Your Future Hasn't Been Written Yet
by K. Stonham
first released 3rd September 2021

Douxie's solution to their biggest problem kept nagging at Jim all day. On the surface of it, it was functional. It was elegant. It could work.

Underneath, though, it had thousands of moving parts, and required a massive global shift within less than twenty-four months to succeed.

It was impossible.

Except... aren't we in the business of doing the impossible?

The thought was tantalizing, and burrowed in like an unscratchable itch.

If we did it, that would mean no more hiding for any of us.

It would also mean no more hiding the truth from Toby.

And that was the thought that tripped Jim up. He didn't want Toby to have to remember dying. And he didn't want his friend to feel like he was second-best, a Trollhunter only chosen because Jim hadn't been there.

But if we go through with this, I don't know if there's a way to avoid that.

"Deep thoughts, Mister Lake?" Strickler's voice broke in.

"Uh..." Jim looked up at his teacher. At a man who was (hopefully) going to go through a massive shift of his own in a few months. "I was just thinking of how terrifying it must be, to take a huge risk and try to change your world. Or the whole world. I mean, what kind of person comes up with a plan like that and hopes it works?"

Strickler raised an eyebrow. "An interesting insight, Mister Lake. Do you think it was Alexander's intention to change the world?"

"Well, the whole world hadn't ever been united under one banner before," Jim said, scrambling to relate his thoughts to the lesson. "So in a way, he was using his wars to try and bring about peace. That's a massive shift in thinking, and new things... can be scary."

Strickler gave him a nod. "Very good. Those fears may have indeed aided in how quickly the Alexandrian Empire dissolved after its leader's death..."

Jim stared at Strickler's back for a moment as his changeling teacher continued his usual meander of the classroom, then sighed and shifted his attention back to his laptop.

I can't be responsible for what happens after my death. But if in life I can make it a better world, don't I have the responsibility to try?


Jim had been spacey all morning, which was kind of out of character for him. So Toby sidled up to his best buddy as they started walking laps around the track. Coach Lawrence was out, but nobody wanted to ask the substitute why. Probably they were all equally afraid of the answer. In any case, the result was walking, which was at least easy to do.

Steve ran past. Toby gave him three laps before he stopped showing off and started walking with the rest of them. Whatever. At least it was three laps where he wasn't harassing anyone.

"So, Jimbo," Toby started, "what's up?"

"Huh? Oh." Jim shook his head and collected himself. "Nothing. I've just been thinking about something Douxie said."

"Oh? What's our local wonderful wizard of Oz got going in your brain?"

Jim cracked a smile. "Dare you to call him that to his face."

"Dare accepted," Toby batted back. "It's not like he's going to turn me into a frog. Wait, he can't turn me into a frog, can he?"

"Toadhunter," Jim improvised, and he was grinning now, so Toby was totally on point with the best friend thing today. "For the glor-ribbit of Merlin..."

And now Toby was laughing too, he couldn't help it.

"I don't think he can," Jim answered eventually, after they both calmed down. "But what he said was about the balance of magic and men, and how it's been going one way his entire life."

"Ugh. Heavy stuff," Toby complained, but actually thought about it. "So, like, there used to be more magic in the world?"

"Wild, huh?" Jim asked. "Can you imagine what that would be like?"

And Toby could. It was a heady thought: what if everyplace was like Trollmarket? That would be incredible! But on the heels of that came a darker realization: magic got people killed, too. Heck, Toby wouldn't be the Trollhunter if Kanjigar hadn't died. So even in the awesomesauce that was magic, there was terror, too, hiding in the shadows.

Fighting the goblins was scary, but kind of fun. Like whack-a-mole on steroids. But Bular...

Bular who had killed the last Trollhunter.

Bular who knew where Toby lived.

Bular who wanted him dead.

Yeah, Toby was totally not having a problem with Rule #1.

Still... a world full of places like Trollmarket...

"It would be amazing," Toby breathed.

"Yeah," Jim agreed. But his face was troubled again. "The thing is, what would it take for that to happen?"


"So, like, he gives you a ring and all of a sudden he's your boyfriend?" Mary demanded. "Ugh, way to seem cheap, Claire."

