34. Maddie, Marcy, and Luz

"You despicable newt!" yelled Phillip Witbane as he struggled to remove himself from the ice he was currently trapped in. Sheresade had summoned some ice that had trapped his arms and the lower half of his body, "let me out!"

"Why should I?" growled Sheresade coming up close to the human, blood dripping from her left arm, that was now a stump, "first you trick me into helping you find some rare book, then you try stealing my notes in my journal, and when that didn't work, you cut off my hand!"

"How could you be so selfish Sheresade," said Phillip trying to pivot and turn on the charm, "I thought we were partners, partners who shared research notes."

"Please don't try charming me now, I know what you're really like," growled Sheresade, "I can see your pathetic attempts to try and flatter me to get what you want. By the way I was never fooled, I only played along because you had something I wanted."

Sheresade advanced forward and picked up Phillip's journal where it had fallen on the ground, she flipped through it looking for a certain page.

"Ah the notes you have on glyph magic, very interesting, I must say it's actually commendable that you as a human managed to discover some way to cast magic here. But you need to draw out the glyphs to use them, and well that's going to be hard for you to do with your arms trapped isn't it?"

Phillip only growled in response to that.

"It's curious because you see, I've theorized that my world has a similar background field to the one that exists here, this makes me wonder if perhaps it's possible that glyphs exist in my world too," remarked Sheresade, "this will require some more research to be sure, but hey I'm smart enough that I'm sure I can figure it out."

"Give me back my journal!" demanded Phillip.

"You took my hand," said Sheresade menacingly as she advanced towards Phillip the knife he had used held in her other hand, "maybe I should take something from you!"

Phillip's eyes widened in horror as Sheresade moved closer to him, she raised the knife as though she was going to slash him…then threw it down into the ground, inches away from his hand.

"Lucky for you I can regenerate limbs, I'm a salamander not a newt by the way," she said with an air of haughtiness, "here see if you can reach that knife and use it to free yourself, I'll enjoy watching you struggle."

Phillip struggled to reach the knife but his arms were trapped in the ice and he couldn't free them, Sheresade laughed at his attempt causing Phillip to rage once more.

"You may be from a different world but your just like all the witches here!" he yelled in frustration, "you think you're better than everyone!"

"I know for a fact I'm better than you," taunted Sheresade, "you're the one who's currently trapped, and I'm the one who's free, but even more so than that….no I shouldn't spoil the surprise."

"What surprise?!" asked Phillip.

"I know you're species, you're a human from Earth," said Sheresade glancing down at the still trapped Phillip, "I knew your species was primitive but to think you're also vile too. Aldrich will be doing the universe a favor when he wipes you out."

"What? What do you mean wipe us out?" asked Phillip.

"Oh I'm sure you'll see what I mean once you get home, that is if you get home," laughed Sheresade turning and getting ready to leave, "well this little adventure has been fun Phillip, your journal was very helpful in providing me information about the locals here, in fact I think I'll help myself to some of those pages."

She again flipped through it finding the pages she was looking for before causally tearing them out. Once she had what she needed she threw the journal down next to the knife.

"How dare you!" protested Phillip still trapped.

"Really?" asked Sheresade in a sarcastic manner, "how dare I steal something from someone who was trying to kill me, oh how unfair that is. You really are the worst, trying to gain the upper hand on me but then when the tables get turned on you you're like, "oh stop being mean to me! God imagine if that's how your leaders acted!"

With that Sheresade turned and left Phillip still struggling to break free from the ice.

"And after that I found the time pool that brought me to that era and used it to return to my own time, then I used the box to get back," explained Sheresade to the group in front of her.

"Wow! I thought for sure you were in trouble when that guy cut off your hand," said Leif in amazement, "by the way how's my bandage holding up? Do we need to change it?"

"I'm fine," said Sheresade raising up her stump and showing off her wound, "a few weeks and I'll get a new hand, I bet in that same time Phillip will still be struggling to get out of the ice."

The others all laughed at that.

"Man can't believe he tried to take your journal from you Sheri," said Barrel, "you sure showed him though, maybe I should start coming with you on these scouting missions to protect you!"

"Barrel do you presume then, that I am incapable of protecting myself?" asked Sheresade in a serious tone, causing Barrel to instantly tense up.

