Chapter 12: In which the Green Knight removes his helmet

Blinky gently touched Claire's shoulder as she panted, leaning against a cell grating in the dungeon. Beads of sweat dripped from her chin and more drenched the clothes underneath her armor. She shook him off after a moment and stubbornly extended her hands once more, straining.

The first day of his arrival at the castle, Aaarrrgghh had ripped apart some of the cells (with great relish) to make a larger area and then decorated the space with an assortment of crushed stones. Now he rolled among the rubble, every so often stopping to pound and rearrange it with restless movements nonstop for at least two hours.

Toby watched from a wooden bench set into the wall, any hope that Claire would succeed in opening a portal having died long ago. One by one he unhooked the clasps of his armor, the action feeling like a betrayal.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Zoe standing near the exit, arms crossed and facing away from them. She hadn't spoken or moved in so long that when she suddenly straightened with a gasp, everyone turned to see why.

"I hear him!" she cried excitedly before tearing off up the steps.

The four-armed troll stared at the faint wisps of pink sparkles she'd left behind in her sudden flight. "I presume she means young Hisirdoux?"

"Probably," Toby agreed, bending down with difficulty to reach the clasps on his legs, "though I wouldn't think of him as 'young'. Nine hundred-something is nothing to sneeze at."

"Considering I was born in the year 467—by human reckoning—he is still a juvenile to me." He turned to the shadow witch once more, barely catching her in time as her knees buckled. "Claire, I indulged your attempts to find Master Jim out of courtesy, but the barrier around him is warded against shadow magic. All you are doing now is uselessly draining yourself to a point beyond fatigue. Continue and you run the risk of growing ill as you did the first time you manifested a large portal. Is that what you want?"

"Do you have any idea what they might be doing to Jim?!" she nearly screamed at him, tears in her eyes. "How can I just quit and go to bed knowing he… he could be…?"

"Rest."

Aaarrrgghh's single word carried a command that made them all look at him in surprise. Even though he'd been chafing and fidgeting for so long, the colossal troll gave one resolute nod as though nothing else had been on his mind but getting some sleep. Wrapping one hand around Claire, he carried her over to the pile of pulverized rock and nestled down into it. She struggled a few moments before resigning herself (there was no getting out of that grip, after all) and settling into the fluffy ruff the color of river moss on his chest.

"Find Jim. Tomorrow," came his voice like the low grumble of thunder that vibrated her entire body.

Toby finally managed to shrug free of his armor and went over to lean against his friend with a yawn. "Sure thing, wingman. We'll come up with a plan in the morning."

Blinky watched the three trollhunters drop off in a matter of minutes, then carefully went about the dungeon, blowing out all lanterns but the one in his own 'room'. Numerous stacks of books had already filled up a majority of the space. It wouldn't be long before he had to move to another cell. Again.

All the time this summer spent in Camelot had not gone to waste. Blinky had been conducting unbroken research, the last few weeks in particular devoted entirely to their enemies. He'd attempted to consult with Merlin and offer his assistance whenever the wizard was in a less impatient mood (which didn't occur often). So far every single try had been shot down with effective skill.

But he was beginning to grow confident that his latest theory about the Green Knight and his powers may be correct.

Flipping open a history book depicting events of a Bohemian trollmarket in the mid-sixteenth century, the troll ran his finger along the sentence he'd discovered the previous day: 'Sorengatch Oath-Breaker was able to resist corrosion by donning armor fashioned from enchanted onyx, which protected him long enough to ensure the death of his other.'

No more mentions of onyx were made, but it was enough. If he could only find a scrap of evidence to support it then Merlin might listen this time.

A/N: Oh, another of Douxie's jobs was not just to take care of Merlin's libraries, but to add to them as well. I thought it was a bit strange he'd never been back to Camelot since he left in the the mid 1100s, so it made more sense to me that he would collect histories and such, translate them, make copies, and finally deliver them to the safest floating library in the world (plus traveling by super-fast air castle is a lot more convenient than a miserable two-month-minimum voyage across the Atlantic whenever he needed to get from one continent to another). He took books to Camelot and transferred some from there to reliquaries on the surface whenever he felt like expanding his education or needed resources to solve many of the random magical scrapes he always seemed to get into over the centuries.

