"Long live the weeds that overwhelm
My narrow vegetable realm!
The bitter rock, the barren soil
That force the son of man to toil;
All things unholy, marred by curse,
The ugly of the universe."
- Theodore Roethke, Long Live the Weeds
.
.
Oh.
She blinked in the sudden light, the crackling of Kanjigar the Courageous's skin giving her goosebumps.
He was dead. A dead Trollhunter, in her living room. She had the amulet.
Oh, fuck.
She made an abortive attempt to touch him and reconsidered; what he if broke?
Someone was coming, he said. Trollmarket would have been alerted to his felling, and someone would come for the amulet and the new Hunter.
It took twenty minutes for her to pack, unpack, panic, make herself a cup of tea, and then finally sit down, chewing absently on a bowl of cereal as she calmed down and thought about the situation.
It was five am on a sunny day, and no trolls would be able to come after her until night fell. She had the entire day to plan, get things in order, and figure out what the fuck she was going to do.
Oh, Renata.
What the fuck was she going to do?
She paced around the kitchen, opening and closing cabinet doors just to make noise. If she skipped town, she might lose the trolls, but would the amulet draw them to her? Could it be tracked? Magical objects often gave off specific signatures. What if she just left it behind?
The idea had appeal, but she doubted it would work. Taking the amulet out of her pocket, Renata opened the trash can and threw it in, mentally rejecting it as fervently as she could – it certainly wasn't hard.
Sure enough, when she turned around, there the damn thing was, innocently glittering on the kitchen table.
So it has teleportive powers, she mused, grabbing it up as she sat. As far as amulets went, it looked more like something off of Doctor Who than an ancient artifact. The inscription around the edge was in a very old form of written Trollish, but to her surprise it changed, forming into a more readable dialect before moving into what looked like Old English, and finally into modern English.
For the Glory of Merlin, it said, Daylight is mine to command.
What exactly did that mean? She'd only ever seen the Trollhunter, either in battle or in books, with armor and a glowing sword; how did one command daylight?
It was hard to think that 'daylight' was actually hers to command. How did the amulet even choose? Was it sentient, semi-sentient? Did it look for specific traits? Because she was sure she shared none with Kanjigar the Courageous.
She leaned back, and set the thing on the table.
The Hunter had said that it was not a choice. The amulet refused to be thrown away.
Renata didn't like it, at all.
But what an opportunity. When had the Trollhunter been anything but a good, solid troll, noble and brave and unyielding? A Changeling Trollhunter was treasonous in the very thought. Changelings were lesser than trolls, lesser than humans, barely on par with goblins and elves.
And now I'm the Hunter.
"Fine," she muttered, grabbing the amulet off of the table. "I accept."
Maximum effort, she thought, deciding the embrace the thing wholeheartedly. If she had no choice but to do this, then she was going to give it her all. Either side of the war would happily kill her simply to make the amulet pass on to another, and she wasn't going to go down without a damn bloody fight.
The Amulet of Daylight, Merlin's creation, had decided she was the worthiest one to wield it, and whoever had a problem with that could take it up with Merlin himself.
And her glowy sword, when she figured out how to summon the damn thing.
.
.
Two hours into being the Trollhunter, and Renata was still debating on how best not to die. The Changeling thing was a problem.
Trolls could not detect a Changeling without a gaggletack – there was no scent, no marking that could distinguish them from humans. So she could easily masquerade as a human for whatever trolls came around.
The problem was, how would Trollmarket react to a human Hunter? Presumably better than a Changeling Hunter, but on the whole she would probably get a lot of crap and disrespect. It would be convenient keeping her job and apartment, though, and her human body was easy to disguise in case she ran across any old friends, but:
After the death of her familiar, her human form was truly hers. However: as the years went by, troll characteristics started to bleed over. Humans just thought she was weird and a bit ugly, but would trolls recognize the changes? A trollish human would probably be suspicious.
But what if she masqueraded as a troll? She'd have to be careful about the sunlight-immunity thing, and frankly troll food was utterly disgusting to her, and she'd have to come up with a new background and she really didn't know much about troll history or society, but still – Trollhunters were trolls, always had been, always would be, as far as anyone needed to know. She could pull off ignorance of customs and culture as being a loner from a far-off colony or something. There would be questions, certainly, but fewer than if she were a human Hunter.
Staying in troll form for the long term would be more labor-intensive, though. She'd have a crap time of it to go between human and troll if she wanted to keep her life on the surface as it was. But she'd be able to live in Heartstone Trollmarket, a place no Changeling had ever visited and lived to tell about it. She may have to give up her human life, but it might be worth it.
Briefly, she had the idea of telling the trolls outright about her true nature. The mental images of being torn limb from limb were rather unpleasant, and she quickly decided that she'd prefer to get trained up before even entertaining the idea of telling anyone. Human or troll, she had to pick.
