A Lost Owl

by Marzek

AU: Luz was not able to save Eda from petrification. Or King. Or Lilith. During her fight with Belos, she was ripped from the Boiling Isles by an unknown force and brought to Amphibia, where she crashes Anne and Sasha's reunion party. Toad Tower later fails to be destroyed. The events following that, now unfold differently than previously anticipated... TW: Death, Violence & Trauma

36. The First Temple

Entry 77

Anne is mad at me. Or so I hoped. It's only been a few hours since I'd forced her and Sasha to fight each other.

I had no choice.

All of the negotiating had gotten me nowhere at all. All the concessions... It was inevitable that the conflict was going to escalate, and I had to keep the casualties to a minimum.

In every scenario that crossed my mind, Anne and Sasha were always at the center. They were the ones who triggered it, and it had to be them who would end it.

And after Anne and Sasha came back at the end, I tried and tried to explain it to them and apologize to them, and what does Anne say?

"I understand."

And then she would just change the subject. Or didn't say anything at all.

I tried again after we dropped Grime and Sasha off at Captain Beatrix's. But she wouldn't talk about it.

I'm writing this just after we got back to the Plantars. Anne went straight to the basement and fell asleep. She didn't even bother to take off her armor.

She gave me a good night kiss on the cheek as well, but it felt different. Yk, kinda-

---

"Watchu writing?"

"Huh?", Marcy looks up from her diary to see Sprig sitting in front of her on the couch in the living room where she'd made herself comfortable. Sprig is glaring at her with a curious expression on his face. "Oh, um, I'm trying to recap the day. Writing usually helps... but right now I'm just worried."

"Because of what? Didn't you guys win?", he asks. Marcy closes her journal and puts it aside before answering.

"I made them fight each other to the death. And if Grime hadn't surrendered- I'm not sure Ben would have done the same... and I would have been responsible for the death of my own girlfriend."

"Do you really think they would have killed each other?", he asks. Marcy nods in response, albeit hesitantly.

"I mean, I saw the hatred in their eyes. It wasn't just about this war for either of them, it was about revenge.", she answers with certainty in her voice.

"What would Sasha want revenge for?", Sprig asks skeptically.

"Well, Anne took away a good part of her vision. And she attacked Toad Tower."

"Good points...", he admits before pausing briefly to think. "So, you're worried you've screwed things up with Anne now, right?"

"I... ...", Marcy stares at him, wordlessly blinking at him for a few seconds, "Yeah."

"Okay. So, here's how I see it: Before Anne just left down to the basement, she gave you a kiss on the cheek. Is that right?", Marcy nods slightly, "I didn't get one. Polly didn't either. Nor did Hop Pop. And we're her family... Do you really think Anne would have done that if she no longer liked you?"

Marcy thinks about his words, and a small, embarrassed smile spreads across her face.

"I don't know... maybe?"

"Well, I do know. And I'm pretty sure you know, too. Even if your guilt is biting you right now.", he speaks confidently, "You're Anne's girlfriend, and she loves you just like you love her. I'm sure that if you sleep on it tonight, that the world will look a lot better tomorrow."

"Thank you, Sprig. You're pretty good at cheering people up, you know that?"

"Of course. After all, that's what friends do.", he replies, "But seriously, you look completely exhausted. Almost more so than Anne."

Just then, a huge yawn escapes Marcy. With a knowing look, Sprig peers at her.

"You're right. I'll finish my journal entry first, though.", Marcy insists and Sprig jumps off the couch.

"Fine. But don't take too long. You don't want to miss the party tomorrow.", at that, Marcy snaps her head at him.

"Party?", she wonders in genuine confusion.

"Oh, right, you and Anne were dropping off Grime and Sasha...", he recalls, "Um, Chuck was here earlier and dropped off official invitations for all of us. And you and Anne are the special guests."

Marcy snorts out of her nose, "That's very short notice... Also, not very professional that the special guests are the last ones to know..."

"Well, it's not supposed to officially start until tomorrow night, so... you know... there is more than enough time to prepare.", he explains, and Marcy lifts up her diary again.

"Thank you for letting me know."

"You're welcome."

However, before she was able to write a single, further word, her own fatigue and exhaustion were overwhelming her, and her mind drifted into a quick sleep.

Yet it was a fairly short night. For Marcy, it feels like only a few minutes have passed as she regains consciousness and slowly wakes up. But even before she opens her eyes, she notices that something is different. She gradually opens her eyes.

'Naaw', Marcy thinks to herself as she notices a blanket lying on top of her. She turns slightly and spots her favorite brown tuft of hair sitting right in front of her, right in front of the couch.

Marcy turns around a bit, catching Anne's attention, who turns to her in response.

"Good morning sleepyhead.", Anne greets her with a peck on her nose.

"What- How long have you been awake?", Marcy asks barely comprehensible and slightly confused by the smile Anne wears on her face.

"Two hours, maybe. I came upstairs when I saw you weren't sleeping next to me, and then I brought my blanket up and tossed it on you.", she replies, "And I've been watching Suspicion Island on my phone ever since... Oh, by the way, I almost forgot: Wally came by and dropped this off for you."

She hands Marcy her phone. Marcy, on the other hand, is so dumbfounded right now, she's completely at a loss for words and stares blankly at Anne.

"Now that it's no longer necessary to blow up Toad Tower remotely, Wally retrieved our receiving-mushroom-thingy and your phone. You'll have to turn it on later and see if it's still working...", Anne goes on. But when Marcy doesn't answer, she starts to get a little bit worried. "Amphibia to Marcy. Are you all right in there?"

"You- you're not mad at me."

Just a simple statement. No question, no accusation... Just that.

"What... what do you mean?", Anne asks, confused putting her phone aside.

"Yesterday. I made you and Sasha fight each other. And- and when I tried to talk to you about it later, you blew me off..."

Dejectedly, Marcy averts her gaze from her, just before Anne puts her own hands around her face, holding her, and looks her straight in the eye.

"I'm sorry. But after Sasha and I came back, I was at the end of my rope, strength-wise. I was just a shell, so to speak. I didn't really notice anything from the outside world anymore... But I can assure you: I'm not mad at you. Not even close."

"Really?", Marcy asks incredulously.

"Really. On the contrary, in fact, I'm glad you did."

"Really?!", she now asks doubtfully.

"I'm just glad it's over. And you did the right thing, Marbles.", Anne tries to cheer her up, "Even if your guilt is totally written all over your face.", she says, smiling.

"You make it sound so easy..."

"Marcy- Marcy, please look at me.", Anne begs her, "I should be the one feeling this way. Not you. With my powers, I've done nothing but horrible things, most of them to Sasha. I beat her half blind, I attacked her home... I chopped her arm off for frogs' sake..."

"Yeah, because of me."

"No!", Anne groans, "You stopped it from getting worse. Thanks to you, I realized what a monster I was... Now come on, get up. I know something that will distract us both."

"What?"

"Well, Wally said they're clearing out Toad Tower today before they plan to blow it up later. Everybody can take what they want.", she recounts. "Do you want to come?"

Eventually, Marcy agrees. They get ready, and together with the Plantars, riding on Bessie, they head to Toad Tower together. On the way out of Wartwood, they spot quite a few residents as well as those who have traveled there, preparing for the party. Lights are hung, tables are being built, food is getting cooked, and generally there is much laughter among all the frogs, toads, and newts.

"Look at that, kids.", Hop Pop begins, "I've never seen this community so happy and serene in all my years. And all thanks to-"

"Don't.", Anne cuts him off. Internally, Marcy agrees with her girlfriend, but didn't necessarily have the courage to interrupt him herself. "We did what was necessary. And I, personally, definitely don't feel like a hero."

"Me neither.", Marcy interjects quietly. In response, the Plantars look at the two girls with concern.

"Well, um... I'm sure there are thousands of people here who feel differently. Anne, you brought Captain Grime to his knees. And you Marcy, prevented even a single frog from being harmed. Thanks to both of you, no one here has to fear the tyranny of toads anymore. This is the beginning of a free Valley, free from the oppression and exploitation.", Hop Pop argues, which actually seems to resonate with Anne. Marcy, on the other hand, is less optimistic.

"Well, assuming the King agrees to Frog Valley's independence. The Toads were, and still are, following his orders.", Marcy enlightens them.

"Marcy, you know him best of all of us...", Sprig speaks up, "Do you think he will agree?"

Except for Hop Pop, who is focused on the path ahead of them, all eyes are directly on her.

"I... I don't know. He's extremely kind, intelligent, wise, and sympathetic... But, if he wanted to change something for the frogs, he could have done it a long time ago."

That's not necessarily the answer Sprig wanted to hear. Slightly dejected, his gaze wanders to the floor, and Marcy herself is also now feeling worse.

At that, Polly speaks up.

"If that old king says no, we'll just make him agree. There's absolutely nothing that's going to stop us! MUHAHAHAHA!", she laughs viciously, which actually improved the mood of the others by a little bit.

In fact, not just a little, but enough that they spend the rest of the way to the tower in increasingly better spirits, and distracted from their own thoughts.

However, as they cross the large, open gates of Toad Tower toward the front yard, and step down from Bessie, a feeling of unease comes over them.

"I definitely liked it better here when there were toads around...", Marcy comments. "Don't get me wrong, I like it quiet, but not like this..."

Hop Pop has just led Bessie into what Marcy described to him as a stable, mainly because he wouldn't have been able to deduce that from the sight itself. The stable has no doors, walls, or hay (left) lying around, suggesting that someone has already taken all of that for themselves. And although no one is directly in sight, Hop Pop opted to wait with Bessie while the others looked around the tower, just to be on the safe side.

"I know what you mean.", Anne agrees as she and Marcy enter the large main hall, and thus the tower. Sprig and Polly immediately ran to find the armory. Well, actually, Polly had forced her brother to carry her. "Last time I was here, everything was brightly lit, people were having fun-"

"That was when Luz arrived here, wasn't it?"

"A little later, but yes.", Anne replies.

"Hmm.", Marcy hums in acknowledgement, "And now the place is all empty. Even the lamps on the walls are gone..."

"Are you joining me upstairs? I want to see what of Sasha's things are still here."

Marcy is a little surprised by Anne's suggestion, but doesn't dwell on it, and merely nods.

Together, they walk through the first door on their left and up the sweeping spiral staircase. Anne uses her phone's flashlight as a light source, since all other lights have already been removed and/or simply stolen by someone.

They arrive at a set of open double doors, where Marcy peeks right in.

"Hey, this looks like Sasha's room. What do you think, Anne?", she asks before noticing that Anne has walked a few steps further past the doors. A guilty look graces her face as she steps in front of a wide gap in the walls and floor, that runs once straight through the entire tower. "Anne?"

She doesn't respond, but just stands there, staring at the gaping hole. Marcy takes a few steps toward her to stand next to her.

"You know that wasn't you, right?", Marcy asks. "You weren't yourself..."

Anne, however, ignores what she said. "I've never seen the damage I caused so up close before..."

"Would you rather leave again?"

"No.", Anne replies firmly, "I want to find something for Sasha here... I want to try to make up for what I did to her."

"You already healed her arm, didn't you? And her eye-"

"But that was still just the bare minimum Marcy...", Anne sighs, "Let's go see if there's any of her stuff left."

The two girls step back from the gap and into Sasha's room, where the rift also still extends through, but it is clear that efforts have been made to close the yapping hole again.

