Swamp, Sensibility and War


"-so," Maddie repeated, as she focused on the translation work in front of her, the book wide open and showing the page she was interested in, the feeble light of the candle lightening the inside of the Fwagon enough for her to keep working, "in order to-"

"Maddie?" A voice suddenly spoke, making the spell-maker frog almost jump.

"Ivy! What are you doing here? I told you that I am busy!"

"I know, but mom made cricket goulash for dinner, and she reserved a portion for you." The yellow-skinned frog showed a small tin filled with delicious-smelling food before putting it next to her. "And I volunteered to bring it to you."

"Oh. Well, thanks." Maddie replied, her stomach beginning to grumble and her lips salivating as she realized she hadn't eaten anything since lunch. "Please tell her that I'm grateful. This cross-translation work is proving to be even harder than I assumed."

"Is this some of your magic stuff? Can I help?"

"You want to help?" Maddie repeated, taken back by the unexpected offer, before looking at the yellow frog with slight suspicion in her eyes "Why?"

"Let's call it a self-penance. When I make a mistake, like treating someone with suspicion just because they look 'different' or because I jumped to conclusions, I try to learn from it so I can avoid repeating the same mistake in the future. And the only way I can think of is if I try to understand magic. And… you at the same time." She sat next to Maddie, "Plus, magic intrigues me, and I would want to learn something beyond what 'everyone' knows is the truth."

"Believe me, almost nothing of what everyone knows is true." Maddie replied, rolling her eyes with annoyance, before once again looking at the book opened in front of her. "Or at least, that's what I believed."

"Is this the magic spell-book you and Amelia got back when we stopped at Les Flies? The Book of the Black Toads?"

"Black Frogs, Ivy." Maddie quickly corrected her, "But, yes. I was trying to find an explanation to something... unusual I got to find, some time ago."

"Something unusual?" Ivy raised an eyebrow, "What is it? And why didn't you ask Marcy to help you?"

"Because this thing directly involves Marcy." Maddie admitted. "So, if you want to help, you must promise not to tell her, or your mom, or Sasha or anyone else before we have a clear grasp of what is going on."

"I…I promise." Ivy nodded, suddenly feeling worried. What could scare Maddie so much she was willing to keep it a secret even from Marcy?

In response, Maddie's hand moved on the table, and she grabbed a small patch of bandage, dirty with dried up blood.

Blood that was green in color, and while now completely absorbed by the fabric, it still emitted a faint glowing light.

"What in frog's name?" Ivy almost cursed in a low voice, her eyes widening in shock.

"It's a bandage Marcy used while she and Jacob were training their Calamity powers. The same day you and Polly stopped Sprig from doing another one of his shenanigans." Maddie explained, "When I saw it with my own eyes, I realized this was something weirder than the stuff we're used to dealing with, so I decided to postpone telling them until I found what it could be."

"And did you find it?"

"Yup. Looks like there is a whole section in this book that explains it," Maddie passed what she had managed to translate on her own in the last few days. "See for yourself."

Silently, Ivy took the notes Maddie was offering her and began to read them. And in a few sentences, the shock of her mind grew again:

"-a rare substance called the Calamity Blood. It is an extremely powerful substance, originating from the [stream of life?] of a living holder of one of the Calamity Gems-"

"Once the power of the gem has been imbued into a specific holder for a period longer than [two moon circles? Or is this a way to say two days?], the magic will start to permeate their living tissue, concentrating on their [stream of life again – maybe that refers to the blood inside someone?] and making it a highly-potent magical substance that can be used as [sacrifice, or maybe it means power source?] for most advanced magical devices and nexuses that require continuous supply of high-power magic in order to work, or acting as [not sure about the meaning, could be ingredient or maybe means fuel?] for [book says 'the-art-of-the-wise-spirits', not sure what the correct translation may be]-"

"-after the disappearance of the Calamity Box, and the following collapse of [strong-proud-mountain. Is this a metaphorical meaning?] Amphibian society, the Calamity Blood, already in short supply, became an extremely scarce and highly coveted resource, with the few stocks left spread among several [wise-spirit-master] and [wise-spirit-art-crafter-courts]. However, all the leftover blood ended up being depleted by-"

"Well, this is frogged up." Ivy could only say, as she once again looked at the bloodstain on the bandage in front of her.


The next day, Bessie and Liptea were pulling the fwagon up a steep hill among vast fields of farmland and pastures. Akitsu was flying just above them with Amelia on her back, while Hop Pop was driving as usual with Polly on his side. Meanwhile, inside the fwagon, James was helping Felicia prepare breakfast while Jacob was sitting at the table, checking the journey's progress on the map. On the sofa, Marcy, Ivy, and Sasha were watching anime on the later phone. And apart from the rest, Sprig and Anne were together on the highest bed and watching one of her favorite movies.

"Hey, James, did you see that?" Jacob pointed out on the map. "Our journey is almost over! Still a few days at most, and we'll reach Newtopia!"

"I see, bro." James replied "Though just because our journey will be over it doesn't mean our tribulations will be too. We still need to find a way to reactivate the Box and return home..." With a small sigh and still preparing some light dishes for everyone, he turned to the tea-maker and adventurer. "Felicia, do you really think we'll find a way back in that city?"

"If there's a way to help you get back to your world, Newtopia offers us the best choice of where to look for it." The veteran adventurer replied, with a hint of pride, "The capital holds the best intellectual wonders than any other place in Amphibia! The Newtopia University (our most prestigious college) is THE place where our brightest minds get the care and attention to blossom fully. Even Newtopia's smallest libraries contain so much unknown knowledge, that they could put Wartwood's archives to shame. And I know a lot of people living there back from my adventurer's days; it'll take some time to spread the word out, but I'm sure my contacts will find something to help us. Plus," she added last, almost like she was forgetting it until now, "in Newtopia resides our esteemed sovereign, King Andrias Leviathan, the wisest of the Newts. Many come from all over Amphibia to seek his guidance."

Jacob coughed, hiding words like 'newt racist arrogant jerks' among them.

"It's been awhile since I heard about this 'Andrias' guy, but I never had a chance to fully learn about him." James said, looking at Felicia, "Is he a good king?"

"Of course he is! King Andrias has ruled over Amphibia from even before I was a little tadpole. He is a paragon of wisdom and knowledge for all of us." Felicia's declaration was genuine, showing how much appreciation she had for their monarch. Only after a couple of seconds, she felt the need to add something else. "Though…"

"Though what?" James raised an eyebrow, noticing the hesitation in Felicia's voice. Maybe, there was some dark side of their king that it wasn't safe to say aloud?

"Well, our king has ruled for a long time, and while everyone is grateful for his guidance, many are worried what will happen should something happen to him, especially since he has no heir."

"He doesn't have an heir?" James questioned, "I don't know how monarchies work in Amphibia, but on our world one of the most important priorities for all kings is to secure the succession bloodline." Two children at minimum so to have a spare, he added in his mind.

"Believe me, this is a topic that is dear to many eminent newts among the royal government and the nobility, and cause of concern among the population. However, our king always refused to find a partner, and now everyone fears it may be too late to address the issue."

"That's…extremely unusual," James pondered about it.

"Why, how different are the kings in your world?"

"Well, you see the thing is-"

"We don't have many monarchies left," Jacob intervened before James could come up with a good explanation. "Long time ago, the people of our world realized that kings tend to be at best self-serving despotic tyrants, so we started a thing called 'Revolution' and got rid of them. Nowadays, a few countries still have monarchies, like James' homeland, but the overwhelming opinion is that kings and queens are a thing of the past, like castles made of stone."

"You got rid of your kings?!" Felicia gasped, clearly feeling uneasy at the notion, "But then- how do you expect to rule yourselves?"

"Look, Mrs. Sundew, we have a thing called 'democracy' back home. To choose the leaders of our nations, or to make important decisions that involve everyone, we each cast a vote, and the side who gets the most votes is the winning one. Kind of like the time we voted Hop Pop to be Frog of the Year."

"So, you vote to choose your leaders? That sounds extremely…risky."

"That's extremely American." Jacob retorted, putting on sunglasses and prompting James to groan.

"Jacob, first of all democracy is not an American invention, contrary to what Twitter may claim, and second: you're not even American, you're Canadian!"

"Beers, guns and steaks, I was raised among them, Monsieur Homard."

"Bite me, Frenchoid daft!"

(…)

"Don't you get it, Mother?" The girl dressed as a ballerina said, looking at her own mother. "I know you want me to be a ballerina, but my heart belongs to hip‐hop. Are you disappointed?

"No, I'm proud of you. All that hipping and hopping was breathtaking."

"Oh, Mother."

"Oh, Mariah."

"And that is the masterpiece, From Pointe to Poppin." Anne said, trying to dry her own tears of commotion. "What do you think about it?"

"Well, talk about an emotional roller coaster." The young frog replied, looking down at Marcy, Sasha and Ivy, still engrossed with their own show. "Hey girls, are you sure you don't want to watch it?"

"Sorry Sprig, but I'm totally engrossed with this one right now!" Ivy replied, the screen of Sasha's phone depicting a noir crime anime show titled 'Spirit Detective', "And I want to see how the Syndicate is going to lose this time!"

"Plus, I remind you that we've both seen it before," Sasha reminded Anne, looking at her friend. "It's a magnificent movie, I agree with that, but…I think it hits a little too close to home for me and Mar-Mar."

"I-I guess it does?"The aforementioned dark-haired nerd added,"Sorry, I kind of do not want to think about that right now. Also," She took a big breath before letting go of something that had been on her chest ever since she learned it. "I'm still absolutely not over the fact that SASHAHASBEENANANIMEANDMANGAENTHUSIASTFORSOLONG-

"Mars, please! No need to drip enthusiasm everywhere." Sasha said, exasperated by her friend's action. This is also one reason why I didn't want you to know… she added in her head, trying to focus on the anime in front of her. She loved her best friends, but still…

"Sorry, It's just…I still cannot assimilate the idea we shared a common passion for so long!"

"I told you and Amelia; I had a reputation to protect. And besides-"

Yet, the dialogue among the girls (and Sprig) stopped as the Fwagon shook all of a sudden, like it had hit something, causing Sprig to fall on the floor and interrupting the show on Sasha's phone.

"Sprig! You all right, buddy?"

"I'm fine."

"What the heck is going on out there?" Sasha grumbled, as she rushed to the side window and peeked outside, Marcy, Ivy and Marcy right behind her. Anne emerged from the trapdoor on the roof while James, Jacob and Felicia looked out from the windows of the other carriage. Apparently, the road uphill was harder than the old frog assumed, and so Liptea and Bessie were having some problems pulling the whole weight of the Fwagon (and its passengers) up the hill.

