Fourth day after war declaration:
KNOCK KNOCK.
"Yes, Yes, Yes… I'm almost done.", she calls out through the closed door with an annoyed tone. For days now, the entire Toad Tower has been filled with constant activity and constant noise. Both during the day and at night, sounds can be heard from the toads who have been assigned by Grime to repair the stairs to the upper floors of the tower. Then there is Grime himself, who spends most of the day trying to get his troops in shape. He trains with them all kinds of attack strategies, non-stop, without pauses, and that every day. Sasha sometimes takes over, which, for the toads, is like a luxury vacation in comparison. And then there's Captain Beatrix...
KNOCK. KNOCK.
"Oh for frog's sake, Braddock, what do you-", Beatrix opens the door expecting to find her guard, who was personally appointed by Grime. Instead, Grime himself stands before her, "Oh... Grimothy... To what do I owe the honor of your time? Are you about to dismiss my personal guard again?"
"Braddock is staying right where she is. Your presence here is a disruptor to my operations-"
"Uhhh... your operations...", Beatrix tries to tease him. But he remains cold.
"You've seen what we're up against, and you don't have any better ideas than to mess up my soldiers with your- your... Urgh. I have a war to win here. You can't use my soldiers to do shopping for you!", Grime accuses her loudly, but not screaming. Beatrix sighs.
"Oh, my dear little boring brother... You're at war. Have a little fun for once. Enjoy it...", he doesn't answer that, but growls deprecatingly, "Okay, buzzkill. Why did you have to get me out of the locker room so fast? There are some of your uniforms I haven't tried on yet..."
"The stairs are fixed. Come on!", he motions to her, "And you too, Braddock."
"Yes, Captain.", Braddock salutes before the three of them, with Grime and Beatrix ahead, make their way through the tower and up the stairs toward the command room.
When they reach about halfway up the stairs, they stop and eye the twelve steps ahead of them, which are made of wood instead of stone. To the right and to the left, they see two gaping holes in the walls that extend completely through the tower on both sides. The hole is almost one and a half meters high and four meters in diameter. To their right, they can see directly into Sasha's room, where toads are making makeshift repairs to the hole in the outer wall.
Grime puts his foot on the lowest wooden step, and it looks seriously unstable. When he puts his full weight on it, it creaks dangerously loud, but the step actually seems to hold.
"One of us at a time.", he turns around to order them. Both Beatrix and Braddock silently nod at him.
One by one, they step onto the wooden steps, which begin to creak perilously with every step. Concerns briefly arise with each step, that the structure is in danger of falling apart.
They all exhale in relief as they stand on stone again. They continue up the last few dozen steps until they actually reach the top.
Grime opens the door to let Beatrix into the command room before turning quickly around to Braddock.
"Braddock. Go back down and get Sasha. She's probably out by the stables.", he orders. She salutes and leaves the room, before Grime closes the door.
"So Grimothy... What is it that you and I need to discuss in such private?", Beatrix asks honestly curious, leaning against the large table in the center on the opposite side of the door.
"I need your... Expertise.", Grime speaks the last part only after tremendous hesitation. Beatrix raises an eyebrow.
"I told you I wasn't here to help you.", she reminds him. Grime, however, seems to take no note of this.
"The thing is... My troops are completely unmotivated. I see in training that none of them really give a hundred percent performance. You've led several armies and fought wars before... How have you kept your soldiers motivated?", he asks, his voice sounding slightly desperate.
Beatrix was actually about to answer his question when she was interrupted by the opening of the door. Grime expects Sasha to enter the room behind him, but when Beatrix's face reflects fear, he slowly turns around and catches sight of a person who is several times taller than him.
"Hello Captain Grime.", it is General Yunan. But not only her, she is holding Braddock up tightly by her neck, almost half a meter above the ground. Actively she gasps for air, looking at Grime with a helpless expression in her eyes, while Yunan herself just stands in front of him, grinning and baring her teeth.
"Yunan! How did you get in here? Who let you in?", Grime asks her, sounding as not shocked as possible. He tries to put on a poker face, avoiding Braddock's gaze. Yunan's grin only widens. She raises her other hand, its retractable metal claws fully extended, dripping no small amount of blood. Grime contorts his face in anger at the sight. Beatrix speaks up.
"Y-Y-You already met her?", she inquires, still looking horrified.
"Sure.", he answers with a tone like it's nothing special. As if she's 'just' a General, "This is General Yunan, who just broke in here and took a hostage."
"I see, I should introduce myself. My name is General Yunan, Scourge of the Sand Wars, Defeater of Ragnar the Wretched, and the-"
"The genocide of the sandy towers...", Beatrix mutters. Yunan raises an eyebrow curiously.
"Didn't think anyone would remember that title... Or what it stands for...", Yunan teases while softening her grip on Braddock whose face shows pure relief. Yunan, on the other hand, now turns to Beatrix, who takes a few steps back from her.
"You single-handedly wiped out tens of thousands of sentient Barbari-Ants and nearly wiped out the entire species.", Beatrix recounts in a shaky voice, "Hardly anyone remembers the bloodbath or has repressed it. Even in the Toad history books, it is considered a dark reminder."
General Yunan grins with satisfaction. "Really, very good...", Yunan says when she has almost pushed Beatrix into a corner. She turns around to face Grime again, and again, squeezes harder on Braddock's neck. Again, she begins to choke. "So, Captain Grime, now to the reason for my visit... Blow off the attack on the frogs."
Grime doesn't have to think long on that one.
"No.", he replies, whereupon Beatrix looks at him in disbelieve and with wide eyes.
"Well, let's do it another way.", Yunan raises her claws and presses them tightly against Braddock's throat. "You have exactly ten seconds to agree to my demand. If you don't, I'll slash this one's throat."
Any trace of previous joy and nonchalance in Yunan's face has disappeared, and been replaced by an ice-cold stare, and gravity and determination on her face.
"WHAT?", the three toads shout in unison.
"Nine."
"S-She's bluffing.", Grime states.
"Eight. I am not."
"Master Marcy would never allow you to do such a thing!"
"Seven. Marcy's not here.", by now, the silence between seconds is filled with panting and sobbing coming from Braddock.
"Let go of Braddock! Now!", Grime demands, causing Yunan to press her claws a little harder against Braddock's throat. The first bit of blood appears.
"Six."
Grime is running out of ideas. In a slight panic, he looks to Beatrix, who just shakes her head with the same expression.
"Five."
He looks directly into Yunan's eyes now, recognizing the ice-cold and unrepentant killer he hadn't recognized before in her otherwise more joyful demeanor.
"Four."
"Uh, uh, uh... We- I'll tell Master Marcy about what you did here today.", Grime stutters in a desperate attempt.
"Three. She knows perfectly well that I'm here right now."
He's at a loss for words. Is he really willing to let a trusted soldier die for no reason for something like this?
"Two."
"FINE!", Grime yells. Tears of relief fall from Braddock's face, "You won... I will not attack the frogs."
The general grins triumphantly. Still, she still doesn't let go of Braddock's neck. With a single jerking motion, she pulls her hand back and after a short but all the more bone shivering scream, two frantically bleeding cuts appear on Braddock's throat. The general lets go of her, whereupon she immediately collapses to the ground. Within seconds, as Grime and Beatrix watch the scene, stunned and speechless, a huge pool of blood forms as Braddock herself chokes on her own blood.
Without a second thought, Yunan climbs over Braddock's bleeding out body, through the pool of blood, and heads toward the window where Beatrix is standing.
"Consider this a lesson in obedience!", she sternly warns him, before turning back around and jumping head first out the window. Neither Grime nor Beatrix pay attention to General Yunan's departure, but merely stare off, rather stunned and distraught.
After several seconds that felt like half an eternity, Grime's eyes fall on Braddock again, and he dashes forward to kneel directly in front of her, right in the pool of her blood. She coughs and struggles, and Grime hastily tries to press his hands to the cuts on her throat.
"You. Are. Not. Dying. Here. Today!", he struggles to say with a shaking voice. He presses harder and harder in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but the blood continues to spill out of her body more and more to the ground. He watches as she writhes in pain with only minimal movement in her face. But only briefly, because after a good twenty seconds all her muscles have relaxed and the coughing has also stopped completely.
