The intro opens with Anne's hands on the Calamity Box, opening it. Light from inside the box shines brightly before it switches to a scene that shows Kenji, Anne, Sasha, and Marcy, looking inside. Suddenly there was a white light and everything when blank.
Kenji was on the ground when the light faded, covered in mud with Anne next to him. When he woke up, he looked shocked to see he was in Amphibia with Anne. The two friends stood up and looked at their surroundings in awe.
The camera then zoomed out and showed the entire world of Amphibia.
Tenohira ni kizama re teru
Tsugihagi no yona sono sen ni furete
The scene then changed to the town of Wartwood as the frog inhabitants go about their daily lives. As a pair of dragonflies fly past the camera, it followed them until stopping at the Plantar farmhouse while the sun was starting to rise in the sky.
When the camera changed to show the house's front door, Kenji and Anne stepped out from inside and out into the world. Ready to take on the day. But first, they ducked their heads under some dragonflies that passed them.
Hibiware sona atama to
Gurasu ga sasata kokoro de mae hashiru
The camera moves up to a window on the side of the house. Sprig opened the window with a telescope in hand. He looked through it at the horizon before slipping off the windowsill and started falling. Inside the house, Hop Pop was reading one of his books in his study when Sprig's falling and screaming made him look at his window. Down on the ground, Sprig had landed in Polly's bucket. His little sister responded by punching her brother in the butt. Sending him flying out of the bucket. She then dove back into her bucket of water.
Sprig landed on Anne's head, and the three of them smiled at one another. Then Sprig pointed at something. Kenji pulled out one of his Class Cards, and the friends rushed off into the unknown.
The scene changed to show Kenji, Anne, and Sprig hopping across multiple mushrooms that lit up when one of them landed on it.
Koware kake no sekai
Kuzure so o de memai
The next scene showed Anne, Sprig, and Kenji running for their lives from a giant chicken monster. Kenji summons a black steed from his Rider Card then gets the others on and gallops away faster from the giant poultry. The scene begins to break apart as red line spread across the screen.
The next scene showed Sprig, Anne, Kenji, Polly, and Hop Pop fishing together on a lily pad before it suddenly rose into the air. Underneath it was a giant fish that started swimming around as everyone started screaming. Kenji, however, started stabbing it with a white curved short sword. The scene to break apart like the scene before.
Another scene showed Sprig in a temple looking at something before Kenji and Anne came rushing down the stairs beside him. Anne picked him up as they ran away from a giant boulder that came crashing into the temple. And just like the last two scenes, it begins to break apart in red lines.
Karappo na karada de
Ibtsuna shikai
The next scene showed a red, dark area. Anne and Kenji had their backs together, and both having looks of determination. Anne raised her tennis racket, and Kenji raised his cards: Saber as it begins to glow.
Still, in the same scene, the viewer is suddenly pulled back to reveal that they were surrounded by dozens of twisted frog/toad/newt-like creatures and a giant snake crawling up from behind them. Towering over them and hissing.
Zokkuri to myako o utsu inochi no sen
Naifu de nazotte nobashite shimaetara
ne dareka oshiete Tsuki ga mierunara
The amphibian-like abominations started attacking as Kenji now armed with Balmung/Gram and Anne rushed towards the viewer. Smashing, slicing, and killing any twisted being that came at them. Just as the viewer watched them go past the camera on both sides, the Giant Snake lunged at the fleeing kids. Its mouth opens as it comes towards the camera before the viewer is in the blackness of the snake's mouth, but it didn't last long as Kenji swung his sword and cuts down the snake with one strike.
Kesenai de
mada kesenai de
The scene changed again to a split screen with the left side show Anne's photo of herself, Kenji, Sasha, and Marcy together being held in a gloved hand and on the right is an older man in his fifties with a grin on his face. A flash of light showed the man's face more and the infamous Toad Tower in the background.
Kienaide mada Kienaide
The final scene of the intro showed Kenji standing in the middle of a road looking at the Class Cards he has. He looked to his left and saw Anne walking over to him with a smile. Then Sprig came over to his right and jumped on Kenji's shoulders while Fou jumps on his head with a content smile on his face. Hop Pop and Polly walked/hopped over and joined the trio. The screen begins to pan downwards as it shows reflections not of the group but of legendary heroes of Earth's history.
The intro ends with the title of the story.
FATE / CALAMITY
Book 1: Amphibia
Chapter 8: A Dance with Fate.
As the sun rose high over Amphibia, Kenji looked up at the sky and saw the dragonflies flying overhead. After another day of harvesting the crops, Kenji wanted to have some time to himself, so he sat under one of the large lily trees that surrounded the farmer to clear his head as Fou was sleeping next to him. As he was relaxing, he begins to remember what happened a couple of days ago.
One day, Anne wakes up in terror to discover that she has acne. The Plantars and Kenji do not seem to mind her appearance however, though she is still devastated by her pimples and tried to stay home till it clears up. Hop Pop, however, forces Anne to leave the house to help sell the scream beans at the market, so she goes with a head scarf and sunglasses feeling that she will be ostracized and mocked even further by the Amphibians. Two children accidentally knock her disguise away where to her surprise the townspeople are in love with her "ruby red warts" and begin to praise her for her appearance.
Mayor Toadstool invites Anne to act as a spokesperson for him and she accepts as this means that people will stop being afraid and frightened of her. She begins to abuse her fame with the Plantars being left in the dust by Anne's success. Anne receives many gifts, opens new buildings, orphanages, and statues, and is given her own fancy room in the Town Hall. Despite the Plantars and Kenji voicing their disappointment in Anne being a different person, Hop Pop still asks Polly and Sprig to respect and support Anne as she still "deep-deep-deep down cared for them".
As much as Kenji hates to admit, Hop Pop is right about that. Anne wasn't the type to ditch someone close to her.
Anne wakes up one day to see that her zits are gone and contacts the Plantars and Kenji who willingly help her. They sneak her away from her fans, known as "F-Annes" and take her to a nearby swamp so that she can use swamp berries as replacements for her acne as they look similar, Anne thanks them for their help before hurrying back to Wartwood.
Anne arrives to give her speech to the Wartwood citizens and explains to the Mayor that she had been with the Plantars and Kenji, Mayor Toadstool points out that due to her new status she shouldn't be hanging out with the lower class or her friend anymore. Anne was livid at what Mayor Toadstool said but she nods and says she understands before heading out onto the stage to give a speech. Not wanting to live a lie, Anne removes her berries in front of everyone much to their shock and Mayor Toadstool humiliates himself by calling the citizens idiots, asking how he would get their votes now before being pelted by fruit. The Plantars take Anne back in as their "monster in the basement" and they all celebrate by deciding to use the Jacuzzi in the suite that Mayor Toadstool had given Anne earlier before they change the locks.
