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Timeline . P3 , E9 : In good hands
Destiny is… a really strange thing.
You never know how it will move, or how it will end, sometimes even how it began.
Maybe that was why Merlin took refuge so much in his books and magic; he felt that with that he could have some control over what was to come, seeing future possibilities was a gift that could not be taken lightly.
After being awakened by his 'champion' and the rest of the group—whose names he didn't bother to learn—, he focused intently on resuming his studies in the magical world, aware that it might have changed more than expected in these times.
Without even mentioning the horrible omen that Gunmar possessed the staff of avalon, which decreased their success rate, at least he had his chosen trollhunter.
“My amulet not make mistakes”
He repeated this to himself as he turned page after page of some ancient book he had managed to recover—the gods know how.
While eating some snacks that his champion had prepared for him, at least he prepared good delicacies, that was a point in his favor, he thought it was a shame that he would soon not be able to enjoy his own food if his plan went as planned, and he was very sure that it would.
As he read the writings in unknown languages, probably a mixture of trollish and one dead language, something caught his attention, a paragraph he didn't seem to remember at all.
It was ambiguous, but Merlin's eyebrows perked up when he read something about 'parallel universes,' infinite possibilities, infinite pasts, futures, and presents. He wondered how he hadn't read that before.
He continued reading through the paragraphs, interested in the instructions he gave for making contact with these other realities.
An idea began to form in his mind; he hoped that the little magic he possessed would be enough.
“We only need to get three, it should be easy…” Jim said, reading from the slip of paper Merlin had given them with the supposed ingredients.
Toby and Claire were beside him, as usual.
They had just finished their classes.
Toby leaned closer to Jim.
“Did he tell you what he needed all this for?”
“Not really… he just said it was for a passion that will help defeat Gunmar, so we can only hope for the best.”
“Then let’s hope so!” Claire said, with renewed enthusiasm. “We have to defeat Gunmar, and stop him from freeing Morgana!”
“I’m sure we’ll make it, Claire.” Jim smiled at her determination.
After what had happened with Morgana a few days ago, she’d become even more resolute in stopping Gunmar from freeing her.
“What’s first on the list?” Toby asked again, adjusting his backpack.
“Uh…” Jim carefully read Merlin’s strange handwriting. “An antramoustrum shell,” he concluded.
Toby grimaced at the name.
Jim continued,
“Strickler said he had one in his old office.”
“That place brings back bad memories… let’s get this over with.”
The three walked towards Strickler's old office, which now, according to outside knowledge, belonged to Professor Ulh.
“C-bom!”
A high-pitched voice called from behind them. The trio turned, seeing Mary, though she was only looking at Claire.
"Where have you been?!" Mary demanded as she approached. "The battle of the bands! You've missed every rehearsal, what's going on?"
Claire, with her acting skills, smiled at her friend with a gesture of regret. “I’m sorry, Mary… so much has been going on.”
She glanced quickly at Toby and Jim, who understood the signal and turned to continue on their way.
“I see. What about your parents in a play with Darci’s dad? You haven’t told me anything!”
“Shh, look, I’ll tell you, but promise not to tell anyone!”
Claire knew her dear Mary would never resist a fresh piece of gossip.
“Doubt me, sweetie? I’m the best with secrets!” Mary boasted, placing her hands on her hips.
“I can see that… come on, I’ll tell you everything.”
Then Claire guided her friend to turn around and head in the opposite direction from where her boyfriend and his friend had gone, hoping to distract her while they got what they needed.
Things didn't go as planned.
Jim and Toby arrived at the office, which they entered without any trouble. They found it practically identical to the last time they had been there, even after the change of ownership.
"Huh, Ulh doesn't like to redecorate..." Jim commented as they walked towards the small library at the far end of the office.
“Did you bring the key?” Toby asked.
“Yes, Strickler modified it so we could use it.”
When Jim handed the pen-key to Toby, he put it in a gap in the bookcase behind some books. A green glow shot out of the opening, making the structure shake for a second before slowly lowering. They came upon the 'secret room' that Strickler kept in his office.
Jim looked around and could make out a few things. Toby continued onward, noticing that the place hadn't changed much and there were even blueprints in the same spot as the last time he'd visited.
On a small table at the far end sat a very distinctive gemstone.
Toby made a gesture of satisfaction, hurrying over to the rock and grabbing it with both hands.
"Here's this damned monster," Toby said, still with a hint of humor in his voice from the bad memories.
"Well, let's go see Claire before it—"
Just before Jim finished his sentence, a noise sounded behind them.
They could have sworn on their lives it was Ulh or some student coming to the office, but when they turned around, alert to everything…
they saw something else.
