Marcy kept running in the direction of the scream, she didn't care what happened earlier all she knew was that the young frog was in danger, she entered the forest still running, eventually she heard the sound of buzzing, From the pitch of the buzzing she knew what the creature was near, Hybeenas, She had only read about them, but she knew they were dangerous.
As she ran she saw a large branch in the road, she picked it up, hopefully it wouldn't break if she had to fight off creatures.
She eventually exited the woods only to find herself at a cliff-top, she looked down and saw a frog girl standing there Looking at the Hybeenas in terror, Maddie was lying there still.
That's when she noticed the number of the Hybeena's, a small army of them, she looked at those horns at the end of their bodies, they could probably go through anything.
Even her chest.
Ten years ago, she'd be down there with her crossbow, she would have already had a plan how to rescue the frogs, Now, she was just hesitating, afraid to do anything.
That's when she saw Marcy the frog throw herself on Maddie.
It didn't take long for Marcy to figure out what her counterpart was doing, she was trying to protect Maddie.
Something clicked in Marcy's mind then, It didn't matter how much danger she was in, if the young frog was tying to protect someone, then she didn't have any excuse not to.
She took a breath and jumped.
A hundred terrorized thoughts went through Marcy's head as she fell, could she survive this fight? Why was she doing this for a young girl who hated her? Why hadn't she finished the croissant earlier? But the biggest thing that went through her head was "Oh, God why am I jumping from this high up oh frog I did not think this through.
She landed and felt the rock beneath her feet shudder.
She held out the branch towards the laughing beasts.
"Get away from her," she demanded
In response to her words they charged.
Marcy swung at the first one that came towards her, the branch hit it's head and knocked it aside, However another one flew towards her.
Frog Marcy watched this her eyes widening as she watched the monster fight to protect her and Maddie,
after how she had acted towards her, she expected the creature to leave her alone forever.
And yet here she was fighting against some of the most terrifying creatures in Amphibia to protect her.
The human Marcy hit Hybeena after Hybeena, but she was outnumbered, Marcy Yunan realized she needed to do something to help, she looked at Maddie and noticed underneath her apron, there was a belt with various bottles attached to it, a brief thought entered her head, maybe she could throw this and blind one of the monsters.
She pulled off a Red potion from the belt and threw it at one of the Hybeenas.
The moment it made contact with the Hybeena the creature was set alight.
Both human and frog looked in shock, the human looked at her froggy counterpart, blinked once and smiled, "Nice," she said smiling.
All of a sudden another Hybeena flew at her while she was distracted.
Marcy Yunan quickly pulled off another potion (purple) and threw it at the Hybeena.
It vanished, Marcy Yunan looked confused, did the potion just make it disappear.
"Ouch." said Marcy Wu who slapped her neck, she looked at what had stung her.
A small Hybeena was laying there twitching, she shook her hand removing the Hybeena.
"Keep throwing." she said to frog girl, In response Marcy Yunan kept throwing more and more bottles as the human women kept defending her, each bottle seemed to have a different effect on the attacking Hybeenas.
One that was hit turned into smoke, another lost their wings, more surreal was one that had his body reversed, a Bee upper half and a Hyena behind who then collapsed in a fit of existential dread.
The younger Marcy didn't think she just picked up bottle after bottle, taking down any Hybeena that flew towards her or the other Marcy.
The older Marcy kept fighting striking Hybeena left and right, a part of her was surprised that she was still good at this, it had been a while since she had needed to fight for her life, last time she was doing it thousands of miles in the sky to protect an entire world, Now she was just fighting to protect two lives, Nonetheless she still fought just as hard.
With one last smack with the branch the final Hybeena fell.
The two Marcys took a second to catch their breaths, before the human walked towards the unconscious Maddie, she saw the small frog chest raising and lowering, She was alive.
"Is she going to be okay?" asked Marcy Yunan.
Marcy Wu turned to her and smiled, "Hopefully, We'll need to check for a concussion but…"
She trailed off, the moment the fight had stopped the earlier awkwardness had returned.
Marcy Yunan looked away from her keeping quiet, in a mixture of embarrassment and shame, she didn't really know how to react to the monster who had just saved her.
"Hey," said the human.
The frog girl looked at her wondering what she was going to say.
"You were pretty good back there," said the human smiling.
