Hello! I'm a new content creator on this platform and would like to address some things first, I do apologies if my grammar is incorrect, it's not my first language 💙
☆I do art and accept commissions!☆
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•Things that I am able to draw•
-NSFW (not too explicit) / SFW art
-Chibi's / People / cute animals
-Random and weird ones (but not too complex)
-Meme art
-Sad / Serious art
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•Things that I cannot draw•
-People with complex poses
-Realistic people and animals
-Nakey people
☆I do fan fiction and accept requests!☆
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•Stuff that I am able to write•
-NSFW / SFW
-fluff
-Angst (not that good tho)
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•Stuff that I'm not willing to write•
(TW: The things I'm abt to mention might be sensitive to some people)
-R#pe
-Kidnapping
-Things that include Reader being hurt (Depends on how much damage)
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Barbara made a promise to Jim on his fifth birthday, and it was that she'd be there to help him out when things get rough. How unfortunate that promise she made kept slipping away more and more.
Would ya look at that, I finished something. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to mimimir back to sleep :)
because i still drown in your words when you say, you're perfect. you're the best. when we held hands, yours were dry and cracked like the sun-baked ground of the desert, but it was wonderful as i was a lizard resting in the crevices. you held me no more than half an hour, through a movie that i had no right to fear not when fear is losing you, losing what wells up inside when you ask so sweetly for a hug, when you say this makes me so happy, when you admit that you're still nervous even though you've known me for three years. because there's something wonderful, fragile, tender in this. this, this - for words cannot come close to describe what we share. i can't say this is love, i'm too scared to admit that even love can happen to me, but fuck, it feels pretty damn close.
With no memory of who he was when he was alive, a half troll asks for the assistance Hellboy to search for a bridge in realm of damnation, hell, with hope that it'll have the answers they seek.
AO3
“We need an edge…. I’m sorry Claire….” It was hard to even go through what he was thinking, his hands were shaking to no end as he gripped the shard lodged in his chest. However, his friends and loved ones were running out of options, and the deepest part of his soul could no longer endure it anymore.
The corruption infecting his very being was becoming too hard and painful to fight back. He just wanted everything to be still and numb, longing for that eternal peace he knew would never have if he kept fighting. Even if he was gone, at least he’ll be able to give the others enough time to live another day. So he closed his eyes, took a deep breath in anticipation, and pushed the shard down, as hard as he could and tried his best to endure the unbearable pain that felt like it was burning him from the inside out. He could feel the tears pour from his eyes while he heard the frantic cries and pleads to stop, but nothing was going to change his mind.
The only few words he could say through it all was, “It’s the only way!” With one final push, the loud noises and shouting was cut and the pain was gone. He opened his eyes and couldn’t feel anything from his body. He couldn’t feel his weight or move anything if he tried, as if there was nothing physically left of him. A shuddering sigh was let out of relief and horror. He did it. He was now gone, but the peace and serenity he yearned for was here. However, he sensed that all was not right. Around him was nothing but in a pitch black void.
This wasn’t where he was supposed to be, he could feel it. He wasn’t in the place he was fated to be when he died. No, no, there was something wrong. There couldn’t be anything that could harm him in the afterlife. So he waited, waited for who knows who long with the now sickening silence, expecting for someone to come get him, to take him to where he was supposed to be.
His patience was rewarded with the voice he never wanted to hear again. “I’ve been hunting you, beast.” His voice sounded close, so close that he wanted to flee as far away as possible, but there was nowhere to go. “But my mark has finally took you.” An awful feeling shook him to his core as his words began to sink in. He fell right into the fiend’s grasp. There would be no peace for him even in the afterlife, and there wouldn’t be a way out this time.
“You’re nothing but Merlin’s lapdog.” He felt something, something that was a part of him, being ripped out and a wave of vulnerability washed over him. He now felt so incomplete, it was an awful sensation that he could not put into words by how unbearable it felt. His control of himself was slipping, slipping into the hands of… h i m. Then he felt another part of himself was being taken away. He tried all that he could hold on to all that he had left of himself, but at this point he was too weak to fight back.
He was left to feel more hollow than ever, and his hold on him was so strong that it felt absolutely violating. This wasn’t what he wanted, he just wanted to finally feel safe and be at peace. He realized this wasn’t over just yet as he felt like he was being pulled down. He didn’t know where he would be taking him, but he absolutely did not want to find out. Desperately, he tried to pull himself up, clawing at anything he could grab. He used all the strength he could muster to stay where he was, but his mind began to get foggy as whispers filled his thoughts, whispers that were not his.
His eyes threatened to close and exhaustion forcibly being settled in, he lost his grip. As he was lulled to sleep, he began to fall into the realm of punishment that once burned of hellfire from brimstone.
The water from the shallow empty ocean was freezing, but the boy didn’t mind. His stone-like skin made the weather more bearable to endure. He wore nothing with the exception of tight, black undergarments that were torn from the knees. He gazed at the snowy sky with such wonder, it helped numb the boredom he was facing during this long journey. So far there was no sign of what he was looking for. However, there was a large pile of debris the boy found that still had smoke of a fire that was long gone. He made sure to check if there was anyone there that needed help, but there was nothing he could do.
The boy kept walking, making sure he was careful where he stepped, until he spotted something once again from the far distance. The boy hoped that whatever was there, it would be more than a fallen ruin again. He walked a little faster and his smile brightened at the sight of what looked like to be a city once he got close enough. The boy took it all in when he finally set foot into the city. It felt like a relic of the past, the vibrancy and color now faded away to become dull and lifeless. There was a strange beauty to it all the boy found.
However, as he made his way through the town, the boy was having trouble finding people to ask for help. High and low, he searched to find someone, anyone to be out and about, but it seemed like it was only him. The boy let out a low grumble in frustration and began looking more closely at what was inside the buildings themselves. He could see either silhouettes of various figures or the lights on from the windows, and that confused him. If this city was populated, how come he couldn’t find a single person outside?
The boy stepped back from the last house he saw and looked all around. “H…hello?” It had been a while since the boy had spoken that he practically forgot what he sounded like, so he was not fully prepared to talk or even raise his voice. “Hello?! Is anyone here?! I… I need some help!”
He waited patiently for any response, but it seemed like he was only met with the winter breeze and snow. “Forgive us child,” The boy jumped in surprise with a yelp and quickly spun around from the back to see two skeletons, well dressed in formal attire. “There are not as many people as there used to be, and your appearance is a bit off putting than what’s normally seen.
The boy was rather confused on how he couldn’t hear their presence since he learned long before that his sense of hearing was rather sensitive. “Oh, um, sorry about that.” The boy grabbed one of his horns and gently pulled it, suddenly feeling quite self conscious.
“Are you not cold? It’s freezing out here.” One of the skeletons asked, it was hard to tell who was who for the boy.
“Well I can feel it, but it’s kind of numb?” It was hard to put into words the feeling, and at this point the boy believed they were getting off track. “Although I appreciate the concern, I’ll be fine, so no worries. Though I’m hoping you two could help me by other means.”
Despite their lack of ability to display emotion, the boy could feel their hesitance. He couldn’t help but wonder if everyone else in this city looked like this too. “…Very well,” One of the skeletons spoke, “What do you need us of service for?”
“I’ve been a bit lost as of late looking for a bridge and so far I haven’t had any luck finding it. I was hoping that someone here would know where it is.”
The skeleton who was standing on the left hummed curiously. “Could you perhaps describe it to us?”
“It’s shaped like a curve, has carvings all around on both of its sides, dark, and very old.” He stood expectantly as the two skeletons tried to recall anything that matched the boy's description. The two looked at each other until the skeleton from the right sighed in defeat.
“I’m afraid I do not recall such a thing.” The skeleton turned to his companion. “You?”
“It is the same here.” The boy’s ears lowered as his smile faded into disappointment. “Fret not child, you might find it that this city is quite the maze, plenty of ground to find a bridge somewhere.”
“Maybe, but I have a feeling that it might not even be here in a place like this. I guess I’ll have to go outside the city then” The boy muttered solemnly as he looked around. “Shame too, since this is a really beautiful place.”
“Are you certain? This realm is far from safe for a child like you, it’s a miracle that you haven’t encountered anything dangerous.”
“I guess I’ve been lucky.”
“Luck tends to always run out at some point. Is going to that bridge really important?” The boy suddenly felt irritated by the skeleton as it was looking like he was becoming more of an obstacle to reach his destination.
He huffed at the skeleton, and managed to say, “I know what I’m doing.” In an agitated tone.
The two of them could feel the boy’s stubbornness and were frankly at a loss. The city was by far the safest in hell but that wasn’t saying much. The men knew that they wouldn’t in their good conscience send this child on their way unprotected. “Perhaps we could persuade someone to come with you.”
“Huh?” The boy was surprised at the notion. “Oh no, I wouldn’t want to drag someone into my problems.”
"No need to worry child, the person we have in mind is quite qualified for the job. I’m sure he’ll be glad to help you with your endeavor.” The boy’s mouth pressed to a thin line. It didn’t feel right to have someone be tagging along with really nothing to gain from. However, the boy would be lying to himself if there wasn’t a small part of him that yearned for the company after being alone for who knows how long. Any longer and it would become unbearable to handle.
“I guess at the very least meeting this person wouldn’t hurt.” The boy muttered with a shrug. He could practically feel the relief radiating from the two men.
“Wonderful! I’m grateful that you’re at least considerate.” One of them cheered. “Now follow us and we shall take you to him.”
The two skeletons made their way through the streets while the boy followed behind at a distance. He continued to look and marveled at the buildings from the city, and from one of them, the boy managed to spot a woman from a window at a high distance. Her clothing seemed old fashioned and her expression was unreadable, but he knew for a fact that she was staring right at him.
For some reason, it unnerved the boy. He gave a small wave in hope to maybe get a reaction from the woman or really anything, but nothing happened. The woman didn’t even move a muscle and her expression never changed. She just stood still and watched, like a statue. The boy turned away from her and tried to ignore the uneasiness that was building up inside him. From then on, the boy still felt like he was being watched even when he was out of the woman’s sight, and this time he couldn’t bring himself to look and find out to see if it was true.
________________________________________________
As the door swung open, the boy quickly registered while entering that they were at a bar, and a somewhat empty one at that. Tables and chairs were neatly scattered around the room, with only two occupants present at the bar counter. A monkey that was cleaning a cup with a rag, presumably the bartender, and a slouching figure that the boy couldn’t get a good look at.
“Hellboy! My good companion!” One of the skeletons exclaimed as they approached the man. The boy thought it was such an odd name.
“I see you're still here.” He said, her voice gruff, sharp, but somehow quiet and relaxed. “That’s a shame.”
“Don’t be glum about it.” The other skeleton said, making his way towards Hellboy. “We have grown used to this place, at this point we shall consider it our home.”
“…I don’t think you guys still deserve to be down here that’s all.” The man said in a much quieter tone.
“Well if you are done sulking like any depressed drunk would do, we would like to request your assistance.” Hellboy turned to face the skeleton with intrigue, which made the boy be able to see his face.
His skin was red, with his eyes being pure yellow without an iris or pupil, and his hair was black that was tied to the back of his hair like a bun. But what mainly caught the interest of the boy was Hellboy’s horns, or more specifically the lack of horns. As it seemed that they were perfectly cut off at the end. The boy couldn’t help but wonder if it hurt having the horns removed.
“What do you have in mind?” Hellboy asked.
“You see there was this child we found in the street, looking for a bridge that he says is around this realm. However there is no such bridge in the city. So it has to be from the outside, which I am sure you of all people are aware of how dangerous it can be.” Hellboy nodded in agreement. “And thus, the two of us request that you help guide this child and make sure he’s safe.” The skeleton gestured to the boy as he continued to speak.
In response, Hellboy moved his attention to him. The boy suddenly had this small feeling of intimidation from the man. That feeling only grew when Hellboy stood up, which the boy could take in his much larger frame as the man began to approach him. He was taller than the boy by a feet or two, and his torso was quite broad. His expression was unclear and hard to figure out.
When he was close enough, Hellboy asked, “Hey kid, the name’s Hellboy.” He greeted with his left arm stretched out for a handshake.
The boy was a little hesitant, but thought it would be rude to leave the man hanging, so he took his hand out and shook Hellboy’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.” He said with a polite tone.
There was a prolonged silence, and the boy started to wonder if Hellboy was expecting him to say something else.
“Y’know this is the part where you tell me your name, kid.” Hellboy said. His tone indicated amusement, but in no way that was mocking.
“Oh! I’m sorry.” How could the boy forget such an obvious thing? “My name is….” He slowly faltered when nothing in mind came about his name. “Um… my name.” The boy couldn’t finish that sentence, because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t for the life of him remember his own name.
“Hey, are you alright?” Hellboy wondered.
“I-I can’t remember.” Soon the boy was in a panic as he began to anxiously pull his hair back. “I can’t remember my name.” But as the boy thought about it more, a startling revelation came to him. “I don’t- I don’t remember anything before I came here.”
How did he not realize? Something so important as his own memories of his past, of his very being, just gone. The boy could now sense this hollow feeling in his heart. Suddenly there was a struggle to breathe as his panic rose. His vision began to blur with the tears that were about to pour, with the world around feeling dizzying. Then the firm grip on his shoulder made the boy snap back to reality, now hearing the loud gasps of air he was taking.
“ No need to panic kid.” The boy blinked a few times, now feeling quite dazed. “Just breathe.” Hellboy urged.
And so the boy tried. Taking deep and slow breaths as he clasped his hands together despite how shaky they’ve become. “I’m… sorry for this sir I… I don’t know.” The boy muttered with his head down.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m pretty sure that it’s not an easy thing to learn that you forgot, well, everything I guess.” He then stayed silent for a while, letting the boy take his time to compose himself before asking, “How about we go somewhere more private to talk this more?”
The boy, blinking a few times, glanced at Hellboy. “So… does that mean you’ll help me?”
He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Uh, okay.” The boy supposed it was better than nothing at all.
He bid his farewell to the two skeletons, and thanked them for their assistance before leaving with Hellboy. The walk was quite long and very quiet, though the boy didn’t try to initiate a conversation because if he was going to be honest, the boy still felt intimidated by Hellboy. He had a feeling that the man was most likely a good person, but there was this tight, unconformable pressure in his chest that wouldn’t go away.
At some point, the two walked down some rugged terrain at the end of the city, and now were at the shores of a beach. “So kid, if you can’t remember anything before coming here, what is the first you remember?” Hellboy asked all of a sudden.
“Hm?” The boy, before looking down at the sand, brought his attention to the person in front of him. “Oh- Um… I remember I was underwater, it was really dark. I’m not sure how long I was submerged. I swam up and up until I made it to the surface. The side of my chest was hurting real bad too, made it feel like breathing would be impossible.”
Hellboy turned his head back and noticed how on the right side of the boy’s chest, there was a circle carved out with a noticeable slash inside. “Does it still hurt?”
“Nope!” He said cheerfully. “A bit sore, but it’s all good.”
The silence returned, and somewhere along the line, the sand would transition to thick dirt, and from afar was a house surrounded by rich green grass and a couple of trees from behind.
“And here we are. My place.” Hellboy announced.
“It’s quite far from the city.” The boy said.
“Yeah well, I tend to find myself in a lot of trouble. So this house can be the only peace I can have here.” When they reached the porch, the boy marveled at the scenic view that could be seen from there.
From the inside, portraits were plastered all around the walls with all kinds of different people. The dusty antique furniture around the house made the room feel like it was somehow misplaced at the wrong time. “Who are all of these people? Your friends?” The boy asked.
Hellboy looked around to see all of the portraits before him. “I actually don't know who these people are. The portraits were here when I found this place.”
“…Oh.” Was the only thing he said before going back to observing the house.
In a room upstairs, there was a fireplace in the west and a large wide bookshelf on the north, with a couple of books being stacked on top of the shelf as well as a small picture frame. In the middle there was a sofa in front of the bookshelf near a narrow window on the left side, and two chairs in the south and east as it surrounded a small, round table.
“Have a seat kid.” Hellboy offered as he began walking somewhere else in the house. Now alone in the room, the boy silently sat on the sofa, bringing his legs close to his chest. He stared down to the floor with a blank stare, and listened carefully to what his thoughts had to say.
________________________________________________
Hellboy surfed through the many miscellaneous clothing that were inside a narrow closet. The clothes themselves weren’t exactly the problem, but considering that the kid reached past his shoulders, he doubted that any of these would fit. So instead, Hellboy was looking for one of his trench coats. While it was a hassle to find, he would always manage to find his clothing somewhere in this house whenever is torn up by whatever trouble he managed to get himself into.
This time, he found it deep inside a chest. Carrying the trench coat with one arm, he went back downstairs and to the living room. When returning, Hellboy saw the kid huddled up on the sofa, seemingly lost in thought as he stared down to the floor.
