Luz woke up in a nervous state. She had spent the previous day working on a new elixir and had tried her hardest to make this one correctly. Now she was awake after having let the elixir brew all night. Part of her wanted to wait a few more minutes before checking on it, but another part of her was ready to check on it now!
Luz went up from the basement and into the living room, where her pot was simmering. She looked closely and saw that her elixir was red, but once again, not the bright red that it needed to be. She had been trying to brew the Elixir of Fire, and the finished elixir was supposed to be a very bright red or crimson, but hers was much darker, more like burgundy. Still, Luz decided to scoop some up in a bottle to see if it might still work. At that moment, Uodeela entered the room.
"Wanted to get an early look at your elixir?" she asked knowingly.
"I… yeah," admitted Luz, "but it looks like another failure. It's not quite the right color."
"Yes, that is true," began Uodeela, "but remember what happened last time?"
"Yeah, that's why I bottled some up," said Luz, showing Uodeela her bottle.
"Here, let's go outside and test it," said Uodeela.
The two went outside to the front of the house, where Luz drank her elixir. After a few moments, Uodeela spoke to her.
"Listen, Luz, I want you to try to envision a ball of fire in your hands."
Luz closed her eyes and concentrated. At first, nothing happened, but eventually, a tiny orb of fire formed in Luz's right hand.
"Whoa!" she exclaimed.
"Good," said Uodeela, "now throw it like you would a ball."
Luz threw the orb and made contact with a small bush a few feet away. The bush instantly caught fire, and Uodeela rushed to put it out.
"Yes, that was great!" said Uodeela.
"Why do you think the elixir is having this effect on me?" asked Luz.
Uodeela hesitated, as she didn't want to answer Luz right away because, while she had an idea, she wasn't sure if she wanted to let Luz know the truth.
If my hunch about the Calamity Box is right, thought Uodeela, then I bet what's happening is that Luz has absorbed power from one gem in the box. I think the elixir might be reacting with her body, and it's helping her harness the powers that the gem bestowed on her. But as of now, Luz is unaware she can even do that, and she can't consciously use the powers on command. Still, should I tell her the truth? Luz is still young and impulsive, and having that kind of power can be tempting.
"I'm not sure," said Uodeela finally, though she looked away from Luz as she said it.
"It's just that I've always dreamed of being a witch and being able to cast magic!" said Luz. "It's something that was impossible in my world, and now I may have a genuine shot at being able to cast magic. It's really exciting!"
"Luz, why did you want to be a witch?" asked Uodeela.
"I mean, a big reason is that I read Good Witch Azura, but it's also because I don't really fit in. Well, I used to feel that way. Actually, for a few months before I came here, I did have a group of friends, but…" Luz trailed off, not really finishing.
"You've talked about your friends before, but you've avoided talking about one in particular. Anne," said Uodeela.
Luz reacted to hearing Anne's name. She turned away from looking at Uodeela and stared off into the sky, not saying anything for a while, but then finally spoke, "Anne and I had a fight before I came here. I… I don't want to say what it was about, but she told me she didn't want to be my friend anymore."
"I see," said Uodeela. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it. I was just wondering because you mentioned that you were all together before coming to this world. I'm still trying to help you get back, but it would help if I knew more about how you got here."
Luz stared into Uodeela's eyes. She had been keeping a detail about how she had arrived from her. Luz wasn't sure why she had done this, but she also decided that it was better for Uodeela to know all the details if it meant a better chance at getting her home.
"Actually, there is one thing," she began. "I don't know if it's important or not, but there is something that happened that I haven't told you yet."
"That's okay. Are you ready to tell me now?" asked Uodeela.
"Right before I was zapped here, Anne opened a box. I wish I could remember more about the box, but I think it had a frog on it. Also, I'm sure it was covered in jewels of some kind," said Luz.
Uodeela hid her reaction and kept her face plain as she continued talking, "Can you remember anything else? Any other details about the box?"
Luz brought her hand to her chin as she struggled to remember anything else about the box. Finally, she spoke, "Oh, I think the box had four jewels on it. I think their colors were red, green, blue, and purple."
"Hmmm, I see," said Uodeela. "You don't happen to have that box with you, do you?"
"No, sorry, I don't," said Luz. "If I did, I would have shown it to you right away."
"Well, I have heard stories about objects like that," said Uodeela. "In fact, I have a friend who deals in magical artifacts, and she might know more. Let me see if I can get in touch with her. Though, based on what you told me, I think it's a safe assumption that opening the box is what transported you here."
