It was supposed to be five days before Anne, Maddie, and the Plantars would arrive back in Wartwood after picking up Marcy. At that point, Anne and Hop Pop had been taking turns driving every twelve hours while the other got to make a pause, hoping to get back to Wartwood as quickly as possible and with as few breaks as possible.
One night, however, when both of them climbed back into the Plantars' family fwagon, completely overtired and exhausted, Marcy offered to take over Bessie for a while.
Hop Pop had doubts about this idea, but was no longer awake enough to make them sound, and merely insisted that she read Bessie's manual. But Marcy being Marcy, had already read through the book when, while Anne was driving, she was bored and everyone else in the fwagon was already asleep. Maddie had also taken a look at the book one night, but she couldn't keep up with Marcy's reading speed and since she was so extremely absorbed in the book, it wasn't possible to ask her to slow down, so Maddie had given up on it at some point.
And so, Marcy had read the entire book and later that night took over the driver's seat for Bessie. With now three people able to ride Bessie, it was now no problem at all to travel the whole time at a stretch, with occasional rest breaks for Bessie. Driving the distance from Wartwood to Newtopia and back within just one month is anything but easy. Bessie is extremely tough, and she understands that the Plantars want to get home quickly, but she's not the kind of snail who can keep moving through the rough terrain continuously for days on end.
"Anne. Anne, wake up. We're almost there."
The first few rays of sunlight of a new day have appeared on the horizon, and Marcy has been guiding Bessie all night through extremely thick fog that has obscured her view of the ground.
"Mmm...", Anne grumbles as she has slept in the driver's seat snuggled up to Marcy throughout the night. She yawns profusely as Marcy stops the fwagon. "Mar-Mar... Why are we stopping?"
"Just look over there", Marcy says in excitement. Bessie and the fwagon stand on a rocky path that runs right along the mountain range that surrounds Frog valley. Anne blinks several times to clear the fatigue from her eyes as she suddenly comes face to face with a breathtaking image.
"We're... home", Anne states in a soft voice. "B-but we weren't supposed to arrive for at least another couple of days. How can we be here already?" she asks, confused.
"Well, I may or may not have taken what could be considered a shortcut", Marcy says as she rubs the back of her neck.
"Marce, you're the best", Anne says, hugging her best friend before turning around and pounding hard on the roof of the fwagon a few times to wake up the rest.
"Guys, we're home!", she calls excitedly before her mood tips. "Home...", she adds in a whisper, lost in thought.
At least until the fwagon's roof hatch pops open, Sprig comes out and says with wide, sparking eyes "Whoa... I didn't know this road existed around here."
Marcy giggles and the other residents of the fwagon walk out of the regular entrance one by one to stretch their legs for once and see what the unscheduled wake up is all about.
Especially Hop Pop and Polly are grumbling.
Sprig doesn't mind being woken up that much, because his body is basically like a swarm of zapapedes.
And Maddie is particularly similar to Marcy in the fact that she barely sleeps. She had also stayed up all night working on her book, which she started writing after leaving Newtopia. What exactly it is about, however, she had not yet revealed to anyone. Not because it is supposed to be a secret, but rather because she was too absorbed in writing that she had blocked out everyone around her.
The frogs are standing on the cliff that leads into the abyss, overlooking the valley. Suddenly, Sprig notices something unusual and points in a certain direction.
"That's Wartwood back there, isn't it?" he asks.
"That's right, boy", Hop Pop replies after realizing exactly where his grandson is pointing.
"What's that white stuff over there?", Sprig continues to ask.
"Sorry, kid. My eyes aren't that good anymore, I'm afraid", Hop Pop replies. Sprig turns to Polly and Maddie, who just shrug their shoulders. He turns further to Anne and Marcy, who are still sitting on the fwagon.
"Hey, Marcy. Did you bring your binoculars?"
Marcy rummages in her pockets for a moment and pulls out a retractable pocket binocular and tosses it to Sprig.
"Always", she says, and Sprig turns back toward Wartwood, this time with the binoculars in front of his eyes.
"There are tents there", Sprig observes.
"Tents?", Hop Pop asks.
"Yeah. Right outside the village. Lots of 'em.", Sprig adds, which now gets the attention of Anne, who drops off the fwagon and asks Sprig for the binoculars.
"Whoa... Yeah, you didn't underplay it", Anne exclaims in amazement. "What is that? A tent city for a concert?", she jokes.
"I think it's the Frog Rebellion", Marcy says, who has now left her spot on the fwagon as well. Anne's face loses all its color when Marcy mentions the frog rebellion.
"Oh crud... I completely forgot about that", Anne says in shock.
"Such things happen-", Marcy says in a soothing tone.
"No Marce, you don't understand. Those frogs down there... They expect me to lead them..."
'… Sasha was actually right about that?', Marcy thought to herself while still trying to process. Anne meanwhile continues
"But, you know, I don't wanna do that. Like, at all. But they didn't accept a 'no' from me back then..."
Suddenly a thought occurs to Marcy.
"Maybe that's not such a bad idea... Like, having you lead the frog rebellion", Marcy says.
"Oh no, not you too…", Anne groans.
"Look, before I came here, King Andrias had sent me and Yunan on a mission. I'm supposed to restore peace here in the valley. And to do it without bloodshed if possible...", Marcy tells. "Okay, I made up the 'without bloodshed' part. He hadn't said that, but I'm going to try anyway", she added proudly.
"And how exactly do you envision that?", Anne asks.
"Actually, it's pretty simple: find out what's bothering the two sides, identify the individual problems, solve those problems, and then get both sides to sit down and talk to each other", Marcy explains. Anne's thoughts, however, are already a step further.
"Before you joined us... You were in Toad Tower... weren't you?", Anne asks quite worriedly, while Marcy's expression drains away. "Look, I know you didn't want to talk about this before, about what exactly happened..."
"You're right. About both, actually. I will tell you what happened. But not now. I... I'm not ready yet."
"Okay", Anne merely replies, but in a compassionate tone, while Marcy seems to be hurting from the memory. Anne puts an arm around Marcy before they both ultimately turn back around and head back to the fwagon. The same goes for the frogs, who have more or less involuntarily overheard the conversation and are now similarly affected by the dense atmosphere.
