Your Future Hasn't Been Written Yet
by K. Stonham
first released 17th October 2021
It took a good few turns of the glass for Merlin to master the puzzle cube, but when he did he was rewarded with the full revelation of Hisirdoux's spell. From each surface of the cube came an enchanted white board, covered in what he recognized to be his apprentice's handwriting, somewhat neater now than it had been. They were written, unfortunately, in modern English, but a translation spell easily took care of that.
I suppose I must learn to read the modern vernacular, Merlin thought irritably to himself as he began studying the list of notes and conjectures, each more fleshed-out than Hisirdoux had managed in their discussion the day before. Some of the names on them were familiar; others were not.
"Who is Angor Rot?" he asked aloud.
Blinky shifted. "A troll assassin-"
"Former hero," Aaarrrgghh interjected.
"Yes, yes," Blinky accepted the correction, waving two hands at his companion. "At this point in time, he is presumably still held prisoner in the temple of Aysa-Thoon, in India. In the previous timeline, Stricklander freed him and used him as a proxy to battle Jim."
"What's this about his soul being in a ring?" asked Merlin, continuing to read.
"Inferna Copula," said Aaarrrgghh.
"Stricklander likely possesses it," Blinky said. "It is believed that Morgana le Fay separated his soul from him and placed it in the ring, and that is what allows him to be controlled."
Merlin sniffed. "Dark magic," he muttered.
"Do you think it possible that his soul could be returned to him?" asked Blinky, reading over Merlin's shoulder.
"Any spell which is done may be undone," Merlin said. "If one only has the correct key."
There was silence for a moment, then Merlin found himself hauled from his seat and dragged in very close to an angry troll's face. "Then why did you tell Jim he would never be human again?" Blinky demanded.
Merlin blinked. Then, "Kindly remind yourself that you are asking about things which I have not yet done," he told the troll.
Blinky's grip loosened.
"As to what my other self did..." Merlin sighed. "In this time, with two fully trained Trollhunters, and a full team supporting them, it may be possible that they can defeat Gunmar unaltered. I do not know yet; I will have to take time to see," he said, meaning the risky business of lifting the veil of linear time to glimpse peeks of the future. "However," he said, "I can tell you this: the shifting of a mortal, non-magical child into the full body of a magical creature such as a troll, or even a new, hybrid creation such as you have all implied to me he was made to be, is a dangerous proposition at best. Trying to reverse such magic? Bah," he spat for the chances of it. "The risk would have been high of death, medium of permanently crippling him, and low, extremely low, of success. Magic can be reversed. The reversal, however, is not without scars."
Both Blinky and Aaarrrgghh were silent.
"I may have felt," Merlin said, "that it was better for him to live a long, healthy life in that form rather than jump at a thin hope that stood a large chance of killing him."
"You let him believe he would outlive all those he loved," Blinky said softly. "That was a cruelty beyond measure."
"All he loved?" asked Merlin. "Yourself and your companion do not count?"
"His mother," argued Blinky. "Toby. Claire."
"Children routinely outlive their parents," said Merlin. "It is part of nature's design. As to Tobias, I cannot speak. However, Claire is a witch. Why on Earth would she be shorter-lived than he?"
There was surprise on the trolls' faces. Merlin sighed; this ignorance was almost dangerous, and he needed to cure it. "Magic prolongs human life just as it does troll, or dragon, or any other sort of magical creature," he said. "When the girl comes into her full power, she will likely stop aging, just as Hisirdoux did."
"Then Master Toby... and Master Jim... she'll outlive them," murmured Blinky, eyes wide.
Merlin snorted. "Not so long as they wield those amulets, she won't," he said. "The Trollhunter amulet will keep its bearer alive for as long as they wield it. Both their bodies are still developing, so it likely won't be for a few more years yet, but once they reach their maturity? They will no longer age, either."
Toby was practically bouncing with glee as he followed Vendel into his workshop. Learning to cut stones the troll way? This was going to be the most awesome thing ever!
"First, let me see the stone," said Vendel.
"Right. One Birthstone, coming up!" Toby dropped his backpack to the floor and dug through it, then handed the glimmering purple rock to Vendel. It looked almost comically small in the Elder's hands, practically a pebble.
