Trolls
(John’s P.O.V)
As the three of us left the temple, I spotted four familiar figures standing a fair way back. A short, dark-skinned boy, a black horse and a ginger cat and a tall, thin Chinese woman.
Excited, I rushed over to them, squeezing Kanaya and Karkat into a tight hug before patting Nepeta and Equius.
‘Guys! What’re you doing here? How’d you know we were here?’ I grinned at them. Karkat rolled his eyes at me and Kanaya smiled at me.
“WELL I FOUND THESE TWO FUCKERS” Karkat nodded violently towards Equius and Nepeta “HANGING AROUND THE VILLAGE, COMPLETELY IGNORING WHAT I TOLD THEM. JUST BOLTING OFF AT THE FIRST SIGN OF TROUBLE. FUCKING HOPELESS. I CANNOT BELIEVE”. Karkat was still yelling, but Kanaya and I ignored him and started having a conversation of our own.
“Hello John It Is Nice To See You Again. It Has Been A While Hasn’t It?”
Kanaya was a healer that travelled around Prospit in a brightly coloured horse drawn carriage. She was one of the best healers in the kingdom, and had experience with all species, Prospitans, Dekus, Zoras and Gorons alike. She was excellent with a needle, and made all of her own clothes (and some of ours too). Kanaya was kind and caring, and quite motherly most of the time. Her features were pale and graceful, with jade green eyes and short dark brown hair. Her makeup was perfect (like always) looking like it had been sculpted by the greatest artist in the land, but I suppose she could count as that.
‘Yeah, it really has…how have you been?’
“I Have Been Doing Well, Although There Has Been Many Incidents Of Monsters Attacks In The Eldin, Lanuryu And Faron Provinces. However, I Do Expect Now The Twilight Has Been Cleared In This Province, The Attacks Will Lesson Significantly.”
“That is probably true. Monster attacks don’t seem regular here.” Rose had floated over, looking at Kanaya with curiosity and intrigue. Kanaya was giving her the same look. Jade eyes met Lavender ones. Suddenly I felt like an awkward third wheel.
‘I’ll just be going…’ I signed at them, but I doubt they were watching. I turned to Karkat, who was now arguing with Dave while Equius and Nepeta awkwardly stood there.
“I AM NOT FUCKING SHORT”
“Dude, 4”11’ is fucking tiny”
“IT IS NOT. IT’S NOT LIKE YOU’RE ANY TALLER, YOU’RE FUCKING SHORTER THAN ME”
“Woah. I’ll have you know that this isn’t even my final form.”
“…ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?”
“No, I’m actually not”
“I’VE MADE UP MY MIND. YOU FUCKING SUCK ASS.” The whirling force of anger turned himself towards me and jabbed a finger in Dave’s direction. “THIS IS WHO YOU’RE TRAVELLING WITH THIS TIME! HE’S A PIECE OF SHIT, HE’S WORSE THEN THE FUCKING FAIRY, KANAYA, YOU KNOW THE ONE.” Kanaya looked up from her conversation in alarm.
“Karkat We Should Not Talk About This Now.” Kanaya replied urgently, a worried look in her eyes.
I was feeling a migraine coming on, and I clutched my hands to my head, shutting my eyes and crying, strange memories that I do not remember surfaced in my mind. An island floating in the sky, a young, blonde haired girl with blue eyes instructing twenty four souls to guard something precious, a blue fairy, fairy twins, one yellow one purple, small people the size of raindrops. And in every one of these memories was a troll. Trolls were a very rare species, able to manipulate one of twelve elements to their will. But these were the same trolls, over and over, in the same groups. Always there. Always watching. Protecting. Sometimes, I was running through the desert with a teal and cerulean blood. Sometimes, I was with a bubbly fuchsia blood and a grumpy violet blood learning how to swim. Sometimes, an olive blood would bounce me on her knee whilst her indigo blooded moirail built robots and drew centaur porn. Sometimes, a rust blood would take me on archaeological digs. Sometimes, I was in the forest with fairies and a bronze blood (sometimes with wings, sometimes without). Sometimes, a cerulean blood and a fuchsia blood would take me on ‘adventures’ to get treasure. Most times however, I was with a certain jade/cherry blood.
