Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

  Douxie runs to where Nari should be, he saw both titans stab each other’s hearts, but he can’t let her die, especially not alone! He sees green orbs, similar to fireflies, on the ground is a flower covered in frost. He kneels down, touching the frosted over petals, the frost begins to melt, a light comes from the center of the flower and a beam hits the wizard square in the chest. 

  Douxie folds over in pain as the flower fades into the same green orbs. He hears Nari’s voice in his head, “Life is now yours to command.”

   Everyone swarms Douxie, checking on the wizard with worry.

——————————————————

  Skrael was severely wounded, vines sprouting from his chest, he had no clue how he was still alive. He crawled from the rubble of his titan, his vision blurred by the pure pain he was experiencing. All he could see was a crowd, he crawled towards light, blue light, light oh so similar to glacier ice. He managed to crawl over without anyone noticing him. 

  He grabs the leg of one of the multi-armed glowing ones. He knew the beings weren't from earth, meaning, they hadn’t contributed to the magical decline, he didn’t have disdain for the outworlders. He also didn’t care which he grabbed, he just grabbed the closest and transferred his power to them.

  Krel was worried for Douxie, while Jim and Archie were sitting near him as he was folded over, crying in pain. Krel jumps a bit when he feels a cold hand grab his left leg, it was even worse when the coldest climbed up his leg from said hand, his eyes widened as he slowly looked to his leg, seeing Skrael’s dying form grabbing him and frost climbing up his leg, getting scarily close to his core.

  He wanted to scream, yell, something, but Skrael’s voice sounded in his head. “Don’t worry, being not of these lands, don’t yell just yet, please grant me a little more time to give you this gift.”

  It felt like Skrael had just locked his voice in ice that’s taking a really long time to klebing melt! Krel didn’t know what to do, but the frost had made it to his core, “Ice and wind is now yours to command.” Skrael’s voice tells Krel, and with that, Skrael is nothing more than a pile of snow and Krel screams out in pain, everyone in attendance jumping and looking at him. Great, now two of them were folded over in pain. 

  “Krel!” Aja yells, “What’s wrong?!” Aja notices the frost melting off her younger brother, “What the… Why are you frosted?”

  Krel had started crying due to the pain, Aja sits on the floor, pulling her brother into her lap and holding him close in her arms. “Come on, tell me what happened.” Aja says

  Krel was feeling colder, Aja could feel it too, he nestled into his sister’s embrace, he managed to croak out, “S-Skrael, gift.”

  “Gift? If you’re in pain, I highly doubt it’s a gift…” Aja says, petting her little brother’s head.

  “Okay, great, we have two people out of commission…” Toby says

  “A bit more than that, Tobes…” Jim says sadly.

  “Oh right… The felled…” 

  “It’s okay, we can figure this out!” Jim says

——————————————————

  Jim got Excalibur, fighting Bellroc on their titan, he stabs right through them and Bellroc grabbed the sword which impaled them, “You stupid boy! Don’t you know what you’ve done?!” They shrieked

  “Yeah! Defeated you!” Jim says, getting ready to pull Excalibur from their body, but Bellroc walks forward, growling in pain as the sword enters them more, but grabbing Jim’s hand.

  “You’re killing me, yes, but, I’m sure my sister planned for this.” Bellroc turns their head toward where Douxie and Krel rested, “My brother caught on, and you’re the closest to me. I’ll give you my power.”

  From where Bellroc touched him, Jim felt heat fill his body, reaching to his heart, gods it hurts, but he can’t collapse now. This time when Bellroc spoke, he heard their two-toned voice through his ears, and in his head, “Fire is now yours to command.” After saying that, Bellroc melted into pure magma, leaving Jim huffing. The titan crumbles apart, Jim manages to get away, but Toby isn’t so lucky.

  Jim finds Toby in the crushed truck, everyone watches sadly as Toby dies, Jim holding his best friend’s hand. That’s when the kronosphere rolls to Jim’s side, Nari’s words replaying in his head. “My siblings and I may fall, but kronosphere knows all. Trollhunter use stone, with him truth will be known!” He breaks it open to find a time stone. He knows what he must do, he looks at his friends, kisses Claire, then goes back in time.

——————————————————

  Jim’s alarm clock blares, he takes the Vespa magazine off his face, a large smile growing as he wakes up. “It worked!” He cheers

  Jim gets up, opening the garage, hoping to see his best friend waiting with his bike, ready to head to school, but he wasn’t there, “Come on, Tobes…” He mumbles

  Jim makes his way to the knocked over trash can, picking it up, that’s when his friend arrives, “Ready to go Jimbo?“ Toby asks

  A large smile grows on Jim’s face, he hugs,-well more like tackles-his best friend to the ground. “So… No meatloaf?” Toby asks, now laying on the sidewalk next to Jim. 

  “I’m just happy to be back, Tobes.” Jim says

  Toby was confused, but he chuckled and replied, “Okay?”

——————————————————

  Jim told Toby to head home through the canals while Jim went and auditioned for Romeo and Juliette. Toby found the amulet, and yelled, “Awesome sauce!!!” Holding the amulet in the air. Now I’ll actually start fully diverting.

——————————————————

  When Barbara Lake had made it home from her late shift, she expected Jim to be asleep in bed, but when she walked in and the smell of baked goods wafted into her nose, she knew he was still awake. She sighs, “Jim.”

  Jim jumps at the sudden sound of his mother’s voice, “Ah! Mom! You said you’d be home late!” Jim says

  Barbara takes her phone out, “Yeah, it’s 1:30, Jim, on a school night.” She looks at all of the baked goods, “Any reason for all of this?” She asks

  Jim finally noticed just how much he made, “Fuzzbuckets…”

  “‘Fuzzbuckets’?” Barbara asked with a slight tilt of her head.

  Jim sighs, “I got too lost in thought and automatically stress-baked all of this…” 

  “Alright, get the last of what’s in that bowl into the oven, then you and I sit down and talk about it.”

  Jim looks down to the brownie batter he was mixing, “I… Don’t think you’ll believe me…”

   “Jim, you’re my son, and I doubt you’ll lie to me about something that’s stressing you out.”

  “Mmm… How about another time, it’s pretty late and…”

  “Jim.”

   “I don’t have anything to prove what I tell you, so, please, Mom, wait till I’m ready.” 

  Barbara sighs, “Alright, I’ll wait…”

  “Thank you… Now go to bed, Mom.” Jim says

  “Hey, I should be telling you that.”

  “What? You want a house fire thanks to some burnt brownies?”

  “After the brownies, you go to bed.”

  “Well, I’m already up so late, I might as well make some lunches too.”

  “Jim…”

  “I’ll be fast, promise! I’ll multitask!”

  Barbara sighs, “Alright, night Jim.”

  “Night Mom!”

  Barbara walks upstairs to collapse onto her bed, Jim sighs again, popping the brownies in the oven then starts working on the lunches. {I mean, what am I supposed to tell her?! ‘Oh yeah, I come from two years in the future where there’s an apocalypse!’ Yeah, that’ll get me right to a psych eval. I have absolutely no proof anyway!} Jim thought as he’s preparing lunches.

——————————————————

  It was now 3am, yay, 3 hours of sleep! After changing into PJs and brushing his teeth, Jim flops onto his bed, but as his head rests on the pillow, there is a light thrumming under his pillow, Jim jolts up, his eyes wide, he lifts his pillow to find… The Trollhunter amulet, but-to his slight relief-it was the one from the future. Well, it is common for things that take you back in time, to go back with you.

  Jim’s fingers glide on the smooth surface of the magitech amulet, he reads the incantation to notice a slight change, swapping ‘Daylight’ for ‘Excalibur’, which is fair. Jim sighs, “Can’t sleep now…” Jim tucks the amulet back under his pillow, he turns on the lamp on his desk, taking out a blank notebook, writing down all that he could remember, start to end, once he was done the sun was up and- 

  BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

  Jim jolts as his alarm clock goes off, he sighs, turning off his alarm, groaning into his hands. He shuts his notebook, turns off his lamp, then tucks the notebook into his desk’s drawer. Let’s see how long he can stay up for.

  After getting ready, Jim looks to his bed, walks over, grabs the future amulet and pockets it. Grabbing his bag, heading down stairs, grabbing his and Toby’s lunches, then headed out the garage.

  “Hey Jim-Woah! Those are some eye bags you got there!” Toby says

  “Mmhmm, lunch.” Jim says, handing Toby his lunch.

  Toby takes the lunch bag, “Thanks, but are you sure you don’t want to go back to bed?”

  “No bed, I got thing do. Bike school, pass out there.” Jim says, his words slightly slurring.

  “Jimbo…”

  Jim puts his hand up, “Nuh uh, I got this!”

  Jim and Toby manage to bike to the school, Jim notices Toby searched up ‘talking amulets’ before he passed out at his desk. 

  Jim wakes up to Mr.Strickler lighting shaking him, “Young Atlas? Are you alright?” Strickler asks

  “Mmm?” Jim hummed, “Yea, mm good, why?” Jim asked

   “Jim, this is the third time I’ve tried to get you up…”

  Jim jolts up, “It has?!” He then notices Toby’s not sitting next to him, heck, he didn’t recognize anyone in here, “Ah shoot! So sorry!” Jim packs up everything, “What period is it?”

  “Well, I assume you must make your way to physical education, but let me give you a pass, it was obvious you needed that small nap.” Strickler says, handing Jim a pass.

  Jim takes the pass with a, “Thanks! See ya!”

  Jim makes it to PE, when he enters, he hands his pass to Coach Lawrence. Exiting from the locker room, he’s surprised when Toby had made it to the top of the rope, ringing the bell, “Huh, that’s new.” Jim mumbles, he gives Tobes a thumbs up as he waves down at him.

——————————————————

  Douxie wakes up, the last thing he remembers is Jim putting the time stone into his amulet and- Hold on a sec, isn’t this his old cruddy little apartment? Douxie’s work alarm goes off and he slightly jumps at the noise.

  Archie-who’s currently in cat form and laying on top of Douxie’s blanket covered legs-makes a cute noise as he stretches awake.

   “Alright, up and at ‘em Douxie, you’ve got work.” Archie says

  Douxie sits up, “Arch, do you remember anything of what happened, with Nari, and you getting trapped in a Trollmarket with your Dad? Also the Arcane Order activating their titans, then dying, but I’m pretty sure Nari gave me her powers?” He asks

  “I haven’t got a clue of what you speak of, sounds like a very unique dream to me.” He hops off the futon and stretches again, “Though I don’t possibly know why your mind would come up with such a horrible dream. Now, like I had previously said, it’s time to get ready for work, don’t make me shift and pull you out of that bed.” Archie says, pointing at Douxie with his paw.

  “It wasn’t just a dream Archie, I can feel it!”

  “We don’t have time for this right now, Douxie.”

  Douxie wanted to prove this to his familiar, but how could he?! That’s when a green beetle, about the size of a quarter, crawls up Douxie’s arm, he lets out a slight yelp, until he realizes it’s made of magic. He’s actually seen Nari play with a similar little beatle before!

  Douxie gasps, “Look! See Arch!” He asks, presenting the magic bug.

  Archie adjusts his glasses, “Well, you’ve never done that before.”

  “I told you!”

  “Alright, I believe you now, but you still have to get ready for your bookstore shift.”

  Douxie sighs, “Yeah… I know…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Krel sits up, he looks around to find his room back on Akiridion-5.

  “What the kleb?” He asks himself

  That’s when his bedroom door slides open. “Good morning little brother! Time to get up!  If I have to sit through our parents’ teachings, so do you!” Aja says, entering the room.

  “Aja? What’s going on?” Krel asks

  “What do you mean?” Aja asks, worried, she walks over to Krel’s bed and sits down next to him. “What’s wrong, Krel?” 

  Krel places his top right hand on his forehead, “I-I don’t know how to explain this…”

  “Hey, if you had a weird nightmare that’s affecting you like this, it might be nice to tell me about it.”

  That’s when their Dad walks up to the open door,  “What are you two doing? Come on!” He says with a swipe of his left arms, before walking off.

  Krel sighs, “I’ll explain after, okay?”

  Aja nods, “Alright, and I’ll be there to listen to you.”

  Krel really did try his best to focus on what his parents were teaching, but so much was spinning through his head, the only thing snapping him out was their Dad asking, “Are you two even listening?!” 

  Aja had fallen asleep on Krel’s shoulder, and he was lost in thought, Aja jolted awake and Krel snapped back to focus. Their Dad complains at them, Krel a bit more than Aja, which definitely doesn’t strike a-nonexistent-nerve.

  Once it was finished, the twins were back in Krel’s room. Krel hugged his pillow to his chest while Aja sat next to him, petting Luug on her lap.

  “Soooo, are you going to tell me or not?” Aja asks

  Luug yips and Aja scratches his head.

  “Aja, you have to believe me, no matter what I say, just listen, okay?”

  Aja nods, “Alright, but you’re really worrying me…”

  “So… You know how we have our coronation ceremony a few parsons from now?”

  Aja nods again with a, “Mmm-Hmm.”

  “Well… I have memories for two keltons from now. General Morando is planning a coup on our coronation, but… I don’t think we can stop it…”

  Aja stands up, Luug hopping from her lap, and she places her upper hands on Krel’s shoulders, looking him in the eyes, “Krel! If you’re speaking the truth, then why can’t we stop it?!”

  “It would probably mess up the timeline, then, I have absolutely no idea what’ll happen! Then we would never head to earth, you’d never meet Steve, never meet Eli, Varvatos would never meet Nancy, we’d never meet any of our friends!” He rambles before squeezing his pillow closer to his chest, “But, that also means Morando would never get his hands on Gaylen’s core, meaning our parents wouldn’t have to sacrifice themselves… But… Earth is basically a second home for me now, and, and…”

  Aja pulls Krel into a hug, holding him tightly in all four of her arms. He leans into the hug, she pulls back, rubbing his left arms with her right hands, “Krel, I don’t really understand, but I believe you.” 

  Krel smiles, then when he tries to let go of his pillow, he can’t. He looks down to his arms around the pillow, as does Aja, both noticing that all of his arms and the pillow are covered in frost.

  “Woah! Where’d that frost come from?” Aja asks 

  “Oh Kleb.” Krel cursed

  “What?”

  “Well, this is the power of a powerful earth creature, one that’s part of the Arcane Order, he’s called Skrael of the North wind, I believe he gave me his powers before he died. Does it really make sense for it to come back with me though…?”

  Aja gasps, “That’s how you remember! You were given this frosty power, and it preserved your memory!”

  “Seklos and Gaylen! Aja! You’re right!”

  “Now you should try to unfrost your arms and pillow…”

  “Ah, yeah, you’re right about that too…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  It was now lunch time at Arcadia Oaks high school. Toby and Jim were sitting at their table, Jim slowly and sleepily eating the meal he had prepared. 

  “Hey Jimbo, did you pull an all-nighter or something?” Toby asks

  Jim nods then swallows what’s in his mouth, “Couldn’t sleep at all last night… I mindlessly baked a lot of stuff, made our lunches, then when I was going to go to sleep at 3am, my brain told me I had to write something down and it took me three hours to write all of it, so yeah, I pulled an all-nighter. Even that nap in Mr.Strickler’s class wasn’t enough.” Jim says, popping more food in his mouth.

  “Well, I thought I’d tell you, I actually did find something totally awesome sauce in the canals!” Toby says

  Toby takes out the amulet, but Jim quickly slams his hands on top of Toby’s, his eyes wide and glancing to the side, “Tobes! No, Tobes, not here! Especially not in front of Mr.Strickler!” He rushes in a hushed voice.

   “Is there something you wish to hide from me, Young Atlas?” Strickler asks as he walks over and towers over the teens.

  The two look up at Strickler with wide eyes, Toby quickly putting the amulet back in his pocket, but Strickler catches a glimpse and now his eyes widen.

