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rosemaidenvixen · 5 years ago

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Flipping the Script

Chapter 2: Enter the Trollhunter II

Ao3

Nomura had on occasion, accidentally allowed her car to drift too far to one side of the highway while driving; and as a result, had her tires go across the grooves designed to alert drivers of their precarious position.

The feeling was jarring and unpleasant, to say the least.

Amplify that sensation over a thousand times, add a neverending sharp turn, and that was approximately how it felt to be driving down the massive staircase.

Nomura rattled in her armor as the jagged crystal steps battered at the car. She was being dinged black and blue, but at least the seatbelt kept her from flying around.

Despite being on a redneck rollercoaster from hell, she wasn’t screaming, not even a peep. Nomura really wanted to say that this was because she never panicked and was always the epitome of grace under pressure.

In reality her diaphragm was paralyzed with terror.

This was in direct contrast to Strickler and Otto, who were wailing their heads off.

It was actually pretty impressive that neither of them had passed out from lack of oxygen by now.

For his part Otto had given up any attempt to control the vehicle and was now just along for the ride. Or maybe he was trying to control their wild descent, it was impossible to tell at this point.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you viewed things, they rounded a final corner and shot out of the staircase. Bouncing on the last few steps in a way that reminded her of a trampoline for all the wrong reasons.

The tires tore against the cobblestones as Otto slammed on the brakes. The car fishtailed, two out of four tires having gone flat on their way down.

But friction and physics were on their side and the car slowly, painfully, came to a stop.

Insane ride finally at an end, they all sat panting and shaking in their seats, still braced for whatever shock was sure to be coming next. So of course they all jolted when the rear bumper fell off with a loud clang.

Well Nomura and Strickler did, Otto slumped over against the steering wheel in a dead faint.

So they were alive, which was a definite plus, but now the car was totaled and Otto was unconscious. Those were things, things that she should probably deal with.

Still trembling from residual adrenaline, Nomura pried herself out of the car, clinging to the side to keep from falling over. Across the hood she could see Strickler getting out and going over to Otto’s door, checking him over no doubt.

Now that she had a moment to breathe, Nomura glanced around at her surroundings. They were in a stone city of some kind, buildings and storefronts carved directly into or out of the bedrock. All illuminated by a myriad of crystals that glowed every color of the rainbow. A glittering metropolis hidden beneath the foundation of Arcadia Oaks.

It would have been beautiful if not for the steadily increasing number of trolls gathering around the car, none of them looked happy.

“Humans? In Trollmarket?”

“Fleshbags!”

“What are they doing here?”

“Might be changelings...”

Angor was standing between them and the crowd, front and center, but the nervous expression he wore was not reassuring.

Right on queue the sword magically reappeared on Nomura’s back, she really hoped that didn’t mean she would have to use it in the next few seconds.

Before the crowd’s grumbling could escalate to shouting, a troll broke through the crowd and dashed around to join Angor in separating them from the mob. Shorter than most other trolls, green with six eyes and four arms.

Dictatious.

“Calm down everyone, no reason to panic,” his voice boomed in the stone corridor “Let’s not lose our heads…”

Nomura, ignoring the looky-loos for now, scurried around to the other side of the car to help Strickler pull Otto out. They managed to lift the bespeckled man out of his seat, only to stagger under his weight. Nomura grunted as she strained to support him, Otto wasn’t that heavy, but he wasn’t that light either, and his flopping limps and overall limpness did not help when trying to maneuver him.

As soon as all three of them were conscious and above ground, she was going to thank Strickler and Otto for all the times during college they dragged her drunk, unconscious body onto the couch and into the recovery position.

Stricker gave an uncertain glance at the troll standing off to the side "A little help...Angor?"

Looking glad at being given a way to help directly, Angor stepped over and plucked Otto out of their arms and into his as easily as a human might pick up a baby.

Meanwhile Dictatious was still trying to calm the masses “These humans are no intruders,” he struggled to make himself heard over the rising grumblings of the crowd “Please allow me to introduce our new Trollhunter and her...”

Half of his eyes swiveled over in her direction “These are your brothers,” he stage whispered “Correct?”