They were chased out after the first hour.
After that happened in the next few days, Anne, Kenji, Sprig and Polly are doing chores on the farm during a hot day while Hop Pop sits back and watches while Fou slept on his lap. When Sprig suggests that they train the cowapillars to eat the weeds for them, Hop Pop tells him to place a note in the suggestion barrel, despite Polly believing that he never reads them. She had asked for a swimming pool that never got made. The kids discover to their shock after Sprig knocks it over that under the suggestion barrel is a fire pit that destroys the suggestions. Upset over how things are being run, Sprig rings the Plantar Challenge Bell to challenge Hop Pop to a test of strength to see who will become the new boss or as Polly explains to Anne and Kenji,
"They push each other until someone falls off a lily pad. It's dumb, but fun to watch."
Despite losing numerous times in the past, Sprig manages to beat Hop Pop and Anne and Polly celebrate while Hop Pop solemnly wanders off feeling that he is no longer needed, but he didn't know that Kenji followed him in secret. Hop Pop heads to the Wartwood Cemetery where he encounters a beetle that he helps up. Taking a liking to him, he names him Jeremy and gets "taken" into his society as Kenji watches over him to make sure that he is alright.
Meanwhile, Sprig delightfully takes over the farm and begins implementing suggestions such as Polly's swimming pool, setting the cowapillars onto the weeds and throwing parties complete with clowns. However, they quickly discover that they are running out of food and insects have started draining the pool and laying eggs which is the exact reason why Hop Pop did not want a pool. With everything falling apart, Anne and Polly demand they get Hop Pop back, but Sprig becomes tyrannical, forcing the girls to flee and find Hop Pop.
Anne and Polly find Hop Pop with Kenji watching over him among the beetles where he claims that he has changed and learned about community but does not want to return; he changes his mind when he learns that Sprig is sleeping in his bed. He challenges Sprig to a rematch, and they have a much more even fight. Hop Pop tells Sprig how he has changed, and Sprig admits that his ideas were dumb and that he "caused permanent damage to the Eco-system". Sprig forfeits the challenge and Hop Pop returns to running the farm with him now taking suggestions seriously; even adding a mini pool for Polly. Hop Pop continues to read suggestions with Jeremy and the beetles' help.
After that event one day, Anne, Kenji and Polly watch Sprig and Hop Pop spit together, Polly also decides to join in and spits the furthest distance, hitting a cup on the other side of the lake. Not wanting Polly to end up like the boys, Anne plans to give Polly some long-overdue girl time, asking Hop Pop for his wallet which was filled with IOUs while Kenji decided to head over to Stumpy's Diner to have a drink. Even though the foods not great, they had good drinks, even some non-alcoholic ones.
Thank God for that, because a drunk teenager is a dangerous teenager, next to a bored one.
From what Kenji was told, the girls first went to a luxury spa, where Anne pays using IOUs for a spa treatment. Anne seems to be enjoying it, but Polly keeps goofing off, riding one of the fishes in the spa. They then go to a clothing store where Anne gets Polly stuffy, over-sized clothing. They then visit Felica's Tea Shoppe where they have tea and eat dung-beetle biscuits. Felicia, having learnt of Anne and Polly's girl time tells them a place where they can get a massage. While going to these different places, Anne enjoys the girl time, but Polly doesn't. Finally, while Anne gets a painful massage from a masseuse/bounty hunter named Tuti, Polly decides to ditch her. Finding out that Polly ditched her after the massage, Anne feels dejected and distraught, later finding her and Kenji with Wally and chastises Polly for ditching her and Kenji for hanging out with people like Wally. Polly tells her that she thinks girl time is boring. Anne accidentally insults her, calling her a disgusting little slob, hurting Polly's feelings.
Kenji remembered that event all too well as he chastises her for that comment towards Polly.
Tuti leads the villagers into fetching Wartwood's residential sheriff: Buck Leatherleaf who arrests Anne, Kenji, and the Plantar family for the IOU's she used to pay the services as Hop-Pop was broke, so all the IOUs Anne spent were worthless. They were about to be sent to debtors' prison to gather giant spider eggs to pay their debt. Knowing that Polly is a great spitter, Anne wants her to break the spitting record to get the golden trophy so their debt can be repaid in exchange that they don't go to debtors' prison. However, Polly is not up to it because she feels bad about herself after what Anne said about her and how spitting was gross, feeling disgusted about spitting now. Anne then apologizes to her and accepts her for who she is, saying that she was wrong, giving Polly the motivation to spit far enough to break the record and pay off the debts. Tuti then breaks the trophy and distributes it among the citizens who had been paid with the worthless IOUs. Tuti then gives the remaining piece of gold to the Plantars, which Anne decides to have carved in the shape of Polly and put where the original statue was placed.
After all that happened Kenji deserves a little peace and quiet, but then the moment was cut short when his friends came running over.
"Ken! Ken! Ken!" yelled Sprig, hopping over to him with Anne.
"Hey, what's up little buddy?" Kenji asked, standing up as Fou wakes up to see what was going on.
"We're going to hang out. Want to come?" Sprig asked as Kenji looked towards the young frog and sighed, but he nodded.
"Sure. Could use the walk." Kenji shrugged, getting up he followed them into the woods with Fou sitting on his shoulder. Sprig jumped all around the trees, while Kenji, Fou, and Anne walked together behind him.
"Why do we always hang out in the woods?" She asked Kenji. "We have a perfectly good living room back at the house."
"Where's the fun in that?" Sprig asked, having heard her. He then showed the two humans a ladybug crawling on a branch. "This place is full of nature. Whoo-hoo!" He went hopping off as a spider can and ate the ladybug, before dragging it away.
"Yeah, exactly," she said.
"Come on, Anne, it's not that bad," Kenji said, lightly nudging her with his arm. "It's a beautiful day out and we don't have any work."
"That's true." Anne said with a smile on her face. Suddenly the sound of rustling leaves made him stop, and push Anne behind him.
"What? What's wrong?" Anne asked on alert as Sprig hopped over to them.
Kenji held his finger to his lips and shushed her. "There's something in the bushes," he whispered. "Stay here."
"It could be a bloodsucking predator," Sprig gasped.
"You are really not selling me on this place," Anne complained.
Kenji waited for them to stop talking before pulling out his combat knife. Twirling it around to hold it in a reverse grip, Kenji stalked towards the brush and gently pulled back the leaves. Revealing...a gourd that had a face drawn on it and fake strall hair.
