Rating: M | Multi-Chapter | Paced Publishing
➳ I watched 3Below. It's added a whole new level to my plot, and I am so excited! Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A few weeks later, and Jim was able to remember most, if not all, of the details from his night of drunkeness. It really wasn't as bad as he had feared; he hadn't been rude, or loud, or obnoxious to anyone (thank God), but it was now well-known throughout Trollmarket that he — a big, strong troll — had been outdrunk by a weak, human teenager. Only Glug and a couple of other trolls had actually met Sarah, and they had no idea who she actually was, and Jim had declined to share that information when questioned over it. Blinky and NotEnrique were the only ones who knew who Sarah really was, but they had yet to actually meet her, and Sarah had been a little too nervous around a bunch of unknown creatures to ask for anyone's name.
His night with Claire came back to him in full detail, with a little help from his mate treating him to a 'reenactment' when the baby finally went down for her nap, and he could understand why she had blushed. She had said that he was 'amorous,' but that was an understatement — he'd been mortified to remember that he had been nothing more than a horny mess when Sarah had helped him back from the pub, and he'd nearly undressed Claire right in front of his laughing sister before his mate had used her magic to hold him in place long enough to make a travel charm for Sarah. It was a good thing that Ellie was a hard sleeper, because he'd pounced on his wife as soon as he'd been released from her spell. They'd been wild, rough, and not at all quiet. In fact, they had woken the baby at one point, but Claire had been quick to soothe her before Jim could drag her back to him. He wasn't sure if the resulting crack in the kitchen counter could be repaired, given that it was carved into the surrounding solid rock.
"I think you're coming down with something," Jim mused aloud as he watched Claire trying to wrestle Ellie into one of her dresses. The baby thought it was a great game, and was wiggling stubbornly while screaming with laughter.
"Wh-what?" Claire replied, looking up at him in distraction. Ellie noticed and managed to fling a booty off across the room. Claire growled in frustration and glared down at the baby, who just giggled in response. Looking back up at Jim in exasperation, she continued, "What makes you think that?"
"You smell weird," he replied, shrugging and then laughing at the affronted look that she shot him.
"Gee, thanks," Claire said in a flat voice before turning back to the baby and making another attempt to pin her arms down.
"No, I mean…" Jim laughed again, rubbing the back of his neck in an awkward gesture. "You've got this… sweet scent… coming from you; but it's wrong — too sweet, like sickly."
Finally managing to get Ellie into her dress and buttoning up the back, Claire lifted the baby up and hugged her to her chest, bouncing her lightly. Walking over to Jim, she passed the baby to him and went to retrieve the booty that had been flung off. "I don't feel sick."
Jim hummed to himself thoughtfully as he leaned down and blew a raspberry against his daughter's cheek. The baby squealed and babbled happily in response, her little hand gripping his shirt in a tight fist. "Maybe it's just a cold or something."
"Does Ellie smell different?" Claire asked, coming back over and deftly slipping the lost booty back onto the baby's foot. She pressed a gentle kiss to Ellie's forehead, and Jim knew that she was feeling for a fever. She brushed her hand through the baby's downy hair, rubbing gently at the base of one of her horns, and Ellie purred happily in response, her eyes drifting closed in lazy pleasure. Jim and Claire both chuckled at the look, and the baby grinned back at them. "She seems fine."
"No, her scent hasn't changed," Jim replied, pressing his own kiss to his daughter's forehead. "The scent's coming from you."
"Well, you know…" Claire said, giving Jim a fond smile before turning away and walking over to her dresser and grabbing her hair brush. Her hair had grown in the past year, now falling to lie mid-back, and she brushed it up into a quick and high ponytail, taking a moment to put on a thin coating of lip gloss. "My cycle's been all weird and non-consistant since the baby was born… maybe my body is just now starting to readjust itself. I do have a bit of cramping… maybe that's it?"
"Maybe," Jim shrugged, frowning in concern. "I don't remember you smelling like that during your period, though."
"Granted, you've only smelled that scent once before," Claire laughed, turning back toward him and tugging lightly on the hem of her black, knee-length dress. "Well, how do I look?"
"Hear my soul speak:/ The very instant that I saw you, did/ My heart fly to your service," Jim quoted with a playful grin, and Claire laughed, her eyes widening.
"Impressive, Mr. Lake," she replied with a laugh, walking up to him and leaning up to press her mouth to his. Ellie squealed and laughed between them, and they pulled back from each other, chuckling. "When did you read The Tempest?"
