When I was a young troll, I was so happy about every little thing and I was always so energetic and playful. What was not to like about life? I had two of the most loving parents in the sea and I was a prince. My grandmother only had one child, so when she passed away, my mom became queen. Then two years later, she married my dad, so my dad became king. After four years of their marriage, they had me. My life was just great, I have so much fun with my parents. 

On my fifteenth birthday, my parents came to my room and knocked on the door. "Knock, knock. Is my guppy in here?" My mom, Queen Dell, asked. 

"Come in!" I yelled, turning my head from the window to the door. The door opened and my mom swam inside with my dad swimming in behind her. 

"Hey, there's my little man." My dad, King Link, said as he picked me up and spun me in circles. I smiled gill to gill, giggling and laughing. 

"Do you guys remember what today is?" My dad set me down. 

"Hmmm, let me see. I think it's Tuesday." My dad said, smirking at me. I shook my head, still smiling.

"Oh, it's the twenty-ninth of July." My mom said, but she ruined it by laughing. 

My dad laughed. "Of course we remember what today is, how old do you think we are? Not remembering today, Ha!" My dad said, being on the verge of tear from laughter. He and my mom pulled me into a hug. "Happy birthday son." My mom squeezing me tighter. 

Every year, my parent throw a party and write a song every year. My dad sings while my mom works the DJ set, but my mom joins in at times. The other trolls and I dance, my parents sing, and we all have a great time. 

"Hey son, there is something that we need to tell you." My dad said as he ended the hug and put and arm around his wife as she rested my head on his shoulder. 

"What? Did I do something?" I asked in a panicked kind of way.

"No, no, we just wanted to let you know something." My mom said. "You are starting to get to the age that I was when my parents allowed me to start writing and playing my songs. Your dad and I have talked and think you are at the right age when you can start doing that." She explained. 

"So how about the three of use write a song together to sing at your party?" My dad suggested. I was over the moon excited. I have never written a song before, but my parents were really good at it, and I am not the only one that thinks that, the whole reef loves my mom and dad's songs. I squealed in excitement and spun in circles. 

"Really?" I asked, still super excited. "Really, really?"

"Really, really." My dad said. 

"Eeeee, when can we start?" I asked.

"Whenever you want." My mom said. She smiled happily. I could tell she was happy of how excited I was.

"Can we start now?" I asked. My dad looked at my mom with a smile. "I don't see why not?" She said. 

"Yay!" I shouted and swam almost as high as the ceiling. I swam really quickly over to my desk. I got out pens, pencils, and paper and motioned my parents to come over. They looked at each other, smiled, and shrugged. They both swim over and sat on both sides of me.

The three of us wrote for an hour about, then my mom spoke. "Why don't we get up and go for a swim or something? You now, take a break."

"Why can't we keep writing?" I asked. 

"Well, writing songs comes from experiences, and you don't have as many experiences to grow from. But may be going on an adventure will." I looked at the two desperate faces, then the paper, then back at them. I smiled and said okay. Dad, Mom, and I swim to the door quickly. 

My parents were grabbing some last minute thing. "Race you at the door!" I shouted and spread to the door. My mom and dad raced after me. My mom ended up winning. My dad and I came out the door panting as she was cheering. "How...does she...do it?" I asked my dad, trying to catch my breath. "Because she's amazing." 

The three of us swim for a bit, we played and talked. We mostly talked about my school. School usually makes me uncomfortable. I'm usually energetic, but I'm also shy and don't really like being in the spotlight a lot. In school, I am the most popular troll since I am the prince. There's also a girl name Shi. She is the second most popular kid in the school, or she is the most popular girl in school. Shi is always asking me out, since we are at the age when trolls start to date. I always say no, and it's not just her, anyone who asks me out I usually say no to. I don't have a crush on anyone yet, but lots of trolls have crushes on me. My parents say I shouldn't be too shy and that I should try to go on some dates, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet.

