The sunset washed the skies of Arcadia in orange as Jim approached his front door, amulet in his pocket. The walk from the bridge to his house had proven more difficult than he had anticipated, as somehow, being back in his hometown had allowed his injuries and exhaustion to nearly overwhelm him. Being the Trollhunter and a high school student had taught him to hide how much pain he was actually in, and he didn't want to worry his friends more than he already had. He'd barely been able to keep it together long enough to keep Toby from figuring it out. The Darklands had not been kind to him, what with the bumps and bruises from exploring an unfamiliar landscape, fighting the denizens of the Realm, and barely catching a wink of sleep over the course of the last few weeks. He doubted he would be able to keep up his charade much longer, nor would he be able to hide it from his doctor of a mother. It was yet another reason he would have to fess up about his other life.

He glanced over to the side of his house where Toby was somewhat hidden, and his friend gave him a thumbs up. With that, Jim squared his shoulders- and immediately regretted the motion- and knocked on the door before pulling out his key and letting himself inside. He cleared his throat as his heart pounded in his chest. Strangely enough, he was more scared of this encounter than he had been of anything in the Darklands.

"...Mom?" he called as he shut the door behind him. "Mom, are you home?" He said a bit louder. He heard a thud and some scrambling upstairs, and his very frantic mother appeared at the top of the staircase and stared at him in shock.

"J-Jim?" She barely managed to say. "Oh, Jim!" She half ran, half jumped down the stairs and quickly pulled him into a tight hug, one he gladly returned while trying not to let out a groan of pain.

"Hi, Mom," he said as he buried his face in her trembling shoulder. She fell to her knees and he went with her, holding her tightly while she sobbed.

"Oh, Jim... my baby, my little boy..." she murmured as she stroked his hair. "You're safe, you're home... Thank goodness." She pulled back and took his face in her hands, and he smiled. She did as well for a moment, but it faded as she looked him over, no doubt noticing the slight scars he'd picked up, the pale and hollow look of his face, or the way he held himself, keeping his weight mostly on his left leg.

"Jim, what happened? Where have you been?" Her voice was gentle and full of concern. "Who did this to you?" He dropped his gaze and shook his head lightly. "Sit down. Let me look at you." He didn't bother arguing or resisting as she helped him up and over to the couch. She started with his leg, and he winced as she put pressure on his shin.

"It's hard to explain," he said as she looked up at his face.

"Doesn't seem to be broken, but you may have a bruised bone, maybe a muscle strain," she noted, half way between being a doctor and a mother. "Jim, please. Even if it's hard to talk about, I need to know where you've been and what happened to you." He took a deep breath and nodded.

"You're not gonna believe me," he said with a weak smile. "But... I promise I'll explain everything. But it's probably better if I just show you." He motioned for her to step back, and she complied with a worried look on his face. With one eye squinted in a bit of pain, he stood up and opened his hand to show her the amulet in his palm.

"What is that?" She asked as she looked over it.

"Like I said, it's better if I show you." He took the amulet close to his chest and let out a shaky breath. "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command."

Barbara watched with wide eyes as his armor appeared and encased his body, and his sword flashed into his grip. After a moment of hesitation, he met her gaze with a sheepish smile as he placed the sword on his back. They stood there in a silence that was shocked on her part and uncomfortable on his as he let it sink in for her. When she finally reached out to touch his breastplate to make sure it was real, that's when he decided to speak.

"It's been crazy, Mom," he gave a forced chuckle. "There's this entire other world that we didn't even know about. This amulet," he tapped it, "Chose me to be the Trollhunter." She seemed shocked into silence, but she was listening. "There's a place under Arcadia called Trollmarket where all sorts of Trolls and Gnomes and other things live. Being the Trollhunter means I protect them from goblins and evil trolls and..." He frowned as she looked like she was about to fall over. "Am I going too fast?"

"I... no, yes..." She slumped down on the couch, rubbing her forehead, and he dismissed his armor and joined her. "I can't believe what you're saying, but that... that armor? It just magically showed up out of nowhere. How is that possible?"

"I had a hard time believing all of it myself," he admitted. He launched into telling her about everything he had been through, carefully glancing over things like the stalkling that had nearly killed him or Strickler being a Changling. She listened carefully, but dumbfounded disbelief was evident on her face.

"So I've been in the Darklands the past couple weeks," he finished. "But I found Enrique and brought him home." He decided not to tell her about Toothless for the moment, figuring dragons were an entire other subject that didn't need to be addressed at the time.

