18. Azura's Troupe

Luz sat in the living room reading her Azura book, today the students had a day off so they were enjoying some much needed free time. Luz was reading her book, while Lilly was drawing something in a notepad. Strangely Gustav and Amara weren't around, but neither Luz or Lilly noticed at first. Though eventually Luz did look up from her book.

"Hey where are Gustav and Amara?" she asked.

Lilly looked up from what she was drawing, "hmmm now that you mention I haven't seen them since breakfast."

Luz was about to respond until she heard some music being played, "hey do you hear that?"

Lilly perked up her ears and heard the music Luz was referring to, "let's go check it out."

Luz and Lilly followed the sound of the music out of the hosue and around to the back. There they saw Amara and Gustav playing together. Amara was playing a small harp while Gustav was playing an ocarina. The two were deep in playing of their instruments and didn't notice Lilly and Luz arrive. Lilly and Luz were captivated by the song they were playing and listened intently. Gustav and Amara kept playing and eventually finished their song, when they did Luz and Lilly both applauded finally alerting the other two to their presence there.

"Bravo!" cheered Luz.

"That was very elegant," said Lilly.

"Um thank you," answered Amara slightly embarrassed.

"Ah you weren’t supposed to see us," said Gustav as he tried to hide his ocarina.

"Why not?" asked Luz, "that sounded beautiful! You both sounded great!"

"Yeah how'd this happen?" asked Lilly.

Gustav and Amara looked at each other before Amara spoke, "well I was practicing my harp one day and Gustav happened to find me, kind of like how you guys found us just now, and he showed me how he had an ocarina. We jammed together for a bit and decided to keep at it."

"Amara told me how she'd been required to learn a musical instrument as part of her upbringing," said Gustav, "as for me well my dad has had an interest in music for most of his life. In fact he'd honestly rather perform as a street musician than be a soldier."

"That song you were playing was that from the Opera of the Frog Knight?" asked Lilly.

"Yes, you've heard of it?" asked Amara, "I remember seeing it when I was a kid. I didn't really understand much of it, but I remember loving the music from it."

"Oh yeah I've heard about it but never seen it," said Lilly, "I'm honestly surprised they would play it in Newtopia seeing as it's about well a frog."

"Huh I guess I never thought of that," said Amara.

"In any case," said Gustav, "that particular piece is from near the end where Sir Glen finally manages to avenge his brother Cyrus. He takes a moment to reflect on everything that's happened to him."

"Have you ever seen it?" asked Lilly.

"Well no, but Amara gave me a summary of what happens," explained Gustav. "I had managed to get some of the score from the opera and began practicing the music

"Actually now that I think about it," began Amara, "the Opera is about a frog, but I doubt many frogs outside of Newtopia have seen it. A full production requires so many technical elements that it just isn't practical to do it outside of a large theater."

The group was silent for awhile as they reflected on this. Though eventually Luz spoke up, "well what if we put on a production of it?"

"What?!" the others said in unison.

"Well maybe not an exact reproduction of the opera, but we could do out own take on it in the town square at Tadpole Pond?" said Luz.

The others were about to say something, but as the idea played in their heads it actually started to sound like a great idea.

"You know there still are a great many traveling troupes in Amphibia," said Gustav, "many of them put on one kind of show, but some have rotating acts. Maybe we could tell an abridged version of the opera as well as some other stuff. Maybe Amara and I can play some music."

"Hey maybe I can do a reading of Good Witch Azura!" suggested Luz.

"Oh is that the book you always have with you?" asked Amara.

"Yes it is," said Luz holding it so the others could see.

"Is that a story from your world?" asked Lilly.

"Well it's a fictional story," clarified Luz, "while it was written in my world it's not set there, it's set in it's own mythical world where magic exists."

"You know if you're going to read it for the act maybe you can practice on us," suggested Amara, "I mean we've all seen how much you like that book, but none of us know anything about it."

"Yeah why don't you read us a bit of it so we can know what you're talking about when you make your Azura references," said Gustav.

"Just so you know," said Luz, "this is actually book five of a series, if I start with this then you might be a little confused."

"Even so I'd like to hear it anyway," said Lilly, with the others nodding in agreement.