“Hey.” A single word appeared to be enough to snap the kid out from zoning out. He blinked and smiled at Hellboy.
The kid then noticed the trench coat hung over his arm. “What’s that?” He pointed.
Hellboy over his arm and passed it to the kid. “For you.”
He seemed to be taken aback and glanced back at the trench coat. “Wow, that’s very generous of you but why?”
“Kid, you got nothing on except some ripped shorts.”
His face burned a shade of lavender in embarrassment, however he still protested. “But I’m already asking you too much already.” Hellboy sighed, he sure was humble.
“I got plenty, so don’t worry about it.” While the kid didn’t seem quite pleased about it, he still put the trench on for the sake of being polite. It was a little too big, but nothing like a little folding on the sleeves that couldn’t do the trick.
“Well now that’s out of the way, I wanna know what kind of bridge you’re looking for.” Hellboy said as he sat down on the chair facing towards the kid.
“Okay.” The kid then went on to describe the bridge he was looking for as best as he could, but to Hellboy it sounded like a regular old bridge.
“Y’know what, how about we do something else.” He got up and opened a drawer from a cabinet that had some paper and pencils. “How good are you at drawing?”
The kid simply shrugged in response. “Right, no memory.” Hellboy thought to himself before sitting back down and placing the pencil and paper onto the table. “Try drawing the bridge for me, then I’ll know better on what I should look for.”
The kid scooted closer to the table and carefully took the pencil from his hand. At first he drew calmly as he began with the shape of the bridge. Soon enough however, his use of the pencil became more frantic and wild the more detail he put onto it. But to Hellboy, it seemed like the kid still remained as calm as ever. There was no expression to be seen on his face, with the only exception being his vibrant yellow eyes. Eyes that had such intensity in focusing on the task hand.
Hellboy almost expected the kid to break the pencil in half but it never happened. He abruptly stopped and placed the pencil down. After blinking a few times, like if he broke out of some kind of trance, the kid looked back at Hellboy and smiled innocently as he gave the paper to him.
“Is it any helpful?” From the drawing alone, Hellboy couldn’t shake away from the ominous and oppressive aura that came from the bridge. It also looked like the kid drew down every detail he possibly could.
“Well at least we know that you have a knack for drawing.” The kid was quite amused at the notion, but Hellboy noticed that his comment had reminded of the newly-found dilemma. The half demon glanced back at the drawing. “I’m going to be honest with you, I’m not familiar with this bridge, however, I think I have an idea on where it could be.”
“You do?” The kid wondered.
“A while ago, I heard that there was a place far from here that anyone barely goes to.” Hellboy explained. “They say it’s a ‘realm shrouded in shadows’ or something like that. If this bridge you’re looking for isn’t anywhere around here, then maybe it’s there.”
It was very clear to see the hope shine through the boy’s eyes. “So how do we get there?”
“Well, I’ve been through almost everywhere this place has to offer, except what’s over that ocean.” Hellboy pointed at the window and the boy got up to look outside.
“Do you have a boat?”
“Don’t need one.” Hellboy took out a pack of cigarettes and a match from a pocket inside of his trench coat. “One day, I took a stroll to the shore, and it seems that the ocean is shallow all around.”
A mix of emotion was shown through the kid’s face, the excitement was still there, but there was this confounded fear Hellboy could sense. The kid was chalked full of mysteries. The half demon could only hope this trip could answer it all.
“I know I’ve probably have this too many times, but I really appreciate you helping me a lot, I doubt this was far from the list of things to do.” The kid expressed, looking back at Hellboy with an infectious smile.
Hellboy stayed silent for a moment, his expression never changing, compliments didn’t come often in his line of work. “Don’t mention it kid.” He lit the match and burned it to the bud of the cigarette before getting up. “Now how about we get going. There’s no telling how long it’ll take to get there.”
The Road to Recovery Chapter 4: Guilty Until Proven Otherwise
The trial begins
Ao3
In the Hero’s Forge, the Tribunal stood on a viewing deck in the middle that loomed over the group. “The Trollhunter on trial is standing in for James Lake Jr. who chose to go into the Darklands, allowing the release of Gunmar the Black. He has admitted responsibility for his actions. What do you say of the charges?” Usurna asked, her voice booming with authority as Steve was once again in a cage in mid-air.
“We’ll fight the charges!” Blinky declared, taking a few steps forward.
“Once convicted, the Trollhunter will be sentenced to exile in the Deep.” Usurna explained.
“What’s the Deep?” Toby asked the historian.
“A place of unknown madness. No one exactly knows what resides at the bottom of the Deep, since no troll has returned from it.” From a glance, Blinky could tell that his explanation had made Steve very uneasy.
“Well I’m not a troll so maybe I’ll be lucky.” The trollhunter suggested, hoping that such a difference would help him in the future.
“Shall we begin?” Usurna questioned.
“One moment, if you please.” Blinky before turning back to the group. “Before we continue this further, I must remind you all that we cannot fight these allegations.”
“You don’t think we know that?” Steve said. “We’re going through with this because you guys need the amulet to kill this Gunmar dude.”
“Right, then who is going to represent him?” Claire wondered.
“What about you Claire? Your mom is a councilwoman, maybe you learned some tricks from her.” Toby said, to which Claire only shook her head in response.
“I tend to avoid anything involving my mom’s work as much as I can, also I don’t think councilwomen are involved with court cases.”
“What about you Domzalski?” Steve asked.
“To be honest I’m practically on the same boat with Claire, unless you count watching true crime stuff with Darci and court drama shows with Nana as useful information,” Toby answered.
“Well, it is something. And who knows, maybe there might be similarities between human proceedings and troll proceedings.” Blinky stated as he patted Toby in the back as reassurance.
“And besides, some of that stuff of tv has to hold some truth.” Steve added, but Toby only gave them a doubtful look.
“Your time is up.” Usurna declared. “Have you made a decision on who will represent you?”
“Yeah we did. Domzalski is going to represent me” Steve said.
“Very well. The Tribunal will permit a short recess to allow Mr. Domzalski to prepare his case.”
“So can we all agree that this is going to be an absolute mess?” Toby asked as they were in the library.
“No doubt about it.” Claire remarked. “But remember, Steve’s life depends on this. You have to give your all.”
“I know, it’s not like I want him dead. But how are we going to prove to the Tribunal that Jim didn’t let Gunmar out?”Toby slides one of the books close to him from the table.
“Well, it’s pretty obvious that he’s guilty.” Claire leaned onto the wall and thought for a moment. “What exactly happens to those who plead guilty?”
“Usually they try to get the lowest sentence possible. But I don’t think it’ll work in this case, there’s no sign that there’s a lower sentence other than the Deep.”
“So that’s off the table.” Claire paced around the room while biting the edge of her finger. “What if.... We prove that someone else was planning to let Gunmar out.”
“I do not understand how that would help our case.” Blinky said.
“It doesn’t. But it might show the Tribunal how pointless this trial is. To show that Gunmar’s release would’ve been inevitable.” Claire explained, sprinting towards Blinky. “And for them to see the bigger picture. So they could focus on the real problem at hand.”
“It is a risky move. But it sounds like the best option.” Toby admitted.
“Very well, it seems like our course of action is very clear. Tobias will try to convince the Tribunal that this trial is pointless with me assisting him, while Claire and Aaarrrgghh will find evidence and root out Gunmar’s agent.” Blinky explained.
“Then we can’t waste any time.” Claire made her way to Aaarrrgghh and tugged one of his arms towards the library’s sentence. “Come on. Let’s go.”
The large troll followed the girl’s lead, waving his companion and wingman goodbye. “Find proof how?” He asked Claire as they walked through trollmarket.
She rubbed the back of her neck, hesitant to speak at first. “You were a general for Gunmar right? Did he have a preferred method for spying on his enemies?”
“Changelings.” Aaarrrgghh answered quickly.
“But aren’t they used to check up on the surface world?”
“Can work both ways.” Claire let the idea linger in her mind. It wouldn’t be impossible, just because changelings aren’t welcomed by trollmarket doesn’t mean that they can’t try to disguise themselves as a regular troll.
“Okay so let’s work with a hypothetical here.” She stated.
“Hyper-thet- tical?” Aaarrrgghh asked as he struggled to understand the word.
Claire gave him an understanding smile and explained. “It means exploring something that might happen even if you’re not sure if it’s true.” She clapped her hands together and began setting up the scene. “So hypothetically, a changeling was assigned to be a spy in trollmarket, a place where their kind is hated, to see if they can get to the bridge pieces to release Gunmar. What would they do?”
As they continued to walk, Aaarrrgghh saw the RotGut’s establishment from afar, and an idea sparked in his head. “Gaggletacks.” He pointed at the store to Claire, who gasped in response.
“Of course!” She exclaimed. “The only way for a changeling to be at risk of being found out in trollmarket is a gaggletack.”
“Changeling have to get rid of gaggletacks.” The large troll added.
“Exactly. This means that if someone bought a gaggletack, we might get some leads.” Claire and Aaarrrgghh began passing through the marketplaces to interrogate RotGut.
As the trial was about to begin, Usurna looked displeased at the sight of Blinky being by Toby’s side. “Blinkious. As we have stated you cannot speak on the Trollhunter’s-“
“It’s okay!” Toby interrupted. “He’s going to be my co-counsel, so it’s all good.”
“And how do you plead?” Vendel asked.
“Not guilty.” The redhead said with a confident demeanor.
The Tribunal looked and muttered at each other, perplexed at the teen’s plea.
“So just to be sure.” Steve whispered to Toby. “You have a plan right?”
“Of course.” Toby remarked. “Why wouldn’t we?”
“…. Is it a good plan?”
Toby’s coincidence wavered for a moment but it wasn’t too noticeable. “Well it depends on how fast Claire and Aaarrrgghh can find evidence for our case.”
“What?!” Steve exclaimed, trying his best not to raise his voice.
Toby quickly changed the subject, the last he wanted to do was cause more doubt for Steve. “Anyways. First order of business, I would like to request that Gatto is removed as a member of the Tribunal, at least for this trial.”
“And why would we do such a thing?” Bork asked.
“He and I have had a rather delicate history, which I’m afraid might bring his ability to be objective into question.” Toby explained.
"There have been too many delays for this trail as there is.” Usurna stated. “The Tribunal will proceed.”
“But my request is quite simple.” Toby persisted. “All you need to do is remove him from the courtroom. This trial is important, So I’m sure that none of you would want to mess this up, right?” The
Tribunal silently looked at each other. “And besides, the majority of the Tribunal will still be here even with Gatto gone and-“
“Enough.” Vendel interrupted. “You have made your point clear. And I, for one, do not see the issue of following the human’s request.”
“You can’t be serious.” Gatto objected.
“I agree with Vendel. I accept the request” The Quagawump Queen added. “Usurna, do you object to this request?”
Usurna stared at the chubby teen, her eyes narrowed, before saying, “I do not. Gatto, you may leave.”
Toby smiled brightly as he saw Gatto silently cursed at him before the pile of stones that shaped the troll’s face collapsed.
“State your grounds for your defense.” Usurna stated.
“Of course. We know that Jim went into the Darklands.” Steve gave Toby a bewildered expression as he listened to his classmate listing off all of Jim’s offenses. “We know we went in to save him, giving
Gunmar the opportunity to escape.” The redhead continued as he paced back and forth. “But who is to say that someone didn’t plan on doing it in the first place? That is the ground for my defendant. Woah!”
Suddenly the Tribunal began throwing rocks at Toby. “Hey, hey, hey! Easy there!” Toby ran behind Blinky as a cover.
“Uhhhh what’s with the rocks? “ Steve quickly asked Blinky as he also backed away to avoid the rocks hitting him as well.
“I’m afraid it’s a part of troll law.” The historian explained calmly.
Toby sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, as he vaguely remembered that being in one of the books Blinky gave him. “Of course it is.”
Toby hesitantly stretched his hand out away from the historian’s protection and took a sharp inhale as one of the rocks hit his arm and held back the action to yelp in pain.
“Bork’s rock wins. They will be heard first.” Usurna said as her fellow member stepped forward.
“I have a complaint. How does this make your defendant innocent if you admit he’s guilty for releasing Gunmar?”
“Well if someone was already planning to open Killahead bridge, then wouldn’t that mean Gunmar’s return was bound to happen no matter what the trollhunter did.” Toby explained, which seemed to satisfy Bork as she backed away. “So any other questions?”
Claire and Aaarrrgghh made their way to the RotGot, and Claire was about to slam at the large door knocker before the large troll stopped her. “What’s wrong?”
“RotGut hard to get information out of.” Aaarrrgghh said. “Need plan.”
“Right, although I haven’t watched a lot of crime shows, there was one episode where two detectives played good cop and bad cop to a witness who wasn’t willing to talk. So maybe we should try that?”
Aaarrrgghh nodded at Claire with a gentle smile.
“Worth a try.” He said.
With excitement now bubbling inside her, Claire slammed the doorknob a few times and then cleared her throat. “Open up RotGut, or I’ll kick down this door!” Aaarrrgghh was caught off guard by how genuine her anger seemed, though he does faintly remember her mentioning once that she was into theater.
One of the speakeasies opened from the door to reveal Gut. “Ailment or curse?”
“Neither, you two-headed dirtbag! We need information.” Rot showed himself as he heard the teen’s yelling. “Gunmar’s got a mole down here, and you’re gonna tell us who it is!”
Rot and Gut looked at each other with confusion. “Why is she being so mean to us, Gut?”
Gut shrugged and looked at Claire. “We don’t share that kind of thing. Salesman-client confidentiality.” He reasoned.
“Oh, so you wanna obstruct official trollhunting business?!” Claire retorted. “Is that what you want to do- huh?!”
Aaarrrgghh suddenly grabbed Claire with both his arms and set her aside out of the trolls’ view. “Take breather.”
She groaned in frustration. “Fine.”
“Whelps.” Aaarrrgghh remarked. “Information important, help save trollhunter’s life.”
“Will it make the small human stop yelling at us?” The large troll nodded at the orange salestroll. “Well…. I don’t know from Gunmar, but there was a guy.”
“It’s Krax, you imbecile.” Gut interjected.
“Yes Krax. He brought out our entire stock of gaggletacks.”
“That’s definitely suspicious.” Claire muttered. “Do you guys have Krax’s address?”
“Uhh sure, give us a moment.” The two trolls looked at the teen, perplexed at the sudden change in mood from Claire, before going around their shop to find the address.
“Good job.” Aaarrrgghh patted the teen by the head.
“Thanks. You know we make a good team.” Claire smiled as she put her hand on her hips. “Let’s hope that Toby and Blinky are as good as we are.”
RotGut returned and gave them a small piece of paper through the speakeasy. “Here’s the address.”
“Thank you.” Claire grabbed the piece of paper and the two walked away from the shop. “We got our first lead. Now let’s if this Krax guy is a changeling, or a troll who just really likes gaggletacks for reason.”
The teen passed the address to Aaarrrgghh for him to see. “Do you think you can find Krax’s house? I don’t know how addresses work here.”
The large troll squinted at the small writing for a few seconds, before looking back at Claire and giving her a thumbs up. Claire’s smile grew brighter and followed Aaarrrgghh’s lead as they walked through Trollmarket in search of Krax’s home.
“Isn’t it true that you’ve been to the Darklands?” Toby asked NotEnrique as his witness, dangling a dirty sock to keep the changeling’s attention. “Isn’t it further true that you knew Gunmar was trying to get out of the Darklands on his own, and he probably would’ve gotten out eventually anyway even if we hadn’t gone in to save Jim?”
A rock then hit Toby from the back of his head by the Quagwump Queen.“Sounds like you are the one testifying.”
He looked at the Tribunal, wincing as he rubbed on the dull pain on the back of his neck. “Easy. ‘M trying to be thorough with my questions here, alright?.” Toby explained and turned back to NotEnrique. “So?”
The changeling shrugged carelessly. “Well… Jim’s a good guy. You know, for a human. While he was in the Darklands, he saved me familiar. A pretty cute kid.”
Toby leaned his arm on the slab to where NotEnrique sat. “So to you, Jim is a hero?”
The changeling casually rested his face on his hand. “Yeah, he’s a hero. I mean, if he wasn’t, you guys wouldn’t have gone into-” NotEnrique was then interrupted with Toby quickly shoving the dirty sock in his mouth.
“That’s quite enough.” Toby nervously remarked, trying to get the message across for NotEnrique to stop talking without actually saying.
“No. I think the witness should be allowed to finish.” Bork said.
“Oh no.” Steve whispered. Claire and Aaarrrgghh hadn’t come back yet, so they were practically grasping straws at the moment for any kind of evidence they had, if you could even call it that. He crouched down at Blinky’s direction and tried to get his attention. “Blinky.” The historian looked up at the sound of the blonde teen’s quiet voice. “Can’t I do anything to stop this.”
