First day after war declaration:
Hi you stupid diary
I don't think there are enough words to describe how utterly crappy today was... Although, actually, yesterday ended up sucking too.
Grime has a sister
and she sucks.
She decided to drop by last night just wanting to see him suffer. Then she decided to spend the night in the tower and take a room...
SHE TOOK MY ROOM!
That bitch just took MY room, and I had to crash in the command room- Do you know how FUCKING cold it is up there? What? You don't? Of course… YOU'RE A FUCKING DIARY!
I can't talk to anyone right now. Grime has assembled strike teams, and is forcing them to train around the clock right now after Anne-
Okay right, I should elaborate... Anne Boonchuy, my best friend
former best
former friend?
Anne has declared war on us.
ANNE. FUCKING. BOONCHUY! This is the same girl that I always dropped everything for, for her birthdays and wanted to give her a special day. This is the same girl who flew to Germany with me and my parents last summer, to support me at my grandpa's funeral. This is the same girl who had to cry for hours just because her favorite TikTok couple broke up...
And since we've been stranded here, she's tried to kill me TWICE now... fucking TWICE!
I won't lie, Anne absolutely terrified the crap out of me. So much so, in fact, that I couldn't summon my own powers.
I mean, who can get mad when they're scared right now- I'm not the Hulk after all.
Well, anyway, Anne had a stone slab thrown into-
thrown through the tower, making the upper half uninhabitable for the time being, while repairs are ongoing. I don't know how long that will take.
The way up is completely destroyed. The slab had just missed the kitchen, because otherwise we would have a much bigger problem.
I'm sleeping in the training facility now, by the way. Grime had suggested that I temporarily sleep over at the soldiers' quarters, but that's out of the question. Sure, I like most of them, but it's not going to happen that we sleep in the same room. At least Beatrix can't crash in my room now either. That's something good at least...
Hmm, what else?
Oh yeah... Did I mention that we are at war with the frogs?
After we got back from the meeting yesterday, Grime had immediately sent a squad of soldiers to burn down one of the currently abandoned villages, and all that just 'to send a signal', and to 'prove his determination'...
But let's be honest, he just wanted to vent his rage.
Beatrix, by the way, was surprisingly quiet after yesterday... Didn't say anything the whole way back. I think yesterday, she was scared too, if not more than that.
But today she still called me 'creature'. She gave Marcy a nickname and never mentions Anne with a single word, why does she hate me so much? And why does it bother me so much?
Oh, wait... Marcy...
I have to admit, I made a mistake. Not specifically yesterday, but in general. Marcy saved my life yesterday. Because while Anne was about to rip my head off (at least that's how it seemed in her eyes), Marcy jumped forward and stepped in her way, right between Anne and me.
Just like that. Without any armor. Without a weapon. And probably she has no powers either...
And this after I had treated her so shitty the last time, I had seen her.
I felt so shitty when we left again. And I hope she heard my apology. Marcy is a good…
friend?
I hope I can still salvage my friendship with her... But I think it might be too late for that...
Okay, fuck this sadness!
distraction, distraction...
Oh, right. Grime wants to wait until the weather gets better to make his first "official" attack. Are you serious? All this- All this bullshit, just because I wanted Grime to help me find a way home
Well, see you in another 6 months
Second day after war declaration:
Since Anne holed up in the basement last evening, she has only come out a total of three times so far: Once that same day, and also once this morning to use the bathroom, and the third time in order to leave the house on her own, because Ben requested her presence. Needless to say, Marcy is now alone in the Plantars' basement.
It was still quite early, even surprisingly early from Anne's perspective, when she got up and left the house. Marcy insisted on five more minutes of cuddling, which she, of course, could not deny her. Especially not when Anne could witness Marcy being happy about something. In this case: Cuddles. Marcy got quite grumpy when Anne eventually did got up, but then went to sleep for at least another hour, with Anne's pillow as a cuddle substitute for her girlfriend.
Until late morning, Marcy continues to lie in her admittedly very cozy bed, before she makes the effort to get up at some point, and leave the basement. Marcy is currently wearing only a light gray t-shirt, washed out yellow loose shorts, and white socks. Ever since she started living with Anne in the Plantars' basement, she's established this casual style for herself when she's not wearing her uniform, and no one in the house since seems to mind.
"Morni- wait...", Marcy stops in mid-sentence, just after letting the basement hatch slam shut behind her. She watches around to find utter silence around her. Something is off... "Hello, anyone at home?"
"Study.", chimes in from the room right next to the front door. Leisurely and in a cheerful mood, Marcy walks toward the room, only to find Hop Pop inside, poring over a thick book.
