Chapter 12: The Storm
As soon as Anne's eyes landed onto the blue stone, she felt a terrible pain throughout her body.
She quickly clutched her head, and began groaning, while her body began to glow a familiar blue.
"Anne?" Sasha asked.
"I-I'm fine, just…"
Then, out of concern, Luz stepped towards her.
And Anne began to scream.
"ANNE!" Marcy shouted as she put her hands on Anne's shoulders, trying to get her to calm down.
"What's happening to her?!" Grime asked.
"I don't know!" Luz answered. "Wait… the stones! She's like this because of the stones!"
"Well put them away!" Sasha asked.
Luz complied, and put them in her bag.
And thankfully, that managed to calm Anne down.
She collapsed into the bed, breathing heavily as sweat poured down her face.
"What was that…?" Sasha asked.
"I don't know…" Marcy asked.
"It felt… it felt like how I feel when I use those powers… but a whole lot worse…" Anne explained.
"Wait, it hurts to use those?!" Sasha asked.
"Not normally… it just feels… bad… but that was a whole lot worse." Anne explained.
"That… doesn't sound good." Marcy said. "Ok, first things first, figuring out how to fix that!"
"No, it's fine… I just need some sleep and I'll be good to…" Anne started…
But as soon as she leaned on her right arm for support, she felt a sharp pain.
"AH!" Anne shouted as she clutched her arm.
"Anne!" Marcy shouted as she went and checked on her. "Let me see."
Anne complied, and showed Marcy her right arm.
The sight… horrified everyone in the room.
Blue veins, looking as though they were fading, were going up the entirety of Anne's arm.
"Oh my…"
"What's happening to her?!" Marcy asked.
"I… I have no idea!" Olivia said. "Is this a side effect of using the stone's power?"
"Wait, what?!" Marcy asked.
"Oh, did you not figure that out yet? Yeah, the blue stone is what gave her those powers." Olivia said.
"That's right… Andrias did mention that Anne was still connected to the stone…" Sasha pointed out. "Wait… does that mean that we aren't connected to the other stones… and are supposed to be?"
"How would you guys lose the connection?" Luz asked.
"… The temples!" Marcy said suddenly. "Of course! When we opened the music box, the stones must of given us their power, which is what drained them, and when we recharged them, they were drained from us!"
"Then… did something happen to keep Anne from losing her powers?" Sasha asked.
"I… I don't know…" Anne said. "I remember… I was rushing when I recharged mine."
"Hmm… then we will have to assume that you weren't able to fully recharge the stone, and this is a result of that." Olivia said.
"Is making an assumption like that really a good idea?" Sasha asked.
"At this point, we don't have a choice. If we don't take that power out of her soon…" Olivia said grimly.
"… Olivia…?"
"… She may very well lose all use of this arm…" Olivia said to everyone's shock. "And that is best case scenario."
"O…kay!" Anne said. "First thing's first! We go back to that mountain and get this power out of me!"
"I'll call Joe Sparrow…" Marcy said.
"Here." Yunan suddenly said as she tossed Marcy something.
"My crossbow!" Marcy said as she put it on her wrist.
"Managed to snag this as we were escaping. The chief ranger needs her weapon after all!"
"Thanks Yunan…" Marcy said before turning to leave.
When she went out the door, Anne just sighed.
"Marcy… she didn't need this added on too…" Anne groaned out.
"Hey, you can't help it." Sasha tried to reason.
"Still…"
"JOOOOOOOOOE!" They heard Marcy shout happily outside.
"Well, looks like Joe Sparrow is here." Anne said with a laugh.
"That… was fast." Sasha pointed out.
"We'll stay here and hold down the fort." Grime said. "Good luck Sasha, Anne."
"Thanks Grime." Sasha said.
Anne then tried to get up, but failed. At this point, Luz helped her to her feet.
"Here, I'll help carry you." Luz said. "I guess I'll do this at the temple too."
