Trolls: Gladiola Trollkonge

Chapter 9: Myth of the Night Soul Tree

"So let me get this straight. You're a living Troll doll from a parallel dimension?" Boogie Max asked Gladiola while he, his gang of hip hop lovers, and Gladiola's human friends sat in a discreet booth in the food court.

"Exclude the 'doll' part and yes, I am." Gladiola took a bite from the strawberry tart slice that Licene had gotten for her from the food court. "But I will eventually turn into a toy if I don't return back home as soon as possible."

"Man, that tanks!"

"Speaking of returning home," Willy said. They all looked at him as he pulled a paper out of his bag. It was the same paper Licene and Gladiola had found in Mr. Darwin's office that involved the dotted line and the two maps. "Boogie Max, you're a Baltimore native. Does this tower symbol ring a bell to you?" He showed the paper to Boogie Max.

"Yep, dude. That's the old Westminster Hall." He put the map back on the table.

"The old Westminster Hall? I just went there last week!" Licene nearly choked on her cranberry juice.

"Uh, what's the old Westminster Hall?" Gladiola asked.

"Girl, you can't go around Baltimore without at least going once there." Boogie Max shook his head. "Westminster Hall and Burying Ground is a famous cemetery. My uncle Stan works there as a tour guide."

"It's a small burial ground, but it's famous for holding the grave of horror novelist Edgar Allan Poe," Willy said as he took back the paper. "Or in this case, hide the portal that Chef, Creek, and their lackeys used to get Gladiola out of her home and into our world!"

"Travelling through dimensions under a pile of dead bodies?" Mattie shook her head in disgust. "That's low!"

"Great, so all I have to do is go to the cemetery, find the portal, jump in it, and go back home!" Gladiola smiled optimistically. "Easy peasy!"

"Sorry, Gladiola." Licene grabbed her by the small arm. "But you don't even know what the bad guys are after, especially now that they have the two copies of the book!"

A ringing tone interrupted them. "The scans from the pages!" Art searched through his phone and pulled out the downloaded results. "Apparently the pages were about some sort of plant called...Night Soul Tree?"

Night Soul Tree.

Gladiola's mind flashed back to the conversation she had with her friend Calico at the Coronation Eve party before Chef and co. crashed it. You know, this tree that the Trolls used to grow back in the ancient days when they were still prey to the Bergens and my people 'confiscated' the tree and locked it away somewhere even my dad doesn't know the location because it was meant to poison Bergens, Calico's words echoed. I can't believe it! Auntie Poppy, Uncle Branch, and your grandpa didn't tell you anything about it!

"Uh, heh, heh, " she chuckled nervously out loud. "Don't kill me yet, but I may have heard that this plant was made by Trolls to poison Bergens."

"WHAT?" They nearly all exclaimed.

"Wait a minute." Alice remembered. "Back in the Shop of Mystics, the old ladies said that the manual contained information about a lethal plant created by Trolls to kill their enemy until a Bergen confiscated it from them and tried to destroy it with any related document. But he couldn't destroy the book."

"Why not?" One of Boogie Max's friends asked.

"I don't know. The ladies said that once it touched the flames, it just popped out intact and with a clone. That caused the Bergen to go out of town and throw it into a portal monster and that's pretty much close to how the apothecary manual ended in Baltimore in the first place."

"I think I know why it wouldn't destroy." Gladiola put a hand over her hair and pulled onto it as hard as she could. "Troll hair looks smooth and colorful, but it's expandable, harder than steel, and magical. Unless you cut from the roots, you usually need some sort of cutting utensil made of Troll gemstones to prevent the hair from growing magically."

"What does hair have to do with books?" Licene asked.

"Licene, do you have any idea of what materials Trolls use to make their scrapbooks other than tree leaves?"

Mattie covered her mouth in order to hold back the burger she hate. "Book covers made of hair? I might get sick!"

"Sorry, but that's what we use to make sure that precious books don't get destroyed." She shook her head, took a deep breath, and went back to Art. "But I honestly don't know much about the Night Soul Tree. What did the pages say about it?"

"They talk about the tree through a myth." Art cleared his throat and read loud and clear for the others to hear. "'Since life first existed, the Trolls have been known to be the masters of happiness. Our wonderful species have spread joy to other realms through our special talents while the heart of our work stood on the Troll Tree, the happiest existing tree in the world and our home. The Troll gemstones themselves nourished the roots of the Troll tree with the energy created by the happiness harvested in the Troll gemstones from Troll navels.

"'Unfortunately, our kind has been found by a species of inherited misery and no joy. When they dared to start swallowing a few of us, they saw that eating a Troll could give them a year's worth of happiness. The king of the Bergens decided to destroy our lovely green fields in order to create the greyness that is Bergen Town, while one of the Bergens, the king's designated royal chef, had some fellow cooks start building a cage that would keep us trapped within the branches of the Troll Tree.

