But it wasn't as easy said then done to take her out there. That was at least a day and a half's journey, and he simply did not have such time on his hands. He couldn't even look a couple days into the future of the week to find and lock down an opening, because simply Vikings in his particular tribe were not great at planning events to occur. Oh, Hiccup you wanted to go exploring on this day that you had planned for three months? That's unfortunate, because a dragon just sneezed and set four houses on fire.
Or, Hiccup, I know it's your break that you haven't had for two whole days, but please come and help me. My son and my husband have both chopped their hands off.
He talked to his mother, a bit, about his frustration. Usually if he said he had to attend to Elsa, people let him go. While slight immoral to use his bride-to-be as an excuse, Elsa was perfectly fine with it, after witnessing the struggle to get away from a crowd. She agreed to always be his alibi.
Yet he couldn't announce he and Elsa were leaving for three days alone, because that would ruminate talk. Talk and rumors that he could care less if they were about him, but didn't want to put Elsa in that uncomfortable position.
He went to his mother with his complaints. "I just want to…spend time with her," He worded it carefully, "I have a place in mind, but Odin I can't get a moment to breath, let alone three days." He said.
"Somewhere…romantic?" He knew also that as soon as he put that thought into his mother's head, she would be more willing to help things, as his mother was seemingly their number one supporter.
"Yes I suppose," A little lie never hurt anyone, "not for anything dishonest, just to get to know her. We will be married in a month." He pointed out.
"I can look, and I'm sure I can hold down the fort for three days. You should have some time with her, Odin knows I don't want you two to be strangers on your wedding night." She added.
Hiccup held his lips; he was not yet ready to try and change the laws, not without adapt research (which he hadn't had time for either) or good reasoning. Instead, he just smiled.
"I want her to be comfortable." He agreed.
So his mother took out her books, and said she would talk to the council and come back to him when she had some time planned out, that would not be interrupted. No house fires, no lacerations, no nothing. She seemed strangely giddy to be asked of this by her son, and Hiccup realized that it had been a long time since he'd had a conversation with his mother that she didn't have to press him to speak.
Truthfully, she just wasn't Stoick. Even though the men didn't talk, Stoick already knew everything about him, so it wasn't ever like Hiccup needed to explain things (or at least, not the little things).
Either way, he knew that even without taking Elsa back to that…place (for lack of better ways to say it without seizing up with terrible memories) he knew he'd have to start coordinating her powers coming into regular acceptance. Now that he knew how hard she had to hide it, it almost physically pained him. He didn't want her to have to hide who she was. Already it hurt him that she had to constantly be on guard to not say anything too out there about life a thousand years from now.
But this was so much more Elsa than being from a different time period. Asking Elsa to hide the fact she was magical was like asking Hiccup to hide the fact he had a prosthetic leg. When he'd gone to Camacazi's house as promised, the day after her ceremony (to which thankfully she spared him the intimate details) she hadn't seemed at all surprised. Luckily, Camacazi was the only human that knew (Apparently Mercedes had known as well, but Mercedes wasn't going to tell him…if she could) which set him at ease slightly. At first he had wondered if he was going to be the last one on the island to know about this!
And he and Camacazi both agreed the sooner they got the young future or current leaders of their tribes to accept her, the sooner everyone would. Their engagement dinner was long overdue anyway, and Hiccup began to draw up plans for such an event (because it was only second in his string of islands to the actual wedding). It was the time where if you were friends with the newly engaged chief, and you were a slight nobody, you got to dress up all nice, have mouth-watering delicious foods, and invest in quite a deal of tomfoolery all under the ruse of a diplomatic announcement.
All these thoughts were put on an immediate halt though, three dawns after Elsa's reveal, exactly one month before the wedding.
Ophelia had been on edge, lately. For a five-year-old, Hiccup couldn't even imagine what sorts of troubles she had, but it seemed she had them. And being only five-years-old, these worries wore her out before she was long due for her nap that colder day. Perhaps it was the strong and harsh winter winds blowing in long before they were due, but there was a certain hesitance in the air.