Marcy was surprised but sheepishly nodded, "Thanks, you were pretty good yourself."
"Yeah, kind of nice to know I still have the skills, but your aim was impeccable."
Marcy Yunan laughed, "I'm General Yunan daughter, She taught me how to start properly aiming at targets when I was three."
"Huh, You ever thought about using the crossbow?"
All of a sudden there was the sound of buzzing from above them. It was louder than the others, a shadow fell on them.
Looking up there was a large Canine Insect hybrid, it was bigger and fatter than the others, its teeth were larger, and its laughter was deeper and crueler.
Every pack has a leader and every Hive has a queen.
This was the Alpha-Queen of the Hybeenas.
Frog Marcy turned around and looked at Maddie's belt, trying to find another potion, to her horror there was none.
"We're out of potions." she said.
Marcy Wu didn't turn, she knew she couldn't fight and win against this monstrosity.
That didn't mean she was going to let her friends get hurt.
Not again, never again.
The Hybeena queen drew closer, laughing louder, Marcy tighten her grip on the branch.
All of a sudden Marcy Yunan was standing next to her.
She had a handful of pebbles in her hand, she picked one up and threw it at the Queen, it bounced off the large monster's face.
Marcy Wu had known it wasn't exactly going to help, but a part of her was glad that the young frog was willing to fight by her side… a feeling which would vanish when they were dead.
"GET AWAY FROM THEM!" came a voice from up high.
The two Marcys looked up to see something falling towards them, A colossal figure in a cloak with a blue face wielding a hammer, they recognized it instantly.
The Queen looked up as the King's hammer hit her, the force of the blow made her face slam into the rock the girls were standing on.
The queen fell to the ground, landing with a thud.
Andrias was about to fall with it but letting go of the hammer, just grabbed onto the ledge of the rock.
The Hammer landed next to the queen.
Marcy grabbed her frog counterpart and ran to Maddie picking her up, trying to keep them close to her before anything else could happen.
A cracking noise and the rock started to shift.
Marcy held on to the two small Amphibians wondering what to do next.
"Marcy," said Andrias quietly in fear that his voice my causing the rock to fall.
The human and conscious frog looked at him.
"Andrias," they both said in a whisper.
There were another creek, and the rock shifted a little bit more.
"Listen," said the former king, "Can you slowly walk over to me?"
Marcy Wu nodded, she tried to stand, there was a groan from the rock, eventually she was standing, she tentatively took another step, another groan, the rock shifted again, Marcy was only just able to keep her balance, Marcy Yunan held on to her tightly.
"I think I can make it but…"
"Keep Walking."
She took another few steps, each step was back with a creek.
She was just about to reach him when the rock fell.
Marcy Wu jumped towards the king as it fell, He grabbed the three of them and held them close to his chest.
Marcy Wu wondered if she was going to die again.
As much as she was scared she couldn't help but be amused at the irony, last time she died Andrias tried to kill her, this time he was trying to protect her.
There was a sudden jolt, and then nothing.
They had landed, and were still alive.
She called out to the others, "Are you okay Marcy?"
"Yes," said a small voice.
There was a groan, "What happened?" said a raspy voice.
"Maddie, are you okay?"
"Sure just let me stand."
Marcy pushed and moved Andrias hands off them, she stood and let the two frogs go, they hopped off her, and then to the ground, Marcy crawled off the king,
"Andrias are you okay?" asked Marcy.
There was no response.
Marcy already thought the worst, she ran to his head, she saw just ahead of her was the Hybeena queen and her subjects were lying there motionless, the hammer was just next to the queen's head.
She then saw Andrias face, his eyes were closed, he wasn't breathing, he was…
"No…" said Marcy whispering.
Marcy Yunan rushed up beside her and stood there scared, tears in her eyes, "He… He can't be."
The two Marcys stood there silent.
Marcy Wu was broken, she came all this was for closure to talk to him to tell him something she needed to tell him for years, and now she would never get the chance to say it.
Marcy Yunan stood there, she looked at the newt who had saved her all those years ago, the man who had told her stories, the newt who was her friend was gone.
Maddie Flour stood there looking at the two not sure what to say to help them she had fought against the king's army back in the past, yet she couldn't help but mourn for him and her friends.
Former King Andrias Leviathan was dead.
