Chapter Text
It was a nice day, to begin with. The blue sky was clear of clouds, allowing the sun to spread golden warmth over the citizens of Arcadia. Birds tweeted and chirped from where they perched in trees that swayed gracefully in the light breeze, calmly dancing. It seemed, that all was right in the world.
It was not a calm day within the Nuñez household.
“Claire, you are late, Young Lady!” Ophelia Nuñez shouted up the stairs, barely louder than the shrieking blonde baby in her arms, his chubby and stout arms beating about like a gorilla. Above their heads, a stomping teenager could be heard on the wooden floorboards. She shouted something incomprehensible over the noise of her younger brother.
Ophelia sighed and shook her head, walking to the kitchen whilst fluidly sidestepping the obstacles scattered about the wooden floor such as baby toys and haphazardly placed shoes. The counter was not much better, sporting a mush of unrecognizable foods splattered on the granite like a bad piece of modern art that someone tried really hard at but inevitably failed. Ophelia did not remotely want to even know what the green sloppy blobs used to be, deciding to clean them up later. She expertly took a lunch bag out of the fridge with her youngest still in her arms, just in time to hear the pitter-patter of feet raining down the stairs in clunky boots. Her teenage daughter ran through the doorway, one of her laces untied and an open backpack only looped over one arm.
“Ah! Yes I know, I’m late - but don’t worry I’ll get to school as soon-” Claire swiped the bag from her mother and stuffed it into her backpack “-Soon as possible, okay mom?” Standing up to the tips of her toes, she placed a peck on her mother’s cheek and then ran out through the front door, shutting it behind her before her mom could say anything else.
Like a lithe deer, she leaped onto her purple bicycle, clipping the black helmet in place as she cycled away down the street. Her large tyres bounced precariously off of potholes and loose rocks, swiftly sliding through puddles as she took a shortcut through the woods, hoping to make it to the canals. The sun warmed her back, making her sweat the longer she went, but the wind refreshed her like a splash of water in her face.
Claire was not an ordinary girl - which is a very important detail in this story. She had blue streaks in her otherwise dark brunette hair, neon pink hair clips tying away the stray curly hairs, but not in a sweet girly style, more in a I-wear-little-kids-accesories-and-still-look-punk style. Flicking away from her eyes were bold strokes of black eyeliner, following the strokes of purple warpaint over her eyelids, matching nicely with the dark pink lipstick she kept hidden away in her pocket for emergencies. A short navy blue miniskirt was layered on top of black tights, paired with a loose pink vest decorated by a screaming skull. Her black blazer lapels were so decorated with pins that one would think they weighed her down, especially with her thin and wiry build.
Yet, even with her punkish attitude and rebellious mindset, Miss Nuñez was a very respectable girl, grades at the top of her class and a record so clean it would put the mopped floors of Buckingham palace to shame.
A crazy grin spread over her delicate features as she rocketed down the slope of the canals, the two wheels coming to a halting stop right next to an ominous pile of rocks. ‘Odd’ She thought to herself ‘I could’ve sworn they weren’t there yesterday’
Out of breath from the exertion, she decided to take a little rest in the shade of the bridge, running a hand over her face and groaning. “ Ay , I’m going to be so sweaty when I eventually get to school…” Claire muttered under her breath, oblivious to the blue glow emanating from a crack between the grey rocks. That is, until the deep, rumbling voice of a man seemed to come out of nowhere.
...Claire Nuñez...
“AAhh!” She almost fell off her bike, large brown eyes scanning the area swiftly. “Who’s there?” Even under the shadows of the bridge, nothing moved around.
...Claire Nuñez… Someone said again, wearily as if they were buried beneath the stone.
Her breathing increasing, she dismounted from the bike and stepped closer to where the voice seemed to speak from the lazuli glow. With a thin hand the teenager pulled back a heavy rock, revealing an intricate steampunk circle of cogs atop a pinky-blue stone. ‘ An Amulet?’ She wondered to herself, thinking it was very intriguing and pretty. A silver clock hand ticked and swept across the blue sea of its background. Not wanting to make herself any later, she swept her eyes around the area incase it was some sort of prank - no one else was with her in the empty canal - and clambered back atop her bike.
