"You two did so well, I only wish I could have seen your skills in true battle." The king praised the teens as the five Akiridians walked through the halls of their home.
"Varvatos says you attacked Morando head on without fear." Coranda said, almost in a questioning tone as she looked down at her children.
"Oh, there was plenty of fear." Krel huffed with his usually sarcastic tone, but his words held truth.
"Didn't Toby once say something about it being ok to be scared?" Aja asked, holding a hand to her chin as she thought. Krel barked a laugh at the thought, almost questioning how his sister remembered that conversation from so long ago.
"Yes, he did. The first rule of trollhunting: always be afraid." the tech master quoted, he gained more fond smiles from his parents.
"Fear is but the precursor to valor." Aja quoted herself with a chuckle, the boys laughed at the comment which encouraged the elder royals to giggle and chuckle a little as well.
"Your friends seem like great warriors." Fialkov complimented, turning a corner that the twins recognized all too well.
"Great warriors and great friends. They were always there when we didn't know what to do." the queen in waiting said, memories of her blond prince flashing through her mind. As they reached the loading bay, they recognized a familiar face waiting for them.
"Zardra?" Krel asked in confusion. The lieutenant turned to the call of her name and bowed to the royals as they got closer. The king and queen bowed their heads in response to her before turning to the children and commander.
"I hope you are alright that we assigned Lieutenant Zardra to this 'mission'. We recall that she accompanied you to Earth at some point the last time you were there." the queen said with a smile.
"Of course that's alright. Maybe we can get you some red boots when we get there." Krel joked, gaining laughs from the others. The king and queen chuckled a little but Zardra was left very confused at the comment.
"I'm sure you'll understand soon." Aja offered condolences to the warrior. Zardra huffed but listened to the once princess.
"The king and queen have informed me of your. . time. . Status." Zardra stuttered to find the proper terms for a moment.
"Good, cause this would be very confusing for you if they didn't." the former prince snickered.
"Varvatos thinks it's a very wise idea. Regardless of your skills, royals traveling with only one guard is very risky." Vex mentioned, giving the lieutenant an encouraging smile.
"The children would end up protecting you if something were to happen. Of course you need back up." Zardra shot back with a small smirk. The royals laughed, knowing it had happened before. Vex couldn't even argue with her but it didn't stop the slight offense he got from the joke.
"I'm sure you three are very familiar with this ship." Fialkov said as they walked up to the vessel that was going to take them to Earth.
"Mother!" The siblings gasped in joy, the ship they grew to love a little too much was presented in front of them. The floating blue sigil of the ai appeared to its name.
"Greetings, my royals." the robotic voice sounded from the hologram. "Your belongings are stored inside and your rooms are already situated." the report rolled off her non-existent tongue. Aja bounced on her feet and darted halfway across the loading bridge before sliding to a stop.
"Wait." she told herself, turning to run back to her parents and engulf them in a hug. Krel laughed at his sister before joining the hug himself. "Bye Mama, Bye Papa." she said, pulling back only to look up at the older royals.
"Be good, my beautiful children." the queen said, placing a kiss on both their foreheads, right above the arches that connected their eyebrows.
"Here." Krel said, pulling away from the family hug and digging out a small device from his back pocket, now that he had them, and held it out to his parents. "I made it so we can contact you easier. Connect it to your transmitters and it will reach us on Earth, even through their primitive technology." he said, adding a sarcastic tone to the last bit and gaining a laugh and an elbow from his sister. The king and queen laughed at the sibling display as Coranda gently took the small device from her son's hand.
"Don't think we won't call you every delson(day), or at least when we get the chance." the queen mentioned with a giggle.
"We wouldn't have it any other way, Mama." Aja smiled, the family hugged one last time before the four Akiridians made their way onto the ship.
"Oh and do try not to kill each other while you're gone." Fialkov called out to them with a laugh, his wife laughing alongside him with a wave. The siblings waved from the door as the bridge was retracted.
"I make no promises." Aja called back with a smirk thrown at her brother, who made a squeak before turning to run away from his aggressively loving sister. The door closed as the elder sibling ran after her brother as Vex laughed and Zardra couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. The warriors made their way to the control room and found the siblings roughhousing there, but not too close to break anything.
