Your Future Hasn't Been Written Yet
by K. Stonham
first released 19th March 2022

Henry pulled up to the address Douxie sent him a couple minutes before eight o'clock and parked the truck. He unbuckled himself and gave the house a once-over: mid-century rambler, not quite in the same style as the rest of the buildings on the block, but in Arcadia, who was really going to notice? It was nicely kept. In fact...

His eyes narrowed.

It was too nicely kept. Pristine. Like it had been built yesterday and used as a photographic model. A platonic ideal of the mid-century rambler.

"Yeah, things that look too perfect are usually hiding something," he told Tannlaus, who looked like a black dog sitting on the passenger seat.

If Tannlaus had any opinions about it, he kept them to himself. As usual.

A kid on a bicycle stood waiting on the sidewalk in front of the house. He was looking at it, all skinny legs and dark-rimmed square glasses under his bike helmet.

Henry got out of the truck. "Hey," he called to the boy, who jumped, swiveling to stare at him. "I'm looking for Douxie Casperan. I'm supposed to meet him here. Don't suppose you've seen him?"

Owl eyes flared, then went back to normal. "Oh, you're Douxie's friend." The boy sounded relieved. He wheeled his bike closer and stuck out his hand. Henry shook it. "I'm, um, Eli Pepperjack."

"You sound a little unsure there," Henry pointed out, smiling and waiting to find out what was going on.

"Oh! No, I mean, I am Eli Pepperjack! I'm just kind of hoping I can come in with you guys and see things?" The boy sighed; Henry would swear there were stars in his eyes. "Imagine getting to see the inside of a real spaceship!"

"Well, I'm not the one to ask," Henry said. "Henry Haddock, smith mage, at your service."

The dark eyes went wide again. "That's so cool! The only mage I've met has been Douxie. Well, and Claire and Mary, I guess."

From behind the boy, bubblegum popped. "And me," said Zoe Ashildr, standing there, her hair as pink as her gum and her nail polish as black as the expression on her face. She was clearly not pleased. Maybe by the morning hour, maybe by Henry's presence, maybe by life itself. Who knew; it was hard to tell with her, because she always looked pissed off about something.

"Zoe," Henry greeted her with a nod.

"Hiccup," she replied.

Eli looked back and forth between the two of them. "Hi, Miss Zoe! Wait, you know each other?"

Tannlaus took that moment to jump out the truck's window, landing right in front of Zoe, who shrieked, jumping back, and drew her wand, pointing it at him. Pink lightning sparked at the tip. Tannlaus, for his part, sat on the sidewalk, wagging his tail, tongue lolling out like he didn't know exactly what he was doing.

"Tannlaus," Henry sighed.

"Whoa, you have a dog? Cool. My mom won't let me have any pets. Can I pet him?" Eli asked, abandoning his bike to go nearer the black menace.

"Kid, you pet him and he'll bite your hand off. If you're lucky," Zoe warned, not relaxing her defensive stance in the least.

Henry sighed again. "Tannlaus, this is Eli. Be nice."

Tannlaus looked guileless.

Henry glared.

Tannlaus huffed, stretching himself toward the boy for petting.

Eli knelt down and started petting the kelpie like he really was a dog, and apparently his technique was acceptable, because within a minute he had Tannlaus practically melted onto his lap. "Oh, you're such a good boy! Yes, you are!" Tannlaus licked Eli's nose and the boy laughed.

Zoe, meanwhile, was staring.

"You see, some people know how to get on with animals," Henry told her.

The look she leveled at him could have taken out entire forests. "How's your leg?" she sniped back.

Which was when Douxie came out of the house, followed by two kids Eli's age and a senior citizen whose murderous expression gave Zoe's a run for its money.


"Well, I see we're all getting along just marvelously," Douxie said, seeing Zoe and Hiccup, as usual, at loggerheads. At least Eli was having a good time with Tannlaus. Speaking of-

"Did you really have to bring him, Hiccup?" Douxie indicated the kelpie.

Hiccup crossed his arms and shifted his weight back onto his good leg. "He goes where I go."

"Got him registered as a service animal?" Zoe asked, all too sweetly.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "As a matter of fact, yes I do. Want to see his working vest?" he asked, gesturing toward the cab of his truck.

