Chapter Text

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  “Good morning, Arcadia Oaks! It is 4:30 AM. If you’re still in bed, you are missing the most beautiful sunrise, clear skies, and a beautiful morning ahead. And that of the rest of the week as well. Today is Monday, August 29th, 2016, marking the dreaded first day of school for our kids, another school year closer to graduation! Make sure to get up early and have a special breakfast, like a nice bowl of Cheerios— not sponsored. Now, we’ll turn to Dave with our regularly scheduled singing chipmunk break–”

 The collective clicks of alarm clocks shutting off echoed across Arcadia Oaks, harmonizing with the groans of all the town’s teenagers, turning over in an attempt to catch just a couple more hours of sleep before their grisly trudge back into the seemingly endless halls of their school. Members of the workforce filed out of their homes into their cars accordingly on their daily commute, while the woodland creatures in the nearby forest retreated to their homes deeper within.

 All was calm in Arcadia Oaks; an ordinary town, inhabited by ordinary people, living their normal, ordinary lives. As everything should be. Of course, a vast majority of its people believed so. But conformity is just as rare as absurdity in Arcadia, in which you find the small handful of people who wish something, just something, would happen to shake up the dull cycle of their lives.

 Well.

 Ask, and you shall receive.

Chapter Text

— — —

The halls of Arcadia Oaks High bustled with students, all chatting and catching up on what they did over the summer, complaining about being back, rushing to get the best locker— the typical concerns. After all, the average teen only has so much responsibility— compared to those whom fate seems to take delight in pushing to their limit– and fate sure liked to pick its favourites.

"And your name is... Avalon Ambrosius?"

"Yes, sir. That's me."

Principal Levit flipped through the stack of documents on his desk, listing her information, carefully licking his thumb to turn each page, much to Avalon's disgust. He paused, his eyes flicking up to compare the picture in her papers to the young girl sitting before him, then narrowed.

"You... are aware that the photo in these papers doesn't match up with your current appearance, correct?" he frowned. Avalon's heart sank. What did he mean, 'her photo didn't match up with her current appearance?' It's not like she looks any different.

"Can I see that document for a sec?" she asked, reaching her hand out in hopes of a positive reply. He stared at her, then silently relented, passing her the document. Avalon's nervous expression was swiftly replaced with a deadpanned one. Her hair was lavender. That was the only difference. The color of her hair.

"Is... this a joke? I dye my hair regularly. My face is exactly the same!" she protested, handing the document back. Principal Levit looked between the two Avalons again, slowly coming to the realization that the two were, in fact, the same person.

"Ah... I see. It seems you're right. Well, everything seems to be in order, Ms. Ambrosius. Here is your schedule. I'll send for a student to chaperone you around the school– get you acquainted," he slid the sheet of paper across his desk, then turned to the phone. Avalon scanned over it briefly, making haste to stuff it in her messenger bag and commit it to memory.

While he was making a call to one of the staff to bring a responsible student to the office, Avalon took advantage of the comfortable silence to take in her surroundings. In all the school offices she's been in throughout her life, she found this one the coziest. The warm, glossy wooden interior design paired with the colorful shelving made it feel professional yet comfortable. Like you could come here and relax after a bad work day. At least, she hoped it felt like that to the man before her.

The door swung open to a girl her age. She gently tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear, then turned to the principal.

"You called me, Principal Levit?" her voice, sweet as honey, echoed gently.

"Yes, I did. Claire, this is Avalon Ambrosius. She's a transfer student from Minnesota and needs a chaperone to get adjusted to the school. Since she'll be joining your class, I'm putting her in your hands."

"I've got it."

Claire looked at Avalon expectantly as she stood to her feet, making her way to Claire in hurried strides. She held the door open for her as she exited, the door shutting with a soft click.

"We're late for school, Jimbo!"

Jim sighed, picking up his toppled-over trash can and returning the trash to its rightful home, most likely scattered around the driveway by hungry raccoons searching for a midnight snack.

With the absence of his father always irritably itching at the back of his mind, Jim took on the ever-exhausting role of being "man of the house." Between taking care of his mother and himself, it was easy to lose track of time.

"Sorry, Tobes. Busy with the lunches."

He fumbled with an empty milk carton, which just barely made it into the bin, turning his attention to his bag.

"One for me, one for Mom, and..." he murmured, fishing out a brown paper bag and tossing it to Toby.

He eagerly took it from him, taking a deep whiff of the plethora of scents inside.

"Ah... balsamic mushrooms, meatloaf– chunky, sun-dried tomatoes..."

"And cardamom."

"Ooh, taking a chance there, Chef Jim!"

"What's life without a little adventure?"

Jim chuckled. Toby had been his best friend since forever. It was never a dull moment with him. They bounced off each other like sound waves in a satellite dish, and there wasn't a secret he had that Toby hadn't known about. In other words, they were inseparable. Wherever Jim was, Toby wasn't far behind.

Jim wheeled his bike further down the driveway, his attention turned back to Toby when he heard him huff.

"I can't eat this! I'm on a diet!" Toby groaned, pushing the bag back, and stopped short by Jim.

"You've been on a diet for the past 14 years, Tobes."

"I know."

"You're 15!" Jim reminded him, getting on his bike.

"Long-term goals, my body's still changing!" Toby protested, quickly following after him on his bike.

Jim sped off down the street of the cul-de-sac, the cool summer morning breeze making him feel all the more free. The wheels of Toby's bike squeaked as he pedaled awkwardly, trying to pick up the pace and catch up with his best friend.

"I'm... right... I'm right... behind!" he panted.

"God, it's already 8:00!"

"Awh, we're gonna be suspended on account of meatloaf! On our first day back, too!"

"Take the canals, Tobes, it'll save us five minutes!" Jim yelled, taking a sharp turn onto the bike path through the forest.

"N-n-not the c-canals!" Toby stammered, the vibrations from the rocky path messing with his voice.

"Oh, live a little!" Jim grinned, eagerly pedaling faster to gain more speed, making a jump from a hill on the path.

"It's living I'm worried about!" Toby shouted, more focused on not crashing than paying attention to the path ahead.

"C'mon, Tobes, don't you ever want a little more excitement?" he glanced back at him, confident in his skills of navigation.

"Hahaha... NO!" Toby barked, not at all amused by Jim's longing for adventure. If he weren't his best friend, he probably would've found him insane.

Jim turned his attention back to the path ahead, grinning as he saw the end nearing ever closer. He braced himself, taking a leap of faith off the edge, catching a couple seconds of airtime before hitting the ground, sticking the landing.

He glanced back up at where he had come from, noticing Toby was oddly absent.

"C'mon, Tobes!"

He called out his name, but it wouldn't be Toby who'd answer.

"James... Lake..."

The eerie, almost droning voice calling his name caught Jim off guard. His eyes narrowed at the oddly placed pile of rocks near the bridge, his mind half concentrated on figuring out if the voice he heard was just auditory pareidolia, and the other half irritated by Toby's horrified screams as he lost control of his bike in the background. The former took over, simply tuning Toby out as he trudged towards the rocks, his steps unsure, like his sense of danger had been overridden by his sense of pursuing adventure.

Before he knew it, he had already walked under the bridge, mere feet away from the rubble. How did he get here so fast? How long had he been walking with the only thought in mind being, "Was I tripping, or did this rubble say my name?" He had sensed Toby's presence behind him, which brought him back to Earth, just a bit.

"Hey– hey, Tobes? Did you hear that voice?"

"Voice? What voice?"

Almost comedically, there was a long pause before the voice returned a second time, confirming its authenticity.

"James... Lake."

The abrupt return of the voice startled the two, causing them to stumble to the ground.

"Th-that! That, that pile of rocks knows my name!" Jim crawled towards it in disbelief.

"It's a pile of K-spar, minerals don't talk. There's gotta be a walkie-talkie in here or something," Toby retorted, digging through the pile alongside him.

A specific stone caught Jim's eye. He slowly picked it up to reveal a strange-looking amulet, forged with silver and inscribed with intelligible runes. A glowing blue gemstone fit snugly in the middle of it, protected by what looked like two clock hands and two sets of gears. His eyes widened, the hairs on his arms standing up, like he had come across something that would change his life forever. He picked it up, holding it in front of his face.

"Huh... it looks like an amulet..." he murmured, analyzing it closely.

Toby, more focused on his conspiracy that someone had placed a walkie-talkie in the rubble to scare them, was yelling for the supposed perpetrator to reveal themselves.

"Who's doing this?! Come out now!" he yelled.

Jim brought the amulet to his ear, hoping that it'd speak again, just for a second confirmation.

"Hello...? I'm– I'm listening..."

Toby came over to listen as well, hoping his friend wasn't developing a case of schizophrenia.

Instead of a voice, they had gotten an earful of the final bell. The toll of potential detention.

"Agh, final bell!"

"We're so late, our kids are gonna have detention!"

They scrambled to their bikes, fastening their helmets haphazardly as they zipped off, trying not to embarrass themselves on the first day.

Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched. Monitored by someone who had watched their knowledge on the amulet shatter before their very six eyes.

"It chose... a human?!"

The two girls walked in time, an awkward silence between them. Avalon was just shoved into her first interaction with a girl her age in this city, that weren't evil and mocking her lively demeanor and way of dress. Claire, on the other hand, was genuinely intrigued with this new girl, along with everyone else who passed them in the halls. The students of Arcadia Oaks High haven't seen a person as unique-looking as Avalon... ever. If dying even a sizable strand of your hair an unnatural color was just a small form of rebellion, the neapolitan colors attached to this girl's head were a state-wide riot.

