Author Note: I added and removed to alienate what's here to the previous chapter.
"Claire, wake up," Jim whispers, shaking my shoulder.
I open my eyes to him smiling sweetly at me. "Jim." I moan. I take in a deep breath but don't feel my chest collapse. "What happened to me?" I ask as I look down my body, seeing a blue tank top, shorts, and bandages on my arms, shoulders, and legs.
"You were attacked and badly injured by the creature outside of the castle we discovered to be a Gwyllgi—a Celtic mythological wolf. As soon as your fight ended, you were bleeding heavily, and I thought I was going to lose you. Thankfully, you're not bleeding anymore, and Zoe and Darci bandage your wounds in case of an infection. The wounds were too deep for you to heal quickly." Jim says calmly, trying to soothe me.
"How long was I out?" I ask, my stomach aching in pain.
"About a day."
"A day? How long did I have to heal myself?" I ask, amazed.
"I don't know exactly why, but Zoe believed your energy is completely consumed into healing yourself when you get hurt. Because of the severe but thankfully not fatal wounds, your body temporarily shuts down, so make the healing process work. Now you're awake; it means your body is completely healed." He explains.
"Well, that explains a lot," I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes. I turn to my other side, and my heart drops. "Where's Nymeria? Is she ok? Did you find her?" I ask worryingly, turning to Jim.
"Don't worry. We found her, and she's okay. She fought off the Gwyllgi after it wounded you and scared it away. She was so worried about you, felt guilty, and stayed by your side when I wasn't here." Jim reassured me. "She left the room last night to let me sleep next to you."
"Can I see her?" I ask.
"Of course, she should be at the door last time I checked." He says, walking towards it. He opens the door and tells someone to come in, letting Nymeria walk past him. She looks gloomy but perks up and rushes over to the bed when she sees me.
"Oh, thank god, Nymeria. You're okay." I sigh, reaching out to pet her.
"I'm glad you're too; I was so worried." She says, rubbing against my palm.
"What were you doing out of the castle? You scared me." I ask, making Nymeria's ears drop and back away.
"I thought something was in the castle that was a threat to you, but it seems it found and attacked you instead." She whispers, looking guilty. "Claire, I'm so sorry I left your side. I thought I was protecting you and your friends, but I was wrong. I feel ashamed as a familiar to my master."
"Shhh! Don't worry about it. You saved me from the Gwyllgi. If it wasn't for your interference, I would've died."
"Thanks to your friends, you did." She corrected me.
"You deserve the same amount of credit as Zoe, Darci, and Jim," I reassured her, making her wag her tail. "Please don't call me master just because you're my familiar. You are my friend."
"Alright." She agreed, and I scratched behind her ears.
Jim grabs something from his bag and hands me food bigger than my usual rations. "Here, you might be healed, but you need to eat."
I take it and start eating, but I take apart some to give to my boyfriend, who shakes his head.
"I already ate." He replies, but I sense he's not telling the truth. "I had half of my ration and wanted to save it for you. You need it more than me."
"Come on, Jim, you need to eat too."
"You're the one whose stomach is empty." He says before my stomach growls loudly. He glances down and looks at me, raising his eyebrow.
Arguing with him won't get me anywhere, so I shrugged it off and bit into the food. When done, Jim gets behind me and removes my bandages from my body, making him sigh.
"What is it?"
"Well, you're all healed, but it left a scar." He replies.
"Where?" I ask, panicked
"On your shoulder blade. Thank god you didn't have one on your neck."
"Is it bad?"
"No." He reassures me and helps me get up from the bed, making sure I can walk. I groan with my feet on the floor, but after a few steps, I start walking on my own. Jim led me to a mirror, and I held my hair to look behind to see the scar. "I can barely see it."
It's three scratches match that are two inches long and blend into my skin. "Now we're twins." I joke, letting my hair drop, and look at my boyfriend.
"My scars are on my face." He corrects.
I smile and place the fingers of my hands over his scars, one on his cheek and the other over his eyebrow. "But they make you look heroic and handsome," I say, making him chuckle and take my hand from over his eye. He wraps his other arm around my waist, and we kiss passionately.
"Yours make you look beautiful." He replies as we pull away, making me smile.
I walk to my clothes, and Jim turns around for me to get dressed. I groan in pain when I stretch to adjust my clothes, but I finish and turn around to Jim. "Come on, our friends are waiting for us."
