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"Have you even told her what happened to her brother? Does she even know?" Toby questioned me as we made out way back to our little cul-de-sac.
"Haven't really been able to sit down with her and go 'HEY! Your little brother was kidnapped and that's why I brought him up the other night. But don't worry! We know kind of here he is!'" I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair. "I know, it's a terrible excuse."
"Defiantly. Like worse than when you told Señor Uhl that the reason we were late was because of how your mom had a flat. When we bike to school. And he knew we bike to school. To be honest, what were you thinking at that moment?" I gave him a nervous smile as I slipped my hands into my jumper's pockets.
"How the fuck can I get out of this one? Probably that." I sighed once more as I looked up to the sky. "At least we can explain a bit more about what we're doing first before we tell her. I don't want her thinking that we could have prevented it or something."
"But that look on your face says that even you believe that." I chuckled darkly as I glance over to my best friend.
"You know me way too well, Tobes."
"It comes with the whole best friend title. Deal with it." I laughed lightly as I reached out to knock him lightly in the shoulder.
"I wouldn't have it any other way, my friend." I felt Toby's hand collapse over my left shoulder as I slipped my hand back into my jacket's pocket.
"But seriously, Jim. You need to tell her. When is something I'll leave up to you. No matter what though, you need to tell her." I nodded my head as we started to make our way through the forest before our homes.
"Tomorrow. I'll tell her tomorrow. After we show her Troll Market. After we explain just how little we knew of all of it."
"Sounds perfect, Jimbo. I'll be right here beside you through it all."
"Thanks, Tobes."
"No prob, Jimbo. That way if she tries to murder you from keeping this from her, I'll be here as a witness." I shot a glare over to Toby as we continued our walk to our houses.
"Thanks, Tobes." This time sarcasm dripped off my voice as he laughed wholeheartedly at the torture he was putting me through. He smacked me shoulder with his hand before retracting it with a large smile on his face.
"You're welcome!"
"You're kidding." I smiled toward Claire as it was obvious to me she was excited by what I had to say with how she bounced on the balls of her feet.
"I'm not. Blinky said we can bring you. He's really excited to meet you actually."
"I get to meet the wonderful Fair Claire? The young maiden you always speak of?" I felt myself blush as Blinky and I worked on the Vespa together. Over the one and a half weeks since he had showcased the gift to me, we've actually got pretty far into building the vehicle.
"Um, yeah. Do you think it would be a good idea? With Vendel and everything?"
"She's the friend to our beloved Trollhunter who, if you have forgotten, have proven to the people of which he protects that he is worthy of the title." I smiled as Blinky looked over to me, dropping the wrench in his hand slightly as he gave me his full attention. "She will be welcomed with open arms." He went back to work almost instantly as he continued to speak. "If not though, AAARRRGGHH will make sure of it. Right, my old friend?!" Blinky yelled out toward his companion to be welcomed to a large roar. "Exactly." I laughed lightly at the two of them as I went back to getting my hands dirty with the Vespa.
"Thanks, Blinky."
"Really? So you talked to him about me, huh?" I felt a blush creep up onto my cheeks as a large smirk appeared on her face.
"Um-." My pause and deer in the headlight look seemed to pull a giggle from the girl beside me. The crystal around my neck mocked me as it warmed against my skin. She reached out and touched my bicep to seemingly calm down my nerves.
"I'm toying with you! It's fine. I can't wait to meet him and argh, right?" I could swear that if it wasn't for the wide smile on her face that I could see a blush mimicking my own on her cheeks, but I put that in the back of my mind as I replied to her almost instantly.
"Actually, his name is AAARRRGGHH. With three Rs. Trust me. Blinky will remind you as many times as he is allowed." This got another laugh out of Claire as we started to make our way toward our history class together.
"So is there anything I should know before going there? Anything major I shouldn't do or stuff like that."
Oh. Maybe the fact that your brother is a changeling and I feel as if I've purposely kept it from you and I could have done much more for him than I did but you know, nothing huge and I totally don't feel guilty for it or anything like that. Totally not.
"Um. I don't think so. Just don't touch anyone, I guess. Toby found that out the hard way."
"Alrighty. Keep my hands to myself. Got it." She smiled toward me widely as she slipped her hands into her blazer pockets. "I can do that." I felt myself smile as I allowed the sight to be imprinted into my memory.
"I'm sure you can." With that, we slipped into the classroom with our shared smiles being the last remains to our conversation as we went to our respective seats.
