Deep inside a cave's tunnel, a small newt was excavating their way through a sealed opening, hoping to find some strange treasures or secrets long undisturbed by nature. As the ancient gate shattered into pieces, it revealed a massive hall where something in its center caught the newt's attention.
His eyes widened in awe as he stepped forward, observing the beautiful gem resting on an old pedestal. As he slowly approached it, looking out for traps, he suddenly paused when he felt the room starting to rumble. A large beast began to emerge from the shadows, presumably the one guarding the treasure. Before it could see him, the newt dashed back through the opening and hid behind the corner just as the beast turned in his direction.
"Well, that is most troublesome," he muttered, wiping the sweat beading on his forehead. He debated what to do, when a new idea hatched in his head. Perhaps he would need some… outside help.
Chapter Thirty-One - The Great Gem Robbery
It had been two long weeks since Hop Pop had won the mayoral election against Toadstool and practically banished him from Wartwood, as neither he nor Toadie were seen since. The town had mostly forgotten about them, though Luz wondered where they had gone.
By now, Hop Pop's schedule was loosening enough to let him stay at the house two days a week, so this meant more work for the kids to do. Not only were they performing house chores like farming and cooking, but they also had to help Felicia out with the tea shop. Needless to say, they weren't seeing Hop Pop as much anymore. Meanwhile, the Plantar family stand was already closed for the time being, and thank goodness for that. Luz didn't think she'd get enough sleep if she had that on top of her plate too.
Luckily, the old frog's work had lightened up dramatically once he began addressing Wartwood's debts, and so that day, for the first time in what felt like forever, he was able to spend most of the afternoon at the house with his children just like old times.
"Alright, kiddos," Hop Pop announced, cleaning some breakfast-laden dishes. "I'm going to spend this afternoon helping rebuild the schoolhouse, so I'm sendin' y'all to a daycare just outside Wartwood's borders."
Luz, who was wiping the table, froze at the words, feeling they were just treated as toddlers. "Um… Can't we just go to the tea shop like we do whenever you're busy?"
"Ordinarily, yes," Hop Pop explained. "However, let's just say the tea shop is dealing with some… bugs."
At the tea shop, things were in chaos as tons of giant roaches were scampering and flooding the tables and floors all around the establishment. Sylvia looked on in horror while Felicia and Ivy tried to fight off the killer roaches, all of them realizing this was going to be a long day.
"Mother, I thought I told you to check the yeast for eggs!" Felicia scolded, kicking a bug in its face.
"I apologize greatly, but you need to know I was busy that night!" Sylvia gently but firmly responded. "There were so many goods and produce that I didn't even realize what time of year it was!"
"Ivy! Behind you!" Felicia suddenly shouted out.
Ivy turned and landed a kick on a roach just in time before it bit her.
"Ohhh… Are you sure they can handle it?" Luz worriedly asked, willing to head to the shop and help if needed. Sprig, too, was ready to help out his friends.
"They'll be fine. It ain't the first time," Hop Pop assured them with a chuckle, happy to see that his courageous adopted granddaughter hadn't changed. "Besides, this could even be a little vacation for you all. They'll give you plenty of time to bond with others and maybe work on those spells of yours. How's that sound?"
"Ughhh… I'd rather fight the bugs!" Polly complained loudly. "Why do we have to go to a daycare? Can't we just stay here?"
"While I'm sure you three would be okay, someone still needs to look after you," Hop Pop told her. "Chervil Flour is very busy with the bakery, and Mrs. Croaker…" He winced. "She isn't the biggest fan of babysittin'." He was tempted to add that she didn't like Sprig for whatever reason, but felt it wasn't appropriate.
While a bit disappointed, Luz was still intrigued at getting to explore more of Amphibia. "That… sounds great! When are we leaving?"
"Just about to, once you're ready," the old frog replied. However, before he could get Bessie, a giant mosquito bug landed on the edge of the window, holding a letter for him. Surprised, Hop Pop opened the letter and read it, his face dropping in shock. "Oh, Frog… Looks like the infestation is spreading. Change of plans, kids, I need to leave right now to deal with this before it gets worse." He sighed. "Never a dull moment… Okay, Luz, do you think you could take the kids? Daycare's just straight ahead from Wartwood's exit. It's run by the Bogwaters. You can't miss it."
The human frowned a bit. While she didn't mind taking on the extra responsibility, she felt bad for Hop Pop, as he now had to spend one of his free days worrying about the town's problems. Luz didn't blame him in any way but hoped that they could someday spend some more time together soon. "I understand. I'll get to it," she said.
The old frog nodded in approval. "Alright, good. I'll see you kids later." Just as he began walking out, the mosquito gave him a look and made a high-pitched buzz, pointing to its elongated nose, which pressured him to reach out his arm in resignation. "Okay, okay, I know the routine by now. I have work to do today, so don't take too much." Once that was done, he finally walked out of the front door without a second thought, leaving the children alone.
Luz sighed as she finished cleaning the kitchen while packing some emergency curses and potions. "Alright then. You guys ready to go?" she asked as she brought Bessie out of her penthouse.
"Yep! As ready as I'll ever be," Sprig replied as they finally headed off, leaving the house. Luz hoped that nothing would happen to their home while they were gone. They left Wartwood once more and headed straight down the recommended detour into the forest.
Luz watched silently as she steered Bessie, making sure the snail didn't go off track. She hadn't driven the snail that much, but it already felt like she'd done it a million times at that point. She was happy to have Bessie as a means of transportation; the two of them had practically become best friends.
After about half an hour, they finally made it to the entrance of the daycare. Well, at first glance, it didn't look like a daycare, but more like a miniature Toad Tower. The worn-down stone structure was about as tall as two trees, with a blue flag at the top. The place immediately piqued Luz's interest, curious about its history in this world.
Just as they were about to hop off and head toward the front door, it suddenly shot open, making them all flinch. Standing there was the instructor—a regal green newt wearing a deep navy blue coat with golden trim, a tricorn hat, and small, round glasses.
"Greetings," the newt said in a heavy Spanish accent, giving them a polite bow. "I am Tritonio Espada, the instructor of this daycare."
"Oh, uh, hello!" Luz greeted, a bit surprised but also intrigued by this new figure. She recognized his last name, Espada, meaning 'sword' in Spanish. "I'm Luz Noceda. It's nice to meet you! But aren't the Bogwaters in charge of this place?"
"The Bogwaters retired last year and sold their business to me," the newt simply replied, keeping his expression blank.
"Oh, well, this is Sprig," the human said, gesturing to the pink frog, then to the tadpole, who blew a raspberry at the newt. "And this is Polly. We were sent by Hop P-... Hopediah to attend your daycare."
"Ah, yes, I've heard rumors about you," Tritonio replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he glanced carefully at Luz. "The creature who rebelled against the toads during tax season and allowed a frog to become mayor for the first time in centuries. You are heading down a dangerous path, girl."
Luz began to sweat as he stared at her intently, and then his face suddenly broke out in a wide grin. "And I commend you for that! No need for pleasantries any longer," Tritonio said. "So, let us cast aside these illusions!" The newt threw off his regal outfit, revealing a red French jacket, a brown belt, and white sleeves. Below, he was wearing gray pants and black-heeled boots. His dark hair was wild and untamed, just like how he was.
"Whoa…" Sprig and Polly reacted in awe at his new look. Luz was equally intrigued, and while she also had a strange feeling about this guy, her curiosity won out. He seemed so cool!
"And this is no mere daycare," Tritonio continued as he kicked the daycare sign at the entrance, causing it to spin and stop to dramatically reveal the other side, which had much more violent implications. "This is a Combat Crash Course… for kids!" he announced.
