Chapter 15: Revelations Part 3
Arcadia Oaks, January 14th, 2017
"Just walk through the portal, Nana! It's perfectly safe!" the fat Trollhunter - Toby - said.
Buffy Summers nodded encouragingly at the old woman. She wasn't quite sure that the portal was safe, but it was safer than staying in Arcadia Oaks with Glory on the loose.
Mrs Domzalski looked as if she doubted that but then straightened, took a deep breath and walked towards the portal. Where she bent over and peered through it. Or tried to - Buffy wasn't quite sure whether or not the woman saw much through her thick glasses.
"Hello?" Mrs Domzalski yelled through the portal.
"Come on through!" Dawn replied. "I can use the company."
"Oh? Who are you?"
"I'm Dawn. I'm the Slayer's little sister."
"You're the one who hurt my Toby-Pie?"
Buffy winced. They hadn't thought about that.
"You call him 'Toby-Pie'? And he lets you?" Dawn, unfortunately, wasn't thinking at all. As usual.
"Hey!" Toby protested. "It's a perfectly fine nickname."
"It's not. It sucks. It makes you sound like a demon-snack."
"A demon-snack?" And Mrs Domzalski entered the portal.
"Nana! Wait!" Toby followed quickly.
Buffy moved, but the huge troll with the weird name blocked her path as he passed through the portal - slowly. "Wingman."
"Hello? And you are?"
"Why did you hurt my Toby-Pie?"
"AAARRRGGHH!"
"What?"
"I asked why you hurt my Toby-Pie!"
"No, are you hurt? You, the troll, I mean."
"No."
"Why did you yell then?"
"Didn't yell."
"You said 'Argh'. I heard it clearly."
"AAARRRGGHH! My name."
"Oh. That's… not suspicious at all."
"The only one suspicious seems to be you, Miss!"
"What?"
"You attacked my Toby-Pie!"
"He attacked us, disguised as a demon! A cannibal demon!"
"What?"
"I can explain, Nana!"
Buffy stopped at the portal and turned around. "I think they're going to be fine. Let's go and collect your parents, Claire!"
"You better explain this! I didn't raise you to eat people, Toby-Pie!"
"Not in the bad way, at least."
Buffy gasped and whirled. "Dawn!"
"What?"
"You can't say that!" She was her little sister! Not some...
"I just did! And don't tell me that it's not important for being a good boyfriend!" Dawn retorted.
"That's not the point! You don't joke about this in front of someone's grandmother!" Buffy stuck her head through the portal to glare at her brat of a sister.
"Says the girl who slept with a guy old enough to be her great-great-great-great-grandfather!"
That was a low blow. Angel wasn't… She clenched her teeth, glaring at Dawn.
At least her sister had the grace to blush. "Sorry."
Buffy frowned. But this wasn't the time to go into that. "Behave! And apologise to Mrs Domzalski!"
"What? For what?"
"Hurting me?" Toby cut in.
"Yes," Mrs Domzalski added with a nod.
"You didn't apologise for scaring me to death!"
"I'm sorry about that."
"I bet you are - I got you good!"
"That wasn't what I meant!"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Dawn, that was an apology. Now you apologise!"
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry."
She stared at her sister, but Dawn was pressing her lips together in that manner of hers that told Buffy that her sister was being stubborn about this. "Alright. Don't kill each other. We're going to fetch Claire's parents." At least they shouldn't be as much trouble as sorting out this mess might be. "Better close the portal. We don't want to attract Glory," she told the girl.
After a frown, Claire did so.
"So, let's go. Is your home far from here?" Buffy asked.
"What? No. Not really," Claire said. She seemed distracted, though.
Buffy looked at Jim, then at Claire. "Everything OK?"
"My parents are going to kill me," she replied. "Once they hear Enrique was kidnapped, and I didn't tell them... couldn't save him."
"We're going to save him, Claire," Jim said at once.
Buffy nodded. "Yes. Saving people, especially babies, is what we do. We once saved four babies from being eaten by a demon. And we did it with Giles and Mom on drugs!"
"Buffy! We were affected by cursed candy - we didn't take drugs!" Giles protested.
