Cursed Royalty

chapter ten

Books were scattered all over the table, some shoved to the side or simply thrown to the floor in sheer frustration. The atmosphere thickened with tension and apprehension at the little to no progress they were making.

Unamused expressions stared at the mess sprawled out in front of them, a reminder of their failed attempts that ended up coming out short-handed. Their eyes were plastered on the pages for hours, repeating the same routine ; read, discuss, go back to reading.

Tick, tick, tick.

A faint sound arose from the clock, deafening out all the other noises that surrounded them. The fire that was crackling for hours now, the hail clashing hard with the pavement outside, the little hums coming from Olaf were all singled out.

The clock hung adjacent to the desk they were situated at, looked down upon them. It felt as if it were mocking them, laughing at their dismay and serving as a constant symbol of time running out.

She sighed, rubbing her temples as she sensed a headache occurring.

Olaf loved books and the doors they opened for ones imagination to run wild but now, as he sat there on that uncomfortable chair and skimmed through the many lines of writing that didn't help them in any way, it started to annoy him. He huffed, slamming his head on the table. "I'm so tired." The snowman said, extending his twig arms above his head and yawning.

Hiccup shared the same sentiment, rubbing his eyes to stay awake. "Me too."

Jack looked at the two and nodded, "This isn't even getting us anywhere. It's so pointless." He asked, staring right at Elsa. Almost as if he were putting the blame of their state on her.

She rolled her eyes, something she found herself doing so often in his presence. "Just because something isn't going the way you'd like it to doesn't mean that you just give up. Have some faith." Elsa reasoned.

"Thanks for the inspirational speech, but I don't need it."

Elsa wanted to drive the pen that she was clutching in her hand right into his eye, "Has anyone told you how annoying you are or are you just used to listening to your praises?"

"Not to my face. Why, have you heard something?" Jack further challenged her, finding amusement in this little game of theirs.

"You guys sure do love trolling." Olaf commented as he ate the cookies Dorota had left behind, earning a nod of agreement from Hiccup.

Olaf's words rang in her ear and that's when an idea presented itself to her, the puzzle piece solving on its own. The answers weren't going to appear through these books, they needed to approach someone far more qualified. How did she not think of this before?

"Grand Pabbie!" She exclaimed.

All three heads turned to look at her, confusion written on all of them. "What?" Hiccup questioned.

"What the hell is a Grand Pabbie?" Jack said at the same time.

"Grad Pabbie is a troll that resides in the Valley of the Living Rock. He's far more wise than anyone I've ever known and I'm certain that his capabilities can help us. The loophole we need isn't going to be in these books, we've gotten nowhere like you've mentioned," she pointed to Jack. "...but, someone like Grand Pabbie who's as old as the Earth, obtains knowledge that we don't even know of. He has magic sensitivity, a connection to elements of magic and the supernatural. Even better, Grand Pabbie can garner a full understanding of any magical curse."