Chapter Eleven – Friends Old and New
If someone were to say, "This village is on the lake," one would think that the village was simply adjacent to that lake. Not in the case of Lake Town. True to its name, the village rested right on top of the water. Being only accessible by boat meant fewer invaders, and the ones who did come by boat did not make it far. Strong defenses did not make them a warmongering tribe. In fact, the mermaid trolls of Lake Town were peaceful.
Only one amongst them was not a mermaid troll: Chaz, a troll who had been with them for many years, yet no one (not even he) could say what type of troll he was. He had the form of a rainbow troll, but his skin was grey in tinge like a dark elf troll. At the same time, he could float in midair like a mermaid troll. Regardless, Chaz's home was in Lake Town, and he built up a reputation over the years as a guru. Though not a bender, he studied the philosophies of bending the elements. He became a spiritual guide in Lake Town and a profound musical therapist with the help of his saxophone.
One evening, Chaz performed such therapy for a small child suffering from nightmares. While the girl napped, Chaz played a soothing melody on his instrument. The girl's parents waited on the other end of the room.
When Chaz finished his music, the girl sat up and rubbed her eyes sleepily. Chaz helped her rise. "How do you feel, little one?"
"Better." The girl said with a small yawn.
"What did you learn?" Chaz asked.
The girl thought about it. "If I keep worrying about my problems, they'll just get bigger. But I can't pretend they aren't there. I have to face them."
"Precisely." Chaz patted the girl's head. "In time, you will learn to let go of what cannot be changed, face the fears of yourself, and learn from whatever mistakes you might make."
The girl hugged Chaz. "Thank you." She floated over to her parents, who thanked Chaz before departing. Chaz smiled to himself, thankful he could help the poor girl with her nightmares. He extinguished the candles and drifted off to his room. He set up his dinner at a table in front of the window. As he ate, he looked out over the water. He watched the sun touch the horizon and then disappear. His evening routine continued as usual until he knelt by his bed and said his prayers before sleep.
"I give thanks for another beautiful day." Chaz said. "Today, I played game with my friends, helped a child with her nightmares, and learned to make s'mores. Even though I failed in my first attempts to make such a dessert, today was a gift for which I am thankful. Tomorrow is a new day with new possibilities. Thank you, gods above, for the blessings I have received all my life. Thank you for guiding me here, as a child, after I lost my home and family. Thank you for delivering me to a new home and a new family in Lake Town." He went silent for a moment, and then slid into bed.
Chaz paused. Something was wrong. As a guru, he went through several years of training to become sensitive to auras. Through this, he could feel when things were amiss, even when everything felt normal. Usually, he used this to feel when misfortune may fall on the village. Now, he only felt an overwhelming sense of danger. Chaz stood and grabbed his saxophone. Beyond being a tool for therapy, the sturdy metal instrument served as a useful weapon.
Floating like a spirit, Chaz circled through his humble home and searched for the source of this disturbance. This was not the first time Chaz sensed a ghost. However, he had never before sensed such a dangerous one.
"I know you are there, resident of the Spirit Realm." Chaz spoke into the darkness. "I am not afraid of you, and you have no need to fear me. I am the monk of this town, and the speaker for the gods. Who are you?"
A breeze flowed through the crowded house. The hairs on the back of Chaz's neck bristled in his fear. He spun in a slow circle, looking all around him.
"Show yourself, spirit." Chaz ordered.
What felt like a strong wind pushed Chaz into a wall, and he hit the ground. He rose again and wielded his saxophone for a fight. The spirit manifested in the center of the room: a troll with a scarred face and battle-worn armor.
"You are going to help me." The spirit said.
"To move on?" Chaz guessed. "Of course. That is one of my sacred duties."
"No, I went back to the Spirit Realm a few weeks ago after a great battle." The spirit said. "I need something that will give me more power."
Chaz's apprehension intensified. "What do you mean? If it has been a few weeks since you were last in the Spirit Realm, you must return at once! The consequences—"
"Do you know who I am?" the spirit demanded. "I am Captain Titan, leader of King Crimson's knights, crusader for purity. I am on a mission to finish what I began in my life, and you are going to help me."
"Oh, Captain Titan." Chaz narrowed his eyes. "I've heard of you. In fact, I think King Crimson banished you and renounced your title after you began your little 'crusade for purity.'"
"King Crimson was a fool. Had I been able to finish my work, he would have welcomed me back." Titan growled.
