That Day was Today

Jim sat at his desk and looked outside through the open window. In front of him lay a notepad and, lost in thought, he tapped his pen on the sheet, which, along with five other sheets, was already half written on.

He had just said goodbye for the afternoon to his mother, who was going to work after all, after Jim had assured her that he was fine and that he was expecting Toby any minute now. And sure enough, just as his mother was about to leave, he heard the strained snorts of his best friend.

"Hello, Dr. L," Jim heard Toby saying and looked back at the page that lay before him. Skimming the notes, he stopped at one point.

Tell Mom

"Hello, Toby. Jim is upstairs. He's still supposed to be taking it easy, but he's well enough to go back to school tomorrow."

"Awesome!"

Snorting, Jim smiled. Then he added a WHEN? to his entry.

"You boys make yourself a good afternoon then, yes?"

"We will, Dr. L. I'll just let my Nana know I'll be with Jimbo and then we'll dutifully do our homework."

"That's how we raised you two." His mother laughed, and Jim heard her car pull away.

A few moments later he heard Toby call his name and stood up to look over the desk down out the window.

"Hey, Tobes," he smiled and it was really strange. Rationally, Jim was aware that the three years as trollhunter had been all in his head. That Toby hadn't died fighting Bellroc. And yet there was nothing he could do about the emotions that came up at the sight of him and threatened to constrict his chest.

"Be right with you, Jimbo. Just a minute," he called up, then hurried his bike to the house opposite the cul-de-sac.

"Okay, Tobes," Jim whispered, trying to breathe away the oppressive feeling. The fact that he saw Toby alive in front of him helped immensely, and again he looked at the sheet of paper.

HOW? he wrote down and then let the notepad disappear in his drawer.

The how had also been the question, how on earth he should tell Toby about it. Jim had toyed with the idea of keeping the Amulet and everything that might follow a secret from him. But if he was honest with himself, he wouldn't have the strength and endurance to do so. Toby wasn't his best friend for nothing - the two had been inseparable for years. He also didn't want to keep it from him at all. And if he took this dream-illusion or whatever it was at face value, his solo efforts had never really done any good.

Then he heard the front door on the floor below him and closed the window. Jim had written down all the mistakes he had made in his first time as the Trollhunter that he could remember or those that had been reported back to him by his friends and former enemies.

'Not this time,' he thought grimly. 'This time Walter won't get wind of it already on my second day as the Trollhunter.' That anyone would accidentally overhear Toby and him during the upcoming conversation was therefore to be meticulously avoided!

"Ugh, Jimbo," Toby started as he stepped into Jim's room and dropped onto the bed after seeing Jim sitting in the chair. "You're lucky you had a stomach bug. Coach Lawrence did the climbing rope to us today! I'm still all banged up from it. See that? My poor arms!" To illustrate, he wiggled both arms around a bit before dropping them weakly. "And my legs are still all wobbly. I'm telling you, I actually almost made it halfway, but then I lost my grip and was hanging upside down because my foot got caught and the coach poked my stomach! That was cruel!" his best friend wailed, and when Jim's memory of the previous night sent the corresponding picture to this description, he had to stifle a smile.

"Actually, Tobes, it wasn't a stomach bug at all."

"It wasn't?" With raised eyebrows, Toby looked up briefly, but then let himself sink back down onto the soft blanket. "I just hope it's nothing contagious. I have two marathon sessions at the dentist the next two days. I can't skip those if I want to get rid of my braces until I graduate."

"Don't worry, it's nothing contagious. I just couldn't tell my mom what it really was."

"O-kay?" Toby stretched the word, sitting up after all. "Now I'm curious."

Jim nodded and looked at his friend seriously. "I had a dream last night. A really crazy, absolutely extraordinary dream that, when I woke up, pieces of it triggered my nausea. I'd like to tell you about it and get your opinion."

"When you're that serious about it, it's a little creepy, you know? But sure, shoot, I'm all ears."

Again, Jim nodded and took one deep breath. This was going to take a while.

"The dream started on a day like this..."

"So, let me recap," Toby mumbled as he gleefully chewed the fries he had just shoved into his mouth. For at some point during the narration of Jim-in-the-Darklands they had both looked at each other and decided that the food there was absolutely not fit for humans. Together they'd made their way to the kitchen, where they'd opted for freshly made fries and giant portions of ketchup. That had definitely helped Jim to banish the memory of the really nasty aftertaste of the Nyalagroth eggs...

"You pulled freakin' Excalibur out of the stone. The sword of all swords? And you still doubted yourself to be the Trollhunter?"

Sheepishly, Jim shrugged his shoulders. "More like before that, actually. When the Amulet was destroyed by the Arcane Order and I had no sword at all."

Snorting, Toby shook his head and paused briefly before shoving the next fry into his mouth. "Don't take offense, Jimbo, but that Dream-Jim was a jerk."

Raising both eyebrows, Jim looked at his friend with amusement. "Yeah? What exactly did you notice?" he asked, ready to take mental notes on anything Toby had to say.

"Aside from that Darkland disaster? I mean, who would voluntarily go in there alone? And that-"

Suddenly violently coughing, Toby's body tensed and shook as he tried to reach for his water glass. Without thinking about it, Jim was jumping up and at his side in the next second.

"Tobes!"

Pounding him hard between the shoulder blades, Jim looked at him with eyes widened in terror because of the gurgling and half-choked sounds his best friend was making. Seconds stretched into endless moments and somewhere in the middle Toby had knocked over his glass instead of grabbing it. But then the coughing fit apparently subsided and his friend breathed heavily, starring at the table.

