Carter was mostly quiet as they walked through the halls of Camelot Castle. He was distracted. Douxie could tell.
"Love?" Douxie asked softly, hand moving to his lower back. "Are you okay?"
"Yes." Carter answered without looking at him. He was rubbing his thumb against his palm. It was one of his anxious habits. "I'm fine."
Douxie pursed his lips. "Are you sure-"
"Douxie!" Blinky's voice was loud and sudden, startling them. "Hello, my boy! How are you?"
"Oh, hi Blinky." Douxie smiled at him and waved. "I'm fine, thanks." He subconsciously pulled Carter closer to him. "This is Sarah and Marcy," he gestured to the two girls who were staring at the troll with wide eyes. "They're going to be hanging out here for a while."
Blinky nodded. "Welcome to Camelot, girls. Lovely to have you here." He gave Carter a side eye. "And who is this?"
"Carter," Carter said, shaking Blinky's extended hand. "I'm Douxie's partner."
"Ah, yes." Blinky nodded with a smile. "It's lovely to finally meet Hisirdoux's other half. Welcome." He looked at Douxie. "Where is the rest of the team?"
"They'll be here later." Douxie said. "For now, we need to get the girls settled and make sure they're safe."
"Is someone looking for them?" Blinky asked.
"Our father is." Carter said.
Blinky looked at him for a while before he nodded slowly. "Ah, I see. We have half-bloods in our midst." He thought for a moment before gesturing for them to follow him. "We'll do our best to keep you all safe, I assure you."
"You go on ahead with Blinky, girls." Douxie said. "I'm going to take Carter to rest."
Marcy looked between them before nodding and taking Sarah's hand. "He's not gonna… eat us, right?"
Douxie chuckled. "No. You'll be safe with him. And the big one."
"Big one?" She asked uneasily.
"You'll see."
Marcy didn't seem convinced, looking at Carter for reassurance. He gave her a nod. "Okay." She squeezed Sarah's hand and followed Blinky down the hall.
Douxie let out a breath, leading Carter in the opposite direction. He didn't stop until he got to a hallway lined with heavy oak doors. He pushed one open and let Carter in. Fenris pushed past him too and immediately plopped on the floor. Archie curled up on the wolf's back, watching Carter and Douxie carefully.
"What was all that about?" Carter asked, brows knit together with concern.
"I'm sorry, Sunshine. I just needed a moment alone with you."
Archie cleared his throat.
"Alright, mostly alone with you." Douxie amended. He sighed, gently pulling Carter closer. "You could have died."
"I could die everyday, Douxie." Carter said, rubbing Douxie's wrists with his thumbs. "Besides, looking back on it, if that thing wanted to kill me it would have."
Douxie pursed his lips. "I know."
"But we're safe for now. You can relax." Carter kissed him gently.
"Aja doesn't like you." Douxie murmured against his lips.
Carter huffed out a laugh. "Most people don't."
"I want her to like you," Douxie confessed, slowly wrapping his arms around Carter's waist to bring him closer. "I want them to like you. I want you guys to get along."
Carter smiled to himself as Douxie kept pressing soft, chaste kisses against his lips. "You mean I haven't completely dazzled them with my charming personality?"
Douxie chuckled. "You know how snippy you can be, Sunshine."
"I don't have the patience to be nice when the world is ending."
"You could learn." Douxie kissed his forehead, holding him close. "They think you're rude and abrasive."
Carter snorted. "They're big kids. They can handle it."
Douxie poked his side. "How about you actively try to be nice to them. I know you have it in you."
Carter pursed his lips, resting his head on Douxie's chest. He sighed. "I'll try."
"Good," Douxie softly kissed the top of his head. "How are you feeling, by the way?"
"Eh," Carter shrugged. "Can't complain." He lifted his head to meet Douxie's gaze. "I'll be fine. It's nothing I haven't walked off before."
Douxie rolled his eyes. "You seriously need to get better at self-preservation."
"Says you, Mr. "I'll fight literal gods all by myself cause I don't want my friends to get hurt"." Carter poked his chest. "You're way worse than I am!"
"He's right, Douxie." Archie piped up. "At least Carter tries to stay alive. You just seem to have a death wish."
Douxie glanced over at his familiar to glare at him. "Nobody asked you."
"Hey," Carter lightly hit his chest. "Be nice. Hypocrite."
Douxie rolled his eyes. "Okay, geez." He tightened his grip on Carter's waist and kissed him again. "Okay, you should probably get some rest."
