"so," Pluto looked round to his friends, "thoughts?"

"I still think this is ridiculous," Neptune muttered, "why not bring this up with the council? If these visions you and Proserpine have been having seem so important."

Vesta snorted, "right, because Jupiter will acknowledge an enemy that hates dragons. He's more likely to welcome this man in."

Neptune ran his hand through his silver hair, shifting over the gills in his neck, "I don't know brother, this seems serious. Maybe we should be looking for help from powerful sources?"

"what I've seen isn't the gods fighting a battle, realistically we cannot," Pluto mused, "although Jupiter may like to call himself and his council all powerful and capable of whatever they so wish, we cannot fight this for them."

"so leave them to do it on their own," Neptune's eyebrows knit, cerulean eyes shining, "I don't see how you think giving this Viking mortal your blessing is necessary. What you're suggesting is to practically give him the power of-"

"of a demigod, I'm aware."

Neptune gave him a dry look, "you are sure of this?"

"completely. He may not understand it now but Rome will need his and his friends help when the time comes." Pluto said.

"you're no god of prophecy, brother," Neptune warned.

"And?" Vesta leaned her head against her hand, elbow propped on her chair's arm, "other gods have done stupider things in the wake of prophetic dreams."

"I'm just saying this might be a bit rash," Neptune said.

"and you've never done anything rash before?" Pluto raised an eyebrow, "considering how you and Jupiter can overreact I think it's my turn. I'd hate to be beat in dramatics."

"very funny," Neptune sighed, "well... if you think it is necessary then I assure you I won't tattle tale to the big bad king of the Council. But I don't understand it."

"thank you, that's all I need."

"why, exactly?" Neptune asked, "you could have just done it."

"because this way, if Jupiter finds out, he has the leverage of a goddess with good history and a god on the council agreeing with his actions," Vesta rolled her eyes, "honestly brother how have you run a kingdom this long?"

Neptune gasped with an overdramatic flair and placed his hand to his chest, "I am wounded."

Pluto sighed, "go be wounded in the ocean please, the longer we fuss over this the more chance Proserpine has of finding out."

"oh, is that relationship drama I hear? spill!" Neptune stood with a newly excited air.

"how about instead I come over for tea," vesta snickered, giving Pluto a wink then transported herself and Neptune to his castle in the ocean, her voice lingering as she said, "you owe me."

Hiccup woke up in a cold sweat with a pounding headache and cramps that had him hitting his head on the bunk above him.

"gods Hiccup, it's not even dawn yet, come on," Atticus yawned above him. Hiccup barely heard it, his head was pounding.

"go back to bed," Atticus mumbled as he turned over on his mattress, the sound of it creaking sliced through the haze with a blinding clarity.

His ears rang, this piercing shrill that whined from a low note up to the highest sound he'd ever heard. A drop of sweat dripped down his face. Hiccup was painfully aware of it, cold against his skin that was aflame. His breath wheezed out between his teeth.

An insect clicked outside the barracks and Hiccup's head snapped to the window. The sound reverberated around his skull. A lone candle flickered just outside the door, Hiccup's eye caught it and wouldn't let it go. He shivered, his bones clattering, skin dripping with sweat, the shirt and pants he wore were dark with it.

Something was wrong. It felt like there was a furnace burning up inside him, trying to claw its way out.

Hiccup tore his eyes from the candle to look at the sky. It was still dark, black and endless. A few stars twinkled and the pinprick of light seared into his eyes. He couldn't do anything now, he'd have to just rest till morning then make his way to the infirmary. He wasn't sure where that was in the first legion's camp, but he'd find it.

So Hiccup shifted back onto his bed, careful not to make any noise else he wake the others, and closed his eyes.

But he couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned, every part of his body aching. He watched the light slowly filter into the room, it warmed the whole place up. He switched between sweltering and freezing in seconds, the temperature change slithered up his spine.

He closed his eyes, in a bit he could get up and head to the infirmary. He just had to doze a little longer and maybe it would feel like he wasn't in so much pain.

"Hiccup?"

He cracked his eye open a little, the light was way too bright to be normal, too strong, too powerful.

The sound came rushing in. people walking outside, someone shifted and their armour creaked, a dragon roared in the distance.

Hiccup groaned and clutched his head, "what?"

"you alright mate?"

Hiccup cracked an eye open, Atticus was leaned against the top of the bunk, stooping down to look at him, his brow creased.

"'m fine," Hiccup sat up, slow, the light was too bright.

"you look like you're melting."

"it's okay, I'll grab some water," Hiccup blinked against the light, surprised when it dipped for a moment. Atticus rested his hand against his forehead.

"gods, you're burning up!"

"I'm fine, I'll head to the infirmary, it'll be fine." Hiccup pulled himself up and hauled his legs over the side of the bed.

"I'll help you get there."

"no, it's fine Gus," Hiccup batted his friend's hands away. Toothless decided to take interest, he sniffed at Hiccup with a low mewl.