The school bell rang from the distance, and with a good amount of cursing she yanked the silvery jewel from the ground and stuffed it in her bag, cycling away as fast as she could.
She hadn’t spotted the six glowing eyes watching her suspiciously from behind grated bars of the sewers.
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Claire completely forgot to lock her bike to the rack, letting it clatter to the ground before she sprinted in the direction of Spanish class, the courtyard and halls empty of students. Bursting into the room, the door shuddered on its hinges as she stepped forward, panting.
Uhl narrowed his eyes and watched her with contempt. “Miss Nuñez, care to explain why you are so late?” Señor Uhl glared at her, tapping his watch. “Hmmm?” The whole class stared at her as if she was the most exciting thing to happen (Which, knowing Uhl’s lesson structure, it probably was.) She felt as though all the eyes in the world were watching her, when in reality it was just a handful of tortured Español students.
Head bowed low, she made her way to her desk at the back of the classroom, dumping her bag on the floor softly. “Sorry.” She whispered as she walked past the Austrian man, decidedly not making eye contact. He grunted in disappointment before continuing on with the lesson.
Once Uhl was back to staring lovingly at the chalky scribbles of spanish verbs, Claire’s friend Darci spun her head around and spoke quietly in her high pitched voice.“Claire, where have you been?” She sounded worried, knowing that it wasn’t like her friend to show up late to anything due to her mom’s constant perfectionism and a strict schedule.
“Yeah, you’re like twenty minutes late - what’s up with you?” Mary chimed in, sitting on the other side of their punkish friend.
She sighed and started writing the date in her notebook.“Well...Enrique kept me up like, all night , so I kinda slept over my alarm.” She chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her neck. She loved her baby brother more than the world, but would it really be so hard for him to actually sleep through the night for once?
“Aaaaw, Claire-Bear, don’t worry - he’ll stop in a while. And besides, if it ever gets too much, you can just pop over to mine for a little sleepover!” Mary herself had a little sister, but given by how often Claire saw them shout at each other she doubted their relationship was too good. But still, it was nice to have a friend who had been in the same boat. Some girl time would be nice, she supposed, provided that she had any time left once play rehearsals started.
“Ohhh, yeah, it would be really nice to get away from all that noise - I swear, I’m one more night from either chucking him out the window or straight up moving out!” She joked, smiling at her friend.
She almost told them about the strange glowy amulet now situated in the pocket of her backpack, but thought they wouldn’t believe her. After all, it was probably just some stupid prank, and yet she still found herself with her phone under the desk, searching up ‘silver glowing amulet’ online. All that came up were baby plushes, so at least she now had an idea of what to get Enrique for his birthday, but left her with no clues to the strange ticking circle in her bag.
Darci leant over from her desk, stretching out her neck in an attempt to see what her friend was doing on her phone in the middle of a class. (A class with Uhl the Unforgiving, too)
“ Texting a bo - Wait, why are you looking up baby toys? Did Enrique lose Suzy Snooze again?”
“What?” Claire looked back down at her screen, fumbling with her phone a bit. “No, I just thought I’d look for something to get him - it’s his first birthday soon, and my whole family’s coming over so I gotta get him something good or they’ll think I’m a bad older sister.” She rambled out, like she had something to hide.
Darci Raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Isn’t his birthday, like, two months away?” Before Claire could answer, Mary butted in, giggling loudly. “I think maybe she was texting Romeo to get ready for her plaa-”
Uhl’s loud, monstrous roar shook the classroom.
“SILENCE!”
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Claire reached on the corkboard, attempting to use her thumb to push a pin into the rock-hard surface. These posters were not gonna put themselves up, and she was not having a redo of last year’s play with a cast of seven and an awkward on-stage kiss with Eli. She was turning round to shove some leftover posters into her bag, her shoulder bustled by a student in the busy hallway. The red illustrated papers scattered in all directions on the linoleum floor.
