Previously on Calamitous Intervention
Luz and Maddie prepared to move onto level two spells, but Maddie's little sisters got jealous and took Maddie's advice to "grow up" too literally. They incorrectly made a growth spell for which Luz had to create antidotes. Thanks to the human's help, Maddie's relationship with her sisters was fixed.
Chapter Nine - Little Stringbean / Tea Time
On a beautiful day in Wartwood, Luz and Sprig were doing farmwork in front of their house. The frog was showing Luz how to till dirt and plant seeds. She took a step back, doing her best at this task. "Uhh… Am I doing this right?"
"You'll get the hang of it eventually," Sprig assured her. "I mean, you'll have to since you're living here."
"My weak nerd arms aren't made for this," Luz muttered, wiping sweat off her forehead. "I'm really out of shape. I think Polly could even beat me in a hand-on-hand fight."
"To be fair, nobody should mess with her," Sprig said.
"You know what?" Luz placed the hoe down before hopping up and down, feeling motivated. "I should start working these legs. I'm gonna go for a jog."
"I'll come with you," Sprig replied. "Where are you going?"
"To the forest," she stated, and he shrugged. "That's risky, but okay." The two of them ran off from the house.
As they were jogging, they suddenly heard a faint noise, and Luz stopped to listen in. "Wait… Am I going crazy or was that…"
The two of them heard a distressed meow, and Luz's eyes widened. "A cat?! How did a cat get here?!" She ran off, and Sprig followed her. They ran toward the source of the sound and found a swarm of massive wasps swarming something fluffy that was desperately trying to escape.
A furry creature was stuck in a puddle of orange liquid, as the wasps above tried to stab it with their stingers. Luckily, their aim wasn't very good.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Luz ran forward, grabbing a potion and throwing it at one of the wasps. A burst of wind knocked it and the other ones away. She ran up to the defenseless creature and pulled it out of the sticky puddle, sighing in relief. "You're safe now!"
Right as she got up, the wasps stung the surrounding ground, making her yelp. She dashed toward Sprig as he used his slingshot to launch rocks at the wasps, disorienting them. "Take that, buzz brains! Go sting someone your own size!"
Luz ran by him, holding the fluffy creature in her arms. "Come on!"
"Sprig out!" Sprig told the wasps, hopping backward in the bushes dramatically. "Peace!"
The human made it out of there and went back into the clearing, panting heavily. "Are you hurt, little angel?" Her eyes then widened. "Huh?!"
Sprig lept down, startled by her sound. "What's wrong? Are you stung? We'll have to amputate you!"
"No, I'm fine," Luz replied, petting the little creature. "I guess this isn't a cat, but this world's version of one. It's so cute!"
She scratched behind its ear, and it purred. "Who's a good little kitty thing? Yes, you are! I wanna keep her!"
The frog boy was unsure about this. "Eh, I don't know, Luz. That's a wild animal. I'm not sure bringing it home is a good idea."
Luz gave him puppy eyes as she hugged the creature. "But I can't leave this precious little fur ball out to be eaten!"
Sprig shrugged. "Well, it's not that I'm not okay with it, but Hop Pop might not want it there. What are you gonna name her, though?"
Luz thought about it for a moment, going through a mental list of names. "How about… Stringbean? Yes! That's the perfect name! My little Stringbean!"
Stringbean meowed in response and stuck her little tongue out, which said all she needed to say. "Yep, I think she approves," Luz confirmed. "Anyway, let's take you to your new home."
Meanwhile, back at home, Hop Pop was slicing a strange bug as long as a snake with his trusty cleaver. Luz poked her head in and walked up to him. "Hi, Hoppy Pop! So, quick question… Can I keep a pet here?"
Hop Pop stopped himself as he was about to make another slice. His eyes widened. "A pet?! No pets! Every time we get one, Sprig and Polly swear they're gonna take care of it! Like this one spider we had, Charlie Bigbottom. I mean, sure, they were there for all the cuddlin' and the snugglin', but who gets stuck doin' all the work? Good ol' Hop Pop, that's who!"
