Twice Upon A Trio

by TruckOnEmptyRoad

Summary:

The two closed their eyes. Barrel gave his life defending a helpless village from a terrifying beast. Leif passed away quietly in her bed as she grew old.

Over 1000 years later, they open their eyes.

Chapter 1: Prologue

"Well, that's another bust."

Anne sighs inside her basement. She has been here in this strange world filled with humanoid amphibians and terrifying creatures for a few weeks now. Right this early morning, she and the Plantar family had to face a bunch of wimpy cannibal frogs disguised as muddy cryptids of all things. At least they got some delicious pancakes out of it, Soggy Joe's treat.

"Why did you bring me here, music box?"

Anne looks at the box in her hands. This evening, she just showed the box to the Plantars and they had no idea what it is. The music box Anne stole from the gifted shop had transported her and possibly her two best friends here to this world. But the magical artifact has to work in mysterious ways for some reason, and Anne ends up alone with her friends nowhere to be found.

"Come on! Give me something to work with. "

Anne starts fumbling with the box. Her hands spin and touch the box in all kinds of places.

"Anything at all!"

She misses her family, her community,... But most importantly, her BFFs.They could be anywhere in this world and, judging from her own experience, she preferred them to be safe and sound.

Her hand claps onto the top right of the box. Her fingers tap the three grey-out crystals, and suddenly the box shakes.

"Huh?" - Anne gasps. She drops the box onto the floor in surprise.

Anne leans down toward the box. It continues shaking.

"Could this be!" - Anne's face shifts into an expression of gleeful expectation. Her eyes glow with excitement. She grabs the box and opens it...

It's empty. Nothing happens.

Her expression fell, disappointed immensely by the result.

"What was that all about, music box?" - She wallows to the inanimate box.

Unbeknownst to her, two small strands of light flew out of the box the moment she opened it. One went through the window hatch in her basement. The other one flew into the gap beneath the wooden door atop the staircase.

That night, Anne did something, and the world changed because of it.

Chapter 2: Wake The Leif

Summary:

Waking up in a really dusty room is not a pleasant feeling.

Coughing. There was a lot of coughing.

Leif opened her eyes as if she just woke up from a long nap, and reflexively sucked in a deep breath.

And all she tasted was dust. There was too much dust inside the underground room.

Leif managed to move herself toward the door and unlock it in a slump. On the other side, there is just an underground corridor, but at least the air is much cleaner and manageable.

"Gak! Eh hem!"

She clears her throat, cleaning hurriedly her tongue with her hands, before turning to face the room after breathing in the fresher air.

"Why is my room covered in dust??!!"

She eyes the room more.

"Wait, are those tree roots growing out of the wall? Grass and moss too?!"

She walks back into the room, covering her mouth.

"Ugh, my cloak is all filthy." - She takes a look at her L-logo cloak, taking it. - "I hope washing it will do the job."

She turns and looks at the red mail on the desk. A melancholy feeling washes over her.

"The letter is still in good condition, it seems." - Leif takes the mail.

She put it into her washed-out yellow dress's pocket under her purple rhombus pattern fleece cape. Leif sighs and walks out of the room, going through the tunnel.

"This is weird? I don't remember there are this statue in this section of the underground."

She walks through an open space with a statue. The fountain stands in the middle of a tree stump carved out and filled with water. It is a statue of an unknown frog walking with a cane.

As Leif comes closer to the statue, there's a carving on the log that reads: "In memory of Sir Henry Plantar, the man that carved out the Mountain Trek of The Frog Valley."

"Henry Plantar? Wait whaaatttt?" - She tilts her head in confusion. She scratches her head for a bit. But then she looks down at the water in the tree stump to see her reflection.

She looks young. And her hair is blond, like when she was younger.

"I gotta get out of here." - Leif starts to freak out and picks a new tunnel to run through.

She comes to another door. Leif walks in and sees herself in a room full of pictures and musical instruments.

"Great, another chamber I have never seen before. What's going on?"

The room looks to have belonged to a musical band display of some kind. There's one constant among these pictures, though: a short and stocky frog with a left eye that looks like a black eye. He and his band seem to grow older in the pictures. The dates of the pictures are placed under each frame. The band seemed to have fewer and fewer members over the years until there's only one pic of the band posing in front of... Her own house?

"Huh???"

At this point, Leif scrambles around the room in confusion until her eyes are set on one of the display cases with an accordion. It reads: "The famous instrument of "The King", real name Alfred Matthew "Uncle Al" Plantar."

"Oh my frog!" - A realization dawns on her. - "My dusty room. Henry Plantar. My young body. This Alfred Plantar. Oh my frog! It all makes sense! I'm... I'm..."

"I'M DEAD AND HAVE BECOME A GHOST THAT HAUNTS MY BLOODLINE!"

She knows ghosts are a myth and she often laughed about it when she came across the paranoid frogs in her town that got freaked out over their dead family members haunting them. But she remembers dying of old age in her bed. This is real, and now she's going to have to deal with it.

"So I'm a ghost, huh? That means I can shift through walls! "

Leif sounds excited. She is preparing her stance and is about to jump.

"Up we go!" - She jumps.

Only for her head to crash onto the ceiling and she falls onto the ground. An "ECK" comes out of her.

"Okay, not a ghost. I don't think a ghost could be as pathetic as me."

She lies on the floor and huddles her head in pain. She stands up. The hands are still covering the head.

"So if I'm not a ghost. That means I..."

She brings her hands down and starts checking her fingers.

"I came back from the dead?"

She scans the display room again. Pictures after pictures.

"But how long have I been dead?" - She questions no one but herself.

That's the moment she hears loud footsteps nearby.

"There's someone! Maybe I can ask them!" - She quickly runs toward the direction of the noise.

It's a long tunnel, but she continues running toward the noise. She runs and runs until....

There was a turn, and she crashed into someone. Both of them fell over onto the ground.

"Oh no! I'm sorry... Are you..."

She looks up to see three people, their faces bewildered, looking at her. An awkward silence washes over everyone...

"AAAH!!! FREAKY BASEMENT DWELLER!!!"

The silence is broken by the small frog boy's echoing yell, only to see the frog get slapped on the head by a young tadpole's flipper.

"Be quiet! This is a narrow hallway, that was too loud!" - The tadpole grumbles.

"Sprig! I live in a basement too, you know. You do not discriminate against basement dwellers!" - The third person jokingly says.

Those three begin to argue as if they had completely forgotten about her existence. But for Leif, she's only filled with dread and worry. Her eyes only focus on one person. She raises her finger slowly and shakingly and points at them.

"Hey... Hey you there..."

"I have told you to slow dow-" - The girl with messy brown hair turns away from the froggy companions to look at Leif. - "Huh?"

"How did a human like you get here?"

Chapter 3: Barrel's Battle

Summary:

The brave warrior never stops fighting.

"I am... alive?

That's the first thing Barrel says upon his awakening. To be perfectly fair, one doesn't expect to survive when waking up in the middle of a swamp in Amphibia.

Barrel clutches his left shoulder, expecting pain.

"Heh? My arm is alright?"

He moves his hands to his chest, fumbling around the chest plate. He's perfectly healthy.

"That's weird? Was that just a nightmare?"

Barrel clearly remembers what happened before he woke up. He was fighting against the Narwhal Worm. Barrel brought down the hammer onto the Worm's back, but it got stuck. The momentum of the fast-moving Worm flung him off of its back.

That would normally be the end for most amphibian, but Barrel is Barrel. With his left hand, he thrust hard into the mouth of the beast and held on by its teeth. The Worm slammed down its mouth. Blood drenched out of the toad's shoulder, but he still hung on. With his right hand, Barrel punches. Repeatedly, punch after punch, straight into the beast's eyeball.

The Worm snarled and started moving faster and faster. It tried to shake Barrel off violently. Eventually, the arm snapped off and Barrel flew away to the side, crashing and breaking a tree and finally landing on the shallow red water of a swamp.

"What a great way to go!" - He laughs bitterly. The Worm swallowed his arm in a gulp and then the ferocious head turned toward the bloodied Barrel.

"Going out... in a battle is... the toad's way..." - Barrel's gasply says to himself. - "But I wouldn't have minded... growing old... with them..."

The last thing the brave toad saw was the maw of the beast chomping down, and his chest felt a great pain... Then nothing.

...

Barrel shakes himself out of his daze. Eyes widen.

"Okay, that was a very realistic nightmare."

He looks down at his chest again. His hands are still fondling the area.

"Hands. Stop!"

They stop.

Barrel scans the swamp surrounding him. The place is filled with the shade of red and dead trees. In the sky, he can see some kind of eel-with-wings monster flying by up high. All around him is water. If he's not careful, he might step into some place that isn't shallow.

"Jeeze, how did I end up here?"

Barrel navigates the swamp slowly, looking for a way out without needing a boat. There's got to be an inland trek somewhere, right?

Carefully jumping from one mound of land to the next, the toad wanders aimlessly.

"Maybe I should get a higher vantage point? I wonder if those dead tree can support me."

The thought is interrupted when his sight catches something familiar. His warhammer!

It's right there, stuck on the ground of a mound. Standing tall and proud, waiting for him to reclaim it.

"My hammer baby! Come to papa! Oh how I feel armless without you. Which is true in both the nightmare and right now!"

Barrel charges at the warhammer and tries to give it a pull.

"Frog me. My baby is stuck hard in the ground."

He tries to pull harder.

"Come on now. I'm not leaving you behind!" - He grunts hard, putting all his strength into it.

The hammer slightly moves.

"Yes!"

But with that sound of cheeriness comes a shockwave as something shifts from below the water.

"A beast?" - Barrel looks around to see if there is any sign of danger, still holding onto the warhammer.

Then, the ground beneath him starts to move. The ground is the beast!

The giant Narwhal Worm rises up from the water, Barrel barely holds onto the warhammer as the elevation goes higher.

"Not a nightmare. Not a nightmare! Holy frog, that beast is still here."

He almost fell when the Worm started opening its mouth and let out a screeching roar that pierced the entire swamp. Barrel is right on top of its head!

"ARE YOU SCREAMING SECOND ROUND?" - The toad yells in exhilaration.

The Worm shifts its pupils atop, realizing that there's someone on top. It starts shaking its head to shrug Barrel off.

"SECOND! ROUND! IT! IS!" - The toad screams back in kind.

Barrel gets flung around: right to left, left to right, up and down then down and up. But his grip is strong; he won't fall; not this time.

"Is that all you got? You were much more violent with your shaking last time! What's wrong with you, huh? Tired is it!?"

The old beast eventually finds this to be a useless endeavor, so it switches up its tactic. The Narwhal Worm starts swimming away in this watery swamp land.

"Wait! This direction..." - Barrel notices something. "The scenery looks familiar. This is... The beast is heading straight back to the village!"

The beast shows no sign of stopping; it continues to move forward.

"Oh no you don't! Not on my watch!"

He switches his stance and bends the warhammer in the opposite direction of where he was bending.

"Especially not after I spent so much time in the first place LURING! YOU! AWAY! FROM! THE VILLAGE!"

The warhammer's rocket launcher is activated by Barrel. The momentum of the rocket's boost and the direction of the bend allow the toad to finally take the warhammer out of the hard skin of the Worm. But with the warhammer out, he loses his grip on it and starts tumbling down along the Narwhal Worm's length.

The problem (for the beast) is that Barrel is one stubborn toad and he's not going to give up. Once again, his left hand thrusts forward, and he manages to grab onto one of the many pertruding stones on the back of the beast's body.

Barrel enhances the rocket blast while holding it high up. The rocket blast manages to drag Barrel back to the top of the swimming Worm's head again. In the corner of his eyes, he briefly sees what's ahead. A dark castle made of stone bricks and decorated with giant bird skulls and bones.

But that's not what matters at the moment, as with all of his force, he twists the hammer around. Blasting the rocket to maximum and hitting the worm with a decisive hammer strike on top of its head.

The Narwhal Worm delivers its last screech of pain before slowing down and falling over, unconscious. In turn, Barrel also falls off the worm and lands on the ground.

"ANOTHER VICTORY FOR BARREL!" - Barrel yells to no one.

"Though, the worm does feel a bit weaker and slower somehow. Also, isn't it slightly bigger than last time?" - The dust disperses and Barrel stands up. He takes a look at the unconscious beast. - "Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. Gotta be honest, it doesn't matter. It's just another beast that endangers the villages I am protecting."

"Hey you!" - Someone calls him out.

Barrel turns toward the voice. He sees a bunch of toad guards in armor running up to him in nervousness. They seemed to just come out of the castle.

"Were you responsible for the defeat of this Narwhal Worm?"

"Yes, that is me." - Barrel non-chalantly answers.

"Who are you? What's your rank?"

"My name is Barrel." - He realizes that these are probably the military, so he starts saluting. - "I'm just a simple guardsman."

"Barrel heh?" - Another toad starts talking. His voice sounds mocking for some reason. - "Your parents must be so confident."

"Why is that so?"

"Are you kidding me? Your parents clearly named you after Barrel The Brave, the toad's greatest hero! Clearly, your parents must be very bold to name you after him?"

"Barrel... The Brave? Who is he?"

Barrel hears some gasping and whispering among the troops at his words. He can barely hear some calling him "crazy" or "idiot". He didn't get it.

"Barrel The Brave is the bravest hero in toad culture." - One of the more skittish toad explains. - "It is said that the one who wields his warhammer is the true leader of all toads. Barrel dedicates his life to protecting amphibians on the outskirts from monsters and the like. In his final stance, he gave his life to defend a helpless village from a terrifying beast. Legends have it that the same beast is still guarding the warhammer to this very day!"