"I don't know," Claire said, conscious of the warm weight of the shadow ring where it hung from a chain around her neck. "I think it's sweet. Old-fashioned."

"Yeah, old-fashioned like the dark ages," Mary complained.

"You gotta make him work for it," Darci agreed. "Don't just give in!"

Claire laughed. "Work for it like what? Make him memorize all his lines in the play? He's already got that down."

"Make him wine and dine you! Make him treat you like you're his queen."

Jim, walking with Toby down the other side of the track, looked over and met Claire's eyes. She couldn't help her smile.

"Oh my god," Mary complained, "you are so sappy!"

"There's nothing wrong with a little romance," Claire defended herself and her boyfriend. "Sometimes a girl just wants a knight in shining armor."

"Shining armor? Shyeah, right!" Mary scoffed. "Jim Lake is many things, but a knight is not one of them."

"Well, if I'm supposed to be his queen," Claire returned, "and he's not a knight, then that can only make him a king."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"So how's it going with Tight Jeans Hank?" Darci asked Mary.

"Ugh, I can't get him to commit!"

Still smiling, Claire listened to Mary complain about her hottie obsession, and about several of the other guys she was dating while she waited for him to realize what he was missing. "Maybe he's just not that into you," she chimed in.

"Please! What is there not to be into? I am the It Girl for all of Arcadia Oaks."

"Girl, there's bigger and better fish out there in the sea," Darci said.

"Better than Tight Jeans Hank?" Mary demanded. "Like what, Steve?" (He flashed them a smouldering grin as he passed them.) "Spare me. Eli? Ugh."

"Toby's kind of cute," Darci said.

"Yeah, if I wanted to suck face with a metal-mouth," Mary complained.

"Someday you're going to look deeper than the surface," Claire said.

"Trust me, they're all men," said Mary disparagingly. "There's nothing deeper than the surface with any of them."

"Oh, I don't know," said Claire. "I think they might surprise you."


Not a single book could hold Douxie's interest for more than five minutes. After his fourth try, he finally gave up and laid down on the second-story floor of the shop. If anyone came in, he could hear them and this way he didn't look too much like he was slacking off on the job.

One of the benefits of working in an arcane bookshop was the access to near-infinite reading and research material. But that didn't work well when your brain wouldn't settle down enough to let you process anything.

"Throwing in the towel?" Archie inquired. He, of course, was calmly turning pages.

"I feel like there're worms burrowing into my brain," Douxie complained.

Archie paused, looked at him. "Literally or rhetorically?"

"I'm being figurative, Arch."

"Well, you never know." The cat-dragon returned to his reading for a few minutes. Then, "It's not a bad plan, you know."

Douxie groaned. "Yes, it is. I have no idea how we'd even pull it off. Therefore, it is a bad plan."

"Well, what's the first obstacle?"

"Getting anyone to agree to come out of hiding! We're all in it for bloody good reason."

"Hmm." Archie turned a page. "You could probably get Dad to agree."

"Charlie'd think it was funny," Douxie had to concur. "But, still, that's one dragon."

"Doux." Archie's tone was unexpectedly serious. "Would we stop hiding?"

Hisirdoux drew in a long breath, let it out. "It'd be terrifying," he admitted. "But... honestly, I don't think anyone who knows me would be that surprised. Especially not after that goblin attack at Benoit's."

"Ah, yes, 'you'd be surprised what turns up in the streets after midnight.' Such a great deflection," Archie snarked.

Douxie glared. "Fine, then, next time you get to come up with the cover story."

"Douxie." Archie's voice was very quiet. "If we go through with this, there won't be a next time."

"The problem is, if there's only one or two of us, we're identifiable, and people like that colonel from 49-B will try to capture us and lock us up." Douxie stared at the ceiling. "It has to be enough individuals that 'they can't catch us all' applies."

"Mm, overwhelming the mundane authorities with our sheer numbers. I must admit, the image appeals."

Douxie breathed out a sigh, then paused, a new thought tickling at his brain. "If we want a large, spread-out organization of people willing to say screw it..."

Archie held still, waiting.

"We need the Janus Order," Douxie realized, sitting up. "Strickler once said they'd been maneuvering into positions of power for centuries. They're global. If we can get them on our side..."