The group sets off again on the last leg of their journey home. Before they leave, however, Hop Pop had insisted that he drives Bessie the rest of the way and that the two human girls stay in the fwagon, especially considering that Marcy has been driving for the entire last night.
Anne now sits on the big bed together with Sprig and Polly, watching her do something on her phone. Marcy, on the other hand, is sitting at the table with Maddie
"Hey, Mads...", Marcy begins after she sits down. Maddie gives her a disconcerted look.
"That sounds weird... Not sure I like it", Maddie responds dryly.
"Noted. Um, I was just wondering what you were doing there?", Marcy asks curiously as Maddie pulls out her book in order to continue writing. Maddie is delighted that someone is interested in it.
"It's one of the reasons I came to Newtopia in the first place: I wanted to deepen and expand my knowledge of magic, and I figured where better to do that than in the world's largest library"
"Makes sense"
"Unfortunately, the library wasn't as helpful as I had hoped. Luz, on the other hand, was even more so. The kind of magic she had discovered in her world is so foreign and yet so simple once you decipher the Titan's language"
"The Titan's whaaaa...?"
"Did- Luz never explained how her glyphs worked? Or how she discovered them?", Marcy shakes her head. Maddie takes one deep breath before opening one of the first pages of her book, which has a detailed sketch inside.
"This is the Titan, the corpse of an ancient giant in the Demon Realm. Those remains form the Boiling Isles and from its flesh and stuff Witches and Demons evolved over time."
"Cool sketch", Marcy suddenly interrupts Maddie's fast-paced narration. "I didn't know you could draw that good."
"Actually, this is a sketch Luz provided me when she told me about that world"
"Still very cool", Marcy admires the sketch of the titan.
"Anyway... Most Witches and Demons were born with an internal ability that allows them to use magic. An organ that sits at their heart and produces bile... So, now let's move on to Luz. Since she doesn't have such an organ, she had to find another method to be able to use magic. The Glyphs. They are, and I quote, 'A gift from the island'.", Maddie continues to narrate, flipping through her book until she comes to drawings of intentionally incomplete glyphs. Incomplete glyphs prevent unwanted activations that could eventually tear the book apart.
"The glyphs themselves Luz actually showed me before. I already know those", Marcy interjects.
"Very good. Generally speaking, Luz had discovered the basic glyphs most purely by accident. Light first from another Witch's spell, Ice from a snowflake, Organic Matter from a flower, and Fire again from another Witch's spell. When Luz had first told me about it, I had immediately realized that the glyphs were something like words. Or well, the Titan equivalent of them. And I was able to further explore them and make sentences out of them, these more complex glyphs", Maddie continues, also flipping through her book, where an invisibility glyph is also deliberately incomplete, along with descriptions of the individual components, or sub-glyphs, that make up the invisibility glyph.
"Did you ever figure out why Luz is the only one who can use the glyphs?", Marcy asks curiously.
"No-", Maddie replies sadly.
"Or do you at least have theories on why that is?"
"Several, actually. But since Luz is no longer here, I can't actually neither prove nor disprove any of them"
"I can help", Marcy says, suddenly excited.
"Really?"
"Yeah, sure. I'm pretty interested in magic too. Aand, I have the knowledge of quite several dozen fandoms on my side, which could help us"
Maddie briefly considers what these fandoms might be but dismisses that thought again fairly quickly.
"All right. My first theory is actually more about biological differences between you, Anne, and Luz.", Marcy looks confused, but listens intently nonetheless. "Luz had told me that on your home world she comes from a different part of the planet than you and Anne. Do physiological differences exist within your species that might allow the use of magic?"
Marcy is a little irritated by this question, until she remembers that amphibians can develop vastly different physical characteristics depending on where they live and grow up.
"No", Marcy replies, "Basically, all humans on Earth are the same, regardless of where they were born. There may be differences in skin colors or slight internal adjustments to the local climate, but that's about it."
In the meantime, Maddie had pulled out a notepad and jotted down a few key words, as well as crossed something out on another page.
"Okay, I get it... Luz doesn't have a biological advantage over you guys in terms of magic use...", Maddie mumbles to herself as she writes.
"Who has an advantage?", Anne suddenly asks after getting up from the bed and joining the other two at the table along with Sprig and Polly.
"We're just going over some of Maddie's theories about why only Luz could use glyphs, while we couldn't.", Marcy explains.
"Ahhhh... I see", Anne says, who now is thinking rather hard. "Ain't got nothing."
Marcy chuckles. "Well, maybe it has something to do with nutrition. Maddie, you said that life in the Demon Realm evolved from the Titan's remains, and that is where the magic comes from... Maybe Luz somehow absorbed some of that magic through food", Marcy surmises, while Anne's face contorts in disgust. "What is it, Anne?"
"Eating bugs is okay. But feeding on a decomposing creature...", Anne complains. "No, thank you."
Maddie ignored Anne's comment in its entirety. "Your theory is not bad at all and comes quite close to my third theory. However, it assumes that glyphs require that the person who wants to activate them has magic of some sort."
Suddenly Anne speaks up.
"I have magic in me", she states, "And I couldn't activate the glyphs either."
This gets Maddie and Marcy thinking. Neither of them speaks a word, and only the sound of the fwagon driving along the stony path prevents absolute silence.
"Okay, so it definitely has to be something to do with the Boiling Isles that Luz was able to bring to other worlds...", Maddie states the facts again. "Witches use bile, while you... ... Anne, do you happen to know what exactly the source of your magic is?"
"Exactly? No. But I suspect it's one of the three Gems on the music box we came here with", Anne guesses. Obviously, she had never asked herself that question before.
"I'd love to examine the Gem in person if it would be possible", Maddie says.
"Sure. As soon as Hop Pop gets the box back from his contacts you can take a look."
"Perfect. Um, where was I? Oh yeah, Boiling Isles", Maddie recalls briefly before Marcy suddenly gasps loudly. All eyes turn to her.
"New theory: you said the glyphs were a gift from the island, right? Maybe the magic there acts like some kind of background radiation", Marcy says excitedly, "You know, like... Like the Force. From Star Wars... Although..."
No one at the table understands exactly what Marcy means. Radiation? The Force? Star Wars? None of the frogs had ever heard even one of those terms. Only Anne seems to know what Marcy means.