A skinny guy in a blue jumper looked shocked and panicked, already bending down to pick up the loose posters. His friend, another kid in a golden shirt and red sweater vest also bent down to pick up a few, shuffling them in his small hands. James-Jim, was it? Looked vaguely alarmed as he stood back up with a few of the posters in his hands, looking at Claire with wide eyes as if he’d expected to see someone else.
“Claire!” He seemed to straighten up, face going a bright red. “I-I am so sorry, I-Oh! Crap…” As he tried to apologize, a textbook fell from his arms, replaced by a stack of paper advertising Shakespeare.
“Hey, no, it’s okay, lemme help you there.” She picked up the textbook, exchanging it for her posters with him, smiling as they met eyes.
Wow. His eyes. They were the most vibrant blue she’d ever seen, like someone had carved lapis lazuli rocks into perfect little irises embedded into his face.
“Oh th-thanks, uh, gracias , Claire,” He stuttered out, a faint blush spreading across his pale skin. She thought his attempt at Spanish was odd, even with his terrible accent, but a little endearing nonetheless.
“It’s nothing, Jim, right?” She hoped it was his name,but she only had a few classes with him, and they’d never really spoken to one another.
“Yeah, that’s me, plain ol’ Jimbo…” He finger gunned at her, laughing awkwardly.
His friend Toby facepalmed behind his back, causing Claire to giggle.
“Well, Jim, We’re having a little trouble getting boys to audition for the play - Do you like Shakespeare? I promise it’s not too scary, but it might be your kinda thing,” Claire tucked a few stray hairs behind her pierced ear, blushing slightly. The guy might be a nervous wreck, but he was still cute nervous wreck.
“Uh, I, yeah, yeah I’ll come.” He slotted the textbook into his satchel, walking away with his snickering friend.
“See you then! Hope you break a leg!” She called out to him over the loud shrieks of other teenagers, hoping he heard, before he shouted back in a slightly panicked voice.
“Thanks! Wait, why would I-” Claire turned around, rolling her eyes good naturedly, assuming that his voice had drifted off once he recognised the saying. But as she was walking away, he saw something glowing peeking from the pocket of her bag, hidden once again when she went round the corner and his shorter friend pulled him away to his next lesson.
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Claire was so tired, she felt as though the bag on her back filled with homework was actually filled with a hundred big boulders that would unsuspectingly squash her at any moment. Not that she was the only one who felt this way - just looking around sparingly at the other students emptying their lockers, she could spot many also rocking the bagged eyes look. Zipping up her Papa Skull themed backpack, she caught another glimpse of the talking jewel, silently mocking her and giving off a feeling of sparky energy. Just by swiping a finger over the shiny metal exterior, she felt as though it was giving energy to her, attempting to create a bond.
Claire drew her hand back, staring at it again for a good few seconds.
“You better be something cool, or I swear I’m gonna put you on Ebay because you are seriously creeping me out.” She harshly whispered to the inanimate object, half expecting it to answer back in the low, rumbling voice that had called out her name earlier. It stayed mockingly silent, as if to say : ‘What’re you talking about lady? I can’t speak back.’
Walking over to the bike racks, she heard a little commotion going on by some of the lockers on the other side of the courtyard, under some concrete shade. At a first glance it seemed like just some friends laughing amongst each other, until at a closer glance Claire saw that it was the basketball team captain speaking down to a small kid, Eli.
Steve towered over him, broad shoulders under a pristine polo shirt suited to a football player, a playful look on his brutish face. To put it in the nicest way possible, Steve was not what you’d call ‘academically inclined’, often skipping classes, or in the rare possibility that he actually showed up on time, not bothering to pay attention. Claire used to feel bad for him, back when they were younger and he seemed to genuinely try and do his work, but as they’d entered high school he’d soon taken on the persona of an ego-centered brat.
Steve slapped a big hand on the metal locker above Eli’s cowering head, causing a clanging vibration.“So, tell me again, dweeb, what was it you saw this morning?”
