'A disturbance...'
Valeriana has been away from the continent for a few weeks with her new apprentice, on an island far away from the continent. To be more precise: on the most western island of the Dawnblood Islands, beyond the Caecilian Coast in the south-west of Amphibia.
"Master?", a worried voice asks as their master suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence.
It is in the middle of their early afternoon rune-carving session together when Valeriana jumps up with a soft hiss all of a sudden, pointing her head somewhere towards the mainland with an unhealthy cracking sound, her eyes wide.
"Master? Has anything happened?"
Valeriana continues to completely ignore her apprentice, maintaining her stance for almost a full minute.
"It finally happened.", she mutters barely audible, "Although, she surely took her time.", she adds in a sudden annoyed tone.
"Who, Master? What are you talking about?"
"I, my talented apprentice, am talking about the fact that your apprenticeship is over. Effective immediately."
"WHAT?"
"Watch your volume!"
"Excuse me, Master.", she apologizes with a slight bow of her head, "But if you don't mind me asking, what do you mean by 'my apprenticeship is over'? Did I do something wrong?"
"Go and pack your things.", she replies, ignoring her question completely.
"Yes, Master.", she complies, but visibly unhappy. Laying her stone tablet on the warm sandy beach, she makes her way back to the large tent that has always served as shelter for the two of them, no matter where they have been.
On her first day, Master Valeriana had given her a part of the tent for herself, even with her own wall for privacy. Admittedly, she doesn't even have that many personal items from her home in her section, but mostly memories and ingredients that she has found and kept on their travels together. With a few rare earths from a dead volcano, the ashes of an extinguished furnace, a piece of armor from a defeated soldier, and a few other ingredients, she had managed to create a completely new spell as part of her last exam, which, when cast, melts any form of metallic armor on a potential opponent without harming the body underneath. Well, apart from the melting metal. That probably hurts.
This last trial had finally allowed her to advance to a level 4 witch. That puts her just a single level away from her first master, from whom she learned the basics of magic all those years ago, and just three levels away from Master Valeriana herself, who is the only known level 7 witch in all of Amphibia.
She is about to pack up all her things when she hears Valeriana enter the tent as well, but clearly stays in the main area.
"There's this old prophecy... no, it can't really be called that.", Valeriana pauses briefly, thoughtful in her posture, "It was more of a personal request, a plea... From someone far, far more powerful than anything I've ever seen."
"What is it?"
"Didn't I tell you to pack?", Valeriana scolds her apprentice, before a moment later silence returns and she continues to talk to herself as if nothing had happened. "A powerful being, dead for millions of years, with a single request: 'Help her'."
"Very vague.", the apprentice comments on her thoughts, now standing directly in front of Valeriana with a packed, enchanted bag in her hand, "Any idea who she is? 'She' doesn't necessarily narrow down the number of people... And why right now? And what does this have to do with my apprenticeship?"
"You're asking too many questions again.", Valeriana reprimands her, although this time without any harshness in her voice, "I've known of her existence for a very long time, but I've only known of her identity for a few months."
"Who is it?"
"Come with me.", Valeriana turns away from her and walks out of the tent, "We cannot risk missing her under any circumstances."
...
"Ms. Noceda. Ms. Blight. There you are.", The Headmaster steps closer to the two girls, who are enjoying a delicious breakfast together with several other newts in the mess hall. Luz, with a full mouth and Amity with a cross-cut sandwich in her hands, they both look up at him curiously.
"I've had two food bundles prepared for you two for your continuing journey.", he says, placing two bundles rolled up in cloth on their table.
"Fänk yu wäri much.", Luz speaks with her mouth full.
"Luz!", Amity exclaims, "Thank you very much, Professor Herringbone."
"Unfortunately, I also bring bad news. The search for Ms. Noceda's friends was unsuccessful.", he reports with his head lowered. Luz swallows and exhales deeply.
"I already thought so.", Luz says, her tone solemn, "We walked the grounds once this morning and didn't see anyone. When I talked with Iva yesterday, I don't think she'd seen anyone here either."
"I wish I could have done more."
"You've done more than enough for us, Professor.", Amity says with a smile on her face, "We'll just say goodbye to Iva in a moment and then continue our journey."
"Of course. I wish you both the best of luck. And a safe journey.", he says goodbye with a benevolent nod of his head before departing, leaving the two girls alone again.
"Would you like to say goodbye to Amara?", Luz asks, at which the witch shakes her head.
"I already did.", she replies, "I stopped by the Infirmary earlier and had a quick chat with her."
"Oh, okay.", Luz says, throwing the last piece of her sandwich into her mouth while Amity still has a good half of hers in front of her.
"If you want, you can go ahead. I'll be ready by the time you're done."
"You sure?", Luz asks.
"Sure. I'm sure you'll still have plenty to talk about.", she answers her with a knowing smile.
"Okay. See you in a bit."
...
And with that, Luz gets up, walks straight out of the mess hall and finds herself in the biology department just a few minutes later. She peers into the first lab, the seeds from last night not yet harvested.
"Iva?"
No answer. She heads for the second lab.
"Iva? Are you here?"
Again, no answer. She approaches the third lab, but before she raises her voice, she already spots the familiar half-newt, half-axolotl hard at work harvesting vegetables.
"Hehe, I thought you'd be here.", Luz says, at which Iva immediately turns to her.
"Luz!", she calls out, visibly happy to see her. However, her mood sombers quickly, "You're leaving already?"
"We have to. Every day we don't find allies, people die. I can't let that happen. People trust... me.", Luz replies, even if this last word came across as obviously unconvincing.
"But you don't believe that.", Iva replies. This is not a question that Luz can answer in the affirmative or in the negative. It is a statement set in stone. Luz averts her eyes. "Luz, I'm afraid I'm not a psychiatrist, but I know that something is bothering you. Would you like to talk about it? I'm sure you and your girlfriend still have a little time left here..."
Actually, Luz would prefer nothing more than to say 'no' and walk away. But at the same time-
"Do you doubt your abilities?", Iva suddenly asks, snapping Luz out of her thoughts.
"No. It's-"
"Do you doubt your intentions and goals?", Iva continues to ask, not giving Luz time to evade her questions.
"N-no.", Luz replies.
"Do you think people won't support you if you ask for it?"
"A little bit. But that's not it."
"What is it then?", Iva asks, crossing her arms. It's a trap. One that Luz can't escape from so easily. Sure, it's not a physical trap, but still- "So?"
"I- So-", Luz stutters to herself, so she doesn't notice the door open behind her and Amity entering the lab.
"She's insecure because people think she's just a kid, despite her abilities, and don't allow her to fulfill her potential.", Amity summarizes, at which Luz's head snaps around. "Sorry, Luz."
"H-How long have you been listening?", Luz asks in surprise, but doesn't receive an answer as Iva speaks up again.
