Chapter Text
Jim Lake Jr.
By all accounts seemed like a fairly regular sixteen-year-old teen. He was kind of scrawny but looked like he would grow into his body soon enough. His hair was black and his skin pale, He went to high school, lived with his mom, and liked to hang out with his best friend Toby and his girlfriend Claire.
Often he would groan over the homework he had to make, on Fridays he would rush to the cafeteria so he could get a slice of pizza before it was gone.
Yes… Looking at him he looked fairly normal.
But Jim's life wasn't normal. He was the troll hunter, defender of the trolls of Trollmarket. A few months ago he had managed to slay Bular, the son of Gunmar. And since then Jim and his friend had spent any spare time they had searching for Gunmar's three triumbric stones.
They had managed to find the birthstone in Gato's keep.
They had gotten the kill stone, stealing it off a sleeping troll Zombie in the Arizona jungle and thankfully managed to not wake him in the process.
But they had run into a dead end… They didn't know where the eye of Gunmar was.
Jim sighed deeply as he hung over his cereal that morning. Supposedly the Kruberas had been guarding Gunmar's eye. But it had been stolen hundreds of years ago… Supposedly by Gum-Gums.
And then where had it gone?
Nobody had a clue… Their best guess was it was in gum-gum hands, but that wasn't any help at all!
Worst case scenario it could be in the darklands, which was ironic because Jim needed that stone so he could go to the darklands.
As a human he wouldn't be able to survive long at that place, he needed the eclipse armor to protect him from the unnatural darkness that would otherwise consume a human in just a few days.
Jim sighed again glancing up at the milk carton right in front of him only to halt.
At that same moment, a very bedridden Barbara Lake stepped in and Jim gasped. "Mom!" as he turned the milk carton around hiding the picture from her. "Mom, shouldn't you be sleeping? You only came home in the middle of the night."
Barbara yawned deeply. "I barely ever get to see my son. Can't I just see him a little bit before he goes to school?" she asked.
Jim smiled a little defeated. "Of course Mom," he spoke more softly. "It's nice seeing you too."
Barbara smiled as she shuffled past Jim towards the kitchen counter where she reached for the decaf coffee.
As Barbara had passed Jim, Jim turned the milk carton back around and was once again faced with the picture of his own former history teacher.
Walter Strickler…. Jim sighed deeply as he looked at those green eyes that seemed to smirk back at him. It was like he could almost see the yellow hiding behind the green.
And in Jim's head… he could still hear it. Strickler's voice sounding growling and animal-like as he shouted in triumph.
"Nothing can stop Gunmars return now!"
The bridge… It had started to suck in the boxes and items in front of it. Jim remembered, trying to get to the amulet to pull it out. Only to be grabbed by the green changeling and pinned down on top of the bridge.
Jim remembered those burning yellow eyes as the stony hands grabbed for his throat.
"Stop it Trollhunter! There is no use fighting it. We won. Gunmar will reign!"
Jim closed his eyes, but that only made the image so much clearer… The man he had looked up to, the man he had gone to for advice and even comfort in some ways. Now trying to squish the life out of him and so… Jim had kicked the changeling in the stomach and sent him down on the ground in front of the bridge.
Jim had heard the yell, then looked down to see the green troll try to cling to the floor with his claws, but all that happened was that he drew a long line of claw marks in the floor as he yelled.
There was terror in Strickler's eyes and in his voice as he roared. "No… Don't send me back! I escaped! Help me!"
Just then Strickler had lost his grip and had been sucked into the bridge itself and that… Was the last Jim had seen of Walter Strickler.
Soon after that, they had managed to close the bridge and it fell into a thousand pieces… But that wasn't the end of it.
As far as the world knew, Walter Strickler had vanished without a single trace. He didn't meet up for his job, and then as the school office tried to contact him there was no reply.
Soon the police came to check on his apartment only to find it empty… Strickler's car was still in the driveway, his bank statements were untouched. No taxi, bus, train, or plane transaction. Just groceries and normal bills.
It was like Strickler had just walked out of his apartment one evening and then never came back, vanished into thin air.
This is what Barbara was informed when the Police questioned her. It didn't look like he had gone on any journey or left deliberately… He had just vanished.
