A/N: Warning! There is mention of injury and blood in this chapter so if that triggers you then you might want to skip this one. I tried not to be graphic but I still had to mention the injuries in a little detail. There are also some implications in this chapter but no actual inappropriate scenes or specific mentions.

Anyway, this is a longer chapter but important as it has some info on a headcanon concept of mine that will pop up in part 3 (yes, part 3). There's also lots of Zouxie for those who ship. ;)

She saw him falling.

Though she wasn't actually there when it happened, she knew about it in detail from Archie. And… she may have used a teensy bit of magic to see it through Archie's eyes to check that he wasn't sugarcoating it.

He had only sugarcoated it a little. When she had seen it for herself, she had felt a mix of emotions. Zoe wasn't used to showing her emotions, so when she felt them, she didn't know how to control them. At first, she had felt angry at Douxie for being so stupid. She always knew he was a self sacrificial idiot, but this was a bit much. And then she focused and started worrying because she realized that Douxie was already unconscious so he couldn't even do anything to stop or even slow his descent. Her heart skipped a beat when Douxie hit the ground, a wave of blue magic dissipating from him.

And now she was seeing it again, and it was way worse. This time, Douxie was falling and there was only Zoe there. She saw the explosion, and the three figures propelling towards the earth. It was easy to figure out which one was Douxie.

She called his name. Her voice was too quiet. But she couldn't make it any louder, no matter how much she shouted.

She tried using magic to slow him down. Her magic wasn't responding, only eliciting small sparks when she tried.

She tried running to him as a last resort, no real plan in her head. Her legs moved but she didn't. She was running, harder than she had ever run, yet she was getting nowhere. In fact, the forest seemed to stretch on even longer, like a green hallway. She didn't even waste any energy to wipe the tears on her cheeks.

Somehow, even though she was nowhere near him, she saw Douxie hit the ground. Blue light surrounded the area, beautiful and terrible, immaterial wisps in the air until they dissipated a second later.

Some of the wisps stayed though, surrounding Zoe and swirling around her. They seemed alive, peacefully floating around the pink-haired hedge witch. Then they started spinning faster around her, encompassing her and becoming more violent by the second. The blue wisps started grabbing at her, pulling her down. She tried to fight it off, with magic and her fists, but neither made a difference.

The blue wisps sucked her down into the ground. They dropped her in a space she assumed was the shadow realm. There were rocks everywhere, just floating and she did the same. In the distance, she heard a voice she knew well. "Zoe!" Douxie's voice called out.

"Douxie!" She shouted back, pushing off of the rocks to follow her boyfriend's voice. She saw Douxie, made of blue light. He saw her and his eyes narrowed… in anger? That couldn't be right.

"Douxie?" Zoe's voice was small, hesitant. He was suddenly right in front of her.

"Why didn't you save me, Zoe?"

"What?…"

He repeated himself. "Why didn't you save me? You should've been there. You could've helped me fight against the Arcane Order, but no, you were busy with your job. You chose the job over me."

Another voice joined in. "Instead, you left me without my familiar." The small dragon was made of yellow light. "My familiar is everything to me, and you were everything to him and you abandoned him. You would think that you would know better after your own experiences, but even then you left him."

Archie's voice was joined by yet another, this time, the young shadow witch Claire. "I thought you were a witch. I thought you were supposed to be powerful, especially after training for centuries. Me? I've only trained for a few months and I could do a better job than you."

More and more people appeared, in various colours; the Trollhunter in another shade of blue, his short, chubby friend in gold, some witches from Zoe's past in different shades. All of them were saying different things, each comment or statement or question driving a knife further into Zoe's heart.

She covered her ears and tried to block out the noise, tears streaming down her face but the voices didn't stop.

She woke up suddenly, wiping away the dampness on her cheek almost subconsciously. Sitting up in the makeshift bed, she took in her unfamiliar surroundings, trying to calm herself down.

The room she was in was dark, but then again, it was like 3 in the morning. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her head on them while waiting for her eyes to adjust.