So that's the long way of explaining why I have Blinky digging through a book about the 16th century in a place that hadn't touched earth since the 12th. I also like to think Douxie has really nice penmanship after all this time.

Douxie stared at his staff, not quite willing to believe he was really holding it in his hands. Camelot's outer bailey was little more than a narrow lane between some of the unused outlying buildings, and it was the most secluded place he could find. At least Archie had been considerate enough to leave when he'd asked. He… he just needed a bit of time to process this on his own.

"You're alive!"

The words exploded out as Zoe came to an abrupt, unsteady halt beside him. The last pink gleam of her windsprint faded while she reached out to feel his arm, no longer broken. She searched his face as though expecting to see blood streaming down again.

"Are you sure you should be up? What Archie said… Everyone was afraid that maybe you… that it might have been really serious."

"I'm fine. Chuffed, actually," he said, hefting the staff.

For the first time she noticed it. "Is that… yours?"

He gazed at it, his gratification twisting into uncertainty gnawing away inside his chest. "But after all this time, waiting and hoping, I can't help thinking I'm not worthy. A staff is what every wizard dreams of. Still… I can't help wondering… did he give this to me because I earned it?"

She didn't answer. It wasn't her place to. Her index finger traced the gem's facets, admiration lighting her brilliant blue eyes. A moment later she pulled back self-consciously, tone growing bitter as she spoke.

"Why did you do it?" Her face had drawn tight with both anger and concern. "That—that creature already hurt you so much. Why would you antagonize her even more by insulting her? Did you want her to get so mad that she'd practically kill you?"

"And what if I did?" he asked with no trace of humor. "Then she would have been forced into an early hibernation, making the Genesis Seals and Nari useless to them. The entire world would have been safe if she'd just managed to hit me hard enough to—"

The blistering sting of her hand on his cheek sent him stumbling back a couple steps and his staff clattered to the cobbles.

"Is that hard enough to get through that thick skull of yours?!" Zoe screeched, her eyes twin coals of azure fury. "You stupid idiot!"

The pink-haired witch flew at him, fists flying, but after the first couple pummels he caught her by the wrists and held on tight to protect himself. At first Zoe fought to get loose but without warning she went limp and dropped to her knees, head down. He followed her to the ground, releasing his hold as little sounds of sobbing escaped.

"Zoe, don't blub!"

"I'm not bubbling—blabbing—aaagghhh!" The pink-haired girl let out a scream of frustration and slammed her forehead against his chest, jolting all the breath from his lungs. "Why don't you care how I would have felt if you'd thrown your life away?"

"That's where we'll have to agree to disagree," he murmured, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Nothing in that would have been throwing my life away. Not if it saved everybody."

Zoe kept her face lowered as she wiped at her eyes, though when she finally looked up he could see by the light of his staff's gem that they were puffy.

"Stupid idiot," she repeated before giving him a rough shove and storming away.

Douxie continued to sit there in the outer bailey where she'd left him until Archie came up from behind. He observed the flaming red mark on his friend's cheek with an expression of satisfaction.

"I was considering shapeshifting into a human and doing the same thing. Too bad she beat me to it." The cat reached out with one forepaw and swiped his arm. "When are you going to stop risking your life like that?"

"You should know the answer after all these years," he muttered, rubbing the shallow scratches and then waving a hand to make his staff vanish back into his bracer. "It's not as though I had the opportunity to ask your opinion."

"You never change, Douxie."

"Neither do you."

In spite of their words, Archie transformed into a cat and climbed up onto his wizard's lap, rubbing his head up underneath Douxie's chin with a soft purr. After a few moments he responded by scratching his best friend right behind the ears where he liked it most.