Her various piercings, the star-shaped goggles on her head, her tattoo on her forearm– it was almost surreal to see in real life. Like a celebrity applying for a job at a convenience store. Whispers filled the halls, gawking at her, hushed compliments and insults were hurriedly exchanged, in fear that the strange girl might hear. Avalon, despite being aware of all this, kept completely calm, like it was just another Tuesday for her, and frankly, it was driving Claire insane. Not because she found her nonchalance odd, but rather out of envy. She wondered how someone could be so unbothered when everyone within a 10-meter diameter was gossiping about her.

She wished she could be as unbothered. If she were, she probably would've made better, self-benefiting decisions, instead of chickening out half the time. Maybe that blue strand in her hair could've been her whole head, with complementary raccoon tails and a bajillion more colorful hair clips. She perished the thought before she could blink. With a mother like hers, the blue streak was as far as she'd ever get. Oh, the sacrifices she must make for the sake of her mother's reputation as a councilwoman. God forbid she have a daughter who expresses herself in ways other than acting. Which she didn't even enjoy.

She snuck a glance at Avalon, catching her attention almost immediately.

"I like your hair. It's pretty," Avalon smiled, breaking the silence between them.

Pretty? Did she really think so?

"You think so? Seriously?" Claire replied, toying with a loose strand.

"Yeah, really. That's how I started out. I didn't know if I'd be comfortable with my whole head being blue, so I started with just a thick strand. Then half my head. And, well– you can see how comfy I am with my head looking like a pack of crayons now," she snorted, putting Claire's worries at ease. She couldn't help but laugh, too.

"Yeah, I can see that. But on a real note? I really love your hair. I wish I could dye mine like that."

"Oh, thanks! But what do you mean, 'could?' What's stopping you from dying your hair? I mean, you've already got the highlight."

"My mom... she's a total control freak. If I ever dyed my hair like that, she'd literally kill me."

"Yikes. That's... rough. But at least she let you keep that sick highlight."

Avalon's eyes shifted down to her jacket, lighting up in recognition.

"That's a Papa Skull jacket! Like, a limited edition one from their New Jersey concert! Girl, are you loaded? Those jackets were like 200 bucks!"

Claire was practically beaming now, stopping dead in her tracks.

"You listen to Papa Skull?!"

"Listen to Papa Skull? I breathe their music, I have all their albums on vinyl, and their EP song, Sociopath, is literally my alarm and ringtone!"

"God, you are such a breath of fresh air, Avalon. I've been trying to get my friends to listen to them for months, but Mary hates the 'vibes' and Darci thinks the lyrics don't make sense."

"Well, you just made yourself a new bestie, Claire. Any Daughter of the Skulls is an immediate friend of mine. So, what's your favorite album– no, wait, who's your favorite member?"

Claire and Avalon continued to gush about Papa Skull, Claire giving her a tour of the school in between. It was safe to say the two hit it off as friends. Avalon was glad to have made her first friend this quickly. To her, Claire was a rare sight for sore eyes. Someone with the same ideals and interests as her, who could match her energy. Claire shared the same sentiment. As awesome and great as Mary and Darci are, she can't talk to them about Papa Skull like she can with Avalon.

After getting settled, Claire led Avalon to the history classroom, pushing open the door to a half-filled class. The supposed teacher stood at the chalkboard, seemingly setting up for his first class of the semester.

"Ugh, fudgeknuckle. I'd ask you to sit with me, but..." Claire trailed off, gesturing to the two seats clearly taken up on either side of her.

"It's fine, really. I've always been fond of the very back, anyway."

Avalon walked to the back of the class, slumping down into one of the chairs in the back row. She slid her headphones onto her head, quietly playing music and doodling on her arm with a Sharpie.

More students entered the class, followed by Jim and Toby, who were out of breath and panting as they took their seats. Avalon glanced up from her doodling as Jim sat in front of her, seemingly unaware of her presence.

"Alright, alright, class, settle down. I'm Walter Stricklander, but you will refer to me as Mr. Strickler. I'll be your history teacher. We've got a lot to cover, and the best way to start... is with rules."

Strickler waltzed down the aisle of the classroom, stopping in front of Avalon, who was preoccupied with her doodles and the music she was listening to. She had a sinking feeling that something was happening, and looked up to see everyone in the class looking back at her. She craned her neck back as an embarrassed flush crept onto her face, caught off guard by Strickler standing in front of her.

"I suppose you weren't listening, Ms. Avalon. Not exactly surprising, seeing that you were... preoccupied. I don't permit headphones in my class."

He held his hand out, making Avalon groan in irritation. She shut her music off and took the headphones off her head, handing them over to him.

"Thank you. And with that, no phones either," he turned around, snatching Steve and Mary's phones accordingly.

"Wha– HEY!"

"Ugh, seriously?! I was only on my 5th selfie of the day!"

Avalon quietly snorted at that. At least she wasn't the only one.

"This'll benefit you in the long run. I assure you. Now, shall we get started?"

"The Peloponnesian War was actually three wars, fought between Athens and Sparta. The first war was called the Archimedean War. Type that into your search engines. A-R-C..."

Strickler continued to teach, despite half the class paying no attention to what he was saying. Half of them were either distracted by something else, or someone else– the latter was particularly true of Jim and Toby. Toby glanced over at Jim, taking notice of his swooning and staring at a certain girl just a couple desks away. He tried waving his hand in front of his face to get his attention– nope, wouldn't work. He grunted, turning in his seat to face him.

"Really?" Toby glared half-heartedly, to which Jim replied with a love-stricken swoon, still fixated on Claire.

"Close your mouth, you're drooling!"

"No, no I'm not."

Avalon, now forced to actually do her work– wasn't doing anything at all. She worked better with music, and now that Strickler had taken her headphones, she was stuck staring at a blank document. Her eyes darted up briefly before doing a double-take, realizing the boy in front of her was staring at Claire. She smirked, finding it somewhat amusing, putting two and two together from listening to their conversation. So, she continued, pretending to research as she listened to the two guys in front of her talk back and forth.

Jim was taken out of his stupor when he saw Toby quickly typing something up on his laptop.

"What are you doing?"

"Research. We can't all be in Lala-Land like you, Jimbo."

"Har har. Look up 'talking amulet' while you're at it, smart-aleck."

She choked on her spit, coughing and catching their attention.

"Sorry, choked on my gum..." she laughed awkwardly.

"No worries, you're good," Jim replied, now turned in his chair to face her.

Toby turned as well, completely floored by the appearance of the new face in their class. He giggled and turned back around, probably not to embarrass himself in front of her. Jim turned back around as well, leaving Avalon to her thoughts.

Did he just say TALKING AMULET?

No, that couldn't be, right? That wouldn't even be possible unless–

No. No way.

Outwardly, she kept a stoic expression, but inwardly, she was absolutely panicking.

There's no way a human could ever get their hands on the Amulet of Daylight. The amulet is supposed to be with the Trollhunter, so that would mean... that the previous Trollhunter had been felled.

But that'd also mean that...

A human Trollhunter.

A human Trollhunter.

...A human Trollhunter.

This was unprecedented. Could it've been a glitch? No, it couldn't have been. Merlin had perfectly made the amulet. Every part was forged, welded, and cut with magic and the utmost precision. If it really, really had chosen Jim...

This could be interesting.

Guess she was going home for lunch.

Jim and Toby glanced at each other, wordlessly exchanging the same thought.

"Who is she?" Toby whispered, wanting to keep his voice low so she wouldn't hear.

"Avalon. She's a transfer student from Minnesota," Jim replied, glancing back at her briefly.

"And grass is green. Obviously, I knew that! I mean, she's gorgeous."

"She's... nice."

"Oh, please. Look at her! She's like a super badass angel fell from Heaven just to grace us with her presence! You're just saying that because you're still in love with Claire–"

"Shh! Jeez, Tobes, are you trying to get me killed?"

. . .

"Wait, still? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean... I'm just saying... It's been like a year of you crushing on Claire, and you've still gotten nowhere!"

"What? Psssh, no! That's not true at all! I've... talked to her."

"Yeah, in what? English? Or your half-baked Spanish you garble out as soon as she looks at you?"

"Hey! When's the last time you had a crush on a girl, huh? It's hard!"

"I need not worry about the trivial matters of crushing on a girl– because the best trick is to let the girl fall for you first."

"That is literally the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"You'll say that and by next week, I'll be our school's golden bachelor. I'll have every girl hanging off my every word, Avalon included."

"What?"

"Uh, don't worry, Jimbo, I'm leaving Claire for you. I'm not that greedy."

"No, that's not– ugh, never mind, we're getting so off track. What'd you find?"

"On the amulet thing? Nothing helpful. All I got were toys. One of them was a plushie!"

"Jim, would you agree?"

Jim jumped, startled as he looked up at Strickler beside him.

"S-sir?" he stammered.

"With Herodotus' opinion on his tactics of war, as I've described."

Avalon looked up again, feeling a little bad for Jim. Being put on the spot was the worst.

"U-uh, um, absolutely."

"Excellent. Which tactics specifically?"

"U-uh.. the.. um..."

The girl behind him couldn't bear to watch this any longer, whispering behind him.

"Psst! Defense."

Jim heard the voice behind him, slightly turning his head to look back at her.

"Huh?"

"Strategized defense and calculated action. Say that," she whispered, trying not to be caught helping him by Strickler.

"Well? I'm waiting, Mr. Lake." Strickler looked between them.

"Uh– the uh– strategized defense and– um, calculated action. Yeah," Jim answered, hoping that this girl didn't just screw him over.

Strickler stared at him, his eyes slightly narrowing. Avalon started to whistle and pretend like she didn't say a thing, while Jim grinned nervously. Strickler sighed. That was a win in Jim's book.

"I'll take it."

The bell rang as the class got up one by one and left. Avalon stood up, feeling somewhat proud of herself for helping him out, which was further boosted by the thankful glance Jim gave her moments later. Strickler walked up to her, handing her back her headphones.

