Chapter Text
It sounded like a plea, but it also sounded like a command. A desperate one, but still. Jack could refuse; Hiccup had told him that he didn’t need to come out with the truth until he was ready. But Jack had also told him that coming with them on this journey would probably reveal the truth to him in some way or another…he just wished it hadn’t been like this. This revelation wasn’t anything innocent as to explain why all the baby teeth in the village had gone missing. Not that that had stopped Ruffnut and Tuffnut from being afraid of magic.
Jack didn’t know what that thing was. Nøkken. But obviously, it was something to be feared, and it was a legend that Hiccup already knew about – and obviously believed in, despite his own protests. Hiccup’s introduction to magic had almost gotten Jack killed; he had even more reason to fear it than the twins.
And then there was another problem. Jack looked at Baby Tooth, and spoke in English:
“What about the future?”
Baby Tooth averted her eyes. Her reply was hesitant, and Jack sent her a puzzled look when she flew back to Toothless’ head, as if she was attempting to escape the consequences of her own answer. Jack was confused, but he nodded and turned back to Hiccup.
Hiccup’s eyes were darting nervously between Jack and Jamie.
“Okay,” Jack said, ignoring how his stomach was trying to tie itself into one giant knot. “But…But remember what I told you. Keep an open mind. Things—”
“Aren’t always as they seem,” Hiccup finished with a doubtful expression. “I thought that had something to do with double-crossing or something—something convoluted like that.”
Jack frowned. “No,” he said. “You really thought I’d betray you somehow?”
“Not really,” Hiccup said, shifting uneasily. “I have a friend, Heather—Actually, that’s beside the point. Go—Please go on.”
That sounded like a story Jack hoped to pull out of him some other time, if they were still friends after this. He took a shaky breath.
“The—the thing is,” he started, folding his hands under the blanket. “Let me start from the beginning.”
Jamie raised his brows, but Jack quickly shook his head. Not that far back – in Jack’s chronology anyway.
“The blizzard,” he said. “That you found us in. The reason we couldn’t explain why we’d gotten there was because we were transported there, by…by a magical force.” He glanced apprehensively at Hiccup.
Hiccup’s mouth was a thin line. He nodded slowly.
“The crystal you found,” Jack continued. “That’s a part of it. It shattered when I touched it, and…and somehow the pieces are now spread out, um…They got transported as well, I think. We realized not that long ago that having one piece could lead us to another.”
“So that’s what you’re looking for,” Hiccup said.
Jack grimaced. “Sort of?”
“Sort of…” Hiccup repeated.
“W-well, you see,” Jack said, and blamed the stammering on the cold and not his nerves. “The crystals only seem to work when they come in contact with magic. But it only works once with each source. That’s what we’re looking for. New sources of magic, that are hopefully spread out in the Archipelago. Once one crystal is energized, it s-sort of multiplies.”
Hiccup stared out at the ocean, blinking several times in row. His mental gears seemed to be in desperate need of oiling. It was a bit surprising, considering how quickly the Vikings were to blame things on the wrath of the gods; why was this any different?
“But you…” he eventually murmured. “You already have three? And you said you’d just glanced the crystal that I found, so how—And does that mean—” He pointed warily at the forest. “Did—did you know? That he—That it—”
“No,” Jack quickly said, shaking his head. “We knew there was a source of magic in there, but I—I didn’t think there would be an actual spirit. The boy—” He bit his lip. “The—What did you call it?”
“Nøkken,” Hiccup said miserably.
“Nøkken,” Jack repeated. “He didn’t feel like a spirit. Except—”
“He did, though, didn’t he?” Hiccup protested.
“Except for you!” Jack agreed urgently. “Which is—I don’t know why you could see through his disguise. Maybe because you know about the legend or grew up with it or something. Maybe you just have an eye for that sort of thing, like—like Jamie—” He cut himself off.
Jamie blinked. This was new for him too. “I do?”
Jack gave him a weak smile. “I’m not sure. Maybe,” he said. “You were the last light and all. I don’t think it was just because you saw the Guardians in your bedroom that one time.”
“Wow,” Jamie murmured.
“What?” Hiccup said, pulling Jack’s attention back to him. “The last light? The—the Guardians? In your bedroom? That sounds horrifying.” He shook his head. “How long have you two been meddling with this?”
“I wouldn’t call it meddling exactly,” Jack muttered, and was dimly aware that he was pouting like an upset child. “A while, I guess. But it’s not like every spirit is like that. Not all magic is bad, Hiccup.”
Hiccup didn’t look convinced. “I suppose the invasion had something to do with this too, then?”
Jack pressed his lips together. He wanted to argue, but it felt insensitive in the face of the tragedy that could’ve easily happened on Berk, just because of Jack’s meddling. That, and the fact that Hiccup might have a point: they’d yet to encounter any benevolent forces of magic in the Archipelago. Even the hollow tree turned out to be evil, if Gothi’s message was anything to go by.
“Hiccup,” Jamie said after a few heavy seconds of silence. “What exactly did…Nøkken feel like?”
