A/N: Hello everyone, hope you're well. I finally got this up after much regretted delay, but it's here. The delay was due to it being a week before Christmas, me trying to write up a few more chapters beforehand so updates can be consistent, and I wasn't happy with my previous final draft of this chapter so I ended up rewriting the whole thing. The important thing is that it's here now. Just a disclaimer then you may read on!
Disclaimer: Any familiar characters, settings, and dialogue belongs to Guillermo Del Toro and DreamWorks.
The light from the doorway was blinding but Douxie refused to look away. It was the last time he would be able to see them and he knew it.
He had made his choice to stay, and though it pained him to leave his mentor and his 'sister', he couldn't bring himself to leave Archie and the others. Especially not when he could help keep Nari safe.
Merlin looked at him, pride and a bit of sadness in his eyes. He knew it would be the last time they would see each other too. He had once said that he couldn't afford to lose another apprentice. He had just gotten both back and now he had to leave one behind. Douxie wanted to stop him from turning away, he wanted to freeze this moment, where he was safely back in his old home with his old family. But he knew it was for the best.
Morgana had already started walking away and Merlin followed her. "Good luck Master Wizard." He said, his usually harsh voice now soft and affectionate. Then he did something that Douxie never thought he'd see Merlin do, ever. He did the 'devil's horn' rock hand sign that Douxie was so fond of.
Douxie wanted to cry. But he forced his voice to stay steady as he returned the sign - even though he knew Merlin couldn't see it - and replied, saying his last words to them.
"Safe travels, Master Wizards."
Tears trailed down his cheeks as he watched Merlin Ambrosius and Morgana Pendragon - his family - fade from view, a piece of Douxie's heart leaving with them.
At first the world was dark.
It wasn't scary or suffocating but it was completely black. He felt like he was floating, but it was weird because he could feel something solid under him.
He heard something. It got louder until he could tell that they were voices. Despite the volume, Douxie couldn't understand everything being said. It felt like he was on one side of a door and the voices were on the other.
He could make out some of it. Bits of conversation were clearer than others, breaking through the haze in his mind.
"Douxie!"
"Oh no!"
"Teach!" He heard a sob somewhere to his right. He felt bad and wanted to comfort the person crying even if he couldn't see them or do anything really.
"He looks bad…"
Something in the back of his mind told him that the voices were his friends'. He supposed that was why they felt familiar.
One voice was clearer and more familiar than the others. Somewhere deep in his consciousness, he knew the voice had been there with him for most of his life. It was saying something now and it sounded really worried. "Douxie, don't you dare be dead…"
The name of the voice was right at the tip of his mind but it refused to make itself known. Either way, Douxie was about to answer it when a sudden wave of pain assaulted his senses.
He felt like he had been put in a blender with rocks. Every inch of his body hurt in one way or another. His nerves were on fire, he was intensely sore, and somehow, even breathing hurt.
The pain lasted for a few more seconds before becoming bearable. It was still there and hurt like hell, but it was better and he could breath easier without having a stabbing pain in his chest when doing so.
This was when he tried to open his eyes. They felt heavy and wouldn't obey him, staying stubbornly closed. Instead, Douxie tried to move another part of his body. He tried his fingers and silently celebrated when he was able to clench his hand into a fist. It had hurt, but it was something.
He tried opening his eyes again, this time succeeding. He was met with three faces crowding his, all of which he recognised almost instantly.
"You brave, foolish boy." Archie nuzzled Douxie's cheek gently, but affectionately.
"But everything hurts!" Douxie protested as he tried to sit up. Everything still hurt, but surprisingly, Douxie managed the movement.
Claire helped to support him while he sat. "I can't believe you're okay!" Her words were definitely an understatement but Douxie put himself into perspective. Compared to being dead, he supposed he was okay, even if physically, he was far from it. The sob he had heard earlier was her, he noted as she wiped away some tears.
Douxie wasn't the only one who thought her words were an understatement though. "Barely," Archie started. "Seems you're the one with nine lives. And don't you ever do that again."
Douxie felt guilty, knowing that Archie was just trying to cover up his concern with a joke. He supposed that even though his actions had saved them from the Arcane Order - for now anyway - he must have scared his familiar half to death in then process. Douxie wondered briefly what would have happened to the small black dragon if Douxie had chosen to go with Merlin. He quickly stopped his train of thought, remembering one of Merlin's lessons on not dwelling on the past. Douxie had made his choice and he was here now with his friends and that was all that mattered.
He shook his head to clear his mind, then looked at the three surrounding him, then at everyone else standing a short distance away. With Claire and Steve's help, he tried to stand up. Just moving his fingers had hurt, and even sitting up had been painful but bearable. Standing up though…
His whole body was on fire, similar to when the pain had first made itself known. He winced. "Easy, I've just come back from beyond the grave!" He tried to cover up his pain, set on not revealing the full extent of it to the others. There was no point in forcing the teenagers to shoulder his burdens as well as their own.
