Snow Day

"Here, my little wabby-tabby!" Amelia gushed as Akitsu crunched on another apple. "Dig in!"

"Bri! Bri!"

"…you've spent too much time around Anne," Jacob raised his eyebrow, gazing over the scene. "And aren't you overfeeding that larva of yours? Every day it passes, it looks fatter."

"Akitsu is not fatter!" Amelia retorted, the nymph dragonfly blissfully unaware of the argument between her owner and her blood relative. "She's growing!"

"Growing?" Jacob replied with a puzzled expression. Ever since Amelia first brought her to the farm, the baby dragonfly has considerably augmented her size and her appetite by association. Amelia had repeatedly said that soon Akitsu would grow her wings, yet so far, she had still been confined to her bucket, unable to fly or even walk.

"Yes, growing."

"Bri!"

The boy sighed, walking to Bessie and dropping some fresh forage in Bessie's feeder, the family snail quickly rushing to eat as well. "Anyway, Anne's working on today's breakfast, and she said she had a surprise in store for Hop Pop and the others."

"Let us hope this can help the old frog to make something more edible from now on," Amelia shrugged, giving her baby dragonfly one last cuddle before walking out of the stable. "I'm going. Bessie, take care of Akitsu while we're away."

The snail purred, almost nodding, glancing over the petite dragonfly happily munching on the last apples her owner left her.

(…)

Meanwhile, back in the farm's kitchen, Hop Pop and Polly were sitting around the table with James, Sasha, and Marcy. Of the trio, Marcy was adding new notes to her journal, filled with speculations and hypotheses about Anne's powers and their nature, Sasha was moping in her chair and James was updating Hop Pop on the past day's revelations.

"So," The old frog scratched his head "You're saying that…Anne's powers…"

"Yes, we think they're related to her emotions and feelings." The British boy replied, silently glancing at the eponymous girl working a couple of steps away from them. She got permission to make breakfast, and whatever she was doing, she looked like she was doing just fine. "That means, your grandchildren were the cause when she activated them."

"We?" Polly replied in surprise, while her grandfather looked at James with concern.

"The herons," James replied in a single breath, ignoring the sudden tenseness that word had caused. "When those giant birds appeared to have eaten you and Sprig, Anne's turmoil somehow activated those abilities inside of her. So, indirectly, you two may have contributed to protecting Wartwood from those creatures."

"Talking about the herons," Sasha asked, raising her head, "What will-"

"Perfecto!" Anne announced, turning around and showing the result of her hard work: fragrant, tasty-looking omelets, filled with mushrooms, fried potatoes, and vegetables as the girl added some basil all over them. As soon as they saw them, the humans began to salivate, their eyes watering as they could feel their stomachs grow excited.

"Oh, you have no idea how much we missed your cooking, Boonchuy!" Sasha licked her lips as Anne began placing two hot omelets in front of her and Marcy, "Especially for some human food!"

"What do you call these again?" Polly asked as the humans began to eat in enthusiasm.

"Omelets!" Anne said proudly, moving to serve her and Hop Pop next "Very popular where we are from!"

"We'll see about that." Hop Pop replied with skepticism, before taking one bite. Immediately, his pupils widened in awe as a flavor like nothing he ever tasted before spread across his mouth. "Holy crabapples! Until today, I've been eating garbage!"

"So you admit it in the end," Sasha chuckled, momentarily forgetting her past woes. There was something cathartic to seeing the old frog realize how bad his cooking was, in comparison to real food. And Anne being the one to prove it? Even sweeter.

"I see the future," Polly nodded herself, clearly taken by the new dish, "and it's omelets!"

"Hey guys," The farm's door opened, and Jacob and Amelia walked back in, "We took care of Bessie, so-what is this delicious smell?" Both of them began to hyper-salivate as well.

"Omelets." Anne repeated with pride again, "These are yours. You hungry?"

"You bet!" Amelia rushed to her chair, starting to eat the omelets as fast as she could. Even if the teens had grown accustomed to bug-derived food by now, the chance to eat dishes from their old world was something they would never miss.

"Hey, where is Sprig?" Anne noted her best frog-friend's absence.

"Still in his room, I assume," James replied, before getting an idea. "Hey, if he's late, his omelet-"

"Don't you dare!" Jacob interjected, "IF there is a leftover omelet, it's mine!"

"No way! It's mine!"

"My house, my omelet-"

Suddenly, the upcoming quarrel was interrupted as they heard Sprig shouting in fear, the young frog coming down (and falling onto his face), still shouting.

"Sprig, what's going on?" Marcy looked at him, getting no response however as the frog continued to scream until he was at Hop Pop's side.

"Oh, those look good!"

"Omelets."

"Huh," Sprig acknowledged, before resuming his shouting, "It's happening!"

"What is happening?" James asked.

"Are you sure it's happening?" Hop Pop grabbed his face, his voice suddenly turning serious.

"Dead sure."

"Huh, guys?" Sasha raised an eyebrow, "It's something we should worry about?"

"Yeah- Is this a "we've got to go now or we're dead" kind of thing, or can we finish eating?"

"Take them to go," Sprig pointed at them with a determined look, "because we've got to go sound the alarm!"

"The alarm?" Sasha, Amelia, Jacob, and Marcy gasped at the same time. What the frog was happening that they had to sound the alarm?

"Okay" Anne grabbed the remaining omelets, starting to separate each part into a different container, "I'm just going to separate the stuff so it retains the flavor and doesn't get soggy-"

"Move, Anne!"

"Come on, we better move on!"

The urgency in the frog's voices, united with imagination-powered paranoia, shook the remaining humans, as they started to feel a sense of dread. What could cause such an emergency at this time? Knowing how deadly life in Amphibia was, the possibilities were endless.

Hop Pop and Sprig ran out of the house (the younger frog literally sounding the alarm), as Polly and the humans followed them closely. Jacob held his hammer, Amelia her katana, Sasha her sword and Marcy had her crossbow at her arm: whatever was happening, they were ready to face it.

When they arrived at the town's central plaza, everyone was already gathered there, the folks confused at the commotion and trying to understand what was going on. Even Ivy and Maddie, with their respective families, were there.

"Mom, what's going on? What's happening?"

"I have some suspicion already," Felicia replied, feeling the air around her, "Now that I think about it, it has been quite chilly lately."

"It hasn't been a full year yet!" Sylvia said in a worried tone, "It's earlier than we expected."

"Dad, you think that's that?"

