StarLight

Chapter Twenty One: Unexpected Visitors

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Arya
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Skylar had invited me over to her place so I was walking with Jim and her towards her house.
She had said I could stay the night because of how late it was and she couldn't in good conscience allow me to walk home alone.
Instead of arguing, I had agreed.
"Just average teenagers after an average teenage day." Jim stated, sighing.
We soon entered their home.
"Hey mom!" Skylar greeted, setting her bag down next to Jim's.
I followed their example.
"In here, guess who brought tea." Ms. Lake spoke from the dining room.
"Ugh, not Strickler again." Skylar hissed out, Jim raising a brow at her.
"I think Strickler is a great guy." He spoke.
"Of course you do." Skylar replied with, leading the way into the dining room.
Ms. Lake and Ms. Nomura were sitting at the table, causing the three of us to freeze.
Skylar's face morphed into a passive glare, which I didn't believe a human was able to pull off until now.
"Don't you three have something to say to Ms. Nomura?" Ms. Lake then asked.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Nomura." Skylar began.
"We should have never gone into the museum in the first place." Jim went on.
I decided to finish it off.
"It's an unforgivable offense that I believe we can all deeply apologize for."
"That's more like it." Ms. Lake spoke, which caused Skylar's resolve to snap.
"But not as sorry as you're going to be for coming into this home, with our mother. So, you'd better leave now, or else we'll both be sorry." She growled out, standing in a defensive manner beside her mother.
Nomura simple smirked as she waited for the fight to begin.
"Skylar! She's our guest. What's gotten into..." She trailed off, her head dropping to the table as she lost consciousness.
"Mom!" Jim shouted as I grabbed the dagger from my boot.
A fight broke out before I could even react.
I was quite shocked by Skylar's sudden ferocity.
It was extremely different from when she was fighting Draal, as if this time she truly intended harm.
I was able to admit that it was frightening to watch.
Skylar had been using whatever she could get her hands on to defend herself, trying to buy the time to activate her armor.
I charged forward, jumping onto the changeling's back, my dagger going into her shoulder.
It was just enough to give Skylar the chance to mutter in incantation.
I was tossed off, hitting the wall.
I pushed myself up, seeing that Nomura was now using my dagger as well, having lost one of her swords.
Jim was currently getting Ms. Lake into the living room so she wasn't in danger.
My vision turned red, seeing the dagger my brother gave me being used by someone else.
I jumped forward, grabbing her wrist and twisting it, taking my dagger before rolling away as Skylar swung the sword at Nomura's head.
We were able to push the fight outside.
Skylar and I stood side by side, facing down the changeling as she whistled that haunting melody she loved so much.
Suddenly, a giant blue blur rushed the changeling, taking over the fight.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Skylar yelled out, seeming to know exactly who the troll was.
I had a good idea.
Skylar jumped into the fight as well, arguing with the blue troll as I shook my head at them.
"I'm helping you!" Draal replied as I rushed forward, falling to my knees as I slid across the grass, the blade of my dagger catching the back of the changeling's leg.
"We had it under control!" Skylar shouted back.
"Both of you stop your bickering!" I spoke, having raised my voice over the clashing of the metal.
They both fell silent and we fought as if our lives depended on it, Draal being a big help (As much as Skylar would hate to admit it).
With one more roar from Draal, he swung the changeling to the side, her stone skin smacking against the hard surface of the dirt before tossing her far away from the house.
It was clear we had won this battle.
"Impure." Draal spat before turning to a glaring Skylar.
"I'm going to go help Jim tidy the house before Ms. Lake wakes up." I spoke, causing Skylar to give me a single nod, her gaze never leaving Draals.
Even after closing the door, I could hear her yelling, though she didn't sound as angry with him as she did before.
"So, I'll be helping you while they work out their relationship." I spoke, causing Jim to jump.
"Woah, what relationship?" He asked, eyes wide.
I frowned.
"Him helping her. It's clear that she doesn't want it. But I believe it would be beneficial for us all if they got along." I replied, cleaning up bits of glass.
The two soon entered the house.
Draal sniffed, causing me to raise a brow as I dumped the glass into the trash, only for him to flick the cup filled with foul tea off the table as he inspected the house.
Skylar was not impressed.
I only shook my head as I cleaned up the now broken cup.