A bright, green sphere was floating just a few feet away. Toby stepped back a little, confused, thinking that perhaps this could be another of Stickler's traps that he'd forgotten about.
But Jim recognized it almost instantly.
"Merlin?" he murmured.
He remembered it from that vision he'd had before, when he was imprisoned and brought to trial. He didn't like to recall the details, but he remembered that floating sphere speaking to him.
"And of all the creatures in our worlds, I chose you..."
That phrase made him understand his true purpose in this life.
Now, it was before him again.
Which led him to some rather extreme conclusions.
“Again? Why? This isn’t…an illusion, is it?”
Jim took another step forward, unlike Toby, who was already wondering if Jim was crazy, which wouldn’t be a big surprise either.
“No, Trollhunter,” Merlin said. “I only use this little trick so I can communicate with you quickly.”
“Why didn’t you use a phone? You would have used Dr. L’s.” Toby was starting to calm down, the Merlin sphere no longer seeming as a threat, but he was still curious about its reason for being there.
“What is a… phone, exactly?”
Toby sighed. “Oh, right.”
“Well, yes, you’re here, but why?” Jim took over the conversation again, continuing with his questions.
“You ask a lot of questions, young boy. You need to learn to trust your elders. I know what I’m doing.”
“So you’re here because…?” Merlin’s reprimand didn’t seem to affect Jim, the boy having already learned the consequences of being naive.
“Ugh, teenagers…” Merlin muttered with disgust. “I discovered things, things that might be interesting. I can’t say if they’re relevant, but really interesting.”
Jim crossed his arms.
“We’re getting the materials you asked for, shouldn’t we focus on that if eternal night is so near?”
The glowing sphere moved a little closer to them both. “I can make it not take long, it’s a very simple spell, please close your eyes.”
Toby and Jim exchanged glances for a moment; they had nothing else to do but obey, so they both closed their eyes for a few seconds.
There was a brief flash, and when they opened their eyes again, they were in a different room. It wasn't very decorated, with only a few pieces of furniture—mostly a couple of sofas and a coffee table.
Jim looked around the room. There were no doors or windows, but the light was coming from somewhere he didn't yet understand.
"Great..." Toby said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, the antramoustrum still in his hands.
"I suppose he'll explain soon enough..." With that, they both sat down on one of the sofas. At least they could rest a little from all the worries they'd had lately about Gunmar, Angor, Morgana, and the end of the world.
They had to wait what felt like a couple of minutes before Claire appeared before them, interrupting their conversation.
“Claire?” Jim stood up when he saw her; she, on the other hand, didn't seem very surprised.
“Did Merlin speak to you too?” Claire approached them with her arms crossed.
Toby replied, “Yes! Like a strange, glowing green sphere. He sent us here for something he didn't quite explain.”
“Same,” Claire continued. “But you can't trust wizards, so we'd better stay on our guard.”
“Relax, Claire,” Jim said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “We should just relax while we wait for Merlin to show up and explain what’s going on.”
Claire looked at him for a moment, sighing and relaxing her posture.
“...Yes, you’re right…” she smiled, then joined them on the sofa.
They decided to wait for Merlin to appear, but instead, more people gradually started showing up.
They greeted them and explained the situation, noticing that Merlin wasn't being kind enough to explain everything to everyone.
Barbara and Strickler were next, followed by Blinky and ARRRGH!!!, who seemed happy to have a short break from collecting materials.
"Ugh, you smell even worse than usual... what happened to you?" Toby asked when he went to greet his wingman.
"We didn't talk about it, Tobias," was Blinky's only reply.
After that, Steve and Eli arrived, and they had to explain the situation to them in more detail.
Everyone sat down on their respective sofas, except for ARRRGH!!! and Blinky, who remained standing in a corner of the room near the sofa where Jim, Toby, and Claire were sitting.
“So, when does the wizard show up?” Blinky asked.
Jim looked at him. “He’ll show up soon, I think we’re all here, right?”
“Of course, who could be more important than the creepslayerz!” Steve said, leaning back on the sofa with his legs spread. “And the others, I suppose."
They just gave him a look. Seconds later, in the middle of the room, the sphere that had brought them there in the first place appeared.
Steve grabbed Eli as if he were some kind of life preserver, half-hiding behind him. Merlin, or at least his voice, echoed throughout the room.
“Now that everyone I consider important is here, it’s time to begin.”
A book materialized before them, its cover bearing an amulet they all knew very well, and the lettering in large letters.
T R O L L H U N T E R S
“Shall we… read a book?” Toby asked, as confused as everyone else in the room.
“Yes, something like that,” Merlin replied. “I doubt you can understand it, but I discovered several other universes that are linked to this one.”
“…What?” came a murmur.
