The Wyndigite

It was a peaceful evening on the Plantar's farm. Dinner was over and the Plantars plus their guests were peacefully enjoying the evening. Sasha was sitting on the couch with a bored expression, flipping through apps on her phone. Amelia, along with Polly, on her left, were watching an episode of one of the most action-packed and violent animated series that Amelia's had on her phone. Around the coffee table, Jacob & James were challenging each other to a game of Flipwart. Anne was helping Hop Pop clear the table, and Marcy…

"Okay, Sprig," said the black-haired girl lifting the violin and holding it firmly in her left hand, the bow in her right hand, "Watch how I do it. Are you ready?"

"Ready, Marbles!"

Marcy smiled, before passing the bow over the strings of the instrument, her hand moving fluidly filling the air with a symphony full of imagination and passion, the notes which she now knew by heart. The Vagabondia Chronicles theme song.

"Hey, you didn't tell me Marcy could play the violin, Jacob."

"You didn't ask that, James. Anyway, Marcy has always been very good with the violin."

"What about the Vagabondia theme?"

"It's her, and I quote, all-time favorite video game ever. So of course she was going to know it's theme song through and through. By the way, archer taken: you should keep your guard up, don't get distracted."

"I'm always on my toes, even when you can't see it," James replied, moving one of the toads armed with clubs and endangering Jacob's heron ride, "You, on the other hand, can't play, can you?"

"Not one of those classical instruments," the heron moved, taking cover behind an enemy pawn, "But maybe someday, I'd like to try guitar. Or as a singer."

"Are you thinking about forming a band?"

"Nah, too much trouble. If I have the chance, I'd prefer to sing and play in a duo, like the Blues Brothers."

"Wow, that was great!" Said Sprig with admiring eyes, lifting his own fiddle, "Marcy, can I rehearse with you?"

"Sure, Spriggie!" Marcy replied with eyes full of excitement, "Anna-Banana, Sash, if you can-?"

"I'll take care of it," the blonde girl replied with a smile, activating the video mode on her own phone and enclosing the two musicians, "Okay, ready."

"Sprig, you do the honor."

The young frog smiled, starting to play, a virtuoso rhythm full of feeling resonating from his instrument, harmoniously and rhythmically joining the Vagabondia rhythm played by Marcy. Even Sasha, as she recorded the performance, could not help but feel a rush of emotion from her heart.

"It's-it's like breathing, for the soul." Sasha said under her breath, oblivious to the figure behind her.

"I'll give you credit on that one, Sash,"

"Anne!" The girl replied, turning abruptly, "You scared me!"

"Me, scared you?" The Thai-American girl replied amused, "Where is the real Sasha, and what have you done with her?"

"Boonchuy, don't make fun of me. Just because I can appreciate good music doesn't mean I can't be a badass."

"Even great warriors can have a big heart, and a strong appreciation for the beautiful," Amelia intervened with a smile "As meat nourishes strength, music and poetry nourish spirit."

"From what movie or TV series did you steal that line? The Seven Samurai?"

"No, I am reborn as the disciple of the old river master. It's an anime!"

"Of froggin' course," Sasha grumbled, "Amelia, can you explain to me how you still appreciate that stuff?"

"Oh, come on Sasha! Isekai are stories with great potential. Haven't you ever dreamed of having such an adventure? Finding yourself in a fantasy world populated by strange creatures, full of swords and magic?"

In response, Sasha raised an eyebrow and spread her arms as if to show everything around her "And here we are. Trapped in a world of giant, talking frogs, with no idea how to get home."

"Oh, right..."

"Come on, Sasha," Anne intervened, trying to calm tempers, "Let's try to focus on the positive! True, we're trapped in another world, without many of the comforts we're used to or even...the ability to get in touch with our parents..." she said, and for a moment, a note of sadness appeared on her face. "Yet, we are still together, we're safe, we're healthy, and we've found a nice frog family that gives us room and board in exchange for…some work on the farm."

"Some work?" James replied to her, "Hop Pop works us to the bone! My muscles are still sore from today's work."

"At least, tomorrow we can relax," Jacob nodded, taking advantage of his adversary's distraction to eat his heron without him noticing. "Hop Pop promised us: next morning, we can sleep-"

"Kids!" The old frog's voice resounded, as Hop Pop walked back inside from the door in the back, "change of plans: looks like tomorrow could be a work day too. And it will be even busier and harder than today."

"What?" The six teens shouted at the same time.

"You can't be serious."

"Dude, what the frog?"

"Hop Pop, you promised!"

"I know, I know," he hurried to reply, "But there has been a change: looks like tomorrow there are good chances there will be a Grace Rain."

"Huh, what is a Grace Rain?"

"It's the name we use to call some rains that are particularly good and fertility-bringing for the crops, Anne," Sprig started to explain, "They are quite rare to see nowadays, but when they happen, they can make even the driest of the soils fertile again."

"Really? Can I make a note of that in my Journal?" Marcy said even more enthusiastically, "Even better: do you think I can take a sample? I would be very interested to be able to preserve it for later analysis."

"Hey, that doesn't sound bad."

"It's not, Anne, it's not," Hop continued, "However, Grace Rains always come in strong storms that could damage existing crops if not properly protected. For this reason, if the Grace Rain comes tomorrow, I will have to ask you all to help us to cover up the feeblest of the crops. We would be probably facing hours of back-breaking work in mud and muck to check over the twin greenhouses and the channel system, secure both the weed-pullers and the super-fertilizer, empty the dip well to make sure it doesn't overflow-"

Marcy looked aside nervously: all those creations and innovations she introduced in order to make their daily work easier, now had become additional work for all of them to do. Ok, I guess I will have to make some modifications to reduce the risks and damages caused by the rain and other things in future.

"Huh, excuse me, Hop Pop'" James raised his hands, "If we have to do all these things before the rain arrives, why can't we simply do it now. It is quite late, I know, but still better than having to work in the middle of rain."

"Are you kidding?" Sprig jumped on him, "We're frogs! We love working under the rain."

"But we're not!" Sasha interjected, "And humans do not like getting all wet!"