"Wow, that sounds like an inspiring figure. I hope I can be as brave as him." - Barrel lets out a cheerful laugh, completely unaware.

Barrel is in the mood, so he raises his hand behind his back and...

"Warhammer eh? You mean THIS ONE???" - He pulls out his own warhammer for the others to see.

Gasp after gasp is heard throughout the troop. At this moment, Barrel realizes he just made a mistake of gloating. He starts blushing.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding. This is just my own warhammer. It's definitely not this Barrel The Brave's warhammer you talked about."

Scepticism is still in the air, and Barrel can't change it now, as he realizes. 'You done screwed it up, dumb toad.' - Barrel thinks.

Then he realizes something urgently.

"Wait a minute, I think I got the location wrong. Can you tell me where Boloto Town is? I thought it was in this direction, but I was mistaken. This is obviously your castle."

"This is Boloto, young hero." - An old man's voice came from behind the troops.

More gasping and muttering. Barrel barely hears something about someone being surprised that the old man is able to walk, they thought he's glued to the chair. The old man is revealed to be an old but dignified toad in a robe.

"Quiet! Grace and salute to the presence of the Senior Leader in the Toad Army and Captain of the North Tower, Lord Aldo!" - A commanding voice from a toad that looks higher ranked than the rest of the troop.

The troop starts saluting, in which Barrel can't help but follow.

"You don't have to do it, young warrior." - The old man slowly walks closer to Barrel.

More gasping and muttering. Barrel is getting more nervous now.

"Greet-Greeting, Senior Aldo. I'm just a simple guardsman tasked with protecting The Town of Boloto. Please don't give my presence too much notice. I didn't know that there was a castle in the town of Boloto. My apologies for my lack of knowledge."

"Humble and young at the same time? It's quite a refreshing sight nowadays. Barrel, is it? I got a proposition for you."

"A proposition, Senior?"

"How do you feel about becoming the next-in-line to be the Captain of the North Tower?"

More gasping and muttering. Oh frog, this isn't good.

"I'm getting older by everyday, so you can imagine looking for a successor is one of the thing I have been been keeping an eye on. You certainly prove yourself to have such power in taking down the beast alone. I am hoping you can-"

"I must refuse, Senior! I'm just a simple guard tasked with protecting the outskirt villages of the continent. After this, my next assignment will have me moving to the East side. I'm sorry, but I can't take up your offer."

"Why you insolent...?" - The commander earlier voices his thoughts before...

"There's no need for hostility. The young toad has a choice and he has his own task to do." - Captain Aldo waves down the commander.

"I really appreciate the proposition, senior. I really so. But I have to go. I will be leaving this unconscious beast here for your Tower's care. A Narwhal Worm should be worth something."

Barrel hastily rushes to say his goodbye. Then he starts running off, following the trek of the paved road.

"He's clearly unfit for what you want, Senior Aldo." - The commander says to the elder.

"Maybe. Maybe not. I am expecting great things from the young heroic toad."

"And what are you all standing around gawking about? Scram!" - The commander yells at the troops. The toad soldiers quickly disperse.

Senior Aldo is clearly contemplating. He looks back at the North Tower. The elder starts walking back inside, saying something to no one but himself:

"Hmmmm... It has been such a long time since someone called this place Boloto..."

Chapter 4: Leaves Meet Leaf

Summary:

Too many doors.

"How did you..."

The human girl, Anne, opens her mouth in shock.

"How did you know that I'm called a human?"

The strange pink frog with blond hair in front of her looks eerily similar to Sprig. This frog called her a human. She has only been called monster or beast by strangers ever since she came to this world. But this frog, she call her a human. She knows what a human is.

The feminine pink frog stares at Anne for a while. Her glance gives off the feel of someone with a lot of conflicting emotions washing over them. Anne decides to take a step forward.

This startles the lady frog, and suddenly, she leaps in between Anne and her companions.

"Wait, missy! Wait!"

The frog starts hopping through the third corridor. Anne must know why, not just about the human thing, but also the frog's presence here in what Anne thought was a secret underground chamber. Who is that frog?

"Come on, Sprig! Polly! We need answers. Let's dash!."

"On it, Anne." - The male pink frog known as Sprig says.

"Yeah-Ya! Let's catch ourselves an intruder!" - The excitable tadpole, Polly, screams.

The three chase after the fleeing pink's trail.

"How is she so fast?!"

The lady frog navigates the corridor skillfully, as if they had run through this place before. Skipping from walls to walls, boosting herself faster with any dangling pipes to keep a leading distance.

"There's a chamber door ahead. We can catch her in the room."

The frog quickly enters and closes the door, soon followed by the kids.

"Oh come on! Can we get a simple room with no weird gimmick for once?"

The chamber is filled with even more doors. So many doors, so many unknown variables. And if it's anything like the other three chambers they have been in, this is going to be great... NOT!

"Oh hey, this is my great-great-great grandfather's chamber." - Polly pointed at a sign next to them. She reads it aloud. - "Chamber designed by Hop-and-Honey-Knob Trappity Pop Plantar, The Pioneer of Unnecessary and Elaborate Hidden Chambers and Traps. Blame this frog for most of the traps that existed in the underground system."

"Oh wow, your great-great-great grandfather sounds like a great person to hang out with." - Anne says with a sarcastic tone.

Anne doesn't see any sign of the fleeing frog, but she could have taken any of those doors.

"Let's split up, everyone. Cover as many doors as possible. She's bounded behind one of these."

The kids start trying out doors after doors. And they get exactly what they expected: fire traps, monster traps, weapon traps, basically traps of all kinds. Even when there's no trap behind a door, it just leads to more doors.

But eventually, they reach a long hall. Sprig notices a door at the end of this hallway saying: "Exit Here"

"Oh thank the greatest frog, we can finally get out!"

Sprig walks toward the exit.

"Sprig! No!"

Only for Sprig to step on a trap-trigger slab. A bunch of panels on the walls of this room open up.

"Not!"

"Again!"

There was nothing but dozens of wrapped balls of yellow substance shooting out of the panels. At this moment, the kids know. They are in for a ride to hell.

 

---

 

Eventually, there's no more balls. The entire room was splattered with yellow splashes. The kids collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion.

"How did we even dodge all of them?"

"Polly, I have no idea. Why are they honey balls of all thing?"

"I don't know."

Silence comes. Until...

"YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER IS A GIANT JERK!" - Anne can't take it anymore and blurts it out of her mouth.

"I'M SORRY ABOUT MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER!"  - Sprig yells back, following Anna's tone.

"THERE COULD BE NO FORGIVENESS FOR YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER."

"I CAN'T FORGIVE MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER TOO, ANNE!"

"CAN'T YOU TWO STOP SAYING GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER. YOU WANT TO BITE YOUR OWN TONGUES OR SOMETHING?" - Polly is angry.

Silence washes over them again. Then, they all start laughing despite their tiredness.

"It was fun, but I think I don't want to come down here anytime soon."

"Me too."

"Me three."

A pedestal rises from the floor. On top of it is a wrapped honey ball. Anne drags herself to it, picking up the jar and reading the label: "This is the reward for completing this rendition of the Plantar Family Traps Marathon. A wrapped ball of the highest quality of honey. I do make a good honey collector. - With love, Hop-and-Honey-Knob Trappity Pop Plantar"

"Yeah, I can see why this family competition died out." - Anne is so done. She pockets the ball. The door to the exit makes a click. It's unlocked.

Suddenly, a pink frog drops onto the ground from the ceiling, startling Anne.

"Thank you for taking care of all the traps."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I was behind you the whole time. Sticking myself to the ceiling.

"You're evil. You know that right, lady?" - Sprig is still laying on the ground.

"Yeah, I know. My kids used to call me out for cheating when I played games with them all the times." - The feminine pink frog lets out a small nostalgia laugh.

Anne notices that the pink frog looks less nervous and more casual than before. Anne doesn't know what calm the frog down but this might be the chance.

"Missy Pink, can I ask you again about..."

"The name is Lily. Lily Plantar."

"Lily Plantar? So you're related to us then? That's so cool!" - Sprig wiggles.

"Uhhh... I don't know, you guys. She could be an intruder sneaking in here to steal our family's valued artifacts."

"Oh really now, do I look like a thief to you?"

The kids scan Lily and her clothing from top to toes.

"Okay, maybe not. A thief would have much better fashion sense than grandma's clothing."

"Gak!" - Lily is clearly shocked and offended. She looks over her clothing again. - "Right... I guess that's fair."

The four chuckle among themselves. But Anne really wants an answer.

"So Miss Lily. I will ask again. How did you know that I'm called a human?"

Lily stays quiet for a while. Before she closes her eyes, contemplating her response:

"I'm not sure if I fully trust you yet to answer that , despite your closeness to the two over there."

"Us?" - The two in question speak.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You have to answer my question first. How did you get here?"

Anne is really hesitant on this. On one hand, this is a stranger she's talking to. On the other hand, Lily might be the lead she has been waiting for. A decision has to be made and...

"A music box. I was transported to this world when I opened a music box with my friends."

Anne couldn't read the expression of the pink frog at that moment.

"I see... It has returned as foretold."

"Huh? So you do know something about the music box? What is the box? How do I go home?"

Lily's face hardens. Her eyes dodge Anne's graze. She just doesn't have a good answer to give Anne. Lily looks at Polly and Sprig, nervously watching the conversation from the sideline. She sighs.

"I need time to think."

"That's lame! You can't just not give me any answers when I just answered your."

"Anne, is it?" - Lily sighs. "I know I'm not being very fair here, but... This has been a long day and I don't even know where to start. I really need time to think."

Anne looks unsastified, but she knows not to push it. She makes a mental note to secure the music box later in case Lily proves untrustworthy.

"Can you promise us you won't bolt as soon as we get out of the underground lair?"

"I... I can promise that. Yes."

An awkward quietness fills up the atmosphere.

"So can we get out now? I want to tell Hop Pop what's down here." - Sprig once again becomes the one to break the silence.

"Oh right, I forgot about Hop Pop. Let's go!"

The kids move to the exit, with Lily following them behind silently. They walk through another short corridor and go up the stairs toward a wall. Upon reaching the wall, it spins and sweeps them to the other side. Finally, the trip to the hidden lair is over and...

In front of her is the sight of Hop Pop... with Loggle, the axolotl wood carver, glued behind his back, stuck in a fetal position.

"Oh hey, kids! Where have you been?"

Anne opens her mouth, then closes it.

"You know what, I'm not even going to ask."

Chapter 5: Leif's Realization

Summary:

The Plantar Farm is pretty old, isn't it?

"Lily Plantar, eh?"

"Yes, that is my name."

"I don't believe you."

Leif is having real trouble talking to this grandpa in front of her at the moment. Honestly, it is fair for them to distrust her. A stranger like her, sneaking around in their basement and now claiming to be a relative, is plenty suspicious. But the true story is even more insane. Like, how can she tell them that she's their ancestor from over one thousand years ago?

Yep, she had checked the date as soon as possible. If she tells the truth, chances are they are just going to call the guards on her and she will get arrested. She can't have that happen, especially when there are so many things wrong around here. Leif makes a quick glance at the human girl named Anne on the side.

"Well, I don't know how to prove it to you. I can only say that I'm a traveller who came a long way to come here to visit her old house."

"That's impossible. I have been living in this house for years. There's no way I wouldn't remember someone like you living here."

Leif really regrets her words earlier. When Anne called her Missy Pink, she was compelled by an urge to correct it. She shouldn't have said her last name. Like seriously, Lily is fine, or even her original name, Leif. But no, her mouth had to correct people when they refer to an elder like her wrong.

"Well I..." - She must come up with something. - "I didn't live-live in this house per say. Wait no, I had lived in this house but..." - No good, brain malfunctioning.

"You mean you lived in the underground?" - The frog boy chimes in.

"Yes, that's it!" 

"Are you telling me that you once lived in the family lair and I didn't know about you or the underground's existence?" - The old frog leans closer to Leif with a doubtful glare.

"Exactly." - Leif leans in with utter confidence.

'Leif, you must lie like nobody's business. Cowapillar-produce your way through this.' - Leif screams in her mind.

"Well then, assuming that I even dare to believe you..." - Hop Pop pulls out a book and drops it on the table. - "Then why aren't you in the family book?"

This may be the first time she ever regrets creating that book and passing it down to her children. She still remembers just the other day, she stubbornly told her family to dedicatedly record their family shrub and to make it a tradition for generations. Karma must really hate her right now.

"Ah well, you see..."

Leif wrecks her brain out. She had lived most of her lifetime under a fake name. She should be good at this kind of lying. But despite all of that, she can't help but panic in her frog brain, until...

"I'm a secret love child!!!"

"WHAAT?!?" - Everyone yelp at her response.

"I'm the daughter of... The King! No, not the King King.The King as in Uncle Al, yes, Uncle Al."

"Al? My eldest second cousin?" - Hop Pop questions.

"The King of Single Tiered Irrigation Systems. That guy?" - Polly sides eye in digusted.

"Yes yes yes! That Uncle Al!"

"Are you accusing my good farming cousin of having an out-of-wedlock child now? I have you know he died proudly as a single man."

"No no! You see... Uncle Al, I mean my father, he is a travelling man."

"He is?"

"Yeah, you didn't know that he used to be a famous musician known as The King in a travelling band?"

"Really? Cousin Al is a famous musician!!??"

"Why are you so surprised? I thought you knew your family."

Leif smirks at Hop Pop, prompting him to continue to be even more baffled. She got him right where she wanted.

