Some time ago, she had told her son to stop overworking himself and drop some things, if possible. Right now, it seemed like Barbara could use the same advice as well. Her only excuse was having way more stamina as a troll, but would that one have been enough.
Yes, the woman kept her shifts at work to the bare minimum, refusing to take any additional ones. At some point, she had even considered taking a vacation but had decided against it in the end. Jim knew too many of her co-workers, and if he would ever stumble upon one of them and the fact of Barbara not being at work would come to light… That would be a legit disaster.
There may have been no night shifts lately, but the daughter of Gunmar had used those as an excuse for being out at night. And, unfortunately, that part of her life wasn't that resultative.
The Trollhunter kept a low profile, as expected. After the initial encounter with both Gumm-Gumms, there had been no activity from him altogether. The amulet remained as unreachable as ever.
Barbara had already checked some kids from her list of suspects. Initially, she had planned to use the story about the lost family relic, but it had been discarded eventually, as the woman had talked to parents and guardians.
Some children would definitely prefer to keep their family out of their adventure, be it because of worry for their safety or lack of trust or some other weird reason. Wouldn't the Trollhunter have kept silent as well?
However, there should have been signs of his life changing tremendously. The new responsibility required time and effort. There should have been tiredness. Or slipping grades. Or sneaking out. Or visible stress.
No good parent would have ever missed those. So Barbara should simply have won some sympathy points.
"My son has become so distant lately… He's never at home and looks distressed… I'm scared that he's got involved with a bad company…"
That one seemed perfect, even if the mother hated herself for using Jim that way. Yes, her boy had been actually distressed lately, but wasn't that because of him trying to shoulder all the responsibilities at once?
Unfortunately, it didn't seem like any other parent had experienced something similar with their sons. All of them had been compassionate enough and even suggested some help, but, so far, no one had noticed any problems with their kids.
Well, at least Barbara could cross out some suspects. Her list still remained long enough, though. Luckily, it didn't seem that Stricklander had been more successful than her - his knowledge, apparently, hadn't helped him much, not to mention that the impure had to be as cautious as possible in his actions.
The daughter of Gunmar wondered if the changeling had noticed her backstage work with recruiting some of his subordinates. Gladis Groe had been only the first one, as Barverra had added two more impures as her spies.
In any case, neither of those had given any valuable insides. Of course, Stricklander was too smart to lower his guard carelessly, but everyone made mistakes.
And the Head of the Janus Order couldn't be an exception.
Barverra frowned, remembering his invitation.
A date! That one would be tomorrow. Perhaps, she would be able to catch him on something there.
Getting the upper hand should have been vital, otherwise…
Otherwise what?
The daughter of Gunmar caught herself on some odd thought. It was as if she had missed some vital piece to the puzzle and that one would certainly lead to her downfall.
No, most likely, it had been just a fake alarm, nothing of true importance. Barverra had been on a constant run for decades - most likely, that fact had attributed to the tendency to jump at every shadow.
She should have stopped being that paranoid as there was a clear difference between staying vigilant and seeing enemies everywhere. Finding some intricate balance would do.
Meanwhile, shouldn't she have also checked on her brother? No, Bular definitely kept a low profile lately - well, as low as a restless brute would manage, but keeping him without any supervision may have caused too much unneeded trouble. Barverra still rolled her eyes, remembering her brother's stunt with slaying Kanjigar. Not to mention him giving the scare of the life to his nephew.
Luckily, this time Bular remained in the museum. The daughter of Gunmar walked in while he was chewing on something, most likely, another hapless fleshbag.
"Stricklander brought me a dinner," he explained, responding to his sister's silent question.
"I see," she muttered, considering the circumstances. The victim had to be one of the museum's staff then. The Janus Order had great connections there, so the entire employment matter depended on them. The staff consisted of changelings and people who could disappear without anyone noticing - every step was thought out to create a perfect cover. They had to protect their secrets, after all.
Apparently, the impure had decided to limit the dark brute's chaotic hunts for whatever reason. Not that Barverra could criticize such an approach. Yes, in theory, causing ruckus would have attracted the Trollhunter's attention and acted as the perfect bait to lure him.
