Your Future Hasn't Been Written Yet
by K. Stonham
first released 11th October 2021
A wave of his hand blew all the cobwebs away as Hisirdoux approached the stone bier.
"Master," he said, kneeling, "it's time to wake." And he reached out with one hand, resting it on the armor of Merlin's upper arm, while also reaching out with his magic, prodding at Merlin's, telling him it was time to get up.
Nothing happened.
Archie rolled his eyes and jumped on the sleeping wizard's chest, slapping his face with one black paw. "We know you're faking it, old man. Wake up."
At the dragon's prompt, Merlin's shoulders slumped and he huffed out an exasperated sigh as his eyes opened. "Couldn't you have let me sleep in, Archibald?" he complained.
"No," the dragon replied, jumping down even as Merlin sat up, drew in a deep breath... and promptly started hacking the dust of nine centuries out of his lungs.
"Here," said Douxie, twisting the cap off a bottle of water, "this'll help."
His master took the bottle without a word of thanks and drained half of it before making a face. "What the blazes is this?" he demanded, peering at the label. "Tangleberry slime?"
"Distilled water," Hisirdoux replied, rising. "I'd rather thought you would like something to drink when you woke."
"Yes, and why have you awoken me?" demanded Merlin irritably.
"I've brought you your Trollhunter, Master," said Hisirdoux, gesturing. Toby stepped forward, waving.
Merlin's eyes narrowed. "Aren't you a little short to be a Trollhunter? I had thought you would be taller."
Toby's expression fell just a little. "Yeah, me too," he said.
Merlin's gaze swept the rest of their group, dismissive. Then stopped and went back to Jim. "Hisirdoux..." the master wizard growled, warningly.
"Yes, Master?"
"Have you been mucking about with time travel?" Blue eyes flashed at him, angry.
"Not me, no," Douxie said. "That's all on him." He gestured at Jim.
"And why," demanded Merlin of Jim, "did you feel that messing with one of the primal forces of the universe was a good idea?"
"Because this time," Jim said levelly, not giving the master wizard an inch, "we're going to do things right. And no one's going to die."
"And what gave you the right?"
Jim's eyes narrowed. "I'm the possessor of the Time Stone, the Trollhunter as chosen by your amulet, slayer of Bular, of Gunmar, of Bellroc, protector of this world, and..." he glanced at Douxie; Douxie nodded. "Successor to King Arthur," Jim said, finally claiming the title that had long been his by rights.
Merlin was silent for a minute. Then, "Bollocks," he finally said.
"Well, it's not like he can summon Excalibur in here to prove it to you, is it?" Douxie reasoned.
Merlin glared at him, too, then finally stood. "I require my staff," he said, testy. "Await my return here, Hisirdoux."
"Yes, Master," Douxie said, watching fondly as the old man stalked off, heading for the crystal cavern.
"He always did wake up cranky," mused Archie.
Once Merlin returned with his staff, he was no less critical. "I do not remember this being on my plans," he told Douxie, glaring at the tunnel they'd all come in through.
"We added it," Douxie said. "I was not going to go all the way through your infernal maze every time I came to check on you."
Merlin sniffed. "And yet you've let the dust and cobwebs accumulate. Have I taught you nothing, Hisirdoux?"
"You taught him to protect the realm," Archie retorted. "What do you think we've been doing while you've been taking a nap?"
"Wow, harsh," Jim whispered to Claire. "Did Merlin always talk like this to Douxie?"
"From what I saw in Camelot? Yeah, pretty much," she whispered back.
"And I thought he was bad on me. No wonder Douxie's got issues," Jim said, earning a pained glance and a shrug from Douxie.
"Well, let us depart," Merlin said finally. "I trust you have procured suitable transportation for wherever we're going?" he asked his apprentice.
"Yes, Master," Douxie replied. "And also some sustenance." He unwrapped a Nougat Nummy and handed it to Merlin. Merlin took a bite and his eyebrows bounced up, his expression easing toward neutral, the first sign of anything positive since he woke.
"If you'll just follow us," Blinky started, only to be cut off.
"I think I can find my way down a tunnel," Merlin said, and tapped his staff against the floor.
