"What's wrong, Luz?" asked Anne, "do you not like it because it's making fun of Azura?"
"No, not all," replied Luz, "honestly, I think it's funny. It's made me laugh on quite a few occasions, but..."
"But what?" asked Anne.
"It's just… he managed to get 100,000 subscribers in less than a year making an abridged series about Azura. Meanwhile, I've tried making some good music videos about both that and anime shows and I don't even have a thousand," answered Luz in a huff.
"Oh, are you jealous of this guy?" asked Amara.
"A little, yes," said Luz quickly, "I mean, it's great that he made something that a lot of fans of Azura like and that honestly is really funny, but… I guess I'm more jealous of the fact that he got so popular so quickly. Here I am making music videos that hardly get any views and writing fanfics that have almost no hits, but this guy made some short funny videos and now everyone's talking about him."
"Don't worry about that, Luz," said Anne, "You shouldn't compare yourself to other people. Was there a reason you wanted to get internet famous?"
"I mean, I just wanted people to notice me," said Luz, "Before I met you guys, I didn't have any friends, so I thought if I could get a lot of followers online, maybe people would finally like me."
Anne came up to Luz and put her arms around her, Sprig, Amara, and Polly following suit.
"Well, I like you, a lot," said Anne, "so who cares what random strangers on the internet think?"
Luz smiled at hearing Anne say that.
"Okay, what else can you show us about the internet?" asked Sprig, gazing at the laptop.
"Hmmm," thought Luz for a moment before coming up with an idea, "Well, how about some comic dub?"
Luz typed on her computer and brought up an Azura comic dub to show Sprig, Amara, and Anne.
"Oh wow, was this by the author who wrote Azura?" asked Amara.
"Actually, no," said Luz, "it was made by a fan, someone called Evening Evan."
"A fan made this?" said Amara in surprise, "Wow, I mean, it looks so good. If you told me it was made by the author, I would have believed you."
"This Evening Evan guy is a really good artist," said Luz, "he's made a lot of comics for Azura that really capture the spirit and tone of the story."
"But wait a sec," said Anne as she looked at the name on the video, "it wasn't Evening Evan who made this comic dub video, was it?"
"No, it was someone else," said Luz.
"Huh that doesn't seem fair, does it?" said Anne, "It sounds like they're stealing his work."
"I see where you're coming from," said Luz, "though I will admit this is at least a comic dub, the person who made this video voiced the comic and added in sound effects and other stuff, they also acknowledged that the comic wasn't there's and they have a link in the description to the original. I don't know if this person got actual permission from Evening Evan to make a dub of the comic, but because they added to it, I wouldn't say it's straight-up stealing."
"I guess that makes sense," said Anne.
"However, there are some people who do make just videos of the comic, where all they do is show the comic and that's it," said Luz bitterly, "they don't dub their voices or add any sound they just show the comic and maybe they give credit to the artist or maybe they don't, that I would consider stealing."
"In any case, that was a cool comic," said Amara, "I hope that Evening Evan can put a stop to the people who are just reposting his stuff.
"I hope so too," said Luz, "let's see what else can I show you. Oh, well, if you like that comic, maybe you'd like a full-on fictional story.
"Wait, you mean people write their own versions of stories that already exist?" asked Amara.
"Yeah, exactly," answered Luz opening her laptop, "it's called… fanfiction."
"Oooh," said Sprig, looking interested, "Anne, you never told me about that."
"Well…" began Anne, "honestly, it can be a bit of a minefield."
"Huh, what do you mean?" asked Sprig.
"Mmm, the thing is, since anyone can write fanfiction, it well… it tends to vary on the quality," said Luz.
"Understatement of the year," said Anne flatly.
"Hey, Luz. I think you told me that you wrote one of these fanfictions about Good Witch Azura, right?" asked Amara.
"Yeah, I did. Well, Marcy helped me," clarified Luz, "we didn't get very far, we started it before we all got trapped in Amphibia. I bet most people think the fic is abandoned, but I'm curious to see how it's doing."
Luz clicked a few links on her computer, bringing up her profile page, and scrolled to her fanfic.
"Okay, we got a few reviews in the time we were gone, most of them are one-sentence ones, but there's one or two that seemed to really like the direction our fic was headed," said Luz.
"So, are you going to continue it then?" asked Anne.
"I'm not sure, maybe," said Luz, "It feels wrong to continue writing it without Marcy. Maybe I'll write some more, but I won't post anything until she gets a chance to read it too."
"So you're not the only writer on here, right?" asked Sprig as he hopped into Luz's lap.
"No there's hundreds of others," said Luz, "And the best thing is you can sort through categories to see which fiction you want to look for. There are even sites that recommend certain fictions that they think are good. For instance, let's look on a recommended page for Cynthia Coven fics."
Luz typed a few commands on her computer, eventually getting to the site she wanted.
"Let's see… ah here we go," began Luz, "Loyalty Among Covens", by CaptainCT5. Huh, this sounds interesting, let's have a look."
After reading a few chapters of this fic, both the amphibians and the humans had a look of disgust on their faces.
"So, uh, that was something," said Amara, not sure how to process what she had just read.
"Hey, can we look at the author's profile again?" said Anne, "Because I want to confirm something." The group looked at the writer's profile and confirmed Anne's suspicions.
"Yeah, okay, so he's a guy in his late 20s writing a fic where he ships his self-insert character with-uh how old was Cynthia when the series started?"
"Thirteen," said Luz in a disgusted tone.
