Anne wakes up and experiences the wonderful moment when lies is still in bed, and is not yet sure where exactly she is. She sits up straight, yawns whole-heartedly, and stretches her arms out in front of her. She freezes as she becomes more aware of where she is and with whom she is currently sharing a bed.
'This is Marcy's room... And Marcy is lying next to me. In bed. Oh my frog, I slept in the same bed with Marcy... Calm down, Anne. This is no big deal... This isn't the first time we've spent the night together... Well, we've never slept in the same bed before, but-'
"It's rude to stare, Anna-Banana."
Anne only now realizes that she couldn't take her eyes off Marcy during her inner soliloquy. Although Marcy still has her eyes closed, a slight grin spreads across her face to which Anne blushes.
"Sorry Marbles", Anne whispers, at which Marcy giggles but also gradually begins to open her eyes.
"And?", Marcy asks in a sleepy voice, "Did you sleep well?"
"After more than a week in the Plantars' fwagon, this is absolutely amazing", she replies.
"Great. Did you know that this bed and mattress were custom-made? The mattress, for example, is filled with feathers from the Pkao bird. These feathers have special properties because of my allergies. You know that I'm allergic to house dust-"
'She just woke up and is already able to talk about so much... Oh how I missed that... I could listen to her forever'
"I see you're probably not awake yet…", Marcy notes, tearing Anne out of her thoughts again.
"Huh?"
"Yeah, I thought so. Would you like to use my shower? I'm guessing it's been a while since your last real shower..."
Anne looks down at herself and sniffs the shirt she slept in, before she grimaces in disgust. "Yeah, maybe that would be better"
'I smell absolutely horrible. How can she want to be near me at all right now?'
Anne gets a towel thrown at by Marcy, and she quickly disappears through a door to the bathroom.
During the trip to Newtopia, Anne was lucky when they stopped at a pond or hotel to be able to wash. Since her time at Amphibia, she has gotten used to the fact that hygiene is something that is not a priority here, but waiting for an opportunity like this is always worth it.
Not only is there running water here, it is even warm. And to top it all off: There are soap and shampoo. A few tears of joy are welling up in Anne's eyes.
In the end, Anne was in the shower for almost an hour. She's wearing the same clothes she entered the bathroom in, but now with her hair wrapped in a towel and feeling totally relaxed. She sees Marcy sitting on her bed, writing something into her journal.
"You have no idea how much I missed showering…", Anne comments and Marcy looks at her.
"I'm guessing you didn't have a shower in Wartwood, did you?"
"Nu-uh. The Plantars did have a bathtub, but neither soap nor warm water"
"You know, if you want, I could have your clothes washed. I can well imagine that they are a bit smelly too... Generally speaking, I'm quite impressed that you're still wearing our old school uniform... and only one shoe..."
"Well... I actually have more than just this outfit. I have a dress woven from seaweed fibers when I opened a Thai restaurant, and a fancy suit when I was voted frog of the year… It was a mess, I'm telling ya... And I lost my shoe as soon as I got here in Amphibia."
"Wait a second... Frog of the Year?"
"Oh yes. All of Wartwood voted on it. I was quite... surprised, given that I'm not a frog-"
"You're a frog... in spirit", Marcy jokes, to which Anne chuckles.
"In fact, they told me the exact same thing back then"
"No way!", Marcy says in astonishment.
"Totally. Anyway, tradition required me to throw a party and boy that was exhausting. In the beginning it was actually fun, but then I asked too much from everyone and burned down half the village in the process"
"That last part sounds a lot like the old me"
"Your old me?", Anne asks skeptically.
"Yeah. I've really grown out here, Anne. Come into my own. Leveled up. No more clumsy, klutzy Marcy..."
"Yes, that's probably true. You've changed... We've changed", Anne says thoughtfully, sitting next to Marcy on her bed.
"Hmm? What do you mean?", Marcy tilts her head slightly. After a short pause, Anne sighs.
"There's something else I need to tell you..."
"Spill it, Anna-Banana", Marcy says in her cute, encouraging way.
"It was when Sasha was in Wartwood and... you know. When I attacked Sasha, something changed inside me. I think I have some kind of power. It made me faster and stronger, though it didn't last long. It felt absolutely horrible. And when I told you yesterday about what she did and what I did, that feeling came back..."