"Spirit, I refuse to help you cause even more destruction. You did enough in your lifetime." Chaz grabbed a paintbrush from the inkwell on his desk, and he scribbled a symbol on the floor. He stood on it. "Begone, lest I take a more forceful approach to your exorcism."
Titan sighed. "I was afraid you would be difficult. Very well." He disappeared in an instant. A moment later, Titan burst through the wall again, dragging a pink mermaid troll behind him.
"Let go of me, you big bully!" the mermaid troll shrieked.
"Bliss Marina." Chaz gasped. She was one of Chaz's close friends, always offering to help with his work. She spent many a night swimming in the dark, and Titan must've caught her.
"I do not wish to harm an innocent lady." Titan said, tracing a finger along Bliss Marina's jaw. "However, if you refuse to do your duty and aid in my business, I will be forced to do something drastic."
"You wouldn't!" Chaz growled.
Titan twisted Bliss Marina's arm, breaking it. She screamed in pain. Titan kept a firm grip on her. "I'll break every bone in her body if you don't start working."
"Okay, okay! Stop hurting her!" Chaz pleaded. "I have a great library on the second floor. We can start there."
"That's better." Titan followed Chaz upstairs, still holding Bliss Marina. "I want to know if I can gain more power as a spirit. I already have many powers, but it hasn't been enough. I can't keep going back to the Spirit Realm like this."
"I think you may already have your answer." Chaz said. "You don't need more power. You just want to be back from the dead, in a living body."
"Possession is not the same." Titan said.
"But there is something else you can do." Chaz looked to Bliss Marina. She had tears in her eyes, trying to bite back the pain in her arm. Chaz refused to let her be hurt anymore. "I must warn you that it is a dangerous path."
"As long as I can eliminate the Golden Rose once and for all." Titan said.
Chaz pulled down a book and flipped it open to show Titan. "Look here. Spirits are not meant to stay in the Mortal Realm for very long. Exposure to the moonlight makes it worse. If a spirit remains in the Mortal Realm for a full cycle of the moon, they become an earthbound demon, unable to return to the Spirit Realm on their own free will."
Titan studied the page. "Only another week and a half, and I will have been here for a full cycle. There is nothing more I need to do? I just need to remain in the Mortal Realm?"
"Yes. But, please, the damage that demons could cause…..the mission you have…..this is not a noble quest!" Chaz begged.
"You are a spiritual man, yes?" Titan said. "The Golden Rose Clan was the true scourge. They did not belong on this good earth, and so I eradicated them. But one survived. One thwarted my plans, and I have spent decades learning how to come back from the dead for the sole purpose of killing her! Nothing is going to stop me now."
Chaz sighed. "All right. But don't forget this part right here."
"What?" Titan asked curiously.
"Here, look closely at this footnote." Chaz held up the book. When Titan leaned down, Chaz hit him as hard as he could with the hardcover tome. Titan released Bliss Marina, and Chaz kicked the spirit hard enough to send him flying through a wall. "Go, Marina!" Chaz ordered. "Get help!"
Titan shot through the hole he made in the wall and tackled Chaz to the floor. Bliss Marina went out the window as fast as she could. Chaz kicked Titan off him and parried Titan's sword with his saxophone. They exchanged blows, Chaz determined to keep Titan from leaving. During the fight, Chaz reached into a nearby vase and grabbed the flowers that turned out to be throwing knives. While deflecting Titan's strikes, Chaz threw the knives around the room to create a circle around him and his opponent. The next time Chaz kicked Titan away, he hit an invisible barrier that flashed with green light.
"What sort of witchcraft is this?" Titan snarled.
"Those knives have special symbols on them, used for trapping spirits." Chaz said smugly. "You won't escape me now."
"Do not count on it!" Titan aimed to kill with every strike, but Chaz was skilled in defending himself. More importantly, Chaz would rather die here and keep the spirit from escaping, especially this particularly murderous spirit. However, he didn't take into account that the ring around them did not leave much room outside the barrier where he could jump to safety. He had to stay on guard, lest Titan find a chance to land a deadly blow.
Suddenly, the doors to the library flew open and several fighters from Lake Town arrived with bows loaded and arrows aimed for Titan.
"Stop there!" one of the trolls demanded. "Yield or be shot dead."
