What the Night Brings is a Tales of Arcadia fanfic by sven co-op
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A bite from a bloodthirsty troll leaves Jim with scars that run deeper than he ever expected. Now human by day and troll by night, he must fight to retain normalcy while simultaneously hiding this new dangerous part of himself. Trouble brews beneath his feet as an old grudge stirs, and the mysteries of Arcadia suddenly become clear as day.
His only goal had been to survive senior year.
The fanfic can be read in Archive of Our Own here.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Age Lift: The main characters are seniors in high-school instead of sophomores in the old canon.
- Bad Powers, Good People:
- Jim possesses the power of the Eclipse Blade, which is said to be a weapon of destruction. Despite that, Jim remains a good person who wants to use his power to protect the people around him.
- Claire also possesses shadow magic, but watches over Jim's back through thick and thin.
- Body Horror: Jim's transformations. At first, Jim is under excruciating pain as his body transitions from human to troll and vice versa. Overtime, he grows used to it, but it's still a horrible experience.
- The upside of this is that, if Jim is injured in human form, his transition to troll heals him instantly. The downside, however, is that it doesn't work the other way around, so he must wait until the next nightfall to properly heal from serious injuries.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Jim always tries to find a way to help people, and often feels responsible for the bad things that happen to him and his friends, even if it really isn't.
- Cursed with Awesome: How Jim initially views his newfound powers.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Jim bears scars on his right forearm ever since Bular bit him. All they serve for Jim as a reminder to that night and his trollish transformation.
- Half-Human Hybrid: It is confirmed by Vendel that Jim is half-troll. Even in his troll form, he bleeds regular human blood… as trolls don't have blood because they’re made from stone inside and out. Jim's open wounds would be a dead give-away to his hybrid nature.
- Some of his troll abilities overlap with his human form, like his strength, reflexes, and senses. Jim finds this discomforting, but enjoys how stronger and faster he is now.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Although Jim's acted nothing but cold and hostile to Douxie, even before learning he's a wizard, he's rightfully angry at the latter for staying out of radar for months ever since gaining his powers, when he was left confused and desperate for answers when neither of his troll friends could deter how his physiology works. On the other hand, Douxie points out that trolls and wizards have a bitter history and the trolls likely fed Jim some propaganda concerning magic-users, so even Douxie's actions were justified in his own right.
- Nice Day, Deadly Night: At first, Jim was a normal human child. After being bitten by Bular, however, Jim turns into a half-troll at night. This is because of the Eclipse power, created by Merlin centuries ago, made to eradicate Gunmar and act as the bridge between mortal and magic. The Eclipse Blade wasn’t designed to be wielded by mere human hands, so it altered Jim’s physiology. Also, the original wielder of the power, Deya, was killed by Bular, who’s been unknowingly carrying the power for years, until he passed it onto Jim.
- Power Incontinence: Jim often struggles to control his abilities and trollish instincts, especially when he's human. Claire also seems fearful of her new shadow magic.
- Strong, but Unskilled: Jim has become immensely strong and fast after receiving his powers, but is inexperienced when dealing with a formidable combatant like Draal and Angor Rot.