“Hmm, well you could stand as a witness. However, I’m not sure if it’s even possible as-“
“Good enough for me.” Steve said.
“I beg your pardon?” Blinky watched as Steve stood up and took a few steps toward the front of the cage. “Hey! How about we skip the dramatics and let me speak for myself? Or for Lake, I guess.”
“What are you doing?’ Toby asked as he approached Steve’s cage.
“Trying to make this less bad than it is.” He answered.
“But you can’t-“
“The accused cannot testify for himself, it’s against Troll Law.” Quagwump Queen explained.
“Yeah, what she said.” Toby remarked.
“I say let him speak.” Vendel said as he stood up and looked at Steve, his expression unreadable for the blonde teen. “Go on trollhunter.”
“Right…” Steve struggled to find the right words. Now that his plan was in motion, he realized now that he really didn’t know what to say.
“Come on. Think for once.” The blonde teen thought.
“Okay, um… look I’m probably the last person Lake would want to speak for him. But it looks like to me that all of you guys are really pissed at him for making a choice, a bad one at that. But so what, even good people can make mistakes. And while he’s not here, I’m sure he would admit that what he did was wrong. And come on, don’t tell me that none of you haven’t made a bad choice in your life.”
None of the Tribunal reacted except for the Quagawump Queen, who Steve managed to see her raise her before putting it back when she saw that the others weren’t doing the same. “But in the end, Lake is a good person and just did what he thought was right. And who knows maybe he would do it again but-”
The Tribunal all gasped in shock.
“An admission!
“He would do it again?”
“It seems like we have our proof. Let us all rule.” Usurna said.
Steve stood still for a few seconds, his mind trying to keep up with what just happened. “What?!” He saw the Tribunal beginning to leave. “Hey! I wasn’t done talking!”
“You have said quite enough.”Usurna remarked. “Now if you’ll-”
“Oh shut up!” The Tribunal quickly turned around, stunned at the trollhunter.
Frustration began to rise from Steve, he was tired and was just about done with the tribunal. “You guys talk about punishment for what happened to Gunmar because I don’t know about you, but getting your ass beaten by the person you let out and fighting for your life in the hospital sounds like punishment for me.” The blonde teen said as he gritted through his teeth.
Steve glanced down at Toby, his eyes filled with panic and disbelief, but as guilt began building up, he looked away. The trollhunter didn’t care if he was making it worse for him, deep down Steve knew that they were going to make him guilty no matter what, so who cares with what he has to say right? The blonde teen was a dead man walking at this point. “You all act high and mighty when in fact none of you seem smart enough to have your priorities straight.”
The anger the Tribunal had for Steve could be felt, but for Usurna she was more than angry, she was outraged by the trollhunter’s words.
“Are you done?” Ursuna asked with a venomous voice.
“Yeah. I said all that I needed to say.”
As the Tribunal left to make their ruling, Toby opened his mouth to speak but not a single word came out. The redhead staggered as the dread of what might happen next infested in his thoughts that it made him sick.
“Tobias?” Blinky placed his hand on the teen’s shoulder, but Toby pulled away from it.
“I… I need to find Claire and Aaarrrgghh.” He muttered under his breath. “I- I have to….” Toby couldn’t bring himself to finish that sentence and ran out of the Hero’s Forge.
Steve leaned back on the cage and slid down. As the moments went by, he could still feel Blinky’s presence. “Why are you still here?
“I don’t think I quite follow.”
The trollhunter felt his throat tighten. “I mean the trial is basically over and there’s no one here, even the changeling left.”
“NotEnrique has somewhere to be, keeping watch I believe he said. But for me, I’m right where I’m supposed to be. Technically I’m supposed to be your mentor, so you are my responsibility till the day you reach your last breath”. He explained, still sounding calm with no hints of being angry at Steve at all.
The blonde teen could only stay silent, blinking as he tried to wrap his mind around the troll’s words. “You know it was quite brave of you to speak of the Tribunal like. Not even the bravest of trolls would do such a thing.”
“Or stupid. I don’t think calling out trolls who are important figures in your culture was a good idea.”
“Well, some of the members of the Tribunal were not on good terms with master Jim even before this whole mess began, so don’t feel discouraged.” While what Blinky said didn’t necessarily make Steve feel any better, but at least he knew nothing would please the Tribunal as long as a human holds the mantle of trollhunter.
“Look, I know you’re trying to make me feel better or whatever, but you’re wasting your time. Don’t see how I can be in a better mood when I’m as good as dead now. So just do something better than being here, please.” Blinky stared at the trollhunter. The lack of emotional connection he had with Steve seemed to make it harder for the historian’s words to hold value.
Blinky didn’t want to leave Steve alone in the Hero’s Forge, but it was also apparent that his presence wasn’t doing much good either. “Very well then.” He muttered solemnly, very much reluctantly shuffled away to his library. Using the excuse that he might find something in his books that might help their situation, but he knew better he wasn’t going to find any.
Steve tightly pulled his hair back and began to wonder what would happen if he died he knew he was going to. Would his parents care? He hopes that they would, because it pained him so much to know that everyone else wouldn’t mind. Maybe they’ll feel pity for a moment, but it’ll quickly fade, because Steve hadn’t been given the initiative to show his change just yet. So they’ll just remember him as a dumb bully and nothing else. The world will still be the same. Despite all that, Steve pushed back the feeling of crying. He refused to go out like a crybaby, even if it made it hurt more to think about.
“Krax’s house here.” Aaarrrgghh said. It was a cave that looked like any other in trollmarket, with its entrance with a wide flight of stairs that went downwards.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” Claire looked around the cave then back at the stairs. “You guys make it fairly easy to break into homes.” She told Aaarrrgghh.
“Now find gaggletack?” Aaarrrgghh asked as he touched the tire that was in the room.
“That's the idea.” Claire glanced at the many boxes that sat in the corner of the cave.
She approached it and lifted the lid off of one of the boxes. Claire gasped as she saw that it was filled with gaggletacks. “Hey Aaarrrgghh. I found a gaggletack mother lode .” Claire kept opening the other boxes to see if the contents were the same, and they were.
The large trolls looked inside the boxes and picked up a handful of gaggletack. “Enough for proof though?”
Claire's smile faltered a bit and thought for a second. “It makes him suspicious, but being suspicious doesn’t necessarily mean he’s working for Gunmar. So maybe we need more proof?”
“Why not talk to Krax?” Aaarrrgghh suggested.
“Yeah but-“
“Claire! Aaarrrgghh!” Both were caught off guard by the sound of Toby’s voice as he walked down the stairs. “What is taking you guys so long?”
“Well we got a lead on this Krax guy and decided to check his house, which just so happens to be very far away from the Hero’s Forge.” Claire explained. “Hold on a second, why are you here Toby?
Aren’t you supposed to be stalling?”
The two saw as Toby crossed his arms and looked away. “I did the best I could. But the trial is over, the Tribunal is deciding their ruling right now.” He answered with a quiet, regretful tone.
“What?! They can’t do that!”
“Technically they can.” Toby cleared his throat at the sight of Claire’s hardened expression.
“It’s not fair.” She muttered, looking away. For the past few days, Claire had this feeling of helplessness looming over her. She was so close to fixing this, to make things right and prevent someone from being in the clutches of death.
“Claire?” The large troll asked, concerned at the teen’s silence.
“We’re not giving up. We keep going.” She said.
“So we still find Krax?” Aaarrrgghh asked.
“Guys. Even if the plan could still work. We have no idea where he could be, and it’s not like we can just wait for him to come back here.” And just as Toby said that, the sounds of heavy footsteps and humming were heard amongst the three.
As Krax entered his home, he gasped at the sight of Aaarrrgghh, Toby, and Claire, who stood absolutely still in silence. “Well then. I guess we can.” Toby remarked.
Claire quickly grabbed a gaggletack from the pile Aaarrrgghh was carrying and tossed it at Krax. When he grabbed it, the group shielded their eyes at the bright green flash of light. Now a human stood where the hulking troll once was. The uneasy silence continued for a brief moment before Krax tossed the gaggletack away from him and changed back into his troll form.
The changeling looked at the group, eyes frantically darting left and right, absolutely baffled at what he’s supposed to do now. With no other option to come to mind, Krax swung a punch at Aaarrrgghh and tried to leave the scene, but Claire was fast enough to block his way to the entrance.
“Wait! We’re not here to hurt you. We just want to talk.” She explained.
“And why should I believe you? Coming into my house without my knowledge and having the gall to blow my cover. Don’t you understand? All of trollmarket could be at my throat now because of you!”
A pang of guilt came over Claire, her eyes diverting away from the changeling. “Then help us save the trollhunter’s life. Please I know your kind is not evil as everyone down here believes. Right now you can prove them wrong.”
“The trial…” There was no relief on Krax’s face, but rather was full of anguish and pity for the trollhunters. “Oh how much it pains me to see just how naive you children truly are.” The changeling then pulled out a dwarkstone from one of the crates. As he shook it, the dwarkstone began to flash a green glow repeatedly. “That for a changeling, failure such as this is a death sentence.”
Krax grabs Claire by the collar of her shirt and tosses her across the room where Aaarrrgghh and Toby were. The large troll managed to catch the human teen just in time. But Claire was quick to look back at Krax and a thought came to her. The thought that she had enough time to snatch the dwarkstone out of the changeling’s hands and toss it far away from everyone.
So Claire ran. Running as fast as she could towards the changeling as she heard her friends calling her to come back, Claire wasn’t going to let Krax die.
But it was too late. As the dwarkstone went off, Claire was hit by a blinding flash of light and a powerful force that pushed her back. A loud ringing noise clouded her hearing and her vision was blurry for a moment.
“Claire? Claire?! Come on, talk to me!” Toby begged as his voice was becoming less muffled to Claire.
She tried to lift herself up but suddenly felt like the skin in her right arm and the side of her face was on fire and fell back down. As Aaarrrgghh and Toby helped Claire to get up, she glanced at her friend’s face covered in thick gray dust, she looked ahead and Krax was nowhere to be seen, only just dust splattered all over the room.
“He… He’s gone.” Claire whispered, with that looming, helpless feeling now crashing down on her. “I….. I forced someone to kill themselves, and for what?”
“No.” Toby interjected. “Don’t do that. Don’t blame yourself. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Then whose fault was it?!” Tears were already pouring down Claire’s face.
“No one.” Aaarrrgghh responded, placing his hand on her shoulder. “This is messy side of war. Always hard to see.” The large troll took a look at Claire’s arm and saw the burns she had. “Let’s get back to Blinky.”
“Right…” Toby said slowly. That alone, and Claire staying silent with a blank expression gave Aaarrrgghh the impression that neither of them wanted to face what was next, and he couldn’t blame them. They were just children after all. He of all trolls should know that.
Blinky stood in front of a table in his library, two of his hands pressing themselves onto the table. The bitter emotion he felt towards the poor trollhunter’s fate. The Deep was a mysterious and terrifying force of nature, Blinky couldn’t bear to imagine what might happen once Steve made it to the deep.
“Blinkous!” The historian jolted at Vendel’s sudden presence and then saw how upset trollmarket’s elder was. “That trial was a complete disaster! The Tribunal’s votes are practically unanimous to declare him guilty of the charges.”
“Believe me Vendel, I am aware.” Blinky responded. “But surely there is something we can do to-” In a nick of time, Aaarrrgghh suddenly barged inside alongside Toby and Claire. “Aaarrrgghh, you’re back. Did you find something they might give us a chance to fix this?” Blinky asked.
“Maybe. But Claire hurt.” The large troll brought the teen forward, who still seemed to be in shock a bit. “Needs help.”
Blinky gasped at the sight of Claire’s burns. “By Deya’s grace, what happened?”
“Turns out there was a changeling here at trollmarket by the name of Krax.” Toby explained.
“You found one?” Blinky asked in surprise.
“Yeah, but he wasn’t too happy that we found out so he used a dwarkstone to….. dispose of himself.” Toby’s voice wavering and low at that last part, feeling uncomfortable putting what happened into words.
“Oh dear.” Blinky whispered.
Vendel grabbed Claire’s arm that was burned and took out some gauze from his bag. “Tragic, but not surprising. For changelings, this tactic is used quite often when they’re discovered.” As the elder tends to Claire’s arm, Toby couldn’t help but feel uneasy by how casual Vendel made it sound.
“So what do we do now? We still got nothing and it’s not like the Tribunal will take our word for it.” Claire said, wincing at the stinging sensation her arm felt in contact with the gauze.
“Then perhaps they’ll take my word.” Vendel responded, tearing the end of the gauze and gave it to Blinky. “Blinkous, finish tending to her wounds. I shall take this to Usurna and do everything in my power to have her at least consider stopping this trial.”
"Well amongst all the bad shit that has happened today, it seems like maybe things might turn around for the better.” Toby remarked as Vendel exited the library.
“I’m sure at this point we can all agree towards Tobias’ sentiment.” Blinky takes out a first aid kit that was under the table. Jim suggested in the past that Blinky should have one around just in case, and since then he was quickly proven right after a couple of missions. “Claire, I hope you don’t mind asking but how are you holding up? You seem quite shaken.”
The teen held a grip and twisted the fabric of her skirt. “I guess what I saw was… a lot to take in. It’s not right.”
Blinky sighed as he placed a pad where the side of her cheek was burned. “I understand. I suppose it is another problem added to the mix that needs fixing, but sadly that will be more difficult to accomplish. So for now, let us focus on one problem at a time.”
“Right…” Claire muttered. “Do you think that Vendel will be able to save Steve?”
“I have hope. All I know for certain is that with Vendel’s status as trollmarket’s elder, we have a better chance at turning the tides to our favor.” What the historian said to Claire managed to put her somewhat at ease, but after failing so much, the doubt never left her mind.
After reuniting the tribunal, Vendel requested that he could speak with Usurna alone inside of the Heartstone.
As they walked, Vendel explained the discovery of the changeling and what occurred after. “A changeling? Here in Trollmarket?”
“Yes.” Trollmarket’s elder confirmed.
“And you are certain of this? That this isn’t a ploy by the trollhunter’s companions to buy themselves more time?” Usurna glanced at Vendel, her expression seemingly skeptical.
“I have it on good authority. If Gunmar’s agents are within the walls, something is afoot. We must suspend the Tribunal at once and deal with the real threat.” Vendel said, looking back at Usurna.
“Real threat? You think there may be more than one ally of Gunmar, here in trollmarket?” Vendel was beginning to hope that the Krubera queen was finally coming to her senses and prioritize the real issue that was at hand.
“Yes. If Gunmar has one agent within Trollmarket, who’s to say there aren’t others?” He explained. The livelihoods of trollmarket’s residents were at risk, and Vendel would not allow this to be ignored until it was too late. “It’s time we root out this enemy at the core and end this.”
Usurna halted herself in surprise at what she just heard and watched as Vendel continued to walk forward. “You’re wrong Vendel. There are only two agents of Gunmar within Trollmarket’s walls.”
Confusion riddled Vendel’s mind of hearing Usurna while picking out some of the rocks that were on a table.
“The changeling.” Usurna plucked out a thin, small dagger from the feather-like neckpiece. “And the changeling’s master.”
“What?” Realization suddenly hit the elder. No couldn’t possible that Gunmar would have someone with that great of a position of power on his side. Vendel took a small crystal in his hand before facing Usurna, who was already dangerously close to him. Just in case the worst came to be for him. “How do you know this?” He asked with a heavy voice.
“Because.” Usurna stabbed Vendel in the stomach with the dagger. “I’m the master.”
To the shock of the elder, he was already turning into stone. It seemed that her dagger wasn’t an ordinary weapon. Gasping for breath, Vendel began backing away. He dropped his staff and struggled to maintain movement as his body was slowly beginning to harden.
“I apologize Vendel.” Usurna said, genuinely sounding disappointed. “I was hoping you’d live long enough to see Gunmar’s glorious return.” She placed her dagger back to her neckpiece and grabbed Vendel’s staff.
The elder loses his balance and falls down to his knees. “Usurna… You cannot…” He muttered, his voice becoming hoarse. Even with the burning pain Vendel felt, he had enough tolerance to be able to stand up in front of Usurna. “They’ll stop you. The trollhunter…” Vendel could not finish his last words as his body was now completely engulfed in stone.
“Shall die.” Usurna said. “Both of them.” She used the end of Vendel’s staff to tip his body over, smashing into pieces by the impact of the floor. “Farewell, Vendel, Elder of Trollmarket. A shame that you had to meet your end like this.”
The Krubera queen tossed the staff aside and walked away, coming out of the heartstone with a calm expression as if nothing had happened.
With everyone back in the Hero’s Forge to finish this trial, the group was quick to notice that Vendel was noticeably absent from the court.
“The Tribunal will come to an order.” Blinky narrowed his eyes in bewilderedness at Ursuna’s lack of acknowledgment of the elder’s absence.