Unsurprisingly, Sasha's room is one of the places where most of the contents have already been taken out or looted. Only a few books remain on the shelves, as well as the larger furniture and statues.

"Cool...", Marcy marvels at one of them, "Sasha has really cool statues of herself."

"Marcy, you have several gigantic golden statues of yourself sitting around all over Newtopia...", Anne reminds her.

"Only four of them. And I wasn't allowed to come up with my own poses for them.", Marcy corrects her, "And look at this.", Marcy enthusiastically runs to one of the statues, "Sasha on her skateboard! Or there, her bust next to the door!"

Marcy marvels at the stone bust of Sasha with her wide, playful smile winking into the room.

"If you want to take it, you'll have to carry it yourself.", Anne says with an amused but stern tone. Abruptly, Marcy immediately takes her hands off the bust.

"I'm good.", she chuckles.

"Come on, let's see if there's anything left... I remember she had quite a few stuffed animals lying around.", Anne suggests, to which Marcy nods in agreement.

They split up, even though there isn't particularly much else where they could try to find anything at all. Most of the smaller pieces of furniture are gone, as well as the large, round rug that was in front of the couch before, but also the curtains. The couch itself is gone, too.

After less than ten minutes, a sense of pointlessness overcomes them, and they end their search, convinced that they would not find anything there.

"You know, maybe we could go up to the command room and take a look there. I'm sure there aren't many who dare go over the gap. Maybe there's something left...", Anne merely shakes her head in response. "We could also see if Sprig and Polly found anything in the armory. Maybe Sasha had a favorite weapon or something that could still be there-"

Anne raises her hand, cutting Marcy off.

"Say again!"

"The armory?"

"No, after that."

"Um... Maybe Sasha had a favorite weapon?"

"That's it!", Anne announces cheerfully before contorting her face in regret, "Although, never mind."

"What is it?", Marcy asks. Anne hesitates, but accepts her surrender, not wanting to hide anything from Marcy.

"I have one of Sasha's weapons. But... I'm not sure she wants it back. Or if I want to return it to her."

Marcy was about to dig in further, when suddenly Sprig and Polly come running up the stairs, entering the room.

"Armory was a bust.", Polly groans, "No cool weapons. Or armor. Or battle machinery... Everything already looted."

"Not everything...", Sprig teases with a huge, excited grin on his face and one hand hidden behind his back. He also slightly tips back and forth on his feet. His excitement is quite contagious, especially to Anne.

"You found something?!", she asks, now also smiling. Abruptly, Sprig pulls his hand forward and Marcy sprints past Anne, gasping excitedly.

"Is that a slingshot made of dark toad steel?", Marcy asks enthusiastically. Sprig's eyes light up with delight as he realizes he's facing another slingshot expert.

"You... you know about slingshots?"

"I've studied some minerals and metals here in Amphibia.", Marcy explains, "I know the Toads forge powerful swords from dark toad steel, but it's soo rare in nature that I'm honestly surprised anyone could scrape together enough to craft a slingshot. And then, those ornaments..."

"Possibly engraved into the metal by hand.", Sprig speculates as Marcy examines it more closely.

"Do you see this?", Marcy points to one of the engraved ornaments and Sprig nods in agreement, "That's the crest of the West Tower, if I'm not mistaken."

At that point, Anne speaks up again.

"Where did you find it?", she wonders. Polly replies first.

"We wandered through a few other rooms after we left the armory.", she recounts.

"Where then? In a treasure room? In a secret room? In a secret treasure room?", Marcy hastily asks without thinking and gasps, "Were you guys in a secret basement, hidden by a door, hidden behind an empty shelf that opened after you pushed a secret button?"

Wordless and somewhat stunned, Polly stares at Marcy.

"There were bunk beds...", choosing her words carefully, she replies after a while.

"Oh...", is all Marcy can muster before gesturing wildly to the slingshot Sprig still proudly holds in his hand, "Someone left such a valuable slingshot- such a unique tool, just like that, in one of the soldiers' quarters..."

"Well, it's mine now.", Sprig declares, "And whoever owned it previously is now out of luck. And I just feel a very little bit bad about it. "

"And like I said, for me, it was all a bust.", Polly changes the subject, "Did you guys at least find anything? I'm guessing not, as empty as this place is..."

"Nope.", Marcy replies.

"So, we're leaving again?", Polly asks. Sprig and Marcy turn to Anne with questioning looks.

"Yeah, sure.", Anne decides, "Let's go back. I'm sure Hop Pop is feeling pretty bored already..."

Feeling somewhat relaxed, the four of them leave Sasha's room and head for the stairs down. And as they pass through the doors and Sprig again proudly talks about his new slingshot that he's going to add to his collection, Marcy notices Anne looking a bit lost in thought at the gap before rejoining the conversation and going down the stairs. Marcy looks after her for a few moments before rejoining the others as well.

'Maybe it's for the best that the tower will be demolished later.', Marcy thinks to herself, looking at Anne, who is currently laughing with Sprig and Polly, 'I just hope she can get some closure with this at some point... She's deserves it.'

The group exits the tower and approaches the stables when they spot Hop Pop sitting on the floor leaning against Bessie, reading Bessie's manual. Bessie herself is looking over his shoulder. They both seem very much engrossed in the book.

"Yo! HP!", Anne calls out as they approach him. Surprised, he looks up at them from the book.

"You're back already?", he questions, "Didn't you just go inside?"

"It's all looted already.", Marcy reports.

"You didn't find anything for yourselves?", Hop Pop asks sympathetically.

"I did.", Sprig proudly speaks up, "I got a cool new slingshot for my collection."

"Well at least you were able to find something. Shall we head back home then? We'll be back later for the demolition then.", Hop Pop asks no one in particular.

The five of them climb Bessie's back and gradually they leave the courtyard of the tower.

"When is the detonation, anyway?", Sprig asks.

"Tonight, I guess.", Hop Pop surmises, "But whether it will be blown up before or after the party, I can't say. I'm not involved in the planning."

"Urgh.", Anne grunts slightly at the mention of the word 'party'. Softly, but quite audibly. Hop pop speaks up.

"Yes Anne, I know you don't want to go to the party...", he states.

"You know that?", Anne asks surprised.

"You muttered it to yourself a lot on the way to the tower.", he replies. Anne blushes feeling slightly embarrassed, which luckily subsides pretty quick.

"I just... don't want to go there. There's nothing for me to celebrate.", Anne argues.

"Oh, come on Anne, you don't mean that. You saved us all, after all.", he states, his gaze focused on the path in front of them.

"I don't mean that-? Excuse me?", she feels attacked right now, "Surely, I'll know best what I want or don't want!", Anne speaks quite a bit louder now.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. The thing is, it's not a rare occurrence that you didn't want to do something at first, but liked it afterwards."

"Give me exactly two examples!"

"You used to hate eating bugs.", he says without giving it a thought.

"It's not like I had a choice...", Anne defends herself, "But yeah, they're delicious."

"Then there was the fact that you didn't want to read Bessie's manual."

"Don't even get me started on that...", Anne says with her hands shaking in front of her eyes, "I start crying just thinking about it."

"So you see my point?", he asks. Anne just grumbles indifferently at him, at which point Hop Pop actually turns around to her. "Anne. I know you feel bad about what you had to do-"

"Terrible is more like it.", Anne cuts him off. He continues.

"Alright... You feel terrible and you don't think it's worthy of celebration. Then maybe don't think of the whole thing as a celebration for you and where you're the center of attention, think of it as a way to clear your head. See it as... the end of a chapter of your life. You've ended so much suffering, and even though you hurt her, you've buried the hatchet with Sasha. You get to relax and distract yourself for once.", Hop Pop turns back to the front feeling like he actually managed to reach Anne.

"I don't-"

"You'd also have the opportunity to go dancing with your girlfriend.", a knowing smile appears on his face as Anne turns her head abruptly to Marcy, who in turn is currently blushing heavily and looking down at the floor with a sheepish expression, away from everyone else.

"Okay…", Anne's voice cracks and her face begins to feel increasingly warm as well. After a few moments, Anne slides closer to Marcy and leans right up to her ear.

"Do you want to... go dancing with me later?", she asks in a whisper.

"Yes!", Marcy replies with a big grin.

"Okay.", Anne says happily louder than she had actually intended to. Slightly embarrassed, she slaps her hands in front of her mouth until she notices that neither Hop Pop, nor Sprig, nor Polly are particularly reacting to it, or commenting on it in any way. Marcy looks at her and removes Anne's hands from her mouth. She puts her own hands around her face, and pulls her close for a short, but all the more meaningful kiss.

And even though this is not their first kiss, the excitement between them is still the same. It is always something special. Something that only they have.

As they pull away again, Marcy speaks up, still holding Anne's face in her small hands.

"I can't wait to dance with you later.", Marcy's eyes are sparkling, "Even though I'll probably trip over my own feet..."

"That's not true.", Anne counters her, placing Marcy's hands in her own, "I don't remember you acting clumsy in any way since we got together."

"Um, I fell off Joe once.", Marcy recounts, "You had caught me."

"Okay, I should have explained it better. I meant together-together. Not reunited-together.", Anne giggles.

"Oooohhhhhhhh...", Marcy realizes after a while of thinking, "Yeah, I think you're right. Let's see how long I can hold this streak-"

"Imma stop you right here.", Anne cuts her off, "Let's not jinx it, okay?"

"Watch out kids, we're almost back in Wartwood.", Hop Pop announces.

And sure enough, not long after, the Plantars (and Marcy) are finding themselves back at the farm. However, before Hop Pop can bring Bessie to a halt, Sprig suddenly just jumps off and runs for the front door.

"What the-", Hop Pop calls after him worriedly, "Sprig, what are you doing?"

"Sorry Hop Pop, but I need to bring my new-", Sprig is out of earshot too quickly for his reply to be intelligible.

Hop Pop sighs in a mix of frustration and annoyance. Anne lightly pats his back for comfort. Hop Pop however, raises his hand to indicate that she doesn't have to continue.

"It's okay.", he says, "Why don't you guys go on in the house and I'll take care of Bessie?"

"Okay.", Anne says quietly, and she, Marcy, and Polly get off Bessie. Well, Polly rather lets Anne catch her, and then carry her into the house. As soon as Anne, Polly, and Marcy are through the front door, Polly hops out of Anne's arms and ahead to the stairs leading upstairs.

"Thanks for the ride, but I have to get ready for the party now.", she announces while the two humans merely stare after her wordlessly.

Marcy is the first to break the silence between them.

"Do you think Sprig is in his room?", Marcy asks, shortly before cringing inwardly at that question.

'Stupid Stupid Stupid...', she curses herself before daring a glance at her girlfriend, hoping she didn't embarrass herself too much. Fortunately for her, Anne does appear to be mentally absent. Her gaze is fixed on her basement hatch, but it's unfocused. "Anne?"

Anne closes her eyes and takes one deep breath before speaking in a haunted voice.

"Marcy, there is something I need to show you."

With her mind seemingly very far away, Anne descends into the basement with Marcy right behind her. They climb down the stairs in silence.

"Please, sit down.", Anne gestures to the bed, and Marcy does as she is told.

