Hard Goodbye, Hard Lessons (EDITED)

*So, I re-read this story recently and as I was reading it, I noticed there was a lot of errors as well as incomplete sentences and I thought to myself "My gosh, what I was doing when I was writing this story?" This is probably because at the time when I wrote this story, it was on a whim. I didn't really plan to write this, but I just kept thinking about "Why isn't Dictatious with the rest of the trolls? Did Blinky decided to leave Dictatious behind and if so, why didn't they show it? Where the heck is Dictatious?" And of course, being the crazy person that I am, I kept thinking what their conversion would've been like if Blinky really did left Dictatious in Arcadia and his reasonings, besides the fact that Dictatious is blind and not trusting him but because he still needs to face the consequences for his actions. Anyway, to make this short, this isn't really anything new, it's just an edited version of the story that's currently published. Nothing too big, I just added things here and there, subtracted things here and there, reword things, anything that I thought would improve the story, I did it. The reason why I'm doing this is because this story has become important for Dictatious's (Is that how you would spell it?) development in my story that I'm currently working on, 3Below: The Adventure Continues. I guess, in a way, you can call it a prequel. I think this what I originally what I was going for but again, I wrote on whim and was in rush for some reason, but anyway, I hope you enjoy this edited version of this story.

Blinky began to guide his trolls out of Arcadia along with Jim and Claire. He continued before he stopped for a moment as he suddenly started to think about Dictatious. He realized that they were about to head to New Jersey and Dictatious wasn't with them. Jim took notice of this right away and turned back to face his surrogate father, "Blink? You okay?" he asked him concern. Blinky said nothing as he felt the gears turning in his head. Claire too notice this and stood next to Jim, "What's wrong with Blinky?" she whispered to Jim as she saw the look on Blinky's face. Jim merely shrug his shoulders as he continued to watch Blinky for a moment. Suddenly, the gears stop as he decided that he needed to make a stop, "Master Jim, Claire, take over guiding everyone, please. I need to make a stop. I'll catch up as soon as I can," Blinky said to Jim and Claire quickly as he headed into a different direction as everyone else. The couple looked at him with a confused look but then Jim realized what direction Blinky went to. He was heading for Toby's house, "Where's he going?" Claire asked him confused. Jim looked around at the other trolls and realized one specific troll was missing. He then looked back to her, "I think he's going to get Dictatious. Come on, we better keep moving," Jim said to her and with that the two continued to guide the trolls out of Arcadia. Of course, that's what the two thought. What they didn't know, is that Blinky has plans for his brother.

After a few short minutes, Blinky finally made it to Toby's house. He entered the backyard through a gate, hoping that Toby's nana was home. Luckily, she was and fortunately enough, she was in the kitchen. He briefly wondered where Dictatious was, but he decided that he would worry about that in a minute. "It's probably best to talk to Mrs. Domzalski anyway," he thought to himself as he walked up to the back door of the house as he lifts his hand in a fist, preparing to knock on the door, but suddenly, he hesitates. He stood there, thinking over his decision. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all. What if something happens? Maybe it would be better the other way around," he thought to himself, slightly worried. However, this thought didn't last long when reasoning came into his mind, "No, this is the right decision. Remember, you're doing this to help him, not hurt him," he reminded himself. With that, he sighed and knocked on the door with a brave look on his face. After a few seconds, the door opened, "Oh, hello, Blinky! It's so nice to see you! I thought you were off finding a new heartstone," Nana said to him, "Oh, I am, Mrs. Domzalski. I'm on my way now actually. Before I go, however, I was wondering if I could have a quick word with you for a moment. Privately," Blinky said to here in a quick yet serious tone. With that, Nana followed him outside, "Is everything alright? I heard from Toby that him and ARRRGGHHH! were staying here. They're on their way home now," Nana asked him. Blinky rubbed his hands to together in thought, "Ah, yes, Tobias and ARRRGGHHH! are going to stay here and protect Arcadia until we return," he said to her, noticing the instant relief in the old woman. He smiled slightly at this but soon turn back to the task at hand, "Mrs. Domzalski, I was wondering if you could do something for me and if you do it, I will be greatly indebted to you," Blinky started, slightly nervous. "Of course, dear, after everything you did for my Toby-Pie and his friends, ask anything you want!" Nana said to him in a kind tone. Blinky chuckled slightly at Mrs. Domzalski's generously. "She certainly does like to take care of people" Blinky thought to himself as a small smile formed on his face. He then inhaled and exhaled before continuing, "I'm not sure how much Tobias has told you, but Merlin, the wizard, claimed that there's a heartstone in New Jersey," Blinky said to her. She suddenly had a look of worry on her face, "Yes, Toby has told me that. You have quite a journey ahead of you," Nana commented worriedly. "Yes, we do..., which is why I'm here," Blinky started, slightly nervous but remained calm enough to get his words out. Nana said nothing but stared at him confused as she watched the troll looked at her start in the eyes as he rubbed his hands together, "A journey like that is treacherous enough for a troll with sight..., but a troll without it, is even more so. I fear that Dictatious is going to have a hard time with the journey given the fact he's blind and I fear won't be able to give him the care he needs since I would be busy with leading the trolls and...since he seems to taken a liking to you, I wonder if you could..." "Say no more, dear. I would be happy to take care of your brother for you," she said to him, unaware of how much relief that she brought onto the blue troll, "It's quite nice to have him around, to be honest. I finally have someone to watch my shows with. Even though he eats all the pie," Nana said to him, as he took his offer of watching Dictatious for him. Blinky chuckled when he heard of Dictatious's antic of eating all the pie as he smiled at her with great appreciation on his face, "I really appreciate you doing that for me, Mrs. Domzalski," Blinky said to her in appreciation as Nana gave him a kind smile. "Do you want me to tell him, so you can be on your way?" she asked him, concern that a lot of time is being taken up. Blinky shook his head back and forth, "No, no, I want to tell him. Besides, I have a few words I would like to say to him," Blinky said to her. Nana picked up the seriousness in his voice as he said this and nodded her, "Okay. In that case, I won't say anything. I'll go get him," she said as she turned for the door, "Thank you," he said her as he watches her head towards the door. However, she turned back around, "Oh, I guess this a goodbye for now. Good luck on your journey, Blinky. And please be careful. I hope to see you again someday," Nana said to him with a sad smile on her face. Blinky returned her sad smile, "Same to you, Mrs. Domzalski," he said to her with a sad smile on his face. Nana smiled in return before entering her home to fetch Dictatious, leaving Blinky outside waiting as he rehearse his speech to Dictatious in his head. While it was true what he said to Nana, that was only part of the reason.