He continued, chopping the long bug loudly in frustration. "I swear to Frog, whoever brings a fuzzy critter into this house will be on dung duty for a month! I told Charlie Bigbottom to stay out of the…" The old frog noticed Luz's saddened expression. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's… nothing," she muttered. "Just thought that getting a little kitty thing would lighten the mood around here. I like cats too."
His face turned deadpanned. "You brought a critter in here, didn't you?"
She slowly nodded, and he sighed. "Of course… Show me where it is." She led him into the living room, where Stringbean was nibbling on Sprig's leg.
"Should we be concerned about this?" Sprig asked them, and Hop Pop gasped, yanking the creature from him and glaring at Luz. "Of all the pets you could choose, you choose a Coastal Kill-a-pillar?! They're dangerous amphibivores, and they only get white spots right before they're about to reach adulthood!"
"Is that a bad thing?" Luz asked, and he slowly nodded. "It's the reason why we call 'em Kill-a-pillars. I'm throwin' it out, preferably somewhere far away from here!"
The old frog headed for the front door while holding Stringbean, and Luz looked down at the ground, saddened. Sprig saw this and tried to get his grandpa to reconsider. "Wait, Hop Pop, are you sure there's nothing we can do? I mean, Luz already named her!"
He lept in the way, and Hop Pop sighed. "Sprig, no matter how good its name is, it's a danger to everybody in this ho-"
"She named her Stringbean!" the boy interrupted.
Hop Pop fell silent before laughing. "That's a good name, but it ain't changing my mind. Move." Sprig reluctantly got out of the way and the old frog left the house. "Now, what should I do with you?"
Luz got an idea and ran into Hop Pop's room, going through the many books he has. "Come on… come on… I have to find it!" She found a book listing various known creatures in Amphibia and flipped through the pages, before finally landing on the one she needed. "Got it!"
It explained the Coastal Kill-a-pillars in full detail, and she skimmed through it. "So, that's what they look like when they grow big… They can fly, too!" She looked up and got lost in thought, imagining what it would've been like to get to fly around this world.
She imagined forming a great bond with Stringbean and grinned before closing it. "I can't let Hop Pop take her away!"
She ran out of the room and out the front door, with Sprig following her. "Hop Pop! Hop Pop! Where are you?" She heard a meow and ran around the corner of the house to see… Hop Pop and her pet.
Hop Pop held her close and stared at her with dilated eyes. He was in a trance-like state. "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore, is winged Cupid painted blind…"
Luz's jaw dropped. "Hop Pop?" The old frog immediately jumped up, dropping Stringbean on the ground. "Wha-? Oh, uh… Luz, I was just taking this monster away!"
He could immediately tell she didn't believe her by her grin, and he groaned. "Okay, fine, I was about to take it away, but the way it looked at me… I just couldn't bring myself to do it."
"Does this mean we can keep it?" Luz asked him, and he sadly shook his head. "I can't. No matter how much it pains me, this thing is too dangerous."
The human believed she was out of options until she had an idea. "Well, if I can take care of her and train her, maybe she could be on our side. Imagine we can fly anywhere we'd like!"
Hop Pop opened his mouth to say no, but he found himself unable to. He thought of all Luz had done for them so far. She had been nothing but a positive influence on Sprig and Polly. She helped replace his cane when she accidentally charred it and helped them win the Pot Luck, which was a first.
He let out a sigh, knowing he couldn't say no this time. "Alright, fine. We all need to keep a close eye on her, though. I will admit bein' able to fly would be quite convenient. Hope Bessie won't be jealous."
As the rest of the day went on, Luz focused on feeding, playing, cleaning after, and cuddling with Stringbean. This proved to Hop Pop that she was responsible enough to take care of her pet, but was still on edge because of the situation.
At one moment, Stringbean brought a big fly onto her pillow, which was barely clinging to life. Luz found it gross but isn't upset. Sprig told her it might be wanting to eat her, but she didn't take his statements seriously. That was until she spotted her pet lowering from the ceiling using a web, about to eat Polly who was reading a book on the couch.
She gasped, knowing Hop Pop would for sure kick her out if he knew about it. She ran over and grabbed her, running off while Polly looked around, confused and skeptical. Later that night, Stringbean brought an entire pile of bugs for her on her bed. Despite the gross insects, Luz found her antics adorable.
