During the several months Marcy Wu had spent in Amphibia, she could say that, more often than not, waking up was a particularly wild part of the day.
Back on Earth it had been nothing special: wake up, get dressed (if she didn't fall asleep already clothed, which was unsurprisingly common), have breakfast, get out and head to school as soon as possible, a spring in her step and a thousand thoughts buzzing in her head.
On Amphibia though?
First off, it took her several weeks to accept the fact that each morning she woke up in an alien world filled with sentient amphibians, giant monsters and actual magic, then she became closely entangled with said amphibians, monsters and magic!
It was something out of one of her Creatures and Caverns campaigns! The ones she planned, anyway. Anne and Sasha had not seemed interested in trying it out each and every time she had proposed it to them and it wasn't like there was anyone else she could have played with back on Earth… but that wasn't the point!
Point was, most mornings were now a glorious blaze of excitement and promises of adventure, from Yunan taking her on some quest, to Olivia needing help with governing or Andrias… well, it was near impossible to say each time what the King would take her along for, honestly, something that caused no small amount of headaches to Lady Olivia.
Some mornings, though, were far less exciting, mostly because of the two things she had used to actually look forward to back on Earth or their absence at least.
Today was one of those days, Marcy couldn't help but think as she woke up, her neck incredibly sore. The reason was quickly found out, as her pillow was not under her head and was, instead, held tightly between her arms.
Reluctantly the teen let the fluffy pillow go, getting up and fixing her neck as Yunan had taught her to. She had always been a hugger, Yunan and Olivia's numerous bruised ribs across the duration of her stay in the palace more than proved it.
She had eventually gotten better at not hurting the two small newts, to the point where Yunan no longer flew the room when she tried to hug her, and Andrias fluffy beard definitely ranked in her top 3 things to hug, yet she couldn't shake off the feeling that there was simply something missing, something that left her yearning, something she felt wasn't there, yet couldn't begin to place.
Well, that was a lie, she had to admit. She may not know what it was, but she definitely knew where she had found it before Amphibia.
With a sigh Marcy walked up to her desk. There, propped up against the vase of one of her plants and held in place by her hair tie, was their photo. She picked it up and rubbed her thumb gently on her friends, as if cleaning it from imaginary dust.
"We'll find you." Marcy whispered, more to herself than to the photo. King Andrias had said he would send peop- newts looking, but it was months ago! And she had heard nothing so far… she almost worried that they were…
She rapidly shook her head. She couldn't even think about something like that! King Andrias had promised her he would find them and she trusted him. Besides, even if some of his scouts had found Anne or Sasha, it was not like they would be able to find out until the current situation was solved.
She slipped the photo in her satchel, put her tie in her hair and got quickly dressed in her Ranger armor, cape and all. Bernardo had said that this one should not be able to spontaneously combust, so she had to try it out!
Of course she couldn't forget Andrias' gift and she took great care that the white crownlet was fixed on her head, then covered it with her hood.
She quickly made her bed, proudly posing over her work once it was done, something her neck didn't like so much.
"Ow, ow, ow" Marcy whined as she moved her neck. Perhaps she could ask Andrias or Olivia for some plushies? That way she could have something she could hug without killing her neck. Her parents had always said plushies were too childish and she was too old for them, but she hardly doubted Andrias or Olivia would refuse her.
"Seeing how huge Olivia's clock is, I'll only have to worry about fitting in my room after Andrias stuffed it with a giant plushie" Marcy joked to herself as she put the parchments on her desk in her bag and ran out off the room, into the corridor and down the stairs.
By the time her face had hit the first step, she realized that might have been a bad idea.
Thankfully, the stairs were not as long as the ones she had fallen down her first minute in Amphibia and she managed to stop herself. The girl stood up and cleaned herself off before continuing at a more cautious pace.
She finally arrived at the dining room and threw open the doors, loudly announcing herself. "Good morning, everybody!"
"Good morning, Master Marcy!" Andrias, sitting in his big chair, greeted her, almost immediately joined by Lady Olivia raising her mug of coffee and repeating Andrias' words. Conspicuously missing was General Yunan, who had recently departed for her 'tippity top secret mission' as Andrias has put it.
"We heard you arriving" Andrias joked. "That was one big thump, you okay?"
Marcy blushed a bit before flashing a thumbs up "I'm ninety-five percent fine!" She answered as she rapidly climbed the big table.
"I can see that" Olivia commented as she picked up a mug of something and handed it to the human "You're almost as quick as Yunan."
Marcy accepted the newt's offering and peered inside the mug, discovering lukewarm tea instead of her usual milk.
"We ran out of caterpillar milk yesterday" Olivia explained "With the city under siege, food is beginning to be scarce"
"Food is for the weak, Lady Olivia!" Andrias proclaimed "Look at me! I haven't eaten in a week and I'm as awesome as ever!" He brought a hand to his chin and rubbed it a bit "Though I do miss a bit my favorite chips… ah, but I trust you got this 'in the bag', as you say, Master Marcy!"
Marcy grinned, downed the tea in one gulp and slammed her mug on the table "You betcha!" She exclaimed "In fact, I literally have the solution in my bag!" Marcy proudly displayed the fabric container.
"Ah, I understand!" Andrias said, enthralled "You will bamboozle the Barbariants with your amazing fashion sense and they will have no choice but leave! Clever, Master Marcy, very clever!"
The human snorted in amusement "Don't be silly! I stayed up late to finish up my map of their tunnels and I'm ready to strike at their Queen! I'll get her to go and all of the others will follow her, easy peasy!"
The great newt shrugged "Still think the fashion thing could work, Master Marcy, but you do you" He joked.
Olivia chuckled into her hand "What he means is that we trust you, Master Marcy. If there's a person in this city who can pull off one of your plans and save us by the width of an hair, it's you"
Marcy smiled at the trust the two newts had in her. She might not know where her friends were, but she still had people who loved her and whom she loved.
"Correct, Lady Olivia!" She proclaimed as she swept up a couple of cookies and jammed them in her mouth. Still chomping on them, she reached for her bag and pulled out a smoke bomb "Chief Ranger Marcy Wu, out!"
The small pellet impacted the table and created a curtain of smoke which hid her escape. Lady Olivia murmured something along the lines of 'really should tell her not to use those inside', but she barely heard it over Andrias chuckles.
"To adventure!" She cheered as she strode past the dining room's doors. Yup, she had new people she cared for and, for the first time in her life, she was the one they depended on. It was… nice.
As Marcy approached Newtopia's gates, ever more newts came to ask her things. Some were normal citizens, concerned for the siege the city was under, but there were also ordinary guards with reports of activities from the Barbariants and newts from the Night Guard asking for orders.
'Things that come from being top dog, eh?' Marcy thought with a bit of pride. 'Or spider, I suppose they would say around here.'
Lord Commander Luther had left the city a few days before the Barbariants (presumably the very same ones that had been displaced by the Caecilians she, Kettle and Yunan had taken care of) had arrived. She supposed it was better that he had judged her ready enough to not need to come along on the training mission he had taken the rest of the new recruits on and also thanked Frog Kettle had been taken along. She would still need to fix everything, but she still felt it was too soon.
Anyways, both Luther and Yunan being gone meant that she was the one everyone around answered to! Well, technically the King was still the one in charge, but she had traded Andrias some Wizardry cards in exchange for doing what he would have most likely done anyways and let her handle it while he sat on his throne.
"Master Marcy" Three voices she recognised as the royal advisors' called for her attention.
"Bartley! Branson! Blair!" She greeted them "How is everything going?"
"Night Guard scouts report that there should be a group of Barbariants on the prowl, waiting for prey near the main gate" Bartley started.
"Rations are starting to thin and some are beginning to get angry" Branson went on.
"I didn't sleep very well last night" Blair concluded.
"Well, have more guards stationed near the main gate to warn travelers and send out Rangers on bird to warn incoming ones" Marcy answered to the advisors' concerns as she continued to walk up to the gates, the three newts listening carefully to the extra-dimensional creature's every word "Open the emergency reserves and use those to supplement the rations and Blair" Marcy stopped, pulled out a small bottle of pills and tossed the newt one "This should help you catch some Zs"
Blair quickly pocketed the pill "Thank you, Master Marcy. How about you?"
"Yes, how's that plan coming along?" Branson piped in.
Bartley of course couldn't be left out and he too had to speak "You told us you were nearly done, right?"