"James, I thank you for your suggestion, but this is something we cannot do," Hop Pop spoke, a tired look on his face, "There are hints, but we cannot know if we'll get a Grace Rain until tomorrow morning. And some of those things cannot be done until then. It will be hours of uninterrupted, thankless, hard, character-building labor that we'll have to repeat over and over, all day long, until the rain stops. Probably, we'll end up tired in our bodies and minds, feeling too exhausted we cannot even sleep-"

"Then, I guess it's time to go to bed," Jacob said, walking out of the Flipwart match and toward the basement's hatch, "If it will be as tiring as you say, we need to regain as much energy as we can tonight. I feel a little bit drained already."

"Good idea!" Hop Pop announced "Ok kids, today's curfew starts now: everyone, get some rest! Sprig, Polly, help me finish clearing the table."

(…)

"That old, boring, unfair frog!" Sasha murmured as the six humans were now alone in the basement, "He promised us we'd get a day off tomorrow, and now he's walking back on his promise just because-"

"Oh, we will get our well-deserved day off, Sash!" Jacob said, rushing to his backpack and checking on its pockets, "If he's not willing to give it to us, then we will simply take it."

"Jacob, what do you mean?" Marcy asked with a puzzled look, "We can't refuse to help Hop Pop and the others. They took us in when we arrived, Hop Pop faced an angry mob and an egomaniac hunter to protect us. The help we give to the farm is the least we can do to repay him for food and hospitality."

"Well, she's right," Anne nodded, "Plus, how do you even expect to convince him to not make you work tomorrow?"

"Don't worry girl: I have a perfect plan, to get us out of the chores!"

"What?" Anne, Marcy & James asked at the same time, while Sasha simply rolled her eyes. She could smell smugness, coming up from Jacob's words.

"Let's assume that, during the night, we get sick. So sick that we are weak and unable to work. In that case - we'll be free!" He announced with a bombastic tone of voice.

"That's your perfect plan?" Sasha spoke with a voice full of sarcasm, "Pretend to be sick? What, are we back to kindergarten?"

"Hey, it's a classic!"

"I'm not impressed."

"Me neither, Sash," Amelia rolled her eyes, giving the blonde girl a fist-bump.

"Oh, Miss Pom-Pom is not impressed?" Jacob looked at them with a challenging glaze. "Why, how did you ever get out of a boring lesson or a test you didn't like?"

"Don't call me Pom Pom!" Sasha snarled back, before regaining her cool, "Anyway, we had better system to avoid a lesson: like the time Marcy distracted the Biology teacher with a specifically-detailed question while I moved the classroom clock hands so the lesson ended before the test could even start-"

"No way, you did that?" James looked at them with amazement.

"Yup. We even made up a specific condition in order to help Marbles out of Physical Education."

"Marcy?" Jacob looked at her, genuinely impressed "I cannot believe it: you faked a condition to get out of gym class? You?"

"Well, yes, I did," Marcy smiled awkwardly, embarrassed to admit it, "Sorry but…physical education is the only class that never went well. This way, I can read instead of having to go to the gym."

"Not going to blame you for that: You're right, physical education is not for you," Jacob chuckled, remembering some past disasters he witnessed. "Plus, Principal Murphy isn't here to punish us, isn't she?"

"And what about you, Anne," James asked with puzzlement, "Did you ever use a trick like that to avoid a lesson?"

"Well, there are sometimes I pretended to get a cold-"

"Pff, lame," Jacob and Sasha. "A cold, seriously?"

"It's one of the oldest tricks in the book! You use it when you don't even want to bother thinking of a good excuse."

"If you want to fake a sickness, use one that no one knows, so you are less likely to get busted!"

"Wow, are we seriously discussing how to evade lessons by playing sick?" James asked in wonder. He too called in sick a couple of times, but this was ridiculous.

"Yes, you are," Amelia coldly replied, "I feel dishonored just by hearing it."

"Said the girl who hid the test solutions in a fake inhaler."

"Jacob, you rat!"

"Anyway," Sasha intervened, before the conversation truly became ridiculous and they might end up being heard by Hop Pop and the others, "If I'm guessing right, how do we fake an illness for tomorrow, Jacob?"

"Well," he replied, showing her some markers of various colors, "We just have to draw some patches, act all tired and sick, and pretend we've got some strange illness that affects humans."

"Jacob, I must protest," Amelia pushed on, "What if Hop Pop and the others find out? They'll be putting us on dung duty for a week!"

"But they're not going to find it out! We are humans, the only humans in this whole place. We can simply explain so many things as being "a human thing". We have just to invent some crazy virus that can only affect humans, and say that it's common from where we came from. If we cover each other's backs and simply confirm what each other says, we'd play safe."

"Well, I'm not convinced, cousin. These things always end up backfiring in anime and cartoons."

"Amelia, we are not in a Japanese anime."

"I think we should proceed with care too, guys," James intervened, raising a counterpoint. "Plus, we have passed through so many adventures: shouldn't we have learned already that lying to try and get out of chores is going to go boomerang and hit you in the back when you're not expecting it?"

"Guys, guys," Anne intervened, "I have a proposal: how about we wait until tomorrow and see what the weather is like? Hop Pop made it clear: it is not certain that grace rain will be there tomorrow. And if it doesn't, Hop Pop won't force us to work."

"Let's hope so, Anne. Let's hope so."

"Psh. Anne? Anne!"

"Huh, five more minutes, Jacob…"

"Sorry, Anne, but we've got no time to lose: the Grace rain is here!"

"What?"

The Thai-American girl rose up from her bed, still dizzy and half-asleep, looking out of the small window in the basement. Sure thing, it was raining outside, the icy wind lashing hard as small twigs and other small objects were whisked away. A romantic and relaxing atmosphere-if you could stay inside the house in the warmth, of course.

"Has Hop Pop called us yet?"

"No, Anne, but I guess he will, soon. Come on; give me a hand in waking the others: I'll take care of Amelia and James, you take care of Sasha and Marcy."

Anne nodded, directing her friends who were still sleeping. It seemed almost cruel to rouse them from their dreams, but if Jacob was telling the truth, they might only have a few minutes, and there was no time to let them sleep.

"Sasha, Mar-Mar, wake up."

"Boonchuy, let me sleep."

"Anna-Babana? What's going on?"

"The Grace Rain has arrived, Marbles."

Immediately, Marcy stood up, sleep vanished in seconds, as the black-haired girl ran to the small window.

"My collection system works!" Said the girl excitedly, while behind her James and Amelia were also being torn (with implied cruelty) from their dreams, "The funnel has collected enough water from the rain in the little bottle, now I just have to close it and-"

"Marcy, you miss the point." Jacob replied in a serious tone, "If it rains, Hop Pop will force us to go outside and do all those jobs he said."

