reader."
"Yeah…"
Once again, silence. There was only the sound of papers being handed, signed, and taken.
"Tell me," Elsa filled the silence, "When did you start liking him?"
"Mmm… Maybe since I was… nineteen?"
"Oh my. You've been crushing for quite a while now," Elsa responded. "What drew you into him?" The big sister casually asked.
"Bwoah… Where do I even begin? I like his… looks. I'll admit that he has grown into a proper man and it's the first thing that allured me. Also… since he has lived quite the eventful life, Hiccup seems to have matured very well. Hell, he was bullied when he was a teenager. He wouldn't exactly use that word, but I know I would. I can't imagine how harsh life was for him before he befriended the dragons. Not to mention his father's expectation for him, which was not helping much, either. To think that he has come out the way he did… it's marvellous. He has grown from zero to hero!" Anna explained.
Elsa nodded down in agreement. "I can see that."
"So yeah. He's grown well. I also like his… sarcasm. Wow, this one can use an entire essay. It's a good thing that he knows the time and place for everything, including his sarcasm. However, when the time and place are right, his sarcasm is something else, truly. Oh my god, ahaha…"
Elsa giggled. "True."
"I think I can keep going if I think hard enough. But I won't bore you any further," Anna said.
"Oh no, keep going. We do need something to accompany work," Elsa argued.
Anna accepted the reasoning and continued. "Hmm… I guess he can be a bit clumsy, which is cute. When he's shy, he's also cute."
"Something tells me you speak from experience," Elsa immediately retorted. It was only then when Anna realised that her sister was true.
"EHEHEh… I don't know what you're talking about," Anna waved off her hand.
"I wonder what a shy Hiccup looks like," Elsa said, putting a finger on her chin.
"That view is mine alone, unfortunately," Anna retorted back. "Anyway… Back then, I actually doubted the idea of going out with him."
Elsa was surprised to hear that. "Back then. So you no longer do?"
"The doubt is still there… but not as big as it used to be. I remember after his father's passing, his visits became less and less frequent. When he visited us, he started to act a little distant. I suspect that his loss took a toll on him so much…"
If only Anna knew that there was so much more to that.
"I can see where you're coming from," Elsa said.
"Yeah… It was during this time as well when my feelings were at the peak. I secretly practised asking him out in front of the mirror multiple times. I wanted to confess at one of his visits. However, when he started to act that way… I called the mission off. I thought that it was not proper of me to confess to him while he was still grieving."
"Mm… Anna, no offence, but then why did you decide to… confess now?" The big sister asked.
"Heh… none taken. This is gonna sound weird but please bear with me. I know for a fact that we will soon embark on an adventure that would endanger our lives. We're going to face Therondia and take New Berk back. So I thought… now is the time. I know that he's… distressed and, perhaps, grieving as well at the moment. I have no more justifications. I just became a selfish asshole who only thinks for herself."
Elsa was shocked to hear such dictions. "Quite the choice of words there, missy."
Anna merely scoffed. "It is true. But you know what else is true? My love for him. I want to support him to retrieve Berk back. Even if he never gives a reply to my confession or rejects me. Are you with me, Elsa?"
Anna handed her hand for a handshake. Elsa looked at it briefly before bending over to kiss her sister by the forehead, ignoring the hand.
"Of course I am, Anna. But let's venture carefully and wisely, okay?" She said sternly.
Anna slightly blushed at the gesture. She was touched. "Of course."
With that, Elsa handed her another certificate to sign. While doing so, she proceeded to imagine the journey to New Berk. The one thing that popped first within her mind was…
"Uh… The logistics to sort to embark to Berk will be a nightmare. We need men, food, drink, clothes, extra weapons…" Elsa whined. Anna was rather dumbfounded to hear such complaint.
"Elsa, we're going to a war and you're scared of the logistics?"
The afternoon passed the middle of the day and the Arendellian soldiers sent to capture both Patchy and Sideburns had finally returned. Mattias led the group of ten men, a horse and a cart, with the Therondians on it. They entered the castle's courtyard and were immediately noticed by the servants. The message was passed to both Elsa and Anna.
Elsa and Anna rushed their way to see the returning soldiers. By the time they arrived at the courtyard, most of the men had already been dismissed, leaving only the horse and its cart, and Mattias. Neither of the sisters could see the figures on the cart itself.