"And what about my friends?" asked Luz. "Do you think they're here too?"
"I believe so," said Uodeela, "though there's no way to be certain unless we actually find one of your friends, but I think we should also focus on getting that box. It is likely that, at the very least, we will need it in order to transport you home. But back to my original question, I asked you why you wanted to be a witch. Tell me, Luz, let's say hypothetically that you had a power similar to mine. You had bonded with a gem and could cast spells on the fly like I can. What would you do with that power?"
Luz answered immediately, "I would go on a magical quest of some kind. I'd want to test my powers out and see what I can do with them. I'd probably want to find some great evil to defeat as well."
"I see," said Uodeela. "Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself, though? I mean, you didn't even talk about training to harness your power."
"Well, if it came naturally to me like it does to you, then I wouldn't need any training," said Luz. "I would already know what to do."
"Is that what you think?" said Uodeela sternly. "Luz, having magic powers isn't all fun and games. Having powers like that is a serious responsibility. You have to be able to control them, you have to know when to use them, and you have to do your best to use them for the right cause."
"You never went on any sort of quest with your powers or wanted to acquire some sort of magical artifact?" asked Luz.
"When I was younger, I went on a 'quest', so to speak, to get the gem I bonded with," answered Uodeela. "And yes, having the ability to cast magic can be fun, but as I said, it's also serious. You have to exercise control over your powers in order to get them to do what you want. That control takes years of training to master. But the reason I tell you all this is that—" Uodeela hesitated as she realized she had almost told Luz too much.
"I tell you all this because your ability to use magic by drinking elixirs is unique, but it's similar to what I can do with a gem. So if I was going to train you to use that power, then I want you to be responsible with it," said Uodeela.
"Okay, I understand," said Luz. After a bit, she added, "But can you still teach me how I can use fire in different ways?" with a grin on her face.
Uodeela rolled her eyes but did agree to do it. Over the next few hours, she taught Luz different methods for controlling fire. While she herself preferred orbs of fire, she also taught Luz how to make fire rings that encircled targets, as well as a flamethrower from her hand. Luz was having a good time learning all these different methods to control fire—at least she was until the elixir wore off and she could no longer do magic. This slightly saddened her, but Uodeela told her to bottle up the rest of her elixir and save it. She promised that they would practice again. As they headed back inside, they ran into Amara, who had a scowl on her face.
"I saw you out there through the window," she said accusingly. "How are you able to do magic like teacher?"
"Oh, that's right, you weren't there when I did it the first time," said Luz. "It turns out that when I drink certain elixirs, I gain the ability to do magic temporarily."
"What?!" exclaimed Amara in surprise. "But your elixirs aren't even prepared properly. How are they giving you magic powers?"
"Honestly, even I'm not sure about that," said Uodeela. "It was kind of a fluke that Luz even discovered this ability, but I'm not sure why this concerns you, Amara."
"It concerns me because I hate to see cheaters," said Amara as she pointed at Luz. "It's not fair that you, an outsider, are able to do magic like Uodeela just because you got lucky!"
"Hey, I'm not cheating," said Luz.
"The only amphibians who should be allowed to do magic like that are the ones who have bonded to special gems," accused Amara. "You don't have a gem, so you shouldn't be able to do magic. You just got lucky for some reason."
"Listen, Amara," began Uodeela. "As far as I can tell, Luz isn't 'cheating'. Even I can't figure out how she's able to do this, but at the very least, I want to try to help her control these powers."
"I still say it's unfair. Her elixir isn't even properly prepared, and yet she gets to have powers like that," said Amara. With that, she turned in a huff and went back to her room.
"I thought Amara was coming around, but it seems like she still hates me," said Luz.
Uodeela raised her eyebrows as she heard Luz say this, and she went off to the kitchen. After a few minutes, she returned, holding a tray with two drinks on it.
"Eh, I bet she needs some time to cool off," said Uodeela. "Tell you what, why don't you take her some tea? Also, you have some, too."
Luz drank one cup of tea offered. It had a slightly bitter taste to it, and she wondered if Uodeela had sweetened it at all. After finishing her tea, she took the tray with the other cup upstairs to where Amara was staying and knocked on the door.
"Hey, Amara, it's Luz. I know you may not want to talk with me, but I brought you some tea," called Luz through the door.
After a few moments, Amara did open the door and take the offered cup of tea, though she still wore an expression of anger at Luz. Luz went back downstairs with the empty tray, though as she began walking down the stairs, she suddenly became very sleepy. Uodeela was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs and helped her to the couch. Luz laid down on the couch and almost immediately fell asleep.
