10. Cracking Up

There was something in the air.

After Hiccup had returned to the forge, getting compliments from Ignacio and inquiring sniffs from Toothless, he had gone to bed. And upon waking up, he could immediately tell something was different in the Encanto. Even before leaving the guest room.

Ignacio, an already excitable man, was looking positively giddy when Hiccup descended the stairs in the morning. Dancing and singing to himself as he swept the forge. Treating the broom as if it were his dance partner.

The teen chuckled at the sight. “Am I…interrupting something?” The blacksmith, clearly not knowing he was being watched, dropped the broom in surprise.  “M-Morning, kid!” He stiffly picked up the broom and shoved it back into the corner, while trying to shift his guest’s focus.

“Yo, Hiccup! Are you ready for the craziest party you’ve ever seen?” He plucked a banana from his tree, right outside the window, and tossed it to Hiccup. “There’ll be food!” The boy ate as he continued. “Music!” He clumsily imitated a trumpet with his hands, and made some toot-toot noises. “Dancing!” He started a lively jig. “With a broom?” His lively jig was stopped by Hiccup’s snarky interjection, and he swiveled to the boy with a flat stare. “You’re not gonna let me live that down, huh?” The teen shook his head, cheeks full of banana.

The man’s peppiness returned soon after, and he finished his little show. “And most importantly- “He crouched onto one knee; his arm raised up to the sky. “We’ll be getting a new Madrigal gift!” He stood, and breached Hiccup’s personal space while bearing a huge grin. “It’s gonna be the biggest fiesta we’ve had in years!” While a tad uncomfortable with the man’s erratic behavior, Hiccup had to admit he was excited.

For as drab and unpleasant a place Berk could be, parties on Berk were always fun. Vikings were rowdy in everything they did, and that included having a good time. Yelling tall tales atop of tables to anyone who would listen. Drunkenly singing shanties, and getting into fights with their singing partner if they sung a bit off-key. The food was pretty good too, by Berk standards. Though Hiccup regretfully realized that after only a few days of Julieta’s delicious cooking, He wouldn’t be able to stomach even the best that Berk had to offer.

So if parties on Berk were already pretty fun, how much fun would an Encanto party be? A town as festive and jubilant as this on a normal day? Their celebrations had to be incredible! The lad was very interested in finding out, especially now that he was properly invited.

Ignacio hadn’t given him any work today. “It’s a celebration, enjoy yourself!” He had said, so Hiccup decided to take a walk around town. Before he left, he placed a small plate on the ground near Toothless slept. Breakfast for when he woke up, whenever that was. On the plate was a fish, a fish the boy had never heard of called the Tambaqui. Apparently, it was quite tasty, as the dragon couldn’t get enough of it lately.

His friend taken care off, he set off into town.

It wasn’t just Ignacio. Every single townsperson he came across was over the moon about the coming night. It was all everyone talked about, and everywhere he looked someone was decorating something to look even more festive than it already was.

He was even asked to help.

Not with anything big. Somebody needed help pinning the other end of a banner, and Hiccup was tall enough to assist. It was over in a second, but even something as small as that felt special to the boy.

Back on Berk, he never would’ve been trusted with such a simple task. It would’ve been assumed that involving him would naturally end in disaster, so one shouldn’t even bother.

A lot of people were still afraid of him, even more of Toothless. But slowly, Hiccup was starting to feel something from these people that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Acceptance.

A familiar voice brought him out of his bout of self-reflection. Mirabel was out with a group of kids, explaining her family’s history and their abilities in front of the same mural she had used to explain it to him. As she eagerly spoke, her voice had a charming, almost melodic quality to it. If Hiccup wasn’t paying attention, he could of swore she was singing.

He took a seat on a bench and watched her work, simply having fun observing her having fun. Soon though, the children started to pelt her with questions about her gift. The gift she didn’t have. He watched the kids as they trailed her back to Casita, snickering as they continued to hound her.

After a bit. he decided to follow them, having too much fun watching her squirm to just let them go. He arrived just as good old Osvaldo did what he did best, making you feel awful about yourself while being insanely nice about it. The teen started to wonder if he was doing it on purpose.