"Hmm." Vendel brought it close to his milky eyes and examined it critically, tilting the stone one way then another. After a moment, he set it down on the table and picked something else up. "Here," he said, dropping a heavy chisel and mallet into Toby's arms.
"Okay!" Toby adjusted them, then looked up. "So what do I do?"
"Patience," said Vendel. "Humans cut stones to unlock their beauty. But trolls cut stones to unlock their power." He tapped at the Birthstone. "Chisel along the ridge, right over here."
Careful, mind on his task, Toby aligned the chisel, adjusting it until he felt it was positioned just right. He took a long breath in, then out, centering himself. "One hit," he murmured. No weak tiny taps that might chip the rock, or jostle the chisel out of place. Just one clean hit-
He brought the mallet down, breaking the stone.
"Good," said Vendel, a little less frosty than before, turning the stone. "And along this facet."
Toby took his time, doing it right, giving it his all. He knew Jim had done this before and done it all right, but this wasn't the past and he wasn't Jim. He had one shot, and he was not going to mess it up.
"Excellent," said Vendel. He reached for a pair of tongs, used them to turn the rock. "Keep your eye on the stone, and your hands steady."
Step by step, the master guided the novice through cleaving the stone into smaller and smaller pieces, until it cracked down the center, revealing a geode... and a small final piece that fell free.
"Very good," praised Vendel, picking up the Birthstone's heart and examining it. "Now you must polish it."
He handed his tongs to Toby. Gulping, Toby followed him over to the enormous grinding wheel. "What do I do?" he asked.
"Do you see the dross?" Vendel asked. "Here, and here." He indicated two tiny flecks.
Toby brought the stone close to his face, examining the gem, until he was sure of exactly what he was looking it. "Uh-huh."
"It must be ground away," said Vendel, "until all that is left is the stone in its purest form." He set the wheel going. "There may be sparks," he warned. "Do not fear them; they are all that is unnecessary. Do not be hesitant, but do not press too hard either, lest you destroy the stone."
Toby gulped. "Right, no pressure," he said, and looked at the spinning stone wheel. He breathed out. "You got this," he told himself, and stepped forward.
Sparks flew. And flew again. Until Toby was sure he'd gotten it right. He held the gem up to Vendel, who took it, looked it over carefully and gravely, then nodded. "Just so," the troll said, with a crinkle of his eyes, and the barest hint of an approving smile.
Toby sagged in relief.
"Now to put it in your amulet," said Vendel expectantly. Toby dug it out of his pocket. Vendel made a rotating gesture with one finger; Toby flipped the amulet over so that the backside faced up. "The power of a gem can alter your armor's ability," said the Elder as the amulet opened up, revealing six small holes. Vendel dropped the glowing red Birthstone into one, and the amulet shut again, now glowing red itself as it rose out of Toby's hand. He fought to keep himself from grabbing the thing; according to Douxie, it was his, not Jim's, and nothing shy of death or thieving gnomes could take it away.
"A combination of gems," mused Vendel, watching the amulet rotate and gleam, "like the Triumbric Stones, can reap infinite rewards..."
The amulet flew to Toby, encasing him in armor which was red-limned for a heartbeat, but then the light faded and it looked just like always.
"So what do you think it did?" Toby asked. "I mean, Jim got these cool double-edged blade boomerang things..."
"I am unsure," said Vendel, circling him. "Properly cut gemstones work in ways one can never predict, only discover. And for each wearer of the armor... the discovery has been different."
Toby grinned up at him. "Then let's go discover."
"Zooooooeeeeeee~"
Zoe groaned and resisted the temptation to slam her head against the counter. She had just started her shift at HexTech, and who should walk in but Mister "Breaks Everything He Touches" Living Disaster Zone Hisirdoux Casperan?
"We're closed," she told him, glaring. "Go away."
He was smiling his big, stupid smile that was way too cute for his own good. "I come bearing money in exchange for goods and services," he said.
"We don't sell to people like you."
"Yes you do."
"Yes we do," she had to admit with a sigh. "Fine. What do you need?"
"Three phones and one tablet that can work as a phone," he said. "Two of the phones and especially the tablet need to be as hard to damage as possible. And if the other phone could be grandpa proofed, that'd be great."
She fixed him with a gimlet stare. "What are you going to use them for?"