"When that shock wave radiated from you?"
"Did that really happen? Oh frog... well, never mind then. My point is this: I think you have similar powers. And Sasha probably does too."
"That would be really cool. But how did you come up with that?"
"Luz told me that when you saved Maddie, your eyes were glowing bright green, just like mine were glowing blue"
Marcy's eyes widen while Anne is telling this and she pulls out her smartphone and seems to be looking for something.
"Aha!", Marcy proclaims. "Here. On Earth I found this in relation to the music box. Didn't think it would matter..."
Marcy shows Anne a photo from a book page. At the top is 'Calamity Box' in large letters, and next to it is a picture of the box itself. Also visible are the three gems that are part of the box. One green, one blue, and one purple. In addition to that, there is also a lot of text, but unfortunately the image is too blurred to see anything more clearly.
"Oh. My. God. This is so cool. We have powers! We could be superheroes", Marcy exclaims, bursting with excitement. Anne winces at the word 'superheroes', which Marcy doesn't seem to notice. "I need to run some tests later. With your help, we could make Amphibia a better place... Anne? Are you okay?"
"I'd rather not explore those powers. They just remind me of sorrow and pain, and I definitely didn't feel like a hero."
"Okay. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. But if you ever change your mind, I might have some theoretical data that might help giving you a head start."
"Thanks, MarMar. I... suppose you'd like to start experimenting right now..."
"Hmm... no."
"Not?", Anne asks in surprise.
"Not today. Today I want to spend time with you... Uhh, I have an idea. How about I take you and the Plantars out for lunch?"
'Wow, Marcy really changed', Anne thinks to herself. "Aww, that would be very kind of you. But what about Luz and Maddie?"
"Well, now that Maddie is awake again, I'm assuming they will be spending some time in the library. But if they wanna join us, they're invited too"
"So just the five of us?"
"Yeah. I would also suggest that you go back to the hotel and I'll pick you up later."
"Or... I'll wait here until you're finished and we'll pick them up together", Anne suggests, "That way we can spend even more time together"
Marcy's eyes light up from joy and after a short but all the more sincere hug from Anne, Marcy disappears in the bathroom. Surprisingly for Anne, after only a few minutes, Marcy comes back into her bedroom, now looking a lot more awake and refreshed, and and wearing her Ranger uniform. Anne, on the other hand, only just managed to take off the towel that she had wrapped around her still damp hair in the same period of time. Marcy gives her a confused look.
"What?", Anne asks noticing Marcy staring at her.
"You washed your hair, right?"
"Yeah... why?"
"I don't know how to tell you this..."
"Spill it Marbles", Anne demands with a certain urgency in her voice.
"Okay, okay...", Marcy pauses, "Do you know you still have leaves in your hair?"
Anne looks at her best friend with a startled look and carefully raises her hands up to her head, and gropes through her messy hair before pulling out one of the several leaves and holds it in front of her face, shortly before Marcy suddenly bursts out laughing.
"I think... your powers want to turn you... into a tree", Marcy wheezes.
Anne compulsively tries to put on an offended grimace, but fails miserably when she hears the sheer joy in Marcy's laugh.
Ever since she was a child, Anne believes that Marcy's laugh has had unique empathetic qualities. A few years ago, when Anne was in the hospital with a broken arm, Marcy came to visit her every day. They played games together, made up stories, and laughed endlessly. Anne never felt any pain when Marcy was with her. At her first prom, she got rejected for the first time, at the same time after asking her first crush to go there with her. Anne locked herself in her room for days, and didn't want to see or talk to anyone. Not even with Marcy and Sasha. However, Marcy wasn't ready to give up and was still with her, even if she was just sitting on the floor in front of Anne's closed door. Since Anne's parents weren't home at the time, nobody could stop Marcy from spending the whole night there.
And the next day.
And the next night.
All that time, she tried to cheer Anne up, tried to talk to her. At some point she had started slipping small pieces of paper under her bedroom door, hoping that Anne would come out again sometime.
The next day, Marcy was still at Anne's house, but no longer sitting in front of her closed door, but in the living room, where she watched cartoons that her own parents hadn't allowed her to watch. Her occasional laughter had filled the house and eventually Anne joined Marcy in the living room, and it was as if Anne was never rejected and locked herself in her room in the first place.
