Laura's eyes snapped open at the dull sound of something crashing. She laid there, figuring it was her father coming home from another night of protecting Trollmarket and accidentally knocking something over and breaking that strange vase Nomura gave to her parents as a wedding gift.

As she was closing her eyes to drift back to sleep, there was another crash and a "JUST DIE ALREADY!" before Laura's eyes snapped open in alarm. She slipped out of the bed and knelt to grab a short sword she kept hidden under there for emergencies. She crept over to the door and slowly opened it to see her mother standing in the doorway of her own room, worry etched over her face.

Claire spotted her daughter standing in the doorway of her room with a sword in hand and pressed a finger to her lips.

"Mommy?" Laura turned to see her baby brother, Michael, poking his head out of his room with a terrified look in his eyes. "Where's daddy?"

"It's okay sweetie," Claire assured him gently, "daddy is just-"

"NO YOU'RE NOT GETTING TO THEM!" Laura's eyes widened in horror, and before Claire could stop her, she was sprinting towards the stairs.

"Daddy!" Laura screamed as she nearly tripped at the bottom of the stairs.

"Laura get out of here!" Her father screamed as he slashed his sword at what looked like a giant shadow that attempted to lunge over him in attempt to get to the stairs. "Get your mother and brother out of here!"

"Jim!" Claire was now standing besides Laura, her Shadow Staff in hand and was prepared to kick ass.

"Claire no!" Jim yelled as he tried kicking the creature away. "It's made of shadows! The staff will only empower it!" Was it just her imagination, or did Laura see the creature grow?

Seeing the Trollhunter was distracted, the creature slammed it's tail against Jim, sending him flying and crashed against the wall, causing several photographs to fall to the floor. Jim gave a groan as the monster crawled over to him, it's sharp tail poised and ready to stab him as he fumbled for the amulet.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE YOU CREEP!" Laura screamed, rushing at the monster and jammed the sword into its back leg, only for it to drop through. The monster turned its ugly head, but before it could turn to attack, Jim pounced on its back and wrapped his arms around it's neck

"NO! YOU ARE NOT GETTING MY DAUGHTER OR MY WIFE OR SON!" Jim screamed as he held on. The monster shook him off, sending him into the wall again, but this time, the tail followed and jammed it through Jim's chest.

Laura heard her mother give out a scream as her father coughed out blood when the beast removed it's tail from his chest, looking to her with fear. His arm stretched out weakly towards Laura.

"Laura...run..." He whispered before falling forward as blood poured out from his chest. The monster of shadow crept to a corner with a hiss before licking the wounds that seemed to be glowing a pale blue.

"Dad? Daddy? Daddy wake up!" Laura cried as she ran over to her father's body shook his shoulder. "Wake up daddy!" No response. Laura couldn't even feel a pulse. "No...no...no!"

Laura wanted to cry, but the tears never came. Her eyes wandered to the creature, taking in its ghastly appearance. The creature looked like a giant humanoid bat with goat legs and a reptile tail. The entire thing seemed to be made of what looked like black smoke, almost the same color as the shadows it was hiding in, save for the bright red eyes and it looked as if it were practically growing to the same size as Aaarrrggh. It sat in the corner of the room licking the wounds Jim must have given it with Daylight. The human's blood stained it's clawed hands and it attempted to lick them clean. Laura could see it watching them from the corner of it's eyes, possibly planning on finishing them off, just as soon as it's wounds healed properly.

"Laura...Lake...." Laura's head snapped up as she looked to the amulet that had fallen from her father's armor onto the floor and was now soaked in his blood. Earlier it had been glowing dimly and now it was shining brightly. "Laura...Laura..."

"Daddy..." she whispered when she realized the voice calling her was her father's. She reached towards the amulet and plucked it out of the blood and gripped it tightly. The silver hands of the amulet whirled around rapidly as the writing around the edges shifted so it was in English, but Laura knew she didn't need a translation to see what she had to say, she had seen her father transform so many times that she knew the incantation by heart. She lifted her head to look at the monster with azure eyes that were blazing with anger and brimmed with tears.