"I do not know, Maddie," Mr. Flour replied, trying to calm his daughter. "I guess we can only hope it's not that."

"What's going on?"

"Now what's this all about?" Toadstool asked as he saw Sprig and Hop Pop arriving.

"Everyone! Listen up!" Sprig announced, showing a wooden thermometer with a blue line on it, "Today is the third morning in a row where the temperature dipped below the frog line! That could only mean one thing: Hiber Day is almost upon us!"

As soon as she spoke those words, the townsfolks gasped in shock, holding dearly to their loved ones and assuming fearful expressions.

"Hyber Day?" Anne asked, with worry.

"Once a year," Hop Pop began to explain, "The temperature drops so low, that it sends everyone into instant hibernation! And when we thaw, we feel refreshed, rejuvenated, virile!"

"It's something that we have in our world too!" Marcy exclaimed, taking new notes, "When winter comes and the temperatures drop too low, some species hide in their refuges and go dormant until the temperature rises again." It was logical, from a scientific point of view: frogs are cold-blooded creatures, and thus, their internal body temperature was closely tied to the environment where they lived. The warmer the day, the more active they would be, but the cooler the day…

"Yeah, it doesn't sound too bad from how you describe it. "Sasha noted, "Why are you so worried about that?"

"Because, every time it happens," Felicia replied, her voice solemn but sad, "one townsperson disappears, and is never seen ever again. No matter where we look for them or for how long, they vanish without leaving any trace."

"And... there's the weird dark turn," Anne noted.

"So you're saying that someone ends up missing every year?" Jacob asked in disbelief, "And you did nothing to stop it?!"

"What do you expect us to do to stop it?" Toadstool replied, his face looking more somber than usual, "As we said, we all end up in hibernation instantly, at the same time! How do you expect us to defend ourselves?"

"Well, for starters you could try to lock yourself in your homes or go someplace safer. Alternatively, if you go in hibernation because it's cold one day a year, why don't you simply try to heat yourself on that single day? Many of you have large fireplaces already, why don't you use them?"

"We did," Hop Pop groaned, feeling the weight of those words. "Many times we tried to protect ourselves, but we failed every time."

"One year we tried to lock ourselves in our homes," Loggle nodded, "with the strongest chains and locks we had. Whatever it was, it broke the door like a feeble twig."

"Another year we tried to hide at my campground," Soggy Joe spoke immediately after. "It followed us, and exacted its tribute."

"And another year, we even left some wooden figures while we hid in our houses." Toadie noted, "It ignored them, and still focused on the real deal."

"Besides, for better or for worse, we can't afford to miss Hyber Day." Sylvia sadly remembered, "While hibernation leaves us defenseless for a whole day, it also allows us to regain physical and mental rest for the next few days. Some frogs managed to avoid being frozen by staying home and close to fires to keep themselves warm, but they ended up feeling drained and out of energy, their minds so dazed they couldn't even defend themselves from any danger. To hibernate is bad, but to avoid it…it's worse!"

The boy took a step back, swallowing his anger as shame took over, the realization that he spoke too soon once again. Just because the locals didn't have any defense, it didn't mean they hadn't tried one yet.

"And you're saying that, no matter what you do, someone always ends up missing when you thaw out?" Marcy asked, writing new notes.

Maddie sighed, before uttering her fateful words. "Last year, it was …mom."

Marcy broke her pencil's tip, her eyes widening in shock, as once again the reality of the situation hit her full-frontal. She turned around, seeing her master and friend, the one who taught her everything she knew about magic, the frog who gave her a regular job and paternal love, the young tadpole triplets who cherished her when they gave her the Wizard Badge she was currently wearing over her shirt, all hugging tightly, tears dripping out of Farine and Maddie's cheeks. It has been less than a year since Farine's wife, Maddie and her sister's mother had disappeared?

She felt pain in her chest as the scene unfolded in front of her eyes, the human feeling shame of once again having treated it from an external viewpoint, like a mere observer. But this wasn't some background character in one of her roleplay sessions or a simple mob from a video game: Wartwood's townsfolk were real people, with real dreams and hopes for the future, real love, who cherished their loved ones and wanted to protect and treasure them.

Suddenly, the fact that something was coming and going around yearly, each time taking a different frog away without a trace, their families and loved ones left with nothing but wonder at what could have happened to them, made the dark-haired girl feel disgusted at herself for having noted it as "cool" less than a minute earlier.

And judging by how the frogs around them were acting, they were already resigned to someone disappearing once again.

"Possible goodbye, Wally."

"Possible goodbye."

"Possible goodbye, Ivy."

"Possible goodbye, Felicia."

"Possible goodbye, Mom; possible goodbye, Grandma."

"Possible goodbye, Archie."

"Possible goodbye, Toadie."

"Possible goodbye, Maddie."

"Possible goodbye, Dad."

"Possible goodbye, kids."

Seeing everyone weep and salute each other as if today could have been the last time they would have seen each other, Jacob felt a grip on his heart. He wanted to do something, but what? They already told them all of their failed attempts, how they couldn't miss going into hibernation because they were cold-blooded-

Suddenly, an idea sprung into his brain: the Plantars and all the frogs living in Wartwood were cold-blooded, but he and his fellow humans were not!

"Possible goodbye, Sprig."

"Possible goodbye, Hop Pop."

"Possible goodbye, family."

"And of course, possible goodbye Anne, Sasha, Marcy, Jacob-"

"Wipe your tears, everyone!" Jacob interrupted them with a determined expression, "No one is going to say goodbye to anyone this year, because this time no one will disappear!"

"What?" Some of the closest frogs (including Felicia) replied, "What are you saying?"

"Yes, have you heard?" Toadstool commented. "No matter what we do, every year someone ends up missing? What's different from last year?"

"Us!" Sasha moved to the boy's side, having understood his intention. "We will watch all over you while you hibernate."

"Huh, I don't follow."

"Yeah, me neither."

"Hello?" Jacob retorted, "Humans are mammals. We are warm-blooded!"

"Ew!" Ivy assumed a repulsed expression.

"That sounds gross."

"It means that we don't have to worry about external temperature." Anne came in support, "Even when Hyber Day arrives, we won't freeze."

"You won't?" The townsfolk gasped at the notion. The humans already proved how weird they were from the very first day, but…not having to go into hibernation because their blood was different? That was something they would have never imagined."

"Nope!" Amelia smirked, "And that means that we will stay awake all the time, and protect you!"