"Just last week, actually," Jim said, shrugging as he grinned down at his mate. "You were at Merlin's, practicing voodoo, or something like that—"
"Necromancy," Claire corrected with a small laugh and a grimace. "Though I don't anticipate ever using it — Merlin says it's important to know, however."
"I can't imagine a situation where raising the dead could ever be important," Jim admitted, cringing at the mental image of a walking corpse came to mind. "Anyway… Ellie was fussy — I think she's got a few back teeth coming in, and her horns gained another centimeter — so, I grabbed your collection and started reading to her."
Claire laughed. "Shakespeare as a bedtime story…"
"Hey, my mother used to read me Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body," Jim teased, scrunching up his nose in distaste. "At least Shakespeare has a plot going."
"Shakespeare doesn't have pictures, though," Claire replied, laughing as she grabbed her flats and slipped them on her feet. "Ready?"
"What do you say, Miss Ellie, hm?" Jim bounced the baby in arms lightly, laughing as his daughter screeched with giggles. "Ready to spend the night with Uncle Toby?"
"Ah!" Ellie laughed, purring again as she recognized the name of her uncle.
Claire laughed again, and then paused, her face flushing for a moment, and then paling again. "Oh… oh, wait… okay… I'm okay."
"What happened?" Jim asked, taking the few steps forward to close the distance between them. He shifted the baby to be held in his right arm while wrapping his left around his mate, frowning as he noticed the slight tremor in her hands as she gripped his arm back. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, yeah…" Claire replied, smiling again and shaking her head. "Just a little dizzy spell, but it's fine."
"Claire—"
"No, it's okay," Claire insisted, leaning up to give a quick lick to the underside of his jaw. "I only had some bread and butter for lunch, and I nursed her about an hour ago, so my energy is just a bit low, that's all."
Jim's frown deepened, and he brought his hand up to cradle her face gently, his thumb brushing lightly over her cool lips. "Why didn't you eat?"
"Well, we're going out, right?" She replied, her lips puckering to press a kiss to his passing finger. "Besides, I need to go on a diet, anyway. I can't get rid of the last of this baby weight."
Jim rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Claire… you think I care about a few extra pounds?"
"Well, I do," Claire laughed, stepping back to grab at her stomach and pinching the bit of puffy flesh there for emphasis. "This used to be all muscle."
"And I used to have a human face," Jim argued with a teasing laugh, rolling his eyes. "But we both changed."
"I can't believe it's been a whole year," Claire sighed, not so subtly changing the subject. "We've been married for a whole year! I mean, isn't that crazy? A little over a year ago, we were just a bit more than normal 10th graders, and now—"
"We're high school drop outs, living in a cave with a half troll baby?" Jim snickered, and then laughed harder when she smacked his arm.
"I love the way things turned out, mister," she said, poking him lightly in the chest and tickling Ellie's belly.
"Me too," he admitted with a fond smile. He was a bout to say something else when his phone buzzed in his pocket, his I am Gun Robot! text tone ringing out repeatedly.
"I wish you would change that," Claire said with a laugh and roll of her eyes. "It's the most annoying ringtone ever."
Chuckling, Jim pulled his phone from his pocket, tapping it awake to see the series of incoming texts from his best friend.
Dude, are you coming or not?
Darci's over here freaking out.
AAARRRGGHH! wants to play with the baby.
And we have a surprise!
You're not going to believe it!
Jesus, what are you doing? Did you and Claire decide to skip the date and go right to the main event? ;) ;) ;)
"All right, all right," Jim snickered, typing a quick reply before stuffing the phone back into his pocket. "Toby's getting impatient."
"Do tell," Claire said in a sarcastically amused tone.
Swiftly, she moved back across the room to a shelf carved into the wall and retrieved their Travel Charm and the Glamour Mask, the latter of which she handed off to Jim. He slipped the mask on, and a moment later he was standing in his human form, his clothes changing to a pair of black slacks and a white, button-up dress shirt. In his arms, Ellie fussed unhappily, lifting a hand to pat his cheek and tug on his ear.
"Hey, shh," Jim bounced her again, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "It's okay. You know I'm still the same person. Daddy's here."
Ellie frowned and babbled grumpily in response, and Jim chuckled again. He bounced the baby higher up his chest and playfully licked her cheek, causing her to squirm and laugh. Claire laughed as she hooked her arm with his, and a few seconds later, they were surrounded by a flash of blue light. Before the light had cleared, the sound of a surprised shriek was let out from somewhere off to Jim's right, and the familiar whooshing sound of a weapon being swung through the air was coming closer.
"Wait!"
"Don't!"
"Zadra, that is Jim and Claire!"
