After returning to the palace, Marcy proceeded to, once more, baffle the entire Newtopian medical community when her bruised ribs healed in record time. This had upsides, like when she was subsequently informed that a good portion of the faculties of Medicine and Biology at Newtopia University had dedicated themselves nearly full time to the study of her physiology, and downsides, like when members of said faculties tried to kidnap her to study her in detail. To be fair, they hadn't even managed to make it out of the palace when Yunan had found them.
She hadn't been too bothered by the amount of blood and gore, since she had also scarcely noticed the kidnapping attempt in itself. This first experience with the Zone had baffled all of her newt found family, but Marcy just couldn't help it! Most of her attention had been spent towards making theories about this new healing factor of hers as well. In the end, she didn't make any progress, much like the professors who had not taken part in her attempted kidnapping and those that survived Yunan's rampage. Though she could hardly blame the latter. It was hard to do research with several missing limbs.
She did have something, though, a bizarre dream of being carried down a long spiral staircase by a colossal figure who couldn't be anyone but Andrias, but it wasn't exactly a lot to work off. And, when Olivia and Andrias had strictly forbidden her from throwing herself down the stairs (again, though on purpose this time) to test out her healing factor, she decided not to question it further and just reap the rewards of being able to shrug off damage like she was the protagonist of an anime.
So, now, with not exactly a lot to do, she lounged along the castle's main hall. She had just realized she hadn't properly sketched the bizarre architecture and had to rectify that immediately.
While she looked up at one of the chiseled columns and outlined it in her journal, fully immersed in her Zone, though, she stumbled. She initially assumed that she hadn't seen a piece of furniture that had been oddly placed in the middle of the hall, for some reason. When she looked back, though, she realized with a twinge of horror that she had stumbled on none other than Lady Olivia, who, judging by the amount of papers she had likely been carrying and that had now been scattered across the floor, had not seen her as well.
Immediately she rushed to her feet and helped the small newt up, apologizing profusely all the while.
"There is no need for that, Master Marcy" Olivia reassured the girl "If a cadre of academics kidnapping you is not enough to get you out of your head, I doubt you're going to see someone who is barely half your height."
Marcy chuckled at that "Yeah, I do get somehow distracted, at times…"
Olivia shrugged "I can hardly blame you. I suppose I'd be in awe as well if I found myself in a different world."
"Perhaps I'll give you all a tour of Earth, when Andrias manages to find a way back!" Marcy suggested, stars in her eyes "Man, can you imagine, you, Yunan, Andrias, Anne Sasha and I, back in LA! It'd be awesome!"
'It would surely be' A voice whispered in her ear 'If you still were to remain in Los Angeles. But look on the bright side. Perhaps when you get back, your parents will have dumped you, like they always said they should have done'.
Before Marcy could even process the cutting words in her mind, Lady Olivia answered, covering her mouth with an end as she chuckled "I would certainly love to, Master Marcy. It could even be a chance to rest slightly."
It was then that Marcy noticed the dark rings under Olivia's eyes, a sign that most likely she was lacking hours of sleep, something Marcy was well accustomed to. "Uh, Lady Olivia, are you all right?"
The newt sighed "These last few days have been… somewhat more stressful than usual. From Yunan kidnapping you-"
"Sorry again for that Liv!" Yunan called out from the ceiling.
"Don't worry, Yun" Olivia answered without missing a beat before going on "to the city burning down, I scarcely had a chance to sleep. And then, right when I had everything working properly and had arranged a sorely needed power nap before Andrias inevitably causes more trouble, the old bridge decided to come down, because why not?" She closed her eyes and massaged her temples "I've been telling Andrias for ages that it had to be replaced, but who am I to know that a bridge that's been falling to pieces since before I was born could fall? We're just lucky nobody died or got seriously hurt, but now I have to arrange the building of a new bridge and no time to even pass by my bed." Olivia took a deep breath, bottling all her anger in "But I'm fine. Really."
"…you know, I think I could- perhaps I could maybe- it-it's just an idea, but I could help!" Marcy tentatively said, before her moment of confidence immediately crumbled as Lady Olivia looked at her.
"Really?" The newt asked, brightening up immediately.
"I- uhm- I could…" What was she thinking! She was a thirteen years old girl, she couldn't do this! Did she really think she could do something as good as Lady Olivia or any of the newts working for her? Was she really that arrogant?
Marcy continued to stumble on her words, until, once more, soothing words were whispered in her ears.
'Why do you doubt yourself?' The voice, vaguely disappointed, asked her 'You are not simply a thirteen years old, you're Marcy Wu! You built a flying ship, can you not handle a bridge?'
Overtaken by a burst of confidence at the voice's encouragement, Marcy Wu nodded energetically "I mean, I was always good at math and I have tried some engineering, with that flying ship I made" She paused for a second "Well, it exploded, but that wasn't an issue with its construction. I think. I'm like 70% sure."
Olivia looked like she was about to object, but decided against that "You know what?" She asked Marcy, "70% is good enough. I need my sleep or I am going to voice my thoughts to Andrias unfiltered. I know His Majesty is lenient, but I'd prefer not to risk treason."
Marcy began to vibrate in excitement "Yes!" She yelled out, pumping her fist in the air "I won't disappoint you, Lady Olivia!"
"I am sure you won't, darling. Now, Yunan, I think my legs have ceased to answer. Could you please assist me?"
Yunan threw herself down from the ceiling, twirling in the air multiple times as she did so. She bowed at Marcy, as the girl clapped and extracted a piece of paper with "9.5" written on it, before slinging Olivia on her shoulder.
"Now Marcy" Yunan said to the girl who saluted her like a good soldier "If anyone tries to kidnap you again, you do know what to do?"
"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" Marcy answered before whipping out her scythe and putting on a pose, the laser blade crackling. "Go for the legs!"
"Yes, correct" Yunan nodded, before feeling Olivia's glare "B-but more importantly call me! Got it?" As Marcy nodded, reluctantly putting away the scythe, Yunan winked at the girl "You can still rough them up a bit while you're waiting for me. Just don't get too much into trouble and save some for me, alright?"
"Yes, General!" Marcy exclaimed and Olivia, whether out of exhaustion or having decided to let it slide, did not display her disapproval.
"Good! Now, Yunan…" The pink newt said as she prepared for a sprint "AWAY!" She yelled out as rocketed down the halls, almost running over a servant and a couple of guards.
"Hm, I wonder if she knows that's the wrong direction…" Marcy thought aloud "But I'm sure Yunan knows her way to Olivia's bedroom…" She chuckled under her breath, before shaking her head "Oh, I gotta save that line for one of my fanfictions. I just know GoodWitchLuzura would love it. But enough about that! Let's figure out how to build a bridge!"
Before she could begin to make her way towards the castle's library, however, her nose caught on a strange smell "Wait, is that burning I smell?" She asked as flames spread from her cape to the tapestry behind her.
Lady Olivia awoke in her bed, her hair sticking up in every direction. She did not exactly remember how she had ended up there, her latest memory being Yunan breaking the sound barrier once she had realized that she had taken the wrong direction. She assumed she had passed out.
"I'll have to thank General Yunan for tucking me in, I guess" Olivia mused out loud as she got up. Though, she would have preferred if she had found the other newt with her as she awoke- "Enough of that" She chastised herself, a blue coloring spreading across her cheeks in embarrassment at her own thoughts. It was hardly appropriate to think of a coworker that way! They were close, yes, but there was absolutely no sign from Yunan's part that she even thought of her that way. She did not want to ruin her oldest friendship for inklings of romantic attraction!
"It's good that I had some amount of sleep" She once more thought aloud "I wouldn't want to slip up around her." She looked at the clock, still speaking "And a couple of hours of sleep will work wond-"
Olivia stopped in her tracks as her brain registered the position of the hands on the clock in front of her, a massive thing that had been a gift from Andrias, pretty plain to see given how it dwarfed the newt and took up the entirety of a wall.
