"Well that was...interesting," Roxy said as Trollex was busy fuming and scrubbing his cheek violently in the corner. "Anyways, we've got another dare for Essence!"
"Alright! I'm ready!" Essence stated confidently. Roxy chuckled at her enthusiasm and proceeded to read the dare aloud:
"Okay, so this one is from @AmberTheHybridTroll , and it says: I dare Essence to hold her breath for as long as she can underwater."
"Oh?" The queen of funk responded. "I've never actually tried that before. There's no need to do that in Vibe City."
"There's a little footnote at the bottom," Roxy stated as she squinted to see the words better. "She recommends that Trollex be there by your side just in case something happens." Trollex stopped scrubbing his cheek at the sound of his name.
"What am I doing?" He asked. As Roxy told him Essence's dare, he began to smile.
"Oh ok!" He said happily. "To Techno Reef then!"
———
"You really don't mind a bit of salt water?" Roxy asked Essence. They were standing at the end of the docks near the ocean while the other council members watched from the shoreline. "Harmony Castle does have a swimming pool."
"No not at all!" Queen Essence replied.
"Alright then," Roxy said. "Just don't get any of it in your mouth."
Suddenly, Trollex burst out of the water, splashing both Roxy and Essence in the face. Roxy was about to yell at him, but he was swimming in circles so happily that she decided to just leave him be. He was such a cute boy.
"You ready, Queen Essence?" He asked.
"Wait!" She said. "What's the record?"
"About 5 minutes."
"Seriously?!" Essence screeched. "Who's the troll who holds that record?!" Roxy smiled, then pointed up at her face.
"You're looking at her," she replied smugly. "My record hasn't been surpassed since I set it almost 40 years ago."
"Yeah, and you almost drowned, too!" The trio heard Titus yell from behind them. How on earth did he hear that?
"Alrighty then," Roxy said, completely ignoring Titus. "I'll start the timer the moment you go under, okay?"
Essence nodded, then she jumped into the ocean. She bobbed in place as she waited for the harmony troll to signal her.
"Three, Two, One, GO!"
Queen Essence took a deep breath, then both she and Trollex disappeared under the surface of the water as Roxy pressed the start button on her stopwatch.
For the next couple of minutes, there was nothing but the sounds of the waves hitting the beach as the stopwatch kept ticking away in her hand.
When Essence finally came back to the surface, she was gasping for air and coughing rapidly. Roxy stopped the timer.
"Oh my goodness, Essence! Are you alright?" She asked frantically as she helped the funk troll get back up on the docks.
"I'm...fine..." the funk queen answered dryly. Then she continued to cough as Trollex emerged from the ocean as well.
"Time?" Trollex asked. As Roxy checked her stopwatch, her eyes widened with surprise.
"2 minutes, 37 seconds. Pretty good for your first time."
"I definitely could've gone longer," Essence coughed. "But I got startled by one of those LED squids, so I opened my mouth and inhaled salt water."
"Oof! That's rough!" Roxy cringed. She handed Essence an orange, who gladly accepted the treat, then looked at Trollex. He was busy looking at some other techno trolls who were floating nearby.
"Whatcha looking at, sweetie?"
"It's her..." he whispered under his breath.
"Her? Who's her?" She followed Trollex's stare until her eyes landed on someone with dark blue hair and light blue skin. Her eyes were also blue.
"That's my mystery girl."