"Morning, HP.", Marcy greets joyfully, "Did I miss breakfast?"
"Huh? ... Oh, no. We, um, didn't have breakfast together today.", he explains with a sad undertone, "Anne left right away, and Sprig and Polly sort of left just now to go visit Wally."
"For what reason?"
"Wally... he grows boomshrooms... The kids haven't told me exactly why they want to go see him, but it is suggestive that Polly has Sprig wrapped around her finger to get them to go see him.", he explains, but in a tone as if he is not fully present mentally right now.
"Yeah, Polly seems like a very destructive tadpole..."
"She is...", he is apparently reminiscing a bit.
"I... I take it Anne's still not talking to you, right?"
Hop Pop sighs, closing the book he has in front of him. He turns on his desk chair to face Marcy.
"What do you suggest I do, Marcy? You're her girlfriend... There's probably no one who knows her better. Can you give me some advice?"
"I'm honored you'd ask, but... What do you think I could tell you about Anne that you don't already know yourself?"
"Anne had forgiven you for being stranded here in Amphibia in the first place-", Hop Pop recounts.
"Yes, however, I had also confessed that to her on my own, rather than waiting until I was caught."
"Ouch.", Hop Pop comments, "But I see your point. I should have told far sooner what- and why I did what I did."
"Is that the caught man's remorse, or..."
"It's the remorse of an old man who's seen his family crumble", Hop Pop replies melancholically. Marcy sits down on the couch in his study.
"Say, why did you bury the box in the first place? What was your reason?", Marcy asks, without any trace of annoyance or reproach in her voice. Just curiosity. Hop Pop grabs the book lying on his desk, bringing it to Marcy.
"Page four hundred nineteen.", he merely says, whereupon Marcy opens the big, heavy book that lies on her lap.
Marcy is familiar with many types of book covers, but she has never encountered one like this before. Instead of thick compromised paper or leather, this cover is made of dried and compressed tree bark. On the top is an emblem that appears to be the Plantar family crest. In its center is a large golden 'P' on a leather background, and all around it's decorated with golden ornaments. The two corners of the cover are protected with corner protectors, also golden. However, this is only the case on the upper side, the back of the book consists only of the pressed tree bark, without any ornamentation. Marcy slides her finger curiously over the small grooves on the book's cover, before opening it to the page Hop Pop told her to.
Marcy flips through the pages a bit until she finally gets stuck on a double page, and frowns. 'Calamity Box' it says in big letters at the very top left. Immediately below is a drawing of the three Gems with the warning 'Danger' next to it. On the right side is an extremely detailed, seemingly hand drawn sketch of the box. Okay, 'hand-drawn' is not necessarily particularly noteworthy, as the entire book appears to be hand-lettered and hand-made. The only remaining things on the double page that are present, is another warning 'Beware', along with what appears to have been stamped into the book after it was finished. 'DESTROYED', in large red letters, has been stamped on the drawing of a toad skull. With a questioning look, Marcy looks up from the book to Hop Pop before a thought occurs to her.
"I... be right back...", Marcy excuses herself, gets up from the couch, and sprints towards the basement.
Less than a minute later, Marcy comes back out, this time with her phone in her hand. Hop Pop peers curiously out of his study and watches as Marcy seems to be looking for something on it. She re-enters the room and sits down on the couch again.
"Aha! Here it is!", she places her phone onto the book, and Hop Pop peers curiously at Marcy's discovery, "Look. I found this book on Earth, before Anne, Sasha, and I... umm... found the box. … Okay no, I lied. We haven't found it. We stole it... Nonono, that's a lie too. Sasha and I made Anne steal it..."
"I don't think I'm in the position currently to judge you for that...", Hop Pop answers hesitantly. Marcy continues, not addressing his comment.
"Look, the drawing in the book is completely identical to the one you have... Wait, how old is your book, by the way?", Marcy wonders, to which Hop Pop shrugs. "Oh come up, Hop Pop..."
"I don't know how to answer that. This book is potentially as old as the Plantar family itself- I really have no idea..."
Marcy frowns, falling into deeper thoughts.
"Mmm... You know, I think it's interesting if you compare the two books directly. Your book describes the box itself as dangerous, although I'd like to know why it was titled that way. The book on Earth, on the other hand, seems like a kind of an ad... You know, somehow the whole thing doesn't make sense..."
"How so?"
