Warmth. That's the first sensation Tulip felt enveloping her upon waking up, before her eyes even opened. The kind of warmth you'd feel by wrapping a big, thick, cushy blanket around yourself in a rainy night, but better. Infinitely better. And oddly familiar. The warmth would have lulled her back to sleep, and it nearly did, until she felt warm air tickling the back of her neck.
Her eyes snapped open. The events of the previous night came flooding back. The chase with the beast. Getting saved by Anne. The city of human buildings. Luz and her magic glyphs. Eating the best meal she's had in months. Lying down on a bed sent straight from heaven.
She's still there, on that bed, lying on her side. It was all real. So was the night stand by the bed, the earthy brown wallpaper covering the walls of the bedroom, and the orbs of light floating near the ceiling at the edge of her vision. So were her pale arms, free from any scars or bruises. So were the other pair of arms, darker and bigger than hers, extending from somewhere behind her to wrap her in a loose hug.
Warm air tickled her neck again. Breathing. It was someone's breathing.
Tulip craned her neck around, slowly, until she caught a glimpse of a wild mass of brown, unruly hair. Oh.
Heat rapidly gathered at Tulip's cheeks. How quickly she went from touch-starved to touch-bloated. She wouldn't say she hated the situation - far from it - but after getting carried around all night by Anne, Luz's hands-on ministrations of the healing glyphs, and now this, it was all too much for her heart to handle. At least, this woke her up better than a cup of coffee ever did.
She should get up. Yeah, that's a good idea.
Tulip scooted forward ever so slightly, keeping her pace slow so as to not disturb Anne's slumber. She softly nudged Anne's right arm off of her once it impeded her progress and tried not to miss how warm it felt. But Anne mumbled some incoherent phrase, and Tulip froze, and was too slow to move out of the way when Anne's arm returned, wrapping around Tulip and dragging her closer until her back was pressing against Anne's chest. It took everything within Tulip to keep her noise limited to a squeak, now trapped in a tighter hug than before.
Well. Okay.
This is fine.
Once steam had stopped fuming from her ears and her heart stopped beating a million miles an hour, Tulip tried again. She's faster this time, and used more force, moving to the edge of the bed until she freed herself from Anne's limbs. Anne shifted to lie on her back, her lips mumbling nonsense, eyes fluttering for a moment, before she returned to deep slumber. Tulip breathed out. Let a few more moments pass for her heart to settle.
Tulip sat up on the edge of the bed. A hiss escaped her as the tips of her toes touched down on the cold, ceramic floor. Her boots were left at the foot of the bed, and she briefly thought of slipping it on to avoid the cold floor, but decided against it. She'd experienced far worse than literal cold feet, and she doubted putting on her sodden, mud-caked boots would be an improvement.
Going barefoot certainly made it easier to reach the door without making a sound. Opening the door produced little more than a click and a rustle from a slight breeze. Tulip quickly slipped outside and closed the door behind her. She would rather not disturb Anne's rest any more than she already has.
It felt good to be standing on her own two feet again, after spending most of last night being carried around from one place to another, as she took in her surroundings. The apartment looked the same as what little she saw the night before. Biggest difference was the lack of light orbs everywhere. The faint smell of smoke lingered in the air, emanating from the living room down the corridor to her right. Morning sunlight streaked through the apartment from the glass sliding doors to her left, which lead to a small balcony, currently occupied. Luz was sitting on the railing, her back to Tulip, staring into the distance with her feet dangling over the edge. Her staff was placed nearby, leaning against the railing.
Luz must have heard the door clicking open, or the shuffling of Tulip's feet on wood, because she turned immediately, and greeted Tulip with a smile. "Oh, hey! Good morning, Tulip."
"M-morning." Tulip immediately clamped her mouth shut. She didn't expect to stumble over her words like that. Maybe she wasn't as calm as she thought she was.
"Hope you had a good sleep." Luz pivoted in place, vaulting her legs over the railing. "Cómo estás? How you feeling?"
Embarrassed. Flustered. A little cold? "Good," she said instead. "Mhm. Yeah. Peachy."
Luz slid down the railing and skipped through the glass doors, picking up her staff along the way. Her head tilted to one side, seeing past the (obvious) lie. "You sure? Is everything okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Tulip reassured. Despite the now-familiar warmth creeping back to her cheeks, she didn't want Luz to think something actually bad was bothering her. "It's just, um- Anne was- she's, um-"
Luz's eyes widened ever so slightly. There's a weird look of understanding and… pity? Aimed at Tulip. "Oh no, did she drool on you? That happened to me once."
"No, n-no," Tulip quickly said, and paused. She never actually checked. A discrete pat-down of her neck and back produced no suspicious wet patches. "Nope. She didn't."
"She's, uh. She was hugging me. When I woke up." She must be blushing now, no doubt about it. Where was this coming from? She's pretty sure she'd blushed more in the last twelve hours than she did in the past five months. "Wasn't, uh. Wasn't really expecting that."
