Chapter 13: Sasha and to the Castle
A few hours after Anne had fallen asleep, Luz and Marcy were still working on creating a healing glyph.
"Ugh… I didn't think it would take this long…" Luz groaned out.
"Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way… maybe instead of focusing on plant and light glyphs, maybe ice and fire is the way to go…" Marcy hypothesized. "Most of our bodies are made of water, so maybe that's the piece we are missing…"
Luz then looked at Marcy, realizing that she may very well be right about that.
"Hey… yeah, let's try that!" Luz said with a smile.
Then, they began testing more combinations.
"So… I just wanted to say thank you." Marcy said. "For helping Anne so much."
"It's no problem. Anne's my friend too, so when I found out that she needed help, I knew I had to everything I could." Luz said with a smile.
Marcy smiled, but then it wavered a bit.
"You really are a good person… I really shouldn't of bought into what Andrias told me…" Marcy said.
"Hey, no thinking like that!" Luz said. "They were messing with your head, so it's their fault, not yours." Luz said sternly.
"But…"
"No buts!" Luz said. "Now, let's get Anne healed up, and get some sleep!"
"… Thanks Luz…" Marcy said with a smile.
And so, the two of them got back to work.
A couple of hours later, Luz had a bit of a breakthrough! And came up with a great theory on how to get the healing glyph working.
"You can get some rest now Marcy, I'll figure out the rest." Luz tried to reason.
"No no… I can keep going…" Marcy said with a yawn. "Besides, I don't think I'll be able to sleep until we get this done…"
This caused Luz to worry, and decided to do something about it.
Quickly drawing out a glyph, Luz turned to Marcy.
"Hey, think you can grab me some ink from over there?" Luz asked.
"Oh! Sure!" Marcy said as she turned around.
As soon as her back was turned to Luz however, the witch in training slapped a glyph onto her back, before activating it.
"Wha-" Marcy said, before her eyes started suddenly feeling incredibly heavy.
And just like that, she slumped to the ground, before Luz caught her.
"What the… what did you do to her?!" Sasha, who had just woken up from the commotion, asked.
"She was pushing herself too hard… so I used a sleep spell to knock her out." Luz said. "Don't worry, she's fine. She'll wake up in a couple of hours."
"… Teach me how you did that." Sasha said. "The amount of times this girl has done multiple all-nighters in a row is… concerning."
"Sad to say, glyphs don't work in the human realm without a staff." Luz said sadly.
Sasha just snapped her fingers, disappointed by the information.
"Here, I'll put her in bed." Sasha said as she picked Marcy up and put her in bed next to Anne. "They are going to be a couple of blushing messes when they wake up."
"Oh yeah…" Luz said with a laugh.
Then, Luz got back to work on the glyph… but a minute later, she took a look at Sasha.
"So… How have you been taking all of this?" Luz asked.
"Huh?"
"I mean, Anne back on Earth… wasn't exactly doing too well." Luz admitted. "I was worried that you'd be the same."
"Oh… uh… yeah, I was… fine…" Sasha said, though sounding very unsure.
"… Want to talk about it?" Luz asked, seeing right through her.
Sasha just sighed. "It's just… I felt like this whole thing was my fault…"
"Why?"
"Cause I tried to take over the entire country!" Sasha explained. "If I didn't do that… then maybe… maybe we could of realized what Andrias had planned sooner… maybe Marcy wouldn't of almost been killed!"
"Sasha… breathe…" Luz said.
Sasha complied, taking a deep breathe.
"Now look… I have been helping Anne for a while now… a few weeks." Luz began. "That included helping her whenever she felt down about everything that happened… but you want to know what she never told me?"
"What?"
"That she blamed you for what happened to Marcy." Luz said with a smile. "And I bet Marcy feels the same way."
"Still… I… I went into that day, knowing that what I was doing was bad… I knew I shouldn't of done it, and backed out of the plan… but I did it anyways…" Sasha said, tears starting to form. "A while back, when I first met up with Marcy here, she… she put some things into my head… made me think about everything that I had been doing… and I felt so guilty for what I put Anne through up to that point…"
"Sasha…"
"I should of listened to her… I should of backed out and just… not tried to take control again…" Sasha said.
"Sasha listen to me." Luz said. "You made a mistake… we all have made mistakes. Are you going to let that control your life?"
"But…"
"No buts!" Luz said. "What matters now is that you know you've made a mistake, and you've learned from it. So, instead of thinking about what you did, start thinking about what you are going to do."
Then, she looked to Anne and Marcy, who were now hugging each other in their sleep.
"Cause those two are going to need all the support they can get."
Sasha couldn't help but smile at the sight before her.
"Those two… they really are great for each other." Sasha said.
"… Yeah…" Luz said.
"Hm? You good?" Sasha asked, noticing Luz's sad look.
"Oh, uh… I just miss Amity is all…" Luz said, her face a bit red.
"Who?"
