Your Future Hasn't Been Written Yet
by K. Stonham
first released 11th September 2021

"Preposterous," said Vendel. "Even if Bular will be at this mew-see-um as you say, it is below the dignity and office of the Trollhunter to-"

"So it's fine for the Gumm-Gumms to set traps for and hunt down our side, but not for us to use what we know to defeat them, is that what you're saying?" Douxie retorted, trying to keep his temper.

Draal huffed, his eyes on Douxie's map, printed off from the museum's website and magically enlarged. "I would avenge my father."

"Yeah, but Draal, buddy, don't do it solo," Toby said, patting his trainer's arm. "If Bular took out Kanjigar, he can probably take out any one of us alone."

"Which is why," Douxie put in, "I'm proposing what I am. Bular will be a threat to Trollmarket and the world above as long as he stalks the Earth. It makes sense to use our resources to take him out. And," he added, glaring at Vendel, "if it's the multiple-people-against-one-opponent thing that's offending your sensibilities, allow me to point out that it's unlikely Bular will be alone. There will be at least one member of the Janus order with him." But hopefully only one, if Jim succeeds in getting Nomura out of the way.

"It is appropriate to defend against an opponent who is attacking us," said Vendel. "It entirely different to, to hunt down and murder a fellow troll as if he were nothing more than a rabid snorlak!"

"Oh, I remember this," Archie muttered. "The old 'we are but humble gravel miners, unable to raise a paw in our own defense' routine."

The Elder glared at the dragon. "We are not all such brutish creatures that we feel a pre-emptive strike is the best tactic."

"Pre-emptive?" Hisirdoux was aghast. "How many of your Trollhunters has he murdered over the centuries?"

"Enough!" The butt of Vendel's staff slammed against the floor. "I will not be lectured by outsiders. By all means, you and your pet may go set your trap for Bular. But do not involve the rest of us."

There was silence in the library for a moment. Then Toby stepped to Douxie's side. "Even if you won't fight, old man, I will."

"Then the amulet shall soon return to its proper place... among trollkind," Vendel replied.

"They will not fight alone." Draal stepped beside Toby.

"Indeed, he shall not!" Blinky stepped up too. "Coward that I am, I would rather die than throw away our chance to end this scourge."

Vendel's milky gaze moved to Aaarrrgghh. "And you? Will you, too, throw your vaunted ideals aside and align yourself with them?"

Aaarrrgghh's gaze was level as he rumbled, "Pacifist. Not coward."

There was nothing but contempt in Vendel's gaze as he looked their group over. "Then you may all leave Trollmarket, and not return. Those who perpetuate such vile deeds have no place among us."

Hisirdoux felt his anger grow and grow as Vendel turned away, condemning them all. He fought to keep it reined in; a wizard's wrath could be disastrous. But even so, blue sparked at his fisted fingertips. "I wonder if that's what Queen Usurna would say?" he managed to bite out.

The barb landed; he could see it hit as Vendel paused, ramrod straight. But then the Elder continued on his way out of the library, without another word.

Douxie seethed. It was all he could do as he turned to his companions.

"Banned from Trollmarket?" Toby asked, wide-eyed.

"My books!" Blinky wailed, clutching the nearest stack.

Anger transmuted to cold fury, tempered with practicality. "We'll need four containers," Douxie said tightly. "Ideally trunks. One for each of your things, and one for the library."

Draal and Aaarrrgghh exchanged a glance.

"Douxie, how...?"

He smiled grimly. "The good old 'bag of holding' spell," he told Toby. "Vendel doesn't get to kick us out and keep ahold of our resources. They're all coming with us. Every last tome and scroll," he assured Blinky.

"Well, then," said Draal, pounding one fist into the other, "let's get packing."

"Master Toby," Blinky said, "you may wish to go to the Soothscryer and consult the Council of Elder Trollhunters while you can. It may be your... last such opportunity for some time."

"Right." Toby vanished out the door behind Draal.

"I didn't think Vendel would refuse to take the chance," Douxie confessed to Blinky, "much less kick us all out."

"I admit I am surprised as well," Blinky replied. "Usually he is more practical. Though I suppose to him our plan must seem like cold-blooded murder..." Then he stopped, as if realizing his words, and looked apologetic.

"Cold-blooded, yes," Douxie said, having to agree. "Murder, I could argue. Regardless, I'm sorry to have cost you your home, Master Galadrigal."

"You have cost us nothing which cannot be replaced," the troll assured. "And I do owe you many thanks for taking my dear library into consideration."

"I'll text Barbara," Douxie said, getting out his phone. "I'm sure she won't mind you and Aaarrrgghh moving into the basement."

And, privately, he thought, I hope Jim is having better luck with Nomura.


"Stop trying to kill me!" Jim yelled, ducking under one of Nomura's crescent blades for what felt like the fifteenth time in four minutes or less.

"Then stop running and let me succeed!" she yelled back, pivoting on a dime.

To hell with this, Jim thought, and summoned his sword to his hand, blocking both her blades and shoving her back.