"'With us trapped in our tree and our fields destroyed, we were fed like animals by the chef who tried to make us fat and juicy for the newly invented Bergen holiday that is Trollstice. On that day, we tried in vain to hide in our home pods, and if we were lucky to survive, we were forced to watch our beloved relatives and friends get swallowed or chewed greedily. This went on for years and we did not know what to do until a fateful day.

"'It occasionally happens during few eras that, in the Crescent Field Crops where our infants our born, a colorful royal couple who have the deepest of true loves will give birth through a stripped gladiola, an enchanted flower that brings life to a royal heir of promise regardless of the gender.

"'During our first five decades of terror due to Trollstice, our current Troll king had five children, the oldest being Prince Aster, who just happened to be born from a red-and-yellow stripped gladiola, matching his hair tones. Fed up with the Bergens' uncaring cruelty towards his people, the crown prince decided to fight fire with fire, using a form of defense that no Troll was supposed to use unless for last resort: summoning the ancient powers buried in the Torch of Happiness that grew from the roots of his birth plant.

"'Using twelve Troll gemstones from the navels of twelve Troll females, a stolen tear from a crying Bergen infant, a hair strand from his mother, the Troll he loved most, a dead branch from the Troll Tree, and the flames of the Torch of Happiness, Prince Aster grew the most dangerous plant that never existed in the Troll Apothecary Manuals until now. He named it the Night Soul Tree because it grew into a dark, massive willow tree half the size of the Troll Tree in the middle of the night, while the Bergens were still asleep. 'The Night Soul Tree is now the key to our freedom,' he told his subjects, 'for with the symbolic ingredients I used, the tree's enchanted leaves and sap will work three ways. The dead branch, symbolizing a Troll's hatred for Bergens, will cause any Bergen to die instantly from poisonous contact. The Bergen tear, symbolizing our misery, will give the Trolls the advantage to enhance our height and strengths to those of Bergens. As for my mother's hair strand, symbolizing our species' capacity of giving true love, will give us permanent immunity from the poison.' When one of his subjects dared to ask what would happen should a Bergen happen to be immune from the poison, Prince Aster scoffed, claiming that no Troll could give a Bergen true love nor could the grey species mutually share it without wanting to eat the colorful one.

"'The Night Soul Tree turned out to be even more dangerous than the Trolls imagined. Once it made contact with sunlight and thanks to being harvested by the flames of the Torch of Happiness, the tree proliferated faster than mushrooms and covered most of Bergen Town, breaking the Trolls' cage in the process. Many Bergens accidently touched the tree while trying to cut it with their axes, which caused to suffer for a good hour until the poison filled their veins and killed their hearts. It was far worse when some Trolls, who allied with Prince Aster to fight the Bergens, turned to Bergen size because of the tree's powers. Once they grew tall, most of their happy personalities turned cruel and twisted and they began to use their hair to strangle and kill the Bergens who hadn't been killed yet by the poison. Even the Trolls who hadn't fought by the prince's side agreed that his actions were madness.

"'Oddly enough, they were relived when the Bergen King's royal chef ended up with a solution. Because the Night Soul Tree was created from the flames of the Torch of Happiness, normal fire from Bergen torches could destroy the parasitical offspring of the tree. Most of Bergen Town had been burned, but at least the proliferation ended. However, fire and axes didn't work on the original, so the chef had his fellow cooks and the royal guards uproot the tree and hide it in an isolated chamber deep within the royal catacombs, thus labeling it a forbidden area to anyone, including the royal family.

"'As punishment, the chef ate Prince Aster, causing him to feel more bitterness towards the Trolls than he and the other Bergens usually did. Because of what happened, the chef build a stronger cage over the tree and declared that, as punishment for letting a Troll royal born from a stripped Gladiola create such mayhem, the Bergens would go back on their promise to never eat a member of the Troll royal family and would have at least one member of each generation get consumed by a Bergen royal, and that if a royal born from a stripped gladiola ever came, the chef would have the permission to kill him or her on the spot.'" Art stopped reading.

"Dude, that was intense." Boogie Max shook his head.

"So that would explain why Chef wanted the books!" Licene punched her fist onto the table. "If that tree can poison Bergens, she could use it to kill the Bergen royal family and terrorize everyone in Bergen Town to obey her and make her Queen!"

"There's just something that bugs me." Art showed the next pages, which contained a map of Bergen Town and mainly its castle. "Judging from what we just learned, it seems like our bad guys weren't just after info on the tree. There's also a map..."

"And it shocks you that they would go after a map leading to the tree's location?" Alice rolled her eyes.

