Hilda + Hilbert and the Red-Eyed Troll
Written by FusionBlueCore and Newgame+ LD
A few weeks after the events of "Eversing Mirror", Hilda and Hilbert continue their adventures through each other's worlds, only beginning to discover the mysteries and prolonged consequences of their interconnected worlds...
Chapter 0
Before you begin...
Before you begin reading, it is strongly suggested that you read through the previous fanfiction, "Hilda and the Eversing Mirror" as this story contains continuity and spoilers carried over from it.
Chapter 1
Glimpse into the Future
Scene 1
Time: 12:32 PM
Location: [Everse World] Hilbert's House
Joseph was reading the latest issue of Trolberg Daily with its headline simply reading "Cracked Trolberg Wall?". There was also a small pile of snacks ready to load into a bag on the table.
"That's odd. Those walls don't really tend to crack. Unless a baby troll was accidently brought into town again."
Hilbert eventually came through the door, carrying a large mirror.
"Hi dad!" Hilbert called out.
"Um...That's simply a regular mirror right son?" his father asked.
"Nope. It's that Eversing Mirror that was at the Library." Hilbert answered. "The Librarian gave me permission to take it home. He had no use for it."
"Are you simply going to talk to your female self from that other Trolberg?"
"Well, that'll be one of the things I'll do." Hilbert answered. "Luck will have it that she'll bring her's to her house."
"Is there anything else that you plan on doing with that mirror?"
"Mostly just talking to Hilda. In case I ever get bored and need someone to talk to." Hilbert added. "Who knows? Maybe I could get a head start on what's to come."
The boy then went into his room, inside he noticed Leaf simply lying on his bed. The deerfox got excited upon seeing his owner's return and as such began to lick the child's head with glee.
"Heh, hey Leaf. Glad to see you."
Leaf simply responded by continuing to lick the boy's face.
"Thanks for that girl, now if you'll excuse me, I have a mirror to activate."
"Hilbert!" A small voice called out.
"Oh, Alice."
"If you're planning on going to the Everse world, mind if I come along?" Alice asked.
"Why, of course you can." Hilbert answered. "It's just to readjust the activation time to a more convenient one. Hop aboard."
Location: [Normal World] Hilda's House - Hilda's Room
Time: 12:38 AM
Twig was fast asleep on Hilda's bed with her. He woke upon noticing his owner's mirror activate. Attempting to get the girl's attention, he began to bite her hair as simply licking wouldn't exactly do the trick. At first, nothing happened but upon biting the hair a second time, Hilda eventually got up, albeit with a tired look.
*Groan* "What is it Twig?"
Getting up, she noticed that the mirror was active. And upon further inspection, she noticed that the time was way off from the activation time.
Then Hilbert and Leaf suddenly came tumbling through, but then stuck the landing.
"Hilbert? What are you doing here?" Hilda asked. "It's midnight."
"I thought I'd go and try to make things easier by dialing the mirror's activation time to 6AM by using the manual activation enough times." Hilbert explained.
"Though next time, could you maybe come when it's not midnight?"
"Now that I think about it… yeah… I definitely could've picked a better time." Hilbert realized he didn't really think it through. "Sorry, Hilda…" Hilbert then noticed that the mirror was closed again, and the manual activation clause would be ineffective until midday.
"It seems that I'm stuck here for a little." Hilbert said. "Did you have anything planned in the afternoon?"
"Well, nothing really noteworthy." Hilda informed.
"That's a relief. If there was a Sparrow Scout meeting, I'd be doomed to miss mine." Hilbert sighed. "Raven Leader doesn't take absences well."
"Alright then, I suppose you can stay the night."
"Thanks, Hilda. You're the best." Hilbert blushed.
"Anytime."
Scene 2
Time: 6:20 AM
Location: Hilda's House
The sun came up, illuminating the mostly cloudy skies in a golden glow. Hilbert woke up to the smell of something cooking. Twig and Leaf also perked up upon catching a whiff of the scent.
"Something smells good." Alice remarked. This woke Alfur up.
"Oh, Alice and Hilbert are here?" Alfur wondered.
"Wait. What's up with Hilda?" Hilbert pointed out. She was still asleep. Tossing and turning. "Hilda, wake up."
She woke up with a jolt. Gasping and breathing heavily.
"Hilda, are you okay?" Alfur asked.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
"You were… tossing and turning. Was it a bad dream?" Hilbert informed her.
"Yeah, but… it wasn't like anything I've seen before. I can't remember the whole thing, but… for a moment, I could see what I looked like. But… my hair was red for some reason." Hilda explained.
"There's no way this could've been the work of a Marra. If one did intrude, we would've seen it." Alice explained.
"Well, if it wasn't the work of the Marra, then what could've caused it?" Hilbert wondered.
"Hilda, I've made us some breakfast." Johanna interrupted. "Oh, Hilbert, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, well, I just wanted to adjust the activation time on this mirror here to a more convenient time. While I'm at it, I kinda wanted to get a head start on what's to come for me."
"Welp… I guess I'll need to make another portion for you."
"Not to worry. I brought my trail mix along."
Time: 7:30 AM
Location: Trolberg Streets
Johanna drove Hilda and Hilbert along. But stopped at a road work area.
"I guess we'll have take a detour." She said.
"What's going on over there?"
"Looks like they're fooling around."
There was a construction worker standing atop a road roller striking an unorthodox pose.
