30. Journey to Wartwood

"Hola mama!" said Luz in a cheerful tone to her phone, she had brought it up to try and get both her and Lilly in the shot.

"I know it's been a long time since I sent you a video, though you haven't really been getting them so maybe it's all relative….ha ha!" Luz let out a nervous laugh.

"Anyway a lot has happened since the last video I sent you, too much to really talk about now, but I will say things are finally looking up for me! Oh and here's Lilly, you remember Lilly right?" Luz moved the camera so Lilly could say hi.

"Hi Ms. Noceda," said Lilly into the camera, "I hope you're doing well, Luz and I are on our way to Wartwood where we hope to meet up with Anne."

"I suppose I should elaborate a bit though," said Luz looking somber, "so a few weeks ago, Uodeela the salamander who took me in and cared for me transformed into a heron, she did it to try and save us from the toads who were attacking the town…..who were being lead by Sasha…..Huh wow that's a lot to tell you at once isn't it….." Luz paused as she tried to consider what to say next.

"Anyway Uodeela transformed into a heron to drive the toads away, but she got stuck in the heron form and now she doesn't remember me or her students…..she's gone and I don't know where she is. Amara said she was going to try and find a way to cure her, but honestly we don't know if she can be cured. In any case before the battle happened Uodeela told me that she heard that Anne was in Wartwood, which is where we're heading now," finished Luz.

"And that's about it for now, I hope you're doing well Mama, I want you to know that even though being stuck in this world has been hard I made some new friends, and despite the dangers I've faced there have been fun parts too. It's like you used to tell me, "No hay mal que por bien no venga, te quiero, Adios!" with that Luz ended the video and sent it to her mother. Of course the video wasn't able to send without service and showed an error next to it along with all the other previous videos Luz had attempted to send to her mother.

Luz sighed as she looked between her phone and the trail ahead of her. They had been on the road for two days now and everything looked the same. Luz decided to talk to Lilly to pass the time.

"So tell me more about how snails work?" she asked, "In my world snails are real slow and would never be thought of as a mode of transportation."

"Well in order to properly use a snail you have to know its history," explained Lilly, "hey dad can I show Luz the book for Hooty?"

"Yes of course," answered Emmanuel, "in fact I wouldn't mind if you wanted to read it to Lilly, it's time you learned how to drive him too."

"Your snail's name is Hooty?" asked Luz a bit confused, "how did he get that name?"

"It's all explained in chapter three," replied Emmanuel.

"And so that night a huge owl came out of nowhere and tried to eat me," read Lilly to Luz, "I would most assuredly have died if it hadn't been for the unique sound that the snail made. It hooted just like an owl, which distracted the real owl and allowed me to escape. Because of that sound I decided to name the snail Hooty. It was the beginning of a long friendship as Hooty became a good and trusted steed, he still makes that distinctive sound whenever danger is near."

"Huh that's an interesting story," said Luz.

"Yeah that's still at the beginning though," said Lilly, "there's still a lot to get through after that."

Luz and Lilly took turns reading the book of Hooty's history. The book was large and took them almost the entire day to finish, by the time they did Emmanuel had stopped the carriage for the night and was ready to get to bed.

"So did you get through the whole book?" he asked.

"Yes," they both replied.

"We took turns reading it to each other," said Lilly.

"That part where Hooty got you away from that dangerous snake was incredible!" said Luz.

"Oh and the part where you managed to outrun a group of toads chasing you with spiders," added Lilly, "I had no idea Hooty was so incredible!"

"Yeah Hooty may seem like he's not paying attention sometimes, but I honestly doubt I could finds a more loyal steed," said Emmanuel.

"I never realized what a deep history he has," said Lilly, "I'm glad I finally read his book."

"Well now that you've read his story all you need now is some practical expirence, maybe tomorrow you can try taking the reigns and guiding him yourself," said Emmanuel.

"Yeah I'd like that," said Lilly.