"Come on, girls. Come on!" Hop Pop said, trying to encourage them. "I know you can do it!"

"Hop Pop, what's going on?" Amelia asked, while Akitsu descended from above and buzzing around the carriage, "Do you need help?"

"Can we do something?" Jacob offered, "If you want, we can hop off and push together."

"No need for that, we're… almost… there!"

Unfortunately, as Hop Pop kept pulling the reins and the two snails struggled to carry the weight of the two combined carriages up the hill, something had to give up. And with a powerful snap, something did.

"Oh, dang it!" Hop Pop lamented, as he realized what had happened. "The ding‐dang reins snapped!"

The Fwagon had now stopped, standing amid green, lush grazing grounds where large insects, similar in aspect to Earth's sheep (but with antennae, wings and arts resembling those of flies) grazed peacefully without apparent supervision.

And as soon as Bessie and Liptea noticed them, the two snails purred in cuteness and immediately chased toward the closest of the 'sheep-flies', carrying the whole Fwagon behind them, Akitsu buzzing behind them as everyone held on as best as they could.

"We gotta get these reins fixed or we can't control them!" Hop Pop said in panic, as he struggled not to fall off the coach.

"Don't worry, Hop Pop!" Jacob announced, crawling up to the driving spot with the map in his left hand. "According to the map, there's a town right down the road. We could stop there just for the time we need to fix the reins!"

"A town, here?" Felicia asked, raising her eyebrow. "What's it called?"

"Huh, it's written right here, you see?" Jacob showed them on the map. "Ribbitvale."

Is every place in Amphibia named like a pun? Sasha, Anne, and James exchanged a glance.

"Ribbitvale?!" Hop Pop protested, "The most expensive town in all Amphibia? No way!"

Unfortunately for the old frog, someone had already decided for him, and that 'someone' were Bessie and Liptea, the two snails stopping without warning in the middle of the grazing field, surrounded by several sheep flies, cuddling (and being cuddled) against the two large snails.

"Looks like we don't have a choice, HP." Anne stated.

"Guys, are you ok?!" Amelia said in a voice full of panic as she landed Akitsu right next to the Fwagon. "Is everyone hurt? How- oh my!" She gasped and squeal, as her eyes met the 'sheep-flies' "They're adorable!"

"My sister, the stoic and impenetrable samurai," Jacob chuckled as he rolled his eyes, amused by Amelia's behavior.

"Hop Pop," Felicia looked at him, "while I can understand the reasons as to why we should avoid Ribbitvale, I must point out that they'll surely have what we need to fix the Fwagon. There aren't many other inhabited places in the area where we could stop."

"And we still have the hands-me-downs we gathered back at Quarreler's pass, from all those bandits who tried to ambush us!" Sprig appeared at that moment, wearing one of the many bandit helmets they'd gathered inside. "Even if we sell them as scraps, surely they'll be worth something."

"You're right." Hop Pop sighed, before turning toward the kids, "But when we get there, don't get sucked in by the fancy. This also mean: hoodies and disguises for everyone!" He looked at the humans, "I don't want a repeat of the last incident we had, at Tummyweed!"

"You're still thinking about that?" Anne replied with an irked tone. "It didn't go that bad!"

"Anne, they tried to eat us." James reminded her, as he recalled the giant bowl of mayo they almost ended in.

"Sorry kids but Hop Pops right!" Felicia added, "You better keep your looks hidden, at least until we reach Newtopia. Sasha, you and Anne keep watch over Marcy while- where's Marcy?!"

"Oh, you're so cute!" Marcy petted the sheep-flies together with Amelia, Akitsu and the two snails. "Who's a widdle little girl? Who's a widdle little girl? Is it you? Is it you?"

"Marcy, get back here!" Maddie yelled at her.


The group pulled the Fwagon to the entrance of Ribbitvale. Jacob, Sasha, James, and Anne were pushing the first carriage while the others lured the two snails with fresh green leaves, stopping just in front of a big, fancy sign neoclassical style. It had golden ornamentations and two columns on either side with statues playing the trumpet each, and winged tadpoles as cherubs.

"The fanciest town in all of Amphibia," James chuckled, reading the sign. "They surely seem quite proud of that."

"Guys, look!" Polly pointed out, as everyone followed her indication, the humans and their families (minus Hop Pop and Felicia) gasping in wonder as they saw Ribbitvale with their own eyes for the first time.

Sure enough, the city around them held true to its title. The buildings were tall, imposing, and gleaming, with large windows and decorations of shiny metal, which reflected and amplified the effect of the sun's rays. Also of the same shiny material were the elements of street furniture, such as the bollards, street lamps for night lighting (a rare thing to see in Amphibia), and the pediments of the largest and most important buildings, many of them bearing the symbols of the city's most prominent families. The sidewalks were shiny and well cleaned, the streets were wide and well-maintained, and the policemen (whose hats and uniforms instinctively reminded James of those of British 'bobbies') looked serious and professional.

Even the city inhabitants looked as rich and fancy as their city. All people on sight wore luxurious-looking clothes, clearly harking back to the dressing way of French nobles during the Ancien Regime or mid-nineteenth-century English 'gentlemen', wearing oversized jewelry, traveling on high-class vehicles, and walking animals of prized breeds (one had a kind of giant golden lobster on a leash) yet there was no warmth in their faces, as they showcased snotty, uppity expression of condescension and elitism.

Quite the opposite of Wartwood, both in terms of richness and personality.

"This place looks like…Versailles," Jacob was the first to speak. "But…as a whole metropolis!"

"Is that… gold?" Marcy gasped, as she hurried to take out her Journal and immediately began to draw a sketch of the cityscape and scribble her thoughts. "They're using real gold to cover most of their own architecture? That's way interesting! Gold is a weak metal, so it can't sustain the infrastructure by itself, yet it's very versatile and it doesn't rust, compared to iron. Judging by the height of the buildings-" she trailed off as she once again fell in 'the Zone'.

"It's been so long since I saw so many top hats at the same time," James quipped. "Back in our world, no one wears them outside of England…or steampunk cosplays conventions."

"So shiny. So sparkly-" Polly said with an entranced voice, only for Hop Pop to spray her with water.

"Hey! Hey! I said, 'look away from the fancy."

"So, this is how rich frogs live?" Sasha looked around, taking photos of the city. "These snobs are so filthy rich they can afford to cover their houses with gold? I can't even imagine what the interior looks like."

"Sasha, weren't you born and raised in a rich family too?" Ivy raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, but we weren't so rich we could use gold for decoration!" The blonde human replied back. "Frog, imagine if the Box had sent us here!"

"Don't let yourself be deceived by the shiny looks, Sasha," Felicia admonished her. "What they have in material wealth, they lack in spirit. I know that from personal experience."

"Wait, is that something related to your past as an adventurer, mom?" Ivy quizzed curiously.

"Yes, Ivy. Would you believe I had a chance to settle and open my tea shop here? I had an offer from one of my patrons, a rich scion of a local family, he offered to marry me and raise the child I was expecting as his own, but in the end, I choose to stick to where I was born and…to be closer to my mom." She glanced at Hop Pop.

"You mean I could have been raised here instead of Wartwood?" Ivy's shock was palpable, "I could have been one of them too?!"

"Yeah, you would have been a stinking-rich Ribbitvale lady," Maddie said with a joking tone, "Taught how to eat properly or how to speak like an old woman."

"Oh yeah?" Ivy turned toward her before showing a reverence. "Dearest Maddie, would thou be so very kind to accompany me to dinner tonight?" She said in a proper Victorian posh accent, barely holding her laugh.

"I'm sorry my dearest friend," Maddie replied in kind, "but I have to be present at a very boring event about ceramics."

"I'll take that offer with utmost pleasure," Amelia joined in, "Truly, it'll be a nice change of scenery to enjoy your presence."

"What are you jesting upon?" Polly imitated them with a devilish smile on her lips, "Truly, it must be hilarious!" The four girls began to laugh wildly while Felicia rolled her eyes, hiding her own amusement at the scene.

"This place sure looks cool," Anne said, before looking at Sprig, "but I don't regret ending in Wartwood. We wouldn't have met any of you otherwise!"

"I agree, I'd choose Wartwood over this every time!" Marcy nodded, before adding. "Though, if it was a free choice, I would have probably preferred to end in Newtopia: can you imagine it? Working under the king, going on amazing adventures and dangerous quests?"

"Well, the upside is that we wouldn't have needed a long trip to get there," Jacob answered, "but I don't think I would have fared well in a city where they taught you that class stratification is right, and newts are worth more than toads or frogs just because they say so!"

"Oh, right," Marcy seemed to deflate for a second, her enthusiasm breaking down as once again the harsh reality was slapped to her face. "Yeah, I guess that's bad."

"Ok guys, how about we try to organize ourselves?" James said. "Hop Pop, you and Felicia go and search for the replacements we need to fix the Fwagon; Jacob, you and I go looking for someplace where to resell the bandits' stuff while the others are free to explore the city. We can-"

But his speech was cut short as James bumped into someone, both falling on the cold, hard surface of the sidewalk.

"Hey!" The frog who had bumped into him yelled, "Look where you're going, peasant!"

"Me? Why don't you- wait!" James gasped, as he recognized the voice. "One-eyed Wally?!"

The frog in question's eyes widened in horror, while a simultaneous double-take took place as everyone looked at him, clearly unable to believe the sudden twist. Sure, he was dressed in a fancy dress with a hat and lace, and his hair were all tidied and greased, but it was clearly him!

"Wally, what are you doing here?" Sprig asked in shock.

"And why are you dressed like that?" Ivy joined in.

"You didn't tell us that you were leaving the valley, you scamp." Anne nodded.

"Why didn't you tell us you were going here, we could have given you a ride!" Amelia almost yelled.

"Oh, um…" Wally muttered, only to be stopped when someone else spoke, approaching him.

"Walliam?" an older, cyan blue frog with slick back white hair and mustaches said. He was wearing upper-class styled clothing consisting of a dark gray jacket over a white shirt with waistcoat and gray pants fastened with a black belt, along with black boots with golden buckles and a silver top hat. He had a monocle over his right eye and had a curved cane on his left hand. And judging by his physical resemblance with Wally, he must have been a close relative of him. "You know these pungent common folk, do you?

"Uh, yes, Father." Wally said awkwardly, "I met them on my… business travels."

"Father?" Amelia gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Please excuse us for this unforeseen surprise, but we had no idea your son would be here, nor that we would end up meeting him," James walked forward, channeling all his British mannerism as he faced Wally's dad. "Allow me to rectify this by introducing myself and my… companions. I am James Blueingham, from Worcester; a loyal subject of the British Crown and representative of Earth, and these are my friends Jacob and Amelia Matthews, Sasha Waybright, Anne Boonchuy and Marcy Wu."