The entire length of Douxie's tunnel lit up, the walls glowing a pale green.
"Hmm," Merlin said, examining the walls. "Amateurish, but passable," he allowed, nodding at Hisirdoux, and strode down the path.
"Dude," said Toby, sidling up to the junior wizard, "keep giving him more candy bars. Maybe he'll eventually decide he likes us."
Douxie breathed a laugh. "Good luck with that," he said.
Merlin's voice came drifting back down the tunnel, "And for Avalon's sake, Hisirdoux, what on Earth are you wearing?"
Merlin had made his way through three Nougat Nummies by the time Hisirdoux had closed up the tunnel behind them and led his master to the rental van. Mister Del Toro was sat in the front, reading, but shut his book and stepped out of the vehicle to greet them.
"Master, this is Mister Guillermo Del Toro, the libriomancer who has been kind enough to arrange our transportation. Mister Del Toro, this is my master, Merlin Ambrosius."
The libriomancer bowed deeply. "It is an honor, Master Ambrosius."
"Likewise, I'm sure." Merlin was looking none-too-kindly at the van. "And what, precisely, is this manner of conveyance?"
"It's called a van," Mister Del Toro said. "A modern vehicle."
"I suppose it will have to do," Merlin said. "Now tell me, do you know what shenaniganery my apprentice as been up to?" And as Douxie opened the door for his master (because what did someone who'd been asleep for nine centuries know about how modern car door handles worked?), he saw his friends starting to pile into the back. Blinky seemed to be indignant about something. Douxie would not be surprised if it was Merlin; the few future moments when he'd witnessed them interacting, it had been clear to Hisirdoux that his master had somehow rubbed the troll the wrong way.
(Sadly, he could understand all too easily how it might have happened. Merlin was a very forceful personality, and married to the idea that he was always right.)
Leaving Archie up front to instruct him on the reasons for and implementation of the seatbelt, Douxie shut the door behind his master, and walked to the back of the van to be with his friends.
Toby grabbed his arm. "Dude, what the heck?" he asked, nodding at the door he had opened and closed for Merlin.
"One does not," Hisirdoux said carefully and quietly, "expose a Master Wizard to embarassment or possible ridicule. I'm sure you can imagine why."
It took a second, but then Toby blanched. "Like, would he turn us into frogs for that...?"
Douxie had to laugh, a mote of cheer restored to him. "Probably not frogs," he said, clambering into the back of the van and reaching a hand to Toby to help him up and in. "Transformation potions are difficult to make and not to be casually used."
"Tell me about it," Jim said sourly.
"He did turn me into a harrier hawk once," Douxie mused as the doors shut, "to give me an understanding of the experience. I have never since been less than amazed at Archie's ease with shapeshifting, because that was nauseating in both directions."
"How long was it before he turned you back?" asked Claire.
"About four days. Long enough for the dysphoria to start wearing off and for me to get a sense of the wind under my wings." Hisirdoux grimaced. "That is a problem with transformation potions," he said, mostly to Jim. "At first you can't stand your new body, then, as time goes on, you can't stand your old one. And I imagine it might have been even worse for you because you were changed from a being of not-magic into a being of magic."
"You were a dreadful flier," Archie said, leaping down into the back of the van.
"I thought I was getting better by the end of it," Douxie protested.
"Mmm," Archie said, in that tone that meant he didn't agree but wasn't going to labor the point.
"So what now?" asked Toby.
"We stick with the plan," said Jim. "We head back home, bring Merlin up to speed, and... see how things fall out."
"And," said Claire, hefting her copy of A Brief Recapitulation, "we start reading."
Both Toby and Jim groaned; Douxie, who had read all forty-two volumes cover to cover more than once, merely smiled.
Mister Del Toro dropped them off in an empty lot next to an abandoned copperworks building.
"Safe travels, my friend," he said to Hisirdoux, clasping his forearm. "And it has been my honor to meet you, Master Ambrosius," he said, bowing to Merlin.
Merlin inclined his head. "And it has been mine to meet you," he said to the libriomancer. Who had not been nearly forthcoming enough about what Merlin's wayward apprentice had been up to, but then he supposed that it was not the man's job to keep track of other people's apprentices.