The walls were bare, and were currently dark, but Zoe knew that they were actually light blue. There was a dresser, looking bigger from her vantage point on a mattress on the floor. The mattress was all that Dr. Lake could find on short notice and even then, most of the people staying over were sharing rooms and sometimes beds. He knew that the Trollhunter and his girlfriend were sharing a room and possibly a bed but it didn't disturb her in the least because she could tell that they were sensible kids and probably too exhausted to think about doing anything else but sleep. Besides, their friend… Toby, was also in the room, using a sleeping bag on the floor.

The alien - Akiridion, as they had corrected her so many times - and the 'knight' had gone to their own homes, which was good because the extra space was taken up by the changeling familiar's makeshift nursery. Dr. Lake and Mr. Strickler had the room right next to it in case they needed to comfort or feed the babies. Though, from what she had heard, there used to be many more infants to take care of, so looking after three was still hard but easier by comparison. That was good because it wasn't easy to have babies in the house when you also had to take care of five extra guests on short notice. Well, six guests, including Archie.

Zoe paused as she heard something. She heard it again and then another sound. It was a whimper, and the shifting of sheets. The whimpering continued and was mixed with small gasps of breath, like someone had run a marathon and was trying to catch their breath.

She looked at the other side of the room, her gaze met by yellow eyes with glasses. "Zoe…" Archie said in a low voice as to not wake the other occupant of the bed, but it still held worry. Zoe acted immediately, wrapping her blanket around her as she walked barefoot to where Douxie was sleeping.

The sounds were coming from him. His face was scrunched up, in pain, discomfort, sadness, or a mixture. Zoe couldn't tell which, but it didn't matter. There was wetness on her boyfriend's cheeks and pillow either way, and his breathing was erratic. "Should I get Dr. Lake?" Archie asked. The dragon was hovering in the air above his familiar, having been tossed off by Douxie's sudden, twitchy movements.

Zoe sat down on the bed next to Douxie. "No, he's just having a nightmare. I got it for now, but later we can get Dr. L to check if he's injured himself."

This wasn't the first time Zoe was put into this situation. There had been many instances when Douxie had a nightmare and Zoe had to comfort him. It worked both ways, Douxie and Arch comforting her if she had a nightmare. She knew exactly what to do and what not to do. For example, she shouldn't just wake Douxie up because she knew that he would likely go on defence and unintentionally hurt her. Instead, she had to gently wake him up.

She started by wiping away his tears, the action made harder by him tossing and turning. Archie had gone back to sitting on Douxie's chest in an attempt to restrain Douxie's movements without making him feel constricted. The dragon rested his head on his paws and closed his eyes. Anyone else would have been confused as to why he seemed to have fallen asleep, but Zoe knew that he was focusing on reaching Douxie through their familiar bond to try and reassure him that everything was okay. Zoe, on the other hand, kept comforting Douxie through touch.

She held his hand, comforting her as much as him. The touch reassured her that Douxie was okay and alive, contradicting her own nightmare. With her free hand, she kept wiping away his tears and running her hand through his hair, keeping it out of his eyes. His shifting slowed down, more tears falling but less tossing and turning. That was when she tried to wake him up. Archie's eyes were open now, and he looked at Zoe.

Gently shaking Douxie's shoulder, she called his name, softly but loud enough for him to hear. He stayed asleep, trapped in his nightmare. She called out again, a little louder this time. It made no difference.

Briefly, Zoe wondered what was going on in her boyfriend' head. Whatever nightmare he was experiencing must have been bad, because he was still in deep sleep and he was crying a lot. Silently, but the tears were unrelenting.

Making a decision, she leaned forward. There was one sure way she could wake up her partner.

As soon as her lips met his, he stopped tossing and turning completely. Zoe could taste the saltiness of his tears but she ignored it.

Her eyes were closed, and she could sense that his were too, but she knew he was awake. He was still crying but he was kissing back.

Slowly, Zoe leaned back, bright blue eyes meeting hazel ones. Archie had come to beside Douxie's head and he now nuzzled his familiar's wet cheek. No one spoke, the three just staying together.