"Thirteen," repeated Anne, "that's how old I am right now, that would be like a guy in his late 20's writing a self-insert ship with me!" Anne crossed her arms and looked straight ahead as she said this, her eyes glaring in a look of disapproval as if to show her disgust for anyone who would enjoy such a fic…
"I mean at least when I shipped my self-insert character with the prince, I was actually thirteen," exclaimed Luz, "and he's only fifteen in the story so we're not that far apart in age. Though maybe I should make a note about that when I get older and tell people I wrote this fic when I was thirteen."
"Wait a minute," said Anne suddenly glaring at Luz, "You shipped yourself with a character from Azura?"
Luz's face became bright red as she realized why Anne sounded angry about that, "Oh, ah, well… yeah I did. But in my defense, this was way before we were dating."
Anne continued to glare at Luz though she finally said in a playful voice, "I guess I'll have to watch out whenever there are young handsome princes around." She put her arm around Luz to show she was joking. Luz smiled.
"Do humans do that a lot in these fanfics?" asked Sprig, "Ship themselves with made-up characters?"
Anne and Luz shared a look before both responding, "Yeah, they do."
"He sounds like a real creep," said Amara, "I mean, there are a few elite newts who do the same thing but in real life. I've seen some older male newts make marriage contracts with newts that are much younger than them. In some cases, they want to marry them as soon as they come of age, and a lot of times, these newts are almost twenty years older than their brides."
Anne, Luz, and Sprig all made disgusted faces.
"Yikes," said Sprig, "I mean, I know frogs practice arranged marriages too, but we try to make sure both frogs are around the same age for that. I mean, Maddie's father tried to force me into one, but at least Maddie and I are similar in age."
"You know what's even more hilarious?" said Luz, "This guy claims he has a degree in animation but a lot of these pictures he 'created' are literally just screenshots from the Cynthia Coven movie with his character inserted in. Look!"
Luz brought up a few images from the movie and compared them to images this author had created. It was evident that what she said was true.
"Wow, you're right," said Anne as she studied the pictures, "I mean, the other characters aren't even looking at him. It's so obvious that he just inserted himself."
"I mean, he has a few other images that he actually made," said Luz, looking further down the page, "Honestly, I'd say they're… alright. They're decent, but that's it, not something I'd expect from someone who claims to have a degree in animation."
"Uggh, and he has a lot of images of him kissing Cynthia," observed Anne in disgust, "I mean I know there are people like this on the internet, but even still, it disgusts me."
"I mean the funny thing is he's not even the problem," said Luz.
"What do you mean?" asked Sprig.
"Oh it's one thing to write a self-insert fic where you ship your character with someone," began Luz, "I mean, I did it with my fic, though as I said before, I am at least close in age to the character I was shipping myself with. But you know, I never expected my fic was going to be all that popular and it's not. I have some reviews on it, and a few followers and that's it. On the other hand, this guy, who I remind you, is shipping himself with an underage character, has over three hundred reviews and a bunch of followers. I mean that's crazy! Not only that but his fic isn't even really changing anything that happened in the story. There are so many other better fics out there that people could be reading instead of this. it should not be as popular as it is. There should not be this many people favoriting his fic or encouraging him.
"Yeah, I see what you're saying," said Anne, "It's really obvious what he's doing with this and people are telling him he's the greatest writer ever and his story is amazing! That really is disturbing. I don't understand why people do that unless they're trolling him, but somehow, I doubt that. If I ever found out who this guy is, I'd punch him in the face for sure!"
"I agree. These kinds of fics should not be supported or encouraged by people," said Luz. She got up and joined Anne. The two crossed their arms and looked straight ahead with a disapproving stare, their gaze piercing deep into the souls of anyone who actually would support that kind of ship…
"There has to be a better fic than that one!" exclaimed Amara.
"Well, let's have a look," said Luz, sitting back down at her computer. After a bit, she found another one.
"Hmm, this looks interesting," said Luz as she found another fic, "Oh, it's a crossover between Cynthia Coven and Good Witch Azura. What if Cynthia found her way to the Witch's Realm? The Good Witch's Coven' by ChampionElCid. Huh, that's an interesting name."
"I suppose it's worth a shot," said Sprig cautiously, "After reading that other guy's fic, I need to wash the taste out of my mouth."
"Wow, this one has over five hundred reviews," said Anne, "I sure hope this one is good!"
An hour later, the group huddled close to the computer screen as they finished reading the last chapter.
"OMG, that was amazing!" exclaimed Luz.
"Wow, I only know a little bit about both Azura and Cynthia, but man, I still loved that fic," said Anne.
"I know nothing about either," confessed Sprig, "but I'd still say I liked it."
"Having finally read both Azura and Cynthia Coven, I can say with almost absolute certainty that this may be the best crossover between those two series ever!" exclaimed Amara.
"What did you think, Luz?" asked Anne.
"You know I gotta say at first I wasn't too keen on the Cynthia x Azura ship," began Luz. "I mean I am a BIG Azura x Hecate shipper, and I just love how they went from enemies to rivals to finally lovers. It's done so well in the book that it really is an awesome ship! That being said… the Cynthia x Azura ship did grow on me, and it felt natural in this universe."
"I agree," said Amara, "and I mean, the author said this was an alternate universe anyway, so it's nice to see how things change in that kind of universe."
"I do wonder what's gonna happen to Hecate now though?" asked Luz. "In the original story, a big part of her redemption was because of Azura and the relationship they had."
