"Are you guys ready yet? The commercials are almost over!"

Toby fiddled anxiously with the TV remote in his hands, wishing that the Lake household had a pausable TV, until he finally heard his friends coming down the stairs.

"Sorry, sorry!" Jim said, following Claire down the stairs as fast as they could. "Just helping mom with the feeding!"

"Yeah, I know - now cozy up, 'Jim the Baby-Handed'!" Toby shifted to give his friends more room on the couch, to which they gladly took, though not before Jim blew a raspberry at the chuckling Toby. "Everybody ready?"

"About as ready as we'll ever be to witness more Changeling-Human politics." Blinky answered from his place leaning against the mountainous heap of moss that was Aaarrrgghh.

"Nomura smart." Aaarrrgghh brought up. "Can handle it."

"Damn right she can!" Toby enthusiastically agreed.

"Shh! It's coming on!" Claire shushed them, nudging the boys.

All attention turned to the TV as the screen shifted from some toothpaste commercial to the program they had all been waiting for.

The television displayed a cozy-looking interview room with four filled chairs, Troll-formed Nomura in the farthest left seat with a cup of tea, three neatly-dressed humans, two female, one male, occupying the other three seats, their mugs resting on the table in the middle of them all. A screen wall behind them displayed irrelevant pictures of around-the-world scenery.

There was some boring recap of earlier-discussed topics on the show before they finally got to the part everyone cared about.

"… And joining us today, we have Ms. Zelda Nomura, a Changeling spokesperson from none other than Arcadia Oaks!" One of the women announced to the camera before turning to Nomura. "Thank you for joining us today."

"Of course." Nomura replied, calmly awaiting the barrage of questions she knew was coming. She'd taken a close look at her company earlier when they'd all first been introduced… What was this one's name again? Emma?

"Now, you're our first ever Changeling guest." The woman - Emma, Nomura now dubbed her - went on. "Not only that, but our first guest from the Battle of Eternal Night as well. This is you, correct?"

Nomura glanced back at the wall behind them, which began to play a poorly-recorded phone video taken of her from a distance, protecting two teenage boys from a Gumm-Gumm soldier.

"That's correct." Nomura confirmed.

"I wonder if Steve knows he's on TV." Toby snickered, getting nudged and shushed by Claire again.

"Amazing." The interviewer commended as she watched the video play out. "It must have been hard, fighting against the ones you used to serve."

"Not at all." Nomura shut that down fast. She wasn't expecting them quite so soon, but Nomura knew to be prepared for these kinds of subtly incriminating statements. "Truth be told, I'm glad I finally got to give them a piece of my mind."

"Oh." Emma said, one of her associates speaking up next.

"But isn't it true that Changelings all loyally served this… this evil troll, Gunmar?" The second woman, Vivian, spoke up. "Forgive me if I'm smudging specifics. We're not familiar with all the details or history, I'm sure you understand."

"… Of course…" Nomura took a slow sip of tea. "Yes, you could say that about us… It's true, we have always been expected to serve Gunmar without question. It was our sole given purpose. That doesn't mean we all enjoyed it or never questioned it." Quieter, she added, "And none of us appreciated being treated than lesser than equals, obviously…"

"But you all still put up with it?"

How she managed to not scoff out loud at that thoughtless statement, Nomura was clueless. She held her composure, and calmly replied, "No. There have been many of us to question our given paths in life. It wasn't uncommon that the Janus Order would have some of our workers disappear on us, cutting ties completely to choose their 'human' lives - or sometimes, humans they've developed feelings for - over their assigned duties." Another sip of tea. "Sometimes, when their families died out, they would return. Others made their own paths in life, going so far as to change their names and appearances to leave their old lives behind."

"But even still, they all lived by lies, didn't they?" Emma cut in next, "Forgive me, it's just hard to know if we can trust people of your breed."

"BOOO!" A plentitude of angry shouts and popcorn pieces were hurled at the TV by its furious spectators.

"Oh sure, just go and expect them to admit they're half-trolls to a bunch of unknowing humans, why don't you! Eat a bag of rocks,buttwipe!" Toby yelled, children and trolls all loudly voicing agreements.

In the interview, however, Nomura still kept remarkably cool, taking a long, slow sip of her tea before replying. "I do wonder…" she mused, "… if you'd say such a thing to me in my human skin."

The interviewer paused at that, knowing of how Nomura's human form had looked. Before she could respond to that, Nomura continued.

"Changelings never had a choice in our deceitful beginnings." She stated, cold and direct. "We were taken from our families as children. Our bodies forcibly changed into what we are now. Raised solely to serve an Underlord that cared nothing for us. You have no idea what that's like." She set her cup down, holding steady, icy eye contact with the woman across from her. "Would you speak with such insensitivity to a human having gone through something similar? Child soldiers, perhaps, or other such victims of despotism against their group of people?"

Such delicate topics will bring discomfort to most humans, and for good reason. Nomura knew this well, fully prepared for the uneasiness to come.

There was a tense moment of silence between the other two women as they tried to come up with something to say in response without sounding like complete trash. "Well…" One hesitantly started, "That's different…"

Nomura took another sip of tea, holding firm eye contact. "Please do elaborate."