After about a minute, Douxie shifted and tried to sit up. He winced as he did, but he didn't say anything. His tears had stopped but his cheeks stayed wet. Zoe helped him rest against the headboard of the bed and climbed into the blanket next to him. Just as the day before in the hospital, she rested her head against his shoulder with Archie curled on their laps.

Douxie wrapped his arm around Zoe, pulling her closer. It was the arm with a cast but neither magic user minded. No one spoke, all of them seeming to have an agreement on not talking about the incident that just happened.

Even so, just to check on him, Zoe looked up Douxie. He looked back at her and the corner of his mouth curled up in a small, tired smile. Zoe relaxed a little and smiled tiredly back. That was their way to say that they were okay. Archie nuzzled against them in his own way of saying it. Douxie smirked down at him and petted him with his free hand, comforting both of them. Then the small dragon - now in cat form - promptly started purring and was soon asleep.

Zoe watched as Douxie kept petting the black cat, knowing it was his way of calming himself down. She studied him, trying to decipher the indifferent mask Douxie was wearing. Zoe knew that Douxie was a trusting person, but he had learnt to never openly show what was actually going on in his head. He had gotten quite good at hiding his true feelings, even from the people who he knew and trusted entirely, like Zoe and Archie. Instead, the people around him had learnt to see the small details to figure out exactly how Douxie was feeling.

And right now, he was feeling a lot. Zoe noticed, even in the lack of light, that Douxie had bad crow's feet under his eyes. In fact, his whole face looked absolutely exhausted, making him look his real age. Zoe worried about how much sleep Douxie had actually gotten since the whole adventure had started. It looked like he had only gotten about a day of solid sleep altogether for a whole week. This worried Zoe because especially with all of his injuries - and the fact that he had died - he needed the rest more than ever.

The tightness around his eyes also revealed the pain that Douxie was feeling. Dr. L had given him some pain killers before he went to bed, but she didn't think it was enough. It probably wasn't the doctor's fault though. Most likely, Douxie wasn't being honest about how much it hurt.

The physical hurt could be dealt with easily enough. It was the mental and emotional hurt that Zoe was more worried about. In the span of a week, Douxie had found out his mentor was awake and there was another threat to the world that he needed to stop. Then he had gotten sent back in time to probably the most worst time in history in terms of tensions and he had to get back without botching up history, on top of fixing his mistakes, making sure nothing happened to the trollhunter or his two friends, and winning a war. Even when he managed to get back, he had to save his friends, stop the Arcane Order and deal with Merlin's death after just winning his approval. Zoe wasn't even sure that Douxie had time to properly mourn his mentor yet, with him dying and then having to protect the small, green demigod known as Nari. At least Jim had convinced Douxie to take the time to recover, even if it was only a few extra days.

Zoe was grateful all the same to the Trollhunter. The action had definitely gotten points for him in Zoe's book. She knew that Douxie had a soft spot for the young teen, not only because Jim was a nice guy, but because they were so similar. Both of them were leaders with a premature amount of responsibility thrust upon them. Both of them had been forced to make too many sacrifices, and both of them had no one who really understood except each other.

Zoe didn't know who fell asleep first, her or Douxie, but soon she found herself back in the clutches of sleep. This time though, the darkness was peaceful and she slept without any dreams, good or bad.

The second time Zoe woke up, it was to sunlight peeking out from the sides of the curtains, bathing her and the room in gold. She smelled waffles, the delicious scent making her stomach growl. Yet she stayed in bed, revelling in the comfort and warmth of the blanket.

She turned her head slightly, eyes squinting against the light. She realized that she was still leaning against Douxie, her head on his chest. He was also leaning against her, his head resting on hers, still fast asleep. The tears from before had long since dried.

She smirked to herself, enjoying the fact that he slept better when she was next to him. There would definitely be a lot of good-natured teasing about it in store for him, but for now, she tried to figure out how to move without waking him.

Zoe tried to get her legs out of the blanket first, but as soon as she moved, her ridiculous partner stirred. He was so sensitive sometimes, waking up at the tiniest of movement but not when someone blew an air horn next to him (which had happened in the past after a particularly rowdy party).

