"In good time my dear!"
It was hard to ignore the sense of unease, but after handing the box to Andrias, Anne only had her mind on finally returning home. It had been a strange and perilous journey, but not a bad one. Definitely not one she could tell anyone who didn't see it for themselves, but one she could look back on fondly.
…Makes you wish it could last forever huh?
Whenever she looked at the weird little family that truly found her, she almost considered it. But even if they were family, this wasn't home. Home was finally just around the corner.
With the failure of the toad rebellion and the return of the box, Andrias seemed ready to celebrate with a kingly speech, but as his eyes scoured the room it seemed as though something ripped the words from his mouth. But before anyone could notice the silence, he chuckled to himself and began.
"This music box has quite a history, and to finally have it return to its home in Newtopia marks a great new era for all of Amphibia. You have my thanks Anne, Marcy."
"No problem, dude." A thumbs up of approval.
"Just doing my duty your highness." A bow grateful to have been of service.
"Guys, listen to me!" A cry desperate to break the good mood. "You have got to get that box back this guy is not what he seems!"
"That's enough out of you!" Yunan had already silenced her once, covering her mouth with her tail. This time she wrapped it around the bound Sasha's mouth.
Anne sighed looking back at the disgraced lieutenant. "Don't be a sore loser, right Sash?"
Sasha fell to her knees, defeated at the familiar words. Marcy thought to speak, but unable to find the words that could cut through the tension between them clung to the safety of silence.
"Uh you sure you want to take her back with you?" Andrias chimed in. "We got pretty good dungeons here; the 'scream all you want no one will hear you' kind." He balled a fist tense with excitement as if he was crushing Sasha herself in it. "You know the real deal."
"Uh no thanks." Anne replied a little shaken at the sudden hostility. "Sasha may be a jerk but even she has people waiting for her back home."
"Suit yourself."
With a shrug, Andrias prepared the box and as the familiar plinks and tones whispered in the grand halls of the castle, the portal soon burst open. There was something nostalgic about it, despite how terrifying that day was for the girls when they were first whisked away.
"I suppose you'll want to say your goodbyes."
Anne turned to face the Plantars. She thought she was finally prepared for this, but she could already feel the tears coming. The four of them came together slowly, no tears no sadness, as this wasn't a final goodbye.
"Thanks so much you guys, for everything you've done for me. I've learned so much and I'll never forget it."
"You better not, or I'll remind you the hard way." Polly choked out, squeezing as tightly as she could.
"I still don't know how I'm gonna make it without you Anne, but I won't stop adventuring until I'm a strong hero like you."
"Aw dude" Anne laughed as she wiped away few tears.
"Yea me too. Besides Sprig will probably just get lost or eaten without me."
"You guys are gonna be awesome!"
"Oh don't you go encouraging them, Anne. It'll be hard enough keeping these kids safe again now that they caught the adventurin' itch." Hop Pop retorted.
"They'll be fine, Hop Pop. They have you. Honestly, they may be a little safer without ol one shoe'd Anne getting them in trouble."
"Hehe well you got a point there." He knew if they were quiet for too long one of them would definitely break. "Listen Anne" He gently grabbed her hand. "Just know however long we may be apart you'll always be welcome here as a Plantar."
"Thanks, Hop Pop." Somehow those were the right words to put her at ease. "You know I just realized we never got a good picture here in the castle."
"Yea let's do it!"
"We'll look like royalty!"
"Well, it'd be a shame not too after coming all this way."
They squeezed up close, ready to commemorate their adventure with the best pose they could think of.
"You always brought so much energy and optimism in each of your endeavors, perhaps sometimes a bit chaotic for my sensibilities." Lady Olivia laughed as she embraced Marcy. "But it has truly been an honor to serve and protect this land with you Marcy Wu."
"You too Lady Olivia. Honestly, I kinda wish I didn't have to leave so soon." she nervously scratched the back of her head.
"Well humans should be in one place and newts in another am I right?" Yunan chimed in only to receive an elbow to the gut courtesy of Olivia.
"Ahem, but yes. You always fought with the heart of a proud newt soldier. Maybe one day you'll be half as good as me."
"Hehe I wouldn't count on it general. I know Newtopia is in good hands with you guys around." Marcy looked over to Andrias who observed them from not too far away with a look of pride.
"King Andrias." She approached sheepishly. "I don't understand I thought..."
"Thought what? Oh, that's right." He pulled Marcy away from the others.
"Our little arrangement."
"Honestly Marcy, I'm still willing to take you and your friends to as many worlds as you can imagine, but only on the condition that you tell them the truth. About everything."
These were not the words she was expecting and they were as powerful as they were sudden. A pit formed in her stomach at the thought, or more accurately what she was sure the result would be.
"I..."
She turned to face them, each busy with their farewell.
"Listen Mar-mar." He knelt down to her level. "As much as I'd like to keep you around, I'm afraid Yunan as oafish as she can be let's be frank, is right. You should return to your world."
Marcy looked to the ground in disappointment.
"Remember as long as I have the box I'm never too far away and the worlds to explore aren't going anywhere."
"Maybe...you're right."
Andrias smiled and handed her a book. Nothing out of the ordinary, a hard brown cover with a title written in the ancient language. The only illustration was a large closed eye in the center.
"Evolution and the Multiverse?"
"I found it in that old library, it's a book that details some of the worlds my ancestors visited. Hold on to it, and when you're ready I'll find you."
Upon hearing this Marcy pressed the book to her chest, tears welling up in her eyes. "Thank you, King Andrias. Even if we're worlds apart I'll always be your trusted ranger."
"I'm counting on it, kiddo."
With a mutual salute, hug, and some jolly laughs from the King, Marcy was ready to face at least one of her fears; returning home.
