Nature comes and goes in many different forms. One's perception over one particular aspect morphs into an image one could interpret in their own unique way. To one that may take a setting as a vacation spot another would never sit well with another but settle with someone nearby. Personality and perspective help shape the world around us into what minds take in and out. Everyone maintains a filter that feeds into what makes or breaks someone's interests, even if it might take time for one to realize such a trait. No matter what, a world's setting contributes to everyone's way of life and how they think.
For one such setting, the harsh wetlands of a world filled with dozens of conditions unfit for a normal person would never flourish as a worthwhile environment. Multiply a single swamp up to a million fold and one would perfectly describe the distinct environment of Amphibia. From wet marshes to dense forests it contained all of the hallmarks of survival over the fittest. Likewise from its name alone, various critters of the particular genus inhabited the land and even lived among all of the dangers that surrounded them. While some could consider it crazy, they learned and adapted in their own various methods to ensure survival and safe ways of living. Each relative species of frogs, toads, and newts maintained their own societies that helped shape their ways of living and adapting to the harsh world around them, but unlike what many would expect all of them could think for themselves. Instinct always lingered in the back of their minds, but for the most part they contained the free will to live as they pleased. Throughout the whole land filled with massive insects and hungry creatures of all kinds, any type of advantage to live another days stood out as a blessing in disguise. The vast land contained so many quirks and cultures despite the deadly downsides that many consider paradise even with some questionable choices of life at times.
In one such town however, it always teetered on the fringe between easy living and deadly disasters on a daily basis according to the ones willing to speak about it. For such a simple name of Wartwood, by Amphibia's standards at least, one could easily assume that it only served as an ordinary town with nothing too spectacular, but it would easily only take one single day to prove them wrong. From random animal attacks, crazy situations, and everything else outside and in between the simple town pretty much existed with one giant bullseye plastered all over the ground. While it contained some of the usual sights such as a hotel, restaurant, and even a large mayor's hall they always stayed on the edge of destruction as one single incident would completely demolish them. Of course most of the inhabitants pinned the blame on a single family that performed farm work just outside the outskirts, and they already had their hands fulls with their own problems on many occasions. That didn't mean everyone else that lived in the crazy but dangerous town contained normal lives though. In fact, that couldn't have diverted further from the truth. From a stout and dedicated frog that bared a spatula for a hand and a peg for a leg to an old granny frog that had a small friendly tarantula for a pet, Wartwood contained a cast of villagers one would usually never expect. They formed a knit community that no other place could claim as something similar, and to the ones that lived there their lives couldn't have been any better despite the town's reputation around certain circles. For such an inconsequential speck, if one delved deep enough they would find a wealth of culture and community that only described a single town. None would find somewhere as unique as Wartwood.
Out of everyone in the town however, a certain young frog girl flew under the radar from most. Her appearance would have said otherwise, but even with it the townsfolk didn't pay too much attention. She wore a black outfit with a rope tied around her waste and stood around the average height of most young frogs around the area. A pink blob set atop her head like some type of makeshift hair, with some type of scrunchie on top that isolated a portion into a small tuft, that nobody else in town had. It also included a portion that covered her right eye in a somewhat creepy fashion. While a lot of frogs in Wartwood supported a vast array of different eyes, for her she displayed a wide yellow space with one rounded black sliver that also made her stand out more than others. She didn't originally change into her choice of attire, but once she caught interest in a certain topic her devotion transformed her way of life forever. Of course her three younger siblings made it difficult to balance between her hobby and family, but she found a decent balance after one recent particular incident. It served as the wake up call she needed, but even then her one interest never caught on to the ones around her, which sort of made her feel like an outcast at points. Even so, it didn't deter her too much and she remained as a unique individual among the cast of characters in Wartwood.
She was Maddie Flour, the young witch and curse wielder of the small town.
Once she heard the alarm go off, she knew what time of day just occurred. She opened her eyes, even though only her left one visibly showed, before she turned her head and set her sights on the alarm bug. As much as she wanted to stay in bed, she still had her job with deliveries so that never stood out as a viable option. She raised a hand and shut it off before she pushed the covers away and proceeded to get on her two feet. She didn't think too much about anything out of the ordinary, at least from what she gotten used to, but the instant her head left her pillow it immediately felt like it just gained a couple of extra pounds. While it only ached slightly, it couldn't deter her especially since she handled a lot worse during her stay in Wartwood. It would take more than a slight migraine to stifle her way of thinking.
"Another day, another batch to deliver. Maybe I can finally finish that multiplier curse I've always kept on the back burner." Maddie thought to herself. She stretched for a few seconds before she got back on her feet and walked toward her bedroom door. Her gaze diverted over to a particular object next to it, and she couldn't help but give it a good smack. For a large rounded blob like creature with comical angry eyebrows and a flabby smile, she really appreciated the sound in made any time it took a hit.
"Motimoti! Motimoti!"
She couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing the iconic phrase. It helped release any type of stress built up in her from bad days on the job, but sometimes she liked to give it a good whack for the fun of it. While she never fancied herself a brawler by any means, it made her feel like one that helped relieve any bad feelings.
"Heheheh, you really know how to please, Motichan." Maddie muttered. The large bag of a blob teetered back into place as Maddie made her way out the door and into the hallway. She could smell the dough from downstairs which indicated a fresh batch ready for delivery, but she knew her father always gave her a grace period in the morning to prepare herself. She received days off on occasion just like any type of job out there, which she appreciated since she always had her dark arts to hone in on. Of course after what happened yesterday she had more shoes to fill, but she could adapt to it later down the line when she had gotten used to it. The work for someone like her was never done.
One glance to a door nearby and she noticed that the lights remained off from the crack underneath. She smirked in a friendly fashion since she easily understood the consequences from what the three of them went through. They probably ran out of steam soon after and collapsed under the covers, which occurred as typical for their ages. Of course she underwent the same treatment to calm them down, which in turn got her to realize the rejections she put them through and made her a better person because of it. She would probably never attempt something like that again, but she couldn't feel too certain when something involved her sisters.
She took her time down the stairs to the main room where the busy work happened. Once she reached the bottom she noticed her father working away at another large piece of dough at the counter. He always put in one hundred ten percent into his work which rubbed off on her. While she handled deliveries most of the time, she did have to dabble into cooking when her dad had other business elsewhere. Mostly it consisted of her pitching in at Market Day, and for the most part she performed rather nicely. She even got to mold pieces of dough into other shapes that actually enticed customers to browse through their inventory, although the techniques originally came from her dad that she learned over time. Some actually called it rather unsettling to see certain shapes of dough burning inside the oven, but she didn't receive those comments too often so she rather ignored them for the most part. While the baker may act as her boss, he was still her father and she could fill in for him at any time with no issues.
She made her way to the counter after her dad finished flattening the piece in front of him. One glance at the furnace behind him and it already had flames inside currently cooking another piece presumably for a customer that ordered it. He knew how to multitask when busy days occurred even if it took a tiring toll on his body.
He took notice of her right away.
"Ah, Maddie! Great to see you up!"
"I could say the same for you." Maddie answered with one of her smiles.
"Heheh, thanks!" her dad answered. "You have the spirit of a hard worker, even after great hassles like the one yesterday. If anything, I fully expected you to stay in bed for an extra hour or so from everything you did."
Maddie really wanted to stay away from those reminders even if they remained fresh to an extent. She may have learned a valuable lesson, but the experience still lingered in her head. After her long ignorance to pay attention to her siblings as she focused on her spell and curse making, they took notice and decided to make it so she couldn't ignore them…by growing to the size of houses. Thanks to one miscast spell from her spell book their sizes expanded beyond normal and wouldn't stop until they burst and exploded like a remote bomb. As time winded down, she took matters into her own hands and whipped up a perfected version of the spell, and without any hesitation she cast it on herself. Her foresight into the spell's stability paid off as she grew even further than her sisters, enough so that the trees didn't even reach her knees, and managed to calm them down and reconnect with what she ignored all that time ago. Of course she got someone else to concoct antidotes for all of them to return to their normal sizes, but it left them with damages to fix. Thankfully everything worked out in the end, but after that insanity she desired to pushed it to the wayside so she could focus on her fixed outlook. After all, she couldn't dawdle with work no matter what the circumstances spelled out.
Yet despite such a drastic situation, she couldn't get all of it out of her head. Something about the whole thing lingered inside and refused to disperse into nothing no matter how hard she tried. She never used that spell before until that time, only read about it, and it lasted only for a couple of minutes at best before she and her siblings took the antidote. For her first time she pulled it off perfectly without a hitch, while she kept herself focused on her siblings the whole time like any good sister would, and if Wartwood contained any more landmarks, which already stood out as pretty scarce, one misstep would have ended up pretty disastrous. She never found the moments to actually take notice of the majorly smaller scenery and minuscule ones below her, which she didn't care about in the slightest as she only cared about her sisters' conditions. Even as she ran over all of the details in her head, they remained stuck in there and it bothered her to no end. While annoying to reminisce about, it didn't deter her from her normal ways of thinking.
Her answer came out as pretty standard, at least to her.
"Yeah, I'd rather not talk about that. Rosemary, Lavender, and Ginger kind of wrecked the place and the sooner we push it under the rug the sooner everyone forgets about it. Besides, we still have the business after all."
Mr. Flour nodded and smiled back.
"I understand what you mean. I'm sure everyone will forget about it after a couple of days, especially with everything else that happens around here. You can never feel too certain that everything will go-"
An immediate scream followed before he could finish. Maddie quickly raced over to the open window only to slowly sigh once she saw what happened. As if fate loved to prey on Wartwood, her eyes quickly picked up the sight of what looked like one large dull colored craw fish as it sped around near the town square while a helpless frog, which she determined as someone everyone calls One Eyed Wally, yelled like a madman between one of its pincers. While that already sounded crazy enough, for some reason the crustacean had its entire body engulfed in flames, which also made it scream in unison with Wally as it ran around everywhere. To top all of it off, one other frog with a spatula for a hand and a peg for a leg, which everyone around town knew as Stumpy, kept the pace right behind it with a large smile and eager expression. She needed no other indications as to what he intended to do, and once she took all of it in, she could only come up with one conclusive statement that described the whole thing.
Welcome to Wartwood.
She slowly turned away from the scene as the flaming craw fish dashed in another direction away from the bakery, and diverted her attention back to her father.
"Yup, I completely get it." Maddie said.
"Heheh, I guess I should have expected that." Mr. Flour answered with a chuckle. "Anyway, I already made you breakfast since I'm in a good mood for today. Had to wrestle that stalk pretty brutally just to get it to spit everything out."
She perked up a little once she heard that particular detail. It only meant one thing to her, and while she didn't see it as perfect, she still loved the taste whenever she got the chance.
"You made toast with jam again?" she asked while her eyes opened slightly wider than usual.
"You catch on rather quickly there." Mr. Flour replied with a smile. "I actually wanted to try out a variant of the jam after I discovered a new type of plant that spewed it out. If you like it, well, I just found a new topping to add for the future."
She could already feel her mouth water behind her lips. Anything her dad cooked in terms of pastries always ended up as some of the most scrumptious blessings of the taste buds imaginable, and while she didn't express it too often she eagerly awaited anything new he may have made in his free time. While she never fancied herself as a professional taste tester, when it came to her dad's pastries she always ended up as the primary tester. It also often provided free samples, so that came as a nice bonus to the whole thing.
The young witch frog watched as her dad reached from under the counter and pulled out the respective slice, and her expectations didn't prove wrong in a positive light. A lush and crispy brown littered the top straight from the oven that she could smell from a mile away. The freshness of it nearly made her shudder and fed to the willingness to dig in immediately. He cut the piece not too large but not too small either, which exemplified her dad's expertise in bread and the perfections he learned from far longer than she existed. The crust maintained a slightly darker brown then she normally went for, but it never mattered too much as long as it tasted good. A few times the brittle nature of the edges made a small mess across her plate that she had to clean off in a sink even though she still found it delicious, which she informed to her father for feedback. Even though the standards already set their place for the piece, the main attraction already spread across the surface in a sticky manner. From what she'd seen previously, for the most part the jam smothered on top gave off a bright red that indicated the strawberries used to make it…which involved a clump of monstrous plants out for unsuspecting prey in Amphibia's terms. However, that certain color never passed into her sight. Instead, what seemed like dark violet purple jam had its presence all over the top which caught her interest more than anything else. While it certainly stood out as something different, it clearly looked appetizing while also sticky at the same time. She commonly needed to wash her hands for a few minutes to cleanse her fingers of the stickiness, but it never set her back when she got the opportunity to dig in. Her dad knew how to strike familiarity into something and provide something new to entice repeat visits, and it sure caught Maddie's attention when given the chance.
She took the plate and leaned against the counter while her dad finished off another piece of dough for another possible order. She couldn't delay any longer from the appetizing sight, so in an instant she grabbed the toast and chomped down. Immediately her taste buds cried out in harmony to the tasty treat and even put a smile on her face. For such a simplistic concept for a meal, Maddie enjoyed every last bit that already made her crave for more. She adored the taste of the toast with jam so much that she almost forgot to compare the new syrup her dad put on it, which she took into account with another bite. A pinch of sweet tang combined with what tasted like a mix of berries really told her everything she needed to conclude on an answer.
"I think you have another winner here, dad." Maddie replied right as he went up to the back oven and pulled a freshly cooked mush of dough out with a metal tray.
"Great! I'll keep that in mind before I fully settle on using it." Mr. Flour answered. He went back to his busy work while Maddie gazed back down at her incomplete toast. She already felt some loose pieces of syrup on the sides of her cheeks, but she completely ignored it especially with the delicacy in her hands. Before she knew it, a majority the toast already sat in her mouth waiting for her to swallow. It almost took her completely by surprise until the annoying migraine from earlier acted up again and snapped her back to reality. She left only one small piece left on the plate which even caught the attention of her father and made him chuckle a little under his breath.
"Wow, you just couldn't help yourself, huh? I guess I should have expected that since I know you love it every time I make it."
Her back stood stiff for a moment like she saw the reaper's sharp blade inches before her face. Gluttony never stood out as one of her silent traits and she planned to keep it that way. Even with that, she slowly turned back to her dad and quickly put her normal face back on.
"I…I guess you're right on that front. You really know how to please everyone even with something new on the table. I still have a lot to learn from you after all."
"Of course, my little angel." Mr. Flour responded. "Even so, you really wolfed down on that toast almost instantly. I'd hate to see the bottom of your stomach after that!"
"Hahah, very funny there dad." Maddie said in a comically flat tone. She held back on rolling her eyes as her dad turned his back to check up on the dough in the furnace. Right as he did so Maddie quickly brought out a small bag and undid the knot. While she adored the taste of her breakfast already, she liked to add a small pinch of extra cinnamon on occasion to spice it up a little. With one small pour the last piece of toast got covered in it, and before her dad could turn back around to face her she shoved it right into her mouth. She could already taste the extra flavor added that she loved so much, and she would have probably enjoyed it more if her dad didn't suddenly speak up.
"After you finish up on that, I would like you to head on to the center of town and meet up with Flint the Collector for that exotic wheat I asked for. Hopefully he managed to grab a clump."