Sprig and Polly were head over heels for the chance to do something more exciting than typical daycare slop. Luz, on the other hand, was a bit nervous. She was hoping to catch a break for once and just have time to herself—maybe keep studying Amphibia's history or work on her potions. However, maybe this could be a huge opportunity for her. After all, she was terrible at combat, and if this guy was who he seemed to be, this could be her chance to adapt better to this dangerous world.
"Adults… they shelter their children," Tritonio continued, pacing back and forth with an annoyed expression on his face. "I say no!" he exclaimed with a smirk as he stepped on the edge of a twig, causing it to fly up in the air, where he caught it. "Teach them to fight, for danger lurks around every corner of Amphibia."
Suddenly, he dashed up to Luz with impressive speed and leaped up, making her flinch. "Stay on your toes!" he instructed before doing the same to the other two. "Trust no one!" He then spun around, his eyes widening as he pointed to the sky. "AH! Look over there!" he yelled.
Sprig immediately fell for it and yelped in surprise, only to receive a smack on the head by the stick Tritonio was holding. "I said trust no one!" he scolded. "Now, follow me, and we will begin the next lesson!" With that, he headed toward the entrance of the combat camp, where Sprig followed him, asking to be hit again.
"This guy's awesome!" Polly exclaimed on top of Luz's head, impressed by the guy's attitude.
"I know, right?" Luz replied excitedly, but before she could get too immersed, she remembered that Bessie needed somewhere to stay for the time being. "Uh, Mister Tritonio, sir, do you have someplace safe I can put my snail?"
The instructor stopped right as he reached the entrance and glanced at Bessie. "Ah, that's right. Worry not, as there is an old penthouse in the very back."
The human nodded and led Bessie behind the tower into the penthouse. It looked to have not been used for decades, so Luz had to clean it herself, unfortunately, but she at least got a comfortable place for the snail to live for the time being. After feeding the snail, she joined the instructor as they entered the spacious tower filled with all kinds of dangerous weapons. The interior was rather old, as moss was growing on the walls next to the circular window above. There was training equipment as well, including some punching bags, targets, and even what resembled a boxing ring, presumably for big epic duels.
"Your next lesson is to pick your weapon," Tritonio stated, gesturing to the huge collection. "Find one that resonates with you."
"Ooh! What are these?" Polly asked as she hopped over to a small barrel filled with large blue mushrooms with teal stems and white spots on them.
Before Tritonio could answer, Luz gasped. "Careful, Polly! I know what those are!" she said, running over to examine the shrooms closer. "These are boom shrooms. They're incredibly dangerous and can usually be found in the annual Bizarre Bazaar. Must've not been easy to get all of these."
"Ah, you are quite knowledgeable, young one," Tritonio said, clearly impressed. "Yes, it's as she said." He hopped over and picked up one of the boom shrooms. "Small, unassuming… But in the right hands…" He pressed down on the stem, causing the head of the mushroom to glow and beep like a time bomb. He threw it in the air, causing it to explode in a cloud of blue smoke. Luz yelped and dove, covering her head with her hands.
"Um, that's really neat, but please don't detonate those inside!" she pleaded. "You really shouldn't breathe in their gas."
"Stop being such a nerd, Luz," Polly groaned, and then promptly took another shroom that the newt had offered her. "Tritonio's the expert, remember?"
"That is correct, but fear not, for I am not a fool as to endanger your lives," Tritonio assured and gestured to Luz and Sprig. "Who's next? No wrong answers."
Luz slowly paced back and forth, looking at each weapon. Which one would work for her? There were spiked clubs, hammers, axes, swords… She didn't want to maim or kill people, and she didn't see magic staffs anywhere. Why can't he have staves? Then I could be just like Azura, she pondered.
Her eyes lit up the moment they locked onto a wooden bo staff. It was the closest thing she could have to a staff, and it wasn't sharp enough to harm her accidentally. She was about to pick it up, but suddenly, Tritonio jump scared her from behind the rack, making her almost throw a curse at him by instinct.
"No! Wrong!" he chastised, almost looking offended by her choice. He hopped down, putting his hands behind his back. "From what I have seen, your arms are too weak and not dexterous enough to use such a tool effectively. Pick something else."
"B—But you've never seen me fight," Luz protested. "How would you know if this isn't the right choice for me?"
"Because, even now, I notice some key issues with your balance," Tritonio explained. He raised his finger, poking Luz's elbow joint, making her flinch again. "Your muscles are too stiff. You would never be able to use it efficiently."
He then quickly swung his tail between her legs and gave her a small push that sent Luz falling to the ground. "Ah, your stance is wrong, too," he said. "If an enemy swiped at your feet, they would trip you up easily."
Before the human could say anything else, Sprig spoke up from the other side of the room. "Whoa! These are big forks," he said, holding up a pair of tri-daggers—tiny swords with three prongs on the end of each of them.
"Ah, excellent choice, Sprig," Tritonio complimented, his attitude turning a full 180. Suddenly, an explosion shook the tower a bit, and Polly came sliding across the floor, laughing while covered in soot with her bow tie partially ruined. "So, what's the next lesson?" she asked, and Luz had to wonder if the tadpole was actually immortal.
The first training session consisted of them doing a tire-running course. Sprig and Polly, being frogs, excelled at their tasks, and Tritonio made it clear by complimenting them. Luz, wanting to impress the newt, ran forward and darted across some tires, managing to make good progress at first, but suddenly, her foot caught on the edge of the fourth one in her path and made her fall forward.
"No, Luz! Knees higher, and watch your step!" the newt reprimanded harshly. In response, Luz groaned, her face aching after hitting the floor.
Okay, that was just a simple misstep, Luz thought. Tritonio wouldn't underestimate her next time. The next exercise was swinging across some monkey bars. Sprig used his tongue to fling across with little issue, and Polly simply just climbed on top of the edge. Despite that, however, the newt praised her, knowing her skills were limited by her current anatomy.
Luz was next, and she climbed across the monkey bars as fast as she could, though she was pretty clumsy. Tritonio once again scolded her. "No, Luz! More nimble! Loosen your muscles!" Unfortunately for her, trying just that led her to fall to the ground, making her feel humiliated.
The final test for the day was climbing up the stone tower above the training camp. Luz was getting a bit frustrated, knowing these tests were designed for amphibians, not humans like her. But then again, she knew she was never good at gymnastics—always more interested in her fantasy world.
"That's it, children!" Tritonio encouraged from below. "Feel the stone beneath your hands, the strong breeze in your hair. Much like the breeze outside of a cave!" He said that last part with a pondering expression.
"Man, Tritonio's so encouraging," Sprig said, easily keeping up with every exercise thus far.
"You could say that," Luz replied, sweating and panting as she did her best to climb the tower. This wasn't quite as tall as the mountain back in Misty Moors, so she wasn't as nervous, but she still hated rock climbing.
"Luz, your hand and foot placement is all wrong!" the newt called out, as she expected. "Speed it up, yes?"
Luz slowly felt her grip slipping, and she decided it was time to show Tritonio that she wasn't helpless. Reaching into her pouch with her other hand, she pulled out a small bag and crushed it on the stone wall, causing vines to grow rapidly, much to the newt's surprise. It created a makeshift ladder that Luz was easily able to climb up all the way to the top of the tower. "Are you impressed now?" she challenged defiantly.
"Unbelievable!" Tritonio exclaimed, his eyes widened. "I have seen few magic users over the years. Perhaps there is more to you than meets the eye, child." He watched as she recovered, the vines she used turning limp. He was finally starting to see how she was able to survive in this world. While not physically impressive, it seemed like she had a few tricks of her own. Perhaps if he could improve her agility and reaction time, she would be a much more formidable fighter.