The mood between the three was somber, all three of them were about to cry, he may have done wrong, but his last moments were saving them.
How could anything ruin this.
The answer came in the form of a novelty horn.
The three turned to see a kart driving up, in the driver's seat was Polly Planter, it stopped just besides the three.
"Hey guys," said Polly happily getting out of the kart which shifted back into Frobo, "I saw the Hybeena queen and… Is Andrias taking a nap?"
All three were shocked at how casually she was acting, "Polly," said Marcy Wu, "He's dead."
Polly turned to look at the king and gave him a slight nudge with her foot, she sighed "Stay there for a minute."
Before the three mourners could say anything Polly jumped into the king's robes.
They could hear Polly muttering to herself from within the robes, there was the sound of a hatch opening, followed by an engine whirling.
Suddenly the king sat up and said, "KFFLAK."
Maddie and the two Marcys jumped back surprised, the king took a second to look around, trying to figure out what happened.
"What happened?" asked the king.
Polly's head popped out from the front of the king's robe, she looked him in the eye, "The cable to your heart-battery was loosened again, You really got to be careful with that." said Polly.
Andrias looked at Polly confused, "Okay, Thank you."
There was an awkward science for a second.
"Polly?"
"Yes Andrias?"
"Could you get out of my robe please?"
The pink frog jumped out of the robe and landed next to the others.
"Andrias you're okay!" said Marcy Wu joy in her voice.
The king looked at them and nodded "Yes, Goodbye," he looked around for his hammer finding it near the Hybeena.
"Could get that for me please?"
"No." said Marcy Wu.
All eyes were on Marcy, Except for the Hybeenas who were dreaming of Frog Fricassee.
"Marcy," said the king voice growing deeper.
"You're not just going to walk away, considering you almost died, I need to talk to you."
"DON'T" boomed the former king.
Everyone stood there quiet as they looked at him, thankfully the Hybeena stayed asleep.
Marcy Wu had enough of this. She stared at him, "Why?"
The king turned his face away from her, "You know why."
"What guilt? I've had that and…"
"No," said the king bitterly, "You'd have no idea how-"
"It feels like you deserve to live," Said Marcy her voice tense, "and the fact that you're allowed to breathe is more than you deserve."
All the Amphibians looked at her, Andrias however was the most shocked.
"It's like you want the whole world to hate you, and that every time you're reminded of what you've done you want to run and hide in the darkest room you can find and stay there forever.
The king was quiet for a second and sighed, "Okay, Maybe you do know, but after everything I've done…, for one thousand years I let this world suffer."
"And when the time came you choose to save it." replied Marcy
"I helped the core in their schemes,"
"And when again when the time came you choose to defy them."
The king sat there or a few seconds, thinking of something to say, he closed his eyes and sighed, "I hurt you."
Marcy stood there and smiled, "Yeah, you did, but you know what I have to say about that, even if you don't want to hear it, I still mean it, I still have nightmares and trust me it's hard for me to say, but I do."
She smiled at him, "I forgive you, Andrias."
Andrias looked at her, tears appeared on his eyes, a small and weak smile appeared on his face.
"Thank you." he whispered.
Marcy Yunan broken around from the small group and hugged the king's knee, "Are you going to be okay, Andrias?"
The king gave a gentle laugh, "I'm fine Marcy I.-"
"DIIIIEEEEEE." cried out a voice from behind the king, followed by the sound of something hitting him.
Marcy Yunan cringed and released the king from the hug, "Oh no." she jumped on the King's shoulder and saw a toad boy hitting the king's rear with an oak Table leg, behind them from a distance were two figures, one a small nymph the other a human boy.
"What are you doing Lucian?" said Marcy Yunan annoyed.
"I'm *Grunt* Saving *Grunt* You" said Lucian still hitting Andrias.
"Is he going to be doing that all day?" said Andrias curious.
"Lucian stop, just go home, I'll talk to you later." said Marcy annoyed.
"Not until you're safe." said Lucian as he brought the table leg down one last time, the table leg broke instantly.
He looked at the remains of his weapon, and looked at Marcy who was giving him a look that screamed, "You're an idiot."
Lucian swallowed and started to walk away whistling, he met up with the other two, the human briefly looked at Marcy who gave him a little glare, He turned around scared and walked away.