"Could fit", Anne mutters, before seeing all the questioning faces before her. "Umm, a fitting comparison for radiation would be... Heat. Like when you hold your hands over a fire and feel the heat. You don't see it, but you know it's there."
"Ahhhh... I think I understand", Maddie says.
"So do I. Maybe.", Sprig says uncertainly.
"All I heard was 'fire'", Polly says.
"But Marce", Anne begins, "The Force is more like something people can actively access. I don't think Luz can do the same with her glyphs..."
Huge question marks form on the heads of the nearby frogs, who try to make sense of what the two humans are talking about.
A loud knock on the roof of the fwagon, however, drags them all back to reality.
"Hey kids", Hop Pop calls down from above, "Come on out here. We'll be back in Wartwood in a bit."
Anne, Sprig and Polly immediately sprint to the roof hatch and climb out of the fwagon. Marcy also wants to follow them, but first turns to Maddie, who doesn't make any semblance of wanting to come along.
"Don't worry about me…", Maddie says placatingly, "I have the view out the window if I want to."
Marcy feels a little torn about whether to stay with Maddie or go to Anne and the Plantars.
Although Marcy is absolutely no expert at reading other people's emotions, she can tell that something is bothering Maddie. Something other than her book. She makes a mental note to ask Maddie about it sometime when the timing is better.
Marcy's gaze lingers on Maddie for a few more seconds before she eventually does join Anne and the Plantars on the roof.
"-It really looks like the whole valley is here...", Marcy hears Hop Pop say, having just climbed out of the roof hatch and taking a look at the area around the fwagon. "But I still missed the swamp air. The aroma of grass, a whisper of manure, and just a pinch of humidity."
Slowly they move along the dirt road, trying not to knock down the tents that are too close to the edge of the road, nor all the frogs and occasional toads and newts that wander carelessly along the trail.
"Whoa", Marcy comments in surprise. 'Okay, Yunan did say there were a lot of frogs here, but I didn't expect that'.
On either side of the path are tents as far as the eye can see. Smoke from campfires rises between some, many people are casually chatting and occasionally she sees Toads or Bullfrogs training a group of frogs in sword combat.
A short time later, the fwagon passes the stone archway that marks the entrance to Wartwood. And interestingly enough, behind that entrance there is not a single tent left, but plenty of people.
"Okay guys, we're going to head straight for the farm", Hop Pop decides as he has to slow down even more, trying to move the fwagon through the crowd in the center of the village. "I've never seen Wartwood so full of life. Not even at peak market times"
"I think there are almost as many frogs here as there are Newts in Newtopia", Anne surmises, equally amazed but actually a bit intimidated at the same time, taking into account that she thinks she's expected to lead all those thousands and thousands of frogs into rebellion against the Toads' oppression.
Fortunately, the Plantars' farm is located just outside Wartwood. Not a single soul is to be found here.
"Aaand we're home.", Hop Pop declares with relief. The others are audibly relieved as well, at least until Hop Pop announces inappropriately cheerfully a short time later, "Kids, you're helping unpack!"
Anne, Sprig and Polly groan in frustration. Marcy, on the other hand, just grins at the sight of the others' annoyance.
"Hey guys!", Maddie suddenly shouts who has left the fwagon in the meantime and is standing in front of it with her book and two bags under her arms, attracting the attention of everyone else on the roof. "Thank you so much for giving me a ride".
"Well, that goes without saying. There's no way we would have just left you in Newtopia", Hop Pop replies.
"Thanks anyway", Maddie says. "Oh, one more thing, I just want to put my stuff away and then go try to find Luz. You guys want to come along?"
While Marcy immediately agrees, Anne, Sprig, and Polly look expectantly and wide-eyed at Hop Pop. Torn between the thankless task of having to clear everything out of the fwagon back into the house and having to put up with his grandchildren's nagging the rest of the day if they're not allowed to go, he takes a deep breath and allows them to go, but only on the condition that they at least help clear part out the fwagon first.
"All right", Maddie says. "I probably need, like, twenty minutes. I'll be back as soon as I'm ready."
Maddie waves goodbye and Hop Pop climbs down from the fwagon and starts to untie the fwagon from Bessie. At the same time, he already hands out the tasks.
"Sprig, Polly: You two take Bessie to the barn in a moment. Marcy, if you like, you can help me undo Bessie's latches. If not, you can at least start thinking about where you want to sleep later."
"Of course I'll help", Marcy said happily before Hop Pop continues.
"Anne, why don't you go ahead to the house and have Chuck give you the front door key?"
"Sure thing, HP", Anne said and walked leisurely to the front door of the plantar farm. Briefly, her memory of completely destroying the farm in an attempt to help, just before she left, flashed back into her mind. That thought immediately fades again as Anne stands in front of the door, wanting to knock, when it suddenly opens from the inside and a small mint-green frog with a large hat covering its eyes is now facing her.
Anne, somewhat perplexed, thinks to herself 'How can this guy see anything?', before her thoughts snap back to reality.
"Heeey Chuck. Hop Pop wanted me to get the key- Yeah, that's the one. Thanks."
Before Anne can even fully state her request, Chuck holds the front door key in front of her. Anne is about to enter, when Chuck suddenly holds her lightly by the leg. Anne turns around and he holds out an envelope.
Somewhat irritated, she accepts it, opens it and reads the letter.
Anne, if you are reading this, please come visit me. We have a lot to talk about
- Ben Flawrik
Anne doesn't like this at all and expresses this feeling with a long stretched frustrated groan.
"Chuck, you know this Ben, right?"
He nods.
"Can you tell him that I'm definitely not going to talk to him today? It's been a very long trip and I'd like to get some rest..."
Chuck tilts his hat at Anne, saying "I grow Tulips", and disappears into nothingness right before her eyes. Anne rubs her eyes in disbelief before dismissing what she just saw as nothing special, before going to her basement and falling into her bed.
"Oouu, how I've missed you", Anne says, kissing her pillow over and over again until she finally just lies down, enjoying the peace and quiet.
The sun has not yet risen far above the horizon so its rays are shining directly through the basement window into the basement. As a result of the thick, dust-soaked air, Anne sees each ray as if it were a string floating in the air. She calmly lies on her bed for a while and relaxes, watching the dust-infused air move in the sunlight. At some point, however, lying on one side became too uncomfortable and she turned her head to the other side, only to look directly at the empty hammock next to the stairs.