"This is… bizarre." Lady Olivia whispered. It seemed like it was a solid four hours earlier than when she had last seen a clock, approximately ten minutes before meeting Master Marcy in the hall.
Finally, her still groggy brain put two and two together. It was not four hours earlier, she had not time traveled. It was twenty hours later, her 'little nap' having taken a good portion of a day.
"OH FROG!" She yelled out, sprinting for her bathroom. She rapidly discarded the dress she had apparently fallen asleep in, the fact that Yunan had not disrobed her something she would have been thankful yet mildly disappointed for, if her brain had registered it. She got her bed head under control with a couple of energic strokes with a comb and got dressed as quickly as she could, cursing the court ceremonial.
Of course she was fully aware that no one would object to her going around in a less formal outfit and, even if they did, they'd be taking their complaints to the only person more important that her (Andrias), who'd proceed to laugh his night vest off (because he was Andrias), so she was fully free to lounge around the castle in sweatpants and a comfy sweater, if she wished to, but a newt had to draw a line in the sand, somewhere! Of course, Olivia's line in the sand was drawn practically on the shoreline and it was constantly erased by the tidal waves that were Yunan and Andrias, but it was the principle of it.
Finally presentable, she got out and, as fast as protocol allowed, she went up the stairs, arriving at Marcy's room's door. She knocked lightly, but got no response. She knocked once again, just a smidgeon more harsh, to the same result.
"Master Marcy, are you in there?" Olivia asked and, when she got no response, she went in, finding no one.
"You won't find Master Marcy in there" A voice came from behind her. Lady Olivia turned and saw a small gray newt, wearing a servant's uniform and standing in the doorway.
"And you are?"
"Master Marcy's personal servant. Name's Griso. And if you're searching for Master Marcy, she's in the library. She was still taking care of that bridge thing last time I saw her" He fished out a brown paper bag and handed it over to Olivia "Actually, if you're going there, could you get her this? It's her lunch"
Before Olivia could get a word in, the slippery gray newt had already gotten out of there, leaving her to mumble at the servant's distinct lack of protocol. She could have hardly expected anything different though. She didn't remember issuing a personal servant to the girl, so the only other one who could have done it was Andrias and the King's pick of personnel was… in character. She could hardly complain though. After all, Yunan was one of those questionable picks and-
Nope, time to go find Marcy! She chided herself. At least the gray newt had left her with a precise location, she ought to be thankful for that, at least.
With the bag in her hand (because the servant might have been unpleasant to be around, but Master Marcy did need to eat three meals a day, the human was practically a toothpick), Olivia descended the steps and walked towards the palace's library. In hindsight, it was really the first place she should have looked for Marcy in. The girl was extremely bookish and the library was enormous and filled with ancient tomes about pretty much everything. Olivia had to confess that she too had spent quite a lot of time in it, as a girl.
She walked into the room and, sure enough, Marcy was at her usual seat, her back turned to the entrance and surrounded by towers of books and loose parchment, currently occupied with scribbling something.
"General Yunan" Olivia immediately greeted the pink salamander, who was up in the library's ceiling, observing her charge like a hawk. Yunan was extremely good at sneaking and hiding (something you wouldn't expect from the boastful newt, to be honest) but Lady Olivia had never had any difficulties at figuring out the other newt's hiding spots.
"Lady Olivia!" Yunan greeted her back "You had us all quite worried!"
The blue newt blushed slightly "It appears I needed more sleep than I thought. But now I am awake and well rested. Now Master Marcy, let's see what you've done."
A few seconds of near silence passed, only disturbed by the sound of Marcy's quill still scratching the paper, the human continuing her scribbling without sign of intending to stop.
"Uhm, Master Marcy?"
More scribbling, still no sign the human had even noticed her.
Hesitantly, Olivia poked Marcy on the elbow.
"…just a second…" came the mumbled response from Marcy "and… Done!" She exclaimed, standing up and sending the chair several meters away "Whoops. I'll put that back. Oh, hi Lady Olivia. When did you get here?"
"…about a minute ag-"
Marcy's nose picked up on something, namely the contents of paper bag Olivia was holding, and her stomach growled loudly "Wait, is that food?" She asked the blue newt.
"It is, y-"
The girl snatched the bag from Olivia's hands "Yoink!" She opened it and immediately began to wolf down its contents, as if she hadn't eaten in a day.
But that was impossible, right? Marcy wouldn't starve herself jus- and Olivia noticed the dark bags under Marcy's bloodshot eyes and the red signs on her fingers that evidenced a prolonged use of the quill.
"Yunan, has she-"
"She's been at that desk since I tucked you into bed" Yunan answered her question before she could even ask it.
Olivia facepalmed and sighed deeply. Since Marcy had picked up Andrias' mischievousness and Yunan's carelessness (though one could argue that someone who's first act upon finding themselves in a brand new world was to not pay attention and fall down a flight of stairs was not exactly the most careful person around), it should have not come to her as a surprise the fact that the girl had picked up from her her worst trait. That being, of course, her tendency to overly dedicate herself to something.
She had to admit, it was kind of heartwarming, seeing Marcy take up after her, but she was supposed to be the responsible one and not let Marcy hurt herself.
Olivia shook her head, both to clear her head of her thoughts and to show Marcy her disapproval.
The girl, having finished her lunch, smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head "I… well, I kinda lost track of time? Yeah, that's what happened"
"It is good that you are this dedicated" Lady Olivia conceded "but after this I'll have you phisically dragged into bed by Yunan, if necessary"
"Yeah, you can't train properly if you don't get enough sleep!" Yunan echoed "Plus, by this time, I've got experience bedding people"
Marcy stifled a bout of laughter, while Olivia blushed wildly "General Yunan!" She squealed, outraged.
Yunan, up in the rafters, was confused for a second, then understood and blushed herself, the embarrassment briefly frying her brain and making her lose her grasp. The pink newt fell on her face, immediately getting up afterwards "I-I didn't mean it like that! A-aha, why would I?"
Olivia sighed, in disappointment, both because of the pink newt's antics and because, as always, Yunan's lack of interest in her made itself evident.
"The less is said about this, the better" Olivia commented, before turning towards the human "Now, Marcy. Let us see what you've been working on, shall we?"
The girl perked up immediately, a big smile on her face "Oh! Sure, let me show it!" She took up several papers, clearing the desk and freeing space for a few carefully arranged drawings that together formed a well drawn artist rendition of a bridge.
Oh, Marcy had designed the bridge, Olivia thought. It was not bad, no, it was even better than the rendition the few newts she had contacted had provided, modern yet blending in quite well with the ancient city, artistic yet not too complex to realize. A great job, Olivia had to say, and one that would help a lot with the reconstruction of the bridge, a fine base for the engineers and contractors to build on.
It was as she was preparing to voice these considerations to the human that she noticed the calculations on the sides of the pieces of parchment. Olivia was not an engineer, but a few days of arranging the rebuilding of a bridge had made her able to recognise what were complex calculations, very much similar to the ones she had seen in the offices of the engineers she had visited, but for the fact the bridge's size was even greater than the maximum they had estimated.
"M-Marcy is… is this…"
"A fully designed bridge?" Marcy interrupted "Yup! You told me to work it out, after all"
"Yes, but I didn't expect… this" She said pointing vaguely at the papers.
Marcy was taken aback for a second "O-oh, w-were you expecting… better?" She asked, the last said with a nervous smile "B-because I'm pretty sure I can! Give me, like, eight more hours and another fifty bugaccinos and I should do it!"
Olivia raised an eyebrow "Another?"
A comically large bead of sweat rolled down Marcy's forehead as she raised her hand to speak. In the end, she had no chance to, as she was interrupted by a veritable tower of empty paper cups that fell from behind a stack of books that had hidden them from view.