"Well, the author said he wasn't going to leave Hecate alone," said Amara, "so I assume he's going to ship her with someone, the question is who?"
Luz and Amara both brought their hand to their chin as they wondered about that.
"I'm just glad we were able to find a good story," said Sprig, "there sure are a lot of different things on the internet."
"Yes there are," said Luz, "some better than others, but if you take the time to sift through the bad things you can usually find something pretty good."
"Agreed," said Anne.
"Hmmm," said Luz as she looked at the author's profile, "He has an account on another site. Oh, It looks like he also writes poetry, interesting. I may have to check some of these out, oh I wonder if he'd give me any writing advice. You know I really liked that story I want to give him a review."
Luz typed some more on her computer, submitting the review when she was done. A few days later, Luz was surprised to see that the author had replied to her. She opened her email and took a look to see what the author had said in response.
"Hey, thanks for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed my story and that the Cynthia x Azura ship grew on you. It's always nice to get a new fan who finds your fic and really likes it.
I hope I continue to impress you…"
Hopes and Dreams Part 4
"So we rushed over to the arena and at the last second, we managed to save our friend," said Lilly with a flourish, "She was pretty badly beaten up, Anne picked her up in her arms and carried her out of the Arena. I fought Beatrix, but she retreated and fled, we won the day and saved our friend."
"Wow, that sounds amazing!" said Amity through the bars to the invisible Lilly, "It gives me hope that when the time comes, you'll be able to work some miracle and get us all out of here." Her eyes moved up to the tank and the human girl that was suspended inside it.
"So, you knew her?" asked Amity.
"I only met her briefly," said Lilly, "She's a friend of that other girl I told you about, Luz."
"Luz," said Amity slowly, "Huh, it's strange, but that name feels familiar to me for some reason."
"Oh, I'm sure you'd like her if you actually met her," said Lilly, "She's in the human realm right now, but I know her. She's resourceful, and I know she'll figure out some way to get back here. Plus she's got Anne and Amara helping her out. Amara's one of the smartest newts I know, so I'm sure they'll do it."
"Didn't you tell me that Amara is the daughter of those newts who have been experimenting on us?" asked Amity aggressively.
"Yes, she is, but trust me, she's not like them," said Lilly quickly, "Well, she used to be a bit, but she changed."
"Still she's their daughter," said Amity flatly, "It's not so easy changing when your parents control your life," she paused before adding, "Trust me, I know."
Lilly looked at her curiously, "What do you mean by that?"
Amity thought about answering but decided instead to change the subject, "Forget about that. I have a question for you. You said that you, your friends, and Marcy stopped the toads from taking over the city and rescued King Andrias, why did you do that? Didn't you know he was evil?"
Lilly was about to answer but before she could, she flashed into existence, signaling that her invisibility potion was wearing off.
"Ahh, I have to go," said Lilly, "I'll visit you again when I can. Stay strong, Amity!"
"Bye! thank you for telling me all those stories," called Amity to the frog as she hopped away. Once Lilly was gone, Amity let out a sigh, feeling sad and alone again. She pulled her legs up to her face and brought her arms around them. After a second, she looked up again at the tank that the human girl was in.
"So, uh, how you doing in there?" asked Amity, knowing she wouldn't get a response.
"So you got stabbed, that must have hurt a lot," she said to the girl, "I got electrocuted, that hurt a lot too, I don't know which is worse, being stabbed is like a big amount of pain all at once, but being shocked it like pain coursing through your whole body all the time."
Amity stood up and went to the edge of her cell looking up at the tank, "Really wish I could talk to you if nothing else. I'm so lonely down here. There were other witches captured with me, but they took them somewhere else. I haven't seen them since being brought here, well, except for when they bring them down to… extract their bile." Amity let out a shudder as she said that.
"One of them was mad at me for something my parents did," said Amity out loud to the tank, "He said he didn't care what happened to me because I'm a Blight. I mean, I get it, but still, it hurt knowing he was willing to let me suffer for that. To his credit, once that newt started electrocuting me, he begged her to stop."
Amity looked up again at the tank and decided to stop. She felt a little better talking to it, but the fact that she got no response made her sad. Feeling tired, Amity decided to lie down on the cold floor and try to go to sleep. The floor was hard and uncomfortable, but she was eventually able to fall into an uneasy sleep.
When Amity woke up, she let out a gasp as realized she wasn't in her cell anymore. She looked around and saw stars everywhere. It was as though she was standing in the night sky. Amity took in her surroundings, wondering where she was. Had she managed to escape her cell? As she thought about this, she began to hear a sound. She turned toward where she thought she heard the sound, which was hard as the sky seemed to go on forever. Amity kept walking, trying to find the source of the sound. As she got closer, she realized the sound was crying. She looked forward and saw a figure sitting on the ground, crying. She had brought her knees up to her face so she didn't notice Amity approaching. Once Amity got a good look at her, she realized it was the girl from the tank! Though she was dressed differently, she was wearing a t-shirt and some sweatpants and was barefoot. She also had a pink blanket wrapped around her neck. The blanket had stars and moons emblazoned on it. Amity cautiously approached the girl, not sure what to say to her. The girls continued crying unaware of Amity's presence. After spending some time at the girls side Amity finally reached out to touch her shoulder
"Hey are you alright?" she asked.
The girl looked up and let out a gasp, backing away from Amity.
"Who… who are you?" she asked nervously.
