Just a warning; there are a lot of Marcy's Journal spoilers in this chapter, and for a few chapters in the future. Read at your own risk!
"Woah," Luz whispered, awed by the splendor of the majestic city before her. "This is Newtopia? It's amazing."
"Yep," Anisa said. "We're here." After almost two weeks of walking, Luz could tell Anisa was exhausted– and Luz felt the exact same way. She had gained a lot more respect for those pioneers Mrs. Jones taught her about in history class, the ones who walked hundreds of miles across the entire country of America. "Let's go in," Anisa suggested, snapping Luz out of her reverie. They both started heading toward the massive gates.
The gates were even more impressive up close. They towered over Luz and Anisa, ornately carved and plated with what appeared to be gold leaf. Two stone reliefs of gargantuan newts faced each other on opposite doors. Luz paused in the ankle-deep water. "How are we going to get in?" she asked.
"Like this. Hey, whoever's up there! Open the gate!" Anisa's sudden shout startled Luz so badly that she nearly fell over, and she windmilled her arms just in time to keep from landing face down in the water.
"That's… it?" she asked skeptically, but her question was answered a moment later as the huge gates started to slowly grind open. "I don't know why, but I thought there would be more security. This is the capital of Amphibia, right?"
"There's not a lot of threat from creatures on the outside as they're usually too afraid to come closer than the hills over there, and there have been no uprisings during the many years King Andrias reigned over this land. Though I do suggest you pull your hood up, just in case." She pointed to a mountain range in the distance. "By the way, up on top of that mountain is where my house is."
Luz looked between the mountains and the direction they'd come from. "It was so close this whole time? We didn't have to walk all this way?"
"I guess not," Anisa said. "Let's go see if we can find my nephew's house."
Luz looked past her to the busy streets surrounding them. "More walking? Noooo-"
"It's not actually that far," Anisa assured Luz, patting her back sympathetically. "The faster we get going, the sooner we'll get there."
As they walked through the city, Luz took in the ornate statues and fancy façades of the many buildings around her. "You lived here? It's so pretty," she said. "Why'd you leave?"
"It wasn't for me," Anisa replied matter-of-factly.
Before Luz could think of a response, they passed a canal and her attention was caught by a gold gleam. She turned her head to look and stopped, her jaw going slack with shock.
After a moment, Anisa realized Luz wasn't following her and glanced back, following her gaze. "Well, that wasn't there before," she said, eyebrows raised.
"Why is there a giant gold statue of Marcy in the middle of that bridge?" Luz gestured at it in shock. "What– how–"
"Oh, that?" A passing pair of newts lugging a stack of boards stopped at Luz's words, and one of them spoke. "That's Marcy Bridge. It used to be called Leviathan Bridge, after the royal dynasty, but it was so old that it was this close to breaking every time someone put their weight on it. And then, in her first week in Newtopia, Master Marcy took one look at it and basically made it new again with her magic gaze. So King Andrias named it after her instead, and built a statue of her on it."
"What? Harv, no, the Lady Olivia got a bunch of Newtopians to help–"
"You're talking crazy again, Clem." They walked off, arguing.
Anisa glanced at Luz's dazed expression, slightly concerned. "Are you… okay?" she asked awkwardly. "At least we know which one of your friends is here, right?"
Luz blushed. "I'm fine! Yeah, that's great! I… wow, I just didn't expect that I guess," she stammered out. "Let's– let's just go." She took a deep breath and the heat faded from her cheeks.
"Okay," Anisa said, shrugging.
The entire rest of the walk, Luz thought about that statue and the explanation provided by those two newts. "I'd known she was smart," she mumbled to herself, "but I guess she never had an opportunity to do things like this back home. Just, wow."
"What?" Anisa turned back. "I couldn't hear you."
"Oh, nothing," Luz said. "Just talking to myself."
"We're here," Anisa replied, stopping in front of a wooden door and rapping on it with her knuckles. They waited for a minute before it swung open, revealing a young newt with long, curly hair.
"Hello, Teora," Anisa said.
"Anisa! You're here early! Leo and I thought you weren't coming for another week! And who's that?" she added, glimpsing Luz standing awkwardly behind Anisa.
"May we come in? We're both exhausted from the journey here."