I opened my eyes with a gasp.
‘You’re all trolls!’
Karkat, Kanaya, Nepeta and Equius all exchanged glances before all lifting the enchantment they placed on themselves.
Karkat wasn’t much different. He was still short. But his skin was grey and his ears were pointed. Tiny, nubby orange horns protruded from his skull.
Kanaya wasn’t that different either. She still had pale skin, except now it was glowing and a sense of elegance and style still lingered about her. Her horns were long and pointy with the left one elegantly bent.
Nepeta was still sitting on Equius’s shoulders, staring at me with wide orange eyes. Her ears weren’t pointed, but cat-like and fluffy and her horns looked like cat ears. She was short and plump.
Equius was (smiling? I think?) At me through broken teeth. He was also short, but not chubby as he was very well muscled. One of his arrow shaped horns was broken, and I remember how it was.
“Woah what the fuck is going on here? Wasn’t he your horse? OMG John you rode him…!”
“Dave shut the fuck up”
“No but I’m seriously confused what the fuck is happening?”
“We Can Explain.”
“YEAH BUT IT’S GONNA TAKE FUCKING FOREVER.”
I sat down on the grass and gestured next to me, beckoning them to sit down.
‘Well, I think we can make some time, don’t you think?’
Karkat pretty much collapsed to the floor next to me, Dave on my other side. Kanaya settled down next to Karkat, Rose floating next to her. Equius sat rather awkwardly between Rose and Dave whilst Nepeta had curled up like a cat in the middle of the circle we had made.
“NOW…A FEW MILLION YEARS AGO”
“It Was Only A Thousand Years Karkat”
“A MILLION IS MORE DRAMATIC KANAYA”
“But It Is Not Correct”
“OK FINE. A THOUSAND OR SO YEARS AGO, THERE WAS AN ISLAND FLOATING IN THE SKY. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. THERE WAS PLENTY OF LIFE ON THIS ISLAND. WE ALL LIVED THERE PRETTY HAPPILY UNDER THE GUARD OF HYLIA, OUR GODDESS. ALL WAS WELL, UNTIL A DEMON CAME AND ATTEMPTED TO DESTROY OUR PEACE. A HERO ROSE TO COMBAT THE DEMON AND WON. THIS WAS WHEN OUR ‘KIND AND GENTLE’ GODDESS SHOWED HER TRUE COLOURS. SHE REALISED THAT THE DEMON WOULD COME BACK AND DESTROY US ALL. SO, SHE TRAPPED THE SPIRIT OF THE HERO INTO A MORTAL OVER AND OVER TO PROTECT US ALL. THEN SHE BOUND TWENTY FOUR TROLLS TO SERVITUDE-TWO OF EACH POWER. TO PROTECT AND RAISE THE HERO.
IN CASE YOU DIDN’T GET IT, YOU’RE THE HERO IN THIS STORY. YOU’VE BEEN REINCARNATED SO MANY TIMES IT’S NOT FUCKING FUNNY. AND WE ALL HAVE TO MAKE SURE YOU DIDN’T KILL YOURSELF.”
Karkat finished with a scowl, tears in his eyes, bright red trickling down grey cheeks. He wiped them away angrily.
‘I’m assuming you four were part of the twenty four who guarded my previous incarnations?’
“Yes. We Are. We Were Split Into Two Groups, Then Two Again. One Half Of Us Stayed In Prospit And The Other Half Left To Derse, As Hylia Had Control Over Both Worlds, And Wanted To Keep It That Way. Currently, I Believe The Twelve Of Us Who Are Alive Are All In Prospit. The Other Group…Were Our…Parents, As You Humans Would Say.”
I felt my vision go blurry as I started crying.
“OH NO EGBERT PLEASE STOP CRYING”
I reached in to give all four a hug. They knew what I was trying to convey. They all hugged back, and (most of us) were crying. We parted, tears still in our eyes.
‘I’m sorry…this is my fault if I ha-”
“:33