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Chapter Text

1.

Jim was still not used to the troll body. Sure, it was stronger and faster, and more resilient, but every time the rush of adrenaline of a fight or a drill passed, he felt trapped by the skin of stone. It was not… pleasant, but if this was the price for defeating Gummar then Jim would gladly take the potion again (would he really?)

The first weeks, the ones in the road had been really tough. He didn’t know his own strength anymore, his senses would easily get overwhelmed, and his emotions were in a constant mood shift that went from Jim being grumpy all the time or sad all of the time. The added stress of dealing with an “army” of trolls recently orphaned of their Market did not help (Jim did not know how Blinky managed to keep everyone together, but his teacher had surprised everybody at how good an Elder he had become).

Nomura had helped him a lot. She, in virtue of being a changeling, was the only one there who could understand some of what he was going through. Nomura, surprisingly, was a really good listener. They also trained a lot. Sparring was really the only good way to realizing all the extra energy his troll body had – he could train for hours and not feel tired. It was also a good way to learn his troll body’s limits and capabilities.

The whole trip had been weird. Try to imagine moving almost a hundred trolls through forests and roads and small cities. They had to be always vigilant not only of humans, of others magical creatures too. As Blinky said, their group could easily be mistaken not as refugees, but as an invading army, and as Jim had learned, magical being were territorial.

There were even creatures who had thought they were Gummar’s army. Now, wasn’t that ironic?

But things never got out of control, not only was Blinky a really good diplomat, the added presence of Jim, the Trollhunter, and Merlin, yes, that Merlin meant that no one seriously tried attacking them.

It had felt like years had passed when they finally arrived reached New Jersey. We’re finally here, the danger had passed, you can rest now, Blinky and Claire had said. Gummar and Morgana had been defeated, and everybody from the Hearstone had found a new, safe home.

But Jim couldn’t shake the feeling that things weren’t over, that there was still danger in the future. Maybe it was paranoia, maybe it was the Trollhunter instinct. It didn’t matter, cause in the first night at the New Trollmarket Merlin had talked to him in private. The old wizard hadn’t talked to him much during the trip, or anyone for that matter (not that Jim minded, talking to Merlin always made him a little uncomfortable), and so he knew it was something important. All he said was “Stay alert.” It was everything Jim needed to know.

(It made Jim almost relieved. He didn’t know what to be except the warrior)

Chapter Text

2.

It had been a couple months now since the arrival at the New Trollmarket, and things seemed like they were calming down. The first week had been utter chaos, the meetings with the local Elder Council, accommodating everybody from Arcadia into the city, dealing with the fights between the residents and the newcomers. It had been a busy week to the Trollhunter team.

They were all in the same room, in the building the Council had lend to them, a blocky and rocky grey thing of about four floors, carved into the side of the enormous cave that made most of the New Trollmarket. (everybody except Merlin, who stayed most of the time holed in his wokshop).

The room had been bare when they had arrived but now it had become an almost replica of Blinky’s old room, long tables and big chairs, a magical fireplace, enough books to make a small library, a bunch of rocks and stones and gems of different colors and properties, and a variety of strange tools and gadgets. It made Claire’s heart pang with nostalgia.

Blinky as characteristically pacing across the room, waving Vendel’s – no, his staff, he had earned by now – without much thought. Nomura was sprawled in a couch, playing with her knives with a very bored face. Dictatious was seated in a chair, sipping a cup of Troll Tea. Jim was standing, close to the wall, using his armor even indoors, expression vigilant, like they could get attacked at any moment.

And Claire? She was seated on a cozy rug on the floor, surrounded by books and scrolls, a quill in her hand.

“Yes. Did we forget something?” Blinky was mumbling “We got everybody settled, we stopped the fights, we talked to the Elders…”

“Now, now, brother.” Dictatious said “I think we did everything we could do at the moment.”

“Are you sure? Maybe…” Blinky said.

“Oh, gods. Please, shut up.” Nomura groaned.

“Look, Blinky.” Claire said “Dictatious is right. Wow, that felt wrong.”

“Thank you.” Dictatious said, sarcastically.