His request took her by surprise and made her swallow the last piece down the wrong pipe. She coughed pretty hard a couple of times before she forced it down the other way.
"Flint the Collector is coming to Wartwood again?!" she exclaimed in a slightly hoarse voice from the coughing fit.
"It's been a couple of months since, so I kind of expected him during the last few days." Mr. Flour answered. "I would go myself but I still have some more work to do in here. If you could meet up with him on your way out I'd very much appreciate it."
She couldn't believe her ears. The world renowned traveler of the whole continent had his sights set on Wartwood for his next stop, and with him came a wealth of content all in the large bag of his. While he arrived on a somewhat periodic schedule of a couple of months, when he did eventually walk through the front gate it came as a big deal for everyone in town. Nobody knew just what he contained in his inventory for the time, so for some they had to roll the dice and spin the wheels for the chance that he might have something on their lists. He became a fairly minor celebrity from all of his visits around various cities and towns, including some of more densely populated ones, and even managed to get King Andreas to purchase some hard to obtain items on occasion. To add to his mysterious and mystic manner, anyone who tried to sneak a peek into his large sack found it completely empty with nothing inside. That never seemed to end up as the case though, as Flint could always pull something out of it with no trouble at all. In many ways others considered it like a treasure box of sorts with endless amounts of wealth that nobody but Flint could truly see, and they couldn't get enough of the enigma that surrounded it. No matter how anyone put it, tourist attractions and first impressions suddenly became important whenever Flint chose to travel on through any abodes.
Maddie didn't need any sort of thinking to conclude on an answer. She didn't like to emote too much excitement, so she only managed to muster up a couple of slow nods to her father with a low smile.
"Ah, good! Thanks sweetheart, and make sure to grab the deliveries by the door when you head out!"
"Understood." Maddie responded. Her dad kept his eyes on the dough in the furnace while she headed on over to the front door where a large basket waited next to it. Inside contained various types of cooked bread ready for delivery that she always made sure to check as part of her job. None of them displayed any types of green so she knew they came out fresh from the oven just like her father intended. With the checks accounted for, she grabbed the handle of the basket and opened the front door, which rang a lovely chime through her ears, before she headed on out. She took a moment to walk a bit more forward before she turned around and took a good look at the whole building. While it never stood out as the biggest building in town she did appreciate the large "Flour & Daughters Bakery" sign near the roof that, while not too flashy, helped sell the fact about what she and her father did for a living. Even though she stood outside she could still small all of the tasty treats inside that her father put on display near the large window near the front. She even remembered when a massive dragonfly clipped the large sign with one of its wings that made it collapse to the ground, which, while damaging, took a couple of days to fully fix. Her father insisted that they stick with their current sign and not resort to a new one, so when the old sign finally got put back on the roof a couple of scrapes and loose cuts remained on the back from the incident. Thankfully nobody often arrived from the back so the damages hardly went noticed by the public. A lot of history happened in that building and Maddie couldn't have felt happier to be a part of it.
She didn't want to dawdle too much, especially with Flint arriving, so she headed off with the basket in tow. While only a short walk away, she could never have too much certainty when it came to Wartwood. Luckily, the fates left her alone and she arrived at the town square safely. She ignored the statue and small pond in the center and focused more on the front entrance where Flint would arrive…and it seemed others had a similar idea. While she knew some would probably linger around for first dibs, an entire crowd completely passed by her thoughts. From first glances alone she could make out Felicia and her daughter Ivy, Mayor Toadstool and his subordinate Toadie, and Mrs. Croaker to name a few. Every single one of them held a bag of some sort, whether by sticks, strings, or some other material, which provided the indications Maddie needed to figure all of it out. While she would love to sit and watch the possible carnage ensue, she also had to get something for her father and couldn't sit on the sidelines. Everyone wanted first dibs, and they would do ANYTHING to get to that point.
When she got in a bit closer to everyone one family easily stood out among everyone else. It came as no surprise to her that the one family with all of the crazy shenanigans behind them would have their presence known around the rest of the "competition". In some ways they intrigued her since they usually provided the start of everything crazy that happened around Wartwood, although they put the town in danger every single time. The eldest of the group sure appeared to not have it in him, but he proved age never restricted him. While he did have a name, nobody bothered to actually ask him about it and instead called him Hop Pop for simplicity. The old orange frog didn't look the part, but he could stretch his bones and provide great feats for the sake of his family. He did have a balding problem and only had two tufts of hair on the sides of his head left, but nobody really paid too much attention even though rumors had it that he really cared about it deep down. His past remained mostly a mystery to her although she never found it too important to willingly go up and ask about it. When the situations got brought to the forefront he did his best to keep it under control…even if it made things worse at times. While old enough to act as a grandparent, Hop Pop showed that age meant nothing in terms of crazy antics and always put family as his top priority.
The smallest one of the bunch didn't even have her legs yet, and yet she stood out as the craziest and wildest that had next to no bounds to her mayhem. While only just a polliwog, likewise named Polly, she loved to get out and go on outrageous expeditions even if her age told her otherwise. It often left the rest of the family to go after her before she got hurt, which more often than not lead to more insanity. Because of her age she sometimes missed the line between right and wrong and acted on her own accord and she made sure to show that she had the vigor and manic nature to pull it off. Her adorable purple color and large bow atop her head only served as a facade for her true personality underneath, although she did tend to fall back to a cute personality to get what she wanted. Even so, under all of that she truly cared for her family even if she butted heads with them on occasion. While she always wanted a medieval mace for her birthday, she would never brandish it toward anyone in the household. She still needed to iron out certain childish traits in her personality, but she cared deep down even through her desire to run around like a madman with a chainsaw.
The middle man ended up as a pinkish red frog with a beanie on his head and goggles underneath. With a name like Sprig, it came as no surprise that he also loved to get out and not worry about any dangers. Most of time he carried a slingshot in his inventory just in case things went belly up, but for the most part he ended up as the resident everyone knew and liked, with a couple of exceptions. Maddie tangled up with him a couple of times, especially one where the family basically sold him to her for a future marriage. In a comical twist they only asked for a mass of dough in return, which got provided and ensured she would end up with a young hubby…only to break up with her some time later. While a part of her still felt sour after such a drastic turn, for the most part she gotten over it pretty quickly. He doesn't hang around her often, but for the most part she understood why especially with her specializations in the dark arts. Other than that, he mostly accompanied another family member in a deep friendship that also tended to draw in trouble. For a frog always eager for adventure, Sprig fit the description perfectly and even acquired some admiration from the townsfolk in the process.
Lastly, the major oddball of the group easily took the cake as the one she had never seen before until she suddenly arrived one day. Under the name Anne Boonchuy, she didn't even fall into the same category as frog folk and fell under the label "human" with drastically different results. Her height eclipsed everyone else and her dark brown skin lacked any sort of sticky or slippery substance in the slightest. A large bush sat atop her head in the form of hair and even contained a couple of leaves tangled in it. Her shirt displayed some kind of symbol with letters Maddie never knew about and her legs stood long and lanky at almost the same height as other common frogs. For some reason she only wore one yellow shoe over one foot and nothing else over the other, which left only a dirty sock in its place. Some believe that the craziness happened when she showed up, and the situations that surrounded her helped back the theory up. Initially everyone saw her as a monster that required an execution upon capture, but as she stayed in Wartwood the title slowly dropped and another title replace it. Now everyone in town saw her as the hero of the whole place which made her into a local celebrity and the pride and joy that held the community in place. Over time more humans eventually showed their presence where Wartwood learned that they got trapped in Amphibia and had to find their way home, which lead to a couple of skirmishes Anne couldn't avoid. She eventually showed her courage after a fight with one of her own named Sasha, and after that Maddie only heard snippets of what she got into later. For now she stayed in Wartwood, and while another human named Marcy currently remained with her it appeared she stayed back at home at the time. Overall, Anne changed a lot since her time with the frogs, and she had more to come over the horizon that nobody truly understood yet.
All of them made up the Plantar family, and they always shook up Wartwood in one way or another.
Maddie wanted to remain on the sidelines since she didn't fancy herself as one to get her hands dirty freely, but she got a bit curious with what everyone had prepared for. She walked up to everyone with her basket in hand before the large toad named Mayor Toadstool immediately spoke up.
"Hey, get behind the line like everyone else!"
She got startled for a quick millisecond before she turned to face him with her typical flat expression.
"Excuse me?"
"I said get behind the line! No cheaters allowed!"
She cocked an eyebrow with the eye behind her pink hair before she saw the toad point downward. Once she diverted her attention over to the spot she found out what he initially meant. Right in the mud and dirt of the town square a long improvised line in the form of a thick divot right before each of the townsfolk except for her. She accidentally stepped over it and never knew it existed in the first place, but she didn't need to put two and two together to figure out what it meant.
She thinned her eyes in Mayor Toadstool's direction before she slowly walked backwards behind the marker while she kept her eye on him like a predator. Right after she did as instructed, she immediately turned to face the Plantars.
"Wow, you seriously want to get to him first over everyone else? I know Flint has the rare goods, but this seems a bit too extreme."
"Hey, when you got to get something, YOU GOT TO GET SOMETHING." Polly replied with a tone of seriousness near the end. "I've basically made a list of all of my priorities the moment he left last time!"
"We also have strength in numbers, so we automatically have an advantage." Sprig added. "I'm going to get access to those exotic swamp gummies if I have to tear someone's limbs off!"
"Not if I have anything to say about it Sprig!" Ivy retorted with an equal competitive nature. "Remember who always manages to get a jump on you at every corner?"
Sprig turned to face Ivy and comically frowned before Mayor Toadstool spoke up.
"Hey, I got prepared for this before ANY of you set foot over here! I even got all of my forty winks in the process and I NEED his low prices! Right Toadie?"
One single glance at his assistant and Maddie could tell how Mayor Toadstool managed to pull it off. The young frog that constantly stood by Mayor Toadstool's side constantly shook and trembled uncontrollably while he held a single cup in his hands, and his eyes completely stood out through everything else. Maddie never knew someone could open their eyes that wide, but Toadie proved her hunch as correct. She could even see the long red capillaries that seemed to pulsate ever so slightly that covered his eyes in slight redness that indicated only one thing. Out of everyone to constantly serve the mayor and his personal punching bag, it always ended up with Toadie in the end.
His teeth clanked over and over like a windup toy while he had on a huge grin across his face.
"Ahugh, Ipersonallywentthroughallnight! Isetanewrecord! Iwouldlikethatraiseyoutoldmeaboutforgoingthroughwiththis! OfcourseIwoulddodanythingforyousir!"
The instant he rambling finished, the personal assistant immediately collapsed onto the dirt and began snoring profusely. Everyone else seemed to have taken the scene rather well, but Mayor Toadstool still felt the need to reiterate everything.
"Like I said, all fair game. When you have quick thinking you know how to make things swing in your favor."
"Hey, your line is one foot ahead of ours!"
Mrs. Croaker's interjection caught everyone's attention, and it didn't take a genius to figure out where she indicated in the dirt. One single glance down at the mayor's feet and soon all of them, besides Maddie and Anne, shot angry daggers at him from their eyes. It quickly got him to sweat a little.
"Well, uhhhhh, everyone knows that, ummmm, the mayor always get a personal head start! I already get loads of work from listening to all of you so, uhhhhh, I deserve this!"
It soon erupted into a massive argument between everyone behind the lines, except for Maddie and Anne. The young witch found it a bit odd to see the tall human not engage with them as they butted heads since she usually backed up Sprig and would stand by him no matter what. Her curiosity got the better of her once again, so she walked up to her and asked the question.
"You don't seem interested in this whole thing. Why?"
Her presence seemed to take Anne by surprise as she slightly bolted upward when Maddie spoke. She turned to face her swiftly, but once she noticed the young frog her mood calmed down. After one more glance at the fighting frogs eager to get their hands on Flint when he arrives, she finally answered.
"Let's just say…this sort of thing happens all of the time in my world with…dreadful results at times."
"Oh, really?" Maddie said. "You seem fine about it to me."
Her expression instantly turned serious in a millisecond, which didn't spook Maddie too much but came out as unexpected.
"Ninety five percent off sale, eight in the morning, and inches away from the door. I thought I would never see the light of day after I met the floor. So many intense presses…and I nearly lost my arm as I reached for that blouse. Boxes flew everywhere…everyone falling beaten and bruised…and I got out with a pair of pants over my head. I escaped with a handful of quarters in my pocket…and my name is Anne."
The human shuddered all over like crazy before she slowly got to the ground and held her knees like a makeshift fetal position. Her expression made it appear like she just saw a ghost, but she still kept her eyes on Maddie. The frog girl remained fine and kept her normal attitude, but Anne sure took a beating down memory lane, and the constant arguing in the background didn't help.
She uttered one more statement even in her somewhat unstable state.
"Whatever you do, always prepare for the worst when you see those numbers."
"Ummm, okay?" Maddie replied slightly puzzled. She clearly carried some trauma after…whatever incident happened that had similarities to the current situation. While it didn't completely break her down, it whittled her down enough to almost form a shell out of her. If it truly went as horribly as Anne's shattered details, Maddie easily didn't want any part of it. She didn't scare her into submission, but to stay on the safe side she would probably watch everything happen and walk up to Flint after everything subsided. No single item was worth her life…for now since she still had her interests in the dark arts.
Throughout all of the arguing though, one single rustling of the bushes in front of the gate managed to break everything up. The mood suddenly shifted from angry arguers to stone cold predator. Maddie took a few steps back while Anne scooted backward the same distance. One wrong move and everything would get dicey more than usual. While frogs never stood out in their world as the darkest of predators, they sure knew how to put on an act as one. All eyes set on the few bushes, and the tensions grew high. They wanted their first helpings, and they would do anything for them.
It only took a single vision of something starting to come out before the underworld broke loose.
"Toadie, go get 'em!"
Mayor Toadstool went for the preemptive strike and grabbed the knocked out Toadie before he threw him straight forward. The rushing winds immediately woke him up but before he could fully come to he smacked right into the just emerging figure head on. As much of a cheater everyone despised about Mayor Toadstool, it didn't matter to them at the time before they rushed like a herd of angry driving snails. What sounded like a bomb going off only turned out as some sort of war cry from the desperate crowd, and before Maddie knew it all of them formed a ravenous dust cloud that covered most of the gritty and damaging. From sounds alone she could already tell things went south quickly, as dozens of fists and bodies clashed and teeth clamped down on vulnerable skin. She had no idea who currently had the edge, but suffice to say a part of her couldn't help but find entertainment from such a spectacle. She blamed it on her dark tendencies, but other than that she felt glad to not have a presence in there. She wanted to keep her limbs intact after all.
The whole scuffle happened for around thirty minutes, which kept Maddie and Anne glued to the chaos, until another voice interrupted the whole thing.
"Wow, I didn't know all of you would do anything for him."
