Rating: M | Multi-Chapter | Paced Publishing

➳ Enjoy, my loves!

Chapter Thirty-Six

Jim was too nervous to try changing into his human form and walking into the sun again at the same time, despite the others' enthusiastic encouragement. Even all of the kids' apparent immunity to the dangerous affects of the sun failed to reassure him. Even Aiden and Sophie, who were the most troll-like out of all of the children, seemed completely unaffected by the sun's light. Instead, it had taken Jim a few minutes of psyching himself up to even set foot passed the protective shade provided by what had remained of the church's roof. He had laughed at his own fear, remembering when he had been the one trying to coax a nervous Blinky out into the sun; he'd thought that he had understood his foster father's fear and nervousness then, but he realized now that he hadn't even come close. Knowing from personal experience of the excruciating pain and possible death that even so much as a stray sun beam could cause was very different than observing the process as an outsider. In the end, it had taken Aiden casually walking up behind him, throwing a kind arm around his shoulders… and then giving Jim a harsh shove out into the light.

The poisoned darkness that spread from the Shadow Realm breach seemed to have targeted human populations first, because where they were in the mountains remained, not untouched, but far more clean of the stuff than the human town that Jim, Claire, and Merlin had awoken in. Spidery, black vines spread sparsely along the ground and up various tree trunks, attempting to poison the world around them; but it was Spring here, and the trees and grass and flowers were budding and blooming brightly, Mother Nature fighting back against the invasion with all she had. Even the mountain streams that they came across were relatively untouched, the water cool, clear, and clean, much to Claire's pleasure, who insisted the children wash some of the dirt and grime from themselves. Jim and Merlin laughed at their clear displeasure at this request, and Jim, himself, ended up more than a little drenched while trying to wrestle the twins still enough to, at the very least, wipe their faces clean.

"My feet hurt," Sophie whined, dragging her feet slowly as they walked through the warm forest. She paused for a moment, screwed up her face in concentration, and started flapping her wings furiously. They all stopped to watch as the 4-year-old lifted off of the ground by a few inches… and then flopped back down, stumbling as she landed. She sniffled once, twice, and then burst into tears. "I wanna go home!"

"Oh, mia bebé," Claire cooed, bending to swoop the crying toddler into her arms, rubbing her back and shushing her gently. "We can't go home. You have to be a big girl for Mama and Daddy, okay? We'll stop and rest in a little while."

Sophie sniffled, still crying, but calmed a little. Sticking her thumb in her mouth, she nodded and laid her head down on Claire's shoulder. "'kay…"

"Here," Jim murmured, stepping up to his mate's side and offering his arms out for the child. He'd seen how she had winced when she stood up, her body unused to carrying the heavier weight of a toddler, let alone while trekking through mountainous areas. Gratefully, Claire shifted Sophie into his arms, the child flowing with the movement willingly, wrapping her free arm around his neck and her legs around his torso. Nuzzling the child sweetly, he murmured to her quietly, "Daddy will carry you for a little bit."

"Are we even going the right way, El?" Aiden said in a quiet aside to his older sister, his voice a mixture of concern, frustration, and forced calm.

Ellie frowned, twisting the ancient looking map in her hands this way and that to find her bearings. Jim had noticed the shimmer of magic overlaid on the canvas when she had first pulled it out, and she had shown him the two magical sparks floating on top of the drawn landscape, one bright red (them) and the other a bright green (the hidden Elven camp). The green spark was relatively stationary, while the red spark moved as they moved, slowly drawing closer to the green spark. According to Ellie, they had been extremely close three nights ago, but then the green spark had moved inland by nearly 20 miles overnight, which suggested that the move had been emergent.

"We were afraid," Ellie had said when Jim had asked about it. "Aiden and I had been talking about trying to summon you and Mama through Time for a while, but when the camp moved so suddenly, that's when we decided to try. We thought that if we could pull you from when just before the Shadow Realm was breached, you would know what to do to fix everything; but I was too scared, and I put too much power behind it, and I ended up reaching too far back."

"I think that's actually a good thing, this time," Jim had replied. "Things are already stirring in our own Time, which means this was all being put into motion even before you were born. The earlier we can stop this, the better."

"I think so," Ellie said, breaking Jim from his thoughts as she responded to Aiden's question. "We're getting closer, at least."

