10. Chapter 10

It was just a normal day of school for the tall, pink newt. It was her last year before she’d be going into the military program, so she kept her head up and just did her best ‘cause she was almost there! Sure, her grades weren’t perfect, but who’s grades were? She couldn’t wait to be done with it all, though. It may be a private school, but who thought it was a good idea to put nymphs and the occasional tadpole in the same building as those who were in late puberty, like her?

Well, either way, it wasn’t like she strictly had to interact with the younger kids there. That was until she saw this little green nymph with black hair getting bullied by two other nymphs. With her wanting to be a knight, it’d be pretty pathetic if she didn’t stand up for someone who needed it. Knowing how much bigger she was, all she had to do was stand behind the victim and look scary. She knew exactly how to pull off an intimidating glare and while she didn’t use it too often, that just made it all the more effective when she did.

“Is there a problem here?” She asked the bullies. They all turned to stare at her for a moment before the bullies just backed off without saying anything. The newt immediately dropped her intimidation and looked at the victim, who gave her a wide-eyed look and thanked her.

“Thank you so much! My name’s Marcy, what’s yours?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. My name is Yunan! I’ll be going into the military program after this year instead of the scholar program, so be sure to keep an ear out for my name when I actually rack up some achievements!”

“Wow! That’s a good choice for you. With a build like yours, going into the scholar program would be a waste! My teacher says I’m better off aiming for the scholar program, myself. She says I’m really smart, but really clumsy. So it’s good to see someone like you aiming the other way! Still, I think everyone should at least learn some self defense stuff… buuuut I’ll wait until my gills are gone first…”

Marcy continued to ramble on, even changing the subject to talk about how Yunan was like a knight from one of her favourite stories. Yunan started looking for a way to get out of the conversation, but interrupting a little girl would be pretty rude and when she looked, she could see the bullies still lurking just around the corner. Small children weren’t usually very subtle. In the end, Yunan just ended up walking Marcy to her class, almost making her late for her own. Still, the nymph at least had the politeness to say goodbye.

“Bye, miss Yunan! I hope we meet again!”

“Same to you, Marcy.” It was kind of a lie, but she couldn’t exactly say something mean to a kid she’d just saved from bullies. Especially when the kid sung her praises so highly! The only thing that made Yunan kind of hope they’d keep missing each other was how Marcy went on the tangents she did. Still, if they did meet again, it wasn’t like Yunan couldn’t just tune the kid out while she talked.

The older newt was prepared to simply leave it all behind her as she refocused on her schoolwork, but that event eventually came back a few days later. Yunan was relaxing in between workouts at home on the weekend while her parents were away on some sort of business trip, so she hardly expected any visitors. Yet a knock came at the door anyways. Yunan still answered it, but she was NOT expecting to see three castle guards at her door!

“Are you a young ‘Yunan’?” One of them asked her.

“Uhh… yeah, that’s me.” Yunan started freaking out internally. Did she do something wrong that she didn’t know about? The guard speaking to her was quick to squash that idea, though.

“Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. You’ve just been summoned directly by the king himself and we’re here to escort you. Are you available right now?” Now this was a surprise! King Andrias was known for being exceedingly kind and benevolent, right up to the point of regularly meeting with the public and responding to emergencies in person. And while it wasn’t unheard of for him to summon seemingly random people of interest, Yunan couldn’t understand why he wanted to see her, of all people! But a summon from the king was still a summon from the king, so she couldn’t exactly say no.

“Uhh, sure. Just let me get changed into something a bit more presentable. These are my workout clothes, after all. Uhh… feel free to come inside while you wait.” She let them in mostly to prove that she really was just changing clothes and not running away or something dumb like that. Once she was able to close the door behind them, she rushed off to her room and changed into one of her better outfits. It was relatively plain, but so long as it wasn’t her workout clothes, she figured it’d be fine.

Reminding herself of the guard’s words, in that she wasn’t in trouble, she took a deep breath and returned to them. When she got back, she could see that one of them was actually checking out a painting on the wall. It wasn’t anything profound, but Yunan figured it was more interesting than the walls themselves, so it made sense.

“Alright, I’m ready to go. Thanks for waiting!” She announced. The guards all looked at her for a moment before nodding and leading her out of her home and into a carriage. They sat with her along the way, but Yunan felt a little bit too awkward to start a conversation, seeing as she didn’t even know why she was being summoned in the first place.

What felt like an eternity later, they finally arrived at the castle. The guards led Yunan through corridor after corridor before stopping at a massive door. They told her to wait right there until instructed otherwise, so she did as she was told. She had no idea what was going on, but she knew that her best option at this point was to just do as she was told. So she stood there in awkward silence until the massive door started to shift slightly and another newt walked out.

To say that this other newt’s beauty was radiant would be an understatement! Sure, she was shorter than Yunan, but the soft blue tone of her skin was complimented by her darker blue hair cascading over her shoulders. She wore an extremely fancy pink dress, but the colour was mild enough to not clash with her skin. Yunan was completely enraptured by the lady in front of her. If being a knight meant protecting that kind of beauty, then Yunan would try even harder to be the greatest knight she could possibly be!

“Ah, a miss ‘Yunan’, I presume?” The pink newt was jolted out of her stupor and she refocused on the task at hand.

“Y-yes, m’lady. I-I hear King Andrias wanted to see me?”

“Yes, you’re about to meet King Andrias. This is a big deal! I see you’re at least dressed somewhat decently." with those words, she casually reached out and straightened Yunan’s collar. If she hadn't been pink before, she certainly was now… wait how do you breathe again? In that moment, her focus became more tuned to trying to look normal. Thankfully, it seemed like it was working, because the blue newt simply continued talking like nothing happened.

"So simply follow me and do try to be courteous.” Yunan nodded and followed the lady. She seemed a bit young to be part of the royal court, but maybe there was a special reason she was there? Yunan assumed this lady was only a couple of years older than her and if her assumptions were correct, then why was she here? Yunan was so focused on the mysterious lady in front of her, that she didn’t even notice her surroundings, so it startled her a little bit when the lady stopped walking and spoke up.

“May I present to you, Andrias Leviathan. Lord of Amphibia, peacekeeper of a thousand years, and the first of his name.” The lady presented, as though it were a practiced speech. She gestured ahead of the two of them and for the very first time, Yunan laid her eyes directly upon their king. He was absolutely gigantic, just like she’d heard, with his white beard being the only sign of age she could see on him.

He was sitting on his throne, seemingly distracted by something. When Yunan followed his gaze, she saw a little green nymph in a pretty dress. Everyone knew that his majesty had adopted an orphan nymph a few years ago, but people rarely ever saw the supposed princess. Most people just figured he did it because of the criticisms about him not having an heir, as if it mattered when he was already over a thousand years old and still as mobile as a young adult!

