Amphibia: Calamity Warriors
Chapter Forty-Two: The Ultimate Sleepover
Months ago…
Within the halls of the castle, Ina and Valor waited by the door to Hemlock's office, waiting for the talks between him and their captain Apollo to be concluded. They had recently been training, alongside other recruits in order to be protectors of the city.
Yet, from the sound of things, it was not going well.
"What do you mean, the recruits are not fit?!" Apollo demanded loudly, Valor and Ina listening in.
"It means, what it means." Hemlock replied.
"But they completed their training!" Apollo retorted.
"Those, so-called, guard material, are not fit to be the protectors of the city." He says with his typical malice grin. "And seeing that I make the final decisions for the Knight Guard, I say they're not qualified."
"Oh, that jerkwad, he's doing this just to make a point." Valor grumbled angrily, outside of the room.
"We're not finished!" The prince loudly told Hemlock, slamming a fist against the desk.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah..." Hemlock said, waving his index finger side to side. "Be careful, Prince Apollo. The King may be your father, but I am the General of his armies. Something I earned on my own, by the way." Apollo glared at him with his one good eye as the army general turned away in his chair lazily. "You're dismissed, Captain."
The young newt barged out of the room, angrily, with Valor and Ina following behind in silence. After having helped Cody train the new recruits for as long as he did, he figured that at least some of them would have been more than qualified. But apparently, it wasn't good enough for Hemlock.
"Feather-wearing, sunglasses-wearing, son of a-" The prince angrily mumbled to himself, as he turned a corner.
"WAHHH!" He turned to the right, and saw the human, Marcy Wu, falling down in front of him, papers flying everywhere. "Oops, heh, heh, slippery floors here." She said to herself, as she picked up the pieces of paper.
"Wu, what are doing?" Apollo asked, clearly not in the mood for her antics.
"Oh, hi Prince Apollo, Valor, Ina." Marcy said with a smile. "I was just coming to giving you my report from today's mission, which went great by the way."
Apollo's expression softened, but it remained sour. "Oh, I see. Well, give it to one of them. I'm not in the mood to read anything right now." He said, gesturing to Ina and Valor as he made to walk past the Taiwanese girl.
"Oh... didn't go well with General Hemlock, huh?" She asked. He stopped and glared at her, his expression being his only response. "Right, gotcha, read the room, Marcy..." She then said with a smile, "Well, for what it's worth, I think you are a great captain."
This took the prince by surprise, leading him to ask, "What makes you say that?"
"Because, you know how to teach us, and you do so in a firm, but caring manner." Marcy explained. "Because you want us to be better than before. Because you actually care about the newts who are under your command. And that's what makes a great captain in my book." She then gave him a big smile.
Apollo wasn't really sure how to respond to that, before saying awkwardly, "Uh... thank you, Wu. I um, I appreciate that. Uh, why... don't you drop off your report at my office, and I'll get to it when I can."
"Yes sir, Captain Prince Apollo, sir!" Marcy said with a salute, and turned on her heel to do so, moving like a cartoon soldier saying to herself. "Hup, two, three, four. Hup, two, three, four." As Marcy left, Apollo couldn't help but chuckle to himself, and gently smile at the strange girl.
Something Valor took notice of.
"Well, well, well, looks like someone is starting like Marcy now, huh?" He said, wiggling his eyebrows at him.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Apollo said dismissively as he moved forward, leaving Valor and Ina, who were both smirking at their friend.
Despite being keeping Marcy at a distance, the prince was beginning to like her.
Present…
It was nighttime in the city of Newtopia. Within the castle tower, Marcy was in her pajamas, watering her potted flytrap, while Apollo sat in a chair nearby, dressed in pajamas and the plating applied to the right side of his face, the prince reading a book she had given him. Among the many things that came with Marcy that the one-eyed prince seem to enjoy, besides the games she brought or the improvements to the city, it was the few books she brought along. The one he was reading was called Inferno, a poem about the journey to Hell.
"Watering the plants, watering the plants." Marcy sang, before the flytrap snapped at her, causing her to scream. "Branson! No, bad boy." She scolded the plant.
Apollo chuckled, "The little plant can't help himself."
"Sure, take the plants side." Marcy rolled her eyes before turning to him. "Anyways, are you enjoying the poem?"
"That I am." Apollo nodded. "Still, who are these men he condemned to Hell?"
"Political opponents, people who wronged him." Marcy said. "You gotta admit, Alighieri's writing cuts deep!"
"Indeed, a subtle way to seek revenge." Apollo nodded, closing the book.
There was a knock on the door, Marcy gasping in excitement. "Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. They're here!"
She approached the door and pulled it open, allowing Lady Olivia to walk in.
"Good evening, Master Marcy. Anne Boonchuy, Azazel, Ina and Valor, Maddie, Ivy, Kaemon, and the Plantars have arrived for your..."
"Sleepover!"
Before she could finish, Anne, Sprig, Kaemon, Ivy, Valor, Ina, and Polly burst in, Anne, Ivy, Maddie, Valor, Ina, and Sprig are also in their pj's, while Kaemon wore a night kimono. The only ones who didn't run in were Shadow and Maddie, who both calmly walked in, Shadow dressed in his pajama's, a pair of black shorts and short-sleeved shirt.