"But you acted like you were on drugs!"
"We acted like teenagers since the candy had that effect," Giles replied. "Although I guess you are correct in a way." Buffy cheered up. "Teenagers do act like they are on drugs on occasion, after all."
She blinked. That wasn't… "Hey!"
But Giles turned away and nodded at Claire. "I think we should go visit your parents now."
"They're going to kill me," the girl repeated herself. Though she did get moving.
"They'll understand," Jim said.
"They won't! You don't know them as I do - they thought you were a bad boy!"
"Well, they did get a bad impression of me, which wasn't their fault - that was Not-Enrique's fault," Jim said.
Buffy frowned. "Maybe you should tell us a little more about your parents on the way. Just so we don't walk into this blindly, hm?" she suggested.
"...and she's a workaholic. She probably wouldn't remember my birthday if it weren't noted in her agenda. And she's always pushing me to do better in school!"
James Lake Jr winced a little at that description. "But you're top of the class!"
"I know - but she says I could do better." Claire sighed. "And she still resents you for the babysitting mess."
"Babysitting mess?" the Slayer asked.
"I, ah, had to babysit Claire's little brother - who had already been replaced by a changeling. It… didn't go well," Jim explained.
"They wrecked the house," Claire added. "And I got an earful about my friends. And Dad, who's usually easy-going, got all weird about you as well."
Jim nodded - Claire's dad really didn't like him.
"Is he angry about the house or about you two dating?" the Slayer asked.
"Uh…" Jim felt himself blushing. "We… we aren't exactly officially dating. I mean… our friends know, but…"
"We haven't told our parents," Claire said. "Dad will freak out about that, too."
"I do believe your father will have much more serious things to worry about than your love life," Mr Giles commented.
"You don't know him," Claire said, looking down.
"I do confess that my experience with American fathers is somewhat limited, though wouldn't he worry more about you fighting trolls that can wreck a car with one blow - and a hell-god who, so far, has proven to be nigh-invulnerable?"
"He can worry about both." Claire sighed.
Jim reached out to grab her hand. "They'll understand. I worry more about Mom. She's still bound to Strickler with that curse."
"In this case, we might have to delay informing her until this situation has been resolved," Mr Giles said. "Otherwise, we might lead this changeling and his allies straight to us."
"Wouldn't they oppose Glory as well? They live in this world, don't they?" the Slayer asked.
"Well, Gunmar lives in the Darklands, which is kinda another dimension," Jim explained. "But he wants to conquer Earth."
The Slayer snorted. "He needs to take a number, then - he's not exactly the first."
"And yet," Mr Giles cut in, "he might be amongst the most dangerous. The fact that, for centuries, he has had people infiltrating our society marks him as significantly more powerful on Earth than the vast majority of demons. The late Mayor's a good example of the threat such influence represents."
"Yes," Jim agreed. "Strickler alone… he's the principal of the school. He can make so much trouble for us, and the parents trust him. The whole time we're at school, we have to be on our guard."
"Well, that was the same for us in Sunnydale. Our principal was working for the big bad evil Mayor, and we had demon attacks or murders regularly," the Slayer said.
Jim suppressed his slight annoyance at the Slayer trying to upstage their problems with her own. This wasn't a competition. "And how did you deal with it?"
"We, ah, didn't really. He was eaten by the demon that the Mayor turned into, at the end." The Slayer shrugged. "But we'll do better with your evil principal. Promise!"
"First, we'll have to survive my parents," Claire said.
"I'm confident that we will survive them," Mr Giles said. "After all, we do have proof of our claims with us." He nodded at Claire's staff, then at Jim's armour. "And there is a changeling in your home as well."
"And I can lift your couch or car," the Slayer offered. "Though if portals and magic armour and changelings don't convince them, I'm not sure if that will work. But twisting a fireplace poker into a pretzel is always good for a laugh."
Jim silently raised his estimate of her strength.
Then they turned into the street leading to Claire's home and fell silent. Well, mostly silent - the Slayer was typing on her borrowed phone.
"Willow says there were no more sightings of Glory. Or suspicious alerts," she told them.