"Ready for this?" I smiled as I held the horngazel in my right hand. When I thought Claire was excited about exploring Troll Market, I wasn't thinking about how excited Toby would be to the idea.
"Come on! I can't wait to see AAARRRGGHH's reaction to her!" I rolled my eyes with my smile still in place as I drew the archway on the wall of the bridge.
"Tobes. Calm yourself." He placed his hand on his chin for a moment as the arch pushed into the concrete to showcase the passageway to Troll Market. He hummed lightly as I turned back to Claire.
"How about no." I shook my head as I smiled toward Claire.
"Sorry about him."
"It's alright. I know how he's feeling." I chuckled lightly as I held out the horngazel to her.
"Here. You can take it." She looked down at the object in my hands before looking back up to me with wide eyes.
"Are you sure?" My smile widened further as I pointed my thumb over to Toby with my free hand.
"I gave it Toby our first night after Trollmarket. I have enough of a reminder of my ties to all of this with the amulet so I let him take care of the horngazel so he had a reminder as well." I took a step closer as my smile kept its place on my face. "Since you're apart our little team now, it can be yours." I watched as Claire's hazel eyes looked at me skeptically before taking the object and weighed it within her hands with a soft smile.
"Thanks, Jim." I dropped my hand to my side as I slipped my right hand into my jeans pocket.
"Thanks for joining us." I turned back towards Toby before taking a step toward the entryway of Troll Market. "Everyone ready?" I didn't have to be told as I felt a hand slip into mine as if it was second nature to it. I looked down at it to see the familiar sleeve of a black blazer with a purple cloth peeking out from under it.
I'll take that as a yes.
I felt a lopsided grin take place over my face as all three of us started making our way down the steps. But as we did so, crystals started to illuminate the pathway and staircase in a beautiful mix of hues. I pulled out the crystal from under my shirt with my free hand as it joined in the shiny glow of cavern dwelling staircase. After a few seconds to allow Claire to enjoy the scenery, we started our journey down the staircase.
"Now, Troll Market is beautiful, but there are some trolls that still don't enjoy the fact that humans are down here. So be careful before interact-"
"Blinky said that if anyone gives her any problems that AAARRRGGHH will handle it. Don't worry, Tobes. It's not like I-we would allow anything to happen to her down here anyway." I smiled over my left shoulder to Toby that was almost right behind us as we continued down the staircase. After a certain point, you could see almost all of Troll Market so I placed my attention on Claire as I saw the childlike wonder in her eyes. I watched her tug my hand as she hurried her footsteps toward the sight. I chuckled as I tried my best to keep up with her.
"Hey! Short legs back here! Don't leave me hanging!" My chuckle grew into a full laugh as Claire and I reached the last few steps. Her hand slipped out of mine as she spun toward us.
"This place is amazing!" She raised her hands up into the air as she turned back toward the beauty that was Troll Market once more. I reached up to grab the crystal around my neck to feel the burning sensation it had against my jacket but I smiled as I watched her look around as if it was the most beautiful sight she had ever laid her eyes on. I felt a hand place itself on my shoulder as Toby used me to steady himself as he tried to catch his breath.
"I get the whole the girl you like getting to know your biggest secret thing, but don't forget your best friend has tiny legs, asshat." I smiled at Toby's words as I felt the crystal mimick the burning feeling in my face like it has many times before while my eyes stayed on the smiling Latina.
"Sorry."
"Don't be. To be honest, I would be the same way if I was you." He patted my shoulder before he started to walk off toward Claire. "Now come on. We need to meet with Blinky, right?" I nodded my head as I followed him with ease.
"Yep. We need to get going."
It didn't take us too much longer after that to make our way toward Blinky's library where said troll and his companion were waiting for us.
"Ah! Good evening, Master Jim. Tobias. Last but not least, welcome to our humble abode, Lady Claire! Glad to meet your acquaintance." Blinky gave us all a wide smile as AAARRRGGHH came up right beside him.
"Wing-man." He brought up his left fist so that Toby could bump it with his own.
"Nice to see you too, big guy." The larger troll brought his fist down as he gave a smile and a small nod to the new member to our small team.
"Wel-come."
"Thank you. To both of you. This place is amazing. Mind if I take a look?" Blinky's eyes widened as he gestured out toward his loaded shelves with a larger smile than I have ever seen from the troll.
"Go right ahead! Be my guest." With this, Claire and Blinky seemed to already be fast friends due to their mutual love for knowledge.
Would I have expected anything less? Nope. Did I expect it to happen so quickly? Nope.