"Anyways, I'm his kid born during his band-travelling trip. He brought me to this house, and we called it home for a while until my mother brought me away from Wartwood."

"How did I not know this?"

"I guess you didn't know your cousin as well as you thought. I mean, you didn't even know about the family's lair right?"

The old frog looks like he's going through some serious reevaluation of his life right now. Leif feels really bad for him for the deception, but she has to do it. She doesn't want to end up in a cell.

"But you look way younger than the story you're claiming. You couldn't be this Uncle Al's daughter."  - Anne raises the accusation.

"I'm... I'm... older than I look, yes!"

That's technically true. The best kind of true.

"Oh come on, Hop Pop may be the type to be easily scammed."

"I am?" - Hop Pop exclaims.

"But I am not! You sound exactly like the type of scammer who fool old people into thinking they are family. And then they take advantage of the helpless unaware elders."

'Oh no, the human girl is much sharper than I expected. I need some kind of proof to back up this lie.'

Leif scans the room and an idea pops into her head.

"Well, I can't prove I am related to you immediately. But what I can prove is that I once lived in this house. The wooden basement's door has a total of 27 punctured holes on all of the sides."

"Hah?"

"That's not all. There's the living room's arch has a patch of wood glued onto it."

The kids start checking the places she mentions. They gasp.

"She is right. They are there." - Polly says.

"Yup, exactly, 27 holes. How did these come to be?" - Sprig points at the the basement's door.

'The holes were made when darling built the door. His clumsy hammering, oh boy. And the glued patch of the wood happened when my little flower broke it."

Things left unsaid. A feeling of sadness washes over her.

"She could have noticed it when she broke into our house the first time around." - Anne insists, interrupting the feminine frog's thought.

"There's even more I know about this house. Come, I will prove it to you."

Leif gets annoyed at Anne's stubbornness. She starts jumping toward the kitchen's door.

"This is the kitchen. I remember that..."

"Hey wait, it's not done boiling yet!" - Hop Pop calls out.

Upon the opening of the door, an overwhelming smell came out of the kitchen. The odor is strong and indescribable. The kids immediately jumps back in reflex with the exception of Hop Pop and Leif. She immediately closes the door, face unseen.

"What. Are. You. Cooking?" - Leif's voice is stern, her face unseen. The aura exuding from her is so scary that it even affects Hop Pop.

"Ah... Erm... It's Stinkhorn Mushroom Soup with Shore Earwig. It's our family recipe. It needs to stay in the pot for hours. I was going to serve it as dinner tonight."

Leif opens and closes the door again. The sudden smell makes the kids jump back a second time. Leif turns back around with a sinister smile, directed to the old frog.

"What did you do to the kitchen?"

"What do you mean?"

"Everything is all wrong. Why did you place the cupboard there? Why are you using the red-legged mushroom to scrub the pots? Why are there kill-a-moth-tail growing out of the sink? What did you doooooo?" - Her tone gets darker and darker.

"Well, I... I can explain?"

"I need to look more."

"Yes?"

Leif opens the basement door. Only to see potholes, lamprey's sinkholes, and a spiderweb-ridden storage room.

"My house... What did you all do to my house?"

"We... We are sorry." - The Plantars start to huddle each other.

"Spring cleaning."

"Huh?"

"TOTAL SPRING CLEANING FOR THE ENTIRE HOUSE. NOW!"

 

---

 

And that's how the entire Plantar family ends up working their sweat out the entire day to clean the house under the tyrant Lily Plantar's order.

"I can't believe the house fell that much after over one thousand years."

Leif is walking back from a grocery trip. She must provide the household with decent ingredients and not whatever those are.

Now, Leif has successfully lied that she is the unknown daughter of one "Uncle Al".

'I'm sorry, my descendant. Sorry for your ancestor besmirching your name, posing as your daughter.' - Leif prays silently in her head.

"The town really doesn't change much, huh? Slow to accept, and even slower to respect. Indeed." - She takes in a breathe of the outside.

She is getting close to the house now. She passes the P-logo sign of the house. The family's crest that she built a long time ago.

"Seems like there is something that stays the same."

Leif let out a relieved sigh. But before she comes to the door, she sees the Plantars inside the kitchen through the window. Anne is helping Hop Pop prepare the disasterous soup.

Hop Pop gives Anne a teaspoon. She is reluctant at first to try the soup, but Anne decides to chance it. She ate all kinds of food already. This won't be any difference.

"Mmmmm... Wow, Hop Pop. Ignoring the smell. This is actually not half bad."

"See, I told you so."

"Wait, really? Me want to try!" - The two amphibian kids exclaim.

"Slow down. Let me pour it into bowls."

The Plantars start eating the soup, talking to each other, playing with their food... like a family.

"I see... How come I didn't realize it before?" - Leif stares at the family through the looking glass. - "I guess it didn't sink in till now." - Leif starts walking away.

"Shimmer down, save some for Miss Lily too, kids." - Hop Pop says.

"Yes, Hop Pop. I can wait..." - Anne speaks, but then she sees Lily out of the window. - "Hey Pop, give me a few minutes. I have to run."

Anne rushes out of the house to chase after the walking Leif.

"Wait, Lily. Where are you going?"

Leif stops in her tracks. Anne continues:

"I want to offer my apologies. I shouldn't have called you a scammer. Seeing how much you care about the house, even at our expense, cleaning it. So now, come back to your house. You won't believe how Hop Pop's soup-"

"It's not my house anymore."

"Huh?"

Leif turns back to Anne. Her face is teary. The tears were falling down her cheeks like water drops on a lily pad.

"I have come to the realization that... It's not my house anymore. It's your."

"Lily, I..."

"I realize that... But... why does it hurt so much?"

Leif grits her teeth, but the tears won't stop.

Wordlessly, Anne comes closer to the smaller frog. And she embraces her.

"It's okay to be sad. I know. I miss my family too."

Leif is quiet at the human's action, not knowing what to do. But eventually, she returns the embrace.

They stay like that for a while until they break it off.

"I don't think I can live there again, Anne."

"Then we will welcome you as a guest. I'm not Hop Pop but I'm sure he won't mind a guest crashing on our couch. Now come on, like I was going to say, his soup is surprisingly not bad. He's saving a serving for you. Let's go back in."

Anne takes the pink frog's hand and leads her back.

"Thank you, Anne."

"No problem, Lily."

The frog and the human girl have returned to the house with the P sign hanging in front of the door. The house that one built and the other just joined.

Chapter 6: Marcy's Starter Class

Summary:

Marcy takes a test.

Newtopia is the capital city of Amphibia. It is a giant city in which the newts of Amphibia reside, as well as members of other amphibian species. Situated in the middle of the city is the Newtopia Castle, in which the monarchs of Amphibia live. And at the top of a particular staircase in the castle, there are two people talking. One human, one newt.

"You don't have to do this, you know."

"It's fine, Lady Olivia. I had promised that I would do my best to look after this place as well.

"I appreciate that and all. But don't you think joining The Newtopian Knight Guard is... too physical for you."

"It's the best way for me to contribute. I owe you guys a great deal. And in my book, any place that has free public health care is a good place."

"The place you lived didn't have free public health care?"

"Anyways, I won't let a staircase keep me on the bed and away from having a great adventure! Onward!"

Marcy proudly declares, taking one step forward. Only to misstep and be about to fall down a set of stairs again, much to Lady Olivia's yelp of surprise.

"Be careful there, young lady."

Thankfully, a giant hand catches Marcy before she stumbles further. The giant hand belongs to one king Andrias.

"Your majesty." - Lady Olivia bows.

"Oh geeze. Thank you, Andrias."

"It's no trouble, Marcy. You're going to the Knight Guard's Assessment Test, right?"

"Yup, that's right, kingly!"

"We're just about to head to the Knight Guard's Tower, your majesty."

"Knight Guard's Tower? No no, you don't have to take the standard assessment test there."

"Wow what? What could you mean?" - Marcy is interested.

"For you see, since you're a human and in my personal opinion, I don't think that the standard test applies. You're heading to the courtyard, and I have prepared a special instructor to assess you."

"Cool! To the courtyard! Running through the hallway screaming at the top of our lungs. Yeaaaah!" - Marcy climbs onto Andrias's shoulder.

"Eh hem... Let's. Yeeeeah!" - King Andrias takes a double back, before mimicking Marcy's excitement and running in the hall.

"Your majesty! Please mind your etiquette!" - Olivia chases them behind.

 

---

 

"So, who's the instructor you have in mind?". Marcy asked.

"I figure someone young but skilled is best to assess a young lady like you, Marcy."

"Oh you don't have to, Andrias."

The king goes to open the gate to the royal courtyard.

"May I introduce to you..."

A pink newt with sharp eyes and blond hair was just standing in the middle of the courtyard with a weapon rack and a giant cage nearby. She immediately rushes toward the gate upon its opening.

"My name is General Yunan!"- She strikes a pose. - "Scourge of the Sand Wars." - More pose. - "And the youngest newt to ever achieve the rank of General in the great Newtopian army!"- Finally, she takes a bow. - "May I greet you? King Andrias, Lady Olivia and Master Marcy.

Marcy has sparkly stars in her eyes. Andrias is clapping at the eccentric introduction. And from the background, there's only the noise of groaning by Lady Olivia.

"That's so cool, Yunan. I didn't know that about you. Tell me more! Tell me more!" - Marcy grabs Yunan's hand.

"Ehhehehe. The tale is long so listen carefully. Months ago, I."

"Eh hem!" - Lady Olivia coughs.

"Ah right. My job here today is as an instructor, assessing your capability for combat to assign you into the correct force in The Newtopian Knight Guard. We don't have time to dilly dally around."

"Awwww."

"Maybe later." - Yunan winks to Marcy's renewal excitement. Lady Olivia let out a passive-aggressive small groan.

"So over here, we have a selection of weapons to choose from. Each set is specially designed for each force in the army. We just need to find the most compatible set for you."

"How are you going to judge my compatibility?"

"Simple! You strike at ME!" - Yunan brandishes out her claws, grinning a scary combative grin.

"Got it. I'm basically picking my starter class." - Marcy shrugs, entirely unaware of the danger. - "Now, let see. Oooh, a giant sword. Paladin Class!"

"You're correct. They are the weapons of the paladins within The Knight Guard."

"Let's try this one. I always want to try out being Duolc from Last Fable." - Marcy picks the giant sword. - "Oooh, heavy. Heavy!"

"I see you have chosen your weapons. Now, your strike!

On the side, King Andrias and Olivia are watching.

"You sure this's a good idea, your majesty."

"It will be fine, Olivia. Besides, I want to see the combat ability of a human."

 

---

 

"Axe and Shield! Fighter Class!"

"Staff! Monk Class!"

"Longbow! Ranger Class!"

Marcy had exceeded everyone's expectations. And by exceed...

"How did you end up hurting yourself more than me? I'm not even attacking!!!" - Yunan yells.

"It's fine. I can go on!" - Marcy tries to assure. She grabs a giant axe from the selection.

"Giant axe! Barbarian Class!"

Marcy charges forward. Her battle cry rings out as she rushes to Yunan.

"And..." - Yunan stands and wait. - "...side step!"

Marcy's charge completely misses. And she can't stop. She keeps running and running and...

"Dumpsters coming through!" - A green janitor strolls by with his multiple dumpsters.

Marcy crashes and falls into the dumpster.

"Ooh... That gotta hurt." - Everyone squint at the sight.

"Master Marcy! Are you okay?" - The janitor cries in panic.

"I'm okay, Frank!"- Marcy crawls out of the dumpster. - "See, you don't have to worry."

The others rush over.

"Marcy, are you alright? Do you need some help.?"

"Guys, I'm alright! I just need a few minutes to get my head back in a functional state." - Marcy looks dazed. She is covered from top to toe with trash.

"My apology, Master Marcy." - Janitor Frank and General Yunan say in unison.

"It's all good, guys. It's my own fault." 

"You should go check youself to the infirmary. It's best that we stop the assessment now. Physical jobs like this are not your forte, as I expected." - Lady Olivia chimes in with concern.

"Yeah... You're right. Lady Olivia. I will check with the infirmary. I can walk there on my own."

Marcy walks away from the group. She struts her way out of the courtyard and into the castle.

"Janitor Frank, clean these up!" - Lady Olivia sighs and orders. - "General Yunan, return to your post."

The other three get busy. Unknown to them, King Andrias has been staring at the back of the leaving Marcy in silence.

 

---

 

"Clumsy Marcy..." - She says to herself.Marcy didn't check herself in the infirmary like she said she would. She currently sits alone on one of the outer balconies of the castle.

"It's not a good look for a young lady like you to sit all alone in the dark and sad."

King Andrias suddenly appears without sound behind her.

"Ah! King Andrias!"

"Caught you by surprise, didn't it?"

"Very. Oh, Andrias. How are you so big that you can sneak up on me like that? Normally, everyone around you can hear your loud footsteps, but when you want to, it doesn't. I have always wanted to ask that."

"Well, Marcy. I will let you in on a secret."

"And I will keep it a secret."

"I crawl."

"Huh?"

"I crawl on all four."

"Wait, really?"

"Yup."

"Wow, I must say. You're the most unkingly king I have ever met, kingly."

"And how many kings have you met before, Marcy?"

"Well, only you. So that makes you the most kingly king I have ever met."

"And that's more like it."

Andrias and Marcy share a laugh. Marcy wipes her eye and speaks:

"So I'm guessing you're here to encourage me to not feel down after I failed, right? I know that trope well. You can't fool me."

"You are right again, Marcy. Smart girl."

