(Cover Art by Me 😄)
About six hours later, the sun was slowly starting to make its descent in the early-evening sky. Most of the trolls that had stuck around to help out had gone home. Only Katheryn, Thrash, Barb, Trollex, Poppy, Branch, Maya, and Lee were still here. Lee was supposed to go home earlier, but Maya wanted to spend some time with her, so they were off doing their own thing.
Quincy, Essence, and Trollzart still hadn't shown up yet, and Goldie hasn't returned with any news of their whereabouts, which was now starting to concern me. Where could they possibly be?
I was standing next to a rope ladder under a tree. It led up to a perch that Titus and I liked to sit and chat in. It had a nice view of the front lawn. Now, I was waiting for him to arrive with a smile plastered on my face.
I still couldn't believe that I was gonna be a grandma! That news felt like it was too good to be true!
I mean, I held the egg in my own two hands, so that was real, and I've already tried pinching myself to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. I was just so excited!
I hoped that I could be a good grandma, just like how I was a good mom...to Trollex...
My smile vanished as negative thoughts began to cloud my mind.
Am I a good mom? No you aren't! Stop saying that! I was, and I still am! But you were never there for him, were you?
I tilted my head towards the ground, leaned my back up against the tree, and I closed my eyes...
Where were you his entire life?
I was sitting in my prison cell, with the cold, concrete walls and the iron bars. This was an all too familiar setting for me, and definitely not one I wanted to be back in. The smell of rusting metal and mildew was so strong it was almost sickening.
When I stood up, I noticed a cracked mirror in the corner...strange. I don't remember that ever being there.
When I walked over to it and looked at myself, I gasped and covered my mouth. What I saw, was short black hair...heavy black makeup...the black hooped earrings...the bandages on my forearms.
Everything that I was forced to wear or do to alter my physical appearance for so many painful years...was back...and I hated looking at it.
I rubbed at my eyes as hard as I could, but the makeup refused to come off. I scratched at my bandages in a desperate attempt to rip them off my arms, but it was like they were fused to my skin.
The cage was small, and the additional accessories only made my prison feel even smaller. I was trapped...with no way out...for so long...
I was here...while he was growing up in Techno Reef...he never had a mother...
Because he never needed one...never needed...me...
"My dear? Are you still there?"
I felt a hand rest on top of my heart, and the negative thoughts and memories flew away. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Titus offering me a worried glance.
I straightened myself up and smiled back at him, making sure I didn't look like I just had a traumatic flashback. "I'm here!" I reached forward and patted his heart, too.
"Your little heart is beating so fast..." he said softly. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I told you, I'm fine," I replied. He brushed a piece of my hair behind my ear and sighed.
I haven't told anyone about what I've been seeing. These flashbacks and lucid daydreams have been happening more and more frequently, but I didn't want to tell anyone about them, cause I didn't want anyone to worry.
Besides, even if I did tell him or anyone else about them, its not like they couldn't do anything to stop them from happening.
"Alright, whatever you say." He took his hand off my heart and looked up at the tree. "So, why haven't you gone up yet?"
I placed my hands on my hips and scoffed. "You really think I'd go up first! I'm wearing a dress! Eyes front, darling!"
Titus just raised his unibrow at me and smiled. "Pfft! What are you talking about? My eyes are always front!" He grabbed onto the ladder and started to climb his way up. It was a bit more difficult for him to climb, since he had fins instead of legs, but he managed.
I chuckled to myself as I watched him climb. Sure, the view from up in the perch was good, but the view that I was currently getting from down here was...gReAt!
"Mine aren't!" I called up to him in a singsong voice.
He stopped and looked down at me as a playful smirk crept across his face. He shook his head and giggled.
He pointed and shouted down to me, "Naughty!" Then, he climbed the rest of the way up.
Once I got up there myself, he held me in his arms and we just watched the sun set, like we did every night. Everything was so peaceful from up there...
I sighed.
"Is something on your mind, love?"
"Are you sure we should tell him tonight?" I asked. I reached up to my head and tugged at my beanie a bit.
"Of course. He needs to know," replied Titus.
I had worn a sunhat all day today, mostly to keep the sun out of my eyes, and traded that hat for the beanie only a few minutes ago.
I never wore beanies, because I hated hiding my hair from view. Except this time, I actually had something worth hiding. Every troll knew what I was hiding...except for Trollex.
