Chapter Text
"Humans are so strange. Instead of finding ways for each individual to fly, they create these giant machines that do the work for them."
Douxie shot a look at Nari, who was staring at the sky from the window of the plane they were in. "I guess there is jetpacks." He answered, but then hesitated. "Although, apparently, from what I've heard, they're not quite as useful or practical as real wings. And very volatile." He chuckled. "Pun not intended."
"I don't understand why we needed to go to France to get this item of yours. Wouldn't it have been easier for the holder themselves to bring it to us?" Archie, disguised as a plush toy in Douxie's arms, asked softly.
"Well, from what I read, the Life Stone is very volatile. I just feel like it would pose more danger to the holder if they were to bring it to us alone. Travelling is hard, even these days." Douxie answered, and turned to Nari again, this time with a sadder, more melancholic look. "Plus… moving around is the best way for us to go unnoticed by the Arcane Order." He added, and Archie sighed. "Ah, yes, I admit, you're right."
"Tell me again about the Life Stone, Douxie!!" Nari asked happily, and Douxie chuckled. "I thought you already knew about it." He said, and Nari nodded. "Yes, of course! But the way you tell things is very entertaining, I'd like to hear your version of the tale!"
"Hah, okay then." Douxie said, and he cleared his throat. "So, thousands of years ago, long before Arthur's time, even longer than Troll civilization or even the first Trollhunter was born, a meteorite fell on a Heartstone near what's now Molène, a region in the French province called Bretagne. Most of the two rocks were melted and destroyed, but what remained became a source of life. Around it, flowers bloomed, animals gathered, until the rock was basically covered in life. During the French Revolution, the scientist Robert Papillon, who was foraging in the area, found it and studied it, then passed it through each generation of his children. And I assume the current holder is the descendant of that man."
"And now we're here because you believe it could somehow help us fight against the Arcane Order." Archie added, and Douxie nodded. "I do!! I know you think I'm being naive, but I don't think it hurts to try something! Do you just want us to keep running forever?"
Archie sighed. "No. I'm just scared that it will be a futile endeavor, that's all."
"Well, I believe in you, Douxie!" Nari added, and Douxie smiled.
As the plane landed, and the three waited for their bags, Douxie looked around. It was very colorful around, akin to modern-day Britain or even Arcadia. He also realized that everyone was speaking French around them.
France… he hadn't been there since the end of the 100 Years War. Honestly he couldn't believe he forgot to catch up on language lessons before they came here. That was rather careless of him.
"Oh, uh, my French is a bit rusty, it's been a few decades since I spoke it after all. What about you, Nari?" He mumbled.
"Ah, moi, je parle toutes les langues du monde, tu sais bien, mon cher Douxie!" Nari answered happily, and Douxie laughed. "Alright then, I guess I'll count on you to break that language barrier when we meet with the stone holder."
While they were moving into their hotel, Archie changed himself into a crow, happy to finally be able to fly around a bit.
"Oh, goodness me, it felt like I was going into atrophy with how stiff I had to stay." He grunted, landing on Douxie's shoulder and scratching under his wing with his beak.
"Well, hey, nothing worse than that time when you became a worm."
"Oh, don't remind me, you sod." He grumbled, and Nari giggled as she changed clothes. "Now that's a story I'd be interested in hearing!"
"So, where's the Life Stone holder?" Nari asked.
"Not sure. They said to wait for them at a café downtown." Douxie answered as they went to said café, sitting at a table outside.
"Really subtle, that holder of yours." Archie mumbled. Douxie snorted. "Oh yeah, because we're being subtle right now, yeah?" He said sarcastically. "A pale guy dressed in all black with blue hair, with a crow wearing glasses on his head, accompanied by a girl with giant antlers sticking from her beanie. Very subtle. We're masters of subtlety, pros of-"
"Okay, okay, you've made your point!" Archie grumbled, and quickly shut up as the waiter arrived.
"Bonjour!!" She said happily, and then smiled as she saw the way they were dressed. "Oh! Vous êtes pas les premiers que je vois qui sont habillés comme ça aujourd'hui."
Douxie looked a bit confused, and Nari smiled. "Pas les premiers?"
"Hah, non. Il y avait une jeune fille, habillée toute en rose. Vous êtes là pour le FantasyCon, c'est ça?"
"Oui! Nous nous sommes perdus, par contre. Vous savez c'est où?"
The server nodded. "Oui, oui! C'est à la Grande Halle de la Villette, sur l'avenue Jean Jaurès."
After they were done talking, the two got their order, and the server left.
"What was that all about?" Archie asked.
"Something about FantasyCon, and a girl in pink?" Douxie added.
Nari nodded. "Yes! Apparently, there's a girl who "was dressed like us" who came here, and I have a suspicion she might be the holder."
"Hm. It's true we were a bit late." Douxie mumbled, looking at his watch with sadness. "Probably got nervous that we weren't on time and decided to leave."
"Or maybe it's not her, it's just a random girl. How about that?" Archie said. "FantasyCon has many people "dressed like us" . We shouldn't be too hasty."
