(This chapter isn't the best. In fact, I think it sucks. :( I finished this at 5 am last night, but you've been waiting long enough. I'm sorry for making you wait this long. The OC in this chapter belongs to dark_alis )
~Three days later~
"I spy with my little eyes, something...blue."
"Let me guess...the ocean?" Katie asked in a monotone voice.
Barb groaned. "Yep..."
I sighed and kept staring straight ahead with both of my hands still on the steering wheel. There was still no sign of land.
I haven't had any hallucinations or vivid flashbacks for three days straight. I didn't know whether to be happy about that or terrified. It felt like my mind was waiting for the perfect moment to whack me in the skull with a lead mallet.
And I hated it...
I was the only one who knew how to sail our raft, so even if I wanted to, I didn't end up getting much sleep. On the first day, I tried to teach Barb how to steer, but she never was the best at paying attention, so that didn't go so well.
Probably because she didn't care. I didn't blame her though. It was rather boring.
The rations we packed didn't last very long. Halfway through the second day, we ran out of food, and by nighttime, we ran out of clean water. By then, I knew it was only a matter of time before things started to go downhill for us, and of course, I was right.
By the third day, we had grown so sick of each other that we barely spoke. Our current moods were changing so quickly that it was like riding an emotional rollercoaster. Barb's maturity seemed to decrease, Katheryn's paranoia increased, and my sanity felt like it was wearing thin. Plus, I didn't know how much longer I could stay awake, so I had that to worry about, too.
I didn't really realize how stressful being the queen of Trollstopia was until now. When things got tough, every troll looked to me for guidance. I needed to set an example for my people, and it was stuff like this that makes you realize whether or not you are strong enough to carry that responsibility.
I just wished these flashbacks would stop distracting me...they were only making me weaker...
I guess I was starting to nod off a bit, because suddenly I heard my sister say, "Roxy, maybe you should take your hands off the wheel for a while and shut your eyes."
I snapped my head up and squinted at her. "Huh?" I asked.
She sighed. "Sister, when was the last time you got any sleep?" She asked sincerely.
I shrugged. "I don't know, two or three days? It's not important! I don't need sleep."
"Are you sure?" she asked. "You look-"
"I know I look tired!" I snapped back. "Now can you drop the subject?"
Both Barb and Katie flinched. "Yikes," Barb mumbled. "Someone's crabby." I ignored her.
Katheryn stood up and started walking towards me with her arms crossed. "Alright...but...can you at least take off your crown for a while?" she asked.
I stared at her in shock. "Why?" I asked.
She chuckled nervously. "It looks heavy...I may not remember much about being a queen, but from my experience as a princess, I do know that even royalty could use a break from time to time." She extended her hand out to me and smiled.
I shook my head. "N-No, I can't..."
"No one will know but us. Drop the fancy title and just...be Roxanne for a few minutes."
I mean, she was right. My crown was starting to feel a bit heavier than usual...in more ways than one. I was just afraid if I took it off...I might never be able to convince myself to put it back on.
"Do you trust me?" she asked. I sighed, then nodded and lowered my head for a brief moment so she could gently take my crown off. The moment I saw it in her hands, it felt like a large weight was being lifted off my shoulders.
As she returned to her spot on the raft, I took a deep breath and sighed happily. All of my worries seemed to melt away, and now I felt like I could finally relax for a while...
It didn't last long, though.
A few minutes of sweet silence passed before I heard Barb ask, again, for the millionth time:
"Are we there yet?" she whined from her spot on the raft.
Katheryn and I groaned in unison. "We'll get there when we get there!" we said in unison.
"I swear, Barb, if you ask that question one more time, I will throw you into the ocean and not come back for you!" I threatened.
Barb gasped. "You wouldn't dare!"
"Wanna find out?"
"...no."
"Then S H U S H !"
Barb rolled her eyes. "...UGH! Fiiiiiiine..."
Another brief moment of silence. Nothing could be heard but the gentle sound of the water rocking the raft back and forth.
Then, suddenly, I heard Katheryn say, "Sis, I have a question."
"Yes?" I responded.
"I need more details on what happened at Harmony Castle a few days ago, because quite frankly, I'm still confused about it."