"Sleepover, sleepover!" Anne, Ina, Valor, Ivy, and Sprig chanted, jumping on Marcy's bed.
"SLEEEEEEEPOOOOOOVEEEEERRRRR!" Polly and Kaemon roared, tearing their pillows in half.
Olivia sighed at such rowdiness. "Sleepover. If anyone needs me, I'll be in the kitchen drinking... juice."
"You mean wine?" Shadow asked as Olivia walked away without another word.
Anne squealed before jumping at Marcy with a hug, the Taiwanese girl grunting from the impact.
"This is gonna be..." Anne said.
"Awesome!" Marcy sang.
"It's the perfect way to spend the night before we hear from the king." Sprig said.
"I know, right?" Kaemon said, sharing his excitement.
"I wonder what he learned about the music box." Anne said.
"You will have to wait in the morning." Apollo told her. "Trust me, your patience will be well rewarded."
"I don't wanna give anything away, but it's gonna be pretty cool." Marcy declared with a grin.
"I'm sure it will." Shadow said under his breath with a frown.
"Okay, kids, we'll be back in the morning for our meeting with the king." Hop Pop said at the door, with Cody next to him.
"You enjoy yourselves." The older man told them. "Try to keep Valor and Ina out of trouble."
The mentioned kids stuck their tongues out at him.
"Me and Cody are off to spend a little much needed us time." Hop Pop said. "And by that, I mean a full body..." Sprig and Polly slammed the door on them both.
"Okay, bye, H.P."
"Later, Hop Pop."
"Woo-hoo! Me and Sprig's first sleepover." Polly exclaimed.
"This is so exciting!" Ivy said.
"Better make it a good one. These will be formative memories." Maddie said dramatically.
"I admit, it's been a while since we've done a sleepover." Shadow said.
"Don't worry, that's what you've got us for!" Valor declared, wrapping an arm around Shadow's shoulder.
"Yeah, we can do this!" Ina added.
"Whoa, I just realized, we've never done a sleepover without Sasha." Anne said.
"Oh, you're right." Marcy said, scratching the back of her head. "You think we can pull it off? Sasha's the sleepover queen, not us."
Ina gave a dismissive wave. "Pfft. Who says there has to be just one queen?"
"Everyone?" Apollo said as-a-matter-of-factly. "That's sort of how the whole system works, Ina."
"Trust me, Appa. We've done tons of sleepovers." Anne replied. "We know everything about them."
"Do not call me that." Apollo frowned.
Anne raised a brow. "But Marcy calls you that, doesn't she?" She pointed out.
"Yes, and she's the only one who is allowed call me that." Apollo said with crossed arms and blushing.
"Okay," Anne said awkwardly, before getting happy again. "Anyways, here's how it works…"
Both Anne and Marcy said in unison, "Pajamas, junk food and gossip galore. Pillow fights, movies and tearing up the dance floor. And listen up 'cause this I won't repeat, never ever go to sleep." They both finished with a laugh.
"Sensing some missing context here." Sprig said.
"Yeah, mind filling us in?" Maddie requested.
"Oh, sorry. Sasha always said falling asleep early means total failure." Marcy said. "A true sleepover goes till sunrise."
"But that's why it's called a sleepover." Apollo pointed out. "You eventually sleep."
"The title is a lie!" Marcy shouted. "Sasha always said that it should be called a wakeover."
Apollo raised a brow in confusion before turning to Shadow. "I'll tell you later." The black cladded boy said.
"Enough setup. Let's get our sleepover on, baby!" Anne declared.
"You mean 'wakeover'?" Shadow teased.
"Exactly!"
Everyone cheered, eager to make it a night to remember.
It started with the kids racing down a flight of stairs, sliding on mattress', with the girls sliding on one while the boys slide on another, both crashing into suits of armor, much to Olivia's displeasure, as one of the armor helmets landed on her head.
The group then raided Andrias' closet, playing around with his giant clothes, Marcy playing with a large cape, Sprig and Maddie holding a giant crown, Anne sliding into a giant sock and hopping around laughing, Shadow and Apollo hopping around inside the king's massive boots, Ina and Valor playing with giant gloves, while Kaemon was swinging around a giant sword, Maddie standing nearby to make sure he didn't hurt himself.
Nearby, Olivia was approaching someone who looked like King Andrias. "Excuse me, sire." She said.
The 'king' turned his head, revealing to be Polly dressed as the king with several clothes, with herself as the head.
"Yes, peon?" She said in a deep voice.
Olivia's face turned red with anger, the advisor starting to lose her patience.
Later, Hemlock was within his studies, head prop on his hand and one leg over the other as he read a book, before Olivia joined him with a sigh, sitting next to him and opening a book.
"Kids driving you crazy?" He asked without looking at her.
"Like you wouldn't believe." Olivia replied, also not looking at him.
"Hm. Can't relate." The general of the army shrugged.
"Of course, you can't. You're never home." Olivia pointed out.
