#archie is always found with douxie on his shoulders

[alumort]

ao3

commission for the lovely StarAmulet @ toyhouse! <3

The forest was safe, and that was where they always rested, no matter how far away from the closest city they were. Woods would hide and protect them without a single question, keeping them away from humanity’s claws.

Even though Brianne was a human herself, she didn’t feel close to most of her kind. Instead, the girl found herself home wherever her mom was– Iluma, an enormous troll who had taken her in as one of her own.

Hence why the woods were always a refuge for both of them, somewhere that the humans didn't dare explore on their own. Their depth was reserved only for magical beings, and the girl was now one of them, in a way. She had begun to play around with different spells some time in the past, and she did nothing but improve with every passing night with the sporadic help of different wizards around the world – Brianne helped her mom explore through the undergrowth around them, bringing a faint light to them only with a slight flick of her fingers, lighting their way until they were able to stop on a forgotten cavern; big enough just for the two of them.

They were safe. And she knew well in which part of the world they were in, giving her hope to meet a certain magic apprentice that she was fond of– one of the few humans Brianne got along with.

“You look happy, Child,” Iluma commented as her daughter got off her back, letting out a smile; even if it was a small gesture, it seemed enormous due to her size. “Is it about… him?”

Brianne chuckled and looked away before taking out some foraged food from her bag, offering it to the troll while sitting down on the ground. Iluma laid down beside her, letting her lean towards the grass that covered the upper part of her rocky body, gently grabbing some fruit without rush.

“It's been a while since I saw Douxie… do you think he'll recognize me?” the girl said, playing with her hair as she spoke, distracting herself by dividing the red streaks and the black parts of it and then combining them again.

“Oh, you haven't changed since you saw him last,” Iluma replied, carefully embracing her child in her arms, who returned the hug in no time. “He'll recognize you, Child. Don't worry.”

Not too long passed until it was time to sleep, and Brianne hid in her mom’s arms, knowing she would be safe and sound with her.

~

Going near human settlements made some things easier for the small family; getting warm food and good provisions was one of them… though, those weren’t free, and they had to find a way to obtain whatever they needed. Over the years, Brianne had gotten all kinds of odd jobs, if only it meant Iluma wouldn’t risk her life for her sake, like she had done many times in the past. Trolls weren’t welcome in the human world, after all.

It wasn't hard to find work in kingdoms, especially in Camelot, and Brianne had managed to become a seller in a bakery in less than an hour– it was in a quiet place of the kingdom, and her boss was nice enough to give her snacks for her break. There wasn’t anything better in the world than that, apart from being almost done with her shift.

Or so she thought, until a familiar face showed up; the girl would recognize those blue streaks between black hair anywhere, more with the dark “cat” following him, and a smile appeared on her lips by mere instinct.

“Douxie!” she exclaimed, chuckling as the boy jumped out of surprise. His eyes brightened up just by seeing her, and Brianne's worries faded away in mere seconds, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

“Brianne, you're back! It's been so long!” Douxe replied, going for a hug which Brianne returned with a huge smile, though her boss coughed to catch their attention. Only then did they let go, cheeks flushed. “Oh– right, you're probably working now. I'm here for some bread for Merlin, and… We need to catch up. What if you come to the castle after your shift?”

“But you need to–” Archie began to say, closing his mouth as the bakery’s owner noticed him, not wanting to risk him panicking out of a sudden. It had happened before, after all.

Seeing that nobody else was waiting to pay, Brianne nodded and played with her hair, leaning on the counter, and her boss just chuckled at the scene yet went on with his things.

“I’ll be free in a few minutes, if you can wait,” she teased, and Douxie rolled his eyes, not minding it at all. The girl handed him his bread and chuckled, and soon it was time to go.

Everything was pretty uneventful afterwards as night approached and less people were seen in the streets, so her boss let her go home earlier– though Brianne tagged alongside her boyfriend and his familiar, wandering through the kingdom with no worries at all.

To make sure Iluma was aware of her whereabouts, Douxie had offered to help her teleport a letter to their cave, knowing it had worked as they ended up with stones on their hands instead of paper. Brianne was still working on her magic, and switching the placement of items was one of the first things she had learnt– still, the support was helpful nonetheless. He had held her hands to support her, and they ended up walking with entwined fingers towards the castle, talking about what had happened in the time they hadn’t been able to see each other.

Brianne had some new spells to show him– but not in public. King Arthur hadn’t lifted the ban on magic, after all. She wouldn’t push it, grateful that they still had a small space where nobody would bother them about it, as long as nobody but Merlin and the knights saw them.

“Sorry for the mess, I… didn’t expect to invite anyone, honestly,” Douxe said before inviting her to his room, opening the door for her and doing a small bow, making her chuckle.

“Oh, I know you already,” she teased, and he just rolled his eyes with a little smile. “It won't surprise me.”

The boy's bedroom had more things that she'd imagined for such a small space, and he had not so subtly made an attempt to clean a bit once they were inside. Enough to allow them to sit on his bed, at least, while Archie preferred to sit on a small chair beside the desk.

“You still need to practice the spells Merlin tasked you with,” Archie reminded his friend, who just ignored him, using his magic to levitate the chair the dragon cat was in, chuckling when he rolled his eyes and flew towards his desk to avoid falling down. “Well… that’s certainly practicing, in a way.”

Brianne’s green gaze focused on the magic her boyfriend was doing so effortlessly, as if it was not unlike breathing – only with a small movement of his wrist, acting as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. She was in awe, to say the least, and Douxie quickly noticed.

“Bri, do you wanna do it too? I can teach you! It's really easy, see– you just need to imagine something going up, and guide it with your hand,” he exclaimed while gesturing, and Brianne imitated him as well as she could, deciding to practice with a shoe so as to not strain herself by accident. “Now, imagine that your magic goes towards the object, wrapping it… and moving it somewhere.”

“It's like a teleport spell!” the girl noted, and that way it was much easier– she could levitate the shoe she intended to, and then pillows and many other little things, becoming easier and easier with every attempt.

At one point, Brianne tried to make herself float, giggling once her feet were away from the ground– though, it didn’t last for long, as trying to walk on air seemed to break the spell and made her fall down.

Thankfully, Douxie had been paying attention and caught her with his own magic, carefully placing her on the mattress while making sure nothing bad happened to her– always being gentle, for once not rushing at all. He didn’t let go until his girlfriend was safely sitting beside him, and Brianne couldn’t help it but chuckle, hugging him without saying much.

Archie just rolled his eyes and walked away, allowing them to have their space while grabbing the bread with his mouth, probably going towards where Merlin was.

With all the spells they were using, neither of them noticed that time had passed and the moon had appeared on the sky alongside the stars– it was getting colder, and Brianne suddenly realized how tired she was; no matter how many odd jobs she got, they still made her feel exhausted at the end of the day.

She ended up leaning towards Douxie, who chuckled and held her in his arms, covering them up with his blankets to keep themselves warm; Brianne yawned, moving closer to her boyfriend and closing her eyes, smiling as he began carefully caressing her hair while she fell asleep on his hold.

Some humans were nice to her, and Douxie was the clear example of it.

#trollhunters #douxie casperan #hisirdoux casperan #douxie x oc #commission #trollhunters fanfic

[mysteriesmuse]

Douxie Casperan x Reader Oneshot

Hello! Here's the second half!

Title: Just Like Any Other Day (Part 2)

"Hisirdoux!”

“Archie!”

“Oh, you’ve really done it now.”

“But,” Douxie elicited gesturing to the blue flames, “it’s a magic fire.”

“Yeah and in a book store. Why do you keep forgetting this?” Archie groaned a huff of smoke curling out of his purple dragon nostrils.

“Ugh, just give me a second,” Douxie seethed between gritted teeth.

The boys had certainly found more than they bargained for. Accidentally stumbling into a group of gnomes on the way back.

“I’ve always hated these things!” Archie yelled swooping around trying to herd the things.

“Aha!” Triumphantly Douxie held up his bracelet and captured the lot in one magic bubble. “And,” he held up a finger. “Now to send them to Jim because I’ve never liked these twits.”

“That and we have no idea what to do with these guys.” Arch groaned watching the gnomes brawl in the bubble. In his recently changed opinion the only tolerable gnome was Chompsky, and that was only slightly a stretch. The poor guy had some delusions of a wife with a Sally Rocket doll at the miniature doll residence in Tobys room.

“Yeah anyways,” Douxie whispered listening for any movement upstairs.

Archies ears flicked trying to pinpoint any noise. “Do you think we woke her?”

Archie shook his head, "That would be her now," he said flying up towards the balcony.

He perched himself on your shoulder as you came into the light. Trotting over you leaned against the railing rubbing your bleary eyes with the palm of your hand.

“It’s just a couple of gnomes. We were about to clean it up,” Archie answered in response to your squinting sleepy eyes. Nothing too disastrous or large.

Douxie watched flashing you a sheepish smile as he scratched the back of his neck. Pushing off with your forearms you made a clicking sound with your tongue and opening your arms like a cradle for Archie to slip into. The large wings and spiked tail cool to the touch in contrast to his furry body which you hugged to your chest. Waving a hand fickle-like at the mess below, “Just clean it up.”

Douxie let out a chuckle which got Archie to laugh. The rumbles flowing through your arms as he swished his tail against your thigh, content in your sleepy embrace.

"Of course,” he beamed finding the energy to send you a wink.

In your arms Archie stirred and glided back down to assist.

Walking down the stairs you watched as Douxie pulled his phone out of his pocket and began moving his thumbs rapidly typing.

Putting a hand into your bed head you attempted fixing the mess by flipping your hair back over to one side. The bluish glow of the capture sphere still fascinating to your eyes.

Shoving the phone back into his back pocket Douxie watched you scrutinizing the orb.

“Claire said to give her a minute and she’ll open a portal for us to send these over to Jim.” He replied walking over and gently pulled back your hand that was lightly poking the bubble by your wrist.

Your eyes flashed over to him with look that said ‘really?’

Douxie simply wagged a finger with a tsk noise in your direction to your wordless question.

“You don’t wanna do that.” 

“Agreed, probably not the best idea unless we want those gnomes escaping,” Archie groaned at the thought. He made a point of walking around the orb, “Although it is your magic, so technically she can’t undo it.”  

“See! It’s not even my magic,” you held out your hands gesturing to the orb and yourself, “I don’t even have magic!”  

Sighing at your sleepy, yet energetic antics Douxie grabs your hands. Grasping your soft hands in his he spoke gently, “I know you think it’s cool Y/N but you just can’t touch this.”   

He so desperately stared into your crestfallen eyes. The slight pout on your bottom lip as you blinked and nodded slowly. 

Smiling softly Douxie languidly pulls your hands up to meet his height. You take a sharp inhale through your nose in anticipation as warm breath begins fanning over your knuckles as he presses several soft kisses there.  

“Doux, I think we got just what you need.” 

Jim and Claire’s voice run through the room. The magic shadow portal opened in the middle of the book store. The purplish magic swirling like liquid in the air. 

“Thanks Claire. Right well,” Douxie began letting go of your hands and walking behind the orb. 

As he went to start moving the capture sphere you had quickly positioned yourself next to the shadow portal. You had heard that Claire’s portals were good for transportation, although you’d never experienced it yourself. 

You bit your lower lip as you smiled one hand hesitantly reaching out and running your fingertips through. It was cold and thick. Withdrawing your hand you pulled it back to your chest.    

“I’m so glad that they offered to take this for us,” Archie sighed in relief as he sat on Doux’s shoulder. 

“Me too,” conjuring his magic in his hand Douxie began to use it to push the orb into the portal Claire opened.  

“Y/N, don’t walk through on us,” Archie jokingly exclaimed as Douxie pushed the orb closer noticing your fixated gaze on the portal. 

“Oh I,” you sputtered taking a sidestep, “I wasn’t doing anything.” Quickly you hid your hands behind your back. 

“Come on darling,” Douxie flexed his free hand prompting you to give him yours.  

Doing so he guided yours to the portal letting them hover an inch away. “Can you keep it open a few more seconds Claire?” 

“Sure thing teach, do make it quick though!” 

You could hear James Lake Junior and Claire laughing briskly on the other side before it returned to indisiferable tones of conversation. 

Your eyes meet with Archie’s, then Douxie’s who each gave an encouraging nod and smile.  

Giddily, you bit your lower lip smiling as one hand hesitantly stretched; reaching out and running your fingertips through. It was cold and thick. 

“Pft,” Douxie could not hold it in. The surprise at the pudding like feel showed on your squished face. 

Archie also broke out laughing, “haha Hah!” He wheezed rolling over. As you cut your eyes to them both. 

“Why didn’t you tell me this is like-is like!” 

“Pudding?” Douxie offered clutching his side. 

“Yes, pudding,” you groaned pulling your hand out and instinctively wiping it. 

“Hey!” 

“There’s not even anything on it,” Archie called watched as Douxie groaned looking at his shirt.   

“That’s enough missy,” he teased. 

“Hm,” you paused, holding in a snicker as you splayed your hand across his chest and pretended to inspect your fingers, “I suppose so.”  

Douxie rolled his eyes.

“Well, I’m not waiting around,” Archie announced, “It’s been a rather long day.” 

You and Douxie both made a noise of agreement in response, him saying, “Not unlike any other.”

“I know, wish living with the two of you led to less adventure sometimes.” Archie yawned before the three of you sluggishly made it back up the stairs, where Douxie pulled you close and ruffled your hair. Not that you needed it. 

“Thank you, Love. I needed you today.” 

You smiled, toes curling and relishing the feeling of Douxie pressing a kiss to the top of your head. 

Patting his chest you smiled, “Don’t worry I’ll need you tomorrow, remember? My bands got a gig down at . . . “ 

Douxie and you spoke openly in the quiet house. 

Archie with a frenzied interjection of “Where? That far?” In response to your gig location, “You two seriously! Why didn’t we just book a hotel? Is it seriously that far?”

The three of you spoke and joked like you’d known each other your whole lives, and in the dark apparent snickering and rubbing circles on you back Douxie certainly wished he had. 

———————-

A/N: Seriously, this has been in my notes almost finished forever! the endings kinda rushed, but i hope its still good? maybe? anyway just normal shenanigans and quiet hours with our favorite wizard boys.

#Toa #toa #archie #douxie #hisirdoux #hisirdoux casperan #toa wizards #douxie casperan #Douxie x reader #hisirdoux x reader #douxie imagine

[talesofargante]

The Guardian of Trollhunters Episode 7: Part 4 - Study Date

Pairing: Jim Lake Jr. x Liz Walker (OFC)

Episode Summary: Armed with an ancient troll-hunting tool, Jim and Toby set out to unmask the Changelings living among them while Liz confronts Jim about her forgotten childhood past.

Words: 2.6k

Warning: none (if I miss any warnings please lmk)

Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

During her afternoon shift at the local bistro, Liz told Douxie about her study session with Jim later in the evening. Stunned by the news, his broom paused mid-sweep against the wooden flooring. "What? You're meeting him here?"

"Would you rather I invite him over to our place?" Liz asked, busily wiping down the long work table by the window, ignoring the stern glare from Douxie behind her. "You know the rules, love. I need not remind you what happened last time."

"Obviously, Doux." Liz rolled her eyes, remembering a time in New Jersey of a blonde boy with a jersey jacket who she was assigned to tutor though the boy had a different plan besides studying. "Honestly, I would have taken care of it until you walked in and scared him off."

He scoffed. "It was a good thing I was there, love. That chap didn't know a thing about personal boundaries and I was more than happy to remind him."

Liz sighed. "And I appreciate your protection, Doux, but like I said time and again, I had it under control. I was going to use magic to spook him off just before you ruined my chance of entertainment."

"Then you would be breaking rule number one – no magic around humans."

Liz paused, looking at Douxie with a perked eyebrow over her shoulder. "You're no fun, you know that?"

"I'm plenty of fun in many ways, love. You just have not seen it all." Douxie winked playfully though Liz was not amused.

"Whatever you say, old-timer," Liz said, finishing her cleaning. Douxie stomped his broom with a huff. "I'm not that old."

"Old enough to be my ancestor," Liz mumbled, walking back to the main bar.

"What was that?" Douxie asked, but Liz hastened her steps, calling out behind her. "Nothing!"

"Well, I look forward to meeting your study date!" Douxie shouts after Liz, only to receive a curt reply from a distance.  "Not a chance, Doux! And it's not a date!"

Safe behind the bar, Liz felt a buzz in her pocket. It was a text from Claire.

{Have fun on your study date with Jim! Tell me all about it later k &lt;;3}

Liz huffed at the message.

What's with everyone? It's not a study date!

***

After closing up the bistro early for the evening, Liz goes through her homework alone at one of the tables, relishing the quietness of the diner as she waits for Jim. Earlier, just before closing, she had to use magic on Douxie to get him out of the restaurant since he continued to be stubborn, insisting he should stay as a chaperone for their "study date". Having none of it, Liz was quick to use a floating spell to cast him out the door. Fortunately, there were no witnesses around to see the spectacle.

Archie would have found it comical. Liz thought, chuckling to herself while she glanced around the empty restaurant, only to pause at the sight of gift cards near the cash register as the memory of a white envelope Jim gave her came to mind.

"The answers. It's all in there."

The answers to her forgotten past. A missing piece in her life she has always wondered about for years, now finally answered in writing from a boy who she only just met not too long ago. What does he know? Liz thought curiously. Should she have kept the letter and read it?

Liz shakes her head. No, that letter represents Jim's last words unspoken to those close to him should he fall in battle. A letter she would never accept even if it contained the answers she sought. She would rather hear it all from the boy himself.

Suddenly, a tapping pierces the quiet space, prompting Liz to find Jim behind the glass door, waving at her to let him in. Waving back, she walked to the door and opened it. "Come in, Jim. Glad you came."

"Wouldn't miss it." Jim smiled, entering inside before Liz closed the door behind him. She guides him to the table, where her laptop, books, and papers laid spread out, leaving some space for Jim on the opposite side. "Take a seat. I'll grab some drinks and snacks. Any preferences?"

Jim takes a seat opposite hers. "Anything to keep me up from falling asleep."

"Well, coffee it is. Be back in a jiff." Liz said, heading to the bar. After a moment, she comes back with a coffee in each hand, and freshly baked croissants tucked in between her arms, placing them on the table. "Here's our local favorite coffee and our limited special pastry, Lune Chocolat Croissant – on the house. I hope you like it."

"Wow! Thanks, Liz," Jim thanked her with a grin as Liz sat down on her chair. "No biggie. Now then, let's get started."

***

"See, the equation only contains powers of X that are non-negative integers. Does that make sense?" Liz asked as Jim glanced at her. "Is it supposed to?"

Liz shakes her head with a smile. "Nah. That's why it's called algebra."