By the time the sun reached its peak, she had decided 'troll' and refused to think about it any further. The armor she'd seen on Kanjigar had covered his face reasonably well, and she was technically considered dead to the Changeling community, so if she happened to meet anyone familiar she had to hope that they wouldn't recognize her. And if they did, she'd have a big sword to back her up.
She went to the bookstore and spoke with her supervisor, asking for personal leave because of a family tragedy. If going back and forth between troll and human became impossible, she'd quit, but she wanted to keep her place in the human world for as long as she could. The next several hours were spent visiting banks, post offices, and storage units, trying to consolidate and liquidate everything she could without arousing suspicion. She sorted out a new history for herself, close enough to the truth that real falsehoods were used sparingly - she was practiced enough at lying that it shouldn't have been a problem, but the most believable lies were always rooted in truths.
She was good at making new identities for herself and came up with a new one quite easily: Alexandra Velius, a troll from western New Jersey, born in a very small clan that absolutely no one would have heard of, since it didn't really exist.
She didn't dare do anything with the amulet yet; she still felt like it was a beacon or target. It was hidden beneath a floorboard in her kitchen, where she kept her passports and identification cards, and she didn't touch it again until her neighbors started coming home from work. She was prepared to be gone for a week – five days and a weekend; she'd have time to judge the best permanent situation during then.
An hour before sunset Renata locked her door and set out for the canal. There was plenty of sunshine to provide her cover – she looked like any other pedestrian taking an evening walk. She settled down on a bench in the park and waited, pretending to be calm until she could almost believe it.
When the shadows lengthened and the light dimmed she turned her form, slid down the side of the canal, and pressed into the shadows of the bridge.
The persona she had developed over the day slid over her like a veil; if she was going to be convincing as a troll and Trollhunter, she had to wear Alexandra like it was a second skin. She flexed her arms and settled into her unused troll form, allowing Alexandra to seep into her bones until she was convinced of it herself. She'd be the Trollhunter for the rest of her life, and so needed to forget about Renata, or Petra, or Verity, or any of the other names she had gone by in the past. Renata closed her eyes, and Alexandra opened them.
She watched the wall that opened into Heartstone Trollmarket. She didn't have to wait long; as soon as the sun fell behind the tops of the trees, a yellow arch appeared on the concrete and shattered into glowing blue pieces, swirling around in a spiral before opening into a doorway.
A short, many-limbed troll crossed through first – Alexandra was surprised to see a cousin of her clan. He was followed by a massive brute who seemed composed of nothing but arms and hair. The portal closed behind them and the short one dusted off his hands.
"Well, my dear fellow, shall we continue our search?"
"Barely got started," said the big one, moving past the other and peering over the underside of the bridge.
"…Yes, well at least we have the general location of our felled Trollhunter's body," said the short one, looking rather fussy with all four hands on his hips.
"Need to find out if amulet has chosen."
Alexandra had to wonder about the big one's speech. Those that were big and brutish in troll culture weren't as stupid and slow-witted as humans often imagined brawny monsters as being. Perhaps English was a language he was still learning? The only other trolls she had encountered who had similar communication issues were stuck in the Darklands, the results of kidnapping and brutal training in efforts to make them into violent, obedient soldiers.
"Of course it has chosen," said the fussy one. "We simply don't know who it has chosen."
That was her cue. Taking a deep breath, Alexandra pushed herself out of the deeper shadows.
"I believe that would be me," she said.
Both trolls jumped and turned around to face her. She bit back the instinctive urge to run and instead walked up to them, holding the amulet before her.
"Oh!" The short one gasped, the amulet's glow illuminating his face as he peered at it.
"Found you," said the big one happily. Both of them smiled at her.
"Our new Trollhunter," said the short one quietly, although he honestly wasn't that much shorter than her.
"It is an honor to meet you, Master…?"
"Alexandra Velius, daughter of Asphodelus," she said, as easily as if she had been saying it her whole life.
The short one clasped two of his hands in front of him and two behind his back, doing a neat little bow.
"I am known as Blinky," he said. The big one waved.
"I'm AAARRRGGHH," he said. "Three r's."
They watched Alexandra expectantly as she had a quiet mental breakdown.
Blinky, or Blinkous Gladrigal, was a renowned trainer of Trollhunters, known for his paranoia and fixation on conspiracy theories. AAARRRGGHH was the former general of Gunmar's army, a defector who cost them that final battle when he joined forces with Deya the Deliverer.
Both very famous trolls and, fortunately, neither were known to be particularly violent.
"I've heard of you," she said honestly. "The hero of the Battle of Killahead, and the most renowned scholar in Heartstone Trollmarket."
"Oh, well, I suppose that I…"
Blinky sputtered and smiled, while his friend looked at Alexandra like he knew exactly what she was doing. She gripped the amulet tighter and cleared her throat.
"So. Shall we…?"
"Ah, yes, of course. AAARRRGGHH, if you would please."
The larger troll nodded and humbled back to the wall, catching a yellow crystal that Blinky threw to him. Alexandra watched in fascination as he drew a glowing arch on the concrete and then gently tapped it with his fist, sending it to pieces.