She can't take her eyes off it and slight sadness fills her mind.
Anne closes her eyes and takes one deep breath before sitting upright on her mattress. She takes the envelope, which is now somewhat crumpled, into her hands.
The squeak of the basement hatch jolts Anne out of her thoughts. It's Sprig, holding a backpack in his hands.
"Oh, there you are, Anne. Didn't you hear me calling?", Sprig asks.
"I must have been too deep in my thoughts", Anne replies, still holding the envelope in her hands. Sprig claims down the stairs and sits down across Anne on her bed.
"What's that?" he asks curiously. Anne takes the letter out of the envelope and shows it to Sprig.
"This is about the rebellion, isn't it?", Anne nods in response to his question. "And you don't want to do that, right?"
Anne nods again.
"I don't want to fight. I don't want to hurt anyone... ... Not if I can help it. The thing is just... Part of me knows that this is something bigger than me..."
Sprig says nothing. He just listens intently to his friend.
"And then there's Luz, who has to be somewhere since she just vanished like a week ago, probably still possessed by that wolf thing..."
"It feels like you have to carry the weight of the whole world on your shoulders, am I right?", Anne doesn't respond, instead fidgeting with the letter Sprig handed back to her. "You do know that no one here is going to force you to do anything, right?"
Anne looks at Sprig with a doubtful look.
"And even if they are", Sprig begins, "you don't have to go through this alone. You've got me, Hop Pop, Marcy... and Polly if she happens to feel like-"
Anne chuckles lightly.
"- and even though we're not all that close to Maddie, I'm sure she'd help you out immediately as well. You can always count on us to be there for you"
"Spranne against the world?", Anne asks after a few seconds with a smile on her face.
"Spranne against the world.", Sprig replies happily. Anne smiles and makes an effort to get up from her bed.
"What was that you had in your hand just now, by the way?", Anne asks.
"Oh, that's Luz's stuff.", Sprig said, picking up the backpack again, which he just put on the floor before and peeks inside. "Her cloak, her clothes, her phone, several glyphs... I figured her things would be best kept with you"
"Oh, yeah. All right... Makes sense. Let's go find her now then!", Anne declares.
"YES!", Sprig confirmed and the two of them are sprinting up the stairs. Anne is momentarily quite surprised that she didn't trip in the process, as fast as she ran all the way up. Rushing out the front door, they knock over Hop Pop, who is carrying suitcases in both hands, causing him to fall backwards.
"Ugh, watch it!", Hop Pop shouts out as he falls on his bottom, fortunately unharmed, while Sprig and Anne, who are running past him, merely shouting a quick "sorry". Hop Pop simply rolls his eyes and Anne and Sprig stop at the fwagon to pick up Marcy and Polly.
"Marcy? Polly? Are you guys in here?", Sprig asks, just before Polly emerges.
"What do you want?" she asks, rather frustrated.
"Whoa... What's with the pissed off look?", Anne asks.
"Hop Pop wants me to bring all the dirty laundry into the house... ", Polly explains as she pulls out a smelly bag from behind her. Anne and Sprig immediately hold their noses.
"I'm almost impressed with how well the laundry basket has been able to keep the smells in it all this time", Anne says.
"Maybe we should have taken a break to wash the stuff in between", Sprig says. "Anyway. We want to go find Luz. You coming?"
Surprisingly, Polly hesitates. "Actually, I originally just wanted to come along so I wouldn't have to do these annoying tasks. But since Hop Pop has already forced me to start doing things, I want to go through with it."
Anne and Sprig's eyes widen in disbelief when they hear this.
"Who are you and what did you do to my sister?", Sprig accuses as he lifts her up and shakes her by the shoulders.
"Yeah... unusual that you don't feel like going on another adventure for once".
"I spent a week in this thing here with you guys. And I think it would do us all a favor to keep some distance from each other for a while...", Polly explained very calmly and composedly and both Anne and Sprig are suddenly overcome with the sudden urge to want to run as far away from Polly as possible, as quickly as possible.
"Alright dude, we'll leave you alone then", Anne waves goodbye hastily and pulls Sprig along. As they move away from fwagon, Sprig thought it would be a good idea to peak back into the fwagon to ask his sister if she had seen Marcy. This question very quickly became moot when Polly starts throwing dirty laundry at him.
Fortunately, the two friends don't have to look for Marcy, as she just comes out from behind the fwagon. Hastily, Anne grabs Marcy by the shoulders, turns her in the opposite direction and pushes her somewhat hurriedly away from the fwagon just before Marcy could say anything.
"Keep running if you value your life", Anne says ominously as she continues to push Marcy ahead of her with Sprig walking beside her, all the way to the far end of the property. "Okay, we should be safe here...", Anne pants as they come to a stop. Confused, Marcy looks back and forth between Anne and Sprig.
"What was that?" she asks.
"Danger. Polly. Laundry", Anne continues to pant.
Marcy was about to point out that she doesn't even begin to understand what they're currently so afraid of, when she sees an excited mob of village residents approaching them.
A few of the older residents walk right up to Anne and Sprig while completely ignoring Marcy.
"Hello Anne, glad to see you're back. Any luck finding a way back to your own world?"
"Glad to see you too, Mrs. Croaker", Anne smiles, "But unfortunately not really yet. But we're whittling away at it"
"That wood reference was for me", Loggle chuckles.
"And... we lost Luz", Anne adds with sad undertone.
"Oh no, she seemed like such a nice girl... How did she die?", Mrs. Croaker asks sympathetically. Anne looks at her in confusion before realizing what she was talking about.
"Oh, no. She didn't die. I hope. She just disappeared. We're actually on our way to go look for her right now, thinking she might be somewhere in the valley", Anne resolves the misunderstanding.
"Ahh, I see", Mrs. Croaker said before gesturing without taking her eyes off Anne to the human next to her, who is currently trying very hard to force a friendly smile on her face, asking, "And who is that?"
"Oh, yeah. People of Wartwood: Meet Marcy Wu."
Smiling nervously, Marcy holds out an outstretched hand to her. Mrs. Croaker, however, continues to pay her no attention.