“Wait a minute, Vendel isn’t here.” Steve looked down at Blinky, hoping that he had some kind of explanation for this. “Didn’t you say that he was going to tell them what you guys found?”
"Pardon me but we spoke to Vendel, and he was going to present our newly found evidence to the Tribunal.” Blinky explained.
“When I spoke to him, he said nothing of any evidence.” Blinky’s eyes widened at the notion, while the rest were shocked at what they heard. That couldn’t be right, Vendel was an honorable and quite frankly blunt troll. He wouldn’t lie about such a thing.
“However, it became apparent to me that Vendel’s judgment for this trial might not be as objective as I hoped, so I had him removed from this trial.” Usurna stated.
“Hold on you- you can’t….” Toby wanted to object to this decision, but how could he when he requested the same thing with Gatto at the beginning. He could feel his friends and Steve’s gaze, waiting for him to finish saying something that could help them.
“You were saying?” Bork questioned, raising her brow.
Toby was at a loss of words, without the evidence, there was nothing more he or anyone could do. Toby’s silence was all the group needed to realize the painful truth that it was over. They had failed.
“Very well.” Usurna took the teen’s lack of response as an indication to continue on. “The Tribunal finds the trollhunter… guilty. He is hereby sentenced into the Deep, to face death at the hands of his greatest fear.” The Tribunal left the viewing deck, but Usurna wanted to see this through till the end, so she made her way down to the Hero’s Forge.
When the cage started to move backwards, the others looked back and began following it. “Vendel was supposed to make things better.” Toby muttered, looking utterly defeated. “We were so close! and now-“
“You tried.” There was a bitter acceptance in Steve’s voice, with his small, tired smile making all the more painful for the others. “You… you all tried. It’s not like we had much of a winning shot anyway.” Soon he felt his throat tighten and the spots of small tears in his eyes, but Steve made sure in all his power that he would push it back down. “At least it has to be me instead of Lake.”
“But it doesn’t have to be this way.” Claire objected, sprinting closer to Steve. “I can use my shadow staff. I get you out of the Deep, you don’t have to die.”
Steve stayed silent. There was an option that would have him live another day, but what next? Helping him out of his sentence sounded like treason to him. Steve wondered if it was fair to put Claire in so much trouble just to save his life.
“I… I can’t let you do that. Who knows what Trollmarket would do if you do that.” The cage stopped at a bottomless pit that was at the edge of the Hero Forge. Just the anxiety and fleeting fear by looking down made Steve grab the bars of the cage with both hands.
“Master Steve, things may be hopeless. But you mustn’t give up.” Blinky implored. “As long as you keep on fighting, you can be capable of overcoming anything. Please remember that.”
Then Usurna stepped in with her Krubera guards. “If there’s any consolation, these past few days have shown me something that humans should have never been a part of troll affair, the mere existence of a human trollhunter should be a violation of Troll Law.”
With that, Usurna signaled a guard to lower the cage to the Deep. The group watched as the cage dropped, Steve’s screaming getting fainter and fainter as it fell further.
He held his breath and braced for impact. The cage crashes below the many edges of the sharp, stony walls, sending Steve flying everywhere and constantly slamming into the bars.
Once the cage finally made it to the ground, Steve crawled out of it as the door seemed to be already open. His whole body ached as he slowly got up on one knee, hearing the quiet wheezing of his breath. The crystal from the cave soon flickered out, leaving the blonde teen in the darkness with nothing but the small glow of the amulet as his light.
Steve wandered cautiously, keeping his hand in contact with the walls as some kind of guidance. As he walked, Steve looked down at his free hand and began to concentrate on summoning Daylight. To his surprise, the sword appeared swiftly at his palm. Sure it took a while to summon, but Steve expected that it wasn’t going to appear at all.
Using his sword as a light source, the trollhunter moved it around to see if there was anything or anyone. Taking a turn around, he felt the wall was becoming smoother, and began hearing the most faint voices. However, they were not like the ones in his dream, it was coming from somewhere. Steve’s mind told him that following the voices was a bad idea, that finding a way to get out would be a better idea. But now there was this nagging thought in his mind.
The blonde teen remembered his fear the pixies had forced to show him. Even now he could still remember how it shook him to his very core. So the question arose in his mind, would his fear be any different now?
Steve grimaced and gripped his sword tightly, then with a frustrated groan, he sprinted towards the voices. Soon the dark cave-like pit soon transitioned to the hallways of Arcadia Oaks High. The voices turned out to be chatter from students that the trollhunter could seem to hear. He tried getting closer, but it didn’t make one of the conversations clearer. Even stranger, no one seemed to take note of him. As if they were ignoring Steve.
“Hello?” He shook a student’s shoulder, but didn’t have any kind of reaction, not even a dirty look.
Suddenly all the lights began to go back and forth between going on and off. The constant switching was getting faster and faster before one by one, each light began to explode, with sparks of electricity flying off of the circuits. Steve was baffled at no one reacting, they just kept talking and remained oblivious beyond belief. Steve steadied his hold on Daylight with both hands and looked at his surroundings with anxious dread.
The sound of metal scraping against each other almost made the trollhunter jump, he turned around from behind and waited as whatever was coming came closer. From a hallway on the right side appeared a dark figure with a black suit of armor and a large sword with a piercing red glow. Their eyes were red as well and wide, and Steve could just tell it was full of hate and anger. A chill went down his spine as they stared him down. They lifted their sword up and brought it close across their face.
The color on Steve’s face drained the moment he saw that this…. thing had his face. The doppelganger found the trollhunter’s reaction amusing and formed a large smile, his teeth sharp with fangs. In his panic state, Steve decided to take this opportunity to strike first. He swung his sword, but the doppelganger quickly avoided it by sliding to the side. They went ahead of Steve and hit his back with the handle of his sword.
Steve stumbled and bent down, having the air knocked out of him. As he tried his best to straighten himself, the doppelganger gave him no time and lunged at Steve, pinning him down to the ground. Steve thrashed around with all his strength, trying to escape the doppelganger’s hold, but nothing seemed to help.
“Let me go!” Steve shouted. “Or I swear to god I’ll-"
The doppelganger pressed their finger on the trollhunter’s lips. “Shhhhhhhhhh.” Their voice was raspy and strained, nothing like Steve’s. “Hush and listen. Listen to their whispers.” The students’ conversations suddenly became clear.
“What’s psycho Steve doing now?”
“Is he alright? I’m starting to get scared.”
“Ugh, why does Steve always have to make a scene?”
“He must really like the attention.”
Everyone was talking about him, as if he wasn’t there or was too stupid to notice. Couldn’t they see that he was in trouble? “Please!” Steve cried out. “Someone help me!”
But they just kept talking and talking. “No one is going to help. Why would they?” The doppelganger said, tightening their grip on Steve’s wrist. “Someone as horrible and disgusting as you should get to clean up your mess by yourself.”
The trollhunter hissed as it felt like his wrists were going to break at any moment. Steve head-butted the doppelganger, moved to the side, and kicked them out of his way. As Steve dragged himself back up, he summoned Daylight, leaning onto it like a crutch.
He could tell that the doppelganger was furious now. The doppelganger charged at Steve, raising their sword up high, but barely missing the trollhunter as he slid to the side, with the upper part of his right arm taking the hit.
Steve held back the urge to scream and, as if on instinct, swung a punch at the doppelganger’s face. They didn’t seem affected much by it, and swung their sword again. The trollhunter brought out his shield and was forced to stumble back with each strike the doppelganger made with their sword. Steve knew he couldn’t keep a steady hold for long with how strong their blows were, but he was having a hard time figuring out how to beat something that practically seemed invincible.
“Such a useless coward!” The doppelganger exclaimed with a devilish grin. “Can’t even win a fight with himself.”
When the doppelganger struck the trollhunter’s shield again, Steve brought himself closer to them and pushed the sword out of the way, and thrusted daylight right through their abdomen. The doppelganger recoiled as they spat out blood, and for a moment Steve felt a sense of relief that it was over.
“Oh my god! He killed him!” Someone screamed in horror.
Steve looked around and found a crowd forming amongst the hallway, and with it, fear and outcry could be heard all around. When Steve turned to see the doppelganger again, Jim stood there instead.
His classmate looked at the blood that covered his hands then looked back at Steve. “You….. Why?”
Just the sound of his voice being so fragile and broken made the trollhunter’s stomach drop. “I…. I…” Then Steve furiously shook his head. “No! This- This isn’t real. You’re not real, none of this is real!”
Tears started to cloud his vision, but he could still see the expression of disbelief and distraught in Jim’s face. “So….. is my pain not real?” Jim slowly started to bring himself closer to Steve, letting Daylight pierce further into his wound. “All the torment you put me and so many others through just doesn't matter?”
Steve tried all that he could to stop Jim without hurting him anymore, but he kept walking forward. “Who are you to tell me that what I dealt with you is or isn’t real.” He snapped through his choked sobs. “What did I ever do to you to deserve this?!”
“You- You didn’t, you didn’t anything wrong! You didn’t deserve anything of what I did to you!” At this point, the two were face to face with each other, where Steve could only see the sword’s handle in front of him. “Please…. I’m sorry! I-I don't know how to make things right. Just tell me how!”
Jim leaned onto Steve, making his struggle to breathe any further loud and clear for the trollhunter. “You already know the answer to that.” A small smile escaped his lips. “To truly redeem yourself, you have to face the crowd and endure all the pain and suffering you deserve. You know as well as I do that you’re not even close to being a person people can tolerate.”
Steve felt like he was suffocating as he now held to Jim’s dead body. With nothing else he could think of, the trollhunter pulled the sword out and moved away from the body as far as he could, letting it collapse to the ground. As Steve walked backwards, the crowd pushed him forward.
“Murder!”
“I can’t believe you could do such a thing?!”
“Get him!”
Booming voices came from who knows how many people, calling him awful things but what he believed to be true. As the crowd was closing in on Steve, he was already at his breaking point. Hands grab Steve to restrain him, and was met with a punch in the face that came out of nowhere. Countless students came forward to throw a punch or kick at Steve. Amidst all of this, Blinky’s words then echoed in his mind. Even if it seemed like there was no way out of this, Steve knew there was still some fight left in him. As the next person got close, Steve kicked them out of the way as far as he could, only to receive a punch in the stomach.
In honor of rott getting a teaser, here's a hurt and comfort oneshot I made of Jeven.
A03
Laying on the bed asleep, one of Jim’s ears flickered at the sound of quiet sobbing. Groaning, he slightly opened his eyes and noticed there was a pink glow throughout the house. The half-troll turned to the side to where the source of light seemed to be, and saw Steven crying at the opposite side of his bedroom. He was backing himself in a corner while covering his mouth to keep his crying from being heard.
His body was glowing pink as expected, but he had almost as tall as the bedroom was, and was showing features from his corruption. Horns, claws, spikes, fangs, it was all there. Jim quickly got out of bed and sprinted to his partner’s aid.
“Steven? What’s wrong?” Jim placed his hand on Steven’s lap.
“I..... -I-I’m sorry.” Steven hunched forward and slid his hands over his head, as if he wanted to hide himself. “I didn’t…mea-mean t-o wake y-you up.”
“Hey, it’s okay.” Jim reassured as looked up at Steven. “I don’t need much sleep nowadays.” The trollhunter admitted. “Um. Do you mind if I climb up your lap?” He asked.
Steven silently nodded, and so Jim propped himself up onto his partner’s lap.
Steven hugged himself with such a tight grip, as if he couldn’t trust his very movements. “I… I don’t… I don’t understand.” He muttered through his sobbing. “I felt…. felt so awful today. I’m supposed to…. to get better right? Then why… why does it feel like…. Like I’m going… going back to where I…. I started.”
The moment Jim noticed Steven’s claws began to pierce through the skin, he took one of his partner’s much larger hand away from himself. Steven was startled at his actions, and the trollhunter could feel his resistance.
“It’s okay.” Jim said with a soft, welcoming voice. “You won’t hurt me.” He brought Steven’s hand near the side of his face and pressed onto it. “You wouldn’t even hurt a fly”
Steven loosened the grip on his other hand and as he glanced at it, noticed his blood on the tips of his claws. But-“
“But nothing. You’re not a monster Steven. You’re just someone who's been through a lot and learning how to deal with it all. Remember that.” Steven wiped off as much of his tears as he could while he nodded in response. “You're just having a bad day, and that’s fine, all that matters, in the end, is that you manage to bring yourself back up.”
As Jim caressed his hand to Steven’s cheek, Steven held his breath for a moment before exhaling with a shuddered breath. Jim watched as his partner shrank in size, Steven wasn’t exactly in his normal height, now only being a few feet taller than Jim, but small enough that he would risk breaking the ceiling. His corruption features had reduced to a certain degree as well.
“Can we go to the bed?” Steven asked with a soft, tired voice as he leaned onto Jim, his exhaustion settling in.
“Of course.” Jim helped guide Steven to his bed.
They both laid down side by side, staying close to each other while covering themselves with blankets. “Jim?”
“Yeah?”
Steven bit his lip, hesitant at first, before saying with a quivering, soft voice, “Do you have bad days too?” The trollhunter pulled the blanket closer to them and glanced up at the ceiling.
“Sometimes.” Jim responded with a quiet voice. “It kind of got worse when I got the amulet, especially when I turned into a troll. I know it feels exhausting, but once you get out of it, you’ll feel much better.”
“Do the bad days go away?” Steven’ continued.
Jim sunk deeper into the blankets and muttered, “No. But like I said it’s okay to have a bad day.”
Steven stayed silent but intertwined his hands with his partner’s. “Well… at least I had you with me to help get through it right? Maybe… when you have a bad day, I can help you through it too.”
Jim smiled and kissed Steven on the forehead, which managed to make Steven smile back. “We’ll be there for each other when it gets tough. We’ll protect each other like always.”
As the hours passed, the two fell asleep as the sun began to rise, keeping themselves close to one another in a hug. Securing the knowledge that if one of them had another bad day, other will be there to make it more bearable to withstand it.
The Road To Recovery Chapter 1: Sticks and Stones Shall Break My Bones
What if Steve found out about Jim’s secret life about magic and trolls differently, and became a part of his team? But in the worst way possible.
AO3
Steve repeatedly tapped both ends of the pencil he was holding onto the desk, his boredom consuming him more and more as the class continued. The words coming out of the teacher’s mouth would quickly be a distant memory from the bully. Steve glanced at the classroom, some students were as bored as him, while others had their complete focus on the subject.
One student, in particular, caught his interest; Jim Lake Jr. was staring with an intense distaste at the paper at his desk, presumably where he was taking notes. The bully saw how Lake's eyes fluttered and how his head slowly moved back and forth. Steve chuckled and watched in amusement as Lake dozed off and had his face slam headfirst onto the desk.
The whole classroom turned their attention to Lake, including the teacher, and laughed as he quickly woke and sat up straight.
Mrs. Janet, clearly not happy, spoke. “Mr. Lake, do you know how many times you’ve disrupted my class over the current school year?”
Lake turned red from embarrassment, avoiding eye contact from anyone in the room. “Uhh, I don’t kno-”
“Too many, I’ve tried my best to excuse it, but frankly I can no longer do that. After school, you shall serve two hours of detention.”
Steve was surprised that Lake didn’t do anything to defend himself, he simply sighed and rubbed his face in frustration. As if the student sitting across the classroom didn’t have any fight in him. It was only when the class was over that Steve realized that he’d have to be stuck with Lake for two hours since he was given detention as well.
Throughout the school period, Steve silently dreaded the thought of going to detention, but it wasn't as if he could skip it without getting into more trouble than he already was in.
When the school was over, the bully made his way to Mr. Uhl’s class. There were a few students already inside, but Lake was yet to appear. Steve mindlessly took a seat and began doing some homework that he was behind. It only took a few minutes for Lake to show up. He just quickly walked around the classroom and sat right behind Steve.
“Great.” He thought bitterly.
Out of all the desks Lake could’ve chosen, he chose that one. It’s as if he wanted to annoy Steve. The bully now had an anxious feeling that Lake was being nosey and glancing at his work. This caused Steve to sometimes turn around behind him in a way that didn’t seem suspicious, but he only saw Lake just minding his own business and reading a book. At some point, Lake stopped what he was doing and ended up falling asleep.
As time passed by, Steve could hear the student behind him mumbling in his sleep, but they were too quiet and incoherent to understand. Those two hours felt it was longer than he needed to be, and you can imagine the sense of relief Steve had when it was time for Lake to leave.
But Lake never left his seat. When Senior Uhl left the classroom to take a phone call, Steve turned behind him just to see his classmate still asleep. Lake’s shoulders were tense and his hands gripped the fabric of his sweater, but Steve didn’t pay attention to those details. He simply groaned in annoyance. If Lake was going to take a nap in detention, at the very least he could've set an alarm on his phone for safe measures.