Just as one of the kids made a crack about her being in denial, he made his presence known.

“Alright, kids! Stop giving Mirabel a hard time.” He leaned in with a faux whisper. “If you don’t, she’ll take it out on me!” The girl in question rolled her eyes while holding her embarrassingly named basket, as the children laughed. One boy, a twitchy child holding a cup of something Hiccup wasn’t sure he was supposed to have, shouted at him.

“AREN’T YOU THE GUY WITH THE DRAGON WHO’S GONNA KILL US ALL!?” With a deadpan expression, Hiccup held up a finger. “Number one: Yes, I am the guy with the dragon.” His one finger became two. “Number two: I’m still undecided on the whole killing thing. I’ll get back to you on that.” He smirked as he noticed Mirabel hiding her laughter behind her basket.

The kids didn’t think it was funny.

They ran off, screaming about “The Dragon Master” and how they were all doomed. Eliciting a sigh from Hiccup. “There goes my reputation. Again.” His companion tried to reassure him. “Don’t worry, they’re kids! They’ll forget about it in five minutes!” A thought struck her. “Oh! Hold on- “She quickly hefted her basket into Hiccup’s arms, flustering the boy, as she dug in her pockets.

After a moment of fumbling, she presented his Ruana. The one he had gotten yesterday, the one she had snatched from him. She held it proudly with a wide, expectant grin. “So, what do you think?”

It looked unchanged.

It was still the same shape, and still the same colors. The top stripe was still a peach shade, the middle stripe remained orange, and the bottom was still a reddish-burnt sienna. But when he looked closer at the bottom stripe, he noticed it.

An embroidery, golden in color. A reptilian creature, with a mighty wing folded behind it’s back, and a long tail curling around itself. A distinctive nub adorned its head.

It was the strike class symbol, a Night Fury. His Night Fury.

The girl started speaking. “I didn’t want to do anything too flashy, because I didn’t know if you’d like it, but I- “

“I love it…”

She ceased her rambling, and eyed the boy who was ogling her handiwork with appreciation. “Really? You really like it?”  He looked stunned, and jolted out of his grateful trance. “Well, I-I mean, you did a really good job, y’know? And I was just saying…” She smirked, amused at his stammering. And handed the ruana to him, taking the basket back. “You’re welcome.” He smiled that lopsided smile in return.

He officially donned his new and improved ruana, and spread his arms out with a “Ta-Da!” It was a bit too baggy. Almost completely covering his white button-up. “It fits you perfectly!” She snorted. But then she looked a bit sullen. Hiccup noticed the change.

“Hey, is everything alright? I told you I liked it!” She perked up, trying to brush aside her feelings. “Nah, it’s fine, it’s totally fine! It’s just…” She found it harder to suppress her emotions suddenly. “…The last gift ceremony was mine. At it didn’t exactly end well. There’s a lot of pressure to get everything right, and…” She rubbed her arm with her hand, looking downtrodden. “It’s bringing up some bad memories…”

Hiccup felt bad for the girl, he had to say something to cheer her up. Even if he wasn’t entirely sure what he was talking about. “Hey, one hiccup to another?” She looked to him with those dark, brown eyes. “Everything’s gonna be fine. Tonight’s gonna be a good night, trust me.” He tried to put on his most reassuring smile. He hoped it worked.

A loud crash and some startled yelling coming from inside the house reminded Mirabel of her duties. “Woops, that’s my cue!” As if nothing had happened, she was at full energy again. She turned to enter Casita, before facing Hiccup again. “See you tonight?” Hiccup nodded his agreement. “Yeah, looking forward to it.” After giving him one last bright smile, she entered the house to help with the preparations.

Looking down at the embroidery on his ruana with a shy smile, he made his way back to town. Searching for something to occupy his time.

He had a few more hours to kill before the party.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the sun began its descent, Hiccup tried to ignore Ignacio dancing on his feet by the front entrance of the forge.

He was trying to convince Toothless that he couldn’t come to the party. For some reason the dragon really seemed to want to go, even though he knew he couldn’t be around the townspeople.

