Seeing Isn't Always Believing

8: Scavenger hunt

Hiccup and Jack stood for a while. It was clear that the only fear each of them had was of losing each other again so soon, especially for Jack. Hiccup could tell that he definitely had some abandonment issues and separation anxiety. It was easy to forget that he was an immortal spirit sometimes. Hiccup hadn't really stopped to think of the logistics of it all. He was 20, Jack had been 18 for who knows how long, but Hiccup wouldn't be able to stay 20 forever, and one day Jack would most definitely outlive him, yet Hiccup didn't linger on the morbid tones of what was years away in their future.  Hiccup didn't fear death. He did, however, fear how it would affect Jack and those left behind, especially now he was stepping into a new world of falling for an immortal spirit.
"What's on your mind? Are you having second thoughts about all this stuff with Pitch?" Jack asked. "No, just other stuff," Hiccup replied, vague as ever. Jack had a small idea that it was about him due to the sombre look in the boys eyes when he looked at him. "Second thoughts about me?" Jack asked, genuinely terrified for the response if it wasn't no. "Gods no!" Hiccup replied quickly. "Just think I've realised why you don't want to waste any of your immortal time with a mortal, let's get this over with so we don't waste any more of it on Pitch and his petty revenge plans." Hiccup's sombre look turned to a determined aggressive stare into the distance. He was thinking. "There is a way that guardians can die if no one believes, the weaker we are, and all it takes is to get caught off guard. Happened to sandy last time, but you know that you saw my memories. You can obviously be resurrected if the belief returns, and I mean, I don't know exactly how." Jack tried to explain. Hiccup rolled his eyes and kissed him, "Not helpful Frost, let's keep things light and cheery before chasing the darkness." Jack stood in awe of Hiccup's determination to stay upbeat about everything and watched him as he grabbed his notebook from the satchel on toothless' saddle and a pen.

After a few minutes of silent scribbling and thinking, Hiccup sighed and looked over at Jack, who had been desperately peeking over his shoulder to see what he was doing. "We really need to get the upper hand on Pitch, but our only defensible option seems to be to play along with his demands and then bring him down from the inside. We don't have enough information to go all in with an attack." Hiccup explained. "If I go back to Berk, meet with him alone, convince him that I don't care about any of this anymore and that I've moved on, see what he offers, then we have more information to go on." Hiccup continued, Jack gave him a 'I don't like this, but trying to stop you is pointless' look. "If I might interject. This plan will only work if Pitch trusts you genuinely don't remember Jack. Otherwise, he may wipe your memory, which is counterproductive, and you will not have the ability to remember and could end up doing something unconsciously harmful to us. There's a lot at stake here." North interrupted. "Do you guys have the ability to wipe my memory of Pitch? If I can't remember him or believe in him, that's our problem solved, right?" Hiccup questioned, trying to keep up with what the guardians can and can't do. "See, that's a grey area, mate. Only sandy can, but that has to be confirmed by the man upstairs." Bunny replied. "Man in moon, who chose all the guardians and protects all from the darkness. He is the only one who could grant such a thing, " North added. "He's not exactly very talkative since he made me a guardian." Jack sighed, feeling defeated. Jack looked over at Hiccup, who took out another journal full to the seams with envelopes and letters. "This was a gift from the new queen of Corona, Rapunzel. We write back and forth. In her last letter, she wrote about how her lady-in-waiting utilising this thing called the moon stone. Temporarily made her turn evil, but now the sun and moon stone are combined and balanced out. I don't exactly know how it works, but if we can ask Rapunzel to help us, it may help us get the moons' attention." Hiccup explained, hopping onto Toothless' back. "Worth a shot." Jack said optimistically as they flew away from the North Pole. "This isn't a fun scavenger hunt. They are at Easter." Bunny said unamused as they watched the boys fly off.

Landing just outside Corona, so Toothless wouldn't terrify the entire kingdom the boys left for the Palace walls whilst Toothless went diving for fish to eat in the lake. Once inside, they began walking through the corridors until a small figure came and hugged Hiccup's waist tightly from behind. Making Jack slightly jealous. "Woah! Hey there." Hiccup said, surprised. "Sorry, hi. I'm Varian. I'm such a fan of yours. Ever since Raps told me about you and your dragon inventions. I've always wanted to meet you!" Varian excitedly explained. Hiccup smiled and thanked him, explaining that he needed to find Rapunzel. Before he could get another word out, Varian had his hand and dragged him into the grand hall, where Rapunzel and Eugene were talking with the guards.

"Uh sunshine, you expecting guests?" Eugene asks, looking at Hiccup. Rapunzel turned around, and a massive smile grew on her face. "HICCUP! It is so great to see you again! What brings you to Corona?" She asked, hugging him tightly. "Your name is Hiccup? Like the diaphragm spasm? Did your parents hate you or what?" Eugene joked. "Right back at you, Fitzherbert!" Hiccup laughed as they hugged and laughed together. It was clear to Jack that nobody could see him, but it was still nice to watch Hiccup be himself and joking around.

Hiccup then turned to Jack, realised nobody else could see him. But he didn't seem to mind it. "I don't want to alarm anyone, so now is probably not the time. it's cool, we can have introductions later." Jack said kindly. Rapunzel then wrapped her arm around Hiccup,"Sooo, funny you should appear today, as your last letter arrived this morning..." Rapunzel started. Hiccup looked at Jack with an expression of 'Too late' and smiled.
"Your very vague note at the end of 'I may have met someone' springs to mind. So....Spill Haddock." She said jokingly, threatening, which when it was from Rapunzel was not at all threatening.

Rapunzel was the only person who knew about Hiccup's sexuality and had been a good friend to him many times by helping him come up with alibis for his father. So Hiccup didn't feel at all uncomfortable sharing with Rapunzel. "Well, would you believe me if I said he was in the room right now, but you just can't see him?" Hiccup asked with a little laugh. "Hiccup, after the last few months we have had, I don't question what is possible anymore." Rapunzel sighed with a smile. She'd clearly had a long and hard time with it all. "Well, would you believe it's Jack Frost, the winter spirit of fun?" He continued. "NO WAY! Is he actually real?!" Eugene butt in. As Jack appeared, he gave an awkward little wave. "You'd think you'd get used to the impossible things that keep happening after months' worth of insanity. But no." Eugene continued in pure awe. "Ha. Jack Frost, nice to meet you, not just a figment of your imagination." Jack laughed. "I take it back, my name is Flynn Rider." Eugene joked, clearly jealous of Jack's name. "If it makes you feel any better, my mortal name was Jack Overland." Jack shrugged. "No, that's still a cool name. My parents must've hated me. Not as much as Hiccup's, but they must have hated me." Eugene smirked at Hiccup.
"Hahaha! Very funny, Fitzherbert. Now back to business..." Hiccup began. Jack was sad to see Hiccup's relaxed and happy self, tense up, and his tone got precise and to the point as he explained the situation, start to finish.