How times can change. Fresh memories were still in Hiccup's mind for the days when he would be looked down on. Fresher yet were the memories of being deemed audacious for merely stepping inside of a temple. Why would any of the gods listen to the prayers of lowly Daedalus? It was simply absurd. Snotlout recalled the days when he could be surrounded by Athenians and no one would speak to him. They might have been doing it out of harshness or because they simply did not know he was there. It all felt the same to him. The name Heracles meant nothing. Yet, there were the cousins—staying in Athens and being held in high esteem. Had only one experienced this, he would have assumed it was a fever dream, but surely, they could not both be sharing the same hallucination.

Even Dagur got to experience this sort of new favor. He never thought that he would see the day when a temple of Ares stood in Athens. A small voice in the back of his mind kept saying that someone was going to burn it or that Athena herself would personally see to it that it was destroyed. Each moment led to more surprise than the last when he saw it continue to stand. The first time someone outside of the cousins entered, he did not stop smiling for the rest of the day. Still, none of the heroes could forget that they had work to do. Some of the Athenians believed that they could assist. While the friends were discussing plans near their home, someone was approaching. He was a young boy with dark hair and a bright grin. Snotlout saw him first. Before he could say anything, the little Berkian bowed his head.

"He doesn't make you bow like some gods do," Snotlout commented, gesturing to Dagur.

Quickly, the boy stood back up. "I wasn't sure." He grinned again. "I'm Icarus! I've been trying to get out here to meet you all for a while. I live on the other side of Berk."

"It's nice to meet you, Icarus," Hiccup said, smiling. "Is there a problem you need us to help with?"

Icarus shook his head. "No, but I want to help you."

"Help us?" Snotlout asked, brow raised.

"Yeah! The team can always get bigger, right?"

"I guess he's right," Dagur mentioned, shrugging. "What are you good at, kid?"

Icarus's smile faded slightly. "Um…well, I was hoping that you would be able to help me with that part."

Snotlout frowned. "Nope. Sorry, but we don't have time to train anybody on becoming a hero. We're still trying to figure out what we need to do to save Greece."

"I can make that easier! I'll figure out something." Icarus looked around desperately. "I can clean the animals."

"Water doesn't work on Hookfang," Snotlout revealed. "He doesn't like baths, so he'd just turn it all into steam."

Hope vanished from the boy's eyes. Hiccup went over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"There's actually a way you can help us."

"Really?" he asked, face lighting back up.

"Yeah, we're trying to contact a few of the other gods."

"Why?"

"We're hoping to see if they'll be willing to work with us. It would be a lot faster if you went to a couple temples while we went to others."

"I can do that!"

"Great. Could you go to Apollo's and Dionysus's temples? I'll go to Athena's and Atê's and Snotlout can visit Artemis's and Demeter's."

The boy nodded his head so fast, Hiccup worried it would fall off.

"Thanks, Daedalus! I won't let you down!"

He also bowed his head to the older boy, but Hiccup stopped him.

"You don't have to do that. Also, you can just call me Hiccup."

This made the other Berkian look excited. "Okay! I'm also called Gustav. I'll be right back."

Gustav darted for the temples. As he went, Snotlout regarded his cousin doubtfully.

"He seems like he'll be trouble."

"So do you, but we haven't kicked you off the team yet."

"Haha," Snotlout muttered sarcastically. Gradually, his eyes widened. "You're not really planning on kicking me off the team, are you?"

"Probably not until we find a better muttonhead," Dagur stated, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

Snotlout frowned, pushing him as the immortal laughed. The mortals split up to beseech the gods in their temples. Gustav was back first, looking around curiously. Since it was not customary for gods to pray to one another in their temples, Dagur had stayed behind. He slightly regretted this decision as the young Berkian took the opportunity to ask any and every question he could think of about immortality.

"Did you make the chimera immortal too?" he asked. "I heard some gods can control fire. Is that why your hair's red?"

Dagur answered most of the questions, but his head started to spin after a while. He was glad to see the cousins returning.

"You're back!" he exclaimed. "Gustav, you can also ask them things. I'm sure there's a lot you want to know about being an inventor or a warrior."

"Yeah there is!"

A devious grin spread over Dagur's face and Snotlout's eyes narrowed at him.

"I won't forget this."

Dagur's smile did not last long, but Snotlout soon had one on his face. The other gods had arrived. Huffing, the redhead crossed his arms.

"How come you two get out of this?" he grumbled.

"Just lucky, I guess," Snotlout boasted.

They were pleasantly surprised to see that all the immortals they had beseeched were present. There was even another familiar face who really made Snotlout grin. He and Minden ran over to each other.

"Mindo!" he exclaimed, hugging her.

"I'm glad to see you again, Snotlout!" she cried, returning the hug.

"When I heard you ask for me," Atali said, "I thought it would only be fair to bring her too."

"Thanks," the young warrior said sincerely.

Astrid regarded the group seriously. "I'm guessing I know why we were asked to meet."

