Luz is lying in her cozy hammock wrapped in a very fluffy blanket, when she suddenly wakes up and starts opening her eyes. Her gaze travels to the basement window, where she realizes that it is still dark outside. Only the soft moonlight shines into the basement, which appears to be red in this world. She realizes that she has only been asleep for a couple of hours.
Luz lifts her head and recognizes another light source in the room. It's Anne, holding her phone in her hands.
"Anne?", Luz asks in a very sleepy voice.
"Oh, hey Luz. Did I wake you up?", Anne asks quietly, to which Luz thinks for a moment.
"I don't think so", she replies, "You can't sleep either?"
"Not really. I'm way too excited", Anne tells.
"About what?"
"Well, a messenger bird came earlier after Sprig, Polly and I left the lake, with a confirmation that my best friend, Sasha, is coming for dinner tomorrow. We had met again recently for the first time since we got stranded in Amphibia. Wait, one second...", Anne seems to be looking for something on her phone before holding it out to Luz, "Here, this is Sasha".
Anne shows Luz a picture of Sasha, depicting her in the same school uniform Anne is wearing, apparently being a cheerleader cheering someone on.
"She seems... nice."
"Yeah. She showed up here in Wartwood a while back with toads in tow, and invited everyone to a banquet. It was awesome and she even had food prepared from Earth, just for me as a reunion gift... Okay, that's not exactly what she called it, but for me it was just that.", Anne smiles at that memory.
Luz thinks for a while about what Anne tells her and her mind starts to fill with unpleasant thoughts once again.
"Anne? Why am I here?"
"... What do you mean?"
"Well, with the exception of my mom, no human has ever been as nice to me as you are. And yet you hardly know me..."
Anne looks at Luz with wide eyes for a few seconds.
"Luz? ... Don't you have any friends at home?", Anne asks in concern, now sitting upright on her bed so that she can look directly at Luz. Luz snorts dismissively.
"On Earth? No. School days were always hell for me, no one there liked me. But I tried to make the best of it and at least express myself creatively... But that made me even more of an outsider.", a single tear rolls down Luz's cheek, "And I don't even know where to begin to tell you about all the times my creativity got me sent to the principal's office... The last time, it was because of a book report..."
"You had to go to the principal's office because of a book report?", Anne asks incredulously and Luz chuckles briefly.
"Do you know the Good Witch Azura? I had brought some illustrative material for my report, made some figures and had borrowed some harmless snakes from a pet shop to illustrate the fight between Azura and the Gildersnake... Later my replacement snakes broke out of my locker, panic broke out in the school, the principal called my mom, who then came from work, I delivered my report as I had done before in class, only now my mom was there as well. The snake had ended up attacking my principal, and my mom had decided to send me to a camp over the summer, where I was supposed to learn to become 'normal'..."
"Hold on, timeout... You had taken real snakes to school? Snakes? More than one?", Anne asks, puzzled.
"Um... I think there were twelve of them...", Luz guesses, Anne slaps her own hand to her forehead and slumps backwards.
"Uff... Wow..."
"Yeah... And the thing is, while I now understand why my mom wanted to send me away, it was still deeply hurtful. Now though, I'm actually grateful that she wanted to send me there", a soft smile appears on Luz' face.
"Huh, why?"
"Well, on the day I was supposed to go to camp, I discovered the cutie Owlbert here", Luz narrates as she pats Owlbert's head, "And he had led me, though not necessarily intentionally, to a portal to the Boiling Isles, where I ended up staying. Although the name itself seems quite off-putting at first, and there are a few off-putting things there as well, I would call the place more home than Earth... Not only did I learn magic there, I also made great friends and even... a family."
Anne could clearly hear Luz's voice breaking at the end, as well as a quiet sob.
"You really miss them, don't you?"
"More than you imagine..."
"What happened?", Anne asks cautiously.
"Um... N-no. I… I don't think I'm ready to talk about it yet. I'm sorry."
"I get it. But if you ever want to talk about it to someone, I'll be there to listen if you want. I promise."
"Thanks, Anne", Luz says before lying back down and trying to go back to sleep. Anne feels bad for her new roommate, even if she doesn't know exactly what happened to Luz before she came to Amphibia.