Picking it up, he showed it to the others. "The hell's this?"
"Looks like a squash," Anne said.
"I'm pretty sure it's a gourd."
"Fou?"
But when Sprig saw the fruit, his eyes widened. "Oh, no. It's an-"
"Ambush!" Yelled someone from up in the tree. Suddenly, a small, yellow figure jumped down from a hole in the tree and tackled Sprig to the ground, before jumping away into the brushes. Surprising Anne and Kenji, who dropped the gourd.
"I'm hit! Sprig down! Sprig down!" Sprig yelled, lying on the ground.
The bushes of the attack rustled again, and Kenji stood really for a fight when the figure emerged.
"Haha!" Revealing themselves to a seemingly innocent appearance girl frog that was significantly smaller than Sprig, with yellow skin, a pale patch under her mouth, dark spots on her cheeks, and two visible orange tufts of hair. She wore a turquoise hat with ragged patches, frayed overalls, and light green farming clothes.
When he saw her, Sprig instantly sat up with a big smile. "Hey, Ivy! Nice ambush. Gourd in a wig? Classic."
"Can't take all the credit. Your friend was easy to trick," Ivy said.
"Excuse me?" The two frogs looked back to see Kenji staring at her with a raised eyebrow and his arms crossed. Anne on the other hand looked very interested in her for some reason.
"Oh right, Ivy, meet Kenji and Anne," Sprig said, presenting his new friends to her. "Oddities from another world. Guys, meet Ivy. Childhood acquaintance and occasional sparring partner." He tried hitting her, but Ivy dodged the attacks and kicked him in the face.
"Hey, Ivy," Anne said.
"What's up?" Kenji nodded.
"Fou!" Fou said as he pops out from behind Kenji.
"Hey, I've seen you two around. Nice to officially meet," Ivy said, shaking Anne's hand and then Kenji's. "Do you like being randomly attacked?"
Kenji chuckled for a moment. "You push me and we'll see how that goes," he told her, staring into Ivy's eyes with a deadly serious stare, but he wasn't being serious about it. He wasn't going to hurt a frog child over something like that.
But Ivy saw though it and didn't take him too seriously as she just shrugged her shoulders. "Well, too bad," she said, walking back over to Sprig. "See you later, Sprig. But you won't see me~." She then jumped backwards and off into the woods, much to the amazement of the young boy frog.
"She seems...nice," Kenji said, uncertain.
"Why, yes, she is, isn't she Sprig?" Anne said, leaning down at the young frog with a sly smirk. "And she's kind of cute, huh?"
Kenji and Sprig look at her strangely. "I don't know what you're talking about," said the little red frog, walking away.
"Well, well, well, well, well, well, well." Anne followed him, moving her shoulders up and down. Kenji followed behind her.
"Anne, what's gotten into you? You're being weird," he said to her.
"Oh, I think you'll like it," Anne said slyly, not elaborating any further as she walked ahead of him. This was weird for Kenji, but he kept walking.
When they arrived at the house, Kenji opened the door and called out to the rest of the family. "We're back, Hop Pop!"
Hop Pop came down the stairs. "What have you three been doing'? I've been looking for you all morning!" He exclaimed to the kids.
"We were just hanging out in the woods," Kenji said, before Anne interrupted him.
"When Sprig was totally flirting with a cute girl!" Anne shouted with a big smile, surprising both frogs in the room and Kenji.
Hop Pop gasped before smiling too. "No kidding?"
"I'm pretty sure it wasn't flirting, Anne," Kenji said as she giggled with excitement.
"He's right Anne," Sprig insisted. "Ivy Sundew and I are just friends."
Hop Pop, however, gasped when he heard Ivy's name, and his excitement went through the roof. "Ivy Sundew? Nobody move! I'm getting' the courtship kit," he told them and rushed back up the stairs.
"Wait, what now?" Kenji asked.
"Fou?" Fou said as he tilts his head in confusion.
"I'm just as confused as you are, little buddy."
"This is so exciting! I'm going to go get my dating magazines. BRB!" Anne yelled, running off into the basement to retrieve her magazine. Leaving Kenji, Fou and Sprig in the living room with Polly. The three looked at the little tadpole wondering what her thoughts on the matter were.
"I don't actually care," she said.
Hop Pop came back downstairs with a small chest and Anne came up with her magazine. The old frog set the chest on the table and opened it, revealing high-class clothes and mushrooms within it. "Here we go. The Firefly Formal is tonight. It's the perfect opportunity to begin the ritual."
"Ritual?" Kenji and Anne asked simultaneously.
"What ritual?" Kenji asked as Hop Pop pulls out a scroll.
"You see, Kenji, only frogs who have performed the ceremonial dance in the ceremonial garb are allowed to be wed," Hop Pop said, showing them an illustration of two frogs in fancy clothes.
Anne took the illustration and looked closer at it. "Huh. Kitschy. I like it."
Kenji, however, was quick to object. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You guys aren't seriously thinking about hitching Sprig together with another girl, are you?" He asked, with his froggy friend jumping into the conversation.
"Yeah! We're just friends. Besides, I'm already engaged to Maddie, right? She gave me this nifty ring," Sprig said, showing them the ring on his finger that had a skull on it. The eyes of the skull glowed and admitted a howl. Fou gave off a soft growl at the ring because of its design but didn't do anything about it because it was mostly harmless.
"Forget her!" Hop Pop grabbed his grandson by his shoulders. "The Sundews have secret proprietary crops. Do you have any idea what that means?"
"Uhhhh?"
"If our families merge, WE'LL BE RICH!"
Kenji and Polly didn't look too impressed. "Wow. So romantic," said the tadpoles.
"Yeah, nothing like selling out your grandson for monetary gain," Kenji said sarcastically while giving Hop Pop the stink eye, causing the old frog to chuckle in embarrassment.
"Uhh! I love these magazines. Look, Sprig," Anne said, showing Sprig a page from her magazine. "It says here two-thirds of all soul mates start out as 'just friends.'"
"Wait, what? Really? And you trust these things?" Sprig asked with a shocked expression as he snatched the magazine from her.
"Definitely. Magazines never lie," Anne said, showing him a page of a half-cat, half-bat creature.
"Oh really, then when are you and Kenji going to become soul mates?" Polly asked sarcastically.
"Huh?!" Kenji's head whirled around to look at her with a glowing pink face.
"Fou?"
But no one else seemed to notice and were more focused on Sprig, who started to wonder. "Could Ivy be my eternal love, my soul mate, the cat to my bat?" He asked with a small amount of hope.