While we were swimming, my dad found an abalone shell that was naturally chipped away in the shape of a heart. My dad picked it up, brushed it off, then gave it to my mom. "Aw, thanks honey." My mom said, kissing my dad's cheek. I made a playful disgusted face. 

We swam for a while, and to be honest, I was getting a bit tired. "Hey kiddo, do you want to start swimming home?" My dad asked.

"No, no. I want to keep going." I said, pointing down the path we were on.

"Are you sure?" My mom asked. "We should start heading home. We're getting close so the edge of the reef." She pointed to the coral that surrounded the reef. 

In my life, I always felt like there were secrets kept from me. I never really knew why, but my life felt like it was sorted from lies to truths. So this time, I decide to ask. "Mom, Dad, why am I not allowed to go outside of the reef?" I asked. 

My parents looked at each other. It seemed like they were talking through blinks, but then they looked back at me. "Because of the predators like sharks in anglerfish. We just don't want you getting hurt." My dad said, putting his hand on my shoulder. 

"Oh." I said it look down at the sand below us. Why haven't my parents ever told me? I don't know why it felt like a secret, but it obviously was something that they wanted to keep for me. "But what if I'm careful, then could we go?" I asked hopefully.

My parents looked at each other with fear and concern. My mom put a fake smile on her face and looked at my dad. "I guess." She said. I could hear and almost feel the fear in her voice.

My dad sighed. "Fine. Only if we stay near the coral, so if we do need a swim away, we can go back to the reef." I nodded.

My dad was the first to leave the coral barrier, then my mom, than me. I saw a glowing light in the distance, it wasn't very bright, but us techno trolls have very good eyesight, so I could see it. I swim just a few flips closer, but still can see it. I heard my mom say something, so I stopped and looked back. "What are you doing?" She asked, still hearing the concern in her voice.

"I see something, I just want to get a closer look." I said, going back to swimming towards it. I kept swimming, and I noticed my parents yelling at behind me. "Don't worry, I'm coming right back." I just didn't realize that they were saying "Watch out!" and "Get away from there!". When I finally could see what it was, it was too late swim back. I gasped.

I saw a huge shark in front of me, that had bioluminescent gills. These gills were used to attract its prey.

And I was the prey. 

The jaws of the shark opened and started to swim towards me at lightning speed. I was in shock, I didn't know what to do. I wish my parents had warned me earlier about the shark and other predators. I just had no clue what to do.

I closed my eyes, hoping that would make my death less painful. I close and tight, but I felt a fin kick me out of the way, then something swam past me to go where the shark was. I just bare to open my eyes to see. 

After I heard the sharks mighty jaws shut, I tried opening my eyes to see who saved me, but there was no one in sight. I looked around and noticed a red color mixed with the water. I swim over to where my parents were to tell them what happened. But they weren't there. I looked and looked, I swim around in circles. Then I found something in the sand. Over where the shark was. I looked around to make sure the shark was gone, then slowly approach the object in the sand. I used my hands to dust off the sand. 

It was a shell. It was the shell that my dad gifted to my mom. 

I noticed a faded red color on it. Tears started to fall from my eyes, from thoughts that started to come to mind. "Mom, dad, where are you?" I yelled in a desperate tone. "Come out, please, the shark is gone." I shouted, but no one revealed themselves. "Please, this isn't funny." I yelled, barely being able to yell anymore because of the empty feeling in my heart.

I lower down to the sand and let my tears fall. I let my head drip down in depression, kneeling down on my fins. I cried and cried, I just couldn't believe what happened. I looked down at the shell in my hands and wiped off the red. I knew what I was thinking couldn't be true. I held the shell close to my heart and kept crying. "Mom...Dad..." I tried to get up, trying to wipe my tears away, but more just kept falling down. I didn't pay attention to where I was swimming, but it seemed a swim to a current. I felt the ocean current hit my body and pulled me away. I didn't care where I was going, just anywhere but here.

The next morning when I opened my eyes, I was in bed. My bed, in my room. I looked around inside a relief.. "Phew, it was all just a bad dream." I got out of bed and sped to my parents room. I felt my heart skip a beat when I got there. Empty. I went to the kitchen, but they weren't there either. I looked almost everywhere in LED palace, but I still can find them. The only place I haven't looked was the garden.