The two share a laugh. Settling down, Jim speaks up. "Hey, thanks again for this. I-I feel... I feel really bad about what's happening with the play and for preoccupying so much of your time to help me."

"I don't mind it, Jim. You have a lot on your plate, so I get it."

Jim felt relieved at her response, albeit surprised about her being neutral with working with Steve instead of him in the play. The thought of it leaves an uncomfortable feeling in his chest.

"But there's something that has been bothering me for a while," Liz admits, breaking Jim from his thoughts. "Oh. What's troubling you?"

"Remember when you gave me that letter and mentioned that it had the answers to my past? What did you mean by that exactly?" Liz asked with a perked eyebrow.

Jim gulped, not expecting to address it so soon as his mind went haywire. How should he approach this? How is she going to react? Would she look at him differently once she knew?

"Jim, did you find something about my past?"

"I-Um-There's so much to tell you. I don't know where to begin." Jim finally answered as Liz's eyes widened. Leaning forward instantly, she grasps Jim's hands in hers. "It's okay, Jim. Just start from the beginning. Slowly. Starting with how you found out."

Flushing a little at her unwavering stare, Jim sweatdropped. "Well, actually, I–uh, didn't find anything. More like I know some – things."

"You know some...things?" Liz repeated, confusion spread across her face. "What do you mean?"

Jim stammered in response, breaking away from her turquoise gaze but unable to withdraw his hands from her warm grasp. "I–I should have told you earlier since the moment I first saw you in class, but I wasn't sure until I got to know you a little more. Until I know for sure that you– that you're her."

"Her? I don't understand, Jim. Who are you referring to, and what does she have to do with my past?" Liz asked anxiously.

Before Jim could answer her question, a ringtone chimed, followed by a vibration on the table that caught their attention. It was Liz's phone with an image of Toby on the screen. Quickly, Liz answered it and put him on speaker for Jim to hear as they listened to Toby laughing and murmuring incoherently as the sound of crashing and breaking echoed in the background. Sounds like trouble.

"Something is wrong. Let's go." Liz said, standing from her chair and packing their things as Jim followed suit. Once everything's packed and the bistro secured and locked, Liz trails behind Jim to his parked bicycle. "You got bike pegs, Jim?"

Straightening his bike to a stand, Jim glances at the pegs on his back wheel. "Uh-Yeah."

Liz nodded. "Great. I'll be riding with you. If you don't mind, that is?"

"Not at all," Jim said, grabbing his helmet from the handlebars and handing it to Liz. "Safety first."

"Thanks, but what about you?" Liz asked, quickly buckling the safety gear atop her head. Jim shrugs as he gets on his bike. "You'll be there to save me if anything."

Liz laughed, grasping his shoulders as she stood on the pegs behind him. "Then, I better hold on tight and make sure you don't fall."

Jim chuckled. "I'm counting on it."

***

"For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!"

"By the power of the Arcane, magic is mine to command!"

A flash of blue and cyan pierced the darkness of the night as the two champions raced to the local dental clinic. Barging inside the dental office, they found it in havoc with everyone under the influence of laughing gas – AAARRRGGHH hanging through the skylight window, Toby riding the hanging lamp while Blinky and a changeling laughed away.

"What in the world?" Liz said, staring at the chaos in front of her. Toby smiled at the sight of his best friend. "Jimbo!"

"Uh..." Jim barely let out a chuckle at Toby's demeanor before hearing the horrid voice of the changeling. "The Trollhunter! Die!"

In a moment of distraction, the changeling pounced on Jim, but Liz quickly intervened, jumping in front of him with a shield of silver and gold and slamming the changeling to a wall with cans of laughing gas spilling out. The fumes made their friends laugh again as Toby fell from the lamp, making Blinky cackle even harder. The changeling gets up and charges again, this time at Liz. "Die, Guardian! Die!"

Though Liz braced for impact, Jim stepped in with his sword in hand, slamming the pommel onto the changeling's face. Using the changeling's daze to his advantage, Jim swings his sword at her, pushing her back.

However, the upper hand was short-lived when the changeling managed to find the lamp and shone the bright light into Jim's eyes as he covered his sight with his arms, leaving him vulnerable. With a tug of his leg, Jim was pulled down and then suddenly pinned as she forced his arms to the ground with an evil snarl. "Perish, you worm!"

"Get off of him!" Liz shouts, switching her shield for a sword and taking a swing at the changeling, but the creature catches onto her wrist and swings her to the other side of the room, crashing onto the empty cans.

"Liz!" Jim cried out in worry as he struggled within the changeling's grip, groaning as he tried to escape. He looked back at Toby and Blinky, who stood shaking in the corner, holding a lamp resembling the one Draal had trained Jim with. Remembering Draal's advice, Jim watched as the creature lifted an arm for the killing blow. "Die!"

Concentrating on his sword, the blade evaporated before appearing in his other hand as she bent forward to slice him open with her claws. Before touching him, the sword pierced her stone skin like butter. The changeling let out a gasp as blue smoke sprouted from her stab wound, quivering in fear as lightning shocked from her stone figure while Jim stepped to his friends, who watched fearfully. Suddenly, a giant blast encompassed the changeling and the entire building, setting off car alarms blaring in the distance as the changeling died in the explosion.

Inside, dark smoke filled the room, but as it cleared, everyone stood in the places they had last stood with gray smears coating their bodies while Jim rushed to Liz's side, whose armored free figure lay on the floor against the wall. "Liz! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm good." Liz lets out a cough, swiping the gray smear from her face. "Though, I need a shower and an ibuprofen."

Jim chuckled, glad to see her unharmed as he helped her stand up to her feet.

"There goes proof." AAARRRGGHH pointed out as Toby coughed. "Oh, my gosh! She's in my mouth. Oh, my gosh!"

"Oh, no! I killed our only evidence of changelings in Arcadia." Jim says in defeat as he pulls off his amulet, his armor vanishing from his figure.

"And my dental hygienist!" Toby added as Blinky stepped beside Jim, placing a hand on the human boy's shoulder. "You finished the fight, Master Jim, and in self-defense, for that matter. Vendel may continue to have his doubts, but we continue to have our lives. A fair bargain, I'd say."

"Just out of curiosity, what are you guys doing in Toby's dentist's office?" Liz asked while Toby freaked out, wiping off ashy remains, and AAARRRGGHH struggled to enter the building.

"I thought it was possible that danger may come to all of you should you cross paths with the wrong changeling. So, we followed Tobias as a precaution." Blinky explained. Liz nodded. "It's a good thing you both did."

Suddenly a loud bang occurred, startling everyone, but they calmed when they realized AAARRRGGHH had finally dropped from the tight grip of the skylight. He stood up with a pair of teeth and clanked them together as he spoke. "And curious."

Toby eyed the trolls. "About what?"

"You humans have a concept that is quite foreign to us." Blinky breathes into Toby's face, the boy suddenly pulling back as he gagged.

"Oral hygiene." Blinky laughed, but no one else had, so he stopped and looked around. "Mm. Looks like we're officially out of laughing gas. We should depart."

"Agreed. It's been a long day for us all,"  Liz commented, heading out the door as Jim and Blinky followed behind her, but AAARRRGGHH could not fit through, so he climbed back up the ceiling window.

"Hey! Uh, excuse me, wait! Look at this place. Do you have some magic artifact that can clean up this mess?" Toby exclaimed.

"Yes. I believe it's called a "Tobias," Blinky said, walking away and leaving behind Toby as he looked around at the mess with a grimace.

"I was afraid you'd say that."

***

After separating from their troll friends, Jim gave Liz a ride home, dropping her off at the front entrance to the second-floor apartments above the ground-level retail stores. Just before Liz could say goodnight, Jim spoke up with haste. "Liz, about what I said earlier about your past — "

Liz holds up a hand to stop him. "Though I am eager to hear what you have to say, I think it's best we put that on hold for later, Jim. With changelings being one step ahead of us and them now knowing our awareness of their existence, our main priority is getting proof and finding the Killahead Bridge. Time is not on our side with the bridge close to completion and we cannot afford to get sidetracked."

"Er, right. You're right." Jim said, rubbing the back of his neck with mixed feelings of relief and disappointment. "Um, I know this is a little off topic but is it okay if we can reschedule our study session? I still feel like I need help with algebra."

"Of course. Tomorrow after school?"

Jim nods. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Great, it's a date," Liz replied without thought but instantly realized what she had just said, a faint blush crossing her cheeks. "Ah-I, well, goodnight. Text me when you get home safe."

Without waiting for a response from Jim, she hurries inside and runs up the stairwell as the boy watches after her from his bike, unaware of the growing smile on his face.

"Good night, Lizzie."

[End of Episode VII - To Catch a Changeling]

Hello there!

I hope you enjoyed the last part of Episode 7! If you are interested in reading more, click on the links provided below!

This fanfiction story will be posted on Wattpad, Archive of Our Own, and Tumblr. However, Wattpad will serve as the original site for this story, so the latest updates will be there.

While reading, feel free to leave a comment [keep it negative-free, would you? thanks :)] or critique. I appreciate the feedback. And along the way, if you like the journey so far, leave a star, a kudos, or/and heart to vote! If you have any questions, feel free to ask as well and I’ll do my best to answer without giving any spoilers ;)

Again, thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Happy reading!

- Miss_Nightingale

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#tales of arcadia #trollhunter #trollhunters #fanfiction #tumblr #ao3 #guardian #tales of arcadia fanfic #jimlakejr #talesofargante #tales of argante

[nurisiliel]

A Zouxie Week

fandom:          Tales of Arcadia

characters:     Hisirdoux Casperan, Zoe Ashildr, Archie

Summary:       Eight sequential short stories from the lives of Douxie and Zoe in Arcadia Oaks for the zouxieweek2022.

warnings:        Day 3: /

disclaimer:      I don't own Tales of Arcadia (Trollhunters, 3Below, Wizards and Rise of the Titans) or any character which you may recognize from the shows or the movie. They belong to Guillermo del Toro and DreamWorks Animation. However, everything else is my own creation.

Day 1 - date night / steamy (NSFW) - Read on AO3

Day 2 - angst - Read on AO3

Zouxieweek2022 prompts, Day 3 - mothers

Listening to the soft sounds of the drum and violin, he rhythmically stroked Archie's fur as he let his gaze glide over the people enjoying the beautiful weather in the park that Sunday.

"Excuse me, sir, is the seat next to you still available?"

The corners of his mouth twitched. She wanted to play their game now? Very well...

"Milady." Douxie merely tilted his head in greeting so as not to wake Archie. "Of course, you may claim this seat for yourself."

"I thank you, sir."

Gracefully, Zoe settled down beside him in her short black skirt and looked thoughtfully at Archie.

"Is everything okay with Archibald? He doesn't usually sleep at this hour."

Sighing, Douxie closed his eyes for a few seconds. "Archie'd been awake for the rest of the night, making sure I felt safe. Zoe..."

Where was he going to start with the explanation? But before he could put his thoughts in an acceptable order, she grabbed the second stud hanging in front of his shirt and put it in her ear. For a few moments she listened to the music and then shook her head.

"You listen to Irish instrumental music? Shit, this is really serious."

Bending her leg on the bench, she turned fully toward him and looked imploringly into his eyes. "What happened yesterday, Douxie?"

"It was... a flashback. Something I experienced as a child, before Archie found me. It's been a while since something like that happened to me, and I thought I was past it. But apparently that isn't the case. I'm afraid that I won't be able to go to the new bath with you anymore. I'll probably avoid the sauna in the future as well, now that that memory has come crawling back out of my subconsciousness. Otherwise it could trigger me again. I'm sorry, Zoe."

"Hey, it's okay! I'm also constantly trying to avoid the demons of my past," she assured him and gently cupped his cheeks. "But look at me, Douxie. Do you want to talk about it? I'm here if you want to."

He knew that telling her about it would certainly give him relief. But at the same time, everything in him resisted the thought of even going near that memory again.

When he noticed over Zoe's shoulder a familiar person sitting on a bench some distance away, however, Douxie knew how he could start. With a nod in the appropriate direction, he indicated that Zoe should turn once in that direction, which she did.

"Do you see the woman there next to the teenage boy? She's a doctor and a single parent. From what I picked up at work, the boy's father left them ten years ago. But still, she kept and keeps going. Working like crazy at the local hospital to provide for her son and herself. Along the way, her boy has become very independent, and I bet eventually becoming a chef."

"Is that so? And how do you know that?"

Laughing softly, Douxie fondly recalled the day...

"Last year for his birthday, they were out to dinner while I was on shift. Aside from the fact that they always tip very well, the boy was talking to me while his mother was in the bathroom. He asked me the exact ingredients of the new dishes, which we had just added to the menu a few days earlier at that point. He had wanted to recreate them at home because his mother likes to eat our food but they don't have so much money that they can eat out all the time. His mother overheard a few snippets of our conversation and assured me that her son is a truly gifted cook, unlike her," Douxie chuckled. With a caring smile, Douxie let his gaze wander further.

"And you see that woman there? At first glance, she seems downright married to her work. But I've often seen her sitting here in the park with her daughter and toddler, like right now, looking at a picture book with the little one while talking to her daughter."

And as Douxie let his gaze wander further to the many mothers and also fathers who were present with their children, he saw from the corner of his eye that Zoe was also letting her gaze wander.

"I sometimes wonder what my mother would be like, what she would be doing today, if she had stood the test of time like we have."

Instead of a direct reply, he felt Zoe lean her head against his shoulder and intertwine her fingers with his.

"I'd have loved to have met your mother. But you know, there's one thing I know with one hundred percent certainty. If she were here today, she'd be proud of you."

Her words made his heart beat on painfully.

"You think?" he asked in a strained voice, feeling the embrace of her fingers around his tighten.

"Hisirdoux Casperan, you're a master wizard of all magical fields. And that's despite the fact that you're not even officially a master wizard yet! You're hardworking, just like that mother over there, down-to-earth, help others and haven't lost your will to live and sometimes really annoying cheerfulness over the every so often really crappy centuries!"

Straightening up, she cupped his face again and looked at him with a seriousness that sent a shiver down his spine.

"Your mother couldn't help but be proud of you, Douxie. I know I am. And so much more. If it weren't for you, many a time I'd have just called it quits with life. Thanks to you," she quickly continued when he tried to say something with a shocked expression, "I'm still here today in this time period that I'm actually enjoying again."

Then she stood up and simply pulled him along while he quickly shouldered the still snoring Archie so he wouldn't accidentally drop him.

"But actually, I came here to show you a surprise that I got for you and I'm sure would have driven your mother crazy."

"What-?"

"No questions, just come with me."

Douxie couldn't help but feel emotionally drained. For Zoe's confession brought another weight to his heart. But at the same time, her snarky yet compassionate manner had always been able to snap him out of his sometimes dull and heavy thoughts. And seeing her at that moment with a grin and so full of anticipation for his reaction gave him joy himself.

And so he let himself be pulled along without resistance and simply looked forward to this surprise.

@moppetwithamanbun @emsprovisions

#zouxieweek2022 #hisirdoux casperan #zoe ashildr #toa wizards #mothers

[dragetunge]

I wanna say Hiccup and Douxie work a season at the New York Renaissance Faire. Hiccup can work his blacksmith craft and Douxie would be a wandering minstrel who constantly serenades the blacksmith. 

Hiccup utterly loves it when Douxie serenades him when he works.  // @timewept​

#🔥▓◤ALWAYS A TRAINER: Headcanon◥ #🔥▓◤I CLOSED MY EYES I TOOK A DRINK: timewept/Hisirdoux◥ #seriously them working a renn faire #its perfect keep hidden cover #toothless can lounge and people think he's an animatronic #nari would blend in with the fairies in their forest #the perfect cover #archie is always found with douxie on his shoulders

[archies-litterbox]

what’s the greater good worth? (definitely not this)

Summary: Merlin rescues Douxie from some lowlife gang of bandits, and he's devastated by what's already happened to his apprentice before he found him - by what he was too late to prevent happening to his son. But there's more to what happened than simply what lay before him.

Words: ~8.5k

A/N: Finally got this oneshot done! It’s actually based on this post I made a while back, but the idea of fleshing it out into a full-lenth oneshot just wouldn’t leave me alone! (Just like I can’t leave the poor moppet alone 😔) Hope you like it!

[CW: Whump, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Temporary Muteness]

--

Merlin sent Hisirdoux on a short errand: go out to the marketplace, buy some ingredient he’d needed, and come straight back. No dawdling, no distraction, and no stopping to make lovesick puppy eyes at that maiden who frequented the market at the same time Hisirdoux himself did. 

He couldn’t remember the exact thing he’d told his apprentice to fetch, for the memory was soon overtaken by worry when the boy hadn’t come back by late afternoon. He’d only sent Hisirdoux out that morning, and even if he had forsaken his instructions and tried to muster up the courage to ask that girl her name…

“I, er… don’t exactly know her name yet,” the moppet had said, “But I think it’s something with a Z! At least, that’s what I heard the person she was talking to call her. I haven’t, er… actually spoken to her yet.”

“Focus on your studies,” Merlin had said, “before distracting yourself with thoughts of courting this girl from the shops, and-”

“But Master-”

“Don’t “But Master” me.”

...He still should have been back at this point. Hisirdoux wasn’t one to wander off when he was out on errands. He knew the dangers of that - of being caught alone by the wrong person, prejudiced against users of magic, without anyone knowing where he really was.

The boy’s familiar shared Merlin’s worry, so Archie kept his form as a mostly-inconspicuous black cat (save for his glasses, for he figured he should have the best sight as he could at this moment) and slinked through the town beyond the castle, following the young wizard’s scent, unmistakably that of burnt cloves.

Sure enough, Hisirdoux had gone to the shops he’d needed to visit, but the scent trail made a sharp turn into an alley - one that he’d been dragged into, Archie had feared, if the signs of struggle and kicking feet in the cobble were any indication.

It was then that Archie resolved to fly back to the castle and tell Merlin to follow him, warning the Master Wizard that it was overwhelmingly likely that Hisirdoux didn’t disappear of his own volition. 

To say that worried Merlin, or even terrified him, would’ve been the understatement of the past twelve centuries.

It only took a few hours to track down Hisirdoux’s trail to some cabin in a patch of forest, but every second was too long - far too long for Merlin to wait to find his son.

The thugs looked rudimentary from where Merlin stood unnoticed outside the clearing. One or two - three at the most - stood lazily outside, near the doors. Merlin tapped his staff against the forest ground, and it was enough to send a little spell through the soil and right under their feet, shooting up their bodies like a reverse lightning rod and knocking them to the ground, unconscious. It didn’t kill them, but that wasn’t a mercy; really, the wizard still hadn’t known the condition of his apprentice, and if something had been done to him that only these men could reverse, ending their lives would've been an unwise choice, to say the least.