"Aha!" - Marcy sounds cheerful. But then... - "Gosh, I'm such a klutz, aren't I? I really want to live up to the other expectations of me and do something for this wonderful fantastical place."

"Marcy, it's fine to fail expectations sometimes. All you gotta do is try harder and harder next time to fix your previous mistake..."

Andrias turns away from Marcy. His tone becomes darker.

"...No matter how long it takes."

"Ah thank, Andrias. You know what, I don't dislike this trope, as cliche as it is."

"Great! So what are you going to do now?" - Andrias turns back to Marcy cheerfully.

"Ah well, I still want to be a Knight Guard but-"

"ALLIGATORS!" - A guard runs by.

"Huh?"

"ALLIGATORS IN THE CASTLE. THEY BROKE OPEN THE CAGE IN THE COURTYARD."

 "Marcy! Stay here! I will handle this."

Marcy sees the ruler of Amphibia walking away. She hesitates. The situation is dangerous. She might mess it up even further…

But alligators! Amphibia’s alligators! She’s curious. She wants to see them. And so, Marcy runs in.

Only to discover an alligator right on the other side of the door.

"Whoo-hoo. Ohhh."

"Okay, I didn’t expect to run into one that soon. Or expect the sound they make. That’s weirdly cute."

The alligator opens its mouth.

"Yellow tongue. That’s interesting. Wait, I should run now. Bye!!!"

The alligator chases after the fleeing Marcy. Marcy is quick on her feet until she comes upon a dead end.

"Oooh." - The alligator sneaks its maw closer and closer to Marcy.

"Okay, Marcy. Death by a cute alligator isn’t the worst death on your list. But this is still terrifying. Please don’t, alligator."

The alligator’s mouth is dead close to Marcy and… It eats the broken bucket on her head.

"Huh?"

The alligator then swoops down, tears off the trash bag that is stuck on Marcy’s leg and eat it.

"Hmmmm…"

Marcy wonders. She takes an empty can on her shoulder and feeds it to the alligator. It gladly takes it.

"So you guys love trash, huh? That's so… Cute. And also gross, but whatever!"

Then she sees Frank strolling by with the weapon stand and multiple dumpsters through the hallway.

"Wait, I got an idea." - Her eyes spark up. She snaps her finger.

"Come here, alligator." - She wags the disposed bag of chips to the alligator. It follows.

"Hey Frank! I need trash and that weapon rack."

"What’s for… AAAAAHHHHH! Alligator!" - Frank runs away, leaving only one dumpster with a bucket of dirty water sticking on the side, and the weapon rack.

"Okay, that works, I guess."

Marcy rummages through the weapon rack while occasionally throwing trash toward the alligator behind her back. She grabs a crossbow and modifies it

"Now, this baby can shoot trash." - Marcy is very pleased with herself for modifying a weapon for it to shoot trash.

She throws another can to the alligator and pushes the dumpster toward the main source of the ruckus. On the way, she shoots trash at any alligators she sees.

"Trash! Trash for all alligators! Follow! Follow!"

She strolls to the main room with a trail of alligators right behind her. Things are going smoothly. She just needs to lead them to a contained area. 

But suddenly, the fast-moving dumpster rolls up to the upper balcony’s fences. It breaks the fence, the bucket drops to the side, and the entire dumpster falls down below. Marcy was going to fall until…

"What are you doing, Master Marcy?"

Yunan catches Marcy mid-air and lands back on the upper balcony.

"Thank you, Yunan! Wait, no! The dumpster!"

The flood of alligators rushes down below, and all of them start tearing it up.

"Marcy, what are you doing? I told you to stay back!" - Andrias’s thundering voice rings out. He’s seen fighting a bunch of alligators hand-to-hand with Lady Olivia on top of him, kicking any alligators that jump up.

"I…" - Marcy stutters.

Then she sees on the other side of the window. Frank is strolling the dumpsters, running away in the courtyard.

"I…" - Marcy finds her voice. Her eyes glow with determination. - "I CAN HELP!"

"Huh?"

"HEY YOU ALLIGATORS!" - Marcy holds the bucket of dirty water, standing on top of the fence. The alligators turn to look at her.

"MEAT AND TRASH IN ONE!" - Marcy dumps the bucket onto herself. The alligators snarl and rush to her, leaving the side of the people they were attacking.

"Marcy! No!" - Everyone yell.

Marcy jumps and grabs the chandelier in the main room. She swings from that to a lower chained lamp, much to the amazement of others.

"MARCY! YEEESSSS!" - She screams.

She crashes through the window and lands in the courtyard.

"FRANK! I NEED THOSE DUMPSTERS!"

"What’s for… AAAAAHHHHH! Trash monster!" - Frank runs away.

Marcy takes hold of those dumpsters and starts pushing them. The alligators burst out of the courtyard to chase after the delicious Marcy.

A flood line follows behind her, so close to getting the maw on her, but Marcy is determined and tunnel-vision toward one thing, the cage in the courtyard.

"And now!" - Marcy kicks the dumpsters. They all roll into the cage. Marcy jumps up to the top of the cage, barely dodging a ferocious maw that almost chomps her down.

The line of alligators crashes into the cage, and when all of them are inside, Marcy slams the cage’s door shut.

"All done!" - Marcy lets out two words, then promptly falls face-up on the ground in exhaustion.

"Marcy!" - Everyone goes out to the courtyard.

"Hey, guys. I’m sorry for endangering myself." - Marcy gets up as soon as she hears the worrying people.

"You should feel sorry." - Lady Olivia says sternly.

"Yeah…"

"But I’m glad you’re okay." - She grabs Marcy’s shoulder in a thankful manner.

"Yeah, you save the castle, Marcy!" - Yunan exclaims.

"And you had performed a great deed yourself. Said, Yunan?"

"Yes, your majesty?"

"What’s your evaluation of that performance just now?"

"Great shooting with the crossbow. Impressive dexterity. Incredible balance. And to top it off, an ingenious and smart thinker. You got yourself a very talented ranger for The Knight Guard, your majesty."

"Me? A talented ranger? Awesome!" - Marcy breaks from Olivia to express her exhilaration.

But due to all the dirty trash water on her, she slips and falls to the ground.

"Actually, might need to work on the balance, but a good ranger nonetheless." - Yunan reassesses.

"Good. Then as soon as you rest up, you, Marcy Wu, will officially become one of the rangers for The Newtopian Knight Guard." - Andrias announces.

"That’s super awesome." - Marcy says from the ground. - "But I think I need to shower."

This prompts Olivia to clean her hands with a towel.

"And I think I have an idea on what to do with those alligators."

"What’s that idea, may I ask?"

"Me and the alligators are going to overhaul the sewage system!!!"

Marcy declares her idea, and multiple sounds of "Ooohhh" from the alligators in the cage can be heard.

That’s the end of a long and trashy day for Marcy Wu and her friends at Newtopia.

Notes:

Janitor Frank is based on the green janitor in Marcy Theme Song Takeover.

Chapter 7: Leif's Toad Boss

Summary:

Leif starts working.

"Where are we going, Anne?"

A human and a pink frog were walking along the trail of this swampy land in the early morning.

"You said you don’t have any place to stay, right?"

"More like, I don’t think I can sleep on the couch anymore. My back is hurting from the stiffness."

"Yeah, I spent a few days sleeping on the couch. Not good for your back, indeed."

"So did you somehow find a new place for a freeloader like me?"

"Even better than that, I got you a job. You don’t have any money coming here. You will work to stay in that place."

"Hmmm. It seems like a good deal to me. At least I won’t bother you all anymore with my outdated farming method and constant house cleaning."

Such a massive difference between now and one thousand years ago, farming has changed and adapted with time. Becoming more proficient and effective. For her, the method she knew was the standard some time ago, but now…

‘Time really doesn’t wait for me, huh?’ - Leif muses sadly in her head.

"Lily, don’t stress yourself too much. Yeah, it was chaotic, but chaos is The Plantars’s speciality. You’re cool to us, Lily. Those days just show how much you care about the farm and the house."

Leif stays quiet at the mention of the house, and Anne catches on, so she changes the subject.

"So anyways, about the music box…"

‘Great job, Anne. You jump from a sore spot to another sore spot.’ - Anne pokes herself in her head.

‘I owe this girl some explanation at least. But… Is her presence here already spelling doom to us all?’ - Leif is still unsure.

"Hey Anne…"

"Yes?"

"Are you here to destroy us all?"

"Wait, what?!!"

"You probably guess it by now that I know about humans… I have even met some of them."

"So there have been humans showing up in Amphibia before? Or wait a minute, have you been to Earth before?"

"E-Erm… The latter."

"Wait, you can travel dimensions? Tell me how? I need to go back to Earth!" - Anne starts shaking Leif.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Anne! The box! I used the box!"

"Right, the box…" - Anne drops Leif. - "Yeah, the box doesn’t work anymore."

"What do you mean the box doesn’t work anymore?"

"Here, I will show you." - Anne pulls something out of her backpack.

There it is. The Calamity Box. Leif never thinks she will ever see it again, but it’s right here in front of her face. It has returned to Amphibia, and if this thing is used again, it will bring destruction to the world she lives in.

"Wait, why are the gems grayed out?"

"Huh?" - Anne looks at the box again. "Hey, you’re right!" - She starts scratching her cheek, her face grimacing. - "I never actually noticed that."

"Could this be the reason why it doesn’t work?"

"Seems like it. I mean, that’s the only thing I noticed was wrong with it after weeks of the box being in my backpack. Geeze, I’m so inattentive."

"Curious indeed. I don’t know how that could have happened."

‘And maybe it’s for the best that the box doesn’t work. That’s nice to know at least.’ - Leif feels a bit of relief washing over here.

"Well, it’s at least something of a lead now. Wait, why did you ask me if I came here to destroy you all?"

"Uhhhhh… Let’s just say. I have met some humans. And they are… How do I water it down?" - Leif tries to think. - "They aren’t the most pacifist people I have ever met."

"Oof. Bad first impression of us humans, huh? Is this why you didn’t trust me during our first meeting?"

"Yeah… Somewhat."

"Then let me fix your impression of humans for you. I, Anne Boonchuy, will show you that most humans are actually good people. Starting with me!"

"You sure you can call yourself a good person, Anne?" - Leif smirkingly says to the human girl.

"Lily! Are you questioning my karma now? Dear Miss Break-Into-Other-People-Basement."

"Hey, that was my own house I broke into."

"Didn’t you say it was not your house last time?"

"Anne!"

"Yep, using your own words against you. Karma for pulling the same move on Hop Pop, Lily."

"Arghhh, you got me."

They laugh at their own exchange as they walk down the road. Their trek had led them into an exotic house with a small fountain outside.

"Wow." - Leif exclaims.

"Welcome to Stumpy’s Lily Pad Thai! The first Frog-Thai fusion restaurant in all of Wartwood!"

"I’m pretty sure it’s in all of Amphibia."

"Eh, you can’t be too sure. Anyways, let’s go inside."

The two go inside to see an exquisite design of a refreshing structure. Orchids, lotuses, mushroom stools, and a lot more. It gives off the feeling of being natural and homey at the same time.

"Oh hey there, Anne."

"Hey there, Stumpy!"

"Oh, and who’s the lady with you? I don’t recognize her from around here."

"Oh, this gal is Lily Plantar.."

"A Plantar, eh?" - Stumpy squints to look at Leif - "I guess she does look very similar to the boy, Sprig."

"Yeah, and she’s here to help."

"How so?"

"Well, since I quit the waitress job, and I know you said you don’t mind me quitting. I still want someone to help you out. So here comes Lily! Since she’s new to the town, she needs a place to stay and a job to work, so I figure yours is the best place. You can use some help with service as well as someone guarding the restaurant at night, right?"

"Are you sure she’s trustworthy, kid?" - Stumpy squints even more. Leif can only nervously laugh.

"Well, she broke into our house without our permission, forced a total spring cleaning, and insisted on doing things her own ways…"

"Anne, why did you tell him that?" - Leif whispers under her nervous smile.

"...but she’s totally trustworthy." - Anne smiles and makes okay hand gestures.

If Leif wasn’t this nervous, now she’s in deep anxiety. Oh no, she's going to get thrown into a cell. This was a bad idea. Maybe she shouldn’t have listened to Anne. This girl...

"Good enough for me!" - Stumpy says excitedly.

"Wut?" - Leif is baffled.

"If you trust her, Anne. I will trust her too."

"Glad to have your trust, Stumpy. Now come, Lily, I will show you the ropes of being a waitress. Mind if I return to be a waitress for a day to show this newbie around, Stumpy?"

"You go ahead and do whatever you want, kid. Not like I can stop you."

"Thank. Okay, Lily. Here’s the outfit we wear as waitresses in this restaurant."

Anne shows Lily a handmade tube skirt, made of silk.

"Wow, what’s this outfit?"

"It’s called sinh. It’s a traditional Thai dress from Earth. My community often wears them in special events."

"That’s lovely. Wait, this is not your size."

"Of course, that one is your size. Mine is this one, with the top being a plain yellow and the bottom a nice pattern of green and violet. I made that one for you recently."

"You’re so nice, Anne."

"Heh, like people said, trust comes a long way! Now, we should get dressed up for the day. Service is going to start soon. The restaurant has been getting more customers than usual recently."

They go to change.

—

"This is how you greet customers. You bow." - Anne instructs Leif in her sinh outfit.

"Yes?" - Leif bows like Anne, sporting her own sinh outfit.

"And then you said: "sah wah dee khaa". That’s hello in Thai."

"Shall wart dis car?" - Leif mispronounces.

"No no, sah wah dee khaa. Drawn out the khaa."

