Author Note: I like Wolf Claire and want to see more of her. This chapter might be a bit weird but roll with me if you can. Also, sorry for the slow update again. My mom got into an accident and I had to help her during my spring break, and I decied to edit all 46 chapters of the story as I finally have the tools to do it, and doing that was a pain in the pain, escially when I had to start from scratch. I've said it before and I'll say it again, editing is a BITCH! While editing, I was shocked to find Chapter 20, The Beach, Chapter 22, Wake Up!, and Chapter 24, Mother's Worry, were really messed up and spent a while to fix this. With the rest of the chapters, I editing, removed, and added to make the story make more sense. If this was a novel like I wish this could be, this editing issue wouldn't happen. I tried to aim for editing/writing one chapter per day, adding up to less than 50 days, but college and outside life from the keyboard forced me to push this back. Because of this, I will never do this again for previous chapters. Again, I'm so sorry for the slow and painful editing update.
Even though it might scare the crap of Jim, I decide to play a prank on him. I woke up early and dressed to go to the courtroom where we'll meet. I carefully open the door before looking back at my boyfriend, still sleeping. I feel guilty for doing this, but I want to have some fun with my friends throughout this depressing time. I find Nymeria sleeping beside the door and wake her up by scratching the back of her ears.
"Claire, why are you up so early?" She asks with concern.
"Shhh!" I hiss. "I want to prank Jim and need your help."
"Ok." Nymeria yawns and gets up to stretch. "What is your plan?"
"I want you to prepend to sleep on the floor near the window so Jim can see while I hide in the courtroom in my wolf form," I explain.
"But won't Jim know you and I are different?" Nymeria asks, confused.
"From first glance, we may look similar, but eventually, he'll know."
"What should I do when he does figure it out? I know he freaks out when you're not within eye-shot of him."
"Try to make him not notice, but if he does, explain I'm playing hide and seek, and he needs to find me, but don't tell him where I am," I reassure her.
"Ok." Nymeria agrees. "But what will you do if he gets to the courtroom?"
"Jump or bark at him."
"Isn't that bad?"
"He can handle it, especially when I transform back into myself after I jump on him."
"Ok, but if he freaks out, don't blame me," Nymeria replies.
I nod my head and transform into my wolf form. Nymeria walks into the room, and I gently push the door close. Amber appears and leads me to the courtroom, and I instruct her to fly back to my room to wait for Jim and Nymeria. Somehow, she understands and nods her head before flying away. I look around and notice the courtroom is decorated. Because of my vision, I can only see a little, but I understand the shapes. Spider webs, ghosts, and other spooky stuff. Seems like Veronica and the fairies have the same idea for today. Soon, I heard some of my friends' voices and ran to hide somewhere so no one could see. Now, it's all a waiting game. After a while, the rest of my other friends and Jim show up with Nymeria beside him. They all look up and admire the decorations around them.
"Where's Nymeria?" Toby asks.
"I don't know. She's probably lost in the hallways. I'm not really worried about her, so I sent a fairy to find her." Jim replies, telling me he bought it, but it hurts me that he doesn't care about my familiar's well-being, even when she's beside him. Nymeria looks around and thinks she spots me.
"Why is Claire a wolf, then?" Mary asks.
"I thought the same way until I remembered it's Halloween." Jim shrugs.
"Oh yeah! How 'bout we have some fun." Steve suggests. "I'm sick and tired of all this training."
"Same." Mary groans.
"Alright then." Jim agrees.
I smile until Nari steps toward Nymeria and touch her. "You're not Claire." She says, making my blood freeze.
"What?" Jim asks, confused.
"This is Nymeria," Nari replies, revealing her identity.
"Then where's Claire?" Darci asks, concerned.
"She's here somewhere," Nymeria replies, fully blowing her cover.
"You mean she's playing hide and seek?" Aja asks.
"Search." Nymeria chuckles and walks away.
I prepare and jump out when Jim walks close to where I'm hiding.
"Jim, look out," Toby shouts, and Jim turns around, but I tackle him to the ground, making Jim groan in pain as his back hits the ground, so to make up for it, I lick his cheek, making him laugh.
