The next night
Arcadia Oaks would take months—maybe years—to rebuild. Jim wished he could do it himself, but no one person could mount an effort like this.
Aja, Queen of Akiridion-5, sat across from Jim at the round table aboard Camelot. "My fleets can help rebuild Arcadia. Krel will help too." Her younger brother sat in the chair beside her. "As will Varvatos." She nodded to the towering Akiridion standing to her right. "We will concentrate on necessities first, medical facilities, sources of food and water. The shelters, while they serve adequately for now, will soon overfill. We must find more room for the people of Arcadia. We can rebuild houses a few at a time, but that is not the priority right now. Area 49-B's stockpile will only last another few weeks. We must arrange supply lines before our stores run out."
Hisirdoux—Douxie—seated two chairs from Jim, wrapped both hands around the clay pot containing the little plant Nari had carried with her throughout their exploits in New York—before she died saving Arcadia from Skrael's Titan. "Camelot can provide power if the generators fail. I'm afraid we don't have much food aboard. Galahad only kept gruel in the larder, but I'm sure we could dig wells once enough rubble's cleared. And if Merlin's shop is still standing—"
Varvatos raised an interrupting hand. "It isn't. Varvatos checked it himself. Anything of value is now a heap of ash. Varvatos would like to get back to Nancy. Her grandson's passing has caused her much grief."
"We've covered enough for tonight. Unless anyone else wants to talk." Aja scanned the table. "We'll meet again in two days. By then, we should have cleared enough ground to dig at least one well and have rough plans for another shelter location."
Aja stood, dismissing the gathering.
Douxie wrapped an arm around Nari's plant and retired to the library.
Jim waited until everyone except Claire left. He expected her to get up, go back to the shelter to check on her family.
"These are the best chairs." She scooted forward and tipped the chair back a few inches, like a recliner. "Wonder where Douxie's been keeping them."
Jim would have laid his head on the table, but that made his ribs ache. "I wish we'd given Nari a memorial—or a gravestone, or something. She helped save the world, but no one knows that except us."
"Douxie didn't think she'd want it. I don't know if he's right, but he's the closest thing she had to family after Merlin died, so, we should respect that."
"I still wish we could make sure no one forgets her."
Claire reverted the chair. "Jim…" She leaned close. "If there's anything I can do, please, tell me."
"Thanks." Jim forced a smile. "I just need some time. Nomura was a friend. Mr. Strickler was about to be my stepdad. I didn't know Nari long, but she seemed great. But Tobes and me, we go way back—since before my dad left. I'll see something funny and pull out my phone to call him, but…"
"Yeah. Me too." Claire folded her hands atop the table.
Jim changed the subject. "I'm glad Aja's running things for now. With Eli going back and forth to Akiridion-5, she and Krel can get anything they need if Krel wants to build something. I'd bet he'll have Arcadia Oaks full of his inventions before this is over."
"That's Krel—inventor extraordinaire." Claire brushed stray bangs behind one ear. The white streak in her hair seemed more pronounced now, and it made her look older.
This adventure had stolen bits of life from all of them, and in this moment of silence, Jim felt it more keenly than ever. "I need to get home. Mom'll be worried if I don't come back soon."
"I'll come with you."
Jim stood. "Won't your parents miss you?"
"All they've done is fight the last couple days. I don't think they'd notice if a tornado blew through."
"Sorry."
"They'll work it out. They always do. Plus, NotEnrique won't admit it, but he likes watching my baby brother. Whatever they gave him in the Darklands to keep him little hasn't completely worn off yet." Claire walked with him to the small Akiridion crafts they'd ridden here. Theirs were the last two.
As they left Camelot, Jim kept his eyes on Claire's ship and avoided looking at Camelot's battered shell. If he looked, the memories would come—memories of the battle against Skrael's Titan, and how he'd failed to stop it before Mr. Strickler died.
The house was dark and quiet when Jim and Claire arrived.
"She must be asleep," Claire whispered. "I should go."
"Stay?" He caught her hand. His burns still stung, but the wrappings and pain meds helped.
They stood in the entryway, door open. The few insects still around buzzed and chirped, but with no porch light to swarm, they left Jim and Claire alone.
"All right." She shut the door, and they took seats on the couch, in front of the living room window.
Tied back curtains and open blinds allowed moonlight in and lent a peaceful sheen to the otherwise dark room. Though Jim's mom had cleaned up the glass and broken picture frames, books, magazines, and knickknacks still littered the floor. In one corner, a potted plant lay on its side, soil spilled in a heap. No one had watered it in at least a week.
Comfortable silence settled over the room, and Claire propped against Jim's shoulder. "Fall will be over soon. Nights are getting cooler."
Jim's eyes drooped. He wanted to stay awake until Claire left, but every time he shut his eyes, they stayed closed a little longer.
Claire shifted away.