The pair were at such a loss for words, Nomura had to wonder if they were new at this job. Eventually, the third interviewer spoke, the man Nomura had been informed was called Desmund. He'd been so quiet this whole time, Nomura almost forgot he existed.

"If I may cut in…" He spoke up, "I firstly want to apologize for any insult my associates may have caused you. This has been a… a confusing and frightening way for all this 'magic and trolls' knowledge to come to light."

Nomura's eyes narrowed slightly… but, so far the man seemed genuine, so she listened as he spoke.

"I know there's a whole lot of this we humans don't understand yet, and we really appreciate you agreeing to come out here to share your experiences with us." Desmund could almost see the regret in Nomura's eyes about making that choice, and he took pause for a moment. "… If you don't mind me getting personal… My grandfather was a victim of slavery when he was young. Taken away from his family and made to do forced labour and bidding of his kidnappers."

Now that caught her attention.

Nomura had tensed slightly. She hadn't realized she'd been speaking with someone whose kin had gone through such experiences themselves… She set her tea down, her full attention on Desmund, and the other two women dared not interrupt their associate, either.

"There were many awful things he'd gone through, and shared his struggles only with his close family…" Desmund went on, fingers drumming against his cup as he spoke, "I was younger then… Wouldn't even begin to be able to list everything he'd shared. But the one thing I'll always remember clear as day is how trapped and dehumanized he said he felt… The people he was made to serve saw him as a tool rather than a living, feeling individual. To be treated like you don't matter…" He sat up a little straighter in his chair, meeting Nomura's eyes. "I've seen for myself how badly that hurts a person."

Nomura was quiet, slowly nodding as Desmund said it. She snuck a quick glance at the women who'd been maligning her just moments earlier. Judging from the looks of surprise and the smallest hint of guilt on their faces, Nomura could guess that the direction that this conversation's gone wasn't planned.

"I'm sorry to hear that about your grandfather." Nomura first said, returning undivided attention to the man across from her. "… Thank you for your compassion."

Desmund smiled at her. "You are very brave, to have stood up against your oppressor like you did." He said in return. "Thank youfor doing what was right, and helping the people of Arcadia during their crisis."

The Changeling blinked a few times, not expecting that praise, but nodded her head to him in acceptance and gratitude of it.

Turning to the camera, Desmund switched tunes to lead into commercials, "On that note, it's about time we take a break. We'll be right back after these sponsor messages."

Almost as soon as the commercials came on, Barbara descended down the stairs in her work scrubs, still working on tying up her hair. "Hey, kiddos!" She greeted. "How's that show going?"

"People are dumb jerks!" Toby called out.

"It's okay!" Claire assured in response. "Things seem to be going better now that they've… sorta found common ground?"

"Rough start." Aaarrrgghh added in.

"You can say that again." Jim chuckled awkwardly in agreement. He looked at Barbara. "You heading out to work now, Mom?"

"Yep." She answered, grabbing her purse off the coat rack. "I'll see you lot in-?"

The ring of their home telephone cut off her sentence. Thinking it was probably just Strickler or Ophelia, Barbara went to pick it up without a second thought. "Hello? … Oh… it's you."

When they all watched her face drop and tone shift, Jim could tell exactly who was on the other line. Barbara gave Jim a look and beckoned him to come over, rolling her eyes and doing a 'blah-blah-blah' with her hands.

Jim had a short chuckle at her gesture, then got up to come join the conversation as Barbara put James on speaker. "What do you want?"

"Hey, kiddo!" His father's voice cheerfully rang from the line, either oblivious of Jim's curt tone, or choosing to disregard it. "I've got good news! Got that camera of yours all fixed up!"

"… Wait… Really?" Jim responded, surprise and skepticism shoving aside the annoyance of this man calling him 'kiddo'. He was definitely expecting it to take longer than just a week… "That's, uh… good…"

"Yeah! Sorry it took so long, but it seems to be working fine now!" For a second, James's chipper tone dulled down a bit with disappointment. "Though, uh, the tape that was in it was a little trickier to restore… I did what I could, but it clips here and there, and all I can really make out is this weird spinny blue thing before it completely cuts out–"

"Don't throw that away," Jim quickly cut in, "We want to keep that."

"Oh, uh, okay, sure! I'll just leave it in the camera for you, then…" There were some sounds of shuffling on his end, and then James spoke again. "I have some errands to run soon - I could swing by the house to drop it off on my way through town, if you want?"

Jim's jaw clenched, and uncertain looks were exchanged between everyone in the rooms.

"Uh, only if that's alright with you and your mother, of course!" James quickly added to fill the moment of silence on his son's side.

He was… hesitant, to put it lightly. He first glanced at his friends. Claire and Toby worse similar expressions of uncertainty as Jim, and Aaarrrgghh seemed mostly just intrigued about the situation… It was Blinky's look that caught Jim's attention the most. The troll's six eyes were all focused on Jim, seeming very curious to see what the response to his father's proposal would be.

Jim took a deep breath, and then looked to Barbara unsurely for her opinion. "… Ground rules?" He asked quietly.

Barbara looked surprised, then concerned. "… Are you really sure about this?"