"Well, we're about to find out because I already asked her family," Hop Pop said. A second later, a messenger mosquito landed on the windowsill with a rolled-up piece of paper. He took the paper and read it. "They agreed to a date!"
"And you're sure that none of you are rushing this at all?" Kenji asked, still a little uneasy.
"Absolutely," Anne said with a confident smile.
Kenji turned to his froggy friend. "Sprig...you sure you want to go through with this?" He asked, wanting to make sure that Sprig was sure.
"Well, missing out on eternal love does sound bad. I... guess one date couldn't hurt," said the young frog.
"Hey!" Anne cheered
"That's my boy!" Hop Pop exclaimed, before noticing that the mosquito was still there. "What do you want? Oh, your tip." He sighed and pulled down his coiler. "All right, here you go. But don't take too much, though. I have chores to do later."
Kenji only sighed at the events that was happening before him and wondering if this was going to work out without much difficulty.
When night came, Kenji with Fou on his shoulder, Anne, and the Plantars arrived in town for the Firefly Formal. Most of the locals were already there, dancing with one another. Kenji had to admit that he was impressed and happy to see everyone having a good time. But there was an expectation.
"Kenji, get over here and help us!" Hop Pop shouted. Kenji turned his attention back to the old frog and Anne, who were struggling to get Sprig into the outfit. He walked over and assisted in getting Sprig into the tight-fitting outfit as his friend put powder on his face.
"Just a little more...All righty. Cool," Anne said, finishing the final touches on Sprig's face. They stepped back and looked at the young frog. Sprig was stuffed into a dress that looked to have been from the Renaissance.
"My boy, you look incredible." Hop Pop said with a proud smile.
But Sprig wasn't all too convinced about that statement. "Uh... I don't know about this. Ivy's going to think I look stupid," he said, turning around to look at his reflection in a window. "I think I look stupid."
"Great! You'll have something in common," Anne said, before pushing Sprig's arms down as she turned him around. But they popped right back up. Kenji tried and they went right back up. "It's fine." She pushed him towards the town square, while also walking right into a bunch of lanterns. "Ow. Ow. Ow."
Soon, Ivy and her mother, Felicia Sundew, arrived. With the young frog girl wearing a dress that was just as ridiculous as Sprig's with a tall wig.
"My little girl's a woman," Felicia said. She was a skinny, yellow frog with long, braided red hair, and a crown of green flowers sitting in her hair while wearing a dark green dress and lipstick.
"Mom!" Ivy groaned as her mother fixed up her wig.
Sprig gulped nervously when he saw her, which Kenji noticed and patted him on the back. "Just be yourself and you'll be good," he said, trying to be supportive.
"All right, boy, go get that lucrative business relationship," Hop Pop said, slamming him on the back. Kenji glared at him. "I-I mean, romantic relationship." He quickly said and handed Sprig the mushrooms, before chuckling. "Saved it."
No, Hop Pop. You did not.
Kenji watched from the sideline with the others a Sprig waddled his way over to the young frog girl. Right off the bat, he could tell that they were feeling very awkward. They were talking, but it was clear that they were nervous. For a moment, Kenji wondered if Anne was right thinking that they liked one another.
Felicia walked over to him and Hop Pop with a sigh. "I'm so happy we agreed on this merger, Hopadiah," she said, before noticing Kenji and looked uncomfortable. The human sighed and walked over to Anne and Polly. "That Sprig of yours looks like a hard worker," she said after the 'monster' left.
"Like we agreed, you'll get Sprig to work at your restaurant, and I'll get the seeds for those Sundew vegetables," Hop Pop said, holding out his hand to her.
"Agreed." Felicia pulled out a handkerchief and put it over his hand before shaking it.
"This is so exciting!" Anne squealed with Polly on her head. "I wonder what their ship name will be. Ivig? Sprigivy?"
"What are you even saying?!" Polly yelled.
"Ship Names…freaking ship names." Kenji muttered as he shakes his head.
Hop Pop ran over and shushed them. "Shh! Let's watch our little love doves fly," he said with a smile. "Love doves are birds that mate for life."
"I got it," Kenji said. "Well, there's really nothing for me to do around here, so I'm going to go into the woods." He turned and walked off into the woods, knowing that the others won't stop him. Already too invested in what they were doing.
As he entered the woods, Kenji started heading toward a special place in the woods that he found. It was during the night when he was out fishing. Was it dangerous to go into the woods to fish at night? Yes, but it was one of the few times that he was able to do it.
When he reached his destination, he stared at it in wonder as a glowing light shined on his body.
In front of them was a large pond that was glowing a green glow in the night's light, with fireflies flying all around him. Floating on the pond were large lily pads, and the glowing light and the fireflies allowed him to see the fishes swimming in the water.
As he walked towards the edge of the pond, Kenji sat down, took his shoes off, and dipped his bare feet into the water. Letting the dirt and mud be rinsed off his skin. While watching the beautiful sight before him, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a leather-bound journal that he's been writing in for the past few weeks. He told Hop Pop if he had anything so he could record his time in Amphibia, and the old frog just so happened to have one that was blank.
He took in a breath of air and opened it to a new page, before pulling out a pen. He then started writing.
April, 2019.
It's been some time now since Anne and I were teleported to the world of Amphibia, and since we started living among the unusual frog people of Wartwood. We are welcomed guests in the Plantar home, even if the other frogs do not see it as such. Mostly I'm seen as a monster by the locals and am treated with a mild neglect. As if I were a stray dog, or an unwelcome guest.
Everyone's afraid of me and Anne. While she is still not happy about it, it is a treatment that I'm all too familiar with. While there are some that have gotten used to my presence, there are still those that are not comfortable around us. Like Ivy's mom. I have no doubt that if residents of Wartwood knew of the Class Cards, they'd be even more afraid of me. After all, who'd want to be around someone that could kill them by accident or not?
Would Anne still want to be around me if…one of the cards I use will scare her?
"Fou?" Kenji looked down to see Fou looking at him with curious eyes as the young man places his hand on little creatures head and started to pet him.
"Ken?"
With a startled gasp, Kenji was brought back to reality and turned to see Sprig and Ivy standing next to him. Both frogs were out of their outfits. "Oh! Hey, Sprig. What are you two doing here? I thought you'd be at the dance."
"We were, but we didn't want to date each other. We only went along because our families convinced us it was a good idea," Sprig explained.
"Totally, understand," Kenji said with a smile. He got up and walked over to a pile of spear-length sticks he made and pulled out his combat knife. "Well, you two are free to hide out here if you want. Anne and the others don't know about this place." He grabbed a stick and tied his knife to the end of it.
"Thanks, Ken. This is way better than that stuffy old dance. Right, Ivy?" Sprig asked, turning to his friend. But he saw that she was gone. He looked around trying to find her.