Still, even if the main reason for him adopting was so that he could shut those people up, doing so was a very kind gesture. He couldn’t have an actual heir either, seeing as he was the only one of his kind, so the only way for him to have a child would be to adopt. As the newt continued to look at her king and princess, the two of them eventually turned their heads in her direction. Before the king could speak, though, the nymph’s eyes lit up with joy.

“That’s her! That’s the nice miss Yunan who helped me!” Oh. OH! The little green nymph she helped the other day was actually the princess!... Why the heck was the princess attending a private school instead of just having a private tutor? Yunan couldn’t help herself from reacting to that by recoiling slightly.

“Wait, you were the princess? I-I’m so sorry that I didn’t realize!” At this, the King’s eyes went wide and a smile graced his features.

“You didn’t know? Well that makes things even better, then. You helped a total stranger out of the kindness of your heart! Marcy here tells me you plan on going into the military program, so I was simply going to give you some money as reward. But after realizing you’d go out of your way to help even a stranger, I think I have something even better for you!” So she was summoned to receive a reward? That was such a relief! Still, Yunan knew to at least try to be humble.

“O-oh, it’s of no issue to me, your highness. I simply did what anyone should do in that situation.”

“Well, you did the right thing! And because of the exact details I heard directly from Marcy herself, I know that you’d be a perfect candidate for the Royal Newtopian Military Academy!” He boomed with joy. Yunan was awestruck!

“W-wait, really?!” Sure, the private school she was already going to was really prestigious, but this was on a whole other level! Only the best of the best ever attended the Royal Newtopian Military Academy. For someone like Yunan, this was practically a dream come true!

“Of course! I already reviewed your current grades and while the intellectual stuff could be a tad higher, I think you more than make up for it with your sheer dedication! Why, I’ll get to writing up a recommendation letter right away. And, in case you’re wondering how you’ll be able to afford the tuition price, I’ll pay for that as well. You may return home now, just expect an acceptance letter to come in the mail relatively soon!” His majesty gave her a massive smile and even giggled a little bit while winking at her. Yunan was genuinely surprised at just how generous he actually was!

“Yes sir!” The pink newt saluted him quickly before turning to leave. That was until Marcy spoke up.

“Oh, oh dad, can I walk with her on her way out? I wanna talk with her a little more!”

“Well I don’t see why not. We know she’s trustworthy! Just don’t leave the castle and don’t make her stay, okay?”

“Okay, dad!” And with that, Yunan left the King’s chambers, barely able to contain her excitement about being able to transfer to the absolute best military school that Newtopia had to offer! But then that brought with it a question that had been nagging her for a little while.

“Hey Marcy, there’s something I’m curious about.”

“What’s that?”

“Why would you, as the princess, go to a private school instead of having your own private tutor? Why our school instead of one of the royal ones? I’m not judging, just wondering.”

“Oh, that’s ‘cause I wanted to know what it was like to learn in a classroom. And I also wanted to know what some of the lower class people learned. Dad wouldn’t let me go any lower than that, but I have to make sure no one finds out that I’m actually the princess. Can I ask you to keep that secret?”

“Oh, of course! You’ve gotta have some sort of good reason for that.”

“Yeah, dad says some bad people might try to come and hurt me. I know that you’re going there and you’ll protect me really well, but you’ll be transferring soon, so you won’t be there forever. That’s okay, though! I’ll be alright so long as the secret stays safe, just like the main character in this book I read…” the nymph continued to go off about whatever random topics hit her mind after that.

While Yunan was glad that she was happy, the fact that she rambled on and on so much definitely wore her down. Still, the nymph was pretty endearing with how passionate she was and how she occasionally showered Yunan with compliments. And given that she was literally the princess, the pink newt couldn’t exactly tell her to stop. If she could manage it, she’d just have to learn how to tune the girl out while also looking like she was paying attention. Either way, they reached the door that led outside before too long and said their goodbyes.

“Alright, this is where I’ve gotta go, Marcy. I just have one last question first.”

“Oh?”

“That more noble looking newt that led me to his majesty. The one with light blue skin, dark blue hair, and a mostly pink dress.”

“Oh, you mean Olivia?”

“... I was about to ask what her name was ‘cause she didn’t tell me, but you just answered my question early. Olivia...” Yunan looked back into the castle for a moment before shaking herself out of her stupor. Marcy giggled.

“You like her, don’t you?”

“Uh- I-I mean- uhh- I don’t- umm-... please don’t tell her.” Marcy burst out laughing at how flustered Yunan got. After she calmed down, she finally responded.

“Don’t worry, your secret is as safe with me and mine is with you.” Marcy winked “Oh and by the way, only my dad and I get to call her ‘Olivia’. Everyone else calls her ‘Lady Olivia’. Just keep that in mind the next time you see her!” Yunan was a little taken aback. Was Marcy trying to help her with this? If so, then she’d probably end up spending a lot more time with the nymph! Still, her saying that made Yunan blatantly aware that she hadn’t even been using the proper title for the princess!

“I-I’ll be sure to remember that! Thank you for everything today, Lady Marcy!”

“Oh, you don’t have to call me ‘lady’. I mean, I’m younger than you and we’re friends now, right?”

“Uhh, yeah! Of course! It’s my honour, Marcy.” The nymph gave her a big smile, which the older newt had to admit was blatantly adorable! Still, she had to go at some point.

“Well, his majesty did say that I shouldn’t stick around, so I guess I’ll just… get going now.”

“Oh. Okay, then. See you at school?” Marcy looked sad that Yunan had to go, but still a little hopeful.

“Yeah, I’ll see you there!” And with that, Yunan left for home with a spring in her step! Sure enough, when her parents got back the next day and she told them about what happened, they were proud! Everything was looking up for the newt! All she had to do was defend the princess from bullies while just being her genuine friend. Sure, a few of her peers tried to make fun of her for associating with a nymph that wasn’t even related to her, but she couldn’t care less what they thought!

She also made sure to try even harder to improve her grades. It wasn’t like she wasn’t trying before, but with the incentives she suddenly had, it made her actually want to study harder! She even got Marcy to tell her more about Lady Olivia! Apparently Lady Olivia was the royal advisor despite being quite young for the role. The only reason why she got said role was because it was her late mother’s and she was next in line anyways.

Knowing that she was right about Lady Olivia only being a few years older than her made her all the more optimistic about her chances. She just had to make a name for herself first! She was a little surprised when Marcy admitted that Lady Olivia was almost like a mom to her, but that was okay. That just meant that she was kind, patient, and caring! It seemed that Marcy wasn’t too invested in setting them up or anything, though, so Yunan had to fill in a lot of the gaps herself.

All of this repeated and continued for several more months until it was finally time to graduate and choose one’s future program. Yunan had already received her acceptance letter for the Royal Newtopian Military Academy by this point, so she just flashed that and let the peers that made fun of her weep. At the very least, it was extremely cathartic!