And that's exactly how it is now. All her worries are gone, nothing else matters right now. Not how to find a way home, not what she did to Sasha, nothing. Just this fleeting moment.
Anne is so lost in her memories that she doesn't realize that Marcy is now holding her.
"You alright Anne?"
"mmmm"
"Come on, Anna-Banana. We shouldn't keep the Plantars waiting any longer. And maybe we'll find Luz and Maddie on the way..."
"Oh right... Lunch... Wait, what do you mean, 'keep the Plantars waiting'? They don't even know you're inviting them yet..."
"That's right...", Marcy says, "But that doesn't mean I want them to wait any longer than necessary"
"Let's go then"
Immediately afterwards, the two girls leave Marcy's room, instead of heading towards the exit, they first go to the Royal Library to see if Luz and Marcy are already there. They are not. Halfway between the palace and the Plantar's hotel, the two girls met Luz and Maddie and immediately invited them both to lunch, which they were only too happy to accept. Since the restaurant is halfway between here and the palace, Marcy had given Luz a map of the city with some of Marcy's personal highlights marked on it. Marcy shows Luz and Maddie exactly where the restaurant is and tells them to wait there, while she and Anne pick up the Plantars, which turned out to be very easy. Marcy only had to mention the words 'lunch' and 'free' for Hop Pop to accept the invitation.
Arriving at the restaurant, the group sees Luz and Maddie waiting. The restaurant is on the ground floor of a three-storey building. The top two floors appear to be apartments only. On a balcony on the top floor stands an axolotl singing something vaguely reminiscent of an Italian opera. Immediately above the front door into the restaurant is a glass image of a burger and right next to it is a beetle-shaped sign fixed to the wall of the house that reads 'BURG' in big letters, with an image of a burger just below it. A little further from the entrance is a wooden sign of the restaurant's owner holding up a large burger.
Gradually, one might hypothetically get the impression that they would be selling burgers there. There is also a smaller wooden plaque on the wall of the house advertising today's special dish. It shouldn't be hard to guess what it might be.
That's right, ice cream.
The group sits down at a table outside, and shortly thereafter the owner comes out to take the orders. Marcy insists on surprising everyone, which is why she just ordered '6 times the usual'. A short time later, the owner returned with burgers for everyone.
"Enjoy, everyone! This place makes the best beetle burger in all of Newtopia", Marcy states happily. Luz comments on the burger in front of her with an "eww", before she takes a hearty bite.
"Luz, I just noticed something...", Anne begins and attracts Luz's attention, "you didn't have your staff with you today."
"Yup. I left Owlbert at Iva's. He can't roam freely in the Royal Library, and since we usually spend a full day there, I didn't want to ask him to spend a full day in staff form."
"Nice of you"
Marcy doesn't have a burger herself, but kneels between Polly and Hop Pop and pulls out a book.
While still chewing on the burger herself, Polly asks Marcy "What's that?"
"Oh, just my journal. I like jottin' down theories and observations. You know, all about indigenous fauna, medicinal techniques, customs and nuances of Amphibious species-based caste systems... Sometime I even do drawings"
Marcy turns her journal over to Polly and in it she sees a hyper-realistic sketch of herself. Polly marvels at the sketch and Sprig turns to Anne.
"Wow! Anne, have you been keeping a journal too?"
"Nah", says Anne, still chewing, "I only have my diary. But there are also a few drawings in there."
After a while, the owner comes back to the table with the bill and before he can say anything, Marcy easily guesses the correct price.
"Wow! Can you do math like that too, Anne?", Sprig asks, "Anne, you alr-?"
"Psst, be quiet", she cuts him off. She's trying to focus on something in particular, but she's not quite sure what it is yet. Her right ear starts twitching
She hears an object flying in her direction. Without looking at it, stretches out one arm and grabs an arrow midair, which otherwise might have hit one of them.
"An attack!", Hop Pop screams.
"Oh no, NOT THIS TIME!", Anne grits her teeth and throws the arrow back in its original direction so hard, that it almost breaks the sound barrier. Everyone at the table is staring at Anne with wide eyes.
"What?", Anne asks innocently. At first, no one reacts.
