Help, I'm a Frog!

This chapter/episode is a tribute dedicated to two of my favourite stories and their creators, who have inspired its plot: the movie 'Help, I'm a Fish' by Stefan Fjeldmark, Greg Manwaring and Michael Hegner, the favorite movie of my childhood, and the fanfic 'Medicated' by DragonLovingGirl6 & Opin88, whose plot and writing style I loved.

The two-carriage fwagon was traveling through a dark, scary-looking forest made of spiked trees and plants. Once again, Hop-pop was driving while Felicia was checking the map to his right, serving as his copilot. In front of them, the snails Bessie and Liptea were busy towing the large vehicle as quickly as possible through the woods, while above all of them, Amelia was flying on Akitsu's back, the young samurai acting as a scout, ready to alert everyone if some danger threatened their travels. Meanwhile, sitting behind the drivers, Marcy was adding new content to her Journal while, on the opposite end of the vehicle, James was busy cleaning his telescope's lens.

"Welp," Marcy said as she looked over the new notes and sketches in her notebook, "the last few days sure were crazy."

"I'll say," Sprig joined in, peeking from the window below. "Polly and I learned the true meaning of accountability."

"I enjoyed a brief but memorable stint as a culinary judge for a contest!" Anne added, taking off an apron with the words "Toad's Kitchen" printed on it.

"We faced off some evil adventurers and kicked butt," Sasha looked at Ivy with a kind smile.

"And I almost got burned at a stake..." Maddie grumbled prompting Polly's response.

"Hey, we did save you in time!"

"Hey, Jacob, everything's ok bro?" James asked, noticing the other human boy being strangely silent, sitting all alone on the end of the second carriage and watching the road behind them. "I am sure your crazy stunt as street fighter was quite memorable."

"It's not that," Jacob turned around, "it's only… man, I wish Soggy Joe could have come with us. I know he had his job, but I miss him already."

"Hey, that was just a goodbye!" Sprig tried to cheer him up, "I'm sure you'll have your chance to see him again either in Newtopia or back to the Valley."

"Truth to be told, Soggy's not the only one I hope to see again… do you think that he is following us?"

"Who?" Felicia asked, raising an eyebrow, taking away her look from the map.

"That cool dude who helped us back at Bittyburg, the Wrecker!" Jacob announced, Hop Pop's eyes widening as he heard that name. "He said we would meet again before the end, but the end of what? Hop Pop, do you think we may end up meeting him again in Newtopia?"

"I-I'm not sure about that," the old frog replied with a nervous chuckle. "The Wrecker…from what little I know, he only appears where he wants or where he is needed. He was spotted a few times in Newtopia, but that was a long time ago!"

"Frog, I do hope we will meet him again," Marcy mused for a second, looking over the only drawing she had of the Wrecker. "That guy surely was cool and mysterious."

"Hey, Felicia," Anne asked, noticing the map in the adult frog's hands. "Are you checking the progress we've made so far? Where are we at?"

"Well, the good news is that we've made up for all the time lost after we left the Valley," Felicia replied, looking at the map, "this means that, since we're back on schedule, we can relax for a bit and must travel less by night, if we want. That would be…" she stopped to stifle a yawn before continuing "appreciated." Exchanging a glance with Hop Pop she further added: "Still, we have quite a way to go: we're not even halfway yet."

"All that traveling and we're not even halfway?" Sasha asked with disbelief. "Then, how much road do we still have to make before being halfway?"

"We're about to go through the Dry Swamp," Felicia's finger moved on the map, "once we've surpassed that we would be midday to Newtopia. Jacob, can you please check our water reserves? If they're below a certain level, it would be good to stop and replenish them. We'll need as much water as we can to pass through the Dry Swamp."

"Understood!" The boy nodded, moving back to the inside of the fwagon and to the back of the rear carriage.

"Here, kids!" Hop Pop offered them some canteens, Sprig, Ivy and Maddie taking them and drinking some water. "You're going to want to hydrate."

"Pshh, we'll be fine," Anne waved her hand with a scoffing expression. It's still a swamp, how dry can it be?"

A lot, actually, as the next day the fwagon left the dark forest behind and finally entered the Dry Swamp, which was revealed to be a scorching, thirsty desert, devoid of vegetation except for a few lonely clumps of grass, the sky completely devoid of clouds. The humans were all sweating and shriveled like raising, feeling like they were in a giant oven or a sauna.

"Gimme that stuff!" Anne grabbed another canteen of water and splashed all over her.

"Be careful with that water, Anne!" Marcy commented, smearing her skin with some kind of magical ointment on her arms and face to protect her skin. "We don't know when we'll be able to get another supply, and we have to use the one we have left with discretion."

"Felicia, you knew it was like this?" Sasha perked up and looked at her adoptive frog parent, the former adventurer's smirk betraying her inner thoughts. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"We did tell you to keep yourself hydrated, Sasha." The tea shop owner pointed out, "It's not my fault you didn't listen to my warnings."

"Don't you have a Dry Swamp in your world?" Asked Ivy curiously.

"We do, but we don't call them swamps!" The blonde human retorted, "In our world, places like this are called deserts, like the Sahara, the Gobi-"

"There are more than one?!" Hop Pop gasped in shock. "Do they have giant frog-eating sandworms too?"

The entire fwagon was entirely silent for a few seconds before Sasha took a deep breath and ask with all the seriousness she could manage "What."

"Wait, did you just say 'giant sandworms'?" Jacob piped up from the inside, clearly interested. "As-"

However, before the boy could finish his question, an ironic twist of events came in response as Amelia, still riding on Akitsu, saw some clumps of grass moving. A few seconds later, the soil exploded into a burst, and a tall, threatening sandworm appeared before them, its skin being green with black spots, the 'grass' revealed to be fur growing off its back, shrieking loudly and showing the fwagon member its sharp teeth, the kids and the adults screaming together.

"WORM!" Amelia yelled as Akitsu moved out of the huge bug's range.

"Blimey!" James gasped in shock, "It's times like these I wish I had a 500-foot-tall bottle of Tequila!"

"I don't think that would be enough to drown a worm like this!" Anne responded.

"Who said anything about the worm? I just want to be so blitzed I won't remember any of this!"

"Guess we'll have to fight our way out of this!" Sasha yelled, grabbing her words. "Jacob, Anne, you come with me! Marcy-"

"Wait!" Maddie suddenly rushed forward, grabbing one of her spell bags and aiming it, "Let's try this!"

As the worm lunged forward, trying to chomp down its newest victims, Maddie launched her spell bag right into its open mouth as it exploded in a puff of pink smog, the worm suddenly trembling before stopping completely in its tracks.

"W-what was that?" Ivy peeked out, looking at the giant worm standing immobile without trying to attack them anymore.

"One of the latest spells Marcy and I developed together," the azure frog announced with pride, "this spell allows us to charm mindless creatures and stop them from attacking us. It's not easy to produce, but the results are clearly worth it!"

"Great," Anne smiled. "Now we can just hightail out of here while it stares lovingly at us."

"Wait, I got an idea!" Jacob rushed in, "One that could help us get where we're going faster."

"Sorry, Jacob, but even if the worm is under the charm's effect, you wouldn't be able to command it without a means of controlling it. I doubt you could do that, even with the Plantar's Hunting Dance." Marcy quickly realized what he was thinking, the boy 'almost' deflating as she popped his fantasies. "Not to mention, riding a giant worm without proper equipment could be quite dangerous, even if the worm is not trying to throw you out."

"But Paul Atreides made it look so cool in Dune!" The boy protested. "Oh, come on! A large desert populated by giant aggressive worms? None among you thought about it?"

"Huh, who is Paul Atreides?" Hop Pop asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And what is a 'Dune'?" Sprig asked in wonder.

(…)

"…and then the young Paul, alongside his mother, joined the Freemen, his will strengthened with resolve to avenge his father's death and destroy House Harkonnen!"

"Wow!" Ivy gasped, listening to the boy's story with wide eyes, "That story was…amazing!"

