Echo of a human
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Summary: You try to find the changlings who hide in society and find one very close to you.
Word count: 4.7K
(A/n): Some episodes will be combined for chapters . My wifi is currently down so it will be uploaded later to AO3.
•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•
Carefully (Y/n) climbs through one of the windows which was left unlocked, most likely by Blinky. She jumps down the windowsill and walks through the hallway. She finds Vendel, Aaarrrgghh and Blinky, the elderly troll eyeing some old human clothing.
Blinky was the first to notice her, he clasps his hands together “There you are. Has master Jim arrived as well" he looks past her, trying to find the boy or his friend.
“Wait, they are not here yet? I was expecting you were waiting for me” (Y/n) replies, glancing back.
“I don’t appreciate the trollhunter's tardiness” Vendel states, hitting the ground with the bottom of his hearthstone staff. “I have duties in Trollmarket I have attended to”
Finally two pairs of footsteps could be heard, signalling Jim and Toby had arrived. “You’re late” Blinky mentions.
“Sorry. Draal was training Jim” Toby says before getting elbowed by Jim.
“Draal?”
“Training?”
“Yeah, he sorta made a home in my basement to look out for the place” Jim elaborates, awkwardly fiddles with his hands.
“Of course. When a troll is defeated in combat, it's completely natural for them to take refuge in the victor's domicile” Blinky explains, unimpressed.
“Do they hide under beds as well?” (Y/n) questions.
“So, you understand?” Jim asks.
“I understand such an arrangement could only end in disaster. Utter disaster!” Blinky exclaims in a scolding tone.
Vendel finally speaks up “Are we simply waiting here to be discovered? Or were you planning on showing me this thing you believe to be the Killahead Bridge?”
Blinky laughs, “The Trollhunter was just about to show us the way” he sheepishly grins, patting Jim on the shoulder.
Taking the hit, Jim walks to the back of the museum, He opens two large doors, “And as we were chasing away the goblin pack, we ran past this closed exhibit, and there it was: the Killahead Bridge” he pushes the curtains open to reveal a large object covered by a blanket.
Jim and Toby try to pull off the giant blanket, before being stopped by Aaargghh. “Me” He says, giving it a good tug and removing it. It falls off, revealing a viking ship.
“They moved it” (Y/n) mutters, looking up at the boat.
“That is not a bridge” Vendel states with skepticism.
Jim panics, trying to explain the misunderstanding. “But it was right here! You saw it, Tobes. You took a picture of it!” He pulls on his best friend’s arm.
“It was, eh It was out of focus, and I did forget to turn on the flash. We were running so fast. We were being chased, you know? Maybe we only thought we saw it” Toby rambles, becoming unsure.
“It looked just like it” The girl fails to make an argument, feeling defeated.
Vendel turns around to face Blinky “Blinkous Galadrigal, I've not left the Heartstone in a century. I only did so tonight because of the grave peril the Killahead Bridge represents. For you to invoke that danger without just cause–” He scolds the troll.
“If Master Jim says it's so–” Blinky tries to argue.
“You will be only too quick to believe him. You've never met a conspiracy theory you didn't like”
“I hate conspiracies. That is why I am dedicated to rooting them out”
“Like you rooted out the plot to rid Trollmarket of all its cat meat?”
“That was a misunderstanding”
“Or the time you were convinced we were infested with flea trolls?”
“Precaution is the soul of virtue”
“Everyone in Trollmarket thinks you're paranoid”
“If it's everyone, it must be a conspiracy!”
(Y/n) covers her face with her hands, realising that their mentor’s paranoia made them look crazy too.
Letting out a sigh, Vendel says “It would seem your pupil is desperate to play the hero, while you are desperate to see danger where none exists. Aaarrrgghh, take me home” He turns his head to the girl of the group. “I’ll be needing your assistant on the next full moon”
Surprised, (Y/n) blurts out “Oh ofcourse, yeah”. Her friends give her confused looks, to which she shrugs.
Vendel walks off with Aaarrgghh following behind. Then Toby leaves, giving Jim a sheepish chuckle. “We’ve tried our best” (Y/n) says with a sigh, before trailing behind the others.
˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
The next day the teens met up with their troll companions and walked through trollmarket for something that could help them.
“The matter at hand, Master Jim. Master Jim?” Blinky tries to explain, only to find the boy zoning out with a lovestruck expression.
“Master Jim!” Aaarrgghh exclaims, finally snapping him out of it.
“Yes, sorry. Paying attention. Paying attention!” Jim blurts out, caught off guard.
“As I was saying, assuming that Killahead Bridge was in Arcadia, and it was indeed, as you say, delivered to a clandestine location, that would mean more changelings, scavenging, assembling and disassembling. If we prove that the museum curator wasn't working alone, then Vendel might start believing that you saw the Killahead Bridge” Blinky explains to the humans.
“So, we find another changeling” Jim concludes.
“Stop saying that so loudly,” Blinky warns him. He pauses when he sees a Troll listening in on their conversation. “Do you mind?”
“Whatever” The troll rolls his eyes before walking off.
Blinky scoffs at the rude behavior, before turning back to the others. “Changelings have not been heard or seen in Trollmarket for centuries. The mere word could cause hysteria”
“Then how could we find one?” (Y/n) asks.
They arrive at a large door with a bunch of small openings in it and a stone trollhead above it. “RotGut’s” Aaarrrgghh answers with the name of the place.
“Purveyor of fine charms, totems, and spells. Follow my lead” Blinky instructs, knocking on the door.
One of the windows opens up to reveal a Troll peeking through it. “Ailment or curse?” He asks.
Then a lower window opens up, revealing another troll. “Oi, numbskull! I'm supposed to answer it!” He scolds his co-worker, annoyed.
“But I already did answer it”
“What is not clear about. "I deal with the customers, you handle the wizardry"?” The second troll says, closing his window.
“Hold a tick” The first troll tells Blinky before closing his own window.
Blinky turns to others and awkwardly laughs while the two argue behind the door.
The window opens again by the second troll. “Good, Rot. Stick with that. Welcome to RotGut's. How may we service you?”
“Totem, my good troll. We suspect one of these fleshbags may be a changeling” Blinky informs him, whispering behind his hand.
‘Rot’ opens his respective window, staring at the three human companions. “Hm?”
“Other Fleshbags” Aaarrrgghh clarifies.
“You're gonna need a gaggletack” Rot explains.
“Unfortunately, you see, we're running a bit short on those. Very hard to get” ‘Gut’ adds, trying to strike up a good deal.
“But I've got a bag of them right here” Rot argues, seeming to not get what his colleague was putting down.
“What in the world? If you'll excuse us for one moment” Gut slams his window closed again. “Ey, what are you doing? I'm trying to drive up the price over here”
“I thought we were trying to help these nice lads and lass” Rot responds.
“Gaggletack?” Toby repeats, confused.
“Rare artifact” Aaarrrgghh states in his usual blunt tone.
“Exceedingly rare. An object of great mystery. With physical contact, it reveals the true nature of a changeling” Blinky clarifies, painting the image of a unique artifact.
“Why don't you open the door..” Guy trails off.
Rot does what he says. “Step back, please” He instructs.
“...our hard-earned bits and bobs?”
One of the drawers on the door shoots open and a horse shoe comes flying out towards Toby.
Before (Y/n) could think, her instincts acted first. Her powers activated, stopping the meal object right before hitting Toby’s face. She panics and de-activated them and let it fall to the ground.
The boy realises what happened and glances towards her, she looks away. While Jim looks very puzzled at the sudden stop.
“It's a horseshoe” he says, picking up the object. He inspects it, trying to see if there was anything special about it.
“Made of pure iron” Aaarrrgghh mentions.
“Why would you put such a precious thing on a horse's foot?” Blinky questions the boy. Making Toby and Jim look at each other, flabbergasted.
“Beware. Changelings are swapped with their human counterparts at birth. So, it is likely these troll-pretenders have dwelt amongst you for decades. They could be anyone. Used car salesmen, tax collectors, television executives” Blinky names different kinds of people.
“Dentists” Toby adds.
“Yes, especially dentists” Blinky agrees.
“So, who do we start with?” Jim asks.