"I can do it." Sasha said, though Luz just shook her head.
"Who knows what we'll bump into up there… between Andrias' robots and whatever lives there, we will need our best fighter." Luz reasoned. "I'll be fine, trust me."
"Ok… if you say so." Sasha said. "Now come on! We shouldn't keep Marcy waiting."
When they got outside, they saw Marcy hugging Joe Sparrow like her life depended on it.
"He was really worried about you." Sasha explained.
"And I missed him too!" Marcy said through her tears.
"Now come on, let's get Anne the help she needs!" Luz said as she and Sasha helped their friend onto Joe's back.
Before long, everyone minus Luz was on board, and they flew off towards the temple.
After flying for a while, which was very uncomfortable for Anne in particular, they arrived at where the temple's entrance was.
Part way through, Marcy, who was still in her bodysuit from before, got cold, so Anne let her have the yellow sweater around her waist.
"Thanks Anne… I forgot how cold it was around here…" Marcy said, still shivering a bit.
Anne quickly gave her girlfriend a hug, so that they could share body heat.
"Geez Anne! You're burning up!" Marcy pointed out.
"Sorry… just…"
"Don't apologize! That probably means it's getting worse!" Marcy said as she quickly got up and helped Anne off of Joe.
"Then let's hurry!" Luz said as she began supporting Anne, the group rushing on ahead towards Valeriana's tent.
"Oh great… she's probably on lunch again…" Anne pointed out.
"Actually, I decided to eat here today!" Valeriana said as she poked her head outside.
"Oh thank goodness!" Marcy shouted. "Listen! There's no time to explain, but we need you to…"
"Take Anne to the peak so she can finish recharging her stone, so that she may avoid a certainly painful death." Valeriana finished.
"… Is she a fortune teller or something?" Luz asked.
"No, I just remember her haste the last time she was here." Valeriana pointed out.
"… That'll do it!"
"Unfortunately, my staff does not have the power to take us straight to the peak." Valeriana explained. "If you wish to get there, we will have to get closer… on foot."
"What?!" Marcy shouted. "Anne can barely walk! How do you expect her to make it up a mountain?!"
"Marcy, it's fine…" Anne said.
"But…"
"I can hold out for a while… if it's the only way, then we have to do it." Anne said.
"Very good. Now, let's get you some coats so you don't freeze to death!" Valeriana said as she went inside.
"… A morbid one, isn't she?" Sasha asked.
"Yeah, you get used to it though…" Anne said weakly.
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Marcy asked.
"Y-yeah… we just gotta get closer, not all the way. I'll be fine." Anne tried to reason. "It's not like there's another way…"
Luz just looked down at this.
"Luz?"
"Huh?" Luz said as she looked at Anne.
"You alright?"
"Oh uh… yeah! Just worried is all!" Luz said.
"Don't be, we'll get up there and fix me up no problem!" Anne said.
"Well said!" Valeriana said as she tossed the group some coats. "Now, let us set off!"
"Can't you use that staff of yours to fly her up there?" Sasha asked Luz as they were trekking up the mountain.
Luz just shook her head. "Bluebert is still really young. I don't think he'd have an easy time of it with all the wind."
"And with Anne as weak as she is, it's for the best that we avoid that risk." Marcy pointed out.
"Ok, it was just a suggestion." Sasha said.
At that moment, the group passed by a familiar looking jacket on the ground.
"Oh hey… that's the jacket I took off to distract the cardinal last time…" Anne pointed out.
"You took off a jacket in this weather?!" Luz asked. "That's crazy!"
"Hey, the others were in danger, and I had to think quickly." Anne explained.
"It was quite admirable." Valeriana pointed out.
"Though, that brings up a good point." Marcy said. "What if that cardinal comes back?"
"It won't." Valeriana said. "As long as I don't call trouble to us, we won't face any."
"Wait, what?" Luz asked.