"I believe these are yours, Ms. Ambrosius. I hope I won't have to take them again."

"I'll just... leave them in my locker next time," she sighed.

"Excellent. Now, if I may... although it wasn't your place to interfere– I appreciate you helping Jim. Keep him from getting distracted, will you? His mind tends to wander."

"I... can do that."

"Good. You're dismissed."

Avalon grabbed her stuff and left, leaving Jim alone with Strickler. He sighed, relieved. He really owed her. If she hadn't said anything, he probably would've embarrassed himself.

"Jim, may I have a word?" Strickler asked, hovering over Jim as he packed up his things.

Before Jim could respond, he knocked over his bag, spilling out everything onto the floor. He scrambled to pick them up as Strickler came over to help.

"Jim, you're distracted. You fell asleep between the invasion of Attica and the Peace of Nicias, and your attention wandered for the rest of the class."

"Sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night..." Jim sighed, packing his things once again.

"I know it's just you and your mother, and you want to help her."

"She's just really tired, Mr. Strickler. She's been working double shifts at the clinic."

"I believe I'm overdue for a conversation with her. Have her call me, please."

Strickler handed Jim a sticky note with his number scribbled down, a conflicted expression crossing Jim's face. Talk to his mom? Seriously?

"And feel free to drop by my office if you ever need to talk."

"Uh... yeah, um, I'll do that."

"Oh, and Jim. If you fancy Ms. Nunez, I submit that talking to will be much more effective than staring at."

And he noticed him staring at Claire earlier? Great... if giving him his number to pass on to his mom wasn't embarrassing enough.

"Darci, Mary, I want you two to meet someone. This is Avalon."

Second period meant P.E.

P.E means torture. At least that's how Claire made it seem to Avalon. But it couldn't have been that bad... right?

"Hey," Avalon waved.

"S'up, girl. Love the outfit," Darci smiled, a hand on her hip.

"Totes. It's super cute. And your vibe is supes lively. Shame we have to change into these rags for Gym." Mary agreed.

"Huh. Thanks," Avalon grinned.

Mary let out a loud, exasperated sigh, slumping down against her locker.

"I'm really not looking forward to Gym today– apparently the guys said he's making us do rope climbing."

"On the first day??" Avalon grimaced.

"Oh, girl, you have not met Coach Lawrence. He's seriously crazy." Darci scoffed.

"Yeah! Once, Eli bumped into him by accident when we were running laps, and he made ALL of us run 10 extra laps around the field!" Mary wailed.

"Eli...?"

"Pssh, don't worry about him, Av. He's a geek. You're on two different wavelengths."

Avalon glanced at Claire, slightly puzzled by Mary's response. Why did that even matter?

"Mary's kinda obsessed with appearance. Don't mind her, Av," Claire reassured her.

"What? I'm not obsessed. I just like being in the spotlight. And you've gotta look good in the spotlight!" Mary protested.

A whistle blew from outside the locker room.

"GIRLS! Hurry it up in there! You're burning class time!" Coach Lawrence yelled from outside.

Everyone collectively groaned, picking up the pace to get changed and into the gym.

Avalon, Claire, Darci, and Mary were sitting on the bleachers, doing each other's nails and chatting, unbothered.

"Whatcha got there, Claire?" Darci asked.

"Oh, just flyers for the Romeo and Juliet play we're having. You guys interested?"

"I'd love to, Claire-Bear, but I've got soccer practice for most of the semester," she replied.

"I'll pass," Mary ran a hand through her hair, angling her phone to get a better selfie.

"I'll take one, Claire," Avalon smiled, focusing on Darci's nails.

"You will? You'd try out?" Claire perked up, passing her a flyer.

"Totally. I think I'd make a stellar Lady Capulet. Maybe a Mercutio."

"Really now? Not Juliet?"

"That's way too many lines for me. I do best with secondary characters."

"C'mon, don't say that. I think you could really do it."

"I'll mull it over. But I'll definitely show up and try out," Avalon giggled, finishing the last layer of polish on Darci's nails.

Meanwhile, Jim and Toby were over by the rope, getting chewed out by Coach Lawrence.

"Hang... on... almost... there... so close, sooo close!" Toby groaned, his grip on the rope faltering.

"C'mon, Tobes, you've got this!" Jim cheered him on, despite the fact that he was mere inches off the ground.

"So close!"

Toby took a strained breath in before giving up and falling back on the mat, his feet tangled in the rope.

"What is that on my rope? Every student here should be able to climb this rope and ring that bell."

Coach Lawrence started to jab Toby in the stomach with his finger.

"I want all of you to be made of iron. Iron! You've gotta be kidding me."

Jim turned his attention away from them, glancing over to the bleachers where the girls were. Before he could take a step forward, Coach Lawrence got in his way and walked over to them.

"And you four! I haven't seen a single one of you climb yet. You four wanna fail?!" he shouted, eliciting an anxious reaction from Claire, Mary, and Darci.

"Excuse me, Coach Lawrence, we can't participate in rope climbing today... It's that time of the month, and our cramps... the pain is... agonizing," Avalon lied through her teeth, her tone and expression selling the lie to be true.

"S-seriously? All four of you at the same time? Jesus... thank God I was never born a woman. I don't know how you guys do it. You're excused," he walked away.

Avalon watched him walk away with a smug grin. Gullible gym teachers. Works every time.

"Did you just get us out of rope climbing?" Darci squealed.

"Av, you are a lifesaver!!" Mary nodded.

The two girls continued to gush about how happy they were to no longer have to participate in gym class, while Avalon's mind was focused on other things now that Coach Lawrence was out of the way.

Her gaze shifted to Jim, who was now just standing there awkwardly, his eyes darting between her and Claire. He could do this. He could totally do this. He could thank Avalon for getting him out of that mess, and try and talk to Claire without looking like a complete fool. Right? Yeah. Easy.

Avalon's eyes slightly narrowed on him. Was he coming over here? If he was, she needed to talk to him and find out more about him. If this guy is supposedly, potentially the new savior of trollkind, she needed to figure him out. Understand him.

She abruptly stood up, her eyes darting down to Claire's hands. There. An excuse.

She took a flyer from her hands and started walking down the benches.

"Avalon? Where're you going?" Claire asked, watching her walk off.

"Getting you some boys to audition," she replied, her tone oddly calm.

Jim noticed Avalon coming down from the bleachers, then slightly panicked when he noticed she was coming up to him. No. No, don't freak out. Breathe. She's coming to you. Just breathe. Sure, you didn't get more time to debate chickening out, but it's fine. You're chill. You're cool.

"Hey. Jim, right?" she asked, a hand on her hip.

"Who, me? I-I mean, yeah. That's me."

"Think you'd be interested in the Romeo and Juliet play the school's having? I'm doing Claire a favor and trying to get guys to audition."

"Oh– uh, I don't know, I don't really... do plays or acting— wait, Claire? You're friends with her?"

"Oh, totally. She showed me around and stuff. She's cool."

"That's great, really. I hope you're liking it here so far."

"I'd say so. Everyone here is... oddly friendly. It's almost scary," she laughed.

"Yup. That's Arcadia for you. Almost everyone's like that."

There was a comfortable silence between them before Avalon cleared her throat and gave him the flyer.

"Here. In case you change your mind or something."

She turned around, about to leave, when he stopped her.

"Hey, wait."

She looked over her shoulder at him. His hand had grabbed her wrist subconsciously, and he pulled it away when he realized he had.

"Sorry, uh.. I just wanted to thank you. For earlier. You... really saved my skin back there. I had no idea what the answer was," he smiled sheepishly, his hand going up to rub the back of his neck.

"Oh, trust me. I had a hunch. You're welcome. That class was a snooze fest anyway."

"Right? Like, c'mon. He expects us to know all this stuff in such a short period of time! It's not like I lived through it all."

Avalon's eyes slightly widened when he said that. It was a little too funny how close that hit home for her.

"Haha... exactly. Still can't believe he took my headphones, though... that was so embarrassing..." she sighed.

"If it makes you feel any better, the same thing happened to me last year. Except I didn't get it back 'til the end of the day. You got it easier than I did."

"Thanks, that does make me feel better."

"I hope I start seeing you around a lot more. You're really cool, Avalon."

"Trust me, I'm not going anywhere. Especially now that Strickler's appointed me as your 'special guardian angel, defender and protector of your attention span.'" she snickered.

"Is that what he said to you? Agh, as if making me give my mom his number wasn't enough..."

"He's making you give your mom his number?!" Her jaw dropped.

"Don't tell anyone about that, please. It's genuinely embarrassing– are you laughing right now?"

Avalon bit her tongue, holding back her snickers now that she'd been caught.

"Who, me? C'mon. Jim. I'd never do such a thing."

"You're totally laughing at me, aren't you? Are you laughing at my terrible misfortune, Avalon?"

She couldn't help herself and burst into laughter, cackling over something as silly as his current predicament.

"It's hilarious how embarrassing that is," she giggled, catching her breath.

"Oh, c'mon! I just called you cool, and this is how you repay me?"

The two continued to chat, laughing and getting to know each other. Darci smirked from the bleachers, nudging Mary and Claire.

"What?" Mary scoffed.

"Look."

She pointed at Jim and Avalon, making the two of them smirk as well.

"Ohhh, so that's why she was in such a rush to get down. Av's got a little crush on Jimmy Jam," Mary smirked, snapping a picture of the two.

"I could see them together. I think they'd be cute," Claire nodded.

"Gotta respect her. First day here, and she already knows what she wants. That's admirable." Darci tilted her head, watching them.

Toby and Jim were in the boys' locker room, alone, after everyone else had already changed and left. Toby was struggling to get his socks on while Jim put his shoes on.

"So... are we not gonna talk... about it? Whew! These socks are getting harder to put on every day..." Toby panted, out of breath, slumped on the ground from overexertion.