"That… can't be healthy" Olivia noted with a sigh "But. Better? Master Marcy, I had expected the contractors we had contacted to make a project in eight weeks. And you have done it in one night! I am not sure it is physically possible to make this better. Right now, I'll just have to arrange the materials and a budget, figure out the necessary workforce-"
With a small chuckle, Marcy interrupted Lady Olivia and handed her a stack of papers "Uh, actually…"
Olivia's eyes ran over the writing on the piece of parchment, her mouth opening more and more in disbelief the longer she read it….
Finally she managed to tear her eyes from the paper and look at the teenager in front of her. "Master Marcy" She asked "did you just estimate the cost and time of building the bridge and figure out the logistics of it? And both are half what we were expecting?"
With a twinge of green light in her eyes that Olivia was almost sure she had not simply imagined, Marcy smirked proudly and shrugged "Eh, it wasn't too hard. After all I'm…"
"Marcy no" Olivia pleaded.
"Marcy yes!" Yunan yelled out.
"Marcy Wu! Head of the chess club!" Marcy proclaimed, before being rapidly joined by General Yunan
"Master RTS player!" The pink newt joined in.
"Straight A student, except for gym, but only because I was reading in class, which only proves my point!"
"And…" Yunan lead on, before the two spoke in unison
"Bane of cults and still technically Pirate King!" The newt and the teenager high fived.
"Frog, I got chills! Literal chills!" Marcy exclaimed "I get why you do the whole introduction so often! It's exhilarating"
"I do not know what that word means, but it does feel good and I'll assume you meant that!" Yunan answered
Olivia cleared her voice, gaining the two's attention.
"Oops. Sorry, Olivia. Just helping the kid come up with her own introduction, ya know? Figure out the rough spots and all. I had to do it myself, but-"
With a curt gesture of her hand and a small smile, Olivia interrupted Yunan. "I understand the concept, Yun. And, while I am certain this will cause several headaches in the near future, I think it's a good thing."
The pink newt got pinker around the cheeks, no doubt because of the pet name Olivia had addressed her by. Olivia could hardly understand the reason for it. For quite some years Yunan had addressed her by Liv, something friends did, as she understood. But it was Yunan after all, little regarding her could be called reasonable.
"Thanks, Liv! I will return to my post now!" Yunan spoke, before bending her legs, preparing for a jump "Yunan… AWAY!" She leaped towards the ceiling, fast as a catapult projectile, the force of her legs cracking the marble beneath her.
Making a mental note to have that fixed, Olivia turned towards Marcy.
"Master Marcy, what you did was… impressive, to say the least." The newt shook her head and chuckled "But I suppose I should have expected it. After all, I did ask you to do it and you are, as Andrias would put it 'pretty amazing'. Please don't tell him I said that. It is true, but he would find a way to rub it in, somehow."
Marcy blushed lightly and rubbed the back of her head "Aw, shucks, Lady Olivia! Stop!"
"If that means not recognising your talents, I most definitely will not, Master Marcy" Olivia sternly proclaimed, an unusual twinge of humor finding its way into her voice. "Now, even if you already undertook a titanic effort, could you help me gather all the necessary papers?"
"Of course, Lady Olivia!" Marcy announced, her hand going rapidly to her forehead in a military salute.
Olivia muffled with her hand a small chuckle at Marcy's overzealousness. It did seem like herself and the human were very much similar, in some things.
"Here you go, Lady Olivia!" Marcy proclaimed, a neat stack of papers in her hands extended towards the small newt.
"Thank you dear." Olivia took the pieces of parchment in her hands and gave them a cursory read, more out of habit than anything. Her eyes, though, fell on something.
"Master Marcy, dear, it seems like you haven't carried the one here" She said, finger pointed towards one of the many passages in Marcy's calculations.
Though neither deers or highlights existed in Amphibia, Olivia could swear that Marcy looked very much like one of the former in the latter.
"W-what?" Marcy whisper-asked, rapidly snatching the paper Olivia offered back to her.
Her eyes rapidly scanned the passage Olivia had called her attention to, the gears in her head visibly working. Then, after a full five seconds of holding her breath, Marcy let out a small strained breath of relief and a small awkward laugh. "Aha, it's because you don't actually have to carry the one there! Because of… math stuff."
Olivia raised an eyebrow.
"C-complex math stuff. Like, design-a-bridge level of complex. You know." Marcy tried to explain.
Olivia sighed and relented "Very well." After all, Marcy seemed to know what she was doing. Her previous feats of engineering had been quite impressive after all. And heck, she was trusting Andrias to be responsible, trusting a thirteen years old's blueprints was not that much more of a stretch.
Olivia took back the paper she had handed to Marcy and slammed gently the stack on the table before putting it under her arm. "I shall take my leave, then."
"Bye Liv!" Yunan called out from the ceiling, waving with her tail.
Olivia smiled back at her and turned towards the doors, when Marcy spoke up as well "Lady Olivia, wait!"
The small newt looked back with a questioning gaze at the girl. Said girl was now standing, her own gaze darting between Lady Olivia and her own feet. "I- Uhm- well… bye as well, Lady Olivia!" She mumbled only to blurt out a farewell.
Olivia's smile got sweeter at the teen stumbling over her own words. She could bring down a cult and become a Pirate King, but she remained a really cute, even if alien, shy kid. One that, Olivia could really not deny it, she had grown to love, very much like Andrias had.
"You can simply call me just Olivia, dear. You have more than deserved it."
Marcy looked like she had just been gifted with the greatest treasure in all of Amphibia, yet there was something off in the way she shifted as Olivia told her those words. "R-really?"
"Indeed, Master Marcy. After all, you do the same with Andrias and he's higher ranking than me. Yes, he also is Andrias and his attempts at, and I quote, 'cool kidz slang' have sent the former Master of Ceremonies in an early grave, but I feel like you and I are close enough that you may forgo the title."
"… do I get to give you a cool nickname?" Marcy asked timidly, visibly containing the excitement.
"Let's stick with Olivia for now" The blue newt stoically answered.
"But Yunan gets to!" The human complained.
"General Yunan is…" Olivia struggled to find the right word for a second "different"
"Fine…" Marcy sighed, causing Olivia to arch an eyebrow ever so slightly. It wasn't like Marcy to surrender so swiftly. She had expected a plethora of creative nicknames to be listed off at the speed of sound to try and win her out, but Marcy had relented almost instantly, with what was, for one of the three resident children in the Palace, a token amount of resistance. Could there be something that was troubling her?
She rapidly dismissed the thought, chalking it up to tiredness from the girl's part. After all, she had just worked for twenty hours straight.
As she exited the room, after wishing everyone farewell, of course, she let her mouth shift into a lazy smile. Incredible as it sounded, a week's worth of work had been taken care of while she slept, leaving her, incredible as it sounded, relatively free.
Why, she could just invite Yunan over to spend some time together, maybe take her and Marcy to the park and have a ni-
"Ah, there she is, the newt I was looking for! Lady Olivia, Liv, Lady V, LO, the big O!" Bellowed Andrias, just emerged from behind a corner, crown slightly crooked and beard suspiciously singed, shooting finger guns as he tried nickname after nickname. "I was feeling the pang of hunger and as it turns out, a gas stove is slightly more complex to handle than I thought it'd be." He raised his hands and opened them in a gesture of innocence "Now, long story short, it's nobody's fault but half of the city is on fire. Again. Not my fault. Definitely."
Lady Olivia breathed in as deeply as she could, her eyes closing as she did so. Then, slowly, she breathed out, strangling her desire to strangle the newt before her.
At least this couldn't get worse.
Two weeks and two times the city almost burnt down later (something that would have made her consider giving a gold star to Andrias, if she hadn't made the same mistake ages before. As it turns out, gold stars are extremely flammable), it was the big day. Construction was already underway and it was time to inaugurate the building site. Gathering everything had been surprisingly easy, with Marcy's work. Lady Olivia had silently vowed to treat the girl to a lifetime supply of ice cream, health risks be damned.