"Oh, you are? Then, why are you hiding your faces with such disguises? Show me your faces if you are who you claim!"

James nodded and, before anyone else could try to stop him, he removed his hood and showed his face to the older frog, his eyes widening in surprise as he saw James' human features, and everyone's else, as the six all removed their hoods and showed their appearances.

"You…you look so strange… and exotic." Wally's father could barely mutter, "I have never seen such creatures like you."

"We come from very, very far away." James nodded, before pointing at the rest of the group, "And these are our friends and companions, Hopediah Plantar and Felicia Sundew from Wartwood. They're with us."

"Oh, Wartwood. That's where you have those servants of yours and the exotic beasts you tamed, isn't that right Walliam?"

"Servants?" Felicia glared at Wally.

"Exotic beasts?" Jacob glared at well.

"Y-yes!" Wally could only reply, unable to look at the two, "That's right, Father."

"I suppose it's only fair that I introduce myself as well," the older frog nodded with a laugh. "My name is Wigbert Ribbiton."

"Wait, Ribbiton?" Hop Pop gasped in utter shock, eyes open wide. "As in Ribbiton's Ribbons? The finest web crusty floss in all of Amphibia?"

"That's us." Wigbert nodded with pride, "And when I retire, Walliam here will be head of the Ribbiton family's empire. Right, Walliam?"

"Right, Father." Wally (or rather, Walliam) answered. "Can't wait for…that." He sighed, Anne, Sasha and Marcy quickly noticed it.

"While I was sure my boy would achieve great things, I wasn't expecting for him to make such high-level connections this soon," Wigbert continued, turning toward James. "What great business brought you into our lovely city?"

"We were traveling to Newtopia but our carriage broke down, and we were looking to buy the replacements we needed to fix it." James pointed at the Fwagon.

"Oh, don't worry about it." Wigbert said with a smile, "My mechanics will make her right as rain in no time." He snapped his fingers, and in barely a second a crowd of small frogs, all dressed in fancy uniforms, came running and raised the whole Fwagon. Carrying the vehicle, the snails and Akitsu (who was lying on the roof) like they were almost weightless.

"Oh, mighty kind of ya." Hop Pop said with genuine appreciation.

"Meanwhile, you all will need a place to stay during your stay in Ribbitvale. You'll be joining us back at the mansion, of course?

"Mansion?" Everyone gasped at once, as Wally tried to interfere.

"Oh, no. They couldn't-"

"Oh, yes, WE COULD!"


As it turns out, 'mansion' was severely underrated it: it was more like a palace, built with marbles of the purest white and lavishly decorated with various golden features, surrounded by an expertly kept botanical garden, its limits defined by gold gates with elaborately designed carvings and frog figures at the top.

"Here we are." Wigbert announced as he walked inside, everyone following him. Jacob was the first to notice that, among the well-pruned trees and bushes, giant birds resembling peacocks wandered freely without apparent supervision or alarm.

"Are they-" James questioned.

"Some of my prize-winning birds." Wigbert replied, "Ever seen a frog torn in half by a peacock? Grizzly stuff."

"We know, we already had the misfortune to face some of Amphibia's birds on our journey." Jacob nodded, "Even a couple of herons."

"Oh, herons!" Wigbert gasped, with an expression of disdain. "Murderous, bloodthirsty monsters whose mere arrival can spell doom even for our largest communities! I surely hope you managed to escape them without too many losses!"

"We did," Anne said, sharing a glance with Sasha. Better not to reveal that she actually managed to kill them: it would raise questions that she wasn't sure she could answer.

"I am curious, how could you stroll among them with such confidence?" Felicia added, still feeling nervous as she kept looking around, wary that one or more peacocks might suddenly attack them. "Aren't you afraid they might attack you by surprise?"

"I have over-talented and over-paid tamers and trainers that kept them in check for me. Besides, I've learned that even the largest predators won't eat you if their bellies are already full."

Felicia nodded silently, yet she kept looking at the giant birds with a wary expression.

As they kept following Wigbert inside, the group could barely fathom the level of luxury that surrounded them. It was clear to everyone that Wigbert had to be one of the richest frogs in all of Amphibia, if not the richest. And the fact that his son was Wally, alias the local vagrant of Wartwood, was even more absurd.

"Here is where you'll stay." The rich frog said, pointing to a wide golden door, a valet standing to its side, "It's, uh, one of our smaller rooms but I genuinely hope it will be of your liking. I apologize, but the main guest room is taken, due to the…celebrations."

"Celebrations?" Hop Pop asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, all Ribbitvale is putting up a large party to celebrate Newtopia's first prince."

"First prince?!" Ivy, Sprig, Polly, and Amelia gasped at the same time.

"So, the Kingdom finally has an heir to the King's bloodline?" Felicia spoke with a happy, relieved voice. "That's good news indeed. When was he born?"

"Actually…we don't know." The valet muttered.

"Yes, his existence has come as a surprise to all of us, especially as the King still refuses to confirm the news and present him to the kingdom. Yet, many high-ranking individual, and trustworthy source, claim to have seen our next king as he was inspecting some of the local infrastructures in Les Flies, and thus, it is our duty to celebrate our prince."

"Les Flies?" James asked, thinking back to the gambling-dependent city and the Amphibian potion Marcy prepared for them, "We were passing through there not too long ago. This means we should have missed him only by a few days at most..."

"Truly? Oh, it's a shame." Wigbert took a deep breath, "Anyway, if you're going to stay in our beloved city at the time of the celebration, I'd recommend you all to participate and enjoy the festivity, as a tribute to Amphibia's new heir. Please enjoy your stay."

He walked away, the valet following him as he passed Hop Pop the key to the room. As they opened the door and gazed inside, the whole group (minus Wally, of course) gasped for the -nth time that day. The room, that Wigbert had claimed be 'one of the smaller', was actually huge. Two giant portraits, representing the same scene (a frog playing the banjo and leaning on some boom-shrooms, while a fly listened to the music) were hung on both the side walls; a king-sided bed to the right; a luxurious armchair on a corner, on the opposite side; a giant chandelier descending from the center of the ceiling and a stylistic stained-glass art piece, depicting a trio of dragonflies, on the window.

"Wow!"

"What the heck, Wally?"

"Oh, my!"

"This is…"

"I have to admit," Maddie said in her usual monotone voice, "this place looks quite cool."

"Quite cool?" Hop Pop was ecstatic, walking to the giant bed before flopping on it. "This place is magnificent!"

"Hey!" Sasha chuckled, seeing his reaction. "What happened to 'Look away from the fancy'?"

"It doesn't count if you don't have to pay for it!" The old farmer counterpointed.

"Hey, how about we do a little bit of exploring?" Sprig proposed. "I want to see what else there is in this place!"

"I'm coming with you!" Ivy immediately volunteered, as many others seemed to agree.

"What do you think, Jacob? Do you want to give a look on how the 1% of the 1% lives?"

"Right behind you, bro!"

"I'll go with you, guys!" Marcy raised her hand, "This place is so stunning! I could take inspirations for some of my RP plots and settings! Amelia, you're coming with us?"

"Sorry, but I'm going to check the stables. I want to check how Akitsu is doing and give her daily apple ration."

Soon, the larger group divided in smaller ones, Hop Pop, Sprig, Polly, Ivy, and Maddie going on the first, while Jacob, James and Marcy gathered on the second one, with Amelia flying solo, leaving Anne, Sasha, and Felicia alone with Wally, the fake vagrant having said barely anything since they arrived at the mansion, waiting for the inevitable to happen.

And as soon as the others left and Sasha turned to him, arms crossed and unimpressed expressions on their faces, it did.

"Dude, what the heck?!" Sasha almost yelled, "You're richer than anyone else in the valley and you live like a hobo? What is it, some kind of prank for you?"

"Sasha, while I understand your shock, I'd recommend for you to calm down," Felicia patted on her back, before turning to face Wally. "And you Wally, or I should say Walliam," the blue-skinned frog shivering as Felicia said his real name, "We've known each other for almost five years, and while I may have some… issues with your personal concept of hygiene, I never personally disliked you nor made fun of you, as many others in the Valley did. Frog, I even allowed you to pay with some plays of your concertina, back at my shop, because you claimed you had no money."

"And I, huh, really appreciated that-"

"But now, I find out not only that you're not a vagrant, but you're also the son of one of the richest frogs of Amphibia? A Ribbiton?!" Felicia's voice was filled with lack of understanding. "So, this is why you always disappear all the time? You're not in some drunken adventure, you go here with your father?"

"Yeah, dude!" Anne nodded, "I thought you were a fun-loving tramp, not some little rich boy!"

Wally looked down, rubbing his arm sadly as he began to confess. "The truth is… I live like a bum in Wartwood because, well, it's what I love. This life may look nice, but there are so many rules, I feel like I'm trapped in some kind of golden cage. When I am in Wartwood instead, I can be what I want to be, not simply what my family expect me to become." A tear began to fall from his always closed eye. "Moreover, if my family knew the real me, the one I am when I am in Wartwood, not this facade I keep when I come back to visit them, well, they'd disown me for sure!"

As Wally explained his reasons, Sasha took a step back, her anger dissipating as pity took its place, as she felt like she had just been stabbed to the heart. Wally had already helped her, back when they ended up lost in the forest and he helped her realize she couldn't let her past control her actions. But to find now that the blue frog's life in Wartwood was actually an escape from the many rules he had been subjected ever since he was a child?

By pure empathy, Sasha felt herself closer to the blue-skin frog than she had ever been. She too knew what it was like to be born and raised in a family rich of money, but devoid of any love.

"Just be honest with them." Anne told him, unable to see the shocked expression on Sasha's face. "Family always sticks by family, no matter what. Tell them the truth and I know they'll support you. Just like my favorite movie From Pointe to Poppin."

Oh Boonchuy, you sweet summer child, Sasha thought as she rolled her eyes behind Anne's back, you seriously have no idea how complicated a family situation can get, don't you?

"Anne, while I appreciate your attempt to help, I doubt those movies of yours should be taken as face value." Felicia retorted, "Though, I must admit that having two secret lives is not a satisfactory solution. What will you do if something like today happens, and you end up stumbling into someone who knows you from Wartwood? We can keep your secret, sure, but you have no guarantee anyone else won't try to milk this for its worth or use it against you. Moreover, what if your father comes to Wartwood, maybe to try and see how his own son is doing?"