Hiccup was quiet for a moment, like he was contemplating ignoring the question. Then he let out a shaky breath and shrugged weakly. “Like…something was off. No, not just off, just…wrong. That we were in danger, and that kid had something to do with it.” He shuddered. “Like a nightmare, when you just know something horrifying is about to happen.”
Jack bowed his head. “Sorry. Shouldn’t have brushed you off like that. Of course you’d have a reason to abandon a kid in the woods.”
“Don’t phrase it like that,” Hiccup suggested. “Anyway, I…I still don’t understand. You’ve known about magic this whole time. The—Oh gods, the twins weren’t so far off after all.”
Jack had to laugh at that, but it turned into a series of coughs instead. He pulled the blanket tighter around himself. “Not entirely, but I promise there’s no trolls involved,” he said. “Jamie and I are both human.” He hoped that came out as casual as he wanted it to. Jamie’s eyes narrowed a bit, but he didn’t say anything.
Hiccup took out Inferno and ignited it, making Jack jump a little. “Maybe a campfire would be better,” he said, sending the woods a long look, “but I’m kind of feeling the need to get off this island.”
“But we didn’t find it,” Jamie protested. “The source. We need to energize the crystal.”
“Wasn’t the kid the source?” Hiccup asked desperately. “I mean, Nøkken—Actually, I’m just gonna call it a kid. Keeps me sane.”
Jack glanced at Baby Tooth, who shook her head uncertainly. “It was nearby when we arrived at the lake,” he said, and then it hit him. “The lake,” he repeated, looking at Hiccup. “When you were ranting, you said it almost pulled me into its underwater kingdom.”
“That’s the story, yeah,” Hiccup said grudgingly.
Jack pulled his sleeve over his hand then reached into his boot, bringing out the crystals. They didn’t look any different. They’d only know once Jack touched them.
“Not here,” Jamie said. “You’re freezing, Jack.”
Hiccup looked like he had more questions, but he nodded and got to his feet. “The resting area shouldn’t be too far from here,” he said. “We’ll fly close to the water. It’ll still be cold, obviously, but a little better than high up. Jack, you should change out of those clothes. There’s some spare ones here. Also, we need to change your bandages, but that’ll have to wait. Once we get to the resting place, we can light a fire and reheat the leftovers, so…”
Jack and Jamie exchanged a look as Hiccup kept rambling. “Okay, mom,” Jamie said under his breath, so that only Jack and Baby Tooth – and probably Toothless, but he wasn’t going to snitch – could hear.
Jack smiled at the sudden fuzzy feeling in his chest, but it was quickly replaced by dread when Hiccup asked him to shed the blanket and the rest of his wet clothes. The others turned respectfully around as Jack changed. When he was done, his teeth were back in action with the clattering.
As they mounted Toothless again, Hiccup proposed a sitting arrangement that felt a little bit awkward in the beginning but was probably for the best. Jack sat in the front but facing the wrong way. Hiccup helped wrap him into a cocoon with a blanket, keeping him as warm as possible on dragonback in the middle of a winter night. Jamie sat in the back, with Baby Tooth on his shoulder. He looked awfully worried; maybe some of Jack’s Jack Frost-y attributes – the part with the snow-white skin and slightly blue-tinted lips – had made a comeback after being dragged into that lake. Jack assumed it hadn’t been as cold as last time, at least, since he hadn’t immediately gone into shock and died.
He tried swallowing down the panic rising in his throat at the memory. As happy as he was for his returning memories, the one of his death carried, predictably, some complicated feelings. He knew why the Moon chose him now. He knew he’d saved Emily. He wouldn’t choose to forget it, despite the way the memory sometimes made belated terror explode in his chest, freeze his mind, clog his throat.
Toothless leapt from the sand and flew only a few meters over the sea. The wind against Jack’s back was cold, but the blanket helped and he was happy Hiccup had forced him to change. He crouched into a fetal position – the best he could on dragonback – and leaned against Hiccup. Hiccup patted him awkwardly, before Jack presumed he reached around him to hold onto the handles on the saddle. Even so, Jack imagined it was an embrace, and pretended he was warmer and more comfortable than he was.
“Try not to fall asleep,” Hiccup told Jack in a low voice.
Jack frowned. “I’m sure it’s not that bad,” he murmured back. “But I won’t.”
He knew he wouldn’t be able to, even if he tried. His chest was still filled with what felt like a thousand electric eels, and every time he closed his eyes, he could see that creature again, and feel the murky water in his lungs.
His chest tightened, and he inhaled forcefully, refusing to lose it just yet. Maybe he could have a moment alone, after the others had gone to sleep. Gods, visibility truly had its downsides; for such a long time, nobody had ever seen him cry, and if he’d had the choice, he would have kept it that way. That chance was long gone, though. Everyone present – save for Toothless – had already seen that side of him.
But it was alright now. He could keep it together, until he had a moment to himself. He just had to breathe. In and out, in and out. The painful knot in his throat was just beginning to untie when Hiccup shifted and brought a hand under the blanket. It located Jack’s arm, then slid down to his hand, intertwining their fingers to give it a reassuring squeeze. He didn’t say anything, but the gesture still broke the frail resistance Jack at been attempting to build the past minutes.