"Too late for that." Titan mocked. Chaz tried to dart around Titan to get to the door, but Titan was faster. He grabbed Chaz by the hair and yanked him back. Titan put his sword to Chaz's neck. "Remove this barrier and set me free, or else I'll kill him now."
The trolls looked to Chaz for confirmation. "Don't!" Chaz ordered. "He'll kill me anyway, and he's planning to do a lot more damage."
"I will release him if you set me free." Titan said. "Remove the barrier."
One of the mermaid trolls reluctantly gestured for everyone to lower their bows, and he wrenched a few of the knives free from the floor. "There. You're free. Release our guru this instant."
"As you wish." Titan threw Chaz backwards and into a wall. "If you'll excuse me." He started to float towards the hole in the wall, uninhibited by the spiritual trap. Chaz came from behind and hit Titan over the head with his saxophone. Titan's head came clean off and rolled to a corner. One of the mermaid trolls at the door fainted.
"I will not allow you to—" Chaz choked on his words as Titan's body swung around and stabbed his sword into the guru's ribs. Titan's head floated up and his body returned the head to the neck.
"You should not have done that." Titan removed his sword, grabbed Chaz by the throat, and dragged him out of the hole in the wall. The mermaid trolls could not stop him. Titan pulled Chaz far from the village and dropped him in the lake. Chaz was too weak to save himself. Titan looked to the moon above. "Very soon. I have waited decades for this. I can wait a little while longer."
Although Branch and Rosiepuff were eager to find something that would defeat Titan, they did not protest too much when Kai offered them a fuller tour of the village, complete with meeting some of the trolls from Lotus Lagoon.
"Poppy, I was hoping you could help Joy today." Kai told the pink troll. "She's helping Apollo with his fire-bending training, and I've found it's better to have two water-benders on hand, just in case."
Whether or not that was true, Poppy knew Kai secretly encouraged her to reconnect with her mother and restore her memories. Symphony joined Poppy and they went to find Joy and Apollo. Meanwhile, Kai walked his wife and grandson around the village, where benders often approached them as opposed to the other way around.
"Hey Kai!" a centaur troll galloped over, a shorter rainbow troll riding his back. "Glad we caught you."
"Good morning, Double Trouble." Kai chuckled. "Rosiepuff, you surely remember Hickory and Dickory."
"No, these two fine young men can't be those scamps I knew!" Rosiepuff teased playfully. "You two have certainly grown."
"We're fire-benders, too!" Hickory said proudly. "Dickory and I like to call ourselves the Firecracker Brothers." Branch made a mental note that Hickory was the centaur troll and Dickory was the smaller rainbow troll.
"Might we show you our skills, Master Bender?" Dickory asked Rosiepuff.
"I'd be delighted to see what you can do." Rosiepuff said.
"Do not light my pants on fire, Hickory." Dickory warned as the brothers prepped themselves.
"Only if you don't set my tail on fire." Hickory countered. The brothers exhaled simultaneously. They burst to life in an instant, certainly living up to the name Firecracker Brothers. Their moves were explosive, and they even created a ball of fire that spit sparks like a true sparkler, which they tossed between each other.
Rosiepuff applauded them when the brothers finished. "You two have certainly improved since you were toddlers. I'm very impressed."
"They were born fire-benders." Kai explained to a surprised Branch. "Their powers were certainly weaker as children, but Dickory actually lit Hickory's tail aflame."
"That was one time!" Dickory complained.
"We're happy to have impressed you, Miss Rosiepuff." Hickory said. "Will you be teaching classes instead of watching them this time?"
"Yes, I think so." Rosiepuff nodded. The brothers whooped and cheered, thanking Rosiepuff as they hurried away to no doubt spread the word.
"This was back in Lotus Lagoon?" Branch guessed.
"I resisted the urge to use my bending, but I often could not refrain from watching the lessons the other benders received at the temple." Rosiepuff said. "Kai, who else survived?"
"Remember Thrash?" Kai led his family to a snowier area of the village. "He lost his wife a few years after his daughter Barb was born. Thrash ended up being an air-bender, and Barb's a fire-bender. She's skillful enough to bend lightning, too. If you see her hanging out with a rubber-limbed earth-bender boy, that's Riff. He fancies her." They found the aforementioned dark elf trolls, training with Joy, Apollo, Poppy, and Symphony.
Barb noticed them approaching and quickly defeated Apollo in their spar. She sprinted over to Rosiepuff. "Hi! Wow, hi! You're the Golden Rose! Kai's wife! Um…hi!"