The changeling's green eyes were almost comically wide. "What?" she demanded.

"I'm sure you've heard of Excalibur," Jim said, turning the blade so it caught the light, displaying the jagged gold streaks that ran across it, a mending of supernatural proportions.

(Kintsugi, Douxie had called it. A reminder that what had been broken once, could be shattered again. Broken faith, he'd said, when Arthur had turned the sword against his own sister. Jim was resolved to be better.)

The sword's name took Nomura even further aback as she stared. "I'm not your enemy," Jim repeated grimly. "I'm Bular's. I'm Gunmar's. But I'm not yours."

"Keep talking," she ordered, still but ready to strike. He knew her moves, knew from how she'd trained him.

"This is the orchid on your desk, isn't it?" he realized. "Stillness in the storm."

Her smile was cruel, but appreciative. "Very clever, little human."

"You can be more than just Bular's lackey and Gunmar's servant," he told her. "You think you have to choose them, but you /don't/."

"What else is there?" she asked.

"There's me. There's Draal-"

She snarled and spat. "He calls me impure," she growled. "Never!"

"Bular calls you impure too," Jim retorted. "The difference is, Draal can learn better. /I/ learned better!"

"Trolls never change," she said. "And neither do humans."

How can I get through to her? "There's a human Trollhunter," Jim said. "Change is in the wind, Nomura. Bular is going down, one way or another. I don't want you to go down with him."

"You stole the stone out of the bridge, didn't you?"

Jim smiled. "And it's hidden where no one will ever find it," he replied. "So even killing me won't get you any closer to opening Killahead. Do you really think Bular will let you survive, one way or another?"

She was silent, calculating.

"I'm not asking you to fight against him," Jim said. "I'm just asking you to stand out of the way."

Green eyes were fast on him. "And what will that get me?"

"A chance to survive," Jim said. "Time for me to get Draal to realize how, and why, he's hurt you. And," he bargained, knowing he was letting go of one of his goals, "a place to thrive in the sun."

Slowly, the dual crescent blades lowered. "You really think you can take out Bular?"

"Me?" Jim asked, lowering Excalibur in turn. Détente. "No. My friends? Yes."

Nomura looked as distrustful as a feral cat. "They can have one shot," she told Jim.

"That's all I'm asking," he said. Everything else, I can work on later.

"Tomorrow, here, at nine in the evening," she said. And then she was a small tidy woman of Japanese descent again, wearing conservative clothing and practical heels.

"I hope you enjoy the snacks," Jim told her. "And I hope to see you at the play."

Nomura gave him a curt nod, and walked away.


Kanjigar, at least, seemed irked about Vendel's pronouncement. So Toby was happy that the Council of Elder Trollhunters was totally on their side of the argument.

He rematerialized in the living side of the Hero's Forge only to look down and see Aaarrrgghh rooting through the heap of weapons, finally picking out a few: what looked like the sword Jim had used the other day, and a couple poles with nasty-looking blades on the end. He considered one and the other of the latter, then shrugged and bundled them both together with the sword.

"Hey, wingman, what'cha got there?" Toby asked as he finally reached ground level.

"Weapons," Aaarrrgghh replied. "Douxie asked for them."

"Oh, for him and Jimbo, I totally get it," Toby said, falling in stride behind the huge troll, who was also carrying a small green chest. "You all packed up and ready to go?"

"Yes." Aaarrrgghh patted the chest. "Douxie enchanted box."

"Sweet."

They reached the library in time to see a whirlwind of books and papers and knick-knacks, all glowing blue, being vortexed down into another tiny chest. "Whoa," Toby breathed, ducking his head as a huge book soared over him and disappeared into the box it had no possible way of fitting into.

After a few moments, the floor and shelves were bare. Toby looked around and for the first time realized just how big the library was, now that it was empty. Blinky approached the chest, cradling a rock to his chest. "One last item," he told Douxie.

The wizard blinked. "Is that...?"

"Indeed."

Douxie nodded. "Then in it goes." The rock floated gently out of Blinky's hands, and disappeared into the box. The lid snapped itself shut.

Douxie staggered.

"Douxie!" Archie was immediately by his side, supporting the wizard.

"I'm fine," he said. "Just a bit much at once."

"Oh, hey." Toby rummaged around in his backpack and triumphantly pulled out a Nougat Nummy. "Here you go," he said, handing it to Douxie. "Blood sugar drops suck."

"Thanks." Douxie unwrapped the candy bar and took a bite.

"Nougat Nummies yummy," Aaarrrgghh agreed.

Douxie paused. "You can eat these as well?"

Aaarrrggh nodded. "Good candy."

"Huh. Food both our species can eat. That's... interesting," Douxie said, eyes narrowed. He took another bite. "Need to remember to mention that to Jim."

Draal came into the empty library then, carrying his own small trunk on one shoulder. He smiled wickedly. "I may have taken the liberty," he confessed, "of 'liberating' a few small shards of heartstone." He patted the trunk. "If we're to be exiled, best to make our new homes as homelike as possible."