"So, the Emperor did all of this because he was jealous that Duke Atreides was getting more popular than him?" Maddie snorted, "That sounds as complicated as it's petty!"

"Believe me, nobles can be quite petty, I know that from personal experience." Felicia rolled her eyes. "Still, I have to agree with my daughter: the plot was fascinating, there was so much drama, if it could be adapted for a play it would surely be a success!"

"Indeed, it's better than many plays I've seen with my own eyes!" Hop Pop nodded while, outside, Anne was busy leading the snails, Sasha, Amelia and Akitsu giving her company. "Frog, I wish I had the skill to be able to play a part in such a work."

"I am curious about the whole 'Spice' thing." Sprig asked, still thinking about the story, "Why was it that important?"

"Because, as Jacob already explained," James quickly intervened, "the Spice was a very powerful substance that not only could extend someone's lifespan of centuries, but also give them limited abilities of precognition."

"Precognition?" Polly asked.

"That means," Marcy explained, "the ability to see the future and use that knowledge to your advantage or to help others."

"I admit, that sounds quite cool-" Maddie began to speak when, all of a sudden, the fwagon stopped and the group heard the voices of Anne, Sasha and Amelia coming from above.

"Guys, guys!"

"Come and see, now!"

Hop Pop and Felicia rushed outside, followed by everyone else, the girls pointing at something far away while Akitsu buzzed annoyed, unhappy of her nap being disturbed. Everyone's eyes widened as they saw a city rising off in the distance, appearing in the middle of the desert like a mirage, its tall, luminous buildings standing in contrast with the harsh nature surrounding it.

Sprig, Ivy and Polly gasped in wonder, Maddie raised an eyebrow, Marcy immediately began to draw a sketch of the skyline of the unknown town, Hop Pop scoffed, and Felicia rolled her eyes. Both the adult frogs knew very well the city the humans had sighted just now.

"Is that-is that a city?" Anne asked in amazement. "Hop Pop, you know what that place is?"

"I know, unfortunately," Hop Pop grumbled, clearly unhappy to talk about it. "That city is Les Flies, former refueling station for caravans and travelers crossing the desert, now a haven for those who live off by gambling, luxury shopping and businesses that, I'm sure, aren't even absolutely legal! In short, a place of vices where there is no place for honest, hardworking frogs."

"You mean it's like Las Vegas?" Anne gasped, "'Everything that happens in Les Flies stays in Les Flies'?"

"No, that's the Bizarre Bazaar."

"I wonder what the city looks like," Marcy nodded, her eyes focusing on the shiny architecture in the distance, "how about we stop for a night, and we go visiting it?!"

"I agree!" Sasha quickly joined her, "Plus, I want to check what kind of luxury shopping they have available."

"I don't think that's a good idea-" Felicia began to reprimand her.

"Why? I got my own money to use," the blonde human said with determination, "and I think I could find something good for Ivy as well!"

"I want to go too!" Jacob pumped up, "James, are you coming?"

"Of course, bro!"

"Kids, I'm serious!" Hop Pop said in a stern voice, "Look, I understand that you want to see it, but Les Flies…it's not a good place, especially for children!"

"Hop Pop is right," Felicia sighed. "I even lived there for a period before I… chose to leave my life as an adventurer behind. It looks glamorous, but it's a very dangerous place to go. And," she pointed out at the six humans, "I don't think the locals would take very well the presence of something like you."

"Oh, come on!" Anne protested, "How bad could it be?"

"Anne," Hop Pop gave her an armor-piercing question, "do you remember when we stopped at that town, and you said you didn't need your disguise anymore?"

(…)

"This way! The monsters went this way!"

"Go away! We didn't do anything!"

(…)

"At least you managed to run," Maddie grumbled, "while I was captured and almost burned because they believed I was the one that had summoned you."

"I believed we could finally be accepted for what we were!" Anne responded, "After the warm welcome we've received at Bittyburg-"

"The Bitties are used to every stranger to look different from them," Felicia explained. "This is why they didn't react even when they saw your real faces. But here in les Flies, people would get scared to see you…for the first time," she said with a guilty expression, remembering her own behavior when the humans first arrived in Wartwood. "Or worse, they could see you as an opportunity for profit, and try to hurt you."

"You mean like Hoffanio?" Amelia gasped, shivering the memories of the hunter toad.

"Then, I guess we have to use our disguises once more?" James said with a resigned tone, only for Hop Pop to shoot that down as well."

"It wouldn't work. In Les Flies, all kinds of disguises, especially those who can hide your face, are frowned upon. Not only you wouldn't be able to go anywhere, but the disguise itself would draw even more attention!"

"So, you're saying there is no way for us to visit the city?" Sasha summarized with a bitter tone.

"Not unless you have some foolproof way," Hop Pop nodded, "to disguise yourself so everyone would see you as an Amphibian."

For a few seconds, no one said anything, the humans grumbling as they tried to come up with a solution while Hop Pop and Felicia waited in silence, confident that they could had a reasonable excuse to skip the town where, unknown to the kids, both frogs had left some 'shady' parts of their past.

Until, unexpectedly, a hand raised up.

"Maybe, I could have a possible solution," Marcy laughed nervously, embarrassed as the eyes of everyone focused on her.

(…)

"So, this is the solution you said it could help us?" Amelia asked, everyone gathered inside the fwagon while Marcy kept taking out several boxes and canisters filled with ingredients for spell-making, as well as glass-looking jugs: "A spell?"

"Kind off, it's a magic potion actually!" The dark-haired nerd happily replied as she kept gathering what she needed, "This is an idea I've been working on for some time, and that would help disguise us among the other Amphibians and make our current disguises obsolete. Now, if I only could remember the formula-"

"You worked on a spell on your own?" Maddie was astonished, "You worked on a new kind of spell on your own, and didn't tell me anything about it, you didn't even show it to me once?"

"No…"Marcy said, as she tried to defend her actions, "Let me be absolutely clear, I didn't do that. Except…" as she looked at Maddie's glaring expression, her defenses crumbled down, "yes, I did that."

"Marcy Regina Wu Plantar Flour," Maddie started tapping her foot on the floor, "you remember when I started to teach you about magic? You remember the rules I gave you to follow, and you swore to obey them, lest I would stop teaching you anything? Do you remember what the third rule was?"

"Well," Marcy began to sweat nervously, "T-that was-"

"Always remember to carefully follow each step when creating spells." Maddie repeated it verbatim, without missing a bit, "The smallest mistake or change always leads to unexpected, unforeseen and almost always deadly consequences."

"I know, but I didn't break that rule!" Marcy was now beginning to panic, "I followed all the steps you taught me, and I checked all my works twice! I didn't say so just because I wanted to make it a surprise."

"You still took a big risk, without warning me in case something went wrong. You just broke some of my rules, the rules you swore you would upheld!" Maddie said before her expression relaxed, noticing how scared Marcy now was looking.

"Y-you mean-"

"I'm not going to stop teaching you, if that's what you're fearing," the expert spell-maker retorted. "To tell the truth, I am quite proud you managed to produce something complex on your own," Marcy sighed in relief. "But! I still want to check all your process notes later, and from now on, whenever you're working on something magic-related, I want to be informed of the results. You're walking on a very thin line, my dear student of mine!"

Marcy nodded, realizing she had overstepped her boundaries. She may have become knowledgeable on Amphibian magic, but Maddie was still her mentor. Plus, she did have a point: new, untested, and highly experimental magic could be highly dangerous.

"I'm certain we will have time to discuss this at a later time," Maddie finished, agreeing to postpone any reprimand she had. "So, what can you tell about this spell you've worked on?"

"Here!" Marcy triumphantly announced, showing an open page of her spell recipes notebook, all the fear and nervousness of a few seconds ago vanishing in a blink. "The first Amphibian Polymorph Spell!"

"Polymorph?!" Jacob, James, and Sasha gasped at the same time, while Sprig, Ivy and Polly looked at Marcy with eyes full of curiosity, and Hop Pop and Felicia exchanged a worried look. Both knew what the term 'polymorph' meant.