After seeing her pet trying to eat Polly earlier, she thought of ways to train her to not eat frogs. Every time she caught her pet chewing on Hop Pop's head, she pulled her off and took her back into her room. When she did eat bugs like she was supposed to, she was rewarded with extra treats. She fed Stringbean a diet of bugs and mushrooms, which the creature didn't seem to mind.
After a long day of time spent with her pet, Stringbean curled up onto her bed, wrapping itself up in a cocoon of webbing, purring, and falling asleep. Luz petted her and smiled, before going upstairs to check up on Polly, who was still carrying Ol' Doris, her rolling pin, after learning that she was almost eaten.
Little unbeknownst to them, Stringbean wrapped herself in a cocoon, ready to enter her next stage. In the kitchen, Luz and Sprig were chowing on food, hungry after the long day they had with their new pet. Hop Pop noticed this when walking in and tried to get them to slow down. "Whoa, whoa there! Hungry much?"
"We've been taking care of Luz's pet all day," Sprig mumbled, his mouth full of food. "We're starving." He shoved more food in his mouth, and Hop Pop chuckled. "Well, that's good. I'm guessin' Polly's keepin' watch over Stringbean?"
Suddenly, they felt a bang in the basement, and Hop Pop got nervous. "That didn't sound good." They hurried to the basement to see webbing covering the walls and ceiling. On her bed was a shriveled-up cocoon that smelled foul. Luz gasped, looking around. "Stringbean? Where are you?! Did you get eaten?" She ran around, trying to search for her.
Hop Pop gasped when he saw the cocoon. "I-I thought we had more time! This is bad… Really bad!" They heard something crawling above them and Luz looked up at the ceiling, not seeing anything. "Stringbean?"
A large butterfly-like creature hung from the ceiling before spreading its wings and flying above them, screeching. The three of them yelled at this, frightened.
Luz realized it nearly resembled her pet, slowly approaching it. "Stringbean? It's okay. It's me, Luz."
Hop Pop grabbed her arm to stop her, shushing her. "These monsters respond to sound. Let's back away slowly and steadily."
Despite his warning, Luz walked closer to the creature, slowly reaching her hand out and gently stroking Stringbean's fur. "I'm here, my little baby."
The creature seemed tame at first, until Polly burst open the basement door, yelling at the top of her lungs. "Hey, family! What's happening in here?"
In response, Stringbean screeched, making Polly scream, and the Plantars and Luz ran upstairs. It followed them and grabbed the Plantars with its paws, tossing them up and down and playing with them, prepared to eat them.
Luz panicked, wondering what to do. She didn't have a toy to distract her with, but she didn't want to hurt her. "Think, Luz… Think, Luz!"
The creature opened its mouth wide, revealing a long, spiky tongue. Right as it was about to bite their heads off, Luz called out to it from behind. "HEY!"
The human ran forward and lept as high as she could, landing on Stringbean's back and distracting the creature. Stringbean screeched and tried to shake her off, but she held on for dear life. "Stringbean, calm down! It's me! There are way better diets!"
The Plantars backed away as Stringbean spread her wings and crashed through the front door, taking off into the air with Luz still clinging onto her. The human screamed as they went high into the air. "AHHH!"
She managed to climb further up its back, getting a good view of how high they were in the sky. "Wow…" She marveled at the view until Stringbean screeched and tries shaking her off again. She felt her grip loosening, realizing she was in a very bad spot right now. "No! No, no, no, no!"
The creature looked down at her as she was slipping. "Stringbean, please!" She looked it in the eyes, tearing up before she lost her grip and began plummeting toward the ground. She grabbed a wind potion to lessen her fall, but her fingers were slippery and she lost her grip.
She shut her eyes tight, bracing for impact, but it never happened. She felt herself landing on something soft and opened her eyes to realize her pet had just saved her life. Stringbean glided down to the ground, setting her down.
Luz looked up at her pet in shock, before it shrieked and spread its wings, flying off. "Wait!" She tried running after it, but reached a cliff and couldn't go any further. "You did care about me, didn't you?"
She sighed, watching her companion glide down into the forest, disappearing from view. "I will find you again. I'm not giving up on you, my little Stringbean."
