⁂ So, it looks like "Rise of the Titans" has been pushed back until Summer, at the earliest, so I have a bit more time to finish my tale. Still, as you'll see, things are starting to come together for the end. I'm looking forward to the next chapter the most. Enjoy, my loves!

Chapter Fifty-Three

"What have you done?!" Jim snarled, careful to keep his temper in check, so as not to shatter the Scrying Crystal. His hands shook in suppressed fury, and Usurna's image blurred a little as she laughed.

"Oh, not to worry, Trollhunter," Usurna replied, chuckling softly. "We mean your child no harm, at the moment. She has quite the interesting power — imagine what we could do with it?"

"You bitch!" Claire snarled, hugging Jim's arm tightly as she glared down at the globe, tears streaming down her face. "You dare even touch her, and I'll—"

"Calm yourself, girl," Usurna said in a flat tone, her amused tone dropping to take on a more commanding one. She turned her gaze to glare briefly at Claire, none of the teasing voice or expression apparent that she had used with Jim. "We have no use for the brat, if she's dead or in poor health. Why do you think we snatched someone to care for her?"

"Let me see him!" Gleb snarled, leaning forward to bare his teeth at the troll in the crystal. "Show me my Ani!"

"Oh, please, Gleb," Usurna rolled her eyes, a disgusted look on her face. "I thought you'd be on our side. Kalen assured us that you, at least, still supported the purity of troll kind. That's all we're trying to do, Gleb. You understand, don't you?"

"I understand that you took our whelps!" Gleb growled back, Usurna's face distorting as flecks of saliva splattered across the Scrying Crystal. "I ain't never liked humans too much, but I don' want them massacred, and I 'specially don' want my boy in your betrayin' hands!"

Usurna tutted disappointedly, rolling her eyes. "A shame. Ani has been just as vocal in his disapproval of our actions. And the pipes on that disgusting little Impure! Ani's the only one who can keep her calm. I am so glad that Kalen suggested that we grab him, too."

"She is not impure," Claire growled out, clutching Jim's arm so tightly that her nails were beginning to dig into his hardened flesh.

"Oh, yes, she is, young sorceress," Usurna replied, her upper lip twitching into a disgusted snarl. "Mostly human, some troll, and a strangely unique and oddly powerful magic about her? If it weren't for that magic, the only reason I would bother kidnapping the wretch would be to drown it, like how one would drown vermin."

This statement was understandably upsetting and fury inducing to both Jim and Claire, but surprisingly, it was Douxie who reacted first, an anger unlike anything Jim had ever seen from the young wizard causing his eyes to glow with blue-white magic. The boy made a strange, aggressive gesture with the hand that had the magic bracer on it, and all of the runes on it flashed the same blue-white light, and then a large crack in the crystal split Usurna's face in two. A second later, the globe shattered into a million pieces, slipping through Jim's fingers and scattering across the floor like an upturned bucket of ice. Usurna's sarcastic laugh echoed out of existence as the magic dissipated.

"Hisirdoux!" Merlin reprimanded as they all turned to glare at the younger wizard, but to his credit, Douxie seemed to be just as startled with his own actions, staring down at the broken bits of crystal with a surprised and guilty expression.

"I…" Douxie stuttered, taking a nervous step back as he looked up, his eyes wide. Beside him, Nari reached up to take his hand, but he flinched back from her touch, bringing his gauntleted hand up to cradle against his chest, almost protectively. "I'm sorry, I just…"

"She clearly was not going to tell us anything, anyway," Krel interjected in a slightly defeated, yet also helpful sort of tone. "She only wanted to taunt Jim and Claire."

"Well, she did a damn good job of it!" Claire screeched, tears streaking down her face. She was clutching Jim's arm so tightly that she was shaking, gasping for breath between her increasingly harder sobs. "She took my baby, and I have no idea where she is or what they'll do to her! She's probably terrified and hungry, and — and — and—"

Claire cut herself off, her red face paling dramatically, and her nausea hit so intensely that Jim could feel it through their bond, almost as if it were his own. Her knees trembled, her hands slackened on his arm, and then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell.

"Claire!" everyone shouted as Jim caught his fainted mate in his arms, just before she hit the floor hard. She'd had a few fainting spells when she was pregnant with Ellie, but they were quick, lasting no more than a few seconds. This time, she was well and truly out, not responding to anyone's words or even Jim as he shook her in his arms.

"Toby!" Jim barked in a hard voice, lifting his wife up to cradle in his arms, pushing past his friends to carry her toward their bedroom. Toby fell into step behind him, as did Darci, though Jim noticed the wobble in her step and the way her hand pressed to her aching head.