“I’m sorry, bud. Really, I am. But this is how it has to be!” Ignacio squirmed where he stood. “Come on, kid! The party’s about to start!” Hiccup shot him a look that screamed you’re not helping. He turned back to his dragon, placing a hand on each side of his face.

“Look, bud. You know I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have a good reason to. I just want you to be safe, that’s all…” Perhaps picking up on the sincerity in his human friend’s voice, the dragon finally relented. He sulked to the back of forge, head held low. Grumbling the whole way. Hiccup was sure if the creature was speaking a human tongue, he’d be muttering a string of profanities. He called out to his sullen friend. “We’ll bring you back something, promise!” His only response was the dragon using his tail-fin to hide his face. “Drama Queen…” Hiccup mumbled.

He felt his arm being grabbed by a large, strong hand. And before he knew it, he was being dragged by Ignacio, following the crowd who were all heading to Casita. As the people marched towards their destination, the blacksmith let out a joyous shout.

“IT’S PARTY TIME!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The last time Hiccup was in this location, he was bound, gagged, and being interrogated by people he assumed to be witches.

All with the help of a living house.

He hadn’t revisited the place since that initial encounter, he’d never had a reason too. And he was happy about that.

He was terrified of the living house.

It was a house. That was alive. How was that not scary?

Everyone spoke as if the house was the kindest, gentlest thing. But Hiccup knew better. He remembered the moving floors, delivering him straight to his prison. The doors locking on their own, preventing his escape. The windows flashing light into his eyes, just to screw with him. He’d had a few nightmares about being trapped in that thing.

So it should be no surprise that, upon being faced with the house once more, he froze up.

He and Ignacio were moving with the crowd, and upon arriving at Casita, Ignacio continued moving with the crowd all the way inside. But Hiccup stopped moving, simply ogling the building in fear.

There was no one else outside. Just him and the house.

The house’s tiles played a jaunty tune, perhaps to welcome him, or relax him a bit. But Hiccup knew better, the building was taunting him. The house’s window moved, as if to wave him inside. But Hiccup knew better, the building was daring him. It was practically saying “You’re too much of a coward to step inside, Hiccup the Useless…”

Hiccup wasn’t about to be called a punk by a gods damned house.

Determination flaring, he ignored the sinking feeling in his gut and marched straight into the house. The doors closing swiftly after. He had to suppress the urge to run straight back out.

Swallowing the scream building in his throat, he glared straight up to the ceiling and spoke to the house directly. “Look, I don’t want any trouble! I’m just here to have a good time, okay- “

His determination extinguished as the tiles beneath him sprang to life, and he yelped and shrieked as they moved him further into the house. Stopping him right next to a table, filled with plates of food. The tiles under the table jumped, and a plate of grilled corn leaped towards him. He caught it just in time.

He had to admit, it smelled delicious. Tasted even better.

He looked at the wall with scrutiny, and decided that while he still didn’t like it, anything that gave him good food couldn’t be that bad.

“Uh…thank you?” The tiles on the wall jolted in a cute little pattern, that Hiccup took to mean “You’re welcome!” The boy turned away, eating his corn with a scowl. “Yeah, yeah. Act all cute and innocent. I know your true nature…” Hiccup thought.

Setting aside his vendetta (for now) he observed the party around him. Loud, energizing music was playing. People were eating, talking, or dancing all over the courtyard. The boy spotted Ignacio tearing up the dance floor all ready. Kids were playing on the stairs and running around with little sparkly thingies that Hiccup wasn’t entirely sure were safe. All in all, it was a pretty cool party.

It could use some drunk Vikings fighting, though.

As he wandered the courtyard, plate of corn quickly finished and discarded, he accidentally bumped into someone. “Excuse me, I’m sorry, I- “

It was Isabela.

He felt his blood run cold as the memory of vines constricting his body made his skin crawl. His throat tightened, already physically reacting to a nightmare scenario where she choked him to death. He was ready to make a break for it, already looking for possible avenues of escape.

It really threw him off when she giggled.

