They stumbled into the gas station, giving the Monster Donut a wide berth. For whatever reason, the beasties there hadn't caught on to their scent yet. Carter wondered if being covered in mud and slime had something to do with it.
The lone cashier at the register jumped when she saw them walk in. They must have been quite a sight, a group of dirty teenagers in armor and carrying weapons of varying historical relevance staggering into a gas station. Fenris squeezed through the doors and immediately headed for the beef jerky. Archie, still in dragon form, followed him muttering something about smoked salmon.
Steve emerged from the restroom with two whole rolls of paper towels and started distributing it to the wet members of the group, before he joined Toby and Claire in perusing the snacks. The cashier gawked at them, just staring, probably wondering what the protocol was for this.
"Fenris, you know we have to pay for that," Carter called, as his dog was poking his nose into a pack of jerky.
"You have to pay for it. Seeing as how I don't have pockets, nor money, I don't have to worry about it."
Carter rolled his eyes. "This is why I don't take you anywhere."
The cashier continued to stare, her blue eyes wide. "Uh—"
"Yeah, sorry about that." Jim said, following Claire and Toby to the cash register as they dumped their assortment of snacks onto the counter. "Long story."
The cashier blinked a couple of times, looked Jim up and down, then blinked some more. She cleared her throat and started scanning the items. "So... King Arthur." She looked up at him, eyeing the sword on his back. "Cash, card, or gold coins?"
From the other side of the store, Douxie laughed. Jim looked flustered. Claire was fighting back her smile, and Toby was snickering into his hand.
Jim said, still a bit flustered. "C— Card." He reached into his inter-dimensional pocket to pull out his wallet.
The cashier ran it, and began bagging the snacks. "You're those guys from Arcadia?"
"You know about us?" Toby asked.
"We get a lot of weird customers in here," she explained. Carter peered at her name tag. Marissa. "Some weirder than others." Marissa shrugged. "You definitely aren't the strangest patrons I've seen. Although, getting a good look at Excalibur for the first time was a bit of a shock."
Douxie appeared at Jim's side, leaning on the counter. "You a wizard?"
She shook her head. "No, my brother is. He works at HexTech. I only hear about all the fun stuff second hand."
Douxie smiled. "Well thank you for your help. Do you perhaps have towels we could use? Some of our friends had a dip in the lake."
Jim shoved at his shoulder. "I should've pushed you in."
Douxie ignored him. "How long has that lake been home to a grendelwylld?"
Marissa blinked. "A what?"
"Did you not know about that?"
"I don't even know what that is."
"A grendelwylld is a descendant of Grendel." He explained. "You know, the giant from Beowulf."
She nodded slowly. "Oh."
"Yeah, if you go out there just steer clear of that lake." Douxie smiled. "Towels?"
"Oh, right." She reached under the counter, handing him a stack of folded towels. "Here."
"Thank you," Douxie turned and handed them out. He tossed one at Jim's head.
Carter took the towel Douxie offered and started drying his hair. "A grendelwylld?"
"Why do you always say it like I'm making it up?" Douxie asked.
"Because that sounds made up."
"Did you even read Beowulf as a kid?"
Carter snorted. "No. You know I only read Lord of the Rings."
"I'll have you know Beorn from The Hobbit was based on Beowulf." Douxie said, leaning on a shelf. "Sort of."
"How interesting," Carter said dead-pan, attempting to dry his shirt but getting nowhere fast. "Fuck, I'm going to be walking around in wet clothes for the next few hours."
"Could be worse," Douxie said, voice suddenly quiet. "You could have drowned."
"Not really," Carter grumbled. "I was underwater for at least three minutes. Nothing happened."
"Yeah, but Carter, that happened before you even knew about this... partial death immunity!" He pinched the bridge of his nose, looking weary and scared. Carter felt his chest tighten at the sight of it. "I need you to stop doing stuff like that. What if you still could have died? You still went in there without a plan. You're only alive because your soul is bound to the Underworld."
Carter opened and closed his mouth, feeling lost. "Douxie—"
"I can't keep having this conversation with you," he whispered, voice breaking. Tears glistened in the corners of his eyes. "I can't keep begging you to stop risking your life only for you to turn around and ignore me. I can't keep doing this,Carter."
"Douxie, I—" he sighed, running a hand through his damp curls. "What do you want me to say? That I'll stop being what I am? That I'll stop fighting, because you know I can't. Didn't we— didn't we already talk about this?"
Douxie crossed his arms, jaw clenching as he looked at the wall behind Carter. It was his annoying little way of being passive aggressive during an argument. No eye contact. "You told me that you didn't think we'd be allowed to stop."
