Our second chance is called Amphibia - Road to Newtopia (Season 2)

by JokerandHarley4Ever

Two months have passed ever since the six humans ended up trapped in Amphibia, and they are now ready to set on a new journey out of the Valley in search of a way to return home. On their journey, they will face old and new enemies, uncover hidden secrets and conspiracies, make new friends and allies and experience shocking revelations.

4. The Three Princesses' Castle

The Three Princesses' Castle

---

Farine Flour, father of Maddie Flour and current baker of Wartwood, took another deep breath of the fresh morning air as he strolled around, saluting a couple other frogs who, like him, had woken early to tend to their daily work. Getting up before the Sun rose to bake fresh bread was well-ingrained into him now, and even if his arm was still healing, he couldn't keep sleeping. Thus, he used the free time he had to take a walk outside and get some fresh air, to clear his head and prepare for the rest of the day. He was also thinking about his daughter who had joined Marcy and the others on their journey to Newtopia.

He sighed: Marcy…she was a rare soul. Ever since she had become part of their life, her natural cheerfulness and enthusiasm, as well as her innate intelligence had helped his family come to terms with many issues among them. Rebuilding the relationship Maddie had with her sisters, giving him the key to guarantee a better future to his family, even teaching them many new things he didn't know before. Sure, Jacob was the first to suggest the pizza agreement that ended up making him and his family a small fortune, and the triplets idolized Amelia (they even called her 'master'!). But Marcy was truly the one among the humans that he wouldn't mind calling family.

And now that she was gone, and Maddie had left with her, his life had become much quieter, uneventful, and monotonous. Farine couldn't believe he was thinking that, but for once he missed not having his eldest daughter doing strange magic experiments in the forest around the town.

I wish you could have met her, honey, Farine took another deep breath as he imagined his late wife's spirit caressing his back, you would have loved Marcy, and everything she had done for us.

"I'm home," he said as he went through the main door of the bakery, hoping for the triplets to be awake and having eaten their breakfast already. It took a few seconds before he noticed that someone else was standing in the middle of his shop, sitting on the chair behind the counter that he put there for Marcy. Someone, dressed in a pitch-black uniform, and showing a grin and face that he could never forget.

"Good day, bread maker, I see your shop is open this time." Aiden turned around to face him, the frog feeling his blood turning cold as he mentally asked himself how this monster had managed to come this far into Wartwood unnoticed. And then, fear: where are my daughters? What has he done with them?

"Aiden," Farine said, almost spitting his name as he put himself on the defensive, his good arm left searching for something resistant he could use as a weapon, "You've come to finish what you've started?"

"Actually, I was mostly curious to see what the living quarters of a witch looked like," the evil human replied, Farine feeling his anger rise once again as soon as he mentioned Maddie, "You know, it was quite surprising to find frogs that still practice the Dark Arts here in the Valley. You should have done your duty as householder andkilled her as soon as she let herself be seduced by the sin!"

Farine grabbed one of his rolling pins and moved to attack the human, Aiden barely moving as he grabbed his arm and launched him toward the counter, the baker frog yelping in pain as he struggled to get back on his feet. He tried to attack again, but once more the human was ready. Every attempt Farine took to deal with the intruder, only ended with him only hurting himself more without being able to even scratch his adversary.

"Dad!" The desperate voice of Rosemary called out, the baker frog getting up to see the Triplets currently held in the arms of a frog he didn't expect to see.

"Monroe!" Farine gasped, recognizing him, "What-what is the meaning of this?"

"Sorry, Farine, but I serve a new master now," he replied, a small glance between him and Aiden more than enough for Farine to grasp the truth.

"You serve him?! Just when I thought you couldn't sink lower, you managed to prove me wrong!"

"You stinking traitor!" Ginger tried to get free from Monroe's grasp, only failing, "If master was there-"

"But she isn't! So, stay silent now, parasite!" Monroe yelled at the top of his lungs at her, the tadpole doing the best she could to act brave against the verbal assault, even as the tears ran from her eyes showing she was at her limit. The same as Farine who was now struggling to hold the homicidal instinct screaming in his mind.

Once more, he tried to force his way through, to save his own flesh and blood. Only, Aiden blocked his way again, and kept hitting him with malicious efficiency, grabbing his rolling pin with one hand as he punched his guts with the other, and then crushing the baker's weapon as Farine once again laid on the ground, struggling to breathe, the triplets letting out horrified screams and pleading to leave their dad alone, unable to help him as he was of helping them.

"You are tenacious, I'll admit that!" Aiden grabbed Farine by his neck and raised him from the ground, the baker frog helplessly twitching on his grip as he realized his assailant was holding his life in his hand. "But a filthy mudbeast like you could never hope to equal a superior being like myself."

Aiden moved one of his gauntlets on Farine's forehead, releasing a multi-color bright light that ran through the baker's body, the frog screaming as he felt like every part of his body was being burned at the same time.

"Dad!" The triplets yelled again, struggling to get free from Monroe's grip, unable to stand and watch their dad being tortured in front of their eyes.

"G-go ahead you psycho!" Farine coughed, challenging his enemy with what may have been his last breath, "Get on with it!"

"Believe me, I am very tempted to do so," the human prince said, the light coming out of his arm becoming brighter as Farine screamed more and more, "To kill you and free this world from yet another disgusting animal who dared to desecrate the role that God himself willed to Man."

He let Farine go, the baker frog falling again on the ground, but this time, managing to stop his fall with his hands.

With both of his hands.

"But not today!"

It was then that Farine realized that not only was he still alive, somehow his body felt better than before. His broken arm had now fully healed, and he could move it with ease once again, his other wounds and scars had disappeared, like they had never been there at all.

"W-what have you done?" Farine gasped, touching his face in shock, watching his once-broken arm fully cured me. "You…you healed me?"

"Believe me, there are better things than understanding." Aiden now turned to Monroe, still holding the triplets in his arms, "Release them."

"Master?"

"I said release them!" The human thundered, Monroe quickly obeyed and let Rosemary, Ginger and Lavender go, the triplets rushing to their dad as soon as they could.

"Dad, are you ok?"

"Your arm…is healthy again?"

"I was so scared!"

"Stay back, kids," Farine said, making a sign for them to hide behind him, as he turned once again to face Aiden and Monroe, "You…what have you done to my daughter?"

"Nothing yet," the human said in false reassurance, "But I know where she is, who she is with, and I can promise you I'll meet again with them soon."

"But what do you have against her? She's just a child!"

"What I'm doing concerns the whole world. Frogs, toads and newts, axolotls and olms, plants, and animals!"

"You're sick! Just what are you doing here? Why did you tell me all of this? Why did you heal me?"

"Because I want you to suffer, but not before having a taste of all the pain I went through already, to lose everything you love." Aiden finally confessed, all the hate and pettiness he was feeling seething from his words, "Consider this an advanced payment… for what I'll do to your daughter!"

"You absolute…" Farine yelled as he finally grabbed his hammer and rushed to attack, hoping that this diversion would give him more than enough time to let his daughters out of the building and give them the chance to call for help. Yet, as he looked around once again, Aiden was gone, and so was Monroe, the baker frog and his daughters standing in the middle of their ruined shop.

"Dad?"

"We need to move, kids." Farine turned around, holding all three of them in his arms as he rushed outside, running toward the Militia's Headquarter. He could only hope that Grime would be there, and he would move fast enough to catch him.

Maddie, Marcy, wherever you are now, I surely hope you're safe…

---

"This stinks," Maddie grumbled as she, Maddie and Polly kept scribbling under the watchful gaze of Felicia, "Why must I do these lessons and exercises as well? I am not your daughter!"

"No, but you're under my responsibility. So, I'm treating you the same way as my own child," she looked at Ivy, the small yellow frog deciding it was wiser to focus on her test, "AND, you're equally guilty of running off with both of my daughters to the Ruins of Despair."

"But then, why must I do this?!" Polly protested, "I didn't join them!"

"No, but you and Amelia left the fwagon empty and unsupervised. Do you realize that if someone came across it, we may have lost our traveling vehicle and our only hope to reach Newtopia?"

"At least, when you told us we were going to be punished, I was expecting to be grounded or something like that. Not to be forced to do homework and tests about Amphibia's history!"

"Why? Doesn't Farine have you study at home?" Felicia challenged her, knowing already the odds were in her favor, "The school is being rebuilt, that means you'll be able to go back to it once we return."

"But I don't need to go to school! I am a mage! I practice magic every day! I am already smart-" Maddie tried to protest once again…until she saw the stare Felicia was giving to her, the young blue frog deciding it was better to focus on her exercises and not complain.

"That's her mom power," Ivy drily commented in a low voice, to make sure Felicia couldn't hear her.

At that moment, the fwagon's door opened and in came Jacob, Sasha and Anne, the three humans red in face and visibly drained of every last ounce of energy from their bodies.

"Oh, there you are, kids!" Felicia smiled smugly as she helped them get off their armors, "How did it go with your chores?"