Anne, on the other hand, walks over to the large barrel that is propped up in an alcove under the stairs. She removes the wooden panel in front of her and pulls out a rolled-up piece of paper. Before returning to Marcy, who looks at her with wide, curious, expectant eyes, she places the wooden board back on the barrel and sits down beside her. Anne holds the piece of paper tightly to her chest before handing it to Marcy.

'There's something in here.', she notices, judging by its weight. A little uncertain, she glances briefly at Anne before beginning to roll up the paper.

As she unfolds it, an orange and blue image of Hop Pop in a heroic pose titled "Freedom Frog" jumps out at her, and a dagger covered in dried blood falls into her lap. Immediately, Marcy looks down first at the dagger in her lap, and then immediately at Anne, who is struggling to keep her eyes from looking at the dagger. She is not even able to look at Marcy, instead Anne is staring rigidly straight ahead.

After a few seconds, Marcy looks down again and curiously picks up the dagger.

"Remember when I said I had one of Sasha's weapons?", Anne asks, and that's when it dawns on her, her eyes widen at that.

"Did she- This... that's his blood, isn't it?"

Anne nods, still unable to look at it.

"And you kept it all this time?", Marcy asks, "Why?"

"Why...", Anne echoes. For the first time since they entered the basement, Anne now looks at her girlfriend. Well, or at least past her at the poster. "I don't know. I think... I didn't want to forget. It's a reminder of what Sasha did... Of who she really is."

"But you have forgot about it.", Marcy speaks slowly, "I mean, you hid it in a barrel. I'm sure that before we reached the tower, that you had no idea that you still had it."

Anne doesn't reply, but now looks directly at her. She continues.

"You know, I believe this dagger is completely meaningless to you."

Anne's expression hardens. "It's not meaningless. It's a reminder of what Sasha did, of the people she hurt-"

"Anne, you're repeating yourself.", Marcy cuts her off before changing her tone to a more empathic one, "Listen, how about this idea: Instead of you continuing to torture yourself with your memories, return the dagger to Sasha, as it is right now, the next time you see her. Get some closure with it. Don't carry this memory around with you any longer. And who knows, maybe, later it will be just as much a reminder for Sasha."

"What do you mean?"

"Instead of continuing to remind yourself of what she did, let her remind herself of what she did. Maybe it will help her realize her mistakes, and change for the better over time. And who knows, maybe you two will become friends again...".

A short, incredulous laugh from Anne fills the basement.

"Making friends using a dagger with which I am basically saying 'Hey Sasha, you killed my grandfather. Here's the weapon you did it with. And by the way, do you want to be friends again?' doesn't seem to be the wisest thing to do.", Anne remarks sarcastically. Marcy lets herself get carried away by her girlfriend and chuckles lightly at that too.

"Okay, maybe that's not the best way to put it, but you get my point. Just... don't hold on to it any longer."

"Yeah, I get it.", Anne's gaze now falls on the dagger for the first time and she contorts her face in confusion. "It's weird... I was afraid that seeing the dagger would make me relive the pain-", Anne reaches for the dagger on Marcy's lap and looks at it for a moment before turning back to her, "I think I can do it. I think I can let go."

"It's worth trying, don't you think?"

With an initially slightly shaky hand, Anne reaches for the dagger and picks it up into her hands.

"Y-yeah...", she agrees. Anne reaches for Hop Pop's poster and re-wraps the dagger in it. After a deep breath, Anne continues. "But for now, I'm throwing you out of here, Marbles."

"What, why?"

"I want to get ready for the party. I don't really want to walk around there in these clothes here.", Anne says, gesturing down at herself. "Oh wait... I totally forgot: you don't have any clothes here. Do you want to borrow something from me?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me, Anna-Banana.", curiously, Anne raises an eyebrow, "I took some of my stuff from Newtopia. It's still in the fwagon, I think."

In total, Marcy spends the next thirty minutes in the fwagon. A significant part, however, she spends not with changing, but with preparing an order to Newtopia for Joe Sparrow to be brought to her immediately, after General Yunan originally flew back to Newtopia with him. Marcy only spent the last ten minutes picking out her outfit for the evening.

Now she is standing in front of a large standing mirror and is looking at her outfit in all its glory. She is wearing a fancy cyan buttonless jacket. Immediately underneath, she wears a shirt, but in a lighter shade of light blue. The shirt has three golden, shell-shaped buttons. She wears ankle-length dark blue pants. Her outfit is completed with a glittering white bow tie.

Marcy eyes herself and nods at her reflection in satisfaction.

"Yup. Looks acceptable."

A moment later, she hears a knock on the door of the fwagon.

"Marcy?", it's Anne, "Are you ready? Hop Pop says that some people from the town are already leaving for the demolition of Toad Tower. We'd better hurry if we want to be there on time."

Marcy hasn't put on her shoes yet, but heads for the door to invite Anne in. She opens the door outwards.

"Come on in, I'm almost-", Marcy catches sight of Anne's outfit and almost forgets how to speak, "- ready..."

Anne immediately notices Marcy's face turning increasingly red.

"Do you like it?", she asks. Marcy strains to squeeze out a few words, but nothing happens. Instead, she just nods wildly, which puts a genuine smile on Anne's face. Marcy reaches out a hand to her, and they enter the fwagon together. In the meantime, Marcy also finds her voice again.

"I... I didn't know it was possible to make a sbai from the materials available here in Amphibia.", she notes, still blushing though. This is actually not the first time Marcy has seen Anne in this traditional Thai clothing.

Last summer, Anne had asked her and Sasha if they would be interested in spending a day together at the Thai Temple. Sasha had declined that day, but Marcy took the wonderful opportunity to immerse herself in Thai culture and experience it first-hand. What Anne had not mentioned in her original invitation was that every year in July, the Candle Festival is held within the regional Thai community. And as one of the largest temples in California, it is particularly well attended at that time. Several artistically talented members have created traditional, but also modern wax sculptures for this occasion, which were exhibited on the temple grounds for everyone to admire. Contributing to the atmosphere were diverse, fanciful-smelling foods, dancers and folk music, and all community members wore traditional Thai clothing. Anne, for example, wore a green sbai, which she has also now put on for the upcoming party. It consists of a green wrapped skirt, embroidered with a geometric, brown, diamond pattern. Covering just one of her shoulders and a large part of her torso is a cream breast cloth, which hangs down to the back of her knee on one side. Just underneath, covering the rest of her chest down to her skirt, is a fitted, white undershirt. On her wrist she wore, back then as she does now, a flower bracelet and green loafers to go with it. Marcy remembers that Anne hated having to spend the day at the temple, or even that her parents had talked her into wearing a sbai. All Anne wanted that day was to have her best friends around to distract her. Ultimately, Marcy's insatiable curiosity and fascination about the festival had led her to shower her with countless questions, some of which she didn't know the answers to herself. That day, the two of them had learned more about Thai culture than possibly ever before. In the end, it was a good day for both of them. And after that experience, Marcy is even more surprised to find that her girlfriend is now wearing the exact same outfit that she wore back then, only this time without the reluctance and unwillingness, but instead full of pride.

"I had actually worn it before. Do you know Stumpy's Diner? I had turned it into a Thai food restaurant once."

"R-really?", Marcy asks, "Although, that sounds like something you would do... How'd it go?"

"Um... A still-living kraken trashed the restaurant."

"Whoa...", Marcy chimes in in amazement, "I mean, I know food is supposed to be fresh, but that fresh?"

"I think someone said pretty much the same thing back then.", Anne jokes, "But whatever. You look amazing. Didn't think suits looked that good on you."

"Thank you.", Marcy says in an abashed voice before Anne continues though.

"I have to tell you though; blue is not necessarily your color. I think red would suit you better.", she comments.

"Believe it or not, I know it's not my color.", Marcy admits with a smirk on her face, "It's yours."

"I-I-I swear that wasn't intentional.", Anne stutters as her girlfriend smiles ever so slightly.

"I believe you.", Marcy replies, which actually seems to reassure her, "But you have to admit, it's a nice coincidence that we're wearing each other's colors... ... Well, okay, not quite… I actually chose to wear blue on purpose. But the fact that you're actually wearing green..."

With a sense of relief, Anne leans her upper body against Marcy, holding onto her shoulders, and begins to laugh. She just laughs from the bottom of her heart, and although Marcy doesn't understand why her girlfriend is laughing, she can't help but to grin.

"Anne?", Marcy asks, slightly confused, while Anne just continues to laugh. Her laughter, however, increasingly turns to amused puffs through her nose.

After a while, Anne suddenly straightens up, puts her hands around her girlfriend's face, pressing her lips directly onto Marcy's. Initially quite surprised, it doesn't take long for Marcy to melt into the kiss. She wraps her arms around Anne before a faint blue and green shockwave emanates from the two girls, causing the entire fwagon to shudder. Neither girl is bothered by it though.

After a few more moments, the kiss breaks apart again and the two girlfriends simply look into each other's eyes, smiling.

"Have I ever told you that I love you?", Anne teases her, her hands behind Marcy's neck, just holding her.

"Maybe...", she grins, "But you're welcome to say it again."

Anne leans forward and gives her a peck on her nose.

"I love you."

"I love you too.", a warm feeling spreads through her chest, "And I'm so glad you're with me, that we're here together."

"Me too.", Marcy slightly raises onto her tiptoes and places another small kiss on Anne's lips, "Shall we- Shall we head out?"

Anne nods, Marcy puts on her shoes, and hand in hand they leave the fwagon together and join Hop Pop, Sprig, and Polly on Bessie, who have already been waiting for them.

The ride to the tower was shorter than it had been earlier, with Hop Pop worried that they would be late for the demolition, even if there are no hints to suggest that.

Hop Pop stops Bessie several hundred meters from Toad Tower, where it already appears that several hundred Frog Valley residents have gathered there in a meadow. Standing on a makeshift-looking stage are Ben Flawrik and Andrew Odal, along with several members of the Frog Council, who all seem to be waiting for something together.

"Oh no...", Anne mutters. Marcy turns to her, wanting to ask what's going on, when she too eventually notices them waving at her.

"Oh no.", Marcy echoes.

Just moments after everyone descends from Bessie together, a couple of frog soldiers invite Anne and Marcy to the stage.

"Anne... Master Marcy... I'm glad you could come.", Ben greets them.

"You weren't just waiting for us, were you?", Anne asks, hoping she wouldn't be pushed too much into the spotlight.

"By no means, no.", Andrew Odal replies to which Anne and Marcy both exhale collectively in relief, "I'm just glad you could come to witness this memorable event."

"I agree.", Ben adds, "And I see you guys dressed up. You look good. ... I think..."

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that last part.", Anne replies.

"When is the detonation actually scheduled for?", Marcy suddenly asks.

"It shouldn't be too much longer.", Ben replies, glad for the change of subject, "We've set the time detonators for just after sunset. It should be almost time."

"In that case, Marcy and I should get back to the Planta-"

"Please wait a moment, Anne.", Ben stops them before they can leave the stage, and turns to the relatively large crowd immediately in front of them who are chatting excitedly. "WELCOME EVERYONE..."

The crowd gradually gets quieter and quieter until Ben no longer has to be roaringly loud to be heard by everyone.