As the trio stopped for the night Luz went up to the top of the carriage with her sketchbook to get a good picture of the sky. She took out her pencils and began sketching the night sky. Luz had gotten used to the red moon and abundance of stars, something she'd never really seen in growing up in a city, so it was a view that she wanted to capture in her sketches. Plus it had been awhile since she'd done a new sketch so she thought the night sky would be a good image to capture. As Luz continued to draw her mind wandered, she thought about everything that had happened to her since coming to this strange new world, she thought about the new friends she had made, the experiences she had, the good times and the bad times. Luz felt calm looking out at the night sky, it made her feel that despite the bad things that had happened to her in Amphibia she overall had a good experience and one that she felt had helped her grow.

Next day the group had continued their travels, they stopped to rest at a field and Lilly asked Luz if they could spar. Luz using her staff and Lilly picking up a stick to use as a sword. Lilly rushed forward to attack Luz, Luz bringing up her staff to block her. Lilly kept up her assault trying to find an opening. After one attack Luz managed to push her back knocking her to the ground.

"Aww dangit!" exclaimed Lilly.

"Don't beat yourself up dear," said Emmanuel, "fighting is both a skill and an art, it takes time to get good at, and it takes practice to perfect."

"But I'm so weak," said Lilly, "I don't know if I can win."

"You're not weak Lilly," said Emmanuel, "you just don't know enough about fighting yet, but that's okay. Listen the stronger warrior does not necessarily win all the time. There's a reason they say brains over brawn. What you have to learn is how to fight more effectively."

Emmanuel whispered something into Lilly's ear. Then told Luz to get ready for another round. Luz and Lilly got into a fighting stance and began to spar again. This time after a few blows Lilly launched her tongue at Luz's staff and managed to yank it away from her. The she hoped into the air and landed on Luz knocking her to the ground. Lilly aimed the pointed end of the staff at Luz who put up her hands in surrender.

"You see, it's all about being more clever than your opponent," said Emmanuel walking over to where the girls were and helping Luz up. "As a frog you can use your tounge and your jumping prowess to get the edge over an opponent."

"That is actually pretty clever," agreed Luz, good job Lilly."

The two continued to spar for a awhile, Emmanuel showed Lilly some new moves to help her best utilize her advantages as a frog. Lilly and Luz continued to spar and practice their fighting techniques. Emmanuel would occasionally cut in with some advice to help the girls.

"Another move you can try Lilly is if you wrap your tongue around and object you can launch yourself at the person holding it and crash right into them," he demonstrated what he meant having Luz hold out her staff while he wrapped his tongue around it and then launched right at her. Luz let go at the last minute not wanting to take the full brunt of the attack.

"Like I said it's all about catching your opponent off guard," said Emmanuel, "sometimes if you can surprise an enemy that will help you get the upper hand."

"How long have you been fighting in the rebellion?" asked Luz.

"I've been training for about five years now," replied Emmanuel, "once we realized what we were up against Uodeela thought it prudent that we train. The toads are stronger than us so learning how to effectively fight them was a top priority. Uodeela was the one who taught me how to better use the advantages we had as frogs. Even still she didn't want us to fight the toads until she thought we were ready. One of the first rules of combat is that you don't pick a fight with an enemy unless you're sure you can win."

"So do you think you can win against the toads now?" asked Lilly.

Emmanuel paused before answering, "without Uodeela I'm not sure, but I think we've gathered enough support that we have a good shot at taking over another area. Uodeela recommended we go after captain Bufo next, she laid out a plan for invading from Tadpole Pond and gathering support as we liberated villages leading up to his tower."

"You said the toads each control a different area of Amphibia right?" asked Luz.

"Yes that's correct," answered Emmanuel.

"Do they just stick to their own area then?" asked Luz, "wouldn't they be a much bigger threat if they came together and united their army?"

"That is a possibility but it's unlikely," answered Emmanuel, "for that to happen all four Toad Lords would need to agree to it, and there are at least two reasons why that won't happen. Number one, the Toad Lords are mostly content to exert control over their own territory. A long time ago they were given leave to rule over the four areas of Amphibia and it kept them satisfied. Because of that they are reluctant to get involved in affairs in another territory because of lazy and selfish reasons. Number two any news of an alliance between the Toad Lords would cause  King Andrias to get nervous and probably begin to bolster his own forces in Newtopia. An alliance of the toads could be a threat to his power, and they know it. If they formed an alliance it would only be a matter of time before the King sent his armies to stop them."

