It was too dark, too suffocating, no different from drowning in some murky water. She desperately tried to swim in that, to escape from the imminent doom, yet it just kept dragging her down.
There was no way out in that desperation…
Claire woke up with a start, gasping for the air hungrily. The sense of suffocation was still too powerful, and her heart seemingly wanted to jump out of her chest.
What had happened?
It took some painful seconds to calm down, and then the memories flooded the girl's mind.
The final battle in Arcadia.
Toby's self-sacrifice and death.
And Jim's decision to go back in time. Yes, it had been there where everything just had gone too wrong.
Claire didn't know how Bellroc had managed to survive all of that - to be honest, her only thought had been the fear for her boyfriend back then. When the ancient demigod jumped at Jim, the Latina somehow ended nearby too, squeezing every single drop of magic remaining in her body for the attack.
She just couldn't have lost another close person, not after everything that had happened already. She wouldn't have watched helplessly once again.
That fight had been too chaotic, and Claire only remembered everything blacking out all of a sudden.
What exactly had happened right back then? Had Jim jumped back? But wouldn't it mean that their timeline should have been overwritten, her memories included?
What if it had failed?
What if Bellroc's meddling had destroyed everything?
What if Jim had been hurt or… worse?
The girl looked around herself in a panic, cursing inwardly for not checking her surroundings earlier. She knew the place - it was the room she occupied in the flying castle, which they all used as a base since Merlin had summoned it by the end of their journey to New Jersey.
Claire could imagine that she had lost consciousness during the fight with Bellroc, and her friends had moved her here. The weird thing was that there wasn't even a single soul nearby.
Her stomach knotted in an eerie foreboding. To everyone leave her alone, something horrible had to happen.
Frantically, the young witch tried to feel Jim's presence through her shadow magic. Every single being had their unique signature, but her boyfriend's had always been standing out among others. It was warm and powerful, shining like a mini-sun.
That one had changed drastically twice. When he was a half-troll, it had grown even more powerful, most likely due to all the magic infused in his body, and unlike his human signature, it had felt more fierce and slightly aggressive. Yet it still had been kind and merciful - Jim had remained Jim despite the transformation.
The other time had been way worse as it had happened when obsidian shard had corrupted the Trollhunter's soul, turning him into a raging beast. That time it had felt as if some ugly dark net had engulfed his signature, obstructing its brightness.
However, all of that was in the past, as Jim had turned back, so Claire was searching for his initial presence.
Nothing. He wasn't anywhere, be it near or close.
Her heart stopped momentarily.
No, it couldn't have happened. It had to be some kind of misunderstanding. Her magic was depleted, so perhaps it was the reason. Or she wasn't concentrating enough because of panic or…
The girl opened her eyes, trying to calm down, and took a deep breath. She suddenly noted that her right hand was clenched in a fist all the time.
No, not just clenched. There was something in it.
Claire opened her right hand slowly, staring at the object with a mixture of terror and shock.
The time stone.
It shouldn't have been there. No, it had to be in Jim's amulet. So why the young witch was holding it right now instead?
What could that even mean?
Some barely audible noise had attracted Claire's attention, and the girl turned in that direction, tensing at once.
She relaxed right away, noticing a familiar green figure with antlers, which peeked from the doorway curiously.
"Nari," the girl breathed out with relief and froze at the realization. The plant demigod had perished in her fight with Skrael - there couldn't be any mistake as her presence had vanished back then.
Yet, it wasn't an illusion or a mistake. That could be only Nari.
The former member of the Arcane Order entered the room with a slight reluctance.
"I don't think we've had an opportunity to meet each other before," she said in confusion. "So how do you know my name?"
Douxie had always hated to get under someone else's magic effects - it tended to give him migraines, dizziness, and even nausea at times. The only saving grace was that it wasn't unique to him alone. Magic books claimed it was quite a common condition for a good share of wizards and witches. It was something involving compatibility as far as he understood.
In any case, the ungodly headache right now could mean only one thing - he had got caught in the time magic as well. As if it hadn't been disastrous before.
When Merlin's successor had seen Bellroc ambushing Jim, his wish had been to try and shake off the ancient demigod. If the Trollhunter had succeeded in his time leap, nothing in the present would have mattered as everything would be overwritten.
Douxie had seen Claire joining him in that struggle. Perhaps, their other friends had attempted to assist them as well. After all, it only had felt that long - in reality, it had been just a matter of few seconds.
Bellroc's grip had been too strong, and they had refused to let Jim's neck go, strangling him in uncontrolled fury. The young wizard had been thinking about cutting their hands in the last-ditch effort when everything happened.
Douxie wondered if he had been the only one to notice the time jump activating. Most likely, Jim hadn't been in the state to pay any mind, Claire had been obviously focused on freeing her boyfriend, and Bellroc had been lost to their own rage and vengeance.
Back then, Merlin's successor had nearly sighed with ease as the Trollhunter escaping to the past would have been the desired outcome, however, the relief soon had turned into horror as he realized that time vortex had pulled inside all of them.
Well, he and Claire weren't that bad - Jim wouldn't carry his burden alone with them involved.
However, Bellroc should have never ended in the past with their knowledge of the future. As much as the Trollhunter was eager to save as many lives as possible and make things right, the ancient demigod could use the information to turn everything in favor of the Arcane Order.
No, Douxie had no time to lie down right now, even if he liked the cool feeling of something damp covering his forehead - a towel, most likely.
The young man opened his eyes and sat up in a hurry, ignoring another spike of a headache.
"How many times I've told you not to overwork yourself to death?" an irritated voice asked behind his back.