"I wish there was something I could tell you to make your situation better for you.", Iva admits sadly, "But I remember a saying from my parents' tailor: 'Dress for what you wanna be, not for what you already are'. He gave me this advice after two schools rejected my applications for apprenticeships."
"How does that apply to Luz?", Amity asks, not quite understanding what Iva is getting at.
"The principle is the same. If Luz doesn't want to be seen as a child anymore, maybe she should act differently.", Iva explains, "I'm not talking about a total makeover or anything like that, but rather about acting a little more responsibly."
"So not something like moving a fixed plan forward by days without prior agreement and traveling to another world just like that?", Luz asks jokingly.
"Among other things.", Iva agrees, "Listen: I can't promise you that it'll work. They might continue to see you as a child forever because they care about you and want to keep you safe."
"Mmmm...", Luz grumbles.
"Just think about it.", Iva suggests, before approaching Luz with wide arms, embracing her, at which Luz's muscle memory kicks in and she hugs her back, despite being in a minimally upset mood.
After Luz, she also gives Amity a hug, albeit a shorter one. "Travel carefully. It's dangerous outside the walls."
"I'm not worried about that.", Luz says with her best attempt at a smile, "We're taking a shortcut, after all."
"A shortcut?", Iva asks as Amity leans over to Luz and hands her something.
"You left your bundle in the mess hall.", Amity whispers.
"Sorry." Luz takes it before turning back to Iva. "You're welcome to watch. I think you might like that."
Luz and Amity leave the lab and position themselves directly in the middle of the corridor, with Iva leaning curiously against the doorway. Luz stands with her legs apart in a firm stance and Amity calmly grabs her forearm. Luz closes her eyes and stretches her empty hand forward. Just like the plant growth spells from last night, the golden lightning bolts shoot across Luz's arms into her outstretched hand, but instead of shooting into the ground, they begin to circle around the two girlfriends, forming symbols and connecting lines, a giant semicircular glyph two meters in diameter. A startled gasp escapes Iva when she sees the huge interconnection of the many different glyphs, consisting of the flowing golden lightning bolts that light up the entire corridor in a subtle golden glow.
"I'll think about what you said.", is the last thing Luz says before she and Amity vanish into thin air with a bright flash of light.
...
As the light disappears, a loud, sharp gasp escapes Luz, moments before Amity too opens her eyes again.
"Oh my Titan...", she mutters under her breath, her hands pressed over her mouth in shock as she notices what it is that shocked Luz so badly.
Luz remembers her first flight with Maddie outside of Frog Valley, clearly recalling vast green fields and forests, full of life. As the two girlfriends now stand there, looking into the distance, however, they can no longer see any of that. The green meadows have been replaced by dead, brown earth, the forests either cut down or completely dead as well.
Near the horizon, they witness huge machines steadily destroying more and more of the former stunningly beautiful nature, replacing it with disgusting factories dumping any radioactive or generally harmful waste into the previously clear blue rivers, turning them a sickeningly glowing green.
"Estos gilipollas lo han destruido todo.", Luz swears angrily and full of disgust, "Come on. We have to go the other way. Even if it might not look any better there."
Luz immediately turns away, beginning to make her way through the open pass towards Frog Valley with a clearly angry look on face.
Amity actually didn't realize what Luz had said as she stares at the scenery, breathless, speechless, and in shock. Luz had told her many stories about the beauty of this world. Beauty that is now slowly raining down from the sky like snow in the form of ash and soot, slowly polluting the air for a long time to come. Unconsciously, she opens her hand and a piece of ash falls into it.
'Is this what Andrias and Darcy are intending to do in the Isles as well? Poison everything?', her mind full of worry and now for the first time, fear. Amity turns to the side, expecting Luz to still stand next to her, but finds the space next to her empty. "Luz?"
She continues to turn where she finds her girlfriend a little further away, obviously enraged. Amity falls into a short sprint to catch up to her as she begins to climb up the rocky path.
"Luz?", Amity asks cautiously after catching up to her.
"Please, not now Ami."
Luz sounds extremely hurt. "Okay.", the witch replies softly, but makes an attempt to grab Luz's hand, which the half-human doesn't seem to reciprocate at the moment.
'Seeing all this has really gotten to her...', she assumes, silently continuing the climb, worrying about her girlfriend, 'How could I not understand her?'
...
After almost twenty minutes of steep climbing, the path had turned out to be much more strenuous than first thought, which is why Luz had suggested they take a break and have a look at the food packs that Professor Herringbone gave them. While they eat, Amity takes the opportunity to talk to Luz.
"So... how much higher do you think we have to go?", she asks, attempting small-talk at first, "And wouldn't it be more comfortable if we flew the distance? Or teleport?"
Luz shakes her head. "It's better this way. I- ... I'm not ready to see it."
"Oh."
"I know- I know it doesn't make sense, that it's best to just get it over with as quickly as possible, but- but seeing all this with my own eyes, smelling the burnt air... I mean, I knew how bad it was, and I had tried to mentally prepare as much as I could beforehand… but in the end it was still a kick in the stomach."
Sitting on a few small boulders, Amity moves a little closer to Luz.
"Believe it or not, but I feel the same way.", she admits, "I may not have your memories of this place, but I see your hatred and fear, and honestly? I'm scared too."
"Huh?"
"I mean, despite our plan, we had no idea what Andrias' plan is on the Isles- what his actual goal is.", Amity states, gesturing widely to the horizon, "And then this. He's going to leave the Isles looking exactly the same, isn't he? The whole landscape, destroyed. The people, either enslaved or killed."
Luz doesn't comment further, but continues to eat the food she's been given in silence, while Amity wonders what's going on in her head.
"Let's keep going.", Luz says, just a short time later as she's packing up her things, signaling that she would prefer to avoid this topic completely. Is Luz in denial, believing she can avoid something unavoidable?
"Are you sure you want to keep walking and not flying?", Amity asks with a worried tone, at which the half-human just slowly nods.
...
The two girls continue up the stone path for more than another thirty minutes before they finally make out the literal and metaphorical top of the mountain. As the path becomes increasingly shallow as the two girls walk along the only existing walkable path between the even higher mountains, Amity notices that Luz is walking slower and slower. Amity knows it's not due to exhaustion, as they have just set off from another break.
"Luz, please wait a minute.", Amity gently grabs her arm, who doesn't offer any resistance anymore at this point. She merely gives the witch a raised inquisitive eyebrow in response. "How long are you going to drag this out? You're not usually afraid of anything. What did you call yourself back then?", Amity thinks for a moment before it comes back to her, "My fearless champion?!"
Luz lets out a sad and quiet chuckle at that.
"Heh, yeah I remember.", she says, "But that was just Grom."
'Just Grom?', Amity wonders before Luz continues.
"Do you know what's up ahead? What could be waiting for me up there and beyond? HMM?", Luz asks but doesn't wait for an answer, "The burnt forests without life, the ruins of the village that took me in, THE CHARRED CORPSES OF MY FRIENDS!"