"What can we do?" Toby asked, gently wrapping an arm around his girlfriend as they followed Jim past the curtain and into their bedroom. "Darci, you need to sit down."

"No, I… I'm 'kay," Darci mumbled, leaning heavily into Toby as they stopped and watched Jim place Claire into their bed and cover her with the light sheet. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and while she was clammy, she wasn't feverish. Her heartbeat was still too low, but slowly building back up to normal. Lowering his head to press his ear against her lower belly, he closed his eyes in brief concentration, before breathing out a sigh of relief when he was able to hear the baby's heart beating in its normal pattern.

"You're not okay, Darci," Jim said, standing up again and turning back to his friends. "I think you have a mild concussion, at the very least. You need to see a doctor; so does Claire. Tobes…" Jim grit his teeth together, reluctantly admitting to himself what needed to be done. "Will you call my mom?"

"Uh… sure," Toby replied in a hesitant tone, guiding his girlfriend over to the bed next to Claire, after Jim had gestured that it was okay to do so. He helped her lie down next to her best friend, and then turned back to Jim. "What… uh… what, exactly, do you want me to say to her?"

"The truth," Jim said, shrugging. "Darci's been hurt, and she might have concussion, and Claire fainted. She's a doctor — she can figure out the rest."

"Aw, come on, man," Toby whined, his expression uncomfortable. "Don't put me in the middle. Why can't you call her? You can use my phone."

"As soon as she hears my voice, she'll hang up" Jim admitted grudgingly, giving his best friend an apologetic look. "Believe me, I've tried. Claire had me try calling her a couple of weeks ago; as soon as I said hi, she hung up."

Toby cringed, knowing from experience how good at holding a grudge Barbara Lake was. "…oh, fine. What are you going to do?"

"Merlin and Douxie have at least five thousand years of magical experience behind them, combined," Jim said, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets awkwardly. It was not often that he felt so out of place in what to do concerning an enemy, especially when something so precious had been taken from him. "They have to know some kind of tracking spell or something. If not, Blinky's got a whole library on anything and everything that we can consult."

"You and I both know that you would need to swallow a whole bottle of Elixlore to get through all of Blink's library in just a few hours, and then you wouldn't remember any of it, anyway!"

"Damnit, Tobes!" Jim growled angrily, turning and slamming a fist against the wall, which caused a small, hair pin crack to form. "I can't just stand around and do nothing."

"I'm not saying that," Toby replied in a gentle tone of voice, and Jim flinched a little when he felt an as equally gently hand on his shoulder. "Look, I'm worried, too, okay? But we've got to keep our heads cool." Toby let go of his shoulder, and Jim heard him sigh. "I'll call your mom. You do what you gotta do… but don't be the hero and rush off by yourself, got it?"

"Okay," Jim promised, turning back to his best friend and giving him a weak smile. He glanced over to Claire and Darci, and his heart skipped a beat when he noticed that Darci was starting to doze off. "Darce! Hey, don't fall asleep!"

"M'tired…" Darci mumbled, rolling over to cuddle into Claire's side, her head lolling heavily with her movements.

"Hey," Toby said, rushing to the girls' side, and he tried to turn Darci back over, but she resisted, tiredly waving a hand at him to go away. Toby, however, knew the signs of a concussion as well as Jim did (hell, he'd had enough of them in the past two years), and knew that Darci could not give into her desire to sleep. Toby pulled out his phone and scrolled through quickly, then pressed a button and held the device up to his ear. "Mrs. Lake? I'm sorry, I know it's late, but we need your help."

Secured in the knowledge that his mate and friend would soon be taken care of, Jim turned and walked past the curtain that separated his bedroom from the rest of the cave. The others were still gathered together, arguing quietly, but — per usual — Merlin seemed to be the center of it.

"—no point," the old man was saying, much to everyone's clear displeasure, though it seemed that the comment offended Douxie most of all.

"Fuzzbuckets!" Douxie exclaimed, grabbing Melin by the shoulders and shaking him roughly. The old man put up with the mild abuse with a mere roll of his eyes. "You cannot be serious?"

"Our focus should be on this Morando fellow, and how much of a danger he is now that he's merged with the Draknagoth," Merlin insisted, pushing Douxie back firmly. "And this thing… Galen's Core, you said? What is it, exactly? And if Morando has it, what does that mean, especially considering — once again — the Draknagoth?"

"We can' leave our whelps in their hands, then!" Gleb snarled, slamming one of his huge, green fists into the other, a grinding stone-on-stone noise echoing with his movements.