“Worrying right now won’t help anybody. You did everything you could to help your people. Now the only thing we can do this is rest and wait." Claire said.

Blinky sighed "Thank you, Claire. I just wish Vendel was still here.”

“Can you imagine Vendel in a meeting with the Elders?” Jim said.

“Oh, they wouldn’t stand a chance against the old goat.” Blinky said, with a sad smile.

Claire noticed that Dictatious made a very weird face (regret?) but didn’t say anything.

“Yes, you’re all right.” Blinky said “I suppose a little break would be good. It has been an awful lot since the last time I read a good book.”

“Do you need me to do something?” Jim asked.

“I need you, Master Jim, to take a break.” Blinky said “I mean, I don’t the last time I saw you without that armor!”

“But – ” Jim tried to stay.

“C’mon on, Jim!” Claire said, quickly standing up “Why we don’t explore the Market? There’s still so much we didn’t see yet.”

“Oh... Okay.” Jim said, and then to Blinky “But if anything happens…”

“Yes, yes. I will call you. Now, please get out of my library.” Blinky said, with a found smile.

“Nomura, are you coming?” Claire asked.

“Nah.” Nomura said, waving her still-holding-knife hand “You kids have fun on your little date. I think I’m just going to get drunk and take a nap.”

“Nomura!” Blinky said.

“What? They’re old enough to fight in a war but I can’t talk about getting drunk?”

Claire took the opportunity to take Jim’s hand and leave the room while Nomura and Blinky argued “Let’s go before Blinky start doing an PSA speech.” She said to him.

Jim smiled, an awkwardly and adorable smile, still the same smile as ever, with only a bunch more of teeth and tusks in it.

“Lead the way.” He said.

***********************************

The New Trollmarket, ironically, was older than the Arcadian one. Bigger too. The whole city sprawled across various caves, huge and ancient buildings of stone and rock. And in its center, there was another Heartstone, this one with a greenish blue that was cooler and sharper than the warmer and softer glow of their Hearstone. It made Jim a little melancholic, and the weirdest part? Because of his transformation he could feel it, in that magical way Blinky said trolls could feel the life of an Hearstone.

“This is actually the first troll settlement in the continent!” Claire was saying. She, the history nerd she was, was having the time of her life in the New Trollmarket. Claire had already been at the local library, and she was reading anything about the city and its history she could get her hands on. It was really cute listening to her rant about Troll History for hours.

They were walking through the busy streets, passing stores and shops of all kinds, run by all kind of troll and monster. Jim was surprised to see that not only trolls walked the corridors of the cave, but also ogres, ghouls, dwarfs and every type of subterranean folklore creature he could think of. Eli would have an heart attack if he ever went here.

“This is place is great.” Claire said, but then she added “I do prefer our Trollmarket though.”

“Really?” Jim said.

“Yes. Here everything is bigger and all, but… There’s no place like home, I suppose.” Claire said. She sighed “I miss our lessons with Blinky.”

“Me too.” Jim said. He might not be the best student ever, but he missed the quiet nights when all he had to worry about was reading some ancient Trollhunter book and Gummar and the Eternal Night were some far away concepts.

“Besides, Dictatious is a horrible teacher.” Claire said.

Just because the war ended, doesn’t mean your studies had ended! Blinky had said. Unfortunately, his role of Elder/Leader meant he had little time to actually teach them, and so Dictatious had become their teacher for the time being, something neither party liked, but both had to do because of Blinky.

“That’s true.” Jim said, “Just imagine if he met with Senõr Uhl.”

“Oh, God. That would be the end of world.” Claire said.

Again. Jim did not say.

They stopped to look at some of the stands of the market, everything you could imagine was being sold, from magic items to hot dogs (though Jim really did not want to know where the meat came from). While Claire was looking at some Journal Rocks (rocks where a traveler wrote their journey), Jim noticed that a lot of the customers were looking at him.

That wasn’t exactly surprising. He was definitely an oddity, even for the Trollmarket. Not only he was The Trollhunter, but he was also the first and only human one, and he wasn’t a full human anymore. It reminded him of his first months as Trollhunter, when all the inhabitants of the Heartstone, when the trolls hated him or didn’t take him seriously for being human. That felt like a lifetime ago.

