Note: I want to clarify some things to avoid confusion. The Sunnymoon person I mentioned before, his name is StarmanSlayer in . Also, some stuff like the Runestone might be addressed at a later chapter. I give credit to StarmanSlayer for writing several parts of this chapter.
The boy had just started to regain consciousness when he started to hear muffled voices.
"Don't you think you overreacted a little? I mean, you shot him with a gun!" said one of the voices.
"It was a tranquilizer gun!" another voice responded. "And besides, how am I supposed to react when I see a perfect copy of myself standing right in front of me?"
"Well, you didn't tranquilize yourself when we went back to the past." said a third, higher pitched voice.
At this point, the boy was able to slowly raise his head and open his eyes. Though his vision was blurry at first, it became clearer and clearer with every second until his mind was able to process his surroundings. He was sitting in a strangely familiar room, and in front of him stood a group of strangely familiar faces.
"I'm really starting to think bringing him here was a bad idea... How do you think your mum will-" the girl was cut off by what seemed to be a female version of himself.
"Wait, he's waking up!" exclaimed Hilda before taking a few steps towards him, a cautious look on her face.
With his mouth still half asleep, the boy mumbled "Hmph... Where am I? Am I home?"
As the numbness of his body dissipated, he realized he was bound to the chair he was sitting in. "W-What's going on? Why am I tied up?" he nervously asked Hilda.
He felt something move around his feet and looked down to see a small deerfox sniffing his left foot. "Leaf? Is that you?" Twig looked up at him and let out a short growl, before going back to sniffing him. It was clear this wasn't Leaf.
Hilda suddenly shoved her face a few inches away from his, making him recoil in surprise, she inspected each of his features carefully. The girl was carrying a frying pan. She stepped back and started to walk in a circle around him. Once she was back in front of him, she swiftly plucked a hair from his head. "Ouch!" exclaimed the boy.
"Yep, that's the same blue..." muttered Hilda to herself
"Can you guys answer any of my questions?" abruptly asked the boy, whose nervousness was turning into annoyance.
"Not yet." answered Hilda "We have a few questions first."
"You're in an apartment. And no, you're not at home." quickly answered David. "I hope this helps!" he grinned awkwardly.
After a short silence, Hilda asked "So... What's your name?"
"It's Hilbert." He replied.
"Sounds familiar..." said David lost in thought.
"What's a troll's weakness?" Hilda sternly asked.
"Do you think I'm stupid? It's bells and sunlight!" he answered louder than before. It was obvious Hilbert was getting irritated by these questions, but Hilda pressed him to answer one more question.
"Criminal record?" David and Frida gave each other puzzled looks.
"Criminal re-WHAT?" Hilbert was flabbergasted, to the point where he started asking himself if he wasn't still under the tranquilizer's effect.
Frida placed a hand on Hilda's shoulder, pulling her away from the confused boy. She interjected "Hilda, that's enough! It's clear he isn't a criminal, he's just a kid like us!"
She quickly followed up "So you're from Trolberg, right?" to which Hilbert nodded.
"Now can you please untie me and tell me what's going on?" he asked, now clearly unamused by the situation.
"Right, he doesn't look dangerous. I think you can untie him now." said Frida to Hilda, who promptly untied Hilbert, allowing him to finally stand up.
After a long stretch, he asked "So, now can I ask you your names?"
"Oh right! I'm Hilda, this is Frida and David, my best friends!" said Hilda cheerfully trying to get Hilbert to lighten up.
"Ahem!" a high-pitched voice was heard coming from Hilda's head, when suddenly Alfur revealed himself. "I'm here too you know?" he stated with a pout.
"And this is Alfur!" added Hilda awkwardly.
"Not only do you guys look like my friends, but your names sound like theirs too!" His eyes widened at the realization. "So wait, did I get sucked into a parallel universe where I'm a girl or something?" he asked incredulously.
"It appears so yes." replied Frida.
David suddenly snapped his finger and exclaimed "Hilda! THAT'S where I knew it from!" A proud smile was plastered across his face "I knew it sounded familiar!"
"O...kay well, how do I go back to my own world then?" he nervously asked.
"According to this book, the portal opens every 12 hours, when the two worlds naturally align." explained Frida "Also, the portal can only take people from the world where Midday strikes, to the world were midnight strikes, not the other way around." she specified.
"Neat! This means all I got to do is wait 12 hours for the worlds to realign, and then jump back through the portal." said Hilbert confidently.
His joy was short lived however, as Frida interjected once again. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. It's stated right here that someone needs to pull you out from the other side, otherwise the portal is as good as closed."