"Well in that case why don't you all get comfortable," said Luz opening her book, "now let's begin, Chapter 1: A New Journey……"

"And with that Azura grabbed her staff and set off on a new quest that promised to be much more difficult than any previous quest she had ever embarked on," finished Luz, "end of chapter one."

Luz looked out at her friends faces all of which were hanging open with anticipation.

"Well what happened next?" asked Amara.

"Yeah that was just the beginning right?" asked Lilly, "so that means there's a lot more to this, right?"

"I have to know what happens, please keep going," said Gustav.

"So you guys want me to keep reading?" asked Luz, "I mean this is a pretty long book."

"Keep reading, keep reading, keep reading!" all three amphibians chanted.

"Ok," said Luz, "Here we go Chapter 2: The Bog of Immediate Regret……"

Luz kept reading until the sun began to set and she had no more natural light to see by. At that point the group had to move inside, Luz was at about the half-way point of the book and decided to stop for the day. Despite only having finished half the book all three amphibians were completely enthralled by the story.

"That part where Azura challenged Hecate to a duel was awesome!" said Amara, "and she's not even her mother."

"That Arch-mage is shaping up to be a dangerous villain," said Gustav, "Azura should be weary of him."

"No one writes stories like that in Amphibia," said Lilly, "I can guarantee people will want to hear that story."

"Wow Luz, you definitely have to do a performance from that book for our show," said Gustav, "have you ever acted before?"

"Well I tried out for a play one time," said Luz

[Insert scene from first episode of Owl House with Luz auditioning for "Romeo and Juliet"]

"It didn't really go well," said Luz.

"That's okay," said Lilly, "this time you'll have weeks to practice so you should be fine."

"We need to start planning what we're going to do for this show," added Amara, "I know we can do it!  And Luz I think you should be the leader and help organize us."

"Really you mean it Amara?" said Luz.

"Yes I do," said Amara who was once again smiling a genuine smile.

"Hey I just thought of something,' said Gustav, "if we're going to form an acting troupe of some kind we'll need a name for it."

The four students all tilted their heads as they tried to think up a name for their troupe. Luz finally spoke up, "how about Azura's Troupe?"

The amphibians nodded their heads and repeated the name, all of them liking it.

"Well then I guess it's time for Azura's Troupe to start rehearsing," said Luz.

Over the next few weeks whenever the four had free time they would meet up and work on their improvised show. Slowly things started to come together as they started settling on what would be in the show. The decision had been made that they could do a scene or two from the Opera in this show and then in the future do another scene to entice viewers to come back. They would also have a duo music act with Gustav and Amara playing their instruments. Finally Luz would do a recreation/reading from the first chapter of Good Witch Azura. At present they were trying to convince Lilly to play the role of the hero Glenn in the Opera.

"It's just I've never acted before," said Lilly, "Amara you should play it."

"But I'm not a frog," countered Amara, "the story is about a frog and it wouldn't be right for me to play one. Actually I remember when I saw it that they had a newt playing the role of Glenn the Hero, I didn't think anything of it at the time. But now I find it kind of weird that they didn't have a frog play the role of well……a frog."

"You know there's a similar thing that happens sometimes in my world," said Luz.

"What do you mean?" asked Lilly.

"See we have movies in my world, there kind of similar to plays but…..well I'll explain the difference later. Point is that sometimes they get actors who aren't right for a certain role to play it. I remember recently there was controversy over a few films where there was supposed to be a character that was Asian, but instead they were played by a non Asian."

"Why would they do that?" asked Gustav.

"It's complicated," said Luz, "sometimes the people who make the movies don't feel that there's a popular enough actor of the correct descant to paly the role, not that that's an excuse, sometimes it's just malicious and they don't want to acknowledge minorities."

"What are minorities?" asked Lilly.

"Huh…..that's kind of a complicated topic," answered Luz, "let me see, hey Amara can I ask you something?"

"Sure what is it?" said Amara.

"You've mentioned how you're parents taught you that they feel that newts are superior to other amphibians. Would you say that is a belief held by a lot of newts?" asked Luz.