And it wasn’t like he could hide it; he was using his armor after all. The one time he went to the Market without his armor, some trolls thought he was a changeling and they tried to harass him. And, well, things did not end well. For them. He was with Claire, and it was pretty funny seeing two huge trolls running from her. She could be very scary when she wanted to.

But that incident had made him think of Nomura (and Strickler). The trolls of the New Trollmarket had not being very receptive to her, changelings were not welcomed there (the Elders had not wanted to let Nomura in their meetings in the beginning, but after a very harsh lecture from Blinky they relented) and a lot of the trolls were hostile or horrible to Nomura. Which made Jim furious, and it made him understand why the Order of Janus would want to work for Gummar and Morgana. But when Jim asked Nomura if she wanted him to help, she just grinned and said “Nah. Don’t worry, Little Gynt. I handled worse before.” And so, one day, Nomura went to the market square and loudly announced that if anyone had a problem with her there, they could meet her at the arena. So far, she had won every single duel. “It isn’t even good practice,” Nomura had said “These big city wimps don’t even make good practice dummies.”

When they arrived back at the house, hands full of things they had bought (defeating Gummar and the Pale Lady had granted them a bunch of discounts), the room was empty except by Blinky, who was sleeping in one of the tables, hands still holding a book. He was snoring loudly and mumbling something.

They tried to cross the room silently, but either Blinky was a light-sleeper, or they were bad at stealth. He woke up, grumbling “Great Gronka Morka!” when he took some seconds to blink all his eyes, he calmed down and said “Oh. It’s you kids. How was your trip?”

“Pretty cool.” Jim said. “We got a bunch of stuff.”

“Want to see?” Claire said “I got a bunch of lore scrolls!”
“Maybe later, Lady Claire.” Blinky said, rubbing his eyes “I overslept. I need to check some things with our local Hearstone comrades.”

“Do you need help?” Jim said. He saw Blinky hesitate. He didn’t understand, he was the Trollhunter, he just wanted to be useful, why everyone else didn’t want him to help?

“…Very well, Master Jim.” Blinky said “Some company would be welcome.”

“Wait, really? But Jim, aren’t you tired? We just came back from shopping.” Claire said.

“It’s fine, Claire.” Jim said, “I still have a bunch of energy left.”

Claire looked troubled, but she didn’t say anything else. Jim carefully place all his stuff on the couch and went to the door, before anyone tried to convince him again to stay. He didn’t see Blinky giving an apologetic look to Claire before following, and soon the two of them were out on the streets.

As Blinky had said, they went to check on the old residents of Arcadia Heartstone, something he had done a thousand times back home. It was nice, seeing everybody again, Bagdwella, Glug, Rot and Gut had even opened a new store.

Hours might have passed but, Jim didn’t mind. It was good to actually do something again. The months in the road had been almost boring, Jim was starting to feel useless. It’s not like anyone needed him to fight Gumms-Gumms. They eventually came to a stop in an empty and quiet little cave-room full of crystals. Blinky sat on a boulder, complaining about his knees, and then made a gesture to Jim to join him.

They stayed in a comfortable silence for some minutes, with Blinky occasionally whistling something.

“How have you doing, Jim?” Blinky asked, eventually.

“Good.” Came the automatic response.

“These past months, no, these past years had been quite the challenge, no?” Blinky said.

“Yes,” Jim said. “To me, at least. You, and AAARRRGGHH!!! and the others had been in this war longer than I been alive, right?”

Blinky looked at him, a little surprised “Well, yes. But most of us are old enough to remember a time before war. Before Gummar.”

“Wow. You’re old.” Jim said, with a grin. Blinky smiled back at him.
“I know I’ve been quite the neglectful mentor recently…” Blinky said.

“No, Blinky. You had a lot of things to deal with.” Jim said, shrugging. They all had.

“And I really wish I could help you with your… situation.” Blinky said, gesturing to well, him.

“It’s fine.” Jim said.