“Monsters! I-I swear Steve, they were made of-of stone!” Eli looked as if he were on the verge of tears, knees knocking and not even trying to make eye contact with the hunkish brute cornering him. He was small, small for his age and still with a bit of a baby face beneath his huge square glasses, round eyes watering at the edges. As long as Claire could remember, Eli had been a clumsy twig, always ending up with bruises from knocking into corners, or bandaids on his knees and elbows from where he’d scraped them. Since he was also very smart, he and Claire shared quite a few classes, sometimes geeking out together over the newest plays when they performed together in drama club. She started to get closer, with the intention of doing something to make that sly grin fall of Steve’s face.
Steve laughed, loud and obnoxiously, causing Claire to grit her teeth.
“Okay, okay Pepperjack, why don’t you give us a bit more info, eh?” Steve snarked out, in a crude, egotistical voice. Claire’s fists balled at her sides, the beginning of an insult riding up her throat, but not before Jim beat her to it. Claire watched with bated breath as the shy kid from earlier approached the ape-minded basketball player.
Actually, apes were rather clever - Claire decided he acted more like a badly trained puppy.
“Hey Steve, could you maybe stop…” Jim strode over and rested a hand on Palchuk’s arm warily, shrinking down once Steve locked onto him with glaring eyes. Jim wasn’t that much shorter than him, but in terms of physical prowess, he was sadly lacking.
“Huh..I didn’t even know you could talk, Lake - I thought Domsalski did all the chatting for you two!” Though what Steve said was rude, it was true, Jim did seem to be pretty silent, never once even raising his hand in a class to answer a question, always sitting right next to that ginger kid, Domsalski.
"Steve, please j-just leave him alone...this is pointless." Jim pointed out logically, though unfortunately logic was not something Steve relied heavily on. By now people were starting to notice, honing in on the confrontation like vampires that craved high school gossip over blood.
Steve tried to grab Jim's collar, but the smaller boy dodged his rough hands, side stepping with surprising grace. The blond jock growled under his breath. "Stay still, Lake, or are you too scared of a little chat?" He laughed again, that loud and annoying laugh that put her right on edge.
Eli was starting to shuffle away, swiping his bag and scuttling towards the crowd as Steve’s limited attention focused on Jim, who looked like he was thoroughly regretting his life choices up to this point. He stepped away again as the bully made another attempt to grab him, blue eyes widening as he grabbed Steve’s arm and twisted it behind his back, seemingly on instinct. He yelped in surprise, anger flashing over his features as Jim quickly let go of his arm and ran to his bike, not bothering to put on his helmet as he mounted it with a quiet “Sorry,” called out to Steve.
“Yeah that’s right, run away Lake!” He laughed maniacally at his retreating form leaving the school courtyard speedily. “See you tomorrow for a little catch up!”
The meaning behind Steve’s words was evident as a promise to rough Jim up a little, so once the crowds dispersed some more, Claire stalked over to where Steve was lazily leaning against the lockers, typing something into his phone with a frown.
“Hey.” She said casually, an unimpressed scowl on her face.
“Oh, Hey Nuñez, what’s up?” Steve said a little flirtatiously, a grin sliding up his lips as he stood straighter, beefy arms crossing over his chest.
She breathed in deeply, burying the urge to slap the look off his face. “Look, I get that you want to intimidate people, or whatever, but could you please just leave Jim alone,” Claire liked Jim - not just in the ‘hey he’s cute’ way, but he seemed like a genuinely nice person, brave too. Not the kind of person who deserves to get picked on my a douche like Steve.
“Why’d you care?” A hint of mirth made its way into his whiny voice. “Is he your boyfriend ?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Claire wanted to rip her hair out with her hands.
She pinched the bridge of her delicate nose, sighing deeply. “No, Steve, he’s just not a dick like you are, okay? So just stay away from him.” She tried to make her voice calm, but it only came out as a seething low sound from behind her clenched teeth. Her thin fingers pulled on the straps of her bag tightly, stressed.