Elsa was visiting with Camcazi, and no doubt the two were giggling and discussing female-type things that Hiccup had little interest (for his self-esteem and poor virgin ears both) in hearing, yet was glad that Elsa had one trusted friend. He put Ophelia down for a nap early in the day, and she lulled right to sleep. His mother was sewing Ophelia a dress for the wedding in their sitting room, and Hiccup asked her to stay while he went to work on his and Elsa's house. It was still so very far from being done, and it seemed that no one in the village wanted him to actually finish, because they seemed to wait to seek him out until he was getting into the vibe of working.
Today was no such day. He got a good couple hours of work in, and was surprised that no one had bothered him. It was very unusual to go four hours uninterrupted (and he had to admit he lost track of time, but his mother wouldn't mind feeding Ophelia and occupying her) and that was what set him off. It wasn't any sort of premonition, yet it was still a tinge in the back of his mind that told him something was not right.
"Any idea Toothless?" He asked his dragon, who was around to occasionally bring large trees and cut them down to size, but more often to distract and set things on fire 'accidentally'. From the look he gave his brother, it clearly stated that he liked his house where he was now and had no intention of moving just because some blonde girl was going to marry him. Or that's what Hiccup interpreted.
Either way the large reptile gave a sniff of the air, and seeing little amiss, gave a small, unconcerned shrug. When Hiccup re-entered town on the edge, people were running around, looking for something. Although before he could tell what that something was, people noticed him and stiffened immediately.
"What exactly is going on?" He questioned a guy trying to sneak around him, and the man's eyes budged.
"N…nothing Hiccup. Just doing my daily work!" He stuttered. Hiccup glanced over at the notebook he held. Curiously, he took it from the man's hands, who flinched and began to glance through it.
"You know, I'm pretty sure you're a fisherman. Far from the banks are w-," He began, but broke off when he saw a chart with spaces hastily marked off. Places where whatever they were looking for was not.
"What is it you are looking for? What have you misplaced?" he stood as tall as he was, still shorter than the man he questioned, but the man quivered all the same.
"Well it's not a misplacement…Hiccup, sir…" He said softly, and Hiccup was very aware of the eyes of the whole village on him at once, "It's…well…Opelia…"
Hiccup blinked, clutching the notebook tightly. "What?" He asked.
"Ophelia…she seems to have…" He opened his jaw cautiously, "Gone missing…"
Hiccup threw the notebook at his feet and raced to his own house. He was furious, first.
"Odin Almighty, mom!" He cried, throwing the door open, "Please, please tell me you didn't lose my future wife's sort of daughter?" He questioned sharply.
"Lose is a harsh word," his mother was trembling, "But I went to get some water from the stream, and when I came back, she was gone…"
"And you got the whole village in on it?" Hiccup groaned, "Why didn't you just come and get me?" He asked.
"Because I figured she couldn't have gone far with a broken leg and a loud, sneezy dragon!" Valka defended herself, "I asked one girl to help and soon the whole town knew!" She said, which was how things worked, truthfully.
"Mother…" Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose, "Why haven't you sent a dragon out to find her scent?" He asked.
"None of them picked something up." Valka whispered painfully. Hiccup sent her a glare.
"Then you should have gotten me. This is going to be my niece soon enough, and Toothless is the only dragon that won't disappoint me." He said angrily, and grabbed one of Ophelia's dolls. He got the scent to his dragon, which shot off into the sky with a swift nod.
He went in to sit, glaring pointedly at his mother. She herself had been a mother once! And somehow she'd managed to loose a five-year-old with a broken leg! Odin, was she dying or something? Otherwise nothing slipped past her, lest she was seriously on her last leg and too senile to notice, which did not seem to be the case. There was only a tense silence, and soon Hiccup heard the flapping of wings at his door. He went out, expecting Opehlia on Toothless' back, but found it empty.
"Where is she Toothless?" He asked, patting his dragon's back, "You found her, right?"
The silence was enough to slowly sent Hiccup into a panic. A desperate, frantic, heart-wrenching panic. For Opelia's scent ended at the beach.
As Hiccup flew to get Elsa, he couldn't even imagine what he was going to tell her.