Nevertheless, that approach would have worked only with a seasoned warrior of Kanjigar's caliber. The current champion was just a human child, and that kind of tactic more likely would have an opposite effect, making him hide and stay away from the trouble.
No, they should have employed a fake safety strategy, where the kid would get careless without daily attacks and then ambush him, catching the teen by surprise.
That would work way better on shaking his resolve. And then… Well, Barverra could approach the Trollhunter with a deal - getting his regular life back in exchange for the amulet. Oh, and she should have also thrown in some safety guarantees for his friends and family.
Yes, that would be a splendid approach.
The female walked to the half-finished Killahead bridge slowly. As far as she knew, all the pieces were secured already, leaving just delivering and assembling. She ran her hand along with the ornaments, feeling magic humming under her fingers.
There was her father, sealed in the Darklands, waiting impatiently for his eventual liberation. Barverra hadn't seen and heard him for nine hundred years. What would Gunmar tell her during their reunion? Would he forgive his daughter for not being involved with his liberation for that long?
No, they had gotten multiple written messages through the cracks, but those tended to be brief and painfully dry. Barverra was more than sure that her father would say way more during their actual meeting. And…
She would need to bring up Jim. Would Gunmar accept a half-fleshbag as his kin?
No, the Skullcrusher had always been reasonable. He would definitely see his grandson as a great addition to the family. Barverra should have believed in her father more. Why was she hesitating so much? It wasn't as if Gunmar's decisions had ever disappointed her.
The recent talk with Jim had made Douxie realize a certain fact - they should have learned as much about the amulet as possible to understand how exactly it was working and what possibly caused some malfunctions when it came to his current owner.
Yes, they could consult with the troll records, but would those be enough? Every single previous Trollhunter had been an actual troll, making them way different from Jim. If anything, the knowledge of initial design should have been vital, yet… How could they possibly get that one?
Douxie wished he had memorized the blueprints better. How many times had he seen those while cleaning Merlin's study in Camelot? Those had been scattered around all the time, with both his master and Morgana arguing about them. And, of course, the younger apprentice hadn't been that knowledgeable about magic back then to decipher all of the intricate designs and notes.
Most likely, Merlin would have been able to tell the most, but was it the right time to wake him up? No, more importantly, would the legendary wizard be able to wake up to start with?
All of that meant that there was only one possible source remaining - the mysterious co-creator Archie had mentioned when Jim still had tried to get rid of the amulet.
Douxie knew his familiar too well to believe that the dragon kept silent out of spite, as Zoe had jokingly suggested. No, there had to be something more. But what?
"Archie, remember we talked about the Daylight amulet's creators?" he started slowly, seeing that the cat was in a good mood.
"Douxie, just let's not talk about that," Archie turned away, visibly distressed at once. "Believe me, I know why you ask, but it's not like it can change our current situation… Not to mention that I actually can't discuss it…"
The emphasis on that 'can't' was so clear that Douxie realized the implication at once.
"Wait, don't tell me you gave a magical oath," he started slowly.
"Exactly," the familiar nodded. "Merlin said it would be for the best to everyone involved. Not that many people knew about that other person. Merlin went to his sleep, and your memories were apparently fractured. It left me as the only actual witness…"
The wizard-in-training frowned. Magical oaths weren't a joke - those were designed to ensure that a promise would never be broken, no matter of possible circumstances. In a way, those tended to be evidently risky. If Merlin had believed that such drastic measure was needed and Archie had agreed with such conditions, it could only mean a serious deal.
But what exactly? The protection of some vital knowledge? Wouldn't the legendary wizard leave the way to contact the other creator then? Just in case if something went wrong? Douxie knew his master well enough to assume that he hadn't thought out all the possibilities.
"Believe me, Douxie," Archie said quietly, his eyes full of unexplained regret. The cat obviously wished he could spill the beans. "We don't need anyone else right now… And when the right time comes, we will have a splendid master wizard on our side."
The young man could swear he caught a glimpse of something else in his familiar's expression. Was it pride? But why would Archie be proud of some unknown guy?
Nothing made any sense…
Claire wondered if her people reading skills were disastrous or something. Or maybe she was surrounded by skilled hypocrites.
