When Magic Speaks - NaNoWriMo 2020✔️

17

Long ago Wiss had once dreamt of a kingdom. A kingdom where she was the queen, the king was Kitt, and their royal subjects were ladybugs and ants. And while the Bug Kingdom and Monmouth weren't exactly the same, their similarities were striking. Wiss thought about this as she wandered around the castle. No she wasn't queen but she sure felt like one. And no the kingdom wasn't made up of insects but they sure looked like some from up here. Wiss couldn't help but shake the feeling that maybe she'd always known she'd end up here. Maybe her subconscious had been leading her to this specific day all along. Maybe this had been her home all along, beckoning her, calling out to her. And wherever home was, Kitt was there. She smiled to herself at this revelation, not really sure of where she was going and honestly she didn't care. Though eventually she found her way down to the door they had entered from. Maybe it was her subconscious eager to interact with people er, trolls, that wouldn't sneer or spit at her. 

As Wiss pushed the heavy metal door open, the light garlands that hung above the village shone bright through the dark like fireflies. It was barely past lunch hour and the sky had already grown dim. Though, the clouds seemed to only hover over Monmouth. Honestly, Wiss loved it. She was tired of her millions of sunburns from being out in the open air of Hural. Bleh, even thinking the name made her cringe. As Wiss looked around at the town before, she couldn't help but think about Amma. How was she? Was she alright? Under different circumstances, she would probably enjoy Monmouth. Wiss began strolling around, passing many clusters of trolls who upon noticing her, turned their heads with warm smiles and waved at her. Wiss waved back, her heart swelling with delight. She finally felt as though she belonged. As Wiss continued on her way, a group of troll tots ran past her, yelling and singing as they played with a paper plane. Wiss observed them and an idea crossed her mind. Glancing over at the ground she spotted a fallen leaf and with the flick of her fingers the leaf came to life, seeming to spout into the air with life. Upon seeing this the children gasped with delight as they and the paper plane now chased after the leaf. It was a simple gesture but one that made their eyes sparkle even more.

"Was that you?"

Wiss turned her head toward the voice, her gaze falling upon a troll woman manning a food booth. Steam wrapped around her like a cloak as another troll skewered some sort of purple substance on the grill behind her. It looked odd but it smelt incredible. The troll woman looked at her with wide eyes, her arms resting on the ledge.

"Well-"

"Because if that was you, I thank you greatly. Our lil' ones are usually so bored around this time of day. The chores are finished, the customers have eaten so they usually run around our feet and pester us something incredible," the troll woman laughed, placing her hand on her belly as she did so. Wiss walked over to her, the smell of the purple squishy thing filling her senses, the steam now wrapping around her too. 

"In that case, I happily take the credit," Wiss beamed, reaching out to shake the troll's hand. Her hand was surprisingly smooth and stain or grease free. She reminded Wiss of Amma. "I'm Wiss," she smiled. 

The troll woman snickered to herself before returning her hand to her apron. "Yeah we know who you are."

Wiss couldn't tell if this woman was irritated or relieved. She was hard to read. "Why is that?"

The troll turned her torso from side to side as she smirked up at Wiss, the grill crackling behind her. Her companion remained silent. "He talks about you, a lot," the woman hummed. "Needless to say, we've been waiting to meet you for quite some time. I'm Nalba, by the way. My husband Sneev as you can tell, loves his grill." Nalba nudged her elbow into Sneev's back, earning a small jolt from him. He chuckled. 

"I love cookin', what can I say?" he chuckled, though he was barely audible over the deafening sizzle of the purple mush. Actually, it was alarmingly loud. Wiss was surprised these two hadn't lost their hearing though, their ears were fairly large.