His eyes opened slowly, squinting in the sudden light. He sighed exasperatedly when he saw Zoe looking at him, her expression amused. "Five more minutes?" He mumbled, even though he was already rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Zoe had to suppress a laugh when Douxie lifted his right arm to rub his eyes, before realizing that it was in a cast. He looked at it in confusion, as if it was an alien on his arm, then it seemed to click in his sleepy brain and he lifted his other arm.

"Shut up." He told Zoe, frowning as he noticing her cheeky smile. The comment only made Zoe lose control over her laughter and the room was filled with her giggles. Soon, Douxie rolled his eyes at the pink-haired witch and started chuckling himself. Archie woke up and looked between them, confused.

A few minutes passed, their laughter slowing to a stop, though both magic users - and even Archie who just seemed happy to see Douxie laughing - stayed smiling. Zoe excused herself to go freshen up for breakfast, leaving Douxie to do the same. She went through her morning routine, still smiling. It wasn't just that Douxie could be a clumsy idiot sometimes, but Zoe was happy that he could still laugh about a small thing and still be happy even after everything he'd been through.

When she went back to their room, she saw that Douxie had managed to get changed, no doubt with his magic's help. He was sitting on the bed with his shirt next to him while he inspected the bandages on his torso. Seeing them sobered Zoe a bit. Not just because they were a reminder of Douxie's situation, but also because they were red.

Archie was nowhere to be seen, most likely outside stretching his wings. Zoe stayed by the door, staying silent. She didn't know why she stayed there instead if going in and helping him. Douxie looked up, having heard someone open the door. When he saw it was just Zoe, he relaxed a bit. He opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut when Zoe gave him a look saying 'if you say anything, it better be the truth'.

He bit his lip, then spoke. "It's nothing." Zoe raised her eyebrows, causing Douxie to hurry and explain. "I mean, it doesn't hurt, love, honest. It probably happened in the night." He looked uncomfortable speaking about his nightmare, but he had a point. Zoe knew that it was the truth. She could see it in his eyes. They both knew that either way, they needed to get Dr. L to take a look, but Zoe was going to make Douxie say it. He knew that.

He looked reluctant, but asked Zoe all the same. "Uhh… do you mind getting Dr. L? Just to check? Like I said, it doesn't hurt, it's just a lot of blood."

Whether Zoe would admit it or not, she would have gone to get the doctor anyway. But she felt strangely relieved that Douxie had asked. It meant that Douxie trusted Dr. Lake and was okay with asking for help if and when he needed it. But Zoe also knew that his decision to ask also came from a desire not to face Zoe's wrath or another of her lectures.

Zoe went downstairs, inhaling the smell of fresh waffles. The first thing she saw was Nari in the living room. The few potted plants that were in the room had looked half dead when Zoe had first come here just yesterday. Now, with the plant demigod, they were thriving along with an assortment of other plants. Nari saw Zoe and cheerfully waved at her then went back to… humming to the plants? Whatever.

Zoe looked through the 'window' into the kitchen and saw Jim at the stove with a stack of waffles beside him and batter on the other side. He seemed at ease in the kitchen, like that's where he belonged. He looked up and smiled at Zoe. "Morning."

She smiled back. "'Sup." He gestured - with a whisk in his hand - to the stack of waffles. Zoe's mouth watered at the sight of them, but shook her head. "Maybe in a bit. Where's your mom?"

He had turned back to the food, adding another waffle to the pile as it was snatched up by Toby. The boy in question was practically inhaling the waffles, drowning them in syrup first. He was sitting at the countertop next to the Trollhunter's girlfriend. She looked at Toby with her eyebrows raised, obviously disgusted and somewhat impressed at her friend's table manners, or lack thereof. She herself was using a knife and fork properly, taking small bites at a time as opposed to stuffing her mouth like Toby.

"I think my mom's downstairs."