"Ivy? Ivy?"
"AMBUSH!" Ivy suddenly attacked him from above, and the two started sparing with one another among the glowing fireflies. "Come back here! This'll be your grave!"
"That's, uh... That's pretty dark."
Meanwhile, Anne, the Plantars, and Felicia were desperately trying to find the two young frogs. While Anne thought they were going off to do some PG romantic stuff, Hop Pop and Felicia freaked out, as their leaving meant that they were abandoning the ritual. If they didn't finish the dance, then the courtship was ruined.
The first sign that they found of the kids was their ceremonial clothes, which were on the ground. Hop Pop picked up Sprig's ceremonial hat and examined it. "Hmm. Where are those dang kids?"
He and the group continued walking when two large birds flew over their heads and screeched, putting them all on high alert. They turned to see a pair of giant love doves flowing down, with the male dove holding his female partner in one of his wings.
When they saw them, the girls were amazed by the sight of the romantic creatures. But Hop Pop was frightened. "Love doves. Don't move or we're dead," he said in a hushed tone.
"What? I thought they were all romantic and mate for life," Anne said.
"Yeah, and they spend that life massacring all living things."
The two birds cooed and turned their heads towards the girl and frogs and shrieked at them bearing their razor-sharp teeth. Anne and the others screamed before the doves divebombed them. They first did a synchronized loop together, which they found to be beautiful, before the birds snatched them up.
Kenji was fishing while watching Sprig and Ivy when he heard the screams of the others. He and the two young frogs looked up to see the girls and Hop Pop being carried off in the talons of the love doves.
"Anne!" Kenji shouted.
"Our families! We got to help them!" Sprig said, before Ivy threw a stick at his face.
"Way ahead of you. Come on, let's go!" Ivy said, ready for battle. Kenji twirled around his makeshift spear, before running off in the direction that the love dove flew with his friend and frogs. Ivy and Sprig followed him.
Meanwhile, the love doves flew toward their nest and threw their prey into it. They then spat out a greenish goo at them, which they got stuck in. Anne and the others tried to pull themselves from the goo but found it to be impossible.
"We're stuck," she exclaimed, still trying to pull her arms out of the goo. She looked up at the bird, expecting to see the bird getting ready to feed on them. But instead, the love doves nuzzled one another and then flew off. "Uh, so they're not going to eat us?"
"Not right away. Love doves prefer to let their prey marinate in fear first," Hop Pop explained, already beginning to let fear take hold of him.
Felicia groaned in anger and annoyance. "Can it, Plantar. This is all your fault," she told him with a glare. "If you taught your grandson proper courtship technique-"
"My fault?! It's obviously yours!" Hop Pop argued back as the two started shouting at one another.
As they argued, Anne used her mouth to pull her magazine out of her school uniform. She spat it out of her mouth, and it opened to a random. "Guys, it says here that our relationships define us, and nothing else. Nothing else!"
But as they all started arguing and talking to themselves, Polly was quickly reaching a breaking point. All night she had to go along with her family's stupid plans and now she's had enough of it and was going to be heard.
"ENOUGH!" She screamed, startling the others into listening to her. "It's all your faults!" They started denying it, but Polly wasn't having it. "Zip it! The only reason we're here marinating is because you all had to play matchmaker." She pointed her little flipper at Hop Pop and Felicia. "You two were greedy, plain and simple."
The two adults look at one another with guilty looks, realizing that the young tadpole was right.
"Maybe a little," said Hop Pop.
"It's nuanced," Felicia added.
"Nice," Anne said with a pleased smile. "Totally innocent for once. You two should be ashamed."
"Are you kidding?!" Polly yelled at her, appalled that she believed she was innocent in all of this. "Sprig only went through with this because of you and this dumb magazine!" Polly then ripped the magazine away from Anne and ripped it to shreds with her teeth, until it was nothing but bits of paper. When she was done, the little tadpole painted from all her built-up anger.
"Wow. I feel lighter somehow, more... free," Anne said with a trance-like look on her face. But then she gasped when she realized that they were missing someone. "Where's Ken!?"
"Right here!" Kenji proclaimed, jumping into the nest with Sprig and Ivy. "We're here to rescue you." Kenji used his knife to cut Anne's hands free of the goo and helped pull her out of it. He then grabbed Polly as Sprig and Ivy freed Hop Pop and Felicia. They quickly crawled out of the nest, sighing in relief that the danger they were in was over.
"We're also here to tell you we don't want to date each other, and we never will," Ivy said, holding up her stick.
"We know. Polly set us straight," Hop Pop said.
"Look, kids, we-" Felicia started
"Sprig, I'm so sorry," said Anne, but was cut off when they all heard the shrieking of the love doves. They turn to see the birds returning and landing in their nest. Seeing their prey having escaped, the two roared at them.
"I always tell them, 'Save the heartfelt apologies for when we get to safety.'" Polly complained.
"Get behind me!" Kenji yelled, getting in front of Anne, and prepared to fight with his spear.
The male love doves slashed at him with his talons, but Kenji dodged it and stabbed it in the foot. The love dove shrieked in pain, as his mate dived in for revenge. The female love dove tried biting at him, but Kenji jumped back and thrust his spear at her, but she moved her head back. She lunged her head out to snap at him, but the human smacked her head away.
"I can really use some help over here!" Kenji yelled.
"AMBUSH!" Sprig suddenly cried out from high up in a tree. He jumped off and landed on the head of the male dove. The dove ran around, even on its messed-up foot as Sprig held on as tight as possible. "Now, Ken!"
"Die, you beautiful creature!" Kenji yelled as he jumped into the nest and launched himself high into the air. He landed on the bird and plunged his spear into its neck. The love dove let out one last shriek of agony as blood came out of its mouth, before falling to the ground.
Kenji pulled his spear out of its neck, before he and Sprig were thrown off by the female love dove, who picked up her dead mate and nuzzled him.
When he landed on his back, Kenji groaned in pain before quickly getting back up and grabbing the spear. Throwing it at the female. The spear went right through the neck of the bird. Stabbing into the edge of the nest as the last love dove's corpse fell dead with her mate.
The boy let out a sigh of relief, while the others stared at him and the two love doves he just killed. "Whoa! Nice ambush," Ivy said to Sprig as he laid on his back.
"Well, I learned from the best," he said with a smile.
Everyone went over to the nest and looked inside, as Kenji hopped in to retrieve his knife. Anne and the frogs stared at the love dove, who was still holding one another in a pool of their own blood. "Amazing. Even in death, they're majestic," Hop Pop said.