First, there was her play partner Jim Lake, who seemed to be a nice person. Hell, the Latina had been genuinely concerned about his well-being at some point - only to learn out that he had started to skip rehearsals, despite being not-that-distressed anymore!
No, that guy had been a total enigma, and Claire had no idea what to think about him. Not to mention that odd fact about Jim's childhood she had learned from Shannon and Mary.
No, she had to talk with the teen in question in a proper manner and finally learn where his priorities lay. Perhaps, he was simply an irresponsible person. Or applying to the school play was some kind of dare. Or Jim wanted to screw with a performance as a prank.
Well, the last one was banana-pants level crazy.
Speaking of pranks.
Oh, yeah, Claire felt like she had misjudged another one of her acquaintances. Who would imagine that the charming waiter from her favorite cafe had that kind of messed-up humor?
The girl looked at the book she had thrown on her bed and groaned. As if she would ever read something like that!
The Latina half-expected that there would be a 'got you!' message somewhere. She flipped through the pages without any enthusiasm. Probably it would only contain some dumb manipulations or…
What is a leyline?
Elementary spells for practicing flow control.
How to create simple protection.
Her eyes kept catching headlines - and none of those felt like a prank. Claire stopped flipping, deciding to read the page she was on.
A common issue of any magic user would be keeping their secrets intact. Quite often, mortals interfere even without malicious intent out of sheer curiosity only. There are also more than enough cases when someone tries to expose a supposed wizard.
That definitely didn't sound like some braindead stuff. No, it actually seemed to be legit. The girl continued, now more invested.
During all the history of magical arts, multiple sorcerers worked on the development of methods to keep away the unneeded attention. Without any doubt, some of those are very intricate and require an adequate skill set. Nevertheless, there is also a good variety fitting a total novice.
Claire stared at the detailed instructions listed below. The first of those seemed the easiest, only requiring three weird symbols scribbled on the door-frame. The girl grabbed a pen and approached the entrance of her room. Hopefully, her parents wouldn't catch her vandalizing their house because she had no logical explanation for doing that.
Apparently, luck was on her side as no one came. Most likely, the adults were too engrossed in watching TV.
The symbols (magic runes?) weren't that simple. The first one required seven strokes, and the two others were even more elaborate. Still, Claire had managed to finish her job while referencing the book several times.
And…
Nothing happened.
Shouldn't the magic at least have shown that it was active? Even a brief glow would have been enough!
Claire felt the disappointment creeping inside her mind. Real magic! As if!
She threw away the book, never bothering about possible damage to pages. In the end, that one had been just a cruel joke.
Instead of wasting her time, shouldn't she have spent it on something useful? Learning the lines for the play, for example?
Oh, and the girl should have probably wiped those dumb symbols before her mom or dad noticed. There was no point in getting in trouble over nothing. After some consideration, Claire decided to postpone that one a bit - she was still irritated, and looking at the proof of her own naivety would be too much.
Douxie was probably laughing his ass off, imagining her embarrassing attempts to cast some magic. Who could imagine that he was such a jerk?
With a huff, the girl turned her full attention to Shakespeare. She had always enjoyed his writing style - the words were so powerful and enticing!
Soon enough, all the recent disappointments were forgotten as Claire submerged into the world of Romeo and Juliet. She tried her best to empathize with the heroine to understand her better. How did it feel to fall in love with someone from the enemies' side? How did it feel to love so much so that everything else didn't mean a thing, her own life included?
Someone knocked, breaking up her thoughts. The Latina turned to the door in confusion - she didn't remember closing it.
Of course, Javier was standing there - her father always knocked, even with the door wide open. Ophelia, for example, would have simply barged in.
"Some guacamole?" the man smiled at his daughter, showing her a big bowl. "Thought you wouldn't mind some."
"Thanks, Papi," Claire beamed - in the end, her father knew her way better than any other family member. Ophelia tended to be too focused on the public image and reputation, sometimes to the point of obsession. If their household had only followed the mother's rules, the girl would have never gotten any liberties with dying her hair or choosing clothes, let alone music interests. Luckily, her dad was also there to negotiate for various things.
Claire expected her dad to enter as usual, but he just stood right before the doorway, shifting on his feet. Somehow, it looked slightly creepy.