Back at the house, Hop Pop was peeling webbing off of Polly, grumbling. "And look who's cleaning up after the pet! Hop Pop, that's who!" They then saw Luz dejectedly walking through the hole that used to be the front door. "Hi, guys…"
Sprig smiled widely, relieved to see her. "Luz, you're okay!'
"Tell me that thing is gone!" Polly demanded, still paranoid over its attempt to eat her.
Based on Luz's expression, she was gone. "I'm sorry for putting you all in danger…" Hop Pop squinted and stormed up to her. "Sorry? SORRY?!" Right as it seemed like he was about to blow up, he teared up. "I miss Charlie Bigbottom with all my heart and soul!"
The old frog burst out into tears before hugging Luz, who awkwardly hugged him back. "We'll find her again, Hop Pop. She… she saved my life."
Hop Pop immediately stopped crying and looked up at her. "She what?!"
The human nodded. "I would've fallen to my doom, but she remembered me and saved me. I know there's hope with her still, and I won't give up until I find her again."
Polly smiled. "That's cute, but…" Her expression dropped. "Can we please fix the giant hole in the house?!"
The next morning, Luz swept the webbing off the floor with a broom, her expression gloomy. Sprig came down the stairs to visit her. "Hey, um… made you a little something." He pulled out a simple homemade plushy of her pet. "I used Stringbean's hairballs as the fur. Here ya go."
He handed it to her, and she stared at it before tearing up. He immediately felt guilty. "You hate it, don't you? I'm sorry, I just-"
Luz pulled him into a hug, which confirms she loved it. "Thanks, Sprig."
"Anytime," the frog boy replied.
Four days after first encountering her pet/companion, Luz strolled into the forest daily, looking for Stringbean. So far, there were no signs of her friend. She'd run into many dangerous creatures that would've killed her if it weren't for her spells.
After hopelessly searching for Stringbean, she gave up for the day, disappointed. She decided to take a detour and try to meet some of Wartwood's residents. She walked along the path, with many frogs staring, pointing, and talking about her behind her back.
Despite it being weeks since the Plantars took her in, all the other frogs still treated her as some sort of alien freak. She didn't look that frightening, did she? She felt her stomach rumbling, hungry after a long day of exploring the land.
Luckily, she stumbled upon Felicia's Tea Shoppe. The building looked like a giant tree stump. She smelled something cooking and decided to visit it. Over time, she'd been getting used to this new diet of bugs, as gross as it seemed. This world's bugs actually didn't taste that bad to her.
When she opened the door, she heard a bell ringing as the place was mostly empty this late in the day, accompanied by older frogs. She walked up to the counter just as a taller yellow frog walked around the corner, with long, braided red hair. "Well, howdy do there? Welcome to my tea sho-" She stopped when she saw Luz. "My, aren't you that gangly creature the Plantars took in?"
Luz scratched her head awkwardly. "Yeah, my name's Luz Noceda. I'm not as scary as people say I am, at least not once you get to know me."
"I see," the female frog said, deciding to give her a chance. "My name is Felicia Sundew. Looks like you could use a little somethin' to eat. Have you been runnin' all day?"
The human nodded. "I've been looking for my pet. Her name's Stringbean, and something happened days ago that was kind of… sweet, then terrifying, then sweet."
"Ah, I've had little critters wandering into my shop in the past," Felicia replied. "Probably cause of the smell of food. In fact, one scurried in here today, and my daughter's still trying to find it."
"Well, she's fluffy with a snow-white color, has big butterfly wings, and six paws," Luz explained, and Felicia's eyes widened. She couldn't tell whether this creature was joking or not. "Surely you don't mean a Coastal Kill-a-Pillar, right? Goodness, you're lucky you haven't had your head bitten off yet."
Luz remembered the way Hop Pop reacted to Stringbean and realized she might have just made a mistake, deciding to change the topic. "Uh…. Anyway, what food do you serve here?"
"We serve only the finest. I'd recommend my Award-Winnin' Sprouty Sun Beanies," Felicia told her. "They are delicious leafy rolls with raisants, topped with a secret sauce. It's a family recipe."
Suddenly, her expression completely changed as she stared right into her eyes. "You brought money, right?" Sweat went down the side of Luz's face. "Uhhh…. About that…"
Felicia gave the friendliest yet most terrifying smile she had ever seen. "Oh, that's too bad. I look forward to seeing you back here when you do have some."