"Today, many weeks ago, someone had an idea. An idea that, in fact, many have had in the past. And that someone was Anne-", Ben gestures to Anne, who looks down indifferently. He continues, "-a human, from a world far from ours. Under her leadership, we have come together. We left our villages and united. We confronted the Toads as one, with a scale that even Newtopia's army could not match. And after centuries of oppression by the Toads, we have finally won our freedom from their tyranny.", the crowd erupts in jubilation, "And today, we celebrate. We celebrate not only our independence, but also all those who were not able to achieve this dream before, and lost their lives fighting for it. Today, in their name, we will tear down the last symbol of injustice and build a brighter future for Frog Valley!"

The crowd erupts in cheers again, which quickly turns into countless excited conversations within the crowd, and Anne leans down to Ben.

"Wasn't that a bit exaggerated?", Anne loudly whispers to him, earning a questioning look in return. "I mean in terms of the depth of my involvement.", she clarifies. He snorts in understanding, but also in amusement.

"No. And do you know why?", she shakes her head, "Such details don't matter. It doesn't matter how much you did or didn't do. To all these people here, you're a hero. You are the embodiment of courage, hope, and determination. In theory, I didn't have to say anything about you, or say anything at all, but it helps to lift the spirits, and remind people what we did all this for, and recall how we got here."

"I... Wha...", Anne stammers, unsure how to handle the unexpected praise. For her to be told that she is a hero still feels wrong. Yet Ben has said something that makes her rethink her part-, or rather the purpose of it. Courage, Hope, and Determination... It is not easy for Anne to say that these are not values she would like to share with others. It's nice to be able to inspire others, or give them confidence in themselves.

"I'm not a hero... But- Thank you.", she speaks thoughtfully. Without comment, Ben nods at her, and Anne and Marcy leave the stage again, heading back to the Plantars.

After a not particularly long search, the two girls locate the Plantars again, who are now waiting next to the Sundews, all three of whom must have arrived together most recently. The two families sit on a large picnic blanket. Hop Pop is talking to Sylvia, Felicia is preparing tea, Sprig is fooling around with his maybe-or-maybe-not girlfriend Ivy, and Polly is sitting in her bucket, seemingly extremely bored. However, she is also the first to notice that Anne and Marcy are back.

"Anne!", she calls out to her, which also, with the exception of Sprig and Ivy's, draws the attention of the others to her. "Anne, please tell me they told you when I finally get to push the big red button. I can't wait any longer."

"I'm sorry Polly.", Anne begins, "I'm afraid there is no button for you to press."

"What?", she retorts, a little pissed off. Marcy explains.

"The detonation is timed. But don't worry, it shouldn't-"

Boom

A small, but clearly audible and noticeable explosion. Instantly all conversation falls silent and the entire crowd turns toward Toad Tower. But nothing happened over there. No movement at all. At that, Ben speaks up.

"Don't worry guys, everything is going according to plan. It's less than a minute before the tower falls!", he shouts into the crowd.

Ben, Andrew, and the rest of the council members turn expectantly toward the tower, while Anne and Marcy join the Plantars and the Sundews on the picnic blanket. With Marcy leaning against Anne's shoulder and in silence, they peer toward Toad Tower, which is brightly lit by the very low evening sun. Fortunately, the sun is behind them, so none of them are being blinded by it.

"Any last words?", Anne asks, which earns her some confused looks. Polly is among those who had understood her right away.

"Bye tower. Wished very much I could have blown you up myself.", she says, which brings her light snickering from a few people present.

"This thing is an embarrassment. I'm glad when it's gone.", Felicia Sundew announces.

"I wish there had been a more peaceful, diplomatic solution for all of this...", Marcy speaks remorsefully, "But at least it's over now."

"Hear hear.", Sylvia remarks.

"I've only been there once in my life... and the crab legs were delicious I'll tell y'all.", Hop Pop drools slightly at the memory, which earns him a few honest laughs.

And then it all started. The first boomshrooms installed in the sewers of Toad Tower began to explode, and the ground started shaking. Due to the distance, all the spectators didn't notice more than a slight shaking from the strongly trembling ground the tower.

Blue smoke rises around the tower high into the sky, and the first loose bits of debris begin to crumble to the ground.

Then, a big bang, and the tower, above the pre-existing wide gap that extended right through the middle of the tower, begins to slip away from the rest of the tower, collapsing to the ground. Shortly thereafter, the rest of the tower collapses, enveloped in smoke and dust, and the crowd wildly erupts in cheers at the sight. A few tears of joy also flow sporadically.

Only when the sun has completely disappeared behind the horizon does the dust settle, and the first inhabitants make their way back to Wartwood, or to their own villages.

The Plantars are neither the first nor the last to leave. However, when at some point the first stars are visible in the sky, Hop Pop decides that it is already late, and they should gradually make their way back.

"Do you guys hear that?", Anne asks, all of them still a little while away from Wartwood.

As they approach the village, they discover how festive and brightly lit everything is, to a degree that Anne and Marcy only know from Los Angeles, even if this comparison may be a bit exaggerated. Truly everywhere there are strings of lights, dozens of fragrant smells flowing in all directions, and a small band is playing music audible somewhere in Wartwood. And Anne is currently trying to figure out exactly where the music is coming from, just as an idea hits her a few moments before entering Wartwood. She snaps her fingers excitedly several times as she turns to Hop Pop.

"Hop Pop, do you remember where the dance festival was held a few months ago?", she asks him in an excited voice.

"I certainly do. It was at Mrs. Croaker's barn."

In an instant Anne turns to Marcy, grinning broadly, grasping her hands.

"Shall we?", she asks, nodding her head toward the outskirts of town. Marcy doesn't quite understand yet, but fortunately Anne continues. "I mean, I did promise you a dance, after all, didn't I?"

An excited grin appears on Marcy's face, followed by excessive nodding. Almost instantaneously after that, to the surprise of everyone else riding along atop Bessie, Anne jumps down off of her. She holds up a hand for Marcy as Hop Pop speaks up.

"HAS EVERYONE HERE GONE CRAZY NOW?", he shouts out, just before Marcy looks him straight in the eye and leaps down as well, but gets caught, snickering, by Anne. Together, hand in hand, they start running. Laughing, they now run off from Bessie, on which Hop Pop is now only nagging at his grandchildren. They run through the now fewer tents that stand outside Wartwood's gates. They run towards the source of music, which is getting ever so louder.

The two girlfriends arrive at Mrs. Croaker's barn, its courtyard already bursting with activity, and they're feeling somewhat exhausted, but no less exhilarated.

The dance floor, which is made of planked wood, illuminated on all sides with colored light, is filled with several dancing couples, but also solo dancers, some finely dressed, some not.

Anne and Marcy stumble onto the dance floor just as the last song ended.

"Hey Marshmallow. Were we too fast?", Anne asks in a soft voice.

"N-no... Even though my heart is racing right now... But I think it's more because of the situation.", she assures her. And at that very moment, the band resumed playing.

[Play song: Aftermath (Instrumental), by Oh Geeez]

Marcy realizes that this is a slow song as the band plays the first few notes. Not techno music, not dubstep, not K-pop, not anything that she had ever danced to with both Anne and Sasha.

'Oh Geeez...', she thinks to herself, as nervousness begins filling her mind.

The couples around her begin to move, and Anne stands in front of her, in the middle of the dance floor. She is holding out her hand to her.

"May I have this dance?", Anne asks in her green sbai, bending slightly toward her. Marcy is blushing bright red as she reaches for her hand as Anne pulls her toward her.

They hold each other close, Anne's arms wrapped around Marcy's shoulders and Marcy holding Anne's waist, and they slowly move to the slow plucking of the guitar strings. Marcy leans her head against Anne's shoulder, and the other dancers around them begin to fade into the background. They both close their eyes.

All that they hear are the sweet sounds of the music. All they feel is a sense of warmth, a feeling of safety and peace. All they notice are their slow but strong heartbeats, which begin to beat more and more in sync with each other.

Marcy's nervousness begins to fade, replaced by joy and happiness.

They are lost in the moment, nothing else in the world exists, nothing else in the world is important right now, as they slowly begin to swing to the rhythm of the music.

The two of them open their eyes and look at each other. Marcy's gaze does not meet Anne's beautiful auburn eyes. Instead, it is met by bright, shining, crystal blue eyes.

"Your eyes...", Marcy whispers, still moving to the music together with her girlfriend.

"Your eyes.", Anne repeats with a small smile on her face. For when Anne looks into Marcy's eyes, she does not find her olive-brown eyes, but rather bright emerald green eyes that shine deep into the depths of her soul.

The other dancers begin to fade from their perception. Nothing exists but them and the music.

Adjusting their rhythm to the music, the two girls take up the center of the floor, never breaking eye contact with each other until Marcy leans her head against Anne's shoulder.

Anne brings her hands up to Marcy's neck and nuzzles her lightly, pressing her gently against her. She can feel her heartbeat and is completely enveloped in her warmth.

Feeling as if they are floating, the two girls feel the lightness of the crowd, the warm colors, and the harmony of the world flowing through their hearts. No weight of the world holding them down, no worries to worry about. They only have and need each other.

"I wish this never ends...", Anne murmurs into Marcy's hair.

"Then let's not stop.", Marcy replies quietly, holding her close to her, as she suddenly feels a tear fall down onto her cheek.

She looks up at her girlfriend, who looks back at her with teary eyes and a genuinely happy smile.

"Never.", she replies and they continue to swing to the music, which is slowly coming to an end.

But that doesn't bother them. They have all the time in the world, and they have each other. They are... home. Even if they are never going to admit it to themselves.

"Anne?", Marcy asks.

"Yeah?"

Marcy puts her hand to Anne's face and presses her lips to Anne's as green and blue lights burst from both of them. The lights are so bright and intense that they can be seen even from Newtopia. As the aura around them spreads to every corner of the valley, all of Frog Valley is bathed in feelings of happiness and love.

As they pour all of their love and affection into the kiss, it lasts for what seems like an eternity. At the end of the kiss, when they break apart again, they are aware that they are actually floating. As the band plays the last few notes and the music fades out, they descend, out of breath but happy.

Marcy admires Anne's power form, but just before her eyes and hair return to their regular colors, she notices a hint of cyan running through her blue hair. Marcy quickly tries to catch a glimpse of her own hair, but unfortunately, it's a little too short for that.

They both land back on solid ground just before both of their power forms vanish again, and they are greeted by a cheering crowd, Sprig and Ivy among them.

"Anne, Marcy, that was amazing. I've literally never seen anything so cool.", he compliments her. With a single hand gesture, however, Anne dismisses him.

"Oh, it wasn't that special.", she says.

"Sorry Anne-", Ivy interjects, "But I guess you didn't see what we saw. It was almost like you guys blended together. Well, or at least your powers did. Anyone who wasn't able to see that with their own eyes was definitely missing out."

"Wut?"

"You know what?", Marcy starts, "Let's think about this tomorrow. Anne: Less talki, more danci."

Almost as if on cue, the band begins to play the next song, and although much of the general attention is still on the two humans, they don't let it interrupt their twosomeness. Sprig and Ivy stayed close to them for a little longer, but after a while they left for their own plans.

In the end, Anne and Marcy spent hours at the big festivities until they finally returned to the farm, completely exhausted, quickly changed their clothes, and just fell into their beds.

---

The next morning Anne is the first of the two to wake up, although unfortunately she didn't actually wake up by herself, or because one of the Plantars woke her up. No, she was ripped out of her sleep by a pounding against the basement doors that lead outside.

