Chapter 5: Breaking Point
Anne stood in an empty space, unsure as to what was going on.
"Hello? Anyone there?" Anne called out.
"Anne? Anne is that you?!" She heard a strangely familiar voice call out.
"Hello?! Who is that?!" Anne asked.
"Hold on! I'm coming!"
Anne, not wanting to stand around, decided to run in the direction of the voice.
Eventually, she saw someone…
And she couldn't believe it.
"Anne!"
"… Marcy?"
Marcy… somehow, was running towards her, and quickly wrapped her arms around her.
"M… Marcy…" Anne said, tears starting to fall from her eyes. "I… I thought you were dead…"
"Oh Anne…
I am dead!"
Anne, caught off guard by this, pulled away, and she was horrified.
Marcy… or whatever it was, had a familiar sword in her chest.
"Why Anne… why didn't you save me?"
"M-Marcy… I…"
"You were right there and… and…"
"No… NO!"
"Anne… please…"
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
"AH!" Anne gasped out as she shot up.
Looking around, she saw she was back in her room.
"Another nightmare…" Anne said as she rubbed her forehead.
Looking around, she saw that she thankfully didn't wake any of the Plantars.
"Well… not getting any more sleep tonight…" Anne said as she reached over and grabbed her laptop. "Rather as well should do some research… again…"
"Morning every-whoa… you look terrible…" Luz said, noticing that Anne looked absolutely exhausted.
"Ruuuuude…" Anne said sleepily.
"She does have a point Anne." Sprig pointed out. "You alright?"
"Ugh… I was up all night researching a way to get back to Amphibia… and maybe the night before…" Anne said.
"That… doesn't sound good." Amity said as she walked into the room.
"Still, up all night researching?" Ms. Boonchuy asked. "Who are you, and what have you done with my daughter?"
"Har har…" Anne said.
"Seriously though, burning yourself out is not going to help." Luz said. "Take it from me."
"Still…"
"I know you want to get back as soon as possible, and we will… you just have to be patient." Luz said.
"Yeah, it won't hurt to take a day or two off to rest a bit…" Amity said. "Why don't you go back to sleep and…"
Anne then remembered the nightmare from last night.
"Nope! Don't need to sleep! I am fine!" Anne said. "Yup! Full of energy!"
Everyone in the room found this behavior VERY suspicious.
"Uh… right…" Luz said.
"Well, if you are so keen on doing research now, why don't you go to the museum and write a report?" Anne's Mom suddenly asked.
"I'm sorry, what?!" Anne asked.
"You were gone for five months, did you really think school would stop for you?" Ms. Boonchuy asked.
"Oh…"
Luz was suddenly very thankful for Vee's existence.
"Uuuuuugh…" Anne groaned out.
Then, Luz got an idea.
"Hey Amity, why don't you go with her?" Luz asked.
"Me? Why me?" Amity asked.
"Well, you told me a while back that you really wanted to learn our history, so I figured going to a museum and helping Anne with her report might be a good opportunity for you!" Luz explained.
"Oh… yeah, I did say that, didn't I?" Amity asked. "Ok, I'll go and help."
"Great!" Luz said. "While you guys are gone, I'll see what I can figure out in terms of portals, that sound good Anne?"
"Yeah, I guess I can deal with that." Anne said as she got up from her seat. "Ok… guess we're doing this."
And with that, she left the room.
"… You wanted someone to keep an eye on her, but not go to the museum yourself… didn't you Luz?" Amity asked.
"Guilty as charged!"
"I'll come pick you up at six, have fun! And learn!" Ms. Boonchuy said, causing everyone, minus Amity, to groan.
"Whoa… so this is a human museum." Amity said in awe.
"You seem to be excited." Hop Pop pointed out.
"Well, I have a job in a library back home, if that tells you anything." Amity explained.
"Neeeeerrrrrdddd." Polly said bluntly.
"I read to little kids like you Polly." Amity explained.