Luz sighed and turned around, walking toward the exit. "Sorry for wasting your time…" Suddenly, a young frog ran out of the kitchen. "Wait!" The human turned to see a young girl that Luz could immediately tell was Felicia's daughter, since they resembled each other. The child wore a turquoise hat with patches all over it, with orange hair hanging out from the sides. "Mom, what the heck?!"
Her mother glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. "Ivy, I thought I asked you to take care of that critter. It's been leavin' droppings all over the floor."
"I can't find it," Ivy replied. "Besides, why are you kicking her out? Don't tell me it's because she doesn't have any money."
"That's precisely the reason," Felicia confirmed, and Ivy groaned, before walking up to Luz. "Hi, sorry about my mom. Name's Ivy." She held out a hand and Luz reluctantly shook it. "I expected you to be a lot more freaked out about me," the human told her.
Ivy shrugged at this. "I'm not one to judge. I mean, you don't really look scary." Luz smiled at this. "Finally, somebody that gets me. I'm Luz Noceda. I was gonna get some of those sprouty bun things, but I don't have any money."
The frog turned toward her mother, before back at Luz. "Eh, don't worry 'bout it. Here." She took the human's arm and led her to a table. Felicia scowled at this and shook her head. "That's coming out of your allowance, Ivy."
"Yes, mom," Ivy muttered and sat across from Luz in a booth. "She's like this all the time—always trying to shape me to be just like her."
Luz frowned, realizing that was one thing the two shared in common. Her mom also wanted her to be like her and fit into society, but she never wanted to change herself. "Yeah… You didn't have to do that, Ivy. Paying for my meal and all."
Ivy smiled. "Not like I do that much with my allowance, anyway. I've done it before. Mom doesn't really like it, but it's whatever. So, you live with the Plantars, huh? How's Sprig?"
Luz raised her eyebrows. "You two know each other?" The frog nodded in confirmation. "We're childhood friends. I like to play a little rough with him and ambush him."
The human giggled at this. "That's sweet. I've actually made friends with Maddie too. She might be weird, but so am I, and she's actually pretty sweet once you get to know her."
"Huh, I just figured Maddie liked being alone," Ivy replied. At that moment, Felicia walked over and placed a basket of freshly made sprouty sun beanies. She seemed less uncomfortable about Luz, but the human noticed she still was keeping a close eye on her in case she tried to hurt her daughter.
Luz picked one up and bit into it. She chewed on it, feeling it melt in her mouth, and then the flavor of the sauce hit her. "Wow! That's delicious! This is the best thing I've had since coming here!"
"Yeah, secret family recipe," Ivy replied before leaning in and whispering to her. "You don't wanna know what's in it." She cleared her throat, changing the topic. "I heard you won the Pot Luck?"
Luz grinned, her mouth filled with sun beanies. She quickly swallowed and nodded. "Yep. I made something called guacamole. Mayor Toadstool literally took it and ran off."
The yellow frog laughed at this. "Sounds about right. Mind if I have one?"
"Of course," Luz said, and the two continued talking while eating their food. She told Ivy about Stringbean and she was surprised, but found it cool at the same time.
Afterward, the human left the tea shop, having made a new friend today. Despite her initial disappointment with being unable to find Stringbean, meeting Ivy cheered her up. The two weren't as different as she initially thought. Maybe Ivy could become her third best friend.
When she returned home, Sprig hopped up to her to greet her. "Hi, Luz. Still no sign of her?"
Luz shook her head. "No, but I did meet a sweet girl named Ivy Sundew. Made friends with her in Felicia's tea shop. She said you two are childhood friends."
Sprig's eyes lit up. "Oh! You met Ivy? Yeah, she's a great friend. I was actually wondering where she was. She seemed busy with her mom."
The human tapped her chin at this. "Say, are you two a thing, like… more than friends? Just curious."
The frog boy shook his head. "Nope. Just a friend. I don't have-" Hop Pop walked over, cutting him off. "Ivy Sundew? Sundew?! Nobody move! I'm gettin' the courtship kit." He turned around and ran upstairs, leaving Luz and Sprig perplexed.
