The Arcane Evil (httyd-fic)

Chapter 43

Hiccup looked at the sitting figure curiously. "Who are you and where am I?"

"This place has many names." The man mumbled as purple lightning suddenly streaked past. "The Dark realm, the Timeless realm, the Prison realm. People have called it many things. As for who I am. That is a much longer story but you may call me Cidore."

"What is your name?" Cidore asked with a quirk of his head.

"Hiccup" He said. "And you did not answer my previous question. Who are 'they'?"

"Who knows really. They are curious creatures. I believe that they are the original inhabitants of this world." The man stated with a shrug. "I do not know how many there are. This may be one of their cities or it may be the only one in this realm. I never quite could go exploring."

"Why not?" Hiccup asked curiously as he saw the man point to his legs.

Hiccup stood up and then his eyes widened as he got a good look at Cidore's legs. "They're stone...... What? How?!" Hiccup asked as the man simply gave him a smile.

"I guess you could say it is my punishment for being foolish." Cidore muttered. "When I was young my heart was easily swayed."

"When you were young?" Hiccup asked as he sat back down and surveyed the damage he caused with his landing. "You do not look so old to me."

"The work of the Timeless realm." Cidore mentioned ruefully as he noticed Hiccup started to rebuild the stone houses as best he could. "You do not age here but you do feel the centuries pass."

"Why were you sent here?" Cidore suddenly asked. "It is not everyday that this realm gets......... visitors."

"I stepped in the way of a magic stone that was meant for my fiancé." Hiccup explained.

"Then she is a lucky lady to have such a partner." Cidore stated. "I just can't help but wonder what happened for someone to want to banish her to this forsaken realm."

"I think she might have invoked Sielihah's ire." Hiccup mumbled and frowned a bit when he thought he saw some movement in the distance.

"So Sielihah is back on Alaris." Cidore muttered which caused Hiccup's head to snap up and look at him curiously. "I had wondered why it was so quiet here."

"You know Sielihah?" Hiccup questioned as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Of course I know her." Cidore stated. "After all, it was I who sealed her in this realm."

"You......" Hiccup gasped out in shock. "Then what are you doing here as well?"

"An eye for an eye Hiccup." Cidore suddenly said. "You tell me everything that has happened since she returned to your world and in exchange I shall tell you my tale. It also looked like we'll be having company."

Cidore pointed into the purple mist and Hiccup could see small figures approaching hesitantly. When they got closer he noticed that these figures were made of rocks.

"These are this realm's inhabitants?" Hiccup queried as he saw the creatures stop to look at him in curiosity.

"Yes." Cidore stated. "They were already here when Sielihah and I arrived. First they were friendly but Sielihah would hurt them when she was bored. They became distrustful of us and hid whenever she approached."

"That's really sad. No one should have to live like that." Hiccup commented as he noticed the rock creatures began rebuilding the houses as well.

"Unfortunately it is her nature. I was just a fool to recognize it too late." Cidore muttered angrily.

"So you still want to know what happened?" Hiccup asked as he helped one of the creature lift a rock.

"Yes"

"Very well." Hiccup stated and proceeded to tell him everything up until the attempt on Astrid's life.

Cidore just blinked at Hiccup when he finished his story. "She really hasn't changed." He then muttered.

"It was as centuries ago when I first met her. I lived in a monastery where everyone could freely practice magic. She came to us starved and beaten. The elders took her in and assigned me to take care of her. She decided to stay with us when she mentioned having magic and I proceeded to teach her the craft. She was highly proficient in it and over time I fell in love with the wonderful woman she pretended to be. It would be years later that I learned the truth." Cidore sighed.

"Even though I fell in love with her, she decided to leave the monastery to travel the continent. There were stories of her becoming a great healer and helping the people but she returned two years later only to burn the monastery to the ground. Some managed to escape the inferno but others were not so lucky."

"That was when you decided to banish her?"

"No, not yet." Cidore admitted. "I had followed her to the castle she stayed at hoping to talk some sense into her but what I saw was a monster instead. She was using her magic to suck the lifeforce out of the people to retain her youth. The plague spreading across the land was something that she created herself to create desperation for a savior. I returned to the ruins of the monastery and hid my account of what she really was in the catacombs. It was then that I had decided to face her."

"We battled for hours. It was magic against magic but Sielihah managed to strike a fatal blow. I was bleeding out when I cast the spell to trap her in the Timeless realm. I thought I would die from bloodloss then but Sielihah grabbed my ankle as she was being pulled into the vortex. We both ended up here. The mist in this realm slowly affects a person's magic until they cannot use it at all in this world. Once here she cursed me a partial statue before her magic was rendered useless."

"So there is no way you can escape from here?" Hiccup queried.

"Even if there was. It would be useless to me. Even if I could undo the stone curse, I would still bleed out once I reach Alaris. This realm is literally all that is keeping me alive." Cidore told him seriously. "I might not be able to leave but you can."

"I.......can?"

"You will need to ask the wardens of this place." Cidore said as he indicated to the rock creatures who were meekly watching them. "They are living rocks yet their houses are not. "From my centuries of observing them I can only conclude that they get these rocks from an entirely different world. Sielihah had always sought a way out but I never divulged this too her. She would have crushed these creatures to get an answer."

Hiccup turned to the rock creatures who now dared to get closer. "Could you help me?" Hiccup asked the small figures. "There is someone I need to return to."

The creatures backed away from Hiccup then as if frightened.

"I think they are wary because they fear Sielihah might return once you leave." Cidore said as he observed them. "They already know that you are far kinder than her as you were helping them rebuild."

"What if" Hiccup said to the creatures "I try to make sure that she is not sent back to this realm. You will never have to see her again."

One of the larger rock creatures then stepped forward. I raised a rocky limb towards Hiccup and started gesturing.

"That is one of the leaders of this place." Cidore mentioned. "I think he wants you to promise not to send her back here unless it is a last resort."

Hiccup gripped the rocky limb and shook it. "I promise." Hiccup agreed readily before the elder left and disappeared in the mist. When the elder returned he was carrying a glowing white pebble.

"You will need to smash it on the ground." Cidore told him. "Also tell your fiancé that, yes, magic is driven by intent, but it also needs conviction and imagination for her to properly fuse the spells. Once she has mastered it the applications will be nearly limitless."

Hiccup nodded to Cidore and waved at the rock creatures before he smashed the pebble. A white light engulfed him and the Timeless realm was left with one less occupant.

The elder turned to Cidore and gestured. Cidore let out a snort. "You ask why I had to be so cryptic? Some aspects of magic need to be figured out by the caster itself. I might have thought Sielihah everything she knows but not everything I do."