Marcy nodded, amused by the trio "Yuppity duppity! Finished my study of the Barbariants' caves and I should have figured out the Queen's location!"
"That's wonderful news!"
"Indeed!"
"I also think that is good and want to express it!"
"I should be able to wrap it up by about…" Marcy pulled out her sundial watch, courtesy of Olivia "Midday! Well, that leaves just enough time for a Creature and Caverns session! What do you say, Triple B?"
The three newts suddenly grew very shy, their gazes carefully averting Marcy's exciting eyes.
"I would, it's just that I have…" Bartley justified himself "A… funeral… to attend to?"
"Oh, I too would very much like to go…" Branson agreed "But I have to… plan a… funeral, yes, a funeral, me as well"
"Oh, I love Creatures and Caverns, definitely but I… I have to kill myself" Blair blurted out "So that Branson can plan my funeral and Bartley can attend."
Before Marcy could inquire about the trio's excuses, a guard conveniently interrupted them "Chief Ranger Marcy!" She called out "There's a group of travelers by the main gate who wants to be let in!"
"By the main gate?" Marcy asked "But isn't there supposed to be a group of Barbariants by the main gate?"
"Oh no, those convenient travelers are in danger!" Blair said
"You should definitely drop everything and go help them" Branson agreed
"And obviously forget to question our funeral-related activities" Bartley finished up.
"Good thinking, Triple B!" Marcy gave them a thumbs up and immediately began racing towards the main gate, leaving the three advisors to sigh in relief once she was gone.
If she wanted to stop whoever the newcomers were from being mauled by giant ants, Marcy had little time and she knew it. She ducked under one big Night Guard, sliding under her legs, and jumped over two regular guards, then arrived at the stairs leading up to the wall and raced to the top.
When she arrived, it was as she feared. The travelers had most likely driven off a scouting ant, which had triggered the attention of about half a dozen Barbariants.
Marcy reached in her trusty bag and pulled out a handy mixture of pitch and petra oleum (or oil, if you wanted to suck the fun out of it). Using her vantage point and with the wind to her advantage, she launched several sackets of the chemical mix and created a semicircle around the soon-to-be-ant-food's wagon. Using her trusty flint and steel, she lit up one of her crossbow bolts and used it to put the flammable material she had tossed earlier aflame, creating a veritable wall of fire.
Marcy could help but grin proudly as the Barbariants ran for their life. As much as Amphibia's fauna may be different from Earth's, the ancestral fear of fire was something they seemed to share.
Anyway, if there was anything that General Yunan had ever taught her, it was that once you did something epic (and she pretty much felt like this qualified), you needed to make sure to close up epically.
She quickly tied up her rope to a bolt, shot it at the cart and tied the other end to a solid-looking pilon, then pulled out her hook to slide down and land epically.
Of course, that was the intent, made a bit more difficult by the rope snapping in two halfway during her descent, making Marcy fall on her face once again.
By this point, after the snake incident, the time Olivia had been sick and she had decided to try out if Leonardo DaVinci's designs worked in Amphibia (they didn't) and that time Andrias had decided to give her a pat on the back while watching the sunset on the walls, she had become accustomed to falling from great heights in the shallow waters around Newtopia. She stood down for just a couple seconds before standing out and picking up her journal, beginning to jot down her new findings on her now soaked journal.
She coughed out a bit of water "Okay, so. Newtopian rope can hold an average human girl for about uhhh… 2.3 seconds." That confirmed what she had found out back in the cult's hideout. It was not optimal, of course. Not just because it would make things more difficult if she wanted to use it in the future, but it seriously undermined a very cool entrance. "Maybe I could reinforce the rope with ironspider silk to increase the tensile strength-"
"Marcy?"
The constant stream of thoughts, ideas, theories and worries in Marcy's brain immediately came to a halt as she instantly recognised the voice coming from behind her. How could she not? It was-
"Anne?" She asked as she turned, disbelief evident in her voice.
She barely had time to process that it was real, Anne was here, before the other human spoke again, her tone no longer questioning and surprised, but full of joy "MARCY!" She yelled out as she sprinted towards her.
Marcy barely managed to repeat Anne's name in kind before she was tackled to the ground by her friend's bear hug. There, still wet from her fall and being in water, she instantly realized just what she had been feeling was missing as Anne's warm arms wrapped around her. It made sense, of course, once she thought about it, amphibians were cold-blooded creatures and didn't have the same body warmth a human had, but she still felt like the warmth her best friend's hug was giving off was way more than it logically should have been.
It wasn't time to think about that or to think at all because, as it finally registered in Marcy's brain, Anne was here, she was here, she was safe, she still missed her!
"Anne!" She yelled out, her hands twitching from the sheer excitement "Is that really you?" Marcy asked, more to herself, still not believing Anne was here!
It seemed her feelings were met by the other teen, as she equally excitedly called her name, tears in her eyes "Marcy! I can't believe it!"
By this point Marcy's brain was barely working and it took all of her self control to stop herself from jumping in place because Anne was here! "You? Me? Here?" She asked, her usually loquacious mouth now down to one-word sentences
"I know, I know, I missed you so much!" Anne replied as she went in for another hug, the warmth still spreading out from Anne's body and into Marcy's chest. She rapidly began to hug Anne back, confirming that it wasn't a dream, it wasn't a mirage, it was real, ANNE WAS HERE!
"I missed you too!" Marcy repeated Anne's words, hugging tighter as joy flooded every crevice of her mind because Anne had missed her, Anne still loved her, Anne was still her friend and ANNE WAS HERE!
Anne pulled her up, a big smile on both teen's faces and they finally gave each other a good look. Anne had barely changed (except for an apparently missing shoe and twigs and leaves in her hair), but Marcy knew her own outfit had very much changed during her stay in Newtopia, as had she and she felt a twinge of fear that Anne wouldn't like it, that it was too different for her.
That, however, wasn't the case apparently as Anne's smile somehow got even bigger "Look at you! You look so cool, you're like an amazon warrior queen!"
Marcy's own grin couldn't help but spread to match her friend's as her irrational fears were smashed in a way only Anne and more recently Andrias were able to. "I know!" She energetically agreed as she displayed her cape "I know! This is so amazing!" Marcy pulled out her crossbow "This is real!" She couldn't help but exclaim, so excited that she accidentally triggered, shooting the bolt, which went just above the head and straight through the bow of a pollywog Marcy just realized was there, along with a couple of frogs.
"A bit too real, maybe" Anne pointed out, the comment, which would normally send her in a spiral of apologies and insecurity, managing to not upset her at all in a way only her oldest friend could.
"Whoops!" She said as she rubbed the back of her head "Yeah, maybe. Sorry!"
Not looking as upset as Marcy would have thought a kid which had come to a hair of dying would, the pollywog yelled out "NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR SOMETHING SO COOL!"
Seeing how amazed Anne had been at her outfit, Marcy remembered her training with Yunan and chuckled "You thought that was cool?" She asked, a grin on her face "Well, look at this!" She declared as she whipped out her scythe in all of its glory.
The pollywog's eyes and mouth enlarged to an extent Marcy would not have expected in a creature so little "NEVERMIND THE CROSSBOW HOP POP, I WANT ONE OF THOSE!"
"Woah Marcy, that is awesome!" Anne agreed.
"Everything is awesome!" Marcy went further "This world is awesome! It's full of fun, adventures, I've really changed here, Anne! Come into my own, leveled up!" She stood proudly and with a movement of her arm to point her palm out into the distance declared triumphantly, her cloak billowing into the convenient wind "No more clumsy klutzy Marcy!" Her power pose interrupted as she closed her hands into fists and excitedly asked Anne "Can you believe it, Anne?"
"Uhu" Anne nodded, agreeing with her before pointing out one small detail "Your cloak is on fire"
"What!?" Marcy exclaimed as she turned to discover that her cloak was apparently on fire for no apparent reason. Or maybe it was the scythe, Marcy would have theorized if she wasn't slightly preoccupied by the fact her cloak was once more on fire. "NOT AGAIN!" She yelled as she began to run in circles
"Don't swing it around!" Anne advised her "The water!"
Heeding Anne's words, Marcy dove headfirst into the water, succeeding in putting off the flames.