Steve leaned onto his chair and shook Lake by the arm, maybe a little too rough. “Hey, wake up Lake.”
What happened next was just too fast to process for Steve. The sleeping student jolted awake, and instinctively grabbed and pulled Steve by the arm, making him topple over his chair. The bully felt a sharp pain in his hand and Lake twisted it. The students watched in surprise and curiosity as they quickly tried to take their cameras out but by the time they did, Jim let go of Steve’s hand.
“Aurgghh!” The bully rubbed his presumed injured hand and shouted, “What the hell Lake?!”, angrily.
The smaller student looked at Steve like a deer in headlights. Lake had his hand covering his mouth as he nervously glanced at the students staring at the two of them while whispering to each other. The sound of Senior Uhl slamming the door open made everyone in the room jump.
“I heard a noise. What happened?” He asked while looking at both Lake and Steve for answers.
“Fell off my chair and hurt my hand. Lake tried to help me get up but grabbed my bad hand by accident and I shouted.” Steve responded, much to the surprise of Lake and the students. However, the bully rationalized this “act of kindness” as something he could use to his advantage. If Lake was giving him trouble, Steve could threaten him by telling the teachers what really happened today, simple as that.
“Very well.” Senior Uhl muttered. “Mr. Lake, your two hours are up, you are free to leave.”
Lake quickly said “thank you”, grabbed his bag, and ran out of the classroom. Steve glanced down at his hand and flexed it, only to feel a sharp pain once again. He’d have to go to the doctor after this.
In a small town like Arcadia, rumors and gossip spread fast like wildfire. Which is why Jim wasn’t surprised at the many stares and glances he got from students. The trollhunter sighed as he made his way to his locker, where he was greeted by Toby and Claire.
“So, I heard you tried to break Steve’s hand.” His best friend remarked, mostly as a joke. But Jim only banged his head onto his locker’s door, sighing once again. “C’mon now Jimbo, we both know you wouldn’t hurt anyone here.”
“But it is a rumor that’s going around about that,” Claire interjected. “Maybe I can ask Mary and Darci for help, or-”
“No.” Toby and Claire looked at Jim in shock. “It might make things worse like I’m trying to make myself look better or something.”
Claire gave Toby a look and gestured at Jim. “What did you do exactly?” He asked while moving in front of Jim.
“During detention, I thought it’d be fine if I just took a quick nap while I was there. Then Steve woke me up for some reason and, ugh, I don’t know, I just freaked out.” The trollhunter explained, tightening his grip on his bag’s strap.
“Well, you did just come back from the Darklands, so maybe your mind is still on alert for any danger,” Claire suggested.
“Either way, it’s not like Steve didn’t have that coming,” Toby added.
“Toby!”
“What? I’m just saying Claire, he has always been a jerk, so karma has to come knocking on his door a few times.” Toby explained. “And besides, this isn’t exactly the first time Jim had a physical scuffle with Steve.”
“But that was different.” The trollhunter thought to himself. Jim punched Steve in self-defense. What he did yesterday was uncalled for, Steve didn’t do anything that justified what Jim did.
The school bell suddenly rang, and Jim made his way to his next class alongside Toby. Meanwhile, Claire left for a different class. Coincidently, Steve was in her class, and Claire thought that this could be an opportunity.
“Hi Steve.” She greeted, sitting next to him.
“What are you doing?” Steve asked, obviously confused as to why Claire decided to sit beside him. “Is this about yesterday with Lake?”
Claire shrugged in response. “Kind of. How’s your hand?”
The bully glanced at it for a moment. “It’s not broken that’s for sure, just sprained.” He said, “Nothing I can’t handle.”
Claire hummed in response before asking, “You know Jim feels bad about it, right?”
Steve scoffed at the notion. “He should be, Lake could’ve easily broken my hand.” Claire grimaced at that response. “But that doesn’t matter now, does it? Jim “Goodie Two Shoes” Lake walks away scot-free.” He muttered sarcastically, making a small jazz hand gesture as well.
“But you could’ve told the truth and Jim would have gotten in trouble, but you didn’t. Why?”
Steve stayed silent for a moment before he spat out, “How about you leave me alone and mind your own business?”, with a harsh tone before ignoring Claire for the rest of the class.
The student sitting next to him stared in disbelief, wanting to add her own two-sense to Steve’s remark, but she held back. He was right to a certain degree. This situation was strictly between Jim and Steve, so there was no reason for her to bud in.
A few days later…
It was lunchtime, and the trollhunter used this period as a way to get some time for himself. Yes, he would always enjoy Toby and Claire’s company no matter what, but something Jim just needed some time for himself. So he sat on the school porch alone while he ate his lunch, enjoying the cool breeze and the sunlight hitting his face. Just when the trollhunter finished his meal when the school bell rang. Quickly, Jim raced through the halls to make it to his next class which was history.
During the middle of Coach Lawrence’s lectures, Jim felt a sharp pain on the right side of his abdomen. When he looked down, the trollhunter saw that his blue sweater was slowly being tainted by crimson red. Jim cursed to himself. A little while ago, Jim had gotten into a nasty fight with a rogue troll. In the end, he was victorious as always, but the trollhunter suffered some major injuries. Jim thought he did a good job treating them but apparently not.
So he raised his hand and asked, “Coach Lawrence, can I go to the bathroom?”
The P.E. teacher shrugged. “Alright, you can go Lake. Just make it quick.”
The trollhunter knew that this wasn’t going to be “quick”, but Coach Lawrence was one of the more forgiving and kind teachers in the school, so he felt like there was nothing to worry about in terms of suspicion.
He raced towards the boy’s gym locker room, it was always mostly empty and was very easy to hide if someone walked inside. Jim sat on one of the benches and took out a small first aid kit from his bag. The trollhunter unzipped his sweater and lifted his shirt, revealing the bloody gauze that was wrapped around Jim’s abdomen. As he unwrapped it, it showed a deep laceration that seeped quite a lot of blood out. The trollhunter groaned as he saw that the stitches he had made for the wound had become undone. Jim tossed the used gauze aside and opened the first aid kit. He couldn’t redo the stitches right now, as it would take too long to finish, so the trollhunter just put fresh new gauze on his abdomen. Jim was too focused to notice Steve entering the locker room, or even hear him enter.
Once the bully noticed Jim, he looked at his classmate with a disturbed expression. “Lake?”
Jim froze at the sound of Steve’s voice, and he felt a sense of dread shivering through his body.
The trollhunter tried to cover his injury but Steve had become curious. “Jeez! what happened? Did someone stab you with a knife or something?” He asked, lifted Jim’s arm to get a good look at the trollhunter’s stomach.
Jim immediately pushed Steve aside and shouted “None of your business! And what are you doing here!”
“I just finished soccer practice, my team plays on the field every Friday. And you’re not exactly trying to be discreet.” The bully explained, crossing his arms as he begrudgingly maintains his distance with Jim. “Are you a member of a cult? Oh shit! You’re not gonna kill me now that I know your secret are you?”
“What?! No, I’m- Aurggh!” The trollhunter bent down as pain from his injuries spiked. “I’m not in a cult.” He muttered.
“Then what’s up with you Lake?! First, you attack me at detention, and now this.” Steve asked as he gestured to the person in front of him.
“I didn’t mean to attack you. I was just having a bad dream.”
“Must’ve been one hell of a nightmare. Well if you aren’t in a cult, then what is it?” As Steve continued to question Jim, he could see the panic look in the trollhunter’s eyes, but tried to keep a calm attitude.
“Like I said it’s none of your business,” Jim remarked.
Steve tightened his hand into a fist and approached Jim and got really close to him, the two of them staring intensely at each other. “Either you tell or do I have to beat out of you.”
Both of them knew that Jim wasn’t capable of fighting back well, and the trollhunter at this point couldn’t take another beating, even if it was from Steve. He looked away from the bully in defeat, with Steve smirking in response.
“Well? What is it?”
Jim tried thinking about a lie that would satisfy Steve. Being mugged wouldn’t make much sense, and any other excuse he thought of just sounded ridiculous. Until he thought of one that seemed pretty much perfect.
“I...I’m getting paid to fight others in the street.” He said.
Steve looked at Jim suspiciously before asking, “Like a fight club?”
The trollhunter shrugged without a care. “I guess.”
There was a silent pause before the bully said, “Why the hell are you in a fight club then?”
Jim pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. “I’m just a little tight on money alright? Nothing deep about my reasoning. Now, if you can do me favor and keep watch? I have to finish this.”
“God, you’re so weird Lake,” Steve commented, but the trollhunter didn’t bother to respond back with his own remark.
As Jim continued to treat his injuries, Steve glanced at the locker room’s hallways to see if anyone would be coming in their direction. Occasionally, the bully looked back at the trollhunter and would see the many scars that were on Jim’s body. It felt so out of place for Steve to see that. Jim was always one who wouldn’t hurt a fly and avoided a fight until now he supposed.
Once Jim was done, he put his shirt and sweater back on, while also putting his first aid kit back in his bag. The trollhunter got up and looked at Steve, wondering if he should thank him.
“Hey, I really am sorry about your hand. The last thing I want to do is hurt someone that doesn’t deserve it.” He muttered, eyes glued to the ground. “And please keep this,” Jim gestured to himself, “between you and me. If anyone found out, we’ll both be in serious trouble.”
What the troll hunter said startled Steve a bit, but why should he be scared? He’s Steve Palchuck, he wasn’t scared of anything. The bully simply scoffed and remarked, “Fine,I’ll keep your stupid secret between us.” before leaving.
Jim hoped Steve kept his word, he couldn’t afford to lie to anyone else. It was starting to get exhausting.
A week later…
It was a Saturday, and Jim managed to get himself into detention again. This time it wasn’t his fault, or alone either. Last night a couple of gnomes went joyriding in Senior Uhl’s truck because why not? The police came before the trollhunter and his friends could flee the scene. Of course, they had to take the blame, but instead of getting arrested, Senior Uhl decided that they should serve detention the next day.
Jim stared outside of the car window and his mother was scolding him and Toby for “stealing” their teacher’s car. “You know, girls don’t always fall for the bad boys, Jim. Sometimes, they appreciate chivalry.” She said.
The trollhunter held back the urge to laugh, and simply responded with, “Uh, thanks for the dating advice Mom, and this won’t happen again, right Tobes?”
“Oh yeah, I rather not add anything else to our criminal records.” Toby added, poking his head out to the backseat and Barbara chuckled in response.
Jim and Toby gave the motherly doctor their goodbyes before leaving the car. The two walked on towards the school’s entrance as Claire waited for them there, while two other students, Shannon and Eli, followed behind.
“Are you ready to get this over with?” Claire said as she joined with the duo.
“I don’t know Claire, maybe this could be a good thing. We’re a school so the possibility of us being in danger is almost nonexistent. Think of it as a fun little vacation.” The trollhunter suggested, then laughed at the thought of it.
Then the trio heard a small commotion coming from the distance. They turned to the source and saw Steve getting out of Coach Lawrence’s car. The two seemed to be talking but they were too far for the trio to hear.
“Huh, is that Coach dropping off Steve?” Claire asked, turning her back on the other student.
“Great. Vacation canceled.” Toby remarked, rolling his eyes.
“Hey now, all you have to do is ignore him and you’ll be fine Tobes.” Jim reassured with a nervous smile.
Claire and Toby looked at the troll hunter curiously. “Since when did you become an optimist?” His best friend wondered.
“When detention became a regular occurrence for me apparently. And besides, we’ve dealt with Steve being in our class before. What makes this any different?”
When the students went to the classroom, Senior Uhl confiscated their phones, much to Mary’s dismay. Toby then decided to take out a Diablo Maximus Breakfast Burrito he bought earlier, despite Jim’s silent gestures to not do that. As the trollhunter suspected, Senior Uhl confiscated that too the moment he saw it, but Toby didn’t seem too bothered by it, which seemed weird to Jim, since it was Toby’s favorite burrito, but decided to ignore it.
After a few minutes, Claire quietly spoke up to both of the boys. “You know Jim, you might be right about us deserving a break, but I can’t help but feel guilty knowing that Gunmar might be out there.”
Oh right. The trollhunter cringed at that reminder. “Listen, Blinky and Aaarrrgghh are looking into it. Without proof that Gunmar escaped out of the Darklands, there’s no reason for Trollmarket to panic.” He whispered.
Then Jim saw Senior Uhl decided to eat Toby’s burrito, muttering that “It can’t be that spicy.”
The trollhunter anxiously looked at his friend and asked, “Tobes, shouldn’t you tell Senior Uhl that it’s a bad idea to eat your burrito?” He never ate it himself, but Jim saw the effect it had on someone, which…… wasn’t pleasant to see or hear.
“I would, but you know how Senior Uhl listens to his student. Which is not at all.” Toby said with a shrug.
Jim looked at his friend in disbelief. He wasn’t wrong, but Toby was acting way too calm for his comfort. As if he was planning for this to happen.
“Wait a minute.”
What happened next was what Jim and Toby expected. Senior Uhl rushed to the restroom, and the two knew that he wasn’t coming back for a good while.
Everyone stayed in their seat for a few minutes, with the trollhunter eyeing his friend suspiciously while Toby smiled back in response. Steve was the first one to leave his desk.
“Where are you going?” Claire asked.
“I’m going to see where Senior Uhl went. Is that a problem?
“Not at all.” She said back.
Jim left his desk as well and stopped Steve before he could open the door. “Don’t bother. It’s not something you want to hear, trust me.”
The bully rolled his eyes and opened the door anyway. The trollhunter cringed at the sounds he could now hear. When Steve turned to look at him, his face filled with regret, Jim gave him an “I told you so” look.
“It’s like a broken yogurt machine.” Claire commented, now out of her desk as she stuck head out of the door.
“Ew, it sounds like lasagna getting shot out of a T-shirt cannon.” Mary added while making a face.
“Not helping.” Jim thought as he tried to banish the mental images those comments gave him.
“That burrito had three ghost peppers in it. Too much spice for his delicate Austrian taste.” Toby explained, ignoring the glare Jim was giving him.
“He could be there all day.” Claire stated.
“That indeed.” Toby went back inside while the other students glanced at him in confusion, except for Jim.
“You knew that would happen Tobes, didn’t you?”
“I cannot confirm or deny that statement. But we could use this to our advantage.” The chubby teen suggested with a mischievous smile.
“How?” Shannon asked.
“Well I’d rather keep that a surprise, so just stay here for a while until Mary and I can get our getaway driver.” Jim was surprised to hear that Mary was in on this.
The supposed queen bee of the group lit up in excitement and walked outside of the classroom with Toby. As the other students waited, Jim sat on top of one of the desks, watching his legs lazily swinging up and down. His mind drifting to an endless void of muted thoughts.
“I didn’t know Domzalski was a troublemaker.” Jim looked up and saw Steve standing right in front of him, his arms crossed.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about him.” The trollhunter said.
The bully stayed silent for a moment before muttering, “How’s the, you know.” He tried to discreetly point towards the trollhunter’s injury he saw a week ago.
“It still hurts, but the stitches are holding up nicely.” Steve couldn’t understand why hearing Jim saying that so calmly made him uneasy.
“So what happened, did you trip and fall in a shard of glass or something?”
The trollhunter let out a sarcastic laugh while forcing a smile on his face. “Oh I wish that was the case, but no. I got stabbed by someone during a fight.”
“Must have been one hell of a fight.” Jim felt a tingling feeling in his hands the moment Steve spoke.
“Yeah.... It was.” When the blonde bully turned his attention away from Jim, he quickly glanced at his hands, but the brief memory of blood, his blood, covering the entirety of his palms made him close his eyes shut. Jim can’t let this happen, especially now at school.
The trollhunter pushed those emotions aside, he can deal with them later. “How did you get detention this time?” Jim asked, hoping to start a conversation as a distraction.
“Got caught copying someone else’s work.” Jim had a surprised look on his face, which then Steve remarked, “Yeah, what a surprise. Steve Palchuck gets in trouble for something that doesn’t involve hurting people.”
“Hey! I didn’t-” The trollhunter paused for a few seconds before he sighed with guilt. “You just have a reputation okay? And not a good one, but you already know that. I know you are capable of being a nice person. You were a good person back when-” Jim flinched at that last part. He shouldn’t have done that, he shouldn't have been digging up the past where at this point it doesn’t matter.
Luckily for Jim, Toby and Mary had returned. “Hey, hey, hey, we’re back! Now if you can please follow us, that’d be really nice.” Toby announced happily.
Jim quickly hopped off the desk and sped walk towards his best friend, while avoiding his gaze at Steve. As the group walked out of school grounds, a car was parked in front of the school's entrance. The front window lowered and revealed Darci seating in the driver’s seat.
“Darci? What are you doing here?” Claire asked in surprise, making her way in front of the group.
“Helping you escape this prison Clairebear. We’re going to have a bonfire party tonight.”