"This is it…" Anna spoke to herself, approaching the middle of the courtyard. General Mattias noticed her and her sister.
"Queen Anna. Apologies for taking such a long time," the general bowed slightly. He was slightly bruised here and there.
"General. It's okay. But what happened to you?" Anna asked, noticing the bruises.
"These men…" Mattias walked to the door of the cart and released the locks, revealing Patchy and Sideburns, both cuffed. Noticing the cart door opening, they glared at the sisters. "Put up quite the fight, I must say," he confessed, pity sounding in his tone. "But we handled it."
"Thank you for your service, general," Elsa said sincerely, eyeing the Therondians.
"I don't recall ordering anyone, especially during the afternoon," Patchy sarcastically stated. "Even if I did, I'd order only one girl."
Elsa was not amused in the slightest. She did expect some misbehaviour from the Therondians, but not sexual jokes. Therefore, she cracked her knuckles. "Anna, let me take care of this."
Anna wanted a piece, but she understood the assignment. "Alright," she said, stepping backward.
"Mattias, could you also remove the horse from the cart?" Elsa requested, fire blazing in her cold eyes. Mattias also understood the assignment and quickly took the horse elsewhere.
Elsa cleared her throat once given space, "I'm here to give you two another treatment. You two tell me where the Therondian ship you boarded on is."
Sideburns retorted, "Or?"
Elsa spoke nothing. Instead, she raised her arm which was surrounded by a flurry of ice. Her palm was open, as if she was about to summon something. Patchy and Sideburns noticed this, and before they could even question what she was going to do, Elsa closed her palm and a pillar of ice towered from the ground, right below the cart itself.
KER-SHRAKK!
The pillar had a sharp point, splitting the cart in half and separating the brothers. With the cart destroyed, they were thrown to the ground. Fear immediately filled their beings.
"Another witch!" Patchy exclaimed.
'Another?' Elsa mentally asked.
The Therondian duo were just about to skip for their lives (considering they were cuffed on the feet). However, Elsa reacted quickly by coating the ground beneath them with ice, immobilising them. No matter how hard they tried, they could not move forward at all.
Elsa was emitting a murderous aura and all the people in the courtyard sensed it. Not even her sister was daring enough to intervene. The ice queen stepped forward and stomped on the ground. This time, icicles materialised from the ground, entrapping both Patchy and Sideburns in a cage.
"Time for you two to speak!" Elsa declared loudly. "Names?"
"Patchy!"
"Sideburns!"
'Patchy? Sideburns? Oh God, I'm gonna–Elsa, do NOT lose composures.'
"Where is your ship?" Elsa asked, not before clearing her throat.
Patchy looked over to his brother. Their eye contact conveyed defeat, so Sideburns decided that it was, indeed, best to take it. He nodded, and Patchy got the message.
"I'll speak," Patchy declared, defeat sounding in his tone. With that, Elsa merely stepped forward to him and crossed her arms. She was all ears.
"We were supposed to take the chief of Berk and return before dawn. They had docked up north, just several more clicks from where you guys found us tied in the woods. Since we haven't returned him before dawn, they would leave us. So, they presumably have left," Patchy explained.
"Where to? Therondia?" Elsa asked.
"No. They said they were going to… this is probably a mispronunciation, but a place called ato…holand? I never heard the reason, since they claimed there's something more valuable there than the chief of Berk."
"Ahtohallan?!" Elsa repeated. She looked behind to see her sister, who had been joined with Hiccup. They, too, were shocked to hear that name.
THUMP!
Elsa once again stomped on the ground. This time, the icicles that trapped Patchy disintegrated, allowing her to grab him by the collar.
"Ahtohallan?! How did they learn that place?!" Elsa asked harshly.
"I-I don't know!"
"What do they know about that place?!"
"Again, I-I don't know!"
"Gah!" Elsa cast Patchy's collars off then turned to Sideburns. "You! Speak!"
Sideburns shrugged. "I'm also clueless…"
"Oh no no no… it's been more than 12 hours since they departed…" Elsa's boiled even more. She turned to Anna and Hiccup with an expression of anger and yet worry. "Anna! We have to depart to Ahtohallan, NOW!"