"How much longer?" Eric groaned, spotting a mud puddle and purposefully jumping into it, mud splattering all over himself and Sven, who was never very far from his twin. The two giggled, and Claire sighed, throwing her arms up in defeat.

"I don't know," Ellie snapped, stomping her foot as she looked up to glare at the boys. "If they don't move again, maybe we might find them before dawn."

"We… you…" Aiden stuttered, his eyes wide and nervous as he stared at his sister. "You want to travel at night?"

"Aiden, we were lucky to even find that church," Ellie replied in an understanding, but apologetic voice. "Even if we don't travel through the night, we'll still be out in the open. At least, if we're moving, we won't be taken by surprise."

"But…" Aiden's fear was so obvious that not even the twins were willing to tease him about it. "Ellie, I can't…"

"You can," Jim interjected, shifting Sophie to his hip so that he could reach over and grasp Aiden's hand lightly. "Think of it this way: now, there's two Trollhunters and twice the protection."

"Uncle Merlin, can't you just zap us there?" Sven asked, running up to the old man and tugging on his arm with muddy hands.

"I'm afraid that my zapping isn't quite as fine tuned as you think it is, my boy," Merlin chuckled, letting Sven swing on his arm for a moment before gently pushing the boy away. "Besides, your feet look strong enough to walk a few more miles, yes? Be lucky you weren't born until after we had to walk all the way across country — and your mother pregnant, at that!"

"You walked all the way across the country with Ellie inside you?" Eric asked Claire, his eyes wide.

"Yes," Claire laughed, her hands jumping to her flat stomach as she remembered. Jim saw the slight twist of grief in her sad smile and felt the emotion along their bond. "I became pregnant with Ellie right after we left California, and I was almost 7 months along when we settled in New Jersey."

"So…" Sven's expression scrunched up in thought as he looked his mother up and down. "So, then… you and Daddy are really young right now? Like, the same age Ellie is now?"

Jim laughed, catching Aiden's eye and laughing harder to see his purple blush. "We're 17, love."

"That's weird," Sven said with a confused pout and Jim laughed again, reaching over to ruffle the boy's hair. He grinned up at Jim, and then turned back to Claire, running up to her and catching one of her hands in his. "Was Ellie heavy?"

"Hey!" Ellie protested, blushing furiously.

"Well, she started out smaller than a seed, didn't she?" Claire replied, smiling down at the boy. "And when she was born, she was only a little more than 5 pounds."

"You two were heavier for Mama to carry than any of us," Aiden teased, sticking his tongue out at Sven and then Eric. "Her ankles were almost always swollen, the whole time!"

This hadn't seemed to occur to Sven, whose expression twisted again as he thought, and then he looked back up at Claire, his bottom lip slipping into a slight pout. "I'm sorry, Mama."

"Oh, mi amor," Claire laughed, cupping the boy's face in her hands and pressing a series of kisses to his face. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

This didn't seem to make Sven feel better, for some reason, and he clung to Claire's hand tighter as they continued to walk. Hours passed slowly as they walked, stopping once by a stream to rest and eat. Ellie consulted her map a few more times, making sure they were traveling in the right direction, and Jim kept an eye on Eric as he ran ahead and back again excitedly. The boy seemed to be the more expressive of the two, and certainly the one who started and got into all of the trouble, and Jim did not want to chance his son getting too excited and wandering too far, especially since evening twilight was swiftly encroaching on them.

"Eric, stay close," he warned the red-head after the fifth time the child had sprung out of a bush seated in the opposite direction that he had first run off in.

"I'm scouting," Eric replied, throwing his arms in a brief hug around Jim's waist, and then running off again.

"Scout closer!" Jim called after him, shaking his head, his hand tightening on Sophie's as she walked slowly by his side. Her feet were starting to drag again, and he suspected that it wouldn't be long before she would be asking to be carried once more. "Eric, don't make me come after you!"

Claire laughed, shaking her head, her own hand still held in Sven's, who hadn't wanted to wander off with his twin, or very far from his mother at all. "I think you just uttered your first Dad-ism, mi amor."

"Oh, good," Jim joked, leaning over to catch his mate's lips in a chaste kiss. "Let's remember to put that in the baby book."

"It's gone!"

"Huh?"