"There you are!" Jim says and pets my head. "You nearly scared me to death, Claire." He sighs, and I get off him and transform into my human form.
"Pinned ya!" I laugh as he gets up, and Nymeria walks next to me.
"You can do that." He breaths. "But please don't disappear like that again."
I feel bad but roll my eyes. "Oh, come on, Jim, I just want to have a little fun." I laugh and hug him. "It's Halloween."
"That's what I said!" Steve comments.
"Ok, ok, we'll lay off the training today." Jim gives up and hugs me back, making everyone happy.
To celebrate, Veronica gives us and feast to eat, but after, we don't know what to do next. Halloween is mostly a time to go outside, not to stay indoors. If you do, we don't have anything to keep us company; also, because of all this fear of the Arcane Order and training, some of us have become desensitized to having fun. During the past two days, Douxie and Archie have been working on the metal for the Amulet while everyone else, including me, trains or studies. Today, we can spend the whole day having fun, but we must figure out what to do. While everyone is brainstorming, I think of an idea. "Hey guys, I know what we can do," I announce, making them draw their attention to me. "How about we play hide-and-seek?"
Some of my friends stare at me with surprise, and some with raised eyebrows. "Are you kidding, Claire? That's so childish. We're not five." Steve scoffs.
"I know, but do you have any other idea?" I ask, and no response telling me to go on. "This castle is like a haunting maze, and hide-and-seek may be a thrilling and good way to explore the castle while having fun."
"But how is that going to work?" Krel asks. "We'll all get lost."
"Each one of us will have a fairy with us in case something bad happens or if we're found. Everyone will hide while the seeker goes around to find each of us. Once the seeker finds you, the fairy must lead you back to the courtroom."
"But what happens if the seeker is tried and wants to end the game," Mary asks. "There are 14 of us, including the seeker."
"If the seeker wants to stop, their fairy with send them back to the courtroom and tell me so I can find the rest of everyone," Veronica speaks.
"Wait, that's cheating!" Toby says. "The fairies know how to move around the castle, and seeker can cheat, and how can you do that."
"One, I'm not playing; two, the fairies might know how to get around the castle, but they love to play tricks and hide from each other; and three, I'm a witch; I can sense where people are," Veronica replies, rolling her eyes.
"Sounds like a fair game to me." Zoe agrees. "Who's in on this?"
It's slow, but everyone except Archie and AAARRRGGHH! agree. They don't want to participate, and we don't force them to join us. "Alright, now, let us pick a seeker," I say excitedly, ready to start the game. Five people volunteer to be the seeker, Steve, Douxie, Zoe, Jim, and Blinky. We make a vote and end up choosing Blinky. Surprisingly, he is excited to play a human game and is up to the challenge. 13 fairies show up and assign themselves to each of us. I spot Amber in the crowd; she immediately races to me. Like Veronica, Amber is attached to me.
When everyone is ready, Blinky turns around, closes his eyes to ensure he's not cheating, and counts to 60, enough time for us to run and hide throughout the castle's halls. One of the game's rules is we can't pair or group up. As I run, I see my friends go in different directions and disappear in the darkness. Even though we couldn't join one another, Veronica said nothing about changing into animals, allowing me to become my wolf self and hide more. I wander around for a while but stop when I hear footsteps coming my way. I look around to try to find somewhere to hide. Even though I'm a wolf and can do it earlier, I still have to hide well enough for no one to see me. I find an open door and sniff to see if anyone is in the room, but no one is in scent. I carefully wiggle in the door to not make noise. The room looks spotless and luxurious like all the other rooms. I hide in the room's shadows, covering myself with a curtain. I wait as my heart races in my chest when I hear footsteps coming nearing, making me curl up. Then the door opens more, and Blinky steps into the room. I stay still, trying to control my breathing as it's louder than a human's.
