"…I don't get it; they've been out so long… There's got to be something we can do to help…!"
Trollex groaned softly, opening his eyes a bit only to screw them shut again. It was so bright… His entire body hurt, and he felt like if he so much as moved he'd be sick. He tried to remember the last thing that happened before he blacked out.
That's when his eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly, his body and mind screaming in protest of two very different things. He glanced over, seeing a very startled Poppy and barb a few feet away. He tried to push himself out of the bed, but his abilities seemed to be on the fritz. He fell off, hitting the floor with a dull thud.
Barb and Poppy ran over, doing their best to help Trollex back up to sit on the edge of his bed. Once he regained himself, he looked between the two queens. "W-Where is everyone… are they ok…?"
The queen of rock pushed him gently by the shoulders, laying him down. "Everyone is fine. They're all stable and being cared for by the best we have here… Don't worry; the Rock trolls will make sure you're all fine."
He looked to the nearest source of the blinding light, and realized it was the sun shining through a window on the surface. "We're… out of the water…? Did you guys take us all to Volcano rock city…?"
Poppy nodded. "We had to… we couldn't stay down there and help, we'd have had to come up eventually. We decided to bring you guys up so we could make sure you were all ok."
He sighed, letting his eyes slip shut again. He was so tired… "Did anyone stay behind, or did they all come up…?" His mom had told him that some are more affected than others by the fast tempo, but it's still good for all involved to get care.
She nodded again. "Yeah, Cooper, Barb and I checked ourselves with the help of her Angler busses. Techno reef is completely empty."
He felt a pang of fear bubble up in his heart. Hearing that his home was completely empty was disturbing on a level he couldn't quite place. "And Coral… is he ok? He's the youngest; he'll be hit hardest…"
The two queens shared a worried look before Barb spoke. "He's in the same state as the others; you're the first to have woken up… We hoped you could explain a bit about all this so we can help a bit better."
As the two waited for the king to respond, they were shocked to hear a soft snore slip from him. "Seriously? He's asleep again?" She looked at Poppy. "Do YOU know what's going on at all? You yelled something about the Tempo… isn't that the speed of a song?"
She nodded. "Yeah… When Trollex, Branch and I went to Symphonyville, we heard one of the trolls there play his violin. It was a really slow song, but it was nice. Suddenly, Trollex just falls asleep! After that, he said his tribe is affected by the speed of the song… I had forgotten to mention that to Suki and Guy Diamond…" She scratched at her hair, looking at the young sleeping king. She was happy he'd gotten his color back, but the cost was nearly him and his whole tribe.
The two queens perked up when they heard approaching footsteps, turning to the doorway in time to see Branch step inside, eyes staring to the floor with his chin in his hand. He was clearly deep in thought, paying little attention to his surroundings.
Poppy and Barb stepped aside, making room for Branch as he walked up to Trollex's bed. He still didn't acknowledge them, his eyes closing as he concentrated. "Could green be a clue? The colors used to match the strings… maybe I had it wrong, maybe there was a green string once…" He rubbed at his temples. "But that would mean they were around DURING the time of the strings, not before…"
Barb glanced past Branch at Poppy, giving her a curious look. The queen of pop shrugged a bit, then set a hand on Branch's shoulder, startling the troll to reality. "Branch, what's going on? What are you talking about?"
He blinked a moment, his mind still returning to him. "Uh… what? Oh, you mean the green?" He gestured to the sleeping Trollex. "He's got all his color back but green, but there's no more tribes to visit. I've been trying to figure out where he might get green from…"
As the three began discussing the possible places the green could come from, Trollex began to wake up again. He opened his eyes, a hand moving to rest lightly on his chest. His chest still hurt a little bit, but he could manage. As he sat up, he finally caught the three royals' attention. Poppy was the first to speak, trying to keep her voice down a bit. "Trollex, you're awake again…! Are you ok?"
