I told him the first thing that came to my mind, which certainly not the brightest thing to say to him.
"You do not look like your picture."
I blushed pink and refused to meet his eyes, but that didn't take away from the fact that it was true. Gone was the short, chubby boy that Toby had once been only a few years ago. Now, in front of me stood a tall and muscular boy, with a charming smile and gelled hair. He was completely unrecognisable, yet his eyes still held the warmth and humour that the photo had depicted him with.
Toby waved his hand at me, in a dismissive notion. "That photo was taken years ago. This is the new, and improved, Tobias."
"Wow. I mean-" I stuttered, when I realised what I had said, "- no, it's just- I-"
He chuckled smoothly, running a hand through his hair. "It's okay. I tend to have that affect on girls. To be a Trollhunter, I had to be fit and healthy enough to run long distances, so my body quickly changed."
"I hope you're not stealing my girlfriend, Tobes," a playfully scolding voice came from one of the hallway openings and my head snapped up to see Jim.
Even though I had seen him last night, my heart still fluttered. I staggered over to him, pulling him in a tight embrace which he returned. His hug would have killed me if he used all of his strength, but I guessed he would have gotten used to holding humans. I pulled back from him slightly, breathing in relief.
"I missed you," I told him honestly, cupping his cheek before kissing it.
He smiled warmly. "I missed you too, Ro."
"You guys act like you haven't seen each other in yesrs. So can I call you Ro? Or is that like a boyfriend-girlfriend thing? Because Romera is kind of wordy- no offense, of course- and Ro just sounds nice and is easier to say."
I sent a playful glare at Toby, who actually looked invested in his question. I rolled my eyes before answering.
"Call me whatever you want. Is Tobes a best friend thing, or can I call you that?" I asked him, and he smirked.
"Babe," he told me with a wink, "you can call me anytime."
I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help the embarrassed blush that quickly spread over my cheeks.
"I'm her boyfriend," he exclaimed to Toby, before looking back at me in exasperation. "I am your boyfriend, right?"
I paused for a moment, frowning to myself. Of course, I was just playing along. Jim had asked me to be his girlfriend on one of the nightly visits, and I had nearly cried with happiness. I nodded slowly, still in character. A small smirk appeared on Toby's face, and I nodded at him slightly. I didn't have any feelings for him, buffm
"See?" Jim declared, but Toby shook his head exaggerstintly sad
"I'm sorry, brother, but there was a lot of hesitation in that. Perhaps you would have a better chance with that rat to woo that lives down the road?"
I giggled, and Toby let out a short laugh. Jim rolled his eyes and pulled me closer to him, subconsciously claiming me as his. I snuggled against him.
Merlin had left sometime before, so Jim began leading us to Blinky's crystal room, or as I had learnt the name of it, the Heartstone. Toby followed behind, making funny faces at me as we walked. There were more trolls in the halls, many of which seemed familiar with Toby.
"So, what happened to Darci, anyway?" Jim asked, glancing back at us. He slowed his pace so he could be walking beside us.
Toby shrugged, nonchalantly. "We just grew apart, I guess. Well, that and the fact she cheated on me."
"She cheated on you?" Jim exclaimed.
Toby nodded. "Yeah, with Steve, of all people!'
Jim snorted in disbelief. I perked up, raising my hand slightly. "Steve?"
Toby looked like he was about to say something, but my boyfriend beat him to it. "This jerk from back in Arcadia."
Jim didn't talk about Arcadia much, just the people in it. My guess was that he missed the places to go there, but he talked bout his mum more than anyone else. Even though I had agreed that Barbara was amazing, I was happy to hear Jim rant about how much he loved her. Of course, this also brought conversations regarding Stricker, Barbara's fiance. Jim approved just fine, and the pair had given the babies from the Darklands to oprhanages around the world.
Shortly after we reached the Heartstone. Inside was Blinky and Merlin, along with another troll that I had never seen. The new troll was pale grey, with strange markings along his arms. He had bright green eyes similar to my own, with a large mane of green hair and was crouched over to stand. Blinky waved his arms when he saw me, a wide smile gracing his features.
"Ah, Miss Caster!" he cheered, and I giggled, waving. "I see you've met Tobias. And this," he turned to the new troll, who gave me a goofy smile, "is AAARRRGGHH!!!. That is with three a's, three r's, two g's, two h's, and three exclamation marks. Although his English has improved over the years, he still has a bit of trouble."
I nodded slowly. "Right, got it."
"Romera!" AAARRRGGHH!!! greeted, his voice gruff and low. "Romera is pretty, Jim was right."
I blushed bright pink, looking down at the ground. Instead of replying to the troll, I turned to Jim.
"You talk about me?" I asked him, a small smile on my face as I playfully raised an eyebrow.
It was his time to blush, and he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I-I mean, yeah."
I chuckled softly, before snuggling closer to him where we stood. He wrapped his hands around my waist, and Blinky cleared his throat.
"Anyway, we were just discussing the predicament regarding Miss Caster and her links to Morgana," he told Jim, Toby and I, and we glanced behind him to see notes strewn wildly across the table. "I was looking for anything that may have helped us, but I found very little. That is when my dear friend AAARRRGGHH!!! showed up."
Blinky picked up one of the pieces of paper, examining it quickly, before handing it to me. I didn't understand the foreign symbols written down, but Jim frowned as he read through it. When he saw my confused expression, Jim hastily explained.
"It is in Trollish," he said, "as most things written centuries ago by trolls were. Now, I'm just glad that they've decided to write and read in English."
I nodded in understanding. Blinky grabbed the paper from Jim, and began translating the script for me. Merlin looked like he knew what was on the sheet, and he sent me a short smile when he caught my eye.
"Morgana, although deadly and fierce, knew that one day she would perish at the hand of someone else, someone that would betray her. You, as the heir, were the fail-safe for her. It was also going to be you, no matter how many generations pass." Blinky clasped his hands together, looking around the room cheerfully. "You were destined, from the moment Morgana used dark magic, to be more powerful and stronger than anything known to man."
I stood silent for a moment in shock. I tried to reply, but found my words stuck in my mouth. How would I hold so much power? Only a month and a half ago I was a normal teenager, going to school and living a normal life. But now I had seen my best friend be murdered, been tortured for weeks. I hadn't exactly been lucky when it came to life.
"I-I- how? Why me?" I stammered, and Blinky gave me a pitiful glance, but replied softly.
"Magic has a way of changing the blood, making a specific person become unimaginably powerful, or choose a time for the magic to become corruptible. I'm afraid you were just born in the wrong place at the wrong time."
I frowned, but nodded.
Blinky continued speaking, not reading off the sheet anymore. "Miss Caster, are you able to contact your mother?"
My heart ached for a moment, but I swallowed down how uncomfortable I was, even after it had been years since her death.
"She died," I replied softly, but Blinky didn't look convinced.
"Are you sure?" he said, and I frowned.
What did he mean by that? I had watched my mother's life slip slowly away, and Zach had blamed me for her death.
"Yes, Zach, my dad, said that he had killed her," I assured him, but Blinky sent me a wary glance.
He looked briefly at the people and trolls around us, before answering.
"Miss Caster, to give birth to a divine being like yourself, there would have to be the use of magic. I doubt that, even at the hands of a Changeling such as your father, she would have been able to perish."
"What are you saying?"
"Your mother may still be alive."
Words: 1567
I'm sorry! I don't deserve all the attention this book is getting, but I'm stuck in a writer's block, am about to fall asleep halfway through writing this, and keep making mistakes. I love you all! Keep reading, voting and commenting. Until next time (which hopefully won't be too long), thanks. Xx