When the heroes' work in Sarpedon was finished, they started returning to Athens. They decided that they would stay there until finding a new development in their mission. During the flight, Hiccup thought back to what Throk had mentioned.

"Can you tell us about the temples now?" he requested.

"Oh yeah," Dagur said. "I forgot I was supposed to do that. Well, it's weird."

"Very weird," Snotlout stated. "So, if I go to a temple and kick the wall, is that like kicking one of you?"

"It's not that bad." The immortal paused for a moment to consider how he could say this. "In a way, we need each other."

"What do you mean?" Hiccup inquired.

"We'll still be immortals no matter what, but some of our strength comes from mortals who pray to us. It's complicated. It can end up being a strength and a weakness."

"How does that work?" Snotlout asked, brow raised. "Wouldn't it be one or the other?"

"Not really. An immortal who doesn't have any temples isn't going to vanish or anything, but one who does will have stronger powers. It's a weakness if those mortals stop praying and start hating the immortal. If it gets so bad that the temples are even destroyed, it can take a toll on you. It's not irreparable damage or anything since there'd normally just be one temple at a time getting messed up, but it stays for a little while which is a long while for mortals. An immortal who has temples that get destroyed could end up being weaker than one who never got any built."

The cousins got quiet, then Hiccup spoke.

"Has that ever happened to you?"

Dagur did not immediately answer. Hiccup and Snotlout glanced at one another unsurely.

"Yeah," the war god admitted. "It was so long ago that I'd almost forgotten. Now, I barely have any temples for someone to break, so that works out."

He let out a wild laugh. The boys tried to think of something nice to say, but Dagur changed the subject too quickly.

"While you two are here, I'm going to check Mount Olympus again and see if I can learn anything else about what we're dealing with."

"Do you think anyone there is someone we'd be fighting?" Hiccup inquired.

"That's what I want to find out. I'll let you know what happens."

They agreed to the plan and it was not long before the group landed. Dagur turned back into his humanoid form, then vanished.

"I wonder how much it hurts," Snotlout commented, turning to look at his cousin. "Maybe it's the immortal equivalent of being stabbed or something, then healing from it."

"I don't know. I just know that I don't ever want to see someone go through that," Hiccup said, brows furrowed.

"If I'd been there when his temple was getting destroyed, the vandalizers would've stopped really fast," the warrior stated, putting his fist into his other palm.

Hiccup's eyes began to brighten with an idea. "Maybe something like that should happen. They could put guards by the temples. Then there'd be less chance of someone messing up anything because they'd be too worried about getting apprehended."

"I guess you're an inventive thinker after all."

The boys' eyes widened at the sound of a new voice. They turned and saw another immortal. It took them several moments to fully register who they were looking at.

"A-Athena," Hiccup said, immediately bowing his head.

Snotlout was so shocked that he almost forgot to do that, but he quickly joined in. The goddess regarded them curiously.

"I saw what happened with Medusa. No one's thought to give her glasses."

A faint blush covered the inventor's cheeks. "I just didn't want her to suffer. Da–Ares said that you helped her too. Thanks."

Astrid paused in surprise. She was not often thanked for her kindness. Strategies and guidance, always, but rarely for being considerate. The immortal glanced away from him.

"I didn't do it to be thanked, but you're welcome." She looked back at him with a sort of intrigue. "I want to talk to you. Just you."

Hiccup sent an apologetic look to Snotlout, but the bigger boy did not seem upset.

"It's okay," he assured him. "I'm going to make sure nothing ate Dad while we were gone."

Snotlout bowed his head again, then ran off for their home. Astrid watched him go, feeling mildly impressed that he had not made a fuss over being dismissed. She turned her attention back to the other mortal.

"Do you think you'll invent anything else?"

"I do," Hiccup said.

"What will it be?"

The boy hesitated nervously. "I don't really know right now. I was planning on making a better version of this one tool to cook meat, but I normally just come up with an invention when the situation calls for it."