"Elsa, I lost Ophelia." He said out loud, then shook his head, "Elsa, my mother lost Ophelia. I knew I said I'd watch her today, but I had other things, clearly more important than your niece, and now she's probably dead." He winced, "No, that won't work either."
Fishlegs and Snoutlout had immediately taken boats out to try to find her, while his mother stayed behind to continue searching, and Hiccup was told that he should get Elsa. She was going to freeze him, he knew it. They were never going to get to a wedding because Hiccup would be a ice-block within the hour.
His stomach churned when he saw Elsa's figure sitting on the grass with Camacazi, yet as afraid as he was, he didn't not pause his dragon speeding to the ground. Elsa startled at the sudden impact of Toothless and the ground, and saw Hiccup jump off.
"Hiccup?" She asked.
"Elsa, Odin, Elsa," He seemed frenzied, "I don't know how to say this but here it is…we can't find Ophelia. Somehow she slipped past my mother, and I thought Toothless could track her, but he can't. She got off the island we think and now she might be lost or hurt more or dead- no never mind, forget I said dead, but Elsa, please don't hurt me." He rambled in seemingly only a heartbeat's time. Elsa's jaw hung open, and her whole body quaked.
"Ophelia's…gone?" She echoed, a look of horror slowly morphing onto her face. Hiccup pressed his lips together, waiting for the inevitable bitter cold of her powers. Instead, he heard soft sobs, and just saw her…break. Camacazi grabbed her before she collapsed.
"Hiccup? God, what a way to break news!" She glared reproachfully at her friend, and whistled for her dragon. Her purple beast landed at her side. Mercedes followed, nudging Elsa.
"Elsa," Camcazi said, and Elsa bit her lip to keep herself from sobbing some more. She took a deep breath, and nodded, gulped back her sorrow, and turned to Camacazi.
"I will find her." She said, and got on her dragon.
"Let me lead. I'll take you to the place she-," Hiccup began, but Elsa turned in a fury on him.
"You will do nothing!" She jabbed her finger into his chest, "You were supposed to be watching her, Hiccup! Your mother is not responsible for the lost of my precious Ophelia, but you are. I want you to not interfere anymore than you already have!" She cried, and Hiccup noticed frost gathering on the end of her finger with each jab, so with her last words, he was positive he'd bruise.
"Elsa, we need him. We don't know where of the beach she went! Your whole island is surrounded in beach." Camacazi said, "Not that I don't think that Hiccup is the wrong end of a dragon, if you get what I mean, but we need him."
"Hey!" Hiccup said, offended. Elsa shot him a deadly glare.
"Shut. Up." She hissed, mounting her dragon, "Perhaps we do need you, but I don't need you talking."
Hiccup shut his mouth. He took them to the edge where he pointed out the places where the boats from their island had taken off, plus a couple more in the hour it took him to fly to get Elsa back here. Elsa dropped down, following the barley visible child-like footprints in the sand; half trampled away by careless feet trying to catch after her.
"This isn't like her." Elsa said, her voice still shivering, but she stood, shaking her head, "She knows the water could be dangerous, and she isn't sad. She's five, at that even if she was. Would Hubert be old enough and strong enough to fly her somewhere?" She asked.
"Well-," He began, but Camacazi interrupted him.
"Hubert wouldn't. But I'm sure Cloudjumper would be." She said. Hiccup felt a hot flush rise to his face.
"You forgot to also tell me that your own dragon has vanished?" He asked tersely, looking at his mother who was hurrying up.
"It's not unusual for Cloudjumper to do his own thing during the day. I hardly see him, except when I call. You know he has a weakness for babies and children." She reminded Hiccup.
"So…Ophelia managed to sneak out with a broken leg, and convince a massive dragon to carry her wherever she wanted to go." Elsa took a couple deep breaths, "Hiccup?"
"Yeah?"
"If I wasn't about to marry you, I would kill you."
"How's this my fault?" He asked, scowling.