"Hard." Sasha replied laconically, as she moved toward the kitchen area and took what it looked like a full bottle of fresh water, gulping it all in one go and taking a deep breath before continuing, "Look, I know we are grounded, but aren't you two going overboard? Making us pull the fwagon all this way!"

"So you burn off your excess energy without running toward danger into unknown ruins!" Hop Pop quipped from outside, the humans groaning as he did.

"Once again, we are not simply punishing you, my child," Felicia nodded, "Many adventures await us, as well as many dangers we may be forced to face. I am simply giving you the same exact training I underwent in my youth."

"That was training?!" Anne gasped, "How in frog's name would anyone endure that?"

"I know, I used to think the same thing," Felicia sat down, taking another sip of her tea, "When I chose this path, I solicited the help of a former adventurer who would later become my mentor. He didn't want to help me at first, even calling me a 'meek lady unprepared for the dangers of the world'!" She mimicked the deeper, grumpier voice of her teacher, before resuming her tale with a light chuckle, "In the end, I was so fed up with his refusal that I said I would do anything to become an adventurer. After that, the training I received was so harsh that I ended up regretting those words, but every time I felt like quitting, he reminded me that it was my own choice. A choice neither of you have here, because…?"

"Because we are grounded." The three of them replied at once, in the same groaning voice.

Happy with the answer, the frog lady once again decided to focus her attention on the youngsters under her care, leaving the teens free to do what they wanted. At least, for now.

"I understand he was trying to make you quit," Jacob grumbled, feeling every part of his body ache at once.

"Are you ok, guys?" Marcy looked up from where she was sitting, busy herself with translating more and more parts of Hop Pop's book in search for hints about the Box and the powers imbued into their bodies, "Maybe, I can do something to help? Anna Banana, Sasha, how about a shoulder massage?"

"That would be appreciated!"

"Thanks, Mar-Mar!"

Marcy stopped her translation work and moved to help her friends, Jacob pouting in jealousy as she did.

"Just to ask, when are we going to stop for dinner?" The boy asked, looking at Felicia, "I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"Guys, guys!" Amelia's voice came from above, Akitsu lowering in altitude as the fwagon stopped, Hop Pop, Felicia, and everyone else listening to her warning, "There is something in front of us! It looks like an old fortress, or something like that!"

"Say what?" Hop Pop quipped, taking out a small telescope and looking with his own eyes while, sitting to his left, Sprig tried to sharpen his eyes as much as he could.

A few meters from where the fwagon has stopped, the road path divided in two: the main path stretching toward north-east, leading to Newtopia, and a smaller, long abandoned road departing to the left and rising through a small hill, over where stood the ruins of what once should have been a massive stronghold.

A tall tower with a pointed roof protecting the main gate, a second set of stone walls separating the external defenses from the main building at the center, where three towers of bright colors. For a long time, the building has been abandoned, and its walls and structures were covered in vegetation and small trees that, from afar, contributed to hide its presence to the travelers. Even Amelia riding on Akitsu, if she hadn't looked in the right direction at the right time, would have not noticed it.

"Blimey!" James spoke, his British blood taking over once again, "That's a massive castle! It reminds me of Windsor!"

"It…it can't be!" Hop Pop gasped, realizing it was a castle he had already seen in one of his books, "That's the Castle of the Three Princesses!"

"Three Princesses?" Anne raised an eyebrow, emerging from the trapdoor behind him, quickly followed by the others.

"Hop Pop, you know that place?"

"Sure I do, Amelia!" The old frog nodded, "The Castle of the Three Princesses, or The Three Sisters, as it's known sometimes, is one of the most famous theatrical plays of all of Amphibia. One of my favorite plays too, I could say."

"Wow, you ought to tell me about that someday." Quipped James, already curious of the strange yet familiar stronghold.

"Hmmm…" Felicia murmured, studying the ruins with an experienced eye, "Sheltered location... we will see looming threats from the hill... far enough away from the forest... Hop Pop, I think we found the perfect place to camp for tonight!"

"What?" Sasha asked, feeling a chill run through her spine, "You want us to sleep in the middle of the ruins of an abandoned castle?"

"No, I want us to camp in the middle of the ruins of the castle, you can sleep inside the fwagon like everyone." The veteran adventurer replied, both Sasha and Ivy noticing the teasing, almost mocking tone in her voice, "Moreover, weren't you so enthusiastic adventuring? I thought you would have appreciated exploring an old stronghold."

"But it's old and stuffy!"

"Come on, Sasha, we will be together!" Ivy reassured her older sister, "Plus, mom is right. It is quite a defensible position should something bad happen…"

"Still, better safe than sorry!" Hop Pop grimaced, "Amelia, can you and Akitsu fly over there and check if the place is safe for us to stop?"

"I can do that!" The wannabe samurai replied, turning toward Sprig and Polly, "You guys coming?"

"To infinity and beyond, Akitsu!" Sprig jumped just behind Amelia, repeating one of the many sentences she had heard her yell once. To the girl's embarrassment, and Jacob and Sasha's amusement.

"Huh, Hop Pop?" Anne raised a hand while the old frog pulled the reins to direct Bessie and Liptea off the main road and toward the abandoned fortress, "I know you're supposed to be the worried one and I the reckless one, but…are we sure about this? I mean, this place looks creepy!"

"You said the same thing about me once." Maddie rolled her eyes, earning a snicker from Jacob.

"We can agree on that," Hop Pop nodded, "but we do need a good place to stop by and rest. Both Miss Sundew and I need a good night of sleep to replenish our strength. And besides…I am quite excited to visit the very place where the same events that inspired one of my favorite plays happened."

"I must admit this is quite an interesting location," Marcy nodded, adding an overall sketch of the castle in her Journal, "Felicia, did you know about it?"

"No, but I know the legend about the events that transpired into it," the frog with long red hair sighed, "I even saw some representations of the play, when I was in Newtopia."

"I bet it's a story full of passion and awesome moments!" Jacob grinned, snapping photos of the castle as the fwagon passed over the main gate, a few fireflies buzzing away, disturbed by the flash.

"It's a tragedy."

"Oh."

"Ding!" Amelia mockingly said as the fwagon reached the main courtyard, Akitsu resting just behind her while Sprig and Polly already started to look around. "Welcome to the Castle of the Three Princesses! Please pay your resort fee and give a tip to the bellhop!"

"Amelia, please!" Anne said as she walked out of the fwagon, her muscles still feeling sore from all the pulling from before, "I'm not in the mood for your jokes."

"Sorry, but I am not exactly tired, since Hop Pop and Felicia didn't punish me, James or Marcy-"

"Who said we are not punishing you?" The old frog smiled at her, blowing away all of Amelia's confidence with just one sentence, "Jacob, Sasha and Anne already did their chores, just as Sprig, Maddie, Ivy and Polly were doing, but just because you didn't have to do anything for now it doesn't mean you're getting out scot-free. Especially you, Amelia: tomorrow Miss Sundew and I have thought of something…special for you."

Amelia's eyes widened in horror as she saw Hop Pop and Felicia exchanging a devious grin, all the smugness in her body having evaporated as she felt cold dread replace it.

"I have some old school training, especially tailored for you," Felicia said as she patted her shoulder, walking over the human with the cone hat, "something that I think an honorable warrior like you would surely…appreciate."

I am dead, right?

(…)

"There you go!" Jacob announced with a tired, yet happy expression as he looked around, everyone sitting on the makeshift campfire they had prepared together, Sprig playing with his fiddle. "The fire is lit; dinner is cooking, and the camp is set!"

"We even took out some hay for Bessie and Liptea, and some fruit for Akitsu," Sasha continued, "We should have done everything, right?"

"I see," Hop Pop replied in a proud tone, "Hey, Anne, what are you preparing for us tonight?"

"Just something easy to prepare with basic ingredients during travel, Hop Pop. A soup of mushrooms and tomatoes with toasted ants."

"Mhh, it smells good already! Anne, can I dare ask for a refill already?"

"One second, who is on dishwashing duty tonight?" Marcy said, raising her hand.

"I was hoping someone would ask," Felicia said, turning toward her, the dark-haired nerd realizing she made a tactical mistake, "So generous for you to volunteer."

"Why me? Is it because I asked?"

"No, it's because you are among those who still haven't received punishment for having disobeyed us and ran away exploring the ruins. And considering what your friends already underwent, I can say you're getting it off easily."

"Should've kept your mouth shut!" Sprig chuckled, only for Hop Pop to smirk as well.

"And have Sprig help you."

"What? Oh frog, is it because I-?"

"Yes." Hop Pop admitted, Polly, Anne and the others chuckling like he did a few seconds before. "Now, how about we eat?"

"Hey, Mar-Mar?" Jacob sat right next to the girl, a large wooden bowl filled to the brim with hot soup in his hands, "Look, I don't feel too tired. Maybe I can, don't know… help you?"

"Thank you for the offer, Jacob, but I want to do my part as well." Marcy replied with a smile, still appreciating his kindness, "Plus, you should rest properly to regain strength by tomorrow. Maybe I can give you a shoulder massage as well, to help you rest tonight?"