"Don't tell me he's trying to do what I think he's trying to do," Luz muttered in horror, and Sprig winced. "Probably."
"I don't actually care," Polly told them, clearly uninterested. After a minute, Hop Pop came back down the stairs, placing down a chest. "Here we go!" He opened it to reveal tall mushrooms, a strange ceremonial hat, and a neck ruff that looked very uncomfortable.
"The Firefly Formal is tonight," Hop Pop told them, rubbing his hands together. "It's the perfect opportunity to begin the ritual. Only frogs who have performed the ceremonial dance in the ceremonial garb…" He pulled out the strange hat. "... are allowed to be wed." He then showed them an illustration of two frogs wearing the outfits with "True Love" labeled on the picture.
Luz walked up to him, closing the chest. "Hop Pop, you can't force your son to marry her. They are just friends, okay?"
In response, Hop Pop placed his hands on her shoulders, staring into her eyes. "But think about it! The Sundews have secret proprietary crops. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS?!"
"That's not okay-" Luz said, but Hop Pop cut her off. "If our families merge, we'll be rich!"
Polly rolled her eyes at them. "Wow, so romantic," she remarked sarcastically.
Luz took Hop Pop's hands off her shoulder, glaring at him. "You should know better than to do that to your grandson. That's being greedy! Besides, they never agreed to it."
"Not yet, they haven't," Hop Pop corrected. "I'm not bein' greedy. It's called securing our future." Before the two could get into a full-blown argument, Sprig cut in with an idea to disperse the situation. "Guys, guys, stop fighting. I mean… I guess one date wouldn't be terrible, would it?" He only said this to please his grandfather, and it did.
"That's my boy!" Hop Pop told him, walking over to the open window. "We're about to find out what Felicia says." Right on time, a giant mosquito landed on the edge of the window, holding a letter. The old frog took it and quickly read it before smiling widely. "They agreed to a date!"
His smile faded as he noticed the mosquito was still there. "What do you want?" In response, it flapped its wings, and he realized the reason. "Oh, your tip. All right, here ya go." He pulled down his collar. "Don't take too much, though. I have chores to do later."
Only a few hours later, during the early night, the Firefly Formal festival had begun. Music played as many frog couples danced together, celebrating the occasion. Next to a building, Hop Pop was helping Sprig get his ceremonial costume on, which was difficult since Luz refused to help him with this. Once he was finally done, he grinned, taking a step back to admire his work. "My boy, you look incredible."
Sprig glanced down at his outfit, frowning. It looked goofy and was uncomfortable. "Uh... I don't know about this. Ivy's gonna think I look stupid. I think I look stupid."
"Are you sure we can't just call this off and maybe make it a different celebration?" Luz asked Hop Pop, and he shook his head. "We're too far to turn back now. You'll do great out there, Sprig."
He sighed and reluctantly walked closer to the middle, before noticing a familiar face. "Maddie?"
Maddie waved at him, having dressed herself up to look pretty for the occasion. Her hair appeared longer since she untied her ponytail. "Hi, Sprig. Congrats on the proposal."
Sprig smiled nervously, walking past her. Meanwhile, Felicia walked Ivy up from the other side. The young girl had an outfit equally ridiculous to Sprig's, with a pink wig.
"My little girl's a woman," Felicia said proudly, clapping her hands and adjusting her daughter's wig. Ivy blushed in embarrassment at this and groaned. "Mom!"
Sprig watched this, gulping as Hop Pop stood next to him, smiling proudly. "All right, boy, go get that lucrative business relationship. I mean, romantic relationship." He handed him a bouquet of mushrooms and chuckled to himself. "Saved it."
He looked to the side to see Luz glaring at him, but he decided to brush it off. Sprig awkwardly stumbled up to Ivy, with the two visibly uncomfortable at this. Ivy greeted him to try to lessen the tension. "Hey…"
The frog boy smiled nervously, waving back. "Hi… Uh… These are for you?" He turned around with difficulty, handing Ivy the bouquet, which she unenthusiastically took. "Oh, thanks…"
The two stared at each other, with Sprig trying to make conversation. "So… you're looking like a... girl frog."
Ivy didn't know how to take this compliment. "Oh, okay. I like your, uh, collar." She grimaced at this, feeling like a complete idiot.
