THE DAY BEGAN SURPRISINGLY NORMAL AS THEY LOOKED AT ALL THE TEACHERS THAT WALKED PAST, Elizabeth had a bottle of water with her at all times since the taste of dead troll still remained. After yesterday school continued as it would normally.
"Looks like everything back to normal." Toby said tiredly.
Marc wanted him "don't jinx us."
Toby shook his head before asking "speaking of totally normal things, what's going on with Gunmars trollpocalypse?"
Jim told him as he packed his bag "blinky says we can't throw a wrench in his plan until we know what it is."
Elizabeth huffed "the longer we wait, the closer he is to actually finishing his plan" she explained hugging her books close "it's a smart plan, yes, but it's risky."
He assured her "aaarrrgghh thinks he's close to uncovering something, we won't be waiting long."
Marc was completely out of it since he was too bored to even throw in a joke, but his face lit up as he saw Claire walk towards them "Claire you're back!" he exclaimed before pulling her into a hug "how are ya feeling?"
She smiled weakly "I'm fine." she paused before sighing "we gotta talk." they all listened to her as she spoke "did you remember how someone stole the election signs protecting the warehouse?" she asked before continuing nervously "I think i know who took them."
"The night the Gumm-Gumms attacked?" jim asked but before the conversation could go any further they were interrupted by a joyous Darci.
"Claire you're back!" she exclaimed but backed away from giving her a hug "you're not sick anymore, right?" she asked.
Claire rolled her eyes "nope!"
"Awesome!" she said before pulling her into a hug "that was one killer cold!" pulling away she said "we gotta celebrate now that you're back!"
Toby was excited "are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked before they simultaneously said "triple date!"
Marc quirked his eyebrow "aren't those usually in doubles, not triples?" he asked before agreeing "if you're up for it?" he asked Claire.
She chuckled "yeah, it'll be good to get out, what about you guys?"
Jim leaned against the lockers "I mean our schedules aren't that full." he said.
She nodded her head "I don't see why not, a breath of fresh air would be good."
Darci waved goodbye "see you guys tonight!"
Jim and Liz walked away "a night without the fear of death on our minds would be wonderful" she said sarcastically.
He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her "don't jinx us."
_____________
Jim, Marc, and Toby were in PE as they stretched.
Jim was calm about this "I think it's a good idea guys, it'll be nice to have a night free of imminent danger."
Toby warned "never underestimate the dangers of a date, let alone a triple date."
Marc rolled his eyes as he stretched "T.P. think you're missing the difference between girls and trolls"
He grunted as he tried to do crutches "I can tell a difference!" he argued before continuing "one wrong move from any one of us and they will dump us!"
Jim stood up "Tobes, relax. I think you're being a little over dramatic."
He chuckled nervously "relax? I'm relaxed, I'm a total dating guru!"
Marc chuckled as he pointed out "says the one who is currently sweating his butt off." Jim chuckled along with him.
As they climbed up the ropes, Marc said "It's okay to have first date jitters buddy."
He gasped in shock "what? Darci and I went on a date last Tuesday. It's Jim and Liz I'm worried about." he said.
Jim was shocked and looked down "what?" he jumped down "me and Liz have had lots of dates."
Marc dusted his hands and gave Jim a blank stare "and how many of those didn't involve trolls, chaos, or imminent death?"
"Exactly!"
Jim dodged a dodge ball as he argued "what about when we kissed on the bluff during spring fling?" he said.
Marc told him "after a mission, and that doesn't count cause it wasn't a planned date"
Toby reminded him "and you two separated to fight dandril and Angor Rot after that"
"I met her parents," he said, hoping to get at least something.
Toby shook his head "after saving her and them from spirits." he grunted as a ball hit his face.
Jim was now infuriated at the fact that they had a point "Darci will be there, so you guys can't talk about your jobs! What else are you gonna talk about?" he said before asking "promise me this. No Spanish, all right? You always talk in Spanish when you're nervous around her"
He sat down and asked them "so what's the plan?"