"Oh no, no way!" Hissed Sasha with hostility, "It's too early, and it's too cold. Wake me up when the rain is over."

"We have no choice: we have to simulate an illness."

"As much as I still have doubts, I now agree with you, "James intervened, seeing the weather outside "It's raining cats and dogs."

"Guys!" Hop Pop's voice rang out from the basement, "Start getting ready: in five minutes we have to be ready to start!"

"Hand me that marker, Jacob!" Sasha said in an authoritative tone, taking the marker from the boy's hands and starting to draw spots on her face and arms, "Screw working in the fields: I already have a job, with Ivy and Felicia. And he promised."

"Pass it to me, after you're done,"

"Amelia, do you also want to pretend to be sick?" Said Jacob, pulling out more markers, "Didn't you say it was dishonorable and wrong, just yesterday?"

"Yesterday was yesterday, today is another day. And I don't want to catch another cold!"

"Yeah, me neither," James nodded. "I'm sorry about Hop Pop and the others, but I'll make it up to them."

"Guys?" Hop Pop's voice rang out again.

"Everyone in the cots," Jacob hissed, taking command of the "fake sickness" operation, "Act like you're not okay."

"I already don't feel well right now," Sasha emphasized in an annoyed voice. The time spent in Amphibia, so far, didn't make the slimy, humid Valley more sympathetic to her. Even now that they knew there was a spa where they could go whenever they wanted.

"Kids?" Hop Pop opened the hatch and looked inside "I called you-frog, what happened?"

From an external point of view, the six human teenagers were truly a pitiful sight: coughing, holding to each other, with visible colored spots on their foreheads and arms.

"Whoa, kids, you look terrible!" Hop Pop said, as Sprig and Polly walked inside as well" Everything all right?"

"No, HP." Anne said, faking several coughs, "I feel all weak and depleted. I think I may be sick!"

"I think we all may be sick," Jacob copped, gripping his chest while pretending to not have any strength left, "Sorry, it must be something that we must have caught last night."

"What?" Sprig gasped, rushing to the humans side as trying to check them, "Hop Pop, what do they have? How did it happen? What can we do?"

"Let me check," the old frog said, walking up to Sasha and touching her cheek skin, "No slimy coating. That's a good sign, but I've never seen such yellow spots before." He then put his hands in her mouth, grabbing the girl's tongue.

"Great grubs! Your tongue has shrunken to an unnaturally tiny size!"

"My tongue is fine, thank you," Sasha replied with irritation, slapping Hop Pop's hands away, "We've got a strange sickness, something that you nor anyone else knows anything about."

"A human sickness?" Polly asked, "Is that like…the pimples?"

"Even worse," Anne said, couching, "I never felt this bad."

"Wait, you know it?" Hop Pop asked with worry, "You know what this disease is called?"

Jacob's eyes widened, as he realized his awesome plan had just hit a snag: they didn't agree on a name.

"Well-" Jacob said in panic, faking even more coughs to buy time, as his brain tried to come up with a name, "This sickness – it's called -"

"We don't know what this sickness is called," Marcy said, coming to the boy's rescue, "None of the symptoms we have even correlates to any sickness we have in the human world. We feel feverish, we have cold feet, and we have trouble breathing without coughing as well. Then-"

Anne had to stop herself from laughing, as she heard Marcy's description of their fake symptoms grow more and more ridiculous with each sentence, like a theater monologue. Meanwhile, Hop Pop listened silently to Marcy's words: the explanation was really suspicious in itself, and yet, he didn't dare to believe it as a lie. The human kids had proved their trust several times by now, and he didn't know enough about them to guess if the sickness was real or not.

"Anne, please tell me what happened to you?" Sprig rushed to her, hugging, "How can we save you?"

"Sprig, don't be that afraid," The girl replied, not wanting to scare her friend, "Sure, it's bothersome, but it's not a big issue. Only, we cannot help you outside while we are feeling like this."

"Don't worry about that!" Hop Pop announced, waving his hand "If you're sick, you cannot work outside. Focus on relaxing and staying warm, we will manage on our own for today. Plus, I did promise that you wouldn't work today. I guess it's right for you to have a break. Come on, kids, let's move."

"Stay inside and stay safe Anne. And you too, guys!"

"Rest up!"

"We will, guys, we will." Sasha said while coughing, as the Plantars walked out of the basement, and a few minutes later, out of the door.

It was then that the teen humans jerked up, and any pretense of sickness disappeared in a couple of seconds.

"You did it, girl! Woo!"

"Hah, they fell for it! They actually fell for it!"

"I am quite surprised: I expected from them to at least have had a little more doubt."

"Come on, James, I told you! They never saw creatures like us before, our biology is different. They have no way to know if the sickness we claim to have is real or not."

"I still feel a bit worried," Marcy spoke up gently, her eyes showing her uneasiness, "I mean, Hop Pop and his family trust us; why do we have to betray their trust by faking a sickness just to get out of work."

"Marbles, it's Hop Pop who started this," Sasha quickly reminded her, "He told us we wouldn't have to work today and we would get a free morning, only to change his mind only because of a strange rain. Plus, you heard him: hours of uninterrupted, thankless, hard work in the mud and the muck!"

"But it was for the things that I suggested to him," Marcy noted, "I mean, if I didn't create all those inventions for the farm-"

"Marbles, please, no feelings of guilt. After all, we didn't do something that wrong: we simply took an excuse to take off from work. If you feel guilty about it, we can do double shifts next time."

"You promise, Sash?"

"Pinkie promise, Marbles?"

"Pinkie promise, Sunshine!"

"Ok," James muttered, looking around, "So, I guess we can go back to bed, now?"

"If you want to, sure," Jacob nodded, "I, for one, have a different idea…"

"Maddie? Maddie?"

The blue-skinned frog was sitting behind the counter, silently reading her book of magic, when she heard a voice calling for her from the outside. Immediately, she walked up to the door, and pushed it to open, allowing a small, young frog to get inside.

"Sprig, what brings you here?"

"Sorry, Maddie," her contemporary replied, "Hop Pop suddenly remembered that we had no bread left for today, so he asked me to get some and bring it home. I had to come all this way in the rain."