And so they were, Andrias and Marcy amiably whispering to each other, chattering about some book Marcy had given Andrias and the latter was apparently very much enjoying, while Olivia droned on with her trusty all-purposes speech she used at each of these things, finding herself focusing more on the two's conversation.
"-that all being said, let us open this site." She finished her speech, turning towards Andrias for his part "King Andrias"
"I have to say Marcy, I really didn't expect Cynthia to actually kill Professor Predator. It was a bit brutal, for a ten years old"
"King Andrias?"
"Yeah, but he was possessed by the Dark Lord Svolazzestort. It's actually a theory of mine that he was already dead and just an undead maneuvered by the Dark Lord's spirit"
Olivia coughed in her hand "Sire?"
"Oh, that is sad, but at least he wasn't actually forced to just look as he betrayed all of his friends as the host body of the Dark Lord"
The light blue newt sighed and pulled out the air horn. The loud hoot of the device managed to break the big newt out of his nerding session with Marcy, but, unfortunately, he reacted out of panic and, after grabbing the bottle of champagne he was supposed to use to inaugurate, he smashed it over Yunan's head, K. the pink newt.
For a second everyone looked at Andrias in silence.
"Uhm, hooray?" Tentatively asked the King of Amphibia.
The crowd cheered wildly, a couple of newts even pulling out champagne bottles and smashing them on people's heads.
"Uh. I feel like I've just started a trend. Did I start a trend?" Andrias asked Lady Olivia.
"Just…" Olivia sighed in defeat "Just take Yunan to the hospital, Sire, I'll handle this. And since you are passing by, tell my therapist I'll need to schedule a few more sessions."
"As long as you discharge your stress on smashing things instead of doing that on me, I got ya!" The titanic newt picked up the catatonic Yunan like she was a doll and put her under his arm, before jumping off with enough force to crack the pavement. A loud crash in the distance after a few seconds made Olivia suppose that Andrias had landed on something that surely now was no more.
Her hand shaking, she poured herself an abundant glass of 'juice'.
"Thirty-four more years, Olivia. Just thirty-four more frog-darn years." She whispered to herself.
"Sorry about, uhm, distracting the King, Lady Olivia" Marcy apologized with an awkward smile, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment "General Yunan is going to be okay, right?"
"Don't worry, Master Marcy" Olivia reassured the teenager. It was weird like she persevered to refer to her by Lady Olivia when she had granted her permission to call her by her first name, but she preferred not to pry about the reason. "Andrias would have been distracted anyways and Yunan's cranium is way too tough to be damaged by something like that"
"Yeah, if Yunan's anything is tough" Marcy agreed "But I still do feel bad. Could we, uhm, go visit her? And maybe get her something?"
The small newt smiled "You are a good kid, Master Marcy. I was already going to get Yunan a "Get Well" gift basket and bring it to her, so you can come along, if you want to. For now don't worry though. Today is your big day, Master Marcy!"
Marcy smiled, though Olivia thought the expression was slightly strained, but blew off the newt's claim "Oh, it was nothing! I barely did anything, aha"
"Don't downplay yourself, Master Marcy. You are the one responsible for all of this"
"I suppose you're the one responsible for all of this, creature?" A foreign voice, with the barest hint of an accent, interrupted the conversation between the human and the amphibian.
Both Marcy and Olivia turned to face the stranger. The one who had interrupted was a well dressed yellowish newt with a feathered hat, his face sporting a well trimmed mustache and goatee, both black.
"Yes, I literally just said that" Olivia answered the stranger's question "I am sorry, but who are you exactly?"
The yellowish newt scoffed "Why, Lady Olivia, you offend me! I was a great acquaintance of your late mother! It is I, Don Rodrigo!"
"Oh, yes, I believe she had mentioned you. The, and I quote, "greatest pain in my ass" and "that moronic newt that makes my life impossible", was it not?"
Rodrigo nodded "Precisely! Those were… affectionate nicknames. We were great friends!"
With a deadpan expression on her face that materialized all of her scarce belief in the noblenewt's claim, Olivia nodded "Hm."
"But, more than that, I was also the newt she always turned to for projects such as this!" He exclaimed, pointing to the building site with his extremely tacky gold plated cane, while Olivia came to the dreadful realization that no, this wasn't excitement, this was the newt's normal talking voice. "Your mother always entrusted me with commissions such as this! This has made me extremely rich, but also the best person to turn to for these matters!"
"Because of your experience?" Marcy tentatively asked while she scribbled notes on her journal, an half finished sketch of the newt before them on the side
"What?" Don Rodrigo asked, clearly baffled "No, because of my obscene wealth! Everyone knows that rich people are rich because they're the smartest! It is surely true, a rich person said it, and rich people are the smartest!"
"Isn't that circular logic?" Marcy objected, only to be silenced by a scoff from the rich newt.
"Are you daft, creature? That was a phrase, phrases cannot be circles! Lady Olivia, is this really the one you have entrusted with this? If this is her level, people are going to get injured! And worse, I won't get to embezzl- I mean, I won't be able to build the city a splendid and secure bridge named after me at only ten times the price!"
"Now that's enough" Olivia sternly silenced the newt, her voice cold "I won't tolerate slander about young Master Marcy. The King trusts her and so do I. Her work has been impeccable and far superior to whatever you have put forward. If you dare to spew any further insult toward her, I will personally report it to King Andrias, something you'd best avoid, if you wish to ever work for him again."
The yellowish newt's expression morphed into a scowl for a second, before scoffing. "Very well" he relented "But this is far from over. Mark my words" With that he stormed out.
Olivia turned to face Marcy, who had wilted, her shoulders slumped and her expression downcast. "Don't worry, Master Marcy" Olivia reassured the girl, taking her hand into hers "He was severely wrong. About a lot of things. I will have to review a lot of things if that sort of people are those we trusted to build important infrastructure and use public funds"
Marcy smiled at her, though it was small and forced in a way that made Olivia slightly sad "Thanks, Lady Olivia. Can we go back to the castle and then go check on Yunan?"
"Of course, dear" Olivia agreed and for a moment she thought that, despite the obnoxious newt's words, everything related to this was indeed over.
The first report she almost ignored. A part of the bridge's understructure had collapsed overnight, seemingly by accident. Since nobody had died and work had continued as usual, Olivia had dismissed it as bad luck. A careless worker, bad quality material, these sort of things happened.
Then, it happened a second time, in a different part of the building site. A few days later, a third time followed. No one died, though the third time it was avoided by the width of a hair.
While the first time she had thought it had been simply an accident. No sign of manumission had been found and no one had reported explosion or similar events that could have caused the collapses. Each accident after that, however, made the theory that they were all just fatalities more and more unlikely and, in the end Olivia decided to check out what exactly was happening.
Of course, though, her work did not stop just because she wished to and, by the time all of the paperwork had been taken care of, it was practically night. This of course meant that the building site was deserted, its gate locked and that she had made a useless trip.
Lady Olivia let out a deep sigh of resignation as she prepared to turn around and go back to the castle. As she turned around, though, she thought that she noticed something off. She checked out the big lock that blocked the gate and, sure enough, it was dangling uselessly, opened and left there.
A chill ran down Olivia's spine. No signs of sabotage could mean two things, Yunan had once said to her. One, there had been no sabotage. Two, the saboteur was good at their job.
Without thinking, she slipped past the gates, her gaze darting to the sides beforehand to make sure no one was around.
As she walked through the deserted building site, she ardently wished she had brought a torch or anything able to produce light within her, the skeletons of half-built structures and what little light came from the streetlamps outside projectingly ghastly shades that made her almost jump more than once.
She calmed herself. There were no monsters here, just like her mother used to tell her when she was but a newtling. And, most likely there was no one else, either. Most likely a worker had left the padlock open, which was still bad but not-
That entire line of thought went out of the window as she heard a clanging sound off in the distance.
"WHO'S THERE?" Olivia yelled out, moving towards the source of the sound, instantly reprimanding herself. 'Who's there?'? Yeah, they are definitely going to answer, great job Olivia.
