Joan walked around Nomura's little keep as she nibbled on a cheese sandwich. She didn't think she wanted to know where the troll got it, so she didn't ask.
Her eyes lingered on the poster of Tristan and Isolde again. The theatre… The blanket – the note… Could it be? Should she… try to talk to Nomura?
The troll sulked in the corner.
No. She shook her head. Questions burned inside her. She wanted so badly to go back down to the city – to see more. Even if most of the troll were arguably terrifying, they were also new – different from anything else Joan had ever seen, and that made them… kind of wonderful.
"Nomura?" a voice – a young man's? – called into the keep.
A second one – belonging to a girl – said, "Hello?"
Nomura groaned and faced the wall.
"Blinky said you rescued a human. We just wanted to see if it was true," the first person said.
Nomura rolled her eyes. "Bloody Trollhunter," she muttered.
Two people appeared in the entryway, and Joan took a surprised step back. A blue, troll-like figure with black hair and short horns accompanied a thin, normal looking young woman whose hair was also black, except for the single streak of white tucked into her bangs.
"Oh." The girl smiled at Joan. "Well, hello."
"H – hello," Joan stuttered back.
"Wow, Nomura, you really did do it," the troll said.
Joan stared at the visitor's armor. It reminded her of something out of a fantasy novel. Then there was his appearance.
"What is it?" the troll asked.
"You don't look like the other trolls," Joan remarked. "Your nose is different." She pointed to his face. "And your hands don't match." She indicated his four-digited hand paired with his human like one.
The troll smiled.
"And your eyes!" Joan gaped. "They're not glowing."
"You're very perceptive," the girl stepped forward. "Jim here is only half troll–" she patted his shoulder, "–the other half is human."
"What…? How does that work?" Joan crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"It's a long story," the troll said. "I'm Jim Lake." He offered her a hand. "And you are…?"
Joan stared at his hand and then took it. "Joan Callas," she said.
"Claire Nuñez," the girl said. "Pleased to meet you."
Joan nodded to Claire. "You're human."
"For sure," Claire replied.
"Are there more humans down here?" Joan didn't know how she felt about other people knowing about this secret.
"Just me and Jim right now," Claire replied. "Oh, and Merlin."
"Merlin?" Joan whispered. No – it's got to be a nickname, she thought as Claire continued.
"There are only a few humans who know about trolls. You can almost count them on two hands, so those of us who know stick together. Welcome to the club."
"Only ten humans…? In the entire world?" Joan shook her head. "That seems unlikely."
"Well, only ten that I know of," Claire said. "Wait. Let me count. There's me and Jim." She held up two fingers. "Toby, Mom, Dad, Mrs. Lake, Nana and Merlin. Oh! And Eli, Steve and Darci." She looked over at Jim. "Does Mr. Strickler count as a human now?"
"Nah," Jim shook his head.
"Okay, so that makes…" Claire counted her fingers. "Eleven. And with you," she pointed at Joan, "it's twelve. Okay, so a little more than two hands, but close. Still not a lot." She smiled.
The list of unfamiliar names meant nothing to Joan, but she didn't ask any questions.
"So, how do you like it? Trollmarket, I mean," Claire said.
"It's… wonderful," Joan replied.
"I know, right? It's like another world – and it's ours." Claire grinned.
"I don't know," Jim said. "Sometimes you can get too much strangeness in your life."
"So, Joan," Claire took a step toward her, "how about a tour? You want to see more of Trollmarket?"
"Can I?" Joan gaped and turned to Nomura for permission.
"Whatever." Nomura waved her off. "Just don't get hurt. Blinkous will have my head, and I'm not in the mood for that."
"Don't worry," Jim assured with a smile. "We'll look out for her."
"Sure thing," Claire beamed. "It's going to be nice to have another human around here for a change. And you can tell us a little about yourself."
Joan looked away.
"Is – is something wrong?" Claire said.
"You don't have to ask about me. I'm… not very interesting." Joan let her gaze drift back to Claire. "I'd love to hear about Trollmarket though."
"All right." Claire motioned for Joan to follow her and Jim out of Nomura's keep. "Let's go."
Editted by dtill359