Anne puts her phone back down and lies back down as well, thinking about what Luz told her about her past, before eventually falling back asleep as well.
'She really seems to have a lot in common with Marcy. They both even know The Good Witch Azura, what are the chances of that? I might have to ask Luz later if she's also read Cynthia Coven or played that game Marcy played almost continuously on her Switch, that I forgot the name of... But the snakes-thing also sounded like something Marcy would have done if she dared...'
Anne turns her gaze out the basement window.
'Don't worry Marcy. Sasha and I will find you'
More hours passed and the sun was rising eventually. Overall, it is currently quite peaceful. Golden rays of sunshine flooding the house, no sounds whatsoever from the outside, and you could almost believe you could hear harp music and a flute melody from somewhere.
Unfortunately, as with almost all lovely moments, this one is abruptly interrupted when several loud thumping noises could be heard from the main floor. Anne and Luz awake from it almost simultaneously.
"What the...", Luz asks, feeling absolutely drowsy, before quickly pulling out a fire glyph and activating it just as fast, just before she uncontrollably falls out of her hammock onto the floor and the ball of flame dies out.
"Bruh... Luz, are you hurt?", Anne asks, having witnessed everything.
"Are we under attack?", Luz asks in panic.
"No no... It's probably just Hop Pop", Anne replies placatingly. Luz looks at Anne with total confusion and incomprehension.
"Huh?", she asks.
"This house has absolutely no soundproofing", Anne explains.
"Good morning to you too, kids", Hop Pop calls down through the basement ceiling. Luz, who is still lying completely twisted on the floor from her fall, grunts in embarrassment.
"Sorry", she apologizes.
"No problem. You didn't end up setting anything on fire, so you're good", Anne jokes, whereupon Luz smiles slightly and slowly tries to get up from the ground. She checks on Owlbert within her hammock, hoping that she hasn't thrown him out as well in her panic. But fortunately, he is all right, just shaken up a bit.
While Luz is still taking care of Owlbert, Anne sits up straight, yawns her heart out and stands up.
"Say, Luz, would you feel like helping me prepare for dinner later?"
"Sure", Luz replies enthusiastically.
"Great. I'll have to go shopping later, since I don't think Hop Pop has enough supplies after his experiment yesterday"
"I'll help where I can", Luz promises, "And I might as well thank Maddie then, and maybe explore the village as well"
"I would recommend you not to go exploring the village all by yourself... Although nothing would happen to you here, the inhabitants don't necessarily welcome strangers with open arms…", Anne says with her first experience in the village in mind.
"Can't be worse than how humans are treated in the Isles. We're kind of like magic-less mythical creatures there", Luz tells.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Instead, creatures like Griffins are real there... You know, half bird of prey, half lion."
"Yeah yeah, I know", Anne lies, "Um... I think I should go take a shower now. See you in a bit."
Anne leaves the basement and Luz turns her attention back to Owlbert who has snuggled back into himself. She gently rocks the hammock while her cute little friend tries to get a little more sleep.
After what just felt like a few minutes, Luz gives Owlbert a little kiss and quietly sneaks up the stairs to the main floor.
Once upstairs, she has just closed the basement hatch behind her again, and turns around, she notices Anne already descending the stairs from the upper floor, freshly showered and fully dressed. She looks at Anne in disbelief and confusion.
"Whoa... How can you be ready already? Didn't you just leave the basement?"
Now Anne is a bit confused herself.
"Luz... That was fifteen minutes ago", Anne corrects whereupon Luz rubs the back of her neck, slightly embarrassed.
"I guess I got caught up in Owlbert's cuteness a little too long".
Anne laughs, but Luz can't help a small grin either.
"Yeah... Um, here's the thing: If you want to take a shower: Up the stairs, first door on the left. Unfortunately, there's no hot water here. Takes some getting used to."
"Thank you", Luz replies, and heads up the stairs. Anne had no way of knowing that Luz already knew where the bathroom was, because Hop Pop had already told her. It would be quite weird to stay in one place for soo long, without having to use the bathroom once. Without thinking any further about it, Luz walks up the stairs where she came across a tired Sprig, who probably just got up as well.