Amara thought for a moment, "It's hard to say. I think if you ask most newts who live in Newtopia they would say the same thing. It's certainly true for both my parents and anyone they associate with."

"Yeah unfortunately there's a similar thing in my world," said Luz, "some humans feel that they are superior to other humans based solely on how they look. Not unlike the whole different amphibian species dynamic you have going on here. In my world "minorities" would be the frogs and toads. It's kind of funny how some things are true no matter what dimension/world you are in."

"That's not funny," said Lilly, "that sounds sad."

"Well sometimes you just have to laugh," said Luz letting off an uncomfortable laugh.

"Luz in your world would you be a minority?" asked Amara.

Luz hesitated before answering, "yes, in my world I guess I would be considered a frog. The ones who looked down on me would be newts."

"Oh I see," said Amara who looked away sadly.

"But I think all of this illustrates exactly why Lilly you need to play the hero Glenn," said Gustav, "The fact is in the story he was a frog hero. If we're going to put on a play about him then we should have a frog play him as an inspiration to other frogs."

"Okay you make a good point, I'll do it," said Lilly, "though one more thing I haven't even thought of yet, was the hero Glenn a real person?"

"Hmmm well maybe?" answered Amara, "the opera was written so long ago it's hard to say. If he did exist I wonder how much of what the opera said he did is true?"

"We'll probably never know," said Gustav, "you're right the opera was written so long ago, there's no way to know if it was based on a real person or if they were just made up. In any case, now that that's settled lets get back to work!"

As the days and weeks went by the act started coming more and more together. They cobbled together some props from anything they could find lying around. They asked Uodeela for any old clothes she might have that they could use as costumes. Finally the troupe was ready for their big performance! They set up a small playing area in the town square of Tadpole Pond. Uodeela had agreed to help them run the business portion of their troupe and had taken care of collecting admission from the various amphibians who came to watch.

Gustav had agreed to be M.C. for this performance and came onto the stage to introduce the first act.

"Ladies and gentlefrogs," he began, "tonight Azura's Troupe is proud to present you with three amazing acts, the likes of which have never before been seen in this town, mayhaps not even in the entirety of Amphibia!"

A general murmur came from the assembled crowd who had come to see the show.

"And now for our first act we present a creature who came here from another world, who brings a tale from her world that tells of the struggle between good and evil. A tale of magic, adventure, suspense and romance. The tale of The Good Witch Azura!!!!"

Luz stepped forward wrapped in an old white sheet that had been repurposed into a cape and holding a stick she had found in the woods.

"I am the Good Witch Azura!" exclaimed Luz to the crowd, "and this is my story. When I was a young witch I was given a quest by the ancient wizard Galifrey, he sent me to obtain the staff of wisdom. I succeeded in that quest and shortly thereafter I met another witch Hecate."

With that Amara walked onstage dressed in an old robe, "I am the witch Hecate I also was on a quest to obtain the staff of wisdom, but Azura beat me to it. From that moment I swore I would never let Azura get the better of me again.

"Hecate," growled Luz

"Azura," said Amara, "here you are once again in my way. You had best clear the path or I will make you."

"Perhaps we should let our magic decide this conflict instead of our words," said Luz.

"If that be your intention then prepare yourself!"

Luz and Amara got into a mock fight sending spells at each other.

"I am bested!" said Amara, "how have you mastered so many spells so quickly?"

"I am the hero of my destiny, your magic will never beat me as long as I believe I can succeed," replied Luz.

"Bah, your success is due to luck, and I will prove it, when next we meet we shall have combat again and I promise I will be the better in that encounter," said Amara as she left the stage, the crowd cheered and applauded!

With that Gustav came back out.

"And with that the first part of our tale of Azura is at its end. But fear not for when next Azura's troupe performs you shall see much more."

The crowd murmured amongst themselves excitedly.

"Now as our performers prepare for the next spectacle we present a small musical interlude consisting of myself and the lovely Amara," Gustav said as Amara came back onstage with her lute in hand.

The two began to play together, they were in perfect sync as their melody echoed through the audience. It was serene and calm. They continued paying for quite awhile. When the finally stopped the crowd cheered again! Gustav and Amara took a bow, and Amara stepped back to allow Gustav to announce the last piece.