Archie. His loyal familiar and the oldest friend. Was it so surprising for him to be there if Douxie ended in the past? A pang of pain assaulted his mind as he remembered the farewell that the cat-dragon sent him through the Krohnisfere. Most likely, both Archie and Charlemagne had ended dead in that horrible future, which would never happen now. Douxie just had refused to accept the fact back then, clinging to the vague hope.
And now? It wouldn't matter if he managed to prevent all of that.
Was that the thing Jim felt as well?
There was no time to lose - if Bellroc realized their own position fast, they could end in a way more horrifying future.
"Archie, you can chew me later as much as you want, but now just tell me the date!" Douxie jumped off the couch, throwing the damp towel elsewhere and looking around in a wild attempt to pinpoint what time period he had ended in.
"What?" the familiar looked at him in bewilderment.
"Date, Arch, date!" the young wizard repeated with a barely hidden frustration.
It was GDT Arcane Books, meaning that he ended at some time between him starting to work there and the place being burnt by the Arcane Order.
Unfortunately, his cat hadn't caught his anxiety or had chalked it to something else.
"That's why I tell you not to strain yourself that much. Now you don't remember what day today is. What's next? Will you forget my name?" he scowled. "Do you have an idea how difficult it was to drag you here when you collapsed?"
Douxie didn't pay any mind to that lecture as he finally had pinpointed his smartphone on the table.
He felt everything freezing inside, the second he looked at the date. Why it had to be one of the worse options?
No senses, no pain, no hurt, no emotions.
It was an odd place. Or was it an odd state?
Neither life nor death. Neither dream nor reality.
Something beyond comprehension, beyond good and evil, ancient as the time itself.
Jim felt himself floating in the midst of that. He knew that he had to care about something, something truly important, yet somehow it was a space devoid of any thought processes. Why so? Well, it wasn't like it even mattered to the teen.
"Jimbo!"
Someone was calling.
Who was that again?
"Jimbo!"
It was louder this time, and he had a name now.
"Tobes!" the Trollhunter called back. As the voice got the name, it came into existence, whispy and flickering, more akin to a ghost than a living being.
It was Toby, his best friend since he had remembered himself, the one who stayed by his side through thick and thin.
The one who hadn't made it through the final battle.
"Why?" the ghostly being asked seriously. "Was my awesomesauce sacrifice for nothing? Why weren't you able to finish that cocky god? Why should I have been a moral support to such a useless guy?"
Each question felt like a stake going through Jim's heart. Not able to face it anymore, the teen turned away only to come face to face with his alien friends - or more like their phantoms.
Aja. Krel. Varvatos.
All three watching him with contempt.
"Seklos and Gaylen! Some many people have died," Krel was checking some of his devices with a grim expression.
"Who ever put this guy as a leader?" Aja inquired angrily. "We should have followed my evacuation plan!"
Jim made a step back colliding with someone.
A ghostly Steve was standing there, with Eli not far away.
"Lame Lake until the end," the former bully's voice was full of venom.
"I've been a better opinion about you, Jim," Eli added coldly.
The Trollhunter could stand it more - he tried to run, to escape from all those accusations.
Nomura's phantom materialized right before him, whistling her favorite motive.
"Where are you going, Little Gynt? Shouldn't we talk properly now? Like about how you haven't saved Draal at the Merlin's Tomb? What was the point of luring me with your sweet talk? To throw me away for your crazy plan afterward?"
Jim ran in the other direction only to face Strickler now.
"Young Atlas, I've told you that my wings weren't good for cold weather," the man glared at him with disdain. "Yet you still went with your risky plan. Or was it because I wasn't good enough to be with your mother?"
Mother.
Barbara was also there, looking hurt and betrayed.
"I've thought you accepted my new relationship, Jim. Was your blessing to us fake? Don't you want me to be happy?"
The teen couldn't listen to that more. He wanted to apologize before all of them, to explain, but it was like someone had taken his voice from him.
And the torture had no end as ghostly Claire had materialized out of the darkness.
"Apparently, I've fallen in love with a fake," her face was emotionless, more reminiscent of a mask rather than the actual expression. "I've made a delusion for myself, imagining the brave, noble hero. There was none in reality, just a pretender throwing away lives to appease his ego".
"Master was right," Douxie appeared beside him. "You're not enough. Never have been, never will be. Even to think that you can make anything right is preposterous! Fixing time? You'll only make it worse!"
Would there ever be an end to that? Jim begged in his mind for it to stop, but…
"Destiny? More like a bizarre joke of some higher forces," Blinky's voice sounded bitter. "I was never meant to be a mentor to a true hero. First, Unkarr, and now we have a human child? What an old fool I've been!"
"Amulet chose wrong," Aaarrrgghh grumbling felt both like a final verdict and a signal for every phantom to start yelling at once. There were more and more of them appearing, all hostile, accusing, irritated. It was as if the world he knew was falling into pieces.
There was no way to run, and suddenly hot fingers clenched on his neck. Bellroc materialized starting with their hands and smirked triumphantly:
"Have you thought you could escape after offending a god, puny mortal? You should have known your place! Now just die in this reality full of scorn!"
The choir of phantoms howled in approval, demanding the teen's execution.
Those were not Jim's friends or family, yet…
It didn't mean it hurt less. Even Bellroc's deadly grip felt less painful as his mind was fading into the darkness.
And then it snapped. A hot and powerful feeling overcame both his mind and soul, unstoppable and liberating. All the voices fell silent at once.
No, they just stopped mattering as the sense of guilt and regret made the space for fury and hatred.
And the perfect target for all of that was standing right before the teen. His own hands closed around the fire demigod's neck, his grip vicious and ruthless.
It was the first time Jim wanted to kill someone that much.
No, not just kill.
Destroy.
Obliterate.
Rip into pieces.
Reduce to ash.
The weird space started to crack, but the young Trollhunter couldn't care less…