"I'm Amity," said Amity, "I don't really know where we are though, but you, you're the girl in the tank. Marcy, right?"
The girl stood up and looked Amity in her eyes, "Yeah, I'm Marcy, but what do you mean 'girl in the tank?' I don't recall being in a tank of some kind."
Amity looked around before replying, "I'm not sure where we are right now, but back in the real world I'm stuck in a cell in a basement in some floating castle. You're also in that basement but you're in a healing tank of some kind. I don't think you're conscious, you have a mask and some tubes hooked up to your body."
Marcy thought for a bit, "I remember being in the throne room, Andrias had just… he just told my other friends my secret, I… I was devastated, but I tried to justify it! Anne and Luz, they fixed their friendship and got together thanks to me. Then… Luz said something about her father, then… Andrias threw Luz and Sprig out the window, but I was able to save them… I think. Then…"
Marcy trailed off as she remembered what happened next. She stopped talking and broke down crying, falling to her knees. Amity came over to her.
"I… I… I think I got hurt, but I tried to tell Luz and Anne I was sorry. I was sorry for what I did, and I just didn't want to be alone! But now… I bet they hate me!"
Marcy began to cry louder, bringing her hands up to her face, "It's all my fault! I brought them to Amphibia against their will and now they'll never talk to me again. I've ruined my friendship with them! I'm going to be alone forever!"
Amity remained silent, not knowing what to say to that. She didn't know how to deal with crying as none of her friends ever did. Eventually, she did put her hand on Marcy's shoulder to try and offer some measure of comfort, but it didn't help and Marcy kept crying.
Amity racked her brain, trying to think of what she could do to help the girl. Finally, she quickly made a spell circle testing to see if her magic would work in this place. Thankfully, it did.
"Hey, hey, uh…. want to see something cool?" she asked Marcy. Marcy stopped crying and turned to her. Amity made a spell circle and caused a small orb of light to appear. It rose up in the air, dazzling the young girl.
"Whoa, that's amazing! It's like that light glyph that Luz, Maddie, and I discovered. But you were able to do it with your hand! exclaimed Marcy. She looked closer at Amity, finally realizing something as she looked up at her ears.
"Oh, your ears are so pointy," said Marcy, "did you have surgery to make them elf-like?"
"What!? No these are my natural ears" said Amity in disbelief, though after looking at Marcy's ears she realized something, "oh wait that's right you're a human. Your ears are round right?"
"Well of course I'm a human," said Marcy, though she paused before adding, "Aren't you human too?"
"Uh no I'm not," answered Amity, "I'm a witch, from the Demon Realm."
Marcy's eyes lit up at that statement, She stared deep into Amity's face, all previous sadness and tears gone and forgotten. In fact, this was the first time Amity had seen her smile, she had to admit Marcy had a very bright very beautiful smile.
"Whoa, a witch?" asked Marcy excitedly, "like Good Witch Azura?"
Amity actually did a double take at hearing that, before replying in a very loud voice, "Yeah, like her. Wait, are you a fan of Good Witch Azura too?" Amity now sporting a large smile of her own.
"Yes!" exclaimed Marcy, "I've read all five books so many times."
"Wait, five books?" said Amity, "There are more than four books in the series?"
"Yes, I think in total there's going to be seven, but right now, they're on book five," answered Marcy.
"Ah man, I only have books one through four," said Amity in a defeated voice.
"I have the fifth book. I could lend it to you if you want," said Marcy.
Marcy stood up and was about to reach into her backpack when she realized she didn't have it on her. She looked around and for the first time, noticed the strange place the two seemed to be trapped in. She gazed around her at the stars that blanketed this strange realm.
"Where are we?" asked Marcy curiously.
"I… I don't know," answered Amity, "I went to sleep and woke up in this place, then I wandered around a bit and I found you."
Marcy again looked around her before saying, "Maybe this is some sort of dream world. You said you went to sleep. I bet you're dreaming. I guess that means I am too."
"Have you been asleep in that tank this whole time?" asked Amity.
"I think so… I'm not sure, sometimes, I wake up briefly, but then fall back asleep. Other times, I have nightmares," replied Marcy.
"Well, I have some good news then," said Amity, "Your frog friend Lilly is working on a way to free us."
"Lilly…" Marcy paused for a second, "Oh, right, Luz's friend. Yeah, she's the one who can wield the Masamune. Wait, you've met her?"
"Yeah, she's been visiting me in my cell," said Amity.
"Cell?!" said Marcy uncomfortably forgetting that Amity had told her about that earlier, "Wait, why are you in a cell? What happened?"
"So, you know how I told you I was from the Demon Realm?" began Amity, "I was on my way home from school when suddenly, I got attacked by some metal abomination. I managed to get free and fought against it for a time using my own abomination magic, but eventually, I was overpowered and it tied me up and took me away. I wasn't the only one, though. That thing captured some other witches, and then it took us through a portal, and the next thing we knew, we were in a strange throne room with that giant blue newt."
Marcy froze upon hearing that, and the wheels in her head began turning as she slowly realized what had happened. Her face fell as she realized that Andrias had used the box to capture her.
"That king said he wanted to run experiments on us, and for some reason, he had me brought to the basement," continued Amity.
"Oh…" said Marcy in a defeated voice.
"Do you know what's going on?" asked Amity, "Lilly told me you used to work with the king. Why is he doing this?"
"I… I don't know," said Marcy, though as she said this, she looked away from Amity, causing the witch to become suspicious.
