Will it be forever?

Chapter 2: The Darkness

Astrid's POV

Everything around me was pitch black. Gods, it was so dark.

Back when we were children, I had never really grasped why my friends feared the dark, but now as I was enveloped by nothing but darkness ... I felt as if I stood on the fine line between comfort and fear, fear of the terrifying monsters that could be lurking around in the darkness, both human and non human. Perhaps that was what the others had thought as they hid under their sheets, waiting for the sun to come out once again.

I began walking. I had no clue where to, but I just walked and walked, hours upon hours, hoping that I would maybe find something other than this chilling darkness that surrounded me.

Suddenly, my skin began prickling and stinging. At first, it was harmless, but as time went on, it grew more and more painful up until the point where I crashed to the ground, unable to keep myself standing any longer. I watched as my skin turned a deep red, some spots even turning a nasty dark color as yellow blisters appeared on my skin at an alarming rate, making me want to rip the clothes of my hurting body. I opened my mouth to scream, in a desperate attempt to release al, the pain that had been gathered up inside me, only to find that no sound escaped me. Frantically, I ripped my own clothes of as I desperately rolled all over the ground, in an attempt of ridding myself of the immense pain I was in, but the pain only grew worse and worse.

Bright flashes lit up the darkness, leaving me blinded as I tried to find the source. I rapidly blinked my eyes open, and noticed that the pain from before had vanished, along with all the different marks on my skin. As my eyes wandered around the scene that had mysteriously appeared before me, I noticed that I was wearing clothes, the same clothes I wore back when I was no older than 15 years old.

The sound of a door opening turned my attention to a familiar house, Hiccup's house. And as if on cue, Hiccup limped out the door, clearly still in the process of getting used to his new prosthetic. The young Viking stopped in the doorway, his eyes traveling around the small town before him as if this was the first time he had seen it.

A large hand landed on his shoulder, his father's hand. The two of them exchanged a few words before they made their way down the stone steps, leading to where I was standing.

"That's for scaring me" I scolded the scrawny 15 year old as I gave him a light punch on the arm.

"What? Is it always going to be this way? 'Cause ... " Before the poor guy even had a chance to finish, I grabbed him by the collar and planted a kiss on his lips.

"I could get used to it" Hiccup finished with a slight shrug, earning a soft smile from me in return.

Another flash of light blinded me, pulling me from that memory and sending me through a stream of others, all ranging from Snoggletog to Thawfest to everything we went through on the edge and all the way to when we defeated Drago, where it stopped.

A playful smirk tugged at the corner of my lips as I strode up to where Hiccup, his mother and Toothless were standing.

"See? I told you it was in here" I raised my brows as I tapped the spring that sent his back fin shooting up, earning a sarcastic laugh from Hiccup and a bunch of genuine laughs from the people gathered around us.

"Still doing that one, that's hilarious" Hiccup pointed out with his usual sarcastic tone.

"Come here, you" Hiccup grabbed my waist, a smirk plastered on his face as he pulled me towards him and planted a soft and sweet kiss on my lips, leaving me with a wide smile as he pulled away, eyes locked onto mine.

The same flash of light from before blinded me once again, before sending me through another batch of memories, which both warmed and broke my heart.

The trip down memory lane eventually came to an end as I was forcefully ripped back into the pit of darkness, which for some odd reason was no longer as silent as it had been previously.

"Astrid, please wake up" Hiccup's pleading voice called out, echoing through the infinite darkness. "Please"

My heart broke at the last word. He sounded so desperate, so heartbroken and there was nothing I could do to comfort him. It was as if someone had ripped my heart out of my chest and torn it to pieces.

As I was desperately trying to find the source of the voice, my way out of this nightmare, Hiccup uttered another sentence, this time sounding completely destroyed. "This is all my fault"

I fell to the ground, my fists weakly pounding it as a wave of sorrow wash over me. My shoulders grew heavy as I slumped forward, my mind filled with the memories of what I had done. How could he think any of this was his fault? Everything was my fault.

I had gotten myself killed. I had given my life for a person I cared deeply about and now he thought it was all his fault. Maybe that's why I was stuck in this never ending darkness, maybe I wasn't worthy of going to Valhalla because of the enormous weight I had dropped onto Hiccup's shoulders.

Sobs filled the darkness as I held my head in my hands. How could I do this to him? How could I leave Hiccup?