"'Talk about it?' Talk about what?" Jim asked, shutting his locker back.

"Uhhh, I dunno, maybe your whole gigglefest with Avalon earlier? It's like you two were in your own little world!"

"I was just thanking her for helping me out back in history, that's all. Plus, you know I'm still into Claire."

"Maybe, but you can't deny the fact that talking to Avalon is a thousand times easier than talking to Claire."

"That's because Avalon's my friend! She's easy to talk to because I don't have a crush on her."

Jim fished the strange amulet out of his bag, looking at it, hoping it'd do something again.

"That's how all relationships start, Jimbo, you don't just jump straight to the best part!"

"Like you'd know."

"Hey, low blow! You know what I mean. You're just saying that because you know I'm right."

Jim grabbed his stuff and stood up; Toby sat up promptly after.

"Y'know, you should do it."

"Do what? The play? I'm not an actor!"

"C'mon, you should give it a try! Plus, if Avalon tries out for Juliet and gets the role, a whole bunch of guys are gonna sign up just to get the kiss with her. You'll be her first pick!"

"Not how that works, Tobes."

"I'm just saying, she's developed quite the fanbase. And hey, if she doesn't get the role and Claire does, you've gotta sign up so you can get that kiss with Claire! Ha! It's a win-win!"

"And it's a lose-lose if I don't get any role."

Jim huffed, watching Toby continue to struggle to get his socks on.

"You're always talking about wanting your life to be more exciting."

"I don't think Romeo and Juliet is exactly the answer, Tobes. I don't mean just, you know, exciting... I mean... more. I just need to know that there's more to life than just... high school."

The room went silent until Toby started to snicker.

"See, now... say that. Maybe make it a little more, y'know, Shakespearean, and you'd definitely get Romeo."

Jim groaned and waved him off, his heart jumping in his chest when he heard the lockers on the other side of the room clatter. He started to walk off, going to investigate where the sound had come from.

"But what do you mean, something more?" Toby's voice echoed from where he was sitting, as Jim sought out the origin of the noise.

"Hello?" Jim called out, his ears catching the sound of water rushing.

He realized the shower room was open and fogged up, the steam spreading to the outside of the room.

"Anybody in there? Hello?" he repeated, getting closer to the room.

He stood at the door, his eyes narrowing to see through the fog. A figure darted past, but he couldn't tell what it was.

"Got one! Yes! Woo, finally! Success, success!"

Toby's voice shot a pang of fear through Jim, startling him. He glanced between the presumptively empty shower room and where Toby's voice was coming from. Maybe he was seeing things. He turned away from the door with a relieved sigh.

Avalon was changing back into her normal clothes, thinking about what she wanted for lunch. Her thoughts were interrupted by her friends' smug stares. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"...What? What is it? Is there something on my face or something?"

"So, you're just not gonna explain yourself?" Darci chuckled.

"What on Earth are you on about?" Avalon's eyes narrowed.

"Uh, hello! That whole thing with Lake earlier!" Mary smirked, folding her arms.

"Ugh, of course you two saw that..."

"You mean, 'you three'?" Claire grinned.

"Not you too, Claire! I just met the guy today! I was just asking him if he wanted to try out for the play."

"You were totally giving him the eyes."

"Uh, no! They were perfectly normal eyes. Eyes that roll whenever you try to butt into my business."

"Yeah? Then explain THIS! Boom!" Mary turned her phone around, showing Avalon the photo she took of her laughing with Jim.

"WH- YOU TOOK A PHOTO OF ME?!" Avalon screeched, feeling utterly violated.

"It was too cute, I had to snap something."

"DELETE THAT. RIGHT NOW."

"Whyyyy?! You're no fun when you're in denial, Av. You look cuter when you admit you like himmm...~"

"This is ridiculous..." she groaned.

"What's ridiculous is how much I'm starving. You gals wanna hit up the new taco joint down the street?" Mary pulled up her GPS ahead of time on her phone.

"Ooh, yum! I'm down. What about you two?" Darci clapped, glancing back at Avalon and Claire.

"Sounds good. I don't mind," Claire agreed.

"I would, but I can't. I've got errands to run back at home."

"Seriously? You're turning down tacos for chores? I will never understand you, Av."

"I'll make it up to you guys, I promise."

"At least walk with us! Pleeeaassee?" Darci pleaded.

"Okay, okay! I'll walk with you. Just let me get my bag—"

Avalon froze when she heard a grumbling noise. She stood back up, noticing her friends had already exited the locker room. It was just her. She shut her locker, a suspicious expression crossing her face as she crept around the room, waiting for another sound. Then she heard it again, but in the shower room.

"Av? You coming?"

Claire's voice startled her momentarily. She recovered her resolve with a sigh.

"I lost my phone in here. Start walking without me!"

"Aw, okay! But hurry up!" Mary replied.

As soon as Avalon was sure they were gone, she ran into the shower room. The unexpected fog clouded her vision, forcing her to squint. She noticed a tall, broad figure in the corner.

"Hey!"

She gasped sharply when the fog cleared, almost dropping her phone. This was the last thing she expected to see.

Chapter Text

— — —

Avalon stumbled from the mere sight of what she uncovered in the fog. No way in hell this was real.

  “Wh-what the–? You’re a– a-”

  “A... man in a costume! Yes, yes, according to your customs, humans often dress up as scary creatures for fun! Yes! I’m not at all anything remotely scary.”

This “man in a costume” was a troll.

This six-eyed, four-armed, blue, tall-enough-to-be-a-Lakers-center “man” was a troll. I know, shocking.

  “It would literally be more convincing if you told me you were a demon from hell here to take my soul.”

  “...I beg your pardon?”

  “You can’t just say ‘According to your customs, humans often– blah blah blah–’ and then expect me to think you’re actually human and not a troll.”

  “Well, I agree that my excuse was rather ill-conceived, but I’ve come to realize that some humans will believe anything if it is said confidently enough. It’s called gaslighting, and— wait. Troll? How would you even know what that is? We trolls have kept to Trollmarket for centuries, and for all I know, nobody had been wandering the streets of Arcadia all willy-nilly—”

  “So you are a troll.”

  “...Yes. Yes, yes! Alright, you’ve bested me. Are you happy?”

  “Actually, yes– damn, I’m standing in front of an actual troll right now... This was not on my first day of school bingo card– whatever, the real question is, how did you even get up here without being spotted or, oh, I don’t know, turning to stone?! It’s broad daylight!”

  “I have my ways. And you still haven’t answered my question.”

Avalon sighed, running a hand down her face.  She hated busting out this explanation. Every century, something like this would occur, and she’d have to do it all over again.

  “To put it simply, I’m a sorceress– yes, I actually know how to do magic, no, I’m not 13 years old, I’m 916. Born and raised in Camelot, Merlin’s apprentice and occasionally his daughter, but that’s deeper than I’m willing to go, I have a copy of A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore in my room, it’s kind of a necessary read and— you’re not gonna believe me at face value, are you?”

  “No, I believe you. Though part of me suspected you might’ve been a changeling momentarily until you mentioned the book. They aren’t easily accessible to changelings, and you would’ve killed me before I could get a word out. Any descendant of Merlin is an ally of mine.”

  “Oh. Well, that makes this a lot easier. I’m Avalon. I’m... assuming you’re looking for the new Trollhunter? Considering you’re standing in the shower room of a high school and the former Trollhunter has been felled, rest his soul.”

  “Avalon. Pleasure to meet you. My name is Blinkous Galadrigal– but my friends call me Blinky. And yes, I am. You seem to be rather close to him, no? Perhaps you can be of some assistance.”

  “I– what? You want me to help? What exactly would I even do? I don’t even know Jim that well, we just became friends today!”

  “Well, for one, you are human– well, at least you appear so. You’d do a much better job of seeking him out than I possibly could. Wouldn’t want to die in vain before I’m even able to annotate the severity of the boy’s sacred mantle,” the troll’s three pairs of eyes blinked simultaneously.

  “Wait, wait wait— how do you intend to... tell him? You’re not just gonna follow him home, right?” Avalon chuckled nervously, a panicked expression etched on her face.

  “That was precisely my plan. How else would you suppose I go about it?”

Avalon facepalmed, dragging her hand down her face.

  “He’s gonna totally freak out, you know that right?”

  “And you think that he’d believe something as insane as this from you? For all he’s aware, you’re a perfectly normal human being.”

  “Ugh, you’re right, he’d think I’m crazy— okay, fine. I’ll come with you. But only because I wanna see him piss himself when he sees a troll for the first time.”

  “That’s the spirit. Now, I believe you should get going. I’m sure your friends are waiting up for you.”

Avalon turned around to the door, glancing back over her shoulder at him.

  “I’m not going with them. Really, I need to get home and tell my brother about this, because this is... frankly, a lot,” she ran a hand through her hair.

. . .

  “Are you sure you’ll be fine on your own? To like, travel, and stuff.”

Blinky laughed heartily.

 “I’ve made it this far, traveling around during the day. I implore you, I’ll be just fine. I appreciate your concern, Ms. Avalon. I’ll be seeing you at Master Jim’s domicile by nightfall.”

Avalon nodded.

  “Got it. I’ll be there.”

  “So, good news, dude. My orthodontist says I’m almost done with my braces. Only four more years.”

Jim and Toby wheeled their bikes through the courtyard of the school while a jeering crowd gathered around the lockers across from them. Steve Palchuk was stuffing Eli Pepperjack into a locker– again. Typical bully shtick. Jim hated his guts and everything he stood for– but the same could be said for anyone at Arcadia Oaks High who had a soul and two eyes to see.

  “Okay, nothing to see here,” Toby ducked, hoping the blonde wouldn’t see them.