"Uh, I was more thinking you could just dip the cloak in water or splash some on it" Anne pointed out "Buuut I guess that works as well"
Marcy sat in the water, realizing that her approach might not have been the best one. "Oh. Yeah" She chuckled as she got up "Derp. I guess some of clumsy Marcy remains"
Anne joined Marcy in her laughter, a sound the Taiwanese girl would readily swear there and then was the most angelic melody she had ever heard. "She better be" Anne teased her with a light punch on her shoulder "I absolutely adore badass Marcy, but I do love that clumsy girl way too much to never see her again"
It was then that Marcy found out that apparently Anne had the power to warm her up even at a distance, as her cheeks became red and her brain melted at Anne's words.
Luckily for her, Anne's attention was shifted from her by one of her traveling companions, an elderly orange frog Marcy suddenly felt like she owed her life to. "So, Anne, who's your friend?" He asked.
Marcy was still mumbling to herself about possible suggestion she could make to Bernardo to make her cloak not flammable (or just sic Yunan on him when she came back, that would be a good motivator) and noting them in her journal, when Anne pointed at her to introduce her "You guys," She announced almost with pride "meet Marcy!"
That definitely caught Marcy's attention. She looked up from her journal and took a good look at the three frogs "Oh my gosh, who are these cuties?" She asked Anne, but, before her friend could try and answer her question, she gasped at the revelation her brain came to.
"Oh. My. FROG! Are they your surrogate frog family? Did they find you and take you in?"
Until now, she had almost assumed that the frogs Anne had come with were just traveling companions, but, after all, Anne had been in Amphibia for months now and, just like her, she must have found someone to live with, just like she had with Andrias.
"Yup" Anne confirmed, chuckling a bit at Marcy's enthusiasm "Without them I would have been torn apart by an angry mob. Or a giant mantis. Whichever had won, really"
"Oh, I love the found family trope!" Marcy couldn't help but exclaim "Gosh, this is just like the hero of my favorite game! Vagabondia Chronicles! The GREATEST JRPG of ALL TIME!"
"Have you played it? Do you want to play it? Do you want to borrow it?" The Plantars looked vaguely threatened as Marcy leant in and grabbed them by their shoulders "Just say the word and I'll lend you my copy, man, it will change your LIVES!"
"Uhm, Anne?" The pink one pleaded for help.
"Don't worry guys, she gets like this at times. So yeah, 'found family trope', I guess. That one you have right there is Hop Pop"
As Anne was busy explaining, Marcy was already at work, measuring tape at the ready to catalog the frogs' anatomy. She had studied it, of course, but seeing it in person was a whole nother deal! "Uh uh, uh uh" She acknowledged Anne's explanation as she measured Hop Pop's cranial circumference "Just as I thought!" She noted "62 centimeters!"
"All brain!"
"Judging by your coloration, the size of your cranium and the flakes of sediment, you're from Frog Valley, right?"
"How do you know?" The elderly frog gasped in awe "Just by my head?!"
"That's right! Anne, I'm so jealous!" Marcy told her friend "I was just reading the other day about Frog Valley and Amphibian history in general and, honestly, I think farming communities are underappreciated. Farming culture is severely underrated and farmers are the backbone of any healthy society!"
Helping Lady Olivia with paperwork had definitely helped form that opinion and the last days of siege had confirmed it thoroughly.
All of Marcy's praise was apparently too much for the old frog, who nearly collapsed on top of the pollywog.
"Get off of me!" She yelled and, just as Hop Pop was beginning to thank Marcy, she shoved me aside "I'm Polly! Loved your weapons! Where do I get them?"
"Polly?" Marcy asked "Polly the pollywog?"
The diminutive amphibian sighed and rolled her eyes "Tell me about it, sister. Can't wait for when I grow my legs so I can shake the name off, honestly"
"Well, that can be helped!" Marcy declared as she picked Polly up and held her before the sun. She whipped out a magnifying lens "Oh, interesting!" She couldn't help but exclaim.
"What is? WHAT IS?"
"Your legs are almost fully grown!" Marcy explained. "They should be coming in in about… 2 months, give or take."
Polly gasped in amazement "Can I get that in writing? I want to humiliate the other pollywogs back home!"
Marcy chuckled, "Sure thing, little buddy!" She let down the pollywog and scribbled her prevision on a sticky note "Schebang!" She yelled out as she slammed the sticky note on the small amphibian's face.
If Polly minded, she didn't express it, as she began hugging the piece of paper.
Finally Marcy turned towards the last of the three frogs, who, curiously, seemed to be watching something else.
"Wo-woah!" Marcy exclaimed "I've never seen a frog your color before! I didn't see many frogs, honestly, there aren't many in Newtopia, but it is still awesome! Oh, is it to signal you're dangerous? Are you poisonous?"
The pink frog glared at her as he shook her outstretched hand "Maybe I am, maybe I am not. Who knows?"
Marcy stopped in her tracks "Wait, really?" On one hand, she wondered if the antivenom she carried worked also for poisonous creatures and not just venomous ones, on the other if he really was poisonous she could make poison bolts for her crossbow!
"Well, yeah, I actually don't know." The pink frog admitted.
Marcy nodded, then fell to the ground.
"Dang it, boy!"
"Marcy!"
"If I don't get my weapons, it's on you, Sprig!"
Marcy got up, a seashell in her hands "Don't worry, just saw this beaut for my collection! Anyways, I will definitely iodine that later."
"What about you, Marcy?" Anne asked, relieved that Sprig wasn't suddenly revealed as toxic and Marcy wasn't dead minutes after finding her "Have you been in Newtopia this whole time?"
"Well, mostly, yes, teleported right inside the city's walls, actually. I broke my leg a little so had to stay here for the first few weeks while it healed up"
"Broke your what now"
"Then there was the whole being stabbed in the gut"
"Stabbed in the WHAT NOW"
"So, yeah, mostly here, but I also did a lot of adventuring! Became a pirate king, exploded a bunch of caecilians, y'know, typical fantasy adventure stuff!" The girl puffed out her chest a bit "Did some roleplaying as your classical artificer-rogue and became Chief Ranger in no time!" Well, there had been some little help on Andrias' part, yes (naming her Chief Ranger, to be more precise), but she figured the big newt wouldn't mind if she didn't mention that part.
"…were any of those words?" Polly deadpanned, but Marcy paid her no mind. There would be much time to introduce Anne's frog family to the wonders of TTRPGs!
"That's cool Mar Mar!" Anne encouraged Marcy with a smile "So, can you let us in?"
Marcy's expression got serious "Unfortunately Anne, those doors have to stay closed until the Barbariants are gone. But don't worry! We've got a plan!" With that Marcy pulled out her trusty crossbow.
"Oh, is she gonna shoot them?" Polly wondered, clearly thrilled by the idea "If she is, she can lend me the scythe in the meantime!"
To Polly's displeasure, however, Marcy shot the crossbow at the wall to give herself a speed boost towards the tent Triple B had had set up in the meantime. "Follow me!" She yelled out as she rocketed through the air.
Once she landed, out of the Plantars' and Anne's earshot, she finally failed to contain herself. Marcy began hopping in place, clapping her hands together.
"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my GOSH!" She squealed out "She'shereshe'shereANNE'SHERE!"
She had almost stopped hoping (almost, she still triple checked for any reports from Andrias' scouts every day), but Anne was here! Words could not express how happy she was!
As she saw the Plantars and Anne approaching out of the corner of her eye, she composed herself. "Okay, Marcy, you have this one occasion!" She told her reflection in the water, pointing her finger at her reflection in the water "You gotta channel your inner Yunan and show Anne you can take care of yourself, that you're better!"
That last word left a bitter taste in her mouth. She had to show her she could be better. Because she hadn't been before.
It had always been like that, between them. Sasha was the charismatic leader, Marcy the clumsy weird genius and Anne the one that held them together, the one to carry out Sasha's plans and to selflessly take care of Marcy and assure she didn't die to oncoming traffic or an uncovered manhole.
Perhaps… if she could show Anne she didn't have to take care of her, that she could change… maybe there was hope for their friendship. Maybe they could all change.
Her reflections shambled to a halt as two hands wrapped around her chest, their owner's identity immediately revealed by their warmth and the warmth they caused in Marcy's chest.
"Whatcha thinking about, Mar Mar?" Anne asked, her head poking from between Marcy' shoulder and her neck, a goofy expression painted on her face.
