Daughter of Darkness

by Noodlelandia

Summary:

❝That was her magic,
she could still see the sunset,
even on those darkest days.❞
- Atticus

In which two young wizards and their friends must keep the world from falling to evil

Chapter 1

Notes:

Before anyone asks, no Douxie and this original character are not in a romantic relationship, they have a more platonic relationship with each other

Camelot, late 12th century

 

"Sorry! Please move!" Lucia yells as she sprints across the courtyard of the castle, a bottle containing bright pink liquid in one hand and a scroll gripped tightly in the other, nearly running into a wagon but managing to miss it. Sprinting up the stairs and dodging servants, she manages to get to her location and throws open the door. "I'VE GOT IT!"

Her yell startled the other occupant of the room, a boy around her age who had been sweeping and was now trying to pick some books off the floor.

"Fuzzbuckets Lucia, don't do that!" The boy scolds her as he manages to retrieve all the books before setting them back up in their original spot. "It's already taken me an hour to organize the books the way Merlin wanted them!"

"Sorry Hisirdoux, I just had to announce my discovery in case our master was in the room!" Lucia responds as she drops her items onto the table and grabs a book to flip it open. "Alright, I just need some of the other ingredients and this will be all set. Do you remember where Merlin kept those flowers?"

"No I don't. Why does Merlin let you play with magic? All I've been doing is nothing but sweeping!" Hisirdoux says as he grabbed his broom to resume his sweeping.

"I've been training since the age of six, you have only been here for a few months.” Lucia says as she snaps her fingers, the bottle of liquid becomes enveloped in a soft pink and purple light before it is elevated off the table and the cork is removed.

“Well I say it’s more fun to use it for the smallest things, like this!” Lucia looks up from her book to see her friend’s broom become enveloped in bright blue light before it begins to sweep the floor on it’s own. “Easy!”

“It’s going to hit you, watch.”

“It won’t.” The teen laughs as he grabs his lute from the corner to plop himself on a stack of books and strum a few strings.

“Hisirdoux!” A familiar voice shouts. Lucia bit back a laugh as the broom whacks Hisirdoux to knock him off his seat before turning her attention to the doorway where their teacher stood. “What have we talked about?”

“Magic isn’t a permissible shortcut to hard work.” Lucia states as Hisirdoux repeats it.

“Carry on and-”

“But master!”

“But don’t master me.”

“I know I’m more capable than pushing a broom!” Hisirdoux says as his broom flies back into his hands before it began to violently move and smack him in the face and knocked him onto the table. 

“If there is a universal truth to this world, its that struggle is the flame which forges one soul into steel.” Merlin says as he began to use his own magic to summon ingredients. “Magic cannot be a crutch. To take the easy way out is to merely exist, Hisirdoux.”

“So why am I learning spells if I’m not supposed to use them?” Hisirdoux asks as the broom was enveloped in a green light and lifted right off him. “I want to be a wizard like you, with a staff and everything! Even a sixteen year old like Lucia is getting to play with magic!”

“Lucia has been training since she was six, and it wasn’t until she was thirteen that I allowed her to start actually using her own magic. And staffs are for those with mastery over magic, magic is mastery over life. So first you must learn how to live. Master that lesson, and I vow your days of pushing brooms will be over.”

“Why do I have the feeling that’s going to take about a century or more to happen?” Lucia asks as she snaps her book shut and sends the open bottle towards Merlin. “Do I have to do the same thing to earn my staff, master?”

“Depends, but yes you both must master that lesson to earn your own staffs.” The older wizard says with a nod before grabbing the bottle. “Now, let’s see if this little concoction of yours can help us out.”

 

.•*¨*•.¸¸♪♪¸¸.•*¨*•.

 

Nine Centuries Later, Arcadia

 

“Ugh, I'm exhausted!" Lucia groans as she drops herself into a nearby couch. "My feet are just...aching!”

“And you weren’t here that much like I was.” She hears Douxie laugh. “You just stood in front of the sink and washed dishes Luce, and I was running through the restaurant serving plates, taking orders and sweeping messes.”

“You didn’t have to wash a day’s worth of plates from that party that showed up!” Lucia snaps, sitting up to glare at her friend as he was sweeping. “Someone just HAD to order thirty plates of that super greasy stake! With all that sauce that is just difficult to wash out!”

“Yeah, but I had to sweep all the spilled crumbs from the breadsticks, mop the juice and tea stains, wipe down the tables, a lot more than just dishes.” Douxie responds and Lucia stuck her tongue out at him. “Oh yeah, really mature for an over nine hundred year old teenager.”

“Shut up.”

“I will when you actually act your age.”

“Act my age huh? What do you know about how old I’m supposed to act?” Lucia challenged as she sat up. “Kids my age aren’t supposed to be staying up at night during the school year catching rouge gnomes, chasing shadow beasts into magic traps.”

“Well yes, but you are no ordinary teenager Lucia, and it’s no longer the school year.” Douxie points out. “You are an over nine hundred year old spellcaster, who happens to own a really weird familiar.”

“Some days I wish I wasn’t! I want to at least get to live a normal life as a teen for just one day!” Lucia says as she gets to her feet. “I want to go to school, take tests, dissect something in a science class, I want to just be a normal teenager Douxie! Isn’t that too much to ask for?”

Douxie stopped his sweeping to give her a concerned look. “Luce, I know how much you want to at least spend just a day as a normal teenager, but you know neither of us can with what’s going on right now. Ever since the Trollhunter had left, strange things have been happening and we have to at least try to maintain the illusion that nothing weird is going on at night.”

“Ever since the Eternal Night that happened during the Battle of the Bands, ever since last night when that giant alien god thing came around, it’s been harder to maintain that illusion! Douxie we can’t keep quiet about our existence anymore if weird things keep popping up!”

“And we can if we just lay low. Lighten up Luce, everything will be fine.” Douxie assures her. “Now, help me finish sweeping up so we can finally figure out what’s been eating those poor pets for the past month."

After what felt like hours, the cafe was finally cleaned up and they were finally locking up to leave. Lucia’s back was already feeling quite sore from the work, and all she wanted to do right now was go back to their apartment and just snuggle under the covers with Drew to browse the internet for funny animal videos they can laugh about. But that was not going to be the case tonight. Lucia and Douxie sneak into an alleyway, staying several feet behind Archie as he was creeping towards some garbage bins.

“You see that?” Douxie whispers as they duck behind a large bin. Several feet behind Archie was a large black creature with a glowing underbelly with a salamander like body. “Umber Imp, we catch it, we solve the pet problem.”

“Doesn’t look like one.” Lucia whispers as the creature sneaks forward. “Also, I’m very sure it’s a Shadow Methed.”

“No, very sure it’s the Umber Imp. We catch it, we’ll see what it is and get rid of it.”

“Fine, you try to catch it, I’ll daze it if it tries to escape your bubble.”

Douxie then bolts from behind the bin and leaps in front of the creature as it pounces, before blasting it with his magic and encasing it in a bright blue bubble.