Are both of them going to be pissed off once they realize what my next plan is? Probably.
I walked past AAARRRGGHH and Toby who were talking amongst themselves as I slipped into the forge. I stretched my arms above my head with a content sigh.
For all that Daylight protect, with all of Merlin's magic within me, I will protect and defeat as the sun will let me.
I smiled at the flash of light that showcased to me that the armor set itself into place.
When the armor first placed itself upon my skin, I was in too much of a frantic state to understand how it felt. But in the moments that came after, it felt foreign to me. The weight of the armor was heavy and made me feel as if I was running around in someone else's calling. But now as I walk toward the center of the Hero's Forge while looking up to the Trollhunters before me, the armor felt as if it was a second skin to me now. It took almost two months of pure anxiety, sleep deprivation, and panic attacks, but I believe it was worth it to get to this point.
I looked down at my silver armored hands as the black little bits of leather-like cloth under it covered my flesh in the exposed areas. A light violet flowed through the cracks of the metal pieces that would normally either be blue or bright red and orange like that of the heartstone.
Violet means pride. Got it. I guess that should be something I'll need to be wary of in the future. What was it that Blinky said? A fool fights with anger and it's the blind that leads with pride? It sounds like something straight out of Shakespeare. Huh, no wonder he and Claire got along so quickly.
I smiled widely as I walked up to the Soothscryer.
"So I stick my arm in this thing?" I looked over to Vendel as I started hoping within my mind that he would tell me otherwise.
"Yes."
Whelp. There go those hopes.
"You're joking, right?" I looked over to Toby who was speaking the thoughts I had raging within my mind.
"What is there to joke about, fleshling? Many trolls before you have done this. You place your arm within the Soothscryer and then it decides if you are worthy to protect our people."
"But that's exactly it. I'm not a troll. I'm also not a normal Trollhunter." I put my attention back to Vendel as I stood before the much taller stone structure. It had a head carved into the top of it of a troll's head with multiple eyes, an open mouth, and large horns on the sides. The eyes shined bright red as I looked up to the top of it. The crystal around my neck shined lightly as I glanced down at it. A light grey color dancing around in the necklace as I looked back up to the stone structure.
I looked back up to the large relic one more.
Eclipse.
My eyes widened as I heard a deep voice within my mind. Much like the one I heard when I first dawned the armor of the amulet.
Place your arm in the Soothscryer, young warrior. We desire to speak to you.
I didn't think as I pulled myself up to the edge of the Soothscryer and instinctively placed my right arm into the mouth of the structure. There was a bright flash of blue light as I felt as if I was pulled into the relic both mentally and physically. It was as if both my soul and my body were being placed from one world to another as I screamed to myself mentally.
Then suddenly, it ended.
I opened my eyes that I didn't realize that I closed during the experience to be welcomed to a dark room with a small blue haze of a deep blue in what I believed were the corners of the rooms but the darkness within the room seemed as if it was much further into the void than what the subtle blue linings allowed you to perceive. The area's setting was so interesting that I didn't notice I was sitting on the floor until I felt myself stand up and look around the room further. It was built like that of the Hero's Forge in a way with the large pillars where the statues would be placed as well as the pathway to the center of the room. I took a few hesitant steps toward the middle of the area as a voice called out from behind me.
"Welcome, young Eclipse." I turned suddenly to be welcome to the silhouette of a large troll within the kind of style of armor I was in. The only major differences were the face of how he had an amulet over his heart much like me with the crystal, a helmet was placed upon his head, and his shoulder pieces were a lot more even than mine. My left shoulder plate was a bit larger than the right side, which I never quite understood why that was, but looking upon what I could assume was a fellow Trollhunter only made that thought even more confusing. After a few seconds, I realized I was welcomed and I didn't respond to the greeting.
"Um, hi." I nervously waved to the much larger being as the troll only placed his hands on what I assumed was his waist. It wasn't until then that I finally tied who he was to which one of the statues I was told was the most recently fallen Trollhunter. "You're Kanjigar the Courageous."
"And you are Jim the Bular Slayer. The Human Eclipse. What is the difference between us if not of name and kind?"
I guess he isn't wrong.
I smiled at the idea as I kept my attention on Kanjigar. "If you don't mind me asking then, why was I brought here? And why did you say we?" The large troll opened his arms wide to gesture beside them as more figures joined on both sides of him. Some were familiar to me due to the statues I saw in the Hero's Forge, but some of them were unknown to me.