Marcy jumped back to the others, "Sorry about that."
"So we're done here, right?" asked Maddie.
"Not yet," said Marcy Wu, "I want a photo first."
"That seems fair." said Andrias.
Marcy rummaged around her pocket and pulled out her phone, she took one look at it and sighed, "Dang it."
"What?" said Polly.
"The screens cracked, Seven months in Amphibia back then I didn't break my phone, two days back, and it's cracked."
"Well the core broke it." said Andrias.
"That doesn't count," said Marcy.
"Can you fix it?" said Marcy Yunan.
"I could," said Polly, "Okay probably not, but I'd like to look at that phone, I don't want to take apart Anne's old one."
"Don't worry it's cool," said Marcy "I can get a back up for it."
"Back up?" asked Marcy Yunan.
"Yeah," said Marcy Wu, "I can get a copy of the data on a different phone, Just need to connect this to the web and viola."
Andrias heard this and eyes widened, something clicked in his brain. Something from ten years ago.
…
Ten Years ago.
The invasion was set to begin in three days.
Andrias walked through the hall, about to inform his master of the recent news.
Anne Boonchuy had returned to Amphibia and had met up with that annoying resistance. It didn't really matter, she would die, but he was expecting to be reprimanded.
As he reached the core's lab he could hear his master's voice from behind the doors.
"Are you ready for this?" said Darcy.
Adnrais stood back, curiosity entered his mind, Who were they talking to, there was no one else the core would speak to, so who was in the chamber with them?
He heard a familiar roar, the sound of the core in that metal shell they use to inhabit.
"Good," said the voice of Darcy, "With any luck you won't be needed, but just in case."
He heard the sound of something closing, and then heard the sound of Darcy snapping her fingers, "Andy, get in here."
The door slid open automatically, Andrias looked around the dark room, he could make out robot parts, Ancient maps of different worlds on the walls, standing in front of a table was Darcy, on the table was a box with red lines on the surface, but there was no sign of anyone she could have talked to.
"My Lord," said the king bowing, "Were you alone?"
Darcy scoffed, "Of course I was alone."
"But I heard-"
"You're hearing things now are you, Maybe you've lost some of your mind over the last one thousand years, Not a good sign."
"I'm sorry, it's just-"
"We can't let a mad Newt join the core, can we?"
Andrias looked at the core terrified, "What?"
Darcy laughed, "Oh Andrias relax, learn to take a joke."
Andrias was silent for a second before looking down at the floor again, "Very funny, my liege"
Darcy then picked up the box and walked to the entrance, Andrias stood and followed them.
"My Lord, we have news about Anne Boonchuy."
"Hmm" said Darcy.
"She has found her way back to Amphibia."
"Good, I was hoping for a reunion," said Darcy.
Andrias stopped walking in shock, "Aren't you worried that she'll have informed her world of the invasion attempt?"
Darcy turned around but continued walking, "No, I've got Marcy's memories, Anne's too Nice, she'd be more concerned about looking after the plantars than informing the authorities."
Andrias kept following the thing that had once been his father and… his victim.
"What's in the box?" he said.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself about, Just a back-up plan."
Andrias looked at them, the way they acted something disturbed him, "Is there anything I can do?"
"Just get back to preparing, we invade tomorrow."
Andrias looked at them confused, "Tomorrow? That's a little ahead of schedule."
Darcy laughed, "Oh Andrias, Now Anne's here we have the perfect chance to wipe out the resistance, Capture the remaining humans and take the power away from Anne, It's the perfect time."
Andrias didn't respond to that, he just kept following her.
After a while they made their way down to the basement of the castle.
Andrias looked around the room, this was where the core was reborn, he froze a part of him still felt repulsed by what happened, he wouldn't admit in those nightmares he heard her scream.
Was this guilt?
He shock his head, no it was too late for that.
Darcy walked up to the chair which held Marcy and pushed it over, they put the box down and opened it.
There were four cylinders inside the box, Darcy removed each one at a time and placed it in a slot underneath the chair.
"My Lord what are you doing?"
"Just a little contingency plan." said Darcy, who walked towards him, "Come we've got plans to make, worlds to conquer, best friends to kill."
Andrias followed him only briefly looking back, wondering only briefly what the contingency plan was, after all their victory was guaranteed, what could go wrong?