I freeze as he turns in my direction. Even though I have dark fur, I fear Blinky will see me in the dark with his eye site, but he doesn't and makes his way out of the room, allowing me to sigh with relief. I wait and listen for more footsteps. I hear no one but stay where I am for a long time. After a few hours, I almost jump out of my fur when I hear a horrifying noise spoking me, and I hide. It's not any of my friends' voices, but this isn't a part of the game. I stay frozen in my hiding spot, listening for anyone to come out or for any other noise. I jump out of my skin when Veronica's voice calls my name. I watch the door open, and she enters the room. The game is over. I sigh with relief and come out to meet the ghost before me.
"There you are; your friends and I were worried about you." Veronica sighs with relief.
I'm amazed Veronica knows what I look like in my wolf form, but I transform into my human form. "Sorry, Veronica," I say. "I'm assuming the game is over since you're here."
"Yes, Blinky has found everyone but you. After 30 minutes of searching, he asked me to look for you." She explains, making me feel embarrassed and ashamed. "Come on, let's go meet with your friends." She says more kindly, and Amber leads us to the courtroom.
"I'm sorry I made you guys so worried. Jim is probably freaking out right now." I say as we walk.
"Yes, he was when you were the last one, and Blinky didn't find you, but he knows he shouldn't constantly worry about you as he trusts you."
"Jim is just always worried because the Arcane Order is after me, and we both have PTSD. Jim doesn't need to know where I am; he wants to know if I'm ok and safe." I explain.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. That must be horrible to deal with."
"It is, but we both love each other, even though I sometimes think Jim is a bit overdramatic. Jim is trying to overcome it, though." I chuckle to lighten the mood. "He is really good to me."
"I've seen," Veronica says. "Heroic, brave, protective, responsible, kind, understanding, mature, compassionate, patient, selfless, loyal, and honorable." She adds, basically repeating what my family and I called Jim. "Douxie was surprised yet impressed and amazed you were the last one yet to be found," Veronica says, changing the topic. "So that means you won, according to Steve, who was found first."
"I wouldn't say that, as I wasn't planning on it being a competition, and the only reason I won is that I was in my wolf form." I correct her.
"Yes, but everyone knows you can transform into a wolf, and if they found Nymeria, they could tell if she speaks." Veronica reminds me.
"And that's the question, how do you know what if it was her or me? You haven't seen me as a wolf."
Veronica chuckles and shakes her head. "I've been watching you since you were born. Even though I can't leave this castle, I've been watching over you with your friends along your travels."
I would find that a bit creepy, but Veronica and I are connected. Also, she longed for me to see her, so watching me try to find her made her happy, and want to help me along the way. We get to the courtroom, and everyone is relieved I'm ok.
"Now, what should we do now?" Toby asks.
"I'm tired," Mary whines. "Hide-and-seek lasted for hours."
"You and I were found within 30 minutes, and we hung out here, not searching for others or hiding for a few hours." Darci corrects her, making me laugh, but I cross my arms and roll my eyes.
"We can't train, we can't trick-or-treat, we can't go to a haunted house, so what can we do?" Zoe asks, counting on her fingers.
"We could tell scary stories or play truth or dare?" Mary suggests.
"I like that idea." Steve agrees. "I have so many scary stories that will scare you all to death."
"You couldn't survive out of a scary wet paper bag." Toby corrects, making us expect Steve to laugh. "Me, Claire, and Jim have survived more scary things than you, including the alien lord."
"I would beg to disagree." Zoe laughs.
"Is that a challenge?"
"Let's all gather in a circle, and we'll see." Jim breaks up the start of an argument.
We all do, or at least the best we can of one, and share some stories. The subject and assignment are to develop a scary story based on what we did in the past. Mary, Darci, Steve, Toby, Aja, and Krel are bored and not engaging. They tried using their stories of fighting aliens and the Eternal Night, but none of them were good storytellers. Next up are Zoe, Douxie, and Archie. Each of their stories makes the hair on the back of all our necks stick up, but I hang on to every word. They share their fascinating stories of adventure, tragedy, horror, and suspense throughout the centuries. To spice things up, Archie flies to my shoulder and whispers romance between Zoe and Douixe when they first met, making me snicker. When Zoe's eyes turn to me, I try to hold in my laughter, covering my mouth, but my cheeks become warm.
"What did you tell her, Archie?" She hisses.
