AGNAR TRIED EVERYTHING IN HIS WILL TO TAME MARCUS BUT HE WAS TOO FAR GONE, the dosage had overtaken his whole body and there was no going back now.
He didn't wish to harm him but he knew there was no other choice here, as he dodged one of his hits he groaned "Listen, if you stop trying to set me aflame, I will consider allowing you to call me buddy." He offered.
Marcus gave him a blank stare before growling and setting himself alight before blasting a wave of fire towards him. He blocked the wave and groaned as he was being pushed back, he huffed and yelled "I'm sorry I'm doing this Marcus! "
Pushing the energy to the side he jumped out of the way and reached his hand out controlling Marc's body. Marc gasped as he felt himself lose control of his body as it began slightly contorting. He groaned, clenching his teeth as he glared at Agnar, he glanced up and saw an arch of ice above agnar. Breathing in he exhaled a breath of fire at it, making it collapse on Agnar, knocking him out.
Landing back down he walked towards the troll and was about to land the final hit "That's enough!" a voice shouted making him stop.
Dandril smirked as he saw the work of his new henchman "not who I would've wanted, but this does not disappoint." he looked down at the boy blankly "you're lucky you at least did something"
Richard rushed to his son and inspected him for any injuries "are you alright, did they hurt you?"
He pushed him away "they were too weak to even fight back"
Dandril poked at Agnars cheek with his foot as if he were a dead animal "take him to the cells, make sure he won't be able to use his power, I need him weak" he assigned before disappearing.
__________________
Aaarrrgghh grunted as he tried to lift a stone and create a path "too big"
Toby assured him "It's okay, wing-man. You tried."
Everything was crumbling around them and blinky said fearfully 'it's hardly okay, we're on the distinctly wrong side of the cavern's collapse." he tried to push the boulder himself but it was useless "Merlin's tomb will now apparently become our own"
As everything began crumbling even more, Aaarrrgghh ushered them all under him to keep them safe. Claire looked behind them and pointed "or we could just go that way, there's an opening!"
"Thus affording us the opportunity to be trapped somewhere else." blinky pointed out.
Elizabeth said to him as everything began to rumble "it's better than being out here"
Toby was hopeful "it might be a way out! You just gotta think positive"
Jim stayed back as he looked at where Draals remains rested, he couldn't let what was left of him stay here. Elizabeth walked to him and placed her hand over his comfortingly "we can't leave him behind like this."
She sighed and looked at where he was looking sadly "he would want us to keep going" she told placing her hand on his shoulder "for him" the two joined the crew and went through the narrow pathway.
Claire felt both grief and guilt, she felt as if she was apart of the reason that Marc was now under the control of Dandril, she thought to herself 'if only I kept her at bay for a little longer'
Jim and Liz noticed this, glancing to each other before walking over to her. They placed their hands on each of her shoulder and gave her reassuring smiles, jim said to her "we'll get him back"
"What if he's already too far gone?" she said hopelessly.
Elizabeth assured her "if I know anything about Marc, is that he can put up when heck of a fight" she told lightheartedly "as soon as we're out, we'll go into the chaos realm and find him." she paused and gave her a hesitant last word "together."
They kept walking through the long hallway, Aaarrrgghh led the way as he saw a bright light at the end of one of the corridors "that way!"
When they went through the door, what they saw was confusing but to Blinky it surely was a revelation "great globus, its him!"
They immediately knew who exactly he was talking about but could not believe it "is it really?" Claire asked.
"But it can't be him, how is he still... fleshy?" Elizabeth asked as she looked at him from afar.
"Must be" aaarrrgghh answered.
Jim was in awe "Merlin?"
The amulets hummed in his presence, the two looked at them in confusion then walked towards Merlin nervously. Elizabeth glanced up at Jim in worry but he nodded his head reassuringly even though he himself couldn't hide his nervousness. Wisps of light came from the amulets and went to Merlin. Jim leaned down to take a closer look but Elizabeth warned him "careful not to breathe in any of the webs." she whispered, clenching her amulet close.
"I won't," he assured.
The sound of a heartbeat confused her standing closer; she looked at Merlin's face with curiosity. The both of them shrieked as his eyes opened, Jim fell back and she was quick to catch him and help him up. He gasped in a breath of air before coughing. The both of them backed away in fear, the trollhunters were in shock as they saw him show signs of... living.
After coughing for a while he looked to the left and saw the two, he focused on Jim "are you the trollhunter?" his old voice asked, jim didn't know what to answer "I thought you would be taller, yes much taller and older." he stated simply before looking at Elizabeth "and you must be the Chaoswielder I believe, judging by your eyes and hair my dear" he spoke kindly.
She chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her neck "yup, thats me"
He smiled at her before looking back at Jim "how old are you, ten?"