"Indeed!" Anne nodded "Didn't we form a militia to protect the town? You already choose us as the town's protectors, so it's our duty to watch over you in this time of need! And under our watch, no one will disappear again!"

"Marcy," Maddie walked to her apprentice and friend, "Your friends are not lying? Can you protect us?"

Marcy smiled, once again feeling a warm sentiment flourish all through her body. "Yes, we can! No matter how difficult it's going to be, we will watch over you for all the time Hyber Day will last!"

"And there are six of us!" James thumbed up, pointing at his friends. "If you gather all together so we can watch over you easily, we won't have to run far and wide and make sure no one ends up missing!"

"And we're all trained!" Sasha raised her heron sword, the dim light of the Sun making it shine a bit. "Whatever we face, we can fight!"

"And we have an ace in the hole!" Jacob pointed at Anne, "She has superpowers, remember? The powers she used to fight the herons? Remember what she did with them?"

"Jacob!" Anne replied, flustered and yet feeling still a bit embarrassed of the boy pushing her into the spotlight. Yet, her doubts were drowned when she looked ahead and saw the whole Wartwood starting to cheer on them.

"Whoo-hoo!"

"Long live the Wartwood Militia!"

"Long live our protectors!"

"All right, everyone!" Toadstool came forward, "Hiber Day isn't till tomorrow. Everybody, we will meet back here tonight so Anna-"

"Anne!"

"-and the others can guard all of us!"

"We're going to live!"

"Thank goodness for the humans."

"I'm going to burn my will."

"Duckweed, are you sure we can trust them?" Monroe grabbed the local critic, whispering to him as the crowd started to scatter, "I mean, they're Plantar for frog's sake! And Plantars never succeed at anything they do: they only cause huge messes for everyone else!"

"I used to think that too, Monroe." The local newt replied, "Yet, you have to admit many things have changed since those humans arrived here, and many of those changes were positive. Moreover, while I still find it difficult to believe, I owe a debt of gratitude to them."

"Gratitude?" Monroe replied, surprised by the glance the newt was giving them from afar.

"They saved me too when the herons attacked." Duckweed revealed, "One of those monsters had pinned me to the ground when the one called Marcy came to my help, distracting it and giving me the time I needed to free myself and seek shelter. They saved my life, and I didn't even have to sacrifice my tail!"

Monroe grumbled, turning away from Duckweed. They also saved him too that day, and yet, he refused to acknowledge it; sure, everyone might have forgotten about their hideous appearances and monstrous features, but they were still Plantars, and Plantars always screwed up in the end.

No matter what, no matter how, Plantars were the ones who would always lose!

And he was the one supposed to win! He, not Hopediah, him!

He just needed to be patient, and wait…

(…)

"Kids, are you sure about this?" Hop Pop asked as he and his family were walking back home, "Looking after the whole town's a lot of responsibility. And you don't need any additional pressure on your shoulders."

"Hop Pop, while we appreciate your worry for us, we can't simply stand by and do nothing!" Jacob replied, "We won't freeze like you guys, so the least we can do is try to be helpful and watch over you!"

"Just to know," Sprig questioned, "What is this warm blood thing?"

"Do you remember the time you and Anne were roommates, but you always quarreled because you were cold but she was hot?" Amelia asked, earning a shudder from the young frog before keep going. "In short, we can control our own internal temperature much better than you do; so our cold tolerance is much higher than yours."

"Oh, well, I guess it makes sense…" Sprig wondered, as the unpleasant memories of the days her friendship with Anne almost fell apart because of their own differences. They made up, and Spranne endured, but that was an experience he didn't wish to relive.

"Marcy, are you ok?" Sasha looked back, noticing her cute nerd friend looking aback with a worried expression, in usual silence, "You've been awry silent since we left, and I'm starting to get worried."

"Huh? Yeah, sure Sash. I'm fine. I was just…thinking about what Maddie told us. Her mom really was the last one to disappear on the last Hiber Day?"

"Indeed she was," Hop Pop replied, thinking back at how Farine and his family had been devastated back then, "Poor frog, leaving behind a loving father and four kids, three of them younger than Polly."

Marcy's hand ran to her heart, feeling like a blade had cut right through it. Sasha noticed it, and quickly, turned to her, grabbing her friend's hands and looking into Marcy's eyes.

"We won't let it happen, ever again!" The blonde human said nodding her head, her voice filled with resolve, "This time, they have us. I have my sword, you have your crossbow, and everything Maddie taught you. Did she teach you how to make spells that you could use to protect her, her family, and all of Wartwood?"

Marcy looked down at her utility belt, where several potions and the ingredients to make new ones were stored. Maddie made her promise to never use magic to hurt someone else unless it was someone who deserved it.

And whatever it was haunting Wartwood, kidnapping an innocent frog every time Hyber Day rolled around, surely deserved it multiple times over.

"No matter what will happen," Anne kindly smiled at both of her closest friends. "I'll be by your side girls! Wow, I think things are definitively taking a better turn for us. I feel like my time here has all been leading up to this moment. It's like fate and karma combined into one. Like kate or fartma!"

"Ok, those names are both terrible." Sasha chuckled, moving to a more concerning issue. "Actually, I wanted to ask you…about your powers…do you feel safe to use them?"

"I don't know, Sash." Anne replied, thinking about it, "Look, I now know how to activate them, approximately, but every time I use them, after that I feel tired, drained. Like all the energy of my body has been sapped."

"We know, the first time you used them you fell into a coma," Marcy scratched the back of her head. "Anyway, I suggest we avoid use them unless we're sure they're needed. After all, we do not know how your power works yet." What if the more you use them, the more you damage your body? Was the last sentence that Marcy refused to speak.

"I'm sure we won't need them." Anne shrugged, "Thought I have to admit using them is quite cool: every time they activate, I feel like all my senses are suddenly heightened. It's like the whole world slows down, and I'm totally aware of everything all around me. Can you ever imagine how that feels, Sprig? Sprig?"

As the humans looked back at Hop Pop and his grandchildren, they were shocked to see that the three of them were now encased in ice blocks, apparently frozen as they were walking, faster than any human could even notice it.

"What the frog?" Sasha jumped forward, her hand knocking on Hop Pop's ice "It's real ice!"

"They froze as they were walking?" Marcy joined her, starting to analyze the odd situation, her scientific viewpoint taking over once again. "And there appears to be no issues or damage to their bodies. This looks like an Earth animal's brumation, but…faster?"

"Brumation? Marcy-" Anne began to say, before noticing a single, lone snowflake land on her finger. "This can't be good."