  Jim grabs Strickler’s arm, “Mr.Strickler… Can we talk in your office later.”

  “Maybe I should talk with your friend instead…”

  “No! No! We’re going to have a talk, got it?”

  “That isn’t how you speak to a teacher, Young Atlas.”

  “Well, I know what you really are, actually, I know a lot of stuff, you don’t know I know, so we’re going to have a talk.”

  Strickler stiffens then he nods, walking away.

 “Woah! Jimbo, what was that?” Toby asks

  “I’ll tell you eventually, Tobes, now we don’t have much of lunch left, let’s finish our food.” Jim says, continuing to eat.

  “Cheese and crackers, Jim, you’re feisty without sleep.”

——————————————————

  Later, Jim walks into Strickler’s office, the changeling fidgeting with his pen. He looks up as Jim enters, “Ah, Young Atlas, take a seat, and tell me what you know.” He says, pointing his pen at the rolling stool in front of him.

  Jim sits down, staring directly into Strickler’s eyes, “I know you’re a changeling, but, I also know you’re very good for my Mom. The two of you are perfect together, but right now you’re working for Bular and Gunmar, though they’re using all of changeling kind as just spies, and don’t really care about changelings, they call you ‘Impures’, but you’re not, not you or your baby familiars. You’re a smart guy, Strickler, so I beg of you, don’t go after me or Tobes, please.”

  Strickler sits in silence, processing everything. He looks at Jim, “How do you know all of this?”

  “I’m from two years in the future, in said future, I was the Trollhunter.” Jim says, pulling out the future amulet, “I came back in time after there were too many casualties, I hope with both me and Tobes as the TrollHunters, we can defeat Bular and Gunmar, then do tons of other stuff to make sure there are less casualties.” Jim says

  “Do you mind if I see you wear that?” Strickler asks, pointing at the future amulet.

   “Alright…” Jim says, standing up, he takes off his bag and places it on the ground, “For the Good of all, Excalibur is mine to command.” 

  Strickler watches with amazement as the armor clings to Jim, the armor definitely looked futuristic with all the Akiridion tech. He also watches as Excalibur, THE FLIPPING EXCALIBUR, appears in Jim’s hand, the boy automatically slinging it to his back. Strickler’s jaw was practically on the floor.

  “Believe me now?” Jim says, holding his arms out.

   “Holy…” Strickler says, getting up, “Is that The Excalibur?!”

  “Oh, uh, yeah, honestly, I didn’t expect this to come back with me too.” Jim says with a chuckle, taking Excalibur back off his back, looking at the sword.

  “Oh my…” Strickler slides a finger on one of the cracks in the sword, “Young Atlas, I believe you one hundred percent. With this armor, this sword, if I follow your word, I’m sure I’ll be on the right side of history.”

  “So you’re on my side now?”

  “Oh definitely, don’t worry, I’m great at playing double agent. A human Trollhunter changes everything! Two is even more interesting!”

  “Great! Next I gotta figure out how to persuade Nomura to our side!”

  “Ah, so you know her too?”

  “Of course.” Jim puts the sword back, then takes off his armor, grabbing his bag off the floor, putting the amulet inside and putting the bag on. “Remember, if you do anything bad, I’ll tell my Mom!” Jim warns, “See you!” Jim says, walking out.

——————————————————

  Douxie was done with his shift, he waves to his coworker, heading out. He starts walking with Archie following close by. Though Arch is confused when they walk past the apartment. He hops on Douxie’s shoulders to whisper, “Where are we going?”

  “I have a kid I need to visit.” Douxie whispers back

  “Does this have to do with the future stuff you talked about this morning?”

  “Yep, it does.”

  “Alright then.”

  Douxie walks all the way to Jim’s house, he knocks on the door, he hears a ruckus inside. That’s when a car showed up in the driveway, it was Barbara. She steps out, “Oh, hello, are you here for Jim?”

  “Uh, yeah, I came here to talk with him.” Douxie says

  “Well, I’m Barbara, Jim’s Mom, nice to meet you.” She says, putting her hand out for Douxie to shake.

  “Hisirdoux Casperan, but I go by Douxie, and this is Archie.”

  “Wait, don’t you work at the Cafe?”

  “Part time.”

  “Well I came here to grab my phone, come on in.” The two walk in, “Jim! Your friend Douxie is here!” Barbara shouts into the house.

   [OKAY MOM, ONE SEC!] Jim shouted from upstairs.

   Douxie can hear four voices whispering in the bathroom, he recognizes them as Jim, Toby, Blinky and Aaarrrgghh. It sounds like there’s some shuffling into a bathtub then Jim comes out by himself. As he heads down, he notices how tired Jim already looks.

  “Hey Doux.” Jim says, bringing his fist up for a fist bump.

  “Hey Jim.” Douxie says, bumping his fist to Jim’s.

  “Alright, got my phone, see you later kiddo, don’t have too much fun!” Barbara says as she heads back out and drives off.

  “So, are we going to help Toby and the trolls out of the tub?” Douxie asks, pointing his thumb in the direction of the bathroom.

  “Mmm… I don’t know how they’d react to you…” Jim says, looking up the stairs, “Wait! You remember too?!”

  Douxie chuckles, “Um, yeah? Why else would I be here? Before Camiot I was just the guy who worked at the book shop and the cafe.” 

  Archie squints at Jim, Jim notices, “Oh, hey Archie.” Jim puts his hand up for the dragon-cat to sniff, Arch glances at the open bathroom door, then back at Jim. Jim gives him a scratch behind the ears, and Archie slightly purrs, once Jim stops petting him, Archie says, “Just keep the trolls away from me.” He hops off Douxie’s shoulders to sit on the back of the couch.

  “You got it.”

  Douxie and Jim walk upstairs, “Let’s not freak out, okay guys?” Jim says

  “Why would we freak out, Master Jim?” Blinky asks from behind the curtain.

  “Probably because I’m here.” Douxie says

  “Um, Jimbo, who is that?” Toby asks

   They open the curtain, Douxie does a half bow, “Hisirdoux Casperan, you can call me Douxie, I’m also known as Merlin’s lost apprentice.” 

  Jim helps Toby out of the bathtub, “Hold up, like the Merlin mentioned on the amulet?” Toby asks, pointing at the amulet, which he’s currently wearing the armor of.

  “You got it.” Douxie says while both he and Jim are helping Blinky out.

  “Now why are you here?” Blinky asks 

  “Because I wanted to talk with Jim, but I thought I might as well talk with the new Trollhunter and you trolls as well.” Douxie says

  “Why talk to Jim?” Aaarrrgghh asks as they help him out the bathroom door.

  “Oh um, he needs some help with his magic!” Douxie says

  “Hold on, Jimbo, you can do magic?!” Toby asks, taking his armor off.

  They finally got Aaarrrgghh into the living room area again.

  “Well, if you’re speaking the truth, Master Douxie, then let’s allow Master Jim to show something you’ve taught him. I think it’ll be highly intriguing.” Blinky says, putting his hands together.

  “Well then,” He turns to Jim, “Want to try bringing your powers up to your fingers?” Douxie asks

  “Um, how do I do that, again…?” Jim asks, holding his hand up.

  “Just find your magic and try to summon it out of your palm or your fingers. Like this.” Douxie explains before summoning a blue orb of light in his hand.

  “Awesome sauce!” Toby sing-songs as he stares starry eyes at the light orb Doux just summoned.

  “Okay…?” Jim says before focusing, he puts his hand up and closes his eyes, he digs deep down and finds a flame in the center of his chest, he slowly moves part of the flame up his arm to his hand, once he hears a ‘Floom’ he opens his eyes and gasps. 

   “Holy cheese balls! Jimbo! You have a fire ball in your hand!” Toby says

  “I-I do! This is so cool!” Jim says

  “Now extinguish it before you start a house fire.” Douxie says

  “Uh, how do I do that?” 

   Douxie sighs, he walks over, mumbling an extinguishing spell then closes Jim’s hand, he looks up at Jim and pats his hand, “We’ll need to work on that.” He says before a nervous smile.

  Blinky claps his hands together, “Well then, we can head to Trollmarket and start training there, I’m sure Master Douxie will find the open area of The Forge very useful for helping training Master Jim, as well as Master Toby needing to train his sword and agility skills, let’s make a move gentlemen, we only have so much night.” 

  “Training good for you!” Aaarrrgghh says with a nod.

  “I don’t know, I think Jimbo might need some sleep…” Toby says, looking over at Jim.

  “Nah, I’m good Tobes, let’s go check this place out!” Jim says

  Archie hops on the kitchen counter, “Ugh, a place full of trolls? I’d have to not be a cat if we go there.” Everyone turns to Archie, “What? There are trolls right there and a ‘talking cat’ is freaking you out?”

   “Arch…” Douxie says, slightly disappointed in his familiar.

   “Well, you could always just stay here and take a nap, the couch will be free.”

  Archie looks to the couch, “Nap or deal with trolls?” He asks himself, he then hops off the counter, runs to the couch, stretches then curls up, “Have fun gentlemen!” He says, shooing them away with his paw.

  “Is that your cat, Douxie?” Toby asks

  “He’s technically my shape shifting, dragon, familiar, but yeah, he’s my cat.” Douxie confirmed

  “Woah!”

  “Alright, let’s head out!” Binky repeats

  After getting Aaarrrgghh out the back door, the group heads for Hearthstone Trollmarket.

Chapter Text

   A few delsons have passed since their last conversation, so Krel walks to Aja’s room, knocking on the door, because he doesn’t just swing it open like Aja. She opens the door, “Ah, Krel, do you need something?” Aja asks

  Krel walks into the room and sits on his sister’s bed, Aja closes the door and looks at Krel with a worried look. “Would you be upset if I ran away to earth early?” Krel asks

  “Ran away? But Mama and Papa have tons of stuff set up so it’s difficult. Which you can thank me for. Plus, didn’t you say it happens on our coronation day? I haven’t gone Skeltag betting in a while because of what you’ve told me.”

  Krel chuckles, “In the original timeline, you decided to run off on our coronation day. I think this time it’ll be funny if I was the missing one, it would really confuse our parents.”

  “Well, why would you want to run off to earth anyway? There are tons of security systems in place to stop me from running off, what makes you think you can?” Aja asks, crossing her upper arms and placing her lower ones on her hips.

  “Exactly, they’re set up for you. You tend to have a ‘just go through it’ way of thinking, so you walk right through the halls, then you’re discovered and sent back to your room. I’m sure I can find another way, and my reason for running? It’s because I’m just… Not comfortable here anymore, it’s way too blue, the music sucks, and akiridions keep underestimating me. It’s gotten far too annoying and I'd rather head off to earth as early as I can! Though of course I’ll have to modify my serrator, making my portable transduction, maybe some other features to make my escape even easier… Ah! Aja, you have to promise to keep this a secret!” Krel rambles

  “Why can’t I go with you?” Aja asks

  “Not possible! You have to be at the coronation, you can go skeltag betting all you want until I’m gone. I’m sure once I disappear, our parents will most likely keep you inside anyway, but promise me Aja, you won’t tell them where I went, don’t make any deals with Morando, and keep an eye on Vervotos, he’ll make a huge mistake, but he’d still die for us, remember that!”

  “Okay, okay, I get it! So you want me to pretend everything is okay while you’re gone or something?!” 

  “Of course not! That’ll make you suspicious, I want you to be worried about where I went too! I’ll tell you when I’ll be leaving, I’ll even make a cute little parting gift, just, up until then, make sure you act how you normally do, keep our parents distracted!”

  “Alright, but can you confirm you’ll be happy on earth?”

  “I promise you sister, I’ll wait every day for your arrival, not as Princess Aja, but Queen-in-waiting Aja. Here, we can do the most sacred of human oaths.” Krel says, before sticking out his upper right pinky, “The Pinky Promise, an unbreakable oath. Wrap your pinky around mine to seal the deal.” 

  Aja nods, walking over to Krel and wraps her pinky around his, they shake them, “The oath has been sealed, now that parting gift better be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, so I don’t have to miss you too much.” Aja says

  Krel chuckles, “I’ll keep that in mind during its creation.”

——————————————————

  Aja and Krel played their parts for the next few wardons, Aja snuck out to bet on skeltags, Krel stayed inside to ‘tinker with useless toys’ as his father would say. While his parents were around, he’d tinker with Aja’s cute parting gift-which would technically qualify as a toy-but while they were asleep, he’d work on his transduction and serrator modifications.

   The first night, he grabbed a core scanner that he’d have to put back before the start of the delson, he then scanned his core and- Huh… That’s weird, it’s saying he’s equivalent to a 17-18 year old human, how’s that possible? Last time he was 15-16, where’d those two extra- Seklos and Gaylen! Skrael’s frost didn’t just preserve his memories, but his age as well! Oh ho, it’ll be so fun to tell this to Aja. 

  Aja did a great job distracting their parents, as the wardons passed, each time Aja was brought back to the castle, she’d pass by Krel’s workshop and give him a thumbs up with a smile, receiving a similar expression from her brother. 

  Almost one parson has passed and Krel finished part of Aja’s surprise. He’s been holding off on putting it all the way together just in case she was to sneak a peak. Though working on three things at once was a bit challenging. Not to say Krel is bad at multitasking, it’s just that two of the projects had to be kept secret from his parents.

  One delson his Mom, Queen Coranda, walked into his workshop, “Hey Krel, you’ve been working in here more than you’ve been hanging out with Aja, why is that?” She asks, leaning into the room.

   “Well, I am working on a gift for Aja, so it makes sense for me to not have her around while making a surprise for her.” Krel says

  “Really? What’s the occasion?”

  “Our coronation of course.”

   “Ah! Yes, of course, and since you’ve been spending so much time on it, it must be an amazing gift!”

  “Of course it is, only the best for my dear sister!”

  Coranda looks at Krel’s desk to see his serrator along with another thing she doesn’t quite know. “Why’s your serrator on your desk?” 

  “Just tweaking it a bit.”

  “And what is that?” She asks, pointing to the unknown object.

  Krel recognizes that she’s pointing at what he decided to disguise his portable transduction as instead of it being connected to his serrator, it’s just a simple human watch, but of course since it’s made of akiridion materials, it’s black with streaks of cyan. The time displayed on the device. 

  “That’s just how I’m telling the time, that way I don’t stay up too late.” Krel excuses

  “Oh, I see, how interesting. Are you having fun with your projects?”

  “Yep, I enjoy my tinkering.”

  “Great, continue with your fun projects.” Queen Coranda says as she leaves.

  Krel continues to work on his projects while Coranda goes to talk with her husband, Fialkov, “So, what did the kids tell you?” He asks

  “Well, Aja just says she just wants to get out some times and win herself more crestons betting on skeltags, or just going on some walks with Luug. Then Krel is working on a gift for Aja for their coronation." Coranda says

  “So everything is the same as ever?”

  “Basically.”

  “Good.”

——————————————————

  After two parsons, Krel finally finished all of his projects, now he just needs to do some testing. Of course Aja’s gift was important, so he got to that first, he got the idea from a store he saw in an earth mall once. If he is remembered correctly, it’s called ‘Building Bear’? Eh, close enough, Krel managed to get his hands on the proper materials, and made a huggable doll of himself, inside he put a voice box, with three messages,  “I miss you too.” “Don’t worry, I’m safe, Aja.” “I love you, big sister.” One playing once with each press of the button. His voice box is located in the chest area and the button is located on his top right hand. Of course a mini him needed something to tinker with, so he made a small accessory for the doll to ‘tinker with’, which would magnetically stick to his lower left hand.

  Krel looks at the doll version of himself, then looks at the leftover materials, he sighs, “I’ll need to make a mini Aja.”

  So that’s what he did, while he was at it, he made a mini Luug, once he was done, it was… Ah kleb, six in the morning, but all of the dolls together were so cute, now he needed to record the voice lines for Aja doll and get a few yips from Luug. So he snuck through the halls, as to not activate the ‘Aja traps’, and made his way to Aja’s room. He slowly opened the door and entered, quickly being heard by Luug.