"I am the temple's keeper, meaning I have full control over it." Valeriana explained. "Aside from the weather of course."
"Well, that's reassuring!" Luz said. "We should have no problems then!"
At that moment though, an explosion rung out, as snow suddenly flew into the air.
"… Me and my big mouth…"
A swarm of Andrias' robots suddenly flew up to them, and began aiming their blasters at the group.
"Oh great! Guess they followed us here…" Sasha said as she pulled out her swords.
"Luz, you take Anne and get out of here! We'll fight these guys off!" Marcy said as she got her crossbow ready.
"Right! Be careful!" Luz said as she took Anne and began running away, Valeriana following closely.
They did not count on the unstable footing though.
"WHOA!" Luz shouted as the ground seized around her, causing her and Anne to start falling down the mountain.
"ANNE! LUZ!" Marcy shouted as they fell.
When Luz came to, she felt a lot of pain in her body.
"What happened…?" Luz groaned out.
Then, she remembered.
"Anne!" Luz shouted as she began looking around.
Thankfully, she spotted Anne pretty quickly, and ran over to check on her.
"Anne! Wake up!" Luz shouted, shaking her friend.
"Ugh… Luz?" Anne asked as she opened her eyes.
"Thank goodness… are you alright?"
"N-not really…" Anne said as she put a hand to her head. "Hurts… so much…"
"Ok ok… uh…"
Looking around, she was able to spot Bluebert and her bag. She quickly ran over and grabbed the two.
"Hey, Bluebert! Are you alright?" Luz asked.
Unfortunately, Bluebert seemed to be out cold, and unable to fly them out of there.
"Oh no… how could this get any worse?!"
At that moment, another explosion rung out near them, sending the two of them hurdling towards the ground.
About ten robots were there, and they had them completely surrounded.
Acting quickly, Luz reached into her pockets to grab some glyphs.
When she pulled them out however…
"Crud, the snow ruined them!" Luz said, looking at all the smeared ink on her soaked glyphs.
The robots then began closing in on her.
And… Luz knew they were hosed.
She wasn't a strong fighter, not without magic or glyphs. Her glyphs were ruined, and with Bluebert out cold, she couldn't use any magic…
Unless… she did something desperate.
"… I guess there's no avoiding it now…" Luz said as she reached into her bag.
Meanwhile, with the others, they had just finished destroying the last of the robots.
"We gotta get to Anne!" Marcy shouted before running, the other two following close behind her.
"How are we gonna know where they are?! Are they safe?! What if there were more robots?!" Marcy asked in rapid fire, clearly worried.
"Calm down! We'll find them! They'll be fine!" Sasha said, trying to comfort her.
At that moment though, a bright, silver light began to shine in the distance.
The light was blinding. Fierce, yet… comforting.
"Anne!" Marcy shouted as she began sprinting in the direction of the light.
When they got there, they saw Anne, still on the ground, out cold.
Then, they saw Luz, looking really tired.
"What in the…?" Sasha began.
Finally, they noticed all the completely destroyed robots around them.
"What did you do?!" Sasha asked.
"Ugh… used some glyphs to… destroy them…" Luz breathed out. "Was… really tough…"
"Anne! Anne!" They heard Marcy call out as she held Anne in her arms.
"Ugh… Mar…cy?"
"She's fading, and fast." Valeriana pointed out. "We must be quick!"
"There's no time! Look!" Marcy said as she held Anne up.
The blue veins were now covering her face.
"…"
"Come on Valeriana, give us an idea!" Sasha pleaded.
"I'm sorry… but it'll take too much time to get in range of the peak for my staff…" Valeriana said grimly. "I'm afraid… it is hopeless now…"
"…No…"
Marcy… looked devastated.
"… How do you perform the spell?" Luz asked suddenly.
"Huh?"
Luz then suddenly grabbed Valeriana's staff.
"You said that your staff needed more power, right?" Luz asked, to which Valeriana nodded. "Then let me try, I might be able to get it to work."