"A service animal?" Eli asked, looking up. "Gosh, I'm so sorry! I wouldn't've asked to pet him if I'd known!"

"It's all right." Hiccup waved it off. "He's not working right now."

"What do you need him for? If you don't mind my asking."

"Eh. Prosthetic leg." Hiccup reached down and rapped it. "I keep tweaking it, but sometimes I end up with mobility issues."

"Yeah, and the dog's the one that bit it off," Zoe said.

Eli's eyes went wide. He stared at the black dog on his lap.

"Yeah, Tannlaus isn't exactly a dog," Douxie said with a sigh. "What're you doing here, Eli?"

Eli scrambled upright. "I want to see the inside of the ship. Can I?" he asked, directing the question not at Douxie, but at Aja and Krel.

The siblings exchanged a glance. "Eh," Krel opined, shrugging to indicate his lack of opinion.

"Of course you can!" Aja crossed the space between them and hooked her arm around Eli's elbow. "Come, Eli the Pepperjack! Let me show you the wonders of the Mothership."

Varvatos, meanwhile, was nodding in approval as Aja and Eli walked past him. "The bespectacled one will prove to be a useful ally." When the front door opened and shut, however, his gaze narrowed. "Varvatos, however, has his eyes on you," he warned both Hiccup and Zoe, pointing at them with his cane. "Do not think you can betray the royal family of Akiridion-5 and live to tell the tale!"

Douxie pinched the bridge of his nose. Krel, he noticed, did likewise, muttering "Ay ay ay."

"No betrayal, sir," Hiccup promised. "Scout's honor." He held up his hand in the Scout's salute.

Varvatos narrowed in on that. "And who and what are you scouting for?" he demanded, hobbling forward.

Douxie sighed. "It's the name of a youth outdoor education program here on Earth," he told the warrior. He eyed Hiccup. "Of which I assume Hiccup was part."

It earned him a smile. "Eagle Scout."

Zoe snorted. "Why am I not surprised?" she demanded. She shifted her glare to Varvatos. "Look, old man, I'm sure you're very important and all, on your planet-"

"Zoe, don't," Douxie pleaded, knowing already that his words were going to fall on deaf ears.

"-but here on Earth, we've kind of got you outmatched." Her wand, still sparking pink at the tip, moved carelessly in an arc, drawing the eye, until it came to a rest, pointing to the side.

"OUTMATCHED?" Varvatos bellowed, and suddenly was a huge blue alien, somewhere north of eight feet tall, looming over Zoe, who, to her credit, took half a step back, fear in her eyes.

"Well," said Krel, "at least we know the portable transductions work."

"Hey, hey." Hiccup was wide-eyed but held his hands up placatingly, stepping between Zoe and the behemoth threatening her. "We're all on the same side here, right? Here to see if we can get your spaceship thingy working again?"

Krel sighed. "One, it is a daxial array," he told Hiccup. "Two, Varvatos, back down. We are on their planet, asking for help. We require the use of manners."

"What use are manners?" Varvatos asked. "I could be grinding this one's primitive calcium bones into dust!" he said, gesturing at Zoe.

"Yes, and that would not help repair the daxial array," Krel told him.

Varvatos huffed.

"Three," Douxie broke in, "do you really want your neighbors seeing you in Akiridion form so soon after your arrival?"

Varvatos cast him a sour look, but nonetheless reactivated his transduction. A feeble old man once more, he shook his finger in Zoe's face threateningly. "Varvatos has his eyes on you," he warned again, and stormed back into the house.

"He always that volatile?" Hiccup asked, watching Varvatos retreat.

"Sadly, yes," Krel replied. Luug weaseled out the house's door, barking happily at it as Varvatos slammed the door shut.

"You all right, Zo?" Douxie asked, touching her elbow.

Her eyes were wide as she snapped around to face him. "Hisirdoux Casperan," she demanded, "what the hell have you gotten us into?"

He shrugged. "Alien-Akiridion, sorry-" he apologized to Krel, "ship repair. You in or you out?"

"I'm in," Hiccup said, watching his demon dog and Krel's demon dog sniff at each other, circling, then decide they approved of one other.

"Huh." Krel was watching the canine display as well. "They like each other."

Zoe snatched her arm away from Douxie. "I'm in," she said shortly, glaring. "You just stay out of my way, Casperan."

