"Andrias! ANDRIAS!", the mechanically contorted voice of his father rings in his mind as he sits alone in his throne room, bored to the bone, waiting for something of interest to happen. He was already about to get up from his throne and walk to the usual location, but before he can get up, a sudden violent force pushes him back onto the throne, and while he grips the armrests as in a state of shock, his consciousness gets dragged to another place.
So far, this has happened only once. After Andrias first encountered Marcy, his master reacted in the same way as now, demanding that he kill Marcy immediately. They felt threatened, terrified, if that is a trait that actually still exists within them.
Andrias finds himself in a completely dark place, with an indiscernible light source somewhere above him illuminating a small area around him, and an icy chill in the air surrounding him. As far as he can tell by now, this place is no different than it has been in previous encounters.
Something must have happened that they immediately demand to speak with Andrias, and are willing to put up with Andrias' body being discovered by someone back in the throne room.
A figure materializes immediately in front of him. Andrias kneels down.
Like Andrias, the figure before him is also a very tall newt. Like Andrias, it also has pale blue skin, but a long, white beard. The figure wears a multi-colored tonic. It is black in the front and light brown, dark brown and green on both sleeves, and the figure has the same crown on its head as Andrias. However, two differences are clearly recognizable to him: The figure is clearly larger than Andrias, at least around three times the size of his head, and it has eleven, orange-colored eyes, with the largest in the center and in each case three smaller on the right and on the left of it. To either side of it are two more.
"Our plan is starting to fail. Heart, Wit and Strength have now managed to access their gemstones. All of them. You must eliminate them.", the figure demands, "IMMEDIATELY!"
Hesitantly, Andrias looks up.
"M-My lord... I am not sure if this idea is really wise..."
In a fluid, almost floating motion, the figure steps closer to Andrias. He lowers his head again and the figure places a hand, colder than ice, on top of his head. He grimaces through the pain of the cold, and the figure sighs in disappointment.
"Your ability to see obvious solutions to simple problems is getting on our nerves, son. Get up!", Andrias stands up.
"We've been working on our plan for a millennium. It is foolproof.", Andrias assures, sounding confident.
"You are the fool if you don't realize how these... humans... are plotting our demise and wiping us out and everything we've worked for. They NEED to be dealt with!"
"I can assure you that the grand plan is not in danger, and all those who stand in our way will be or have already been eliminated. Trust me.", Andrias argues. The figure leans down to Andrias, right next to his head.
"Your trustfulness will be your downfall.", it states, "Very well. We will continue to monitor the situation"
"Good morning, everyone…", Anne greets everyone cheerfully, as she leaves the basement, feeling surprisingly happy and with such massive confidence with which she could break through walls, and already fully dressed, to join the rest of the Plantars in the kitchen for breakfast.
"There she is, our sleepyhead...", Hop Pop jokingly comments after seeing her walking through the kitchen door. Anne merely comments with rolling eyes before leaning down to Marcy and giving her a kiss on the lips.
"Good morning, Marshmallow…", Anne speaks softly to Marcy. Both girls grin broadly at each other before Anne decides to take a seat right next to Marcy.
"Eww, could you please not do that right in front of my face?", a disgusted Polly comments with a mouthful of fresh pancakes.
"Polly! Rude.", Hop Pop warns her, "Besides, they're in love. Let them have that. You'll probably fall in love too someday when you're older and you might kiss them-"
"YesYesYes, stop lecturing me. I only love one thing: chaos and destruction!", Polly retorts with a diabolical grin that could make the hearts of her enemies explode... Well, if there would be any around, that means.
"But that's two things...", Sprig corrects her with a smug grin. However, when Polly turns her death stare on her brother, his grin instantly disappears and he feels the sudden urge to hide right behind Hop Pop.
"I don't understand why you of all people are so disgusted by this, Polly. I mean, you saw us kissing yesterday too...", Anne remarks after putting a pancake on a plate for herself as well.
"Yeah, well, you were kissing at the end of the farm and not right in front of me...", Polly tries to argue, which only gets her another eye roll from Anne.
"So, kids... What do you guys have planned for today?", Hop Pop asks after a moment of silence. Sprig looks at him in surprise.
"No farm work today?", he asks. Hop Pop shakes his head. "Well, in that case, I'm meeting with Ivy. I want to tell her about all the stuff we went through while we were away"
"I don't know what I'm in the mood for yet...", Polly speaks up.
"And you two?", Hop Pop now asks Anne and Marcy.
"Meeting with the Toads.", Anne tells between hearty bites, "Briefing with Ben plus the Council beforehand".
"And what about you Hop Pop?", Marcy now asks him.
"Um...", he seems to hesitate a bit, "I... Um... Today my contact is coming back with your music box and I'm staying here to pick it up for you."
With wide eyes, both Anne and Marcy look at Hop Pop, seemingly a little speechless at first. Anne jumps up from the table, runs around the table and hugs him tightly.
"Ahh, that's really great news... But are you really sure he's coming today?", Marcy inquires as Anne lets go of him again and sits back down with her girlfriend. Hop Pop swallows hard.
"Y-Yes, of course. A letter arrived last night that he would definitely be arriving today. Definitely...", he chuckles in awkwardness.
Anne and Marcy both continue to eat, unfazed, while Polly begins to notice something strange. Something that's not quite true. She glances over at her grandfather and watches as he nervously tugs at his collar.
"Oh, what do you know, I can already hear his snail.", he suddenly bursts out, standing up from the table.
"I don't hear anything...", Sprig notes. Polly and Marcy don't hear anything either.
"Uh, uh, uh... Can I come with you, HP? I'm dying to know what he found out and thank him for the effort." Anne seems completely oblivious that anything is wrong. Hop Pop startles and he begins to talk faster and more slurred as he slowly walks backwards towards the front door.
"Uh, no... Um... You finish your breakfast first... And don't worry, I'll tell you everything he tells me. Okay, bye.", he says, grabbing the shovel that's next to the front door, walking through and slamming it behind him.
With a slightly disappointed look, Anne sits back down, seemingly accepting his order. Sprig, Polly and Marcy, on the other hand, exchange doubtful glances. Silently, with the only sound in the room coming from Anne continuing to eat, the three of them vote on who will tell Anne.
Polly lost.
"Um, Anne...", Polly begins, catching her attention, "I think you should go after him."
"Why?", she merely asks.
"Because Hop Pop is lying about something about the box.", Polly explains, speaking with certainty. Anne isn't buying it, though.
"What reason would he have to lie about that? And why would he lie to us about that? We're his family- sorry Marbles- and I, for one, trust him.", Anne speaks with outright confidence.
"Anne?", Marcy now tries her luck, "Remember how you told me yesterday that you had a creeping feeling that he was hiding something from you?". Anne nods. "Now it's the other way around. Now we think he's hiding something."
Anne grows increasingly stubborn.
"Do any of you have any proof of that? ... Anything?", Anne asks the others. No one answers directly. Except Polly.
"The only evidence is just outside the front door.", she states and Marcy joins in, "Maybe you're right and all our worries are unjustified. But look at it this way: You promised to find a way back to Earth. And the only way to do that is through the music box. The box that we don't have right now at this moment."
Marcy actually seems to be getting through to Anne. Sprig is now trying as well.