"Shall we head out?" Vex asked, taking his position in the driver's seat, per se. His question caught the siblings' attention immediately.
"Yes please." Krel said before Aja could, frantic to see his friends again. With the mission to get Morando and the crowning ceremony, Krel had not completed the camera for his communication device and had not brought it with them as he knew they would be seeing them soon enough. But soon enough couldn't come any faster.
"Then let's get this baby going." Vex exclaimed, quoting what he had once heard Nancy say to the other seniors. Zardra's face twisted in confusion as Aja laughed and Krel groaned his own laugh at the corny saying. About five minutes later, they had exited the planet's atmosphere and Vex confidently put in Earth's coordinates.
"You will arrive on Earth in three delsons(days), four horvaths(hours), and twenty three mekrons(minutes)." Mother reported after Vex was done putting in the location. The siblings shared a look before snickering at the fact that she sounded like the GPS's that were stored in human cars.
"So, what to do for the time being?" Zardra spoke up, knowing that she would get bored eventually. Vex turned in his chair as the ship took on autopilot.
"Aja, Krel, don't you think Lieutenant Zardra would be good at Poker?" Vex asked, presenting the idea to the siblings with a smirk. They both laughed again and nodded, leaving the woman confused, once again.
"Po-ker?" the lieutenant asked, trying to recall anything she could about the name, of course only to come short of everything.
"Varvatos will teach you." Vex offered, letting the woman think for a moment before she nodded. "Mother?" Vex called out to the A.I.
"Yes, Commander?" she appeared in between the non royals, ready to take on a command.
"Would you be able to simulate a game of Poker? An Earth card game." Vex asked, explaining what it was for the A.I.
"Hmm, let me scan my database." she hummed. A moment went by before a solid but holographic table appeared between the two. "Yes, I am able to do that." she said as similar physical holograms appeared in the shape of a deck of cards.
"We're going to go check out our rooms." Aja said with a wave, standing from her chair and walking out of the room. Krel waved and followed his sister to leave. Zardra and Vex waved before Vex started to explain how the game worked. The commander's words faded away the further they got before they couldn't hear them anymore.
"Three days." Krel sighed, more to himself but Aja heard him. She placed two of her hands on his back, making him realize he had spoken out loud.
"Don't worry, little brother. We'll be there before you know it." the former queen tried to encourage with a smile. Krel nodded, although solemnly, he knew his sister was right but it still dragged him down a little. She patted him on the back, purposefully hard as he lost his balance and stumbled forward.
"Real mature." he glared at her with a smile. Aja looked up and shrugged her shoulders as if she didn't know what he was talking about. They split up to explore their new, but in the same sense old, rooms before they decided to bug each other again.
"So, who are you most excited to see?" Aja asked, laying on her brother's bed on her back and looking at him upside down as her head hung off the edge of the mattress.
"You answer first, oh wait, it's that blond oaf of yours." Krel teased with a smile that showed too many teeth. Aja gasped dramatically and threw one of Krel's pillows at him. He blocked it with ease while laughing, only causing his sister to laugh too. Aja's laugh, however, shifted to a taunting one as a smirk pulled at her lips.
"Should I assume the same goes for you and your special human?" she asked, rolled over on her stomach as she rested her head on one of her hands. Krel's face flushed a darker shade of blue at the comment as he turned in his chair to hide from Aja's gaze.
"He's no ordinary human, mind you. Steve is strange, even for human standards. I still don't know why you picked him as your partner." the younger twin said, attempting to change the subject off of his love life.
"Steve is sweet when you get to know him." Aja explained, gaining an eye roll from her brother. "I'm sure he misses you too, little brother. Jim said everyone in the configuration remembers." she said, trailing off the taunting tone and to one more sincere.
"I'm not going to acknowledge those allegations." Krel said, still facing away from his bed and still trying to change the subject. Aja sighed and gave into her brother's unspoken plea.
"What are you working on now?" she asked, noticing the tinkering going on behind his back. Turning back to her slightly for her to better see the tech, Krel gave a small smile.
"Why are you so interested in my tech all of a sudden?" he asked, with a smile however. Aja shrugged her shoulders, not even aware herself why the trinkets now interested her. "Nothing in particular, just kinda playing around. Pass the time, right?" he said, answering her question. Aja nodded in understanding and continued the conversation with more random topics.