"Sah ward the caaar?"

"Again. Sah wah dee khaa."

"Sah wand dee khaa?"

"Getting better now!"

 

---

 

"This dish is really good? What is it?"

"This dish is Maggot Laap. And that one is Pad Thai. Take note of the menu to avoid confusion when placing your order."

"Got it, jotting it down."

 

---

 

"Wow, Stumpy. You’re really skilled at handling stuff around, washing dishes, chopping ingredients, cooking foods,... And that’s all in spite of… Erm…"

"Yeah. I’m good with these prosthetic hands! You don’t just get good at these immediately. It takes dedication for years, and I’m proud of these hands."

"I’m now even more impressed."

 

---

 

"And that’s the end of the day. Phew, busy day. Right, guys?" - Anne says.

"Will every day be like this?" - Leif questions.

"Eh, the number of customers will shimmer down eventually. Stumpy’s Lily Pad Thai is just the hottest thing in this town at the moment.

"All we have left to do is clean this place up for the day. Anne, Lily, you handle the-" - Stumpy acts as the boss.

"Lily is a professional at cleaning. She can handle it all…. Byyyyyyeeee!!!" - Anne runs out of the restaurant and heads back home.

"I thought you would show me the hang of it for the entire day?" - Leif calls out to the fleeing Anne.

But she’s gone.

"She just wants to skip cleaning work, doesn’t she?" - Leif directs the question to Stumpy beside her.

"Yep. Now, us two should wrap up the cleaning. You should-"

"So, why do you trust Anne so much, Stumpy?"

"Huh?"

"By extension, why do you just trust me?"

"So that’s the thing that has been nagging you, huh?"

"Yeah… Wait, am I that obvious?"

"Oh believe me, everyone in the town didn't trust her at first. But people are warming up to her, even if she doesn’t notice it herself."

"Really now? I thought this is Wartwood. Slower to accept, even slower to respect."

"Hey, time changes."

"Right, time changes…"

"Said, you and her aren’t that different."

"Huh?"

"Breaking into people's houses without their permission, forcing a total spring cleaning, insisting on doing things her own ways,... That’s exactly what she did to my restaurant the first time around."

"Ha. That sounds like she’s a whole basket of busybody."

"Exactly. I myself thought she was a creepy kid in the beginning. But when she came crashing into my restaurant and turned it around, she made me care for the first time in a long while."

"Is that so?"

"In time, hopefully, you will come to warm up with her. The girl is trying. Just don’t hurt the kid, you hear me?"

That night, Leif remains at Stumpy’s restaurant alone. She finally has time to sit down and think about the events that have transpired lately. She’s now in the future after being resurrected from death into her peak body. With the arrival of the human girl named Anne and the return of the Calamity Box, danger lurks around the corner.

But the question comes down to the matter of trust. Should she take the gamble and tell everything about the Calamity Box to a stranger from another dimension who potentially doesn't care about the fate of Amphibia? Is the human just being nice to her because she knows stuff? Leif has been one to not place faith in people, going behind people’s backs and hurting people. 

She misses her family and friends. They are all relics of the past, and now she’s alone in the world she thought she knew but doesn’t. She doesn’t know what to do. Were all her actions meaningless, only delaying the outcome and the future she sees is inevitable.

Times change… Maybe she should too.

She just doesn’t know…

Notes:

Upcoming next, Barrel's Toad Boss.

Chapter 8: Barrel's Toad Boss

Summary:

Barrel visits a small town.

"Yup, I definitely got scammed."

Barrel holds up something. It’s the last piece of copper he possesses.

Barrel wants to cry.

"I shouldn’t have trusted that suspicious snail-rider."

Barrel remembers how in the past few days he had asked non stop for a carriage to ride him to Numachi Town in the East, but no one knew where that place was, some even looked at him like he was crazy.

That’s until a newt snail-rider with a goatee wearing some kind of forest gentleman outfit calling himself Big T said he knew where Numachi Town was and they went off on a carriage.

Barrel was really happy and thankful for the newt. That’s until at night, he was dropped off in the middle of the forest while he was sleeping with all of his belongings gone except for whatever is on his body and his trusty hammer baby (possibly because the slimey twig didn’t have the strength to pull it).

But what had happened, happened. No use being moody about it when he’s in the middle of a dangerous forest.

"I mean scammy as he is, he wouldn’t drop me off somewhere far away from civilization, right? He did leave me alive and all. Maybe he’s a nice criminal and not a total jerk?"

 

---

 

Nope, he’s a total jerk.

Barrel has been navigating the deep mountain forest for days now. He’s lost and alone. It’s only thanks to that Barrel 's experience with surviving in the wilderness that he survived this long, or else things could have been much much worse.

Next time Barrel sees the scammy jerk again, he's so gonna get flattened by a Barrel Slam.

"I’m so tired of eating roasted bugs!!!"

No one can hear him, but he complains aloud anyway. That’s until a stone hit him on the back of his head.

"Ouch! Hey, who threw that?" - Barrel looks around.

"Go away, you toad!"

It’s a kiddie voice. The toad turns toward where the voice comes from, and it’s a little toad boy standing on a branch of the tree. He’s flicking a stone in his hand, preparing to continue throwing.

"Erm… Hey, kiddo. Can you stop chugging stones at me and point me in the direction of your town? I’m a bit lost." - Barrel tries to sound sincere.

The boy stops flickering the stone. Then he points at a direction for Barrel silently.

"Thank kiddo! See you around!" - Barrel makes a fist bump of encouragement and heads toward the direction.

 

---

 

"I got FOOLED again!"

He heads toward the direction the boy gives him for a while until he realizes that he’s just going deeper into the forest. So he turns around and heads in the opposite direction in the hope of finding the town the boy lives in.

"Why are people, even kids, these days so unkind?"

Barrel wants to cry again.

He spreads a line of ivy and they open toward a brand new sight. A small mountain town.

"Finally! I’m out of the forest!"

Barrel cheers and slides down toward the town. He sees a couple of frogs near a barren house.

"Hey there. I just found my way back from the forest and I was hopin-"

"Please don’t take any more stuff, Mister Toad!"

"Huh?"

What he witnesses is that the frogs start bowing down to him, begging.

"We don’t have anything left. You toads already take enough stuff in our home to fulfill the quota, right? Please, don’t take more."

"I-I am not going to. Wh-what is going on here?"

That’s when Barrel hears a bunch of ruckus over at the next house. It’s the voice of a bunch of adult toads and a boy screaming.

Barrels toward the noise, only to see a bunch of toads trying to shake down a tree with the same boy that he saw earlier today throwing stones at the toads with much of the sound of "ouch" from them.

"Go away, you toads. I’m not going to let you disturb this town."

Barrel has to do something. He runs to the middle of the group and tries to deescalate the situation.

"Wow wow wow! He’s just a kid. What are you guys doing?"

"He’s trying to stop us from doing our job!"

"What kind of job is so important that you must terrorize a kid?"

"And who the heck are you?"

"I’m Barrel. A guardsman from the North being reassigned to the West here."

A number of mocking chuckles happen between the toads.

"Barrel eh? This guy is a total newbie." - A toad points at Barrel.

"I repeat again. What’s going on here? Why are you all making the frogs around here so scared and afraid?" - He scans around to see the frogs fearfully hiding themselves and watches the scene unfold from the side.

"It’s that time of the year?"

"That time of the year? What?"

"You seriously don’t know… Ugh… Typical bonehead…. It’s the time to collect Toad Tax!"

"Toad tax?"

"Come on, joggle your brain for a bit. Every year, towns have to send an amount of taxes money to Toad Tower."

"Then why are you taking people’s stuff." - Barrel eyes the huge carriage of furniture.

"Because the town’s tax money came up short for this year. We’re just here to collect their belongings in exchange for the missing money."

"That’s… That’s not a thing. I have never heard of this before! You guys are just a bunch of bandits." - Barrel prepares his warhammer.

"Okay, bonehead. I don’t know how The North works over there. But it is certainly a thing here in The West and The South. It’s official law, mates. And either you step aside, or you will mess with all of us." - The toads squad gathers, preparing their weapons in return.

"Bring! It! On!" - Barrel charges up his warhammer.

They charge at each other.

 

---

 

Barrel quickly takes care of them in a short squirmish. Their numbers can’t cover up the difference between skills and the superior weapon. Each of the toads are easily taken down without trouble.

"We will remember this!" - The tax-collector toads run away with their tails between their legs. Leaving behind the carriage of furniture. One of them has their glare at the power-charged warhammer in Barrel’s hands, but soon runs away.

"Phew." - Barrel wipe off the slime on his forehead. Then he… - "Another victory for Barrel!!!" - …yells loudly.

Suddenly, the whole town of frogs starts gathering around him.

"Ah guys, I’m not one of them."

The quietness was real before…

"Hooray! The strange toad saves us all!"

"He defeated a whole squad of toads on his own!"

At this point, Barrel blushes and is embarrassed. He’s not one to take in the crowd’s cheering often. He doesn’t handle being the center of attention well.

"Don’t trust him, he’s a toad!" - The young toad boy exclaims.

Barrel is surprised by the tone of the young boy. He sounds… so angry.

"That toad is gonna drop the town at the first sight of danger. You can’t trust him!"

"Speaking from experience, boy?" - A townie mocks the kid. Most of them chuckle or laugh. There are some kids that are uneasy about the town’s behavior.

This prompts the boy to fluster and run away in frustration. Barrel tries to run after him, but the crowd prevents him as they try to invite him to a treat in appreciation of his help.

 

---

 

Barrel ends up agreeing to stay overnight in the village. And while he really doesn’t like having to join in on the treat. Barrel is currently speaking to the frog chief of the town.

"How are you enjoying this dinner, Mister Barrel, is it?"

"Yes, it’s Barrel. And the dinner treat is… great. But I’m not usually one who does a big celebration just because I did something."

"Oh ho, a humble toad. Rare sight. Rare sight."

"So about the toad taxes… Are they real?"

"Sadly, they are real, Barrel. It’s written in the law of the land."

"Who decided on those laws?"

"That would be King Andrias."

"King… Andrias?"

‘Wait, King Andrias? How? He was a prince the last time I heard about him.’ - Barrel thinks to himself.

"Are you sure you’re not mistaken?"

"I’m not mistaken. You can read up on the law book yourself and see King Andrias signed and approved the toad tax law."

‘If Andrias is a king… Does that mean his old man has finally passed away. I… didn’t expect it to be this soon. But Andrias? Passing this tax law? Oh Andrias. The betrayal and the grief of his father’s death must have hurt him much worse than I thought. Are you doing this because of… Leif? But Leif’s action doesn’t mean that the frogs deserve this. How could things go so wrong?’ - Barrel wrecks his brain deep in thought.

"Taxes, right. There’s taxes that mean the money is required because it will be spent on something. Does Toad Tower do anything for the town?" - Barrel continues his line of questions. The matter seems beyond him.

"The East Tower splits its focus into multiple smaller branches to govern smaller parts of the region that’s further from the center. Our town is just sadly caught with a branch that doesn’t care about our well-being."

"But, that’s surely illegal right? They aren’t helping out the town but still demanding taxes."

"Unfortunately, it’s perfectly allowed and legal. What they do is in line with the written law. There’s no requirement for them to do service for the towns, only to collect taxes each year. The East Tower puts in the requirement to do public jobs such as defending towns from monsters or various kinds of deeds when the towns require toads's service, all in the order of The Lord."

"Then we just need to send a message to The Lord. He will handle these toads abusing their powers."

"It’s not possible. The toad’s branch has total control of messages being sent in and out of the area."

"Then why didn’t you send someone on a journey to contact The Lord directly?"

"Journeying to The East Tower takes many days and a lot of preparation. It requires a lot of resources to prepare someone for the trip. And we’re a struggling small town on a mountain."

"But…"

"And we did send someone on the trip to send the message to The Lord."

"Huh?"

"You must remember the toad boy, right? His father is the one who was sent a few months ago."

"And what happened?" - Barrel doesn’t like the sound of this.

"Our town gathers a sum of money to give the toad for the trip. He’s the former town chief. An honorable one, you see. But well, turns out he’s not so honorable at all. Last I heard, the toad disappeared with the money and spent it for himself. All of the money in town was gathered. And this leaves our town in a desperate state. We can’t afford enough money to pay back the taxes for this year."

"So due to that, the town just decides to mistreat the boy?"

"What are you accusing us of here, Mister Barrel? The boy is the son of a man who takes advantage of us all. He could be the same as his father, you know."

"I have seen the town’s reaction today with the boy. That’s not right. You don’t mistreat a kid. That’s no difference from how the toads treat your town!" - Barrel really starts to get angry now. - "YOU shouldn’t blame others for the fault of someone related to them!"

"Calm down, Mister Barrel. I don’t condone the townie’s behavior toward the kid, but it’s their choice to do what they do."

"Then I have enough of this feast." - Barrel stands up and prepares to leave.

"Wait, Mister Barrel. I have prepared you a bed to stay over at the guest room of my house. It will be perfectly accommodating for you."

"I don’t need it."

"Please, I must insist. You have to be in your best condition tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"As a favor I asked of you, I was hoping you could stay in this town for the foreseeable future until the power-abused toads are dealt with. Please, Mister Barrel. Please help out this poor town." - The frog chief bows.

Barrel is experiencing intense conflicting emotions. So that was it, huh? The town was just being nice solely because he’s a muscle man protecting the town for them? But his sense of justice won out.

"Fine, I will stay for the foreseeable future. I was going to settle the business with those toads by my own hand anyway."

"Thank you, Mister Barrel." - The frog chief smiles. A very ignoble smile.