"I've been thinking…" Douxie started, "if Merlin had saved my family after all, Mum wouldn't have fled to Mercia, then she never would have married… him."

"You mean you'd have never been born," Archie mused.

The other gave a slow nod. "Merlin's choice is the reason I'm alive. Even though it hurts to think of what he did to my family, in another way… I'm glad for it. Is that wrong of me?"

"There's no changing the past. It is what it is," his familiar pointed out. "Wishing things had turned out differently without changing the results of those very events makes it laughable in my opinion. I don't want to be callous, but they're dead. Bury them and stop dwelling on what might have been."

"I know. …Mum's death led to us meeting too… and me becoming Merlin's apprentice." He leaned back, watching a handful of wind-clawed clouds race past for a silent minute. "I'm done letting wishful thinking steal happiness from my present."

"Time to move on. Is that what you're saying, Douxie?"

"Yeah… I guess so." The north star caught his eye and a bittersweet half-smile tugged at his mouth. "Chart a new course."

The first thing everyone did in the morning was gather in the throne room to talk. Claire looked surprisingly rested, though her hair could certainly use some brushing. When Douxie walked in, he received quite a bit of attention, which he deflected by asking what they were doing. Brainstorming, it turned out.

They'd hardly gotten started when Merlin strode into the room and snatched a cantaloupe from their breakfast array. "All of you seem to be under the impression that a rescue is in order. As the official bearer of bad news it is my duty to disappoint. The answer is no."

"But Jim gave himself to save you from Bellroc!" Toby protested.

"She wouldn't have killed me," he pointed out. "I am not ungrateful, but I am also not willing to put Nari at risk by attempting to free him. A foolhardy move like that is precisely what the Order is counting on."

"We can't abandon him!" Claire said, striding up to the wizard. "You know he'd risk everything to save one of us, so why shouldn't we do the same for him?"

"That has always been a failing amongst you children," Merlin sighed, dismissing them with a wave of his hand. "Never able to see the bigger picture."

Something inside Claire cracked. Her voice rose and a visible aura of violet magic radiated from her body. "After we defeated Morgana you told Jim you were forever in his service. Did you really mean that? Or was it just an empty promise you tossed out to make it seem like you were honorable?"

Merlin stopped, but he didn't turn to face them. His refusal to answer was an answer in itself.

"Merlin doesn't make promises," Toby spoke up, voice resentful. "I remember he said that right before we came here. He told Douxie he gave up on those long ago, so they couldn't be anything but hollow words."

"I knew it," she ground out between tight jaws. "I always knew since the first day we met you that you were nothing but a puppeteer who didn't care about all the lives you ruined to get what you want!"

"This is my fault."

Nari had slipped into the throne room so quietly that no one noticed until she spoke. Archie instinctively sidled behind his wizard. She'd formed a recent habit of chasing him and celebrating the capture with excessive nuzzling, much to his embarrassment. Though it was doubtful she would do so at the moment, one could never be too sure with ancient creatures. They were inclined to erratic behavior which left them unpredictable.

Her copper-colored gaze drifted over the assembled group, lingering on Claire. The young shadow witch's restless glow of magic died.

"I sought refuge here, but have brought only discord and pain upon you. Perhaps it is best that I depart."

"No!"

Surprisingly, Merlin wasn't the only one who said it. Blinky, Claire, Douxie and Toby had all joined in, stopping to cast each other surprised looks.

"Dear lady," Blinky addressed her, coming forward with some anxiety, "consider this plan of action with great prudence. Outside this castle you can be located much more easily, can you not? And once captured, the two other wizards would be unlikely to leave us be since our defiance of their wishes has already provoked them. If you were to go, we would be in the same position but with less purpose, unable to protect you."

"He's right, Nari," Claire included. "Leaving wouldn't help our situation or yours. The best shot we have at getting Jim back or defeating them is by keeping you close."