Carter sighed, but nodded. He honestly wasn't in the mood to argue. "Yeah, probably." He slowly pulled away from Douxie, gently rubbing his arms. "Will you go check on the girls, please? I don't want them to be alone with people I don't know."
"You can trust Blinky, love." Douxie said quietly.
"I trust you." Carter said. "And I trust your judgment. But I would just feel more at ease if you were with them."
Douxie nodded and kissed his forehead. "Okay." He looked behind him at Archie. "Do you want to come with me or are you going to stay here?"
Archie hopped off Fenris' back and flew to Carter's shoulders. "I'll stay here. Keep them company."
Carter smiled softly, scratching behind Archie's ears. "Missed me, I take it?"
Archie snorted a laugh. "Like you wouldn't believe. Douxie's a nightmare without you."
"Archie!" Douxie gasped, feigning offense.
The dragon snickered. "Goodbye. I love you."
"You're horrible." Douxie grumbled. He looked at Carter. "You sure you'll be okay?"
"Yes, gods I'm not made of glass." Carter waved him off. "Go. Please. Seriously, I need you to make sure they're okay."
"Okay, okay." Douxie quickly left the room. He shut the door with a heavy breath. He knew Carter would be fine… that he was fine, mostly. But he still couldn't shake the anxiety swirling in his gut. "Everything's going to be fine."
That was something he didn't believe.
Jim was leaning on the wall in the round table room, watching Blinky explain troll history to Marcy and Sarah. Sarah seemed enraptured by the whole thing, but Marcy just looked bored. He looked to his left when Douxie entered the room, looking tired and worn.
"Hey," he greeted softly. "You okay?"
"Eh," Douxie shrugged, standing next to him. "Been better. I'm just relieved nobody's dead."
"Ha." Jim nudged him with his elbow. "That seems to be the general mood." He was silent for a moment before asking, "Where's Carter?"
"Resting." Douxie said. "Archie's with him." He smiled softly. "I think they missed eachother."
Jim hummed absently, eyes fixing on his father figure. "Are they close?"
Douxie nodded, running his thumb over the grooves of his vambrace. "After you know someone for eighty years, you get pretty close."
Jim looked at him, brows furrowing. "Douxie?" He waited for the wizard to look at him. "What were you two discussing earlier? In sign language, I mean."
Douxie pursed his lips. "Some of Carter's friends he's made over the years disappeared not long after the Arcane Order became an apparent problem. That's why you all didn't meet him sooner. He was looking for them."
Jim mouthed an 'oh'. "Did he find them?"
Douxie shook his head. "No luck yet. Even the half-blood who told him where to find his sisters has suddenly dropped off the grid. And she was-" he cut himself off, mouth snapping shut. "Nevermind."
"And she was what?" Jim inquired.
"Nothing." Douxie shook his head. "It doesn't matter. The point is, with the possibility of his father seizing the opportunity to enact plans he's probably had years to prepare for, we don't have a lot of time to act. We don't even know where to start."
Jim pursed his lips. He wanted to help, but he didn't even know what was going on. This was new to him. Despite being the Trollhunter for nearly six years and leader of this team for just as long, he had no clue this part of the magic world even existed until today. He was way out of his depth. "Well," he said, putting a hand on Douxie's arm. "Whatever gets thrown our way, I'm here for you. Both of you."
Douxie smiled softly. "Thank you."
Jim nodded and squeezed his arm before letting go. "Oh yeah. Claire had an interesting idea."
"Which was?"
"For us to learn ASL." He smiled at Douxie's wide-eyed look. "She figured if Carter was gonna be part of the team, we should know how to talk to him."
Douxie grinned. "Brilliant idea."
Carter barely slept. Anxiety gnawed at him, and his injuries made it nearly impossible to find a comfortable position. So, instead he laid awake for an hour, rubbing the top of Archie's head as he tried not to think about how quickly everything could go to shit. He tried to ignore that voice in the back of his head that was whispering to him, telling him to come home.
He jumped a little when the door opened, sitting up to see who had come in. "You could've knocked," he joked.
Douxie smiled thinly, sitting next to him. "Didn't know if you'd taken your hearing aids out."
Carter hummed absently, and swung his legs over the bed to properly sit beside Douxie. "So?"
"So what?"
"Are the girls okay?" Carter asked.
"Oh. Yeah. Blinky is boring them with a history lesson. Otherwise, they're fine." He leaned over and kissed Carter's cheek. "I think it is time for a game plan, though. The team is anxious, but they want to help."
Carter raised a brow at him. "Do they?"
"Well, Jim seems to want to get to know you, Steve thinks you're a Grade A badass, and the rest of them are mostly indifferent."