 

---

 

Barrel goes into the forest nearby and looks around. It’s not before long that he spots the toad boy, sitting on another branch of the tree.

"You sure love climbing up branches, huh kid?"

"Go away!"

"No, can’t do. I heard your story."

Barrel tries to climb the tree. Only to end up landing on his bottom.

"Ouch!"

The boy sees it and chuckles.

"Wow, you toads sure suck at climbing trees."

"It’s an unfortunate thing for us. Can’t help it."

"Well, I won’t let that ever happen to me."

"Because you’re a toad too right? That’s why you said you won’t let that happen."

"..." - The boy is at a loss for words before he settles it with… "None of your business."

"It’s fine. I just want you to have some company after today."

"Why do you care?"

"I can sympathize somewhat with being blamed for something another person did. Even if our circumstances aren’t exactly one-to-one. But enough about that, answer my question, you love climbing trees huh?"

"..." - The boy stays quiet for a few seconds again. - "I used to climb trees to hide from father all the time."

"I see…"

""I know he can’t climb, so I tend to skip work by just hiding in the branches and running to play with my group of friends. He keeps going on and on about honor, not taking things for granted, and being helpful to the community." - But then the boy’s tone sounds warmer.- "He really loves this town. And the town gives a lot of things back to us. I love this town too."

"..." - Barrel stays quiet and nods.

"But then one day, the town just doesn't feel like mine anymore. My friends’s parents forbade them from playing with me, and I’m stuck worse for it. But despite that, this is the town I love, I want to give back to the community I live in, just like father said. But things…" - He stutters. - "...are just so hard. I’m not even sure if I should even listen to father’s advice any longer." - His voice starts dying out. - "He turned out to be such a terrible person."

"Let me ask this, kiddo... Do you think the advice your father gave was wrong?"

"No!"

"Then why are you thinking of forsaking the advice you learned from the heart?"

"But he is…"

"Then remember fondly of the happy memories you share with your father and the town. Things can change suddenly. People can act differently, for the better or for the worse. But…" - Barrel stares at the boy in determination. - "You should have faith that your fond memories with them aren’t all just a lie. They are real to you. And maybe they are real to them too, even if they have changed."

The boy perks a small smile. He looks down to Barrel.

"You’re Barrel, right? Why is your name the same name as the hero in one of the tadpole tales?"

"Kid, I had no idea that the tadpole tale’s guy existed until some time ago."

"Well, since I know your name, I might as well be telling you my own name. I’m Frits by the way."

"Greeting Frits, it’s great to finally talk to you without stone-throwing this time- OUCH!!!"

"No chance there!" - Frits shows his tongue to Barrel.

And they continue talking for the rest of the evening.

 

---

 

That night, Barrel goes to sleep at the town chief’s house. It’s a creaky night, but he sleeps okay.

 

---

 

Tomorrow comes, and as expected, the toad squad returns with a bigger number and sturdier than before.

"We are going to get back at you for yesterday!"

"You all just saved me a trip then. I thought I had to storm to your place to teach you all a lesson directly myself."

"Shut up! You can’t beat us today, bonehead! Prepare for a world of pain!"

"You bet?"

Barrel activates the charge on his hammer and… The charge doesn’t work. The hammer is not charging up and the rocket’s launcher is not activated. Something’s wrong. Barrel is in a predicament now.

"Hehehehe. Is your hammer out of juice or something?"

"That shouldn’t be possible… Unless…" - Barrel side eyes to the back of the village.

"Enough talking. More swinging! Let’s go, boys!"

Barrel has to fight all of them with a non-powered warhammer…. So be it!

—

"Now that’s what I’m talking about!"

Barrel has been hurt badly. This time, the advantage of experience had been outweighed by the numbers. Despite taking down many, they managed to capture Barrel. His warhammer was on the ground.

"I will give you a chance. Run away with your tail between your legs and you won’t end up with a hammer to the head."

"Barrel has one word to say: NEVER!"

"So be it!"

The toad tries to lift Barrel’s warhammer. It’s way too heavy for the bad toad.

"Heavy is it. It’s made specifically for my weight class."

"How can you even swing this? Dangit, nevermind this hammer. I got my own hammer!"

The toad takes out his own hammer and raises it up.

Only to get egged and stoned in the face.

"What the-"

It’s a bunch of frog kids, led by Frits, the toad boy.

"Oh hey, Frits. I was wondering where you had been. Gathering up the kids, I see." - Barrel nods at the kids.

"Stay away from our toad hero! You stinky face!"

"Yeah! Adults may have said that the toads are terrible jerks."

"But clearly, not all toads are. Especially not Frits! Or the toad hero!"

"But you toads! You guys are indeed terrible jerks!"

"All out, everyone! Like we did at the town festival last year!" - Frits says.

The kids prepare their bug’s eggs and stones. Then, a whole slew of them rained down from the sky toward the toad squad. It’s massive chaos.

 

---

 

"You won’t get away with this!" - The leader of the squad is still taking the bunches of the throwing. The kids must have really prepared a lot of bug’s eggs and stones. Barrel shudders at what could have happened in the town festival’s last year.

Things are going smoothly. Until… thundering rampant footsteps are heard on the road leading up to the town. There are so many toads in armor, patrolling up the town.

"See! You won’t get away with this! Cause I got reinforcement!"

The squad leader, who was covered from top to bottom with eggs and sticky stones, headed over to the oncoming patrol.

"Appreciate the help, brother. The town has been going crazy. They didn’t pay their tax and-"

"Arrest the leader and his conspirators all at once!" - A commanding voice rings out.

"Huh?"

The unassuming toad was immediately pushed down and put on a hold. Followed by the rest of the toads in the squad.

"Wait, why am I being arrested too?"

From behind the town, the frog chief of the town is being handled by two toads.

"We’re the emergency force sent directly from The East Tower. You’re arrested for being a conspirator with the toads to extort money from the people of this town"

"What?" - The town people exclaim.

 

---

 

The truth is revealed as follows:

The toad squad abuses their power and taxes the people of the town despite The East Tower’s guidelines. Conspiring with the toads to get money and gain the position as the town chief, the frog chief nominates the father of Frits to become the messenger, and a fund for the journey is gathered by the entire town. Then Frits’s father was captured by The East Tower mid-way while the frog chief fabricated a story for the town about the disappearance of the messenger toad. The money is stolen by the frog chief and the toad squad. This also discourages other frogs from attempting to be messengers and traveling to meet the Lord.

In the present, due to the surprise appearance of Barrel, potentially messing up their scheme. The frog chief conspires for Barrel’s defeat. He prepared so that Barrel might stay overnight at his house, but during the night, Barrel’s warhammer was messed with. And he was set to be seriously harmed tomorrow to demoralize the town even further.

The latter part is added by Barrel’s account.

 

---

 

"How did you all come to the discovery of the corruption in the town, sir?"

One of the soldiers of the emergency force answers:

"Well, a messenger broke out of his captivity and finally reached us about one week ago."

Frits listens in.

"But he’s badly injured, so he is staying at The East Tower for a while."

Frits drops his expression.

"But as soon as he recovered…" - A commanding figure steps in between the line of the soldiers to walk up to the boy. - "He said he will return to his son and town as soon as possible."

"Is he… my father?"

"You’re Frits, right?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Let’s just say, your father will be proud of what you have accomplished. Protecting the town, just like he said you would."

"My father is in good health. My father wasn’t a bad person. My father… is coming home!" - Flits’s eyes get teary. The other kids congratulate Flits and comfort him at the same time.

"And now for the other toad that has been fighting for this town." - The commanding figure turns toward Barrel.

Barrel finally got a good look at this commander. Grayish-green skin and yellow sclera eyes. Black hair in a bun with a beard. Plate-armor.The spaulders on each arm are segmented into three pieces and tied to the dark-gray breast plate with yellow ropes. He wields two swords in the sheath on the left side of his belt.

That’s the moment Barrel meets Captain Bufo, Lord of The East Tower.

Chapter 9: Marcy and The Towers

Summary:

Marcy is introduced to the rangers.

“I’m so nervous, Yunan!”

"Marcy, there’s nothing to worry about. They have been informed you’re a human and if anyone mistreats you for that, you can report to me."

“It’s not that. Eye contact, Yunan! Eye contact!”

“What’s wrong with our eyes?”

“Nothing with your eyes! They are… Fascinating.” - Marcy gulps, swallowing her curiosity in comparing Amphibians and the Earth amphibians. - “It’s just that I’m not the best person to handle being the center of attention. Eye contact, Yunan! Eye contact!”

“Marcy, I for once disagree with you. Being the center of attention is great! Just to demonstrate-” - Yunan bursts open the wide door to the Ranger Common Room of The Knight Guard Tower.

“Greeting fellow knight guards!!!” - She strikes a pose. - "My name is General Yunan!" - More poses. - "Scourge of the Sand Wars." - Even more poses. - "And the youngest newt to ever achieve the rank of General in the great Newtopian army!"

The knight guards in the room continue their work like nothing happens. This doesn’t seem to phase Yunan though.

“Oh, and this is the human, Marcy Wu.” - Yunan grabs Marcy’s shirt collar and pulls her to the front.

All eyes shift. Shift toward one Marcy Wu.

“Uh… Greetings?”

Everyone stares for a while, then continues their own stuff like nothing happened.

“Eh hehehe…” - Marcy chuckles awkwardly and quietly to no one in particular.

A gasp rings out from someone in the room. It comes from a small green frog with dark green hair.

“General Yunan!” - A small girl frog runs toward the newt in question. - “I’m a big fan!”

“Thank you, young ranger! Who may you be?”

“The name is Diana Blotan. Dia for short!” - The small frog immediately salutes the eccentric general. 

Marcy looks at the size of the small and young frog next to her. She is relieved to possibly have someone at her age range to interact with in the rangers. Maybe some girl time would be possible after all… Sasha and Anne being here with her would have been nice. She misses them.

“So, how old are you, Dia?” - Marcy questions.

“Are you looking down on me for my age?” - The green frog glares at Marcy’s grimace. - “I will have you know II’m the youngest Ranger to ever be recruited at the age of 14! And soon to be the youngest Chief Ranger of The Newtopian Knight Guard!”

“Ha! You wish!” - Someone in the room says.

“Shut up!” - Dia fires back.

The rangers in the room start chuckling. Another one pops in a word, this time directed at Marcy.

“How old are you then, erm… human? Is that correct?”

“I…” - Marcy grits her teeth to play it cool. - “I’m 13. And I would prefer to… be called Marcy, please.”

Dia’s frog eyes go wide with what Marcy said.

“Thirteen huh?” - A newt ranger looks at the small green frog and smirks. - “So that makes the girl right here the actual youngest ranger recruit then.” - More laughter from the crowd.

Dia starts huffing in frustration.

“Oh, the girl is even brought here by a General too..”

Dia’s face goes all red.

“Yeah, the girl must have been a recommendation choice. Who knows, she might even end up as the future Chief Ranger herself. The youngest one!”

There’s only daggers in Dia’s eyes, glaring at the crowd that’s teasing her.

“Oh by the way, Marcy girl. You and Dia are assigned to be squadmates. Have a good working relationship, you two!”

Marcy wants to bury herself now. This is not going well.

“Ah, military teasing. Take me back to my early recruit days. Anyways, my escort job is done, Marcy. I have to return to my post. Make some acquaintances, will you?” - Yunan waves Marcy goodbye.

Marcy waves back at the departing general in anxiety. Then she turns around to see the green frog giving her an unblinking threatening stare.

‘I’m so screwed, aren’t I?’ - Marcy thinks to herself.

 

---

 

And so, Marcy and Dia become squadmates. And it went as well as she expected.

From crossbow practicing, to standing guard, to patrolling around the close outer of the kingdom’s walls; Marcy’s job is light and gives her plenty of free time to stick her curious head into the literature of the kingdom and The Knight Guard Tower’s library.

That doesn’t stop Dia from trying to one-up her every time. And Dia is good. Swift, quick and hardened, despite the small body. In most of the physical tasks of the job, Dia trumps her. Marcy's clumsiness in the work, on the other hand, does not help her appearance at all.

Marcy is almost jealous of Dia’s capability as a ranger, but in the end, she’s more inspired than anything. Like, how can Dia hop so much faster than other rangers? Marcy thought the other rangers, with more developed and bigger legs’s strength would outpace Dia, but she beats them every time.

Marcy aced on knowledge of the Natural Habitat of Amphibia and Bogland Survival 101. Thank you, power of literature and writing records. Dia suffers badly in these kinds of tests. An empirical ranger through and through.

And now, Marcy is trying to imitate how Dia shoots her hand crossbow. Dia has excellent aim, and while Marcy isn’t slacking with her “mathematical calculation” to shoot arrows perfectly, she takes too long to do so or in worse case, the bowstring just breaks or she slips and falls before the shot.

‘If I remember correctly, she slots the string like this…’ - Marcy fumbles her hand crossbow.

“Okay done! Let’s test this out. Arrow in and..!”

“Woah woah woah! What are you doing? You’re gonna hurt yourself if you set up your crossbow like that!”

Marcy turns toward the voice. It’s Dia.

“What do you mean?”

“You are totally just a theoretical bookworm, aren’t you? The way my crossbow is set up specifically to work for my size. Your won’t work if you fix it to mimic mine.”

“Ooooohhh. That’s useful to note. Jotting that down to my trusty journal.” - Marcy takes out her journal and pen.

“The way your crossbow is set up before is handmade for you. In fact, it’s perfect. Who designed your by the way?”

“Bernardo.”