"Mar-Mar?" Anne intervened, "Just to ask…what's that spell even supposed to do?"

"This spell will allow us to walk among other Amphibians with no need of disguises…by giving us, for a brief period of time, Amphibian bodies!"

"SAY WHAT?" Everyone around her gasped at the same time.

"A-Amphibian bodies?" Amelia repeated, realizing (yet not wanting to admit yet) the meaning of such words. "Perhaps that means-"

"Yes, this spell will allow us to transform in various Amphibian forms for some hours!"

"You made a spell to turn us into frogs?" Sasha jerked, unsure of how to feel about that.

"Or toads, or newts, or axolotls…I am not 100% sure as well. I guess this is the random part."

"You wrote a spell to turn us into Amphibians," Jacob muttered, unable to process it.

"Yes, that's what I just told you. Now let me show you how to mix but first… there is something else I'd like to share," Marcy said, her cheeks blushing in embarrassment. "Since I wanted to be sure to remember the ingredients and process to make it, in case I ever lost the recipe, I wrote a song about how to prepare the potion and… I would like to sing it while I prepare it?"

"You made a song out of a magic potion?" Amelia chuckled, amused by the idea.

"Seriously, Mars," Sasha almost facepalmed, "we love you, but sometimes you can be quite a dork!"

"I was caught in the moment, Sash!" The ranger/mage nerd human retorted, "Anyway, I'm still singing it!"

Marcy then began to move around the fwagon, happily humming the music of the song as Anne turned around and looked at Jacon & James, pointing at Marcy in disbelief while the two boys shrugged with bewildered expression on their faces.

"If you want to undergo this remarkable transformation,

you'll have to mix a few ingredients.

Take a giant oak' leaf,

add the tiny whiskers of a dragonfly.

And ask a hunter beetle,

for a dash of its spit. "

Marcy began to sing, taking the ingredients one by one, as her friend and family watched her doing, with various reactions. Silently, Maddie took her own notes of the ingredients and the process, to make sure there wasn't anything obviously dangerous going on.

"Isn't it amazing,

Real magic, Frogtastic and true!

Isn't it amazing

What magic can do?"

Amelia smiled, as she began to hum the tune of the music as well, quickly followed by Ivy.

" Add some minced petals on the flowerbeds of the lilies.

Pour it all into a wooden dish,

And get ready for the thrill but before you down a sip,

Blend it all with the red of Mr. Trish. "

Jacob joined as well, even if he couldn't make the words and simply let himself be captured by the rhythm.

" Isn't it amazing,

Real magic, Frogtastic and true!

Isn't it amazing

What magic can do?"

Marcy had now completed the process, and proudly held a batch of the potion in her hands, turning around and smiling at her friends.

" I bet you never dreamt of your tasting

a drink quite like this.

One little drop turns you

Amphi-bish! "

"Ok, it's official," Sasha rolled her eyes, with an amused expression on her face. "Marcy had become a true Disney Princess."

"And what's wrong with that?" Amelia piped in.

"The song was nice, I guess," Anne chuckled before focusing on the bottle Marcy was holding, full of red liquid. "So…this stuff is supposed to turn us into Amphibian forms?"

"Indeed!" The spellcasting ranger replied with eyes filled in excitation. "The transformation is temporary and should last only up to three or four hours. The issue is…" she laughed nervously, "I haven't had the chance to test it yet."

"Oh, oh!" Sprig waved his hands, "Let me try it!"

"Sprig, no!" Hop Pop scoffed. "I told you already, no testing of unchecked magic potions unless is an emergency!"

"Besides, the potion is supposed to turn humans into amphibians," James pointed out. "That means that the only ones who can test it out are us!"

"This is why I will try it," Marcy said, "I was the one that came up with the recipe, so it's my responsibility to test it."

"Marbles, no!" Anne intervened, taking the potion. "You and Maddie are the only ones among us who can fix that stuff if something goes wrong. I'll test it!"

"No, I'll do it!" Jacob grabbed the potion from Anne's hands. "Doing reckless dangerous things is my thing!"

"Oh no, don't you dare!" Amelia took the bottle from her cousin, jumping back before anyone could take it from her. "If there's going to be any unsanctioned testing of dangerous liquids, I'm the one who's going to do it. That's the hero's job."

And before any of the humans or the frog could say or do something to stop her, she brought the bottle to her lips and drank a sip of the potion, stopping a few seconds later to check the effects.

"How do you feel?" Maddie asked, with a worried tone. "Do you feel anything, mouth dry, stomach issues, maybe a desire to drink blood?"

"No actually," Amelia murmured. "It kind of tastes like strawberry root-beer...I don't feel any different tho. Do I look any different?"

"You still look like my cousin to me." Jacob shook his head.

"What, that can't be!" Marcy yelled, checking her notes, "How's that not working?"

"Marcy, calm down." Maddie tried to console her friend and student. "It's alright, you were trying to work out something impossible, it's natural-"

But before she could complete her sentence, Amelia suddenly gulped, her skin shivering as her heart began to beat faster and faster, the girl starting to move more and more frantically as her legs moved against her will, running and jumping like crazy as she felt unable to speak.

"Amelia!" Jacob yelled, trying (and failing) to stop her, as his cousin ended up crashing in the area of the fwagon that was used to store clothes, covering herself with various attires, as Hop Pop and the other rushed to rescue.

"AMELIA!" James yelled, throwing away shirts and other dresses as he kept looking for her, "Are you ok?"

"I-I think so…" the girl's voice came from under the mass of clothes, and after a few minutes her hands emerged. "S-sorry, I feel all mushy and strange and-"

Everyone gasped motionlessly while Amelia emerged back in front of them. The potion had worked, and now the samurai girl had been turned into a small frog with purple skin,

"Guys, is everything ok?" Amelia asked, clearly unaware of her own transformation. "And why do you suddenly all look taller? Oh wait, is the potion's doing? Did it turn me into a dwarf?"

"Nope, not a dwarf," James took out a mirror, allowing for the human-turned frog to see her new face for the first time.

"WHAAAAAAAT?!" Amelia yelled, "No way, the potion worked? I am a frog now?"

"What do you mean 'the potion worked'? Of course it did!" exclaimed Marcy, internally more irked by the girl's disbelief than she would ever admit.

"Well, I guess I'm a frog's cousin now." Jacob groaned, still shocked by the sudden turn of events, while Hop Pop and Felicia moved forward.

"I'd say, you do look quite good as a frog, Amelia," Felicia checked her. "Though this is quite a rare texture: I don't remember ever having seen a frog with purple skin before."

"Dang, your shade is much deeper than mine!" Polly huffed.

"I did," Hop Pop replied. "There was a guy once, who I met during one of my trips-"

"Wow." Sprig said, looking at Polly. "Now Amelia looks just like us."

"Ok, Marcy," Maddie admitted, "I guess your potion did work. Would you show me your notes? I want to check the process you went through."

The human girl smiled.

After Maddie checked both the potion-making process and Amelia's conditions to make sure there weren't any side effects, she allowed the rest of the humans to each take a sip of the potion, and one by one they were turned into Amphibian versions of themselves. Anne was a now a frog with a bright light blue skin, while still keeping her iconic hairstyle, while Jacob and Sasha had become toads (to Sasha's chagrin), their bodies having now become much sturdier and bulkier, the former blonde human having deep red epidermis while Jacob's was of a pale mixture between green and yellow.

The real surprise, however, were James and Marcy's amphibian forms. Instead of finding themselves into the small yet flexible figures of frogs or in the strong and sturdy shapes of toads, the British stargazer and the adorable RPG-enthusiast nerd realized, as they looked at their own reflections, that they were now in much more taller figures, towering their friends and families and spotting tails on their back.

"A newt!" Marcy said excitedly as soon as she realized. "I'm a newt! I've become Marcy Newt, for real!"

"Yes, a real newt!" Anne replied, as her friend once again slapped her in her face with her newest tail. "Be careful with that!"

