Where we are

"Leave me alone!" Troy shouted as he tried to escape from Polly.

"I will if you stop running away!" Polly shouted as she came to a stop and raised her hands. "It's not safe out here and-!" Polly cursed and rubbed her eyes. Troy came to a reluctant halt and looked back at her. Polly was crying and hugging herself. "-I don't want you to get hurt okay!" Troy could feel his own tears welling up in his eyes but he fought to hold them back. Polly sat down and pulled her knees up to her chest as she buried her face in them. Troy was still upset with her but he didn't like seeing her so distressed.

"I messed up." Polly said to her knees. "I was scared. I got so scared and I'm still so scared." Troy took a hesitant step towards her. "You just came out of nowhere and it made me realize I still haven't processed some things." She lifted her head up and stared off into the distance. "Anne was a friend and family. Seeing her go was the hardest thing." She rubbed her nose and sniffed. "I thought I had come to peace with the fact that I may never see her again. But seeing you…" She shook her head.

"I was so young when I met her. I think that's why it was easier for me to move on than Sprig." She sighed. "Plus I had Frobo." She looked to the sky while frowning. She hadn't seen Frobo since the night they escaped. She hoped he was safe and protecting the town. "I'm just so scared."

"What are you scared about?" Troy asked as his brow furrowed. Polly chewed her lip.

"I'm scared to see Anne again." She laughed with a sob. "I'm scared I'll disappoint her. I'm scared that you'll get hurt. I'm scared that I will fail her. I'm scared that I'm not doing enough." Troy took another step closer and sat down. There was a stretch of silence.

"What about my other moms?" Troy asked as he stared up at the sky.

"You mean the Ranger and Lieutenant?" Polly snorted and shivered. "I'm sure Marcy would have already found a way to get you all back home by now and Sasha…" She shuddered.

"Wait…" Troy paused. He still hadn't processed this. "Wait!" He said more loudly. Polly looked over at him.

"Mom was the Lieutenant!?" He said in disbelief. His eyes widened in horror. Polly blushed. Maybe she shouldn't have said all those things about the 'Lieutenant' earlier. "She did all that horrible stuff to Mæ̀ and Ma?"

"Yeah but-" Polly tried to do damage control.

"And Ma!" Troy demanded. "You said she lied and betrayed Mæ̀ and Mom!"

"Okay so it's a bit complicated…" Polly said as she rubbed her temples. She looked over and winced as she saw Troy staring at her expectantly. She sighed. She might as well come clean about everything. "Alright, so let's start back at the beginning. The very beginning." Polly said slowly. "There was this powerful artifact that the newts created years ago. It allowed them to travel to different worlds and mine them for resources." She started drawing the music box in the dirt between them. Troy tilted his head to one side.

"That looks kinda like the puzzle box Athena found that sent us here." Troy said slowly. Polly froze.

"It does?" She asked sharply. Troy started drawing a similar one next to it. Polly frowned as she analyzed it closely. It shared several similarities to the music box for sure but the imagery on it was clearly different.

"Hold up." Polly said as she pulled her phone out and took a picture of it. Troy blinked in surprise.

"You have a phone!?" He gasped in shock.

"What? Oh, yeah. I got it when I was in the human world." Polly said, waving a hand dismissively. A hundred different thoughts were running through her mind. She pulled up a map of Amphibia. If something like the music box had transported them here was it possible it sent them to similar locations as the music box? She marked the approximate spot where Sprig said he found Anne and where they found Troy. They weren't too far off. She tried to recall where Sasha and Marcy had said they landed all those years ago.

"Grime!" Polly shouted. Grime looked up and over at them. "Get over here!" She said waving him over. Grime got to his feet and put a hand to his back. He groaned and lumbered over. "Where did you say you first found Sasha?" Grime blinked and scratched his beard as he thought about it. Polly held out her phone. Grime took it and squinted at the small screen. He zoomed in and tapped a spot. Polly made a note of it. She crossed her arms and paced back and forth as she thought about what Marcy told them. She was pretty sure she landed directly in the city. However the city was very large. Lady Olivia probably could have told her the exact spot.

"Do you think-?" Troy asked as he trailed off. "Do you think my sisters could be there?" Polly closed her eyes. They had briefly been to Toad Tower and there hadn't been any sign of anyone else other than Grime. She glanced at him.