"Sorry for military work keeping me busy." Hemlock said, almost uncaringly.
"You could ask for days off, but you rarely ever do." Olivia glared at him. "Does family have any meaning to you?"
"Family is the one thing I have, ever since my bastard father disgraced our name." Hemlock replied. "But I must do everything I can to preserve the name Longclaw and ensure its future and renown throughout Amphibia."
"So, me and Yunan are just tools, is that it?" Olivia demanded.
"Do not put words in my mouth, Oli." Hemlock said, shifting his eyes to her. "I simply cannot stop. Not until my role is fulfilled."
"And what role is that?" Olivia asked with a raised brow.
But before the larger newt could answer, or consider giving one, the kids jumped out and sprayed them with silly string, even Shadow and Apollo were joining in, laughing. And while Hemlock didn't seem bothered, Olivia, on the other hand, had reached her limit.
"Oh, for frog's sake!"
In one swift motion, to everyone's shock, the advisor hit everyone with a series of mixed martial arts moves, even Shadow, Apollo, Valor and Ina, knocking them flat on the ground and sending their silly string spray bugs in the air and landing in an open chest before she closed it.
"While I'm glad you kids are having fun..." She said, the group of kids groaning in pain. "...let me remind you that some castle rooms are off-limits, namely the basement, which is strictly–"
Anne then pulled out another silly string, laughing as she sprayed Olivia in the face.
"Montage is back on, baby!"
After the kids ran off, Olivia sighed as she pulled the silly string off her face. "At least Apollo is enjoying himself. It's been so long since I ever saw him laugh this much."
After the advisor left, Hemlock was alone, before a newt knight entered. "General sir. Someone wants to meet you. They claim to be sent from a certain benefactor."
Hemlock thought it over…before smiling sinisterly.
Back with the kids, they were now pillow fighting, with Sprig already losing, but while Shadow tried to hold back, Apollo seemed to go a bit too rough and smacking the other kids so hard, they fell to the floor.
At least he was having fun.
Later, they raided the kitchen, Shadow and Anne running out with a large cake on a pushcart, Apollo and Marcy following behind with two pizzas, Kaemon, Maddie, Ivy and Sprig with several plates of pasta, Ina and Valor with jars of cookies, while Polly lagged behind eating several hundred cupcakes, letting out a loud burp.
They were then seen painting mustaches over paintings in the hallway.
"Are you sure this is okay?" Sprig asked, slightly unsure. "I mean, these are priceless."
"Normally, I'd be the one saying that." Apollo said, as he and Shadow were drawing a giant mustache over the Andrias painting. "But these things are actually easily replaced."
"I'm certainly not complaining!" Shadow declared with a smile, oddly enough taking joy in drawing buck teeth and an eyepatch over Andrias' face.
Finally, the gang of kids and teens were back in Marcy's room, relaxing in sleeping bags.
"That was awesome." Polly said with a yawn.
"Best sleepover ever." Sprig said.
"Without a doubt the best." Ivy added.
"The best first impression." Maddie nodded.
"Best choice to join in on the ride." Kaemon sighed happily.
"Glad we could share this moment." Valor spoke up.
"Always happy to have this many people." Ina added.
"This is honestly the most we've had in our usual sleepovers." Apollo admitted.
"You mean wakeover?" Shadow teased, earning a playful elbow from his brother.
"See, told ya we could pull off an awesome sleepover without Sasha." Anne declared confidently. "What time is it anyway? 5:00 a.m.? 6:00 a.m.?"
Marcy pulled up her phone and checked the time, and her eyes widened in shock as it was only nine o'clock.
"Only 9:00 p.m.?!" She gasped.
"What?!" Anne did a double take.
Shadow chuckled. "That early?"
"Only fifteen minutes of that montage and yet I feel exhausted." Apollo said, yawning.
Anne suddenly grabbed the brothers by the collars of their shirts and pulled them up, roughly shaking them. "No, stay awake!" She yelled.
"Anne, I think it's time." Marcy said in a serious tone.
"Really? Are you sure they're ready?" Anne asked, releasing the brothers.
"Is anyone ever really ready, Anne?" Marcy rhetorically asked.
"Ready for what?" Shadow asked with a raised brow.
"Some context would be nice." Apollo added.
The lights suddenly went out, Marcy holding up her phone and shining its light under her and Anne's faces to make spooky faces.
"The Scare-Dare challenge. Oooh." The two girls said.
"The rules: One of us comes up with a scary dare, and we all have to do it." Marcy began the explanation.
"But whoever bails first gets their name added to..." Anne continued.
Then Marcy pulled out a notebook journal, the title 'THE BOOK OF LOSERS' written on the front in red marker.
"The Book of Losers." Marcy declared, and while it unnerved the younger frogs and polliwog, the newts and humans didn't seem bothered.
"Yeah, and once your name is in the Book of Losers, it'll be there forever." Anne said.
"Forever." Marcy said in a deep voice.
"Well, I'm sold." Polly said excitedly.
"Let's do this!" Sprig declared.
"Don't mind some excitement!" Ivy added.