"I think it's her! We should go see!!" Nari retorted.
"Well… I guess we will blend right in, that's true." Archie added.
Archie was actually correct this time. Because as they arrived at their destination, the three realized just how everyone was dressed up in weird ways. There were people cosplaying as fictional characters, others simply dressed as generic fantasy creatures, and even a few dressed up as Arthur, Morgana, Lancelot and the likes, which struck a particular chord in Douxie's heart, especially when he saw a Merlin cosplayer.
Obviously, as they walked by, people stared at them in awe. Some even stopped by to compliment their "beautiful costumes", one guy even asking what material Nari had used for her horns, and that it "looked very Celtic-inspired" (to which she replied by speaking Irish Gaelic, then Gaulish, impressing the man even more).
While Nari was having a lot of fun conversing with the many FantasyCon attendees flocking around her, Douxie, holding her hand to not lose her in the crowd, was very carefully looking around, trying to spot bright pink.
He eventually saw it, and tugged on Nari's wrist to bring her along, which took some effort because she was very happy talking and had to say goodbye to everyone before leaving.
"You found her?" She then asked, bringing back her attention to Douxie, whose eyes were glued on the bright pink hair moving around in the crowd.
"I think so, yes. Arch? Can you fly to her, see if she looks like who we're looking for?" He asked Archie, who was still a bird perched on Douxie's head. The shapeshifter nodded and flew off towards the pink spot.
Immediately as he did, Douxie saw the girl's hand lift towards him to invite the bird to land on her arm. He was pleasantly surprised to see Archie do so, and then giggled to himself when she started to pet him. As they finally reached her, Douxie's heart skipped a beat.
Oh, wow.
Long pink hair, cutesy pink clothes, dark skin, skinny, delicate and tall. She looked ethereal surrounded by so many shades of dark green, gray and brown. Especially next to him, dressed in all blacks and blues.
"Oh, Merlin's beard…" he huffed, and the girl smiled. "Why, hello there! Is this your crow?" She asked with a very thick french accent, and Douxie smiled awkwardly, face getting red like a tomato. He wasn't used to being so nervous around women, but she was just SO pretty. Usually he would have just given her his prettiest smile and complimented her appearance but right now it's like his tongue was made out of dough. "Ye-yeah! Yes! Yes it is!" Is all he managed to answer.
Archie gave him a mocking smile, and Nari giggled, which Douxie did his best to ignore as he let the bird fly back on his head.
"He's so pretty. What's his name?" She asked again. "Archie. He's my most loyal companion!" Douxie said, and the girl giggled. "I wish I had a pet-" she then froze, and stared at the three for a moment, especially at Douxie and Archie. "Wait… are you…" she got a bit closer. "Like… real real wizards?"
"Uh-"
"That crow has the crest of a Familiar. I'd recognize that anywhere." She added, and Nari chuckled, looking up at Douxie.
"Hah. She got you there, Douxie." Archie finally said, and the girl smiled. "You are a Familiar!!" She exclaimed, but then quickly toned down, and asked them to follow her. "Let's go to a quieter spot. I need to ask you something."
The three followed her behind an empty food truck, and as soon as they felt safe, she smiled once more.
"You're the wizard who contacted me to get the Stone of Life, right?" She asked, and Douxie nodded. "I am. Do you have it?" He asked, and the girl hesitated. "Well… yes, but… I can't give it to you."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Well… I, uh… something unexpected happened yesterday, before you arrived…"
She unbuttoned her shirt and opened it up to show the skin of her chest. Over her ribcage, above her breasts, was the stone, seemingly fused to her body, right where her heart would be. The veins around it were tinged in a slight glowing yellow, similar to the stone's own glow, which was pulsating at the rate of her heartbeat.
"Oh." Archie and Douxie both said at the same time.
"I don't know how this happened. I searched in my ancestor's notes to see if something similar had happened but… nothing. I don't understand."
Nari walked up to the girl and stared at the stone, frowning, deep in thought.
"I think… it sensed danger. It is made out of pure magic, isn't it? And it's connected to life itself. It would make sense for it to have some sort of defense mechanism in case a danger came that could threaten it."
"Danger? What kind of danger??" The girl asked, now getting a bit panicked. "Am I in danger??"
Archie hesitated. "Well… one might say we all are."
"W-what??"
"Let's go back to our hotel. You'll need to sit down for this. And I think we'll be able to speak more freely there." Douxie suggested, and the rest agreed
"The… Arcane Order…" the girl, whose name was Pragma Papillon, a name Douxie found very cute, mumbled. "I think I've heard the name before…" she said, sitting down on the chair next to the bed. "But… couldn't we just reason with them? Show them the beauty of humankind?" She asked, and Nari shook her head. "Sadly, they're very much set on their ideas. I was able to understand, but… they weren't. They've always seen the human world negatively, at least since the start of the First Agricultural Revolution. They valued their intelligence and power above all, and seeing another species become like them, able to control magic, to write, read, create and destroy, made them angry. I found it wonderful, even the more negative sides. I thought it was a testament of our work, that we managed to create such intelligent creatures, ones who could, one day, once they grew smart enough, help us keep the balance on this planet."