Teora stepped aside to let them in. "Oh, of course! How was the trip? Can I get you anything? Oh, I should put tea or something on, I'll be right back." She disappeared into the back room, and Luz heard the clattering of dishes for a moment before she returned. "Oh, nothing's ready, so sorry," she fretted.
"No worries, Teora, I know you're busy at the hospital," Anisa said to calm the newt down. It seemed to work, as Teora let out a breath and pulled out two of the chairs by the dining table. "Sit down," she insisted.
When both Anisa and Luz were seated, Anisa asked, "Where's Leo?"
"Oh, he's at work," Teora said. "There was this cult that burned a lot of books, mostly about some old legends, but they didn't get to King Andrias's personal library before the Night Guard stopped them. So Leo is working overtime with the Newtopia University archives and the many public libraries in the city to help find out which books were burned and get new copies printed."
"No, really?"
Teora sighed. "Yeah… I think he's starting to stress over whether or not we lost all the copies of some specific books. Today was supposed to be his day off, but he didn't take it. Anyway," she said, changing the subject, "who is this?"
"This is Luz," Anisa said.
"Hi," Luz said nervously.
Teora glanced between the two of them. "You never mentioned anything about a 'Luz' in your letters," she said.
"Luz showed up at my doorstep about two months ago, lost," Anisa said. "She's from another world. You can take your hood off," she told Luz. "Now that we know your friend is well-known in Newtopia, it's safe for you to go without."
Luz pulled back her hood, and Teora gasped. "Oh, you're the same species as Master Marcy! Did you come here to look for her?"
"Yeah, I did," Luz said. "Her and my other two friends. Do you know where any of them are?"
"Master Marcy lives at the palace," Teora said. "Lady Olivia takes care of her, she's the one who checked her out of the hospital when she first got here."
"Wait," Luz said incredulously, "Marcy was in the hospital?"
"She had a broken leg. One of the other doctors told me," Teora confirmed. At Luz's confused look, she elaborated, "I'm a doctor at the Newtopian Public Hospital, though I mostly work with the efts."
"Efts are young newts," Anisa clarified.
"Oh, so you're like a pediatrician," Luz said. Both the newts looked confused, so she added, "A doctor who works with kids? Efts, I guess. That's what they're called in my world."
"Pediatrician, huh…" Teora shrugged, then changed the subject. "Why did you come so much earlier than planned?"
"Because of this," Anisa said, pulling the artifact box out of her bag. "I need to deliver this to my former colleagues at Newtopia University so they can take a look at it."
"I can call a messenger mosquito to deliver a note," Teora said, getting up. "Let me get some paper and a pencil–"
"No need," Luz interjected, pulling out the leftover paper from the hotel and one of her pens. "I never actually ended up using this paper, you can have it."
Anisa took the pen and paper and scribbled down a note, then handed it to Teora who promptly disappeared into the back room. Luz heard the sound of a tea kettle whistling and the clanking of dishes before the window opened. She turned her attention back to Anisa.
"Who was that?" she whispered.
"Teora," Anisa said, holding out Luz's pen. On seeing Luz's look of confusion, she frowned. "That wasn't what you were asking, was it?"
"Not particularly. I mean, you never mentioned her."
"Ohhh," Anisa said. "Yeah, I guess I didn't. She's Leo's fiancé."
Just then, Teora returned with a tray of cups filled with steaming orange-brown tea. She carefully set it on the table and set a cup in front of Anisa and Luz each, then took a seat with her own cup. "I sent the note, so the messenger mosquito should be back soon. In the meantime, let's talk."
"Where's Marcy?" Luz's abrupt question startled even herself, but she gazed at the newt anyway, desperately hoping for an answer.
"I… don't really know, actually. I know that Lady Olivia took her to the palace, and I know she became a Newtopian Night Ranger, but I don't know if she lives in the barracks or at the palace."
"Could we ask her? Lady Olivia, I mean?"
Anisa sighed. "Luz, we're all tired, just wait until tomorrow–"
"Anisa, please, I'm so close! It'll just take an hour maybe, and I get to see my friend again sooner rather than later. Besides, I'm not tired anymore." It was true; all of Luz's exhaustion had melted away when she'd learned that it was Marcy in the city.