Jim corrected "uh, sixteen"
He looked back at her "same for you my dear, why, I expected the both of you to be at least.." he paused as he began calculating "fourteen years?"
Toby was excited "holy Merlin, It's really you!"
He looked at him unimpressed "just what kind of troll are you?"
He corrected "I'm not a troll, I'm a Toby!"
He politely looked towards Claire "and who is this lovely creature?"
Claire chuckled lightly, but Blinky stepped forward "Blinkous Galadrigal, at your ---"
He dismissed him "not you, you" he pointed to her.
She answered politely "Uh, Claire Nunez sir."
he looked at Elizabeth and asked her "and what might your name be, wielder?"
She answered "Elizabeth Wallis"
He told them kindly "A pleasure, my dears"
Toby was jealous and pointed out "Oh, they get to be my dear"
Blinky stood forward and asked "your sageness, we--"
The sound of his bones crackling made them cringe lightly in disgust, Claire told them all "he was asleep for a really long time."
Jim was shocked "he was just sleeping? Shouldn't he be.."
"Well rested?" blinky finished.
"Dead?"
"true , but he is a wizard." he answered.
Elizabeth added "Draya is technically a couple hundred years old." she said unsure of her wording "so I guess this is sort of normal?"
Merlin stumbled forward and was caught by Aaarrrgghh "prop me up, would you, you giant thing." he continued cracking his bones.
Elizabeth whispered not wanting to seem rude "that can't be healthy, right?" she said, cringing lightly.
He grunted and told "Oh, that's good." he kept stretching and cracking his neck before asking "okay then, first things first. Where might my staff be?"
Jim was nervous as he shrunk lightly "um.."
"Staff of Avalon? About yea high? Emerald at the top. It is rather dashing." he described nonchalantly.
Toby answered him "we might have lost it a little."
He was confused "lost it a little?"
"Gunmar took it," Jim said bluntly.
He sarcastically said "Oh, is that all? Well, it's not the staff that's lost, then. Just hope." he leaned against the platform and the protectors walked to him.
"How'd you know we were gonna come looking for you? I mean, your staff?" Jim asked as they stood by Merlin's side.
Elizabeth added "and what made you think we should've been fourteen years older?"
He stood up and looked towards Jim answering both of their questions jokingly "because, I am Jim's father" They all gasped in horror and Jim was mortified, he gave a quick grin and corrected "kidding" he chuckled.
She scoffed and glared at him "you don't joke about these kind of things"
"My apologies lady Eliza" he said politely "I can glimpse the future, It's not a perfect gift though."
"Well that answers it" jim mumbled.
Claire wondered "why were you sleeping in the first place?"
"It was the cost of battle my dear" he explained.
"What battle?" Aaarrrgghh asked him.
"The battle of killahead, of course." he said nonchalantly, he looked to the wielder apologetically "I apologise for the damage that I have caused your realm, My dear."
She shook her head "it wasn't your fault, it was planned."
"Why are you guys talking like you've known each other?" Toby was confused about how they almost knew what the other was talking about.
She nonchalantly told "the battle between him and Morgana, that brought forth imbalance."
He nodded his head, before standing up and rubbing his hands together "history is just an account of what supposedly happened, but it's rarely the full story, if ever." he told as he summoned his magic to his hands.
Looking down at her hands she noticed the familiar purple glow emit from them "I've missed this" she said to herself.
Toby wondered "what's this now?" he said amazed.
"I'm opening a window to the past." he stretched the energy in his hands and let it out in a blast.
They looked around and found themselves in the woods "where are we?" Toby asked.
He told them all "still in the geode caverns, this is an illusion."
Blinky recalled these woods "great gorka, this is the forest of killahead"
"As well as I remember it at least"
They looked in awe as they walked through the battle that surrounded them, and Toby could not help but geek out about what he was seeing.
Elizabeth's senses hit her and she followed the purple wisps that led her away from them all. Passing through the brush she gasped at whom she saw but it quickly turned into a scowl.
Dandril, with a wide smirk on his features as he was passing through a portal to the chaos realm, standing in front of him she glared at his eyes and said "when the time comes, I will take you down" shaking her head she looked down and saw the amulet, and could not help but question "how did you even get the mantle?" she questioned.
"Lizzie, where are you?" Claire called out.
She backed away and joined them all as they walked through the battlefield. Jim was saddened when he saw how fallen allies, Vendel, Draal. As he stood in front of Draal the fresh wound of grief hit him "I'm so sorry." he said to him.
Elizabeth comforted him, the others all joined and grieved their downed ally. Merlin joined them and noticed the grief they were in. he placed his hands on the shoulders of the protectors and told them "come now, there is more to see, the real battle is over this way." he guided them deeper into the forests.
