Hello, my loves. It's been a rough month, but here I am. Again, I update once a month, so there's no need to send rude messages, demanding that I update. By the way, did anyone play the Defenders of Arcadia video game? I know it's just a platformer, but I was rather surprised by how much I enjoyed it (plus, it dealt with time travel and alternate realities, which you guys know that I love, lol). Now, on to the next chapter, and I hope you all enjoy! :)

Chapter Fifty

Arcadia was quiet during the night, which Jim found to be unusual. Granted, the last time he was here in the middle of the night, trolls, goblins, and various chaos was set loose — without those things around anymore, the town was almost suspiciously quiet, and it was very unsettling.

"What makes you think he'll be at the bookstore at 3 in the morning?" Claire asked, gently bouncing the excited baby in her arms. Although people and trolls that they trusted had remained in New Trollmarket, neither Jim nor Claire had felt comfortable leaving Ellie with one of their friends with Leeds still on the loose, and Merlin had insisted that both of them come with him to find Douxie.

"Traces of his magic, and… Lady Claire, do you sense that?" Merlin replied with a slightly confused frown, looking up and down the empty street cautiously.

"Shadow magic…" Claire said, her voice and expression slightly nervous. "But… it's faint. Like… an impression of it, but the original source wasn't strong, to begin with. It's not here now."

"Are we in danger?" Jim asked, also noting the faint trace of shadow magic, but his senses did not detect any immediate danger, which he was usually on point about.

"No," Merlin assured them, reaching over to gently pat Ellie between her horns. The baby laughed and tried to grab the wizard's hand, but he pulled it away too fast. "I told you Douxie was excellent at monster capture; I suspect he likely captured a Shadow Mephit recently. Though, the question remains as to what a Shadow Mephit would be doing outside of the Shadow Realm."

"A lot of things seem be escaping that place, lately," Jim grumbled, reaching out to pull on the bookstore door handle. To his surprise, an electric-like spark snapped back against his touch. A shimmering, blue sheen rippled out from his touch, revealing a haze of defensive magic, inscribed with various runes, covering the whole building. Jim shook the sting out of his hand, glaring at the door. "I guess he is here."

"Hm," Merlin leaned closer to the door, examining the runes closely. "Well, his defensive spells have certainly gotten better, though he still relies too heavily on the Wua Rune."

"Wua?" Claire asked, pressing an absent kiss to Ellie's cheek as the baby tried to squirm her way onto her mother's head — an easy game she played with her father, but Claire was a lot smaller and not as balanced, which Ellie didn't truly understand yet. "The Morning Glory Rune?"

"Yes," Merlin nodded. "Light magic — great against most with evil intent, but very weak against those who share the talent."

"I don't know," Jim said, examining his hand carefully; there was still a little bit of a sting from the magic. "That wasn't exactly a tickle — if I have the same magic, shouldn't I be immune?"

"Not necessarily," Merlin replied, waving a hand absently toward Claire just as Ellie made a grab for her mother's hair in an attempt to pull herself upward. The baby was encased in a green glow and floated up out of Claire's arms, giggling happily. With another wave of his hand, Merlin gently deposited the playful baby on top of Jim's head, where she easily settled between his horns, turning to gnaw on one of them with a happy purr. "Had Claire or I made contact with that spell, I suspect we would have suffered more than a slight sting. This spell is specifically aimed toward warding off Dark Magicks, meaning our lovely Lady Claire would likely lose a finger or two, if not her whole hand."

Claire gave a nervous laugh, eyeing the shimmering magic with a new look of unease. "You… know how to disarm it, right?"

"Not to worry," Merlin said, using his staff to gently tap against certain areas of the simmering forcefield. In his wake, particular portions of the runes lit up in the same neon green color of the old man's magic, glowing brightly before seeming to dissolve into nothing. After the 7th rune that Merlin imbued had dissolved, the whole barrier shimmered and flickered, and then shattered, breaking like glass, but then dissolving into mist, which dissipated in the air around them. "Presto!"

"Pesso!" Ellie mimicked, laughing as she threw her hands in the air and nearly toppled backward off of Jim's head. Thankfully, the Trollhunter had played this game many times with his daughter and could anticipate her movements without thought, catching the baby easily and sitting her back on top of his head.