She just lies there, motionless. Grime takes his hands from her throat. The blood now flows slowly out of her body and no longer spurts out. All color has left her body.
Grime drops backwards to his feet when suddenly the door opens. It's Sasha.
"Hey, I saw the stairs were done. Why didn't anyone-", she cuts herself off as her gaze drops to the floor, "What?", she asks in a low voice. Her eyes hit the floor and the blood pooling around her boots. She lifts her gaze, which falls on Grime, who is kneeling on the ground just in front of Braddock, one of her best friends among the Toads. Sasha looks at him, tears forming in her eyes, but he avoids her gaze. His gaze lingers on Braddock's lifeless body and he struggles in vain to maintain his composure.
"B-Braddock? ... No... Wh-What happened?", she asks with a broken voice. She lifts her gaze further and it falls on Captain Beatrix. In an instant, her mind is flooded with rage towards her. "YOU!"
Beatrix straightens her head, only to see Sasha's hair seemingly set on fire with a flaming reddish-pink hue as she stomps toward her. She grabs her by the metal breastplate she's wearing and crumples it up like it's a cloth shirt, pushing her through the outside wall outside the tower, ready to drop her without hesitation. Beatrix tries with all her might to shake free of her grip and get back to safety, but she has no chance.
"G-G-Grimothy!", she screams, "Grimothy, I could use some HELP here!", but he ignores her. In fact, he seems disregarding the entire situation.
"I should let you fall to your death right now... Or better yet, I'll jump down with you and make sure there's absolutely nothing left when I'm done with you!", Sasha threatens her. Pink flames shoot out of her eyes. Beatrix is terrified.
"GRIIIIMMMEEE!", Beatrix screams in desperation. She hears Grime sigh softly.
"It wasn't her.", is all he says.
"What?"
"Y-You heard him. It wasn't me.", she tries to make her understand, however Sasha isn't convinced yet.
"You sure?"
"Beatrix did not kill Braddock!", he yells. Sasha growls as she pulls Beatrix back into the room, but in the process throws her against the table in the middle, before trying to cool herself off.
Beatrix grunts with back pain, combined with a few laughs. And while Sasha tries to slowly but steadily cool down, Grime gets up from the floor, removes his cape, and puts it over Braddock's body.
"Okay...", Sasha begins, still wet-eyed, "If it wasn't your fucking sister, then who had a reason to kill Braddock? I mean, she was so... so..."
"Yunan.", Grime replies angrily.
"What?", Sasha asks quietly.
"She gained access to the tower sometime, somehow, earlier.", he explains, "I had sent Braddock to come get you. Yunan had intercepted her somewhere and effectively held her hostage to get what she wanted."
"That we don't attack the frogs, I take it...", Grime nods, "And you didn't agree to that?"
"Yes, I did.", Grime replies, to which Sasha falls into disbelief.
"WHAT?", she yells before her gaze rapidly switches between Grime and Braddock's covered body. "You- you agreed, and- and she still-"
With a sad, empty look she peers at Grime, who himself just seems to be angry inside. Sasha finds it strange that he can maintain such composure on the outside, while she herself just wants to scream.
"FUCK!", she yells instead, with all her might.
For minutes that followed, silence reigned in the room. Only interrupted by Beatrix' forceful efforts to climb off the table. Eventually she spoke up.
"I see you two aren't in a very good mood right now-", both Sasha and Grime growl at her, "But the way I see it, the General has done you a favor."
"Grime, can I now throw her out the window?", Beatrix winces at that, but immediately continues before Grime can respond.
"I'm just saying, you guys, or rather your soldiers, have a motivation problem, right? Your solution lies right there.", she says in an inappropriately gleeful voice, pointing at Braddock's covered body. Sasha now looks at her angrily, while Grime seems rather confused.
"Okay, you guys don't seem to get it. You're both angry right now because someone you liked was taken from you, right? And you want revenge, right?", they both nod, "Show your soldiers what happened. If they care, and they will, they too will thirst for revenge and fight like they've never fought before..."
Both Sasha and Grime lose their anger and they fall into thought. Grime speaks up.
"This... might actually work...", he mutters. Sasha, on the other hand, just looks at him bewildered, and Beatrix claps her hands, in satisfaction with herself.
"Perfect. I'd suggest you guys hold a funeral or whatever it is you always do here in the south, later today, preferably with a very emotional speech, and that's it. Everybody wins...", Sasha looks at Beatrix fiercely, "Well, except for her."
"I...", Sasha begins hesitantly, "I should talk to Percy. She was his girlfriend."
"And I'll break the news to the troops and prepare a memorial service. Beatrix, you come with me.", Grime orders and she seems excited.
"Uhh, I get to be there when they hear the news? That's always such a fun moment-"
"No.", Grime counters. "I just don't want you to stay up here by yourself, and until you have a new guard, I'm not going to allow you to roam free here by yourself."
Grime stoops to lift Braddock's lifeless body, ready to carry it down the stairs, all the while Beatrix crosses her arms, grunting in disappointment.
A few hours later...
"Braddock... was not a fighter. She was not a good soldier. She was compassionate, kind, always trying to use as little violence as possible. And all that always at the most impossible times.", Grime speaks loudly in front of all the toads under his command, with Sasha next to him, who all look sincerely sad, "If I'm being honest, she never fit in here, she wasn't a soldier. But... she was one of the good ones. One you could trust. She had once said that she would rather have been a gardener than serve here. And yes, it would have suited her."
Grime surveys the masses before him and all the wet eyes. Foremost among them, Percy.
"I know that when I notified you all earlier, that I hadn't said why or how she died.", the toads begin to murmur, and Grime's voice changes abruptly, increasing in power, "An... assassin from Newtopia had snuck into the tower earlier with the goal of taking me out and forcing me to end the war against the frogs. Braddock was able to stop the assassin but unfortunately gave her life in the process... As I said, she was not a fighter. But she died a hero."
The toads in front of him erupt in tearful cheers and praise. All this while Sasha eyed him doubtfully, which he dismissed with a slight shake of his head.
"They took one of us because they are scared of us. Of our determination. Of our strength.", the toads cheered in agreement, "We will make them pay for this- and get our revenge on those who attacked us! What do you say?"
"FOR BRADDOCK!", one shouts.
"YEAH! FOR BRADDOCK!", yells a second.
"BRAD-DOCK! BRAD-DOCK! BRAD-DOCK!", the Toads chant, to which Grime grins triumphantly.
"THAT'S HOW I LIKE IT! TOMORROW MORNING WE WILL OVERRUN THESE TINY FROGS, AND GET OUR REVENGE!", he roars at the top of his voice. Sasha now joins in.
"FOR BRADDOCK!", she roars with her sword raised to the air.
"FOR BRADDOCK!", the rest of the toads roar in unison.
While all the toads in the room cheer, Sasha lowers her sword again when she notices that one particular toad is missing. She bends down to Grime.
"Say, where's Beatrix anyway?", she whispers just loud enough for him to hear her acoustically. Grime chuckles slightly at that.
"Kicked her out.", he replies at the same volume. Sasha is pleasantly surprised.
"Seriously? I love it. She was really annoying. But doesn't that get you in trouble?", she wonders.
"Probably. But let's take care of this first."
Meanwhile in Wartwood's City Hollow…
Several hours after General Yunan left the Toad Tower area with Joe Sparrow, she now stands before the Frog Rebellion Council, that includes Anne and Marcy, before whom she has just spoken and delivered her report on her mission. Everyone present looks at her in disbelief.
"You're kidding...", Ben states. With a wide grin on her face, Yunan shakes her head. Incredulous, partly with widened eyes and dropped jaws.
"You managed to get Grime to agree to a non-aggression pact...", Anne repeats hesitantly, "How?"
"I told you that I could be very... Persuasive.", Yunan says with conviction and a wide grin. Granted, there are a few unimportant little things she left out of her verbal report. Nothing... particularly important or worth mentioning. "I just brought up some very good arguments, set a small deadline, and he eventually agreed. Easy."