…
Andrias?" said Marcy.
Andrias looked down to see Marcy standing there looking at him concerned, in her hand was a slightly larger black rectangle, a tablet.
"You okay, there big guy?"
The former king nodded, "Yes I'm fine, Just thinking back about something."
Marcy nodded back, "Well we can still take the photo I'll just use my tablet."
He watched as Marcy Wu handed Polly her tablet, Frobo lifted her up, so she could get all four of them in the picture, The smaller Amphibians gathered in front of him and smiled,
Andrias had a new fear to deal with, he needed to investigate a new threat but seeing both Marcy's there smiling at him and for him, he couldn't help but smile back.
"Say Cheese." said Polly.
"Cheese" the four said together.
The picture was ruined by Andrias closing his eyes, Maddie's hair covering all of her face, Marcy Wu sneezing mid-frame, but it was still perfect.
It reminded Andrias of a painting from his past, one of friendship and one this time he would treasure it.
Polly handed back Marcy's tablet, and smiled, "Well I'll see you guys later, I'll get someone to deal with the Queen over there."
Marcy Wu was looking at the creature strangely, "I don't get it, why would a Hybeena queen be here?"
Marcy Yunan looked at her, "I found some of their eggs in the forest, I may have kicked one of their larva." she said Sheepishly.
"Still makes no sense, They live in hives why would their eggs be outside?"
Andrias looked at them, The humans were back, Wildlife was acting strange, he couldn't scratch the feeling that there was something wrong going on, it was a stretch, but it could have something to do with what happened back in the castle that day.
He needed to investigate, to make sure the past was dead, and to protect those who mattered to him.
"Polly?" he asked.
"Yes Andrias?"
"The replacement limbs, How long will they take to fit?"
Polly smiled, "A hour at most, Come on,"
The king followed her only briefly turning back to see the two Marcy's standing there with Maddie, He smiled, for the first time in years that guilt he felt was lessened.
…
When she got home Marcy Yunan had to deal with her two mothers who noticed just how messy she had gotten during the escape attempt. Her human namesake explained everything, and afterwards she had to tell her side of the story.
Her mothers were angry when she told them about her outburst, the human covered for her, saying that she was trying to protect Andrias.
"Well, I suppose that's fine." said Lady Olivia who still looked at her daughter disapprovingly, "However Marcy I think you should get changed, We got you clothes from the tailors, Why not try them on."
The human nodded and walked upstairs leaving the Frog to deal with her two newt mothers.
Lady Olivia was about to reprimand her daughter, when Marcy leaped towards her and hugged her, "I'm sorry." she said.
She was surprised to be hugged, back she felt Olivia's gentle hug and Yunan firm arms around her, she hugged them both back.
"Marcy are you okay?" said Olivia.
"I almost died today, and I was a total jerk to Marcy, I was so wrong about her."
The two newts looked at her, "Marcy what's wrong with her?" asked Yunan softly.
Marcy rubbed her arm, "Everyone talks about her like she was this hero and I just saw a monster, But I was so wrong about her, She's amazing."
"Well yes, That's why we named you after her, She's the reason we're together." Said Yunan looking at Yunan lovingly.
"I know but… I guess, I thought you wanted me to be her."
"Oh goodness no," said Olivia, "We couldn't afford the insurance."
Marcy blinked, "What?"
Lady Olivia blushed, "We'll explain later, Marcy, We gave you her name because we wanted to honor her, but we never wanted you to be her, We'll always love you no matter what."
Marcy smiled, It felt nice to hear that, even if she should have known that sooner, she hugged them again and smiled, "Thank you moms."
Both newts looked at each other and smiled.
The hug ended and Marcy looked upstairs, "I'm going to see other Marcy, I need to apologize."
"Good." said Yunan smiling,
"Be careful." said Lady Olivia.
She started to walk upstairs she headed towards the guest room where Marcy was, she was about to knock on the door when there was an excited squeal from within.
Marcy just stood there for a second, she decided to knock on the door.
"Come in," responded the Marcy inside.
She opened the door to see Marcy's silhouette behind a dressing screen, the human poked her head from behind the screen, Marcy Yunan could see her shoulders were bare, "Oh hi Marcy, are you okay?"
Marcy nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine It's just I wanted to say I'm sorry."
"It's cool" said the human who ducked her head beneath the screen.