"Oh, great. Just what we need. Another outsider we have to feed. It's not as if Wartwood is already bursting at the seams... I'll be glad when this rebellion is finally over someday", Mrs. Croaker complains just before her tone brightens again. "But well, good to have you back and good luck in your quest. We're off to pick up our gifts now."
The mob moves past Anne, Sprig and Marcy. Marcy and Sprig are both a bit downcast.
"She didn't even say hello to me...", Sprig complains.
"What am I supposed to say? She didn't even look at me...", Marcy adds.
"What did she mean by 'they're going to pick up their gifts?", Anne asks aloud to herself.
None of the comments and questions are answered as Maddie approaches them from the end of the passing mob.
"Hey guys. You guys ready?", Maddie asks excitedly.
"Um, sure... Maddie, do you have any idea what this mob was babbling about gifts?", Anne asks. Maddie is just as aware as Anne and merely shrugs her shoulders. "Well, Hop Pop and Polly are sorting it out. Luckily, it's not an angry mob..."
The group slowly makes their way through the mass of frogs filling the town center, out of Wartwood and into the densely-wooded forest that surrounds the village.
"So, where are we going?", Marcy asks, bubbling with curiosity as they keep walking. She has already forgotten the disappointment she felt only a moment ago. "You mentioned in Newtopia that you had a suspicion about where Luz might have flown off to..."
"Indeed. My guess is that she's in the place where Luz and I revived Hop Pop", Maddie explains. The others just look at her, speechless. Anne is the first to recover her words.
"Why didn't you mention this before, anyway? And what makes you think she's actually there?" she asks.
"It can have negative effects on the resuscitated person if you talk about the circumstances of the resuscitation in their presence and recall corresponding memories. Emphasis on 'can'."
"How?", Marcy interjects.
"The process of resuscitation is very traumatic, as the spirit or soul or whatever you want to call it is dragged out of the afterlife and packed back into the body. But the soul, let's call it that, doesn't want to leave and resists it with all its might. And the memories of it better never resurface. I have read in ancient textbooks of higher magic that intelligent life forms can succumb to irrecoverable insanity should they relive that memory. After resuscitation, the first thing the body does, is erase all recent memories, and in return the rest of the body is briefly put into a coma-like state that may last for weeks, depending on how much time elapses between the onset of death and resuscitation."
In the meantime, while Maddie was narrating, Marcy had pulled out a notepad and was trying to write down what Maddie was saying.
"Maddie?", Marcy asks.
"Yes?"
"Can I be your apprentice?", Marcy requests, filled with admiration for Maddie's knowledge of magic. "This is all soo endlessly cool and I'm literally dying to know more. And you're probably the greatest magic expert in all of Amphibia..."
Maddie blushes slightly at Marcy's praise.
"Marcy, I'm honored that you asked me. However, I should point out to you first that I'm not even a level two witch... Although, with the discovery of magic on other worlds, I guess someone would have to develop a new scale sometime..."
Marcy gasps heavily. "There is a leveling system? Anne, did you hear that? I could level my magic skills..."
Anne, walking with Sprig a few meters behind them, smiles at the sight of Marcy, whose excitement and joy currently knows no bounds as she bounces in excitement.
"Maddie, you have by far the greatest knowledge of not one, but two magic systems in all of Amphibia. I want to learn from you. Teach me everything you know. Please please please", Marcy begs with big puppy eyes.
Maddie doesn't have to think long about whether or not to accept Marcy's request.
"Marcy Wu, I would be truly honored to have you as my student and guide you through the many levels of amphibian magic", Maddie proudly announces to Marcy.
"WOOHOO", Marcy cheers.
"So happy for you, MarMar", Anne says.
"Yeah, you can do it Marcy", Sprig says. "I still think Maddie is creepy though", he adds quietly talking to himself.
"I heard that", Maddie notes and Sprig freezes for a second. "Also, thank you. That's a nice compliment", Maddie adds smirking as she notices Sprig's anxiety.
"So, Master Maddie, are we going to start the first lesson now or after we've found Luz?", Marcy asks impatiently excitedly and Sprig adds:
"And when are we going to be at this magical place, you're leading us to right now? Or are you just going to trap us and then feed us as bait to a savage and extremely dangerous beast because you need the blood of brutally slaughtered little frogs for one of your rituals?"
The three girls all turn to Sprig with somewhat disturbed looks.
"Dude...", Anne comments first.
"Sheesh, I thought we clarified sometime in the last few weeks that I would never hurt my friends... That includes you, Sprig.", Maddie says reassuringly.
"Yeah, I know. I was just kidding...", Sprig chuckles nervously. In fact, he doesn't know himself right now why he's suddenly so intimidated by Maddie all over again, especially since he was locked in the fwagon with her the entire ride from Newtopia where everything was alright. Maybe the same thing is happening to him now as it did to Polly, and he's actually just as exhausted as his sister is, even though, he doesn't actively feel physically exhausted.
"Anyway... Marcy, think of the search for Luz as your introduction to potions, as well as some places where I do my experiments, should they be on our way", Maddie explains to Marcy.
"YES! YES! YES! I'm readyy."
"Um, quick question", Anne interjects politely, "How do potions help us find Luz?"
Maddie stops for a moment to look for something in her bag hanging around her shoulder. She first pulls out a stack of glyphs, which she stares at in confusion, before putting them back. She had actually thought she had cleared them all out back at her place. Maddie pulls out a vial with red, sparkling liquid in it from her bag.
"This is a throwable level one trace potion", Maddie explains, and Marcy whoa's in excitement. "How it works is really simple: When you throw it, within a radius of several meters, every imprint on the ground is marked in color. This applies to all prints that are up to a month old."
"And what about higher level potions?", Anne asks with honest curiosity.
"Depending on how well the potion was brewed, it is possible to see not only the prints on the ground, but a complete image of the person who left it"
"Wow", Anne is impressed. An excited Marcy turns to her and shakes her by her shoulders.
"You see Anne? Isn't magic really the coolest thing in the world?"
The group has now been walking in the forest for an hour and a half. Maddie continues to lead the way, Marcy continues to chat with her about various potions and magic in general, all the while filling her notebook. Anne and Sprig, who don't have that much interest or knowledge on the subject, continue to walk a bit behind the other two girls.
"Say, do you also feel that Maddie has no idea where she's leading us?", Sprig asks.