"Papi? You can come in!"
Probably Javier hadn't done it earlier simply because he wasn't sure if he could breach her privacy.
"Oh, yeah, sure," the man chuckled nervously… and stayed at the same spot.
Now it was officially uncanny. Or was it another prank? The thought made Claire remember the previous irritation. Why would her father also do something that stupid? Sure thing, some of his jokes could be silly and tasteless, but scaring his daughter?
The girl marched towards the door, hoping that Javier had some logical explanation, and froze midstep as her gaze fell on the symbols she had scribbled recently.
Those were glowing.
Apparently, magic stuff turned out to be way more possible than one could imagine…
"Is that perfume?" Nomura wrinkled her nose, her expression full of outright disgust. "You're clearly overdoing it…"
Strickler ignored her comment altogether. Whatever his aide thought, it didn't concern him in the slightest. To be honest, he greatly anticipated the upcoming date with Barbara and did his best to look presentable. It was enough to pick up Nomura's attention.
"Remind me again, what is the point in dating that woman?" she grumbled, definitely displeased because of her superior ignoring her remarks.
"You've always underestimated the meaning of certain connections and relationships," Strickler smirked. "If you invested more into those, your position may have been way higher…"
The Janus Order had always taught its members how to function and succeed in human society. Be it flattery, compliments, or eloquence - those were vital skills one could get there. Many changelings were splendid orators, sweet talkers, or seducers. Unfortunately, Nomura had never been one of those. She tended to be too bold in her opinions, and when it came to human ways to show affection… Well, she was one of those who could never mute the part of her troll psyche that found those repulsive.
Luckily for the female, the Order didn't find that one to be an unaccepted flaw. Changelings who refused to tolerate some other aspects of fleshbag life, like the food, for example, mostly ended in way more trouble.
"And how does dating that woman help with your connections?" Nomura frowned, not that pleased with Stricklander avoiding a direct answer.
She avoided calling any names, which could mean that Bular was not that far. Or, perhaps, the woman was simply overcautious. It was hard to tell.
The sun was still high in the sky, and both changelings kept their human guise, so the second one would be more likely.
"I can get a valuable pawn for my plan," Strickler shrugged, never revealing everything as well. Deep inside, he wondered himself.
Were his attempts to seduce Barbara only part of the scheme? Or was there something more to that?
Using someone's romantic feelings wasn't an unexplored field for the Head of Janus Order. Not that he was a lady-killer or something, but Walter had more than enough experience in seduction. In some cases, some sweet words were more than enough to make a woman go head-over-heels with him.
However, Barbara definitely wasn't one of those. Cheap tactics would never work with her, so he would need to reconsider.
That was a challenge, and Stricklander wasn't beyond enjoying that stuff. Besides, it was impossible to deny Barbara's inborn charm.
"Don't tell me you've fallen in love," Nomura drawled lazily, feigning disinterest. Her eyes told the whole other story, though. No, she certainly hoped to catch her superior on breaching the Order's codex and use it to blackmail him afterward.
Sure, as if Strickler would ever provide her with such a convenient opening!
When it came to using others, he had always been many levels above everyone else!
Ironically, Nomura's lazy remark about falling in love remained to haunt his mind. It was as if his aide believed in the possibility of something so unhinged.
Stricklander was sure that he simply couldn't fall in love with anyone. Well, perhaps, he could have initially, before the Order had snatched him away from his troll family. The training regime there was designed to purge any kind of attractions or affections.
Well, some changelings managed to keep those, but had it brought anyone any good? How many executions and public punishment had been there? Nomura was probably the only exception with getting away with a slap on the wrist.
No, Strickler had never been one of those naive fools, and…
"Sorry, am I late?" Barbara's sweet voice and sheepish smile made his heart skip a beat. That was an oddly annoying perk of a human body.
Yet… She seemed even more beautiful today. As if that was possible!
"Just in time," Walter smiled back.
It was a peculiar date - at first, the remarks they exchanged felt stiff and reserved, but as the time passed, those turned more and more daring. Barbara told a joke - and Strickler genuinely laughed at that one. Then they started a heated debate about different painting styles.
Walter was impressed to his core. He was well-versed in many topics - a knowledge he honed through decades to keep with any kind of conversation, yet apparently, Barbara knew as much if not more.
