Draal and I were going to Troll market for our first date this afternoon. He hasn't told me anything about what we are going to do there. To say that I'm nervous... is putting it lightly. It's been three years since the last time I dated and the last relationship didn't turn out so well. I didn't want things to go south for Draal and I.

        The door to my room opened and Toby entered exclaiming, "Hey, Monica! So, what are you and Draal doing tonight for your date?"

        "I have no idea. Draal is surprising me." I replied.

        "Oh! A surprise first date! So, who else knows about you and Draal?" Toby questioned. My eyes widened in realization. We are going to Troll market... for our first date... and we haven't told anyone besides Toby. What will the other trolls think of Draal and I's relationship? Has there ever been a troll and a human relationship before? Then, Toby waved his hand in front of my face and exclaimed, "Hello? Earth to Monica? You haven't answered my question."

        "Sorry. You are the only who knows of Draal and I's relationship. I would appreciate it if you would keep it from Claire and Blinky. Draal and I would rather tell them ourselves." I answered. As for the trolls in Troll market, I guess they will find out soon enough.

        "Warhammer's honor." Toby promised.

        "Thank-you, Tobes." I said.

        "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the dentist because I get to have my braces off today!" Toby exclaimed. He left the room and I chuckled. I stood up and straightened my clothes. It was around 3:45 pm and I am supposed to meet Draal in Troll market around 5. I threw on an olive green sweater and light blue capris. I put on some light make up and threw on some black flats. I tied up my red hair into a loose bun and I was ready to go. I looked at the time and realized that I had about 30 minutes to get there.

        I made my way towards Troll market and found Draal waiting for me there with the Horngazel. He stared at me for a couple moments completely speechless. He coughed and said, "You look beautiful."

        I blushed and replied, "Thank-you. You look as handsome as ever. So, what do you have planned for tonight?"

        "Well, the first thing that I have planned for the two of us is that I am going to get a tattoo that will demonstrate my love for you! Then, we'll go get some food at the Troll Pub." Draal explained as he led me down the crystal staircase. I raised an eyebrow at what he just said. A tattoo? Really? I mean, there's nothing wrong with tattoos, but it seemed a bit extreme for a first date. He led me down to the tattoo place and once we got there, Draal proclaimed, "You can choose what tattoo I will get!"

        The troll in charge of the tattoos handed me a book with different designs. I looked through and saw a picture of a bow that was similar to the Thriskule. I pointed it out to the guy and he took the book from me. Draal sat on the chair and as the tattoo artist was gathering his supplies, I asked, "Are you really sure about this, Draal?"

        "Of course I am! I am not afraid to do this!" Draal declared. The tattoo artist came back and was about to begin and I could tell that Draal was trying hard to not to panic. Before the tattoo artist began, I shouted, "Wait! No! I'm sorry that we wasted your time, sir, but I cannot let Draal do this." I grabbed Draal's arm and pulled him away before he could protest.

        "Monica, what are you doing? I was just about to get a tattoo that would symbolize our new relationship." Draal protested.

        "You can do that a different way, Draal. Obviously, you were not too keen on getting that tattoo otherwise I would've let the tattoo artist continue. Let's just go to the Troll Pub." I said. As we were walking there, I kept pondering on why Draal would even try to get a tattoo. He also seemed off today as well. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

        We sat down at the Troll Pub waiting to order something when a troll walked up to us and asked, "Draal, what are you doing here with the Trollhunter's sister?"

        Draal stood up and faced the troll, "We are trying to have dinner together since we are now courting one another. Do you have a problem with that?" Draal asked before he physically pushed the troll back, his eyes gleaming dangerously.

        That's it. I stood up from my chair and shouted, "Okay, that's enough!" Draal and the troll looked over at me in alarm. I marched straight towards Draal. I looked him straight in the eye and growled, "I don't know what's gotten in to you today, but you-" I was interrupted by someone yelling, "Monica! Oh, Monica, there you are. Toby said-" I rolled my eyes and rounded on them in fury, "What is it now?" I was met face to face with Blinky who looked rather startled to see me so angry.

        I took a deep breath and said, "Sorry, Blinky. You caught me at a bad time. What do you need?"