"Jim..." She breathed and pushed up her glasses to rub her eyes. "You... This is what you've been doing? Why you've been acting so strange and distant and keeping secrets? When you ended up in the hospital, and..." She let out a breath. "You're sixteen years old! You should be worrying about dating and exams and... Not fighting Trolls and goblins and all this other stuff!" She shook her head. "Can't someone else do it? Can you give that amulet or whatever away?" He shook his head.

"Afraid not," he said. "It chose me as the Trollhunter. I couldn't get rid of it even if I wanted to- and I tried. It kept finding its way back to me. It'll only go to someone else after I..." He dropped his gaze. "Once I die." Barbara huffed and covered her face with her hands, and she remained that way for some time.

"Jim..." She nearly squeaked. He touched his hand to her shoulder.

"I'm not going anywhere, Mom. I promise. No matter what, I'm going to survive." He grunted as she suddenly grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Don't you dare go anywhere. Do you understand me, James Lake Jr.?" She pulled him back with her hands firmly on his shoulders. "If you get hurt, you call me or you have your friends or the Trolls or whoever bring you to the hospital. No questions asked. Just let me take care of you like I'm supposed to!" He smiled gently and nodded.

"Okay, Mom. I will." He hugged her again. "I promise." His smile grew. "Look, um... Give me some time to rest, but... Maybe tomorrow, I can take you to Trollmarket? I know Blinky would love to see you again. And I want to show you that... Well, what I do? It's not all bad and danger and all that. There's some really cool stuff about it too." She didn't reply for some time, and his anxiety over the situation returned. But when she finally turned to him and smiled, he felt relief flood over him.

"All right, Jim. Right now, I'm just... I'm so happy to have you home safe and sound. And if this Trollhunting business is so important to you, then I want to know more about it. If you can't quit, then I want to do everything I can to help you, and that means learning as much as I can so I'm better prepared." This time, it was his turn to hug her.

"That means so much to me, Mom," he nearly blubbered. "Thank you." She stroked his hair again and kissed the top of his head.

"Let me help you upstairs," she said, and he didn't argue as she helped support him on the short trip up to his room, nor did he resist when she insisted on doting on him, tucking him into his bed and plugging his surprisingly unscathed phone in to recharge the dead battery.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, and now that she had mentioned it, his stomach let out a loud growl not unlike a Troll. He hadn't eaten much while sneaking around the Darklands, mostly vegetation he hoped was edible and he'd managed to catch and cook a few creatures that looked and acted like fish.

"...Maybe?" He joked, and she chuckled and shook her head.

"I'll order a pizza. I won't make you suffer whatever I try to cook!" He grinned and she leaned down to kiss his forehead. "You just rest, Jim. Do you need anything else right now?"

"No, thank you," he replied, and she hesitantly got up and headed for the door. "Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm..." His grin became a sheepish smile. "I'm glad you know." Warm love filled her eyes, and she nodded.

"Me too, Jim. Thank you for telling me. I know that wasn't easy for you." With that, she left the room, and he sent a quick message to Toby that all was well.

Jim had barely been able to keep his eyes open long enough to eat, and as soon as he was finished, he fell asleep for quite some time. His body was stiff the next day but thankful for finally having a chance to rest comfortably. When he had asked Barbara if she was ready to go, she had continued to dote on him to assure he was able to himself. He assured her he was fine- whether she believed him was entirely unknown- and sent a message to Toby and Claire to meet them in Trollmarket. He grabbed the Horngazel he had hidden in his room and led his mother to the bridge, where she watched in awe as he drew the arch that then formed the gateway between them and their destination. Once on the other side of it, Barbara stepped toward the glowing blue stones acting as stairs and looked over the edge in awe.

"...Wow," she breathed. "This... We're under Arcadia?"

"Yup," Jim nodded. With a warm smile, he gestured her to follow him, and they made their way down the stones. Once they reached the bottom, he took her hand and led her further in, and her eyes widened as she saw the great cavern filled with shops, glowing stones, neon signs, and Trolls of all shapes and sizes going to and fro. The Heartstone in particular had enraptured her.

"Welcome to Trollmarket, Mom," Jim said. He gave her a moment to take everything in.

"I can see where it gets its name," she noticed, and he chuckled.

"Master Jim!" He looked over to find Blinky waving all four of his arms while coming up the main path, Toby and Claire behind him and NotEnrique riding on his head.