But the sound of the men hitting the ground was enough to draw out the last two of Hisirdoux captors, who spotted Merlin in the woods. Fine - he hadn’t been keen on hiding for much longer anyway. Stealth was for wizards whose apprentices hadn’t been snatched up by lowly bandits; who weren’t using a headstrong facade to hide their fear for their sons’ lives.

And right now, while he rendered the last of the bandits unconscious, Merlin Ambrosius was no such wizard.

The door was still open, as Merlin dealt with the last of those men before they could even come five steps out of the shack, so the wizard ran to the opening with Archie flying next to him, stepping over the idiots until he was close enough to see into the dark interior, lit only by rays of light that shone in-between boards nailed into the windows.

Merlin hit his staff against the ground and cast a spell with enough to break the boards and let more light into the hovel - light that shined on his apprentice that lay trembling on the ground, unresponsive on his side, not even fighting the restraints that bound him. With his back turned to his mentor and his familiar, he seemed barely aware of their presence at all.

Merlin never ran faster in his life.

Thankful for his armor’s plating, one of his knees slammed against the ground as he knelt down behind Hisirdoux, looking over his bonds and feeling like, for once in his long, long life, he could barely breathe at the sight before him, even though it wasn’t nearly as bad as what could have been - it was more at the audacity than anything else.

His apprentice had been bound with rope at the ankles and knees, with another few winds of it pinning his arms to his back and metal shackles binding his wrists behind him. Of course, the shackles must have been cast with a magic nullifier infused in the cruel metal, so the boy couldn’t use spells or enchantments to break his other restraints; as if to add insult to injury, the boy was also missing his magic bracelet, which had been thrown across the hovel.

(Again, the audacity.)

Merlin knew one of the bandits must have had the key, so he got back up, telling Archie to stay with him before he went back to the cluster of idiots that lay outside the door.

The wizard watched the boy’s shackled hands grasp at the air as he reached for him in vain, and the weak twinge in his pale, thin fingers made something in Merlin’s cold aged heart ache . He wished he’d been a hundredfold more brutal with those bandits than simply knocking them out.

Anyway, it took only moments for him to get the key, and by the time he came back, picking up the boy’s charm bracelet on the way, Archie had broken the rest of Hisirdoux’s bonds.

The boy still hadn’t said a word, or even made a sound.

Confound it, Merlin loathed this.

Once he’d finally uncuffed Hisirdoux, he helped the boy, now entirely free of his bonds, into a sitting position. He was, indeed, quite conscious, his eyes following Archie as the familiar stepped onto his lap. Hisirdoux started petting the black cat before wrapping his gangly arms around the cat in a desperate hug, still as silent as he’d been when Merlin stormed in. He wouldn’t have any more of this… this vexing silence from his apprentice - not if it could’ve been helped.

(...If only he knew how little it could’ve been helped at that moment.)

“Hisirdoux, say something!”

The boy looked up at Merlin with wide, glistening eyes and a trembling lower lip.

He shook his head.

His lips contorted into a grimace, and he mouthed the words…

“I can’t.”

Tears threatened to spill down his cheeks as he put his hand on his throat, the skin on his wrist raw from the cruelty of those shackles, and shook his head. Those teary hazel eyes that looked at Merlin were exactly those of a terrified child - his terrified child, and Merlin could see the desperation in those eyes, like he was wordlessly begging him to do something.

...But for the first time in his long, long life, Merlin felt utterly and entirely unsure of a way to fix this. He knew how much his apprentice adored singing, humming, blathering incessantly - his voice almost seemed more central to his character than his magic.

And it was…

No, no, no. It couldn’t be - it couldn’t be gone. Those bandits couldn’t have taken this from him - not from his apprentice - not from that innocent moppet who almost always had a tune about him as he bumbled around the castle. No, Merlin couldn’t accept it - he - he wouldn’t accept it -

The old man was pulled from his shock when Hisirdoux sobbed, a heart-wrenching noise even without any vocal influence, and mouthed three words - a desperate plea from a terrified little Wizard, silent but understandable - silent but utterly heart-wrenching .

“Take me home.”

...And how could Merlin put that off?

With a sigh, he raised a hand and mumbled…

“Interminus Nocti Somburso.”

A jolt went through Hisirdoux’s already shaking body as green light popped out from his widened eyes - but only for a fleeting second before sleep claimed the boy. He fell backward, but Merlin caught him by putting his arm behind the boy’s back.

The spell not only made him fall sound asleep in seconds, but it also conjured a green, velvety blanket that draped over the boy. The velvety cloth, brought forth from Merlin’s will when he’d cast the spell, helped to keep the boy warm through means of a rather cozy enchantment that would never let him get cold as long as the blanket lay on him, as well as it would quell his unconscious trembling.

Merlin wrapped the boy up in a blanket-cocoon of sorts and stood up, letting Archie curl up on his human’s abdomen and start purring to soothe the sleeping boy whose head lolled against Merlin’s shoulder, his cheek pressed against an edge on his armor that couldn’t have been very comfortable.

Merlin glanced at the unconscious bandits and cast an immobilization spell as a quick preventative measure in the event that they woke up and tried getting away while Merlin took the boy back to the castle. There was no way in all the realms that these monsters - more monstrous than any troll or goblin - would get away with what they’d done, and the Master Wizard was absolutely sure of that.

So, with that settled, he started back to the castle with Hisirdoux sleeping in his arms. The bandits could wait, for getting his apprentice - his son home safe was his first and foremost priority, and beyond that was finding out how to get his boy’s voice back, even if he’d had to rip the answer from the bandits themselves.

But Hisirdoux, of course, was his priority.

---

Douxie felt more or less dragged back into consciousness by an ache in his… well, it was everywhere. It was low, barely noticeable - a residual soreness from… from… 

Right.

He sighed - a hollow, quiet thing - and trailed his fingers down his throat, still not opening his eyes yet. Douxie’s throat was free of any tightness or pain, but, as he expected, his attempts to mumble out vocal sounds were fruitless.

Beyond the ache, he felt warmth around him. Yes, he felt the familiarity of his bed, his quarters, his - 

A weight he didn’t even know he was still bearing came off of him, and he sighed a shaky sigh.

- his home.

But he also felt something soft and velvety draped around him. It was a blanket, he realized - a new one, and a rather nice one too. He realized Merlin must have conjured it with that sleep spell he put on him right after he found him. That must have been why it felt like it had been magically heated, and it had a uniquely soothing, almost sedative effect that none of his normal blankets had.

Master…

Douxie finally opened his eyes. Even though he knew his master probably had more pressing matters, he hoped that Merlin might have been sitting at his bedside.

Alas, all he saw was empty space in front of him.

The little apprentice wasn’t wearing his vest anymore, he realized when he couldn’t feel the leather that usually weighed on his torso, but he did feel a little purring mass curled up against his abdomen.

Archie…

The boy turned his head a little and saw a black mound of fluff nestled up against him, laying curled up on the green blanket with round little glasses reflecting sunset light from the window.

Douxie bent down and scratched Archie’s little head, right between his triangular ears, causing his familiar to open his eyes and look at him.

“Douxie, you’re awake.”

The boy smiled - a little, shaky thing. Archie got up and stretched before walking closer to his human’s face.

“It’s over now, what you went through today.” he said as he put his paw on Douxie’s cheek in assurance, “Those bandits are in the dungeons now.”

Douxie’s eyebrows furrowed a little. Sure, he was thankful that they’d been apprehended, but if there was a dungeon break, they could come right through the castle, and...

Archie nuzzled Douxie’s head, sensing his human’s worries.

“You’re completely safe.” he said, “You’ll never have to see them again, I promise.”

Douxie only petted the cat again with a nod. He trusted Archie, and if Archie said he didn’t have to worry about them again, then that’s exactly what he didn’t have to do.

Besides, he had a more pressing worry.

With what would have been a grunt if his throat could’ve made the noise, Douxie pushed himself up, despite his grogginess, into an upright position. He could see his vest folded at the foot of his bed, along with his two belts laying on top of it that had his little pouches and a small green journal he liked to keep on hand for little notes.

He might have to use it for more than that now, though. Perhaps if he’d started studying sign, or learned spells to communicate visually...

The boy was pulled from his thoughts by a very light knock on the door. He couldn’t exactly say it was open, so he turned to Archie, eyeing the door with a nod.

“Come in.” the cat said, understanding the nonverbal message.

The door creaked open, and Douxie hoped it would be Merlin standing there. After everything he’d gone through today… he just wanted to see his father.

But it was Morgana, smiling softly as she walked in and closed the door behind her.

But really, the boy wasn’t disappointed with this - the sorceress had been like a big sister to him ever since he’d been brought here, and her presence was comforting, regardless of whether or not she was the person he hoped to see the most. So, Douxie raised a hand and waved to her as she walked in.

“Hello, Little Douxie.” she said softly as she came to stand in front of him, “When I heard your familiar talking, I assumed you’d awoken. Are you feeling alright?”

Although it was a hesitant response, Douxie nodded, thankful that she’d stuck to a yes-or-no question. Merlin had probably told her about his voice’s condition, then.

What he knew about it, anyway.

“You’ve been asleep for about four hours - a long rest to help accelerate your healing.” she explained, “You hadn’t gotten any broken bones, but you did have some nasty bruises when you were brought back here.”

Douxie winced, a little hiss whistling through his teeth as he traced his hand over his hip, where he distinctly remembered getting kicked by a rather angry bandit with a rather hard boot.

Ouch.

He brought that same hand to his chin and stroked an invisible beard, glancing around the room as if looking for someone.

Morgana laughed a soft little laugh, amused by the moppet’s charade.

“Merlin’s down in the dungeons, interrogating your former captors.” she answered, “He’s mostly putting the screws to those bandits about how to reverse what’s happened to your voice more than anything else.”

Douxie nodded in understanding, but he knew the truth; he knew those bandits didn’t know anything about what had been done to his voice.

“He hasn’t gotten anywhere.” she said, putting her hands on her hips, “It’s of a magical nature, and none of those bandits were wizards. They’re sticking to some ridiculous testimony that you casted a silencing spell on yourself.”

Douxie cast his gaze to the floor. All of a sudden, the lint and strands of black cat fur on the floor looked rather interesting. Indeed, very interesting.

“...They are making that up, right?” Morgana asked.

Douxie shrunk in on himself, hugging himself as if caught in a lie, even though he hadn’t actually lied about anything. How could he have? At most, all he’d done was hesitate. Besides, his body language was apparently enough of an answer for Morgana, whose eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Douxie saw as his gaze flickered back up to her, as she realized they hadn’t made that up at all.

Archie’s eyebrows, indicated by the grey patches in his fur above his eyes, raised a bit as that realization dawned on him as well.

“Douxie…?”

The boy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“...Merlin doesn’t know, does he?” Morgana asked.

Douxie shook his head.

After a moment, she sighed.

“Well, he probably should.” she said, “Not that the way he’s treating those men isn’t undeserved, but he shouldn’t waste his time.”

So, Douxie stood up to go down to the dungeons, his balance just a little askew from his legs’ time out of use. Archie got up with a stretch and stood next to Douxie’s feet, deciding not to sit on his shoulders due to his already imperfect balance.

“I’ll go down with you.” Morgana said, sounding like it was more of an insistence than an offer. But Douxie didn’t want to be a burden; surely, Morgana le Fay had much better - certainly, more important uses of her time than using it to accompany him to the dungeons.

“I know the way.” he mouthed, hoping it was understandable just by reading his lips, but Morgana shook her head all the same.

“It’s not about whether or not you know the way.” she crossed her arms, “You still don’t have all your strength back, and I can tell you’re off balance. What if you fall?”

She didn’t say it, but Douxie could tell what her biggest concern was: if he got hurt, he’d have no way of crying out, and Archie might not be enough to keep him balanced.

Morgana was just worried, and Douxie knew that. It was sort of nice - better than Merlin’s scolding, anyway - so he took the gesture with a nod, and he started down the corridors and stairwells to the dungeons with Archie stepping alongside him and Morgana hovering a hand close to his shoulder in the event that his balance wavered.

Douxie always hated the dungeons - so dark, so damp and dingy, so utterly miserable. But making sure Merlin knew the truth was worth it, and he was glad to be accompanied down. Yes, it was even worth sidestepping puddles of questionable liquids as he stayed next to Morgana. He kept his gaze down and avoided looking into the cells, tuning out the jeers of imprisoned trolls and “waka-chakas” of goblins as Morgana guided Douxie and Archie to the corridor where that gang of bandits was being kept.

It turned out that they were imprisoned in a far emptier corridor of the dungeon, which made sense, considering any sort of interrogation would’ve done well not to involve the taunting and interjecting of other prisoners. As the halls got quieter, it got easier to hear his master’s voice as he got closer, until he finally stood at the end of an almost empty corridor of cells, where Merlin stood listening to one of the bandits - the leader, Douxie realized.

Whoever he was, and whatever he was saying, Merlin looked more than fed up with it; he hadn’t even looked as angry as he did right now when the moppet had slipped and accidentally sent one of Merlin’s favorite books soaring into his fireplace.

“I tol’ ya already, dust-fer-brains,” the bandit said, speaking in a voice that unsettled Douxie to his core, even though he was safe on the opposite side of a barred cell door and on the opposite end of the hall, “He put a spell on ‘imself. Shut ‘imself up.”

Morgana was only a moment away from shouting to the end of the hall in an attempt to get Merlin’s attention. If Douxie had his voice, Merlin most certainly would have known he was here by now; he probably would have mumbled to himself about nonsense, or hummed a tune, or squeaked when something scared him. As it was, Merlin had no idea that Douxie was standing just a handful of metres away from him.

And maybe if he did know, he wouldn’t have shouted…

“Again, with that ridiculous lie! Hisirdoux may be an idiot, but even that level of incompetence is beyond him!”

Those words were a punch to the gut, worse than every time those bandits kicked him this afternoon. At least he expected that from them, but hearing that…

His breaths got shaky. His eyes stung. His feet felt rooted to the dungeon floor, like he was more trapped here than the prisoners.

He was no stranger to Merlin’s harshness, and he knew his master thought he was an idiot, but hearing that this was something of a new level of incompetence…

Was it really that much of a stupid idea?

His lip trembled.

What was he thinking, of course it was stupid. Of course he was stupid. A stupid, incompetent numbskull of an apprent-

“MERLIN!” Morgana yelled.

The Master Wizard whipped his head around. When he laid eyes on the shaking moppet at Morgana’s side, his face fell, as if he wished more than anything that he could’ve pulled his words back into his mouth and made them unheard again.

But it was too late.

In an instant, Douxie didn’t feel rooted to the ground anymore. No. Now it felt like hot coals lay burning under his feet, and he needed to run. Fuzzbuckets, he needed to run.

“Hisirdoux…”

Douxie’s tears fell.

He needed to run, run, runrunrunrun RUN.

So, he ran.

Pivoting on his heel so fast he scraped the heel of his boot against the dungeon ground, he ran away from the corridor.

“Hisirdoux!”

“Douxie!”

His eyes stung so badly with tears that he couldn’t open them, but he knew the dungeon corridors well enough that he didn’t need to see to get out of there. He could tell Archie was at his side, but that was okay. He knew his familiar wasn’t trying to stop him, but only to catch up to him.

By the time he got to the stairwell back into the non-dungeony part of the castle, he’d gotten winded, and just barely in earshot, he could hear Merlin and Morgana getting in a shouting match.

It sounded like Morgana was winning.

Once he’d caught his breath, he ran up the stairwell and half-ran-half-stumbled to his room, making sure Archie slipped through the door before slamming it. His legs shook as he sat on his bed, curling his legs up so his knees almost touched his chest, which felt so tight that he could barely breathe without gasping.

It was too much. All of it, everything that happened - it was too much for one day, and he -

He could feel Archie drape that blanket from earlier over his shoulders - the green velvety one. The warm one. The one from - 

Douxie shook his head and wrapped the fabric around himself. It was fine, he didn’t care who it was from. He just needed warmth; he needed heat that didn’t come from his face feeling like it was on fire and hot tears streaming down his cheeks.

After a few moments, keeping his legs curled up like that started to ache, so he stretched them out and let his feet lay on the floor while he sat at the edge of the bed, leaving a perfect spot in his lap for Archie to sit and start purring in that way that always calmed him down after his nightmares.

Maybe, Douxie thought as he stroked the cat in his lap while his torso rocked back and forth, Archie could calm him down from this nightmare, too - one he couldn’t seem to wake up from.

There was a tightness in his throat now, an awful one - not from the spell, but from being overwhelmed by all of this.

Today was one of the most terrifying days of his life.

He’d been ripped off the streets by bandits and taken where he wasn’t sure if he’d be found, or even be looked for. He’d been bound and chained and beaten and terrified. He didn’t even have his voice, and of course, Merlin thought he was more stupid for doing what he did than usual, even though he only did it because - because -

Douxie hugged the cat in his lap and let more tears stream down his face, and he realized there was one upside to not having his voice after all.

He didn’t need to stifle his cries.

---

Merlin was no stranger to guilt, to shame. He didn’t often make mistakes, but when he did, they were horrendous ones, and despite his sense of pride being strong enough that it could power a whole trollmarket, he’d had many opportunities to find himself well acquainted with the feeling that he’d done something horribly wrong.

But when he saw his apprentice’s wide eyes shine with tears at the end of that hall, shame didn’t feel like a mere acquaintance, but an inseparable companion.

He’d barely gotten the boy’s name out of his mouth before he turned on his heel and ran out of the corridor, his familiar running behind him. Merlin shouted the boy’s name again and started after him, but since he wasn’t weighed down by any armor, the gangly little moppet ran off rather fast, despite how exhausted he must have been.

Stopping at the corner of the dungeon corridor, Merlin put his hand to his forehead and groaned.

“Look what you’ve done, old man!” he heard Morgana shout next to him.

“It’s not as if I knew he’d be down here.” he brought his hand away from his face, “I thought he was still resting. How was I supposed to know you’d taken him down here?”

Morgana’s eyes widened, seemingly at his absurdity.

“So you’re saying that’s a fine thing to say about him when he isn’t around? That there’s nothing wrong with calling that boy - your apprentice - an idiot and making clear just how stupid you think he is, as long as he’s out of earshot?”

“You’ve seen the way that boy bungles every task he’s given. Really, it would be especially idiotic if he’d put a-”

“What do you think he came down here to tell you, old man?!”

...Oh.

Oh, confound it all.

Morgana pinched the bridge of her nose, “Honestly, and you wonder why his magic backfires whenever you’re around! How can he grow his confidence when you-”

“Why would he do that, Morgana?”

“Why would I know ?” she answered his question with one of her own, “As soon as I found out, I figured you should know. Better to stop wasting your time grilling these numbskulls over nothing. If you want to know so bad, go and ask him.”

