Whoa, a chapter earlier than promised!? Believe me, I'm surprised too.
The next day, Marcy decided to show Anne and Sasha all of her favorite places in Newtopia, with supervision by Lady Olivia, of course.
"Ooh, there's Ginger's shop! She's one of the best clothiers in Newtopia! She made this shirt." Marcy gestured at her green t-shirt, which had the Vagabondia Chronicles logo on it. Marcy was able to describe it to Ginger from memory.
"I may have to check that place out," said Sasha. "This armor is nice but I do miss comfy shirts."
"I'm sure Miss Ginger would be honored to make outfits for Marcy's friends," said Olivia
"That's awesome!" exclaimed Marcy. "Oh, and there's the Great Big Stairs of Newtopia." She pointed toward the large descending staircase they were approaching.
"If we walk down there, will we have to walk all the way back up?" asked Anne."
"We walked up them yesterday and you didn't have a problem," Olivia pointed out.
"Did we?" Apparently Anne was so focused on soon being reunited with Marcy that she didn't even register walking up more than 200 steps.
"They are a bit impractical," said Marcy, "but it's kind of fun to walk down— WHOA!" She tripped as she was wont to do. Except this time she was about to fall down the stairs!
"Marcy!" shouted Anne. She and Sasha grabbed Marcy at the last second
"Whoo! Thanks, girls," said Marcy. "I don't know what I would've done without you two."
"You would've fallen down the stairs and broken a leg, I bet," said Olivia. "Anne, Sasha, thank you very much. And Marcy, please try to be more careful when you walk, as impossible as that may be."
Marcy giggled. "I'll do my best."
"Is this the street food Sprig was talking about?" asked Anne as Olivia took the three girls down an alley filled with vendors.
"Yep! Newtopia offers a far more diverse and flavorful selection of foods than you'd ever find back in the valley." Marcy paused. "Or at least that's what I've been told." She looked down apologetically. "I hope I didn't offend you guys…"
"Nah, it's fine," said Sasha. "Grime's a good cook but military food isn't high quality."
"Yeah, Hop Pop's veggies are good but this is a whole new level," said Anne. "This is just like when my parents took me to Thailand last summer and Mom wouldn't let me have the spicy street food because my 'California stomach' couldn't handle it. What does she know?" Anne grumbled angrily but in an adorable way.
"I think your mom was right, Anne," said Marcy. "This kind of food was a little tough for me at first."
"If Anne wants to try some street cuisine then we should let her," said Olivia. "The king will pay for everything while you're here, so feel free to get whatever you want."
"Awesome!" Anne ran toward one particular cart run by a tall green newt and the rest of the group followed her. She pointed at some roasted shrimp-like creatures on sticks. "Four of whatever that is, please!"
"You kids are in for a real treat," said the vendor as she prepared four servings. "People come from far away for a chance to eat food like this."
"No one's come farther than us!" said Anne happily.
The vendor nodded. "I suppose I should consider myself lucky, then." She handed a skewer to each of the three girls but waited for Olivia to pay before giving her hers. "That'll be fifteen coppers."
Olivia handed over the money and accepted her food. "Okay, thank you."
"No, thank you."
"This stuff is spicy, so we should get some beverages too," said Olivia as the group walked away.
"Yeah, Sash," said Anne with a smug grin. "You're gonna need some water."
Sasha narrowed her eyes. "Are you saying I can't handle this because I'm white?"
Anne nodded.
"Alright, then." Sasha took a big bite of her food. "That's not bad at all.
"Wait for it…" said Marcy.
"Wait for wha-?" Sasha didn't get to finish her question as a large flame burst out of her mouth for a few seconds. After that she coughed a couple of times and the spicy feeling died down. "I still handled it."
"Okay," said Anne. "I can still take it better than you." She bit off some meat and swallowed it. A few seconds passed before a strange feeling rose in her throat. "Okay, maybe not." A large flame quickly burst out of Anne's mouth as well. "I guess eating farm food for a year has affected me."