~~~~~~~
Aja felt a wet and glowing forked tongue liking her face. Her glowing eyes met their family pets as she finally stirred awake.
"Agh, Luug~." she laughed as she tried to push the pup away from her face. "I don't need a bath." Aja laughed more as the Akiridian dog didn't give up.
"Aja! Come on, get up!" Krel burst into her room, urging her to get out of bed but helping her with Luug. The younger brother held the 'dog' with three hands as he pulled Aja up with his fourth.
"What? What's the rush?" she asked, rubbing her eyes as she was still waking up fully. She sat up but pulled back on Krel's arm before standing.
"We have ten minutes before we get there." her brother replied excitedly, turning to face her knowing he wasn't going to be able to forcibly pull Aja out of bed. The older Tarron's eyes shot open, her now more aware than she had ever been, or at least that's how she felt.
"We're almost there!?" she shrieked, jumping to her feet with an ear to ear smile. All four of her hands were quickly on her brother's one in excitement.
"Yes, now c'mon." Krel said, rolling his eyes with a chuckle before tugging at her again to leave the room. This time she was quick to follow, both siblings laughing from pure happiness. They burst into the control room where they were met by Zardra and Vex. Luug squirmed in Krel's arms as the king in waiting let him down, carefully.
"Young royals." Zardra greeted with a bow, holding her hand over her core. Vex huffed at the gesture before he smiled at the twins.
"Zardra, we told you you don't have to do that." Aja giggled, appreciating their friend for respecting them but even if Zardra didn't have her memories, they knew her too well for the lieutenant to always bow to them.
"Yes, please stop." Krel groaned, rolling his eyes, but he was polite about it. Zardra stood back up as they approached the control panel.
"Varvatos sees Krel woke you from your nap. Assuming you know why?" Vex asked with a smirk. Both teens stared into space as Mother started passing the moon.
"Yeah, ten minutes till we see our friends again. It feels like forever." the former princess said, sighing in fondness at the thought of her loving boyfriend.
"Ten mekrons till we get to Earth, but it is currently night fall in the Arcadia of Oaks." the commander mentioned, you could tell he was also upset about it. Aja whined in defeat as her arms hung by her sides.
"Oh please, do you not know our friends?" Krel scoffed, folding his arms over his chest. "They're the trollhunter. They stay up late fighting evil, we know this." he huffed a laugh. His sister perked up at the idea.
"That's true, and even if some people aren't up, I'm sure we could find someone who is." she said, looking at her brother for confirmation, to which he nodded with a smile.
Just then, Mother finished passing the moon and a blue dot came into view. All attention went to the distant planet in a moment. Aja elbowed her brother lightly with a smirk-like smile.
"Almost home, little brother." she said, gaining a fond huff from Krel as he didn't take his eyes off the little blue dot.
~~
"Please don't crash this time, Vex." Krel threw the playful insult at their temporary guardian, who had now turned the ship to manual as he prepared to land.
"Of course not. Varvatos Vex is at the wheel." Vex responded with a toothy grin, although no one could see it as everyone was buckled down for landing.
"That is what worries me." Krel whispered to Aja as they both started laughing. The tree line started to scatter as they got closer to town.
"Mother, activate cloaking system." Vex commanded, the ship hummed in response as the outside was no longer visible to the naked eye. They soon found the empty plot of land they once found themselves calling home. Mother was a quiet ship and the residents of the neighborhood didn't pay mind to the small wind that blew their trees around as Vex maneuvered his landing. Krel winced and closed his eyes as Aja started laughing more at her brother's playful insult as Mother touched the dirt and soil beneath them.
"Welcome to Earth, passengers." the blue icon of the ships A.I. materialized with its own joke.
"You gave mother her sense of humor back, didn't you?" Aja asked with a smirk thrown at her brother. Krel looked to the ceiling away from Aja with a guilty expression. The older sibling couldn't help but laugh again.
"Mother, engage protective force shield and activate camouflage matrix please." Vex said, almost asking the ship to follow his order.