The dust settled as everyone suddenly halted. Maddie couldn't help but smirk at some of the visuals as if they just hit a freeze frame at the worst possible moment. Hop Pop had his teeth suck into Mayor Toadstool's leg, Toadie had his entire head in the dirt while Polly sat on him with a wide grin, Ivy and Sprig each had one of their fists in each other's eyes, Felicia and Mrs. Croaker had their bodies enveloped in mud, and many, many more humorous bouts got caught in the act. She only scratched the surface with how much she saw from the aftermath, as all of them shared some type of beating from the whole thing. If anything, she felt lucky to have stayed out of it.
As for who managed to break everything up, it ended up as the major guest of honor. She could tell straight away from the bright red eyes that shined in the sun and the iconic black slits in the middle of them, although he didn't just stand out from them alone. His bright green skin helped him blend in with the surroundings, even if she found it a bit too bright to do so, and his hands displayed light yellow that no other frog she had seen before carried for some reason. He smelled of deep wilderness and wet rains that nobody could get enough of since it set examples from where he just came from and the trials he went through. The flat tips of his fingers provided a strong grip that got him through thick binds at times, from what he told everyone else about anyway, and gave off a type of exotic nature that reinforced the notion that he traveled far and wide and experienced hardships at every corner. He made himself known around Amphibia that he was a unique type of frog fit for such travels, and to add as the cherry on top came the large iconic bag he always carried. For something that many considered the "endless sack" it sure looked the part. While it only had a thick brown to it for the most part, a couple of lighter colored patches dotted around it at points. To think that it got damaged came out as no surprise to everyone he visited once they learned of his nature. So much mystery surrounded his bag and only he knew how such an object could provide next to everything without the pounds reserved for bodybuilders. Even so, he made for a unique person that everyone loved to come across.
Flint finally set foot onto Wartwood's outskirts.
Once their eyes set on the traveling collector, their thoughts immediately shifted over to the one they initially went after. He had his back to the ground under everyone else from the scuffle, but once they cooperated and got a good look a wave of stupidity blew through their heads. It turned out everyone went head over heels for the one guy known for a single statement which always brought up one of his major attributes. With a derpy smile and generic hat that covered his eyes, everyone recognized the one frog as none other than Chuck, who already had multiple bruises and injuries from the large brawl that occurred over him.
He gave a crooked thumbs up and broken smile before he said the obvious.
"I grow tulips!"
Everyone who fought in the brawl quickly frowned in disappointment before the beaten frog rolled away from his side into the town like the weird one everyone described him as. Maddie couldn't help but snicker again under her breath while Anne held back the urge to roll her eyes.
Flint broke the silence instantly.
"Sheesh, I just made my entrance and I already have a crowd. I guess I should have expected it at some point, but even so I have lots of stuff to trade!"
Immediately after he finished, the crowd of rowdy frogs got to their feet and attempted to get to the man himself. Flint backed up a little before they almost got too close, which forced him to speak up.
"Hey, hey, hey, one at a time! I know all of you desire my wares, but I'm not a miracle worker! Just give me a moment so I can figure-"
His train of thought drifted off as his attention turned somewhere else. In an attempt to free up his sights from the large crowd he turned his head to the side only to lock eyes with the one human on campus. Maddie also turned to face Anne and saw that she may have gotten surprised a bit. Her eyes opened a little wider than usual and her immense shuddering ceased in an instant. Certainly she wanted to stay out of the whole thing and wait for it to die down, but her expectations threw her a curve ball. Of course she had never seen Flint before and vice versa, and from the sights alone she knew something caught their interest, but specifics remained hazy for the young frog.
She watched as the world traveler walked up to Anne with intrigue.
"Anne Boonchuy, am I right?"
Anne cocked an eyebrow in his direction.
"You…know me?"
"Who hasn't?" Flint answered. "You hear a lot of tall tales on the road, but when I heard the residents of Newtopia talk about it when I visited there a few weeks ago I couldn't ignore the possibility of the chance to meet you. Wow, you even fit all of the descriptions I've heard too."
Anne would have responded to that, but before she could Flint slowly started to circle around while his eyes scanned all over her. Maddie backed off a bit while Anne had no idea how to act from such a supposed celebrity. The look in her face told Maddie that she felt somewhat irritated from his intrusion of personal space, especially after he gazed down at her legs and held her arms for a quick second. She could tell that if Flint didn't have his status as someone important to the town, she would have punted him across the globe. Besides, woman that don't look their best live longer than the men who comment on it.
After around a minute of looking over her at nearly every angle, the curious frog moved back in front of her and immediately got sparkles in his eyes which caught Anne off guard.
"I can't believe it. You have the fame because of all of your accomplishments and friendly nature while I have the fame from my world travels and incidents on the road. I find myself honored to know that I actually got to see you in person!"
"Wow, uhhhhh…thanks." Anne responded with a friendly smile as she rubbed the back of her head in slight embarrassment. "I get that a lot at times."
"Well deserved, I'd say." Flint replied. One frog on the sidelines saw the opportunity straight away and wasted no time to to speed up to the two with an eager expression.
"Hey, I'm her best friend! I've basically stayed by her when the goings got tough too! I can have the acknowledgments too!"
His outburst immediately got followed up with the youngest as she instantaneously appeared next to him.
"I've hung out with Anne just as much as you! I'm as special as him!
…followed by the oldest next to her.
"And I took her in and had her live with us! I'm important Flint, please recognize me!"
Soon enough the entire rest of the crowd began to make their way up and provided reasons as to why they have their importance next to Anne, and Maddie couldn't blame them due to his important status to them. Before anyone could get too close though, Flint hastily exclaimed.
"Hey, hey, can I have some room here?! I'm sure all of you have some significance, but can I please have some time with her first, especially since I've never gotten to see her before?!"
Pretty much everyone that wanted recognition from Flint immediately did so and gave him room, although some grumbled under their breath in slight frustration. He even got Anne to giggle a bit from such a display while Maddie watched in silence.
"Phew, sometimes I wished I always held that sort of power." Flint said once he turned back around to face Anne. "Anyways, since I'm here, got any particular object in mind? I'm happy to serve someone like you after everything I've heard."
"Well…not exactly." Anne answered. "I just followed everyone else after all of the commotion I heard about you. I'm just as surprised to see THIS happen just from your arrival."
Now Anne got Flint to giggle a little under his breath.
"Heheheh, I understand. Oh, to show how much I appreciate everything you've done, especially from what I've heard, let me give you a little something."
Everyone watching, besides Maddie and Anne, almost had their jaws hit the floor. Flint usually didn't prefer charity actions from everything he built up, but clearly Anne had a special case behind her. Even Maddie could help but feel impressed that she managed to entice Flint to undergo such an action. She clearly caught his eye even though they just met, and Maddie could tell Anne thought the same thing. Her importance probably went up ten fold if she managed to get Flint the Collector to do something not in his mindset.
With no time to spare, the traveling frog set his bag to the ground while everyone else watching in anticipation for what he had in store. With a twist and shuffle, Flint's entire upper torso went straight into the bag like he just performed an elegant dive into a lake. They could hear him mumble to himself and some rather unorthodox noises that nobody could put a pin into. Even though it appeared almost flat, he always made it out like his bag contained something in it. It added to the whole mystery behind it, which even Anne couldn't believe as she kept her eyes on him. So many assumptions filled the air from just one set of motions nobody could truly see, and it always intrigued any onlookers that placed their eyes on him. Flint knew his craft and unintentionally put on a show when he reached into his empty-but-somehow-full bag when he did so, and it left everyone guessing as to what he would pull out next.
After what seemed like a couple of minutes, eventually they heard Flint again.
"Ah, yes! Found it!"
Everyone waited as the frog pulled himself out of his bag, and once he came into full view the object he wanted also followed shortly after. Once they saw what he had in mind in his grasp, a couple frogs in the crowd, mostly the young ones like Sprig, Polly, and Ivy, had their mouths practically turn into waterfalls. While it didn't look like the most delectable confectionery at first glance, to the ones that understood the nature behind it they could already feel the taste across their tongues. On the outside it had the shape of a large dog sized grub, which stood out as normal for Amphibia's standards, but it lacked a grotesque head for some reason. In fact, it lacked a head all together. In the spot where a head would go set a large round hole that oozed something out of it. Maddie had some hunches that Anne had a weak stomach at times, especially around creepy crawly things, and it almost seemed like a no brainer that she would turn it away at first glance. However, everyone else knew the true tastiness behind it. If she wanted, she could throw away the tasty treat and never give it a chance.
The look on Anne's face went south quickly as it she almost appeared to detest such a gross bug…thing, although she did have to eat them shortly after she arrived in Wartwood to get used to it.
"Ergh, uhhhh…what did you just bring out?" Anne asked with a slight stutter in her voice.
"What? You've never heard about the shed skin of a jelly grub?" Flint asked. "Most would fall head over heels for this sort of thing!"
"A what and a what now?" Anne said while confused over it. Her buddy Sprig helped provide the details.
"Anne, jelly grubs give some of the tastiest jelly once they molt out of their skins! They don't often do it, but when they leave behind the jelly inside, well…you should try it for yourself!"
"I can take it if you don't want it, Anne!" Polly said as she put on an improvised grin. She immediately got a disappointed glance from Hop Pop.
"Now Polly, I'm certain Anne wouldn't turn down some that delectable. She wouldn't…begin to consider…such bursting with flavor…ugggggghhhh…"
The thoughts about the delectable confectionery joy changed the waterfall from his mouth into an entire mammoth geyser while he trailed off into his own delicious fantasies, which made Polly's expression go flat instantly.
Even so, Maddie knew Anne couldn't brush it off as a crowd watched her, so she had to get at least one taste in. Maddie held back her immense amounts of drool while she silently watched Anne attempt to squeeze the filled husk of a grub. It appeared that the whole thing still contained a large amount as one simple compression squirted out a small batch of red jelly already. It missed Anne's mouth by a margin since she didn't expect it, but after that she understood how it functioned. She still displayed some queasiness but kept some decent leverage as she went for another squeeze, which oozed out another small batch. She put the sticky substance into her hand as a certain paleness followed after across her face. Her whole body shuddered for a second before she glanced back at the crowd one more time then poured the glob of jelly into her mouth. All eyes stared at her for the inevitable reaction.
At first they didn't see much other than a couple of excess twitches here and there, which got some to conclude that she preferred something different. Of course their guess turned on their heads when they immediately noted a drastic but understandable change in her expression. Her pupils quickly grew huge and her mouth nearly turned into a perfectly rounded circle. They could see her arms almost go limp while the paleness in her face fell to the wayside as pure emotion ran through her veins. She almost had the appearance of a hypnotized person at points, but that immediately faded once they saw her gaze aim directly at the skin of a jelly grub in her grasp.
She then stated the obvious to everyone around her.
"I…I…I think I just experienced a pinch of the heavens in this one blessing. I can almost feel myself crying…THAT I GOT TO TASTE SOMETHING OF THIS MAGNITUDE!"
She didn't even bother to use her hands to pick the jelly after that. Just like someone who got dared to drink an entire barrel of fizzy juice, with next to no time to spare Anne instantly hoisted the molted jelly grub skin above her and squeezed it as hard as she could. Streams of the delectable jelly jetted out in droves which the girl eagerly caught right into her mouth, and she wouldn't let it up in the slightest. Her entire face got coated in the substance much to her immense pleasure and crazy current nature which eventually lead to it getting into her hair all over. As much as Maddie wanted even the slightest of taste of the jelly, she clearly didn't want to degrade herself to the mindset Anne had as she unleashed torrents of it everywhere across her face. Everyone watching took away one major fact about her current attitude. Anne loved the jelly.
Maddie felt so enamored with the manic display Anne showed that she almost failed to notice Flint the Collector walk up toward her. Once he spoke it jogged her out of it.
"I didn't forget about you back there Maddie. Other than Anne, you didn't get all crazy with everyone else when I arrived and I admire that. Even others like me wished they could just, you know, hang around without a crowd always stalking you."
Maddie would have underwent a bit of surprise that he knew her name if he didn't already have a known status in town. Even so, he addressed her specifically and she couldn't have appreciated it more than she did then. While not a huge fangirl, unlike a lot of others, she liked what he brought to the table even if she never knew exactly what until he revealed it.
"Well, my mindset diverts a lot from others. I like to think things differently that many consider unnatural and out of the ordinary."
"You still think that way, huh?" Flint said. "Well, nothing wrong with that, for I'd say it fits you nicely! Of course you plainly know why I'm here, so do you have anything on you mind that I might just have in store?"
The insanity that arrived shortly after she left the house nearly made her forget the specific request her dad told her. The wires connected shortly after and snapped her to it.
"Oh, right. Almost forgot after everything that happened. Well, my dad wanted to know if you have that exotic wheat he likes. He kind of likes to sprinkle in a couple of foreign ingredients in his pastries."
"Ah, I think I know what you mean." Flint answered. "Your father always likes to think outside of the box. I'm pretty sure I came across a few clumps, so just give me a minute…"
Similar to what he went through before, the collector placed his bag against the ground before he prepared himself and stuck his head right into the hole. Maddie could see some movement underneath that came from him, but other than that she stood clueless. She even heard a couple of weird noises from the bag that threw her in for a loop of confusion while Flint seemed to handle everything fine at a glance. Everyone else still had their sights on on the jelly craved Anne which left only Maddie to witness the weird frog work in his bag for something specific. Even as a witch she never managed to pinpoint the strange mystery around his bag, although she conjured up a couple of theories she rather kept to herself. Such a weird and strange frog to her, and yet she acknowledged his feats that helped the town prosper.
She didn't have to wait too long before Flint hit a snag.
"Ah, yes! Found it!"
He soon dragged himself back out into the open and shook himself off from everything she couldn't see in there. Once her turned around to face her, she noticed the large clump of wheat in his hands that and they lit her face up. He really had those exclusive pieces in his hoard, and she knew her father would appreciate them in his possession. At first glance it didn't seem too different, but a closer look revealed some distinctive sky blue tips that tickled the nostrils and provided an aroma most would die for. Flint seemed to never let someone down when it came to certain specifics.
However, she also knew how he worked to provided what he collected.
"As much as I would like to give this to you for free, I still have my business to attend to. Anne was a special case, so sorry if you expected the same treatment. What have you got for me today?"
She heard the standard spiel like he always said. If you wanted something valuable from Flint's collection you had to provide something of equal value, and even though Maddie didn't particularly contain lots of valuable items, everyone certainly had something they would want to get rid of. While her headache flared up more painfully since she got it, she could at least think of something that Flint might want in return. It required not much thought though, as an idea popped up which got her to rummage through her pockets for something. She ran her fingers through until she recognized the touch, and soon after she brought it out. What appeared as a small ordinary black bag meant much more in the eyes of ones interested in the dark arts, and for Maddie it meant something special she worked on personally. If everything aligned right, it would entice Flint to hand over the goods.
At first he seemed slightly confused over what she just showed.
"Umm, what exactly do you have in mind with that?" Flint asked.
"Oh, nothing much." Maddie replied. "I've had something in the works for a while now, and while not fully tested I've seen positive results on objects I've personally tried. If everything goes well with this, I think I've concocted a curse anyone could use regardless of whether or not they have a profession in spells."
"And what does that particular curse inflict?" Flint asked.