"Yeah, she does that. She likes being the big spoon." Luz smiled, a fond smile, retrieved from first-hand experience. In a weird way, Tulip felt comforted to not be alone in that regard.
"Weird, right? Everyone likes being the little spoon." Luz lowered her head conspiratorially and waggled her eyebrows. "Not that I'm complaining, know what I mean?"
Oh, my. Tulip bit back a smile, shyly averting her gaze to a power socket on the wall. Anne just has that effect on people, it seemed. "I think I do."
Luz's smile grew wider, more mischievous, seeing it. "I'd offer you breakfast, but that's gonna have to wait until Anne's up. In the meantime, if you wanna wash up, the bathroom's all yours. Already heated some water for ya. Unless you like your showers cold?"
Tulip's jaw dropped. A shower? With hot water? The offer sounded too good to be true. The opportunity to wash herself came few and far in between on the train - she recalled the longest she went without one was nearly twenty straight days - and none of those opportunities ever included something as luxurious as heated water. One of the many things she took for granted back in North Branch.
The shock eventually passed her enough so she could actually say, "I'll take the hot water, thanks."
Luz spun the staff in her hand, hooking one end on the bathroom's door handle, pulled down, and let the door swing open. Tulip watched Luz easily return the staff to her side, handling the object with the grace and dexterity of someone who must have spent months or perhaps even years honing the skill. Something looked a little off about the staff itself, though. She could have sworn an owl carving formed the head of the staff when she saw it last night.
"Toda suya. All yours."
But the thought was quickly abandoned. The sight of a bucket filled with clean, warm water in the shower cubicle, a light trail of steam heading to the ceiling, was like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Tulip eagerly stepped inside, and swung the door shut behind her with maybe a little too much force. A giggle sang from the other side of the door, and she found herself blushing again.
The warm water did wonders for her body, her mind, she's not hesitant to say even her soul. There were actual soap and shampoo available for her to use, too. The one-use sachets she packed with her when she left home had long since run out during her first month on the train. Yet another luxury that she'll never take for granted again. Stepping out of the shower cubicle with a puff of steam, Tulip felt refreshed, her mind sharper, and she certainly smelled better than she'd ever been in a long time.
A short, not-quite laugh escaped Tulip's lips after she slipped on her white shirt and grey skirt and tights. What were the chances? She honestly wanted to know. Stuck in yet another other world, only to fall into the embrace of the two kindest people she's ever met. Anne and Luz eagerly accepted her - a complete stranger - into their shelter, healed all of her wounds, fed her, let her sleep on their bed, and now, this. All without expecting anything in return. One in a million didn't feel enough. One in a billion felt closer, but not quite.
A wave of guilt seeped into her heart for barely answering their questions at all last night, and a second, smaller wave followed, for needing to have Anne save her again. Maybe that could be her way of repaying them. Not every question, but some. Some that she's ready to answer.
Tulip turned to the sink and actually laughed this time, noticing three toothbrushes on the counter, each with a label - an 'A', 'L', and 'T'. She picked the one labeled 'T', used some leftover water from the bucket to wet the brush, wiped the condensation from the mirror, and stared face to face with the wall behind her.
Oh. Yeah. That happened. Wonder how she's doing now. Hopefully well, wherever she is on the train.
Three quick knocks came from the bathroom door. "You decent?" Luz's muffled voice asked from the other side.
"I'm good. Come in."
The door swung open and Luz poked her head in, eyes squinting through the leftover steam. "Soooo, I don't know if you even wanna keep your jacket, and I'm not saying I'm at all great at sewing, but I tried to patch it up. I think I did an okay job? But you be the judge."
Luz tossed a bundle of fabric at Tulip which she easily caught. She let it unfurl, revealing her well-worn jacket, patched up like Luz said. Some of the stitching was rough, here and there, but it was miles better than the state it was in after her chase through the jungle. "This is-" Tulip swallowed a happy sob and more than a few tears of joy. Yet another act of kindness. "You did amazing, Luz. Thank you."
"Aw, shucks. Just needed something to do while I'm keeping watch." Red stained Luz's cheeks, and something like pride swelled in Tulip's chest over being on the giving end of a blush for a change.
Tulip yanked the zipper down, and had to stop herself from slipping the jacket on too fast, lest she end up ruining Luz's hard work, keeping her motions slow and careful. Immediately, it felt good. It felt right. Was it strange to be so attached to a jacket? She's been wearing it for so long, it's almost a part of her now.
"Also! Noticed your hair kinda kept bothering you, so I went through the other rooms and I found some spare hair ti-"
Tulip was too preoccupied with the sensation of the jacket back around her body, that she didn't notice at first, how Luz stopped midsentence. How Luz stared ahead, eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. When she did, she was confused, because Luz wasn't even looking at her. She followed the line of Luz's gaze.
