People had this weird habit of contradicting themselves. For instance, the servants in the palace of Iolcos would talk behind the leaders' back, saying how cruel Pelias was and how they would do anything to stop him. Yet, as they prepared his food or did anything else which might put his life in their hands, they were loyal. It was like they would become new people in his presence. It was even the same for the other so-called leaders. When Pelias was not around, the average passerby would assume that any or all of them were in charge. Demaratus and the others walked with their shoulders back and heads high. As soon as any of them thought that the ruler was nearby, they turned into a group of sniveling children. It would have been amusing if it was not so pitiful. The team continued their spying. They had only been there a few days, but it was easy to get the servants to open up to them and even easier to hear the leaders gossiping. A war. That was what Pelias wanted…somewhere. The details were where the group struggled.

"We can't wait anymore," Dagur said.

He and the others were in a corner of the servants' quarters. At the time, the rest of the working mortals were all busy.

"Finally," Snotlout commented, crossing his arms. "If I had to clean up one more sandal mark, I was going to kill the leaders myself."

"But do we know enough yet?" Hiccup asked. "We still aren't sure if Pelias is working alone or with someone. If we stop him, we could scare off his allies before finding out who they even are."

"We just have to risk it," Dagur stated, brows furrowed.

It was loud. His friends could not hear it, but it was painfully loud. War was on the horizon. He heard it echoing in the chambers of his mind like a battle cry.

"We don't have much time before there's going to be a battle. If we don't get those monsters out of here, they'll be used to kill whoever Pelias wants."

"Then let's go now," Snotlout suggested. "We can get out there without anyone noticing."

"We still need somewhere to take the monsters," Hiccup reminded him. "If we let them out and don't have a good plan to direct them to a particular place, they'll hurt the people here."

"The chimera wouldn't be a problem. I'm not sure about the others," the immortal admitted. "I could try to take them to some remote island. A few of them probably swim, but even if they go somewhere else, it'll be more natural than it is for so many to be gathered in one spot."

The cousins looked at one another. It sounded like a fine plan to Snotlout. Hiccup was still uncertain about ending their undercover work so soon, but he could see that he was outvoted.

"Okay," he agreed. "If this is what you two want to do, let's go for it."

Snotlout grinned, but it began to fade. Hiccup's forehead creased in confusion. Dagur had a faraway look in his eyes and they were glowing.

"I have to go."

"What?" the dark-haired boy asked. "I thought we were about to finally do this."

"It'll have to be afterwards. I'm getting summoned."

"What does that mean?" Hiccup inquired.

"Zeus," Dagur answered, eyes returning to normal. "He's calling a meeting of the gods."

"Now?" Snotlout's mouth curved down. "He's got terrible timing."

"He does, but I've got to go. When I get back, we'll release the monsters."

"Can't we just do it while you're there?"

Dagur frowned at his friend. "No. I only know the chimera doesn't want to kill everyone. You can handle some of the monsters, but when we release all of them, I want to be here. Just wait. These meetings normally don't take long."

Reluctantly, Snotlout agreed. Secretly, Hiccup was glad that this happened. They watched as Dagur vanished.

"What do we do now then?" Snotlout asked, disappointed.

"Let's see what we can find out about Pelias."

Leading the way, Hiccup grabbed a bucket and started going towards the throne room. Snotlout sighed, then followed him. Pelias was not there, but he was in his chambers. That was not too far from the throne room and the closest any servant could ever get. The man did not allow them to enter his chambers. Snotlout pretended to clean a chalice that was on a table near a wall.

"I think I hear him talking," he whispered. "I can't tell what he's saying."

"Do you hear another voice?" Hiccup whispered back, cleaning the floors.

"Maybe." Snotlout paused, frowning. "This wall's really thick. It's hard to tell. Whoever it is isn't talking loudly, so it's probably something that they don't want anybody knowing."

"It could be why he doesn't let anyone in there."

"Yeah, but who should he be scared of? Everyone in this palace would throw themselves off the nearest cliff if he ordered it."

Hiccup nodded, frowning. "You're right. He wouldn't care, but…" A light appeared in his eyes. "Maybe whoever he's working with doesn't want to be known. He could be working with the traitor gods after all."

The cousins went silent, the uneasiness of uncertainty plaguing them.

"If that's true," Snotlout said, "I hope Dagur will be okay in this meeting."

Solemnly, the duo continued to clean as they awaited their friend. While they did, Dagur arrived at Mount Olympus. The reception was mostly the same as always, but he noticed that a few glances were less cold. He approached a large table, sitting near Fishlegs.

"How are they doing?" the blond asked quietly.

"Pretty good," Dagur answered. "We were actually in the middle of something when Zeus sent that message."