"I-I would surely appreciate that," Jacob stuttered, the dark-haired girl instinctively wondering why he was blushing now.

"So, Hop Pop." James asked, "Can you tell us what is the story of this place? You said earlier that this castle is tied to a famous legend here in Amphibia, and that it even inspired a theater play. Can you tell us more about it?"

"Sure thing, James." Hop Pop nodded, everyone stopping to listen to what he had to say, "You see, a long time ago, before this castle was abandoned and forgotten by everyone, was the stronghold of a great king. The king had three daughters, all of three princesses of outstanding beauty and great intellect, who attracted suitors from all over Amphibia. And each princess had one of the three largest towers as their own living residence," he moved his hand above, to point to the large remains of the three towers, the walls worn down by the time and the atmospheric conditions.

"But it was the age of the Reunification and the King had sided, alongside many others, against the forces of those who wanted to reunite all the lands of Amphibia under one banner. To solidify this alliance, the king had offered the hand of one of his daughters in marriage to the son of another sovereign, a prince known for his good looks and worth as general but filled with ambition. Because of the occasion, everyone in the castle was busy preparing for the great wedding."

"But then, what happened?" Anne asked, taken by the history. She had the feeling that a dark twist was now looming, and as sometimes happened, she was right.

"The prince…never reached the castle." Hop Pop continued in a somber tone, almost relieving the same sadness he had felt the first time he experienced the story, "For their enemies had laid an ambush on his cortege and killed them all, before they could even arrive in sight of the fortress. His disappearance, as well as the news that a large army was marching toward them, set discord and strife among the three sisters, to the point they started quarreling against each other and dragged the whole garrison into a gruesome fight among themselves inside their very walls."

"In truth, the enemy already had soldiers hidden among the guards and courtiers, and when the three sisters started to fight, they seized the chance to open the unguarded gate and allow the rest of their army to storm the fortress, killing everyone who was inside. The last scene of the drama depicts the three princesses who, after having fought so harshly against each other, join forces against the invaders, only to be massacred alongside their own servants."

"Oh, that's a sad and depressing story, Hop Pop!" Ivy began to cry.

"So, they just…die? No salvation, no good guys' army coming to the rescue?" Amelia protested for the lack of a happy ending, "What kind of play even is?"

"A tragedy, a kind of story that never ends well," James simply conceded, quite familiar with the concept, "Though I do have to admit it is quite dark."

"Oh, but the legend is not over yet," Hop Pop announced, prompting everyone to pay back attention, "You see, even after the castle was sacked and abandoned, travelers that used to stop among its ruins would report of strange unexplained events they witnessed. Some talk about shadows moving among the rotten walls, others talk about the sound of swords clashing where the battle was fought. But everyone agrees on one thing: whenever someone stops among the ruins in the darkness of the nights and tilts their head to listen, they may hear the wails and cries of those poor people, carried by the cold wind of despair…" he announced, moving his head almost to 'listen'.

"So, you're saying this place is haunted?!" Sasha gasped, looking around with a nervous expression.

"Could have told us before we decided to camp here for the night, Hop Pop!" Anne nodded.

"Come on, girls," James began to say, hoping to reassure them, "I am sure those rumors-"

…spare us…spare us…

"Guys, please!" The British boy jerked up, "This is not the time to make stupid pranks. Jacob, if that was you, just know I didn't like it!"

"Joke?" The other boy asked, genuinely confused, "I wasn't doing anything!"

"James, what's wrong?" Felicia got back on her feet, "Jacob was simply listening to the story and eating his soup, just like us. If he was pulling a prank, I would have noticed it!"

"What?" James asked, looking around with a suspecting look, "But then-"

…please, help us…stop the suffering…give us…rest…

"James, are you all right?!" Hop Pop gasped, noticeably worried about the behavior of the silver-haired boy, "You look like you've just seen a ghost!"

"Hear me, guys," James tried to reply, standing back on his feet and trying to locate the direction from where he heard those voices come, "I know you may doubt my words, but…I felt something. Like…a voice."

"Huh, James?" Jacob spoke in a worried tone, "This is not you pulling a prank, right? Seriously, bro, is not cool to pull a prank after accusing someone else of doing so."

No, my sisters! What have I done!

Your blood…is on my hand!

You've always been daddy's favorite!

I always loved you, sister!

I-I didn't mean to…

"Did you hear THAT?" Anne gasped, everyone jumping on their feet.

"I did, Boonchuy!" Sasha replied, quickly grabbing her swords, "I knew these ruins were haunted! I frogging' knew!"

"Ivy, get behind me, now!" Felicia ordered, "We need to investigate, but we can't separate."

"Is that a real ghost?" Maddie grabbed one of her spell bags, Marcy at her side preparing her crossbow, "Time to test if magic spells can hurt them!"

"There is something over there!" Amelia pointed with her free hand, Yamato in the other, "Do you see it? Like a golden light, coming from the ruins?"

"Move with caution, kids!" Hop Pop warned them, "We don't know what we are facing."

The group marched forward, leaving behind their sleeping mounts, everyone on alert due to the situation, the environment around them and their ignorance about the possible threat. And then-

"Look!" said as she pulled out a large golden crown from the ruins, shining in the darkness of the night, "This… may be one of the crowns of the three princesses?"

"It's…it's so beautiful…" Ivy said, apparently hypnotized by the beauty of the object.

"Maybe we should put it back where it was?" Amelia suggested, still unable to look away from the crown, "You know, I feel kind of…strange."

"I-I've never seen something like that before." Sprig nodded, his mouth wide open.

"You know, I can agree with that." Marcy said, strange spirals forming in her eyes, "Its is…beautiful-"

And then, the crown released a powerful blast of golden light, and everyone was engulfed by it.

---

"Your highness, it is time!" A voice Marcy didn't recognize said, shaking her.

"Five more minute, please-"

"Princess Regina, the Sun has risen already! It's time to wake up, your sisters Elizabeth and Savisa should be on their way already."

At those words, Marcy's eyes opened wide, the girl sat back and realized that something was strange. Like, VERY strange.

Anna-Banana and Sash were nowhere to be seen, just like everyone else. She was now standing in the middle of a large king-size canopy bed of aquamarine color, with large drapes covering it on three sides but open to her left, allowing her to see she was now standing in a large round-shaped room of incredible luxury, with a golden-looking chandelier leaning from the above, and for what she would see, a large writing desk and a library of precious-looking wood.

And looking at her, a female frog of green skin and long blonde hair, dressed in a maid outfit like the one she had been forced to wear after the talent contest in Wartwood.

"Huh, what?"

"There is no time to lose, milady. The hot water for the bath is ready!"

As the unknown frog led her to take her bath, washing her skin with warm water and rare perfumes, Marcy quickly analyzed the situation around her. Unknown place, unknown time, Anne, Sasha or any of her friends nowhere to be seen. And this girl that kept calling her-

Oh no.

"Princess Regina, can I ask you what kind of outfit you want to wear today?" The frog asked, other younger servants coming and showering her with much more princess clothes she had even seen before, no noticing the grimace on her lips.

"Huh, I'll let you decide for me today." Marcy replied, trying to sound as posh as she could, "I confess I have no idea, so I'll trust your expertise."

Had she perhaps reincarnated into the body of one of the three princesses? Marcy asked with a hint of horror. The maid had told her that the other princesses' names were Elizabeth and Savisa, the middle names of Sasha and Anne, so perhaps…had they come with her as well?

But will they recognize me, or am I the only one who can remember?

"Princess Regina, how about this one?" The maid shoved a large, expensive dress in front of her.

"Or maybe this one, Princess Regina?"

"Princess Regina, this could be a good fit-"

Please, stop calling me Regina, Marcy silently pleaded, I hate my middle name! It makes me sound snotty and spoiled!

"Princess Regina, allow me to fix your corset." One of the other servants moved behind her.

Fix my what? Marcy internally gasped, before she felt the piece of clothing she wore on her belly tightening, the poor girl yelping as it did.

"Come on, your highness. This is nothing new, I help you with this every day."

You mean the princess suffered through this every day?!, Marcy felt the need to yell. How long it would be before this torture device disguised as clothes would rearrange her own bones and organs?

Finally, after what Marcy felt like a long time of suffering and painstakingly dressing-up, the servants finished dressing her up and Marcy could finally see the result of her own suffering in a large mirror placed just in front of her bed. She was now wearing the emerald silk dress with the absurdly large gown, the diamond collier around her neck, the white crown on her head, her hair tied down in a hairstyle that she recognized being the same one Padme Amidala wore in the first Prequel movie, and she wore white high-heeled shoes at her feet. From an outside view, she looked stunning, gorgeous, and graceful. Some could even say that the dress and jewels were highlighting her attractiveness and the shape of her body.

But, from Marcy's own point of view…

I'm aching everywhere, the dark-haired girl sighed while her 'servants' marveled at once, this dress itches, the corset is basically splitting me in two, the collier is stinging my skin, the crown is so heavy it gives me a migraine and the heels are killing my feet! Is this how nobles were supposed to dress once? She mentally groaned, feeling yet another part of her favorite fantasies sinking.