"I have been lucky…so far." Wally said, as he slumped on the floor. "Between the high distance and the mountains, plus the little chance anyone from Ribbitvale would ever come to someplace like Wartwood, I felt safe no one would ever find out my secret. But… well, this is a thought that often kept me awake at night." He lifted the edge of a floorboard, pulling out a concertina hidden under it. "Sorry, I have to hide these around the house, or I'd lose my mind!"

"What about that time you told us not to care what people think about you?" Anne faced him, "You were the one that taught us to be confident in ourselves and not be enslaved by our own fears of other people's opinions. I was there, and Sasha too!" She looked at him right in the eyes, "Were you lying when you told us that? Or were you being hypocritical?"

"I wasn't, but… this is different. This is my family we're talking about." Wally lamented, "I really want to tell them but…I can't. Not now, at least."

"I still-"

"Anne," Sasha interrupted her friend, "while I can understand your desire to help, real life is very different from the movies we watch. This stuff is scary, especially when you know how badly they'll react if you tell them. Still, I do have a question for you, Wally."

"W-what is it?"

"My question is, what are you afraid to lose?" The blonde human turned to face him, "I mean, even if your family was to disown you, you'd still have your life in Wartwood, that you just said it's the one you love because you can be yourself."

"Indeed, that would be like a blessing in disguise." Felicia quipped, "This is the reason why you're so desperate to keep the secret. You're afraid of losing something that you can't have in Wartwood."

"Not something," Wally replied, "Rather, someone."

The three girls gasped at once, while Wally got back on his feet.

"Come with me and I'll show you." He turned around, only to slam in another portrait. "Meant to do that."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Of course."

"We can see that."

(…)

"Welp, we're lost." Polly groaned as she rested on Hop Pop's head, the group walking down a luxurious corridor with its ceiling and floor lavishly decorated, golden doors (each one with the 'R' of Ribbiton on it) and paintings covering the walls. "Probably going to be stuck here forever."

"Don't be so pessimistic." Ivy countered. "Okay, we went a bit off while exploring and now we have no idea where we're going, but this doesn't mean we're lost. We just need to find ourselves a way out."

"Oh, I know!" Sprig proposed, "Let's just open some doors at random. One of them got to be an exit."

"Not sure if this is a good idea, but since it is as good as any other…" Maddie nodded as Sprig walked to the nearest door and turned its knob… only to yelp and cover her eyes in a hurry, just like Sprig and Ivy, as she realized the door behind the door was a sauna, where a group of fat frogs were having a steam bath.

"Sorry!" Hop Pop apologized, covering Polly's eyes with one hand while he reached for the knob with the other "We're just‐ Carry on." He shivered, as everyone else did as soon as the door was closed once again.

The next door the group revealed a room where some frogs dressed in mask were attacking a chair with bats, piles of already-destroyed furniture surrounding them. A few seconds after that, another frog wearing a large dress and mask jumped on the chair, destroying it with a powerful kick before remaining stuck in the remains, as Hop Pop closed the door hurriedly, refusing to elaborate further.

Then, they came across a room where large peacocks, identical to the ones they saw in the garden around the mansion stood, seed and soil covering the floor, Maddie's eyes widening as she noticed a shorter figure standing among them, dressed in a cheap costume to make themselves look like a peacock while a strange, creepy carnival music filled the air. The figure turned, revealing to be another frog, a tired yet creepy smile on his face, as he raised a finger and make sign at them not to make any sound.

Tired as well, Hop Pop closed the door as the group walked away.

"Geez, rich frogs are weird." Ivy said, almost with a tone of disgust.

"Then, it is a good thing you grew up in Wartwood instead that here, don't you agree?" Maddie smiled at her, "Do you imagine how dull your life would have to be if you had to resort to such… entertainments to lighten it up?"

"Geez, now I'm going to see it in my nightmares tonight!"

(…)

"Just look at this place!" Marcy commented as she kept walking on the hallway, so focused on the arts surrounding her she wasn't paying any attention of where she walked. "You can probably fit all of Wartwood in there, even with the stone walls we were building!"

"I agree, I can't believe Wally's dad is loaded." Jacob replied. "Frog, you think I should check if he or anyone here requires the assistance of an adventurer? It could be a good occasion to make good money."

"We already made a lot of good money, with that stuff we took from the bandits." James counterpointed. "That guy Wally's dad recommended gave us thirteen coins."

"Thirteen coins only for all that stuff… I still say we got scammed!"

"They're not copper, they're golden coins! Their value is much higher! Once we put this on the Fwagon's treasury, we could easily pay our stay at Newtopia for the time we need to find more clues about the Box and how to get back home."

"That's if we don't need them to repay for something we may accidentally break or ruin." The boy in a Viking helmet said, looking around with a nervous expression, "Look how much expensive stuff there is here, I fear if I take one bad step I might end up breaking something too expensive to replace."

"Ah, come on, Jacob!" Marcy turned around and tried to lighten his mood, still walking as she, ironically, set toward disaster. "Look, I know you're worried about me, but as long as we pay attention to our surroundings and where we put out feet-"

"MARCY!" James yelled, yet his brain realized it was too late as the still-moving dark-haired girl ended up slamming frontally against a pedestal that supported a large porcelain vase of white and blue color, tipping it to the ground. As Marcy realized what she had done, Jacob launched himself forward, catching the falling vase before it could smash on the cold floor.

"G-got it."

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Marcy immediate began to apologize in a panicked voice. "I wasn't looking, I really wasn't-"

"And this is what people call 'tragic irony'." James grunted, helping Jacop to put the vase back on its place. "Seriously, Mar-Mar, the ol' 'priceless Ming Vase smashed' gag isn't even fun anymore!"

"It's not a Ming…" The girl replied, while still noticing the irony of James' words. She had seen some real Mings when she was younger, back at her grandma's place.

"Well, whatever it is," Jacob nodded, "it's clearly worth a lot. Hundred of golden coins, I bet."

"Thousand, actually," a new voice called out, the humans turning around to see an adult female frog, around the same age as Felicia, with reddish skin and long silver hair, tied up in a high, maze-like hairstyle, dressed in a luxurious pinkish muslin garment with large box pleats at the back that swept across the floor, a ribbons-decorated 'stomacher' on the front securing the bodice while a large necklace composed exclusively of ruby-red gems adorned her neck. To her side, a couple of step behind, a younger frog, but of the same skin and hair color, dressed in a pale white dress with ribbons on her chest and a single red rose just over her heart, stood silently. "That vase is an heirloom of Bactra Nix, one of the greatest artisans of the Triclassic Art School of Newtopia: I doubt things like that exist anymore."

"I…I'm sorry." Marcy resumed her apology. "I had no idea it was that precious."

"Oh, I doubt Wigbert would have even noticed its absence, he never liked it!" The adult frog continued with a chuckle. "Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Rosaria Scarlis, of the Scarlis household, friend and collaborator of Wigbert Ribbiton, and this is my daughter, Camelia. We came to invite Wigbert and his son for a small match, but I wasn't expecting to find…someone like you."

"Indeed," James took a step forward, "My name is James, and these are my friends Jacob and Marcy; we are acquaintances of Walliam. We were currently traveling toward Newtopia; unfortunately, our vehicle broke down and Walliam's father offered us hospitality until his mechanics will fix it."

"I see. Yes, that sounds just like Wigbert. Though I must admit I've never seen beings like you before. You're not from Amphibia, perhaps do you come from beyond the ocean?"

"Actually, we come from much further away," Jacob replied. "And as you can see, we are not Amphibians. Rather, we call ourselves humans."

"That's…extremely interesting." Rosaria's eyes seemed to lighten up as she heard that, while Camelia straightened her back. "Would you please accept my invitation for a small break? Me and my daughter" she looked at Camelia, who nodded simply, "would be extremely delighted to ask you more about your story… and you."

"I…suppose we can do it?" James asked, looking at his two friends. "So far, we were just exploring this place, and we don't have anything more important to do. For now, at least."

"Maybe we can ask you something in return?" Jacob proposed, "Our friend Marcy here, is very interested into writing down as much information possible about the towns and places we visit during our journey, so maybe we can exchange info?"

"Yes, I assume your family has been living in this town for generations, right?"

"Indeed, the Scarlis family has been part of Ribbitvale ever since its foundation," Camelia replied to Marcy with a pure smile, the human girl seeing the curiosity in her eyes. "We made it our mission, to record every worthwhile event in the city's history for future generations to come. What would you like to learn?"

(…)

"So, how are they treating you?" Amelia asked, looking at Akitsu, both the human and the dragonfly resting in one of the mansion's main stable-workshop were a team of high-paid experienced mechanics was going to start fixing the Fwagon.

"Bri-bri-bri-brè!"

"Oh, I see! Did they offer you one?"

"BRI! Bra-bra-bro bru-bru-bren bri-bro bra-bra-bu!"

"Frog, you did like those apples from here, don't you? Fine, I'll see if I can buy some to take with us for when we leave."

"Bri-bri-briz!"

"What do you mean, you expect to eat only those from now on? You can't eat them every day, or they would lose all the unicity."

"Bri-boz!"

"Look, I'll give you one after each important mission."

"Ah, it's such a pleasure to meet someone who share the joy of an animal companion," Amelia turned around to see Wigbert, a heartfelt expression on his face. "Though I've never seen someone before riding a dragonfly. Moreover, I've never seen a dragonfly like this, who can eat fruits."

"That's because Akitsu is not a dragonfly like any other," Amelia simply responded, while her 'companion' proudly displayed her wings. "She's a White Sky Dragonfly."

"A White Sky Dragonfly?!" Wigbert gasped. "The legendary bug whose legend said it could be the best mount in partnership with an expert rider?"

"Yup," Amelia nodded with a smug smile on her lips, while the rich frog kept gazing over the white dragonfly. "And she's not for sale, if that's what you're going to ask. Akitsu is my battle companion, my friend, someone who I can rely on at any time and who can trust me in return."

"O-of course!" Wigbert answered, almost 'disgusted' at the idea of trying to buy Akitsu. "I know it may not seem like it, but I know what it means to create a strong bond with your mount."

"You're a rider?"

"Beast Polo player, and I am quite good at it," Wigbert nodded. "It's one of the best joys I have left in my life, beside my son and the hopes I have on him. Something that helps me remember that I'm not a failure, you know?"

"I would hardly call someone who lives in such an estate a failure," Amelia raised an eyebrow, confused by the tone Wally's father was going. "You're the head of one of the richest families in all of Amphibia, you live in a mansion that looks like a palace, and you have many servants at your beck and call. How could anyone call this a failure?"