“Oh yeah, that fashion stylist newt. He knows what he is doing so you better change it back or else…”

“Or else?”

“I heard that…” - Dia leans in, face goes dark. - “...Bernardo will make people into minced meat…” - Marcy starts sweating. - “...if he hears anyone tamper with his costumes…”

“S-Surely the costume owners could… ” - Marcy stutters.

“ESPECIALLY the costume owners!” - Dia declares.

Marcy has an expression of pure contained frightfulness wrapped in the middle of a bun of sweating tension.

“Oh wow. You are really easy to tease.”

“W-Wait… That was a lie?”

“Ehhhhh… No comment.”

“Oh come on!”

“Hehe. Anyways, give me your crossbow. I will fix it back up for you.”

Marcy gives Dia the crossbow and the small frog starts tinkering. Marcy looks at the scene and can’t help but wonder…

“Sooooo…”

“Huh?”

“I thought you disliked me? I mean I definitely didn’t make the best first impression and might have triggered your competitive rival flag. And now you’re helping me.”

“Oh that? Eh, it’s just army teasing. I got over it.”

“Really? I thought you would…”

“...sabotage you every chance I get and resent you for stealing the title of youngest ranger recruit from me like an immature brat?”

“I would have worded it nicer than that, just saying.”

"Eh!" - Dia shrugs. - "Don’t worry. It’s really just teasing from the guys. Besides, you’re like me, minus the dimensional creature part. Someone with no notable name to themselves is trying to work hard to reach our goal. I would be insanely immature to harm a fellow ranger’s career while they’re just earnestly working because of some dumb title. Well, you did get one thing right, though…"

“Oh wut?”

“Heck yeah I sure am competitive! Prepare to get smoked, Marcy! Fellow ranger or not, I will be the latest one to become Chief Ranger, remember that!”

Marcy feels like she just sees a different side to Dia as a whole. Heh, surely some competitiveness wouldn't be bad, right? Yeah, she’s not really trying to become a Chief Ranger here herself, but it’s a decent goal to work toward. Sasha most likely would have encouraged her to grab the opportunity, so why not?

“Oh I will, Dia. But I’m not just gonna stand on the side doing nothing. I’m trying too!”

Dia hears what Marcy spoke. The green frog chuckles, then gives Marcy back her crossbow.

“Work on your aim first before saying anything like that. The problem isn’t your crossbow, you know.” - Dia waves as she leaves.

Marcy doesn't say anything, just taking the teasing jab in stride. Gonna have a lot of practice to do but she can pull it off. Let’s get right on it!

The rest of the training day still goes unsmooth for clumsy Marcy…

 

---

 

"Hey bookworm!"

Marcy doesn't hear anything. Her head is deep in Newtopia Knight Guard: A History, Volume 16. The events of the past are so interesting—Marcy wishes she could....

"HEY BOOKWORM!"

"WAH!" - Marcy flips the book into the air. She slams her two hands on the desk in a bundle. Her face shifts into a miffed, tight-lipped expression.

Then the book falls onto her head.

Dia witnesses what transpired. But she shrug her head and starts speaking:

"Why are you reading those boring scribbles of words?"

"Ah well… I was just wondering about our emblems, you see."

"Our emblem?"

"Our seashell emblem. The Ranger's emblem." - Marcy points at the object in question in the middle of her chest. - "I was just looking for the origin of these things, so I have been scouring the archive. So far, nothing comes up."

"Yeah, we don't know how our class emblem came to be."

"I beg your pardon?"

"It's a mystery for the ages. You know how Newtopia Knight Guard has existed since forever when Newtopia became the kingdom of Amphibia?"

"Yeah, I did read. A lot." - Marcy's eyebags are seen.

"Did you even sleep?"

"Nope."

"Moving on. The Knight Guard developed from glorified royal protectors to have a more complex structure and ranking over time. And somewhere along the way, the three emblems are created." - Dia scouts out a book from the shelf.

"Seashell, for Ranger." - Dia points at her own emblem. - "Snail Shell, for Watcher." - Dia opens the book and shows Marcy the emblem. - "And Crab Arm, for Paladin." - Dia turns to another page.

"Wow, that's a mystery, huh?"

"Indeed!"

"How did you know which exact book to look for anyways?"

"Ah! I just happen to… be interested in this kind of topic after all."

"Am I detecting an ulterior motive?"

"Shut you…" - Dia trails off. - "Oh, I almost forgot!!!"

"Huh?"

"So you know I have been complaining about how the captains are giving us easy jobs right?"

"Yeah, you have done plenty."

Marcy thinks back to the various times Dia complains about how the jobs they are given to do are child play and safe, as if the higher ups are treating them as inexperienced and only coddling them with jobs that revolve within the kingdom and not scouting outer lands like a ranger was supposed to do. Which, to be fair, they are. Dia wasn't recruited any sooner than she was.

"Okay so! I finally pestered the captain enough…"

"You didn't…"

"...and tomorrow, you and I are going to go on a trip to The North Toad Tower. It seems like The North Toad Tower got their hands on something to offer as a tribute to Newtopia."

"That is…" - Marcy takes a breath, hands cupping her mouth. - "... AMAZING! Way to go, Dia!" - Before releasing her hands and shifting her face into pure excitement. Marcy has been wanting to get some field experience.

"That's what I'm talking about, girl. Now come on, rest up and take care of those eyebags, we leave early in the morning!"

"Aye aye, squadmate!"

 

---

 

Dia whistles as she walks through the hallway back to her room in the tower. It's going to be an exciting trip tomorrow.

She passes through a balcony to hear some people whispering.

"Really? That girl did what?"

"I'm serious. She fought a bunch of alligators with nothing but a crossbow."

'Ugh. Gossip.' - Dia shakes her head and continues moving.

"You aren't joking. Frog! That human girl is stronger than she looks."

Dia stops dead on her track.

"Yeah, the alligators were swarming the entire castle until she came into the scene and saved them all."

"And what happened after?"

"Oh, the king himself declared his gratitude for her great deed and gave her the title to become a ranger. She didn't even need to take the assessment test at the tower!"

"A recommendation from the king? So that explains why she heads to the direction of the castle every time at the end of the day. She must be living there in one of the glamorous royal suites."

"I'm so envying her right now."

Dia hears it all. She quietly steps away.

—

Tomorrow comes, Marcy is in high spirits. She's on her real first mission away from the kingdom. How exciting!

Oh, there's Dia! She is finishing up her expedition set up. Dia sees Marcy in the corner of her eyes and immediately turns away.

"Hey Dia! Sorry for being a bit late, it's a bit of a walk from my room to get here. And I have to get some camping gear that I want to bring since we're going through a bogland. But I forgot where I put things and stuff just happened, you see."

Dia didn't respond to Marcy's words. Her back is away from the human girl.

"Hello! Diana! You hear me!"

"Marcy! What are you doing? Prepare your gears! We are leaving soon." - The voice of the captain scares Marcy.

"Y-yes, captain!"

 

---

 

Dia has been avoiding Marcy for the entire trip and she can't figure out why. Did she do something wrong yesterday? Or is it Dia's way of saying she should experience the first real mission without someone coddling her? Hmmmmm… possibly the latter.

"Wait, is that…" - Marcy notices something as the troop goes along a mountain peak trek.

Centipede-like beings squirming around. They are golden yellow with two green eyes. The lighter-green eye has a positive sign, and the darker eye has a negative symbol. Fitting for the creatures known as…

"Oh my frog, are those Zapapede?!!" - Marcy exclaims.

“Do not touch them unless you want to get shocked. But yes, this area is one of the many habitable places for their creatures. Here is the hotspot for Newtopians to hunt them to make Zap-o-rade Energy Drink actually. But that requires a lot of skill and carefulness on their part to avoid the embrace of jolting death so don't try to mimic them.” - The troop leader explains.

“Awwww, poor centipedes. They just want to zap and zen.” - Marcy talks to herself. But then she pulls out her pen and note. - “Drinking Zap-o-rade when I get back to Newtopia.”

‘They would have made great emergency batteries. Not that I need it because kingly had someone make a Newtopian phone charger for me.’ - Marcy muses in her head.

“Pffttt” - Marcy hears a snort. That comes from the direction of… Dia.

“You wanna get some Zap-o-rade when we get back, Diana?”

Immediately, Dia turns her head away and avoids talking again, much to Marcy’s puzzlement.

 

---

 

The troop has finally reached the North Toad Tower, and wow, Marcy couldn't help but excitedly embrace the sight. Oh the swampland! The architecture! The totally creepy and frightening design of the warlike toads in their fortresses!

She wishes she could have time to touch EVERYTHING! But alas, the mission comes first and…

"Oh my frog! Is that a NARWHAL WORM?"

This giant being here is a certified wyrm out of the games she played on Earth. This is marvelous! She wants to… touch it!!!

The captain has to drag her away from the sleeping maw of the creature inside the oversized cage.

"Impressive, isn't it? An ancient monster imprisoned within a specially designed metal-bar chamber.” - A battle-hardened toad wearing an intimidating commander's garb says.

"So this is the tribute The North Tower mentions? I read the message you sent, but I didn't believe it at first." - The ranger troop leader asks.

"Exactly. Turning the colossal worm into one of the decorations for The North Tower would have furthered our notoriety. Alas, Senior Aldo had decided the worm was not our deed to gain from it."

"Not your deed?"

"It was a lone toad soldier that took down this giant beast."

"Only one? Who was he?"

"He wasn't a part of our army. He said he was a simple guard… and he claimed that his name is Barrel."

"Erm… Is that a fake name? Sounds like that toad is a pompous kind."

"I would agree with you, newt. But sadly, Senior Aldo doesn't see things that way. He makes sure that this toad… is properly credited."

"I see. I will dutifully make the report."

"Duly noted. I and a few extra hands will help transport the Narwhal Worm. The North Tower wouldn’t have let the dangerous beast be handled by the rangers alone."

"That would be a lot of help." - The trooper leader replies, despite recognizing the subtle jab.

'Oh wow. Actual diplomat trade using captured fantastical creatures. This is so cool! Journal time!' - Marcy has been quietly observing the whole thing.

"On another note…" - The toad commander continues. He points at Marcy. - "... what's that thing?"

"That's Marcy Wu. She's what is called a human."

"Hey, I'm Marcy!" - Marcy tries to greet. - "Wow, haven’t seen many toads around. Newtopia doesn’t have many toad inhabitants. Interesting…" - Her hand moves toward the toad commander’s face, only to be slapped away by the troop leader.

"Hmmmm… An exotic creature." - The toad commander comes closer to Marcy. Marcy sweat drops.

"Ouch!" - The toad pinches her cheek.

"Way too soft skin. Wouldn't make a good soldier. You sure she's not a liability in your rank?"

“It’s not fair. Why is he allowed to pinch me when I can’t pinch him?”

"Oh, you severely underestimate my ranger, toad. This girl fought off a horde of alligators by herself."

Wait, what's her troop leader talking about?

"This soft skin creature is that strong? I will see about that then." - The toad narrows his eyes at the human girl, who can only return the graze with a forced smile.

 

---

 

The troop of toads and rangers hauls the giant sliding cage through the swamp. It was bumpy at first, but once they got to the open valley, it was pretty smooth sailing.

But the night comes, and it's better to round up a camp rather than continue in the middle of the night in Amphibia.

Marcy tries to approach Dia.

"Hey, why don't we set up a tent next to each other? I can teach you some tent models that I read about in books?"

Once again, Dia gives Marcy the cold shoulder. But enough is enough, Marcy has to say something.

"Dia! I get it! I know why you're avoiding me so you can stop it now."

"Huh?"

"I know you're trying to give me first hand experience on a practical expedition. That's why you stayed silent to not coddle me."

"Wa-what?"

"But come on, Diana. This is supposed to be our first real mission together. I would have plenty of opportunities to learn things on my own later, but a teamwork trip with my friend is hard to schedule. Believe me, gathering people on time for a DM session with groups is pain." - Marcy scratches her short black hair.

"Marcy…"

"Yes?"

"Wow, you really are very bad at reading people huh? Bookworm extraordinaire?"

"Gak! How did you know that?"

"Marcy… you're wrong. I didn't avoid you because of something like that. I-"

A loud roar rings throughout the open valley. The Narwhal Worm seems to have woken up and it lets out a horrifying screech.

"At ease, everyone! The beast is contained. It shouldn't be able to break through the cage with its current condition."

"Ugh. Boss. I don't think the giant beast is what's terrifying us here." - A ranger brings up a torch higher to see higher in the night.

"Batquisto!" - The troop leader only has one word to say to describe the whole situation.

Marcy witnesses it all. A large number of creatures that perfectly looks like a mixture of a bat and a mosquito mixing into one horrible abomination. And they are piercing their suction sting through the Narwhal Worm's strong skin somehow and start sucking its blood.

"Narwhal Worm…" - Marcy instinctively says as she remembered something from one of the books on natural habitat she reads. - "...likes to burrow itself into the deep mud land, sometimes not even moving for months on end."

"One of the reasons why the Narwhal Worms do it is because Batquisto with their piercing stingers, can break through even the tough skin of the gigantic beast. So being covered by mud helps Narwhal Worms avoid being targeted by those blood sucking flying creatures." - Marcy continues.

“If the Batquisto continues to chow on the worm, it will die.” - The troop leader says. - “Everyone, move out and attack the Batquisto.”

A Batquisto swoops down and tackles a torch carrier. They almost get dragged away, but a swift crossbow shot from the troop leader takes care of the pest.

“Batquisto are also attracted by light sources!!!”

“Then we use it to our advantage. Attack!”