After the newt called off the training for the day to give the kids some time to rest, they spent the rest of the day in the tower, mostly relaxing. Well, Luz did, at least. Sprig and Polly were still hyped up by the training enough to spar a bit in the ring while Tritonio watched, occasionally giving them some advice as they had fun.
Luz was watching, smiling at the sight before she went back to writing down some notes about what Tritonio had caught her, then started brainstorming about her potions. She was so immersed that she didn't realize the newt snuck up behind her until he said something. "What's got you so occupied, Luz?" he asked.
Luz flinched so hard she fell over, her heart racing. "Uh, Tritonio, a little warning next time?" she asked.
"My apologies," the newt said, helping her back up. "It was too good an opportunity, and I did teach you to stay on your toes, did I not? Your earlier display of magic interests me. Is that the only spell you know?"
"Oh, it's actually a spell I figured out recently," Luz replied, her eyes lighting up at the opportunity to talk about magic. "I can do a lot of other stuff. I've been meaning to ask you though—What have I been doing wrong? I've been trying my hardest, but I don't have the agility of a frog, the strength of a toad, or the dexterity of a newt. That's why I learned to adapt with magic, but even then… Am I just not good enough?"
"Ah, you underestimate yourself, Luz," Tritonio said, sitting next to her. "I do not see a girl who isn't good enough, but one who is not living up to her full potential. You move as if you lack confidence in your ability to fight."
"That's because I'm not really a good fighter," Luz admitted dejectedly. "I've never had to fight until I ended up here. Magic's more my style." She picked up a small bag from her pouch, crushed it in her hand, and blew a handful of power out, creating a glittery cloud that filled the air. "I want to be a witch, like Azura."
"Well, I do not know who this 'Azura' is, but I can see your point," the newt said, contemplating her words. "It looks like you have already chosen your weapon, so perhaps we instead focus on what you are good at. We will work on your physical skills tomorrow. If we can improve that, you will be a formidable fighter."
Hearing this lifted the human's spirits. "Thanks, Tritonio," Luz replied, smiling. "But enough about me. What about you? We don't know anything about you other than you being our instructor."
At her words, the newt faltered, but the smile returned to his face. "Ah, that is a story to be told another time, I'm afraid, as it is a long one, and it is soon time for dinner. You keep up what it is you are doing, and I'll make some quinoa for us."
Tritonio walked away, leaving Luz alone. She was a bit suspicious that he avoided the topic, but assumed he'd tell her when the time was ready. Still, she couldn't shake off the feeling that there was more to the newt than he was letting on.
The next day, after Luz checked up on and fed Bessie, training began ramping up to the extreme. This time, Tritonio wasn't playing around and put the kids through the workout of their lives. While the other kids were mostly goofing off with their chosen weapons, his focus was on improving Luz's physical skills. At the moment, he was swinging his toy sword at Luz while she did her best to avoid his jabs. "Duck! Weave! Use your feet more!"
Luz was sweating as many of the blows hit her, but she was improving through the hour. It didn't help how unpredictably the newt fought. "You are improving faster than I imagined, but you still think too much before you move. Because of that, you don't allow yourself to retaliate," he said. "Imagine I'm a fearsome assassin. Or perhaps a meddlesome beast."
The human leaped up over another one of his strikes and tried to land a blow on his face, but he quickly sidestepped and tripped her, causing her to fall on all fours. "Think fast!" he announced as he swung his saber down at her.
At the last second, Luz rolled out of the way and pulled out a bag, slamming it on the ground. Immediately, a burst of wind caught the newt off guard and caused him to stumble back, making him drop his toy sword. The girl took this chance to leap back onto her feet and grab the toy sword, pointing it at his neck.
"Ah, it seems I am defeated…" Tritonio smirked as he raised his hands in surrender. Suddenly, he dove, used his tail to swipe her legs, and grabbed his sword back, holding it at the helpless human's neck. "Now the tables have turned!"
"Looks like you win again," Luz said, panting heavily as she quickly grabbed a flask of water, downing most of it while pouring the rest on herself. "I'm gonna be so sore tomorrow."
"Perhaps hand-to-hand combat doesn't quite suit you, after all," the newt mused as he walked over to the weapons rack, spotting the same bo staff Luz had wanted to use the previous day. While he initially didn't think she had the potential to get good with one, perhaps he was mistaken. Plus, she was more capable than he initially thought.
Making his decision, Tritonio took the bo staff off the rack and slowly walked over to the human, offering it to her. "Take this. Perhaps it would be more fitting for you to have a proper weapon."
Luz's eyes lit up in surprise as she took the offered staff, studying it in her hands. "But didn't you say I wasn't dexterous enough to use this?" she asked, experimentally trying to spin it around, only for it to fall out of her hands and onto the floor.
"Yes, but you've shown a lot of promise so far, Luz," Tritonio explained as he backed away, getting into a stance with his toy sword again. "Besides, your hand-to-hand combat is… hopeless, to be blunt. Let us see how you do with a real weapon!"
In an instant, the newt charged forward with surprising speed, briefly catching Luz off guard as he went to jab her in the stomach with his blade. She rolled out of the way just in time and went to strike him with his bo staff, but he deflected it with his tail. Luz kept trying to hit him; however, Tritonio was easily able to predict her attacks. "Still very clumsy, but you are doing better than before," he said with a smirk.
Tritonio leaped up high in the air and brought his sword down, and just in time, Luz raised her bo staff to block it, barely avoiding being hit. The newt grinned in satisfaction and leaped back, putting his sword away. "Very good. Keep it up, and perhaps you could become a formidable fighter. And remember: When you find yourself outmatched, think outside the box."
"This is so cool!" Luz exclaimed excitedly, despite her weak nerd arms already being sore from trying to figure out a good fighting style. "Feels like I'm the main character in an anime!"
As Luz was recovering, Tritonio went to check up on the other two, who by this point weren't really fighting or doing anything productive anymore, but he wasn't too worried about that. They had already proven they were more capable than even many adult frogs he had seen. Luz had exceptional skills with magic and potential with using a bo staff, and he was willing to bet she hadn't shown all her tricks.
After a ten-minute break, Tritonio decided it was time to help the human focus on defense and possibly life-saving maneuvers. With this, Luz learned how to better avoid all sorts of attacks, including projectiles, which was especially useful when Tritonio asked Polly to throw boom shrooms directly at her.
Sprig, meanwhile, was working on improving his aim with the slingshot after getting bored with the tri-daggers. While they were fun to play with, he saw no real use for them in an actual battle. Tritonio, seeing this, had allowed him to use the targets to practice. He advised Sprig to speed up his reload time and to fire at the targets from different ranges.
At one point, Tritonio even placed a target outside and put it at the top of a tree. This made it much harder to hit. While it was ridiculously difficult, Sprig did eventually hit it, but not after a lot of suggestions and corrections from his instructor. He did successfully improve his aim, but he really needed some more effective ammunition. Pebbles weren't gonna do it forever.
Polly hadn't trained as much as the other two, as she'd been too enamored by the boom shrooms. She was probably costing Tritonio a fortune by setting so many off, but the newt strangely didn't seem to mind, so she didn't either. After a bit, Tritonio had her work on her skills with the spiked club, but when the tadpole messily decapitated one of the training dummies in an instant, even he looked unnerved by her bloodlust.
