Giving Fantasia: The Taking Fantasia Sequel

Chapter 133: All For One

Chapter 133: All For One

Have you ever identified a smell by its whiff? Have you ever cashed in on a lucky guess? Have you ever seen more stars from the corner of your eye? 

Have you ever recognized a face by a fleeting glance?

Well, Hiccup did. Within the three seconds that he and Arthur made eye contact, Hiccup saw The King. The moment was too short for logic. Impossibilities were negated. Gut instinct took over. Arthur's thick hair, big ears, and blue eyes automatically conjured The King from Hiccup's memory.

So, when he had his chance, Hiccup did not capture Arthur. He was too stunned. He was also too busy denying what he had seen. But, by the time Hiccup's rational predominated, Arthur had lost his footing.

"Whoa, whoa!" Hiccup swiped for Arthur. "Look out behind you! Ledge –"

Arthur fell. Crack. Crunch. Crunkge. It sounded painful. Hiccup felt each impact. Reminded again of The King (his slight clumsiness), Hiccup and Toothless pounced after Arthur. They never reached him. Nightmares intercepted, knocking Hiccup from the saddle and Toothless from midair.

The nightmares attacked.

Hiccup relieved every terrible memory. The nightmares made his memories more horrific, but none surpassed the memory of Chief Stoick's death. Hiccup saw his father's corpse, he smelled his father's grave, he heard his father wishing for a better son: What am I going to do with him, Gobber? You know what he's like. From the time Hiccup could crawl he's been... different.

Someone laughed. A throaty, rocky laugh.

"You had your chance, little Viking."

Drago picked through the nightmares. The nightmares stopped long enough for Drago to hypnotize Toothless, but not long enough for Hiccup to escape. Hiccup struggled, but the nightmares retaliated, leaving Toothless at Drago's command.

Toothless was fitful. He heard Hiccup and struggled against the spell. Drago lashed his bullhook. Toothless cried. Climbing Toothless' saddle, Drago addressed Hiccup over his shoulder.

"Didn't Stoick ever tell you? Men who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with." Drago flew Toothless from Hiccup. "Enjoy your nightmares, little Viking. No. You are not a Viking. You are a mistake. You are a ...hiccup."

Drago departed, separating the dragon from his trainer. Hiccup called for Toothless. He begged him to come back. But even that moment turned into a painful memory, one to pile atop all the others. The nightmares fed on Hiccup's sadness. They eliminated every happy thought.

Except one. One thought that was not happy, but it was not sad.

It was bittersweet.

Hiccup heard himself. He heard his deepest secret, spoken aloud.

I was so afraid of becoming my dad.

Mostly because I thought I never could.

Because...

How do you become someone that great, that brave, that selfless?

"I guess..." Hiccup whispered, in reply. "You can only try."

The happy thought sparked. And slowly, Hiccup climbed from the nightmares. Slowly, his happy thought grew, beating the darkness with hope.