Glancing from one to another, her face lost its skittish indecision. Her back straightened and she offered a little smile. "Perhaps there is a way I can help. I do have a unique connection to my siblings since I can feel every creature that resides in this world. Even if I cannot locate them, I can speak with them from a great distance while they cannot do the same with me."

The others began to grow excited at the prospect of at least finding out how Jim was holding up. Then Nari sprang after Archie who spent the next ten minutes desperately trying to avoid her. In vain.

Merlin left without a word, though, brushing past the many-eyed troll as he eagerly held out the Bohemian history text. Returning the book to one ever-present pouch with a weary sigh, Blinky had no earthly idea the old wizard would have given anything for the information he had tried to show him.

Stepping heedfully between clusters of niffin eggs, Bellroc of the Eternal Flame allowed her natural talent to billow out so that a tide of controlled heat bathed the surrounding area. Her bonded creatures closed their eyes to bask, visibly growing larger as they steeped in her magic. Some trailed after her, but others turned attention to their wobbling eggs that cracked open as new glow-harpies were born into the world.

Yet even the pale satisfaction she gleaned from this growing army was not enough to lighten her mood today. The surrogate charm on her garment may have enabled her to perceive the world around her, but it was a poor substitute for real eyes.

Nearby Jim knelt on the floor unable to move his chained arms, which had a number of dark burn-marks from Bellroc's most recent attention. They kept him a short distance from the saffron windows, close enough to make him nervous every time the sun's light came through as they drifted aimlessly over the Pacific. They hadn't bothered to give him any water in all that time, making thirst foremost in his mind. Sounds of crashing waves far below were torturous.

Keeping a careful gap between himself and his sister in the midst of her niffins, Skrael hovered by one large circular window and glared at the Green Knight.

"Ingratitude is a failing I cannot abide."

"You expect much to which you are not necessarily entitled, Skrael," the other said in a voice that wasn't insulting but most certainly hinted at it. "Whether I die or not, your corporal magic will never fully return even after a hundred millennia of rest. Do you really wish to waste that sacrifice by allowing me to wither away?"

He raised his left hand, the gauntlet having crumbled away to expose all his fingers but the thumb. Now the unprotected skin was growing discolored and splotchy, as though slowly being eaten away by acid.

A sneer met these words. "You think I don't know that? I gambled everything on you, foreigner. The best option you have is to deliver on promises made."

"I may be able to kill where you cannot, but that depends on finding them, doesn't it?" he threw back with a modicum of respect before striding away.

Bellroc joined him, mirroring his expression of irritated disgust. "Are you absolutely certain he can be trusted? Rarely have I encountered such rabid hatred, not even in Morgana. How can you be sure he won't turn against us once he has what he came for?"

The ice wizard slid one finger along the keen edge of his scythe. "Morgana's anger was controllable. His can be as well, but we must not let down our guard. Those so impassioned are prone to instability."

"Do you believe we finally have the advantages we need?" his sister wondered.

Skrael allowed himself a chuckle. "Merlin's magic is drained but for his staff, we have our champion, and now his very own Trollhunter is in our hands. He has nothing but the slag left over from Arcadia, an infant shadow witch and a witless apprentice."

"And me."

They spun around, their third member a transparent image outlined in the magic of a conversation spell. Nari appeared small beside their tall figures, but there was a determination in her eyes that gleamed with the refusal to be intimidated.

"Nari, we will ask you again before we are forced to do more than simply take away your allies—return to us," Bellroc commanded.

The Forest Child glanced back and forth between her siblings. "What if… What if there was another way? One that did not require destroying the mortals?"

The two looked skeptical, but Bellroc raised one thin hand in a gesture inviting her to continue.

"The world needs balance. We all know this. For ten millennia it has shifted undeniably toward non-magic descendants. But what if they could be the very force we need?"

Skrael narrowed his eyes. "As fodder?"

"No. Look to the Trollhunter. Look deep."

Jim couldn't back away as they approached, but his fists tightened. Bellroc's hand snapped out, locking on his throat and making Jim choke for air. Blackness crept in from the corners of his eyes when all at once the pressure was gone. Coughing to get his breath back, it took him a few moments to recover. Once he finally did glance back up at his captors, there was stunned disbelief on their faces.