"Grime!" Troy blurted as he turned to him. "You said you had something important to tell me before!" His heart started to race. "Was it one of my sisters? Did you see one of my sisters?" Grime frowned as he tried to remember. He looked over at their dwindling campfire. The black and red embers sparked a sudden memory in him. A black armored figure with glowing red eyes raising a scythe. Grime started to panic and quickly glanced around.

"I saw her Lieutenant!" He said quickly and drew his sword as he looked around for an unseen enemy.

"My sister?" Troy said hopefully.

"No." He said as he circled around them on edge. "Her." He said in a low voice. Polly's eyes widened. There was only one person that could cause this kind of fear in Grime. She glanced at Grime's stump.

"That can't be." Polly said, shaking her head. It couldn't be possible. It shouldn't be possible.

"I saw her!" Grime said seriously. He was starting to hyperventilate. "Foot soldier!" He cried. His vision was flashing between the moment Sasha was almost cut down and her son before him. He couldn't let the same fate befall her son. He pushed Troy behind him. "Come out you coward!" He bellowed.

"Grime, she's not here!" Polly said, pulling a hand on his arm. He reacted on instinct and pushed her away as he pointed his sword at her. He couldn't clearly make out who was before him and the dim lighting of the night sky wasn't helping.

"Grime stop!" Troy said as he darted out from behind him and placed himself between him and Polly. Grime spun around as he kept looking. "Grime!" Troy said as he kept stepping in front of him. "Grime, look at me!"

"Move aside Lieutenant - foot soldier!" He said, shaking his head.

"Grime, please look at me!" Troy said as he tried to force his voice into being calm. "Look at me." He repeated as he stared into the old toad's foggy eyes. Grime huffed and tried to do as he was told. "I want to try a technique my mom taught me for when I get scared or overwhelmed."

"But foot soldier-!"

"Can you try it with me?"

"Sasha?" Grime said in a cracked voice with watery eyes.

"Yes, Sasha taught me this." Troy said calmly. It felt weird to call his mom by her first name. He shook the feeling off and pressed on. "It's called grounding. Are you ready to try it?" Grime sniffed and nodded but kept his sword at the ready. "Name five things you can see." Troy said and looked around himself. Tears started to roll down Grime's face.

"I can't see anything anymore, Lieutenant." Grime croaked, feeling weak and ashamed. Troy winced.

"Sorry! Sorry!" He said quickly. "Forget that. What are four things you can hear?" Grime frowned and strained his ears.

"Do our voices count?" Polly asked.

"Yes, they can." Troy said as he kept his eyes focused on Grime.

"I hear the wind and the crickets…" Grime said slowly.

"And two more?" Troy prompted.

"Your voices."

"Good! Now, uh, three things you can feel?" He said as he tried to remember which senses in what order. Grime blinked and adjusted his grip on his sword. Troy very slowly and carefully reached out and put his hand on Grime's. Grime sniffed.

"Your hand." He said in a quavering voice. Polly stepped forward and also put her hand on his. "And Polly's." He said with a half laugh as tears continued to roll down his face.

"One more." Troy said as he looked around. Polly whistled and MicroAngelo made his way over. They raised his hand and placed it on his shell.

"Such a good snail." Grime remarked. He was starting to forget why he had his sword out.

"Two things you can smell?" Troy continued. Grime frowned and sniffed himself.

"Are you saying that I stink?" He said somewhat offended.

"What? No." Troy said confused. Grime put his sword away and patted MicroAngelo.

"Such a good snail." He repeated. Troy and Polly let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Who-?" Troy whispered to Polly who quickly shook her head.

"It's not possible." Polly whispered back as she glanced at Grime. Troy narrowed his eyes.

"You're not trying to cover things up again are you?" He asked suspiciously.

"No!" Polly said, feeling hurt. She sighed. "Listen, I swear I'll tell you everything in time and in order." Grime looked around and grimaced as he saw their fire almost completely extinguished.

"Needs more firewood." He grunted and wandered back to it.

"Who was he talking about and why couldn't it be her?" Troy asked as he crossed his arms.

"It was years ago." Polly said as she struggled to find the right way to describe it. "It was someone your mothers fought and defeated." She felt her skin prickle uncomfortably. "I think Grime was mistaken. He's getting old and…" Her heart skipped a beat. She glanced back at the picture Troy had drawn of the puzzle box in the dirt. She suddenly recognized the imagery. "...And the Core shouldn't exist anymore."