"This is… both a relief and concerning. While it is undoubtedly a good thing that the hell-god hasn't found more victims, I do worry what Glorificus is up to at this moment."
"Perhaps she's taking a nap to regrow her cheap perm?" the Slayer suggested with a weak smile. No one laughed, and she pouted.
And they had reached Claire's home. The lights were on - so her parents were up. Jim released her hand, and she took a deep breath, then stepped up and rang the doorbell.
Jim stepped back and stored his armour - he'd almost forgotten! Daylight disappeared into the amulet a moment before the door was opened, and Mr Nuñez stepped into the doorframe. "Who… Claire! What are you doing here? You should be in bed! And who are… You!" He glared at Jim.
Jim forced himself to smile and wave back. "Hi, Mr Nuñez. We've got something important to discuss."
"Something important…? No!" The way the man's eyes widened wasn't a good sign. Jim could tell at once. "What did you do to my daughter?" Claire's father bellowed.
Jim froze for a second. What could he say? That it was all his fault? If he hadn't picked up the amulet, none of this would've happened.
Before he could decide, Claire stepped between him and her father. "Nothing! Jim did nothing to me, Papa!"
"What?" He looked at her. "But…"
"It was my decision! My responsibility!" Claire raised her chin
"Claire!"
"And I would do it again!"
"Claire! How… how could you!"
"I couldn't stand by and let Jim do it alone!"
"What?" Mr Nuñez stared at Claire with a dumbfounded expression.
Jim once more had the feeling that he was missing something. It was a pretty familiar feeling by now.
"Javier? What… Claire! Why aren't you in bed?" And there came Claire's Mom. Who also glared at Jim. "You. What did you do?"
"Jim didn't do anything!"
Mr Giles cleared his throat. "May I suggest that we continue this discussion inside? We have a few grave matters to discuss, and I don't think that we should do this in the driveway of your house."
"And who're you?" Claire's dad asked.
"Rupert Giles," Mr Giles replied. "I'm a librarian."
"And I'm Buffy Summers!" the Slayer piped up with a wide smile. If Jim hadn't known what she was, what she could do, he would've been fooled into thinking she was a preppy cheerleader. "I'm studying psychology and working on becoming a student counsellor!"
"Oh." Claire's dad looked confused, but her mom nodded.
"Please, come in." Well, as a Council member, she would know how to be gracious in any situation.
Both Mr Giles and the Slayer winced, which confused Jim. Why would…? Oh. The invitation. And vampires. Right. Something else Jim had to tell Mom.
They all entered the Nuñez' living room. Mr Giles and the Slayer sat down on the couch as if this was a normal social gathering. Well, maybe it was routine for them.
Jim took a deep breath, then sat down next to Mr Giles, folding his hands in his lap. He looked at the floor for a moment, then felt a hand on his shoulder - Claire stood next to him, smiling at him.
His own smile at the show of support vanished at once when he saw Mr Nuñez's expression. Uh.
Claire's dad had sat down in the armchair, but Mrs Nuñez was standing, facing them. "So, what is this about? Why aren't you asleep in your bed, Claire?"
"Mama, I…" Claire started to explain, but her mother cut her off.
"Didn't you think about the danger? We had an attack on the police station! I was just told there were several deaths! And you, you… sneak out of the house, lie to us, and for what?" She glared at Jim. "So you could spend time with him? I told you not to do that!"
"Mama!" Claire took a step forward. "This isn't about Jim!" She narrowed her eyes. "And I'm spending time with whoever I want!"
"Claire!"
Mr Giles cleared his throat again. "As I mentioned before, we have an important matter to discuss. And while it is related to the current subject, I believe focusing on Miss Nuñez's nocturnal activities isn't the best course of action at the moment."
'Nocturnal activities'? Jim stared at the man. He made it sound as if… Oh, no! That was what the Nuñez thought was going on! "We didn't!" he blurted out. "I mean, we didn't do what you think we did!"
"What?"
The Slayer groaned. "Way to go, Giles. You made them think they were doing the nasty. Not that there's anything wrong about doing it as long as you use protection and your partner doesn't turn into a psychotic mass murderer, and…" She trailed off. "Just ignore the last part!"