Jim threw an arm up to block the incoming blow, a small, crackling explosion sparking between the energy of the double ended, scythe-like weapon and the magic of his forming gauntlet. Growling, he was about to shove the screaming baby into his mate's arms and rip the Glamour Mask from his face when he made eye contact with the person who had attacked him.
Or, rather, the non-person.
"What the—?" Jim gasped, letting Claire grab the baby, and then shoving his girls behind him protectively.
"No, no! Zadra, it is the okay," an accented female voice said in a frantic voice. Jim glanced behind the inhuman, glowing blue being in front of him to see Aja and Krel trying desperately to calm the unknown female creature. "They are our friends! You even saw Jim when the sky went all funny last year!"
"I do not recall your friend looking so… human," the Zadra woman exclaimed with a fierce expression, bearing down heavily with her strange weapon. "This imposter has defeated your friend and stolen his armo— ah! Unhand me, Sir Troll!"
AAARRRGGHH! grunted as the woman struggled in his arms, and Jim relaxed slightly as her weapon dropped to the floor, flickered, and then… turned into a protractor?
"Um…"
"Oh, Zadra is just very protective," Krel laughed, waving a hand dismissively in AAARRRGGHH!'s and Zadra's direction. "She is a fierce warrior, but she has… what is the human term? Ah, mixing insanity! Yes, she has contracted the mixing insanity from being stuck here on your primitive planet."
"You mean… stir crazy?" Claire asked, rocking Ellie gently to soothe her cries.
"Is that not what I said?"
"What is going on?" Jim demanded, glancing around the packed backyard that they found themselves in.
He recognized it as Toby's yard, and tables covered in decorations and piled with various foods were lined up along the fence. Low background music was playing from somewhere inside the house, floating through the open windows. The yard was filled with familiar faces, save for that of the tall, glowing woman that AAARRRGGHH! was struggling to keep from escaping his arms. Toby and Darci were standing together, holding each others' hands, while Mary stood on Darci's other side, Eli next to her. Nana, Strickler (in his human form, Jim noticed), and Barbara were by the back door, looking like they had rushed out at the sound of the commotion. Aja and Krel were standing right in front of Jim, nervous smiles on their faces as they tried to calm the situation. Standing right behind Aja was Steve, standing with his chest puffed out, his arms crossed over his chest in an arrogantly smug stance.
"Yes, well, you see," Aja said, laughing nervously, and Jim's eyes widened in surprise as she reached behind her for Steve, and the boy took her hand lovingly in his. "We are weirdos! Like you!"
"Wh-what?" Claire asked incredulously, finally getting Ellie to calm down. The baby fussed and babbled, trying to twist around in her mother's arms to see what was happening.
"What my sister means," Krel said with a roll of his eyes and a laughing smirk. "…is that we are not from this planet."
"Wait, what?" Jim asked, glancing between the siblings who looked very much human and the tall and glowing woman who was clearly not human, but not any kind of Earthly creature he had met before. Even the scent she gave off wasn't like anything he had smelled before, almost like the scent of lightning or burning ozone. Now that he was concentrating on it, Jim realized that Aja and Krel were giving off the same scent, though it seemed to be suppressed somehow, as if they were covered in a perfume of human pheromones meant to disguise their natural scents. "You're… aliens?"
"We prefer the term inter-planetary beings," Krel replied in a smart voice, steepling his fingers together and beginning to pace calmly, as if he were a teacher about to begin a lesson. "Although, technically speaking, we are Akiridions from the planet Akiridion-5."
"So… there's an Akiridion 1, 2, 3, and 4?" Jim asked, relaxing enough to disengage his armor as the warrior woman gave up her fight and hung in AAARRRGGHH!'s arms with a petulant expression.
"In fact, while we are classified as a planet," Aja answered with a smile. "…the Akiridion planets are technically orbital moons of the much larger planet, Cancrimuarae."
"That's a mouthful," Jim replied, taking Claire's free hand in his as she moved from behind him and stood by his side. Aja's eyes went wide as she saw the baby, and she let go of Steve's hand to dart forward, stopping just short of throwing herself at Claire.
"Oh, oh!" Aja exclaimed, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet. "Is this the larval product of your carbon-based cells merging?"
"Well, that is officially the most unromantic way someone could say that," Claire laughed, letting go of Jim's hand to turn the baby around so that she could sit up in the cradle of her arms and face the people. "This is our daughter, Ellie."
"Oh, hello, little larva," Aja cooed, wiggling a finger in the baby's face. Ellie watched the digit carefully for a few seconds and then grabbed it, giggling happily as she brought the finger to her mouth and bit down. "Oh!"