"How…?" Bellroc couldn't even finish the question. Even without her eyes she could feel the difference her younger sister had detected.

"You see?" Nari smiled. "There is another way."

Skrael peered intently at Jim again, his naturally sadistic expression even more chilling whenever his attention turned on the half-troll. "Not one scrap of native magic inside… yet he wore it like a second skin until it sank deep into his being, ultimately a catalyst."

Examining the idea, Bellroc reached up to rub the auburn hair beside her face thoughtfully. "The humans can be used rather than discarded. Is that your plan, Nari?"

"Is it not the best outcome? Instead of starting over from the beginning, we can—"

"What say you, Skrael?" the Keeper of the Flame interrupted. "Would the mortals let magic-kind be?"

He shut his eyes tight in concentration. "No. They would be desperate to keep the status quo, unsettled by strangeness they do not understand in their midst. They would separate themselves from magic-kind or turn around to use it against one another. The harmony and balance we seek would still be lacking."

"I agree. Nari, do you truly believe if millions of new magic-suffused creatures appear from one end of the earth to the other, the mortals will smile and welcome them with open arms? Or will the purge begin all over again? Their hearts turn so easily toward hatred and fear in the face of the unknown. A war beyond anything you can imagine would take place."

Skrael sneered, bleached bone antlers serving to emphasize his distaste. "You are as much a hypocrite as Merlin, Nari. You wish for all to survive, but your choices would inevitably lead to even more death."

Nari's hopeful face had fallen as they spoke. Her words left no lasting impression on them. "Your powers are those of destruction. Mine is that of life. Why must I be outnumbered when it counts most?"

"Our warnings draw to an end, sister," Bellroc intoned twice over, the deepness of her second voice a foreboding threat. "From this day forward we will treat you as an enemy."

Behind them, Jim gathered his strength and shouted, "Nari, it's Douxie! The Gree—"

A hand the same temperature as lava struck him full across the face, a burning welt left behind. Wavering bubbles of many different colors filled his vision and he clenched his jaws together to keep from groaning. Stone skin or not, it hurt.

"When I give you leave to speak, you may. Not before."

Skrael angled his staff toward Nari's image, her expression stricken at Bellroc's act, then she was gone in a swirl of crystalline snowflakes. Wincing at the new burn on his face, Jim blinked and shook his head to clear away the blurriness. The cloaked wizard had paused, eyes shutting as he snorted.

"The girl's weak shadow magic is trying to break through again," he chuckled with peculiar mirth. "I quite enjoy the futile attempts."

Jim almost held his breath. Claire was trying to use him as an emotional anchor?! All he could think was how grateful he was that she couldn't get in. These three would crush her. But all at once the fire witch turned on him, tattooed face lifting with revelation.

"The Trollhunter bears a great volume of passion for that one. He is practically screaming it." She stepped up to him and despite the heat radiating from her body, suddenly Jim felt nothing but cold. "What do you think, brother? Can we follow his tie to the shadow witch to locate their refuge?"

He gave a look of great interest. "All this time we have been blindly sending out the niffins to seek them out. With his attachment, strong as it is, we can follow them halfway around the world."

"They will no longer be able to escape our grasp with Merlin's little tricks."

The August sun dangled between a pair of distant mountains in the Rockies like an orange on a string, dim enough to allow its admirers to look straight at it. Ribbons of orange clouds stretched wide above it in celebration of another day complete, shifting to neon pink, red and purple even as the occupants of the flying castle watched (those who could watch without the danger of turning to stone, that is).

Galahad turned away from the sight and raised his spyglass, observing storm clouds coming up the from the south. They didn't look friendly. Closing his eyes, he let himself feel the winds that swept through the heavens. Despite the beauty of that sunset there was a sharp bite in the air this evening. He recognized it easily after all these centuries.