"Nothing." He says calmly, but I hear a bit of laughter in his voice. He winks at me before flying to Douxie's side.
"What did he say?"
"Not telling!" I say teasingly, making Zoe turn as pink as her shirt, causing me to burst out laughing. Zoe demands me to answer, but I refuse, keeping the gossip to myself. Zoe gets up to make me spill the beans, but Douxie holds her down, making me laugh more. Douxie orders me to stop, and I eventually calm down, now knowing more about Zoe and Douxie's relationship thanks to Archie. Steve wanted to and moved on to me, Blinky, and Jim, but we stayed silent and looked at each other. We didn't want to say anything, my heart pounding against my chest, begging no one to ask or say a word, but Steve said one that triggered me.
"Hey Claire, can you tell us a scary story from your journey to New Jersey?"
That question hit me like a thunderbolt. "I'm not going to answer that," I say, my head and heart racing in my chest, making me close my eyes and rub my forehead in pain.
"Oh, come on, Claire, we just want to know," Steve says, egging me on.
"Steve, drop it." I hear Jim hiss.
I hear voices become distant around me and try to take deep breaths. I hear Jim ask if I'm ok, but I can't respond. Suddenly, fire and ice fall from the sky, and screaming around me come to my mind, and I feel it's real. Then, I feel a hand on my back, making me jump up and look around. Instead of seeing my friends, I see multiple clones of Bellroc and Skaerl around me, laughing, making me panic. A hand grabs my arm, and I look down to see the Half-Troll instead of my boyfriend looking at me angrily. I know it's not true, but it feels too real. I rip my hand away and feel like shooting down the clones of Bellroc and Skaerl, but even though my magic comes to my body, I lose my senses before running, stumbling, confused, and disordered in my balance. After being far away, I collapse to the floor, catching my breath and trying to hold myself together. I begin hearing the screams of the trolls in New Jersey and my family at Huntington, destruction, fire, ice, and then, seeing the motionless body of Abuela.
"No! No! Stop! Stop! STOP!" I cry, collapsing to the ground and hugging myself, unable to control my breathing. I close my eyes and cover my face, feeling I'm losing myself and all of my magic is being drained, making me panic more, losing what I have left. My friends, family, and the people around me were lifeless or turned to stone.
"It's all over now." I hear a burst of demonic laughter behind me.
I turn around, and my heart sinks, seeing the Genesis Seals open and a stone version of Jim in front of me, looking horrified. I close my eyes and wait for myself to be gone, but before everything goes dark, I feel a hand touch mine, warm and soft.
"Claire, Shhhh! Snap out of it. It's ok. Shhhh!"
I look up and see the Half-Troll again, but then it changes to look like Jim taking the place of the Half-Troll for a second, looking at me with worry.
"Shhhh! Shhh! It's ok, Claire. Come back to me. It's ok." The Half-Troll says, but it's in Jim's voice, changing into the image of my boyfriend.
I try to focus as I keep hearing Jim's voice soothing me; however, I feel too far gone until a cold hand stings my back, making me tired and collapse to the floor in someone's arms. I slowly control and gain back my breath. I look up and see Jim's worried face.
"There you are." He sighs, relieved.
"What happened?" I ask, panting.
"You had a severe panic attack and were gone for a while, but it's ok; you're ok now." He says softly, reassuringly.
"And your magic went out of control a bit."
I almost jump, whipping my head to see Douxie next to me. "Did I hurt anyone?" I ask worryingly.
"No. Douxie and I shield everyone just in time."
I look to my other side and see Zoe looking at me with worry and her hand on my back.
"It's ok now. No one is hurt, and you're alright." Jim says, making me look at him.
He places both hands on my cheeks and gently caresses his fingers against my skin. Thanks to Zoe's powers, my magic settles, and I slowly calm down. I lower my head and touch Jim's forehead with mine, taking deep breaths. Seeing three of my friends around me, I close my eyes, making tears fall down my cheeks. "The trolls... Abuela... I couldn't save them."
"Shhhh! Shhhh! It's ok, Claire; it wasn't you're fault." Jim says calmly and tries to wipe my tears away, but they keep coming.