Jim and I opened the door to meet Amber and followed her with Nymeria behind us. We got to the courtroom, and I saw our friends talking with each other. Mary turns around and gasps.
"Claire!" She calls out, drawing everyone's attention to me and Jim. Darci and Mary ran to hug me, relieved I was okay.
"How are you feeling?"
I turned around and saw Douxie, Zoe, Nari, and Archie. "I'm alright." I sigh.
"We thought you almost died!" Mary exclaims.
"Mary, she wasn't dying. She just lost blood and passed out." Zoe corrects.
"You sacrificed your safety to save us," Darci says to me.
"You're my friends. I will always do what I can to protect you, and I will do it over and over again if I have to." I announce to them.
"I told you were too pure for the Arcane Order to take," Nari says, making Jim growl.
Blinky, Douxie, Zoe, and Nari hugged me before we walked into the arena. "Where's Veronica?" I ask, worried about what she told me two days ago.
"Here, Claire." She says and appears in front of me. She seems strong and awake, but I sense something's wrong with her.
"So, when do we start?" Steve asks, rolling his eyes, ready to start another day of training.
Douxie asks Nari and Archie to come with him. I want to join him, but Zoe stops me, and Douxie reassures me to stay with the rest of the group for the day. While everyone is training, Veronica and Zoe approach and pull me aside.
"Claire, ready to practice in the library?" Veronica whispers.
"But I thought Douxie told me to stay with the rest of the group?" I ask, concerned.
Zoe glances around and whispers. "He told us you wanted to learn occlumency."
"Ohhhh!" I reply, understanding and getting excited. "Yes, I do!"
Jim notices us leaving, and Zoe tells him what is going on. Jim asks if it will be instene I reassure him I'll be ok. When we left the room, I felt someone wasn't telling the truth, and the hall didn't look familiar from going to the library. "Ummm, Zoe, Veronica, what's going on?" I ask.
They stop, and Zoe glances around before recognizing my question. "Douxie is going to give Jim the Amulet. He thought it would be better to give Jim this today after what happened yesterday." She whispers. "He told us to tell you about it without being suspicious."
I get excited and forget about learning occlumency. "Really? Can I see it?"
"No. We're going to the library to avoid suspicion." Zoe replies firmly, making me whine. "Do you want to draw attention to yourself?"
I think about it for a moment. "No, you're right." I sigh and follow Zoe and Veronica to the library.
"I'll let you two know when it's safe to come out," Veronica tells us as we prepare for me to learn.
"Thanks!" I reply.
"Now, let's start this lesson," Zoe says, stretching like she was bored all day. "Occlumency is a magical-mental defense of the mind, or mind-blocking to humans. This skill is very difficult to learn, but once you master it, it's a highly useful method to protect the mind." She explains.
"Douxie told me you are a master of occlumency and legilimency, and I remember you said he sucked at it," I comment.
"Yes, his methods suck so much that he couldn't use that skill to survive out of a wet paper bag." Zoe chuckles.
"Why do you always insult Douxie like that? I thought you liked him?" I ask, confused.
"I'm making fun of him, but that's neither here nor there." Zoe hissed, but I caught a second of her blushing from my question. "Now, I'm actually born with these skills called Pathokinesis. It's the ability to manipulate emotions psychically. It's not a skill you can learn, but you have similar abilities: algiakinesis and evocation. I assume Veronica explained the basics of them to you, right?"
I nod my head.
"Good, so at least you understand it, and I don't need to explain." Zoe sighs. "Douxie came to me, saying Jim wants you to stop having nightmares about the Arcane Order and be at peace, but it won't be easy."
"I'm ready!" I say enthusiastically, making Zoe look at me suspiciously before rolling her eyes.
"Occlumency isn't an easy skill to learn and master. That's why Douxie asked me to teach you this. It takes strong mental strength to use this effectively. An emotional wizard makes it more difficult to master occlumency, but it takes an analytical mind to master legilimency. Once you learn to use occlumency, we'll move on to legilimency, and that way, you can use algiakinesis and evocation more effectively-"
"Why can't I learn legilimency and occlumency at the same time? We're kind of in a time limit here." I interrupt.
"I know," Zoe hisses. "But occlumency and legilimency are not as simple as you think, and you will see that in a second." And takes her wand out.