"Master Jim?" Barbara repeated with a humorous smile. "Does everyone call you that?"

"No, only Blinky," he replied. "Most of the other Trolls just call me 'Trollhunter.' A few actually call me by name." They continued on the main path, and Barbara gave Blinky a look over with some surprise.

"It's good to see you again, dear Barbara," he said with a smile as he clasped her hand in two of his. "Welcome to Trollmarket."

"Thank you," she replied. "It's nice to meet you again too, Blinky. Jim caught me up on everything. Thank you for looking out for him."

"It has been my honor and pleasure," Blinky said as he released her hand. "Now, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask me! Master Jim is the finest Trollhunter we have seen in years, and an even greater young man. I know it broke his heart to deceive you, but he did it with love." Jim looked down and Barbara wrapped her arm over his shoulders, pulling him close.

"I understand why you did it, Jim," she told him. "But I prefer things this way."

"I know," he nodded. "Now, there's someone else I really want you to meet. He helped me out when I was running around in the Darklands."

"Well, I always want to meet your friends," she said lightly, and he smiled and gestured for her to follow him. On the way, she chatted with Toby and Claire about their adventures, curious about Toby's time with the Wumpas and how Claire was doing now that Enrique was home. She couldn't be happier about her brother's return.

"I bet he's not as fun as me!" NotEnrique said, and Claire eyed him.

"Certainly not as talkative," she joked, earning several laughs. Meanwhile, Blinky had taken up telling Barbara all about the history of Trollmarket and the Heartstone along with some of the reasons why they were in need of a Trollhunter in the first place. Jim had to admit he was impressed at how she took everything in stride.

A few minutes later, they arrived at a rock bridge over a seemingly bottomless pit, and Jim took a few steps forward.

"Welcome to the Hero's Forge," he said. "This is where I've done most of my training."

"Generations of Trollhunters can say the same," Blinky added. "One day, a statue of Master Jim will stand proud in this sacred place- a day very far off, of course."

"Wow," she marveled as she glanced around the great cavern. Then, she screamed as a black blur came barreling out from behind one of the arches hiding the giant blades, and it quickly knocked Jim to the ground.

"Jim!" She screeched. "Get off my boy!" She started to lunge for the creature, but stopped as she heard her son laughing while it covered him in slobber.

"Okay, okay, okay!" He protested. "Happy to see you too, bud!" He rolled out from the assault and the dragon let out his rumbling laugh. Jim shook his head and scratched the dragon's head as he looked up at his mother. "This is my other friend, Toothless. He's a Night Fury I met in the Darklands." Toothless looked from Jim to Barbara, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

"He certainly is... Toothless," she remarked as he grinned at her. "But..."

"Come on, it's okay," he said as he took her hand and held it toward Toothless's nose. She looked at him uneasily, but with a reassuring nod from him, she gently touched the dragon, and he rumbled gently. Slowly, she relaxed and smiled, and she scratched him a bit.

"Wow, I... I'm touching a dragon!" She grinned. "Hi, Toothless!" She knelt down a bit and scratched either side of his head. "You're incredible. What beautiful eyes." He pushed past her hands and nuzzled her, and she laughed. "What a sweetheart."

"He really is amazing," Jim agreed as he pet the dragon's back. "He helped me bring Enrique home. Apparently he was once partners with a legendary Viking chief. They brought the war between humans and dragons to an end together."

"And he can fly?" she asked, noticing his wings.

"Yeah, I kinda flew with him when I was in the Darklands. I want to fix up his tail so he can fly better." Barbara massaged her forehead.

"My son is an armored warrior who rode on a flying dragon." She shook her head and laughed. "I always knew you were special, Jim, but I never could have dreamed this would happen." She opened her arms, and he stepped forward to hug her.

"Don't worry, Mom," he told her. "I'll always come back." He looked from her to his friends standing back a bit. "I promise."

"You'd better!" Toby said. "I'm nowhere near being cool without you!"

"You're plenty cool on your own, Tobias," Blinky assured him. "Now, Barbara, would you like to continue your tour of Trollmarket?" She looked at Toothless, who smiled at her.

"I think I'll get to know my son's new friend for a bit," she replied. "But I would love to explore more later."

"Certainly," Blinky agreed. Toothless rumbled and shoved his head under a yelping Jim, launching the Trollhunter onto his back. Jim laughed and scratched the dragon's head. "I do think our new companion missed you, Master Jim."

"I missed you too, buddy," Jim said. "Don't worry. I'll always come back to you too."