Barbara had only been on a few dates with Strickler, but he had still left a huge impression on her which didn't make it easy.
Jim knew she had been plagued with nightmares and even guilt… Maybe she thought that if she had checked up with him more he wouldn't have vanished.
Jim could only imagine what it looked like to other people… That Strickler had just fallen into a ditch, cracked open his skull, and died at a place where nobody had managed to find him.
They said the longer it took with these scenarios, the more likely it was that they were just dead… heck the first 48 hours were the most crucial in these scenarios apparently, and after that, it was less and less likely to find anybody. And now it had been three months so… yeah.
Of course… Jim knew exactly what had happened to Strickler. Knew exactly where he was… trapped in the darklands with Gunmar.
And they could only pray he would never make it out. Because if Strickler made it out, it was likely Gunmar would too. And then they would all be doomed.
And now Jim was trying to make it into the darklands to find Enrique… The irony.
Barbara sat down in front of Jim with her coffee. "So how's school?" she asked awkwardly.
"It's good." Jim replied, "I got a B on my last Spanish test."
"That's amazing Jim." Barbara looked up.
Jim nodded. "It helps a lot that Claire helps me with the homework. She already speaks it fluently."
"Must be nice for her, that's one class she doesn't have to study for," Barbara commented.
"Yeah… But she does it anyway. Because Claire is not a slacker." Jim informed and Barbara smiled amused. "Oh, it's bingo night for Toby's nan today," Jim commented. "So Tobes will be over to eat."
"Of course." Barbara nodded. "He knows he's always welcome here. You can invite Claire too if you want."
"Huh." Jim looked thoughtful. "I could actually make her that souffle," he whispered. "She said she never had one… And she doesn't believe I can do it right. I'm going to show her."
Barbara smiled warmly. "I can't wait," she stated.
Jim smiled lightly then stood up with his now empty bowl and rinsed it off in the sink before putting it into the dishwasher, as he walked past Barbara he kissed her on the cheek. "Love you Mom." then he halted.
Barbara looked sad… She had seen the portrait on the milk carton and Jim bit his lip. "Mom."
Barbara looked up, trying to crack a smile. "I just chase the men away don't I?" she asked obviously trying to make a joke. Then she halted.
Jim swallowed. "Of course not Mom. You're great!" he stated then Jim halted as Barbara looked down. "Mom…" he whispered making Barbara glance up. "He seemed happier than usual before he… It wasn't you. You were the one giving him something really nice he clearly appreciated. He even hummed in class when he thought no one could hear it."
Barbara smiled a little amused. "Thank you, Jim. That's so nice."
"It's true Mom," Jim informed as he bowed down and kissed her again, then finally left to meet up with Toby outside, however just as he walked out Jim's phone rang and he sighed as he picked it up.
"Blinks we talked about this," Jim informed as he reached the bicycles where Toby was already waiting for him. "I can't come over. I need to go to school."
"I know, apologies." Blinky's familiar voice replied. "But when you can, please come."
"What is it?" Jim asked as he swung his leg over the bike. "What happened?"
"A goblin made it through the portal from the darklands," Blinky informed.
"Just one Goblin? How is that a problem?" Jim asked.
"Oh, that's not the problem. We have the goblin captured already." Blinky informed. "However there seems to be some sort of parcel tied to its back. But the parcel is protected with magic that won't let any troll touch it, we need a human to remove and open the parcel."
Jim blinked. "That sounds a little bit risky." he had to admit.
"Yes. Which is why I would suggest you wear your armor while checking its contents." Blinky replied.
For a moment Jim just looked out into the air. "Thanks Blink."
"It shouldn't take longer than a moment though." Blinky pointed out.
"Sure. Got it." Jim sighed. "It doesn't sound that urgent so I'll see you after school."
"Wonderful! And I hope you'll have a good day at school Master Jim." Blinky replied in a cheerful honest tone.
Jim smiled amused. "Thank you, Blinky. See you after school." and he stopped the call.
"Sounds like Trollmarket buiss." Toby commented.
"A goblin made it through the darkland portal with a magic parcel on its back, a parcel trolls can't touch so one of us has to go open it up." Jim informed. "and by one of us, that's of course me. Because for all we know it could explode the moment we open it so it's better that the one with the armor does it."