“So- t-the multiverse exists?!” Eli seemed very pleased about it, certain that another one of his conspiracy theories was coming true, as all of them had been.
“Exactly, and I had the power to make contact with one of them. It wasn’t difficult, actually. Here I have all the necessary knowledge of a dimension that is older than ours.”
All eyes turned to the book.
“So…” Claire began.“Are we going to read about our lives in another world or something?”
Blinky, beside her, crossed one pair of arms, the other placed on his hips. “That seems right, young Claire, though what I still don’t understand is how this book and this information are going to help us with the imminent danger of Gunmar!”
Merlin seemed to grunt in annoyance at Blinky. “Walking dictionary, I ask you to please try not to talk too much, but in response to the question, I felt it might be useful to see how they defeat Gunmar in some other branch of the multiverse, and if not, at least entertaining.”
The book began to open without anyone moving it, the pages turning.
“I’ve read some parts, I can say it’s interesting, and can’t a wizard have some fun after so many years asleep? Anyway, I’ll show you everything that happens on the pages with a simple illusion spell, while I tell you about it.”
Barbara, who had chosen her place next to Strickler, didn’t seem happy with the wizard’s answer.
“It’s worrying what you might consider ‘fun.’ “
Clearly, she still didn’t trust Merlin, mainly because of a bad feeling she’d had as a mother.
Jim shifted uncomfortably in his seat.“I think it would be best to get started right away… the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we’ll get back to what really matters.”
Toby agreed with him, as did Claire. Blinky, still hesitant, had to keep his own words to himself, though the gigantic, friendly hand of ARRRGH!!! beside him made him feel more at ease.
“Well, so lets do it”
The sphere emitted a subtle glow, growing larger, almost the size of a modern television, big enough for everyone to see.
The pages of the book stopped, remaining at the beginning.
Everyone settled in, watching and listening intently. A narrator's voice began to speak, its origin unclear, as if it were everywhere. The voice was quite different from Merlin's, deeper, more like a storyteller's. A title appeared on the 'screen'
The Milk carton epidemic
“That’s… a stupid name,” Jim remarked.
Blinky, for his part, seemed curious. “Master Jim, I had no idea your milk cartons could cause epidemics!”
“They can’t…?”
Steve finally let go of Eli. “Hey! The glowing sphere said it’s another world, right? Maybe in that world milk cartons ARE dangerous.”
“No, they aren’t,” Jim repeated with conviction.
The reading voice interrupted them, having read the next paragraph, the first sentence.
“You are the food”
Suddenly, silence fell over the room. Toby exchanged glances with Claire and Jim.
"It's a way to start a book, I suppose..." Barbara's voice was soft and calm, but a slight trace of discomfort was detectable.
"It grabs the reader, doesn't it?" Strickler said.
They let it continue.
“Those muscles you flex to walk, lift, and talk? They’re patties of meat topped with chewy tendon. That skin you’ve paid so much attention to in mirrors? It’s delicious to the right tongues”
“I see,” Blinky began. “it's talking about the Gumm Gumms, right?”
“make sense, Gumm Gumms eat humans.” said ARRRGH!!! Steve and Eli shuddered at that statement, still not entirely used to having that information.
Barbara’s face grew more worried, clutching the hem of her shirt. Strickler placed a hand on her arm in support.
It seemed even more violent than in their world, and she worried that her child might be in even more danger than he already was all the time.
“a casserole of succulent tissue. And those bones that give you the strength to forge your way in the world? They rattle between teeth as the marrow is sucked down slobbering throats. These facts are unpleasant but useful. There are things out there, you see, that don’t cower in holes to be captured by us and cooked over our fires. These things have their own ways of trapping their kills, their own fires, their own appetites.”
There was nothing but silence in the room, that and a few disgusted looks from the humans who hadn't yet fully assimilated into the troll world: Steve, Eli, and Barbara.
Even from those who were so used to it, mainly because of the grotesque way the paragraphs described it.
“Jack Sturges and his little brother, Jim, were oblivious to all this as they sped down a canal bed on their bikes in their hometown of San Bernardino, California.”
“Excuse me?” Jim jumped up at the sound of his name, looking at his mother with a confused expression.
She returned his gaze with the exact same expression.
Two silhouettes appeared on the screen; as they must have guessed, they were Jack and Jim. They looked at them closely. Jim resembled him somewhat, but he wore glasses and looked much more like Eli, actually. They didn't have a clear point of comparison for Jack.
“I don't have any brothers, as far as I know,” Jim said.
Their eyes flicked to Barbara, who immediately defended herself.
“I don't know anything either!”