"You do realize that sounds very implausible, don't you?", Ben asks.
"Are you questioning my credibility?", Yunan asks, the grin gone. Everyone in the room looks at each other blankly, seemingly wordlessly agreeing that they don't fully believe her, but ready to give her the benefit of the doubt for now, and to stop openly addressing it. Anne, with Marcy beside her, speaks up.
"Okay, thank you General.", she says and Yunan nods in affirmation, "So, Grime has agreed not to attack... didn't think that was possible... However, I'm going to assume that he won't comply. Therefore, we remain on high alert. Any questions?"
One of the frogs from one of the more distant villages speaks up.
"What about the planned destruction of Toad Tower?", he asks.
"Operation 'Blue Mushroom' will be executed as planned. Polly and Wally have put too much time into planning for us to just let this opportunity pass now, and thanks to the modifications to the boomshrooms and the sacrifice of Marcy's phone for the cause, we can now detonate them remotely if necessary. Any other questions?", no one else speaks up, "Okay. The meeting is over."
It takes a few minutes for the majority of the council to leave and ultimately, it's just Anne and Marcy remaining in the room. Anne leans against the large, round table that stands in the center of the room, around which all the empty chairs are now spread out. Marcy walks over to her, and with a slight smile, places both of her hands on Anne's shoulder and her chin on top of it, so that it is just centimeters away from her face.
"You know, I think you fit in this leader role pretty well. I also kind of feel like you're more comfortable in it yourself...", Marcy comments in a soft voice, "Is it the armor?"
Anne calmly huffs out her nose in amusement.
"I think you can blame Hop Pop for that. I was so consumed with hatred for him before, that I couldn't concentrate on what was really important.", Marcy doesn't comment on this, just listens to her intently with wide eyes, "I love everyone here, and I would do anything to protect them... I have declared war on the toads, and I will be at the front of the line if it comes to a fight."
Marcy lifts her head and hugs Anne tightly from the side, burying her head against her shoulder.
"I'm soo proud of you.", Anne smiles at that, "But I won't lie: I'm scared for you too... I don't want to lose you in case something goes wrong..."
Abruptly Anne turns around, grabs Marcy by her shoulders, and looks deep into her eyes.
"Nothing's going to go wrong. And you don't have to blame yourself for anything either. You've done everything in your power without directly choosing a side."
"You know very well that I will always be on your side..."
"But of course I know that. I mean that more on an official level though...", Anne says while smiling slightly. Marcy smiles back. Anne leads Marcy to a window that allows them to overlook almost the entire tent city in front of Wartwood, all the way to the wooden rampart. Anne gets behind Marcy and hugs her from behind. She continues.
"Besides, look at all we've accomplished here. Thousands of frogs fighting for their very existence. There are professionals down there training them in a wide variety of fighting styles. Blacksmiths making the best weapons and armor. Chefs from all over the valley bringing together a whole range of new culinary dishes in one place - Wartwood is like THE capital of the valley right now, comparable to Newtopia. I should know, I've been there.", Marcy chuckles at that, "We have no reason to worry about anything. We're going to get through this. Together."
"Together...", Marcy echoes, turning around to look Anne in the eye again.
"And if in doubt, I still have these.", Anne says before briefly letting her eyes light up bright blue, "Aaand we have a cool robot as a secret weapon. Seriously, there's nothing that can stop us."
"Not even Sasha?", Marcy asks. Anne hesitates for a moment.
"Not even Sasha. Even if she also has powers like us, I can handle her. Don't worry."
Marcy was about to open her mouth and throw in something else, however Anne lunges forward and presses her lips hard against Marcy's, causing everything in her head to instantly turn to mush.
A knock on the door along with an undisclosed cough coming from the door breaks the kiss apart. Both girls turn to see Ben standing in the doorway.
"Anne, a toad tried to sneak into camp and was arrested at the gate. They... demand to speak to you.", he reports. Anne turns around towards the window facing the camp entrance. She looks out and notices several frogs, armed with spears, circling a single toad. Marcy speaks up.
"Who?", she asks Ben, to which, however, not Ben but Anne answers.
"That's Captain Beatrix...", Anne turns to Ben, "Did she say anything else? Is she alone?"
"Yes, she is alone and she just said she was only talking to you.", Ben reports.
"Unarmed?", Marcy now asks.
"Unknown.", Ben replies.
"Bring her over. We'll talk to her here.", Anne orders. Ben nods in confirmation and leaves the room before Anne turns to Marcy, who looks at her with an uncertain look in her eyes. "What do you think?"
"I don't know... What reason would she have to come here all by herself? Here out of all places?"
"Do you think she's a spy for Grime? His vanguard? Maybe she's here to sabotage us...", Anne starts making wild guesses, which Marcy immediately cuts off.
"I don't think so. Not sure how much you remember from our last meeting with the toads, but she hadn't given me the impression that she was standing behind Grime. She said something about wanting to witness his downfall, or something like that."
Anne falls into thought for a moment, trying to confirm what Marcy is telling her. She remembers THAT the meeting took place. Many of the more specific details, on the other hand, are rather fuzzy by comparison.
"Um... Yeah, that sounds familiar...", Anne mutters, "But if she's not here because Grime told her, what other reason could she have?"
The loud flinging open of the doors announces the arrival of Captain Beatrix, eliminating the need for further guessing for answers. With an expectant look, she stands in the open double doors, leading into the room, with Ben behind her. Beatrix's gaze meets Anne's and she grins mischievously. Anne is the first one to speak up.
"What do you want?", she questions, crossing her arms. Beatrix's grin fades at that, but still, she is in an oddly good mood.
"Is that how you greet guests among the frogs?", she asks teasingly, "What a disappointment..."
"Captain Beatrix.", Marcy speaks up sternly, "Your presence here is only tolerated because you are a representative of the Toad Council. Explain yourself!"
"Take it easy, Newty. I'm not here to cause you any problems. Quite the opposite.", Beatrix states to which Anne and Marcy exchange confused looks, "Look, the council sent me out here to the valley to assess the whole situation here, and issue an official recommendation for action. And from what I've seen out there, but also over the last couple of days, has led me to conclude that this... rebellion... does have tremendous military and socioeconomic potential."
"Admittedly, I wouldn't have thought that terms like 'socioeconomics' were part of a toad's vocabulary. No offense.", Anne admits.
"Glad I could surprise you, Bluey. So, Captain Grime kicked me out of the tower a few hours ago, thereby signing his death sentence. I'm now here to make you a proposition."
"I'm all ears.", Anne says sounding genuinely interested, while Marcy listens curiously but quietly next to her.
"So, Grime plans to attack you guys sometime tomorrow. Picked that up before I actually left. I want you to turn him over to me if he happens to survive the attack on you tomorrow. Oh, and I want your blonde friend too.", Beatrix demands, and both girls have different questions going through their heads right now.
"What for?", Marcy asks.
"What do we get in exchange?", Anne asks, to which Marcy eyes her quickly with a weird look in her eyes.
"According to toad law, the commander, as well as his second-in-command, will be charged and convicted by the toad council of gross misconduct. In return, I will recommend in my report that the independence of Frog Valley be officially supported."
"Deal!", Anne agrees.
"ANNE!", Marcy shrieks.
"Great. I'll stay here in the valley for the next three days and we'll meet at the outer border for the transfer. Or for notifying me of his death. Or whatever... See you then.", Beatrix says goodbye and Ben escorts her back out of the building. With her mouth hanging open in shock, Marcy turns to Anne.
"What the heck, Anne?"
"What?", Anne wonders.
"You're turning Sasha over to the toad council? Do you even know what that means? Do you have the slightest idea how the toad court system works?", Marcy accuses Anne harshly over her voice. Anne just shrugs indifferently, "Are you really serious right now? At best, they are banished after having a body part chopped off as an additional punishment. At worst, there's the death penalty through hunting by the entire Toad army."
"It would suck if I were them...", Marcy can't believe what Anne is saying right now. She becomes increasingly frustrated.
"What happened to 'Your hatred made you unable to properly concentrate on what's important', huh? Please don't tell me you really think that way...", Marcy pleads with a hunch of desperation in her voice.