"… Yeah… I think so."

A moment of silence lasted between them, until Barbara eventually took the phone again to hold closer. "Okay, James… Firstly, you are not to go upstairs at all." She didn't want him anywhere near the Familiars in their care. "Secondly, you are never ever to come near our house unannounced. You are to call ahead of time, every time, if there's ever more reasons like this you 'need' to stop by." Jim nodded along with her rules, both of them definitely not wanting any more surprise visits like last time… "Thirdly, if Jim wants you to leave, you leave, no questions asked."

James listened carefully to each restriction she set, and when he was sure she was done, said immediately, "No problemo! I won't cross any lines, promise!"

"Forgive me for having my doubts." Barbara scoffed sarcastically before passing the phone off to Jim again.

"Okay, well, Nomura's interview is about to come back on, so-"

"Oh, you're watching that show! Do you need anything? Snacks, drinks-?"

"Uh, no, we're fine-"

"It's really no trouble!" His father insisted. "I'll be there as soon as I can!"

Before Jim could object any further, James had hung up.

"… Okay then…" Jim muttered, staring blankly into the now-buzzing receiver.

"Is it just me, or is that guy, like… weirdly chummy?" Toby questioned from the living room.

"Oh yeah. It's definitely kinda weird." Jim agreed, hanging the phone up. "Or maybe that's normal for him. It's not like I can remember."

In the back of his mind, Jim knew the reason was likely him trying way too hard to 'make up' for previous mistakes.

Barbara stepped forward with wringing hands. "Are you sure you're going to be okay with this?" She asked Jim in concern.

"Of course, Mom. He's just going to drop off a camera, not a bomb - metaphorical or otherwise…" Jim assured her with a smile. "Don't worry about it. Have a good day at work, okay?"

Barbara was hesitant, not keen on the idea of James being in their house while she's not there… but she trusted Jim and his friends to keep a close eye. She eventually nodded, her and Jim sharing a quick hug goodbye, and Barbara was out the door.

Jim went back to his friends, laying in wait of when his father would again be at his door. Even when his friend came back on screen, it was difficult for Jim to focus.

.

By some stroke of luck, James thankfully didn't show up until another commercial break, but Jim still groaned internally when he heard that knock on the door.

"Sorry, guys - I'll make sure this is quick." Jim sighed, getting up to answer the knock.

The half-troll felt drained already when he opened the door to James's over-the-top cheery presence.

"Hey there, Jim!" His father basically sang. He stood there with two bags, one of cloth which likely held the camera he'd worked on, and the other a white grocery bag filled to the brim with snacks and drinks. He held up the cloth bag first and asked, "Where do you want it?"

Jim always found himself fighting the urge to roll his eyes whenever he was in this man's vicinity. He sighed, and gestured to the desk in the front hall. "Just put it there."

James was quick to oblige, setting the camera down where he was told. "So I noticed you kids are using pretty old cams… Ever considered upgrading to something more… y'know, up-to-date?"

"Hey, we're not made of money… Some of that new stuff can be upwards of six hundred bucks apiece! Getting enough of these ones already spread us pretty thin." Toby pointed out, getting up to look at the fixed camera. Jim came over curiously too as his friend carefully took it out of the bag to examine. It certainly appeared to be in better shape… Looks like James Frankensteined the thing with other pieces of tech to patch it all together again. The click of a few buttons showed the boys it was functioning okay too, despite its ugly makeover.

"Well… I have to make some stops at a few electronics places anyway! Maybe I can pick up a newer one for you kids?"

Toby started to say something, but Jim beat him to the first reply. "We're fine with these ones."

It was a tempting offer. But Jim didn't like the idea of relying on this man so much. Even if James did owe him the favours… something just felt uncomfortable about it.

"Oh, okay…" James said. "Well, how about some other supplies? I don't really get everything that's going on, but if all this magic stuff's leaving you cash-strapped, at least let me stock you up on tapes or something!"

He didn't look enthusiastic about it, but Jim begrudgingly conceded. "Alright, alright, fine." He said. "But don't use that as an excuse to just drop by whenever you want."

"Of course! Whatever you say goes, Jamie-" The glare Jim gave him immediately got James stumbling to correct himself. "-uh, Jim! I meant Jim." He awkwardly chuckled. Changing the subject, he hoisted up the bag of groceries he held. "Uh, I wasn't sure what you lot liked food-wise, so I just got a bit of everything! Chips, candy, soda… Oh, and don't worry Jim, I have something I think you'll like, too!" Pulling a thermos out of the bag and tossing it for his son to catch, James joked, "I think I may have ruined my blender with that one! Haha…"

Curious, but cautious, Jim slowly opened the thermos, the following scent making Toby gag next to him.

"Nasty! That stuff smells worse than Aaarrrgghh's kitty litter breath!" He declared dramatically. Jim on the other hand, while suspicious, did like the smell. Seemed like a mixture of whatever gross things his dad could dig up - dirty socks, moldy food, probably rotting meat?

"Uh… Thanks, I guess…" Jim mumbled, not particularly grateful-sounding. He gestured to the living room table. "You can just. Put that stuff there."