"Consider me intrigued." Maddie nodded.
"Well, this night just got a whole lot more interesting." Kaemon chimed in.
"Oh, heck yeah!" Valor whooped.
"Count me in!" Ina cheered.
Shadow and Apollo looked at each other before nodding.
"Okay, all we need is a scary dare." Marcy said.
Everyone sat in thought, thinking about a possible dare, but nothing came up.
"Yeah, I got nada." Sprig said.
"Huh. I don't remember it being this difficult." Anne said.
"That's because Sasha always came up with the best scare dares." Marcy told her.
That's when Kaemon spoke up, excitement in his tone. "Ooh, ooh! I've got one! Give me a second!"
The sword newt then dug into his bag before pulling out a large table and setting it up, then pulled out a vodka bottle. "Don't worry, it's just lemonade!" He clarified before pulling out thirty shot glasses and setting them on the table. He then proceeded to pour out the lemonade into the shot glasses, then pulled out a vial and dropped something into one of the glasses.
"What was that?" Sprig asked.
Ignoring the pink frog's question, Kaemon then proceeded to spin the table around before shuffling the glasses around at fast speeds before stopping the table.
"Here's the challenge. One of these glasses of lemonade is laced with poison." Kaemon said, earning a gasp from the others. "But not just any poison; this is Black Widow venom." Another gasp, Anne paling in the face. "It's simple; drink until all the glasses are empty. But if you drink the one with poison, then you're a goner!"
"Kaemon, don't you think this is a little…extreme?" Shadow asked with uncertainty.
"Trust me; taking a big risk is all part of the fear factor!" Kaemon said with confidence. "Plus, I have an antidote in case something goes wrong. Now, who's interested?"
Everyone looked at one another before nodding.
"Scare Dare Challenge accepted!"
Shadow was the first to start, the boy carefully scanning the glasses for anything wrong, but oddly enough, found nothing. Picking up one of the glasses, he brought it up to his lips and downed the drink. So far, he felt no abnormalities.
Up next was Maddie, the witch taking one of the glasses and instantly downing it in one gulp without hesitation.
Kaemon picked the third glass and downed it, a confident grin on his face.
As time went on, the group had made it to the last five glasses. The room was tense, everyone felt afraid, as any one of the remaining glasses could be poisoned.
Having been the one to start, Shadow went first, downing it fast. Then Anne, slowly bringing it up to her lips and downing it. Next was Apollo, the newt prince taking the glass and drinking the contents. The fourth was Marcy, downing the drink.
Then all that remained was one.
"So, we did it." Sprig said. "And my mouth tastes like lemon."
"That's why it's called lemonade." Marcy said.
"So, we all passed!" Anne declared. "Whoo! Scare Dare Challenge victorious!"
"Well, looks like no one's going into the Book of Losers tonight!" Marcy said, turning to a page in said book, and after some quick sketching, she had drawn a table with several empty glasses, titled 'Cheers To Your Health'.
Then Kaemon did something unexpected: he picked up the last glass, the supposed poisoned drink, and downed it in one gulp!
"KEAMON!" Everyone screeched in horror.
"You FOOL!" Apollo yelled, grabbing the swordnewt by the collar and shaking him. "Spit it out right now!"
Just as everyone in the room was about to scramble to get the antidote, Kaemon started laughing, much to everyone's confusion.
"Kaemon, why are you laughing?!" Anne demanded. "We need that antidote!"
Kaemon laughed some more before he was finally able to reply. "Guys, relax! It wasn't actually poisoned!"
Everyone, with the exception of Maddie, strangely enough, looked at him with absolutely flabbergasted looks.
"What?"
Suddenly, Kaemon busted out laughing again. "There was no need for an antidote because it wasn't poison! Just flavored lemonade!" He fell on his butt laughing. "You guys should've seen the look on your faces!"
"Kaemon, we didn't find that funny!" Anne snapped. "We legit thought you were gonna die!"
"Yeah, not cool, dude!" Ivy added, equally upset. "Tell him, Maddie!"
Maddie stood in silence before laughing out loud. "Good going, Kay. They really fell for it." She said, much to everyone's confusion.
"Yeah, it was actually Maddie's idea." Kaemon chuckled.
"You two are the worst." Anne said with a shake of her head.
"Yet the best at the same time." Sprig said.
"Okay, with all that madness out of the way," Marcy said, checking her phone. "Time really flew. It's 10 p.m. now."
"Not much, but it's something." Shadow said. "Anyone else have any ideas?"
Thinking, Anne got up and looked around before noticing the map of the castle on the wall. Walking up to it, she noticed that the bottom portion, namely the basement, was ripped off.
"Oh, what about the basement?" She suggested.
"How come the lower levels are missing?" Kaemon wondered, noticing the tear.
"The map's old. It got damaged over the years." Ina shrugged.
"Anne, that place is probably off-limits for a reason. This may not be a smart idea." Marcy said, unsure.
"Come on, Marce. It's what Sasha would do." Anne grinned.
"Anne, we discussed this before." Shadow frowned. "You're not supposed to be imitating Sasha's bad habits."