"So even if you invade the Eastern Territory you don't think any of the other Toad Lords would help Bufo?" asked Luz.

"That's what we're hoping yes," said Emmanuel, "but even if the others didn't interfere Bufo and his army alone are still a tough challenge. That's why it's essential we pick up more recruits in his territory before facing him directly."

"I can't believe we might actually have a shot at overthrowing the Toads," said Lilly.

"And that's why you need to keep up your training Lilly," said Emmanuel,  "when you're in a fight for your life every move you make counts. I'm just glad nothing happened to you at the battle in Tadpole Pond."

Luz turned towards Lilly in confusion and was about to say something, but Lilly made a gesture to stop her from talking. Luz decided not to say anything, but knew she would have to talk to Lilly later alone.

Afterwards the three continued to train for a few hours before deciding to move on. As the day began to fade the group stopped for the night and got ready for bed.

The next day they continued their journey taking a break every now and then to spar. Luz and Lilly both improved as they continued to practice becoming better as the days went on. When she had the time Luz would take out her sketchbook and draw the night sky or the Amphibian countryside. She was slowly starting to find joy in drawing again, something she hadn't done much of since the battle. One night as they began to get ready for bed, Lilly came up to the top of the fwagon to find Luz sketching the night sky.

"That looks beautiful," she said commenting on Luz's drawing.

"Thanks," replied Luz, "I've been adding more detail to it every night. Still can't get over how cool your moon is!"

"Ha, yeah the red glow adds a nice tint to the night sky," commented Lilly, "I'd say you captured it pretty well in your drawing."

"I'm so glad I had my sketchbook with me when I came to this world," said Luz, "there's so much to draw here, I hope when I get back I'll have a nice full album."

"Huh yeah," said Lilly slowly, trailing off. A beat of silence passed before Lilly spoke again, "listen about what my dad said…."

"No it's fine I get it," said Luz, "you didn't tell him. You didn't want him to worry."

"I just figured that the Elixir saved me, so there was no need to bring up the fact that I…..you know died," said Lilly.

"Do you think you'll ever tell him?" asked Luz.

Lilly paused for a long time before answering, "I don't really see a need to, I may tell him about the extra Elixir stored under Uodeela's house when we get back. But I can't see what telling him would accomplish except to make him worry about me. When my mom died….." Lilly stopped talking and looked away for a bit, "we both took her death hard. In the days and weeks right after it happened neither of us talked about anything. Often times we'd just start crying as we thought of her. Eventually we were able to move on, but it was a hard road for sure, so that's why I haven't told him. Luz do you still have your Elixir?"

Luz rummaged around in her bag for a few seconds before pulling it out.

"Keep it safe with you," said Lilly, "Once you find Anne and Marcy you may want to tell them about it. Now that we know it works, you may want your friends to know about it in case something happens to one of you."

Luz nodded but didn't respond. She looked hard at her bottle of Elixir, trying not to imagine a scenario where Anne or Marcy had died and would need to be saved. Still Lilly's words made sense, Luz put the bottle back into her bag and looked up enjoying the brilliant night sky.

Over the next several days the group continued on their journey to Wartwood, occasionally taking a break to spar or just enjoy the sights. The journey was very much relaxed and although it took a bit longer to get there, the group did enjoy their time together. One day as they were getting ready to leave Emmanuel brought out a map to consult.

"Hmm if my calculations are correct, we should be pretty close to Wartwood," he said looking at the map, "I think we might only be a day's travel from the town."

Luz took in that information and breathed in heavily before exhaling heavily.

"All set to reunite with your friend?" asked Emmanuel in a playful manner.

"I think so," said Luz slowly, "it's been so long since I've seen Anne, I have so much to tell her about what's happened to me, but in the back of my mind I'm so nervous about what to say to her and what she might say to me."

"Well we aren't there yet, so you still have time to think," said Emmanuel, "would you and Lilly like to take the reigns for today? There's something I'd like to work on in the fwagon."

"Yeah sure," answered Luz.