With a tired and annoyed scowl on her face, she sits up straight, ready to investigate that noise. Before doing so, she turns around to face her girlfriend, only to be surprised to find that she is still fast asleep.

'I'd like to have that sleep too...', Anne envies her.

She gets up, slowly toddles past the stairs towards the ladder that leads to the outside.

Ready to open the hatches, Anne casts one last glance at Marcy as the throbbing continues to ring her ears. She opens one of the hatches, and the thumping stops immediately as an oversized bird now looks her way, its head far too close, staring directly into her eyes. She freezes on the spot.

The bird tilts its head and chirps briefly.

'Is that-', Anne doesn't even finish asking herself that question before she cautiously turns around.

"Mar-", is all she can get out as she notices Marcy already standing next to her, a gleeful and excited sparkle in her eyes. Grinning over both ears, Marcy practically jumps out of the basement, almost falling on her face.

"JOOOEEEE!", she screams and throws herself around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Oh Joe, how I've missed you."

For a few seconds Anne watches this beautiful scene with warm feeling in her heart, and now painless ears. Suddenly Marcy turns back to her as it occurs to her that maybe she should explain herself.

"Right... Um, Anne, yesterday I sent a letter to Newtopia, via messenger bird, to have them send Joe over if we want to go to the first temple later.", she explains. Anne merely blinks in response, creating a slightly uncomfortably long silence.

Eventually, however, Anne speaks up again. "I'm going back to sleep."

Anne closes the hatches again, walks back to her bed, and slumps backwards onto her mattress. However, just before she can travel back to the land of dreams, a familiar voice snaps her back into reality, but this time not from outside, but from the basement hatch that leads up to the living room.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT NOISE?", it's Hop Pop sticking his head into the basement, seemingly just as upset as Anne was.

"YOU'RE ABOUT TWO MINUTES TOO LATE, OLD MAN!", Anne shouts back at him with equal volume before taking one deep breath. "Sorry, HP. Marcy's Sparrow got here earlier. He made the noise. Woke me up, too."

Hop Pop grumbles at that.

"Well, I'm going to have to have some serious and well thought through words with this bird.", he announces, before letting the basement hatch slam shut again at full volume. She simply rolls her eyes at that.

And once again, Anne's mind drifts off into the land of dreams as she notices something moving within her hair. Strained, she turns from side to side until she suddenly hears a slightly painful sound as something falls out of her hair.

"POLLY?! What the heck are you doing in my hair, dude?", Anne tries hard not to yell at her. Fortunately, her explanation doesn't take long to come.

"Your hair is noise absorbing. Didn't you know that?", Polly asks as if it's common sense.

"Okay. That's enough.", Anne admits defeat, "Obviously, some higher powers don't want me to go back to sleep. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Who are you talking to?", Polly asks her flatly.

Not long afterwards, she kicks Polly out of the basement so she can change for the day in peace. Out of her pyjamas and into her everyday SJMS uniform.

As soon as she gets it on, though, her shiny golden armor pieces jump into her eyes.

'Okay, if we're really going to the first temple today, do I really want to drag around all that armor weight while we're there?', Anne thinks to herself as her gaze lingers on it. 'Naaah', she dismisses the thought and slowly strolls up the stairs out of the basement.

After a long drawn out and jaw dropping yawn, Anne suddenly finds Marcy standing right in front of her.

"Oh, hey Marbles. Didn't hear you come back in."

"Yeah... Hop Pop said he wanted to have a serious word with Joe. Alone.", Marcy recounts with a hint of confusion in her voice, "Admittedly, I don't know what he expects to get out of it."

Another not-so-big yawn escapes Anne.

"Whoa, are you okay?", Marcy asks.

"Tired. Wanna sleep, but can't.", is all that escapes Anne right now. Marcy smiles slightly as Anne tries to keep her eyes open.

"Well, we actually have an important day ahead of us today... It wouldn't be unimportant to be well rested...", Marcy states, watching Anne getting more tired by the second, and already having difficulties to stay upright, "Hmm... Maybe I have something that can give you a little energy boost."

Marcy leans forward and gives Anne a kiss on her cheek. When Anne doesn't respond, however, she frowns. Only after several seconds does Anne speak up.

"More please.", she requests.

Marcy showers her girlfriend with kisses, which, except for a few happy smiles on Anne's part, doesn't have much of an impact.

"You know, I might know a drink that will help you stay awake.", Marcy teases.

"Huh?", Anne hums questioningly.

"Have you ever had a bug-accino? It's like a mix of coffee, energy drink, and lemon grubs. Drink five of those and you'll be able to handle a thirty hour day like it's nothing.", Anne merely blinks at her. "Okay, come into the kitchen with me. I'll make you one."

Marcy leads Anne into the Plantars' kitchen, sits her down on one of the seats, and opens some cabinets and drawers in search of the ingredients she needs.

She's boiling water when Hop Pop re-enters the house, muttering something to himself, and joins Anne and Marcy in the kitchen. With an amused tone Marcy speaks up.

"Have you and Joe been able to work out your problems?", she asks with a grin.

"Go on and mock me. I'm talking like forever until I realize I'm talking to a bird...", he sighs.

"I guess you're still pretty tired, too. Shall I make you a bug-accino too?", Marcy asks him, a second cup already in her hand, while he himself is still processing the question.

"Yes, please.", he ultimately replies as Marcy has already prepared the ingredients for his cup as well.

Boiling the water is one of the most time-consuming of the processes to make a bug-accino. The rest is done fairly quickly, and just a few minutes later, Marcy places the two drinks on the table in front of Anne and Hop Pop, hoping they will enjoy them.

They both take a sip from the steaming, foam-covered drink, and within seconds, Marcy observes both Hop Pop and Anne waking up.

"Whoa...", Hop Pop chimes in with amazement, "This is so much stronger than my Gourd Tea..."

"I don't think I've ever been this awake before...", Anne comments. "I see now why the adults all drink coffee..."

"Yep, I regularly drink those at the palace until I pass out from exhaustion. Granted, the ingredients there are a bit different than the ones I found here, so I had to experiment a bit.", Marcy states to which neither Anne nor Hop Pop listen, "I don't know how long the effects will last with this new recipe though. If you guys get tired again, let me know."

"Mhm.", Anne and Hop Pop hum in unison, both draining their drinks and still not listening.

It isn't long before the other two Plantars join them in the kitchen, and they all share a lovely breakfast. As Sprig entered the kitchen, and grabbed some food, a question from last night that Ivy had asked, for which he too has yet to get an answer, popped back into his head.

"So... Anne, Marcy...", he speaks between bites, "What was that thing last night? ... During your dance."

Anne's mind isn't really present yet, but Marcy, who has just sat down, already has some theories right away.

"I did give some thought to that last night, even though I hadn't intended to. My best theory is that Anne's powers and mine have linked up somehow."

"Like cereal mixed with milk?", Sprig asks. Marcy considers that for a moment.

"Not quite... Anne's powers are based on her emotions, from what I understand. If they're particularly strong, it causes her powers to appear and she turns blue. My powers, on the other hand, are more psychokinetic in nature. I can block out my own senses, or amplify them. And I suspect that our powers have combined in that I have somehow spread Anne's, as well as my emotions, all over Frog Valley... But that's also just a theory, not sure how far it actually applies."

"Well, it sounds plausible to me.", satisfied with this answer, Sprig turns back to his breakfast, but Marcy turns to Anne.

"Anne? What do you think?", Marcy's approach attempt is returned by a slightly startled 'huh'.

"Oh, sorry Marbles. While I do feel more awake, my concentration isn't quite there yet.", Anne apologizes.

"Don't worry about it. And while you keep waking up, maybe I should start preparing for the trip to the first temple.", Marcy announces, "We need a map, the box-"

"Supplies! Food!", Polly interjects, screaming.

"Of course. And I need my notepads from my studies of the box... and whatever else I can think of.", Marcy continues. "Anything else you guys can think of?", she asks to which no one responds though.

"Sorry Marcy-", Polly speaks up, "It's too early to think. Better ask again in an hour."

"Alright!", Marcy bumps into the table as she stands up, "Ouch. I'll get started then while you guys wake up, okay?"

And with that, Marcy disappears back into the basement to follow up on her plan, but also to get dressed. After all, this is not an adventure that should be undertaken in pyjamas. In general, there are very few of them where that would be appropriate.

A little more than two hours later, all the Plantars plus Marcy are standing in the living room ready to leave. Anne is carrying her loyal pink and brown backpack slung loosely over one shoulder, filled with odds and ends needed for the temple, among other things. Next to Marcy on the floor are a few books that General Yunan sent with her from Newtopia on Joe, and in her hand, she's holding a notepad on which she's reading something.

"Ou-kay. Seems like we have everything. I just need to see the music box and we're ready to go.", Marcy announces. Anne brings her backpack forward and pulls out the box.

"Here. I hid the box where I hid you-know-what... which I also have with me, by the way.", Anne hands the box to Marcy. Marcy takes the box, but doesn't break eye contact with her.

"Are you sure about that? I mean, I don't think-"

"I'm sure.", Anne cuts Marcy off firmly. "It's just in case."

At that, Polly whispers to Sprig and Hop Pop.

"Do you understand what that's about?", she wonders. Sprig and Hop Pop, however, are equally clueless. Marcy continues.

"Okay... according to my notes, now I just need to...", Marcy's voice fades out, and she begins to examine the box. She pushes in one of the gold plates on the left, then on the right, and lastly the gold frog figurine in the front center. The key of the box turns and plays a little tune just, just before the three gray gems extend from their attachments. Marcy removes one of the three gems from its mount, whereupon the other two instantly snap back into place.

"Here you go, Anne.", Marcy hands the box back to her, but keeps the gem to herself, which she packs briskly into her gray fanny pack.

The five of them are just stepping through the door when Anne is struck by something important.

"OH SHOOT!", she exclaims. Marcy turns around.

"What?"

"I almost forgot: We have to take Maddie with us.", Anne explains. Several questioning faces look at her.

"Why? And why Maddie?", Sprig asks. Anne continues.

"She helped me heal Sasha. In return, I promised her that we would take her to one of the temples."

"Do we really have to?", Sprig groans.

"Yes, we do.", Anne replies firmly, "You guys go get ready, and I'll go see if she's home."

Immediately Anne sprints off in the direction of Flour Bakery while the others get ready for departure.

Anne knocks on the door to the bakery and enters the building. Mr. Flour greets her.

"Good morning, Anne. Good to see you."

"Same-"

"You do know you don't have to knock, don't you?"

"Yeah, sure, sure, didn't get much sleep. Question: Is Maddie around?"

"My oldest seems to be pretty popular these days... Yeah, she's here, hold on.", Mr. Flour turns to the door, located behind the display counter, and opens it. "MADDIE. YOU HAVE A VISITOR!", he shouts, slightly startling Anne.

It doesn't take long for Maddie to come out to that very door, and looking a little surprised to see the human.

"Oh, hello Anne. Is there something I can do for you?", she wonders.

"Back at the Source, you said you wanted to be there when we would be going to recharge the gems...", Anne recounts, "We would be flying out to the first temple, about right now."

"Oh...", Maddie exclaims.

"You already have other plans...", Anne remarks, to which Maddie nods, "I'm sorry, I should have told you earlier."

"The music box has three gems, right?", Maddie questions, to which Anne nods in affirmation, "Then I'll just come along for the second gem."