Metallic footfalls sounded from the stairs behind him. He directed an amiable greeting toward Merlin before returning his focus to the black southern skyline.

"Anything of note out there?" the wizard asked.

"Bad storm on the horizon. We'll be in the thick of it soon enough," he warned in his usual gruff tone. After a few moments of silence he lowered the spyglass and turned to his friend. "Out with it, Merlin. You've never been one for smalltalk, so don't pretend that's what you came up here for."

"Fair enough." He leaned on the crenelated wall, gazing at the thin rim of red-gold sun casting a few last rays over the world before it was inevitably snuffed out. "I've spent countless lifetimes guiding this world, protecting it. What will happen when I am not there to do so?"

The old soldier stared at him intently. "This isn't like you, old friend. What's wrong?"

"I haven't looked into the future since shortly after I awoke, but when I tried last night after James Lake was captured… I can no longer see anything."

Colors drained from the world, all that remained of the sun's brilliant display nothing more than a few scraps of purple clouds. Blacker ones crowded in from the south, blotting out even the pinpricks of starlight that tried to lighten the night. A sense of finality settled on them both, leaving nothing to be said… but at the same time far too much.

Douxie's eyes shot open, at first not sure why he'd woken in the middle of the night. Gale-force winds tore around the castle with a fearsome screaming accompanied by the rhythmic percussion of thick raindrops… but a more elusive sound was out there too.

Archie shifted into a dragon, having felt it as well. "I think something hit the castle."

The wizard got to his feet, searching the darkness for answers. "Maybe we should find Merli—"

His wall exploded in a mass of flying bricks and fiery flits of magic. An instinctive shield popped into existence around them, deflecting most of the debris, but then a gaggle of niffins came streaming inside with the sudden onset of rain to attack.

Archie leaped through the shield and took them on, fire against light. Though he was smaller, he was also more agile and darted between their claws. He took down two while Douxie handled the rest with a few well-aimed blasts.

"There wasn't even a warning!" the wizard shouted over the din of the storm and even more shrieking niffins that winged their way around the castle. "We've got to find the others and—what's that?"

Staff raised and tightly gripping the cord for what used to be his makeshift curtains, he leaned past the shattered wall to peer into the downpour. Rain drenched him in seconds, plastering hair and clothing to his skin in one sopping, clingy mass.

Behind the shimmering cloud of movement that indicated more niffins on the way, four great circles of amber light loomed. Lightning flashed for an instant, illuminating the enemy fortress so that its ghoulish skulled features seemed to grin with vicious glee at finally locating Camelot.

"Oh, fuzzbuckets…" Douxie muttered.

Cannonfire from the flying castle arced out to crash into theirs, but it was difficult to say how effective the shots were. They struck over and over, yet nothing slowed the oncoming monster. Both fireballs and giant clusters of ice came speeding toward them in reply, resulting in more damage to the buildings.

"It's the Arcane Order!" he cried to his familiar, pulling back under cover. "Get Nari and have her meet everyone in the dungeon. I'll find who I can and send them there too. Go!"

Archie didn't argue, diving out into the rain without hesitation. Feeling the slippery, distant thrum of shadow magic, Douxie sought out Claire. Thankfully she, Zoe and Toby were all together in the midst of battle several hallways over. Webbings of cerulean light netted the niffins so that the three could finish them off, then he stepped over the glowing puddles of ooze. Their armor was missing thanks to the late hour and lack of warning.

"Claire, I need you to get everyone out of here. Portal them to safety—as far as you can make it! We can't let Nari get caught by the Order no matter what. Archie's taking her to the dungeon now. Merlin and I can hold them off long enough to make sure you lot get away, understood?"

"I'll do what I can," the shadow witch promised, pausing to throw out a shadow-ball and rid the world of another niffin. "Come on, you two!"

Zoe stopped dead. The thought of being sent away created eddies of panic inside her. What if… what if this was the night the vision came true?

"Douxie, I'm staying."