James turned to the living room as he was told, but nearly leapt out the window when he caught sight of the two trolls that had been quietly watching him from their seats, particularly startled by Aaarrrgghh. "Oh hell, you're a big fella-" There was a nervous chuckle as he tried to compose himself, looking around nervously as he pointed to Aaarrrgghh. "Ehehe, uhhh… Is he, uh… is he friendly?"

Aaarrrgghh's head tilted slightly to the side with a small frown and a raised eyebrow. "Mm. Most of time."

Clearing his throat nervously, the next weird look James gave was to Blinky.

"Salutations." Blinky did not greet him with friendliness, but still stood and extended one hand to James. "I don't believe we've met. I am Blinkous Galadrigal, and this… 'big fellow' is Aaarrrgghh."

"Uhh… James…" Definitely haven't met… these things… He'd remember meeting some blue guy with a billion eyes and that scary giant moss rock. Very skeptically, he shook Blinky's hand. Then stifled a yelp when the troll tugged him ever so slightly closer with a firm grip.

"It's been an honour and a privilege to know your son." Blinky said, a polite smile on his face that didn't quite match his tone. "This second chance you've been so graciously given, I do hope you use wisely."

He pat the man's shoulder, released his hand, and went back to his seat next to Aaarrrgghh. James wasn't sure, but those words from the troll almost felt like a warning of some kind…

"Uhh… right…" James replied, clearing his throat. "So these thin- uh, guys, they're your friends too?" He asked Jim.

"More like family." Jim's reply was curt. He added an extra hint of bitterness, but still let the next sentence roll off his tongue naturally, "Blinky's like a father to me."

Despite being prepared for these kinds of words from Jim, that… that still stung a little bit. "A-Ahh… That's… that's good…" James said to mute that (admittedly much-deserved) brush-off for himself.

When he heard the kid's show coming back on, he took that as his cue to leave, especially with the disdainful look Jim was still giving him. "Don't worry! I won't overstay my-" Realizing that 'welcome' probably wasn't the best word to use, James rephrased immediately. "I'll, uh, I'll get out of your hair!" He corrected himself. "If I find some good supplies for you, I'll just be in and out lickety-split to drop 'em off, you won't even know I was here–" Another pause as he realized the bad wording. "Ah, I mean, I'll let you know when I'm there, I just mean- Yeah. Nevermind. You get what I mean. See you later maybe." There were finger guns from James as he stopped himself from talking them to death, and he finally took his leave.

With that awkward goodbye, Jim watched with an unimpressed look as his father flew out the door.

"… Yeesh." Toby scoffed, opening a bag of the chips left behind. "The more I see that guy, the more weirded out I get."

"Right?" Claire agreed immediately. "Like, what do you even say to that?"

Jim nodded too, taking a few cautionary sniffs of the strange concoction his father made for him before deciding it was safe to take a sip. Not bad, he'll admit… but James will never hear him say it.

All attention returned to the TV when Nomura came back on.

.

After the show, it was Blinky who took the next turn tending to the young Familiars. Meanwhile, Toby and Claire helped Jim clean up the living room and kitchen.

"So, plans for the rest of the day?" Claire asked the boys, drying the washed silverware as Toby cleaned them. "I was going to drop by the school at lunch break to see Mary and Darci. I think they've been feeling neglected." She chuckled.

"I'm probably going to help Nana out cleaning the house later." Toby said while washing plates. "The upkeep's been a little tough with all the new guests around, ha." He looked to Jim as the half-Troll came in with some garbage and dishes from the living room. "What about you, Jimbo?"

Jim shuffled to the trash, keeping his eyes on the garbage he was dumping in rather than looking at his friends. "… I was… thinking of going back to the woods to look around."

"Again?" Claire questioned, raising an eyebrow at him. "But you've gone like five times already and haven't found anything…"

Jim was quiet for just a second, then shrugged. "I'll… need to set the camera up again anyway, so…"

Well… He's not wrong.

Toby and Claire only looked at each other and shrugged, continuing their duties.

Blinky came back downstairs as they were finishing up, and at the same time the front door opened, in walking Dictatious and Angor Rot.

"Oh, hello, you two…" Blinky greeted as they came in. "How was the training today?"

There was a moment's pause before any reply was said, a pause in which the everyone could see a strange look pass from Angor to Dictatious.

"Oh, nothing particular to note…" Dictatious said, walking past Angor to the living room, "Magic tricks, scuffling around, the usual." He found a vacant chair and took a seat.

While the passive and mildly sarcastic note to Dictatious's voice wasn't out of the ordinary in and of itself, there was obviously something strange between Angor and Dictatious. What with the way the Conundrum had immediately distanced himself, completely avoiding 'looking' at his teacher, the odd look Angor was giving him from across the room, even Aaarrrgghh and Blinky could tell something was off, the pair exchanging confused looks.

"… Something happen?" Aaarrrgghh asked.

Dictatious didn't say a word. Angor Rot snorted, pulling a half-done carving out of one of his pockets to whittle away at. "Of course not." He answered brusquely.

Truth be told, Dictatious had been acting rather bitterly towards him since their recent spat about Gunmar. But, of course, neither troll would admit to anything being wrong.

