Rain hammered gravesfield. Camelot took advantage of the clouds and noise to remain concealed from the view of the ground. Not that it needed it very much. The pouring rain and odd crash of thunder discouraged anyone from even being outside this late anyway. Though it didn't help the mood inside the castle.
"It's been weeks, how do we still not have a way to get to my cousin!" Claire yelled at her own frustration. Dropping the book she held onto the stone floor. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see her boyfriend giving her a look of understanding. She sighed, having calmed a bit with his support.
"We know, but this is rather more complicated than it seems my dear. Even by our usual standards" She heard Merlin's voice from across the room.
Stacks of books littered the wizard's personal study. They along with the likes of Blinky, Morgana, and Douxie spent nearly every waking moment researching every possible reference to the demon realm. Even Krel was flicking through holoscreens for notes on every form of dimensional traversal. The other trollhunters searching elsewhere for a solution based on various leads. With little success.
"We are not exactly limited in ways to breach through to demon realm. Seeing as I personally sealed of the realm many centuries ago back in my youth. However, ways that allow us to traverse the barrier in relative safety is proving to be quite the endeavor." Merlin elaborated while pawing through multiple floating books.
"Without a sure way to cross immediately to the demon realm there is a very real possibility we could be permanently trapped between the realms for eternity or risk devastation to either. Even more so if our way is not completely, and utterly stable." Blinky added while flipping through six books at once.
Claire groaned lightly. "I get that. But there's more going on here."
"As always." Douxie said bring another stack of books. "From the information your cousin gave you we are missing some unsavory ingredients, and are hard-pressed for any viable substitutes."
Merlin huffed in response. "I mean really, the design this Philip sod conceived of is ramshackle at best. Functional perhaps, but any misstep in it's construction could spell certain doom. Your cousin was very fortunate to have any form of contingency to get out of there. And of course there is the matter of the energy source."
They all frowned. Begining to think that their efforts may be pointless. The repository of centuries of knowledge and the tools Camelot had have not been as useful as they'd hoped. It made Claire think back to the day she discovered the truth and by extension Camila. It had been a rather emotionally draining day, and Claire wasn't sure which was the worst part: Finding out about Vee's treatment in the demon realm, her subsequent abduction by a crazed curator, or Luz's poor choice of words when her mother found out the truth.
"Are vital body parts and/or fluids so important to magic? Because there seems to be a theme." Krel asked offhandedly through his screen. His question offering a bit of a distraction.
"We don't like it either, but it can be a necessary evil sometimes." Morgana said while reading through her own stack of notes.
"And there's the problem that the titan species are only located IN the demon realm. Something powerful enough born from that realm is required. If any still live that is; last i remember they were nearly wiped out and any way to access the realm along with them." Douxie said placing more books on his stack. His tone shifting towards the end.
"That was around the time a collection of pompous stellarkinetic fools tried to breach the realm. We repelled them and nearly slew the lot outright... but it came a cost we are still waiting to repay the remaining bastards for." Morgana's eyes darkened and the parchment crumbled in her grip.
Claire drooped her head a bit more. Seeing his girlfriend's worsening mood Jim began to wrack his brain. Thinking of any possible solutions, ideas, or any combination there of. He looked back on their many adventures. Of all the various portal and/or teleportation mishaps one thing always found its way front and center in his mind.
"What about Killahead?" Jim proposed to the room. "If the darklands are no more maybe it could be reworked to connect to the demon realm? It was strong enough to hold gunmar and his armies, maybe it's a stable enough for this?"
Merlin paused and closed a book. "It could be possible. Though we'd still need the blood link, and enough power to hold the breach to the realm." The old wizard summoned a small number of scrolls to his side. The mood brightening a bit at a greater lead.
However before they could follow up on it alerts began blaring from Krel's screens. He worked his many hands rifling through the projections until he landed on the alerts.
"We have magic coming from the shack! I repeat: Magic from the shack! Bringing up visual now!" The king in waiting expanded the screen for all to see. The six of them crowded together in time to see light coming from the shack's front door before a two boys and two girls came running out into the rain. Upon zooming in they saw the taller of the boys was blonde and pale skinned while the other was black and had dark hair dressed in blue. One girl had green hair done in braids and the other had light purple hair cut short.
"No sign of your cousin! The sensors are still showing signs of a breach perhaps there's a chance she'll-" But Krel was cutoff as the purple one ran back toward the door in time for a sudden blast to propel a fifth person into her and knock the rest of them to the ground. The new arrival got to her feet revealing her face to the screen.
"LUZ!" Clair was up summoning her shadow staff and bolted out of the room, Jim following soon after.
Krel paused the feed.
"So... Looks like we'll be needing that portal for a completely new reason now."
"No!... KING!" Luz shouted charging back to portal as the door closed on her. Her hands fumbled with the knob as she flung it open again, revealing only the inner shambles of the shack. She repeated the process, hoping that it would somehow bring the portal back. Her friends and girlfriend could only watch in silence. Gus soon fell to his knees as tears began to flow. The last few minutes taking a considerable toll on him in particular.
Luz looked back the four of them. Not sure what to say or do. Despite being back home she was feeling utterly lost. The cool rain offering some relief to the group's cuts and bruises.
Any thought of what to do next was cut short when something she had not expected happened. A portal made of shadows formed in between Hunter and Willow. It's sudden appearance catching the five of them off guard. They were too exhausted to face any more threats. Yet Luz recognized the the energy from her last attempt to get home.
An older pair of teens exited the portal at a near sprint. One a female wearing a purple suit of spiky gothic armor with a staff and the male donned in a green and silver futuristic suit. They stopped when they made eye contact with her. Her friends still reeling from the sudden appearance.
"Claire?" Luz wasn't sure what else to say.
But her cousin was sure what to do. Claire marched up the creaking stairs towards her little cousin. Her staff and armor disappearing revealing her usual papa skull outfit and yanked her into a very tight and warm hug.
"You'd be in so much more trouble if I couldn't see you've just gone through the wringer." She looked Luz over and turned around to see Jim helping the rest of them up, even brushing some gunk off Hunter. His own armor vanishing soon after. "We'll talk about what happened to you after you're all patched up. Let's get you back home for now."
"But-"
"Words later, food and first aid now." Claire led Luz off the steps and looked at Jim. "Up for helping Tia Camila do some cooking?"
Jim smiled. "I'm a chef, aren't I?"
The walk back, if you could call it that, was mercifully short given that Claire had them walk through a portal straight to the driveway of her home. Much to the nervous apprehension of Luz's friends.
Luz walked up to the door guided by Claire who placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. And she knocked.
Her mom opened the door and gasped at the sight of her and her friends.
"H-hey mom. I'm back." Luz met her gaze and her voice nearly cracked as tears pooled in her eyes.
Not much to say other than sorry I haven't updated anything in a good while, mostly getting back into games and doing some painting. share your thoughts and check out my other works.