"Now, Barbara." Thrash maneuvered his wheelchair over to his daughter and gently pulled her back. "Give the woman some air."
"Excitable thing, isn't she?" Rosiepuff laughed. "It's good to see you again, Thrash."
"I thought for sure yesterday was a dream." Thrash accepted Rosiepuff's hug. "Glad to have you back."
"It's great to see so many old friends." Rosiepuff said. "Branch and I are also hoping to do some research here. Kai said you have a collection of books and old relics?"
"Yeah! I spend so much time in the library!" Apollo said as he came to greet them. "I mean, we call it a library, but it's really just a one-room space where we keep our small collection of relics and books."
"Apollo is our little scholar." Kai chuckled.
"Do you know of any books about spirits?" Branch asked.
"Phineas Sprite's Exploration of the Paranormal and Lilac Terra's collection Dealing with Spirits in the Mortal Realm." Apollo listed off in an instant. "Lilac Terra's books range in topics from exorcisms to summoning and everything in-between."
"We will check that out." Rosiepuff said. "Thank you."
"Hey Apollo!" Poppy called. She stood with Joy, learning some advanced water-bending techniques. "Come on! You still owe me a spar!"
"Coming!" Apollo smiled at Kai. "Thank you so much for bringing Master Poppy. She's been helping me with my kung fu! And she and Mother are getting along great!"
"Happy to hear it." Kai said. He guided his family away, and Apollo ran back to Joy and Poppy.
"Ready for this, Master Poppy?" Apollo asked, standing a short distance from the pink troll.
"Just Poppy, Apollo." Poppy insisted. "And I hope you're ready for me."
"Kick his tail, Poppy!" Barb called.
"Go Apollo!" Riff clapped.
"Adjust your stance, Apollo." Joy instructed. "And….begin!"
Apollo made the first move, as he normally did. Poppy moved with purpose, and Apollo ended up on the ground while Poppy did not have a hair out of place. She glanced to Joy. For a moment, she saw a flash of recognition. Poppy had just used a kung fu disarming technique that Joy herself invented. Joy shook her head a little and smiled.
"Well done, both of you!" Joy said. "Apollo, I want you and Poppy to work together and find solutions to your weaknesses."
"Joy, will you help me with something?" Barb pleaded, practically pulling her away.
Poppy tried to hide her disappointment. She barely had time to really talk to Joy. Of course, she wasn't sure how to jog her mother's memories and get her to remember her own daughter. On the upside, Poppy bonded with Apollo already.
"What can I do better?" Apollo asked Poppy.
"Okay, one thing I noticed is that you're not controlling yourself." Poppy pointed out.
"Golden Rose says we guide our element, not control it." Apollo looked confused.
"Fire is the wildest of elements, capable of spreading beyond our intentions." Poppy remembered Rosiepuff's lessons. "You need to control your own movements to properly guide fire into where you want it to go. It's almost like training a wild animal."
"Like me." Symphony bared her teeth playfully.
"Have you ever seen a wildfire?" Poppy asked Apollo.
"Once. Half our crops were destroyed in it." Apollo shuddered. "It was scary."
"Rosiepuff says there is life everywhere, including in our elements." Poppy said. "Fire is like a hyperactive child always expelling energy. When I say you need to control yourself, I mean you have to be purposeful with your movements. Here, mirror me."
Apollo stood face-to-face with Poppy. As she moved, he mimicked her like a reflection. "I feel the difference. Thanks! This is really helpful."
"Dedicated to your training, huh?" Symphony noted.
"I have to be dedicated." Apollo said. "I want to be the best fire-bender in the whole village. My mother is depending on me."
"High expectations?" Symphony asked.
"She believes in me and says I can be whatever I want." Apollo corrected. "But my father always told me to be the man of the house and protect my mother."
Poppy perked up at the mention of Artemis. "What was your father like?"
Apollo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "To be honest, he wasn't around very much. Mother and I lived in a secluded cabin, far from anyone who would want to hurt us. Father had to leave often, to go back and prepare to take back his kingdom. He would tell me, 'You are a prince, a future king. You must prove yourself and take care of your mother.' I always thought I did the best I could."
"I think your mother is very proud of you." Poppy said. "Your father, too, must be proud."
Apollo sighed. "Yeah. Would it be weird to say that I wish my father had been normal? I didn't need a king. I wanted a dad."