"All right, perfect.", Anne looks pleased.

"It would be good though if you can give me some notice in advance. Ideally at least a day earlier."

"Sure thing.", Anne assures her before turning around and leaving the bakery again, sprinting back to the Plantars' farm where the others have already taken their seats on Joe Sparrow's back.

"Where's Maddie?", Marcy asks Anne, who is on the ground right next to Joe's wing.

"It was a little too short notice for her. She'll come next time.", Anne explains, to which Sprig exhales in relief.

"Alright. Come on up then.", Marcy invites her, "There should be plenty of room."

Anne climbs up Joe's wing until she discovers a small problem.

"Yo, where is this enough room, please?"

The couch mounted on Joe's back is quite small, and Marcy, Hop Pop, Sprig, Polly, and some thick books are already taking up quite a bit of space.

"Right...", Marcy realizes, just seconds before all of them look at Hop Pop.

"You- you're not going to leave me here, are you?", he stammers. "T- the books. You can put those in Anne's backpack, can't you? O-or under the couch."

"Good idea, HP.", Anne compliments him. She opens her backpack, and Marcy actually manages to squeeze all the books in there, in addition to the food and the music box, making enough room for Anne to squeeze in next to Marcy on the couch.

From her fanny pack, which she had brought forward before Anne sat down next to her, Marcy pulls out a rolled-up piece of paper. She unrolls it, revealing a map of the southern half of Amphibia.

"Okay, so we're ... are here.", Marcy points her index finger to the center of the map, to Wartwood in the southwest of Frog Valley, surrounded by a mountain range with the only opening to the north. Marcy slides her finger west as she continues.

"And we have to fly here. We're flying over the Mold Rot Forest and toward the Amygdala Woods. Fortunately, Joe is one of the fastest Sparrows in Newtopia.", Joe chirps in agreement, "So we shouldn't have to travel too long. Let's go, Joe!"

With an incredibly powerful and dust-raising flap of his wings, he pushes himself off the ground and gains altitude at breakneck speed. His passengers cling to each other and the couch with all their might, trying to counteract the G-forces as they watch him pass over the first mountain peaks and gradually transition into a glide.

Anne speaks up after all of them have been able to take a deep breath.

"A heads up would have been nice Marbles!", she says with her pulse still racing.

"Sorry.", Marcy apologizes to Anne before looking past her to the Plantars, who are looking quite green in their faces as well. "And are you guys okay?"

"Yeah... No... I don't know.", Hop Pop talks to himself. Marcy puts the map back down and pulls out her notebook.

"Note to self: No more booster takeoffs.", she mumbles.

"Tell me Marbles...", Anne begins, "Do you happen to have any idea what we can expect at the temple once we get there? Any info we should probably know ahead of time?"

"Well, I definitely don't feel like any surprises...", Hop Pop comments.

"As a matter of fact, I do.", Marcy replies excitedly, "I had spent some time in Newtopia doing research. And even though the books I had read on it only told the location of only the first temple, it said that all three temples are filled with difficult challenges to keep out the unworthy. We just have to pass all the challenges and then we can charge the Gem."

"Hold on!", Polly speaks up, "Can't we charge all three Gems in just one temple? We'll just prove we're worthy at the first temple and charge all three right away."

"I... don't think that would work.", Marcy falls into a thoughtful pose for a moment, "But, we can definitely try."

"So, what kind of challenges are we talking about here?", Anne wonders.

"The first temple specifically aims to challenge your intelligence. So, I'm sure it's full of puzzles. And never before has a frog, toad, or Newt managed to survive it.", Marcy excitedly shakes her arms, "Ooohh, this is going to be so cool."

"Do you think we'll have to use our powers?", Anne asks with slight worry.

"Unlikely.", Marcy replies, which fills Anne with relief, "These challenges were designed for beings that are native to Amphibia. You and I were never on the agenda."

"It'll be a piece of cake.", Sprig comments.

"I myself rather hope you don't completely forget about us when you're in the zone later, MarMar.", Anne states.

"Oh, please. As if I could forget you guys...", Marcy tries to assure her. With explicit emphasis on 'trying'.

The group arrives at the Amygdala Woods a little earlier than originally expected, which is odd because no one was paying attention to the time.

Joe lands swiftly but carefully in a clearing. He leans slightly to the side so that everyone can slide down over his wing, with Marcy going first.

"Welcome to the Amygdala Woods together, home of the first temple."

"Whoa...", the others stand in awe at the sight of the trees and bushes, which are quite unusual in shape and color. Studying another map, Marcy walks ahead, the rest following behind her.

"What are those things?", Sprig wonders as he points to one of the shorter trees.

"Gyromitra esculenta. Also known as brain mushrooms. And funfact: the name of the forest is curiously related to Amygdalae, which describes a part of the brain that deals with emotions.", Marcy explains without particularly straining her own brain.

"Emotions, right up my alley.", Anne comments snarkily.

"It's just a name, Anne...", Marcy corrects her smiling, well knowing she was only joking. At that Hop Pop speaks up.

"So this is a forest full of brains as a location for the intelligence temple?", he asks. "Isn't that a little, I don't know, suspiciously convenient?"

"Speaking of temples-", Polly has stopped as she noticed something, "I think you way over-hyped this place."

The five of them arrive in front of a dilapidated outhouse consisting of rotten wood and overgrown with moss. On its door at the front is the emblem of Amphibia.

"Oh no no no...", Marcy corrects them, turning everyone's attention one hundred and eighty degrees, "This is the temple."

With their jaws dropped in amazement, the group finds itself in front of a gray, stone temple whose height can easily compete with the royal palace back in Newtopia.

Stacked like a layer cake, the temple consists of nine square storeys from the outside, each of them smaller than the previous, all the way towards the top. But not only the floors themselves vary from each other, the decorations on each of them are different as well. While on the ground level there is a small channel that is fed from the upper level, after that mainly frog and brain motifs increase. Be it statues, wall decorations, or gargoyles. At the very top there is a meter-high statue of one of the three gems.

"Whoa...", everyone, except Marcy, stifles in amazement.

"Come on, guys. Let's go!", Marcy exclaims excitedly, leading the others up the grand staircase that leads to the entrance into the temple.

At the top, the five of them stand in front of a hemispherical frog head, whose mouth represents the yet closed doorway. Large parts of the head are overgrown with moss and grass.

"Alright guys, let's do this!", Marcy chimes in with motivation before Polly clears her throat.

"Don't we have to somehow get this door open first for that?", she remarks.

"Well noticed Polly.", Marcy compliments her and takes a few steps closer to the door. "What do you think will happen if I...?"

Marcy raises her hand and touches the door ever so slightly, before a sound of something dragging over stone is heard, and the massive, stone doors slide apart, releasing a gust of powerful, stale wind towards them all. Immediately, all of them plug their noses, a feeling of nausea overtaking them.

"Urgh...", Sprig speaks up in disgust, "Do we really want to go in there?"

"It smells like no one's been in there in thousands of years, the way the air stinks.", Hop Pop adds. Marcy replies.

"More like a few centuries. Everything here is still way too intact to have been around for millennia...", she corrects him, "Come on!", she runs in excitedly, "The sooner we finish, the sooner we'll be finished."

As Marcy briskly walks ahead, the others are taking a little more time. At first just to get used to the musty air, but then also to marvel at the room itself.

The room itself is quite gloomy, lit only by a few wildly growing, glowing brain mushrooms. They all take a few steps into the room, when Anne notices something on the left wall. More precisely, a mural.

"Um, Marcy?", Anne says, causing Marcy to turn to her, "Didn't you say that you and I were never on the agenda?"

"Yeah...", she replies.

"Then why are there humans pictured here?", Anne continues to ask, which now completely hogs Marcy's attention.

"WHAT?", she exclaims in disbelief. The mural, which is mostly overgrown with ivy, shows two human-like figures. One of them with a sword, facing a huge monster. "This can't be... Wait a minute, that one looks like Sasha...", Marcy continues to observe.

"There's another human up there.", Sprig notices, " I can only see its legs, though. The rest is too overgrown."

"Why didn't we bring Frobo with us, anyway? He could burn the plants down with his flamethrower.", Polly notes, whereupon everyone present looks at her in silent agreement.

"You're right.", Marcy, still confused, agrees, "But boy, this is really messing with my head right now... I mean- HOW?"

"Maybe it's all just a coincidence.", Hop Pop interjects, "Maybe it shows a creature that once lived here in Amphibia, but is now extinct."

"Whatever it is-", Anne pulls out her phone and steps back a few meters to take a few pictures of it, "We shouldn't let it get in the way of the mission. We can think about it later, all right?"

After some further pondering, the five of them walk deeper into the temple until Polly inadvertently steps on a pressure plate.

"Uh-oh."

All around them, mushroom lights begin to illuminate, having previously blended perfectly with the stone walls, revealing yet another even larger door.

In the exact center of the door is another depiction of the gem. Above it, but also on both sides to the right and left of it, there are a total of three circles, each containing a small image. The circle on the left contains, seemingly a Rubik's cube. The circle on the right contains three colored squares. The circle above shows two figures plus the board of the game Flipwart. On the lower third of the door, a text consisting entirely of amphibian runes begins to light up.

"Did I learn an entire dead language just for today? You better believe I did!", Marcy announces. She pulls out her notebook, and steps closer to the door. She begins to translate. "'Keeper of the box, one strong of mind, three trials await, that will return the stones' shine.' Those are the three puzzles, guys."

The floor begins to shake slightly, and the two massive doors open, revealing- a small room. "Huh?"

"A dead end?", Sprig observes, "Well, we tried. Let's go home."

"Hey, come on.", Marcy stops Sprig from leaving, her optimism unfortunately having no effect on the others. "The puzzle has to be here somewhere. Everyone, look for clues!"

The five of them split up. Marcy is the first to enthusiastically run off, and devotes herself to more runes that she has discovered on a wall. Hop Pop stares intently into nothing. Polly examines the floor closely, looking for more pressure plates. Sprig merely looks at a wall, and Anne walks around bored, aimlessly, until she almost kicks a metal cube.

She picks it up.

"Hehe, guess who found the puzzle?", she exclaims as a spherical green force field materializes around her and lifts her into the center of the room. "WHOA!" she screams in slight terror. Hop Pop gasps in shock.

"Frog, help us. A cursed cube possessed by evil magic.", he shouts as Marcy seems to rejoice.

"That looks just like my own force field.", she exclaims happily, "This is definitely my temple!".

"Well, whatever it is, all yours, Marbles.", Anne, floating in the air in the force field, tosses the cube to her, causing the bubble to burst, and Anne to fall to the ground onto the Plantars. They all groan at her impact. Marcy has caught the cube perfectly, and the force field now forms around her, lifting her high into the air as well as she studies the cube.

"Whoa, this thing's got, like, a zillion permutations. If this temple thinks it can beat me, it's got another thing coming.", Marcy chimes in victoriously, all her attention focused on the cube. She rotates the first side of the cube and the ground beneath Anne and the Plantars begins to shake.

"Uh, guys-", Polly was about to start when the center of the room spins completely ninety degrees. The floor they were first standing on is now the wall.

Panicked, Sprig and Hop Pop hold onto the wall, and Anne with Polly on her head holds onto them. A nauseous Sprig speaks up.

"Are any of you also just having your breakfast come back up?"