"Force shield engaged. Camouflage engaging." Mother replied as they could tell the surroundings outside change. "I have chosen a model based on the planet's primitive transmissions. They broadcast at sub-light speed, so they're bound to be rather old." she commented as the siblings could see the bed of flowers right outside appear, completing the look.
"Activate matrix on the interior of the ship as well." Vex said, making sure to get as much right as possible.
"My data on this planet is about sixty keltons(years) out of date." Mother warned. Vex turned to the twins as they both flashed devilish grins.
"That's what we're counting on, Mother." Krel chuckled, crossing his arms again. The ship hummed again as the room they were standing in flashed with pixels of blue before fading into the living room and kitchen they grew to love a little too much.
A few moments later they were standing in front of the transduction chamber, waiting for their human disguises. They had already given their requests for their forms but Zardra said she would rarely leave the ship to need a new form. The three members of the configuration got their human skin as the lieutenant had to hold back a laugh at their commander.
"You might not leave that often but if someone were to enter you would still need a transduction." Aja explained to Zardra. The warrior thought about it for a moment before realizing the Queen in waiting was right. Vex had already taken off the transduction and placed himself in his favorite recliner with a sigh, knowing he wasn't going anywhere before sunrise.
"Perhaps, you are right." Zardra sighed as she moved to enter the transduction chamber herself. Krel had already programmed their serators before they got even close to Earth out of boredom.
"Wait, how are we going to know who's up or not?" Aja asked, noticing they didn't have their communicator and they, of course, had yet to get their phones.
"Simple, sister. We know a tech shop that's open twenty four seven." Krel replied, walking to the front door. Aja waved goodbye to Vex, who didn't even open his eyes but waved back, as they left the new/old home.
"At least we know what time it is." Aja giggled a little as she leaned over to look at her brother's watch, the one he had asked for just so they could know the time for now.
"Yeah, but even when we get our phones, it's almost midnight. Is anyone really going to be awake?" the younger sibling asked, taking a look at the same watch to check the time again. Aja shrugged her shoulders in uncertainty as they continued down the sidewalk towards downtown. The stars were in full view, and even though they knew Akiridian-5 had more stars in its sky, they never looked as pretty as Earth's neighboring stars. The siblings walked in comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of their home away from home.
They soon made it to their destination and, not surprisingly, the lights were still on and the door was unlocked. They stepped inside and cringed a little at the smell, but then again, they knew what they were walking into, literally. The bell above the door dinged at their entrance, alerting the shop owner.
"Oh my, sorry, one moment!" The Tarrons' heard the non-native man call from the back room. They walked further into the store as the sound of clattering and crashing came from the same area as the voice.
Aja and Krel laughed a little as Stuart came out of the doorway in his typical robe and slippers. He was trying to kick off one of the many containers he had from his foot, seeming as he stepped on it trying to get to the front.
"Not often I get customers this late. Sorry 'bout that. What can I do for ya?" he asked, leaning over the counter with his customer service smile. Both siblings knew they were going to play the royal card sooner or later so they just got it over with.
"We just need two cell phones." Aja said, holding up two of her fingers, before smirking. "Stuart of Durio." she addressed him. The durian in question flinched as his eyes grew wide.
"Come again." he said, standing up and backing away from them slightly, trying to play it off.
"Aja, you're going to scare him." Krel huffed. The mention of her name threw Stuart from fear into shock. "Don't worry, we're not from this planet either." Krel said, taking out his serator and shifting forms. Aja doing the same not too long after.
"Sorry for the scare." Aja laughed a little apology. The durian stared at the royals in utter shock, mouth hung open and everything.
"I have the prince and princess of Akiridian-5 in my shop." he breathed, running his hands through his hair. Stuart suddenly shook his head vigorously. "Where are my manners? It's an honor to be in your presence, your majesties." he said before bowing, one arm tucked under him and the other stretched far out to the side.
"Good to see you too, Stuart." Aja whispered, bowing her head with Krel. "Thank you, but bowing is really unnecessary." she said, back to her previous volume.
"What brings you here? Phones! You said that." he said, answering his own question, frantically looking around for the best phones he could come up with for being a used tech shop. Aja and Krel reactivated their transductions before the man gently held out two of one of the newer I-phones that were in really good shape.