"I... I don't want Sasha dead, let's not get that wrong...", the lack of emotion in Anne's voice freaks Marcy out.
"But?"
"No buts. She has to take responsibility for what she did. And if it's done through the toads, then so be it..."
"... That... That's not justice what you're claiming. It's revenge...", Marcy states hesitantly.
"Maybe."
"No, not maybe. It is. ... Please don't let it come to that...", Marcy pleads after cutting Anne off. Anne, however, evades her.
"So you don't think Sasha should have to be held liable for what she did?"
"If you're going to hand Sasha over to Beatrix, you might as well point your sword at her yourself... You wouldn't be any better than her, and you know very well that you don't want to be that. Just think how much it consumed and weighed you down the last time after you... after you declared war on the toads.", Marcy reminds her, "Please... Please don't. Let a fairer court judge her, but please don't hand her over to Beatrix."
Anne now looks deep into Marcy's eyes. The rational part of her mind knows that Marcy is undoubtedly right. That it would be brutal and cruel to leave her former best friend to the jurisdiction of the Toads. On the other hand, Anne has made a pact with Beatrix that has the potential to make life extremely better for all the frogs in the valley. Is it really right to weigh and trade the lives of Sasha and Grime against that? True independence and driving out the oppressors are things that the frogs in the valley have only been able to dream about for hundreds of years. And it's up to Anne to make that decision. And Marcy is standing in front of her, her arms wide open, with a hopeful expression on her face, ready to put this dreadful conversation behind them.
"What do you say?"
"I... Um... I'm sorry Marbles.", Anne pushes past Marcy's arms and walks right out of the room, and the City Hollow, leaving Marcy behind, deeply disappointed and hurt.
With a shaky breath, Marcy clenches her fists slightly, but remains standing on the spot, just staring after Anne in disbelief. A moment later, she turns and slowly walks to the window. She observes her girlfriend walking briskly, and without turning around, from the City Hollow further into the village. Marcy exhales in relief, as she was afraid Anne would run away, as Marcy herself did just a week ago.
Marcy tracks Anne with her gaze until she had gone out of sight, before turning back to the now empty room. She's never been in here alone before, and the room suddenly feels so much bigger and dimmer. The only source of light, besides the window, is the golden chandelier over the rancid brown wooden table in the center of the room, on which lies a large map of the entire valley, as well as a few scattered figurines. On the walls there are several noble-looking pieces of furniture, statues, paintings, and other personal belongings of the former mayor. Unfortunately, there is nothing that Marcy is particularly enthusiastic about.
She sighs and makes her way out of the room. She passes Andrew's "office," but doesn't want to disturb him, as he seems extremely engrossed in two books at once. She chuckles briefly to herself before finally moving on and walking out of the City Hollow.
Marcy catches herself standing for minutes with the doors open behind her, staring silently into the distance. But this is only until a familiar voice brings her back.
"Marcy?", no response, "Master Marcy!"
"Huh?", Marcy blinks several times in a row before realizing that General Yunan is standing in front of her.
"Did you hear me?", Yunan asks.
"What, oh, sorry, no. Um, what did you ask me?"
"Are you okay? You look pale...", Yunan notes, "Well, paler than usual", she clarifies before Marcy sighs.
"Anne and I got into a bit of a fight, nothing too bad.", Marcy explains, "Captain Beatrix had snuck into camp because she wanted to talk to Anne."
"T-talk to her? Ab-about what?", Yunan just asks visibly nervous. Marcy doesn't notice this and just looks down towards the ground.
"She made Anne an offer. Captain Beatrix wants her to turn Grime and Sasha over to her, in exchange for support for independence."
"Whoa...", Yunan exclaims, sounding amazed but not relieved, "Anything else?"
"No. She just wants them both to be charged and convicted by the Toad Council..."
"Ouch. So where is she now?"
"I don't know. She said she'd be waiting at the valley's edge for the transfer.", Marcy repeats, at which point a small weight is lifted from Yunan's shoulders. Marcy now looks up at her.
"What do you want to do about it now?", Yunan asks.
"I don't know if there's anything else we can do...", Marcy starts. Yunan was ready to say something encouraging before Marcy continues, "But there is something I can do."
Yunan feels a little offended by the fact that Marcy appears to have a plan that seems to actively exclude her.
"You don't want me involved?", Yunan asks slightly hurt.
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing you'll be able to do. I know you want to fight, but we need a solution that limits bloodshed, not encourages it. You did everything you could and helped me as much as you possibly could... This is something I want to finish on my own."
"You have a plan?", Yunan asks, "Will you tell me?"
"I will let them fight, but on my terms.", Marcy states firmly. Yunan doesn't look convinced.
"That's it?"
"It will work. I'm still working out the details, but it will work... Trust me."
"... Okay.", Yunan says after a moment's hesitation, "Then I should return to Newtopia and report back to King Andrias."
Only moments later, Yunan finds himself in a warm embrace, hugged tightly by Marcy.
"I'm going to miss you," Yunan can't see Marcy's face, but thinks she hears a small sob. She returns the hug.
"Oh... We'll see each other again when you're back in Newtopia, won't we?"
"That's not what I meant...", Marcy breaks apart the hug and wipes tears from her face, "When all this is over, we'll try to recharge the music box and... and return to Earth... And I'm going to miss you... You and Lady Olivia, you took such good care of me, you're like second moms to me.", Yunan is now having a hard time holding back tears herself.
"This is not the end."
"But-"
"This is NOT the end, you hear me? Okay, I have no idea how the box-thing works, but I'm sure we can keep in touch. I'm very sure Andrias would be only too willing to let you visit any time you want..."- a sad smile fills Marcy's face, "But... I will not allow you to return home until you have said a proper goodbye. I even have a... ... Um, I knew you'd have to leave us eventually, so I prepared a farewell gift some time ago."
"What?", Marcy asks incredulously with wet eyes.
"That's all I'm going to tell you for now.", Yunan now says teasingly.
"That's not fair...", Marcy groans, to which Yunan grins in satisfaction.
"So, I think you should be on your way to catch up with your girlfriend. She went inwards of the village"
"I know. And thanks. For everything.", Marcy hugs Yunan again before walking off towards Wartwood's marketplace, continuing waving to Yunan on her way as long as possible.
Marcy speeds up as soon as Yunan is out of sight, heading for the village center. The last few days have seen a massive drop in activity within Wartwood, as everyone prepares for a possible attack. Nevertheless, the place is anything but empty. It is just... less cluttered. She looks around in all directions, even climbs onto the pedestal of the statue, but there's no sign of her favorite brown fuzzy mess of hair.
Her spirits rapidly dropping, she descends from the statue, only to sit down on the pedestal with a sigh, when suddenly an idea comes to her.
'Wait a minute... How had Anne found me in the forest the other day again? She heard me somehow, didn't she?', she wonders to herself, 'Maybe I can too?'
Marcy rests both her hands on the stone pedestal beside her, and closes her eyes. She squints her eyes, trying to focus on the image of Anne.
"Come on... Anne, where are you?", Marcy mumbles to herself. But for what feels like an eternity, nothing happens. Her concentration is already beginning to wane when suddenly the general noise level begins to decrease drastically, changing only to muffled, unintelligible mumbling. Two voices, however, now come to the fore.
"That's no problem at all, Anne. I don't have anything planned for tomorrow morning so far."
"Are you sure? I don't know when exactly they'll get here and it would be good to have that prepared."
"Don't worry about old Wally for a minute. I hid boomshrooms in boxes near the tower months ago. Just need to dig them up and distribute them"
"Wait... Months?"
'Okay stop!', Marcy tears her eyes open, at which a green glow is rapidly fading, 'I shouldn't be listening. But at least Anne didn't run away, she's safe with that Wally somewhere. That's... good. Good...'
Marcy stands up from the podium and wipes non-existent dust from her uniform.
'I should go somewhere, and... do something...'
After some thought, however, Marcy realizes that she can't really help out anywhere, since she's not privy to the processes. Instead, she decides to just walk back to the Plantars' farm.