"It's not like that." Anne denied. "It's all in good fun. No stealing, no ordering around, no regretting past actions…" There was silence before she cleared her throat. "Besides, we have you to look after us!"
Shadow seemed unsure, while Apollo seemed confused. "Missing some context here." The newt prince said. "Can someone tell me who this Sasha is?"
"She tried to kill our Hop Pop." Sprig said angrily, Polly nodding.
"And my boyfriend." Maddie added, holding Kaemon's arm protectively.
"And then me." Shadow said, a look of shame on his face.
Apollo seemed taken aback before Anne spoke up. "Look, things are different now and no one's manipulating and telling us what to do!"
"That's only half my concern." Shadow frowned. "I had…bad memories from my last experience."
"Azazel…" Valor said with concern.
"How bad was it?" Anne asked with worry.
"Me, Apollo, Valor and Ina were playing hide and seek when I stumbled across the entrance." Shadow told her. "I ventured down, before stumbling upon something; a massive, multi-eyed monster that haunted my very dreams."
"Sounds scary." Marcy said.
"I never saw something so unnatural, so grotesque." Shadow said with a shiver. "I ran screaming into Andrias' arms, telling him what he saw. He said it was dealt with, but…" He stopped, holding his arms. "The way it stared at me, its very gaze as though staring into my soul…"
"Hey, it's okay, I get bad experiences with phobias." Anne said, placing her hands on Shadow's shoulders. "But this time, you've got us to face your fears."
Shadow considered this for a moment before nodding, although that fear was still there, he was more confident now.
"Alright, I hereby accept this Scare-Dare challenge." Marcy declared.
"We also accept this Scare-Dare challenge!" The other kids and teens declared.
"I suppose I'll accept this as well." Apollo shrugged.
"It is done. This Scare-Dare challenge is now..." Anne said, before everyone said in deep voices, "...official."
Meanwhile, Hop Pop and Cody were both enjoying a full-body massage, the two elders laying on their front while the masseuse's were applying the massage, massaging the aching forms of the two.
"Ooh wee, this is the stuff." Hop Pop said in bliss. "This is definitely what the doctor ordered!"
"No argument there, my friend." Cody chuckled. "Especially given all the farming you have to do."
"And I recon the same goes for you?" Hop Pop replied.
"After every rough mission, yeah." Cody nodded, flinching as the masseuse applied pressure to his shoulder. "Ooh, right there."
"Man, I can only imagine." Hop Pop chuckled. "Say, how did you end up meeting the king in the first place? If you don't mind me asking."
Thinking for a moment, Cody decided to talk. "Well, it was a long time ago, when I was younger, you see." He told the old frog. "Everything was normal; I was a working man in a dojo, with a wife and kid, everything seemed fine." He then frowned. "But one day, I lost everything when a terrible thunderstorm hit. My place of work, my home, my wife and child. It tore me apart."
"That's horrible!" Hop Pop gasped.
"Since then, I wandered, aimlessly, when I met Valor and Ina." Cody went on. "The two orphans starving on the streets, spat upon by the heartless. Remembering my own upbringing, I took them under my wing, training them and treating them like my own children." He smiled bitterly at the memory. "Ever since then, I swore to never fail my new family."
"And the king?" Hop Pop inquired.
"While I was training the kids, some portal opened, and the king stepped out." Cody continued. "At first, we were shocked, but then he offered a deal; our service in exchange for a secured future. I couldn't say no." His eyes shifted up, looking up to the open ceiling at the starry sky. "Since then, I served the king faithfully, the three of us performing the best we can and growing stronger. Ever since then, I owe him a great debt; one I plan to repay in kind."
Hop Pop absorbed this information, remembering the family he had…and how they died, leaving only the grandkids alive.
"I can relate." The old frog nodded. "You remember our talk during the trip."
"That I do." Cody nodded. "We're more alike than we thought. Perhaps it was fate that we met."
"Now, I wouldn't say it like—Oh!" He suddenly squealed when the masseuse applied pressure to his back. "That's the stuff!"
Cody chuckled, laying his head down, and his smile turning into a frown.
'If only you lot knew, my friend.'
Back at the castle, the group of kids and teens tip toed down the hall towards the entrance to the cellar, sneaking past a sleeping Olivia…but not before Polly took the time to doodle on her face. Reaching the wine cellar, they saw a hatch before approaching, Anne taking hold of the handle and pulling it open, causing dust to fly everywhere and revealing a dark staircase, descending into the darkness.
"So, this is the basement, huh." Valor said, peering into the darkness.
"Y-Yeah." Marcy gulped.
"You know, when you stare into the darkness, it tends to stare back." Apollo said.
"You know, we probably shouldn't go in." Ivy said, feeling a tingle go up her spine.
Valor, on the other hand, rolled his eyes. "Look, you guys can be scared and write your names in the Book of Losers, if you want," He said. "But if there's one thing I have zero respect for, it's not exploring a possibly dangerous area!"
"Does that include being concerned for one's safety?" Apollo inquired with a raised brow.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained!" Valor boasted before jumping in, leaving them behind.