"Glad someone does because I'm lost," Tuffnut admitted, scratching his head. "Did one of you want wine?"

"No, Tuff," Heather stated. "We're here to see if we think there's a traitor."

Fishlegs shuddered. "I hope not. Immortals haven't had to fight each other ever since the Titans were sent to Tartarus. If we have to go through that again…"

"Maybe we shouldn't be so hasty with throwing anyone in Tartarus," Atali said.

Ruffnut rubbed her palms together. "Or maybe we should be hastier!"

"No, we shouldn't," Astrid chided. "That's not going to help."

"It could. We toss one of us in there to throw everybody off. They'd never suspect it!"

Dagur let out a noise of not necessarily disagreeing, causing the other gods to frown at him.

"Well, obviously, we shouldn't send any of us to Tartarus," he added defensively. "I'm just saying that pretending like we don't trust each other could help. If they think we think there's a traitor and also don't suspect anyone here, then that starts making it more likely that we suspect them."

Ruffnut grinned brightly. "See? And you thought it was a bad idea, Astrid."

The goddess of strategy sighed heavily. "Fine, that's not bad, but who are we looking at in particular?" She turned to the team. "I know we were discussing Hades and Poseidon. Is that everyone?"

"So far, but we aren't sure," Hiccup admitted.

"That's a good start at least." Astrid frowned, deep in thought. "With any threat, it's important to know why they're doing what they're doing. The plainest answer is: more power, but we don't know how killing more mortals gives them that."

Fishlegs was wringing his hands nervously. "Maybe they kill more mortals because…they're grumpy." When he received strange looks, he sighed. "I'm not used to this, okay? The last thing I expected to do today was stand here and start accusing other gods of conspiracy."

"Maybe not, Fishy, but I guess your prophecies jumped straight to tomorrow," Dagur commented, patting his back.

"What if you all drink something that makes you tell the truth, then the liar gets zapped by Zeus?"

Everyone turned, looking at Gustav. He suddenly felt silly for his suggestion.

"Or…maybe not."

"I should make a drink like that," Tuffnut commented. "I bet it would be delicious."

"But then you'd keep babbling all day," Ruffnut complained.

"So, I'd be just like you."

Before they could bicker, Astrid cut in. "This isn't productive."

"Maybe this would be easier if it was an immortal-exclusive meeting," Heather suggested.

Dagur's mouth curved down. "But they're my team," he said, gesturing to the cousins. "I know them better than most of you."

"Perhaps, but this is still a sensitive topic," Atali stated. "It could make everyone more comfortable if it was only us. We could talk in the immortal realm for a little while."

Dagur still disliked the plan, but the others preferred it. Hiccup stepped away.

"It's okay," he insisted. "We can check on things around Berk to make sure no new monsters are entering."

The war god's frown did not leave his face, but he nodded. Before the mortals' eyes, the deities vanished.

"So much for them working with us," Snotlout remarked. "They don't even want to talk to us."

"It's not personal," Minden informed him. "Even back home, Artemis tries to not engage with us too much if any strangers are around. It doesn't seem proper."

"She has to keep up the illusion of thinking she's superior to everyone?"

"Essentially. Otherwise, some mortals would lose respect. Here, we don't know these people. They probably don't want to make it seem like anyone could be invited to a council of the gods."

Snotlout's expression began to brighten. "Well, at least if we aren't going to be part of that, we can catch up. Want to go on a walk?"

"Sure!"

The warrior looked over at Hiccup, mischievousness in his eyes. "We'll take the east side of Berk. You two can take the west."

"Okay!" Gustav cheered.

Hiccup held in a sigh as he saw the other duo leave. Instantly, those questions that Gustav had not gotten to ask suddenly had a chance to be brought up. On the tenth question, it became clear that he was not going to stop anytime soon.

"What's your favorite type of material to work with?"

"I'm partial to metal," Hiccup admitted. Prior to Gustav speaking again, he added, "But I think we should also figure out something that you'd be able to do to help. Is there anything you like? I've always been interested in making stuff, so it sort of seemed natural to continue doing that."

Embarrassment crossed the younger boy's face. "I don't get to do much. I try to help Mom out around the house, but I normally just get in the way. I think she's been wishing a monster would eat me."

Hiccup sincerely hoped that was untrue. Regardless, his view of the boy started to change. He seemed so…similar. If becoming a hero did not mean that others could be helped, Hiccup must have never been taught the true definition of the word. All he needed at Gustav's age was for someone to believe in him. He could be that person for this Berkian.

"You know what," he commented, "I bet some of my inventions would go a lot faster if I had an apprentice."

Gustav's eyes lit up. "Do you mean it?"

"I do. I can't promise that you can go on missions with us. Those are really dangerous—we haven't even come back from all of them alive—but if I show you how to create some weapons and other tools while we're here, you can help protect Berk while we're gone."

The younger Berkian jumped, cheering. He ran off towards the workshop.