"Well, the book from Earth, like yours, was written by hand. That means it probably must have been written before the invention of printing, so during or before the fifteenth century. That also means that someone during the time of the middle ages in Europe, was researching the box, and he must have successfully managed to visit other worlds. I mean, how else would the author know about it to write about it in the book? And then there is also the fact that scientific research at that time was strongly suppressed by the church, so how could the author do his research? ... Unless the author was not a European, but came from another part of the planet, where there was no scientific suppression... Somewhere in the Asian continent, perhaps? That would then perhaps explain how the box could find its way to America- Although, no. Well, at least not by the original author. The colonization of the continent and extinction of the indigenous people was by the British and Spanish. Although, no... There were no colonization efforts of America from the Asian region... No No No, I'm overlooking something..."
"Um, Marcy-", Hop Pop is about to interject, but is interrupted by a surprised gasp from Marcy.
"Vikings! They were some of the first people to explore the American continent... But why would they bring the box there? The Vikings were a people known for plundering... Unless the box was one of the remains of a failed Viking settlement- But then the box would be over a thousand years old..."
"Marcy?"
"Huh?"
"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about right now. And I think we've gotten off topic...", Marcy cringes a bit at that remark.
"Right...", Marcy confirms with an embarrassed grin, "What were we talking about before?"
"I was telling you why I felt the need to bury the box..."
"Yeah... Okay, so you had read that warning and decided to bury the box... Did it scare you? Or...", Marcy asks innocently.
"I saw the box as a threat- a threat to the safety of my family. I didn't need to know what exactly made it dangerous for that... And I've already lost family, simply because I couldn't protect them..."
"What do you mean?", Marcy asks in a small voice. Hop Pop takes one deep breath and sits down next to Marcy on the couch.
"Sprig and Polly's parents...", he starts and Marcy immediately suspects what's coming now, "I was on a journey, when herons attacked Wartwood. Sprig and Polly had survived, though... their parents were not so lucky. Do you understand, Marcy? If only I had been there..."
"Then maybe you'd be dead, too, and Sprig and Polly would be orphans," Marcy continues his sentence, whereupon Hop Pop glares at her, "I don't think there's anything you could have done to prevent that terrible event."
He sighs in defeat, "After that, I swore to myself that I would never let my family down again- That I would do anything to protect them... I thought that by hiding the box I would be protecting my family, but that was wrong and incredibly short-sighted... Anne is family too, and I let her down..."
Silence fills the room momentarily as Marcy falls into thought, and Hop Pop waits for any kind of reaction from Marcy.
"I... understand.", Marcy replies. Hop Pop feels somewhat speechless and offended.
"You understand?", he asks.
"Yes. I mean, your reasons are understandable... Fearing to lose your family, you made a mistake. Fearing to lose my friends, I also made a mistake. To this day, I feel like I still have to apologize for it, and that's even though Anne clearly showed me that she wasn't mad at me, after I explained to her why I did what I did. I'm sure that if you try to explain to Anne why you buried the box, that she will also forgive you over time.", Hop Pop smiles at that.
"Thank you very much Marcy. I just hope that Anne will listen to me at all."
"When Anne and I came back after the meeting with the toads, she told me that actually had not planned to come back. So, her staying here at all, is a good step. She may refuse to talk to you currently, but I think she'll listen to you.", Marcy closes the book and returns it to Hop Pop. "Maybe I can even help you improve your chances of success..."
"How?"
"I'll have to send a message to General Yunan later on to talk to her. In addition, I would like to ask her to bring in someone from Newtopia. Someone who might be able to help improve Anne's mood."
"Okay...", Hop Pop replies hesitantly and gets back up from his couch, "Then I wish you good luck with that."
Shortly after Marcy left his study and wrote up the message for General Yunan, before sending it via messenger bird. Of course, Marcy could go look for her herself, but not only are there no creatures better at tracking people than messenger birds, Marcy also doesn't really feel like leaving the house today, and instead spending the day in bed until Anne would come home again.
This plan worked until late afternoon, when vibrations in the floor made her get up and go investigate. So, Marcy creeps up the stairs to the main floor, and also notices Hop Pop peering out of his study at her, with a questioning look. Marcy merely shrugs her shoulders, and the two of them walk over to the front door and open it, as the vibrations in the ground seem to get stronger.
"Holy shit...", Marcy mutters under her breath.
"GUYS! WE FOUND A COOL ROBOT IN THE FOREST!", Polly yells out to them overly enthusiastically, with Sprig walking beside her. Marcy's eyes begin to sparkle with excitement as she sees the three of them approaching the farm.
