Chapter Text
It took Claire all of twenty minutes during Jim's absence to dip into the shadow realm to search for her boyfriend's soul. Just out of curiosity, not to abort what precious thing he chose to do out of his own making this time, instead of being forced into a crappy card hand by a wizard at the end of his years.
Her physical body – well, that remained on the couch in Nancy Domzalski's house as Jim committed to a life of change. Douxie was keeping an eye on her, and so was Toby. She felt relatively sound in leaving them the important task of watching over her while she dived into Morgana's realm.
Time slowed in the voided place, with little light shining through. She wondered if Jim would be the same down here – his soul reflected as the human, or if there had been a change to his half-human self.
Guilt bit at the lining of her belly. She should have dived here before, should have had Not-Enrique keep an eye on her in her room to keep an eye on Jim ever since they returned because he didn't seem quite right. She should have, anyway. Maybe it would have spared Jim some grief and worry.
“Like it would have done anything to help.” She dryly spoke to herself, going deeper. “Maybe that happened for a reason. Either way, it's getting fixed Claire.”
There were three paths his soul could take down there. The first would be a reflection of his human self – though Claire also doubted that the human soul was really Jim; or if it was just the remnants of a Trollhunter sewn into service, skin stitched into the wretched metals of Merlin's creation, Troll-ness torn from him to create a full monster. The second path would be the troll-human self that was complete, in hindsight.
And the third was that he would appear as neither, for his body was likely transforming with soul to fix himself.
Really, Claire had no clue on what form he'd appear in.
It could have been minutes or hours when she finally touched upon the remnant of Killahead bridge, though it was empty of any inhabitants. Jim no longer patrolled its curve, chanting his mantra of 'the Trollhunter must answer every call', echoing the worries of changeling familiars. Her heart sank at the recollections, tears welling up at ghostly eyes.
She brushed them away on a crooked finger, glancing around to see if she could find him. There – a short distance away was a particular couch she recognized as the couch from the Lake household living room, where Jim had been with so many epiphanies. It made sense he'd be there.
Pushing off the rock, Claire sailed towards the couch, grabbing onto the arm to pull herself over. She took a deep breath before letting herself see what she was staring at.
The couch, accompanied by the coffee table that typically sat in front with a tidy footprint in the shape of a muddy sabaton, was currently occupied by a sleeping figure. Claire smiled, pulling herself to look at the face of Jim as he slept peacefully for the first time in probably months.
He was caught between two worlds – teeth poking out from his bottom lip and the blue pallor of his face returning with its warm rocky texture. Ears, pointed and sticking out from black hair that started to become shaggy again. It all looked painful, watching the slight and slow changes, but his soul looked at peace, for once.
Claire patted the back of the couch, leaning over to brush her lips against Jim's forehead.
“I'll see you soon, back at the house, my dear Romeo.” She murmured, hand running through his bangs before pulling away and returning home to her body.Her own shoulders felt lighter too – knowing that he was okay. He would be okay and would continue to do just fine. After all, Jim Lake Jr was a stubborn soul, and Claire loved him for every part of himself, and would continue for as long as he needed her, and wanted her.