"We are the souls of Trollhunters past. Each of us is brought here in the Void Between Worlds after our passing. Here we guide and speak to those after us with the best of our ability once we are called upon." I glanced between both sides of Kanjigar with wide eyes as the figures disappeared just as suddenly as they had appeared.
This some Avatar kind of shit.
I stifled my laugh as I cleared my throat. "But I didn't call upon you. You said you desired to speak with me."
"Yes. That I did." I tilted my head as he continued. "As the Eclipse, your thoughts and emotions are streamed to us. We know of your plans. We know of your desires." He glided toward me with ease before stopped a mere few feet away from me. "We know of your struggles. We know how you plan to head to the Darklands." I instinctively swallowed hard as I could tell that Kanjigar was narrowing his eyes at me. "We called you here to warn you. This justification you seek will lead you down a dangerous path. One filled with many hardships. If you follow through with this, the only way you will survive is to end Gunmar the Black. It is the only way." I took a deep breath as I tried to keep my composer in front of the spirit.
"I need to kill Gunmar to survive the Darklands."
"Certainly. You are a prophetic figure and there is so much that you are destined to accomplish, but hear us clearly. Your emotions are your strength as the Eclipse but don't let them blind you. Your ties to others are your strength but don't let them lead you nor should you allow them to be all you are." I nodded my head along to what he said while I let the words sink in further but one word, in particular, caught my attention.
"Did you say prophetic?"
"Jim? Where are you?"
"Jim!"
"Seems you are being called upon once more, young Eclipse. We will speak of this further." I watched for a moment as Kanjigar started to fade from view.
"But wait! I have so many questions! What do you mean by prophetic? What do you mean by destined? What does it all mean? Kanjigar!" But the familiar feeling of being pulled from one word to another took over me as I fell to the ground with a thud. I groaned as I brought myself up to a sitting position before cradling my head with my right hand. My mind felt as there was a raging storm within as I tried to shake off the tired feeling within my limbs. I wanted to open my eyes but the sudden light caused me to screw them shut once more.
I guess that's just the physical effect of basically being sucked into a stone relic thing.
I felt a hand press down lightly against my left shoulder as my ears started to pick up on the conversation that was happening around me.
"He was called upon by the council of Trollhunters. He'll be disoriented for a moment at the very least. The first time is always the most difficult."
"Council of Trollhunters? Like dead dudes talking together kind of stuff?" I groaned as my head pounded due to how loud their voices were even though they were in their normal tonalities.
"Can you guys just be quiet? I think you're making it worse." I knew the voice that was beside me well as I opened my eyes slowly to see Claire sitting there with her hand still upon my shoulder. I gave her a weak smile as I dropped my head from my head. "Are you okay?" I nodded my head slightly.
"The best I can be after what just happened." My voice was barely above a whisper but it got the point across. With Claire's help, I was able to get to my feet with relative ease and I was able to stand on my own even though there was still a slight weakness in my legs.
"What did they speak to you about, Master Jim? Nothing drastic, I hope." I looked over to Blinky as I replied without a second thought.
"He told me of a prophecy but never explained it. What was he talking about, Blinky?" Blinky's face fell as he looked over to AAARRRGGHH who only looked between us for a moment before nodding his head to his friend. With this, Blinky sighed before speaking himself.
"Long ago when our kinds were against one another was when the Amulet of Daylight was created. It was a gift by the wizard Merlin to protect trolls as well as keep our ties to humanity to a minimum. It was the human's way of letting our kind know we were no longer be prosecuted for being creatures of magic as for us to protect ourselves against the Gum-Gums." He looked back up to AAARRRGGHH for a moment as he rubbed each of his hands together with their opposite one. "But when it was given to us, Merlin made a promise that one day a human would wield the amulet and be the savior of both realms. A connection to the amulet then showcasing a tie to the heartstone that gives us trolls life to prove it." His eyes landed on me once more as he continued. "He called them the Human Eclipse. The one to bright daylight and darkness together in harmony. The barrier between worlds."
"But Kanjigar said I was destined to do something." I took a deep breath as I kept my attention on Blinky. "What did he mean by that? What do you mean by savior?" The troll took a deep breath as he put his hands behind him as he released it slowly.
"What I mean by savior and what Kanjigar had stated link together. The Human Eclipse was said by Merlin to do many things. A lot of which he never explained to any of our kind, but he did speak on one that we know for certain."
"And is that?" Claire's hand returned to my shoulder as she presented her question. Blinky looked at her for a moment before his eyes landed on me once more.