"Happy you're alive Teach." Claire looked at Douxie and smiled at him. On Douxie's other side, Steve enthusiastically agreed. "Yeah!"
Douxie smirked, momentarily forgetting his pain. After making sure he was okay, Claire left Douxie's side to stand closer to the others. Leaning heavily on Steve - who was surprisingly strong, probably because of his stepdad - Douxie scanned the faces of everyone else, trying to determine how much this endeavour had effected them.
All of them looked tired, even Krel who had joined their crew later, and most had expressions of shock and disbelief. Even the trolls looked out of their league which said a lot for how the younger teens must feel despite their own adventures. There was something about almost losing one of their own and seeing him lying there, that made this seem all too real, Douxie supposed.
As he looked around, Douxie realised with dread that one of their group was absent. He turned to the person he thought would know best.
"Where's Jim?" He asked Claire. He didn't let his worry show, but he felt it. He had only meant for one of theirs to die today and even then, Douxie was still alive. Jim meant more than he knew to Douxie. Douxie had come to think of Jim as the brother he never had. Even before they had known Douxie was a wizard, he had often helped the Trollhunting crew from the shadows if they had encountered each other on Douxie's night patrols. Of course, on those occasions, Douxie had never let them know he was there, but he was.
Douxie had worked in some restaurant or another while in Arcadia and Jim was a frequent customer as well as Dr. Lake. He had taken a liking to Jim even from when Jim was younger, still in elementary school and coming in for takeout when his mom was too busy to cook dinner. Douxie didn't know what he'd do if Jim was…
He looked at Claire who was smiling. That only confused him further but then he relaxed slightly. If Claire was smiling, then it meant Jim was still okay, but the half troll - now full troll - was nowhere to be seen. And in their diverse group, he should have been easy to pick out.
The group in question parted to let someone walk through their ranks. Douxie stared in surprise. "Mordrax's miracles, seems I've missed a lot."
"Same." Jim replied.
Blinky - with the others adding the occasional detail - had given Douxie and Jim a brief summary on everything that they had missed. Douxie had already known about Morgana's death but he still felt sad when they told him. Even knowing Arthur's death had saddened the boy, but not as much.
When Blinky ended the tale with pointing to Excalibur - the legendary sword now returned to stone - Toby ran faster than Douxie had ever seen him run and try to pull out the sword. It didn't give way - as expected - but it made Douxie smile to see the teen so excited even to just have the chance to try.
When it was suggested that Jim try, Douxie could see the hesitance in the Trollhunter's eyes. He had doubts and Douxie couldn't help but compare it to his own experiences. He waited for everyone else to try and encourage Jim, which eventually led him to try pulling the sword from the stone, but, as with Toby, it didn't give.
Douxie would have walked over - or limped - but he doubted he'd be able to. Instead, he walked closer to the trio with Steve's support and encouraged them from there. He told them that they were still strong, just that their power came from teamwork. Douxie realised how ridiculous it sounded, how cheesy it was and how many times he himself had ignored that advice. But it was the best he could do.
And even that had taken a lot out of him. By the time they had walked back to where the time ship was, Douxie was starting to feel lightheaded and his breath was coming in short gasps.
Claire had followed him and now inspected him. "Are you sure our Douxie came back from the dead? This one is super sappy."
Douxie smiled at the good natured insult. "Cheeky…" Everyone laughed and the group's tension disappeared. Douxie was happy that they could still laugh after everything they'd been through.
Blue wisps of magic surrounded the small ship behind him as he lifted it upright with magic he didn't have. He almost passed out but forced himself to stay alert. He could rest later when he and Nari were safe, far away from the Arcane Order and the threat they posed.
"It's time Nari and I got a move on before the Order catches up." He told everyone else. The statement was met with various sounds of disbelief and worry.
"You're leaving? Already?" Claire said, her eyes wide.
"Yeah, you just finished a whole speech about saving the world together!" Steve's voice was loud next to his ear.
"I promised Merlin I'd protect Nari and that means taking her far away from here." He tried to walk on his own, gently pushing Steve to the side.
He managed to walk two steps before he fell.
Luckily, Aaarrrgh was there to catch him. The giant troll's grip was firm enough to support Douxie but gentle enough that it didn't hurt the wizard. Douxie winced as he stood up again, using Aaarrrgh as a support and brushing the incident off. He ignored the looks he saw the rest of the group gave him.
But none of them said anything, because a certain green demigod stepped up instead. Douxie knew what she was going to say even before she opened her mouth. He knew everyone was thinking the same thing. "Douxie." She placed her small hand in his and looked up at him with her bright amber eyes. "I do not think you are well enough to travel."
