TrollHunters One-Shots

An Explanation

Jim took a deep breath before slowly entering the dining room. "Hey, Mom."

She was seated at the head of the table, a worried expression clouding her face. Jim set the tea tray down on the table and sat adjacent to his mother. He poured a cup of the hot peppermint tea and mixed a couple of sugar cubes into it and passed it to her before pouring one for himself.

"So, how are you today, Mom?" Jim didn't know where to start.

"I'm doing well, Jim." Barbara said exasperatedly. "Now tell me how you are."

Jim sighed and stirred his tea thoughtfully. "I'm actually doing really well. I just...don't know where to start. What do you want to know first?"

Jim's mom gave an exasperated sigh. "Everything. Just...start talking."

Jim nodded slowly, stood, and pushed his chair in. He took a few steps back and fished the amulet out of his pocket. "Then I guess I'll start here." He smiled, and spoke. "For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command." He closed his eyes as glowing tendrils of blue light surrounded him, forming magical armor.

Barbara stood up and grabbed Jim's arm, feeling the cold metal of the armor. "Jim, what is this?"

He gestured for her to sit down, removed his armor, and did the same. "Mom, a little while back, Toby and I were on our way to school. We were running late, so we took a shortcut through the canal. There was this pile of rocks, and I thought I heard my name. So we took a look and found this." He passed the amulet to his mother.

She turned it gently in her hands, examining it with care. "But...what is it?"
"It's the amulet of daylight. It's magical. I know that's hard to believe, but you saw the armor, right? Yeah. Well, it chose me to be a...a hero of sorts. That's what the armor is for. I'm the first human that it's chosen. The rest were trolls. I'm the TrollHunter. I protect trolls, well and people, from other...bad trolls." Jim dropped another sugar cube into his tea and stirred it nervously, awaiting his mom's reaction.

Jim's mom set the amulet down. Her hopeful smile had died halfway through Jim's explanation. "Trolls, Jim? Really?" her face was full of disappointment. "Jim, I was hoping we could have a serious, mature conversation about what was going on and you come down here with some story about trolls, of all things? Jim, I–"

"Stop right there". Jim stood and grabbed the handle of the sliding door that separated the kitchen from the dining room. "I want you to meet Blinky." He slid open the door, revealing the friendly four-armed troll.

Barbara screamed. Jim clapped a hand over her mouth until she stopped. "Mom, calm down. Blinky's a friend. He's like my mentor. He's a good troll. He's been a great help to me."

"Jim, what's happening?" yelled Barbara.

"Mom, it's just like I said. I 'hunt' bad trolls, and here's a good one who helps me train to do just that."

"Please, ma'am. Calm down. I mean no harm; I'm simply here to help." Blinky bowed.

"Mom, do you get it yet? Or do you need me to call for another troll for backup? Because I can." Jim sat his mother back down and poured more tea into her cup.

"I get it, I get it." Barbara closed her eyes and rubbed her head as she sipped more hot tea. "Jim, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I didn't want you to worry. But just for the record, this is the second time I've had to explain all of this to you. You found out a while ago, but there was an... incident. Do you remember when you were in the hospital? Yeah. There was a troll problem and you forgot all of this."

"What?"

"I'll get to that another day. But for now," Jim passed the sugar cubes to his mom and gestured for Blinky to leave. "There's one more thing we should talk about. Mr. Strickler. 'Walter'?"

Barbara set down her teacup. "Jim, please. Let's not get into that tonight. I know you don't like him and it's weird because he's your teacher, but–"

"I think you should keep going out with him."

"I know you think that, but– wait, you do?"

"Yes, I do." Jim smiled. "But before you get excited, there's one thing you need to know. Mr. Strickler is a changeling. It's... kind of like a troll."

"I've been dating a troll?" Barbara yelped.

"Not quite...he changes between human disguise and his true form, since he was switched as a baby. And... he did something a while ago that put you in danger. He really didn't mean to. It was to stop me from hurting him. He was on the side of the bad trolls. But he switched to our side when an evil troll went after him. But then, because of the enchantment, when he got hurt, so did you. That's the 'incident' I mentioned earlier. We cured you and you lost your memory. All of the pain got transferred to him. You told him you couldn't wait to forget about him." Jim frowned. "But Mom? He really does care about you. A lot. He might even love you. And I can tell that you feel the same way. You're happy with him. He's done some bad things, but he's past all of that. Of course, it's all up to you, but I think he deserves a second chance."

"Another chance," Barbara said quietly. "I'll think about that tonight."

"So now you understand everything, right? The weird behavior and the late nights?" Jim asked, squeezing his amulet tightly.

"Yes, Jim." Barbara Lake smiled at her son. "I'm so proud of you." She gave him a warm hug. "Now, please go get some sleep. Even boys who hunt trolls need a good night's sleep before school."