"… Wave the staff in front of whoever you wish to take with you." Valeriana explained. "That should do the trick."
"Alright…" Luz said.
Then, the staff began to glow slightly.
And when Luz waved the staff, they were suddenly somewhere completely different.
"You… you did it…" Valeriana said in shock.
Then, Luz fell to her knees. "Hurry… save Anne…"
Nodding slightly, Valeriana took the staff to the center of the platform.
Then, she put the staff in the hole in the center, and Luz handed her the gem.
When the gem was put in the hole of the staff, the area began to glow, as well as Anne.
Then, a quarter of the gem became grey, but it was slowly filling with blue.
"… Can't it go faster?" Sasha asked.
"It's old technology…" Valeriana explained.
...
…
…
*DING*
And with that, the gem was fully recharged, and the veins all over Anne's body began to fade away.
"Anne? How do you feel?" Marcy asked.
Anne, no longer glowing, was able to stand on her feet, though shakily.
"I feel… better… still hurts… but better…" Anne said.
"Thank goodness…" Marcy said with a sigh.
She then pulled Anne in for a hug and kiss.
"Ugh, really?" Sasha asked.
"What? I'm relieved, so I am kissing my girlfriend!" Marcy said.
"Since when did you get so bold?" Sasha asked.
"Since I became Chief Ranger!" Marcy said proudly.
Sasha couldn't help but smile at this.
Despite everything that has happened, Marcy really had grown since they came to Amphibia.
"H-hey… can we get out of here now?" Luz suddenly asked. "I… I need a nap…"
"Of course." Valeriana said as she waved her staff.
And just like that, they were back to her tent.
"Hmm… it seems that you somehow… charged it!" Valeriana said in surprise.
"How'd you do that?" Marcy asked.
"Hehe… witch's secret." Luz said with a shaky smile.
"Either way, you can rest inside until you are ready to go." Valeriana said as she went into her tent.
"Yeah… I think I am gonna take her up on that…" Luz said as she followed.
When she got inside, Sasha turned to Anne and Marcy.
"She's hiding something." Sasha pointed out.
"I know… but I don't know what… any ideas Anne?" Marcy asked.
"Not really… I passed out when the robots showed up… and when I woke up, you were there." Anne explained.
"Right… we also have to wonder about that weird light…" Marcy pointed out.
The three girls looked at each other, and shared the same thought.
Something was up with Luz, and they needed to get to the bottom of it.
When the three of them got inside, they saw Valeriana talking to Luz about something.
"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Marcy asked.
"Well, I wanted to see if she knew anything about this Core thing we are up against." Luz explained.
"Ah yes… the second coming of The Night." Valeriana said. "A very troubling entity indeed…"
"The Night…? So you know about it?" Sasha asked. "What is it?"
"Well, my historical records are not complete, but it is said that The Night is a deity that hopes to rule over all of existence." Valeriana explained. "And it would of succeeded too, if it weren't for my people's sacrifices.
It craved the power of the music box, to take as it's own. As it's guardians, it was my people's responsibility to keep it from him. We may have lost the box in that battle, and many of us perished, but The Night was gravely injured. I dare to say, that on it's own, it is powerless now."
"Wait, it didn't look powerless to me!" Marcy said. "It was a huge Spider robot thing!"
"Hmmm… it's possible that The Night was the one that caused all the minds in The Core to merge… and then it took control of it all. Still, without a proper host, it shouldn't of been able to do much…"
"And that is why it needed Marcy…" Luz deduced.
"Most likely, yes."
"Ok, so you think we can stop him?" Luz asked.
"Hmmm… you may very well be destined to." Valeriana said as she pulled out a book. "There is a prophesy, passed down by my people that foretold your coming."
She then looked at Anne, Sasha and Marcy.
"Three stars burning bright, come from beyond to expel the Night. Whether they fight or embrace the fall, their choice shall determine all." Valeriana read from the book.