Damn Hop Pop that was just morbid...
After Kenji grabbed his makeshift spear, he untied the knife from it and wiped off the blood with a cloth that he has in his pocket. They all then jumped down from the nest before Felicia turned to her daughter. "Come along now, Ivy. Let's get you home so I can apologize safely," she said, turning to look at Kenji as he sheathed down the knife, but instead of just a look of uncertainty, it was also a thankful look for saving their lives.
Ivy took her hand and the two started walking home. "Okay. That was fun. See you, Sprig!" She called out to Sprig.
"See you, Ivy!" Sprig waved goodbye to her and watched her leave.
"Sprig, next time we won't get the courtship kit out until you're good and ready," Hop Pop told his grandson while holding Polly. Then he turned to his granddaughter. "Now I can focus on finding love for Polly."
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Polly cried as she was taken away by the old frog.
"Well, that's the end of that," Anne said with a smile as she and Kenji stayed behind with Sprig. "Now you and Ivy can go back to being just friends.
"Yep," Sprig said, turning back to watch Ivy leave. The yellow frog turned her head to look back over her shoulder at Sprig and waved goodbye at him. The red frog waved back at her, but as he did, Kenji noticed the way he was looking at her. And he started to suspect something when Sprig continued to stare at Ivy, even when she was out of sight.
"You just fell in love with her, didn't you?" He asked.
"Yeah, I just fell in love with her."
Brilliant…
After a few hours back at the Plantars house, Kenji was having trouble sleeping as he was twisting and turning in bed. After a few moments, Kenji got out of bed as he gave off a frustrated groan as he turns and sees Anne sleeping without a care in the world. Kenji smiled as he stood up and was about to head out off the back entrance of the basement until…
"Fou?" Kenji didn't need to know who that was as he turned and kneels towards the little creature and pets him.
"Go back to sleep Fou. I'll be back after a few minutes." Kenji said as Fou tilted his head in confusion but obliges as he jumps on Kenji's bed and falls back to sleep. After that, Kenji silently left the house as he can as he walks away from the farmhouse. After a few minutes of walking, he arrived at the nest to the dead Love Doves and silently look towards giant bird nest, pondering on what will come next.
"So, I'm guessing you can't sleep huh?" A voice spoke up as Kenji looks over his shoulder to see Anne standing behind him with a look of concern on her face. "You've been having trouble sleeping again, haven't you?"
"…Yeah, but it's not as bad as before. I'm just thinking about certain things lately." Kenji said as he turns back towards the nest as a smirk showed on his face. "Also, why don't you three come out from those bushes?"
There was silence for a moment before the Plantar family fell out of a large bush nearby. The frog family gave off a chuckle Anne and Kenji walked up to them with smiles on their faces. As the humans approached the frog family, Kenji stopped as if he felt a cold chill in the air. He looked around to see what was causing it and then looked up into the air with a shocked look on his face. Anne and the Plantars noticed this and walked towards him.
"Hey Ken? What's-"
There was an explosion that erupted from the former Love Doves nest.
It happened so fast, but Kenji's quick reflexes allowed her to push Anne away from incoming thrown debris towards her head in time while Hop Pop threw himself over the kids. All braced for any impact coming out from the violent blast of dust coming from the explosion.
"Wow! What good reactions!"
There was a gruff voice echoed from the cloudy dust, a silhouette of someone caught on their sight, an uninvited guest. Kenji and Anne immediately stood up in front of Hop Pop, Sprig and Polly protectively. As the dust slowly diminished, they heard footsteps and saw someone walking towards them.
A bearded middle-aged man wielding a spear on his hand stood before them, rubbing the back of his neck in a lazy manner. His outfit looked ancient as if he's someone from the past, "What a pain in the ass this is. I was hoping to get the drop on you." he said with a foolish grin on his face.
"Another human? I don't believe it!" Anne said in shock as she was about to step forward to see if this guy was real. However, Kenji held his hand in front of her to prevent her from moving towards this man. Anne looked towards Kenji in confusion at what he was doing, but was surprised as she saw the scared look on his face.
"Anne, this guy…" the young man trembled on his feet, "He's a Servant!"
"Wait what?!"
"Of course, I'm a Servant! What did you expect?" the man replied as if it's the most natural thing, "Well, I am a Rouge Servant, but that's not the point right now.," he then rubbed his beard and stared at Kenji in a curious manner, "Do you know me, kid? Have we met once in our previous lives?"
"Kenji," Hop Pop called him out anxiously, holding the kids tighter in his arms who trembled at the sight of the human being in front of them, "Who is he? One of your friends?"
Sweat fell on Kenji's cheek as he gulped to let out his answer,
"No Hop Pop. He's an ancient warrior from our world. The legendary hero of Troy…Hector of the Gleaming Helmet."
Impossible, that word explained the meaning of the look that Anne gave. While Anne might not have the privilege to know the events of their worlds past, Kenji did learn about the legendary war that happened due to a forbidden love affair from history class.
The one who got his True Name exposed gave off a laugh, "You got me right! Unfortunately, that means…" Hector of the Gleaming Helmet turned ruthless as he swung his spear for a battle stance, "I'll kill you all."
Kenji wasted no time as he draws one of his cards: The Saber card and use the Include power to summon Gram into his hand as the daggers that came with it floated around him as he wasted no time to lunge towards Hector. The Hero of Troy welcomed the young man's attack as he did the same. Durindana and Gram repeatedly clashed at incredible speed as both opponents parried and attacked each other. When Kenji managed to push Hector back with a powerful swing, the daggers now surrounding Hector on all sides.
"Take this!" Kenji said as he commands the daggers to shoot towards the legendary hero of Troy.
"Like that will work!" Hector said as instinctively turned his spear multiple times, a show of magnificent skills as he dispersed two elemental attacks with his spear at once.
"Then how about this?!" Kenji shouted as he raised Gram, powerful energy gathered and created a layer of magical energy around the blade that he swung the Gram at Hector. Hector's elbow gauntlet ignited a blast that supported his arm strength to slam his spear onto the ground, causing fragments of the earth to erupt that collided with Kenjis' attack. The impact caused huge explosion, smokes covered the area as Kenji was breathing hard from the assault that he delivered towards Hector. Despite all attacks that were sent, the Servant still managed to escape from all the assaults, majorly unscratched.
"Dammit, This guys the real deal." Kenji clenched Gram tighter in irritation, their enemy was extraordinarily strong and he started to stop doubting him after his display of skills.
"...You said you're a Servant, a rouge one to be precise." Anne also held her weapon: A badminton racquet, facing the spearmen as she recalled Kenji's lessons about the Class System, "Judging from that weapon you got there, you must be a Lancer."