"And you agreed with me."
"That doesn't mean I want you to go out of your way to get yourself killed!"
Carter stared at him. A surge of anger spiked through his chest and he roughly grabbed Douxie's arm, yanking him closer to make him look him in the eye. "What would you rather have me do? Nothing? Just sit there while everyone else risks their lives?" He met Douxie's glare with his own. "You don't get to tell me not to fight. You don't get to tell me to pull back. Not at a time like this. Not when you know there's so much more at stake than just my life."
Douxie roughly pulled his arm back, anger flashing in his eyes, but also fear. Fear for him. "I only care about you."
Carter leaned back, giving himself room to breathe. He crossed his arms and looked away. "If that were true, you wouldn't be so insistent on calling Jim your king." He took a deep breath and slowly met Douxie's eyes. "Don't pretend that I'm the only thing in this world you care about. Don't lie to yourself, and don't lie to me. We both know it's not true."
"Carter—"
"Douxie, I love you." Carter told him with a breath. "No matter what, that's never going to change. But we're on a mission, and I can't let you be this distracted worrying about me."
Douxie looked into his eyes for a long moment. Carter could see his anger melting away, replaced by the emotion that drove it. Fear. "What do you mean?"
"Baby," Carter whispered, letting his anger go and pulling Douxie towards him. "I know you're scared for me. I know exactly what this is doing to you, and the way you're handling it." He gently squeezed Douxie's hands. "I know you're trying to protect me, but what I need from you right now is for you to focus on the quest. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go home, and the sooner I get to marry you." He rose up on his toes and kissed Douxie gently. "I want to marry you so fucking badly..."
Douxie wrapped his arms around Carter's waist, lips brushing together. "I know... me too."
"We're going to be okay," Carter whispered to him, even though he knew he couldn't be certain about that. He wanted to believe it. He had to. "We'll get through this."
Douxie sighed softly, pressing his forehead to Carter's. "We will... I love you, Sunshine."
Carter smiled. "I know... I love you too, Moonlight."
Douxie let out a little laugh. "The little opposites nickname isn't as cute as you think it is."
Carter's smile widened. "Then why do you laugh every time I do it?"
"Because you're cute," Douxie said and kissed him again.
***
Harley sat on the cold linoleum floor, leaning against the side of a shelf. He'd never been inside of a gas station before. It was bright and cold. He decided he didn't like it very much.
He shivered a little, still very cold and very wet. He was slightly regretting his decision to come along, but not enough to seriously think about going home. He needed to do this. He had to be here for them. Even if they didn't really like him yet.
Harley wasn't an idiot. He could see the apprehension in their eyes. They didn't trust him yet. That was okay. He wouldn't expect them to.
He glanced to his right, seeing his cousin and his wizard soulmate having a quiet discussion. Their voices were too low for Harley to hear what they were saying, but he quickly looked away when Carter kissed Douxie.
They reminded him a little bit of his dads. Always kissing and holding hands. Always so in love with each other that it was slightly awkward to watch them.
"Hey," Jim said, sitting next to him. His armor scraped against the floor and Harley winced. "You doing okay?"
Harley nodded, keeping his gaze on the floor pattern. "Yes. Thank you, by the way. For saving me."
Jim gave him a smile. "Of course. I wasn't going to just let you drown."
Harley closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. Those few seconds he'd spent underwater, trapped and being dragged deeper under by that thing had been the single most terrifying experience in his life. And Jim and Carter had handled it like it was nothing. Like it was easy. "I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this," he admitted quietly.
Jim pursed his lips. "Well..." he trailed off, thinking. After a moment, he looked back at Harley and gave him a smile. "For what it's worth, I think you're handling your first day in the real world pretty well."
"You think so?"
Jim nodded. "Yeah, I do."
Harley smiled too. "Thanks."
A deafening screech shattered the windows. The ground shook, light fixtures swung, and the Trollhunters were drawing their weapons at a moment's notice, ready to fight. Another loud screech cut through the air and Harley clamped his hands over his ears.
Jim was standing in front of him, Excalibur drawn, glaring into the darkness outside. Blue plasma dripped from Douxie's fingers and onto the floor. The unmistakable whirring hum of shadow magic emanated from Claire as she summoned her power.
For a moment, nothing happened. Nothing came for them. The buildings outside were quiet and dull. Harley slowly got to his feet as Jamie nocked an arrow in his bow and Aanya drew her sword. Olivia was gripping tightly to her knife, and Antigone had her fists bunched like she was going to fistfight whatever was out there.