To the mirror.
Oh. Oh crap.
"Uh."
Tulip stepped forward. "I can explain-"
"Uhhh!"
Luz scrambled away from the bathroom until her back hit the bedroom door. When Tulip stepped out of the bathroom, hands raised diplomatically, Luz backed away again, scraping against the wall in the direction of the balcony, her staff now in hand.
"W-wait! Wait! I know this kinda looks bad, but-"
Luz raised the staff defensively between her and Tulip. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You- you hold it! You stay where you are!"
"Luz, I promise you, it's not what you think!"
The sound of a door opening came from behind Tulip, followed by padded footsteps against ceramic. "Wozzat? S'with all the screaming?" Anne mumbled, alarmed and on edge, but still blinking away the sleep in her eyes.
Luz was faster than Tulip on the draw. "Anne, Tulip's a vampire!"
There was a long beat, Anne blinking once, twice, her head slowly tilting to one side, all but asking if she heard that right. "…what?"
"I'm- I'm not-"
"I saw it! In the bathroom! She doesn't have a reflection!" Luz pointed frantically at the bathroom door left ajar, the last of the steam trailing away.
It was tiny, and probably didn't mean anything, but something in Tulip's chest ached when Anne shifted her left foot behind her right. "Tulip? That true?"
"Yes, it's true. I don't have a reflection anymore. But it's not because I'm a vampire!" Tulip groaned into her clammy palms. This was the absolute worst way for them to find out.
"The train that I told you about last night. The one I was stuck on. When I said it's weird, I mean it." Her head flipped back and forth between a guarded Anne and an alarmed Luz. "There's a car with talking corgis. There's a car that's literally a giant crossword puzzle. There's a car filled with, just, ducks!"
"The point is, I am not a vampire." But were her words even worth anything? Evidence. They need hard evidence. "I'll prove it! I'll step out into the sunlight. If there's a cross anywhere, feel free to shove it in my face. If you have any garlic, I'll eat it. Raw."
"That's… please don't eat raw garlic." The concern in Anne's voice was real, familiar, and far more preferable than the cautious tone from earlier. "Tulip, if you say there's an explanation… then I believe you."
Tulip didn't remember when she started holding her breath. Her chest felt lighter, being able to breathe freely again. Saved by Anne, once more.
Anne's gaze moved to somewhere over Tulip's shoulder. "So drop the staff, Luz. It's too early to be bonking people in the head." The gaze hardened, and her reluctance to do so was apparent. "And apologize. For freaking out like that, and scaring Tulip."
Tulip turned to face Luz, who's trying her best to hide behind her staff. "I… that might've been a little too much," she gritted out. Luz hated that she had to say that. A lot. "Sorry."
"It's…" Fine? Nothing? What was Tulip trying to say? What was there to say? "…I get it. I'm sorry too, I guess."
A beat passed, with Tulip never been more aware of the fact that, despite everything Anne and Luz had done for her, they were complete strangers to her, and she's a stranger to them.
Anne broke the silence with a hum from the back of her throat. "Okay. Look. How's about we… talk this out over breakfast, hm?
Neither Tulip nor Luz said a word, but they both gave a slow nod.
"Good. So, I'll just, uh." Anne pointed a stilted finger towards the kitchen. "Breakfast."
Luz did end up handing Tulip that hair tie, when they sat down around the dead fire pit in the living room. Tulip accepted the hair tie, mumbled a thanks, bundled up her hair behind her, and tied it off in a ponytail. Just like that, she felt complete. Ready for whatever comes next.
Breakfast came next. Anne entered the room with three steaming bowls in hand. More of the meat and gravy dish from dinner, which Tulip didn't mind at all. Still the second best meal she's had in a while. Anne sat down at the same spot from last night. A silent look from her as she raised a spoon to her mouth told Tulip, to start whenever she's ready. Tulip scooped a spoonful of meat and shoved it in her mouth, savoring every bite. God, that's good.
Okay. Tulip began.
Her dumb decision to walk all the way to Oshkosh in the middle of winter. Stumbling across the train. Her first encounter with One-One. The Cat. Atticus and Corginia. The Chrome Car, where she met, clashed, and eventually befriended her own reflection, and helped her escape the mirror world to become her own person. The fake Conductor, and the true Conductor. Saying her final farewell to One-One and Atticus. Stepping through the exit, only to end up here. It really only dawned on her now, after she's laid it out bare, just how bizarre her adventure had been.
It really only dawned on her now, just how much was weighing down her chest. She felt so light afterwards, like she's floating. It was… relieving.
Some things, she left out. The divorce, those awful dog-sized cockroach creatures, Atticus turning into one of them, was among the few. Either she didn't want to upset Anne and Luz (the creatures), she wasn't ready to talk about it (the divorce), or both (Atticus). Something told her they knew, and understood, and respected that decision. They had stories they weren't ready to tell too.