"My girlfriend."
"Ah... am I seriously the only single girl in the room?" Sasha asked with a laugh.
"Apparently!" Luz said, joining in on the laughter.
The two girls just sat there, and enjoyed a good laugh.
When they stopped they smiled.
"Tomorrow… we end this." Sasha said.
"Right… let's save the world!" Luz said.
And the two of them shook hands.
The Next Morning
Anne and Marcy were a pair of blushing messes when they woke up, their faces mere inches away from each other.
"Sleep well?" Luz asked.
"What did you do?!" Marcy asked. "One second I was grabbing your ink, the next I was waking up to an angel in my face!"
Anne blushed even harder at this.
"An angel?!"
"Yes Anne, you are very pretty." Marcy said with a smile. "But that's besides the point!"
"I used a sleep spell on you." Luz explained. "Sorry, but you needed some sleep."
"I can believe that…" Anne said, remembering all the all-nighters Marcy has pulled.
Marcy just looked at her in fake shock.
"You… Traitor!" Marcy said with a very clearly sarcastic tone of voice.
Anne shut her mouth with a big kiss on the lips.
"Better?"
"… Better…" Marcy squeaked out.
"Anyways… did you figure something out?" Anne asked.
"TADAAAAAAA!" Luz said as she held out three glyphs. "After testing these glyphs, I can confirm that they will, in fact, heal you!"
"Well what are you waiting for! Slap that on her!" Marcy said as she grabbed a glyph and, quite literally, slapped it onto Anne's back.
Then, she tapped it, and suddenly Anne's body was glowing green, as the scrapes and bruises all began to vanish.
"How do you feel?" Marcy asked.
"… I… Actually feel amazing!" Anne said with a big smile. "Thanks a lot Luz!"
"Eh, no problem." Luz said. "Really, thank Marcy. Her input proved to be really important!"
"Don't need to tell me twice!" Anne said as she pulled Marcy in for another kiss.
"Ugh, will you two quit it with the making out already?!" Sasha asked. "It's gross!"
Anne just pulled back, stuck her tongue out, and went back to kissing Marcy.
Sasha was just about to say something, when Luz put a hand on her shoulder.
"Anne went through almost a month of thinking she was dead… let her enjoy this." Luz tried to reason.
"… Fine…"
A few minutes later, they were all set and ready to leave, with Joe Sparrow having just landed outside.
"A word of warning to you all." Valeriana said as the climbed aboard Joe Sparrow. "Before you are able to defeat the great evil, you each must face another demon, one you all have met before."
"Ok… do you want to be less cryptic?" Luz asked.
Valeriana didn't say anything, and simply vanished.
"… Guess that's a no."
"Ok Joe, back to the hideout!" Marcy said as Joe took off into the sky.
When they arrived back at the shack where Yunan, Olivia and Grime were waiting, they were surprised to see another familiar face among them.
"Wait, Bernardo?" Anne asked. "What is he doing here?"
"Well, after you all left yesterday, we realized that maybe we should get better gear for the upcoming battle." Grime explained.
"So I sent some fly mail to Bernardo, and told him to come here." Olivia added.
"And so, I come." Bernardo said with a flourish.
"Eh, I don't think I need any new gear." Sasha said.
"Me neither, I fly around a lot, so making things heavier for Bluebert wouldn't be a good idea." Luz said.
"And you already know how I feel about more gear…" Anne said with a smile. "That being said…"
Everyone just looked at Marcy.
"What?"
"You probably should put something other than that suit on." Anne said.
"… Yeah, you're probably right." Marcy said. "Ok Bernardo, show me what you got!"
And with that, she went inside the shed, while everyone waited outside.
"So, I take it your mission was a success?" Olivia asked.
"Yup! Good as new!" Anne said as she flexed her arm a bit.
"Excellent. Now, the question is, will you be able to tap into the stones power without the power being inside you?" Olivia asked.
"Hmmm…"
"Here, hold your stone." Luz said as she handed the stone over.
Anne held it, and just… stood there.
"Well? Do you feel anything?"
"… Kinda?" Anne asked. "Like, I can tell the power is there but… I have no idea how to use it…"
"Hmmm… Well, from what you've told me, that's nothing really new." Luz said. "It's just in the stone now."
"… Yeah, I guess."
"We will have to hope that you will be able to access it's power when the time is right." Olivia said.
"Yeah… here Sasha." Luz said as she tossed the red stone to Sasha.
"Huh?"
"If Anne can still use her powers, then so should you." Luz explained.
"But…"
"Don't worry about the how… hopefully, it'll happen when we need it." Luz said. "If it's anything like Anne's power that is."
"… Alright…" Sasha said as she put the stone in her pocket.
"Now, all that's left is to wait for Marcy." Luz said.
At that moment, Marcy exited the shack.
She was back in her ranger gear, but lacking a cloak Anne and Sasha noticed.