For a moment, everyone stared at her instead of at Jim. He almost smiled at that. And Mr Giles looked mortified.
"What is going on?" Mrs Nuñez snapped. "I want an explanation. Now!"
Mr Giles coughed. "Your daughter and her friend Mr Lake have been fighting dangerous monsters to protect the inhabitants of this town - and the troll community below." He smiled. "And, according to all appearances, they have been doing quite well."
"Tobes helped as well," Jim added.
"However," Mr Giles went on, "your town caught the attention of a hell-god banished to Earth, which presents a danger to you."
"What?" Claire's dad stared at them. "What are you saying? This is…"
"This is nonsense!" Mrs Nuñez said. "Monsters? Trolls? Gods? What's next, vampires?"
"We were getting to that part," the Slayer cut in, "Giles is a little slow."
"Mama! It's true!" Claire spoke up. "Jim's the Trollhunter - he protects the town and Trollmarket!"
"Claire…" Her mother shook her head. "This is nonsense. You can't honestly…"
"I can prove it!" Claire flicked her staff open and opened a portal in the middle of the living room. "AAARRRGGHH! Can you come over for a moment?"
The troll appeared in the portal. "Come over?"
"Yes, please. My parents are being stubborn," Claire replied.
Buffy Summers glanced at Mrs and Mr Nuñez. They didn't look like they were stubborn any more. Shocked seemed more precise, as Giles would say.
"What… this has to be a trick…" Mrs Nuñez stammered.
"How did you do that?" the father asked.
"Magic," Claire replied, looking very smug.
Then the troll slowly stepped into the living room. Buffy heard the floorboards creak even over the gasps from the Nuñez. "Hello."
"Hi, AAARRRGGHH!," Jim replied.
"Mama, Papa - this is AAARRRGGHH!, a good friend. AAARRRGGHH!, my mother and my father." Yes, definitely smug. Buffy knew the feeling.
"B-but…" The mother was shaking her head.
"Hello?" The father, at least, managed a small, weak smile. Not too bad, in Buffy's opinion, for having their worldview shattered.
"As you can see," Claire went on, "we are telling the truth. Magic is real. Trolls are real. And hell-goddesses trying to end the world are real - and in Arcadia Oaks."
"This is a prank, isn't it? I've seen the videos of such pranks. With dinosaurs!" Mrs Nuñez started to look around. "A costume. You're recording this!" She rounded on Jim. "Is this your idea? Was wrecking our house also a prank?"
"No prank," the big troll said. "No costume."
"Magic is real," Claire replied with narrowed eyes. "And this wasn't Jim's doing - I did this!"
"This can't be real!" Mrs Nuñez took a step toward the troll, then stopped.
"Well, you're worse than my mom," Buffy told her. "She was bitten by a vampire and didn't want to admit the truth." And managed to suppress the experience for far too long, but that was neither here nor there.
Claire's father joined his wife, then took a step closer and reached out to touch the troll's arm. "It's… it feels real. I can feel it moving."
"It can't be real!"
"Oh, Mama!" Claire gritted her teeth. With a flick of her staff, she closed the portal, then opened a new one. Buffy saw - and smelt - a forest behind it. "Is this a trick as well? Go on! Step through the portal!"
Once more, her father was the one to actually do it and went through the portal. "It's… real," he repeated himself. "Ophelia, come!"
Mrs Nuñez kept shaking her head as she, finally, stepped through the portal. "But… this is impossible. We can't… I know this place!"
"It's our favourite picnic spot, Mama," Claire said - in a softer tone. "It's real," she all but whispered. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" her father asked.
Buffy bit her lip. "How about we have the confessions in the living room? There could be monsters in the forest." The full moon had been two days ago, so there couldn't be any werewolves or werecats or were-whatevers, but she didn't trust the forest at night. Slasher movies were a warning, not entertainment.
"Yes," Giles, as expected, agreed. "I do think it would be best to continue our discussion inside."
"But…" Mrs Nuñez shook her head before she blinked. "You said we are in danger?"
"Yes, Mama," Claire repeated. "Please come back home."