The robot on whose shoulder Polly is sitting on, is about as tall as Marcy, and its all-metal body is basically made up of four body parts. Its upper body is made of overlapping metal sheets, with a frog foot sign on its front center, made up of pale gold. Placed directly on top sits his head, featuring two glowing yellow optics that appear to represent eyes, and a mouth that may be functioning as a speaker. It appears inflexible though. To the right and left, on both sides of his torso, are sitting massive, brown, darkly shaded metal pauldrons, which already look quite dented, and from the shape remind Marcy of turtle shells. Two elongated, gray metal arms emerge from under those shoulders, hanging only slightly above the ground, and at their ends are hands, with four fingers on each one. The last part of the robot consists of a hip, on the sides of which are two small and unstable-looking legs.
'The robot from 'Castle in the Sky' perhaps? ... No. 'The Iron Giant', maybe? Or is it the iron golem from 'Minecraft'?', Marcy ponders where she thinks she recognizes the robot's design from. Meanwhile, the robot came to a stop right in front of Hop Pop and Marcy, and the old frog seems more than horrified. He tries to choose his next words carefully, while struggling not to freak out.
"Sprig... Polly...", he starts warily, "Where- no… why is there a giant robot standing in front of me?"
"His name is Frobo.", Polly replies grinning broadly, but not really answering the question.
"You know, we were just finishing up at Wally's-", Sprig starts.
"Because of the boomshrooms.", Hop Pop cuts him off, to which both of his grandkids gasp heavily.
"How do you know that?", Polly asks in shock.
"It just so happens that I know my grandchildren quite well. So, back to the robot.", Hop Pop states, and Sprig continues.
"Well, we were just at Wally's secret boomshroom farm, and were about to go home when Frobo just stood there in front of us. Then we got out of his way first, but he followed us. We ran, but he ran after us. We tried to shake him off through all the trees, but he just knocked them down. Polly was then out of breath at some point, but so was the robot, which is strange since he is a robot. Then we had noticed that he was imitating Polly's movements. When we then noticed that the robot was harmless, we had introduced ourselves and Polly had named him 'Frobo'... Can we keep him, Hop Pop?"
"I don't know... He looks dangerous...", Marcy, Sprig and Polly look at him with big puppy eyes, "Can he do anything useful?"
"Show him, Frobo!", Immediately after Polly gives him this command, his eight fingers expand all over the farm and small, precise flames shoot out from his fingertips toward the ground, before he stretches them toward the sky and waters all the plants. Hop Pops jaw drops to the ground. "Tada... He has removed all the weeds and watered the plants. And all that-"
"WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!", Hop Pop gives Frobo a warm welcome. Not long after everyone has calmed down a bit, and Hop Pop has instructed Polly where to shelter Frobo, an excited Marcy turns to Polly.
"Polly, Polly, Polly!"
"Yeah?"
"Please allow me to study Frobo... Please please please please...", Marcy pleads to her.
"Yeah, sure. But don't tear him apart."
Third day after war declaration:
"A surprise? Sorry, Marshmallow, but I don't know if I'm in the mood for that right now...", Anne admits with her head down.
"I know you're not feeling great about the whole thing, that's why I had someone very special brought in, who I'm sure can lift your spirits..."
"Who?", Anne inquires skeptically.
"I can't tell you until we get to City Hollow. I'm hoping he's there already by then... Oh, and Yunan is joining us as well"
"General Yunan?", Anne asks in genuine surprise, "I thought you hated her because she betrayed your trust..."
"I did actually hate her... for a while... But I think enough time has passed, and I should have a talk with her. Besides, we're going to need her, I think."
"Well, shouldn't you rather keep a more neutral position?"
"Mmm... You're right, but I think-", Marcy interrupts herself with a stretched-out gasp. "JOOOOOE!", she runs off, with her arms stretched wide and tears of joy in her eyes, towards the Sparrow whom Marcy spotted near the entrance to City Hollow. Anne smiles, infected by Marcy's happiness.
'Marcy seems to have missed him a lot... aaand that also means that the General is already walking around here somewhere- Wait... Is Joe supposed to be the surprise to cheer me up?'
Patiently, with a small smile on her face, Anne watches the two, who seem very happy to see each other again after all this time.
'It feels like it's been weeks since Yunan dropped Marcy off at the fwagon on the way from Newtopia... And it's only been a few days since she became my girlfriend-'
"ANNE!", Marcy snaps her out of her thoughts after several minutes, "So, it looks like Yunan is already inside, hopefully with Bernando too..."
"Bernando?", Anne asks skeptically while Marcy seems to almost burst with anticipation.