  He closes the door as he makes his way in, Aja sleepily sits up, “What’s wrong Luug? Oh, hey Krel, you need something?”

  “I just need to record your voice, that’s all, a little bit of Luug’s too.” Krel says

  “Huh? Why?”

  “Oh, just something for me,” He holds up the smaller voice box, “Now you don’t eat this Luug!” Hey says, pointing at the ‘dog’ with his lower left arm, “Okay sit!” Luug sits, “Speak.” Krel says before pressing the record button, Luug yips. Krel gets two more Luug noises then grabs a treat from his pocket and tosses it to Luug, the ‘dog’ catches it in his mouth.

  “Your turn Aja.” Krel says, presenting the larger voice box.

  “What do you want me to say?” Aja asks, taking the voice box.

   “Well, I programmed it to loop three voice lines, so whatever three things you think I’d want to hear while I’m away.”

  “Mmm…” Aja looks at the box, “How do I record?”

  “Oh there’re three buttons on the side, press down on each one then record each message individually, once you're done, the large button cycles through them. Like with Luug’s.” Krel explained before pressing the large button on Luug’s voice box and a yip came from it.

  “Ah, I see!” Aja thinks for a bit, then she presses button one, “I miss you, little brother.” She presses button two, “Stay safe, Krel!” Finally she presses button three, “I love you too!” 

  Once she lets go of button three, Krel chuckles, “That actually goes pretty well with what I said.”

  Aja gasps, “Don’t tell me my gift is just going to be a small message box!” Aja says, handing the voice box to Krel.

   “Of course not! I promised you something cute! I’ll show you when I’m done, promise! Now I better head back to my workshop and finish up so I can sleep.” Krel says, heading to the door.

   Aja yawns, “Yeah, I think I’ll head back to sleep myself. Up Luug!” She says before patting her bed, Luug yips and hops up on her bed, quickly laying down with her. 

  “Sleep well, big sister.”

  “You too, little brother.”

  Krel leaves the room, {I’ll tell her about our new age difference another time.} He thought as he slipped past the Aja traps again to get back to his workshop. 

  Once inside, he grabs the Aja and Luug dolls, he tinkered with Aja’s voice box, making sure the activation button was in her right upper hand just like with his doll, sewing up the back of the doll. Then he puts Luug’s voice box in his doll, sewing up the back of that one too. He presses the Aja doll’s hand, “I miss you, little brother.” Then he presses the Krel doll’s hand, “I miss you too.” Then squishes the Luug doll and it yips. Krel smiles, “All of them are perfect.” He says to himself.

  “Ah, so you’re a good craftsman as well I see.”

  Krel knew that voice, just the sound of it sent a shiver through his core, he slowly turned to find General Morando at the entrance of his workshop, a sickeningly sweet smile across his face.

  “G-General Morando, what’re doing here?” Krel asks

  “Oh, well, I was just passing by when I heard Luug’s yipping, I thought he got into your workshop, so I came to check it out.” Morando says as he approaches with his hands behind his back, “Did you make these little things all by yourself?” Morando asks, picking up the Luug doll.

  “Um, y-yeah, I made them just in case Aja and I ever got separated. So we could hug the dolls when we miss each other.”

  “Ah, I see.” He turns to Krel, that same smile on his face, a smile he wouldn’t know was secretly sinister if he didn’t have awful future memories of the man standing in front of him. Morando looks at Krel with all of his eyes, “That’s very sweet of you Prince Krel, why don’t you make a set of your parents as well, you never know how long you’ll have them for, it might be nice to have.” He says, placing the Luug doll back on the table, spotting Krel’s watch. “And what is that, if you don’t mind me asking?” Morando asks, pointing to the watch.

  “Oh, that? It’s just something to tell me the time, don’t worry about it.”

  “I see, well, I best be going, my prince, see you.”

  “Goodbye General Morando.”

  Morando walks away with his hands behind his back, once he’s far enough away, Krel lets out a sigh of relief. Krel picks up the watch and slips it on his upper left arm. 

  He had actually gotten the idea to make his portable transduction part of a watch this time because he remembered a movie Toby had shown him. If he was remembering correctly, it was called, ‘Megamind’? It was an odd movie and Toby wouldn’t stop calling him ‘Megamind’ for a whole wardon! Jim had told him that the movie was over five keltons old by the time Toby showed it to him. As odd as the movie was, he couldn’t lie that it wasn’t intriguing.

  Krel places the dolls of himself, Aja and Luug into a drawer in his desk, he then slips into his room. He looks into his mirror and activates his transduction. With a cyan flash, he’s greeted by the familiar face of the same latino boy he recognized, but due to his core being older, that means his transduction looked older as well. He still had all of his basic features, tan skin, brown eyes and brown curly hair. His hair was still parted in the middle, but it swooped a bit more up, his hair looked fuller and was longer, now reaching his shoulders. He still found the way his hair bounced with a move of his head very satisfying. Well, when your hair practically defies gravity, bouncy flowing hair is going to be fun to watch.

  Then there was his outfit, which was slightly different as well. He still had his blue shirt with the white heart beat symbol, but on top he had a dark cyan zip-up hoodie, the hoodie having white frost-like embroidery on the ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the hoodie. For pants he got black ripped jeans, the pant legs getting wider as they went down. He has white socks and some nice glacier blue running shoes. 

  After checking out his transduction, he smiles, “I can work with this!” He says to himself, adjusting his hoodie. He then turns off the transduction with a twist of one of the knobs on his watch. He yawns then flops into bed, front first, all of his limbs flared out on the bed.

——————————————————

  Krel would hate to admit it, but Morando was right about something, he’d need dolls of his parents too. So he put them together, you might be wondering how he got this skill, well it’s my fanfic, and Krel is really good at building, and sewing isn’t that far from building, so I let him have that skill too. Deal with it! Anyway, he made dolls of his parents, now all he has to do is get lines for their voice boxes. 

  He easily gets lines from his mother, “I love you.” “Stay safe!” “Goodnight my dears.” Though his Dad was a bit rougher, “You want me to talk into that small box?” Fialkov asks

   “I’m working on a project just in case you and Mama get separated from Aja and I, you just have to say three lines like, ‘I love you’, ‘Stay safe’, stuff like that.” Krel explains

  “You think your mother and I will ever be separated from you two?”

  “It's just in case, okay?”

  Fialkov grumbles, “Alright, I’ll speak into your little toy.”

  “Well, it is technically a toy this time.” Krel says with a shrug.

  Fialkov says, “I love you,” “Stay safe,” and “Train often.”

  “There, are you happy now?” Fialkov asks 

  “Yes, thanks Papa!” Krel says before rushing off.

  Krel rushed back to his workshop, doing the same thing with his parents’ dolls that he did with his and Aja’s. Now he has a cute little doll family, and he was about to separate them… 

  Krel waited until two wardons later, two parsons and a half from coronation/coup day, on the night he was ready to leave, Krel got his bag ready, inside he placed tools, extra pieces in case he needed to fix something on the way, a laptop in case he got bored, he didn’t need a charger because akiridion laptops are just built different. Then he tucked all the dolls, but the Krel doll, inside as well. He sneaks to his room, placing the bag on his bed, then walking into Aja’s room, with mini Krel in hand.

  He walks in quietly, closing the door, Luug’s head pops up a bit, but then goes back down, little guy’s tuckered out from the fun day he had with Aja. Krel lightly shakes his sister awake and she groggily looks at him.

  “Huh? What is it, Krel?” She asks, sleepily.

  “Time for you to get your gift!” Krel said in a soft spoken, but cheerful tone.

  Aja gasps and sits up excited, but that excitement soon turns to sadness when she remembers what the gift also meant.

  “So… Tonight’s the night?” Aja asks

  “Yeah… But as for your gift.” Krel holds up mini Krel, Aja gasps and swipes it from his hand.

  “Awww he’s the size of a smeet!” Aja says, looking at the plush doll of her brother.

  “Huh, yeah, now that I think about it, it kinda is… Anyway, press Mini Krel’s top right hand.”

   Aja does and Mini Krel says, “Don’t worry, I’m safe, Aja.”

  “Awe, so this was the purpose of the small message box!”

  “Yeah, is he cute enough for you?”

  “A small version of you that speaks positive messages? I’m pretty sure that’s the cutest thing ever!”

  Krel smiles, “I’m glad.” 

  “You know, I have a question…”

  “Yeah, what?”

  “Why can’t you just wait until our coronation to leave with me? Why do you have to leave so soon?”

  Krel looks away from Aja, “Because there are some things I don’t really want to relive…” 

  “I see…”

  The siblings sit in silence for a bit, then Aja pats her brother’s back, “Now don’t let me hold you back, you go be a bad boy and I’ll be a good girl, we did the ‘pinky promise' after all!”

  Krel chuckles, he pulls Aja into a hug, “See you in a few parsons.” He whispers

  Aja hugs him back, “Yeah, and I’ll make sure I’m Queen-in-waiting Aja when we meet again.”

  “You better be!”

  “Now go, you’re running out of time!” Aja says, pushing Krel.

  “I know, I know! Bye Aja.”

  Aja hugs Mini Krel to her chest, “Yeah, bye, Krel.”

  Krel makes his way back to his room, on his bed side table was his serrator, he looks to his watch, twisting one of the knobs and activating his transduction. He grabs his bag, then twists another knob on his watch to make himself invisible, basically putting a sheet of invisibility over him and his bag. He grabs his serrator, opening the doors of his balcony, and just because a grappling hook is just so useful, he grapples to the roof, pocketing his serrator as he traversed the roof.

  As he passed Aja’s room, he heard her playing Mini Krel’s voice lines, he felt bad, but kept going. He made his way to the shipyard, with his invisibility, no one noticed him, well, even if he wasn’t invisible, he wasn’t going to be glowing in his human disguise anyway.

  Now, he already found a ship he was going to be stowing away on, all of that info being on the laptop in his bag so his parents wouldn’t find it. The ship was a ‘Dino Deliveries’ ship, a shipping company based on a planet called ‘Nekomi’. The Nekomians already had close ties to earth, with the Nekomians basically looking just like anime elves, their key features being their ‘unnatural’ hair and eye colors, their pointed ears and their very pointy canines. 

  You could always tell who was a Dino Deliveries worker due to their green, dinosaur themed uniforms, well, and their previously mentioned key features. They tend to trade food, various materials and magical goods. Though not many believe in magic so the last one isn’t shipped as often. 

  While the crew was distracted, Krel slipped into a box in the far back of the shipping container. Luckily not catching the attention of any of the workers.

   Krel finds himself in a crate full of pillows, huh, they really do ship anything, at least his ride will be comfortable. He turns off his invisibility, and pulls his hood onto his head. He adjusts how he’s sitting and starts doing something on his laptop to pass the time. He feels the ship rumbling as it sets off.

——————————————————

  Krel didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until the crate he was in was being opened. He opens his eyes to be met by a purple eyed, pink haired man. He has tan skin, and pointed ears, wearing a Dino Deliveries uniform.

  “Hey! Captain Kasey, I found a human in the pillow crate!” The guy announced

  Next to appear was a woman, she has dark skin, pointed ears, dark blue hair fading to a light lavender, her hair braided and half tied up. Her eyes are a golden color and she is also wearing a DD uniform.

  She looks down at Krel. “Jamie, how long ago were we on earth?” Kasey asks the man next to her.

  “Three days ago.” Jamie replied

  “Ah, so this young man must be hungry. Come on out, we’ll feed you then send you home, ‘kay?” She asks, sticking her hand out to Krel out of the crate.

  Krel puts his laptop in his bag, closes it then takes Kasey’s hand and she helps him up, he climbs out of the box. “Alright, follow me.” Kasey says, swiping her hand in the direction she’s walking. Jamie is going to check the rest of the creates.

  Krel follows Kasey to the common room, his eyes catching the glowing appearance of Zadra. 

  “Did you find the prince in your cargo?” Zadra asks

  “No, just this teen human boy, he was sleeping in the pillow crate. I plan on feeding him then sending him back to earth.” Kasey explains.

  “Alright, had to make sure because your ship was one of the few to leave around the time the prince disappeared. Please notify me if you locate him.” 

  “You will be the first I notify, Lieutenant Zadra, don’t worry.”

  “Good, the prince has been missing for seven horvaths now, his family is worried. As am I, all I hope for is his safe return home.”

  “As do I, now you best be off to check more ships.”

  “Of course, thank you for your cooperation, Captain Kasey.”

  Krel watched as Zadra left, then he turned back to Kasey.

  “I’m sure that was your first time seeing an akiridion, they don’t commonly get to go to earth due to the commonly hostile nature of its governments.” Kasey says

  “Well, then why are you easily able to go to earth?” Krel asks

  “They need our resources, and our appearances look more akin to their ‘anime elves’, causing them to trust us bit more and treat us like regal creatures. When we’re basically just like humans. Just like them, a few of us are born with magical abilities and some are not. Due to this closeness, we’re probably the only extraterrestrial species they actually trust, or maybe they think we’re easily manipulated due to our kind nature.” Kasey shrugs, “Now, let’s get you some food, shall we?”

  They head towards the kitchen, inside, music is being basically blasted. Oh how Krel missed this kind of music, though it wasn’t in a language he knew. They entered and a man was sing-shouting along with the music. The man had light skin, bright red hair, mismatched green and gold eyes and was wearing a different variation of the DD uniform. He also appeared slightly older than the other Nekomians Krel had met.

  “KEN! TURN DOWN THE JPOP!” Kasey yells

  “OH! SORRY CAP!” Ken shouts back, going to his music player and turning down the music, “So, what cha need?”

  “This teen’s been stowed away in one of our pillow creates for three days, he needs something to eat.”

  “Oh dang, a human stow way? Haven’t heard of one of those in a while. Well, what do you want to eat, kid?” Ken asks Krel.

  Well, Krel didn’t need to eat, but to hold up his human act… “I’d be fine with anything.” Krel says

  “Anything huh? You got it, I’ll make you something good.” Ken says before he starts making something.

  “While Ken’s busy with that, if I remember correctly, when we took our stop on earth… We stopped in California, which part of California are you from?” Kasey asks Krel

  {Oh thank Seklos they last stopped in California.} Krel thought, “Oh, I’m from Arcadia.”

  “Arcadia? Huh, okay, so I’d need to put ‘Arcadia, California,’ in the teleporter, got it.”

  “Teleporter?”

  “It’s Nekomian technology, we have them on ship in case of stowaways like you, that way you get home safely and we don’t have to make unnecessary pit stops.”

  “Will it be able to transport anything?” Krel was worried about the fact that he’s actually made of hard light, not squishy, fleshy materials.

  “If you’re worried about your clothes, accessories and the items in your bag, don’t worry, everything in the teleporter will be teleported to the set location. It’s a combination of magic and machinery, tested thousands of times on a plethora of different species, so don’t worry, it’s completely safe.”

  “Alright…”

  “Order up!” Ken says, placing the plate of food in front of Krel.

  “Thank you.” Krel says, taking the plate

  “No problem, Kiddo!”

——————————————————

   Once Krel was done eating, he handed his plate back to Ken, who started washing it quickly.

  “Why was that one of the best things I’ve ever eaten?” Krel asks

  “Because I’m just that good of a cook!” Ken says confidently from the sink.

  “That and Nekomians are far nicer to our planet, compared to earth, our planet is far more healthy and stable. Making our resources higher quality, that and you were probably starving. Now come along, let’s get you home.” Kasey says, bringing Krel to the teleporter.

  While she was inputting the location, Krel says, “Um also, I did temporarily get out of my create while we stopped at that really blue planet, and I overheard someone planning on overthrowing the current family in power.” 