“My cleanest capture yet Luce!” He cheers loudly before stepping to the tapped monster. “Aren’t you a nasty little beast? I figured an Umber Imp was the reason for all those lost pets.”

“That is not an Umber Imp.” Archie states as he climbs down from the garbage bin he was sitting on before whipping out his glasses to seat them on his nose. “Do you notice the three mandibles, how it’s phasing in and out of existence? That’s a Shadow Methed. And you should know your monsterology if you are going to use me or Drew as bait!”

“I knew it! I told him and he didn’t want to believe me!” Lucia yells as she emerges from behind her hiding spot. “Drew, come out! I know you don’t like hiding in bins for too long!”

“Oh good! The smell of spoiled ham was driving me insane!” A small voice cried as the teen ran to the bins and threw the lid open. “Ugh, the smell is going to stick to me for hours now!”

“Not if we wash you up as soon as we go home.” Lucia laughs as she reached in to pull out a small rabbit with a pair of antlers protruding from it’s head. “Come on little ghost, we have some -”

She was cut off by Douxie’s scream and turned to see the Methed out of the protective bubble and on top of him, it’s jaws clamped around his metal bracelet. Lucia immediately threw her hand out, yelling a single enchanted word to blast the monster right off her friend before it hit a wall and scuttled away.

“After it!” Archie yells as the two teens race after the beast. “Your capture technique is weak and could use a couple more centuries of practice!”

“I will not be lectured by someone who licks their own butt!” Douxie yells as they follow it through a narrow alleyway.

“Drew do your thing!” Lucia yells as she tossed her familiar over Douxie. “Remember to kick it in the nose!”

“I am not touching that thing!” Drew yells before stopping. “I am not going to get eaten today!”

“Let’s see you phase through this you little git!” Douxie yelled as he flung a glowing blue string that wrapped around the beast’s tail, temporarily stopping it before it decided to keep running and dragging him right with it.

“Oh come on!” Lucia groans before turning around to grab the jackalope. “You have to stop running from the danger! We are supposed to run towards the danger!”

“Any normal human and rabbit with common sense wouldn’t!” Drew points out as he was scooped up. “I am a coward and you know it!”

“I know, I know, but one of these days you are going to need to fight. You are going to have to stop running from the danger.” The teen sighs as she hugs the familiar to her chest. “Come on, we need to deal with the Methed now before Douxie takes all the glory.”

Lucia hurries out from the alley, following the trail of destroyed cardboard boxes and scattered trash until she found Douxie and Archie by a large white truck before all the lights around them began to go out.

"Douxie what's going on?" Lucia asks nervously as she pressed herself close to the car.

"Hisirdoux! Lucia!" The two teens gasped as green mist appeared before them and a familiar man rose out from it.

"Master Merlin! He's awake!" Drew gasps as the teens bowed in respect.

“Hisirdoux, Lucia, my faithful apprentices, I need-”

“You darn right we’ve been faithful!” Douxie interrupts as he jumps to his feet. “We’ve been mopping floors for nearly a millennium! Why didn’t you send a raven, or a text! There’s texting now you know!”

“Shh!” Lucia hisses and elbowed him in the stomach as she got to her feet. “Sorry master, he has been a bit-”

“I was busy, as you know.” Merlin responds with a frown.

“Well we’ve been quite busy too, protecting the material plane while you weren’t around-”

“Hisirdoux! I need you!” Merlin says before he was interrupted again.

“About time!” Douxie exclaims. “I’ve been practicing my incantations, and my spells-”

“Enough! Matters are most dire!” Merlin snaps. “I need you and Lucia to bring me the guardians of Arcadia, with haste!”

And with that, he disappeared. Lucia let out a sigh of relief. She had been worried something happened to their teacher after the Eternal Night was stopped, but thank goodness he was alright at least, even if he was only calling to them to do another errand.

"Oh it's our moment alright, as errand boys and an errand girl.” Archie comments as Douxie huffs in annoyance.

“Are we going on a quest?” Drew asks, his ears perking up in excitement. “Is it going to be dangerous?”

“We’re just going to do an errand for Merlin, that’s all.” Lucia says with a soft laugh and gently elbowed her friend. “Lighten up Doux, I’m sure once we gather the guardians Merlin will have a much more fun task for us.”

“Weren’t you the one complaining earlier about having to do too much non-normal stuff?” Douxie asks with a frown.

“Well yeah, but I suppose once we get this done maybe then we can take a break. And who knows, maybe this isn’t as bad as we think it is.”

“He asked us to gather the guardians of Arcadia, the Trollhunter and his troll friends have already left Arcadia to be in New Jersey.” Archie points out. “Who else are we supposed to look for?”

“Oh what about the aliens? And the changelings?” Drew suggests. “That Strickler fellow frequents the cafe sometimes, and the aliens still might be here. And I believe two of the Trollhunter’s companions are still here as well, the chubby human and the big Krubera troll.”

“Then we split up and look for them, no time to waste.” Douxie says with a nod. “Lucia, you look for that changeling, I’ll get the aliens, Archie and Drew go get what’s left of the Trollhunters.”

Chapter 2

“Any luck?”

“Nope.”

Douxie groans as Lucia approached him. “You couldn’t find any of the aliens?”

“None of them.” The younger sorcerer admits as they are approaching the bookshop. “Not the tall one with the red boots, or the big one screaming “GLORY!” and “DIE!” all the time, or either of the ones who look as young as me. And I have no clue what they look like as humans either so…”

“Fuzzbuckets!” Douxie groaned. “Well we’ll work with who we have. Let’s hope Archie and Drew found the Trollhunters who were still left, and anyone else who can help.”

“And it seems like they did.” Lucia says and points ahead to where the two familiars were walking towards them and being followed by two teen boys and a large hairy troll with green fur. “At least we have help now.”

“This is a lot to process! Pets can talk, the world is ending again!” They hear Toby say as they met up near the doors.

“Not the best timing, I know. But we need your help all the same.” Douxie says as Drew rushed up to Lucia and leaps into her arms. “What’s got you spooked?”

“Troll, they seem to love eating jackalopes.” Archie responds as Lucia’s familiar climbs onto her shoulder and dives into the hood of her sweater.

“Wait, I thought you two worked at the cafe, or as models or something!” Steve exclaims.

“There’s a lot about us you don’t know.” Lucia laughs as Douxie pressed a few glowing runes on his bracer to summon a ball of light before he pressed it to the doors of the bookstore. “Come along boys, the answers you are looking for to all your questions are inside.”

Inside the bookstore were multiple books and items covered in a familiar green light that were floating all around the room into chests or boxes. Lucia couldn’t help but smile at Toby’s excitement before he grabs one of the objects, a glass orb containing a small ship inside of it.

“Put that down! Thank goodness you are here, we haven’t a moment to waste!” They hear a familiar voice say before looking up to find Merlin at the top of the stairs. “I had asked for more, Hisirdoux and Lucia.”