He made no sound but couldn’t hide the way his body shook with the contained sobs. He squeezed Hiccup’s hand back and didn’t let go for the rest of the flight.
The resting area in question was a lone, mossy rock in the middle of the ocean, with a few specks of grass, a single pine tree and a lean-to. Definitely not the best place to warm up, but once they got a fire going and huddled around it, they would be fine.
Jamie sent the shelter a long look when they landed. “Not exactly five stars,” he mumbled, whatever that meant.
Hiccup walked around the shelter and found stacks of firewood waiting for them. It was a bit of a gamble, but it seemed a few kind people had decided to leave some behind, so that they didn’t have to chop down the last remaining tree. When he came back to prepare the campfire, Jack had already huddled up on one of the benches – which was just log sawed in half – and was obviously in the middle of reassuring a very concerned Jamie. Despite what he’d been trying to hide during the flight, there was nothing about his face or demeanor that indicated he’d just had a good cry on Hiccup’s shoulder.
Which was an experience. Not that it was the first time, and definitely not that Hiccup enjoyed it. He wasn’t that messed up. He’d felt terrible about the whole thing, and continued to do so the entire trip, however he couldn’t say he hadn’t felt a small jolt when Jack had returned the squeeze. After everything that had happened, after their less than joyful conversation on the beach, and after encountering…Hiccup didn’t want to think about it – he’d been worried Jack would pull back again, like he had the first time he’d come out with a bit of the truth.
Still, the conversation wasn’t over. Hiccup knew he had to hear more. Even if he didn’t much want to, there was no way he could pretend what just happened hadn’t happened. Because it had. He’d really just seen Nøkken with his own two eyes.
He stacked the firewood to have something else to focus on, but quickly found that it wasn’t working. His body was going on autopilot. He used Inferno to light the fire, then sat there staring at the sword for a moment.
He’d jumped into the water with it, not thinking about the fact that fire and water generally didn’t work well together. The Monstrous Nightmare gel had kept the fire alive for just a few seconds, and that seemed to be enough. It had made Nøkken recoil, long enough for Hiccup to grab Jack, who had quickly been losing consciousness. Despite the terror he’d felt in the face of his childhood nightmare – one of many, anyway – seeing Jack’s glassy eyes had somehow been worse.
Hiccup had a suspicion that if the roles had been reversed, or if he’d faced Nøkken alone, he wouldn’t have been acting nearly as fearless as he had back there. Of course, acting was the keyword. Hiccup still felt like he was going to throw up.
“Gobber was right,” he muttered weakly to himself. “Gobber was right, the twins were right. I was right, when I was a kid. Oh, they should’ve seen that. Gods. Oh, man.” He ran a hand over his face, and when he let it fall again, he saw Jack and Jamie, both giving him concerned looks. “Hey, you speak to yourself all the time, why can’t I?” he defended.
“Just making sure you’re not completely losing it,” Jack said.
Hiccup closed his eyes, rubbing the spot between his eyebrows. “Are the Guardians…some kind of gods? I even remember entertaining the notion you were sent by the gods when we found you. But that’s crazy. It is crazy, right?”
He looked up when he heard Jack’s snort.
“No gods are involved, I promise,” he said. “Don’t worry.”
Toothless came up and nudged Jack’s arm, offering to lend his warmth again. Jack understood and shifted to sit on the ground by the fire instead, where Toothless could curl around him. Hiccup stood and walked over to them.
“How’s your shoulder?” he asked. “Don’t lie.”
Jack looked a bit disgruntled. “Painful,” he admitted. “Could’ve been worse, though.”
Jamie rolled his eyes. “Can you, like, act like a person?” he asked him, which earned a surprised laugh from Jack. Jamie smiled and settled down beside him. “You’re dumb,” he told him.
“You’re dumb,” Jack mumbled back, before giving a dramatic groan when Hiccup held up new bandages. “It’s cold.”
“I’ll be quick,” Hiccup promised.
Jack started shaking almost immediately when he once again had to bare his shoulders, clutching onto the blanket like his life depended on it. Thankfully, it wasn’t that serious; both Toothless and the fire was quickly warming up the shelter. Hiccup still tried to be as quick as possible.
Jamie leaned over and grimaced at the injury. “Maybe you should use a sling,” he suggested.
Jack shook his head. “It’ll heal soon,” he said.
“It doesn’t work like that,” Jamie mumbled.
“Don’t suppose you can cast some kind of spell on it to heal it faster,” Hiccup muttered, then gave an unsteady laugh. He closed his mouth when Jack and Jamie sent him worried looks and cleared his throat. “Just trying to come around to this,” he muttered.
Jack’s lips quirked up in a smile. His neck was straining in a way that gave away his discomfort, but he somehow managed to make his smile seem relaxed nevertheless. Still with that playful glint in it too, as if he was about to deliver some quip or joke. Instead, he said softly, “I’m glad you’re trying.”
Hiccup had to look away, feeling his face heat up. “So,” he said, trying to sound lighthearted. “Is there something more I should know about? Like…how did you get into this mess in the first place?”