Almost as to prove those words to be the truth, a sudden barrage of thick snow dropped on Anne and the others, the entire landscape covered in the blink of an eye, some flying bugs frozen mid-air before falling to the ground.

"I have heard of sudden snowfalls, "Jacob groaned, looking around in surprise, "but this is ridiculous!"

"Oh, no!" Anne gasped, as realization hit her, "Hiber Day is here already! Everybody is all over the place by now! How are we going to get all of them back to-" She stopped panicking, however, as she realized that she was lifting Sprig's ice block, with it weighing almost nothing to her.

"Oh. Oh, wow. This is very light."

"Curiouser and curiouser," Marcy gasped, adding a new sketch of Anne lifting frozen Sprig in her journal…

Thanks to the discovery that frozen Wartwood frogs weighed almost nothing, the six humans were able to gather everyone and rounded them up in Wartwood's central plaza, Marcy checking on a list to make sure everyone was accounted for while her friends kept looking around.

"Anne, can I ask you a question?"

"What is it, Jacob?"

"I'm just curious, how you, Sasha, and Marcy had a pair of heavy clothes each?" The boy pointed with his eyes at the heavy shirt, hat, and gloves she was wearing.

"They're just part of our school uniform, Jacob!" Anne replied as it was the most logical thing ever. "For when it rains off, or gets cold; and we are not the only ones…" she pointed at the green and brown jacket the boy was currently wearing.

"I had it in my backpack when I left home," The boy defended himself, turning around. "Sasha, are you ok?"

"No." The blonde girl replied with a shiver, wearing heavier clothes than her friends and yet acting as if she was freezing. "Why didn't Hop Pop tell us it would be this cold?"

"Geez, Sash," Anne chuckled, coming to help her friend, "Who knew you were this weak to the cold?"

"Are you sure you're warm-blooded like us, Sash?" Jacob joked, earning a scornful glaze by her, "Don't tell me you're actually a Reptilian disguised as a blonde teenager."

"S-shut up and give me your body heat."

"I guess you're really used to California's heat, right?" Marcy chuckled in turn, joining Anne in their attempt to warm their friend a little with their own bodies, "Let's check one more time: cute couple in the middle of a proposal?"

"Here!" James pointed, he too wearing heavy clothes to better resist the cold. Yet, while everyone else was wearing just two layers (three in Sasha's case) of heavy clothes, he was wearing only one, as he was the one most used to cold temperatures.

"Mrs. Croaker?"

"Here!"

"Pollywogs?"

"There!" Anne glanced at a large barrel near the square's statue, where Polly and the Flour triplets had been gathered together to better watch over them.

"Soggy Joe?"

"Still missing!" Jacob noted, realizing the survivalist frog was nowhere to be seen, "I'll go check for him!"

"Guys, guys!" Amelia announced her arrival, her katana on her side as she came running toward them "I'm here! I checked the stable: Bessie and Akitsu are fine, and I made sure they'll stay warm and comfortable for the rest of Hyber- what are you doing?"

"Sasha's feeling cold," Anne chuckled, "so we volunteered to share our body warmth with her."

"Hehe!" Amelia laughed, covering her mouth with the glove, "You look like penguins at the South Pole."

"S-shut up, you bootleg samurai!" Sasha retorted, "How can you even not feel this temperature?"

"Because I'm wearing my Samurai Hat of Unmoving Determination," The girl pointed at her cone hat. "It gives me +9 resistance to cold temperatures."

Frog, Marcy infected her, James looked aside in amusement, just as Jacob returned, carrying the ice block containing Soggy Joe above his head in an obvious attempt to show off.

"Look, girls! I have become Super Jacob! Now I have super strength as well!"

"Nah, you're just the same," Amelia replied. "Wow, it's amazing how light all of them are now. Can you believe I can move Toadstool with ease too?"

"I agree with Amelia, it was surprisingly easy."

"Don't you say it!" Jacob yelled back in horror, looking around as if he was expecting something to happen right then, "Every time someone says something was easy, something else happens to make it harder and dangerous!"

The humans looked around for a couple of minutes, the town standing silently around them, the chilly air hitting on their faces, before Jacob relaxed. Could it be that James' words had not jinxed them at all?

"Oh well, I guess it doesn't have to happen every time."

"And that's all!" Marcy happily chirped, checking over her list one last time. "Everyone is accounted for, so everything we have to do until Hyber Day ends is to keep watch over them and make sure no one goes missing."

"Town protectors! Yea-yuh!"

"Since there are six of us, how about we schedule some guard shifts?" James suggested, "Two of us watch over them while the others have fun; then two others watch over and the previous ones have fun as well. If the guards see anything strange, or you need help, yell and we will come."

"Marcy, what do you think if we do the first watch?" Jacob raised his hand, volunteering himself.

"Well, I'm…not against it," The dark-haired girl replied, looking at her friends. "It's only that-"

"By all means, go." Anne encouraged her with a friendly hit of her elbow. "Meanwhile, Sasha and I will try out some classic snow fun."

"How about a snowball fight?" James suggested, Amelia behind him gleaming as soon as he spoke. "I don't know if you ever had played it before, but I liked to do some small battles with the other kids of my neighborhood, back when I still lived in England and it snowed enough."

"Accepted!" Anne leaped forward with a challenging expression. "Get ready to lose!"

The four of them walked away, Sasha still trying to fight off the cold she was very unused to, leaving Jacob and Marcy alone.

"So…is there a reason why you volunteered to stay here with me?" Marcy asked with an embarrassed look, "I mean, you know I'm not as interesting as Anna-Banana or Sasha-"

"Nonsense! Of course, you are!" The boy smiled, surprising the girl, "Plus, there is something I wanted to suggest. Do you remember, in the first book of Cynthia Coven, the giant chess scene?"

"How do you know about that scene?" Marcy gasped, as Jacob referenced the book. "Are you a reader too?"

"Nope, but Cheyenne is." He replied, "And she talked about it with Vince, who talked with me. I was thinking…since everyone is busy being frozen on the spot, how about having a giant Flipwart match? I think we have enough pieces for a play."

Marcy smirked.

(…)

"Stop covering down, you cowards!" James shouted, trying to make Anne and Sasha emerge from behind their snow defense wall "Come out and face me!"

"James, you shouldn't stand that open!" Amelia peeked up, "You're an obvious target!"