  “Oh really? Well, if someone is planning on overthrowing the Tarron family while their prince is missing, I’m sure the Goddess of Nekomi will do all she can to support the Tarron family. As far as we know, the Tarrons are very kind. Would you have an idea of why the prince of Akiridion-5 might’ve ran off in the first place? Apparently it’s very out of character for him.”

  “Maybe he didn’t feel at home there any more and wanted to go somewhere else.”

  “Mmm, maybe. Please stand on the platform.”

  Krel stands on the platform, holding onto the straps of his bag. Kasey looks up at him, “You ready?”

  “Yeah.”

  Kasey presses the activation, then looks up again, “Oh wait, I didn’t get your name.”

  “Mmm, it’s Krel, Krel Tarron.” Krel says with a smile.

  The teleporter then teleports Krel to Arcadia, leaving Kasey standing there with wide eyes. She puts her hand on her face, “I knew that was too easy…” She looks back up at the teleporter’s platform and what Krel said echoes in her head, she sighs, “I’ll keep this to myself.” 

Chapter Text

  While Krel was dealing with all of that, our other characters had headed to Trollmarket, except Archie, who is currently sleeping on Jim’s couch. 

  Of course they had their interaction with Draal, which was fun, then the blade dodging game the forge training course is. Jim practically knew the course by heart, but his body was now young and out of practice, which was annoying.

  Then here comes Vendel, coming to activate the Soothscryer, just to test Toby. Which he got ‘inconclusive’ just like Jim had the first time around. 

  Once Vendel was gone, Jim got an idea, which was probably a bad one, but in his sleep deprivation, he thought it was a really cool one.

   “Yo Tobes! Why don’t we train together? I throw fireballs at you and you block them with your sword!” Jim says

  “Okay, we can try that!” Toby says

  “Yeah!”

  So Jim made sure Toby was ready and started throwing fireballs at him, he’d block them and hit them away like baseballs with Daylight.

  Jim got one fireball ready then threw it with a, “Keep it crispy!” 

  Toby hits it away then starts laughing, “‘Keep it crispy’?” He asks

  “Yeah, because fire can make things crispy and… Mmm… When did everything start spinning?” Jim asks before he starts to fall, Douxie is heard saying “Fuzzbuckets!” Before rushing over and catching Jim.

  “Woah! Is Jimbo okay?!” Toby asks, rushing over Jim too.

  Jim was fine though, he was just out like a light in Douxie’s arms. Slightly snuggled up to him. Douxie sighs, “When you don’t charge your battery, you’ll power down eventually.”

  “Oh dang, does magic take up energy? Cus Jim had pulled an all-nighter before this…”

  “Woo boy, yeah, so he was definitely working on fumes, it was a matter of time before he passed out like this, at least his head didn’t hit the ground…”

  “Yes, well, I believe that means it would be best for you all to head home now, that was some very impressive first night’s training, but you boys need your rest. We’ll bring you back to the entrance, do you think you can carry Master Jim?” Blinky asks

  “I’m stronger than I look.” Douxie says, standing up and giving Jim a piggyback ride.

  “Alright, let’s get moving then.”

——————————————————

   Barbara gets home again, it’s a little after midnight, she enters and notices something on the couch.

  “Oh, aren’t you Archie?” Barbara asks

  Archie pops his head up with a little noise.

  “Well aren’t you a handsome boy!” Barbara says, scratching Archie’s chin, earning a soft purr.

  That’s when the back door opens, Toby saying, “Here I got the door, be careful with him!”

  “Toby, I’ve been careful our whole walk here.” Douxie says flatly, entering the door with Jim on his back.

  “Woah! Is Jim okay?!” Barbara asks

  “Yeah, he’s fine, he apparently pulled an all-nighter last night and he over exerted himself while we were out. He’s just sleeping.” Douxie explains

  “Alright, here, I’ll help with his shoes, then if you’d be nice enough, could you take him to his room?” Barbara asks, pulling Jim’s shoes off his feet.

   “You got it, I was planning on it anyway.” Douxie says, now heading up stairs with Jim.

  “Where’d you three even go this late?” Barbara asks Toby

   “Jimbo wanted to go for a walk and ended up passing out on a bench, so Douxie carried him here.”

  “Yeah, and I should be making my way back to my apartment, I’ve got work in a bit.” Douxie says as he comes back downstairs.

  “I should also head back home, see you Dr.Lake!” Toby says

  “Later boys.” Barbara says

   Archie runs from the couch and heads out the door with Douxie.

——————————————————

  The next morning, Jim wakes up to his alarm, confused. He sits up, “Ah shoot, I passed out! I gotta go make lunches!” He says, getting out of bed.

   Jim falls to the floor, then scrambles to do his usual morning routine. He manages to get it all done just in time. He sticks his Mom’s lunch in the fridge then chows down on his breakfast. 

  Jim heads out, “Hey Tobes, here’s your lunch!”

  “Thank you Jimbo, are you doing alright now?” Toby asks

  “Yeah, I’m doing pretty good, when did I pass out anyway? All I remember is throwing fireballs at you.”

   “Which was absolutely awesome sauce by the way, but you passed out after throwing a fireball and saying ‘keep it crispy!’ It was great. Douxie carried you all the way home.”

  “Really? I should thank him then.”

  “Hey, when did you get so buddy-buddy with the dude anyway?”

  “Oh, I don’t know man, it just happened.”

  “Huh, alright.”

  The boys then bike to school.

——————————————————

  One night, while the boys were training, of course Draal comes along, deciding to challenge Toby to a battle, even though he hasn’t gotten much training. Blinky and Aaarrrgghh pulled Jim and Douxie to the side.

  Jim watches as Draal pummels Toby, Jim starts getting upset, the ends of his hair start to flare up, flames sparking from the ends of his hair, though he reels it in and calms himself. He sure doesn’t need to accidentally activate his armor right now. Right as he calms down, he notices Toby wack Draal right in the face with the flat side of Daylight. Draal stumbles a bit then chuckles, "Intriguing." He says before going back after Toby.

  Toby is actually holding off pretty well against Draal, but he does end up losing anyway, Draal picks up Toby, “Fleshbag, you held up well, but you’re not ready yet.” He drops Tobes back on the platform, “Blinky, I will assist with this fleshbag’s training from now on.” Draal says

  “Ah, yes, of course.” Blinky says

  Draal leaves and Vendel hums before turning and leaving.

  “Did it work out like that for you last time?” Douxie whispers to Jim.

   “Nuh-uh, Draal hated my guts until I beat him in a fight.” Jim says

  “Huh, I wonder how much of a diverted time line this is…”

  “Me too…”

  “GUYS! DID YOU SEE THAT?!” Toby asks with a large smile on his face, rushing over to the group.

  “Yeah! You did great Tobes!” Jim says

  “I’m sure both of you will do great as time progresses and we keep training.” Douxie says

  “Yes, I can already see the greatness radiating off you. I can’t wait to see just how great you two really will be! I believe you will grow to be great too, Master Douxie.” Blinky says

  All of them nod with smiles.

  “Now! Let’s get all of you home.” Blinky says

  “Um actually, can I stay back and train a bit more with Douxie?” Jim asks

  “Ah yes, if you’d like to, come along Master Tobias, Aaarrrgghh, we can go adventuring through Trollmarket so we don’t get hit by a rogue fireball.”

  Once the three of them left, Jim ran straight for the Soothscryer, it activates and rises from the ground.

  “Uh, Jim, what’re you doing?” Douxie asks

  “Keep an eye out, I want to talk to the previous Trollhunters!” Jim says

  “How? You don’t have an amulet, you gave the amulet to Toby.”

  Jim pulls the future amulet, “Actually, I do, it was really useful getting Strickler on our side really early.”

  “Mordrax’s miracles! The amulet Krel and I made came back with you?!”

  “The Time Machine tends to go back with the traveler!” The armor clinks to Jim’s body without a word and cyan light, “Now keep an eye out, if anyone comes in, try to shoo them away! Got it, Doux?”

  “I’ll do my best…”

  “Thanks.”

  Jim sticks his hand in the Soothscryer, quickly being transported inside. 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  He lands on the floor, the disembodied voices of the previous Trollhunters rumbling around him.

  “You’re not the Trollhunter.” The voice of Kanjigar growls from behind Jim.

  Jim turns to Kanjigar, the others repeating after Kanjigar, “All right, all right, shush your faces, we need to let skinny legs talk.”

  Jim turns again to find Deya, “Well, well, nice to see you again Jim.”

  “Deya! Wait… Does that mean we head back in time again?” 

  “If you didn’t, how would I know you?” She asks with a chuckle, “Plus, I could basically hear your heart begging to talk with me. So, what you in here for?”

  “Well, you know, info, guidance.” Jim says

  “What’s the meaning of this, Deya? He isn’t the TrollHunter, but he has an amulet, we can’t even see through his!” Kajigar complained

  “It’s quite simple Kajigar, he’s a time traveler!” Deya says, guiding her hand to Jim.

  “Time traveler?!” Kajigar asks

  The rest of the disembodied voices start talking to each other.

  “Yes, I’m a time traveler, I come from an apocalyptic future where there was too much distraction and too many casualties! I just wanted to check in with Deya!” Jim says

  “Yeah, you said you’d want info from me. So, what do you need, Jim?” Deya asks

  “So if you’re the TrollHunter, then that means we work everything out, but, um, I’ve got another question, when we meet, am I a troll, and am I alone or is there a shorter guy with me?”

  “Mmm… Well, I remember you being able to shift forms, somehow being able to be in the sun no matter what, which was very shocking. As for a shorter guy… Mmm… Nope, I don’t remember there being anyone too short in your ensemble."

  “Okay… Do you remember a shard of something stuck in my amulet?”

  “Mmm… That’s a bit fuzzy…”

  “Alright… Is there anything you can tell me?”

   “Mmm… Have ‘Strickler’ read your amulet’s incantation out loud and… Be ready to explain yourself.”

  “What?”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

   With that, Jim falls out of the Soothscryer, he sits up with a groan. He slightly jumps when he hears an oh so familiar, “Whaaaaaht?!”

  Jim slowly turns to see Douxie with wide eyes, mid-shooing everyone away. Toby had a jaw dropped expression while Blinky and Aaarrrgghh were shocked.

  “What the heck Jimbo?! Where’d you get that totally awesome sauce alien armor?!” Toby asks

  “It’s Akiridion.” Douxie and Jim correct at the same time.

  “Alright, you two need to explain yourselves! What is going on here?!” Blinky asks

  “Should we explain?” Douxie asks Jim.

  Jim sighs, “In Blinky’s library…” he says, taking off his armor and pocketing his amulet.

——————————————————

   Jim and Douxie finish telling most of their story. Leaving their audience in shock.

  “YOU GUYS WENT THROUGH ALL OF THAT?!” Toby asks

  “Alright, I can see why Master Jim would want to go back in time to fix everything, but how does Master Douxie remember and we don’t?” Blinky asks

  “I have no idea…” Jim says

  “Well, I believe it might have to do with the Arcane Order passing on their powers.” Douxie says

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “Jim… You were the last with Bellroc and now you have fire powers, you didn’t have those before.”

  “Holy smokes! I never thought about that, their last words were ‘Fire is now yours to command.’ Then they turned into lava.”

  “Same with me, but it was Nari saying, ‘Life is yours to command.’ Then there was an awful pain in my chest.”

  “I remember that, shortly after Krel folded in pain too, I think he was covered in frost.”

  “Oh shoot, so Krel must remember too! He probably got Skrael’s powers!”

   “Yeah! Though he, Aja and Varvatos don’t arrive for months!”

  “Hey Jimbo, didn’t you say that you and Claire date in the future? You haven’t really made any moves on her in a while.” Toby says

  “Oh, I’ve been getting along with her during play practice, I’m working on it, don’t worry. I plan on talking with her about it, I mean I do have to bring up the NotEnrique thing when it happens.” Jim explains

  “Well, why don’t you do it early and stop her brother from being snatched?”

   “Nah, we’ll need NotEnrique, he’s as much of a brother to Claire as Enrique himself, he deserves to be part of the Nuñez family. Plus, I’ve got an idea, you got cook books in here, right Blink?” 

  “Yes, I do, do you plan on cooking something from them?” Blinky asks

  “Yep, the quickest way to get NotEnrique on our side would be through his stomach.”

   Douxie checks his watch, “Ah fuzzbuckets, guys, we gotta head out, it’s 11pm.” He announces

  “Alright, I’ll like to try out those cook books eventually Blinky.” Jim says

  “Hold on a second, I’d also like to know what happened in the Soothscryer!” Blinky tells him.

   “I just wanted to know some things, I had a talk with Deya and-”

  “You spoke with Deya herself?!”

  “Yeah, she said I will be able to shift between troll and human, but being able to walk in the sunlight no matter which form I’m in. How about you do some research on that while we’re gone, might be fun.”

  “Ah yes, I’ll see what I can find on that.”

  “That’s great, now we gotta go, come on!” Douxie says, leading the other two boys out.

——————————————————

  The next day at school, Jim walks up to Claire while she’s with Mary and Darci, “Hey Claire.”

  “Oh, hey Jim, what’s up?” Claire asks as she turns towards him.

  “I was wondering if you could help me out with Spanish? I’m still not really getting it, and since you’re fluent, I thought I’d ask.” Jim says

  “Uh, sure, as long as you’re okay with helping me watch my baby brother.”

  “Great, so, study at your house?”

  “Yeah, here, let me give you my number so I can message you the location, and you can tell me when you’re coming over.” Claire says, taking her phone out.

  The two exchange numbers, “Right, uh, see you then.” Jim says

  “Yeah, see you!” Claire says

  Jim walks away and Mary and Darcy are confused, “Woah, did you and Jim just have a natural conversation?” Mary asks

  “Yeah, he didn’t stutter or use any of his bad Spanish on you.” Darci adds

  “Huh, maybe he’s getting more confident.” Claire says

  “I’m still pretty sure he’s totally into you though, Claire-Bear.” Mary says

  “I mean, he is cute, so I wouldn’t mind that.” Claire says, tucking her hair behind her ear.

  “Ooooo!” Mary and Darci tease.

  “Oh shush it, girls!” Claire says with a laugh.

——————————————————

   Jim enters Mr.Strickler’s office, “Ah, Young Atlas, what brings you here?” Strickler asks, looking up from papers he’s grading.

  “Hey, um, real quick question, could you read my amulet’s incantation?” Jim says, holding up his amulet.

  “Um, why?” Strickler asks, looking at the amulet like it’s dangerous.

  “Deya told me you should.”

  “Deya? Like the first Trollhunter, Deya?”

  “Yep, her, now just read it already.”

  Strickler takes the amulet from Jim, he swallows before reading, “For the Good of all, Excalibur is mine to command.” With that, cyan light fills the room. Once it was gone, Strickler starts blinking rapidly, then he squints his eyes at Jim.

  “Young Atlas? You look… Younger?” He then looks around, “Why are we in my old office? Didn’t I…” Strickler stops talking… Looking down at his hands.

  “Wait! You remember now?!” Jim asks

  “Yes, I remember everything. All the way up to… My falling… Eh hem, here’s your amulet back.” Strickler says, handing Jim his amulet, “Might I know just how far back we are?”

  “We’re two years back, before the death of Bular and Gunmar.”

  Strickler groans, “I have to deal with those boars again?”

  “Yep…”

  “What about the others?”

  “Well, you’re the first I’ve tried this with, but Douxie remembers because of Nari’s powers, I got Bellroc’s powers and my amulet,” Jim summons a flame in his left hand, “And we believe Krel has Skrael’s powers, so he might remember too.” He extinguishes the flame in his hand and pockets his amulet.

  “Ah, so I was the test subject, how fantastic. Um, may I also know, did my sacrifice do anything?” 