"AAHH! I can't keep it from you any longer... Anne. Today, you're getting a... Drum roll please... MAKE-OVER!", Marcy announces excitedly. Anne, on the other hand, swallows hard. All kinds of emotions are reflected on her face. Joy or excitement, however, are not among them. Rather worry and horror. She thinks of all the times Sasha and or Marcy had talked Anne into trying a 'new look'. There was the 'twelve scrunchies and eight pink bow ties'-style, the 'sidecut but inside a wind tunnel'-style, the 'hair woven in a halo shape with a living snake as an inner support'-style, and the bald head. Not sure if the bald head was worse, or the snake was. Regardless, Anne had sworn to never let both Sasha and Marcy style her hair ever again. The only people allowed to do that are professional hairdressers, and her mom.
"Yeah dude, that's not happening."
"Aaaannnneeee...", Marcy groans.
"You know I told you you weren't allowed to style my hair...", Anne sternly remembers her, as they approach a closed door on the first floor. Marcy takes hold of the handle.
"Yeah yeah, I remember. And I'm gonna keep at it.", Marcy assures her, but Anne doubts it, "And that's why I brought you someone very special in... I present to you... Bernando."
Marcy opens the door to reveal a large room, currently filled with countless coat racks, hat racks, and at least four more locked wooden chests. One of the chests is currently being carried by General Yunan, who rapidly drops it to the floor, as she salutes upon seeing Marcy entering the room.
Next to her, and almost crushed by the chest, are two smaller newts.
The first one, quite small, about as tall as Anne's legs are long. Light blue skin, with a white wig on his head that reminds her of antiquated British snobs. Plus wearing an oversized, equally outdated, white collar around his neck. Underneath, a pink shirt over dark gray trousers.
The second newt is quite a bit taller. About the height of Anne's shoulders, if one includes the dark gray hair curled vertically upward. He is a pink newt, with scattered purple dots, and already some age wrinkles on his neck. He wears a white coat with golden oversized shoulder pads, and round double cuffs at the end of the sleeves. Under the coat he wears a dark gray undershirt, the end of which protrudes at the ends of the sleeves. He wears a lime scarf and light gray pants. On his face he wears gray sunglasses with white frames. If it could speak, his outfit would be shouting, 'Don't just look at me. Adore me! I bathe every day in a bathtub filled with your attention and admiration. Every look that is not directed at me is a dagger in my back.'
"Who dares to interrupt me while I'm settling in here?", the taller of the two unknown Newts snootily demands to know, "Oh... Master Marcy. I am honored to be of service to you today... To whom may I offer my particular services today? Oh, never mind... There stands the fashion catastrophe already...", he remarks as he approaches Anne, who in turn looks at Marcy in search of help.
"Anne. This is Bernardo. He's the most sought-after and talented armorer in all of Newtopia.", Anne seems less than impressed, "He also made my Ranger uniform..."
"Well then, I hope this doesn't take too long. The council is waiting for me...", Anne remarks, whereupon Bernando intervenes indignantly.
"True art has no time limits. It will take as long as it takes! Don't argue with me! Besides, you're more than in need of my services...", he says to which Anne turns to Marcy.
"Is it really that bad?"
"Worse. I mean, your shoe is almost worn through, holes are forming in your sock, and your t-shirt can't be patched forever either..."
"But these old duds have been good to me, you know?", Anne argues.
"Aaanne... This is the perfect opportunity for you to find out who you really want to be. After all, you're not just some middle schooler anymore... You're stranded on another world, and you've not only survived here, you've built yourself a life here, and found a second family. You've become something of a small-town hero to the people living here in Wartwood... And I would like for you to find something, where you can see yourself the same way I do, the same way everyone else sees you...", Marcy gives Anne a little kiss on the cheek. Anne touches her hand on the same spot, smiling.
"Okay.", Anne gives in.
"Alright, Yunan and I will wait outside. Good luck", Marcy waves goodbye and leaves the room with the General. Just before the door slams shut, Anne can hear one last sentence from Yunan.
"So so... you and Anne then?", she hears Yunan teasing Marcy.
"Shut uuup.", Marcy answers audibly embarrassed before the door is completely closed. Anne grins sheepishly to herself.
Marcy walks slowly towards the stairs to the next floor with General Yunan following her, and sits down on the fifth step so that she is eye level with Yunan, and for a moment she just looks at Marcy expectantly.
"This... shouldn't take too long. I'm sure in less than twelve minutes Anne will have a new, stunning, and breathtaking outfit...", Yunan averts her gaze from Marcy and just hums in affirmation, "And thank you for bringing Bernando here for me. It means a lot to me..."