She managed to see parts of a silhouette moving in the shadows, extremely slippery and almost impossible to recognise in the darkness of the night. It turned around a corner and Olivia followed it, just a second later, only to stumble into something, something who squealed out in surprise.
The newt and the misterious stranger wrestled for a moment, until Olivia's eyes were almost burned off by a sudden flash of light and she had to shield them with her hands.
"Oops" a very familiar voice that Olivia recognised immediately spoke as the cone of light produced by a rectangular device was lowered away from the newt's face "Sorry Lady Olivia!"
"Master Marcy?" Olivia asked, gobsmacked by the presence of the teenager in the building site. Wasn't she supposed to be sleeping? She'd had to contact that servant of hers, even if he had seemingly disappeared since the day she had met him. "What are you doing here?"
"I, well, I, uhm, I heard some commotion and rushed here, but I kinda tripped and fell on you. Again. Sorry, by the way"
"No need to" Olivia reassured the teen "But I meant, why are you here, in a building site in the middle of the night?"
"Oh. That. Yes. I… well, I heard of the… the accidents" The girl's voice became almost a whisper at the end, but before Olivia could say anything about it, she went on "So, I decided to come check this place out! But, I think I may have misread the times of opening and closing. By, like, a lot. I did find the padlock opened though, so I decided to go and have a peek. I'm coming right now from the shed where the blueprints are kept" She pointed backwards with her thumb, to a smallish squat building right next to a gigantic pillar. "What about you?" Marcy asked
"Similar reason, Master Marcy. I began to think that the accidents were too frequent to be just that and came to check out. Apparently, they are not 'accidents', but sabotage."
Marcy's eyes widened in surprise "W-what? That's- that's impossible! Are you sure?"
"I wasn't, until I saw someone lurking in the shadows right here. I was following them, when I… found you." The idea of joking about Marcy being the mystery figure almost passed through Olivia's mind, but the girl was evidently upset about this debacle and she wouldn't want to upset her more. "Anyways, I think it is safe to say that I have lost them" Olivia sighed.
"That's… insane" Marcy said, slowly shaking her head "Why would someone do that? And how? I mean, no signs of sabotage were found! How could someone make a bridge fall without explosives or excavating or magic?" She rubbed her chin "I mean, it could always be magic. Maybe magic is the answer?"
"No, there's no magicians in Newtopia" An idea struck Lady Olivia "But… what if someone was changing the blueprints?"
Marcy froze for a second "W-what?"
"Yes, if someone changed the blueprints and put mistakes in them to make the bridge collapse mid-construction? You just said the blueprints are kept here, right? You made them, you should see if they've been modified, let's go check them out!"
The girl seemed on edge, for some reason, but she nodded "O-okay, let's go!"
The two walked inside the shed and Olivia immediately saw the blueprints, on the big table that took up most of the room. Marcy immediately got to scrutinizing them and Olivia decided to give a look around while the girl worked. There wasn't much in the room, just some woodworking supplies and a bottle of pills.
"I'm sorry, Lady Olivia" Marcy spoke after tearing her eyes off the papers "but they don't look like they've been tampered with. Everything looks in order."
Lady Olivia walked over and gave a look as well, but all the writing was clearly written in Marcy's handwriting, pretty much ruling out any possibilities that modifications in the plans were the reason for the accidents. To add insult to injury, one of her gloves was marked with a big stain of ink. It seemed like this was not her night. Olivia sighed "It was a long shot anyways. Our only trail then is to find the saboteur, then"
"Uhm, didn't you kind of lose them?" Pointed out Marcy, a finger raised in objection "I don't think they'll be so careless to be caught twice and you don't even know who they are"
"I don't know who the saboteur is, yes" Lady Olivia conceded "but I've got a hunch about who might have sent them"
Don Rodrigo's mansion was exactly like Lady Olivia had pictured it in her mind, from the tacky golden plated roof to the proliferation of different types of windows and decorations that must have been chosen by someone that, after looking at the catalog, had simply replied "Yes". Not that the inside was any better, filled with all kinds of tasteless junk who's only common factor was their mind-boggling price.
The bodyguard that had escorted Marcy and her inside finally stopped in front of a door, opening it and letting them in. The room was in line with the rest of the obscene monument to absurd wealth and mausoleum of good taste, from the wooly mantis carpet so high to arrive at Olivia's waist to the many, many portraits of the yellowish newt that owned the place.
"Well, well, well" Greeted them Don Rodrigo, a complacent grin on his face. He was currently sitting at a table filled with every kind of delicacy, another green newt at his side smiling at them similarly. "Look at who comes. I hear your bridge has had some… problems? If you want, my men are ready to take on the building. It's gonna cost you twice as much as my previous price though. You know, for offending me, threatening me and, honestly? Because I can. It's a limited time offer, though. Tomorrow it's gonna cost ya thrice as much"
"Cut the crap, you" Olivia covered Marcy's ears "you silly person! Your mother was a spider and your father smells of elderberries!"
Don Rodrigo squinted his eyes and his expression got more serious "I'd be careful were I you, Lady Olivia. I am the only one in Newtopia with the means to build that bridge" His smile turned mocking "The only one whose work ain't going to crumble on itself, anyways"
"Oh, I am more than careful enough" Olivia took her hands off of Marcy. "You sabotaged the building site, admit it! It was you that caused those accidents!"
The yellowish newt chortled "Fuhuhuh, now that is a funny one. You are funny. Well, you'd be if you weren't so sad. Unluckily for you, these past few days I've been cooped up in my delightful mansion. Every newt in my employ can swear that that is the case. Isn't that right, Attilio?"
"That is correct, Don Rodrigo" The green newt agreed "And I may be an engineer, but I am quite sure that throwing around baseless accusations like that cannot be legal. I think you shall hear from our lawyers quite soon"
"And I think you should save your lawyers for when you'll be thrown in prison" Lady Olivia answered "Master Marcy and I have found someone sneaking around the building site at night. You're the only one with interest in stopping the bridge's construction, the connection is quite easy"
"Oh, I wasn't aware that proof of sabotage had been found" The green newt sneered "Was it?"
"Well, it wasn't, but-"
"Oh, but then how did this phantomatic 'saboteur' cause those accidents? Are talking about someone able to make buildings fall with their mind? Because if so, we might have a problem a bit greater than we thought of"
"No, we-"
"Did you even catch anyone? Or got a good look at them? Or are you basing your whole accusations on shadows and smoke?" The sneer on the green newt got even crueler "But after all, what more can be expected from-"
"That is enough, Attilio" Don Rodrigo, his complacent grin still on his face raised a hand and the green newt silenced himself immediately. "Now, I generally agree with what Attilio said. He is my best engineer after all. None of his bridges have collapsed, which is more than I can say for yours at least"
Marcy shifted slightly at that indirect attack and Olivia was about to turn towards her and comfort her, but the yellowish newt was not done, not nearly.
"I do not think there was sabotage" Rodrigo said as he got up from his chair and leisurely marched towards the light blue newt and the human "Do you know what I think happened?"
"I think this one" he used his cane to poke Marcy in the chest, which made the teen recoil slightly "messed up. She got in over her head and decided to play engineer. Then, her rich mommy decided to entertain her fantasy because of her abandonment issues due to the fact that her own mommy kicked the bucket too early."
By this point tears were rolling down on Marcy's face, the girl trembling slightly, while Olivia was having a nearly out of body experience, as if on a snail that was going to crash, seeing and hearing but unable to move or speak.
"Now, when things went wrong and someone nearly died, mommy is seeing ghosts to justify her precious girl, all because"
He poked Marcy in the chest once more with his cane, stronger now, in a way that was most likely going to hurt "This little girl"
Again, he hit her "Just is in"
Once more, by now almost stabbing the girl, who let out a wheeze as the impact forced the air out of her lungs "Over her head!"
The yellowish newt delivered a last lunge with his cane, putting quite a good amount of force in it, enough to send Marcy to the ground.
