Trolls World Tour: Forever My Queen

Ch. 24: Play for me

(Cover Art by MimiNicolette )

The moment I said those dreaded words, I collapsed to the ground. This couldn't be happening...this had to be a dream! I could feel my heart breaking in my chest as I stared blankly at that pixel heart in Katheryn's hands. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her lips moving, but no sound was coming out. All I could hear was this high pitch ringing noise. She was frozen in shock, like the news was still sinking in. Trollex immediately rushed over to my side the moment he saw me collapse. His lips were moving too, but I couldn't hear what he was saying either.

I held my shaking hands out to Katheryn, and she carefully placed Roxy's heart in my hands. It was still warm...I ran my fingers over it as more tears fell from my eyes and plopped onto her heart. This was all that was left of her...

As I started whimpering softly, the ringing stopped...I was in complete denial...I just got her back...she couldn't be gone...I couldn't lose her again...

"Roxanne?" I finally managed to choke out. "Roxy...please...come back to me...I'm not strong enough...to lose you again..." No response.

All that greeted me was silence. There was no more music. There were no more colors. Just gray and painful silence.

"I'm so sorry for your lose, dad..." I heard Trollex say sincerely as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Was she...a friend of yours?" Upon hearing him say that, I couldn't hold back my sorrow any longer. I just clutched her heart close to mine and started sobbing uncontrollably. The harsh reality must've hit Katheryn at that moment too, since she also started wailing loudly.

All the other troll leaders, including the ones who barely knew her, formed a circle around us as they too started to cry. I could even hear a few distant sobs coming from the audience. For several minutes, we all just cried, until one of the troll leaders started talking.

"You know..." I heard Queen Essence start to say. "I only ever knew her for a few minutes when we were kids..." Everybody looked up and watched as she stepped forward to speak.

"It was just another average day for me. A few friends and I were standing around making small talk when, all of a sudden, I felt someone grab my leg and pull me over to a nearby table. There she was, and sitting across from her was none other than the prince of funk himself, Quincy." I watched her give King Quincy a small smile. Then she continued.

"She had planned on using me as a stand-in girlfriend for him, so that she would have a valid excuse for wandering off without her mother, but she wasn't very good at lying," she chuckled.

"After they had left Vibe City, I felt bad that she got dragged into that awkward situation, so I went looking for her..." Quincy continued. "I wanted to make it up to her, so...I asked her if she wanted to go out for dinner...as friends, of course."

"But we both know where that led us," Queen Essence said as she raised an eyebrow at her husband. Quincy nodded as a small smile crept across his face. Then, she turned her head to face me.

"Basically...what I'm trying to say...is that if she wouldn't have done that, I would've never had met him," she said as she lowered her head. "She has done...so much for us...and she doesn't even know it...She truly was a very special troll..."

I sniffled. She stepped back as Delta Dawn took a step forward.

"I'm just gonna be honest with y'all," she started. "When I first met her, I thought she was the strangest troll I had ever seen. She was so jumpy and excited to be in Lonesome Flats that it kind of freaked me out a bit...But, for some strange reason, I was kind of alright with that. So, when she asked me to show her the Lonely Gorge, I did! I actually felt...happy around her, and that's saying something once you consider where I'm from." She smiled slightly, only for it to vanish after a few seconds.