Luz and Lilly took control of Hooty driving him along the road taking turns controlling him. Eventually they stopped for a rest and went to check on Emmanuel. He was busy reading something in an old book.

"We stopped for a break," said Lilly, "maybe we can do some more sparring."

"Oh great," replied Emmanuel.

"What are you looking up dad?" asked Lilly, Emmanuel opened his book and showed Lilly and Luz a picture of what looked like a sword in a stone.

"I was trying to find out more information about this sword, Masamune," he said.

"Wait the Masamune?" asked Lilly, "the one that Glenn the legendary knight supposedly used?"

"Yes that's the one!" exclaimed Emmanuel.

"I thought it was just a myth," said Lilly.

"Well that's the thing, I'm trying to find out if there's a chance it was real. Unfortunately the information I have is inconclusive," said Emmanuel.

"Why are you interested in the sword even if it is real it's just a sword right?" asked Luz.

"It's not just any sword," replied Emmanuel, "it's a magic sword, not only is it strong but it also acts as a conduit for magic, it allows whoever wields it to use magic the way Uodeela did.

"What makes you think it's real?" asked Lilly.

"Bits and pieces of information I've found," replied Emmanuel, "according to legend Glenn found the sword in a temple, and from what I've been researching that temple may have had another purpose in addition to housing the sword. Supposedly there are other temples like the one in which Glenn found the sword throughout Amphibia. If those other temples exist then maybe there's a chance the one Glenn found the sword in is real."

"If it is real then I suppose it would be a great weapon to have" said Luz.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Emmanuel, "if the rebellion had access to a sword like that it would be a great boon. I don't want to get my hopes up in case it does turn out to be fake, but I felt it's an avenue worth exploring. But enough about that for now let's do some training!"

After the group finished training they continued on their way, by mid afternoon they had reached the end of their journey. Lilly stopped the fwagon on an outcropping that overlooked a path that lead into the town of Wartwood, Luz looked down at the path and towards the town in lead to.

"So that's Wartwood," she said.

"Yep that's it," said Emmanuel, "I wish we could stay, but we have to get back, so I'm afraid we'll have to drop you off here Luz. It won't take you long to walk there. You should make it before nightfall."

"Oh you're leaving already," said Luz.

"Unfortunately yes," answered Emmanuel "we have to get back and work on our plans for the rebellion. There's so much to do, it would be best for Lilly and I to start back now."

"I understand, you've done so much for me already, thank you so much for bringing me this far," said Luz.

"Thank you for being a friend to my daughter and for fighting off the toads," said Emmanuel kindly, "you've got the heart of a rebel in you Luz. I hope you keep that spirit in you when you get back to your world."

"Thanks I promise I will!" replied Luz.

"I'll give you and Lilly a chance to say goodbye," said Emmanuel, he entered the fwagon leaving the two alone.

"I'm glad I got some extra time with you, but I think it's just gonna make me miss you even more," said Luz to Lilly.

"Yeah….I feel the same, but I did enjoy the time we had. I liked sparring with you, reading Hooty's book, and honestly just sitting out under the night sky and talking," said Lilly.

"Hey wait before you go….just in case I don't see you again let's take a selfie together," said Luz bringing out her camera, "I have a few pictures of the others, but I want to make sure and get a good one with you."

"Sure," said Lilly, the two moved in close so they would both be in frame and Luz snapped the photo. Afterwards they both shared a long hug goodbye.

"I'll miss you so much," said Luz to Lilly as they hugged.

"I hope we get to see each other one more time, but if not I hope you still remember me when you get home," said Lilly to Luz.

"I could never forget you," said Luz. As the two separated Lilly got back onto the fwagon and got ready to guide Hooty away back to Tadpole Pond. Lilly and Luz waved goodbye to each other until the fwagon was out of site. Luz then turned towards the path and began walking towards the small town of Wartwood.

It was twilight by the time she got to the town many of the shops were closing up for the night a few of the frogs noticed Luz but didn't say anything. Though one young frog with what looked like pink hair came up to her.

"Are you Anne's friend?" she asked plainly.

"Yes I am my name is Luz," said Luz to the frog, "how did you know I was Anne's friend?"