"Anne, you should at least go out and look...", he argues. Anne considers for a while longer, until she decides for herself that she doesn't want to continue this conversation, and is in far too good a mood to let herself get dragged down like this right now.
"Fine...", Anne gives up, "But I'm only leaving so you'll stop trying to convince me that he's lying. He is not. And I will prove it!"
Confidently, Anne gets up from the kitchen table and marches over to the front door, through which Hop Pop has also walked out.
Shortly after Anne leaves the house, leaving Marcy, Sprig, and Polly now sitting alone at the kitchen table, Sprig speaks up.
"I really, really hope we're wrong...", he says ruefully, "Because if not..."
Sprig doesn't have to finish the sentence for the other two girls to understand what he's getting at.
Anne had a difficult time after Sasha's betrayal. Her heart was broken, the number of tears she had shed could have filled lakes. The number of nightmares she had could have filled movie theaters. Would she be able to bear another breach of trust? And then from someone she trusted unconditionally?
"We shouldn't have told her...", Marcy whispers to herself.
With a fake, incredulous laugh, Anne steps out the Plantars' front door.
"Hah! I'll prove to them that Hop Pop would... never lie... to…", Anne's voice trails off as she sees no snail in front of the house, as Hop Pop claimed. In fact, there is no one to be seen there. "What?", she asks herself in confusion, thinking she can't believe her eyes. Seeing no one, she picks up her ears and sure enough, she hears something. Someone is digging. Hop Pop is digging.
While carefully tiptoeing around the house, Anne spots Hop Pop digging a hole by the dead tree near the green pond. He talks to himself in a mix of panic and confusion, and Anne stops behind him as she comes within earshot.
He gasps in terror.
"I- It can't be. The music box... It's gone!"
"What?", the only word that manages to escape from her mouth. Extremely slowly and with a racing heart, he turns around and jumps when he notices Anne behind him.
"A-Anne... What are you doing out here?", he stutters, trying to play down the situation.
For several seconds, there is absolute silence. Hop Pop merely glares at Anne, knowing full well that he's been caught. He looks Anne in the eye and watches as her heart has just been ripped and plucked into a thousand pieces. Her facial expression goes through all sorts of phases one after another, not knowing how to feel right now. From annoyance to grief, from disappointment to anger, but most of all... betrayal and incomprehension.
"Did you just say... the music box is gone?", she finally manages to say in a hurt voice, barely audible.
"I... I can't lie anymore! I buried the box here. And now it's missing!", he reveals.
"But... but... Your contacts?", Anne stammers. Her facial expression shifts.
"There were never any contacts, Anne! I read that the box was dangerous- I didn't know what to do. I panicked!", Hop Pop tearfully tries to justify his actions, "You HAVE to understand. I was just trying to protect Sprig and Polly..."
Anne's expression shifts again.
"So, you lied to me?", Anne says, not much louder than a whisper, but still agonizingly heard in Hop Pop's ears, "All this time you've been lying to me?"
Anne grows increasingly louder. Tears of betrayal form in her eyes and a heavily flickering blue aura is forming around her.
"NO! Yes... Look, it's complicated-"
Anne is tired of it. She interrupts him immediately.
"No, it isn't. I need the music box to return home, where my parents may be worried sick about me. For all they know, Marcy, Sasha and I may be dead... And you bury it UNDER A FUCKING TREE?", the flickering of blue around Anne, in her eyes and hair, intensifies. The leaves and sticks stuck in her hair phase in and out of existence. It seems like a glitch in the fabric of reality, "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, TO KEEP ME HERE FOREVER?"
"No, no! I... It's not like that. I- it's just... I've lost so much already and I thought-", he is unable to finish that thought, as Anne interrupts him once again. In the meantime, three listeners have gathered at the Plantars' front door, alerted to the argument by all the yelling. Highly concerned, they eavesdrop on both of them.
"STOP!", Anne yells at the top of her lungs. He goes quiet immediately and merely watches as tears flow from Anne's eyes and she sighs. "I thought you were different. I thought you were the one person I could trust in this place. But you're just like everyone else. You lied for your own, sick beliefs of- of... ... Ugh, I... I can't be here right now"
Anne turns around and starts to walk away, but not before turning back for a final remark.
"Oh, and by the way", she starts, her voice trembling with anger, "Don't follow me!"
Anne continues walking, eyeing the three listeners as she passes, who are still standing in the front doorway with worried looks on their faces. She says nothing, but simply continues walking. The flickering blue accompanies her as she walks away from the house.
After Anne is out of earshot, Marcy, Sprig and Polly walk out of the house to Hop Pop, who is kneeling on the floor, looking thoroughly devastated. With remorseful tears in his eyes, he looks to Marcy.
"I'm so, so-"
"Don't.", Marcy cuts him off.
"So, you heard it all?", he asks.
"More than enough.", Sprig speaks to his grandfather, trying not to let his disgust for his behavior escape his mouth.
"Why?", Marcy speaks up before changing her mind, "You know what? Not important. We need to fix this now..."
"Yes, we need to find Anne!", Hop Pop declares, but Marcy seems to have other plans.
"No!", she exclaims, serious and determined. "YOU will go search and find the music box. I'll take care of Anne"
"But-"
"She said you shouldn't follow her. Not respecting her wishes is the last thing you should do now.", Polly notes. And she's right.
"Okay.", Hop Pop relents, "Kids, will you help me?"
Sprig and Polly think for a moment, but ultimately agree to help him. Sprig, however, has conditions.
"I'll only help you if you explain in detail why you did what you did once we get the box back."
"I promise.", Sprig and Polly nod this off. Just Marcy speaks up.
"I really hope we can deal with this. With the meeting with the toads today, the stakes are extremely high and Anne is beyond unstable. And not just emotionally... Okay, let's go"
And with that said, the four of them split up. The Plantars investigate the disappearance of the music box, while Marcy runs after Anne, worried beyond belief. More even than the Plantars realize, as she is concerned not only about her state of mind, but about the instability of her powers. No one can guess what the consequences may be. From 'none' to 'destruction of the world', it can be absolutely anything in-between.
She is beyond scared as she follows Anne, which fortunately is not very difficult. Marcy spots her in the center of the village, where she simply pushes staring villagers and outsiders out of her way.
'Okay, they see it too. So at least I'm not hallucinating', she makes a mental note, 'It'd probably be better if I were'.
Marcy scurries between all the frogs and hurriedly tries to get to Anne. Anne just keeps walking, and even though she clearly heard Marcy is somewhere behind her. Even when Marcy has caught up to her, she doesn't turn around. She walks steadily on, her gaze not straying from her path.
The ongoing blue flickering makes Marcy visibly nervous, and she tries to distract herself.
"He's going to get the box back... You'll see"
"Doesn't matter anymore.", Anne comments after at least half a minute of uninterrupted silence. Even the other frogs, newts and toads they pass, merely stare at Anne, some with their mouths wide open, "Nothing matters anymore."
"Not even me?", Anne freezes in place for a moment. Yet she continues not to look at Marcy.
"I don't want to repeat myself...", Anne merely replies and continues walking. Marcy on the other hand, can't bring herself to move. She just stays there, feeling as if her heart has been ripped out and speared with a flaming sword. Tears start streaming down her face, as she watches Anne's back moving further and further away from her.
Marcy tries to take a breath; however, her breathing is short and choppy. Within her mind, she still hears the sound of Anne's voice, "Doesn't matter anymore... Nothing matters anymore." She tries to snap out of it.