"Sorry!" Jim gasped, cringing at the death glare that Zadra was giving him at Aja's exclamation. "She's teething. She didn't mean to—"
"It does not hurt," Aja assured them with another laugh and a dismissive wave of her hand in Zadra's direction.
"A question, if I may?" Krel interjected, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he came to stand by his sister and looked the baby over. Jim noticed that the strange boy's eyes lingered on his daughter's small, but prominent horns. "If my understanding of human biological processes is accurate, the females of your species birth live young from their own bodies, correct?"
"Uh…"
"How, then, did you survive the birth?" Krel continued after pausing only long enough for everyone to share embarrassed and awkward looks.
"Krel, it's very unusual for someone to die in childbirth nowadays," Barbara said in a lightly amused voice as she, Strickler, and Nana made their way forward to join the others. Jim noticed her trying to catch his eye, and he averted his gaze, looking pointedly back toward Krel.
"But she has horns," Krel emphasized, gesturing dramatically to the baby who was happily chewing tin his sister's finger. "My understanding is that the infant must pass through the mother's—"
"She didn't have horns when she was born," Jim explained quickly, interrupting Krel before he could say something that would embarrass everyone. "Not like they are now, anyway. They were just flat, little bumps on her head."
"How do your people give birth?" Claire asked, trying to ignore the giggles and snickers of the others by turning the question around.
"We are energy based," Aja said, lifting her free hand to tap a finger against the center of her chest. With each tap, a light blue glow pulsed from beneath her clothing and flesh. "When two people decide they want to have a child together, they each deposit a part of their own energy into a Life Crystal, which then becomes the new individual's Life Core — what you would refer to as a heart, or soul. From there, the new being is held in stasis for several parsons, and they are removed to be cared for physically when they have reached a larval stage. From there, we grow in much the same way as humans do. We even have roughly the same life spans! Except that we can regenerate, if we are damaged, as long as our Life Cores remain intact."
"Nothing as gross as human reproduction, though!" Krel said, making a disgusted face. "Why must everything about your kind include bodily flu—"
"Little Brother, do not be rude!" Aja interrupted her brother, admonishing him without ever breaking her gaze or smile from the giggling baby.
"Anyway," Toby said, rolling his eyes and grinning widely. "Surprise?"
Jim chuckled, smirking at his best friend. "I guess the weirdness makes sense now. Wait, Aja… are you and Steve… together?"
"What?" Aja asked, frowning as she looked away from cooing at the baby to give Jim a confused glance. She gestured to Steve standing a few feet behind her. "Steve is over there, and I am over here, so no, we are not together right now."
"No, Babe, he's asking if we're dating," Steve corrected in an adoring voice.
"Oh, I see," Aja replied, her smiling widening into a matching love sick expression. "Yes. Steve and I have been courting since a bit before those bad troll creatures attacked and caused that lunar anomaly last summer."
"Wait, you've been dating for a year?!" Claire exclaimed, an excited squeal rising in her chest. Turning to Mary and Darci, both of whom had slightly guilty looks on their faces, she continued, "Did you know about this?"
"The dating? Yeah," Mary said, shrugging innocently. "The other parts? Not until recently."
"Why didn't I notice?" Claire asked, mostly to herself, but a laughing Darci was the one who answered.
"Well, I think you guys were kind of wrapped up with trying to defeat an evil troll and sorceress, so we're not gonna fault you for not being totally up on the gossip."
"Wait…" Jim repeated again, thinking back. "But… didn't I hear something about you kicking Steve in the face, Aja?"
Aja gave a guilty laugh, gently pulling her hand back from the baby to gaze in embarrassment at her slobber coated finger. "Ah, well, it was… a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding?" Krel exclaimed with a roll of his eyes. "He punched me in the face! He made my nose leak!"
"Yeah, I never did apologize for that, did I?" Steve said in a thoughtful voice, frowning in thought.
"No, you did not!"
"Well, too late now!"
"Wha— why, you—!"
"Happy verse day!" AAARRRGGHH! shouted in a booming voice, his patience clearly running out. The alien woman in his arms rolled her eyes, her chin resting in her hands as her elbows braced themselves against the giant troll's embracing arms.
Claire laughed, her expression softening. "Thank you, AAARRRGGHH!"
"Yes, happy anniversary," Strickler said, coming forward and pulling Jim and Claire into a light hug. Ellie squealed excitedly at the sight of the man, though she kept glancing behind him, no doubt looking for the familiar wings that she was used to. Though not as much as with Jim, Ellie had seen both of Strickler's forms a few times, so she knew that he was the same person. Releasing them and stepping back, Strickler smiled adoringly at the happy baby, scritching her lightly under the chin.