Archie blinked, following Douxie's train of thought. "That might work," he said. "The thing is, though, they traditionally have no love for humans or for trolls. You'd need to give them incentive first."

"They adore Morgana," Douxie mused. "She created the changelings. If we could get her on our side, it might have a chance of working."

Archie raised his brows. "The last we saw of her, she was vowing to destroy everything we love, Doux. I don't think it will be that easy."

"The last you saw of her," Hisirdoux corrected. "In the future, after the Order resurrected her again, their use of Arthur horrified her. She ended up on our side."

"Hmm." Archie's tone still held a scrim of disapproval. "Even if you can change her mind, Douxie, the fact remains that right now you don't have the power to unseal her."

He hissed out between his teeth. "Sod it, you're right. So either we have to wait for yet more time travel shenanigans to get my staff back, or we have to wake Merlin and get his help." Douxie sighed. "Time for more flow charts," he muttered, and touched his bracer, conjuring a clean board. "Merlin created grimoires, I create whiteboards."

"Different tools for different times."

"Yes, yes," Douxie replied, waving off the criticism of his self-criticism. "Even getting Morgana to help with the Janus Order might not be enough, though," he thought out loud as he wrote. "The changelings need to be accepted."

Archie jumped down from his seat and came to sit next to Hisirdoux, looking up at the neat writing that was slowly filling the formerly pristine board. "Good luck getting trolls to change their minds about their brethren."

"We know at least a few who did," Douxie said, looking at his partner. "We just need to find a way to accelerate that change."


Coffee. I really want coffee, Barbara thought, looking longingly at the steaming pot in the break room. But she sighed and took the moral high road, going through the selection of teabags she kept in one of the cupboards. She pulled out an Earl Grey and set her cup steeping even as she sat down at a table and laid her head down on her arms. She'd gotten about half the sleep she actually needed, thanks to her son and... foster son, she tentatively labelled Douxie. But at the same time she was really glad to finally know exactly what was going on with the two of them.

And Toby.

Oh god, should she tell Nancy? Could she tell Nancy? Without proof like Jim's and Douxie's to offer, it was all unbelievable.

And at that, she knew there were holes in the teenagers' story. There had been moments where they'd looked at each other, and it was painfully obvious that they were skipping over something for her benefit. Oh, she didn't think it was malicious, but when they'd gone through all that to convince her it was real, why were they leaving things out? They hadn't glossed over either of them (momentarily) dying, or Toby's dying, either, so what was left that they thought might hurt her?

It had to be personal.

Sighing, Barbara lifted her head and dunked her teabag a few times. She should eat something, she knew. Even in his morning rush, Jim had made sure to pack a lunch for her. And for himself, and Toby, and Douxie and Archie. She supposed that since he was used to cooking for three already, adding Douxie and Archie to his rotation must not even have fazed Jim.

(Yeah, she was glad she had gone ahead and gotten him that Food Magic 3000 for his birthday. She knew he had his heart set on a Vespa, and given this morning's revelations, she needed to reassess her risk tolerance for her son, but she just couldn't. Not yet.)

Sighing, she stood and made her way to the fridge. Once back at the table, she decided to treat herself a little. She opened the packet of cookies first, and found Jim had made snickerdoodles. She had one with the tea, enjoying the relative silence of the break room, and her treat. Who knew, the sugar and the caffeine might even revitalize her.

After a moment, she pulled out her phone to check her e-mail and text messages while she ate. She smiled to see one from Walter, inquiring whether she'd slept well.

Not enough, she typed back. But then, who ever does?

A minute later he asked if he could take her out to dinner later that week.

I'd love to, she replied. It's a date. She dithered for a few seconds - should she add a heart emoticon? Was it too soon for that? What if he was like her ex, and didn't want more than just a casual thing? How would it affect Jim if her relationship with his teacher fell apart?

Screw it, Barbara decided, and went for broke.

She added the heart.


Author's Note: Not too many references in this chapter, except one to Jonathan Coulton's song "Code Monkey," which had the lyric "his code not functional or elegant," spawning my comparison to Douxie's solution. And I guess a reference to the storming of Area 51 in "they can't catch us all."