"You know something, don't you?" said Amity now in a more accusing manner, "I saw it in your face just now!"
"I… I…" began Marcy, not sure what to say.
"If there's something you know about what's going on, then for Titan's sake, tell me!" said Amity, her voice growing louder, a hint of anger in it.
Marcy took a gulp before finally saying, "I don't know why the king captured you. But I bet he was able to do it with the Calamity Box. It's some strange box that used to belong to his ancestors. They used it to travel to other worlds and conquer them. I don't know why he kidnapped you, but I'm pretty sure that's how he did it."
"Wait a minute, I just remembered something," said Amity looking hard at Marcy, "Lilly told me about how you and your friends saved Andrias from being overthrown, is that true?"
Marcy began to sweat nervously not sure how to reply to that, but also not wanting to lie.
"I…listen it's complicated," said Marcy.
"It doesn't sound complicated to me," replied Amity in an accusing tone, "did you help Andrias or not?"
"Okay, yes I did," admitted Marcy, "but please let me explain–"
"So it's your fault!" said Amity loudly.
"Wait, listen, please!" begged Marcy before she was cut off
"It's your fault I got kidnapped, your fault I'm stuck in a cell, and your fault that those newts TORTURED ME!" yelled Amity, her voice getting louder and angrier with each accusation.
"No, I… I didn't mean for this to happen," pleaded Marcy, coming closer to Amity. Amity backed away.
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" yelled Amity in a burst of anger at Marcy, tears falling down her face, her voice hovering between anger and sadness.
Marcy collapsed at that accusation falling to her knees. She began crying loudly unnerving Amity.
"You're right it is my fault!" she said loudly through tears, "I'm the one who found the music box and forced Sasha, Anne and Luz to come with me to Amphibia. I helped the King recharge it, it's my fault Luz got hurt and… now your life has been ruined too because of me."
Marcy stopped talking as the full weight of what she had done hit her, She brought her hands up to her face and covered it while crying. As Amity watched the young girl cry she began to regret yelling at her. Seeing Marcy like this made her feel terrible for what she had said. This girl must have felt a lot of guilt over getting her trapped if she reacted like this, and being yelled at probably didn't do anything to help. Amity took a breath and stepped toward her, putting her hand on her shoulder which surprised Marcy. Marcy stopped crying and looked up at her.
"I'm sorry," said Amity in the nicest voice she could manage, "it's been hard for me here. Those newts have been experimenting on me, one of them tortured me just to prove a point, I've been eating nothing but bugs since I got here. I'm so scared and so lonely, I miss my dad, I…I'm sorry for yelling at you."
Marcy wiped her face and managed a smile, which Amity returned. Amity sat down next to Marcy.
"Hey why don't you tell me what your favorite part of Good Witch Azura is?" said Amity.
Marcy's smile widened, "well there's so many moments to choose from. I think one of my favorites would be when Azura first gets her staff in the first book."
"That was amazing," said Amity, "one of my favorite moments is the first time Hecate and Azura teamed up together."
"For sure!" said Marcy excitedly, "I think we all know that was the beginning of their eventual relationship."
Amity let out a laugh before saying, "Yeah."
The two kept talking, discussing more of their favorite moments from the books, after a while the conversation changed and Marcy began asking Amity questions about her world. Amity in turn asked her things about the human world. As they continued talking the world around them began shaking. The stars began to go out and the girls' bodies began to fade away.
"What's happening?" asked Marcy in distress.
"I think we're waking up!" said Amity.
Amity jumped awake from her position on the floor. She quickly got up, ran to the bars of her cell, and looked frantically toward the tank where Marcy was floating. For a brief second, Marcy opened her eyes. She looked around the room she was in before her eyes found Amity. The two locked eyes for a brief second, behind her mask Marcy smiled though Amity couldn't see. After a few moments, Marcy's eyes closed and she faded back into unconsciousness.
Paying Respects
"Are we almost there?" asked Anne, a little impatiently
"Just a bit longer, dear," said her mother as she leaned back.
"Good, because you still haven't told me where we're going or why I had to dress up," said Anne. She sat in the backseat in a black dress with black tights and black dress shoes on.
"Or why you had us come along too," said Sprig, who was also wearing black dress clothes.
"Yeah, these clothes aren't like our disguises," said Polly, who was wrapped in a black scarf, "I think people will notice that we're not human
"There won't be that many people at the place we're going to. Don't worry, Bee and I will keep a lookout for you," said Mrs. Boonchuy, "No need to worry about disguises for this outing. The only people we are meeting are the Nocedas."
"We're here," said Bee as he turned a corner. Anne looked up and let out a small gasp as she realized they had arrived at a cemetery.
"Mom… why are we here?" asked Anne.
"Did Luz never tell you what happened to her father?" asked Oum.
As she said that, Anne recalled what Luz had said back in the palace when it was revealed that Marcy had intentionally stranded them in Amphibia
"Marcy….there's something I haven't told any of you, because it's painful to talk about, but now given what you just said I think you need to know." Luz looked hard into Marcy's eyes still holding onto her hands.
"My dad died when I was young," said Luz somberly, her eyes tearing up, "when that happened my mom and I were devastated, but part of what helped us move on was knowing that we had each other."
"Yes, she did," replied Anne, "I guess I just… it happened at a very weird time, so I kind of forgot it."