But facing the most fierce of trolls had been less jarring a task.

His other apprentice crossed her arms, “You owe him an apology, old man. We both know that.”

And, as frustrating as it was, Merlin knew that indeed.

The wizard figured that Hisirdoux ran to his room, and when he got to the door, he found he was right; he could hear the boy’s hiccups and voiceless sobs from the other side, far more heartbreaking in their quietness than if they had been loud.

Merlin knocked on the door.

“Hisirdoux…”

He honestly wasn’t expecting to be let in at all, so he was surprised to see the door glow blue as Hisirdoux opened it with a spell. If this was a lighter time, he would have scolded the boy for using a spell so needlessly. But this obviously wasn’t a lighter time, and he was just glad to be allowed in.

Hisirdoux sat on the edge of his bed with the blanket he’d been given draped over his shoulders and a contemptuous black cat in his lap. His hair was still unkempt from his ordeal, completely loose from the bun he usually wore, and tears streaked his cheeks. His big hazel eyes, puffy and ringed with tears, stared down at the ground.

He couldn’t even look Merlin in the eye, and perhaps that was fair.

As Merlin stepped into the room, Hisirdoux shrunk in on himself, pulling more of the blanket around him as if it would shield him from… well, everything.

“I hope you’re here to apologize.” Archie said coldly, but the feline-dragon obviously meant something else, an unspoken message: If you’re not here to apologize, then leave. The boy’s had enough turmoil today.

But he was here to apologize.

After years of trying to prepare for everything he could as a Master Wizard, he knew as he stood there that he was unprepared for what to say, standing here in front of Hisirdoux. He had no speech prepared, no ageless wisdom or proverbs. He wasn’t ready.

...But he knew that his apprentice sitting on the edge of the bed, staring glassy eyed at the floor with tears streaking his cheeks - tears of the old man’s own doing - had gone through too much today that he wasn’t ready for, that he could never be ready for. Far too much.

And he deserved better than to have to wait for an apology.

“Hisirdoux, I’m sorry.”

His apprentice lifted his head and looked up at him, eyes widened and eyebrows raised as if he never in a million years expected to hear an apology of all things from him. But what did he expect, then? A scolding? A lecture on how dangerous what he did was?

A moment later, Merlin realized that was probably exactly what the boy expected, and on all levels except physical, the wizard was whacking himself in the head with his staff right now.

He knelt down on one knee in front of Hisirdoux, both because he wanted to be on eye level with the boy and because he couldn’t stand the thought of him feeling looked down upon any longer.

“The things I said to those men in the dungeons were products of anger, fabrications of desperation.” Merlin said, “I’d been furious at those lowlifes and their audacity, and I said things that weren’t true. It wasn’t fair to say that, especially not after all you’ve gone through today. Forgive me, Hisirdoux.”

But the boy looked like he didn’t know what to say, even if he could’ve spoken. He looked at the old Wizard with wide eyes that still glistened with tears - tears that seemed to have been there ever since Merlin first found Hisirdoux in that shack. Even his familiar seemed surprised by his apology, and to be completely honest, Merlin didn’t blame either of them.

Hisirdoux broke his gaze away and looked down, to his left.

Patting around, the boy’s hand landed on his little green journal and a charcoal stick he kept with it, both clipped to his belt that lay on top of his folded vest. When Hisirdoux opened the book and started to write in the first blank piece of parchment he could flip to, Merlin looked away. He didn’t want to pry - he’d done enough as it was.

After a few seconds of scribbling, Archie stepped on the parchment.

“That’s not true, Douxie.” he said about whatever the boy had written, “You shouldn’t say that about yourself, especially not now.”

But the boy just sighed and started writing again, the motion in his hand leaving Archie no choice but to take his paw off.

After a few more moments, Douxie flipped the book around to show Merlin.

“It’s alright, Master. I know I’m an idiot.” he’d written in that shoddy penmanship of his.

Right, that must’ve been what Archie denied.

“I know there’s a lot I mess up and don’t think through, and I know that most of the time, I can be awfully incompetent, but using that spell is one of the few times where I know that did something smart.”

Merlin sighed.

“But why did you do it, Hisirdoux?”

Hisirdoux hesitated, but Archie looked up at the boy with the same question in mind, and that seemed to be what convinced him to answer.

But this time, he set the journal and charcoal aside. Instead of using those tools to communicate, he brought his hands out in front of him. With the way his hands started to tremble, he was obviously about to cast a nonverbal spell.

Archie stepped back a few paces, “It seems he’d rather show than tell.”

Merlin didn’t think Hisirdoux was in the right state to carry out any sort of spells right now, weakened as he was, but nonetheless, he didn’t stop the boy.

In the future, Hisirdoux would become capable of more powerful spells as his experience grew, and one such spell would be able to create vivid - albeit ghostly - life-size apparitions that replay events of the past in to-scale space. But this wasn’t the future, and he was nowhere near that strong or experienced yet. All he could manage was a little phantom-ish playthrough of events in the little space in front of him, like he was holding in his hands a hazy, blue-tinted window into the past.

Even then, “hazy” was an understatement. The several figures that seemed to be huddled a bit away from where Hisirdoux must’ve been (Merlin rightly assumed the vision in front of him was from the boy’s point of view) looked distorted and grainy, barely distinguishable as those bandits from before. What else, their voices were fuzzy, dreadful murmurs overlapping on top of each other until they were almost indistinguishable.

Merlin couldn’t tell if this haziness in memory reflected how much of a blur the events were in the boy’s mind, or if this was just the best Hisirdoux could manage.

It seemed not to be the latter though, because he squeezed his eyes shut and curled his fingers a little, obviously trying to use more of his strength to make the events more clear. His efforts actually worked, much to a worried Merlin’s surprise and worry, and the bandits’ voices became much easier to hear, their awful words far more enunciated. 

“This was probably a stupid move.” one of them said, “How’re we s’posed to know that wizard gives a rat’s tail about ‘is errand boy, anyway?”

“If he does, imagine the coin we could get ou’o it.” said another voice Merlin knew was the leader.

“An’ if not, we’re stuck wit’ a brat from the castle.” yet another said, followed by a thwack sound that must have been the leader smacking him in the head, if the distorted movement of the figures was any indication.

“If not , we’ve got a vault o’ information on all those wizard-y secrets they keep in th’ castle. Maybe stuff abou’ the king, too.” the insidious leader corrected, “We can beat it ou’a ‘im if we ‘ave to.”

“Not much to beat though, is there?” another bandit joked, “Gangly little brat.”

Then the view changed, and Hisirdoux’s own trembling hands came into focus. Through the phantom replay, his ghostly fingers’ movements were light but hasty as he tapped his bracelet. This must have been before his captors had the idea to restrain him, but Hisirdoux was clearly afraid they’d get the idea soon (and rightly so, as the condition Merlin found him in made clear that they obviously had), so as soon as his bracelet glowed, he whispered… 

“Vox Silentii.”

Immediately, Hisirdoux gasped in the vision. The noise became more hollow with each passing millisecond, as if - no, because his voice fell away just as fast, sucked away by the enchantment.

And it got the bandits’ attention, shown clearly by the nightmarish figures turning to face him.

“Sod it, I thought you stuck the cuffs on ‘im already!” the leader yelled to one of the other bandits, and whether it was at the display of incompetence, or out of sheer relief that his self-destructive spell worked, Hisirdoux laughed. It was a hollow, raspy, voiceless thing, but clearly a laugh all the same - a laugh that carried on until the leader marched over and raised his boot and - 

The spell dissipated, and though it only lasted a few moments, it clearly took a lot out of an already weakened Hisirdoux in the present, whose arms fell to his sides as he started to sway, his eyes rolling back as his eyelids fluttered.

“Hisirdoux!” Merlin exclaimed, reaching out to steady him.

Before the boy could collapse, Merlin put one hand on his shoulder and the other against his head, cradling the side of it. Internally, he cursed himself, for he knew he should have told Hisirdoux not to carry out that vision spell, and to simply stick to writing out an answer. He’d already been exhausted by both the stress of his ordeal and the lingering effects of whatever nullifier was in his cuffs, and his magic, like everything else, was weakened, and the toll it took on him was far higher than usual.

But it hadn’t exhausted him completely. Though it took a moment, Hisirdoux put his hands down on the bed on either side of him to help keep himself upright, and his tired, tired eyes opened again.

“That spell…” Merlin pulled his hands away, “I had you study it in the event that you encountered another wizard with harmful intentions, so you could cut them off from saying an incantation at your expense.”

Fumbling to get his journal again, Hisirdoux quickly jotted something down and held up, “and sirens.”

“And you knew you couldn’t reverse the spell without a vocal incantation, didn’t you? An incantation you knew those bandits couldn’t perform.”

Hisirdoux nodded, and Merlin sighed. As much as the boy bumbled around as he did his chores, seeming at times like there was naught a competent thought to be found in that brain of his, he was clever. Even when it came to sabotaging himself, he was clever.

But somehow, that cleverness coincided with recklessness in a way that only Hisirdoux Casperan could manage.

Merlin pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? If you’d botched the spell, it could have closed up your windpipe, or-”

“This isn’t the time for scolding him, Merlin.” Archie reprimanded. There had been few times where the Master Wizard adhered to the advisings of a cat with glasses, but for his apprentice’s sake, this was one of those times.

Hisirdoux got his journal again and wrote…

“I’d never been tortured like that before. I didn’t know if I could’ve handled it.”

The thought of his apprentice - that sweet, gangly moppet who’d been bested by his own broom once - enduring any sort of torture made the Master Wizard’s skin crawl. He almost wanted to convince King Arthur that those bandits’ transgressions warranted far more harsh treatment than wallowing in their own despicability in the dungeons, and if it weren’t for the fact that he was focusing on Hisirdoux right now, he would go to the throne room right now.

But as it was, Merlin thought Hisirdoux was probably right; it was obvious that he had never endured torture, or…

Merlin reconsidered when he remembered that the boy knew how to use sleep spells that caused permanent memory loss.

...None that Hisirdoux himself could recall, at least.

“It’s not that I would’ve wanted to say anything.” he wrote on a new page, “I was scared I’d blurt something out. And I got knocked out before I woke up there, so I didn’t know where I was, so I didn’t try running away. It was the smartest thing I could think of.”

...Of course. Of course that’s what this was. Of course the boy would’ve taken such a drastic measure, but for what ? So those lowlife scoundrels didn’t have an upper hand, an advantage over a Master Wizard? No, it was too late for that, for they already had the biggest advantage over Merlin that they could’ve held in their grasp; they had his son, the one individual he would always put above the greater good, as a hostage.

Really, not only was Hisirdoux the only apprentice Merlin ever had who was as clever as he was reckless, but the only one who was as selfless as he was reckless - a combination that Merlin couldn’t decide whether or not he was more proud of or worried about.

“...I can reverse the spell now, you know.” he said, “Now that I know which spell you used, I can use a counterspell.”

The little Wizard’s eyes widened hopefully, as if the prospect of a counterspell was a shock.

“Oh, come now, Hisirdoux. Surely you knew-”

Oh.

He stopped.

No.

“Wait a moment… you did know another wizard can cast a counterspell to reverse the effects and restore your voice, did you not?”

As his eyebrows upturned, making him look like a scolded puppy, the boy shook his head.

...Oh, sod it all.

If Merlin Ambrosius were a swearing man, he’d have a sailor’s tongue right now.

Hisirdoux didn’t think the spell could be reversed, and he did it anyway. He thought it would be permanent, and he did it anyway. For all that boy knew, he’d taken his own voice away forever; he’d taken what he’d always used to blather on about nonsense and sing his heart out (albeit very off-key), and he destroyed it.

Merlin put his hand to his forehead, only pulling it down when he heard the boy scribbling again.

“Making sure they didn’t find out anything about wizards felt more important.” he’d written in frantic scribbles, “Or Camelot, or King Arthur, or Morgana, or you, Master.”

Merlin pinched the bridge of his nose.

“So you thought this would’ve been permanent,” he tried to keep his voice level, “that you would have lost your voice forever, and you did it anyway, just to nullify the hair-slim possibility that you might have revealed some secret to those idiots?”

Hisirdoux looked down and wrote again.

“It felt like-”

No.

No, no, no.

Merlin saw the words at the end of that page, but he did not want to read them. Reading them made them real…

...But they would be real whether he read them or not, and he knew that.

“It felt like the greater good.”

Merlin never thought he could hate that concept as much as he did right now.

No, the greater good was something for him to prioritize - him and him alone, and it never came at the cost of the safety and wellbeing of his son. If it did cost him that, then let the greater good fester and crumble to dust.

Hisirdoux curled his arms and hugged himself, looking down at Archie as the feline nuzzled his arm to soothe him. As much as it pained him to see the boy like this, he couldn’t bring himself to comfort him - not when he had a solution right at his fingertips.

“Hisirdoux, do you want your voice back?”

The boy lifted his head and nodded, almost pleading with his eyes, as if there was ever a chance of Merlin denying him the return of his voice.

The wizard raised his hand and said…

“Vox restituet.”

Hisirdoux gasped, just as he did with his own spell, but it’s effect was contrary to that of the former enchantment; the sound became less and less hollow with each fleeting millisecond as the boy’s voice came back to him.

When his breathing fell back into its normal pace, Hisirdoux traced his fingers down his throat.

“Master…”

His voice sounded so hoarse, so little, but it was there , and as soon as Hisirdoux realized that, his whole body seemed to relax in relief that he probably didn’t even let himself feel when he’d first been rescued.

Merlin was relieved too, but it was outweighed by so much - most of all, by the contempt he still held for those bandits down in the dungeons for making his apprentice feel like he needed to do this to himself, and by the guilt he still felt for what he said down there.

Not only was his relief outweighed, but it was also short-lived.

“...I’m sorry.”

No. No, Hisirdoux did not just say that.

Out of all the things Merlin expected his apprentice to say… at best, he expected thanks for restoring his voice, and at worst, he expected him to voice how upset and hurt he still must’ve been for the things he said about him down in the dungeons. But never, never in a millenia, did he expect an apology.

“Whatever for?” Merlin asked. Truly, whatever for? Hisirdoux had done nothing but endure; but withstand circumstances beyond unfit for those as innocent as him, and do what he thought would protect what was important to him at a cost that Merlin himself could barely imagine - could barely conceptualize even now.

“I really really didn’t mean for this to be such a hassle,” Hisirdoux answered, coughing from his voice’s disuse, “and I’m really not upset about what you said in the dungeons. Everything was just too much, and back there, with the bandits, I just didn’t want to put you in danger-”

“No, Hisirdoux.” Merlin declared, putting two of his fingers against one of his temples. It seemed like now that Hisirdoux could speak again, there was a backlog to his blathering. “None of that.”

Hisirdoux’s eyebrows upturned with that scolded puppy look again, “None of what?”

“None of this…” Merlin gestured vaguely, “throwing yourself in harm’s way for my sake. There’s no sense in that. It is not your job to fling yourself into self-destruction in what you think is my best interest. You are my apprentice, Hisirdoux.”

You are my son . Merlin didn’t say.

“And it is my job to protect you, not the other way around.” he told Hisirdoux with no room for argument, “Your job is to focus on your studies and the tasks I ask of you. Should you ever find yourself at someone else’s mercy again, your first priority should be keeping yourself unharmed, or as close to such a state as possible. Secrets can be stopped from spreading, and memories can be wiped, but you are-"

He almost said invaluable, but he stopped himself; though he himself knew the word meant to be priceless or crucial, he feared for the chance that his apprentice could take the word to have a completely opposite meaning, that he was not valuable at all.

"You are indispensable, Hisirdoux.”

Merlin loathed the look of disbelief on the boy’s face when he heard that, but he continued.

“Whatever it entails, self-preservation should come before all else until you’re rescued, because you will be rescued.”

Hisirdoux nodded - a little, minute thing.

“I understand, Master.”

Merlin stood up.

“You must be starving.” he said, “I’ll have something prepared and brought here. You should go back to sleep until then.”

Hisirdoux nodded and pulled the green blanket over his shoulders again, the cloth having fallen off sometime a bit ago, after Merlin came in.

The boy looked down in thought as if remembering something before raising his head again.

“...They didn’t have what you asked for. At the marketplace. Every shop and stand came up empty.” Hisirdoux said, apologetic for the lack of the one thing he’d been sent out to fetch - as if it even mattered after all of this.

No, if anything, the whole errand being for nothing was just another frustration of the day, mundane - no, trivial in the face of everything else.

Also, it brought another pressing matter to the Master Wizard’s attention.

“That’s quite alright.” Merlin said, “If anything, that reminds me: clearly, it’s far too dangerous for you to go on errands in town unaccompanied. As my apprentice, there are many unfavorable people looking to get an advantage over me and use you as leverage to do so, just like those bandits tried today. So, for the time being, you’ll be chaperoned on your future errands outside the castle.”

“But-” he started, but, as if he remembered what Merlin always said when he tried to question him, he cut himself off and nodded, still looking deflated nonetheless.

“It’s a necessary precaution at this point, Hisirdoux.” Merlin said, “Even if it gets in the way of you trying to get the attention of that girl at the shops.”

The boy’s cheeks tinted pink.

“It’s not about her!” he yelped, his voice’s strength obviously coming back rather quickly, “You already told me not to focus on that, and I didn’t even try talking to her today.”

“You never try talking to her, Douxie.” Archie said, pacing around the boy. But Hisirdoux didn’t let himself get distracted by his familiar teasing him.

“It’s…”

He sighed.

“...I don’t want to be a burden.” he confessed, “There are so many more important things to be done around here. Why should anyone waste their time coming with me on errands?”

At this, Merlin realized that it was his turn to sigh. If there was a spell Merlin could use to cast such insecurity from the boy’s head, he would have cast it now. But, much to his frustration, he couldn’t (at least, not without facing something of a moral dilemma over the ethics of mind control). So, simple reassurance would have to do.

“Hisirdoux…”

He placed his free hand - the one not holding onto his staff - on the boy’s shoulder, causing him to look up at the old wizard with wide, questioning eyes.

“Keeping you safe isn’t a burden.” Merlin assured, “I would rather take a few hours out of the day to accompany you, or even complete those errands on my own, than ever have a repeat occurrence of what happened today.”

“...Alright.” Hisirdoux said, although obviously reluctant.

Merlin took his hand off of his shoulder.

“Now, you’re to keep resting the rest of the night, and likely for much of tomorrow, so-”

“But Master-”

“-Don’t “But Master” me.” he said, “Just rest.”

The heaviness in the boy’s eyelids made clear how much he needed that rest, and thankfully, Hisirdoux didn’t contest that.

“Yes, Master.”