"What is it?" Marissa whispered.
"I don't know," the king said, voice low. His gaze was still fixed on the street opposite them. "Doux?"
The wizard was peering into the darkness, a blue haze in his eyes. His fingers twitched. The king shifted his stance and readied his sword.
"At your word," he said to his brother, shoulders squared. Always ready for a fight. "Just say when."
Hisirdoux swiveled his head to the left, eyes widening. Magic crawled up his arm. "I can't see all of them, but there's a lot."
"A lot of what?" Steve demanded.
Laura backed into a shelf, green eyes flashing with terror. "I see them too. Those are the same things that attacked us."
"Wonderful," Douxie muttered, in a tone that indicated anything but.
"Child," a sickening voice drifted through the air. "We know you have it. Give it to us."
"Oh, hi I don't like that." Jim said.
"Give what to you?" Douxie asked.
"Give iiittttt!" The voice hissed again, and then the shadows leapt out at them.
Harley ducked as one of the monsters crashed into the shelf behind him. Marissa screamed and dove behind the counter. He turned just as the beast lunged for him again, and was promptly skewered by a very sharp sword.
Carter leapt over the remains and the destroyed shelf, going after a cluster of them who were all trying to get in through the broken window. Harley watched, standing still in the midst of the chaos, burdened by the sudden realization that he couldn't do anything.
***
Aja followed Carter through the broken window, helping him keep the majority of the beasts away. She swung her serrator into one's stomach, cringing when its guts sprayed all over the sidewalk. She was not usually squeamish but this was, as Steve would put it, extremely rank.
More broken glass scattered over the street as Toby went flying, from presumably being tossed by one of the monsters. Thank the gods he and Claire had upgraded their armor years ago.
Toby got to his feet with few scrapes, hefting Warhammer and plunging back into battle. Jim and Douxie had managed to drive the rest of the beasts out of the gas station and onto the road so they'd have more room to fight. Aja caught a glimpse of Krel shielding Harley from more monsters. Where were they all coming from?
To her left, Carter was grappling with a large fanged monster. He was on its back and it was trying fruitlessly to shake him off. A bronze cable was tightening around its neck.
Aja turned her attention back to the fight, scanning the battlefield. They were leaping, quite literally, out of the shadows. These things were unlike anything she'd seen before. But how to beat them?
"Douxie!" She threw her serrator in spear form into a monster's mouth, running past its now limp form, ripping her serrator out of its body. "What are they?"
"Hell if I know!" He shouted over the ear-splitting howls as the wind began picking up. "They're like—" he yelled as one of them sprang from nowhere and tackled him.
Aja kicked it off him and swung her serrator. It cut easily into its thick fur-like covering, drawing blood. "Like what?"
When he didn't answer her, she turned to see blood flowing down his arm, his hand covered in the thick dark liquid as he tried to staunch the blood flow. Kleb.
"Douxie!" Aja dragged him to his feet and out of the way of the main fight. "Are you okay!?"
"Yes," he said quickly, face pinched with pain. "It looks worse than it actually is."
She activated her serrator into a shield, looking at him over her shoulder. "It looks pretty bad."
He clenched his jaw, shucking off his jacket. Blood stained the grass red. He pressed his hand to the wound again, smoke curling off his fingers. Aja kept them separated from the fight, keeping him safe until he gave her the all clear.
Magic wisped from his hand, the veins under his skin glowing blue. Douxie took a deep breath, clearly bracing himself for pain. He squeezed his eyes shut and blue light enveloped his hand, a hissing sound filling the air as he cauterized his own wound. Aja had seen him do this plenty of times before, more than once not even on himself.
She pursed her lips, turning her head away when he couldn't keep down a hiss of pain. She hated the necessity of it, but they couldn't finish this battle without Douxie, and he couldn't finish it if he was bleeding excessively.
"Okay," he said through a gasp. Aja turned to look at him again, the crudely sealed wound no longer bleeding. "Carter's going to kill me."
"Yes," she agreed, staying close as he flipped through runes on his bracelet. "Or Jim."
Douxie nodded. "They can tag-team it."
***
Jim leapt through a barrage of swarming monsters. Were they multiplying? It looked like they were multiplying. Why were there so many?
"Jim!" Carter yelled for him.
Jim had barely turned towards him before he was being knocked to the ground and something very large and heavy was flying over his head. He flinched away from the dirt it kicked up as it crashed to the ground, leveling a few trees.
A bronze shield was, well, shielding his head from the debris. Jim caught a glance of short blond curls and looked up.