"Well, you're the trollhunter," Toby commented as they started to bicycle.
"We're the trollhunters." Jim corrected him.
"Hmm. When it comes to opening potentially exploding packages. You can have it." Toby replied and Jim smirked amused.
"Thanks, Tobes."
"Hey, what are best friends for?" Toby asked and Jim laughed.
After school in the afternoon, just as promised Jim was in Trollmarket alongside Toby and Claire who were both curiously looking as Blinky pulled down what almost looked like a birdcage with a goblin in it.
And True enough, on the goblin's back was what looked like a message package, tied down with golden string that seemed to glow as if it was made out of soft sunlight, wrapped multiple times around the goblin and the package.
Curiously Claire looked at the goblin. "Who did that?" she asked.
"No clue. Probably not a troll. That would be extremely tricky for a troll to do since… We can't touch the string." Blinky pointed.
Jim nodded as he called forth the armor letting it wrap itself around his body and he stepped forward leaning toward the table to get closer to the goblin that sneered at him.
"Listen little guy," Jim spoke. "I'm just going to untie that package from your back okay? I won't hurt you."
The goblin's eyes widened, then it leaned down and Jim moved to the side. "Okay," he whispered opening the cage and put in his hand.
The goblin was growling in a warning tone, but still Jim pulled in his hands. "Easy," he spoke. "Easy." as he touched the strings. They were very tightly tied around the goblin and Jim hissed, just as Blinky offered him a pair of scissors.
Jim blinked. "Oh thanks." he accepted the scissors and then easily got the strings so the package fell down.
The moment the strings were off the goblin roared and jumped right out making a run for it.
"Woah! It's getting away!" Toby shouted.
"Leave it. We got more important things." Blinky asked as they all looked at the package left behind.
Jim swallowed as he reached in and pulled out the little package that seemed mostly to be brown paper curled together and wrapped around… Something?
Slowly… Slowly Jim started to unwrap the paper, opening it up and then suddenly. What seemed like a white shiny marble fell right out and landed on the floor where it started to roll.
Immediately Blinky threw himself at the sphere item and grabbed it, then slowly. Slowly he stood up and opened his hands, only for all six of his eyes to widen in shock. "By Gorgos… I don't understand. How?!"
"What is it?!" Toby asked.
"It… It's Gunmar's eye!" Blinky held it up to showcase that true enough there was a pupil on the stone that was actually an eye. "It's the third triumbric! We got it!"
Jim gaped and so did the others.
"Okay, that seems way too easy," Toby exclaimed. "There's no way it can be that easy! Who send it?!"
"There's words on the paper!" Claire exclaimed as she took the brown paper out of Jim's hand and flattened it out.
Only to be greeted with extremely crudely written letters, there were only three words and yet it looked like they were written by someone who didn't really know how to write at all, written in big bold ugly letters.
FOR THE TROLLHUNTER
Toby blinked as he looked for the words. "Okay that settles it, the package was one hundred percent aimed at Jim," he commented. "But who?"
"It would have to be somebody who knows we are looking for the triumbrics." Blinky mussed. "And knows magic, and can handle sun magic… And knows that the current trollhunter is not a troll… And had access to Gunmar's eye… And wants the trollhunter to defeat Gunmar."
"Who could that be?" Toby asked.
"No clue." Blinky shrugged.
"Somebody who lives in the darklands?" Jim asked.
"Not necessarily," Blinky commented. "Could be our benefactor just has his own portal to the darklands and sent the goblin through to travel that way."
"Then why not just come here himself?" Toby asked.
"And for such a delicate plan, that's extremely crude handwriting." Claire had to point out.
Jim swallowed, but then he reached out and took Gunmar's eye from Blinky's hand, holding it in his own. "Regardless of who this is," he spoke. "We have what we need now… We can go save Enrique."
Claire's eyes widened and Toby grinned.
"We need to get ready," Jim stated.
"Let's go Friday! Then we have the weekend." Claire stated.
Toby nodded. "Just tell your mom you're sleeping at my place, Jim."
"I'll just tell my mom I'm at Darcy's." Claire nodded
Jim smiled at them. "Sounds good." then he looked at the eye in his hand.
So his friends were planning for Friday evening? He just had to go Friday morning and they wouldn't be able to follow him, simple…