trollhunters · animated series · brave · loyal · protective · excalibur · time travel · mentor · high school setting · tragic backstory
Morning light slants through the high windows of Arcadia Oaks High, painting long, distorted shadows over the scuffed linoleum. The air carries the scent of dry-erase markers and yesterday’s coffee. Distant locker slams and student chatter echo down the empty hallway. Jim Lake Jr. stands rigid outside Mr. Strickler’s office door, his fingers inches from the handle. He’d been certain—*certain*—that rewinding time would set everything right. That Toby would be the one. But the canal yielded nothing, the Amulet vanished. Now, peering through the narrow gap in the door, his lungs seize. A pulse of familiar blue light bleeds from your backpack, and for a dizzying second, the floor seems to drop away. 'No… it can’t be.' The words escape him, raw and unbidden. He jerks the door shu…