During the summer break, Marcy actually did ask to meet up with her a couple of times just ‘cause the nymph liked her. Most of the time, they met at the castle and Yunan started to get the hang of tuning Marcy out while making it look like she was still listening. All in all, things were going pretty well!

Before she knew it, she was ready to transfer seamlessly into the Royal Newtopian Military Academy. And while she was a bit below her peers at first, her physical strength made up for it in spades! And this was one of the few schools where physical strength was highly praised. Part of her wondered why there weren’t any toads in this school, but then she remembered the tuition prices. Most of the students here had extremely wealthy families and toads typically didn’t have that kind of wealth.

Still, every student in this school was automatically enrolled as a proper soldier in the army, just with a bit of a head start. Of course, they were the last ones deployed in the event of an incident due to their age, but they were still seen as reliable enough to perform the same general tasks as any other soldier. This was what led to Yunan herself always being sent to pick up reports from the castle.

The general that sent her simply didn’t have the patience for Marcy’s rambling, so she always sent one of her soldiers every time. After the first few times, she noticed that Yunan was always less exhausted after running that errand, so she just kept on sending her until everyone started to agree that that would just be Yunan’s job. She wasn’t sure if any of them knew about her connections to Marcy, but if they did then they had to have known what they were doing.

On one of these trips, a couple of years into the four year course, something interesting happened. Every soldier always carried their preferred weapons on them, even though most newts went with a type of spear. The one flaw the generals always liked to point out with Yunan was that she consistently switched up which weapon she was using. Though the pink newt figured they were just being overdramatic. Most of the other soldiers grabbed a weapon and stuck with it without giving the more unique weapons a try, whereas Yunan gave every weapon a fair chance.

Ultimately, this was what led to her finding her favourite weapon so far and carrying it with her to the castle. After she picked up the report, she was on her way to leave when Marcy approached her as usual and started rambling about military armour and the design history of various armouries. By this point, Yunan had actually gotten pretty good at just letting Marcy ramble, even having learned when to start actually paying attention in order to answer. Halfway through her rambles, though, the younger newt (her gills were in the middle of disappearing) stopped and looked at something on Yunan.

“Woooow! Is that a bagh nakh?! Not a lot of soldiers use those!” Yunan was a little startled by the sudden change in topic, but she’d long since learned to recover from stuff like that with grace.

“Oh, yeah it is. I’ve been branching out and giving every weapon a chance. I actually really like this one!”

“That’s awesome. Did you know that the claws were inspired by a sand-liger’s and they’re often used for both battle AND climbing? Its design is meant to be hidden so that you can get the advantage of surprise!” As much as Yunan was actually kind of interested, this was actually all stuff that she’d already studied, so she tried to distract Marcy a little further.

“I did know that, actually. I’ve been training quite a bit with them, you know. Would you like a demonstration?”

“WOULD I EVER!!” And with that, Marcy grabbed Yunan by the hand and led her off to a training room filled with dummies and various acrobatics equipment. She wasn’t quite expecting this, but she figured it’d be fine ‘cause Marcy herself asked her to do it. So after a moment she took to put her weapon on, she got to work.

Picking one of the dummies, she put on a show of slashes and gouges, moving as swiftly as possible while still being flashy. She’d never actually be this flashy on the battlefield, but she wasn’t on the battlefield at the moment. She was just showing off for the princess, so she allowed herself to be a little inefficient with her flashiness! After the dummy was suitably in shambles, she finished the demonstration off by digging the claws into the dummy and jumping above and behind it in order to rip out a part of its ‘chest’! She then turned to Marcy and gave a bow.

“WOW!! That was awesome!”

“Heh, thanks! I’m still working on my technique, but I’m pretty sure this is going to be my permanent main weapon! It just feels right, ya know? The only problem is how awkward it is to arm and disarm. Well that and the fact that my general says it’s a secondary weapon only ‘cause it’s too short.”

“Hmm…” Marcy went quiet and broke eye contact with Yunan. The older newt became concerned that she might have offended the princess, but then she noticed the contemplative look that Marcy had. She’d just gone into deep thought! And if Yunan knew anything about Marcy, it was that once she was in deep thought, there was no getting her out of it.

“Alright, well… I’d better get going. I wouldn’t want to keep my general waiting any longer.”

“Hm…”

“Alright, see you soon, Marcy!” She gave the young newt a wave and headed off. The trip back went without incident, but the very next day she found out that they were all going to be shipped off to ‘The Sand Wars’! Apparently there was some sort of disruption over in the northeast region of Amphibia and things were starting to get a little dire. She didn’t know all of the details other than the fact that there was some sort of uprising, but she figured she’d find out more along the way.

They were supposed to be shipped out in two weeks from then, so Yunan had more than enough time to prepare before they headed out. She also figured that if the King had issued it, then Marcy had to know about it, so she wouldn’t need to let the girl know. Still, she felt at least a little bad about how she left her last time. She’d need to make up for it at some point. Or at least that’s what Yunan thought right up until they were only one hour away from marching out!

“Yunan! Yunan!” A young voice cried out over the crowd of soldiers, with all the ones around her turning to look in her direction and all the others turning to look at the source of the voice. When the pink newt finally saw who was calling her, she realized that it was Marcy! And once the rest of the soldiers around her realized who it was, they all parted to make way for the Princess. It was a good thing they weren’t actually standing in any sort of formation before this.

“Oh, hey Marcy. Did you come to see us off?” She had to play this off cooly. Everyone there already knew about Yunan’s connections to the crown by this point, but they’d never actually seen her interact with the Princess!

“Yeah and I worked really hard to get you this in time!” The little green newt held out a large bundle that was packed in brown paper “It’s a ‘good luck’ present! I’m honestly really proud of it.” Marcy flashed Yunan a big smile, just filled with a sense of optimistic brilliance that only she could muster! The older of the two took the gift and started to unwrap it with the younger effectively bouncing around in anticipation. When she pulled back the last part of the wrapping, she saw that it was a new pair of gauntlets!

As Yunan looked them over, she noticed how nice they looked. They were able to stretch all the way up to her elbows with fur lining and two fancy, long ridges along the back of each hand. Seeing how Marcy was still giggling with anticipation, Yunan simply removed her old gauntlets and put the new ones on. They fit perfectly and once they were set in place, she noticed that the upper part of the palm seemed to be a separate plate set into the rest of the glove. The moment that Marcy saw her investigating that part, she spoke up again.

“Okay, okay. So just humor me, okay?”

“Ooookay?”

“So ball your hands up into fists, like you’re holding an invisible bagh nakh, but just… keep them away from your face!” Yunan followed her instructions and pressed her fingers down onto the plate. She heard a click and the sound of a spring just as a big, long claw jumped foreward from each of the ridges! Yunan’s eyes went wide, Marcy actually squealed in delight, and the crowd of other soldiers let out a few ooh’s and ahh’s. Oh yeah, the rest of the soldiers were watching them.