“We couldn’t find the changelings or the aliens.” Douxie tries to explain. “Pretty sure most of them left the planet.”

“Most or all.” Lucia adds. “But Archie and Andrew got at least two members of the Trollhunters, that’s something.”

“Wait, where are Jimbo and Claire?” Toby asks. “I thought they were with you?”

“Answers forthcoming, make preparations for the journey ahead.” Merlin responds as he tosses a few more objects into a floating chest. “And don’t-”

“But master-” Douxie starts before Merlin turns back to him with a stern look.

““But master” me.” The older wizard responds.

“Are you sure you want to count on these...children?” Douxie continues. “They’re clearly not ready for this!”

“I wasn’t either but I still had to fight in a war several centuries ago!” Lucia scoffs. “I’m sixteen too!”

“Nine hundred and sixteen, there’s a difference! Nine hundred years of experience in combat, magic and other things!”

“Excuse me, college dude, these children fought off a fifty foot extraterrestrial!” Steve exclaims and flung his arms back, accidentally knocking the helmet off the suit of armor behind him that grabbed him to try and pry the helmet from his grasp.

“Master, Lucia and I are ready for this.” Douxie says as he follows Merlin and Lucia trails after them.

“Doubtful.”

“We spent years preparing, centuries!”

“Silence.” Merlin says holding a hand up.

“Master he’s telling-” Lucia tries to say before Merlin quickly pressed a finger to her lips.

“I mean, silence, all of you!” The older wizard says and turns to the other teens. “Can you not hear that?”

Unsure what he was talking about, Lucia quietly murmured a spell that allowed her hands to be covered in pink and purple light. She could feel Drew trembling her hoodie in fear before the lights inside the store suddenly turn off and one of the clocks began to go off.

“Something wicked this way comes.” Merlin murmurs as Douxie lit up his bracer and walks to the door to stand by him and Lucia. They looked out the window, squinting into the dark street before something large and glowing leaps at them. Lucia and Douxie yelp in alarm and jerk back when they see the familiar form of the Shadow Methed and several others outside on the street glaring hungrily at them.

“Shadow Metheds?” Merlin exclaims and looks to his apprentices. “Hisirdoux, did you and Lucia lead them here?”

“No! No I don’t think so?” Douxie responds, unsure.

“Yes we did.” Archie adds as the young wizard gives a nervous laugh.

“The barrier won’t hold for long, we must make haste!” Merlin says turning to the other two teens and troll. “Tobias, take my things! All of you, to the roof!”

“Don’t tell me twice!” Drew shouts in alarm as he leaps out of Lucia’s hoodie. “Lucia please do as you are told for once!”

“Not until we get rid of some of these!” Lucia yells before launching a fireball at one of the Metheds that managed to break through a window.

“I said get to safety, both of you!” Merlin scolds as he grabs a glass orb.

“I can help, we got this!” Douxie yells before blasting energy at another Methed. “Luce get to the stairs, before we get overwhelmed!”

“LUCIA!” Lucia looks up in alarm to see Drew in the jaws of a Methed at the top of the stairs. “HELP!”

“Let go of him!” Lucia screams, launching a ball of fire at the beast, causing it to drop the jackalope and bolt.

“Really Lucia, fire in a book store?” Merlin asks as the teen bolts up the stairs with Douxie behind her.

“I know, not the best idea!” Lucia yells as she grabs Drew off the floor. “Alright to the roof!”

“More fire?!” She hears Merlin exclaim and turns around to see several Metheds on fire.

“Yeah, magic fire!” Douxie says proudly as the blue flames caught onto a shelf.

“In a book store?!” Merlin groans. “I can’t tell who’s gotten worse over the past nine centuries, you or my old apprentice’s daughter?”

“Metheds are vulnerable to fire!” Douxie tries to argue before they are pushed to the roof.

Up on the roof the trio were fighting more Metheds, and there were a whole lot more of them than there were downstairs.

“Stand back!” Merlin yells before tossing the glass sphere. The tiny ship Lucia had seen in one earlier began to expand into a full sized version and levitate off the ground.

“Whoa, ship got real!” Steve exclaims.

“Everyone on!” AAARRGGH!! yells as he grabs the four of them and tossed them onto the ship before Merlin leaps on and slams his staff into the floor, causing the ship to levitate higher up and the Krubera troll leaps on.

“Safe at last!” Lucia sighs in relief as she stands up, hugging a trembling Drew to her chest and looks over the side of the ship with Douxie. Down below on the street she spotted a tall figure standing in the middle of the Metheds before they leap into them. “Douxie, what-”

“Look out!” Merlin yells before grabbing them and yanking them to the floor. Lucia hears something hit the side of the ship before it lurches forward before she feels it steady itself. She immediately climbs up to look forward and a smile comes to her face when she sees a familiar tower flying ahead.

“Welcome young squires, to Camelot.” Merlin says proudly as they fly towards the tower.

Home . Lucia thinks to herself with a grin. While it wasn’t the entire castle, it was still a piece of the place she was raised and grew up in. I wonder who else is still alive because of the Hearth of Avalon.

“I say, coming in a little hot don’t you think?” Archie yells as the ship flew towards the entrance before they crashed the ship inside.

“It’s been nine hundred years since we last been here, hasn’t changed a bit!” Douxie laughs as they climb off. “Except for the flying part.”

“Nine hundred years? Yeah right!” Steve laughed. “You’re like, what, nineteen and Lucia is like sixteen?”

“Give or take a few centuries.” Archie responds before leaping off Douxie’s shoulder and transforming to fly into the rafters.

“Uh cool castle ship, but what’s the grave danger you keep talking about?” Toby asks as they follow Merlin.

“Ah, there you are.” The older wizard says as a teen girl about Lucia’s age dressed in purple armor accompanied by a four armed troll emerged from the room ahead. The two exclaim in joy as they rush to Toby and AAARRGGH!! to hug them tightly.

“So, who are they?” Lucia asks as she approached.

“Oh that’s Claire and Blinky.” Douxie states, pointing to the teen and the troll. “Where were you when I was handing out fliers for the battle of bands?”

“At the apartment being homeschooled by Archie, duh. So, where’s the Trollhunter boy?”

“Wait, where’s Jim?” Toby asks in alarm. Judging by the upset look on the girl Claire’s face, something bad must have happened to the Trollhunter.

“Master, what happened?” Lucia asks.

“Come, you’ll see.” Merlin says quietly

.•*¨*•.¸¸♪♪¸¸.•*¨*•.

Merlin led them into a large room where a large green crystal stood in the middle, containing something inside. As they got closer, Lucia could see what looked like a troll in armor inside of it, seemingly asleep with a large black shard in his chest.

“What happened to him?” Toby asks in alarm.

“We were ambushed by some ancient dark warrior, an unstoppable knight.” Blinky explains. “Armored in green, he struck down master Jim.”

“Master, is that the same knight we saw at the book store?” Douxie asked Merlin.