So I swim over to the door that was a little more than twice my size and opened one of the two big doors quietly. I didn't see my parents, but I saw two techno trolls out there sitting on a bench. One of them I knew, it was Shi. You could tell by her dark green skin and her neon light green and blue hair. The other one on the other hand, I have seen her a couple times in the halls of school and every time she was with Shi. She had a light lavender skin with fins that started with lavender and faded into teal. She had waves of yellow hair with the tips being neon hot pink. 

They seem kind of sad, so I put on my best smile I could and swim out to them. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" I asked, trying my best not to sound scared. Shi and the other troll just looked at me.

"Oh, so basically you're happy about this now?" Shi asked rhetorically. "All the sudden you're happy and back to normal." Shi waved her hands in a playful but mean way. It was now harder for me to keep a happy face.

The other troll nudge her. "Shi, please. I'm just glad to see you're feeling better." The other troll said, offering a sweet smile.

"F-feeling better about what?" I asked, hoping my thoughts were wrong.

"No one really knows anything. We were hoping you did." The troll said. 

Shi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you out of anyone should know about your parent's death." I was in shock. The other troll nudged Shi again. "Ow! Hey, if you don't want me to talk, I'll leave." Shi got up and swam away. Now I was kind of uncomfortable, because I know who Shi was, but I didn't know who the other troll was, she felt like a complete stranger. I couldn't care about that right now, I cared about making sense of this.

The troll watched Shi swim away. "I'm sorry about her." She said. I could believe it. My parents were...gone. And it was all my fault.

"No, this can't be, it-it was just a dream." I shook my head, trying not to cry. Let my emotions get the better of me, I started to cry a couple of tears. 

The other troll looked back to me. "What do you mean?" She asked. But I couldn't say anything, I couldn't handle any of this. I couldn't speak, just cry. 

I let the thoughts room free. The shark, the red color, not finding my parents, the shell...wait, where was the shell? I put my hand in my hair in panic and felt the shell. I pulled it out so I can see it. It was the last thing I had from the trip. "I-understand..." I said, my voice cracking and quivering.

"What?" She asked. 

"The-the Red color in the water, it-it was blood from the-the shark's meal..." I said, still crying. It felt kind of embarrassing to be crying for someone, but I didn't care right now.

"Do you know what it ate?" She asked. I could only nod. "Can you tell me?"

"My..." I couldn't say it, I couldn't face the facts. I just couldn't. I just stood there, crying, holding the shell to my heart. The other truck got up and swim over to me. I didn't look up at her, I just kept crying. The troll, that was right in front of me now, she wrapped her hands around me and gave me a hug. She was a bit smaller than me, so her chin could only reach my shoulder. I kept crying, but I put my arms around her too. 

I cried for around five minutes or so, I wasn't really keeping track. I stopped crying, with just wiping tears. I backed up. "Thanks." I said, using my arm to wipe my tears.

"No problem, I understand how you feel. I have had the same experience, in a different way though." She said, putting her hand on her other arm.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, my...parents are gone too." She said, looking down. "But it was a long time ago."

"How did it happen? I asked.

"Oh, I am not fully sure actually." She said, not having any water in her eyes.

I was kind of impressed. "How old were you when they left?"

"I was only a month old." She said. 

What! I thought. She never really knew her parents. Wow. I couldn't imagine life without my parents. "So who took care of you then?"

She looked up a bit at my shocked face, then back to the ground. "My grandmother, but she isn't around either. She died when I was five"

"Oh. Who took care of you then? A grandfather? A cousin? An older brother or sister?" I asked. She just shook her head.

"I did. No one was ever there for me after my grandmother." She said. I was in even more shock. At the age of five, she was taking care of herself, no one was there to help. 

"How about your friends? Did they help at all?" I asked. 

She shook her head no again. "I...have never really had a friend. Everyone always thinks I'm weird and mean." 