“Okay, so I heard what you said about how you really liked the bagh nakh despite its shortcomings, so I decided to fix those shortcomings for you! I got help making them thanks to the royal blacksmith, but I made the design and inner mechanics myself! I’ve even got the paperwork here for you to carry a custom weapon that my dad has already signed. All it needs is your signature and you’ll be able to take those into The Sand Wars with you!”

Marcy explained and then held out a small stack of papers and a quill that already had ink inside of it. Yunan looked between the papers and the gauntlets for a minute before wondering how to make the blades retreat. She uncurled her fist, but just as she did so, the blades retreated back into the gauntlets themselves, which answered that question well enough. Yunan immediately grabbed the quill and signed the papers in front of everyone only for Marcy to hand it right over to her general who had also been watching!

After all of that, Yunan honestly felt kinda bad about ignoring Marcy so often. The kid had really taken a shine to her and even ignoring the fact that she was the Princess, it still warmed Yunan’s heart! She then internally vowed to actually try to listen to the girl more often, if it made her happy. Meanwhile Marcy finished up the more formal part of the exchange between her and the general. Once they were done, the general gave a big sigh and relented to the princess’ demands about Yunan’s weapon choice.

Once all was said and done, Marcy left Yunan to her duties. It was sad to see her go, but the princess hoped that her gift would give Yunan the edge she needed in order to come back completely safe. As time went on, her dad would get reports of the battle and he had Marcy look them all over. Yes, he knew how to handle this better than she did, but he reasoned that she needed to learn someday and a second set of eyes always did wonders just in case something got missed.

In reality, he didn’t miss anything. But Marcy still took the opportunity to learn more about how to handle a war. Wars were extremely rare in Amphibia, but it was always good to know how to handle even the rarest of emergencies! And while Marcy was able to learn quite a lot from reading over the reports, she always kept an eye out for any mention of her favourite soldier!

It actually took a little over a month for any of the reports to mention Yunan and Marcy couldn’t be happier with what she saw! Apparently Yunan was single-handedly tearing through the enemy! Sure, she’d rush ahead of the rest of the army a lot, but the fact that she always came back without a scratch said a lot for her skill! Marcy suggested they send her on more solo missions, seeing as that was how she worked best, but her dad refused.

All they knew about the enemy was that their leader was called ‘Ragnar the Wretched’, so the only solo missions would be spy related ones and Andrias didn’t trust her to be stealthy enough to be a spy. Still, reports kept piling up that mentioned Yunan’s proficiency on the battlefield, so he permitted her to have a proper promotion. Marcy was ecstatic when she heard that ‘cause it meant that Yunan would be getting even more respect!

The cycle of information continued on for a few more months on top of that, right up until the big report came in. The Newtopian army had won! And sure enough, it was Yunan herself who had defeated Ragnar the Wretched and ended the war! After a quick chat, Marcy’s dad finally relented to allow Yunan another promotion and the promise of a third promotion into the general position once she actually graduated.

When the soldiers all returned and Marcy was able to track Yunan down, she told her about her promised promotion. It would ultimately make her the youngest newt to ever achieve that rank in the Newtopian army! The whole thing ended with Yunan actually crying a little out of sheer happiness and giving Marcy a hug in front of everyone. While a few people gasped at the fact that she’d just hug the princess like that, the moment that Marcy returned the hug, they all turned to look the other way.

After Yunan had settled back into her regular life, Marcy asked her to meet up at a prestigious cafe that was relatively close to the castle. The princess had gone in disguise, just as she’d done every time she left the castle without an escort. Yunan was the only person outside of the royal circles who knew about her disguise, of course. Once they were there, she had Yunan tell her all about what happened while she was deployed and on the front lines! Things were going well until one particularly stuck up noble newt from the table across the way started getting a little too nosy.

“Excuse me, could you NOT talk about that sort of drivel while I’m trying to enjoy my afternoon tea?” The two looked at the man, who was glaring daggers at both of them. While Marcy stayed quiet, Yunan had seen much scarier things than some eavesdropping, pearl-clutching, man baby.

“Look buddy, I just got back from a war, so there’s no way someone like you could ever intimidate me. Just mind your own business!”

“Hmph! What’s a mere degenerate soldier like you doing here at a cafe like this, then? Shouldn’t you be at home polishing your spear or something?”

“Oh what, I’m not allowed a nice break away from fighting to catch up with a friend of mine?” She gestured towards Marcy. While the younger newt was disgusted at this man’s lack of basic respect, she was a little caught off guard by Yunan openly stating that they were friends! As she thought about it, she realized that Yunan really was the only person that she could actually call a genuine friend!

“Oh, you’re allowed to have a break, just keep it to yourself instead of bringing it here!” The stuck up newt said with a sneer. Marcy wasn’t usually the one to get involved in situations like this, but she’d had enough of this. So many of the people within the royal circles had criticized Yunan, saying she wasn’t worthy of all the special attention that Marcy gave her and the young newt had finally had enough of all that. This time, she was the one to speak up!

“Look, I don’t know who you think you are, but how dare you talk to the great soon-to-be-General Yunan like that?! Scourge of the Sand Wars, defeater of Ragnar the Wretched, and the youngest newt to ever be promised the rank of general in the great Newtopian army! You are nothing compared to her!” She turned to the pink newt “Come on, Yunan. Your precious time is being wasted on morons like him!”

It took everything Marcy had to not just break down right then and there. She’d never blown up at someone like that before and she really hoped it could be kept a secret from anyone in the royal circles! She silently thanked olms that she was in disguise as she walked out of the cafe, leaving enough cash on the table to cover the bill. Yunan followed immediately behind her with wide eyes.

“Wooow Marcy, I didn’t even know you could GET angry like that.”

“I’m just sick of people not respecting you. You’re literally the coolest person I’ve ever met and you’re a true hero! Not only helping in the military, but helping anyone in need, no matter how small! I could tell right from when we first met that you really were a diamond in the rough. But so many people just haven’t seen you shine yet and I’m sick of people saying that you’re not worth it.”

“Do uhh… do people really say that about me?”

“Well only a bunch of people in the royal circles, but those are the people I always see the most of! A lot of that started to die down when we started getting word of how well you were doing out there during the war, but I still hear the occasional bit here and there… don’t worry, Olivia never said anything like that. I know she’s the only one in those circles you actually care about.” Yunan blushed a bit at the mention of Lady Olivia, but kept her composure.

“Well that’s gonna change soon enough! Once word gets out about my achievements, they’ll all stop and you won’t have to deal with hearing that kind of stuff anymore! Heh, mind if I borrow what you said back there in order to make the point hit home?” Marcy looked up to meet Yunan’s eyes and smiled.