"Careful, Pumpkin," Jim chuckled, guiding the baby's hands to grasp his horns. "Hang on."

"That's one more white hair," Claire grumbled, though her tone and emotions were relieved. She leaned over, standing on her tip toes, and pressed a chaste kiss to Jim's cheek. "You're such a good daddy."

Jim beamed at the praise, but Merlin interrupted their familial moment with a disgusted grunt as he tugged at the door handle and the door still did not budge. "What is the meaning of this? I disarmed the spell; why does this door refuse to cooperate?"

Claire laughed, shaking her head. "Probably because it's locked, Merlin."

"Locked?" Merlin repeated, his cheeks reddening, and Jim and Claire snickered at the wizard's embarrassment. "Well… a spell and a lock seems rather like overkill, if you ask me."

"Well, magic may ward off Shadow Mephits," Claire laughed, rolling her eyes. "…but a lock tends to ward off mortal thieves."

"I suppose," Merlin replied, rolling his eyes, his cheeks still a little red. Clearing his throat, the old man raised his staff again. "Well, then — stand back. I will have to magically break the lock."

"Or," Jim said, reaching out to grasp the wizard's casting arm, preventing him from doing anything further. "We could knock."

"I doubt many bad guys would knock," Claire agreed, pursing her lips against a laugh. "He may be more inclined to not start casting spells back at us, if we didn't break his door — seeing as we've already broken his defensive enchantment, that is."

Merlin grunted, lowering his staff, but seemed to be skeptical about the proposed plan of action. "Very well."

Claire laughed, but stepped forward to rap her knuckles against the glass of the front door, a bit harder than she probably would have, if they were there during the day. Douxie had two day jobs, and Jim figured that he probably didn't hold an all nocturnal schedule like they did, after all, and he would most likely be asleep at this hour. They waited for a minute or two, but there was no answer. Claire looked up at the second story windows, and Jim followed her gaze, lifting a hand to hold his daughter in place as he tilted his head up. The windows were dark. "Should I knock again or shout up?"

"Let's avoid shouting, if we can," Jim replied to his mate, glancing up and down the street nervously. "I don't want to attract any attention; we're too close to Kubritz and my mother… and your mother."

"Who are you more afraid of?" Claire laughed, leaning forward to rap hard on the door again.

"Oh, Ophelia, definitely," Jim replied, only half joking.

Claire laughed again, but Jim felt the tinge of sadness that went along with it, and he reached out to grasp her hand. Before his fingers could twine with hers, however, an orange, flickering light burst into existence from inside, and they could see the new fire that had sprung up from the fireplace within. There was movement on the spiral staircase inside, and then there was Douxie, opening the door with a weary expression.

"Claire and Jim," Douxie started with a slight yawn as he opened the door. "Haven't seen you two in forever. And who is this cutie?" Douxie gave one of his charming smiles to the baby on top of Jim's head, and she laughed.

"This is our Ellie," Jim replied with a proud smile, rocking his head slightly, which caused the baby to laugh again. "Sorry for the early wake up call — but, well…"

Jim glanced behind him, wondering why Merlin hadn't said anything yet, and why Douxie hadn't seemed notice the wizard, but trailed off in confused shock when he found no sign of the old man.

"Where…?" Claire gasped, turning around in a confused circle as she noticed the missing wizard as well.

"What… are you looking for?" Douxie asked with a confused laugh. He stepped back from the doorway and gestured for them to come inside. "Come on in. It's been fairly calm since you lot left, but there still might be the occasional beastie wanting to make trouble. Best not to have a couple of rogue trolls and a sorceress on the street."

"Have… you been having trouble?" Claire asked as they stepped inside and Douxie locked the door behind them. The young wizard pressed his palm to the door, muttering a spell under his breath. A blue glow lit up in his hand, and then his defensive charm was back in place, and he was turning back to them with a tired smile, stretching his arms above his head. Claire and Jim were still glancing around for the suddenly missing old man.