Marcy turned away as the human got dressed, "Thank you, but I need to say that, I was really horrible back there."
"Don't worry about it," said Marcy laughing a little, "You're not the first person to say something you shouldn't." said the human woman.
The frog girl sighed and sat on the bed, "I know, but I shouldn't act like this I-"
"Trust me Marcy it's nothing."
The human stepped out from behind the screen, she was wearing two large boots, a green skirt, a gray shirt and brown armor, She wore a cape with a shell benign use as a button to keep it together.
She wore a larger version of her old ranger costume.
The human smiled at her "What do you think?"
The frog looked at her and shrugged, "I think I've seen it before."
The human laughed "Yeah, It's a little old, but I like it."
She then walked down and sat down next to the frog.
"Marcy, I know what it feels like when you run off because you're angry, I did it."
Marcy looked at the human "What?"
The human sighed, "Ten years ago… Your mom's probably told you this, but… I ran away from home."
"You did?"
The human nodded, "Yes, My parents they wanted to move out of state, and I… ran away, It's how I came with my friends to Amphibia."
The frog girl looked at her namesake, she noticed how sad the human looked, she looked like Andrias looked.
"I hurt my parents, I endangered my friends and I helped the core come back, we brought an army of robots to life."
She turned and looked at Marcy, Tears were starting to form in her eyes, "Marcy I'm the reason your parents are gone."
Marcy Yunan looked at her, she knew what she meant, she knew that the human as talking about her biological parents, sometimes she did wonder what it would have been like to have her birth parents.
This morning, she would have welcomed this, a reason to hate the human, a reason to despise her, it would be understandable to do so.
And yet, after today she couldn't, the human sitting there looked so guilty, just like Andrias, the self-hate.
Marcy could only say one thing.
"My parents are downstairs."
The human Marcy looked at her shocked, "what?"
"My moms are downstairs, They're probably bossing the chief around."
"But…"
Marcy jumped off the bed and looked at the human.
"I wish I knew who my birth parents were, but I've got two wonderful parents already.
The former ranger smiled, "Yeah, you do."
"And if it wasn't for you, they probably wouldn't have found me, So thanks."
Marcy smiled at her human counterpart who smiled back at her.
"Thanks Marcy."
They hugged, it felt weird for the frog hugging the monster that she had hated for the majority of her life, but she couldn't help but enjoy the warmth she felt.
The mood of the room was ruined suddenly a finger smashed through the window.
Both Marcys screamed at the invasion of a metal finger.
"Sorry," said a booming voice from outside, "Still getting use to having a new hand."
The finger pulled back and the face of a blue newt looked in.
"Andrias?" both Marcys said at once.
"Hey, Good to see you two," said Andrias smiling giving a double thumbs up.
The two walked over to the window and took in the look of the king, He was still wearing his cloak, but they noticed that he had two legs underneath his cloak, and a new arm, was contrasted his other arm with its copper coloring.
"What are you doing here?" asked Marcy Yunan.
Andrias smile took on more of a sad look, "I've come to say, I'm going to have to go for a while."
"What?" asked the human Marcy.
"Why?" asked the frog Marcy.
"Don't worry It's just for a few days, I jest need to check on something."
Before they could say anything the door to the room burst open and in jumped General Yunan who was wearing her casual clothes only with her gauntlet blades.
"Marcys, get behind me and… Andrias?"
"Yes, hello, Sorry about the window…and I might have stepped on your mailbox, I'd say bill me, but I don't have money anymore."
Olivia burst into the room and looked around, only for a second, before nodding "Honestly I wanted to do redecorate this room."
"Why are you going?" said Marcy Wu looking at the king.
"I… Need to investigate something, It's nothing bad, but it might have something to do with why the Hybeena's were out of their hives," he looked at Lady Olivia, "I just need a pass to the castle."
Olivia raised an eyebrow at that, "You are aware that one of the conditions of your probation is that you can never return to the castle."
The king nodded, "I know but please, Just give me a day at the castle."
Olivia looked at him, she saw the look of guilt on his face, "I'll see what I can do but… as much as I have to say it, they'd only let you in if you're in chains."
Andrias nodded "I accept those terms Send the letter."
"Wait, Don't do it yet." said Marcy Yunan.
"Marcy," said the king.