"Hey Marcy, where's-", Hop Pop greets her as he's working outside his house and Sprig is next to him doing target practice with one of his slingshots and some old cans. Marcy, however, walks straight past them, right into the house, with the door slamming shut behind her. "Marcy?"
Hop Pop and Sprig exchange worried glances. Hop Pop puts down his tools, and stands as upright as possible, though several of his older joints crack all over his body.
"Urgh...", he grunts heavily, sounding pained, "I'm getting old."
"You're getting old?", Sprig frowns, to which Hop Pop gives his grandson a warning look.
"Don't push it," he warns, "Let's head inside. We should probably talk to Marcy. She seemed upset..."
Sprig just nods in agreement before following Hop Pop back into the house. The two frogs can't find Marcy in the living room or kitchen, but she can't be heard from upstairs either. Also, Marcy is also not behind the house with Polly and Frobo. Finally, Sprig and Hop Pop open the basement hatch and find Marcy sitting on her bed with her back turned to them.
"Umm, Marcy? Are you okay?", Sprig asks cautiously while walking down the steps along with Hop Pop. They see that Marcy is sitting in front of a book, probably her journal, and sighs.
"Anne and I... We had a little fight...", Marcy admits quietly.
"Where is she?", Sprig demands to know.
"She was talking to someone named Wally earlier.", judging by Sprig's body language he is relieved, "I think she and I need some time right now... not being in the same place..."
"Every good relationship has its ups and downs.", Hop speaks up, "I'm very sure you guys will work things out. Don't worry about that."
"What were you guys fighting about?", Sprig asks out of curiosity.
"Sprig!", Hop Pop admonishes him, but Marcy de-escalates.
"It's all right, HP. Um... Anne made a deal with Captain Beatrix of the Toad Council.", Marcy reports.
"WHAT?", both frogs ask in disbelief before Hop Pop continues, "Can- can you repeat that again, please?"
"Anne made a deal with Captain Beatrix. In exchange for Sasha and Grime, Beatrix guarantees her support for Frog Valley's independence."
"And you're... against that?", Hop Pop inquires.
"Well, I don't think it's a bad deal. Let them get what they deserve.", Sprig says. Marcy frowns at that and Hop Pop speaks up.
"I don't think you'd react the same way if it were your friends, Sprig. I can already see why Marcy is bothered by Anne's reaction...", Sprig looks at him uncomprehendingly, "It's perfectly okay to miss someone who hurt you."
"Thanks, HP. I'm glad you understand.", Marcy says, "Can you maybe talk to Anne? Well, later, I mean..."
"I don't think there's anything much I can do about that right now... But I'll try.", he says with an uncertain tone in his voice.
"Thanks... I hope tomorrow this will all be over."
"What's tomorrow?", Sprig wonders.
"According to Captain Beatrix, Grime is planning to attack tomorrow-"
"Oh."
"-And I'm putting together a plan to maybe make sure this whole thing ends tomorrow.", Marcy says without giving away too much.
"Are you going to tell us about your plan?", Hop Pop asks with honest curiosity. Marcy hesitates.
"No, sorry. I can't.", Marcy admits, "Not because I don't trust you, but Anne cannot know anything about this under any circumstances. If there were any more secrets between you now, that would be very bad."
"It's okay, Marcy.", Hop Pop says, to which Sprig agrees, "I hope your plan will work..."
And with that, the two frogs get up from the steps and both gradually leave the basement again, leaving Marcy to continue her planning for tomorrow. To say she is nervous or scared, is a huge understatement.
"I hope so too..."
Fifth day after war declaration:
With some effort, Marcy struggles to push open the Plantars' front door. It seems considerably heavier than usual.
'Urgh... I really should exercise more', Marcy thinks to herself briefly, 'Naaah...'
Admittedly, something feels odd to her. For example, she doesn't remember standing up, or having her crossbow strapped around her wrist. The house is also unusually quiet, with no sign of life from Anne or the Plantars. The windows inside are all fogged up, externally.
When she finally gets the front door open enough to slip outside, she notices two things. First, there is a knee-high layer of extremely dense fog on the ground. So dense that she can no longer see her own feet, or the ground she's standing on. The second thing she notices is an extremely uncomfortable silence. The kind of silence that makes her whole body shudder.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spots something peculiar on the outside of the door.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!", she cries out in panic. A sword is stuck in the door. However, that fact alone is not the reason Marcy screams. It's Hop Pop, stabbed through the back with said sword. Marcy threw her hands in front of her mouth and stumbles backwards, "No... Nonononono..."
At that, Marcy falls backwards and lands with one of her hands on something... soft. Through the thick fog, she can glimpse something slightly pink before she forcefully averts her gaze, struggling to stand up despite shaking legs.
"What happened here?", she asks, hoping that someone will answer her. But there is nothing but silence. Cruel, oppressive, silence.
Rapidly, Marcy turns, her pulse at its highest, and instead of the typical backdrop that is Wartwood, there in front of her is an open, yet dark field with a fog-free path running through its center.
"What the...", Marcy mutters under her breath, and that's only moments before the fog disappears completely and almost instantaneously, revealing to her a scene of utter horror.
Immediately in front of her, Marcy discovers the remains of a veritable bloodbath. Dead and mutilated frogs, toads, and newts in every direction. The ground is soaked red with blood and there are isolated, scattered puddles of blood that Marcy walks past. And along with the foul smell of blood, guts, and decay in the air, her stomach turns. All this, and she can't turn around or pause. It's as if her body is forcing her to go on and on, past all the bodies, few of which still have all of their limbs. There lie women as well as men, and even occasional children who have had their lives taken from them. She recognizes some of the inhabitants of the village that Marcy had the pleasure of meeting during her time at Wartwood, even if she could not remember all of their names. One of the dead children, however, is well known to her. It is Maddie, lying face-first in a puddle of blood with an Axe stuck in the middle of her head. Next to her is another child, with broad, orange hair. By this time tears are already leaving her eyes and streaming down her cheeks.
"This... this is all my fault.", she accuses herself, her breath beginning to hitch, "I failed them... All of them!"
But she still can't stop, and continues walking. Although she gradually begins to stumble forward rather than actually walk. But that is only until she sees something glowing in some distance in front of her. A single, blindingly bright color. Blue. Light blue. Anne's blue.
"No...", Marcy whispers, barely audible. She begins to run, faster than ever before. The light gets closer as everything else around her becomes darker and bleaker in color. The dead bodies she runs past are just a blur in the corner of her eyes. A figure begins to form in front of her. No, two figures...
Marcy slows down and takes a closer look at her immediate surroundings. There are still bodies of all these frogs, newts, and toads scattered everywhere, though none of them are recognizable anymore, and many of them look burned, charred, and covered in ash.
The blinding light on the figures diminishes, revealing themselves. And that's exactly the moment when Marcy collapses fully onto her knees.
"Anne... Sasha...", she cries filled with great pain in her heart, "No..."
Anne hovers just inches above the ground, impaled by three long swords that all ripped through her torso. Her armor is also partially destroyed. Her body is littered with wounds of all kinds, merging into one another, and her left arm lies dismembered on the ground, holding a sword in her hand. Her eyes stare lifelessly yet wide open toward the dim sky, her skin completely white and cold. Only her hair still glows vibrant blue.
Marcy crawls over the moist floor a bit and raises her hand, intending to reach out and take Anne's remaining hand. She stops herself short, however, when her gaze spots Sasha lying on the floor immediately in front of Anne. Her uniform and armor are also quite destroyed, but that's not what her focus is on. It's Sasha's blonde head. Or rather, the fact that it's not on her shoulders, but lying next to her chest.
Marcy feels sick. She averts her gaze, crouching on all fours on the floor, crying and gagging and pleading that none of this is real.
"Whhhyyy?", Marcy cries out.
"Oh, you know exactly why.", she hears another voice speak. Rapidly her head snaps around to the back, only to find that there is absolutely nothing there. Everything is gone, and only dark emptiness fills the room. She turns her head further, only to find that everything around her is gone. Only she, and Anne's and Sasha's bodies are still there, surrounded by nothing but darkness. Suddenly, she notices a hand on her shoulder. Marcy looks up and sees Luz standing there, "You failed. You weren't there when they needed you."