"But...but I don't think-" I started to say, but then I felt Titus plant a kiss on the top of my head.
"I know he just surprised us with baby news a few hours ago, but we were planning on telling him about our surprise today no matter what. Trust me. It'll be fine, my dear."
He has a point...I sighed, tilted my head up, and my heart melted. He had that loving look in his eyes again. His gaze always made me feel so warm inside.
Once the sun had almost completely disappeared over the horizon, Titus let go of me, and the two of us made our way back down to the ground. I could see Branch and Trollex setting up the sound system from afar.
"Alright, you know the plan!" Titus said excitedly. "You go get his attention, while I go get the video camera real quick."
I chuckled. "Why do you need that again?"
Titus smiled at me and started bouncing up and down on his fins. "I have a feeling his reaction is gonna be priceless, and I need to record it!"
I just laughed. My god, he was just too cute! "Haha! Okay, weirdo! But be quick, alright?"
He gave me a thumbs up. "Okie-dokie! I'll be hiding in that bush over there and I'll give you a signal when I'm ready!" Then, he dashed off to get the camera.
I stood underneath that tree and thought for a moment: What could possibly get Trollex's attention? I mean, sure, he could get distracted fairly easy when he wasn't working, but right now he was focused on the sound system.
I looked to my right and saw Lee and Maya sitting under a tree. Maya was drinking a sweetened raspberry iced tea while Lee was slurping up the last of her 7-up. Maya had Trollex's headphones on and was bopping her head a bit to whatever music was playing.
Bingo!
I walked over to them and sat down. "Hey you two! What are you-"
Lee turned towards me and held a finger up to her mouth. "Hold that thought, your majesty!" she said. "We're playing the whisper challenge!"
"Ohhh, okay..." I whispered. Lee smiled and tapped Maya on the shoulder to get her attention.
"Are you ready, Maya?" she asked in a normal voice. I could hear the song "One More Time" blasting from Trollex's headphones.
"WHAT?!" Maya shouted.
"EEAAGHH!" Lee flinched and covered her ears. "I SAID ARE YOU READY?"
"YEAH!" Maya replied enthusiastically.
Lee cleared her throat, pushed up her glasses, then said very quietly: "When I get older, I wanna learn how to fly!" She quickly put her hands back over her ears before Maya responded.
"WHEN I GET OLDER, I'M GONNA-" Maya stopped herself midsentence and looked at me. She clenched her mouth shut, then smiled and chuckled nervously.
"I DON'T WANNA SAY THAT WORD IN FRONT OF MOM!" she shouted.
Lee snorted. "What word? Fly?"
"Yeah...heh..." She took the headphones off, turned off the music, then shoved them into a bag that she had brought with her. Then they both focused their attention on me.
"So, what's up, Queen Roxy?" Lee asked.
"I need one of you to get Trollex to come over here for...ya know..." I pointed up to my beanie. They knew exactly what I was referring to.
"Leave it to me!" Maya said while getting to her feet. She fluffed up her hair and put on her best smile. "I'm his favorite distraction!"
Lee snorted. "Oh I bet...hehe..."
She was about to start walking over in Trollex's direction when techno music started to play out of the speakers. All three of us recognized the song right away.
"Are they seriously using Darude - Sandstorm as a test song?" I asked them.
Maya shrugged. "I guess? Why?"
Suddenly, a lightbulb appeared above Lee's head as a big smile crept across her face. "Sit down, Maya! I've got an idea."
"Sweet!" Maya responded. "Tell me!"
"Nahhh you'll find out. But trust me when I say its gonna be hilarious!" She reached over, grabbed Maya's drink, and handed it to her. "Now hYdRaTe YoUrSeLf, GuRl! I've got to time this just right!"
As Maya continued to drink her raspberry iced tea, all three of us sat and listened in on Branch and Trollex's conversation.
"Trollex, can I please go home?" Branch asked. "Poppy's been waiting for, like, an hour."
"No, Branch, we have to get this right, you understand? Failure is not an option!" Trollex said in a serious voice.
Branch sighed. "It's not a big deal-"
"Yes it is!" he shrieked. "The volume has to be pERfeCt! The slightest mistake could lead to dishonor!"
Branch shrugged. "Okay then...I still don't get why you're making ME do this. You're the tech troll, after all."
"That may be true, but as your friend, I want you to learn how to do this without my help. Now start the song over, please!"