"Ellie is always so happy to see Papa," Claire laughed, calmly offering Ellie to Strickler, who was more than happy to take the infant, cuddling her closely to his chest. Jim couldn't help but laugh as the always tight look on the man's face melted into the most ridiculous look as he gazed down at the baby in his arms.
"Happy anniversary," Barbara said in a subdued voice as she stepped forward next to her boyfriend. She made no move to embrace them, her gaze averted, and her hands clasped together in front of herself nervously.
"Thank you, Barbara," Claire replied after a tense second where it was clear that Jim was not ready to respond. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her mother-in-law and Barbara froze for a second before grabbing Claire and hugging her back tightly, burying her face into the younger girl's neck. "I'm so, so sorry."
Clair glanced back at Jim helplessly, and he sighed, giving up and coming forward to hug his mother. "It's okay, Mom."
Barbara released Claire and threw herself into Jim's arms, though in his human form, he was a lot shorter than her. She trembled in his arms, hugging him back tightly. "It's not. I'm sorry. I…"
"I told you not to apologize," Jim reminded her in a soft voice, tightening his arms around her. "I understand."
Barbara's grip on him tightened briefly before she let go and stepped back, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. She gave him a weak smile, which he returned briefly, before they were bombarded by the others. Hugs, kisses, well wishes, and congratulations were shared, and soon everyone had plates of food and were sharing stories and gossip. Aja and Krel's story was fascinating, but he felt kind of bad that they were basically stuck here, so far from their overtaken home, indefinitely. He didn't know what he could possibly do to help them, but Jim swore to them that if there was anything that he could ever do to help them to let him know. He'd laughed loudly in surprise when the siblings had launched themselves at him, embracing him tightly in thanks.
"It is quite fascinating," Krel had said as they pulled back from each other. "I have a thought: what if we were somehow able to combine magic with Akiridion technology? I wonder what the result would be?"
"That's probably not something that we would want to experiment with in an uncontrolled environment," Claire chuckled from where she was standing with Mary and Darci. "Magic can be very dangerous, unchecked."
"Yes, Toby has said that you can rip through dimensions!" Aja said, looking to Claire in excitement.
Claire glared at Toby, who chuckled guiltily and shrugged. "Sorry?"
"I used to be able to," Claire replied to Aja, nodding slightly as she took a sip of her drink. "And it was just one dimension — the Shadow Realm."
"You lack this ability now?" Krel asked, cocking his head to the side curiously.
"If I wanted to, I could probably still do it," Claire admitted, shifting her stance uncomfortably as everyone's attention was concentrated on her. Jim didn't miss the way that she winced a little with the movement, her hand moving to rub at her side. "It would require almost all of my energy to do it, though. Before, I had a staff that was imbued with dark magic; it made creating portals through the Realms a lot easier, as I wasn't pulling solely from my own power."
"I also don't think sharing Akiridion technology with these primitive beings is advisable, my lieges," Zadra said from her spot leaning against the fence by the dessert table. She had a bowl of fruit salad in her hand, which she was plucking pieces from with her long fingers.
Aja rolled her eyes, shooting an apologetic look toward the humans. "Zadra, these are our friends, and we trust them."
Zadra looked like she wanted to argue, but averted her gaze back down to her salad, mumbling grudgingly. "As you say, my Queen."
"Please forgive Zadra," Krel said in a low voice, glancing back in concern at the woman. "She is concerned for our people, and being stuck here only saddens her and makes her angrier."
"We are worried for our people too," Aja continued when her brother paused. "…but there is little we can do from here. Our technology is in enough repair to keep in contact with the Resistance back home, but it is frustrating to not be able to be there and act ourselves."
"And what would you do, if you could act, my Queen?" Zadra spoke up angrily. "You ran away from every diplomatic training session you were ever supposed to take!"
"I took the lessons," Krel said, glaring at the woman harshly, his head held high.
"And I am a warrior!" Aja insisted, her fists clenching angrily at her sides. Jim jerked back, a little startled when the blonde girl blinked, and her eyes became black and a fluorescent, glowing blue. "I can fight!"