"Thank you." both siblings said at the same time as they took their respective phones.
"Of course. I hope they will do. But I guess, what brings the most famous royalty in the universe to Earth, is what I meant earlier." he asked, huffing for air a little. Krel reached back to grab what currency they had before Stuart stopped him. "Ah, no royalty is paying in my store, these ones are on the house." he said with a smile.
"Fair enough, I'm sure we'll be paying you back later anyway." the darker skinned teen said as he started powering up the new phone to set it up.
"I'm sure you know of the world below, right?" Aja asked, trying not to give away the trolls, Seklos forbid the durian didn't know. Stuart nodded his head in a little confusion.
"I do, but I'm surprised that you know of it as well." he mentioned, tilting his head to the side slightly.
"Believe it or not, we have friends up here and down there and we're here to help them with some. . problems they're having." the Queen in waiting explained, still trying not to give away too much. They didn't need Stuart neck deep in their issues just yet.
"Lucky friends to have you guys on their side." Stuart said, smiling at them. Krel looked up from his phone, done setting it to his liking, with a similar smile as well as his sister.
"That they are. Thank you Stuart, house Tarron is in your debt." Aja thanked again as she walked backwards towards the door, her brother behind her with a wave.
"Oh and it's not prince and princess anymore. It's king and queen in waiting." Krel said, just to mess with the durian's head more. Stuart's jaw could have hit the floor before he started to fanboy over it all.
"No please, thank you for taking into consideration my humble little shop. I'm sure I'll see you around." he waved as the siblings exited the tech store. They could hear their similar inter-planetary being start squealing and laughing giddily through the glass windows of the building and they couldn't stop themselves from laughing.
"So who are we trying first?" Aja asked, handing her phone to her brother as they started walking back towards the suburbs of the town. Krel was done setting her phone up in seconds after getting used to the tech again with his own and handed it back to her.
"I was honestly thinking-" Krel cut off his train of thought as a thump sounded from the alleyway they were next to. Aja caught the sound as well and whipped her serator out in defense. The glowing blade coming centimeters from the person's face. The only light provided was that of the sword, so they were just able to make out a face they recognized.
"Sorry for the scare, please don't kill me.'' The welsh accent was all too familiar to the both of them as Aja retracted her serator.
"Douxie! Jeez, you should know not to sneak up on us." the elder Tarron chuckled a little as the wizard stepped out of the shadows.
"Yeah sorry." he apologized, scratching the back of his neck. The wizard was soon almost tackled to the ground, catching himself as Krel hugged him tight. Douxie didn't waste time to hug back with a laugh. "I missed you too, Krel." he said sweetly.
"Told you so." Aja bragged, gaining a harsh glare from her brother and another laugh from Douxie. It was then that the flying cat came round the corner, trying to find his familiar.
"There you are. Made some friends, I see." Archie said, coming to land on the wizards shoulder as Krel let go and took a small step back.
"Good to see you too, Archie." the tech master remarked, crossing his arms with sass.
"I can assume these are the Akiridian friends that know about the future?" the dragon asked, side eyeing Douxie. His familiar nodded with an eye roll. The siblings figured that the feline hadn't gotten his memories yet if he needed to ask that question.
"Yup, Archie, meet Krel and Aja of house Tarron. Akiridian royalty." he introduced, bowing dramatically towards them, Archie following in his lead.
"You know I hate that." Krel scolded, huffing through his nose and earning another laugh from the wizard as he stood up. "We were just about to contact you. I figured if anyone was up at this time, it would be you." the king in waiting said, chuckling to the next topic.
"In normal circumstances, that would be true. But I will say I would have been just as surprised to hear you guys were here." Douxie said as Archie shifted to his cat form. "A few of us are out on patrol right now, so I'm sure you would have reached one of us." he mentioned while pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.
"What do you mean, you didn't know we were coming?" Aja asked, catching how Douxie said he was surprised.
"Were we supposed to?" Douxie cocked his head to the side in confusion to the other teen. The siblings shared a look before turning back to the two magical beings.
"We've been talking to Jim for almost two weeks, or we were talking to him until about four days ago. We told him we'd be on Earth soon." Krel explained, watching as the wizards face changed from confusion to shock, a little disbelief before settling on understanding.