“You know, I like it when a girl talks back like that!” He took a step closer to her, before speaking in disdain. “Most of the others are all the same,”
‘Well, that’s probably because you’re too thick to tell the differences.’ She imagined snidely remarking. “Ugh! Just go back to the stupid 90’s film where you came from Steve!” She growled at him, spinning around and heading towards her bike. The sun was starting to darken, grey clouds swooping overhead as a warning of heavy rains to come.
He laughed as she stormed away, calling out after her in an entertained voice. “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on him!”
As Claire cycled home, she pedaled as fast as she could, but not before the rain got to her, dampening her styled hair. Hopefully none of it had got to the paper in her bag.
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The rain had damaged the paper in her bag.
Not so that it was beyond use, but enough to make the ink on printed homework run a bit, and to make the pages of her textbooks stick together. The Amulet, however, was pristinely clean and already dry, the silvery pieces shining spotlessly in the light of her kitchen.
Her parents and little brother were gone, leaving before she got back from school to make it to a check-up appointment for Enrique, but luckily her mom had leftovers in the fridge for her to eat, along with chorizo from her dad.
She cleared the eclectic mess off the kitchen table, sweeping the numerous baby items into a container on the floor. It was pretty hard to focus on equations when there was a packet of diapers right next to you. Outside the window she could see how it was almost dark outside, the moon glimmering sweetly behind the clouds, raindrops still falling lightly against the window pane and creating a calming pitter-patter.
The house felt oddly silent without the rest of her family there, and she almost missed her brothers wailing to fill the eerie quiet. Almost.
After completing her maths she got a snack of guacamole and tortilla chips, dipping one and stuffing it into her mouth as she investigated the Amulet once more.
“Whtt..rr..oo?” Came out from her muffled mouth, before she swallowed the delightful taste. “You want to say my name again? Cause I’m all ears.”
There was a beat of silence, the faint blue light pulsing again.
Maybe she had imagined it - her life had been pretty stressful the last few hectic days. She started an imaginary list in her mind.
Why Claire deserves a freaking rest:
- She has a lot of homework.
- Her baby brother was a literal goblin of a child, as cute as he may look.
- Her parents don’t have time to take her to school anymore
- Or time to come to her drama shows
- Or time to hug her
- Or time to actually have a full on conversation with her.
She rubbed a hand over her tired face. “Okay, last chance, Shiny, you wanna speak up? No one here except you and me.”
Again, it stayed rudely silent. She groaned and face planted on the table, fully intent on falling asleep there, until a shuffling from below caught her attention. Claire shot up, worried.
A creak, of something heavy being moved, along with a clatter as something metal fell to the floor in her basement. “Uhh, racoons.” She complained, picking up a broom from the corner and making her way to the stairs through the eclectic hallway. She took a quick glance at the large photo on the wall displaying herself and her brother, back when he was a newborn. A soft smile tugged at her lips. Entering the threshold of the basement, she pulled a string, turning on a dingy, swaying light in the creepy underground, the smell of rust and dust filling her nose like a clinging perfume one of her older tías wore on special occasions, and just as musty.
The wooden stairs creaked ominously underfoot in the gloom, her fingertips tracing through untouched dust on the wonky metal banister, red paint peeling away from the bars like old bark. Nothing seemed to be out of place, and for a few seconds, Claire thought maybe she’d imagined it. The mismatched shelves and cardboard boxes were all in place, decorated in a mist of cobwebs. She shuddered at the sight of one such cobweb dancing in vibrations as a fly got trapped in its confines. Letting out a breath of relief, she let the broom go lax in her hands.
But as soon as her back was facing the room, a scratchy cough could be heard from behind the shelves, followed by some heavy shuffling. A cough, that racoons evidently did not make, even the classier racoons. Spinning around, she held the broom out like a weapon, as if the bristled end were a sharp point. Still, she managed to look menacing, syrupy brown eyes darting around the shadows in the corners.
“Who’s there? Come out!”