"You have been here for more than a year, and you still can't even remember to renew your transduction matrix on time!" Zadra argued, gesturing pointedly at Aja's now glowing form. Her body seemed to flicker for a moment, and then a whole new being was standing in front of them, all metallic blacks and bioluminescent blues. The only thing recognizable about the girl was the shape of her face and eyes; if not for that, and the sound of her voice, she would be completely unrecognizable. Only Jim and Claire seemed to be surprised at the change, everyone else seemingly taking it in stride, and Jim realized that they had all likely seen both Aja and Krel in their normal forms before. "And a few fighting lessons from a traitorous larvox—"
"Do not speak of Varvatos like that!" Aja cried, tears welling up in her eyes. "He was a good man who made a mistake! And if you had continued to teach me—"
"A queen does not engage in battle!" Zadra shouted, punching AAARRRGGHH!'s shoulder as he waved a hand at her in an attempt to signal her to quiet her voice. He was sniffing the air nervously, his ears twitching, and Jim gave his giant troll brother a questioning look.
"People," AAARRRGGHH! grunted, nodding his head toward the house. He made another nervous grab for Zadra, who pushed him away while glaring Aja down.
"We'll teach you," Claire said, not noticing Jim's and AAARRRGGHH!'s distraction, and shooting her own glare at Zadra.
"You will?" Aja gasped, turning and throwing herself at Claire, hugging her tightly. "Oh, thank you! I will not disappoint y—"
"You will do no such thi—" Zadra started, but AAARRRGGHH! finally managed to snatch her up into his arms and then flung both of them over the fence to hide in the surrounding woods.
"Hide now, fight later!"
"Wha—?"
"Darci?" a deep male voice rang out from just inside the house. "I think they're in the back yard, Sue."
"Dad?" Darci gasped in a confused whisper, and then she scrambled for her pocket, pulling out her phone and cringing as she looked the screen over. "Oh, no…"
"Hide!" Jim gasped, grabbing one of Aja's many arms and shoving her under one of the tables, making sure the cover fell low enough to hide her form, though the glow was still obvious. Mary, Steve, Eli, and Krel rushed forward to stand in front of the table in an attempt to hide the light.
"Where's the baby?!" Claire gasped, looking around frantically for her child as the sound of the voices came closer.
"I have her!" Toby exclaimed, and Jim and Claire both relaxed as they turned to their best friend and saw him holding Ellie close. Jim dove for his bag, which had been tossed on a chair, and quickly yanked out the baby's sling and threw it to Toby. The boy caught the cloth and turned his back to the back door just as it opened and Detective Scott walked through with an unknown woman, though she looked a lot like Detective Scott. She was short and squat, dark-skinned with thick, short hair that was slicked back in a style that would have fit in with the 1950's. Even her glasses, thick and horn-rimmed, were old-fashioned, as was the military uniform that she was wearing.
"Oh, kleb!" Krel exclaimed in a low, shocked voice. Jim turned to look at the boy, and he was disturbed to see his expression downright terrified and a little sick looking.
"Krel?" Jim whispered, reaching over to clasp his shoulder, shocked to feel Krel trembling as his wide eyes moved to meet Jim's. "What is it?"
"That woman," he whispered back in a frantic voice.
"You know my Aunt Sue?" Darci asked distractedly, having caught Krel's exclamation. Thankfully, she kept her voice low, and it was clear that she wasn't happy with the appearance of the woman either.
"We may have met briefly, once," Krel said in a hoarse voice, his eyes riveted to the woman who had yet to notice the kids as she and Detective Scott were being welcomed by Strickler, Barbara, and Nana.
"Really?" Darci asked, scrunching her nose in confusion. "I don't think she's had leave in years, not that she ever takes it." Catching Jim's confused look, she continued, "She works at the military base up the coast."
"Area 49-B?" Toby asked as he came over, the baby safely covered in her sling, which Jim took from his best friend and slipped over his shoulder. The baby was blinking up at him curiously, but was yawning and sucking her thumb, clearly ready for a nap, so she didn't fight being snuggled into her sling. "Don't they work on super secret advanced tech? I heard they have a new type of jet in the works, based on the theoretical concept of energy-based li— oh."
"She knows what you are?!" Claire whispered frantically, and everyone jerked back as magical energy began to swirl through the air around her.
"Claire Bear!" Mary gasped, grabbing Claire's hands and tugging like she was about to throw Claire under the table with Aja. "They're going to know what you are, if you don't get your power under control!"
"Is that Jim and Claire I see?"
Jim whipped around at the sound of Detective Scott's voice, giving the man a nervous smile as he absently rocked the baby. "Oh, uh… hi, Detective Scott!"
The man's eyes widened a little as they landed on the bundle in Jim's arms. "Hello, Jim. I heard the rumors, but I hoped you would have had a better head on your shoulders."
"Dad…" Darci groaned, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment.