"We don't even know where they are, my good sir," Merlin replied with another sarcastic roll of his eyes.

"Then how do we find them?" Jim interjected, walking up to the others, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked to Merlin and then to Douxie. "You two are our magic experts here; there's got to be a tracking spell of some sort, right?"

Merlin let out a snort of mocking laughter, rolling his eyes again, and Jim was sure one of these days, those eyes would fly right out of the old man's head. "A tracking spell? How ridiculous. What fairy tales have you been reading, James?"

"Oh, forgive me for thinking that the same magic that granted me the ability to wield literal Daylight could do something as outlandish as track people," Jim replied, rolling his own eyes that time.

"There is no tracking spell, per se," Douxie explained in a reluctant, but also somewhat thoughtful tone of voice. Jim saw him glance down at Nari, who had so far remained quiet. She, however, caught Douxie's look, and nodded minutely, as if answering an unheard question. Douxie turned to look back up at Jim. "Nari can sense souls, though — she might be able to find them."

"I can try," Nari said, nodding again, but she seemed hesitant to promise anything. "It is normally a very easy thing, but… well, the darkness of the Draknagoth can sometimes block the presence of souls. I will try, though."

And with that warning, she crossed her legs mid-air and floated in a meditating position. As she closed her eyes, tendrils of glowing green light pulsed across the floor and across the walls, outward from where Nari was positioned. She sat like this for several tense minutes, magic continuously pulsing out from her, and then she fell back to her cloven feet, a frustrated huff escaping her throat. Jim turned away, his throat tight as he realized that Nari hadn't found them.

"It's okay, Nar," Douxie said quietly. "We'll find them."

"Excuse me, Wizard Boy," Krel interrupted grumpily, and Jim looked back to see his friend angrily poking Douxie in the chest. "But if Miss Mother of All Magical Beings over here cannot find them, how are we supposed to?"

"We aren't going to," Douxie replied, gesturing his hand around to all of them. "If we want to answer all of our questions and be as prepared as possible for what we'll be facing, this is where we'll have to split up for a while."

"And what do you have planned, exactly?" Zadra asked, her arms crossed in front of her, and her voice and expression haughty, like she didn't put much stock in anything Douxie had to say.

"Winding back to this Galen's Core thing…" Douxie said, turning back to Zadra and Vex as they gave each other a knowing look.

"Ugh, it is just a… a story!" Krel exclaimed, throwing his arms down to his sides in exasperation. "A creation story. Seklos and Galen were gods — they were energy based beings, like Akiridions, but it is said that they created the whole Universe and all beings in it, all from Galen's Core. His core created everything. If it were real, and not just a story, then anyone who could get their hands on his core would hold the creative and destructive powers of a god."

Vex and Zadra both looked increasingly uncomfortable as Krel told his story and Jim raised an eyebrow at them. "It's real, isn't it?"

"My liege," Zadra interjected in a quiet, urgent voice. "We should discuss this back at the Mothership—"

"Oh, come on, Zadra," Krel laughed, rolling his eyes. "It's just a story."

"But it's not, is it?" Jim insisted, tightening his arms over his chest to prevent his hands from shaking. "All stories have some basis in fact. This core is real, and it's been hidden here on Earth, hasn't it? You said before that that's the only reason he, personally, would come to Earth."

"Yes, all right?" Zadra said, hissing through clenched teeth. "Yes, it's real, and yes, it's been hidden here on Earth. But if Morando came here for that reason, then he knows more about its locaction than we do."

"The King and Queen came here over a thousand of your Earth years ago to hide the core," Vex explained, much to Krel's apparent shock, as his mouth fell open and his eyes widened considerably. "But they came by themselves — only they would know where the core is located."

"But… this is good!" Krel exclaimed after a few moments of stunned silence. He turned to Jim, his expression now excited. "Mama and Papa are almost healed and will be out of stasis in a matter of a week or so."

"I'm sorry, Krel, but that's too long," Jim said, nodding to Gleb when he started to growl after Krel's statement. "Is there any way to wake them up faster?"

"No," Zadra said instead, her voice and expression turning thoughtful. "No, but Mother can access their memories. Aja and Krel have a direct, genetic link that will allow their consciousnesses to enter their parents', thus finding the information."

"Great!" Douxie exclaimed enthusiastically, clapping his hands together in excitement. "Then the Akiridions will go back to their spaceship—"

"Mothership."

"Whatever," Douxie said, waving off Krel's correction with a dismissive hand. "You'll find where this core is and secure it. In the meantime, I think it's time the rest of us had a visit to Trollmarket."