Jim's mother seemed so much more open today. Was it because the conversation wasn't about her or her son? Strickler wondered what kind of experiences may have caused it.
And…
For the first time in his life, he genuinely wished he wasn't connected to the troll world at all…
"I've thought it's your free day," Jim knitted his eyebrows as he had noticed his mom looking for her car keys.
"Well, it's not my work," Barbara confessed sheepishly. "It's…"
A date with your World History teacher?
She wondered if her son would ever be cool with that. Granted, he liked Mr. Strickler (much to her own chagrin), but wasn't a parent dating their teacher one of the most embarrassing things for any teen?
An attempt to fish out the true intentions of the scheming troll bastard?
Yeah, sure. That one was even bigger 'nope'.
"A meeting with a friend," Barbara finished, going with the most harmless option.
"Oh, I see," Jim nodded and chuckled nervously. "That's good… I guess…"
For whatever reason, he seemed pretty skittish - and that hadn't escaped his mother's attentive gaze.
"Has something happened?" she asked. Lately, they hadn't been able to have any proper conversation. First, Jim seemed to be busy with studies - 'preparing for Uhl's onslaught' as he had explained. Then there was staying overnight at the Domzalski's residence - not that it had never happened before, but usually her son tended to inform her prior.
"Well, just wanted to tell you that I'll be out tonight too… Probably, will be back late," the teen forced a smile.
"Another Gun Robot marathon with Toby?" Barbara guessed. She wondered why something so trivial distressed her boy that much. Did he think that she would be against it?
"No, actually, it's training with chess club members," Jim replied hastily.
Now it made even less sense.
"Kiddo, I'm not against that hobby," the mother approached the teen and ruffled his hair. "Besides, you can invite your new friends here - I'll be happy to meet them. And if that bully you've mentioned come as well, I'll tell him what I think about his inferiority complexes!"
"Mom," Jim groaned, but she could see that his mood had already improved.
During her drive, Barbara wondered what kind of approach she should have used with Stricklander. Overcautious and hostile? Hadn't that one already landed her in trouble?
Maybe a formal and aloof one? No, that one may turn out to be even more suspicious.
Or she can play friendly and charming - as long as the daughter of Gunmar kept vigilant, everything should be fine.
Barbara nearly failed even that simple mission when she caught a barely noticeable fragrance of a male perfume.
Just what kind of plan did that winged bastard have?
No, she should have stayed calm and refrained from any rudeness - and surprisingly enough, it turned out to be not that impossible.
Most likely, it was because of the topic for their conversation. There were no fishy hints or phrases with vague meaning, just an honest exchange of opinions about art.
Stricklander turned out to be really knowledgeable about that stuff, talking about the influences and philosophy surrounding certain genres.
It was genuinely fun - so who cared if the date was with a well-known hypocrite and not-that-friendly figure? At some moments, Barbara actually forgot about Strickler being an impure and just treated him as a witty and interesting companion.
Sure thing, in the end, she learned nothing about his motivation, but could she really call it the waste of time?
Tonight Jim planned to have a meeting with all his current allies involved. Of course, he would have preferred taking his wizard friends underground, but apparently, it wasn't the best idea, according to Blinky. So, in the end, they had decided to meet at the local dumpster.
Most likely, that one wasn't the safest spot, taking into account Gumm-Gumms, who could ambush any time, but Douxie promised to put the protection there.
"Hey, Jimbo, you ok?" Toby looked at his friend with some concern. They both were heading out to the meeting spot. "Look, I'm more than sure that everyone will get along! Remember how excited Blinky was when you told him about the meeting with Merlin's apprentice?"
"Yeah," Jim chuckled unwittingly. "Though, I have a different worry…"
His face darkened once again.
"About?" Toby asked.
"My mom," the Trollhunter responded with a sigh. "The more time passes, the more difficult it becomes to lie to her. Especially when she tries to be the best mom possible… Can you imagine that she suggested the chess club meeting at our home after I used it as an excuse?"
"Wow," his friend whistled.