"Not that. The map doesn't even have some sort of clue or a red X marking the location or even how to get there from the castle. There's just the list of the ingredients that Prince Aster used, only it's spread all over!"

"Gladiola? Are you OK?" Willy's question caught all the humans' attention and saw the Troll princess just sitting by the edge of the table, her face blanked out of any expressions and her eyes growing tears. The truth had hit her so hard.

Calico hadn't lied when she said that the Night Soul Tree was a tree created by Trolls to poison Bergens.

The tree had been created by one of her ancestors, who happened to be born from a stripped gladiola, like her.

And he had used the Torch of Happiness, a symbol of peace and happiness that her family and people expected to wield to guide them towards happiness.

And the one who used it before me acted like a monster, Gladiola thought.

"If my ancestor was born from a stripped gladiola like me and ended up becoming a monster..." Gladiola whimpered. "I don't think I'll ever be ready to rule the Trolls."

"Now hold on to your horses." Licene got up from her seat and knelt down in front of Gladiola. "Just because one Troll born from a stripped gladiola made a historical mess doesn't mean you will be one. You, Gladiola Trollkonge, are a better person, and I can tell because you have a lot right here." She put her index finger on Gladiola's small chest, indicating the area of the heart. The Troll Princess smiled and wiped the tears off her eyes.

"You know what?" Boogie Max got up. "I know how to cheer you up." He picked up Gladiola by one hand and led her away from the table towards a nearby door. While his troupe took care of getting rid of the dishes, he led the other into an empty room with white walls, a green-carpeted floor, and a giant classic piano. "I heard you sing back in the library. Maybe this will cheer you up." He gently put Gladiola on the music rack while he sat on the piano bench, cracked his knuckles, and started to play a tune while the others sat down on the carpet and listened to him.

Boogie Max: I know, oh, oh, oh

Caught up in the middle

I cry, just a little

When I think of letting go.

Gladiola: Oh, no, oh, oh

"Yeah, bring it in!" Bogie Max encouraged.

Boogie Max: Gave up on the riddle

I cry, just a little

When I think of letting go.

Gladiola then sang the rest of the lyrics in a more soothing version than the original rap version.

Gladiola: I know you wanna get behind the wheel, but only one rider,

Eyes shut still got me swimming like a diver.

Oh.

Can't let go I got fans back home

My heart does shake like losers and survivors

Boogie Max: No way, you didn't get my flowers?

Gladiola: I couldn't say better, but my killer was a lone.

Boogie Max: Your face looks showered, did you cry in the hour?

Gladiola: I heard the news and my day went sour.

Both: Bitter moments got me feeling like a lemon here

Put you in the box just as poisonous as a cigarette

Boogie Max: Send my regards

Gladiola: Or regardless I get arrested

Boogie Max: Ain't worried about the killers

Gladiola: Just the young and restless

Boogie Max: Get mad 'cause the quarter million on my necklace

DUI never said I was driving reckless

Both: You and I know that jealousy is not oppressive

Oh no, I can't stop I was destined.

"Uh, I hate to interrupt." Licene pointed at the clock on the wall, indicating that it was ten minutes until 7pm. "But those with evening classes have less than ten minutes to get back to class, and I still have to apologize to Mr. Checker for running off like that."

"Relax, Licene, you're a good student." Mattie shrugged while Licene picked up Gladiola and helped her sit on the human's shoulder. "I'm sure he'll forgive you. Besides, I'm sure that right now most of the teachers are worried about some maniac who goes around burying college students in library shelves. Uh, I guess that would make a cool horror movie."

"Thanks for your help, Boogie Max." Gladiola gave a small curtsy. "You helped me cheer up."

"Anytime," he said. "You know, me and my crew work at a karaoke bar not too far from campus. Maybe once you're all done with the evening classes, you can join us on the school shuttle taking us there."

"I'm not sure," Licene said. "Besides, I have my drawing supplies..."

"So you just make a run for it back to the dorms, throw the stuff in your room, and grab the shuttle." Alice rolled her eyes.

"But what about Gladiola? I mean, shouldn't we worry about the entire problem with Chef, the Night Soul Tree, and..."

"Licene."

The human looked at the small Troll Princess sitting on her shoulder. Gladiola gave her a small smile and gently patted her on the cheek.

"I understand the issue we're dealing with, but I'm sure we can worry back to it tomorrow," the princess said rather maturely. "And besides, I'm a Troll. I live for fun parties."

Boogie Max chuckled. "Are you sure you're not single, doll?" He joked, causing Gladiola and the others to laugh, except for Willy, who crossed his arms and looked darkly at Boogie Max. Apparently, watching the hip-hop lover slightly flirt with the Troll Princess did not please him very much.

"Alright, I suppose we can spend at least an hour at the karaoke bar." Licene shrugged. "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"