He leaned against her counter. "Not me. A few troll friends of mine, and..." He winced and looked down. "Merlin."
It took a minute for that to sink in. When it did, lightning crackled at Zoe's fingertips as she inhaled sharply, her eyes narrowing and her nails digging into the countertop. "He's here?"
Douxie nodded.
She glared. "Why?" she demanded, smelling like ozone.
"You, ah, remember that thing I told you about a few weeks ago?" His hand circled lazily in the air, like he was trying to describe something by gesture without describing it at all.
"About the Butcher? Yeah, I remember."
"Well, he's gone now, but we've bigger problems in the pipeline, so we kind of needed to call in help..."
"And you picked him?" she demanded, leaning across the counter.
"Zo." His tone turned unexpectedly serious, and she faltered. "I know you hate him, but trust me, he's the best option we've got."
"I am not going back to weaving on looms, and if even tries to hint at it, I will shove that staff of his where it won't ever see daylight again," she warned.
Douxie winced, but nodded. "I will do my best to keep the two of you apart," he promised. "Now, phones?"
"Fine," she snapped. "Lemme see what we've got in stock. You," she told him, pointing to the uncomfortable store seats, "sit down."
Obedient, Douxie sat.
Sighing, Zoe went into the back, turning left and walking past the workrooms until she reached the storage room. Her fingers drifted along the shelves there as she considered Douxie's specifications. Something for trolls, huh? Hmm...
She paused as her magic sparked. "Ooh, yeah, that'll be good for two of them," she said, taking boxes off the shelf. She let her subconscious guide her the same way for the tablet, but took pleasure in deliberately selecting the slowest, clunkiest, dumbest model they had in stock for Merlin. "If only we had flip phones," she muttered, taking her finds back to the front.
Douxie sprang to his feet as soon as she re-entered the shop.
"What I want to know," Zoe said as she efficiently unboxed the four bits of equipment and started setting them up, "is where you got the cash for this." She eyed him expectantly. "You're almost always skint because of your so-called 'morals'," she said, stilling her hands to make actual air quotes. "So what's up?"
He rubbed at the back of his neck and wouldn't meet her eyes. "There may have been a treasure heist," he admitted.
"A what?"
"And we may have agreed to use some of the proceeds for this," Douxie continued, not meeting her eyes. "So Dolores over at the bank may have agreed to exchange some gold for cash..."
"Casperan," Zoe hissed, fingers itching to grab him by his stupid hoodie and haul him over the counter to look at her. "Who did you piss off this time?"
"Ah... Gatto."
Well, that was at least on another continent. "The troll?" she asked, just to be certain.
"The troll," he agreed.
Zoe sighed, and carefully applied a screen protector that was imbued with the strongest no-breaking charm HexTech could manage. "At least it wasn't in our backyard this time."
"That was once!" Douxie protested.
She gave him a look.
"Twice," he admitted.
"I'll allow it, only because the third time wasn't entirely your fault."
He brightened.
"But," she warned, "the deal is, you give me fair warning when shit's about to go down, all right?"
"On my honor," he swore, holding two fingers up in a wizard's oath.
"Fine," she said shortly. "Here, I've set up the ones for the trolls with no fingerprint locks. The geezer's is this." She drew a line straight up the center, imagining it was her flipping the master wizard the bird. "The manuals are in the boxes, they all have a standard two month warranty, and you said you were paying cash, right?"
"Right," he confirmed as she stashed phones back into boxes and boxes into a carrier bag.
"Good." She rang up his total and raised an eyebrow as he handed over actual twenties and hundreds. "Now get out of here and don't let me see you back here unless it's picking me up for band practice."
"I don't have a car."
"I know."
"So charming, as always, Zoe," he said, collecting his change and his bag and dropping a kiss on her hair. "I'll see you Wednesday, then, yeah?"
"Yeah," she said, and watched as he walked out of her shop, really wishing she could hate him.
Author's Note: Zoe may disparage flip phones but I still kind of miss mine. And, at least in this story, her specialty is technomancy... which, if you look at the history of the development of electronics and computers and programming, goes back in a dead straight line to fibercraft. Specifically weaving and knitting. Seriously, look up jacquard loom patterns and compare them to computer punch cards! So herein, Zoe used to be a weaverwitch with an affinity for lightning storms.