While not a prodigy by any means, Luz was slowly getting the hang of at least using the bo staff for some basic moves, possibly thanks to her watching so much anime. The human let out a battle cry as she ran toward the training dummy Tritonio had provided her and struck it with all she had. Its head went flying all the way to the other side of the room, past Polly, who was surprised. "Dang, girl! I didn't know you had it in you!" she said.
"Hope that doesn't happen to actual opponents," Luz said, with a bead of sweat going down her face. She supposed she just had a lot of pent-up stress from the past few weeks.
"Well done!" Tritonio exclaimed, impressed by her attack as he walked over. "The staff is retractable, too. Perhaps it would be best suited in your hands. Who knows? Maybe you can even make it better over time!"
Luz smiled as she decided to test what he said, and it was true. She was able to retract the wooden bo staff into something small enough to carry without any issue. After being thoroughly satisfied by the results of his training, Tritonio called it off, but Luz had to resort to a healing potion just to at least stand on her legs again. The kids had improved so much, and since they were to return to Wartwood the following day, Tritonio decided now was the time to put his plan into motion.
"You've all improved so much!" the newt complimented as the kids finished eating the lunch he had prepared to refuel them. "Especially you, Luz." Said human blushed at the compliment but also puffed her chest out with pride. "Now… Are you all ready for your final test?" he asked.
After the three agreed, Tritonio grinned and led them down into the basement. The place had clearly seen better days, as evident by the tree branches dotted with glowing orange mushrooms coming through the windows. On the left wall were elaborately drawn sketches of what looked to be some passageway. Most importantly, in the center of the room was a small table illuminated by a blue lantern from above.
"Tomorrow is our last day together, so I put together an exercise to test all the skills you've learned," Tritonio began as he walked over to a partially collapsed bookshelf and pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper, leading the kids to the table. He unrolled it, revealing it to be an elaborate map of a cavern.
"I have set up a treasure hunt in a cave I tidied up for this very occasion," the newt explained. "Inside of this cave is a fake , priceless gem that I have hidden. You must retrieve it using the wisdom and skills I have taught you while getting past the beast guarding it. Worry not, for this beast is properly trained by yours truly and will not harm you. However, if you are caught by it, you will fail."
Luz watched, intrigued but also a bit skeptical. This looked too sophisticated and elaborate for a test, but she trusted the newt's words by this point. He hadn't pulled anything during their visit and was super encouraging to the trio. Thanks to him, everyone had improved physically and was more prepared for future threats.
"Now, study these plans. Become one with the plans," Tritonio instructed. "Eat the plans." He ripped off a tiny piece of the map and chewed on it to prove his point. He leaped toward the stairs and front-flipped, landing gracefully on his feet. "We leave at dawn!" he told them before leaving them alone in the basement.
"Huh… You sure we can trust this guy?" Sprig asked the others.
"It should be fine," Luz assured him with a smile, wiping her tired eyes. "It's probably just a small cave he found and put his pet in. And hey, in case the toads attack again, we'll be more ready than last time." Her hand instinctively went to the spot on her arm where Bog had struck her a while back. There was still a small scar left there, even if the wound had healed otherwise.
"Well, you got me convinced," Sprig said as he sat down, looking through the map again.
"As long as I get to use my boom shrooms, I'm good," Polly agreed, juggling a handful of them, partially to mess with Luz, which worked.
"Just be careful. We don't want to hurt the beast," Luz reminded her as the three of them looked over the map for any clues or notes their instructor marked. However, they didn't see as much detail as they had hoped, but Luz still made a mental note to memorize the route to the treasure once they went to the cave.
They figured that Tritonio had left his notes ambiguous on purpose. He didn't want to make things too easy for them, after all. For the rest of the afternoon, they focused on practicing their new skills, and the evening arrived faster than they thought. While the others went right to sleep, it took Luz longer because of the anticipation and excitement she felt to explore that cave. Who knows what she would find in there?
The next morning, it was time for them to set out, and Tritonio led them toward the cave, where the trial was to be held. The sun glaring down from above was scorching everyone, which didn't help Luz's nerves. Above all else, she still had a strange gut feeling about this trial. As they finally reached the cave, the human felt a very ominous feeling coming from it, as if it were haunted.
"So, uh… Are we just supposed to go in?" she asked, turning toward Tritonio, only to realize… he was gone. Her eyes widened as she looked around in confusion, looking for her instructor. "Uh, Tritonio? Are you there?"
There was no response, and Sprig narrowed his eyes. "Well, he probably left us to do the trial ourselves. Wouldn't be a test if he was here with us."
"You must be right," Luz agreed as she looked down at the dark corridor, gulping a bit nervously. Reaching into her pouch, she pulled out a bottle of green liquid. "I have one bottle that will let us see in the dark. If we all take a sip, it should last thirty minutes." The three of them took turns emptying the bottle before Luz stored it back in her pouch; the trio were now ready to enter the cave.
Their night vision quickly kicked in, and they were able to see where they were going. The cavern looked a bit steep, so everyone carefully watched their step. Not caring about danger, Polly instead rolled herself down like a ball, giggling all the way.
As they headed down a one-way path, the sights weren't much to note at first, only consisting of aged rocks surrounded by fuzzy, multicolored moss. But as they went deeper, things quickly got interesting as they reached what seemed to be a dead end. A giant pile of rubble seemed to have completely filled in a massive opening that was no doubt carved by some being who had visited this cave long ago.
Feeling suspicious, Luz wondered if this was some kind of entrance to a grand room or another part of the trail unexplored for at least decades. Was this a gate? Luz wondered to herself. As she gave the rubble a closer look, she noticed a tiny opening within a couple of its rocks—just enough for a small person to squeeze through.
The opening was pitch black from the darkness, so they could only wonder what lay beneath this sealed-off entrance. Thankfully, the three were able to sneak their way through the opening, with Polly unsurprisingly having the easiest time.
Now that everyone was inside, their eyes quickly adjusted to reveal a spacious hideout surrounding them all around, or, at least, what was left of one. Various broken statues of seemingly serpentine heads oversaw a golden path that led to an image of a sun and moon encircled within a ring in the dead center of the giant hall's floor.
Whatever the room's actual origin was, this place seemed to house magic or mystical power, which had either faded away or never existed to begin with. Shattered, unlit blue crystals peeked from within the cracked soggy walls, and as everyone glanced up in curiosity, countless thick stalactites drooped from the ceiling, their pointy ends threatening to break off and fall at any moment.
What drew Luz's attention the most, however, was the sight of many carvings lining nearly every wall—possibly depicting important or supernatural events that the hideout's curator had seemingly witnessed. While most of them had peeled apart or gotten consumed by nature and moss reclaiming its territory, she was still able to piece together a few images.
One corner of the hall had a primitive chalk drawing of four humans (at least they looked like humans) brandishing their weapons at a large yellow flame, their colors and body shape giving a supernatural, constellational vibe. The opposite end of the wall had another cartoon image of a giant pile of flames that was consuming many orange diamonds, each topped with a glowing yellow star. There were a few generic moons, suns, and amphibian feet surrounding each major carving, but the rest had sadly gotten disfigured beyond recognition. Still, what did survive was intriguing enough to make the whole trip worth it—and they hadn't yet gotten to the actual trial!
Luz was in utter awe of this place. Was this really just a random cave Tritonio found, or was it something more? Why did that drawing have human figures on it? Had a human come to Amphibia in the past? Well, whatever the case, he wouldn't have gone to these lengths just to make a convincing ancient hideout. It only made sense at this point that he somehow found a real shrine to host his trial in, which only made Luz more excited.