Jim sighed once again. Perhaps, he could introduce Douxie and Zoe to Barbara (though it may have caused a question of why he had older friends). Blinky and Aaarrrgghh, on the other hand… That one was a definite 'no'. He couldn't show his mother trolls without explaining all the stuff regarding underground civilization and his own involvement with it.
"And mom also wanted to talk to Draal about his bullying tendencies!" the lanky teen continued.
"So cool," Toby nodded in approval and quickly added after noticing Jim's annoyed glare: "I mean, someone has to call down that dude."
They covered the rest of the distance in total silence. The plump boy attempted to lighten the mood with a joke several times but closed his mouth at the last second. After all, Toby knew better than anyone else how much Jim loved his mother. Lying to her may have been the most challenging part of his current position, with fighting evil trolls being nothing in comparison.
When they had finally arrived at the dumpster, Aaarrrgghh was already exploring some trash, with Blinky trying to wrestle some kind of a car detail from him.
"Arghaumont, my dear friend, would you mind finding yourself a better snack? I need that one, thank you very much!" the troll scholar was definitely greatly interested in getting that one intact.
"Okay," the brute nodded and let it go. Blinky, who didn't expect it made several steps and nearly fell.
"Hey, guys!" Toby waved to trolls, attracting their attention.
"Master Jim! Tobias," the scholar smiled. "Just in time."
"Trying to secure the best snacks, eh?" the plump teen elbowed him.
"Dubiously," Blinky huffed, hiding the detail into his bag. "That is a vital part of my current research!"
Jim smiled, watching their exchange. What was the point of being broody right now? Today was the meaningful moment of uniting all the allies.
He texted Douxie, getting the response that they were close as well.
Everything had gone smoothly so far… Hopefully, it would stay the same.
Alas, even the best-thought things could go wrong with ease. Jim realized it soon enough as Aaarrrgghh sniffed Archie and commented:
"Cat. Smells tasty."
"Can someone keep that brute as far from me as possible?" the familiar gave the troll the death glare and jumped at the tallest pile of trash just in case.
Apparently, cats didn't get along with trolls. Well, Jim could see the reason for that - he had seen cat meat being served at the Trollmarket.
Luckily, no one focused on that tiny hiccup for that long.
"I'm Blinkous Galadrigal, a keeper of troll knowledge and a mentor to the Trollhunter," Blinky bowed formally.
"He went with his full name," Toby whispered to Jim, clearly impressed. "Must be a big deal for him".
"Um, Hisirdoux Casperan, Merlin's apprentice," Douxie responded not that confidently and extended his hand for a handshake. Apparently, that was a grave mistake as Blinky used all his hands for that greeting.
Zoe laughed wholeheartedly at the scene, watching how the scholar showered her boyfriend with questions.
"Someone needs to film it," she suggested, still giggling.
"Shouldn't we save him?" Jim looked at her in bewilderment. "Blinky can be too enthusiastic at times."
He remembered his first meeting with the troll in question - now that the lanky teen thought about it, his mentor had definitely overdone back then as well.
It took some more moments until Blinky released the hapless wizard-in-training, and Zoe managed to talk Archie into coming closer to everyone else. The cat agreed to compromise, positioning himself between Douxie and Jim (the farthest from Aaarrrgghh, as everyone noticed).
Merlin's apprentice took out the map, proceeding to the report about his team's search of the enemies' lair. So far, they hadn't been lucky, no matter how much effort they put.
"So, if anyone at the Trollmarket has some knowledge, that will be handy," the young man finished, looking at trolls hopefully. "Perhaps, the previous Trollhunter discovered anything…"
"Well, I have no ideas about possible locations," Blinky admitted sadly. "But I know that Barverra hasn't been to Arcadia for as long as her brother. Kanjigar fought her around nine years ago…"
"Wait, Kanjigar fought the scary troll lady and got away?" Toby interrupted. "Isn't she as deadly as Bular?"
"Barverra retreated herself back then," the scholar responded. "And believe me, Kanjigar tried his best to locate her afterward - with no success whatsoever. It was as if she disappeared without a trail…"
"Trolls need some cover during the day," Zoe mused. "Not to mention that we learned about Barverra only recently… Could it be that she was somewhere else?"
"I wonder…" Douxie nodded. "Especially as we noticed Bular regularly…"