"Ah, time to pay Ol' Sal a visit," said Hop Pop. "I always promised I'd go to his sandwich shop the day I made it to Newtopia. And that day is today! Also, I oughta thank him for making this whole trip possible."
Hop Pop entered the shop, having not noticed its abandoned state. "Guess what, Sal? It's your old pal Hopediah—" He gasped. The shop was a wreck! Tables and chairs were knocked over, all the pictures on the wall were crooked, and there was sauce spilled on the floor. "What happened here!? Sal? Sal?" He moved one of the tables and gasped again when he noticed Sal's fedora on the ground. "Oh no! Sal must've been kidnapped! I've gotta investigate this."
"There's nothing to investigate. Sal closed the shop himself years ago."
Hop Pop turned around to spot a newt who appeared to be living in the former shop. "Why in the living name of frog did he do that? His tangy sauce was the most glorious tasting thing in existence!"
"You just answered your own question," said the newt. "People only came here for the sauce, so he started selling just that and now he's rich with a huge factory."
"Rich!?" Hop Pop was shocked. "You mean if I start selling my recipes in this city I can get rich too?"
"I definitely did not say that."
Hop Pop evidently didn't hear the newt. "Oh boy, my bog stew will blow everyone's minds! No one in Wartwood ever appreciated it, but I'll show this city who's an amazing cook!"
The newt rolled their eyes. "Oh boy."
"Whoa! It's Newtopia University!" said Sprig as he randomly came across the campus. "Hop Pop always dreamed of me or Polly going here. Well here I am. Going here. Heh heh heh."
He went into the park-like area surrounding the university and overheard a professor giving a lecture to a dozen or so students.
The professor stood in front of a diagram resembling Bessie. "Now, who can tell me what cart snails are most afraid of?" he asked.
"Herons, of course. They'll eat anything," said one student.
"No, a cart snail's greatest fear is having its shell cracked and shattered," said another.
"Nuh uh," said yet another. "Obviously they're scared of the unrelenting existential chaos that plagues us all!"
"Actually, it's hedgehogs." Everyone turned to see Sprig standing there. "My family's got a snail and hedgehogs really spook her."
The students muttered a bit, clearly annoyed that some random kid knew more about their academic subject than they did.
"My, my. Aren't you a precocious young frog?" said the professor.
"Uh, I guess so," said Sprig. "I'm Sprig, by the way."
"Well, Sprig," the professor continued. "I must say your knowledge of survival skills is remarkable."
"Not really," said Sprig. "It just kind of comes naturally with living in the valley. I've got practical knowledge you pretentious city folk will never have."
The professor and the students looked offended. "Well, if you know so much then maybe you should be teaching the class."
"Okay", said Sprig, completely unbothered. He walked up to the easel and nudged the professor out of the way. "The most important thing to know about cart snails is their diet. If you don't feed them properly, then you'll never get anywhere. Snails like eating fresh plants, especially ones that are still dewy. If you give them rotten plants they'll still eat them but they'll be disappointed in you which is the worst feeling in the world."
"This is far more informative than whatever we were learning before," whispered one student to another.
"Indubitably."
"Non-members can only enter the guild hall when accompanying a member so you all have to stick with me for now," said Grime.
Sasha saluted. "Got it, Dad."
Polly, Sprig, and Anne gave similar phrases of acknowledgment. Sasha and Polly were the only ones planning on joining the Newtopia Weapons Guild, but Sprig and Anne still wanted to show off their cool weapons.
When they reached the building, Grime knocked on the door four times. A moment passed before a slot opened and a pair of eyes peered out. The unseen amphibian regarded the group for a bit then opened the door. The person behind the door, now revealed to be a yellow newt, took Grimes hand and the two performed a secret handshake.
"Welcome, Captain," said the yellow newt. He glanced at the kids. "Are these the prospective members?"