"I do, because no matter how rich a frog can be, to the real elite that lives inside the walls of Newtopia we may still be living on the ground floor." Wigbert assumed an irritated expression, looking outside of the stable-workshop, in direction of the capital city of Amphibia. "We have no say in how the kingdom should be ruled, we can't appoint representatives nor suggest new policies, even just for our city. And no matter how rich we are, the newt noble families from Newtopia will always look at us with nothing but contempt! We are forced to spend our lives in a gilded cage, using our fortunes just to satisfy our wildest fantasies and strangest entertainments, because to Newtopia we are nothing but a powerful revenue of tax money, and should we even dare to raise our voice, the Toad Army would come and punish us! To bow to the newts, I could understand, but to those brutes?! The only thing they know is to plunder and bully those who can't fight back!"

Wigbert stopped his rant, as he noticed that Amelia and Akitsu were still looking at him, eyes wide open, the human even gasping, so he quickly tried to 'fix' his own manners.

"I-I'm sorry you had to hear that. Please pay no attention, just the ramblings of an old frog…"

"No, I actually think that was quite interesting stuff." Amelia replied, "Back when we were in the Frog Valley, my friends and I found out the same thing, and eventually, fixed that."

"Fixed? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Mr. Ribbiton," Amelia said as another smiled blossomed on her lips, "did Wally ever tell you something about the Wartwood Militia?"

(…)

Meanwhile Anne, Sasha and Felicia had been following Wally into yet another of the estate's stables, where various portraits of prized bug-like creatures were hung above the door, to indicate which stable belonged to who.

"So much of my past is here." Wally said as he walked to one of the door, his hands moving to open it, "It would break my heart to leave it all behind. Girls, Felicia-" he opened the door, revealing a large blue ladybug with a pink bow behind her. "-meet Fiddle Leaf. I've been riding her since I was a wee tadpole."

"Ohh, she's adorable." Felicia said, raising her gaze to notice another portrait hung over the ladybug's room, depicting a younger Wally and Fiddle Leaf next to each other. They looked so innocent, and happy… in complete contrast with their current selves.

"So, she is the reason why you're so determined to keep the secret." Sasha realized, "You can't stand the idea of leaving her, because your bond is so strong that if you were to never see her again, you'd feel lost."

"And I know for sure Fiddle Leaf would feel the same for me," Wally petted the large ladybug. "I don't want to lose her, but… what can I do? As I already explained, if my father was to learn my secret, he would disown me, and I'd never see her again!"

"Have you considered running away together?" Anne raised her hand cautiously, "Sure, Wartwood may not be the best place for such a cute bug, but you'd be free, both of you would."

"Oh, I thought about it, many times already," Wally sighed, a tear falling from his still-working eye. "But not only am I the heir of the family's fortune, Fiddle Leaf is a prized exhibition ladybug and winner of many prizes already. If either of us were to disappear, let alone both of us, Father would hire many adventurers and mercenaries to search for us!"

"And once he does, it'll be only a matter of time before he finds you," Felicia rolled her eyes in realization. Yeah, Wartwood was quite isolated from the rest of Amphibia, but every adventurer worth their price would be able to follow the hints and find them, especially since Wigbert apparently knew of Wally's regular presence in Wartwood.

"Yes. And even if we have our issues… he's still my father. I couldn't do something like fake my death, it would break his heart!"

"Well," Anne spoke once again, "if you're not going to tell them, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Wally said with a groan. "Maybe if they could see how happy I am living in Wartwood, they'd understand and accept me for who I am." He said with an optimistic, hopeful look before the cold, harsh reality of his situation struck him once again. "Who am I kidding? Well, I better go get ready for the party."

"Right. The party…"

"Anne, no." Sasha spoke with an authoritative voice, putting a hand over her friend's shoulder. "I know that look of yours. You're not going to expose Wally's secret to his family just because you think this will help him!"

"But you heard him! He said that if they could say how happy he is at Wartwood-"

"He wasn't actually asking you to expose him, Anne!" Felica spoke as well, joining Sasha's side. "Look, I understand your desire to help him, but this is not helping."

"How so?"

"Boonchuy, not all parents are loving and supporting like yours. Loving, supporting parents that you're not afraid to tell them anything. Or having the fear of losing everything you had over something they deemed 'inappropriate'." Sasha continued, "Some can be…difficult to handle, and they're often not accepting of their own children's nature or desires. They try to force their own children to follow their dreams, not what they really want to do, just like… like my mom did."

Anne stopped, her eyes widening in horror, as Sasha was forced to relive the memories of her family, while Felicia rushed to comfort her.

"This is the main reason why I choose not to accept the offer to settle here, and instead I opened my shop in Wartwood," Felicia murmured. "I wanted for Ivy to grow in an environment where she was free to follow her dreams and expectations, not those of someone else."

"B-but…"

"And even if Wally wanted to tell the truth to his parents, we are not in the position to meddle." Sasha continued, looking at her friend. "Anne, how would you have felt if, back on Earth, you had some secret you didn't want your parents to find out and I ended up expositing it to them without your permission? Just because I thought it would 'help' you?"

"Why, I would have appreciated that!" Anne tried to defend her way of thinking, "If I had some kind of secret I didn't want them to know, of course."

"Well, there was the time you wrote all those fake reviews of your parents' place because you were angry they kept having you work in the kitchen instead of coming with me and Mar-Mar."

"I never published any of those fake reviews!" Anne panicked, as Sasha reminded her of a darker moment of her youth that she had tried so hard to delete from her memories. "Well, except one or two, but I took them down myself almost immediately!"

"Not fast enough for your parents not to see them." The blonde human mused, "Remember how angry they were? How do think they would have reacted if they ever found out it was their own daughter to put together so many lies? Oh, and how about the story about Mrs. Ramirez's car? Or when Darryl asked you out and you unwittingly broke his heart, assuming he was another of my exes? Or the time you wanted to go to that concert the same day we had a big test?" Sasha kept talking, while Anne's eyes and face kept filling with cold dread. "Oh, and let's not forget…" Sasha approached Anne, her mouth a few centimeters from her ear, her voice low yet carrying so much weight "…the 'Chocolate Strawberry Noodles' incident."

"SASHAAAA!" Anne looked around with nervousness, Felicia standing silently while the humans kept checking no one else was hearing them. "You and Marcy promised not to tell anyone! If my parents were to find what I did on that occasion, they'd-"

"-disown you?" Felicia quickly interjected. "Just like Wally would be if you were to expose his secret to his family?"

Checkmate, Sasha mentally said as she saw cold realization on Anne's face, as her friend finally understood the situation. "Look, Anne, we appreciate that you want to help Wally, but…this is not the best way to do it. And we can't simply interfere, unless Wally specifically asks us to help him."

"I…I see what you mean," Anne murmured in a low voice, as she could finally grasp how close she was to screwing things up (again). "Still, I felt bad for how Wally's forced to live two lives just because he must keep this a secret to his family."

"I know, but this is not our battle to fight," Felicia nodded, as she looked in the direction where Wally went. "This, is something he ought to do himself."

Gradually, aboard elegant carriages, the guests for the Ribbiton's party began to arrive, Wally and his father greeting them at the entrance and welcoming them with a warm smile that, in Wally's case, was fake, serving only to hide his true emotions.


As the guests were led into the immense ballroom, each of them could admire for themselves the splendor and pageantry of the event. Large tables covered with exotic appetizers and food cooked in extravagant ways, including a whole kraken boiled and topped with lemon garnished with a delicious sweet and sour sauce, and a cake of white and green colors, on which towered a marzipan decoration in the shape of a crown. The dessert symbolizing the new prince of Newtopia whose simple existence, although it had not yet been confirmed, was a cause for joy and celebration for all social strata on the continent. Elegant and refined music, played by a group of artists hired for the occasion, filled the air with delightful notes, as did the scent of countless floral bouquets arranged in strategic order throughout the room.

Normally, the focus of the event would have been on Walliam, Wigbert's enterprising young only son, returning from one of his long business trips. Yet, today there was another subject for the gossip, the details of which were being passed from mouth to mouth as new guests arrived. Apparently, Walliam had become acquainted with strange, mysterious creatures from afar during his travels. Those creatures, with their huge heads and slender limbs, were present at the party, obviously generating keen interest in the super-wealthy and over-jaded inhabitants of Ribbitvale.

"…for this reason, my friends and I are currently headed to Newtopia, where we hope to get an audience with King Andrias." Amelia finished her narration, looking at the small crowd of frogs surrounding her, all dressed in quite luxurious clothes and wearing highly elaborated masks that covered their eyelids and parts of their faces. She too was dressed for the occasion, wearing her fashionable purple kimono with white flowers decorations, seashell in her hair and obijime on her waist. And like the other guests, she held a mask on her face: instead of her blue oni battle mask, however, the young samurai wore a neutral mask, with a gem decoration over her right 'cheek' (courtesy of Mr. Ribbiton).

"My my, that's quite an ordeal you're going through." One of the frogs, a lady with an extravagant hairstyle, said. "Though I'm still quite surprised that creatures like you exist, beside Amphibians. What was the name you said earlier?"

"Human, we are called human beings." Amelia spoke slowly, underlining every letter to make sure they wouldn't ask her to repeat herself again, while she looked at the distance, to a larger assembly of partygoers surrounding Jacob and James, the two boys dressed in similar tuxedos (Jacob's was pitch black, while James' one was pure silver) and wearing masks representing respectively a raven and a heron.

"-and that's how you tell off a chap!" James finished his story, everyone laughing to the punchline, some female frogs around him swooning in attention. Sure, he was not an Amphibian, yet this didn't dissuade them, rather it made him feel even more…interesting in their eyes. And his way of acting and behaving, worthy of a true English gentleman, didn't take long to breach through their initial diffidence.

"Way to go, James Tond," Jacob chuckled, amused by the success his bro was having. "You know how to play the philander!"

"What can I say, people easily fall for a real gentleman."

"To tell the truth, I am more interested in your beast companion, the dragonfly." An older frog, who had introduced himself earlier as one of Wigbert's Beast Polo friends, asked to Amelia. "How did you find and tame such a fabulous creature?"

"I didn't tame her, I befriended her, build a bond made of trust and respect as she grew up. As for how we found each other… she was given to me, by someone I hold dear." Amelia moved her gaze beyond her 'guests', searching for the others. Hop Pop was dressed in a dark red suit with a waistcoat, sitting near an old nobleman frog, almost his age, as he kept narrating some story of interest. Polly and Ivy were chatting with a small crowd of old aristocratic frogs, dreadful expressions on their faces, apparently working together to escape the smothering they were subjected to. Felicia, with a nice white-and-red dress that combined perfectly with her hair, was turning her back from some kind of commotion, the sharp-dressed frog lying on the ground and his swollen cheek clear hints that he may had tried to woo the veteran adventurer, only for her to feel offended by his actions and reacted accordingly. As for Maddie…

"So, you're a spell caster?" One of the girls who were surrounding Maddie, all around her age and listening with great curiosity to her words. "A REAL spell caster? We thought such art had been lost for years!"