"I suppose it makes sense that you would use the situation to help inspire you."

"It's worked out pretty well so far."

"Then…are you satisfied?"

Her question took Hiccup off guard. "What do you mean? Satisfied with my inventions?"

"With having Ares as your patron. You used to ask for my guidance." There was silence and she added, "It's not a trick question."

"I'm satisfied," Hiccup responded. "The three of us have been able to do a lot together already. We might even be able to help you one day."

Astrid's brow rose at that thought. It was almost laughable to imagine those two mortals and Ares helping her. Outside of getting involved in her champions' lives, there was little they could do. Despite that, the goddess could not say that the sincerity in Hiccup's voice was not endearing. Even if it was highly unlikely to ever happen, the mortal really thought he would be able to help and seemed happy with the prospect of it being reality.

"Maybe," Astrid said. She turned away, looking off towards the coast. "You might be more skilled than I thought, Daedalus."

Hiccup's eyes lit up hopefully. "Really?"

"Don't get a big head," the goddess advised. "I just didn't think you'd go on the kinds of missions that you did and somehow survive them."

"I guess I'm full of surprises."

Hiccup grinned and the blonde studied his expression more.

"Maybe you are," she conceded. "If I decide you're worth more of my time, you'll see me again."

The goddess said nothing else before leaving. Hiccup kept the smile on his face.

"I actually just spoke with Athena," he thought, amazed.

Wanting to prove that he would be worth that time, he got right back into his inventions. There was a certain cooking method waiting to be improved upon by him. As Hiccup did this, Snotlout had reached their home. Athens was relatively quiet, lacking any monsters to the warrior's surprise. He found his father outside, holding a spear with his eyes set on the horizon. As soon as anything entered the city, he wanted to know. Spitelout did not shift his gaze as the boy approached.

"Hey, Dad," he greeted. "We're back, but I don't know how long we'll be here."

"Where have you been? I expected some stories, but I haven't heard anything."

"We haven't been gone that long," Snotlout mumbled. "Word probably just hasn't gotten out of Ephyra yet. They were busy fixing up things for everyone, so they might talk more when that's figured out. We did good work, though. We even stopped an evil king and got a minotaur to work with people instead of eating them."

"You did, huh? Seems like something the subjects would want to talk about. Maybe they didn't think the impact was big enough to share."

The boy's brows furrowed and he stopped talking. Why did Spitelout always have to do this?

"It's been fun," he said. "We met another warrior while we were out and even caught up with Throk."

"It isn't supposed to be fun, Boy-o," Spitelout stated. "You're supposed to be making a name for this side of the family. I heard that Throk went to fight a gorgon. You should have caught up with him during that. Heroes are all over Greece, but I still haven't heard one mention of 'Heracles' anywhere."

Snotlout would have been more upset in the past, but he no longer felt the intense desire to go and hear his name chanted by adoring crowds. He just wished that Spitelout would be more accepting of the missions. Was fame really the only way to his father's heart? Suddenly, Spitelout's eyes widened and he finally looked at him.

"You should go to Thrace," he suggested.

"What's in Thrace?"

"Mares."

Snotlout paused, scratching his head. "Why do we need to find horses?"

"These are dangerous. They're four man-eating mares. They've been eating visitors. It's a pretty big issue, so if you take care of that, people will know who you are." Spitelout put a hand on his shoulder, starting to push him away from the home. "Go on. No point in you being here while the mares are over there. Make me proud. I don't want to see you come back until the problem's been solved."

Dragging his feet, the Snotlout went to go to find Hiccup. He was on his way while Dagur continued looking around the immortal realm. So far, he was not seeing or hearing anything that seemed useful. It was wearing his already limited patience even more thin. What did not help was when he sensed someone behind him. He sighed and turned.

"Ares," an elderly immortal greeted, sneering. "Still not welcomed to stand with the other gods in honor, I see, so you creep around like a snake."