They came to a sudden stop, and Jim looked toward Ellie, his stomach clenching in sudden nerves as he heard the shocked panic in her voice. She was staring down at her map, eyes wide and mouth agape as she paled. She was turning the map around this way and that, unfolding hidden flaps to extend the drawn landscape, but the more she looked, the more panicked she became.

"It's gone!" she gasped again, her voice trembling and thick with tears.

"The camp?!"

"But it was just right there!"

"Well, it's not now!" Ellie cried, letting Aiden snatch the map from her to look over himself. She dropped her face into her hands, her shoulders shaking as she cried. "It's not anywhere!"

"Maybe they're moving again?" Claire suggested in a soothing tone, releasing Sven's hand to pull Ellie into a comforting hug.

Ellie moved into her mother's embrace, shaking her head. "No, we would still see it, then. It would just be moving. Oh, Deya… they've been attacked! They're all dead!"

"Jumping to conclusions will get us nothing, but hysterics, child," Merlin said, looking over Aiden's shoulder as they studied the map. "Hm… this type of magic is strong. It's connected to an identical map with the same charm placed on it, yes? So, the possessor of the other map is able to see the location of its twin?"

Ellie nodded, leaning back from Claire's embrace and wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. "Yes. Finn has the other one. You gave them to us, Uncle Merlin."

"I did?" Merlin asked, cocking his head to the side curiously. "Or, I suppose, 'I will?' is the more appropriate query."

Ellie gave a watery, sad laugh, but nodded again. "Yes. A few weeks before…"

"Ah," Merlin replied, his tone uncomfortable as he realized the implication of the girl's words. "My many years have caught up with me, have they?"

"You went with Daddy to help him fight," Sven sniffled, running up to Claire's side and grabbing her hand again. "Neither of you came back."

Jim and Merlin shared a frightened look, Jim's heart beginning to pound heavily in his throat. If this creature could defeat both Jim and Merlin at once, how were they ever going to find a way to destroy it?

Before anything more could be said, they all jumped in surprised fright when a pain filled scream shot out in the distance.

"What the…?"

"Eric?!" Jim called out, realizing that the rambunctious child hadn't come back yet. His stomach clenched in fear when no answer returned, and he scooped Sophie up quickly, only to turn and shove her into Aiden's arms. "All of you, stay here!"

And then Jim was running through the forest, his Amulet coming to life and summoning his armor around him without thought. He picked up Eric's coffee-like scent quickly, following it for at least a mile — how had the child gotten so far in so little time?! — before he stopped dead in his tracks as the acrid scent of blood assaulted his senses.

"Eric?!" Jim shouted again, his heart hammering, and his voice high in panic. He swirled around in a circle, looking desperately in every direction, but only bare forest was laid out before him in every direction. "Eric Lake, you answer me right now! Eric!" There was a shuffling sound from some bushes to his right, and Jim spun around, Daylight forming in his grip, held high and ready to strike at the unseen predator. The scent of his son's blood was stronger in this direction, and fear and rage shot through him, unlike any he had ever felt before. "I don't care what or who you are, if you take my son from me, I'll—"

"D-Daddy!"

Jim grunted in surprise as Eric rematerialized out of thin air, having been hiding invisibly, and flung his arms around his waist with a pained cry. He seemed to be struggling against something from inside the bush that had hold of his leg, and he was crying and whimpering in pain.

"Eric," Jim sighed in relief, placing Daylight on its holding place on his back, not quite at ease enough to let the weapon or his armor dissipate. He dropped to his knees and pulled the boy's upper body into as tight a hug as he could manage with Eric being held back by something. Jim ducked his head, licking instinctively at the boy's teary and snotty face. "What did I say about staying close?"

"I'm s-s-sorry!" Eric cried, his hands hooking desperately into the grooves of Jim's arm guards. "I just wanted to e-ex-explore!"

"What's got you?" Jim asked, not willing to chastise the boy when he was so distraught. He leaned forward around Eric to push the bush aside and cringed at what he saw. His son's small ankle was trapped in a rusty, but strong bear trap, the metal teeth nearly biting the appendage clean off. His ankle and bare foot were oozing blood and splinters of crushed bone were exposed and protruding through the skin. "Oh, God, baby…"

"I'm g-g-going to d-d-d-die!" Eric wailed, snot bubbling from his nose as he cried hard enough to make himself gag.

"Shh…" Jim soothed, kissing and licking the boy's face again. "You are not going to die. We'll get your leg free, and I can heal it, okay? You'll be good as new."