He grunted in protest but wasn't disappointed when she eased his head onto her lap.
Jim woke before dawn.
Claire was gone, but she'd tucked a throw pillow under his head, and her handwriting filled a Post-It Note stuck to the coffee table. "Went back to the shelter around 2. Checked on your mom before I left. She cries in her sleep. See you tomorrow."
The quiet house felt as if someone had shaken the joy out of it.
He checked his watch. Five-thirty. There was no point in going to the shelter this early. Most people would be asleep, and he didn't want to wake them. He took out his phone—still half a charge left. Not that there was anyone to call with the cell towers either out or destroyed, and the internet was spottier than the phone service.
He turned off the phone and stuffed it in his back pocket.
A car engine sputtered off outside.
The front door flew open, and Blinky tumbled in. "Master Jim, we need you in Trollmarket. Now!" The troll grabbed Jim by the wrist and hauled him off the couch like a sack of potatoes.
"Whoa, whoa. What's wrong?"
"I can't explain now. We must get back before dawn. I borrowed a car." He cocked two thumbs at a battered station wagon.
"I've got to leave a note." Jim scribbled on a torn magazine page and slipped it under his mom's closed bedroom door.
Blinky hauled him outside and hustled him into the station wagon.
"Who'd you borrow this from?" Jim clicked his seatbelt as Blinky careened over a stray chunk of curb and crested a dozen cracks in the road, making Jim's teeth chatter and his ribs ache. He held his side to keep from jarring it too much.
"Not sure. Pleasant woman. Said I could have it for the day if I agreed to spend a few hours discussing Shakespeare."
"Miss Janeth? From the school?"
"Could be. But that is beside the point." They rumbled past a crumbled store front and barreled down the canal, skidding beneath the bridge just as the sun peaked over the horizon. "We have bigger concerns than to whom we must return our… questionable transportation." Blinky took out a horngazel and scraped the glowing piece of Heartstone in a semi-circle, creating a magical door in the bridge's base.
Jim and Blinky stepped into Trollmarket.
The spiraling crystal stairs seemed longer than Jim remembered, and Blinky kept running ahead, only to stop and beckon him to follow quicker.
When they reached the base of the stairs, Jim paused. Trollmarket had been in bad shape after Morgana wrecked it, but now, with the Heartstone ripped out, it looked forlorn and empty.
"This way, Master Jim," Blinky called from halfway down a cluttered street. "Do hurry."
Jim followed Blinky to the troll's home. Inside waited AAARRRGGHH! and Blinky's blind brother, Dictatious.
"Is that a human I smell?" Dictatious said from his stool in the corner. "Ah. It's the Trollhunter. Back to find another way to save the world?"
"That's enough, brother," Blinky said. "The boy is here at my behest."
"Oh, I see." Dictatious chuckled. "Well, not literally, you know." He waved an olive-green hand in front of his sightless eyes. "That thing Blinkous brought back from your little squabble with the Titans hasn't stopped fidgeting since it got here. It's like to drive me mad. Fool thing's tripped me at least eight times this morning. I finally gave up and decided to stay put so it couldn't kill me."
AAARRRGGHH! nodded. "Chronosphere won't stop moving." He snagged the gold and green sphere from the floor, but when he opened his hand to present it to Blinky, it hopped out of his giant palm and rolled directly to Jim.
"Do humor it, Master Jim. I haven't gotten a good day's rest since I brought it here," said Blinky. "But it's confounded roaming is the least of its oddities."
Jim wanted to kick the sphere away. This thing had been nothing but a waste of time. And for what? He nudged the sphere with one shoe.
It bounced away but came rolling back half a second later.
With a frustrated growl, Jim scooped up the sphere. "What?" he demanded of it. "What do you want?"
The sphere settled into his hand as if it were made for this moment. Instead of leaping out of his grip, as it had with AAARRRGGHH!, the sphere sat quietly, emerald eye open.
Jim didn't intend to look into the Chronosphere, but the half instant he did, a familiar face flickered. It's Mom… But she's happy again. "It's broken. Here," he extended the sphere to Blinky, "lock it up. I don't want it."
"Look again, Master Jim." Blinky gently pushed Jim's hand away. "Truly look. If not for your own sake, then for the sake of my sanity."
Jim let the sphere rest in both hands, careful not to irritate his burns. The green glow faded until it disappeared entirely, and all that remained was a golden shell encasing a fist-sized emerald. "Is it supposed to do that?"
"Just watch," said Blinky, eyes glued to the sphere. "AAARRRGGHH!, put out the light."
Dictatious made snide remarks from the corner as the lamps went dark.
Jim kept his attention on the sphere. At first, he couldn't see anything, then, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, faint images swirled inside the sphere, but he couldn't discern much other than vague shapes until a pair of golden eyes rose from the darkness, looking straight at him.
It was Nari.