A/N: I know, I uploaded after all this time? Don't think I forgot about this fic! I have the entire thing outlined in a file on my phone! I've been super busy with senior thesis, moving in with my boyfriend, getting tendinitis, hand therapy, work...But now I'm a college graduate just in time to not be able to for all this virus nonsense to strike! Anyhoo, it gave me time to work on this, since I currently can't make art so my wrist can heal. My writing is a little rusty, and I feel like I could've done better, but I hope you guys enjoy the direction this fic is heading. Now to work on the next chapter!

Chapter 3

The Professor

"What kinds of things does he teach? If it's scrapbooking, I can totally act as a teacher's aide!" Poppy said with her bubbly voice as they made their way deeper into the tunnel.

"Not exactly," Sage said as she rolled her eyes. "We teach our trollings more practical things." Her feet came to a halt in front of a wooden door. Poppy and Branch brought themselves to a stop right behind her.

"Then what do you teach them?" Branch questioned with his arms crossed.

"Well," Sage gestured towards the door. "Why don't you find out?"

Enthusiastically, Poppy pushed open the door and stepped into the room. About ten trollings sat themselves on a carpet in front of a chalkboard. Most of them seemed either bored or nervous. She really couldn't tell. On the chalkboard itself, the phrase 'Be Afraid of Bergen's' was written along the top – underlined three times with five exclamation points at the end. This teacher wasn't messing around. Poppy was sure she would easily be able to convince them that bergens meant no harm. Not anymore.

Her eyes then moved to the teacher. He was gray with short black and gray striped hair. A mustache coiled itself around his cheeks, climbing its way back up to his hair beside his ears. As he wrote on the board, his body swayed back and forth. Not a word escaped his lips, leaving the only sound emitting from his area be the screeching and scratching of the chalk. As his hand finished the last word on the board, he began to speak with a gravelly voice, not turning to the class, "What do you do if you see a bergen?"

One of the trollings raised their hand, "Run away?"

The teacher nodded, writing the answer the trolling gave onto the board. "Any other suggestions?"

"Hide?" Another trolling called out.

"Call for help?" added another.

The teacher continued to nod his head, writing the next few answers underneath the first. "All excellent responses," he said with less enthusiasm than Poppy would've given them. They were all giving correct answers and perfectly behaved. Why wasn't his voice filled with more excitement?

Branch then threw his hand in the air, taking Poppy aback for a moment. "Other than the guard trolls, what defense systems do you have?" he eagerly asked.

Poppy elbowed Branch immediately. "Branch...Totally not the time."

The teacher put down his chalk, turning around. "Ah, I see we have newcomers in the class." His face seemed to lack any sort of emotion as he spoke.

"They're T.T.T.s," Sage said, looming in the doorway. "And bergen sympathizers."

The teacher nodded. "Well, after my class, hopefully they will open their eyes."

"About my question…" Branch interjected, sitting himself behind one of the trollings.

"Ah, yes. Our defences," the teacher began. "Aside from our trained guards and fighters, we also have a series of boobie trap systems in place, all controlled via remote control."

Branch gushed quietly to himself, "Just like Gary!"

Poppy sat herself next to Branch, rolling her eyes. "You're such a weird little troll."

The teacher raised an eyebrow, but chose not to comment. It had been a while since newcomers had joined the tribe. In fact, before these two, he was the last one. He didn't think there were any other lost trolls out there like himself left. It would be nice to have other trolls that could relate, even if they were half his age.

"By the way," the teacher continued, "What are your names, newcomers?"

"Oh!" Poppy lit up, quickly adjusting her posture. "I am Queen Poppy, and this here is my friend, Branch!" Poppy patted Branch on the shoulder as an awkward smile formed across his face.

"Oh," the teacher murmured, almost as if he had seen a ghost. Poppy and Branch from the Troll Tree? It couldn't be. Could it? He could feel his heart pounding against his chest, his eyes widening at the sight of these two young trolls. Did they know who he was, or was their meeting by chance? He had so many questions, and yet didn't want any answers.

"And who are you?" Poppy asked with a smile stretched along her face, seemingly taking no notice to the teacher's expression.

"Call me Professor," he dryly said, turning his back to them.

"Professor...what?" Branch raised an eyebrow, cocking his head a little.

"Just Professor."

"Okay…." Branch mumbled, eyeing the professor.

"Now, let me continue my class, and I can catch you two up with whatever you'd like to know"

Branch just nodded.

Class continued on for the next what felt like an eternity to Poppy. All this professor talked about was how to be scared, paranoid, and just- well, not fun. Where were the lessons on all of the great uses for glitter, how to make a good scrapbook, and how to bond with other trolls? But most importantly of all, where was hug time? Their bracelets went off once during the lecture, and not a single troll hugged, with the exception of herself and Branch, despite his wishes. She really was stuck with a tribe full of Branches.

When the lesson was finally over, the professor dismissed the class and started to erase the board, ensuring he removed as much of the chalk as possible. Poppy and Branch move across the room towards the professor, ready to spill out the many questions that filled their heads.

"Professor," Poppy started, causing the professor's ear to twitch. "I know you totally hate the bergens, but I'd like to try and show you that there's nothing to fear anymore. We made peace with them."

The professor stopped, keeping his hand on the board with the eraser in hand for a moment before turning around to face her. "You can't make peace with monsters."

"But they're not monsters!" Poppy protested. "They were just confused."