"Erm... Anne...", Marcy begins, "that was probably a message from the... king"
"I don't care. Then next time he should use something less dangerous"
"Uh, Lady Olivia. May I assume Master Marcy received my riddle?"
"I bring bad news, my king. The arrow with your message came back again"
"Excuse me?"
"The arrow that the messenger had sent, was sent back to the palace... in the process... it penetrated two walls and got stuck in a third."
"Fascinating. Show me where"
Lady Olivia guides King Andrias from his throne room through the palace north, and about two floors up to one of the outer walls of the palace. A circular hole in the wall, one meter wide and half a meter deep. Andrias looks curiously through the hole and from there to the smaller hole behind it. The second is just as deep, but only half the size, and Andrias peered through to see an arrow with a piece of parchment attached to it stick in the wall behind.
There are energy residues from Heart on the object. Bring them to us for a situation analysis
"Then we'll take the more boring route... Lady Olivia, bring me Anne, the Plantars and the other two kids immediately"
"Yes, my king"
And immediately thereafter, Lady Olivia was on her way to fulfill Andria's errand, while he himself turned to the arrow that was still half stuck in a wall in the room next door.
Apparently, Heart's abilities have evolved faster than anticipated
"We should try to make sure that Marcy doesn't discover her own abilities. Otherwise, she could endanger the whole plan"
So far, no energy residues have been measured on Wit. If that changes, you have to eliminate them
"Eliminate? Isn't the plan to use her as a new body for you, my lord?"
You know about Wit's abilities
"Yes, my Lord. Wouldn't it serve our cause better if you could use her abilities yourself?"
Calculate scenarios... Suggestion is acceptable should Wit discover their abilities earlier
"Thank you, my lord"
Your empathy for Wit shouldn't get in the way of our goals, Andrias!
"It won't"
Andrias slowly walks back to his throne room, knowing that Lady Olivia should be back shortly. And as soon as he was back on his throne, a few voices could be heard from outside the door.
"Okay Frog-Family. And you two... You are about to meet King Andrias. This Is A. Big. Deal."
Lady Olivia seems to want to say a few last words to her entourage. Andrias smiles slightly at the thought.
'Okay, showtime'
The great doors of the throne room open and the group walk towards Andrias, marveling at the room. Several "uhh"s and "ahh"s can be heard from almost all of them except for two. Marcy knows the throne room well, of course, and this other, unknown, human girl seems completely fixated on Andrias.
"May I present to you, King Andrias Leviathan. Lord of Amphibia, Peacekeeper of a thousand years and the first of his name.", Lady Olivia introduces Andrias.
"Now that's King-sized…", the girl with the messy hair says.
"HELLO MY NEW FRIENDS", Andrias speaks very loudly and laughs. "Oh bring it in you guys. Bring it in"
Andrias descends from his throne, takes all the frogs in his huge arms and hugs them tightly.
"It's soo good to finally meet you", he says before bringing them back down onto the floor.
"Oh, I love this guy", pink tadpole says to which Andrias laughs again with a big smile on his face.
"Dear King Andrias-", Lady Olivia approaches him, "just once, it would be nice if you followed the castles etiquette."
"Oh, etiquette schmettiquette", he says with a dismissive gesture, before turning to the girl standing next to Marcy, who is more than obviously quite nervous.
"And who do we have here?", Andrias takes a few steps and kneels in front of the girl. "You must be Anne... 'Sup? Am I saying that right: 'sup?"
"You got it", Marcy replies, giving him a thumbs up, whereupon Andrias starts laughing again. "The thumb of approval. And here's a thumb for you, Anne"
"Right back at ya", Anne replies, touching his hand with her fist. He starts laughing again, albeit louder this time.
"Delightful", he says excitedly, and jumps once for joy, knocking everyone else present to the ground.
"And here we have someone else. I think I've seen you before... You were at the parade, weren't you?", the girl with the short black hair and the blue cape just nods, but just stands there with her arms crossed. "Let me guess, you are... Sasha?", Andrias guesses and the girl's expression changes to anger. Marcy feels the urge to step in.
"King Andrias, this is Luz. She arrived in Amphibia after us"
"Perfect. Then we can get down to business straight away: Getting you girls back home safe and sound", he notes gently, before his tone took on a touch of disappointment, "But without the music box, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. Marcy doesn't have it. And I assume you two don't have it neither."