Douxie told me Zoe is a hedge witch and uses a wand instead of us, the palms of our hands. Archie often jokes hedge wizards are weaker than me and Douxie's kind, but I see Zoe as much of a strong witch as Douxie is a wizard. Zoe tells me to sit down, and I sit on a chair near us.
"Brace yourself." She says before pointing her wand at me. "Legilimens!"
Suddenly, I feel a bullet hit my head, making me groan in pain and close my eyes. I try my best to fight the pain, but it's too much. I see flashes of my memories and hear voices that are unspeakable to understand. Zoe stops, and I open my eyes. "What... was... that?" I gasp for air, panting.
"I just used Legilimency on you. For a moment, I could see visions in your head. Memories and things others aren't able to see."
"But why couldn't I fight back?"
"Emotional people have difficulty shielding their minds," Zoe says stoically.
"I'm not emotional!" I say defensively.
"Oh really? Then why are we doing this in the first place?" Zoe asks, crossing her arms.
I huff in annoyance. "How many times will this take?"
"Until you successfully block my spells. Unless you fight back, the Arcane Order will continuously hit you with everything they have until you break. Brace yourself again... Legilimens."
Zoe points her wand at me again, and another bullet hits my head, making me cry and close my eyes. I feel something slither in my mind and struggle to block it from moving forward. There are many things in my mind I don't want anyone, especially Zoe, to know. I push them back and put up a fight, but Zoe pulls out, making me gasp for air and open my eyes again.
"You're tough," Zoe says. "But not tough enough... Legilimens!"
Zoe tries to invade my mind for what seems like forever, but I don't let her see what I want to hide. For it to stop, I beg to see Jim, Douxie, and the others, but Zoe pushes the lesson. She tells me she knows what I'm thinking, making my skin crawl. To help, Veronica asked why I wanted to learn occlumency. I explain I don't want to let Bellroc, Skrael, or the Half-Troll infiltrate my mind and maybe beat them back. Zoe encourages me to think she's Bellroc and use my hatred for the Demigod to block my mind. Zoe continuously kicks my butt, making me angry, feeling helpless, and wanting to fight back. Before Zoe hits me again, I get up and out of the chair and lift my hand to her. "Legilimens!"
I shout, and blood rushes to my head. I blink of visions of darkness, color, music, and one of Douxie and Zoe walking with each other, hand in hand, looking at each other lovingly. I gasp and let go, making Zoe and I collapse. I fainted for a minute and woke up to Zoe on the ground, asleep. Horror sweeps over me, and I crawl to her. "Zoe, wake up!" I shout, shaking her shoulders. I touch her head, take a deep breath, and use my powers to heal and soothe her pain. Blood rushes to my head, but a moment later, Zoe opens her eyes, making me sigh with relief. "Oh my god, Zoe, I am so sorry," I say, panicked, helping her sit upright.
"For what? For beating me and using the Legilimency spell? You did it!" She replies, excited.
"I made you pass out and had to wake you up using my magic," I say, worried.
"Oh no. It's ok, Claire. You did great. A little more practice and you will be a master at Legilimency and Occlumency." She says proudly before her face becomes ghost-white. "Claire, you're bleeding."
I feel a drip down my nose and groan in annoyance. I stopped the bleeding the way Barbara showed me and spotted Amber flying towards us. "Hey there!"
"Looks like class is dismissed, and it's time to check on our friends," Zoe says, and we help each other to our feet. Veronica checks in on us, and we walk to the library exit.
"Please don't tell Douxie," I beg as we walk down the hall following Veronica and Amber.
"Of what?" Zoe asks, confused. "Of our lesson? He knows."
"No. Of what I saw in your head." I reply, but I immediately regret my words as Zoe looks at me with surprise.
"What did you see?" She asked, panicked.
I bite my lip, blushing. "I saw you and Douxie together, walking with each other, hand in hand, looking at each other lovingly," I admit.
Zoe turns pale again. "What?... Was...was that it?"
I nod my head. "It looked like you two were going to kiss," I add, making Zoe look away.
"Don't tell anyone about this." She mumbles, covering her mouth.
"I won't," I promise, and we walk in silence until I make up the courage to ask her a question she might not like. "Do you really love Douxie?"