“Of course! Just make sure to repeat it often enough that it sticks!” And with that, Yunan built a catchphrase around her achievements so that everyone would know about her. The negative gossip about her eventually died down, which Marcy was thankful for. She’d always been able to see the best in the older newt, realizing her heroic potential right from the first moment.

Her peers had stopped making fun of her only a few months into their initial friendship ‘cause they were too scared of Yunan, so Marcy knew to stick by her. She was one of the only people who never showed any signs of being tired of Marcy’s talking. Sure, with her being the princess, nobody could actually tell her to shut up, but she’d learned to recognize when someone was thinking it! The only other people who actually seemed to listen to her were Olivia and her dad, so it was nice to have someone outside of the royal circles who she could connect with.

Yunan had ended up helping Marcy out a lot ‘cause without the bullies blocking her progress, (she’d have to see if she could figure out a way to crack down on bullying when she grew up) she was able to study even harder than before! Marcy loved learning new things so much that she’d regularly go to the Newtopian Scolar Library just to study. Heck, she even set up her own personal nook that she’d ended up bribing the staff to pretend wasn’t there. She always went in disguise, though, because she didn’t need a crowd of people trying to bother her.

Oftentimes she’d hyperfocus and spend way too long there, sometimes even getting locked in overnight by accident! But it didn’t matter, so long as she was able to get back home by the morning of the next day. Her dad insisted that she come home at least every morning so that she’d take her medicine on time. He’d told her that she was an orphan before she was taken in and somehow her growth was stunted because of that, so she needed to take it every day in order to maintain proper health.

She didn’t really think anything of it, though. She’d oftentimes forget to take it only to be found by either Olivia or her dad and be reminded of it. Oh, maybe that was why her dad insisted on her coming home to take it every day! He just wanted to make sure she was staying healthy because of how much he loved her! Either way, it seemed like her being an hour or so late wasn’t that big of a deal, so sometimes she just let herself finish the section she was on first.

Eventually she settled into a routine where she’d wake up, put on her disguise, take her medicine, go to the library, study all day and night, go home in the morning, take her medicine again, then spend the rest of that day doing royal things and finally go to bed. Her dad didn’t have any issue at all with her doing those things, so as long as she remembered her medicine, things were able to continue like this for a long time.

That was until one fateful afternoon where Marcy’s life changed forever! It was a little over a year after Yunan had graduated and assumed her promised role as general, so she had far more military related duties than before. This meant that the two couldn’t see each other quite as often, but that was okay ‘cause Marcy could just bury herself in her books even more! There was one day, however, that she got so engrossed in what she was reading, that she completely lost track of the time.

It started with her feeling a little warmer than usual. Not that big of a deal, but then she just got warmer and warmer until she couldn’t take it anymore. She moved to get up, but then everything started to cramp up. It was like she had the worst stomachache ever, with it even rushing up and into her chest. It was hard to breathe! She stumbled out of her little personal nook just as the pain started washing over her and she couldn’t hold in a scream of pain anymore!

She stumbled on her way out of her nook, knocking over a pile of books she’d been intending to read. She barely even felt the books hit her, given all the searing pain! She needed to get out of there, fast! Then she heard a scream sound out just a little bit away from her and she turned to face the source.

“H-h-he-elp m-me!” She choked out to the newt she saw. Her vision was distorted, almost as if each eye was seeing differently, so she couldn’t make out many details of the newt in front of her, but one thing she did see was the book they threw straight at her! It hit her right on the head, adding a sharp pain to the aching fire washing over her entire body! She screamed in agony while the newt who threw the book ran off, screaming in what sounded like fear.

She curled up in pain as much as she could underneath the pile of books, with a couple more of them falling past her face. Eventually the pain managed to subside, but everything with her felt… off. She panted and tried to squirm out from underneath the pile of books she was buried under. She then heard a few more screams coming from nearby her and when she looked up towards them, she noticed that it was somehow much easier to focus her vision than it was before the pain started!

She tried lifting herself up and found that the books that were on top of her felt lighter than she expected. But when she looked down at her hand, she got more confused than she’d ever been before! Her hand was bigger, almost like it was swollen and it looked to be an almost sickly olive brown with an extra finger and even some weirdly shaped claws at the tips! What the heck happened?! By the time she stood up, everyone was gone!

She noticed that she was taller now and the rest of her skin had turned the same colour as her hand. She started trying to walk, but found her center of balance off, almost like she’d lost her tail! This made it even more difficult for her to move around, but she managed to pry herself out from between the bookshelves and out into the open. Everyone was completely gone and they’d left her behind! Marcy started to panic.

What was going on?! Where did everyone go?! Why did everyone scream the moment they saw her in pain?! She moved over to where there was a decorative set of armour, polished to a perfect reflective shine and used it to look at her reflection. She screamed in horror and could only formulate one thought in that moment.

“WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME?!” She screamed! Her reflection betrayed an absolutely horrifying monster! Some sort of predatory creature that she’d never even heard of before! She started to cry and as she did, the beast in the reflection did too. She had to find a way to fix this! Maybe someone cursed her? That had to be it! She could figure out who it was later, though. For now, she just had to find something that would tell her how to fix this! And with everyone having run away, she just might be able to find something…

Meanwhile, a regular Newtopian guard came running up to General Yunan about an incident at the Newtopian Scolar Library. Apparently some sort of wild beast had appeared somewhere inside the building and had tried to attack some of the people there? Seeing as she was the highest ranked military official within a decent radius at the time, of course she was the first one called. Oh well, not every fight of hers had to be against some renowned warrior!

Of course a few regular city patrol guards were the first ones to get there, but all of them waited outside the library for further instructions. From what Yunan could tell, they’d completely evacuated the building before she got there, which she had to admit was a good first step. The second step would be to deal with this supposed beast in whatever way was necessary! While the guards offered their assistance, she told them to stay outside. An army just slowed her down, after all. However, there was one voice Yunan wasn’t expecting to hear chime in on all this.

“General Yunan, I will be going in with you.”

“No you wo- L-Lady Olivia?!” Yunan was surprised to see her crush out here like this, but she kept her composure and listened to her explanation.

“Of course! As caretaker of this land and all its creatures, this is partially my responsibility as well. If this supposed ‘beast’ is simply some frightened and trapped creature, then it is my duty to make sure it is returned to its natural habitat if at all possible.”

“W-well, I understand that, but…”

“Yunan, I do not answer to you. I am going in to see if this can be handled nonviolently whether you like it or not.”

“O-of course, my Lady. But might I suggest you not stray far from me? If it’s the kind of creature that lashes out when it’s scared, then you might need some defense.”

“That sounds fair enough. Just don’t attack it unless I give some sort of signal that I might need help, okay?”

“Yes, my Lady!” And with that, the two of them entered the library, not having any real idea what to expect. The reports told of some big, gangly creature with brown skin and too many fingers on its hand. Along with predatory eyes that lock onto its prey and the ability to somehow imitate speech as well? It sounded like something from some sort of horror novel! And yet, multiple eye witnesses had reported the exact same thing, so it had to be true, right?