"A self-taught one, but yes. And yet, I'm still quite skilled at it." Maddie replied, dressed in a black dress with a mask representing a kill-a-moth. "Of course, many rumors about magic are not true, no matter what 'everyone' may think."

"You mean that not all Dark Arts users are evil and using magic to hurt people?"

"No! Magic is not inherently good or evil, it can be used for good or for evil depending on who the spell-caster is. And this is one lesson I've strive to live up to ever since I started to teach myself about the wonders of magic: never curse someone unless they do deserve it!"

"And…did you ever faced someone who you reputed deserved to be cursed?"

"Sadly yes. It was another spell-caster, a spoiled and petty frog who used magic to put curses on other people for third parties in exchange of payments, a complete subversion of what magic stands for. I-"

"Announcing!" One of the valets at the great door suddenly said aloud, gathering everyone's attention "Lady Savisa Anne Boonchuy and her companion Sprig Plantar, lady Elizabeth Sasha Waybright, lady Regina Marcy Wu, from Les Angles!"

That's Los Angeles, you idiot! Jacob mentally suppressed the need to facepalm (and ruin the mask he was currently wearing) as the servant predictably botched the presentation. Also, who the frog says the middle name first? Now everyone is going to think that's their real names!

At least, as the three humans who were already participating to the party focused on the upper end of the stairway, the girls' entrance was nothing less than grandiose. Anne was dressed in a brilliant crystal-blue gown with a skirt of gem-studded fabric and elegant velvet gloves on both hands. She had a diamond necklace around her neck, a pair of pale, luminous stone earrings ('moonstones' as they were called) and a tiara (also made of diamonds) on her head, keeping her hair in a classic ponytail-like fold. With her right hand, she held an elegant fan, which she waved calmly as she descended the staircase in slow steps while, with her left hand, she held with Sprig, the young frog also dressed in a white suit with shoes and tie, almost valet-like.

To the left was Sasha, the blond girl now dressed in a lovely fiery red dress, with two continuous rows of bows running down either side of it. Just like Anne, she also had a set of jewelry; a pendant with a large ruby set in it around her neck, gold earrings on her ears and a large ring with a pink stone on her right index finger. Her hair was once again tied in her usual ponytail and she moved slowly, almost like she feared damaging the fabric of her clothes.

Finally, to Anne's right it was Marcy, the cute nerd wearing a long pinkish dress with many ribbons and glowing gems encased in the gown and over her chest. Her frog-shaped pendant was around her neck and long transparent bands of pinkish fabric were covering her arms. Her hairs were tidily done and filled with many small gems whose light among her pitch-black hair made them resemble stars in the night.

All of them wore masks over their faces, decorated either with smaller gems or petals of colorful flowers, and all of them looked beautiful and ethereal, like…

like the three sisters princesses of the castle, Jacob though as she remembered that adventure they went through.

"Ugh!" Marcy grimaced, murmuring with a low voice. "Now everyone will think my name is Regina!"

"Hey, you think I'm happy of being called Savisa?" Anne countered, trying to brighten up her friend's mood. "Still, it's just for a day, we can endure it!

"I'd say, Wigbert was extremely generous when he provided these clothes for all of us and in so little time." Sasha once again looked at the dress she was wearing, knowing it would be worth a small fortune. "Are you sure he's okay with us keeping them after we depart?"

"Of course, you heard him earlier, did you? 'I'm just making sure my son's guests are properly dressed for this great event'. Plus, I don't think there is anyone he knows that may fit in our measurements."

"I already promised Hop Pop I wouldn't damage my suit," Sprig murmured. "He said that he wants to keep it for…other future occurrences."

"Oh, so…" Anne teased him, "who are you going to ask to dance? Ivy or Maddie?"

"I'm dancing with both, of course! There is no rule that says I can't do it!"

"Yes, but who will you dance first?"

The young frog's mind stopped suddenly, as he felt the gazes of Marcy and Sasha over him, both girls hoping he would choose the one they hoped for (Ivy for Sasha and Maddie for Marcy). And as he saw both of them among the crowd, dressed in those clothes…

Maddie…Ivy…Maddie…Ivy… Frog, I've never been so choice-paralyzed in my whole life! He realized, unable to make this choice related to this new 'polyamorous' relationship situation he was now, silently hoping for something, anything that could save him from making a choice while also sparing him from whatever reaction they (plus Marcy and Sasha) may unleash onto him.

And something did happen. Only, not what he was actually hoping for.

"Help!" The music interrupted suddenly, and everyone reacted in shock and horror, as they saw yet another servant, dressed in a gardener outfit, rushing from the outside, carrying another unconscious servant on his arms. "M-master Wigbert!"

"By frog, Menele!" Wigbert rushed forward, Wally at his side, Jacob, and James (the ones who had been the closest of the group to the poor frog) watching the scene with shock, wondering what was happening, while many of the guests took several steps forward, apparently unable (or unwilling) to provide the poor soul with any kind of assistance. "What happened? It was the Peacocks?!"

"No, sir!" The gardener frog lamented as he dropped on the floor, painting heavily, his companion alive but still unconscious. "The mansion… we are under attack! They're taking away your Peacocks!"

"My peacocks?" Wigbert's voice was now a mix of anger and shock, as he knelt over the body of his servant, the joyful mood of the event completely gone now. "Who are they? Who's attacking us?!"

"It was…toads, sir," he said after a deep breath, his eyes as the adrenaline rush worn off, and tiredness took over his limbs. "Toads of an army I've never seen before, carrying banners with a hand for its symbol, and helped by huge monsters made of metal."

Wally gasped, his eyes widening in horror as he searched for the gazes of the six humans and their friends, everyone among the crowd who knew about his secret and had come from Wartwood.

Everyone who, like him, remembered the only enemy who wielded metal monster among his ranks.


The rest of the servants were quickly to reorganize, as the various guests were lead away to safety in the deepest, most secure interiors of the huge mansions while Wigbert, accompanied by Wally, the Fwagon's group and a couple more (namely, those who either refused to join the others to safety or wanted to fight the invaders head on) rushed back to the entrance, just in time to witness the utters massacre that was happening among the gardens.

Aiden's army was raiding the Ribbiton mansion, the gardeners and other servants runningfor their lives whilethose who couldn't (or wouldn't) were captured or slaughtered by a horde of Toad soldiers, making their way through any apparent resistance they met. Among them, were also huge four-legged mechanical monsters, resembling the appearances of scorpileos, who hunted the giant peacocks, surrounding them and forcing them to move by releasing some kind of flammable liquid (probably held on the large tank on their back) through their tails to divide and terrorize them. The gigantic birds were forced to run, their panic making them easy prey for the toads, who used another mechanism to tie together their beaks before leading them away.

And Wally's horror eventually grew as he looked all over the gardens and saw a couple of carriages still burning, hit by a blast of one of the mechanical scorpileos. His home had been attacked, the people he knew, his friends, his family was now in danger, all by the hand of the same monster who had manipulated Captain Grime and his toads to attack Wartwood a long time ago, in attempt to destroy it.

"Aiden."

"Who's Aiden?" Wigbert gasped, looking at his son with wide eyes. "Walliam, what do you know?"

"Long story, Mr. Ribbiton." Felicia said, peeking from their hiding place, as she saw some more servants being cut by Aiden's toads, her hardener adventurer's mind taking over. "You want a short version? He's an evil, manipulative schemer who already tried to destroy both Toad Tower and Wartwood with his lies and cruelty."

"He's a human, like Anne, but not a good human!" Sprig yelled in fear. "An evil human! He wanted to force Anne to marry him!"

"He what?!" Rosaria's face twisted in an expression of horror.

"Sasha and Marcy too!" Ivy added, "He wanted to kill all of us, and that we didn't deserve be alive!"

"Walliam, did you…did you face such a being on your travels? Why didn't you tell me anything?"

"Well…" Wally struggled, trying to come up with some good logic to explain his own actions without revealing his secret. He knew that, if his father would get the idea that Wartwood had become dangerous, he would have forced him to never leave ever again, or worse, he could have dispatched one of his investigators, and his free life as a social outcast would be over.

"He didn't want to make you worry, Mr. Ribbiton," James intervened, giving Wally the words he needed to explain himself. "Besides, as you can see, Aiden is not that kind of enemy that is restrained to one place only. And he can't be reasoned or bribed."

"What does that mean, he can't be bribed?" One of Wigbert's friends protested, clearly feeling uneasy to keep his head down, "Everyone has their own price! You just need to up your offer until-"

"Aiden is not the kind of enemy who's willing to back down just because you're offering him a fortune!" Jacob exploded, his emotions taking over. "He's not driven by greed; he's driven by hate. The only thing a frog can give him, that he values, is their own life!"

"Wha-"

"Believe us, we have faced him before," Marcy murmured, while struggling to fish off the traumatic flashback she (and by association, Sasha and Anne) had been experiencing ever since that servant brought the news that the mansion was under attack, her eyes gazing over the mechanical scorpileos razing all over the mansion's garden. They were so different, yet at the same time so similar to the two giant robot soldiers that Aiden had unleashed on Wartwood that night, and that's without even recounting the hideous metallic eagle the evil prince had escaped with after the battle. How many kinds of robotic nightmares did he have up his sleeves?

Yet, that was a question that could be asked later, as she once again looked upon the battleground, and she saw the last peacocks being led away while the toads kept running behind the routing servants, and were now moving toward the mansion building.

"Frog, they're attacking us!" Anne gasped, realizing the dire situation, "What are we going to do now? We have no weapons to defends us, and-"

"No weapons? Try again!" Sasha countered, taking out a hidden dagger in her ponytail and another hidden under her gown. "I knew I would need them!"

"Wait, you brought hidden weapons to the party?!" James gasped…before cutting off his own outfit's sleeve ends, revealing the gadgets he had hidden inside of them. "Man, I thought I was the only one!"

"Dream on, bro!" Jacob snickered, taking out his jacket to reveal the gunpowder storage under it. "I wished I could have hidden my hammer, but these are fine too! Mar-Mar, do you still have your crossbow?"

"Only always!" The dark-haired ranger spellcaster smiled, as she proudly took it off from its hiding place and put it back on her wrist.

"Wait, did you seriously have weapon with you all the time?!" Anne was unamused. "Was I the only one who didn't have anything?"