Branch groaned loudly, then restarted the song. There was so much feedback that we all had to plug our ears.
"IT'S TOO LOUD! TURN IT DOWN!" Trollex screamed. Branch turned a few dials, and the feedback noise disappeared. "Just a couple more notches..."
"...Is that good?" Branch asked a few seconds later.
Trollex smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "I think- NO WAIT!" A goofy grin appeared on his face for a quick second before he turned serious again.
"Raise the volume one 100th of a percent higher. If you go above that Branch, I sWeAr to GOD-"
"Trollex!" Lee finally shouted.
"Hold that thought!" He turned around and shouted back towards us. "Yeah, Lee?"
"Is that Sandstorm?"
"Yeah!"
"How does it go again?"
Trollex's eyes widened as he took a deep breath, then shrieked as loudly as he could: "DOODOODODODO!"
Maya laughed so hard that raspberry tea came flying out of her nose. I covered my mouth with my hands.
"AHHHH!!" Her eyes started to water and she pinched the bridge of her nose.
Lee started freaking out. "OH MY GOD, MAYA! I HAD NO IDEA THAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN! ARE YOU OKAY?!"
Maya started digging in her bag, looking for tissues. "IT STINGS!"
I didn't think that was part of Lee's original plan at all, but at least it got Trollex over to us VERY quickly.
"MAYA! MY PRECIOUS BABY ANGEL, IM SO SORRY! ARE YOU HURT?!" he screamed. Maya smiled at him as she took a tissue out of her bag and started wiping both raspberry tea and tears off her face.
"N-Not really. I'm okay," she replied.
She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Branch! You can go home now!" Branch gave her a thumbs up, then dashed away as fast as he could. Then, Maya looked over at me. "Oh, by the way, since you're over here, your mom wanted to tell you something."
Trollex looked at me as well. "What is it?"
I stood up and glanced over at the nearby bush, hoping that Titus was already in position. Luckily, I could see a camera lens poking through the shrubbery, followed by his hand giving me a quick thumbs up.
I took a deep breath. Here it goes...
"Sweetie, do you like my new beanie?" I asked him. He gave me a warm, loving smile.
"Yeah! It looks..." He stopped himself midsentence, a puzzled look appearing on his face.
"Wait...why are you wearing that in the first place?"
I tapped my fingers together and looked at the ground. Out of curiosity, Trollex reached forward and pulled the beanie off my head. He immediately froze. His mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out.
I didn't blame him for being shocked about what he found underneath, since...my hair was gone. Well, not all of it...but most of it!
A full minute passed before he was finally able to find the right words to say. "HUH?! W-WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HAIR?!" he shrieked in a high pitched voice. Titus was right. His reaction was priceless!
"I just gave myself a haircut, sweetie. It's not that big of a deal. Calm down." I reassured him. He threw his hands up into the arm and made a weird noise.
"UHHH NO! THIS LOOKS LIKE A PRETTY BIG DEAL TO ME! YOU LEGIT WOULD NEVER DO THIS!"
"Trollex..." I tried to talk to him, but he wasn't listening. He just kept on freaking out!
"WHAT HAPPENED?! ARE YOU SICK?! IS YOUR HAIR FALLING OUT AND YOU DIDN'T WANT ME TO SEE?!"
"Trollex!" I tried to get his attention again by raising my voice a bit, but that didn't work either.
He gasped. "OR DID SOMEONE STRAP YOU TO A CHAIR AND CUT IT FOR YOU?! LIKE WHAT GRANDPA USED TO DO!" He rushed forward and grabbed onto my shoulders. "WHO DID THIS TO YOU?! WHERE'S THE TRIDENT?! MAYA DID WE BRING IT WITH US?!"
Maya looked a bit startled by how loud Trollex's voice was. "No we didn't..." she squeaked, while also getting to her feet. That answer only made him panic even more.
"WHY NOT?!" he shrieked. Lee covered her ear again and started rocking back and forth on the ground. Maya crossed her arms.
"Because helping your parents set up for the upcoming Harmony Holiday isn't a life-or-death situation!"
"WELL IT JUST BECAME ONE!"
Maya sighed. "Trollex, don't you think you're overreacting just a tad-"
"I'M NOT OVERREACTING!" Trollex screamed. "STAY HERE! I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!" He rushed past me and started heading in the direction of Techno Reef.