"Nothing too complicated; just the capability of keeping yourself clean for about a week." Maddie explained. "That way you won't have to use a bathtub until it wears off. I'm trying to work on more complicated curses for everyone, but I wanted to keep things simple for a first attempt."
Flint tilted his head before he went in for a closer look. Maddie held on to hope that it caught his attention even if she never fully finished fleshing everything out. She hypothesized that she had about ninety percent completion on the curse, which may steer others away until they made sure they remained safe when used. She wanted to work on the project herself so she kept its presence away from her apprentice Marcy, but once she fully finished it she would probably use her as a test subject. She couldn't underestimate the importance of such a step forward, and when it happens she might finally get the people around her to not automatically reject every type of spell she concocted.
After a few moments while he kept his mind to himself, Flint came to his conclusion.
"While it may lack the perfection you have said, I can't help but see the potential. You clearly put a lot into it, and for that reason…I think we have a deal here."
The tension under her eyes expelled from her mind as she made the trade. For her mostly complete curse that anyone can use, the special wheat her father wanted came into her hands. He would be pleased to know that his daughter managed to convince Flint to give what he asked for, and if he felt happy it would rub off on her. After everything said and done, she accomplished a goal for today. It felt good to have a loving father that knew who to send off for specific duties when he couldn't make it himself.
Once they completed the process the two turned back to face the crowd who still had their sights on Anne and her newfound love for that special jelly…only to see the human against the ground on her back. The jelly grub skin laid next to her while her entire face basically showed nothing but a large glob of jelly that covered most facial feature. From the size of the grub skin it still had bucket loads of jelly stored in it, and it seemed like she had the time of her life with the tasty treat.
"So much jelly…so much delicious jelly…I've experienced paradise…and I never want to go back…"
Her mind wandered off somewhere else while she collapsed in a heap, and with the grub skin free for the picking some cheeky frogs walked up to try and take it. They probably would have accomplished it too if the ground suddenly didn't suffer large quakes. It nearly threw everyone off of their feet, including Flint and Maddie, and they continued to amplify over time. Anne had her whole mind filled with jelly goodness that she remained on the ground and didn't seem to care that trouble started to arise.
Some frogs quickly concluded on a potential cause.
"Hey, whose turn was it to place the large rocks around town?" Felicia asked.
"If I remember the schedule correctly, I think maybe Mrs. Croaker?" Hop Pop said.
"No, I had my duty a few days ago!" Mrs. Croaker answered. "Almost busted a hip doing it too!"
"I've basically memorized the schedule after my first day just to get it over with." Ivy replied. "Mayor Toadstool was supposed to place the rocks today."
Everyone's attention set over to the cheapskate mayor of the town, who immediately got a bit uneasy.
"Well, uhhhhh, so much stuff occurred in the last few days that kept my attention away from, ummmm, many specifics…"
"Did you place the large rocks around town or not?" Hop Pop asked. They pretty much obtained their answer when Mayor Toadstool bit his lip and began to sweat. The mood around the area slowly escalated to an unnerving tension that broke a couple of frogs.
"YOU FORGOT TO PLACE THE ROCKS AROUND THE OUTSKIRTS OF TOWN?!" Sprig exclaimed.
"Hey, it slipped my mind, okay?!" Mayor Toadstool replied. "It happens! I have an entire town to constantly look over daily!"
"Well, your one mistake is going to cost us!" Ivy responded as the quakes got stronger. "Do you know what happens when the rocks AREN'T there?!"
The ground started to get more unstable as time moved on, which eventually lead to the entire crowd, plus Flint and Maddie, to bolt away from the area. Anne didn't get the memo at the time since her mind still stayed filled with tasty confectionery goodness, which kept her completely out of it and her back to the ground. She never saw it coming as the ground split open and what seemed like a large snake burst from the dirt. It let loose a cry that shook everything before it pulled itself out from the hole it made. In one quick set of motions Ivy made her point that Mayor Toadstool would regret later.
As for the snake itself, it didn't have the appearance of any normal ones or any other reptile in Amphibia. It's long body equaled around two entire houses but had large spotted rocks covering it that twisted and turned as it moved. It almost gave off the impression that it wore a rocky suit of armor and each piece displayed a different sized spotted chunk that would have inhibited movement to an extent, but for the snake it had no trouble with it at all. When each individual piece hit the ground it gave off a hollowed noise as if someone hit an empty clay pot which rang through everyone's head as it moved. Its tail even supported a small spotted chipped rock that also provided the same noises, albeit to a lesser scale than the bigger pieces. While its rugged body made up a large portion of the unique appeal of the creature, its head stole the show…or rather heads. Right around where a snake's neck would usually go instead displayed another large rounded spotted piece of rock, although some weird chipped angles meant it wasn't perfect, far bigger than the ones that covered its body. Everyone that gazed in front of the rock found that the snake didn't just have one head, but a scaly three. In some ways it made the largest rock appear like some type of neck brace that held the three heads together, even though that probably wasn't the case. Each of the three heads, which dotted around the rock in the shape of a triangle even contained individual characteristics that made each one stand out in their own way. The one near the top had two basic rounded eyes with circular pupils that basically took up its entire face and one flat silver jaw that somehow lacked teeth but glistened in the sun. When it opened up it squeaked a little, which made it not look the most deadly compared to the others. The one on the bottom left had a more natural feel to it but still different. The typical round eyes and black slit with yellow sclera didn't catch the most attention, but the two big horns around its snout surely gave off a deadly impression. It swung them around like an angry bull and its long jaw helped reinforce the deadliness behind them, although it also lacked longs fangs typical of most snakes. The last head in the bottom right lacked any type of living feel akin to most of its kind. In fact, the entire head had all of its features look like they were made out of living rock. From its flat square eyes near the front that slightly bulged out to its powerful flat jaw that uttered a loud rocky clap with each impact, all of it had a strong rock appearance even though it probably had something organic underneath. Because of the flat nature around all of its features, it also lacked any type of fangs in its mouth. All three heads maintained some type of unison between each other, although they did act on their own accord at times. All of them made for a sturdy set with three times the thinking power, and they would show it with no mercy. While not the weirdest creature the vast land contained, it sure exemplified the many inklings one could find if they looked hard enough…much to the chaos of the ones around them.
The large rock that had the three heads mounted on it rotated around at times like a game show wheel that shuffled the heads around and angled their sights appropriately while their body slithered around and caused destruction at every turn. The motions finally manged to snap Anne back to reality and got her to sit back up. She still thought about the jelly she tasted but once she saw the huge rock snake steamroll toward her she zipped up on her feet, grabbed her jelly bug treat, and high tailed it out of the way. The rock rotated the heads around once more as their body made their way between a few houses, which left Anne to take cover behind a one away from it, which just so happened to also have Sprig, Maddie, and Flint behind it.
"Seriously guys? You can't just find a better spot to lay low?" Anne asked with a small frown.
"Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures…in terms of hiding spots obviously." Sprig responded.
"So what exactly do we having rampaging right now?" Anne asked.
"A Petoskey Asp." Flint answered. "They usually stay underground and surface only to feed on large rocks, and while not initially hostile they can get a bit grumpy if they don't get their rocks to eat."
"We actually use them to help fertilize the fields far underground where they don't make any quakes." Sprig added. "They don't eat frogs and they can become easy to work with under the right conditions, but if we don't supply their source of food daily, well…"
Another crowd of local frogs ran out of the way as the large snake rushed past them and nearly sideswiped the house the group currently hided behind. It chipped some brick off of it, but the structure otherwise stayed intact.
"Sheesh, it really feels hangry about not having its rocks!" Anne said.
"Feels what now?" Maddie asked while slightly confused.
"It's a human thing. You wouldn't easily understand." Anne replied. She couldn't argue with that and settled with that brief explanation before Anne spoke again.
"You thinking feeding it some large rocks will calm it down?"
"I'd guess so, even though I've never dealt with those asps up close." Sprig answered before he went over to Flint. "Got any in that bag of yours?"
Flint frowned and shook his head.
"I deal with valuable stuff, Sprig. I don't stockpile everyday rocks like those snakes eat. Sorry, but when I've got a business I have to live up to those expectations."
"Well that won't help with things." Sprig said. "Got any bright ideas, Anne?"
"Not a good one, but an idea nonetheless." Anne responded before she shuddered. "I'll distract the asp while you guys fetch some large rocks for it to feed on. While risky…I'm pretty sure I can deal with it."
"After everything else you went through…I think all of us can agree on that." Maddie said while she slightly nodded. Soon after a trickle of loose rubble fell from above them and hit the ground which immediately caused everyone to clam up. They almost didn't want to look up, but eventually their heads slowly turned upward…and immediately noticed the Petoskey Asp and its three heads as they intensely glared at them. The group of four screamed as they scattered in different directions before the snake could land on them. The creature uttered a rattly screech before it headed off on its own around town and hurled acid at everything in sight, which corroded everything that came into contact with it instantly. It then slithered up to each evaporated object and stared down at it for a quick second before it rushed in another direction. If it had something on it mind nobody could figure it out in their scattered panic.
All three heads spat acid at a fruit stand next, and once it went down it went up to the wreckage and stared at it for a second. Before it could go off in another direction it felt something hit the back of its round neck rock. Its body rumbled slowly before its whole upper body pivoted around and saw the tall human Anne with a clump of rocks in her arms. She displayed valor as she threw another rock and hit the neck rock again, which didn't make the Petoskey Asp any happier.
"Hey, big guy! Over here you dumb slabs of rock! Want a taste of the ol' Anne here?"
All three heads uttered their screech before the body lifted up and slammed down angrily. With no time to spare, the rock hungry snake slithered at a fast pace straight toward the tall girl, while left next to no extra time to dawdle for her and forced her into a desperate run as it chased her. Immediately after she took off, she glanced down at the rocks in her hands and concluded on one single fact.
"I really should have used something other than rocks!"
Her whole body pushed into overdrive as the large snake got within inches of her squishy body and even spat acid in her direction on occasion. With everything about the creature against her, Anne really put her life on the line for the sake of everyone around her, which she basically dealt with on a regular basis so it struck some familiarity into her. The asp only ate large rocks, but when an annoyance distinctly singles you out, only one instinct remained superior above everything else.
As if innocent irony loved to mess with Wartwood daily, right as Anne ran by the entrance to the town the Petoskey Asp right on her tail, two more figures arrived and they had their minds off somewhere else. For the first, she also stood out among the rest as another one of the "humans" that ended up stuck in their world just like Anne, and in fact, she just so happened to remain pretty close to her as one of her close friends. She stood at around the same height as Anne, but other than that she displayed a much different appearance that made her stand out. Her black hair remained pretty flat unlike Anne's, and her eyes curved into certain squints that didn't catch everyone's attention much, but her choices of attire caught everyone's eyes when they came across her for the first time. While Anne preferred something pretty standard to the inhabitants, like a shirt and pants with nothing else, the other girl instead wore an outfit akin to an adventurer or woodsman. With a blue hood and cape along with some long boots and fingerless gloves, she clearly prepared herself for basically anything to come right at her with no holds barred. Thanks to her getup, she usually desired to get her hands dirty on a daily basis ever since she dedicated herself to research everything about Amphibia. Since she got transported along with Anne and another human friend named Sasha, she ended up having possibly the best outcome between them as one of the royal scouts for the king of Amphibia, which eventually lead to discovery of Anne and her whereabouts once they met up. For now, she decided to lay with Anne in Wartwood once they discovered the three temples that could recharge the box to get them back home, and while they currently only managed to finish one temple off, she almost cracked the coordinates for the second. She still needed a bit more time, but once she got fixated on a specific topic she usually got dedicated to it one hundred percent of the time…which more often than not caused her to avoid many aspects around her. From an accidental walk into a lake, a fall that put her into an open monkey cage, and even a missed opportunity to go on a luxury cruise from a question heard on television that she knew about, she shut herself off from society the moment she found her majorly fixated on something. In the end though, she got appreciated by everyone around her even with her faults under that hood.
You couldn't describe anyone else with those traits other than Marcy Wu, the klutzy but smart girl and close friend to Anne.
For the one next to her he didn't even belong in the same category. From his inception into the world after a freak accident in some ruins, he still didn't fully comprehend the world around him. Nobody could blame him though, since he lacked any type of organic material in him and had an entirely metal body like typical robots…at least from what Anne showed on her phone. Likewise with most of the stuff around Amphibia, he showed frog like features like the rounded head and bulgy eyes, but everything else maintained a bulky mechanical body that could withstand hard blows. From his steel shoulder pads, burly chest, and long stretchy arms, any weak attacks would just bounce right off, and after everyone in town learned of his existence, they quickly found out that deadly fighting skills lingered in his programming that he could trigger at any time. However, thanks to some displays of kindness from some folks, eventually he calmed down and slowly built up a kindness with the Plantars. Even though he still had much to learn, for the most part he kept his deadliness on the wayside so he could enjoy his time as a machine with a heart. Currently he stood under Marcy's observation since her distinct fascination with anything that involved Amphibia lead her to write down as much as she could about him, even if he didn't fully understand her intentions. Nothing but a hulking deadly machine loomed around the Plantar household but under all of it was someone still in the process of learning the ways of life.
Polly gave him the name Frobo and he's been with the Plantars since.
As the two entered town, Marcy had her nose into her research book while Frobo followed close behind and tried to sneak a few peeks into her writing.
"Okay, so you might have a certain type of metal in your arms that could…ugh, I don't have enough! You sure you have no ideas about your components?"
Frobo's static pupils changed into animated ellipses that consisted of three dots for a couple of seconds before they changed back. He uttered a couple of low leveled beeps and shook his head slowly.
"Yeah, I probably should have known that. Oh well, I can't dwell on that for too long especially with the temple quest in the next couple of days…provided I can track the second one down. Let's see here…"
Her curious eyes ran all over her current notes for a possible lead which, like the other times, made her lose focus of everything around her while she continued forward. Right as stayed lost in her pages, the greatly panicked Anne followed by the rock hardened snake rushed in from her right. Anne continued to pelt rocks at each head which annoyed it further and kept their eyes on the prize before them. Of course, Frobo maintained his own way of thinking and easily noticed the problems between the two situations, which he tried to relay to Marcy as he waved his arms and uttered some pretty loud beeps in her direction. However, just like she always acted, Marcy paid no attention to his warning and kept at it in her research.
Frobo almost had enough as they closed gaps between each other and nearly ran forward to intercept and stop the incidents from colliding. He never got to pull that off though, as right when Marcy almost took one more step forward into incoming trouble, Anne shouted and almost emptied her lungs.
"MARCY! THE OTHER WAY! GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE CLOUDS!"
While Frobo couldn't get through to her, Anne's loud scream barely managed to zip into her head and jog her state of mind.
"Hmmm?" Marcy muttered as she turned to her right. She never to got the chance to think further as Anne ran a marathon with the snake close behind her just one step away from Marcy. The winds from the chase pushed the oblivious teen backward and made her stagger for a moment before she regained her footing and set her eyes on the situation. Anne pivoted around a bend and behind a house with the snake in hot pursuit right as Frobo got up to Marcy to make sure she remained uninjured. Any sane person would have probably ran off and locked themselves off in a basement of some kind for safety, but from everything the inhabitants learned from Marcy, nothing became absolute with her type of personality.