"No problem. I was in Newtopia anyway to lock up the corrupt politicians I arrested, when I got your message. So it was... no problem."
"I... was also hoping that I could talk to you a little... I'm sorry I had insulted you like that. I was mad- angry almost, and I'm sorry. It wasn't right to accuse you of something you didn't even know what it was about...", Yunan sighs at that and lifts her gaze back at Marcy.
"You don't have to apologize for that. Of course, it hurt to hear you say that, but... ..."
"But?", Marcy queries, with Yunan taking one deep breath, before leaning against the stair railing.
"I've had a few days to think about it now. And I think that you needed that... Well, to let out all that accumulated fury, I mean. Ever since I've known you, I've never seen you angry or pissed off in any way, especially at times when you definitely deserved to be pissed off. And even though it wasn't a nice experience, I was pretty happy that you took it out on me and not your other friends. After all, I can handle outbursts like that...", Marcy looks at Yunan wordlessly, "So again, you don't have to apologize. And now I'm just glad we can continue working on this mess of a situation again. Together."
"Yeah... Say, how much do you know?", Marcy wonders after several seconds of silence.
"Well, during my politician hunt, I didn't catch too much of the general situation. But when I approached Wartwood with Joe earlier, all the defenses and all the hustle and bustle on the ground was impossible to miss.", Yunan states.
"Oh boi... Um, the Rebellion declared war on the toads a few days ago...", Marcy recalls this unpleasant memory.
"Oh? Oh... Well, at least that' s something new for a change. How exactly did it happen?", she asks, the general in her coming to the surface.
"Anne attacked Toad Tower.", Marcy simply replies. Yunan doesn't find that very believable.
"Seriously? Anne? Your girlfriend in the dressing room? Did she send out a unit to provoke the toads or-"
"No. She alone attacked the tower. She threw a multi-ton stone slab from 'Point Weatrôj' right at the tower, in which, last I checked, there was a huge, exposed hole.", Marcy recounts.
"You do realize that sounds crazy, right?"
"I was there, Yunan! Ben was there. Sasha and the toads were there. All of us were witnessing it, and it was... terrifying, to say at least."
"Ou-kay... At least that explains why everyone is so tense out there...", Yunan merely replies to that. Before Marcy can somehow respond, however, a loud, wooden crash occurs, startling both of them. It is Anne, who appears to be wearing extremely heavy golden armor, falling face-first out of the room.
"AAAAAAHH!", she screams as she is falling. "Ouch!"
"Anne!", Marcy jumps up from the steps to rush to her girlfriend's aid.
"That was TWELVE different outfits now, one worse than the other...", Anne curses as Marcy helps her roll onto her back.
She is wearing an extremely heavy looking, golden armor. It is not apparent whether it is solid gold or merely gilded. On the helmet, at about the level of her mouth, there is a pattern of three golden scales next to each other, repeated downward to the opening for her head. There are a total of eight small vertical viewing slits in the hinged visor. Marcy doesn't think Anne can see anything through them. Immediately above the visor are decorations made of a translucent, blue, crystal-like material. And on top is a golden replica of the tail fin of a larger fish.
On her shoulders are sitting two massive golden shoulder pads, also decorated with the same blue material. Each of them has almost the same volume as the helmet, not to mention their respective weights. Over a gold fiber woven undershirt, she wears a gold chest armor with blue trim and a frog emblem on it. Just below the chest armor is a gold-plated leather belt with a blue gemstone in the buckle, holding a multi-part skirt with blue borders in place. Below the 'skirt', Anne wears a pair of tights woven from gold fibers, as is already the case with the undershirt.
From her knees downwards, she wears golden armor again. Golden knee pads, which are connected to the skin tight, inner shinbone armor, and almost seamlessly merge into the golden metal boots. In terms of shape and comfort, these boots are very similar to her single, previous shoe. Even the sound absorbing sole is similar. Directly above the inner shinbone armor is another, outer layer of armor. This time also again with blue decoration.
The last piece present are the golden gauntlets. Just as her boots extend to her knees, the gloves extend to her elbows. While the boots are one continuous metal piece, the armor is connected to the actual glove part via a flexible rubber connection between the two parts, allowing for complete freedom of movement with her hands. The metal part of the gloves extends only to the middle of her palms, before the black velvet fabric of the glove is visible. Of course, the gloves also have ornaments, consisting of the same translucent blue crystal-like material.
Marcy drops to the ground right next to Anne and helps her get rid of most of the heavy and restrictive armor pieces. Eventually she manages to sit upright, wearing only the chest armor, the gauntlets, and the boots with the splint leg armor, above her regular outfit.