Meanwhile, Felicia sighed happily and walked up to Hop Pop, who was excitedly watching the "love" unfold. "I'm so happy we agreed on this merger, Hopediah. That Sprig of yours looks like a hard worker."
"Like we agreed, you'll get Sprig to work at your restaurant, and I'll get the seeds to those Sundew vegetables," Hop Pop said, clearly only in this for the business benefits. He held out his hand, and Felicia pulled out a napkin to cover her hand with before shaking it. "Agreed."
"This really is getting on my nerves," Luz muttered, with Polly sitting on her head. She rarely got this angry, but when one was trying to force their grandson to marry a friend for their own selfish reasons, it rubbed her the wrong way.
"I agree," Polly replied. "Will you tell Hop Pop if I leave this stupid ceremony right now?"
"Nope," Luz replied, and Polly took this as a chance to hop away, but Hop Pop came over and caught her. "Where do you think you're goin'? The ceremony hasn't even started! Let's watch our little love doves fly. Love doves are birds that mate for life."
Luz ignored him, as a light green newt with a fancy outfit came onto the stage and up to the microphone. "Excuse me, everybody, but I hear we have a couple of love doves here tonight. Ivy Sundew and Sprig Plantar. Whoo! A big hand for them. Come on, let me hear it." The audience cheered and clapped, turning around to look at the two children.
The newt continued, pulling up some notes. "Hopediah Plantar says, 'Sprig, don't mess this up for us.' And Felicia Sundew would like Ivy to 'have a great courtship. Wink.' It says 'wink' here. 'Love, Mom.'" He tossed the notes aside. "All right, then. Hit it, boys!"
A group of musicians began playing romantic music, as Sprig and Ivy laughed nervously, feeling more and more awkward about the whole situation. They walked up to each other and took each other's hands with difficulty. They paced back and forth, their outfits squeaking like balloons as they tried to dance.
"I had no idea you felt this way about me, Sprig," Ivy muttered.
"Yeah, I mean… we definitely are love, right?" Sprig stuttered and tried to correct himself. "I mean… we are definitely in..."
He sighed, stepping away from her. Enough was enough. "I can't do this. I'm really sorry, Ivy. I-I don't want to date you. Hop Pop just convinced me this was a good idea."
"Oh, thank goodness!" Ivy said, which was not the response he expected. "I only went along because I didn't want to hurt you. Also 'cause my mom forced me."
Sprig laughed, feeling the tension dissipating. "Ha! Parents, am I right? What do you say we ditch this thing and…" He paused, seeing Maddie walking away into the forest in the corner of his eye. "Huh?"
Ivy turned to see what he was looking at. "That's Maddie, right? She seems sad."
"I'll go talk to her," Sprig said, taking off the uncomfortable outfit and running up to Maddie from behind. "Hey, Maddie! What's wrong?"
The girl turned around. "Uh, it's nothing. What are you doing?"
"Hop Pop forced me into it," Sprig explained. "Ivy and I are just friends. Where are you going?"
Maddie shrugged. "I'm just going back to my hideout. Dad wanted me to attend this ceremony for… reasons."
"Eh, probably not too important," Sprig replied. "What potions have you been working on?"
"I'm working on remaking the invisibility potion," Maddie told him. "It's almost done. Wanna come see?" He nodded, and the two ran off into the woods. Ivy watched them leave and just felt relieved that she didn't have to go through with this.
Luz was also watching the conversation go on from a distance, smiling. "Well, good thing the ceremony has to be called off now."
Unfortunately, Hop Pop and Felicia did not agree with her. "They're abandonin' the ritual!" Felicia said. "Sprig's with the wrong girl! If those two don't finish that dance…"
"Then this courtship will be ruined!" Hop Pop finished. "Along with my financial security! Come on, gang! Let's get this merger back on track!"
They climbed down the roof and started running toward the forest, but Luz lept in front of them, spreading her arms. "That's ENOUGH!"
"Luz, what are you doing?!" Hop Pop asked, and Luz grabbed a potion from her belt, threateningly raising it toward the two. "Just leave them alone! What you've done tonight isn't okay! You're forcing them to marry against their will when they're just kids, for your own selfish reasons! Why can't you just let them be happy?!"