Don Rodrigo's mask of placid complacency shattered and the newt let a sneer form on his face as he looked down on the kid. "Ain't I right, kiddo?"
By now Marcy looked downright terrified, her face streaked with tears as she shook her head, mouth silently moving as she was trying to speak but found herself to do so. Finally, she picked herself up, only to dart away at the speed of sound.
Olivia arrived on top of the stairs that led to Marcy's room. She had not seen the girl since the debacle at the mansion, earlier in the day, and, uncharacteristically, the human had even skipped dinner. It had been a silent affair, the lack of Marcy's omnipresent rambling heaving harder than any of the three newts had ever thought it would. She was lucky enough that Andrias hadn't pried. She wouldn't exactly be opposed to Andrias and Yunan laying waste to the horrible place and slaughtering the newt inside, but it wouldn't be the right thing to do.
Once more she knocked, receiving no response.
Without asking further, she opened the door, finding, to her surprise, that the room was empty. Where could Marcy be?
"We've got to stop meeting like this" A somewhat familiar voice came from behind her and, sure enough, when she turned, Marcy's elusive servant was there, smirking slightly and leaning on the side of the door "Master Marcy is not here, if you were wondering. She has left. Got me pretty worried, too, she's been doing it for a week now, it's the fourth time. But I figure, hey, she's a kid, I got out of my room at night pretty often when I was her age, cut her some slack. She doesn't get any sleep when she goes out too, so I don't gotta make her bed like I usually do."
Olivia hummed in thought at that. It sounded like Marcy was more worried than she had thought, if she had gone out before, presumably at the building site each time. The newt, however, couldn't help but feel like there was something that didn't make sense in what Griso had told her, a piece that didn't fit the puzzle.
She went to the girl's desk, finding it full of papers of complex math, many of which had fallen to the ground. As she picked up one of them, a roach ran from under it, eluding Olivia's attempts to stomp it out and promptly disappearing under Marcy's bed. The newt gave a hard look at the servant, who raised his hands in a gesture of innocence.
"Hey, don't blame me!" He protested "Master Marcy's orders. She forbade anyone from handling her papers. Something about a mistake, I don't know, I failed math three times."
Olivia sighed. It seemed like Don Rodrigo's words had only unearthed what Marcy's self-doubt must have been whispering for quite a while. She growled as she thought about the foul newt.
Suddenly, something caught her eye. Marcy's journal. Gears in her head shifted. Marcy wrote down everything in that book, if something was troubling her, it'd be written in those pages. Her hand reached for it, but stopped halfway.
That… wasn't right. Marcy wrote everything down there because she felt like no one would judge her for it, no one would read it and use it against her. She had even taken to keeping on her every second, even sleeping with it, or hiding it when she couldn't take it with her. It was after she had forgotten it in Olivia's chamber and she had returned it without opening it that she had begun to leave it around.
Olivia didn't want to break her trust. Sure, it'd be the easiest way to help Marcy, but it wouldn't be the right one. Even if her instincts urged her to open the booklet and read it, she resisted them.
She put down the diary where she had found it, on top of a pile of papers of newly written math. Perhaps too newly written, she thought, as she noticed her glove was once more stained with ink. This one was the second ruined glove, she mused in annoyance, after the one at the buil-
It clicked.
The accidents with no hints of any sabotage, the intruder who had disappeared into thin air, the lack of any visible tampering with the blueprints.
Sure, maybe the saboteur was a magician, maybe they were able to disappear into thin air or perfectly mimic Marcy's handwriting. Or maybe, just like her mother had said to her when she had exposed her crackpot theory on Andrias being her true father, the most likely answer was the one that required the least assumptions.
"I have to go. Tell the King I won't be available tonight" She told the servant as she bolted out of the room, not bothering to wait for an answer from the gray newt.
Everything made sense now! She knew who the saboteur was, unlikely as that was. Her brain worked in reverse, reconstestualising all her interactions with the saboteur since she had commissioned the building of the bridge to Marcy. As it arrived to now, her mind even understood what had sounded wrong with Griso's sentence, which meant she had to do one stop, before heading to where the saboteur was headed.
The building site.
The night was brightly illuminated by the red moon, shining so clearly that, hundreds of miles away from the capital, a girl and a frog scarcely needed the light of their candle to read.
In Newtopia, under this crimson light, a hooded figure sneaked through a building site, careful of their surroundings but seeming almost distracted. Nevertheless, they found their way through the equipment and half built structures and finally arrived at their destination: the squat building the bridge's blueprints were kept in, the large pilon it was built at the base of slightly crooked and casting its long shadow over the intruder.
The hooded figure let out a long sigh. With all luck, this would be the last time, they thought, shoving down the remembrance of the fact the same thought had come to them every time now.
Silently, they slipped in the building, the windowless room completely dark. They reached for their light source, but before they were able to pull it out of their pocket, a sharp and rasp sound interrupted them, rapidly followed by the soft light of a candle.
"I was expecting you" Spoke Lady Olivia, sitting in a chair and facing the now frozen hooded figure, while she extinguished the match she had used to light up the candle "Master Marcy"
For a second the figure did not move, then she pulled down her hood. It was undeniably Newtopia's resident human, even if she had seen better days. Her hair was unkempt and had undeniably been messed with, her cheeks were marked by dried up tears and her eyes bloodshot in a way that made Olivia's heart ache.
"S-so you figured it out" Marcy said, her voice wavering slightly. "How?"
Lady Olivia pulled out a glove from her pocket "The ink. When I touched the blueprints, I got stained with ink. I didn't pay attention to it when it happened, but that meant that it had just been written on. I thought the blueprints couldn't have been tampered with because the only handwriting on them was yours, but there was one person who could have modified them and that was you."
Marcy nodded and even smiled a little "I-I guess I should have let the ink dry up before running away. I suppose you know why?"
Olivia's expression betrayed her concern. She nodded "I think I do, but I'd prefer to hear it from you"
"Don Rodrigo was wrong about you" Marcy whispered, her eyes beginning to get wet at the mention of the yellowish newt. Nevertheless, she powered through and went on, her voice low and only audible in the still and silent air of the night, yet full of emotion "You are one of the best, smartest and nicest people I ever met. You didn't give me the job because you wanted to favor me or because you didn't care, but because you genuinely thought I was capable of doing it. Because you are just that nice."
"On the rest" Her smile got bittersweet and Marcy let out a pained laugh that made Olivia's heart tighten "He was absolutely right. You entrusted me and I did what I do best: I messed things up. I made a mistake" She chuckled, but there was none of her childish joy in that sound, none of that genuine excitement that had never failed to make Olivia smile "A dumb mistake. A stupid, basic, foolish, idiotic mistake."
Marcy breathed deeply "And I couldn't just admit it. You trusted me, I couldn't disappoint you! So I… waited. I lied to myself. I told myself it was fine, it was such a small mistake nothing would happen! Maybe for once, just for once, I'd be lucky, the world would throw me a bone and help me." Her smile faded and she looked sadly at Lady Olivia "Of course, that didn't happen. So, I thought I could fix it. Sneak in, correct the calculations. Nobody would even notice, everything would be fine! Then, the second accident happened"
Marcy's hand went to her hair, twisting it, messing it up and even pulling it as the girl's hand movements got more and more erratic "I-I didn't know why! I checked my notes again and-and I found I had made another mistake!" Marcy laughed hysterically as her mouth twisted into a smile that did not reach her eyes "I screwed up again! I fixed my calculations again, I checked, I double checked and triple checked until I had memorized every number and tried to fix everything again." Marcy's eyes found Olivia's and she saw them full of shame, of sadness, of terror, Olivia realized with dread. "Then, the third accident happened. I checked again and, sure enough, there was another mistake."
Marcy laughed again, a deranged cackle "Don't you get it, Lady Olivia? I am so worthless that I screwed up three times! I almost got people killed because I got careless!" The teenager fell to the ground and buried her head in her knees, doing her best to cover up the rest of it with her hands.