He heads downstairs and joins Anne and Hop Pop in the kitchen, where Anne, already fully dressed, is making herself breakfast. He had already noticed Anne's huge joy yesterday when she got the news that Sasha would be coming to dinner tonight, but nonetheless he is a bit surprised by Anne's currently rather unusually energetic state. He wonders if Anne was as energetic in her world when she wanted to meet up with her friends, or if it's an exception now since she and Sasha haven't seen each other in so long... Well, except for the fortunately crashed banquet. The dinner later will probably be some kind of reunion-replacement party for both of them.
"Hey buddy", Anne greets Sprig shortly after he enters the kitchen.
"Goood morning, Anne", he tries to sound less tired than he actually is, "How did you sleep, now that you have a new roommate?"
"I don't think I slept much. Too excited about Sasha."
"Kinda figured that... I hope she doesn't bring her toad army this time"
Anne laughs as Sprig gives her a serious look, which she doesn't immediately notice.
"Oh, you're serious?"
"She's working with the toads. And she does it voluntarily. Of course, I don't trust her... And the fact that I think Toad Tower was a trap for us, doesn't let me shake the feeling that she's planning something", Sprig says, "I know she's your friend and you've known her far longer than I have, but my intuition has never failed me."
"I really appreciate your concern, but I trust Sasha. She knows I care deeply for everyone here, and she would never betray me.", Sprig sighs while Anne talks "Buut... I'll keep an eye on her. For you."
"Thank you, Anne.", Sprig says with a satisfied smile on his face, "But now I'm hungry".
Sprig sits down right next to Anne. Hop Pop, on the other hand, has gotten up in between to wake Polly up for breakfast. When he returns with her into the kitchen, both Anne and Sprig notice massive dark circles under Polly's eyes.
"Whoa, Polly... You don't look very good...", Sprig notices worriedly.
"You wouldn't win any beauty contests either!", Polly replies aggressively. Anne and Sprig look at her in horror. "I'm sorry, I slept horribly... I might need a new bucket after Sprig 'accidentally' fell on it so many times"
"Polly, if you need a new bucket, we should visit Loggle later and have him make one for you... Maybe I can even negotiate a good price", Hop Pop announces, whereupon Polly sighs loudly in exasperation.
"If you try to negotiate for a lower price again, he'll just use rotten wood again. Do you remember how long my last bucket lasted?"
Hop Pop remembers it perfectly well. He had negotiated a perfect deal with Loggle, and got a bucket for only a fraction of the regular price. But on the same day, it broke down entirely, and he had to buy a new one at the regular price. A very embarrassing memory.
"Yes. But Polly, you're getting older and you're almost overdue to grow your legs. And once they're there, you won't need a bucket anymore...", Hop Pop tries to argue, only unfortunately Polly is currently deaf to any logical reasoning.
"Quick question", Luz interrupts, "Who's Loggle?"
"Leopold Loggle is the village woodworker and former blacksmith", Hop Pop explains.
"Hold on... His name is Loggle and he is working with... logs? Is that a pun?", Luz asks, to which Anne replies with her mouth full.
"Nope. No pun"
Luz just shrugs her shoulders, having judged this topic to be of no further importance.
"Anne, have you actually thought about what you want to buy later?", she asks.
"Yes and no. I feel like making sushi later", Anne says, causing Luz's eyes to light up.
"Uhh, I haven't had sushi in ages...", she exclaims.
"Really?", Anne inquires,
"Yeah, the food in the Boiling Isles is definitely not made for humans. There's extremely little there that I can actually eat... So, yes, I really like your idea."
"I hope Sasha feels the same way. There wasn't any sushi at the tower, and I hope we can buy everything here somewhere, and that it won't be like when we tried to make pizza...", Anne recalls.
"What happened?", Luz asks her, however Sprig answers before her.
"Well, we almost got eaten by a tomato plant. And I got forcibly engaged to Maddie for some dough-"
"Mmm, I could go for some pizza right now", Luz interrupts.
"Nope, not with me...", Sprig completely blocks, "But I'm wondering one thing right now: What is sushi anyway?"
"Basically, sushi is just a few ingredients: Nori leaves, which is something like paper-thin seaweed, rice, and fish", Anne explains. The Plantars, however, can't yet imagine how something delicious is supposed to be made from that. Especially because Anne unfortunately has no images of sushi to show on her phone. Neither does Luz.