  “We can’t just let him do that,” Jim said, his sense of justice intertwining with his guilt towards Eli.

  “Oh, yes, we can. If Psycho Steve’s terrorizing him, he’s not terrorizing us–”

Toby looked up from his anxious mumbling to see his friend walking towards the commotion. Great.

  “Jim? Jim! Oh, no...”

Avalon was walking out of the locker room, trying to act like she didn’t have a run-in with a magical creature moments prior. She eyed the ruckus over by the lockers– oh great, did it have to be right next to hers? Wonderful. Really. Couldn’t anything just be easy for her for one second? Of course not. 

She slid her headphones off her head, trying to catch word of what was happening. As much as she was annoyed, she was just as nosy.

  “Tell ‘em again, dweeb-face. Tell me about the creatures, and maybe, I’ll let you out!” Steve hissed, elbowing the locker he had locked Eli in.

Ah. Great. A bully. She rolled her eyes, walking further into the crowd, pushing past students to see what was going on. This guy better have been cute enough to make up for causing a disturbance around her locker.

  “Or, you can let him out right now. I mean, you know, it would be nice,” Jim stepped in, causing Avalon to pop her head out in surprise. He was getting involved? Huh. Maybe these kids were right to record. She might have to ask them for the footage after, depending on how this went.

  “Nice would be you minding your own business,” Steve spat, one of his two goons stepping up to Jim protectively.

He wasn’t. He wasn’t cute.

  “Oh, hi Jim!” Eli’s voice echoed from the inside of the locker. Steve hit it with his arm again to shut him up.

  “So, where were we? Um... oh, yeah, okay. You were telling me about the monsters you saw this morning, with fangs and... what was it again?” 

  “S-stone for skin! In the canal!”

Jim tilted his head, an incredulous expression on his face. Monsters? He’s always known Eli for ranting about his conspiracy theories– aliens, wizards, goblins– trolls. He’s always chalked it up to him watching too many horror and sci-fi movies and reading into ordinary things way too much, but a small part of him... believed him, as absurd as it felt. The thought contributed to his expression, his incredulous look turning into a slight grimace.

Avalon’s eyes narrowed. So this Eli kid saw a troll? So there really is a Heartstone in Arcadia. The troll remains she saw in the canals on her way to school this morning wasn’t just a pile of random rocks a terrible construction crew left lying around.

  “Stone for skin! Man, Eli, you’ve got some imagination,” Steve laughed.

This was getting ridiculous. Jim set his bike aside, taking another step towards Steve.

  “Look, Steve, seriously, just let him out.”

Steve glared at him. Someone dared to step up to him? No. He wasn’t having that. He walked up to Jim and grabbed him by the strap of his bag, lifting him a couple centimeters off the ground.

Avalon didn’t like where this was going. She reached into her bag for a silver cuff and put it on, almost subconsciously. A faint, chromatic glow of green and pink emanated from it as she matched up the sigils and runes like a kid's block puzzle. 

  “Or you’ll do what?”

  “Okay, do it. Punch me.”

The crowd that gathered gasped and whispered amongst each other. Avalon was almost floored at the fact that he preferred this douche to punch him instead of giving him a four-piece combo, no nuggets. Steve chuckled, just as confused as everyone else.

  “You... you’re asking for a beating?”

  “Yeah. Just go crazy. In 20 years, you’re gonna be fat and bald, and you’ll be working at a muffler shop, and Eli will have a job in software, and he’ll be a billionaire,” Jim retorted.

  “I do like computers!” Eli piped up, earning another slam of the lockers.

  “Let him out. Let him out! Let him out!” Toby chanted as the rest of the crowd started to join in.

Avalon had to give it to Jim– he sure as hell had guts for talking down to him like that. 

Steve raised his fist to punch Jim. Avalon’s eyes narrowed as she muttered under her breath.

“Vocare parva creatura.”

A rat manifested itself, scurrying its way through the crowd through Avalon’s control, until it was right at Steve’s feet. It crawled up his pant leg, making him scream and drop Jim.

   “RAT! I-it’s a rat! Ew, ew, ew, get it out, get it out, get it out!!” he squealed, jumping up and down. The crowd started to laugh hysterically as Avalon pulled out her phone and snapped a couple of pictures to laugh at later. 

Jim fell on his ass, looking dumbfounded up at Steve. He watched the rat crawl out and scurry off, disappearing into a cloud of pink and green mist. His eyes narrowed. How the hell did that happen? 

He noticed a faint pink and green aura radiating from a hand in the crowd. He squinted, and his eyes widened. That hand... those nails. They looked awfully similar to... Avalon’s.

Avalon’s gaze shifted to the shut locker, opening up the locker with a small wave of her hand as Eli tumbled out, falling on his face. He scrambled to get up and ran off.

  “Palchuk! What’s going on here?! Why weren’t you at practice?!”

The sound of Coach Lawrence’s voice made the crowd scatter, all going about their business. Hell if they’d be dragged into this.

  “I-I uh–” Steve stammered, still frazzled by the rat that climbed into his pants.

  “Quit stammering and get to steppin’! On the double, now!” 

Steve huffed as Coach Lawrence left, glaring daggers at Jim. He leaned down to his level.

  “Friday, at noon. You and me. Tick. Tock.”

Steve walked off, a relieved sigh exiting Jim’s lips as he stood to his feet, brushing himself off. He didn’t think he’d survive that. Now he has to worry about surviving Friday.

  “Great,” he murmured under her breath.

Avalon walked behind him, opening her locker. She was just 4 lockers down from him. Interesting. He had a sneaking suspicion that she had something to do with what happened. A small hunch, if you would.

  “Nice job back there. Glad to know not everyone keels over to let bullies do whatever they want,” she glanced over at him, a grin on her face.

  “Thanks. I just hate to see the guy always getting his way. Someone had to step in,” he turned to her, leaning against his locker.

  “I appreciate it. I was half ready to punch him for you for starting all that in front of my locker. I’m hungry and I need lunch,” she frowned.

  “Punch him, huh? Didn’t take you for the violent type.”

  “Only when provoked. Don’t get me twisted, I’m exceptionally laid-back. I just don’t like bullies. Or postponing a meal.”

Jim snickered. However, he wanted to test his theory. He had just realized the cuff on her wrist. That wasn’t there before. So, he started small.

  “I can’t take all the credit for fending Steve off. That rat practically stole the show.”

Avalon had to do a mental double-take at his words. Why was he talking about the rat? Did he know? No, he couldn’t have.

  “I gotta admit, it was hilarious... even rats hate Steve’s guts.” 

Jim stared at her smugly. He could sense her anxiety through her lack of eye contact.

  “Yeah. Wonder... where it went off to. Kinda just... disappeared. ”

Avalon’s gaze hardened slightly as she shut her locker. He had to know. But how would he know? She was hidden in the crowd. 

She chuckled, trying not to seem complicit in the rat fiasco she was entirely guilty of.

  “Yeah. Probably ran off. I wouldn’t wanna stick around to get chewed out by Coach Lawrence either.”

  “I’m sure.”

The two just kinda stared at each other. She couldn’t keep standing around here. She had a piping hot kettle of tea to spill to her brother, and not much time.

  “...Anyways. I’ve got stuff to do. See ya around, Jim,” she walked off.

Jim watched her walk off, his gaze etched with suspicion.

  “Yeah... stuff, huh?” he murmured to himself.

 Mr. Benoit’s was buzzing with customers, either here for a quick snack, a date, or even a coffee break before heading back to work. The air smelled of cocoa and sunny-side up eggs, and afternoon rush was in full swing.

  “And your total adds up to $13.46.”

The lady paid for her food and came out of line, as Avalon walked up to the register.

  “Ah, now look what the cat dragged in. Thought you said you’d never talk to me while I’m working again, Av.”

Douxie grinned at her smugly, met with Avalon’s frown.

Douxie was Avalon’s older brother— yes, you’re reading that correctly. Not biologically, but they might as well have been the way they treat each other. The two of them were taken in by Merlin back in Camelot as apprentices because of their magical ability, and had practically become his children as time went on. Now, they lived boring civilian lives centuries later, keeping creatures from other realms at bay during the night. 

  “I said that because you always enchant the payment terminal to decline my card, and then LOUDLY make it known to the whole world that my card doesn’t have money on it, when it damn well does!”

  “Me? No, I’ve never done anything like that. I don’t embarrass you, sis. You embarrass yourself. Always coming in here with 30 cents in your account.”

  “I had 200 DOLLARS in my account, you jerk.”

  “Alright, alright, what do you want, Av? You’re holding up the line.”

  “When are you done your shift? I need to talk to you about something super important,” she leaned against the counter, the customers behind her starting to get agitated by her holding it up.

  “And when you say ‘important’, do you mean ‘I saw this cute boy at the bus stop and I need to rant about it,’ important, or ‘Harry Potter hush-hush’ important?”

  “Surprisingly enough, the latter.”

Douxie’s gaze shifted to a more serious one, lowering his tone.

  “And... when you say that... are we talking about ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’ level, or—”

  “‘Goblet of Fire’ level. This is super important, Doux, tell Zoe to cover for you or something,” she interrupted, her arms folded.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, turning around to take a brief glance at his co-workers.

   “Give me 10 minutes. And take the keys. Arch has been scratching at the door since you left out,” he fished the keys to the apartment upstairs, handing them over to her.

  “Thanks, Two.”

  “I told you to stop calling me that. It doesn’t even make sense!”

  “Of course it does! Doux is practically deux, which is ‘two’ in French.”

  “Ugh. I knew staying in Canada 10 years ago would’ve bit me in the ass later.”

  “Oh, also. Strawberry milkshake and a BLT, hold the T.”

Avalon slid three 10-dollar bills across the counter.

  “Keep the change, I know they don’t pay you enough.”

Douxie scoffed, glaring at her.