"Embrace the… fall?" Anne asked.
"Oh no…" Sasha said in horror. "What if… it means a fallout? Like, between the three of us?"
"What do you mean?" Anne asked.
"I mean… what if me trying to take over Newtopia… what if all of that infighting we did, was us embracing the fall? What if we're doomed because of me?!" Sasha said.
"Don't think like that Sasha… besides, it was probably more my fault…" Marcy said grimly. "Helping Andrias get the music box… letting The Night take over me… that's what probably did it…"
"Hey, stop beating yourselves up!" Anne said. "Yeah, you made some mistakes, but we are going to fix this! Right Luz?"
"Y-yeah!" Luz said. "Who cares about some dumb prophesy? We're still going to fight for a better future, and we're gonna win!"
Valeriana smiled at this. "While I don't appreciate you calling the prophesy passed down by my people 'dumb'… I do appreciate the spirit you hold."
"Hehehe…"
"Also, there is one more part to the prophesy."
"Wait, really?!" Luz asked.
"Yes, and it may very well involve you, witch." Valeriana said as she turned the page.
"If the three lights were to lose their way, a fourth shall come, and together, they shall seize the day."
"Well then, that seems pretty on the point!" Luz said. "Guess me coming here and helping out really was a good idea!"
"Uh, yeah?! Seriously Luz? You've already save my life like… three times!" Anne pointed out. "Even without the prophesy, you coming here has only lead to good things!"
"… Thanks Anne." Luz said with a smile.
"Now then, rest up. You have a long fight ahead of you." Valeriana said as she began to walk away.
When she left, the three girls turned to Luz.
"Talk." Sasha said suddenly.
"Huh?"
"You're hiding something from us, and we want to know what it is." Sasha said. "So, talk."
"I… I don't…"
"Luz… while Sasha can work on her wording…" Anne started, earning a "Hey!" from Sasha.
"We trust you." Marcy said. "We know that we can tell you anything and that you'd help us no matter what… we want you to trust us the same way."
"… The Day of Unity." Luz said.
"Huh?"
"When I got back to earth, it caused something called The Day of Unity." Luz explained. "Basically, the human realm and the demon realm began to merge."
"Oh… That sounds bad." Anne said.
"It was… Emperor Belos… he was trying to rule over both realms, using the power of the titan." Luz said. "So… naturally, the others and I tried to stop him… but…"
"Luz…?"
"We couldn't win… we weren't nearly powerful enough to beat him." Luz admitted.
"WHAT?!" Anne shouted. "Nope, no way! I think I would of heard about all this if you ended up losing!"
"…"
"Luz?" Marcy asked.
"We didn't lose… we… or rather… I… won." Luz admitted to everyone's surprise.
"Wait, but you just said…"
"I… I had to do something… desperate." Luz admitted. "But… I…"
The scared look on her face told them all they needed to know.
"… What you did, it scares you… doesn't it?" Anne asked.
Luz just nodded her head.
"… Then we won't push you to tell us." Sasha suddenly said, to Anne and Marcy's shock.
"That was gonna be my line Sash…" Anne said.
"Quiet." Sasha said as she leaned down and looked at Luz in the eyes. "We've all done things we aren't proud of… myself especially. So who am I to judge you for not being ready to talk about your demons just yet?"
Luz just gave a shaky smile. "Thanks Sasha."
"Just know that… that…" Anne said before her knees suddenly gave out.
"Anne!" Marcy said, following Anne to the floor.
"I… I feel a lot better… but it still hurts a lot…" Anne explained.
Looking around, Marcy saw a bed nearby, and helped Anne over to lay on it.
"Just rest up for a bit." Marcy said.
"But… we don't have time…" Anne said. "Andrias sent his robots after us… he knows where we are… he might…"
"You can't fight like this Anne…" Sasha pointed out. "In just one day, you took god beams to the face, and had the stone's power nearly kill you… I think you need to rest a bit."