Breakfast went on for a while, with Anne and Luz actually just talking about food from Earth, and trying to explain to the Plantars what is what. Unsurprisingly, though, they are rather unsuccessful. A while after breakfast, Polly and Hop Pop leave the house together to have her new bucket made for Polly. Hop Pop has left some coppers for Anne's shopping, which she is very grateful for.
Sprig had gone to his room to get ready, since he was only wearing his sleeping clothes so far, and Luz and Anne are now waiting for him at the front door.
"Say Luz, wouldn't you like to change into something else as well?", Anne asks cautiously, to which Luz looks down at herself.
"Is something wrong?"
"Well... you still have blood on your hoodie. And on your leggings...", Anne remarks.
"... In case you haven't noticed, I don't have too much choice in this world when it comes to spare clothes."
"Oh, right", Anne says in embarrassment as she realizes this, "I guess I'm not quite awake yet. After all, I'm still wearing the exact same clothes I came to Amphibia in as well."
"Eww", Luz replies slightly disgusted.
"Well, even though there is no electricity here as we know it from Earth, it is perfectly possible to wash clothes", Anne says.
"True, I guess...", Luz agrees.
"By the way, do you actually have any healing potions left?", Anne asks.
"Uh... I drank one of them last night... There should be one left"
"Okay, great. I'd suggest you leave that one for now. Just in case...", Anne suggests and that's exactly when Sprig comes down the stairs, and the three of them now head out of the house as well towards the center of the village, where all the stores are located.
After only a few minutes the group arrives, and at the village center there is already a lively crowd of villagers. Luz looks around with huge eyes.
Immediately to the right and left of the path that leads to the Plantars' farm are a few mushroom-shaped houses. On the right side of the place are several stores: 'Grub & Co', 'Leopold Loggle's', 'Bricks "R" Us' and 'Felicia's Tea Shoppe'. In the center is a flagpole that sits on a small, stone pedestal. To Luz's left are a few more buildings, though probably not stores, and a small bridge that crosses a small river toward another open plaza.
"Whoa...", Luz exhales in amazement as she looks there. Anne's gaze follows hers.
"Oh, yeah. Um... That's when we had a rather small party because I was voted Frog of the Year", Anne explains.
"There's a dabbing statue of you that's at least seven meters tall. How can you call that a small party?", Luz asks.
"I have to admit, I'm surprised that's the only thing left there. I was actually afraid I'd have to clear everything myself... Oh, fun fact: the statue originally stood on a stone pedestal at least as high as the chocolate fountain", Anne narrates as if it was the most normal thing in the world. For Luz, on the other hand, it sounds absolutely incredulous. But before she could say anything more about it, Anne and Sprig already continued walking on and practically dragging Luz along behind them.
"So, Luz, this is our first stop", Anne announces as they arrive right in front of the 'Grub & Co'.
"So, what exactly do we need to get again, Anne?", Sprig asks.
"Um... the thinnest seaweed you can find... Fish, ideally salmon, although I'm not sure if there are any fish here at all..."
"There are.", Sprig interrupts Anne.
"Great. And we need rice, as well as smoked flies."
"... For sushi?", Luz asks critically.
"No. Hop Pop wants to make yesterday's meal again, though, and had asked me to bring some back for him before he and Polly left."
And so, the three of them entered the store, and to save time, Anne had suggested that they split up. Anne to take care of the seaweed and fish, Sprig to take care of Hop Pops flies, and Luz to look for rice. Or at least something close to it.
'Hm, actually looks like a normal supermarket on Earth,' Luz thinks to herself as she walks through the aisles, 'Well, albeit with more living stuff... And why is there a whole section here just for glue?'
Luz is so lost in thought that she almost knocked over an elderly frog.
"Watch out, Anne- Oh... You're not Anne... You're the new human", the old frog observes, while Luz just grins awkwardly.
"I'm soo sorry I almost knocked you over, Mrs...?"
"Croaker. I own the dairy farm, Croaker Dairy, and the Cowapillar farm on the edge of town", she proudly announces.
"Impressive. I'm Luz.", Right after saying that, Luz turns to the small, yet oversized spider next to her, "Aww, and who is this cute little creature?", Luz asks as she pets Mrs. Croaker's spider pet, which seems to like the affection.