Horrified, Amity takes a step back at her girlfriend's loud outburst.
"Luz, maybe we should be a little quieter-", Amity tries to calm her down, which totally falls on deaf ears.
"THE BODIES OF MADDIE, SPRIG, AND POLLY, ALL OF WHOM STILL CHILDREN! HOP POP, WHO TOOK ME IN AND WHO HAS ALREADY DIED IN FRONT OF MY EYES ONCE BEFORE! ANNE, WHOSE GREATEST WISH WAS TO REUNITE WITH HER FRIENDS AND FIND A WAY BACK TO EARTH AND HER PARENTS!", Luz lists up, her voice not softening, "ALL OF THEM COULD BE LYING THERE ON THE GROUND, BURNED BEYOND RECOGNITION! ... So please excuse me if I don't want to reach the place of my worst nightmares any faster than necessary."
"Luz, I'm-", Amity cuts herself off as she notices a not unfamiliar noise from behind the two girls and abruptly turns around. "DUCK!"
Regardless of whether Luz heard her warning or not, she grabs her by the shoulders, dragging her to the ground along with herself before a missile whizzes past them by a hair's breadth and smashes into a boulder further ahead.
"Frobots!", the two girls exclaim in unison, their previous conversation immediately forgotten.
As if on impulse, Amity creates several Abominations, roughly the same size and shape as her and Luz. Things like this have worked quite well as decoys so far, as the warm nature of Abominations is indistinguishable from that of humans or witches for the robots.
They look in the direction from which the attack came and discover a group of twelve Frobots flying straight towards them with their weapons drawn, eager to destroy the decoys.
Luz and Amity scramble to their feet. While Amity uses the Abomination goo from the destroyed decoys to shoot concentrated projectiles at one Frobot after another, Luz presses both her hands against the rock wall and uses construction magic to break out thick boulders and hurl them against the attacking Frobots with as much force as she can gather.
Less than twenty seconds pass and all the attackers are lying on the ground, completely demolished and destroyed, when the two girls suddenly hear an ominous beeping.
Amity cautiously approaches the source, one of the Frobots.
Another robot beeps. And another one. And another one. Amity looks at them in confusion, while Luz quickly realizes what is happening. She grabs her hand.
"Ami, run!", Luz drags her away, "They're about to blow up!"
...
The two girls run as fast as their legs can carry them. Unfortunately, they don't get far before an extremely loud and violent explosion knocks them to the ground. Luz quickly turns onto her back, witnessing how the blast has seemingly dislodged the surrounding rocks, triggering a massive rockslide that has completely buried the path the two girls just came from, as well as potential remnants of the Frobots.
"Whoa, Amity, are you okay?", Luz asks worriedly, shortly after the rumbling of the boulders has subsided. She quickly moves her upright, only to see the side of her pants ripped open and a bleeding wound just beneath. A nasty looking one. "Wait, I got this."
Luz carefully places her hands flat on her leg, directly above and below the wound. The golden lightning bolts race from Luz's arms into Amity's leg, where they both can watch the wound repair itself at high speed, quickly stopping the bleeding.
"Better?", Luz asks, looking at Amity's face, now free of pain. She nods at that.
"But the pants are ruined."
"Yeah... Not sure think I can fix that.", Luz says, before standing up and giving her girlfriend a hand, carefully helping her to her feet as well. "Is that okay?"
"Yeah."
Once Amity is firmly back on her feet, Luz turns back towards the destroyed Frobots one last time with absolute rage written all over her face.
'They hurt her.', she narrows her eyes, gritting her teeth, 'They hurt my Amity. If they weren't already junk, I'd-'
"Luz.", Amity speaks softly and grabs Luz's hand, which immediately snaps her out of her thoughts, "We should keep moving. They might have called for reinforcements."
After a moment, Luz turns back to the rubble and debris, raising her free hand straight up, facing it. Beneath her skin, fury-fueled magic simmers, wanting to be released at all costs. From her shoulders, the lightning bolts emerge, though this time they are not entirely gold, but carry with them a slim dark purple rim.
"Luz?", Amity asks hesitantly with a hint of worry in her voice. Luz herself, on the other hand, directs her golden-purple lightning bolts to her free palm just before a massive directed explosion turns all the debris and Frobot parts into nothing more than grains of dust.
Even after the explosion, Luz does not avert her gaze, but stares into the gathering dust, breathing heavily.
"I- I won't let myself lose anyone else I love!", Luz declares with a determination and confidence in her voice that has never been heard before, "Whoever tries to hurt them won't live a long life!"
Silence falls over the two girls as the last bit of dust settles. Amity looks at Luz, several emotions battling for dominance in her mind. Admiration and embarrassment at the sheer amount of strength her girlfriend radiates. Pride that Luz has done so well over time, never stopped training and improving her skills. Sadness and worry for her, that all of this is going to be too much for her, that she will try to carry it all herself, and that she could end up losing parts of herself if all of this is over.
"Luz.", Amity says after a few seconds of silence, slightly dragging her by the arm, "Come on. We have to get out of here."
...
"By the way: They didn't hit me."
"What?"
"You blame yourself for me getting hurt. I can see it in the look on your face.", Amity pauses briefly as she looks at Luz, "The Frobots didn't hit me."
"But-"
"The shockwave. I bruised my leg from my fall."
"Oh..."
...
The two girls continued to walk quite a distance. Far enough away that they thought they wouldn't be found by any reinforcements that might have been called. In fact, they are almost near the end of the pass between the mountains surrounding the valley. And luckily for Luz especially, they did not stumble upon any corpses yet. Not that that puts her heart any more at ease…
Instead, Luz's heart is pounding in her chest, and only Amity's hand in hers keeps her legs from giving way as the two girls get closer and closer to the end of the pass. They walk around one last large boulder before the path in front of them splits in two, with a huge chasm in between, from where they can overlook the whole valley in front of them. Or at least what's left of it.
'Oh Titan...', Amity thinks to herself in shock before letting her gaze wander to Luz, whose own gaze is fixed on the valley before them, where one color in particular catches their eyes: black. Everywhere.
Forests previously seen from above as nothing but a single green expanse are now charred black. Nothing more than charred trunks are left of many of the large trees. All the vast fields are gone as well. Amity's gaze lingers on Luz, her hand in her own. The poor half-human is trembling wildly all over her body, but who miraculously still manages to stay on her feet. She doesn't cry either, which the witch would have expected. Instead, Luz just stares coldly into the valley before a small gasp escapes her.
"They even tore down Toad Tower...", Luz states looking eastwards, "That doesn't make any sense. The Toads were working directly for Andrias..."
Amity isn't sure what to say to that, as there's a moment of silence before Luz pulls out Owlbert and prepares to fly off.
"I need to check something.", she says, before putting a piece of cloth over her mouth and nose to protect herself from the ash-contaminated air in the air. Amity does the same and moments later the two girls are airborne, heading east along the mountain range.