A huge, inhuman being crept out from behind the shelving units, the small light reflecting off their matte skin, stony in texture. He was a darker mottled blue, seven feet tall, and with carved markings over their face and extra limbs. Four hands were clasped together sheepishly over a large gut, each with four fingers of their own that had no fingernails. Grey horns swept back from a long head, followed by a receding hairline of wiry blue hair, curled at the back like a wave. His mouth smiled, with jutting tusks and uneven teeth.
Claire screamed, swinging the broom but missing widely.
“Miss Claire!” He exclaimed, as if this were a joyous occasion, unperturbed by the girl’s still constant scream, high-pitched and unrestrained.
“Ah! Finally, we have found you!” Claire scrambled back, the broom now fallen on the floor, and let out a yelp of pain as she backed up into a rusty nail poking from a beam of wood. From behind the happy creature came another, only twice as big, made of stone as well but this time a light grey, as if carved from a cliff face. He was almost half covered in a shaggy carpet of green hair, dredging forward on two long arms, and two short legs. His horns were ridged cones, more like little nubs between his pointed ears. His green eyes sparkled with mirth, and when he spoke out, he had a slow, gravelly voice as if he was unsure of the language.
“Took long time.”
Claire screamed again, covering her eyes as if it would all go away when she looked again. Her knees knocked together, and she shivered in fright. Peeking through her fingers, they were still unfortunately very much real.
The blue one was staring exasperated at his friend, the lower sets of hands on his hips.“Yes, well, AAARRGGH, we were held back by the daylight - not to worry young one, my name is Blinky, and my compatriot here is known as AAARRGGH.” He gestured at them as he spoke their names
“Hi.” The large one said, with a toothy smile, and a wave in Claire’s direction. Thinking he was going to hit her, she brought up her arms to protect herself, shouting again in distress.
“AAAAAAAHHHH!” Claire screamed again, falling onto her backside on the unforgiving floor.
“No, not like that,” AAARRGGH held up one stony hand, raising two fingers, and shook his head. “Spelt with three ‘R’s”
“Hmmmm...She says ‘Aaaaah’ alot!” Blinky pointed out, tapping a finger to his chin with a clunky sound. His eyes lit up as if a lightbulb went off over his head.
“Perhaps it is some form of greeting,” The one with many eyes bent over and let out a yelp himself, aimed at her vague direction. She tried to scrabble away towards the stairs, but was swept up by the grey boulder, who held her up by her feet despite her struggling.. Her anxious state seemed to make the blood rush to her head faster. Claire scrabbled and scraped at his hard fist, but only succeeded in tearing at the skin of her fingertips. Shouting, she attempted to kick with her feet and almost hit an eye. His lips pouted, almost offended.
Blinky coughed to get her attention, and though she still struggled, she directed attention towards him. Did they want something from her?
‘I swear, if this has something to do with that Amulet, I’m putting it on Ebay.’ She dimly thought in the back of her mind.
“Miss Claire, you have been chosen,” He said in a solemn, serious voice.
Her eyes widened, and she let out a sob of frustration as her legs began to tire.
“Looks bit scared.”The living boulder noted, a bit concerned, wide face leaning closer to sniff the girl in his hand. As he breathed in air, her hair flew towards his powerful nostrils.
“Yes, well, perhaps it best you put her down - gently, mind you.” Blinky made a downwards gesture with his upper hands.
Claire was dropped to the ground in a heavy heap, arms stretching out instinctually to block her fall. Blinky sighed in disappointment.
“This is a moment of some solemnity, old friend,” The many-eyed creature chided.
“So-lem-bi-ly?” The giant pondered, not recognising the word.
“It means serious and dignified.”
“Hmm...Dig-oo-ni-fied.” AAARRGH let the word roll from his deep voice, testing it out.
“Uh, who-who are you people?” She squeaked out, looking upwards as they towered over her.
“Ah, yes, just getting to that, where was I, AAARRGGH?” Blinky raised a hairless, rocky brow in question.
AAARRGGH started listing things off his thick fingers. “Miss Claire...Found you...yelping…”
“Yes, Thank you. Miss Claire, you have been chosen for the most sacred of offices.”