When Luz woke up, she felt something was off. As soon as she began looking around, she noticed she wasn't in the living room anymore, nor was she in the basement. She looked around and saw that she was in a room of some kind. Perhaps Uodeela had taken her to her room? However as Luz tried to stand up, she again noticed something was wrong. She felt a great weight on her body behind her. She looked to see what it was and saw a large, pink tail behind her! Luz gasped at the sight before bringing up her hands in front of her face. They were different. Her hands were pink and only had four fingers. She looked at her feet, and they were a lot smaller and only had two toes, almost like they were the feet of… a newt!
Luz noticed a mirror in her room and rushed over to look at herself. Her suspicions were confirmed as she looked into the mirror, and the image of Amara stared back at her. Somehow, she was in Amara's body! Luz put her hands on her face and tried to figure out how this had happened, though she didn't have long to think before hearing a loud scream from downstairs. She opened the door and headed down the stairs to find her body looking into a mirror.
"What the heck?!" yelled Amara. "What has happened to me?"
"Amara?!" asked Luz, looking at Amara. Amara turned around and stared at her body.
"Luz?" asked Amara, unsure if what she was seeing was real. "Are you in my body, Luz?"
"Yes, it seems that way," answered Luz.
"Well, give me my body back!" demanded Amara as she jumped at Luz, grabbing her and tackling her to the floor.
"Hey, get off!" yelled Luz
"Give me back my body!" yelled Amara.
"Alright, that's enough, you two," said Uodeela, entering the room and separating the two. "I see the potion worked quickly. That was a lot faster than I thought it would be."
"What?!" said both Luz and Amara in unison.
"Oh, yes, I suppose I should explain," began Uodeela. "You see, I slipped a potion in that tea you drank. It's a potion that allows two people to swap bodies."
"You did this?!" said Luz, confused.
"I did," said Uodeela. "I felt like the two of you could stand to switch places and maybe learn a bit about each other."
"Why would you do this, Master?" asked Amara.
"Because I felt that both of you should… How does that old saying go? Ah, 'work in each other's farm'," said Uodeela.
"Oh, you mean to walk a mile in each other's shoes?" said Luz
"What?" said Amara.
"In any case," began Uodeela, "the two of you have switched bodies, and now you can experience what it would be like to be each other. I thought that might teach you both a lesson on how to empathize with each other."
"Well, this lesson is stupid," said Amara.
"Now, now, Amara. If you can't learn the lesson, then maybe I'll keep you in each other's bodies until you do," said Uodeela.
"Well, what are we supposed to do?" asked Luz. "How are we supposed to learn the lesson?"
"You can start by going to gather some more ingredients for me," said Uodeela, who gave Luz a list. "My personal stores are starting to run dry, so let's see how you do with that."
"Fine!" grumbled Amara.
"Hey, maybe this won't be so bad," said Luz. "I can't say I've ever wanted to be a newt, but it could be fun seeing what I can do."
"No having fun in my body!" yelled Amara. "I expect you to return it to me in perfect condition."
"You better get going," said Uodeela. "Good luck, you two!"
Luz and Amara wandered into the forest, looking for the various ingredients that Uodeela had asked for. Both of them were not quite comfortable in their new bodies.
"Uggggh, you don't have a tail," complained Amara. "It would be so much easier to grab things if you had a tail."
"Well, I gotta admit, it is kind of cool to be able to climb things so easily," said Luz, as she raced up a tree.
"Yeah, cool, so do you know how to get down?" asked Amara sarcastically.
Amara looked nervously down and realized she might be stuck. She slowly began climbing down, and almost an hour later, she had finally made it.
"We're going to be at this all day if that's how long it takes you to climb a tree," groaned Amara in frustration.
"Sorry, it's just that I didn't realize how high I was," replied Luz.
"You always jump into things without thinking," said Amara "Has that never gotten you in trouble before?"
Luz paused as she heard this. For one moment, she was thinking of that night at the dance when she had listened to her heart and done something impulsive. As she thought about it more, she realized that doing things on a whim didn't always lead to the best outcomes.
"I—Actually, now that you mention it, there was a time when I did something very impulsive and it ended up blowing up in my face," said Luz.
"So have you maybe learned that you shouldn't be doing those types of things?" asked Amara.
"I… Listen, that situation was really complicated, and I don't want to talk about it," said Luz.