Almost exactly when he said it, as if she had heard him, Dr. Lake popped up from the stairs leading to the basement. "Oh hello Zoe. Did you you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I slept okay. Umm… I need you upstairs fir a minute. Well, Douxie needs you." The comment changed the whole atmosphere in the room, so quiet that they could've heard a pin drop. Nari walked over and looked up at Zoe. "What is wrong with Douxie?" There was worry in her tone.

Zoe hurried to explain. "He's fine, he's not hurt or anything like that." She felt everyone in the room relax, but they were still on guard, waiting for an explanation. "Fuzzbuckets, I don't know how to explain this without making you guys worry, but… ummm." She decided to just go with her usual bluntness. It was just so much easier. "One of his bandages has blood on it, and he just wants Dr. L to check to make sure it isn't as bad as it looks. He says it doesn't hurt and I know he's telling the truth. He just wants to be sure." Everyone was still weary, not satisfied with the explanation but she didn't know how to do better. Fortunately, Dr. Lake saved her.

"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing. He probably just shifted in the night and it started bleeding again. I'll go and check it just in case." At her words, everyone seemed to be reassured and went back to breakfast. In Nari's case, she went back to tending her plants.

Zoe smiled at Dr. Lake gratefully. The doctor returned the smile and disappeared into the bathroom for a second, reemerging with some bandages antiseptic, and other supplies in her arms then following Zoe upstairs.

As they neared the room, they heard some faint guitar notes. Douxie was still sitting on the bed like before, but now he had a glowing blue guitar in his arms. He was somehow managing to play even with his right arm in a cast, but he didn't seem to be composing or playing anything specific, just plucking random notes absentmindedly.

Dr. Lake walked in and put the stuff down on the small table in the room, startling Douxie. When he realized it was just Zoe and Dr. L, he relaxed and his guitar disappeared in a flash of blue. "Morning Dr. L." He said.

"Good morning Douxie. How are you feeling?" Dr. Lake looked Douxie over, analysing his injuries.

"I'm feeling much better than yesterday, thanks for asking." Zoe smirked at his politeness. That politeness was what made him so likeable, but, ironically, it wasn't for that reason that Zoe had fallen for him.

"And that…?" She nodded at his bandage. He looked down as if he had forgotten about it. "It hurts a bit, but otherwise it's fine."

Still in the doorway, Zoe added to the statement. "Yeah, it's bleeding a lot and 'it hurts a bit'. I think that's what's more worrying."

Dr. Lake chuckled at their antics. "Hmm, well like I told the others, it's probably nothing and I mean it. Do you mind?" She asked Douxie for permission before leaning in and starting to unwrap the bandages. He nodded and Dr. Lake focused, all business. Zoe had moved inside the room fully and closed the door behind her, but she still gave Dr. Lake space to work.

As the bandages unwrapped, it was as if more secrets were revealed. Zoe had seen many injuries on Douxie throughout the years, but it never stopped making her breath catch in fear every time she saw them. She was just glad that this time, she wasn't the one having to treat him.

Dr. Lake didn't even blink when the bandages came off entirely, revealing splotches of purple and yellow bruises and a large cut. The area around the cut was red, the injury itself still sluggishly bleeding. Douxie winced and Zoe noticed his free hand grip the side of the bed hard. The injury itself may not have hurt when it was wrapped up, but now that the bandages had been taken off, exposing the wound to air, it probably stung.

Dr. Lake noticed Douxie's reaction and smiled encouragingly up at him. "Well, despite how it looks, it's actually started healing already. I'll just clean it and put fresh bandages and it should be fine. I'm afraid cleaning it will sting a little." She looked apologetic.

Douxie - being his ever polite self - just smiled. "No problems mate. I'll be fine." His accent was more prominent now which was a sign that only those close to him knew meant that he was scared or worried. Zoe guessed it was probably both.

Dr. Lake just shook her head in disbelief, then excused herself to quickly go and wash her hands before doing anything else. She left Zoe and Douxie alone in the blue room. The two were silent, Douxie bracing himself for the pain he knew was coming and Zoe reluctantly inspecting the injuries on her boyfriend's body. She looked at him, noting his eye bags were a little lighter than the day before.