Folding his arms across his chest, the professor scoffed, "And what makes you think they're 'just confused'? They eat trolls."

"Because they thought that was the only way they could be happy! They don't do that anymore!"

"I doubt that." The professor rolled his eyes.

"Tell him, Branch!" Poppy exclaimed, elbowing Branch in the arm.

"Ow…" Branch rubbed his arm, sending a glare in Poppy's direction before shifting his face into a more neutral one towards the professor. "While I still don't entirely trust them, the bergens did promise they wouldn't eat us anymore. They just wanted to be happy."

"I see," the professor muttered.

"King Gristle hasn't even eaten a troll in his life, and that helped us convince them that they don't need to eat trolls to be happy," Branch added.

Sage let out a loud, snorted laugh from the doorway, her arms wrapped around her ribs as tears began to leak out the corners of her eyes.

Poppy and Branch exchanged looks.

"What's so funny?" Poppy asked, furrowing her brow.

"King Gristle hasn't eaten a troll?!" Sage said through her laughter. "That's like saying trolls don't sing! What's next, a bergen decided to marry a troll?"

"Uh, no," Branch spat. "That'd be dumb."

"But if they really loved each other-" Poppy started before getting cut off by Branch.

"Not helping our argument, Poppy."

"It doesn't matter," Sage said with a smirk as she approached the group. "You're just confused T.T.T.s who need some help. Eventually you'll learn that the bergens lied to you."

Poppy narrowed her eyes at Sage. Who was she to tell her what happened between them and the bergens? Sage wasn't there, so how would she know? Poppy could feel her blood boil the more she thought about it, and this wasn't an emotion she was used to. If Sage would just listen, then she could come to realize that they were telling the truth. But of course, she had to just jab them with all of her negativity! How rude!

"I don't have time for this," the professor dryly stated. "There are other matters I have to attend to. We can discuss your mental health later."

"But professor-" Poppy pleaded.

The professor held up his hand, silencing Poppy. "Why don't you check out the Party Hole? I heard there's a big party going on right now."

"That's a great idea, Lie-" Sage began.

"Professor!" the professor corrected, narrowing his eyes at Sage.

Sage sighed heavily, "Professor…" She turned to Poppy and Branch, who both were eager to know more and convince her that bergens were good. She knew she couldn't just take them to the Party Hole and just expect them to forget what their mission was. They wanted to return home, and quite frankly, Sage didn't blame them. However, they were a danger to her people and themselves. If they were set free, they would probably just get swallowed up by a bergen for failing to gather more trolls or just for kicks. Who knew? But right now, Sage had something else itching at her brain: why was Leif acting so weird? He never called himself professor, and he never hid his name from anyone. What was he hiding?

"Poppy, Branch…" Sage muttered. "Just-...Just stand outside for a minute. I need to talk to the professor alone for a moment."

"A-Alone?" the professor questioned, taken aback.

"Yes, alone!" Sage confirmed, snapping her head back towards the professor.

Without a word, Branch grabbed Poppy's hand and led her through the classroom as she stared back at the duo. She was going to need to talk with Branch about their next plan of action if they were ever going to get back home. When they exited the room, Branch closed the door almost all the way, leaving a small crack.

"Branch, what are you-?" Poppy asked, before getting shushed by Branch.

"Poppy, be quiet and listen," he whispered, holding his ear against the door.

Poppy nodded and followed suit.

Inside, they couldn't hear a lot of movement, but they could hear the soft whispers between the two trolls.

"Leif, what's going on? You've always insisted that I call you by your name," Sage interrogated in as soft of a whisper as she could muster.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry," Lief, the professor, apologize. "It's just that...I know one of those trolls...I don't know if they remember me, but…"

Sage paused for a moment. "You were a T.T.T. yourself, weren't you….Was it Queen Poppy? I could see if you knew her when she was a baby."

"I'm not getting into the details of that," Lief insisted. "The less you know, the better."

"If you say so," Sage huffed. "But I don't like this. It's bad enough these T.T.T.s are bergen sympathizers. If you could just bond with them since you're a T.T.T. yourself-"

"That's out of the question," Lief snapped.

Sage let out a loud, dramatic groan.

The room grew quiet. Who did Lief know, and why did he hide it from them? Poppy wasn't sure, but she was sure that if they investigated, they could try and find some common ground and butter him up a little. They could rekindle a friendship that never got to form! That's how that worked, right? Regardless, Poppy was sure that if they could befriend the teacher that taught fear, they could convince Sage and Queen Senna that bergens were their friends too. This entire mixup was just delaying their kingdoms from forming a grand friendship.

On the other hand, Branch was feeling a bit queasy. Lief was from the troll tree and knew one of them? Whatever secret Leif was hiding, Branch wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to it. Was he a stalker? Did he have some sort of weird fettish for Poppy? Whatever the case, it explained the strange way Leif acted when he found out their names.

The door began to creak open, causing Branch and Poppy to scramble to their feet. As if to better convince others that they didn't have their ears against the door, they backed up and turned their heads away from the door. Stepping into the hallway, Sage furrowed her brow, glancing back and forth between the two trolls in front of her.

"Um, guys?"

Branch and Poppy snapped their heads towards Sage.

"Oh, hi, Sage. Didn't see you there," Poppy chirped.

An awkward smile crept its way along Branch's cheeks.

Sage just sighed, knowing full well these two listened into her supposedly private conversation. "Party Hole, anyone?"