"OH! Actually, I do have the box", Anne admits with a big grin on her face.
"Are you serious?", Marcy asks incredulously.
"Well, this is marvelous news. Come, let's see it", Andrias requests with renewed joy.
"Well, I don't 'have it'-have it. Hop Pop leant it to some contacts to see what they could learn about it. But I do have a photo of it"
Anne pulls out a device that Andrias has already seen in Marcy's possession, and on it was a picture of the box. Andrias pulls out a set of pink and silver glasses, studded with assorted diamonds, which he puts on and squints at the picture.
"Hmm... how peculiar. Marcy, didn't you say the gems were colored? Look here, they're gray", Andrias notes.
"Oh, you're right. I actually never noticed that", Anne says, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment.
"This requires further study in the deepest of our archives. Give me a few days to work with this information- Whoa, wait a second...", Andrias looks at Luz, "You arrived here in Amphibia after the others. How did you do this?"
Luz shrugs.
"Really? No idea?", Luz shakes her head disinterestedly. "Hmm... Alright. In a few days, we shall reconvene and set a glorious plan in motion.", Andrias says full of conviction.
"Great", Anne says, "Mar-Mar, how can I do to help?"
"Can you translate ancient Amphibian runes?"
"I sure... can't!"
Marcy chuckles, "Don't worry, dude. But maybe Luz and Maddie have already found something useful in the Royal Library. They've got a head start.", Marcy looks at Luz, who gives her an uncertain look, "Or maybe not."
"Until then, my dear Plantars, go forth and enjoy the sights of Newtopia. You've probably already discovered the suite we booked for you. My treat. But I have something else for you.", As if out of nowhere, Andrias suddenly holds a golden card in his hand, which he hands over to the older orange frog.
"The Royal Credit Card!", Andrias explains, "It will grant you access to do anything in Newtopia. Be safe with this now. Wars have been waged for less."
With the exception of the light pink frog, everyone is amazed at the gift they just received. Everyone says their goodbyes and they all walk leisurely back out of the throne room, Andrias sits back down on his throne and while the others leave, he can't help but listen to their conversation a little longer.
"Mar-Mar, I have an idea: sleepover. All of us. Here in the palace. Luz, Maddie, of course you would be invited too."
"Without me. I'm sorry Anne, but I've had too many sleepless nights here already."
"Anne, that's a great idea. What do you think of the day after tomorrow? Until then, you can explore Newtopia a bit while I make some preparations here at the palace."
"Good idea, Marcy. Sprig, what do you think if we-"
And already they were out of Andrias hearing range. He himself has made his way into the locked and hidden part of the palace basement.
"My Lord, have you been able to complete the necessary investigations?"
Indeed, we have. Heart does not yet have full control over their abilities. At Wit only minimal energy signatures are present. Negligible.
"What about the third human girl that was present? How can she travel between worlds without the stones?"
That human is still an anomaly. No known energy signatures.
"So, she's just an ordinary human?"
No!
"But you said-"
There are energy signatures with the anomaly that are not known to us. Possible indication of the existence of the source
"The source? The source is just a legend. In the last 10 generations of our family, no one has been able to confirm its existence. The only evidence are the gems themselves"
The anomaly has been in Frog Valley for a short time and has made direct contact with the source. Find the source, but keep discretion
"I'll send out Yunan. Within a week she should return with results"
Indeed. If the source exists, there is no longer any use for the humans. Otherwise, we proceed as planned
A little later back in the throne room. Andrias has General Yunan summoned.
"General Yunan. Have you ever heard of a place called 'The Source'?"
"No, my king"
"The source is a mythical location that probably doesn't exist. However, we have received indications that this location may be in Frog Valley. Go there and find it."
"Yes. May I ask first what this place might look like?"
"According to the legends, it is a cave older than Amphibia itself, and not accessible by ordinary routes. You will know what it looks like once you find it."
"I'll be on my way immediately"
"One more thing... This mission is top secret. Nobody must know about the nature of this mission or the existence of the cave if you find it. Send me a report if you find it and come back in a week if you don't. We don't want to waste too much time looking for a place that might not even exist. Also, you're the fastest Newt alive. So, I entrust you with this mission"
General Yunan salutes and immediately sprints out of the throne room.