"We still were supposed to check on every…"

Hiccup sighed softly, then let out a chuckle. Changing his path, he went to the forge with Gustav. As they began work on weapons, Snotlout and Minden were still keeping an eye out for threats.

"I've been worried about you," Snotlout admitted.

He was pretending to look intently over a hill, not wanting the other warrior to know that he was subtly glancing her way. Doing so, he saw her smile.

"I've been worried about you too, but I'm glad you're fine."

"Yeah, I'd say one trip to the Underworld is enough for me for a really long time."

Minden's brow lifted, unsure if this was a joke or not. Snotlout laughed at her expression and explained. The huntress was shocked, but she still smiled.

"Wow. Not many people can say they went to the Underworld and came back. You're really having quite the adventure."

"Yeah, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me nervous sometimes."

"It should. You're opposing immortals. If it didn't, I'd think you weren't taking it seriously."

Snotlout grinned, nodding his head. "Good point. A little worry can be healthy."

"Especially if it means you stay careful."

"You too. Have you been facing a lot of monsters lately?"

"I have," the girl revealed. "Artemis's other followers and I have been exploring more of Greece, trying to see who needs our help. Sometimes, it's not even about stopping the monsters. A lot of our work has been helping cities and villages recover from damage when the monsters are gone."

"Do you have any guesses why this would all be happening?"

Minden hesitated, appearing uncertain. "There's another goddess. Eris. Have you heard of her?"

"Not that I remember."

"She deals with strife and discord. This is a longshot, but maybe the immortals are doing this because of her. I don't really know what else they'd gain by targeting mortals."

"Well, at least this helps Hades. He gets more obols."

"That's true. He could simply be greedy."

"If only we knew why Poseidon would care so much about him getting those obols."

Unsurely, the duo continued to walk together. The sun began to set when the immortals reappeared. Gustav dropped a hammer in surprise when he saw Athena. He scrambled to get it back up and bow. She glanced behind him at Hiccup.

"I want to talk to you," she stated.

Hiccup walked around the anvil to join her. He expected her to go outside, but she did not. Rather than that, she looked at Gustav. Realizing the cue, he hurried off.

"We're going to pretend like we distrust one another," she mentioned. "It keeps everyone safer if we do that. We'll all still be able to investigate. Those who really are guilty won't know we're onto them."

"I like that plan."

The blonde's expression remained tense. Hiccup wondered what all had been said, but he did not pry.

"Hey, whatever those immortals are planning, whoever they are, we'll stop them."

He grinned brightly at her and the goddess chuckled.

"You can be very optimistic for someone who can die."

"I like a challenge," he stated, shrugging. "It's really easy to be pessimistic."

"I try to be a realist. If we are fighting two of the three kings, our odds aren't great. Zeus won't like the thought of us going after his friend either, so we might have all the kings as our enemies."

"But when Zeus sees what's going on, he won't want to protect Poseidon anymore."

"That's assuming that he'll ever see what's going on. Friendship can blind individuals. I've seen it with my champions. That's why I prefer them to focus on training. Friends are liabilities."

Hiccup briefly got quiet. "Mine have helped me more than anything else. Maybe the other gods can become that for you too. At least the ones who were here today."

"There you go with that optimism again." Athena wanted to be annoyed, but she was not. "There are benefits in having allies. I can admit that, Daedalus."

"Hiccup," he corrected gently. "More people are starting to know me by that name too."

It was the goddess's turn to get quiet. Hiccup could see her mind racing. Finally, it seemed to settle on something.

"I haven't been called 'Astrid' by a mortal in centuries. You could use that if you want."

The inventor's grin got wide and he nodded. Before he could say much more, Astrid started to leave.

"First rule of strategy," she added, stopping, "think about your enemy's next move. That'll keep you alive longer." She began to vanish. "Good luck, Hiccup."

Enter: Icarus. You might remember way back in the beginning when I said that Daedalus was Icarus's father. Naturally, he's not here, but Icarus was a kid who (unsurprisingly) wasn't great at taking instructions. Despite that, he still acted as Daedalus's apprentice. After possibly revealing some sensitive information about one of his father's creations (more on that next chapter), the duo were imprisoned by King Minos and Queen Pasiphaë. They were given the Rapunzel treatment: Water Edition, getting locked in a tower that was surrounded by water. There was no way to safely escape by climbing down, so Daedalus used the materials in the tower like bird feathers, their sandal straps, and beeswax…admittedly, I have no idea why the beeswax was there. No matter, he used these to make his famous wax wings. Icarus was given simple instructions to not fly close to the water, making his wings heavy from the mist getting on them, or close to the sun. Icarus decided to channel his inner candle and heat the wax by flying closer to the sun. As a result, it melted and he crashed down into the water. Sadly, this caused him to drown. Icarus seemed to fit as Gustav to me since both just sort of have bad luck and don't listen to anybody despite wanting to help out. I'm actually incorporating a lighter variant of this story in a collection of comedic Greek tales I'll be publishing in May of this year. (Feel free to ask about it if you're interested! I love talking about upcoming projects :D)