   Jim looks to the floor, “Sadly, no, you only stopped the Ice Titan for a minute, but it reformed and kept going.” He tries to hold back his tears, but he’s failing, “You sacrificed yourself, and it did nothing, you died. We didn’t deserve to lose you, Mom didn’t deserve to lose you. You two had just gotten engaged, and you died for a plan that didn’t even work?!” Jim wipes the tears from his eyes, “You didn’t deserve that, you said you couldn’t fly in the cold, but we went through with it anyway and so many people died, Nomura was killed by Nari putting her in the sun, and Tobes died after we defeated Bellroc!” Jim’s rambling is stopped by Strickler hugging him.

  When did Strickler get up from his desk? He doesn’t know, but now the changeling was hugging him, and Jim crumbles apart, he hugs Strickler back and starts crying even harder. Sure, Strickler was getting tears and snot on his sweater, but he doesn’t care right now, Jim needs this hug. Well, Strickler kinda does too, but he’d never admit it out loud.

   Once Jim stops crying, Strickler asks, “Are you okay now?”

   “Kinda…” Jim admits, he steps back to see the large wet spot left on Strickler’s sweater, “Oh, sorry, I just messed up your sweater…” 

  Strickler looks down at his sweater, “Mmm, it’s alright, I’ve got tissues.” He says before heading over to his desk and cleans his shirt off with the tissues, once he’s done, he offers the box to Jim. 

  Once that was dealt with, “Uh, I could try to dry it with a bit of fire.” Jim offers

  “And have the chance of you accidentally burning my sweater? No thank you.” Strickler says

  That’s when the bell rings, “Ah great, I spent all of lunch here…” Jim says with a groan.

  “Well, you best be off, we both have to keep up with appearances.” Strickler says, adjusting his overcoat.

  “Right, see you, Strickler!”

  “See you.” Jim says, leaving with a wave.

Chapter Text

  Jim is standing at Claire’s front door, he knocks on the door and Claire is quick to open it, “Jim, you’re here, welcome in.” Claire says, letting Jim in.

  Enrique is happily bouncing in his bouncy chair, “Ah, wait just a sec, I’ll grab us some learning snacks!” Claire says, rushing to the kitchen.

  “Hey there Enrique, want to see something cool?” Jim asks, showing the baby his amulet. Enrique babbles and tries grabbing for it, but Jim doesn’t let him, he pets him on the head a bit, before taking a seat on the couch. Jim looks down at his amulet, tracing the letters on it with his thumb.

  “I’m back with some chips and guac!” Claire says, placing the bowl on the coffee table and taking a seat next to Jim, “So, what are we starting with?” Claire asks, looking at him. She spots the amulet in his hand, “What you got there?” Claire asks

  “Oh, just an amulet, uh, do you mind reading it out loud to me?” Jim asks, offering the amulet to Claire.

  Claire takes it into her hands, “Jim, this is in English, I thought I was helping you with Spanish.”

  “Could you please just read it?”

  “Alright…? ‘For the Good of all, Excalibur is mine to command.’”

  The room floods with cyan light, once it's gone, Claire blinks her eyes open, she observes her surroundings, she spots Enrique, who’s currently laughing in his bouncy chair. She looks at Jim, “Jim, is that the real Enrique?”

  “I’m pretty sure the trade hasn’t happened yet… Also, welcome back to two years in the past!” Jim says

  “Holy shish-kabobs! There’s so much we can do!” Then she realized, “Ah, wait…” Claire sticks her hand out, trying to form a portal, but she fails, “Fudge-nuckle! I don’t have access to my magic!” She pouts

  “Speaking of magic.” Jim summons a fire in his hand, causing Claire to gasp, “What?! No fair! How do you have magic?!” Claire complains

  Jim starts playing with a small bit of fire between his fingers, “Apparently it was a dying gift from Bellroc.” Jim tells her

  “Okay, one, put that away before you accidentally burn my house down, and two, if we’re back in time, then shouldn’t Bellroc be alive right now, and their powers, you know, with them?”

  “Yeah, I’m curious about that too… I mean Douxie still has Nari’s powers, and we think Krel might have Skrael’s. Also, why are they just called ‘Powers’? Shouldn’t they have a cooler name?”

  “We could come up with a cooler name… They call themselves the ‘Arcane Order’ right?”

  “Yeah, why?” Jim asks, eating a bit of the chips and guacamole on the coffee table.

  “Well, then we can call it their ‘Arcane’ instead of their ‘Powers’, did Bellroc say anything when they gave you their Arcane?” Claire asks, also getting herself some of the guac.

“Um, I stabbed them in the chest, then they got closer, grabbed my hand, their voice echoed in my head and they said, ‘Fire is now yours to command.’ Afterwards they turned into lava.”

  “Ah, so that’s what happened, I’m surprised they were even able to do that after Toby got them with Krel’s anti-magic ray.”

  “I guess the transferring of their Arcane didn’t take magic, it’s probably a dying wish thing.”

  “Magic is weird…”

  Claire and Jim had mindlessly started cuddling on the couch, sharing their bowl of chips and guacamole, “We could ask Doux if he has access to anything related to shadow magic, because your powers were unlocked by Morgana’s staff, so we could probably unlock it earlier with something else.” Jim offered

  “Huh, you’re right…” Claire says

  That’s when Claire’s parents got home, her Mom standing in front of the two with her arms crossed, “I’m seeing a lot of cuddling, not enough learning.” She says

  Jim and Claire sit up, “Right! Sorry! So we should get started!” Claire says

  “Also Claire, next time tell us when the person you’re studying with is actually your boyfriend.” 

  “Right! Sorry Mom!”

——————————————————

  The next day, Jim got home and his Mom was in the kitchen, but she wasn’t the only one, Mr.Strickler was there too.

  “Ah, there you are, Young Atlas, we were waiting for you to arrive.” Strickler says, sitting at the island.

  “What’s the occasion?” Jim asks

  “Well, I have a request that your Mother reads your amulet.”

  “Oh, I get it.”

  “What amulet? Jim, did you write something bad on an amulet?” Barbara asks

  “No no, just read this out loud.” Jim says, handing his amulet to his Mom.

  Barbara reads the incantation aloud and that same cyan light appears. She blinks her eyes open, she gasps, “W-Walt?” Barbara asks, placing the amulet on the island to cover her mouth with her hands.

  Strickler takes her hand into his, “Hello again my dearest Barbara.” He says before kissing her hand.

  “How is this possible?”

  “Time travel, welcome to two years in the past.” Jim says 

  “You do look younger… This is just so unbelievable…” Barbara says

  Strickler walks over to be in front of Barbara, he places his hand on her cheek, he gently pulls her into a kiss. Jim looks away with a “Didn’t need to see that!”

  The two separate with a smile, “I’m happy that you’re back.” Barbara says

  “As am I, but Jim and I will have to keep up with appearances, I will try to sow seeds in the Janus Order against Gunmar, once Jim and his friends come up with a plan for killing Bular once more.”

  “Is Jim the Trollhunter again?”

  “Well, technically it’s me and Tobes this time around.” Jim tells her

  They all continued talking for a while, but I think that’s enough dialogue, so I’m gonna time skip.

——————————————————

  Claire and Jim enter the bookstore that Douxie works at, “I’ll be with you in a sec!” He announces from the back room.

  “Alright, take your time, Teach!” Claire yells back.

  They hear a clatter sound from the back room, then the door swings open with a surprised Douxie, “Claire remembers?!” He asks

  “Claire, Strickler, my Mom, it turns out whoever reads my amulet’s incantation gets their memories from the future.” Jim explains

  “Your amulet can do that?! Is that another effect of the time stone being in the amulet? Have you told Blinky and Aaarrrgghh yet? What about Toby?” Douxie asks 

  “Woah, question overload!” Claire says

  “Yes, the amulet can apparently do this, maybe, and no, I haven’t told Blinky, Aaarrrgghh or Toby about this yet, I didn’t have the time.” Jim rapidly replies

  “Okay, well, I have a band meeting after work today, so I don’t have much time. Is there something you need from the shop?” Douxie asks

  “Just something to unlock my shadow magic with, you got anything like that?” Claire asks

  “Mmm… Shadowmancey isn’t very common, so we don’t have much shadow magic related materials… I can really only think of three, I’ll go nab them for you.” He says before going back to the back room.

  Douxie comes back out with thick black gloves on his hands and a black box, he places the box down on the counter, inside are three items, a dagger, a ring with a purple gem and a purple gem beaded bracelet.

  “Um, why are you wearing gloves?” Claire asks

  “These items tend have bad effects on non-shadowmancers. Now, which one is calling your name?” 

  Claire hovers her hand over each item twice, but ends up grabbing the bracelet. Once she does, it feels like something popped open, she could feel her magic again. She smiles down at the bracelet, “Yeah, this one works.”

   “Alright, let me put these back real quick.” Douxie says, he goes back to the back before coming back out without those thick gloves, he dusted himself off, “Alright, I’ll be off in about two hours, then I have band practice, which I’m sure the band won’t mind you guys as a mini audience, then we can head down to Trollmarket and train, that okay with you two?”

  “Yeah, I don’t mind, let me message Tobes.” Jim says

  “I don’t mind either, I remember your band being pretty good!” Claire says

  “Alright, feel free to read from the public gallery while you wait.” Douxie says, guiding them to the book filled shelves.

——————————————————

  An hour and a half later, Douxie’s coworker walked in, she spotted the two teens, Jim had fallen asleep and Claire was still happily reading her book, a shadow-gem bracelet on her wrist. Heck she could see the magic radiating off the two, it was so bright, she had to squint her eyes looking at them.

  “Oh, hey Marz, how are you?” Douxie asks

  “I was fine before seeing those magic flashlights, they’ve got so much magical potential it’s hurting my eyes to look at them!” Marz says 

  Marz’s hair is strawberry blonde hair fading to a deep red, it’s styled in a wolf cut, she has large green-blue hazel eyes, and light peach skin. She’s wearing a cute frilly orange and white cropped shirt, white elbow high fingerless gloves that frill at the end, a frilly skirt-matching her top-that’s high waisted but goes down to right above her knees, knee high orange socks, and white shoes. Marz has her ginger cat themed purse slung on her shoulder as she tries her best to not look at Jim and Claire.

  Marz groans, blocking her eyes from Douxie too, “When did you get brighter?!” She asks

  Douxie chuckles, “I don’t envy your magic sight, Marz.” He says

  “Good! You shouldn’t, I wish I could turn this off, but I can’t, it’s so annoying! I can’t even do much but see the magic, what’s even the point of this ability?!”

   “I know someone I think could make a set of magic blocking glasses, want me to ask him to make you a set when he gets back in town?”

  “Uh, yes please! Make sure they’re orange!”

  “I’ll see what he can do, when he gets here. Hey! Claire, wake up Jim, we’re going to be heading out soon, I’ll go get Archie.”

——————————————————

  “Bye Marz!” Douxie says as the group started to leave, they head for Douxie’s apartment because he needed to grab his guitar. Once they enter the apartment building, both Jim and Claire gasp, “You live here?!” Jim asks

  Douxie’s apartment looked more like a cruddy cheap motel, it looks like the place is just one disaster away from caving in on itself. Douxie shrugged, “It’s the best I could afford on my salary."

  “This was the best you could afford?!” Claire asks

  That’s when thumping is heard from above, [KEEP IT DOWN, CASPERAN!] shreaked an older woman’s voice.

  “Yeah, Ms.Roberts doesn’t like anything distracting her from her knitting, so best to keep it down.” Douxie says softly, while grabbing his guitar. 

  “She’s super annoying.” Archie says

  Thumping is heard again, [REMEMBER THE THIN WALLS, CASPERAN!] Ms.Roberts yells

  “Let’s just head out…” Douxie says

  As the two were following Douxie to his band practice, they were whispering to each other, “Douxie can’t keep living there! It’s too dangerous!” Jim whisper-yelled to Claire.

   “I know, it’s almost like he puts himself at risk with everything he does! It’s not like we could get him a better place to stay though…” Claire whispers to Jim.

  “I’d have to talk with my Mom, but we have a few extra rooms in our house. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if Doux stays in one of them if we explain it to her.”

  “I did get a photo of his current place, if you want me to send that to you as persuasion.”

   “What are you two whispering about back there?” Douxie asks, turning his head towards Jim and Claire.

  “Oh, just going over things, oh and we thought the Arcane Order’s powers could be called their Arcane instead, so it sounds cooler, like I have Bellroc’s Arcane, you have Nari’s Arcane, stuff like that.” Jim says, trying to hide the true conversation.

  “Really? I actually like that! Alright you two, we’re here.” Douxie says, standing in front of an empty alleyway.

  “Um, really?” Claire asks

  “We never had a wide enough area to practice without getting noise complaints, so we made one.” Douxie says, walking to the back of the alley, knocking a pattern into the brick wall, “The benefits of a band of wizards!” Douxie adds, as a glowing doorway opens, it spirals Douxie blue, and Zoe pink, along with the dark red and pastel yellow magic colors of the other two-yet to be known-members.

  Inside they find a very large room, with all sorts of musical related gear. It was definitely made to be the perfect practicing area. Zoe is playing a toon on her hot pink keytar, but she did have a shimmery pink electric bass guitar laying in its case next to her. 

  Zoe is wearing a pink cropped tank top, one strap being off her shoulder, the top revealing the top part of her black bra, on the shirt was the black outline of some anime girl. Along with that she’s wearing a set of black shorts with pink detailing on top of ripped black and pink striped leggings and some hot pink running shoes.

   Then there were the two unknown people. Going along with Zoe’s toon was a girl on the drums, the drums themselves were white and pastel yellow, colored similar to bananas, though the metal parts were more golden and had a rainbow shimmer to them. 

  Back to the girl behind the drums, she has a darker brown skin tone, her curly black hair was dyed with rings of yellow, making her hair look similar to a bumble bee. She has large round glasses with golden colored frames and golden colored eyes, as for her outfit, she has black and yellow arm warmers on top of black fingerless gloves, her nails painted in the same black and yellow pattern. She has thigh highs that match the arm warmers. She’s wearing a black top with a white outline of a different anime girl, the shirt being tucked into her bright yellow skort that reaches right above her knees. It was fair to guess she was the one with the pastel yellow magic.

  Next to be spotted was the one who bore the dark red magic. It was a man with long red wavy hair that goes a little past his collar bone. The hair is actually a gradient of a very dark red to a bright red at the ends. He had the front half tied back and the bottom half loose. He had tan skin with freckles and moles scattered across it, along with chocolate brown eyes. He was wearing an outfit that was most likely lazy wear. It was a baggy shirt with a Megamind ‘No baddies?’ Meme on it. Yes I know this is technically prior to that meme’s creation, don’t worry about it. He also wore baggy red sweat pants and slippers, maybe his place was the closest.

  He was going along with the girls’ rhythm with his electric guitar, which was painted in a sparkly red gradient to differentiate between his and Douxie’s. With his also having a rainbow shimmer for extra effect. He was humming along with the toon.

  “Hey guys, I’m here with guests!” Douxie announced, causing his band mates to stop with their little toon.

  The red guy gasps, “Douxie! You should’ve warned me! I don’t like it when the first impression someone has on me is based on my pajamas!” He complains

  “Hello!” Says the yellow girl with a wave.

  “Why’d you even bring them here, Doux?” Zoe asks

  “It’s because I have to do some magic training with them after this, Zo. Alright allow me to do introductions, this is Jim and Claire, they’re going to be our mini audience for this practice session. Now allow me to introduce the band. The pink themed one is Zoe, the yellow themed one is Neveah, but she got the nickname Bee due to her color scheme. Then we have our deva, Fritz, who doesn’t like anyone knowing he likes to dress comfortably sometimes.” Douxie introduces 

  “Well excuse me for being the lead singer and having an image to uphold!” Fritz huffs

  “Okay, introductions are done, can we practice now?” Zoe asks

  “Yeah! Let’s do something energetic! I wanna go ham on these drums!” Bee cheers

  “If we’re doing that, let me get changed!” Fritz says, running off to a side room.