"Mildew," the younger god greeted. "Still looking older than the planets, I see."

The god turned up his nose. "I've told you before, call me Geras."

"I call you a lot of things."

Geras scoffed. "How typical of you. I heard you've been trying to cause more of a stir around here. You and those mortals…" He sucked his teeth. "You've probably worried Artemis over nothing. Nothing can happen to immortals, but you still have her thinking that we're in danger along with those short-lived warriors of hers. If you weren't so focused on instigating problems, maybe you'd be received better."

Dagur glared at him. "And maybe if you weren't so busy complaining about everything and everyone, you could enjoy the wise part of old age instead of just being a curmudgeon."

Geras looked offended by the remark. He started walking away, using his cane for support.

"I don't know why they keep you around," he said. "With powerful gods like Poseidon and Zeus, you're useless. If we even needed war, Athena could replace you."

Dagur was going to make a remark, then stopped. He was reminded of something. Poseidon.

"I never liked that guy," Dagur thought. "I don't know if he's up to something or not, but it's worth a try to check. He could be one of the immortals who was forcing Medusa to turn mortals to stone."

Wanting to work on this sooner than later, the immortal went back to Athens. He saw the cousins outside their home. It seemed like he had arrived at the end of a discussion. Hiccup was still working on his invention, but a slight frown was on his face. Snotlout appeared to be equally disappointed. They turned to Dagur when he began walking over to them.

"What's wrong with you two?" he asked.

"Dad wants us to go back out."

"You just got here."

"Apparently, there's a problem in Thrace," Hiccup said.

"There are problems everywhere! If this isn't about heroes or shifty immortals and giants, we don't have time for it."

A silence followed his words as the cousins looked down.

"What?" Dagur asked, confused. "Do you really think I'm wrong?"

"No, but you don't know him," Snotlout stated. "If he doesn't think we went there, we won't be welcomed back."

"Who cares? He sounds like a jerk anyway. We can make shelter anywhere we go. I just brought you back here because I figured it would be easier, but we don't ever have to return."

"He's still my dad, though."

Hiccup saw that the immortal was still struggling with this concept. In a way, he could understand where both of his companions were coming from. Families for gods had to be different. Immortals probably did not worry about making one another proud. Meanwhile, it could be difficult to ask a mortal to not care about the opinions of a parent.

"I don't think it'll take us too long," the boy said. "There are some man-eating mares there who need to be stopped before they eat a lot of people. Maybe if we handle that, we'll even be able to get some new information for our mission."

Dagur considered that, also noticing Snotlout's hopeful expression.

"I guess I should help stop those horses since I'm the one who put them in Thrace in the first place."

"You were?" Hiccup asked, surprised.

"They're cool!" Dagur's eyes were bright as he thought back. "This one time, they ate a guy in two bites…come to think of it, I can kind of see how that would become an issue after a while."

"Why'd you put them there?"

"They were a gift."

"What?"

"They were cute and fluffy when they were foals. The king loved them. Plus, Thrace seemed boring, so I wanted them to spice things up."

Hiccup regarded him in bewilderment. "To keep things from being boring, you gave the king horses that eat people?"

"It did make everything more exciting."

The Berkian rubbed the bridge of his nose as he sighed. Snotlout looked between him and the immortal.

"Does this mean that we really are going?"

Dagur nodded and started turning back into a vulture.

"Hop on," he encouraged. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we find out about Poseidon."

The Berkians quickly climbed up and held onto the feathers. They started flying to their new location and Hiccup glanced down.

"You said that we have to look into what's going on with Poseidon?"

"Yeah, I was talking with Geras—if you combine the meanest parts of the oldest people you know, that's him. Anyway, he actually said something useful for once. He brought up Poseidon, which reminded me of how suspicious he is. If there's someone who was forcing Medusa to kill, he could definitely do it. Even among gods, he's one of the most powerful."