"Just prepare new snowballs; If they do not come out of hiding, I'll simply-"

"Incoming!" Anne shouted, her snowball flying toward James and hitting him right in his face, the British boy was barely able to notice it before taking a wrong step and falling on Amelia, their combined weight enough to destroy the snowballs they had amassed.

"No! Our strategic reserve!"

"Counterattack!" Sasha shouted, her chilliness forgotten amidst the battle, launching herself forward with Anne at her side. James jumped back on his feet and tried to defend himself, but the two girls pinned him down, their numerical advantage barely enough to overpower the most experienced snow-fighter.

That was until Amelia grabbed a couple of munitions and struck back, hitting Anne and sending a chill through her hair.

"Boonchuy!" Sasha yelled, only for another snowball to hit her on the side."

"The Empire strikes back!" James roared, as he and Amelia went into offense…

(…)

"Ah-ha!" Jacob announced, moving the frozen Wally toward Toadstool. "Your wart is flipped!"

"That's not true!" Marcy replied, pushing forward Wally. "And besides, Toadstool is not my wart: he's one of your pieces!"

"He's not one of mine, and you cannot move Wally that way: he's an archer, he can only move diagonally!"

"No, he's a warrior. Warriors move 2 squares vertically and 1 square horizontally."

"Weren't Hop Pop and Felicia your warriors? Mine are Polly and Soggy Joe."

"Wasn't Polly the Queen?"

While the idea of taking advantage of the townsfolk's frozen state to play a giant game of Flipwart seemed like a good idea, the game soon hit a snag as everyone was so different from each other that the two humans couldn't remember who was what.

"I guess we should drop the game," Marcy sighed, realizing that she hadn't taken note of any piece before the game started, "Sorry about the issue, Jacob-"

"It doesn't matter," the boy replied, surprising Marcy with how understanding he was, "We watched over everyone, and we had some fun meanwhile. And I guess Amelia wasn't kidding about how good you play."

"Aw, Jacob! You're making me blush," Marcy chuckled at the compliment before her eyes fell on a frozen frog who she took as one of her pawns.

Maddie.

"Hey, Mar-Mar, is everything ok?" The boy raised his eyebrow, noticing the distress appearing on the dark-haired girl's face.

"Yeah, Jacob. I'm just…tired, a bit."

I will protect you, Maddie. Marcy thought as her hand passed over the ice of the blue-colored frog she was encased into, whatever happens today, I will do my best to protect you. And your family as well!

"Mars, please, don't lie." Jacob walked up to her, putting a hand over her shoulder and making the girl jerk up, not expecting to be touched by surprise. "If you have something bothering you, hiding it within you will only make you feel worse."

Marcy looked back at him, guilty once again devouring her from the inside, "I'm worried Jacob. I mean, what if we fail, and someone else goes missing? You saw the expression Maddie did when she told us her mother was the last one to disappear. What if-"

Before the girl could finish her sentence, however, Jacob moved in front of her, holding both of her shoulders and looking at her directly in her eyes. They had been close friends even before Amphibia, yet, the boy's sudden reaction made Marcy blush a little.

Was it because his face was now closer than she was used to?

"It won't happen," Jacob said, his voice calm as he was stating the obvious. "No matter what happens, we will never allow it to happen. Believe me, I understand the weight you are feeling on your shoulders, but this time, no one will disappear. You promised Maddie, and I promise you!"

Marcy silently nodded. There was…something about Jacob, how he was so sure of himself, how he wasn't scared of the task they had in front of them, that made her feel safer. Wasn't he haunted by doubts as she was? Or he simply choose not to give them power over him?

Suddenly, she remembered the words he used just earlier: If you have something bothering you, hiding it will only make you feel worse. Would he still have felt the same if he had known about what she was hiding for a long time?

About the real reason why they ended up in Amphibia?

About the Box?

"Do you think they're going to be angry at us?" Jacob pointed at the hibernating Amphibians. "For playing with them like pawns?"

"Huh, how about you help me do a check for everyone? I'd feel a lot safer to know everyone's still here."

"It'd be my pleasure, Mars…"

Thus the day proceeded, two humans keeping watch while the others had fun together, trying everything they had never experienced before: making snowmen (or rather, snow frogs), tobogganing, making snow angel, everything they could do they did. And once enthusiasm left its place to boredom and tiredness and the humans started to feel their palms and bodies grow cold and wet, a couple of them volunteered to run back to the farm and make hot teas and chocopede drinks for everyone. It was such a happy time that, for the moment, everyone forgot that they were supposed to watch over the frozen Wartwood frogs and protect them against the "something" that kidnapped one of them every year.

Until that something came unto them.

"Sasha, are you sure you're fine?" Anne asked, looking at his blonde friend still trembling, the effect of the warm tea wearing down as coldness spread once again through her body, making her feel chilly. "If you want, you can leave and go back to the farm and get another hot drink, or get yourself a warm shower."

"B-but then you'd remain alone!" Sasha protested, "If something arrives and tries to hurt you, who's going to help you?"

"You could ask one of the others to take your place for a little while. You can ask Marcy, Jacob, James-"

"No!" Sasha shook her head, almost to "repulse" such an idea from her own head, "Jacob and Marcy already had their own turn, while James and Amelia still have free time. I don't want to force them to do something they don't want nor they have to do. That's what my old me would have done!"

"Sasha…"

"I did promise to you I was going to be the best version of myself, did I? What kind of person would I be if I let myself go back and relapse my old toxic vices?"

"Sasha," Anne walked up to her friend, her hand moving on her face as she tried to support her, some of her body warmth passing on Sasha's. "You said you were going to be the best version of yourself, not that you would have to suffer for us. And I don't think I want you to freeze-"

A sudden sound, like a growl, caught their attention, and suddenly both girls jumped on the defensive, Sasha unsheathing her sword and looking around while Anne grabbed her tennis racket, listening to any sounds she could hear. The snow stood silently, the never-ending chilly breeze blowing through the building as the girls stood there, ready to fight.

Then, it attacked.

Sasha was the first to see it, looking like a large chunk of snow moving with a rumble toward them and the frozen amphibians, her sword hitting the ground to stop whatever it was. Then, it jumped on the surface, revealing itself as some kind of giant snow-white weasel, hissing aggressively, his large jaws filled with long, sharp teeth.

"A giant weasel?" Anne said in shock, holding her weapon tightly "So it was you who were stealing away the frogs until now!"

The weasel hissed before launching an attack, pointing at the frozen frogs, but Sasha noticed it and attacked, her sword hitting the monstrous weasel on its nose and forcing it to stop its assault.