“That’s my fault,” Jack mumbled, but earned a glower from Jamie, so he quickly raised his free arm in surrender. “It was an accident. I was…Well, you know how I said I don’t actually have amnesia?”
“There are parts of your life that you don’t remember,” Hiccup said, then gave a sheepish smile at Jack’s bewildered expression. “You told me when…you know.”
When Hiccup glanced at Jamie, Jamie answered with an unimpressed look. “I know what alcohol is, Hiccup,” he said, then sent Jack an amused smile. “Pippa’s brother has told me about stuff he’s done. Do you really not remember anything from that night?”
“Pippa’s brother is a bad influence,” Jack told Jamie, but didn’t succeed in hiding his amusement. “I…I remember most of it, I—I think.” He turned back to Hiccup. “Just not that part.”
Hiccup shrugged. “So, what happened?”
Jack turned his eyes to the fire and let out a long, tired sigh. “I get small glimpses sometimes. And I remembered something about a cave. I went back to the place, in hope to trigger more memories, and then, eventually, I found the crystal. It seemed…off somehow, but I touched it—”
“Of course you did,” Hiccup muttered.
“Shut up, I’m talking,” Jack laughed. “I touched it, and…Well.” He shrugged.
Jamie was frowning, but he started nodding. “I was there too,” he added. “Um. Obviously. I passed out, though.”
“You both did,” Hiccup said. “Jack was barely conscious by the time we found you.”
“And I can’t remember that either,” Jack said, with mock cheerfulness.
“Probably for the best,” Hiccup said. He started applying the new bandages, and they fell into a short silence. “So…” he said after a few seconds. “You already found three crystals. Did you…energize all of them?”
“The first two, yes,” Jack said. “We still don’t know about the third.”
“But you need new magic every time,” Hiccup said, and still hadn’t completely registered that they were actually discussing this. He shook his head. “Did you meet, like, a frost giant the first time, or…?”
It was meant to be a joke, but it got matching frowns from Jack and Jamie.
“Those exist?” Jamie asked with awe.
Hiccup wanted to say no. “Well, what do I know?” he asked with a weak chuckle.
Jack looked down at his knee. He smiled. “The first one was Baby Tooth,” he said. “And the other one was just a magically charged location.”
“Am I supposed to know what a Baby Tooth is?” Hiccup asked. He fastened the bandage and pulled Jack’s sleeve back over his shoulder.
Jack laughed. Then he went quiet. He was still looking at his knee. “Well, he’s gonna find out at some point,” he said.
Jamie caught Hiccup’s confused eyes and smiled nervously.
“Maybe. It’s easier this way,” Jack said. “I think.”
“Please don’t do that,” Hiccup said, his chest tightening. He looked at Jack’s knee as well, then around the shelter. “Are you going to tell me you can speak to ghosts or something? You said you weren’t psychic.”
“I said that?” Jack asked. “I mean, I’m not, but…Look.” He turned to Hiccup with a slightly uneasy expression. “You know how I talk to myself a lot?”
“Mhm,” Hiccup choked out.
“I’m not talking to myself,” Jack said, his words slow and gentle. It didn’t make Hiccup any less nervous. “I’m talking to someone called Baby Tooth. She’s a fairy.”
Hiccup stared at him for a few seconds. Then he blinked once and looked up at the ceiling. “Yesrightofcourse,” he muttered. “Naturally. Go on.” He looked back down. “Sh-she—she’s here? Right now?”
“He looks like he’s gonna pass out,” Jamie observed.
Jack’s smile was a little strained. “She is,” he confirmed. “She’s been around the entire time. She was with me when I got us transported here. She was the one who found the crystal in your satchel, and energized it on accident. She was also the one who fetched Toothless for us when Berk was invaded.” He paused, looking at his knee again with a surprised expression. “And, apparently, is the reason you and Astrid found Jamie and I in the blizzard.”
The dragons had been acting weird both of those times. Hiccup couldn’t believe it.
“But…fairies,” he said.
“Not that much weirder than little boys turning into swamp monsters, is it?” Jack asked.
Hiccup realized that was a very good point. He was about to say as much, before something colorful caught his eye, and he turned his head to Jack’s knee where, finally, he saw what Jack saw. He got to his feet without thinking and backed away. “Gods—I’ve seen you before,” he croaked.
The fairy looked back at him with an expression that could only be described as sheepish, and oh gods, the fact that Hiccup could discern real, human emotions on it – on her? – was freaking him out. Her eyes were huge and her irises had two different colors. Her nose was just a pointy needle. She was covered in blue and green feathers, and Hiccup knew he’d seen those exact colors before.
“What? When?” Jamie asked, a huge smile spreading on his face. Obviously, he found this very entertaining.
“The—On the—the flight—Oh, Thor.” Hiccup shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment. “This is too much.”
There was a sort of chirping sound, and Hiccup dared to quirk one eye open. The fairy hadn’t moved, and Jack sent Hiccup a look.
“She’s apologizing.”
“You can understand her?”
“Somewhat,” Jack said. “Come on, Hiccup. Be courteous.”