"That's Archie. It's most unusual that he's so calm around strangers...", Mrs. Croaker observes.
"What can I say, I'm adorable", Luz states, bursting with self-confidence. Mrs. Croaker, on the other hand, starts laughing out loud.
"Ahh, that was delightful... You know, I like you, kid", Luz starts to smile, "But in the future, you better be careful not to knock people down."
"Consider it done", Luz says, about to take a proud step forward, and runs face first into a shelf and falls backwards to the floor.
Instead of pain from the impact, she rejoices. She has found... the rice. In fact, it's the last package on the shelf.
At the same time, Sprig and Anne emerge suddenly from the end of the shelf with their things and find Luz, cheering while lying on her back on the floor. They exchange confused and worried looks.
"Are you okay?", Sprig asks worriedly and Luz stands up and takes the rice from the shelf.
"Sure, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
Anne and Sprig are currently a bit creeped out by Luz, and quietly decide not to think about it any further, and to leave the store again as quickly as possible.
Back outside, this time Anne turns to Luz and asks her, as Sprig did before "Luz, are you sure you're, okay? That was a little creepy in there"
"Oh... yeah... That was most likely just the trauma of being brutally torn away from all my friends on the Isles, and not being able to save my family there from being turned to stone by a thoroughly evil guy, who for some reason had it in for the portal door between the Isles and Earth, which I also failed to save before I was pulled here, and as a result PROBABLY PUT ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE ON EARTH IN THE GREATEST DANGER...", Luz babbles increasingly panicked, "So yeah, I'm fine. Where are we heading to now?"
Anne, staring at Luz wide-eyed in terror, turns to Sprig, who looks at her the same.
"That girl needs therapy badly", she whispers before turning back to Luz, "You said you wanted to talk to Maddie, so next we're going to her dad's bakery."
Luckily, the bakery isn't far away. Once there, Anne turns to Sprig.
"Are you sure you don't want come in with us?"
Sprig nods decisively, and Anne and Luz step through the door. A small bell announces their entrance. Immediately as the two girls enter the bakery, Luz notices the absolutely amazing smells coming from a small display, where a wide variety of warm steaming breads, rolls, and other types of pastries are laid out.
"Wow, that smells so goood", Luz whispers to herself as the owner turns to them.
"Hi Mr. Flour", Anne greets him warmly.
"Oh, good morning, Anne and...", he looks at Luz.
"Oh, yes, I'm Luz"
"Well, welcome. What can I do for you two?", he asks.
"A friend is coming over for dinner later and I wanted to see if you might have something appropriate for that…", Anne says, whereupon Luz nudges her with her elbow, "And Luz would like to see Maddie."
"Is that so? Did my oldest light something on fire again, or did another curse go astray?", he asks jokingly, probably. It's not quite clear.
"Oh no, nothing like that", Luz replies, "She had saved my life in Toad Tower actually".
"Yeah, that's how I know my daughter. Always wanting to help others... MADDIE! YOU HAVE A VISITOR!", he yells.
A short time later, Maddie appears in the open doorway behind the counter. Luz gives her a slight wave and Maddie smiles back.
"I'm so glad to see you're feeling better", she says.
"Yes, but it's also thanks to you", Luz replies.
Suddenly they hear Mr. Flour clear his throat vocally and they both glare at him. He makes a subtle suggestion that they'd better talk among themselves.
"Oh, right. Come along, human."
"My name's Luz, by the way"
Maddie leads Luz to a place in the back of the building. The door is plastered with 'Do Not Enter' signs in various designs, as well as a drawing of three tadpoles, each crossed out in red. Maddie opens the door.
"Welcome Luz... to my personal lab."
"Wow, wow, woow...", Luz awes as she enters the room.
It's a small room with several tables, all cluttered with alchemical items and tools. There are several bubbling cauldrons, each with a different colored liquid, a couple of bookshelves with the thickest books Luz has ever seen, and another shelf with quite a few potions on display. Luz can't stop marveling and doesn't realize that Maddie has asked her a question.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"I asked how your injuries were? Do you need more healing potions? I actually just finished a new concoction", Maddie states.