The tension from earlier slowly melted with every sentence leaving Tulip's lips. Anne and Luz - especially Luz - leaned forward in their seats, completely absorbed, hanging on to every word of Tulip's story. Jokes even started to bounce between the three ("You had to sing?" "We have to hear you sing now." "…you don't, trust me."). Laughs, too. She remembered this, this warm feeling filling her chest, from another life in a different world.
Wonder how Mikayla's doing.
"Wait, wait, wait," Anne cut in as Tulip was reiterating the details of her time in the Chrome Car, eyes narrowing, "so does this chrome car bring reflections to life? Or is our reflection's been sentient this entire time?"
"I think… it's a bit of both?"
Luz hummed with a blank smile. "That's one more thing to keep me up at night."
All Tulip could offer was an awkward chuckle. Hope they don't become afraid of mirrors or anything.
"And the numbers." Luz's voice pitched lower. The light behind her eyes… it made no sense, but it shined brighter and darker. It was the only way Tulip could describe what she saw. "How does the train, just, decide what number to give you?"
Sometimes, Tulip wondered if she should've stayed on the train a little longer, to ask these questions herself. But would One-One even give her the answer? "I don't have an answer to that."
"…feels so wrong." Luz set her empty bowl down and pulled her knees to her chest. "Giving a number to… feelings. And problems. And how life works."
Was it? Numbers are easy to understand, easy to figure out. As much frustration as the number gave her during her early days on the train, it still gave her a clear goal. She shuddered to think what her time on the train would have been like if she didn't have the numbers. She might never have gotten her exit. She wouldn't mind if more things in life had numbers assigned to them.
"Sounds like you and I are the same, Tulip," Anne said, not letting silence settle. "Got zapped off to another world without really having a say about it." She elbowed Luz's side with a smirk. "Unlike this mad lass."
Luz lurched with a wheeze. That… looked like it actually hurt. "Yeah, well. I did lose my only way home for a while, so I ended up stuck anyway." She cringed a smile, surreptitiously rubbing the spot where Anne struck her. "I still get to be a part of the isekai club."
That confirmed something Tulip had suspected from the things they said to her and each other, their little remarks, the way they treat one another. Anne and Luz had been to worlds entirely different from the train, and from each other. And who's to say it stopped there? Who's to say the Earth they each came from was even the same Earth?
There are billions and billions of planets, stars, galaxies in the universe. How many worlds could possibly exist in a multiverse?
Oh, Anne and Luz shot glances at each other, in a conversation without words. Maybe this question can be shelved for another time.
"Y'know, since Tulip's told us her story, s'only fair we return the favor, right?" Anne finally voiced the result.
"It's only fair," Luz agreed.
An eager smile made its way to Tulip's lips before she could control herself. She bit her lip, shrinking into herself in a futile attempt to save face. "Only if you're okay with telling it."
"We're happy to share it with you, Tulip." The amusement in Luz's voice was apparent, but her words still eased Tulip's heart. "I'll start."
Luz rose to her feet, staff in hand, and… struck a pose? A hand pressed to her chest, fingers closed to a fist, with her eyes shut, head tilted at a slight angle, and her expression somber. To the side, Anne rolled her eyes, trying to hold back a grin and failing miserably. What's happening now?
"My story began like many stories do: with a fourteen year old girl mucking things up just a liiiitle too much at school. Alas, the girl's mother decided enough was enough, and sent her off to one of the most vile, most desolate place in the world, where she'll be forced to conform and follow the rules or some crap."
"Dude, it's a summer camp."
"Hush, interloper! It's stuffy, miserable, and all kinds of problematic!" The threatening finger pointing between Anne's eyes only drew an amused laugh from her. Luz quickly reassumed the stance of an esteemed storyteller. "Call it luck, or a twist of fate, but before the girl could board the bus that will send her to her doom, the cutest little owl nabbed her favorite Azura book and led her to a mysterious demon door, a gateway to a world known as… the Boiling Isles."
With a flourish of her hands, a cluster of light orbs took to the air like a swarm of fireflies, casting the room in its gentle, twinkling light. Tulip watched with slack jaws as the orbs, initially floating at random, began to move, converge, and eventually settle, forming a rough silhouette of what must be, she surmised, the Boiling Isles.
Anne blinked once, twice, before asking, "Where'd you pull all that paper?"
Luz continued as if she heard nothing. "A magical society of witches and witchcraft built upon the corpse of a long dead Titan. A land ruled by an oppressive emperor with just the most rancid vibes, and fraught by danger at every turn. It was not at all the PG fantasy experience that the girl has always wanted. Luckily, she quickly found herself under the care of none other than Eda the Owl Lady, the-!"
"Most powerful witch of the Boiling Isles!" Anne swiftly returned to her regular sitting position with a mockingly sweet smile on her face, acting as if she wasn't just mimicking Luz's dramatic pose and that Luz didn't spot the tail end of her performance.