"Do you want me to stay or leave?" She asked him, causing him to look up at her, an action that neither was used to as she was the shorter if the two.

He thought for a second. "Uhhh, it's your choice, love. I'm fine either way." Zoe sighed and sat down on the mattress in reply. "Are you sure you should be using your magic so soon?" She asked, making Douxie pause in confusion before he realized that she was referring to the guitar earlier.

He shrugged then winced, immediately regretting the action. He opted for talking instead. "Using the magic makes me more tired than it should, but I feel worse if I don't, yeah?" Zoe bit her lip to stop from laughing at his accent. She loved it but couldn't help but tease him about it. For the second time that day, Douxie frowned and told her to "shut up."

Dr. Lake came back a few seconds later to a giggling hedge witch on the mattress and a blushing wizard with a frown, shirtless on the bed.

Ten minutes passed before Zoe once again came downstairs. Dr. Lake had come down a little before her, taking her medical supplies with her. Zoe had stayed to help Douxie with his shirt, her heart clenching at every time Douxie winced. When Dr. L was cleaning his various wounds, Zoe had tried to distract Douxie by teasing him or reminding him of other times when he was injured. Like the one time he was chasing a giant, a creature who could easily squish him, but instead got injured by tripping and falling into a lake. Douxie had known what she was doing but seemed to appreciate it and let her distract him. It was a testament to how much it hurt, but it was necessary.

Zoe looked to the top of the stairs as she reached the bottom. Douxie was wearing his usual grey jeans and a loose sleeveless shirt, exposing the tattooed runes on his arms. Zoe knew every line of the tattoo after hours of tracing them in the dark. He still wore his skull necklace, but unfortunately, because of the cast, he couldn't wear the bracelets. His vambrace was still on his left arm though, taking up most of the space between his wrist and elbow.

He walked slowly down the stairs, his hand holding his side throughout. Zoe waited for him patiently, a trait that was not usually associated with her. But then again… this was Douxie, her partner.

When he was in sight of the living room, he saw Nari, who was now somewhat hypnotized by the tv, her gaze never wavering. As soon as she noticed someone at the stairs though, she shook out of her trance-like behaviour and jumped off the couch. "Douxie!"

Her shout made everyone else aware of Douxie's presence and they all looked at him with smiles on their faces. Nari hugged Douxie's legs and looked up at him. "Easy, love, I'll fall over."

Nari promptly let go and stepped back to give him some space. He walked towards the kitchen, Zoe right behind him with Nari following her. "Good to see you up, Teach." Claire moved out of the way so that Douxie could sit down. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, thanks Claire."

Zoe also took a seat, Jim getting plates and cutlery for them while simultaneously pouring more batter into the waffle maker. "Did my mom check that bandage?" He asked Douxie casually. Douxie glared briefly at Zoe who shrugged. He turned back to Jim. "Yeah, she just cleaned it and changed the bandage. It's fine now."

Jim's expression stayed indifferent as if they were talking about the weather, though he did smile a little. "Oh, okay. That's good. Feel free to take as many waffles as you want. Syrup's right there." He once again used his whisk to point at the syrup which was next to the plate of waffles.

"Thanks mate. Have you eaten yet?"

Zoe watched their conversation with interest, the two speaking as if they were old friends which in fact, they had only known each other for about two days. Well, including the time travel then about a week but as far as Zoe knew, they had been split up for the majority of the time travel part and then later when the Green Knight had control over Jim.

"I've been snacking in between, don't worry."

"Mate, just take a break. Waffles are not meant to be eaten on the go. Trust me."

Jim laughed. "Alright, after this one's done, I'll take a break."

Breakfast came and went in a blur. Jim and Douxie talked a lot about pretty much everything not related to the reason Douxie was even staying here. Toby went home around lunch time to check on his nana and Claire had to go home to babysit her brother while her parents went somewhere. They left with the promise to be back for dinner. Mr. Strickler and Dr. Lake had gone on a walk with the changeling familiars, the giggling babies in the strollers bringing a smile to everyone's faces. Zoe herself had left to go to Hex Tech and get the hedge wizards and witches to help with the cleanup of the two flying castles that had crashed. She also dealt with another matter of business while she was out.