"Princess Regina, you are astonishing. Your sisters won't be able to ignore you, this time!"

"I…think that too," Marcy said, "Can I…go to whenever we usually meet? I want to see them."

"Sure thing, your highness!" The maid frog nodded as she bowed down, "The moving platform is ready for you to use it."

Moving platform? Marcy wondered, looking around just in time to see the door of her room opening to reveal what it looked like a large lift, with enough space to host her (even in this large, bothersome dress) as well as her servants, some kind of analog system of levers and wooden clogs on the back. Immediately, her hands moved to take notes of the strange engine, only to grimace to realize that her Journal, and all her notes of Amphibia, were nowhere to be seen.

Sighing, she moved toward the lift… and almost face-planted on the floor as she tripped once more, the servants around her rushing to grab her just in time.

"By frog, your highness, remember you're supposed to move with grace and elegance!"

You try to move with 'grace and elegance' wearing heels! Marcy internally yelled. She had never worn such shoes before, and being forced to wear them for the first time in her life accentuated her chronic tendency to trip.

In the end, she managed to walk on those 'stilts' and entered the lift, the maid frog just behind her while the other servant focused on cleaning her room, the frog playing a small bell and giving order to activate the lift, who started to move slowly and irregularly.

Finally, after multiple minutes during which Marcy kept nervously looking above, almost fearing the unknown mechanism would lock itself somewhere or some rope would snap, the lift stopped at its designated destination. The human and the frogs entering what was now a large room, big as the interior of a warehouse, with three thrones placed near the walls on one of the longest sides, a large door with tall white columns on its sides on the other, the floor of fine marble, the roof decorated with golden decorations and frescoes.

And in the middle of the room, stood a small group of people, some amphibians, other humans.

Marcy held a breath of relief as soon as she recognized Anne and Sasha among them, her two friends dressed in pimped-out dresses just like hers. Sasha was wearing a long, pinkish dress with ruby red giant poofy sleeves, another giant gown like hers, but this time, decorated with many small, shiny gems and white ribbons, a shiny silver pendant running around her neck and over her chest with a heron-shaped item at the end, a red rose tied on her dress just above where her heart was, a pink crown with large rubies encrusted into it over her head, her blonde hair braided in a long Chignon hairstyle. Behind her stood Felicia, the yellow frog dressed in a yellow-and-green dress with a simple collier of pearls around her neck, and flowers decorating her hairstyle.

Anne's clothes were even more glamorous: her friend was now dressed in a deep blue princess dress with white decorations of flowers enchanted all over the dress and the down, a light silk cape departing from her shoulders, a glamorous crown of sapphires resting on her hair braided on two sides around her face, a golden necklace decorated with the Amphibia's symbol on her chest.

For a moment, Marcy tried to calculate, based on what she could see, how valuable her dress was, and how valuable Anna-Banana's and Sash's were, but quickly she gave up. That was not important at this moment, even if she could assume it would cost much more money than they have ever seen at once (and that included Cousin Alfred's hidden stash).

"Princess Savisa of the Sapphire Tower, Princess Elizabeth of the Ruby Tower," her maid simply said, lowering her head, "I present to you your sister, Princess Regina of the Emerald Tower."

"Thank you," Anne said, in a tone devoid of any friendliness, Marcy's heart started to beat faster and faster as she heard her. Had something happened to her friends that had erased their personalities completely? Leaving them to act and behave just like the characters of the story? Was she the only one to retain her memories?

"Is there anything else I can do-"

"Actually, yes," Sasha nodded, with an arrogant, spoiled expression, her gaze moving between Marcy and her maid, the dark-haired girl panicking internally as bad memories of the past Sash played in her mind, "Leave us alone, all of us! We need to talk with our sister…in private."

"As you wish, your highness!" A male frog, dressed as a majordomo, nodded, turning his head around, "Did you hear the Princess's command? Vacate the premises at once!"

Every Amphibian in the room, from the guards to the servants, nodded at once as they began to move out of the large room. Only a few individuals, who were standing near Anne and Sash from before, made no attempts to move. Marcy quickly realized they were Hop Pop and Felicia, the old farmer frog now dressed in elegant, albeit old-style clothes with a large pocket watch emerging from his waistcoat.

"Hey, you two!" The majordomo said, pointing at them, "Are you dumb? Didn't you hear the princesses' orders?"

"The Royal Treasurer has every right to remain," Anne immediately said, Hop Pop giving the other guy a smug glance as she spoke, "for he is the one that brought us the question we need to talk about."

"And my lady-in-waiting will stay as well!" Sasha shouted, giving the poor servant in the tuxedo one of her famous death glares, "Are you trying to humiliate me by twisting the meaning of my own words?"

"N-no, absolutely no, your highness! I was just-"

"Get out, NOW!" Anne shouted, the majordomo rushing outside of the room as fast as he could, leaving Marcy alone with them. For a brief second, she struggled to think what to say, and then-

"Pff," Anne sighed, her harsh expression relaxing suddenly, "What a dud!"

"Anna-Banana, Sash?" Marcy gasped, as she realized they still were her friends. "Do you-"

"Stay calm, Mar-Mar," Sash smiled, and so did Felicia, "Yes, we still have our memories, just like you do. Sorry we couldn't tell you immediately, but we needed to be sure we could play safe."

"Though we did realize you were still you as soon as you walked in, kid," Hop Pop murmured, from the looks you had in your eyes. Wow, can you believe it? We have basically been transported inside the story of the play!"

"Hop Pop, this is not a laughing matter," Anne scoffed, before turning her gaze to a nearby chimney, unamused, "and talking about laughing… guys! You can come out!"

Marcy wondered for a second, before she heard some coughs coming from the flue, and a couple of seconds later, Sprig, Polly, Ivy and Maddie dropped out, apparently having hiding inside, all of them wearing clothes of servants: Sprig was dressed up in a buffoon's outfit, with a neckband and a three-point hat with a small bend at the end of each point, Polly was wearing a storyteller's hat, Ivy was wearing a poor scullery girl outfit and Maddie-

Is that a mage's outfit? Marcy almost gleamed again, noticing the star-decorated clothes and the pointy hat her friend was currently wearing, making her resemble a classic witch.

"So… can anyone explain to me what in frog's name is going on?" Sprig waved, "And what the heck is this outfit?!"

"Looks like when we approached the crown, something happened, and we were all pulled inside the events of the story Hop Pop told us about." Felicia summarized, looking around, "So, this is the area where we parked the fwagon, or at least how it looked at that time."

"How can you be so calm in a moment like this?" Anne said, her voice accentuated by the 'outfit' she was currently wearing, "We don't even know if we ended up in the past or if we were sucked up in some distorted fantasy play!"

"Not my first rodeo, honey," Felicia smiled, as Hop Pop rolled her eyes. "A stable magical nexus can't muster enough magic force to physically send someone in the past. I guess this is more like a simulation of that past: the magic adapted us to fit as many roles as it could, so this is why you, Mar-Mar and Sash ended up in the princesses' roles."

"Did you have to wear the corset too?" Marcy asked, pointing to her still-aching belly as she felt the torturing cloth twist her own belly.

"Uh-huh!" Anne groaned, feeling the pain as well, "And I thought wearing those clothes my parents wanted me for the ceremony at the Temple were bad. Not only that, but the servants also had to braid my hair all together, and ripped a good chunk as they did!"

"Same!" Sasha hissed, looking with disdain and the huge, old, unsuitable gown hiding her legs and the lower half of her body, "At least I was lucky enough that Felicia was in the same room when we reappeared."

"I found myself in some office, filled with coins, and now everyone calls me Royal Treasurer!" Hop Pop added, "Wait, but if I'm the Royal Treasurer, does that mean that office was mine! It was a shiny office, I am a successful frog now!"

"I was in the kitchen, but I left as soon as I could," Ivy confessed, "There was a scary fat lady in there, telling me I had to peel potatoes!"

"I was in some kind of tower," Maddie said in her usual toneless voice, before smirking, "It was filled with books of magic! Do you think I could borrow one when the whole things' over?"

"Wait, where is Jacob? And James? and Amelia?!" Marcy gasped, looking around to see no trace of her friends, "Did any of you see them?"

"No, but if we are here then they should be as well," Felicia thought about it, "I guess we just hadn't met them. Yet."

"Ok everyone is safe and we're together, so... what do we do now?!" Sprig yelled, looking around with a scared expression, "We can't be trapped in this story forever! Plus, Hop Pop said it has a tragic ending: everyone dies! I don't want to die!"

"Me neither!" Ivy joined.

"Kids, please, calm down!" Hop Pop rushed in and grabbed both, "We have more than enough time to find a solution. So far, everyone's assuming that the prince's entourage is incoming, so until there is no news about-"

"Your highness!" One of the guards rushed in the room, everyone quickly moving to get back into a presentable posture as they took advantage of him panting and looking down, "There, there is-"

"What's going on, soldier?" Sasha questioned him, internally cursing him for entering without warning, "Didn't we tell you we had a very important discussion to do in private?"

