Tales Of Arcadia Ficlet Collection

♧ Explanations ♧ [Part 2 containing season 3 spoilers]

Continued from part one

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There were some more questions from the crowd, mainly ones Blinky was able to answer like how long did trolls live and how many species of trolls were there. Jim quickly had to tell them that they shouldn't go looking for other trolls due to some of them not being very friendly to outsiders.

"Any other questions?" Jim asked, trying to cover his yawn. He wasn't sure what time it was, but he has spent the majority of the time he was supposed to be asleep helping Claire find a good signal so they could call Toby.

"Yeah, do you plan to call me when you get there?" Jim was immediately jolted out of his slightly sleepy state at the sound of his mother's voice as she came on tone screen.

"Mom!" Jim exclaimed as his mother gave him a small wave.

"Hey kiddo! I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier, I had a morning shift at the hospital and heard that Claire's mom was doing this. Luckily for me, I was allowed to use my lunch break to come here and talk to you."

"I'm really sorry we hadn't called you every day, we have to keep hiding underground and the signal is horrible." Jim sighed and his mother laughed. "I really wish you were here with us mom."

"I wish that too Jim." Barbara said, giving her son a warm smile. "You know, ever since your very small troll friend who was pretending to be Claire's baby brother-"

"We call him Notenrique mom, he never told us his actual name and he actually doesn't mind that we use that one on him."

"Oh, right! Well ever since he handed us the giant crystal with all those babies who were the familiars of changelings, Walt hasn't gotten enough sleep." Jim could hear the hint of amusement in her tone. "We had to give a lot of them over to the hospital, but Walt insisted on keeping his familiar. So...you kind of have a baby brother in a way."

Jim had to laugh. The image of Strickler having to care for a human infant on his own was rather hilarious, though he was quite sure his mother had to show him how to properly care for the baby. Barbara prattled on and on about how baby Walt was such an energetic child and would start shrieking excitedly whenever Jim's name was mentioned.

"It's been a bit boring without you here Jim, I really wish you could have stayed but I know the trolls need you to protect them." Barbara said and gave her son a warm smile. "I know you can't promise me you'll be safe, but promise me that you'll have some fun on this trip."

"I will mom, and I promise that wherever we stop I'll try to call you when we get some good signal. Claire said that when we reach New Jersey she's going to look for a job so she could get me my own cellphone so we can talk."

"She's a great girl Jim, don't ever let her go." Barbara gave him a wistful smile as the phone made a loud beeping noise, signaling that the battery was running low. "I love you Jim."

"I love you too mom, take care." Jim replied, feeling his eyes water a bit.

"I will Jim, I will." And with that, the phone screen went dark. Jim smil r d sadly as he want to hand Claire back her cellphone.

"I'll charge it so I can talk to my parents later." Claire yawned as she spread the blanket her parents packed her so she and Jim could lay comfortably on the ground.

"My mom said she and Strickler adopted his familiar and Strickler been the one mostly caring for him while my mom works at the hospital." Jim chuckled as he sat down on the blanket. "And the little guy gets very excited when he hears my name."

"Aww, do you think he'll be friends with my baby brother?" Claire asked as she sat down next to him and laid back on the blanket.

"I'm not sure, but they probably will. Both our moms will probably set up play dates for them."

"Watch them grow up to be best friends like you and Toby."

"Watch them grow up bonding over the fact that they have the most awesome siblings ever."

"Oh they'll definitely bond over it and brag about it when they get older."

Jim laughed at the idea of his adopted sibling growing up and bragging proudly to anyone that his older brother was the first human Trollhunter of Arcadia and he and his friends risked their lives every day to keep their sleepy little town safe. He could see the kid growing up wanting to be like him, try dragging a wooden toy sword and yelling things in Trollish, be eager to learn about the world of trolls and want to help Toby protect Arcadia. He didn't even feel jealous that little Walt was going to grow up with a better father than the one he had.

"Take care of mom for me little Walt, she will need it." Jim mumbled before laying down to sleep.