"Dragons." She snapped irritably, "Dragons are the cause of nearly all my problems right now." She got on Mercedes, sending one last look his way, and took off into the sky. Camacazi gave Hiccup a less than helpful shrug, and followed. His mother had one of the un-partnered dragons from the stables, who bucked a bit as she mounted, but still flew smoothly once she showed dominance. Hiccup, instead, looked at Toothless.
"Do you think she went out that way? Think Elsa was right?" He asked. Toothless gave a grunt, shaking his head and flapping his ears. Hiccup sighed, and got on, following them nonetheless.
"Me neither. But I can't imagine anywhere she'd want to go. Keep your nose sharp, okay?" He asked, and Toothless narrowed his eyes in concentration.
By the time the sun was dipping low, and the heat had lessened to a soft chill breezing over the water as they flew close to the waves, Ophelia was still not found. The island seemed just as frantic when they returned to the original place where Ophelia had been last scented. Elsa was crying all over again, softly now.
"It's getting dark. She's probably so cold and scared. She can't find food for herself, so she's most likely hungry too!" She said, looking at her hands, as if they would hold a map to where Ophelia was.
Hiccup didn't want to admit it, for fear that it would make him seem less manly than most thought he was, but yes…he loved Ophelia. Or he'd grown to love her, which he didn't think to be quite possible. In fact, he'd be more willing to say he loved Ophelia than he loved Elsa, because he was pretty sure Ophelia was fond of him too, and would be less hesitant to admit it.
She had a broken leg, which Hiccup could sympathize with. True he was the more extreme form of no leg whatsoever, yet she acted so much more maturely than he had when he'd found out about it. And she had such a spitfire spirit that wasn't clear in Elsa, that he assumed was from her mother, and she had such wide, curious eyes about everything he did…
And Odin, if he had a daughter like her one day (and honestly, she was already like on to him, as he'd seen Elsa slip up a couple times to almost call her 'daughter') he would be happy if they were a fourth of the person that Ophelia was already becoming. So the idea of her injured worse or hungry somewhere tore at his chest in a way that was unpredictably unfamiliar to him.
He leveled his gaze to find his mother staring at him with knowing eyes. Somewhere deep inside his mother, she was too scared for her granddaughter, in a way that went past the usual maternal fear for any youngling. The effect that this little girl had on his family was striking.
Elsa touched down a couple seconds later, but did not get off her dragon, but rather held on tightly with the anticipation to spring up at the moment of news or hints about Ophelia's whereabouts.
Hiccup was surprised to find a familiar face in the crowd that did not belong to his own tribe.
"Thuggery?" He asked, drawing near. Elsa heard his surprise, and quietly dismounted. While this wasn't how he wanted to present his bride-to-be, tearstained, mud cloaked, tired, and worried, the circumstances were not in his favor, and perhaps a different leader would have a new approach.
"Hiccup." Thuggery greeted, civilly, yet still a bit cold. It was hard to break down hatred for one another through just a generation, regardless if Hiccup was a key member of erecting dragons as part of the other tribe's societies.
"Who are you?" Elsa asked sharply, glaring. Thuggery raises his chin and looked down at her through narrowed slits. Not a good first impression on either side.
"Elsa, may I introduce to you Thuggery of the MeatHead Clan, our closet allies." He growled, and Elsa's face turned a bit red with embarrassment at her words, "And Thuggery, meet my fiancé, Elsa."
Thuggery turned to block Elsa out, speaking to Hiccup. "I'm here to help find the girl." He said simply.
"Oh great." Elsa hissed, throwing up her hands, "You asked the whole arpeggio for help? Hiccup, this doesn't need to leave us." She said under her breath, "We will seem incompetent otherwise."
But aren't we, Hiccup thought. They had actually managed to lose a young girl.
"I heard about it through someone else." Thuggery interjected, pushing between the quarreling pair, "But I am here to help."
"We don't need it." Elsa said dismissively, going to her dragon.
"It would be unwise to refuse." He warned. Elsa turned around, glaring hard.
"Really? I have been a queen before, so I am not new to these remarks 'Thuggery'. If that's some sort of blackmail or political threat, then you are a sick, sick, man."
Thuggery looked taken aback.