Luz looked annoyed, but something told Tulip she actually wasn't. Luz knew Anne's game, very much amused by it, and looking annoyed was how she played along. "Oh, you laugh now. Wait till I do it ten times when it's your turn."
"Looking forward to it."
"Now, where was-? Right." Luz cleared her throat and let the actress within her take over again. "The girl lived under Eda's roof for a time, learning what she can under the Owl Lady's somewhat mediocre tutelage. But that wasn't enough for the girl! Her thirst for magical knowledge was insatiable, and that thirst eventually led her to the front doors of… Hexside School of Magic and Demonics!"
"You're wasting paper."
Luz's hands were halfway through the motion of another flourish when Anne's words stopped them dead in their tracks. Luz shot a blank-faced Anne a severe look, before releasing the orbs of light anyway. They never broke eye contact.
Like before, the orbs swam aimlessly in the air for a moment, before moving in unison like it's gained a mind of its own. This time, it formed into some kind of emblem that Tulip was not familiar with. Must be the symbol for this Hexside place.
"Within the halls of this magic academy, the girl further deepened her study of magic, even becoming the first in Hexside's history to study in all nine major Coven tracks at once! But academia wasn't the only thing the girl had to worry about, as she found herself embroiled in the kind of high stakes social drama you could only find in your typical magic academy. She formed bonds of friendship, encountered some real annoying rivals, and even experienced-" Luz suddenly stopped, almost like she choked, the words she meant to say clogging up her windpipe, as her cheeks rapidly gained a shade of red, "m-more friendship. Yeah."
Luz pressed a closed knuckle against her lips under the pretense of coughing and clearing her throat, but it wasn't difficult to see she's fighting back hard against a smile that came with the blush. Tulip cocked her head, and even Anne raised a questioning eyebrow. Seemed this was a seldom seen side of Luz for Anne as well.
"But, the girl's new life in this new world was in danger. The cruel tyrant that ruled the Boiling Isles, Emperor Belos, has concocted a plan that threatens her home and her loved ones, both old and new. The girl cannot simply sit idly by and let that tyrant do as he pleases. She must take the fight to the Emperor." Luz's voice hardened, her gaze like steel. The showmanship was abandoned, replaced by something raw. Another new side of Luz that Tulip had yet to see had made itself known.
"It was a difficult battle. Hands didn't stay clean. Sacrifices were made. At times… she felt it's hopeless to continue." For a moment, her eyes were clouded, lost in her own memories, but a light - Luz's light - broke through the dark, illuminating with perfect clarity. "But she cannot give up. What's at stake was too great. Too important. Her friends didn't let her give up, too. They kept her going. Reminded her that she's not alone. Never alone."
There was a word Tulip wanted to use to describe Luz that she couldn't quite pinpoint until now. Something electric shot up her spine when she realized she's in the presence of a hero.
"Yes, it was difficult, it was harrowing, but it was a battle worth fighting for. In the end, it was a battle where we emerged victorious."
Likening someone's smile to rays of sunshine was, in Tulip's opinion, one of the cheesiest things you could do, but wow. Just. Wow.
"We toppled Belos' rule, brought light back to the Boiling Isles, and set its people free, once and for all."
The orbs of light dotting the ceiling blinked out of existence, one by one. Luz let a breath escape her. Let her eyes close. Let herself enjoy her victory.
"And thus, a chapter closed on the girl's story, and another chapter began, on yet another new world."
Like any good performer, Luz closed her story with a graceful bow. Anne began clapping, and Tulip was quick to join in. What a story. Tulip will never see Luz in the same light ever again. Never in a million years would Tulip have guessed that this sweet girl who nurtured her back to health have toppled a monarchy before.
"And us peasants have no choice but to stan," Anne said with a lopsided smile.
"Yeah, that was… that was a lot," Tulip breathed shakily, suddenly feeling a little intimidated to be around Luz. Her story took quite an escalating turn at the end. Tulip's still swallowing all of it in.
Luz plopped down on one of the easy chairs, gesturing towards Anne, then to the center of the room. "Anne, the stage is yours."
"…yeah, I am not putting on a show like that."
"Boo."
Anne scooted along the floor until she reached a pink backpack in the corner, placed next to Tulip's backpack, as well as a rapier and a crossbow. She reached inside and pulled out a small chest, made of dark wood and lined with gold engravings, depicting tropical trees and some kind of frog. Three gems were embedded on top of the chest, each one colored a dull grey. Anne set the chest down on her lap, running a thumb along its side as she regarded Tulip and Luz.
"Well. The whole thing started with me, my friends, Sasha and Marcy, and this music box that we… borrowed."
"Stole," Luz cut in, making good on her promise early.
Anne was not surprised. She looked pleased, if anything. "The status will become borrowed when we get back."