It took a little while of searching, but eventually they started to hear something that sounded like a child crying. Maybe some kid had gotten trapped and was too scared to move? Though it might also be this ‘beast’, so the two of them kept their guard up as they followed the sound. Eventually they found a lanky, strange looking creature that matched the witnesses’ description wedged between a bookshelf and the wall, furiously leafing through a book with tear tracks on its face! In between sobs, they could hear it mumbling.

“Come on, come on! Illusion, poisoning, curses, there must be something!” It… was actually speaking. Yunan took a step towards it and it immediately turned to look at her. As its predatory eyes locked onto her, Yunan clenched her fists, bringing out her claws in defense! The beast’s eyes went wide with what almost looked like fear, but recognition. Then it actually spoke to them, terror lacing its tone!

“Olivia! Yunan! Please! You have to help me!” Yunan lowered her fighting stance and unclenched her fists, sheathing her claws. She knew that voice and it called the both of them out by name! And given the hair…

“L-Lady Marcy?” Lady Olivia ventured a guess. It couldn’t be, could it? Sure, the similarities were uncanny, but there’s no way the princess actually got turned into… THIS, right?! How was that even possible without a curse? And who in their right mind would dare curse the princess of all people?! The creature started sobbing even harder and continued on.

“Please! I-I don’t understand what happened! I was just r-reading about barbariants a-and suddenly everything started to hurt! I-I called for h-h-help, but everyone ran from me!” She put her hands on her face, emphasizing her point “What’s happening to me?!”

“L-lady Marcy, please calm down. We’ll find a way to reverse this!” Lady Olivia reached her hands out towards Marcy and nervously placed one onto the girl’s shoulder. This made her sob even harder yet, though she did lean into the touch. Yunan approached, but kept her hands to herself as she voiced the big question.

“Soooo… what do you suggest we do now?” Neither of the others had an answer, but they did at least seem to be thinking about it. However, they were interrupted by a massive, looming shadow that suddenly cast over them.

“You come with me.” King Andrias’ voice sounded above them. Usually his voice boomed over everything, but this time it carried a much more reserved tone. He was purposely being quieter.

“D-Dad! Please, it’s me! I-”

“I know, Marcy. I know exactly what’s going on and I’ll tell you once we get you back home. For now, just come here.” He extended one of his massive hands and picked the girl up. She didn’t struggle or anything, just climbed on to the best of her ability and curled up. He held her close to his side and used his other hand to pull part of his cape over himself so that the princess-turned-monster was completely hidden. She stopped crying to the best of her ability and went totally quiet. He then turned to Lady Olivia and General Yunan.

“And I’d appreciate it if the two of you followed me closely as well.” Of course they did exactly as he instructed and once they were out of the building, the King immediately lied, stating that none of them could find a trace of this ‘beast’ and if there was one in the first place there was a good chance it went back to where it came from. While this was indeed a lie, Yunan could completely understand why he did it, so she just played along.

After confirming a couple of reports and giving permission for the guards to check the place over themselves, the King headed right back to the castle with the two who knew the truth in tow. Once they got back and had a private area to just the four of them, he placed Marcy down and onto the floor. When he did, Yunan saw just how distraught the poor girl actually was! Her breathing was shaky, her face was stained with tears, and the outer parts of her eyes had even turned as pink as Yunan’s skin. She was an absolute mess, even for a monster! The King then presented Marcy with a small bottle of glowing yellow liquid.

“Wh-what? My medicine?”

“Please, Marcy, just drink it. Everything will make sense once you do.” The girl looked a little skeptical, but did as she was told anyways. Almost immediately after doing so, she started to shrink down to her usual size with her skin returning to its normal bright green and her face contorting into the shape of a newt’s. Looking at her hands, Yunan could see that they were back to normal, with only four fingers, plus her tail had returned! She was back to looking like her regular self again!

“Whaaa?” Marcy, Yunan, and Lady Olivia all said in unison before turning to the King. He wore a sullen expression as he met the gazes of the three newts in front of him. He then sighed and started to explain.

“You see, roughly ten years ago, an infant creature of unknown origin randomly appeared in the basement of the castle. I was never able to figure out how she got there, what she was, or who left her there. But one thing was for certain: she was a baby in need of care. That baby was, of course, Marcy. I resolved to try to find her biological parents, but I couldn’t even find any information about the species in general!

“Over only a couple of days, I became very attached to her, but I knew that if I brought her into the public eye, there’d be an outcry! And even if I could eventually quell that, there’d be no way to prevent her from growing up feeling like she was an outcast. So I found a solution! I sent one soldier (who prefers to remain anonymous) on a quest to find something to solve the problem and when he came back, he had a crate full of little glass bottles, each containing a glowing yellow liquid.” He shifted his attention directly towards the young, green newt.

“I’m sorry Marcy, for not telling you sooner. That ‘medicine’ is actually a magic potion that keeps you transformed into a newt. It lasts for thirty-two hours at a time, but can easily be stacked with no side effects. I wish I could have told you sooner, but you have to understand that I was just doing what was best for you. I hope you can forgive me for that.” There was silence. So that weird beast of a creature was actually what Marcy was supposed to look like?

“D-dad?”

“Yes, Marcy?”

“It’s okay. I understand now. I just… I just need a minute.” And with that, the princess ran off. The three adults watched her go, all of them knowing that she wasn’t okay, but not wanting to invade her space any more than she was comfortable with at that moment. Yunan even noticed that she ran in the direction of her bedroom and not the door, which meant she was willing to deal with this, given enough time. His Majesty was the first of them to speak up after that, giving a sigh first.

“... That was about as smooth of a recovery as I could have hoped for.” He turned to the other two “As for you two, I must sincerely ask that neither of you spread this secret. For the sake of Marcy’s own safety, of course. If the public found out about this, there’d be an uproar! I mean, you saw how they treated her at the library, right? Just imagine the chaos if they found out that the thing they were so scared of was the actual princess!”

“Of course, your Highness!”

“My lips are sealed, your Majesty!” Olivia and Yunan respectively promised in full sincerity.

“Wonderful! Thank you! I knew I could count on you two to help keep my daughter safe! For now, though, she just needs some space. I’ll check on her soon, but in the meantime, you two are dismissed. Oh and once again, thank you!” King Andrias said before leaving the room, himself. The silence left between the two remaining newts was palpable, so the two of them just ended up awkwardly leaving as well. As much as Yunan wanted nothing more than to be around the good Lady, this really was NOT the time!

Meanwhile Marcy was internally spiraling down a hole of mental anguish! Yes, her dad had a good reason for lying like he had, but that didn’t stop Marcy from feeling absolutely horrid about it! How was she just ‘not a newt’?! It was what she’d been for her whole life, so how could she just be something else all of a sudden?! Her mind grappled with her new sense of reality for a whole hour before her dad came knocking.