"What? Why? You seem very nice." I said. That did make her look up and smile at me. 

"Well, it's because of...do you actually mind if we go somewhere else and talk, not here? I don't feel comfortable talking about this in public." I could see the emotions on her face. Fear. Complete fear. 

"Sure, you can come inside if you want." I said. She nodded. We swam into the palace through the giant doors. We swam over to my room, but swimming to my room, I looked back at the other troll. She was looking around. She seemed like she felt small. 

When we got to my room, I shut the door when I heard her sigh behind me. I turned around and swam over to my bed, sat down, and motioned her over. She smiled a bit and sat down next to me. "What's wrong?" I asked. She looked at me.

"Oh nothing. Just, I've never actually told anyone this, other people just figured it out. So I don't know how to say it exactly." She sighed again and looked down at the floor. "I have had some problems with Shi in the past." 

"But I thought you two were friends, I see you guys together all the time in the halls." I said. Every time I saw this troll, she was always with Shi.

"Heck no! That's woman's out to get me!" She yelled. I backed up a bit in shock of her tone of voice. "I-I'm sorry. I just...I hate her." She laid her face in her hands. I leaned back and put my hand on her back. 

"No, it's fine, I understand." I offered a smile. She accepted the smile by smiling back.

"Prince Trollex, right?" She asked. 

"Yeah, what's your name?" I asked, resting my arms on my fins. 

"My name's Roxie." She said, smiling a bit more.

"Roxie, that's a nice name." I said, smiling a bit more when she smiled a bit more. I smiled, maybe even brushed a bit. "Um, so what do you like to do in your free time?"

Roxie laughed. "Well, I don't get a lot of free time, since I had to take care of the house, when I do, I paint, draw, or sing."

"Oh, what do you like to paint?" I asked.

"Well, I like to paint techno trolls, I probably have every techno troll in the reef on my wall." She laughed a bit.

My parent? I thought. "And what do you like to sing?" I asked, trying to get the thought of my parents out of my head.

"Well, I like to sing some pop, some country, some techno, even some my own songs. I like all genres of music." She said. I had no idea what she just said.

"One, what do you mean by 'genres'?" I asked.

She just looked at me. "What do you mean what do you mean? Didn't your parents tell you but the other tribes?"

I shook my head. Maybe that was another "secret" that was kept for me. "What do you mean other tribes?"

This obviously confused her. "So your parents never told you?"

I looked at the floor, then back at her. "I guess not, they never tell me anything. They never even told me why I couldn't  go outside of the reef." And if I knew, they would be dead right now. I thought.

"Oh. Well I figured out that there are more trolls like us, in a way. They are Pop trolls, Rock trolls, Funk trolls, Country trolls, Classical trolls, Yodeling trolls, K-pop trolls, and Reggaetón trolls. There's actually only one jazz troll that is known, but jazz is also a genre. We're the techno tribe, as you know." She explained. 

"Is the music the only thing that makes us different from each other? Like from the other genres?" I asked. I've actually never heard anything about "other tribes", so I was pretty curious.

"Well, all of the other trolls have different features, like all of the trolls have legs." She said. 

"Legs?" I asked.

"Here, let me show you." She pulled out of her phone and went to the app called Goggle and typed in the search bar "Trolls". What showed up for images I have never seen before. "These are legs..." she clicked on an image with six different trolls. "This one is techno, you probably know that." She pointed to the one with fins. "We're actually the only tribe with fins, every other tribe has legs." She pointed to the other trolls. 

She explained that the one with two legs, light blue skin, and pink hair is pop, the one with two legs, navy blue skin, and red hair was rock, the one with four legs, light purple fur, and magenta hair was funk. The one with two legs, wings, gold skin, and yellow hair was classical, and the one with four legs kind of like a horse's, orange skin, and brown-orange hair is country. She didn't have to explain Techno, I already have the fins and gill-like ears.