Toby didn't like this tension. It made him uncomfortable. So, out of habit, he piped up with a cheerier tone to try and lighten the mood, "Except a whole lotta getting buff, right?" He joked, albeit with a tiny awkward laugh. "Gotta be ready to give Morgana the fight of Her life, huh?"

The mention of that name instinctively made Angor Rot go tense, and Dictatious's following comments didn't help.

"More like She'll give us the fight of ours, considering…" The Conundrum chuckled absentmindedly, waving one hand. "Well, sometimes I just wonder the legitimacy of taking survival advice from someone who's already died twice this year alone, is all."

Just as quickly as he'd started to work on his carving, Angor stopped, staring coldly at Dictatious. "What?"

It would seem Toby's 'anti-tension' plan has backfired spectacularly. "… Uh… I better get back home." He said, mouthing 'Good luck' at Jim and Claire before escaping out the back door.

Jim's disapproving stare turned to Dictatious. "Dude. Not cool."

"I'm just saying… I mean, that's the entire reason you have me trailing him around when you can't, is it not? He's incompetent at even staying alive correctly." Dictatious scoffed with callousness, a coldly-calm smirk forming on his face to accompany the brazen and intentional cruelty in his voice. "You know, it would be sad were it not so amusing."

Everyone fell quiet at that, the only sound in the room being the TV in the meantime.

Claire stared at Dictatious in disbelief at what she just heard. Jim's jaw had dropped, and he looked at Angor Rot for fear of how he'd react.

The troll definitely looked taken aback. Angor just stood there, staring at Dictatious, deathly quiet. It was clear he'd taken offense at the comment, whether he'd admit it or not. But, to his credit, he didn't act on it.

"… Uh… Well…" Jim stammered, trying - and failing - to disrupt the strain in the air, "I was going to go check the woods again…" He cleared his throat, holding a stare with Angor in attempt to grab his attention. "Would you be okay to come with? I could use your experience in, uh… hunting and stuff…"

Angor's gaze stayed firmly on Dictatious for a while longer. It felt like ages until the assassin finally responded with a gruff "Gladly," and walked out.

Jim and Claire exchanged concerned looks, and the Trollhunter left the house in a hurry after him.

Blinky stared at his brother incredulously, but Claire was the first to speak.

"Why would you say that?"

Still obviously unbothered by everyone else's discomfort, Dictatious merely shrugged. "What? It's true."

.

"This is where you lost sight of him?"

Jim lead Angor Rot as accurately down the path he'd taken as he could remember while the assassin looked for any hints of 'Draal's' presence.

"Yeah… I'm pretty sure he was probably already following me for a little while before I saw him, too…" Jim answered.

"That wouldn't surprise me." His company replied, attentive eye scanning the area closely as they got closer.

"I tried looking for tracks or something last few times I was here, but…"

"Hmm. You had the right idea." Angor commented, claws tracing over some marks left in a nearby tree. "With what time has passed since you saw him, and the recent rainfall, any tracks left in the dirt would be long faded by now."

Instead, Angor brought Jim's attention to scuffs and breaks in the trees from 'Draal's' less-than-inconspicuous getaway. Jim had followed that path before, but lost track of it fairly quickly… With the two of them, they'd probably get a lot farther. So, down the path they went.

"… So, uh… is everything okay between you and Dictatious?" Jim finally asked. "He seemed a little… snippy with you back there."

Angor Rot was quiet for just a moment before giving an unconcerned hum. "He's like that with everyone, is he not?"

"… I guess so." Jim replied, frowning slightly at his company's initial hesitance. "It's just, you guys had been getting along pretty well lately. A lot better than anybody's expected." He waited for some sort of response from the troll in lead, but got none. So, he went on to mumble, "Just seems weird, is all."

Still, Angor said nothing aside from another disinterested-sounding hum.

"… Did something happen?"

The troll stilled. Jim slowly came closer.

"… I am… not certain." Angor eventually confessed, though no more details than that were offered.

Jim could see the traces of doubt in Angor's demeanour as he approached the assassin. He turned his head just slightly, enough to see Jim out of the corner of his eye, and kept moving before the boy could get any closer. "I'm sure it's nothing important."

Jim believed in that statement about as much as he believed in Blinky's ability to leave cars un-crashed. But, he wasn't pushy about it. Just said a prolonged and doubtful "You don't sound sure."

As Jim expected, Angor didn't reply right away, quiet in thought. "… Hmm… I may have used some choice words when discussing Gunmar." He admitted dryly.

"Yikes…" Jim said with a slight cringe. "You brought up Gunmar with him again?"

"He was the one to bring the topic up - rather casually, might I add."

"… Seriously?"

When Jim's voice and face took on an air of surprise, Angor gave him a confused look.

"I mean… I hear it's been a pretty touchy subject with him, is all. Toby's mentioned he gets kinda… passive-aggressive whenever Gunmar's come up." Jim explained. "Like… The only person he's even slightly talked about The Darklands and Gunmar with was Blinky, and even he didn't get much out of him on that topic. I'm just surprised he was willing to bring him up with you at all."