"Oh a no, not at all," he quickly responded, "you handled that human quite well I just thought-"

He was interrupted as Sheresade let out a laugh, "I'm just messing with you Barrel." Barrel joined in on the laughing relived.

"Honestly I wouldn't mind bringing all of you on one of my scouting missions one day," answered Sheresade, "you can only imagine the wonders that I've laid eyes on."

Barrel, Andrias, and Leif all looked excited at this prospect.

"Sometimes I'm jealous of you Sheri," said Leif, "getting to go to all those other worlds, getting to see different species, seeing things that the rest of us can only dream of."

"Well there's work to it as well," answered the Salamander, "Aldrich expects a lot from me in finding out which of these worlds have anything valuable for us to take, or which are just ones to be mined for resources. And hey if it means I get to keep going on adventures and coming back with cool stories to tell you then I'd say it's worth it."

"That was quite a story," said Andrias getting up, "I'm glad I got to hear it before you told my dad."

"Yes, speaking of which, I do need to give my report to the King, I'm sure he'll be very interested in what I discovered in that world," said Sheresade.

"Oh but before that, I want to show you all my surprise," said Andrias going up to the wrapped package he had, in one move he tore the wrapping away to reveal a beautiful painted portrait of the four, "Ta-dah!"

Leif, Barrel, and Sheresade starred at the painting their eyes going wide with surprise!

"Whoa this is a huge honor! That turned out great!" exclaimed Leif.

"I think you captured my best side for sure, it looks just like me," said Barrel.

"Hmm, we look so regal and grand," said Sheresade looking intently at the portrait, she turned to look at Andrias, "I hope you'll use the same artist when it comes time to paint our wedding portrait."

Andrias blushed, "Oh of course my dear, if it to your liking then yes I think we can use the same artist."

"Wonderful!" said Sheresade coming up to Andrias and throwing her arms around him. Leif and Barrel smiled at each other as they saw this.

"Oh so what's the occasion?" asked Leif, "for the portrait I mean."

"Dad's appointed me to lead the next invasion!" exclaimed Andrias proudly.

"Say what?" said Leif in surprise.

"Score!" added Barrel.

"Ha! I knew it! About time my love," said Sheresade.

"Well I never would have made it this far without you three. Thank you I mean it!" said Andrias.

"Ah thank you Drias," said Leif, "now what are we standing around here for, we've got to celebrate!"

"May I suggest running through the hallways screaming at the top of our lungs?" said Barrel with a mischievous grin.

Sheresade laughed at this, "oh Barrel, I hope you never change."

"Sounds good to me!" said Andrias, "lets go!"

With that the four friends made their way through the palace running around and having fun. For Andrias though the moment was interrupted when his father caught them.

"Ah there you are son, and Sheresade you've returned. You should have come to me immediately with your report," said the King in a stern voice.

Sheresade's face went pale, the confidence from earlier gone, "Ah forgive me your majesty," she said bowing to try and show contrition, "I was just on my way to find you and give you that report."

The King paused for a long time looking hard at Sheresade and Andrias before finally speaking, "both of you come with me, we have much to discuss…"

"And once the potion turns blue like so," said Luz as the mixture in the cauldron did indeed turn a dark blue, "then the potion is ready, you can bottle it up and keep it with you. This batch we've made should make at least ten bottles."

"Great! We should give some of these to the Plantars and Anne," said Marcy standing over the cauldron and writing in her book.

"Yeah having some extra healing potions is always a good idea," agreed Luz, "I've made sure to carry some a few with me ever since leaving Tadpole Pond." Luz indicated her belt to show her spare potions.

"So this is a basic healing potion then," said Marcy as she eyed the bottle.

"Yeah, you can think of it like a basic first aid potion," said Luz, "it's good to cure minor cuts and bruises and can even help with pain to a degree. There are more advanced healing potions out there, but this is the only one Uodeela taught us."

"So what does it taste like?" asked Marcy intrigued.

"Uh it kind of tastes like grape juice," answered Luz, "though it has a bitter aftertaste. Potions have weird tastes. Though thankfully not all of them taste bad, but for the ones that do, yeah you kind of have to get used to that."