"Do I have to get drunk again?" Eric whimpered, his eyes wide and his cheeks taking on a slightly green tinge.

Jim chuckled, shaking his head. "No, baby… but it's going to hurt when I release the trap."

"It hurts now!" Eric cried, sobbing again. He was tugging on Jim's breastplate, seemingly dissatisfied with being unable to cuddle into something soft and warm, but Jim was still too tense and on guard to release his armor. The sun was beginning to set, and they were alone in the wild, the strong scent of blood around them, and anything could think to attack what they would perceive as an easy meal. "I d-d-don't wanna be here, anymore! I don't w-wanna keep walking! I don't wanna go to Finn's cl-clan! I wanna go home!"

"I know," Jim sighed, rubbing his son's back gently as the boy cried and vented, in pain and angry and thoroughly fed up with all that had been happening to him and his siblings. Jim let him, knowing that the child had reached his breaking point, despite his previously cheerful and mischievous personality. Eric was only 9, after all, and had been dealing with all of this death and darkness as best as he could for months. To have kept up such a positive attitude in the face of all that was admirable, but he was still a child, and Jim knew that he'd reached his limit. "I know, honey. You've been so brave, love; please just be brave for a little longer, okay? Mama and I are here now, and we aren't going to let anything happen to you. We're going to find out what happened and fix it, so that you will never have to go through any of this."

"But we already went through it!" Eric sobbed, his chest heaving as he became more upset. "It's happened for us already!"

"I know," Jim repeated, tears springing to his eyes and his throat pinching in emotion. He nuzzled into Eric's soft, red hair, rocking the boy gently in his arms. "I know, baby. I don't want this for you. I want you to be safe. I'm so sorry."

Eric's only response was to wail louder, and Jim could only hug him tighter, his tears finally spilling over to wet his son's hair. Unable to quiet or soothe the boy, or himself, he reached around the clinging child as best he could and examined the trap, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand to see better. It took a minute of searching, between the darkening light and the coating of thick rust on the metal, but he thankfully found the release mechanism to be still intact, though it looked like he would have to smash it to break through the rust. Jim cringed, knowing that Eric would be in agony through the process, and would likely scream his head off even louder than he was currently crying. He wished that he was better at spell casting, so that he could at least put the child to sleep, but Jim didn't even know the word, let alone how much power to put behind it. Sleeping spells were exceptionally dangerous to attempt, he knew; too much power would cause the person to sleep like the dead.

A few months ago, when Ellie had been having a particularly rough few days — between her horns growing in and a bought of colic — she had cried for hours, refusing to sleep. Both he and Claire had been exhausted, so Jim had taken the infant down into the Market Center to walk around with her, trying to lull her into sleep and allowing his mate to get some of her own, in the meantime. It had been the middle of the day, and most of the trolls had been asleep (except for a few rowdy members down at the pub), so Jim hadn't felt too bad about bothering the neighbors with his screaming child. As he walked, he'd spoken quietly to the baby, murmuring stories in her ear in the hopes that the sound of his voice and the motion would soothe her. When he'd rounded by the pub a fourth time, whispering the tale of Sleeping Beauty to the child, Merlin had surprised him by popping out of the pub to walk by his side. Jim had only paused for a second, but continued on walking and talking when the wizard had given him an encouraging smile. When the tale was over, the old man had made some interesting comments on how the story wasn't completely make believe and there were spells — like the one that had trapped Morgana — that could cause a person to sleep indefinitely. Accidentally putting too much power behind a basic sleeping spell was the most common reason that such instances occurred, so unless one knew exactly what they were doing, it was best to avoid casting such a spell altogether.

Grimacing in guilt at what he was about to do, Jim tucked Eric's face into his neck, tightening his arm around the boy's back and shoulders and reached down with his other hand to disengage a glaive from his thigh. "Eric, I need to break the mechanism, so you need to hold very still, okay?"

Eric shook his head, his sobbing growing louder. "N-n-no! I don't wanna! I want Mama!"

"Eric," Jim growled firmly, not wanting to be harsh, but realizing that he would have to be, for the child's own sake. "Mama and your siblings are waiting alone for us. The more you struggle, the more time this is going to take, and the longer you're going to be in pain, so sit still."

