-The Loophole-

Wherefore Art Thou, Trollhunter?

Blinky and AAARRRGGHH!!! led us down a bright blue staircase, appearing to be composed of minerals. I laughed out loud suddenly as a memory entered my mind, the noise breaking the silence and echoing around us; it caused the four armed troll to jump, whipping around.

"What in Deya's name is humorous about this??" He inquired confusedly.

"I just realized that the canal is under a bridge," I replied with a chuckle as we reached the bottom, "like where they say trolls live in all the old legends." Blinky raised a brow.

"Of course we are associated with bridges, Olivier, they are very sacred and hold great symbolism to our kind." He turned my attention to what appeared to be a city of trolls of all different species.

"Woah.." Toby began.

"This is absolutely stunning," Inza stated under her breath.

"Pretty much," Jim agreed, looking out in content. "God, I forgot what this feels like.." he whispered under his breath. I furrowed my brows, looking over at him.

"This way, Masters," Blinky gave a push to each one of us to get us going, "there is much to see." As the two trolls began leading us through the market, Toby trotted up close to Blinky.

"Dang! And here I thought the only thing under our town was dirt and plumbling... Oh, and I was wondering: why are bridges symbolic for you, B?" He chirped.

"Toby, that's rude to ask like that," Inza told him. Blinky seemed unbothered.

"A virtuous query, Master Tobias. It is important for you all to know as much as you can in order to be accepted by our society, mistress Inzalyne, therefore, I take no offense to the poorly worded inquiry. Bridges are considered a connection between two places, in this case, it being human and trollkind alike. As Master Tobias stated before, you all were under the impression that under your town ther is only the soil, as well as a few basic human advancements. Well, that is simply because there is." Toby just looked genuinely confused.

"But we're literally in a whole underground city under Arcadia!' He cried, catching the attention of a few trolls on the sidelines.

"Not entirely," Blinky continued. "Trollmarket occupies its own plane of existence. We both exist and do not exist in the same realm. The bridges are what allows us to walk between our world and yours. That, my good friend, is why."

"So.. we're in a different dimension right now?" Inza asked.

"In a way," Blinky replied. "One must have access to a bridge in order to enter certain planes, such as this one." We stopped walking, standing before some sort of large balcony, admiring a very large orange crystal.

"Oh, wow. That's beautiful." I told Blinky.

"The Heartstone; the very means of life force that gives us sustenance keeps us from crumbling to stone," he explained.

"What are humans doing here?" A voice asked suddenly.

"Carnes sacculi!" <<fleshbag!>> Another one sounded in a foreign language.

"Debilis!" <<puny!>> One more.

"I think we've attracted the paparazzi..." Inza whispered to me. "I mean, what can I say? We are exceptionally attractive," she added with a hair flip. I laughed out loud.

"Friends, there is no need to be afraid," Blinky assured them, "he is the trollhun--"

"What is this?!" A large, cyan troll emerged from the crowd, cutting off the four armed one. "Human feet have never sullied the grounds of Trollmarket before.. who are these fleshbags?!" He growled.