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"Well, that went better than I expected." Nomura said as the group adjourned into Blinky's Library after revealing the fact that Nomura was a changeling to all of Trollmarket.
"Indeed, Master Nomura," Blinky concurred, taking a seat on a nearby stool, ARRRGGH standing next to him, idly snacking on some random garbage. Draal stood by the door testing out his mechanical prosthetic.
While a large portion of the trolls did not seem to mind too much about the truth of the matter, a great deal cried out in outrage. Some going as far as to call for her immediate eviction out of Trollmarket. Vendel took none of that, however, insisting that she was more than welcome here. Especially considering she did in fact kill Bular. That got a great deal of them off her case, but it didn't stop the whispers and dirty looks.
"What do they want me to do? Kill Gunmar?" She asked herself. The others looked at her strangely. That was when she realized she asked that question out loud.
"Look, while the notion that may be, Master Nomura, it is unfortunately impossible." Blinky said sadly.
Nomura tilted her head in curiosity. "Why?"
"Countless trollhunters before have tried. There is something almost immortal about him. I could do research on the matter, of course. But it most certainly would be difficult, especially considering he has the Decimar blade."
The mention of that vile blade made Nomura's skin crawl. She had felt its effects once in her life. Punishment for a failure of sorts. Her attention was subconsciously pulled to Draal, who was still trying to get used to his new arm. She barely remembered anything during that time. Only that she had no control. Pain. Sadness. Fear. Heartbreak. She felt a pang in her heart. She shook her head to clear it.
"Well if a way to counter that blade can be found, I know you're the one to find it." She gave a smile to Blinky, and he nodded.
...
Over the next couple weeks, things seemed normal, yet not normal. Nomura steered clear of those who didn't take kindly to her being a changeling, and usually just hung out at Blinky's library, reading over the Troll Lore to maybe finding some clue, or at the forge training with Draal. Training was certainly amped up since she trained in both human and troll forms now; something she hadn't really done before. And she had much more time to train being that she couldn't really keep her day job at the museum.
In between those she found herself trying to find quiet corners to get rest. And that was alot harder to do than she originally anticipated. One day she was in the back of Bagdwella's shop when Draal happened upon her.
"Just what are you doing here, Nomura?" He asked very loudly, startling her from her nap.
She looked up at him, rather bleary-eyed.
"I WAS enjoying a nice nap, which you rudely interrupted." She glared at him.
"Why are you sleeping in Bagdwella's store room? I've heard tell that you have been taking these 'naps' all over Trollmarket."
She leaned against a nearby box.
"Well, considering I AM half-human, I DO need to get SOME sleep."
Draal rolled his eyes. "Do you not have a dwelling on the surface world? Where you lived while you kept your secret?"
Nomura tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
"Unfortunately, since my secret was also revealed to two other Changelings, my betrayal is bound to have been spread to all in the Janus order. The leadership among Changelings." She explained when she noticed his blank look. "My apartment is no longer safe. For all I know, there's an Antramonstrum waiting for me the second I open the door."
Draal grunted. "Well you can't just take small rests around Trollmarket. It's showing that you are not getting enough rest."
She gave a sly smile at his concern. "Thank you for your concern. I asked Vendel about getting my own place down here, and he said it could take weeks before it would be ready."
"Then until it is ready, I insist you stay in my cave." Draal crossed his arms.
Nomura looked at him with half-lidded eyes. "Gee Draal, this isn't your way of trying to rekindle our relationship, is it?"
Draal let out a low growl, and Nomura wasn't sure if it was her exhaustion or the lighting, but it looked almost as if his cheeks became a darker shade of blue.
"Make no assumptions, trollhunter. I only want to ensure you are in top fighting condition. And that includes getting enough rest."
"Very well. I accept your offer, but only until my personal cave is ready." He nodded at that.
.....
It wasn't long until Blinky actually found the answer they were looking for. He almost seemed as short of rest as Nomura had been, spending almost a week locked in his library pouring over all his books, till it seemed he lost it burning the book he said contained the answer. It wasn't until the ashes singed the table top that the true answer was revealed. Which is why they were heading towards a part of Trollmarket Nomura had never been.
Before her was a large vehicular looking machine.
"What exactly is this?" She asked, looking over the contraption.
"The gyre. It's the only way we can get to Argentina safely and quickly." Blinky said, as ARRRGGH pulled down a portion of it.
"Hate gyre." The large troll whined as he climbed in.
"You might want to be in your troll form for this." Draal grumbled, climbing in behind the other two.
Nomura had no idea what to make of the warning, and decided to ignore the suggestion.
Blinky pulled on a lever and the gyre started up, making the worst rollercoaster that humans have made seem as tame as a merry-go-round.