"… Still a nerd."
"Anyways, let's go inside!" Amity said excitingly as she bounded inside.
"Hold on Amity." Hop Pop said suddenly. "This is going to be a very crowded area from the looks of things… shouldn't you wear a hat or something to hide those ears of yours?"
"Oh, oops, I forgot." Amity said as she suddenly drew a magic circle.
And just like that, she had round ears, just like a human.
"My brother and sister taught me that." Amity explained. "I am not too good with illusion magic, but this one is simple enough."
"So there are different types of magic?" Anne asked.
"Oh yeah, fire, light, plant, illusions, healing, abominations, and a lot more." Amity explained. "There's even bard magic."
"Bard magic?!" Sprig asked, very interested in that.
"Yeah, we know someone who's really good at that one." Amity said.
"Can I learn magic?" Anne asked. "I feel like it would be useful."
"Without a staff, the best you could probably do is using glyphs, and those don't work on Earth without a staff." Amity explained. "Witches have a magic bile sack connected to the heart, and that's where our magic comes from. Humans don't have this sadly."
"Oh…" Anne said. "How tough is it to learn glyphs?"
"I wouldn't know, I never really tried." Amity said. "I wanted to, but we never got to it. You'd have to ask Luz."
"Ok then… so you said you're not good with illusions, so what are you good with?" Anne asked.
"Abominations." Amity said. "And I have some experience with fire magic."
"And abominations are…?" Anne asked.
"Think of them as magic sludge monsters." Amity explained. "I'd show you, but…"
"Not a good idea right now, got it." Anne said as the group entered the museum.
As for the trip to the museum, it was going really well!
… Until they got to the space exhibit.
When Anne got inside… she was just staring off into space… figuratively, not literally.
"Anne? Are you alright?" Amity asked.
Anne didn't respond. She just stared at the exhibit as a memory flashed into her mind.
Five Years Ago
"Come on Anne! We're gonna miss it!" Marcy shouted as she jogged excitingly in place.
"I'm coming I'm coming…" Anne said groggily.
The two of them had come to the museum to watch the grand opening of the new space exhibit, something Marcy had been looking forward to for weeks now.
Sasha, who had joined them for a sleepover the night before, had no interest in joining them for the exhibit, so she decided to go home.
Anne however, was happy to accompany her friend.
When inside, Anne watched as Marcy happily bounded about the exhibit, stars in her eyes.
Anne didn't know why at the time, but seeing Marcy this happy warmed her heart like nothing else.
"Anne? Hey! Anne!"
"Huh…"
"Are you… ok?" Amity asked, her and the Plantars all looking really worried.
Anne then rubbed her eyes, realizing that she had been crying.
"Y-yeah… just… need a minute…"
That minute though, proved to cause more harm than good, as no matter where she looked, she kept seeing Marcy's excited face, looking at the exhibits.
Eventually, it proved too much for her, as she suddenly bolted out of the room.
"Anne!" Amity shouted as she quickly went after the girl.
The chase led them outside the building and into a nearby alley, where Anne curled up into a ball and started crying.
"Anne…" Amity said, as she went down to comfort her friend.
"I… I can't do this anymore…" Anne said. "I… I need to know if Marcy is ok! I need to know that much! I… I think I'm going crazy at this point, and if I don't find out soon, I'll lose it!"
"Anne…" Sprig said as he and the Plantars all hugged her
Amity, deciding that the trip to the museum was a bust, pulled out the phone Mr. Boonchuy lent her and gave him a call.
"Amity? Is something wrong?" Mr. Boonchuy asked through the phone.
"Listen, Anne… is having a bit of an episode right now." Amity said. "I'll explain when you get here but…"
"Say no more! I am on my way!" Mr. Boonchuy said before hanging up.
Before long, he pulled up on his scooter and began looking around for the group.
"Over here!" Amity called over.
He quickly ran over and kneeled down next to Anne.
"Hey Anne, sweetie, can you hear me?" Mr. Boonchuy asked.