"At first, I didn't... But we've been walking forever. I'm not sure anymore", Anne replies.
Suddenly, Anne stops dead in her tracks and abruptly turns around to face the back. Not for the first time, as Sprig notes.
"I already told you-"
"Shh!"
The two friends remain standing still, motionless, as Anne eyes the woods behind her critically. A short time later, she sighs and they continue walking again.
"I told you we weren't followed", Sprig remarks.
"Yeah, I know, but...", Anne sighs in frustration, "I just can't shake this feeling that someone else is here. Dense forests like this gives me chills"
"Maybe there is a ghost following us, but it's only visible or audible when we're not looking", Sprig guesses jokingly.
"I completely forgot 'til now that ghosts really do exist here...", Anne states aghast. "Besides, I'm really sure I heard footsteps..."
"Or maybe you're just tired. Frog forbid, I am though", Sprig confesses, until they both suddenly hear Marcy calling from further ahead.
"GUYS, COME QUICK. WE'RE HERE."
Anne and Sprig make a small sprint until a larger clearing opens up in front of them and the group is standing in front of tall, stony ruins.
"Whoaaaa...", Anne, Sprig and Marcy exclaim almost simultaneously. Marcy immediately wandered off to examine all the ruins more closely in amazement.
"These are ancient Amphibian runes...", Marcy mumbles to herself. Anne and Sprig are still capturing the true extent of the ruins when suddenly Maddie came out from behind a ruin.
"We may have a problem", she announces. Anne and Sprig exchange a worried look before sprinting over to her. Marcy, on the other hand, continues to focus unimpeded on the writing on one of the former bigger pillars.
"Someone's been here", Maddie states when Anne and Sprig have arrived by her side and are standing in front of a light gray, abandoned-looking tent, in front of which what must have been a campfire, secured with brick-shaped stones.
"The fire's been out for a while...", Sprig remarks as he kneels directly in front of the fire pit, "There's some paper in there... Someone burned something here"
Sprig pulls out a few individual charred scraps of paper from between the burnt wood and tries to discern what might have once been on it, ultimately to no avail.
"Sprig, you're a world-class tracker, but you won't be able to decipher anything from this", Anne points out. Meanwhile, Maddie takes a look inside the tent.
"The tent is empty... Whoever was here is long gone."
"See if you can find any traces here with your potion. Maybe whoever owned this tent has something to do with Luz disappearing", Sprig suggests.
"Good idea. I had that in mind, too. Take a few steps back please!", Maddie orders and the three of them all take several steps away from the tent before Maddie throws one of her trace potions.
As the glass shatters on the ground, the liquid splashes in all directions seemingly at complete random. Everything remains motionless for a moment until the liquid seeps into the ground. Then suddenly, footprints on the floor become visible.
"Okay, those are definitely not Luz's footprints", Anne observes.
"Those are boot prints... From a Newt...", Sprig says with certainty.
"What makes you think it was a Newt?", Anne asks as Maddie wordlessly walks away from both of them.
"Well, the tracks are way too small and not deep enough for toads. It can't be frogs either, because... Well, do you know any frogs from around here that wear boots?", Sprig asks doubtfully.
"Right", Anne agrees without thinking twice. "But there are no newts living here. The only place I can think of would be... New-to-pi-a...", she says while her thought drift apart.
Anne suspects something terrible, and she doesn't like it at all.
Shortly after, Maddie returns, with Marcy in tow.
"Oh Anne, this place is so cool. These runes here tell of a time when a fourth species existed here in Amphibia-", Marcy boasts, before an alarmed Anne interrupts her by putting her hand over her mouth.
"Marcy!"
Marcy falls silent and nods before Anne continues.
"Do you know if anyone from Newtopia was here within the last month?", Anne sternly asks. Marcy's gaze moves from Anne to the tent and the fire pit, right behind her friend. She is slightly confused by the sight.
"That... is a tent from the Newtopian army... Standard equipment for field operations. I don't know of any missions in this area off the top of my head. As far as I know, even now, Yunan and I are the only ones with an official mission here in the valley."
"MarMar, whoever owns this tent might have something to do with Luz's disappearance...", Anne clarifies.
"As I said, I don't know", Marcy repeats.
"Guys, come on. Let's go inside", Maddie now speaks up.
"Go inside? Where?", Anne questioned in confusion.
Maddie led her friends to a tall, stone archway. She went through first and suddenly just disappeared. To say the others are surprised is a true understatement. Fortunately, that subsides quickly and with squinted eyes, they walked through the archway as well.
"Oh no..." they suddenly hear Maddie speak in a horrified tone, and one by one they open their eyes as they realize they've safely arrived at where Maddie is.
"Whoa", Sprig gasps in awe.
"I don't see anything", Anne says.
"Me neither", Marcy adds.
Sprig and Maddie exchange glances of incomprehension.
"Nothing?", Maddie investigates. A moment later, a sudden realization dawns on Marcy and she slaps her hand to her forehead.
"But of course... Anne, frogs can see in the dark. We can't."
"Ahhhh, I see... ... Sorry."
Embarrassed, Anne looks to the ground as no one has reacted to her truly, absolutely brilliant pun. The silence is interrupted by a rustling sound. Maddie is looking for something in her bag.
"I might have some vision enhancement potions in here somewhere for you two... Hang on..."
Maddie rummages around in her bag for a good minute, which seems to be pretty stuffed. Anne and Marcy, meanwhile, stand around completely sightless. It's an amusing sight for Sprig right now.
A startled gasp is heard from Maddie and her pocket suddenly begins to glow, which Anne and Marcy can both see now as well. They all stare wide-eyed at Maddie's hand as she suddenly pulls her hand out of her bag, revealing a glowing orb that now hovers slightly above her hand. All four of them stare at the orb, speechless.
"I'm sorry, but... WHAT?", Anne immediately recognizes the orb. What she doesn't understand is how this is possible.
"You activated a glyph... Anne, Maddie activated a glyph... But how?", Marcy asks in excitement and incomprehension. Maddie's own speechlessness has not yet subsided. As the orb dissipates again, Maddie pulls out another light glyph, places it on her hand, and taps it. The paper crumples into itself and another light orb forms and remains floating in the air. Still not understanding what's going on, Maddie pulls out three more light glyphs and presses one each into Anne, Marcy and Sprig's hands, which they also immediately try to activate.