Hilbert sat back down onto his chair, looking dejected. A concerned Hilda approached him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't look so down, your friends will probably be worried about you. They'll probably be waiting for you on the other end when the time comes!" reassured Hilda.
"I hope so..." responded Hilbert after a long sigh. He stood back up, trying to regain his composure. "But what now? Is there really nothing we can do from here?" he asked this. already knowing the answer.
David chuckled, which prompted everyone to look in his direction "Oh. sorry! It's just a really familiar feeling." Frida and Alfur both nodded in agreement.
"The best we can do right now is try to get your mind off of this for the next 12 hours," stated Hilda before letting out an unexpected yawn, Frida and David followed suit.
"And there's no better way to empty your mind than having a good night's rest!"
"Now that you mention it, we're nearing 1 A.M." confirmed Frida. "It would probably be best if David and I went back home before our parents notice we stayed up past our curfew."
After waving goodbye to her friends, Hilda turned to Hilbert and gestured to him to follow her. "You can sleep here for the night, I'll give you a sleeping bag from my closet."
Hilbert quickly grabbed her arm. "Wait! I can't stay here! How is your mum gonna react if she sees me? I am NOT having a repeat of the tranquilizer incident!" he exclaims in panic.
"Don't worry, we can figure this out in the morning. I tend to wake up before her anyway." assures Hilda, resuming her walk towards her room.
After a few seconds of hesitation, he decides to follow her in the corridor and subconsciously takes a left to open the door to his room. He stops dead in his track when he hears Hilda calling out to him. "Hey, where are you going? This is my Mum's room."
Hilbert just stood there for a few seconds, looking back and forth between Hilda and the door. He was completely turned around. After coming back to his senses, he turned around and entered the correct room.
Hilbert was surprised seeing Hilda's room. "Wow. You pretty much almost got the same amount of stuff as I do."
"Well, I am your female counterpart after all." Hilda cleaned up the floor so she could place the sleeping bag next to her bed. Twig leaped on the bed as Hilbert got dressed into spare pajamas Hilda gave him. The boy got in his sleeping bag while the girl went to her bed.
"This is going to take some time to get used to," Hilbert said. "I look forward to see how your world is compared to mine."
"You'll enjoy it here," Hilda patted her male counterpart on the head before turning off the lights. "Me, David, and Frida will show you around. Good night, Hilbert."
The boy smiled before sleeping. "Good night, Hilda."
Everyone proceeded to sleep for the night. They failed to notice some a small glowing white light from the mirror during their nap.
The next morning, Hilbert woke up yawning. He noticed Hilda and Twig were still asleep. The boy felt his stomach rumble, so he had to go find breakfast. Thankfully, there were some waffles on the fridge, so he got to work on heating them up. Hilbert decided to make some breakfast for Hilda and (to a lesser extent) Johanna as well. Once he got done frying up some eggs, he poured some orange juice as drinks. Hilda woke up to see her counterpart making breakfast. "Good morning, Hilbert. What are you doing?"
"Morning, Hilda. Just thought I'd make you some breakfast for the day. I might as well make myself a good guest here by providing for you," Hilbert set up the table.
"Really?" Hilda got on her chair. "I must say, this is really impressive."
The waffles were done just in time for the kids to eat. "Serves up!" Hilbert placed them on plates.
Hilda was pleased when she started dining on the food. "Amazing! I have never eaten such a delicious meal before. You're quite the cook, Hilbert."
"Heh," Hilbert scratched his head. "Thanks. My dad taught me how to do this. You should have seen the look in his face when I made him pie for Father's Day!"
Twig went to his bowl. Hilbert provided the necessary food for him to eat, which made the deerfox satisfied with the meal.
"You know," Hilda finished her bacon. "I could use skills like that. Perhaps you can show me your ways?"
"Yeah, absolutely." Hilbert drank his orange juice.
"Great!" said Hilda. "I thought you'd still be holding a grudge after what happened yesterday." she admitted, looking off to the side with a guilty expression on her face.
"Of course not! It was just a misunderstanding! Plus, I might've done the same if you were the one who came into my world. It's water under the bridge now." He said before taking a sip out of his glass. "But if something like this happens again, I will be mad!" he added half-jokingly.
This caused Hilda to laugh, almost choking on her mouthful of waffle. "It shouldn't happen again, I put the tranquilizer gun in one of the cupboards so we should have time to explain the situation before mum gets to use it." she explained.
Hilbert's mood visibly shifted a little at the mention of Hilda's mother. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he spoke up "So weird, question I know but…" he hesitated "How is it like to have a mum?"
Hilbert tried to play it cool, avoiding eye contact while poking at the yolk of his egg with his fork.