"Well, fine, I didn't want to hear about it," said Amara, though at that point, her stomach began to growl. Luz looked around and spotted a large beetle in the distance. She jumped forward and managed to catch it. Amara took a large bite out of the beetle before immediately spitting it out.
"Gaaaah! What's wrong with your taste buds?" asked Amara. "That insect tasted horrible! Why do bugs taste terrible to you?"
"Hmm, here, let me see that bug," asked Luz. Amara passed it to her, and Luz took a bite from it.
"Huh, wow, this actually tastes good," said Luz. "Maybe being a newt isn't so bad."
"Glad you're having fun," grumbled Amara. "Why did I get the short end of the stick with this whole body swap experience?"
"Is being in my body really so terrible?" asked Luz.
"Yes, it is. Tell you what," began Amara, "since you seem to be having so much fun being in my body, why don't you finish gathering up what we need? I'll be over here, stuck in your miserable body."
With that, Amara went off in a huff.
"Amara, wait," called Luz, unsure if she should follow her or not.
Amara kept walking, trying her best to get away from Luz. She didn't watch where she was going and walked right into something. She soon realized she had walked right into a toad.
"Hey! Watch where you're—" began the toad before looking at Amara. He was a large blue toad.
"Hey, wait a sec. Are you a human?" asked the toad.
"No, actually, I'm a newt," said Amara. "I know what it looks like, but trust me, I'm a newt from Newtopia."
Another toad, this one a dark green one, had joined his companion and was looking hard at Luz.
"Hmmm, she don't look like no newt to me," said the other toad. "Didn't Grime say to bring him more humans if we ever find any?"
"He did say that," said the blue toad, advancing on Amara.
"Wait, no, listen, I'm not a human!" pleaded Amara. "I'm a newt!"
"Nice try," said the green toad, "but we ain't that dumb. We know what newts look like. Get her!" With that, the toads seized Amara, though, at that moment, Luz wandered into the area.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Amara demanded.
"Nothing that concerns a newt like you," said the green toad.
"We caught something that Captain Grime will be interested in, and now we're going to deliver it to him," said the blue toad.
"No, you can't. For one, that's not really a human; that's a newt," said Luz. "And for two, that's my body, and I'll need it back, eventually."
"Sorry, lassie. We're taking her, and there's nothing you can do about it," said the blue toad. "Now step off, or we're gonna have to hurt you."
Luz thought for a few seconds before deciding to use her tail to hit the toad that was holding Amara in the face. The hit did cause him to let go of Luz, and the two of them ran back to the house.
"Now your body got me in trouble with some toads," yelled Amara as the two of them ran through the forest.
"Why did they even want you?" asked Luz.
"I don't know. Something about Captain Grime wanting more humans," said Amara.
"Wait, what?!" said Luz in disbelief. "How would he even know what a human is?"
"Who cares about that right now? We need a strategy besides running, or they'll just catch us," said Amara.
"Hey! Get back here!" yelled the toads, as they began closing in.
Amara looked around for something, anything, that could help them. Finally, she looked at Luz and remembered that she had her satchel.
"Luz, give me my bag!" demanded Amara. Luz handed her the bag, and Amara began fishing through it before finding the bottle she was looking for. She quickly threw it at the pursuing toads. As it hit the ground, it let off an explosion!
"Whoa, good one, Amara," said Luz. Though as she turned to look, she saw the toads still running after them, not even phased by the explosion. Luz began trying to think of what they could do.
"Amara, do you have an elixir of fire in there?" asked Luz.
"I think so," answered Amara
Luz rummaged in the bag and pulled one out handing it to Amara.
"What good would it do, though? The elixir of fire is made to help you survive extremely hot temperatures," said Amara.
"Yeah, but you're in my body. If you drink it, you'll be able to control fire," said Luz.
"I've never tried doing that, though," countered Amara
"It's not like we have any other option," said Luz. "Once you drink it, you just have to imagine being able to conjure fire directly in your hands, and you'll be able to do it."
Amara took one last look at the bottle before drinking it. She tried to concentrate and was able to bring orbs of fire into her hands. Immediately, she began tossing them at the toads, causing them to jump back in surprise, trying to avoid the flames. Luz began searching through the bag for something else that could help them. She found another explosive potion, as well as some more Harrid's Bane.
"Hmmm," thought Luz. "Essence of Harrid's Bane is what makes this explosive. If we add a bit more, we should be able to cause quite a stir."
"Luz, what are you doing?" asked Amara as she looked out of the corner of her eye to see Luz adding more of the red liquid to an explosive potion.