Marc explained to him "dinner and a movie."
Toby nodded his head then pulled something out of his pockets "you'll need this." he explained handing a pair of gloves to Marc.
His face fell "but why?"
"Your hands burn up whenever you get nervous. I thought the gloves might help with that." he explained.
Marc pursed his lips then shoved them in his pockets "I'm not gonna burn the restaurant down guys."
Jim gave him a blank stare "you almost burned Claire's house down when you went to that barbecue"
He argued "well that was like, one time."
Toby caught their attention "if we want to survive this night, we need to follow my three golden rules of love hunting."
______________
As they walked to Mr. Renoits restaurant the girls led the way as they chatted "Mary texted me we're back together" Darci said.
Claire said "tight jeans hank, again?"
Elizabeth chuckled lightly, "classic Mary."
Toby rushed to the front and pulled a seat for Darci "A beautiful night, just like my beautiful gal, shall we?"
Marc politely did the same before sitting down "nice to get away from chaos huh?" he said vaguely with a motion of his hands.
Claire chuckled but narrowed her eyes once she noticed the gloves "why are you wearing gloves?"
He grew nervous "um, it's a bit chilly tonight and you know how i like to stay warm!" he laughed sadly as he looked down at his covered hands, a part of him felt like he was bound in chains.
Jim was about to do the same but Elizabeth was about to sit down and accidentally he pulled the seat from under her "oops sorry!"
She shook her head and stood back up "that's okay." she assured, dusting her clothes off she sat back down, but jim was now nervous as he knew he did something wrong.
The others gave each other knowing looks before toby tried to change the subject "i heard the duck confit is stellar, i think I'll get that."
Jim was jittery as he bumped his leg up and down, she noticed this and placed her and over his "hey, you okay?"
His voice squeaked "yeah!" he noticed how loud he was and cleared his throat "yeah, um totally, heh heh.."
She smiled gently, before looking up at the sky "remember the purple lights back at spring fling?"
He looked up as well "yeah, one of the most beautiful nights, I've ever seen" he told before placing his other hand over hers "and one of my favourite memories"
The two stared at each other lovingly for a while before a conversation started "did you two see the first danger house?" Darci asked Liz and Claire "there's a deep lore".
"I haven't," Claire said. Elizabeth shook her head as well.
"Omg well, where do I start?"
Toby used the menu to hide his face as he talked to the other two "this is going well so far" he said happily.
Marc nodded his head "this is going more smoothly than I thou- oh, heck no!" he whispered as he saw douxie walk towards their table, he frowned "out of all the people..." he whispered.
"Gentlemen, ladies, what can I get for you today?" douxie asked politely, before noticing Claire "oh, Claire! Is it? Have you been rehearsing for battle of the bands?"
She nodded her head "yup, feeling pretty good about our chances."
Marc was fuming and he smelled the scent of burning. Looking down at his hands he gasped and looked around the table, he quickly shoved his hands into the water jug. They all gave him a look of confusion and he chuckled nervously "is it just me, or is it getting really hot in here?"
Before Claire could ask she felt this headache crash into her and she grew dizzy, chugging down a glass of water. Toby called out to Marc "dude, calm down!"
"I'm sorry but you try having fire hands!" he whispered.
Jim told douxie "thanks deuce, we'll have steaks all around."
Elizabeth gave douxie a suspicious look as she sensed energy radiating off of him "an excellent choice, now how would you like your steaks prepared?" douxie asked.
"Well done." jim answered and Elizabeth nodded with him as she still tried to decipher that energy, jim now felt jealous seeing how she was paying attention to douxie. The others all ordered the same thing.
"Well done, what about you Claire?" Marc asked as he felt calm enough to take his hands out of the water.
As she answered she shocked herself and everyone else, as she growled and shouted "raw! Dripping with blood!" she gasped and covered her mouth.