“One of the same.” The older wizard responds. “That onyx shard is working its way toward his heart, I placed the boy in stasis to slow his progress- for now.”

“If I had my shadow staff, I could have saved him.” Claire says tearfully.

“Who is this green knight?” Toby asks angrily. “How do I get my hands on him?”

“I do not know, the green knight said but one name which chilled me to the bone: Morgana.” Merlin admits and Lucia felt her heart almost stop.

“I thought we kicked her butt to the shadow realm!”

“Which he appeared not to know, but he bore the emblem of Camelot.”

“What could that knight want with my mother?” Lucia asks in worry and hugs Drew to her chest. “Actually I don’t want to know, I’d rather not know.”

“Wait, did you just call Morgana “mother”?” Claire asks in alarm. “How are you related to Morgana?”

“That should be explained later, come with me.” Merlin says waving his hand dismissively.

“Wait how could she just drop that tibet of information on us and you not let her explain?!” Blinkous asks as they follow Merlin.

“Okay maybe I should explain before you all bite my head off for having a familial relation with the most destructive and evil sorceress known to the world.” Lucia says as they walk. “It’s a long story, but to sum it up, I was adopted by Morgana when I was a baby and she raised me as her daughter and at that time she hadn’t become the Morgana we know today. She was kind, loving, a good mother and the one who taught me how to use shadow magic so I could travel between the shadow realm and this realm.”

“Wait, there were two shadow staffs?” Claire asks. “Where’s yours?”

“Destroyed it after my mother turned on Camelot and vowed never to use shadow magic at all. Douxie helped me smash the pieces into dust so no one could put it back together again.”

“Would have been nice to use a shadow staff, could have helped us get out of some trouble.” Douxie says with a shrug as they arrive at a tower and Merlin opens the door to lead them inside. “But better safe than sorry, and we probably should have done the same with Morgana’s staff to prevent it from falling into her assassin’s hands. Oh the stud hasn’t changed a bit either.”

“You’re all now soldiers in a war started centuries ago for the world of magic.” Merlin says as he led them to a table where a small silver box laid and opened it to reveal a glowing orb. “Once the realms of magic and man clashed, endless bloodshed. King Arthur sought to wipe out magic that ravaged the lands in his war against Gunmar. I brought what few spellcasters I could under my protection to spare them from the sword.”

“Including myself, Lucia, oh and Morgana Le Fey.” Douxie said as an image of the sorceress appeared in the glowing light.

“She was the finest I’ve ever taught, until she tried to kill me.” Merlin adds as the image fades away and an image of an amulet appears. “Thankfully in my all seeing wisdom, I created a secret weapon: the Trollhunter amulet. The war came to a standstill and I imprisoned Morgana at the battle of Killahead Bridge. This green knight that has assailed us is clearly born of dark magics, but I have no memory of him nor what connection he could have to Morgana. We know not what he is, nor why he pursues us, though his presence is a dire omen of things to come.”

“Is that the emergency alarm?” Lucia asks when she hears the faint sound of something ringing. The room suddenly shook, sending them all falling to the floor.

“What’s happening?!” Claire asks in alarm as they all climb to their feet.

“Have you never been under attack before?” Merlin asks as he rushes to the doors. “To the battlements!”

Up on the highest tower, the three wizards searched the skies for whatever had caused the castle to shake. A larger and more sinister looking castle was now flying towards them.

“Oh fuzzbuckets.” Douxie mutters.

“The Arcane Order, they found us.” Merlin murmurs.

“The who now?!” Lucia asks in alarm. “What do they want with us?”

“Get to safety!” Merlin yells as a large bust of pale white magic was thrown towards them before he blasts it back with his own magic. The other magic however, seemed to be too strong and knocked them right to the floor, sending Merlin’s staff flying. “My staff!”

“I got it!” Archie yells as he rushes after it.

“Get down!” Douxie yells as he yanks Lucia back to the floor as something else hits the tower.

“Man the canons!” Merlin yells before they start firing back. “Hisirdoux, lead us free!”

“Ice coming in!” Lucia yells as something hits the tower, revealing a large bridge of ice connecting the two castles.

“They’re boarding us!” Merlin yells before rushing towards another tower that was coming around. “We must break free! Steer us clear at my command! Lucia, destroy those bridges before anything comes down them! And get rid of whatever decides to come across!”

“On it!” Lucia yells as she quickly puts Drew down. “Stay here, I’ll deal with this!”

She quickly leapt onto the connecting bridge and ran forward before stopping. She muters an incantation as she knelt, pressing her hands to the ice in front of her before it started to steam. Lucia hears a familiar screech and looks up to see several Shadow Metheds crawling towards her and looking very hungry. She quickly jumps to her feet and blasts at them, knocking them off and slams her hands down on the ice again to continue to try and melt it.

“Come on damn it!” She screams.

“Lucia! Get back to Hisirdoux!!” She heard Merlin yell. “Help him steer the castle!”

“Surrender, Merlin!” A chilling voice shouts and Lucia looks up to see a figure slowly flying towards her in a swirl of snow.

“Lucia!” Merlin yells again and she feels him grab the hood of her sweater to yank her behind him. “Go! Now!”

“But master-”

“Don’t “but master” me now!”

“Merlin! Get everyone to safety!” They hear someone shout as an ice covered tower flew by.

“No! Galahad!” Merlin yells as the tower flies into the ice bridges, forcing them to rush back to the castle before it destroyed the bridge they were standing on and it crashes.

“Galahad!” Lucia yells before Merlin pulls her away from the edge. “He could still be alive! We have to-”

“He’s gone, Lucia, we can’t save him! Her teacher snaps before his angered expression broke. “It’s too late. Get inside and secure everything down, we’re making a jump.”

“But-”

“Please Lucia, for once in your immortal life just do as I ask!”

Lucia nods before rushing off into the castle where Blinky and AAARRGGHH!! were holding onto the crystalys containing the Trollhunter with Drew sitting on top of it.

“Lucia! Are you alright?!” The little jackalope asks as he hops off the crystal and bounds towards her, jumping right into her open arms. “What happened? You’re crying!”

“We lost Galahad…” Lucia whispers as she hugs him tightly. “The last of my uncle’s best knights is gone.”

“You mean the one who tried to teach you how to sword fight when you could barely walk?”

“That same one.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.” She hears Blinky say and feels a hand on her shoulder. “He was a kind man, spoke quite highly of you.”

“Is everything okay? Is everyone okay?” Toby asks as he hurries in.

“Everything is fine-”

The castle suddenly shook again, sending them all falling to the floor. Lucia hears Toby scream something and looks up to see the Trollhunter’s crystalys fly out the doors and even more screaming outside. The room then stopped shaking, then giving themselves time to get back onto their feet.

“Where’s the Trollhunter?!” They hear Merlin yell as he and Archie hurry in.

“They fell, right through the portal!” The familiar says as he lands on Lucia. “I thought I saw Drew fall after them but I couldn’t be so sure!”