"Anne? How are you? Are you hurt? Did you hit your head?", Marcy asks hastily while Marcy holds her by her cheeks, before Anne slowly grabs her head and stands up. She looks down at her hands and then at her legs before answering Marcy, seemingly lost in thought.
"Yeah... I'm... I'm good..."
Slowly, she re-enters the room. She passes Bernando and his assistant, the former of whom has a critical judgmental look directed at her. She walks towards the large mirror set up in the middle of the room, her gaze completely fixed on her reflection. Marcy follows her at some distance, and General Yunan peeks into the room as well.
"This feels... right. It feels perfect...", Anne murmurs to herself with a happy smile. Marcy stands behind her, mirroring her expression. "I like who I see in the mirror right now... I see myself smiling- genuinely smiling... It's perfect. What do you guys think?"
"Mmm, mmm... Minimalist. Bernando like...", he comments.
"And you, Marshmallow?", Marcy blushes slightly at this nickname.
"You're right.", Marcy replies softly, reaching for Anne's hand, "It's perfect. You're perfect."
In one swift motion, Anne turns to Marcy, seeing the smug grin on her face. Their eyes are fixed on each other. Silently, they look into each other's eyes. For a long time.
An awkwardly long time from the point of view of the other people in the room. A quick throat clearing by General Yunan brings the two girls back to reality. They both turn towards her.
"Now that all this is finished, we should head to the briefing...", she suggests. Anne and Marcy both can't agree fast enough.
Anne and Yunan go ahead towards the stairs going up, while Marcy turns once again to Bernando.
"Thank you so much for what you did."
"No problem. I'll have the bill sent to your office. Au revoir."
Bernando shoos Marcy out of the room before instructing his assistant to prepare his things for departure. Marcy, on the other hand, simply follows Anne and Yunan to the top floor to Ben's office and the council meeting room.
The darkened room gradually comes into Marcy's field of vision. Anne and Yunan have already taken their places at the table. Well, Anne is standing rather, her arms crossed, her back turned towards Marcy.
'Okay, the whole council seems to be present today. I'm hoping the situation- ...', Marcy freezes just outside the open doors as her gaze falls on Anne. 'Wow... Did she always look like that... like... Wow.'
Anne has a feeling that Marcy is behind is. She turns around to confirm her gut feeling before she starts talking.
"Okay guys... Latest status, let's hear it!"
"The thunderstorm the other day severely soaked the soil. This has given us several days to prepare for a possible attack, which could happen at any time. The ground is now drier again."
"Thank you. Okay... Gary, what's the status of the defenses?"
"Loggle is working as fast as he can. So far, forty-two volunteers have come forward to assist him in putting up the rampart. They are working day and night. Also, so far, two of the five observation towers along the perimeter have been completed. The entire northern wall will probably take us a few more days."
"That's not particularly-," Anne was about to comment, however Gary wasn't finished yet.
"-Also, it seems like we'll have to extend the rampart eastward by the amount of trees that will have to be cut down to build the rampart."
"Okay, tell Loggle to take the trees on the south boundary. Leslie, how does our combat capability look?", Anne asks.
"We're making good progress, taking into account that no one had any practical combat experience before. The few toads who have joined our cause have been able to provide useful information on combat tactics, strategies, and weak points of the toad army. Unfortunately, we have not been able to equip all the fighters with actual weaponry yet."
"No problem. There is a secret weapons depot in the basement of the Plantars. I'll make sure they're distributed among the people.", Anne clarifies. "Ben, what's the current situation at the toads?"
"According to Chuck's intelligence report, they're gearing up for a head-on assault on us. There's talk of some kind of secret weapon, though Chuck hasn't been able to find out more about it.", Anne turns to Marcy.
"Could Sasha be the secret weapon?", Marcy shrugs. Anne turns back to Ben. "Is that it?"
"No, um... As expected, the toads have not received any reinforcements from the Toad Council, and probably are not going to. That leaves Grime with just under one-hundred-and-fifty to two-hundred soldiers at his command. We outnumber him at least forty-five to one."
"Good. Good... Wally, Sprig and Polly were with you yesterday. What were you doing and what do boomshrooms have to do with it?", Anne asks Wally in a more serious tone than with the others.
"We were trying to figure out how many boomshrooms it would take to blow up the tower, and what the best strategic attack points would be..."
"And?", Anne asks expectantly. Ben speaks up.
"Chuck's reports suggest that there are several sewer tunnels underneath the tower.", he notes. Wally continues.