Meanwhile, in the forest, the two frog children were in Maddie's hideout, surrounded by fireflies. Sprig watched Maddie stir and add ingredients to the cauldron. "Wow. Man, this is way better than being at that stuffy old dance."
"No offense, but you looked pretty stupid in that costume," Maddie jokingly stated. "The way you waddled over to Ivy."
Sprig cracked up at this. "Yeah, it felt like I was wearing a prison." He watched Maddie stir, noticing how nice her hair looks when down. He smiled before the two of them heard birds screeching from above. Two massive light blue doves landed on a tree above them, lovingly embracing each other.
Maddie's eyes widened. "Those are love doves. They're dangerous if you see them. Don't move." Sprig did as she said, and the birds didn't notice them.
That was, until Maddie's cauldron bubbles, and the love doves turned toward them, screeching and diving toward them. "Look out, Sprig!"
The birds twirled around each other, going to grab them, but Maddie grabbed a small bag and threw it at the love doves, creating a burst of green fire that made them screech and miss them.
"I missed!" Maddie said. "I left the rest of my potions at home! If they get us, we're dead!"
Sprig quickly came up with a plan, pulling out his slingshot. "Finish the invisibility spell and I'll distract them!"
Maddie nodded, running over to the cauldron while the birds tried to snatch Sprig, but he backflipped out of the way, launching a rock into one of their eyes. It landed and made one bird screech, missing him again. "Anytime now, Maddie!"
"I'm almost done!" She replied, stirring as fast as she could while adding the remainder of the ingredients. The other bird tried to grab him and he launched another rock, but it missed, and its claw grazed his shoulder, making him cry out.
Maddie gasped when she saw this and grabbed and filled a potion up with the cauldron's liquid. "It's not ready, but I have to save him!" She ran up and grabbed Sprig, running off.
The love doves chased them, and she poured the potion on her and Sprig, making them flicker from view. They seemingly reappeared again and the love dove bit at them, only for it to be a mirage.
They screeched and flew off, with the real Sprig and Maddie hiding behind a tree. "Maddie, you made a new spell on accident! A distraction spell!"
Maddie panted before nodding. "The invisibility lasts a lot shorter, but it leaves a mirage of us behind. I'll have to remember that." She then remembered something. "Sprig! Your shoulder!"
He winced, holding it with his hand. "I'll be fine. It's just a scratch." A moment later, they heard crunching twigs and got nervous that the birds or something else found them, until Luz, Polly, Hop Pop, Felicia, and Ivy popped out from behind the bushes, with Luz using her phone as a flashlight. "There you two are! We heard noises and thought something happened."
"It's a long story," Maddie replied, and Hop Pop scratched his arm, looking regretful alongside Felicia. "I'm sorry for what happened, Sprig. I shouldn't have forced you into the ritual. Luz and Polly set us straight."
"It's fine," Sprig said, before grunting again. Luz, Hop Pop, and Polly ran over to him, seeing that he was injured. "Sprig, what happened? Are you okay?" Hop Pop asked.
"Just had an encounter with a beast," Sprig simply replied, and Luz picked him up, giving him a piggyback ride. "I'll bring you home to get patched up, little guy. You've been through enough today."
"Next time, we won't get the courtship kit out until you're good and ready," Hop Pop assured him. "Now I can focus on finding love for Polly."
In response, the tadpole hopped away in horror, with Hop Pop following her. "NOOO!"
"Come along now, Ivy," Felicia said to her daughter, leading her away from them. "Let's get you home so I can apologize safely."
"Thanks for saving me, Maddie," Sprig told her, and the frog girl smiled. "It's uh… no problem. I'm gonna head home before my family gets worried, but I'll see you soon."
She ran off, and Sprig watched her, smiling. Luz looked up and noticed this, then looked back at Maddie. "Wait, a minute…"
To Be Continued in Chapter Ten
Sorry for the wait! The rate at which I post chapters will probably be inconsistent, but I assure you it will happen.
Plenty of new content to explore in this chapter. Stringbean is Domino 2 if Luz named her. With her around, things will definitely change more as the story progresses. Also, could new love be brewing at the end of the chapter? Find out in the next segment of Luz in Amphibia!
~ Scruffy