Marcy's cheeks instantly flushed again as her mind crashed and burned. "I- uhm, I was- I was thinking-!" Her brain didn't help at all as she stumbled over her words, marched out of Anne's hug, actually stumbled and faceplanted.
"Marcy!" Anne called out her name, only for her to stand up.
"Totally planned!" She straight up lied, both to mask that weird reaction (what was up with her?! She and Anne hugged all the time back at home, why was she acting so weird?!) and to show her she could handle herself, definitely! "I just needed to taste the mud to find out where the Barbariants are coming from!"
"And where are they coming from?" Asked Hop Pop, popping out from behind Anne.
"Uhmmm…" Marcy muttered as she tried to recall the information. She had memorized it the day before, but this was before the universe decided to throw her best friend into the fray alongside weird stuff she didn't understand! "…there?" She tentatively said, pointing at an obvious Barbariant tunnel entrance.
"Yeah, that makes sense" Polly admitted with a shrug as she bounced past them
"First from my head, then from the mud!?" Hop Pop exclaimed "Anne, your friend is so smart!"
Anne chuckled at Hop Pop's reaction, then smiled at Marcy "She's the smartest person I know, aren't you, Marbles?"
"Almost too smart…" The pink frog Marcy would have realized no one had mentioned the name of if her brainpower wasn't currently that of a lightbulb hooked to a potato.
"Ahahah, yes I am!" Marcy laughed it off before turning on her heels and walking into the tent "Triple B!" She greeted the three newts inside, who straightened themselves after the little squabble they had apparently just had had.
"Master Marcy!" Bartley greeted her.
"We were just discussing the best approach!" Branson agreed.
"Yes, discussing in a civilized manner and definitely not punching each other in the throats, definitely" Blair clarified before being silenced by a swift punch in the throat by Branson.
"Good, good!" Marcy nodded before stepping aside "I've brought friends with me! These" She pointed at the three frogs who had followed her "are the Plantars! They traveled here all the way from Frog Valley!"
As Hop Pop and the pink frog (was it too awkward to ask his name now? Oh Frog it was) removed a couple of flies that had come in with them (very convenient, their buzzing was kinda annoying) and Polly introduced herself with a greeting croak (typical of Frog Valley, from her studies. Could have also been a burp, honestly), Bartley gave the frogs a condescending look "Ah, yes, dirty peasants. Welcome, dirty peasants."
"Hey, the genius girl here said we farmers are underappreciated!" Hop Pop protested "She can tell where you come from from your head or by eating mud, so she knows what she's talking about!"
"And this is my friend from Earth!" Marcy said, pointing at the other human "Ann-ow"
Anne, who'd interrupted her by poking her cheek, backed up a bit and apologized, a smile still on her face "Sorry Mar Mar. Still can't believe it, honestly"
As the other human began laughing and patting her on the head, Marcy couldn't help but laugh as well "Anne, stop it!" She half-heartedly protested, only to be slightly disappointed when Anne complied.
"Alright, keep being awesome, Marbles!" Anne cheered on her, giving Marcy a bit of courage.
"Anyways" Bartley said "We have reached an agreement and we will go with m-" The newt's mouth stopped as Branson held up the fist he had used to punch Blair "I mean, we're open to suggestions?"
Marcy smiled proudly. "A chance for Marcy, Chief Ranger of Newtopia, to show her quality!" The girl extracted some parchments from her bag "Now, the Barbariants have been forced out of their hive by Caecilians. They've come south to search for new lands and King Andrias has tasked me to stop them before they turn Newtopia into a giant anthill!" For effect, she smashed the model of the city with one of an anthill she had commissioned Andrias for the occasion. The big guy was handy with his woodworking, particularly for a nerd like her! Man, just imagine what she could do with Andrias' help for her TTRPGs!
"Wait, you work directly for the King?" The pink frog asked "Like, the King of Amphibia? That one?"
"You guys have a king?" Anne also questioned.
"Well, duh!" Hop Pop exclaimed "We're not anarchists, Anne!"
"SPEAK FOR YOURSELF!"
"Aw, I thought you wanted a scythe too?" Marcy joked "He's the one who gave it to me, after all"
"DEATH TO THE TRAITORS!"
"I like your spirit! The plan is simple and foolproof, we're gonna sneak in the Barbariants' tunnels and plant these!" Marcy extracted a bandolier of her secret weapons
"Boomshrooms!"
"Close, but they're actually stinkshrooms!" Marcy corrected a very disappointed Polly "One whiff of them and the Barbariant Queen will run away. Well, not really, she's too fat to run and will mostly be carried by workers, but you get the idea. We just gotta clear though the insect hordes and I think Polly here knows just the best way."
"Incredible violence?"
"Incredible violence."
"INCREDIBLE VIOLENCE!" Polly let out a battle cry as she whipped out a flail and smashed the table in pieces.
"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?" Hop Pop asked, alarmed by his flail-wielding infant granddaughter.
"YOU KNOW ME, IT'D BE WEIRDER IF I DIDN'T HAVE A WEAPON!"
Marcy chuckled at the exchange "So I see we have the muscle. It will be difficult, but in my caring hands- whoops, broke the table"
"How?" Branson asked, amazed "The Pollywog already smashed it to bits!"
"Dude, you don't know Marcy enough if you still have to ask that question" Anne explained before turning towards Marcy "It does sound dangerous, Marbles. Are you sure you don't want to sit back and let me and the Plantars handle it? We took care of all sorts of things, back at the Valley, we are a pretty solid team that can take care of everything. Aren't we gang?"
"POLLY, YOU CAN'T SMASH THE CITY WALLS!"
"THE DAM OF VIOLENCE HAS BEEN BROKEN, OLD FROG, THERE IS NO WAY TO RESTRAIN IT NOW!"
"Oh? Yeah, we are, definitely" The pink frog answered, his face literally centimeters from Marcy's leg, which he was observing intently.
"Yup, battle hardened team." Anne concluded, crossing her arms.
"This is my mission, Anna Banana" Marcy tried to reassure her friend and put a hand on her shoulder. "As I told you, I've done far more dangerous things and only got stabbed, like, once!"
"That still doesn't reassure me, but…" Anne sighed. "I guess I'll trust you. Can we still come along? Can keep you safe better if I'm with you, after all"
Marcy smiled and gave Anne a quick hug. "Of course, Anna Banana!" It was perfect! A good ol' bonding adventure, the perfect Creatures and Caverns experience to bond a party together! Well, she and Anne already had a very close bond, but she could still show her how she could handle herself, maybe even impress her with her skills!
"Your cape's on fire tho"
"WHAT!? HOW!?"
So, with Anne and the Plantars in tow, on to adventure Marcy went!
She still couldn't believe it was happening, let alone think of the possibilities! She had always wanted Anne and Sasha to play Creatures and Caverns with her to go on daring quests with her best friends, but now? She could actually do that, but for real!
A real Team Marcanne adventure!
So enthralled was she with the concept that she failed to realize they had arrived at the entrance to the Barbariants tunnels she had pointed at earlier, stumbled and fell headfirst into it, rolling down the sloped tunnel all the way to the bottom.
Almost instantly she stood up, pointing her finger in the air "Tactical speed rolling! That was planned, totally what I wanted to do! Let's go!"
Before she could proceed, however, a couple of human hands found their place on her shoulders "I think it would be better if we go in the front, Mar Mar. This place could be dangerous"
"Pfft" Marcy blew a raspberry "Anne, do you forget I studied Barbariants? This place is definitely dangerous!"
Anne sighed "I just… I just think you'd be safer in the back, okay? Can you do it for me, Marbles?"
For a brief moment, Marcy was conflicted. On one hand, she wanted to show Anne her prowess, but on the other… well, she just couldn't say no to her best friend, couldn't she? "Alrighty, Anna Banana" She relented in the end "I'll do it just for you!"
After all, she thought as she moved towards the back of the line, if they encountered Barbariants she could always swing in on her rope, save the day and show Anne she could totally handle herself!
As she passed the pink frog, she heard him mutter something about backstabbing.
"Don't worry, in case Barbariants attack us from the back I'm more than ready to send them back to their holes!" She tried to reassure him
"Yeah, I'm worried about the Barbariants backstabbing us" The pink frog answered, his eyes doing that funny squinting thing they did earlier again. "Yup, definitely them. Definitely."