“Hellooo Marcy, I know things are rough for you right now, but are you ready to talk about it?” She contemplated his words for a bit before opening her door for him. He couldn’t exactly fit inside her room, so she stepped out to face him.

“Ah, it’s good to see you, my dear. Are you feeling at least a little bit better?”

“Y-yeah. I-I’m… doing alright.”

“Hmm…”

“You know… Whatever I was before, that’s not what I am now. All of my memories have me being a newt, so that’s moreso what I really am than anything else. Just like how I know I’m not your biological daughter, but you’re still my dad ‘cause when you adopted me, I became your daughter. So I don’t care who or even what I was before. Right now, I’m Marcy Leviathan, princess of Amphibia and heir to the throne! It doesn’t matter what’s underneath ‘cause after all of my life so far, I’m much more of a newt than anything else!”

Marcy looked at her dad with renewed determination! Her mind was made up. Was she in denial? Maybe, but that was the most she could really hope for in that moment. Her dad smiled at her and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh Marcy, you have no idea how much you saying that means to me! You know what? I have something very important to show you.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“It’s where I originally found you. I think you’re ready to know more about this. Trust me, this is something you’ll want to see!”

“Oh. Okay then.” Marcy kinda didn’t want to see anything relating to her origin after making a speech like that, but if her dad said she needed to see it, then she’d at least have to have a look. Just like earlier in the day, he scooped her up with one hand and carried her away. The only difference this time being that she didn’t have to hide herself. Eventually they came to an odd statue that was standing against the wall. The King then reached over and pulled a lever with his free hand, thus springing a mechanism that made the statue move aside and reveal a stairwell leading downwards.

He then grabbed a torch and descended with Marcy still clinging onto him. The basement was always off limits, so she held on tight and shut her eyes against anything unpleasant she might see down there. In response, she could feel the hand underneath her shift as he held her closer. She heard some weird, frankly disturbing sounds along the way, but she was obedient enough to keep her eyes closed until she was told to open them.

Eventually her dad came to a stop and she heard a sound like stone grinding against stone followed by a loud thud. He started moving again, going down yet another flight of stairs before coming to a halt again. This time, though, he spoke up.

“Here we are, Marcy.” Tentatively, the princess opened her eyes to a small room with most of it draped in darkness and shadow, except for a bit of an open area in the middle. She pointed at the more well lit area.

“Is that-?”

“Yes, that’s where I found you. You see, there’s something far more important in this room that you need to know about.” Marcy looked over to the rest of the area and didn’t see anything at first, but just as she was about to ask, a single glowing orange eye appeared with at least eight others following suit shortly after. All of them shifted to focus directly onto Marcy herself and the girl felt a shiver run up her spine. Her dad set her down in front of himself to let her approach on her own terms if she wanted to.

“Don’t be afraid, Marcy. This is The Core. It’s a collection of Amphibia’s greatest minds, preserved for all eternity. Only the smartest minds are permitted to join them, but only after their natural bodies would have expired.” Marcy looked back at her dad. Not only was this thing conscious, but it had multiple minds?! He continued.

“When the brightest of geniuses grow too old and their bodies fail them, they’re offered a chance to join the Core and pool their knowledge in with all the other geniuses throughout history, continuing to thrive and learn more in the process. It’s a great honour to be permitted to join and I’m ecstatic at the fact that I’m set to join them when I pass away, even if that won’t be for another few thousand more years. And being a part of the Core means that one will never be alone! There will always be someone listening to your theories and speculations!” The girl looked back at the Core. As it stared at her, she realized that the minds within were still able to perceive the world around them.

What kind of knowledge was contained in there, she wondered. How many minds were already a part of it? All of the knowledge of the greatest minds sharing their information? And to have someone always listening to her and all of her thoughts and observations? It sounded to Marcy like it was pure heaven! Of all the questions she had, only one escaped her.

“How do I become a part of this?” She looked back at her dad, who seemed a little surprised at her question, but then broke into a huge smile.

“Well, Marcy, you’re actually already on your way there, what with how much you study. Why, you’re one of the brightest minds I’ve seen in a long time and you’ll no doubt be joining them once you reach your old age!” Marcy beamed, knowing that even after she grew up and grew old, she’d have this waiting for her in the end! But something still weighed on her mind, which made her expression fall.

“But what about… you know… my origin?”

“Ah, that. You don’t need to worry about that. Like you said earlier, you’re more newt than anything else nowadays!...” Andrias sighed “At least, that’s what I’d like to say.” Marcy’s eyes went wide as she looked at her dad, fear beginning to seep its way into her expression. Would she not be allowed to join them because of that? He continued to explain.

“In reality, it might end up happening a bit sooner than anticipated. You see, there’s a prophecy. This prophecy states that one day a darkness will come, bent on destroying Amphibia. When that day comes, the Core will need a vessel to play its part and lead us to victory. This vessel is supposed to appear before the core, having come from far away long before this happens.

“Truth be told, I was terrified of this prophecy because no vessel had been found and therefore we couldn’t win if it came to pass before then. That was until you appeared here before the core when you were a baby. From that moment, we knew you were the chosen one destined to lead us all to victory!”

Marcy’s shoulders went slack as she looked back at the core. She was the chosen one? It made sense why they’d come to that conclusion, seeing as she just… appeared there one day, like the prophecy said. But still, there was something she didn’t quite understand.

“Vessel?”

“Yes, all of the minds within the Core need to be able to act during the events of the prophecy. When the time comes, they’ll need a proper body to act through. So then it’ll be less of you joining them in that machine and more of them joining you in your body. You’ll be able to become a part of the Core without giving up your mobility! The machine will remain on standby just in case, but still!” This got Marcy excited! It’d be the best of both worlds!

“And what about after we save Amphibia? Will they stay with me? Will they go back to the machine only for me to rejoin them when I’m old? Or will I just go with them when the time comes?”

“Oh, they’ll stay with you because there’ll be so much more to do! You see, the prophecy was so terrifying that we’ve effectively been laying low for a thousand years now! But once everything’s said and done here in Amphibia, we’re going to use THIS!!” Andrias said, pulling out a small device from behind his back and handing it to Marcy.

When she took it, she looked all over it. She didn’t see what was so special about it, honestly. From what she could tell, it was just a small frog themed music box with three grey gems embedded in the top. She looked up at her dad for an explanation, which he promptly provided.

“You see, that box is able to facilitate interdimensional travel. Once all’s said and done here in Amphibia, we’re going to travel to other worlds to spread our glory and give the natives of those worlds access to the wonders we have here! After all, keeping all the good stuff to ourselves is just plain greedy, wouldn’t you agree?” The girl’s eyes went wide with realization.