Toby snatches the gaggletack out of his best friend’s hand. “Oh, I've got a few ideas”
˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
Toby’s first victim was coach Laurence, which had no effect. Then Jim tries Eli, who wasn’t a changeling either. Toby tried to do a horse shoe throwing game but no one would participate. Then Jim threw the steel object at Steve, which probably gave the boy brain damage.
“Can I perhaps try?” (Y/n) asks, reaching for the gaggletack which Jim was holding.
“Oh, uh yeah, ofcourse” Jim answers. He hesitantly held it out. But when the girl was about to grab it, he almost braced for something.
Finally, she takes it from his hand. It made him relax, relieved.
She strolls through the hallway, looking around for anyone who looks suspicious. Then she spots senior Uhl walking into the opposite direction.
Trying to be inconspicuous, she shuffled closer. She slowly pushes the gaggletack closer before touching the teacher with it. But nothing happened, meaning he was human.
He turns around, giving the student a suspicious look. “Can I help you with anything, miss (L/n)?” he interrogates her.
“Oh yeah, si, senior. I have a cuestionar about your class. It would be great if you…could give me more homework, cause I have to be absent so many times” (Y/n) requests, trying to make up an excuse.
It surprised him, being used to students trying to avoid extra school work. “That will be organized”
˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
(Y/n) walks back outside, feeling embarrassed and defeated. She walks over to Jim and Toby, who were standing near the lockers. “I had no luck” She mentions, handing Toby the gaggletack.
“Neither had we” Jim responds, crossing his arms.
Their attention was grabbed by Strickler walks towards, making a dissaproving comment about the clothing choices of the girls nearby.
“You, uh, try this out on Mr. Strickler?” Toby suggests, not taking his eyes off the history teacher.
“Come on. You really think he is one?” Jim argues, not even wanting to suspect him.
Toby looks down at the horse shoe before walking towards Strickler. Jim was quick to stop him, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Now? I don't want to embarrass ourselves” he says, grabbing onto the steel object. The two boys began going back and forth, pulling the horse shoe.
“You just don't want to admit that Strickler–”
“I don't want you to upset anyone who grades our final exams!”
(Y/n) raises her hands. “I don't think it's an excellent idea to start a fight over this” She tries to stop them, but clearly not knowing how to.
Finally, Toby lets go in defeat. “Fine! Okay, we'll do it later” He turns away, putting his hands behind his back. Then he snatches it from Jim’s grip and tosses it right in front of Strickler’s feet.
He looks down at it, giving the boy a perplexed look.
“Whoopsy! Slipped. Uh, mind picking that up for us, Mr. S?” Toby asks him, trying to act normal.
Strickler scoffs at the request, “And waste such idle hands as your own, Mr. Domzalski?”
“Our backs. Coach Lawrence put us through the wringer this morning” Jim makes up an excuse, sheepishly chuckling while rubbing his back.
“It would be a lot easier if you could give it us–” (Y/n) tries to reason, only to find the teachers squinting his eyes at her. “I mean you don’t have to, I–”
Her rambling was cut short by Claire approaching and picking the horse shoe up. “Here you go, Mr. Strickler. Here's your horseshoe back” She offers it to him, confused on why he would have it.
“Thank you, Ms. Nuñez, but that belongs to Mr. Lake” Strickler motions to the boy. In his mind making a note that (Y/n) seemed quite close with Jim.
Claire rolls her eyes, walking over to the her classmates. “Oh. Well, that would explain the flying horseshoes. So not going to ask” She says unsurprised, handing Jim the horse shoe.
“Take care of your back, Young Atlas. Such is the danger of carrying the world on one's shoulders” Strickler tells Jim in a mocking tone, before walking off.
“Very suspicious” Toby notes.
“Suspicious?” Claire repeats.
“Claire” Jim mutters.
“Still here”
“What’s up?”
“You're still coming home with me, right?” Claire asks Jim.
“Oh, right! Claire and I are gonna go to her house... for math stuff” Jim explains to Toby, handing him the gaggletack.
“So we’ll see you tomorrow” (Y/n) says, waving goodbye.
˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
The three of them finally arrived at Claire and (Y/n)’s house. Jim hands Claire his bag which she hangs up.
“I’ll be in my room, just call if you need help with… math stuff” the Witch says, motioning to the stairs. Then she disappears out of sight heading to her room.
She looks at her bed, she sits down and pulls her spellbook from under it. She opens it and reads one of the spells. She closes her eyes, exhaling. “Dleihs fo noitcetorp” She cast a spell, creating a shield around herself.
She opens her eyes, they widen as she realises it works. “Yes” she whisper–yells in victory. Her concentration breaks when she hears yelling outside, making the shield disappear. She walks to the window, opening it.
Looking out, I found Jim standing outside. Before she could question why he was there, he spoke up.
“(Y/n), we got a problem” He explains. It was long but it was enough for the girl to understand.
“Right” She nods, before climbing out the window. “Can you lend me a hand?”
“How?”
“I guess you can catch me. I am growing tired landing on the ground and gaining a dozen bruises” She answers, gripping the edge of the roof.
Knowing that they most likely didn't have much time, Jim goes along with the plan. He awkwardly holds his arms out, watching as she turns around and lets herself hang off the roof.
She let's go, trusting Jim to be able to catch her. He caught her but he wasn’t able to keep his balance and fall backwards, taking (Y/n) down with him.
“Oof!” The girl huffs at the impacts. She rolls off of him, holding out her hand to help him up. “That could’ve been smoother” She comments.
“Yeah” Jim agrees, letting out a small groan of pain. He grabs her hand and pulls himself up. He thinks that he should start building muscle to make sneaking out easier.
He runs to his bike, putting on his helmet. He waits for (Y/n) to hop on the back of his bike, before speeding off towards the dentist office.
˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
They rush in the building pushing open the door. The two were met with an odd sight. Toby, Blinky, Aaarrrgghh and another troll laughing hysterically.
“Guys!” Toby greets, hanging onto a dental light.
“The Trollhunter! Die!” The female troll, who was most likely a changing, screeches while leaping at Jim.
(Y/n) was quick to act, grabbing a metal platter and hitting her right in the face. The changeling stumbles back, before giving the girl a hard shove.
Toby falls off the lamp, making it swing around and blind Jim for a moment. The changeling takes the opportunity to grab his leg and drag him onto the ground. She pins him down, showing off her sharp teeth.
“Perish, you worm!”
She reaches one of her hands towards his face, which he holds back to one of her own. She pulls the hand back, ready to strike.
Remembering a trick he learned from training with Draal, he makes his sword appear in his other hand. Just in time to make the changeling impale herself
She gasps as Lightning and blue light appears around her. Then she explodes, covering the room and the teens in dust.
“There goes poof” Aaarrrgghh says.
“Oh, my gosh! She's in my mouth!” Toby coughs, freaking out. “Oh, my gosh!”
“Oh, no! I killed our only evidence of changelings in Arcadia” Jim says, disappointed. He de-activates his armor, with his face still covered in ash.
“You finished the fight, Master Jim, and in self-defense, for that matter. Vendel may continue to have his doubts, but we continue to have our lives. A fair bargain, I'd say” Blinky reassures the boy, placing his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“And now we know that there are more changelings in Arcadia and that Nomura isn’t working alone” (Y/n) adds, giving the situation a silver lining.
“Just out of curiosity, what are you guys doing in Toby's dentist's office?” Jim questions the two Trolls.
“I thought it was possible that danger may come to either of you should you cross paths with the wrong changeling. So, we followed Tobias as a precaution” Blinky explains
“And curious” Aaarrrgghh mentions, finally freezing himself from the ceiling window. He plays with a fake set of teeth.
“About what?” Toby asks.
“You humans have a concept that is quite foreign to us” Blinky sends a breath towards the Teen, making Toby gag in disgust of the smell. “Oral hygiene” He laughs.
He pauses. “Mm. Looks like we’re officially out of laughing gas. We should depart” He heads to the door with Jim and (Y/n) following behind.
But when Aaarrrgghh tries to do the same, he realises he was too big to go through. He thinks, before climbing back out of the window.