"Oh, well…" Douxie laughed and shrugged. "In nine hundred years, I've learned never to be too cautious." He waved in his hand in the air, familiar blue magic swirling in his wake, forming shapes of small birds and butterflies. They fluttered around Jim's head, and Ellie screeched with laughter, rocking forward to try and catch them. She tumbled forward, but the birds and butterflies formed into mist and caught her before Jim could, and floated her down to sit on a fluffy, white area rug a few feet back from the fire. "There you are — the fire's nice and warm, innit? Don't worry," he added, sending Claire a charming wink, causing Jim to roll his eyes. "There's a barrier around the fireplace. I put it in place when Nari moved in — the fire mesmerized her, and she nearly fell in."

"Nari?" Jim asked, not recognizing the name. Douxie waved one hand toward the fireplace, and a few of the chairs around the room rearranged themselves to sit conversation-style by the fire, little Ellie playing on the carpet by their feet. With his other hand, he gestured off toward a cabinet between two bookshelves, which opened by itself, the tea set inside coming to life.

"A friend," Douxie replied, shrugging with a fond smile. "We've been living together for about a year." Both Claire and Jim raised an eyebrow at that statement, and Douxie seemed to catch the implication too late, blushing furiously as he hurried to explain himself. "N-not like that! It's not like that at all! We, uh… I mean… she really is just a friend! I… Nari is… I think we're probably too different for anything like that."

Claire laughed lightly, plucking the steaming teacup from the air as it floated in front of her, and Jim did the same, though he was more tempted to dump the tea and munch on the porcelain cup. Given that the set was probably almost as old as Douxie himself, Jim resisted the urge and politely took a sip of the scalding water. To his surprise, the bitterness was actually quite nice to his Trollish sense of taste. Blowing lightly on the liquid in her cup, Claire gave the young wizard a mischievous smile. "Because you're a wizard?"

"I am not going to ask how you suddenly know that," Douxie replied with a sly look. "…but, no. She's… well…" he shook his head, shaking an accusatory finger at Claire. "You, Dark Sorceress, are trouble."

Jim snorted a laughed. "I could've told you that."

"Mama!" Ellie laughed, waving up at her mother from the carpet. She was holding a small wooden sculpture that Jim recognized as a miniature version of the former Trollhunter, Deya the Deliverer. "Toll!"

"I see her, baby," Claire laughed, leaning down and holding her hand out for the sculpture. "Where did you get that?"

"Ah," Douxie laughed, smiling fondly at the little sculpture that Ellie handed over to her mother. "I was wondering where that went to. Archie — my friend and familiar — batted it off the shelf last week, and then Nari got into a scuffle with James. The — the armor," he added quickly, gesturing to the medieval suit of armor standing by the door. The armor in question gave a salute in acknowledgment, and then stilled back into its previous pose. Douxie laughed at their surprised looks. "Anyway, Deya there must have rolled under a chair in the chaos." He smiled charmingly at the baby, raising the pitch of his voice as he spoke to her. "Thank you for finding her for me, love. Deya was a Trollhunter, too you know."

"Da?" Ellie perked up, recognizing the title that Douxie used. She lifted her little arm and pointed toward Jim excitedly. "Tollhun! Da!"

"Yes," Douxie laughed, and Jim couldn't help the proud smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. "Just like your Da."

"Douxie," Claire said, putting her teacup down on the side table next to her chair and reaching down to lift Ellie into her lap. "You know we wouldn't barge in on you in the middle of the night, if it weren't something important. And given your lack of surprise over us and also your lack of surprise over the fact that we know about you suggests that our visit wasn't… unexpected?"

"Well, I figured that Merlin would tell you about me, eventually," Douxie shrugged and Jim nearly spit his mouthful of tea out in shock.
"Y-You know about Mer-Merlin?" Jim coughed, noting the amused, yet slightly annoyed expression that the young wizard had adopted.

"Since the day Gunmar and Morgana attacked," Douxie said with a short, bitter laugh. "I thought my beloved mentor would at least stop by and say hello to his apprentice, given that I grieved his supposed death, built his tomb exactly where and how he wanted, and laid him to rest with the greatest respect, and then proceeded to defend the living realm against the damned Arcane Order for nine centuries, but I guess I wasn't that high up on the list of important things."