Hand over her mouth as she produced a dainty little laugh, she batted her eyelashes as she responded to his frantic apologies. “Oh no, Hiccup. The fault is all mine!” He didn’t really know how to respond to that. “Uh…okay?” She giggled again, and sauntered around him. “And how have you been? I hope you’ve been keeping well!” He could only shrug, still dumbfounded. “Eh, y’know. I’m alright…” She heaved an overexaggerated sigh of relief. “Perfect! I do so wish I could stay and chat, but I’ve other matters to attend to. Enjoy the party!” She gracefully walked off to some other part of the courtyard, leaving a flurry of flowers and a stupefied Hiccup in her wake.

He felt an elbow poking him. He noticed Ignacio wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. “Putting the moves on Isabela, eh kid?” Hiccup blew the flower that had landed on his nose off before he answered. “Gods no! I’m pretty sure she hates me! I have no idea why she was being so nice to me, probably to lull me into a false sense of security…” The man chuckled. “That’s what they all say…” Before Hiccup could ask what that meant, he continued. “But don’t get any ideas! She’s way too old for you! Besides, she's already engaged!”

She’s engaged? Some poor guy was gonna marry her?

May the Gods have mercy on his soul.

He saw Alma walking around the courtyard, greeting guests, and he realized this was the first time he’d seen her since his first day. He straightened his back and stopped slouching immediately, without fully understanding why. She approached the two.

“Good evening, Senor Ignacio! Enjoying the festivities?” The man laughed as he always did. “You know me! It’d be hard to throw a party I wouldn’t enjoy!” The two adults chuckled, before the older woman turned to Hiccup. He noticed her smile felt more forced.

“And good evening to you, Hiccup. I hear you’ve been quite busy lately.” The boy hesitantly chuckled as he nodded, before she asked him something. “And…how are your repairs going?” He froze. He couldn’t tell the woman he hadn’t even started work on the new tail yet to make bee suits, she’d have him executed on the spot. He’d have to lie. “Good! Going good, really good! Just the goodest!” He tried to casually lean against the wall, but it only served to make him look more nervous. She didn’t look convinced, but if she had anything to say she didn’t say it. Instead replying with. “…Good.”

As Ignacio went to check out the food, he spoke to the old woman again. “Oh! By the way, Mirabel’s been doing a great job as my guide!” She didn’t have much of a reaction to this, simply nodding an excusing herself. He hoped he hadn’t screwed something up for the girl. But at least he had avoided telling her that he’s made zero progress on the tail.

Hiccup sighed, before mumbling “Crisis averted…”

Hiccup heard a sigh, before hearing someone in a very nasally voice mumble “Crisis averted…”

Turning to his right, Hiccup was beside himself.

An exact clone of his own being was standing right in front of him. He scrunched his nose in confusion, and the clone scrunched right back. Before breaking character by pulling out a notepad and jotting something down. “So, you scrunch your nose when you’re confused…got it!”

A slap to the back of the clone’s head broke his concentration, and his copy shrunk down to its original form. Camilo, who was currently being dragged by his older sister who had a firm grip on his ear. The boy yelped the whole way to their destination.

Hiccup could only think of one thing to say. “Well, that was weird…”

He did a quick check to make sure no one else would say it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon enough, it was time for Antonio to receive his gift.

The young boy was the center of attention. Spotlights shining down on him, all eyes on him.

And he looked petrified.

So terrified that he wouldn’t move, even at Casita’s urging.

Eventually he did start moving, but only when Mirabel arrived and took his hand in hers.

When the two walked by him in the crowd, he gave them both a little wave. He knew they saw it, as they both grew smiles for a brief moment as they passed him.

Young Antonio climbed the stairs, and Alma began speaking.

“Fifty years ago, in our darkest moment! This candle gave us a miracle!” After that he started to tune her out, he was never one for speeches. He began to pay attention again when Antonio touched his doorknob.

There was a bright flash! And then…

…a bird.

Hiccup didn’t recognize the species, but he’d seen them flying around. It was hard to miss those giant beaks.

The bird was perched on Antonio’s arm. It made some squawking noises, and looked to him expectantly. The boy nodded along, like they were having a real conversation.

Wait a minute. Hiccup looked closely at the way the two were interacting.