"Stand back, you overgrown critter!" The blonde human roared in anger, standing between the weasel and its would-be prey "These frogs are now under our protection: go somewhere else to look for food!"

The weasel roared, moving around, trying to find an opening in Sasha's defenses to attack, but before it could make a new attempt, suddenly the giant mammal felt hot as the snow just ahead of it caught fire, and she saw other figures appearing on its flank. Realizing that those creatures were outflanking it, the weasel decided to retreat, while the other figure reached the girls.

"Marcy?" Sasha and Anne said almost verbatim, a spell bag in her hand and an angry scowl in her eyes, "W-what was that?"

"A fire spell," The dark-haired girl replied laconically. "Maddie taught me how to make them, and I figured out whatever it was preying on them wouldn't have been very resistant to fire."

Anne blinked in surprise: by her voice and her gaze, her friend looked unusually angry.

"So, that was it? A giant weasel?"

"Yes, Amelia." James nodded, still looking in the direction it had run away, "It's a mammal just like us, so I guess that explains how it can stay active and hunt even at such cold temperatures. I guess frozen frogs are an easy snack to get."

"Well, not this time!" Sasha grumbled, moving her sword around "We're not letting that thing hurt anyone!"

"That's right, Sash!" Marcy joined behind her, the girl's hands moving to mix new potions as she spoke, "No one is going to say goodbye to anyone else this year!"

"Well, we did scare it off" Jacob nodded, "Luckily, this should teach it a lesson and keep it away from the town for the rest of Hiber-Day."

Unfortunately for the boy, the previously-summoned Murphy's Law was still active in the area and was now going to react to the previous pocking…with a delayed reaction.

(…)

"Shoo!" Amelia shouted at full lungs, brandishing her katana as Jacob threw two more makeshift explosives of his. The white weasel, hearing the shockwaves of the explosions, could not stand its ground anymore and retreated once again, leaving the humans masters of the field, even if more tired than before.

"Frog, how many times is that thing going to attack?" James suddenly dropped, the stamina she was using now depleted as he realized that his forehead was now sweating. "It's the seventh time now!"

"Actually, it's the ninth!" Marcy was quick to correct him, checking on both the ingredients to prepare more spells and weapons for her crossbow, and realizing she was running low with both.

"That's not good!" Sasha said as she panted, "We can't keep going like this! Another couple of attacks and we won't be able to defend the townsfolk anymore. Jacob, what do you think?"

"I agree. There's still too much Hyber Day left to simply wait, and we are getting tired faster than it. I suggest a change of strategy. Does anyone have an idea?"

"Actually, yes." Amelia raised her hand. "What if, instead of simply waiting for it to attack us again, we go into offense?"

"Offense?" All and five the other humans said at the same time.

"Have you noticed?" The cone-hatted katana-wielding girl replied, pointing with her eyes in the direction the weasel had run to. "Every time it retreats, it moves in the same direction; maybe that means its hideout is there."

Sasha thought about it, the words of Amelia making sense in her. "Then, if we follow it, we could find where it is hiding, and stop it…forever."

"Huh, are you sure this is a good idea?" Anne raised an eyebrow. "I mean, we just need to protect the townsfolk until Hyber Day ends."

"We tried that until now, Anne. And it's not working" Jacob came in Sasha's support, " I too hoped it would be scared and leave us alone after the first attack, but every time we made it run away, it just return even hungrier and more vicious than before. I'm running out of gunpowder and I have to guess Marcy is running low on potion ingredients as well. If we stay here, we will just let that critter wear us down in the end."

"And remember Hop Pop's words." Amelia nodded, "That thing has probably been coming and taking a helpless Amphibian every year. Even if we beat it this year, who says it won't try again next Hyber Day? We need to make sure it's not going to be a menace anymore!"

Looking around, Anne noticed everyone (even Marcy) nodding. "I guess that is logical…okay, let's get it!"

"Wait!" Marcy pointed out a sudden fear on her face, "What if he returns while we're away?"

"I'll stay." James volunteered, "I'm the only one who's not very good with weapons yet, and I doubt I can be very useful in a fight. I can stay here and watch over them while you try to find that monster's hideout."

"Here, James!" Jacob passed his last two explosives to him. "If that thing returns, use these to scare it away!"

"Don't worry about me, Jacob. I know it doesn't look like it, but I can use my brain."

The boy nodded, moving forward, the girls with him as they moved to follow the large weasel's path…

The five human teens went as fast as they could in the snow, hot on the trails of the large predator. Making their way through trees, snow and ice until they reached the entrance of a scary-looking cave, the stalactites at the entrance resembling sharp fangs.

"Bingo!" Amelia shouted as she pointed out to the cave, "That's where that monster lives!"

"It remind me of some video games I played, Classic Boss Arena entrance."" Jacob looked at the entrance, holding onto his hammer "Ok guys, let's prepare a battle plan. Sasha, you and I are the main melee fighters, our main duty is to keep that thing from attacking the others; Amelia, you are the flanker, attack it whenever you have an opening. It doesn't matter if you're not able to hurt it, as long as you can keep it unfocused and pester it."

"Zattenayo!" Replied Amelia with a smirk,

"Marcy," now the boy turned toward the dark-haired girl, "You're the main support. Use your spells, and if you run out of those, use your crossbow to hit it whenever you find a weak point."

"I will!"

"And what about me?" Anne asked, noticing she was the last one left.

"You help me and Sasha as we fight it, but don't get too close." Jacob spoke, "That beast looks quite tough, and we do not know how strong it can get; if we can't deal with it, we might require our…secret weapon."

"You mean my powers," Anne swallowed, a sense of dread in her words. "Are you sure it's a good idea to keep them for last?"

"Anne," Sasha reminded her, "The only time you used them in combat so far, you fell unconscious for half a day! We don't know yet how that energy works, so let's not use them unless we need them."

Anne nodded, looking at the cave with a determined expression, "Let's do it."

The five humans walked into the cave, Jacob and Sasha at the forefront, looking around nervously. They had good reason to be wary: the cave's floor was filled with bones and partial skeletons of other unfortunate Amphibians.

"You know girls," Anne said, looking around, "no matter how long we are in this world, I'll never get used to the piles of bones just lying around."

"Me neither," Sasha replied, "Do you think these are the unfortunate remains of all the frogs who disappeared in previous Hyber Days?"

Marcy shuttered, a chilly vibe spreading through her blood. Are these what's left of all frogs disappeared before? Is…Maddie's mom among them?