"I know, but…the prince has arrived. His entourage has just passed the main gate!"

Everyone's blood froze cold as that notion assimilated into their minds. Hop Pop in particular, was panicking: he knew the play well enough to know the Prince never appeared in the story proper, only being mentioned a couple of times before news of his death reached the princesses.

So how in frog's name did the prince survive? And now they were toning to meet him?

He looked over to Anne, his adoptive granddaughter trembling, and he felt a resolution form firmly in his heart: no matter if he was a prince or not, if he attempted to do something to her or any other of his kids, he would have punched his mouth free of teeth.

"T-tell him to come as soon as he can." Sasha hurried to reply, the guard nodding and getting out, while everyone else rushed to move, the three human girls sitting on their respective thrones (dull, as all three noticed. A wooden bench would have been comfier), the kids hiding behind them while Hop Pop and Felicia stood to their side.

But to their surprise, when the large door to the room opened once again, trumpets and pipes announcing the arrival of the prince, Jacob, James, and Amelia walked in, the boy devoid of his characteristic Viking hat, and instead dressed into a stylistic white uniform, with golden buttons and many medals over his chest, his hair greased, a long saber at his hip. Amelia was walking just behind him to his right, dressed in a violet dress quite like the trio's ones, but with a large ruff all around her neck, a metallic headband just over her forehead, and a sword pendant around her neck, a colorful scarf over her chest. And to Jacob's left, stood James. The British kid was wearing a deep blue tailcoat with a white undershirt and black boots on his feet, a tie over his chest. And as their eyes met those of the girls, they saw a glimmer of recognition.

"Your highnesses," Jacob said, his tone of voice clearly implying a 'play it cool' "I am Prince Oliver, firstborn son of King Egbert the Wise, and this is my dearest sister Priscilla," Amelia grimaced as he called her that, "and our head vassal, Marquis Tyller. After a long and hazardous trip, we have finally arrived at this fortress to solemnize the alliance between our kingdoms."

"We-we welcome you, Prince Oliver," Marcy said, a little dazed by the sight. Frog, Jacob was a friend and nothing more, but…he looked good in that suit.

"I-I can say the same…" Jacob stuttered, as he could finally get a good look of the dresses the girls were currently wearing, especially Marcy. Frog, I always thought she was cute, but now…she looks gorgeous!

"Your highness!" A voice erupted to their left, the girl noticing that somehow, the Majordomo and everyone who they had forced to vacate the room had mysteriously returned, and was now walking right toward Jacob, "This is…quite a surprise. We weren't expecting you nor your entourage to arrive this soon!"

"Fate blessed us," James/Tyller replied, as behind them, other frog servants and guards (their entourage) walked into view, all carrying various gifts and items for the castle's inhabitants, so many shiny things that Hop Pop had to control himself from gasping in awe. "Can we trust you to set off everything? My sovereign and myself are quite tired after such a long trip, and we would like to have a chat with your majesties to discuss our…future developments."

"Of course, after all, since the Prince is already here, we can start planning for the great event!"

"T-the great event?!" All six the humans, plus Felicia, Sprig and a couple others said at once.

"Of course," the majordomo said almost rhetorically, "To seal the alliance between our kingdoms, your Highness Princess Elizabeth is scheduled to marry the esteemed Prince Oliver."

"Say what?!" Sasha and Jacob shouted at once, blushing, incapable of looking at each other, and so did everyone else. Hop Pop and Felicia's eyes widened, as they realized that it was true. In the play proper, since the prince never arrived, the wedding would never be celebrated, but now that the plot had changed-would Sasha and Jacob be forced to play a mock wedding too?

"Huh, isn't it a bit too soon to celebrate it now?" Jacob said, struggling to come up with an excuse to postpone it, "While we were en route here, our scouts reported of a large enemy army approaching the fortress. I think it would be a better strategy to focus on our defense rather than on the wedding. We can still plan for it after the battle is over!"

"Yes, the prince is right!" Sasha nodded, catching on his plan, "If an enemy's army is approaching, we should-"

"Your highness, this fortress has tall, sturdy walls, excellent defenses, and a strong garrison." One of the guards, dressed in a slightly more elaborate uniform that identified him as their commander, spoke up, "It has never been conquered nor its defenses had ever been breached. And they never will be!"

"He's right, your majesty." The majordomo nodded, "Plus, the marriage will symbolize the alliance of our two kingdoms against the army of the Leviathan king: the sooner it is done, the stronger our alliance will be!"

Perhaps I can come up with an excuse to have this idiot executed? Sasha mused.

"That said, to rush the preparations just because your highness the Prince managed to arrive early would spell misfortune on the wedding," Felicia came into their help, "Your majesty would be wise to let the proceeding go as planned, without rushing."

"I don't recall a handmaiden like yourself has the authority-"

"Enough!" Anne muttered, glaring at the majordomo with a scornful glance. "You are acting beyond your limits; I remind you WE are the princess of this castle. And our wish is you command!"

"It is!" Marcy nodded, coming into her support, Jacob noticing how quickly her friends were adapting into their princesses' roles, "And while to fulfill the alliance it is important, so is the wellbeing of all the people inside this palace. Captain of the guards?"

"What's your order, milady?"

"I want you to inspect all defenses and check out any possible weakness the enemy might want to exploit," she pointed out, "As for you, Prince Oliver, I think you and your companions should join us for a meeting…"

(…)

"I can't believe you got actually cast as the prince!" Anne chuckled, as soon as she was sure no one would hear her laugh, "Thought it is a nice uniform."

"Nice? I would feel more comfortable in a military school uniform!" The boy groaned, "Moreover, do you know how valuable this thing is? Just one button of the shirt is worth way more than I could afford in my normal life! I have spent all the time in the carriage worrying about losing one!"

"If you're complaining about your clothes, what should I say about mine?" Amelia groaned with a disgusted expression, pointing at the totally impractical clothes she was forced to wear, "At least they could have given me a kimono!"

"I kind of like this," James admitted, once again checking the clothes he ended in, "I feel like I could rule all over Downton Abbey dressed like this."

"Seriously, bro?" Jacob raised an eyebrow, "You watch Downton Abbey?"

"Shut up, my mom loves that show. And it's pretty good too..."

"Guys!" Sasha clapped her hands to gather everyone's attention, "This is serious. Look, I am happy to see that you and Amelia are fine, but we are losing focus on the whole situation. We are trapped in some kind of magical fantasy, we have no idea how to get out, we are forced to wear those constraining garments, a frogging enemy army is approaching and according to the plot, I must marry him?" She pointed at Jacob, who replied in kind.

"Yeah, I'm weirded out by that too. Look, Sash, you're quite beautiful, I won't lie about it, and ever since we have arrived in Amphibia you have grown a lot mentally, but frankly? You're not my type."

"That's my line," the blonde human replied, covering her forehead with her hand, "Anyway, now that we're all together again…what do we do?"

"The good news is, most of the plot focuses either on the princesses trying to outplay each other and the scheming of their servants." Hop Pop said, showing off a large paper with notes he had made of everything he remembered about the play's plot, "Since I doubt neither of you have any interest in that, I guess we are safe to skip that."

"Let's not forget that the plot may be off the rails already," Felicia pointed out, "I mean, most of the plot is tied up to the various characters waiting for the prince's arrival, only for chaos to break loose once the news comes that he had been killed on arrival."

"He was what?!" Jacob gasped, looking around nervously, almost imagining hundreds of assassins coming in and attempting to kill him, "But…I am the prince now! Am I going to die?!"

"You're not!" Hop Pop quickly reassured him, "Listen, kiddo, prince clothes or not, you're still the same boy that I've looked over for the past months. No matter what's going to happen, I'm not going to let you die. No one of you will!" He said with a voice full of determination.

"Don't worry, Anne!" Sprig jumped on the table, still dressed in his buffoon's dress, "We'll protect you!"

"Maddie," Ivy turned around to face her travel companion, "Is there anything we can do? Some magic we could use?"

"I don't have my book nor ingredients at this moment," the blue-skinned frog in a wizard outfit replied, "still, we could try searching the books in the tower. There are so many spells who were lost in the Age of Reunification, maybe I can find something useful."

"Then is settled!" Marcy nodded, "So, I remember you said that the enemies have their own agents inside the wall, right Hop Pop?"

"Huh, yeah, kind off?"

"Then I guess our most important priority is to locate them! Anna-Banana, Sash, we will play our roles as princesses as best as we can, while the others will try to identify the spies of the enemy and neutralize them. If their army won't have anyone to open their gates, they won't be able to take over the castle so easily!"

"I guess that makes sense?" Sasha pondered about, positively impressed by the quick thinking of her lovable nerd friend.

"I'll help you," Felicia nodded, "Hop Pop, you in?"

"Damn right I am!"

"And what about us?" Ivy asked, raising her hand.

"You go with Maddie and help her search for any spell that we could use. Sprig, I need you and Polly to search around this place and find any possible hiding place or retreat route we could use in case of emergency."

"Consider it done!" The young frog said in enthusiasm.