"Back on the surface I didn't ask your name" Marcy tried to strike a conversation as they proceeded in the tunnels "Sorry, I get like that at times. My name's Marcy, by the way, if you didn't catch mine. How did you meet Anne?"
"It's Sprig." The frog revealed as he continued walking alongside her "I was actually out to catch Anne, found she wasn't a monster, we defeated a giant mantis and became best friends"
Marcy chuckled "Oh man, should I be worried you'll challenge me for top spot?" She instantly blew it off with a wave of her hand "Just a little joke. Me and Sash already share the title of Anne's best friend, what's one more?" It was good that Anne did find a friend in Amphibia, even if Marcy secretly doubted Sprig was as close to Anne as she and Sasha were. "You do know who Sasha is, right?"
"Yeah, I had… experiences." Sprig answered "And let me tell you, what I found out is that I'm totally a different kind of friend than you or Sasha"
Before Marcy could ask the frog what he meant by experience, or even thank him for what she was pretty sure was a compliment, she stumbled into a hole she had totally failed to see.
Well, nearly, as as soon as she had heard Marcy's characteristic 'I'm about to fall down' scream, Anne had basically teleported to her friend's rescue and grabbed her by the cape before she could stumble into the hole
"Marcy!" Anne called out, still a bit out of breath for the sudden sprint.
"Whoops!" Marcy admitted her little mistake with a chuckle "Did not mean to do that." As she said that, however, her eye caught a glint of something bizarre in the tunnel beneath her. "Uh?" As Anne continued to hold her up, she reached for her journal and flipped through the pages.
"Marcy, what are you doing?" Anne loudly asked before giving her cape a yank and throwing her friend on the cave's floor.
"Yup, just as I thought!" Marcy declared, still laying on her back with the journal now on her face. It was a Barbariant's eye, reflecting the light! By her calculations, considering how far down it was and the vertical speed of a Barbariant… they were about to be attacked in 6.7 seconds.
Now that wouldn't do, Marcy thought as she got up and got back to searching her journal for a solution to their upcoming predicament, wandering around the cave as she did so.
"Marcy, get back here" Anne called for her "You'll be safer in the back!"
"Don't know if we'll be safer with her here…" Sprig muttered as he looked down the hole, to the likely evil plan Sasha 2.0 was plotting.
All of a sudden, just on schedule for Marcy's internal timeline, the first Barbariant emerged from the hole, grabbed Sprig by the head and began spewing green gunk on top of him.
"Why me? WHY ALWAYS ME!"
"Sprig!" Anne called out as the Barbariant began to drag him away.
"Ah, Essence of Heron's Bane!" Marcy exclaimed, very much pleased, as she picked up a flower. It was easier to take a different route to the Queen's chamber than to face the Barbariants head on, but to access a different section in such a way that the giant insects couldn't follow her would require some explosive. The Essence of Heron's Bane would help her synthesize just that! "Just what the doctor ordered!"
As she began distilling the Essence, a couple of Barbariants took notice of the intruder away from everyone else.
"Marcy!" Anne tried to warn the other teen, too absorbed in her alchemical pursuit to notice the six-legged beasts "Hop Pop, Polly, Sprig, you go rescue Spr-" Anne did a double take "Sprig? How?"
"I kicked him!"
"Good for you buddy!" Anne yelled as she sprung to Marcy's aid, hitting a Barbariant in the leg with her tennis racket, then dropping it to block its maws when it retaliated. The other one, while the first focused on the new attacker, continued crawling towards its first target.
"Done!" Marcy proclaimed as she held up a flask of perfectly distilled Essence of Heron's Bane, apparently oblivious to everything that was going on "Now, I just need some coral…" She turned on her heels, saw the beast that was about to attack her, green gunk dropping from its angry maw, and smiled "Perfect!"
Nonchalantly, she extracted her scythe, didn't turn it on and used the metal rod to bonk the ant on its head, knocking it out instantly and causing a piece of coral to fly into the air and land in Marcy's outstretched hand.
"Wow, she's definitely gotten stronger" Anne pointed out as she tried to repeatedly swatted the ant that was trying to eat with the racket she had picked up again.
"Eh, it's more because their exoskeleton is weaker on the base of their heads" Marcy admitted as she crushed the coral into a fine powder that she sprinkled in the Essence. "Though I did train a bit." She added as she finished, put a cork into the flask and flexed her bicep "Check out these guns!"
A sprinkling of red appeared on Anne's cheeks "Those are nice" She deadpanned
"Then you'll love when they shoot!" Marcy launched the bottle against a wall, where it exploded and created a passage to another tunnel
"SHE KNOWS HOW TO MAKE EXPLOSIVES!?" Polly excitedly exclaimed "I LOVE HER! CAN WE KEEP HER!?"
Marcy dashed towards Anne, repeating her previous bonking maneuver to get Anne out of her pickle "Into the breach, everyone!" She beckoned the frogs as she pulled the other human by the arm.
As soon as they passed it, Marcy turned around and launched three sackets, from which sprouted enough vines to block any pursuer.
"Insta-vines!" She declared with a proud smirk "Bred them myself. Pretty cool, no?"
"Uhm, guys?" Polly asked, on the wrong side of the vines "Help?"
"NOT THE BABY!" Anne and the frogs yelled.
Marcy flipped a switch and her scythe turned on again. With a swipe, she opened a hole for Polly to hop through, then used her emergency vines to close the hole again, just in time to stop the Barbariants.
"Marcy!" Anne chastised her friend, who sweated a bit and raised her hands awkwardly
"Sorry, sorry!" She apologized "Didn't see that Polly was a bit behind."
"And you almost killed her with that scythe!" Sprig pointed out "A bit suspicious, don't you think?"
"Honestly Sprig, if I was to die from that I wouldn't even be mad."
"It's not just that. What happened to remain in the back? You wandered off and almost got eaten!"
"Eh, I was fine!" Marcy tried to ignore Anne's concerns "I was just trying to find a way to get rid of the Barbariants and it worked."
Anne looked like she wanted to say something else, but stopped and sighed "Alright then."
Marcy really couldn't figure out why Anne was being so grumpy about her trying to help. Yes, she might have needed help back home, but she had changed! She had told her already!
She cleared her mind. Anne was her friend, she was sure she would come through, eventually. She just had to show her she was up to the task.
"Let's go on then!" She said "That Queen isn't going to kick herself out, after all! The Barbariant guards will eventually get to this tunnel, but they'll need to go all the way around, since they can't get past the Insta-vines. Amphibian plants are the coolest!"
Hop Pop brightened considerably at that "You find plants cool?" He asked, putting an arm behind Marcy's back "Marcy, how you'd like to be adopted?"
As Hop Pop and Marcy took the lead, with Polly hopping behind them, Anne remained in the back with Sprig.
Anne sighed once more "I really don't know what to do with that girl…" She vented to Sprig, as she'd grown accustomed to in all the months she spent in Amphibia.
"Yeah, me neither…" Sprig conceded, eyeing the other human carefully
"She's going to get herself killed!"
"Or get us killed…" Sprig commented under his breath
"And- and- I don't want her to get hurt!" Anne complained in a hushed-screaming tone "She's so smart, why does she have to act so stupid?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe she could have another purpose." Sprig suggested "Remind me, why did Sasha throw us that party? Ah, yes, so that her boss could kill Hop Pop! Sasha's boss who worked for the King, who is also Marcy's boss, by the way"
Anne snapped her fingers "That's it, Sprig! She must have another, secret motive! Maybe she blames herself for getting us stranded here or the King is a strict boss or something!" She gave Sprig a pat on the head before sprinting forwards to get back on Marcy's side "Thanks man! Now I know I just gotta protect her even harder!"
"I was trying to suggest she was trying to get us all killed!"
Marcy was almost disappointed when they arrived at the Queen's chamber, as it meant that Hop Pop's dissertation about farmfield vegetables had to be cut short. Such a shame, it was so interesting!
Reluctantly, she shushed Hop Pop as they observed the Barbariant Queen and she cataloged how she cared for the larvae next to her seventeen pages of notes on Frog Valley Squash.
"Alright guys" She explained whispering "The Queen is basically blind, but she's got a great sense of hearing. We gotta be very, very quiet. Here, Polly" She handed half of the Stinkshrooms on her bandolier to the pollywog, whom she had a feeling had a certain affinity for explosives "You, Sprig and Hop Pop spread these on one side of the room, Anne and I will take the other, this way she gets a good nose-full."