"Anyway. Surprise, surprise, the music box is magic, or- something. You open it, and boom." Anne flipped the box open, facing Tulip and Luz. The inside was dark, glossy, and empty. "Zapped to another world."
"The place is called Amphibia. Named like that because the folks living in it are all amphibians. Frogs, toads, newts, with some axolotls and salamanders on the side. Makes you glad Earth isn't called 'Humania', right?" Anne cracked a quick, cheesy grin. "The box separated me from Sasha and Marcy. First few days, I was on my own. Just this feral girl in the wild, scrambling to survive."
Anne's gaze fell on the box and… she didn't look sad, not quite, but suddenly Tulip remembered this girl is still a kid not much older than her and how wrong it was that Tulip managed to forget that. Luz did look sad, like she's doing it on Anne's behalf. Anne seemed to sense the looks of pity, not bothering to look up to start squirming.
"No, don't- I handled myself, okay? I'm here, aren't I?" Anne smiled, and it would have been comforting if Tulip didn't know better. "I wound up under the care of this frog family - the Plantars." She reached inside a side pocket on the pink bag and pulled out, to Tulip's surprise, a fully functioning phone. She unlocked it and showed off a selfie she took. Along with her grinning with a peace sign were two anthropomorphic frogs, a giant tadpole holding a flail in their flippers, and a horse-sized snail. It was not the weirdest thing Tulip has ever seen, but it came close.
"That's Sprig, he's my best buddy, the little polliwog there is Sprig's little sister, Polly, and the old frog on the snail is our grandpa, Hop Pop. They were super nice to me. Like, way nicer than they should. They're even willing to help me figure out a way home. Thought they were just eager to get rid of me, at first, but no. They were legit."
The happiness in Anne's voice as she talked about the frog family was genuine, and a little infectious. "So I stayed with them for a while, in this little town called Wartwood. Killed time with getting into shenanigans-"
"Shen-Anne-igans."
Luz looked way too proud of that one. Even Anne agreed. "Congrats. Like it takes a geni-Luz to come- no, no, god, that's worse."
Tulip bit her lip, and tried, "Try Tulip-sen to some of mine if you really want something bad."
Anne groan-laughed, while Luz sighed dramatically. "Awful. Beautiful," she swooned. "A girl after my own heart."
"Shenanigans, getting to know the townsfolk, trying not to get killed, or eaten, or killed then eaten. It's, uh, kinda wild, thinking back, just how much time I spent goofing off, until…"
Anne scrunched her brows, and Tulip couldn't tell if she's simply trying to recall something from memory or if the hesitation Tulip sensed wasn't something she imagined.
"Until the weather let up, and we can make the trip to Newtopia, to figure out how to get me home."
Nothing more from Anne. No reaction from Luz, either. Maybe Tulip did imagine it.
"That's Amphibia's capital city," Luz added.
"And also, apparently, where Marcy ended up. The box zapped her smack dab in the middle of the city. And then she used some mad RPG know-how to work her way up until she's some big hotshot that can get chummy with the king of Amphibia. Marcy's been trying to find a way home too, her and the king, and doing a much better job at that than I was." She lifted the box in her lap and gave it a shake. "This box? It's out of power. It used up some energy getting from Earth to Amphibia, and the rest of it got scattered around. Three guesses where all that power ended up."
Anne's eyes flashed a brilliant, familiar blue. Tulip couldn't decide whether the thought of at least two more people like Anne existing out there was intriguing or terrifying.
"These three gems? They used to be blue - me - purple - Sasha - and green - Marcy. 'Course, we didn't know that back then. We didn't know we have superpowers for, like, seventy percent of our time there. What we do know is that there are temples all over Amphibia that can charge the box. So, that's where we went next. Even ran into Sasha along the way. She ended up with the toads."
Anne rubbed the back of her neck, slouching a little more where she sat cross-legged on the floor. "Also, turns out, there's this whole weird prophecy about me, and Marcy, and Sasha? I dunno, the details are vague and frustrating and s'not really that important."
"Oh my god." A sudden, outraged whine came from Luz. "Can you believe the blasphemy leaving this girl's mouth?"
Anne shot back with a pointed side-eye. "What's your problem?"
"You got a whole-ass prophecy to yourself, and you just called it weird and not important!"
"It is!"
Luz groused, crossing her arms. "The nerve of some people."
Anne ignored her and continued her story. "So, yeah. Me, and Sasha, and Marcy are finally back together, and we found out about the whole energy and superpower thing. Didn't need to go to any temple in the end. We can recharge the box ourselves."
Anne placed a hand on the lid. Her eyes glowed blue again, but they gradually lose their shine. At the same time, one of the gems on the box started to gain color, until it shined with the same brilliant blue as Anne's eyes. Anne flipped the lid open, revealing the interior filled a third of the way up by some kind of blue… not-liquid, that shifted and bubbled like boiling water, but crackled and zapped completely unlike boiling water.