'This is not the time to feel sorry for yourself.', Marcy tries to give herself a mental pep talk, 'You need to focus on finding a way to help Anne.'
And with that, Marcy begins to follow Anne once again.
When Marcy eventually caught back up to Anne, Anne was about to enter the 'City Hollow' as previously planned. The intensity of the flickering around Anne fortunately decreased on the way there, but it still appears threatening. Marcy hastily grabs Anne's arm to stop her from entering the building.
"Anne! Wait...", Marcy pleads.
"WHAT?", Anne shouts, finally looking back at Marcy with a piercing glare, "What do you want from me?"
"You- you shouldn't go in there like this...", Marcy gestures towards Anne's hair.
"Like what? What the frog are you talking about?", Anne replies and Marcy lets go of Anne's arm.
"You... Your powers, they're unstable...", Marcy worriedly tells her.
"I know. And I don't care.", Anne replies, "I'm going in there. With or without you."
"You're suppressing them?", Marcy asks in disbelief, "How are you even doing that?"
"I don't know. I just am.", Anne replies, "Now are you coming or not?"
Though unsatisfied with this answer, Marcy follows her girlfriend straight to Ben's office (since, let's be honest, Toadstool will never need it again), and on the way up Anne somehow manages to completely turn down the flickering without her mood changing in any way noticeable.
'Does she really have that much self-control over her powers already?', Marcy wonders, but quickly pushes the thought away to focus on the task at hand.
When the two girls open the doors, they are both surprised to find only Ben and Andrew there.
"Didn't you mention something about a council?", Anne asks Ben, trying to hide her current mood. Ben on the other hand just stares at the two girls for a good few seconds.
"Good morning to you, too, Anne. Master Marcy. Please sit down and I'll explain myself...", Ben offers them a chair next to the bullfrog and the newt. Anne practically drops into the chair with an 'I don't care' attitude. Marcy sits down next to her.
"First of all, thank you two for coming. Today is going to be an important day and it's vital to bring you up to speed.", Andrew begins before Ben takes over.
"But first, there's a decision to be made.", Ben glances at Anne, "More specifically, you have a decision to make. It's just a formality, nothing important."
"Okay, bring it on."
"The council had voted to allow me to represent it to you, and to convey its decisions and ideas to you, in which you have the final say as supreme authority. Do you accept that choice? If not, you could pick another council member who-"
"Yeah, sure, whatever. You'll do.", Anne replies, now also noticeably fed up for the others in the room. Andrew is the first to ask.
"Is... everything okay, Anne?", he asks sounding honestly concerned. Marcy spontaneously decides she'll answer for Anne.
"No, it isn't. There are problems that... that are taking a lot out of Anne. But don't worry, it's not going to affect today." Marcy says, glancing at Anne every few moments, looking for a sign of agreement. Anne however, doesn't even look back at her. "I hope…", Marcy adds in a whisper.
"Alright then... After Master Marcy informed us yesterday that the Toad Army had not met our set demands of its own accord, we, that is, the Council, had reconsidered our general position."
"But surely the results speak for themselves. They did what you wanted", Marcy interjects.
"Yes, that's correct. However, it missed the greater point: we wanted the Toads to change; That they treat us better in the long run than they do now."
"Oh...", Marcy understands that reasoning now, "So what do you guys have planned now?"
"With Andrew as our expert historian, we've put together several scenarios of how this whole thing may ultimately play out. Andrew.", Ben sits down before Andrew stands up and speaks up somewhat shyly.
"Um, yeah... As I told you yesterday, I've spent the last couple of days or so, categorizing and analyzing some of the recent rebellions here in the valley. There hasn't been enough time to do a detailed analysis of really every rebellion so far... All the books go back about a thousand years, to the time when the then Prince Andrias was proclaimed king. The oldest books consist for the most part, of collections of oral traditions, passed down within older families, and are therefore not particularly insightful and-or accurate. One thing, however, is quite interesting: During the very first rebellion, frogs all over the valley refused to supply Newtopia with food and goods until the crown assured them protection from environmental hazards, such as nalwhal worms, which were also indigenous here, and occasionally wiped entire villages off the map. And here's the kicker: Toad Tower was built in direct response to that."
"No way!", Marcy comments incredulously, "Toads were originally supposed to protect the people here? When did that stop?"
"Hard to say. Several sources cite a certain 'Barrel, the Brave' as the commander of the tower for several decades, who is said to have abandoned his post at some point. He was reportedly quite popular up to that point. In the few sources that mention his name, he is referred to as the 'Protector of the Small Folk' by the inhabitants of the valley. No one knows exactly what happened to him, but from what I know about Toads, I suspect he was the victim of an assassination... Umm, Ben, are you okay?"
Andrew glances at Ben, who seems lost in thought.
"Barrel's Warhammer...", he mumbles to himself.
"What did you say?", Marcy asks. Ben snaps out of his thoughts again.
"Umm, in my childhood, I had lived near the tower. Every now and then I played with toad kids, and they told me about the legend of Barrel's Warhammer. The one who leads Barrel's Warhammer is worthy to lead the Toad army.", Ben recounts.
"Does that help us in any way?", Andrew asks.
"Only if we would want to try to take over the Toad Army. But even if we were to find this legendary weapon, probably no Toad would do what any of us would say...", Marcy replies, "Let's keep that in mind. As a last resort."
"Master Marcy... The last resort is the declaration of war. For a change...", Ben explains.
"What- what does that mean?", she asks. Andrew resumes talking.
"I'll get to that in a minute. So, not long after Barrel's unexplained disappearance, a new commander arrived whose name has not been passed down. The new commander was apparently less popular, because only a few years later, there was the first frog rebellion against the toads, especially directed against the commander... It ended up being a massacre. One from which the frog population has not fully recovered to this day. It took an estimated two to three generations before the frogs dared to rebel again. The toads began to get more and more brazen, even as far as robbing the frogs of their goods. It got bloody again, but this time on both sides. The frogs had sent their best fighters ahead this time, and they and the toads met at a point that is known today as 'Point Weatrôj'."
"Did the frog fighters happen to include a frog named PolliAnna Plantar?", Marcy throws in.
"I'm sorry", Andrew apologizes, which fortunately doesn't seem to bother Marcy too much, "I'm afraid I don't know the name. Anyway... Oh yes, 'Point Weatrôj'... That place has always been considered neutral ground by both sides... a neutral graveyard."
Marcy now looks back and forth between Ben and Andrew with an astonished, curious look. Ben takes over.
"'Point Weatrôj' is sort of the point where wars and conflicts are fought and ended. The soil is completely dead, soaked by the blood of generations. All life there is dead, not even plants grow there anymore. Not everyone who went to this place came home...", Ben explains, to which Marcy swallows nervously. Everyone else doesn't seem to mind at all. Okay, Andrew seems a little nervous, but he's been that way the whole time. Ben is calm himself, and Anne... She just sits there. It's not really apparent whether she's actually listening or mentally in a completely different place. And then there's the fact that she's currently suppressing her powers, which most likely means they'll eventually burst out of her. Marcy strains not to picture it, when suddenly a loud thunder can be heard. Ben and Andrew look outside with little interest, while Marcy's head instantly snaps to Anne, who continues to sit there looking totally disinterested and is, most likely, not listening either.