“What?” Hiccup tried looking at Jack, but his eyes were glued to the tiny creature on his knee. He tried desperately to get his head back on track. Like Jack had said, they had just encountered Nøkken so surely, he could handle a tiny, little, feathered fairy. However, it seemed his brain had finally decided to catch up with reality. Jack and Jamie had been transported to Berk magically. They were searching for magic to power up magic crystals, and they had a little magic companion who up until this point had been invisible. “Why—why can I see her now?” he stammered.
Jamie grinned. “Because you believe in her!”
The fairy took to the air, making a soft buzzing noise with her rapidly fluttering wings. Hiccup stood frozen as she came closer, but politely kept out of his personal space. She held out a tiny hand.
Hiccup stared back at her. “Uh…h-hi.”
The fairy chirped back, flying a little closer. Hiccup glanced helplessly at Jack, who just sent him a pointed look. Slowly, with the utmost tentativeness, he lifted his hand up. The fairy flew the rest of the way and touched his fingertip.
Nothing extraordinary happened. Hiccup still felt like he would collapse any moment.
“This is so weird,” he breathed.
“Gods. She’s not dangerous,” Jack said, sounding weirdly offended. “Be nice.”
Be nice? Be courteous? What if fairies had different ways of being nice and courteous? Cultural differences and all that? How would he know? Hiccup swallowed.
“Nice—nice to meet you,” he said. “I’m Hiccup.”
The fairy smiled. The fairy smiled. She chirped a reply.
“She says she knows,” Jack said, getting to his feet as well with a little difficulty. He wore the blanket like a cape. “And she’s Baby Tooth, like I said. She doesn’t bite.” He sent the fairy a lopsided smile. “Though, I have seen her use her nose in unpleasant ways. But that guy definitely deserved it.”
Hiccup laughed nervously. “You’ve—you’ve known each other for long?”
Jack shrugged. “Just a few months, really, on a personal level.”
The smile the fairy sent Jack was positively lovestruck. Hiccup didn’t know what to think of that.
Jack was studying him, and Hiccup felt strangely small beneath his gaze. He guessed it had something to do with being the only person present who didn’t know what was going on. The fairy flew to Jack’s shoulder, settling there with a pensive expression.
“Do you need a breather?” Jack asked.
“No,” Hiccup said, which came as a surprise to himself, because it definitely felt like he needed a breather. Jack raised a brow, and Hiccup supposed he didn’t sound very sure of himself. “No, I need to know,” he clarified.
Jack averted his eyes and nodded. “Let’s sit by the fire, then,” he said, and went back to huddle up with Toothless and Jamie.
Hiccup settled down a little further away. He didn’t know what to do with his hands, and ended up folding them on his lap in a weak imitation of calm.
“So, I joined your training drill,” Jack started.
“To find magic,” Hiccup suggested.
Jack smiled. “You’re getting it,” he said. “Yes. But also to find someone very specific. Someone…that I’d only heard of on Berk but didn’t know existed. I—I hoped…” He trailed off, his gaze falling to the fire gloomily.
“Let me guess,” Hiccup said, getting a bad feeling. “You found trouble instead.”
“To put it mildly,” Jamie mumbled.
Jack nodded. “Remember I told you someone wanted me dead?”
“How could I forget?” Hiccup asked back, before doing a mental doubletake. “Wait. A—a spirit like Nøkken wants you dead?”
“Worse,” Jack said. “The Snow Queen.”
Hiccup was about to protest. This time, Jack was definitely pulling his leg. But both Jack and Jamie – and the fairy – had grave looks on their faces. “She’s real too?” he breathed. “I mean, Nøkken…Alright, I don’t really get Nøkken either, but at least that’s a story I hear every now and then. The Snow Queen…I guess I hear some mentions of her in relation to devastating winter, but…”
“She likes to keep to herself,” Jack said glumly. “If I understand her powers correctly, she doesn’t exactly bring winter, but she gets stronger when that time comes. So, she creates what you call devastating winter.”
With every new piece of information, Hiccup felt colder inside. He stared at Jack’s face. “The mark,” he said.
Jack nodded.
“That’s what happened? That’s why Toothless seemed like he was cold too? Despite the fact that dragons can’t…And—and that’s why you freaked out when it started snowing!” Hiccup ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. “But why—why does she want to kill you?”
“Uh, she—she thinks I have something that’s hers. Which I don’t! And I tried to tell her that, but—”
“Tell her? When?”
“During the battle.”
“Oh my gods,” Hiccup murmured, dragging a hand down his face. “That’s why you knew they were coming. You…You could feel it, somehow?”
Jack tried for a smile. “So you understand why I couldn’t explain it,” he said. “And why we had to leave.”
“Then how do we stop her?” Hiccup asked.
Jack blinked. “Stop—stop her?” he repeated, and a couple of different emotions ran over his face. One was sadness, or maybe fear. The other was definitely fondness. “Hiccup, she brings devastating winter. She’s a powerful spirit. We can only hope she doesn’t catch up with us.” He reached for his staff, holding onto it like a safety blanket. “The colder it gets, the more powerful she becomes. We have to collect the crystals before…before it’s too late. It’s our only shot.”