"see, Toothless thinks there's something wrong, I'll take you to make sure it's okay," Atticus said, and lifted Hiccup from under his shoulders to his feet.

"I'm fine," Hiccup swayed and stumbled to the door, "I'm fine."

"yeah," Atticus sighed, "sure you are."

Atticus grabbed one of his arms and slung it over his shoulders, Hiccup barely had a second to think of how embarrassing this was before Atticus was out the door.

At the foot of the stairs Verlin stood, already dressed, drinking from a waterskin.

"what took you so long? What's wrong with Hiccup?" he asked as Atticus reached the bottom of the stairs.

"he's sick, I'm taking him to the infirmary. We'll have to go visit the city another time." Atticus said, about to walk off. Verlin cut in front of him and felt Hiccup's forehead.

"when did this happen?" Verlin asked, looking to Atticus and getting a shrug in return.

"I woke up sometime in the night," Hiccup said, at this point he was resigned to the fact that he was stuck with the two worrying over him.

Verlin's brow creased as he looked Hiccup up and down, "I recognise this," He mumbled.

"oh good, we won't have to spend forever with the medics-"

"no," Verlin cut Atticus off, "no, we can't take him to the infirmary. We gotta take him to Jael."

"what?"

Verlin looked to Hiccup, "are your senses heightened?"

"what?"

"shut up Gus," Verlin snapped his fingers in front of Hiccups face, and nodded when he grimaced and shut his eyes against it. to him it looked like a flash of colour that moved much too fast. The sound echoed inside his head, "yeah, this is a Jael problem."

"right..." Atticus looked at Hiccup with concern, "you're sure?"

"positive. Come on," Verlin huffed and started walking down the path, "she was on her way to her apartment not long ago."

It turned out that Jael had an apartment in the outer ring of the Capitol, one of the suburbs closest to the camp. It was next to a little corner store and across from an even smaller library. Atticus helped hiccup up the three steps to the door and Verlin knocked. Hiccup leaned against the wall and studied a small amulet that hung from the candle sconce next to the door.

Hiccup wasn't listening close but he caught Verlin explaining what was going on and Jael's sharp, accusatory "what?" as she turned to study Hiccup.

"I think whatever blessing Pluto's given him is catching up," Verlin explained.

"an overload?" Atticus questioned, then at the twins look of surprise, "what? I know stuff."

Jael sighed as she took hiccup by the bicep and lead him inside, "get off my porch."

The room was dark and Hiccup honestly couldn't be bothered to take in the decor. Jael sat him down on a couch then rushed off somewhere. Hiccup held his head in his hands as the headache attacked again with a new fervour.

"hold this," Jael ordered and shoved something cold into his hands, then rushed off again.

He could hear Jael moving about to his right, metal clanging and a fire being lit. the sounds dug into his head.

He took a deep breath and tried to focus on anything other than the pain, but the only other things he could feel were extreme heat that switched to freezing in seconds, sounds that sliced his mind in half and a deep ache in his bones.

But breathing helped. Slowly it became less unbearable.

"feeling better yet?"

Hiccup opened his mouth to answer but his throat hurt as he spoke and all he could get out was a groan.

"I'll take that as a no then," he heard Jael mutter. The sound pinging against his skull faded. His fingers tingled.

Slowly the sounds faded and the ache went with it. by the time Jael sat on the couch across from him it was distant.

"can I have that back please?" Jael gestured to the thing she gave him. Now Hiccup finally looked at it, a dark rock of some kind, a flat teardrop shape about as long as his finger. He gave it back and she put it on a counter, messed about in the kitchen for a while.

"what the hell was that?"

"crazy, magic nonsense," Jael explained as she sat back on the couch with two mugs, "drink this."

Hiccup took the offered mug and stared at the liquid, it smelled sweet and vaguely flowery, "I'm serious, what was it? and how'd you make it stop?"

Jael sighed and took a long sip of the drink, "drink it, it'll make you feel better."

He rolled his eyes but took a sip, "How'd Verlin know you could help?"

"gods you ask a lot of questions."

"I'm sorry."

"it's okay," Jael sat her mug on the low table between them, "keep it up, inquisition is a mark of intelligence." She rubbed at her eyes and sighed, "Verlin knew because he's seen it before."

"right," Hiccup finally bothered to look at the room. The couches facing each other lead onto a hall with a staircase and a kitchen. The benches and shelves were covered with plants and books and jars. No surface was left untouched.

"whatever blessing Pluto gave you finally caught up. It was a lot of power at one time and... sort of put your body in a kind of shock." She ran a hand through her shoulder length hair, "I've been there. It's why I keep some of those things around." She gestured to the bench she had put the rock on, "they can store energy and, if done right, you can take it out for later use."

Hiccup blinked, "you have experience with this god stuff?"

Jael rolled her eyes, "not the ones you know. Norse, Roman, they work differently to what I'm used to, but they're similar enough on principal."

"Egyptian?"

"yeah that's the one," she took another sip of her drink, "don't get me wrong I'm not a demigod or anything, or a champion. But I... study magic and the path of gods."