...
A few minutes into the flight, Amity speaks up.
"You haven't told me what exactly we're looking for.", she remarks.
"Toad Tower, or the remains of it.", Luz clarifies, "I actually crashed there when I came to Amphibia. Like, literally... Anyway, the whole tower is made of stone, so the flames wouldn't have really harmed anyone in it. And I think that if there are ruins, we might find the survivors there that Lady Olivia told us about."
"Do you remember where exactly it was?"
"No, not quite. When I woke up, I was already at the Plantars.", Luz remembers, "I only saw the tower from the air once when Maddie and I flew to Newtopia. It was somewhere around here."
"There, maybe?", Amity asks, pointing to a large pile of stone rubble to her right. Luz comes to a stop in the air next to Amity and follows her gaze towards the ground. At second glance, the stone structures actually do suggest an artificial structure. Or well, a former artificial structure.
"Could be. Let's check it out.", Luz says, before she and Amity quickly drop in altitude together and land on a cliff overlooking the ruins.
They stand at the remains of what looks like a wooden bridge over a ravine, at the bottom of which lie parts of two massive iron gates, partly buried by a countless pile of stones and boulders. The only thing left standing on the other side is a single stone pillar surrounded by more stones, many of them with traces of fire and explosions on them.
"I think I'll take back what I just said.", Luz exhales after a few seconds of complete silence, sounding dejected.
"That this isn't the right place?"
"That someone is hiding here.", Luz clarifies, "No one is hiding here. No one could be hiding here."
"Ou-kay. Shall we fly over the area once to be on the safe side?", Amity suggests, which Luz rejects with a slight shake of her head. "What else do you suggest? The resistance must be hiding somewhere."
"I do have another idea, and even if that's a dead end as well, we can always lure them to us by causing a bit of chaos and havoc. They have to come to us if they want to investigate."
"And what if they see us as enemies and won't listen to us?", Amity argues.
"We'll see if it comes to that. But for now..."
Luz raises her hand high, summoning her lightning bolts, which have returned to their original golden color, rapidly forming a half-sphere of linked glyphs before both girls disappear in a blinding flash of light.
...
As always, the light quickly brightens and the two girls open their eyes, only this time to be met by nothing but total darkness. Luz still notices Amity's hand in hers. She drags her foot across the ground, expecting stone floor but finds gravel instead.
"This is... strange.", Luz speaks softly but immediately notices a slight echo.
"Did something go wrong?", Amity asks, mimicking her volume, "Where are we anyway?"
"Wait a second.", Luz says before summoning a handful of light orbs and spreads them across a wide area in the air in front of them with a fluid sweep of her arm, revealing the sheer destruction of the cave Luz once knew.
Colorless crystals all over the walls that look as brittle as gray glass, with many of them already fallen to the floor and shattered into countless pieces.
"A cave?", Amity looks at Luz in confusion.
"This is the cave where I revived Hop Pop and met the Titan and... where he gave me his powers."
"He was in this cave?", Amity asks, skeptical.
"No, not quite.", Luz replies chuckling nostalgically, "He was this cave. His magic was stored in those crystals, as well as part of his soul."
"And so after he transferred everything to you, he disappeared?", Amity asks, "I mean, it would blow a lot of people's minds if they knew he was even still there."
"He just disappeared from this world. Well, probably. I think."
"Huh?", Amity listens, "Does that mean-"
"I'll tell you later.", Luz brings Owlbert into flying position, grabs a light orb, and slowly rises into the air, as the stony path in front of them has been mostly destroyed by the fallen crystals. Amity follows her.
...
Luz recognizes the small island in the middle of the cave and lands on it. Although the island itself is no longer surrounded by the water that originally flowed around it, it is still easily recognizable.
"From the looks of it, there's no one here either.", Amity looks around before landing next to Luz, who is standing in front of a huge broken crystal with one hand resting on it.
...
"THE COMBINATION OF MY BLOOD WITH THE MINERALS OF THIS WORLD HAVE CREATED THIS PLACE. THE MAGIC OF MY BLOOD THAT WENT INTO THIS WORLD CREATED THESE CRYSTAL FORMATIONS. HERE IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT YOU."
"I remember... someone had called my name"
"INDEED."
...
Luz turns in Amity's direction, but not directly towards her, but slightly past her towards the stone bridge that originally crossed the flowing water. With Amity curiously but quietly behind her, Luz squats facing three parallel deep blade marks in the rock in front of her, right behind the bridge.
...
"My name is General Yunan, Scourge of the Sand Wars, Defeater of Ragnar the Wretched, aaaaaand... the youngest newt to ever achieve the rank of General in the great Newtopian army! You have no right to be here. Leave this place"
"I'm afraid you're mistaken. YOU have no right to be here, General."
"Listen, I know you're a friend of Marcy's and I really shouldn't be telling you, but I've been given orders by King Andrias to ensure that no one knows of the existence of this place, by any means necessary. So I beg you: go, before you force me to use means that I would hate to use against a child."
"You leave me no choice then"
...
Luz frowns as she slowly runs her fingertips over the marks in the stone. She notices Amity's hand on her shoulder from behind her.
"I've hurt someone. Right here."
"With... claws?", Amity asks in an attempt to lighten Luz's overly serious mood. Unfortunately, Luz doesn't respond the way she'd hoped.
"Not mine. Granted, technically it wasn't me who fought either. The Titan had control of my body and I had to beg him not to kill the general."
"The general?"
"General Yunan. Lady Olivia had mentioned her before."
"Oh, right."
"She had acted on orders from Andrias. I don't think it was her job to attack me. She had called me an intruder, but -"
Amity listens to Luz continue her story while her own gaze momentarily wanders to the light glyph resting on Luz's other shoulder.
'Huh?'
Amity has to look twice as she realizes that the light orb is actively deforming before her eyes. Simple deformations, simple geometric shapes. Corners, edges...
"Amity? Is something wrong?", Luz looks at her with worried eyes, snapping her out of it, "You seemed lost in thought."
Amity's gaze flickers one last time to the orb, which has returned to its perfectly stable round shape.
"Uh, yeah. I think so...", the witch admits, "Sorry."
"It's not a problem. But we should get leaving."
"Chaos?", Amity asks.
"Not yet.", Luz replies to Amity's surprise, her tone saddening, "There's one other place I want- no, need to go first."
Luz gets Owlbert into flying position before gesturing to Amity to fly with her instead of on her own staff.
"You want to fly?!", Amity asks skeptically, looking around the cave looking for an exit, but in vain. "Wouldn't teleporting make more sense?"
"Don't worry, I know where the exit is.", Luz replies confidently, "Come on. Jump up."
'Luz avoids the question. Seems she's not ready for what she's expecting...', Amity muses as she sits down behind Luz without comment, who takes off from the ground surprisingly quickly. Rapidly they fly over the ruined path in the direction they came from before, speeding towards a broken archway.