“… I just wanted you that I’m worried about you. We all are. You don’t need to wear yourself out. We won the war, and of all people, you deserve some peace.” Blinky said.

Jim averted his eyes from Blinky – which was hard considering how many eyes his mentor had – “I’m the Trollhunter.” He said, “It’s my job to protect everyone.”

“I know. But we defeated Gummar, you defeated him. And after sacrificing so much. I’m not asking you to ignore your duty. I’m only asking you to let yourself breath for a month.

For a second, Jim felt angry at Blinky. After all the times Blinky pushed him to try his hardest to be the best Trollhunter, the best soldier possible, he was asking him to slow down? He felt himself tense, his troll instinct almost taking over. Jim quickly controlled himself, that wasn’t fair to Blinky, and that wasn’t him thinking. It was the troll. Only the troll.

Jim breathed in and out, like Nomura had taught him. “Sorry, Blinky.” He mumbled.

Blinky must have noticed, but he only said “Don’t worry, Master Jim. Nothing to apologize for. I apologize if I’m being too intrusive.”
Jim shook his head “It’s just…” he started. He didn’t know what he was going to say. His feelings were too complicated to explain properly. And so, he said something easier “I don’t think it’s over.”

Blinky looked at him, expression careful “Did Merlin talk to you?” he said.

“Yes, how did you know?” Jim said.

Blinky looked displeased. Merlin had gone from a mythical figure to everybody’s least favorite wizard, ever since… Jim’s transformation (though the wizard didn’t seem to care). “Merlin had a similar talk to me.”

Jim didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing “So you understand why I can’t just stop.”

“Jim… There’s always going to be another enemy, another battle. Such is the nature of our world. But you can’t only live the life of the warrior. Please don’t forget, you aren’t only the Trollhunter. You are also James Like Jr, student, friend, son.”

Jim felt his eyes stinging, his throat was tight. “Thanks, Blinky.” He managed to say. He felt a little better now. “I don’t want to worry you.”

“I know, Master Jim. I know.” Blinky said, with a smile, that almost looked sad.

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3.

Claire was worried about Jim. And when she wasn’t? But right now, she was worried about him.

Ever since the Eternal Night – actually, since the potion, she had been worried about him. She couldn’t even imagine how traumatic it must have been to him, changing like that. And while she couldn’t get him to talk to her, Jim always put his feelings close to his heart, like an armor, if he was hurting, angry or sad he almost never showed it. He was always moving forward, either in battle or in life, Jim was always the inspiring leader, when she or any of the others needed someone, he was there, ready with a smile or an sword, he always knew what the right thing to say was, or the right thing to do. And yet, right now, Claire didn’t know what do to do.

These last months Jim had been distant, in a way. They were still together almost all of the time, and they still talked and joked like always, but Claire had noticed that it was like there was a barrier between them. She wanted to talk to Jim about the Eternal Night, about his transformation, about how he had sacrificed himself, alone, again. But she couldn’t. Claire knew he was hurting, knew he didn’t want to talk about it, and she wanted to respect that, she didn’t want to add to that, touch the wound. But she also didn’t know how to heal him, she didn’t know if she could.

And so, Claire decided the only way she knew how to help him was being there with him. She would support him, help him like he had helped her so many times – when her brother got kidnapped, when she got possessed by Morgana –, she would be there for him if he needed. She only hoped it would be enough. She only hoped he would let himself receive her help.

The two of them where in the living room, studying and doing Dictatious latest assignment. Claire was seated on the couch, while Jim was on the floor, he wasn’t in his armor anymore, and instead was using human clothes she had bought in Jersey, a cartoon shirt of a burger, and sweatpants. He was holding a book – one of the written by Dictatious – with an adorable look of concentration on his face.

Claire sighed. They were so close right now, if only she could magically solve all of their problems. She really missed Toby, the weekly calls were nothing compared to having the whole gang together, and he was the one who best understood Jim. If Toby were here, he would know what to say, how to help Jim.

But Toby wasn’t here, and Claire had to figure out alone what to do. She could do it. She had to.