"You are destined to bring an end to our suffering. To bring peace to both of our kinds. He never spoke of how, but I don't doubt the council would know more than I. They are tied to the amulet more than ever once they pass."
"And from I could tell Kanjigar won't explain it to me."I sighed as I looked over to Claire who had a worried look in her eyes.
I now understand what it feels to be left in the dark. She deserved to know now more than ever.
"Claire, I need to tell you something." I glanced over to Toby who almost instantly knew what I wanted.
"Oh! Blinky, AAARRRGGHH, I had some questions about something Jim and I found. Can we go talk about it in the library?"
"Couldn't we just-?"
"Nope! Let's go!" I had a small smile on my face as I watched Toby dragged Blinky with AAARRRGGHH following in tow. I brought my attention to Claire again to see we were both fighting off a small laugh about what we have just witnessed.
"Well that was smooth, wasn't it?" I let out the laugh I was fighting.
"Totally crispy." I was going to continue speaking but I stopped myself when a small smirk appeared on her face.
"Did you just say crispy as a synonym for cool?"
"Hey, I thought you said you wouldn't judge me."
"I said that about the crystal. Not about saying crispy." I groaned at her statement as I rolled my eyes jokingly. She just laughed lightly at my reaction before she reached out with both of her hands and placed them on my shoulders. "Alright, you said you wanted to speak to me. What's on your mind?" I took a deep breath and released it slowly.
"It's about your brother." She gave me tilted her head slightly as a curious look took over her face. "This might be a lot. We can sit down if you want?"
"Nope. I can handle it." I had to fight the small smile that fought at the edges of my lips.
Of course she'll say that. She's probably one of the most headstrong people I know.
"Your brother is a changeling."
I watched as her face fell at my words. There was a swirl of emotions battling within her darkened chocolate eyes.
Maybe that wasn't the way to tell someone their little brother is a mythical creature. Way to go, Jackass.
"What does that mean?"
"It means your brother isn't the same one you know. He was replaced with a troll. He knows you know about me, but not about him." I swallowed dryly as I watched her look away from me for a moment. "Trust me, I've been wanting to tell you. But with Bular and the play and the goblins and everything else involved we haven't had enough time to explain it. That's not a good excuse but I promise I'll make this rig-." I was cut off and Claire wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me into a tight hug. It felt as if she was clutching onto me like a lifeline.
"Its all my fault." I felt my eyes widen in shock. I wasn't sure I heard her right but I felt her shake slightly as she tried to take a deep breath. She pulled away from me slightly before she started speaking again. "The night my brother went missing I snuck out to hang out with Darci and Mary. If I had just stayed, maybe I could have heard something or actually took care of him as a sister should I-."
"Claire, no." I unwrapped my arms from her and placed my hands on her biceps. This motion caused her to look me in the eyes which I didn't know gave me more strength to speak or just made me even more nervous. "It's not your fault. If it's anyone's," I hesitated for a moment but I pushed through. "It would be me." She gave me a confused look so I took it as an opportunity to continue, but I had to tear my eyes away from her to have the strength to. "A few days before Toby and I saw what I found out it was Enrique, we saw a bundle being carried into the museum by a goblin. If I had stopped it or got the goblin's attention maybe he would still be here and it's something that's been eating at me since I realized it was your brother that we saw." I heard a small laugh come from her before I looked up to her to see she had a sad smile dancing on her lips.
"I guess guilt has been eating at the both of us, huh?" I chuckled a little at the idea as I watched the sadden features faded slowly as her hands placed themselves on my biceps as I have done with her.
"He must be full then. Hopefully." This caused a true laugh out of her as she shook her head at me with a small smile.
"Only you would say something like that." I smiled easily as I saw that the dark emotions that swirled in her eyes gave away to show a gentle feeling within it.
"I think only I would say this too." I gave Claire a serious look with the smile still placed on my lips. "I promise to get him back. At some point or some way, I promise he'll be okay. Even if it means I have to go to the Darklands myself to get him."
"This is not your weight to bare on your own." My smile deepened as Claire patted my right arm once before dropping her arms to her side. "No matter what, we're in this together now. It doesn't matter to me where we're heading or what we come across, you're not doing this alone." I felt my smile deepen as the armor glowed a soft but deep purple as she spoke. She gave me a smirk as I dropped my hands from her arms and scratched the back of my neck with my right hand. "You never told me what purple stood for." I gave her a nervous smile as I chuckled lightly at her normal demeanor that I grew to enjoy more than anything. Especially in this past month and a half.
"Stick around and you might find out."