"That... is an excellent idea... We had actually originally thought of a giant slingshot, or a catapult, or a trebuchet... But the tunnels, this idea is better."
"Okay, we'll save the blowing up of the tower for the end. Be it as a last resort, or to celebrate if we win- Um, when we win, I mean."
"Pete, how is our own anti-espionage efforts doing?"
"We have identified the enemy spies and continue to feed them false information.", Pete reports.
"Great... Okay, as far as I can get a good overview of the whole situation, we're pretty well set up... So, now we can wait for Grime, Sasha, and the toads to attack us, or we could launch a preemptive strike and try to overrun the tower... Marcy, General Yunan, what is your view of the situation? What would you recommend?"
Panic rushes to Marcy's mind as almost all eyes in the room are now on both her and Yunan.
"Um... Please excuse me- um... us for a moment.", Marcy waves Yunan over, and both of them briefly leave the room to discuss the situation while standing on the stairs leading down.
"Okay, Yunan... I'm running out of ideas...", Marcy confesses with discernible distress on her face.
"I have to admit that the odds of victory for this rebellion look pretty good... A preemptive assault might actually be beneficial.", Yunan argues, to which Marcy just shakes her head.
"Do you remember why we're here? We're here to stop the frogs and the toads from slaughtering each other. We're not supposed to cheer them on...", Marcy exclaims sharply. Yunan rolls her eyes. "We're running out of time..."
"If you just need time, we could suggest that I try one last time to get Grime and Sasha to give in. It's been a while since I've been able to use my infamous persuasion skills..."
"I'm not sure that can really work... And I mean, even if we can get another day out of it-", Yunan cuts Marcy off.
"-is one more day where there's no blood flowing.", Yunan states. Marcy sighs. She knows for a fact that she has absolutely nothing.
'All previous efforts have failed. Separate talks led to nothing. Nor have joint negotiations between the frogs and toads. The frogs are too desperate and too determined to stop now. The toads are too short-sighted or too ignorant to see the obvious. And then there are Anne and Sasha... That may be the only approach I have left... Ugh, this is going to be ugly'
"Let's go back...", Marcy instructs, before returning to the table, next to Anne, with expectant looks directed at her. Marcy begins.
"My recommendation is this: Wait thirty-six hours before anyone here starts an offensive. I want to send Yunan to Toad Tower for one last attempt at a dialogue."
Wild muttering breaks out among the council members. It is not clearly audible who is saying what.
After a good two minutes, silence returns, and Ben stands up.
"We agree.", Marcy cheers inwardly, while keeping a neutral expression on the outside, "It will take thirty-six hours to prepare the offensive and equip everyone accordingly. This is your ultimatum to accomplish a miracle. Good luck. This meeting is hereby concluded."
Anne, Marcy, and General Yunan are now standing outside the City Hollow. Anne stands some distance away, while Marcy and Yunan stand by Joe Sparrow, loading the last of Bernando's chests onto his back. Yunan turns to Marcy.
"Okay, I'll fly Bernando back to Newtopia quickly and then head to Toad Tower right away. I'll be all charming too...", Yunan announces proudly, while flashing her sharpened teeth. She had hoped to make Marcy giggle a little with that, however, her face is merely full of worry.
"Good luck.", is all Marcy says.
"Don't worry. We'll get through this... If necessary, we may just have to use more drastic methods.", Yunan says as she climbs onto Joe's back, where Bernando and his assistant have already taken their seats.
Anne slowly walks towards Marcy, who waves goodbye to Yunan and Joe, as they're flying off.
"How are you feeling?", Anne asks sympathetically, holding Marcy by her shoulder. Marcy leans her head on Anne's shoulder.
"Anne... Can I ask you a favor?", Anne lets go of Marcy to look her in her eyes.
"Sure. Anything you want."
"Please talk to Hop Pop.", Anne's facial expression changes rapidly from sympathy to disdain.
"No."
"Anne, please-"
"No, Marcy. He has deeply betrayed my trust and I don't want to hear any of his excuses and lies, or how sorry he is..."
"Okay, you don't have to talk to him. But please, please, please give him a chance to explain why he buried the box.", Marcy pleads.
"I take it he told you?", Marcy nods, "Then why don't you tell me, and I'll decide after that if I'm going to talk to him again or not."
"I think it would be better if he-"
"MARCY!", Marcy falls silent for a moment.
"It's about Sprig and Polly's parents-", Now it's Anne who falls silent. She looks at Marcy with wide eyes, "Please Anne, listen to him."
"Okay."