Carter laughed and Douxie felt his heart warm at the sound. He loved it when Carter laughed.
"Come on." Douxie prodded, pulling him up. "Let's go."
Carter entwined their fingers as they left the room, Archie and Fenris not far behind. "I think I might have an idea."
Douxie glanced at him. "Oh?"
Carter nodded but pursed his lips. "You won't like it."
The wizard sighed. "I usually don't."
Carter smiled thinly. "Trust me."
"I always do."
They walked into the round table room where everyone was gathered and waiting for them. Jim smiled upon seeing them.
"Feeling better?" He asked.
Carter nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."
Claire cleared her throat, getting their attention. "We're on board, obviously. But do you have a plan?"
"Well," Carter said, letting out a slightly anxious breath as he approached the table. "I have half a plan."
"Better than no plan." Toby said with a shrug.
"Not as good as a whole plan." Steve pointed out.
Carter blinked and turned to Douxie. "Are they serious?"
"Unfortunately," Douxie said with a laugh in his voice. "Just keep going. Ignore them. It's what I do."
"Hey!"
Carter sighed, rubbing his temple. "Okay, so part of what we need to do is find more demigods. Preferably ones who know what they're doing and can help. Fortunately I know a few."
"So what's the problem, then?" Krel asked.
"They don't like me." Carter admitted. "The few that do are still M.I.A." He sighed. "This is gonna suck."
"Why? Who is it?" Archie asked, dreading the answer because he was pretty sure he knew who Carter was talking about."
"Aanya Calderon and Jamie Adams."
"Are you serious?" Douxie demanded. "They hate you! They hate us." He gestured wildly to the team. "They probably hate the people who killed their parents!"
"What?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Their parents?"
Carter gently put a hand on Douxie's arm. "There's no harm in trying."
"No harm!?" Douxie scoffed. "There's every harm. Jamie might not have as much of a grudge against you, but Aanya will kill you!"
"That's a risk we have to take." Carter insisted.
"Hold the phone!" Steve shouted. "Who are they and what do you mean we killed their parents?"
Douxie looked at his friend, pursing his lips. "Well," he looked at Carter. "Would you like to tell them or should I?"
Carter sighed. "Jamie and Aanya… are my cousins. They're… Bellroc and Skrael's children."
Everyone stared at him with wide eyes.
"But," Carter said. "There's nothing about them that would suggest they were ever close to their parents. Or even care that you killed them."
"Why… would they not care?" Aja asked.
"Is that a serious question?" Carter crossed his arms. "Look around, Aja. Look at me. I'm here to stop and-or kill my dad. Marcy and Sarah's life has been a shit show because of who their father is. If the gods ever loved their kids they have a truly hysterical way of showing it." He looked at each of them. "Our parents don't care about us. They don't give a shit about whether we live or die. I can't imagine Bellroc or Skrael would be any better."
Silence fell over the group. Aja and Jim exchanged glances. Steve was looking at Carter like he couldn't decide if he wanted to hug him or not.
"Okay," Jim said quietly. "Assuming Aanya and Jamie aren't pissed at us for killing their parents, where do we find them?"
"That's the easy part." Carter said with a mischievous grin. "Children of the Big Three tend to stick together. Aanya's dad, her mortal parent, is the CEO of this big jeweler company in New York. Lucky for us, her dad is holding a charity ball this weekend. Jamie tends to shadow her. Both of them should be there."
"How do you know that?" Douxie asked.
Carter looked at him with a smirk. "I can't tell you all my secrets, Blue. Where would the excitement be?"
Douxie rolled his eyes. "You're insufferable."
"Uno reverse." Carter shot back with a smile. "So. Who wants to go to a fancy event and fuck shit up?"
Steve shot his hand up. "Ooh! Me! Me! Pick me!"
Carter scanned the group before his eyes landed on Claire. "Your mom is a politician, right?"
Claire nodded slowly. "Yeah, why?"
Carter studied her for a moment before he smiled. "You look like you could blend in with the fancy schmucks. You and I are going to get in to find Aanya and Jamie. Once we do, you shadow portal all four of us out onto an even fighting ground."
Claire blinked. "Solid plan. I'm in."
"Excellent." Carter looked at Douxie. "The rest of you start preparing for a fight. They're not gonna join us unless we kick their asses."
Douxie rolled his eyes. "What is it with demigods and proving themselves through combat?"
"Shut it," Carter teased, poking his ribs. "Claire, come with me. The rest of you have fun." He looked at Krel. "Explosives are probably a good idea."
Krel grinned. "Awesome."
