Y/N and Claire sneaked into Heartstone with her teleportation. They quickly hid behind some Heartstone as they heard Vendel and Ursuna discuss. Y/N leaned against the Heartstone crystal as Claire hid behind the college girl.
"The Trollhunter has gone too far. The denizens of Trollmarket will not be safe until Killahead Bridge is destroyed once and for all." Usurna said with a glare. "You know as well as I, Usurna, the pieces cannot be destroyed," Vender argued.
"No..." Usurna turned to Vendel, "But they can be thrown into a hole so deep that no living thing can hope to find them." Y/N's eyes were wide as saucers. "And I suppose you know of such a place. I cannot agree to this! You are signing the boy's death warrant!" He tapped his staff as he glared at Usurna.
"He signed it himself the moment he crossed into the Darklands. The edict has already been made. Killahead Bridge will never be found again." Claire and Y/N gasped. Claire covered her mouth. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Y/N turned around and grabbed the girl's shoulders. She nodded and Claire quickly opened a portal and both appeared at Claire's place.
She and Y/N agreed earlier that they would both check out what the Tribunal has to say. She, Toby, and Enrique went home before they jumped to Heartstone. Now she was staying over at Claire's place for tonight.
Y/N sat on the window seat looking out the stars. Claire opened her door and laid down on her bed. Claire pulled out her phone as she whispered to herself and NotEnrique appeared around her bed with a box. "You'll get him back, sis." Claire and Y/N smirked as NotEnrique corrected himself, "Uh, I mean, uh, 'spongeface.'"
He grabbed a sock from under her bed and Claire sat up looking at NotEnrique with sad eyes. "Wait, you're leaving?" NotEnrique spoke up and stopped in front of her mirror. "Well, I was thinking... Now that your brother's out of the Darklands, I'm stuck looking like this... forever." NotEnrique looked down and Y/N walked towards him and patted his back.
"Well, what are you gonna do?" Claire now sat on the edge of her bed as she and Y/N looked at NotEnrique. NotEnrique walked away to the window and opened the window as he told her his plan. "Who knows? Trollmarket ain't my style. Probably find some comfy hole to make my own. Take the A-Train down to Trouble Town. Got no reason to stay around here anymore." Then Claire walked up to NotEnrique with a stuffed bunny, "Suzy!" NotEnrique smiled at her.
"Keep it. She'd miss you." NotEnrique hesitantly grabbed her but he did and hugged her. Claire and Y/N looked at each other and she nodded, Claire turned to NotEnrique, "But what if there is a reason for you to stay? What if you could help us get Jim back? What do you say?"
NotEnrique looked down and looked at them with a small smile climbing on his face.
-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-
The next day arrived and Y/N told Douxie she was going to leave early. Douxie nodded and said he'd have to cover a coworker's shift earlier and have to stay over at the bookstore. Y/N arrived at Trollmarket, in the library, Blinky had piles of books all over the table yelling to himself. F/N was busy sleeping.
"Second part of harvest. No, you fool!" He sighed and slammed his face against the book. Y/N patted his back as if to say, 'Don't give up' Then they turned to the frozen Aaarrrgghh!!!, the amulet glowing, he then rubbed his eyes. He had to stay up for a while to search for the cure. Then Toby came in with a giant book. "Did you bring me what I asked?"
"Never told me the storage tombs were infested with scorch beetles." And speaking of little purple, glowing bugs crawled out from the book making Toby gasp and start squishing them and was about to throw the book, "Bug bomb!"
"No, no, no, no, no!" Y/N quickly grabbed the book from his chubby hands and walked over to the table as Toby squashed the scorch beetles, making a fart noise. Y/N placed it down and moved over so Blinky could scavenge through the pages. He blew away some dust and started mumbling, "Now, where is it? Where is it?"
Toby continued killing them, hopping to Aaarrrgghh!!!, he stopped in front of his wingmen and looked at the ticking amulet. He turned to Blinky and Y/N as they looked through, "Why would a book about the thing that killed Aaarrrgghh!!! help us now?"
"Because, Toby, if we can uncover who created the poison, maybe we can find the one who holds the antidote." Y/N explained and Blinky let out a cheer, "Aha!" Y/N looked at the page he was on and smiled but frowned immediately. "What?"
Blinky then looked down holding his chin when he looked at the page, "Oh, no, grumbly gruesome." Toby lifted his arms as if to say which side, "Is that good news or bad news?" Y/N and Blinky looked at each other and he held the book, "It's more of a bad thing and the only good thing was the antidote. Soooo... Both."
Blinky then started explaining, "It was created by the ancient guild of changeling spies, as old as they are mysterious. If you're fortunate enough to find a member, you'll unfortunately find death. Where they walk, footsteps disappear. They are the Janus Order." Toby had his jaw dropped a little, letting out a hasp, but a scorch beetle surprised him, appearing from his shoulder and he quickly killed it.