Eric froze in place, clamping his lips together, a pitiful whimper escaping his throat, but nodded. He remained still, save for a light tremor in his arms, and Jim hugged him tighter, murmuring a quiet apology in the boy's slightly pointed ear. Not allowing time enough to pass for either of them to lose their nerve, he flipped the glaive around in his hand, the narrower end pointed downward, tightened his grip, and then smashed the weapon down against the rusted over locking mechanism as hard as he could. A second of resistance bit back at his blow, and then a burst of Daylight coursed from the Amulet and through the etchings in Jim's armor, traveling down his arm and into the glaive in his fist. Under the onslaught, the rust and metal of the trap cracked, shattered, and then fell apart into a million tiny shards and pieces.

Eric sucked in a sharp breath as his leg was released, silent in shock. It seemed like an eternity, but could have only been a few seconds, and then the excruciating pain must have rushed back to him, because he started to scream, just as Jim had predicted he would. Before he could try and hush the child, Eric lurched further into Jim's embrace and buried his face into the small space on his neck that was not guarded by armor, and bit down with every bit of strength he must have possessed.

Jim seized up in shock, not used to someone biting him, other than his mate, and — obviously — those were meant in a completely different context than this. He wasn't aroused, of course, but it was still shocking to have someone else's teeth buried into his flesh, though the child didn't have enough strength to do real damage, despite his single lower fang digging pointedly into the edge of Jim's clavicle.

"It's all right," Jim murmured quietly after a moment, swallowing back his nerves and letting his glaive dissipate back into his armor. Moving his hand to gently hover over the child's broken and shredded ankle, he silently called on his magic, allowing it to flow through himself and his armor. It was easier, Jim found, to let the Amulet and his armor act as a conduit for his natural magic, as opposed to trying to cast it freely. He wondered if this was how Claire had felt when she had used the Shadow Staff, or when she used the Moonlight Bow now.

Eric's foot was truly only hanging on by a few shreds of skin, muscle, and tendon, the bone crushed and splintered to bits. It was a wonder that the boy hadn't bled out entirely by the time Jim had found him, but he could only guess that he had enough troll in him to bear such an injury much better than a human would. Still, it hurt just as much, and Jim's heart lurched in his chest at the muffled screaming vibrating against his throat, the child's teeth digging harder into his flesh.

"Shh…" Jim breathed, pressing his lips against Eric's wet cheek. At the same time, he closed his eyes in concentration, letting the warm magic that had gathered in his palm disperse into his son's leg. "Läka."

Beneath his hand, Jim could feel the bone and skin shifting and knitting back together slowly. Over the minutes, Eric's agonized screams lessened, turning into gasps, sobs, and whimpers instead, and the child's teeth gradually loosened their hold on his neck. Jim continued to pour healing magic into his son's injury, perhaps even longer than was necessary, but he wanted to make sure that Eric would be able to have full use of his leg again, without any pain or soreness to hinder his ability to walk and run. As it was, the boy had already lost a lot of blood, which he could do nothing about; Jim could heal the injury, but Eric's body would need to recover the blood he'd lost on its own. He could feel the shaky weakness in the way Eric's arms trembled, his whole complexion almost gray and his lips a slight blue. The only slight comfort was that, as the pain eased, Eric's eyelids drooped sleepily, and he laid his head tiredly against Jim's shoulder, his breathing becoming deep and calm. The occasional whimper still escaped him, and he would jerk awake with a gasp just before truly falling asleep, but Jim ignored that, concentrating solely on healing the child's grievous injury.

"Daddy," Eric whispered after at least fifteen minutes, in a weak and sleepy voice. He leaned up slightly as he spoke, so that his lips brushed Jim's ear. "M'okay now. You can stop."

"No," Jim said, his stomach turning as he smelled his child's blood thick in the air around them. He was becoming dizzy with the outpouring of his magic, and he could feel his hold on his Amulet slipping. "I have to—"

Jim, you must stop.

"No," Jim growled, squeezing his eyes shut in concentration as he ignored Ywain's voice in his head. "I have to — he has to be safe."

"I am safe, Daddy," Eric whispered, seemingly unfazed by the fact that Jim was clearly not speaking to him. Either the boy was too exhausted to realize it, or he knew about Ywain and recognized when Jim spoke to the bodiless soul. "Daddy, you'll get hurt, if you use up all your magic."