"… Hrm…"

"Not that it excuses anything he said back there, of course-!" Jim was quick to add. "It was really uncalled for. I'm just saying, since he's probably still sensitive about all that, it might be the reason he's being so… you know. Dickish."

… Admittedly, Angor Rot didn't consider that perspective about their tiff on Gunmar… Even still, he didn't think it an excuse to deny Gunmar's flaws like Dictatious so adamantly does.

His many, extreme flaws.

But… well… it's not like Angor can deny that such old habits can be hard to break.

Things had been going well before. He and Dictatious had actually been getting along.

Surely that progress hasn't just been jeopardized by this triviality, has it?

Silence fell between the troll and the hunter as they continued to wander the woods. Silence, until Angor paused again, having seemed to caught wind of something.

"What's up?" Jim asked, stopping behind him.

"This scent… it's stale, but… someone has been through here, somewhat recently."

"Wait, what? There's a scent?" Jim took a big, dramatic sniff. "… All I smell is dirt and trees."

"Your nose is still underdeveloped in comparison to a full troll." Angor pointed out, unconcerned. "I wouldn't worry about it."

"Oh yeah…" Jim shrugged that off in favour of remaining focused. "Well, what do you think? Do… do you think it might actually be Draal…?"

A good question. Angor browsed the area for a little while longer before answering, taking in as much as he could of the place. This person, troll, thing, whatever it may have been here, this specific scent was completely unfamiliar to Angor Rot.

"I can't say I knew his scent well, Hunter, but whatever you encountered, it's… " He paused upon seeing the look of disappointment already seeping into Jim's expression. "… it… doesn't seem likely that it was your friend. I'm… sorry."

Jim had already known better than to have high hopes, but… well, he'd still had a tiny shred of hope up until then. "It's okay." He sighed. "… Would've been too good to be true, I guess…"

Angor's still not good at this sort of thing. Rather than risking saying something wrong, he opted to say nothing at all, leaving them walking in silence yet again.

They followed the path for some time, yet with no results. The scent didn't seem to be getting any stronger, either.

"Maybe this person - thing? - maybe theywere checking if we'd replaced that camera yet or something?" Jim suggested.

"It's possible." Angor agreed. "If the Pale Lady or Her supporters are behind this, sabotage wouldn't surprise me."

"I guess we'll have to better hide the next…"

When Angor Rot realized the Trollhunter had stopped walking, he stopped as well, turning around with a confused look on his face. "Have you spotted something?"

The expression Jim wore was a blank one. He looked… disoriented, all of a sudden… eyes glazed over, slack-jawed and all-around seeming dazed.

Squinting slightly, Angor Rot looked to Jim, then behind himself (seeing nothing), then back to Jim. He took a step towards him. "… Trollhunter?"

It seemed like Jim turned his head just slightly to better make eye contact with Angor, but it was also like the child was just… staring right through him.

Concerned now, Angor continued taking slow steps towards him, keeping an intensely watchful eye. "Jim…?"

Despite how he was moving closer, to Jim it sounded like Angor's voice was getting farther away… tinnier, even…?

He opened his mouth to respond to the troll, but what came out instead of comprehensible speech was a slurred jumble of meaningless words. His head pounded. His vision blurred, line of sight quickly narrowing. In the seconds that followed, his knees buckled under him, unable to hold his weight anymore.

"Jim–!"

Angor's voice was drowned out of Jim's head by a shrieking, continuous ring, burning pain searing through his body as he fell to the ground.

Everything went black.

.

Ophelia and Javier Nunyez were more than happy to look after the Familiars every now and then. The Lakes were welcoming them in their home for as long as it took to figure out this portal mess, after all, it was the least they could do.

They'd just finished feeding the hungry ones when they heard someone crashing through the door downstairs.

"An intruder?!" Javier exclaimed in alarm. His first instinct was to look for something to use as a weapon, and Ophelia started to pull out her phone to call 911, but they both froze when they heard a voice they could recognize, even if they'd only heard it a few times before.

"Where is the Lake woman?!" Angor Rot's voice boomed through the house, his frustrated query followed by some Trollish curses and objects crashing to the ground as there was sounds of struggling downstairs.

They could hear another voice they recognized, but it came out only in pained outcries.

Jim.

Ophelia and Javier rushed downstairs in a flash only to witness a frightening sight.

Angor Rot, despite his strength, had been having a hell of a time trying to keep the struggling Jim's weight supported on him - as a half-Troll, that boy can put up one mean fight. He'd managed to get Jim's arm around him and drag him all the way back here, but the Trollhunter had been blindly thrashing and screaming in agony with increasing intensity the whole time. Dark blood that he'd been coughing out had stained the front of Jim's blue armour, light in the metal's design pulsating wildly in reaction to the boy's distress.

Unable to keep a stable hold on him for much longer, Angor hauled him over to the couch and plopped him down on it.

"Oh my god-!" Ophelia gasped in terror, following them to the living room with Javier close behind, "What happened to him?!"

"I don't know!" Angor Rot snapped, trying hard to keep the struggling teen laying on his side. "Where is his mother?! Is she not a medic?!"

Normally he'd be keeping his cool. But something was so terribly wrong, and he didn't know what, or how to fix it. Frustration was getting the better of him the longer all this went on.