Mrs and Mr Nuñez did, though Buffy noticed that Claire's mother gave the troll - was his name really 'Arg'? - a wide berth.
"There's more?" Mrs Nuñez asked. She was still looking shocked, but she seemed to be recovering.
"Yes." Claire nodded.
"There's a hell-goddess on the loose in Arcadia Oaks. She killed two cops already - and she killed dozens of people in Sunnydale. You might have seen the news. And she is mad that Claire stole her key from her," Buffy explained before Giles could go on at lengths about history.
"Claire?"
"What?" Claire glared at Buffy as if this wasn't the truth, then shook her head. "It wasn't like that, Mama! If Glory gets the key, she'll end the world to get home to hell. I couldn't let her get it."
"And Claire was the only one who could do it," Jim said. "Buffy and I tried our best, but we couldn't scratch Glory. We couldn't stop her from killing people." He looked down again, hunching his shoulders, and Buffy saw that he was pressing his lips together until they formed a thin line.
Claire was at his side so fast, Buffy almost thought she might have used a portal. "It wasn't your fault! And you did scratch her - twice!"
"That's more impressive than you might think," Buffy added with a smile at the parents. "No one else managed that - and dozens of people tried with swords, maces and spears!"
Somehow, her earnest comment didn't seem to help.
"You fight demons and… trolls?" Mr Nuñez asked.
"Evil trolls," Claire corrected him. "And we do. Jim's the Trollhunter, magically chosen by the Amulet of Daylight. Which was crafted by Merlin himself!"
Judging by the looks Mr and Mrs Nuñez gave Jim, they didn't really believe that.
Jim, though, chuckled. "Well, we are the Trollhunters, but I guess I did start it." He stood and raised his hand. "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!"
The feeling of the armour encasing him was great. James Lake Jr felt powerful. Confident. Competent.
For a moment. Then he remembered where he was - and what they were about to do - and had to refrain from sighing and hunching over. Claire's parents were staring at him, open-mouthed in her father's case.
"This is the Armour of Daylight," Jim explained. Forged by Merlin himself for the Trollhunter - the person fighting to protect both trolls and humans from the attacks by Gunmar and other evil trolls." And mind-controlled good trolls. But mentioning that wouldn't help right now. He forced himself to smile. "And, ah, a Trollhunter also helps the community with other problems, such as gnome infestations or parcels."
"It's a very respected position in Trollmarket," Claire added, stepping closer to Jim in an obvious show of support. "We've done both."
"But... " Her father looked at her, then at Jim. "Do you have such armour as well?"
"No. I've got this!" Claire raised her staff. "It allows me to create portals, which you have already seen."
"And were you… chosen by the staff?" Mr Nuñez asked.
Jim saw Claire hesitate for a moment before she raised her chin. "No. I chose to help Jim, and I took the staff from Angor Rot, the most feared troll assassin, when we fought."
Both her parents gasped. Her mother held a hand before her mouth. "You fought an assassin?" She glanced at AAARRRGGHH!. "Like… him?"
"AAARRRGGHH! isn't an assassin!" Jim protested.
"No," Claire said, narrowing her eyes. "Angor Rot is more dangerous than AAARRRGGHH!. Far more dangerous."
AAARRRGGHH! nodded his massive head in apparent agreement.
"But... " Claire's father shook his head. "Why?"
"Because Gunmar and Angor Rot threaten everyone, troll and humans alike," Claire replied. "And I won't let Jim risk his life alone!"
Jim suppressed a wince. Claire was honest, and it felt very good to hear her declaration of support, but… it wasn't something her parents, any parents, would want to hear. He could already see her father frowning deeply, and her mother…
"This is… I won't allow it!" Mrs Nuñez snapped. "You can't risk your life like that!"
"Too late!" Claire spat. "I've already risked my life several times! Even without the staff!"
"Yeah, my friends did the same," Buffy cut in. "Fought at my side for years despite not having been Chosen like I was. Drove Giles crazy at the start, but there was nothing he could do." She grinned.
"But… It's too dangerous!" Claire's mom blurted out. "I won't allow it!"