"Whoa, wait a minute," Sprig piped up as he took a closer look at another of the faded carvings, vaguely resembling the shape of a… "Luz, do you think…"
"It's an abandoned olm hideout!" Luz exclaimed in absolute awe, and upon realizing it, the carvings and statues suddenly made more sense. Those serpentine creatures were olms all along! "This place must be ancient! How did Tritonio find this place?"
"Must've been dumb luck," Sprig told her. "Does anybody else know this place exists?"
"I… don't know," the human replied as she pulled out her phone, ready to take some photos and record the carvings she was seeing. "According to the history books I've read, no one has seen a single olm for over a century now. Either they went extinct, or they're all hiding somewhere. Whatever the case, Tritonio discovered something huge!"
"Looks pretty boring to me," Polly mused, more interested in blowing apart piles of rubble than studying the ruins.
"Just imagine what we can find, though!" Luz insisted as she continued to wipe the dust off of the carvings. One of them caught her eye—a faded-out drawing of what looked to be a person with… blue hair. That was the only thing she could properly make out. Whoever this person was, it looked strangely humanoid.
"Uh, no humans have been here in the past, have they?" Luz asked, a bit concerned but also more intrigued than before.
"Nope, at least not that anybody knows," Sprig replied from behind her. "Then again, Amphibia has existed for at least a thousand years that we know of, and it's a vast continent. Maybe a human did come here in the past. If they did, I'm certain Newtopia would know more about it."
"Newtopia, the capital city, right?" Luz asked. Sprig nodded his head. The human had heard a lot about this wonderful city that held ancient arcane knowledge.
"We need to talk with Hop Pop about traveling there," Sprig added. "If there's any chance at getting you home, then surely the newts in the city know how."
Luz thought about what he said as she gave the drawing another look. I wonder if there was a human here in the past? Maybe I'm not the first one to come here.
As they headed toward one of the hall's corners, they found a small golden image of a half-empty glass, almost seamlessly blending in with the walls due to its age. Out of pure curiosity, Luz hunched over to clear some dust off the carving and perhaps take another photo. But as her fingers made contact with the carving's surface, she heard a loud click followed by several loud vibrations.
As she jolted slightly in surprise, blue glowing lines lit up the wall around the door, occasionally flashing white, like a heartbeat. Luz, Sprig, and Polly gasped as the lines traveled across the floor to the other side, where a secret passageway slowly opened, revealing a hidden room. "D—Did I do that?!" Luz exclaimed in shock as the three of them slowly approached the opening.
"I don't believe it!" Sprig said excitedly. "Luz, you found a secret passageway!"
"But all I did was touch the wall," the human girl said doubtfully, but she slowly went in first, getting a closer look at the hidden area. Unlike the rest of the hideout, this hall was perfectly intact and completely undisturbed by nature or age. There were some ancient symbols on the wall, but what really caught her eye was a large image decorating one of the walls in the middle of the room. The carving depicted a powerful humanoid being, half covered in darkness and sporting a pair of large wings. Around them were dark blue shadowy figures glaring at it.
What really caught Luz's attention was the humanoid's face. The figure had one blue and one green eye, and on its forehead was a crown with a pink gem. She had no idea what she was looking at, but something about it seemed familiar. Who was this person? And what about the ones surrounding them?
Below the illustration were several lines of text in a strange language Luz didn't understand, even with many history books on her side. Regardless, she took a photo of its writings, hoping to write them down and perhaps ask someone else later on.
After they left the secret room, the kids continued on the intended path through the cavern until it opened up once again to reveal the place they were looking for.
Almost feeling like they had explored way too much today, Luz and the trio cautiously entered this new room, hoping they would finally find the gem Tritonio had asked them to retrieve. After all, they had already gotten distracted enough by the strange carvings and secrets the other halls had held. As they passed through a giant open gate, they found themselves already on a pathway decorated with blue and white marbles that extended toward the room's dead center. This secret hall was also dilapidated by the elements, with cracked stone walls and scratched, unlit crystals peeking at what seemed to be every corner.
Thankfully, right there and then, they spotted a silver-coated pedestal that housed what they had been looking for all day—a tiny transparent gem that was innocuously resting above the pedestal's rim, its glow being the only source of light in this otherwise darkened room. It was almost too tempting to reach out and grab it, but who knows if it would activate some sort of trap or security system? They had to play it safe.
"I'll handle this. Stay here," Luz ordered a curious Sprig and Polly as she began making her way toward the pedestal by crouching and tiptoeing pretty fast, just as they did in the movies. Just seconds later, her back was already against the golden base, and her head cautiously hid right behind its ceiling. It was unlikely anyone was actually seeing her heist in play, but she wanted to play it as safely as possible. Plus, she just felt much cooler that way.
As Luz slowly raised her head, glaring up close at the gem, she noticed it was simply resting on top of the pedestal's base, with no triggers or button traps seemingly in sight. Perhaps this is too easy. What if the room begins to collapse? she wondered for a moment. At the same time, however, the voices in her head urged her to grab it now and not prolong her doubts any longer. Agreeing, she swiftly snagged the crystal and stuffed it into her bag, her mission finally complete, well, for now. Luz was anticipating a loud noise or earthquake for a few seconds, but as nothing happened, she let her guard down, assuming this really was it. Perhaps the long journey to get here was the tradeoff?
"Well, that was surprisingly anticlimactic." Sprig uttered, breaking the awkward silence.
Luz smiled back at him, but as she began taking her steps back to the hall's entrance, they heard some ominous crackling noise like an egg hatching fast. Everyone froze as their eyes slowly darted to the sound's source.
A large statue of some creature was resting in the corner, and the human noticed its stone shell was quickly disintegrating to reveal a live beast that was guarding this room all along. While it was too dark to make out who exactly this beast was, it quickly especially unsettled her, as she thought it was just a decoration like the olm statues she saw earlier. What if they came to life as well, if they tried making their way back?
The two Plantar children quickly huddled behind Luz out of fear as they saw the beast, who was now quickly running on its two legs and stopping right in front of them, revealing its form in broad sight. The beast looked like a fusion between a triceratops, a mouse, and a bat, and as its yellow eyes above its giant beak glared at them below, it was clear it was a dangerous threat. But as Luz thought about it, she couldn't help but briefly be confused at its appearance, as it didn't look like something that belonged in Amphibia.
After a short pause, the beast snarled and quickly dove in her direction, ready to attack and punish her for stealing the gem. She panicked and used her spy mood from earlier to dash over to the side, evading the beast, even if not for long.
"Oh, okay, so this is the gotcha part!" the human shrieked after a sharp inhale. Knowing that her body wouldn't cut it as Tritonio had only trained her recently, she needed to resort to her spells to try to subdue the beast somehow.
Thinking quickly, she reached into her shorts' sleeves and grabbed a small bag before throwing it at the beast's head. The bag exploded with a quiet poof, and a billow of pink smoke disturbed its vision for a few moments before it disappeared. Confused and disoriented, the beast looked around aimlessly for a few seconds before realizing that Luz was out of its sight. Instead, its attention was drawn toward a small pink frog looking up at it. Sprig was brandishing a slingshot and unafraid of its sheer size.
"You mess with our trial, you deal with me and Polly's awesome weapons!" he growled as the beast stood still and looked on, unfazed and not feeling threatened.
Suddenly, they both heard an annoyingly shrill scream coming from behind, and as the two looked around, they saw Polly frantically hopping toward the beast, swinging her mace like an athletic hammer. Its spiky ball was already a dangerous weapon, but she didn't know how it would fare against a monster this huge.
Stopping comfortably a few feet behind its tail and rear legs, Polly began whipping the mace's ball repeatedly against the beast's pale skin, looking perhaps a bit too excited about doing so.