"Our final piece of the evening is a section from the beloved opera "The Frog Knight!" began Gustav.

Several excited murmurs came from the audience at this annoucement!

"Unfortuantly we do not have the resources to present an entire Opera here tonight," declared Gustav, "so instead we have selected a single scene to show you. Now I must tell you of what has occurred prior to this so that you may have a better understanding of the scene at present.

This part of the tale happens early in the opera, the young squire Glenn has journeyed forthwith his brother and Champion Knight Cyrus! They have engaged the evil dark mage in combat, but alas, it seems that this may yet be a trial that Sir Cyrus will not overcome. And now let us see what happens."

With that Gustav turned around and adorned a cape on him as well as picked up a prop sword, so that he could play the role of Cyrus. Lilly walked onstage already in her costume to play the role of Glenn, and Luz came from the other direction to play the role of the dark mage. Amara also came onstage and used her lute to play music to heighten the scene.

"Foolish Cyrus!" said Luz with an evil laugh, "didst thou believe thou could challenge my power! This place shall be your grave!"

"I will not yield," shouted Gustav, "I am the mighty Cyrus, Champion of her majesty and the greatest knight in all of Amphibia! Have at thee!"

Luz and Gustav engaged in mock combat until Luz threw a brightly colored potion at Gustav, it was all for show as it exploded in a bright show of small fireworks. Though it was harmless, Gustav reacted accordingly.

"Ahhh No!!" cried Gustav as he fell to his knees

"Cyrus!" said Lilly rushing to him.

"Glenn thou must flee!" said Gustav, "relate what has occurred here to the Queen, thou must protect her!"

"No!" said Lilly, "I canst abandon thee!"

"Run Glenn, I beg of thee…." with that Gustav slumped over, dead.

"Cyrus! CYRUS!!!" yelled Lilly to the "dead" Gustav.

"You fiend!" said Lilly to Luz with that she ran at Luz and they engaged in mock combat. Luz eventually threw another potion at Lilly.

"Ahhh," cried Lilly.

"It would be a trivial matter to end your life here alongside your brother," said Luz, "but it seems crueler to let you live, yes," said Luz with and evil laugh.

"You shall live Glenn," continued Luz, "you shall live with your failure! You shall live with the knowledge that you couldn't save your master! You shall live with the knowledge that you cannot save your queen! You shall live knowing that your very kingdom is forfeit! You shall live knowing that agaisnt my power you are as nothing!" with that Luz laughed one more time before leaving offstage, it was now time for Lilly's big monologue.

"Sir Cyrus, my liege, my brother, my friend, I have failed you," began Lilly, "and worse yet the vile dark mage wishes me to live with this failure. How can I live knowing I have failed you? If the dark mage will not grant me death by his hand, then I shall use my own hands to give it to me."

Lilly lifted her sword above her chest ready to bring it upon herself. She hesitated for a moment before speaking

"Hark a small thought enters my mind, if indeed I give up mine own life then the dark mage's victory is all but assured. Who shall fight to save the kingdom? Who shall defend the queen? Surely there would be others who would take up the fight? Would they not? Yet the dark mage defeated the greatest knight in all the land if he could so easily triumph over Sir Cyrus what resistance could even the entire core of knights offer to him? My life is worth nothing, so why should I not end it here and deny the dark mage's wish for me to live in failure. It would be so easy. All I must do is summon the courage necessary and plunge this sword into mine chest."

Lilly began visibly shaking as she thought once more about ending her life.

"Oh pitiful coward that I am, I cannot bring myself to do it." With that the sword fell to the floor.

"But what next? How can I make up for this egregious mistake? I cannot live my life as a coward, and yet I lack the strength to end it? Cyrus…taken too soon what wouldst thou do in my position? Thou would surely fight on! Yes I know thou wouldst! So I too shall fight on! The dark mage still threatens the kingdom and he must be stopped! Cyrus told me to relate what occurred here to the Queen. The dark mage is sure to threaten Newtopia next. I shall make my way there with all speed and haste! When next I fight the dark mage I will make him come to regret sparring my life! With new conviction I rise!

Lilly got up on her feet.

