merendinoemiliano-Ah thank you so much!
Jim had stood against fear before. He still remembered the pure terror that coursed through his veins as he and Toby frantically pedaled away from Bular. The horror of surviving through two weeks in the Darklands, alone. His heart pounding a million beats a minute was all too familiar to him now.
But he had never experienced dread like this.
"For goodness' sake, master Jim," Blinky said in exasperation. "I understand your trepidation, but it's just your mother."
"Exactly," Jim said with a whine. "It's my mom we're talking about here. Remember when we forgot to call for a few days? Exactly! Now it's been, oh, I don't know how long-"
"Over three weeks," he added helpfully.
"Yeah, even better."
Claire placed a calming hand on Jim's arm. "Look, I'm not happy about it either, but you know she's got to be really worried about you Jim, more than anything. She deserves to know."
His ears drooped. "I know."
"Also, Nomura and Vardan had to travel over fifteen miles for that phone they, uh, 'borrowed.' I'm pretty sure she'd kill you if you didn't use it right away."
He sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll do it."
He tensed as he typed in his mom's number. Oh, this was going to be so, so bad…he held his breath as the phone rang. Half of him desperately wished for her to answer, but the other half wanted her to never pick up. Why would she? It was a number she wouldn't recognize, after all. Maybe she wouldn't-
There was an abrupt break in the ringing. Then, a weary, "Hello?" spoke from the other end.
Instantly, Jim's eyes watered. God…it had been so long since he had heard her voice. "Hey, Mom," he said, his voice cracking with emotion.
"Jim?" she asked hesitantly, as if not believing he was really there.
"Yeah, Mom. It's me."
"Oh, Jim!" she cried. "It's you! It's really you! Are you okay? Is-is Claire there too? Blinky? Everyone's together?"
He laughed, feeling slightly more relaxed. Maybe this call wouldn't be so bad after all. "We're all okay. I mean, we've been better, but…we're okay. We-"
"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL ME?!" she yelled. Jim yipped at the sudden explosion of sound. "YOU HAVEN'T CALLED IN TWENTY-SEVEN DAYS, JIM! YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED SICK I WAS ABOUT YOU? AND KNOWING I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT? FOR ALL I KNOW, YOU COULD'VE BEEN SERIOUSLY HURT! OR WORSE!"
"Well, Mrs. Lake," Claire piped in nervously, "it wasn't his fault. Or-or anyone's fault, really. A lot, um, happened-"
"OH, DO ENLIGHTEN ME!" Both Claire and Jim shrank away from the phone. "I'D LOVE TO HEAR ALL ABOUT IT. GIVE ME THE WHOLE STORY-"
"What's going on here?" Strickler's voice cut through the tirade. "Barbara, why are you shouting? You're going to wake the children."
"Sorry, Walter," she hissed. The volume had significantly lessened, but the anger in her voice had not diminished one bit. "It's just that Jim finally decided to bless us with a call."
"Really?!" he said excitedly. "Jim, are you there?"
"Yeah!" Jim answered, forcing a grin even though Strickler wasn't there to see it. "It's good old me!"
"It is so good to hear your voice again," he gushed. "For a moment, I thought…well, it doesn't matter now, does it? I'm just happy you're alright. You are alright, aren't you?"
His mom laughed, though the sound was strained. "Oh, he's as healthy as a horse. Which makes me wonder what's been going on the past few weeks that he hasn't bothered making contact with us."
"Dr. Lake, I know you're greatly upset, but you must hear Jim's side of the story," Blinky interjected. "Once you do, everything will make sense. Shouting at him won't do any good."
Jim couldn't breathe. He wanted to hug Blinky and pray for him all at once. No one interrupted his mom when she was in a bad mood.
After what several painful seconds, she finally answered. "Fine," she said, sounding much more restrained. Blinky visibly slumped in relief. "You're right. Jim, just…please tell me what's been going on."
And he did. He told her how they were attacked by golems and they had no idea who sent them. How one day there was such a massive ambush they were all separated. Claire, Blinky, and the others got kidnapped by the Janus Order-the ones responsible for the golems-while Jim was stuck wandering, hopelessly lost. It wasn't until he was taken in (knocked out and kidnapped didn't sound that great) by some friendly trolls that he finally knew where his friends were, and how to get to them. With the help of another changeling, he was able to find them and set them all free. The Janus Order didn't let them off easy, though, as they had to confront them one final time in an epic battle that culminated in the leader exploding the whole compound. It was only thanks to Claire's shadow magic that they were able to escape at all.
Jim had left out one key detail, though: the gravesand. He just couldn't bring himself to talk about it. He might've forgiven himself for it, but…it was still too fresh in his mind. Too painful. When he hadn't mentioned it, Claire and Blinky had looked at him, and he saw that they understood. He would tell his mother one day, he promised himself. But not today.
Once he had finally finished after a good twenty minutes of talking, his mom spoke. "Oh, sweetie…that's horrible. All that happened to you and everyone, just horrible. And to think I was giving you a hard time about not calling!" Her voice filled with emotion.
"Mom, mom, mom, no!" Jim said desperately, practically seeing the tears in her eyes. "I get it, you were just worried, don't-don't feel bad! I'm fine now. We all are!"
"Exactly the same as before," Claire said, eyeing her white bangs.
"The Janus Order," Strickler seethed. "Still fighting a lost battle. I thought after the western compound fell…I should've known. Helgar was always a fanatic, more so than most."
His mom sniffed. "I'm just glad you're okay. I was really hoping that your summer would be uneventful, but I guess I should know better by now."
He laughed. "I just can't seem to keep out of trouble, huh?" He gasped. "Speaking of trouble, where's Toby? He'd love to hear all this."
"Um, about that…" she hesitated, as if not quite sure what to say. "He's been having an adventure of his own too. I think I'll just let him explain it to you."
Jim and Claire exchanged questioning glances. "Okay…"
"But we'll tell him you called," Strickler said warmly. "Tell him everyone's alright. He'll be glad to hear it, Argh too."
"You keep him out of trouble, Claire!" his mom ordered. "Make sure he gives himself time to rest before doing any more Trollhunter business. You too, Blinky."
Claire grinned. "Will do, Dr. L."
"And Jim-" he braced himself for another scolding, but her voice was soft and gentle now, "-I love you."
He smiled. "I love you too, Mom."
A/N: Wow, that was fun to write. Barbara being angry and everyone just scared shitless of her is just...so fun. But she can't stay mad at her baby when none of all that suffering was his fault. But if Eunice was still alive...oh boy.
And...this is the second to last chapter of this fic. Yeah, the next update will be the last. All the loose ends have been tied up. They're so close to New Jersey. They're almost at the end of their journey-just like you guys with this fic :)