"Why did you have to?" Maddie snorted, as Sprig dried himself up, taking pleasure in the relative warm of the inside, "You could have asked Marcy to bring it home: I was just planning to ask her to come-"

"I'm sorry, but I doubt she can do anything today. She and the others got sick."

"What?" Maddie gasped, taken back for a second, "What do they have?"

"I do not know, and neither did Anne, Sasha or the others, but they got colored spots all over their skins, feel their heads burn and their feet cold, they keep coughing…

"Wait a second, did you say colored spots over the skin? Coughing?"

"Huh, yeah? Why, you know about it?"

"No, I don't," The young frog witch replied, before smirking, "Yet; I have a source that could help you, if you want to see."

Sprig stood still for a minute as Maddie rushed in the back, returning with a large book titled "Maladies and Sickness of the Unknown Times" with a drawing of a dying frog on the cover.

"Huh, Maddie? What is this?"

"A book of medicine my dad bought once; we never had any use for it, but it is a fairly good thing to have at home, since there are no doctors in Wartwood. And resurrection spells are not that easy to prepare."

"It looks quite old."

"It was a gift, once. For my mother."

Sprig stood silent, as he saw Maddie's face grow into a hurt expression. He remembered, a second too late, that Polly and himself were not the only ones to have lost a parent or both.

"Maddie…"

"Want to help me check?" The azure-skinned frog said, quickly regaining control over her emotions, "Maybe the sickness Marcy and the others have is in here."

"I don't know: I mean, Sasha told us that it was an unknown sickness, something we cannot possibly know about. Plus, we don't even know what it's called…"

"There it is!" Maddie said, with a grin, "The symptoms coincide!"

Sprig jerked up, looking to the page Maddie was pointing at, reading the title.

"Wyndigite?" Sprig read aloud.

"Yep! Look, the symptoms coincide: extreme tiredness, colored spots all over the skin, feet and hands feeling cold, fever… Oh no!"

"What's the matter Maddie? Is there a problem?"

"Is this really the disease from which they suffer? Are you sure you got the symptoms right?"

"What's going on?" Sprig asked, in a voice full of concern. The tone Maddie was using at this moment did not sound good.

"Sprig, it says here that Wyndigite is not a disease like any other: those who suffer from it are doomed to turn into monstrous predators, and attack anyone who comes near them."

"What?" Sprig shouted, in a voice full of horror, "Let me see!"

For a moment, he had hoped that Maddie had read it wrong, but the reality was now clear as soon as his eyes caught sight of the written text:

"…whoever gets infected by such hideous sickness, will first experience colored spots appearing all over their skin, and will feel tired, unable to do any work or, in most severe cases, even to stand up on their feet. Victims on the beginner stage will often feel their hands and feet are cold, while developing a fever. Then, their eyes will start to turn yellow, and their mouth begins to emit a stinky smell as their teeth get slowly covered in blood. Then, just after the tongue turns blood red, the most gruesome part of the transformation takes place… (…)"

"(…)In the final stage of the contagion, the infected lose weight; their bodies become more slender and skeletal, while their teeth take on a sharp shape, apt to hold back the blows of struggling prey. Their hands become long and skeletal; their color spots expand giving their skin a pale, sickly color. Yet, the real change is in the mind: the infected gradually lose all capacity for rationalization and consciousness, stop talking and regress to animalistic behavior. Their only impulse from this stage onward is to attack and devour any living creature that comes near them..."

Sprig read this almost breathlessly, his eyes streaming over the words, unable to process what he had discovered. The disease that Anne and her other friends had contracted was a mind-numbing one, and anyone infected by it turned into a bloodthirsty monster. Was this what was going to happen to them as well?

For a moment, Sprig imagined a scrawny, emaciated figure, curled in on itself, its big hair accentuating its excessive thinness, devouring a raw Burrow Bug in big gulps. Suddenly, the figure turned around, and he could make out the face that had once been Anne's, its yellowed eyes, its teeth sharp as fangs, snarling with animalistic fury...

"No, no!" Sprig said aloud, banishing such an image from his mind, "It can't happen! Such sickness can be cured, can't it? Surely, there must be a cure?"

"Unfortunately, if there is, it is not described here." Maddie replied, checking the written text, "On the other hand, there is more..."

"What do you mean?"

Maddie pointed to the last warning on the page, framed in red to accentuate its severity.

"If one or more infected are identified, they should be eliminated as soon as possible to prevent the spread of the disease and the outbreak of an epidemic. The safest method of eliminating them is to burn them, usually by trapping them in an old abandoned building or in a wooden cage that must subsequently be set on fire. In the case of infected ones, there can be no hesitation: all should be burned as soon as possible to prevent them from infecting other creatures-"

"What, oh no, don't tell me there is no cure?"

"I don't think that's the biggest problem, Sprig," Maddie said thoughtfully, "I can try to see if one of my spells can be used as a cure. I think there are some spells that might be useful. But it will all be useless if this gets out."

"And who might find out about it?"

"Toadstool," replied the young sorceress laconically, "If he learns that Marcy and the others are suffering from such a disease, do you think he will keep quiet and behave rationally? Or that he will try to stir up a mob to solve the situation?"

Sprig remained silent, swallowing the horrible realization. Now that he thought about it, the situation was not bad, but rather, catastrophic.

"Maddie..."

"If we want to save our friends, we must act quickly. Sprig, will you help me?"

"Absolutely!"

"Okay, then, you go to Ivy and explain the situation to her, and ask her if she can help, or at least, if she can keep the secret at least for now, then go back to Hop Pop and explain the situation. You must keep Anne and the others quarantined, at least for the time being, and be careful not to get infected yourself. I will search all the magic books I know: if traditional medicine cannot save them, magic can!"

"All right, Maddie, but let me know as soon as you have news. I can't even imagine what state Anne and the others are in now..."

"Yeah, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me what you want, what you really, really want. I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me what you want, what you really, really want."

Inside the farm, the six humans were celebrating their unwarranted free day, by having a small party. Anne, Sasha and Marcy were dancing and singing together, to the song Wannabe by the Spice Girls, the music coming from their phones filling the air.

"If you wanna be my lover," Anne sang with enthusiasm, "you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever, friendship never ends."

"If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give." Sasha sang in turn, "Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is!"

"Are girl parties always this loud in California?" James asked, looking with an amused look.