"Don't worry, Anne!" Sprig volunteered, shoving off her tennis racket, who he had (somehow) managed to hide inside his own outfit. "I brought your own!"

"And I brought for everyone!" Felicia announced with a smirk, as she tore off part of her own dress to reveal a short hammer (for Hop Pop), a flail (for Polly) and some small swords and daggers (for Ivy, Maddie, and herself) "Come on, kids! First come, first served!"

"Maddie, you want to choose first?"

"No need, Ivy, I brought my own," the spellcaster frog revealed several spell bags hidden in her costume as well.

"You know, I should probably take offense at the fact that my guests all disguised weapons at the party, but considering the situation, I think I should actually be grateful you did!" Wigbert said, once again eyeing the invaders to his mansion's ground. "So, do you have a plan, I suppose?"

"Of course!" Sasha replied, as she hurried to take off her fancy shoes. "Ok guys, our first task is to stop the toad's assault and give time for those servants and other frogs trapped outside to reach to safety inside. Hop Pop, Felicia, Ivy, Sprig, Maddie, and Polly, you're the mansion defense. Establish a perimeter around the mansion and repel any toad or robotic monster that may come too close!"

"Don't worry, Sash!" Ivy proudly said, "No one will pass through us!"

"Ready to smash!" Polly roared, waving her mace around.

"Looks like today is a good occasion for a…field test," Maddie smiled evilly, clutching the spell bag in her hand.

"Marcy, find yourself an elevated position, eyes on everywhere. I want you to analyze the enemy's strategy and come up with ways for us to counter them. Call out patterns and strays."

"Understood Sash!"

"Amelia, you're on perimeter patrol. Any metal beasts that get too close to the house you turn it back or you turn it to dust!"

"That's my kind of plan," Amelia smiled smugly as she unsheathed her katana, a couple of frogs gasping as they did. "By the power of Yamato!" She yelled, the light of the sun sparkling on the blade, ""Akitsu, I summon you!"

Two seconds passed, three at most, before the giant dragonfly arrived, buzzing loudly as she hovered before them, Amelia quickly jumping on her back. "Come on, my friend, we need to-"

"Wait!" Wigbert suddenly said, as he and Wally came closer. "Could you…give us a lift?"

"We are not going to stay idle and watch while you risk your lives to protect us," Wally said, "but we're not sure we would be good on foot. If you can bring us to the stables, we can free our mounts and…join you in the battle."

"And not just them!" One of Wigbert's friend, the one from before, said with a note of pride. "Just give us mounts, and we'd gladly support you at best of our abilities!"

"But you have no training!" Felicia tried to counter, "Are you sure you want to expose yourselves like this?"

"We have our experience as Beast Polo riders, and we know how to avoid hit without being hit in return." Wigbert said with a voice full of determination, "Plus, there is no way any of us would renounce a chance to assist the great Felis the Red in battle." He concluded, Felicia gasping as they hadn't given her any hint they had recognized her until now.

"Looks like they really want to be in," Amelia snickered, before looking at Wally and his dad. "Come on then. Jump aboard, polo crusaders!" Akitsu waited until both frogs were safely on her back before buzzing forward, flying fast enough to avoid being hit by the enemies under her.

"James, those people still outside need cover to reach the mansion without being targeted." Sasha said, resuming the explanation of her strategy, "Can you provide it for them?"

"You know I can!" The British teen rushed to the battlefield, grabbing a couple of gadgets for his own uses.

"We will instead focus on the worst threat," Sasha gazed to Anne and Jacob, "We must neutralize as many of these robots as possible, or at least, prevent them from hit our allies, with every means necessary!"

"Wait," Anne gasped, realizing the meaning of the last sentence. "Do you mean…"

"You know I do. Jacob?"

The boy grinned, closing his eyes as he began to repeat the mantras he composed himself, the girls imitating him while the other frogs who had been watching (those who weren't in the confidence) were left in shock, their eyes widening and their mouth open agape as they saw raw energy beginning to cover their bodies, filling their eyes, their fur and dancing on their fingers.

"When peace is lost, when suffering has come,

let all evil be undone.

Accept your emotions and join our fight,

Heart conquers it all, BELIEVE IN THE AZURE LIGHT!"

"For everyone who can't stand up and fight;

For those who are alone and lost in the night.

Never again tyranny on you would befall,

Strength is here, TO PROTECT YOU ALL!"

"In the struggle of day, in the fear of night,

Make no enemy escape my sight,

Let's remember, to anyone who fight,

To never yield hope – FOR COURAGE BURNS BRIGHT!"

Rosaria and Camelia could barely suppress their reactions as they saw the human's bodies fill with mystic energy, blue, pink and yellow in colors, as they rushed forward, charging the mechanical monsters of this 'Aiden' while their 'friends' quickly organized to protect the palace, they and everyone else who couldn't fight being directed back to the safety of the inner rooms of the Ribbiton mansion.

Some frogs were shocked by what they had seen, others were elated, for their protectors to reveal such abilities. While Rosaria and Camelia were none of the above.

"Mom, was that-"

"Let's just wait and see, my dear," Rosaria shushed her daughter, as her mind once shifted to the one thing she excellent at best: scheming.

"Just wait and see."

(…)

The battle on the ground of the Ribbiton Mansion had been going on for twelve minutes now, and already both sides had trapped each other in a deadlock. On one side, the toads and the mechanical scorpileos supporting them had been unable to create an opening to attack the mansion, where all of the Ribbiton's guests were gathered, as the three Calamities were quick to coordinate with those protecting it (beside Hop Pop, Felicia and their families, several other guests who had decided to join the defense instead of hiding in the inside) and with the 'formation' led by Wigbert and Wally (himself riding on Fiddle Leaf) to focus on every enemy who got too close to the perimeter, with Marcy using her Calamity-boosted brain to coordinate a strategy among them and Amelia acting as their de-facto messenger

Unfortunately, the same could be said about their opponents: the metal scorpileos were fast, agile, and apparently able to plan on the spot, as the humans found out whenever they tried to attack one of them. If they attacked straight-forward, the other robo-scorpileos would come in assistance of their endangered brethren, moving around the Calamity-powered kids and harassing them while the first one pulled himself to safety; if they tried to separate it from the others at first, one or two would immediately push to the mansion once again, forcing them to disengage and re-focus on the building defense. Meanwhile, the toads who had been fighting had proved themselves to be cunning and able to react fast, as Wally and his father had found out when they tried to charge them. It was pure luck no one got seriously hurt.

"This situation is…not optimal," Marcy said, as she kept overlooking the battleground, the Calamity Power flowing in her veins make the whole world around her look green and slow, her right hand raising as she shot yet another dart of her crossbow, hitting its target with millimetric precision. "That's strange, however. The enemy doesn't seem too much keen on breaking through our defenses. Rather, it seems like they're more focused on losing as little blood or robots as possible."

Could it mean that Aiden did care about his own troops? Or maybe, whatever he could get from ransacking the mansion wasn't worth the loss of such soldiers?

"Marcy!" A voice yelled, the girl knowing without turning back that James had joined her side, "How's the situation?"

"The enemy doesn't seem like it's going to reckless charge, sign that either they value their troops, or they can afford to waste time to save resources." The dark-haired girl simply said, "I was actually believing they'd be in a rush, but… they're moving like they expect no reinforcements on our side!"

"I guess that may explain why we haven't received any news from Ribbitvale yet," James realized with a sour mood. "Rosaria and Camelia made several attempts already, but either these guys managed to neutralize it-"

"-or more realistically, what's happening here happened to the rest of the city too." Marcy finished with a sour tone, trying her best not to think about what was of the people who weren't invited to the party, and thus, were able to be safe when chaos erupted. "How are Anne, Sasha and Jacob holding up?"

"They're good, at least for now. But the more the keep fighting, the more their powers keep draining their energies. Unless something changes fast, we'll have to fall back and use the mansion's own architecture for our defense." And that would mean increase the risk for all the frogs holed inside.

"Maybe I should go down and join them," Marcy murmured, turning her head slightly to look at him, "Beside them, I'm the only one who had managed to activate my own Calamity powers already, thus-"

Yet, distraction could be a harsh mistress, as both she and James were to find out. As Marcy turned around to look and James, three large scorpileo-bots noticed a gap in their adversary's formation and taking advantage that both Anne and Jacob were too far away to provide support, they pushed on, attacking the formation of polo riders-turned-mounted fighters led by Wally and his father, their metallic fangs and tails releasing every last drop of flammable liquid they still had as Sasha noticed it and launched herself forward, trying to hit them before they could hit her allies.

The combatants clashed, Sasha hitting the first scorpileo on the side of its head, punching it hard and breaking the mechanism with all the strength she still had, yet the mechanical beast's inertia was too strong and it crashed onto Wibgert's mount, a giant red stag beetle, crushing it in an instant while the rich frog was thrown into his own son, trapping them both (and Sasha) in the remains of its metallic body while Fiddle Leaf buzzed away, flying away behind the scattered remains of Wigbert's companions, routed by the sudden apparent 'loss' of their leader and the flames of the other two metallic scorpileos.

"Dad, are you ok?"

"I'm-" he coughed, "I'm fine, my son. I'm not going to leave you alone, not now at least! Miss Waybright, what about you?"

"I'm…unhurt," Sasha said, lying on the ground as she felt her power sapping away. "But I think I reached my limit. I can't use my powers again until I've rested."

"Sash!" Anne's voice came from the outside, the resident cook daughter of restaurant owners peeking in. "Are you ok?"

"I am, we all are!" The blonde human girl said, internally happy that her last-ditch effort spared Wally from losing his own father figure. "Only, my powers are out, and without them, I can't open a way out."

"Don't worry, I think I got this-" Anne said, but the roar coming from her left and the followed attack from one of the remaining steel monsters forced her to change idea. "Agh! Get off! Ok, let's say I'll free you after I'm done dealing with this!"

"No hurry, take your time." Sasha rolled her eyes, and in her bowels she knew it would be a long time before she and the two Ribbiton would be able to get out of this situation."

"Dad, I was so scared for a moment, I thought I'd lose you forever!"

"Come on Walliam, it takes more than some nasty monster made of metal to off your old frog. Though to tell the truth, I've never had so much fun before while fighting them! If those things are commonplace in Wartwood, I should come and visit you sometimes, and-"

"No!" Wally gasped, before realizing he had made a tactical mistake, as Wigbert looked at him with an hurt expression.

"Walliam, what? Don't you want me to come and see you?"

"I do, but…" he trembled, while Sasha raised her head to get a better view of the unfolding event. "There is…something I need to tell you, dad. It's not something easy for me to say, and if I must be honest with you, I am a little scared of what your reaction may be… Sasha, could you please give me a hand to help me explain myself?"