"No he didn't tell us, but then again, we've had a pretty stressful couple of weeks." he sighed, running his fingers through his hair.
"He did say something about some bad guys coming out earlier than you guys expected." Aja commented, recalling what their friend had said in text. Douxie and Archie cringed a little and the wizard sighed again.
"We lost control of trollmarket to an evil queen named Usurna. She helped Gunmar take over in the original timeline and that's how it ended up how you two saw it." Douxie explained with a tired expression. He knew of the stories from everyone about their experiences and he himself had even seen the wreckage of the one great market.
"What!?!" Aja almost shouted in shock and anger. She now understood why Jim would have forgotten to mention them to the rest of the team.
"And you didn't fight back immediately?" Krel asked, holding the same emotions as his sister but he asked the question more out of curiosity as to how powerful this foe was rather than judging them.
"Trollmarket doesn't see her as a threat. And the only proof we have against her is their memories, which isn't much to go off of." the dragon said, contributing to the conversation finally.
"She's the queen of the kurberas, ARRRGH!!!'s breed of troll. They're not exactly pushovers." Douxie further explained to the royal siblings. "Not to mention they have an evil changeling on their side, along with the fact that she even had tortured and put Jim under her control for a little bit back there." the wizard cringed at the memory, even though he and Archie hadn't witnessed it personally.
"Ok yeah, not the easiest enemy to deal with." Aja said, not knowing what else to say as both of them were in shock. Douxie then shook his head and a smile pulled at his lips.
"I'm sure the team would be happy to see you guys. We were all heading back to the meet up point to wrap up patrol anyway." he offered with his charming smile.
"Absolutely, we're not tired anyway." Aja yipped, perking up at the mention of seeing more of their friends. The boys seemed to get lost in each other's eyes before they were interrupted.
"Oh, so this is the secret lover." Archie teased in trollish to further point the blame towards his familiar. Douxie blushed before huffing and glaring at the cat on his shoulder. "That's not a 'no'." the dragon mentioned with a smirk, gaining an eye roll.
"C'mon, I'll lead you guys there." Douxie started to walk down the sidewalk in the direction of the spot he was talking about. The Tarron siblings had no idea what the feline had said but they brushed it off as they followed the once master wizard.
~~
"So you guys have been trying to find a way to win trollmarket back?" Krel asked as they walked through the forest, still walking to the meet up point.
"Yeah. We've been secretly going in and out of it for the last two weeks but because no troll thinks Usurna is evil, we can't find a good plan to take it back from her." Douxie explained as they started to hear the sound of another group talking.
"Getting close, I guess." Aja nearly asked as the human of their group chuckled with a nod. A small clearing came into view where Claire and Toby stood looking down at a troll that laid on the forest floor.
"Dude, you can't be dead yet." Toby snickered, pulling at the other teen's arm, trying to pull him up from the ground. Claire giggled as she shook her head. At the same time, Douxie and Archie huffed their own laughs, gaining the attention of the two other humans.
"There you guys are. We were starting to get worried." Claire said before even turning to see the approaching teens. Her and Toby turned at the same time as their expressions went from shocked to overjoyed to see the Akiridians.
"Hey, Queen Aja and DJ Kleb are back." Toby celebrated, moving over to greet them better. The half troll sat up on his elbows as he looked at the twins.
"Jim? You're blue again." Aja said, finally recognizing the troll in front of them, although they never really saw him as a troll that much.
"Yeah, screwing with the timeline did that to him." Douxie said, walking over to his brother and reaching out to help him off the ground, even though he really didn't need it.
"Did you guys just get here? We didn't even know you had your memories." Claire said as Douxie helped Jim to his feet.
"Yeah, thanks for telling us, your highness." the wizard teased, crossing his arms towards Jim as the younger teen gave his brother a half glare. It was then that Aja noticed how drained they all looked, but Jim looked the worst. Of course he did, he was the leader so he thought he had to find every answer. She had seen it in him before, when they were dealing with the titans.
"Wait, Jimbo, you knew they had their memories?" Toby asked as he and Claire pieced together what Douxie was implying. Jim sighed and rubbed his face.
