Six years later
Trollmarket, with its shops, restaurants, novelty stores, and tourist attractions, was alive again with trolls from every part of the planet, as well as a few from a newly discovered colony on Akiridion-5.
Gyre stations ferried trolls in and out without the need to go aboveground, in most cases.
Humans from Arcadia Oaks frequented Trollmarket too and had established a few places of their own, including an old-style arcade, two restaurants, and a bowling alley.
Even a few Akiridions had made their homes here, and in the frequent absence of Camelot, Eli, Aja, and Varvatos used Trollmarket as a hub for their travels back and forth from Akiridion-5.
Tonight, Trollmarket buzzed with more excitement than usual as Jim Lake's and Claire Nunez's wedding ceremony, held inside the Heartstone hollow concluded, and the bride and groom, followed by a flood of guests, paraded to the square where a spread of human and troll food filled multiple tables, and Glug finished brewing a fourth bathtub of green liquid for the troll guests.
A cake—constructed by Stuart—was a stunning replica of Jim's amulet, though many times bigger.
Guests congratulated the couple, laughed, talked, ate, and enjoyed themselves.
Jim backpedaled to avoid the four-year-old boy and five-year-old girl speeding past. "No more cake for you two," he called after them.
"But, Jim," both whined.
"Mom and Dad are gonna tell you the same thing. Go on, go run around someplace you won't trample anybody. And stay away from Glug."
Claire caught Jim and kissed him.
"Ewww!" Both children dashed away, now trailed by Gabriel, who rolled after them in a tight, pink ball.
"Ilana looks just like Walter," Claire said.
"And Griffin's totally my mom, but with dark hair," said Jim.
"There are some red highlights in there if you look hard enough," Claire said.
The tink-tink of metal on glass quieted the crowd as Toby climbed atop a chair. "Best man speech time! Everybody knows Jim and Claire, and everybody here owes them a lot—me most of all. Before Jim moved in next door, I was a lonely kid who'd just lost his parents. Nana took me in, but it was just her and me."
He waved to his Nana and Varvatos, standing nearby.
"She was the greatest Nana ever, but she wasn't another kid. Jimbo here, he was my friend. Me and him survived day one of kindergarten together. We pulled pranks on field trips, infiltrated the teacher's lounge, survived gym class, helped each other through all-nighters studying for college entrance tests, even saved the world a few times. He was with me every birthday I can remember, every first day of school, the day I finished film school, and he got his counseling degree. He was with me the day I died, and I'm standing here today alive because of him. A lot of us are alive because of him, including his stepdad, brother, and sister."
"Yeah, Jim!" Steve Palchuk hollered from the dessert table, and many others added similar sentiments.
"He wouldn't admit it, but he doubts himself sometimes." Toby motioned Jim forward and pulled him onto the chair beside him. "But he's gonna be great at this marriage thing. Everybody, give it up for Jimbo!" Toby raised both hands, and the crowd cheered.
Jim didn't know what to say.
Mary, Claire's Maid of Honor, rescued him by hopping onto a chair herself and demanding the crowd's attention. Her deep purple dress sparkled with bits of magic Claire had added before the ceremony—a trick Douxie taught her after Barbara and Walter's wedding. "Jim's great and all, but how 'bout my girl, Claire?" She helped Claire onto a chair too, which nearly ended in disaster when the hem of her dress caught her shoe.
Jim and Mary steadied her, and a subtle magical breeze, sent by nearby Douxie, swept the hem free.
"Thanks," Claire whispered to Jim before sending Douxie a grateful wink. "Falling on my face on my wedding day wasn't on my bucket list."
"Claire's been my bestie since she moved here." Mary snapped a few selfies with Jim and Claire. "Then we added Darc."
Darci, wearing a lavender bridesmaid's dress, climbed onto a chair unaided.
"When Jim talked to C-Bomb for the first time, I thought he was a head case," Mary said. "Kept tripping over himself like an idiot. And that Spanish. Gag! But Claire took a liking to him, so I put up with him. Didn't take long for me and Darc to realize this was the real thing. I think we knew before they did."
Ophelia and Javier Nunez stood near the front of the crowd and waved to Claire.
She waved back.
"My sister's the bestest sister!" Enrique shouted as he kicked off his shoes.
"Here, here!" echoed NotEnrique from beside Glug's tub.
The crowd laughed.
Mary snapped more photos with Darci before getting back to her speech. "Let's not forget how this girl right here banished a 12th century sorceress to the shadows. Or how she helped a couple wizards seal that same sorceress away in the first place."