“Drew?!” Lucia exclaims in alarm and looks around wildly. “Oh ancients did he fall through the portal with the Trollhunter?! Where are the others?”

“Fell right in after the Trollhunter! Where did they go?”

“I fear it’s not a question of where, but rather when .” Merlin says and Lucia felt a surge of anger rise in her chest.

“Then pray tell master, when did they fall into?” She asks, gritting her teeth. “And how do we get them back? And who on earth is this Arcane Order and what do they want with us, or more specifically, you?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know.” The older wizard admits. “But I do hope Hisirdoux knows well enough to not mess with whatever timeline he and the others fell into.”

Chapter 3

Camelot, 12th century

 

“Mother is going to be so excited when she sees this!” Lucia giggles excitedly as she hurries towards the throne room, a jar filled with colorful floating lights in her hands. For the past week she had been trying to figure out how to change the color of firefly lights into various other colors, hoping to release them on her uncle’s birthday as a present to him, and just today she figured out how to do it!

“Lady Lucia, you can’t enter right now.” A guard says when she arrives at the doors.

“Why not? I have something to show my mother and uncle about my magic studies.” Lucia asks, holding up her glowing jar. “If he’s just sitting on his throne and sulking, then he’s not busy.”

Before any of the guards could say anything, Lucia quickly opened the doors and slipped into the throne room.

"Mother! Mother, look what I did just now!" Lucia yells as she bursts into the throne room holding her jar with colorful little lights floating around inside and rushes up to her mother, who stood near the steps of the throne and eagerly shoves it in her face. "I turned a jar of fireflies into different colors! Isn't it neat?"

"Lucia dear, we're in the middle of a discussion." Morgana scolds as she gently pushes the jar down. "Go wait for me in my chambers dear, and you can tell me all about the fireflies."

"What's going on?" Lucia asks in surprise and peeks past her mother to see three teens standing behind her and an armored troll kneeling on the ground. "Hisirdoux? What are you doing here dressed like that? And who are these people and the troll?"

"Lucia, do as your mother asks." She hears her uncle say coldly. "Now."

"Uncle what's going on?" Lucia asks, turning back to the front.

"Your uncle is being stubborn - again." Her mother states coldly and glares at the king. "Despite my protests that fall into his deaf ears."

Ah, it was one of those days again. Lucia steps back towards where her friend and these strangers stood until she stood next to him.

"What's going on?" She whispered to Hisirdoux. "I mean I know my mother and uncle are fighting again, but bring me up to speed?"

"Guards found us in the woods, got arrested, now we're waiting for what's going to happen to Jim." Hisirdoux whispers back.

"Weren't you milking something earlier? I saw you in the courtyard with an empty bucket heading to where Merlin keeps the Slor, and why are you dressed like this?"

"I'll tell you later."

“Bring him to the sunlight!” Arthur commands as two guards grab the troll and drag him towards the light.

“Hold on!” Hisirdoux yells as a guard grabs him. “Isn’t it a bit hasty?”

“Uncle no!” Lucia yells as the troll is struggling to get away from the sun. “Mother do something!”

The troll screams in pain as his face is pushed towards the light and Lucia feels her stomach drop. She had seen too many trolls growing up arrested and thrown into the sun filled throne room to be turned to stone and smashed on the spot, unable to look away from the pained faces and unable to block out their pained screams when burrowing her face into her mother’s skirts.

“STOP!” She hears a girl scream as the room suddenly grew cold and the light shifts away from the screaming troll. Lucia looks to her mother in surprise, but from the look of surprise on her face, she could see that she wasn’t the one who saved the creature.

“Morgana, is this your witchery?” Arthur asks as he steps down from his throne. “Cease it at once. Or is this Lucia’s doing?”

“I can’t do that sort of magic!” Lucia protests as her mother quickly stands in front of her protectively. “At least, I don’t think I can…”

“Just because you’re scared of him, doesn’t mean he shouldn’t exist!” She hears someone say before a girl with dark hair and wearing armor rushes to the now kneeling troll. “It doesn’t make him evil!”

“But it makes him dangerous.” Her uncle argues as he steps down from the throne. “I will not fail to protect my kingdom!”

“If you give into fear, that is failing!” The girl says as she gets to her feet.

“Uncle she is right, you’ve always told me to never give into my fears.” Lucia says as she steps around her mother and walks forward. “Isn’t that a bit...forgive me for saying this, hypocritical?”

“The girl and your niece speak truth, please listen to them.” Her mother pleads as she steps to stand in front of the two.

“Fine, I will show the troll mercy.” Arthur finally says and Lucia gives a sigh of relief. “He will live in the dungeon. As for you Hisirdoux, shouldn’t you and Lucia be with Merlin?”

“Ah yes, I was...well...busy, recruiting these two.” Hisirdoux says gesturing to the armored girl and the boy in the back of the room who was oddly dressed. “They’re here to help...for the war! This is Claire of the house of...Nunez, and well...this is the village idiot.”

“Oh me? I’m just an in-sol-lent knight!” The boy yells as he hurries forwards. “All state champ, sir Steve of Palchuckia!”

Guess this Palchukia has low standards of knights. Lucia thought with a cringe. But I’m sure Hisirdoux had a good reason to recruit him. Might as well ask him later in private.

“If you truly be friends of Camelot, then prove your worth.” Her uncle says. “Hisirdoux, Lucia, rejoin Merlin. Sir Steve, to lord Lancelot in the barracks. And as for you mistress Claire...”

“I’ll take the girl, Lucia and I could use a new handmaiden.” Lucia hears her mother say and for a moment she could have sworn the girl looked like she wanted to strike her mother before looking away in defeat. How strange.

“It is done. Now, out! I have a kingdom to run.”

.•*¨*•.¸¸♪♪¸¸.•*¨*•.

“Sooooo, are you gonna tell me now?" Lucia asks as she approaches her friend in the hallways. "Because just now I saw you carrying a bottle of Slor juice.”

"Lucia I promise I’ll explain in a bit, just please don’t tell Merlin anything.” Hisirdoux says as he looks around the corner.

“Hmm...you’re from the future, right?” Lucia asks and grins when he freezes. “I knew it! The clothes looked way too weird even for you, you don’t even have your cute little bun, your hair is a bit longer and colored at the ends, and you are talking a bit differently!”

“Okay that’s...the truth.”

“Hey I do tend to notice details hardly anyone notices, mother always did say that was going to help me in the future someday. Tell me, am I still alive from wherever time you came from? Oh! Do I get my own familiar in the future? Is it a cool one?”

“Uh...yeah you are still alive from my time period, still quirky as ever.” Hisirdoux says as he grabs her hand and pulls her down the hallway towards Merlin’s workshop. “And you actually do have a familiar, but I am not going to tell you what it is or their name.”

“Is it a cat? Kind of a shape shifter like Archie?” Lucia asks as they stop and he looks around the corner again. “Oh! Or is it a snake? Mother did say she thinks if I was to have a familiar it’d be some sort of reptile, I adore reptiles!”