The battle to defend the captured monster rages on. Marcy is barely able to contribute to the fight as she’s in deep thought about the whole situation.

‘There are two likely outcomes, the swarm of Batquisto will suck the worm dry. The other is the big worm successfully slamming the cage and breaking it, escaping. Both scenarios are terrible and could harm everyone.’ - Marcy assesses the situation.

‘We need something big. A lifeline that can take us out of this situation.’ - Marcy wrecks her mind out.

‘But things shouldn't have gone this way? I mean…’

“Marcy!”

“Wuh?”

It was Dia, squatting away a Batquisto that was aiming for her.

"Pay attention to your surroundings. Who would pay for my energy drink if you got wrecked?"

“Awww. You did listen. Wait a minute, that’s it!” - Marcy’s eyes spark for a moment.

“Huh?”

“Dia! I need your help!”

“What why?”

"You’re the swiftest ranger I know, and this task takes skill. I can’t do this alone and make it on time. You have to trust me." - Marcy grabs some stuff from her backpack.

“I guess…” - Dia is a bit red. - “What’s the plan?”

“We will…”

 

---

 

“The human girl runs away.” - The toad commander jeers at the troop leader after he gets back to the scene. He didn’t get a reply back.

“So they are cowards after all, unlike the toads.” - The toad commander deliberately ignores some of his toad soldiers screaming in fear in the background.

A loud bang is heard. The Narwhal Worm is slamming the cage in an attempt to break it through. It can’t take it anymore.

“I don’t presume you have any idea how to solve this?” - The troop leader's eyes shift to the toad.

“Hit it till it dies?”

“As if that will work! Grrrr…”

“Let’s swallow our pride then.”

“Yeah. Let’s. EVERYONE! SCATTER!”

Everyone starts to move away from the repeatedly slammed cage. Any minute now, the creature will break free and…

“Oh wow! Thanks for clearing the way!!!”

Everybody turns to see Marcy and Dia, wearing rubber gloves and boots, running down the small open hill with a big bag behind them.

“What are you doing, rangers? Move away!”

“No can do, boss! I won’t let my first real mission… be a total complete failure!!!”

Marcy and Dia hurl the bag near the cage. They start grabbing something out of the bag. Zapapede, a lot of Zapapede.

But the sparking light of the electric monsters attracts Batquisto and one of them swoops down at the two girls…

It gets shot right off course by the troop leader.

"Assist your fellow rangers! We leave no one behind." - He rallies the frightened troop. The troop leader turns his head to the toad commander.

“Tsk.” - The commander lets out from his mouth - “Be the fearless toads and help out these idiotic and weak frogs and newts. They would die without us.”

Not everyone returns from the scatter with the banging sound of the cage rumbling. But that’s enough to buy Marcy and Dia some time. They wrap the Zapapede around the cage bars in a tic-tac-toe formation.

“Oh right, everyone actually scatters now!” - Marcy yells 

They do so and Marcy throws a rock at one of the Zapapede at the bottom. It creates a big surge of electricity, hitting another to jolt it to the same thing. Then another, then another.

The process is repeated until the whole cage is now lit up like a bright lightning-enveloped box. The Batquisto are all entranced by the dazzling light and fly toward the cage bars, only to get zapped to oblivion. Eventually, the pests give up and fly away. And in turn, the Narwhal Worm calms down and goes back to sleep. It doesn’t like touching the shocking cage bars anyway.

The troop of both toads and rangers go in to congratulate Marcy and Dia. But Dia wants to say something back to the excited crowd, but Marcy stops her.

“It’s a collaborative effort of everyone, without Dia and everyone else. We wouldn’t have pulled it through.”

“Nonsense, you two girls. Take some credit!” - The troop leader says.

“YEAH! ” - Everyone else cheers.

 

---

 

The rest of the trip going back to the kingdom was uneventful, Newtopia accepted the tribute and the toad troop parted ways to return to their tower.

Marcy sees the troop leader waving off the troop to tell them to rest up. He has a report to write.

Marcy is unsure about something. But she doesn’t know if she should bring up the topic with the troop leader. Thinking back, she remembers in the book that, even out of the wet environment for weeks, the mud-covered body of the worm shouldn’t have faded that soon and protected the worm longer. How did the Batquisto find out there was a Narwhal Worm-

“Hey Marcy.” - Dia pokes Marcy.

“Yeah?”

“You remember how I said I’m not an immature brat?”

"And instead, you showed me how cool you were, yes?"

“I'm actually an immature brat, especially the past couple days?”

“What are you talking about?”

"I overheard some people talking about your achievement of saving the Newtopia Castle from a bunch of alligators with nothing but a crossbow. And I kind of got jealous." - Dia confesses. - "That’s why I avoided talking to you the whole trip, not for some rough teaching lesson like you thought."

“Oh! Geeze, no wonder why you asked that earlier.”

"I found out about you staying at the king’s castle and even got the king’s approval himself that you get into the rangers without the need of an assessment test. I was really down because I thought you were the same as me, some gal with no name to themselves trying to show the world what they are made of. I thought you were just faking it the whole time. Your incompetence at practice."

“Dia, no. I’m not that good.”

“But then last night, you showed me how good you were at handling the situation but still diverted the credit to other people. I should have realized you’re the humble type and weren't just laughing at me the entire time. Gosh, I’m so foolish.”

"Okay, that’s it. I’m going to tell everyone. This misunderstanding of this "deed" of mine went on for too long."

“Wuh?”

"I’m not humble, not at all. I would have told people if the event was actually as glamorous as it sounds. I didn’t tell everyone about the alligator thing precisely because…" - Marcy goes quietly, cringing at herself in the past.

“Yeah?”

"The full story involves me falling into a dumpster, riding on the dumpster, and dumping trash water on my head."

“Uhhhhh… You serious?”

“Yes. And that story is way too embarrassing in retrospect to boast about. Ahhhhhhh.” - Marcy jerks her body at the memory.

Dia starts chuckling at Marcy’s physical reaction to her mind flashback.

"But no more. I have to settle the matter straight away or else the rumor will get worse." - Marcy heads to the common room, fully intending to expose herself to everyone.

Let’s just say, the rangers learn of a new funny story to tell others that day.

 

---

 

On the trip back to the North Tower, there’s a toad leading the patrol.

When no one is watching him, he throws away a flickering lamp. He stomps on the lamp, destroying it, but the last light sparkle manages to attract a stray Batmosquisto. It flies down at the toad.

Only for it to get punched away by a fist.

“That girl…”

The toad is alone, talking to himself. His commander's garb is still intimidating as always.

“Quite impressive. A human, huh?”

Notes:

The green frog ranger Diana Blotan is based on the small green frog in Marcy Theme Song Takeover.

Chapter 10: Leif's Stand

Summary:

Leif goes to the farmer market.

"Hah, The Wartwood’s Farmer Market. I remember when this town only had eight people living in it."

Leif muses, walking down the roads of the market. It’s very early in the morning, so most of the market stands are still being set up. That won’t do, she must hurry back or…

"Good morning, Lily!" - Three voices in unison.

Leif turns around and sees a lone shabby vegetable stand settling in the middle of the road. The shining P logo of The Plantars is inscribed on the side of the wooden stand.

"Morning, you all!" - Leif greets the friendly frog family of four. They are also setting up their stand.

She murmurs at their stand. She harkens back to the days when she sold vegetables in her own stand, Lily’s Produce, in this very town. It was where she first met darling and… It was so long ago for her, even longer now that she knows she had somehow time traveled? Resurrected? She still didn't know how she ended up here.

"The vegetables are good enough to bring to the market I see, everyone?" - Leif shakes her head from the nostalgic melancholy.

"Exactly, Lily. Now, what are you doing here in the early morning?" - Hop Pop leans in.

"Ah, we’re just out of some ingredients for Stumpy’s due to an unfortunate mishap." - Leif flashbacks to the unsaid event this morning. It was horrible. - "Hence I rush over here to buy some replacement."

"Garbage lizard?" - Anne perks up a question.

"Garbage lizard." - Leif responds.

Hop Pop is confused by what the two women are saying. But he shrugs and continues:

"I see. You doing okay at Stumpy’s? Stumpy is a rough guy, if a bit depressed. I hope he didn’t inconvenience you too much."

"No no. Stumpy is a great boss. Albeits a slight bit of a sadist at times." - She flashbacks again and shudders.

"It’s good that you feel comfortable at your new living place, Lily."

"Yeah… Wait no, you all were pleasant hosts. The house was nice, and the couch wasn't half-bad. Listen to me, you were all excellent, okay? I didn’t move out because I disliked you or anything. It’s just personal stuff and…" - Leif cusps her face with her hands in embarrassment. - "Geeze. It sounds like I am just making excuses. Frog me. But I’m being honest here, you guys are really nice."

"Okay, I hear ya. Don’t stress out over this." - Hop Pop comforts the struggling frog. - "Anyways, you’re just in time. Plantar’s Stand is selling right… NOW" - The old frog put up the Plantar Logo sign on the top of the stand.

"Thank, Hopediah." - She claps her hands" - "Right! The ingredients! If you have, I want to buy some…" - Leif looks up at and stops mid-sentence. - "Honesty first?" - She notices the words on the sign.

"Exactly! Honesty first! The Plantar’s motto in our family farming business. Honesty goes a long way in gaining people’s trust in you and your products."

"I see…" - Leif mutters.

"Very impressive, Hop Pop." - Anne says.

"Here we go again." - Sprig and Polly facepalm.

"That is The Plantars difference, Anne, Lily. You can't taste honesty. But if you could…"

"...it'd taste like a Plantar stand vegetable." - The tadpoles and the young pink frog drone out in boredom.

"Now, care for some vegetables, Lily?"

Leif looks at the sight of the frog family’s antics. She has a small smile but it drops upon her looking at the sign again. It’s not her motto, so that means The Plantars down the line developed this saying over time. Definitely her husband’s traits passed down and not hers.

‘Honesty first, eh? Lily Plantar…’ - Leif thinks to herself quietly.

 

---

 

The quadrupling of the market rent by Mayor Toadstool makes her want to rage. This is outrageous. Back then, the town chief had everyone’s back. And now, this mayor seems to only care about money.

So when the controversy with Plantar Potion happened, Leif felt bad for The Plantars. She knows they were most likely trying to save the vegetable stand that the family resorted to doing this. In the midst of the fiasco, she bought a potion to aid the family.

She totally wasn’t fooled by the potion’s advertisement by the surprisingly charismatic speech marketing of the old frog. Totally not fooled at all. Totally…

Oh frog, she is never going to forget the sight of the shirtless Hopediah, is she?

"Here you go, sir. Hope you give The Plantars another chance some day."

Hopediah pops a coin back to another frog. He has confessed to the scheme and is now giving everyone their money back. Without the money, they would lose the stand. But they still did it regardless.

"Well, Hopediah, looks like you're going to have to earn our trust back. That being said, I think your father would be proud that you did the right thing today."

Leif waits last in the line before Mrs. Croaker. So hearing the words of the old grandma said, it sounds like something Hopediah needs to hear.

"Hello, Lily." - The kids greet in unison again.

"Hey, Lily. Apologies for that. I look like a fool now, don’t I? Yesterday, I told you about our family tradition like that, and now today, I scammed people. I bring dishonor to our family name."

"Hopediah, it’s fine. I get it... Did you know I used to run my own vegetable stand too?"

"You did?"

"Yeah, my own stand. Lily’s Produce is the name."

"Simple, but effective. It's much better than Gentle Jon’s Expensive Jelly. Like, who would buy from a stand that said "Expensive", huh?" - Sprig comments.

Suddenly, a big frog with tattoos of jam and jellies all over his arms and back stares at him, sticking a mace out and slamming it onto his table.

"I mean, I would definitely buy it. Expensive sounds appealing and screams quality, you know? Who wouldn’t be attracted to such a bold choice of words?" - Sprig awkwardly doubles back on his words.

Everyone ignores Sprig’s hijink and Lily continues:

"Back then, times were hard and the town only had a few people. Most of my income has to come from travelers from out of town. And you know what I did?"

"I’m guessing you overprice the heck out of them? Like what local salesmen did to the tourists in my world?" - Anne chimes in.

"Exactly. So if anyone brings dishonor to the family name by being dishonest. It’s me, Lily Plantar."

"Lily, you don’t have to say that to make me feel better. Anyways, here’s your money." - Hop Pop brings out the copper.

"Hopediah Plantar. As a fellow Plantar, remember this. I’m not kidding when I say your ancestors are proud of you. And now, keep that money. You're going to need it."

"I appreciate the comforting words, Lily. But for real, I can’t keep it. You got scammed and I should repay you." - Hop Pop tries to push the  money to Leif.

"I totally didn’t get scammed. Totally. It’s payment for the vegetable juice. That was delicious!" - Leif tries to push back.

"That juice is made from Sprig and Polly stomping on the vegetable. It’s disgusting!"

"Then it’s delicious stomping juice! Just take it!"

"It’s Sprig’s feet, for frog’s sake."

The kids watch the two adults going back and forth. The two of them aren’t going to give up anytime soon.

"I didn't know Lily was from a brand new town. I wonder where that town is." - Anne asks, to Polly and Sprig's shrugging.

"Okay, I waited long enough! You are evicted from the stand. Clear out! No coin! No stand!" - A little frog appears out of nowhere and throws the eviction note onto the head of Hop Pop. That was Toadie, the mayor’s assistant.

The small frog hops away leaving them all bewildered.

"Ugh. That’s it! I’m poisoning the mayor’s food the next time I see him at the restaurant!" - Leif exclaims.

"I like this lady!" - Polly has an evil smile.