"As long as you don't get the same idea, princess," Detective Scott went on in a mildly scolding tone. Toby started giggling anxiously as Darci's father turned his glare on him.
"Brother, are you going to introduce me to our little Darci's friends?"
They all looked over as the woman came up next to Detective Scott, a tight smile on her plump lips as she fingered her glasses carefully. Jim would have thought the gesture nothing more than an adjustment of her eyewear, if he hadn't noticed the calculating look she was giving them all as her eyes moved over each person in front of her, and he didn't need to be in his troll form to have his troll hearing. There were strange noises coming from her glasses — beeps and whirs in decibels so high that a human would never be able to hear them. Acting like he was rocking the baby, Jim stepped in front of Krel; at the same time, Steve and Eli moved in from either side to further block the boy from view.
"Ah, yes," Detective Scott said, turning to his sister with a smile and gesturing to each person as he introduced them. "Sue, this is Toby, Darci's boyfriend; Mary and Claire, Darci's best friends; Steve, Eli, Jim, and… wait, wasn't Krel here a minute ago?"
"Krel?" Darci repeated, shrugging cluelessly. "Oh, he and Aja had to leave before their curfew; I'm afraid that you just missed them."
"Oh, that's all right," Sue laughed lightly, but the sound was a little creepy, and Jim tensed as the woman's eyes moved to him again. He couldn't move and expose Krel, but the somewhat greedy look the woman had on her face as she adjusted her glasses once more made him want to cringe back. Her eyes widened as they came to a stop on the sleeping baby in his arms, a clicking and buzzing sound chirping out from her glasses. "James Lake, hm? I've heard some interesting stories about you."
"Y-you have?" Jim asked, swallowing thickly. He glanced frantically at Darci, but the girl looked just as confused and shrugged. "Well, it's a small town; you shouldn't believe everything that you hear."
"Yes…" she replied in a calculating and thoughtful voice. "Some of it was… a bit fantastical. But I'm being rude! I see you have a little one there! What's its name?"
Jim bristled, his teeth grinding together in agitation. From the way she spoke and the look that she was giving him, there was no doubt that this woman knew what he was, or — at least — knew that he wasn't human, nor could his child be. Her choice of words was meant to ire him, to get him to slip up somehow, but he refused to fall into the trap. "Her name is Eleanor."
"Fascinating…" she said in a low undertone, genuinely sounding fascinated as she stared at the sling as if she could see straight through it. "May I—"
CRASH! Skssshhh!
"What the—?"
Everyone jumped at the sound of exploding glass and the popping and sizzling sound of sparking electricity. Another small explosion rocked the air, and a shower of sparks fell down around them. Jim looked up just in time to see the transformer on the closest telephone pole spark out small bolts of electricity and start smoking, and then the lights for the whole block flickered out, and they were plunged into complete darkness — save for the blue glow coming from under the table behind them.
Purposefully moving back and knocking into Krel, they both hit the table hard, causing it to topple forward. Using the commotion, someone quickly thew the tablecloth over Aja and backed her up against the fence, right next to the gate door. Jim could hear Toby being loud and purposefully clumsy as he stomped around and tripped over people's feet, knocking people down and pushing them aside. Steve, Eli, and Darci rushed in to "help," and proceeded to entangle themselves into the mess of tripping people, purposefully making things worse. Jim took the opportunity and grabbed Krel and Aja, pulling them out of the back yard and into the surrounding woods, Mary dragging a shocked looking Claire out after them.
"Whew!" Mary gasped and panted as they finally came to a halt after running for a minute or two. They were well enough into the woods that they couldn't see the house or hear any people anymore. Leaning forward to brace her hands against her knees, Mary continued with a breathless laugh. "Did you do that, Claire? Good thinking!"
"I wasn't thinking," Claire replied in a shaking voice, and Jim could feel the fury boiling in her soul. "I was just so angry that she would talk about my baby that way that I lost control."
"Here," Jim said, lifting the sling from his head and passing Ellie into her mother's grateful arms. The baby was fussing, confused and upset, and Claire rocked her gently, cooing sweetly to her. "Take the Travel Charm and go home. Mary, will you go with her?"
"Sure, but…" Mary said, shrugging with a confused look on her face. "What are you going to do?"
"We've got to find Zadra!" Aja exclaimed, the tablecloth folded around her head and body like a hooded cape. "If she thinks there is a chance that we will be discovered, she will attack without mercy!"
Jim nodded, having surmised as much from what little he had garnered from the strange, but protective woman. "And AAARRRGGHH! He's better at hiding because he's used to it, but he'll kill to defend himself or his pack." Turning back to his mate, Jim leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, his hand coming up to briefly cradle Ellie's head. "I've got to make sure everyone is safe; I'll be home in a few hours."