Hiccup was gradually coming to the realization that he’d never be able to look at the world the same way again after this. Even when Jack and Jamie were safely back home – because he refused to let this end any other way – he’d still know about this secret side of reality. Would he be able to tell anyone? Should he? Would they believe him? How would he ever rest easy again, knowing that such powerful forces were all around them?
Jack pulled off his wet boots and the crystals tumbled out.
“Which one is the right one?” Jamie asked.
Jack shrugged. “One of them,” he replied helpfully. Then he looked up at Hiccup. “I’m going to touch the crystals. If the lake truly was the source, I’ll pass out. That’s what’s supposed to happen, so don’t freak out.”
Hiccup waited for some more explanation.
“I’ll come with you,” Jamie said. “So you don’t forget yourself again. Baby Tooth too.”
“Wait, what’s going on now?” Hiccup asked when the explanation didn’t come. “You’ll come with him where?”
Jack sighed. “Hopefully back to the Guardians,” he said, but he sounded doubtful. “Don’t worry, Hiccup, we’re not actually going anywhere. The crystals just…They show visions, sort of.”
“Right. Of course,” Hiccup muttered. “Can I…help, somehow?”
Jack sent him a warm smile that briefly cut off Hiccup’s airway. “Just watch over us while we’re out,” he said. “And don’t touch the crystal. We’ll wake up again soon enough.”
Not a single part of Hiccup was enjoying this. But he nodded.
Jack took a deep breath and touched all the crystals at the same time. Immediately, his body slumped back against Toothless, completely knocked out. Hiccup reached out to him in a panic, steadying him before he could sink to the ground.
“He’s okay,” Jamie reassured him.
“How are you so calm right now?” Hiccup demanded.
Jamie just shrugged. “You get used to it,” he said, lying down on the ground next to the crystals. He was smarter than Jack that way. “See you soon.” Then he touched the crystals as well, and his eyes slid shut.
It was just Hiccup, Toothless and the fairy left. Hiccup sent her an apprehensive look as she flew down to the crystals. She touched each one by one, and appropriately passed out on the third try. Hiccup had never thought he’d see a fairy pass out. Hiccup had never thought he’d see a fairy, full stop.
The scene in front of him was a strange one. Many words could describe it, but he decided to just settle with strange. He sat there for a couple of minutes, feeling like he was dreaming. Eventually, he staggered to his feet and gently moved Jack and Jamie closer to Toothless, draping the blanket over them both.
Then he sent the fairy a long look. He made an unhappy noise.
“I can’t just leave her there, can I?” he murmured.
Toothless grumbled noncommittally.
Hiccup forced his body to move. He kneeled and carefully cupped the tiny creature in shaking hands, then looked around helplessly. No place seemed suitable. Did fairies have to stay warm too? But it was scary putting her by the fire, wasn’t it? Gods, this was too much responsibility. Toothless sent him an unimpressed look.
“Not helping,” Hiccup hissed. He looked down at the fairy for several, long seconds. “Weird,” he concluded. “Weird. Weird, weird.” He sat down by Jack’s feet, draping a part of the blanket over himself as well. When he looked down, the fairy was still in his hand, sleeping soundly. He stared dumbly at her.
“Baby Tooth,” he breathed. “Baby Tooth the fairy. Why not?” He laughed weakly, before realizing he sounded like a crazy person. He still wasn’t quite convinced that wasn’t the case, but he tried to make an effort to let this new reality sink in, as he sat there and waited for the others to wake up. From some magical vision. Sure.
Why not?
Jamie sat up suddenly upon hearing the chatter of voices and the sound of shoes against soil. The air was warmer than it had been a second ago in the shelter. The sun was shining. He was sitting in the middle of some kind of village – a village that looked old, but definitely nothing like Berk. And it was summer, too.
“Oh,” Jack breathed behind him, and Jamie turned to see him sitting on the ground, looking around with wide eyes. “No way.”
His voice was weak. His face was filled with disbelief.
“What is it?” Jamie asked. “Where are we?”
And Jack laughed. A shaky, incredulous laugh. “Hawthorne.”
“Hawthorne?” Jamie repeated. Then he frowned. “Wait, my grandma told me Hawthrone was what they used to call—”
“Burgess,” Jack finished, and turned to Jamie with a smile. He got to his feet, and his smile turned into a confused frown. He held out a hand to Jamie to help him up.
“Hold on,” he said. “Your grandma isn’t that old.”
Jamie snorted. “She’s very into our family history and stuff.”
“I guess I can see your resemblance.”
Baby Tooth flew around, seeming confused as well. She chirped at Jack, and Jack shook his head.
“I don’t know why we’re here,” he said. “I don’t know why we were in the 20s either, but I…feel like I remember this.”
The villagers all seemed to be in a cheerful mood. A bunch of them were just going about their day, but Jamie couldn’t help but notice that quite a few were walking in a specific direction. Jack noticed as well, and his eyes widened.
“Come on,” he said, and walked off. Jamie hurried after him.