"Hold it in, dude!", Anne calls to him before turning to Marcy in a panic, "Marcy! Can you at least let us know what you're gonna move before you move it?"

Sprig and Hop Pops hold on the wall wears off and with a painful sounding groan, they fall, crashing to the floor.

Marcy unfortunately missed that last part and is completely lost in the zone. She turns another row of the cube one hundred eighty degrees, and flings Anne and the Plantars across the room. They hit the ground with a crash after flying high through the room, the only difference being that this time, the Plantars land on Anne.

"Ouch...", Anne groans, 'That's gonna bruise'.

Marcy spins another row, and flings them back across. Instead of hitting the floor, however, Anne manages to activate her powers and catch all the Plantars before they hit the solid stone floor and hurt themselves even further. Carrying all three of them, Sprig on one arm, Hop Pop on the other, and Polly on her head, she hovers just above the ground in a way that prevents them from being thrown around. They all exhale in relief, breathing with a sense of security.

This feeling doesn't last long, however, as a boulder suddenly shoots up from underneath Anne, sending her crashing into the ceiling.

"Fortunately, these forces come with pain resistance.", Anne says, just before a column shoots out from the wall directly under her feet and slams full force into the wall on the other side. "Okay, that's enough."

At that, Anne hovers closer to Marcy, sure that they most likely won't get hit by anything there.

Anxiously, the four of them watch Marcy shift the individual sides of the cube with her eyes fixed and unblinking, seemingly without any sense or pattern. And all this while all around them they spin walls, or shoot out pillars that dart across the room, some just millimeters away from crushing them.

"Ha! Got it!", Marcy suddenly speaks up, having just pushed the last two pieces into their correct positions. Shortly after, two huge doors begin to open, revealing a staircase leading upward.

Marcy's force field descends to the ground and disintegrates. Anne, still carrying the Plantars, follows her down.

"We did it! One down, two to go...", Marcy speaks excitedly at first, tossing the dissolved cube to the floor, which shatters in response, but now glances at Anne, "Did I miss anything?"

Anne's powers fade out.

"Oh, not really-", Polly speaks up sarcastically, "You merely threw a whole room at us."

"Oh, okay, if it's nothing else...", Marcy replies with a happy tone, "On to the next puzzle guys. WOOHOO!"

Marcy runs off up the stairs cheering, as the others look after her in disbelief. Well, except Anne. She's not surprised.

"She really didn't get it, did she?", Polly wonders.

"Nope.", Anne replies flatly. "Come on, let's keep moving."

Due to Marcy's, let's say, unathleticism, it was quite easy for Anne and the Plantars to catch up to her, though only after they arrive at the next puzzle chamber. They find Marcy standing thoughtfully in front of a small drop.

"Oh, hey, a dance floor!", Anne observes.

About two meters below them is a colorful area consisting of square, luminous tiles, each in one of three colors: Green, pink, and red.

On the opposite side is the presumed exit. The door is a lot smaller than the last ones, but also shows another mural. On it is depicted a frog wearing a noble robe. Above his head are three prominent symbols: A flame, a brain, and an open book.

"Uhh... not quite.", Marcy kneels on the edge and lifts a stone, "Watch."

she tosses the stone over the edge, and it eventually lands on a red tile. The weight of the stone causes the tile to drop down a little, and a ceiling-high jet of fire shoots out of it. Not even ten seconds later, the tile seals itself again, and the jet of fire dissipates.

"Woah.", Sprig exclaims, "Really not getting good vibes from this room."

"Welp. Time to turn back. Thanks for playing, everyone!", Polly is totally already giving up, when suddenly something happens within the chamber. Hop Pop speaks up.

"Hold on, gang. Look!"

Once around the room, large Amphibian runes appear on the walls. Immediately, Marcy pulls out her notebook and begins to translate.

"'A dangerous room. What to do? Don't be jealous of my hue.'"

"Huh?", everyone hums in confusion. Marcy kneels down again, and picks up another stone.

"Hmm... I wonder...", she doesn't complete this sentence, and throws the stone over the edge as well. The stone lands on one of the pink tiles this time. As with the red tile, the very weight of the stone causes it to sink in a bit, and moments later a rock studded with iron spikes falls from the ceiling, instantly crushing the stone to grit.

"Ouu...", Hop Pop flinches.

"Okay, so pink is death by flame, blue is death by crushing.", Anne summarizes, "I still don't quite understand what the riddle is supposed to be here- MARCY!"

Without warning, Marcy runs forward and jumps down from the ledge as fast as she can. Using her crossbow, she launches a grappling arrow, swings forward with it, and lands on one of the two green, albeit rather wobbly, tiles, which, like the others before them, locks into place. A tremendous sense of relief fills Anne in particular when she sees that nothing is happening.

"Marcy, you know I love you and all your quirks-", she starts calmly, "But NEVER do that again!"

"Don't worry Anne, green is the safe color.", Marcy calls out to her.

"I'm starting to see a pattern...", Sprig mumbles to himself. Marcy, who couldn't hear him continues.

"The solution was in the text. 'Don't be jealous of my hue.' It's a reference to green, the color of envy.", she explains, "And it was the only color left."

"Ah, yes, naturally.", Sprig says mindlessly to himself.

"I have a lot of green friends who would find that offensive.", Hop Pop comments before Polly makes a not insignificant discovery.

"If green is the solution, then why isn't the door open yet?", she asks, causing all of them look over to the door. Marcy ponders, glancing first at the door, then at the rest of the field.

"Hmm. Looks like this is a two-person job. Someone go stand on the other green square...", Marcy suggests, "Anne?"

"No Anne!", Sprig is worried, "What if it's a trap door?"

"Yeah, with spikes on the bottom...", Polly adds.

"Not helping, Polly.", Hop Pop scolds her. Anne looks at Marcy and considers for a moment.

"I'll do it.", she says firmly before turning to the Plantars, "And before you say anything: I have superpowers, you don't. Even if it's a trap, I'll be fine."

"We know.", Sprig replies for all of them.

With a smile, Anne summons her powers again and lifts slightly off the ground, slowly gliding to the second green tile, which immediately locks into place.

Shortly after, the door begins to raise, and all the other tiles in the room turn green. Marcy carefully steps down from her tile, just to be on the safe side.

"Okay, it's safe, guys. You can come down now, too.", Marcy calls out to the others. And while the Plantars jump down to them and Anne makes her powers disappear again, Marcy is already running excitedly towards the now open door.

"Whoo! What did I tell ya? This temple is toast! Consider the stone charged, baby!", she cheers and disappears again behind the next corner. The others run after her, just until she sticks her head back into the room, holding her hand out for Anne.

"I just nearly forgot about you guys.", Marcy defends herself, despite the fact that no one has said anything, and the others are just looking at her in mild surprise. "Only nearly. Really, that's important."

"Umm... sure.", Sprig says weirdly.

"Really, I need you to believe me.", Marcy insists with her hint of desperation in her voice.

"Yeah, sure. We believe you.", Anne says.

"Yeah, speak for yourself.", Polly mutters barely audibly.

"OU-KAY!", Anne rushes in, in case Marcy was actually able to hear her, "Let's just move on, shall we?"

At that Marcy now grabs Anne's arm and yoinks her toward the next room.

"Come on, let's go then.", she tugs her behind her with a smile. "Off to the last challenge!", she shouts excitedly.

The five of them first walk briskly and motivated along a long, stone spiral staircase, before they wander along a seemingly endless corridor. It goes around corners, up stairs, and back down again - it's like a labyrinth, not with the aim of creating confusion, but of fueling demotivation.

Only after more than an hour of running around through the always identically arranged corridors and hallways, which were only distinguishable from each other by the degree of decay, does the group reach something that points to the next and last puzzle.

"Man is this a long hallway...", Sprig comments just before Marcy excitedly gasps. Immediately in front of them the corridor gets a little smaller and narrower, and directly above them another text lights up in Amphibian runes.

"Ha! Here we are. The final puzzle.", she exclaims and takes out her notebook again, "Okay, what do we have here? 'Few have the brains to make it to this door, but are you wise enough to solve what's in store?'"

"Of course.", Hop Pop answers that, though not without a hint of insecurity in his voice, "Right?"

"Right.", Marcy chimes in, "Let's go!".

Heads first, literally, Marcy runs off into the room ahead of them. The others behind her hear her gasping loudly in excitement as they catch up to her.

"I don't believe it!", Marcy exclaims, "It's flipwart!"

"What's flipwart?", Anne wonders after the others catch up to her.

"It's a strategy game I learned to play in Newtopia. It's like chess, but to the max. I got so good at it, I even beat King Andrias.", she explains.

"Impressive.", Hop Pop compliments her, "They say King Andrias is one of the best flipwart players around."

Marcy sprints forward to the small table where the flipwart board is set up, along with all the black pieces already in place. Marcy opens a small drawer on the side of the table, where it appears all the white pieces are stored, and takes out one of the pieces and shows it to the others.

"So, both sides have a wart, right? It's kind of like the king in chess. And the goal is to flip the wart! Each piece has a different set of abilities. These archers, for example, can only attack in a straight line. Oh, I love this game!"

As Marcy explains, Hop Pop moves away from the group, having spotted another glowing panel containing Amphibian runes.

"Hmm...", he hums, "Hey Marcy, what does this say?"

"'Any commander whose war falls, may never set foot inside these temple walls.'", she immediately begins to translate, "Looks like I only get one shot at this. One shot is all I need.", Marcy cracks her knuckles, "But first, to set up the board..."

Marcy begins to pull out the white pieces from the drawer as Sprig speaks up.

"Well, I guess we'll just sit back quietly and watch.", he comments. Polly is chilling right next to him.

"Yeah, it'll be nice to sit this one out 'cause these flippas be tired after all that- AAH!", a shaft pops open below Polly, which closes just as quickly as it opened after she disappeared into it.

"POLLY!", they scream and a part of the room lights up in front of Marcy, that was previously hidden in complete darkness.

"A giant flipwart board?", Marcy wonders. At that very moment Polly appears on that board, built into one of two white towers.

"Polly, are you alright?", Sprig calls down to her.

"Okay?", she echoes somewhat offended, "I've got a sword, baby! I'm doing better than all of you."

Anxiously, Anne reaches for Marcy's shoulder.

"Marbles, do you think we should stop? This could get dangerous."

"We don't have a choice, Anne.", she replies, and Anne knows she isn't wrong, "We wanna get back to earth, right? Then we've gotta play or we'll never recharge the stone."

"She has a point.", Hop Pop agrees. Marcy turns and grabs Anne's hands.

"Trust me, okay?", Marcy looks deep into her eyes, "I know what I'm doing."

Anne pulls Marcy to her for a strengthening kiss before speaking up.

"Okay, I trust you."

Marcy places more white pieces onto the board, and both Hop Pop and Sprig disappear into the ground before reappearing on the board. Hop Pop reappears right next to Polly, also now dressed as a game piece.

"Ooh, I get a scepter!", he says in amazement, just before Sprig appears diagonally in front of him. Polly speaks up.

"Haha. You're a pawn.", she mocks her brother.

Marcy has set most of her pieces by this point, and Anne is getting increasingly nervous.

"Get ready Anne. There's a good chance you'll be next...", Marcy states, which doesn't help at all. On the contrary, the sweat of fear is already clearly visible on Anne's forehead.