Anisa glanced at Teora, who shrugged. "You can stay here and wait for the messenger mosquito. I'll take her to the palace. Though I can't guarantee that you'll be able to talk to Lady Olivia, seeing as she's very busy," she added, turning to Luz.
"I'm more interested in seeing if I can find Marcy," Luz admitted, cheeks flushing slightly. "If we find Marcy before we can talk to Lady Olivia, that's good with me."
Teora glanced at Anisa, who shrugged. "Fine by me," she said, taking another sip of tea. "Go and find your friend."
As she stood up to leave, Luz took a sip from the tea and her eyes widened. "Hey, this is really good!"
"Are the barracks closer or is the palace closer?" Luz silently willed the newt to move slightly faster than she was, but Teora was taking her time, glancing at each intersection twice before turning.
"Well, I don't know where the barracks are. I only know where the palace is, so that's where we're going. "Shouldn't the location of the barracks be common knowledge so people can call on the army? Or, I guess it's called the Night Guard?"
Teora shook her head. "The Royal Newtopian Night Guard is different from the Royal Newtopian Army. The Army works directly for the king and the city, but the Night Guard is like an elite force that mostly does what the Army can't and operates mostly on its own merits, so the king doesn't have much influence. There's probably more to it, but that's about all I know."
"Oh. So Marcy joined the Night Guard, but she's close friends with this Lady Olivia, who is the…"
"King Andrias's royal advisor," Teora supplied.
"Yeah, what you said."
Teora shrugged. "Your friend is a special case, I suppose. Oh, that's the castle over there." She pointed to a towering tiered building that dwarfed the surrounding rooftops.
"Wow," Luz breathed, taking in the sheer size of it. "This city is amazing."
Teora tilted her head and looked at it. "Huh, I suppose it is," she said. "I never really stopped to think about it. Though the castle does need to be really big," she continued. "King Andrias is far larger than the average newt. Or, in your case, the average, uh–"
"Human."
"Yes, human. Are you an adult human?"
Luz shook her head. "Adults tend to grow about this tall." She put her hand in the air to demonstrate.
Teora's eyes widened. "Wow, that's tall. But even so, King Andrias is much bigger than an average adult human. You'll understand when you see him." She glanced up at a street sign. "And we're here," she said, rounding a corner.
"It's so much bigger up close!" Luz stepped forward, heading toward the gate. "So we just go in here, right?"
Her question was answered a moment later when a hooded Newtopian soldier stepped in their path, leveling a spear at Luz. "Where do you think you're going?"
"To see Lady Olivia–"
"The Lady Olivia is out on business, so unless you have an appointment you may not set foot inside," the soldier said. "Leave."
"Wait! If you would please let us wait inside," Teora hastily began, but the soldier interrupted her. "Unless you have an appointment, leave peacefully or I will have to use force."
"There will be no need for that," a new voice said from behind. The soldier stood to attention at once, and Luz and Teora turned to see a regal blue newt with shell accessories and a wave-patterned dress. Teora instantly bowed, and Luz glanced at her in surprise for a moment before copying her example. "Can you not see that this is one of Master Marcy's friends?" the newt continued. "I will speak to them inside the castle."
"Yes, Lady Olivia," the soldier said, saluting.
Lady Olivia brushed past Luz and Teora as she headed into the castle. "Come, then," she said. "I gather you are here for Master Marcy?"
"Yes, uh, milady…?" Luz said, not sure if that was how she was supposed to address the newt.
"Lady Olivia will do," Lady Olivia said. "And you are too late. Master Marcy departed the city a week and a half ago with no notice."
"What?" Luz's face fell.
Teora tentatively raised her hand, much more in awe than Luz at being in Lady Olivia's presence. "Why did she leave?"
"As I said, there was no notice, though I am sure it had something to do with one of her missions as a Chief Ranger." Lady Olivia stopped in front of a pair of tall, ornate mosaic-covered doors with a giant embossed Newtopian seal. "King Andrias isn't expecting you," she began, "so you must remain on your best behavior when you meet him. This is a big deal, so treat it as such."
"Wait. What?" Teora shook her head. "You're– what?"
"You are about to meet King Andrias. He specifically told me that if any of Marcy's friends were to arrive in Newtopia, I was to let him know. And seeing as you are already here in the palace, you get to meet him far sooner than you otherwise would."