"I'm going with them, then!" Amelia volunteered, "I may be dressed like a doll, but I want to do my part!"

"Then James and I will come up with an excuse and do a check-up of the defenses and try to fix everything we can." Jacob nodded, "Plus, there were many soldiers in that 'entourage' of mine, I guess using them to reinforce our defenses would be a good idea."

"Huh, Marbles?" Anne asked, in hesitation, "Exactly what are we supposed to do? I mean, not that I'm not against enjoying some luxuries and proper manicure, but…how is that supposed to help?"

"If they have spies infiltrated among our servants, the fact that the prince did arrive will put them on alarm," Marcy explained, giving a thumbs up to Jacob, "thus, if we keep the charade and try to collect information, we can pass that info to Felicia and the others, allowing them to stop them!"

"Wow, this is quite smart thinking…Regina."

"Anne!"

"Yes, Regina," Sasha smirked in a teasing voice, "That was quite a good strategy, and it even allows us to get some overdue skin care."

"Girls, please!" Marcy wimped, ignoring the reactions her words were having in the others, "Don't call me by my middle name, you know that I hate it!"

"Seriously, Marbles?" Amelia chuckled. "Your middle name is Regina?!"

"I won't do that in I was you, Priscilla," Jacob piped in, the samurai wannabe grimacing as her cousin and adoptive brother pulled out her middle name. "The same goes for you, Elizabeth and Savisa!"

"It was the name of my great-great-grandmother," Anne shook her head, recalling as to why her parents gave her that name. "And while I'll never admit to them, it's not bad."

"The same goes for your middle name, Marbles," Jacob moved in front of her, "You know, 'regina' in Italian means 'queen'."

"But it feels like the name you would give to a kid that later turns out to be a spoiled brat!" Marcy explained the reasons for her disdain, "And it doesn't reflect my personality at all!"

"It doesn't?" Jacob challenged that, Marcy realizing he was giving her a heartfelt smile, "I think it is quite a nice name, one that puts a smile on everyone's face. It symbolizes how precious you are."

"P-precious?" The girl blushed, not expecting that adjective to be used for her.

"To all of us!" the boy quickly added after realizing what he just said in front of everyone "You're precious, to all of us! Haha!" Jacob, you frogging coward, he chastised himself in his mind.

"He's right!" Anne nodded, "And we would always treasure and cherish you, Mar-Mar. Forever and ever Mar-Mar!"

Marcy looked around, seeing how everyone was agreeing to what Anna-Banana had just said. She looked then at Jacob, the boy still dressed like a prince and looking at her with a delightful expression. For a moment, even a short one, she felt like in one of those classic ending scenes where the hero proposes to the princess.

This all make her determination and willpower surge once again, she replied:

"Let's rock the play, Boyz and Gurlz!"

---

"I must say, Prince Oliver is quite a catch, don't you agree? I think there would be many ladies in all the realms who would dream to get engaged to such a charming soul."

That's because you do not know him like I do, Sasha thought in resignation, still trying to enjoy the hot bath her servants were giving her. One of the upsides of being a princess was that no luxury was out of her reach now, and she intended to exploit her supposed role as 'soon-to-be-married princess' at its fullest.

"I wouldn't say that. I mean, our…marriage is just a political one, to unify our kingdoms."

"I know, your highness. The thing is, I heard that both your sisters, Princess Savisa and Princess Regina, were quite…taken by his good looks. And they were discussing how much better it would be if it were them to be the ones engaged to him."

An alarm bell rang in Sasha's mind, as she wondered why she said that. She knew that Marcy and Anne weren't jealous (especially since they all knew this was fake), so what was this servant trying to do?

"Are you sure about that?" Sasha replied, being careful of her words and carefully listening to her tone of voice.

"Positive, my lady. A lady of Princess Regina said your sister was throwing quite a tantrum."

That was the confirmation Sasha needed, to realize that this servant was lying to her face: she knew Marcy, and she would never throw a spoiled tantrum. Thus, if the servant was lying, it was probably because she was attempting to set her up against each other.

She remembered the plot of the play, or at least, what Felicia and Hop Pop had explained to her earlier, how the three princesses got into a fight so bad that it allowed the enemy's spies to open the gates. Maybe this servant was one of them, trying to drive up the rivalry between the sisters to further their own plans?

"Is that so?" Sasha looked up, as she glazed over the servant, noticing the smirk to the very end of her mouth. Well, too bad for you, two can play this game.

"Now that I remember, can you do me a favor?"

"Of course, Your majesty!" The hidden spy nodded, returning to her dutiful servant façade, "What are your orders?"

"Please, look for my lady-in-waiting, and tell her I need one of her 'red berries' tea later on."

"As you wish, your highness!" The servant bolted outside, ignoring the trap that Sasha was making her fall right into. 'Red berries' was one of the several codewords that Felicia had given her earlier, to identify those spies hidden among the servants of the castle. As soon as she uttered that sentence in front of Felicia (or any other of her friends) she would unwittingly expose herself as a spy, prompting them to neutralize them and lock her somewhere safe for the near future.

One down, Sasha sighed in her head as she focused once again on the warm kiss of the water on her skin, countless more to go.

(…)

"Now I know why the mage in the story gets killed without doing anything significant." Maddie grumbled, throwing away yet another book, "He was a charlatan!"

"So, none of this magic actually works?" Ivy wondered, looking at how many books her friend had thrown into the ground, "They're all fake?"

"Party tricks at best, used to impress royals ignorant of what real magic is. Frog, many books are filled with blank pages!"

"Blank?!" Ivy rushed to check with her own eyes and, to her horror, she found out it was true, "B-but why?"

"I told you, the wizard of the three princesses was a charlatan who could only pretend to do magic while having no real knowledge of how it works. I guess those fake books are only for show." Maddie grumbled, giving a hateful glare to the many books she had looked so enthusiastically before, before her hopes were cruelly crushed as soon as she inspected them.

"This is bad, this is very bad! What do we do now?"

"Thankfully, I remember enough spell recipes of mine to improvise something," Maddie moved to the opposite side of the library, where a small untouched lab stood, the equipment dusty after such a long time, "Ok, Ivy, if you help me, we can do this in time to help everyone, but I need you to carefully follow my indications little by little, step by step and without any question."

"Wait, are you going to teach me magic too?!"

"Just what you need to help me while preparing the spells, since Marcy is unavailable. And for the love of Frog please be careful: we don't need to blow up the castle..."

(…)

"Come on, boys!" Jacob hurried, doing his best to coordinate the reparation work to the walls and other defenses, "The walls of the castle won't repair themselves!"

"My prince, why are you doing this?" One of the soldiers, a toad whose scars testified a lifelong story of battles and never-ending war, asked.

"An enemy army is approaching the fortress, soldier!" Jacob replied, passing a hand on his forehead, "It is our duty to make sure that the fortress is ready to repel any attack!"

"But why are you helping us, sir?" The soldier insisted, puzzled by the whole situation, "You're betrothed with Princess Elizabeth, and today is the day you're supposed to be wed! Why are you here helping us, instead of focusing on the preparations?"

"I am sure the staff inside can deal with that," Jacob scoffed, still trying not to think at the fact 'he' was supposed to get married with 'Elisabeth', "And the whole point of today is to establish an alliance between our kingdoms to fight against our common enemy, the Leviathan king. Are you perhaps suggesting that we should forget our duties to be on guard, simply due to the wedding?"

"Well, of course no, but-"

"Even if the big wedding had to be postponed," another voice said, foreshadowing James' arrival, the other boy followed by a couple of guards, "it can be done tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. The safety of the castle, and all the people within it, are our highest priority."

"Well said, Marquis," Jacob almost chuckled with his words while James rolled his eyes in annoyance, "So, how did your inspection go?"

"I found several weak points that the enemy could use, but we're already begun to work to fix as many as we can. The bad news is that all our catapults and ballista are almost out of projectiles to use."

"What?!" Jacob fake-gasped, turning around with an inquisitive look, "How is that your main defenses are all out of munitions?"

"We…we didn't think it was a priority. It has been a long time since anything or anyone tried to storm our walls, and we had to make space for new expenses," the supposed commander of the garrison, a newt in a bright dress called Gerten, "You see, Princess Savisa requested a new marble floor for her own tower and-"

"I understand, thank you." Jacob grumbled, adding yet another to his mental list of Princess Anne's sycophants. Truly, if the castle's servants and soldiers had been so divided among them in trying to curry the favor of the three princesses, it wasn't difficult to understand how the fortress itself had fallen to in-fighting in the play itself. "Still, we need to replenish those stocks somehow."

"Huh, about that," James suggested, "I saw some old, unused small walls that we can tear down to make catapult projectiles out of them, and there is a lot of ruined furniture we can break in pieces to transform into ammunition for the ballista. We just need to-"

"Wait, are you suggesting destroying the walls and furniture of this castle?" The newt commander said almost in shock, "Your highness, this is… the Three Princesses' castle…"

"I doubt the princesses even care for furniture and rocks they don't even need anymore, captain," Jacob replied, the newt gasping and his eyes widening as he saw the prince looking down on him in tranquil, silent anger, "And I don't think they want to be disturbed while they're busy preparing for the ceremony. Don't you agree?"