  “Cheeky asshole, you. Where do you get all this money anyway?”

  “Volunteering at the old folks’ home. They love giving me money just for turning up. You should try it, Grandpa.”

  “Har har. I’m two years older than you.”

  “Still two years closer to your first millennium.”

  “Get out of line before I put Pepto-Bismol in your shake.”

Avalon gasped, pretending to be offended.

  “That’s a new one. I can’t believe you said that to me. Me! I’m your sister! Have you no heart?”

  “I don’t when you’re being a little cheeky brat.”

  “I’ll remember that when you want me to clean the place after closing.”

He groaned, annoyed by her quick comebacks.

  “Idiot.”

  “I heard that!”

Avalon went to the back room, unlocking it to climb the stairs to their apartment. It wasn’t much, but it was better than the past “houses” they lived in. Like the barn they were stuck living in during the Great Depression.

 She unlocked the door to the suite, the scratching noises at the door stopping as she pushed the door open. Her cat-dragon familiar, Archie, sat there idly, his tail waving slowly. Avalon squealed and scooped him up into her arms, kicking her sneakers off.

  “Archieeee! My sweet baby!” she cooed, giving him kisses, almost knocking off his glasses.

  “Watch the glasses, will you? I doubt any optometrists in this current age have prescription glasses for cats,” he huffed, trying to free himself from her grasp.

  “I told you not to sit so close to the cauldron. And the TV. You make it worse for yourself, silly,” she poked him gently, making him squirm more. She dropped her bag off by the door, practically skipping off to her room.

He growled, his tail waving in front of her face.

  “Hey–! Cut that out, you,” she huffed, setting him down on her bed.

  “I’m not very happy with you, you know that? I had woken up from a catnap, and you were nowhere to be seen! Then Douxie had the nerve to tell me you had gone to ‘school.’ I can’t believe you,” he complained, his irritated tone turning concerned. He curled up next to her on the bed, his paws burrowing into her legs.

  “Awww... did my favorite pretty kitty miss me while I was gone? And here I thought Douxie was the favorite.”

  “I don’t play favorites. It’s not my style.”

Avalon smiled, petting him gently.

Douxie finally came upstairs and into her room, carrying a tray with the stuff she ordered.

  “On a tray, Doux? You’d think it’s my birthday. Maybe I’ll stop being a dick to you. For a day.”

  “I can never win with you, can I?” he scoffed, setting the stuff down on her bedside table.

  “No, you can’t. Now, I’ve got some crazy things to tell you–”

  “...You didn’t actually... put Pepto-Bismol in here, did you?”

  “I didn’t. I solemnly swear it.”

Douxie’s shit-eating grin made her doubt everything about that milkshake, but she still took a sip regardless. It was fine. Thank God.

  “Okay, now that I’ve got food, let’s get serious. A lot of things... happened today. Magical things.”

  “Magical things?”

  “...The former Trollhunter was felled. I saw his remains in the canal on the way to school today.”

Douxie’s eyes widened. He’d kept himself out of troll business for a couple centuries now, but the least he did was keep track of who was Trollhunter every now and then.

  “Kanjigar the Courageous? Felled?”

  “Trust me, that’s not even the crazy bit.”

 Douxie scoffed, rolling his eyes.

  “Please, Av. We’ve been alive for centuries, a Trollhunter dying is just... inevitable. We see it happen all the time! What could possibly be ‘crazy’ about this—”

  “The new Trollhunter has already been chosen.”

Douxie looked at her, slightly caught off guard. That quickly? Huh. That was odd. Not earth-shattering news, but... odd.

  “Already?—”

  “Wasn’t done. He’s human. And in my class.”

Douxie and Archie were completely floored, while Avalon was more concerned with chowing down on her lunch.

  “No. No way. You’re just trying to pull my leg and be funny, aren’t you?” Douxie chuckled.

Avalon’s silence and focus on her food just proved she wasn’t “trying to be funny.”

  “...You’re... you’re serious.”

Archie sat up, prancing over to Douxie.

  “A human Trollhunter? But that’s—”

  “-Unprecedented. This has literally never happened before.”

  . . .

  “Av. Are you sure... you saw what you saw? Like, super sure?”

  “Doux, I know what I saw. The amulet was peaking out of his bag while we were talking. He was looking up ‘talking amulet’ during History.”

  “...Okay, that is pretty obvious, I admit.”

He ran a hand through his hair again.

  “And... I think he might know I have... magic.”

  “Av, what?!”

  “Look, a bully was picking on someone at school, so I... sorta, kinda... used my magic to make a rat crawl up his pants... but he was literally being held up! I was in the middle of a crowd, there’s no way he could’ve seen me!”

  “You’ve always struggled with subtlety.”

  “What? That is such bullshit!— I do not!”

Douxie and Archie both hit her with a deadpanned, “you can’t be serious” look, making her laugh sheepishly.

  “...Okay, maybe a little. But he doesn’t know for sure... yet.”

  “Yet? What do you mean, ‘yet?’ You’re not planning to tell him, are you? You barely know this guy!”

  “Yeah, but I know he’s the new Trollhunter— he’s gonna get used to these things soon anyway. Plus, I...”

The way she trailed off made Douxie run a hand down his face anxiously. He could feel a white hair growing in for every sentence that exited her mouth.

  “What did you do?” he squinted at her.

  “I didn’t do anything! At least, not intentionally... I kinda had a run-in with a troll today. At school. Blinky.”

  “...A troll. At your human high school. Filled with humans.”

  “I’m just as confused about how he got in without being spotted... or turned to stone.”

  “So, you found the new Trollhunter— who is... a human– not to mention a scrawny teenager, which has never happened before... and you had a run-in with a troll... that snuck into your school to do... what?”

  “He was looking for Jim.”

  “Jim?”

  “The Trollhunter.”

  “Oh, so he’s your friend, huh?”

  “Oh, quit that. You’d be the fourth person today to start assuming I like him.”

  “Well, if three other people have done it, there must be a reason for it, huh?” he smirked, batting his eyelashes at her to piss her off.

  “You are so incredibly annoying.”

  “Love ya too, sis.”

She huffed, lying back on her bed.

  “...So, what are you planning to do about this?”

She sat back up, squinting at him.

  “What do you mean ‘me’?! Are you not gonna throw me a bone here? Give me an idea of what to do?”

  “No! I didn’t drag myself into this; you did. You’re 916, Av. You’ve gotta start problem-solving for yourself. Without magicking your way out of them.”

She stared at him and sighed. She knew he was right. She’s depended on him and magic one too many times to get her out of trouble and solve her problems for her.

   “...You’re right.”

  “I know.”

  “Smartass.”

. . .

  “I’ve already got some kind of plan. I’m... kinda sneaking into his house with Blinky tonight. He’s supposedly going to tell Jim about his forever occupation as Trollhunter. I’m coming along to watch him piss himself.”

  “Wow. Ruthless, aren’t you?”

  “It’s not ruthlessness, it’s humor.”

She glanced over at her phone, realizing the time. She’d have to get back to school soon... damn it.

  “Ugh, lunch is almost over. I need to get back to school.”

She trudged out to the front door, reluctantly putting her sneakers back on.

Douxie followed her out, tsking at her.

  “Leaving so soon? You wound me, sis. I’m sure Arch could use more cuddles right about now.”

  “Trust me, I’d much rather stay here than go back, but it’d be incredibly bad if I came for half the school day after just enrolling.”

  “Touche.”

Avalon hoisted her bag over her shoulder, grabbing the doorknob.

  “Wait, Av.”

She turned around, noticing the soft look in his eyes. She couldn’t help but sigh, her annoyed expression fading into something more calm.

  “I– ...don’t do anything stupid, okay? I trust you, and I know you’re able to hold your own... but– you’re the only family I’ve got, Avalon. Be careful.”

  “I will, Doux. You’re not losing me that easily, I’ve still got another millennium left to bother you.”

Douxie laughed and ruffled her hair, prompting her to huff and fix it back into place.

  “As annoying as that sounds, I can’t help but find that endearing. Alright, go already.”

Avalon hugged him, squeezing him tightly before leaving through the door.

  “Oh, and pick your laundry up when you get home! Your room’s a mess!”

  “Yeah, yeah, I will! Bye!”

Douxie chuckled and sighed once she was out of sight, as Archie walked up to him. He sighed and scooped him up.

  “She’s going to get herself in so much trouble, isn’t she?” he mumbled.

  “Oh, one thousand percent. Trouble is practically her shadow.”

“That was awesome , man! Did you see how I did that chant? ‘Let him out! Let him out!’ Ha... you probably won’t live past Friday, but it was awesome. Good thing your mom’s a doctor.”

Toby and Jim were biking home after school, as they both reminisced on the drama that unfolded at school today.

Toby noticed that Jim was thinking about something, and pedaled faster to stay alongside him.

  “You still thinking about your Avalon-rat theory?”

Jim snapped out of his thoughts and glanced over at him.

  “Huh? Oh, yeah. There’s just something... bugging me about what happened.”

  “You don’t really think she’s like– some kind of witch, or fairy, do you? I mean, those don’t even exist.”

  “I... I don’t know. But she’s definitely hiding something.”

They made it to their neighborhood, a car horn startling them as they looked over. It was Jim’s mother. They slowed down as she rolled down the window, 

  “Hey, boys,” she smiled, adjusting her glasses.

  “Hey, Mom.”

  “Looking sharp, Dr. Lake.”

Dr. Lake chuckled.

  “Thank you, Toby. So are you.”

  “Oh! Does it show?” Toby perked up, flexing his muscles.

  “You’re going to be out all night?” Jim asked. She sighed.

  “Dr. Gilberg is out with bursitis, and Dr. Lenz has a wedding out of town this week.”

  “Okay. Well, don’t forget to pack your—”

  “Dinner. Thank you,” she held up the meal in the brown paper bag.