A frown dug into his forehead. "And how long would you really last against either of them? Be realistic, Zoe! I know you want to do your part, but if you stay I'll waste more time worrying about you. I can't afford any distractions right now."

Her chin was still set in stubborn rebellion, but he suddenly reached out to take her hand and squeezed with a light, nondemanding touch.

"The best way for you to help me is by going so that I can focus on a fight against two primordial wizards. Knowing you're safe could mean the difference between life and death for me. Do you understand?"

Her watery eyes filled with a mixture of anger and misery. "Don't you dare die!"

Then she pelted away after the others. The one comfort she offered herself was that there had been no sign of shadow mephits, which meant it was likely that Green Knight wasn't around after all.

They intercepted the trolls on their way down. Aaarrrgghh tried to pass them so that he could join in the fight, but the young witch convinced him to help protect Nari instead. By the time they returned to the dungeon, the little green woman and Archie were there waiting, but the dragon left immediately.

"Douxie said to get all of you to safety," Claire announced, taking several deep breaths. "I'm going to try my best."

Splaying her fingers wide, she focused as hard as she could on her destination. The shadow portal whirled with a blend of violet and black, fluctuating in size. The Mexican girl concentrated even more, pushing herself to reach farther. The portal stabilized and she staggered against Toby with deep, exhausted breaths.

"Everyone go! It's not going to last long. I'll join you as soon as I grab Merlin and Douxie."

They rushed through, but Zoe looked back at her. "You'll make sure they get out alright, won't you?"

"Of course," she assured the pink-haired witch. "You can count on me. Get going! It's already beginning to close!"

Zoe leaped into the portal which was visibly smaller, wishing she could stay behind and help even a little with her aeromancy. Her feet hit solid ground and she almost tripped over a rug. Toby flipped on the light, revealing Claire's bedroom.

"Most impressive!" Blinky nodded. "Though the attempt consumed much of her energy, I do believe Claire has portaled us thousands of miles back to Arcadia."

"Probably because this is the one place she has the most connection to," Toby added. "It's home."

They peeked out into the hallway, noticing all the lights off, which meant the Nuñez family was either asleep or out very late. Deciding to wait where they were, the group settled around Claire's room. Nari picked the window seat, enjoying the view of a lawn from the second floor instead of from half a mile up in the sky.

Toby flopped down on her bed. "Man, has it really only been two weeks since we were in Arcadia? Feels like forever! I hope that stupid knight isn't lurking around here waiting for us. I still can't believe he ripped an entire street apart with a few words last time we—"

Four stony arms seized hold of him and the boy broke off. All of Blinky's eyes bored into him. "What?!"

"What? What what?" Toby asked, shaking him off and edging away from that piercing stare. Everyone else had turned their attention to him too, curious.

"Are you absolutely certain, Tobias?" the troll asked. "You saw the Green Knight use a magical incantation?"

"I-I guess so? He made the ground crack open right underneath us after he said some weird words." Toby had backed into Claire's wall, pressing himself up against one of her Papa Skull posters. "Why? Is it important?"

"An incantation of that sort means he's a wizard, which in turn means he's been seeking out a wizard in our world who must die in his place." Blinky appeared thunderstruck and all six eyes widened in realization. "Great Gronka Morka… Why didn't I see it before?! Hisirdoux is in mortal danger!"

Douxie came out into the main hall, pulling to a halt at the sudden silence within. Merlin hadn't been in his workshop or the throne room, so he'd headed to the next most likely place. The vertical shaft from the Heart of Avalon gave the hall a sickly overcast, showing no one present. Not even the niffins that wheeled around screeching everywhere else. Why weren't there any here?

He took another step, searching the shadows. A thorny fist squeezed his innards at once when he caught sight of the empty suits of armor. All those that had been stationed in this place had collapsed where they stood, meaning an enemy was already here.

Staff sweeping with a shimmer of blue streaks, he summoned a barrier in time to fend off a deadly barrage of onyx missiles. The Green Knight stepped out from behind a pillar, uttering a gutteral, displeased noise. The shield faded, but Douxie kept his staff raised between them in ready defense.