Instead, her pupils grew huge and sparkled in the sun as she curled up her hands and placed them on her cheeks.
"Oh my gosh…am I really seeing a Petoskey Asp IN PERSON?! I've only read about them back in Newtopia's library, but to see one with my own two eyes…SO BEAUTIFUL! I MUST take this once in a lifetime-"
"MARCY!" Anne exclaimed from somewhere ahead. Frobo tilted his head and kept his eyes on her while she snapped out of it again.
"Oh, uhhhh, sorry Anne! I'll get there as soon as possible!"
With no more time to waste, Marcy tucked away her research book into her hoard and ran off after Anne and the runaway snake. Frobo, with his choices seemingly whittled down, ran some personal calculations through his programming before he headed off behind her. He didn't know better than to help someone out, even if it would possibly bring out his offensive side.
For Anne, she couldn't have put herself in a worse position. She didn't think twice about the possible consequences of a distraction, and instead had to live them out. From fruit stands, deciduous trees, and even multiple mud pits, Anne had no choice but to muster through all of them just to remain out of the angered snake's jaws. Her legs burned and felt like they could collapse at any moment, but she managed to get some distance away from the asp in the process all while it hurled its acid everywhere which caught its attention on occasion. Every time it tried to steer its attention over to the areas the acid hit, Anne threw a couple of rocks at its three heads and pulled its attention back to her. All of it brought precious time so the others could track down some large rocks, and after what seemed like an eternity to her she began to get frustrated herself.
"Sprig better find those rock and fast, for I'm busting my hump here with this stupid-AAAAH!"
The large snake almost got a couple of nips at her which forced her to run faster. Unfortunately, it didn't take long until she glanced back at the snake to determine distance and ran head first into a wall, specifically the back wall to Stumpy's restaurant. As much as she hated the small of rotten garbage, it didn't come close to the trouble of the massive Petoskey Asp. Buckets of sweat poured from her face while she expressed a very tepid and nervous smile at her pursuer. Her luck drained pretty fast when it came to the creature.
"Heheheh, uhhhhhh, hi there big guy. I know I called you some dumb slabs of rock, but, ummmmm, maybe we can let bygones be bygones? Come on, pleeeeease?"
The asp's three heads gazed at her for a second before they screeched and attempted to lunge right at her. Anne braced herself for the attack and closed her eyes…but it never came. Once she opened her eyes back up, she lit up in surprise to see Frobo out of everyone else in front of her with his arms stretched forward as he held the huge creature back.
"What the, Frobo?"
The mechanical frog robot turned his head around and put on a friendly smile to show his support. He uttered a couple of high end beeps before he got back to holding off the asp, which he seemed to handle with ease. His feet skidded back into the ground from the sheer force, but otherwise he held it together.
Even so, the asp still had something else, so its three heads fired themselves up to spit acid at the opposition, which Frobo couldn't pay attention to as he held the snake back. Right before the three heads commenced their attack they suddenly found their jaws wedged shut as three strong ropes held them together. One glance to her side and Anne saw Marcy hold it together as if her life depended on it with all three ropes in her grasp. She couldn't have asked for a friend like her at that moment.
"I got this, don't worry Anne!" Marcy said as the asp put up some resistance. "Can't let you corrode away from that creature's acid! They say that it has the most powerful and poisonous acid in Amphibia after all, and since they lack strong teeth to chew on large rocks they have to-"
"Not helping Marcy!" Anne interjected. Even with their strength combined Frobo and Marcy just barely managed to hold it back from Anne, and the asp put up resistance at every corner. If it progressed any further the asp would break free and rampage again all over town. Everyone else either ran for the hills or enclosed themselves where the snake couldn't get to them.
…at least any sane one not named Maddie.
She couldn't help herself and stayed close and kept her eyes on it. She read about ingredients for particular spells and hexes that required something from the Petoskey Asp but she never got to see one with her own eyes. The fact that it went crazy with destruction everywhere intrigued her to an extent she never knew she had. It didn't force her to automatically see everything around her fall to pieces, but something about it made her glued to it. Maybe her dark tendencies still rubbed her a certain way, but either way she couldn't run away from it.
Even though it captivated her to a minor extent with its destruction, she couldn't stand for the fact that it wanted Anne and company dead on the ground. Their strength would eventually fail sooner or later, but Sprig still went missing with the large rocks he promised to calm the asp down. With no other rocks around town in sight, it left no other options available and the asp would keep going until it found one of those rocks to snack on.
Then she remembered a certain curse. No one else could have potentially concluded on such a solution other than her.
After a quick rummage through her pockets, she came across the one particular bag that contained the spell that she wanted. While she always kept a couple of curses on hand, for the one specific curse she only stashed one since she almost never had to use it. She learned to always come prepared when it came to the dark arts, so even with the more obscure hexes she at least carried one of each just in case. Even with the specific hex though, she still required some type of large object to use it on which brought her attention to the large dumpsters near the incident. They appeared to have the right size, but she didn't have time to cross examine it.
Taking a large gamble with her idea, Maddie ran forward with the bag in hand and set her sights on the dumpsters. Everyone else neat the asp had their minds preoccupied by holding it back, or staying safe in Anne's case, that they almost failed to account Maddie until she got up close.
"Maddie?! What are you doing here?!" Marcy exclaimed while she kept her grip on the ropes. The asp nearly brought her and Frobo to their limits, as they both had their arms tremble from its strength and, particularly in Frobo's case, had their bodies dug into the ground.
"Giving that snake the food it wants!" Maddie replied before she threw the curse right at the two dumpsters. A cloud of powder showered the objects at first, although the effects didn't become apparent immediately. Nothing happened for the first couple of seconds, but quickly after that they saw what Maddie intended. It started from the bottom and worked its way up until the whole thing took on a much "solid" appearance. The rusty and worn down metal got replaced with layers of sheet rock and the garbage inside fell to the stony effects and lost their smell in the process. Even though spells can usually take around twelve hours to fully come into effect, the specific spell Maddie had on hand took only seconds for the end result. The ones nearby watched in awe as what once stood out as a large metal container for rotten food transformed into a stone sculpture that artists would kill for to understand such pristine details. All in one quick curse from a witch like Maddie, she managed to turn both dumpsters into complete stone fit for a hungry stone eating snake.
The asp in particular took notice of the transformation rather instantly, and right on time in the process after Marcy and Frobo couldn't take it anymore. The two broke down and let the large snake go after their strength finally failed them, but the creature kept interest in the stone dumpsters than anything else. Rampaging seemed to fall off of its schedule as Maddie backed up to let it slowly slither up to what she did. Her migraine restricted her reactions, and even got worse than last time, but she stayed silent while the asp put its three heads near the rock solid dumpsters and seemed to sniff at it with their tongues. She had an idea what might happen next, which only got confirmed when the snake reeled back and rotated its rock counterclockwise, which also revolved the heads, before it let loose blasts of acid right at the rocks. True to what Marcy said earlier, they corroded and melted away in seconds until they left nothing but gross puddles which the asp wanted. With one final slither toward the liquefied rocks, the heads tilted down into them and munched away for a couple of seconds. It made sense from what she heard from Marcy's brief ramble about how they lacked strong enough teeth to chew on them normally, so it had to break them down with some internal acid before they could eat. Even so, her idea still relied on a certain factor and the snake could turn back on them at any point.
After a couple more minutes, the snake finished the melted down rocks. The group could hear it huff for a second before it turned its three heads over to Maddie. She kept her distance just in case when their eyes went narrow, and before long, the asp let loose a loud hiss and buried its heads into the ground. It immediately tunneled down below and left a gaping hole in its wake, which provided the answered Maddie needed. I didn't seem as the most pleasant, but she felt pretty sure that her plan went off without a hitch and managed to save the whole town.
Nothing but standard in Maddie's books.
Anne almost collapsed on the floor from the tension while Marcy hastily ran up to Maddie, and she had a gracious grin on her face.
"Wow Maddie, that was genius!" Marcy exclaimed with slight excitement. "I didn't know you knew a curse like that!"
"I still have plenty you don't understand about me, and I go pretty deep." Maddie answered while she put on her usual creepy grin.
"Yeah, I might not want to go THAT far." Marcy responded. Before long, Frobo uttered some clicks and clangs that caught their attention and brought them back toward Anne as she tried to recover after the near death experience…which became daily from her time in Wartwood.
"Yeesh…I swear my heart skipped a beat back there." Anne said as she held her head. Frobo's beeps dipped down while his face reflected it.
"No, no, Frobo. I'm okay. A bit tuckered out, but okay."
Her response got followed up by a deep long beep from Frobo, as if he deeply sighed in relief, before she happily rubbed the top of his head to lift his spirits. Her action made him smile as she got to her feet and put her attention over to Marcy and Maddie.
"While I can find myself pretty impressed at times, that stunt you performed back there took the cake in so many fashions. You really saved my butt there Maddie."
"Well, can't let you become snake food now, huh?" Maddie replied. "One stone transformation curse and everything fell into place from there."
"Oh right, that curse thing." Anne responded a bit shakily. "I…kind of don't want to delve into that too much. You know…dark arts and all."
"Yeah, I understand what you mean." Maddie replied. On the surface she remained content, but underneath it her disappointment dipped low. Anne's uneasiness spelled her feelings for Maddie's hobby and she fell in the general consensus. If Marcy never arrived and expressed her interest in the dark arts, Maddie probably would have concluded that nobody ever had the curiosity in them other than herself. Deep down she always wanted to have her hobby out in the open so she wouldn't have to pick out a hiding spot every single time even for quick curse tests, but every time she tried it it resulted in everyone's disappearance from sight even when an invisibility spell never crossed her mind. Most of the time they treated her like some out of place freak and stayed clear from her at every turn, although ones close to her, like Sprig, Anne, and Marcy, put those differences beside her even if they steered clear of anything magic related. To hear Anne utter those words to her face served as a quick hit and run that took a few moments to fully realize, but soon after it hurt her state of mind even if she kept it behind the curtains.
"Well, another day, another incident to solve, am I right?" Marcy said in her typical cooperative attitude. "We handled everything like champs there and not a single casualty in sight!"
Too bad a wave of karma passed over them when all of them heard a yelp around a couple of house. Maddie ended up as the only one to realize who cried out, but nobody needed to think twice that something went wrong. Anne and Marcy headed the group while Frobo and Maddie followed close behind, and after a quick run through Wartwood's square they eventually arrived at the spot. Anne's and Marcy's eyes went wide upon their first glances while Maddie's and Frobo's remained fine, and they could clearly figure out why. The infamous traveling collector had his eyes singed to a crisp which made his eyelids all crusty and completely shut. At points they almost appeared to pulsate at a steady rhythm as veins nearly bulged out and could burst at any point. Marcy nearly dry heaved at certain points and immediately diverted her sight away just so the visuals didn't get ingrained into her brain. The asp blatantly made its mark on the collector to grotesque and painful results.
Marcy kept her back to his while everyone else tried to assess the obvious issues.
"Dear lord, what happened to you?!" Anne asked while she tried to steer her sight away from it.
"Anne? Am I hearing you?" Flint said while he held his hands out to feel for anything near. "I can't see anything!"
"Yes, I'm here!" Anne answered while grossed out in every aspect. "What happened to you though?!"
"I unfortunately came into contact with that snake's acid if you couldn't tell…in one of the more unfortunate spots." Flint explained. "Only a small portion hit me, but I'm already suffering the consequences."
Marcy tried to hold herself together before she turned back around, only to immediately turn her back again on the mere sight of Flint's damaged eyes. She dry heaved a few more time before she mustered up to speak.
"Well, urgh, if he only got, ugh, hit lightly by the, urgh, acid than they should, ugh, heal in the coming days. If he took any more punishments from that, urrrrGGH, acid he probably would have, URRRRGH, lost his eyes and sight in an, UGGGGH, instant."
The grossed out noises coming from Marcy while she held it in nearly rubbed off on the others from sheer disgust. Frobo seemed as the only one to not get the concept and remained content unlike everyone else.
"Then he should probably stay with someone until it heals." Maddie said while she kept her disgust to herself. "As much as I would like to do so, I don't exactly have an extra room."
"I'm sure someone will come forth…once they come out of hiding after that snake issue." Anne responded. Right as she finished, the young adventurous buddy of Anne's arrived back on site, but had no large rock with him. He had a disgruntled expression at first only for that to change once he saw Flint.
"Sorry everyone, but I couldn't find any large rocks to handle-DEAR FROGS ON HIGH!"
"I'll explain everything…after Marcy stops making me want to go off somewhere else." Anne answered while she watched Marcy run up to a tree to dry heave some more.
Once everyone came out from hiding and learned of the current situation, nearly every single person wanted Flint to stay with them until he got better, including those that didn't even have any extra places to keep him. In fact, Maddie ended up as the only one that refused to offer their bakery because with her siblings always on the move and constant work in the kitchen it wouldn't provide the best hospitality for someone of his status. She heavily wanted to follow the crowd and try to persuade him to temporarily move it, but she couldn't think straight thanks to her massive headache that got worse over time. In the end, he chose Felicia and Ivy's place which, while a pretty tall abode to begin with, provided a guest bedroom that perfectly suited his needs until his eyes healed. Also, since it also set as a relaxing tea shop it basically provided all of the comforts of home from the get go. First glances after he made his decision alone and Maddie took pretty accurate guesses as to what Felicia intended to do during his stay, and he would probably get tired of her antics rather quickly. Ivy also had her interests with Flint but not on the same level as Felicia's. At least he now had a roof to stay under in his time of need…even if the one housing him would probably never leave him alone like a rabid fan girl.
Everything settled down soon after, which left Maddie back to her own agendas, or delivery schedule for today's case. She always had a list on standby in case she forgot anyone, but for the most part she didn't need it. From Mrs. Croaker to Mayor Toadstool she made sure all of the ones listed got their orders, although One Eyed Wally and Stumpy lacked their presences. While she performed her duties like she usually did, the massive headache always lingered in her head and made it feel ten times heavier than normal. She even had to slow down just to hold it and hope that it went dormant only to suddenly spike up with more pain behind it. It made her job of deliveries much, much worse and almost made her regret ever getting out of bed in the first place. Even so, she couldn't slack off on the job and had to go through with it despite the aching setback. It only got worse and worse that lead to a daily downfall for the young witch.
She almost thought her legs would fall off once she finally reached the front door of the bakery. Her head throbbed to no end and Maddie had enough a long time ago. At least her father would finally obtain the special wheat he asked for. She needed some kind of relaxation period, especially as her migraine dipped lower and lower into painful territory.
"Maddie! Maddie! Maddie!"
She heard the voices right before she could open the door, and she knew who in a heartbeat. While she wanted to finally get the day over with already, after yesterday she kind of owed it to them to finally pay attention and play with them, even if her condition told her otherwise.
One pivot around and her three polliwogs of younger sisters happily wagged their small stubs for tails while their smiles could pierce the skies in a positive light.
"You finally done for the day yet? We've waited out here for, well, a really long time!" Rosemary asked with her innocent eyes. Her headache spiked up again, but she kept her cool for her sisters.