“Hey! Uh, excuse me, wait! Look at this place. Do you have some magic artifact that can clean up this mess?” Toby asks Blinky.
“Yes. I believe it's called a Tobias” Blinky answers, smugly. Leaving Toby unamused and disappointed.
(Y/n) and Jim exit the building. Blinky waits for Aaarrrgghh before the two Trolls head back to Trollmarket. “Do you need a lift?” Jim asks the girl, nodding his head towards his bike
She shakes her head, giving Jim a smile. “That’s sweet of you, but I’ll be fine. I will definitely take a shower after this” She tells him, rubbing some of the ash off her cheek.
˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
6 AM
(Y/n) opens her eyes when she hears the sound of a window opening in the room next to her. She shoots a glance towards her alarm, seeing that it was 30 minutes before she had to get up.
She croakily gets up from her bed, dragging herself out of her room and into one belonging to Enrique. She enters it to find the window open.
She lets out a yawn, closing it. She turns to look at the crib, checking if her foster brother was alright. She was met with the baby acting odd as if he forgot how to be one.
“Go back to sleep” She mutters, patting him on the head. She grabs his small blanket, draping over him. She reached for his stuffed animal, only to see it was gone. “That’s odd” She looked around the room and under the crib, but it was nowhere to be seen.
Instead of worrying more about it, she decides to head back to her room and get ready for school. She would look for it again after school
˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
She arrives at Trollmarket, after hanging out with Darcy and Mary. She heads straight for the training area, where she knew that her friends were.
She finds them standing on the narrow stone path in between the market and the battle ground. Aaarrrgghh was holding a rope where Jim was attached, suggesting the Trollhunter was rock climbing on the side of the path.
“Good afternoon” She greets them.
“Great you can join us” Blinky gives her a smile. He turns to Toby “The only lesson learned here today is that, with this many changelings, Arcadia is far more dangerous than previously thought, for the both of you. As Jim has Draal now to protect his home, Tobias, you will now have Aaarrrgghh to protect yours” He tells him.
“What about (Y/n)?” Jim asks as Aaarrrgghh lowers him back on the path.
“As much as I care for all of your safety, having a Troll reside in her house won’t be possible” Blinky answers, seeming apologetic.
“I understand, my house is pretty busy compared to theirs” The girls, shrugging her shoulders.
“But that has its own positive side as Changelings won’t attack her when other people are around, otherwise their cover would be blown” The blue troll explains, patting (Y/n)’s shoulder with one of his hands.
Deactivating his armor, Jim walks over to his bag and picks it up. But as he was placing it onto his shoulder, a stuffed rabbit fell out of it.
“Suzy Snooze? Why do you have it? I had been looking for it this morning” (Y/n) asks, bending down and grabbing it.
“Are you sure? I mean that kind of stuffed animal is pretty common” Toby questions her, still denying what Jim saw.
The witch turns the rabbit around, finding a pink bandaid on the knee. “No, this is definitely Suzy Snooze. I dropped her once and the fabric tore on her leg and I put this bandaid here. Once I’m home, I’ll give it back to Enrique”
In realization, Jim’s face drops in realisation. “Oh no, don’t tell me” He pleads, dragging his hand across his face.
“Tell you what?” (Y/n) asks, gently placing the plush rabbit in her bag.
“Jim thought he saw a Goblin carrying a baby, I just saw a bird” Toby rolls his eyes.
“You suspect Enrique was kidnapped by Goblin and got exchanged with a changeling? The window of his bedroom was open this morning and he was acting very odd” The girl mentions, recalling her little brother’s behavior.
“I think that’s the case” The young Trollhunter admits, walking out the training area with his friends following behind.
˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
“I’ll be helping a friend this evening” (Y/n) explains to her foster sister as the two walk into school. “So I would be gone for a few hours”
“I got Mary to babysit Enrique while me and Steve go to the Papa Skull concert tonight,” Claire explains, walking over to the locker and opening it.
“Steve? Why are you going with him?” (Y/n) asked, raising an eyebrow at the mention of the jock.
Letting out a sigh, Claire answers while taking her books out of the locker. “He had the last tickets and he could also give me a lift with his vespa”
The Witch in training look to the side to find two of her friends had arrived. She waves at them, to which they return the gesture.