"Political move?" He repeated, "It would be unwise for I am strong and have a fast dragon. I also have emotional attachments; I have a three-year-old daughter and can emphasize with the idea of having her lost." He seemed almost hurt Elsa would insinuate that he was using Ophelia's disappearance to his advantage.
Hiccup didn't have the time to tell Elsa nearly everything Thuggery said sounded to be a threat, but it rarely was one.
Elsa studied him for a couple moments, before sighing.
"Fine." She agreed, "I suppose...we need help." She admitted.
"Elsa, think. Where would Ophelia go?"
"She really only knows the island. We haven't been anywhere else with her." Elsa said, stupefied. Hiccup, in a flash of realization, snapped his fingers.
"There is one other place…"
The sky was now dark as the parade of dragons with riders landed on the caves where he had found Elsa. There, the found Cloudjumper whining at the cave, and nudged Valka toward it as soon as she arrived.
"She's trying to get home." The soft whisper of Elsa's words sent a tremor of sorrow through Hiccup.
"The caves are large and extensive." Hiccup said to the group, holding a torch, "Only smaller dragons will fit. While she may be trying to find the cave she took shelter in when I first found her, there are at least two forks and I do not think that she would remember the way, meaning the only chance we have of finding her is to slip up." He said, "And it goes without saying, but please, be careful. The caverns are unstable, and there's running water somewhere."
Only Toothless and Valka's momentary dragon managed to fit through. He wished he had this gathering of closest friends in a better light, as he had not seen all of them together in a while, but was glad for the support. Valka, Thuggery, Gobber, The Twins, Fishlegs, Snoutlout, Camacazi and Eert all followed he and Elsa into the caverns.
At the first fork, the group slip in half. At the second folk, they split in half again, leaving Hiccup with Toothless and Fishlegs. Elsa had chosen to travel with Camazi in this moment over Hiccup, taking a drafty path.
There was a systematic dripping of water somewhere ahead. The steady beat was eerie enough as it was, and both the humans swung their torches far in front of them before they stepped.
"Just like old times," Fishlegs gave a nervous hiccup, "Huh?"
"Sure." Hiccup agreed, with a little laugh. While Fishlegs had been his friend of choice from the original academy, they hadn't been friends before hand, and hadn't gone on many adventures alone. Old times? Hiccup didn't have fond memories of what he considered 'old times', or before Dragon Integration.
"Elsa is really distraught." Fishlegs continued, attempting to make a conversation.
"Wouldn't you? This is basically her daughter."
"Do you feel bad you lost her?"
"I didn't lose her!" Hiccup insisted firmly, his voice raising and echoing around the caverns. He lowered his voice, "I did not lose her. I left her in care of my mother. We trust mothers." He pointed out.
"She's really quite the girl. My fiancé works at the academy, which I know you know, but she can't say enough about her. She was really upset when she found out today. I wonder if she's a favorite just because she's sort of the chief's daughter." He asked, and Hiccup sent him a hard look.
"I hope not. I don't want people to treat them differently because I'm me." He said, "Or because I'm chief."
"People treated you worse because you were the chief's son!" Fishlegs reminisced, scoffing into his hand.
"Yeah, great times." Hiccup rolled his eyes. Those weren't particularly days he wanted to remember. But he was correct; people did treat him differently as the chief's son…they treated him like a constant disgrace.
The pair and the dragon soon came to a musty cavern. Hiccup watched Toothless struggle to pick up any smell in the damp stone, and he shook his tail with frustration.
"There are little off shots. Let's explore and find her." Hiccup said. He wasn't sure if she'd be in here, but unless one of the crevices led somewhere a five-year-old could fit, they were at the end of their path.
Fishlegs took to sticking his torch into the caverns, as mostly he was too big to fit, calling Ophelia's name, while Hiccup poked his head into all the caves. It was at the second to last one, he saw a tight squeeze and some displaced rocks. Unless the bits of stalactite had suddenly decided to shatter the floor, he deduced a small creature must have recently gone through. While it may be a cave-dewlling thing, chances were it was the small creature he was most hoping to find.