"For the most part, yeah." Maddie answered. "Deliveries came in all over the place, especially since Flint arrived, but I managed."
"Yay, that means you're free for the rest of the day!" Ginger responded while giddier than usual. "Does that mean you'll play with us?"
The three younger sibling began to eagerly bounce up and down in excitement, which Maddie couldn't ignore. She couldn't help but muster up a small smile despite her massive headache, which meant one thing.
"You know I can't ignore you three anymore. I need to hand over the money I got to dad, but after then I can play."
"Yay!" Rosemary, Lavender, and Ginger exclaimed happily in unison. "We'll come up with something when you come back out!"
"I sure you three already have something on your mind." Maddie said to the three before she went through the front door. Right as she closed it, the tone changed and the three polliwogs went flat.
"We really should have come up with something before now." Lavender said pretty flatly to her siblings.
"Hey, we were in the moment! Maddie promised to play with us again, so how can you not feel so happy to know that she stands on our side now?" Ginger responded.
"Ooh, ooh, we should have her juggle us like we always loved!" Rosemary said.
"While I would agree with you in a heartbeat, I want to go for something special because, you know, the very special occasion!" Lavender said.
All three of them put on their thinking caps and put them into overdrive, which thankfully got one of them to get somewhere.
"I got it!" Rosemary exclaimed. "I've had an epiph…uhhh, piphy…errrrr, whatever our dad said that one time!"
"And what have you thought of exactly?" Lavender asked.
"The mud slinging target game!"
The other two polliwogs immediately widened their eyes in unison.
"No way, I completely forgot about that! We haven't played that in ages!" Ginger exclaimed in astonishment.
"I'm sure we still have everything to make it work too!" Lavender chimed in. "I'm completely up for playing that!"
"Me too! Me too!" Ginger said while she raised on of her stubby hands in agreement. It seemed like they had everything settled. Once Maddie came out after her business with their dad, they would start at that certain game. They even got the jitters from pure excitement while they looked at each other and smiled like the very young kids they were.
Ginger shuddered slower than the others though since she ended up with a long worm across her back last time they played it.
The three young sisters could hardly hold in their excitement once Maddie came out of the door and listened in on what idea they thought up. It brought her back some once she heard the familiar terms of what they had in mind, and it even surprised her a bit that they remembered that distinct game. As they got a bit older it pretty much fell to the wayside while other activities took its place, but she still remembered that they always had all of the equipment in storage in case they ever brought the topic up again. If nothing changed too much then they could even find the spot where they commonly played it and find a wave of nostalgia in the process. They asserted that they understood the rules, so everything got set in stone to play their long awaited game once they found the spot.
It only took a couple of minutes until the siblings recognized the area where they played. While not the most open, it maintained a radius that perfectly fit the game they had in mind. Some moss and deciduous vines set in many spots since they last played, but nothing too badly. Maddie already had the required objects in her arms when they arrived, so it didn't take too long to set everything up. The three youngest sisters rather enjoyed the fact that they got to wear the long targets on sticks since Maddie always became the one to try and shoot them down, and they hopped quickly behind the board that kept them out of the onslaught. The mud didn't hurt, although the sisters easily remembered the one time where Lavender hopped too high and ended up with a large mud pile straight in the face, and most of the time they had so much excitement and fun that it never mattered too much. One time it eventually became an actual mud fight with no targets to speak of, which eventually lead to all of them drenched in a lake for an hour to wash away all of the dirt, which tired them out after they finished. The long bench stood high enough so the polliwogs could hop around behind it while their targets stuck up high and ripe for the picking with mud. An alarm bug got placed nearby as a determining factor on who won in the end. If Maddie hit all three of their targets before it went off then she won, but if it did and at least one target remained then the youngest siblings would win. While rather simple, the sisters found it as one of the funnest and exhilarating games to play when given the chance, and thanks to Maddie's promise they finally got to play it again.
Lavender, Rosemary, and Ginger took their places behind the large board while their targets stuck out from the top.
"Start the timer! Start the timer!" the three of them exclaimed from their spots.
"Okay, okay, I got it." Maddie answered as she slightly smiled. While she may have showed her normal personality on the surface, in reality her migraine pushed her to the breaking point. She barely held on so she wouldn't alert her siblings, as they didn't need to get pulled into her own problems. The less they knew about her pain the better.
With the mud pile on one side and the alarm bug on the other, everyone waited for that magic sound to start. Maddie resisted the urge to hang it over their heads for a bit since they clearly wanted to start as soon as possible, so she made it rather quick.
…
…
…
Click!
GO!
The three behind the board moved all over the place the instant Maddie clicked the alarm, which meant one thing for the witch. She hastily formed a ball of mud in her hands and threw it toward the targets, which whizzed between two of them and hit nothing. Her sisters laughed in excitement as they kept at the erratic movements and Maddie maintained a decent throwing pace. She liked to purposefully miss a few times so her three sisters felt like they had a good chance before she actually went for real attempts. They had the time of their lives when the game ever came up and Maddie couldn't help but feel the same. For such a dirty activity, everyone always got their excitement for the day.
Around a quarter into the alarm bug Maddie noticed one of the targets teeter back and forth while it switched places with the others. She plainly guessed that Lavender controlled that one since she loved to weave in and out at the cost of awareness around her. After a quick chuckle under her breath, she aimed her next handfuls of mud balls and threw them it that general direction. A majority of them missed and hit air, but right as two targets butted with each other the last mud ball splatted right across the outer rings of one of them. The target recoiled back an inch or two, but it remained standing.
"Hahah, you got hit!" a voice that clearly stood out as Lavender's said.
"No fair! You got in my way!" a voice Maddie she determined as Ginger replied back.
"You know the rules! No excuses!" Lavender's voice stated. A deep huff soon followed after as the stricken target fell downward. Once it disappeared behind the board, an unhappy Ginger hopped out and took her place on the sidelines with her stubs for hands folded.
"You two better pick up the slack while I'm out!" Ginger retorted before she watched and pouted to herself. Even though she got out, Maddie knew that they acted like that every time one of them ended up out of the game. It didn't mean much other than the fact that they had to watch their other siblings avoid incoming projectiles in their absence, and most of the time they reared themselves up for another game shortly after. It amused Maddie some to see that she got one of them, but two more remained.
She held back the urge to stagger from her monstrous headache while she checked the alarm bug. A little under half remained, which didn't equal too much in terms of the game. She packed up a few more mud balls on the sidelines before she got back to the last two siblings in Lavender and Rosemary who she could tell got a bit antsy with their movements. Since time winded down it came as no surprise to her that they reacted as such, but that meant she had to keep up as well. With no more time to spare, Maddie hurled some more mud balls that the last two targets evaded like nothing. She heard the two laugh, probably from more excitement, while she picked up a large clump of mud balls and threw more in their direction. Some hit the trees in the back but not the targets, and the time shortage brought the tensions higher.
She launched a swarm of mud balls soon after, which, whether by fluke or skill, managed to strike another target right in the center. Even Ginger seemed a bit impressed to watch her older sister hit something that accurately, but for the one that took the hit…she felt less than enthused.
"No, no, no! I thought I had it there!" Lavender's voice said.
"Not so easy, huh?" Ginger replied in a slightly snarky attitude. In a similar way to her sister, Maddie heard a deep huff and pout on the other side of the board before the target disappeared behind it and the disgruntled Lavender hopped out and sat next to the other stricken sister. The two leered at each other for a second before they settled down a bit as they still had one more in the field that could take it for the team. Only Rosemary had her target still standing, and Maddie needed to take her out if she wanted to win.
Ginger and Lavender cheered Rosemary on while Maddie made some more mud balls and put them into her hands. Her concentration dipped down as her headache pushed on her breaking point again and again. One glance at the alarm bug and not much time remained, probably only a couple of seconds. At best she would get a few more throws until it went off, so she had to make them could despite her painful setback.
She tried to take a moment to concentrate only for her migraine to rear its ugly head. She had to throw the mud balls now and hope for the best. Rosemary moved everywhere behind the board, and she made sure to evade any hits while Maddie took a deep breath. Few seconds remained, and once she felt like she got a grip of it, Maddie threw the last of her mud balls at the board at full force.
…but her migraine struck again and made her shots go off course everywhere but Rosemary's target.
Soon after they missed, the alarm bug went off. Maddie fell to her knees and held her forehead for a second as Ginger and Lavender erupted with praise as they saw Rosemary hop out from behind the board, target still atop her head untouched by mud. They may have thought nothing of it, but Maddie felt a lot of pain in her head while they hopped about as if nothing was wrong.
"You did it! You won for all of us!" Ginger said. "I never thought you'd end up as the one to take it all of the way!"
"What can I say? I'm a natural." Rosemary replied while she put her stubs for hands where her hips would go in triumph.
"If I probably had a little more time I would have stuck it out with you." Lavender said. She immediately got followed up by Rosemary as she glanced at her peculiarly.
"Don't you always give that excuse when you lose something?" Rosemary asked.
"Hey, when you got something that works you go through with it when you want to."
The three youngest siblings yukked it up a bit more in an overjoyed manner before they turned their attention back to their oldest sister. She held in the massive pain in her head the best she could, but the cracks started to form. She held the sides of her head and clenched her teeth as the millions of needles pierced her head and slowly oozed down across her back. At that point Maddie knew something wasn't right, as any old headache usually got confined only around the head, as in the name, but the dripping pain that once started off as something inconsequential when she crawled out of bed erupted into millions of spikes that penetrated her skin.
The signs formed for the youngest three, but their innocence easily missed the writing on the wall. Even so, they went up to Maddie as their curious eyes gazed straight at her while the spikes coursed across her back and down to her limbs.
"Maddie, are you okay?" Lavender asked. The seeping pain crawled across her arms and legs to make it to her chest, and her sight focused in and out like a fixated lens. Even with the foreboding signs, she tried to keep everything to herself.
"Yeah…I'm okay…just a bit woozy…"
"You don't exaCtLy SeEm FiNe…mAdDiE…"
Her hearing fell victim next until it skewed everywhere into inaudible nonsense. She could barely discern what her sisters said after, but soon after her legs failed next. She fell sideways into the mud and quickly found herself unable to move her arms or legs, which prompted another spike to shoot up across her body. She couldn't tell if she screamed after and/or began to cry, but with such a torturous process that flowed through her it seemed like a possibility. Never in her life had she went through something of a painful magnitude until that moment in the mud, and she wanted it to stop more than anything.
As for the polliwogs, they could only want in terror at the status of their oldest sibling. They failed to recognize the gravity of the situation from their innocent minds as they saw Maddie go through paralyzed motions akin to a grand seizure. They had no idea what she wanted or needed to possibly stop whatever ran through her. In many ways it placed a scar in their minds and they couldn't take their eyes off the torture session before them. They almost didn't want to speak in case it made everything worse, and yet Maddie basically had an operation in progress with no numbing medicine to hide the horrors behind it.
Eventually, Lavender had enough and tried to ease Maddie off a bit.
"Keep it together Maddie, ummm, you're the best sister, errrr, ever you know. Please, if you need anything-"
"Get away…"
The three backed away stunned to hear their oldest sister demand something like that so coldly. Her body fainted glowed while she she held her chest and curled up.
"Maddie?" Rosemary asked while on the brink of breaking down from sheer worry.
"I SAID GET AWAY!"
Her outburst sent her sisters packing off toward Wartwood while she writhed in pain all over. She didn't mean to wield such a statement at them with that much power behind it, but the constant spikes throughout her body left her no other option. Rosemary never even took off the target on top of her head from such a change of tone, but she wouldn't have to witness the immense pain Maddie had and find herself more scarred than she already felt. One slap is weaker than a swift punch after all.
Her entire body glowed again while she tried to gaze down at herself for some type of sign as to what process coursed through her body, and soon after she found the first one. Her sight remained pretty hazy, but she could make out the fact that she saw herself move further and further off the ground. At first she expected the worst, but then she gazed down at her own body and couldn't believe it. The wires connected and once she noticed it her conclusion could have contained the clearest of accuracy.
She wasn't flying off the ground, she was growing at a rapid pace.
Sprig refused to let an injury get in the way of his time with Flint. He waited for months to get his requested item from him and he lacked the patience to wait a couple more, but for now the collector stayed in the spare room of the local tea shop with Ivy and Felicia until he could see again. While that meant Flint won't leave Wartwood anytime soon, it also meant he could get more time with him. If he could persuade Flint with good deeds he may possibly get first dibs when the collector gets out of bed.
If he never got that sapphire colored stone in the shape of a chickadactyl by the time Flint recovered he would never live it down.
His brilliant idea didn't only get limited to him, as the instant Flint laid down on the bed Felicia almost never left his side all while she put on a cheesy grin. Ivy didn't care too much about Flint's attention, but she still squeezed in a few attempts every now and then. When the room went too cold, Felicia and Sprig made a beeline for the window to shut it, which lead to a couple of bruises here and there, and when he requested food Sprig hastily created something without much thought while Felicia took her time but commonly got destroyed by Sprig in some way. Eventually Sprig turned it up a notch and eventually roped Anne into the fray, who still had her stomach rumbled up from her jelly craze earlier, who made sure the covers remained well for Flint while Sprig leered at her with bloodshot eyes. He even convinced her to give him a piggyback ride since she stood taller than anyone else in Wartwood, which he came up with in a spur of the moment, which left her with a sore back but made Flint quite happy. That eventually roped Ivy in for the craziness from her mother soon after, which tired nearly all of them out by the time they did everything they could think of to please Flint. The entire tea house went crazy the moment the minor celebrity set foot inside, and two sides clashed for recognition despite the exhausting results.
When the dust settled, Flint fell fast asleep with his swollen and grotesque eyes which gave both sides a break. Anne waltzed out of the front door sweating buckets before she quickly fell like a plank into the dirt. Sprig walked out after with a big grin on his face while completely intact.
"So much work…the things I do for you Sprig…" Anne muttered.
"I think I got some brownie points back there! At this rate I'll get his recognition in no time!" Sprig joyfully said. He failed to take into account Anne's collapsed heap on the ground and cheerfully walked over her blissfully unaware of his actions. The human could only muster a turn of the head upward.
"If my muscles didn't overwork themselves you would never hear the end of it. I can't believe you made me give him a piggyback ride while he carried his bag!"
Sprig turned his attention over to his tired friend in the dirt.
"I'm more surprised he made you give ME a piggyback ride. I don't know what goes on in his head, but I don't care!
"You're so dead when I recover…so dead…" Anne replied. She had to give her limbs a rest, but not before something else drew her attention to the side. Over to her right, Anne noticed Marcy as she sat on the ground with a peculiar rock in her grasp, and right next to her sat Frobo with his eyes also on the rock. While he lacked some forms of expression, Anne didn't need them to see the intrigue under the glass.
Naturally after all of the work built up from Flint, it didn't sit well with Anne.
"Seriously Marcy?! I could have used the help as I busted my hump back there!"
Her outburst caught Marcy's attention for the moment.