James Lake, Jr., your offspring speaks true, Ywain warned, a tone of annoyance in his voice. You wish to protect him, yes? Then do not squander your ability to do so. The child is healed. Stop casting.

"Daddy," Eric called again, and it was the feeling of the boy shifting heavily in his arm and the cold brush of his lips against Jim's cheek that finally brought him back to himself.

"Okay," Jim croaked, sucking in a shaky breath and ripping his hand away from Eric's now perfect ankle and foot. All that was left to remind anyone of the injury was the sticky stain of blood on his skin, shredded pant leg, and the pool of blood soaking into the earth beneath them. "I… I'm sorry."

"S'okay, Daddy," Eric mumbled, laying his head tiredly against Jim's shoulder, his body limp, heavy, and cold. "M'okay. Just… tired."

"Eric?!" Jim gasped as the boy went completely limp in his arms, his breathing slowing to almost non-existence. He shifted the small body in his arms, cradling him against his chest, and ran his hand through the child's hair. "Eric, wake up!"

He's lost too much blood, Ywain said, his voice deadpan and emotionless, unable to really comprehend the panic that Jim was feeling.

"What do I do?" he exclaimed, shaking the boy lightly. Eric's head lolled to the side, his lips blue. "Eric! Eric, open your eyes. C'mon, baby. Don't do this to me. Please, please…" Jim sobbed, clutching the child's body tighter to his chest. "Ywain! Tell me what to do!"

You don't know blood magic, Ywain said as if they were merely talking about the mechanics of using a toaster.

"Then give me the cheat sheet!" Jim demanded, his voice a hoarse growl. He rocked back and forth on his knees, moving his hand to slide under Eric's shirt, pressing it above his heart. His whole hand covered nearly the boy's entire torso, and he would feel each rib beneath the skin, his baggy clothes hiding how truly thin and malnourished the child truly was. There was a slight sense of relief in feeling the slow expanding of the boy's chest, but the breaths were slow and too far apart. Beneath that was the faint and slow pulse of his heartbeat, not nearly strong or fast enough. Ducking his head, Jim pressed a kiss to the corner of Eric's blue lips, just to feel the breath escape him and reassure himself that what he felt with his hand wasn't an illusion.

You are nearly out of magic, Ywain warned. If you expend any more, you will lose your hold on the Amulet, and you will be unable to protect yourself should an enemy come upon you.

"I don't care!" Jim growled, licking Eric's cheek and rubbing his chest insistently in an attempt to rouse him. "Ywain, tell me what to do!"

If the soul inhabiting the Amulet had a body, Jim was fairly certain that he would be rolling his eyes. As it was, Jim could hear the annoyed sigh that the child gave before responding. Cut into a vein on both yourself and him, and then press the wounds together.

Moving quickly, Jim pulled his hand back from his son's chest, summoning his glaive again. As the blade appeared in his hand, he laid Eric down gently on the ground, and then he reached for the child's arm, turning it to expose his delicate wrist. Jim hesitated for a moment, every instinct in himself rebelling against the very notion of purposefully harming his child, but then Eric's breath stuttered and his chest fell still.

"Eric?!"

Do it now, Jim! Ywain shouted in his head, and the Amulet imbedded in his armor pulsed twice. A second later, the armor and chainmail protecting his right arm disappeared, leaving his skin exposed, his left hand still gripping his glaive tightly. Make the cuts now!

Forcing himself not to think about what he had to do, Jim gripped Eric's wrist firmly and flipped his glaive around to nick into the child's wrist. The blood oozed forth, dangerously slow and thin, and Jim's heart pounded in fear, his own blood pulsing forth quickly and in abundance as he turned the blade on his own unprotected wrist. Ywain had seemingly pulled the magic from the blade, which prevented Daylight from causing his flesh to burn as it normally would have. Dropping his glaive, Jim pressed his bleeding wrist against his son's, and then demanded, "Now what?!"

Be still, Ywain murmured, and then there was another pulse of magic from the Amulet, and the rest of his armor dissipated, the magic sucking back into the Amulet. The object hovered just above their clasped hands, spinning wildly, and then a tendril of blue magic reached out to wrap around their wrists. Warmth tingled along Jim's arm, pulsing in time with his own heartbeat, and he felt his body become heavy, his vision starting to swim before him. He gasped for breath, suddenly so unbearably tired, and his body slumped forward. With the last of his strength, he threaded his fingers together with his son's, clasping the small hand between both of his tightly.