“I-- Yes,”

That was close enough to the truth that it might as well be. And besides, the whole truth was...complicated.

“Our new Trollhunter, and her brothers!”

His words seemed to have the opposite effect than intended, riling up the crowd even further rather than calming them.

Before Nomura could start to panic about the soon-to-be angry mob, a new voice boomed above the others.

“WHAT. IS. THIS!”

She felt, through the tremors in the ground, the new troll coming before she saw him. The crowd parted, making way for a massive, coal black troll to storm through. The newcomer was bigger than Angor and a lot bigger than Dictatious. He was nearly as big as Draal, hell maybe he was bigger. His only clothing was a kilt and scabbards holding twin swords strapped to his back. Horns curled around his face framing an ugly snarl with the fringes of the dark, matted mane running down his back peeking out. The only trace of color on him besides black was in his blazingly red eyes, which were laser focused on Dictatious.

“YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT THIS--” he stabbed an accusatory finger in Nomura’s direction “FLESHBAG, IS OUR NEW TROLLHUNTER!?”

Dictatious folded both sets of arms “Yes Bular I do, and don’t just take my word for it, the armor and the amulet speak for themselves,”

Bular snapped his gaze in Nomura’s direction and let out a low growl, she squashed the urge to flinch.

“She can’t be the Trollhunter! She’s not a troll!”

Dictatious met Bular’s gaze without flinching “I admit it’s unconventional, but the amulet has made its choice. Now there is nothing for us to do but accept it,”

Bular seethed, hands balled into fists, shaking with barely restrained fury. His eyes raked over Nomura’s silver armor and the amulet hovering above her heart “You have no right to wear that armor, human,” he spat, stomping in her direction, she wobbled and took an involuntary step back “I am Bular the Vicious, son of Gunmar the Glorious and the amulet’s rightful heir!”

Gunmar? Who was-- Oh yeah, Dictatious had said that he was the Trollhunter before her. Back up, he had a son!?

Suddenly Bular’s arm shot forward and his fingers closed around the amulet faster than she could react to.

“AND I WILL NOT SEE HIS LEGACY SULLIED!”

Just as he started to pull at the silver disk, the amulet hummed with energy and erupted with a concussive blast, throwing Nomura back to be caught by Strickler, and hurtling Bular into the crowd, who scattered away from the flying troll with gasps of shock and stunned looks on their faces.

If Bular had been mad before now he was profoundly pissed off. Roaring, he hurtled to his feet and charged back towards her.

Nomura snarled, shaking off Strickler’s attempts to hold her back, and stalked forward to meet the dark troll head on.

She knew in some part of her mind how stupid this was, going up against an eight foot tall stone monster that could snap her spine like a twig. But after everything she’d just been through today Nomura was done.

She had absolutely no fucks left to give.

The two squared off, mere feet apart.

“Listen well human--”

“No, you listen!” Nomura cut him off with a growl “I found this amulet nine hours ago and in that time I’ve been chased, punched, thrown, tossed, and threatened with death more times than in the rest of my life combined!”

She leaned in until their faces were mere inches apart, close enough to smell his halitosis, closer than she ever would have dared if she were less tired and pissed overall “This amulet has been nothing but trouble, and apparently giving it back isn’t an option. Believe me I tried,”

Their noses were almost touching now as Nomura pressed even closer, she could see Bular’s eyes widening “So if you want it so bad, how about I shove it straight up your--”

Strickler grabbed Nomura by the arm and yanked her back, probably trying to get her out of biting range “Let’s save the more colorful threats for another day, shall we?” he said, panic thinly veiled with a brittle smile.

But rather than bellowing or threatening her with limb shearing, Bular looked like he had been stunned into silence by her outburst. This lasted for a few seconds before he snorted and turned away “We’ll see what Usurna has to say about this,” he grumbled while walking off.