"Mama! You can't stop me!" Claire retorted. "And I have to do this! If I don't fight, I wouldn't be safe anyway!"
"This is your fault!" Mrs Nuñez rounded on Jim.
And she was right. If Jim hadn't picked up the amulet, he wouldn't have been chosen and wouldn't have dragged Claire into this. "I'm sorry," Jim said.
"No!" Claire all but yelled. "It's not your fault! I chose this! It was my decision!" She glared at her mother. "And I won't stop! I won't leave Jim alone!"
"Claire!"
"No!"
Giles cleared his throat. "Mrs Nuñez. Your daughter chose to fight evil. I understand your feelings about the risks she takes - I feel the same about my young charges - but I'm afraid there's nothing you can do to keep her from doing this."
"I can forbid this! She's my child!"
The man inclined his head. "And yet, the legalities don't matter as much as the facts. Your daughter will not sway from her chosen course, and I dare say that you would need to imprison her to stop her from fighting." Mrs Nuñez opened her mouth, but Mr Giles went on: "And in that case, you might as well just kill her yourself. Miss Nuñez has made powerful enemies who will take advantage of such a situation."
Jim nodded. "Yes. Gunmar… He's evil. Really evil. He and his followers want to rule the earth and eat humans. If he wins, no one will be safe. I had to kill his son, and he won't forget that."
"And I took this staff from Angor Rot," Claire added. "He won't give up on his revenge just because I stop fighting. Which I won't because if I do, all of us will die because of Glory!"
"Your daughter's talents are essential for preventing Glorificus from reaching the key he needs to tear down the barriers that separate Earth from hell," Mr Giles said. "While I empathise with your plight, the safety of the entire human race takes precedence."
"And we need to save Enrique!" Claire said, then gasped at her own words.
"Enrique?" Mrs Nuñez looked at the stairs leading up to Enrique's room. "But… What do you mean?" She was paling.
Claire bit her lower lip before she answered in a low voice, looking at the floor. "He was taken by the trolls, Mama. And replaced by a changeling. I'm sorry."
Jim held his breath. To blurt it out like this…
Claire's parents remained silent for a moment. Then her mother spoke up: "What? What are you saying?"
Claire sniffled. "Enrique was kidnapped by the evil trolls and replaced by a changeling. He's safe - the children taken are kept safe because the changelings can only take their forms as long as they're alive - but…" She shook her head, tears running down her face. "But he's in the Darklands."
Her mother gasped, staring at her.
"The Darklands?" Her father asked. He was paling, Jim noticed.
"Gunmar's realm - the dimension he was banished to by Merlin," Claire explained. "We're working on rescuing him, but…" She sobbed once. "I'm so sorry, but we haven't managed to find a way to save him yet."
"But we'll find a way!" the Slayer cut in. "Saving babies from monsters is what we do. When we're not saving the world. Or saving drunk clubbers from being eaten by vampires - and not in the fun way."
"Buffy!" Mr Giles snapped.
"What? I just don't want another misunderstanding!" the Slayer protested. "You know what they thought Claire and Jim were doing - not that there's anything wrong with that if they were doing it. But I really don't want them to think that vampires are nice monsters."
Jim stared at her. This was… He shook his head. Talk about not reading the room.
"Enrique… you say… my Enrique has been taken, and… replaced?" Claire's mom finally spoke. She slowly turned her head to look at the stairs. "That someone… that something else is in his room? That I've…"
"I'm so sorry, Mama! But… there wasn't anything we could do."
"We've got a monster in our home?" Mr Nuñez slowly stood.
"Hey, hey! Careful with the name-calling!"
Jim turned. Not-Enrique stood at the top of the stairs, still in Enrique's form.
"It's not as if I volunteered for this, you know? When Gunmar tells you to do something, you either do it - or you end up dead. Or worse," the changeling said. "But I'm not working for him any more. I changed sides!"
Both Mr and Mrs Nuñez were staring at Not-Enrique. Mrs Nuñez gasped, then sobed.
And Mr Nuñez jumped up and charged up the stairs, yelling curses in Spanish.