I chuckled nervously and started to sweat. "What kind of details?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about!"
I had a feeling this topic was gonna come up soon. It was only a matter of time. But right now...it just didn't feel like the right time to tell her. "C-Can we talk about that later maybe?" I asked.
Katheryn didn't like that answer one bit. She frowned and stood up. "No! This is the perfect time to talk about it! Because honestly, I think we're gonna die out here in the middle of the ocean!"
"Wow, way to lose hope, mom..." Barb grumbled as she slowly stood up as well. My grip tightened on the steering wheel.
"I'm not losing hope, I'm being rational!" she responded. Her breathing quickened and I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was gonna spiral into a panic attack soon. "We've been sailing for three days straight with no sign of this "mysterious" island. We have no food or clean water, I feel sick to my stomach, and I'm pretty sure I just saw a shark fin over there!"
Barb put on her serious face and slowly started to approach Katie. "Woah, mom, calm down!"
Katie shook her head. "Why should I?! Have either of you ever stopped to think that MAYBE there is no island?"
Barb's face quickly shifted into a scowl as she crossed her arms. "You were the one who said there was an island!" She said, getting a bit annoyed.
"Yeah? Well now I'm starting to think that maybe there isn't one!" Katheryn stated.
"Oh my goodness gracious, mom! Will you get it together? This isn't you! You're not a coward!"
"Yes, I am!"
As Barb and Katheryn continued to argue and the tension began to rise, a splitting migraine erupted in my head. I took my hands off the steering wheel and placed my palm against my forehead. I felt like I was on fire.
Why were these always so painful?
And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, everything went completely silent. I couldn't even hear the ocean anymore. Instead, something sounded like it was...bubbling?
"Well, Well, Well. Look who's back!"
I could feel my blood run cold. Of course this would happen the moment they started arguing...why not? It's what happened last time.
I opened my eyes and froze. The once blue sky was now filled with black smoke, blocking out the sun. The crystal clear ocean had turned into a sea of boiling red lava, and I could feel its heat on my skin. Somehow, our wooden raft was still floating, though.
When I looked ahead, both Barb and Katheryn were staring back at me with those glowing, red eyes and smiling menacingly. I took both hands off the steering wheel and took a step back.
"It's been a while," Barb said. She crossed her arms and chuckled to herself.
I shook my head. My knees were starting to shake. I opened my mouth to say something, but no sound came out.
Katheryn looked down at my crown in her hands and laughed. "I can't believe you just handed your crown over, especially to someone who's ripped it off your head before."
"She didn't mean to," I whimpered. "She wasn't herself back then..."
"Are you sure?" Barb snarled. "Maybe she knew what she was doing. Maybe she already knew how WEAK you are!" She took a step towards me.
"You were NEVER fit to rule! That was MY JOB!"
"YOU are what's wrong with Trollstopia! Do you seriously think that saving them will automatically erase all of your mistakes?"
Tears began to fill my eyes as I took another step back. "Please...just stop...leave me alone..."
All they did was laugh at me. "Where are you going? You can't run from us."
"We will ALWAYS be a part of you!"
As I continued to back away from them, I suddenly tripped over my own foot and stumbled backwards.
SPLASH!
Salt water flew up my nose. For a few seconds, I couldn't breathe. I started choking as even more water went down my throat.
I couldn't move. I was frozen in shock, and the water was only getting colder the further I sank. I don't ever remember it being this cold...
This scenario felt...awfully familiar though...the feeling of drowning...I never thought I'd feel this kind of pain again in my lifetime...
I thought the ocean was actually going to succeed in killing me after all these years. After all...Titus wasn't here to save me this time...
But then, just when everything was starting to go dark, I felt a pair of arms around me.
"Titus?..." I thought. "Is that you?"
"I've gotcha, ma'am! Don't worry."
Within a matter of seconds, we burst above the surface of the water and I immediately started gasping for air. Both Barb and Katheryn reached down and pulled me back onto the raft as quickly as possible.
"Oh thank goodness you're alright! I thought you were a goner!" Katie cried as she pulled me in for a tight hug. "I'm sorry about what I said. I got a bit worked up! You don't need to tell me what happened now, but you HAVE to tell me later, alright?"