"Sorry about him." Ina said. "He can be reckless, but he has a good heart."
"Ina, I had no idea that you care so much." Anne said, wiggling her eyebrows. "Especially with such admiration~."
Ina scoffed at the notion. "Please, we're just friends." She said. "Now, come on. He's probably bored waiting."
With Ina going first, the rest followed, Anne and Marcy using their phones flashlight to light the way. About halfway down, it didn't take long before Marcy tripped over her own foot and nearly fell down, had Apollo not caught her by her shirt collar.
"Marcy, please be more careful!" The newt prince scolded her.
"Heh, my bad." Marcy chuckled, rubbing the back of her head.
Just as the prince thought it was safe to let go, the Taiwanese fell forward yet again, the newt prince reaching forward and grabbing by the waist of her pants, pulling it slightly to reveal a bit of her underwear. While no one else saw, the prince sure did, his face red like a tomato before he instinctively released her, letting her fall on Anne, then Shadow, then the others, everyone tumbling down the stairs before landing on Valor, who was waiting at the bottom.
"What the hell!" The red head shouted.
"Apollo, what happened there?" Shadow asked as his brother rushed to join them.
"…I lost my grip." The newt answered plainly.
Kaemon gave a deadpanned stare. "Really?" He asked, as though asking if the prince was serious.
"Yes." Apollo said, turning away to hide the blush on his face.
Everyone groaned before looking up, their eyes widening at where they ended up, the hallway lined with a large number of mirrors along the walls.
"Whoa, that's a lot of mirrors." Sprig pointed out.
"Someone got a vanity issue?" Kaemon quipped.
The group looked down the hall, all shivering with hints of fear, even Shadow and Apollo, two of the fiercest most fearless Calamity Warriors with slightly shaking in the knees.
"So... anyone wanna turn back and go into the Book of Losers?" Anne suggested once again, chuckling nervously.
"You kidding me?"
"Not me."
"As if."
"I ain't scared."
"I'm no quitter!"
"No chickening out now!"
"We already agreed to it, so might as well see it to the end."
"Hell naw, I ain't backing out."
"I'm already too invested in this."
The group began walking down the hall, passing by one set of mirrors after another.
"You know, some cultures believe mirrors can ward off malevolent spirits, or summon them." Marcy pointed out before giving a sinister laugh.
"Marcy, please. You're scaring the guests." Apollo said, gesturing to the shaking frog kids.
Eventually, the group stopped at a boarded up door with something written in red in the Amphibian language.
"Uh, Apollo, what does this say?" Anne asked the newt prince.
"I think it's fairly obvious what it says." He said.
"Keep out." Everyone said together.
Suddenly, there was a loud creaking sound, nearly making everyone jump.
"Okay, somebody's gotta wanna go back by now." Anne said, that eagerness to get out as quickly as possible.
"I ain't going in no Book of Losers. "Sprig said, shivering with fear.
"Me n-n-n-neither." Polly shared her brother's sentiment.
Seeing no one else was willing to turn back, Marcy said, "Guess we'll go a bit further then."
"Uh-huh. Living my best life right now." Anne said anxiously.
Shadow and Apollo sighed, but both brothers complied and pulled the boards off the door, one by one, before opening it, revealing a room that was full of coffins wrapped in chains and the floor covered in ankle high water, the only source of light being the red corals lined on the walls.
Everyone looked in awe and horror, as though looking at something straight out of a horror movie.
"What in Amphibia is this?" Shadow said, at a loss for words.
"What the heck?" Anne said, sharing her boyfriend's fear.
"It's some kind of creepy crypt." Kaemon said, creeped out.
"Whoa-ho. You mean like with dead bodies? Cool." Polly declared, suddenly no longer afraid, she and her brother jumping on one of the coffins.
"Get back here, you two!" Apollo shouted at them.
"Yeah, we don't know where those things have been!" Ivy said, not liking the place.
"Anne, Shadow, we shouldn't be here. This feels all sorts of wrong." Marcy said, pulling at her friend's arm.
"Yeah, this feels…very wrong." Shadow said.
"Guys, I, uh, think Marcy and Shadow are right. We should head back upstairs." Anne said, hoping to reason with her friends.
"Can't believe I'm agreeing with that idea, but here we are." Kaemon spoke up.
"Yeah, it's too creepy, even for me." Maddie nodded.
"Guys, come one, this is nothing." Valor declared, standing on one of the coffins with Polly and Sprig.
"Valor, we really shouldn't be here." Ina tried to reason with the red head. "This place is giving serious bad vibes."
Valor then formed a sly grin on his face, winking at Sprig and Polly. "Oh, I see. So I guess you guys are okay with going in..." He and the Plantar kids then said in unison. "...the Book of Losers!"
"Valor, this isn't a game!" Apollo snapped. "There is clearly something wrong with this place and we shouldn't be down here! This goes beyond some stupid game!"
While they were arguing, Shadow and Anne noticed something about one of the coffins and saw something emerge, and soon enough, the other kids saw it; a creature that looked like a small translucent octopus with a single eye. Everyone screamed in shock, Apollo, Shadow, Valor and Ina staring in dumbstruck shock, and the water glowed purple as more of the strange creatures emerged, some looking like germs or deep-sea creatures.