Were they having a real conversation?

Before Hiccup could think any more, several things happened at once. Alma shouted something about a new gift, the people celebrated uproariously, Antonio’s door opened up, a whole slew of critters ran into the courtyard. And the child was scooped onto the back of the biggest gods damned cat Hiccup had ever seen.

What were they feeding this thing?

He supposed it didn’t matter, the animal seemed friendly enough.

Hiccup stared in awe as he took in the sights of Antonio’s room, which was somehow a massive treehouse paradise for the boy and his animals. How all this fit into the house, Hiccup didn’t know. Mirabel caught his attention. “It’s incredible, right?”

He turned to her, wonder in his eyes. “How is that even possible?” She shrugged with a laugh. “Magic! All the rooms are like this!” His excitement grew. “Really? So, what’s your room like?” She flinched in response. “It’s…it’s something.”

People cheered as the big cat leaped and bounded along the tree, and Hiccup couldn’t help but join in. The kid was having so much fun!

Eventually the cat returned Antonio to the crowd, who were all incredibly happy for the child. He was currently being smothered in hugs by his parents.

Hiccup chuckled at the adorable sight.

Until he heard a familiar screech.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the forge, Toothless was napping.

Until he wasn’t.

He didn’t know why. He didn’t know how. But he knew.

He was being called.

This wasn’t like the mind-splitting call of an alpha dragon, this felt more…pure.

But whatever it was, it needed him to go now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The crowd quieted as they heard the screech, and Hiccup prayed that it was just one of these animals making a really weird noise.

But of course, it wasn’t. Toothless ran at full speed into the courtyard, through the frenzied crowd that moved to the sides to avoid the beast, and he skidded to a stop right in front of Antonio.

Aside from a few individuals, everyone looked terrified. Hiccup was terrified for an entirely different reason. But still, none moved when Antonio stepped towards the creature. The people didn’t quite know why, but they felt like they should be quiet right now.

The dragon looked down at the boy, and released an experimental warble. The child’s face lit up in delight as he joyously proclaimed “I understand you, Toothless!” The Night Fury crooned in glee, and moved to nuzzle the child.

As he began petting the excited dragon, someone in the crowd cheered out.

“ANTONIO HAS TAMED THE BEAST!”

And the crowd went wild.

Over the cheers, Hiccup felt himself deflate. Oh, great. He puts in all this time to train a dragon, and now he doesn’t even get credit for it? Of course this happened to him. Even when he got a win, he couldn’t get a win.

With a sigh, he supposed this was okay. If it meant he could actually take Toothless into town now, he’d accept it. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and saw Mirabel offering him an apologetic smile.

“Um, excuse me? Hiccup?” Antonio was looking up at him. “Toothless says he has something very important to tell you.”

Hiccup felt his heart accelerate. He was so worried about getting recognition, he completely glossed over the fact that with Antonio’s help, he could now speak with his dragon. Really speak with him.

Hiccup nodded, a bit shaky from the excitement. “Alright, what is it bud?”

The Night Fury made noises to the boy, as he nodded in understanding. Hiccup jittering with anticipation, and Mirabel standing beside him.

With Toothless done speaking, the child turned to Hiccup. He braced himself for his dragon friends first spoken words…

“He says you’re stupid.”

Hiccup’s face was indescribable.

After all they’ve been through, after all they’ve sacrificed for each other, after the bond they’ve formed, his best friend in the whole world uses his one chance to speak coherent language to call him stupid?

Before he could launch into a frenzied rant, the child spoke again. “He also says he loves you!”

The rant died on the boy’s lips. And as he looked into his dragon’s soulful eyes, he could only sigh, smile, and respond with “Love you too, bud.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alma was overjoyed, the night had gone perfectly! She decided to take a picture with all the Madrigals, to commemorate such a wonderful occasion. Little Antonio was called over from where Hiccup was standing, but only Antonio…

“Hey, you’re missing someone…” After muttering that, he turned to the missing Madrigal. Perhaps she just hadn’t heard them.

She wasn’t there.

He caught the last bit of her exiting the room, heading back to the courtyard. He followed, concerned.