“Hisirdoux! Do you have feet for hands?” They hear a familiar voice shout ahead and hurry forward. “All the Slor juice? You know how long it takes to milk one of those?”

“Sorry sir, I was just trying to save time.” They hear past Hisirdoux say.

“Why does Merlin have to be so hard on you? He’s never that way with me.” Lucia asks as they peek around the corner to see Merlin scolding past Hisirdoux.

“Ugh that hair was a mistake.” Hisirdoux mutters. “Why did you ever find it cute again?”

“Uh because it’s a tiny bun, and you are the only guy I know who can actually pull it off.” Lucia laughs as her friend changes his clothes with magic to look like his old clothes.

“Well here’s hoping this doesn’t break the time space continuum.” Hisirdoux mutters as he hurries after his past self. “Just stay quiet.”

Lucia just rolls her eyes as her friend grabs his past self and familiar back into the room and watches as the other Hisirdoux freak out.

“Double Douxies?!” Archie gasps. “This is a disaster! What’s next, a trio of Lucia’s?”

“Rude!” Lucia gasps as she steps out from around the corner of the room.

“Give me a break Arch!” Both Hisirdoux’s scold. “Oh wow, this is wild!”

“Having two of you will be a logistical nightmare.” Archie mutters as he climbs onto a barrel.

“Well there’s only one solution to this, one of you has to go away for a bit.” Lucia says as her friend starts messing with his bracelet.

“Great idea!” Past Hisirdoux exclaims. “But which one of us -”

“Intermunus noxie subversa!”

“I should have seen that coming.” Lucia laughs as her friend tries shoving his past self into a nearby closet, only to get his head stuck before managing to finally push it back.

“I know this looks bad, but I swear I’ve got this under control.” Hisirdoux says, turning to Archie.

“If that were the truth, things in the future have really change.” The familiar comments. “Let me guess, this Lucia is also from your time?”

“Ha ha, no she’s from here. Just don’t go blabbing to Merlin, either of you.”

“Not letting the cat out of the bag, I swear to it.” Lucia says as the closet doors open and past Hisirdoux falls onto the future one.

“Fine, this should be fun to watch.” Archie says with an amused smile.

“Hisirdoux! What is taking so long!” They hear Merlin yell. “And where is Lucia?”

“Just cleaning up another mess!” Future Hisirdoux shouts as he shoves his past self back into the closet before Lucia drags the barrel in front of it to block it. “And she’s right here with me! Come along Lucia!”

“We spellcasters should be fleeing to the Wild Wood, not slaving away for that fool!” Lucia hears her mother say as she and Hisirdoux enter the workshop.

“Mind your tongue Morgana, you speak treason against our king!” Merlin says as the two teens walk over to the work table.

“I speak truth! After all Arthur has done, why build this amulet for him?” Morgana asks as the older wizard levitates several metal pieces and other odd bits into the air with his magic.

“It’s not for him. Gunmar’s war is a threat, and amulet will end it.” Their mentor corrects her. “This dragontooth iron should be strong enough to contain the daylight.”

Lucia watches in interest as he brings the pieces together into one object and begins to say an incantation, before the amulet bursts apart and sends pieces flying across the room. She ducks as a piece flies towards her and hears something shatter from the bookshelves before hearing the excited squeals of a freed gnome before it runs off.

“Blast it all!” Merlin groans. “Hisirdoux, Lucia! Stop gawking about and give me a hand with those raw ores over there!”

“Sorry!” Lucia apologizes as she gets up and hurried over to the table to grab one of the ore blocks as Hisirdoux grabbed the others.

“How many more failures before you realize this amulet of yours is pointless?” She heard her mother ask.

“I hear your concerns, but trust me, the amulet will bring peace.” Merlin says as they bring the items to the table.

“At the cost of all that we hold dear?” Morgana shouts before several objects in the room start to glow yellow and levitate off their places. “How long before he comes for us? You are a fool Merlin, and an old one at that.”

“She does have a point.” Lucia sighs as her mother storms out of the workshop before walking over to pick up a fallen item by the floor of the table. “How long before he comes after us?”

“Oh forget her, we got this!” Hisirdoux says and leans across the table with his hand out to Merlin.

“What is this strangeness?” The older wizard asks with an annoyed expression. “Put your hand down.”

“It’s a high five, it’s a sign of victory amongst barbarian tribes. It’s a new thing.”

“Human customs are terribly odd.” Lucia hears Archie say from the table.

“Indeed.” Merlin agrees. “You don’t seem yourself today, Hisirdoux. Well except for your inability to tidy up.”

“Rude.” Lucia mutters as all the objects are pulled out of their grasp by Merlin’s magic and thrown into his vault.

“No more distractions, go milk the Slor, both of you.” Merlin orders.

“But -”

“Dismissed!”

.•*¨*•.¸¸♪♪¸¸.•*¨*•.

“Alright, it’s your turn.” Lucia says as she shoves the bucket into Douxie’s hands. “Last time Merlin had either of us do this, I did it and looked like I had been eating blueberries for three days.”

“This is the most disgusting task Merlin has ever made us do.” The older teen says with a shudder as the gate to the Slor’s pen was lifted. They could hear the growling and hissing noise of the creature in the darkness and Douxie gulped nervously. “Hey girl, just gonna come in for a quick little milking.”

Lucia quickly moves to the side as Archie grabbed a nearby bucket to cover himself as a stream of blue liquid came gushing out, followed by Douxie’s loud scream. They both peeked out of their hiding places for a bit before another stream came flying out and an “ugh it’s in my mouth!”

“Should we help him?” Lucia asks Archie before another stream sprays out followed by another yell.

“No, let him deal with it.” The cat responds before he moves the bucket to the wall near the teen. “So, what did this Douxie tell you so far about the future? I’m assuming I’m still alive since I’m his familiar and we’re both immortal.”

“Well I’m still alive in that time, and I apparently have a familiar.” Lucia responds and grins. “I didn’t ask when I got it, but I’m sure it’s sometime in the future. Oh I can’t wait to see what it is, I bet you and my familiar are the best of friends!”

“Ew ew ew! This is disgusting!” An unfamiliar voice yells from inside the Slor’s pen before something small and blue comes running out, followed by Douxie dragging out his bucket and his hands dripping in Slor milk. “Lucia, Douxie, Archie! Oh good I found you!”

Lucia looks down in surprise to see a small rabbit with what looked like a small set of antlers protruding from it’s head and covered in the same blue liquid as Douxie. What on earth was that?

“Drew? What are you doing here?” Douxie asks in surprise as he places the bucket down and picks up the strange rabbit. “Wait did you fall in with us?”

“I did! I managed to land in a tree, climbed down and ran for this castle in hopes you and the others would be here!” The rabbit says and looks to Lucia. “Is that the Lucia from our time or is she from the past?”

“She’s from the past, this is when she didn’t have a familiar yet. Arch is from this timeline as well.”

“Oh, that explains why she is looking at me funny, and she didn’t find me until you three came to a different part of Europe about...a century or two later?”