As Anne said that, she suddenly realized the answer to why they were there, a pit forming in her stomach. She wasn't quite sure how to handle herself in these kinds of situations and tried to think of what she would say to Luz when she saw her. The car suddenly came to a stop. Bee pointed off in the distance and Anne saw Luz and her mother standing at a grave, her heart sinking at the sight. Both Luz and her mother were also dressed in formal wear, her mother wearing a full-length black dress and Luz also wearing a dress and formal shoes.
"This place is very special to humans. It's where we remember the dead," said Oum, looking back at both the Plantars, "Please behave yourselves here. No shouting, loud noises, or roughhousing. Understand?"
Sprig and Polly nodded their heads. The group got out of the car and Bee went around to the trunk where he got out three small bouquets of flowers, handing them to Sprig, Anne, and Polly. Anne noticed that they had parked close behind Camila's car. The Boonchuys stood by their car as they watched Luz and her mother at the grave. No one said anything. After what seemed like forever, the two turned and walked back toward their car. It didn't take long for Luz to notice Anne and her family, and she was caught off guard but smiled as she made her way over to her. As Luz got closer, Anne could see that she had been recently crying. Her eyes were red and there were streaks of tears running down her cheeks, though she was at least now smiling.
"Hey," said Luz to Anne, wiping her face and trying to look more presentable, "This is a surprise."
"I invited them, mija," said Camila, "I know we've been doing this on our own for a few years, but I thought maybe this year, we could use some company. Plus, after I heard about Sprig and Polly's parents, I thought it might be nice for them to come too."
Sprig and Polly smiled at Camila. Anne looked over at Luz.
"I remember you told me about your father," said Anne softly, "I honestly kind of forgot, because so much else was happening at the time, I'm sorry. I don't even know the full story of what happened."
"There isn't really much more to tell, my dad was sick and he died," began Luz, she paused before adding, "I guess we did almost end up moving before that happened.
"Really?" said Mrs. Boonchuy, jumping in.
"Yes," began Camila, "I was looking for ways to help Manny and there was a clinic in Connecticut that said they were better equipped to treat him. I thought that it would be best if the three of us moved there. We were pretty far along actually, I had already looked at a house out there."
"Oh, I remember you saying that the reason we were moving was because the house was 'prettier' than our current one," said Luz slyly.
"It was!" countered Camila.
"Mom, I saw the pictures you showed me. Heck, I think I still have some of them on my phone," replied Luz, taking out her phone and scrolling through the pictures.
"Ah-ha, here we are," said Luz, bringing out her phone and showing the pictures to Anne and her parents to try and prove her point.
Anne looked at the house in the picture, the house seemed a little small, but it looked nice enough. Though as Luz scrolled to the interior pictures, Anne could see that the house, while good, was hardly what she would call pretty. The interior had clearly seen better days and it would no doubt take some work to fix it up.
Camila let out a sigh, "Okay, maybe I exaggerated the house just a little bit. You were still young, Luz. I didn't want to tell you the real reason we were moving. And hey, since we didn't in the end, I guess it's all moot."
"What happened?" asked Bee, "Why didn't you move?"
Luz and her mother looked at each other before Camila replied, "It was actually Manny's idea. I was all set to make an offer on the house in Gravesfield, start packing up boxes, and call a moving company. But at the last second, he changed his mind."
"Dad thought it would be better for us to stay in LA," Luz trailed off for a bit before adding, "He said that even if something happened to him, it wasn't fair for us to have uprooted our lives just for him. He didn't want to make things hard on us."
"Manny and I talked and argued about it for a few days," said Camila, "I was so certain that this clinic in Gravesfield could help cure him. I told him we needed to move there so that he could still have a chance, but I think at that point, he had already accepted he was going to die. So that's why he changed his mind about us moving. But there is a part of me that regrets that choice. In the back of my mind, I always wondered if that was the right choice. Would he still be here if I had insisted we move?" Camila began tearing up as she said that. Luz came over to her and hugged her.
"You never can know the future," said Bee in a calm reassuring voice, "We make choices based on the things we know, not the things we wish we knew. Our choices are made in the moment and we can't always predict the long-term consequences. Don't beat yourself up. You had no way of knowing."
Luz and Camila looked at Bee, feeling better hearing him say that.
"Your husband was looking out for his family," said Oum, coming up to Camila and putting her arm on her, "He wanted you to not have to adjust to living in a new city just for him."
"Hey uh… I'm sorry if this sounds selfish, but I'm glad you didn't move," said Anne to Luz, "Otherwise, I wouldn't have met you."
Luz smiled at Anne and then said, "Before I met you, Sasha, and Marcy, I never really had friends of my own. And while we certainly have gone through some rough patches, I think… all things considered, I'm also glad I didn't move, and that I got to meet you, Anne. Who knows what would have happened if I did move?"
"When Manny was alive every year for my birthday, he would give me flowers," began Camila somberly, "After he passed, Luz and I started a new tradition where we would pick flowers for each other, place them on his grave, then spend the day together. I thought this year, we could add to that tradition." Camila looked tenderly at Sprig, Polly, and Anne as she said this.
"Thank you, Mrs. Noceda," said Sprig, "So, uh, what do we do here?"
"Take the flowers we gave you and put them on the grave," said Bee gently, "When you do think about the person who's gone and think about what they meant to you."
"But we don't really know Luz's father," said Polly.
"That's okay," said Camila, "You can think of your own parents if you want instead."
Anne and the Plantars looked at each other and then back at Luz.
"That's fine," said Luz. She turned to look back at the grave she and her mother had just been at and motioned for the group to follow. After a few minutes, they arrived, and Anne looked at the gravestone and felt her heart sink. She came up next to Luz who stood there without saying anything.