“Of course! I’m assuming the only reason we haven’t actually done it is because you didn’t want to attract the attention of whatever this ‘darkness’ is too early, right?”

“That’s exactly it! Well… that and the fact that those gems were the source of the magic that caused it to work, but they’ve lost their colour over time. I don’t know how to get them back, unfortunately. I’ve been consulting the Core and all other sources available to us for solutions for years now, but I haven’t ever found even a single one. ”

“Hmm…”

“But Marcy, that’s okay. You’re still very young, so we should actually be hoping for a delay in all of this until you’re much older. Granted, it’ll come when it comes, but the Core and I sincerely hope that it won’t happen until you’re an adult. Until then, all you need to do is keep studying and keep this all a secret. If the public found out about the prophecy, then everyone would feel nothing but existential dread and no one would be able to simply go about their happy, little lives while they can.”

“Okay, I understand. You know, I’ve been watching you deal with the military for quite a while now and although my path is definitely in the role of a scholar, I think I’d benefit from doing some military training. You know, just so that I can know how an army works from the inside and therefore can more easily lead one in the future.” This time it was Andrias’ turn for his eyes to go wide.

“That’s… actually a great idea, Marcy! There’s no better teacher than experience and that will be the perfect way to make sure you’re ready to help the Core lead all of us to victory!... And it’ll toughen up your body enough that you can actually defend yourself in the event of an emergency! However, you’re still only ten years old, so I’d say you’re still just a little bit too young for that yet.” Marcy felt extremely proud of herself for suggesting such a great idea right up until her dad’s last sentence.

“But I-”

“No buts, Marcy. You’re still my daughter and I don’t want to see you getting hurt! You can start to dabble in it when you’re twelve, but for now I suggest you stick to studying.”

“Alright, fine… hey dad?”

“Yes Marcy?”

“Thank you for bringing me here and showing me all of this. I… really needed it after the rough day I had today.” A kind smile graced the King’s features as he picked his daughter back up and held her close.

“Of course, my dear. I could tell because of how much I love you and want nothing but the best for my little princess!” Marcy gave her dad as much of a hug as she possibly could, given the size difference between them and stayed like that as he took her back up the stairs and out of the basement. He then took her back to her room and reached into it with the hand that was holding her, then dropped her onto her bed. She’d had a very tiring day, so she just curled up right then and there to fall asleep while her dad did his best to tuck her in with his limited mobility.

As the following two years passed by, Marcy considered exactly what branch of the military she’d be entering and after a lot of careful consideration, she ended up choosing the Newtopian Night Guard because they often work alone and utilize strategy. When she presented her decision to her dad, he approved on one condition. That she keep an iron-reinforced medicine bottle holder with a bottle of back-up medicine tied to her belt at all times. She didn’t need to tell anyone about it, so she agreed.

Instating her into that military branch when it was time went much more smoothly than Marcy expected. And for what it was worth, she was actually really enjoying herself! Over the course of a year, she’d done so many things! For example, she fought a creepy cult and saved the innocent people they were trying to sacrifice. She took down a cobra, eventually doing it in via catapult instead of brute strength! And in the end, she spent two months on a warship with none other than General Yunan herself!

All of her experiences with the military brought her out of the capitol and let her see Amphibia from a much closer point of view! No longer was she just going off of what a textbook or Olivia told her. Heck, she even started making her own discoveries with how the chemicals from various plant species interacted when mixed! After she reported how and what she was learning, she found that her dad showed even more support than before! Even her physical health started to improve with all the exercise she was getting!

She also got special training for using a crossbow, but she mostly attached ropes to the ends of the arrows so that she could swing herself around and stay mobile. Of course she had a few arrows that were more free for the purpose of offense, but still. Her dad had been exceedingly happy when she said she was practicing with a ranged weapon because that meant she was out of harm’s way while still contributing! All in all, everything was looking up and Marcy had never felt better about herself!

Of course, she grew curious about the species she was born as, but every time a question came up in her mind, she actively squashed it. It was the one thing that she refused to touch, no matter what. Sure, if she ever found another, she’d try to figure out more about them , but she wasn’t about to just let herself revert to whatever the heck she turned into that one day. After overhearing someone else’s retelling, calling her ‘The Newtopian Book Beast’, she’d never live it down. She just had to bury that part of her past and do her best to forget about it!

Eventually she was assigned to help with the barbariant invasion. It seemed like they were simply trying to migrate due to the warming weather and had chosen Newtopia as their new nesting grounds. Given that they were an extremely aggressive species, this meant they had to get rid of them in order to protect the people! Marcy had to admit that they were pretty smart for a bunch of insects, seeing as they chose an area surrounded by water when they were actually pretty scared of fire.

Marcy, however, was far smarter. All she needed was a bit of oil and they were running for their lives, what with oil floating on top of water and still being flammable, that is. One day, during her patrol on top of the gate, she actually got an opportunity to use that strategy! There was some sort of small group of travellers who wanted into the city, but were getting attacked by the barbariants!

They seemed to be proficient enough to fight one of them off, but against a whole attack squad of them? Marcy knew she had to help! She immediately fastened a bunch of small, easily breakable bags of oil to arrows and fired them so that they’d land in a circle around the group. Then she lit a very small cattail on fire and shot it at the oil! As she’d predicted, it worked like a charm! All she had to do after that was check on them and see if they were alright. It was made quite convenient because she still had to meet up with Branson, Bartley, and Blair, who were outside the city walls and discussing strategies.

Once she was able to confirm that the people were safe, she shot an arrow with a rope attached down at their wagon and used a hook that was attached to her belt to grab onto it and start sliding down the length of the rope. She even did a flip to show off so that those people would know that they were in good hands! As she approached, she noticed that there were only four of them and three out of those four were frogs. The last one, though…

Oh. Oh no. NO WAY!! Time seemed to slow down for the newt. The fourth member of the group was some sort of monster, with its foreward facing eyes and weird face bump. It almost looked just like her reflection did during that one day at the library three years ago! It was another one of whatever she was born as! Her dad had told her that he was never able to find any information on whatever she used to be, but here was one of them, standing right there with those frogs!

She was so caught up in her own thoughts, that she forgot to keep proper posture and ended up jostling her rope so that it snapped and she fell face first into the water!

“Oof.”

“Been there.”

“Didn’t really stick the landing.”

“I hope they’re alright.” Marcy heard four different voices speaking all at once, which meant that this… thing that looked like what she used to be was intelligent enough to speak! A small part of Marcy was instantly relieved in knowing that she did indeed come from an intelligent species, at least. The moment she got her bearings back, she picked herself up and sorted herself out. She had to introduce herself, so she pulled back the hood that was covering her face and looked straight at the creature in front of her. She was nervous, but also excited to meet someone who was apparently like her, even if they didn’t know it yet. She opened her mouth.

“H-hi there. M-my name’s Marcy.”