"Besides, it's midnight." Luz pointed out. "We shouldn't really push it, especially this late."
"But…"
"How's about this." Luz said. "You sleep, and while you're sleeping…"
She then pulled out a book from her bag.
"I'll see what I can do about figuring out a healing glyph." Luz said with a smile.
"You don't have one already?" Anne asked.
"Not really, I think Eda's sister had one figured out, but things got crazy fast at that point, so I never got the chance to ask her about it." Luz explained. "Don't worry, it shouldn't take too long… I think…"
"Hey, how's about I help you?" Marcy asked. "I mean, if you teach me the basics, I might be able to figure something out!"
"Marcy… you need to rest too…" Anne pointed out.
"I'll be fine! Just a couple of hours of research and I'll go to sleep!" Marcy said.
"Alright, if you say so…" Anne said.
"Get some sleep Anne, see you in the morning!" Marcy said as she went over to Luz.
Anne… didn't go to sleep right away. She just watched in amazement as Luz explained how glyphs worked to Marcy, who managed to get a perfect understanding of it really quickly.
"Ok, so there are four main types of glyphs, ice, fire, light, and plants, right?" Marcy asked.
"Right! We can combine those glyphs…"
"To make combos that have different effects!" Marcy finished. "That is so cool!"
"I think she mostly wanted to know how magic works." Sasha pointed at from next to Anne.
"I would like to think that getting me healed was a big part of it Sasha." Anne pointed out.
"Yeah yeah, I know. Your wonderful girlfriend, always looking out for you… oh wait, it's always been the reverse, hasn't it?"
Anne blushed at this. "I haven't needed to watch out for her in a long time…"
"Well, now she's repaying the favor." Sasha said with a smile. "Now go to sleep, with Marcy on the case, they'll have it figured out by the time you get up."
"Right…" Anne said as she closed her eyes.
End of Chapter 12
A lot happened this chapter. Not going to go too deep into it, but let's talk about a couple of things:
Yes, Anne's condition and the possible outcomes are pretty much my take on the whole theory that Anne is going to lose her arm at some point. Not even gonna touch the idea of Sasha losing her eye. I do have something else planned for these things, but that is a VERY long ways away. I want to have everything wrapped up with this series first…
I guess this is as good of a time as any to make two announcements!
First: This story is getting a sequel! Yup, we aren't gonna be done yet! It is going to be a lot more slice of life and a lot less trauma, but it is going to happen! I think we could really use a much more wholesome story after this one… that being said, there will still be a bit of angst and stuff, but that I feel is an inevitability considering what has happened so far in this story. As for what the story is about, well, two things. One, the Season 3 content that we didn't cover in this story. This means we will be meeting a lot of the season 3 characters that I excluded here! Two… well, I'll keep that a secret for now, just know that this second part of the story is where ALL of the angst is going to lie.
As for when this story will start, I am thinking I am going to wait until the show wraps up, simply because I want to include everything in Season 3, or at least try to. Even though it's looking like a lot of Season 3B is going to be focused on dealing with Andrias, I don't want to risk skipping over stuff cause I was in a rush to get that story out.
As for if it will be another crossover though… yeah, it will. Luz and Amity are pretty much staple characters in this series now. While this story WILL be mainly focused on the Amphibia cast and events there still will be a fair amount of Owl House content. I do have some pretty neat original stuff to include with that ;)
I do have an idea for a story in this series that is mainly focused on The Owl House though, however that is not going to happen for a very long time, cause I need to wait until THAT show wraps up… or at least, the "Season" 3… hopefully they decide to extend it for a fourth season…
I at the very least want to wait until the current storyline in that show wraps up, it'll make more sense why I want to do this then.
Now for the second announcement: From now until this story's completion, I will be uploading two chapters a week!
I did the math, and if I do this, the story will wrap up the week that both shows return! I feel like that would be really neat, so I am doing it!
So, see you all later tonight!