"Oh frog, oh frog!" Teora put her hands on her cheeks. "I didn't think this would happen!"
Luz stood up straight. "What's the king like?" she asked Lady Olivia.
Lady Olivia sighed. "I will go in and let King Andrias know you are here to see him. Make sure you've gathered yourself by then." She disappeared behind the doors, which shut with a loud thud.
"Leo has spoken with the king multiple times, and he told me that King Andrias was a pretty nice guy, but I've never met him before!" Teora patted the front of her patterned dress anxiously. "This isn't my nicest clothing, maybe I should have worn something else–"
"It'll be fine," Luz said, patting Teora on the shoulder. "Just, uh, act normal?" Before Teora could answer, Lady Olivia swung the door open again. "King Andrias is waiting," she said impatiently.
Teora gulped and followed Luz into the room.
At first glance, Luz looked around and saw stained-glass windows and coral lighting fixtures. When she turned to the front of the room, she was awed by the giant newt sitting on the coral throne. "Woah, you were right," Luz told Teora. "King Andrias really is huge."
"Hello!" King Andrias's voice echoed across the massive room. "You must be Marcy's friend, right?"
Teora bowed, and Luz followed her example, but the king swatted his hand. "Psh, no need for that. I'm sure Lady Olivia told you it was a big deal to be meeting me, didn't she?"
"Yeah, she did," Luz admitted. "You seem pretty chill though."
"Yes, I suppose I am pretty 'chill'," he said with a booming laugh. "What's your name?"
"I'm Luz Noceda, Your Majesty," Luz said. "I came here looking for Marcy."
"And your friend?" King Andrias motioned to Teora.
"Oh, I'm just here accompanying Luz."
King Andrias squinted at her, then his eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, you're the archivist's wife, aren't you?"
She coughed. "Fiancé, Your Majesty," she said.
"Close enough. I saw him looking at a picture of you once, and he told me about you." The king shrugged. "Anyway, back to business. Marcy isn't here. There was this whole cult business a couple of weeks ago, which really messed the place up. Marcy led a team of rangers and ambushed them, but apparently, their leader escaped, and her superiors in the Night Guard decided to close the whole thing up. So she came to me with a request to reopen the case, but there was nothing I could do. My hands were tied! And then Marcy left the city with her team and went after him. I think."
"Oh. So you don't know where she is, or when she'll come back?" Luz sighed. "Guess I'd better go, then."
"There's no need to be so glum! Don't worry, you'll be the first to know when she returns." King Andrias turned to Lady Olivia. "Make sure to take note of that, Olivia," he added.
"Yes, Your Majesty." She left the room, muttering something under her breath.
Luz glanced at the open door. "Well, I guess that's our cue to leave. It was nice to meet you, Your Majesty,"
"None of that 'Your Majesty' stuff. Call me King Andrias." He flashed a wide grin. "See you later!"
After she closed the door to the throne room behind them, Teora turned to Luz. "Since we're nearby, why don't we go see if we can find Leo?"
"Uh, sure," Luz said, falling into step beside Teora. "Where do we go?"
"He said he wouldn't actually be in the castle today. Apparently, he's heading to the Archives of Antiquity instead. That's very close to the castle, and it's just about time for him to head home anyway. If we can, uh, find our way out."
"Oooh, I have an idea!" Luz glanced around and went up to a Newtopian soldier. "Excuse me, sir," she asked, "can you show us the front entrance?"
"Yes, ma'am," the guard said, saluting, then turning and leading Luz and Teora down the corridor.
"Here we are. The Archives of Antiquity," Teora said, motioning to an ancient-looking building with white stone columns.
Luz took it in. "I feel like I have been officially awed by every single thing in this city. There's just so much to see!"
Teora entered the building, and Luz soon followed, leaving the warm air outside and entering a lobby cool enough to give her goosebumps. As Teora went through a doorway in the back, Luz glanced around at the various renditions of ancient Amphibian history hung on the walls.
