Eclipse: A TrollHunters Fanfiction

Chapter Fifty-Four: Lake

Barbara Lake was sitting in her dining room, drinking some tea as she waited for Jim to get home. She jumped when she heard a crash from the basement. Her brows furrowed and she set her cup down. She grabbed the closest thing that could be considered a weapon, a broom, and started to stalk towards the door. She stood against the wall by the door, holding the broom close. It could be Draal, but then again, it could also not be Draal. She listened as footsteps started to come up the stairs, holding tighter to the broom in her hands. The footsteps were light, definitely not the ones of a troll.

Barbara held her breath as the door opened, not even looking before she swung the broom and smacked whoever it was in the face, sending him sprawling back down the steps. Barbara stood at the top of the stairs, holding out the broom as she realized who it was.

"Get the hell out of my house, James," she growled loudly, glaring at the dazed face of her ex-husband. She was not afraid to smack him in the face with a broom again. The Changeling held up his hands in surrender, eyes still slightly dazed.

"I need to talk to Jim," he said and upon seeing the glare on Barbara's face, he added a "Please?" onto the end. Barbara glared at him.

"No. Go back to TrollMarket. If Jim wants to talk to you, he will." she spat. James opened his mouth to say something, though the words died in his throat when Barbara seemed to brandish her broom like a bat.

"Okay, okay!" he said, scrambling to his feet. He held his hands up, backing towards the tunnel back down to TrollMarket. "You don't have to hit me again. I just...have an idea. A theory, really." Barbara's glare didn't falter.

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say." she spat. "I said go, so go." James sighed.

"Fine, fine," he mumbled, turning and entering the tunnel. "Please, just tell Jim I need to talk to him?" he glanced back at his ex-wife, only being met with a glare. "...nevermind, then. I guess." he walked the rest of the way into the tunnel. Barbara didn't lower her broom until he was out of sight. She sighed and shook her head, heading back upstairs.

~~~

Jim pulled his jacket back on, letting Claire tie the knot at the base of his stump. He smiled over at her when she did and she smiled right back. "Thank you." Jim murmured. Claire nodded, moving up to kiss his cheek.

"Of course." she hummed softly, rubbing his shoulder. He moved his hand onto the back of hers, gently rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. He met her eyes, smiling softly. Claire slowly moved forward. Her eyes slipped shut right before their lips were supposed to meet, though they were disrupted by both of their phones going off at the same time. Jim sighed softly as he sat back, moving to pull his phone from his jacket pocket.

TrollHunters Group Chat Blinkous Galadrigal

Mr. Lake is requesting a meeting with you three today. He'll be in the library if you wish to oblige him.

Jim chewed on his lip as he read it, slowly looking up at Claire. She continued to rub his shoulder encouragingly. "What do you want to do?" she whispered. Jim looked down at his phone and sighed.

"I...don't know. If he has an idea of how to stop me from turning into Gunmar then...I'm willing to listen but...I don't want to talk to him about anything else." Claire nodded slightly, gently kissing the top of Jim's head.

"You won't be alone with him, I won't let that happen," she assured. "Toby and I will be there with you, we'll figure it out." he nodded slightly.

"I'll...text my mom to let her know I'll be a little late coming home," he said, moving to open his chat with his mom. Claire nodded, texting Toby to meet them behind the school so she could send them all down to TrollMarket together. Once Jim got a reply from Barbara, he looked to Claire and nodded. She helped him get to his feet from off the bench, holding his hand as she lead him to the back of the school. Toby was already waiting for them, waving when they got close.

Claire pulled her ShadowStaff from her bag, extending it with a flick of her wrist. She looked between Toby and Jim. "Ready?" she asked. They both nodded and she let go of Jim's hand to cast a portal. She motioned for Toby to step through first, followed by Jim, and then herself. They had landed just outside of Blinky's library. Jim stared up at it with a deep breath, looking down at Claire when she snuck up beside him and gave his hand a squeeze.

"We can go back if you don't want to see him," Claire said, her staff still in her hand. "I'll cast another portal and we'll be out of here." Jim took a deep breath let it out. He shook his head.

"No I...I'm good." he smiled feebly over at her. "Let's...see what he wants me for." She nodded in determination, looking back at the door.

"Alright." she took the first step forward, Jim following close behind. Claire looked to Jim as they reached the door and he nodded. Claire pushed the door open and stepped inside. Blinky was sitting in his chair, looking completely exasperated. James was looking across all of his shelves, looking at book titles before throwing them over his shoulder when it wasn't something he wanted. Clarie let go of Jim's hand to go pick up after him.

"You know, you should be respectful to Blinky's things since he's letting you stay here." Claire nearly growled, placing the books in neat piles on the table. She'd help Blinky re-shelf them later. James looked over his shoulder.

"Hm?" he looked at the mess he'd made. "Oh, right," he said. He stopped looking through the books, stepping over all of the ones he'd thrown onto the floor and walking over to Jim. Claire rolled her eyes as she continued to clean up his mess. Jim stepped a little closer to Toby, staring cautiously up at his father.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" he whispered. James glanced at Toby, who had his WarHammer in his hand, as if ready to fight if need be. James shook his head and looked back at Jim.

"I think we're missing a piece of the puzzle here. I think we need to go back into the DarkLands and investigate." Jim stared up at him for a moment, before shaking his head.

"I can't."