"Jim, how about you take Claire to her room so she can calm down," Veronica says, making us all jump.
"Veronica! Don't do that!" Zoe hisses.
"I'm sorry. I'm trying." She says with guilt.
"No... It's ok, Veronica." I breathe.
"Come on, Claire, let's go to your room," Jim says, but I shake my head.
"No... I'm fine, Jim... It was just a little panic attack." I say as I try to get up, but my knees buckle, and I fall to the floor again.
"No, Claire. You had a massive panic attack and almost hurt our friends. You need to take a break." He protests, placing his hands firmly on my shoulders.
I'm too tired to argue and give in, knowing I can't win this fight again. I nod my head, and Jim helps me up. Amber leads Jim and me to our room, where he sets me on the bed and tells me to rest.
"No! I don't need to rest." I protest. "I'm fine, Jim."
"Claire, you need to relax before you can do anything else." He argues.
"No!"
"Douxie and Zoe want you to relax so you can control your powers, Claire."
"But if I close my eyes, I will see Bellroc, Skaerk, or the Half-Troll will attack me!" I argue, making Jim stop, looking at me with hurt and worry. Now he understands the whole reason why I can't relax easily. Bellroc, Skaerk, and the Half-Troll are torturing me, getting into my head, and I fear their attack again.
"Shhhh! It's ok, Claire. You're safe right now. They can't and won't hurt you as long as I'm here. Please rest, for Douxie and me." He says calmly and sits on the edge of the bed. I shake my head, too stubborn for my boyfriend. "Then cuddle close." He says and lays down on his side of the bed.
I follow and snuggle into Jim's arms, laying my head against his chest to hear his heartbeat, but it still doesn't calm me down. Then Jim does something I never thought he could do, sing to me. He sings my mother's lullaby while holding me tightly and stroking my hair. His voice isn't the best, but it's clear and soft, reminding me of my mom and Abuela's voice. I try to resist but surrender to Jim's voice and drift off. A moment later, I feel a soft, warm blanket covering Jim and me. He tucks me in and kisses me on the forehead, whispering, 'I love you' in my ear before I fall asleep. I stay in a dreamless sleep until Jim wakes me up.
"How are you feeling now?" He asks, stroking strains of hair away from my face.
"Better. A little anxious but not like before." I mumble.
"Good." He sighs and lightly kisses me on the forehead. "Any nightmares?"
I shake my head.
"Better. I don't want Bellroc to get in your head."
"We can ask Zoe for that help. According to Archie, she's an empath and is a master of occlumency and legitimacy, making it easy to tease us, including Douxie." I say.
"Does he know how to do it?"
"Yes, but just occlumency, even though Zoe says his methods suck." I laugh.
"Speaking of them, our friends want to know if you're ok."
"Are they mad at me?" I ask, concerned.
"No. After Douxie explained the situation and issue, everyone worries about you, and even Steve feels guilty, finally understanding why you don't want to talk about what happened during our summer break."
"But I still can't control my powers. I'm trying, but it's so hard." I groan.
"I know, and everyone else understands how much of a burden is on your shoulders. It's ok. All you can do is do your best every day, and that's enough for me, Douxie, Zoe, and the rest of us." Jim says, trying to reassure me.
I sigh and nod my head before getting out of bed. Amber appears behind Jim and floats to me.
"She was worried about you."
"Veronica says Amber is her favorite fairy." I giggle as she tries to lift my sleeve. "And it seems she wants us to go to our friends."
Jim and I leave the room and follow Amber to the courtroom.
"Claire!" NotEnquire calls out and runs to me. "Are you ok? You were out there for a bit." He says, crawling up for a hug.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a panic attack." I reassure him.
"And I believe someone owes you an apology." He hisses, looking at Steve.
We all look at him, making him embarrassed yet ashamed. "I'm sorry, Claire. Jim said you hate talking about...what happened during your summer." He says as best he can.
"That's it?" Jim hisses and stares angrily at Steve, crossing his arms.
"It's ok, Jim." I shush him. "It's ok, Steve; you were just curious; I shouldn't have broken down like that."