  “Right. And try to find an oven to reheat it in instead of nuking. Takes all the flavor and nutrients away.”

Jim glanced down at the sticky note Strickler had given him earlier, debating on whether he should give her his number or not. He decided against it and stuffed it back in his pocket.

  “Jim, there must be a million things you’d rather be doing than looking after me.”

  “Can’t think of one.”

  “Love you, honey.”

  “Bye, Mom.”

She rolled the window back up and started driving off, leaving Jim and Toby in the quiet street.

  “You mother your mother a lot,” Toby smirked, making Jim chuckle.

  “See you tomorrow, Tobes,” he rode towards his house.

  “Hey, and by the way, don’t use mayo on the sandwich! It’s the wrong note.”

He chuckled again, getting off his bike and wheeling it into the garage. The sun had practically set already as he unlocked the door and walked back into the house. Finally, home sweet home.

Jim kicked his shoes off and slung his bag off his shoulder and onto the couch, grabbing the remote to put something on the TV. An advertisement played in the background as he sat himself on the arm of the couch, digging through his bag for the amulet. He fumbled with it for a bit until his phone rang. He picked up the phone, putting it to his ear.

  “Hey, Tobes.”

   “Did it talk again? Did it do anything interesting?” Toby asked on the other side.

  “Nope,” he sighed, popping the ‘P’ in ‘nope.’

   “Toby-Pie! Dinner!” Toby’s nana screeched through the phone.

   “In a minute, Nana! I’ve gotta go. Text me if it does anything cool,” he whispered, the line going dead.

He tossed the phone on the couch, turning back to the TV. Still ads? Not on his watch. He grabbed the remote and changed the channel to a 24/7 Gun Robot marathon, before noticing the amulet was... glowing. Was he supposed to say something? He didn’t know, but he tried it anyway.

  “Um... hi. How you doing? I’m Jim. B-but then, you knew that because you spoke my name, which is... weird.”

The amulet continued to silently glow, making him feel a little stupid. 

  “Hello...? Anybody in there?” he tapped it a couple times. Still no response.

Why did he think talking to it would actually elicit a response out of it? It’s an amulet– sure, a talking one, but clearly it wasn’t feeling so talkative at the moment. 

  “And now, I’m talking to an inanimate object.”

He just stared at it, waiting for it to hopefully do something. But alas, still nothing. He huffed, getting frustrated with it now.

  “Come on! Talk again, or you’re going up on eBay!”

His irritation towards the amulet was subsided by the loud thumping coming from the basement. He set the amulet down on the coffee table and headed towards the basement door, opening it up. His eyes narrowed at the shuffling noises, assuming the worst.

  “Raccoons!” he hissed, grabbing a nearby broom and slowly heading down the stairs.

He had no idea how much worse “the worst” could really get.

He kept his eyes peeled for the furry tyrants, noticing something rush past the furnace, coal spilling on the ground. He swallowed thickly, gripping the broom handle tighter. He pulled on the rope for the light, switching it on as he anxiously paced around the basement, getting startled by his own reflection in a dusty mirror. He exhaled softly, continuing his pursuit of the supposed raccoons in his basement.

Then the light went out.

He screamed, jumpscared by the bulb blowing out. Jeez, he was so much jumpier than normal. He sighed, then walked up to the coal on the ground, picking one up. How did it fall over?—

  “Master Jim!”

Jim jumped and screamed, turning around to the incredibly horrifying sight behind him. This was way, way worse than raccoons– what the hell was in front of him right now?! He scrambled back, banging his head on the pole behind him.

He rubbed the back of his head, not expecting to see that creature up close.

  “Master Jim!”

Jim screamed again, banging his head on the pole once again. Yup, totally getting a concussion from this.

  “We have found you. I am known as Blinky,” the six-eyed, four-armed creature bowed in front of him.

Jim scrambled back again, shifting directions so he wouldn’t end up with a third bump on his head, until he bumped into something stony and hairy. And then it moved. He looked up and was met with a huge creature, looking down at him with huge teeth.

  “Hi. It’s Aaarrrgghh. Three R’s,” it waved, causing him to scramble to his feet, trying to run but getting boxed in. He ducked and covered his head, much to someone’s amusement.

A loud laugh echoed through the basement, causing Jim to peek from between his fingers. He tilted his head up and almost felt his heart jump out of his chest when he saw Avalon walk out of the shadows and into the light, holding a raccoon in one hand and her phone in the other.

Wait, why was she holding a raccoon?? Why was she here ? In his house ? Was she in cahoots with these... stone creatures? He knew something was fishy about her.

. . . Is that a bottle in its mouth?

  “God, this is hilarious! I’m taking pics for memories. Say, ‘Scared shitless!’” she snickered, snapping a couple photos of him.

Blinky cleared his throat, glancing over at her.

  “Ms. Avalon. If you’d please. You’re usurping the seriousness of the situation,” he said, gesturing to Jim on the ground.

  “You’re right, don’t worry, I’ll keep silent,” she nodded, still snickering at Jim’s face.

  “Right. Now, where were we...”

Blinky and Aaarrrgghh looked down at him, making him scream again.

  “Hmm. He says, ‘AAAAA’ a lot,” Aaarrrgghh grumbled, looking between him and Blinky.

  “It’s more of a yelp, I believe. A greeting, perhaps.”

  “Or he’s scared shitless.”

Blinky leaned into his face, making an odd noise, making Jim run away again. Aaarrrgghh grabbed him by the legs, holding him upside down. Avalon came closer, petting the pacified raccoon in her arms.

  “Master Jim, you have been chosen.”

  “Hmm... Blinky, he looks scared.”

  “Uh, Aaarrrgghh, my good fellow, would you mind? This is a moment of some solemnity.”

  “Hmm? ‘Solembily’?”

  “It means serious and dignified.”

  “ Hmm... ‘dig-oo-nified’...”

  “Uh, guys? The blood’s gonna rush to his head and make him pass out if you keep him upside down like that for so long,” Avalon added. 

  “P-p-put me down, please–?” Jim stammered, his words muffled by his hands covering his face.

Blinky gestured for Aaarrrgghh to put him down, as he flipped him over and patted his head gently.

  “Thank you. Now, where was I again...?”

  “Uh, ‘Master Jim... found you...’”

  “Yes. Thank you. Master Jim, you have been chosen. The Amulet of Daylight challenges you to ascend to the most sacred of offices.”

  “‘Orifices’? What ‘orifices’?” Aaarrrgghh tilted his head.

  “Offices. It means responsibility. Unbeknownst to your kind, there is a secret world; a vast civilization of trolls lurking beneath your very feet, hidden from view.”

 Trolls. Trolls. Of course, it had to be something as ridiculous as trolls. Jim couldn’t believe what was being told to him right now, much less what was in front of him.

  “Tr-trolls?” he stammered, his eyes darting around the basement, between Blinky and Avalon.

  “Trolls. Yes, trolls. And it is now your charge to protect them. For you, Master Jim, are the Trollhunter.”

  “Trollhunter,” Aaarrrgghh echoed behind him.

  “Have fun with that, by the way,” Avalon smirked.

Jim glanced over at her, pointing at her.

  “You! Y-you’re a part of this too?!” he stammered, trying to be assertive, but the nerves just kept getting to him.

  “Eh, something like that,” she shrugged, getting closer.

  “I-I knew something was up with you!”

  “Yeah, but guess what? I’m feeding a grown raccoon milk like a baby. No one will ever believe you,” she whispered, a smirk on her face.

He glared at her before Blinky got up in his face again.

  “This honor is yours to accept. So, what say you?”

Jim promptly passed out, almost collapsing to the ground if it weren’t for Avalon catching him, letting the raccoon scurry free. 

  “...Is that a yes?” 

  “We’ll never know. He’s out cold,” she murmured, looking down at him.

  “Well, I think it’s best if... we get going. I’m sure Master Jim will be safe in your hands.”

  “Wait, you’re leaving him with me?— What am I supposed to do if he wakes up?!”

  “Remind him of his cause. I wouldn’t want him to forget our encounter. Relaying all of that information again would prove redundant.”

Oh, great. What if his mom came home?? What, would she have to jump out the window like a swan and break her neck like a weak chopstick?

  “I’ll... try. Just leave before his mom gets back home and I have to drag two bodies to the hospital,” she huffed, hoisting Jim’s limp body into her arms, bridal style.

The two trolls left from where they came, leaving Avalon with an unconscious Jim. She almost chuckled at how he still somehow managed to look petrified in his slumber, before walking up the stairs to the main floor. His house was... nice. 

As she took herself on a tour through his house, she noticed the amulet on the coffee table. 

  “No shot. He actually has it,” she whispered under her breath.

She set Jim down on the couch gently before picking up the amulet and watching it glow. She pulled her phone out and snapped a photo, setting the amulet back down on the table. At least now she had proof to show Douxie later.

Avalon glanced down at Jim, feeling slight guilt for just leaving him sprawled out like that.

No, no, don’t feel guilty. At least he’s not on the cold basement floor, probably suffering from a concussion.

She turned toward the backdoor to leave, before glancing back again, one last time.

. . .

Fine.

Jim shot up from the couch, looking around in fear. His eyes squinted as he was flashbanged by the bright sunlight from outside. It was morning. He looked around and took in his surroundings. He was... on the couch. In his living room. Upstairs. How the hell did he get up here? He didn’t sleepwalk his way to the couch, did he?

He pulled the blanket aside—

Wait, blanket? How’d the blanket get here?

He just stared at the blanket that was previously keeping him warm in confusion, then sighed deeply. This was weird.

He shifted his hand on the arm of the couch, knocking something onto the ground. He shifted on the cushion, peering over at what had fallen.

It was an ice pack, wrapped in a hand towel and a pillow.