"As soon as she got back from Newtopia she started asking if you were here. Ever since then she's been asking all the townsfolk to keep an eye out for you and to tell you where she was if you asked," answered the frog.

"She knew I was coming?" asked Luz.

"I think she found out while she was in Newtopia, talked to someone else who knew you were on your way here," said the frog.

"It must have been Amara," said Luz, "well yes I am Anne's friend do you know where I can find her?"

"Yeah I can guide you to the Plantar's where she's staying, but first I have a question for you," said the frog pointing to Luz's staff, "where did you get that staff?"

"Oh well it's kind of a long story," said Luz.

"It's been altered, the ribbons and the pointed end are new but I recognize that staff, that's Uodeela's staff, how did you get it?" asked the frog firmly.

"Listen it's not what you think, I was a student of Uodeela's, but something happened to her," said Luz.

The frog seemed to relax upon hearing this, "I had a dream a few nights ago I saw Uodeela she transformed into the red heron, but she was screaming in pain the whole time, and then she tried to eat me. I wasn't sure at the time, but I had a bad feeling something terrible had happened to her. Please tell me what happened."

Luz told a quick version of the story regarding Uodeela, she also told her how she had come into possession of the staff and why it had been altered, after hearing the story the frog hung her head in sadness and spoke, "thank you for telling me this. It must have been terrible to see her in such a state. I can't believe her gem got destroyed."

"I take it you were a student of hers too then?" asked Luz.

"Yes last spring," answered the frog, "she taught me so much and really helped my talent with magic flourish. I can't believe she's gone."

"Do you think it's possible she could be cured?" asked Luz.

"I don't know, I'm still just a novice with magic," said the frog, "if there is a way to cure her then I wouldn't know, but you're here and you studied under her, who knows maybe we can work together and figure something out. I take it you'll be staying here for a bit with Anne right?"

"Yes, well I hope so, I still don't know if Anne wants to see me or not," said Luz.

"Well let's find out," said the frog, "follow me and I'll lead you to where she is, by the way my name is Maddie."

"Nice to meet you Maddie, I'm Luz," said Luz. With that the two walked down the road towards the Plantars house.

"And that's all my contacts could find," said Hop-pop showing Anne a picture of the box in a book, "turns out I had a book about it this whole time but didn't know."

"Calamity Box," said Anne seriously looking at the image in the book, "Yeesh, that does sound bad. But seriously that's all your contacts could find out about it?"

"Sorry I wish they could have told us more, in any case it looks like Marcy and the King learned enough about it to send you home," said Hop-pop.

"Well at least we have the box back now," said Anne holding up the box, "although I saw a bunch of dirt in it, did your contacts use it as a flower box?"

Hop-pop looked around nervously before answering, "maybe they just accidentally dropped it in the dirt?"

"I guess," said Anne eyeing the box, at that moment Sprig came into the study.

"Anne…..someone's here to see you," he said slowly.

"Oh who is it?" asked Anne.

Sprig paused a second before saying, "Luz."

Anne's eye's went wide at hearing that name, "Sprig are you sure? Is she here right now?"

"She's at the front door waiting for you," said Sprig tenderly.

Anne took a deep breath in then slowly exhaled, then another, then another.

"You okay there Anne?" asked Hop-pop.

"Just…..just give me a second…..please," said Anne clearly nervous, "Oh boy, this is really happening…."

"You got this Anne," said Sprig coming up to Anne and giving her an encouraging punch, "if Luz didn't want to see you she wouldn’t be here right now."

"Yeah I guess you have a point," said Anne, "still I can't believe how nervous I am right now. After all this time I'm finally gonna see Luz."

"We'll give you some privacy, Anne," said Hop-pop, "Leave them alone Sprig, Anne probably needs a lot of time with Luz."

"Okay, but I'll be here if you need me," said Sprig.

"Thanks Sprig!" said Anne kneeling down to give him a hug, "you're an awesome friend."

"Good luck Anne!" said Sprig.

With that Anne gathered her courage and marched to the front door, Luz was indeed there, still wearing her St. James uniform, though over that she wore a purple cloak and was holding a strange staff.

"Luz….." said Anne slowly

"Anne….." said Luz looking deep into Anne's eyes.