Of the Northmost Winds and Skies

Chapter 19: Nobody wins the dragon race

Not for the first time, Jack felt as if investigating only led to more questions, and no answers.

He'd woken up, back on the island, and this time with half his face buried in dirt instead of snow. In his hand he found a new crystal – the crystal from the 1920s. It had followed them back to the past, just like last time.

Except it wasn't just like last time. They'd visited the 1920s instead of the workshop, and they'd found the crystal in some stranger's gift to his British wife. It didn't make any sense... and Jack had really been looking forward to seeing the other Guardians again. He'd depended on it.

On top of that, he'd woken up to the twins freaking out. They'd thought all three of them were dead – cursed by the ancient occult circle, or something. Jack managed to reassure them that this had happened the last time as well, and though they seemed to accept it eventually, things weren't the same afterwards.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut both acted tough, and yeah, they were tough. But this was new ground for them; all they knew about magic was through the folklore of their village, and most of it was dark, horrible stuff. It wasn't a surprise that they seemed wary around both Jack and Jamie – and Baby Tooth, which was hilarious, because Jack could not by the life of him figure out what was so terrifying about a fairy the size of their index fingers – after they'd "awoken from the dead."

That didn't stop Jack from being peeved when Ruffnut seemed reluctant to have him close to her when they mounted Barf again. One would've thought that Jack would be glad to have Ruffnut stop flirting with him – if you could call it flirting – but not on the basis that Jack frightened her.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut being scared didn't seem like something that was possible. Jack hated being the exception.

Before they'd left the island, Jack had tried activating the new crystal with the help of the circle again, but nothing happened. It seemed it only worked once with each type of magic, as if the crystal was absorbing it and creating a resistance to it. Almost like the time fragment taking away Jack's powers. He didn't like that comparison; it made him wonder if they were making a mistake by using the crystals.

Using them for what, he no longer knew. All he knew was that he now had a new piece of the crystal, and that he needed to find another source of magic to activate it.

They returned to Berk before dinner was over, and thankfully nobody seemed to have noticed their absence. The twins left them in front of the Great Hall, as if they needed to get away and regroup. Jack could only imagine the theories they were cooking up. Anything goes, he caught himself thinking. At this point, I'm no wiser than they are.

He fell asleep next to the hearth, wondering how he'd lost himself while he was alone in that jazz club, and how everything had come back to him when he'd laid eyes on Jamie. It had felt like when you're on the brink of falling asleep, when nonsensical thoughts start seeming sensible. Seeing Jamie had been like jolting awake. If Jamie and Baby Tooth hadn't come, would he have remained there?

The thought was terrifying. He wished he hadn't given the bed back to Hiccup; things had felt a little safer with a bedmate.

But the truth was that no matter how much Hiccup had told him they were fine, Jack couldn't shake the feeling of tension between them. Hiccup deserved to know more than Jack had let him, but he knew that was impossible... especially now that Jack had seen how badly Ruffnut and Tuffnut reacted to magic. The twins were even devoted to the god Loki, and Jack didn't need to be an expert in Norse mythology to know that that guy wasn't entirely good. If Ruffnut and Tuffnut couldn't handle it, Jack didn't want to imagine what Hiccup would feel; he'd never look at Jack the same way again.