"Oh no no, my injuries are all healed for the most part. And I still have one potion left, but I'll save that for emergencies", Luz explains.
"Good thinking... Is there anything else I can do for you then?", Maddie asks.
"Actually, I don't need anything. I just wanted to thank you personally for saving my life... Aand maybe I also wanted to ask you how you know so much about potions..."
Maddie raises an eyebrow. Or maybe both. It's hard to tell when half of her face is covered by her hair. Do frogs even have eyebrows? ... Anyway. Maddie takes one of the thick books from her shelf and shows it to Luz, who sits down on the floor with it and opens it.
She can't believe her eyes.
"This is the same book that Eda always used for brewing potions...", Luz exclaims. Maddie was about to ask a question, but Luz immediately interrupts her, "Where did you get that from?"
"To my knowledge, the book originally came from Newtopia. My ancestors...", she clears her throat, "- umm… stole it from there."
"That is sooo cool"
"What?", Maddie wonders in utter confusion. This is not the reaction she expected when she admitted to owning a stolen object.
"This book is not from Newtopia. It's from the Boiling Isles. You know, that's the place I was before I was dragged here to Amphibia... And that means there is a way back", Luz is overjoyed and pulls Maddie into a hug, which she just as quickly lets go of, "Sorry. I was told to keep my distance."
"Actually, I don't have a problem with that. Most people- whew", Maddie couldn't finish that sentence before she was already caught in another heartfelt hug. And she was enjoying it.
After a while Luz let go of Maddie again, but still couldn't stop smiling.
"What I was just trying to say", Maddie continues, "most people think I'm too weird to want anything to do with me. Well, with the exception of my three little sisters. But they get on my nerves too much, and prevent me from doing my work here..."
"You know, back on Earth, other people never wanted anything to do with me either, because I was too different. Too weird. But I like you, Maddie... And I'm not just saying that because you saved me from certain death", Luz said with a sincere smile on her face until there was a knock on the door shortly after. It's Anne standing in front of the door when Maddie opens it.
"I'm finished. If you want, we can go", she says.
"You go ahead. I'll catch up with you guys later. I want to show Maddie something first", Luz states, to which Maddie raises one(?) eyebrow.
"Alright. I'll see you later Luz. I'll start cooking then", Anne waves her goodbye and ultimately leaves the bakery.
"You want to show me something?", Maddie asks as soon as Anne had left. Luz, who still has the biggest smile on her face, takes out some sheets of paper from her pocket and puts them on the floor in front of her. Each of the papers has a different symbol drawn on it. Luz touches one after the other.
The first sheet folds in on itself and creates a floating ball of light.
The second one forms a column of ice.
A plant grows from the third.
And the last piece Luz takes in her hand before she touches it, because it begins to burn briefly.
To say that Maddie is impressed is a massive understatement and is still trying to understand what exactly she just saw. She does get one question formulated, though.
"Those are glyphs, right?"
"Yes, exactly. Unfortunately, I seem to be the only one who can activate them, because I have a connection to a magic source. Anne had tried it before too and nothing happened, otherwise I'd let you have some too."
"What kind of magic source?", Maddie asks.
"A palisman. It's a mix of pet and talisman, made up of magic from the Boiling Isles. Well, sort of, anyway", Luz replies.
"Is that all the glyphs there are, or do you have more as well?", Maddie wonders.
"That's all I've been able to find so far, I'm afraid. Two I found in nature and the other two from spells cast by witches who can inherently cast magic, other than with glyphs", Luz explains.
"Can I still keep the ones you showed me? I would like to study them"
"Sure you can. You might even find more", Luz says, handing her one of each glyph she knows.
"I think this is the beginning of an interesting partnership", Maddie says.
"Or a friendship...", Luz grins broadly. Maddie smiles back as well, whereupon Luz invites her to another hug, which she is only too happy to accept.
"I think I should start getting back to the Plantars. I promised Anne, I'd help her before her friend Sasha comes over for dinner later."
"Be careful with that Sasha. She's definitely planning something bad...", Maddie warns Luz.
"Thanks for the warning. I'll keep my back covered", Luz replies, "And let me know if you find out anything new about the glyphs… new friend."
And with that Luz says goodbye, leaves the bakery, and sprints off to tell Anne and Sprig about the exciting news.