"Like that." Anne tilted the box in Tulip's direction, goading her to have a closer look. Tulip was hesitant, but as always, her curiosity won out, and she leaned closer, quickly losing herself in the motions of the glowing not-liquid. Even Luz leaned in, mesmerized like Tulip.
Without warning, Anne plunged her hand into the box. The not-liquid splashed like water, but rapidly coalesced and seeped into Anne's hand like it's a sponge. A pulse shot up her body, the nerves in her arm, body, head lighting up blue in a wave, before everything settled to normal. Anne barely batted an eye at the whole process. Like she'd done this hundreds of times.
"Once we got that figured out, it was just a matter of leaving. I said goodbye to the Plantars. Thanked them for everything. Promised them we'll see each other again, someday. Sasha and Marcy also had folks they had to say goodbye to. It was, uh, a pretty rough day." Anne fell silent, and both Tulip and Luz allowed it to stretch for as long as it needed to be. "We put our energy into the box, open it, and boom. Bye bye, Amphibia."
"And hello, this… world. That we're stuck in, again. I think that was everything." Half a beat passed before Anne snapped her fingers. "Oh! Also, fulfilled that prophecy thing. I guess."
Just like Anne said. Everyone came with a story. Stories far more impressive than Tulip's. It was definitely not their intention to make her feel inferior - the reason they shared their story in the first place was to make it fair for Tulip, after all - but she felt smaller all the same. Maybe that's just the natural reaction to suddenly finding yourself in the company of a revolutionary hero and a superpowered figure of prophecy, when you're only a runaway from a divorced home.
"Thanks for indulging me. You and Luz both." Tulip smiled, and it did help with the tightness in her chest, just a little bit. She set her mind to sorting all the new information that she'd received, about Anne and Luz, about Amphibia, about the Boiling Isles, and about Anne's friends, Sasha and Marcy.
Huh. Something about those three names, in that order, tickled the back of her mind. Reminded her of cold dinners alone in front of the television late at night, in another world, in another life.
"Hey, you went first. Like I said, s'only fair." Anne shrugged, then not-so-subtly darted her eyes towards Luz. "'Sides, methinks you're not the only one indulging yourself."
Luz blew her lips, but made no retort to defend herself. "Like that saying about Rome, all methods of interdimensional travel led to here," she said instead. "Anne got here the earliest. About ten days ago, right?" She got a nod. "I got here two days after, and then we ran into each other a day later."
"Almost literally," Anne added, with a fond smile and a tiny giggle.
Tulip did the math in her head. The answer came as a shock to her. "You've only known each other for a week?" she asked, incredulous. "You two act like you have been friends for months."
Luz got off her seat and crossed the room just to wrangle Anne by the neck into a crushing hug, wearing a grin that split her face. "What can I say? We are just meant to be."
"Soulmates brought together by destiny. Or something," Anne sang, circling an arm around Luz and leaning into the hug, peals of laughter shaking her body and spreading to Luz. It was all very sweet, and infectious enough to get Tulip to start giggling too.
Anne breathed a sigh. She untangled her arm from the hug. The look on her face had turned… not quite pensive, but she's not smiling anymore.
"Tulip," she started. "There's one more thing we need to tell you."
Luz seemed to understand what's happening. Her smile vanishing, she released Anne, sitting down beside her, a small but noticeable gap between them.
"There's this one other girl, besides the three of us, who ended up here."
The sentence struck Tulip like lightning. Electric, energizing, paralyzing.
"She called herself Twelve. Ended up here with friends too - two of them - like me and Luz," Anne continued. "I think she's been here the longest out of any of us."
If she hadn't met One-One, she would've considered the name odd. Instead, her mind raced, connecting the unsaid dots. "So you think she might know something about this world?"
"Anne does," Luz chimed in, staring straight ahead. "I wouldn't know. Never met Twelve. Anne's the only one who's actually talked to her."
There was a brief moment, where Anne spared Luz a side-eye, and for the life of her, Tulip couldn't figure out what it meant. "Ran into her twice before I met Luz. Both times we talked- well, I say 'talk'; it was mostly just her spouting ramblings that I couldn't make sense of. But the way that she talked - it's like she knows this place. Kept acting like this place is her backyard. Or, at least, like it's supposed to be."
The dots all seemed to lead to a single point. "So she might know something about how to leave?" Tulip tentatively tried.
"Exactly! And then some." Anne turned to look at Luz. "See? Tulip gets it."
Luz hugged her knees to her chest, not meeting Anne's gaze. "I keep telling you, we should focus on finding our friends."
"Then tell me, where do we start?"
Luz didn't answer. She just sat there in silence, wilting under Anne's stare.
Tulip leaned forward, and hoped her tone didn't come across as accusatory. "Why don't you want to find Twelve?"
"I don't- it's not that I don't want to find Twelve. It's just- we don't really need to find her," clarified Luz. "We already know how to leave. We know two! Anne's box, and the demon door that I have."