"You're not going until you've had dinner with us."
The king was taken aback by that, but then started to laugh, "Fine, I'll sit outside, I doubt you have an entrance big enough for me."
Olivia started to walk to the door, "I'll tell the staff we're eating upstairs, Is Beetle soup good for you my former liege."
"I can manage."
The meal that evening was one that many would have been confused by if they knew the various stories between the diners, They would be surprised to see the king who had manipulated a young girl into doing evil was now laughing at a story of his cake addiction, How the small frog girl who's biological parents were lost because the girls actions was now listening enraptured to the definition of anime, How the two mothers who had been mind controlled by the king joined looking at the two youngest in the room with smiles on their faces.
It was strange, but beautiful nonetheless.
…
It was one o'clock in the morning when Marcy woke up, she thought the room was a little bright, looking around for her tablet she was about to check the time when she noticed it was missing.
She quickly remembered what happened last night, her room had a broken window, so her frog namesake volunteered to share her room, now Marcy was sleeping in a specially made nightshirt in a small futon on the floor.
She turned to see Marcy Yunan sitting up in her bed, with her tablet, eyes wide, Japanese lyrics wafting from the screen.
"Marcy?"
"Yes." said the frog girl robotically.
"Are you still watching anime?"
Marcy had shown the frog an episode of one of her favorite anime Pretty Solideir Serene, and she had gotten hooked.
"Yes." said the Frog girl in the same robotic voice,
"Okay you know what, I'm just going to do this."
Marcy pressed the tablet's lock button and the small frog fell asleep, she held back a laugh.
He tablet started to vibrate all of a sudden, removing it from the small frog's hands she saw that a phone icon on the screen, with the word's dad underneath it.
She leapt to her feet and exited the room, the portal must have allowed phone signals to come through.
Sliding the icon she was greeted with the picture of her father and her at an anime convention nine years ago.
"Hi honey, Sorry for waking you up so late, How's L.A.?" whispered a voice from the tablet.
"Hey dad, It's fine, aren't you up a little late?"
The voice on the other side of the screen chuckled, "Late dinner party, sorry for calling at what is it over there, One?"
"Yeah, I'm kind of staying with some friends tonight, They've named their daughter after me."
"Wow," said her father joyful surprise in his voice, "send me a picture, later."
"Oh I will," Marcy lied, "Um Dad, I just wanted to say something."
"What is it?"
"Remember when we were in the hotel room, when I came back?"
"Yes," said her father his tone shifting to concern, "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, it's just… I wanted to say, Today was tough, but I remembered what you said to me, and it helped a lot."
The other side of the line was quiet for a second "I love you Marcy," said her father.
"I love you to dad."
"Okay, Well I'll let you sleep, call me tomorrow."
"Good night, Say hi to mom for me."
Marcy pressed the disconnect button and turned her Tablet off, she turned to Marcy and smiled, she covered her with her the blanket and returned to her futon.
Ideas for her comic were entering her head, it would be hard to sleep, but she couldn't help but smile, Ten years ago she made a mistake and there was a lot she needed to make up for, but she knew that thee were something things she was grateful she had done.
…
Hector Wu saw the disconnected screen, a smile was on his lips.
"It's a bit late to be calling Marcy isn't it?"
He turned to see his wife, Ah Cy Wu standing there.
"I know, it's just I wanted to see how she's doing, I get a little worried around this time of year."
Ah Cy smiled, "You shouldn't, you did more than enough to help her."
Hector smile grew "I know, but maybe I should have told her about our trip next week."
"No keep it a surprise," said Cy, "She's going to be so surprised to see us pay a visit."
Hector smiled, They were planning the trip for a while but figured it would be nice to spend a day with Marcy just before she left to go back to Connecticut.
"Yeah, She's going to scream," he stood up and embraced his wife.
He knew that Marcy was safe and that nothing could go wrong.
…
Andrias kept walking, it was still something he had to get used to walking with two legs again, he had to admit that Polly did a good job with the new leg.
It was a long way to the city, so he left after the party.
He looked briefly back at Wartwood, he felt bad to leave without telling them the truth, but he did it to protect them, he wouldn't let any of them suffer again.
If there was any chance that the core had a plan he had to find it and soon.
He continued walking, only thinking of the people he loved.
"I won't let anything hurt them again."