There was a few heartbeats of confused silence, and then Jim said tiredly, "Doux… this is Trollmarket. Other than Blinky's library, there isn't much here that we can consult—"

"No, my friend," Douxie laughed lightly, an amused expression on his face that suggested he was the holder of some great secret. "This is a Trollmarket — I want to take you to the Trollmarket. It's in Hoboken, actually, so not very far."

"No, that's…" Jim shook his head, confused. "If there were another Trollmarket already established, we would have known about it. We wouldn't have had to go looking for a new home."

"Yes and no," Douxie shrugged, nodding his head from side to side. Even Merlin remained quiet, his only change in expression to raise an incredulous eyebrow. "It's called Trollmarket — probably because it was the original settlement here in the United States — but it doesn't have a Heartstone, like here. They probably could never find it, but they felt its presence, so they settled for a bit. Now, it's more of a… magical black market. Trolls are there, yes, but so are all manner of magical beings — elves, demons, elementals, demigods… you name it, and you'll find them there. You can find about anything… but especially information. I know some people that could help us, and—"

"JAMES ANDREW LAKE, JR.!" interrupted a muffled screech from the bedroom, which was impressive, considering that the bedroom had a silencing charm placed around it, normally preventing anything from being heard from within or without. Barely a second later, the curtain to the bedroom was ripped back and Barbara Lake was marching forward at a fast pace, her arm lifting to land a heavy smack on her son's face.

Jim had anticipated the action and leaned back, catching his mother's hand in his own before it could make contact with his cheek. This, of course, only made Barbara angrier, but Jim was less concerned with her fury than he was about her doing something that would break her hand. "Mom—"

"I can't believe you would be so irresponsible—"

"Barb!" Strickler came out off the bedroom after her, his wings fluttering in agitation as he gently took his fiancé by the shoulders and tried to pull her back. "It's all right—"

"Like hell it is!" Barbara yelled, shrugging herself out of Strickler's light hold and glaring back at him briefly before turning her fiery gaze back on Jim. "After everything that's happened, I thought you would have more sense, James!"

"What are you going on about, woman?" Merlin said incredulously, only to receive Barbara's volatile gaze turned on him. To his credit, the old man flinched back slightly, and his follow up comment, while still arrogant, was said in a more hesitant tone. "…it is unlikely that the attack was condoned by our loyal Trollhunter here."

This brought Barbara up short, and she stepped back in shock, looking between them all standing there, and then back to Jim. "Attack? What attack?" In a flash, she was angry again. "Is that how Darci got a concussion?"

"Is it bad?" Jim asked, ignoring her first inquiries to concentrate on the health of his friend. "Does she need to go to the hospital?"

Barbara closed her eyes and took a deep breath, clearly trying to compose herself. When she opened her eyes again, it was clear that she was still angry, but trying to be professional. "It's mild. I've given her some pain medicine, and she was able to hold a conversation well enough, with only some slight confusion, which was expected, of course. She's safe to get some sleep, which is what she's doing now. I believe Claire's magic probably healed the majority of the damage." Now, Barbara was becoming livid again, her voice raising in speed and pitch as her glare hardened on Jim again. "The energy she expended by using her magic, combined with her condition is probably why she passed out."

"What condition?" Douxie asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion, glancing between Jim and Barbara with a deep frown. "What? Has she got a cold or something?"

"I believe she is referencing Claire's pregnancy," Krel said in an audible whisper out of the side of his mouth toward Douxie.

"Oh…" Douxie said, his tone of voice becoming even more confused. "So… why are we mad about that?"

Barbara's mouth fell open in shock, her eyes widening considerably as she took in everyone's unsurprised expressions. Behind her, Strickler was the only other person showing some kind of surprise, though his was clearly mild in comparison to his wife-to-be's. Jim knew that his would-be stepfather had probably scented the difference in Claire as soon as they had portalled through.

"Unbelievable," Barbara laughed bitterly, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. She glared back at Jim again. "So… we're the only ones who didn't know about this?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Nuñez don't know," Jim said, crossing his arms over his chest and shrugging nonchalantly. "You'd made it pretty clear that you weren't interested in our lives, anymore."

"I am your mother," Barbara exclaimed, her fists clenching at her sides. "Don't you think I deserve—"

"You hung up on me, when I called!"

"You have consistently lied and hidden things from me for nearly three years!"

"Oh, don't give me that—"

"You have been irresponsible," Barbara hissed, like she was embarrassed to be having this conversation in front of everyone, but was also too angry to stop herself. "How far along is she?"