Nomura pulled herself free from Strickler and watched Bular leave through narrowed eyes. Picking fights on her first day as Trollhunter was probably a bad idea, especially since she already had one troll gunning for her, but Gunmar’s son or not, that guy was an ass. The crowd was dispersing now, trolls losing interest now that violence was no longer imminent and heading off in different directions. Taking advantage of the lull, Dictatious swooped in and grabbed each of them by the arm “Let’s move along, shall we,”

They hustled through the market, following Dictatious’s lead. Angor trailed after them, bridal carrying the unconscious Otto. Strickler kept gawking at all the sights and sounds of the troll city, Nomura was more concerned with the trolls constantly milling about, occasionally giving them the stink eye.

“So are we...safe here?”

“Oh yes,” Dictatious said animatedly “Trollmarket’s wards are impenetrable, no Gumm Gumm could ever set foot here,”

“No, I mean is it safe for us,” Nomura gestured to herself and the two men “Humans?”

All six of Dictatious’s eyes blinked “Oh, that is...less certain,”

Strickler narrowed in on that “What exactly does that mean, ‘less certain’?”

“Humans have never before set foot in Trollmarket, the fact that you are here is a tremendous upheaval to our way of life. And rapid change is not something trolls are accustomed to, and some may react...poorly,”

Despite the uneasy mood, Dictatious suddenly brightened and hurried ahead while gesturing for them to follow.

“Enough talk of such dire things. Master Nomura, it is time for you to see precisely what you’re fighting for as our Trollhunter,”

Hustling after Dictatious, Nomura turned and reached a clear area of the street that bordered a massive chasm. Looking up and following the troll’s line of sight, Nomura let out a gasp.

On the other side of the chasm was a crystal the size of a skyscraper. But even in spite of its size, this was no ordinary piece of quartz. The crystal glowed with soft, orange-yellow light. Something about it just felt warm, like coming face to face with the sun.

Nomura heard a soft gasp from behind her as Strickler experienced his own reaction to the crystal. Angor appeared bemused by their reactions, even as he shut his eyes and let out a pleased hum as the light of the crystal hit him.

“The Hearthstone,” Dictatious said with no small amount of pride “Source of strength and vitality for all Trollkind. As our Trollhunter, your sworn duty is to protect it and all the trolls who share in its warmth,”

Looking up at the hearthstone, Nomura felt an uncomfortable stirring in her chest. Magical amulets were a terrible way to choose public servants, she was standing by that, but it was obvious that this whole Hearthstone-Trollhunter gig was very important. And she wasn’t sure that she could be what they needed.

Luckily she was saved from her emotions by Otto starting to wake up. Golden eyes widening in alarm at the squirming human in his arms, Angor hastily set Otto down on the cobblestones as gently as he could and took a few steps back.

Nomura and Strickler hurried up to him as Otto groaned and twitched back into consciousness.

“I just had the strangest dream…” Otto sat up and straightened his crooked glasses “Nomura found a magic amulet and then trolls were-- Gott in himmel!?”

Strickler flashed him a sympathetic look while helping him to his feet “Unfortunately we are all very much awake, are you injured at all?”

Otto groaned and stretched “Nein...but I am going to need a stiff drink at the end of today,”

Nomura patted him on the shoulder “You and me both,”

Otto blinked and looked around “Where are we exactly?”

“Trollmarket,” Strickler replied, cutting off Dictatious who had opened his mouth in preparation to explain. He shut it and scowled, but allowed Strickler to continue.

“Apparently an entire Trollish metropolis exists beneath Arcadia, with no one the wiser, and Nomura has most recently been appointed as their protector,”

Otto snorted “Now that I find hard to believe,”

Nomura punched him on the shoulder “Asshole,”

Angor and Dictatious shared a puzzled look, the shorter troll raising a brow ridge in confusion “Is that a human term of endearment?”

“Dictatious Galaridgal!”

They all turned at the new voice booming through the stone streets.

A new troll strode towards them. She was about as tall as Angor, but broader. She carried a large glowing, crystal staff. Bioluminescent lines traced and curled across her stone skin, and her mouth was firmly fixed in a scowl.

“Dictatious Galaridgal. What in the name of Gorgus is going on? I had to hear from Bular of all people that our new Trollhunter--” she narrowed her eyes in Nomura’s direction “Is apparently a human,”

“Well, Usurna, you see--”

Apparently Usurna decided to skip over Dictatious and go straight to the source. Frowning deeply, the new troll strode over to Nomura “So, you are Trollmarket’s new protector?”

