I do not own Trollhunters, 3Below, or Wizards. Nor do I own any of its characters excluding my own. Please review.

Chapter 3

Jim came to with a gasp. He snaps his head in every direction trying to find those trolls. There's nothing, not even footprints. He could almost convince himself it was all a dream, except that he is still lying on the basement floor.

"What are you doing?" A light voice asks.

Jim turns to the staircase and sees Tina standing halfway down themselves. Her face expressing curiosity and concern. Jim can't blame her. If the situation was reversed and he came home to find her on the basement floor, he'd be concerned too. Jim quickly jumps up and brushes himself off.

"It's nothing to worry about, just doing … stuff." I reply, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. As though it's completely normal for teenagers to lay down on the basement floor.

"Stuff like?" Tina probes.

"Just stuff. It's nothing to worry about." I persist.

"Were you …" Tina trails off.

"Was I?" I probe. Turnabout's fair play sis.

"You know what, I change my mind. I DON'T want to know." She replies after a few minutes.

She strides back up the stairs and I let out a breath. Smart as Tina is, it's nice that she still has a kid-like imagination. Besides, what could I say? I was accosted by trolls in their basement and then fainted. There's no way I'd tell something so embarrassing to my sister. She just might hold it against him for making her think of something embarrassing just now. Still, if I don't tell somebody about it, I might just accidentally burst it out.

"Jim! Please come pick up your bag off the floor!" Mom calls out.

I jog up the stairs and see Mom in the doorway holding a large paper bag. I rush forward and snatch my bag off the floor. Mom kicks the door as far as it can go and nearly runs to the dinning table. She drops the bag and shakes her hands to cool them down. I recognize the logo on the bag as Wong Fu's Asian Cuisine, our designated restaurant for celebratory meals. Tina came out of the kitchen with plates and napkins.

"Jim, can you get the drinks from the car?" Mom requests as she takes out some food.

I do as she says while she and Tina set up the table. They exchange nothing as they work, which makes me feel even more confused than before. If Strickler was here then I'd understand the need to celebrate, but that's not until tomorrow. So why are we celebrating a day early? Going back to the table, I see Mongolian barbeque, dumplings, a large dish of Pad Thai, and fresh summer rolls, all set up on the table. Mom hands Tina a soup container to put in the fridge, then took the drinks from me.

"Uh, did I forgot something? We don't usually order this much food without something big happening." I state.

"Well, something big did happen." Mom replies.

Just then, the door bursts open and Strickler rushes in.

"Didn't think I'd get the paper work done in time, but-" Strickler explains, rummaging through his briefcase and pulling out some papers. "All that's left is to sign these and I can file them first thing tomorrow."

"I didn't think you'd be able to come-I just had Tina put away your dish." Mom tells him as Tina quickly rushes back into the kitchen.

"Nonsense! This is an occasion to celebrate!" Strickler announces, accepting his soup from Tina.

"Can someone please explain to me what's just happened?" I ask.

Mom waves for him to sit down with everyone else. As everyone dishes up what they want, Jim hesitates, waiting for someone to tell him what's going on.

"So Jim. As you know, Tina's school has been concerned about whether Tina meets their educational standards." Mom starts, breaking the tension. "Well, this afternoon the school informed us that, due to Tina's academic excellence, it would be in her best interests to transfer to a different school."

"That's great! Good on you sis! What school did they recommend?" I exclaim.

"Arcadia Oaks High School." Tina bashfully answers.

"Wait what?" I impulsively ask.

"The Education Board believes that Tina has the mental and social capabilities for advanced grade placement within the freshman class." Strickler enthusiastically explains.

I couldn't do or say anything only gaping my mouth like a fish. Trying to process what I'm feeling, I understand that I'm happy that my sister is going to be starting high school, I'm just not happy that she's going to be going to high school with me. As I look at everyone's face, I notice that Tina is the only one who doesn't look excited. In fact, Tina was watching me with a nervousness I had never seen in her before. She probably thinks you don't want her at school with you. I took a breath to compose myself.

"You're gonna have fun at Arcadia. There are so many clubs to try, and you'll make friends in no time." I reassure Tina.

Tina gave a hum with a nod in response. She spent the rest of the meal slowly eating her food. When dinner ended, Tina went straight to her room. Something else is going on here. I grab a mug and make hot chocolate for Tina. As I take it to her room, I remember what happened in the basements and think about telling Tina while talking. I knock on the door and gets a muffled enter as a response. Opening the door, he sees Tina lying on her bed reading, her favorite stuffed cat in the crook of her arm.

"I brought hot chocolate." I announce.

I place the mug on her nightstand, while she marks her pages and places on the stand as well. I sit on the edge of the bed as Tina brings her knees to her chest.

"Are you okay?" I ask. Tina stays quiet, looking away. "You know, you don't have to go to Arcadia if you don't want to."

"I do- I want to go. It's just." Tina trails off.

"Just what?" I probe.

"I know that I don't technically have friends, but the other kids still saw me as equal to them. At Arcadia high, not only am I going to deal with people thinking I'm too young, what if they think I'm some kind of elitist too?" Tina confesses.

"You have nothing to worry about, okay. Just be your regular, stubborn, fearless self, and the other teens will be following you like a queen." I declare, rubbing to top of Tina's head.

"What about you? Are you going to be okay with me going?" Tina probes.

"It's not like we'll be going to the same classes, so we won't be in each other's hair for too much of the day. It'll be fine." I finish. I glance down at the book on her stand, Celtic Myths. "Hey, what do you know about trolls?"

"Trolls?" Tina asks with an incredulous tone.

"Yeah, trolls. They're mythical monsters, right?"

"Trolls are mainly fairy-tale monsters. The only time I can think of trolls being involved in any mythology are being vaguely mentioned in fights with the Norse gods." Tina explains.

"So you've never heard of any stories of trolls training warriors?" I ask.

"Look, the basic rule of thumb, in regards to trolls, is if you don't pay their toll, you get eaten. That's it!" Tina declares. "Why are you asking this anyway?"

"Ah, these people came by the house today quizzing about them." I lamely answer.

"You do know that the peep-hole was invented to prevent these sorts of interactions, right?" She sarcastically points out.

"Jim would you please put your bag away!" Mom yells from downstairs.

Letting out a groan, I ruffle Tina's hair one last time before rushing downstairs. Grabbing, I turn to go back upstairs and bump into Strickler. My bag upends, emptying out all of its contents. As Strickler helps me gather my things, I notice him grab the watch thing.

"Jim, where did you get this?" Strickler asks with a shocked tone.

"Toby." I spit out. "He's worried about losing it at the dentist tomorrow."

I nearly snatch it out of Strickler's hand, who still stared at the watch in disbelief. I run back upstairs straight to my room. I don't know why that whole interaction made me nervous, but I could feel relief wash over me as soon as I closed my door. All of a sudden, I hear clicking sounds. A light shines from my hand and I see that the watch is glowing with the hands spinning very fast. The glowing dies down, and I can see writing along the edge of the watch.

"For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command." I read out loud in a low voice.

Suddenly, I'm lifted in the air in a blue light. Giant metal pieces form and surround me, coming together on my body and shrinking to fit my form. I fall on my feet, and immediately cringe at the possibility of how loud that was. Three tiny balls of blue light come out of my chest and go into my hand. A giant sword appears and I quickly grab it with both hands. It takes all of my strength to keep the sword from hitting the floor. The sword also shrinks down to a manageable size for me. Looking back and forth between the sword and the armor, and remembering the monsters from earlier, two thoughts cross my mind. One, this is the coolest I have ever looked. And two, I really need to find someone to talk to about this.