When we got back home, I started getting everything ready for school while Jim cooked breakfast. I really hope that Mom won't be mad at him for too long. I know that Jim feels bad, but he has to keep what he does secret from her because if she does know that he was the Trollhunter, she would be put in danger. Jim is hoping to make her feel better by making her favorite omelet. Honestly, I don't know if it will work.

        "Morning, Mom!" Jim greeted as she came down the stairs.

        "Hi." Mom said walking past Jim and I.

        "I made your favorite breakfast." Jim said. Judging by Mom's expression, she was still not happy with Jim. Mom has been trying to get me to tell her what's been going on with Jim, but I kept telling her that was between Jim and I. Luckily, Mom understood that it wasn't my place to be telling her about what's been going on with Jim, so she isn't angry with me.

        "Sorry, kido, I'm in a rush." Mom explained while grabbing a bowl of cereal and left the house. Jim set the plate down sadly and I put my arm around him, "Maybe you should tell her." Jim looked up at me as if I was crazy. "No, that could put her in danger. Mom already has enough on her plate and to tell her that I go into danger practically everyday will just give her more to worry about." That was the end of that conversation. Jim and I grabbed our bikes and met up with Toby. Honestly, I don't know why I don't just take my car and drive us to school.

        "She turned down your famous egg white manchengo omelet?" Toby asked completely surprised.

        "Yep." Jim confirmed.

        "I mean, it's been a month, and she's still not talking to you the whole hospital thing? I thought Monica cleared that all up." Toby wondered.

        "Hey, she wants to know why Jim keeps coming home with bruises and scratches. She's worried about him. Can you blame her?" I retorted.

         "Brutal. You know a woman is beyond angry when she starts dishing out the silent treatment." Toby said. That is true, I guess.

         "I don't how to fix this unless I tell her the truth. But if I do, they'll send me to the crazy house." Jim said.

        "And you had to go and make things worse by promising Claire that we were gonna save her brother." Toby pointed out.

        "He's trapped in the Darklands, Tobes. I can't just leave him there, Tobes." Jim retorted.

        "You know who else is in the Darklands? Gunmar." Toby said. He starting biking ahead of Jim while Jim said, "Don't remind me." We arrived at school and I quickly went to my classroom getting everything set up. As the school day went by, I kept hearing whispers about what happened to Strickler. I didn't know what happened to him. I don't even think Strickler will come back. He would be foolish to do so. When school was over, I was slightly shocked to Claire Nunez with Toby and Jim. What is she doing here?

        "Hi, Claire!" I greeted. She turned to me and waved, "Hi, Ms. Lake." I am so not used to people calling me Ms. Lake. I guess I have to get used to it since I'm the teacher, "School's out, Ms. Nunez. Feel free to call me Monica." Jim explained to me that they were taking Claire to Troll market today. I guess I'm going to have to get used to having Claire around. It's weird having another girl in the group, but I could tell that Claire was going to be a great addition to the team.

        "Are you ready?" Jim asked once we reached the canals. Claire stood there slightly nervous, but I could tell that she was excited too. "If this helps me get my brother back, yeah, I'm ready."

        "Just remember. Saving Enrique is our little secret. If any of them found out-" Jim started remind her, but he was cut off, "Don't worry. Lips are sealed." Claire promised.

        "Now, you're going to want to start drawing a semi-circle Oh! You have it. Okay, never mind." Toby said when he saw that Claire had drawn it already. I smirked at this. She put her hand in the semi-circle and the entrance to Troll market opened. "Wow." Claire sighed as she observed everything inside.

        The crystal staircase formed and Claire said, "The crystal staircase. This is more than I... I-I never would have." She dashed down the stairs in excitement.

        "Oh... Hold up a sec! We need a few ground rules here, okay? The locals are not friendly to outsiders. The first time we came here, Jim almost got killed." Toby explained when he caught up to Claire, but Claire dashed right past him. "You think she heard any of that?"

        "Not a word." Jim confirmed. We ran as fast as we could to catch up to her. "It's.. It's beautiful." She said as we finally caught up to her. "Welcome to Heartstone Troll market."

        "This place is beyond- it's beyond beyond. I want to live down here! Can I live down here?" Claire asked she started dragging Jim down the stairs.

        "Mm, yeah, no. I don't think so. I don't think that's a good id-" Once again, he was cut short when Claire dashed off. Great. We ran to keep up with her and soon found her with Blinky and Aaarrrgghh.

        "Jim told me you helped him face Draal and slay Bular. And that Vespa. Best birthday ever. Your wisdom must rival that of the Venerable Bedehilde." Claire complimented as she observed Blinky. Blinky gasped and said, "You've read A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore?"

        "Volumes 1 through 47. It took me a while to decipher they symbols. But, once I got past the Fifth Declension, I started to get the hang of it." Claire explained. Blinky twirled her in the air and exclaimed, "She read the book! She read the book!" He set her down and Claire took off again. "She's a flower." Aaarrrgghh said. We tried catching up to Claire as she was naming off all the places Jim and Toby told her about. When did they have time to tell all of these things?

        When we finally caught up to her, we were horrified to see that she had run into Vendel. "No! I accepted a human Trollhunter, allowed the pudgy one to stay for moral support, and even allowed his older sister to stay because she would try to keep those two out of trouble. Then, I heard that his older sister is the Wielder of the Thriskule, so now she is definitely allowed to stay. But, this. A fourth? It's an infestation!" Vendel exclaimed angrily. Jim was about to explain, but Claire began speaking in a different language.

        "She's speaks Troll. And Troll market is honored to have you as well. Oh, Blinkous! If only the amulet had chosen such a learned and delightful flesh bag." Vendel praised. Jim was offended by this. When Vendel left, Toby asked, "You speak Troll?"

        "Yes, Not Enrique's been tutoring me." Claire said.

        "You are going to have to teach me sometime, Claire." I said. Claire smiled and agreed to it.

        "That was awesome, Claire. Vendel loves you and he hates everyone!" Jim exclaimed. Claire walked up to Blinky and asked,

        "Mr. Blinky, Troll market is amazing and there's so many cool things. But, if it's okay, there's one thing I have to see."