  After a bit, Fritz comes back out with a completely different vibe, his red hair is all down, he now has a red glittery red star painted around his right eye and red lipstick. As for his outfit, it’s a bright red sleeveless crop top, underneath is a skintight black shirt tucked into dark red ripped skinny jeans, he had red fishnet elbow length gloves, with matching leggings showing through the rips in his jeans, his nails are painted glittery red and he was wearing black heeled boots over his jeans. Of course the boots have a red shimmer to them too. You can tell I like to color code people, can’t you…

  “Okay, now we can practice!” Fritz says, swiping his hair in the air. 

  “Finally!” Zoe groans

  Now Jim and Claire were sitting on pillows on the floor, watching as ADP set up. Jim’s phone goes off, it’s Toby, so he answers with face time.

  [Jimbo! It’s not fair you get to watch a band practice instead of training!] Toby complains through the phone.

  “Hey guys, is it okay if my friends watch through my phone too?” Jim asks

  “Heck yeah! Let them see this!” Bee yells from her drums, holding one of her sticks in the air.

  “Alright then.” Jim says, sitting his phone in his lap with the screen facing the band.

  [Master Tobias, you really should be training.] Blinky says

  [Come on Blink, one song! You want to watch too, right Aaarrrgghh?] Toby asks

  [Want to try out.] Aaarrrgghh agrees

  [Alright, one song, then training!] 

  ADP was finally ready, Zoe had her bass, the boys their guitars and Bee was practically vibrating, she really wanted to go ham on her drums. The song starts with Bee, she starts a steady beat, then Zoe joins in, then Douxie, finally Fritz. They kept with the instrumentals for a bit, until Fritz started singing, the other band members singing along with him individually from time to time. Then they all sing a part together, which leads to Bee going ham on her drums, with the rest of the band matching her energy with their stringed instruments. They get back to their original beat then end it with them all holding the last line. Like it starts with Fritz, then Douxie joins in, then Zoe and finally Bee. They end it with final strums and Bee ends it with the same beat she started.

  Their small audience clapped, “That was incredible!” Claire cheers

  “Yeah!” Jim agrees

  [That was amazing!] Toby says 

  [Sounded like just noise to me.] Blinky says

  [Was kinda good.] Aaarrrgghh says

  “Ugh, trolls never know good music, even if it slaps them in the face.” Fritz says, swiping his hair out of his face.

  “Wooo! That was great!” Bee cheers

  “Since this is practice, we do have to do more than one song.” Zoe says

  [Well, Master Tobias must train, come on.] Blinky say

  [Awe man… See you when you get here Jimbo!] Toby says

  “See you Tobes!” Jim says before ending the call.

  “Alright! Let’s get to practicing more!” Bee cheers

——————————————————

  After about three more songs, Ash Dispersal Pattern decided that was enough, so they all packed up and went their separate ways.

   On the way to Trollmarket, “How was that place even possible anyway?” Jim asks

  “Oh, the whole band worked together to make the space, which you could probably tell by the multicolored entrance, we got annoyed by getting noise complaints no matter where we practiced, and didn’t want sound proofing to be part of our prep time, so we just magiced up a practice studio.” Douxie explained

  “Wait, I just realized, Archie wasn’t there during the performance, where’d he go?” Claire asked

  “The side room where Fritz did his magical girl transformation, it’s sound proof and Arch likes to nap there.” Douxie explained, again.

   “Yes, I even have a cozy cat bed in there.” Archie confirmed

  “So Archie’s going into Trollmarket tonight?” Jim asks

  “I’ll just shift to my dragon form once we’re inside.”

  And that’s what happens, once they got to the crystal stairs, Archie shifted into a dragon and they walked down and to the Forge. Once they got there, Blinky noticed Claire had joined the boys.

  “Ah, now who is this?” Blinky asks

  “Blinky, this is Claire my… Uh…” Jim doesn’t know if he should say girlfriend or not, so he just looks at Claire.

  “Girlfriend, I’m his girlfriend.” Claire confirms

  “Well, welcome Fair Claire, might I know why she is here?” Blinky asks

  “She also needs magic training, she’s a shadowmancer.” Douxie explains

  “Oh, how interesting.”

  “Wait! What do you mean you’re Jim's girlfriend?! How’d that happen so fast?!” Toby asks

  “Well, we can explain that!” Claire says

  They explained the whole thing with the amulet giving the memories of the future to those who read the incantation, when Draal walks up, “That sounds like bushigal to me.” He huffs

  “Oh really? Why don’t you try it out, Draal?” Jim asks, holding the amulet up for the troll to read.

  Draal reads the incantation aloud and regains his memories with that same cyan light. He shakes his head, then looks down at the fleshbags in front of him.

  “You let Toby have the amulet this time around? How… Interesting…” he then holds his arm up, “It is nice to have my arm back to be honest.” Then he notices Douxie, “Who’s this guy?”

  “Hisirdoux Casperan, Douxie for short, I’m also known as Merlin’s lost apprentice.” Douxie says, “I joined the team after your death.”

  “Ah… I see… You should use this trick on Vendel. It might prevent his death, also, I do think a short cut between Trollmarket and the TrollHunters’ basements will be useful again this time around.” Draal admits

  “Ooo, yeah, and I should probably put some protection spells on your houses too… Don’t want Bular coming and killing Toby in his sleep…” Douxie says

  “Yeah, I’m sure Strickler is going to have to tell Bular who has the amulet eventually, so there should be some defenses…” Jim agrees

  “Wait, so Draal really has all of his memories from this alternate future?” Toby asks

  “Yes, all the way up till my fall.” Draal confirms

  “Woah…”

  “Though, it’s completely up to you guys if you want to remember, Tobes will definitely need to be focused on more if he’s to defeat Bular.” Jim says

  “Yes… I can wait on this knowledge until Master Tobias is successfully trained. What about you Aaarrrgghh?” Blinky asks

  “Will do it when Blinky do.” Aaarrrgghh says

  “Alright, Tobes, I think you should wait a bit too.” Jim says

  Blinky claps his hands, “Alright, we’re burning night! Let’s get to training so you all can rest at a reasonable hour to deal with your schooling!” 

  Blinky focused on Toby’s training, Jim did his own thing after putting on his armor, and Douxie started helping Claire with her magic.

  Mid training, Jim yelled, “Holy smokes! I just set Excalibur on fire!” 

  Everyone looks at him and yep, he’s holding a flaming Excalibur. Everyone was shocked, especially Draal.

  “When did he get Excalibur?!” Draal asks

   “About a year or two after you fell.” Claire tells him.

  “Great Gronka Morka…”

Chapter Text

  A few days before his birthday, Jim finally got to show Barbara where Douxie was currently living and- “HE LIVES THERE?!” Barbara exclaimed

  Strickler was hanging out today too, so he peaked over Barbara’s shoulder to see the photo, “Woah, yeah, that definitely has to be in violation of something.” He agrees

  “It probably has painted over black mold on the walls! And that ceiling looks like it could collapse at any moment! You’re telling me that’s where that boy stayed before running and hiding with that Nari girl?!” 

  “Yep, I saw the place with my own eyes,  before he took us to watch his band practice.” Jim says

  “How old is he again, because he looks to me to be in his late teens!”

  “Well, remember Mom, he’s a wizard who unlocked his immortality at a young age, so mentally and physically, I’m pretty sure he’s still 19, but I think he’s technically over 900.” 

   “Who cares about ‘technical age’?! Walt is technically 200-300, but he doesn’t act like it!”

  “Why are we bringing my age into this?” Strickler asks

  “That boy needs a safer place to stay! I’ll take him in! We have enough room here!” Barbara says

  “Are you sure Barbara?” Stricktler asks

  “Oh come on, this is a teen wizard I’m talking about taking in, it’s not like I’m trying to adopt two babies.”

  “Which you have, you adopted my and Nemura’s old familiars.”

  “Well that’s two years from now when we’re engaged, and you better survive to our wedding, because I swear to God, if you sacrifice yourself like that again!”

  Strickler puts his hands up in defense, “Okay, I got it, my love!”

  “So, how are we going to get him to live here?” Jim asks

  “By force!” Barbara says, hitting her hand with her fist.

  “Or you give him an offer.” Strickler says

   Jim and Barbara share a look, then say, “I don’t know if that’ll work.”/“I doubt that’ll work.” At the same time.

  “Well, I was just trying to offer a civil option. Also, isn’t he be working right now? I’ve seen him at the cafe around this time.” Strickler reasoned

   “Uh, alright, how about we try both plans, we give him an offer then if that doesn’t work, we make him!” Jim says

  “I’m fine with that!” Barbara says

  “Welp, I best make my way out…” Strickler says, standing up and stretching, “I’ve got a Bular to deal with… Wish me luck…”

  “Don’t get killed!” Jim says

  “You better be careful!” Barbara warned

  “I’ll do my best.” Strickler says, leaving out the front door.

  “Alright kiddo, let’s go to the cafe for dinner, and make that offer to that wizard.” Barbara says, standing from the couch and popping her knuckles.

  “Let’s hope this ends up well.” Jim says

——————————————————

  Douxie is doing his shift at the cafe, with Bee working there too, but to be honest, their manager was kinda rude. She was the perfect managers for Karens. Doux absolutely didn’t like having to work here again, but he also didn’t want to be homeless, so sucky job it is.

   Although-to his surprise-Jim and his Mom were eating dinner here tonight, which is interesting, doesn’t Jim commonly cook dinner for them? They sat at a table that’s in his section, which means he gets to have a chat with them. 

  Bee walks up near Douxie, her hair tied up in pigtails, because it’s cute, she looks in the same direction as Douxie, adjusting her glasses, “Oh hey, it’s the boy you brought to one of our band practices, he’s eating out with his Mom tonight, huh?” Bee asks

  “Yeah, looks like it.”

  “Well, you need to go take their…” Bee stops talking when a familiar face appears, “Oh no, it’s Ms.Roberts… Oof and your little friend is sitting where she likes to… Welp, I gotta go check my tables! Have fun!” Bee says before rushing off.

  Douxie slightly groans, then walks to Jim and Barbara with a smile. 

——————————————————

  As Jim and Barbara were talking, they heard an older lady click her tongue in annoyance then sit at a nearby table. They kinda just shrugged it off, and kept with their conversation.

  Douxie arrives at their table, “Hello Jim and Barbara, what would you like me to get you today?”

  “I’ll have a medium steak with a coke, you Mom?” Jim says

  “Mmm, I’ll have the pumpkin seed soup with some tea.” Barbara says

  “Great, I’ll go get your order to-”

  “Hold on, we have an offer for you.” Barbara says, grabbing Douxie by the upper arm.

  “An offer?” Douxie asks with a tilt to his head.

   “I may or may not have shown my Mom a picture of where you're currently living and…” Jim starts

  “I believe you should live with us from now on.” Barbara finished

   “Live with you two? Like you want me to move into your place? I’ll… think about it, okay? I gotta get your orders to the kitchen…” Douxie says, walking off.

  A few minutes later, he comes back with their drinks, he walks off with a, “Your food will be ready soon.” Then he walks over to Ms.Roberts

  “Sorry for the wait Ma’am, we’re pretty under staffed, may I take your order?” Douxie asks

  “You know my name, Casperan.” Ms.Roberts snaps with a glare.

  “Yes, my apologies, Ms.Roberts.” Douxie says with a smile, {Gods, I didn’t miss this…} He thinks

  “I’d like a peppermint latte and some cinnamon rolls.”

  “Ms.Roberts, it’s currently early October, we don’t offer peppermint lattes at this time, if you would like, you could try our pumpkin latte instead.”

  Ms.Roberts taps her nails on the table, then looks up at Douxie with a smile that sends a shiver down his spine. “Yeah, sure, get me a pumpkin latte, while you’re at it, get me pumpkin cinnamon rolls!” 

  “So, pumpkin latte and pumpkin cinnamon rolls?” Douxie asks

  “Yes! Now go get my stuff!” She says, shooing him away.

  “I’ll be right back with that, Ms.Roberts.” Douxie says before heading back to the kitchen.

  Douxie heads back to Jim and his Mom with their food, placing them on the table.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s up with her?” Barbara asks, nudging her head in the direction of Ms.Roberts.

  “Oh, well, first off, you’re sitting where she normally sits, second off, she wanted a peppermint latte, which we don’t offer until late November, and third, she’s the manager’s aunt and a regular customer, so she thinks she’s entitled to some things.” Douxie says soft enough for the Lakes to hear, but not loud enough for Ms.Roberts to hear.

  “Ah, so a Karen.” Jim says, matching Douxie’s tone.

  “Quit dallying Casperan!” His Manager shouts

  “That’s Manager Margret, gotta go, talk later.” Douxie says, rushing away.

  As Douxie goes to retrieve Ms.Roberts’ order, he overhears, “What are you doing Neveah?! Go wipe down your tables!” Margret demands

  “I was just about to, what do you think these wipes are for?” Bee asks

  “Don’t sass me, young lady! Get to work!”

   As Bee passes him, she mumbles, “You’re the young lady, compared to how long I’ve lived.”

  Douxie slightly chuckles, then the order showed up, “Here’s that double pumpkin.” 

  “Thanks.” Douxie says, taking the items and heading back out.

  He places them down in front of Ms.Roberts, she tries the pumpkin cinnamon rolls, surprised they actually taste good. Then she shoos Douxie away, he nods, then turns his back to her, facing toward the Lakes.

  “So, is everything going well with you two?” Douxie asks

  “Yes, it’s all good, could I get a refill on my tea?” Barbara asks

  “You can, what about you, Jim?”

  “Oh I’m goo-”

  SPLASH!

  Everyone freezes, a hot liquid has just been poured on Douxie’s head, he turns to find Ms.Roberts behind him. Holding the now empty cup that used to hold a pumpkin latte. 

  Manager Margret rushes up asking, “What’s going on here?!” 

  “Margret! He gave me a pumpkin latte when I asked for a peppermint latte!” Ms.Roberts yells

  “Casperan! I told you to give her what she wants when she asks for it! Neveah! Get a peppermint latte!” Margret orders

  “But we don’t sell those till late November,” Bee says, before turning and seeing what happened, “Holy honeycomb! What happened to Douxie?!”

  Barbara is quick to stand up, “WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU, LADY?! Come here Douxie, let me check for burns.” She says, turning Douxie to look at the back of his neck, which is already looking pretty red.

  “Neveah! Where’s that peppermint latte?!” Margret asks

  “Alright! I’ll tell the baristas!” Bee says, flinging her arms in the air before heading inside.

  “What’s going on out there, Bee?” One of the baristas asks.

   “Ms.Roberts poured a fresh pumpkin latte on Douxie, and is now demanding she gets a peppermint latte with Margret supporting her…”

  “But… We don’t sell those till late November…”

  “I know! I’m sure that’s what Doux told her too, hence why she got the pumpkin latte, but she’s just such a witch!”

  “Just in time for Halloween, am I right?”

  “Yeah, well, you think you can whip something up that’s close enough?”

  They sigh, “I’ll see what I can do…”

——————————————————

  “You can go home early, Casperan!” Margret says

  “Well we were going to take him with us to treat his burns anyway!” Jim says

  “Whatever kid!”

  Though, to everyone’s surprise, another Douxie comes walking out of the cafe, but this one doesn’t have blue dyed tips and is wearing small round glasses on his face. Oh, so it was Archie then.

  “Ah, there you are, I was worried.” Archie says, walking over.

  “Oh, Archie, we were going to take Douxie with us to help him with his burns.” Jim tells him.

  “Burns?! How’d he get burns?!” 

  “Ms.Roberts poured a fresh latte on him.”

  “Ah, so she’s being as rude and annoying as ever. Well, I'll best be joining you.”

  They all get in Barbara’s car, once far enough, Archie shifts back to a cat and lays his top half on Douxie’s lap, letting him pet him to help calm down.