"Oh, sorry about that Anne! Turns out that Petoskey Asp had parts of its rocky body chip off in the skirmish, and you know me when it comes to research about this place, heheheh…"
Her tepid chuckle didn't faze the exhausted Anne too lightly.
"If I didn't have my body on fire right now, I would totally take more offense to that. I'm going to make a mental note that you owe me later."
"Hey, you can't blame me and my short attention span when certain stuff suddenly comes up." Marcy replied. "I have my interests too, you know."
Right as she finished, Frobo quickly took the rock from Marcy's hand and opened up a compartment in his chest. She would have chimed in about that action, but before she could do so the large mech placed the rock inside and shut the flap. His eyes went blank for a few seconds while something whirred inside him and uttered a low humming noise, and before long a loud ding rang through her ears. The compartment opened back up with the rock completely intact, but immediately after some type of flat paper plopped out of Frobo's mouth and into Marcy's grasp. As confusing of a sight she managed to witness, it didn't puzzle her too much once she took the rock back and glanced down at the paper. From such a process, evidently Frobo contained more functions others still had to figure out for themselves.
Once she realized certain symbols, Marcy raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"No way, did you just provide an in depth analysis in only a couple of seconds?! This looks professionally made!"
Frobo beeped a few times while his eyes perked up and his blank lit mouth formed a distinct happy smile.
"Wow, you made this job a lot easier! I can't thank you enough…even though there's some symbols on here I don't recognize. Oh well, it gives me more opportunities to look into it. Thanks big guy!"
Frobo would have provided another happy set of robotic noises if something else didn't quickly arrive into view. Anne had her head in the dirt at first for some type of relaxation from her massive wave of exhaustion, with her mind too out of it to care about cleanliness, but once a certain noise hit her hear her head perked back up. It also caught the others' attention but not to the same extent, especially once they saw who cried out for them. While custom for a couple of frogs to wander around the town square as they minded their own business, for a trio of crying polliwogs to rush in with buckets of tears in their eyes then something definitely happened behind the scene. The made sure to avoid anyone in their way while they made a beeline for the two humans like their life depended on it. It almost hurt to see young kids like them in so much sorrow, and Anne and Marcy understood those types of feelings. Clearly they went through something that dissatisfied them to that extent, and for Anne and Marcy they dealt with situations like that on a daily basis…especially in Wartwood.
Marcy knew who the young ones were instantly while Anne required a bit more insight.
"Hey Marcy, didn't you say that Maddie had three siblings like those?" Anne asked.
"Those ARE Maddie's sisters Anne." Marcy replied before she took note of their faces. "They're also…crying?"
They didn't get the chance to think further as the three young girls arrived right before the group. They poured tears even when they tried to keep it to themselves and wouldn't stop. Anne and Marcy even had to partially cover their ears to cover themselves from the constant noises, but before they could ask what made them fuss up so much one already spoke up for them.
"Please…please…our sister…" Rosemary stuttered through her wrinkled face.
"She…she lashed out at us!" Ginger exclaimed before she broke down again.
"Easy, easy there you three. Calm down a bit so I can understand." Marcy responded while she tried to add a pinch of compassion. "Shouldn't you three have went to your father first?"
Even though the three sisters tried to hold everything together, they didn't do a very good job at it. Lavender mustered enough to answer Marcy though.
"He wouldn't…he wouldn't know how to fix her! You know some of…Maddie's spells…so please fix her!"
The young polliwog sniffed a couple of times while Marcy got on her knees to get a better look at the three of them.
"What do you mean by that? While I do know snippets of curses from her, I only just started yesterday! Why would you want me to rush things when I don't…know…what…"
Her train of thought derailed off course when the whole town fell under a large shadow. Soon enough it caught the attention Anne, Sprig, and Frobo who also aimed their sight in the same direction. The few frogs that remained outside looked up to figure out what type of cloud must have blocked out the sun, which then got followed up by the ones inside once everything became darker. It only took one single glance for anyone in Wartwood to lose every sense in their bodies and focus entirely on their sight above, as their awe knew no bounds when it came to the culprit. They've had incidents before, but never as big as the thing that had a presence above everything.
And they just got done with her similar appearance yesterday.
Maddie didn't just stand taller over everyone, she eclipsed them. Everyone could see her as she writhed around away from the town from constant pain while she laid on her side with her eyes closed and teeth clenched. Her cries hit everyone's hearing in droves and even shattered a couple of windows which forced everyone to cover their ears for some type of sound filter, and all while it happened she continued to grow bigger and bigger. Eventually her younger sisters and Marcy recognized the same height she grew to yesterday, which ended up as enough to solve the situation then. If the same spell got used she would have stopped at that size, which Marcy read up on, and it would have been as easy to solve as taking the antidote. What seemed as something huge could get solved after one simple batch.
…yet it didn't end there. The ones down below could only watch as her increased size from the day before got overtaken and wouldn't stop. At that point nobody knew if her size would spill over into Wartwood, but it already got a few to run for their lives. Marcy and the others stayed put from pure shock while the young frog witch expanded to further heights. Nobody knew just how big she would end at, and yet she made it clear that the whole process spiked through her body like an iron maiden. Despite her wails and constant rumbling on the ground from her slight movements, she remained put in one spot. Whether she knew her current status or not, it prevented collateral damage where Wartwood stood. They could hear countless trees either collapsing or getting crushed under her body as the whole process continued, and nobody knew why the entire thing started in the first place. The first time she used the growing curse on herself, which set her at a specific height in the end, but only one day later something put her through a similar process but it had no end in sight. Whatever the case, Maddie took the gigantic consequences of something nobody knew or understood that showed punishing results.
As excruciating of a process everyone saw of her growth, right as they thought she would grow even higher it suddenly ceased. The three younger sisters backed up a bit from sheer worry as the gigantic frog witch came to.
"Ugh…it…it stopped?"
For the mysterious frog girl, it almost seemed like it never happened from how instantaneously all of the pain ended. From such a long and drawn out experience, the whole thing just went away as quick as a flash. Once all of it rushed out the window she immediately felt like her old self again. Her eyes remained a bit hazy for a few seconds, but other than that her migraine and overall spikes of pain felt like they never existed. For someone like it her it seemed too good to believe, and after something like that underworld experience something definitely had to show up as a lasting side effect.
Once her sight cleared and she got on her feet, she quickly learned of it.
She couldn't believe her eyes. She just went through the process yesterday and left it there as a memory, and yet she somehow managed to regain her massive height and then some. Her increased size from yesterday didn't just get beaten, it fell into a heap compared to what she had now. The various houses that dotted Wartwood barely reached the bottom half of her feet from the sheer scope, and the town basically had the appearance of a bug nest for her point of view. It nearly made her heart stop. She somehow blew up into her giant self once again, but on a much grander scale.
"I'm…I'm huge again…"
For the ones down below, they couldn't have seen the total opposite. Maddie's hands could hold entire cities and her eyes had sizes akin to the largest asteroids. Her feet reached higher than the tallest of trees and an entire civilization had the potential to rest on her abdomen with no issues at all. No amount of countless skyscrapers would ever come close to reaching her neck, and if anything she could rival a mythological titan. Marcy performed a decent estimate in her head, and if she calculated everything right Maddie possibly grew about twice the height that she showed off yesterday with the growth spell, and even then she could have went a bit further than that. If Wartwood didn't have its fair share of weirdness and incidents basically on a daily basis a lot more would have taken off somewhere else for safety from the massive young witch. While it applied to some, a lot stayed put but still showed emotions of intense worry and fear. To the ones that saw Maddie as she reached the cosmos, she could hoist entire continents with no sweat at her titanic size.
Nobody wanted to speak up to her except for one.
"Ma…Ma…MADDIE?!" Marcy exclaimed. The ones down by the ground watched as the massive Maddie perked up and swerved her head back and forth before it settled in their direction.
"Marcy? Did I just hear you from down there? I can barely see Wartwood from up here!"
While the smaller ones could hear Maddie's voice at an increased volume, which became pretty typical when it came to growth spells, the pitch behind it dipped really low. She almost sounded like a monster from the fiery depths and not the young girl everyone knew of. Of course the three younger sisters and Marcy got to hear it for themselves since yesterday, so they didn't need to adjust too much other than her different, and much larger, size.
Some didn't fully understand the memo though at first.
"HOLY FROG BISCUITS!"
"I'm kind of with you on that, Sprig!"
Maddie's massive looming figure immediately forced Sprig and Anne to leap up and put their backs to the front door. For Anne's case, it almost seemed like her extreme exhaustion never happened in the first place, as the instant her eyes figured out what stood over her the feeling bolted right out of her body in a fight or flight moment.
"You don't need to worry, she went through something similar yesterday." Marcy said to the two. "Besides, you know she would never attempt to hurt you even as a massive girl."
Even with their nervous and worried expression, Marcy spoke the truth. Maddie did say that she only ever used curses to help people, so if she did grow she would have no intention to harm them to any extent. While it alleviated some weight off of their back, they still had a sense of worry in the back of their heads.
"Well…I can't completely get over it right now, but hearing you say that lifted some pressure off of me." Sprig said while he shuddered.
"At least you stayed unlike some." Maddie said before she got on her knees for a closer look, which also sent a loud boom across the ground. Her motion sent everyone into the air for a second upon impact, but everyone remained intact.
Marcy then asked the inevitable question in a loud voice which her hands cupped to her mouth.
"First things first, what happened to you?! Did you play with that curse again?!"
"You don't need to shout. I can perfectly hear you like this." Maddie replied. "Guess whatever happened didn't affect my hearing."
"Oh, well that's nice I guess!" Marcy shouted before she realized what Maddie said and got back to a speaking voice. "So what did happen to make you grow again?"
"How should I know?" Maddie answered. "One moment I'm perfectly fine with my sisters, and the next thing I know I'm on the ground in pain! Once that finished, well, you can see the results here."
"Yeah, kind of hard to miss!" Anne replied as she got off of the front door in a semi average state.
Maddie's mood dipped a little further down in worry.
"Please tell me that you still have some of the leftover antidote."
"Gotcha covered!" Marcy stated as she gave a quick thumbs up. She looked down at her equipment and began to rummage through for one specific object, and once her fingers felt over something specific, she perked up and immediately brought out what looked like a regular purple bag with a knot tied around the top. Sprig and Anne knew already that those usually ended up as the most common holder for curses, especially after an episode where they got stricken by one, although Frobo didn't quite fully understand the situation and how dire it could end up which kept him observant more than anything.
The gigantic Maddie slightly smiled at the sight.
"Phew, what a relief. I seriously thought for a second that I might end up stuck like this forever."
"Yeah, I kind of went overboard yesterday from the tension and conjured up a lot of extras. Blame the fact that I finally got to learn how to use these things!" Marcy replied. The group watched as Maddie took a couple of baby steps forward, which caused large quakes across the ground that made everyone lose their footing, before she carefully got on her knees and placed her right hand near them. To see even her hands stand taller than them helped exemplify just how massive Maddie grew. They barely even reached the tips from the sheer scale differences between them.
"Ummm, I'm not too keen on curses, but shouldn't you strike the face for the full effects?" Sprig asked. "I sounds the most logical to me."
"Not always." Marcy answered. "It depends on the type you want to cast."
With that said Marcy walked up to Maddie's huge hand and prepared to give the curse a good toss forward. She wasted no extra time to do so and let it loose through her fingers before the contents spilled all over Maddie's digits. The group waited for some type of change to occur with Maddie, and after a few more seconds they witnessed absolutely nothing.
She still stayed giant. Maddie kept her asteroid sized eyes, even though one of them stayed hidden behind her hair, as the others put their eyes on Marcy.
"Errrrrr, well, that didn't work." Marcy tepidly and nervously said. "Maybe, ummmm, another dose?"
They could see sweat fall down her forehead while she expressed a lukewarm smile and rummaged through her equipment again. Before long she brought out another dose of the antidote and instantly hurled it at Maddie's hand. Like before, even after a couple of seconds, nothing happened. Eventually, Marcy's mood shifted to frustration as she brought out multiple curse bags and instantaneously threw them at Maddie the moment they escaped her equipment. For some reason Maddie stayed put instead of pulling back. She let her unleash everything in her arsenal for some type of solution. Clearly Marcy couldn't take the fact that nothing worked from her end.
"No…no…not this…come on…DANG IT…WHY…WON'T…THESE…WORK?!"
The tone shifted once her next batches ended up as entire handfuls of curse bags. Her arms turned into blurry wheels as she lobbed them like crazy, which also showed no effects on Maddie, until Anne had to pull her back from her incomprehensible craziness.
"Easy there Marcy, you might blow a gasket at that rate." Anne said. Marcy faced Anne after a quick second with a cheesy serious face and loud snort from her nostrils.
"But nothing I have seemed to do anything! How can I just accept that…with nothing working?!"
"I…can't help but feel the same way." Maddie said in her deep giant voice. While she may have spoke her mind at the moment, she didn't exactly express it. On the surface she had on the average neutral face like she usually did, which sent mixed message to the ones that listened. She knew how to hide her emotions well even when she stated the contrary.
"You…you did use the antidote, right?" Maddie asked rather shakily. Marcy attempted to calm down a bit to…subpar results.
"Yeah, all of it…and not a single one worked."
"I think you may have also tried something else." Sprig said as he picked up a loose bag on the ground. On the surface it appeared like any normal bag that contained a curse, but one turn to the other side revealed a decal of sort that displayed a loose scribble of a tree branch.
Maddie had to loom her face in closer, which cast a darker shadow over everyone, to get a better view at it.
"That curse makes trees come to life. Granted I've never used one on a living creature before, but even so I never got any effects from it. Maybe…I'm somehow immune to curses while I'm this huge?"
"Sounds plausible, but I'm not counting on it." Marcy said. "Do you know any other potential shrinking spells that could help?"
Maddie sadly shook her head.
"Unfortunately, no. From what I know only that single spell exists to bring me back down to size. I'm…really not liking our odds right now."
"Well…couldn't you conjure up another with the same effect?" Anne asked. "I mean, with curses you probably have endless possibilities from what I can gather at least. Surely you can make one that has the same effect."
Marcy immediately perked up and snapped her fingers.
"You might actually be on to something, Anne. If we can make a similar but different spell to what the antidote contained…we might find the solution to bring Maddie back to normal size!"
Maddie didn't like it at first.
"You seriously think you can come up with a curse that can reverse my status after you just started learning yesterday? I know you might feel eager and everything, but even I had to practice for a couple of weeks before I could expertly craft certain spells with little to no side effects!"
"Well, we kind of have no other choice." Marcy answered. "I'm the only one in Wartwood that understands the concepts and basics of making curses. Not only that, but I managed to stomach all of the creepy stuff! I'm your only hope to possibly craft up something to cure you…even if I'm not up to snuff like you."
The ones on the ground could tell that Maddie didn't like what she heard. If she could possibly do it herself she probably would have spoken up about it, but at her gigantic height crushing everything seemed like the only outcome. She appreciated Marcy's interest in the dark arts and the fact that she stood under her as an apprentice, but she had a long way to go before her capabilities matched the requirements of more complex spells, especially different variants of common ones without dire side effects. She wouldn't want to rely on a rookie to solve a crisis on their first day…and yet she saw no other option available.