"Where are you going?!" Maya called out after him.
"I'M GOING HOME TO GET THE TRIDENT!" he yelled behind him. "WHEN I FIND WHOEVER DID THIS TO YOU MOM, I SWEAR, I'M GONNA-"
"TROLLEX!" I yelled, this time, in my stern, mother voice. You know, the kind of voice where once you hear it, and you don't listen, there will be consequences. That finally got his attention.
He turned around and screamed, "WHAT?!?!"
"GET BACK HERE! RIGHT! NOW!"
He flinched, then headed back towards me with his arms crossed. He was breathing heavily, probably out of frustration and/or fear. I gently placed my hands on his shoulders, then gave them a light squeeze.
"If you want to know why I did this, you are going to have to calm down first!" I whispered to him. "Breathe..."
Trollex took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Alright...You better have a good explanation for this, mom..."
"I do! Now, how do I tell you this without giving away the answer..." I tapped a finger on my mouth, deep in thought. Then, an idea popped into my head.
"Remember when I told you about what I had to do with my hair when you were still in your egg?" I asked him. He raised his unibrow, obviously confused.
"Yeah. You chopped it all off and made an incubation pod out of it so my egg could stay safe and warm. Why?"
I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he finally realized what I was trying to tell him.
"Wait a second..." he mumbled. "Does that mean that..."
I nodded and giggled. He gasped and covered his mouth with his hands in shock.
"No way! Are you serious?!" he asked. I nodded again. He was now wearing the biggest smile I had ever seen on his face.
"Where is it?!" he asked.
"Inside! I'll show you." I led him into the castle and up the grand staircase. Titus, Maya, and Lee were following close behind.
I led him to a room that contained a beautiful stained glass window on the far wall. The room itself didn't have anything in it, except for one thing. Sitting underneath the window on top of a table, was my hair; it had been crafted into a tear-shaped pod, and I'm pretty sure you've already guessed what it contained.
Trollex rushed forward and peeked into the pod. He let out a soft gasp, then he whipped his head around to look at me. I could see tears threatening to pour down his face.
"Is this for real?..." he asked in disbelief.
"Why would it be fake?" I asked. He shook his head.
"I don't know! I just..." His voice trailed off. I watched as he reached into the pod and pulled out a dark red egg that had a small tuft of royal blue hair coming out of the top.
He tapped on the side of it three times, then brought it up to his ear and listened...
Tap! Tap! Tap!
He gasped again and squealed happily. "Finally! It only took you guys 26 years!" he cried.
Titus turned off the video camera. "Well, your mother and I always wanted more than one, but of course, we never had the chance to try again when you were younger, given the circumstances..." he responded.
"Right...that..." Trollex hugged the egg close to his chest and started rubbing his cheek against it. Then suddenly, he stopped and looked back at me.
"Wait, aren't you a little too..." he stopped himself from saying anything else and started looking at the ground.
I crossed my arms. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
"N-Nothing!" he squeaked.
I put my hands on my hips and started tapping my foot on the ground. "No, I'm not too old to have another child, if that's what you're implying, mister!" Sure, I was 48 years old, which was much older than when trolls normally had kids, but that's not TOO old!
"I didn't say anything!" he whimpered. I shook my head at him and chuckled. He smiled back down at the egg and gave it a little kiss.
"I'm so happy!...I'm gonna be a dad AND a big brother..." He turned in Maya's direction and presented the egg out for her to see. "Maya, look!"
"I know! Isn't it great!" Maya smiled and clapped her hands together happily. Trollex's smile vanished. He quickly put the egg back into the incubation pod and then just stared at her.
"Wait...YoU kNeW AnD yOu DiDn'T tElL mE?!" he shrieked.
"I wanted them to tell you!" she responded while giggling.
"I THOUGHT WE TOLD EACH OTHER EVERYTHING!"
"Why are you yelling?!"
"BECAUSE I FEEL BETRAYED!" Trollex floated down to the ground and started whimpering while hugging his tail close to his chest.
Maya snorted; she was trying to contain her laughter. "I'm sorry, guppy!"
"NO YOU'RE NOT! YOU'RE LAUGHING!"
"Only because you're acting like such a goofball right now and you look super cute!"
"Hmph!" Trollex crossed his arms and started pouting.
Maya sighed and put a hand over her heart. "Aww, does my Jellybean need a special Maya Papaya hug?"