Nomura glanced down at the silver armor, not even bothering to conceal her eye roll “Looks like it,”

Usurna’s gaze narrowed “There is only one test for a true Trollhunter,” she turned and gestured with her staff “Come,”

An alarmed look flashed between Angor and Dictatious, but they said nothing as they fell into step behind Usurna; Nomura, Otto, and Strickler following.

Usurna led them to a stone alley off to the side, so narrow that even the three humans had to go single file. The alley widened and Nomura stepped out of the corridor after Angor only to freeze in her tracks and let out a small gasp, actions mirrored a few seconds later by Strickler and Otto.

They were heading down a narrow stone path that led to an arena circled by massive walls. On either side of the entrance a massive statue of a troll stood, expressions somber and weapons held at the ready.

Nomura gazed around in wonderment, adrenaline from her fight with Draal and the subsequent encounter with Bular melting away, as she followed the trolls into the arena. Even remembering how awestruck she’d been when she saw the golden gate bridge at age ten couldn’t compare.

The six of them reached the center of the arena, if anything the view was even more impressive from here. From this vantage point Nomura could see that statues of trolls standing atop massive pillars ringed the entire space.

“Trollhunter,”

It took Nomura a second to realize Usurna was talking to her “Yeah?”

She gestured with her staff to to troll sized footprints in the floor “Step forth,”

Before Nomura could walk over, Dictatious stepped between them “I understand that this whole situation is...unexpected, but could we not do this after Master Nomura has at least been trained in the basics?”

Usurna was unmoved “No, these are serious matters, and I do not wish to waste any time,”

Slumping in defeat, Dictatious stepped over to stand beside an anxious looking Angor.

“Now Trollhunter, step forth,”

Slightly more nervous now, Nomura walked over and placed her feet into the corresponding prints. Something shifted in the stone beneath her feet. With a rattle several large stone panels moved aside and a large, multi armed mannequin of sorts rose up from the floor.

“Behold the soothscryer!” Usurna pointed at the thing’s mouth “Insert your right hand Trollhunter,”

Nomura looked up, the dummy’s mouth was full of rings of sharps spikes “Yeah, no,”

“That was not a request,”

“Have you seen the teeth on that thing? I’m not putting my hand anywhere near it,”

A thin, painful looking smile carved itself into Usurna’s face “I am losing my patience Trollhunter, either you offer the soothscryer your hand, or I will,”

So apparently this was a non-option, fucking wonderful.

Nomura eyed the sharp looking apparatus uneasily “Strickler, Otto, can you guys give me a boost,”

Exchanging an apprehensive glance, the two of them came over and each grabbed a leg, lifting her to reaching distance of the hole. Eyeing the jagged interior, and once again cursing the events that had brought her here, Nomura slowly inserted her hand.

The machine clamped down on it.

Nomura screamed, she tried to jerk her hand out of the hole, kicking at Strickler and Otto in her mad flailing. They dropped her but the machine’s grip on her arm kept Nomura suspended.

Then the mechanism released.

Nomura dropped to the floor. Ignoring Strickler and Otto squawking as they broke her fall, she scrambled at her freed hand.

Four fingers and a thumb, all intact and moving properly.

Nomura went limp with relief, only to have Strickler elbow her in the side “Get off of me,” he groused. Angor and Dictatious scurried over to help them up

Meanwhile Usurna was still examining the mannequin that had almost made Nomura an amputee. She sniffed at it “Inconclusive,”

“Inconclusive!?” Nomura struggled to her feet, supported by “What the hell does that mean?!”

Usurna turned and started striding away “It means that the soothscryer needs more time to render its judgement,”

Nomura narrowed her eyes at the dismissive troll “So what, we just try again next week?”

Ursurna let out a chuckle “Next week? I doubt you will last that long human,” she paused “Oh forgive me, I doubt you will last that long Trollhunter,”

#Tales of Arcadia #Trollhunters #fanfic #role reversal AU #role swap au #zelda nomura #walter strickler #otto scaarbach #angor rot #dictacious galadrigal #bular #usurna #flipping the script #Trollhunter!Nomura #rmvwrites

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