"I admit this is quite… a strange sensation," James nodded, looking weirdly at his own tail as it moved without apparent restraint. "It's like having an additional limb, and I have no idea how to control it!"

"You want to switch?" Jacob retorted with irony, having trouble standing on his feet. "How can Grime walk with a huge body like this? I feel like the second I slip-" he promptly slipped and fell on the ground, rolling a bit before crashing on the wall of the Fwagon, Felicia rushing to help him.

"Fool," Sasha grumbled, before once again looking at her new body. "I mean, we all turned out just like those drawings Marcy did of us a long time ago! What kind of joke is this?"

"I believe this is a coincidence, Sash." Anne tried to calm her friend, still trying to get used to the new difference of heights among them. "That or the universe has a sarcastic sense of humor."

"Frog, I can't wear my armor anymore!" Jacob realized, as he tried to fit his blue personalized armor, only to realize it was too much tailored on the dimensions of his human body. "Even the helmet Loggle made me: it doesn't fit!"

"You should have made interchangeable parts of your armor for any size when you had the chance," Sasha retorted, giving Felicia a heartfelt smile of appreciation. "Or, have a kind and caring mother figure that can take care of it even behind your back."

"It's not the armor that makes a true warrior," Amelia replied proudly, wearing her old clothes (without the shoes, however). "Nor is it the body, but the soul that inhabits it!"

"This is so awesome!" Marcy shouted once again, as she kept testing what her newt body could do. "Newt's tail can regrow if they end up losing them: I wonder if-"

"Marbles, no!" Hop Pop intervened before she could do something she would regret later, "We don't know how the potion works! What if when you return human, you end up missing a hand? Or a leg!?"

"He does have a point," Maddie said, before moving to a more reassuring tone. "Anyway, I'll make sure to check the recipe whenever I have a chance for any possibility."

"Hey, Amelia?" Polly teased her, "Look how small you are now!"

"Look who's talking: even as a frog, I'm still taller than you!"

"So, when we want to go back to normal," James asked, "what do we have to do?"

"Nothing actually: the transformation has a time limit." Marcy proudly revealed, "It should last 5-6 hours from now, before we revert back to our human bodies."

"So, now we can go without worry!" Sprig announced, internally excited by the adventure before them: not only they would be able to visit the city now, but with Anne and the other humans now having Amphibian bodies, she truly looked like the 'big sister' he always considered her to be.

"Not so fast!" Hop Pop said, moving between them and the door, stopping them from going outside. "Look, I'm not going to stop you from having fun, but I wasn't kidding when I told you this place is dangerous."

"Hey, nothing we can't handle," Sasha scoffed, her toad face making her look even more dismissive than she was. "If someone tries to do something, I can take care of myself, and the others too!"

"That's the point!" Felicia replied, "Sash, Ivy, I know you've made progress, you all have! But you're still lacking the experience to go on your own." Felicia looked at the faces of every child in front of her, before authoritatively adding, "That means, we'll split up in groups. With duo being the bare minimum Hop-Pop and I will tolerate. And, more importantly, I want at least one person responsible in each group!"

"I'm going with Anne!" Sprig immediately announced, jumping next to the human-turned frog, "We're going to see everything this city has to offer. Polly, you're coming?"

"Of course I am!"

"Hey, James," Marcy announced, the British boy stuttering for a second as his eyes raised from his own pale gray/light blue skin. "Do you want to come with me? I learned that, due to how Amphibia's society is structured, newts are respected all over the continent. Maybe this could help me get new details for my journal."

"I guess we can do that," James replied, ignoring Jacob mumbling about 'racist jerks' under breath. "Only, please, don't let yourself get too carried away. And bring something we can use to defend ourselves, should we have to."

"I have my ranger crossbow and my spells: it'll be fine!"

"I guess I'm going to do some research as well," Maddie mused. "A place where the border between legal and illegal is very thin like this city is perfect to search for new magic books or rare items to upgrade my spell-making skills."

"I'm coming with you!" Amelia jumped in, "Supernatural stuff plus city of crime equal an adventure worthy of its name!"

"I guess we're the last ones left," Jacob sighed, turning toward Sasha and Ivy. "Since I assume you're going together, can I come with you? After all," he pointed to his now-toad physiology, "we have to toad together."

"That pun was so bad, my old me would've punched you in the face for it." Sasha scoffed, "I guess you can come, as long as you behave AND you let me and my sister have our space."

"Then it's settled," Felicia said. "Jacob, Sash, Ivy, I'll accompany you on this, even if I'm sure you're capable enough to look after yourself. Since Hop Pop is going with Anne-"

"Uh, actually?" The old frog raised his hand, gathering everyone's attention. "Anne, I entrust you to watch over Sprig and Polly. That means, for today they're your responsibility."

"What?" Anne asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're not coming to the city with us?"

"I am coming to the city, however I need to go alone." He turned around, to hide from his kids his serious, cold expression. "I guess it's a good chance to settle an old debt…"

"Wow, this place sure is cool!" Sprig gasped in wonder as he looked around, and he saw an opulent and wealthy city of tall, imposing buildings with towering signs and stained-glass windows lit up by the action of bioluminescent insects. An endless crowd, consisting largely of frogs and toads, meandered around them trying to get inside a luxurious building while, in the adjacent street, a continuous bustle of elegant and expensive-looking carriages, pulled by snails, spiders or other trailing creatures, proceeded unabated.

It was a hectic and bustling place, full of life and activity. More so than Wartwood or any other town in the Valley could be.

"Ok, according to this map, the main shopping district is at the next roundabout." Anne said, holding a cheap map that they've gotten from an 'info point' earlier. "And right next to it is- frog, this place sure is huge!"

"I wonder what kind of sweets we could find," Polly gleamed, already anticipating the sugar binge she would indulge. "I bet they have some luxury candies here!"

"Hey, Anne?" Sprig came closer to the former human, he looked around to be sure that they weren't the focus of any unwanted attention and asked with a low voice "How do you feel as a frog?"

"I'd say, that's quite an experience." His adopted big sister replied, "I am so used to being much taller than you, it's quite strange to adapt to my new height, yet it's also good to be able to move around without knocking my head somewhere and to be able to go out in public without needing to hide my face." She said with a sigh: it took almost two months for Wartwood to accept her and her friends, yet every time they stopped somewhere she was reminded that, to Amphibians, they looked like monsters.

"I'm sorry for your plight, Anne," Sprig commented, before he had an idea to cheer her up. "Hey, since now we're all frogs, why do we have to walk when we can jump?"

Anne's eyes widened, as she looked at her own legs. "B-but I don't know how to jump as a frog."

"We can teach you!" Polly cheered, "But just to ask…when did your legs grow?"

"Humans are born with legs, Polly."

"No fair!"

(…)

"Look at this place, Amelia," Maddie kept walking, the samurai girl-frog following her, wearing her (thankfully still-fitting) old clothes, as they ventured further in the dark alley where a couple of shady-looking frogs were fixing their 'questionable' shops. "It's seedy, it's filthy, it's scary…" she then smiled wistfully, "I love it."

"Well, de gustibus," Amelia replied, looking around with nervousness. "Still, I don't feel safe without Yamato. I mean, I'm happy to have my wooden katana, but I'll feel safer if I had some steel with me if you get my drift."

"Don't worry, the shop Felicia talked about should be just behind this corner."

As the two young female frogs kept moving, and under the watchful and suspicious eye of the other occupants of the street, Amelia once again tried to be courageous. What kind of ronin would tremble just by walking into a dirty, wicked slum?

"Here!" Maddie said, as they arrived at some kind of strange shop, its sign barely readable, with a large, fat frog working on its showcase.

"What do you kids want?" The frog said with a grumble. "This is not a candy shop, and my syndicate forbids me to take kids for ransom anymore."

"We are not mere kids, and we're here to do business." Maddie replied before uttering the codeword. "I am a lone wanderer, walking toward the green door of Majyia."

The frog, hearing that, gasped for a second before composing himself. "Are you friends of Lady Nitania?" He asked, uttering the security codeword sentence.