"Huh…of course, your highness-"

(…)

"Frog, being a princess is exhausting!" Marcy lamented, resting her elbows on a small table in one of the back rooms of the castle, that their servants had described as the 'communal tearoom', Sash and Anne resting with her, all three of them showing worn down expressions and tired eyes.

"You know, girls? Those ladies of mine told me I had to choose the shoes for the ceremony, and I had to check one million pairs before I could finally convince them that I was sure of my choice." Sasha mumbled, almost amused by her own predicament, "I never believed I would say this, but for once…I don't want to see new shoes for a long, long time!"

"Wow, that has to be something worthy of recording," Anne chuckled, even as she herself had her own experiences all day along. She had to admit that being treated as a princess had a lot of perks: enjoying good and carefully prepared meals, as well as rare healthcare pleasures; being allowed, or rather, incentive, to buy as many clothes and fashion items as she could. But after a bit, she quickly realized that all the luxuries and privileges she could enjoy for today weren't for free. Like all things, they had a price.

A price that the real princesses, the one she and her friends were forced to play as today, forced on their subjects.

"Girls," Sprig and Ivy moved to open the door and allow Amelia inside, the samurai girl herself feeling drained of all her usual enthusiasm and inner strength, "I can't do this anymore! That…majordomo of yours," she almost hissed, clearly showing a deep disdain for the frog, "he keeps trying to drive me away in private and make absurd suggestions!"

"Welcome to the club!" Sasha grumbled, too tired even to use her usual snark, "at least, Felicia and Hop Pop told us we could relax a bit here. How are Jacob and James doing?"

"I met them on my way here, they said they were going to talk with Hop Pop," Amelia sat down, hissing as she felt her corset once again grip on her inner organs, "It seems like at least the external defenses should be done by now. This means-"

"-that we just have to finish exposing and capture the remaining spies inside the walls, and then we're good!" Sprig announced, Anne smiling as his cheerfulness helped her mitigate the tiredness of her mind, "Ok, how many are left?"

"Who knows?" Sasha grimaced, "We keep finding them everywhere: one was disguised in the kitchen, you found the other two hiding in the stables, and I have lost count of how many of them were disguised among our servants! I really should ask Felicia about the total count on how many I've sent her so far, but I can guess it was a double digit!"

"I heard Jacob and James found as many while they were inspecting the guards on the wall," Marcy spoke, turning toward Anne, "Do you think that maybe all the servants and guards here may be spies Anna-Banana?"

"I doubt that," her friend replied, "I mean, if they did, why would they try to make us quarrel? Why not simply take over the castle and-"

"Your highnesses!" A familiar voice came from the outside, and they heard someone running around, searching for them.

"Ugh, it's the majordomo!" Ivy groaned, rolling his eyes, "What does he want now?"

"Let's find it out," Anne quickly put together her 'princess' act, imitated by her friends, while Sprig and Ivy rushed to hide from sigh, "We are here! Introduce yourself!"

"Y-your highnesses!" The servant frog kneeled again as he entered the room, "It's a catastrophe! It's a tragedy! S-something has happened in the throne room, while we were busy preparing for the ceremony! You all must come at once!"

Worried, uncertain of what the servant was saying, Anne, Sasha, Marcy, and Amelia rushed as they followed him. Ivy and Sprig soon left their hiding places and rush after them, being careful not to be noticed. As the human girls finally stepped back into the large room, they were quick to see Hop Pop and Felicia, looking at them with gloomy, worried expressions, five amphibians standing behind them, each one of them holding a short blade in their hand.

The girls' barely had the time to notice it, that they heard the sound of swords being unsheathed from behind them, Amelia turning around to see other three amphibians, all dressed in servant uniforms, holding them hostage with their blades.

And looking at them with a smug, victorious expression, there was the majordomo himself.

"So, it was you, the leader of the spies," Amelia murmured, looking back at him with eyes full of scorn, "I guess I should have suspected, by how nagging and obnoxious you were!"

"Obnoxious?!" The fake servant replied, no longer hiding his anger and disdain toward her, "Do you have any idea how much time it took me and my agents to infiltrate among the retainers of this place? To work my way up through the ranks by lies and deceptions, to remove any possible threat to my sovereign's plans? To force me to take you hostage, like a mere bandit?"

So, this is a desperation plan, Sasha thought as she looked around. The doors were blocked, and she could see several other servants tied up on the ground, evidently those who had nothing to do with the conspirators. It was clear, from what she could see, that this was something they had to improvise at the last minute. She looked at Felicia, the boss and adoptive mom nodding in return.

They just had to create a good opening.

"What, weren't you expecting our father to propose such an alliance?" Anne mocked him, noticing how the veins on the majordomo's face looked ready to explode.

"The prince was never supposed to arrive!" He yelled, "My sovereign had told me…a special squad of Newt soldiers would take care of him and his entourage long before he would arrive. Yet, not only had he managed to arrive, but he did so early! Implying that those soldiers either utterly failed or double-crossed us!"

So, Jacob's presence did end up screwing up the plot, Marcy realized. "I assume his absence was part of your plan, to put all of us against each other, right? This is why all those servants tried to fill our ears with lies."

"Oh, it looks like you finally realized it!" He replied, "Yes, this was the plan, to spread chaos and confusion and transform your simple sister rivalry into pure anger, so we could have a chance to open the gates and allow the army of our lord to conquer this fortress without the need to besiege it! But since that plan is now gone, I guess I'll have to take you all hostage, and force your men to open the gates themselves!"

"Huh, are you sure you can pull this off?" Sasha replied with a mocking tone, to make the spies focus on them while Sprig and Ivy, unseen by them, got closer. "I mean, Prince Oliver and the Marquis are still free."

"If you're hoping for their rescue, I wouldn't be that sure," the majordomo said in a smug voice, "You may have tried to neutralize my agents, but before they will realize what's going on-"

"We already know!" A voice announced, the main opening suddenly, Jacob and James standing side by side, swords in their hands, a dozen guards all holding pikes behind them, "I mean, ok, you weren't expecting us to be here, but seriously? Is this the best you could come up with in such a short notice?"

"You!" The majordomo stuttered, "Don't make a move! If you try to get closer, my soldiers and I-"

"You won't do anything!" Ivy yelled, just as she and Sprig launched into the fray, jumping on two spies' backs and having them drop their weapons. Felicia and Hop Pop taking advantage of the distraction to pull free from their captors, the girls joined them, punching and kicking anyone that got too close. Meanwhile, Jacob, James and their troops pushed in, quickly taking control of the situation, and making every spy their prisoner.

The majordomo looked around, seeing his comrades being neutralized and captured one by one. He realized that everything he had worked so hard for, was now lost. The army on the outside would never be able to conquer the fortress now. The best he could do was try to bargain for his own freedom.

"Don't come any closer!" The Amphibian yelled, grabbing Amelia, and holding his sword close enough to make his threat implicit, "Or I'll cut her throat!"

"I guess this is your biggest mistake, then," Amelia spoke, as her lips twitched into a smirk, "Thinking that I need them to protect myself."

Before the majordomo could react, Amelia swiftly pushed her elbow into his stomach, cutting off his air flow. Then she stomped his foot with her heel making him yelp in pain and lose his grip over the girl. Finally, and with an elegant turn on herself, Amelia uppercut him, making the amphibian drop on the ground before an unnoticed spell bag hit him, enveloping him into a sticky substance and trapping him on the floor.

"Looks like my glue spell works just fine," Maddie announced, walking holding Polly in her arms (the polliwog looking annoyed at not being able to join in), the majordomo looking at her in horror.

"No!" The spy master gasped "This cannot be! You're not a real wizard! You're a fraud!"

"Maybe, I was," Maddie nodded with an evil smirk, "but I am the fraud that got you!"

(…)

"Ugh, do we really have to do this?" Sasha hissed, looking at Jacob in front of him, both of them clearly uneasy about the whole situation.

"Look Sasha, I don't want to do this, but it looks like we must get this crappy happy ending for us to finally get free!" the boy hissed back before giving a nervous smile to the official in front of them.

After the majordomo's conspiracy had been fully exposed, he and his acolytes had been thrown into the nearest oubliette. Treason of this magnitude didn't need a judgment to be dealt with, not that anyone complained about their "princesses" decision.

Less than an hour later, the Leviathan King's Army finally appeared into view, ready to take the fortress for their sovereign. When they found out that their spies in the interior had been captured and the whole garrison was united standing against them, their first action was to prepare themselves for a long and gruesome siege, in hope to wear down the impressive fortifications of the defenders…only to drop all preparations once yet another set of ill news reached them.

Turns out that Oliver's father had found out about their movements and had sent an army of its own to reinforce to fortress, forcing the attackers to an immediate retreat to not be caught between the well-defended fortress and the enemies coming to its relief, fleeing back as hard as they could to their masters, all their plans for conquest vanquished at once.