"It's not your fault Claire." Darci corrects, approaching me. "If we didn't know how traumatic that time was for you, we would've not asked you these things, or if we did, we would be more respectful." She says sweetly.
NotEnquire hops out of my arms, allowing me to hug one of my best friends. "Thank you, Darci!" I mumble, and she holds me tightly.
"I'm just glad you're ok, C-bomb." She replies, making me laugh as we pull apart, and she winks at me.
"Hey, what about me?" Steve asks.
"You're the one who made her freak out." Mary hisses.
"I said I was sorry!"
"Alright, everyone, please don't hold this over Steve's head." I correct. "He is sorry and didn't know what was going to happen or the whole reason why I don't want to talk about it." And with that said, everything settles, and Steve sheepily walks up to me to whisper 'thanks' before quickly walking away, looking over my shoulder. I turn around and see Jim, arms still crossed. I roll my eyes and grab his hand, pulling him to me. "Stop frowning."
"I'm not." He denies it, changing his expression to a smirk, so I playfully hit him on the shoulder, giggling.
We have dinner and hit the hay early, but not for me, Douxie, Nari, Archie, and Veronica. I manage to escape with the blue circular gemstone out of my bag. I lied again to Jim that I wanted to hang out with Veronica again, but inside, I was excited. Jim is going to become the Trollhunter again. I meet up with Douxie, Archie, and Nari with Veronica in her study. To avoid suspicion, I couldn't join them, and Douxie lies that he was creating a weapon to help us to defend ourselves from the Arcane Order, but to me, I knew what he meant. When I get there, my blood turns cold, seeing Zoe next to Douxie.
"Douxie, what is Zoe doing here?" I ask nervously.
"Don't worry, Claire. Zoe knows what's going on." He says calmly.
"Why? How?"
"Calm down, Claire. I knew you two were up to something and pressed Douxie to know about it because he had been disappearing every night for the past few days." Zoe says casually, making my stomach ache.
"It's ok, Claire. We explained everything to Zoe in exchange; she wouldn't tell anyone." Nari says, trying to reassure me.
I sigh and take a deep breath as she grabs my hand.
"Why didn't you tell any of us this before?" Zoe asks.
"We weren't confident it would work, so we kept it a secret."
"It will work, Archie!" I hiss at him. "Are we ready, Douxie?" I ask, holding the circular blue gemstone to my chest, hoping this would work. It will work!
"Yes! I created all the metals we needed. Now all that's left is the carvings on the gem and metal." Douxie replies.
I smile and place the gem in mid-air next to Douxie's staff, which we'll use in the carving. We found a device similar to the one Douxie said he and Merlin used to create the Amulet, and it's big and has a colossal circle to steer the magic around the gem.
"Are you ready, Claire?" He asks, a bit concerned. "You have to remain complete focus and concentration."
I take a deep breath and nod my head. "I am!" I reply with determination.
Douxie smiles and taps the gem of his staff. It glows. The magic spreads to each part of the circles, creating a Mandala like image. Douxie and I combine our powers to create a sphere, and it touches the gemstone, causing a burst of energy to flow around us. I use all my strength to steady the progress, wanting to have the Amulet of Daylight back like it was in my dreams. We move the circles steadily, craving the symbols into the gemstone. Soon, Douxie tells me to stop, and the magic disappears. I reach out, touch the gemstone, and examine the work we placed on it, making me smile.
"Now it's time to lock the Amulet together," Douxie says clearly, turning to me. "Claire, this is the serious part. You know what to say, right."
I nod my head. "An Lucem Gloria Mea." I pronounce it as best as I can.
"Good. You need to put your all into this. You know the Amulet of Daylight, and you've seen Jim use it. Concentrate on how you see it completed."
I've seen it in my dreams. I nod my head, and we begin. We asked everyone else in the room to be quiet and still. Douxie pours molten lava into the bottom of the Amulet, and he magically lays the carved gem on top, making it stick together. Carefully, we magically hover and lay the metal on the gemstone.
Douxie takes a deep breath and lifts his staff. "An Lucem Gloria Mea." He says calmly.