"Well," Amelia commented, "I see no hint that the abominable snow critter is home now."

Just then, the cave began to rumble as the giant white weasel came of its hiding spot, screeching and roaring at the trespassing humans

"Amelia, do you ever get tired of being wrong?" Sasha whispered back, as everyone assumed a defensive position.

The weasel attacked, its humongous jaws trying to snap at Sasha, only for the blonde human to block the attack with her sword as Jacob hit the weasel in the face with his hammer, knocking it aside.

"Hey, you ugly monster!" Jacob called out, preparing another swing with his hammer, "Pick on someone your own size!"

The weasel heard him and moved again to attack, only to be stopped again while Amelia and Marcy moved to attack as well. The humans had the numerical advantage, but the weasel was bigger and faster, trying its best to repel those intruders from its lair. And it was smart enough to notice how some of these weird creatures were powerful at hurting it from afar, but weren't trying direct contact.

"Marcy!" Anne shouted as the weasel attempted to lounge at her, jumping and pushing her out of danger, "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Anna-Banana. We just need to-"

Another sound, similar to hamsters or small mice squeaking together, drew their attention behind them, to some kind of natural curtain made with vines and moss. Opening it, the two girls saw a small circular nest, protected by the natural tent from the harsh cold on the outside. And inside of the nest, a triplet of blind baby weasels, their bare skins a bright pink, their fur not grown yet, keeping themselves warm only by huddling with one another.

Noticing it, the weasel suddenly dropped the fight and rushed to the grotto, putting itself between the girls and the babies in a protective manner.

And it was then, that the truth was laid bare.

"No way." Anne gasped, her eyes widening in realization "The weasel is a mommy?"

"She wasn't attacking Wartwood to feed herself," Sasha gulped as well, her and the other reaching Anne and Marcy. "She was trying to feed her litter!"

As the adult weasel hissed again in a clear attempt to protect her young, Marcy felt at loss. This monster- no, this creature was a mother, looking for food to feed her babies. Evidently, the snow had temporary wiped out all nearby sources of food, forcing their mother to look somewhere else for it: a town of frogs, usually too dangerous for her to come nearby, defenseless just for that day due to the cold.

Triplets, just like Maddie's sisters.

Marcy felt conflicted emotions… In her quest to protect her friend, she was going to become what she sought to fight: the killer of a mother.

"This explains why she kept attacking Wartwood," Jacob said as he could finally see the previous events under a different light, "I guess those critters need food badly, and they cannot afford for Hyber Day to pass."

"What can we do, guys?" Marcy finally spoke, "We can't let those babies starve!"

"Wait," Anne looked aside thoughtfully, "Maybe, I have an idea…"

"Anne?" Jacob asked as the girl put her backpack on the ground and took out several containers he had seen before. "What are you-?"

"The remaining omelets! I still had them in there since this morning." She replied with a smirk, recombining them back and pushing them toward the weasel with her foot, "Come on, come on. Please work!"

The weasel sniffed the omelet with suspicion, before purring, grabbing the container and bringing it with her babies, taking small bites and distributing to them with her jaws.

"It works!" Marcy smiled happily. "She liked them!"

"I guess the power of omelets is universal." Anne smiled proudly, happy that they could find a third path that would not force them to a more drastic solution.

"Hey!" Jacob jumped up, feeling a lightbulb lighting up over his head, "If food is what they need, I might have an idea. Sasha, Marcy, with me!"

"Where are we going?"

"First, we're going to meet back with James and tell him what we found. And then, we're going to get some of that leftover heron meat stocked in the Town Hollow…"

Back into Wartwood's plaza, the humans looked at the wooden thermometer with excitement, as the thawing moment was now imminent. The snow had by now completely melted, filling the pond and the mud with fresh water, and Wartwood was ready to return to its usual routine.

The only thing still missing was its inhabitants.

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"And thaw, baby, thaw!" Anne shouted as she saw the red liquid in the thermometer suddenly raise, as the temperature got warmer. The sun lightened up through the clouds, and in a matter of seconds, the ice enclosing the frogs melted, freeing everyone.

"-Huh? "

"Huh? Yee-haw!"

"Oh, thank goodness."

"Mom! We did it!"

"We all did it, Ivy!"

"We're all here!"

"We made it through the freeze!"

"Yay! I'm alive!"

"Welcome back everyone!" The humans greeted them, "How do you feel?"

"Never felt better!" Sprig jumped forward, hugging Anne. "I felt energized, refreshed, alive! You protected us!"

"You protected all of us!" Hop Pop said with pride.

"Three cheers for the Wartwood Militia!" Wally shouted, and everyone cheered.

"Marcy!" Maddie rushed forward and hugged her, "We're here. We are all here! Thank you, thank you!"

"I simply used what you taught me to protect you, Maddie." The dark-haired girl replied, feeling flustered.

"So, while we were frozen," Loggle walked forward, "Did you find out what was taking us?"

"Actually, we did." Jacob nodded, grabbing his phone and showing a picture of the giant white critter. "It was a large weasel. It's a mammal, just like us, this is why it didn't freeze with the cold. Apparently, there is a cave nearby which had been the refuge of countless generations of weasels, every year."

Seeing the image of the weasel, some town's frog took a step back, clearly scared by the image. Was this what the humans had fought while they were frozen? Suddenly, many of them felt happier that the humans had been there to protect them.

"Did you…kill it?"

"No Maddie, we… we didn't. We couldn't." Marcy confessed, ready to face the blunt of their reaction, "At first, we wanted to, but when we found its hideout, we found out that the weasel…wasn't alone. It wasn't raiding Wartwood for herself, it did because she needed to feed its babies."

"Babies?" Maddie, Ivy, Polly and many others shouted at the same time.

"Yup, Jacob told you that cave is probably a generational hideout, didn't he?" Sasha pointed out, "Every year, a weasel mom and its babies, probably each mom from the surviving offspring of a previous litter."

"B-but what are we going to do next Hyber Day?" Toadstool gasped, as he came to realize such predators had been living close to Wartwood for generations. "Maybe we should go to check them now, and run them out once and for all!"

"No need for that!" Anne was quick to counter-point, "Like we said, it was looking for food, so we gave it food enough to feed her babies. We can still tell you where their hideout is located, so next year you can leave some food for them. This way, they'll have no reason to come into Wartwood ever again."

"You gave them food?" Duckweed raised his eyebrow, "And what, if I may ask?"