"Hey," he wheezed out. Not even magic armor could protect him from the force of Carter's tackles. "Thanks for the warning."
"I called your name, didn't I?" Carter said with far too much sass. He got to his feet and offered Jim a hand. "You have terrible spacial awareness. That guy was going right for you."
"I was busy," Jim complained, hooking his foot under Excalibur's hilt, kick-flipping it up and catching it. "But thank you."
"Yeah," Carter glanced at the new crater in the road, frowning when he saw the massive hulking pile of black fur picking itself up. He sighed and drew his swords as his shield disappeared back into the rune imbued bracelet charm hanging off his wrist. "We should have brought Aarrrgghh."
"We can take this guy." Jim smiled and nudged him. "Two swords are better than one."
Carter gave him a glance, a smirk pulling at his lips. He flipped his swords, the twin blades cutting through the air. "Three, if you wanna get technical about it."
"I don't," Jim said. "Offense or defense."
"You know what I say," his grin was growing. "The best defense is a good offense."
"Awesome," Jim hefted Excalibur and they both took a step back as big and ugly dragged itself out of the hole in the road. "You go high and I go low?"
"Sounds good," Carter said and launched himself at the beast.
Jim watched him for a moment as he scaled its foreleg and swung himself onto its back. He shook his head, privately wondering how it was possible this guy, who'd become one of his best friends, had survived on this planet for over a hundred years when he was such a reckless dumbass. "You really know how to pick your people, Jimbo." He muttered to himself, keeping himself out of the way of the monster's teeth as he slashed at its enormous legs.
***
Claire was getting tired of that buzzing sound. It was loud and all around her, echoing off the bodies of the beasts surrounding her. Harley had found her in the chaos, wide-eyed and obviously terrified.
"Claire!" He shouted, staring at the Monster Donut behind them. "I— I think I have an idea!"
"What?" She asked, conjuring a shield around them. The beasts screeched in outrage, slamming into her shield. "Now would be good, Harley."
"We have to destroy the building," he said hurriedly.
She blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"They're coming from the Monster Donut!" He yelled. "Can't you hear it?"
Claire opened and closed her mouth, then realized what he meant. She could hear the constant buzzing of a portal somewhere below them. She hadn't realized what it was before.
"Alright," she grabbed his arm and tugged him close, sending out a shock wave to clear a path. "Krel!"
The Akiridion looked up from where he was assembling some sort of bomb. "What?"
"Come with me!" Claire shouted. "Hurry!"
He got to his feet and jogged over to her. The three of them quickly ran into the building and slammed the doors shut. It was uncomfortably empty.
"Okay," Harley breathed, kneeling down and placing his palms flat on the floor. "We have to take out the foundation and the support beams." He nodded to one of the walls without moving from his spot. "Right there should do." He looked at Claire, little flares of purple light flickering in his eyes. "You need to help me block the shadows."
"Excuse me?" Claire gawked.
"They're only able to travel through the shadows once they come through the portal, if you and I block them, we can buy enough time for Krel to blow the place!"
Claire looked at Krel and he just looked concerned. "Blow up the building while we're inside it?"
Harley nodded. "Yes."
"That's fucking crazy." Claire sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Maybe a little bit of crazy is what we need," Harley countered.
Claire opened her mouth to argue when she heard the sound of something slipping from the shadows. Another monster, smaller but otherwise the same as the others. Long and thin with coarse black fur so thick you couldn't see its eyes. It peeled itself from the shadow cast on the wall, but suddenly stopped midway through and screeched angrily.
Claire looked down, eyes widening. Harley had his hand held out towards the beast, black smoke curling off his arm and fingers. The monster screeched and clawed at the wall, but couldn't free itself.
Krel drew his serrator and shot it through its skull. It went limp.
Harley dropped his hand and the beast dropped, the lower half of its body gone. It hit the ground with a hollow THWAP before melting into the floor.
"How did you do that?" Claire asked, astonished.
Harley drew in a deep breath and she noticed he was shaking. "I can't... um—" he sighed and got to his feet. "You need to help me. I can't use my powers well, Claire."
Claire pursed her lips and glanced at where the monster had been. "Okay." She nodded. "Just... blocking the shadows, right?"
Harley nodded, seeming encouraged by her participation. "You can hear them coming through. It's simple."
Simple, but not easy. Claire thought. She looked at Krel and he nodded, digging in his bag for more explosives. What are you getting yourself into?
***
[Harley's powers are gonna be... interesting.
Claire is gonna discover some new abilities too.
Comments are appreciated, thank you for reading!]