"Don't… stop," Jim warned Ywain, his eyelids falling heavily. "Save him."

And then Jim's world went sideways and black.

. . .

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Ugh," Jim groaned, cringing sleepily against the incessantly blaring noise echoing around him. "Too loud…"

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

"I am Gun Robot! I am Gun Robot! I am—"

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Jim! Jim, honey, wake up! You're going to be late for school!"

"Wha—?"

"Get up, sleepyhead!"

"Deya above, what the hell—" Jim gasped, jerking awake and sitting up, shaking his head dazedly.

"Jim, honestly, your alarm's been going off for half an hour!"

Jim turned to the sound of his mother's voice, blinking his eyes open sleepily, stretching and yawning. His back cracked as he stretched, and then he froze as he realized what he was hearing and seeing. "M-mom?"

"What's with that look?" Barbara laughed as she walked into the room — and not just a room, but his room; his bedroom in his mother's house. The posters, toys, books, action figures… everything was in the same place as he had always kept it before…

"I am Gun Robot! I am Gun Robot! I—"

Jim absently snatched his phone up, and then dropped it in shock as he stared at his hands — his very human hands. "Wha— no… no!"

"Jim?"

Jim's heart pounded in his chest as he rubbed his hands over his wrists, searching for the charm that Merlin had given him. Finding nothing, he lifted his hands to his face, feeling desperately for a Glamour Mask. Again, nothing.

"Honey, are you all right?" Barbara asked in concern, walking up to him and pressing her hand to his forehead. "No fever. I hope you're not coming down with whatever it was that Claire had."

"Well, I can't get pregnant, so—"

"WHAT?!"

Jim jumped, grabbing his head in pain as his mother's outraged shout echoed painfully through his head. "Ow, Mom! Jeez! What am I even doing here? I was—"

"What do you mean Claire's pregnant?!" Barbara shouted, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him roughly, her eyes wild and panicked.

"Well, not any— Mom, you were there!" Jim groaned, frowning in pained confusion. "Are you really going to make me go through this again? Don't you think it hurts enough? And where's my charm? Why do I look human?"

Barbara stared down at Jim, her face pale and shocked, and then she relaxed, giving a weak laugh. Cupping his face, she leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Jim, be honest with me: you and Toby were out late last night — were you drinking?"

"What?" Jim shook his head, leaning back from his mother to stare up at her in shocked confusion. "No, I… I was… I was… I was home, and then there was Time magic, and—"

"Jim," Barbara said, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "All right, I'll let it slide this once, but if I ever catch you drinking again—"

"Mom, I wasn't—"

"Enough!" Barbara said, holding her hands up to stem his protests. "Now, other than some confusion, you don't seem to have a hangover, so I expect you to be up and out the door in five minutes!"

"But—"

"You're already late!" Barbara chastised, lightly smacking the back of his head. "Now, hurry up before you miss first period altogether!"

"Wait, no! Mom, listen to me!" Jim begged, rolling out of bed and standing to his feet, grabbing his mother's hand desperately as she turned away. "This is wrong. I… I'm not supposed to be here. I'm not in school. Cl-Claire and I are… are married. We have children! We don't even live in California anymore!"

"Wow, that was some dream," Barbara laughed, the sound a little unnerved as she stared down at him. "How much did you drink?"

"I am not drunk!" Jim exclaimed, annoyed when his throat refused to produce a growl. "I wasn't dream— ow!" Jim jerked back, grabbing his arm where his mother had pinched him, purposefully digging her nails in. "What the hell did you do that fo— OW!"

"First of all," Barbara fumed, shaking her hand out from the slap she'd just laid across his mouth and glaring down at Jim as he rubbed his face in pain. "You will not speak to your mother that way. I raised you better than that! And secondly, if this weren't real — if it were some kind of hallucination or dream — you wouldn't have felt that pain, would you?"

Jim stared up at his mother in shock, his face still stinging in pain. Glancing down at his thin, pale human arm, the place where his mother had pinched him was already turning purple. "N-no, but…"

Barbara sighed, bringing her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Jim, that's enough, now. You need to get to school."

And with that, Barbara left Jim standing in the middle of his bedroom, in pain and dazed with shock and grief.

To be continued...

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