"Luz, the wall?!", Amity shouts with growing urgency and panic in her voice as the massive stone perimeter of the cave gets closer and closer. The half-human, however, has a knowing smirk on her face. "LUUUZ!"
...
With her eyes squeezed shut, Amity awaits the impact in the stone, but is then surprised by the renewed smell of ash in the air. She opens her eyes, only to find herself on the outside again, surrounded by old, very old ruins. However, she finds her heart rate going through the roof at the moment.
"Luz!", Amity sits up from the staff, breathing heavily, "Please stop doing this. My poor heart can't handle this for long."
"What do you mean?", Luz asks, still grinning.
"This isn't a joke, I'm serious!", Amity speaks seriously, causing Luz's grim to drop as she realizes her girlfriend is actually serious, "This is the second time you've almost given me a heart attack with your recklessness! And that's only since yesterday!"
Guilt slowly builds up in her head as Amity continues talking.
"First you jump off a cliff in Newtopia without knowing what's at the bottom, and now you're racing at high speed in a closed cave before you teleported us out at the last second!"
"In my defense: You jumped in after me.", she says sheepishly, "And I didn't teleport us. There is a portal here-"
"LUZ!", Amity shouts, before calming herself, taking a deep breath, "You have no idea how scared I was... ... If you remember, after the Bonesborough Brawl, you wanted me to promise not to be so reckless myself anymore. And I did make that promise."
"Y-yeah, I remember. I'm sorry, Amity."
"I don't want your apology.", Amity replies sternly, which causes Luz to raise an eyebrow. Amity grabs one of her hands and looks her directly in her eyes with their faces so close that Luz can feel Amity's breath on her skin. "What I want is for you to make me the same promise I made you back then. Promise me you'll be more considerate. Not just for yourself, but also for those who are with you... Please promise me that you won't play with your life like that anymore."
Luz swallows hard under Amity's crushing gaze. "Okay. I promise."
"Say it.", Amity demands, not letting up on her pressure, "All of it."
"I promise I won't act so recklessly in the future... if it's avoidable."
"Luz-"
"Amity, we're part of a war.", Luz states just as seriously as the witch, "I can't guarantee you complete safety. That would only be possible if we hid somewhere far away and waited it out until it was all over. All at the cost of our friends' lives. And I am not paying that price... ... The only thing I can promise is that I won't put myself in such reckless danger again. Can you accept that?"
Amity stares fixedly at Luz for a few moments before exhaling in relief and unexpectedly wrapping her in a tight hug.
"Huh?", Luz huffs out.
"Don't get me wrong, I love absolutely everything about you. Even that you put yourself in danger to save your friends with no regard for yourself.", Amity says while running her fingers through Luz's hair, not breaking the hug and causing Luz to blush, "But if you're doing it with no rhyme or reason..."
"No, no, I get it.", Luz assures her, "I'm sorry."
In response, Amity hugs her even tighter. The two girls remain in this position for a while until Amity speaks up after a while.
"Shall we get going?"
"Yea.", Luz replies quietly, "Jump on. I won't fly fast either."
Amity nods and climbs behind Luz on Owlbert, holding tightly onto her.
"Don't forget your mask."
...
Slower than before, the two girlfriends fly over the former forest, occasional ash landing in Luz's eyes.
During the time they have been in the cave, the clouds have continued to grow over their area, barely allowing any light through. The sky is a single dark gray layer with black flakes of ash trickling down.
A bad omen.
Ten minutes into their flight, they have passed over the forest and Amity notices Luz steadily slowing down and approaching the ground before descending.
"Luz, is there something?", Amity asks before following Luz's own gaze and spotting some damaged structures some distance ahead of them. "Oh..."
Amity descends the staff as well to stand next to Luz.
"Is that... the village?", she asks the half-human quietly. She looks at Luz, who gulps hard, before nodding ever so slightly.
"I'd like to walk the rest if you don't mind.", Luz requests, her voice small.
"Of course."
The two girls start walking. But not even a few steps later, Luz notices something wet landing on her face. She stops for a moment and touches the wet spot with one finger. The tip of her finger is dark gray as she looks at it.
"Ash rain.", she remarks.
More and more drops fall from the clouds above them, but Luz continues walking undeterred. The rain gets heavier, each drop interspersed with soot and ash that not only gets the girls wet, but also turns them a shade of gray, bit by bit. Every drop stains their clothes, settles in their hair, and tints their skin. Before it gets too bad, Amity creates a force field above her head, big enough for herself and Luz.
"Luz, come under the force field.", Amity speaks softly. Luz walks a few steps ahead of her. She doesn't answer immediately.
"I'm good.", she eventually replies.
"Luz...", Amity speaks with a disappointed tone. She grabs Luz's arm, hooks it in her own, and pulls her under the force field next to her. Luz shows no sign of resistance.
Luz knows exactly that Wartwood lies straight ahead of her. Or what's left of it. She can picture all the houses, the stores, the people clearly in her mind... even the destroyed wall that used to mark the border of the village. Now the destroyed wall stands almost three meters tall with obvious battle and explosion marks everywhere.
...
The two girls approach the entrance to the village.
"Slow to accept, and even slower to respect."
"Huh?", Amity listens up.
"That's Wartwood's official motto.", Luz elaborates, stopping in front of the archway into the village. Luz does not yet dare to raise her eyes off the ground to acknowledge the destruction before her. She just stands there, her eyes fixed to the ground and her ears open in search of any audible signs of life. Though she is just able to hear the rain splashing on the gravel path and evaporating on contact with the force field. Everything else, however, is... silent.
"Luz, do you want me to go ahead?", Amity asks her with their arms still intertwined.
"N-no. I just need a moment."
"Okay.", Amity replies compassionately, "Take all the time you need."
...
A few minutes pass as Luz tries to gather her mental strength and calm her panicking heart.
'It's all right. It's okay. It's like the anniversary of Papa's death... It's like going to the cemetery with mom - only with Ami instead...'
"I- I'm not sure I'm ready, but let's go.", Luz lifts her head.
"Are you really sure?"
"Mhm.", Luz nods. She untangles her and Amity's arms before taking her hand and giving it a small squish.
...
Surprisingly for Amity, Luz leads the way and strolls through the gate hand in hand, finally entering the ruins of Wartwood after this long journey.
Besides the fortified wall, Luz finds more things right behind it that she definitely doesn't remember, mostly in the form of defensive structures. Several wooden watchtowers, most of them fallen over or very badly damaged, but also two trebuchets, equally badly damaged. Amity notices a disturbed expression on Luz's face.
"This doesn't feel right...", Luz mutters as she looks around. "There were less than a hundred frogs living here. And these fortifications- it all seems so out of place."
"It would make sense that they fought back when Andrias attacked.", Amity surmises.
"That's true, but the timeline of events doesn't fit... I mean, when were those walls built? When these towers? When these trebuchets? It can't have happened in just a few days."