        "I think I have an idea to solve our riddle, but I need your help." Blinky replied.

        "Alright. I'll help you in one moment." I said. Blinky nodded, then I turned back to Draal and exclaimed, "As for you, you better have a good explanation for your behavior later or else." I exited the Troll Pub with a shocked Blinky and we went towards his library. Once we got there, I asked, "Okay, Blinky, what is this idea of yours?"

        "While I was researching about the Janus order in my library, an idea came to me and I thought that we could try our luck with the internet!" Blinky exclaimed. Suddenly, an idea practically slapped itself to my face and I stated, "Wait. Strickler is a changling..."

        "Yes, we've covered this matter quite sometime ago." Blinky pointed out. I ignored him and continued, "The Janus Order is an organization of changlings... so Strickler could be in league with them. We could pretend to be him while messaging one of his colleagues." 

        "Monica, that's brilliant, but how will we do this?" Blinky wondered.

        "I... do have his number... since he was my boss..." I said while pulling out my phone. Would he even answer? Only one way to find out. I called Mr. Strickler. To my surprise, he answered, "Good evening, Ms. Lake. I'm assuming this isn't a social call?"

        "I'm afraid not, Strickler. I need your help. We are trying to find the Janus Order." I explained.

        "And why would you be doing that? And how does that involve me?" Strickler wondered.

        "Because, I know that you are connected to the Janus Order. We need their help to save Aaarrrgghh in order to save my brother. All we want from you is the password to your email account and who to contact." I told him.

        "Well, well. You are in a pickle, Ms. Lake. I will give you the password and I will give you one name to contact. On two conditions." Strickler stated. Of course, there would be something. Blinky interjected, "And what would these conditions be?"

        "It's quite simple really, Blinkus. Don't go snooping through any of my emails and don't contact anyone else besides that name using my email." Strickler demanded.

        "You have our word." I promised. He told us the info we needed and I said, "Thank you for your help, Strickler." I hung up the phone and turned towards Blinky,  "It should be dark enough to travel back to my house and we can contact the person there."

        While we were walking back to my house, Blinky asked, "So, what were you and Draal arguing about?"

       My eyes widened and I silently cursed to myself. I should've known that he would ask about the argument. I would've liked to tell him with Draal by my side, but I guess that there's not much choice in keeping it a secret from Blinky any longer. I turned towards him and declared, "Well, Draal and I were on our first outing as a couple. Draal was not acting himself and I had had enough of his behavior."

        Blinky stared at me for a few moments then started laughing, "You and Draal... together? Good one, Monica. You nearly had me. Okay. What was the argument really about?" I stopped walking and crossed my arms waiting for Blinky's realization to kick in. When Blinky noticed that I wasn't laughing along with him. He gasped and proclaimed, "You and Draal are courting each other? How long has this been going on?"

        "Three weeks. Is there a problem with that?" I questioned.

        "Uh. No, there isn't. It's just a troll and a human courting each other is not commonly heard of." Blinky explained.

        "Oh. Look at that! We're here." I stated,changing the subject like a pro. I ran up to the door and opened it for him saying, "After you." Blinky realized that was the end of that conversation. We went up to my room and I logged onto my computer. I logged into Strickler's account and found the man we were looking for. Otto Scaarbach.

        "Can I be the one to internet him?" Blinky begged.

        I turned the computer towards him ignoring that he just said internet instead of email and stated, "Be my guest." I showed him the ropes on how to email someone and he caught on pretty quickly. We told Otto as Strickler that we needed to meet up. It didn't take long to get a response. Otto wanted to meet up tonight. I turned towards Blinky and asked, "Okay. Now what do we do?"

        "Now, we need to contact Claire and Tobias. We will do a stake out and when Otto realizes he's been stood up, he will lead us back to the Janus Order." Blinky said.

        "Okay. We can take my car." I said. His eyes widened with excitement and before he could ask, I said, "Fine. You can drive, but be extremely careful"

        Blinky gave me a bone crushing hug and exclaimed, "Thank you, Monica!"

        When Claire and Toby arrived, we set off to meet up with Otto Scaarbach.