***************************

Dictatious was not a great teacher. He might be the best scholar in the troll world, but he was not a good teacher. Most of the lessons he would talk more about himself than about the subject of the lessons, and he also was the kind of teacher who expected his students to already know everything from the beginning (‘What do you mean you haven’t read my Troll Historica Vol.5?! That’s the best one!).

But Dictatious had said that Claire was an impressive student, so Jim supposed he couldn’t be that bad.

Claire, the genius she was, had already mastered troll language, history and culture, and right now was studying the New Market dialect (‘it’s so interesting! The dialect here is so different and is actually much closer to Ancient Troll than Hearstone’s…’), while Jim still had some difficult with reading the troll alphabet (he kind of had become way too reliable on the amulet’s translator). But he didn’t mind, he liked studying with Claire, it reminded of him of the good old days (he made it sound like decades had passed. Also, was he really getting nostalgic because of homework? Geez, Lake).

Anyway, right now, Dictatious had grown tired of teaching and had left them with some homework. Jim was concentrating on the book he was reading – only Dictatious could turn an epic battle into a boring lecture about politics, and so he almost didn’t notice Claire putting her hand in his hair. She started stroking his hair, and it felt good. When they first started dating, they were award with things like holding hands and kissing, but now both of them were way more comfortable with each other.

Some seconds passed, and actually Jim was starting to lose concentration cause it Claire caressing his hair felt really nice and way better than reading Dictatious old boring book (Jim thought Blinky’s books were better, though he admits he may be biased), and actually he really just wanted to close his eyes…

“Jim, are you purring right now?” Claire said, amusement in her voice.

“What? No!” Jim said, quickly focusing again.

“Really? Cause it really sounded like you were purring…”

“I wasn’t!” Jim said, face warm. Damn you, troll body! He was not purring. He wasn’t a cat!

“Okay, okay. If you say so.” Claire said, raising her hands, laughter barely contained in her voice.

“I didn’t say you had to stop.” Jim mumbled. He was not admitting defeat, okay?

Claire laughed. “Okay, kitty.” she said. Jim could have fought for his honor, but the hair caress was way better.

The book was long forgotten in a few moments and Jim actually fell asleep. He would dimly recall someone lifting him and carrying him to his bed. “Good night, Master Jim.” Someone could have said. Or maybe it had been a dream.

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4.

The New Trollmarket had an arena. It wasn’t a Forge of Heroes, but it served it’s purpose. Jim and Nomura used that place to train and spar almost every day now. It was great, they both found out very quickly that they were the only warriors there who could be a challenge to each other’s.

When Jim first started training to be a Trollhunter he had been afraid and desperate, afraid of what would happen if he too weak and desperate to get strong enough to have a fighting change. The impeding war had been a constant source of motivation and anxiety.

But now Jim not only had defeated Gummar, but he was also strong. He could fight trolls double his size with ease, he could actually win against Nomura in a fair fight (though she never played fairly, in real battles enemies rarely did). It felt like cheating. But since the beginning he knew it wasn’t about playing fair, it was about playing smarter.

And training with Nomura was one of the only fun things to do in the New Trollmarket. He could forget about everything, and only focus in improving himself, and testing his skills, and she was one of the best fighters he knew, he could fight without holding back and not worry about hurting anyone. They had gotten to a point where they never knew who would win each match.

The arena was empty now, Jim, being the Trollhunter could actually reserve the place for themselves a couple hours, which was probably the only privilege as Trollhunter he actually used. They had just ended another match, this time had been a close tie, and were resting on one of the bleachers around the arena.

“You are not as shitty as when we started.” Nomura said, which was a big compliment coming from her “Remember when you almost broke your arm cause you didn’t know how much strong you are now?”

Jim grimaced “Yeah, I remember.”

“Ha! It has been great training with you, kid.” Nomura said.

“Thanks for helping me, Nomura.” Jim said “Really, it meant a lot to me.”

“No need to get emotional.” Nomura said, with a smirk “You’re the one who saved me after all.”

“It feels like years since then.” Jim said. His time on the Darklands felt like more like a dream than a memory. He tried not to remember most of it.