"Fascinating," said Marcy as she wrote more in her book, "thanks again for teaching me this stuff Luz. Ever since I heard that magic was a thing here in Amphibia I wanted so much to learn, but magic teachers are so rare."

"Uodeela said the same thing, but she also didn't seem to know why," said Luz, "she told me that the Salamanders were once the ancient keepers of the secrets of magic, but they seem to have either died out or gone missing or something."

"I met a few salamanders in Newtopia," said Marcy, "but none of them knew how to do magic."

"I sure wish we knew more," said Luz, "but in any case let's get cleaned up here so we can go meet Maddie."

"Oooo I can't wait," said Marcy, "it will be so cool to learn magic under two of Uodeela's former apprentices."

"Yeah, I'm glad she agreed to this, there's so much we could teach you, oh how'd you like to learn how to make a bomb potion?" asked Luz.

"Actually I already know how to make that," replied Marcy.

"What!" exclaimed Luz, "how'd you learn that?"

"Eh that's one of the few potion recipes that's survived all this time, it's really useful in demolition," said Marcy, "I guess a few magic secrets from Amphibia's past have survived into the modern day! Even so I'm excited to see what you and Maddie can teach me!"

"Huh you know when I was learning magic I never thought that one day I might be teaching someone else," said Luz.

"Uodeela must have done a good job if you're able to pass on her lessons then," said Marcy giving Luz an encouraging smile.

Luz smiled back, "yeah I guess so."

Luz and Marcy kept walking in the forest on their way to the meeting spot with Maddie, as they got closer they realized that she was already there as they could hear her arguing with someone.

"But sis you promised to play with us!" said a voice.

"I have important witch business right now," replied Maddie, "Anne's friends are coming, we were going to put our heads together and try and find a cure for Uodeela. I'll play with you tomorrow."

"Awwww but that's what you said yesterday," said another voice.

"Look finding a cure for Uodeela is really advanced. She only ever taught me basic level one spells, in order to help her I'm going to need to use higher advanced magic," said Maddie.

"Booo," said one of the tadpoles, "magic is boring."

"And creepy," added another, "let's play instead!"

"Juggle us! Juggle Us!" they all chanted.

"Aw come one knock it off," called Maddie, she glanced to where Luz and Marcy were coming from, "speaking of which Luz and Marcy are here so I don't have time to play!"

"Hang on a sec," said Luz, "maybe we do have time."

"Huh?" said Maddie surprised as both she and her siblings looked at Luz.

"I mean it's just for a little while right?" asked Luz, "I don't see why we all can't play for a bit before we do magic."

Luz walked up to the three Tadpoles kneeing down to look at them, "Hi my names' Luz, what's your names?"

"I'm Ginger," said one of the tadpoles

"I'm Rosemary," said another

"And I'm Lavender," said the last one.

"We're Maddie's sisters," they all said together.

"Aww don't you all look cute together," said Luz, "so what did you want to play?"

"We want to play the juggling game," they all said at once.

"It's where Maddie juggles us!" said Lavender.

"Oh that sounds fun, here I have an idea," said Luz picking up Lavender, "Hey Marcy why don't you grab another one, and Maddie take the last one."

Marcy and Maddie complied though Maddie wore a confused expression on her face. Luz made a motion for the three of them to stand in a triangle.

"Okay now when I say go we all pass one of the kids to the right, got it?" said Luz. Maddie and Marcy nodded.

"Okay then, here….we….go!" With that the girls all passed the tadpoles to each other at the same time. They stopped for a sec, then did it again, then again, they kept it up with Luz encouraging them to go faster. Then at certain points they would switch sides and pass the tadpoles the other way. All the while the little tadpoles cheered at being thrown around.

"Yay!" they all said.

After awhile they stopped, the three tadpoles cheering at the fact that they were played with.

"Wow that was so fun!" said Rosemary.

"Yeah playing is a lot cooler when there are three of you," said Ginger.

"Thank you for playing with us!" said Lavender to Marcy and Luz.

"No problem," said Luz, "now is it okay if we borrow your sister for a bit. We have something really important to talk with her about."

"Okay, we'll go back to the shop, thanks again!" they all said. With that they began hopping back to the bakery.

"Huh wow! That worked," said Luz a little surprised.

"That was nice of you Luz, and honestly that was kind of fun," said Marcy.