The four stumbled out, and it took a few minutes for Nomura's head to clear, though she could have sworn she heard someone mutter a 'told you so.'
"HATE GYRE!" ARRRGGH cried out in a whimper. She couldn't agree more.
The meeting with Gatto, a massive mountain troll went as well as you'd expect. She had no idea that there were trolls that large. Gatto certainly was a sight to behold. When he spoke, there was always a deep echo. While he found the prospect of a changeling trollhunter fascinating, he still seemed indifferent, especially when he ate his own servants. Nomura felt for the amulet in her pocket, ready to transform if needed. It wasn't until he gave them a riddle that Nomura felt that they may not get out of this unscathed.
Her hunch was correct as even though she answered the riddle correctly, he told them that they weren't going to get out alive. She pulled out the amulet, but before she could get the thought out to transform the amulet was knocked out of her hand as she and Draal were shoved into his gaping maw.
....
It took just a few minutes for her head to clear. She looked around and noticed that there was massive piles of gold and jewels around her.
"Are you ok?" Draal asked, holding a hand out to help her up.
"How ok do you expect me to be, after being eaten by a cannibalistic mountain?" She snapped.
He couldn't hold back a smirk at her quip. "Good. Me too. Looks like Gatto's keep is in his stomach."
She looked around at the piles of treasure until the odd glimmer in one caught her attention. She dug into it and pulled out a sickly looking fragment of what appeared to be Heartstone.
"Well, that takes care of that. Now of we can find out how to get out of here." She handed the stone to Draal who had a pouch in his kilt. "Is it just me, or is it getting hotter in...here...."
That was when the two noticed that the room was slowly filling with lava.
"Maybe you can carve a way out with daylight?" Draal asked as they backed away.
"I would, except I don't have the amulet. It got knocked out of my hand when he ate us, and for some stupid reason it won't reappear for me."
"Terrific." Draal looked around hoping to find some way to escape. If they had a horngozzle that might have worked, remembering when He and his father along with ARRRGGGH battled a horde of mountain trolls during the Migration.
"Maybe if we made his stomach upset? He's got all these Potions, maybe they can make a combination strong enough to make him throw up?" Nomura pointed to the various wine and potion bottles lining the shelf. It might work, they've got nothing to lose except time.
Meanwhile on the outside. Blinky and ARRRGGH were running away from Gatto's minions. The living volcano tried to grab at them to no avail. In Blinky's hand was the amulet, which the trollhunter had lost when she was eaten. The prospect of losing her made his heart ache. He had to make sure the amulet went to a worthy party, if they could just make it back to the gyre. However he wasn't sure how, considering he and ARRRGGH were cornered far away from the tunnel.
"Looks like I can enjoy more snacks." Gatto said almost gleefully, his glowing ember eyes focused on the cowering pair.
Before either party could act, Blinky's phone went off. The phone was a gift from Nomura, early in her training so she could be reached while she was on the surface world. Blinky idly wondered who would be calling? His heart soared when he saw the caller ID.
"Master Nomura! You're alive!" He cried out in joy.
"Barely." She groused, the connection was shoddy, probably due to being in the bowel of a volcano. But it was better than nothing. "We're running out of space in here though."
In actuality, Nomura was standing on Draal's shoulders, as he was standing on a floating piece of rubble in the middle of a lava pit.
"Look, where are you in relation to Gatto." Nomura adjusted her grip on Draal's horns.
"Well, Master Nomura, it appears Gatto is ready to eat ARRRGGH and myself. It does not look good for us."
Nomura thought quick. "Listen Blinky. You tell this rotten son of.. "
Blinky was appalled at the colorful language she spoke, skillfully mixing trollish and English insults together.
"The trollhunter wishes to let you know, that if you refuse to let her and her companion go, she will dump an entire vial of Creeper's Sun poison into your stomach and, " Blinky listened to what Nomura was saying. "you can have fun dealing with a petrified treasure room."
Gatto raised an eyebrow. "She's bluffing."
Nomura heard that clearly through the phone, and the surrounding area. "I'm a changeling...."
"...do you really want to take that risk?" Blinky gestured to the phone in his hand, already knowing what she was saying.
.....
The group made their way to the gyre, not wanting to waste another second to get away from this nightmare.
"Remind me to get more Creeper's Sun when we get back to trollmarket." Nomura said, shifting into her troll form as she climbed into the gyre.
"Wait, you didn't have any with you?" Blinky asked, startled at the revelation.
"Nope. Lucky he didn't call that bluff, huh?" Nomura gave a chuckle, just simply relieved they made it out of that alive. If she never dealt with another mountain troll, it would be too soon.