Sasha, gazing at the portal and listening to the tearful farewells around her tried her hardest to tear through the ropes binding her.
"That's enough Lieutenant." Grime nudged her, also bound.
"This isn't right, is it really supposed to end like this. Were we really wrong about...everything?"
"Right and wrong are things you have no need to worry about now. The truth is this is a fight we lost, and if it means you are to return to your world as a result, I would hope to see you face that with the same stubborn and unrelenting strength I've seen you face every hardship."
"Heh of course I will." She said forcing a chuckle. "...But what about you?" She could feel her eyes getting wet and hated every second of it.
"HAHA, you think this is the first time I've been captured by my enemies? They can try their worse but I'll be out of here in no time! Besides you've shown me that no matter the situation there's always something worth fighting for."
"What? That sounds a bit too noble coming from you Grimesy."
"Noble? Me?" The idea didn't disgust him as much as he figured it would. "Hmph, nevertheless. This may be the end of this rebellion, but it's far from the end of Captain Grime or Sasha Waybright."
"Ok Sash." Anne approached, sensing the melancholy in the air. "It's...time to go."
"Wait Grime!"
Anne pulled her towards the portal by the arm, knowing dragging things out would only feel worse.
"It's time you stop looking back lieutenant and march forward. As of know..."
She didn't want to hear what came next. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle it.
"I hereby relieve you of your duty."
Anne knew in her heart she was doing the right thing, she had to be. But even after everything that happened, she couldn't bear watching the girl burst in tears and put all her attention towards the portal before them.
Anne and Marcy looked to each other, as if to find that last bit of confidence that this was the right choice. Sasha pulled herself from Anne's grip and wiped her face with her bound wrists.
"Let's just get this over with."
No more words. Between them or anyone else. The girls entered the portal, soon engulfed by the bright light.
Their eyes struggled against a painfully shining sun. A chorus of blaring horns, the screeching of planes, and commuters made it easy to understand their environment.
"The freeway really?"
Anne recognized this trap, crueler than anything they faced in Amphibia; LA traffic with no sign of clearing.
Marcy realized they must have been passed out for some time, noticing pedestrians had gotten out of their cars to record their sudden appearance.
"Let's get out of here!"
Sasha was the first to leap off the car they had landed on and escape to the nearest walkway. As they caught their breath, the full picture was taking shape.
What was once a familiar skyline overlooking the bright city streets now seemed a more amazing world than where they had just been. The air while surprisingly worse than the gases of the swamp, was nostalgic, drawing a new memory with each breath drawn.
"I can't believe it!" Anne could feel a tear form in her eye. "We're really home."
Marcy fished out her phone from her bag feeling its reverberations. Her face dropped cold seeing message after message pop up.
"Yea...Home."
"Uhm a little help?" Anne noticed Sasha lift up her wrists impatiently. She approached her slowly, each locked in each other's scornful gaze. Face to face, Anne reached for the teal sword still on Sasha's hip.
The tension in those few seconds felt like an eternity to where Marcy and even Sasha were nervous as to what would happen. However, with a swift motion Anne cut the ropes binding Sasha.
"Well…congratulations Anne." She rubbed her sore wrists. "You got to be the hero and bring us back home. Great job."
"Complain all you want, but I couldn't just leave you there. It was the right thing to do."
"Tch..." Sasha took in the sight of LA realizing what she had built in Amphibia was truly long gone.
"So. What happens now?"
"Now." Anne raised the sword in front of her. "We go our separate ways
Sasha's eyes widened as Grime's gift struck the ground. "Oh come on Anne you're not serious."
She knelt to pick up her sword, but before she could even finish her sentence Anne was walking away. At first, she had only rolled her eyes at the display but seeing Anne continue with her pace and Marcy's expression worsen, she felt her heart start to race.
"You're serious...After dragging me back here you're really just going to walk away like that?"
"I meant what I said Sash. I'm done."
"Anne, wait!" Marcy finally found her words grabbing Anne's hand. "Look I know things got a little tense in Amphibia, but now that we're back home we shouldn't be fighting like this. We're best friends forever, we can work this out…can't we?"
"I'm sorry Marcy" Anne made sure not to turn to face them. "But... I just can't bring myself to trust her. I can't go back to being the girl who stole that box."
"That's rich. So, you got your hands dirty one time and now it's all my fault?" Sasha's voice began to crack. "Look, you may have gotten lucky with your little frog friends in Amphibia, but you need me here! What do you think you're going to do without me?"
It was quiet for a moment. Marcy released Anne's hand as she finally turned to face them.
"I've changed Sasha, I'm sorry you couldn't see that." She stared deep at the face that once could convince her of anything, hearing the voice that once held so much power over her now falling apart in desperation.
"I hope one day you can change too. I really do."
With that she began again, this time with a more confident gait. Marcy reached out a hand but didn't know what she could accomplish with it.
Sasha watched the image of Anne continue to shrink. She had felt this way before, too often since she first set foot in that gross swamp. She had so much more to yell but she didn't want to give her the satisfaction, she had stooped low enough as is.
"Don't worry Sash." Marcy approached gifting a hand to her shoulder. "We all just need a little time to cool off after an adventure like that. We'll be back together again in no time."
"Don't give me that Marcy, you heard her." Sasha swatted her hand away. "Right now, you have a choice to make me or her."
Marcy froze. She looked to see Anne had almost escaped from their view.
"Sasha please."
"Hmph. You losers have fun together."
With that only Marcy remained. It happened so fast. But everyone was just going through the motions, right? Surely all she had to do was trust in their friendship, even if nothing could change the past.
"I'm...sorry." she muttered where no ears could hear her before chasing after Anne.