"Bad! Slimy! Ugly! Pungent! Beast!" Polly shouted after every thwack, but she didn't make an effort to look up or move around to try to keep the beast guessing. Instead, it just stared down at her, the mighty thwacks of the mace feeling more like light finger pokes.
Already exhausting herself after just a few hits, the tadpole looked up to see the beast snarling down right at her. "Oh, poop," she uttered as the beast then let out an ear-piercing roar and tried to bite down on her. Polly yelped and barely managed to dodge out of the way of its sharp teeth as she dashed toward Sprig and Luz, who were now standing near the hall's entrance.
Luz suddenly remembered she had a bo staff, so she yanked it out of her pouch and extended it to its full size, rolling out of the way as the beast charged past her. She yelled and leaped up as high as she could, swinging the staff full-force. It hit the beast right in the face and made it flinch, but otherwise, it was only annoyed.
With the beast charging up and stomping right toward them, Luz had a quick impulse idea. "You two, get away from me right now!" she warned as she grabbed another potion marked with a doodle of a fig leaf. Hoping this spell would work in this dark area, she threw it against the ground, hoping for the best.
Just as promptly, several giant vines erupted from the ground and slithered their way toward the beast, catching it by surprise as it tightly wrapped around its arms and neck, clenching its mouth shut at least for the moment.
Knowing the vines would snap sooner or later, Luz quickly huddled away from the monster as she kneeled in a corner and tried to come up with a plan to escape with the trio and the gem unscathed. Perhaps if we try to run and escape through these various halls, there'll eventually be a small opening that the beast can't go through, Luz thought. But what if it crashes through? Then—
"Luz, look out!" Sprig's voice instantly alerted her and interrupted her train of thought—the human turning around to see what was going on.
As it turned out, the beast finally broke free and was huddling up towards her, its left claw smugly raised high and about to slash her if she didn't think fast. Completely lost for words, Luz curled her arms and legs into a ball stance and pushed herself forward, just barely dodging the slash. She felt a minor scrape on her left knee but was thankful she had trained under Tritonio just a few days prior. If she went in completely unprepared, things could've gotten a lot worse for her.
"Okay, I think this thing's actually trying to kill us!" Sprig exclaimed as he shot rocks at the beast in an attempt to distract it from Luz.
"Then we can't hold back," the human agreed as she pulled out two more bags, waiting for an opening. Sprig's distractions had worked, as the monster glared at him with a roar, ready to chase him. The frog hopped out of the way just in time before the beast bit down on him, giving it little time to react before it crashed into a wall, temporarily unconscious.
"Now, Luz!" Sprig yelled, and the human charged forward, ready to try the ambitious idea of combining two spells. She wasn't sure what the reaction would even be, but it was now or never at this point. She threw two bags toward the ground together—one wind and one fire, and as the potions activated in harmony, a colossal fireball illuminated the room. The sudden expansion of heat and energy startled the monster as it desperately tried to fan its wings, screeching in agony.
Sprig and Polly yelped as they hopped back, slightly feeling the heat of the flames. As the fire gradually died down, the creature's skin was a bit red from the heat, and it glared at the trio with an ominous growl. Before the beast could act any further, a barrage of boom shrooms suddenly flew towards it and smacked it several times, each producing a loud, violent explosion. Startled, both Luz and Sprig turned toward Polly, who was cackling as she finally got her chance to strike back.
Even more triggered now, the clearly injured beast slowly turned toward the trio, its stare piercing with hate. Luz braced herself in case it would try one last attack or surprise, but to everyone's surprise and relief, it turned around and made a quick dash toward the hall's exit—presumably to escape the whole cave. The battle and trial were both over, and thankfully, everyone made it mostly unharmed.
Luz pulled out her healing potion and poured a few drops on the bleeding scrape on her leg, which promptly dissolved and left but a tiny scratch behind. "Is everybody okay?" she asked, getting up.
"Yep, but I almost became roasted frog," Sprig muttered, wiping the sweat off of his face. "Hope that thing doesn't cause any problems now that it's free."
"That creature was weird. I've never seen anything like it in those history books," the human said as she pulled out the gem, observing it. "But I guess it can't be any crazier than the Calamity Box. But… What is this gem?" she wondered.
Now that Luz had time to look at the gem up close, it didn't seem like anything special. The gem had a soft glow and was as transparent as glass, but then again, according to Tritonio, it was still fake. Still, she decided to hang onto it for the time being. "Everyone ready to leave before any more statues come to life?" she asked, a bit nervous.
"I wanna fight more statues!" Polly exclaimed, but Sprig picked her up, much to her chagrin. The trio promptly backtracked through the various halls they had just entered and the long trail that led back to the cave's entrance. Of course, they were still on guard in case they ran into that statue monster again, but the journey was oddly quiet, devoid of any creatures or surprise beasts. They simply assumed it had fled to a forest or hideout far, far away. By the time they left the olm ruins, it was another few minutes until they reached the combat camp, where they assumed Tritonio would be awaiting them if he hadn't shown up by now. Just then, they heard rustling in the trees above them.
Luz gasped and looked up just in time to see Tritonio himself landing elegantly in front of them. "Ah, well done, you three!" he complimented. "I knew you would pass the test!"
Already tired of these games, Sprig's eyes narrowed at the sight of the newt. "Yeah, no thanks to you. Your pet tried to kill us!" he said angrily.
Tritonio laughed a bit forcefully. "Worry not, Sprig. My pet is very well-trained. Now, Luz, did you get the crystal I planted?"
"Oh, uh, I have it here," Luz said as she pulled the gem out of her pocket, offering it to him. The newt grinned as he took the crystal and closely observed it.
"Ah, yes," he said as he turned it in his hand. Satisfied, he glanced up at the three kids. "You've all done so well, especially you, Luz!" Tritonio said, genuinely impressed. "I was watching your agility and skills when you defeated the beast! Truly exceptional work! Now, I have one more question. What was the first lesson I taught you?"
"Uh… Trust no one?" Luz answered, starting to get a bad feeling in her gut about where this was going.
"Correct!" the newt replied, and suddenly, he darted off at full speed, using his nimble limbs to weave through trees. Before he could leave their sight, however, Sprig, holding Polly, dashed forward, hopping across branches.
"Don't let him escape!" the frog boy exclaimed. Luz promptly snapped out of her shock to join the pursuit. How could Tritonio have played us like this? she wondered. And how did I fall for it so easily? Stupid, Luz! Stupid!
As the chase continued, Tritonio looked back to see the kids hot on his trail and sighed. "Perhaps I should've thought of a better escape plan," he muttered, annoyed as he picked up the pace. "You kids will have to be much quicker than that!"
Panting, Luz pulled another curse out of her pouch and threw it toward him, hoping to immobilize him. It landed in front of the newt, and vines sprouted out, threatening to ensnare him. Unfortunately, he had anticipated something like this and casually grabbed his dagger, cutting through each vine with ease without missing a beat. Now that he knew how the human fought, he'd have a much easier time predicting her attacks.
Finally having enough of this game, Tritonio leapt up higher into the trees, away from the rushing trio's sights. Luz, Sprig, and Polly came to a stop in the middle of a clearing, all of them catching their breaths. They looked around in vain hope of finding the newt somewhere, but he had already disappeared.
"He got away!" Luz said, getting worried. "What if that gem is secretly valuable? What if… he keeps tricking more students like us?"
Before the human could rant to herself, Sprig noticed something in the corner of his vision, and his eyes narrowed. He couldn't see anything clearly, but he heard a faint rustling from above as a suspicious figure was blissfully jumping through the trees, most definitely unaware he was still being watched.