"Bro, you haven't seen nothing yet." The other boy replied, "They are allowed to play music loud, and I'm not allowed to keep going with my experiments? Come on!"

"Jacob, you were planning to make gunpowder."

"So? I have the ingredients now, and Marcy taught me the process."

"She also told us about the explosions you caused on your first attempts."

"Hey, the road to progress has never been an easy one! Plus, I already know how to make the mixture more stable."

"Jacob, you're not allowed to make explosive experiments indoors. Do you want to blow up the farm?"

"I'll be careful-"

"You were careful the previous time as well. Plus, remember that we are supposed to be sick right now. We must leave no traces for Hop Pop to bust us."

"Shouldn't you say that to Amelia?" Jacob's eyes jerked upward, in the direction of the bathroom, "She's taking quite a long time."

"I have to agree with you on this. Any idea how much time she will take?"

"Nope. At home, we have two bathrooms."

"Oh."

"Eh."

In that moment, both of the boys heard the stomach growl, as they realized they were hungry.

"How about we make ourselves something to eat? Hop Pop and the others have not returned it yet."

"Good idea! Should I call for the cook?" He indicated Anne with the eyes.

"Nah," James shook his head. "Why don't we simply take the opportunity to prove that boys can cook too? I mean, how difficult can it be?"

(…)

"Here we are!" James looked proudly at the boiling pot, "It's starting to smell quite nicely, don't you think?"

"What is this glop?" Jacob asked with a puzzled look, "Please tell me you didn't put bugs in this one."

"Of course not: this is a simple human soup with cabbages and mushrooms. Even if we're grown accustomed to eating bugs by now, I suppose we can at least make ourselves one dish bugs-free." He took a sip of the soup, to check its flavor. "Mmh, the cabbage is too strong: we should add more mushrooms to balance the flavour."

"More mushrooms to add?" Jacob asked, noting a couple of dried mushrooms, one small and red, the other yellow and a flat shape, grabbing them and passing them to James "There you go!"

James dropped the mushrooms into the pot, flashing for a few seconds "Let's check now," he took another sip. "Not bad! And people still think Englishmen can't cook!"

"Hey boys," Sasha said, walking into the kitchen with Marcy and Anne, "What are you doing?"

"We were cooking something hot and flavored," the English kid replied with a smirk, while Jacob sniffed the pot, "Want to dig in?"

"Huh, just to ask, boys," Anne asked, looking at the pot's content, "What's this supposed to be? Consommé of caterpillars?"

"Nope, this is a homemade soup of cabbages and mushrooms. Totally bug-free!"

"Bug-free?" Sasha gleamed at the realization, "I guess one taste wouldn't hurt. Anne, you and I set the table. Jacob, can you check if Amelia has finished with her bath, or if she drowned in the tub?

"One moment and I'll check." The boy walked to the stairs and shouted above, "Amelia? You still alive?"

"I'm fine, cousin," his youngest relative spoke back, appearing on the top of the stairs. She was dressed in a towel, and another small towel covered her hair, "What happened? Did Hop Pop return already?"

"Nope, just lunch's ready. Get dressed, or I'm eating your portion as well."

"You don't rush my bath time."

"And weren't you the one who wants to be samurai? What if you were under enemy attack?"

"Even samurai don't like to stink!"

(…)

"So now Maddie is trying to find a possible solution among her spells."

"Say what?" Hop Pop gasped in horror, Polly resting on his arms with eyes widened, "A sickness that can turn his hosts into voracious, monstrous monsters? And Anne, Sasha, Marcy and the others got it?"

"Afraid so," Sprig muttered. "Maddie told me to inform you as soon as possible: we have to contain them, to avoid both the town finding out and to prevent the risk of them infecting someone. That means quarantine them."

Hop Pop nodded, feeling his heart rushing with emotions. The idea that the kids, his kids, the ones he had grown by now to consider part of his family, could ever get sick with such a hideous disease, made him feel disgusted.

If such a sickness did have to infect anyone, why not me? I had lived a long life, why cut the early days of those who are still young?

"Ok, Sprig, Polly, I guess our first order of business is to check on them. Maybe they feel better, and we won't have to lock them inside…"

Sprig and Polly nodded, the frog trio walked back to the farm, Hop Pop knocking on the door "Kids? Are you ok?"

There was a thud, some sound like something moving fast, and then, nothing else.

"Kids?" Hop Pop asked again, worried.

"You can enter, Hop Pop," Sasha's weak voice came from inside.

Hop Pop nodded, as he, Sprig and Polly wore some cloths over their mouths, a precaution before stepping inside. When they saw the humans, their hearts almost jumped in shock.

The humans were sitting in the kitchen, some dirty wooden bowls, with traces of soup, in front of them. Sasha and Anne were wrapped in heavy blankets, and coughing for strength, Marcy simply clutched at them, as if she felt so cold. Jacob held his hand to his chest, in obvious great discomfort; Amelia had a tired face; James could hardly lift his head.

It was clear that they were very, very sick.

"Guys, how are you feeling? Are you a little better?"

"Not at all Hop Pop," Sasha said, coughing again, "In fact, if I'm being honest, I feel worse and worse."

"Yeah, me too, "Anne said between coughs, "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Anne-" Sprig stepped forward, to comfort her, only to notice a frightening detail a moment later.

Anne's eyes, which he had come to know over the previous few days, were no longer their classic dark brown color. Instead, her eyes had become light yellow.

Sprig almost felt a knot form in his throat as the words he had read in Maddie's book came back to him.

"…Then, their eyes will start to turn yellow, and their mouth begins to emit a stinky smell…"

"Anne, no! How could this happen to you? How could it?"

"Huh, Sprig, what's happening?"

"Yeah, why are you acting like that?" Jacob jerked up, forgetting about the ruse for a second, "We are sick, yeah, but it's not that bad. We just have to rest a bit-"

"Just stay here," Hop Pop nervously said, as he glanced around, walking backward to the door, "Just stay inside where it is warm and safe. We- we will wait outside. We are frogs, after all: we like humidity."

And then, he bolted, Sprig quickly following him and Polly, as they rushed out, the door locking from the outside, leaving the humans puzzled.

"Huh, do you have any idea why they acted like that?" Sasha asked.

"Sprig was acting too dramatically," Anne mused, "like he feared losing me in a couple of days."