“What do you mean, you remember?” Jamie asked, but Jack didn’t seem to hear him. “Jack!”
Jack looked at him and blinked. “Uh…I’m not sure. But Hawthorne is…” He trailed off when he spotted a crowd of people by the outskirts of the village. They were standing by a ramshackle house, laughing and singing – singing what sounded like a birthday song, but it wasn’t one Jamie was familiar with. Jack’s jaw went slack and he hurried over to them without another word.
“Jack!” Jamie called, starting to feel a little annoyed, but just had to follow him.
It wasn’t until they moved around the crowd and Jamie saw who was standing in the midst of them that he understood why Jack was acting so weird. For a frightening moment, he almost thought he was looking at himself, just a few years younger. But then he realized, somehow even weirder, that he was looking at the same boy that was standing beside him.
“It’s…you,” he breathed. “Jackson Overland.”
Jack was quiet. He had a perplexed expression on his face as he stared at the younger version of himself. The villagers cheered as they finished the song, and young Jack beamed. Jamie noted how comfortable he seemed with all the attention. That didn’t seem like the Jack he knew, but at the same time there was something about the way he grinned, and the way he talked with the other villagers, that erased all doubt that this was definitely the same boy as the older Jack.
“But it’s summer,” Jamie said without thinking, and Jack laughed.
“Yes,” he said. “I was born in the summer.”
Jamie looked up at him with wide eyes. “In Burgess,” he said. “You’re from Burgess?”
“Hawthorne,” Jack corrected, grinning at Jamie. “But yes, I am. It looks a bit different, though, doesn’t it?”
That much was obvious. Jamie looked around as the villagers spread out, some going back to their daily tasks, others staying behind to talk. Little Jack hopped from person to person, seemingly with an infinite amount of energy. Jamie weaved between the people, making his way over to him. He had to laugh when he realized he was taller than little Jack.
“How old is he—um, are you? Were you? Here?” Jamie frowned. “Then?”
Jack frowned, trying to remember. Then his face went slack with surprise. “Eight,” he replied. “That means that…” He trailed off and looked around again. Finally, he spotted someone in the midst of the villagers. It was a woman, with brown hair and brown eyes, freckles dusting her cheeks. She was talking to a man with sandy hair and a skinny stature. He smiled at something the woman said, and the crookedness of it was unmistakable.
Jack took a step backwards, and Jamie hurried to his side. For a moment, he looked almost afraid, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide. His hands were trembling. Jamie felt as if he should do something but didn’t know what he could say.
Jack’s parents. Of course he’d had parents. The thought still seemed strange to Jamie, for some reason. And Jack looked like he found it strange as well; Jamie could only wonder what it was like to see one’s parents again after 300 years.
“Are you okay?” Jamie asked, touching Jack’s hand.
Jack’s Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed. He nodded. “Yes,” he choked out. “I just…I didn’t—I didn’t remember him until now. He was gone most of the time. Traveling merchant. H-he…” His voice wavered and he cleared his throat. “He passed away soon after this. Something that happened on the road. They never told me exactly…Oh.” He ran a hand over his face, shaking his head. “This is a lot.”
“Do you need to sit down?” Jamie asked.
“I’m fine.” Jack took a deep breath and then shakily let it out. Then he smiled again. “Look. Mom’s calling me over now. She’s going to tell me something.”
He was right. Jack’s mother called for him and waved at him to follow her into the house. Jack’s dad ruffled little Jack’s hair as he passed him, making little Jack push him away playfully. As little Jack and his mother walked into the house, his father stayed behind, though the smile he wore as he looked after them was full of warmth.
“We should follow them,” Jack said, though his eyes were trained on his dad. As they walked over to the front door of the house, he stopped briefly to study him closer. Jamie couldn’t say they looked much alike; it was obvious Jack had gotten most of his likeness from his mother. Still, there were some things in the man’s face that, though older and slightly lined, echoed in Jack’s own. It made Jamie wonder what exactly had happened that transformed Jackson Overland to Jack Frost, making it impossible for him to grow up and one day get those same crow’s feet as his father.
Jamie took Jack’s hand in his own. “Come on,” he said softly. “We need to look for the crystal.”
Jack nodded absentmindedly. “Yeah. Yeah,” he murmured, and reluctantly let Jamie lead them away from his dad.
As they stopped in front of the door, Jamie tried pushing it open but his hands just passed through it. He shared an uneasy look with Jack, before he held his breath and just stepped forward. “Woah,” he muttered when he came out on the other side, unscathed.
Jack snorted. “Why’d you hold your breath?”
“It just seemed logical,” Jamie replied, and slapped him good-naturedly when he laughed again.
The house they entered consisted of two rooms and a narrow staircase leading up to what Jamie assumed was a small attic. One of the rooms housed a table, some storage space, cluttered shelves and an old rocking chair. There was a fireplace, in which a cauldron was hanging over glowing embers. In the other room, there was a bed and a chest. It wasn’t a big house at all, but Jamie had gotten so used to living like a Viking, the place seemed irresistibly warm and cozy. It wasn’t much, but it was clear how much love this place harbored. It made him even more curious about Jack’s past.