Jim leaned close and whispered to Claire, "How'd she know about that?"
"I think Douxie told her," Claire replied. "He's acting guilty."
Douxie, Zoe on his arm, pretended to study his magic bracelet, which by now was more of a fingerless gauntlet that reached nearly to his elbow.
"Claire saved my life once," Mary said. "Okay, more than once. Point is, she's super crazy amazing, and she's gonna crush this. Let's hear it for Claire!"
The entire assembly roared loud enough to shake the ceiling.
Applause filled Trollmarket for a solid five minutes afterward.
Jim stood atop the steps leading out of the square and put his arm around Claire's waist. Her dress was just as beautiful as he remembered from his vision in Kronisphere years before. Like Mary's dress, it sparkled with magic, which made the patterns and exquisite beading come alive. She'd grown out her hair, and it hung loose to her shoulders, though the wide, white streak in her bangs remained the same, and her brown eyes were even more lovely than yesterday. "Going to be sunrise soon."
"We've got some unfinished business with a few guests," said Claire. "There's Douxie."
They approached the wizard.
"Shouldn't you two be heading off on a honeymoon?" said Douxie as Nari walked up and took his hand.
"We know someone who'd like to say hello," said Claire before pulling open a small shadow portal. From it swooped a flying, bespectacled, black cat.
"Archie!" Douxie's cry of surprised joy made his bracelet spark with an unintentional surge of magic. "I thought you were—I thought I'd never see you again!" He held his familiar close, leaving damp patches in Archie's coat.
Nari squealed in happiness and stroked the shapeshifting dragon's fur.
"I didn't think I'd see you again either, but your student here found a way past the Hong Kong Trollmarket's wards." Archie nuzzled under Douxie's chin and purred. "Dad says hello. He's happily telling bad jokes all day every day."
"Are you staying here?" Douxie said.
"If you'll have me back."
"Of course, I would, Arch," said Douxie. "Of course, I would."
Jim and Claire passed NotEnrique, Gnome Chompsky, Sally holding a little action figure Chompsky considered his "son", Blinky, Dictatious, and AAARRRGGHH! enjoying the last of the Glug.
Aja, Steve, Steve's mom, Coach Lawrence, Krel, Eli, and Varvatos all shepherded one sleepy kid apiece as they waved goodbye to Jim and Claire.
"They are so gonna have their hands full for a long time," said Claire. "Imagine seven teenagers in the same house at the same time."
"They'll make it work," said Jim. "Didn't Aja and Steve just have their official bonding ceremony a few weeks ago?"
"On Akiridion-5," said Claire. "Steve's moving there next week, but they'll be back and forth so his mom and Coach can see the kids. Guess it'll be him and Eli as partners in crime again. Creepslayerz 2.0. Though I'm having a crazy time imagining King Steve."
"What about Varvatos?" Jim said. "Is he going to keep seeing Nana?"
"They seem happy, so probably," said Claire as they passed Senor Uhl and Ms. Janeth, both still teaching at Arcadia Oaks High, and recently seeing one another outside school hours.
Toby and Darci, along with Mary, Shannon, and a few others from their high school graduating class, danced without regard for anyone watching. Nomura barely escaped being pulled in as she herded Gabriel home.
"There they are," said Claire as they approached the other end of the square.
"Hey, kiddo," Barbara greeted them both with open arms. "And other kiddo."
"Hey, Mom," Jim said. "I'm surprised you're still here."
"I wasn't missing any of my son's wedding."
Walter carried Griffin, who sprawled across his father's shoulder, asleep. Ilana, not far behind her brother, held Walter's hand. "You still insist on carrying the world on your shoulders, Young Atlas," Walter said. "But now you have someone to shoulder it with you."
Barbara took Griffin and Ilana.
Though Walter looked much younger than when Jim first met him, he carried himself with ancient grace. With one hand on Jim's shoulder and one on Claire's, he said, "In my time, I've experienced my share of the unbelievable and lived the impossible. When I walked that otherworldly hall the day you brought me back from death, etched into the walls in impassioned script were words I'll never forget. 'For love is strong as death.' It was true for me. It's been true for you, and I'm confident it will continue to be."
Jim skipped ceremony and hugged Walter. "I never really knew my dad. Now, I've got Blink and you. Along with a kid brother and sister, the most amazing mom in the universe, and a wife I don't deserve. Once, you were my enemy, now you're family. And you're my friend."
"You owed me nothing, but you gave everything. Claiming you as a son—and in some ways a brother—is the greatest honor I have ever had," said Walter. "It always will be."