Right at that moment Mary runs up to Claire “Claire, I'm so sorry, but I can't babysit tonight. I can't. I really can't!” She tells her friend.
“You promised! My parents have a work thing and the Papa Skull concert's tonight. Papa Skull! I, like, live in their shirt every day!” Claire motions to her sweater with a skull on it.
“Sorry, but Dean finally asked me to a movie, and then Hank invited me to ice cream! "Tight jeans" Hank! Love can't choose, Claire!” Mary replies, fangirling about her evening plans.
“Claire, I can babysit!” Jim pipes up.
(Y/n) gives him a confused look before realising it was most likely to check if her brother was actually swaped with a changeling.
“Tonight? Really? You would? Wait, have you ever babysat before?” Claire asks him, unsure with the offer.
“Uh, yeah” Jim chuckles, “Yeah, no. They call me Jim the Baby-handed” Recalling what Bagdwella called him when they were dealing with the gnome.
“Oh, my gosh! You are a life-saver! I could kiss you!” Claire exclaims, giving Jim a kiss on the cheek. “Just come by my house at seven, no sooner. Thank you, Jim. Thank you” She and Mary walk off, most likely to class.
(Y/n) turns to Jim. “Whatever you do, don’t mess up the house or do something bad. My foster parents already don’t favor you and I don’t want them to hate you”
“I got it, don’t worry. You can count on me"the boy assured her.
“I know” (Y/n) replies, smiling warmly. She strolls away, trying to catch up with her friends.
˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
Climbing down the massive Crystal stairs, (Y/n) arrives at Trollmarket. She walks past the stalls, before finding Vendel in a library room.
She notices he was caught up in a book. So to not rudely barge in, she knocked on the wall. The noise was enough to draw Vendel’s attention, he closed the book he was reading and walked over to her.
“I’ve seen you have arrived, right on time” The elderly troll greets her, stroking his long white beard. “I called you here for assistance, to help me organize these books. Recently, Trolls are over the world have sent me these”
(Y/n) strolls over to grate, she reaches inside and pulls out a large book. “Woah these are quite heavy” She huffs, placing it on the table. “I think my arms will be sore after this”
“I would recommend using your magic it would be less of a strain on your body” Vendel suggested, placing a stack of the books on the temple.
“I mean my magic isn’t that strong…” the girl pauses, realising what he said. “I…how do you know?”
“I have lived for many centuries, including the prime years of Merlin. When you first arrived at Trollmarket, the magic radiated from you. Your more sophisticated way of speaking also makes you stand out from your peers” Vendel explains, opening a book to show a page showing a person casting a spell.
‘He is all knowing, huh’ (Y/n) thinks to herself.
“Show me what you’re capable of” He instructs.
(Y/n) nods, closing her eyes to concentrate. She feels the magic travel through from her heart to her hands. She makes one of the heavy books levitate.
Then her mind began to drift. If Vendel found out about her magic abilities, will the others out too? She has magic, that she is from the past, that she doesn't have Amnesia and that she lied to their faces about it.
Her inner turmoil began to affect her magic. Books began to lift off from all around the room, spinning around her like a storm. It began to become more intense when–
A hand grabs her shoulder, snapping her out of it. Her eyes flew up as the books fell onto the ground. She looks around to see the mess “I’m sorry, I–I didn't mean to do that”
“Your magic is tied to your emotions. You shouldn't let your emotions control you or else it could lead down a dangerous path” Vendel tells her. “Now let's try that again, but focus on levitating the book and nothing else”
(Y/n) nods, in- and exhaling. She hovers her hand above the book, slowly making it float. She moves it, making it fly into one of the bookcases. Then she lifts two at the same time, doing the same with them.
One by one, she places the books on the shelves. She tenses up when hears her phone go off. She drops the book and grabs her phone. It was Mrs. Nuñez, making her worried. She places the device against her ear, accepting the call.
“(Y/n), come home, now” Her foster mother’s voice flowed through the phone, sounding stern.
‘Oh dear’
•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•
Taglist: @mr3tealyourgirl