"Huh, a thunderstorm is approaching...", Ben comments, "Haven't had one in a while. Should do the soil some good..."
"Bad conditions to fight in", Anne suddenly speaks up with a grim tone. Her gaze remains on the same position where he has been sitting since. The other three look at each other with concern.
"Yes, that is true…", Ben begins, "But that's more of a problem for toads than frogs. Frogs are generally lighter and so don't sink or get stuck in the soggy ground as quickly." Anne does not comment further on this. Andrew continues.
"Aaanyway... The first frog rebellion against the toads was obviously unsuccessful, as were all the subsequent ones so far. On average, a new rebellion occurred about every three to four generations, just about the time the last survivors of the previous one died."
"What made them fail?", Marcy asks. Andrew begins to appreciate her.
"Aha! That, Master Marcy, is what I was trying to determine. You see, the situation we have today is largely identical to the last twelve rebellions that I've been able to analyze in more detail, at least in terms of their wider causes. Toads place their ilk in positions of power throughout the valley, and deprive the frogs of any opportunity to make their voices heard. Corruption, greed for power, oppression of frogs, and self-enrichment have always been present among Toads. However, the triggers for the rebellions have always been different: In the 1701 rebellion, the Toad army burned a village called Doxum to the ground, just to celebrate the appointment of a new commander for the Tower. Only five inhabitants survived. In 1404, a small force of renegade Toads kidnapped two families in open daylight and forced them to cannibalize each other for their own amusement. The last remaining one was hanged in the end. In 1521, several Toads burned down a number of wheat fields throughout the valley, causing food shortages throughout Amphibia. The riots became so bad that the Newtopian military had to intervene. In 1440, the Toads kidnapped two children from each village in the valley and forced them to fight each other to the death. In 1800, a Toad commander decided-"
"Please Stop!", Marcy begs. She is already feeling quite sick and contorts her face in disgust. Ben joins her.
"She's right, Andrew. Enough of the examples... Please continue..."
"Yea... The term, according to which the toads are described as brutal, is quite appropriate. Over time, a wide variety of methods have been used on the part of the frogs to force the toads out of the valley. Of the last twelve rebellions, seven resulted in open conflict, which resulted in catastrophic defeats for the frogs. In one case, negotiations actually occurred, but ended abruptly when the frogs' negotiator disappeared and was presumably executed. And in three cases, Toad Tower was attacked directly, and statistically, this approach had produced the best results, if only for a short time. In the first case, an attempt was made to poison the Toads' supplies, whereupon sixty percent of all Toad soldiers died. In the second case, an attempt was made to blow up the tower using boomshrooms. There, however, the frogs in charge had miscalculated the quantity, as well as the structural stability of the tower. Instead of the whole tower, only the forecourt and the stables were destroyed. In the third case, several curse-users had joined forces and developed a gas that causes extreme hallucinations in toads, and forced them to face their own greatest fears. When the toads initially fled the tower, the frogs celebrated this as a victory, but did not consider that the effect would eventually wear off, and the toads would return. To make an example, all knowledge of magic here in the valley was destroyed, and the vast majority of curse users were executed."
"That certainly explains why magic is a nearly extinct art in Amphibia- Wait a minute... That was only eleven things... What about number twelve?", Marcy asks.
"Um... Are you familiar with the volcanic eruption of 1702?", Andrew asks, to which Marcy shakes her head, though she already guesses what he's alluding to.
"Don't tell me, someone managed to manually make a volcano erupt..."
"Oh yes, they did. Who exactly and how someone did this has unfortunately been lost over time. However, it was suspected that a frog who had a doctorate in geology and mathematics from the University of Newtopia was responsible. The mentioned volcano was located on the eastern edge of the valley, on the border with the sea.", Andrew reproduces.
"Sorry, but... It WAS located there? Not anymore?", Marcy interjects.
"No. The explosion that was supposed to cause the dormant volcano to erupt, was so massively powerful, that it leveled one-fifth of the surrounding area. Ash poured through the sky and rained back down across the continent for decades. The explosion cut cracks and furrows through the land. Rivers of lava swept through the valley, there were gigantic numbers of refugees, everywhere, who had simply sought shelter, fearing for their lives. It was frogs like newts, like toads... Toad Tower was completely annihilated in the original explosion within the blink of an eye... This was the greatest natural disaster ever recorded. There were no winners. Everyone had lost... Thousands lost their lives. There was not one single family who hadn't suffered the loss of at least one loved one."
Out of shock, Marcy slumps backwards against the back of her chair. For a while, absolute silence reigns in the room. The only audible sounds come from the gathering rain and the occasional thunder. Ben is not doing much better than Marcy, however, he seems to find the words that Marcy seems to be missing right now.
"I... I did know that the valley had a rough past, and that there was a lot of blood, but this... I didn't see that coming.", Ben now turns to the two human girls. Marcy is still processing all of this, while Anne sits there in complete dissociation. He stands up, clears his throat, and takes the word.
"We, um, of course want to prevent... such a devastating catastrophe from happening again at all costs...", he tries to sound confident. It takes a while for Marcy to digest most of what has been told.
"Um, yeah, definitely. Whew, and I was starting to think human history was brutal... Okay, it is brutal, but still...", Ben and Andrew both eye Marcy, but she quickly changes the subject, "Okay, Andrew. Let's consider all that history out of the way for now. How does the situation today compare to what you just told us?"
"The biggest difference? The two of you. Well, actually the four of you...", he starts, whereupon now Anne also listens up again, "I don't want to go too far out on a limb, but I believe that you will be one of the decisive factors that will decide whether the rebellion will win or not. It's just too bad that one of you is part of the Toads from what I've heard, and the fourth... Where is she?"
"We... think Luz has left Amphibia...", Marcy tries to sound certain of herself.
"Really? How?", Ben now asks. Marcy just shrugs at that. Andrew continues.
"Alright. Aside from you guys, we have other advantages over previous attempts: We have options; We can choose. In the past, it was always the case that there was only one person who led a rebellion and made decisions. Today, the council exists to weigh different options against each other. Likewise, the sheer number of volunteers who have joined the rebellion on site, is greater than ever before. Sure, numerical superiority has always been there, but for the most part they were, in quotes, 'just farmers'. Now, among the volunteers, we have combat trainers who help get people in shape, weapon- and armor smiths who help supply people with equipment, and quite a few other people whose skills can be extremely valuable if we use them properly."
"How many?", Anne speaks up, looking Andrew in the eye with an intense look. Ben replies.
"It's estimated that just about seven to eight thousand people have joined us to this day.", he reports. Anne falls into a thoughtful pose for a moment.
"So, preparations are being made for going to war?", she asks coldly.
"Yes. While we hope that this situation can still be resolved peacefully, we are preparing for the worst.", Ben tells her.
"And today we are about to renegotiate, or rather continue negotiations, right?", Ben nods, "With which demands precisely?"
"Together with the council, we have decided that it is not enough to force the toads out of the valley. We need to think more long-term. Therefore, we want the Toads to openly support us in declaring independence for Frog Valley. We want to become an independent state."