"Okay," Claire sighed reluctantly, and Jim was honestly a bit surprised that she had given up so easily.
"What, no fight?" he asked with a fond chuckle.
Claire rolled her eyes, but gave him a tired smile. "I think maybe you were right about me coming down with something."
"Hah!" Jim barked a laugh teasingly. "I knew it!"
"C'mon, Claire," Mary said, coming up behind her best friend and hugging her. "Let's get you home, especially if you're not feeling good. Jimmy Jam will be fine."
Claire nodded tiredly and stepped back, letting Mary move to her side and hook their arms together. With her free hand, she reached up to clasp the charm, which had been strung around her throat as a necklace. A few seconds passed, and then there was a flash of blue light; when it cleared, Claire, the baby, and Mary were gone.
"Seklos and Gaylen, that is fascinating," Krel gasped, twirling in a circle as he looked around for any trace of the girls. "I will have to study your magics closely before experimentation."
"Yeah, but later, okay?" Jim chuckled, glancing around and sniffing the air to make sure they hadn't been followed.
"You should go back to Mother," Aja said to her brother, grasping his two arms with her four hands and giving him a light shake. "Your transduction is still in effect, and you will not be noticed in the streets. Zadra might have gone back. I will stay with Jim and help him search for her and AAARRRGGHH!"
"Good idea!" Krel said, breaking free of his sister's hold and holding a finger in the air smartly. "I will call you if I find either or them. You call me if you find either of them! Everything will be the okay."
Jim laughed, shaking his head in amusement. "Your positivity is admirable."
"Or annoying," Aja said with her own snicker and fond look directed at her brother.
"Ha ha!" Krel barked sarcastically, turning to run off into the dark. "I will call you!"
They waited until he was out of sight, and then Aja dropped the cloth from around herself, and Jim reached up to pull the Glamour Mask from his face. There was a flash green light as he changed, and then he was looking down at Aja instead of directly at her.
"Oh, I did not realize that you were so tall in your true form!" Aja exclaimed, clasping her upper two hands together under her chin as she looked him up and down. "What does Claire's troll form look like?"
"What?" Jim asked, blinking back the disorientation from his transformation and sniffing the air again. With the stench of the Glamour Mask removed, he could now pick up the different scents around them with little difficulty. "She's human."
"She is?" the glowing girl said in a confused voice. "But… are you not a troll pretending to be human? Like we are Akiridions pretending to be human?"
"Well, yeah," Jim replied, shrugging as he started walking further into the forest, gesturing for Aja to follow him. AAARRRGGHH!'s scent was faint along this path, but recent enough that Jim could discern that his brother had either come or gone along this way. Chances were that they might have to double back, but it was a direction, and it led away from the currently very dangerous back yard of Toby's. "But that's just me, and… well, you know that I was a human first, right?"
"Toby tried to tell us a very long story about it all, but I may have not listened very well," Aja admitted, jogging to keep up with Jim's quick pace. They came to a halt as they reached the river, and Jim fell into his natural crouch as he scanned the softened dirt for footsteps and scented the air again. "Ugh, c'mon! We have to keep going!"
"Wait!" Jim admonished, his ears twitching as he heard the rustling of leaves and breaking branches from somewhere further downstream. Aja rolled her eyes and made a scoffing sound in the back of her throat, darting forward and jumping across to the opposite bank. "Aja!"
"We will never catch up, if you do not— ow!"
"Aja!" Jim exclaimed again as he looked up at her shout. She was stumbling forward, one of her hands grasping at her neck where he could see a bright green dart sticking out. Aja's legs gave out and Jim launched himself forward to catch her before she could fall face first into the water. "Aj— ah!"
Jim gasped as he felt a sharp sting just behind his left ear. Almost immediately, his vision started swimming in front of him, and his limbs started losing their strength. Knowing that he was going to pass out, Jim used the last of his strength to drag himself and Aja out of the water and onto the muddy bank.
You must fight! Ywain shouted, and Jim could feel the magic pulse of the Amulet in his pocket trying to activate itself.
"No," Jim mumbled, his head falling back, too heavy to keep up. He could feel his longer horn digging into the soft dirt, the warmth of Aja's glowing body collapsed on top of his, the smell of ozone rising from her hair. The tree canopy above them was blurring and spinning sickeningly. "Stay… still. They can't… find… you…"
If Ywain responded, Jim didn't hear him, consciousness leaving him completely.
To be continued...
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