"I know.", Marcy admits as she lowers her head again and now sits down on the ground. Another voice speaks up.
"I had such high hopes for you, MarMar.", it's Andrias and Luz is now gone, "I was really hoping you and Yunan could have prevented all of this... But you killed your friends- you killed them all."
"I...", Marcy can't find any words. Instead, another voice speaks up again.
"You disappointed me! I thought I could trust you," it's General Yunan. At this point, Marcy is just heavily sobbing. She lifts her head slightly and sees the three of them judgingly staring at her.
"You are a terrible friend!", Luz accuses her.
"I should never have taken you in!", Andrias says.
"All the time I spent with you was a waste!", Yunan exclaims.
"Loser!"
"Unreliable!"
"Pathetic!"
"Murderer!"
"Hypocrite!"
At this point, Marcy snaps.
"ENOUGH!", she screams, sending out a green shockwave that obliterates everything else around her. She now sits in complete silence and darkness. She continues sobbing into her own arms when suddenly two hands gently touch her shoulders.
"They are wrong.", that's Anne's voice. Marcy snaps her head around only to be stunned to find Anne and Sasha both standing there, alive and well, in front of her. And both of them are smiling at her.
Marcy dashes forward and hugs both girls as tight as she can, crying into their shoulders. Sasha speaks up.
"It's not too late Marbles.", she says encouragingly, "You can still save us. Us, and all of them."
"But..."
"No but.", Anne firmly disagrees, "We believe in you, even if you don't right now."
"I saw you dead... You killed each other...", Marcy cries softly.
"That is not carved in stone.", Sasha argues, "All of this... This is what would happen if you weren't here. Without you being here, yes, Anne and I would probably kill each other. It's you who can prevent that from happening."
Marcy breaks apart the hug and looks both girls in the eye as she wipes her tears from her face. She notices a green glow developing in her field of vision. Marcy takes a step backward and looks at her hands in disbelief.
"What do I have to do?", she asks. Anne and Sasha look at her encouragingly.
"You need to wake up."
With a single powerful jolt, Marcy throws herself upright. She throws a blanket off of her in the process.
"ANNE!", she screams in panic. Her eyes jump rapidly around the room, which she quickly identifies as the Plantars' basement, fully drenched in sweat and shaking all over her body. With her hand, she paws around on Anne's side of the bed, only to find it empty.
Suddenly, the basement hatch opens in front of her and a concerned Sprig peers down at her.
"What's wrong? I heard you screaming..."
"Where's Anne? Is she safe?", she asks him fearfully.
"Anne... is fine. She was here earlier to give Polly her phone before she left again. Why?", he asks, to which Marcy exhales in relief. "Did you have a nightmare?"
"Worse. It was more of a night terror...", Marcy tells, feeling slightly calmer now, but still with unsteady breathing and a high heartbeat. Sprig is unsure what to say now.
"Do you want to talk about it?", he asks after a short silence.
"Everyone died... They slaughtered each other...", Marcy tells with a shaky voice, whereupon Sprig's eyes widen in concern.
"You mean Anne and Sasha?", he cautiously inquires.
"I mean all of them. Not a single frog, toad, newt, or... human was still alive. No one but me."
Before Sprig can answer in any way, however, an alarm siren of sorts interrupts both of their thoughts. Deeply concerned, Marcy looks at Sprig.
"I certainly hope that's not an attack siren...", Marcy states, to which Sprig contorts his face in unease.
"That's the alarm that sounds when herons are spotted nearby. That's the one that sounded when-", Sprig states before cutting himself off, "It's going to be Grime. Very sure."
"Shit.", Marcy jumps up from the bed. She's still wearing her uniform, thankfully. It saves her time, since all she has to do is put on her boots. Her eyes fall on her crossbow, but as she tries to reach for it, she visibly hesitates and shakes slightly. In the end, she doesn't put it on, but turns to Sprig, who continues to look at her with a worried expression, as she's holding her own hand.
"Are you alright?", he asks. Marcy shakes her head.
"Sprig, listen to me. Get Hop Pop and Polly, and hide. Just in case I... that I..."
"I get it.", Sprig says understandingly, "I'm sure you can do whatever it is you have planned."
Marcy smiles slightly at that and darts past Sprig, when suddenly one more thing occurs to her.
"By the way, please make sure Polly doesn't blow up the tower".
"Yes, ma'am.", Sprig salutes. Marcy's gaze lingers on him for a moment before she turns and runs out of the house as fast as she can.
When Marcy arrives in the heart of the village, it appears to be abandoned. She only sees two single frogs equipped with dark gray, metal breast plates running past her in the direction of the village entrance. Marcy doesn't waste a second thinking, and immediately runs after them. The alarm sounds from the same direction, and it appears to be some sort of large blowing horn, which stands atop one of the four wooden watchtowers built along the equally wooden rampart.
Marcy continues to run through the tent city immediately outside Wartwood, only to find that largely abandoned as well. Sporadically, she still spots individuals between the tents heading in the same direction as she is. When Marcy reaches the wall, she already gets a first impression of what lies ahead of her. All the thousands of mostly frogs surprisingly organized in several sections of fifty by twenty frogs plus isolated toads, and with newts spread out on the four watchtowers for ranged combat if needed.
It takes more than a minute for Marcy to actually arrive at the front, and she is completely surprised to have run through the entire time, not feeling the least bit exhausted or out of strength. Marcy stops short when she notices the toad soldiers standing directly across from the frogs, maybe fifty yards apart. Marcy looks at them briefly. They look extremely motivated and ready to fight, as if they've all been waiting for this day their whole lives. Some are baring their teeth, swinging their swords, axes, morning stars, or banging on their shields, while roaring or chanting.
'But that's only a few hundred toads... two hundred tops...', Marcy estimates in her head, 'They don't stand a chance'.
Directly in between the two armies, she sees Anne and Sasha walking towards each other. Marcy's heart stops short when she sees Anne has already turned blue, and she's surprised at the sight of Sasha glowing pink. Both more than ready to obliterate the other.
"HEY!", Marcy roars, approaching them directly between the two armies, attracting everyone's attention. Anne and Sasha turn their heads toward her as well.
"Marcy?", Sasha asks loudly.
"What the fuck are you doing?", Marcy asks in a powerful voice.
"Get back in the house. You shouldn't be here.", Anne chides her.
"Neither should you. Neither of you!", Marcy counters.
"Marcy, I'm serious. Back off!", Anne tries to chide Marcy. However, she remains stubborn. Sasha speaks up.
"Stop bossing Marcy around!", she accuses Anne, who is having none of it.
"As if you care about her... She told me what you told her last time!"
"I care about my people-", Sasha begins but gets cut off by Anne.
"Your people?"
"Yes!", Sasha replies firmly, "Like, for example, my friend who was killed by your assassin!"
"Assassin?", Anne asks sounding genuinely surprised, "I never sent an assassin... But I will definitely do something similar if you and the toads don't surrender right now."
"Oh yeah, like what? The two of us are now equally powerful...", Sasha notes, to which Anne grins diabolically, "What did you do?"
"Toad Tower is completely mined. Hundreds of boomshrooms. All spread out in the sewage system below the tower.", Sasha contorts her face first in shock, then in anger. Both girls seem to have completely forgotten about Marcy.
"You didn't...", Sasha now also bares her teeth, and clenches her fists.
"They're just waiting for my command.", At that very point, Sasha makes her first strike, throwing Anne back to the middle of one of her battalions.
"Sasha no!", Marcy shouts. She turns to face Marcy.
"Anne might be right. You should leave. I wouldn't want you to get hurt.", Sasha says with a, for Marcy surprisingly caring tone. Unfortunately, she has absolutely no time to respond because there are now roaring soldiers running at each other from both sides. The frogs are all yelling "FOR THE VALLEY!" while the toads are yelling "FOR BRADDOCK!" before they start running and shouting.
She spots Anne rising into the air between all the frogs, wearing her dazzling golden armor, and flies toward Sasha with her sword drawn. So far everything is going as planned, and dreaded.