"You think these facilities were all built before the attack?", Amity continues to ask.
"With so few inhabitants? Definitely.", Luz replies doubtfully. "Never were these things intended for Andrias' attacks. They would have needed to start building them when Andrias stole the box. That can't be the reason for all these."
"Maybe we'll find more answers further inside the village.", Amity suggests, to which Luz silently agrees.
It doesn't take long before the first few ruined houses come into view and the two girls passing them. Not much further ahead, they arrive in the town center, where the extent of the destruction is even greater than at the village border. Explosion craters in the ground and collapsed, abandoned buildings, but also destroyed Frobots and pieces of armor spread around everywhere.
"They put up a fight.", Luz observes. Amity glances over at her to catch a glimpse of her emotional state. Luz's gaze is fixed on a damaged breastplate, icy and calculated. It makes Amity take a step back.
"L-Luz?"
"That's a toad breastplate. And there's two more up ahead...", she says, but doesn't actually answer any question, "Toads and frogs hate each other. And I don't see any frog corpses here."
Luz lets her gaze wander. Grub n' Go, destroyed beyond recognition. Felicia's Teashoppe, badly damaged. City Hollow, destroyed. Loggle's, the Seed Store, the Bakery... all extremely badly damaged.
The girl snaps out of her thoughts as Amity suddenly grabs her shoulders and pulls her towards her.
"What's wrong with you?", she yells into her face, "All this time you've been terrified of being here, but now you seem like you don't care! You were here! You knew all the people here! And now you talk about dead bodies as if- if- ...", Amity sighs deeply and lets go of her, "What's wrong? Please talk to me."
"Would you believe me if I told you that this was intentional?", she turns to Amity.
"Huh? What do you mean?", she asks, confused. Luz turns back to the breastplate.
"Call it being in denial if you want. Or me being delusional. Whatever. It's the only thing that's allowing me to stay composed right now."
Amity's eyes stare at Luz, stunned. She continues.
"I'm completely freaking out inside right now if I'm being honest."
"Then let go. Let it out. It wouldn't bother me.", Amity whispers to her confidently, but Luz shakes her head.
"No. Not here.", Luz refuses, "I don't cry in graveyards. On principle."
"But this isn't a-", the witch cuts herself off, "Oh... Right, I see. But please... Don't bottle it all up."
"I'm not making any promises.", Luz stands up again, "Let's go on to the marketplace."
...
"How many people do you think survived this attack?", Amity asks as the two girls start walking again.
"Realistically?", Amity nods hesitantly before Luz lapses into silence for a moment, stopping in her tracks, "After seeing all this? … No one."
Amity tries to ignore the emotionlessness in Luz's voice, but if she's honest, this side of Luz is nothing but intimidating and terrifying. However, it doesn't stay that way for long, when she discovers something through a passageway between two ruined houses that definitely doesn't belong in this place. She stops.
"Luz."
The girl addressed turns around. "Huh?"
"Come over here. You should see this."
"What is it?", Luz walks over to Amity, looking in the direction Amity is pointing, "WHAT THE HECK? Who would put up a tent here?"
'Luz is absolutely furious. But rightly so. This is beyond downright disrespectful!', Amity shares Luz's anger, "Let's go check it out."
The two girls head through the passageway and approach a large hexagonal brown tent with what looks like a small store display attached to it, in which actual goods are on display. They also notice an actual small chimney sticking out of its top.
"What is that? What the fuck is that?", Luz asks, genuinely irritated as they approach the tent.
"Whoever owns this tent must have come here after everything was destroyed.", Amity observes as the two girls come to a halt in front of the shop's display.
"Do you think there's someone here thinking they can sell things here out of all places? Or are they just desperate pillagers?", Luz asks in a loud, angry voice.
"'Valeriana's Mysterious Goods'.", Amity reads aloud, snapping Luz out of her anger, whereupon she stares at her in confusion. The young witch points to a sign next to the display which Luz's gaze follows, leaving her dumbfounded.
"No pillagers."
"Being a merchant and a pillager are not mutually exclusive.", Luz remarks, now a little calmer, "But that name, 'Valeriana', sounds familiar. As if this is a person I am supposed to seek out."
Amity takes a few steps to the side while Luz is busy searching her brain for the correct memories regarding that name, and takes a look inside the tent. On the inside, it definitely does not look like a tent, but more like a base for a well-read nomad.
In the middle is a large, round, colorful carpet. There are two comfy but old-looking couches on top of it, and there are bookshelves full of books all over the place, as well as several bound-up scrolls of paper.
'This doesn't look like a nomad's tent...', Amity thinks to herself, slightly disturbed, "Hello? Is someone in here? Valeriana?"
No response. Generally no sounds from the inside. She enters the tent and, as expected, finds no one there either. On a small table, an upturned book with a bookmark catches her attention.
"'Cooking for Beginners - First Edition'.", Amity reads out, "And even signed by the author... Weird."
She puts the book back exactly as she found it and looks at a few more. "'2000 Ways To Wire Traps', 'Spanish Commanders and the Meaning Of It', 'What Exactly Is An Izu And How To Stop It From Annoying You?'… Spanish is Luz's language. Maybe I'll ask her about that later."
Amity looks at some other books and scrolls before stepping through the curtain that leads outside to behind the display of goods, in front of which Luz is still lost in memories.
...
"Did you find what you were looking for?", Amity asks, but Luz doesn't respond, "Luz?"
"Huh?", her head snaps to the side where she still assumes her girlfriend is, "Uh..."
"Over here, silly.", Amity speaks with amusement. "I checked the tent. Valeriana's not here."
"I see."
"Did you remember why you need to find this Valeriana?"
"All I remember is that it was the Titan who told me to find her. Why, I have no idea."
"She's probably somewhere in or around the village.", Amity suspects. Luz's mood shifts again visibly, and not in a way that the witch particularly likes.
"Doesn't matter.", Luz replies coldly, "We can go look for her when we're done here and we've found the survivors."
Amity jumps over the display and back to Luz. She continues.
"Come. There's one last place I want to check out in a bit."
...
The two girlfriends walk back to the marketplace. The view there is not that much different compared to the village center. There too, there are signs of intense fighting, but nothing that particularly stands out.
As they walk away, Amity points out that the rain is beginning to let up, which Luz doesn't comment on. They walk on in silence until they pass Valeriana's tent again and Amity speaks up.
"You know, when looking through the tent, I found quite a lot of different books. Valeriana seems to have a large collection. A lot of it dealing with different types of magic, though nothing we know of from the Isles. I'd like to ask her about it when we meet her."
"Huh? Yeah, sure.", Luz replies.
'Damn. I thought I could get her with that...', Amity curses to herself.
...
The two of them are on a longer path to what looks like a gigantic stump of a tree that was felled ages ago. It was probably converted into a house some time afterwards, which was also heavily trashed, but is far from being a ruin like many other buildings in the village.