The idea of having a rebellious party is what all it took to persuade her, as she wasted no time to get inside the passenger’s seat.
Mary and Toby looked at the rest of the group with anticipation. “Do you need an invitation or something, come on we don’t have all day.” Mary said, her patience already wearing thin.
Eli and Shannon were the next ones to get inside the car, though it seemed like Shannon had helped Eli to gain the courage to even pursue that action. Steve then went as well and sat in the front seat, much to Mary’s annoyance. So there was one person left.
“Wrong’s Jimbo?” Toby asked while inside of the car as well.
Jim believed this was bad, that this was going to get them into even more trouble than they already were. But Toby took the time to make this happen, and would most likely face the punishment the worst when they face the consequences. So he came up with an excuse.
“Well, there’s no more room for me in the back.” Jim explained, seeing that three people had one person sitting on their lap.
“It’s okay, you can just sit on Steve’s lap.” Darci said.
“What!?” Both the two male teens exclaimed.
“Look, it’s not the end of the world if you two are close to each other for a while.” Mary reassured, who was beyond done at this point.
Jim took a deep breath and reluctantly made his way to the front door and when opened, he sat on top of the blonde bully.
“Okay, you guys ready?” Darci laughed at the sound of various happy remarks she got at once.
The ride through Arcadia was a nervous wreck for Jim, and who could blame him. He was sitting on his former bully’s lap after what he had assumed to be an emotional conversation, the trollhunter still couldn’t look Steve in the eye.
At some point, they had stopped at a gas station. “Why did we stop?” Shannon asked.
“Almost out of gas, and also so we can get some snacks as well.” Darci explained, getting out of the car while doing so.
“You didn’t bring any food?” Eli added as everyone started to leave for the store.
“I did. Just thought it’d be nice to get something for ourselves Eli.”
As the young teens ran around the building to see what they could buy. Jim mindlessly wandered around, fidgeting his hands. Darci said she had food so he didn’t really need anything from the store. Just his luck, the trollhunter managed to bump into Steve.
“Ah! Sorry.” Jim apologized.
The blonde bully didn’t say anything for a moment. “Not getting anything for yourself.”
It was then Jim noticed that Steve was carrying a couple of chips and a soda in his arms. “Um, no. We already have food in the car so what's the point?”
“The point would be because it’s fun picking stuff out that you like.” Steve rolled his eyes when it looked like Jim still didn’t get it. “Come on Lake. There has to be something here your craving about.”
The trollhunter could only shrug back. The blonde teen then grabbed Jim by the arm and dragged him towards one of the store’s aisles. He let go and said, “Pick something.”
Jim glanced at the products in front of him. “Why?”
“Because you have to learn how to act like a teenager, starting by buying something for yourself.”
“But-”
“Stop asking questions and just pick something.”
The trollhunter couldn’t understand why Steve was so persistent. Unless he took what Jim said at school to heart. No, that couldn't be the case. Steve hated him and listening to him would be the last thing he’d ever do. Jim sighed and walked closer to the aisle to inspect what was in front of him. Each row had a large variety of sweets and candy, and the trollhunter looked at the price tags to see if he could afford it. Taking into account the cost, Jim started grabbing his favorite candy. And he might or might have not gone overboard, as he was having a difficult time carrying the large amounts of sweets
Steve watched in surprise as Jim turned to him and asked, “Is this too much?”
“Uh no, not at all.” He lied. “Is there anything else you want to get?”
The trollhunter hummed thoughtfully and went to another aisle while the blonde bully followed nearby. Jim took a few more things and when he was done, the two of them went to the cash register to pay. The cashier asked them if they wanted a bag, while also giving Jim a funny look. Steve declined but the trollhunter accepted the offer.
As both of them walked out of the store, the rest of the group were waiting for them in the car.
“Omg, what took you guys so long?” Mary complained.
“Lake had some issues, nothing to worry about. We’re here aren’t we.” Steve answered, getting back inside the car as Jim sat on his lap again.
Mary pouted and crossed her arms while Darci and Claire stifled a snicker. The moment they continued driving, Jim began to get lost in his thoughts. The trollhunter had the window open, as he found the breeze flowing past his face soothing. Their destination was a small clear area that had the set up a campfire and some logs to sit on. Despite never coming here, Jim knew that this was one of the many hotspots in Arcadia that teens would place their parties.
As they all got out of the car, the boys helped Darci take out the firewood from the trunk while the girls brought the food out. While Steve, Eli, and Mary were bickering on how to start a fire, Jim was looking inside the bag that contained what he bought and came to the conclusion that he did go overboard.
“Hey Jimbo, wanna trade some snacks?” Toby asked as it seemed he appeared out of nowhere, which startled the trollhunter.
‘Uh, I don’t know. What do you have?” His best friend took out his snacks while Jim showed him the contents inside.
Toby laughed in surprise and said, “Oh wow! Maybe I should’ve been with you. Man, I forgot that you have a terrible sweet tooth.”
Jim's face turned red from embarrassment and his shoulders tensed. “I do not have a sweet tooth.”
“Right, I’ve been on a diet for fourteen years.” Toby commented sarcastically. “Now about our trade.”
“Forget it.” The trollhunter said. “You don’t have anything I want anyways.”
Jim turned away from his friend dramatically and stormed off as Toby watched with an amusing smile. The trollhunter sat on a log where it had a clear view of his hometown below.
“Nice view, right?” Claire stated, sitting next to Jim.
“Yeah, but I prefer our spot.” He admitted.
The two went quiet for a while, watching the sun slowly disappear from their sight. “So how’s your first party as a teenager going?” She jokingly asked.
But as Jim thought about, this actually was his first time. He was never social enough at school to be involved in stuff like this. The trollhunter wondered if he should feel sad for himself about this fact. “It’s going okay.” He decided to say.
“And I noticed you’ve been talking to Steve quite a lot today.”
“What? Am I not allowed to?” Jim remarked with a smile.
“Not at all. It’s just interesting, that’s all. Steve kind of hates your guts.” Claire explained with a shrug.
The trollhunter hummed in acknowledgment. “I don’t know, today was different. It seemed like I wasn't trying to be mean towards me. I don’t think he’s even messed with Eli all day.”
“Hey, maybe your good vibes are finally rubbing off on him.” She suggested.
“My what?”
Claire rolled her eyes and leaned closer to Jim. “Come on now. You have an effect on people, able to bring the good that’s inside of them.”
“Listen, if I really had that effect on people, then I would have been on Steve’s good side by now. Hell, I wouldn’t have gone to the Darklands if I was capable of doing that.” The trollhunter managed to stop himself before he could open that can of worms even further. Truth be told, Jim thought Steve was just taking pity on him.
“That’s true, but you try. And that’s all that matters really. You did that with Draal and look where it got you. You gained a new friend because of that.” The trollhunter chuckled, she got him there.
“I guess you have a point.”
“I always do.” She remarked with a wink.
The two of them then burst out laughing softly. Claire heard the sound of someone calling her name and turned to the left side to see Darci waving at her. “Well, I gotta go.”
Jim made a small wave goodbye as she left to help out her friend. The trollhunter glanced down at his bag of candy that was on the floor and grabbed a handful. As he took out the wrapper and began eating, his face then beamed with happiness as he felt surgery flavor in his mouth. Jim then felt a newfound warmth behind him, turned around to see the campfire finally ignited.
He saw Steve glared at Mary, who had a smug expression, while Eli tried to hold back his laughter. The blonde bully sat at the nearest log, which was Jim’s, and started wiping off the soot on his face.
“Geez, what happened?” The trollhunter asked, continuing to eat his candy.
“Mary and I were arguing about how to start the fire. It didn’t go well.” Steve explained.
“She shouldn’t have done that, inhaling fumes from a fire can really damage your lungs.”
“Well, not everyone knows about doctor stuff Lake.” He said, placing his hand under his chin.
Jim narrowed his eyes and asked, “Why are you talking to me?”
“Huh?”
“It’s just, really confusing. You never seem to like me and you know, the whole bully shtick. But ever since last week when you found me in the locker room, you’ve been, nicer? I guess. And what I said earlier at school, you don’t look upset about that. I- do you feel bad for me or something?” The trollhunter was rambling, he very much knew that but this was starting to bother him to no end.
Luckily for Jim, Steve covered his mouth with his hand, asking, “Are you done?”
He nodded and the blonde teen retracted his hand back. “That time in the locker room I guess you can say opened my eyes. And I wasn’t mad about what you said at school because it’s true. Maybe I can be a better person, but I never expected it to be this hard. How can I do that if I even don’t know who that better person is.” Steve yelled in frustration and pulled his hair back. “Whatever, it might not even be worth it in the long run.”
“Hey, it is worth it.” Jim hesitated but touched Steve by the shoulder. “Maybe you just need someone to help you out.”
“Like you?”
“I… don’t see why not.” The trollhunter admitted. “And, I’d like to see who the real Steve Palchuck is.”
The blonde teen looked away and huffed. “Fine, but don’t go telling anyone about this and getting their hopes up, in case this doesn’t work.”
Jim laughed and ate another candy from his bag. “You’ve kept your word about my secret, so I’ll mine for yours.” The trollhunter’s smile was so genuine and soft that Steve couldn’t help but smile back.
Not long after, the sun had disappeared completely and the night took over the skies. The group walked closer to where the fire's light could reach. Some were trying to make some while others were simply talking.
“So any clue to what the adults are going to do to us when we come back?” Darci asked while making sure her marshmallow wasn’t getting too burned.
“Other than grounding all of us for like an eternity?” Mary remarked.
Darci playfully pushed Mary. “Come on, be realistic. All I know is that my dad is totally going to take my car away.”
“Well be glad you don’t have parents like mine. They’re going to be on me twenty-four seven after this.” Claire said distastefully, cringing at the thought of it.
“I don’t think it matters what our parents do to us. Because we already know that what we did today was against the rules.” Shannon stated, she then stared up at the stars and asked, “It’s funny, we’re all practically in the same class every year and yet some of us don’t know a single thing about each other. And took getting detention for us to spend time together.”
“What if we can change that?” Everyone looked at Jim, who then stood up. “Everyone talks about how hard it is to be a teenager, well maybe being there for each other can help that.”
“Hey, Jimbo is right. We’re all struggling if mostly the same issues as teenagers, why not suffer together to make this world more tolerable?” Toby stood by his friend’s side like he always does and forever will.
The group looked at each other, and although no one said anything, everyone knew that they were on board with this. Jim was anxious about this, being a part of a group as big as this was new to him. But today, he has never felt this excited and happy since he got the amulet, so the trollhunter knew it must have meant something.
His thoughts were interrupted however by the touch of a raindrop. It soon didn’t take long for the rain to start pouring in.
“Arggh! Are you serious?!” Mary shouted.
“Let’s get to the car and leave!” Darci stated as they began running out of the campsite.
“But where will we go?!” Eli asked.
“How about my house?! My mom won’t be home for at least a few hours!” Jim offered.
The teens got inside the car, all them in the same seats they were earlier, including the ones who had to sit on someone’s laps. Darci said, “Yeah, that’s a good idea,” and began to drive off.
“Man! I can’t believe today was ruined by the stupid rain!” Mary complained with a pout.
“What talking about, we all had fun. So why let a little rain ruin the moment?” Steve remarked.
As they drove back to Arcadia. Jim leaned to the car’s seat while he heard Claire, Toby, and Mary debate about one of the Gun Robot movies. Jim smiled in delight until he looked out the window from Darci’s side. For a split second, he saw a large shadowy figure running towards them. Jim acted fast and tried to shield Darci and Steve but in the end, it wouldn’t matter much in the long run.
The impact was powerful, as it flung the car off the road and towards the wood. The car flipped around so many times since, beyond the road, there was a hill there before they could even make it to the woods. Jim closed his eyes shut as he was thrashed around by the car’s force and because he wasn’t wearing a seat belt. To the trollhunter, it felt like he would be stuck in this endless cycle of recurring pain. So the moment the car stopped moving, Jim laid there with a blank stare for a moment, hearing the soft sounds of the rain pouring outside.
He then looked up and saw Steve and Darci dangling from their seats. If the car was flipped upside down then that’d mean, Jim lifted himself and the pain all over his right side finally registered to him. He was indeed laying on shards of glass. The trollhunter slowly concluded that they needed to get out of this car. Ignoring the throbbing pain that came from the back of his head, the trollhunter made his way to the door.
However, when Jim pushed the door’s handle, it wouldn’t open. He retried multiple times before accepting that the front door was stuck. So the trollhunter repositioned himself, wincing as he felt the shard of glass piercing through his forearms. Jim extended his right leg and tried to kick down the door. An awful sensation traveled through his leg. He tightened his hands into a fist and clenched his teeth with all his might, fighting back the urge to scream. A quiet whine escaped his lips, something was wrong with his right leg but it definitely wasn’t broken. So he tried his left leg, after a few tries the door still wouldn’t open.
Jim needed more strength than he had currently, so he took out the amulet for his pocket, very much grateful that it was still with him, and said the incantation.
“F...for the Glory…of...of Merlin…Day…Daylight is…s Mine to Co….Command…” As the amulet shined a flash of light, the trollhunter felt his newfound strength the moment his armor appeared around him, and once three kicks, the door flew open.
Jim dragged himself out of the car and stood up. A wave of dizziness hit him, and his body felt heavy. He stumbled for a bit but managed to get his balance in check. He couldn’t get like this, Jim reminded himself. Getting to the task at hand, the troll hunter went to Steve’s side and unbuckled his seatbelt. He made sure that his fellow student didn’t go into contact with the floor and carried him outside. Once Jim placed Steve on the ground, he went back and forth doing the same process with the others. First Toby, then Mary, then Shannon.
When he was carrying Eli out, a loud growl echoed through the woods. The trollhunter felt a shiver run down his spine, as the color drained from his face, knowing full well that the sound did not come from an animal. Setting his classmate down, he grabbed the handle of his sword and spun around face whatever troll that would come his way. Jim at first could only see a pair of glowing blue eyes, but as the troll got closer, the trollhunter began to recognize its appearance.
“Draal?” Jim's voice wavered. No, he would never have done this. Something else must be amiss.
The troll wasted no time and charged towards the trollhunter. Jim moved to the side and saw his classmates. He can’t let his friends get hurt. So he ran, as fast as he could, hearing a fearsome roar that felt all too familiar. The trollhunter saw from the corner of his eye Draal spinning towards him. Jim summoned his shield to block his attack, the impact sending him flying off a distance, landing straight towards a tree. The trollhunter had the air knocked out of him as the moment he hit that tree, he heard a loud CRACK! And the pain from his spine shot all over his body. Jim dropped to his knees as tears welled up in his eyes, as he desperately gasped for air.
With a shaky breath, Jim slowly got back up as he felt Draal’s presence. Every moment made the trollhunter feel like he was on fire, but he had to ignore it. He had to. Jim looked up at the troll in front of him, with Daylight in his hands again, and muttered, “What…what did you do to him?” His words slurred.
Draal, or rather whoever was inside of him, laughed. And the trollhunter recognized that voice. “Gunmar.” He thought.
“The mighty trollhunter, defeated by one blow.” The skullcrusher mocked. “I expected more out of one who slain my son.”
“You didn’t defeat me just yet… There’s still a little fight in me left.” Jim lifted his sword with all his strength and went into a fighting stance. “So we’re not done until I say it is!” He said with such rage.
How dare Gunmar take his friend away from him. Was there seriously no limit to how low he will go?
“No matter how different you all are.” Gunmar spun again, but Jim moved to the side in time to avoid his attack. “Every trollhunter will always be stubborn!” The troll leaped and dived down with a punch. Jim swung his sword but didn’t hit his opponent. Despite who was trying to kill him, it was still Draal’s body. And Jim had hope, hope that there was a chance to bring his friend back.
So the trollhunter hoped that it would trick the skullcrusher and force him to keep his distance. It didn’t work. Gunmar grabbed Jim and slammed him against the ground. “You cannot deceive me trollhunter. You must kill this pathetic excuse of a troll or it will be used against you.”
As Jim struggled to breathe while Gunmar tightened his grip, he said, “ I… I’m not going to hurt my friend. A-and you are a coward! Using others to do your dirty work and can’t even face me yourself!”
The prideful smile the skullcrusher had faded away and snarled at the trollhunter. “Let’s see how well you can amuse me?”
He flung Jim away, and the trollhunter quickly stumbled back up as Gunmar charged towards him again. This was a fight Jim could barely remember, maybe for good reason. For the only thing the trollhunter can remember was the unbearable pain the dark overlord gave him.
Steven heard the muffled sounds of the rain before he could wake up. When his hearing and vision became clearer, the blonde teen could now hear voices shouting at each other, but one caught his attention in particular.
“Hey, come on wake up. We need all the help we can get.” Toby desperately shook Steve by the shoulder.
The blonde teen turned to see Claire trying to calm Mary down, while Darci was with Shannon, checking for any injuries she might have with the help of Eli.