He nodded a little, but winced slightly. "Just dizzy…" He rubbed at his eyes, letting out a yawn.
Barb crossed her arms. "Hopefully not too dizzy. I need you to explain what happened so I can take care of your trolls!"
He sat up a little straighter at that, the fog lifting from his still grey eyes. "Oh! Um, right… Well, do you need to know why, how or what? Cause all those answers are pretty different…"
"How about all of them, in that order."
He nodded a bit. "Alright, starting with why then? Well, my parents said that the reason is because high energy music became a replacement for a healthy amount of sunlight. Basically, land creatures, and those that live in the sunshine, get a kind of energy from it, that doesn't go to deep into the ocean. So our ancestors adapted over time and became better equipped to live in the dark of the deep ocean."
"How I think is a bit harder… Basically our hearts sync op to the beat, I suppose. That gets our hearts beating faster, the blood rushing, and… well, basically heart attack. Much faster and… trolls don't survive. If you said everyone survived, then that's a blessing."
"What's going on is basically blood pressure spiked, we faint, and our brains can't get the right amount of everything it needs. We just need our hearts to slow to normal again and to make it past the physical effects." He stretched a bit, giving his tail a flick. "Course, no one can use any abilities until our bodies fully recover. So no flying around for a little while."
Poppy tugged lightly at the hug time bracelet on her wrist. "So… you guys will be fine…? No one will…"
He smiled softly. "No one is going to die, Poppy. We'll be fine…" He moved to slide out of bed, setting his fins on the floor before standing. He wobbled slightly, Branch and Poppy reaching out to steady him. "Thanks. I'm going to check on Coral and his family though. Where are they?"
"They should be in the room a few doors down. Just turn to the left when you get out of the room and it'll be the fourth door on your right." Barb smiled a bit. "I've got a few other trolls I need to see, so I'll leave you to it."
He nodded, walking out of the room, his fins slapping lightly on the floor. Branch came up behind him with a when chair, smiling. "Sit, I'll bring you. Walking doesn't look too easy for you."
Trollex grinned. "Thanks! I'll take you up on that." He sat in the chair, sighing once he was off is fins. Branch pushed him along, but Trollex noticed the other staring at his hair. He glanced up, seeing the gray strands lying limp against his head. "I still need my green then, huh? There has to be some clues about where I can get it…"
Branch hummed a bit, looking at the doors as they passed them, keeping count. "Well, maybe we can sit down and take another look at the story after your visit with Coral?"
He nodded. "Alright, that sounds like a plan. Oh, there's the door!" He pointed ahead, smiling as Branch hurried his steps. Once inside the room, Trollex's smile fell. He could see Coral sleeping on the far bed, but… of the other three trolls in here, none were his parents. "Branch, I thought Barb said his parents were in here?"
The king of pop perked up a bit, glancing around the room. "Huh… you're right… You visit Coral; I'll go try and find his parents and get them transferred together." Branch wheeled Trollex over to Coral's bedside before running off, waving as he left the room.
Trollex was glad that Branch had a memory for faces. He could understand a small mix up, after all Techno trolls didn't have too many variations unless you knew where to look. He trusted Branch would find them quickly. He folded his arms on the edge of the bed, smiling at Coral. "Hey lil buddy… how you holding up…?"
Coral scrunched up his eyes a bit, swatting blindly in the direction of Trollex's voice. "Fii mo miiinnnmmmm…"
He chuckled softly, reaching out and gently patting the hatchling on the head. "Come on, Coral… it's time to get up…"
Slowly the young troll did crack his green eyes open, and smiled at Trollex. "Mm… morning…" He sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes. That's when he seemed to notice he wasn't in the ocean anymore. He returned his gaze to Trollex, his eyes practically sparkling with excitement. "Are we… on the surface…?"
Trollex sat up straight, grinning brightly as he held his arms open wide. "Yup! Coral, welcome to Volcano rock city, home of the rock trolls!"