Time: 7:55 AM
Location: Ahlberg School
As Johanna pulled up, they could see Ms. Hallgrim and her students gathered around at the statue. Someone else was dragging a cooler in and loading it into the bus.
"Have a great trip!" Johanna called to Hilda and Hilbert as they got out of the car. Hilda grabbed the bag full of snacks as well.
As they got to the group of students, particularly close to David and Frida, Ms. Hallgrim noticed Hilbert.
"Hilda, who is this?" She asked.
"Oh, uh… I'm Hilbert."
"Did you see what happened [time since Eversing mirror] ago?" Hilda asked
"Yes, but why does that matter?"
"You saw the upside down Trolberg, right?" She added
"I have."
"That, and myself, are from a parallel world." said Hilbert.
"Hmm… I suppose you can join Hilda. We are having a field trip today."
"Yep. Mine's in 12 hours." Hilbert explained. "Just wanted a head start."
"Fair enough. Off you go then."
The two then entered the bus and met up with David and Frida. Once everyone was on and ready, Ms. Hallgrim boarded and the bus took off.
"Hilda. Glad you made it on time." Frida called out.
"And Hilbert's here too?" David pointed out.
Some students were giving Hilbert weird looks. One student even put their foot out to prank Hilbert. But with the boy already looking downward a little bit, he did not fall for it.
"It's best to just ignore them."
Hilda and Hilbert sat in the seats across from David and Frida, with Hilbert taking the window seat.
"We're about to meet a professional explorer. Can you believe it?" Frida announced to them. "I hear he has ties to the Sparrow Scouts. He may tell Raven Leader of our actions!"
"This will be a fantastic opportunity to get Sparrow Scout badges." David said.
"Just who is this explorer that we're meeting?"
"We're meeting Vermont Baldwin"
"Also, David." Hilbert pointed. "Bug on you."
Time: 9:02 AM
Location: Trolberg Wall - School Zone
The school bus stopped at the gate, which soon opened for them to drive through, bells tolling as they drove off. Hilbert gazed upon the scenery with awe. He didn't have this much time to admire it when he was first here.
"You know, Hilda? It's… uh… kind of refreshing to see my own world, but reversed, and in these colors. It almost feels as if I'm in a dream." Hilbert mentioned.
"But in a dream that's instead real."
The bus soon drove on a road overlooking a Giant's Footprint in a wide open field.
A little later...
As the bus continued, Hilda soon fell asleep, leaning against Hilbert. Hilbert blushed in embarrassment for a moment, but then he put his arm around her. But then… something drew Hilbert's eyes.
"Huh?" Hilbert glanced, but he didn't see anything. "What was that? I thought I saw something."
Scene 3
Time: -:- XM
Location: Location Unknown
From Hilda's point of view, she had fallen asleep completely. But she suddenly felt wide awake.
Time: 9:06 PM
Location: Hilda's House? - Hilda's Bedroom?
Hilda suddenly found herself lying on a bed similar to her own, but it seemed somewhat different. It looked like a hastily constructed house she was in. She noticed that her hair was red again.
"What the? Where am I?!" She cried. Then she began hearing voices. It sounded familiar.
"Hilda! Hilda, get ahold of yourself!" The echoey voice rang out.
"W-what, who said that?!"
Then she suddenly lost muscle control and collapsed with everything going dark again.
Time: 9:06 AM
Location: Trolberg Outskirts
Moments earlier, Hilda suddenly woke up and gone into an outburst.
"Huh? Where the [EXPLETIVE REDACTED] am I?!" Hilda screamed, acting really strange.
"What the? Hilda!" Hilbert yelled.
"My hair is blue? Why is it blue?! Why am I here?"
"Wasn't your hair always blue?" David remarked.
"Hilda! Hilda, get ahold of yourself!" Hilbert cried, getting hold of Hilda, who suddenly went limp.
"Hilda?"
"Ung… what just happened?" Hilda groaned, sounding normal again.
"You were causing a ruckus. You were even questioning why your hair was blue?" David explained.
"I-I did?" Hilda questioned.
"Indeed. May we ask what on earth caused you to go off like that?" Hilbert inquired.
"I don't know…" Hilda groaned. "When I fell asleep, I suddenly found myself in a bedroom that looked… kind of like my own, but… not quite. My hair was… red."
"Red?"
Hilda looked aside, even confused herself. "I don't know what's going on… It was just like the nightmare I had."
"Marras are never known to attack people during the day, much less cause them to go crazy." Frida pointed out.
"During the day, definitely, but… going crazy… I don't think so." David denied.
"But going THAT crazy…" Frida added.
"Which is why there's no way that this is the work of a Marra." Hilbert concluded.
"So then what could be the cause of this?"
"I have a small theory." Hilbert began. "Imagine our worlds being connected like a telephone connection."
"Go on."
"I think there might be something intercepting the connection and causing problems." Hilbert continued. "It's a very loose theory, but it's a start."
"Troll Rock!" Ms. Hallgrim called to the bus driver. They noticed a petrified Troll in the middle of the road. The bus screeched to a halt, throwing all the kids against the seats in front of them.
Once the commotion settled, the bus driver seemed quite annoyed. "Stuff like this ALWAYS happens when I drive in the Wilderness." He, an old man with aviator glasses, said.
The bus slowly took a detour around the Troll Rock and drove off. But before long, the sun got obscured by clouds. A crackling sound could be heard from deep within it.