Blinky sighs, "If the cure for Aaarrrgghh!!! lies with the Janus Order, it may as well lie with your... Easter Bunny." He stood in front of Aaarrrgghh!!! and looked at his friends and shrugged, looking down and staring at Aaarrrgghh!!!. Toby tried to cheer him up.
"Hey, what was all that about finding hope when things are hopeless? We'll find a way." He smiled at Blinky and Vendel's voice startled them. "Find a way to what, exactly?" Y/N nodded her head at him as the two flinched and turned to the elder troll. Blinky skidded in front of him, stopping in his tracks, to stop him from walking towards the book that lay open, "We were just tidying up! This place is a disaster, per usual."
Blinky immediately put the books away, as Vendel spoke with a warning, "Need I remind you, after yesterday's incident, the Tribunal has you three on my strict probation. Out with it!" He tapped his staff and glared at the three. Toby sighed and looked at Aaarrrgghh!!!, Just... looking for a miracle to save my wingman.
Vendel turned to the frozen Aaarrrgghh!!!, "So, you aren't meddling with the Tribunal's edict to bury Killahead Bridge where no troll nor mortal can ever find?" Blinky and Toby's eyes widen at the news. "They're moving the bridge?!" Y/N looked at the two, right she and Claire didn't have a chance to tell them yet.
"No, but we need--" then Claire appeared around the corner cutting Toby off "...to move on without Jim. Don't worry, Vendel. We've accepted the Tribunal's decision." Claire stood beside Blinky bowing her head down, Y/N following and Claire nudged Blinky, who smiled and Toby not getting it.
"Wait, we have?" Y/N nudged him, "We have, we have." He and Blinky nodded, and Vendel accepted their white lie. "I wish it were different, but, to go against the Elder Word, is to court treason, war."
"Jim put more than himself in danger by going into the Darklands. We all have to live with the consequences." Claire spoke, and Y/N smiled at her little act. "Very well. Tidy away." With that, Vendel walked away. Once he was out of sight and earshot, Blinky cried out. "Great Gizmodius, they're taking the bridge! How will we rescue Master Jim now?"
Y/N placed a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, Claire and I saw this coming." Claire nodded and recalled last night's plan, "I had NotEnrique stow away in one of the crates when the pieces were shipped out. That way, I'll have an emotional anchor." The. Toby jumped in excitement.
"An emotional anchor for us to shadow jump in, to get the pieces back!" He then gasped in realization, "Oh, my gosh! We're gonna steal a bridge! Magic bridge heist!" Toby cheered. Yet another mission to steal something. Y/N chuckled and checked the time, "Well, we better get going." Toby didn't hear her yet until he was done with his cheer and pose.
"Come on, T.P., we gotta get to class." Claire walked away as Toby looked at her confused with the new nickname, "'T.P.'?" Y/N and Toby followed her with a raised brow. "'Toby Pie'," Claire confirmed and Toby shook his head. "I don't like it. Mm-mm." Claire chuckles, "Don't fight it." F/N woke up and looked around making Y/N chuckle.
-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-
Y/N arrived at school, and went inside, people congratulated her for winning Spring Fling. Y/N entered her class and sat in her seat. The school went by okay and she was in recess. Which was a perfect moment for a phone call. The caller was Claire, "Hello, Claire?"
"Hey, Y/N. NotEnrique called and we have to go get him, but we need to find a secluded area. Meet us in the forest a bit further away. Can you track us?" Y/N nodded even though, Claire couldn't see and went to the office to tell them she wasn't feeling well, and needed to go home.
The office let her and she ran to her car, Y/N picked up her friend's location and she drove off.
-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-
It was evening already and she saw Toby and Claire waiting by the side of the road. They waved at her car and she parked it on the side. She got out and took out her flashlight. Flicking it on, the three ventured into the forest. Toby placed the fetch over his head. "Still no sign of Jim?"
Toby then took his head out, "Nothing but barren Darklands. And I'm running out of Nougat Nummies." He threw a Nougat Nummy in. The three stopped at an area, filled with most trees. "You think this is secluded enough?" Claire looked at Y/N and Toby. "For a magic bridge? This far out, we could hide a few dead bodies."
Y/N chuckled and nodded, "Yeah. This area isn't bad." Toby continued chuckling until he bumped into Claire and let out a few chuckles. Claire stared at him with a frown. "All right, let's do this quick." Claire gets out her Shadow Staff, "Making portals is exhausting, and I don't know how many I've got in me."