He found her just…standing. In the middle of the courtyard. Hands balled into fists and head hanging in sadness.

He cautiously approached. “Uh…Mirabel?” She turned to him, looking miserable. The starts of tears in her big, brown eyes. She sniffled before she spoke. “Oh, Hiccup!” She put on a forced smile. “Yeah, I’m fine! I’m…”

She couldn’t keep up the façade. Not with him looking at her with so much worry.

“…I’m not fine!”

Before Hiccup could say anything, she was ranting.

“I get it! I can’t move mountains, or summon flowers, or anything! I can’t do anything! I know that!” She was getting heated, throwing her arms in frustration.

“But I try, Hiccup! I try so hard for this family, and no one ever cares. It’s never enough. I’ll never be enough! Because a stupid door didn’t give me a stupid gift!” She was stomping in small circles. Hiccup opted not to interject, just letting her say what she was feeling.

“Abuela looks at me like with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on the meat in her sandwich! And Senorita Perfecta acts like I’m inconveniencing her just by breathing in her presence!” She was huffing now, her face turning red. Her anger reached its apex.

“I’m not asking for much! All I want is to be treated like I’m actually A PART OF THIS FAMILY!” As she shouted her last words, her rage dissipated. And she sunk down to her knees, misery taking over. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted…” She sniffed.

As she whimpered, she felt a hand on her back. Hiccup was there, trying his best to comfort her. He knew exactly what she was going through. He was about to offer some comforting words, when-

CLATTER

The two saw a fallen tile hit the ground. Hiccup looked up, warily. Covering his head with his arms. Was the house attacking him from above now?

Mirabel moved to pick up the fallen tile, cutting herself in the process. As he moved to see if she was okay, the floor started rumbling. They both looked in surprise at the floor, was the house doing this on purpose. Mirabel tentatively called the building’s name, and then…

A crack.

Small at first, but it spread. Fast. All throughout the floors, and soon through the walls as well. The two teens followed the cracks as they slashed along the walls. Watching as photos on the walls shuddered, and the lights of the magic doors faded like dying lightbulbs.

As a particularly big crack hit the wall behind him, Hiccup could swear he heard a muffled scream. From inside the wall? He must be hearing things.

The duo watched, helplessly, as the cracks moved up. Up and up until they seemed to all focus onto one point.

The candle. It’s everlasting flame barely a wisp.

With an eerie drone, everything magical in the house seemed to fade almost into nothingness.

Hiccup and Mirabel gawked at what they had witnessed, then turned to each other. They knew what they had to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well that was a disaster.

The two had rushed into Antonio’s room, shouting about what they had seen and urging everyone to come take a look. When they had arrived though…nothing.

Everything looked perfectly fine.

They tried to assert that they weren’t making things up, but Alma silenced them with a stern glare and a raised palm. She then addressed the crowd.

“There is nothing wrong with La Casa Madrigal! The magic is strong!” She then grew a mischievous smirk. “…And so are the drinks!” She gestured to the crowd. “Please, music!” And the party started back up.

Julieta stepped out from the moving crowd and looked to the two, concerned. As she made her way downstairs, the teens were in the middle of a rapid conversation.

“Maybe we had some kind shared delusion?”

“No way, that was all real! And you know it!”

“Okay, I agree. But no one else saw it!”

“Then we have to prove it!”

“And how are we supposed to do that?”

As Mirabel gesticulated her hands wildly, her mother caught sight of the cut she had acquired. Mama mode taking over, she gently took her daughter’s shoulders in her hand. “Excuse us, Hiccup.” She spoke with a motherly grin. Mirabel turned her head to him, eyes wide as she was ushered to the kitchen.

Left standing alone, he glared at the house he was standing in. Who did it think it was? Making itself look all neat and tidy just in time for Mirabel to look like a fool. “Listen!” He pointed to a wall. “I don’t care what you do to me, but you better not be messing with Mirabel. Got it?”

He didn’t receive an answer.

Grumbling, he climbed the steps back into Antonio’s room. Ignoring the anxiety bubbling from within him.

He hoped those cracks didn’t mean anything too bad.