Huh. Weirder.

He glanced over to the coffee table and realized there was a glass of water and painkillers. Weirder... er. Weirdest? Whatever.

He reluctantly reached over to grab the glass and the bottle of pills and poured one out into his hand. He drank the water with the pill, swallowing it bitterly. Hopefully, it’d help, considering his head was aching.

But his question still stood. Who was planting these things here while he was asleep?— Was someone in his house last night?–

Wait... last night.

His head started reeling as he remembered everything that happened last night. Those trolls, them talking about the amulet, Avalon with that... raccoon– it was insane. He almost wanted to believe it was a dream, but then again, the amulet was still right there, taunting him from the table.

He grabbed his phone and immediately speed dialed Toby.

  “C’mon, pick up, pick up...” he murmured.

The line connected, soft whirrs and muffled voices in the background.

   “Hey, Jim.”

  “Tobes– Tobes, it’s me!”

   “I’d hope so.”

  “You’re never going to believe what happened last night.”

   “Yeah, I’m, uh, kinda in the middle of something, Jimbo.”

  “I’m seriously freaking out here! Seriously freaking! I need to talk to somebody.”

   “Chillax. What’s going on?”

   “Okay, so, last night, I heard something in my basement. I thought it was raccoons, but then—”

   “Yeah, hang on a second—”

Jim moved the phone from his ear, wincing from Toby’s painful scream and the high-pitched drilling noise. He was probably at the dentist. Great, so he was busy.

   “Sorry, Jim. Gonna have to call you back– NO, not THAT one!”

Jim hung up the phone with a sigh. Great. 

He glanced at the time. 7:12 AM. It’s early.  

He got off the couch and stretched, sighing to himself.

  “Let’s hope he’s in his office by now...” he murmured, heading upstairs to wash up.

Jim walked through the empty halls of the school, walking up to Strickler’s office and pushing open the door.

Strickler looked up from his grading, his stoic expression melting into something fonder.

  “Ah, hello, Jim. What can I do for you?” he asked.

  “Uh... do you have a minute?” 

  “Are you alright? You look peaked. Here, sit,” Strickler gestured to the stool in the corner, shutting off his classical music.

 Jim grabbed the stool and brought it in front of his desk, pumping up the height.

  “Okay, I don’t really know how to say this, but last night, something incredible happened. Actually, unbelievable. Completely unbelievable! As in, you won’t believe me, but I’m telling you it’s true, I promise you it’s true!” he rambled.

  “Alright, just calm down. I’ll believe you.”

Jim took a deep breath.

  “Uh... okay. Last night, two, um... things ... showed up at my house.”

  “Things?”

  “Y’know, things– guys. But like, really weird. O-one had these– these eyes, and the other one was like, huge and hairy! And they said they were tro—”

Jim paused. 

He didn’t know exactly why, but his gut was telling him to keep silent. Not to tell him anything else. Not to mention the fact that the creatures he encountered last night were trolls. 

  “Tro–?” Strickler repeated confusedly.

As confused as he was with himself, Jim racked his brain for a substitute word.

  “Tr– Trainers! Trainers, who want to train me in...”

His eyes darted around the room, looking for something, anything. His eyes set on the chessboard that was sitting in the sunlight.

  “-ch– uh, chess!” he stood up, walking over to the board and picking up the knight piece.

Strickler tilted his head.

  “And why would that have you so perturbed?”

  “They were... really weird,” Jim chuckled awkwardly. 

Jim’s gaze shifted to Steve, playing soccer on the field, kicking the ball into the face of one of his friends. Steve turned around and saw him, waving his finger back and forth in a ticking motion.

Oh, right. He’s supposed to fight him on Friday. Wonderful.

  “Now, I think I know what has you so distraught, Jim.”

  “You do?” Jim turned his head, watching Strickler walk up to him.

  “It’s as I told you yesterday, you have a lot on your shoulders. Too much, in my opinion, for someone your age. And I think this opportunity...”

  “Chess?”

  “...I think it’s causing you anxiety.” Strickler took the knight piece from Jim’s hand, setting it back down on the board.

  “I know you want to be there for your mother, but it’s as a great poet once wrote; ‘Do what’s good for you, or you’re not good for anybody.’” Strickler knocked over the king piece as the first bell rang.

Jim turned to leave, but paused.

  “Hey, thanks for the advice. I like talking to you,” he smiled.

  “Always.”

Jim walked towards the door, pushing it open.

Strickler noticed the faint glow of the amulet, seeing it peek out of the unzipped pocket of his bag. He froze, his finger accidentally knocking over all the pawns and the fallen king piece on the board onto the floor. 

This changed everything.

The sun was setting once again, dawn making way for dusk’s cool breeze and soft moonlight, with a sea full of stars overhead.

Jim was preparing lunch for his mother, himself, and Toby for tomorrow morning when the amulet started to glow again. Brighter than before. He set the sandwiches aside, grabbed his bag, and pushed open the back door, stepping into the backyard.

He dropped his bag as he pulled the amulet out, analyzing it closely.

  “The glowing thing again? C’mon, if you’re gonna act up, at least tell me something!” he huffed.

The amulet answered in return, the runes around the edges lighting up. The runes spun with the hands on the amulet, the previously illegible symbols changing from Chinese to Spanish, then English. 

  “‘For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command.’” Jim murmured to himself, reading the words aloud.

The cool breeze slowly picked up into a strong wind, picking up the fallen leaves in its gust and making the wooden boards of the fence rock harshly.

Jim brought the amulet closer to his face, as a blue orb of magic swirled around him, then flew into his chest. A swarm of them followed, promptly causing him to levitate. He watched as armor manifested around his body, before snapping into place and dropping him back on his feet. The suit was... way too big. He could barely see over the chestplate until it shrank and fit to size.

He glanced over himself, a grin forming on his face.

  “This is so freaking cool!” he yelled, posing heroically.

The magical orbs from earlier reappeared, flying towards his hand, sparking a ray of light as a giant sword appeared in his hands, throwing him forward. He grunted, struggling to pick it up as it shrank to a size he could handle. Oh yeah. This was awesome.

He looked around to the other backyard, hoping that no one would see him swinging the sword around, before getting it stuck in a stone. Okay, maybe he wasn’t as cool as he thought he was with this armor on.

He struggled to get it out of the stone for a couple minutes, working up a sweat as he finally pulled it out.

   “Armor suits you, dorkasaurus.”

Jim jumped, startled by the sudden voice he heard behind him. He turned around and pointed the sword at the air, his gaze shifting up to the tree right outside his yard.

  “A-Avalon—” he stammered. What was he supposed to do or say? He was all armored up and had no idea how to turn it off, and she was sitting in a tree, just watching.

  “Don’t wear it out.”

  “Look, I know this looks... crazy. But, listen– this... i-isn’t what it looks like.”

Avalon smirked, shifting into a more comfortable position in the tree.

  “Right. And by that, you mean, ‘I’m not the Trollhunter, please believe me, I’m really good at lying.’”

Her snide rebuttal made it hard for him to be nervous about all of this, his expression shifting from anxious to annoyed.

  “...You’re real snarky, you know that?” he glared up at her, pointing the sword at her face.

  “Harness.”

  “I– what?”

  “There’s a harness— holster– whatever, on the back of your armor. To hold your sword,” she pointed, a smirk on her face.

 “Wh-what? Okay, you do know I’m waving it at you for a reason, right? You have an odd penchant for sneaking into my house and doing weird stuff.”

 “Ew, don’t say it like that! I was... helping Blinky and Aaarrrgghh. Assisting them in their pursuit of their new champion. And I don’t appreciate you saying I was doing weird stuff! I carried your unconscious body to your living room!”

  “So that was you? I feel... less weird about that now. But still! Explain the raccoon!”

  “Th– the raccoon? That’s what you're worried about?”

  “I’m not getting near you! What if you got rabies from it?!”

  “I didn’t get rabies from it, I used a spell to pacify it and made a bottle to feed it... It was so cute...” she cooed.

  “I’m sorry, you ‘used a spell’ ?” 

Avalon froze, her eyes widening. He had caught her secret by the tail and was not about to let it go.

  “Damn it,” she hissed under her breath.

  “Oh, yeah. Now I’ve gotcha. So what, you’re some kinda witch?”

  “It was a... figure of speech! I didn’t actually use a spell—”

  “Oh, I’m sure. And by ‘a figure of speech’ you mean, ‘I’m not a witch, please let this go, my slip-up was embarrassingly bad.’”

Yowch. Using her own words against her. His wit was quick enough to rival hers. She was impressed and annoyed at the same time.

  “ Sorceress. And it wasn’t a slip-up. I meant to say that. What I didn’t mean was for you to hear that. Whatever, we’re getting off track—”

  “Wait, hold up a sec. How did you just... know when to show up? I didn’t even know this was gonna happen until... it did.”

  “Enchanted the amulet. Gave me a rough idea of when it would show you the incantation.”

  “Jeez, enchanting, pacifying, is there anything you can’t do?” he folded his arms.

  “Plenty. But that’s not the point. I’ve gotta get you used to your new... forever job.”

  “...Forever job?”

Jim felt a sense of dread wash over him. 

What did picking up this amulet get him into ?

  Strickler had parked along the canal, slamming his car door shut with a thud. He walked his way down the steep wall, his gaze sharpening on the troll remains in front of him. He picked up one of the stones, analyzing it. The piece where the amulet should have been lacked an amulet.

  “It’s been taken. You failed. You let it go. Your father will be displeased.”

The large beast growled behind him, his eyes narrowing on him.

  “Whoever holds the Amulet of Merlin, I shall destroy him, just as I have done with every single one of them,” he huffed, smoke exiting from his nose.

  “Worry not, you brute. I know where to find it. I believe the amulet has found its champion.”