"DARK MAGE! Our fight is not over!

Gustav rose from his "dead" position.

"And with that the scene is over," he said.

Immediately the audience cheered! Even louder than they previously had. The clapped and cheered! Gustav stepped forward to take a bow, then Luz came back onstage and took a bow as well. Amara stepped forward to take her bow. Finally Lilly stepped forward and took her bow. The four friends joined hands and took one more company bow all while the audience in the square continued to clap and cheer! All four of them felt a rush of adrenaline at this! All of them were smiling and enjoying the euphoria they felt!

Later back at Uodeela's house the four friends sat in the living room laughing and talking about the performance.

"I gotta say Luz, you make a real good dark mage!" said Gustav.

"Ah thanks! But come one you and Amara were on fire tonight with your musical duet thing going on," said Luz.

"If anyone was on fire it was Lilly!" said Amara, "you absolutely nailed that monologue! No wonder the crowd cheered so loud!"

"I think you made a good Hecate!" said Lilly, "you and Luz almost feel like you were made to play rivals."

Luz and Amara shared a glance at each other and smiled at this. Luz noticed that ever since the performance ended Amara had smiled a lot more than she had ever seen her smile in the past.

"I can't believe that went so well," said Gustav, "I mean I wish my dad could have seen it. I think he would have enjoyed it."

"Are you all ready to celebrate?" asked Uodeela as she entered the room with a tray with four mugs, "I have some cider!"

"Umm we're kind of young for that master," said Lilly nervously.

"Eh one mug won't kill you," replied Uodeela as she began passing out the drinks.

"I really had fun tonight," said Amara, "honestly the most fun I've had in a long time. I've never done anything like that!"

"What act in a play?" asked Lilly.

"No…had fun with friends," admitted Amara somewhat sadly.

The others stopped drinking their drinks and looked at Amara, who blushed seeing the others look at her like that.

"It's just my upbringing was really strict," she clarified, "I was educated by private tutors and almost never left my house. If I wanted to go anywhere my parents had to take me and I had almost no free time. It was all learning lessons, attending dinner parties, and education in how to be a "proper" newt. I never really had friends. My parents would occasionally let me play with other kids from families they "approved" of, but I don’t think any of them actually cared about me. I think the only thing my parents cared about was that the Light name wasn't disgraced."

"Wait what name?" asked Luz.

"The Light name," answered Amara, "did I never tell you my surname?"

The other three shook their heads.

"Oh well my full name is Amara Light," said Amara.

"Huh that's interesting," said Luz, "you know in Spanish my name actually means "light"

"Really?!" said Amara in surprise, "huh what a coincidence."

"I'm sorry to hear about that," said Lilly, "you know I thought growing up in  the capital city would be incredible compared to living in a small town outside the valley. I never thought it could be so confining."

"I mean don't get me wrong there are amazing things to see in Newtopia. And on the rare occasions when I did get to see the city it was beautiful. But I just wish I had someone to share it with you know." said Amara.

"Well that's all in the past," said Lilly, "it was great sharing the stage with you tonight Amara, and I think I speak for all of us when I say you're our friend. Right guys?"

Luz and Gustav both nodded their approval of Lilly's statement.

"Really? Just like that," asked Amara a little surprised, "I mean I haven't exactly been the nicest newt to you all, do you really think of me as a friend?"

"Amara, after hearing what you said just now I think I understand," said Gustav, "I get the whole "not being what society wants" thing. I was a runt among toads. I never really took an interest in fighting or weaponry or other things that toads are "supposed" to like. I got bullied for being different and that's part of the reason my dad sent me here. He was trying to get me away from the other toads. So I understand being pressured to be a "proper newt" as you just said. And in recent weeks it feels like you really are trying to change so I say let's let bygones be bygones."

"You and I already talked," said Lilly, "you don't have to listen to your parents. I think you can be your own person and be better for it Amara.

"Ditto to what they said," exclaimed Luz, "I get what it's like being pressured to be normal, so I feel you Amara. Come here!"

With that Luz pulled Amara into a hug, she then motioned for the others to join and soon they all were engaged in a big group hug. Amara once again smiling at this turn of events.

"Thanks guys!" she said.