A lot of emotion lines Marcy's face as Ben tells Anne about their plan. Sympathy for the Frogs, because an independent state would mean that the Toads, as well as Newtopia, would no longer be in charge here. Concern for the rest of the Amphibians because sixty to seventy percent of all food comes from Frog Valley. Relief because independence could create trade agreements that could massively strengthen local and regional economies. Fear that Andrias, although he appears to be nice and reasonable, would not recognize the independence of the valley, and the Frogs would be forced to continue their lives as the lowest class of society. And that's just in case their plan works out.
"What about the toads? What reason would they have to agree to your terms?", Marcy asks anxiously. Anne replies before Ben gets a chance to do the same.
"Leave it to me. I already have a plan...", Anne unfortunately doesn't reveal any details, which Marcy doesn't like at all.
"We... would be willing to allow all Toads who are not members of the Toad Army free access into our borders, as well as the opportunity to contribute something to our society.", Ben continues.
"For example?"
"Protection.", Ben explains, "Only this time under our authority."
"Okay...", Marcy speaks thoughtfully, "This could work... I really hope you can convince the Toads. However, to declare your independence, you would also have to convince King Andrias... and I'm not sure which part of your plan seems more difficult to me. But... I will support you as best I can."
"Thank you, Master Marcy.", Ben nods gratefully. Andrew speaks up.
"This kind of plan has never been attempted in history, and there are quite a few variables that make a win- a permanent win for us likely."
"Likely?", Marcy asks with a critical eye.
"That's all we can do at the moment.", Andrew replies, "And you guys should start making your way to the meeting with the Toads."
"You're not coming?", Marcy asks.
"No. I have enough to do here... Um... Will General Yunan be accompanying you?", Andrew asks, throwing Marcy slightly off track.
"Not sure if that's a good idea. Last time I saw her, I said some really nasty things to her face...", Marcy replies ruefully, "Besides, I don't know where she is right now either."
"Nothing too bad...", Ben speaks up, "But we should really get going. We can-"
Ben is interrupted as someone knocks on the shut door. Marcy, who is closest to the door, stands up. She opens the door, looks down and sees Chuck standing right in front of it, though he hasn't been introduced to her by name yet. He hands her a larger envelope.
"Tulips.", he tips his hat and leaves.
'How can this guy see anything?', Marcy wonders and closes the door again. She holds up the envelope, which Ben immediately recognizes.
"Uh, great. The latest intelligence report", Ben explains.
"Who was that?", Marcy asks.
"That's Chuck. He's sort of our intel guy, and occasionally handles important mail.", Ben explains, taking the envelope. He reads the report and his face contorts with increasing concern. "Um... interesting news. Apparently, a representative of the Toad Council arrived at the Tower last night... Well, we better figure out what to do with this information on the way. We'll take my Beetle. It's behind the building."
The four of them start to get up and leave the room, however Marcy stops Ben before he can cross the door. She turns to Anne.
"Anne, can you go ahead? I need to check something with Ben about Yunan.", Anne merely shrugs indifferently and walks leisurely down the stairs. Andrew is also back in his own 'office'. And Marcy closes the door again and turns to the bullfrog with a serious expression.
"Ben. When we get to the meeting spot soon, I would like to strongly urge you not to let Anne do the talking. You should do it!", Marcy demands.
"Does this have something to do with Anne's taciturnity?", he inquires, "You mentioned earlier that Anne was having problems...". Marcy sighs.
"Anne... Something happened today that caused her to lose self-control. If you let her do the talking at the meeting, the chances are extremely high that it will end in disaster," Ben doesn't say anything for now, "The thing is that what went on is eating her up from the inside. And until I have been able to help her, as much as I hate to say it, Anne is a threat. Especially if Sasha will be there, which is pretty much guaranteed since she's Grime's second-in-command."
"... But you don't know for sure, do you? Meaning that this whole thing is going to end in disaster...", Ben inquires. He doesn't seem convinced.
"Let's call it a gut feeling... Please Ben, you should really do the talking.", Marcy pleads, where which Ben ponders for a while.
"We should leave now, Master Marcy.", Ben steps past Marcy and crosses the doorstep. Frustrated, she follows him.
Ben and Marcy leave the City Hollow and walk around the building to its back. Marcy thinks she saw a blue flicker as both of them approach their ride, which Ben had addressed earlier. The flicker instantly disappeared the moment Anne noticed them.
"Is that a Rhino Beetle?", Marcy asks, startled, "You seriously didn't manage to tame a Rhino Beetle..."
Ben helps Marcy up onto its seat, where Anne had already taken a seat.
"This is Dwayne. Adopted him when he was young.", Dwayne snorts heavily in confirmation, "Raised him well.". A Rhino Beetle looks almost exactly like it sounds: Most of it is Beetle-shaped. The Rhino's signature horn sits on the head between the two fist-sized, ruby-red eyes, and the overall size is also the same as its Earth counterpart. A ladder hangs down on either side of Dwayne's brown, spiky carapace. Attached to the larger spikes is a small wooden platform on which are the seats on which Ben, Anne and Marcy sit.
Just beyond the Wartwood border, things fall silent atop Ben's Beetle. Ben himself sits in front, the reins firmly in his hands, while Dwayne speeds over the landscape cross-country. Trees, fields, various creatures and villages pass them by in the blink of an eye. All this while warm rain rains down on them. Above them, a dark gray blanket of clouds stretches out on all sides to beyond the horizon. Scattered thinner patches within the dark carpet of clouds illuminate the area around them. A truly surreal-looking scenery. Dark clouds, but it is not dark. It's raining, but it's not unpleasant.
Anne and Marcy sit side by side directly behind Ben. Right now, Marcy would love to talk throughout about how much she loves this weather, and how spooky-mystical everything around her seems, and she feels like she's in a Studio Ghibli movie. But while the rain and the wind are messing up her hair, her gaze lingers on her girlfriend. Her still angry looking girlfriend. Marcy's gaze wanders to Anne's hand.
Cautiously she wants to take it, but already at the first touch, Anne pulls her hand away from Marcy's. Marcy looks back up at Anne's eyes, which have not left the way in front of her.
'What's happening with you? Why aren't you talking to me anymore?', Marcy wonders, worried beyond both ears, 'It must be more than just Hop Pop losing the box... right? … Right?'
Less than ten minutes later, Ben gradually begins to slow Dwayne down, as they approach a myriad of menhirs up to half a meter tall, marking an enormous area, with a distance of five meters between each other. It is not possible to make out the menhirs on the opposite side of the expanse.
Just as the three of them cross this perimeter, a shiver runs down the spines of all of them. Where before the ground and the landscape were all green and full of life, here everything is considerably darker. The grass beneath them is colorless. As far as the eye can see, no life forms are discernible. No houses, no villages, no signs of life. Even the weather is different here, because suddenly the rain is no longer warm and pleasant, it is cold and even if it has decreased in strength, every drop on the skin feels like a sliver of wood is stuck in the skin.
Only a few meters past the perimeter, Ben slows Dwayne down and comes to a complete stop.
"This is 'Point Weatrôj.' We are just at the most northeastern point within the valley, not far from the passage out of the valley.", Ben explains, "Now drop down. We're walking the rest of the way. It's not far anymore."
Ben, Anne and Marcy climb down from Ben's Rhino Beetle, already rather soaked. Marcy is fortunate that her uniform is mostly waterproof, which is why she had decided earlier to give Anne her cape so she wouldn't get too wet. Anne had accepted the gift without a single word.