“Yeah. Who would have thought we would end up like this?” Nomura said, and with a serious expression added “You know, in all of the hundred years I lived, you were one of the only people who didn’t treat me like shit. And I was your enemy.”

“Nomura…” Jim started to say, but she interrupted him.

“You and him…” Nomura said, with pain, and something else in her voice. A rare sight, seeing Nomura like that. Jim didn’t need to ask who she was talking about.

“You know, he never told me how you two met.” Jim said, trying to make his voice light, even if his chest was heavy with pain and grief.

Nomura smiled, one of her rare, real smiles “Ah. That’s a long story, a story I would love to tell you later. Preferably when I’m really drunk.”
“Don’t let Blinky hear you say that.” Jim said.

“Ha. He’s not as bad as I thought he was. But he still a bookworm” Nomura said. Jim chuckled. “All I can say now, without crying like a lost whelp, is that we were young and foolish, and it could never work out. A changeling spy and a troll warrior? Ha.”

“Was Kanjigar Trollhunter then?” Jim asked.

“No.” was all Nomura said.

“I miss him. I miss training with him, talking to him in the basement, I even miss hearing him calling me ‘fleshbag’.” Jim said. He felt pain all over his body. He realized he hadn’t talked about Draal with anyone. Neither of them had.

“I miss him too.” Nomura eventually said “I have missed him for a long time. I wish… I wish we had gotten a second chance.”

Jim closed his eyes, and gathered his courage. He needed to say something. Something that had plagued his mind for months now, and if there was a time to say it, it was now “It was my fault. I couldn’t save him, and then he died protecting me, and it’s my fault…” He said, rushing the worlds before his throat stopped working or he started crying.

“Jim. Don’t do that.” Nomura said, and surprising him by putting an arm on his shoulder “Draal died like a warrior, like a protector. He choose to save your life. Don’t deny him that.”

“…You’re right.” Jim said. Draal had told him, didn’t he? In the beginning. I will protect you with my life. And he had.

“Besides,” Nomura said, voice calm but full of venom “If there’s someone to blame is Gummar, and we killed the bastard.”

That was true. But killing Gummar had not brought Draal back to life, nor Vendel nor any of the people who had died because of the war. Jim didn’t feel satisfaction from Gummar’s death, not even relief. He had just felt hollow, and angry, and sad.

They talked about Draal for a while. The one Jim had known, the son of the previous Trollhunter, who went from a rival to an ally to a friend to a brother, who sacrificed his life so Jim could save the world. And the one Nomura had known, the young warrior, the lover, and then the enemy, and then an ally, and someone who she hoped she could get to know again. They talked about someone who they cared about a lot, and they grieved together.

“Damn, you got me all emotional, kid.” Nomura said, after they were both exhausted from talking and crying “That’s why I don’t like talking about feelings and shit.”

Draal’s death had felt like a gaping wound in his chest, for months he had tried to ignore the pain, trying to wish it away. But now, after talking to Nomura, after remembering Draal together, it felt like the wound could start healing. It still hurt, and it would scar, but it would heal, and he could start thinking about Draal with more than pain and grief.

“Oh, by the way. I’m leaving.” Nomura said.

Jim blinked. “What do you mean you are leaving?” he said.

“Yeah, well” Nomura said, for the first ever looking awkward “Since you and the others have managed to complete the mission, and everything sounds safe enough here, I think it’s time for me to leave.”

“But… Why?” Jim asked.

“I have unfinished business.” Nomura said “With the Janus Order.”

“Wasn’t the Janus Order destroyed?” Jim asked.

“Yes,” Nomura said with a sneer “Gummar was fucking traitor and a liar. But a bunch of changelings managed to escape, and with all of the familiar out of the Darklands, we can’t hide anymore among humans. This whole situation is a time bomb. Changelings all over the world are either being hunted down or trying to make their own little empires. Someone has to deal with that.”

“And that someone is you.” Jim said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah. Stricklander is busy babysitting, and Otto is fucking dead. So, that leaves me.” Nomura said.
“When are you coming back?” Jim said. He wanted to say ‘Please, don’t go, I need you’ but he had no right to ask that.