"Man, I really shouldn't talk while eating. Look at that, I spit out this innocent fry again. And the water… Sorry, Jimbo, for this mess."

Then, Toby turned to him and seeing his expression he too got wide-eyed.

"Jimbo?"

It wasn't until Jim dropped back onto his chair and brushed his hair out of his forehead in a jerky motion that he realized his hands were shaking.

Nervously, Toby laughed quietly. "Hey, I'm okay. Just choked on the food. That whole Toby-dying-under-a-giant-stone thing was just a dream, remember?"

But Jim couldn't laugh. With his lips pinched together, he balled his hands into fists while propping his elbows on his knees. For a moment he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against his fists. Breathing slowly in and out, he tried to get rid of the adrenaline, but he couldn't quite shake off the panicky feeling of fear.

Then he felt Toby grasping his hands.

"Jimbo, I'm all right. Look at me. Don't let this dream give you PTSD whenever I'm clumsy. I'm afraid otherwise gym class is going to be hell on earth for you." Toby smiled encouragingly, showing off his braces.

"You may be right, Tobes," Jim whispered. "But the problem is, whatever it was, it wasn't just a dream."

"What do you mean?"

For endless moments, Jim just stared into Toby's eyes, wondering if he should really tell him. But Toby deserved to make the decision for himself as to whether he wanted to embark on this adventure. And in order to decide, he needed to know all the facts.

"You remember how I started the story? That we found the Amulet on a day like this?"

When Toby nodded mutely, Jim reached out his right hand and summoned the Amulet to him. For a few seconds nothing happened and Toby looked at him quizzically, ready to say something. But then Jim heard the familiar hum of magic and smiled as the Amulet flew in an arc over the banister and landed in his hand a breath later. Toby's mouth just stayed open and Jim's smile formed into a sheepish grin.

"That day was today. But please don't tell my mom I was at the canal when I should have been in bed."

Again, Toby just nodded silently, not taking his eyes off the magical object. When his friend leaned forward and narrowed his eyes though, Jim almost feared that Toby was about to fall off his chair. But then he looked at Jim almost accusingly.

"You said it changed these symbols, this- this writing. But whatever it says is definitely not legible!"

Leaning himself back, Jim shook his head slightly. "It doesn't have to. I can read it. But if you'd like to see it..."

A nod later, Jim focused on the Amulet again and let it make the three turns to let the inscription change from Trollish to English.

"This is..." stammered Toby, then looked at Jim in wide-eyed wonder. "Show me!" No sooner had he uttered it than he jumped up and pushed his chair aside. Then he gestured around wildly, probably trying to make Jim understand that he now had plenty of room in the dining room to do whatever he needed to do.

"Okay, okay." Jim chuckled softly and stood up. And he couldn't help it, it felt good to have his best friend there this time when he activated the armor for the first time.

"For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command," Jim incanted, and just as he remembered, several orbs of blue magic sprang from the Amulet and disappeared into his chest. Then the energy burst out of him again and lifted him into the air so that he floated above the ground in a field of this magical energy. And it was so much... more than his memory could recall. Jim felt the magic not only travel along his skin, but seep into him. And for a brief moment, it was as if he was being torn down a tunnel, and when he started hearing voices whispering, he also saw images flitting past him. He recognized Douxie and Merlin without problem and saw Morgana's hand sinking into a large cauldron.

'Why are you showing me this?' Jim sent his thoughts to the Amulet. 'I already know that Morgana's power is a part of you too. She told me so herself.'

Jim felt the armor adjust to him, but his thoughts continued to be on the images the Amulet had just shown him.

You didn't know it could do that, did you?

Jim's eyes widened as he heard Merlin say again that phrase that he already had in his head several hours ago.

Rise Trollhunter and become!

As if through a fog, he heard Toby's enthusiasm when the sword of daylight appeared in his outstretched hand, and at the same time, Jim felt as if a light was dawning on him.

"This. Is. Sooo freakin' cool! Totally awesome sauce!"

"That's nearly exactly what I said the last time," Jim muttered almost to himself while thinking, 'Morgana's magic is within you… I actually don't know what all you can do, what your magic is capable of.'

Smiling, Jim held out the sword to Toby, who admired it from all sides.

'I guess I'll have a lot to learn. But this time, I know where to start.'

"Okay. I totally get why you went after the Amulet and got it this time," Toby interrupted Jim's thoughts. "Apparently, this dream was some kind of foreshadowing, you know? From this Time Stone maybe. Who can say how such a mystical stone really works? But what's important, Jimbo, we have an absolute advantage here, when you actually already know what will happen in the future. So, whoever sent this to you, we can thank them later. But I tell you one thing - I want my warhammer without either kissing the cement of the street or running the risk of drifting weightlessly into space! After what Claire told you and you told me, it definitely sounds like something I want to avoid." Toby winked at him.

Jim couldn't help but admire Toby's boundless optimism and enthusiasm. With the appropriate thought, he let the armor disappear, and right after he grabbed the Amulet before it could land on the floor he gratefully embraced his best friend.

"Thank you, Tobes, for everything. I can't think of anyone I'd rather take this journey with."

This elicited a soft chuckle from his friend. "Not even Claire?"

"That's different. You've been there with me from the beginning. And I promise you, I will do everything in my power so that this time we'll end up standing there together when all the battles are fought!"

Toby looked at him seriously and nodded. "Yeah. This is going to be really cool if we don't end up dying. But it's late already and for now I think we should do our homework. While I can't really imagine what Strickler looks like as a changeling, even as a human teacher he can get uncomfortable if we haven't done the homework!"

"Okay." Jim laughed, and after cleaning the table, both boys went upstairs again to do Michaelson, chapters four and five.