Ben, with Dwayne's reins in hand walks ahead. Seemingly completely unaffected by the weather and the rather sinister atmosphere. Anne and Marcy walk next to them. While Marcy struggles throughout to keep her wet hair out of her view, she simultaneously envies Anne's hair, which almost acts as an integrated umbrella for her face.
The three of them (four if you count Dwayne) make their way to the meetup spot. For this they follow a footpath, which leads past several puddles varying in size. The water in these puddles is partially deep red in color and smells horribly like rotting. Scattered on the ground around them are old, rusted weapons, but also bones and other organic remains, all of which Marcy ignores expertly.
Gradually, a single, dead tree comes into sight, standing next to two layered, circular stone slabs, that form a kind of round table. The exact dimensions are not discernible yet, but one can already see that a larger one is lying on a smaller slab.
Ben suddenly stops and turns to the two girls.
"Anne?", he asks for her attention, which she confirms with a quiet 'huh?", "I'd like to ask you to let me do the talking here."
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure. Whatever.", Anne replies indifferently. Ben is seemingly content with that answer. Marcy, on the other hand... not so much. Frowning, she eyes Anne for a few seconds, who just keeps walking. Marcy sighs anxiously.
The three of them are approaching their destination.
"Okay good, we're the first ones here.", Ben comments before he begins to roughly explain the rundown, "Anne, you're standing here next to me. I need to tie Dwayne up in a minute so he doesn't go for the toads."
"Is there really that much of a risk?", Marcy asks.
"Absolutely. Dwayne hates toads. Well, actually, it's more of a hate-fear relationship: He hates toads; Toads fear him. Figured he could help strengthen our negotiating position.", Ben explains casually. Marcy isn't sure how to comment on that. True, she used to negotiate between opposing parties before she found Anne again in Newtopia, but they were always, at least on Marcy's part, based on logic, understanding, and problem solving. Not hate and fear. Ben continues.
"Master Marcy, I would like you to stand to the right of us at the table. You know, to present your unbiasedness and neutrality."
"That makes sense. Okay.", Marcy confirms and moves to her position, while Ben is in the process of tying Dwayne to the dead tree immediately behind Marcy and putting a blindfold on him.
'This stone slab... this is solid granite... There are no granite deposits nearby. And that thing must weigh twenty tons. And the one underneath must weigh half as much, where did they get those from?'
Marcy is thrown out of her thoughts when suddenly deafening thunder roars in her ears. Marcy's head immediately snaps to Anne, but Anne's gaze is directed to the sky, where several lightning bolts are slicing through the dark clouds.
'Cool', Marcy thinks, 'But wrong order'.
"They're here.", Ben announces sternly. Marcy looks first at Ben, then abruptly to his opposing side, where three figures are walking toward them. She recognizes Sasha immediately and her head snaps back at Anne. Her previously neutral and rather indifferent facial expression is replaced by one of rage and fury. She notices a brief blue flicker around her, as well as a slight tremor in the ground.
She turns again and the three of them gradually come into view. Off to the right walks Captain Grime, with a grim look on his face, as always. In the middle, Sasha, wearing a black hood to go with her regular uniform. Sasha and rain have never gotten along very well, but also for some odd reason she's grinning, kind of along the lines of 'told you so'. Marcy doesn't recognize the toad on the far left. She looks similar to Grime, but her uniform is not the same as the one Marcy saw when she visited Toad Tower.
'Is that the Toad Council representative?', Marcy wonders as they approach the table, directly across from Ben and Anne. The unknown toad starts laughing loudly.
"HA! THIS is this rebellion you're so afraid of Grimothy?", she laughs, "These creatures aren't even armed!"
"You must be the representative of the Toad Council, am I right?", Ben asks with a serious tone as she calms down a bit.
"I am Captain Beatrix, Commander of the West Tower and one of the three Lords of the Toad Council," she introduces herself proudly.
"Lord?", Marcy asks confused, to which Beatrix rolls her eyes.
"Yesyesyes... Actually, it's Lady, but that sounds so... weak.", Beatrix sputters out the last word as if it were venom on her tongue, "Like you."
Ben takes over again.
"So, are you here in support of Captain Grime?", Ben asks, to which she starts laughing out loud again.
"No, not at all. I'm here to witness his downfall-", she suddenly catches her breath, as she hears a loud snort and spots Ben's Rhino Beetle behind Marcy. Her blood freezes in her veins. "HOW? YOU BROUGHT A RHINO BEETLE HERE? ARE YOU INSANE?", A satisfied grin spreads across Ben's face.
"Can we get started then?", he asks calmly.
Marcy watched this verbal repartee with great interest until she noticed that Anne and Sasha hadn't said a word yet. She looks at them both, who just stare at each other in silent anger. Marcy clears her throat to get Sasha's attention.
"Hey Sash.", Marcy greets her with a kind smile on her face. In response, however, she only receives a short, scowling snort in return. To avoid further discomfort for Marcy, Ben steps up to speak.
"Very well then... Several things have occurred since our last meeting that I would like to address first. Captain Beatrix, since you are the only one so far who does not know me- My name is Ben Flawrik. Until yesterday, I was the sole representative of the Frog Rebellion.", Beatrix snorts disinterestedly as she moves to stand at the table across from Marcy, "This is Anne Boonchuy. According to tradition, the is the leader of the-"
"I KNEW IT!", Sasha suddenly bursts out, interrupting Ben, "I knew you were the brains behind all this. How else does everyone seem to be working to try and find a peaceful-"
"LIEUTENANT!", Grime growls. Sasha falls silent, while it is already apparent that Anne's blood seems to be boiling right now, as her gaze is frozen on Sasha. Ben continues.
"This on my right is Master Marcy Wu. She was sent by King Andrias to act as a conduit between us and settle this conflict with as minimal losses as possible."
"This creature?!", Beatrix doesn't quite believe that, "Works for the king? The big blue one? Seriously?"
"I'm Chief Ranger of the Newtopian Knight Guard.", Marcy states proudly.
"Respectable title... I'll call you 'Newty.' You strike me as one of those...", Beatrix doesn't finish that sentence. Ben resumes speaking, disregarding the previous exchange.
"Good, now that we've got that out of the way, let's get down to business."
"Let's get down to business...", Grime echoes.
"... You have fulfilled our previous conditions-"
"Pathetic.", Beatrix mutters, but Ben continues.
"-what we had previously considered a positive development."
"Previously?", Sasha wonders. Ben explains.
"As we learned yesterday, this was merely on the recommendation of Master Marcy, and not of your own initiative. This is not acceptable."
"What do you people want?", Beatrix interjects. Before Ben can answer, though, Anne speaks up.
"Frog Valley is declaring itself independent. The Toad Army will leave this place in peace! In addition, you will openly support Frog Valley's independence!", Anne demands using a very powerful tone. Sasha expresses herself slightly impressed. And Beatrix, as before, starts laughing loudly again. Only this time, Grime joins in.
"Independence?", Grime laughs heartily. Sasha pounds her hands on the table.
"You can forget about that right now! We will NEVER support you. Those frogs will stay where they belong and do what they've always done: Stay out of our way!", Sasha clarifies and it becomes clear that Anne is getting more and more furious with every word that comes out of her mouth, "This is what's going to happen now: You three are going back to your little shithole and this rebellion thing is over."