_______________
Ophelia gasped in fear "they're all dead! Our children are dead!" she shouted.
Barbra calmed her "lets not jump to any conclusions, all they've done is not text us."
Javier pointed out "exactly they're teenagers nothings stops them from texting!" he told.
Dictatious made the mistake of saying "unless gunmar chopped off their hands."
Maya held her head in her hands as she stopped pacing around "she'll be fine right, there's no way anything bad happened to her, or any of them?" she asked them all, John comforted her while Barbra said to her.
"Your daughter is powerful, she'll know what to do if anything goes wrong" she explained, placing a hand on each of their shoulders "trust me, I've seen it." she looked at them all and told "my son and Elizabeth wouldn't let anything bad happen, they're safe."
Strickler hummed as he recalled something "highly unlikely for Elizabeth to use her power, because Merlin's tomb prevents it" he said nonchalantly but realised his mistake "but she has the corruptor to assist her." he said nervously.
John's eyes twitched and he glanced at Maya "she's strong, she'll know what to do" he assured her holding her into a hug "I hope..."
Barbra sighed and left "I need a minute." going into the kitchen she worriedly ate some popcorn but kept her calm. When strickler walked in she frowned.
"Barbra-"
She silenced him by raising her hand up "you're the last person I wanna talk to" turning her back to him.
He continued as he spoke proudly "you're doing an excellent job of maintaining calm, if any one has the capacity to survive the unknown it's Jim" he assured.
Javier rushed in "Code red! Code red!"
He was annoyed "what is it?"
"THE POLICE!"
______________________
As Merlin guided them he told them all "while you were focused on the battle, there were events unfolding that you were unaware of."
Blinky told sarcastically "I suppose fighting for our lives would be a little distracting"
They all looked in awe as they saw the fight between Merlin and Morgana, the wielder and the wizard were already all too familiar with this.
"So this is it" she whispered looking at the combined energies of the two. Looking at the centre she was curious. A loud ringing made her wince, flashes of a dead world, a dead realm, darkness and ruins covering the lands and the flash of a large crater. Gasping she shook her head and steadied her breath.
Jim asked her worriedly "what just happened?"
"I honestly don't know," she answered.
Merlin glanced at her and had a small smile on his features 'interesting' he thought to himself 'hopefully I will have the chance to speak with you wielder."
Claire was enraged "what? Thats her! Thats--"
"Morgana, yes, the Pale Lady." he finished for her and she continued glaring at the sorceress "the mother of monsters."
She groaned "ugh! I could add more names to that list."
Blinky was shocked "none of the history books speak of this"
He criticised the troll "well, books don't talk for one thing, this was the true battle of killahead '' he told.
Jim asked him "you and Morgana?"
"She is as ancient as I am, Perhaps more so" he said as he looked to her "craving Havoc, she sewed the seeds of dissension between humans and troll kind."
Claire was still angry ever since the last encounter "I know her well, she's a real headcase."
"Hence the eternal night" he sighed and looked to the wielder as he spoke hoping she would understand "she realised that if trolls could not survive in daylight, what if the night were everlasting?"
She was afraid and asked him "but that would break the balance of chaos even more, wouldn't it?"
He solemnly nodded his head "it will destroy the realm of chaos and send the spirits free, and will allow gunmars forces to wreak havoc, she had to be stopped at any cost, turns out..." he looked at the two.
Jim pieced them together "that cost was your chaos and the balance." He said to him.
He nodded his head "it was the only way, to expend all my power, and create a shift in chaos, and confine her for as long as possible"
Claire said worriedly "I'm guessing as possible, ends right about now.'
"We're doomed to wage battle once more thanks to the work of Gunmar." he ended the vision returning them back to the cave "well, all fun things must end"
"If we're going to do anything about it, we still have to get out of here." Jim said and as if the world heard his words, the cave began to rumble once more, water began pouring.
Toby asked worriedly "how's it raining underground?"
"The cave in must have diverted the waterfall into the mountain" blinky explained.
He freaked out "so we're not trapped but we're gonna drown?!"
Claire said worriedly "that sounds like a lot of water."
Merlin sighed "centuries later, it never gets any easier" he said tiredly.
Toby asked "we could really use some of your awesom wizard magic, to you know, get us out of here!" he told.
He glanced at the wielder "show me what skills you possess my dear." he told her.
She gulped and looked down at her hands, standing in front of the pathway she focused her energy as she knew it was weakened by the cave. Moving the stones she blocked the pathway since that was all she was capable of "this won't hold for long we need a plan!"
"We will need the power of both my amulets" he said before looking at Jim.