#yesterday we were making jokes about moppet getting stuck to walls... how did we get here #douxie #hisirdoux casperan #moppet!douxie #tales of arcadia #toa #wizards #toa wizards #my writing #merlin #Merlin Ambrosius #whump #wizard dad isn't as good in this one as in my other fic guys sorry 😔 #fic: what's the greater good worth? (definitely not this)

[daydream-believin]

MERLIN’S APPRENTICE & MERLIN’S CHAMPION || trollhunters

warnings: swearing

a/n: if rott gave me anything it gave me this idea

I KNOW I SAID “JUICY” BUT REALLY THAT WAS JUST THE ANGST POTENTIAL,, THAT IM NOT INDULGING IN THIS POST IM SORRY LMAO

OKAY WHAT IM REALLY TALKING BOUT HERE IS A GOOD MERLIN/ARTHUR BUT IT ACTUALLY WORKS

no sorry i haven’t seen bbc merlin don’t come for me i’m ignorant

OKAY SO

we know douxie kept an eye on the human trollhunter and co

but douxie’s really having a hard time convincing himself he’s just doing his job

he’s actually enjoying this a little too much despite how boring staying in the shadows is

and he’s kinda worried?

so he’s got this bright idea: you know what would better help him keeps tabs? if he befriends this person

and so he does

fuck merlin’s shadows

sod the rules

ofc he’s very up front about knowing they’re the trollhunter and that he’s merlin’s apprentice

we wouldn’t want that to become a huge festering secret that eats douxie from the inside out until the inevitable reveal when merlin calls them both to help with the arcane order and they realize they’ve both been lying to each other’s faces for months/years and neither of them know if they could ever trust the other again, right? — phew *catches breath*

but before you know it, mr. casperan and mx. trollhunter are best friends

he’s basically the toby to your jim

and you’re very happy to have a best friend like douxie

he understands that monster hunting hustle

he’s the only person you can vent to and actually talk about what’s going on without sounding like a loon

and douxie likes being able to tell someone all his frustrations with merlin, since you’re also in that boat with him

you spar sometimes. it’s fun, but you’re very careful not to accidentally hurt your friend (he’s extremely careful not to hurt you or wound your ego by effortlessly wiping you out)

ofc, there’s the occasional, brushing of hands, faces a little too close together, accidentally winding up on top of one another, purposefully winding up on top of one another 👀 you know how sparring be

you and douxie are a duo. a duo who have become trollmarket’s resident troublemakers, to vendel’s exasperation

you guys tease each other a lot

you do a lot of stupid shit, cause hey, now you have magic armor and a magic sword and a magic best friend, did you think you wouldn’t get up to some shenanigans?

douxie is your impulse control and he’s not a very good one, as he’s just as bad

truthfully archie has the brain cell

and pranks? gods the pranks. you two are always either pranking each other or you’re teaming up to prank some other troll who said smth mean to you in the pub. vendel had to personally put a stop to it (read: chew you out)

doux thinks the world of you tho, you’re such a noble knight, and likes to tell people about how you’re a cinnamon roll, so innocent, so pure

and then they meet you and you directly contradict those statements

trollhunter: i’ve never done anything wrong in my life, ever

douxie: i know this and i love you

(spoiler: you’ve done lots and lots of wrong)

doux spends an awful lot of time slinking around trollmarket now, and he’s in the know for everything that’s happening

(no more being kept in the dark for this wizard apprentice)

and doux knows merlin won’t completely approve of this, but hey, it’s not like he’s helping and thus directly disobeying

really, he’s not helping you at all, it’s really fucking annoying

okay so mayyybe the occasional healing spell. you’ve got those puppy dog eyes he can’t say no to

but you understand his sense of duty, or whatever it is that drives a follower, technically being a follower of merlin yourself

you respect the old geezer (as you have not been turned into a half-troll yet) as a wise mythical figure, and as your best friend’s father

and what a perfect match you are for each other, champion and apprentice, mutually being screwed over by a guy you both think has all the answers

you and douxie help each other grow in your self-worths, that you two are more than the chances merlin has given to you

unfortunately, mortifyingly, you have caught feelings.

douxie has also caught feelings, and is saying nothing yep you have enough on your plate without him putting this on you so he’ll just quietly pine and suffer don’t mind him choking to death in the corner when you take off your helmet and throw back your hair

y’all’s problem really starts manifesting itself as protectiveness. you are really protective of your wizard and he is really protective of his knight

lots of things said that are Not What Friends Say but neither of you really want to be the one to point that out

lots and lots of i love yous that slowly get more and more serious until it’s not exactly platonic anymore

and it’s just really nice to have someone to get coffee (or your favored hot drink) with at four in the morning after a tussle with a troll

and that’s basically how you and douxie spend the bulk of trollhunters, just vibing

as much as you can vibe, with all the changelings and shit trying to murder you all the time

then merlin wakes up and shakes up your world

you are aware of your impending doom

you’re aware of it

merlin keeps looking you up and down like he’s mentally making up the measurements of your coffin

and tbh the idea of fighting gunmar freaks you tf out

and you’re supposed to win that fight?

gods

you’re preparing for your nightmares coming true soon

truthfully you knew your fucking job had a 100% mortality rate

you don’t want to die with regrets

so

you spill

you spill all the things you’d wanted to tell him and how much he means to you and that you couldn’t bear it if you were a goner before he knew

miraculously, douxie feels the same and tells you all the things he’d been holding back and and what you mean to him and how much he wants to protect you, that you’re gonna make it, if he had anything to say about it

and everything is perfect for one night

now you have a real reason to win

not that saving humanity isn’t a big responsibility on your shoulders and definitely A Reason

but knowing douxie’s waiting for you, for the life you’ll build together after this, the peace you’ll both have, it’s absolutely a big motivation to give your all and come out victorious and survive

hahaha loser you don’t know about the arcane order

and then merlin uses your microwave to cook a weird potion

you and merlin are alone in the house, but there’s no real mind games necessary. you may have grown past thinking he was a god, but in the end, you’re still a follower of merlin, and if merlin thinks this could give you an edge, well, who are you to question his methods

doesn’t mean you aren’t nervous as your master hands you the bottle

yet you don’t even hesitate to drown yourself in the black abyss of the tub

whatever it takes amirite?

and now you’re a half-troll

a sexy half-troll, if you do say so yourself

yeah, no ‘i’m a monster’ angst here, you’re loving the power-up

you’ve got to treat it like a cool new power-up or you will cry actually tbh i lied about the no-angst thing a new body is disorienting

your only real concern is douxie

not concerned for long tho, he sees you and the first thing out of his mouth is “nuclear!”

and he senses your concern, so he does go out of his way to assure you that boy, girl, enby, or half-troll, he loves you for your soul, darling

also again half-troll! you is hot as hell so he’s not really losing anything here 👀

he makes sure you know that too, not to let any insecurities fester

him raking his eyes up and down you gives the opposite effect of the dread merlin sent down your spine doing it

anyways,,,

doux helps out a lot more in the eternal night

like helps merlin re-defeat and re-seal morgana

he’ll do it again in few weeks but with a bigger role you know, this is practice

thank merlin for that edge YOU ARE THE LAST TROLLHUNTER YOU ARE VICTORIOUS YOUVE GOT GUNMARS HEAD IN YOUR HANDS HAHAHA

but now you’ve got to go to new jersey

douxie’s been instructed to stay in arcadia tho 🥺

it’s okay, you’ll see each other again soon

sooner than you realize

and until then you talk each other to sleep every night over the phone <3

merlins glad, actually. he’s glad hisirdoux found some solace. even if it is with the lamb he was raising for the slaughter. maybe things will go okay for them. the time map suggests it might be so

hisirdoux may have done things in a way he didn’t quite approve of, but that’s because he’s becoming his own wizard, and merlin is proud

#okay okay i’m done #see you in wizards #douxie x reader #hisirdoux casperan x reader #tales of arcadia x reader #tales of arcadia imagine #douxie imagine #hisirdoux casperan imagine #hisirdoux casperan #douxie #douxie casperan x reader #tales of arcadia #my writing

[yellowmagicalgirl]

Camelot Meat 3.1415926535897932384626433...

Krel has a new project to help his homesick boyfriend.

This was written for Diane as part of the KlebBuckets Secret Santa.

Contains mild referenced gore if you squint (mainly canon-typical eye horror, pun not intended) as well as references to canon character death.

The title is based on the first 26 digits of pi.

AO3

FFN

“Do you know what I miss the most about Camelot?” Douxie asked. His head was on Krel’s shoulder, and Krel made sure to keep that shoulder still as he continued typing out his computer science homework. Both of them were so busy, between Krel’s educational prison (even if he had come to enjoy it, sometimes) and Douxie’s trying to hide Nari in New York City, that a lot of their “dates” were really just coexisting.

“Let me guess, the people?” That was the answer that was to be expected, the answer that other people thought was obvious and expected Krel to answer with when he was asked what he missed the most about Akirdion-V. And sometimes, that was the correct answer. The things he missed the most, some days, were his sister, his best friend, and his bodyguards.

(His parents, well, they weren’t part of Akiridion-V anymore, so they didn’t count.)

“Um…” Of course, Douxie, like Krel, didn’t always answer things the way most people thought was obvious. And that made Krel feel hopeful, because if his boyfriend could go centuries without ever figuring out how allistic people worked and still be well-liked, maybe so could Krel. Besides, some delsons, Krel would take not getting sensory overload from Earth’s myriad of colors over Aja, Eli, Zadra, and Varvatos with less than a quarter-secton’s decision.

(Not that he wanted to go back for more than wardon-long trip. He just didn’t like all the eye strain, since Akiridion eyes were really only built for a couple of colors. He should probably start wearing glasses. He won’t break them. Not like Aja.)

“What do you miss the most about Camelot?”

“The meat pies.”

Krel hit compile and wrinkled his nose, remembering Steve’s complaints. “Didn’t they have eyeballs in them?”

“Not usually. I mean, I know I messed up my memories, but I’d remember eating an eyeball. Archie tried to feed me squirrel eyeballs when I was little, and I never forgot how gross they were.” Douxie took his head off of Krel’s shoulder and shook it. “No, Steve was just an unfortunate victim of how Camelot didn’t have a Food and Drug Administration. To be fair, neither did the rest of Europe at that time. But I still miss those pies. Nowhere I go has ever got it the same, nor any time I’ve ever tried to recreate it.”

Krel shut his laptop on the error messages, maybe a bit too forcefully, but he had a new project.

“Uh… is that really safe?”

“I made it; it’ll be fine. Besides, which human thought it was a good idea to put a semicolon at the end of every line? So unintuitive and frustrating. I need a break from the code. It isn’t due ‘til Monday anyways.”

“Hey, Lucy?” Krel asked as he walked into the kitchen of the Mothership. “Can you help me cook something?”

He had finished his computer science homework (the stupid, infuriating, good-for-nothing semicolons had added an extra three mekrons) and then he had spent four-and-a-half horvaths last night researching recipes until he found one that was narrowed down to the proper part of modern England as well as the correct time period. It would be easier if the Mothership could duplicate complex foods, and maybe if Mother was still around her AI would have advanced enough that she could. Krel would just have to work with what he had, and that was a large amount of raw ingredients and a Blank who enjoyed cooking.

Her smile grew unnervingly wider. “The first step to making pancakes –”

“– No, I want to make this recipe.” Her smile fell away completely. Krel placed the print-out on the counter in front of her. “It’s for Douxie.”

Her smile came back slightly as she picked up the recipe. “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

Based on Krel’s understanding of the human body, Lucy’s statement was wrong. If one really wanted to get to a human heart quickly, one should go through the ribcage. And if Lucy had decided to start talking in metaphors again (he was never fully sure how literal she was being), the way to Douxie’s heart had been DJing (and therefore ears) because apparently Douxie’s crush on Krel had started at the Battle of the Bands.

Krel got the butter out of the fridge for Lucy. Maybe later, after he had perfected the meat pies, he’d let her teach him to make pancakes. But this was more important.

On Monday, Krel set the container down on the table he and his friends were eating lunch at. “I made these to share.” Krel then batted away Toby’s hand. “With Steve and Claire. Not you.”

Jim patted Toby’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I still care about and will make food for you.”

“The recipe only made five, and the other three were dinner last night,” Krel said. Despite what his friends may have thought, he wasn’t trying to be cruel. Just practical. “I need Steve and Claire to tell me if they’re accurate to Camelot’s meat pies.”

Steve looked between Krel and the pies with horror. “Whose eyeballs did you use?”

“Wouldn’t you have noticed if there was an eyeball shape in the other five pies you tried to eat in half as many minutes?” Claire asked.

“Douxie did say they weren’t supposed to have eyes in them,” Krel said. “Said it had something to do with how Camelot didn’t administer food and drugs?”

“He probably meant by a Food and Drug Administration,” Jim said. “We’ll be learning about that later this year, right before we cover World War One.”

“But anyways, I want Steve and Claire to tell me if these are correct so I can surprise Douxie with them.”

“I blocked the taste out of my mind,” Steve said.

“I didn’t eat any; I was more focused on…” The shadows under Claire’s eyes that indicated she hadn’t slept last night darkened just a little. “Other things. But didn’t the ones in Camelot have more holes in them?”

Steve looked at the pies more closely. “Yeah, they did. Eight, not three. Also, the outside edge had this pattern that made it look kind of like a flower.”

“Crimping?” Jim suggested.

“No, like actual petals,” Steve said.

“When was the pie tin invented?” Claire asked. “Because that might’ve made any crimping uneven and look more like flower petals than modern pies.”

“1957,” Toby said, looking at his phone. “Wait, no, that’s the frisbee. Oh huh, that’s cool, the guy who made pie tins also made frisbees.”

The next day, Krel brought more meat pies to school, this time with Steve and Claire’s suggestions. And he brought enough of them to share with Jim and Toby as well.

“I made you something,” Krel said to his boyfriend the following weekend.

“Oh? What’s it do?”

Hopefully, put a smile on your face.

“It doesn’t do anything. It isn’t technological. Oh, stop giving me that look. I can do things other than engineering and music; I just normally choose not to.” Krel pulled out the container and pulled off the lid, revealing ten meat pies.

Douxie’s eyes widened. “Are those…”

“Yeah.”

“How did you… they look just like the ones I had growing up.” Douxie looked ready to cry as he smiled between Krel and the pies.

“Steve and Claire helped me make it look right. Go ahead, try one.”

Douxie took a pie and closed his eyes. He smelled it before popping it in his mouth. He chewed slowly before swallowing and opening his eyes. “It tastes great.”

“I got it right?” Well, of course he got it right. He was a genius and good at anything worthwhile.

(Except for maybe avoiding getting knocked out. That was worthwhile.)

(And so was understanding people, for that matter.)

“No.”

“Oh.” Krel cringed away. He didn’t like failing, especially not when he had tried so hard. Or when it was someone he really wanted to impress. “I’m sorry.”

“Krel. You tried. That’s honestly more than I expected out of anyone, to try and recreate them. Thank you, my love.”

Author's Notes

Me 🤝 Krel

Being frustrated by C and Java's insistence upon ending all lines with semicolons. We computational physicists like our Python's lack of semicolons thank you very much.

Krel's errors in meat pie making include not using goat meat (the recipe I found online after a few minute's research was chicken, and I decided that Krel would use a recipe similar to that one. However, the eye that Steve spat up was a goat eye based on the pupil shape) as well as some modern American ingredients being different from modern British ingredients, much less medieval British ingredients.

#krexie #krel tarron #hisirdoux casperan #lucy blank #toby domzalski #jim lake jr #steve palchuk #claire nuñez #3below #toawizards #tales of arcadia #klebbuckets secret santa #autistic!krel #autistic!douxie #my writing #i only put down the digits I had memorized

[sergeantsporks]

POV: mama Casperan is watching down on her son and seeing all the pain he has to go through in his centuries of living.

Hnkhahahaha okay, hang with me, we'll get to the angsty part, here we go.

"YOU LEFT HIM?!"

"Madam, please, calm yourself--"

"FOR NINE-HUNDRED YEARS?!"

Merlin dodged a flying skull. He didn't know if things could still hurt in the afterlife, but he certainly didn't intend on finding out because an angry mother was trying to take his head off.

Mrs. Casperan's blue eyes burned like Douxie's fire. "You. Just. Left. Him. Alone!"

"So did you!" Merlin said defensively.

He knew immediately that it was the wrong thing to say by the way her shoulders sank and she dropped into a chair. "I did," she said softly, "It wasn't supposed to be for long-- I was going to come back, I just... needed to find food. A job. And the streets were a dangerous place for him to be, I thought they would take care of him until I came back."

"But you never came back," Merlin finished quietly, "You weren't able to."

Her shoulders started to shake. "It was dark. I was outside of the city walls. I got too close to the woods. And... he never saw me again. And then he was out on his ear, and he was so young--" She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "At least he found Archie. Or Archie found him, whichever."

"And I did," Merlin reminded her.

She glared at him. "Some help you were. A couple years of training, and then 'poof'! Off on his own again! You really are some magician, pulling a disappearing act from his life!" She sank back down. "I always thought I was a good person, or at least trying, but I suppose not if I've ended up in hell."

"Oh, come now, it's not so bad here. I rather like it."

Her eyes flashed again, and she was out of her chair. "You think it's some kind of reward to watch what my son's been through?! You think, as a mother, I want to watch him suffer, and know that there's nothing I can do, that I can't talk to him, and comfort him?! That I can't hug him and protect him from the horrors he faces? That I can't fix his injuries, wrap them up and kiss them better? That I can't be there when he wakes up from nightmares, the weight of everything he's seen, everything he's been through twisting through his mind-! This isn't paradise, Merlin Ambrosius. It's hell. And if you cared enough about Douxie to watch, you'd think so, too."

That hit something. Struck a nerve. He took her clenched hand. "Then show me."

She looked at him for a long moment, then touched the time map on the table. It lit up, and he could see a young Douxie, shortly after he'd fallen asleep, struggling to figure out what to do without him. He saw him traveling back through time, being rejected, cast aside, taking blow after blow after blow. He watched the anguish on Douxie's face when he died. The heartache of having to make the hard decisions. He watched Douxie fall and hit the earth. That part he knew. But Mrs. Casperan squeezed his hand so tightly he lost feeling as she watched.

And still, the horror continued. Watching Nari getting torn from his grasp. Taking her place, and being tortured by the order for it. And no one-- not a single soul-- seemed to care. Losing Archie, losing Nari, and plummeting from the sky yet again.

And no one was there to save him.

Mrs. Casperan slammed the time map shut. "There! You think I can be happy, knowing what my son is going through down there, while I sit up here, unable to do anything?" She turned away, swiping at her eyes again.