Anxiously, Marcy looks back and forth between Anne and Sasha. She sees Anne's eyes begin to change color. But it's different. They're turning blue, but it's way much darker. It looks many times more menacing.
"Sasha, stop it.", Marcy pleads. Sasha snaps her head at her.
"What was that?", Sasha asks her, not recognizing the pure fear in her eyes.
"Please stop...", Marcy pleads again.
But it is too late.
Slowly and reluctantly, Marcy turns her head toward Anne. Sasha follows her gaze and freezes in her tracks as she catches sight of Anne.
Her burning stare is entirely concentrated at Sasha, intense dark blue flames sprouting from her eyes. Her hair grows longer and turns similarly shades of dark blue, while the leaves and branches in her hair do not grow longer, they become a constant state of withering away, consumed by the dark blue aura around Anne. The previously light blue aura around Anne, when she activates her powers, has been replaced by something much darker, something more imminently threatening and dangerous.
"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!", Anne mutters under her breath. Sasha's breath falters, as her eyes and those of her former best friend cross. From a standing position, Anne jumps onto the stone slabs, hovers across it towards Sasha, and now looks down on her in an intimidating manner. And although Sasha would never openly admit it, it is working.
"You still only want to push your own will, and you are shitting on everyone who is suffering because of it? ... I am sick of you, Sasha!", Anne spits at her like venom, "I am sick of you, I am sick of you fucking controlling other people, I am sick of your fucking selfishness. You murdered Hop Pop back then in cold blood by stabbing him in the back in his own bed, just because it served your own fucking agenda... I'm so sick of you...", Everyone around the table watches Anne with intimidation. No one dares to say anything. Even Beatrix is dumbfounded. "It is time for you to pay the price for your what you have done!"
Anne jumps backwards off the table, bends down and grabs the top slab off the table. Everyone around her looks at her with wide eyes as she lifts it up like it's nothing.
"ANNE, NO!", Marcy yells as Anne twirls it around her in a circle several times before letting it go and throwing the multi-ton granite-slab only just above Sasha's head and towards Toad Tower, which can faintly be seen looming on the horizon. Alarmed and terrified, everyone turns around and tracks the plate with their gazes, as it impacts the tower. No, not just impacts, the plate crashes into the outer walls with incredible force and undeniable noise, destroying everything in its path and emerging again on the other side. The observers catch their breath as the sound of the impact reaches their ears distinctly.
"Now for you!", Anne bends down again and lifts the smaller slab, the desire to end this all, once and for all, burning in her eyes.
While Anne swings the slab, Sasha tries to summon her own power, but she finds herself paralyzed by fear. Fear of Anne. Sasha cowers, Grime instinctively bends over her. Her life comes to an end. Here. Today. Now.
"ANNE! STOP!", Marcy dashes forward to stand in front of Sasha and Grime, spreading her arms wide. Anne is only able to minimally deflect the slab that was already coming at her. It hits the ground mere centimeters from Beatrix. Marcy doesn't even flinch as it hits the ground next to her.
"Get out of my way, Marcy!", Anne threatens her. Sasha and Grime slowly and hesitantly rise back to their feet, surprised by Marcy standing protectively in front of them.
"Marcy, what are you doing?", Sasha whispers.
"I'm protecting my friends.", Marcy replies with determination in her voice.
"She's a murderer.", Anne accuses her, "She betrayed me- she betrayed us! She hurt you too!"
"Yes, that's right. She betrayed you, and hurt both of us very deeply. But she definitely doesn't deserve dying.", Marcy argues, "I know you're hurting. Sasha took away someone you love. Hop Pop just lost the music box-"
"What?", Sasha cuts in.
"... I... Even I had betrayed you. Both of you...", Marcy tells Anne and Sasha, "If it wasn't for my stupid selfishness, neither of us would even be here. Neither in this very situation, nor in Amphibia at all."
"WHAT?", Sasha cuts in again, except more angrily this time.
"So, if you want to hurt her, you have to get past me first. I will always protect those I care about. That sometimes means protecting someone from themselves... So, Anne, do whatever you have to do."
Marcy closes her eyes, and continues to hold her arms protectively in front of Sasha and Grime. And Anne stomps forward to reach for the stone slab again.
But she can't. She's within reach of it, but she can't quite touch it. Anne's aura flickers again, only this time not between existing and non-existing, but between the bright and the dark part of herself.
The flickering intensifies. Hesitantly, Anne steps back from the stone slab. Marcy cautiously opens her eyes and sees only the shock in Anne's eyes moments before she ascends into the air and disappears into the horizon.
"AAAANNNNEEEEE!", Marcy shouts after her, just before sighing in disappointment, "She's gone".
This is now the first moment that everyone present can take a deep breath. Beatrix just stares ahead with a blank expression. Grime's gaze is focused on the tower behind him with worry about whether there are any casualties there. Sasha's gaze is filled with tears and she looks towards Marcy, who in turn only looks after Anne, who is already out of sight. Ben is the first who dares to open his mouth again.
"Um... That...", he stutters ahead, not knowing what to say. Grime turns around and speaks with an angry tone in his voice to everyone present, particularly Ben and Marcy.
"That was a declaration of war. You can say goodbye to your puny and worthless lives now. Beatrix, Sasha: We're leaving!"
Grime turns around and Beatrix promptly follows him. Only Sasha remains still on the spot. She and Marcy look at each other wordlessly, with only tears in their eyes, each telling their own story. Sasha raises a hand towards Marcy.
"LIEUTENANT!", she hears Grime yell.
"I'm sorry", Sasha mouths before turning around to join both of the toads.
Ben and Marcy now find themselves alone. There, where not so long ago the hope for a peaceful agreement rested. A hope that is now a matter of the past.
"You were right, Marcy."
"Wha-"
"Anne was unstable. You weren't understating things. She should never have come here."
"... No, it was my fault. I had persuaded Anne to lead the rebellion, even though she had clearly said she didn't want to. I shouldn't have told her this morning that Hop Pop had lied to her... It's all my fault. I was supposed to help make peace here, instead I just made things worse..."
Leisurely but crestfallen, Ben makes his way to Dwayne to get him ready for the ride back to Wartwood.
"You coming?", he asks, his voice free of any blame. Marcy looks at him with wet eyes.
"I have to find Anne."
"Got any idea where she is?"
"She flew off to the west. I don't think she had any particular destination in mind..."
"Climb on. I'll give you a boost. After that, I have to get back to Wartwood, get people ready for battle."
"I'm so sorry..."
"Mhm."
Marcy and Ben spend just less than five minutes in silence, riding on Dwayne's back, searching for Anne.
"This is where we part ways, I'm afraid...", Ben announces, "I have to get back to Wartwood."
"Yeah... I understand.", Marcy says, climbing down from Ben's Rhino Beetle. "I'll see you back in Wartwood later."
With that brief goodbye, Ben turns around slightly, and accelerates at high speed, heading south. Marcy takes one deep breath, and before Ben has even disappeared into the horizon, she continues to follow Anne's trail. Okay, calling it a trail isn't quite accurate. Marcy is merely going in the same direction Anne flew before.
'Kind of cool that Anne can fly now... I wish I could get my powers out right now, so I could try that out too. That would speed up my search tremendously. But nooo, my powers only show up when a solvable or unsolvable problem presents itself... And a search for my thoroughly devastated girlfriend apparently doesn't count as such a problem...'