The war god's eyes shifted. He wanted to know who all was there. Unfortunately, it seemed like nearly everyone was. When his gaze fell on Alvin, he saw the sea king glaring at him. Dagur flashed a toothy grin, making the larger immortal scowl with more viciousness. The others at the table seemed calmer. Curiously, Dagur noticed that Heather was glaring at Alvin, but Astrid gave her shoulder a comforting pat. Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked like they would need to be convinced to pay attention. Some of the minor gods and goddesses were talking, but the room went silent when the king and queen entered. Zeus and Hera went to sit beside one another.

"I called this meeting today," the king announced, "because word has reached me that specific mortals are being selected and murdered on a scale that we haven't seen before."

Zeus gestured towards the table at one of the immortals.

"Hermes, would you share what you know?"

The messenger god stood up, smiling widely. "Of course, Your Majesty. On my many travels, I have heard countless tales of mortals being attacked. It comes naturally since I transport many of the souls to the Underworld personally. Why, this one time, you would not believe the tale I heard. If I weren't right there to see the effects of the monster, I surely would not have."

Hera raised her hand to stop him. "Hermes, can you please just tell us?"

The Olympian cleared his throat. "Yes, Your Highness. Well, it seemed to begin roughly a decade ago. Monsters such as centaurs, satyrs, and other beasts are targeting mortals who are known for protecting others. I heard that we would have lost Perseus had an ally warrior of his not defended him so valiantly. I always found that interesting about mortals. Sometimes, they can be so protective of each other and other times—"

Hermes stopped himself. He saw the frown on the royals' faces.

"In short," he said, "it's becoming quite an issue."

"Why?" Tuffnut asked. "Don't mortals always fight monsters?"

"If these attacks are targeted," Astrid chimed in, "it could cause more harm than anything else. The heroes grow old, they get tired. At the end of the day, they're still mortal. We need them to keep the other mortals safe."

"Would they be happy if I threw them a party?"

"I don't think that's going to solve the problem," Heather commented.

"Yeah," Ruffnut agreed. "What they need is some mischief. If they spent more time pulling pranks and less time fighting monsters, they'd get to live longer."

"No, that's not really—"

The blonds did not hear her. Instead, they began arguing over why pranks were better than parties and vice versa. Fishlegs wound up joining in, although his point differed, then Astrid did the same. It ended when they heard a thunder clap. They turned to the king.

"Squabbling won't get us anywhere," Stoick stated. "We need to find a solution."

"Ideally, we'll also find the root of the problem," Valka added.

"We might be able to find who is most likely to benefit from this," Atali suggested.

"But who would?"

The gods got quiet. No one wanted to be the first to accuse someone without proof.

"I bet it's someone here."

The immortals all turned to Dagur. He was sharpening a knife with a casual look on his face.

"What did you just say?" Stoick asked suspiciously.

"I said that it's probably someone here. Not sure who, though."

"Why would you say something like that?" Heather asked, shocked.

"It seems like this type of plan would need a lot of power. The monsters are a testy bunch. Who better to unite them than a god?"

Dagur made sure to not let his gaze linger on Alvin. He wanted the others to believe that this was all speculation.

"That's a crazy thought," Mildew complained. "We all already have everything we could need. Who'd gain anything by killing random mortals?"

"But it's not random. Only the heroes are dying. That's what we just learned, remember?"

Annoyed, Mildew looked away from him. More annoyance was in Stoick, but it was slightly more dangerous.

"Ares, if you're going to accuse other gods, you need evidence."

"I know. I'm not really accusing anybody. I'm just saying it makes the most sense."

"What makes sense to you is nonsense to everyone else," Alvin claimed.

Gobber scratched his chin. "He could have a point, though. I haven't noticed anything with the king or queen of monsters. They'd be the only other ones to unite them. If they're still minding their own business, then it could be an immortal who's responsible."

Stoick seemed shocked by the statement. "Gobber," he said, sounding hurt. "You think one of us is a traitor?"

The craftsman was less hesitant to look at Alvin. "I think it's possible."

Alvin sneered back at him. "You've been around those fumes and flames too long, Hephaestus. You'll be giving into crazy talk soon too."

The gods glared at one another as some of the others uncomfortably shifted. While this discussion continued, Hiccup and Snotlout had not stopped their work. They only hesitated when they heard screams. The noise was coming from outside the palace. Snotlout groaned unhappily.

"Great, now they're letting those monsters out again."

He and Hiccup ran out to see what the commotion was. They did not see the chimera this time, but there were more of the cerastes. The other mythical beasts were already there, ready to defend people. Toothless trampled a serpent as Hookfang burned another. Spotting the boys, the horse flew over. Hiccup hopped up, getting to his back.

"We'll go to the other side of the kingdom," he said.

"Alright," Snotlout responded, getting onto Hookfang's saddle. "We can meet up at the castle when we're done."

Hiccup and Toothless took off. It seemed like serpents were everywhere. One sunk its fangs into a tree, barely missing the person who had seen it in time to move. Toothless kicked it, knocking the reptile into a building's wall.