  “Are you alright Douxie? You haven’t spoken a word yet.” Jim says

  “This didn’t happen last time… Last time she actually liked both items, but with you two showing up, sitting at her favorite table, I think it tipped the scales in the wrong direction.” Douxie brings his hand up to his forehead and tangles his fingers in his bangs, “Just how different is this timeline going to be?!” He asks

  “Douxie, don’t pull at your hair.” Archie scolds

  “Right, sorry…” 

  “Well, don’t worry about it, we’ll figure this out, alright?” Jim says

  They made it to the Lake’s house, they had him take his apron, hoodie and shirt off, and washed his hair in the sink.

  While Barbara put burn cream on Douxie, Jim got a message from Toby, it was a video link with the message, [What the heck happened here Jimbo?!]

   Jim watched the linked video, and it starts off with Mary showing herself, “Hey guys, it’s Mary! I’m at the Cafe and it looks like something is about to go down!” then she flips the camera, showing Ms.Roberts approaching Douxie with her latte as he’s distracted, talking with Jim and his Mom, then she zoomed in right when Douxie gets drenched, she kept recording until Bee says, “What the honeycomb happened to Douxie?!” Then Mary turns it back to her with a, “That was crazy!” Ending the video.

  He messages Toby, [She wanted a peppermint latte in early October and she couldn’t have it]

  [SO SHE PORED THE 1 SHE GOT ON DOUXIE?!]

  [Yep, she did, the manager even ordered for her to get a peppermint latte anyway]

  [THAT’S HORRIBLE!!!]

  [I know, Mom’s treating his burns RN]

  [IT WAD AYILL HOT ENOYGH TO BUEN HIM?!]

  [Yup…]

  “All right, Jim, go take Douxie to one of our guest rooms so he can rest. I’ll go take these to the wash.” Barbara says, taking Douxie’s hoodie, shirt and work apron with her to the laundry room.

  “Ah wait for me, he’s highly attached to that hoodie, so let me assist you with its washing!” Archie says, following after Barbara quickly.

  “Well, come on Doux.” Jim says, leading Douxie to the guest room next to his upstairs.

  Douxie sits on the bed, when his phone buzzes, he looks down at it. [Hello resident of apartment 25, we’d like to inform you that due to many complaints we’ve received, you are being evicted, please take your personal items out within 24 hours.]

  “FuuuuuuuzzBuuucketssss!” He groans, tangling his fingers in his hair again.

  “What’s wrong?” Jim asks

  “All of Ms.Roberts’ reports got me evicted from my apartment… I gotta get everything out in 24 hours…”

  “I could help with that, just get me your apartment keys and we can bring your stuff here.”

  “Alright, I’ll call the band, Fritz has a minivan, so that’ll help with moving stuff.” 

  “Well, isn’t Bee technically still working?”

  “Shoot, you’re right… Zoe is too… Though I’m sure Fritz is free, let me call him.”

  “Alright.”

  Douxie calls Fritz and puts him on speaker, “You’re on speaker.”

  [Oh, alright, well what you need, Doux?] Fritz asks through the phone.

  “I just got evicted and need to get my stuff out within 24 hours, so I need your help.”

  [Are you serious?! Why are you being evicted?!]

  “Due to ‘too many complaints…’ Which were probably mostly Ms.Roberts.”

  [Do you need somewhere to stay?]

  “Well conveniently, I was offered a place to stay today, I’ll send you the location, so could you come over and come get Jim so he can help bring my stuff here?”

  [Jim? Isn’t that the kid you took to practice with his girlfriend a few days ago?]

  “That’s me.” Jim chimes

  [Ah, so you’re going to stay with the kid? Alright, be there soon.]

  “See you.”

  [Yep.]

  The call ends and Douxie sighs, then he gets another message, [Dear Casperan, due to your mistreating Ms.Roberts, we’re going to have to let you go, please return your apron and collect your things before the day ends. Thank you.]

  Douxie groans again, “Take Archie with you, I just got fired from the cafe and he knows where my work locker is…”

  “What?! Why’d you get fired- …Ms.Roberts?”

  “Yep…”

  Jim sighs, “I’ll go tell Archie…”

  “Wait, my house keys!” Douxie says, tossing the keys at Jim.

  Jim catches them, “Right, got it.”

  Jim makes his way to the laundry room, finding his Mom and Archie talking, “Hey, Archie, Fritz is coming over to get you and I.” Jim tells him.

   “And why is he?” Archie asks with a raised brow, which an animated cat can do.

   “Douxie got evicted and fired, so we have stuff to collect.” Jim says, spinning the keys.

  Archie groans, he shifts into that slightly off Douxie he was earlier, “Alright… Remember Barbara, the hoodie gets dried on low.”

  “I got it, just go.” Barbara says, shooing the boys.

   Jim and Archie wait outside for Fritz, until they hear honking, a dark red mini van stops in front of them, the window rolling down, revealing Fritz, his hair is tied up in a ponytail. Star shaped acne patches scattered across his face. Wearing a hoodie and sweat pants.

  “Doux not coming?” Fritz asks

  “Nah, he’s recovering from his burns.” Jim says

  “Hold up! Burns?!” Fritz asks

  “We can explain later, let’s head to the cafe so Arch can grab Douxie’s stuff from there before heading to the apartment.” 

  “Alright, hop in.”

  Archie gets in the passenger seat, while Jim hops in the middle section, the far back being folded down to fit more stuff. The back is actually full of folded boxes. “Hey, where’d you get all those boxes?” Jim asks

  “Oh, I have creation magic, I can make basically anything, as long as I know how it works. Along with the ability to destroy anything I make. I can also alter the colors of preexisting objects. It's one of the rarer magics, though I can’t make anything edible. Well, not by human standards at least.” Fritz holds his hand up, a small plush doll version of Jim appearing in his hand, “It’s quite useful for making new outfits! So if you need anything fun made, I’m your dude. Now, let’s get to our collection quest. You better explain the situation though. Oh and catch.” Fritz says, tossing mini Jim to Jim.

  After Arch grabs all of Douxie’s stuff from the cafe, he informs them that the apron is in the wash and will be returned later.

  They make their way to the apartment, collecting all of Douxie’s stuff, only leaving the futon and other furniture. Archie knew everything that Douxie bought, so it’s pretty easy to collect everything and bring it back to Fritz’s mini van. As they left, they saw Ms.Roberts, she smirked then went inside.

  Once back in the car, Archie spoke, “I hope that complex falls and crushes her.”

  “Mmm, she’s like, what? 70?” Jim asks

  “She’s 66.” Archie says

  “Ah, well, she doesn’t look far from death…”

  “Yeah, with how she smokes, I’m surprised she hasn’t gotten cancer yet.” 

  “Alright, enough wishing death on a rude old lady.” Fritz says

  They make their way back to the Lake’s house, and Barbara leads them down to the basement to find… 

  “Oh, uh, hello.” Draal says

  “Really? Again with the tunnel?” Barbara asks

  “Yes, and it connects to Toby’s house as well, very convenient!”

  “Hold on, why is there a toll here?” Fritz asks

  “And who is this?” Draal asks

  “Fritz Goldheart, one of Douxie’s wizard band mates.” Archie says, placing a box down.

  “Now why do you speak as if you are not Douxie.”

  “Because I’m Archie, I’m sorry the only human form I can take is the one of my familiar, but slightly off.”

  “I see.”

  “I still haven’t received an answer…” Fritz says

  “He’s one of my friends.” Jim says

  “You befriended trolls?”

  “Kinda happens when your- Friends with the Trollhunter.”

  “Are you two going to help bring the other boxes to Douxie’s room or not?” Archie asks from the top of the stairs.

  “Right, sorry.” Jim says

  “Coming up!” Fritz says

  They enter the room and Douxie is asleep, he’s sitting up with his phone in his hand, his head tilted down. Looks like he must’ve accidentally fallen asleep, happens to the best of us.

  Fritz looks around the room, crossing his arms, he clicks his tongue, “Yo, Jim was it?” He asks

  “Yeah, what you need?” Jim asks

  “This room is going to stay Douxie’s, correct?” 

  “At this point, that’d be correct.”

  “Alright, so you don’t mind if I make alterations?”

  “What are you planning, Fritz?” Archie asks, gently placing Doux’s guitar in a corner of the room.

  “You’ll see!” Fritz says with a smile.

  Fritz opens each box in the room, he thinks for a bit, his eyes turn magic red. He looks around, then smiles, his eyes going back to their normal chocolate brown. Fritz goes into the closet, summoning a dark brown wooden set of drawers, he drags the box of clothes. He moves swiftly, but perfectly, folding all of them and putting them in the drawers. 

  He walks to the walls, places his hand on them, then their colors shift from an off white to a dark blueish grey. Fritz takes out Douxie’s band posters, displaying them properly with sticky tack. He goes to the other side of the room from the closet, forming a display shelf, which he fills with all the trinkets Douxie had collected over the years, 

  Fritz heads over to the bed Douxie is currently sleeping in, he changes the backboard from a dark brown to a black, the bed sheets shifting from white to black, the blanket shifting to navy blue with a brighter blue pattern. Grabbing Douxie’s original pillow and placing them on the bed. Then he takes all of the empty boxes, absorbing them back into his magic.

  Fritz lightly shakes Douxie awake, being mindful of his burns. Douxie wakes up with a grumble, “Huh, what?” Douxie asks, rubbing his neck, it was definitely in a bad position for too long. The burns not helping much…

  “I fixed your room.” Fritz says with a smile.

  “You what?” Douxie asks, then looks around the room, noticing how the room looks way different from how it did when Douxie had fallen asleep, “Woah, I mean, all I asked for you to do is bring my stuff here, you didn’t have to do all of this!”

  “Well, I did it out of the kindness in my heart, after the awful day you’ve been having. You’re welcome Doux, now, it’s 7pm, and I need something to eat after this.” Fritz says, about to leave.

  “Ah ah, hold on now, I’ll cook something for you.” Jim says, stepping in front of Fritz.

  Fritz tilts his head, “Really?” He asks

  “Yup, come with me, you too Douxie, I’m sure you’re hungry too.” 

  “Alright, then.” Douxie says, getting off the bed, going to the drawers, looking for a shirt, slipping it on, then heading downstairs.

  Jim cooks up something good for the wizards, and Archie,-whom has shifted back into a cat-once Fritz tries a bite, it almost looks like anime star shaped shimmers had appeared in his eyes. Douxie sharing a similar expression, along with Archie giving a pleased hum.

  “Hot sugar sundays! This is so good!” Fritz says 

  “I never knew you were this good at cooking!” Douxie says

  “Well, I’ve never really had a chance to make you anything, so…” Jim says, rubbing the back of his neck.

  “Yes, well it’s very good nonetheless, Jim.” Archie confirms, eating more of the meal.

  “Thanks, I’m just happy I’m still able to cook properly.” Jim says with a chuckle.

  Once that was over with, Fritz took his leave, talking about four cats he had to feed, heading home. Barbara had exited the laundry room, with Douxie’s stuff in her arms. Archie takes the apron to fly it back to the cafe. Douxie wanted to slip back on his favorite hoodie, but his burns already slightly bothered him with just the shirt on, so the hoodie ended up on top of the dresser and the shirt went with the others.

  After a few hours, the house had calmed down, Douxie decided to check on the spells he put on the houses.-Draal’s tunnel system actually being useful for that-and once it got late enough, he just collapsed into bed, too tired to do any training with his students.

Chapter Text

  Jim’s birthday had arrived, his 16th physically, but his 19th mentally. Jim doesn’t know what’ll happen with that stockling, but he’ll have to deal with it either way. He wakes up, but his Mom didn’t wake him up with birthday pancakes she had made, by Toby calling in on his walky-talky. He rubs the sleep from his eyes, looking out the window to see him with the cake he drew, of course Aaarrrgghh had taken a bite out of it again.

  No matter what, some things don’t change, but some do. Jim heads downstairs, hearing people talking softly. 

  “Just keep an eye on it, Barbara, I can smell it when it’s going to burn in advance, but it might be best for you to watch out.” A voice says softly, Jim recognizes it as Archie.

  He looks towards the kitchen, finding Archie sat on the counter near the stove, instructing his Mom on how to make pancakes. Douxie was probably still sleeping, which is good, because he needs to heal those burns.

  Archie’s ears twitch, he then turns his head towards Jim, “Ah, good morning, Jim, and happy human hatching day.”

  Jim hears a tired chuckle from upstairs, Douxie coming downstairs too, “I keep telling him that it’s called a ‘birthday’, but he insists on calling it ‘human hatching day’.” Douxie says, walking towards Jim.

  “Good morning to you boys.” Barbara says, “Your birthday pancakes should be done soon, Jim, I hope they're better this time thanks to Archie helping me.” 

  “Barbara, flip it, it’s going to burn.” Archie says

  “Ah!”

  “Arch has always been good at making pancakes. I’m sure if you followed his instructions, it should be great.” Douxie says

  Barbara places a stack on the table, “We’ll see if they are good enough for Chef Jim.”

  Jim chuckles, “You’re acting like I’m Gordon Ramsey.” He says, sitting down.

  “You might as well be when it comes to my cooking.”

  Jim cuts himself a slice, eating it and… It’s not bad, “Hm, It’s pretty good.” He says

  “Yes! High paw Archie!” Barbara says, sticking her hand to the cat shaped dragon.

  Archie pats his paw into Barbara’s palm, “Very good, now, do you wish to try and make more or do you want me to finish the job?” 

  “Uh…”

  “Don’t worry, I got it.” He says before shifting into a human form, he notices as Barbara looks at him shocked, “What?”

  “Arch, you just shifted into an off Barbara.” Douxie says with a slight laugh.

   Archie looks at his hands and… Yeah, he’s an off Barbara, except his hair is black and glasses smaller. “Huh, ok, didn’t know I could do this. Let me see if I can…” Archie looks directly at Jim, furrowing his brows as he focuses, then he shifts, now he looks like an off Jim, he looks at his hands, “Huh, didn’t know I could do this… Looks like I can shift into any preexisting person.” 

  “That’s so cool Archie!” Jim says

  Archie shifts to his off Douxie-like he had planned earlier-and cooks the rest of the pancake batter, serving the humans before himself, shifting back to a cat to eat the pancakes.

  “Now, Jim, I have your gift in the garage, though we both know you already know what it is, so might as well just grab it.” Barbara says, grabbing the blender from the garage, “Though, if you do turn into a troll again, maybe don’t eat it this time.” She says with a chuckle.

  Jim laughs, “I’ll do my best, Mom.”

  That’s when Toby bursts into the house, “Come on guys, let’s head down to Trollmarket, like right now! Though, you don’t have to, Dr.Lake, it’s just the boys!” Toby says, rushing the boys.

  They make their way to Trollmarket, finding the forge has been turned into a celebration area, with balloons and streamers, Jim smiles, another thing unchanged. It makes sense though, Toby, Blinky and Aaarrrgghh have yet to get their memories back, but it’s not time for that yet.

   “Master Tobias has told us of your birthing day, so we thought we’d celebrate it, it sounded fun.” Blinky says

  “This happen last time too?” Claire asks, bumping her shoulder onto Jim’s.

  Jim chuckles, “Yeah.”

  “What is this nonsense?” Vendel asks, walking into the forge.

  “Ah Vendel, perfect timing, real quick thing, could you read this out loud?” Jim asks, holding up his amulet.

  “Now, where’d you get that?” He asks with a raised brow.

  “You’ll find out if you read it out loud.”

  Vendel grumbles, “For the Good of all, Excalibur is mine to command.” He reads flatly, then a glow of cyan fills the room. Vendel blinks, “How is this possible?”

  “Welcome back.” Jim says

  “You… You let Toby be the Trollhunter?!” Vendel asks

  “Hey, technically I am still a Trollhunter, with this,” Jim shakes his amulet, “There can be two!”