"And Hop Pop and Polly kept at distance," James noted, "looking with fear. You know, the way you would act near someone you know is infected with something bad."

"Maybe we overdid it with the drama, Sash? I mean, we were quite convincing, but-"

"Come on, Marbles, don't tell you feel guilty already. If we reveal the truth to them, what do you think will happen? Besides-"

"Aaah!" Amelia gasped in horror, pointing finger, "Anne! Your eyes…your eyes!"

"What's wrong with my eyes?"

"Anne, your eyes…they have turned yellow!"

"What?" The girl gasped, checking her reflex in a spoon, "Frog, its real! My pupils are lemon yellow!"

"How could this happen?" Amelia asked, "Are you a werewolf, and you're starting to turn now?"

"What? No, of course, besides…you got yellow eyes as well?"

"It's real!" Marcy gasped in shock, "Sash, your eyes went yellow too! And Jacob's!"

"And you too, Marbles! And…James?"

In a matter of a few seconds, all the six humans realized the weird, creepy news: somehow, their iris' had turned bright yellow.

"Ok, I'll admit it," Jacob said, studying the new color of his eyes, "This is worrying."

"Plus, I'm not feeling good for real now." Anne murmured, holding on her stomach "I feel like I'm having a stomachache."

"Yeah, me too." James nodded. Am I so used to eating bugs now, that my stomach can no longer savor bug-free meals?

"You mean our little lie turned out to be true?" Marcy suggested, "What if we're really sick?"

"I guess that would explain HP's strange behavior…hey!" Amelia said, looking out of the window, "Those outside are Ivy, and Maddie, and they look worried."

"I think we all should be worried." Jacob said, showing his tongue, who was now red in color. One by one, every teen checked their tongue, to find they had become red as a tomato as well.

What the frog was happening to them?

(…)

"Maddie, how is this possible?" said Ivy with a terrified air "What do you mean, there is no cure?"

"Nothing. I have checked everywhere, there is no spell that I find to prevent, or even slow down the development of the disease. Perhaps I could check at the archive if there are more effective medical spells, but even then we don't have time, if what you say is true."

"I have seen their eyes turn yellow myself!" Polly said with big eyes, "Wyndigite is turning them into predatory monsters!"

"What." A faint voice said behind them, causing them to turn around.

Anne, Sasha and the others were standing behind them, looking at them with big, fear-filled eyes.

"Guys, what are you doing' here? How did you get out?"

"You may have blocked the front door," Sasha replied, "but you didn't think about the back door. You know, the one that goes through the basement where we currently live?"

"Sprig, Polly, what is happening to us?" Said Anne in a voice full of terror, "Why do you say we are turning...into monsters?"

Sprig hesitated for a moment as Maddie tried to avoid her gaze. None of them wanted to lie, but the truth...was too frightening for any of them.

"It's...the disease you got." Sprig finally said, looking at the ground with tears in her eyes, "It's called Wyndigite, and it's horrible!"

"What?" Sasha & Marcy said suddenly, a cold shiver running through their veins.

"It's described here," Maddie said, opening her medication book and handing it to Marcy. "Read it."

Marcy's eyes filled with horror as she read the description of the disease, quickly recognizing its symptoms: the yellow eyes, the red tongue, the stench on her breath (okay, confirmed that, too), and then moving on to the stage of transformation into monstrous blood-hungry beings.

"You-you..."

"I've been looking for a cure!" said Maddie with her eyes swollen with tears, "But it seems no spell-book mentions this disease! There's nothing, I haven't found anything for..."

Sasha felt as if she had just been sentenced to death: an unknown disease that had given them red tongues and yellow eyes, and would turn them into monsters. She could almost feel her blood freeze in her veins. And she wasn't the only one to feel that: around her, all the humans felt overwhelming emotions pass through them. Shock; denial; anger; trying to find a solution (bargaining); depression; sadness; and at the end…acceptance.

"We are going to die." Anne said, tears leaking out of her eyes, falling on her knees. "We are seriously going to die."

"No, you aren't." Polly replied "You're turning into voracious, monstrous creature that prey on frogs and-"

"Polly!" Maddie & Ivy silenced her.

"So," Jacob said, his voice now turning dark and depressed, "I guess that explains why we're feeling this bad, huh?"

"Kids, I…" Hop Pop spoke, trying to be as diplomatic as possible, "I know that's not going to help you, but if there is something we can do, anything-"

"Actually, there might be a thing you can help us with," James said, feeling delirious. "Can you lend us some heavy chains, chains that we cannot break? With their key, of course?"

"Huh, what do you need them for?"

"If what you said is right… I guess we do not have much time to block us, before we risk hurting someone…"

"Tighten those chains well, James," Anne said, her voice broken with tears, "I don't want- I don't want us to be able to escape after that- that we-"

"It won't happen, Anne," the boy replied, in a broken tone of voice as well.

The six humans were tying themselves with strong metal chains to a big old tree, similar in appearance to an oak.

"It's over, huh?" Anne sighed, "I knew our luck would run out sooner or later, but to die like this..."

"Technically, we are not dying," Marcy replied, her eyes dripping with tears, "We are turning into fierce creatures that-"

"Marbles!" Sasha scoffed at her, "Does it make any difference?"

"Let's look on the bright side. At least, Sprig and the others are safe, right? If we're stuck here, we won't risk harming them."

"Guys," a voice caught their attention as they saw Sprig, Polly, Hop Pop, Maddie and Ivy returning.

"Sprig, please leave!" Said Anne crying, "I don't want to hurt you."

"I won't leave you alone." Replied the frog in an emotional but determined voice "Especially not now. Spranne against the world, remember?"

"Spranne against the world," Anne nodded, amazed to feel happiness in such a dire moment.

"I'm not leaving you either!" Ivy proudly said, looking at Sasha, "I can't lose my cool older sister just now! I can't!"

"Well, I suppose I appreciate that."

"Marcy," Maddie looked at her former pupil, sadness all over her face, "I know I never got to tell you this before, but…I'm happy to have met you. And I'm sorry that my magic wasn't enough to save you."

"Don't worry, master," the dark-haired girl said, "I guess I got to learn real magic under your wing. It's something no one gets to experience, in my world."

"Hop Pop," asked James, glancing nervously at the sun in the horizon, "How much time do we have left?"

"Not much," The old frog quietly said, trying to suppress his pain, "If you have something you want to say, I suggest you to hurry."