Maddie frowned for a couple of seconds before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"While the fact remains that I would like to have an expert in magic to solve this sudden huge setback…you have a point that no one else in Wartwood could potentially concoct an antidote for me. As much as I would not resort to it…I'll let you have the spotlight to solve this."
Marcy held in the urge to greatly scream and smile widely from such a blessing. Her first real issue to tackle with her capabilities in dark arts finally got plastered in front of her face like a large billboard and she pushed her emotions through the roof. She may have only got to really know Maddie since yesterday, but she trusted her enough to handle the task at hand. In many ways it made her feel like the next great superhero, and she already had multiple designs picked out for the types of occasions just in case. They might have to reserve a Saturday morning TV slot for the future, as Marcy was ready to save the day ans solve the next "gigantic" crisis.
Anne could tell right away that she wanted to go through with everything immediately.
"Okay, okay, okay there Marcy. You don't want to rush things in so easily." Anne said before she got back to the giant Maddie. "I'm sure you know what this means in terms of time, right?"
Maddie shook her head.
"No, it doesn't exactly ring a bell for me."
"Well…" Anne continued while she stuttered a few time. "You do realize that until Marcy figures out the correct stuff and eventually concocts that type of curse up, well…you'll have to stay like that."
The group could swear Maddie gravely flinched behind her facade of a blank face. Marcy in particular knew more than ever about what she went through earlier, and to hear that she had to stay that huge at least for a few days must have took a toll on her current way of thinking. She took only a few minutes yesterday and now she had to last even longer than she could probably take. If Anne stood in her shoes when she heard bad news she would have immediately ran into her room and screamed into her pillow for minutes on end, but ever since she got warped to Amphibia she basically became a different person. Besides, she already got her fair share of criticisms for her tall height compared to the natives, so it kind of reminded her of those times. If Maddie had access to the world's largest pillow she likely would have made a beeline to it and uttered some loud screams, which dozens of windows never stood a chance against even with a muffled voice.
The ones by her feet feared what sort of response came up in her head. Eventually they witnessed her shut her eyes and breath in slowly a couple of time before she got back to them.
"…you have no idea how disappointed and upset I feel. You want me to live like a behemoth of Wartwood for a couple of days…and somehow make it through everything? I can barely see you down there by my feet, so how would I know if I accidentally crush or destroy anything in my path even with precautions? Not only that, but I have to sleep, eat, and, you know, LIVE? You know I'm not going to last two seconds as a colossus without some type of extraneous help."
It took a couple seconds of brainstorming to finally come up with one solution to one of the many problems Maddie faced as the biggest frog in the world.
"Wait, I think I know the perfect answer to your food problem!"
"And what sort of idea have you come up with, Marcy?" Sprig asked. "As long as it doesn't involve eating us, I'm already up for it."
"Nah, she won't have to resort to some heinous action." Marcy answered. "I'm thinking we should track down one of THESE guys!"
She instantaneously brought her research book out and proceeded to flip through the pages for a few moments in an eager and upbeat manner. Of course she passed by the same page multiple times due to her attention span, but eventually she tracked down the correct one.
"Ah, here we go! These little guys here should provide the food Maddie can eat!"
She flipped over the book to the opposite side so everyone else could see her notes. While Maddie's line of sight thanks to her giant height meant she lacked the proper vision to see the very small letters, for everyone else they saw everything clear as day. Immediately they noticed that Marcy doodled a couple of shapes around multiple sentences and wrote some minute statements around them such as "too wet to distinguish for now", "no way, that it SOOOO cute!", "the white spots on that mushroom indicate possible side effects", and "why did those sites have to shut down? I loved to hang out there!" among others. When it came down to times where her mind wandered somewhere else, Anne knew Marcy doodled various things in available spaces to keep her brain flowing. She even remembered the time she showed her what looked like, in Anne's words, "a half headed guy with a severe case of signboard" which eventually gave her a slight nickname as "Mrs. Signpost" for a couple of months. She kept the moment close to her heart even if Anne and Sasha didn't think it didn't stand out as too important, and even then she still let her mind wander while her fingers did the rest.
Around all of the doodles and miscellaneous notes Marcy wrote down in her free time, the one peculiar set of notes Marcy indicated set near the middle crease that separated the pages. When she wrote and drew in the pages she always wanted to make use of every single available space so it wouldn't get wasted, which sometimes made pages seem like they fell into a blender on the highest setting. For the one part they sought after though, they didn't need to look too hard to find it. In terms of information Marcy kept it rather brief, as only the sentences "definitely real" and "possibly hostile?" set over one of her many loose scribbles that possibly detailed what they needed to look for. Her handwriting could get a bit erratic when an epiphany surged through her head, especially with new discoveries, and her drawing skills never contested any major art galleries, so details usually got put up to interpretation until they learned of what it truly meant from Marcy. A circular lump with a smaller one on top had their details as one of the most obvious, but two long sticks extended below it like she found inspiration out of bamboo. Right in the middle of the shape the found that Marcy placed one giant question mark there as if she had no other ideas about it, although the mark itself seemed to have a certain bluish color to it instead of the typical black. While short, sweet, and to the point, it provided more question than answers for anyone other than the one who drew it.
Sprig narrowed his eyes at the spot longer than the others.
"I don't get it. What am I seeing exactly?" Sprig asked.
"Well, it's supposed to be a creature called a Spudley." Marcy answered. "I haven't actually seen one in person so I had to improvise with my skills and reports from others to generalize it to a certain extent."
"Sooo…you didn't just draw a large liver on leg day?" Sprig asked as he gazed at the drawing. He got his response when Anne smacked him on the back of the head.
"Hey!"
"Well I'd like to see you draw something from memory with pristine details." Anne replied as she expressed a slight frown.
"Easy Anne, I can admit that I'm not quite the best when it comes to actual pictures." Marcy said before she continued. "Anyways, from what I could gather from multiple sources, these little guys don't get out much. They like to stay in their own enclosed area since they get easily pressured by predators, and while it takes a lot to convince them that you stand on their side, their amazing ability makes the process worth it. They possess the incredible talent to grow some of the largest potatoes in Amphibia that can fill you up for an entire day after only a couple of bites!"
"Wow, I didn't think something like that existed around here." Sprig said.
"They tend to stay hidden, so likewise their existence hinges on the very few that witnessed them." Marcy replied. "As for me, I've heard enough to understand that they likely exist. If I heard the stories correctly, some reported sightings not too far from here-"
"Wait, wait, wait, let me get this straight…" Maddie interrupted in her giant deep voice. "You want to put me on an all potato diet when we find some creatures that can create ones that can fill you up for an entire day instantly? I think you might be gambling a bit too much on a particular result. Besides…I'm going to get sick of them eventually."
"Do you have any other bright ideas that could possibly satisfy the need for food other than boatloads of them daily?" Marcy asked. The barrage of information from every angle possibly cracked a bit of Maddie's blank image, as they swore she winced for a moment. She basically had to rely on the research done by Marcy to find the supposed potato creatures and convince them to hand over their produce, but thanks to her larger than life height it might go south rather instantly. Even so, if Marcy's research proved wrong in every angle nobody thought of any potential substitute. Of course, even after only yesterday since they got to understand each other her capabilities made her for the perfect apprentice. Each side of the equation dipped back and forth while all eyes set on Maddie.
They heard the giant witch frog breathe in deeply for a moment before she pinched her forehead and closed her eyes. Soon after she got back to them.
"Okay, okay, fine. If we don't have any other option, I guess we can get out and search. Your research better have the accuracy to not throw us into a wild goose chase."
"Trust me, I've calculated the odds and I'm pretty sure we'll find one in the right area." Marcy responded before she put away her book.
"I'm not going to let you go on that expedition alone." Anne chimed in. Marcy turned around to face hr with one of her smiles.
"I expected as such. You deal with these sort of incidents on a daily basis after all and understand how to handle things more efficiently than I can."
"You took the words right out of my mouth there." Anne replied while she agreed with an equal expression. Sprig then immediately put himself in the limelight.
"Hey, I'm her best friend! She never leaves without me!"
His frantic statement made Marcy giggle under her breath.
"Heeheehee, what made you think I would leave you behind? I know Anne would want to take you with her in a heartbeat."
"Darn right I'm her bestie!" Sprig answered back which then got Anne to giggle a bit under her breath.
"It's nice to know that you always have my side Sprig. I guess we have everything settled then?"
"Yup!" Marcy answered. "If I calculated everything right we should get to the spot and obtain those special potatoes before it gets dark. We should head of in, well…"
She took a few few steps back before she made a small square with her fingers and looked through them like a picture frame. Her right eye closed while she humorously turned around at all angles for a couple of seconds before she settled on one certain spot between two houses in the distance.
"That direction! Definitely that way!"
"You sure you know what you are doing?" Sprig asked.
"Sure I'm sure!" Marcy responded. "We should start over there and work our way-"
"Wait, I have a better idea to possibly get there quicker."
The group got jumbled out of their current mindsets when Maddie's grown deep voice penetrated their mind. To think a tone of voice could completely change the perception of someone in an instant never crossed anyone's minds until Maddie's suddenly underwent her gigantic growth spurt. In many ways it made her seem like a threat, but everyone down below knew her personality so they didn't panic too much. They still had their worries, but not to the extreme like the uninformed. They still saw Maddie before them, even with the change in height.
As for her idea, they didn't have to wait long until they saw the giant witch lower a hand to the ground and place it flat for them. It only meant one thing and even some of the less intelligent could figure out.
"Here, climb on. I might as well make use of this new size for something."
"Good thinking." Marcy complemented as she grinned and nodded in response. The three of them walked up to the tips of Maddie's and proceeded to hoist themselves up. Even though she put her hand flat to the ground, due to her higher height than last time it required a bit more effort to climb on top of them. Sprig didn't needed any heavy lifting since he was a frog, so he just hopped up there with no issues. Anne couldn't fully get up so she obtained some assistance from from Marcy once she made it up. She breathed heavily for a couple of moments, but otherwise she remained okay.
Once they made it safely atop of Maddie's hand, an immediate force pushed them downward even though nothing sat on top of them. In many ways it seemed like they just hitched a ride on an elevator, and like that certain transport method it only last a couple of seconds. After the motions stopped, all three of them ended up with a close up view of Maddie huge face overhead. From their angle one could mistake it for an actual planet with her eyes as the continents. While Anne and Marcy dealt with it nicely, Sprig had some unnerving tension in the back of his mind. He reminded himself of the time he broke up with her and how unsettling of an image it left on him despite the fact that she stated that she didn't mind the turn of events. Now with her titanic stature she could basically do whatever she wanted with him if given the chance, even though she performed well to hide her true thoughts. She literally had him in her hand with all of the power to do as she pleased, and if she ever had some ire in her from the breakup he felt like she wouldn't hesitate to make him pay. It lingered in his mind like a cockroach and refused to leave to his woes of fear.
The perspective changes spooked Anne once she glanced down at the ground below her.
"Whoa, you didn't kid around when you said that we look like minuscule bugs from up here! I think I jumped up for a second!"
"I'm still trying to cope with that, so I know how you feel." Maddie's deep voice replied before she addressed Marcy. "Just say which direction to go and I'll make sure to get there quickly."
"I've memorized them at this point, so we should have no problems finding the spot. You ready to track down a Spudley?" Marcy asked with excitement under her. She even put a fist up in the air as some type of sign for triumph.
"Not yet. I still have one more thing to take care of." Maddie answered. She left them wondering what as she slowly put her hand close to her right shoulder and placed them there for the moment. Her planet eyes gazed down at the ground until they set on her three scared younger sisters, who stayed quiet as things progressed possibly to not make things worse. When they did find out that Maddie had them in her sights they cowered behind Frobo who also remained mute but more so because he still had much to learn about the typical lifestyle.
The mech angled his head down to face the young girls while his pupils formed into puzzled question marks.
"Okay you little scamps, you don't need to be afraid of me. I'm still your sister, just…much bigger."
"You changed into a monster!" Rosemary exclaimed. "You'll grind our bones into dirt and spit out our skins!"
"You even told us to go away!" Ginger exclaimed next. "I thought you wanted to play with us more, and now you will crush us to get rid of us!"
"Please don't destroy us!" Lavender replied. The three of them started to sob endless tears and wailed out like the young children they were, which prompted Frobo to cover his ears and move out of the way. Before they could continue for long, Maddie got on her knees and put one of her huge fingers across all of their backs at once and gave them a soft rub. It caught their attention and put their eyes on their gigantic older sister, who had some choice words to say.
"Rosemary, Lavender, Ginger…that would never cross my mind. You should know that even when I'm the biggest frog witch around I'm still your older sister. I just have a really large problem I need to get through, and we know that when one of us has a large problem we still treat them like family. Remember when Lavender got sick that one time?"
Ginger still had multiple tears in her eyes, but maintained enough to speak.
"Yeah, and we had our entire room filled with tissues and medicine."
"It's…not my fault I suddenly felt that…" Lavender answered before she sniffed a couple of times.
"Right, exactly." Maddie said. "Just because she got sick that didn't mean she turned into a different person. Think of my sudden height change as, well…a sickness that I need to get rid of."
"So…" Rosemary said after a couple of sniffs. "Does that mean you…won't crush us?"
Maddie put on a heartwarming giant smile and rubbed their backs with her finger one more time.
"No, not at all. I love you too much to ever consider that."
The process didn't happen immediately, but slowly as the seconds passed the three sisters wiped off their tears and warmed up to the fact that they now had the biggest sister in the world. Even though Maddie didn't display it that often, she deeply cared for her younger siblings. They may drive her crazy at times and push her to the edge, but even then somewhere underneath all of it laid a girl that loved them to pieces.
Lavender asked one more question.
"Will…will you still play with us…even like that?"
Maddie smiled again at her siblings.
"I'll figure something out. I can't miss out on you three even while I'm giant after all."
That seemed to perk up her sisters more than usual. She could tell that they've already gotten some ideas for games that involved her and her massive stature, but for now she had some business with Marcy, Anne, and Sprig to take care of. Before she headed off with them, she glanced over to Frobo.
"Can you please take them home before our dad gets worried? I'll explain everything going on with me when I get back."
The large frog robot uttered some specific mechanical noises before he grinned and extends one of his arm up in agreement. Because he couldn't speak well, she knew he couldn't tell everyone about what happened and the current situation about her very well. To solve the issue, she decided it would be best if she were to explain to everyone in Wartwood about them herself. If they didn't completely flee in terror at the sight, she would do her best to talk about it and maybe get Marcy or Anne to help with certain points.
With that said, the large frog witch got back on her feet and looked down at the three smaller ones on her shoulder. Anne still had some excess mucus on her from when Maddie gripped her, but other than that they seemed to be ready for the trek ahead. She didn't know why, but something about the sight caused her to shudder a bit which almost made the ones riding on her lose their footing. She didn't think too much of it though as Marcy spoke up.
"You okay there Maddie? Got something on your mind?"
"No, it's…it's nothing." Maddie replied. "You do know which direction to head off in, right?"
"You bet!" Marcy said. "We're all set over here! Let's find us a Spudley!"