"Splitting us up, suspicious…" Sprig whispered to his sister, who visibly rolled her eyes.
"Hush!" Marcy silenced the pink frog "If she hears us, we're toast!"
"Now she's silencing us? She's an evil genius!"
Marcy primed the shrooms "Alright, we've got five minutes. Should be able to do this relatively easy, right?"
"Well, she said it, we're doomed. At least I'll get to see the scythe!"
Without any further unnecessary noise, they set out to carry out Marcy's plan.
Carefully, Marcy planted the Stinkshrooms, spacing them out to maximize their spread. Out of nowhere, however, Anne suddenly barrelled into her, sending her to the ground and scattering the Stinkshrooms, but also saving her from the chunk of rock that she had failed to notice was about to fall on her.
"Anne!" Marcy hissed before quickly dragging her friend behind the rock that had just barely failed at squishing her, safe from being noticed by the Barbariant Queen. "What was that?!"
"Uhm, me saving you from that giant stalagmite that was about to crush you? You're welcome?"
"I had noticed it!" Marcy protested. Okay, it was a lie and a blatant one at that, but it was for a good reason! "For starters, it was a stalactite, and I was totally about to dodge it!"
"Like heck you were!" Anne called her out before sighing. "Look, I get it. You're under stress, you want to do this and I know how you are, you don't notice things when you're focused and it's fine! It's what makes you you and I love it!" Anne put her hand over Marcy's, a move she knew had an effect on her nerdy friend "Just, let me protect you, just like back home."
Marcy gave Anne a long, conflicted look, before shaking her head and slowly retreating her hand from Anne's "But we're not back home, Anne." She pointed out "I can handle myself, I can do it, I told you I can."
"But I have to protect you!"
"Why? Why do you have to?" Marcy asked, a bit worked up now. Did Anne think she was not ready? That she couldn't do it?
Before Anne could muster an answer, however, the cave's silence was shattered by Sprig's cries for help.
Both girls turned to see what had happened, only to see the frog boy being snatched by the Barbariant Queen's prehensile tongue and eaten, before the insect monarch rallied her defenders with a horrible shriek.
"SPRIG!" Anne called out, standing up and with the racket extracted.
"Don't worry guys, he's still alive!" Marcy pointed out to keep the Plantars and Anne from panicking "Look!"
The cave's bioluminescent corals shone through the Barbariant Queen's traslucent body, revealing Sprig's body on the inside, intact and, judging by its frantic movements, still very much alive. Or twitching after his death. Marcy would go with the first one.
"These ants take a while to digest their food" Marcy explained "I can still save him!"
She sprinted forwards, only to be forcefully stopped in her tracks when Anne grabbed her by the arm
"No, I'll do it! You stay here, with the Plantars, safe."
Marcy turned around and put her hands on Anne's shoulders. There was no time for whatever this was, she had to do this! "Anne, I'm the only one here that has studied Barbariant biology, it has to be me!"
"No, it doesn't!" Anne denied Marcy's claim and grasped her forearms with her hands "I can handle it!"
"Why can't you just let me go!?" Marcy protested, letting her frustration with Anne into her voice "Why can't you just trust me?!"
"Because I've just got you back, okay?!" Anne answered in turn, the small bit of frustration in her voice dwindling almost immediately as her eyes, lined at the bottom by a few forming tears, looked downwards "And I don't… I don't want to lose you again"
Marcy was taken aback by Anne's words, before she smiled lightly.
Of course. How could she have doubted her Anna Banana?
She had missed her and Sasha so much, it had been stupid of her not to assume her best friends in the whole world wouldn't have missed her as well.
Marcy lifted her right hand from Anne's shoulder and put on Anne's cheek, her heart thumping in her chest impossibly hard as she did so, making the other girl's gaze go back up to her eyes.
"You won't" Marcy whispered determinately to her best friend, taking her hands into hers and squeezing a bit to confirm it, to ground the whole thing and make it real. "I promise."
Anne smiled back at her and wiped her tears with a hand "Alright. Go and give them hell, girl!"
Marcy nodded as she left Anne's hands "I will! See you on the other side!" She dashed towards the Queen, jumping over the Barbariants that tried to put themselves in her way and bouncing off their abdomens.
"Who knew those ants were so bouncy?" Hop Pop wondered aloud.
"I did!" Marcy proudly declared striking a pose midair before descending at full speed on a Barbariant and bouncing off of it and in the Queen's face. "Because I studied them!"
The giant insect did not hesitate to eat up this intruder as well, just as Marcy had hoped she would.
"I can't watch!"
"Dibs on the crossbow! No, the scythe! Wait, both of them!"
"Come on…" Anne looked at the belly of the beast and balled her hands into fists "I believe in you, Mar Mar" She whispered
After a moment that felt like an eternity, a couple of muffled small explosions resounded from the great Barbariant, causing her to open her mouth to wail. Instead of a cry of pain, however, out of it came a great deal of green gunk, a hail of bright fireworks and a human girl carrying a frog boy under her arm.
"I knew those celebratory fireworks would come in handy!" Marcy proudly declared with a green spark in her as she shot her rope-arrow and used it to swing down, bringing herself and a starry-eyed Sprig to safety.
Well, that was the intent, until the Barbariant Queen cut down the rope and made them fall right on top of Anne and Hop Pop.
As they got up, Marcy still a bit dizzy from the impact, the Queen shrieked and the Barbariants began to close in, too many to make an escape through or fight.
"Marcy, if you got a bright idea, now would be a really great time for it!" Anne yelled out as she wielded her racket to menace the insects.
The other girl whipped out her phone and opened her timer app, grinning as she saw the numbers it displayed "Three, two, one… boom, baby!"
Right on time with the digital chicken clucking from Marcy's phone, the Stinkshrooms exploded, dousing the room with their ant-repelling pheromones. Just as Marcy had predicted, as soon as the Queen got a sniff, she immediately burrowed in the dirt, followed by the other Barbariants, and fled, likely never to return.
"You know what?" Sprig said, smelling in the fungi's spores "This is actually quite nice"
"I mean" Marcy pointed out "It will liquify your lungs if you breath it enoug-"
"Whelp time to go!"
As they all sprinted out of the lung-melting mefitic mist, Marcy turned around towards Anne "Thanks for looking after me Anne. You had my back all the way through."
"Not that you needed it" Anne conceded with a laugh "You were right, you had it all under wraps! You really have changed!"
"I hope I haven't changed too much." Marcy chuckled. "It was nice to know there was someone that I could rely on." She snorted "Or that could get me out of the way of falling stalactites"
"You had no idea that was about to pancake you, right?"
"Nope! I'd still like some help on things like that, I'm more of a waffle girl myself."
"Good, because your cape's on fire"
"WHAT!? DAMN YOU, CELEBRATORY FIREWORKS!"
The Marcanne-Plantars (Marcy was still workshopping the name) team emerged from the Barbariant tunnel and Marcy allowed herself a cheer of success "Mission complete!"
"Hey, uhm, Marcy?" Sprig tentatively asked the teen, gaining her attention by tugging on her cloak "Thank you for, you know, saving my life. I'm sorry for being so suspicious about you, although you probably didn't even notice since I was so cautious. You're no backstabber."
"Dude, you were extremely unsubtle about it" Polly deadpanned.
"Wait, you were suspicious of me?" Marcy asked genuinely confused "Wow, that went way over my head"
Polly facepalmed.
"I'm happy you think I'm trustworthy, though!" Marcy continued with a smile "and don't worry about me saving you. It's obvious you mean a lot to Anne and any friend of Anne is a friend of mine." If they wanted to. They mostly didn't, but whatever.
"Oh! OH!" Polly called for Marcy's attention while Sprig was preoccupied with spitting out acidic, clothes-melting green Barbariant gunk on Hop Pop "Like, friends enough to lend them weapons?"
Before Marcy could say anything, though, the city's bells began sounding, signaling the end of the siege, and the doors to the city opened.
"The Barbariant Siege is officially over!" Marcy declared, striking a pose with her index pointed forwards "Newtopia's officially open! C'mon follow me, everybody!"
"ANSWER THE QUESTION DAMNIT!
Anne looked happily as Marcy ran towards the doors, quickly joined by Polly and Sprig.
"She's really flourished here" Anne couldn't help but comment as she watched her oldest friend "She's happy, she's become even better here, somehow."