"Your battles won't always be waged in arenas. You won't have time to prepare to study your opponent for weaknesses as you did me. You are the Trollhunter. It is time to start being afraid." Draal spoke before sighing.
"Excuse me? You think I'm not taking this job seriously? I have been in fights before, this is nothing new. Given my new enemies are not human, they're not all that different." Skylar replied snarkily, glaring at him heavily.
Jim and I exchanged a look as we watched this unfold.
"We are not the same." Draal spoke plainly.
"No, we couldn't be more different. But when it comes to fighting, it's the same, as it has been for centuries. You have weaknesses and Strengths. So do we. The only way you can win is by exploiting said weakness." Skylar stated.
A beat.
"Since I cannot go back to Trollmarket, I will guard your home." Draal decided to state, seeming to try and take the high ground.
Skylar let out a sarcastic laugh.
"So that's what this is? You can't go back, so you're looking for a place to crash? Hate to crush your fragile bubble, but that's not happening." Skylar stated.
"Woah, woah. Skylar." Jim started as Draal stared at the Trollhunter incredulously, Jim having just set the glasses that were on Ms. Lake's face on the coffee table I had readjusted.
I continued to fix up the house as I listened, smiling softly to myself.
"If we're attacked here again, don't you think he'd be a good asset to protect mom or me incase we don't have time to contact you or protect ourselves?" Jim asked, causing Skylar to turn her glare onto him.
"Are you saying I won't be able to protect you?" She asked.
"Okay, you're twisting my words. Let's just calm down and think about this logically. When you're angry you tend to make hasty descisions." Jim pointed out.
Skylar looked to me, parting her lips.
"Jim's right, Skylar. If we're doing one thing and can't reach them in time, Draal would be the best bet to hold them off until we arrive." I spoke.
She was silent for a moment before groaning.
"Fine! Fine. You can stay. But you're staying in the basement and you will clean up after yourself." Skylar stated.
"I protect. I do not clean." Draal stated, causing Skylar's glare to harden.
"You will clean up after yourself." Skylar spoke, her tone having a deadly chill to it.
She then clapped her hands and turned.
"Let's get you settled in the basement if you really are planning on staying. Just remember; my house, my rules." Skylar spoke before disappearing down the basement stairs.
"I think they'd be good together. A good team." I stated, looking to Jim to see he was nodding in agreement.
After a few moments of cleaning, Jim shouted down at Skylar to help us.
"Yeah, yeah." Skylar replied, coming up the stairs.
"Fleshbag..." I heard Draal call before he snorted.
"Maybe you'll make a good Trollhunter, after all. When that times comes, I will be proud to fight by your side."
That was kinda cute.
"...Thank you, Draal." Skylar spoke.
Nevermind, hearing her reply made it cute.
"Fleshbag." Draal called again after Skylar took another step.
I could now see that Jim was listening with a small smile, as if he was the only one in on a secret joke.
Skylar chuckled slightly before replying.
"Skylar is fine. What do you need?" She asked.
I moved a bit closer to Jim, listening to them all the better as we exchanged a look.
"Does this mean you no longer despise me?" He asked.
Jim placed a hand over his lips, muffling a laugh.
"Don't push your luck." Skylar replied before climbing up the rest of the stairs.
We quickly moved away, setting things in place.
She closed the door behind her, watching us in silence for a moment before narrowing her gaze.
"You two were totally listening, weren't you?" She asked accusingly.
"No." I replied at the same time Jim had said; "Of course not! What makes you think that?"
He was a horrible liar.
"Uh huh." She stated, showing just how much she didn't believe us.
We then shared a smile and continued to clean up.
However, said smile fell as I focused on the task, my thoughts going back to Bular.
When will I be able to take him down?
I was getting tired of waiting.

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Pov Switch
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"Well, this is the place." A shadowed figure spoke.
"The magic signatures here are quite strong." His familiar spoke, looking around.
The shadowed figure took in a deep breath, lowering his hood.
"Should be simple to find the source." The shadowed figure spoke.
"We have a lot of work to do." He then added with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair.
His eyes shined in the moonlight as he looked over the quiet town of Arcadia.

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Ah, the mysterious character has returned once again to the story.
I hope you all enjoyed todays chapter and as always, have a lovely morning/afternoon/evening/night!
Until next time!