Claire stepped forward to speak. “Let’s keep watching,” she said. “Maybe they’ll explain later. And, it might not even be our Jim. Didn’t you hear that this Jack guy’s name is Sturges? Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
They nodded, but still seemed reluctant.
“It was September 21, 1969, a perfect day from a vanished era: the dusk light spilled over the peaks of Mount Sloughnisse to the city’s east, and from the nearby streets the boys could hear the buzz of lawn mowers, smell chlorine from a pool, taste the hamburger smoke from somebody’s backyard grill.” “The high walls of the canal kept them secret and provided perfect cover for their gunfights. That afternoon, as usual, it was Victor Power (Jack) versus Doctor X (Jim), and they swerved around piles of rubble to take shots with their plastic ray guns. Victor Power, also as usual, was winning”
They could see on the screen everything the voice described; they saw those two children playing with toy guns, laughing as they chased each other on their bicycles.
Barbara found herself smiling to herself, finding a certain peace in watching these children play, in a way. They reminded her of her little boy.
“Human fun is nothing short of wonderful, Master Jim.” Blinky seemed delighted with the images before him.
Jim smiled at him, remembering his own moments of fun before all the trouble with the amulet and 'the chosen one'.
“Yes, you're right,” Jim replied.
“this time decisively because of that new bike: a cherryred Sportcrest so new the birthday ribbons were still attached. Jack was thirteen that day but rode his present as if he had been riding it all his life, up suicidal banks, through grasping weeds, sometimes without hands so that he could fire off a particularly good shot.”
Toby chuckled, playfully punching Jim in the arm.
“He reminds me of you,” he said.
“What? Why?”
“Don’t you remember our canal trips? You were crazy when you used to go by! It’s how we found the amulet, I still think you’re a little crazy sometimes though"
Jim nudged him. “But you still follow me everywhere.”
“Obviously! I won’t let you do crazy things alone” Toby retorted.
“ “You’ll never catch me alive!” cried Victor Power. “Yes, I will!” panted Doctor X. “I’m going to…wait…hey, Jack, wait up!” Jim—or “Jimbo” as his brother called him—pushed his thick glasses, broken but taped together with a Band-Aid, up his sweaty nose.”
“Jimbo?” Toby repeated. Claire, beside him, seemed to stifle a laugh.
“Hey! I’M the one who came up with that nickname!” He complained.
“Well, I guess not in that world…” Claire had to look away to speak.
Toby noticed her laughter and pretended to be offended.
“He was eight and small for his age. Not only was his battered yellow Schwinn a lesser bike than the Sportcrest, but it was so large that Jim had yet to discard the training wheels. Dad had sworn to Jim that he would grow into it. Jim was still waiting for that to happen. In the meantime, he had to stand up on the pedals to really make it go, which made it difficult to shoot his ray gun with any accuracy. Doctor X was doomed.” “The Sportcrest shot through a pile of litter. Jim followed moments later, training wheels squeaking, but when he saw the crumpled milk carton, he swerved around it. The face of a smiling little girl had been printed on the side of the carton along with the words LOST CHILD. It gave Jim the creeps. This was how they advertised missing children, and there were a lot of them.”
A collective understanding settled in the room.
“That’s what the milk cartons mean…” Barbara leaned toward Strickler for reassurance.
“Yes, it seems so. A lot of children must have disappeared if they call it an ‘epidemic,’” Strickler said.
Steve, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable. Eli gave him a light pat on the shoulder to encourage him.
“It had been a year earlier when the first kid had disappeared. San Bernardino had organized search parties, rescue teams. Then another kid went missing. And another. The town tried for a while to search for each one. But soon it was a child missing every other day and the adults couldn’t keep up. That had been the scariest part for Jim, seeing the resignation in the faces of the sleep-deprived parents. They had surrendered to whatever evil was taking their children, and when they poured milk for their families, they tried to ignore the faces on the sides of the cartons stamped with those dreadful words: HAVE YOU SEEN ME?”
The images on the screen were heartbreaking, and they felt immense sorrow for those parents. Seeing the devastated adults on screen, desperate to find their children It was difficult to watch.
They felt a deep sadness for the parents depicted in the narration. Barbara couldn't imagine the pain of losing a child and not being able to find them again, and even worse, not knowing for sure where they are or how they are.
“The last count Jim had heard was 190 missing kids.”
“ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY?!”
“Oh my God…” Strickler looked stunned by the number; that could easily be the number of students he’d seen in his entire life as a teacher.
“The… the Gumm Gumms need a lot of food,” Blinky tried to explain, his voice slightly stuttering. “Maybe they’re feeding a huge army…”
“Gumm Gumms don’t eat that much,” ARRRGH!!! spoke. “Something else must be going on.”