Three more light orbs are forming and hovering in the air.
"Wait here!", Maddie orders, and she runs along a narrow stone path until she is out of sight of the others. A short time later, an absolutely gigantic ball of light rises several meters into the air, illuminating the entire cavity. Shortly after, Maddie rejoins the rest of the group.
"Can... you explain that?", Sprig asks. "How come we can suddenly activate glyphs all of a sudden? The only one who could do that before was Luz..."
All eyes are now on Maddie searching for some sort of explanation.
"I have no idea.", she admits in utter irritation, "And all my theories from earlier, I can now throw them all out the window... I'm going to assume it has something to do with this place. But I can't tell you exactly..."
Now, for the first time, Anne and Marcy also get the chance to fully absorb the place they are now in.
A gigantic hollow space, without Maddie's gigantic light sphere completely without light sources or an ordinary entrance, with a diameter of at least one hundred meters. On the walls are countless colorless crystals. Occasionally, bare spots can be seen where crystals have detached themselves from the wall and must have fallen to the ground. The ground on which the group is currently standing is solid rock. In front of them is the path Maddie was walking along a moment ago.
"What is this place?", Anne wonders.
"This place used to be a place full of magic in its purest form. I spent time here experimenting with various higher rituals...", Maddie explains. Slowly, the group walks along the narrow stone path.
"It WAS full of magic? Not anymore?", Sprig questions curiously.
"Take a look around... Last time I was here, all the crystals in here were still glowing colorful, but now... they're all dead. It's like all the magic is gone...", Maddie says dejectedly.
The path leads around a large rock formation, opening up a view of a large, round, stony plateau that is connected to the path by a small bridge. Around the plateau runs a sunken depression.
"This used to be an island. Water was flowing down both sides of this path all the way down here", Maddie explains, before they can now get a full view of the plateau. They gasp heavily.
Maddie remembers that there was a stone altar in the middle of the plateau, or rather the former island. This altar no longer exists. In its place there are only the remains of a crystal. Exactly the crystal that helped Luz to revive Hop Pop the last time. The upper half of the crystal is still largely intact and still rises a few meters into the air, while the lower half is completely destroyed and scattered all over the plateau and beyond.
Suddenly a second gasp. It is Marcy, who has turned around, facing the large rock the group just walked past.
"Dried blood..." she observes. Concern spreads among the friends.
"What the frog happened here?", Anne asks. "Maddie! Your trace potion!"
The group takes a few steps back and Maddie tosses the potion, which once again soaks into the ground and rock before revealing the traces left behind.
"There, the same boot prints. And handprints", Sprig observes. "Wait a minute... Are those claw marks there?"
"Where?"
"Up ahead", Sprig points to an area on the plateau, close to the bridge, where deep scratches glowing slightly red can be seen cutting deep into the stone. The group cautiously walks there to examine these new marks more closely. Marcy has a very bad feeling about this right now.
As they gather around it, Sprig kneels down in front of it and gently moves his hand along the long claw mark.
"I don't know any creature that has claws that long and thin", he says. "Marcy, is something wrong? You look a little distraught"
Marcy has to swallow hard and is also shaking slightly. "That's not from a creature... Those are from Yunan. She was here..."
"Oh MarMar...", Anne says sympathetically, taking her hands in her own, "I know this looks bad. But we don't know exactly what happened here yet... Maybe she was trying to save Luz... Right guys?"
Sprig doesn't have the heart to say anything and Maddie had already turned around and thrown another trace potion on the plateau to make more traces visible.
In addition to the boot prints, other prints are now visible: On the one hand, her own, as well as Luz's shoe prints from when they were here with Hop Pop. But also, human barefoot prints.
"Guys, Luz was here!"
"Indeed. Your friend was certainly here", a new voice unexpectantly spoke.
"Who said that?"
All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a mysterious figure appears at the shattered crystal in the middle of the plateau, looking directly at the group, who, however, did not immediately see them appear.
"HA! I knew someone was following us", Anne said triumphantly. The figure moves closer and the group can now catch a better glimpse of them. Despite her momentary burst of joy, Anne puts herself in a defensive position in front of Marcy, who herself readies her crossbow. Sprig draws his slingshot and Maddie has a few throwable curses ready.
Sprig takes a closer look at the figure and realizes something.
"Wait a minute... I know you... Anne and I met you at the Bizarre Bazaar", he remembers.
"That's right", Anne agrees, "You're Valeriana, right?"
The Newt nods slowly, still looking exactly as she did when she first met Anne and Sprig: Partly dark brown, partly yellow, wrinkled skin, and with tail sticking out from under her dull black dress, in the same colors. What particularly stands out about her are her light red eyes, one of which seems to be possibly a bit damaged, with bushy reddish-brown eyebrows above them, plus grayish-blond hair peeking out from under her hood. But probably the most striking feature about her is that she is missing her right arm. On her left hand she wears a glove and the right counterpart she has placed on her tail. In her left hand she holds a long, dark wooden staff, the upper end of which is shaped circular. The end of it is remotely reminiscent of an olm.
"So, you know who she is...", Maddie begins, still holding her throwable spells, "Is she a threat?"
Anne considers for a moment and concludes that she has no idea.
"Good question. What are you doing here and how did you get here without us noticing you?", Anne questions in all seriousness, not lowering her guard.
"I'm glad to hear that you still remember me with all the chaos that is currently going on in Amphibia."
Anne takes a step forward.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh... the usual. The biggest frog rebellion ever, led by a human girl who refuses to fight... An aspiring witch who rediscovers a place that has been successfully hidden from negative powers for thousands of years... A desperate soul actively trying to heal the broken bond of two former friends and additionally wants to prevent a war...", Valeriana's gaze travels directly to Marcy, "Your meeting with Sasha didn't go well, did it?"
Abruptly, Anne turns to Marcy, who is on the verge of tears, before turning back to Newt.
"Okay, that's enough!", Anne says in utter determination. "What do you want here? What do you want from us?"
"You're here looking for your friend right now. She left this world", Valeriana states.
"How would you know that? Did you have something to do with her disappearance?", Maddie's fingers claw at the throwable curse she still holds in her hand.