"Leftover omelets that Anne still had with her." The Plantars grumbled at once, hearing James' explanation, "Plus some heron meat we had stocked."

"Pfff! Typical Plantar incompetence! Monroe scoffed, earning the attention of everyone, "You can't even do the simplest of-ow! Sylvia, that really hurts!"

"Be grateful that you can still feel pain, Monroe!" Sylvia replied in anger, "If you had been devoured while you were hibernating, like it could have happened if they hadn't protected us, you wouldn't be able to feel anything! And now you scoff at their results, just because they choose a different path from killing a mother?"

"Yeah, shut it Monroe!" Mrs. Croaker roared, glaring at him with an eye full of contempt, "These kids choose to protect us, they took care of us for all the time we were hibernating, and not only that, they made so we didn't have to say goodbye to anyone, but they also found out what was behind it and how to stop it. They deserve your respect, not your prejudice!"

Monroe tried to speak, but seeing the glares everyone was giving at him now (even Toadie!) he decided to walk away and check on his habitation, still fuming for the humiliation.

"Mr. Flour," Marcy turned around, ready to face Maddie's family, "Let me apologize-"

"You don't have to," the baker frog replied, tears leaking from his eyes as his hands hugged the human "No matter how devastating the loss of my wife was, I'd never wanted for anyone else to suffer what I did. Even if you did kill that creature, that would have never brought my love back; rather, I would have felt guilty with the idea that other innocents would have experienced what my daughters had to endure. Plus, you and your friends found a way to stop this vicious cycle forever, and make it so we won't ever have another possible goodbye to anyone. I know in my heart that my wife would have loved this."

"Me too, Marcy." Maddie smiled, joining the hug, tears dripping from her eyes as well. "I think you did the right thing, in the end."

"We three!" The triplets joined as well.

"So, did something happen apart from that, while we were frozen?" Toadstool asked Jacob.

"Well, to tell the truth… Mar-Mar and I decided to have a large Flipwart match. And that reminds me…" the boy showed some photos he took of the match, "Toadstool, you're more the Wart or the Warrior?"

"What kind of a question is that?" Toadstool replied in embarrassment, "Of course I can be nothing but the Wart!"

"Are you sure?" Loggle piped in, "From the way you're placed, I'd say you're a warrior."

"Loggle, why don't you worry about your place as the Archer?"

"Actually, Wally was the Archer."

"I was? Let me see, let me see!"

"Hey, why is Duckweed the Cleric? That spot doesn't suit him at all!"

"What does that mean?"

"Hey, I deserve better than to be a mere pawn!"

"Why wasn't I the Queen?"

"Huh, what's happening?" Jacob looked aside, as all of Wartwood suddenly started to bicker about who better deserved to be this or that piece on the flipwart board.

"Oh, just a constructive discussion." Hop Pop hurried to explain, "I guess no one likes to be the pawn. Of course I wasn't a pawn, right?"

"No, you were one of Marcy's warriors together with Felicia."

"What?" Someone shouted among the crowd, "Hopediah was a warrior? Why not me?"

"Oh frog."

(…)

"So, the weasel won't have to return anymore?" Sprig asked the Plantar family (humans and frogs) walking back to the farm.

"Yes." Sasha replied, "As long as her babies have enough food, she won't need to go hunting for them. Plus, it leaves open the chance for us to try to tame and train them. Hey, Polly: what do you think of the idea of taming the baby weasels?"

"I could train them to be my unholy army of the night." The pollywog smiled evilly, imagining such beasts wreaking havoc on her enemies under her control. "Go, my pretties. Kill! Kill!"

"Polly Petunia Plantar!" Hop Pop reprimanded her, "You know you're forbidden from training unsafe animals without supervision. Also, that reminds me: what about our pets? Were they safe while we were frozen?"

"I checked all of them before joining the others in the watch," Amelia nodded. "Pepo was in his quarter, Bessie was on the stable and Akitsu-"

Before the girl could end her sentence, however, they heard a familiar chirping as a large familiar snail came toward them.

"Bessie!" Anne gasped, "What are you doing in here, girl? How did you get out of your stable?"

Bessie made some more noises: somehow, the gentle snail sounded worried. Almost…concerned.

"What's up, Bessie? Something's wrong?"

Bessie chirped again, and immediately, Amelia's eyes widened in shock.

"Akitsu?" The girl gasped, rushing behind Bessie as everyone rushed to follow her.

The snail rushed, leading her family toward a small clearing near the stable, where they found…

"No!" Amelia gasped, falling on her knees as she saw her baby pet dragonfly hanging from the tree, her eyes looking empty and lifeless, some leftover snow just above it. "No, no, no, no, no! Akitsu!"

"Poor baby," Anne covered her mouth. The baby dragonfly must have somehow left the barn while Amelia and the others were in Wartwood, and in the cold air of Hyber Day, must have frozen. And contrary to the frogs, it appeared like she wouldn't thaw anytime soon.

"Why did you leave your bucket?" Amelia wept, tears running down her cheeks, "How could this have happened?"

Hop Pop walked toward her, trying to come up with some comforting words to soothe the pain the poor girl was experiencing right now.

"Amelia," The old frog spoke as he empathized with the human's pain, Polly and Sprig moving to her side trying to give her comfort "I'm sorry for you loss. Believe me, if there could be something that I could to to ease your pain-"

R-RIP! A strange sound came from the remain of Akitsu, the humans seeing it swell and inflate, as if something inside of it was struggling to get out.

Then, the very still-alive Akitsu revealed her new self. Crawling out of her exuvia, the white dragonfly quickly moved to abandon it as it began to grow, molting into her adult form, now eighteen feet long, and her ruby-red wings fifteen feet wide.

"Brim!" The now-adult dragonfly started to move her wings at speed of sound and looked in front of her. To see the human that took care of her, to her friend, to her partner.

"Akitsu!" Amelia jumped forward, the sadness in her body now leaving place to happiness, "You're alive! And you're an adult now! Oh, you grew up so fast!"

"Brim! Brum! Bru-bru!"

"Frogs," Hop Pop gasped, almost unbelieving his own eyes, "She is a White Skies Dragonfly. I can't believe it: it's identical to the one in my book!"

"Wow, she's got big!" Anne said in awe, looking at the giant bug in front of them.

"She's my baby, and she can fly now!" Amelia cheered, mounting on her back, "She can fly! She can fly! I wonder, how fast can you get?"

"Bri-brum!"

"That's right! Only one way to find out…"