"D… Dad?"
"Hey… Listen, your mom is on her way, and we'll take you home, ok?" Mr. Boonchuy asked.
"O… okay…"
"Ok… I am gonna talk to Amity for a bit, the Plantars will stay with you." Mr. Boonchuy said as he stood up.
"Ok Dad…"
He then looked over to Amity with worry on his face.
"So… tell me what happened."
"Well… we were going through the exhibits, and when we got to the space exhibit, she froze up." Amity explained. "Then, she started crying and… well…"
"Oh… the space exhibit huh?" Mr. Boonchuy asked.
"Yeah, any idea why that would cause something like this?" Amity asked.
"Well… she's been there only once… but…" Mr. Boonchuy started.
"But…?"
"It was on the day they opened that exhibit… and she only went because Marcy wanted to go." Mr. Boonchuy explained. "I guess… going back there might of reminded her of that day, and after what happened to Marcy…"
"… It caused this." Amity deduced.
"Man… when they told me what happened to Marcy, I should of known that something like this could happen…" Mr. Boonchuy said. "She and Anne were always so close…"
"Yeah…"
"Marcy was Anne's first friend you know… before they even met Sasha." Mr. Boonchuy explained. "They really didn't have much luck making friends back then, but when they met each other they just… got along so well…"
"… We have to get them back to Amphibia, and as soon as possible." Amity said.
"Yes… I agree."
Later that night
"Are you sure you're alright?" Ms. Boonchuy asked.
"Y-yeah… sorry about all that…" Anne said, wiping a tear out of her eye.
"Don't apologize, after what you've been through, we can hardly blame you." Ms. Boonchuy said in a comforting tone.
"And don't worry about your homework, we'll figure something out with the school." Mr. Boonchuy added.
"Right… thanks…"
Amity and Luz just watched this with the Plantars from the other room, unsure as to what they could do.
"Luz…" Amity said.
"I know… we have to get to Amphibia soon." Luz said.
"I know you know that but… you said you had a backup plan… right?" Amity asked. "One that you have Eda preparing?"
"Yeah…"
"Maybe… it's time we put it into action."
Luz just looked down.
"It's risky… and I'm not sure it'll work." Luz said.
"Then we'll have to make it work." Amity said.
"… Alright." Luz said. "I have to get a few things ready first, so it could take a couple of days… but I'll do it."
"Ok… so what's the plan?" Amity asked.
"Well…"
At that moment though, the doorbell rung.
"I'll get it!" Sprig shouted as he put on his disguise and went to answer the door.
When he opened it though, he took a step back in shock, and lowered his mask.
"Sprig? Why are you…?" Luz asked.
"Hi Sprig…" They heard a voice say from the front door.
"A-ANNE! You might want to see this!"
Anne, who had just walked into the room, went over to the front door.
"This better be important if you took off… your… disguise…" Anne said as she looked at the newcomer in shock.
Then, tears began to flow once again from her eyes.
"… What…?"
End of Chapter 5
… Wait wut?
So good news: I have officially finished writing the final battle for the story! As such, I can confirm that, including the prologue, there are going to be 22 chapters to this story! I made this series to try and hold us all over until the hiatus is done, for both Amphibia and The Owl House.
As for the one shots I mentioned last week, I have three planned so far. Two set during "One Small Change" and one set during this story. I hope to have the first one out soon. The ones taking place during "One Small Change" will be it's own story, while he ones taking place during this story will be a different story. Follow my account to stay up to date on all of this!
As I mentioned last week, this chapter is where the events will really start changing. Half of Fight at the Museum doesn't happen… in fact, we have pretty much seen all of what has happened in the show that will be in this story already! The rest of this story shall be completely original content! This doesn't mean that the rest of Season 3 doesn't happen though. I'll get into that when we are closer to the end… a lot closer.
So, see you next time where we find out who this mysterious guest is… it is not as obvious as you might think ;)