Hop Pop chuckled at the weird creature he had brought in his home. He remembered well the reckless girl that had come from another world, how she had put his and his family's life in jeopardy countless times with her escapades, her lying and her lack of responsibility, but he remembered even better how each and every time she had picked up the pieces and risked her neck for them.
"It's incredible how people can change" He softly said to the human he had begun to see as his granddaughter.
Anne seemed to see what the old frog was implying and turned around to give him a hug "Thanks, HP." She said, smiling widely "But I didn't do it all by myself. Marcy's gotta have people here almost as good as you guys. Which is a pretty high bar, since you guys are, y'know, pretty amazing"
"Aw, thanks Anne. Now, could you help me with this sweater? I'm stuck and I'm pretty sure my arm isn't supposed to go numb like this"
After Anne freed Hop Pop from his sweater and the old frog remembered he did have a spare of his usual outfit, they awoke Bessie and joined Marcy, Sprig and Polly.
They had feared the frog children would go insane in the big city, seeming as almost everything seemed to over excite them, but they found them in the plaza, awestruck and frozen in place.
And frankly? She could hardly blame them, Anne thought as she looked around, at the ancient buildings, the cloaked newts that scurried everywhere and in general at the beautiful scenery of Newtopia. The human teen let out a low whistle of amazement.
"Woah, this is a city city" She remarked to Marcy "You got pretty lucky with landing here"
"I know?" Marcy practically beamed with joy as she showed off the city that had hosted her for months "This place is ~amazing~!"
Marcy pre-planned three hours and 42 minutes rant (she timed it) providing a general introduction to the city of Newtopia and its history, however, was cut short by the arrival of a veritable army of guards, that quickly surrounded them.
"What is happening here? Kids, don't do anything-"
"I DIDN'T DO IT!"
"I WAS WRONG ABOUT BEING WRONG, SHE'S ACTUALLY EVIL AND HAVING US ARRESTED!"
Marcy's excitement about being able to launch into a detailed, multi-hour esposition about one thousand years of lore evaporated as she saw a figure approaching from where the guards had come from, quickly replaced by an excitement that outclassed the previous one by several orders of magnitude.
The guards struck the ground several times with their spears and opened up for the person that was coming, a short light blue newt dressed in a very elegant gown.
"Uhm, Mar Mar, what's going on here?" Anne whispered in Marcy's here, only to realize the other girl was in her 'desperately trying to contain pure joy' phase, as evidenced by the fact that she was rapidly switching her weight from the front of her feet to their back and apparently vibrating.
"Master Marcy" The newt addressed the human "The King sends his greetings. I trust the mission has gone well"
Marcy nodded very energetically, smiling wide before fishing out of her pockets. She whipped out a Barbariant's severed head as she mimed the sound of a trumpet and threw it to the ground "Here you go, Lady Olivia"
Lady Olivia smiled proudly, giving Anne the distinct feeling that she and Marcy were more than colleagues "Still fresh, I see. Well done, Master Marcy. King Andrias will be very pleased" She snapped her fingers and a servant dashed forward, picked up the head and brought it away, expressing his disgust at the trophy all the way. "I trust you had fun?"
"You betcha, Lady Liv!" Marcy exclaimed "Went in, solved it with my mad skills and I even got to find out more about Barbariants, apparently the Queen is able to move of her own accord, Isabella from the Biology section of the University is never going to believe it!"
The aristocratic newt chuckled at Marcy's little rant "That is very nice, dear. Anything else?"
Marcy shook her head as she realized she was getting lost. As cool as entomology was, it didn't hold a candle to having two of her favorite people finally meet!
"Yes!" She yelled out, only to cover her mouth in embarrassment "Whoops, too loud. Sorry."
"Don't worry, Master Marcy" Lady Olivia assured her "Do go on if you have something to tell me"
"Okay, I assume you've heard that I've taken some people along with me on the mission, right?"
The newt nodded "Yes, Branson did report you taking some, and I quote, 'dirty peasants' along with you."
The Plantars, having been acknowledged, came forward
"Your Highness!" Hop Pop introduced himself, before whispering to bow to his grandchildren, causing the three frogs to fall over themselves and making a guard snicker.
"Well, there was another, very special person with them. Lady Olivia, let me introduce to you one of my two best friends, Anne Boonchuy!"
"'Sup dude?" Anne piped in, before realizing she should have probably been more formal "I mean, milady?"
Lady Oivia, which seemed to not have noticed the tall human until then appeared pleasantly surprised "Anne Boonchuy." She acknowledged the human, bowing her head slightly "I've heard much about you from Master Marcy."
"Good things, I hope?"
"Oh, exclusively" Olivia admitted as she got closer "It is good to know you're finally finding your friends, Master Marcy"
"I KNOW!" Marcy exclaimed, jumping in place a couple of times before hugging Anne's arm "I still can't believe she's here!"
"You'll have plenty of time to believe it" Lady Olivia said as she chuckled into her hand at Marcy's usual over-the-top behavior "Any friend of Master Marcy is a friend of ours. I will take care that you are all properly welcomed into the city by the Crown. While we arrange it, let me welcome you to Newtopia, Anne and Plantars." Lady Olivia looked at the city and for a second Anne saw in her eyes the same fascination she so frequently saw in Marcy's eyes. "This is an old city, but one rich in history and splendor…" The newt's expression returned stoic and serious "Please don't touch anything that looks important."
As soon as she had finished speaking, she heard a loud crash and, just afterwards, the pink frog's voice "I'm okay! Statue's broken."
Lady Olivia took a deep breath and whispered to herself. "They're Marcy's friends, you already handle Andrias…" She gave them a strained smile "Please enjoy your stay, without breaking anything, if possible"
With that, she turned around and walked away, followed by the guards.
"She seems nice!" Hop Pop remarked.
"Oh, she is!" Marcy assured the frogs "She's just a bit strict at times, but she's one of the nicest people around, honestly."
"Seeing how she treats you?" Anne said as she slinged her arms over Marcy's shoulders and hugged her from the back "I can believe it. Though someone would need to be a damn fool not to treat you nicely, Mars Bars"
Marcy blushed a bit at that "Aw, thank you Anne!"
"Marcy, I still have a few questions…" Sprig said, before launching in a veritable verbal barrage that made Marcy laugh and understand what it meant to be at the other side of herself.
"Now now, kids" Hop Pop tried to reign in his grandson "The fwagon still needs to be unloaded. Let's give Anne and Marcy some space, shall we?"
As Hop Pop dragged the two grumbling frog children away, Marcy noted to herself to pack the old frog a gift basket of rare plants' seeds.
"So, shall we find a place to sit down?" She asked Anne, who nodded
"We do have… things to discuss"
The afternoon was growing late, the setting sun painting Newtopia into golden shades of orange. The two girls had settled down near a fountain and were throwing pebbles in the water, Marcy sitting on its edge while Anne leant on a statue.
There were one thousand thoughts buzzing in Marcy's head, so many that she wasn't sure whether to be thankful or not for Anne not having spoken yet. Now that the excitement of meeting Anne again and the adrenaline of their adventure had (mostly) faded out, she found herself haunted by what it meant.
Andrias' advice was the foremost of those thoughts and worries.
"Master Marcy, I understand why you did what you did. But please, promise me this: do not lie to them. Take your time, even if the later the reveal comes, the more it will hurt, but tell them" Andrias had whispered to her, while she was at her weakest "No one more than me can tell you how much lies and betrayal may hurt. That is how friends work, I suppose. The more you love them…"
Wouldn't it be better to spill the beans right there and then? Tell Anne everything, about her parents moving, the box and her desperate plan. Andrias had said that the later the reveal would have come, the worse it would be.
Logically, it might as well have been the best possible option.
Emotionally though? Marcy had just gotten Anne back. Anne, her oldest friend, the one she could always go to when she needed a hug or some kind words.
What if she didn't accept what Marcy had done?
Anne had a loving family back on Earth, Domino, friends that weren't her or Sasha. She had much more to lose.
What if she couldn't understand her reasons?
Anne was much more sociable than Marcy, if she had found herself in her situation there would have definitely been crying, but it wouldn't have been the end of the world. After all, she was Anne, one of the sweetest, kindest and best people in the whole world, who wouldn't want to be friends with her, wherever she moved?
What if she hated her?