I do my part, lifting my hands and using my magic, making the gem glow a bit purple. "An Lucem Gloria Mea." I see a vision of Abuela giving me the gemstone.
"Use it well."
I bite my lip, feeling sad, but I know I must focus and concentrate. I look at the gem, rising in mid-air. I think of all the times I've seen the Amulet. Jim wore it often while we were in Heartstone Trollmarket and on missions. I remember seeing him transform in the woods, protecting me from the goblins and Nomura. Even though the Amulet of Daylight was for trolls, it was made and meant for Jim. He's selfless, caring, loyal, determined, heroic, and honorable. I feel my magic grow and give my all for this small but powerful item. Then, a small burst of blue light caused a small and gentle wave of energy to flow through the room. I look up, and joy rises in my chest. The Amulet of Daylight glows bright, hovering over the table where it lay on. It worked! It actually worked! It was just like in my dreams. I am purple, and Douxie is blue.
"It's done," Douxie says, smiling.
I reach out and grab the Amulet. I examine it, and it's precisely what it looked like in my dreams and what it was before. "You did it," I mumble, looking at my mentor.
"No, you did it." He corrects me. "What do you want it to say on it?"
"What?" I ask, confused, looking at Douxie.
"The original Amulet's incantation read, 'For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command.'. You are credited for creating this one and should choose the incantation." He replies, smiling. "Just say the words, and they will engrave in the metal."
I look down and take a moment to think. I hated the original incantation, and Douxie says I can choose. "For the glory of all, daylight is mine to command," I say loud enough for those words to appear on the edges of the metal in English, and when done, the words change into Trollish.
"Cool!" Zoe mumbles behind me.
I look down and stroke the Amulet with my thumb. "Let's give this to Jim."
"We'll give him it tomorrow." Douxie agrees.
Suddenly, my heart skips a beat, and all the color of my face washes away. Tomorrow, no, not tomorrow.
"What's wrong, Claire?" Douxie asks with concern.
I just shove the Amulet in his hands. "Don't tell anyone that I help re-create the Amulet. Please."
"Alright." He replies
Douxie keeps the Amulet and returns to his room with Archie and Zoe following. Zoe promises me not to tell anyone about this, and I walk back to my room; this time, Veronica accompanies me with Amber.
"Are you going to be alright tonight, my dear?" She asks me.
"Yes. I'm excited to see Jim's reaction to restoring his Amulet." I reply, smiling.
"But I still don't understand why you won't tell him you're the one who made it."
"I don't want anyone to know. I already revived Jim from the dead; the Arcane Order is after me; what else am I cable of? I don't want to be acknowledged for re-created the Amulet."
"I'm not sure about that." Veronica disagrees, shaking her head.
We get to my bedroom door, and I look at my grandmother. "Thank you for all your help, Veronica."
"Anything to help my young granddaughter." She says, smiling sweetly at me.
"Goodnight, Veronica," I say, turning the door knob.
"Sleep well, my dear." She replies and ghostly kiss me on the forehead, making me smile.
I carefully open the door and get into bed with Jim, snuggling into his chest. I feel happy that Jim will become what he enjoyed being, not for the glory, but for helping and protecting others. "Goodnight, my Trollhunter," I whisper before I drift off to sleep, wanting to give him a little hint. I don't want to be glorified as the savior of the Trollhunter legacy, but I want to be acknowledged as the creator of the Amulet, not Merlin.
Author Note: I know how to write campfire/circle group stories, but I didn't know how to write the stories everyone says in the circle, so they're just summaries in Claire's POV. If I did that, the chapter would be long and boring, and I think this chapter is long enough. This story isn't about the gang. Trollhunters is about Jim's hero's journey in becoming the Trollhunter, fighting off trolls and protecting his home. 3 Below is about the adventures of Aja and Krel, two "aliens," in Arcadia. Wizards is about Douxie's past journey, showing the backstories of Merlin, Morgana, King Arther, and Douxie while introducing a new villain, the Arcane Order. This story, Claire: Mistress of the Spirits, is Claire's hero's journey, going into her past, discovering who she is, and preparing to defeat the Arcane Order, if it means she dies trying. Now, on a happier note, please review!