After a few minutes of looking at the artwork, Luz followed Teora through the door she'd gone through and once again felt the familiar Newtopian heat. Confused, she looked around at the barren room, before a quick glance at the ceiling revealed that someone had broken a massive hole in the roof, letting in the outside air. "Woah. What happened here?" She turned to Teora, who was currently speaking to a couple of other newts. The two newts Teora was talking to looked at Luz, startled. "Another one of Master Marcy's species!" one of them said. "Teora, did you come with her? And why is she wearing my cloak?"
Teora tilted her head. "That's your cloak?"
"Yeah, I left it last time I visited Aunt Anisa." Then the newt (who Luz assumed was Leo) gasped. "Is Aunt Anisa here already?"
"That's what we came here to tell you. And to take you home."
"Oh, okay. We'll continue work tomorrow, sir," Leo said to the elderly newt standing beside him. "I think we're almost done cataloging the books and artifacts that were destroyed. Just a few more days and we should be ready to start making copies of certain books."
"Thank you, Leo," the elderly newt said. "Good night! See yourself out, I'll lock up behind you."
"Good night, sir! Let's go, Teora, and, uh…"
"Luz," she supplied.
"Nice to meet you, Luz. I'm Leo." He stuck out a hand to shake as they walked. "I'm assuming you came with Aunt Anisa, thanks to the fact that you have the cloak I left at her home. Is that right?"
"Yeah," Luz said.
Teora nodded. "They arrived early in the afternoon. Luz is friends with Master Marcy and was trying to find her, so we went to the palace to ask where she was while Anisa waited for a letter from Newtopia University. It should have arrived by now," she said as they approached the house. Teora opened the front door to find Anisa asleep with her head on the dining table, an opened letter lying beside her. She glanced toward a door in the back sheepishly. "I'll go, uh, set up the guest bedroom. Oh, and looks like Anisa has an appointment with the university in a week," she added, glancing at the letter.
Leo went to the table and gently shook Anisa awake. "Hi, Aunt Anisa," he said with a smile. "Long time no see!"
She blinked blearily at him for a moment before her eyes focused. "Leo?" she asked, her voice gravelly with sleep. "When did you come back?"
"Just a moment ago," he said with a grin. "How was the trip here?"
"Much longer than usual," Anisa said, starting to tell Leo about the journey.
Luz fought back a yawn. "You have only one guest bedroom, right?" she asked Leo, and he nodded. "I can sleep on the couch, then. Good night." She lay down and closed her eyes, soon drifting off into a deep sleep.
Andrias stood at the window in his personal chambers, watching the sunset over the city. He glanced at the wooden figurine he was clutching in his hand, then left the window and set the statue of Marcy's friend, Luz, gently beside Marcy's statue on his flipwart board.
"This isn't right," he mumbled to himself. "Something's wrong."
Suddenly, his surroundings changed, becoming an expanse of nothing but darkness. He looked up. "My Lord," he said respectfully to the orange eyes hovering above him.
The Core spoke in a thousand whispery voices. What do you mean, 'something's wrong'?
"There are only three gems in the box," King Andrias explained, "but there are four humans. Wit is already here in Newtopia, as you know. But I don't know which of her friends are Heart and Strength, and which one doesn't belong."
You had better find out. As for the one that doesn't belong… remove them from the equation. Permanently.
"What? Can't we just, I don't know, send the last one home or something?"
You already delayed their deaths once. Twice is pushing it. Take care of the odd one out, or we'll do it far less mercifully.
"My Lord, please!"
Do you want to join us or not? We are sensing hesitation from you.
"Yes, My Lord. I'll do what it takes to find out which one is not connected to Heart or Strength. And then…" Andrias gulped. "I'll remove her."
You are weak. Spineless. Prove yourself. With that, the eyes retreated into the dark, which soon faded to reveal Andrias standing once more by the flipwart board, hands shaking.
That was the end of this arc, hope you guys liked it. Next chapter, we'll be switching perspectives over to an old friend.
Sorry for the Marcy's Journal spoilers in this chapter. From this point on we're going to be diving into recently revealed canon territory.
-Reviews-
OMAC001: Good question! But we're not gonna find out anytime soon, unfortunately.
Thirteen-Seven: I'm sure you can see why that wouldn't work. Sorry :( But thanks for leaving your view on the chapter! And you're not wrong, this is starting to build up to something big.
-Final Notes-
Thanks for reading, leave a review if you liked it!
Next week: Return to Newtopia