"One thing I've always wondered… Why hate only humans? What about other sapient creatures such as myself, or trolls, for example?" Archie asked. "I'd say most of us are rather intelligent as well. And well, we all know about the battle of Killahead Bridge, where Trollkind fought each other for power. Wasn't that also a danger for the balance of magic and life?"
Nari sighed, and shook her head. "They were always biased, I fear. I think they never paid as much attention to the other creatures of the Earth because they secretly preferred magic over all. Most humans didn't have magic, yet were able to stand up to the magical creatures of the world. That made them angry. Scared, even. How could something so weak be able to survive for so long against things much stronger than it?"
"And… you think that the Stone could help you? Really?" Pragma asked. Douxie nodded. "My theory was that we could somehow find a way to fuse it with Nari. She's already very in-tune with nature. I think that the raw power contained in the stone could help her be strong enough to win."
"Well… it's a bit too late for that now." Archie commented, and Douxie sighed. "Yeah. Not sure how we'll manage now."
Nari gently took Pragma's hand. "I could always try to transfer my powers to you-"
"No!" Douxie exclaimed in terror. The rest all went quiet, and Nari sighed. Douxie looked at her with begging eyes. "Don't say that. Please! It'll kill you!!" He said softly, and Pragma, a bit panicked, got in between them. "Hey! Hey, it's okay! No one has to die, okay!!?" She said, and both of them backed down. "We'll find a way to fix this, okay? We don't have to decide everything right away."
She looked at her chest. "Maybe we could try to remove it from me, somehow."
"You think it's a good idea?" Douxie asked. Pragma shrugged.
"How would we even proceed?" Archie asked. "It's as you said; there's nothing in your books that talked about this. And obviously, we've never seen this happen before either."
"Maybe you could just… pull it out?" Douxie asked tentatively, and Prahran laughed. "Oh, that's the first thing I tried! But that just didn't do anything at all! It's stuck. It's like trying to pull your nose out of your head."
"Not even with, say, a knife?" Archie asked.
"Ah, well, I was a bit scared of hurting myself. I don't have the most stable hands, and it's hard to see from where I am."
"Well, maybe we could try?" Douxie asked.
"Sure!"
Archie sighed and moved away to the window.
"I don't think I wanna be here when this happens. I'll be on the balcony if anyone needs me" he grumbled, and then flew off, windows closing behind him.
"Alright, okay-" Pragma huffed, and made a pink glowing knife appear out of thin air. "Here. It shouldn't hurt me too much if it's one of my own." She then looked at the both of them. "Who has the steadiest hands here?"
Nari turned to Douxie, who let out a very strange gurgling sound in return. "U-uh- well- I- Just 'cause I play guitar and I've been practicing hand movements for my spells for hundreds of yea-" he then sighed. "Yeah, okay, it's me, then." And gently took the knife, bringing it close to Pragma's chest.
There wasn't really much of a need for an extra light source, because the stone was glowing enough for Douxie to see the skin around it very well.
It looked almost like it was… fused to it…
"Ugh. Okay, I'm going to try to not hurt you too much, but tell me if I need to stop, okay?"
Pragma nodded, and Nari took her hand, squeezing it to give her some extra courage.
At first, Douxie tried to find some sort of slit or opening between the skin and the stone. But it really seemed that the two were stuck together, and there was no way to simply slide it out without cutting it.
He inhaled a few times, and then tried to cut. But as soon as the incision was made, it seemed like it immediately healed again.
"Oh."
"What? What's going on? Is it done" Pragma asked.
"N-no. It's just-" he tried to cut again, this time deeper, and still, it healed just as quickly.
"Yeah, sorry. It's… stuck."
"W-what-?"
"It's healing you faster than I can cut. It's just not working."
Pragma moved to try to look at her chest, and huffed. "Really? I didn't even feel anything."
"Seriously??" Douxie asked, looking back up, now shocked.
"Interesting…" Nari mumbled, staring at the stone, and then looked up at Pragma. "Say… maybe instead of trying to get it out of you… we could try to help you be more in tune with its powers." She added, and Pragma looked at the demigod, surprised.
"You… you could do that?"
"Well, I just think, if it's a part of you, then, one can assume it's possible you'd be able to channel its energy into your own magical abilities."
"She could actually help us instead!!" Douxie added, happily surprised.
"Yes! That's what I'm thinking! If she grows strong enough, she could be a very potent fighter." Nari answered.
"You… you think I'd be able to help? Really?" Pragma asked.
"Yes. We'll have to help you, of course. But I think it's very possible!"
"Okay, alright, what's all this hubbub about? Did you get the stone out?" Archie asked, flying back inside.
All the others turned to him, and then Archie sighed. "Okay, no, nevermind, I see that you didn't."
"We didn't. But we have a great idea!!" Douxie answered.
"Ah. Do tell."