“...What?” At this point, she was more confused than scared, her breathing rate returning to normal.
Blinky looked like he was gearing up to start a lecture, pulling up to his full height and speaking with pride.“The Amulet of Daylight challenges you to ascend to the protection of all, the protection of a vast civilisation beneath your very feet, unbeknownst to your kind.”
“M-my kind?” Claire could feel tiny shards of rocks and dust on her palms that were flattened on the icy floor, the smell of petrichor wafting to her when they stepped a little closer. The both of them smelf like the underground, the dirt beneath the Earth.
The trolls seemed confused by her question, sharing a glance with one another. “Humans, of course. We trolls have stayed out of your sight for, oh almost a millenia I’d say.”
“T-trolls?” They definitely weren’t human, but that hadn’t been what she was expecting. The only trolls she had heard of were the little fuzzy-haired ones her Abuelita collected, and then left to her parents in her will. Claire still had nightmares about their creepy little smiles.
“Yes, indeed, and it is now your charge to help us, for you, young one, are the Trollhunter!” He spread his arms wide and grinned, as if expecting her to rejoice.
“Trollhunter.” AAARRGH echoed back, from behind where she was still sitting on the floor.
“So, what say you, Miss Claire?” She stared at him for a good few seconds in shocked silence, before her vision seemed to blur and she collapsed backwards, hair splaying out as she unconsciously rested on the ground. Blinky and AAARRGH exchanged a worried look.
“...That a yes?” The large one rumbled out optimistically.
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“Strickler, may I talk for a minute with you?” Jim asked softly, stepping into his office. The British man’s eyes glowed an unnatural yellow, smiling welcomingly. “Of course Young Atlas - what’s the matter?” Jim swept in, looking more anxious than usual, skittishly looking around before going to fiddle with some chess pieces by the window. Outside, it looked as though a storm was about to start, trees swaying violently in the early evening.
The teenager wrung his hands, looking at the floor nervously.“I don’t know how, but I think maybe the Amulet was taken by someone going through the canals.” He picked up and inspected a Knight.
Strickler’s eyes widened momentarily in shock, placing down his pen on his desk. “What? Why on Earth would a human take the Amulet?”
“I don’t know, maybe they thought it looked cool or something.” Jim walked over and sat down on the stool on the opposite side of the ornate desk, looking Strickler directly in the eyes.. “Would explain why we couldn’t find it in Kanjigar’s remains.” He added on hopefully.
The oldest looked at the younger in concern.“If you don’t mind me asking, Young Atlas, what has led you to believe the Amulet was taken? Surely you would not suggest such a thing without some form of proof.”
Jim’s eyes darted to the poster on the wall advertising the school play. “I-I don’t know if what I saw was definitely the Amulet of Daylight, but I’m fairly sure it was in the bag of a student - Claire Nuñez, Sir.”
Ah, well that would explain his anxiousness. Strickler tried not to busy himself with human affairs too much, but even he could see how his young half-changeling charge looked at the punkish girl.
“And this happened today, am I correct?” Hopefully Claire had just found the amulet...He’d hate to kill one of his students, and such an act would surely traumatise Jim horribly.
“Yeah.”
Strickler smiled calmly. “Well, let’s hope she just happened upon the Amulet then - it would be rather unfortunate if it had chosen its champion already.” He didn’t want Jim to worry, but he still had to prepare him for the chance that one of his classmates may soon become an enemy.
Jim froze up, a look of panic flashing over his face. “Wait, you mean, maybe it... Chose Claire?” his hand tightened on his satchel.
“The Trollhunter Amulet works in mysterious ways, Young Atlas, best not to question its judgement.” Standing up, he walked to open the door, ruffling Jim’s flat hair on the way out. “And besides, shouldn’t you be heading home right now?” He knew Jim liked to have enough time to cook a nice dinner for his mother.
Once Jim had left, Strickler watched through the window as he cycled away, pondering if Jim’s connection to the possible new Trollhunter could be useful. His eyes flashed back at himself in the reflection of the window, at the same time as a flash of lightning across the sky.