"Yeah, also knew they were going to be here soon. Sorry for forgetting to tell you guys." he rasped out before a blue light flashed around his body. When it disappeared, he stood shorter and with less horns. The siblings were rather impressed but knew he wasn't a changeling, so they didn't comment on it.
"I guess it has been an eventful couple of weeks." Claire mentioned, understanding where the young king was coming from.
"Douxie caught us up on what was happening." Krel informed, easing the others a little, knowing they didn't have to try and explain things.
"It's good to see you guys." Jim said after a moment. His smile was tired but he would never show any weakness in it.
"Good to be back. You don't know how homesick Krel has been getting." Aja taunted, gaining a glare from her brother and laughs from everyone else.
"Shut up, Aja." Krel mumbled in defeat as he crossed his arms and wrinkled his nose in a pout.
"Anything weird on patrol aside the interplanetary beings?" Jim asked with a teasing tone towards the Akiridians. Douxie gave a huffed laugh as the cat on his shoulder answered.
"Nope, but then again, the fact that nothing was out is weird in itself." the undercover dragon reported.
"Not even a gnome or a nymph, and those guys are everywhere." Douxie added.
"We had the same luck." Claire told him. The happy mood from a few seconds ago was quickly turned downcast.
"Well, maybe with us here, we'll all have better luck." Aja offered, trying to brighten the mood again. The others smiled at the idea.
"Yeah, and maybe now you guys can see what trollmarket really looks like." Toby said. Jim and Claire shared a humored cringe, remembering how fu*ked up trollmarket had been when the Akiridians were first introduced to it.
"I think we should talk more tomorrow. The five of us have been up all day and halfway through the night. Some of us have even been up longer." Douxie said, shooting a look towards Jim, who huffed.
"Of course, we just wanted to make sure someone knew we were here." Krel said with a smile that turned to a slight smirk. "You guys can come to our place." he told them, Aja nodded in confirmation and agreement.
"Damn, you guys already set up?" Toby asked with an impressed smile, tilting his head a little.
"That was the first thing we had mother do." Aja explained with a chuckle. The sorcerers turned to the half troll in human form to ask if that was the game plan.
"Sounds good, we'll see you around~ what? Noon?" Jim said, racking his fingers through his hair.
"Yeah, that's fine. We'll make sure to tell Zardra so she doesn't try to kill you." Krel laughed, earning laughs from everyone else as well.
"You guys need a short cut?" Claire asked, pulling out a dagger that soon turned into a staff. She made a portal behind Jim and Toby before the Tarrons could reply.
"No but thank you Claire. We'll take the long way home." Aja said, bowing her head to a point where it was barely noticeable but still there.
"We'll see you guys tomorrow then." Krel waved as he started to walk back towards the street they turned off of to enter the trees.
"See ya." Toby called out before hopping through the dark mist. The others waved before jumping in the darkness as well. Douxie and Krel shared a more intimate look of goodbye before the wizard disappeared behind the black fog and the portal closed behind Claire as the last to go through.
"Don't worry, little brother. You'll see him tomorrow." Aja teased as she elbowed Krel slightly while they walked. Krel rolled his eyes but sighed and smiled as his eyes found the night sky again.
(A/N hello my subjects and Merry Christmas for those who celebrate. i was finally able to push past my writers block on this story to bring you all a new chapter(a real one. it seems i have a problem with some random plot every other chapter that i get stuck on forever but as soon as im past it, i fly through making and finishing chapters. the Akiridians have made it back and we have returned to Earth, yaayyy! please don't judge me on my KrelxDouxie ship, i really do think they would be the cutest couple(well, second cutest, only out did by Jlaire). the time from when they contacted Jim at first and this chapter was about two weeks, which is stated in the story but i just wanted to confirm it down here. you can't tell me Zardra wouldn't be hella good at poker, let's be honest. it came to my attention that i had forgotten about Luug this whole time so i wrote him in, he is our lovably space puppy. also, in re-reading my story, i came across a plot hole that i kinda left open. the team was able to get Killahead out of the museum and into trollmarkets vault back after they last fought Bular, but Douxie still has the one piece in his magical safe at the book store. as always i hope you all enjoyed and thanks for reading. Happy Holidays and your queen will see you all later. . . "love ya") word count - 5902 not including (A/N)