"What the heck are these things?!" Anne demanded in shock.
"Hey, they're actually kinda cute." Sprig said, raising his finger to touch the octopus looking creature.
"Sprig, don't touch it!" Marcy warned with fright.
"Look!"
Seeing where Anne was pointing, Sprig saw another creature emerge from the water, this one having skeletal remains within it, which dissolved into nothing.
Everyone screamed in panic.
"They're gonna eat our bones!" Polly yelled.
"Forget this! We're losers! We lose!" Sprig exclaimed, grabbing Polly and hopping away.
"Ain't no way I'm dying like this!" Valor yelled, running after the siblings.
The group ran for the entrance, only for it to be blocked by more ghost fish.
"I don't get it. Are they aliens? Ghosts?" Anne asked, confusion replacing fear.
"It doesn't matter right now!" Apollo yelled. "We need to get out of here!"
"He's right! Let's get outta here, Scoob!" Marcy exclaimed.
"Roger that." Anne said before then looking offended. "Wait, what did you just call me?"
Another ghost fish blocked their exit, making the teens scream.
"Guys, Master, this way!" Kaemon yelled, pointing down another hall.
"We found another exit!" Maddie yelled.
The group panted as they ran, the ghost fish lagging behind, allowing the group to get a much needed head start, running down another hall of mirrors.
"Man, someone really loves mirrors." Ina remarked.
"Wait, you guys seriously never saw those things before?" Anne did a double take.
"Not even once!" Shadow yelled. "But let's save the questions for when we're out of danger."
The group ran onward, entering another corridor that looked like a greenhouse, Marcy stopping to look around. "What the... A garden? But how are these plants growing so well without sunlight?"
"Mars, we don't have time for this. Come on!" Apollo yelled, grabbing her arm and running onward, not taking notice of a chained Moss Man sitting in the corner.
The group then ran out of the greenhouse and into a storage room, Sprig stopping to look at what looked like a torn-up painting. "Whoa, someone really hated this painting." He said.
"Aaah! Hurry up!" Polly and Ivy yelled, pulling him along.
Soon enough, they ran past another tunnel, but Shadow stopped to look, as though he was remembering something from his time in the castle. And then that image of the multi-eyed creature appeared in his mind, as though beckoning him to come.
"The Oculus…" He whispered, almost to himself.
At first, Shadow seemed like he wanted to go down, but resisted, running after his friends instead, not knowing an ominous orange eye opening on the wall, staring after him.
The group kept running, running up some stairs before reaching a hatch, both girls trying to push on it, the hatch proving difficult to open, before then activating Calamity Trigger, pushing the hatch open, and entering a familiar room.
"My room?" Marcy said, looking around her room quizzically.
"We'll talk about it later!" Apollo snapped.
Once everyone got out, Shadow slammed the hatch shut, everyone finally relaxing a bit to catch their breath.
Anne let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness that's..."
But before she could finish, the ghost fish began phasing up through the floor, making the kids scream in panic and back away.
"We've no choice but to fight!" Shadow yelled, pulling out his katana, while Apollo pulling out his spear.
"Wait, you guys brought your weapons?" Anne looked at the brothers in confusion.
"A Calamity Warrior always keeps their weapon on them at all times!" Apollo shouted.
Backed against Marcy's desk, Anne noticed a book before grabbing it. "Take this, you overgrown gummy worm!" She yelled before throwing it at the biggest ghost fish, only to phase right through it.
"Valor, Ina, Kaemon! Give us a hand!" Shadow yelled.
"On it, Master!" Kaemon replied, pulling out his blue katana, while Ina and Valor prepared their powers.
"Quick! More books." Sprig yelled, throwing more books.
"Way ahead of you." Polly yelled, she, Maddie and Ivy joining in.
The kids threw books, the two brothers, swordnewt, Valor and Ina attacked, but every attack they threw only phased right through the ghost fishes.
"Nothing's working. Why is everything passing right through them?" Marcy asked.
"Maybe they prefer audiobooks!" Anne yelled, shooting silly string at it, achieving the same result.
Sprig held up a mirror, and as soon as it looked at its reflection, the largest ghost fish suddenly becoming solid and losing its glow, hitting the ground with a thud. Blinking, it looked around several times before Valor delivered a punch to the head, hurting it.
"It's physical?" Marcy said in confusion.
"But how?" Valor said, the physical shadowfish slinking back down the hatch.
"It's the mirrors!" Apollo shouted, pointing to Sprig, who still held the mirror. "Both hallways to the crypt were filled with mirrors. And it looks like the refraction of their own light turns these creatures physical.
"Which means..." Anne said before gasping, using both hands to grab several mirrors. "Quick, everyone, grab a mirror!"
Everyone now equipped with a mirror, they flashed the mirrors at the shadowfish, making them lose their translucent glow before shoving them back down the hatch, closing it and shoving a heavy chest on top, then Marcy pushed a chair on it.