"Laura no..." Claire begged when she realized what her daughter was about to do. "Don't do this!"

"FOR THE GLORY OF MERLIN-"

"-Laura no!"

"-DAYLIGHT IS MINE TO COMMAND!" Laura yelled, her blood roaring in her ears as she slammed the amulet over her chest.

In a flash of light, the armor that once adorned her father in battle now was fitted over her own body to let her battle, the sword that was once too heavy and too big for her to lift shrunk to her size for her to be able to swing around. With a loud scream, the enraged child charged at the creature and rammed her sword into its chest. It gave a loud scream before Laura yanked her sword out of its chest and stabbed it in again and again, screaming and sobbing as she did so. When the beast toppled back and the light faded from it's eyes, it faded into the shadows.

Laura dropped the sword and sank to her knees, sobbing as the armor and sword vanished and the amulet clattered to the floor next to her. She felt her mother's arms wrap around her shoulders and her baby brother calling from upstairs if their father was okay.

"He called to me..." Laura whispered as her hand touched the amulet that was still covered in her father's blood. "I heard his voice call to me from the amulet...I had too."

"Sometimes you can't win fights with violence mija, that's what your father learned." Claire said as she hugged her daughter tightly. "I wish you didn't have to take this responsibility on, you're only twelve!"

"I'm sorry mom, I'm so sorry!" Laura cried. "But dad called me and I knew I had to answer this call!"

"I wish it didn't have to be you." Claire whispered and hugged her daughter tightly. "Why Jim? Why did you have to choose our daughter?"

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"How is Laura?" Nomura asked Claire after the funeral ceremony Trollmarket held in honor of Jim.

"She ran off in the middle of the funeral, I don't know where she went." Claire responded and sighed. "Blinky says she's the youngest Trollhunter in recorded history to be chosen by the amulet, but why her of all people?"

"The amulet never makes mistakes, most of us thought it was a mistake when it chose Jim but he proved otherwise." Nomura said and looked at the saddened human. "Perhaps it was no accident it chose his daughter, but for one so young she doesn't deserve to have this burden placed upon her."

"I am going to have to agree with her on that." Notenrique agreed as he hopped onto a barrel and onto Claire's shoulder. He gave her a small hug and looked at her sadly. "She shouldn't have been burdened with this so early in life."

Meanwhile, Laura sat in the middle of the Forge, not caring if the black funeral dress she wore was getting dirty. The amulet was laying in front of her, cleaned of her father's blood as if it hadn't been drenched in it. She wasn't sure what to do now, should she attempt to contact her father's soul or something with it?

"So what now?" Laura glanced up to see Agate standing beside her. She gave a shrug as her friend knelt down next to her and looked at the amulet.

"You know you can communicate with him through it, just as he did when receiving council from my grandfather."

"I want to...but at the same time I don't." Laura murmured. "Now I wish I didn't answer the call. Mom's right, I'm too young for this."

"So was he, but that didn't stop him." Agate pointed out. "And he had help too, but you don't have to fight Gunmar or Bular or any of those other villains. You've got me, Blinky, Aaarrrggh, your mum, Notenrique, my parents, Strickler, and anyone here who is willing to aid you." Agate plucked the amulet from the floor and pressed it into Laura's hands. "And you have your father to guide you as well, don't be scared to ask him for help."

Laura looked at the amulet before hugging it tightly to her chest. She closed her eyes and felt the air grow cold, and when she opened them, she gave a small gasp. She was sitting somewhere that looked like the Forge but the room was bathed in a bright blue light instead of the soft orange glow from the torches and Agate was nowhere to be seen.

"So! The amulet chose another human!" Laura heard someone say. "And a human child!"

"And not just any child, the child of the previous Trollhunter!" Another voice added. "Tell me girl, what in Merlin's name were you thinking when you decided to utter the oath after your father died?"