As evening drew nearer, the Lake household filled with people. Not only had Claire and Toby returned, but they brought their families with them. Claire's baby brother seemed to enjoy having other babies to play with and Claire, Jim, Toby, and Nari had fun playing with them. To alleviate some of Jim's responsibilities, they made the gathering a potluck, so the whole house was filled with delicious aromas. Zoe couldn't cook at all, but one of the others at Hex Tech could and had made some amazing brownies for everyone which she had brought. There were even some trolls present; the Trollhunter's mentor and his large friend were also there. No one seemed shocked by them being there which Zoe was intrigued and amused by.

Douxie looked better and the dark bags under his eyes were definitely less prominent now. The Trollhunter also looked less tired, Zoe noted. The two had probably spent the day relaxing and catching up on much needed sleep.

The night was filled with good food and laughter, a welcome reprieve for everyone. Nari was having fun playing with the babies, making bright coloured flowers bloom for them to play with. When it was Toby's turn, he entertained the babies with magic tricks. They didn't understand anything, but the infants laughed anyway, easily pleased. The adults had fun too, staying outside where Mr. Nuñez was grilling some food on the barbecue he had brought. Strickler had opened a bottle of wine and it sat on the table, occasionally picked up to refill a glass.

The trolls moved around, fitting in with neither group but still accepted in both. Blinky mainly stayed outside, discussing various topics with Strickler such as debating on whether or not gravesand is safe for single time use on humans. Aaarrrgh preferred to stay in one place due to his size, choosing to spend time with his wingman. Nari enjoyed climbing on the Krubera and making plants grow in his fur.

Douxie mainly stayed seated, trying not to exert himself, though he used his magic to entertain the babies. Zoe stayed by him, stopping him from using magic when he got too tired. Instead, he started telling stories about some of his travels over the centuries, capturing the attention of the infants, teens, Krubera and the demigod alike. When he told stories that included Zoe, she helped him tell them, using her own magic to show some of the scenes as special effects.

All in all, it was a good night. Zoe faintly remembered everyone leaving, the teens half asleep watching a movie that someone had put on. She remembered thanking Dr. Lake for letting her stay, then going upstairs to brush her teeth. She didn't remember climbing into the same bed as Douxie, both of them just so used to it, but she did faintly recall waking up in the night and being snuggled against him before falling back to sleep.

The next morning, everyone woke up late. It was around 11 by the time everyone came downstairs, still tired from the late night before. At least this time it was a good kind of tired if there was such a thing. Jim hadn't made anything for breakfast and they all decided it was too late for breakfast anyway, so they had brunch instead. Making it was a group effort; Nari supplying fresh fruits from the garden, Strickler trying not to let Dr. Lake into the kitchen while doing whatever Jim told him to, Archie getting the things that Jim needed from the cupboards, and Douxie and Zoe using magic to help as much as they could.

The result wouldn't have won any cooking contests or awards, but it was decent and it filled them up which was all that mattered. During cleanup - another group effort - Zoe had to excuse herself after she got an email and disappeared into her room to 'take care of something. Sorry.'

A few phone calls and some furious typing later, Zoe came back down with a smug smile on her face. She saw that Claire and Toby had come over during the time she was upstairs and she gave them a small wave before looked at Douxie. After one look at her joyful expression, Douxie was immediately suspicious. "Zoe…?"

She sat down, getting the attention of the teens as well. Dr. Lake noticed their behaviour and looked at them with an eyebrow raised. "I just made your life easier Doux. You're welcome."

He looked at her, very confused, everyone else doing the same. Archie flew onto the armrest of her chair. "Care to explain?"

Zoe sighed. "Sure. You want to know what I was doing upstairs? I was talking to my friend Todd, from the New York branch of the MSS."