The little Techno troll let out a hyper squeal, but quickly clapped his hands over his mouth as he heard a groan from a nearby troll in another bed. He turned to Trollex with barely contained excitement, whispering quietly. "Yaaaaaaay….!"
Trollex barely supressed his own snickering, grabbing the wheels on his chair and pushing himself back. "Come on Coral; let me show you around a bit. You seem to be well enough." The young troll needed no second bidding, leaping from the bed and landing in Trollex's lap. He quickly adjusted himself to sit with his back to Trollex's chest, his fin stretched out over Trollex's.
Once he was comfortable, Trollex began to wheel them out of the room to start their adventure. As they passed through the hall, they ran into several Rock trolls wandering the halls. Some visiting family, some working to help those here, and some others that had come to sneak a peek at their guests. When these trolls spotted Trollex showing Coral around, they would stop and ask for pictures, or just to have a friendly chat.
As they enjoyed their time exploring, Trollex began to grow nervous. He found himself on high alert, glancing around corners and avoiding darker spaces. At one point, he held Coral a little tighter, staring down a darkened hall.
He nearly leapt out of his scales when he heard Branch calling his name from the other end of the hall. He spun around, seeing Branch skid to a stop in front of him. He tilted his head, noting the panicked look on Branch's face. "Branch, what's going on? You look like you've seen a ghost…"
"Missing…" Branch panted, standing straight as he finally regained his breath. "Coral's parents, and a bunch of others… they're missing! No one knows where they are… and no one can find Beat, either…!"
Trollex wasn't sure he'd heard Branch right.
"I-I'm… I'm sorry, did you say… missing? There are… trolls missing…?"
Branch bit his lip, moving back slightly. He nodded a little.
Coral looked back at him, and he could feel a cold realization gripping his heart. "Mister Trollex…? Where are mommy and daddy…?"
He smiled nervously down at the young Techno troll in his lap. "I…I'm sure your mom and dad are fine… Why don't you head on back to your room with uncle Branch, I have a few things to check on, ok…?" He lifted Coral gently and passed him to Branch, who held him softly. With a last look of concern towards the young king, Branch took Coral back to his room.
Trollex wheeled himself to the nearest window, staring out at the blue sky above. Had some of his Tribe truly gone missing? He needed to go check and see if they may have managed to stay behind… He gave his tail fins a flick, and smiled a little as he lifted into the air. He felt heavy, but that would wear off.
He turned to leave out the nearest open window, but paused. Should he get help? No, he couldn't risk the lives of any land trolls bringing them down, especially if he wasn't sure what to expect. No, he'd have to do this alone. He zipped out the window and made straight for the ocean.
He needed to get back to Techno reef as fast as he could…
He gasped, stumbling in the air as he felt his track skip kick in for a moment. He came to a halt, staring down at himself. "Was that…" He made to dash in the air again, Track skip activating, but wearing him out. "So I can use it, but not fully… I'll have to be careful…" He took off towards the water, now cautious not to mistakenly use Track skip again.
He kept as high in the sky as he was comfortable, knowing that with most of his color returned someone could easily identify him. He didn't want anyone telling Barb or his friends where he'd gone… or his trolls. If they found out he might be doing something dangerous, right after what just happened… They might just vote to lock him in the castle for the rest of his life!
Once he made it to the water's edge, he dove in, looking quickly for a current to carry him back to his home. That's when he noticed something very strange. "What the… the waters still…" He pricked his ear fins up, closing his eyes in an attempt to find some kind of movement.
Nothing. Absolutely no movement from anything! It was almost like… His eyes snapped open. It was just like when the river in Symphonyville went still! He felt a presence behind him, and turned to face it.
He didn't even have time to cry out as a beast seemingly formed of darkness leapt at him; catching him under its front claws and slamming him into the ocean floor below him.
The last thing he saw was a piercing red glow from the creature's eyes.