Grime nodded. "Two of them are. The other two are guests."
Sasha and Polly set down the cases of weapons they carried so they could do the handshake. Grime had taught it to each of them beforehand.
"Can we come in now?" asked Polly once they were done.
"Yes."
Everyone grabbed their weapons and followed Grime through several passageways before they ultimately reached the main hall. The room's walls were covered in weapons of all sorts: swords, clubs, scythes, maces, you name it! There were even some prototype experimental weapons on display, like a really weird one designed to catapult fruit at people's faces. There were numerous newts, toads, and frogs ambling around, sharing stories or showing off what they've got. These guilds are the only institutions where the species caste system doesn't really apply.
"It's beautiful…" said Polly, awestruck.
"Ah, our new members have arrived," said a red newt with a wispy voice. "Greetings. I am Franklin Kestro, the leader of the guild. Let me say on behalf of everyone here that we're so happy to welcome Sasha and Polly. But before your initiation, let us see what you've brought for us today."
Everyone gathered at the large table in the center of the room. Polly put her suitcase on the table and opened it up. "These were all wielded by my ancestor Polliana Plantar in the Bog Water Wars." She picked up her flail which was placed on top and swung it around a few times.. "This one's my favorite."
The guild members were impressed. "An excellent collection," said one of them. "The historical value is even more impressive than the large quantity."
"This isn't even all of them," said Polly. "There's plenty more back home."
"Nice," said Franklin. "And what about Miss Waybright?"
Polly packed up her suitcase while Sasha placed her special swords on the table. "These blades were specially made for me by Captain Beatrix of the West Tower."
The guild members hummed in approval.
Sasha lifted the hefty chest of weapons onto the table. "And here are some of the weapons that the South Tower has acquired in one way or another since Dad joined."
"Somewhat unorthodox, but acceptable," said Franklin.
"But are these weapons of good quality?" asked one frog guild member. "It sounds like you've just been taking some of these weapons from wherever."
"We only keep the good ones, I assure you," said Grime.
"Well then," said Franklin, clapping his hands once. "You both have shown a considerable affinity for swords and flails and the like. You'll fit in perfectly here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out two badges with the guild's logo on them. "I hereby bestow these badges onto you, declaring that you are now official members of the Newtopian Weapons Guild." Everyone gave Sasha and Polly a round of applause as Franklin gave them their badges. The red newt's expression suddenly became deathly serious. "Don't ever lose those. You never know when you might need 'em."
Sasha and Polly gulped and nodded quickly.
"Well, that's good," said Franklin. "I was told your friends also have some weapons to show us."
"Yeah!" shouted Sprig, making his way to the table. He held up his magic slingshot. "This may look like an ordinary slingshot, but my friend Maddie cast a spell on it so it never misses. Watch!" Sprig closed his eyes, spun around a couple of times, and fired a pebble. The pebble went flying northward, but abruptly switched directions and hit the center of a dartboard hanging on the wall.
This got a round of applause as well.
"Thank you." Sprig bowed and stepped back.
"Uh… hey, everyone." Anne nervously approached the table and presented her sword. "I've got a sword. It was one of the ones Captain Grime confiscated from a prisoner. I know it doesn't seem like anything special, but I like it and I'm keeping it."
A moment of silence passed. All of the guild members seem to be transfixed by the sword.
"Hey, what gives?" Sasha complained.
Franklin cleared his throat. "Apologies. It's just that there's something odd about this sword. I'm not quite sure what this oddity is, but it's there."
"Is it also enchanted?" asked Anne.
"Possibly, but not in the same way," said the frog from earlier. "The guild has never encountered anything quite like this. We'll have to do some research and get back to you on this."
"You've got a spooky sword, Anne! That's cool!" said Sprig.
Anne wasn't so sure she agreed, but nodded anyway. "It is."
As you can see, similar things are happening to our heroes that happened in canon but they're all different. Well, the Weapons Guild stuff is new.