"Why is it so difficult to kill one so weak?" the warrior growled, stalking forward.

The Heart's light played along the surface of his armor, making it glint with an even more distinct green hue. Douxie was surprised to see his left hand bare, the onyx coming off in splinters even as he approached. Distant booming came from far above, and through the upper windows Douxie caught the flaming red and icy blue of the Order's magic matched against Merlin's.

"Nari is beyond your reach! She's not even here anymore!" he threw at the other, itching to get outside and help his master.

"I didn't come here for the Forest Child. I came for you."

Confusion chased away his boldness. "Me? What did I do?"

"Do?!" The knight bellowed with such force that Douxie's ears rang painfully. "What did you do to deserve a posh position at that cretin's side? To inherit all his magicks and possessions? What did I do to deserve a life of endless running? To lose everyone and everything I ever cherished because of him? Neither of us did anything. You were just bloody lucky."

As he ranted, the anger bled out into his words and he spoke more naturally. Douxie's brow furrowed as he recognized the all-too-familiar accent.

[Douxie!] Archie's voice pounded inside his head, so frantic that he had to squint against the headache it gave him. There was a faint vision of niffins everywhere. [I can't get to you! There's some sort of barrier in the way. What's happening?!]

That brief distraction seemed to be just what the Green Knight was waiting for. His sword flashed, glancing off Douxie's hasty shield and shattering it. He swung again and this time their weapons met.

His bracer whirled with symbols, locking onto one set as he shouted, "Magna Twana Truess!"

But his enemy said the same words at the same time and their spells collided, canceling each other out in an explosion of smoke and light. Both of them skidded backwards. Douxie raised an arm to cover his mouth as he coughed, stunned.

Snarling laughter contrasted sharply against the permanent frown sliced into the Green Knight's helmet. "Do you get it yet, you spoiled, lazy sod?"

He refused to answer, hoping the suspicion digging into his thoughts was wrong. But the warrior reached up with his exposed hand to lift the helmet. Then Douxie was staring into hazel eyes identical to his own, but set into a much older face.

"Doppelgänger…" he breathed, pulse snapping in his throat.

The dusky armor kindled with golden lines. All around them figures of shadow mephits rose up through the hall's stone floor. At least a hundred slithered forward, jaws chomping in anticipation. Douxie swallowed at the sight.

"And that's why you must die now—so that I can live."

A/N: Forgive the long wait on this chapter. It underwent major writer's block and a full-blown rewrite. Twice.

To be honest, the way this fic started in my head wasn't because of the ending of "Titans". I had read dtill359's beautiful fanfic "One Petal at a Time" more than six months earlier which satisfied me on that count (and to my dying day I will insist that's how the movie truly ends). Really it had more to do with the discovery that the Green Knight was Arthur. For some reason that by itself bugged me more than I can explain. It wasn't a close enough relationship to Merlin for my tastes, and the whole Morgana-is-our-friend-now! angle that supported it drove me insane. After all the build-up and battles and evilness they went through with her in Trollhunters, just… no. It doesn't work.

So I started wondering who would have been a much better antagonist under that mask. Not that many options, actually. Then past-Douxie's startled reference to a doppelgänger hit me. I wrote up a draft of the scene where he's unmasked to see if it might turn out interesting. It wasn't great, but it was inspiring enough that the next thing I knew, I was writing an entire story to go with it! The more I researched the idea of what might have taken place if they hadn't gone back in time, the more involved everything became until we have what you see before you.

But this revelation doesn't come out of nowhere. If you look at all the scenes that included the Green Knight, there is always some tiny clue that he holds a very personal grudge against Douxie and that there's a connection of some kind between them. And the funniest part to me is that the prologue points out the possibility of a doppelgänger with such dismissiveness that no one would ever suspect it's the truth! Not sure if that's considered being clever or just plain evil. I'll go with the latter. *wicked cackle*