As douxie left, Claire stood up looking at Elizabeth and darci "um girls? Bathroom?" They left together but Toby started freaking out.
"Rule three, rule three!" toby shouted but groaned as jim did the troll hunting rule three "the other rule three..."
Darci gasped "TP are you okay? What happened?" she asked as she stayed with him "girls go on without me"
The two left, making Marc and Jim nervous. As the girls walked into the restaurant, Elizabeth looked towards douxie and asked Claire "think you could go in without me for a minute?." Claire nodded and rubbed her forehead as she felt dizzy again.
As she walked towards the counter she folded her arms and gave douxie a frown, he was confused and nervous "can I help you?"
She tried to seem vague with her words "have you by any chance seen any weird sightings of glowy, floating creatures?"
He chuckled "and why is that?"
Narrowing her eyes she allowed them to flash purple slightly "you know who I am don't you?"
He sighed "i know this might seem bad, but trust me when I say this, I am not under the control of any spirit."
She asked him in a whisper "then how do you have this energy?"
"In due time you will know" he said before smiling and bowing his head lightly "it is an honour to speak with you chaoswielder but I have a shift to finish" he whispered kindly.
She still had her suspicions but ignored them as she still wanted to keep this night as normal as possible. Going to the bathroom she saw Darci "I thought you were with Claire?" she asked.
Elizabeth explained "I just needed to check something out."
As they walked into the bathroom they saw Claire standing in the middle "Claire, you okay?"
She seemed off as she seemed to be fighting herself "I just don't feel like myself tonight."
Elizabeth's nerves buzzed as she sensed a powerful energy within Claire as she passed by her. Narrowing her eyes she followed them back to the table.
Jim questioned her "why were you talking to douxie?"
She sighed "tell you on the way home?"
Darci asked "so um did we miss anything?"
"You tell us" Toby asked nervously "what did you talk about in the bathroom? Did you talk about us? Are we still good?" he asked.
Marc glanced at Claire for a moment and did a double take as he saw the maniacal glare she gave to Liz and Jim, he asked her worriedly "are you okay?"
Her voice was different as she said "I feel like a whole new girl." she chuckled as she reached for a knife and looked back at the two, Claire was fighting to keep the knife as far away from the two as possible but it instead slipped. The wielder and hunter were now worried as they saw what was happening, as the knife flew above, Liz lowered her hand below the table and used her powers to make sure the knife hit the table instead. She chuckled with a distorted voice "oops, butter fingers"
Marc asked her "your voice, it's different."
She cleared her throat "oh i think my cold has returned, but not to worry"
"Not to worry..." he said as he smiled nervously.
Jim was oblivious and asked Liz "is Claire acting weird?"
Liz didn't want to believe what was happening and told "um, side Effects of cold, maybe?"
As time passed they all decided to finally go watch the movie, as Liz and Jim walked, she glanced behind her, still feeling uneasy as Claire kept staring. "Something isn't right with Claire..." she said.
"Yeah..." he agreed as he gave a suspicious look to Claire, he reached for Elizabeth's hand.
As Claire and Marc walked, he felt uncomfortable as he noticed her sudden change in demeanour "you're hands really cold" he pointed out and slid his gloves off hesitantly "here these should keep you warm."
Rolling her eyes she grabbed them and threw them aside "I feel a little tired." she said as she wrapped her arms around his "maybe you should walk me home?"
Toby gasped and agreed for him "great idea!" he shouted before looking at Liz "and Liz I know you're not the biggest fan of horror, maybe you and jim could hang out together." he asked hopefully.
She pieced the pieces together and smiled before wrapping her arms around jims "Yeah, I don't see why not if it's okay with jim?"
He smiled along with her as they began walking "gladly."
Claire was about to follow them but Marc pointed out "um your house is that way, Claire." she huffed and pulled him along with her.
As Liz and Jim walked home, he stopped before they could walk into her house "aren't your parents home?"
She chuckled and shook her head "we weren't the only ones who decided to go on a date." She opened the door for him and he walked inside.