"Ah, they were good kids," Tritonio muttered to himself. While he genuinely enjoyed teaching them, he had to con them and move on, eventually. It was his way of life, after all.
Wasting no more time, Sprig raised his slingshot from below and loaded it with a stray pebble. Taking the risk, he fired it at the newt, using his newfound skills to hit him on the mark. As soon as the pebble hit, Tritonio yelped as he ungracefully fell out of the trees into a bush below, with leaves and twigs embedded in his clothing. He got up and quickly dusted himself off before looking up to see the three kids quickly approaching him.
Despite the surprise, he couldn't help but chuckle. "I have to say, even I am impressed!" He reached down and pulled out the same fencing sword he used in their training exercises, clearly underestimating the trio. "If I cannot flee, then I must fight. Show me what you have learned!"
Immediately, Sprig and Polly charged forward, letting out battle cries. Sprig leaped up as high as he could and shot his tongue out toward Tritonio's blade, sticking into it in an attempt to disarm him. However, the newt used this to his advantage and swung his blade to throw him onto Polly, instantly knocking the two of them unconscious.
Thinking fast, Luz grabbed the ticking boom shrooms out of Polly's hands and threw them toward Tritonio, as they promptly created a blast that engulfed his sight. The human took this chance to dash forward and attempt to tackle the newt to the ground. However, he saw the attack coming from a mile away and casually stepped aside, leading her to face plant onto the ground messily.
"Have you learned nothing?" Tritonio taunted her, dodging the curses she was throwing at him, each of them gradually becoming more useless, like changing the color or health of the grass beneath them. "You are fighting recklessly. Did I not teach you better than that?"
Luz had to realize he was right, so her frantic attacks stopped before she took a moment to plan out a strategy. Using fireballs was out of the question as it could lead to a forest fire, so that left her with few other options. Thinking fast, Luz tossed another small bag toward Tritonio that resembled any other ordinary potion.
The newt sighed and begrudgingly sidestepped it, not expecting anything. However, he was in for a surprise as a huge burst of wind suddenly hit him from the back, completely catching him off guard as he stumbled forward. Luz dashed forward and attempted to strike him with her palm, utilizing the bits of hand-to-hand combat he had taught her.
Tritonio scoffed and just barely dodged her attack. "It was a nice effort, but you still are too inexperienced." In retaliation, he swung his blunt blade at her, figuring he could easily strike her up close. To his shock, however, the blade phased entirely through the human, making his eyes widen in confusion. "What?!"
The Luz he thought he had was actually a mirage spell she had learned from Maddie a while back. "You did say to think outside the box!" Luz's voice said from above him, and before Tritonio could make out the source, she tackled him to the ground, causing his sword to slip out of his hands.
Before the newt could untangle himself, Luz succeeded in restraining him using her last vine spell, leaving him helplessly squirming on the ground. As an unfortunate cherry on top, his arms were too tightly bound to reach his dagger, which had landed just a few inches away from him. Realizing he was out of options, he sighed and admitted defeat.
"Well, it seems I am out of options," Tritonio said with false bravado, sweating profusely. "I clearly underestimated you. Congratulations, Luz, for you have passed the real trial! Now you can let me go."
Luz kneeled in front of him, clearly not believing the newt. "No more lies, Tritonio. Why did you do this? I thought we were friends."
Tritonio opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it, the smile fading from his face. Finally, he settled on an answer. "It is the way of the streets, my friend. What will it take you to release me? Do you want treasure? An apology? Perhaps we could even split the profits for this gem 50-50."
"I don't want any of that," Luz said frustratedly, frowning at him. "I want answers, Tritonio. What do you mean 'the way of the streets'?"
Seeing as the human wasn't going to accept any kind of bribery, he let out a defeated sigh. "Very well, then I shall tell you my life story. I was born a street urchin—no family, no one to look out for me. I learned to survive by joining whatever street crew I crossed paths with. But alas, living on the street meant loyalty was thin."
Luz listened intently as Tritonio told her about his childhood, including the different street gangs he ended up joining as he grew up and how he inherited that mindset. The newt had conned countless into doing his bidding, just as the older kids had done to him, so he'd learned to accept that as the normality. "When things get bad, it's always everyone for themselves," he finished, his whole charade completely gone at that point.
Silence followed the confession as Luz couldn't help but feel bad for Tritonio. He had grown up in such a shady environment as an orphan, so he didn't know any better than to do what he'd done to Luz and the others. Who knows how many he'd conned in the past—how many he'd hurt?
But deep down, Luz knew that the newt had genuinely enjoyed tutoring them. It was saddening to know that all that had just been a part of Tritonio's elaborate plan. Knowing what she had to do, she finally replied. "Tritonio, things don't always work like that. You shouldn't abandon the things you love just because you were trained that way."
"What do you know?" the newt snapped, looking irritated for the first time. "The laws of the streets—"
"—don't apply anymore," Luz cut him off. "Look, I… understand what it's like to not fit in. For me, it started on Earth. Things were not great, but I found my way here, and I met Sprig, Polly, Hop Pop, Maddie, and many more. Back in Wartwood, none of us felt like we fit in. So we decided to not fit in together."
Tritonio listened intently, his eyes widening as she continued. "I still have a lot to learn, but after a little while, I met more people who helped me." She smiled at recalling all the adventures she already had so far in this crazy world. "So far, it's been the best time of my life, even if I miss Mama," she said, her smile wavering.
The newt was completely silent as he averted his eyes. Deciding to give him mercy, she freed him, but not before tying his hands with more vines as makeshift cuffs, so he didn't try anything. After a moment, Tritonio reached his tail into his pocket and pulled out the clear gem, handing it to Luz. "Here, you take it. I figure I have no further use for it."
Luz smiled a bit and took it, pocketing it, and just then, she saw Sprig and Polly stirring, and her eyes widened when she realized they had been unconscious the whole time. Running over, she quickly knelt and gently shook them awake. "Are you two okay?" she asked worriedly.
"Yeah, we're fine," Sprig muttered, rubbing a bump on his head. Suddenly, he remembered what had happened and leaped to his feet alongside Polly. He gasped at the sight of the tied-up newt. "Tritonio! Look out, Luz!"
"No, no, it's fine!" the human assured them, stopping them from attacking him any further. "The fight's over. I captured him."
"Good job, Luz!" Polly said as she hopped up to the newt, brandishing her spiked club threateningly. "Now, it's time for the best part: the interrogation!"
"Let's not do that either," Luz said, picking up the tadpole before she had any more crazy ideas. "We're gonna take him to Wartwood. He's probably wanted for all the crimes he's committed."
Tritonio sighed dejectedly. "The toads would execute me, should they get a hold of me. I suppose this is the end of the road for Tritonio Espada. It has been fun while it lasted."
While he was, by no means, a good person, Luz wasn't about to let him be subjected to such a cruel fate. "No. We're not going to turn you in," she said confidently. "I'll convince Hop Pop as best as I can."
"But why?" the newt asked, shocked by her kindness. "I have conned you, made you risk your life to fight a beast and steal a gem for me, and ditched you the instant I could."
"That doesn't mean you deserve to die!" Luz said exasperatedly. "Let's go grab Bessie and head back. It's starting to get late."
As they backtracked through the forest back toward the combat camp, Tritonio, despite wanting to escape, didn't dare try anything when Polly was practically holding him hostage while sitting on top of his head. Besides, while he hated to admit it, going with them back to Wartwood was the safer option. If he tried to run away, Luz would certainly catch him again and change her mind about giving him to the toads.