"This is all rather convenient," said Blinky, smiling at her enchanted face. AAARRRGGHH stepped aside and Blinky gestured for her to go before him. A sudden well of fear shot through her, the irrational worry that they knew and were leading her into a trap, but she didn't sense anything about the two that truly felt untrustworthy, and without a last glance to the human world she gingerly walked through the portal.
It was just an empty cavern, a cliff ending in an enormous black pit. She kept herself close to the wall and almost got stepped on when AAARRRGGHH came through.
"This way, please," said Blinky, seemingly oblivious to her nervousness, and he stepped forward to the edge of the cliff.
In the hole?
At that moment, glowing blue crystals appeared, jutting out from the sides of the hole in a wide spiral. It was one of the most beautiful sights she had ever seen.
Blinky and AAARRRGGHH seemed amused by her reaction.
"I suppose you have never been to the Heartstone Trollmarket before?"
Alexandra shook her head, stepping onto the first of the crystals.
"No. No I, ah, haven't."
"Well, then this should be quite an experience. If I may, which Heartstone do you hail from?"
PANIC! PANIC!
She hadn't practiced this! She hadn't been high enough in the Changeling echelons to be allowed to research stuff like Heartstones; she'd thought there was just the one!
"My family moved away from our Heartstone shortly after I was born," Alexandra said calmly, her heart pounding but knowing that her voice wouldn't betray her fear.
"We mostly kept to ourselves, underneath the sewers of New Jersey," she pulled out of her ass, filing away the lie in case she was asked again.
Blinky and AAARRRGGHH both nodded sagely.
"A strange, exotic land indeed," said Blinky. "Shall we continue?"
The glowing entrance closed behind them as Alexandra followed Blinky down the crystals.
"As I was saying, this is very convenient. No having to search for the next Trollhunter, no tedious explanations. You seem to have accepted this quite well."
Alexandra nodded.
"Kanjigar was quite clear," she said, jumping a gap between crystals. "There really was no sense in refusing."
Blinky stopped dead.
"You spoke to Kanjigar?"
"Is that a problem?"
Was that a problem? Did Hunters not speak to their successors?
Blinky turned around, clasping two hands in front of him and two behind his back, looking vaguely disturbed.
"Exactly what transpired during that conversation," he said. There was a hint of suspicion in his voice.
"What are you asking, exactly?"
"Amulet chooses new Trollhunter after death," said AAARRRGGHH behind her. Blinky nodded in agreement.
"Precisely. If you spoke to our former Trollhunter, and the amulet was passed to you shortly after – "
"I didn't kill him," Alexandra said dryly. "He was wounded from a fight with Bular. He managed to get away, but his injuries took him shortly after. The amulet led him to me."
Her heart pounded as Blinky stared at her silently, as if trying to read her for a lie.
"Amulet chose," said AAARRRGGHH quietly, and Blinky sighed, turning around and continuing down the crystal staircase.
"True," he murmured. "The amulet must have sensed Kanjigar's forthcoming death. I suppose his body is in a safe place?"
Did her living room count?
"Yes," Alexandra said, as they reached the bottom of the stairs. A warm light spilled upon her face, and she looked up.
"I didn't want it to get…"
Her words faded from her throat, and Blinky smiled at her.
"Welcome," he said, "To Heartstone Trollmarket."
.
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Fun fact: I was going to call this fic "Long Live the Weeds" before I decided that I really didn't want a title with 'weed' in it. I had a hard enough time Googling weeds without bringing up cannabis and kush blogs.
Basically, she created a new identity for herself. Renata is only a name now – she'll be Alexandra for the rest of the story. Is it confusing?
I spent another five fucking hours looking up exactly how to name this bitch so that everything was properly symbolic. She was born in Wales, grew up with Quakers, and has Latin and Welsh roots in her names. Do you have any idea how confusing Welsh words are? I got into flower language, too, and now I've given her no less than six names in her lifetime. The one she chooses as Trollhunter means 'hidden protector' or 'protector of the hidden'. She's bouncing the Latin roots off of her original troll name, which is Welsh and Latin because of Blinky and his brother's Roman/Latin-ish names. Now I love looking up names but I am done for this character, done I tell you. I feel like I'm trying to trace connections for one of those damn complicated Illuminati conspiracy posts.
So apparently there are several heartstones and the trolls walked all the way from NJ to California. The San Andreas fault, perhaps? And how the fuck did trolls stow away on the Mayflower?! They're fucking huge and it was only a 100 feet long. Also the Mayflower landed in Massachusetts so if they were in New Jersey they musta jumped ship and swam to shore or something while the Mayflower was going down the coast looking for the Virginia colony.
It's canon that AAARRRGGHH loves listening to Blinky, just look at the beginning of episode four. I also noticed that Bagdwella came to Blinky and AAARRRGGHH before anyone else about her gnome problem, so maybe they do odd jobs around Trollmarket?