"No cloak?" Anne asked.
"That cloak is the uniform of the newtopian guard… it doesn't feel right to wear it anymore." Marcy said. "I am fighting for Amphibia and Earth against Newtopia after all."
Anne smiled at this. "Right."
Then, she noticed something… Marcy seemed a bit tense.
"You alright?"
"Oh uh… just uh… nervous! Yeah!" Marcy said with an obviously fake smile.
Everyone just raised an eyebrow at this behavior.
"… I… I don't want to talk about it right now. Let's just take care of everything first, then we can talk when we get home… ok Anne?" Marcy asked.
"… Fine." Anne said. "Don't want to make you do anything you don't want to."
"And on that note." Luz said as she handed Marcy the final stone. "We're all set."
"Right, I overheard what you guys were saying from inside." Marcy said. "You… really think I can do this though?"
"Of course we do!" Anne said with a smile. "Have faith in yourself Marcy."
"… Right."
"Now then, let's talk about our approach." Sasha said.
"Actually… I think we got that covered." Grime said as he pointed behind the group.
They turned around to see…
"Bessie?!" Anne shouted as she ran over to the snail. "What are you doing here?!"
"Disobeying my orders…" Grime grumbled out.
"So… same plan as last time?" Sasha asked. "He'll be expecting that…"
"Yeah, but there is no other way into the castle, so we have to go through the front anyways." Marcy reasoned. "It may be obvious, but it's our best, and only shot."
"Ok… This is going to be dangerous Bessie… are you ready girl?" Anne asked.
Bessie nodded.
"Ok… I'll…"
"No Anne, I'll drive." Marcy said.
"What?! No, I'll drive! I'm the only one who…"
"Read her owners manual? You underestimate me my dear Anne!" Marcy said. "I memorized that whole thing months ago!"
"Oh... yeah, I don't doubt that." Anne said. "Still, I have the experience…"
"We need you able to fight in case robots come after us." Marcy tried to reason. "I can't aim my crossbow too well while moving so fast, so…"
"… Alright." Anne said. "You ok with that Bessie?"
Bessie just nodded.
"Ok… let's do this." Anne said as everyone climbed aboard, with Luz hopping onto her staff.
Olivia and Grime were standing behind the seat, with Anne to Marcy's left, and Sasha to her right, both with swords at the ready.
"Everyone… I wish you all the best of luck." Olivia said. "And Yunan…"
Yunan just looked at Olivia.
"Please… come back safe."
Yunan smiled, and saluted.
"Wait, are they a thing?" Sasha asked.
Marcy just shrugged, showing that she had no idea.
"You ready?" Anne asked.
"Ready…" Marcy said. "Bessie! Things are getting messy!"
And with that, they were off, with Olivia waving as they drove away.
"Go forth… Amphibia's champions."
When they got through the front gate, things were immediately more hectic than they were the last time they were here, with robots beginning to swarm around them.
"You guys need to get these robots off of us!" Marcy shouted.
"On it!" Sasha said as she swung her sword, managing to slash a couple of robots in half.
Yunan and Anne followed suit, while Grime opted to just using his fists instead of using the heavy war-hammer on a speeding snail.
Luz meanwhile was flying around, blasting as many robots as she could with fire magic, as well as icicles from ice glyphs.
Marcy just focused on steering clear of all of the lasers that were being fired at them.
Eventually, they were able to make it back to the castle gates, with only a couple of robots pursuing them.
Marcy quickly dismounted the snail and shot her crossbow bolts at the remaining robots, destroying them.
"Whoo! Go team!" Marcy shouted as she hugged Anne and Sasha.
"Don't celebrate just yet, that was the easy part." Yunan said.
"She's right, don't drop your guard." Grime said as he readied his war-hammer.
"Bessie… thank you so much for all of your help… we'll bring Hop-Pop and the others back soon, so just stay safe." Anne said as she hugged the snail.
Bessie wrapped her neck around her, before they separated and Bessie sped away.
"Ok… let's…"
At that moment though, a swarm of robots touched down.
Thousands of them.
"Oh… boy…" Anne said.
"Did you really think I would just let you walk through the front door?" They heard a voice from above them.
They all looked up to see Andrias, looking at them from a window.
"Come down here you coward!" Sasha yelled.
"Oh, I could do that, but I think I'd rather not." Andrias said with a smirk. "If you want to fight, you'll have to get to me."
At that moment, all the robots pointed their blasters at the group.
They knew they could handle a few robots… but this? This was way too much.
At least… that is what they thought at first… but then something strange happened.
They were all suddenly filled with an enormous amount of energy.
"What in the…?" Sasha said.
"Wait… do you guys hear something?" Luz asked.
End of Chapter 13
Yup, another cliffhanger.
This is it folks! The final rush to the end! The battle with Andrias and his army begins next week!
I wanted to give Sasha a good bit of focus at some point, and so here we are!
Not much more to say, see you next week!