The traitors had been captured, and the enemy had fled. The castle had survived, and all the people who lived in it were still alive. The plot of the play had been utterly subverted, so could this be an achievement enough to be called a happy ending?

Apparently, not yet.

"Remind me, why do we have to marry?!"

"Because," Jacob rolled his eyes, doing his best to not show his real emotions to the castle's servants and guards who were all gathered in the big room now, the maids cheering at once, some of the guard even sniffing in commotion, "our characters in the story are betrothed. And apparently we need a big wedding to fulfill the 'happily ever after' part so we can get free!"

"Is there no other way?"

"Well, look on the upside: it's a fake wedding! So, once we're out of this simulation, we won't have to talk about it anymore."

"Let's hope so…" the blonde human girl grumbled again, giving an aside glance to the nearest chairs where Anne, Marcy and all their friends and families were sitting.

"So…" the old farmer frog said, scratching his head and looking at Felicia, "This doesn't count, right? I mean, we are inside a magic illusion, this is not a real wedding."

"Indeed, it doesn't," replied Felicia, before looking once again at Sasha at the altar, "Still, I'm feeling somewhat proud of her. I guess I'll feel even better when she does end up marrying for real."

"Just to clarify, we are not going to make business agreements based on this, right?"

"Right! Separation between work and private life, we should respect and enforce!"

"How long until it is over?" Sprig asked with a bored expression, having clearly lost all interest by now.

"Come on, Sprig!" Ivy replied, looking at him, "This is quite nice!"

"And quite fake!" Maddie rolled her eyes, "We know they are not going to marry for real, so why bother?"

"Because it's amusing to see them," Amelia replied with a smug grin, sitting in the front row to enjoy the humiliation her cousin and her best frenemy were forced to endure, Polly watching with avid attention as well "Oh, I wish I had a camera to immortalize this scene forever!"

"It's…a joyous day." James wept to her left.

"Huh, James, why are you crying?" Anne asked from the first row, where she was sitting next to Marcy, both girls dressed in gorgeous dresses just like their blonde friend, "You know that this is all fake, nothing more than a play like in theater."

"I know! But I've always had a soft spot for royal weddings: I am a proud citizen of the United Kingdom, after all!"

Anne chuckled, amused by her friend's reaction, "I guess it is quite a nice scene, Sasha's dress is absolutely amazing. Don't you agree., Mar-Mar? Mar-Mar?"

"Huh?" The dark-haired girl reacted, confirming she had slipped into 'the Zone' once again, "I guess that's…right?" Though, I am still feeling weirded out by the whole situation.

As Marcy once again focusing on her friends forced to pretend to get married, she couldn't help but feel a strange feeling in her. Like the more she kept watching, the more it angered her. And hurt too. She knew it was all fake, and that Sasha and Jacob hated doing this. Not even speaking about the two of them ever getting married in the future! But still…

Why do I feel like this? What is this sensation I keep having just watching them? Is this jealousy? Am I jealous of them?

"-and now, before you cross your vows, does someone among this audience-"

"Actually," Sasha suddenly interrupted the official, her eyes brightened as she just had an idea, "I do have something to say. I wish to thank everyone who has gathered today to celebrate this royal wedding, and the birth of the alliance between our kingdoms. It will help both our nations and people to grow stronger together, against all our challenges!"

Everyone cheered at this speech, even James and Anne nodding. Yet, unbeknownst to them Sasha wasn't done yet.

"But…this won't be my wedding!"

"What?" Everyone gasped at once. Even Jacob, who was only playing the role, suddenly jerked back as he didn't expect such a twist.

"The thing is," Sasha said as she turned to face Jacob, giving him some small hand sign to tell him to go with it, "you are already part of someone else's mind, Prince Oliver. She tried to hide it from me, but I couldn't help but notice how much she loved you, and how much she felt tortured by her forbidden love after we were engaged. Thus, allow me to withdraw and instead, take for wife my sister Princess Regina-"

"WHAT?" Everyone gasped even louder, Maddie, Hop Pop and Anne looking at Marcy, the girl feeling her heart starting to beat faster and faster, her face blushing redder than a tomato, as she saw Sasha walking up to her and pull her from where she was sitting, and accompanying him toward the official…and Jacob.

I'm sorry, Mar-Mar, but I can't stand to marry Jacob, even as pretend, Sasha though in apology. Plus, you are most suited for live-action roleplay, after all…

"-who she loves you very dearly-"

"I accept!" Jacob yelled immediately, his cheeks too having reddened quite a bit, grabbing Marcy's arms and looking at her with a truthful passionate look, "I love her too!"

What? Marcy wondered why his sentence looked so sincere as her face kept getting redder as she realized everyone was now looking at her.

Isn't Jacob overplaying the part? Anne mentally wondered, as the official struggled to resume while the crowd behind them began to cheer louder and louder, Sasha sitting where Marcy had been while Ivy and Maddie gave her a puzzled expression.

"So, Prince Jacob, do you accept-"

"I do!" Jacob replied immediately, Marcy still struggling to understand what was happening around her.

"Then, Princess Regina, do you accept Prince Oliver as your loyal husband and king, until death do you apart?"

"I…I do?" Marcy murmured without almost realizing.

And just then, another blast of white-golden light appeared, and everything around them disappeared once again.

---

"So…" Anne said, as he looked around, realizing that she and all her friends and families were back to normal, dressed in their usual clothing, "Are we all back?"

"Y-yes," Sasha grumbled, moving toward the fwagon, where Liptea, Bessie and Akitsu buzzed, trying to understand why, for a single second, their families had disappeared from their sight.

"We're back to normal!" Amelia announced rushing toward her flying companion, "Oh., Akitsu! I have so many things to tell you!"

"Bri-bri?"

"Huh, Jacob?" Marcy asked, looking toward her friend, both humans blushing as they still recalled the situation they had been in until a few minutes ago, "About the fake wedding, I just wanted to say…"

"Are you angry that we had to do it?" The boy asked, careful with his words, "Look, I know you weren't expecting-"

"No! I mean, I admit I was quite surprised but… it was quite a nice scene, I suppose, just like the hero's reward scene in one of my games. Though, I admit I never expected to roleplay one."

"Yeah, me neither…" the boy shrugged, struggling to fight the assortment of all his feelings at once, as he started to feel the weight of the situation. Only for him to hear the girl snorting lightly.

"At least I would have preferred having the time to roleplay it properly!" she added with a chuckle. "All I did was babble some words! And the RP player in me hates how much I had to rush it!" Now the laugh in her voice was clearly perceptible and her cheeks started to become pinkish once again.

I could listen to this melodious sound every day,Jacob suppressed his thoughts, "Don't worry, it was fine! Better than go overboard, don't you agree?" his face slightly heating up as well.

Both teenagers were now uncontrollably giggling, giving each other encouragement about how they deal with this situation.

"Alright, enough fantastical adventure for today. Let's go to bed, kids!" Hop Pop announced, ruining the moment and once again postponing the issue, as Anne and Sasha looked with an irked look at their conversation. Why suddenly, they felt jealous as well?

Little they knew that someone had been watching their whole shenanigans…

(…)

As the humans and their families went inside the fwagon to sleep, still thinking about the crazy adventure they just went through, the cold wind of the night, which hissed sharply through the castle ruins, gradually grew stronger, the ruins roaring, and then subsided almost completely. Of the group, only Bessie noticed it, and she raised one of her antennae with concern, then calmed down and went back to sleep as soon as she realized that no danger threatened them.

Of the group, no one knew, but that night, something was about to happen. Something that they themselves had made possible, making themselves participants, albeit unintentionally, in such reenactment of past events.

It was only when the moon disappeared, and the smallest light vanished, that it happened. The ruins seemed to shake, for a moment, and then from the ruins of the three towers, three figures emerged, semi-transparent but dressed in great fine robes.

The ghosts of the real princesses who, many years ago, had dwelt in this mighty castle.

"We're free!" The ghost dressed in a pale, white dress said, dancing among the ruins of the castle while, on the faraway fwagon, everyone was by now sound asleep, "The bond that had trapped us in these ruins is finally gone! We-we can go now!"

"Yes, I feel that too, sister," the second ghost nodded, giving one more glance to the small group of travelers who had unwittingly favored their liberation, "All thanks to them."

"It had been so long since someone last decided to spend the night in these ruins," the third ghost almost whispered, "I had now lost hope we would ever be free ever again!"

"Still, we basically had to kidnap them and trap them into a magic illusion of our doing. Don't you think we should…reward them?"

"You took the words right from my mouth, sister. These young, brave children who free us deserve a reward. Even if they did so without their knowledge."

"Then, we're in agreement." The ghost in white said, as he moved upward and started to fly in round shapes just over the fwagon, quickly followed by her sisters, "We will reward them, before leaving this place once and for all, by giving them our most powerful blessings."

The ghosts began to chant, a bright azure light forming around the shape of the Fwagon and the animals, forming what looked like protective cocoons around them before disappearing.

"What is meant to be comes about because of what one does." The three ghosts chanted together, before disappearing, their words lost into the wind, "And these young kids, their families and their friends are meant to be heroes…"