There was silence. They knew the right person to say something like that was ARRRGH!!! He’d spent most of his life serving Gunmar; if anyone knew about them, it was him.
“maybe—” Jim stopped, choosing his words carefully. He thought about Gunmar. When he’d seen him in the Darklands, he’d noticed Gunmar had a voracious appetite.
But he decided to keep quiet.
He didn’t want to say it, didn’t even want to think about it. Just thinking about Gunmar and the days he’d spent imprisoned made him nauseous.
“The number would have seemed like fantasy if not for the evidence he saw everywhere: a higher fence around the school, larger numbers of parents patrolling the playgrounds, the police crackdown on kids being on the streets after dark. It was unusual that Jim and Jack would be allowed to be out on their bikes this close to sundown, but it was Jack’s birthday and their parents couldn’t say no.”
“I don’t know how safe that is…” Claire said, given the previous context, she was suspicious of how that might turn out.
“The power of birthdays, I guess,” Toby replied. “They let you do whatever you want.”
“Jack had wasted no time in making a single improvement to his bike. He had taken his transistor radio and fixed it with wire to the shiny red handlebars. Then he had turned it on as loud as it could go, and their entire afternoon had been orchestrated to the bounciest songs of the day: “Sugar, Sugar,” “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” “Proud Mary.” You wouldn’t think those songs would be the perfect sound track for the laser-blasting volleys of Victor Power and Doctor X, but they were. As long as Jim could keep his mind off those milk cartons, this just might be the best afternoon of his whole life.”
The music they'd mentioned began to fill the air.
"I have a really bad feeling about this," Jim muttered. "They wouldn't tell us all this if it was going to end well, I know it."
Claire, beside him, looked at him. She had to admit she agreed with him; it was strange that they were being shown all this, outside the context they were being given about the missing children.It seemed too 'happy' to be relevant.
Which was sad at the same time.
Jim thought how pathetic was him and for everyone it was that something bad had to happen for it to matter.
But that's how life had been since the amulet chose him.
“Up ahead on Jack’s bike, the radio changed to a new song: “What’s Your Name?” by Don and Juan. It was a love song, not Jim’s favorite, but for some reason the wistful crooning captured the mood of the dying day. The sun was going down fast, school started up again the next day, and this final half mile of riding might be the last flare of summer before fall classes snuffed it like a candle.”
“It’s getting dark, they should get out of there as soon as possible,” Blinky said, sounding serious as he delivered the warning.
“Yeah, but it’s not like we can tell them,” Steve reminded Blinky, reminding him that their only mission there was to observe and listen, since there was nothing they could actually do to stop them or advise them.
Blinky remained silent, as impossible as that seemed.
“Jim squinted into the sun. He could make out Jack pedaling so fast that birds threw themselves out of the way, not to land until they had gone south for the winter. Jack whooped and dry leaves danced in the Sportcrest’s wake. In just a few seconds, Jack would pass under the Holland Transit Bridge, a monolith of concrete and steel. A couple of cars were traveling across it up above, but beneath were shadows so deep and dark they made your eyes hurt.” “He had to catch up to his brother. When they got home, he wanted it to be as equals, Jack and Jim Sturges, instead of the perennial winner and loser, Victor Power and Doctor X. Jim stood on his pedals and pushed with all of his might. The training wheels protested—SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK!—but he kept on cycling his legs, willing them to be longer and stronger. When he looked up again, Jack was gone”
Everyone knew what that meant, and it wasn't good.
"U-uh... Jack will be okay, right...?" Eli finally spoke, having been too focused on all the information on the screen; now that seemed to have faded into the background.
"I don't know..." Jim said. "I just hope so."
He didn't know this Jack guy, but he didn't like the idea of an innocent child suffering at the hands of some troll, or worse, dying. And not being able to do anything about it.
He was the Trollhunter; the inability to do anything when innocents suffered gnawed at his mind.
“Jim could see the Sportcrest lying beneath the bridge, silhouetted by the falling sun, its handlebars bent and the front wheel still spinning. With the bridge coming up fast, Jim reversed the direction of his legs and his Schwinn came skidding to a halt a few feet outside the bridge’s shadow. He straddled the center bar and panted, searching for his brother in the blackest corners”
“This is going very badly…” Strickler strained his eyes a little more, hoping to see something on the screen that only showed that confused Jim, surrounded by darkness.
“Poor boy, may Deya guide him.” Blinky held his hands, rubbing them together and then placing one on his chest, something like a ‘rest in peace’ gesture.
“Blinky-! We don’t know if he’s-… dead.” Jim still tried to hold onto a little hope.
“It’s most likely, Master Jim, read the situation.” Jim had nothing to argue against it.