"And then we'll burn the tree down with you, to avoid the infection."

"Polly!" Sprig, Ivy and Maddie called out at the same time.

"It's ok, HP," Anne cried down, "It's the safest thing to do. Well, I guess we deserved this."

"No, kids. You did nothing to deserve this."

"Yeah, you're the best."

"I'm sorry for doubting you this morning. If I had known then how sick you were…"

Sasha, Marcy and the others started to feel butterflies in their stomach, as the Plantars and their friends tried to reassure them that it wasn't their fault. Was the sickness, or the fact that they knew they were in the wrong? Sasha didn't know what she was experiencing, but if she was going to turn into a monster, her friends deserved to know the truth, at least.

"Guys, I'm sorry for lying to you," Sasha started to speak, "If I'd even known such a sickness existed…"

"Sasha, what are you saying?"

"Hop Pop," this time was Jacob, from above, "There is one thing we must confess to you all. About this morning-"

"We weren't sick. We were merely pretending to be."

"WHAAAT?!" The Plantars said at the same time, Ivy and Maddie were shocked as well.

"We pretended to be sick," Sasha quickly confessed, "because we didn't want to work in the rain and all. Jacob and I drew some spots with a pencil and then we faked not feeling well just to get a day off. But then, after you guys told us about the Wyndigite, we tried to remove the spots…only to find out we couldn't."

"Yeah. Apparently, in the meantime we got sick for real."

"You pretended to be sick just to take a day off… and then got sick for real?"

"Huh-uh. Quite the irony, HP? I swear, if there was some way for us to survive this, we wouldn't pretend to be sick ever again."

"Never!"

"As long as we live!"

"Kids, kids," Hop Pop spoke back, his voice calm and understanding, very different from what the humans were expecting, "Even if you pretended at the beginning, you got sick for real now. If you didn't try to skip your chores, this wouldn't have changed much in the end. Rather, you could have infected all of us."

"Yeah, we'd probably all be turning now."

"So, I guess your selfishness pretty much saved us."

"I guess at least we can have this small comfort." Anne smirked, holding hands with Sasha and Marcy "Guys, if anyone has something else to say, do it now or hold their tongue forever."

"Anne," Sasha was the first to speak, "Before we turn, I want to tell you, one of the reasons I was so controlling of you back home, was that I secretly envied your happy family life. Your parents…they were such good people, and even if we didn't know each other well, I had no right to pressure you into doing things you didn't like. Especially skipping your birthday party at home."

"Sasha," Amelia said, "Before we go, I want to tell you…I'm sorry for misplacing your favorite hairpin, last month."

"That was you?" Sasha looked above, "Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

"I'm the one who always steals the last chocopede," James admitted.

"I play pranks at school because I like the attention!" Jacob acknowledged, "Most of the things I do is to get attention from others!"

Marcy listened around, as her friends took advantage of their last minute of self-awareness to come clean with each other. She sighed, as she didn't have any secret to reveal…

…or did she?

She thought back to the Box, to the day she found it in that book, to the moment her parents informed her that they would move away soon, and she would have to leave her friends forever. She remembered how devastated she felt, at the thought of losing the only people she considered her family, how she ran away from home and found it.

The Box. Exactly how it was pictured in the book, held in a small pawnshop. Marcy remembered her actions back then, the photo she sent to Sasha, knowing she would pressure Anne into taking it-

She looked down. The enthusiasm of the first days had since left her: she learned magic, sure, she was with her friends and they were having an adventure on their own. Nevertheless, Amphibia was not like Vagabondia, nor like any kind of fantasy world she knew before.

Already more than once, Marcy and her friends had risked death. The giant mantis, the lake snake, the monstrous tomato, Hoffanio the hunter, Domino II, the Love Doves, every time reminding Marcy that they weren't in a fantasy, but in a real world where real monsters could hurt her and her friends.

She looked at Jacob, Amelia and James. She… she never wanted for anyone else to be caught with them, when the box activated. She never wanted to involve them against their will. However, they were, and her decision has condemned them, just like her and her friends.

What have I done? The Taiwanese-American girl thought with dread, as she faced the fact that she was the reason why they ended up in Amphibia in the first place. She thought of Anne's parents, and Jacob's, and James', and Sasha's…and hers. Was it worth it to transform into monsters due to an unknown disease?

Would it be better, if she told them the truth? She knew they would hate her, and yet, she felt like she deserved it. For kidnapping them, for stealing them from their families, for trapping them in another world without their consent, for being reminded every day the danger was real, and they could have died for real.

And today, that just happened.

Should I tell them the truth? Should I tell them it's my fault we are trapped here?

Her initial resolve, however, quickly crumbled as her mind started to grasp what could have been their reaction. Marcy felt her own fears grip on her heart, and her determination fell as she decided, in the end, to not say nothing.

Let us go like this. I will take the secret with me. The anguish I'm feeling, will be the punishment I deserve for what I did, for what my actions led to…

"Guys…I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too, Marbles."

"I will too, Mar-mar"

"Hop Pop, Sprig, guys, it has been an honor to meet you."

"The honor was all ours."

"The sun's setting," James noted, "I guess it's time for us to go."

"Goodbye, kids."

"Goodbye, old frog."

The humans closed their eyes, waiting for their end. In a few seconds at most, they would start to lose their minds, feel their teeth grow into fangs, and their bodies slowly turn into monsters. Sprig held onto his grandpa, Maddie held onto Ivy, as they waited for the infection to reach its final stage.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"Huh, guys?" Jacob was the first to speak again, "Anyone feel bloodlust, or the desire to consume living things, anything?"

"Nope."

"Not yet."

"I feel fine. And that scares me."

"What happened?" Sasha looked around, "Is this sickness time-delayed?"

"Huh, Maddie?" Ivy asked, "The book of sickness, did your father tell you where he bought it?"

"Huh, no? Does it matter?"

In response, the small yellow frog pointed to a small print on the back of the book, so small no one probably saw it before. "This book is from Swindtog's store!"

"Swindtog?!" James gasped in realization, "But the books he sells are garbage! He either blatantly copies from other authors, or makes stuff up!"

"Does that mean that the sickness from the book…is not real?" Maddie asked, "But then, how did you get yellow eyes and red tongues?"