"I don't get why they're being let out right now," Hiccup admitted, frowning. "Nothing's different today. I didn't see anyone causing a scene. What's the point in doing this?"

Toothless let out a soft noise of uncertainty. It did not make sense to either of them. Maybe the leaders just wanted to remind everyone that they were in charge. It was all the duo could think of as an explanation. While they continued to fight, Snotlout tied several serpents' tails together. Like this, he shook them.

"We were going to free you," he scolded angrily. "You're not making this easier on yourselves."

They merely hissed at him and he looked at Hookfang.

"You don't speak serpent, do you?"

The phoenix seemed insulted by the question.

"Fine, sorry. Thought I'd ask."

Snotlout's gaze moved to another cry, leading him to more of the reptiles. They were simple enough to stop, but their numbers were irritating. Eventually, the boy and bird had gotten rid of the last one. Snotlout wiped his hands, looking proud.

"Okay, that should be it. Let's go see how Hiccup and Toothless did."

The two of them were about to fly towards the other duo, but something stopped them. There was another scream.

"What now?" Snotlout asked, confused. "I thought we got all of them."

Hookfang let out an unsure squawk and began flying towards the noise. They noticed that there was a lot more than just screaming. There was thumping. Someone was walking heavily. The ground shook each time a step was taken. This drew Hiccup's and Toothless's attention as well. They started to go towards the commotion. The inventor's eyes widened fearfully.

"What…is that?"

It was a giant beast. Unlike the others, it was not coming from the tunnels. This was entering the kingdom. It had a serpent's head, dragon tail, and a rooster-shaped body. Hiccup could not deny the sense of intense dread that he felt. Still, he tried to fight it. The beast was closer to them than Snotlout, so Toothless reached it first. They tried to lead it away from the kingdom, but the monster was not looking at them. It could not. Its eyes were closed.

"Does it even have eyes?" Hiccup wondered.

Toothless let his hooves run on the beast's side, hopefully drawing its attention. It worked. The monster flicked its powerful tail. Although that did not hit the duo, the wind caused by the swing made them lose control of their flight. Toothless struggled to regain control fast enough. He barely stopped before crashing into a building.

"Hiccup! Toothless!" Snotlout called out, approaching the scene. "Are you two okay?"

Hiccup weakly nodded. "Y-yeah, I think so. We can't get that to leave."

"We'll see what we can do. Come on, Hooky."

The other half of the team flew towards the back of the beast. Hookfang blew fire out of his beak, but his flames did nothing to the basilisk. It was like the beast was fireproof. Panic filled Snotlout at the realization.

"Let's call on Dagur," Hiccup suggested. "This isn't one of the monsters that's normally underground."

"How'd it even get here?" Snotlout asked nervously.

Hiccup had no answer for him. He just tried to hold onto Toothless's saddle tightly when the creature swung its tail towards them again. That time, Toothless could not prevent the crash. They hit a wooden wall, going through it. The blow got Hookfang and Snotlout as well. They had the wind knocked out of them when they hit another wall. Some rubble fell onto the Phoenix. Quickly, the warrior began trying to dig him out. He froze when he felt hot breath on his back. Snotlout stayed still for a moment, inhaling slowly. Carefully, he began reaching for his ax. He saw Hookfang's eyes from under the debris. The bird had a fearful look in his eyes. Snotlout tried to give a small smile, but it looked as afraid as he was. Regardless, he would protect his family. The warrior tightened his grip and turned. When he did, he dug the blade into the creature's snout. That was when its eyes opened.

Snotlout's chest felt tight. His breathing began speeding up and he was cold, yet hot simultaneously. The boy thought he was about to become ill. His knees started to give out on him. He heard Hiccup call out his name, but his voice sounded so distant. His eyes were failing. He could not see the basilisk walking off, then flying away from the kingdom. Snotlout coughed, spitting out blood. He began to shake and could not stop. When he fell, Hiccup caught him before he hit the ground.

"H-Hiccup," he muttered. "Help."

Panic coursed through the inventor as he saw his cousin turn ashen. Snotlout was deathly pale. Hiccup's own hands began to shake.

"Dagur!" he cried. "Ares! We beseech you!"

Yeah, I do feel pretty bad about this chapter…sorry. On a brighter note, here are some basilisk facts! Some sources say that it's a combination of a rooster, serpent, and dragon like it is here. Other times, it can be about a foot long. There are roots to North Africa and it has a poisonous touch too. It is called the king of serpents (queen in this case since this is Windshear. She wouldn't do this if not for Alvin, so please don't be mad at her. Of course, with her canonically having poisonous tears, I liked the idea of her eyes still being dangerous). Apparently, its breath was destructive. At times, it could even have a lethal stench. I didn't choose to go that route since I wanted to focus on the main point of interest to me: the eyes. The eyes of the basilisk are said to be able to kill with a single glance. Send some good luck to the heroes! They need it!