Zoe looks away, biting her lip, and thinks to herself before sighing. "Yes... I... I love him." She admits.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" I ask, curious.
"Because..." Zoe pauses and sighs. "For centuries, I've been alone for most of my life. Hiding, faking your death, and finding a new home to stay in was the norm for me, and no one understood that until I met Douxie." She explains.
"When did you guys meet?"
"Right after Camelot fell. He was wandering with Archie around Europe, trying to find a new home. I was in the wilderness picking flowers for my work when I heard him scream. I ran in that direction and saw Douxie and Archie being attacked by a bear. As a Pathokinesis, I was able to calm the bear and tell them to leave Douxie and Archie alone. They thanked me for saving their lives, and I asked where they came from, sensing them to be magical creatures. To make Douxie trust me, I showed him my wand and asked him again. He said he and Archie were trying to find a new home, and I offered them to come with me, knowing they traveled a long way from England to Italy. He agreed, and we walked to the village I was in. For the next two centuries, all three of us stayed together. As time went on, Douxie and I fell in love, and we planned to be together, marry, and even maybe have kids."
"What happened that made you two split up?" I ask, sensing something bad.
Zoe hesitates and sighs, shaking her head. "Archie was scared and thought Douxie was leaving him for me. It wasn't true. Douxie and I had arguments about it, but we still wanted it to work. More time passed, and I was at the end of my rope, packing my things, and left our house when Douxie was asleep, not wanting to say goodbye face-to-face. After a few days, I regretted it and returned to say 'I'm sorry,' but the house was empty when I arrived. I was sad and thought Douxie left me."
"Oh, my god," I mumble. "Zoe, I'm so sorry."
"Centuries later, I got to America, and Douxie and I reunited another century later, but it was confusing for us. As time passed, we became friends again, but nothing else happened. We traveled to California during the early 1900s and have stayed there ever since."
Silence becomes between us again, but I want to ask her more. "So, that's why you always tease and insult him. You still love him but are scared to be with him."
Zoe nods her head and sighs again. "I didn't have anything stable before and after being with him. We could stay together, never worry about the other aging, and die in our arms, but I thought he betrayed me. I have trouble trusting others, and losing him was worse than anything that happened to me in the past. He might be immature sometimes, but I love him with all my heart."
"Do you trust me?" I ask worryingly.
She nods her head.
"I asked Douxie about this. He told me he thought you betrayed him, and he wants the same thing." I add. "Maybe you two can explain, and things will return to how you want them to be," I suggest, wanting my friends to be happy.
"Maybe." She mumbles.
"Are you guys sleeping in the same room together?"
Zoe giggles and shakes her head. "No, but I want to."
"Then talk to him."
"Sure," Zoe replies, and we get to the courtroom door, making me freeze. "What's wrong, Claire? Don't you want to see your Trollhunter again?"
"Yes, but..." I pause, my fingers almost touching the handle. "I just hope Douxie didn't tell."
"Knowing Douxie, he would never snitch on someone," Zoe replies, crossing her arms. "I still don't understand why you don't want to tell Jim you created the Amulet."
"Not yet!" I hiss. "The Arcane Order is after me. I revived Jim from death and did what Douxie thought only master wizards like him could do. What do you think everyone's reaction would be if we told them?"
"'Master wizard' is just a fancy title and staff to undermine the ones with real talent."
"But what about Douxie?" I ask with concern.
"Douxie was a great and talented wizard before he received his staff." She corrects me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I know you will be a great witch, with or without a staff or fancy title." She says seriously.
I smile and nod my head. "I will tell him eventually."
"Take your time," Zoe replies.
I look at the door and take a deep breath to push it open.
"Hey, there you guys are!" Toby calls out, turning to us.
"Sorry, bud. I was teaching Claire in the library." Zoe replies, causing everyone else to turn to us.
My breath catches in my chest when I see Jim in armor. When our eyes meet, emotions flood through me. Jim looks back to what he did before as the Trollhunter, making me proud of myself and happy for him. "Jim!" I call out and run to him. I launch myself on him, making us grunt. "You're the Trollhunter again!"
"Yeah!" Jim replies, gently wrapping his arms around my waist.
"How is this possible? I thought the Amulet was destroyed?" I ask, playing dumb.
"Douxie and Nari re-created it. They wanted me to become the Trollhunter again." He replies, making me smile as I pull away.