'Traitor' was all he could think. And then his own body rebelled against him, proving Nari's point. The coughs were painful because every inhale he took sent stabbing pains through his chest and every time he coughed shook his aching body. He winced but tried to ignore the agony and instead chose to look at the others.
Almost everyone had a look of agreement, siding with Nari. At least some had the decency to look apologetic as if they sympathised with his situation. He doubted anyone but Jim truly understood his position though.
Douxie himself knew he needed to heal. Even if he had managed to cheat death, every part of him hurt. He only ignored it because he had a job to do. It was the last job, the last request, the last thing Merlin had told him to do and he wasn't going to disregard his master's order the second he wasn't there. He couldn't.
Archie flew to Douxie's side, not landing on his shoulder for fear of causing his familiar more pain. So the dragon stayed in the air beside Douxie. "I know what you're thinking Douxie, and I realise the urgency of the situation with the Genesis Seals also being in the Order's possession, but as you need to recover, so would they. I also don't think Merlin meant for you to keep Nari safe at your expense."
"Yeah Teach. I get that we have to stop the world from ending and all, but you can't protect Nari like this anyway."
Every second, it was getting harder and harder to stay awake. Breathing was a conscious effort now and he had to fight to stay awake and standing. If he didn't try, he would fall and then he would lay there and he would just give in and close his eyes and he may not have the strength or will to open them again.
"I'm fine, Claire." The lie was weak and everyone - including Douxie - knew it.
Jim looked at Douxie with a mix of emotions as he offered a small, knowing smile and proposed an alternative option. "No you're not Douxie. Look, my mom's working right now and I know she wouldn't mind looking after you; she's your best option for medical help. You won't have to worry about the complications of being a wizard and all because she already knows about magic. She can take care of you while we take care of Nari until you recover enough to travel."
Douxie didn't want to argue right now. What he wanted to do right now was flop into his bed and seek refuge in the realm of dreams. Even being on the ship flying to safety would have been preferable because it would mean peace, quiet and time to rest. He could already feel his energy draining and his consciousness slipping.
This was all for Nari, so Douxie supposed he should let the final decision be hers. They looked at each other and Nari gave a small nod, squeezing his hand gently.
Douxie sighed, momentarily closing his eyes. "Fine". He gave in, knowing that if he didn't decide now, the decision would be made for him after he passed out any second now. He glanced at Nari one last time then agreed to Jim's proposition. "3 days then we leave."
"3 days!?" Toby's eyes were wide with disbelief. "That's barely enough time to recover after just dying!" He shouted.
Sensing Douxie wasn't up to the task, Archie took it upon himself to explain. "Wizards heal faster than others because their magic acts as a secondary, boosted immune system." Douxie looked at Arch gratefully. "But even then Douxie, Toby is right. Considering your low magical energy right now, 3 days isn't enough time."
Douxie frowned. It seemed his most trusted friend had also joined the traitor's side. "I just need to recover enough to go somewhere else. 3 days or nothing." He proposed the ultimatum. He had to because this was taking too long and it was taking a lot more effort than they knew to stay awake.
Jim spoke, seeming to know Douxie's struggle for consciousness. "Douxie, I'm willing to meet you halfway. If, after 3 days, my mom thinks you're good to travel, then you can go as long as you take time to recover when you get to wherever. If my mom says you should stay longer, then take it one day at a time. Like Claire said, you can't do much protecting if you're hurt anyway."
Douxie's mind had started fogging up again. "Deal." He said, offering Jim a weak smile then tried to lighten the mood. "I'd shake on it but I doubt I can lift my hand."
Everyone seemed to relax simultaneously, some of them starting to chat among themselves.
Jim made eye contact with Douxie, smiling at him crookedly. Douxie smiled back.
He may have lost his Camelot family, but he had found a new one here in Arcadia. He didn't trust easily because of his experiences from a time when witch hunts still existed, but he trusted this group with his life. That didn't mean he would tell them everything, but he could count on them to have his back.
And he would always have theirs.
The thoughts of his family - old and new - were comforting as Douxie finally gave in to the growing darkness. He sank into Aaarrrgh, knowing that his friends would make sure nothing happened to him. Trusting his friends with his life.
A/N: First chapter done! I hope you're hooked. I'm going to try and get all 7 chapters out before Christmas which gives me today and tomorrow. You just get a lot of chapters to read with none of the waiting as a Christmas present. If you celebrate of course. I'm not a Christian, but i still celebrate, 'cuz who wouldn't give up an opportunity to get presents? Anyway, next chapter should be up in a bit if you choose to keep reading. See ya.
- CrowofArcadiaOaks