“I don’t know, could be months or years.” Nomura said, shrugging, as seeing Jim’s face she quickly added “But don’t think you’re getting ride of me that easily. I will visit when I can, Little Gynt.”

“Okay.” Jim said. His troll part was both angry and sad, and his human part wasn’t feeling much different. “Just promise you’ll came back safe, okay?”

Nomura grinned “I could ask the same thing of you. Try to get in as much of trouble possible, and if you need help, don’t hesitate to call me, ok?”

Jim didn’t trust himself to speak, and so he hugged her. This surprised Nomura for a few seconds, but then she hugged him back. “Ha. Deep down you’re still a human softie, Little Gynt.” She said, fondly.

Chapter Text

5.

Blinky didn’t know how he stood with his brother at the moment. Yes, he was glad Dictatious was once again on his side, but he had changed so much from the older brother Blinky had known a lifetime ago that it was hard to recognize him as the same troll.

They were at Blinky’s office, reading a bunch of scrolls and books the Elder’s of the New Trollmarket had asked them to study. Well, the Elders had asked Dictatious. Blinky had forgotten how much his brother was famous in the academic community. The Elders had seemed more enthusiastic to find that Dictatious wasn’t dead than to find that Merlin had returned. Of course, they didn’t know that Dictatious had joined Gummar for a few centuries, but no one thought they needed to know about that.

Blinky was reading from the books while Dictatious listened carefully, asking questions and correcting his translations, when necessary, while writing on a scroll of his own. Blinky was impressed that he could manage such a good handwriting without actually seeing what he was writing. But that was Dictatious, since he was a whelp, he had been the genius of the family. Blinky often wondered how things would have turned out if their roles had been reversed. Would Dictatious had been a better mentor than him?

“Oh, we can cross-reference this part with a text of one of my volumes on Troll History.” Dictatious said. Blinky had been a little surprised when his brother asked him for help with the studies, but now he was glad he was helping. It reminded when they were young, when they would sit together and read their parent’s books together.

“Which one of them?” Blinky asked, his brother had written so many books you could fill a library. Literally.

“Historica Vol.10.” Dictatious said.

“The first or the second edition?” Blinky replied. Dictatious smiled “Ah, I don’t know. It’s been a minute since I read any of my books. Actually, I think that know you’re a better scholar than me. There weren’t a lot of books in the Darklands.”

That actually made Blinky sad. Yes, his initial reaction to finding out Dictatious had turned to Gummar’s side had been anger, but when he realized that his brother had been a prisoner of Gummar for years he could only feel pity for him. After all, hasn’t AAARRRGGHH!!! been the same? Blinky decided he wouldn’t give up on Dictatious.

“I think it must be the second edition.” Blinky said, gently “I will go and get it.”

“…Thank you, Blinky.” Dictatious said, and Blinky could hear the emotion of what he was actually talking about.

Yes, maybe it wasn’t too late for him to get his brother back.

Chapter Text

6. Shadows

Claire didn’t used to fear the dark. That had been before Morgana. When she first got the Shadow Staff the dark had felt safe, had felt like a friend. And then Morgana possessed her, and the dark became an enemy. She had managed to reclaim the staff, the power, as her own. But the feeling that the shadows could hurt her as well never really went away.

Claire was trying to sleep, but without success. Her bed was filled with books and scrolls, and a glowing crystal on her bedstand filled the room with a small and low purple light, chasing the dark away. She didn’t like sleeping without a light, she always had nightmares of the shadows consuming her. She didn’t have the Shadow Staff anymore so that was impossible (right?) but better safe than sorry.

Claire picked her phone from her bedstand. It was pretty late (or early if you weren’t a troll) and sleep still seemed like an impossible task. She sighed and got up from bed. She picked the glowing crystal and went to door. As she opened the door she looked back to the dark room. The darkness seemed almost inviting, and that terrified Claire. She closed the door.

“You’re imagining things, Nuñez” Claire whispered to herself “You lost the Staff, remember? You can’t do shadow magic anymore.”

