Two hours later
As sunset began, Jim and Blinky ascended Trollmarket's crystal stair and admitted Aja, Steve, and their children, Coach Lawrence, and Steve's mom; Varvatos, Nana Domzalski, and Darci Scott; Eli, Stuart, and Krel; Barbara and Douxie; Claire and her family.
The entourage descended into Trollmarket—some for the first time—and met AAARRRGGHH!, the youngling, Dictatious, and NotEnrique outside Blinky's home.
It took twenty minutes to herd everyone inside the Heartstone.
Dictatious muttered about the path still being slippery from the rain, but no one else spoke until they reached their destination.
Inside waited Nari. Behind her, arranged in a row, were the memorial statues of Walter Strickler and Zelda Nomura, but beside them was a substantial gap, reserved for one more occupant, Toby's recently unearthed casket.
Steve, Aja, Varvatos, and Claire's parents wore varying degrees of shock. All knew of—or witnessed—Nari's death, but not her resurrection.
Douxie stepped forward and set a two-by-three box beside the statues. With his bracelet, he selected a spell and returned Toby's coffin to its actual three-by-six dimensions.
Nana Domzalski dabbed her eyes and tried to be brave.
"Please, stand as the Trollhunter instructs," Nari said.
Jim sent NotEnrique—now carrying the youngling—to stand in front of Nomura's statue. Nana, Darci, AAARRRGGHH!, and Claire he sent to stand with Toby's coffin, and his mom he put with Mr. Strickler's statue. Everyone else gathered to one side of the hollow.
The Heartstone pulsed with magic, and if Jim listened closely, the voices of everyone he'd ever cared about echoed in the quietness. Faces flashed by inside each bit of crystal, reenacting moments he'd forgotten.
Other onlookers stared into the crystals, undoubtedly seeing memories of their own.
Maja and Baja toddled to the wall and giggled as images zipped by until Steve corralled them back to their place with him and Aja.
Coach Lawrence picked up Eli Jr. and kept the little one's attention by letting him play with the red ball cap Coach always wore.
When everyone was in place, Nari stood just inside the entrance to the hollow.
Everyone faced her.
"Since the Titans fell," said Nari, "Arcadia Oaks has been a place of sadness, a place where joy itself dared not walk. Everyone here has known loss, and my heart goes out to you, for I feel the grief you carry, and it is so heavy a burden." She approached Nana, Darci, AAARRRGGHH!, and Claire. "You four would stand for Tobias Domzalski?"
They nodded.
Nari moved to Jim's mom. "Barbara Lake, you would stand for Walter Strickler?"
"Yes," she said.
Then Nari moved to NotEnrique and the youngling. "And you would stand for Zelda Nomura?"
NotEnrique nodded, and the youngling babbled, "Mama."
"Then touch your loved ones' last memorial."
NotEnrique held the youngling up so he could join in wrapping his tiny arms around Nomura's leg.
Barbara laid one hand over Strickler's heart.
Nana, Darci, AAARRRGGHH!, and Claire touched the lid of Toby's coffin—free of dirt thanks to Douxie, who'd somehow retrieved the casket without creating a stir at the memorial gardens.
"Trollhunter," Nari said, "will you stand with me?"
Though Nari had rehearsed this moment with Jim a dozen times, his legs almost gave out as he took position beside Nari and activated his armor.
The amulet's soft tick seemed loud as thunder in the crystal hollow, and the images surrounding him blurred into a whirlwind.
Merlin's voice whispered through the room, but this time, it was a memory, one he'd never forget. The day he'd faced the consequences of his never shouldering the burden of being Trollhunter. He had wanted to escape the pressure. In the end, he'd realized he was meant to be who he was, and that involved accepting the mantle of Trollhunter. Merlin himself had spoken to Jim that day, and his words meant even more now than they had then.
Of all creatures in our worlds, I chose you. Now, show them why.
Jim kneeled. Excalibur adhered to his back by magic.
Nari set one hand on his shoulder and raised the other, palm open. "Today, hope is made real."
Jim focused on memories of each of the three fallen as Nari drew on the magic of the active amulet—Merlin's magic—to supplement her own. She had said she'd done this many times, but always it was for an individual, not three people at once, and Jim's close connection to all three deceased would enhance her ability.
Three bursts of light shot from Nari's hand. Soft pink Sakura petals whirled around each burst as they found their marks.
The first whisked straight to Nomura's statue and vanished into its mouth.
The second took a circuitous route, rounding Barbara twice before flitting to Strickler's statue.
The third zipped to Toby's coffin and squeezed through the seam beneath the lid.
Half a breath later, all gathered gasped.