In a single movement, Marcy spreads out the rest of her pieces, while Anne squints her eyes in anticipation. She signs in relief and surprise as nothing seems to have happened.

"Oh, looks like I'm not in the game. Well, you guys have fun, I guess-", though even as she speaks the floor beneath her lights up and she falls in. When she reappears on the big board, however, she finds herself not on Marcy's side, but as the opponent's figure.

"Wait, what?", Hop Pop exclaims.

"Anne, no!", Sprig calls out.

"Traitor!", Polly accuses her.

"No, that's good.", Anne says sounding optimistic, "I'll just play badly and sabotage the other team. Didn't think of that, did ya, temple? Ha! Let's sabotage this thing!", before Anne can do any damage, small force fields appear on her wrists, controlling her movement from now on. She groans at that. "Okay, I can't move."

The same thing now happens to the Plantars. Their movements are now controlled by the game board as well.

"Anne?", Sprig speaks up, "What's going on?"

"Our hands are tied, literally.", Hop Pop explains before all four of them try to fight it. Marcy speaks up.

"Don't worry, guys. I'll just play well enough so that none of you gets hurt. It'll be like hard mode!", she chuckles, clapping her hands, before she continues, "Fun."

Marcy leans over the board, planning her first move.

"Okay, white goes first, so it's our turn. Let's flip this wart!"

The match actually starts quite well for Marcy. Right at the beginning she has the opportunity to destroy some essential figures of the opponent, and that without exposing her friends to even a hint of danger. As time goes on, however, this becomes more and more difficult, as Marcy also loses more and more of her own pieces, partly as a sacrifice to protect her friends.

It doesn't take long before the playing field is filled with debris from destroyed game pieces on both sides, but her friends are also increasingly battered and distraught by all the violence. They are gradually running out of energy.

The game drags on for quite a while, though so far Marcy has actually managed to destroy all of the opponent's pieces, with the exception of Anne, a tower, and the wart.

"Gotta admit, this temple's good, but not good enough. Gotcha!", Marcy places her piece right in front of the opponent's wart, "We win!"

Marcy's figure sets to attack, but the opposing wart dodges it. But not only that, he begins to openly and directly taunt her. Cheeky grin, nasty laugh... It knows exactly that it has cheated and celebrates itself. And Marcy needs a moment to come to terms with reality.

"Huh? WHAT? NO! Guys, this thing cheated!", she yells aghast.

And while Marcy is still thinking about it and what to do now, the temple makes Anne attack Hop Pop.

"HOP POP! WATCH OUT!", she yells as she lashes out with her massive lance. She fights it with all her might, but first ends up shattering his scepter before hitting him full force in the face. "AAH, I'M SOO SORRY", she screams and hits him again. And again.

"AH!", Sprig yells out watching all this, "MARCY! DO SOMETHING!"

Straining to think, Marcy leans on the smaller version of the board before sighing seemingly in defeat. But no. Rather, she made a decision.

"Don't worry guys. There's no reason to give up, because we still have our secret weapon.", she grins diabolically, all the while her eyes and hair slowly turn green, albeit a darker shade than normal. "Let's do this, temple! We can both play this game!"

The opposing Wart first looks up at her in fear before they stare at each other in determination. "It's on!"

What follows is a forty-five minute game of cat and mouse, with Marcy repeatedly trying to keep her friends away from Anne as well the other black pieces, and looking for as many opportunities as possible to attack the opposing Wart, who continues to evade their attacks each time. And while Marcy desperately tries to find a way out, the others notice how the green aura around Marcy is getting darker and darker.

"Marcy! You have to stop!", Anne finally calls out to her.

"Don't worry Anne, I can do this.", Marcy replies with confidence in her voice, even as she increasingly notices her physical strength dwindling.

"MARCY, WAIT! Look at me!", Anne yells up to her, and actually manages to get her attention, "Look around. Look at us, we're all messed up. And so are you, and you're desperately trying to delay something you cannot escape. And I know this because you saved me from the exact same fate when I lost control of my abilities after learning what Hop Pop had done.", Hop Pop gulps with guilt. Anne continues. "I beg you, please stop. We might not make it home then, so what?"

"But... But your parents...", Marcy stutters. With a heavy heart, Anne lowers her gaze to the floor.

"I miss them. A lot...", she admits, "But it's not worth it if the family I found here gets hurt because of it."

Open-mouthed, Marcy stares at Anne as she considers her words.

"Please-", Anne continues, "stop."

Marcy takes one deep breath, her powers leaving her body to disappear. Her legs give way under her body weight, and she holds onto the table with her arms with all her might.

"Screw this...", she mutters before raising her voice and waving her wart over, "I FORFEIT!"

Instead of making it all stop, however, Anne now lunges for another, and possibly final, blow against Hop Pop.

"No, no, no, no, no!", Anne yells in a panic, as Hop Pop begins to scream.

"It didn't work.", Marcy watches, "I might have to knock the big wart over as well."

Marcy jumps down onto the big board. The white wart turns to face her, and a loud alarm goes off. Two figures position themselves by the wart and target Marcy with their weapons. They fire lasers at her, and fortunately she is able to dodge quickly. She ducks behind Sprig, who blocks the laser beams fired at her with his shield.

"What the heck's going on?", he asks tensely.

"I'm trying to throw this game, but it won't let me!", Marcy declares, her hands protectively above her head as an idea strikes her, "I need your help."

"Help you? How?", he asks, just before Marcy lifts him up and throws him at the wart with his shield ahead, hurling him off his pedestal. The wart falls to the ground and shatters, and Marcy's legs have now finally run out of any strength. With a sense of shame, she sinks to the ground, all while all the other game pieces dissolve into sand, releasing Anne, Sprig, Polly, and Hop Pop.

They all fall to the ground. Anne, who should probably be complaining about pain based on how far she has fallen, instead immediately runs to Marcy, who is sitting on the floor with her hands in front of her face, slightly crying.

"Marcy?", Anne kneels down next to her before the rest of the Plantars join her. "Marcy, I don't understand."

"Yeah-", Hop Pop agrees, "Why'd you throw the game?"

Marcy sniffles. "Because you were right, Anne. I was so obsessed with winning that I forgot everything else. I was so blinded, that I couldn't see what I almost lost... I care about your guys."

"Well, in your defense, the game definitely cheated.", Sprig says, giving Marcy a small smile.

"Yeah, I still think you're pretty smart. A little obsessive, though.", Polly also tries to cheer her up a little.

"And don't worry, Marcy. We care about you too.", Hop Pop states.

"Thank you, guys. Really, I mean it.", Marcy says again smiling a little more, but still with the feeling of defeat present.

The ground in front of them suddenly starts to glow green, and green arrows leading out of the chamber. Also, three huge green arrows appear on the wall, at the very entrance through which the group entered earlier.

"I got it, temple. I wasn't smart enough to win, but I can find the exit, okay?", Marcy is frustrated and tries to get up, but fails. "Um, Anne, could you help me? I think I've overexerted my powers a little too much."

"And... scoop."

With a smile on her face, Anne reaches for Marcy and now carries her in her arms.

The arrows lead back into the passage that seemed endless before, but this time less than a few minutes pass before the five of them find themselves outside again. They also somehow bypassed the two previous chambers.

"Huh?", Sprig hums, "That was a lot faster than before..."

"Be glad of it, boy. I'm way too exhausted to go all the way plus through the first two rooms. This shortcut works out just fine for me.", Hop Pop comments as the group descends the stairs outside.

On the bottom step, Anne sets Marcy down, and they all take a well-deserved break.

"Guess we won't be charging the stone today, huh?", Anne asks, feeling bad. But not for her, but rather for her girlfriend.

"No.", Marcy confirms disheartened, "And since I lost, I'm not allowed back in the temple. You guys will have to try it all again- without me."

"We'll manage, dude. Somehow.", Anne tries to cheer her up when Polly suddenly speaks up.

"Hey, guys.", she catches their attention a few meters in front of them, "The failure arrow wants us to keep going this way." Polly points to the green glowing arrows leading further away from the temple. Marcy, sighing, tries to get up, but struggles. Anne immediately jumps up to support her.

"Well, if we're gonna lose, might as well lose all the way.", Marcy says, and the group slowly starts moving again.

It becomes clear very quickly where the arrows lead, because the last of them points to an object that the five of them have already passed before.

"What? The outhouse?", Sprig questions, now totally confused.

"Anne, please help me open the door.", Marcy asks her. Anne nods and helping each other, they walk to the door, open it, and stand there in awe.

The inside of the outhouse is full of flashing green drawings, graphics, and text that make all of them gasp.

"No, it can't be...", Marcy mutters thoughtfully at first, before continuing more than excitedly, "Guys, this is where we load the stone."

"Huh?", everyone else asks in confusion.

"But we lost...", Hop Pop adds. Marcy carelessly tears herself away from Anne and is now kneeling in front of the hole in the ground, apparently ready to stick her hand in.

"I wouldn't recommend touching that.", Hop Pop contorts his face in disgust. Marcy touches the edge of the seat, seemingly setting off a mechanism. A pedestal rises out of the hole, and on the top is an opening perfectly sized for the gem. When the pedestal is fully extended, another text lights up on the wall behind it.

"Only the worthy will have the wisdom to choose whether it's more important to win, or have the humility to lose. A choice was made to save thy friends and, honestly, doesn't that make you a winner in the end?'", Marcy translates.

"That last bit was oddly casual.", Anne comments before Marcy continues.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of it sooner? The temple wasn't just testing for intelligence. It was also testing for humility!", she realizes. Polly, sitting on Sprig's cap speaks up.

"Well don't give the temple a chance to change it's mind. Charge that bad boy!", she ordersher . Marcy pulls out the gray gem from her fanny pack, and carefully places it in the opening on the top of the pedestal.

The gem glows a blinding green, and just a few seconds later, the gem is fully charged, and all text and graphics inside the outhouse have disappeared.

"We did it?", Anne asks Marcy.

"WE DID IT!", Marcy celebrates, and the others join in. This cheering doesn't last too long, as a slight shockwave escapes from the Gem, and an intense beam of green light leads out of the outhouse. Marcy immediately suspects why, as she picks up the gem again and briefly observes it.

"Guys, I think it's leading us to the next temple."

"Uh, that's good.", Anne comments. Marcy's knees buckle again, and Anne catches her once more. "Be careful, don't overexert yourself."

"Don't worry. I'm definitely going to need a break after today.", Marcy admits, "But I should also probably take it easy on my powers for a while. That really drained me earlier."

"Good idea.", Anne agrees, "What do you guys think? Should we go back home?"

"Yes, please.", all of them agree unanimously before they head back together to Joe Sparrow and fly back to Wartwood.

---

Later, somewhere back in Newtopia

"The prophecy is being undone as we speak, my Lord. The first gem is already fully charged.", Andrias speaks humbly as he kneels on the ground, his crown before him in his hands. "I had assured you that it won't be necessary to eliminate-"

"The humans still pose a threat to our plans. We expect you to eliminate this threat!... Your sympathies for these lower beings make you weak."

"They- they- they are useful. And as long as they don't know our plan-", Andrias gets interrupted.

"You've already stated your position more than once. We will not repeat our orders!", they sound displeased.

"I... I will personally see to it that they will not stand in our way. No one will suspect anything until it's too late.", Andrias speaks with determination and rises.