"Hey!" Not-Enrique protested, jumping out of the way of the man and sliding down the railing of the stairs. "Calm down! Your son's OK!"
Mr Nuñez whirled, baring his clenched teeth, and gave chase.
"Sis! Help!" The changeling jumped behind Claire. "He's gone mad!"
But Claire wasn't moving. Wasn't doing anything - she was just standing there, crying and shaking her head. Jim took a deep breath and stepped between her and her father. "Mr Nuñez! I understand what you're feeling - I fought Not-Enrique myself - but you can't kill him!"
"You're telling him!" the changeling agreed, clinging to Claire's legs.
"The hell I can't!" Mr Nuñez spat.
"He needs to be alive for Enrique!" Jim blurted out.
That made the man freeze for a moment. "What?"
"As long as Not-Enrique is alive, Gunmar's goblins will care for Enrique," Jim explained.
"Yes," AAARRRGGHH! confirmed. "Magic makes it so."
"But…"
"And Enrique won't age and won't even know what's happening - he's in a magical sleep." Jim smiled. "So… He'll be fine until we save him. And we will save him. My word on it."
"Enrique's gone… replaced… And Claire's fighting monsters…" Mrs Nuñez shook her head wildly. "This is… This can't be true."
Claire took a shuddering, sobbing breath. "I'm sorry, Mama! I'm so sorry."
"I'm sorry too!" Not-Enrique said. "Don't kill me!"
"Show them your true form," Jim told him.
"What?"
"Do it!" Jim spat.
"Alright, alright." The changeling sighed - and changed.
And Claire's parents gasped again.
"So… everyone cool now?" the changeling asked. "We're all in this together, you know?"
Jim glared at him and mouthed: 'shut up!'. Fortunately, Not-Enrique finally did. Jim turned back towards Claire's parents. "I'm very sorry about this - this is what the Trollhunters fight against. If I had been better at this…"
"It's not your fault, Jim!" Claire protested.
"It feels like it," he retorted. And Jim knew that if he had been a better Trollhunter, Enrique wouldn't have been taken.
"Whose fault is it, then?" Mr Nuñez asked, holding his wife.
"Gunmar's," Claire said. "He's behind all of this."
"Well, behind all of the Trollhunter stuff. He's not behind Glory," the Slayer added. "And Glory is why we're here. And why you need to move to Claire's shadow dimension thingie for a while. Evacuate and stuff." Jim narrowed his eyes at her - and he wasn't the only one. She frowned. "Hey! I'm just reminding you all why we're here. Not that we forget about the threat to the entire world or something!"
"I can't go! This is my city!" Mrs Nuñez protested. "I'm on the Council. I was already contacted about the attack on the police station."
Jim winced. This was a really bad moment to find out where Claire got her stubbornness from.
"But Mama! Glory is coming for you! I'm all that stands between her and the key - she'll try to take you hostage!" Claire told her.
"Your daughter's correct," Mr Giles chimed in. "Your ideals and willingness to brave lethal danger to do your elected duty do you credit, but, please, think of your family! If you are taken hostage, Claire will be forced to choose between you and the world. And you don't want her to be forced into making such a choice, trust me." He nodded at Mrs Nuñez.
"But… I can't just sit back - hide! - while others are in danger. While Claire is risking her life!" Mrs Nuñez blurted out. And Claire's dad nodded. Damn.
"You wouldn't be hiding - well, not just hiding. You would be helping. You're not the only one we're evacuating, and being stuck in another dimension? Not fun!" the Slayer said. "Trust me, been there, done that. So, you could help the others. Organise. Keep up morale. You know, stuff." She beamed at Mrs Nuñez.
Claire's parents didn't look convinced, in Jim's opinion.
Claire's parents weren't demanding that Claire had to stop fighting or tried to have her institutionalised. That was already a qualified success, in Buffy Summers's opinion. Better than her own parents' reaction at the revelation that she was the Slayer. Granted, she hadn't had any real proof - well, other than her strength, which her parents had ignored or dismissed as 'hysterical strength' or something - so the comparison wasn't completely fair. Still, better than she had hoped.