I look down and stare at the Amulet on his chest. I cover my hand over it and sigh, reading the incantation. For the glory of all, Daylight is mine to command. "How do you feel?" I ask, looking at him.
"Empowered," Jim replies. "More confident than I was before."
"The legacy of the Trollhunter is alive once again!" Blinky cheers.
"The slightest movement shows some purple in the silver and blue armor," I say, noticing the details in the armor.
"The gem we found was for the Amulet was blue and purple. We couldn't find any circular pure blue gems." Douxie clarifies.
"I couldn't care less," Jim reassures him and looks at me. "It reminds me of you." He whispers, making me tense up.
Does he know I re-created the Amulet?
"Thank you so much for bringing back the Trollhunter!" Blinky cheers, looking at Douxie and making him chuckle nervously.
"It was the least I could do." He replies, glancing at me. "I did it before; I believed I could do it again with the help of Nari."
"Claire, did you know this was going on?" Toby asks, making me tense up and turn my head to him.
"Huh?" I ask.
"You were with Douxie a lot. Did you know?" He clarifies.
I shake my head. "No. I thought Douxie was training alone while I hung out with Veronica." I half lie.
"No. We were re-creating a destroyed weapon." Archie replies, pretending I wasn't in the room as Douxie re-created the Amulet.
We all celebrate the Trollhunter coming back. Blinky can't continuously stop thanking Douxie, making me proud and jealous. Until they know, I can't have credit for what I did. Before bed, I saw Zoe standing alone, looking nervous. "Zoe?" I ask, stepping towards her. She looks at me and smiles. I looked to where she was and saw Douxie talking to Blinky.
"Should I talk to him?" She whispers, frozen in fear.
"Of course!" I reply.
"But what if Archie shoots me down, or he doesn't believe me?"
"Don't worry, Zoe; Douxie will understand and won't do that," I reassure her and lean closer. "And I bet you will win making love with him, too," I whisper, making her blush and tense up. I gesture her to walk to him, but Zoe refuses to move. Not wanting to wait any longer, I create a portal, making Zoe fall in and open it to make her bump into Douxie. He turns around and steadies Zoe on both feet. She looks white as a ghost and turns her head to me. Douxie does the same, but I turn around, pretending I didn't do anything. I slowly walk away toward Jim and hear them talk.
"Ummm... Douxie, can I talk to you in private?" Zoe asks nervously.
"Of course!" He replies in a kind voice, making me get excited.
I turn around and watch them walk with each other. I spot Zoe grabbing Douxie's hand, and he holds it, making me giddy. Before they notice, I grab Jim's hand and force him to follow Amber and me, confusing him.
"Claire, what's going on?" He asks.
As we're far away enough, I admit what's going on. "I think I got Zoe and Douxie back together again," I whisper to him before I begin to giggle uncontrollably.
"You think it did the trick?" Jim asks with hope, knowing Douxie also wants to be with Zoe.
"Yes!" I reply.
"Good for you, matchmaker." He teases me, making me laugh.
We get into our room and get ready for bed. I sit on the bed in my nightgown. Jim gets down to his boxers and walks toward me, holding the Amulet. "Are you going to sleep with that in your hand tonight?" I joke as Jim sits on his side of the bed.
"No!" Jim chuckles and places the Amulet on the nightstand beside the box of condoms next to him before lying down on the bed.
"My Trollhunter is back again." I sigh, laying beside my boyfriend and resting my head on his shoulder.
"And here to protect you." He adds, making me chuckle.
"You always make me feel safe, Amulet or not." I correct him, caressing his chest with the tips of my fingers, getting him excited, his heartbeat racing. We stare into each other's eyes before I lean in and lay my lips on his, and after a few seconds, Jim gets on top of me. Suddenly, my mind starts having flashes of fire, ice, and ash, making me break our kiss, gasping for air.
"What's wrong, Claire?" Jim asks, notices my distress.
"I want to go to sleep." I lie and bite my lip.
"Alright." He replies, and we kiss one more time before Jim gets off. He grabs the comforter and lies beside me.
Jim wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me to his chest, making me blush. I lay my head on his shoulder and a hand on his chest, letting me feel his heartbeat. I sigh and let my eyelids drop, feeling Jim kiss me on the head.
"I'll protect you no matter what." He mumbles.
Author Note: How did I do? Please review down below!