Merlin delicately picked up the time map again, gently opening it. "Yes, Hisirdoux has struggled. He has faced physical pain, nightmares, sorrow-- all of those things have plagued him. It is true, he has seen horror beyond what we can fathom." He turned Mrs. Casperan around, holding up the time map. "But he has also experienced beauty. Light. Happiness." Other scenes danced across the time map, Douxie receiving his staff, mentoring Claire, cozy nights with Archie, and later with Nari as well, laughing with Zoe, playing with his band. Merlin gently closed the map again and set it down. "He's had heartbreak, yes. But that means he's also had love."

Mrs. Casperan looked down at the map with a sigh, a small smile on his face. "At least... he found a new family." She frowned, picking up the time map and opening it again. "What...?"

Events were erasing-- all Merlin could see was the Amulet, spinning and spinning and spinning, glowing green for some reason.

"That fool! What has he done?!" Merlin felt a tug on his soul, like he was being pulled away. "No!"

Mrs. Casperan grabbed his hand. "No! Wait! Are you-- you'll see Douxie?!"

"Anything could happen, but--"

"I need you to tell him something, Merlin, please, please remember--"

Merlin woke up with a gasp in his tomb, a woman's voice that somehow seemed so achingly familiar echoing in his head.

Tell Douxie I love him. And that he's not alone.

#toa #tales of arcadia #douxie #merlin #rott #asks #my writing

[fantasy2739]

Could you do a fic where Claire and Douxie talk about immortality?

Talking about the angst of immortality? Sign me up! Idk if this is what you wanted, if you want a struggle of Claire being immortal I’m also happy to write that!

Hope you enjoy!

Douxie softly strummed his guitar, watching Nari drift off to gentle strings. He heard, rather than saw, Claire approach. Her footsteps heavy, full of purpose.

“Hey Teach, can we talk?” She asked nervously. Douxie smiled and nodded. He carefully put his guitar down and placed a blanket over Nari. Archie kindly curled up next to her.

“Let’s go outside.” He suggested. They walked into the Lake garden. Douxie sat patiently on a rock while Claire paced. He eyed the sky; dark and glittering. Claire seemed indecisive about what she should talk about. Unusual for her. Douxie leaned back, relaxing further into his temporary chair as he waited.

“Am I…?” Claire paused and collected her thoughts. “Am I going to be immortal?” Douxie had been waiting for this. Sure they’d met plenty of beings that lived centuries, but they were a different species. Trolls, Akiridions. He’d seen the looks Claire would shoot him when they practiced together. The way she frowned when he casually mentioned something from hundreds of years ago.

“It depends.” Douxie replied honestly. “See magic is complicated when it comes to that stuff.”

“Complicated?” Claire asked. “Isn’t it just yes or no?”

“You aren’t a born mage are you?” Douxie checked. Claire pondered. “I mean you weren’t born with magic, it developed after a while?”

“Sort of.” Claire admitted. “I felt connected with the shadow staff before I found it.” Douxie considered it.

“You may have some innate magic, but the main trigger for your powers was the staff and Morgana right?” Claire nodded. “Then it depends.”

“Teach that doesn’t help.” Claire said as she dropped to the ground. She pulled her legs close. “ I don’t want to be alone.” Douxie leaned over and reached out a comforting hand.

“Even if you were immortal, I wouldn’t just leave you.” He said with a smile. Claire gave him a small smile. He cleared his throat. “I’ll explain as best I can. Inherently magical beings live longer. Like Archie or Trolls. People who become magical have longer lives can choose.”

“I can… choose?!” Claire was surprised.

“You can always choose.” Douxie assured her. “You remember how I told you magic is emotion?” He waited for Claire to nod before continuing. “Magic is what keeps us alive, so if you don’t want to be. You won’t be.”

“So if I want to age normally?”

“You will.”

“And if I want to stop?”

“You cast a spell and you slow it.”

“And it’s reversible?”

“I’ll write down both spells for you.” Douxie said. “We’re not immortal anyway.”

“But you, Merlin, Morgana. You’re all so old.” Claire said. “I can’t imagine living 900 years.” Douxie looked away. “Sorry I didn’t mean to bring them up.” Douxie rolled his shoulders.

“Claire, you choose what you want to do. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” He said firmly. “If you don’t want to live 900 years then don’t.” Claire nodded sharply.

“Got it Teach.” She said. “What do you mean you’re not immortal? I know that… that if you’re injured enough you… won’t make it.” Douxie smiled sadly at her.

“We age. Slowly. You saw Merlin.” Douxie inhaled sharply. He paused, collected himself and powered on. “He stayed alive to fight the Arcane Order but he still aged.”

“You haven’t.” Claire pointed out.

“Pretty sure I was an absolute moppet 900 years ago.” Douxie chuckled.

“You didn’t look that different. Or sound that different.” Claire said, eyebrow raised. “Man buns aside.” Douxie tried not to think about the little bun that haunted him.

“That’s because I’m young at heart.” He said, flicking the rock sign at her.

“So your magic reflects that?” Claire asked. Douxie nodded, smile not quite meeting his eyes. Claire didn’t seem to notice, leaping to her feet. “Thanks Teach, I’m glad I have you.” Douxie patted her shoulder as she went inside. His gaze turned skyward. Dark and glittering as it had been all those centuries ago. He’d just buried Merlin, and knew that if he wanted to do everything else he needed to last longer. He performed the spell as left in Merlin’s detailed instructions. His notes hadn’t mentioned a swirling mist of blue magic. And hearing words that were never spoken.

‘So you wish to live longer, little wizard? Be wary of the price.’

He hadn’t really understood at the time. Every other wizard he knew had done it with no problem. No mist. No voice. Not until later, much much later, did he find out. He’d made a slight mistake in the incantation. A combination of nervousness, grief and inability to decipher minuscule writing. And he’d cast another spell. He didn’t know exactly what, except that his body had frozen. He remembered opening his eyes to the glittering sky and felt something click in place. Like it was always meant to happen. He had wondered many times what the price was. Even briefly after Merlin’s death he wondered if that was the cost of never ageing. Never dying.

He would not let Claire make the same mistakes he did.

#fanfiction #asks #submissions #toa #tales of Arcadia #toa wizards #wizards #tales of arcadia wizards #claire nuñez #Douxie #douxie casperan #hisirdoux casperan #angst #immortality #nari #Archie #toa archie #I gotta be honest the ending veered #but like canonically wizards can age #I figure they can stop it or slow it down like trolls #but I can never resist the urge to mess with Douxie #he’s the only one who didn’t die from extreme violence #you can pry magic deliberately keeping douxie alive from my cold dead hands

[talesofarcadia78]

Bad Day || Douxie x Reader || One Shot

Summary: Title says it all 

Warning: None 

Word count:  2,293

You were really tired of customers today. But you had to get over the fact that you were working at a bookstore. The place you used to worked at, Stuart Electronics, the owner said that he didn’t need any employees, since he could manage the customers by himself. Plus, he didn’t get many customers. If he didn’t earn enough money from the shop, Stuart would just get his taco truck out and earn money from there. But you just took it as he fired you. You were fine with that. But you were definitely not fine with having to deal with customers everyday. Stuart always let you deal with the storage stuff.  

“Y/n? Hello? Anyone home?” a familiar British accent spoke, getting you out of your thoughts. 

“Huh? Yeah, I’m home,” you replied. 

“You’re not home, you doofus. You’re at the bookstore. Home is upstairs,” Douxie chuckled. 

“Uh, yeah,” you said. 

“Y/n, you have to focus. I’ll take care of the front. Can you go to the back and get 5 books from the new shipment box that arrived a few days ago?” Douxie asked. 

You nodded and walked to the back, grabbing the books that Douxie requested.

After about an hour, Douxie finally closed up the shop. 

“Finally! I’m so done!” you sighed and plopped yourself down onto an armchair.

“Yep! Just another day of our casual life,” Douxie agreed, walking over to the counter and counting the money we earned today. 

“Don’t you get tired of working everyday?” you asked. 

“Nah, I don’t. Why?” Douxie replied. 

“I just can’t, I get bored very easily, if you haven’t realised yet,” you replied. 

“I think I now that. I’ve known for almost a millennium now!” Douxie laughed. 

Then Archie came flying down, and onto you lap. 

“How was your day y/n?” Archie asked. 

“Hmm... let’s see. Boring, tiring, oh and have I said boring?” you replied. 

“I believe you have,” Archie replied. 

“Well, yeah. I’m kinda getting bored from the bookstore,” you whined. 

“Please, it’s not that boring,” Douxie said, getting a stool and sitting in front of you. 

“It’s boring to me, as you already know,” you said. 

“How about we go upstairs?” Archie asked. 

“That’s a good idea,” you agreed getting up. 

The three of you walked upstairs, and to the back. Douxie pulled an ancient book out of its place just a bit. Slowly, the whole shelf slid away, revealing a huge room. That ‘huge room’ was your apartment. 

You and Douxie shared an apartment together, since the two of you only had each other and Archie of course. 

You walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge. You looked around, not much, just a milk carton, eggs, salmon and some vegetables. You groaned and slammed the door shut. 

“Someone’s a bit grumpy,” Douxie teased. 

“Technically, I’m hangry,” you corrected him. 

“Let me guess, no food?” Douxie asked, but he already knew the answer. 

“Yep! I’m not making pasta again, cause that’s all we’ve been eating for the last week,” you forewarned. 

“Okay, okay. What about we go to Mr. Benoit’s?” Douxie suggested. 

You looked at him briefly, and rushed into your room, slamming the door shut behind. You quickly got changed into a hoodie and a pair of jeans. You combed your h/l (hair length) h/c hair and tied it into a pony tail (if you have short hair, then it’s just left out). You rushed out of the room to see Douxie ready to go. 

“Come on, let’s go,” Douxie said. 

The two of you walked to the cafe and sat at a table outside. A waiter came and took your order. 

“So, have you found another place to work?” Douxie asked out of the blue. 

“W-What do you mean?” you asked. 

“I thought you would be searching for another place to work at, since you clearly don’t like working at the shop,” Douxie explained. 

“Am I that convincing?” you asked. 

Douxie looked at you confused. You sighed. 

“Douxie, look, I actually really love working at the bookstore. I might sound like I hate it, but I actually really love it there. I might get bored sometimes, since I’m at the counter, working with the customers. I don’t want to work anywhere else,” you explained. 

“But you were complaining like 20 minutes ago!” Douxie exclaimed. 

“Can’t anyone have a bad day?” you laughed. 

But when you saw Douxie’s face, you instantly stopped laughing. 

“Uh, Doux. You good?” you asked. 

“You had a bad day?” Douxie whispered to himself, making sure you couldn’t hear him. 

“Douxie?” you asked. 

“I’m fine,” Douxie replied and fell silent. 

“Okay,” you said, and turned to see the waiter with food. 

The dinner went good, but none of you said anything to the other. The walk home was also very quiet. When you had gotten to your apartment, the two of you just wished each other good night and went to your rooms. You wondered why Douxie was so quiet through the whole dinner. You shook the thought off and concluded that he just must’ve been tired. You changed into your night wear and fell asleep. 

Douxie on the other hand, was at his desk, planning for the next day. 

“Douxie, what are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to be asleep?” Archie asked. 

“Arch, y/n never told me she had a bad day today,” Douxie said. 

“Well, everyone has a bad day every once in a while,” Archie shrugged. 

“Arch, you’re not getting the point. Whenever I have a bad day, y/n is always there for me. She would make me my favourite food, play a few songs on her piano or would just talk to me. Either way, she always eventually makes my bad day better,” Douxie explained. 

Archie was catching on what Douxie was trying to say. 

“And there’s me. Today she had a bad day, and what did I do? Nothing,” Douxie said. 

“So your planning something for her?” Archie asked. 

“Exactly! Tomorrow, I’m going to make her day the best. I’ll take her to a nice place for breakfast, go out of town and have a picnic. Then, I’m going to take her to the cinema’s at night, where we’ll watch Danger House. After the movie, we’ll grab something from the taco truck and then head home!” Douxie explained his plan. 

“Why not also confess your feelings for her as well?” Archie added. 

“Wait what?!” Douxie gasped. 

“You heard me right, Douxie. I’ve seen the way you look at her and the way she looks at you. But the both of you are so oblivious,” Archie said. 

“What if she rejects me?” Douxie asked. 

“That’s what has been stopping you from confessing your feelings to her. Just trust yourself, Doux,” Archie said, and walked out of the room. 

 After Archie left, Douxie got into bed but before he feel asleep he promised himself that he’ll confess his feelings to you tomorrow. 

The next day, you got up and walked into the kitchen. But before you got to the fridge, Douxie stopped you. 

“Stop right there, love,” Douxie said. 

“Why? Are you the police?” you joked. 

“No, but we’re going to go to a cafe for breakfast,” Douxie announced. 

“But-” you started but were cut off by Douxie. 

“No buts or ifs. Now get ready, I’ll meet you downstairs,” Douxie said, pushing you into the bathroom, handing you your towel. 

You quickly took a shower and got dressed into an off-the-shoulder shirt and ripped jeans. 

Once you were downstairs, you saw Douxie holding the door open for you. You smiled and walked outside. Douxie closed the shop and the two of you walked to Mr. Benoit’s. 

The two of you had breakfast. It was a pretty good one. Douxie did a trick to make the coffee cold, which made the waiter go and get a another cup. Douxie kept on doing that, until you were crying from laughing. After breakfast, the two of you went out of town in Douxie’s car. Douxie didn’t tell you the place but it was beautiful. The two of you explored around the mountains and alleyways. After that, the two of you had a picnic. He had brought sandwiches, a pie and juice. The two of you chatted away while eating your food. The two of you then looked at the clouds pass by, pointing out shapes, animals or anything you could make out. 

“Hey, do you see that cat. It looks like Archie,” Douxie pointed to a cloud. 

You tried to find it but you couldn’t. 

“Where?” you asked. 

“There,” Douxie replied, grabbing your hand and pointing to the cloud. 

While you were looking for the cat, Douxie was looking at you. You looked cute when you tried to look for something. He just couldn’t get his eyes of you. 

After a while, you gave up looking and turned around to see Douxie staring at you. You blushed at the way he was looking at you. 

“Doux? You home?” you asked, waving your hand in front of him. 

“Huh? Yeah, I’m at home,” Douxie replied. 

“Your not home, you magical doofus. Your at... well I don’t know where we are actually,” you tried to joke. 

Unfortunately, you couldn’t since you had no idea where the two of you were. Only Douxie knew. Douxie started to crack up, noticing your joke didn’t turn out too well. You playfully glared at him, trying to be angry. 

Douxie then slowly stopped laughing. 

“You know you look very cute when your angry,” Douxie commented. 

You blushed at his comment. 

“And even more cute when you were trying to look for the cat cloud. Even more when your focused on your work. Whenever your trying to get a recipe right, whenever your trying to get Archie to give your belongings back,” Douxie continued. 

“Well... I... um... thank you,” you said, blushing even more. “Why are you all of a sudden saying these things?” you ask. 

“Because I want to tell you the truth. You’re very kind, caring, selfless and much more. I’m so lucky to have you in my life, y/n. You’re always looking out for Archie and me. I-I love you y/n l/n,” Douxie confessed. 

You looked at him wide eyed. You always had feelings for him, but you never knew he had feelings for you as well. You looked into his hazel eyes, while he looked into your e/c eyes. Slowly the two of you leaned forward. As you got closer, you slowly closed your eyes. Then, your lips touched. The kiss was soft and passionate. The two of you pulled away, looking into each other’s eyes. 

“I love you too, Hisirdoux Casperan,” you said. 

The two of you then continued cloud watching, while you leaned your head on his shoulder and his on top. The two of you watched the sunset and returned to Arcadia. 

“So, did you have a good day, my love?” Douxie asked. 

“Yes, thank you Douxie,” you replied. 

“Well, what about we go watch Danger House?” Douxie said, holding up two tickets. 

“Really?! I’ve been wanting to watch that for ages!” you squeal. 

Douxie chuckled at your excitement. He drove to Lucia. 

The two of you walked into the cinema, hand in hand. You two watched Danger House together. There were some scenes you didn’t want to see, so you hid your face in Douxie’s shoulder. 

After the movie, the two of you were walking out of the cinema, when you saw Stuart’s taco truck. 

“Doux, you hungry?” you ask, tugging on his arm. 

“Well, now that you mention it, love, I am,” Douxie chuckled, looking down to his stomach. 

“Let’s go to Stuart’s taco truck,” you suggested, pulling him behind you. 

The two of you walked over to the taco truck. You saw Jim, Claire, Toby, Steve, Aja, Krel and Eli, all grabbing burritos. 

“Hey, it’s Douxie and y/n!” Toby shouted, pointing to you and Douxie. 

“Hi Toby,” you greeted. 

“Hey,” the others greeted. 

“Don’t you all have school to go to tomorrow?” Douxie asked, walking over to the truck and ordering. 

“Well, yeah. But we all just came back from trollhunting and we’re starving,” Toby replied. 

“That’s a reasonable excuse,” you nodded. 

“What have you two been up to?” Steve asked, wiggling his eyebrows. 

“Nothing. Just went out of town and just watched Danger House,” Douxie replied, handing you a burrito. 

“Nothing else?” Claire teased. 

“Uh... nope,” you and Douxie answer, nervously. 

“Sure, sure,” Jim teased. 

“You too, Jim?” you gasped. 

“What can I do? You two are fun to tease, since you two haven’t even said ‘I love you’ yet,” Jim shrugged. 

“Technically, we already did,” Douxie grinned. 

“Wait, what!” all the kids exclaim. 

“Spill!” Claire and Aja begged. 

“Maybe another time guys. I’m sorry, but we got to go,” Douxie said, pulling you towards the bookstore. 

They all started to whine, but they all eventually stopped and waved bye. 

You and Douxie walked into the bookstore and were greeted by Archie. 

“So... how was your day?” Archie asked.

“The best!” you replied. 

“So did Douxie...” Archie started. 

“Yeah,” you and Douxie finished. 

“Finally! I was getting so tired of looking at the two of you!” Archie cheered. 

The three of you laughed and made your way to your apartment. 

You were going to close your bedroom door when Douxie stopped you. 

“Uh, Douxie, what are you doing?” you asked.

“I came to give you a goodnight kiss, duh,” Douxie replied. 

You rolled your eyes. He quickly gave you a peck on your lips and wished you goodnight. You closed your door and jumped into bed. Today was the best day of your life. 

#douxie x reader #hisirdoux x reader #hisirdoux casperan x reader #one shot #toa #tales of arcadia

[mysteriesmuse]

If there was anything that irked wizards the most it was losing things.

Not just like losing something and misplacing it and then finding it later. No, no. Once you lost something it was gone. As an immortal it was always a headache to lose something who knew where’d it‘d turn up again, if ever. Or perhaps even when. . .

Such was the conundrum Hisirdoux found himself in. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw Claire and her friend Mary Wang walk through into his store front that morning.