'I seriously hope this works', Marcy thinks to herself before closing her eyes, trying to block out everything around her. She hears the roaring coming closer, but then quickly fading away.
The ground around begins to shake slightly, which seems to confuse the soldiers, causing them to slow down or even stop. Suddenly, the ground bursts open in a circle around both armies and a thick, green, transparent force field shoots out of the ground, fully enclosing both armies in a big dome each. The same thing happens again separately to Anne and Sasha, who look at each other in confusion until their eyes fall on Marcy, and her bright green glowing hair.
"What the...", Sasha initially starts, "Marcy?"
Marcy opens her eyes, which are now just as green as her hair. And she's pissed. Marcy approaches Sasha's dome as she steers Anne's toward her in the direction of the ground. Many soldiers from both armies start yelling and screaming, whereupon Marcy uses a rotating hand motion to make sure that no more sound gets out from either large dome.
"What the heck, Marcy?", Anne asks annoyed. Sasha's mind is slightly elsewhere right now, though.
"You... you have powers too?", she asks. Marcy, on the other hand, doesn't answer either question, but just looks at both girls judgmentally.
"I told you guys that I wouldn't let you all kill each other...", Marcy says disturbingly calm, "But you wouldn't listen to me..."
"What are you doing?"
"This war is going to end. Today. And no innocent blood will be spilled...", Anne and Sasha exchange nervous glances, "You two want to pursue revenge, or some other bullshit? Fine. I'll let you fight. But on my terms!"
And with a quick movement and two short screams, both girls disappear into the ground, along with the domes that surrounded them. Marcy looks around at both of the larger domes, which have visibly fallen silent. Marcy lets the sound permeability return to normal, before her eyes meet Captain Grime and Ben.
"You two are coming as well!", she announces, enclosing both of them, plus herself, into a smaller dome as well, and all three of them quickly sink into the ground too, leaving to trace behind them.
The journey to wherever was not particularly long before the five glowing green spheres crashed through the rocky ceiling of a cave and onto the stone floor.
"What the...", Ben begins, taking a while to get his bearings.
"Where are we?", Grime asks, before Marcy removes the domes around herself, Ben, and Grime. She turns to Anne, who is still locked in.
"You know where we are, don't you, Anne?"
"This is the Plantars' basement.", she observes, and all five of them look around the immediate area. The entire cavity is lit by the green glow of Marcy herself, as well as the two remaining domes, with slight blue and pink accents. Grime speaks up.
"Okay good, you have our attention. What do you want?", he asks.
"I want the toads to officially surrender.", Marcy demands.
"WHAT?", Sasha calls out to her, which Grime can only support.
"What do you think could be a reason for us to just agree to this?", he asks, offended.
"Simple, Anne is going to void the deal she made with Captain Beatrix.", Marcy explains, to which Grime turns pale. Sasha, on the other hand, gets angry.
"Deal?", she asks, "What kind of deal, Anne?"
"She wants me to turn you over to her, so you can be charged and convicted by the Toad Council.", she explains.
"Shit.", Grime mutters under his own breath, barely audible, except for Marcy.
"So, here's how this is going to go-", Marcy begins, before merging Anne and Sasha's two domes together into one much larger dome, "You two will now fight each other for as long until one of you dies, gives up, or until Grime or Ben intervenes." Anne doesn't believe what she hears her girlfriend say.
"Why would you want to do something like that?", she asks Marcy in shock.
"I don't want to, and that's the point. I've already seen both of you dead, and I'm not ready to live... in a world, in which both of you are not part of my life. Therefore... Ding ding."
"What do you mean by- Ugh…", Anne was about to ask before Sasha landed the first strike, sending Anne crashing into the dome wall with all her strength. The fact that Marcy could feel that impact within her body is something she keeps to herself for now.
Anne falls from the wall a solid half meter to the ground, but catches herself in time. She grabs her sword, gripping it tightly with both hands, lunges and jumps at Sasha, who just manages to dodge the attack. Marcy twitches slightly at that.
After Sasha rolls to the side, she pulls a heavy stalagmite out of the ground and throws it at Anne like a spear. She hits one of her calves as Anne tried to dodge, and she falls uncontrollably to the ground. Enough time for Sasha to pull out three daggers. She slides her fingers over the metal, which ignites them with pink flames.
Wide-eyed, Anne watches as Sasha throws one dagger after another at her at high speed. The first one misses, hits the dome wall, and gets stuck in it. So does number two. But as Anne manages to catch number three out of the air, Sasha stands in surprise.
Anne spins, swings, and throws the dagger back at Sasha in an instant, narrowly missing her ear. Sasha turns backwards as Anne attacks with her sword. She ducks and pulls a piece of rock out of the ground, which she throws at Anne.
With her sword, Anne cuts through the rock like warm butter. New attack from Anne, this time with her fist. She hits Sasha in the ribs and throws her backwards for several meters. On one knee she slides across the stone floor. She looks up and Anne strikes again with her sword. Sasha doesn't have anything to block. With her arm, she tries to block the sword, when Sasha suddenly screams at the top of her voice.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!", she screams in agony, as her severed lower arm falls to the ground, and Sasha herself falls to her knees. Anne lunges again with her sword.
"ENOUGH!", Grime roars, whereupon Anne stops in her motion. Grime's gaze lingers on Sasha, who now drops to the ground in tears, writhing in pain. "You won. I cannot just stand by and watch Sasha getting hurt like that... You'll get whatever you want."
Sasha whimpers in pain and squeezes her arm tightly, just before the burning pink in her hair fades away and her normal blonde hair reappears.
"Grime... No...", Sasha fixes her gaze painfully on Grime.
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant. But this is not a decision you get to make.", Grime turns to Marcy, "Please lower the barrier."
Marcy nods in agreement and the dome enclosing Anne and Sasha dissolves into nothingness. Grime runs off towards Sasha as Anne is already kneeling next to her and rips off a piece of her skirt and wraps it around Sasha's wound to stop the bleeding. All this while Sasha just stares at Anne in disbelief.
"Sasha, are you okay? We can take you to... Umm, are there any medical people around here?", Grime now asks Anne. Without much questioning, Anne reaches for Sasha and scoops her up into her arms, along with her severed forearm.
"I'm taking her to Maddie."
"Who's that?", he asks.
"She revived Hop Pop after-", Anne cuts herself off, "Whatever."
Apparently, that was enough to silence everyone present for the time being. And also at that exact moment, Sasha loses consciousness and goes limb.
"We should hurry.", Marcy remarks, and Anne walks ahead into the tunnels, towards the exit. The others trot after her.
The group is extremely surprised to find the Plantars in the tunnels as well. But this is only until Marcy clarifies that she has instructed Sprig to hide everyone. The mood among them is thick. No one is talking, everyone is on edge, and most eyes lie on Anne, who is carrying Sasha in her arms. Marcy is puzzled by Anne's sudden compassion for her. Grime is simply concerned for Sasha. He's not worried about his own duty at the moment. Ben feels nothing but pride in his victory right now. The Plantars feel much the same way as Marcy. And Anne herself... She just wants to find Maddie.
A short time later, the group comes out in the Plantars' living room, and Anne, Marcy, Ben, and Grime immediately head for the exit. Once outside, Anne jumps into the air without a word and flies away.
"Wait!", Grime yells after her. But in vain, because within moments she is already out of earshot. Suddenly Marcy speaks up.
"Oh oh...", Grime and Ben turn to her and notice that the green in her hair and eyes is quickly starting to fade. Seconds later it's gone, and Marcy's legs give out, causing her to fall to her knees, "I guess that was more draining than I thought... Oh shit, the domes."
Immediately all of them turn towards the village border, where the domes are, or rather, should be. Because where moments before the green shimmering domes could be seen in the distance, there is nothing there anymore. Worried, Ben and Grime look at each other. Ben supports Marcy on her legs and the three of them head there as quickly as they can. All in anticipation of something terrible happening.
Anne lands not far from the center of Wartwood village, right in front of the bakery of Maddie's dad, which also happens to be her home. Her mind is filled with anxiousness. She kicks in the door and only a second later notices something hitting her on the head.