"Well, he…" Claire started, sharing a concerned look with Jim. Ellie noticed her parents' concern and Douxie's upset, and whined, chewing on her fingers anxiously. "Shh, baby, it's okay. Douxie… maybe… maybe he didn't know you were here. There was a lot going on, and—"

"Trust me, Fair Claire," Douxie interrupted with a heavy sigh and a patiently amused look. "He knew. He practically raised me, and he taught me how to control my magic. He'd have sensed me a hundred miles off, just like I can him or Morgana. We spent years together, the three of us." Douxie raised his voice slightly, glancing around at the room. "So, you can quit hiding, you bloody coward!"

"Coward?" Merlin's voice echoed angrily, and then the old man in question appeared out of nowhere in a puff of neon green mist. Jim and Claire both jumped a little, started by the sudden appearance, but Douxie had seemed to expect it and whirled around to face his former mentor with an as equally angry expression. "You dare preach to me about cowardice, when you've gone and become a hypocrite!"

"Hypocrite?!" Douxie replied, his eyes flashing with whitish blue power as his temper flared. "How am I a hypocrite, when you—"

"You claim to have defended the Living Realm against the Arcane Order, but you're harboring one of them!"

"Nari renounced the Order!" Douxie said, his eyes flashing white with power, clenching his hands into fists at his sides.

"Oh, so she says," Merlin scoffed, rolling his eyes. "And that's just like you — always trying to see the good in everyone, even when there is none to be had!"

"She has changed!" Douxie insisted, glaring the old man down. "You don't know what's happened in the last few centuries, and you're not even bothering to try and learn!"

"I have had my hands full with—"

"With nothing!" Douxie interrupted the older wizard, nearly shouting in anger. "You tagged along with the trolls to keep yourself hidden, not to help them! You created the Trollhunter, so that you wouldn't have to deal with the trolls yourself — all to stay on Arthur's good side."

"Oh, not you, too," Merlin groaned, rolling his eyes. "I admit, Arthur was biased, but he posed no real threat—"

"He nearly wiped out every magical creature on Earth!"

"He—"

"Boys!" Claire interrupted in her strictest Mom Voice, causing even Jim to cringe, even though he wasn't part of the argument. Merlin and Douxie both snapped their mouths shut, shooting Claire wide-eyed looks. Sighing, she stood and passed Ellie over to Jim, who quickly put his half empty tea cup down and took the baby, bouncing her lightly as she whined, chewing on her fingers anxiously. "You two can share your grievances with each other later, but we came here for a reason, and—"

"Yes!" Merlin interjected brightly, turning to glare his apprentice down. "We have a problem that you will assist us in rectifying it immediate—"

"Merlin!" Claire barked, bracing her hands on her hips and giving the old man one heck of a scary look. Said wizard immediately snapped his mouth shut again, his usually pale cheeks turning a little pink at being chastised. Jim watched in silent admiration as his mate sighed, her shoulders slumping a little, as she turned to look back at Douxie, her expression softening. "We do have a problem, and Merlin has said that you may be able to help with it, but we are here to ask for your assistance, not demand it. If you can't or won't, we understand, and we'll leave you to the rest of your night."

"Of course I'll help," Douxie replied without hesitation, turning to place his attention on Claire and Jim, rather than facing his Master. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Thank you," Jim said, relieved. In his lap, Ellie relaxed too, sensing the easing moods in the room. She gave a shrill giggle, and then — to everyone's surprise — the baby disappeared from Jim's arms and, practically instantaneously, reappeared back on the carpet in front of the fire, several of Douxie's nicknacks and figurines spread out in front of her. "El!"

"Oh, my God!" Claire gasped, and Jim could feel the sudden terror coursing through her as she rushed to the baby's side, picking her up and looking her over frantically for any injuries. Jim was up and by their sides, his own heart pounding at what had just happened.

"Did… did she just teleport?" Douxie asked, his own voice breathless in shock. He came a little closer, but kept a slight distance, likely not wanting to appear as a threat.