“Go sit on your bed,” Jack’s mom said with a secretive smile.
“Why?” little Jack asked, and Jamie held back a laugh. This was so weird.
However, present Jack’s attention was focused on his mother, who lovingly pinched little Jack’s cheek.
“That’s a surprise,” she said. “I’ll be there in a moment.”
Little Jack grinned and headed for the bedroom with a bounce in his step that Jamie couldn’t help but compare to Sophie’s gait. Present Jack stayed behind in the kitchen (slash living room) still with that lost but marveling look on his face. Maybe he should have a few minutes alone, Jamie thought, as he followed little Jack into the bedroom.
Little Jack sat down on the bed, and in the same second, Baby Tooth tweeted behind Jamie, making him jump; he’d forgotten about her presence entirely…and now that he thought about it, it took him a few seconds to remember what the point of them being here was again. Baby Tooth flew over to the bed and hovered over the pillow. Unbeknownst to little Jack, the crystal lay inconspicuously on it.
Jamie stared at it, then gave Baby Tooth a wary look. “This seems too easy, doesn’t it?”
Little Jack was leaning forward, trying to look through the doorway to the kitchen.
“Don’t peek,” his mother said, as if reading his thoughts, and little Jack leaned back with an impish grin. Again, Jamie was reminded of Sophie, and then weirded out by it. It was strange to see Jack not just as a younger version of himself, but a version that was younger than Jamie as well.
Eventually, Jack’s mother came into the bedroom and crouched in front of him, holding out a small present loosely wrapped in cloth. “Happy birthday,” she said softly.
Jack had followed her into the room, stopping momentarily in the doorway. His face was blank aside from the wonder in his eyes, and he watched his mother and his younger self, unmoving. He didn’t seem to have noticed the crystal at all.
Little Jack took the present and unwrapped it, giving a gasp. “Sugar!” he exclaimed, and Jamie craned his neck to see him holding up some kind of cookie, surely enough covered in sugar. It made his heart hurt. Both because little Jack seemed so excited for something that Jamie always had taken for granted, and because Jamie hadn’t had sugar for months either and would probably be just as excited about it, if he were in Jack’s shoes.
Speaking of, little Jack was not wearing shoes. Some things never changed, Jamie supposed.
Three cookies. Little Jack tried offering one to his mom, but she shook her head with a wide smile. “They’re all for you,” she said, then straightened up to sit down on the bed beside him. “And Jack…There’s something else. Another surprise.”
“Another gift?” little Jack asked hopefully, with his eyes on the cookie as if he was afraid it would disappear on him.
His mother hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe,” she said. “Depends on your reaction, I suppose.”
Little Jack frowned, looking up at her. “Any gift is a good gift, isn’t it?” he pondered.
In the doorway, Jack’s lips had quirked up in a soft, knowing smile.
“I think so too.” Jack’s mother shifted, and placed a hand on his shoulder, stroking it softly. “You’re going to be a big brother.”
Jamie held back a gasp. He glanced at present Jack again, but quickly looked away when he saw how his eyes shimmered. This moment was already extremely private; Jamie wasn’t going to gawk at Jack for shedding a tear at the sight of something so precious to him. Instead, he looked at little Jack, observing as his eyes widened along with his mouth.
“Really?” he whispered, completely awestruck.
His mother nodded, and reached for little Jack’s hand, placing it over her belly. Little Jack rubbed it for a few long seconds, then gave a delighted laugh. He beamed up at his mother, who smiled right back.
“What’s her name?” he asked.
His mother’s brows furrowed slightly. “Why do you say ‘her’?” she asked back.
Little Jack thought about this for a moment, getting a sheepish look on his face. He shrugged. “I hope it’s a girl,” he confessed. “But a boy is okay too.”
“Well,” his mother said, taking little Jack’s hand in her own. “If it does turn out to be a girl, what would you want her to be called?”
Present Jack came into the room, his steps completely silent. Despite the floorboards being old and ramshackle, they didn’t creak under either Jack or Jamie’s weight. He stopped beside Jamie. “Emily,” he whispered, as if his mother and younger self would hear him otherwise.
“Emily,” little Jack said.
Jamie felt a small shiver go down his spine. He looked up at Jack. “You had a sister?” he asked.
Jack didn’t reply, but he smiled. “We should go,” he murmured, but didn’t once look at the crystal.
“Are you sure?” Jamie asked, even though he knew they had to. Still, there was a part of him that wanted to stay. Even if they didn’t belong in this time, it felt selfish to take it away from Jack again. It had such a warm feeling; Jamie didn’t want to go back to the dark and cold either.
“Yes,” Jack replied, but his jaw clenched, like he was seconds away from changing his mind. He let out a shaky breath and nodded as confirmation. In front of him, his mother and young Jack were discussing boy’s names, and what would happen once the baby was born, how much fun they would have together. Jamie knew little Jack would become an amazing older brother.
Jamie walked around the bed and reached for the crystal. He glanced at Jack again. His hands were trembling, but he didn’t try to stop Jamie. Neither did he look away from his mother.
Jamie took a deep breath and grabbed the crystal.