"Hey, Dad," she finally said after a long silence, "There's someone I want you to meet."
Luz reached out her hand and Anne took it, holding her hand tighter than she ever had before as she stepped forward.
"This is Anne, Anne Boonchuy," said Luz to the gravestone, "she's my… my girlfriend." As she said that line, Luz actually smiled. Anne squeezed her hand to show her support.
"I think you really would have liked her," said Luz to the gravestone, hanging her head, "Anne is amazing, smart, beautiful, she cares so much about people! I bet you'd laugh if you heard the whole story of how we got together. It's actually funny if you think about it."
Luz let out a small laugh as she said that, Anne smiled.
"Hey, now, let's not forget about you," said Anne to Luz, "You're brave, smart, caring, amazing, you must get some of that from your dad."
"Mama said he had a good heart," said Luz, "She said he was the nicest person you would ever meet."
"Hey, uh, Luz…" began Sprig awkwardly, "How old were you when…?"
"I was ten," answered Luz, "It only happened about three years ago, and while I do remember things about Dad, I was also so young, that sometimes it's hard to recall them."
Sprig and Polly looked at each other and then back at Luz.
"It's still a bit recent for us," said Sprig, "I think about two years for us, I'm younger than you, so I wanna say I was around eight when… when she and dad died."
"At least, you still sort of remember them a bit," said Polly, her face falling, "I… I honestly don't remember anything about Mom or Dad."
Sprig, Anne, and Luz all looked at Polly. They had never heard her admit that before.
"You know, I think mom had red hair just like me," said Sprig, taking off his hat and running his fingers through his hair, "I also remember her being really nice and wanting to help people, I know that's not much, but…"
"Hop-Pop told me a bit about them too," said Polly, "Said dad was a real frog of the earth who enjoyed rolling up his sleeves and getting dirty. Hop-Pop said he had a knack for planting crops and seemed to have a natural connection to the ground. I wish I could remember what he looked like."
The group stayed silent, not really sure what to say in response to that. Finally, Luz spoke.
"It's weird, isn't it? Sprig told me about how he's tried to remember his mom, but because he was so young when she died it's hard. I have the same issue with my dad, I remember a few things about him, but I was only ten so I didn't really know him that well. Polly was so young, she barely remembers anything."
"Luz… do you ever fear you'll… forget your father?" asked Polly seriously. Luz thought long and hard about that question before responding.
"I may forget certain things about him," said Luz, "but I know that I won't ever forget him completely. Before he passed, he gave me my very first Azura book. He even used to read it to me at night before I fell asleep…"
Luz trailed off as tears started flowing from her eyes. She cried for a few seconds, Anne putting her arm around her but then managed to compose herself.
"I'll always have that memory of him, and I know I'll never forget that. Mama says that the people we love, if we continue to remember them, then they never really are gone. I think that's true both for my dad and for your parents."
Sprig and Polly smiled. As they did, they both walked up to Luz's father's grave and placed the flowers they held on it.
"Hey, do you mind if I have a moment alone with your dad?" asked Anne, "I want to say something if that's okay."
"Sure," said Luz. With that, she motioned for Sprig and Polly to follow her back to the car, Sprig reached up, took hold of Luz's hand, and smiled at her while Polly hopped onto her shoulder, giving her face a hug. Luz squeezed Sprig's hand and brought her other hand up to cradle Polly. As the group walked away, Anne stared at the grave, pausing for a long time before saying,
"Hey, Mr. Noceda… I'm Anne. Well, Luz already introduced me to you. I… uh, I wish I had gotten the chance to meet you. I'd like to think that maybe you'd disapprove of me at first, but then I'd show you why I was worthy to date your amazing daughter. Then we'd laugh and get along just fine!"
Anne let out a small chuckle.
"Luz is very special to me and I uh… I just want to let you know I promise to look after her. I know Luz is strong and capable of taking care of herself, but for those moments when it becomes too much, I'll be there for her. I promise both her and you…"
Anne laid her flower on the grave, giving one more look to it before turning around and heading back.
New World, Old Family
The two witches in the cell stood up as the door was opened. The frobots roughly pushed Raine into the cell, who collapsed as they entered. They then closed the door behind them.
"Are you alright?" asked the black-haired witch, coming up to Raine and trying to help them up.
"No, not really," replied Raine, grasping at their heart, "They took a lot out of me this time."
"Here, sit down," said the red-haired witch as she helped guide Raine over to the wall. Raine sat down, still clutching at their heart. They tried to make a spell circle, but it broke apart almost as soon as it formed.
"Still too weak to do magic," said Raine in frustration, "Either of you any better?"
"No," said the male witch, "Believe me, I tried, but those newts have realized we need bile to do magic. They've been doing a good job at keeping us drained so we can't do any."
"Here, let me see if I can help you," said the red-haired witch. She made a small spell circle that flashed for a second but still held, then brought it over to Raine's heart in an attempt to heal them. The circle pulsed and flashed for a few seconds indicating it was working, but then broke apart. The female witch let out a growl of frustration.
"Damnit!" she cursed, "Looks like I had a little left In me, but not enough. It takes so long for our bodies to make more."
"That will make escaping from this place difficult," said the male witch.
"Of course, that's not the only problem we have," said Raine emphatically, "We're also stuck in a floating castle, so even if we got out of our cell, we'd still have to deal with getting off the castle."