Claire walked the rocky corridors of the building, until she arrived at Jim’s room. She knocked on the door and said “Jim? You’re awake?”

Jim opened his door in one second “Yep. Couldn’t sleep either, right?” he said. Claire nodded and he moved to the side “C’mon in.”

Jim’s room as the same as hers, big, empty and made of stone. They couldn’t bring a lot to the trip and most of their belongings had stayed at their parent’s houses.

They seated on the bed and Jim asked, “Did you… did you have a nightmare again?”

“No.” Claire said, “And neither did I sleepwalk.”

Jim smiled a little “Okay, good to hear. Blinky almost had a heart attack the last time he saw you sleepwalking in the corridors.”

“Did you have a nightmare?” Claire asked. It was the wrong thing to say, Jim’s body stiffened, and his face became a neutral mask.

“No.” came his reply.

“Okay.” Claire said, and quickly changed the subject “Do you mind if I leave the light on?” she said, showing him the glowing crystal.

“Not at all.” Jim said “Though, I almost didn’t notice the light. Night vision, remember?”

“Oh right, night vision. Like a cat.” Claire said, with a grin. Jim glared at her, with an adorable look on his face. Claire couldn’t resist and kissed him. “You’re cute.” She said.

“No, you.” He said, with a smile. Claire realized she would do anything to keep Jim smiling.

“Hey, Jim…” Claire started, but she didn’t know what she wanted to say, so she asked, “Have you received word of Nomura yet?”

“Yes, actually.” Jim said, “She’s in Paris right now, and she managed to find some lost changelings already.” He looked proud, but also sad.

“It is way quieter without her around.” She said, with a sigh. Claire had liked Nomura, she was a badass, she had an awful sense of humor, and she had like, a thousand knives. Basically, everything Claire wanted to be when she was older.

“Yeah…” Jim said. Claire could tell he was worried about Nomura. Jim tended to worry about everyone (except himself).

“Jim, can I ask you a question?” Claire said, before she could change her mind.

“Sure?” Jim said, looking confused.

There were a million things she wanted to ask. Why did you take the potion? Why didn’t you trust us? Why must you always sacrifice yourself? Why can’t you talk to me? But what she asked was “Do you miss being human?”

That took him by surprise “I’m stronger now. It’s because of this body that I was able to defeat Gummar.”

Claire wanted to say ‘No, it wasn’t the body, or the armor, or the amulet that made you a hero’ but what she said was “That’s not an answer.”

Jim looked he wanted to run, but he managed to say a small “Yes.”

Jim seemed like he wanted to say more, and so Claire took his hand in hers, his stone skin hard and rough and full of calluses “You can talk to me, Jim.”

Jim looked at their hands, took a deep breath and said “I miss being human. I miss cooking, I miss riding the Vespa, I miss hanging out with you guys after school.”

Jim looked at her, his huge blue eyes full of tears, and Claire felt herself starting to tear up. She squeezed his hand, but she didn’t ‘t know if he felt it.

“I… I miss my home.” he finally said, voice small.

Claire hugged him, hard, and said “I’m sorry.” For Jim had lost part of himself and she could think of nothing else she could do to comfort him.

“It’s not your fault, Claire.” Jim said.

“Neither is yours’s.” Claire replied. This might have surprised Jim. He hugged her back, and they stayed like that, holding each other, for a moment.

“Thanks, Claire.” Jim eventually said “I… I guess I needed to say that, after all. Sorry for not talking to you sooner, I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Don’t apologize, dumbass” Claire mumbled. She was starting to get sleepy, actually, after all the emotional talk she was feeling pretty exhausted “You talk when you ready… I always worry about u…”

Jim chuckled and kissed her head “Let’s sleep, okay? We can talk tomorrow.”

Jim didn’t sound sleepy, but he lied down next to her. Claire cuddled him, because he was big and warm. “…you’re like a giant pillow.” she mumbled before closing her eyes.

And though Jim didn’t feel tired, he closed his eyes and listened to Claire’s heartbeat until he too, fell asleep.

Neither of them had nightmares that night.