She then opened a portal. "Wow! You're turning pro with that magic shadow stick." Y/N patted her shoulder, and Claire smiled, "Well, it's powered by emotions. Getting the guy I like out of the Darklands? Plenty of emotion." Toby looked at her with a surprised look and Y/N only smirked. Y/N placed F/N down, who popped out from her bag and set him down. Y/N went straight in and bumped into a box, she moved away, and a few moments later Claire appeared also bumping into it.
All of a sudden, rattling noises startled them and Y/N flashed her flashlight at the box that was slowly opening, and out came NotEnrique. "To"ok you long enough." Claire glared at him for scaring them. "What are you doing in there?"
NotEnrique looked around stuttering, "I-- uh, Suzy's a little scared of the dark. And, with all the freaky noises, this place is giving her the heebie-jeebies." NotEnrique hugged Suzy making Claire and Y/N chuckle, Claire placed her flashlight on one of the boxes and placed her staff beside her, "All right, come on, Where are we?"
Claire walked away to one of the crates that she and Y/N hit against. NotEnrique and Y/N came over to help her. "All's I could make out was someone saying "starboard" or "captain." We could be on a spaceship, for all I know."
All of a sudden they heard a horn blowing and Claire placed a hand over her ear and she heard some voices, "Yeah, yeah, the paperwork says dump it here." Claire looked at NotEnrique and Y/N. "'Dump it'?" Y/N repeated those words and realized immediately, then they heard some movements, "We're on a cargo ship!" Y/N stated the cargo shook a bit violently making all three fall to the floor, "They're dumping us into the ocean!"
"The ocean?! But I-- But Suzy can't swim!" NotEnrique said, hugging Suzy. The cargo continued shaking. Y/N grabbed the two closer, "Dleihs!" (Shield) A barrier appeared around them "Hold on!" Then the suddenly floated up and the portal closed in the process of being dropped.
Once the shaking stopped, Y/N's shield disappeared. NotEnrique started to complain, holding his head, "You never said nothin' about no water! I knew this idea was lousy!" Claire didn't have it and stood up, opening a portal. "Just stick with the plan, and let's get the pieces out of here before it's too late."
Y/N already started to move them and Claire immediately helped her. Once the next one went threw, water started slowly pouring in, "The metal can't hold for long! The water's going to pour in at any minute! Hurry!"
And so they continued loading everything off one by one there were a few of them sliding up and down due to them in the water. NotEnrique and Y/N continued to throw the pieces as Claire continued opening portals. Y/N wanted to tell her to rest and let her do it but Claire wouldn't have it because she didn't want them both to waste their usage.
Claire was losing her strength on how many portals she opened. As she and NotEnrique lifted another one, Claire lost her footing and dropped the box, NotEnrique, and Y/N already by her side. Y/N held the girl up, Claire resting against her, taking a breath and the portal closed. Y/N's eyes furrowed.
Y/N helped Claire up once she regained enough strength. "Claire you can't keep doing this. Let me handle the portals." Claire shook her head and quickly opened another, "No, Y/N. I don't want you to waste your strength. I can still do this!" Y/N looked at her worried and allowed her. She and NotEnrique continued to throw some boxes.
They were down to two pieces already. Some dents appeared and water started pouring in. Y/N ran over, "Dleihs!" Shields appeared and stopped the water for a period of time, "That won't hold for long." Then the portal suddenly closed. "Oh, no! The portal!"
Claire grabbed her shadow staff and tried to open another, "I can't. It won't work. I got nothing left." She looked at Y/N and NotEnrique with apologetic looks until NotEnrique started to talk smack. "Right. I knew you'd get us killed!"
Claire looked at him with disbelief, "What?" NotEnrique continued to yell at her, "You wanna know the truth? Fine. About to die, anyway. I decided to stick around 'cause you're a pushover. I can do whatever I want, and you're too weak to stop me!"
"Excuse me? How dare you!" Y/N glanced between the two just watching the show. "I use your toothbrush to clean me ears. I steal cash from your purse. And you know your lucky Papa Skull jacket? I like to call that my snot rag! Hilarious!"
Claire gripped her shadow staff as it slowly turned dark, "Ugh, why, you... you... you baby genius!" She looked at her staff to see it recharged. "Yeah, I know. Now, come on! We've just got a few more!" The two grabbed the second last one and threw it in, "Wait a minute. You didn't really do that stuff, right?"
NotEnrique slowly said, "Uh, don't use your toothbrush. Whoa!" They turned to see behind them water pouring in. Claire let out an 'oh, no' Y/N climbed onto the last piece and helped the two up. NotEnrique panicked. "We're never gonna get 'em all! Time to bail out of this death trap!"