"My point exactly! little miss obvious," Hector grinned, "Why not come closer so this old man can show you personally?" he challenged like a teacher who wanted to test his new student. Before Anne could retort, Kenji stepped in front of her protectively as the Plantars stood beside the young woman, looks of concern on their faces. Hector lightly admitted he just stepped on their landmine.
"Why are you here, Hector of Troy?" Kenji questioned. "What is your purpose for being here in Amphibia?"
"Honestly, I'm just as confused as you are! Besides, I just happened to see you guys and wanted to see if you guys are worth something," Hector lazily rubbed his cracking neck, "But really, this is a pain in the ass."
"Save your complaints for when you return to the afterlife," Kenji growled.
"Ouch! Don't be too hard on this old man!"
"Why are you here?" Anne repeated her comrade's question, her icy glare couldn't be colder.
"It's basic rules to keep your identities a secret in this war, little lady," Hector refused to answer, praising the Taiwanese American beauty's visage, "Especially when you're so famous that people find you out at first glance. Sheesh, being famous sucks sometimes…"
Kenji had enough of Hector's staged foolishness, "You're revered as an image of chivalry and your exploits remain famous in the present in our world. Unless they're all purely fiction, you would never attack us for such a small reason." He insinuated.
"Whoa, you give me too much credit. Historians just love to add some twists, don't they?" Hector chuckled, adjusting his hold on Durindana so he could loosen a bit but kept his guard still. "How about I change the subject to you guys?" he asked suggestively while rubbing his beard, "I've met demigods and people loved by the gods in my life, but this is the first time I meet a human that can wield the power of Servants and something else entirely," he called out Kenji's power as if it was nothing special, causing the young man to narrow his eyes towards the Trojan Hero.
"This coming Holy Grail War sure about to get interesting."
"Interesting?" The young man spat, "Do you have any idea how many losses it will bring? For those who have nothing to do with the war as well?" Kenji raised his voice, as if the war to come won't create enough mass hysteria in this world as it is.
"...Of course, I know," Hector's expression darkened, "But mere condolences won't bring a war to an end. If you want it to end that much, then fight and win until all your enemies are gone. Unlike gods who could do as they like, humans could only be selfish and trample others to survive."
Kenji gritted his teeth, his words ended up hurting him the most. He must've said it from his own experiences. The Trojan War. One of legendary Greek tragedies that is one of the may conflicts of the world. The one that reminded him of the other conflict from the days of old. His frustration made him grip on Gram, making it tremble.
"You're wrong."
Anne rejected Hector's words. The young woman stood straight and gazed at the Trojan hero, "Being selfish is a choice, so is to be selfless. Humans have a mind and soul to make such choices, and they learned from the choices they have made in the past. To trample, or to restore. The capability to choose and learn from their own history, that's what helps humanity to survive."
"That's an impassionate speech," even Hector was impressed, eyeing the young woman, "Coming from you, I wish that can be more than child's idealism."
"But I wonder though," Anne continued, her lips curled up for a small yet sadistic smile as her roast queen's persona took over, "If humanity is only filled with selfishness like you said. Ruining themselves without any aid from higher being, perhaps you'd never get the chance to get old and act big since you're busy being extinct."
Hector tensed. Sprig and Polly gaped, Hop Pop was terrified, and Kenji was proud at his friend's burns. There was a long silence until…
Hector broke the silence with a loud laugh, even holding his stomach. "HAHAHA! You got me good! You ladies don't like men with a very large age gap like me, huh?!" Anne's deadpan look just made him laugh even harder he wheezed to breathe in the end,
"Ah... I see," Hector said as looked at Kenji and Anne once more after he calmed down. "You two are now walking this path, huh? A path that you two may or may not survive."
"All paths are like that. You should know that all too well." Kenji said as Hector smirked at him.
"Haha! Now I see why I wanted to fight you and you lady friend so badly."
That was enough for Kenji to lose his composure as he swings Gram. He saw that coming after his provocation, jumped away at the right time. His high jump took him far away from his opponents; a superhuman feat that Servants were capable of. Kenji sensed something's wrong when Hector bent over forward, his spear in a throwing position,
"Crap-!"
"Releasing Noble Phantasm."
The handle of his spear extended, his elbow gauntlet sparked a bigger blast as an unstoppable propulsive force. Hector's eyes locked sight with his target. As the one with the most knowledge of his legend, Kenji realized their threat as he cancels the Include of his Saber and pulls out another card.
"Install: Shielder!"
A flash of light happened as Kenji was now wearing a long grey sleeve shirt covered with a black chest plate, a pair of black gauntlets, grey pants with black greaves covering his lower legs, a black waist guard with purple waistcoat, and a purple shoulder cape over both of his shoulder. His armaments are a long sword that was emitting a holy aura and a giant round shield with four prongs sticking out, shaping it like a cross.
"Target confirmed. Angle set."
Kenji places his shield: Around Round Shield – Lord Camelot in front of him, readying for what's to come, "With my True Name revealed, I stand amid disaster!" He started with a chant.
"If you want to stop this, you should bring Achilles' or Aias' shield! And not an imitation of that shield!" Hector screamed, his gauntlet's fiery burst let out loud rackety noises. "Or die trying with everything you've got, brats! I'll show you how experience trumps youth! FLY AWAY! DURINDANA!"
BOOOOMMMM!
The spear soared to the sky like a rocket launch, then fell towards Kenji and Anne like a falling star. Anne knew the impact would be far beyond what she experienced against what they have faced in this world. She didn't even know what kind of shields belonged to the other two Greek heroes that Hector was talking about. Nevertheless, if she really had to die trying to protect her friends then so be it. So, with a quick reaction, Anne covers the Plantars with her body so that they wouldn't get hurt. The Ultimate Unbroken Spear dashed towards them, its flaming golden blade screamed to penetrate everything that stood on its way.
However, while they heard the deafening sound of detonation and saw the burning inferno that surrounded them, Durindana didn't reach them, as the spear was being blocked by a barrier that is protecting them.
"-KENJI!" Anne and the Plantars shouted as Kenji gritted his teeth, sweating profusely to keep his barrier indestructible. The Around Round Shield placed into the ground, glowing in a dazzling light to protect the group from Durindana's strike with its barrier. When Hector threw his legendary spear, Kenji focused all his energy, all his strength to hold his ground against the spear that pierced through everything.
Crack.
The spear mercilessly advanced, creating cracks on the barrier and Kenji was pushed back, the ground under her feet cracked from the force. His limbs were aching in agony, but he remained standing. His arms stretched out and poured everything he had to his shield with a determined cry, "That which heals all wounds and grudges, our glorious homeland!" Kenji felt his defense strengthened.