"Except the box needs to be fully charged to work, and that can't happen without my friends," Anne countered.
Luz blew a sigh. "And I handed the key to the demon door to Amity, right before she got taken."
Tulip blinked. "What?"
"So yeah, if we find our friends, we get a way home. Possibly," Anne summarized. Was she not going to comment on what Luz said? "And if we find Twelve, she can help us find our friends."
"Might help us," Luz corrected. "You said it yourself. She's rambling so much, you could barely get through to her. Why are you so sure she'll help us?"
Okay, just going to completely breeze past it. Fine.
"Because her friends are missing too, Luz!" Anne pressed. "If she helps us, we'll help her. Win-win!"
"It doesn't seem like you made any progress without Twelve." Maybe that came out a little harsher than Tulip intended, but maybe they shouldn't have ignored her. "I'm new here, so correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like finding Twelve is the only real option we have."
Luz made a noise from the back of her throat as she bumped her forehead against her knee. She raised her head, opened her mouth-
Rapid raps against glass echoed from down the hallway. Tulip nearly jumped out of her seat. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. Wasn't this city supposed to be completely empty?
"Owlbert!"
Luz bolted to her feet and scrambled out of the room, tailed closely by Anne. Tulip stared blankly for a moment, before following after them.
The culprit of the noise was a small, brown owl, pecking away at the closed glass door. Luz slid the door open and the owl flew up to perch on her finger.
"What is it, Owlbert? Did you see something?" she asked. Was the owl Luz's pet? Where has it been all this time?
The owl, apparently named Owlbert, stared up at Luz and nodded.
Anne's eyes twinkled. "Could be Twelve."
"Could be lots of other things," Luz grimly reminded.
"Either way, I'm heading out." Anne had already disappeared into the bedroom halfway through the sentence.
Luz made her move too. She let Owlbert hop off from her finger onto the balcony railing before dashing inside, passing Tulip into the living room. "I'm coming with you," she called out.
Anne emerged from the bedroom, armored in the same manner as she was last night, sheathed sword in hand. "No."
"No?" Luz, now with her staff in hand and a cape draped over her shoulders, currently shoving paper into her pockets and satchel, froze in the middle of the corridor.
"You stay here. Protect Tulip," Anne ordered, not even looking at Luz. She slid her sword from its sheath, taking a moment to inspect its state before sliding it back inside and slinging it across her chest once she's satisfied.
Something about Anne's tone didn't sit right with Tulip. Maybe she's developing a dislike to being dismissed. "Hey, I can take care of myself."
"So can I!" Luz emphasized her point by slamming her staff down. "You keep doing this, Anne. I get it, you're the protective type. The team mom. Figured that out on day one. But we don't need to be babied like this!"
"That's not-" Anne took a deep breath, before fixing them both with a look. No, the Look. "Twelve's… twitchy. Bringing people she doesn't know might scare her off."
"What if it isn't Twelve?"
Luz was met with a casual shrug. "Well, if they try to beat me up, I'll beat 'em up back. If they're nice, then we're getting a new friend."
Luz looked annoyed, and this time, something told Tulip she actually was. Anne missed the look. She'd already turned around, stepping out into the balcony.
"Hey, Owlbert. I'll give you all the treats you want if you show me the way," she offered. The little owl seemed ecstatic to oblige, nodding, and quickly taking flight into the city.
"Aaaand she bribed the palisman," Luz grumbled under her breath, taking a step towards the balcony. "Anne, we gotta-"
Anne pivoted in place. A translucent, glowing blue barrier materialized out of thin air, filling the corridor from floor to ceiling, completely cutting off Luz and Tulip from the balcony. Anne stood on the other side, her outstretched hand falling back to her side.
Tulip gaped. That's apparently a thing Anne could do.
Luz pounded on the barrier with her fist. "Really?"
"If you're worried about me, don't be." Through the barrier, Anne cracked an easy grin. "Nothing hurts me."
Anne spun around, leapt over the railing, and disappeared from sight.
Famous last words?
So, I stopped caring about the word count. I stopped caring whether or not a chapter is getting too long. A chapter is going to be as long as it needs to be. Look where that got me. Like, holy shit. This got way the fuck away from me. It's not like I'm trying to make each chapter longer than the last. It just happens. Ah, well. I'm just glad I managed to finish it before midterms rolls around.
I know most of this chapter is going to be exposition central, so I tried to make it as interesting as possible by inserting some banter between the girls, as well as having Tulip offer her insight every now and again. It's also kinda lowkey my prediction of how Amphibia and The Owl House is gonna end? There's a reason why I kept a lot of the details vague, is what I'm saying. Here's hoping y'all think it works.
Up next, we find out what Owlbert saw. Until then!
EDIT: Reuploaded because it can't be accessed for some reason? I swear this better fucking work.