"Amara, get back!" called Luz. She waited until Amara had moved a considerable distance away from the toads before tossing the potion straight at them…
Uodeela was outside her house, tending her garden. She was wondering how Luz and Amara were doing with their body swap experience. As she was wondering that, an enormous explosion came from deep in the forest, releasing a large cloud that was visible for miles. Uodeela took one look at the cloud and sighed, somehow knowing that her apprentices were the likely cause of it.
Much later back, at Uodeela's home, Luz and Amara had finished explaining what had happened. Luz was doing her best to try to gloss over the large explosion she had created, trying to act innocent.
"I believe when I taught you that bomb potion, I specifically said that a little Harrid's Bane goes a long way. Did I not say that?" asked Uodeela in frustration.
"Umm, yes, you did say that," said Luz, "but we were in trouble, so I thought a lot would maybe get us out of trouble."
"Well, in any case, you did take care of the trouble, so I suppose I can let it slide," said Uodeela. "I suppose the two of you have learned a lesson about being in each other's body."
"Yes," they both said at the same time.
"Okay, here," said Uodeela, handing them two cups. "Drink these to switch back."
Luz and Amara drank the potion, and after a few minutes, they fell asleep. They woke up almost instantly, though, and were glad to be back in their own bodies.
"Oh, my body, how I missed you," said Luz as she hugged herself.
"It will be great to be able to enjoy bugs again," said Amara. "Boy, I could really go for some gnachos."
"I'm going to bed," said Uodeela. "You two should probably get to bed as well. We have a full day tomorrow." With that, Uodeela went upstairs to her room.
"Hey, Luz," said Amara. "Listen, I wanted to apologize for what I said this morning. Truth is, I'm kind of jealous. I don't know why you're able to wield magic in such a unique way, but it's something I wish I could do. I'd heard stories about magical gems before, and I thought how awesome it would be to have one of those. Seeing you able to do magic, even if it's only temporary, made me jealous."
"It's okay, Amara," said Luz. "Truth is, I have no idea why it works for me like that, but I've always wanted to be a witch. But magic isn't real in my world, so there was no conceivable way I could actually be a witch. But now, I might have a chance at being a real witch. If it's any consolation, you're still a lot better at brewing potions than I am. I'm just lucky that even though I made the elixir wrong, I still got powers out of it."
Amara laughed at that. It was the first time Luz had seen her have a genuine smile.
"Well, I think if you keep practicing and get a handle on using your powers, you just might be able to be a real witch," said Amara. "I've been thinking a lot about things recently. Lilly said something to me that got me thinking about stuff. In any case, we better get to bed." With that, she offered her hand to Luz.
Luz looked at her hand but instead decided to give Amara a hug. Amara was surprised by this gesture but accepted the hug all the same. Afterward, they made their way to their respective rooms.
Up in her room, Uodeela was pacing around, her mind filled with many thoughts.
It is as I feared, she thought to herself. Luz and her friends were transported here by the Calamity Box. I knew that was the most likely explanation, and yet I kept hoping in the back of my mind that it wasn't. But based on what Luz told me this morning, I can confirm it.
Uodeela sat on her bed and began rubbing her temples
Why did this have to happen?! she thought. If that's not bad enough, it's clear that Luz has absorbed the power of one of the gems. When she drinks the elixir, it helps awaken her powers. She could potentially learn to use them on her own, and then she wouldn't need an elixir anymore. But should I tell her the truth?
The question of what she should tell Luz was weighing heavily on Uodeela's mind.
I'll have to tell her eventually, she thought, but Luz is so impulsive and young that I don't think she's ready to know the whole truth of what's happened to her. Not only that, but I have no idea where her friends might be or what kind of people they are. If they've all absorbed a different power from the gems, has one of them figured out how to wield it? Didn't Luz say that she had actually gotten into a fight with one of her friends before coming here? That could spell disaster if they figured out how to use their powers and then got into another fight! Oh no! Did one of her friends wind up in Newtopia? If so, then I bet King Andrias is already aware that the box is back in Amphibia. He could be searching for it at this very moment! And if he finds it… then…
Uodeela leaned forward, putting her face in her hands. All the thoughts she was having felt overwhelming. After a while, she sat up and tried to think of the best course of action for Luz.
"I can't tell her yet," said Uodeela out loud. "For now, I'll keep Luz close to me and keep her safe, but I can't tell her the truth. I need to know more about her friends, and I need to know where the box might be. And then there's that other matter I need to take care of as well, though maybe Luz can prove useful and help me with that too…"