Hilda was saddened by the question, she knew exactly how he felt, but she tried to play it cool as well, making her response as casual as she could "Oh well you know… It's nice to have someone who always looks out for you, who'd do anything to make sure you're safe. Even though sometimes she can be a little suffocating, I wouldn't trade it for the world!" As she said that last part, she saw Hilbert nod in agreement.
"My dad is pretty much the same." the duo fell into another awkward silence, before Hilbert gathered the courage to speak once again "So since our lives seem to be mirrored, I'm assuming your dad wasn't really present?" This question came out way more bluntly than he thought.
Hilda looked down at her now empty plate "No he wasn't… he visited once every few years, but it was usually not for long." she responded dejectedly but perked back up and added "But it's getting better! He moved into town recently and now I see him every week!"
"Same goes with my mum, but I don't know… it still feels a little weird to have her around more you know?" he asked Hilda.
"I know…" she gave him a knowing smile, to which he responded with a smile of his own. The two felt a spark of kinship for one another, finally someone else knew their pain.
Hilbert opened his mouth to say more but was interrupted by the sound of a door opening, it was Johanna waking up! The pair looked at each other with panicked looks on their faces before clumsily sitting up from the table, as a loud yawn was heard coming from the corridor. Hilbert leaned to the side to whisper in Hilda's ear. "So what's the plan exactly? Do we just tell her about the world-warping mirror you brought into your room?" he asked in a panic.
Hilda quickly answered "I don't know, I just thought I'd improvise. But now that we're here, I'm starting to think I should've prepared something!" A mix of embarrassment and stress could be heard in her voice.
"Are you serious? You told me you'd handle it! And you had the whole night to think of a plan! No wonder you always get bad grades for class presentations if you always delay it until the last second." he hissed, clearly annoyed.
Hilda nudged him and snapped back, still trying to keep her voice down. "I AM going to handle it! And you do the same with your assignments!" Hilbert snapped his finger in defeat.
"Damn, you're right! It really doesn't help that we have the same flaws. But what now?" he asked while pointing at Johanna's shadow, which could now be seen at the edge of the corridor.
Needless to say, Johanna had never taken that much time to walk down the corridor. To Hilda, it felt like hours since she first heard her open the door, while it had only been a few seconds.
"Just stay here and be quiet, I'll do the talking." she ordered him. "And no sudden moves!"
Hilbert nodded just as Johanna arrived in the living room "Good morning, Hilda" she said still clearly drowsy.
"Good morning mum!" Hilda replied nervously. Although it appeared Johanna hadn't seen her daughter's lookalike yet, she just kept going towards the bathroom door. But as she reached for the doorknob, her body stiffened "Wait! Did I just see…"
She slowly turned around to see Hilda smiling at her, while a boy that looked just like her was swinging back and forth, whistling.
Johanna started to scream before instinctively reaching for the nearest cupboard. After seeing her mother's reaction, Hilda decided to intervene "Mum, wait! I know how this looks crazy but let me explain-"
She didn't have time to finish her explanation as Johanna had already managed to dig out the tranquilizer gun.
"Uh-oh" muttered Hilbert, knowing exactly where this was headed. And sure enough, Johanna was already taking aim at him. He was now torn between running around the kitchen table to try to dodge the shots, or standing still like Hilda told him to not aggravate the situation. Against his better judgment, he decided to stay still and raise his hands.
At the same time, Hilda tried to resonate with her panicked mother "Wait, Mum! Don't-" she shouted in vain as she saw the projectile shoot out of the cannon "Shoot…" and fly directly towards Hilbert's right leg.
As the projectile hit its mark, Hilbert let out a loud "OUCH!"
Seconds later, his legs started to tremble as his whole body grew heavier. As he started to lose consciousness, he uttered the words "Come on! Not again!" before falling on the ground face first. Just as his body hit the ground, a small *ding* was heard coming from the toaster as two fresh waffles popped out of it. Of course, due to the recent events, no one picked up on its comedic timing.
Johanna breathed a sigh of relief and finally started to calm down "Now, you can explain." she said to her daughter, who looked at the boy with a worried look. "Well?" she looked at Hilda with an expecting look.
Hilda sighed and replied "Fine. I'll explain everything. But can you help me drag him to the couch?"
After placing Hilbert on the couch, Hilda spent the next hour and a half explaining the situation to her worried mother, trying her best not to omit any detail. She mentioned the magic mirror she brought to her room, the plan she used to steal it, and the existence of a parallel dimension all the while Johanna silently wondered how her daughter managed to get involved in yet another dimensional travel.
Once her daughter had finally finished her explanation, Johanna took a deep breath and asked, "So you know how to fix this?" Hilda nodded.