Luz suddenly gasps loudly, her feet frozen to the ground and her jaw dropping to the floor. Amity looks straight at her, worried.
"Luz, what's wrong?"
"There- There is someone.", Luz whispers without wasting time. Amity's head snaps forward instantly, where she does indeed spot a figure sitting next to a door, wearing a black chestplate.
"HEY! YOU THERE!", Luz yells and takes off running.
"Luz, don't!", Amity yells after her, but to no avail.
As she runs and Amity tries to catch up, the figure gets up from their seat, enters the house, and closes the door behind them. About ten seconds later, Luz reaches the front door and throws herself against it with all her body weight, only to realize with surprise that the door is not locked at all, and falls to the floor with a wump.
"Luz!", Amity quickly rushes to her side, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"W- Where are they?", Luz asks in an urgent tone kneeling on all fours, slightly hurt from her uncontrolled fall. She tries to stand up, but struggles visibly.
"Luz, don't! You're hurt!", Amity pleads, which Luz skillfully ignores, tries anyway, and fails as her legs give out.
"YOU! COME BACK!", Luz yells with growing desperation, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Amity drops to her knees beside her and hugs her close as Luz pours out all the emotions she's been bottling up all this time. "Please, come back..."
All her dams break at this moment. Her suppressed fears and worries, her grief that she didn't want to acknowledge and accept... and although they now turn out not to be true, Luz is definitely not crying tears of joy. The girl clings to Amity with all her might, who can feel Luz's body shaking and trembling.
"It's okay... Let it all out.", Amity speaks softly and full of compassion. She holds the crying girl close, one hand on her back and the other stroking the back of her head, hoping that this gesture will calm her down a little.
'We shouldn't have come here...', Amity thinks to herself as her heart aches with every single second that her most important treasure, the person she has vowed to always protect from any suffering and pain, is crying her heart out. 'I feel like I failed her- I failed to protect her precious heart... I really am a horrible girlfriend.' She hugs Luz closer to her.
...
"Ami... Can't- breathe...", Luz says with enormous effort, at which Amity's arms immediately snap back. She stares at her with eyes wide open in shock.
"Luz... I'm so, so sorry."
"No, no, it-", Luz gulps strongly, wiping tears from her face, "It's okay... I was just hoping that- … you know, it's not important."
"Come on. Please tell me..."
"I- I was just hoping they missed me as much as I missed them... Instead, they're hiding from me as well as from Andrias' Frobots.", Luz closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before her gaze shifts to Amity, "I'm sorry. I didn't think it would affect me this much."
Amity feels the urge to apologize as well, but holds her tongue. She knows very well that this is not something Luz wants to hear right now. "No, I understand."
A moment passes in complete silence.
"Ami? If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone for a moment.", Luz speaks softly, "You can stay here, but I'd like to be in the basement for a while."
"In the basement?", Amity asks, confused.
"... Anne's room.", Luz elaborates.
"Oh... right...", she replies with her head hanging down. 'Right. Luz had told me that she and Anne shared her room before she left for Newtopia.'
Amity's thoughts are interrupted when she notices a hatch slam shut. "Luz?"
...
'It looks exactly the same...', Luz is amazed as she descends the stairs. 'This is probably the least damaged room in all of Wartwood right now.'
Largely undamaged, but otherwise completely trashed. There are various items of clothing and bedding scattered everywhere, boxes, moldy food and, on the bed, the plush version of Domino 2, which Luz remembers clearly from when Anne told her the story of Domino and Domino 2.
'Wait a minute... Is the bed bigger than before?', Luz wonders, every trace of her previous sadness gone and replaced by great curiosity. She steps closer to the bed. 'Two mattresses and two blankets? ... No way...'
Luz's gaze wanders to the small photo board hanging on the stone wall right next to the bed. The first thing that catches her eye is the photo that Luz discovered on her first night awake in this basement. The one picture of Anne, Sasha and Marcy that was taken while they were still on earth. The other pictures seem much more recent.
'Wait, how did Anne take these pictures so that she could hang them on the wall? They look and feel like polaroids…'
The first other picture shows a selfie of Anne and Sprig, taken in a cage, both of them covered in filth. The next one is a family picture of the Plantars with Anne hugging all three of them. The last picture has been flipped to face the wall.
Luz climbs over the bed where she reaches for the flipped photo. A slight smirk appears on her face.
'Ha! I knew it.'
The last picture she now holds in her hand is a selfie of Sprig standing on the steps down to the basement. In the background, Anne and Marcy are deep asleep on this very bed, Marcy snuggled up close to Anne's chest with both of their hands intertwined.
Luz smiles as she reminisces about times gone by. In particular, she remembers the first time she saw Anne and Marcy together back in Newtopia. Even then, it was more than obvious that- or rather how much they felt for each other. It was obvious even to Ms. Oblivious aka. Luz Noceda. Just not for the two lovebirds in question.
'Feels familiar.', she thinks to herself with a somber yet simultaneously happy tone before looking at the picture again, 'But I'm very happy that the two of them have found each other... They look very happy. I hope that wherever they are, they're happy tog-'
Luz practically bites her tongue as she realizes what she was actually thinking and remembers where Marcy actually is right now. And who is not with her.
'Anne probably doesn't know about any of this- if she's even still ali-', Luz slaps herself hard across the face, causing a few tears to fall. 'NO! ... No! Anne is alright. I know that.'
Knock - Knock
'Huh?'
Luz's watery eyes wander to the basement hatch where the knocking came from. Without Luz saying anything, the hatch is pulled open and Amity's head emerges.
"Luz. You should come up for a second. I've found, uhh… something."
...
Several minutes earlier...
"Luz?", Amity asks after she hears the basement hatch close and finds Luz nowhere to be seen. 'That's right. She said she needed some alone-time.'
Amity takes this opportunity to take a closer look at this house, where Luz has lived for so long. Or at least for a while when she wasn't with her.
Like most of the other buildings in the village, this one was not spared by the flames. The windows Amity spots are cracked if not totally broken from the heat. There are also clear traces of fire around the front door, although the door itself looks relatively intact, at least on the inside. Surprisingly, the same applies to the interior furnishings. As most of the furniture is on a stone floor, the damage inside is minimal.
Amity approaches the stairs to the upper floor, but finds her way blocked. It seems that part of the upper floor has collapsed.
'So much for that idea...', she shakes her head in disappointment. Sure, the witch could simply clear away the rubble with an Abomination, but that could only further weaken the overall structural integrity. 'Then again, this is all a giant tree...', she considers the thoughts, 'No. It's too risky.'
Amity steps back into what she believes is the living room. The flames were definitely active here. They have spread from the window across the wooden floor, engulfing everything in their path. Fortunately, this seems to be the only area that has suffered any real damage, at least on the first floor. The entrance area was protected by all the stone features. The same goes for the kitchen area right beside it.