"Oh, you mean you're still pissed at me?" he asked rhetorically. "Let's see, is this because I turned you down and refuse to date you, because I inadvertently endangered the wizards of Arcadia Oaks, because I found a technomancer better at information manipulation than all your HexTech coworkers...?" He was literally ticking points off on his fingers. "Shall I continue, or will that only piss you off more?"

"I will jam this wand where the sun doesn't shine," she threatened him.

He just looked at her. "It must be exhausting to be constantly angry, Zoe. Really, you should try giving it a break sometime."

Her expression slipped for just an instant, revealing something scared and hurting. But then she wiped her arm across her face and shoved past him, muttering "Fuck you," as she headed up the walk to the front door.

It opened before she could reach it. "Hello!" the Lucy Blank greeted, an unnaturally wide smile stretched across her robotic face. "How can I help you, little girl?"

Krel rolled his eyes. "I had better go help before she turns my robots into parts," he muttered, and sped up the walk.

Hiccup leaned back against his truck. "This usual for you...?" he drawled.

"Sadly, yes." Douxie sighed. "Shall we?" he asked, indicating the house.

"Oh, I wouldn't miss this," Hiccup said. "Tannlaus, heel!" The kelpie came trotting over by his side, the... /whatever/ Luug actually was... following, as they walked into the Akiridion spacecraft.


"Holy fucking shit," Zoe murmured, staring around at the interior of the alien spaceship.

"For once," Hiccup murmured, "I am inclined to agree with you."

Douxie's friend had stopped looking like a Latino boy as soon as they'd all gone through the blue door hidden behind the house's fireplace. He was taller (though not as tall as the aggressive old man had been), glowed blue, and had four freaking arms. And Douxie didn't seem phased at all. Which was suspicious. How long had he known these "Akiridions"...?

"I feel like I'm in Tron," Hiccup said, eyeing the blue and gold lighting on the black walls.

"What is 'Tron'?" a disembodied voice asked.

Ahead of them, Douxie laughed. "An Earth film speculating about what life would be like inside a computer's systems. Graphically," he said, glancing around them, "it does bear certain similarities to Akiridion mores."

"Film downloaded," the voice, which now that Zoe thought about it, sounded like the "Mother" who had scanned them at the front door, "I am analyzing it now."

"There's a second one," Hiccup offered. "It's not a good a story, but the visuals are better."

"Noted," the computer...? AI...? said.

"Are you an actual AI?" Zoe asked. "Like, self-aware and all that?"

"I am," the voice told her. "I am also aware that your planet has not yet achieved such technological advancement. Interesting. The beings in this film are composed of light and energy, much like Akiridions."

"Parallel evolution?" Krel offered.

"That or the limitless imagination of humanity," Douxie offered. "Keep in mind, we are talking fiction here. That I'm aware of."

"Says the wizard," Krel rebutted.

Douxie made a gesture at him. Krel snorted and shoved him. Douxie stumbled away, laughing.

They were acting like old friends, Zoe realized. "So when exactly did you land?" she asked, as casually as she could.

"Three delsons ago," Krel replied easily. "We landed Thursday morning. And were imprisoned in your educational penitentiary by that afternoon."

"Sucks to be you," Douxie said with a grin, earning himself another shove.

Zoe hissed out lowly between her teeth.

"Problem?" Hiccup murmured.

And he really rubbed her the wrong way most of the time, but... "They're way too chummy for having just met three days ago," Zoe muttered.

"Ah." Hiccup looked ahead at the other two, then quietly said, "I don't know what he's told you, but there's reasons. It's fine."

She glared at him. "Fine?" she demanded.

Unbothered, Hiccup shrugged. "Fine," he replied. "And if you want him to tell you things, maybe you should stop looking at Douxie like you want to stab him in the face."

They passed a room where Eli and another alien, maybe the girl, were standing between a pair of glowing orange caskets. "Hey, what's in there?" Zoe asked, stopping.

The opening irised shut, until you couldn't even tell there had been an opening; it looked like any other bit of corridor wall. "Classified," the AI said. "Access denied."

"Yeah," Krel said, leaning against the wall, his lower arms crossed. "Meaning no offense, but I do not exactly know you two yet, so I do not trust you to be near our parents' cores."