"In that case," Snotlout said, turning pale, "how would we stop him?"

The others got quiet, letting the only sound be the wind in their ears.

"I haven't figured that part out yet," Dagur admitted.

It was nothing he liked to speak about. He was a god as well, but he was not foolish. Poseidon was one of the strongest immortals on Mount Olympus. If they were in a one-on-one fight, the war god did not know if he would be able to take down the sea king. It was embarrassing, but it was also a cost of lacking temples. Mortals understood the value of the sea and created temples to pray for safe passage. Those who prayed for war were not the building type. It did not seem like there could be a world where Ares was worshipped more than Poseidon. This just made it all the more difficult to oppose him if he was truly involved.

"Well, you don't have to do it alone," Hiccup said.

"Yeah," Snotlout added. "I can hold my breath for a super long time, so if he's part of this and tries to drown me, he'll get tired of waiting."

He made his friends chuckle at the idea. Gradually, the mood improved. They would take each part of the mission one step at a time. First, they would deal with the problem in Thrace. It was night as they flew over the city. They were met with the sound of screams. They could also hear flesh being torn. People were running for their lives and even the wildlife seemed to be in a state of panic. The team started lowering to land in the kingdom. Dagur let out a sheepish laugh.

"When I was last here, it wasn't this bad," he stated. "I swear."

"I don't even see them anywhere," Hiccup commented, squinting.

"You probably won't. They're really fast."

"How nice," Snotlout mentioned sarcastically. "Man-eating mares who are also really fast. How can this get any better?"

Dagur was going to say something, but another scream cut him off. Snotlout ducked when he sensed someone charging at him. He remembered how it was to fight without sight, so he was unaffected by the night. Soon, it was no longer dark as fire shot out of two horses' mouths.

"And they breathe fire?!" he asked. "Remind me to never ask for a gift from you!"

The horses ran off as quickly as they arrived. Their nostrils flared, flames escaping them as they galloped. Dagur rubbed the back of his neck.

"Okay, not one of my better ideas," he admitted. "We should probably stick together on this one so that neither of you get roasted or eaten."

"I like the sound of neither of those things happening," Hiccup said, anxiously looking around.

Cautiously, the group started going further into the kingdom. It was not so simple as just following the sounds of danger since all the terrified animals were making noise. Wherever they were not, people were trying to evacuate. All the team could do was pick a direction and keep walking until they were happy with the result. A new sound caught Dagur's attention.

"There's a baby," he revealed.

"Here?" Hiccup asked, horrified. "How would it even survive?"

"I don't know, but I sense its fear. It's a different kind of terror from kids and adults." Dagur paused, looking ahead. "Let's go this way."

He led the team forward, maneuvering around the spooked animals. When he stopped, his eyes widened. Snotlout's jaw dropped and Hiccup could hardly believe his eyes. The baby was protectively hidden under a wing, but that was what drew their attention. Laying on the ground was a winged-horse with bright green eyes and a black mane and coat that shimmered in the moonlight. Hiccup spoke with awe in his voice.

"A Pegasus."

Geras is the god of old age. When I saw that, I knew he had to be Mildew. He was depicted as a shriveled, tiny man. So, basically Mildew. Apparently, he was in a story fighting Heracles, but that has unfortunately been lost to time. People only know about the association because of the two of them being on a vase together. There's another story where he was a mortal prince who was gifted immortality, but not agelesssness. Poor planning. Also for the mares, they are the man-eating mares of Diomedes. The king in myth is actually one of Ares's sons who the god gave that gift to. In this story, Dagur's not a dad, so he just was feeling nice (albeit a bit misguided). The horses were stolen by Heracles as one of his tasks. There are various versions of how they were defeated. The stories have ranged from them being trapped on a peninsula after Heracles dug a trench and filled it with water to them being fed Diomedes and consequently calming down. (Also, if anyone here is interested, this same chapter on Ao3 has some fanart from Medibang Paint Pro to go along with it.)