He scratched the back of his head "that might be a little difficult." he said "I destroyed it to get the map so we could find you"
He gave him an unimpressed look and "hand it over" he was shocked as he saw it "you really did a number on this thing." Jim laughed nervously in response.
"Can you fix it?" Claire asked.
"Of course he can!" blinky exclaimed "those very hands forged the amulets in the first place--"
Merlin cut him off "four arms, six eyes, but he talks as if he had ten mouths" he said before walking to Claire "of course, I can, my dear. These very hands forged the amulets in the first place." he sighed and tried piecing it together.
Elizabeth groaned as her powers kept going in and out. Trying to hold the barricade up she tried to steady her breath. Looking up she gasped seeing the rubble begin to crumble down holding it up she yelled "you know, I'm really not good at multitasking!"
Blinky urged the wizard "we have not much time"
He defended himself "I'm doing my best, It's been centuries, do you understand?" he went back to fixing the amulet.
"Can we get an ETA on the fixing there, Merle?" Toby asked "mind if I call ya Merle?"
He warned Toby "not if you mind spending the rest of your life as a cockroach."
Elizabeth groaned as she couldn't hold the barricade any longer falling down she said "I'll be on it again, just need a breather."
The sound of wind coming alarmed them "that was a floodgate!" blinky said fearfully.
"You have to fix it!" Jim urged.
He asked him rhetorically "what does it look like I'm doing, twiddling my thumbs?" he placed the amulet down "It's an amulet forged by magic you don't just snap it back together." he looked down at the amulet and told "a piece is missing"
"I gave you everything I had!" jim explained nervously.
Toby said worriedly as he heard the sound "guys? The water is getting louder!"
Sighing, she stood back up and transformed into her armour before going into her chaos state, reaching her hands out to create a barricade of energy. Jim was worried "she won't be able to hold that for long!"
Merlin caught Jims attention "focus we need a small piece, something tht can fit right here." he pointed.
He looked up and saw Claire clips "Claire, your hair clip!"
She quickly took one off and handed it to him "thank you, fair Claire." He placed the pieces together, he handed the amulet to Jim.
"Now, what am I supposed to do?" he asked in a panic.
Merlin reminded him "you're the trollhunter, and you alone must tap the amulet's true potential" he pointed to Elizabeth "there is a reason there are two amulet you know."
Elizabeth groaned as the water pushed against her barrier, her eyes flickering "guys!"
He rushed next to her and said "for the glory of well, you Daylight is mine to command!" he transformed into his armour and readied his sword.
As she collapsed into a heap he used his sword to deflect the waters away from them all "you're doing it Jimbo, I don't know what you're doing, but you're doing it!" toby exclaimed.
He looked up and saw a crack in the wall, he looked down at liz "got some energy for one more trick?" he asked.
Standing up she saw where he was looking at and nodded "this better work!" she shouted before blasting the wall with her powers causing it to collapse.
After it was over, the two fell down to catch their breaths. He looked at her and asked "you okay?"
She chuckled and asked him tiredly "are you seriously asking that?"
Blinky laughed and said "the instrument of our deaths has been turned into the means of our egress!"
Merlin asked unimpressed "are you a trol or a thesaurus? I'm genuinely curious." he walked to the two tired protectors.
"How did you know I could do that?" Jim asked as he caught his breath.
"You might not be able to wield chaos but you can do more than you realize, and you will" he said ominously.
"How?" he asked.
He told them "when you help me destroy Morgana"
_______________
After they had left the cave, with the help of Claires staff they got out into the woods that were in Arcadia.
"Nice to be out of that place," Toby said happily.
Merlin asked "and where might we be?"
Jim told him as they walked through the woods "welcome to Arcadia."
Claire stood back as she clenched onto her staff, guilt consuming her as she remembered who was still out there, She frowned sadly as she closed her eyes. Elizabeth looked behind her and walked back wanting to comfort her friend "hey."
"This is all my fault." she said "if I never opened that portal, Morgana would've never taken over"
"And we wouldn't be standing here today." Elizabeth reminded "none of us would've known, and it is not your fault." she assured as she put her hands on her shoulders "we will get him back-" her eyes flashed purple and she pushed Claire down jumping back, a blast of fire came towards them and they had dodged it.
Marcus floated above of them but didn't seem to be looking for a fight "chaoswielder! Dandril offers you a trade!" he yelled. They all joined them and prepared in case a fight were to break out.
She flew upwards and asked as she looked at him "and what is that deal?"
He smirked as he said "you for Agnar the brutal, and your light for Marcus." His words shocked them all "if not, then both will die before the break of dawn."
She scowled and asked angered "do I get a say in this offer?"
He shook his head "you have until the break of dawn."
She didn't understand what he meant by her light but the others knew exactly what Dandril wanted, and this was a hard deal to fulfil.