Conqueror of Daylight

Chapter 12: Gnome Alone

Toby: "Dude, they're like... Action figures!" Everyone crowds around Y/N and Jim.

Blinky reaches down. "The Furgolator functioned perfectly!" Blinky exclaims with a laugh.

Blinky lifts his hand to reveal a tiny Y/N and Jim sitting in his palm. He chuckles as the two teens look themselves over with wide eyes.

Blinky carries the two to Bagdwella's shop, more specifically by the hole that the gnome has taken refuge in.

Blinky puts the two down by the hole, and gives them "weapons."

The multi-armed troll hands Jim a shield, and Y/N a pencil.

Jim: "Real subtle. 'We've got to start small, deal with the little problem.' We can't be shrunk! We have exams to take! We have sinks to reach!" Jim rants, not fancying the idea.

Blink: "You have a gnome to catch. Now, onward, Master Jim, Master Y/N, and fetch your destiny."

Jim and Y/N sigh.

Y/N: "I'll attack, you defend?"

Jim nods.

The two slowly walk deep into the hole but are stopped by Blinky speaking.

Blinky: "Oh, one last thing to know when dealing with a gnome, Masters. And this is of dire importance; Do not touch its hat!"

Y/N: "I remember, it's in A Brief Recapitulation."

Blinky: "Yes, Master Y/N! Now, onward!"

The two boys stroll for some time in silence when Jim speaks up.

Jim: "I can't believe you're "out-Trollhunting" me."

Y/N: "...What do you mean?"

Jim: "I mean, you're some... "Conquerer of Daylight..." And yet here you are, acting like you're not."

Y/N: "Jim, I haven't done anything evil. I'm not some-"

Jim: "It's fine, I was just mentioning it, that's all. I don't mean anything by it."

Y/N looks down while the two still troll through the hole. "I just want to figure out what's wrong with my life, that's all."

Jim sympathetically glances at Y/N with a raised eyebrow.

Y/N: "Some evil amulet comes into my life, and I almost killed my best friend with it. My grandfather is dying, I feel myself slowly drifting away mentally... I don't know what's going on... And I'm worried about what might happen in the future. I'm glad I haven't had to or want to use the amulet, but I feel uneasy."

Jim looks at the ground. "Well, Y/N- AHH!"

Jim turns his skull to find a large doll head hanging from the rock ceiling.

Y/N: "Really?"

Jim: "S-Sorry caught me off, guard."

Jim and Y/N continued to walk down the tunnel. Their ears rang as the gnome's innocent laughter echoed in the cave.

Y/N: "Wow, he's big now."

Y/N mumbled as he watched the gnome chatter incoherently. The nougat the gnome had stolen from Toby was resting on the amulet with a few tankards. The skeleton of a dead gnome sat across from him.

The gnome tries to present what he had taken but the skeleton sat still, with anger, the gnome shreds the Nougat Nummie with his sharp teeth and was about to eat another piece but he grinds and tosses the candy through the mouth of the skeleton, which bounces down his ribs and lands in the buttbone.