Jim rolled his eyes. "Mom, we don't have time to—"

"How - far - along?"

"Damnit, Mom!" Jim cursed again, this time resisting the urge to hit anything, though his arms tightened across his chest. "I don't have time for these stupid arguments and your insecurity. My home and family were attacked, my daughter has been kidnapped, and—"

"Kidnapped?!" Barbara shouted incredulously, and then glared at everyone as they all groaned and rolled their eyes at the back and forth of the present argument they were witnessing. "What happened?"

"We have just had this conversation and time is of the essence," Vex interjected in his gruff voice. "You can either continue arguing, or you can choose to help us, madam."

Barbara let out a muffled sound of offended surprise at Vex's commanding declaration, glaring back at the Akiridion in fury. "Of course, I'll help, but I would like to be a bit more informed! Where is my granddaughter?"

"She ain't the only 'un they took, fleshbag!" Gleb snarled, and Jim was surprised Gleb had been as quiet as he had been previously. "They took my boy, too! We ain't got time to be wastin'!"

"Then where are they?" Strickler asked in a calm, but commanding tone, gently placing his hands on his fiancé's shoulders again. This time, she didn't struggle against his hold.

There was a tense moment of silence, but then a tired voice answered, and Claire appeared in the doorway of the bedroom. "We don't know where they are."

"Claire, are you okay?" Jim asked anxiously, letting his arms drop to his sides and pushing past his mother and stepfather to take his mate into his arms. She hugged him back, pressing her face into his chest and calming as she breathed in his scent.

"M'okay," Claire murmured, her arms wrapped around his wait, her fingers trailing comfortingly up and down his spine. "Sorry I scared you."

"Hey, don't be sorry," Jim replied, his tone quiet and only for her. He leaned down, gently nuzzling his face into his wife's neck and pressing a gentle kiss to her collarbone. His back was to the others, hiding the more intimate aspects of his attentions from them. "Do you feel strong enough to come with us?"

"Mm," Claire hummed an affirmative, and then leaned back from him, still keeping her arms loosely wrapped around his waist. "Where are we going?"

"Claire, I don't think you should—" Barbara started, but Claire let Jim go and walked over to Barbara, wrapping her arms around her mother-in-law, which surprised everyone, Barbara especially. She stood stiffly for a moment, and then seemed to melt, hugging Claire back and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Oh, honey…"

"Thank you for your concern… Mom," Claire said, using the maternal name for Barbara for the first time. Jim watched as his mother's anger continued fade quickly. "…but I can't sit around, twiddling my thumbs, while my baby is in danger. And I am okay," Claire continued, leaning back and letting Barbara go. She grabbed the older woman's hand in both of hers and pressed it lightly to her lower stomach, smiling reassuringly. "Aiden's been a lot better behaved than his sister. This is really the first time I've felt faint with him at all."

"Him, is it?"

Claire laughed lightly, nodding. "It's a long story, but yes. It's a boy, and his name is Aiden James."

"And the morning sickness has been okay?" Barbara pressed, gently tucking Claire's white hair behind her ear.

"Yes," Claire promised her, her gentle and reassuring smile still in place. She laughed a little again. "…unless it's moldy socks or peanut butter."

Out of nowhere, NotEnrique's stomach growled loudly, causing everyone to jump in surprise and stare at him, having forgotten he was even there, he'd been so quiet.

"What?" the little Changeling squawked, his face darkening a little embarrassment. "Moldy socks are my favorite, and I ain't had nothin' to eat since this mornin'."

"Well," Claire said, smiling down at her little brother. "I suggest you go down to the pub and get your lunch quickly, because we'll be leaving soon." She looked up at Douxie. "Right, Doux?"

Douxie nodded firmly, and then gave the Akiridions a nod as well. "Yes. You lot go find out about this core, and we'll head out to Hoboken. Contact us with what you find out, and we'll do the same. Until then, everyone not going with one of our groups needs to remain here." He glanced between the various people in the room, his eyes lingering on Barbara, Claire, and Jim specifically. "I see you all have transportation charms. With some tweaking, I can make them work as telepathic communication charms, too."

"Then let us get to work," Krel said, squaring his shoulders in a kingly manner, only to drop them a second later, groaning pathetically.

"Krel?" Jim asked, even as Vex and Zadra fussed over him, and he waved them off. "What's wrong?"

Krel looked up, a disgusted look on his face. "I have to find my sister and inform her of this. I do not want to walk in on her making of the out with Steve."

To be continued...

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