Notes: this was such a hard chapter to write.
Chapter 4
[Arthur's pov]
As it turns out, the forceful displacement of two people into another reality and the conjuring of two items is draining on one's energy. Especially when the one responsible is a far cry weaker than Merlin, or the Pale Lady even, in the likes of sorcery. And yet the king's efforts proved successful enough for Arthur to reward himself with a much needed respite (and chance to sit back and watch).
His chosen knights proved wary despite the shift, managing to avoid impact with an unsuspecting automobile, and they were quick to confirm their location for themselves…. However, one cannot help but wonder if Arthur hadn't spent quite enough time selecting his would be champions.
Maybe he had been a little… impatient... with his selection.
Most eligible candidates for this task were too young and soft. Mere children. The first pair of responsible adults with goodwill embedded firmly in their hearts had been too tempting a find to pass up.
Now, he's not so sure. Something unbefitting of a king.
The one wearing spectacles spoke little and seemed to simply follow the other woman's suggestions without any fuss, lacking the courage to speak bluntly. And said other woman was exceedingly pessimistic and had looked far too weathered down by that simple sprint away from the coach.
…And now they sit here and wait for destiny to simply fall where it may.
Arthur is tired of waiting.
Energy restored, he called out to them, reminding them of his gifts. If they are not yet the champions he needs, he will aid them to become such. To lead them to their full potential.
The women turn to him with wide eyes. The pair shielded behind glass lenses are steady pools of awe and wonder. The second pair start off similarly so, however set into something more frigid.
"It's like Merlin…" Anita mumbles softly. Agreeing with a small nod, Hannah grits her teeth and asks, "Who are you?"
He did forget to introduce himself, didn't he? "I am Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther Pendragon. The most renowned of past kings of England, and I now stand before you as a protector of all mankind-"
"Your voice is the same one I heard in my bedroom!" the fairer haired woman snapped in recognition, effectively interrupting his introduction.
The poorly worded sentence earns a few moments pause before Arthur resumes his speech, "I stand a protector for all mankind, and you-" his golden form pulses "will be my tools in doing so. Jim lake, the whole of Arcadia and the world need your knowledge and support. This is no time to dally around and waste what precious time we have."
"We were just checking if this was real. We weren't wasting time." Anita's mumble is even softer than the last, her gaze landing on her own lap. Arthur's presence a humbling experience for her, if also a little intimidating. Hannah smiles softly in response.
"Yet do you not see the impracticality in that presently?" Arthur pulses once more "What do you plan to do, now that I have confirmed your concerns?"
Anita glances to the horngazle resting by her side. "Well….. we could go into Trollmarket. We do have the key for it, and the boys will probably think we're crazy if we try to just tell them."
He didn't expect everything to fall apart. The two had seemingly formed a pleasant acquaintance-ship during the short span they've known each other… yet Hannah turns to the other in shock.
"Wait. Hold up." she dragged a hand down her face "We could get killed if we're caught down there, and you! You drag us out of our homes and just expect us to cater to you?"
Now Arthur is seeing, what moments ago had been tired and yet content faces, morph into agitated glares. Only one was directed at himself, and the other more guarded one at Hannah.
Anita frowns saying, "We'll just have to keep hidden while we're in there. Besides, if Jim and Toby don't believe us they might call the cops on us. That or ignore us, then we will just be hobos with no money, and we'll starve to death."
Really, this isn't what he'd expected. Hannah's expression is now less of a glare, and more afraid. Paranoid, really. She leans away to distance herself from the glowing orb and other woman.
"Don't you get it? The bigger risk is still us simply waltzing into Trollmarket with no real agenda. We don't know our way around there. What exactly do you expect to find out by snooping? What if Gunmar is down there right now? What if this is before Jim became the trollhunter? We don't have the same leverage that Jim had. And no doubt any trolls would be able to sniff us out in a matter of minutes! The boys are a safer bet."
Arthur is unable to get a word in to answer any of her questions, as it would seem Hannah has opted to ignore him. How annoying. Luckily enough, his other champion took notice of his plight and manages to redirect their focus onto the king by stopping the rant with a query of her own.
"What time in the show did you send us Mr Arthur, uh King Arthur? Like, what episode? Or is it before or after the series?" she says to the golden orb.
A very pressing matter indeed. If only he had a solid reply. As much as he hates to admit, magic is a very tedious thing with which Arthur only knows the most basic of steps. To get an exact placement would have taken a fully trained wizard. Not to mention that he knows this reality better from a normal perspective, while his knights only know it as a child's tv show. He huffs, "Sometime in what you would refer to as season one, I would think." A point in Anita's favor.
"Which means that Gunmar hasn't taken over Trollmarket yet. There's no gumgums down there that could eat us." Anita surmised, "The other trolls may not trust us if we're caught, but they wouldn't just kill us like gumgums, changelings, or goblins would." She counts the various dangers off on her fingers, "Besides, they know more about magic than Jim and Toby. They would be more likely to believe us if we explained everything. I mean, they can't argue with King Arthur-"
"Actually, only the pair of you are able see me." God knows he doesn't have the power and/or energy to present himself to anyone else. A point in Hannah's favor.
"The trolls won't believe us without him. Heck, none of them believed Jim could be the trollhunter even after he summoned his armor for them." She presses, though her voice is beginning to soften to more of a whisper, "If the boys show up, it means they know that magic exists too. Only, we don't have to worry about century old prejudices if we talk to them first."
Anita doesn't seem to notice Hannah's sudden lackluster for this argument, or maybe just wants to have her opinion voiced and replies saying, "If we talk to Jim before he's the trollhunter, he'll think we're nuts. If he is the trollhunter, Toby will probably come up with some terribly obvious lie, and they'll run off before we can explain ourselves. Then they'd just wait until we left to go to Trollmarket. If Claire's with them, they will just use one of her portals …"
Hmm. The younger woman has gone completely still, her gaze focused on something behind Arthur. Anita has yet to wonder why as she continues (not that she could have seen what held the other girl's attention with Arthur in the way).
"…Anyways, Jim and Toby will think we're changelings or something, and avoid us like the plague-"
"Oooooo my god! They know our names!" a new voice squeals.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" Comes another voice's demand.
The woman's mouth snaps shut with an audible click. Arthur then takes that as his cue to dissipate and return to his less energy consuming state as an invisible specter, revealing the two boys that had walked into their heated discussion.
Notes: interesting thing, me and the other author had a... "disagreement" on what to do here. We then turned our argument into this chapter. Our actual argument was much longer and we were both being stubborn while also trying to be nice. It's funny to me, now that I think about it.