"like a witch?"

"witchcraft is about harnessing the natural magic around you through plants and the moon and stuff. I harness the power of specific gods domains," She explained, "I'm more like a warlock who dabbles in sorcery."

"and you didn't mention this before? The first time I said I had a god's blessing?"

"I just met you. Also, I figured it wouldn't be... this." she gestured to him, "more like a ceremonial kind of well wishes blessing, less of a," she made a pouty face and spoke in a croaky voice "I bestow upon thee my power, go, do unto the earth my godly will."

"Ew," Hiccup laughed, "Pluto isn't a wrinkly old dude."

Jael cackled, "whatever," she took another sip of her drink then got up and walked to the kitchen, "pendant should be done."

"pendant?"

"yeah, the stone thing," she picked it up off the bench, "just some sigils and things, final touches." She put the pendant on a chord and tossed it to him before taking her seat back, "you can get magic back out whenever and no one else can touch it. be careful though, that much stuff will crash into you like a flood."

"and can you tell me how to do that?" he asked as he slipped the chord over his head, the stone hung right under his collar, just cold enough to be felt through his shirt.

"sure, because I needed an apprentice," Jael sighed and got up, wiping her hands on her pants and taking a thick leather-bound book from a nearby shelf and dropping it on the table between them, "alright, stand up, shut up and listen up"

The afternoon sky was bright orange and pink, Hiccup figured maybe he could go for a fly before dinner was out at the mess hall.

He was carrying one of Jael's books, the first one she filled on what she was learning on Roman magic, as well as an amulet that would apparently stop bad dreams if he stuck it under his pillow. He couldn't see why he'd need it, he'd never had an issue with nightmares before, but Jael stressed that they would become an issue if he didn't have a protection of some sort.

"and remember, don't go doing anything stupid. If Pluto's given you any kind of useable power it's best to let it present itself naturally," Jael reminded him for probably the fifth time since they'd left her apartment.

"I'm not stupid, Jael," Hiccup chuckled, "if any scary demons barge into the room I'll come looking for you."

"ha ha, demons are serious business." She shoved a finger in his face.

Hiccup rolled his eyes and trudged up the stairs. Through the open door he could see Atticus and Verlin playing some card game.

"hey bozos," Jael greeted as Hiccup put the book and amulet on his bunk, "scam any market-stall owners today?"

"rude," Verlin said, acting wounded, "just because they sell us stuff for cheap doesn't mean we goaded them into it."

"yeah, sure," she gave Atticus a strong look, "you look after hiccup."

"yes ma'am."

"I don't need looking after," Hiccup said, arms crossed.

"sure," she turned around and started out the door, "I'm gonna find a pub before the mess hall opens."

The boys chuckled and went back to their game, but Hiccup still had some questions to ask. He followed Jael and met her at the foot of the stairs.

"why do you know all this stuff?"

"what?"

"the magic and the gods and the 'how-to' stuff. Why do you know it all? How?"

Jael sighed through her nose and looked at the sky, her shoes, Toothless sleeping on the porch, anywhere but Hiccup's face.

She smiled thinly, "when Verlin and I lived in Egypt... we..." she leaned against the rail of the stairs, "I was going to be an acolyte at one of the libraries in the city. Keep studying all this nonsense and more. Maybe be a healer or a scholar, I don't know, but..."

She was looking at the grass, dug the toe of her sandals into the dirt.

She sighed, "the dragon traffickers were a big problem there at the time, I think they still are." She finally looked him in the eye, "they let them loose one day, burned half the city down like that," she snapped her fingers, "gone."

"I'm sorry." Hiccup wasn't surprised, not at all. He was, however, shocked that Jael could so readily accept dragons as harmless after seeing that- because the way she spoke about it told him clearly that she had watched it all.

"it's okay." She jerked her chin towards the barracks where Verlin was, "he was here at the time, with our father. He always preferred Rome. but when the trappers became so dangerous, Da wanted me out. he and mum already lived in the capitol anyway. I was happy to leave, it had all been ruined for me after the fires."

"but you kept up your studies."

"yeah." She sighed, "yeah."

Hiccup fidgeted with his shirt and opened his mouth to say something, but he honestly didn't know what to say.

"I'm telling you this," Jael started, finally looking him in his eyes again, "because I've seen your confusion and worry over me and Verlin, with how we drink and act. Trust me, I know it's bad. I've pretty much ruined him thanks to his inability to see anything I do as wrong."

"I don't-"

"yes you do."

Hiccup sighed, "sorry."

"you're worried, I get it. don't though, not about us." She patted him on the shoulder, "we look after ourselves. That's what family does."

"it's okay to get help from other people as well, you know."

"yeah," she shoved her hands in her pockets, "but not right now."

And she left. Hiccup went for a flight. They went to the mess hall for dinner and Jael pretended she hadn't even mentioned anything. Which was rather ironic, because it just made him worry about her more. He'd known these people a little over a week, and here he was, fussing over them like a mother hen.

And he didn't worry about Berk.