““Jack?” The Sportcrest’s front wheel kept spinning, as if the ghost of his brother still pedaled. “Come on, Jack. Don’t be dumb. You’re not going to scare me.” The only response came from Don and Juan. Echoes twined their sweet harmonies into an eerie wail: “I stood on this corner, / Waiting for you to come along, / So my heart could feel satisfi-i-i-ied.…”
Everyone stared expectantly at the screen, as if waiting for something, hoping that somehow Jack would emerge from the darkness.
The music started, and it wasn't pleasant; it only added to the unsettling atmosphere.
"Jim, must get out" ARRRGH!!! He looked worried, pointing a finger at the screen, as if he had seen or felt something the others couldn't yet decipher.
"Danger, Jim must get out"
“With muffled firecracker pops, the streetlights next to Jim switched on, one after another, filling the canal with a yellow sodium glow. That meant it was night: there was no more time to fool around. “If we don’t get home right now, Dad’s gonna ground us for weeks. Jack?” Jim swallowed, stepped off his bike, gripped his ray gun in his sweaty palm, and walked alongside the bike until he was within the bridge’s darkness. There it was ten degrees cooler, and he shivered. The training wheels turned slower now, but still complained: SQUEAK. SQUEAK. SQUEAK” “He came upon the Sportcrest. The front wheel was beginning to slow its revolutions. Suddenly, he felt as if that wheel were Jack’s heart, and if it stopped moving, his brother would be gone forever. Jim peered into fathomless shadow. Ignoring the drip of moisture, the scurry of what might be rats, the thud of car tires passing overhead, and Don and Juan’s death moans, he raised his voice. “Jack! Come on! Are you hurt? Jack, I’m serious!” He cringed at how the words reverberated back. The yellow streetlights, the violet skies, the clammy temperature, the mocking echoes of his panic—how had the transformation from dream to nightmare happened so fast? He spun around, looking into one shadow, then another, faster and faster, his chest hitching with sobs, his cheeks burning with fear, when he thought of the one direction he hadn’t yet looked. Slowly Jim craned his neck so he could look up into the underside of the bridge. It was black. Nothing but black. But then the black moved.”
“Those childs are dead,” Steve’s voice trembled. He almost jumped when he actually saw the darkness move.
Eli, beside him, had to agree, his thin body huddled on the sofa, leaning towards Steve. A much more uncomfortable silence settled over the room than before.
“It happened naturally, almost gracefully. Giant, powerful limbs differentiated themselves from the concrete as they adjusted their clinging grip. Something the size of a boulder—a head—rolled about until Jim could see eyes burning orange like fire. The thing took a breath and it was like the entire belly of the bridge rippled at once. Then it exhaled and the force of putrid air blew Jim’s body back.”
The description appeared on the screen: a creature moving, its eyes zooming in as soon as the narration mentioned them.
Steve felt nauseous and looked away. Barbara let out a small, high-pitched scream, and Jim froze. The trolls in their world were far more 'friendly' to look at, even though they were already terrifying to a certain extent.
None of them had expected the difference in appearance to be so drastic.
"...Is that what we look like in that world?" Blinky asked. It was hard to tell what tone he was using, but it could say even he seemed shocked.
“The thing let go of the bridge and dropped to the ground. Dirt billowed and trash flew into the air, and in that swirl of debris Jim saw milk cartons, two, three, four, five of them, cavorting and twirling, the grins of missing children mocking their own deaths.” “The thing reared back like a grizzly and the street lamps gleamed off of two horns, which tore through the overhead con- crete. A mouth opened, glistening with huge, mismatched teeth. Orange eyes locked on Jim. Then arms—long, muscular pythons of matted fur—reached out.”
Barbara covered her mouth; everyone was somehow unable to tear their eyes away from the screen.
Toby leaned toward Jim, a way of feeling safe, and Claire did the same. The three of them had been through so much together, and she felt that if they continued like this, nothing could hurt them.
Blinky was praying to every deity he knew that the poor boy would get out of that situation, or at least that they would be kind enough not to show them what was going to happen.
“Jim screamed. The underpass made it ten times louder, and the thing paused for just a second.”
Everyone was stunned to hear the boy's scream, ARRRGH quickly covered his ears, disgusted by the sound.
“Jim took that second and leapt astride his Schwinn, pushing off from the pavement. His left foot kicked past Jack’s ra- dio, killing Don and Juan once and for all, and then he was out from under the Holland Transit Bridge, still screaming, legs churning.”
“Come on, come on!” Steve murmured, leaning towards the screen, now more intrigued, though anxious would be a more accurate word.
The silence between them was almost imperceptible due to the amount of attention and anticipation they maintained on the narration and the screen; neither of them dared to speak to the other.