“Where now?” Lucia asks in surprise before Douxie holds the rabbit out to her.

“Lucia, meet your familiar from the future. This is Andrew, Drew for short.” The older teen says as the younger teen holds her hand out for him to place the creature in her hands. “He’s a jackalope, where he comes from he’s considered a cryptid, and very powerful and probably quite dangerous. But lucky for us all, he’s a bit of a coward who acts more like an emotional support animal.”

“Oi! I’ve fought at least twice during my time with Lucia, and I am only an emotional support animal for her when she’s feeling upset and needs something soft and warm to hug!” Drew retorts, his violet eyes narrowed and his ears twitching violently.

“Huh, I was expecting something like a snake or maybe an owl, but I suppose if you are my familiar it’s for a good reason.” Lucia says, turning the jackalope around to give him a smile. “Better than nothing I suppose. “Oh I should show you to mother-”

“Maybe you shouldn’t yet.” Archie suggests. “Douxie and the humans he brought into this time may have already messed with time itself. You best hide him before your uncle sees him and starts asking questions.”

“Well hiding him in my chambers should be easy enough, but we’ll have to clean him up first.” Lucia says, bringing Drew close and gags at the smell. “If anyone sees him I’ll just say he was one of my odd experiments.”

Chapter 4: Chapter 4

“There we go, nice and tidy!” Lucia says happily as she is rubbing Drew down with a towel. “Ah, well you are still slightly blue but that will wash out later with another bath tomorrow.”

“I normally shouldn’t be taking baths, but you only would wash me if I ever got messy like this.” The jackalope says as he is placed down and hops over to the fireplace to stand upright and hold his paws near the fire. “You know, I probably shouldn't divulge too much about what your future is like to avoid messing some things up, but we really had some insane adventures! Though from time to time you wanted to get to do something normal girls would do, like go to school or go to a simple party, not have to deal with monsters and magic.”

“Huh, I wonder why.” Lucia says as she picks up the towel and walks away from the fireplace to where her bed is at. “It’s pretty boring here in Camelot, I always wanted something exciting to happen to spice up the day. Closest we’d normally get is when Hisirdoux would accidentally set something on fire, or Archie accidentally set something on fire - once it was Merlin’s beard and another time it was my favorite dress.”

“Funny thing about the state of your clothes in the future, you and Douxie always liked dressing in dark colors, sometimes blacks. It wasn’t until the far future that you two could wear almost entirely black clothes without anyone asking if you are attending a funeral or are in mourning.”

Lucia gives a laugh. “Seriously? In the future no one can wear black without getting strange looks?”

“Well you can, but some will think you are...weird.” Drew says with a shrug before turning away from the fire and hopping towards the bed and jumping onto it. “You still got weird looks carrying me around even when I was disguised to look like a normal rabbit. Once some child tried to pet me but was a little too aggressive and cried when you ripped me from her grasp, her mum was...overreacting the entire time.”

“Well you are a small and delicate animal, the child probably would have injured you because she didn’t know how to properly handle a rabbit.” Lucia says with a frown as she climbs onto her bed. “Say, how strong am I in the future? Magic wise, maybe physically as well.”

“Not nearly as powerful and strong as Merlin, but you and Douxie can hold quite well in fights. Though when we first met you were going through some phase thinking setting things on fire was the solution to most things.”

“Can I do cool things with my shadow magic? Like maybe manipulate large shadows into moving entirely or teleport through shadows with and without my staff?”

“Uh...I probably shouldn’t tell you anything else.” Drew admits. “All I can say is that we had quite a lot of fun these past centuries with Douxie and Archie, you two keep getting into trouble and keep having to pull each other out of it, and you two hate it when people assume you two are a couple for some odd reason. I don’t even know why, you two could pass for brother and sister.”

“Right, dark hair and liking dressing in blacks obviously means we’re courting.” Lucia laughs as she flops down. “I cannot wait for that fun future. Does my mother travel with us? I’m sure it is a lot more fun traveling with her than with Merlin.”

“Uh...about that-”

“LUCIA!” The two immediately sit up as Morgana bursts into the room, out of breath and wearing a worried look. “Your uncle...he’s going- he’s going to kill them!”

“The trolls?” Lucia asks, quickly hopping off the bed to rush over to her mother. “But why? Why now?”

“It may have had something to do with me, I didn’t think he’d take what I said about the trolls fighting back because of what he’s done to them the wrong way.” The sorceress says and grimaces as she takes her daughter’s hands. “He’s going to kill the imprisoned trolls at sunrise.”

“But that’s not fair! They were imprisoned for unfair reasons, he’s gone mad!” Lucia exclaims before gently prying her hands away. “We have to do something!”

“Douxie will know what to do!” Drew proclaims as he jumps off the bed and rushes for the door. “We have to warn him, maybe we can think of a way to save the Trollhunter and those other trolls!”

“What is that?” Morgana asks in surprise as Lucia rushes to her closest and throws it open before grabbing something from the inside. “Lucia what are you doing?”

“The right thing - I hope.” The teen responds as she hurries after the familiar. “I’ll explain later! Just head back to your room and keep a low profile, uncle can’t blame you for any of this if you don’t partake in any of this!”

It wasn’t long before Lucia and Drew caught up with their friends and his companions, already on their way to break out the trolls from the dungeons, which she was more than happy to partake in. Right now Galahan and Lancelot were guarding the dungeon, though it seemed more like they were having a drinking party judging by the numerous tankards they were drinking from and their loud laughter. Guess they didn’t really need a distraction for them and the other guards.

“Oy, young gentleman of Palchuckia, join us in our nocturnal libation!” Lucia heard Lancelot yell and she immediately ducked behind one of the pillars.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Archie asks as he hurries back to them. “Lucia, Douxie needs your help.

“I’ll keep the guards busy while having a righteous time!” Steve hissed as Lucia ran from her hiding spot.

“Don’t do anything stupid and make sure my uncle doesn’t come in here!” She hisses before rushing into the dungeons.

The smell of the dungeons were unbearable, filled with the stink of troll and ancients knew what, enough to make Lucia want to gag as she hurried after her friends before they arrived at a cell holding the blue skinned troll with the strange glowing red armor.

“Jim! We’re breaking you out!” Claire exclaims happily as Douxie holds up a small knife.

“Your stay in terror tower is over, mate!” The older teen states happily as the knife begins to glow and quickly slices the lock, causing the door to swing open.

“This should go faster with two knives.” Lucia says as she holds up her own knife, one she had grabbed from her closet earlier, before it glows a soft purple color. “I’ll free the non-troll creatures like the gnomes and goblins, then I’ll get out the other trolls.”

“Do we have to free the goblins?” Drew asks as they hurry to a cell full of goblins screeching nonsense. “They love terrorizing me and I always almost lose an antler when we come across them!”

“It wouldn’t be fair to leave them here, would it?” Lucia asks as she slices at the lock and opens the door. “Besides, they’re not that bad.”