"Yes, we brought bright flowers for her table," Maddie replied, confirming they brought enough money to pay for any item in the shop. "And we'd like to see some of her best quilts."

The frog nodded, walking back inside the shop. "Follow me. Let's not let the ol' lady wait…"

(…)

"This place is so cool!" Ivy gasped as he looked around, "Mom, you really lived here?"

"For a while." Felicia answered. "I was a member of a group of adventurers back then and we needed a place to stay while we had some…work in the area. So, we rented some rooms in a little inn in this district. It wasn't overly luxurious, and we had to do some small-time work sometimes to pay our rent, but the owner was quite amicable and she was also an excellent cook. She often served us antlion kidney pies, cricket steaks, roaches étouffée, triple-mix gumbo-"

"Felicia, please!" Jacob, who had been walking alongside Sasha, both the humans trying to adapt to moving in their new oversized toad bodies, protested. "All that talking about food is making me so very hungry…" he trailed off, as he saw some large flies fly above them and gather in the light of some street decoration. The next second, his toad tongue snapped forward for an instant. "Interesting…"

"Huh, Jacob?" Sasha asked, looking as he moved. "What are you doing?"

"Sssssh, you're frightening the food." The boy-turned toad tried to use his tongue to catch at least one fly, only to fail again and again. "This is harder than it looks!" He tried once more, only for this time his tongue to get caught into a branch of a lone tree and rip it away, leading to the large piece of wood to slam full-frontal on his mouth, the boy moping on the ground as the three Sundew girls (and a few passersby who had assisted at the scene) chuckled.

"Ok, young boy," Felicia recovered first, "I guess you need some more lessons before you can use your tongue. This is a skill tadpoles learn to use as they grow up."

"I mastered it the same day I got my legs!" Ivy jumped. "Wanna hear the secret?"

"You just couldn't resist making a fool of yourself, huh?" Sasha spoke for last, still amused by the spectacle, before another fly flew just above her… and she experienced the same tongue movement Jacob had before. "What? Oh, no! No, no, no! There is no way I'm turning into a toad and eating a raw bug on the same day!" To eat them piece by piece after they were well-cooked was one thing, but to eat a raw, live one? This was something she wasn't ready yet for.

"Besides, raw food always led to stomachaches," Felica rolled her eyes, as she sighted a familiar place in the distance. "How about postponing your tongue lessons, and instead go and eat something in that place? Back when I was an adventurer, it was one of my favorite gathering places and I want to see how much has changed since the last time I was here."

"That's…" Jacob spoke, as he managed to remove the branch from his mouth, "that's quite a good idea you had, Mrs. Sundew."

"As for you, young lady," Felicia turned to face Sasha, "I recommend you to not make fun of your friend. He's being much more patient with you than you credit him for."

"Yes, mom…" Sasha grunted, understanding yet not liking the reprimand.

As they all walked inside the inn, the blonde human turned toad realizing it looked just like one of those classic fantasy inns which often were depicted as the initial meeting/starting point of adventurers in many of Mar-Mar's RPG.

There were many tables with toads, frogs and axolotls, sitting either alone, in couples or small groups, eating their meals with gusto, chatting with each other, drinking what looked like alcoholics, or simply discussing their incoming gigs or expeditions. On a side of the building, gathered around a large round table, many toads and frogs (plus some axolotls and a couple of newts) were busy with some kind of card games that, due to the number of 'chips' gathered in the center of the table, couldn't be anything but gambling. And beyond the dining area, a large counter stood by where other Amphibians who didn't have the time (or the need) of a table were sipping their drinks, served by an old frog with light green skin and short gray hair.

"By the bowel of-" the innkeeper frog gasped, as her eyes laid on Felicia's figure, recognizing her. "Felis! It's a joy for my eyes to see you once again walk into my humble inn!"

"The joy's all mine, dear friend," Felicia replied as she hugged her. "I was traveling and since we were stopping by the city for a night, I wanted to meet and see you again, hope that's not a bother for you."

"Of course it's not! You and the adventurers of the Chicka-lisk's Maw are always welcomed in my inn!"

"The Chicka-lisk's Maw?" Sasha said with an amused expression, prompting the innkeeper to do a double take as she noticed her, Ivy and Jacob waiting behind Felicia.

"A-are they…?"

"I'll explain to you. In private." Felicia cut her out, "Ivy, Sasha, Jacob, please stay here while I have a chat with my old friend. We have a lot of…catching up we need to do."

"O-of course!" The innkeeper smiled awkwardly, turning to one of her waitresses, "Make a table for them to sit, and give them something to eat and drink, on the house! I'll be back in a few: don't disturb me unless there is some big emergency!"

"Got it, boss!" The other frog smiled, making a sign for Sasha, Ivy and Jacob to follow her while Felicia went with the innkeeper in the back.

"Wow, this place has so many Thunder of Wars vibes," Jacob wondered, looking around with eyes widened in excitement. "I wonder if there is a board where rewards for quests or bounties for infamous criminals are posted too!"

"There it is," the waitress simply replied, "you're an adventurer looking for a new gig?"

"I am, but I'm not working tonight!" The human-turned-toad replied with a chuckle, eyeing with interested eyes the gambling card games playing a few tables ahead, "Do you think I can join?"

"Jacob, I don't think it's a good idea." Sasha rolled her eyes with a grunt. "It's probably rigged!"

"But I know it is, so I know what to expect!" The boy took out a satchel filled with copper coins he earned with his adventurer's work. "Besides, I am the Element of Courage, and fortune favors the bold!" He got back on feet and walked toward the table, Sasha and Ivy exchanging a glance.

"Let's hope he doesn't lose everything by the end of the night." Sasha said, before once again focusing on her little sister. "So, tell me Ivy: what do you think of this place?"

"It's amazing!" The young yellow frog replied, jumping on the chair, "I can't believe we're in the same place where mom once used to live and work as an adventurer!"

"Hey, this is just one of many, you know the adventurer's job is not supposed to be a sedentary one. Plus, Felicia traveled all over Amphibia: what makes this place so important compared to everywhere else?"

"That's the point, I don't know! But then, why did mom want to avoid this place so bad?"

"Hello," a male voice called out, Ivy and Sasha turning around to see a tall, pale green frog dressed in a brown jacket and green pants, brown hair, a knife strapped to one of his legs, approach their table, "you look quite young compared to the other adventurers of this dump. Are you perhaps newbies who just joined today?"

"Actually," Sasha replied, irritated by the stranger, "we are just passing through, Mister-"

"Jeffrey, Jeffrey Westbark." The stranger introduced himself. "Adventurers here know me, I'm the 'Veteran' to them because I am one of the oldest adventurers in town still active."

"You're a veteran adventurer?" Ivy gasped in amazement, as Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you used to know my mom? She used to work here as an adventurer once, before moving away!"

"Your mom was an adventurer, and she used to work here? Wait, are you two…sisters?" Jeffrey gasped, looking back between the Toad's looking Sasha and the plain frog Ivy. "How is that even possible?!"

"I'm adopted," Sasha replied with a shrug. "It's a long story." Yet, the more she looked at the guy, the more she realized her face and manners look…familiar. But where had she seen that before?

"Here I am, girls!" Felicia announced, walking toward them, "Sorry it took a bit, but-"

"FELIS?!" The 'veteran' adventurer gasped, recognizing her. "Felis the Red, is that…you? I mean, is that really you?!"

At Jeffrey's voice, Felicia stopped, her face showing her surprise, before becoming cold and her eyes turning into daggers.

"Jeffrey."

"Wait, you know each other?" Ivy cheered happily, "Were you part of the same adventurer group?"

Neither Felicia nor Jeffrey said anything, as Sasha's eyes kept moving between the two of them, and then, between them and Ivy, her eyes widening in shock, the jaw hanging open doing an involuntary 'surprised Pikachu' face, the dots connecting in her brain.

A part of her adventurer's past which Felicia didn't like to reminisce about.

A veteran adventurer who apparently knew her, and whose facial lineaments were very similar to Ivy.

What she remembered Felicia told her and Ivy about…her dad.