“He heard it behind him: the gallop of a colossal thing, chasing after on all fours like a gorilla. Mumbling with terror, Jim pushed his pedals harder than ever before. The squeak of the training wheels became a shriek. Still the thing closed in. The ground shook with each landing of monstrous feet. It snorted like a bull and the expelled air reeked of sewage. The plastic ray gun dropped from Jim’s grip; never again would he feel the cunning strength of Doctor X. The thing be- hind him growled so near that the entire frame of the bike vibrated. The streetlights threw a horrifying shadow of the thing’s arm, reaching for Jim with long, sharp claws.” “Jim pulled off to the left, hopping the edge of the canal, bursting through ditch weeds, and exploding onto a sidewalk. There was a fire hydrant right in front of him, red like Jack’s birthday bike—oh, Jack, Jack, what had happened to Jack? Jim tore around the hydrant and shot down the middle of the street.”
“Jack… Gods, poor kid…” Barbara whispered. Strickler didn’t know how to comfort her. Jack was probably dead—no, HE WAS dead—and everyone knew it.
“It’s for things like this that we need a Trollhunter…” Blinky’s voice was careful; Jim’s bicycle could still be heard in the background.
“The Trollhunter protects both trolls and humans. It seems strange to me. It looks like the Trollhunter wasn’t there at that moment… and it doesn’t seem like an isolated case. Where’s the amulet?” Blinky began to murmur and speculate as the screen continued.
Jim, who had been thinking the same thing as Blinky, wondered where the Trollhunter was and what he was doing. Why wasn’t he protecting innocent children from everything that was happening? Did a Trollhunter even exist there?
Why wasn’t he there?
“A car honked and veered out of his way. Jim ignored the angry shouts. He was speeding like his brother, learning how to properly ride at last, and the training wheels tore off and went bouncing down the street, useless little pieces of rubber.” “Home was right there, just seconds away, and he strained down the home stretch, screeching for air, tears streaming horizontally across his cheeks.”
They were relieved to see Jim approaching home, but the adrenaline hadn't completely subsided.
Eli adjusted his glasses, which kept slipping down the bridge of his nose, sweating with anxiety.
“The bike lurched up the curb and collided with the white fence. Jim went head over heels before crashing down on the front lawn, his face scratched by Mom’s manicured bushes, his glasses unfastened from their BandAid binding.” “The dog was barking from inside. He heard footsteps, the front door opening, the commotion of his mom and dad hurrying down the steps. Jim realized he was still screaming, and that reminded him of the beast. He scrabbled for both halves of his glasses and held them before his eyes. Nothing. He scanned the front yard, the quiet suburban houses, the mailboxes, the flower beds, the sprinklers. There were no monsters,”
,“At least he’s alright…” Eli’s trembling voice tried to lighten the mood. It didn’t have much of an effect, but the tension eased a little knowing for sure that the situation had calmed down and the beast was gone.
Even so, they felt terrible for the boy, having lost his older brother at such a young age, having witnessed it, and then being chased by something gigantic he didn’t recognize.
They understood why he was the way he was, even after seeing that there was no longer any danger.
“but at his feet he saw something else. It was a bronze medallion connected to a rusty chain. It was engraved with a foreboding crest: a hideous, snarling face; indecipherable markings of a savage language; and a magnificent long-sword across the bottom. Jim’s sobs caught in his chest and he reached out for it.”
Jim's eyes flashed instinctively the moment the object was revealed. Almost without realizing it, his hand found itself moving toward his pocket, where he kept his own amulet.
"...the amulet," he said. Even though it wasn't exactly the same, Jim could identify it with his eyes closed, without hands, only with his soul.
It was his destiny, here and always. He was certain that in that world, it would be too, it had to be that way.
“ “Jim! What’s wrong?” It was his mom, falling to her knees beside him, brushing dirt clods from his ears.”
Barbara smiled as she watched a mother worrying about her injured son; she somehow saw herself reflected in that woman.
At the same time, she felt guilty for not caring for Jim the way she did. Barbara had never seen him hurt, not until it was too late.
“His dad came next, kneeling in front of him, taking him by the knee and shaking it to focus Jim’s attention. They were saying his name, over and over: Jim. How horrible it was that no one would call him “Jimbo” ever again.”
Jim somehow felt it was more personal, for that's how he'd felt during his lonely days in the Darklands, those times when he'd almost lost all hope of escaping.
He glanced at his best friend beside him, who, sensing his gaze, looked back.
Toby, at his side, gave him a reassuring smile.
At least Jim would always have whoever he called Jimbo for the rest of his life.