"Not quite," Jim said, relaxing again as Ellie seemed to be unscathed, if not a bit grumpy at being taken from her toys and fussed over. He gestured that it was okay for Douxie to come closer, if he wanted to, silently thanking the young wizard for respecting the fact that Jim had briefly gone into Overprotective Troll Daddy Mode. The boy stepped closer, gently tickling Ellie's side to make her laugh. "She can manipulate Time. She doesn't exactly know how to restrain herself just yet."

"Ah," Douxie cringed, giving Jim and Claire a sympathizing look. "That could be very dangerous."

"We know," they replied together, and Claire hugged the baby close, still terrified by what had just happened. "Mi amor, you can't stop Time without taking Mama or Daddy with you. You could have been hurt."

"Pretty impressive feats of movement for a babe who can't even walk yet," Merlin mused, and Jim glared at the old man.

"She somehow got down from my lap, around the room to get all those figurines, and back to the carpet, all without walking," Jim surmised, anxiety causing him to grit his teeth together. "She could have been seriously hurt, so forgive me for not seeing the wonder, for the moment."

"I'm afraid I don't know much about Time manipulation," Douxie said reluctantly, chewing his lip in thought. "Maybe Nari—"

"Thank you, Douxie," Claire interrupted with a soft smile. "But our wayward infant isn't why we need your help — she just decided to show off a little."

Douxie visibly relaxed, laughing. "Well, in that case, please tell me how I can help."

Jim sighed, his shoulders tensing. "Have you heard of the Jersey Devil?"

Douxie laughed, but then his expression dropped as he looked between them all and noticed their distinctly unamused expressions. "Oh… oh, you're bloody serious, aren't ye? I…" he cleared his throat, shrugging and becoming serious. "Well, obviously, I've heard the title and the accompanying story, but I was under the impression that it was mere folklore."

Merlin scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Have you learned nothing in all of your years? All folklore springs from at least a kernel of the truth."

"Merlin, the story cropped up around the same time as the Salem Witch Trials," Douxie said with an exasperated tone of voice, turning back to glare down his old master. "The mortals were seeing evil and monsters in every unusual occurrence; innocent women were being sentenced to death for nothing more than wearing the wrong shoe! So, forgive me if I didn't put much stock in some random monster tale — I had assumed it was mere hysteria."

"Wait, you were there?" Claire interrupted, reaching forward to grasp Douxie's shoulder, directing his attention back toward her. "You were actually there during the Salem Witch Trials?"

"I was… in the area," Douxie replied, his body tensing, and his expression turning distinctly uncomfortable.

"What are these… Salem Witch Trials that you speak of?" Merlin asked, frowning deeply at the wandering conversation. "They sound uncomfortable."

"Just forget it," Douxie interjected quickly, waving off the old man's questions. "Obviously, the Jersey Devil is real, or you would not be here, asking me about it. Is it causing problems?"

Jim and Claire exchanged a worried glance, but silently decided not to press the issue, and Claire hurried to explain before Merlin could try to. "Yes. Apparently, he's been living in part of the same cavern system as our own. It was walled off, but we broke into it a few days ago, during further excavations."

"He's been killing humans for the last 300 years," Jim went on, unable to help but to glance anxiously at his mate and child — both of whom were human and mostly human, and therefore most at risk. "His cavern was filled with bodies, and Toby and I discovered him bringing in another, as well, but he got away before we could catch him. The more we looked into it, the more we realized that the disappearances of humans is excessively high in that area; it's kind of amazing that he's managed to stay undiscovered for so long, because he doesn't try to hide his actions very well."

"That's likely due to fear," Douxie surmised, nodding sagely. "The Pine Barrens are terrifying enough without the monster stories. He's taking advantage of the space and the fear."

"That was our assumption, as well," Jim concurred. "We think he's also been taking advantage of Queen Una's Wisps — they attract wanderers, and he snatches them up before they can find their way out of the forest. Queen Una insinuated that it was a common tactic that human eaters used."

"You spoke with the Fae Queen?" Douxie asked, his tone and expression impressed. "She won't speak to me."

"Why not?" Claire asked, cocking her head to the side curiously, glancing Douxie up and down as if she could find some kind of marker that would have dissuaded Una from interacting with the other wizard. "You use Light Magic, don't you? I find it hard to believe that she would speak to me, when I use Dark Magic, but not a Light Magic user."