"Did you do something unusual lately?" Ivy quickly hurried to ask, "Smelled a strange flower, ate an unknown fruit…"

"No!" Amelia replied, "Matter of fact, the only thing we ever ate lately was James' bug-free soup with cabbage and mushrooms. It wasn't overly elaborate, but it was hot and tasty."

"Wait a minute!" Hop Pop had a horrible doubt, "You made a soup with mushrooms? Sprig, pass me the family's ailment book again."

Anne and Marcy looked with curiosity as Hop Pop checked his book once more. What was happening?

"Hah-ha! It says here there is there's a couple kinds of mushrooms that give furry creatures the same, exact same symptoms, eyes going yellow and tongues turning red."

"What?" The whole group gasped in shock.

"Sprig," James came to a sudden realization, "Can you show us a picture of the mushrooms?"

"Huh, ok?"

As soon as the boy's eyes could see the book's content, she realized what had really happened.

"Wait a minute, those mushrooms were in the kitchen! Jacob and I put them in the soup we ate earlier!"

"Those mushrooms are not for eating, kids!" Hop Pop explained elatedly, "I use them to scrub the pots, wash the bathroom floors, polish the tools and... clean Bessie's stable."

The humans gasped in dread, as they heard those words.

"Wait…"

"…you mean…"

"…that…"

"…we…"

"…ate…"

"…a dishwashing detergent?"

After a few seconds of horrific realization, fear left place to disgust.

"Yuck!"

"Disgusting!"

"I ate what?"

"No wonder I felt sick!"

"But it was good and flavored too!"

"Guys," Anne finally said while trying to hold her stomach "next time you put unknown ingredients in a soup, check if they're actually ingredients!"

"Anne!" Sprig rushed to her friend, hugging her "I was so afraid I'll lose you!"

"I guess we were just sick because of the mushrooms. And, Sash?"

"Huh?"

"I appreciate what you told me earlier. Even if what you did was wrong, the fact you admitted it and the reason why, makes me feel a little better."

"Well, someone should prepare herself for losing my hairpin!"

"No!"

"Kids," Hop Pop walked forward, "About your little deception-"

"Oh, come on!" Sasha called out, "I know that we did wrong by faking being sick, but you started it! You promised us today we would get a free day, but as soon as things changed, you went back on your word!"

"I know. And this is why I want to apologize."

"What." The humans said at once, shocked by Hop Pop's unexpected response.

"You are right: I did promise you a day off, and I had no right to go back on my word, just because of some fertility-bringing rain that happens less than once every ten years. Maybe I should have said this from the beginning, instead of simply accepting your sickness excuse without doubt."

"Wait a minute, you mean…you knew that we were faking?" Anne asked.

"Anne, you may not believe me, but I was a teen too, once. I didn't know you were faking, but I had my own doubts. You think I never tried to skip a boring chore, just because I didn't like it?"

"Wow," Sasha looked down, "I feel like my whole life philosophy needs a revision."

"You were playing along?" Jacob muttered, unbelieving it, "I guess my genius plan wasn't so genius, after all."

"Anyway, what I want to say," Hop Pop continued, feeling sincerely regretful, "is that I am very regretful for breaking my promise, so I hope to…fix it. I know it won't be easy to forgive me-"

"It's all ok, Hop Pop," Marcy said in a happy tone, "We forgive you."

"Mar-mar?" Sasha asked, unbelieving it. Was she really willing to forgive him that easily?

"He apologized, Sash," the dark-haired girl replied, "And he admits of having done wrong. Plus, we did wrong too."

Sasha looked at Hop Pop: on one side, she wasn't ready to trust adults (Felicia aside); on the other…why couldn't she help but believe his words? Was this what having faith in someone meant?

"Fine," Sasha finally said, "At least, next time you need extra help, try to ask for volunteers first."

"So, HP," Jacob asked, "You're not going to punish us for our deception and letting you and your family do all the work?"

"Nah, it was me who started it, after all. Plus, your little lie led to you all to believe you were going to turn into dangerous monsters, and we believed that too. I guess that's already way more than any punishment you could ever deserve for it."

"Then, I guess we can simply go home," Sasha asked, looking aside, "Ok, Jacob, pass us the key, so we can get free."

"The key?" the boy asked, remembering something important, "But…I don't have it anymore, Sash."

"What do you mean with "You don't have it anymore"?"

"Well, you say I had to dispose of it once we were done locking ourselves. And since I didn't have much room to throw it away I..."

Building his courage, the boy was now ready to face the consequence of his choice. Because a stupid plan that works, is not a stupid plan. Plus, his idea worked perfectly, even if now he realized how stupid it was.

"I ate it."

"You ate the key." Sasha simply said, dumbstruck, standing there (not that she had any other choice, since the chains were still locking her tightly on the tree's trunk) and looking at the boy with bulging eyes, like Anne, Marcy and the others.

"Well," James asked, "Anyone has an idea how to get free?"

"Well, kiddos, I guess we can only wait for Jacob to expel-"

"Ugh, gross!" Amelia protested.

"Wait, there's a solution!" Ivy gleamed up, "We have a blacksmith in Wartwood: we can ask him to come and open the chains to let you free!"

"Great idea, Ivy!" Sprig jumped, starting to run back to Wartwood. "Come on, let's go get him and-"

"Unfortunately, we will have to wait. At this time his shop it's closed and he is a heavy sleeper, so we can only wait until sunrise when he wakes up and reopen the shop."

"When's the sunrise?" Anne asked with dread.

"Well, according to the current time-sets of sunset and sunrise, approximately 16 hours," Marcy started to speak automatically, before the situation sank into her "Wait a second. Does that mean…"

"…that we are forced to remain chained to this tree…"

"…with no chance for us to move our hands or even scratch an itch…"

"…defenseless against rain and other meteorological events…"

"…for sixteen hours from now?"

"Sprig, Maddie, Ivy," Sasha spoke with a voice soft as honey, "Can you please cover your ears for me? Hop Pop, please do the same for Polly."

"Huh, ok?" Sprig said, as they obeyed the suggestion.

"Sasha, I don't get why-"

Sasha Elizabeth Waybright waited for a couple of second, to make sure everyone's eras were covered, before taking a deep breath, a big vein pulsing on her forehead, her eyes twitching, her face turning red with rage, before venting all her emotions in one go, resuming in a single word their entire situation

(…)

"Dear Frog," Mrs. Croaker said in amazement, "That's surely the loudest profanity I've ever heard!"