Johanna was relieved that there seemed to be a straightforward solution to one of her daughter's mishaps.
Minutes later, Hilbert had already started to wake up. "You're up already?" exclaimed Hilda, both happy and surprised that her new friend was back to his senses so quickly after being tranquilized.
"Yeah well, I think I'm getting used to it." Hilbert grumbled, clearly not happy about what happened.
Johanna, feeling guilty, approaches the boy and offers him her hand. "I'm sorry I freaked out; I just thought you were some sort of shape-shifter or… someone dangerous. Do we have a truce?"
Hilbert shook her hand in agreement "Truce!" he said. "But I really hope my luck goes up from here!"
Hilda grabs Hilbert's hand. "Maybe I can show you around Trolberg. There's plenty to check around."
Hilbert smiles. "Let's go for it."
The two kids managed to exit the apartment and walk around the block. Hilda walked around and showed her friend the places she had been through from her past adventures. Eventually, some rustling was heard in an alley. Both blue-haired children got curious about the noises. They noticed two shadows run by. Hilda and Hilbert decided to follow them. They eventually got to a corner to see two figures growl and attack each other. It was Twig and another deerfox. Hilda didn't recognize it at first, but her male counterpart did.
"Leaf!" The boy ran toward one of the deerfoxes.
The deerfox known as Leaf heard her master and leaped to his head. Hilbert hugged his pet and laughed in joy. Twig got confused as he walked back to Hilda.
"This is your deerfox?" Hilda asked in curiosity.
"Yeah, this is Leaf." Hilbert answered while cleaning Leaf's face. "The day I found her was a day I'll never forget!"
"Let me guess, you met her in the wilderness when you were very little."
"You got that right," Hilbert said before getting up. "You ever encountered the White Wolf?"
"Well, in my place it is known as the Black Hound, but yeah. You won't believe the face of the Marra when they saw it."
Suddenly, the bells started to ring. Hilda noticed the clock being 10:30 pm.
"We are nearing our chance to get you home. Let's go back to the mirror!" Hilda grabbed Hilbert's hand.
But before the two kids could resume their adventure, they were cornered by an angry mob. Kids, adults, teens, and Safety Patrol officers were carrying pitchforks, torches, and maces.
"Hey! That's the girl who made a fool out of me about the Raven!" Trevor shouted.
"She assaulted my husband!" one of the women cried.
"She ratted us out to the Rat King!" Kelly complained.
"She poisoned our water supply, burned our food, and delivered a sickness on our homes!" a Safety Patrol officer yelled.
"She did?" The crowd was shocked.
"No! But are we going to just sit around till she gets the chance?!" the Safety Patrol officer added.
"I'd say we tear her apart and her friend!" a little boy shouted before the crowd turned to assault Hilda and Hilbert, only to find out they weren't there. "Hey, where the hell did those kids go?"
The crowd heard a crash. They turned around to see Hilda accidentally tip over a bicycle. "Whoops." She chuckled nervously.
"GET THEM!" a kindergartener shouted.
The two kids screamed in panic as they got chased around Trolberg.
An hour later, the two kids arrived home, panting. Parts of their hair were burned, their arms had holes due to being poked by pitchforks, their shoulders were injured due to being kicked, and their faces had bruises from all the punches they suffered. David and Frida noticed and rushed to their aid.
"Good lord!" David applied some ice to Hilbert's head. "What happened to you guys?"
"Angry mob…" Hilda panted. "Assaulted us…"
"That's got to hurt," Frida exclaimed as she put bandages on Hilda's arms.
"So, we are going to get Hilbert back to his home world?" David asked.
"Yup. Dana and Freddie must be worried sick about me." Hilbert winced as David applied alcohol on his bruises. "Ow!"
"Well, we have no time to waste! Let's get to that mirror!"
Hilda and Hilbert tried to rush to their destination, but they both fell face flat on the floor. Twig and Leaf had to help push their masters toward the mirror along with the support of David and Frida. They got to their destination within a few minutes.
"Man, you guys had it rough," Tontu commented.
"I'll say," Hilbert replied before spitting out a loose tooth.
"Come on, let's get to the other side of this mirror before god-know-what happens next," Hilda coughed up some blood before she got up.
Eventually, it became that time. Some voices familiar to Hilbert were heard. Once the proper guide was given, everyone held hands and prepared for the inevitable. Tontu stayed behind to help pull everyone out when they returned.
"Ready, guys?" Hilbert called out, as the others nodded.
Soon, all of them jumped to the mirror. Hilda, David, and Frida screamed during this journey. They saw many colors twist and turn. Some familiar memories that they had were all changing color. Eventually, the area became dark.
To be continued…