“Claire-Bear we have to go check out the scene at the museum tonight! They’re unveiling this totally romantic love letter that they uncovered in the attic of a really old house in a city nearby and they’re taking it here to Arcadia.”

Douxie couldn’t be bothered more leaning against his broomstick, bored out of his mind. After the Arcane order there wasn’t really much activity in his life anymore. Except the occasional magical beastie or human baddie.

He hummed, he might make that into a song actually it was rather catchy? Dutifully sweeping up some more dust.

He couldn’t wait for a good and proper jam session with DJ Klebs and Toby later that evening.

Mary Wang however could not stop talking about that mueseum letter.

“There’s a whole blog post about it that reads through everything. Claire, listen to this, “My dearest friend, although it’s been centuries since our souls crossed along the same path and intertwined inexplicably. . .”

A broomstick clattered.

“M’sorry what was that?”

It couldn’t be. No way, it just couldn’t be.

The girls looked over at Douxie who scrambled to grab the broom stick off the floor. He wiped his hands on his jeans muttering, “Butterfingers,” as an apology for the clamor. He propped it against the wall in favor of coming over to peer over Mary Wangs shoulder at the teeny, tiny- man why was it so tiny? Douxie could feel the sweat building up in his palms. Fuzzbuckets! Did he forget to schedule his optometrist appointment this century?! Her phone screen that lit up with that tiny text reading, ‘A Mystery Local Casanova’s Love Letter Uncovered This Week In California. A Rare Sighting of an Intellectual and highly Emotional L.A. Man.’ —————

“Hey, HEY, so we DONT want anyone finding out?”

“No- of course not-”

“ Duh, keep up. Hey, wait, why are you dressed in all black Krel?“

“Uh,” he looked down at his outfit, “is this not a heist? I thought that’s what you did. That’s what the people do in all your earth movies. See, the cats all dressed in black!” Krel gestured.

“The ‘cat’ can not change his coat. Don’t bring me into this.” Archie meowed.

”Fuzzbuckets,” Douxie muttered, “Alright everyone it doesn’t matter how much black clothing we are or are not wearing.“

Doux gave a pointed look at the two highschoolers, “Now stick to the plan. We go in. We turn off the alarms. Then we take the letter off the display case in the back and hope we don’t need to replace it with anything like Indiana jones.”

“Awesomesauce! Okay, okay, 3,2,1! Go!” Tobias huffed before him, Archie, and Douxie took off sprinting off through the back room employees door.

”what does the state of Indiana have to do with anything?!” Krel yelled, stumbling up from squatting behind the front desk at the door.

“What? Come on! Shh!” “Oh for Pete’s sake, we’re going to use up one of my 9 lives for this?” ——————

“Yes, it appears as if we are . . .”

“it’s not our fault he got caught.”

The boys look over to see Krel sheepishly wave at them from the crowd.

“Well, at least he got into the computer before they took him away. . .“

“Welcome one and all to Arcadia! We’re very excited to have this unique and utterly romantic piece of history with us today-”

“Okay, she’s on her speech,“ Douxie gave a thumbs up, “It’s time to hit the lights.”

Behind his back Krel used a third hand to count

’3’

down

‘2’

and ‘1’

The museum came alive with screams and gasps.

“Okay, Tobias and Douxie let’s stick the plan and get it.”

. . .

Right outside the museum was the crowd walking out the exit to head back home until the museum staff could “get to the bottom of this.”

“Sorry, we couldn’t get in Clare. Tuff luck with the lighting system.” Jim says, lamenting with one hand in his pocket and the other holding Clare’s hand.

Swinging their hands together she replies, “Hm, don’t worry about it. Maybe we can just catch a bite to eat and head back to your place. I’m sure our parents would love for us to join their theatre game night.”

“Hah, I’m sure they’d love to have you cast in a role - uhm”

Jims eyes bulged. He heard loud rustling from the bushes in the distance that were supposed to line the sidewalks.

Clares mouth when agape; she turned her head to spot the museums alarm system going off behind them. Meanwhile Jim continued to stare baffled. Sprinting through the bushes behind the museum he spotted their other world saving friends with hushed shouting and yelling. Everyone proceeded to mouth a “Hi Jim!” as they sprinted off into the forested night like a hoard of goblins.

Shaking his head Jim blinked to dispel that vision and whatever shenanigans that meant.

Luckily, for once, he wasn’t caught up in it. “Huh, I wonder why someone stole something from the museum.” Clare spoke as they resumed their evening stroll.

“Ah, well I’m sure we wont have to wonder why for too long.“ Jim reassured her.

A/N. Hey guys I had so much fun imagining this entire concept. It feels like something right out of the show and so in line with the gangs character. im just cackling imagining Douxie scrambling go to get this “embarrassing“ love letter back from the museum that he wrote for his friend. When I’m actuality we all know it’s some gorgeous literary masterpiece 😍. but yeah lol I hope y’all enjoyed!

#toa trollhunters #toa wizards #toa #Douxie #hisirdoux casperan #Archie #Jim #Clare #toby #toa jim #toa Clare #toa toby #krel #toa Krel #toa krel #tales of arcadia #toa douxie

[rmg91]

Clearing the Air

Because we need more Douxie and Jim bonding moments. ...And I wanted to write these two mooning over their girlfriends.

Also on; AO3

                                               ~*~*~*~*~*~

It was a normal day in Arcadia Oaks, or well...as normal as it got for our heroes nowadays with all that had been happening in the mortal and mystical worlds. Point was none of their current big threats were in front of them and they weren't being chased by goblins or gnomes so yeah, normal day for the Trollhunters. A day to try to catch up on missed homework, play video games or hang out with friends who didn't have the weight of the worlds on their shoulders. Or, in Jim Lake Jr's case, do a favor for your girlfriend because you couldn't say no when she called and begged you to help someone instead of her because she had to now watch her baby brother. Now here he was, assisting their newest team member organize some new books at the Arcane Books store.

He didn't mind helping, really, he was doing Claire a favor after all and he'd do practically anything for her and there wasn't really anything wrong with Douxie...The guy was a real life wizard of all things! And had known and worked under Merlin, the very same who had created his amulet, which was honestly just a little awesome he had to admit, but...but he still couldn't help but, well...be jealous of the guy! He was always so buddy-buddy with Claire and making her laugh and giving her little tips on magic and a ton of other things! And of course Jim knew Claire was her own person and not an object and could have other friends but he just...he just couldn't help thinking some days that she was his girlfriend and that this show-off, flirty wizard needed to back-off! Of course he couldn't -would never actually- say anything as he didn't want to upset the raven haired witch he'd been crushing on for so long.

Still he just couldn't fight that ugly, awful, tight feeling of jealousy in his chest whenever he saw the pair together or when the wizard would inquire about doing something with her.

“So Claire had to watch that little scamp of a brother, eh?” Came the accented voice of the, much older, teen as he came back down from the second level for more books.

“Yeah, guess her parents had something to do.” Jim shrugged, not really turning to face Douxie as he shelved more books. He scolded himself inwardly for the flat response, his mother would not be proud of him, but every time Douxie brought up Claire Jim felt the jealousy monster clawing it's way up his throat and he immediately went out of character.

Douxie blinked and tilted his head, still curious as to why the newest Trollhunter seemed to be always giving him a partial cold shoulder. The rest of the gang seemed pretty accepting, Toby was always begging him to see some magic and of course he had hit it off with Claire, but the teen across him seemed to be keeping him at arms length. And he kept feeling glares at his back from time to time. Unsure what he possibly could've done to the usually kindhearted and accepting teen, Douxie scratched at head, flashing a look at Archie (who was, of course, feigning sleep on the counter), before shrugging and collecting a few more books out of a box. He'd figure it out one day.

They worked in relative silence, every attempt Douxie made to converse with Jim to pass the time becoming stilted and stiff. He had managed to start a promising conversation about cooking with the talented young chef but then he made a little quip about how he must of charmed Claire real good with his skills and maybe he could teach him some things, the wizard was hopeless in the kitchen despite his many years on earth, but something he said had shut Jim right down again. Frowning, there had to be some way to figure out what Jim's problem with him could possibly be.

“Oh, yeah! Don't let me forget to pass on a CD for Claire. Was gonna lend it to her but since she's not here...” Douxie said, tucking another book away.

“Ah...sure. I'll try to remember.” Jim muttered, firmly not looking at him from the other end of the store.

Huh...Douxie wasn't sure if he was crazy or not but a thought occurred to him just then, that Jim seemed to get closed off and tense whenever he mentioned Claire. He knew from his time talking to the budding witch that there hadn't been any fight between the two and, obviously, Jim was here on her request since she couldn't be herself, so why...? Suddenly it clicked as he listened to Jim mutter to himself and he had to shake his head. He really could still be such a moppet. The boy was jealous.

“Hey, Mate.” He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before now. The glares, the grumbles, the way he sometimes wound his arm tighter around Claire.

“Hmm?”

“You're jealous, aren't you?”

“What?! No!!” Jim said frantically, all but giving it away with his reaction. How in the world had he figured it out?! He'd been trying to hide it!

Douxie chuckled and shook his head, crossing his arms as he leaned against a shelf, watching the young Trollhunter try and sort himself out, “It's alright, Mate.”

“No. It's not!” Jim said, throwing his hands in the air, “I know I shouldn't feel jealous but I am and-and I don't want to do something that might push Claire away but like I-I just can't help it!” He couldn't stop rambling now, trying to explain his feelings and why he kind of disliked feeling so jealous because somewhere deep down he knew it was silly.

“Jim.” He looked up, blue eyes meeting Douxie's hazel. “It really is alright.” The mage held up a hand to prevent Jim from speaking before he was done, knowing what he needed to hear, “Clare and I are just friends. Honestly I kind of see her as a little sister some days.”

“Really?” So all this jealousy really was for nothing?

“Mm-hmm.” The older boy nodded before gesturing with a slightly flourish as he moved, “And I'll have you know I've been quite happily taken for the past five hundred years or so! So, you really have nothing to worry about.”

“Really? You have a girlfriend?” Jim supposed that shouldn't be as big a shock as it was but well...it was considering just how old Douxie really was.

“Mm-hmm...” Douxie hummed, face going soft with a mushy sort of smile that Jim knew he too wore whenever he thought of Claire. “And she kick my arse if I made such a colossal mistake of breaking up with her. Not that I'd ever want to, mind.”

Jim nodded, understanding that feeling, “Yeah.”

“So, we cool, Mate?” Douxie asked, holding out a fist toward Jim.

Jim returned the fist bump with a smirk, “Heh, yeah, we're cool.” And wow was it a relief to know he'd had been worried for nothing.

And with the matter settled, the two finished the rest of the afternoon sorting and shelving books, talking and gushing over their respective girlfriends. Archie merely rolled his eyes, watching unnoticed at the counter, and shook his head at the two lovesick men before going back to sleep.

~*~BONUS~*~

A few days later found Jim leaning against the counter at the cafe, sipping at the coffee Douxie had just handed him as they watched their girlfriends talking outside, Claire holding in laughter as Zoe gestured with her hands. “So...How much are we gonna regret introducing those two?”

Douxie chuckled, “Ooh-ho....immensely.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Just let these two bond over their amazing girlfriends! Also let them sleep because they go through so much. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!

#Fanfiction #Trollhunters #Douxie #hisirdoux casperan #Jim Lake Jr #Jealous Jim #Douxie's part of the gang earlier #What's this another fic not long after the other?! #Blaphamous! #Zouxie mentioned #Jclair Mentioned #Jlaire #Zouxie #I just needed this out of my head #It won't pay rent

[sopafa]

The other side of the immortality P2

WARNING: HEAVY ANGST & MAYOR CHARACTER DEATH

SUMMARY: Douxie sees his friends grow old and die. It's harder than it looks

R18+

It had been 6 months.

Six. Fucking. Months.

It was not enough time to whole process the departure of the trollhunter when Clara went next.

Since the day the Wizard digested the fact that the trollhunter was not around anymore, he purposed himself to spend more time with his beloved ones. So he started to visit Tobias & Darci, Aja & Steve, and Eli & Krel houses. He liked to still talk to them, but if he had to be honest, he liked to spend more time with Claire.

Deep in his heart, he knew that he had always appreciated more Claire, after all, she had been his apprentice, he had reached her how to use and control her magic, and she was as a little sister to him. Even when her complexion was covered with wrinkles, even when her hands shake for the age, and her hair didn't look the same; she was still his little sister. And he loved her.

Douxie liked to spend time with her.

He visited her, and each day he took the time to call her, just to say "good morning" and "how have you been feeling?"

Douxie got a vacation period. It was short. Less than a week actually. But he used that time to go and spend the days on Claire's side. So he made a little backpack and went to visit her. He stayed in her home for 6 days. He took care of her -and Jim's- grandsons while some of their children -that now were adults- thanked him to help them, and visit her.

The Jim memory was still strong living inside the house. A little spot on the living room had some pictures of him, and a couple of flowers and candles were always decorating it. Claire always talked about him, a melancholic tone on her voice, and sometimes a couple of tears rolled through her cheeks.

Douxie had won an important place on the shadow witch's heart. He made her smile.

Like, truly smile.

With his goofy and dumb attitude, he painted a sweet smile on her lips. And each morning, during breakfast, he told her that she looked beautiful, even when she was still in her pajamas, or if she hadn't taken a bath in days, even when she smelled like raisins and cookies because for Douxie's eyes, she actually was still the same Claire.

One day, Enrique Jr. -one of their grandsons- asked him if they could get some ice cream. Douxie, as the best uncle he was, obviously accepted, and took all the children with him. The teenager and the other 5 children went to a little ice cream shop near the house, Hisirdoux does not remember what the kids ordered, but he can't forget the single cup of lemon ice cream that he asked for Claire. She didn't go with them, she was too tired to walk to the shop, but she asked her Teach to bring her something. Douxie knew that lemon ice cream was her favorite. He paid for the desserts before returning with a bunch of happy children.

When he went to Claire to give her the ice cream, she only took two spoonfuls before asking him to save the cup on the fridge for later. Douxie didn't hesitate and did what she asked.

The next day Douxie had to return home. He had work, and a bunch of other stuff on his hands, but at least he had spent a beautiful "week" with Claire.

Two days passed. Tree maybe.

It was a Wednesday. That's the only he can remember.

He woke up early, he went to open the book store, and it was around 7.13 a.m. when a call came to his phone.

"Hisirdoux" It was NotEnrique.

"Oh, hello man." Douxie complain inside his head, that channeling only called him when he needed something, so he started to create a list on his mind of the possible things he could ask him.

"It's Zoe and Archie there?" He looked at the backdoor that connected to his department.

"Yeah, why?"

The tome of NotEnrique changed.

"Its Claire." The smile of his face erase "She is not longer with us"

Silence.

"Douxie? You know what I mean, right?" The voice of NotEnrique started to brek "My sister is gone".

And he was on autopilot again.

He clung to the phone on his hands and walked to his department, he opened the door of his bedroom without caring waking up Zoe, and he kneeled on Archie's bed.

The familiar looked at him.

"Claire passed away". He said, with the voice of NotEnrique sobbing trou the phone speaker.

"Oh, no..." Archie and Zoe shared a look.

He took the same backpack of the trip he had done a week ago and changed the clothes inside. Archie prepared some food for the road, and Zoe took the keys. They were going to Arcadia.

They were going to go see Clair.

The trip was quiet, Hisirdoux put on his headphones and listened to some music the whole way, but again, he couldn't cry.

When they finally arrived they didn't let him see her body.

"They are preparing her for the coffin. The embalmed is a process that can't be stopped". Someone explained him.

He found NotEnrique in minutes.

"How-" Douxie started.

The channeling bit his lips before start "She did not wake up. She passed away sleeping. And she was- she was so peaceful- Her look was-" The wizard nodded.

"When are we going to be able to see her?"

"The wake starts tomorrow, 5 a.m. For now, why don't you come with me to the house? All her grandsons and kids want to see you".

They asked him if he was fine. They asked him so many times.

But in this time, he told the truth.

"I'm not fine. But I do not believe that she is gone" Douxie said. "I know when I figure the new, it's going to hurt. I know it. And I want to cry, because if I let this accumulate, as I did with Jim..."

"Hey" Blinky put a hand on his shoulder. "I know what that feels. But can I tell you something? It is better to broke in here, to have a meltdown in here. Where we -your family- are, so that way we can help you, and be with you. So take your time, but leave us help"

Aaaarghhh nodded, and Douxie felt appreciated for that.

He woke around 3.30 a.m. He took a bath and dresses in the same black suit he used before. They were in the car at 4:30 and whey arrive at the mortuary at 5.

On the day of Claire's wake, it was raining. I huge storm with thunders and lightning received the new day, as a way of the universe to cry about the Witch's death. Douxie believed that it was beautiful, and yet, too out of a movie to be real. Ironic, right?

There was no one inside when they arrived. Obviously, who crazy idiot would be on a mortuary at fucking 5 a.m.?

Well, only two wizards, their cat-dragon-familiar, and two of the passed away's children.

In the beginning, Douxie couldn't get near the coffin. He just, couldn't.

But after a moment, he did.

It was just as NotEnrique had said. She looked so peaceful, and a sweet smile was drawn on her lips. She didn't look dead. She looked asleep.

But even after seeing her, Douxie couldn't digest the news.

The ceremony before the burial was around 1 p.m. By that moment, the rain had stopped and a blue sky shined outside, trolls and humans were inside the church to commemorate her fellow, and Zoe took Douxie's hand when they got in.

The whole ceremony he couldn't lease a single word of that the pastor was saying, he just sank in his thoughts, remembering all their moments together, and their last week...

That's when he broke.

Zoe saw him sank his head between his hands, and start sobbing. Fat tears and laments of sadness escaped through his body. She hugged him during most part of the ceremony.

At least, until the pastor asked to her family to came in front. NotEnrique and Douxie were also asked to join, and put their hands upon the coffin. They prayed some last words, and then Douxie listed it.

No blast or spots of blue magic came. No broken windows this time. Nothing but true sad emotions.

Douxie does not remember what happened next, but Blinky does.

The wizard clung to the wooden box in front of him, and kneel to it as if his feet didn't work anymore.

The ceremony ended and he was still there, clinging to her side, sobbing strong and fast.

But they needed to move the coffin. They needed to translate her to the cemetery. And they couldn't do it if Douxie was still held in it.

It took both Aaarghh force and Blinkus 6 arms to pull him out. Blinky hugged him by the back, to stop him to return running to the coffin, and slowly he seated up on the floor, pulling Douxie with him.

Hisirdoux saw how they slowly took Claire off of the church, he saw it through the whole way, and he screamed between sad sobs, he didn't care about making a scene. He needed to be on her side. He needed to say goodbye.

BUT HE DIDN'T WANTED TO SAY GOODBYE.