“Mary calm down! You could hurt yourself more!”
“Don’t tell me to calm down Clairebear! We were in an accident and one of us is missing! And I don’t have any service on my phone so I can’t call for help!” She shouted at her friend. Mary scrubbed the tears coming from her eyes as she sped-walk around the area to get service.
Claire grabbed Mary’s hands and drew her friend close to her. “Listen, you have the right to freak out. But not right now, I have to see if you’re hurt first. We’ll find a way to get help I promise.”
Mary sniffed and silently nodded. Then Toby snapped his fingers in front of him to bring Steve’s attention back to him.
“Hey! I know you’re in some kind of shock right now but I seriously need you to snap out of it.” Toby began to mumble to himself, too low for Steve to hear.
Steve pushed himself forward to a sitting position, his body felt heavy and the world around began to feel dizzy for him. “We… we were in a car crash.” He stated, more to himself than the person next to him.
“Yeah. A pretty nasty one at best. But Jim is missing and I can’t find him anywhere.” Toby explained. “I think he tried to take us all out of the car but it seems like something made him stop.” The redhead had a terrible feeling that this wasn’t a normal accident.
“Lake… was sitting in front of me, he.... he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.”
Toby pulled his hair back and tried to ignore the implications of that comment. “Which is why I need your help to find him.”
The redhead helped Steve get up, who almost stumbled back down to the ground. To be honest, Toby would’ve picked someone else to help him. But Claire was busy with making sure everyone else was calm and alright.
The two made their way through the woods, calling for Jim when Steve began to notice that a lot of the trees were knocked down in half. And among the broken trees, he could see blood splattered around the area.
“Domzalski.” The blonde teen showed Toby his findings.
The redhead felt his blood turning cold, coming to the terrifying realization of the worst-case scenario had come true. All he knew was that his best friend was in serious trouble and that there was something dangerous in the woods.
“Follow me. And make sure to keep up! Being alone right now is too risky.” Steve was caught off guard by how serious Toby sounded, but he couldn’t blame him.
They both knew that if they found Jim, it wasn’t going to be a pretty sight to see. Following the path of the destruction of the woods, the two finally heard something. As they walked closer to the source, the sounds of roaring and scraping became louder and louder. Toby suddenly ran towards the danger while Steve had no choice but to follow. They slid down a short, muddy, hill and very quickly Toby made Steve hide under the bushes.
But he was stronger than the redhead and got up. The blonde teen was going to shout at him until he looked in horror at what he saw. In front of them was Jim, who was laying on the ground with some kind of armor, his face covered in blood. From behind the trollhunter, was some kind of beast that loomed over him. Steve acted on instinct and rushed over there to help but Toby stopped, this time making sure that Steve doesn’t interfere.
“Let go of me, Domzalski.” The blonde teen whispered with such intense anger.
“No. You’ll make things worse.” Toby warned with a shaky voice, never taking his eyes off the beast.
“Worse? How can I make it worse when Lake is over there dying because of that, that monster?!” Steve was beginning to find it very hard to not shout.
“Exactly. You’re going to get yourself killed like that and that “monster” might decide to come after the others.”
Steve knew that Toby was right but was too furious to admit it. And it wasn’t like the redhead was on board with this either. He wanted to help his friend, he wanted to so much but knew the harsh reality of the situation, which was that he wasn’t enough to protect Jim from Gunmar and would endanger his classmates.
As Jim slowly tried to drag himself away from the beast with the strength he had left, it grabbed him by the hair, pulled him close, and whispered something to him. Steve and Toby held their breath at the sight of the beast slamming the trollhunter’s face into the ground, which made the armor disappear. Steve was sure that it was going to kill Jim but to his and Toby’s surprise, and relief, the beast walked away with a victorious smile and disappeared into the night.
There was a moment of silence. No one spoke, no one, only the sound of rain pouring down and the wind blowing the trees. Then, the painful moans that came from the trollhunter made Steve rushed towards him. He fell to his knees, flipped Jim over, and held him close. The trollhunter’s blue sweater was tainted by a crimson red color all over, he tried to speak but the blood inside this mouth made it impossible to do so.
Steve stared at Jim and muttered, “He... he needs to go to the hospital,” before glancing at Toby, who was covering his mouth as tears welled up in his eyes. “Domzalski!” He shouted. “He needs to get to a hospital.”
“My phone broke during the crash.” Toby said quietly. “Maybe... maybe the others already called for help.” Steve was going to follow the redhead but was stopped. “No! He might be too unstable to move. So please, stay here until I come back.”
“O-okay.” No. Steve couldn’t do it, he couldn’t handle hearing Jim desperately trying to talk for whatever reason even though he was choking on his own blood, his wide eyes frantically darting from every direction.
The trollhunter was just as scared as Steve was, maybe even more. Now with a prickly feeling in his blood-soaked hands, the blonde teen moved Jim’s face to his direction and repeated the phrases, “I-it’s going to be okay. Just ha-hang in there. Help’s on the away...” over, and over, and over, and over again with only one thought in his mind:
He never expected to see this much blood to come out of only one person.
The Road To Recovery Chapter 2: Filling In the Gaps
Chapter two boisss. I suprised myself with this chapter because I thought it’d be shorter. So there’s that, anyways. Here the aftermath of last chapter as well as some new problems.
AO3
As the rain poured through the streets of Arcadia, the police station was crowded with officers. Detective Scott had some paperwork he had to fill out after finishing a case of his. After that, he hoped to go home and spend some time with his daughter, if she wasn’t out with her friends. But he knew that Darci was at home since both Claire and Mary were said to be in detention for most of the day, so surely there was nothing to worry about. From a few desks away from him, an officer saw that their phone was going off and answered it.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” They asked.
“Hello? Me and some students were in a car crash and one of us is missing.”
The officer tensed at what they heard from the person’s voice on the other line, they began writing down the details they were given. “What’s your name?”
“C-Claire Nuñez.” Crap, the officer knew that was the councilwoman’s daughter.
“Okay, and where are you?”
“Uh. I don’t know, somewhere around the campsite- Toby! Did you find Jim?”
The officer continued to silently listen to the other line. “Yeah, but he got seriously messed up! I- I think he might be dying Claire. Please tell me you called for help!”
Then, the other line hung up. The officer immediately began to contact dispatch to anyone who was close around the area and began to call an ambulance. By that time, Detective Scott was done with paperwork and was heading home.
Barbara looked up from her phone as someone announced that there was trauma incoming. She had been trying to contact her son for a while but to no avail, calling lead to voicemail and texting lead to no response. With a sigh, Barbara tucked her phone away and got ready to return to work. She anxiously waited for the ambulance to arrive, and in a matter of a few minutes, they arrived.
As the paramedics swung the door open, Barbara made her way to assess the patient they brought in. But when she got close enough to see who it was, the doctor froze in complete shock. The sight of her son bleeding out in a gurney made it feel like Barbara’s entire world was going to shatter right then and there. Her baby boy, her ray of sunshine, was now dying right next to her. No, she thought. This was the irrational part of her mind speaking, Barbara did not know the full extent of Jim’s injuries. But, she had to let another doctor take care of her son. Holding herself as tightly as she could, Barbara watched her co-workers take Jim away. They did not question why she didn’t treat him, because practically everyone in the hospital knew it was her son, and Barbara knew that because of this fact, they would do everything they can to save him.
“Dr. L!!” The doctor snapped out of her train of thought and turned around to see Toby making his way towards her with tears in his eyes. Barbara braced herself as the teen came to her for a hug.
She stayed quiet and let the tears stream down her face while allowing Toby to break down. A paramedic came through the entrance and spotted the teen. “Hey! You can’t go running off like that without a doctor examining you.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of that.” Barbara muttered, her voice sounding dull and hollow. As more patients came to the ER, she began to recognize them to be students from her son’s class. “Come over here Toby, I need to examine you.”
“But Jim-”
“There’s nothing you can do right now except allowing me to make sure you’re alright.” Toby silently agreed, slowly making his way to one of the gurneys that were in the ER.
Barbara couldn’t do anything to help her son, but what she could do was to make sure these kids were alright and healthy. That’s all she could do, and the doctor hated that fact so much. As Barbara examined the redhead teen, she heard some commotion in the waiting room. The doctor saw Ophelia, shouting at one of the nurses to let her see her daughter while Javier was trying to calm his wife down.
Babara let out a tired sigh and told Toby, “Your injuries seem to be minor, but I want to run more tests to make sure you don’t have any internal injuries. For all of you.” She took a quick glance at the other teens before walking toward the waiting room. “Mrs. Nuñez, there is no need to cause a scene.”
“Cause a scene? My daughter was in a car accident! Do you know how common it is for someone to die in a car crash?!” Of course, Barbara did, she was a doctor. That’s why she was always anxious at the idea of her son riding a vehicle.
“How can you say such a thing? Your child wasn’t the only one in the accident and yet you don’t see us shouting at others like they own the place.” Detective Scott interjected, obviously offended by how the councilwoman was acting.
“Claire wasn’t supposed to be out there! None of them should have!”
Soon enough the other parents joined in on the argument while Barbara watched them with a tired stare. The doctor drowned out their voices with her own thoughts, not wanting to take part in this pointless bickering.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never broken the rules before! Going behind your parents’ backs for the sake of rebellion!”
It was very apparent that Jim needed surgery, but to what extent? She didn’t have enough time to see all of his wounds.
“Not when it comes to risking my own life for it!”
Should she call her family? They never gave the effort to be a part of her son’s life but that didn’t mean they never care about him. Barbara wasn’t sure how much of a support system he would need after this.
“Oh don’t give me that-”
What about his mental state? The traumatic experience will very much affect him in more ways than one. Does this mean she’ll have to get a counselor of some kind, or would her son be more comfortable with someone close to him? When it came to therapy, it was hard for Jim to adjust to such a change at a young age. But what if it wasn’t enough? What if thinking ahead was a pointless endeavor in the end? Jim not making it was still in the realm of possibility.
“People please.” The parents went silent by Nana’s stern voice, something that even Barbara rarely heard. “Arguing among each other will lead us to nowhere. Our children are hurt. This is not about you, so you must let Dr. Lake and the others do their jobs.”
Once the silence filled the room for a few moments, all eyes were on Barbara. “Some of them appear to have minor injuries as far as we know, and while others have more serious wounds, none of them seem to be fatal.” The doctor explained bluntly. She couldn’t have any emotion in her voice, otherwise the grieving mother in her would come out and that wouldn’t be so professional of her, she had to keep her emotions in check. “I will let you know when you’ll be able to see them.”
Each parent began to calm down and some of them took a seat. The doctor noticed someone she didn't expect to see from the waiting room. Coach Lawrence sat amongst the other parents. She only knew him as one of the teachers of the public highschool of Arcadia and nothing more. Barbara took a shot in the dark and guessed that one of the kids was one of his. She didn’t dwell too much on it, after all, their children were going to be fine.
Barbara took a deep breath and went back to the ER. The doctorly mask she’s been struggling to keep was still intact, but it was inevitable that it would have to come off, and she knew that.
After further testing, it is safe to say that Toby wasn’t suffering from any internal injuries, rather some lacerations and small head trauma. Barbara told him and the other students that some of them would stay here overnight for observations, just in case. The redhead didn’t want to leave with his nana just yet, he wanted to be there with his friends for support.
“You alright Claire?” Toby asked anxiously as he sat next to her.
“Yeah.... just the morphine that’s all…” She answered, her speech slightly slurred.
“Don’t worry Toby, in a few hours the drug will probably wear off,” Darci reassured, taking a seat on the right side of the bed. She had her in a cast on her arm and had a sling around her to support it. “Though I get the feeling that it isn’t Claire who you’re about.”
The redhead teen looked at the person next to him, her expression hesitant but still determined to obtain answers. He let a dry but quiet chuckle and said, “I would think that would be obvious by now.”
“Sorry. But you haven’t talked about it. I’m just trying to make sure that you’re alright, well that everyone is alright mentally, but for you specifically. Jim is your best friend and anything can happen. You might even have to brace yourself for the worst-case scenario.”
Toby cringed at the thought of losing Jim, grabbing the fabric of his pants with a tight grip. “Jim’s a fighter. You’d be surprised how much he can take.”
Darci couldn’t help but pity him, but she did not understand the true extent of Toby’s words. She did not know the countless fights the trollhunter faced with creatures that were twice his size.
“Did...did you see what attacked Jim? You and Steve are the only ones that found him and he won’t talk.”
The redhead’s eyes were glued to the floor with an intense stare. The image of one of his companions, his friend’s protector, slamming Jim deeper into the ground and leaving him there with no remorse. “I-it looks like a bear.” He muttered.
“A bear?” Darci repeated, who was having doubts.
“I think so. Look it was dark and I was still in shock, but to me, it seemed like it was a bear.” Toby couldn’t handle more of his classmate’s interrogation, he just didn’t want to replay the awful images in his head.
“Hey. Where are you going?”
“I’m going to get something to eat.” He responded.
“But we’re at a hospital.”
“I’m sure I can find something around here.” With that, Toby left before Darci could continue their conversation.
The girl’s eyes then wandered to the blonde bully. Like she said to her departed classmate, Steve refused to speak with anyone the moment the ambulance came. He just stood frozen, sitting in one of the gurneys with a blank stare. Darci cautiously shuffled towards the unresponsive student.
“Um. Toby told me what happened.” She said nervously. As much as Darci wanted to believe Toby, the girl always liked to double-check her facts. It’s helped wash the worries away.
“Why do you care?” Steve asked, his voice quiet but somehow intense enough that it made Darci uncomfortable. But she stayed persistent because if today meant anything, it was that Steve was like everyone else. That there were people he thought mattered and wasn’t so terrible, or at least that was what she hoped.
“Police get involved in this kind of stuff, so they ask questions. I thought It’d be easier on all of you guys if I asked first so there wouldn’t be any added stress on talking about it with a stranger. ” She explained before continuing with, “Toby said it was a bear that attacked Jim. Is that true?”
The blonde teen blinked, then said, “A..... bear?”
Darci only nodded. She could see how Steve was reeling in this information. “Yeah. That’s what I saw, probably the biggest bear I’ve ever seen.” The intense tone of his voice never left, but only grew. What would Steve be mad about? Unless Toby’s statement was false. “Where ‘s Domzalski?”
She didn’t want to tell him, cause it felt like that would only stir the pot. But they were at a hospital, so Darci had nothing to worry about, right? “He said that he was going to get something to eat but-”
Steve immediately got up and pushed his classmate aside to leave the ER. Darci groaned in frustration, already feeling her regret. The young student looked around and saw the police. She took a deep breath and tried to shake off her nerves, Darci needed to be there with her friends for this. She tried reassuring herself that there was nothing between the two boys.
Toby sat on the floor next to a vending machine, all while staring at the amulet that dimly glowed a blue light. The redhead managed to grab it just before the ambulance took him away. He dreadfully waited for the small object to do something, for better or for worse. Suddenly, someone grabbed Toby by the collar of his shirt and began dragging him into a secluded area in the hospital.
He was then shoved into a wall and dropped the amulet from his hand. The redhead gazed upwards to see Steve in front of him, who had a furious expression. While rubbing his neck, Toby muttered, “Oh come on…” to himself.
“A bear? That’s what you went with?!” He shouted.
“So I see you’ve talked to Darci,” Toby remarked, trying his best to smooth-talk his way out of this.
“Are you stupid?! No one is going to believe that a bear caused all of this!”
“You’d be surprised. There’s a lot of bears in California, you know?”
“Oh, my bad. I didn’t realize bears had enough strength to flip a car over, let alone breaking trees in half!” Toby wasn’t sure why the blonde teen was so mad at him for doing it, it’s not like he did anything better or anything at all when Darci asked him what he saw.
“Listen. It’s a lot more believable than what actually happened. I’m trying my best here so cut me some slack alright.” The redhead tried to leave but he was shoved back again, only this time Steve didn’t let go. “Urgh! What is your problem?! I was trying not to make us look crazy and yet you’re mad at me?! You have no right to treat me this way!”
The blonde teen faltered and let go of Toby. Jim’s words began to echo in his mind, “You just have a reputation okay? And not a good one, but you already know that. I know you are capable of being a nice person.”
He was doing it again, and Steve didn’t realize it. He was going back to the school bully that tormented others, going back to the person that everyone hated. “I.......I’m trying to be a better person....” Steve muttered, but more to himself than to Toby. “Sorry....”
“Well, at least you got it out of your system right?” The redhead bitterly said back.
Of course Toby didn’t forgive him, why would he? The blonde teen would’ve probably hurt him if he continued.
“Steve Palchuck....”
Both of them froze at the new voice, Steve wasn’t able to recognize it. “Steve Palchuck.....” He turned to the right to see a small object on the floor, the hands ticking away.