Zoe blinked. "But you'll trust the twiggy kid?!" she demanded, arms outflung.

"Well, yeah." Krel shrugged. "I mean, I have known him a lot longer."

"What, three whole days?" Zoe demanded.

Krel suddenly looked old and worn-down. "Two years and three days."

"You said you just got here," Zoe accused.

"Correct," said the AI. "We landed three days ago."

Douxie sighed, glanced at Krel, then looked back at Zoe. "Time travel, Zo. Them and me and a few others. And Krel and Aja lost their parents the first time around. Which we're trying to avoid. So please don't blame them for being touchy about letting outsiders near them while they're healing."

Zoe blinked. "You've been fucking around with time?" she demanded. "You're the one always parroting the old bat's words to me, about how time travel only fucks things up!"

This time it was Krel who sighed. "Things were already 'fucked up'," he said. "I doubt we can make them worse."

Her eyes narrowed. "How fucked up?"

"The Arcane Order got hold of the Genesis Seals," Douxie said. His eyes shut, a look of intense regret crossing his face. "It was them or every living thing on the planet. So we fought. And we won, but at a high cost."

"Too high," Krel agreed.

Zoe felt the blood drain from her face. "You killed them?"

"Well, not me personally..."

She gritted her teeth together. "How the hell could you fuck up that badly, Casperan?"

"There was no choice!" he snapped back. "It was literally them or us, Zoe!"

"Yeah, and what was gonna happen afterward?" she demanded. "What, exactly, was going to happen?"

"I know!" he yelled. "I know exactly what was going to happen, Zo! Why do you think I didn't argue too hard about this whole bloody reset thing, even though I know how bad an idea time travel is!"

"Wait, what?" Krel asked, looking surprised.

Douxie hissed out a breath. His hands were fisted. "Bad things happen when gods die," he said lowly. He looked at Krel. "They're beings of immense power, and when they die... all that power has to go somewhere."

"Mount Tambora. Krakatoa. Vesuvius," Zoe listed out. "To name but a few."

"Yeah, well, given it was either that or us going out like the dinosaurs?" Douxie shot back. "At least some sapients would have survived the death of the Order."

Krel, she noticed, was looking rather pale for a blue being. "Douxie, you mean-"

"I mean that even winning was only ever going to be a Pyrrhic victory, at best." Douxie ran a hand down his face. "And that Aja's evacuation ships were always going to be needed anyway."

Krel looked stunned. "Kleb."

"That's why I want to find a better way this time..." Douxie's voice trailed off, his eyes going wide. "Oh, fuzzbuckets."

Zoe exchanged a look with Hiccup, then one with Krel. "Douxie...?"

"We're not... guaranteed a year and half until we face the Arcane Order." Douxie pressed a hand against the wall. He was shaking. "They attacked Jim when he was traveling with Merlin, and used him to get Morgana back. They tracked Merlin to Arcadia Oaks. They tracked Merlin to Camelot..."

Krel blinked, looking confused. "This is a problem why?"

"We've already awoken Merlin. Early." Douxie looked terrified. He looked at Krel. "If they're following Merlin, and he comes back here... We might have to deal with them any minute. We're not ready."


Archie hurried out into the corridor, not knowing what was going on, only that his familiar was distressed and needed him. "Douxie!" He leapt, and his boy caught him, sliding down with his back to the wall. "What's wrong?"

"The Order," Douxie murmured, white-faced. "They're coming."

"They are not coming," Krel rebutted.

"They will be," Douxie said. "It's inevitable. Time follows patterns, no matter how hard you try to rework it..." His voice was a whisper by the end.

Archie looked at his familiar, then at Krel. He indicated Zoe and Hiccup, and jerked his head toward the room at the end of the corridor. Krel, not being stupid, took the other two wizards by the arm and pulled them along until they all vanished into the chamber that had, not a week previous, held a daxial array.

Onlookers disposed of, Archie lost no time burrowing into his familiar's arms and purring as loudly as he could.

Slowly, a little of Douxie's color came back. "We're screwed, Arch. We are so bloody screwed."

"Nonsense," Archie said tartly. "Tell me what brought on this panic attack."

Douxie swallowed and met his eyes. "The Order was tracking Merlin," he said. "That's how they were close enough to attack Jim - they needed Jim's amulet to resurrect Morgana."