"Incredible," Hector muttered with wide eyes, he already went to a safe distance from his spear's impact. He couldn't help but be impressed despite his huge irritation, "Only one layer of a barrier, yet you withstand my spear this long! I shouldn't've expected less of you, young man!"
"Manifest yourself, Lord Camelot!"
Kenji cries resonated as he releases the Noble Phantasm, tall white walls materialize at his sides, creating an astral fortress of pure white stone and a heavenly aura that was surrounding it. Anne, The Plantars, and surprisingly Hector to look at awe at the majesty of the construct that was created, while Kenji was planting his feet into the ground. The more the barrier cracked, the brighter and stronger it became against the unbreakable spear. After a fight of endurance that lasted like forever, a blinding light covered the battlefield and explosion was heard. Finally, Durindana was stopped.
Even Hector was baffled.
With a loud clang, the spear bounced off towards the sky, losing its destructive force. Kenji collapsed on his knees, the shield fell with a clanging noise. Snapping back to his senses, the Trojan warrior ran back to retrieve his spear. Unfortunately for him, his spear was caught by someone else's hands in mid-air before him.
"WHAT THE-?!" it's not just Hector who screamed.
"I've got it!" Anne yelled, now holding Durindana with her eyes glowing blue for a moment. Now, the enemy's Noble Phantasm was on her hands.
Hector's expression lost its leniency as he screamed in rage, "You thieving little-!" he lunged at Anne who just landed on the ground. His elbow gauntlet sparked as he raised his fist either to seize his spear back or punch her as well in the process.
"Like I'll let you!" Kenji said as Hector's armored fist meets the shield that blocked his attack between him and the young woman, blocking his attack and absorbing all its force. Hector's eyes widened.
Cocky little punk! He thought as Hector managed to jump back before the rebound effect happened, dodging the attack that scattered from the barrier from hitting him. Hector was not useless without his spear, he's more than capable to fight bare-handed.
"So, you want to do this CQC, huh?" Hector muttered darkly, his armored fists clenched as he put on a stance. "Come at me, brats. I won't hold back just because you're just little kids…is what I would like to say but I think that my time is done here."
As a last ditch to escape, Hector ignited his elbow gauntlet to escape from this fight. His perseverance really made him worthy as a Heroic Spirit. Fortunately, Kenji already foresaw this possibility as he yelled, "Anne! Don't let him escape! Throw the weapon!"
"Got it!" Anne said as she threw the Durindana back towards its original owner; for the sake of irony, to bring down Hector. Incredibly, he managed to dodge it by rotating his gauntlet's ignition mid-air, only missing a hair's breadth as he grabbed his weapon, as he continued to fly away, Hector glanced at his enemies one last time, vowing to come up with a better strategy next time he faced each one of them- except one person missing in sight.
That's when he realized Kenji defeated him by surprise, and felt his chest being stabbed deep by the Sword of the Strange Hangings, A holy sword that was once wielded by David now wielded by the Spirit within the Shielder Card: Galahad. The strike was powerful as it caused him and Kenji to slam into the crater that he left from before.
"Urg..." Hector groaned, lying his back in the crater while the one who managed to outrun him, Kenji, stood before him as he pulls out his sword. He had swung the Sword of the Strange Hangings to remove the blood over it, leaving the trail on the ground, unflinching as he picks up the giant shield. His sharp cautious eyes remained on the fallen Servant who sat as he drew labored breaths.
"Ahh...getting stabbed in the chest...what's with Lancers and their dumb luck..."
Kenji heard someone behind him, but he didn't turn back because he already knew who it was. Anne stands beside him, and The Plantars was behind him. Good. No one else didn't need to see this sight.
"He's still breathing," Hop Pop said in awe as looked towards the defeated Trojan hero. "What kind of zombie is he?"
"The kind that won't drop dead with only a stab through the heart," Kenji replied.
"I see. How about the head?" Polly said as she pulls out her mace.
"That's pretty dark there Polly." Sprig said as Hector to chuckle, despite the wound that was inflicted on him.
"Nah, I'm beat..." Hector cut in their conversation, "That sword damaged my Spirit Core but not enough for me to clock out just yet...Heh...It's a miracle this old man can still talk..."
'Is this…how Servants are able to fight?' Anne thought as she silently stared at Kenji. 'Will I be able to do this like Kenji if I use my cards?'
"If that hurts too much, I can make it quick and painless," Kenji offered flatly as he points his sword towards his chest.
"It's fine... I suck at playing the villain... but at least I can die as one."
"Before you bite the dust, Hector," Anne spoke as she steps forward, "Why are you after us?" she asked, using her authority as one of the victors.
"Don't know. I guess I just really wanted to see if you guys are up to par. You did well young man and you young lady…well you didn't use one of your cards, but you did well with that throw. Never expected my own weapon was the distraction." Hector said as he started coughing blood.
"Are there others," Anne said as her eyes narrowed, "Are there other Servants in Amphibia?"
Hector's smug smile confirmed their worst assumption. There are more Rouge Servants in this world, and they may or may not be allies with them.
"How many are there?" Kenji said gritting his teeth, the Sword of the Strange Hangings now pointed at Hector's head to strike if he upset him further, "Tell me now before I put an end to you."
"Sorry, can't say I know personally." Hector answered, understanding Kenji's wrath at him. "Kenji Richards...Anne Boonchuy, right?" The two humans widened her eyes when Hector called out their full name. "You both are good kids, selfless as well. I could see that. But you see..." Hector coughed up blood, then forced himself to smile, "...The other Servants in this world may or may not be so kind," he said grimly. "Despite everything... I wish you guys the best of luck."
Kenji was startled when Hector's body glowed, sparkling lights surrounded him as he slowly turned transparent. The whole group realized he's at his limit. However, before he fully disappears, Hector pulls out an old fashion thin paper cylinder that looked like that of a cigarette. Lighting it with his ebony gauntlet and the smell coming from it confirms it.
"Consider my answers as the trophy for your victory, kids," Hector said, waving goodbye as he takes one last drag of smoke before blowing it out of his mouth. "If you ever end up in Throne of Heroes, give me a call and we can another fight or heck have a drink on me!" with that and a hearty laugh, Hector of the Gleaming Helmet left this world with only the cigarette being left behind. Kenji walks forwards as he picks up the cigarette and snuffs it out.
"I suppose you want to know what he was talking about?" Kenji ask the group as they nodded their heads as the young man looked back to where the rough servant was and sighed before the whole group returned home.
Things are about to get harder for Kenji and Anne in Amphibia.