"I...I wanted to avenge my father!" Laura replied and gripped the amulet to her chest. "And I couldn't let that monster hurt my mom or baby brother the way it hurt my father and so many other trolls. Is it wrong to attempt to avenge the death of a loved one?"

"Why must you judge her for that?" Laura gave a gasp as a glowing figure emerged from the blue mist and walked to her. "She did what any child would do when their parent died and their killer was in the same room, prepared to slaughter the remainder of their family."

"Daddy!" Laura cried, jumping to her feet, running towards the figure and flung her arms around the ghost of her father.

"My little girl," Jim murmured as he hugged his daughter to his chest. "I'm so sorry I did this to you Laura."

"I would have killed the beast even if the amulet hadn't chosen me." Laura cried as she clung to her father. Even though it was just his soul she was hugging, it felt like the real thing. Her father felt solid enough to hold her in his arms and it made Laura feel happy.

"I suppose it runs in the family to protect a loved one no matter what the costs." A deep voice said as another Trollhunter appeared.

"Kanjagar..." Laura murmured when she recognized the troll as her best friend's grandfather.

"You know, my grandson is quite fond of you."

"Uh...in what way exactly?" Laura asked.

"That's not important." Jim interrupted and looked to his daughter. "I know it's been almost twenty years since I've brought peace to Trollmarket, but new dangers and challenges will be rising once again. We've prepared you for it, but as a Trollhunter you'll have to do so much more."

"What kind of danger?" Laura asked, now starting to feel worried.

"Dangers like the creature that killed your father." Kanjigar responded, waving his hand to show what looked like a small portal showing Jim's battle with the creature.

Laura cringed when the monster's tail slammed against her father so hard it knocked the amulet off his chest before shoving the tail into his chest. She even noticed her own father cringe at the memory and rubbed the spot.

"Where can I find them?" Laura asked Kanjigar. "At least so I can destroy the eggs or whatever they are born in to prevent anymore deaths in the future."

"I'm afraid even we do not know." Jim answered with a shake of his head. "But at least now we know only Daylight can wound and kill it."

"Laura! Laura where are you?!" Laura heard her mother's muffled voice from outside the Void called.

"Go, before you worry your mother more." Jim said, gesturing for her to go and gave her a sad smile. "Tell her I said hi, and that I miss her."

Laura felt her eyes water slightly before nodding. "I will. I'll be back, alive of course."

"Take care, and keep my grandson out of trouble!" Kanjigar warned as Laura felt herself start to fade away. "I'd at least like to see him live for more than eight centuries!"

"Oh lord." Laura muttered as the air grew warm and all the color in the Forge returned to normal and found herself surrounded by her family.

"Child you almost gave us a heart attack!" Notenrique shrieked. "Your mother was just about to flip this whole place upside-down when she didn't see you in here!"

"Laura, were you...in the Void?" Draal asked and the preteen nodded. "What

"They don't know what those monsters were, or where they nest." Laura explained But I'm going to find them, and one way or another, I will destroy them."

"Why don't you take it easy, you have plenty of time to find these shadow monsters." Blinky suggested. "And at the moment, you need rest, your mother said you haven't slept since that night."

"No sleep, not good." Aaarrrggh added as Laura attempted to stifle her yawn.

"But I'm not...tired..." Laura yawned again as the gentle troll scooped her up into his arm. "I need to read..."

"You need rest, it will help." Blinky said as Aaarrrggh carried her out of the Forge with the others right behind him. "Every Trollhunter must get plenty of sleep, don't want you to be late for your classes or miss anything educational in that school of yours."

"School sucks..." Laura mumbled.

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This chapter was requested by theeducationofaking on Instagram, who asked for an angst filled chapter. So enjoy the heartbreaking chapter

And I am planning on giving Laura her own story! Keep a look out for "A Trollhunters Inheritance" in my works sometime in the future!