Leaving his torch behind him, and adjusting to the naturally filtering light, he forced his shoulders through the squeeze, pushing the rest of his body through. On the other side, the cavern widened a bit more so he was almost comfortable crawling on his hands and knees. At least at most times, his shoulder blades and head did not touch the ceiling.
At one point, he cut his shoulder on a sharp rock, and other times, it seemed as though he was wading to the knee up in mud and gunk. Then at the next dip, it was cold water that stung his cut as it dripped onto his back. He couldn't remember such a tiring ordeal in his life, but reminded himself that Ophelia was much smaller and therefore it would have been easier for her to race through here. Hopefully he wasn't too late.
He began to call Ophelia's name into the murky light. He had squeezed pas the third tight space, when something came barreling at him in the darkness.
"Hubert!" He cried, "Please, please tell me you can lead me to Ophelia." He didn't have to ask as her dragon was nearly foaming at the mouth, tugging frantically on Hiccup's pant leg and wheezing with stress.
He more confidently followed the little dragon through the cracks until he came to a cavern that was narrow, but tall. At first he thought that Hubert had lost it, because he could see nothing within the area. Then, Hubert went and ran circles around an object before pressing itself against it. He saw the faint outline of a small figure, huddled in the back.
"Ophelia?" He called softly, not to startle her.
"Daddy?" Ophelia cried out, and he heard the stuffed cry of a person who had recently been crying. His heart broke a little, but he crawled over to her.
"No, It's me, Hiccup." He murmured, reaching out for her. She didn't hesitate to leap into his arms, like some other force pulled her to his chest, where she cried. She seemed full of dirt and grime, but seemingly unharmed other than her leg, which still was in its brace.
For a long couple of moments, Hiccup sat with Ophelia in his arms, reflecting on how to get out of there. The crevices were small and painful the first time to get though, and Ophelia seemed resistant to move much more. Besides, it took what felt like an hour, and Elsa would want to know that Ophelia was found in less than an hour. A crazy thought entered his head, and he looked up.
The cavern was not extremely high, perhaps only another Hiccup and a half taller than he already was, and the light that filtered into the middle made it seem as if the output at the top would be a promising size. The rocks were jagged, but enough so that perhaps…he could scale.
"Ophelia we're going to get you out of here, okay?" He said, "But you need to hold onto my back really tightly, and don't let go. Can you do that?" He asked her. Ophelia hesitated, but nodded. He let her grab around his neck, and had Hubert curl his body around Ophelia's shoulders. Fearlessly, he pulled himself onto the first step of his journey upward. Ophelia only murmured a couple times in fear, but soon he tasted the fresh air of the forest and could feel the breeze tickling his nose. With caution so that the hole would not break around him, he pushed himself and Ophelia from the hole onto the ground, where he lay panting on his back for a couple seconds. Ophelia came over to him, curling up wordlessly at his side drawing Hubert to her like a pillow.
He heard distant calling in the distance, and soon Toothless was frantically nudging him. He, exhausted, hardly remembered telling Toothless to find everyone and lead him or her out here. Hands bleeding from cutting on the rock and face smudged with cave dirt, he sank into a much-needed rest.
He woke with a jolt in the middle of the night to the feeling of someone repeatedly running a warm towel over his arms, face, and chest. He also felt a weight pressing to the side closest to the wall, warmth he didn't understand.
He wearily blinked awake to find it the middle of the night, with Elsa by his side. She looked less worn out, still a bit frazzled from the day. Her hair was pulled back, and her sleeves were pushed to her elbows. She was running a warm towel over his exposed skin and wringing out the mud and blood into a separate bowl.
"Elsa?" He asked, reaching up to rub his head, "Did I faint? That's…darn…" He sighed, realizing how embarrassing that must have been.
"You found her." Elsa whispered, knitting her eyebrows together.
"I know. She was really afraid looking, and so dirty." Hiccup recalled. He felt something shift to his side, and glanced over to see a clean looking Ophelia curled at his side. He turned to Elsa who gave a faint smile.
"She wouldn't sleep anywhere else, and she didn't want me." There was hurt in her tone, yet a sort of wonder too.