"L-long time no see!" Jeffrey chuckled nervously, "Wow, it's been so long since we last saw each other. So, you got a family on your own? Congratulations! Who is the father?"

Felicia said nothing, only keeping glaring at him for a few more seconds before speaking. "I guess it's time to do some introductions. Jeffrey, these are my daughters, Sasha, and Ivy. Ivy," she stopped for a second with a sigh, "he is your father."

Jeffrey froze cold, shock taking over his mind as he found himself unable to speak or do anything else, as Ivy turned her head suddenly, looking at him with eyes that were now beginning to get teary.

"…dad?"

(…)

"Marcy… they're staring at us…" James whispered at a barely audible level. As the two newly-become newts walked through the bright streetway, amphibians everywhere stopped what they were doing and stared at the sight of them walking side by side, Marcy dressed in her own personal Ranger outfit while he strolled at her right, some of them silently staring at them with mouths agape. The level of attention they were subjected to made James miss the cowl he used to hide his own face and hairstyle.

"It's alright, just keep close," the girl replied, focusing on adding new content and sketches in her Journal. "We are not the only newts in this city, so why should we be the source of their focus?"

"Yet, I doubt they would look at all newts like this!"

"Maybe they were simply not expecting it? I mean, most of the time, newts tend to remain in Newtopia, leaving their city only for important businesses… Hey you!" She pointed at a random frog with a small stand, selling butt scratchers, the poor frog almost jumping in shock as Marcy looked at him.

"Y-yes? What can I do for you?"

"Just want to ask some questions! This is quite a nice city, you have here. What are your main commerce routes? How is the trading situation between here and Newtopia? What kind of goods do you usually import or export?"

"Huh, actually…"

"Marcy," James shook his head. "Not to curb your enthusiasm, but I doubt this guy knows anything you're asking him about. If you want real answers, you should ask someone more competent, maybe a city officer or something like that."

Unseen by them, a small frog heard his words and rushed away; he got news to share around.

"Sorry for bothering you, my good sir," James turned to the butt-scratcher seller, trying to apologize. "My friend can be a bit… enthusiastic about her investigations. Hope you don't mind."

"N-nothing at all," the frog struggled to smile, yet looking even more scared than earlier, his eyes kept moving between James' face and his skin color. "Can I, like, offer you a deluxe butt scratcher for free? It's a gift!"

"Um, thanks, but, there is no need for that."

"I insist!" The shopkeeper replied, "I want people to know that I'm selling only the best of the best!"

"I guess I'll accept then?"

Unbeknownst to both humans-turned-newts, due to its bustling economy and its relative importance, Les Flies boasted particular attention from Newtopia, where many of their rich newt clients came to waste their earnings on gambling.

Thus, to meet the local overseer of the city, the very own king of Amphibia Andrias Leviathan had come himself to visit the town a few years ago, a fact more unique than rare, given the ruler's reluctance to leave his castle. And while neither Felicia nor Hop Pop knew what their long-living king looked like, many inhabitants of Les Flies still remembered the unique light blue color of the giant newt's skin.

The same color that the irony of the universe chose to be James' newt skin color.

It was a known fact that King Andrias had no heirs and, despite the concerns of some nobles, did not seem interested in addressing the situation. So, the sudden appearance of a young newt with that distinctive skin color, accompanied by a member of Newtopia's Night Guard who kept asking questions about the city's economy and other issues, could only start an avalanche of the craziest rumor the city had ever known.

"Our newest prince…" the shopkeeper frog said, as he watched James & Marcy walk away, the chattering around them growing.

(…)

"Hello, Zechan." Hop Pop stood at the door of the shop, the axolotl gasping in shock as he recognized him, trembling as he tried to search around for something he could use as a weapon.

"It can't be… Hopediah Plantar, how are you doing? I…I thought you were dead!"

"You tried." Hop Pop smiled with an ice-cold voice, walking toward his former associate. "Mr. Vivari sends his regards."

(…)

"Behold," the black-market frog said, moving aside and showing its best item, a book with a pitch-black cover and the image of a red frog skull. "The Book of the Black Frogs!"

"The Book of the Black Frogs?" Maddie raised an eyebrow with an interest yet played it safe. "I heard all copies of this book were destroyed almost a thousand years ago, by decree of King Aldrich."

"All but one," the seller said with a smirk, as he obviously tried to play the hype as much as he could to raise its price. "This book contains spells, curses and incantations that were believed to have been lost for millennia. It would be the joy of a collector…or an invaluable source of knowledge for someone already well-versed in the Dark Arts."

Maddie looked thoughtfully, doing her best not to show her emotions: on one side, she wanted that book. Her heart was starting to beat faster and faster at the idea of how many powerful spells could be contained in the tome. On the other hand, yeah, she could see that the seller was trying to raise the price as much as he could.

"How much?"

"Fifteen coins for the book," the other frog replied with a smirk, "of course, the price is in golden coins."

"That's an outrageous price!" Maddie protested, with fifteen golden coins, you could buy enough books to fill a whole library! And while she did have the money to pay it, she didn't want to let this gouger get rich off her back. "I'm willing to pay eight golden coins, and I'm sure that's a way more reasonable price!"

"For the book alone, yes, it may be, but you're not buying just the book: you're also paying for my silence. After all, practitioners of the Dark Arts, while not legally persecuted, are still badly seen by many. And if words come out that a young frog adept of such arts bought the last copy of a book rumored to contain spells and incantations that could destroy whole kingdoms…it could spell fear and paranoia."

Maddie grimaced: was this guy trying to threaten her? For a moment, she imagined what curse she could put on him…but then, if she did so, how could she claim to be different from the always-evil warlocks she hated all her life?

"Hey!" Amelia's voice rang up, both bargaining frogs turning their heads to see the small purple frog looking all over the other things of the merchandise. "Aren't these holdout devices to replace your cards without being seen? Didn't Hop Pop say that these things were, like, super illegal in Les Flies?"

The black-market frog stuttered, Maddie quickly noticing it. She did expect for him to sell illegal items, but to sell something that was universally reviled in a city built upon gambling? Either this guy had a death wish, or his greed was big enough to suppress his survival instinct.

"Let's make a deal, shall we?" The young wizard said with a super-smug smile, "I'll give you eight golden coins for the book, and I'll trade your silence…with mine."

(…)

"How could a simple visit to a sweet shop turn into this?!" Anne yelled, jumping as fast as she could on her new frog legs, holding Polly with both hands, as she and Sprig tried to escape their pursuers.

"Don't ask, just run!" Sprig yelled.

"My sweets! You must pay for them!"

"I don't have a sugar addition, I don't have a sugar addition…" Polly kept saying again and again, too dozed to understand the world around her and how much in trouble they were.

(…)

"-you were expecting an egg back then?!" Jeffrey said with a shocked voice, "And you didn't tell me?"

"I was going to, "Felicia shot back, "until I found you flirting with those two axolotls back at the Buenamigo's, and I realized no matter if we were married or not, you were never going to change!"

"I told you, there was nothing serious between me and them! And you didn't have to drop a whole bottle of fine Newtopian wine on my head!"

"Huh, excuse us?" Sasha spoke up, holding Ivy in her arms, the young yellow frog undergoing an emotional overload after finding out that the frog who had come to chat with them was revealed to be her biological father. "I'd love to stay idle and watch this drama unfold, but for the well-being of Ivy could you please tell us WHAT IN FROG'S NAME IS GOING ON?"

"Your daughter is right about that," the innkeeper frog said, peeking out of the small, private room they had been gathered in, far away from the eyes and ears of everyone else. "Look, I have clients to serve, so how about you stay here for a while and try to talk about it? I think Ivy and Sasha deserve an explanation."

Felicia sighed, as the innkeeper walked out, looking at Ivy with sad, weary eyes. "I guess it's time you hear the whole story. You remember when I told you how I felt…jealous after Sally got hitched and she found herself spending less and less time with me? Well, I decided that if she could have a happy married life, so could I, and thus, when an old companion and partner of mine decided to propose to me…I accepted."