Marcy couldn't take it. The mere thought that Anne, sweet Anne, her Anne could ever hate her created a gaping hole in her chest. It would have been like when her parents had explained to her that her life was over, her world would crumble under her feet, it would be game over.
Eventually, Marcy found the courage to break the blissful silence, the words she chose to speak ever so important after all she had thought about. "So" she asked "guess you haven't found a way home either?" Coward, she whispered to herself, but it was the only thing she could do.
She wasn't ready to lose her again.
"Nerp" Anne commented as she threw another rock. After it impacted the pool and sank to its bottom, she let herself sink to the ground, sitting on the pool edge with her back on the statue. "You know, it's almost funny. For the longest time, my goal has been finding you, but now that I found you? I have no idea what to do next"
Marcy chuckled at that. It seemed she wasn't the only one that was unsettled by meeting their friend after all this time. "Just finding me, Anna Banana? When we find Sash I'll rub in her face how I'm apparently your favorite" Marcy joked, but Anne apparently didn't find it as funny as she thought it'd be.
The other girl slumped down even more "I… already found Sasha"
"Oh?" Marcy perked up, surprised. The other hard topic she had been mulling about. After all she had figured out about Sasha, how was she supposed to talk about her to Anne? "You have? Where is she?"
"Honestly? No clue." Anne sighed "It… wasn't pretty. She tricked me and the Plantars to trap us and kill Hop Pop. Then… we fought."
If Marcy had audibly gulped at the 'kill Hop Pop' part (she had joked that Sasha would be the most likely one in the trio to commit murder, but it was a joke!), she paled when Anne mentioned that her two best friends had fought. "Was it… bad?" She whispered, instantly regretting it. 'Was it bad?' Of course it was, stupid, stupid!
If Anne shared her thoughts about her word choice, she didn't express it. "There might have been a swordfight and some… minor explosions." Anne sighed "I stood up to her. I told her she couldn't just do what she wanted and and…" At that point Anne couldn't go on and buried her head in her knees, her hands sinking in her hair.
Seeing her best friend like that, Marcy immediately rushed over to her, prying her hand out of her bushy hair and taking it into hers, the Thai girl immediately crushing her hand into a vice-like grip. "Hey, hey" Marcy tried to calm her down, ignoring the pain her hand was in "Breathe, breathe. Take your time."
After what felt like hours, Marcy finally heard something from Anne, barely more than a whisper.
"What?" She asked, not sure of what she had heard.
"She… let herself fall" Anne repeated and Marcy's heart stopped beating. Anne went on "The tower we were fighting on started exploding and she was falling. I tried to save her and the Plantars were helping me, but the tower was falling apart and she… she let my hand go."
"Sasha's…" Marcy couldn't finish her question for all the dread piling up in her chest. She couldn't be… no, no, all her fault, it was all because of her and her damned. selfishness, all-
"She's fine" Anne clarified, taking her head out of her knees and putting a hand on Marcy's shoulder. Like this, Marcy could see a few traces of tears on her cheeks. "She got saved and got away, tho, like I said, no idea where to."
Even with the knowledge that she'd caused her best friends to fight and one to almost die, Marcy couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "Damn, am I so useless that I need to be comforted even when I try and help you?"
"Hey, don't say that Mar Mar. If anything, you only got more amazing here and, maybe, so have I." Anne took a deep breath, taking her gaze off from Marcy and into the distance, but with her hand still in Marcy's. "Standing up to Sasha was the right decision." She eventually declared. "I needed to stand up to her, to not let her kill any of the frogs that helped me here. But… we almost lost her, Marcy." She let out a single bittersweet chuckle "Honestly? Half the reason I was so worried about you today was because after what happened with Sasha… I didn't want to lose you again, yes, but I didn't want to lose you as well, too."
That was too much for Marcy to handle and as her eyes began to tear up, the girl let go of Anne's hand and wrapped up the other human in a big hug, squeezing her as hard as she could.
After a moment of surprise, Anne began to hug back. "I won't lose you, right Marbles? After all, you promised"
Marcy looked up at her friend "You won't."
"So, what now?" Marcy asked after another moment of silence. She could tell Anne of her own realizations about Sasha, but right now Anne didn't need a target to hate, someone to be angry at, but something to hope in. Just like her truth, there would be a time for that as well.
"I don't know" Anne admitted. "As I said before, no idea what to do next. Sasha was the one who planned everything"
"Hey, I got stronger and more reliable and I soaked my coat in water two minutes ago so it can't take fire and you stood up for yourself, maybe for once we can take charge!"
"Yeah…" Anne said, a bit unconvinced, before repeating it more decisively "Yeah!"
"So, what are we gonna do, Commander Anne?"
"I… guess we still need to find a way back home?"
"And then what?"
"Then we're gonna find Sasha!" Anne declared. "She may have done bad stuff, but she's still our friend."
Marcy nodded. She wasn't going to just throw Sasha under the bus, not after having made mistakes herself. "That sounds an awful lot like a plan!"
"Yes it does!"
"So, stand up with me!" Marcy said, jumping on the fountain's edge "Strike a pose!" She ordered Anne as she posed in the convenient wind herself.
"This good?" Anne asked as she puffed up her chest and cheeks.
Marcy almost chuckled at her friend's silliness "Close enough! Now, say it with me! I'm Marcy Wu!"
"And I'm Anne Boonchuy!"
"And together, we're gonna find Sasha and a way home!"
"And together, we're gonna find Sasha and a way home!"
As they finished their little inspirational declaration (an old trick she had picked up from Yunan), the two humans looked at each other and laughed wholeheartedly at their own silliness.
This time it was Marcy that was surprised when Anne caught her in one of her warm hugs all of a sudden.
"Thanks Marbles" Anne whispered in her ear "I needed that."
Marcy nuzzled her head against Anne and hugged her back "You're welcome, Anna Banana"
This really felt like the beginning of a beautiful adventure.
Up high, from one of the great palace's windows, King Andrias Leviathan was observing the two humans.
Outside of the hole in the wall, the world was as it appeared to anyone else, but the inside of the castle was covered by pitch darkness.
"Anne Boonchuy has come." The voices of the Core whispered in his ear, their tone harsh and unforgiving. "And Marcy is not any closer to being on our side."
Andrias nodded, accepting the ancient newts' criticism, far too focused on the two girls in the distance, tantalizingly near enough to see but too far to hear their exchange.
The King would have given a lot to be able to hear them, but he supposed that after a millennium he did not have much left to give.
"Are you even listening, Andrias?!" The Core hissed, jolting Andrias out of his reflections.
"Of course, my lord."
"Then what do you have to say for yourself? That other human could jeopardize our plans, ruin our return to glory!"
Andrias shook his head "She will not, my lord."
She would disappoint Marcy. Of that he was certain.
Friends were like that, after all, Andrias couldn't help but think with a twinge of anger.
Legacy mattered.
Duty mattered.
Family mattered.
"Hey 'Drias!"
"If you won't stop this, I will!"
"Leif… LEIF!"
Friends did not.
"Everything is going according to plan." Andrias spoke, both to himself and to the Core, walking away from the window and dispelling the illusion of darkness around him, though he was sure the Core still was able to hear him and see him.
The days of prancing around with Marcy would need to be put on hold. For her own good, he would do what was necessary.
When this Anne inevitably would leave her, like all friends do, he would bring Marcy to his cause.
One voice replied to him, his own voice, fished out by the Core from his own memory
"I will help you find your friends and I will help you three to stay together"
"…I know what I said." Andrias whispered back. He had even believed it, fool that he was. Seeing Marcy so wrecked by guilt, so destroyed by her betrayal, he had believed that things could be fixed, that Marcy had the friends she deserved. That if she really cared about them that much and was so devastated by what she had done, they must feel the same, unlikely as that was.
That pipe dream had disappeared when Marcy came to him, crying and asking whether she was a bad friend.
"It is for her own good."
He would not allow his own tragedy to unfold once more. He would not allow Marcy's friends to take advantage of her like his own did.
"The pieces are starting to fall into place." He stated as he picked up a model of Anne Boonchuy, one that he had made that night when he deluded himself that perhaps friendship could really be true and undid a thousand years of wisdom based on nothing but foolish hope.
Let Anne Boonchuy show her true colors, he couldn't help but think. Once she did, he would be ready to do what his father had not been able to do for him.
"It is time for the game to begin"