And he was determined to find out for himself just what was going on with this motley crew of teenagers, trolls, wizards, and time travelers. Almost certainly nothing good. He had expected to be awoken some decades from now, by a fully mature and seasoned Trollhunter, sought out for his expertise and assistance in dealing with Gunmar. Not now, and most certainly not by an apprentice who thought he knew more than he did, a Trollhunter who was so green Merlin could see the pigment still dripping off him, and a time traveler who claimed to be Arthur's heir. Pah, and a pox on them all, he thought. Why do they have to make things complicated?
The beast of a machine they had all traveled in backed up, turned, red lights blaring from its backside, then vanished into the night. Merlin turned to his apprentice and raised an expectant eyebrow. "This way, Master," Hisirdoux said, gesturing after the others. "We'll be going through the Swansea Trollmarket and using the gyre system to return to Arcadia Oaks. All will be explained there."
"It had better be," Merlin said. "I expected better of you than to wake and find you engage in such tomfoolery, Hisirdoux."
Hisirdoux's shoulders slumped. "Yes, Master," he murmured, and followed his friends.
The modern world, Merlin thought as he strode down the slope following his apprentice and Archie, was brightly lit, very noisy, and smelled absolutely dreadful. Furthermore, he thought, eyeing the lot of teenagers, its sense of style was decidedly lacking. Hisirdoux had definitely lowered the standards that both Merlin and Archibald had worked hard to instill in him.
The girl, Claire, wasn't it?, pulled a horngazel out of her pouch and used that to carve an entrance into the trollmarket. The entrance cleaved away, and they all proceeded down the crystalline stairs, seeking the next stage of their transport.
Of all the things Jim expected to see when they arrived back at Heartstone Trollmarket, this was not it.
Vendel, leaning on his staff, waited at the bottom of the steps to the gyre.
"Uhh..." said Toby.
"Well, we're in for it now," Douxie murmured.
Claire snorted and just glared down at the Elder. Blinky stood frozen at the gyre's controls, gaping.
Jim sighed. Well, he was supposed to be the leader, wasn't he? Time to lead.
He walked down the steps. "Vendel," he said evenly as he reached the bottom, letting the troll tower over him.
The milky gaze swept over him, over all his team. Paused, widening, at the sight of Merlin. Returned to Jim. "We... received your message," Vendel said.
"Bular's head," said Jim.
Vendel grimaced. "Yes, that," he said. "And I am willing to admit that I may have been a bit... hasty... in banishing all of you."
"Hmm." Jim shifted his weight, considering. It wasn't like Vendel was alone at the station; other trolls were lingering around the room's margin, not even pretending that they weren't eagerly listening.
He wondered what kind of social pressure had been mounting on the Elder the last few weeks.
He wondered how far Vendel's pride was bending, in admitting he had been wrong.
He wondered if their team being right really mattered much, as long as they were welcome back in Trollmarket.
Turning, looking back up at the gyre, Jim caught Toby's eye, waved him down to join them. "I did nothing," Jim told Vendel. "Taking out Bular? That was all Toby."
Toby's expression was shuttered. "So are we allowed back in Trollmarket?"
Vendel bowed. Just slightly, but it was still a bow. "You are all welcome to Trollmarket, Trollhunter, and we owe you our deepest gratitude for disposing of Bular the Butcher, bane of our people."
Toby and Jim exchanged a look. Jim shrugged, meaning up to you, Tobes.
Toby nodded and looked back to Vendel. "Then I guess it's time we all had that party, huh?" he asked.
Raucous cheers erupted from around the room.
"Remind me sometime," Toby said just to Jim, "to ask Douxie to teach me how to do all that courtly language stuff."
And then they were all swept down and out, into the light and warmth of Heartstone Trollmarket.
Author's Note: Merlin having shapeshifted moppet!Douxie into a hawk is probably inspired by Disney's The Sword in the Stone. "Aren't you a little short to be a -stormtrooper- Trollhunter?" is of course lifted from Star Wars. Given that the first time around, Merlin did the "I am your father" line from The Empire Strikes Back, my headcanon is that he's been astral projecting himself into the back row of future movie theaters to pass the centuries. :)