Marcy trudges across fields, meadows, and through small forests, with no sign of where Anne might have flown to. There were no signs of civilization so far either. Only the mountain range that surrounds the valley is noticeable on the horizon...
Suddenly, Marcy spots a building not far ahead. A barn.
She now picks up her legs and runs towards it as fast as she can.
"ANNE!", she calls out as she gets closer. No response.
"ANNE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
Full of hope, Marcy approaches the barn door. The barn itself already looks a little run down, as if the owner hasn't been there in a very long time. One of the gate hinges is loose, the other, rusted.
Marcy pokes her head through the gates, and spots a yelping hole in the roof, through which rain is pouring in. But besides the sound of rain splashing on the wet ground, Marcy hears something else. Someone is trying to suppress their sobs. However, Marcy doesn't see anyone right away.
"Anne? Are you in here?", Marcy asks before she starts peering into each compartment in turn. She's almost ready to give up before noticing that there's a second floor to the barn, and a ladder leading up, next to the entrance.
She climbs the ladder and finds a bunch of hay piles, that must have been stored there. And at the very back, at the other end of the barn, Marcy catches sight of the familiar blue aura. Filled with relief, she takes a breath, and carefully walks between the bales of hay, heading straight for the blue aura. Fortunately, it seems to have stabilized by now, because the flickering is gone, as is the dark tint.
Marcy walks around a large wooden crate and discovers Anne directly behind it, completely hunched over with her legs resting against her chest, and with her back against the crate, still wearing Marcy's cloak around her shoulders.
"Anne?", Marcy asks gently.
"Go away.", Anne counters in-between sobs.
Marcy frowns at that, and lets herself fall onto the floor, on her butt right then and there. She now sits two meters away from Anne, with her legs crossed, ready to stay just there until her girlfriend feels better.
Anne glances up briefly and just looks at her. Her hair and clothes are completely soaked from the rain. She's probably freezing, but she probably wouldn't admit that to herself. With nothing but love and stubbornness in her eyes, and a sympathetic smile on her face, Marcy looks back at her.
That stubbornness... Probably both the best and worst quality about Marcy. Once she set her mind to something, there was never anything that could stop her. Not her parents, not Anne, not even her own body, which at one point just begged her to go to sleep... And now she sits here. And waits. Anne buries her head back into her arms, and silence returns. Only the splashing of rain, the soft breeze of the wind, and the quiet breathing of Marcy are audible. It is relaxing. Calm. And for a while, nothing changes at all.
"I'm a monster...", Anne whispers softly. She lifts her head a little, just enough to look at Marcy, to watch her reaction. Marcy tilts her head slightly, "I only made things worse."
Marcy briefly thought about saying something, or throwing something back at that, that that wasn't true, but she knows full well that Anne doesn't want to hear that. She closes her mouth again and just continues to listen.
"I messed up. Because of me, the rebellion is now in danger because I declared war on the toads... All because I couldn't control myself...", Anne's voice grows louder and louder, "And... I almost killed Sasha again... AGAIN! TWICE NOW!"
With an uncomprehending, disturbed expression, she looks at Marcy, who in turn just looks back with a sad, yet still sympathetic expression.
"You shouldn't be here. I am dangerous and I can't control myself. I don't want to hurt you.", Anne's voice is almost begging now for Marcy to leave her alone. Yet Marcy shakes her head and slowly crawls closer towards Anne until she's just a few centimeters away. She reaches out and takes Anne's hands in her own.
"People hurt you: Hop Pop... Sasha... Even I did... But you never ever hurt me, Anne. You're not a monster. You're a human being, with flaws and mistakes, but you're never a monster to me."
Anne stares into Marcy's eyes, her expression still filled with confusion and sadness, until finally, she bursts out in tears and throws her arms around Marcy's neck. Marcy wraps her arms around Anne and holds the girl tight, letting her cry it all out.
"I don't know what to do anymore, Marcy...", Anne admits, her voice muffled by Marcy's shoulder.
"It's okay. Take your time. We'll find a way, together.", Marcy whispers back, her voice confident and reassuring. She softly strokes Anne's hair while they stay like that, until Anne's tears slowly start to subside, and the blue aura finally fades out completely. After some time, Anne finally lifts her head and looks into Marcy's eyes again, with her own still being red and puffy from crying.
"Thank you...", Anne whispers, her voice barely audible.
Marcy smiles softly and leans in to give her a light kiss on the forehead.
"Let's go back. I'm sure the Plantars are quite worried about us by now.", she suggests. Anne nods slightly in agreement.
Together, the two girls climb down the ladder and leave the old abandoned barn, slowly making their way back to Wartwood. In the meantime, the rain has fortunately eased off, and the sun even starts to peek through the clouds.
Marcy and Anne walk side by side, knowing it will take a while, before they reach their destination.
"I don't deserve you, Marcy.", Anne says, her voice still filled with sadness and regret, just as they're about to cross the border to Wartwood. Earlier, as they walked among all the tents outside the village, the two girls noticed frantic commotion around them. There was a lot of shouting, instructions were made, orders given, and preparations made for an upcoming battle.
Marcy turns to look at her, her expression gentle and loving. She takes Anne's hands in her own and gives them a gentle squeeze.
"That's not true. You deserve to be loved and supported, just like anybody else. You can't blame yourself for everything. We all make mistakes, and that's okay.", she says reassuringly.
"Even if those mistakes mean having started a war, and all those frogs, toads, and newts could soon lose their lives?", Anne whispers, her voice trembling slightly.
"That's not your responsibility. This conflict has been going on for ages, and would probably have broken out at some point, even without your involvement.", Marcy tries to reassure her. Anne looks away, her eyes still filled with sadness and guilt. Marcy gently brushes her finger against Anne's chin and turns her head back in her direction.
"You can make up for it, Anne. Just don't lose faith in yourself. We'll find a way to help them.", she whispers as she leans in and presses her lips against Anne's.
In that moment, Anne's worries seem to drift away and a sense of peace washes over her. Marcy's kiss is gentle, reassuring and filled with love, and for a moment, the two of them just stand there, in the middle of all the commotion and chaos, lost in each other's embrace.
"Now I really don't deserve you...", Anne whispers against Marcy's lips, to which the other girl just laughs softly.
"Yes, you do.", Marcy answers and smiles as she takes Anne's hand in her own and leads her through the crowd back towards the Plantar's farm.
As they both arrive at the front door, Anne takes a deep breath in preparation for what might await them inside. At best, Hop Pop, Sprig and Polly have found the music box. In the worst case... Anne doesn't really want to think about that. Not now.
Anne anxiously opens the door and steps inside.
"Huh? Not back yet?", Anne wonders. But then, from the corner of her eye, she spots them, sitting around the kitchen table.
Hop Pop, Sprig and Polly are sitting around the table, and between them lies a familiar wooden box, its gold-plated sides reflecting the sunlight.
"Anne. Marcy! You're back.", Sprig happily runs towards them, but stops short of them, "And wet..."
Hop Pop picks up the box and carries it straight to Anne.
"I'm so sorry that-", he begins, before Anne rips the box out of his hands, and disappears with it straight into the basement, letting its hatch slam shut behind her. He sighs, and turns back to Marcy, who just looks at him with a knowing and somewhat understanding smile.
"She'll be okay. Don't worry.", Marcy reassures him, "She just needs some time..."