The witch thinks about going outside for a breath of fresh air. This thought quickly disappears with a glance through the broken window where it is still raining ash. 'Uhh... Nope!', she thinks to herself with a hint of disgust.
Amity slowly trots over to the couch, which has clearly suffered fire damage, but apart from that still looks pretty much intact, although completely filthy with soot. She creates a sheet of Abomination goo, which she uses to magically wipe over the entire couch, absorbing every bit of soot and leaving a clean, yet damaged surface. Amity wipes a finger over the surface to confirm that it's really clean before deciding to sit down and let her gaze wander around the room.
...
Minutes pass in which Amity does nothing but wait quietly for Luz to return. The thought of taking a nap crossed her mind. A few minutes in she had summoned Ghost. The white cat leans against Amity's leg and lets the young witch cuddle and pamper her all over her body, which the Palisman visibly and audibly enjoys judging by her loud purring.
Amity, and consequently Ghost, are violently startled when a loud mechanical clicking noise snaps them out of their calm. They jump to their feet (and paws) and Amity creates pink flames that encircle her fists and gets into a fighting stance in the direction of where the increasingly mechanical sounds come from: The fireplace.
The bricks that form the smoke outlet to the outside begin to move one after the other, forming a widening gap. A gap from which, even before it is completely open, an excited creature jumps out, which Amity believes to be a frog.
"WHERE IS SHE?", the frog with the light pink mushroom-shaped hair and just one visible yellow eye asks no one in particular, "Where's my best friend?", before her eyes fall on Amity and her burning fists, causing her to fall into absolute amazement like the biggest fangirl. "Flames that don't burn skin... Pointy ears... You're a witch.", she mutters awestruck.
"Huh?!", Amity replies, confused. The frog's eyes are sparkling with admiration.
"Maddie! It's rude to stare like that!", another male and older sounding voice reprimands her. An older frog appears, followed by two more frog children. He turns to Amity, who just stares at him, completely flabbergasted when he shows no reaction to her burning fists. "I would like to apologize to you for her behavior."
At that, the young witch extinguishes her flames. "It- it's okay."
The older frog clears his throat before continuing. "Is it true? Is Luz here? Is she back?", he looks around the room hurriedly while Amity still doesn't quite understand what's going on, "Chuck had reported that you and Luz had arrived and brought us straight here."
"So you- know her...", Amity states, "Okay, I'll get her."
...
With a feeling of unease, Amity walks towards the basement hatch.
'I'm sure she knows them. It's nothing to worry about.'
She crouches down in front of the hatch and opens it just enough to stick her head in and discover Luz, who looks quite lost in thought.
"Luz. You should come up for a second. I've found, uhh... something."
"Huh?" Luz turns to her and wipes the tears away from her eyes. Not unnoticed by Amity, though.
"Is something wrong? Have you been crying?", she asks worriedly. Luz shakes her head dismissively.
"It's okay... I'm okay."
Amity looks at her doubtfully as Luz turns back to the bed and places the picture in her hand upside down on it before climbing the stairs up back to the first floor.
But even before Luz reaches the top, the three frog children jump towards her with tears in their eyes and throw her straight to the floor while hugging her tightly. It takes Luz a moment to process what she has just seen.
"Luz, you're back!", the male pink frog cries, "I thought I'd never see you again."
"S-Sprig?", Luz asks in a barely audible voice.
"I always knew you would come back.", The youngest of the three frogs speaks up.
"Polly?"
The last of the three frogs, the one with the bright pink hair, doesn't say anything but clings tightly to Luz as she's also crying.
"M-M-Maddie?", Luz's voice trembles as she looks the girl in the eye. Only now does she realize what's going on. The fourth frog speaks up.
"As soon as Chuck told us that you were on your way here, we rushed over.", the older frog explains with an incredibly warm smile on his face, "It warms my heart to see that you're okay."
"Hop Pop...", Luz finds her voice again and starts to cry tears of joy. The three frog children take a step back, slightly worried. This worry, however, disappears immediately as Luz grabs Maddie and pulls her close in a bone-crushing hug, crying her heart out with joy at full volume. Sprig, Polly, and Hop Pop join this hug immediately.
"I- I thought you were- you were all-", Luz speaks between sobs. Despite her unable to get the words out of her throat, they immediately know what she means.
"Oh sweety...", Hop Pop speaks up sympathetically, "Don't worry, we survived. Most of Wartwood did, actually. Well, the people..."
"But- but how?", Luz sobs. She does have calmed down a bit, but is still not ready to let go of Maddie. The frog in question has already accepted her fate.
"We've been hiding in the Plantar family tunnels.", Polly explains excitedly, which earns her a confused look from Luz.
"Heh.", Hop Pop chuckles, "It's easier to show you than to explain."
The hug dissolves and, to Maddie's relief, Luz lets go of her as well. Hop Pop offers her a hand to help her stand up. Luz wants to take his hand, but she flinches violently and with pure horror written all over her face when she notices his right leg. Or rather the lack of it.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR LEG?", Luz screams in shock as she can hardly take her eyes off of it. She stares at the iron prosthesis that replaces his leg and foot from his right knee on down.
"Oh that ole thing?", Hop Pop laughs, "I'll tell you the story at dinner. You two must be hungry."
At that, Polly speaks up.
"You talk about legs and don't say anything about mine?", she says as she strikes one pose after another, all emphasizing her leg muscles.
"S-sorry Polly, but my head is everywhere and nowhere right now.", Luz explains only a little calmer but still quite winded, "I'm sorry."
"We're straight out of Newtopia and Luz in particular is pretty emotionally wrecked at the moment.", Amity speaks up, at which Luz just nods in agreement.
"By the way, who are you? Her girlfriend?", Sprig asks teasingly.
"Yes.", is all Amity says in response.
"Wait... really?", he asks again, this time looking at Luz, who nods in confirmation. Kinda dumbstruck, he looks at Amity again.
"My name is Amity Blight. It's nice to meet more of Luz's friends.", she introduces herself, "And I suggest we continue this conversation after Luz in particular has had some rest. Can you spare some space for us somewhere?"
Hop Pop smiles warmly at her, "Space is not an issue for us. Come with me. I'll take you there."
...
At that Luz finally accepts Hop Pop's hand who helps her stand up. Amity stands on her other side and together the group enters the same tunnel that the frogs have just emerged from without any further ado. Several meters inside, the fireplace mechanism closes and Hop Pop speaks up.
"I don't want to pre-empt our upcoming conversation, but I have to ask: you said you just came from Newtopia. I'm admittedly a little surprised that anyone is still alive there at all... However, may I ask why you were there?"
"Right...", Amity begins, "We came here because we're on a mission."
"A mission?", Maddie asks, who, like Amity, is currently descending the stairs closely beside Luz.
"The truth is, we need help.", Amity explains, at which the group stops and turns to the witch. "The Boiling Isles are being attacked as we speak."