"In my defense, I wasn't actually expecting that," Jeffrey retorted, looking aside with a shamed expression. "You had so many suitors already, and many of them were much better than I could ever be. You had literal nobles asking for your hand, while I was only an adventurer, like you. I didn't even have enough money to pay for a decent wedding ceremony!"

"I didn't need a luxurious wedding," Felicia said with a chuckle, remembering the cheap chapel where they had gotten married, "would you believe I had to tell him I accepted twelve times before he realized I hadn't refused?"

"I told you, I wasn't expecting for you to say yes!"

"B-but then…" Ivy murmured, beginning to recover from the shock, "why did you end up separating? And why did you barely tell me anything about him?"

"Yeah, from what you told us," Sasha pointed out, "I assumed Ivy's dad was some kind of deadbeat who abandoned you as soon as she was born because he didn't want to take care of her." Just like my own dad left me and Esther when we were little, the blonde human-turned-toad thought with sadness.

"I'd never do that!" Jeffrey protested, visibly hurt at the idea of him abandoning his own child. "How in frog's name would you get such an idea?"

"How?" Felicia retorted, her eyes turning cold once again, "We had been married barely for a few weeks before you started to act more and more immature, spending all your time loitering around with your friends and not helping me once unless I specifically asked you to."

"How in frog's name was I supposed to know you needed help if you didn't tell me? And besides, if the way I was acting hurt you that much, why didn't you say anything, instead of keeping quiet?"

"Because… because I was in denial." Felicia admitted, looking at Ivy with eyes filled with sorrow. "My best friend was having the best married life with her new husband, and I couldn't admit to myself that I had made an error. I accepted the proposal out of spite, because I wanted to show off that if she could ditch me to live a good life as a married frog, so could I, but… I let my own emotions overrule my judgment, and I couldn't fix my mistake without admitting I acted stupid. So, I kept my mouth shut, hoping that with time my husband would grow up and start acting a bit more mature and responsible and I could finally get a wonderful married life just like my former friend."

Frog, this is just like a soap opera, Sasha realized. It would have been amusing…if it wasn't her own family, involving her own adoptive mother and sister. Ivy had by now metabolized her initial shock, her mind starting to make connections.

"When I found I was expecting, my heart began to jump in joy. Not only was I going to get a kid of mine, but finally, I thought, my husband would be forced to man up and become more responsible. So, I quickly went to tell him…only to find him fooling around with two girls in his arms."

"I told you, there was nothing serious between me and them, I was just having fun!" Jeffrey tried to claim, "And you know flirting is part of my character!"

"Dude, seriously?" Sasha raised an eyebrow, "You were cheating on her?!"

"He was." Felicia said with a cold voice, "When we got married, we promised each other we would be there to take care of each other, and that we wouldn't have any relationship outside of our marriage: this is what being husband and wife means!" She hissed, "When I found you with those girls, and saw how uncaring you were about our vow, I realized that you were never going to change, and that it was a waste of time for me to have hope in you. This is why I left, why I went back to the Valley and never told you about Ivy: I hoped she'd never learn what a sorry excuse her father was!."

"F-Felis…"

The dramatic moment, however, was soon broken by events unfolding outside of the small room, directly caused by the one human-turned-Amphibian who had spent the last half hour gambling with the other toads. As Sasha would have recalled later, contrary to her previsions, Jacob was much more skilled and able at counter-cheating than she gave him credit for.

Far from having been cleaned up, he kept using his own adversaries' cheating attempts against each other to win every hand, the pile of chips in front of him growing bigger and taller with every win, prompting the other players to become bolder with their dirty tricks.

Jacob had gathered beyond two thousand coppers in gambling chips when one of the other players, attempting to replace one of his low-value cards with one of a higher one, made a misstep with his hands and ended up unloading several cards on the table at once, revealing his cheating to everyone.

And in Les Flies cheating at gambling, while it was something that many did, was also one of the things that could enrage everyone playing…if they weren't the ones cheating in the first place.

"You stinky, rotten, no-good spit of a Heron!" One of the other players yelled, lunging for his own weapon and causing a chain reaction as every gambler turned onto each other in a perfect example of 'bar-brawl', the other patrons quickly joining in.

"Inn brawl! That's so cool!" Jacob roared, joining the fight as well.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking Ivy?" Sasha said, grinning evilly.

"Yes, I am." The small young frog nodded, before pumping her fist in the air. "Charge!" The two of them rushed to join the fight, under the disbelieving gazes of Felicia and Jeffrey.

"You know, I am almost happy this happened." Felicia admitted, "I do have a lot of frustration I need to vent."

"That's why I asked you to marry me in the first place, Felis…"

(…)

"-while gambling is still our main source of income, the city makes a lot of money by the revenues generated by the wedding industry from people coming from all over Amphibia to marry…or to get separated from their obnoxious partners," the toad official who had earlier introduced himself as Logog, representative of the overseer of Les Flies for Newtopia, kept explaining as Marcy kept scribbling in her Journal and James looked around with a bored expression. "And contrary to what some rumors may claim, the income generated by the city and thus the tax money Newtopia receives every month was never reduced!"

I wonder why this guy keeps exalting the virtue of the city to two random visitors. James wondered, is this because we are newts? After all, his arrival to answer all of Marcy's questions sounds too coincidental to be true.

"I see you're quite interested in making sure you pay what you owe to the King in time." Marcy nodded.

"Of course we are! King Andrias is our esteemed sovereign, the wisest ruler of the dynasty! We'd never dare to reject his leadership!"

"And yet, I have seen many things during our travels that seem to contradict such an affirmation," James spoke back, unable to keep silent anymore. "From what I've seen with my own eyes, the banditry on the road that connects Newtopia with its southern region has become quite problematic, while many public officers are now corrupt, incompetent or a combination of the two."

As James said the word 'corruption', the toad yelped, stuttering for a few seconds before recomposing. "I can assure you, Your- I mean, stranger, that there is no corruption on this city," he said, his hands grabbing a package from under his shirt and giving it to James, the boy-turned-newt's eyes widening as he saw it, and he realized from its weight that it had to be full of coins. "Here, please take this gift from our city to prove our…good intentions."

For a moment, James was tempted to denounce the guy, and call him out on the big obvious bribe he had just received during a speech how the city was not corrupted (hypocritical oxymoron at its finest), but then, he stopped. He didn't know who the people in this town thought he and Marcy were (even if he could assume it was related to their current bodies) but he guessed that it was better not to poke the question. Besides, all that money would be much more useful in their own hands rather than in those of a corrupt city leader…

It was way beyond midnight when the various groups regathered together on the outskirts of the city where they had left the fwagon, Liptea, Bessie and Akitsu chirping together as they saw their friends and families return from the long trip.

"Just in time!" Marcy said as she dressed back in her human-sized clothes, as soon as the effect of her own potion ceased on her as well. "I was quite surprised the potion lasted this long. I was worried it would stop working at some point."

"Wait!" Anne replied, turning her head, "Are you saying there was the real, concrete possibility the potion may have stopped working while we were in the city?! What if it stopped while we were in the middle of the crowd?"

"But it didn't!" Amelia intervened, opening a bag full of fresh apples and giving one to Akitsu, the giant dragonfly taking it in one bite and beginning to munch. "And now Maddie has an awesome new book of spells for her to practice."

"You do?"

"Yes, Marcy," The young wizard replied, giving her a heartfelt smirk. "The seller still thinks he pulled a fast one on me… I guess he assumed I couldn't speak Ancient Amphibian."

"Oh, I would be happy to help you with that!" The adorable nerd girl cheered, internally happy both that her potion gambit had turned out to be a great success and that she now had a great chance to help her friend and teacher unlock new powerful spells.

"Meanwhile, Ivy and I ended up visiting an inn where Felicia used to go when she was an adventurer," Sash continued, scratching the back of his head, "And… we may have ended up meeting her father."

"You meet your dad?!" Sprig gasped, looking at Ivy with wide eyes. "He was there? What did he look like? How did it go?!"