"Brilliant, Draal!" said Blinky. "Well, then. If we all have gathered our supplies, let us be off!"

And if the departure of their small group, wending their way out of Trollmarket, gathered little attention... well, Toby supposed word of Vendel's banishment hadn't gotten far yet.


"I botched it," Douxie apologized to Jim, almost the first words out of his mouth. "I pushed Vendel too far. We're all banned from Trollmarket for, for plotting to murder, I suppose."

Jim blinked. It took a moment for him to process the wizard's words. Then, "He kicked us out for trying to get rid of Bular?" he demanded. "Is Vendel out of his mind?"

"Pacifism," Aaarrrgghh said.

"There's a difference between pacifism and sticking your head in the sand!"

"And those few of us here agree, Master Jim," said Blinky. "But, alas, for now it is just we few."

"Technically, you aren't banned from Trollmarket," Douxie pointed out.

"Right," said Jim, taking a breath, considering that angle. "We'll use that if we need to."

"Sooo... what's the grand plan then?" asked Toby. He glanced around. "There's six of us. That should be enough to take out Bular... right?"

Jim sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "Strickler is helping us set up the trap. Nomura won't help, but she's agreed to at least keep out of the way."

Draal's face contorted. "You are working with impures?"

"Stop calling them that!" Jim snapped. "They're hybrids. They can't help being what they are any more than you can help being a full troll."

"Wait, Strickler?" Toby asked. "Like, Mister Strickler?"

"Yes," Jim answered shortly. "Our history teacher. Nomura's the museum lady. And your dental assistant is also a changeling."

"Changelings are dangerous, treacherous, and follow only Gunmar," Blinky agreed with Draal. "Why do you expect them to honor their word, and not betray us all?"

"They're people," Douxie said, sudden venom in his voice. "They're people who've been told from the day of their creation that they will be accepted neither by troll nor by human. And every single encounter they've had with either species reinforces that," he said, glaring at Blinky, at Draal. "How else do you expect them to act?"

"Whoa, heavy," Toby said, into the resulting silence.

"If I'd created their people, which I will note for the record is something I've never had the sheer power to do, I would have tasked them to be a bridge between our species," said Douxie. "Instead, the changelings were created by Morgana Le Fay as weapons of war. Child soldiers, almost. Infinitely expendable." The wizard crossed his arms. "Nonetheless, they remain people, as fallible and changeable as the rest of us. And just as capable of choosing good."

"How can they be better," Jim asked, "if they're never given the chance?"


It wasn't until later, much later, when Douxie was trying out the two polearms, putting first one then the other through its paces under Draal's watch, when Blinky and Aaarrrgghh were making Jim's basement into a comfortable lair, that Toby sat down beside Jim on the back step.

"We're best friends, right?" Toby asked.

"Of course." Jim looked offended by the suggestion that they might be anything else.

"And, uh, you know you can tell me anything, right?" Toby pressed.

"Of course I do, Tobes!"

Toby breathed out, picking his words carefully. "Then how come you're keeping secrets from me, Jimbo?"

Jim froze.

"Because, like, I know you're not a changeling. Vendel made sure of that. But all of a sudden you've got a wizard living in your spare room, and you know all this stuff about troll things and magic, and you can freaking read Trollish," Toby said in a quiet rush, "and I know you're not getting all that from Blinky's books. And your girlfriend's a shadow witch or something, and you know who's a changeling..."

"Toby..."

"Look, I may not be the sharpest needle in the haystack," Toby said, "but even I can tell when something's up. What aren't you telling me, Jim?"

Jim's eyes closed and he sighed out a long breath. His face scrunched up, like something was hurting him. "I am keeping secrets," he admitted quietly. "And I'm sorry," he said, "but I can't tell them to you yet."

"Then when?" asked Toby. "Because we've never kept secrets before."

Jim's eyes reopened, looking at the two figures across the backyard who practiced fighting. "Soon, I hope. But we need to take care of Bular first." He looked at Toby. "Is that okay?"

Toby nodded. "Deal," he said, holding out his fist.

Jim bumped it.

"I kind of had a thought," Toby confessed. "So you know how your mom's cool with Douxie and knowing about trolls and all?"

"Yeah?"

"I thought maybe I should introduce Draal to Nana, so he doesn't have to hide in the basement all day."

Jim laughed. "What, you think they're going to have tea and cookies and watch police procedurals together?"

"Eh." Toby shrugged. "Anything's possible. Why not?"


Author's Note: Upon reflection, I probably lifted Toby's "Whoa, heavy" from Back to the Future. And in this chapter we start touching on my theory that canon did the Janus Order dirty. Three changelings were saved/redeemed. The rest of them in the Arcadia Oaks HQ were killed and/or eaten. But they were explicitly shown to be a global operation. What happened to the rest of them when NotEnrique and Chompsky brought back their familiars from the Darklands? They would either have been killed instantly by sunlight exposure, or revealed to the humans around them and cast out or murdered for being "monsters." This, when we're explicitly shown that changelings are not irredeemably evil beings...