  “Alright, but how will we deal with… Her.”

  “We’ll figure that out, in time.”

  “Mmm, as you say, but please, remove all of this nonsense from the forge.” Vendel says before leaving.

  “Jimbo! You gave Vendel his memories back, before me?!” Toby asks

  “You’re not ready yet, now let’s get this down, we can train until me and Claire have to get to play practice.” Jim says

  “But I have another gift for you Jimbo! Ah, wait, you already know what it is though, don’t you?”

  Jim nods with a nervous smile.

  “Man… This future nonsense is a real bummer sometimes…”

——————————————————

   Jim had Toby come with him and Claire to their practice, as they left, they chatted, “You know, it’s really annoying that the person has to read the incantation out loud to get their memories back. I already know NotEnrique has been swapped in at this point, but I don’t know what to do about it.” Claire says

  “Yeah, I can see how that’s troublesome… I had treated him like an actual baby this time around, so he doesn’t suspect anything. We can figure something out, maybe a gaggletag and some food persuasion, and we can get him to read it. I’d have to get a trollish cookbook from Blink first though…” Jim says

  “Hey Jimbo, why were you so persistent on me coming with you two?” Toby asks

  “Ah, it will probably show up once Claire leaves.” 

  With that, Claire’s parents showed up, waving to the boys as they left with Claire. Jim and Toby get on their bikes, biking away, then hearing a screech. Jim hops off his bike, “There you are.” Jim says

  “What in the dinosaurs is that?!” Toby yells

  “Stalkling, I have a plan though!” 

  Jim puts on his amulet, as does Toby, the stalkling stops, tilting its head in confusion. Toby takes out Daylight, while Jim pulls out Excalibur.

  “Who wants to bet fire magic isn’t affected by rain?” Jim asks

  “Huh? But it’s not raining?”

  Right on que, a thunderstorm starts, raining down on them. Jim sets Excalibur ablaze anyway, “YOU COMING FOR US OR NOT?!” He yells

  The stalkling screeches, swooping down towards the boys, Jim holds Excalibur up, then slashes, slashing the stalkling right down the middle, having a line of fire go through it. The stalkling turns to stone, its halves separating and falling to the ground.

  They stand there for a bit, Excalibur no longer set ablaze. Toby looks at Jim with amazement, “Jimbo! That was awesome sauce! I can’t believe you just did some sort of ultimate move!”

  “Well, that thing was annoying last time, so might as well get it ended in one shot.”

  Jim takes off his amulet, Toby doing the same, “Though, we are going to train you enough so you can defeat Bular yourself. Can’t always depend on me for stuff.” Jim says, getting back on his bike.

  “Alright, that’s fair.” Toby says

——————————————————

  Prior to that, it was field trip day. Strickler's history class was exploring by themselves, when Strickler pulled Jim to the side, bringing him somewhere with Nomura, “This kid has something to show me?” She asks

  “Yes, he wants you to read something he found.” Strickler confirms

  “Alright, let me see.”

  Jim pulls out his amulet, causing Nomura to gasp, “What’s the meaning of this?” She asks, glaring at Strickler.

  “Just read the incantation, you’ll know.”

  She furrows her brows in confusion and slight anger, “Alright, let me see, kid.” 

  Nomura reads the incantation, a familiar cyan light filling the room, Nomura gasping, then looking at her hands.

  “How am I human?” She asks

  “Welcome to two years in the past, prior to the death of Bular and Gunmar.” Jim says

  Nomura chuckles and rolls her eyes, “What have you gotten us into now, little Gynt?”

  “Just a bit of time travel, that’s all.” Jim says with a smile.

  “This’ll be fun…”

——————————————————

  The changelings manage to keep with their act, eventually leading to the swapping of Enrique and NotEnrique. Claire was excited to watch the Papa Skull concert again, both Jim and her not caring that Steve was taking her. 

  This time around, Jim treated NotEnrique like he would Enrique, he didn’t want a destroyed house this time, and NotEnrique didn’t catch on, so it went well. Jim and the changeling actually managed to fall asleep on the couch, Jim laying on it with NotEnrique asleep on his chest.

  Claire’s parents came home, surprised to find the boys on their couch, Claire entering soon after. Both staring at her with disapproving looks.

  “You had your boyfriend watching your baby brother while you went, who knows where?!” Ophelia asks

  “Hey! At least I didn’t leave him home alone!” Claire says

  “It looks like it went well at least.” Javier says, looking back at the sleeping boys.

  Ophelia grumbles, placing her hand on her face, “Even though you were supposed to watch him, I’m glad you at least found someone responsible to watch him. Good job on that Claire.”

  “I’ll take Enrique to his crib.” Javier says, gently taking the sleeping changeling from Jim’s chest, walking upstairs with him.

  “Jim, get up.” Claire says, shaking him.

  “Hmm? Did I do a good job?” He asks, sleepily.

  “Yes, did you play the memory game?” Claire asks

  “Mm-mm.” Jim hums while shaking his head.

  “Another time then, you gotta go now though.”

  “Alright.” Jim says, sitting up, rubbing his eyes, he grabs his bag, “Bye Claire and Councilwoman Nuñez.” He says as he leaves.

  “Where did you go anyway, Claire?” Ophelia asks

  “Just a Papa Skull concert.”

  “You left Enrique with your boyfriend to watch a concert?” 

  “I wasn’t there alone, don’t worry.”

  “Just… Just go do your homework.”

  “Will do.” Claire says, heading for her room.

——————————————————

  Claire brought Jim back over to her house, her parents not being home, she held NotEnrique tightly in her arms. She sways with her legs, “Hey NotEnrique, I’m going to need you to cooperate with me okay?” She asks

  NotEnrique gives Claire a confused expression, Jim stepping up, “Now little changeling, I’ll need you to shift on your own, or I’ll use a gaggletag.”

  NotEnrique looks between two teens, he pouts then shifts, “Ahrigh’ how’d ya figure me out?” He asks

  “We’ve known since I babysat you, when we fell asleep on the couch.” Jim says

  “Ya gotta be kiddin’” 

  (I’m struggling to write NotEnrique’s speech, but I’m trying… :/)

  “Nope, we’re not, now, could you do us a favor?” Jim asks

  NotEnrique crosses his arms, “Ya offerin’ somethin’?” He asks, raising his brow.

  “How about some troll food?” Jim asks, pulling a tupperware from his bag, opening it.

  NotEnrique gets a good whiff of the food, “Now where’d ya get dat, kid?”

  “Made it myself with a trollish cookbook, my friend Draal says it tastes amazing, I’ll let you have the whole thing and more if you read something for me.”

  “Read somethin’, ya wan’ me ta read somethin’?” 

  “Yeah,” Jim pulls his amulet from his pocket, “Could you read this?” He asks, holding it out.

  “Mmm me readin’ ain’t tha’ good…” He says, squinting at the letters, “For da Good o’ all, Excalibur is mine ta command…”

  Even though he said it odd, the amulet understands, flashing that same cyan light. NotEnrique blinks his eyes, “Hey sis, why ya holdin’ me?” He asks

  “Welcome to the past!” Claire says

  “‘Old on, wha’ cha mean?” He asks, climbing up to Claire’s shoulder.

  “We’re back in time, here’s your treat by the way.” Jim says

   NotEnrique takes the food, gives it a sniff, then starts chowing down, eating all of it, including the container. Jim groans, “You were supposed to only eat the stuff inside…” 

  “Oh, sorry, but tha’ was incredibly tasty, ya betta make more.”

   “I will, but I better get the container back next time.”

  [Claire, we’re home.] Ophelia announced

  “Crab muffins, out the window!” Claire whispers to Jim, “And you shift back.” She tells NotEnrique.

   “You got it sis!” NotEnrique says before he hops in the crib, then shifts back to Enrique.

  Jim dawns his armor and hops out the window, hiding before removing it, he waits till he’s all good, rushing home.

——————————————————

  “So we have all of the changelings back on our side?” Douxie asks

  “Yep, how are those burns by the way?” Jim asks, cooking dinner and making tomorrow’s lunches.

  “They’ve gotten better, I can wear my hoodie again, I think I’m good enough to get back to working at the book shop.”

  “Right, and I think you should try to buy a skateboard or something, so you can get there faster.”

  “Mmm, you're right, or I could check out Trollmarket for some motorcycle parts, I mean you're building your Vespa from scratch, I think it’d be fun to build a motorcycle.”

  “Yeah, after dinner we could head down and see if Binky can help find some parts for that. You’d definitely need proper gear too, it doesn’t matter if you can revive from falling from hundreds of feet, we don’t need you seriously injured after a crash.”

  “I got it, Jim, I’m sure Arch wouldn’t like it either.”

——————————————————

  After dinner everyone headed down to Trollmarket through Draal’s tunnels, Douxie walking up to Blinky, “Hey Blinky, could I get your help on something?” He asks

  “What would that be Master Douxie?” Blinky asks

  “You think you could help me find some motorcycle parts in Trollmarket? You’ve already found some great Vespa parts for Jim, I’m just wondering.”

  “Ah yes, of course, we can go searching once the training for tonight has been completed.”

  “Got it, thanks Blink.”

  “No problem, Master Douxie.”

——————————————————

  While being teleported, Krel closed his eyes, hugging his bag close to his chest, causing his family’s voices to erupt from the bag. He lands on his bottom, feeling a crunch under him. He pops an eye open, he was here, he was back in Arcadia! Krel is sitting in a pile of leaves on top of grass. He looks around to find himself near Arcadia Oaks high school. A large smile grew on his face. Seeing how the leaves are no longer green, it was evident that it’s fall.

  Krel stands up, dusting off his legs, he starts walking around, not really knowing where to go from here. It was night time and because he came alone, he didn’t have the mother ship to return to, oh shoot, he didn’t plan this far… It’s okay, he’ll just have to find someone he knows, not too difficult, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Back on Akiridion-5 Aja was playing all of Mini Krel’s voice lines on loop, he had already left, she knew where he was going and why. Now she’d have to lie to her parents, and be a good girl all the way to her coronation. Aja had pinky promised Krel, and she’s not going to break it.

  Aja lays back down and hugs Mini Krel close to her chest, going back to sleep. A few hours later, her Mom was bursting into her room.

  “Aja! Do you know where your brother went?!” Queen Coranda asks

  Aja sits up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, “Krel is missing?” She asks, acting like she didn’t already know.

  Queen Coranda walks over to Aja’s bed, seeing Mini Krel in her arms, “Is this a small Krel toy?”

  “Mmhmm, he gave it to me last night, it says stuff.” Aja says, pressing on the button.

  When Coranda hears it, something clicks in her head, “So, that’s really why he made those voice boxes…” She says

   Coranda looks Aja in the eyes, “Did he tell you where he was going?”

  Aja shakes her head.

  “Did he tell you why he left?”

  Aja shakes his head again, “He just gave me this, told me how it worked, then left.”

  Aja didn’t like having to lie to her Mom, but she wasn’t going to break the promise she made to Krel.

  “Alright, don’t worry, we’ll… We’ll find him eventually.” Coranda says, rubbing Aja’s upper arms.

  Aja nods, “I hope he’s safe.”

  “I hope he is too.”

  Aja presses Mini Krel’s hand again, “Don’t worry, I’m safe, Aja.”

——————————————————

  Fialkov was panicking, his son had been missing for 10 horvoths now, did he do something wrong?! Did he set his son off somehow? Krel was supposed to train with him and Varvatos, in preparation for his and Aja’s coronation ceremony. 

  He gets a call from Zadra, "Lieutenant Zadra! Have you found Krel?!” Fialkov asks

  [My apologies, King Fialkov… None of the ships that have recently left had Prince Krel.]

  “Are you sure! Not a single sign of him?!”

  [No, I’m sorry, the only sentient thing found on any ship was a human found in the storage of a Dino Deliveries ship.]

  “Alright, thanks for the check up, Lieutenant Zadra.” Fialkov says, ending the call.

  Fialkov thinks for a bit, it would hurt to try it, it could just be a human, or… He calls the Dino Deliveries ship. Captain Kasey answered, [Hello King Fialkov of Akiridion-5,] She said with a slight bow, [What do you need from Dino Deliveries?]

  “Captain Kasey of Dino Deliveries, from the planet of Nekomi, am I correct to have heard you had a human stowaway?”

  [Yes, that is correct, we’ve already sent him home.]

  “Are you sure he was human?”

  [Yes, he had all of the proper characteristics, along with the fact he even ate something before I sent him home.]

  “Did you catch the boy’s name?”

  [He said his name was… Karl Tylerson.]

  “Karl Tylerson?”

  [That is correct.]

  “May I receive a photo of this boy?”

  [We only have security footage.]

  “That is okay, Captain Kasey.”

  [Alright then.] Kasey sends the worst photo she has, [Here you are.]

  “Is this really the best picture you have?”

  [Yes.] 

  “Alright, thank you Captain-”

  [Wait! I… Um… I’ve been lying, I’m… I’m sorry…]

  “You’ve been lying?”

  [Yes, and I feel awful about it, I don’t want you to worry about Prince Krel anymore, I… I know where he is, he is safe, I can confirm that. He was wearing a human transduction and told me his identity once I teleported him. He told me some things I believe you and your wife should hear. I was going to lie, but I heard my Goddesses voice, she told me to quit lying and to tell the truth.]

  King Fialkov sighs, “Alright, I’ll call my wife in.”

——————————————————

  Princess Aja and Queen Coranda enter the room after being called in by King Fialkov.

  “Captain Kasey of Dino Deliveries, knows where Krel went.” Fialkov tells the two.

  “She does?” Aja asks

  “Please, tell us.” Coranda says

  Kasey takes a breath, [We found Prince Krel in one of our pillow crates, sleeping, but we didn’t know it was him because he was disguised as an older teen Latino, which made us believe he had been stowed away for three days, which was when we were last on Earth. We fed him then teleported him away. Here is a proper photo of the boy, as our teleporter snaps a photo of everyone we transport.] Kasey says, sending a proper image, Coranda recognizes the watch on his left wrist.

   Coranda gasps, “That thing on his wrist! I remember that thing being on Krel’s desk! He said it was to help him tell time.”

  [Yes, what he made is a watch, it is very useful for telling time on the go. I do have something that he has informed me on. Before I sent him to his location, he told me that he overheard someone talking about overthrowing you guys, and that he doesn’t feel at home on Akiridion-5 anymore.]

  “Doesn’t feel at home? Did he tell you why?” Coranda asks

  [No, he was very vague.]

  “Did he tell you anything else about the overthrowing part?” Fialkov asks

   Kasey shakes her head, [No, I’m sorry, he was vague about that too…]

  “Can you tell us where on earth he is?” Coranda asks

  [I… Can’t…] Kasey bows, [I’m very sorry, I can not fully snitch on Prince Krel, he trusted me with his true identity and I believe he has his reasons for heading to earth. We also don’t know if your future usurpers are listening in currently or not, and I wish for the Prince to stay safe. Please grant me this bit of secrecy!]

  “I think we should grant her that.” Aja says, she looks down at Mini Krel in her hands, “Krel wouldn’t leave without a reason. He even left a gift, this was obviously planned before hand.”

   Aja hugs Mini Krel to her chest, “He wants me to make it to my coronation, and find him as Queen-In-Waiting Aja, and I plan to keep my promise.”

  “Very well, I just hope he stays safe.” Fialkov says

  “As do I, I miss him already.” Coranda says

  Aja presses Mini Krel’s hand, “I miss you too.” 

  They all smile at that, turning back to Kasey, “Thank you for your kindness, Captain Kasey.” Fialkov says

  Kasey chuckles on the other side of the screen, [It’s what Nekomians are known for, thank you for believing me. May Goddess Pinku bless your cores.]

  “As may Seklos protect you and your crew.” 

  The call ends, “What do we do now?” Aja asks

  “We wait, my dear daughter, we wait.” Coranda says