"No! We lose the bridge, we lose Jim. We need this last crate." Claire said water started filling the area and Y/N tried to block it but it didn't hold for long as it broke. "Come on, just power up that staff and make a portal under the crate, or we're doomed! Do it! Do it! Do it now!" NotEnrique hopped onto Claire's shoulders shaking her.
Claire tried to open the portal but it wouldn't work. "Come on, kid. Last piece!" NotEnrique encouraged her. "Oh, I can't! I'm exhausted!" She looked at him but NotEnrique didn't give up on her. "Yes, you can! You have to!" Neither did Y/N. "You can do this, Claire!"
Claire was thankful for the encouragement but she couldn't get it charged, "It's not charging!" The water slowly reached their feet. Claire tried to get in her emotions but it wasn't working, "Ugh! I can't get it to work."
NotEnrique hopped onto her head and looked at her, " Look at me, big eyes. Dig deep. Maybe anger isn't your thing. Maybe you gotta find somethin' stronger inside." Water started reaching to their shoulders, "I can do this."
"Heck yeah, you can!" Claire shut her eyes, focusing and repeating herself, encouraging herself, "I can do this. I can do this. I can do this!"
"So, do it already!" Y/N cast a spell, and all three had shields around their head. They dived in and Claire tried opening the portal. Y/N and NotEnrique held onto the crate. They feel the crate go deeper down and cracks soon start to appear in their masks. "Hold your breath!" The two followed Y/N's order and soon, their shields broke. Not able to create a shield right now, Claire continued to open a portal.
All of a sudden they hear NotEnrique grunting and both turn to see him already loose air, his eyes roll back, and lets go of Suzy and the crate. Y/N grabbed onto him and Claire grunted, trying to open the portal.
Soon, Y/N was almost losing air. Claire looked at the two and saw Suzy hit the top of the crate. Claire was feeling something in her and she let out a gurgle scream and a portal opening underneath the crate and all the water started to pour out.
Y/N, NotEnrique, and Claire dropped to the ground and the portal above them disappeared. The two coughed out the water and Claire turned to NotEnrique turning him on his back. "NotEnrique?" Once she turned him over, she didn't see his chest moving, "Ah! Toby, he's not breathing!"
Toby ran over immediately, "Oh, no! Oh, no! NotEnrique!" Toby kneeled down and immediately went into CPR. F/N was on his shoulder and jumped down next to him. "NotEnrique..." Claire spoke his name, softly. The four surrounded the changeling as Toby continued giving him CPR. F/N squeaked sadly.
"He's still not breathing." Toby then pushed his chest with anxiety whelming up inside him, "He's still no breathing. Come on! Come on! Come on, you little imp! The party ain't over yet! Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!" Claire was almost shedding tears.
"Come on, NotEnrique," Claire said and Y/N placed a hand on his hand, grabbing it. Hoping he wakes up soon. And NotEnrique spat out some water, Tovt moving away and dropping to his side. "Oh, it worked! Ah, thank you, Ms. Janeth!"
Claire grabbed NotEnrique and hugged him. Thankful he was alive. Y/N joined in and F/N jumped up and down. NotEnrique told them, trying to catch his breath. "I told you, I can't swim." Claire chuckled and Y/N scratched his head. NotEnrique held a fist to Toby and he fist-bumped Toby.
Toby sat up and looked around them, "Claire! Y/N! You guys got all the pieces! We did it! We stole an entire freaking bridge!" Toby held out a high-five to them, Y/N returned the gesture but Claire was exhausted.
"Yeah. Don't let Jim ever say we never did anything for him." Claire said, trying to catch her breath. NotEnrique smiled at them, "Thank you. You did good back there, kid. What emotion did you use to get us out of that tin can?"
Claire looked down, "Fear. I was afraid... I lost you." Y/N placed a hand on her shoulder and brought her in for a hug. Claire smiled and lifted her arm around her shoulder, F/N crawled over to NotEnrique hopping onto his head. Y/N helped Claire stand up and everyone turned to an unconscious person.
"I'm the king of the ocean." He mumbled out, Y/N crunched a little when the crate landed on him. "Who's he?" Toby groaned, "That's Steve. A jerk at our school." Y/N hummed. She did hear a couple of complaints from him. "What are we gonna do about him?" Toby hummed and smirked. He then grabbed his crown and started to record with his phone.
As Toby was mocking Steve. Y/N helped Claire up, "Okay, we need to dry you off. Ydear aremac tag!" (Ready Camera Gat) A bright light surrounded Claire and Y/N and they were good as new. "Nice one." Claire complimented her as she checked herself. Y/N nodded. "Okay, I'm done."
Toby walked to them with a smile. "Alright, you guys hop into my car and Steve too. I'll strap your bikes to my car. Come on."
Y/N carried Steve to her car, helped Claire and Toby put their bikes strapped to her car hopped in, and drove back home.
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