"Why are you telling us this? Why should we trust you?", Sprig asks afterwards, who has also not yet lowered his loaded slingshot. Valeriana's gaze shifts to Maddie.
"You, the smart one. You're carrying trace potions in your bag, right? Can I use one?" she asks.
Maddie hesitates, but eventually reaches into her bag, pulls out the potion she requested, and tosses it to her. Valeriana examines the vial.
"A very good concoction for a level one witch", Valeriana opens the bottle cap and pours the contents over the top of her staff. Eyes seem to have appeared at the top of the staff and they begin to glow. First, briefly blue, then red. Valeriana swirls the staff once around and slams it to the ground with full force. A red shockwave is formed and travels through the entire cavity.
Maddie was about to ask in amazement what just happened, when Valeriana interrupts her with a sign to be quiet.
Within the broken crystal, where a stone altar once stood, a red twinkling silhouette emerges.
"Luz!", Maddie calls out. "But... But how?"
"Shh!"
Valeriana orders the others to be quiet immediately, that's when Luz' red silhouette, standing at the altar with her back to the group, starts to speak. Not in her normal voice, though, but louder, deeper and distorted.
"I know you're watching me. Step forward."
Another red twinkling silhouette appears.
"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!"
Marcy, who is currently being held by Anne, whispers softly to herself "Oh no... no no no no no"
"I'm afraid you're mistaken. YOU have no right to be here, General.", Luz silhouette spoke threateningly.
"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."
Luz's silhouette moves into a fighting pose. Yunan extends her retractable metal claws and runs toward Luz. But just before she reaches her, Luz raises a hand towards her and Yunan suddenly flies uncontrollably almost all the way back to the small bridge, where she rams her claws into the ground, right where Sprig found the trace earlier. Luz raises her arms again, whereupon Yunan looks to her right and left, somewhat intimidated, before raising her arms to protect her head and being flung further behind again, slamming her head against the large rock formation where Marcy saw the dried blood.
Yunan goes down, her face filled with pain and Luz walks towards her looking down at her threateningly. Luz stands just in front of Yunan when she suddenly looks to her side as if someone else is standing there, before looking back down on Yunan. She coughs up blood and Luz kneels down in front of her.
"This one, who owns this body, doesn't want you to get hurt any further... But I can't allow your king to know more about this place."
She puts a hand on Yunan's head just before she collapses unconscious.
No one in the group really understands what they just witnessed and they all just stand there, frozen, watching their friend walk back towards the altar. And even though Yunan is unconscious, Luz keeps talking.
"A sleeping spell. Besides, she will have no memory of this altercation and I have healed the worst injuries."
This is the last thing Luz' silhouette says, before she remains unmoving in front of the altar.
For the next few minutes, no one says anything, expecting some important thing to happen eventually. In the meantime, Marcy has sat down on the edge of the plateau with Anne, her head leaning on her shoulder, because she was too emotionally overwhelmed. Learning that a person she trusted was willing to take her friend's life because King Andrias ordered her to, and the painful memory of the meeting between her and Sasha, were just too much for her to bear. She promised Anne, she would tell her later about what exactly happened between her and Sasha.
Maddie, Sprig and Valeriana continued to remain at the destroyed crystal, inside of which the red glittering silhouette of Luz remained. Sprig and Maddie had lowered their weapons in the meantime, as there was no immediate danger from Valeriana.
"So... We now know that Luz was here... How do you know she left Amphibia again? And how do you know so much about us?", Maddie asks.
"I've been proficient in many types of magic for a very long time. I've traveled a lot, seen a lot, and learned a lot. Let's just say... I've developed a sense of when things of significance happen and made it my mission to help achieve the greater goal", Valeriana explains.
"That's very vague", Sprig comments.
"That's all I can reveal at this point of time.", Valeriana says before turning briefly to Anne and Marcy. "There are important events on the horizon. Events bigger than your missing friend and even bigger than the frog rebellion.", Valeriana tells them mysteriously.
"So, if I understand correctly, you are here to expedite things", Maddie concludes.
"Correct. Searching for your friend will get you nowhere, you're wasting time that you... that they don't have.", Valeriana nods her head slightly in the direction of the two humans. Sprig and Maddie follow her gaze.
"Why? What's going to happen? Is Luz safe?", Sprig asks urgently.
"Your friend is-"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Luz's silhouette suddenly screams out in pain, her voice no longer distorted, drawing everyone's attention. Anne and Marcy both sprint towards the crystal.
"What's wrong with her?"
Suddenly Luz begins to hover above the ground for a moment, just before she flies backwards, as if caught in a blast wave, and simply disappears at a point mid-air.
"As I said before, your friend has left this world. If you continue to search for her here, you will only waste your time and coming events will not unfold as predicted", Valeriana asserts.
"Events? What events?", Marcy asks urgently as she wipes one of her tears from her face.
"I've already said enough."
"But..."
"I'm leaving you now. We will meet again", Valeriana says goodbye, twirling her staff around her before disappearing instantly.
Stunned, the friends stare at the spot where Valeriana was standing at just a moment ago.
"Okay, what just happened there?", Anne asks dumbfounded.
"She said she wanted to save us time...", Sprig relays.
"Do you think she's right? About Luz?", Maddie questions, her mind filled with doubt.
"Well, we saw that she was here... That's all the clues we really have...", Anne surmises.
"I can go talk to Yunan", Marcy suggests with a heavy heart.
"No MarMar, you shouldn't keep torturing yourself with this", Anne suggests empathetically.
"What else am I supposed to do, Anne? She attacked Luz. She knew we were friends and yet she did attack her", Marcy argues with a mix of sadness, hurt, disappointment and frustration, "And even if she actually doesn't remember that... She probably woke up here again before she went back to Newtopia. She must know something."
One would think that with her presumably broken friendship with Sasha, shattered dreams of being with her best friends forever, the immense guilt of possibly ruining her best friends' lives, and now the feeling of betrayal from Yunan, that Marcy's heart would eventually just give out, that she would break under the weight. Anne doesn't want to imagine the pain Marcy is suffering right now. It only makes her more determined to be there for her, forever, no matter what.
"We should go back to Wartwood", Anne suggests, supporting Marcy by her shoulder, "We still have a long way to go. We can figure out what to do next, sometime later"