As if to prove her point, the noisy goblins hoot and screech in excitement as they rush out before one leaps onto the young wizard’s shoulder to place a kiss on her cheek before rushing off after it’s companions.

“Huh, guess these ones have better manners.” Drew mutters before Lucia runs over to a cage with some gnomes to free them.

Within time, all the cages had been broken open, releasing every troll and magical creature before they suddenly hear Steve yelling loudly from outside the dungeon.

“Now now, just stay calm!” Douxie tells the crowd of trolls, but that didn’t seem to help. The trolls scream in terror before rushing past the humans, nearly trampling them, Jim and the familiars in the process.

“Well that’s just great, now we have to round up the ones who haven’t reached the gates and get them before my uncle gets to them first.” Lucia groans as they rush towards the doors leading out of the dungeons.

Outside of the dungeon, soldiers were running around, trying to wrangle the escaped trolls and calm down frantic citizens who made the mistake of stepping outside to see what the chaos was. The group had split up to help the trolls escape from the soldiers, Lucia and Drew rushing off to help some trolls who haven’t made it to the gate yet while Douxie rushed off with Claire and the blue troll.

“This way! Stay close!” She yells as the three trolls she managed to find, along with a small gnome, ran after her before quickly stopping them. “Wait! Lancelot is here!”

Not wanting to be caught with several trolls by the young knight, Lucia quickly shoved them into an alleyway.

“You know, if you had your staff on hand, we could easily have escaped and gotten some others out.” Drew comments in a low voice as the knight rushes right past them.

“I forgot! I don’t always have it on hand and Merlin keeps it locked up in his chambers, which is unfair because mother gave it to me to use.”

“So you can’t even use dark magic without the staff?”

“No!”

“Well that’s just great.”

Once she was sure no soldiers would come through, Lucia led the trolls out and instructed them where to run before hurrying off to find Douxie messing around with an infinite hallway and her uncle looking very pissed.

“Problem I can help fix?” She asks as she approaches them.

“Oh I messed up with this spell, care to give me a hand?” Douxie says gesturing to the portals.

With a grin, Lucia murmurs a spell and flicks a small purple light towards the portals, turning them off. As Arthur stepped forward, Lucia and Douxie bit back a laugh as the king and his soldiers bounced off the large invisible wall that had replaced the infinite hallway.

“LUCIA!” Arthur roared.

“Whoopsies! My bad!” She yells before removing it. “Sorry, I must have casted an invisible wall when trying to fix Hisirdoux’s mistake!”

“Fix this!”

“It’s almost daylight, we need to give the rest of the trolls extra time!” Archie exclaims once the wall was removed and Arthur and the knights rushed off. 

“Locking the gate behind the escaped trolls should do it, right?” Lucia asks as they hurry off.

“That’s exactly what I had in mind!” Douxie states before hopping onto a barrel and using it to climb the wall of a house. “Come on! I could use your help keeping it shut!”

“I can’t climb in this skirt!”

“Then you should have worn trousers today!”

“Just climb!” Drew groans before yelping in alarm as Archie snagged him off the ground and flew up to the roof.

Once the two wizards managed to get onto the roof, they caught sight of the last trolls rushing out of the gates with soldiers close behind them. In unison, the two teens casted a spell to bring the gate down and hold it shut before any soldiers or the king could try to chase after the fleeing trolls. Even with their combined magic, it was hard for the two of them to keep the gate down.

“Oh no, the sunlight!” Drew exclaims. “They won’t make it!”

“We can’t break our hold on the gate! Otherwise they’ll strike the trolls down!” Lucia grunts as she tries focusing. “Where’s Claire?”

As if to answer her question, everything seemed to grow cold and dark. Lucia gasps in surprise as the once shortened shadows suddenly grow long and stretch over the bridge all the way to the woods.

“She did it, without the use of a shadow staff!” Douxie exclaims as they break their hold on the gate. “Not even your own mother or you could do that!”

“That’s impressive on it’s own.” Drew agrees. “We should run, before anyone sees us and figures out we were helping the trolls.

.•*¨*•.¸¸♪♪¸¸.•*¨*•.

“How are you feeling now?” Lucia asks Claire as they briskly walk back to the room she and Steve were staying in. “It’s normal if you feel pretty cold when doing big spells, but drinking some warm spiced wine or tea should warm you up again.”

“I’m fine, it’s no big deal.” The teen assures her. “But thanks for being concerned, you and your mother were a big help with the escape.”

“I’m guessing she helped in distracting soldiers?”

“Yeah, with some shadow magic. But after that stunt I just pulled I’m scared Arthur is going to blame you two for letting them escape.”

“Pfft, uncle wouldn’t suspect me, he knows I’m no good with shadow magic without my staff that Merlin has locked in his office.” Lucia scoffs as they reach the room. “Though I might be a suspect for using magic to hold the gate down, he wouldn’t believe it’s Douxie since at this time he’s rather...incompitent with magic and can’t perform big and fancy spells like me or his future self. Oh hello mother.”

Morgana was standing at the door with Drew in her arms, looking quite worried. “You two should get some rest, at least stay here while my brother is rounding up suspects.”

“After tonight, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sleep, not with all this excitement,” Lucia laughs as she takes her familiar back. “Aww, he’s worn out, poor thing.”

“Such a curious little beast, and so strange too.” Her mother chuckles before turning to Claire. “You especially should get some rest.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but thank you Morgana.” Claire says, giving her a smile.

“Thank you handmaiden, you inspired me.” The sorceress says returning the smile. “Now keep your head down, I will handle my brother.”

“Arthur is furious.” The girls hear Douxie groan as they enter the room and shut the door behind them. “He’s locked down the whole castle.”

“Luckily, he thinks you’re so incompitent you can’t be a suspect.” Archie states from his spot on a barrel.

“Hey that’s what I said earlier! Lucia laughs.

“At least we got Jim and the prisoners away safe.” Claire tries to assure him before he walks off to the door.

“Where are you going?” Archie asks.

“To get that time map.” Douxie responds. “Hopefully with Arthur on the hunt, I’ve got a chance to finally snatch that thing.”

“I should go with him, make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.” Lucia says as she places Drew on top of Steve, who was laying by the fireplace and groaning quietly.

Once she caught up to Douxie and reached Merlin’s office, the two snuck in. The room was dark, save for the bits of light coming in through the window, but it seemed relatively empty. Lucia watched as Douxie casted a quick spell on the vault where the time map was kept to open it, only to find a gnome skeleton with scratch marks on the wall tallying how long the poor thing must have been staying inside. They tried again and again, getting a random horn and a bird’s nest with some eggs, but before they could try again, they heard someone ask loudly:

“Looking for something?” The two sturn to find Merlin at his desk, an annoyed look on his face as he taps the time map on the table in front of him. “Or perhaps, this?”

The older wizard waved his arm, lifting up a sleeping Hisirdoux snoring away, the one Douxie had enclosed in a closet earlier.

“Oh fuzzbuckets.” The two teens mutter.