Douxie laughed bitterly, shooting Merlin another glare, while the old man fidgeted nervously, looking down at his feet. "I was Merlin's apprentice, and as such, I served under King Arthur. She would never speak to me, given that."

"Was he really that bad?" Jim asked, frowning as he glanced between Merlin and Douxie. "I mean… the legends about King Arthur are always so… heroic."

"It's complicated," Douxie replied, heaving a tired sigh. "It's not so much that Arthur was a bad person, it's just… well, when Queen Guinevere was killed by a Stalkling, he waged war on all magical creatures, even sorcerers. The only one he trusted was Merlin, and if Merlin hadn't taken Morgan and myself in, we would have been executed for our abilities, as well."

"That's no excuse to—" Claire started, her expression hardening in anger as she gently bounced the baby on her hip.

"If your mate or your babe were killed by a magical creature, for nothing more than wandering into the wrong place at the wrong time, would you not be — at the very least — wary of their presence?" Douxie retorted, giving Claire a soft, understanding smile. "Imagine yourself as a normal mortal, before you discovered your magical abilities — you would feel small and helpless, completely at the mercy of beings with abilities beyond the scope of your understanding and beyond your ability to defend against. I am not saying that this makes his actions and rationale just, but you can understand where his fear came from, right?"

Claire's angry expression faltered, and Jim felt the terror well up in her as she likely imagined the scenario that Douxie described. She clutched Ellie closer to herself, and the baby whined, calling our for her mother in concern. "Mama…?"

"J-just…" Claire stuttered, pressing her face into the baby's hair, hugging her tightly. "I can't…"

"I'm sorry," Douxie said as Jim pulled his mate and whelp into his arms, caging them in the protective circle of his arms. "I didn't mean to—"

"I'm okay," Claire murmured, her voice shaky. Despite her reassurance, Jim could still feel her terror, and feel her trembling in his arms. There was a few moments of tense, awkward silence, and then they all jumped in surprise as a dark shape swooped down from the second floor.

"Kitty!" Ellie yelled excitedly, pointing at the black cat that was flapping its wings — wings! — and hovering between them. Although the wings surprised Jim the most, the glasses were as equally as surprising. Then, the cat opened its mouth and began speaking in a sophisticated, English accent.

"Oh, trolls, hm?" the cat said, adjusting his glasses in a scholarly fashion as he looked Jim up and down, and then turned his curious gaze onto Ellie. "Well, let it be known that I am not anyone's dinner. Is that understood?"

Jim laughed weakly, shaking his head. "Don't worry; Ellie and I don't eat cast — especially flying and talking ones."

"Pet kitty?" Ellie asked, reaching out toward the cat with an upturned palm. "Pease?"

Douxie chuckled, smirking amusedly at the cat. "She did say please, Arch."

The cat rolled his eyes, but flew closer as Claire stepped back from Jim's embrace, turning Ellie in her arms so that she faced the cat. The baby reached forward with her outstretched hand and gently rubbed the cat under his chin. To everyone's amusement, Archie closed his eyes and began purring loudly. "Oh, she's rather nice, isn't she?"

"So nice that we're going to help them with a monster problem," Douxie replied, smacking Merlin across the back in a jovial manner. The tense old man stumbled forward a little, grumbling under his breath, but Jim didn't miss the small smile twitching at the corner of his mouth.

"Monster?" Archie purred, slightly distracted by Ellie's continued affection. With a puff of light and smoke, his wings disappeared, and he fell forward to cuddle into Ellie's arms, and Claire laughed, cradling the two of them gently. "What kind of monster? A Shadow Mephit? There's been an increase in those lately."

"The Jersey Devil," Jim said simply, also laughing at the baby and cat cuddled together, Ellie now gently rubbing the base of the cat's ears in the same manner that she liked her the base of her horns rubbed, which clearly felt just as good to Archie. He was purring loudly, his eyes closed in delight, and a little bit of drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Hm… oh, that's nice… oh, yes, right there… wait, the what?!"

To be continued...

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