"So," she said, giving them her best smile, "how about we move the discussion into the portal space? Before, you know, an angry skanky hell-goddess breaks down the door and starts wrecking the place?" And wrecking them, of course.
"I would advise you to do so as well," Giles added. "It isn't safe here. And we need to evacuate more people."
"More people? How many?"
"Xander, for one," Buffy said. "He was wounded protecting Dawn." For a certain definition of protecting, anyway - Glory had flicked him out of the way like Buffy flicked fledglings out of her way. Well, she staked them, but the meaning was clear. At least to her, and she was the only one who could hear her thoughts… This metaphor had run away from her at some point, she realised.
"But…" Mrs Nuñez was still looking stubborn. And shocked, too.
"Papa! Please," Claire asked with tears in her eyes.
"We can create a cover story," Giles added. "We must, actually, so people do not look for you or ask questions."
"Lying to my constituents?" Mrs Nuñez made a surprised noise. "One thing I swore never to do when I ran for the first time."
"It wouldn't exactly be lying. Your baby suffers from a medical condition that requires specialist care," Giles retorted. "Or a similar story."
"Hey!" The creepy not-baby complained.
Buffy shot it a glare, and it shut up. Which was good. Grabbing and shaking a baby was bad. She knew it wasn't a baby but a monstrous troll, but it looked like one. Slaying it would be worse than dealing with Hansel and Gretel. At least that demon had tried to get Buffy burned at the stake, which made slaying it much easier.
Not that she could slay the thing, anyway. That would doom the real baby. Enrique. On the other hand, roughing up the changeling thingie shouldn't do anything to Claire's brother. At least as far as Buffy understood things.
Which, to be fair, might not be entirely correct, so she better had to check before she started on some aggressive persuasion. And… wait! She bent down to narrow her eyes at the thing. "Are you, like, a troll baby? Or just a small adult troll-thing that looks like a baby?"
"He's a troll, not a thing. A changeling," Jim cut in.
"Yes!" the thing confirmed. "Although most trolls don't think we're real trolls, but half-breeds." It looked down. "If we couldn't change our form, we probably would've been wiped out long ago."
Well, that sounded sad. For a moment, Buffy felt bad for thinking bad of the thing. Then she remembered that the actual baby was kept captive in magical sleep in the demon lands, tended to by goblins. No, there was no reason to feel bad at all!
And the Nuñez didn't look like they cared, either. But Claire and Jim looked like they cared - or had been fooled by the thing. Which was probably the same.
"I don't know…" Mrs Nuñez was still shaking her head. Buffy almost wished Glory would break down the front door. Nothing motivated people to get moving like imminent death by demon. Perhaps they could use that plan for Jim's Mom - Xander would probably call it 'Plan Arnold'.
"Ophelia…" Mr Nuñez hugged her closer. "We have to think of our children."
Buffy bit on her lower lip to avoid making a quip. 'Think of the children'? Really? But no one else seems to have caught that. Jim was hugging Claire - she didn't seem to mind that he was still in armour - and Giles was nodding.
Sheesh. But as long as it got the Nuñez finally moving into the portal…
"We'll need clothes. And toiletries. And… do you have a bathroom in there?" Mrs Nuñez asked. "Beds? A kitchen?"
Uh. Buffy smiled at her. "We're going to raid a camping supplies store. We just wanted to wait until you could tell us if you have a preference."
"A camping supplies store?" Mrs Nuñez asked.
"'Raid'?" her husband added.
"What Buffy means is that we'll acquire the supplies once you're safe for the moment," Giles spoke up. "If Claire's portals can handle the size, we would best rent a few caravans."
Buffy pouted at the way he looked at her when he said 'rent'. As if she would actually rob a place! Besides, borrowing supplies to save the world was, like, the ultimate justification. If she didn't manage to save the world, everything would get destroyed anyway.
And even Giles would have to agree that they really needed the supplies this time - he couldn't call them 'unnecessary luxuries' like he had called those Manolos on sale a month ago!
"Alright." Claire's mom nodded. "Let's pack:"
Buffy grinned. Two down, one to go! Well, two counting Xander. Three if you counted Mom, Anya and the rest in Sunnydale.
But it was progress.