"Well…" Ivy grimaced, thinking back to the events of that day.

(…)

The quarrel was now over, as all the combatants minus Jacob and the Sundew (and Jeffrey) laid on the ground, beaten, bruised, knocked out, some of them missing teeth from their mouths, the rest of the inn's patrons ignoring them. Quarrels were so commonplace in Les Flies that after seeing one, you had seen them all.

"That has to be the most awesome day of my life!" Jacob roared, showing his fists, the hard training under Grime having paid off "Sorry guys, but I think it's time I get what you owe me."

"Frog, it has been so long since we have been fighting together," Jeffrey said, wiping off the sweat of his forehead. "So, Felis, about what happened between us… I'm sorry for cheating on you, even if I didn't realize it at the time. And… I guess I should've taken my duties as your husband more seriously, since you did accept my offer even when I thought you would refuse me."

"Well, I did accept most out of spite against my best friend, and I kept deluding myself when things refused to work the way I wanted, and I choose to ignore it rather than address them and try to fix them. So, I guess we do share the blame on the issue."

As the two of them started to apologize to each other, Sasha scoffed: this whole thing could have been solved literally years ago if they had proper psychological help. Or someone that could help them deal with their own issues.

"I'm sorry, my sexy ginger flower."

"I'm sorry, you adorable loafer."

"Ahem?" Felicia and Jeffrey turned their heads, as they were still hugging, and saw Sasha and Ivy looking at them with big smiles, Ivy was also blushing.

"You two are quite adorable, don't you agree?" Jeffrey said with a sigh, for a moment wondering if he could have been a good father for them. "Look, I know I have a lot of time to make up for…"

"Big time," Sasha rolled her eyes.

"But, if you're willing to give me the chance, I would like to try my best to have you as part of my life from now on."

"Actually, I don't think that's something that can be done right now." Felicia replied, "The girls and I are traveling to Newtopia, we have business in the city." And after a small silence she added "...Maybe in the future?"

"I guess I can live with that. I must get used to the idea of having a kid, and I guess you need time as well."

"You two need a lot of catching up to do, but I'm happy you're willing to work on that." Sasha replied, "It's much more than my own father had ever done."

"I don't expect for you or Felis to forgive me, but I want to turn the page and grow up as a person."

"Love you dad," Ivy finally said, hugging him as well, "but whatever it happens, please don't get married to mom again."

"I think that ship had sailed a long time ago," the other frog replied, a nostalgic look on his face, "I guess she has a new love already, right?"

"Well, she's going to get married with Captain Grime-"

"What?!"

"IVY SUNDEW!"

(…)

"So, he won't join us for the trip?" Hop Pop asked, "I kind of expected for him to drop everything and follow us."

"He has his own life to get straight, plus we both need time to assimilate the recent events," Felicia replied, giving a glare to her own daughter. "Plus, I think my daughter and I are going to have a looong chat about my private love life."

"What about you, Hop Pop?" Sprig asked, "Did you finish what you had to do alone?"

"I did," the old frog replied, "Nothing worth mentioning, I just had to see… an old friend."

"Meanwhile, Anne, Polly and I had our own adventure! We saw so many shops, did so many things…"

"…and we had to run after someone went into a sugar-fueled rampage and ended up eating the most expensive sweets in the shop!"

"Sweets are made to be eaten, Anne!" The Plantar tadpole protested, earning a groan from her grandfather and various amused expressions from Sasha, Ivy, Maddie and Marcy.

"And what about you two?" Felicia asked the last members of the group who still had to tell how their escapade went. "James, Marcy, how was your experience as newts?"

"It was incredible!" The nerd girl said, every part of her body filled with excitement, "We had seen many amazing buildings, and then that guy came to meet with us, so I asked him some questions-"

"Ok, James?" Jacob approached her bro, "How did it really go?"

"Quite fine, apparently the cast divisions of Amphibia means that everyone was quite careful around us. I think that Marcy's uniform made them think we were an embassy from Newtopia, or something like that. That guy who Marcy was talking about also gave us a quite generous 'gift' if you know what I mean…"

Jacob, and with him everyone else, gasped in surprise as the boy took out the bag which the toad had entrusted him earlier, opening it and allowing them to see it was filled with golden coins.

"James!" Anne said, unable to formulate a more complex sentence. "You…"

"I guess we can say we have replenished our journey funds a bit?" The British kid said with an embarrassed smile.

(…)

"No, no no!" Polly cried, looking at the phone's screen in front of her, "Don't lean in! He's got a poisoned tooth!"

"Huh, Polly?" Sprig pointed out, "He's Baron Harkonnen, the bad guy."

"But I like him!"

"Shh, I want to see the movie!" Ivy intervened, and both the Plantar sibling shut up.

Jacob chucked, in sympathy with the tadpole, as he looked around. It was now later and, after eating dinner, the adrenaline rush they benefited from had now worn off, leaving only him and their frog families awake. Amelia was lying on Akitsu, having fallen asleep in the middle of petting her, the giant dragonfly moving slightly as she lulled her companion to sleep. James was resting on the roof, with the stars he loved watching so much over him, while Marcy, Sasha and Anne were now snoring next to each other, on the wooden benches they had set up for themselves earlier for dinner.

Marcy had been the last of them to fall asleep, her eyes closing out of tiredness just as Jacob was sitting next to her, trying to tell her what he kept inside for so long.

Tell her… how he felt about her.

I guess I missed my chance again, the young human thought, as he got back on his feet, and slowly moved to bring back all three the girls in their bunks. He started with Sasha: he moved slowly, to make sure she wouldn't wake up, grabbing her with both his hands and walking inside the fwagon, making sure of every step he took, finally dropping her in the small bunk that was her bed. For a second, the boy was surprised by how light she had felt: either her armor didn't weigh as much as he thought…or he was much stronger than he was before Amphibia.

Anne was the next and once again the boy grabbed her with both hands, moving her unconscious figure on his shoulder and slowly carried her inside the fwagon. However, since her bunk bed was too high for him to safely drop her without waking her up, he simply moved her side by side with Sasha, the two snoring girls not realizing how close their faces were.

I can't wait to see their reaction when they wake up, Jacob thought jokingly as he went outside again, moving to the last girl.

Marcy.

For a moment, he stopped, looking at the dark-haired girl sleeping. She is so cute, he mentally chastised himself for not being able to confess his own feelings to her earlier. But then, would she have accepted him? Or more probably, she would have felt shocked?

Maybe it's a good thing I couldn't confess today, the boy with the Viking hat thought, I have more time to prepare, he nodded before moving to grab his crush. However, instead of heaping her on her shoulder, like he did before with Sasha and Anne, he held the girl tightly on her arms, his left arm just under her legs while the right one supported her back. It was a pose that both and Marcy had known, for it was a typical pose heroes in fantasy stories had while rescuing female royals.

The Princess Carry, Jacob thought in amusement. It was luck that Marcy was sleeping, otherwise she would have probably screamed in shock, and blushed even harder than she ever had before, as she would found herself re-enacting a scene that in every RPG was reserved for romantic plots.

"Don't go…please..." Marcy murmured, talking in her sleep, as Jacob brought her inside. "Don't leave me..."

"I would never do that," the boy replied, gently placing the girl in her bunk, the giant panda plushie he and their friends had made for her on the side.

"Didn't mean to..." the girl kept babbling, as Jacob was smoothly patting her head to help her keep her calm "Didn't know Box would work…"

This made the boy stop everything. Because it was simply impossible. What Marcy is insinuating is… It was just too much! How could she ever have known? Maybe I didn't hear her right? Yeah, that's it! It's just one big misunderstan-

The last hope Jacob ever had, was shattered by the sleeping girl next mumbling "Didn't want to… trap y'all in… Amphibia…"

And just like that, the terrible truth that had been kept hidden for so long, was revealed.

Jacob could only stand in place, his eyes widened in shock and his face expressing a grimace of hurt and incomprehension.

And while everybody else was peacefully asleep in the dark, the boy came to the horrible realization, that his world had come to an abrupt halt...