Olivia got up and rushed over to the teen. As she got closer, she was able to hear choked down sobs. She put her hand on Marcy's shoulder, the girl's form freezing for a second before leaning into the touch.
"Marcy, why didn't you just tell me?"
"Because you trusted me!" Marcy whimpered "You trusted me and I let you down because I couldn't just check my damn work! A-and I know that you aren't going to hate me just because I failed or think I'm a burden, but… I wanted to impress you. You are all so nice and good and I just want to pay you back for all you've done for me! And when I saw how much you were impressed by my bridge… I couldn't. But I guess I just was too careless to be able to impress anyone…"
Olivia smiled sympathetically "I… think I can understand, Master Marcy. But you are not careless, far from it. If what your servant told me is true, you went out time and time again, to try and fix your mistake. That is not something a careless person would do, don't you think so?"
Marcy looked up to Lady Olivia, her eyes still red "…I guess not." Suddenly, though, Marcy's brain, still brilliant as usual even if burdened by the emotional state of the teenager, picked up something bizarre "Wait, my servant? I don't have a servant"
"What do you mean?" Olivia asked, confused "Yes you do? Gray newt, goes by Griso?"
"Oh, I'm afraid she's quite right, Lady Olivia" Both the human and the newt turned their heads towards the now opened door, where a gray newt stood, a hood over his servant clothes and a loaded crossbow in his hands "I might have lied in my resume. Will I get fired for that?"
Olivia was about to get up and go towards him, when he pointed his crossbow at her "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He pointed the weapon at Marcy "Same goes for you creature. It was hard work getting you both here, but Don Rodrigo pays well enough."
"Don Rodrigo?" Olivia asked "You work for him?"
"Isn't that clear? Been doing that for quite a while. It ain't honest work, but it's much. Could probably afford a nice villa for myself when I retire. Put a couple of zeroes in rival companies' prices and, suddenly, Don Rodrigo's outrageous prices become much, much more reasonable. Give it a couple of years and it's a good ol' monopoly, nobody else that could build more than a sandcastle 'round. At least, until little stilt legs here got involved. It was a lot of work figuring how to make this whole operation fail, ya know? But I managed, with some help"
At that, a very familiar-looking cockroach crawled out of the hood and perched itself on Griso's shoulder. "Wait," Lady Olivia asked "Is that…"
"The roach that you saw back at the castle? The very same. I must say, ya got me a good scare when you found it. Been training roaches since I was a newtling. They are the best at discovering hidden places. Turns out, there's a whole network of tunnels in the castle. In one of 'em, I found this" From his pocket, the newt pulled out a small metal object, completely smooth if not for what looked like a small closed eye. "An amazing thingamajig. You just put it somewhere and you can hear everything happening 'round. Discreet too. Could put it in, say, a lunch bag and no one would be wiser."
"The lunch bag…" Olivia whispered.
"Exactly. I have to thank ya, Lady Olivia. Without your help, I never would have been able to discover that little miss genius had screwed up. And, as luck would have it, there's a tunnel that goes straight into her room. From there, putting a mistake or two in her work was tadpole's play."
Marcy perked up at that "It was…"
"Yup." The gray newt chuckled and petted the insect on his shoulder "All Roachie had to do was let me in from the inside. Bolted it down pretty tight before coming here, though, since, you know" Griso grabbed the roach and ate it in one bite "this is the end of our little game. Four accidents are more than enough. All Rodrigo needed was someone to, you know, kick the bucket. So, last time I put a mistake in your work, I had Attilio's help. In approximately ten minutes that pilon is going to fall over this building, giving us a tragedy to redo the bridge from scratch and ridding Don Rodrigo of competition in one fell swoop. In origin only the creature was supposed to die, but, after yesterday" The crossbow returned on Lady Olivia "the boss insisted that I put you there as well. I tried to hint that by saying that she had gone out four times and even before the first crash, but you figured it out by yourself" He shrugged "Whatever, I get paid the same. With that, I must give my goodbyes. I have no intention of becoming a pancake, ya know?"
With that he whipped around, slamming the door shut. Olivia ran towards it, but before her shoulder slammed into it, the sound of something being placed against it could be heard and all Olivia achieved was an aching shoulder.
"Uhm, Lady Olivia" Marcy asked as the newt nursed her hurting shoulder "what did he mean by 'after yesterday'? What happened?"
Lady Olivia turned towards Marcy, a light blush on her cheeks. "Well, Master Marcy, the last day, after you left…"
"Eh" Don Rodrigo let out a single chuckle, his crooked smirk oozing the superiority and complacency that could only be shown by a full grown newt that had made a child cry "Just like I thought. You need though skin to be in the game and she clearly didn-"
The newt's sentence was cut short as Olivia delivered a brutal punch in his mouth, sending him crashing against the table.
The green newt got up with an outraged expression "How dare y-" He immediately stopped when Olivia shot him a death stare and got seated once more, suddenly incredibly interested in his plate.
"How dare you?" Olivia spat at the now groaning yellowish newt "I won't even consider what you said about me and my mother. But about what you said about Master Marcy? That girl has been nothing but kind to anyone she has ever met since she had arrived here. Everything she has done, she has done it to help others. And you dare say that filth to her? That girl is a better person than you are, ever have been or ever will be."
The yellowish newt picked himself up, spitting out a bloodied tooth in his hand, looking at it in disbelief before snarling at Lady Olivia "YOU DARE TO HIT ME!?"
Olivia was not intimidated "I do. And I will again. Your words, your actions, particularly directed at someone such as Master Marcy are unforgivable. And you know what? She is such a nice person that she will probably forgive you. She will find a fault within herself and accept your lies, your slander as truth before realizing you are just a disgusting, evil, poor excuse for a person."
"Now, wait a second" protested Don Rodrigo "I may be evil and disgusting, but I definitely ain't po-"
Unfortunately for him, he didn't manage to finish his sentence, as Lady Olivia hit a second time straight in the face, sending him crashing straight into the wall this time. Olivia continued speaking as before, disregarding Rodrigo's comment "Unfortunately for you, I am far less forgiving."
Once more, Don Rodrigo got up, gritting his teeth "A word of warning." He hissed, looking at Olivia with death in his eyes. "I am a powerful newt. You wouldn't want t-"
Once more, Don Rodrigo's sentence got cut off as Olivia smashed a chair on his head, sending the newt sprawling on the floor. "Let me give you a word of warning myself. Stay the Frog away from my kid."
"…so I guess that may have some kind of relation to why he could want me dead" Olivia concluded.
There was a moment of silence between the two, then Marcy spoke.
"Thanks." She whispered, her voice so low that Olivia almost missed it.
"Do not worry, Mas- Marcy." Olivia reassured the girl "I only said the truth"
"…even the part about me? Do you still think that is true? E-even after… all I did?"
Olivia smiled "Even after all you did. Marcy, did I ever tell you about the first time Newtopia nearly burnt down under my watch?"
The girl shook her head a couple of times.
"I thought so." Olivia chuckled slightly "It is not a tale I tell often. Still, could you guess whose fault it was that the fire got started?"
"…Andrias?"
"Funnily enough, no. He did cause the second fire and the third and he gets partial credit for the fourth, but the first time, he wasn't involved at all. He was out of the city, actually. He and my mother had taken a trip to an old forest to observe the wonders of nature. For the first time in my life it was me that held the reins to the whole city. It was also me who caused the fire."
Marcy was visibly taken aback by this revelation "What?" She exclaimed in disbelief "You are joking, right?"
"I promise, Marcy, I am not. It was even a dumb mistake which I can't even remember, something related to fireworks if my memory does not betray me. Ask Andrias later, he loves telling that story. Do you know what I remember, though?" She asked, chuckling "I was terrified. I was scared of my mother, quite possibly the nicest newt I have ever met in all my life. I feared that she would be disappointed in me, of course, but I forced myself to go and greet her"
"…what did she say?"