"Sh-She's not here—"

"THEN CALL HER!" Angor roared, making her jump. "You have devices for that, don't you?!" He quickly had to return his attention to Jim when the boy had turned onto his back, coughing as he started to choke on the blood bubbling up his throat. Angor fought hard to force him to lie on his side again, snarling in frustration.

Ophelia yelped, starting to panic again. She pulled out her phone with shaking hands to call Barbara, and Javier went to Angor's side to help with Jim. At first, the troll gave him a wary glare, but let him help when it became clear he was only trying to assist.

Finally they were able to get Jim into a better position. Angor Rot, tired of having to wrestle him down, held his hand above Jim and growled, "Saa'chulak."

"Wh-?" Javier began, but he shut up and jolted back when strings of purple light and smoke appeared near Jim, wrapping around him. Jim still struggled and sobbed, his body writhing in pain, but the magic binds held him in place well enough.

Angor Rot then took a step back too, staring in frustration at Jim as he hopelessly racked his brain trying to figure out what was wrong with him…

As all this was going on, Ophelia finished her call, confirming Barbara and Strickler were on their way, but then James came into the picture.

He must've seen the broken front door and heard his kid screaming, because he just barged right into the house, his eyes popping wide open when he saw Jim. "What the hell-?!" His eyes then narrowed as they glared at Angor Rot. "What the fuck did you do to my son?!"

Oh, he was not in the mood for accusations right now. Angor Rot just glared back and snarled. "If I was the one to hurt him, then why would I have brought him back here?"

"Fuck you! Fuck you!" James shouted, not listening to a single word. "I'm taking my kid far away from your voodoo-looking ass–"

The second James went for Jim, clearly with intent to try and move the injured child, Angor Rot planted himself right in James's path, glaring down at him with murder in his eye. Violet fire danced around the troll's hands, and the lights throughout the whole house flickered ominously with what arcane magic he emanated in that moment. Jim aside, every single one of the humans in the room fell dead silent with fear.

"You will NOT touch him."Angor snarled, his voice rumbling with barely-contained viperous rage.

If James were to take even one more step forward, make no mistake, Angor would lash out. So, he gritted his teeth, and reluctantly backed off. Nobody said a word, and Angor Rot didn't move from his place in front of Jim, Keeping an eye on both the Trollhunter and James until Barbara's car was heard peeling into the driveway.

Barbara ran in first, closely followed by Strickler.

Angor of course stepped aside for Barbara, her going to her son's side in an instant. But when it came to the Changeling, he gave him a warning look, wary of Strickler… though to his credit, he did seem a fair bit worried as well, Angor would give him that.

"Oh god, oh Jim-!" Barbara whispered in shock, her distressed son not seeming to register her presence. Strickler stared at Jim in shock, his attention soon turning to Angor Rot. "What on earth happened?" He asked, keeping suspicion out of his tone as to not anger the assassin further.

"Yes, I'd like to know the answer to that too." Another voice piped up before Angor could respond. Angor Rot, Strickler, and Javier all looked to see Merlin – as if this house could get any more crowded - standing in the doorway, the wizard eyeing Jim suspiciously, then Angor Rot. "What dark magics have you performed on my Trollhunter?"

Again with the accusations. Bristling with anger, the assassin snapped, "I did nothing to him! One moment he was fine, and the next…"

They all looked at Jim again, the Trollhunter still struggling and sobbing, completely oblivious of the world around him. Barbara had Ophelia grab her one of their emergency medical kits at this point, a gesture to which Merlin could only scoff at.

"Oh, your kinds of medicine won't be very useful." Merlin said. "There is magic at work here."

"How do you know?" Barbara frantically asked, snapping a frustrated stare at him.

Right as she said that, a bright blue flash, like a ball of electricity, enveloped her son for just a few seconds, Jim screaming again as it happened.

"Well, that doesn't seem like a regular human ailment to me." Merlin said flatly as the light died down. He went to Barbara's side, also to get a closer look at the boy. Angor eyed him suspiciously, but when he looked to Strickler again, he saw a look of realization in his eyes, like the Changeling recognized this.

There was another sporadic blue flash, another pained scream, and Strickler felt certain.

"I think I know what's wrong." Strickler said, stepping forward. "Give me some room. I might be able to help him."

While Barbara's instincts wanted her to stay as close to her son as possible, she jumped at the chance of him receiving help, backing away. Angor Rot still seemed wary of the Changeling, but didn't get in his way, only kept a close eye. Merlin wasn't so quick to move, but James spoke up before he could.

"Right, and what are you going to do?!" He snapped, his lack of faith in Strickler being painfully obvious.

"I've seen this happen before in young Changelings, when they have trouble shifting between forms." Strickler explained. He started to move closer to Jim, but Merlin put a hand on his shoulder and turned him around so they were facing each other. The Changeling narrowed his eyes in annoyance and confusion as to why he was stopped.

"What you're implying is impossible." Merlin said, his voice rigid. "He cannot be a Changeling. His transformation to this Troll form is permanent."

Strickler pulled away from him, growling. "I didn't ask your opinion." He tried to go to Jim, Merlin tried to stop him again.