Trollex looked up at her with a loving glance. "Yes, I would like that...please..."
She rushed over to him, got down on the ground, then wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big hug. Trollex smiled and returned the gesture, wrapping his tail around her body and burying his face into the crook of her neck.
She giggled. "You feel better now?" she asked.
"Yeah, thanks toots," he mumbled.
"I swear to god, if I hear you two call each other one more cheesy nickname, I think I might actually throw up."
I turned around and saw Barb leaning up against the door frame. Katheryn waved to us from the hallway, and I waved back. I guess they must've also followed us up here.
Trollex furrowed his brow and glared at Barb. "Oh, shut up, Barb! You're just jealous!"
"Pfft! I am not!"
"You are, too!"
"Children! Stop fighting!" I heard Katheryn groan.
"Fine..." they both said at the same time.
Trollex helped Maya get to her feet, then they started heading out the door.
"You two are so sweet...it's nasty," Barb pretended to gag, then she chuckled a bit. Trollex frowned at her, then smiled mischievously.
"Well at least it's better than being empty from the neck up...like you!"
Barb's eye twitched and she let a low growl escape from the back of her throat. "THAT'S IT! COME HERE, YOU PUNK!"
He screamed and took off down the hallway as fast as he could to get away from her. Maya just shook her head as Barb ran after him.
"You can't run from me, cousin! I am superior!" she yelled.
"I CAN STILL TRY!" he yelled back. Titus and I walked out of the room and shut the door. Well, they lasted roughly two days without a fight, so...
I felt Katheryn rest a hand on my shoulder. "Should we stop them?" she asked me. I looked at her and we exchanged a smirk.
"Nah!" we both said at the same time.
We watched as Trollex reached the top of the stairs, and then was tackled by Barb. The two of them tumbled down the stairs, then landed with a thud at the bottom. We all looked at each other and rushed after them.
"Barb! Get your fat butt off of me!" I heard Trollex struggle to yell.
"Are you calling me fat?!" Barb asked dramatically.
"No! I'm just calling your butt fat! There's a difference!"
Once we reached the top of the stairs, we could see Barb sitting on Trollex's chest while he struggled to get up.
"BARBARA!" Katie yelled. "Get off of him this instant, young lady!"
Barb rolled her eyes and stood up. "Ruining my fun..." she grumbled. Trollex quickly dashed away from her as the rest of us made our way down the stairs. "Anyways, Auntie, I wanted to ask if mom, dad, and I could go home for the day. Dad's kinda..."
She pointed towards a marble pillar near the front door, where Thrash was fast asleep and snoring loudly in his wheelchair. "Yeah...he's kind of tired..." she chuckled nervously.
"That's perfectly fine, Barb," I said. "In fact, I think we're done with preparations for today! Way to go, guys! Great job!"
Everybody cheered happily. "Today was a great day, don't you think, babe?" Maya asked Trollex.
"Yeah! Other than Barb nearly crushing me, this has been the best day EVER!" He wrapped an arm around Maya's waist and pulled her close. "And I have a feeling that these next two weeks are gonna be exactly like today, and the first ever Harmony Holiday will go on without a hitch!"
Suddenly, the front door slammed open, waking Thrash up from his cat nap. "Huh? Who's there?..." he mumbled, before quickly falling back asleep.
"Queen Roxanne!"
I turned to see a yellow pop troll with golden hair running towards us. I recognized her right away.
"Ah! Goldie! You've finally returned!" I waited to see if any other trolls were following her, but nobody else walked through the door. "Where's-"
"It's about Quincy, Essence, and Trollzart..." she interrupted. She skidded to a halt in front of us, then put her hands on her knees in a desperate attempt to catch her breath.
"Yes, what is it?" I asked her.
"They're...not coming..." she managed to say in between each breath. A chill went up my spine as a feeling of dread washed over me. But still, I kept a smile on my face.
"Oh...well that's alright. They can come tomorrow, then." I was sure they were probably just busy and couldn't come help out today...
Goldie shook her head frantically. "No, your majesty, y-you don't understand!" Tears started to fill her eyes as she started hyperventilating.
Maya and Lee rushed over to try and comfort her. "Goldie? What's wrong?! What happened?!" Maya asked with a hint of worry in her voice. The tears that were in Goldie's eyes began to pour down her face as she choked out her dreaded response.
"I-I can't find them anywhere!...They're gone!"