"Oh my frog, Anne...", it's Mr. Flour, "I'm so sorry. I thought you were a toad."
Anne looks down at him for a moment and sees a rake, broken in half.
"No big deal. Where's Maddie? It's important!", Anne demands, sounding desperate. He only now notices the other girl lying unconscious in Anne's arms, with one arm lying loosely behind her neck.
"Oh, I see... Um, she said something about a crystal cave, or something.", he replies, whereupon Anne immediately leaves his store again.
"Why aren't you at the front as well?"
"I have four daughters and I'm a single father. I can't leave them alone."
"Oh, right, I see."
"Good luck.", he says goodbye before Anne takes off again, speeding across the high leaf forest with only a single goal in mind. That is, until she notices movement in her arms.
"Anne?", she hears Sasha ask weakly.
"Don't worry, I'm gonna help you.", she replies. Moments later, she just hears her whimper softly and sees her pressing her head against Anne's body.
Anne notices the large, familiar ruins quickly approaching, and aligns herself so that she's heading straight for the archway, but doesn't slow down in the process. Sasha passes out again, and Anne feels a certain desperation rise up.
"Don't worry, Sash. I won't give you up."
Anne speeds through the archway and instantly finds herself back within the crystal cave.
"MADDIE!", Anne roars, her voice echoing through the cave, slowing down, and watching for any sign of activity. A few seconds of silence pass. One second. Two seconds. Too many.
"Anne?"
The voice comes from the center of the cave, which she now immediately flies toward. Maddie is quite surprised when she sees Anne flying towards her in a wide angle. And that with Sasha in her arms. The girl she thought Anne hated.
Maddie was previously performing various experiments on the large, colorless crystal in the center of the cavern, illuminated by several light orbs that float in the air around the stone plateau. At the crystal itself are several books and equipment for various magical analyses.
Anne rather crashes uncontrollably to the ground than landing there. And that only a few meters in front of Maddie, before her powers are also fading out, leaving only the light orbs as light sources.
"You have to help her!", Anne literally screams, almost with tears in her eyes, "These... these regeneration glyphs from Luz..."
"What happened?", she asks in concern.
"I did that.", Anne admits, revealing Sasha's separated limb, "Can you help her?"
"Lay her down, here.", Maddie instructs her after a brief consideration, "Put her forearm right up against the rest of her arm. There can't be any space in between."
Anne nods, and gently and carefully sets Sasha down on the cold stone floor while Maddie tears two pages out of one of her books, rips them into four pieces each, and quickly draws glyphs on them before returning to Anne with now eight identical glyphs.
"Okay, here's the situation: the magical field in here has decayed over time, which means we need more glyphs to get the same effect.", Anne nods affirmatively, though she doesn't have the head to really listen to her. In rapid succession, Maddie applies the glyphs directly to the area between the limbs, and after each glyph activated, Sasha's arm begins to glow more. After the eighth glyph, Maddie continues. "I don't know if that was enough glyphs, or when she will wake up it were enough. We have to wait now..."
"Okay...", Anne merely says, not taking her eyes off Sasha.
"So, what happened?", Maddie asks again.
"I already told you that."
"No. That you guys fought each other is obvious. I want to know what happened. I'm assuming they attacked Wartwood. Or did you attack first?", Maddie asks, though without a hint of condemnation in her voice.
"Grime showed up with his army in front of Wartwood earlier. We outnumbered them and I was expecting him, but I was still nervous. Sasha and I were throwing ugly things at each other, when Marcy showed up.", Anne summarizes.
"What did she do?"
"Marcy locked both armies in domes..."
"Wow... So, she has powers too? ... About time.", Maddie comments.
"Then she locked Sasha and me up too, and sent us to some kind of cave under the Plantars' property, where we were supposed to fight each other until either one of us was dead, or Ben or Grime surrendered."
"Clever.", Maddie notes.
"What?", Anne asks, uncomprehending.
"Well, your hatred for Sasha, and perhaps hers for you, was one of the driving forces in this conflict. And Grime and Ben are the ones closest to you two in your respective command structures. Marcy has merely narrowed the playing field and reduced the potential for damage," Maddie explains, which seems to be causing Anne's brain to blow up.
"I... guess so...?", Anne talks to herself mindlessly, "Sorry, my mind is not on it right now."
"Understandable. But there's one thing you have to tell me..."
"Huh?"
"Why did you bring her here?", Maddie asks, which throws Anne slightly off track. She has to think about it for a while.
"I think it was something Grime said. That he couldn't stand it if anything happened to her. And that opened my eyes... She had hurt me so much when she killed Hop Pop, so I had hurt her in return. She was a monster... But now I see that I am the monster now, and I don't want to be that anymore.", she confesses.
"So, you forgive her?"
"No. ... Well, not yet.", she replies, "But I don't want to hate her anymore. Hate has made me into something I don't wanna be."
Suddenly, Sasha shoots upright between the two girls into a sitting position. The glow in her body has nearly disappeared. She gasps in shock.
"Sasha!", Anne shouts joyfully, surrounding her from behind in a tight hug.
Sasha herself, however, does not realize this at all at first. Her first glance falls on her arms, first in panic, then in confusion.
"What the...", she begins, before her gaze races around the, to her, unfamiliar cave. Only now does she realize she is being hugged, "Anne?"
"I'm here. I'm here...", Anne says as she crawls around Sasha to look at her from the front, "You're safe."
"What... Where... Wait.", Sasha blinks her eyes in turn, "My-my eye... I can see again... How?"
"You can thank Maddie there.", Anne says smiling before Sasha turns to her.
"Yo.", Maddie greets her neutrally before turning around and going back to her books. Sasha turns back to Anne, who smiles slightly at her.
"But... Why?"
"I'll tell you on the way back. It's a long enough walk, and I don't think I'll be able to fly for a while.", Anne surmises with an amused tone. Sasha, on the other hand, doesn't find anything amusing about it.
"Thank you. Even if I don't deserve it."
"Bullshit.", Anne counters.
It takes a surprisingly long time for both girls to actually regain enough of their strength to begin the actual long walk back to Wartwood. Before they left, Anne asked Maddie how she could thank her for her help. In the end, Maddie only asked to be present when she would recharge one of the gems. The fact that Anne immediately agreed was a no-brainer.
It was a long way back. Very long. And both girls were ultimately so exhausted, that they had to support each other on the last stretch through the woods. All the way, it was almost as if these last few weeks had never existed, for both of them. They told each other stories and laughed together. They both even cleared up the misunderstanding regarding General Yunan's, along with the fact that Anne sent her to them just to talk, and not to kill anyone. And Sasha even seems to believe her. However, this was all superficial. They were both quite aware of the fact that they had a lot to work through, before things could get back to 'normal'.
When both of them finally reached Wartwood, they were met by the Plantars, Marcy and some members of the Frog Rebellion Council as guards for Grime. The latter in handcuffs.
"They seriously all bailed?", Sasha asks incredulously.
"Well, when the domes disintegrated, the frogs launched an attack, and your troops, with few exceptions, just ran away.", Marcy recounts.
"Cowards.", Grime interjects.
"How many are left, and where are they?", Sasha asks.
"Seven. Percy among them.", Grime replies.
"They're getting medical attention, and then they get to decide what they want to do.", Marcy explains.
"What do you mean?", Sasha asks.
"All the soldiers who want to stay here will be granted amnesty, and will be allowed to stay here in the valley.", Marcy explains.
"Oh... And what about us?", Sasha asks Anne curiously, "Are you really going to turn us in?"
"Well, what would you guys prefer?", Anne asks Sasha and Grime alike, "I could tell Beatrix you're dead, but I'm not sure she'd believe it. And you would officially be on the run."
Everyone present now looks at Grime.
"I think you should turn us in. I'm tired, and could use a few days off.", he replies.
"But what about the Toad Council?", Anne asks.
"Easy. We'll bail before we get there.", Grime replies casually before turning to Sasha, "Any objections, Lieutenant?"
Sasha shakes her head. At that, Marcy rushes forward and encloses her in a tight and warm hug. "Oh, how I missed this."