"Well, at first she was silent. I told her of my mistake and apologized again and again and again. After a while, she simply put a hand on my shoulder and asked me one simple question: what did you do?" Olivia laughed in her hand "At first I didn't understand. I had just told her about my mistake, quite at length. She asked again, adding a word at the end this time: what did you do, afterwards? After I had panicked, I told her, I had organized the Night Guard to fight the fire and rescue any and all newts trapped in the burning buildings. I had organized tents for those who had lost their houses and brought in drinkable water and food for all of them"
Olivia smiled fondly and breathed deeply "She just nodded and smiled proudly. Then, she told me something: everyone can make mistakes. You don't have to be stupid or smart, strong or weak, good or evil to make a mistake. Your mistakes are not a judge of your character, what you do to fix them is." Olivia got close to Marcy and pulled out a handkerchief, which she used to clean Marcy's cheeks "Marcy, you've made a mistake, that is correct. What did you do afterwards? You did all you could to fix it" With one of her hands, Olivia cupped Marcy's cheek and smiled widely and happily "And what did you do when that did not work out? Did you despair? No, you put in twice as much work to fix it."
"But I lied to you! If I had just told you or Andrias or anyone else!"
"And why did you do that?" Olivia asked "Because you didn't want to be blamed? No, you did it because you didn't want to disappoint me, because you didn't want to break someone else's trust." Marcy looked like she was about to try and object, but Olivia stopped her "But yes. Not telling me was a mistake. Master Marcy, I would not be disappointed in you, not for something like that, not for anything. Tell me, though, Marcy. What are you going to do afterwards?"
A ghost of a smile formed on Marcy's lips "I'm… going to do my hardest to fix my mistake"
Olivia draped her arms around the girl, who did the same in return. For a moment they just stood there.
"And the first thing I'm going to do to fix it" Marcy finally whispered, as she got up and stood upright, pointing her index finger in the air "is breaking us out of here!"
Olivia couldn't see her own expression, but she imagined it wasn't too much different from the one her mother had worn all those years ago. "And I'll help you" She proclaimed as she stood up as well and went to the table to see if there was anything useful. "Let's see… we have… woodworking supplies and…" she sorted through the various bottles of wood polish and picked up the bottle of pills she had seen the day before to read the label "…constipation pills. Yikes" she put the pills down instantly "There doesn't look to be anything us-" She was interrupted as Marcy zoomed to the table rifling through the various items, picking out a small bottle full of a yellow liquid and the pills, mumbling to herself as she did so.
"Nitric acid… glycerin… I could… but maybe… no, it's too…" Marcy mumbled, only stopped by Olivia grabbing on her arm
"You can do this, Master Marcy. I believe in you"
The girl was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and got to work, crushing the pills before pouring the dust in the small bottle.
"Okay, this should work. Or kill us both. Fifty fifty, I'd say. Duck"
"Wha-"
"DUCK!"
Olivia barely had time to throw herself on the ground before Marcy tossed the bottle on the door, causing a deafening explosion and a fireball that utterly erased the door and whatever had been blocking it.
"That" Marcy announced "was a little bit of human magic!"
"Can… can you do that in the castle?"
"Well, with the right material-"
"Please, please never do that in the castle"
Marcy shot finger guns at the blue newt "Can do! Now, let's get out of here! Maybe we can even get that Griso guy"
Olivia smirked "Oh, I wouldn't worry about him. Let us say I had a… surprise waiting for him"
As the two got out of the building, they were greeted by the sight of General Yunan, the pink newt sitting on a bound gray one, the very same that had trapped them inside.
"Was that explosion you kiddo?" Yunan asked.
"Yup!" Marcy confirmed, much to Yunan's delight.
"Frog, that's why you're so cool! You gotta show me how you did that!"
Marcy was about to speak, but she was silenced by a glare from Lady Olivia "Uhm… unfortunately it was… a one time use thing. Yeah, definitely can't do that again, yup"
"Oh, snap. Well, it was worth a shot."
Griso stirred in his restraints "How the Frog were you here? You're supposed to be back at the castle!"
"She was" Olivia answered "but I made a small stop on the way here and got Yunan to come as well, to catch you"
"BUT WHY?" Asked the gray newt "You couldn't suspect me, I had covered all my tracks!"
"You had" Olivia conceded "But you betrayed yourself. You said you didn't have to make Marcy's bed since she didn't sleep, but Master Marcy always insists on making her own bed."
"Yeah" Marcy confirmed "overbearing Asian parents!"
"I have no idea what those are, but there was no way you were Marcy's servant and did not know that. So, just to be safe, I had Yunan follow me in the shadows"
"I am extremely sneaky!"
"You sure are Yun."
"Oh, uhm, thank you Liv"
Griso rolled his eyes "Oh, just get a room you two"
Both Yunan and Olivia blushed at that "W-What!" Squealed out Yunan.
"It's not like that!" Olivia swore.
"Yeah, not like that." Yunan agreed.
"We're… friends."
"Just friends."
"Close friends."
"Very close friends."
"Definitely."
"Just friends."
"Nothing against that, of course, but we're just friends."
"What she said."
"Lady Olivia, you knew that he would do this? Why didn't you do anything?" Marcy asked, too baffled to appreciate the idiots-in-love trope unfolding before her eyes.
Olivia sighed "I… knew you had to believe in yourself. So I figured out that putting you to the test like this was our best option"
"Yeah," Yunan agreed "besides, I was here all along! You were never in any danger, kid"
Just as she said that, the pilon fell on top of the building, crushing it.
"…okay, yeah, I forgot about that. Still, I could've probably stopped that. I didn't because I didn't want to."
Marcy hugged both Olivia and Yunan "Thank you. Thank you both so much, for everything"
"Don't worry, Master Marcy. We'll always be there for you"
"Yeah, you can count on us. Now, though" Yunan freed herself from the hug and picked up Griso to have him at eye level "I heard your boss had some choice words for my favorite kid. Now, I'd answer in kind, but I'm more a newt of…" she grinned wide, exposing her pointy teeth and cocked her head to one side and then the other, her neck making a loud pop each time "action."
The gray newt swallowed. For once, he definitely did not want to be in his employers' shoes.
A couple of weeks passed. The construction of the bridge lagged a bit for the damage and the need to make some new blueprints and adjust to those, but the newts arrested for their role in the whole affair and put to work there helped speed the process enough to finish it in a reasonable time. Finally, the day of the inauguration came and Marcy, alongside Andrias, Yunan and Olivia went to the ceremony. For once, the King did not doze off and managed to make his part, though Yunan did grab a bottle of champagne and smashed it on the head of the newt.
"What?" She justified herself "It's a new fad! I'm not exactly sure where it came from, but it's cool!"
Marcy, though, had noticed a large something covered by an equally large drape on the bridge, but she did not think much of it. Andrias had asked her to account for something really heavy there, so she assumed it was going to be one of those statues of him that were relatively common in the city.
"Master Marcy, would you do the honors of unveiling the surprise?" Andrias asked her, handing the human one end of a rope.
Marcy shrugged "Sure, why not?"
She pulled it, activating a complex system of ropes and pulleys that dragged the drape off, revealing a giant golden statue of none other than Marcy Wu.
"Wha…" she pronounced, so utterly gobsmacked that she could not finish the question, her eyes wandering to Andrias for answers.
"That Rodrigo guy had a lot of money" Andrias explained "More than enough to build the bridge. He also had a lot of gold, so we thought about using it for something less ugly than he was using it for"
"We?" Marcy asked
"Okay, I'll admit it, it was mostly Olivia's idea"
The teen turned to look at the small newt, who looked back at her with a proud smile "None deserved it more than you, Master Marcy"
The girl's eyes turned slightly wet "Frog, I do nothing but thank you…Thank you so much, Lady Liv!"
Olivia let out a single fond chuckle "Lady Liv? I am not too fond of nicknames but… I guess it will do"