"It would be Toby, in this timeline," Archie murmured, following his familiar's train of thought. "Though I suppose they won't need to attack him. Morgana's hardly dead, after all."

Douxie went white again. "They're going to break her out. We don't need to worry about Gunmar, the Order will do it-"

"Douxie!" Archie put his paws, and his full weight, on his familiar's chest. It only seemed to help a little. "If they haven't bothered breaking her out of her prison for nine hundred years, I doubt they'll do it now."

"They haven't needed her to take on Merlin before now," Douxie murmured, but Archie's point did seem to be making its way through to him.

"And do they really need her to take on Merlin now?"

Douxie actually considered the problem. "I... don't know?" he said finally. "Maybe? They took down Camelot without her."

"But not Merlin," Archie said thoughtfully.

"No, not Merlin," Douxie admitted. "That took... me royally screwing up, and Arthur stabbing him with a cursed Excalibur."

"Arthur always was Merlin's weak spot," Archie muttered. "Like a basilisk with one hatchling. Regardless, there's no need to worry about Morgana just yet. Walk me through your thoughts."

Douxie nodded, and took a breath, sipping at the air like he was having to breathe through a straw. "One: the Arcane Order felt it when Merlin woke. I don't know where they were then, but it took them a while to get to Arcadia Oaks, by which time the Eternal Night had happened, Trollmarket was destroyed, and Merlin was escorting Jim, Claire, and the surviving trolls to the heartstone in New Jersey."

Archie hummed, and reflexively kneaded his paws into his familiar's chest, feeling the steady dub-dub-dub of a beloved heartbeat within. "All right. Well, Merlin has left Arcadia, so the Order shouldn't be descending on us yet. They'll be following him. And I should think Merlin can ward them off on his own well enough."

Douxie nodded. "Two: in that timeline, the Order sent Arthur to attack them, probably both to get Jim's amulet and turn him to their side. But Merlin put Jim in the stasis crystal, stashed him in Camelot, and came back to Arcadia to gather allies for the battle ahead. Arthur followed. And shadow mephits are vulnerable to fire." He gave a wan smile.

"Very good." Archie rubbed his head under his boy's chin. "Then what?"

Douxie breathed again. The recounting of the sequence of events was slowly bleeding the tension out of his body as logic took the lead over emotion. "Three: they then followed us-followed Merlin-back to Camelot, and attacked again. We were overpowered, and unable to run. The whole time travel thing happened, and Camelot fell. Jim sacrificed himself to let the rest of us get away, but that was exactly what the Order had wanted anyway. They had the amulet, used it to bring Morgana back, and used the Trollhunter as a tool."

"So. They want the Genesis Seals," Archie surmised, "and they know that Merlin either has them, or knows where they are, and the Arcane Order intends to get them from him, one way or another. Possibly using Morgana, and definitely using Arthur, to overpower him."

Douxie nodded.

Archie looked narrowly at his familiar. "You know where the Seals are too."

Douxie opened his mouth, then closed it. After a moment, he whispered, "I can't tell you where they are, Arch. Please don't ask me."

"I wasn't going to," Archie assured him. "Only a fool plays with that sort of fire."

"A fool or a master wizard," Douxie replied with a nod. "I'm starting to rethink that ambition, you know."

Archie rolled his eyes. "No, you're not."

"No, I'm not," Douxie agreed. His head thunked back against the wall of the corridor and he looked to its ceiling. "Remember that line from, I think it was High Wizardry? About how the senior wizards didn't leave the planet because it would be like stepping out the door of a car they were driving?"

"I remember."

"I think I'm really starting to understand that now."

"If Merlin is wise," Archie said thoughtfully, "he'll be running and dodging as best he can."

"Like we did for a year," Douxie agreed, nodding.

"But it's inevitable he'll run out of places to hide. Then he'll come here, seeking allies in this battle. Again."

Douxie nodded again.

"Well," said Archie, "we'll simply have to be ready for that, when it comes, won't we?"


Author's Note: Douxie references the book High Wizardry, by Diane Duane. As always, thanks to my editor, my Wonderful Husband, who is very good at poking holes in my narrative! And with this chapter, I have officially reached a quarter of a million words written on this story. That's three novels! And I'm not even at the end of Trollhunters yet...