Understanding dawned on Douxie's face, but everyone else - except Arch, he'd also understood - was still confused. Toby was the first to say something. "Uhh, am I supposed to know what that is?" He gasped and started getting excited. "Wait… is it some sort of secret organisation that you guys work for. Like a wizard CIA or something?"

Douxie chuckled. "That would be cool, but no. MSS stands for Modern Sorcerer's Society, which is an organization, but it's not for spying."

Archie took over. "Being a magic user in the 21st century is harder than you may think. You can't stay in the same place for too long because people could get suspicious about why you haven't aged a day in twenty years. In today's society, finding places to live is hard for anyone, but especially for constantly moving magic users."

"So, the MSS is like a real estate business for magic users?" Claire asked.

Zoe and Douxie shared a look before Douxie answered her. "Yeah, actually, that sums it up pretty well. They find easily affordable places for you to live, which is really useful for more populated places like New York. Their services themselves are pretty affordable. They still work on a barter system so they take payments in anything from money to favours to lessons, like if you have a skill that they want to learn or magic lessons if you happen to be a high level sorcerer. They also help you find jobs if you plan to stay for a while."

"The whole thing is run by magic users, all of them with different levels and specialities of magic." Zoe added. "The MSS itself is a job opportunity, similar to Hex Tech. Their 'agents' are everywhere, and if you need a place to stay for a night while you get settled or if you need to lay low for a bit, then they almost always have a spare room ready."

Dr. Lake looked impressed. "That's… useful I suppose. So, you contacted one of these… agents for Douxie?" Zoe nodded. "Yeah, Todd's a good friend and helped me a couple decades back. He'll help you get settled there." The last part was directed at Douxie. "You can talk to him later, I'll give you his number. I haven't told him about Nari, but I suggest you tell him something."

"Yeah, thanks, love." Douxie smiled at her, earning a smirk of satisfaction.

"So, Douxie, you're going to the Big Apple then?" Jim asked. They all looked excited about it even if they weren't the ones going. Toby looked especially excited. "Dude! You're actually going to New York! What're you going to do there? Are you gonna go to Central Park? I mean, duh, you're obviously gonna go. It's like the highlight of New York."

Even Claire looked excited. "Are you gonna see a Broadway show?" Douxie laughed at their enthusiasm. "I wouldn't go without you, love. Visit and I'll get us all tickets. You just tell me when and which one. Hamilton? In the Heights? Wicked, Dear Evan Hansen, or something more classical like Phantom of the Opera?"

By now, Nari had come into the room and, confused, had asked why they were so excited. What ensued next was a long lecture from the three trollhunters about why New York was so famous and once that was done, a lengthly discussion about what Douxie should do when he got there and things that they would do when they visited. By the end of it, Douxie had a whole travel brochure on the notes app of his phone on what he 'had to do' in the Big Apple.

Though everyone could tell she didn't want to, Dr. Lake forced them to take a break and let Douxie rest. "Your plans sound amazing, but he has to get there first. And to do that, he needs to recover, which he can only do if he gets rest." She said sternly. The teens had protested, but eventually Douxie trudged upstairs, knowing that Dr. Lake was right.

He gave a small wave and then disappeared, the sound of a door closing heard a few minutes later. Archie stayed downstairs, knowing his familiar would be safe. He looked around at the teens in the room. "Now what?"

A/N: In case you couldn't tell, I kind of love Broadway. I haven't seen any apart from the ones that are made into movies and I haven't even gotten the chance to watch In the Heights or Dear Evan Hansen yet, but i still love acting and all that.

Also, despite my family being travellers, I have not been to New York yet, so i kind of generalised their conversation about it because i didn't feel like doing any research, you know? But i still liked to have a little view into the group's reactions to Douxie going to NY.

The MSS is something i'd just been toying with because i thought about it and it would probably be really hard to keep moving and do it yourself. I got some inspiration for the idea from Black Widow. For those of you who have watched it, do you remember that guy who helped Nat find places to live in the beginning and later supplied her with other stuff? That's kind of what i was going for.

Anyway, two more chapters to go. Almost there.

-CrowofArcadiaOaks