As they reached the fort once more, Luz couldn't help but be curious about something that had been in the back of her mind. "So… what happened to the Bogwaters? Did you steal their daycare?"
"Luz, you wound me!" Tritonio gasped. "I may be a con artist, but I did not steal this place. The Bogwaters were already gonna retire, so they sold it to me. While it did cost a fortune, I hoped I'd make it all up at some point."
Luz nodded, feeling a bit better. While he wasn't that far gone, the newt still had a lot to answer to.
At this point, everyone began packing to head back to Wartwood, seeing how they probably wouldn't return anytime soon. By the time they had arrived at the town, the sun had started to dip below the horizon.
"This place is… surprisingly well-rounded, compared to the other towns I've seen," Tritonio mused as Luz escorted him through the entrance, getting the occasional weird look from the passing residents. Despite this, however, Wartwood was flourishing, even in the late hours.
"You can thank Hop Pop for that," Luz said, smiling, despite her exhaustion. "He's been hard at work fixing the mess Toadstool left behind. Now, what to do with you…?" she wondered.
"I'll handle this, young lady," a deep, masculine voice said from aside, and they turned to see the sheriff of the town—Buck Leatherleaf, followed by two of his officers. "I couldn't help but notice you're holding this one prisoner. I wouldn't have expected someone like you to be catchin' criminals."
"Oh, this is Tritonio Espada," Luz explained with a nervous look. "He's… Well, he conned us and used us to steal a gem, but it's water under the bridge, right?"
"Yeah, no hard feelings!" Sprig agreed reluctantly. "I mean, sure, we almost got eaten by a beast, and—" Before he could continue speaking, the human covered his mouth.
"I had nothing to do with this!" Polly lied.
"Espada, eh?" Buck replied, the name ringing a bell. He snapped his fingers, and one of his officers stepped forward, providing a folder filled with criminal cases. The sheriff took it and flipped through it, narrowing his eyes until he stopped on the file he was looking for. "Ah, here we are. Tritonio Espada, wanted by Toad Tower for various misdemeanors—second-degree assault on toad soldiers, using orphans to commit train robberies, and… well, the list is rather long." He whistled in interest. "And quite a hefty bounty on his head, too."
"Well, young lady, you've done a good service as a citizen of Wartwood," he continued as he walked up to Tritonio. "We'll take it from here. He'll be transported to Toad Tower shortly, and you will receive the bounty. Nice work."
"But wait, I don't want that to happen!" Luz protested, surprising the sheriff. "If the toads receive him, he'll be executed! Captain Grime's ruthless to everyone, even the most innocent! There has to be something else we can do!"
Tritonio averted his gaze, still shocked that the human would vouch for him. Buck, however, sighed and shook his head. "Apologies, ma'am, but I cannot allow him to roam freely and endanger the town I've sworn to protect."
Before the human could get desperate, a new voice called out her name from the distance, and it was none other than Hop Pop jogging toward them. As he came to a stop in front of them, he took a moment to catch his breath. "I've been hearin' word about Luz bringin' in a criminal. What happened?"
Luz winced, knowing this was inevitable, but she went ahead and explained the last few days' events to the old frog, from the combat camp to fighting Tritonio. As the story reached its end, Hop Pop's scowl only deepened as he glared at the newt. He let out a sigh and dragged his hands down his face. "Geez, you kids, how do you keep getting in these situations?" he sighed, almost feeling a new wrinkle forming on his face.
"Hop Pop, please don't turn him in to the toads," Luz pleaded. "You know what will happen."
Seeing her expression, the old frog sighed again. "Okay, fine! It's not like our situation with Toad Tower isn't already strained. Luz, why do you have to be too kind for your own good?" he muttered and turned toward the sheriff. "Buck, would ya lock him in a secure cell and keep an eye on him? He's goin' nowhere."
The sheriff tipped his hat in a nod. "Will do, sir." He turned to the other officers. "Take 'im away. Interrogation will begin tomorrow, so I'll call Tuti in for a favor." In response, the officers saluted him and escorted Tritonio away to jail, leaving the Plantars and Luz alone.
A few seconds passed but felt like minutes as Hop Pop regained his composure before looking back at Luz. "Man, I had no idea how crazy and dangerous that daycare was! I'm too exhausted to really think clearly right now, but tell you what. What matters is that you three made it back and hopefully learned something outta this."
The girl looked up at him and nodded with a slight smile. "Hopediah, I know you're probably stressed out and overreacting a bit, but Tritonio taught us some valuable fighting skills! Now we three know how to be skilled fighters and defend ourselves!" She pulled out her bo staff and extended it, showing it to Hop Pop, who was impressed.
"Yeah!" Polly agreed. "I can already feel my inner private assassin awakening!"
"But what matters, though, is that he's seen the consequences of his actions already, and he's promised to try to reform himself for the time being," the human added. "Interrogating and jailing him won't solve anything new."
Hop Pop sighed pretty exhaustedly, not really wanting to take any side for now. "Well, you may be right, but he's still a wanted criminal who's been on the run for possibly years now. I doubt one night would change him completely. But you know, just ignore what I said for now," he began wrapping up as he started walking away from the trio, bidding them adieu. "I really need to head back to my office and take my well-overdue rest after dealing with the tea shop fiasco. I'll be able to think clearly by tomorrow."
"Heh, good night, Hop Pop…" Luz nervously waved, also realizing she and the others needed to get some rest at the Plantar house. With him gone now, it was back to the old days of them just being alone at the house. She immediately forgot to ask about the tea shop or if they would go there again, but knew he was tired enough already to be pestered further.
Barely a half-hour later, Luz and the children had already settled into their bedrooms, never having been more grateful to finally have a break after all that training and stress. As Luz briefly held and glanced at the gem from her backpack, she was still curious to know why Tritonio had wanted it so badly. From what Luz could tell, it didn't look particularly valuable, but she wondered if maybe it held some sort of magical power.
Just like Hop Pop, she wanted to save all that thinking and worrying for tomorrow, so she set it on a stump nearby and quickly collapsed into a slumber. The moonlight from outside began to reach the gem, and almost as if it were a natural side effect, the gem began to glow, presumably from all the light that was reflecting within itself.
As the moon began to descend and the pre-dawn hours invited a soft, bloody red gradient onto the sky, a cloaked, sandal-wearing figure was standing outside the front gates of Toad Tower, unafraid of its sheer height.
Two toad guards spotted the figure and raised their spears threateningly at them, but as they got a closer look at their skin and outfit underneath, they gracefully backed down before signaling someone to approach them soon. A few strained grunts and yelps leaked quietly from behind the wooden gates before it was lifted by two chains to reveal a flat-faced and unimpressed Captain Grime.
"My beloved spy, what took you so long? Did your boots stop working? Did your wagon break down?" he taunted with a frustrated expression.
"Some kid has brought infamous con artist Tritonio Espada into Wartwood's perimeters," the hooded figure explained. "And for some reason, they thought it'd be better to not turn him in just yet."
"WHAT?!" Grime suddenly shouted as, out of pure instinct to vent somewhere, he grabbed a random drink cup one of his guards was holding and threw it onto the pebbled floor, its contents spilling and leaking out. "Get back there as soon as you can, and convince anyone you trust to deal with him!" he ordered, before gaining a sinister smile on his face. "The time to act is soon."
To Be Continued in Chapter Thirty-Two
Thanks for reading until the end of this chapter! Originally, the cave segment was going to be part of Wally and Luz right after the moss man part, but we felt as if the chapter was long enough at that point. We decided to instead put it in this story's adaptation of Combat Camp.
Who do you think the Wartwood spy is? And what do you think the gem is?
~ Scruffy