Toby quickly fell to his knees and snatched it from the floor, his hands shaking. The redhead looked absolutely terrified. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” He got up and ran out of the room they were in, with Steve following behind.
This isn't happening. Jim was fine, he was fine. What Toby heard was just his mind playing tricks on him. His best friend wasn’t dead, he can’t. But the amulet said Steve’s name, that wouldn’t have happened if...... if......
The redhead stopped at a screeching halt at the sight of doctors blocking his path, one of them being Barbara. “What are you two doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the ER?”
“Uh,” Toby looked back to see Steve, who was glancing away at the group of people. “We... just wanted to grab something to eat Dr. L, but we got lost. It’s a big hospital you know.” He couldn’t hold back the tears, as the idea of Jim being gone finally settling in. “Sorry about that.” Toby sobbed.
“No. Don’t apologize, this all must be very hard on you.” Barbara took one of his hands while wiping her tears away. She then took him to a few corridors until they made it to the ICU. When Barbara led Toby to one of the rooms, he quietly gasped. “He’s still in critical condition. But there’s hope that Jim will make it.
The redhead felt a tidal wave of relief wash over him. He wasn’t dead, his best friend was still here. But if that was the case, then why did the amulet call for Steve. Toby began to worry, was the amulet just preparing for the inevitable. Can it even do that?
Barbara left the room to go talk to the doctors again. She saw Steve standing outside of the room like he was afraid to even enter with Toby. The doctor had heard a lot about him, with none of it being good. However, Steve was just a child, and just like the rest of his classmates, he was terrified about this ordeal. So, despite her hesitance, Barbara silently allowed the blonde teen to stay.
Steve had expected Lake’s mother to kick him out, he wasn’t close to her son, not by a long shot. Now that it was just him and Toby, he felt intrusive and out of place. Steve was about to leave until the redhead spoke.
“Something’s wrong.”
“What?” He asked while seeing Toby holding his friend's hands.
“The amulet. It won’t call someone unless the previous user has died.” Oh. Steve sensed a chill slowly running down his spine.
“But Lake’s fine. He has tubes in his mouth, but he's still alive.” The blonde teen rationalized.
“I want to believe that too. But there has to be a reason why the amulet said your name.”
“Maybe it’s broken.” Toby raised an eyebrow at Steve's suggestion. He showed the small object in his hand and tossed it at his classmate.
“Does it look broken to you?” Steve inspected it, there didn’t seem to be any cracks or anything out of place as far as he knew.
“It’s magic, right? It’s messed up and we don’t see it.” The redhead groaned in frustration and pulled his hair back.
“Look man, I don’t have all the answers. I’m just spouting stuff other people told me.”
The blonde teen was unsure if this was the right time, but at this point, he couldn’t stand being in the dark anymore. “S-so, you know what caused this?”
Toby stayed silent for a moment, the lump now in his throat made it difficult to get the words out. “Yeah..... I guess I do.”
“Then can you please tell me what is going on? Because you can fool everyone in this hospital, but you sure as hell can’t with me.” Steve was able to control himself from shouting this time.
Once again, there was a long pause from Toby. All he wanted to do today was to get his peers to enjoy themselves. He wanted Jim to have one day, one day where he was at peace and didn’t have to worry much about his responsibilities. The redhead had never expected this to blow up on his face this hard. Now Steve was the trollhunter while there was a huge possibility of his best friend dying.
“Well then, you might want to sit down for this part. Cause it’s a lot to take in.” Toby said with a sigh, his eyes focusing on Jim. Hoping that the universe will be kind enough to keep him alive.
After a few hours, the sedative the doctors gave Claire wore off. She began to feel extremely sore in some parts of her body, most likely where the more severe injuries she suffered were treated. At some point, her parents were able to see her when Claire was moved to her own room. Most of the time it was just her mother scolding the young teen while her father watched with a sympathetic look. Like always, the councilwoman had to make it about her instead of her own daughter.
At this point, Claire had learned to just tune out the lectures. She had heard it enough times to understand her mother. That she’d be disappointed in her no matter what if Claire didn’t fit the perfect image the councilwoman envisioned. Soon, the young teen had the room to herself. As she waited for some of her friends to come, her phone began to vibrate from the counter on the right side.
Claire picked it up and that it was Blinky. She took a deep breath and braced herself. “Hello?”
“Ah, Lady Claire. Is Master Jim with you? There is something important we need to discuss and he hasn’t been answering my calls.” The troll greeted, his voice sounding somewhat relieved but still worried.
The young teen bit her lip, before saying, “Blinky. We were in an accident and-”
“Great gronka morka! Are you alright?!”
“I’m fine, Toby is too, but Jim...... he..... he was hurt pretty badly. I don't know what happened to him yet but I'll let you know as soon as I find out.” Claire explained nervously. She had started to wonder where the redhead even was since there was no sign of him despite being hours since Claire last saw him.
“Oh dear. This.... this is not good. What are we going to do now?” By the sounds of it, Blinky was talking about something completely different.
“What’s going on Blinky?” She asked.
“I’m afraid that this night will not get any better. The Tribunal has requested for the arrest of Master Jim.”
“What?! Why?”
“Apparently Usurna has evidence that Master Jim has released Gunmar into the surface.” This could not be happening right now. Jim was not in any shape of getting out of this hospital, but knowing how stubborn trolls could be, there was no telling what the Tribunal would do if the trollhunter didn’t show.
“Can you just explain what happened and just postpone it?” She knew all too well that trolls weren’t so kind to humans, especially for Jim’s case, but surely they can give him some form of sympathy and stop this.
“I’m afraid with an accusation as severe as this, it cannot be dropped so easily for the Tribunal are very adamant for punishment. If it’ll not be Master Jim, surely they’ll find someone else who was involved in it to take responsibility.” Claire quickly dropped her previous sentiment once Blinky clarified that this situation was not going to be easy to get out of. “Telling the ordeal you’ve been through tonight could give you for a few days at the very least. However, that’ll make the Tribunal restless which might not help your case.”
The young girl pinched the bridge of her nose, their options weren’t great, but there wasn’t much they could do. “Well, you’re doing your best. That’s really all I can ask for. Me and Toby will try and be there as soon as possible.”
“Very well then. I wish the best for you all.” As Blinky hung up, Claire sank herself further to the mattress of the hospital bed. Too much, there was too much going on with little time to actually process it. She then heard a knock on her door and saw Toby standing in the middle of the door frame.
“Hey Claire.” He sheepishly said.
“Toby, you just missed a call I got from Blinky.”
That caught the redhead’s attention as slowly walked closer to his friend. “Really? What did he say?”
Claire sighed as she began to fiddle with her phone. “Nothing good really, but before I tell you, any word on Jim?”
A tired smile formed on Toby’s lips. “He survived the surgery. Dr. L says that he has a long way to go but he’s doing fine all things considered.” The young teen felt a lot of her anxieties washed away and glanced at her phone.
“That’s.... that’s good to hear. I’m going text Blinky about right now.”
“Uhh sure you do that, but while you’re at it, there’s just one more thing I need to say, or show you in this case.” Toby didn’t make it seem like it was anything bad, but he was good at sugar coating things.
The redhead looked outside from the room and made a small gesture to someone to come inside, and that someone was Steve.
Claire blinked in surprise. “Oh. Hi Steve.”
Toby scratched the back of his head while saying, “Sorry I didn’t come sooner. I was giving out some good ol’ exposition to our “buddy” over here.”
The tension then came back to her and lifted herself out of bed. “You told him?”
“Easy there. He saw Draal the moment we found Jim, so there was no point in lying.” Toby was leaving something out, she could tell by the tone of his voice.
“The stupid amulet called my name,” Steve muttered. “But I guess the person who had it before is supposed to die.” It was obvious that he was uncomfortable at the thought, and who would be?
Claire stayed silent with a blank stare before saying, “I thought you said that Jim was alright,” with a frantic voice
“He is! It’s just that the amulet picked Steve for some reason, but before you take the chance to freak out more, mind telling us the not-so-good news Blinky gave you?” Right, there was also that. Man does this day keep getting better and better.
“Uhh, he said that the Tribunal wants to arrest Jim for releasing Gunmar.” Toby’s eyes widened in shock while Steve’s shoulders tensed up.
“That’s bad, right?” The blonde teen asked.
“Yeah, it really is. So what do we do now?” The redhead moved closer to his friend and sat next to her.
“We have to go to Trollmarket as soon as possible. Or least until I get discharged. If we don’t show, things will probably get worse.” Claire explained with a sigh.
“Do I have to come?” Steve didn’t want to ask that question, he really didn’t. But this was starting to sound serious, and maybe there was a small chance that he could help. How exactly? The blonde teen wasn’t sure.
“It’s really risky, especially since you never had any combat training.” As much as a frustrating person Steve was, she would never wish any harm on him. And if what she heard about Trollmarket’s reaction when they found out that Jim was the trollhunter was true, then bringing him along could lead to the exact opposite of what Claire wanted.
“But what if the Tribunal thinks we’re lying about Jim? We’re not someone who they really trust, and he could be backup, a fancy sword made of magic can do much wonders as a defense.” Toby suggested with a shrug. “And if something goes wrong, he has you, me, and Aaarrrgghh to help him out.”
The two boys watched the young girl weighing the options. Sure, it was two out of one, but Claire was smart. And at this point, she was silently placed as leader until further notice. “I can’t believe I’m going through with this, but we’re all pretty much screwed right now. So, do you have any trouble sneaking out of the house at night Steve?”
“Not at all.” He had successfully snuck out a few times to go to some late-night parties, this shouldn’t be any different.
In one of the private offices of the hospital, Barbara laid head first on the desk. She was on break and finally had time to let all of her exhaustion set in. The information given to her about Jim’s condition and the outcomes it might lead to.
The worst of her son’s injuries was the one on his spine. The doctors stated that most likely that he will have permanent damage to his nerves. There was no telling he would regain complete function of his limbs or would have to deal with something else. Either way, Jim’s body won’t work the same way as it used to.
As Barbara put her hands above her head, an elderly voice called to her. “Ah, there you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
The doctor straightened herself and turned her chair around to see Toby’s grandmother. “Mrs. Domzalski-”
“Dear please, how many times do I need to remind you to call me Nana.” The old woman teased as she entered the room.
Barbara let out a tired laugh, removing her glasses to rub her eyes. “Old habit I guess. Though why were you trying to find me? I discharged Toby a few hours ago.”
“He wants to check on the councilwoman’s daughter. They’ve been friends for awhile you know.” Nana explained. “And also wanted to see how you were doing.”
“What you’d expect I suppose.” She wanted to grieve, to let all of those raw emotions free, but Barbara just couldn’t at this point. And she knew that there wouldn’t be enough time even to do that if she could.
“Dear, I don’t believe I know the answer to that. Only you do.” Nana placed her hand onto Babara’s left shoulder. “And if you’re willing to talk to me about it, then I’ll know. It’s never healthy to keep everything bottled up.”
Barbara allowed the old woman’s word to sink in. “ I will give anything to do that, but I’m just so tired right now. I don’t have enough energy to even fall apart and cry for hours.”
“You know for someone whose job is to take care of people, you don’t seem to do that for yourself.” Nana never understood that. She could forgive those who didn’t have any extensive knowledge of health, they just didn’t know any better. Doctors, however, did. The old woman could remember the countless times she has seen medical professionals ignore their health.
“Well, I’d like to think that we’re the biggest hypocrites on earth,” Barbara explained with a quiet voice.
It took two days for Claire to get discharged, the doctors told her parents that she just had to take it easy for a few days. That statement made the young girl second guess herself about going to trollmarket but pushed the idea aside. Sooner the better, because there was no telling when the Tribunal’s patience would wear thin. When the night came, Claire took her shadow staff and created a portal while a small changeling watched from behind.
“Remember NotEnrique, you have to keep watch to make sure mom and dad don’t know I’m gone.”
“I hear ya. And I’ll let ya know if they come running over here.” The changeling added. Claire smiles at him before entering the portal.
In Arcadia’s canals, Toby and Steve stood below the bridge there waiting for the young girl to arrive. The two never said a word to each other for a good while now. Something about being alone with Steve made the redhead uneasy, bringing back the memory of him and Claire trying to retrieve the bridge pieces. Meanwhile, the blonde teen was too anxious about seeing trolls to even talk to Toby. He tried to play it cool at the hospital when learning that there was an entire society hidden underground in their town, but when Steve made it home, that’s where he took the time to openly show his nervous breakdown in his room.
Everything that felt out of place in Arcadia suddenly made sense. But very quickly he wanted to forget it, the mantle of being a trollhunter sounded too dangerous for his taste. Steve had no intentions of dying, and going through with this sounds like the exact opposite of what he wanted. However, the blonde teen would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious. And who wouldn’t? It’d be near impossible to just ignore the existence of magic and trolls and not look into it.
Steve’s were ripped away at the sight of a dark portal appearing in front of the two boys. Claire then hopped out of it and it quickly disappeared. She pulled her hair back and exhaled.
“Okay. We’re all here, now it’s time to face the music. Would you like to do the honors, Toby?” The redhead nodded and took out an orange crystal that had a wooden handle attached to it.
Toby made his way to the canal’s wall, with Claire and Steve following behind, and began to draw a curved line as big as he could. Once he was done, the redhead pressed his hand on the wall and in a matter of seconds, it began to break away into various pieces and disappear. Steve watched as Toby quietly went inside the glowy entrance. He extended his arm but pulled it away when it made contact with the magical wall.
“It’s now or never.” The blonde thought before jumping headfirst inside the canal’s walls.
What he was met with were massive blue crystal staircases that twirled around until they reached the ground. The blonde teen stared in awe by how beautiful the sight was, but had to divert his attention away to getting all the way down. Claire noticed her classmate’s reaction and decided to catch up to him.
“You know. I really wished this was under better circumstances.” Steve jumped at the sudden sound of the girl’s voice, almost falling off the stairs. He looked at her in confusion, so she continued as they walked. “Coming here for the first time, it’s a one of a kind moment. But the difference between now and before is that there were no lives at stake or trolls coming to arrest us. I just hope that when all this blows over, you get to share the same experience that we all had.”
It was very strange. Hearing someone genuinely talking to him, was it supposed to feel like this? First from Coach Lawrence, then from Lake, and now Claire, would he be able to get used to such a thing? As the three of them walked down the final set of stairs, two large creatures, which Steve assumed were trolls, pointed their spears at them. The trolls barely looked like the one he saw in the woods, but that didn’t make them less terrifying.
Toby and Claire stood in front of the blonde teen and took their weapons out with a defensive stance. It didn’t take long for more trolls to contribute to this ambush. They all looked the same except one, who came towards the group. Their appearance was formal and very fancy in Steve’s perspective.
“Where is the trollhunter?” Usurna hissed while glaring at them.
“Didn’t Blinky tell you? He’s at the hospital and is in no condition to come right now.” The troll scoffed at Toby’s notion.
“You could easily be lying. Trying to hide him from our grasp.”
The redhead glanced at Claire and muttered, “Told you they wouldn’t believe us.”
She turned to the blonde teen with a nervous expression. “Steve, take out the amulet.” He did as he was told and heard many gasps from the trolls at the sight of him. “Read the incantation.”
“Incantation?” Steve looked at the small object more closely and noticed there were words inscribed on it. “For the Glory of Merlin, Daylight is Mine to Command.” He read slowly.
The amulet began ticking and its blue aura shined. Armor then appeared out of nowhere and was placed onto Steve. It felt tight at first before the armor adjusted to his size. With a flash, Steve was holding a sword, which made itself slightly bigger than before.
“Holy shit.” He whispered, amazed by such magic.
“So..... the trollhunter died, and amulet dared chose another fleshbag to hold the mantle,” Usurna stated, disgusted at that fact.
“Did not listen to what I said. He’s still alive.” Toby quickly corrected, but before he could say anything else Usurna spoke.
“I believe it does not matter at this point. Arrest the human trollhunter.” She commanded before turning their back on them.
“What?!” The three of them shouted in unison.
The troll guards grabbed Steve by both arms and dragged him away. A fight or flight instinct came over Steve, an instinct that has been proven useful to him countless times. “Let go of me! Or else I’ll beat the hell out of you!” He thrashed and kicked at the trolls, yelling with all his might. But it was futile.
Claire ran for Usurna and blocked her path. “You can’t arrest Steve! He had no idea about all of this! Wouldn’t it make more sense to arrest the people who took part in the release of Gunmar?!”
“You have no authority over me, fleshbag. If James is unable to attend to his own arrest, might as well let this new trollhunter to fill in the role.” The troll pushed past the girl with such force to almost make her fall to the ground. “And besides, it’s more than Gunmar’s escape that will be put into question.”
As Claire helplessly watched Usurna leave, Toby sprinted to Blinky’s library for aid. Because this was not going according to what they planned at all. God, could there be one day where everything went smoothly without any issues?