"I thought she was really hurt." Hiccup said, moving himself so he was sitting, "I can't remember being more afraid ever in my life."
"She just wraps people around her finger," Elsa said, "Half the village showed up when we returned a couple hours ago. She was asleep by the time we got home. I still don't know why she was out, but she need sleep more than we need answers." He could tell it pained Elsa to not know, but she looking lovingly at Ophelia.
"She called out for her father when I found her." Hiccup said, and Elsa froze. Hiccup couldn't forget the hope in Ophelia's voice as she called out, and while there hadn't been any outward signs of being let down when Hiccup corrected her, he still felt as though inwardly she hadn't thought he was good enough.
Well of course she missed her father, he reminded himself. He shouldn't get so worked up over something like that. Did he think a month here would change who her family was? Hardly, right?
Elsa put a hand delicately over her mouth.
"Oh…" She whispered softly, and looked at Ophelia, "Oh Ophie," She murmured, "I miss them too."
Hiccup could do nothing to ease her pain. All he could do was move over and bring Ophelia with him so that there was a space between Ophelia and the wall on the bed. He looked at her with questioning eyes, and she slowly crawled next to the sleeping child, holding her tightly.
In the morning, Ophelia was crying. Hiccup woke up and sat her up, and Elsa was petting her all over. "Ophie, wake up, it's just a bad dream." She said soothingly. Ophelia blinked awake.
"Elsa?" She said, "Elsa, I'm crying because I had another dream where mom and dad were calling to me." She said, putting her bottom lip out.
"Is that why you were ran away yesterday?" Elsa asked, "I'm not upset. I just want to know why."
"I dreamed that Mommy and Daddy were telling me to come home." Ophelia whispered, "I don't want to live here anymore! I want to go home, Auntie Elsa! I want my mom and my dad and my baby sibling and not you two." Her words stung, but Hiccup knew that her fear and sorrow were twisting her words to be as cruel as it could be.
"We can't…go…home…" Elsa tried to explain again.
"I don't care. I'm going home. I'll try again!" Ophelia said, a blazed look in her eyes.
"Ophelia! Don't you see how dangerous that was? You cannot try that again." Elsa said, but Ophelia shook her head.
"I don't care!" She repeated, "I would cut my arm off to go home."
There was a knock on the door.
"Hiccup?" It was Valka, "Gothi says she wants to speak with you and Elsa. Come Ophelia, let's get you some breakfast."
"I don't want breakfast here. I want it at home!" Ophelia told her. Valka just sighed.
"Well, if you were going home, you would not get there in time for breakfast, so perhaps having it here will have to do." When faced with such logic, and such slight hope, which Elsa was dreading, that she had given, Ophelia's attitude changed a bit.
"Well…" She sighed, "Fine. Then home."
Hiccup and Elsa closed the door to his childhood home firmly behind them. Gothi was waiting. She led them to a quiet area of the house, behind the ruckus of everyday life, where she could speak plainly.
"I heard about your problems yesterday." She said.
"Who didn't?" Hiccup scoffed.
"She will try this again, children are persistent." Gothi said, "Perhaps we should alter her memory, for her own good. Make her believe that you two are her mother and father, and make her forget-,"
"No!" Elsa spoke harshly, "I will not do that to her!" Gothi seemed taken aback by the fire in her voice.
"She has a thing about memory charms…" Hiccup winced, recalling the story of her sister.
"Please, whatever reservations you have, perhaps it would be best if they were put aside. Consider this," Gothi pleaded.
Elsa scowled, but said nothing. She just shook her head.
Hiccup, on the other hand, sighed. He nodded to Gothi, a small movement that Elsa did not see.
"She does not belong here," Elsa said, "And it was my fault she came here. Perhaps my future is in the past, but hers is not. What we need to find is another Omphalos, leading even just a year or so past when we disappeared." She pleaded, "Is there a group that studies when they show up?"
"I am not sure." Gothi frowned, "Not that I have heard of. But I will consult with some old friends and see if they have heard anything of the sort. But if this does not work, consider my words." She took her walking stick from the ground, and hobbled away.