"You sure, you don't want me to make anything?" He asked kindly before sitting down on the couch.
As she stretched she told him "I think the steak was enough"
He remembered the restaurant and asked "about that, what did you and deuce talk about?"
Her eyes widened before smirking "wait, wait, wait."
"What?!" he asked, confused as he folded his arms in a pout.
She teasingly asked "are you jealous, Jimbo?" he kept frowning as he looked away from her. She smirked again and slowly began poking him "jim, jimbo come on" she said whining but he kept ignoring her, she quirked her brow and grinned "oh so that's how it is"
"I have no idea what you're talking about" he said as he stared at the wall in front of him blankly "hey, stop that!" he said as he pushed her hands away.
She slowly began tickling him "i have no idea what you're talking about" she said while giggling as she continued tickling him.
He was trying to push her way as he began laughing lightly as he fought with her. She chuckled and stopped finally allowing him to breathe, she rested her chin on his chest and looked up at him "you're the one person I have eyes for Jim"
He smiled lovingly "I know, but promise you'll never tickle me again"
She shook her head "not gonna happen" closing their eyes they leaned into one another, before their lips could meet Elizabeths eyes flew open and glowed purple. Getting up she looked around her.
Jim was confused "is there something wrong?"
She grabbed his hand "we need to go to Claire's house"
Before he could say anything she teleported them to the front door of Claire's house, he fell to his knees "please warn me next time" he asked as he gagged.
She smiled nervously "heh sorry..."
Walking in the two were cautious and kept their amulets ready "why are we here?"
"Something is wrong with Claire, I don't know what exactly but-" she was cut off as she saw a portal form below her gasping she jumped out of the way "watch out!"
He moved out of the way and gasped as he saw Claire levitating in front of them "what are you doing"
"Trying to kill you!" she shouted her voice was distorted. She began trying to hit them both but they refused to fight back.
Elizabeth used her powers to block the incoming hits "Claire, what's going on?"
She looked at the manically as she released a blast of energy throwing them back into the couch "there is no Claire. I am Morgana!" she announced.
The two glanced at each other confused "who?" Jim asked.
She glared at them both "the eldritch queen, baba yaga. The pale lady." the two remained confused and she grew infuriated "ugh, I have many names!"
The two smirked as Elizabeth said "looks like another spirit infestation to me jim."
She growled and levitated as she glowed gold "I am your doom--" the two began throwing pillows at her "did you just hit me with a-- pillow?"
"We're not hurting Claire!" Jim said as he continued throwing them.
She growled and clenched the staff as she chanted "drooma katorth-a myntarth-a klar."
Jim pointed at her "we have no idea who you are, but you have to take it down a notch."
As she continued chanting the house began rumbling, Elizabeth saw how they had no other choice "jim-"
"I know, for the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command."
"By the power of Merlin, chaos is mine to wield"
A portal began to form and was pulling in everything around it "Claire if you're seeing this, I did not mess up your house again."
Elizabeth clenched her jaw and tried to grab onto the shadow staff "pale lady whoever you are, get out of my friend!" she shouted as she tried to pull it away. Before Jim could help her, Morgana used her power and pushed a table against him, she threw Elizabeth away from the staff and Jim jumped away from the table.
"You think I'm powerful now, just wait until the eternal night frees me from my prison!"
As they continued and tried to subdue Morgana without harming Claire they were both thrown into the portal, Liz held Jim's hand while the other grabbed onto the edge "Claire you need to fight it!" she pleaded
"Claire is not here!" she shouted but before she could hit her, help came.
"But her brother is!" Borak hit her with a frying pan, knocking her out.
As the portal began to close, Elizabeth quickly teleported her and Jim out of it, he groaned as he held his stomach "Lizzie, warning please!" he pleaded. She helped him up and they stopped Borak from hitting Claire again "she called herself morgana. Who is that?" he asked.
He explained to them both "not someone you'd wanna be friends with."