"That is not weird at all." Poppy assured. She was surprised when Apollo hugged her, but she returned the embrace. Just as quickly, Apollo jumped back.
"I'm sorry." Apollo said.
"It's okay." Poppy assured. She gave him a quick hug. "Do you want to get back to training? Or should we just talk for a while?"
Apollo thought about it. "Talking would be nice. About bending, about anything. Can we play with Symphony, too?"
"Sure!" Symphony said excitedly.
Poppy, Apollo, and Symphony sat off to one side so the other benders had their space to practice. Poppy didn't mind bonding with Apollo. Hopefully, by getting closer to him, she could help their mother.
"While I enjoy this tour, I'm wondering if we should stop by the library and start our research." Rosiepuff said.
"But you haven't even met Tresillo and his sisters!" Kai whined. "Tell you what: keep walking and explore the village. I'll go to the library and begin the search."
"I'll help." Branch offered. "Grandma, he's right. Go meet some old friends."
"All right. But keep him on task, Branch." Rosiepuff warned. "Your grandfather is easily distracted by books."
"But mostly by you." Kai said, kissing his wife. "Come on, Branch! Race you there!"
"No fair!" Branch called as he ran after his grandfather. "I don't know where anything is!" He managed to follow Kai to a two-story building near the chief's house. Kai knocked, and the door was answered by a llama-troll who looked remarkably like Cooper, but with no hat, shorter hair, and gold tassels in his fur.
"What's up, Chief?" the llama-troll greeted.
"This is my grandson, Branch." Kai introduced. "Branch, this is Darnell. Also goes by just 'D.' He and his parents are air-benders. Darnell, we need some books on spirits. Apollo gave us some good recommendations."
"Come on in!" Darnell allowed them entry, and Branch saw books and random artifacts littered on shelves that lined the room and made it look smaller than it already appeared. Two more llama-trolls came down the stairs: a purple one and a blue one.
"This is Quincy and Essence." Kai said to Branch. "They were originally from Lotus Lagoon."
"Nice to meet you." Essence bowed to Branch. "We were so thrilled to hear Kai found his family again."
"I wish it were under better circumstances." Branch said. "We need to know how to get rid of a spirit. A nasty one is hunting Grandma and we have to stop him."
"We have everything you need." Quincy said. "Modest, our collection may be, but we have what many others do not."
Kai and Branch sat at a table in the back of the library, and Quincy brought them some lunch. Essence and Darnell collected all the books on spirits in the library and piled them on the table. All five of them looked through the books while Branch explained who Titan was, why he was hunting Rosiepuff, and what he had done so far.
"Here's something." Essence pushed her book closer to Branch and Kai. "This is a portal that opens once a year to allow any spirits to visit the Mortal Realm."
"Okay, but we can't wait months for this portal to open." Branch said.
"Wait, look here." Essence pointed to a paragraph in the book. "The portal can be opened other times in very specific circumstances. You can also draw out this symbol here, which can summon the portal and assist in sending a spirit back to the Spirit Realm. Some modern exorcists use this to dispel of harmful spirits."
"Titan is definitely harmful." Branch said. "Would an exorcism work on him?"
"If it doesn't, there's this thing." Darnell showed Branch his book. "If this is to believed, a weapon made of peach wood, iron, or jade can sever a spirit's ties to the Mortal Realm and send them back to the Spirit one. Peach wood is said to repel spirits, iron is a metal that can harm demons, and jade brings good luck and defends against bad dreams."
"We have a weapon like that." Quincy said. "I know we do. I've seen it. In fact, I think it has all three elements: a peach wood handle, a blade made of iron, and a bit of jade incorporated into the blade. It was the weapon of a warrior priest. I think it's called The Cleaver. Kai, help me find it. We're horrible about organizing things around here."
"Well, this isn't exactly a museum people visit." Kai chortled as he joined Quincy.
"This just might work." Branch hummed in thought, his eyes darting from one open book to another.
"Hey, don't freak, man." Darnell reassured Branch.
"We understand how stressful this may seem." Essence said. "Rosiepuff was a good friend of ours. Everyone in this village knows the legend of her clan. We are all ready to defend her and her family."
Branch finally grinned. "Thanks. I really appreciate it."
A/N: Okay, a question on Delta Dawn's niece from Trolls World Tour: is her name Clampers or Clippers? I swear I heard both for so long, and I still feel like I'm hearing two different names when I watch the movie.