When they downed the coffin inside the grave, he left a white flower in it.

They asked to leave a ground fist, but he couldn't do it.

"I will always going to give her flowers, she loved flowers. But I'm not going to put a ground fist, because you're asking me to bury her. And I'm never going to do that".

The worst part was after the funeral when all the kids asked him to make them something to eat. So, he did, he opened the fridge, searched for some frozen meals in the freezer, and when he saw the cup of lemon ice cream, half-eaten, still with the plastic spoon that he had given her.

Since that day, Douxie never ate Lemmon ice cream again.

In memory of C.A. & P.M.  My own Jim and Claire.

#DOUXIE #douxie #hisirdoux casperan #douxie casperan #zoe #zoe ashildr #toa zoe #archie #tales of arcadia #trollhunters #3below #wizards #toby domzalski #jim lake jr #angst #mayor character die #mayor character death #blinky #aaarrrgh #Actually all the events are based on real thing that happened to me #Im Douxie #My uncle was Jim #My abuelita is Claire #the both passed away this year #i can not go to that church anymore

[nikibogwater]

The Final Becoming--a Tales of Arcadia fanfiction: Chapter Two

A gentle king, a warrior queen, a clever prince, and a Master Wizard. Together with their allies, these four heroes must reform the ancient kingdom of Camelot and rise up to face the Arcane Order in a decisive final battle for the fate of everything they hold dear.

An alternate take on the series ending for those for whom Rise of the Titans didn't quite make the cut. Updates every Friday (weather permitting).

(Link to Chapter One)

Read on Ao3

Or in the post below:

Before we begin, I have to say thank you all for the amazing response to the first chapter. I have worked harder on this fic than any other I've written so far, so it brings me no small amount of joy to know that you are all already enjoying it. 💖

This chapter is a bit shorter than the prologue from last week, because there was really only one place that seemed good for a chapter break. But rest assured I'll work very hard to get the third chapter ready on time next week so I won't leave you hanging too long. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you again for all the amazing support!

*****

Though the chill of winter still persisted in the occasional little gust of wind, the sun’s warmth on their backs carried the promise of the swiftly-coming Spring. Nari had been especially restless that morning, pacing around their tiny apartment, checking and rechecking all of her potted plants in an effort to keep herself occupied. It was Douxie’s half-day at work, and the moment he returned home, he hustled his companions out the door for a walk, half-heartedly hoping it would ease Nari’s growing anxiety. With no proof that the Order knew where they were, and nowhere else to go even if they did, he could only pray that her worry was simply the result of her long confinement within the city, and not a premonition of things to come.

Out here in the sunshine, she seemed more at ease, though her eyes still darted around more quickly than usual. She was delighted to discover a scrawny dandelion growing up through a crack in the sidewalk, and knelt down to give it her blessing without a second thought. Douxie didn’t have the heart to tell her people were staring, or that the use of her unique brand of magic carried the risk of revealing her whereabouts to the Order. They continued on their way, the wood nymph seeming to feel much better for her efforts.

“...Douxie?” Nari had to raise her voice in order to be heard over the noise of the city.

“Mm?”

“...I am sorry if this is an impolite question, but....What are you wearing on your head?”

“Oh, do you like it?” He gave the baseball cap a jaunty little tweak, turning and walking backwards in front of her. “I’ve never had one before. Found it at a thrift shop a couple of weeks back and thought I’d give it a go. Makes me look like a proper mortal, eh?” He turned back around just in time to barely avoid running into a streetlamp.

“Among other things,” Archie muttered, leaping up onto Douxie’s shoulder so he could keep a better eye on him. Nari giggled softly, skipping a few feet forward to walk by Douxie’s side. They stopped at the end of the sidewalk, where a clearly distraught and world-weary man was shaking a paper cup as he miserably proclaimed to unsympathetic passersby:

“The world’s gonna end! We’re all gonna die!”

Douxie shared a glance with Nari, mouth turning upward in a knowing smile. He flipped a quarter into the man’s cup. “Not on my watch,” he said blithely. They went on their way before the confused prophet could ask any questions. Nari’s hand slipped into Douxie’s, giving it a grateful squeeze, as Archie’s tail draped fondly around his neck.

Strolling aimlessly around the city block like this, with Archie on his shoulder and Nari’s hand in his, Douxie found himself overcome with a warm feeling of contentment. In spite of all the evidence that easily proved otherwise, he felt that for just this moment, all was right with the world.

But it was always the nature of such moments to come to an end.

A few minutes later, Nari came to an abrupt stop, her nails digging into Douxie’s hand as she sucked in a sharp breath.

“Nari?” he murmured.

“They’re here. Bellroc’s magic, I felt--” She couldn’t finish before an explosion rattled the entire street, a huge chunk of skyscraper toppling to the ground in a flaming heap nearby. Archie leapt off Douxie’s shoulder, shifting into his dragon form, and blasted away a chunk of brickwork before it could crush a terrified mother and her child. Douxie pulled Nari into an alleyway, his feet pounding against the asphalt as the echoes of the confused and panicked screams of civilians bounced off the narrow brick walls around them.

“Douxie, where are we going?!” Nari cried, scrambling to keep up with his long strides.

“I don’t know!” he panted. “Just--” A blast of frigid air shrieked down the alleyway and threw the both of them off their feet. Douxie curled around Nari just before the hit the concrete, as her instinctual magic rushed around him, softening their fall. “...away,” he snarled through gritted teeth, as Skrael emerged from a flurrious cloud at the end of the alley and gilded towards them slowly. Douxie pulled Nari to her feet and pushed her behind him, while Archie perched on his shoulder, baring his fangs at Skrael. Douxie’s staff appeared in his hand, his eyes flashing blue for a moment as defensive magic coiled around the three of them.

“Stand down, boy,” Skrael hissed. “Unlike Bellroc, I am willing to strike a bargain. Hand over Nari, and we’ll let you live long enough to witness this world’s glorious rebirth.”

“Seems Bellroc and I have something in common,” Douxie spat. “There will be no bargains. Not today, not with you.” He kept his staff raised as he spoke, slowly backing up with Nari still clinging to his arm.

“Oh, I dearly hoped you would say that,” Skrael murmured with a cold grin, readying his own staff.

“Douxie!” Nari pushed Douxie to the side just in time to avoid a wave of fire from the other end of the alleyway. Bellroc stalked through the flames, throwing aside their ornamental skull-helmet as they came. Only one way out, Douxie realized with a sinking heart. He slammed the end of his staff on the ground, sending out an explosive pulse of magic that pushed the two demigods back for a moment. He swept up Nari and Archie with his magic and launched them to the top of the building at their backs.

“Go! Call Claire!” he shouted, throwing down a barrier just in time to block two simultaneous waves of fire and ice. Nari pushed against his magic, frantically trying to rejoin him on the ground, but he wouldn’t let her go.

“No, I cannot leave you!”

“Go!” Douxie bellowed. “Archie, take her!”

“We have to trust him, Nari!” Archie insisted, tugging on the back of her shirt. With a frustrated growl, she finally relented, and the magic holding her at bay dissipated as she tore away from the scene, bounding across rooftops as Archie flew beside her.

“She is escaping!” Bellroc howled. Skrael leapt up to follow her, but a tendril of blue magic snapped around his ankle and pulled him back down.

“Not so fast!” Douxie barked. “I thought you said you wanted to fight me!”

“Insolent brat!” Bellroc snarled, fingertips sparking with red-hot magic. A bubble of flames erupted around Douxie’s feet. He hissed in pain as he rolled out of the way, throwing out a shield spell just in time to block Bellroc’s staff from slamming into his head.

“Oh, come on, now, no need for petty insults!” he quipped, ducking under their staff to launch them away with another spell. “I’m sure we’re both capable of tearing one another to pieces in a civilized manner.”

“By the time we are finished with you, you will beg for the mercy of being torn to pieces!” Bellroc roared, charging towards him once more.

The alleyway was swiftly lost in a haze of smoke and flashing blue light.

*****

Nari was gasping for air as she sprinted across another building, her magic carrying her across the gaps as she bounded from rooftop to rooftop. Without the rejuvenating magic of raw nature, she quickly grew weak, and she and Archie were forced to stop and take shelter behind a chimney. She ripped her phone from her pocket, dialing Claire with trembling fingers. Her hand clenched against her rapidly beating heart as they waited for an answer.

Click.

“Hello?”

“They have found us!” Nari gasped. “The Order--they are here. Please, you must assemble the Guardians--Douxie cannot fight them alone for much longer! He needs your help!”

“...We’re on our way,” Claire replied.

“Hurry!” Nari breathed, before ending the call and struggling to get back to her feet. She stood for a moment on trembling legs, looking back at the billowing cloud of smoke and flashing blue light in the distance.

“We must keep moving,” Archie urged, gently nudging her with his head.

“But....Douxie...”

“Claire and the others will be joining him any moment--he’ll be alright. In the meantime, he is counting on you to stay out of the Order’s grasp. You have to keep running.” Nari did not look fully convinced, but she pushed away from the wall and continued to run, with Archie following close beside her.

*****

Douxie yelped in pain as Bellroc slammed him against the wall, burning hand at his throat, their forked staff pinning his weapon hand to the side. He choked and struggled as he was lifted off his feet, the back of his head scraping painfully against the brickwork.

“You fancy yourself a Master Wizard,” Bellroc hissed, breathing heavily from exertion. “But you are nothing more than a meddlesome child. One that I will relish in punishing.”

“Yeah?” Douxie snarled breathlessly. “Well, this meddlesome child’s plan worked perfectly. And you couldn’t do a thing about it. Nari is--”

“--Already in our possession,” Bellroc said, a smirk twisting their ashen face. “Your plan did not account for the fact that you humans are very easily distracted.”

“What’s that supposed to--” Douxie stopped short with another fruitless gasp for air, his eyes widening in horror.

Skrael was nowhere to be seen.

*****

Nari cleared another alley in a single bound, but stopped when she landed on the other side. Frost was creeping across the tiles beneath her feet. She swung around and managed to throw Archie back before leaping out of the way of Skrael’s attack. Ice chunks scattered across the top of the roof as Nari landed on all fours, what little defensive magic she still had gathering in her hand. In this wasteland of concrete and metal, she was all-too-aware that she wouldn’t stand a chance against her brother, but she faced him nonetheless, eyes burning with quiet rage. Archie swooped over her and landed on her shoulders, spreading his wings over her protectively as Skrael descended in front of them.

“Nari,” he spoke silkily, brandishing his staff. “Beloved sister...We are tired of your games. It is time for you to rejoin your family--time to fulfil your duty.”

“You are not my family!” Nari spat. “Not anymore. My duty is to protect this world--I will never help you destroy it!”

“These human pets of yours have already destroyed it. We merely intend to set things right. But I am not here to reason with you. You will return to us...” he leveled his staff at her. “...willing or otherwise.”

*****

“R-rigescunt indutae!” Douxie choked, grasping Bellroc’s hand where it was clenched around his throat. They let out a shriek of pain as webs of frost shot across their wrist, and jerked back. Douxie dropped to the ground, coughing and gasping for air, briefly raising a trembling hand to his burned neck. He summoned his guitar and strummed a blast of magic that sent Bellroc flying out of the alleyway. He turned to flee, heart pounding wildly, growing more frantic with every beat. Nari! They can’t take Nari!

But turning his back on the ancient sorcerer proved to be a horrible mistake. Bellroc was up faster than he anticipated, and immediately took advantage of Douxie’s carelessness and retaliated with a roaring blast of fire. Douxie screamed in pain as it struck his back full-force. His shirt and hoodie were instantly shredded by the flames, leaving them in scorched tatters that hung limply off of his frame. He struggled to push himself up, limbs shaking, the raw, stinging pain in his back nearly unbearable.

“How easily the fleshlings fall,” Bellroc mused, coming up beside him and planting their foot between his shoulders. Douxie cried out in agony as he was pinned to the ground. “Such arrogance, calling yourself a Master Wizard. You are a worm, and you shall die like one!” Bellroc’s foot pressed deeper into Douxie’s back, sizzling like a brand. He couldn’t withhold the scream that tore from his throat, as hot tears stung mercilessly at the corners of his eyes. This couldn’t be it, he couldn’t fall here. Nari and Archie needed him! But no matter how desperate his writhing, he couldn’t escape from beneath Bellroc’s burning heel.

“Die, Creeper!”

There was a loud thwack, and suddenly, Bellroc’s weight was thrown off of him. Douxie gasped in relief, managing to lift his head just enough to see Steve furiously fending off the demigod with his beloved axe. Claire, Jim, Toby, and Aaarrrgghh all charged through the shadow portal behind him, their gazes murderous as they rushed to defend their ally. Jim dropped beside Douxie and eased him upright, mindful of the fresh burn that stretched across his back and shoulders.

“J-Jim...!” the exhausted wizard gasped.

“Sorry we’re late! I had to borrow an extra serrator from Krel,” Jim told him. “Can you stand?”

“Nari!” Douxie croaked, gripping Jim’s sleeve with white fingers. “We have to get to Nari!” Another wave of fire came hurtling towards them. Jim activated the serrator’s shield and blocked it, as Aaarrrgghh shielded the others with his stony body.

“Jim, get Douxie out of here!” Claire barked. “We’ll handle this!”

“No, I can’t leave without Nari and Archie!” Douxie protested, weakly struggling as Jim pulled him out into the street.

“You can’t fight like this, Douxie! We have to--” Jim was cut off as his foot landed on a patch of ice--his legs flew out from beneath him, and both boys were sent toppling to the ground. Douxie looked up just in time to see Archie’s limp, frost-covered body thrown down in front of him, hitting the iced pavement with a sickening crunch. The Familiar’s glasses landed in shattered pieces nearby.

“Archie!” Douxie dove for his Familiar, crouching over him protectively.

“Bellroc!” Skrael’s voice echoed down the street. “We have what we came for. It is time to go.” He descended beside his sibling, launching another blast of icy wind that pushed their assailants back. His robes were singed and tattered, and his face was scarred with fresh wounds, the cuts bleeding a misty substance that floated away on the wind. Nari had clearly put up quite a fight alongside Archie. She was bound in icy chains behind Skrael, struggling fruitlessly against his magic. She let out a panicked cry as her gaze landed on Douxie and Archie, taking in the awful sight of the both of them so horribly injured.

“No!” she shrieked. An explosion of green light broke through Skrael’s chains and coiled around her, as a gust of warm wind shrieked down the alleyway. Douxie forced himself to his feet, Archie still cradled in one arm, and reached for her as she flew towards him.

Her hand clasped his. He felt her magic slam into him for one brief, joyous moment, rushing and rolling over him like a river. His pain vanished, and he felt fresh air pouring into his lungs, as a surge of energy coursed through his body, filling his chest and limbs .

Then suddenly, in a whirl of snow and ash, she was gone.

Thanks for reading! ✨

(Link to Chapter Three)

#tales of arcadia #toa #toa fanfiction #douxie #toa nari #toa archie #toa bellroc #toa skrael #jim lake jr #claire nunez #toby domzalski #steve palchuk #aaarrrgh #the final becoming

[wizardouxie]

Okay but do you realize how terrifying and heartbreaking it would be if  Hisirdoux was the apprentice that became corrupted? 

“Magic is mastery over life.”

Those words mean nothing to Hisirdoux; an immortal being such as him is fated to never see the end of life, so how could he master it? Ha, of course, leave it to Merlin to say such rubbish.

Soon enough the apprentice begins to grow impatient with each passing day. There’s no reason for Merlin to wave him off, push him aside, dismiss him, and make time for everything but him. It simply didn’t make sense. Intrusive thoughts swarm his mind, and he begins to think that Merlin is simply using him as an attendant. A servant.

He feels humiliated. He is meant for so much more than sweeping the floors and sorting books. And if Merlin couldn’t see that, so be it. 

Hisirdoux begins to learn magic on his own, much to Morgana’s concern. In fact she starts to notice that he’s... changed. He seems more bitter, blatantly disregarding Merlin’s wishes and doing whatever he pleased. She always remarked that a little rebellion didn’t hurt anyone, but this wasn’t what she had in mind. However when he asks her to teach him shadow magic, it seems innocent enough and she obliges, curious to see what he would do with it.

In the distance, the Arcane Order observes quietly. They sense darkness in him. Pride. Envy. Lust. For them, it’s a favorable advantage, waiting to be exploited.

Hisirdoux returns to the castle with a stunned Morgana, the tips of his hair turned white. Archie hisses when the boy slams the door harshly but quickly cowers upon seeing his hardened face. Something was wrong. 

The boy paced back and forth, a bead of sweat trailing down his cheek. This vision that he saw, of him and Merlin, was it true? That ultimately they would become each other’s greatest enemies and battle each other?

He lets out a hollow laugh. It had to be. Of course Merlin saw him as a threat. Merlin knew he had the potential to become a powerful sorcerer, a sorcerer capable of besting him. In order to prevent that, he made sure the boy submitted to him.

But not anymore. 

A few days later, Merlin is turning the castle and kingdom upside down in search for Hisirdoux. He’s gone. Nowhere to be seen. And when night approaches, never to be found again. The knights return, proclaiming the boy dead. Merlin is never quite the same after that.

Morgana blames herself. First Guinevere and now him. How many more people was she going to lose because of her mistakes? She renounces shadow magic and starts to learn other forms instead, standing by Merlin’s side for the next 900 years. 

With Camelot long gone, they settle in Arcadia Oaks, hoping to live a simple life. But life is anything but simple when they run into Jim, Toby, and Claire. After they reveal everything from the Trollhunter amulet to the existence of changelings, trolls, and other magical creatures, Merlin and Morgana agree to be their guardians. Merlin is still a little prickly but Morgana usually helps deescalate any tension between the kids and him.

There is an instance where she withdraws slightly when she sees Claire wield her Skathe-Hrün, an artifact she had sealed away for centuries. To her surprise, Merlin encourages her to start mastering shadow magic again. She doesn’t understand. How could someone who detested shadow magic suddenly accept it? He pats her shoulder and tells her that at one point or another she needs to learn to embrace her past rather than fear it. Guinevere is gone. Hisirdoux is gone. It’s time to move on.

Little did they both know, Hisirdoux was very much alive in those 900 years, training with the Arcane Order, transforming into a sorcerer unlike the world has ever seen. Skrael and Bellroc are greatly impressed; their champion has come a long way indeed. 

Surely he’d be able to bring back Nari and break the Genesis Seals, ushering in a new era of magic. 

And so it isn’t a corrupted king burdened by his sins that finishes off Merlin, but a young sorcerer driven mad by his hatred for being underestimated.

“My son... what have you become?” Merlin whispers with a broken smile. Morgana screams in grief, a blast of gold light blinding the room.

Douxie doesn’t know why he feels so empty afterwards.

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