"Wow." I said in awe after she concluded. She tried to hide the magenta glow on her cheeks, but I still saw. It kind of made me blush a little too, but she didn't notice. "What do you not know?!" I asked in amazement. "So, what do you want to do?" She shrugged. "Why don't we get to know each other, you know, like friends?" I could see her face turned from blushing to shock. 

"Um, sure." She smiled and blushed a bit more.

We spent what felt like hours talking. I got to know a bit more about Roxie. She's fourteen and in ninth grade, since she moved up a grade. She is bullied a lot in school, mostly by Shi. That made it more clear why she was always with Shi. Shi was alway with her, the other way around. We talked and laughed for a long time, just talking. I also talked to her about how school makes me uncomfortable and my shyness, which I've never really talk to anyone about. Talking about this stuff made me think of my parents, but to be honest, I was really as sad about it. 

We decided to lay down on the floor. We both slept on the floor in opposite directions. She laughed lightest and looked at me and smiled, which made me smile. "This feels great, actually feel like I have someone by my side." She looked up at the ceiling. "I never would've thought that I would feel like this before."

"Yeah." I said. "This is been great." I looked up at the ceiling too.

"It feels good to actually be talking to someone about my feelings, not keeping them all in." She looked at me, which made me turn my head to her. "Thanks Prince Trollex." 

"Please, call me Trollex." I said, smiling. She smiled, revealing her pastel teal teeth. "Do you want to meet up again tomorrow?" I asked.

"Yeah, totally." She said, starting to sit up. "I'd like that."

After that, she went home. I was so excited to meet her, because to be honest, I actually didn't really have friends either. Everyone wants to be my friend, but it feels like they just wanna be friends because I'm the prince. But Roxie felt different, I actually left like she needed a friend and wanted to be friends with me for who I am.

I smiled and started heading inside, but then I heard something. I turned around to see what it was, but there was nothing there. I looked left and right, but nothing. Then I looked up and I saw something. I saw a little green fish looking around anxiously. I looked to see what it was looking at, but I didn't see anything. So I decide to speak up. "Hello. What are you doing here?" I asked in a soothing voice, but it's still made the little fish jump up and hide behind a pillar.

"I-I-I can't find my family." The little fish said in a shaky voice. 

I looked down. "Oh." I let out in a depressing sigh. He peeked out from behind the pillar.

"What do you mean, have you lost your family too?" I nodded my head. "Oh." He came out from behind the pillar. 

I picked up my head and smiled. "I'm Trollex, what's your name?" I said trying to smile and sound friendly. He looked at me and then the floor. "I don't have a name." He said in a quiet voice.

"Oh, well why don't I give your name then." I looked around to think of a good name. "Well, do you have any abilities of any sorts?" I asked.

"Well, I'm really good at keeping on me. Oh, and if you press me, I can create waves." He said it in an enthusiastic voice.

I thought for a bit. "Well, you're a button fish right?" The fish nodded. I thought some more, then it hit me. "Okay, then how about Techno Beat Drop Button, and Beat for short?"

"Yeah!" Healed. He swam around my head really quickly. I caught him right before he started to feel dizzy.

"Hey, why don't you live with me?" I said, offering a smile.

"Yeah, if that's okay with you." He said, smiling very widely.

I smiled. "Oh yeah, it's fine with me." 

The little fish escape from my hands and swim more that's around my head as I swim back to the palace. "Wait, is this your house?" 

Well, it was technically my parents house, but I guess it's my now...I thought. "Yeah, I guess it is." 

"So you're royalty?" Beat asked. I nodded my head. "So are you the prince or king?" Beat asked. That one question. It hit me, hit me like a bolt of lightning.

"Um...I-I guess I'm the king." I said. How was I supposed to be a king? I'm only fifteen, and that's a lot of responsibility and pressure for someone like me. I can't even write a good song without my parents help. But my parents are gone now. If I want to be a good king, I would need help. But my parents were the only ones that could help me. 

But then it came to me. I know who to ask.

I swim into the palace. "Are you okay?" Beat asked. I didn't stop to answer. 

I swim inside as fast as I could, grab the phone, and called.