"It's like we're trapped in two prisons," said the female witch.
"I'm sure that's the point," said the male witch.
"There are also these cursed collars they have on us," said the female witch, tugging at her own.
"Yeah, it's going to be hard to escape if they can just turn these on and stop us," agreed the male witch.
"There may be one piece of good news," said Raine, the other witches looking at them.
"That young witch who was captured with us, I'm pretty sure that's Amity Blight. I know her father, and if his daughter is missing, he'll do whatever it takes to find her," said Raine hopefully.
At the mention of Amity Blight, the male witch hung his head.
"Darling, is everything alright?" asked his wife.
The male witch took a long pause before replying, "To get me to comply with them, the newts threatened to hurt Amity. I… I thought maybe they were bluffing, and at the time, I thought I would enjoy seeing her be hurt. So I let them shock her for a bit, and as soon as I saw her in pain, I instantly regretted it."
His wife let out a gasp, "Why would you do that?"
"We're all under a bit of stress here," said Raine, trying to defend the man, "I'm sure your head wasn't in the right place."
"Her parents tried to force your father to sell them his farm," said the male witch.
The wife looked at him for a few seconds before saying, "You know that was her parents, not her. She had nothing to do with that. You can't punish the child for the sins of the father."
"You hold no resentment over what they did?" asked the husband.
"Of course I do!" said the wife in a huff, "I'm fairly certain they destroyed property and unleashed some pests and plagues on my father's farm to try and force him to sell. They did eventually stop, but again, that was the parents, though I think it was mostly Odalia, not Amity."
"They'll raise her to be just like them, I know it," said the husband.
"What did they want that farm for?" asked Raine.
"They didn't even want it as a farm. They just wanted to knock it down and build another factory," said the female witch.
"Which is stupid, the farm sits on the most fertile area of the titan," began the male witch, he took a pause before adding, "The thighs."
His wife did let out a small chuckle at that, "You never get tired of making that innuendo, do you?"
"Not every area on the titan is suitable for growing crops," said the male witch with a flourish, "And there's no place better than the inner things of the titan. I wonder why that area is so… fertile."
Raine and the wife both laughed at that.
"Well, we might be trapped in an unfamiliar world, but thank you for making me laugh," said Raine.
"Dear… the kids… Do you think they're okay?" asked the wife.
"They should be fine," answered the male witch, "We left them with your father before we set out. Thank Titan they weren't with us when we got captured."
"You have kids?" asked Raine, intrigued. The two witches turned toward them.
"Yes, a boy and a girl. They're twins, actually," said the female witch with a smile, "They just started at Hexside. They must be so worried about us."
"When we get back, we'll have quite a story to tell them for sure," said the male witch.
"Our son is in the Plant track," said the wife, "He takes after my father, who is also in the Plant Coven, I hear he's doing quite well in it. He even told us the kids had come up with a cool nickname for him."
"Our daughter is in the healing track," said the husband, "She's always had a sweet disposition and a desire to help people."
"What were you doing before you got captured?" asked Raine.
"I'm in the construction coven," said the male witch, revealing his brand, "I was doing some experiments to try and test some new soil compositions. I wanted to see if we could find the best soil for growing crops.
"I'm in the healing coven," said the female witch, "I was helping my husband by trying to use healing techniques to cure damaged or polluted soil. The Blights have caused a lot of environmental damage to the area around their factory. We were trying to combine our magic to help the soil."
"That's when that thing got us," said the male witch. He turned to Raine, "How about you?"
"I was out walking in the forest," said Raine, "Humming a bit to myself, trying to think up some new melodies, when suddenly, I was attacked. I managed to cut off its leg, but it still got me. I tried to escape when they first brought me to the basement, but it didn't work. Still, I have at least one more trick up my sleeve."
Raine made sure the three were alone before they made a spell circle and summoned their violin. The other two witches let out a small gasp.
"Shhh," said Raine, "It doesn't take much magic to summon my instrument, and I've made sure not to let those metal abominations nor the newts see I can do this."
"Then there is hope yet that we can escape!" said the male excitedly.
"Do you need bile to play?" asked the female witch.
"To play, no," clarified Raine, "But for my music to have any sort of magical effect, yes, I need bile, and I don't have enough right now to guarantee anything. Those metal abominations don't have ears, but I think they can still be affected by my music."
"They may be tough," began the male witch, "but I think a few rocks to the chest will still fell them all the same."
"But we don't have enough bile to fight for a long period of time," protested the female witch
"Which is why we need to be smart about this," said Raine emphatically, "The fact of the matter is, we will likely only get ONE chance to make a clean escape. We need to be able to: get out of this cell, find and rescue Amity in the basement, remove these collars, and make it off this flying castle SAFELY! If we can't do all of those, then our escape will likely fail, and I'd hate to think what sort of punishment those newts would have in store for us then."
"They may just move on from harvesting to dissecting us," said the male witch in horror.
"Exactly," said his wife, "So while we have some time together, let's think carefully of the best way we can pull this off."
The three took a pause as they began to think of ways they could escape until Raine suddenly realized something.
"I'm so sorry," they began, "I know we've hardly all been together, what with the extractions and electrocutions, I don't think we were ever properly introduced. I'm Raine, by the way, Raine Whispers."
Raine offered their hand to each of the witches, who in turn shook it. The male and female witches looked back at them before each saying.
"I'm Vincent, Vincent Farmer," said the male black-haired witch.
"Alyssa, Alyssa Farmer," said the red-haired female witch.