All panting, the chaos seemed to have ended.
"So... anyone think they're going to be able to sleep after that terrifying experience?" Marcy asked.
"No way." Everyone collectively said.
Eventually, the morning sun rose, as Marcy and Anne's phone alarms went off at six A.M., the group emerging from a blanket they were wrapped up in, having stayed up the whole night, with bags under their eyes.
"Welp, we did it." Sprig said with tired eyes.
"We stayed awake all night." Polly said.
"Oh, I still have so many questions." Marcy said with sudden energy, looking to the newt prince. "What were those things, Apollo? What's the deal with the basement? And if those were really ghosts, is there actually an afterlife?"
"Marcy, I don't know what those things were or why they were down there in the first place." Apollo told her. "Never having gone down into the basement until now, I don't know what father keeps hidden down there."
"What about that multi-eyed monster?" Anne asked. "We didn't come across anything like that yet, Shadow."
"While Andrias assured me that it's gone, I'm uncertain." Shadow said. "But I have a feeling that the Oculus is still there, as if waiting for something."
"Oculus?" Kaemon repeated with confusion.
"It means eyes." Shadow explained. "And it had a lot of them."
"Well, one thing's for sure. That sleepover was amazing!" Sprig declared.
"It was the best!" Polly exclaimed.
"The greatest!" Ivy nodded.
"It was pretty cool." Maddie said in agreement.
"Without a doubt!" Valor added.
"The best I've ever had!" Ina chimed in.
Anne and Marcy smiled before giving each other a fist bump, while Shadow and Apollo high fived each other.
"I just wish I didn't have to add my name to the Book of Losers." Sprig said with a sigh, signing his name in the book.
Polly blew a raspberry. "Me either." She said before doing the same.
"We're all losers today." Kaemon said before signing his name.
"Might as well add us in." Maddie said before signing hers, Ivy nodding before doing the same.
"Still doesn't ruin the fun." Ina chuckled before signing.
"Might as well accept it with grace." Apollo said as he signed his name.
"Hand me that pen." Anne said, taking the pen and signing. "You're not the only losers. I was scared outta my mind."
"As was I." Shadow nodded, signing his name before holding the pen out to Valor.
The red head looked at the pen before sighing. "I still think this doesn't count." He mumbled, taking the pen and signing his name.
"Hey, I was scared too." Marcy said with a chuckle before signing her name. "It's not the first time either."
"For real?" Valor said with surprise. "Let me see!"
Taking the book, Valor flipped through the pages, seeing Anne and Marcy's names signed several times on each page.
"Whoa. Your names are in here a bunch of times." Sprig observed.
"Yep, the only one brave enough to never get in the book was Sasha." Marcy said.
"Wow, beautiful and brave. My kind of woman..." Valor said, wiggling his eyebrows, all the while, Ina giving him a deadpan expression, before rolling her eyes at him.
Anne, looking at the pages, sighed. "We have to find her, Marcy. I need to make things right." She said.
"And so does she." Shadow pointed out. "Least I remind you how she tried to have us killed."
"I still require context here." Apollo said.
Anne and Shadow quickly recapped the events of Toad Tower, and by the end, Apollo was appalled.
"I see now." He said before facing his brother. "To think that all happened because some harlot was too controlling."
"And from what he told us, he went berserk again, but on a much smaller scale." Ina said.
"While I do feel guilty for that," Shadow said with a from. "Sasha still needs to make amends for her behavior."
"I'm sure she'll come around, Shadow." Marcy said. "I just know it."
A sudden knock on the door made everyone scream before ducking back under the covers, the doors swinging open to an irate Olivia, her face covered with doodles, with a mustache and 'Polly Was Here' graffiti on her eye lids.
"Rise and shine, kids. Because of you, I barely slept a wink last night." She said sternly before sighing. "Well, whatever. It's go time. Your audience with King Andrias is about to begin. Get ready!"
As Olivia left, slamming the doors behind her, the kids started laughing, even Apollo joined in, but that laughter soon turned to silence when they took notice of the small shadowfish under the covers with them, giggling along, causing them to scream in terror.
And there's the new chapter! This was a fun chapter to do, the gang getting into hijinks, again, as well as some foreshadowing, specifically to the Core, or the Oculus, as Shadow calls it. Another small idea curtesy of Unity.
This was another good chance to explore Cody's backstory, as well as some bonding time between him and Hop Pop. I just love writing these two, they're just perfect best friends for each other. It was also a good opportunity to explore the relationship between Olivia and Hemlock. While the Army General does care for Olivia and Yunan, in his own unique way, his focus is on the end goal, and he's willing to do whatever it takes to achieve it.
It was also a good chance to explore Marcy and Apollo's history together, the newt prince coming off as harsh, but slowly warming up to our favorite bag of marbles. I enjoy writing these two as a pair, they're so cute!
Next up is the Day at the Aquarium episode, or as I call it, Ballroom Blues. Yeah, sorry folks, my take is gonna be much different from the original. I hope that's okay.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed and look forward to more! As usual, reviews are greatly appreciated and I hope you guys have a wonderful day or night!