"I will..." I continued to cough.
"So...you're the harmony troll?"
I turned my head to find a troll with colors I had never seen before. She looked like a techno troll, but techno trolls normally had brightly colored skin. However, this troll's skin was as black as the night sky. She had a grey techno heart on her chest, purple eyes, along with hair that contained different shades of yellow, orange, pink, and purple in it.
She was absolutely beautiful!
"Yes, I am," I replied. I still felt a bit cold, probably because I was still soaked from head to toe in salt water, but I ignored it. "Thank you for saving me...I-I don't know what happened."
"Oh, i-it was nothing! I couldn't just let you drown!" she said nervously. I guess she was a bit shy.
"Pardon me," I continued. "But I don't think I've ever seen you before in Trollstopia. Who are you?"
Her eyes widened. "Oh! H-How rude of me! I forgot to introduce myself! M-My name is Darkness! I-I'm what you'd call a Void troll."
"The heck is a Void troll?" Barb asked. Darkness opened her mouth to speak, but Barb put her hand up to silence her. "Actually, don't answer that question. I'm too hungry to understand a thing you'd say."
"Okay then..." Darkness turned back towards me. "I-It's a pleasure to finally meet you, your majesty!"
I chuckled and gave her a tired smile. "Please, call me Roxy," I responded.
"O-Oh! S-Sorry..." She tapped her fingers together anxiously. "What exactly are you doing all the way out here, anyways?"
"A group of mysterious trolls took our friends and family to an island far away from our home," I explained. "We are...on our way to rescue them."
The Void troll let out a soft gasp. "Sol et Luna Insulae," she mumbled under her breath.
"I'm sorry...what did you say?" I asked. "I couldn't quite-"
"I know where you're headed," she interrupted, making sure to speak louder this time. "Sol et Luna Insulae...that's the name of the island."
"So you know where it is?" Katheryn asked. Her eyes lit up a bit.
Darkness nodded hesitantly. "I've been there before...yes. B-but it's too dangerous for trolls like you! Sol et Luna Insulae will swallow you whole!"
Barb groaned. She was obviously growing tired of our conversation. "Listen, void troll, we KNEW this trip would be dangerous, and yet we still came! We don't need you to tell us that! Besides, we aren't exactly "common trolls." We're queens, both former and present. Whatever this island tries to throw at us, I'm sure we can handle it."
Darkness stayed silent for a while, then she let out a heavy sigh. "Alright. I'll take your word for it." She swam to the back of the raft and held onto it with both hands. "Next stop: Sol et Luna Insulae!"
The raft lurched forward and started to cut through the water faster than before. The ocean breeze was unbelievably calming. Guess I didn't need to steer anymore.
My sister sat down behind me, placed her hands on my shoulders, and leaned my head back into her lap.
I was confused. "What are you-"
"Sleep."
I frowned. "I don't want to go to sleep..."
"Go. To. Sleep!" she said through gritted teeth. She was using her "stern mother" voice.
"Alright already! Jeez!"
It didn't take me very long to fall asleep. The rocking of the raft along with the gently sound of the waves soothed me.
Surprisingly, I didn't dream of anything. However, for some reason, I swore I could hear someone talking to me...
Darkness (spoken)
When you're on their land, you're on the run
Don't give your name, you don't have one
And don't look no one in the eye
That place will try to suck you dry
They'll suck your brain, they'll suck your breath
They'll RIP the heart right out your chest
They'll dress you up in your Sunday best
Then stuff your mouth with cotton!
Then, the voice stopped talking...I wonder what that was all about.
Suddenly, I felt someone lightly poke my cheek. "Roxaaaaanne..." a kind voice called out to me. It...sounded like my mother's voice...
"Mmm...five more minutes, mama..." I grumbled.
"Wow...she's out cold, isn't she?"
"Don't worry, I've got this!"
Without any warning, Barb pushed my sleeping body off the raft. I got my mouth full of sand, which quickly woke me up as I started spitting it back out.
"Hey! What was that for?" I coughed. It took me a while to realize that my hands were sinking in warm sand and not cold water. Then again, Katheryn said it before I could even think it.
"We're here."