Sasha grinned, putting herself in a sitting position and taking out a notepad and a pencil. "It would be my pleasure, friend."

(…)

"Ghoz, transmit the signal to the troops to stop the attack and fall back," the commanding Toad, dressed in a light armor of fur and leather with a large metal plate over his chest, the symbol of the Army of the Hand impressed on it, ordered to his closest subordinate. "It's time to retreat."

"Retreat?!" The subordinate yelled, apparently not used to hear that sentence, "We've managed to take down one of their Light warriors! We should press on the attack and break through their defenses, not run away like cowards!"

"We've already got what we've come here for, and our brothers from Ribbitvale reports they have successfully fled the city. We are the only ones left." The former bandit boss looked over the vicious metallic monsters who had been sent to support him and his 'troops. Sure, they were powerful allies for now, but what if someday Lord Aiden would turn them against them?

He wasn't sure that was a fight he wished to see.

"Boss, you've gone soft ever since you pledged fealty to that Rehys! Look at that house, untold riches must be inside! The old boss would have never passed over such an opportunity!"

"Well, the 'old boss' you keep talking about would have gutted you the second you started to undermine his authority! Now, either you do as I said and transmit my order, or I'll find a replacement who can!"

Ghoz walked away, still grumbling between his teeth about the 'lost opportunity', dumb fool. He didn't realize, or probably was too stupid to see the real reason why his boss didn't want to waste blood nor time to take over the mansion.

He too knew, what would have been the consequences, if even one of Lord Aiden's future maidens were to be hurt by their own actions…

(…)

To the humans and the other defenders' surprise, the toads and their metallic scorpileos withdrawal happened incredibly fast, the toads interrupting every attack and marched back to the north, their mechanical allies standing on the defensive the time they needed for them to retreat before departing as well, leaving behind the lone remains of their destroyed brethren, where Sasha, Wally and Wibgert were still imprisoned. Amelia and Akitsu had tried to follow them, but the flames of a couple of still half-full canisters and the required help of all available in the end forced them to give up and return to the mansion, where the servants and the guests were working together to pull themselves together. Some among them had been wounded in the attack and were receiving medical assistance and healing spells respectively from Felicia and Maddie, while Anne and Jacob, working together, were opening a path to get Sasha, Wally, and his dad out of their current predicament.

"Almost there…got it!" Jacob yelled, as the last piece of metal crumbled on the ground, opening the way beyond it.

"Sasha, are you ok in there?"

"Never been better, Boonchuy!" Sasha came out and so did Wally and his father, both showing happy and elated expressions. "Actually, I think Wally here has some good news he wishes to share."

"I had some time to talk with my dad and… I told him about me. About my life, in Wartwood."

"You did?!" Anne gasped, "Sash, weren't you the one to tell me I had no right to get myself involved?"

"I did. But unlike you, I didn't barge myself in the situation, I only got involved after Wally specifically asked for my help." The blonde girl quickly explained, "Plus, what I did was only to mediate among the parts, to help Wally explain himself to his father."

"At first, I thought he wanted to leave his family behind, but to be able to be himself? I suppose I can live with that. After all…" Wigbert added, "I used to deal with the same issues when I was younger."

"No way, you led a double life too?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Kiddo, I was young and carefree too once. Before I had to replace my father as head of the family, I was quite a catch as a traveling musician. I used to love playing the jug, but I gave it up a long, long time ago… Oh, all right. You got me." He opened a hidden stash in the ground, revealing several jugs hidden under it.

Wally gasped. "You've been holding out on me!" He smiled, before moving to Anne's hair and pulling out a concertina hidden inside it.

"Wally, how long has that been there?"

"A season and thirteen chapters, at least!" He explained, before looking at the six humans. "Thanks, guys, for everything."

"Wait, but…what about the others who were taken away?" One of the youngest guests said, ruining the joyous mood as everyone was reminded of those kidnapped by the toads.

"And what about the ones who were still at Ribbitvale?" Another asked, his face pale in fear. Everyone in the crowd had someone, either relatives or friends, who hasn't been with them at the party, and thus, whose situation wasn't known. Were they taken away, like those who were caught by surprise by the Toads? Or worse?

"Don't worry about them." Marcy said, her face full of determination, "We'll find them and bring them home safe."

"Marcy's right!" Jacob nodded, clutching his fist. "As soon as we'll arrive to Newtopia, we'll make sure to inform King Andrias of what happened here, and we'll ask General Yunan to come and rescue those among you who had been kidnapped."

"Then I'll surely wish for you good luck for the rest of your journey," Wigbert said as he lowered his jug. "Though, seeing how easy the enemy has been able to wreak havoc in our beautiful city it does force us to reconsider the matter of our own safety. And from what my son had been able to tell me, you did already have an idea on how to deal with this danger."

Wigbert looked at Anne, and everyone focused on the humans.

"Could you please tell us everything you can share aboutthe Wartwood Militia?"


"I can't believe Wally's dad got the idea of setting up his own group of defenders for Ribbitvale," Anne said, while the group was back in the Fwagon, leaving behind the 'fanciest town in all of Amphibia'. Hop Pop and Felicia were inside, so she had been tasked with taking Bessie and Liptea's reins.

"Well, he got his own fellow city-frogs to look after now," Jacob explained, "and with all the notes we passed him and Wally's support, he has a good chance to create something good. Plus, as I remind you, he can afford everything he wants, including top-tier equipment and armors."

"And his friends were quite supportive of it", James added. "It's a miracle no one got something more serious than a couple of scratches, but I guess it was nice to see some rich people do something good for once."

"Do not forget Maddie's new students," Ivy announced, looking at the blue-skinned frog. "Who could have guessed so many rich frogs would be interested in learning the basics of magic?"

"They're not my students!" The spell-maker replied, before eventually conceding. "Though there were some promising ones among them." Maybe, she could try and teach them in the future once things got less hectic?

"Then I guess your stay in Ribbitvale was a good one, after all?" Marcy said, more trying to convince herself than the others. "We fix the Fwagon, we met Wally's family, we helped him reconnect with his father, we protected the mansion, made many new friends… hey Jacob, what about Mrs. Rosaria and Camelia? They weren't there to say goodbye when we left."

"Oh, I guess they had their own stuff to look after. I guess they were quite lucky their own home wasn't damaged by the pillage: they were frogs so cheerful, kind, compassionate-"

(…)

"-numerous mansions were destroyed and looted, valuable animals forcibly taken away, riches stolen, and over a thousand of our former citizens were kidnapped and taken." Camelia Scarlis summarized, the young frog having traded her white party dress with ribbons for a deep-red scarf and hood that covered and hid all her body, showing only her hate-filled eyes. "However, the actions of Wigbert Ribbiton and other influential individuals all over Ribbitvale managed to stop chaos from spreading and lulled everyone back with promises of rebuilding."

"I guess this is… correct." Her mother and mentor, Rosaria, shrugged, as the two kept walking through the long corridor dug centuries earlier under the city. Before the disappearance of the Box, before the Golden Age, this passageway existed, as did the Temple connected to it. A temple hidden from the eyes of the world, where for generations the followers and servants of the One True Defiler of Worlds had carried out the will of their lord. "Wigbert had always had so much power and influence over the other families and households of Ribbitvale, the only reason he never used it before was because he didn't know it."

"Then, should we 'organize' another incident, master?" Camelia asked, as the master-apprentice duo surpassed a pillar of black obsidian stone, glowing red carving glowing all over it. "Wigbert Ribbiton's life is no more use to our ends, and his son is young and inexperienced. Easy to manipulate, to trick, to control-"

"That, won't be necessary." Rosaria replied, as they came in front of a large door that had protected the treasures of the temple for countless generations, whose engraved symbols she had learned back when she was a young and energetic apprentice. When she was still learning about the secrets of the Scarlet. "Just like his father's, neither Walliam's nor his household's existence have any more use to us. Moreover, the survival of Ribbitvale makes little difference to our plans." She held her hand, and something mechanical stabbed through it, gritting her teeth as her blood fell down, the door opening just after it.

A small tribute, for their only Sovereign.

"Mo-master, what does this mean?" Camelia said, his tone filled with surprise. "I believed the destruction of Ribbitvale would have been important, vital to our objectives."

"In the short run, it would've indubitably been. The chaos and confusion that the destruction of this city would have brought would have been powerful weapons for us to wield, but in the long run, it won't make a difference. Moreover, the presence of those so-called 'Humans', and the powers they revealed to protect the city, has much more value than anything we could gain from a couple months of anarchy."

They entered the large room, where various artifacts of past ages laid, the black-and-red light spreading from the pyramidal keystone above them.

"Soon, they will reach Newtopia. Soon, they'll encounter the Heretic King… and the Machine Abomination."

Ritualistic weapons and equipment, used to officiate their most important rites and ceremonies, most of them built from the bones of ancient, extinct creatures of Amphibia or from other Amphibians.

"Soon, their plans will start once again, and they will attempt to prevent what the Olms already saw."

A red sacrificial stone, which even now emanated powerful energies of violence and destruction, providing followers with an almost endless supply of holy hatred. On the edge of the stones, a sentence was written in Ancient Amphibian, the translation being 'He who despises everything that the living love'.

"The Pretender however is aware of their plan, and already his forces are gearing up to destroy such vision, believing he's the hero of this story because he wants to protect his own home."

Statues carved into the rock, arranged in a very specific position so that whoever was in the room would always feel that they were being watched.

"As the Humans move toward Newtopia, they will soon find themselves dragged into the conflict, just like everyone who stands with them shall be."

An ancient mechanism, kept together by electric energy and gravitational pull, representing all the planets of Amphibia's stellar system and their balance with each other.

"Countless ways this conflict may go, and we are prepared and ready for every one of them."

And in the opposite end of the room, fixed to the stone wall behind it, the most precious relics of all.

"This setback is temporary, my apprentice."

An ancient base-relief made of several pieces, each one of a different color, depicting several frogs in a city, the sky red as blood while the ground was covered in black dust, the Amphibians kneeling and worshiping the giant figure in the middle of the representation.

"Not even these humans nor the Mechanical Stillborn can withstand the might of our real Sovereign."

A figure with a tall, humanoid shape, with spiky antlers departing from his head, a small floating crown made of pure fire among them, tendrils and tentacles coming from his back, his massive and gnarled fists holding chains, and blood-red eyes covering his chest. Many other smaller creatures, beside the Amphibians, surrounded him, some resembling nightmarish abominations under his apparent command, while seven stood around him. Of the seven, however, one's image was barely visible, like it had been scratched off the imaginary.

"No one can withstand the might…of the Scarlet King."