“ “Buddy, look at me,” his dad said. “You all right? You okay? Buddy?” “Where’s your brother?” His mother’s hoarse whisper suggested that she somehow knew. “Jim, where is Jack?”
Silence fell again…
“Jim did not respond and instead leaned to the side to see past his dad. The imprint in the grass was still there, but the medallion was gone, if it had ever been there in the first place.”
Strickler suddenly leaned forward slightly, watching the screen, intrigued by how the amulet had vanished.
It was surely because the amulet in that world worked differently than his, but that only made him more curious about how it functioned.
“He felt a strange sense of sadness at its absence and an even more powerful sense of failure. He collapsed into his parents’ arms, crying, shuddering, and knowing that he had now experienced the nature of true fear, the pain of true loss.”
The child's cries echoed through the room, causing the others to squirm with discomfort and empathy for the poor boy who had just experienced such a traumatic event.
Crying openly in his parents' arms was the least he could do.
"Poor thing..." Claire, who had been watching intently, seemed overwhelmed by the crying, somehow relating it to her brother's inconsolable sobs when he needed help.
A protective instinct kicked in, an instinct she couldn't act on since she was powerless to help the little boy on the screen.
The screen faded to black until nothing more could be seen. The voice spoke again, this time different, more familiar.
“Jim Sturges was my father. Jack Sturges was my uncle.”
Jim Lake's voice, or at least one that sounded like it... It was strange for Jim to hear his own voice speaking to him.
"Oh... now I understand," Steve said.
"My father..." Jim murmured, still processing the words that had come from his own voice.
Barbara had the same expression as him; she had stopped thinking about Jim's father a long time ago, she had healed a long time ago, and yet the mention of it gave her a small pang in her heart.
Strickler took Barbara's hand, just as Claire had taken Jim's.
“The story I just told you I wouldn’t learn myself until forty-five years later, when I was fifteen. It was then I learned that Uncle Jack was the very last kid to disappear in the Milk Carton Epidemic, which ended as quickly as it had begun.” “The destroyed Sport- crest became a family relic; I’ve seen it a hundred times.”
“Not to be rude man, but I think keeping the bike your older brother was riding when he got eaten by some monster just in front of you is a little weird…” Steve must have thought carefully about his words because they were hard to get out.
“What’s weird is hearing my own voice talking to me and not saying anything about it,” Jim retorted.
“…good point.” Steve couldn’t come up with a witty or stupid enough response, so he stayed quiet and listened.
“It was also when I was fifteen that I learned how my dad spent the follow- ing decades, all of his youth and most of his adulthood, visiting the Holland Transit Bridge at night with flashlight in hand, searching for clues as to what happened to his older brother.” “There was never a trace of Jack aside from the milk cartons that would depict his brave, smirking face along with the word MISSING. What a perfect way to describe my dad in the years to come.”
Toby leaned toward Jim to whisper something.
“He talks like he knows him really well… don’t you think…?” There was no need to finish the question; Jim frowned slightly.
“I don’t know… maybe, though I don’t know how happy I’d be to see that.” it couldn’t blame Jim for being undecided about his feelings regarding his father.
If this other version of him somehow had his father present, just like he had begun to theorize because of the way Jim talked about him, it would be strange, it would be odd, and at the same time, it would be like seeing something that never happened. He had mixed feelings, to say the least.
There was an absurdly long pause, with nothing happening, just awkward glances exchanged.
The screen flashed green. Merlin.
“Was that it?” Strickler asked.
“Oh, of course not,” Merlin began. “There’s much more. I just decided to divide these parts into smaller sections. This is, essentially, a little introduction.”
“THAT was the epilogue?!” Steve shouted.
“you dumb blond. Did you see our Trollhunter anywhere? Gunmar? A battle?”
“W-well, if I’m honest I thought the creature under the bridge was the so-called Gunmar…” Eli readjusted his glasses.
Jim let out a dry, sarcastic laugh. As terrifying as that thing under the bridge was, it wouldn’t even come close to what he felt when he first saw Gunmar.
“That wasn’t Gunmar, but you’ll find out later,” Merlin replied to Eli before continuing. “As I was saying… this will be divided into sections, and this is the first one, so I’ll give you a few minutes’ break between sections so you can rest and process all the information. We don’t want you all to get overwhelmed, right?”
They nodded, understanding the situation, and in any case, they didn’t have much to argue against it. The truth was, they did need a break and they did need time to process and discuss things amongst themselves.
“Okay, since I see you’re all in agreement, I’ll tell you when we’ll continue.”
The screen went black again, and silence fell, which was soon filled with a murmur of conversation among everyone, expressing their thoughts, doubts, or theories.
The Trollhunters, for another part, hoped that in the meantime, their world wasn’t falling to pieces any further than it already was.
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