"Your kind are Morgana's creation. The Trollhunters are mine, and it's impossible for him to be a—"

This time Strickler's eyes flashed with anger, his wings flaring out. "I don't care what you think on the matter!" He said, voice raised with anger and persistence, "You may only see him as your Trollhunter, but I see a suffering child that needs help, and you will not stop me from at least TRYING to give him that!"

Angor's eyebrows shot up, mildly surprised as he witnessed Strickler tell Merlin off. For a moment there, he almost felt a sliver of respect for the Changeling.

Strickler pushed Merlin off of himself, again moving to Jim's side, and Barbara moved herself between them to try and keep Merlin from the space Strickler needed. She casted the wizard a dirty look, but Merlin only rolled his eyes.

Strickler knelt down beside the whimpering Trollhunter, Jim's eyes squeezed shut as his body shook with waves of sharp pain needling every part of him.

"Young Atlas." Strickler said quietly and as calm as he could. "Can you hear me?"

There was no discernible response from Jim at first - the boy only continued to quake and cry.

"Oh, this is ridiculous!" Exasperated and losing patience with these pointless methods, James started to speak up again and step forwards. "What's with you people?! He needs to go to a hospital, for fuck's sake-"

"Shut your mouth before I do it for you." Angor Rot growled sharply as he snapped the fleshbag a glare, frankly growing very tired of James's and Merlin's disruptions. The threat, again, was enough to get James to back down. All bark, no bite, that one…

As Strickler continued working with Jim, Angor Rot gravitated closer to Barbara, sharing in her intent to restrict James or Merlin from coming any closer. The human spared him a grateful look before her worried eyes fell back to Jim, and the assassin kept his hardened gaze on Merlin and James.

At this point nor Angor or Barbara cared if they held any actual concern for Jim - The fact of the matter is, both men are behaving far too rashly in this situation.

Strickler, not discouraged, continued trying to pull Jim back into reality, calling Barbara over as well to give him something physical to connect to. Shaking, Barbara sat beside them, holding Jim's hand, which quickly tightened around hers, and Strickler kept speaking reassurances to them both as he continued trying to get a response from Jim. All the while, Angor Rot stayed firmly where he was to keep Merlin and James away. Ophelia and Javier even got closer when Barbara left the troll's side to help with that little barrier. Merlin rolled his eyes again at the gesture, whereas James seemed to only be getting increasingly more irritated, but was far too outnumbered to do anything. Frankly, he was incredibly lucky to not have been kicked out yet, so he wouldn't push that luck now.

Finally, after a stretch of time that dragged on far too long for anyone's comfort, Jim finally spoke something comprehensible back to the voice talking at him.

Through pained tears and a shaky voice, he uttered, "Strickler?"

The Changeling's ears perked up. "Yes, Jim. It's me…" He frowned. "Can you tell me what you're feeling?"

Eyes shut tight, Jim struggled to speak again through his sobs, voice a slur. "It hurts, everything hurts-!" He sobbed weakly, trembling.

That response brought a wince to Strickler's face. "I know, Young Atlas, I know… Just keep listening to me, alright?" He said, doing his best to keep a level head for him. "Your mother is here with you, too… Do you feel her hand?"

Jim whimpered, but managed a quick nod, clutching his mom's hand tightly in response. Barbara bit her tongue, stroking her thumb along the side of Jim's hand, and using her other hand to brush his sweat-matted hair out of his face.

"Hold onto that feeling, that human contact-" He cut off mid-sentence when Barbara had a small yelp of pain, and Strickler quickly added, "Just- Just maybe not so tightly, Jim."

Strickler and Barbara both took it as a good sign that Jim had enough control to loosen his grip, at least, so Strickler continued. He offered Jim reminders of little yet significant details, the feeling of the sun on his skin, the first time he donned his amulet's armour… Barbara started to get the idea too, and added in other small delights, like the taste of his own cooking.

James would occasionally grumble at the absurdity of the situation, but the irked glares from Angor Rot were enough to get him to quiet down. Merlin, while continuously looking like he wanted to interfere, at least knew enough not to worsen the chaos. While Ophelia had gone closer to Barbara, a hand on her shoulder as a gesture of emotional support, Javier held his place between Jim and the others, still watching curiously.

"It… seems to be helping…?" Javier thought aloud.

Strickler nodded slowly. He'd let Barbara take over most of the talking now - Jim seemed to be reacting the best to her voice. It was a slow process, but the severity of Jim's pain seemed to be ever so slightly declining, bit by bit.

"It's important that he remember how he felt things as a human," Strickler explained quietly, "Some Changelings, when shifting forms for the first time, have trouble adjusting to the physiology of a human body." He clicked his tongue, head tilted as he kept a careful watch on Jim. "Luckily, Jim already has experience in that area… he just needs this little push."

By now, everyone's eyes were on Jim, waiting in anticipation.

They weren't left waiting long, as that glowing blue light again began to envelop the child's body, this time for much longer than before, but at least Jim wasn't screaming in pain this time. Though, that was probably due to the fact he'd fallen unconscious by now.

When the light finally faded away, what it left behind was still Jim.

The human Jim.