"Yeah…." said Maddie before trailing off, "you know I had kinda forgot what it was like to play with my sisters like that. I've been so busy studying magic I guess I hadn't really had time for that."

"I think your sisters missed you too," said Luz, "you know I've always wanted a sister. There are advantages to being an only child, but I guess I've wished I had someone like that I could be close with. I bet it's because I didn't have friends for such a long time."

"Hey thanks Luz," said Maddie, "I realize I've been brushing my sisters off. I haven't played with them in ages."

"No problem, glad I could help, and hey now we have the whole day to study," said Luz.

"Right we need to help Uodeela, and uh sorry what's your name?" asked Maddie turning to Marcy.

"Marcy," said Marcy, holding out her hand, "I've heard the whole story regarding Uodeela and I told Luz I wanted to help. Also I wanted to see about learning magic, I learned a few things from Amara in Newtopia, and Luz just started teaching me a few basic potions."

"Oh you're interested in Magic too?" said Maddie.

"Yeah, I mean I've read every Cynthia Coven book, and I tried asking around Newtopia, but magic users are so rare," said Marcy.

"Wait you read Cynthia Coven too?" asked Luz.

"Yeah, did I never tell you that?" said Marcy, "I thought you mentioned you used to read those books too."

"Well….yeah I used to read them," began Luz, "Cynthia is different from Azura, especially seeing as she's a human who learned how to do magic."

"Exactly, I thought you would have liked her more because of that," said Marcy.

"No it's not that, I actually do like the series," said Luz, "It's just….kind of hard to enjoy it after that whole scandal with the author…."

"Oh yeah…." said Marcy, "I know what you're talking about, and I mean….yeah I don't really like what the author said either….that really was hurtful, but I still try to enjoy the books."

"For me it's just hard," said Luz hanging her head, "I just can't enjoy the books anymore knowing what I know about the person who wrote them. Maybe that's part of the reason why I turned to Azura so hard. I wanted a new series to love."

"Uh I must be missing a lot of context here, because I have no idea what you guys are talking about," chimed in Maddie.

"Right, sorry, we went off on a tangent," said Marcy, "the point is I am so psyched to be here. I can't wait to see what you and Luz can teach me! Although technically Luz already started teaching me some things, we brewed a basic healing potion this morning." Marcy brought out a bottle filled with blue liquid to show her.

Maddie took the bottle and examined it, "Hmmm looks the right color," she then dabbed some potion on her finger and tasted it, "tastes right, not bad for a novice," she said shooting Marcy a smile. Marcy let out a squeal of delight at being complimented.

"Oh Marcy why don't you show her that book you were working on?" said Luz.

"Oh right," began Marcy, she reached into her bag and brought out a large hardback book, "I started compiling a plant encyclopedia of the various flora in Amphibia. I know that some of these are used as potion and elixir ingriedients but I had no idea which ones. Though Luz has been helping me try and sort that out. Oh Luz why don't you show her your drawings."

"Sure," said Luz reaching into her own bag and pulling out her sketchbook, "when Uodeela took us on walks to show us the different plants used in potions I made drawings of them."

Maddie took a look at both Luz's sketchbook and Marcy's encyclopedia. After a bit she turned to the girls, "I have to say that's real impressive what you guys have done. As far as I'm aware no one's ever tried compiling a list of plants like that, while besides Uodeela, but I'm pretty sure she had the only copy. Hey Marcy, maybe before you head back to your world you could publish that book, it would be a nice way to leave your mark on Amphibia."

Marcy's eyes went wide at hearing that, "I guess that would be neat, oh and Luz we can include some of your sketches in it too."

"Yeah that sounds great!" agreed Luz, "okay so, let's get started with today's lesson. I figure we could walk around Wartwood and Maddie and I can show you some of the ingridients for positions that are native to the area."

"Oh that sounds great!" said Marcy excitedly.

Over the next few hours the girls walked not only around Wartwood, but also in the surrounding forests. Maddie and Luz showed Marcy different plants as well as a few animals that were vital ingredients in potions. Marcy made sure to take notes and recorded the information in her book. As they got to the end of their journey they noticed a particular bird they showed Marcy.

"Uhg that's a vomit bird," said Luz in disgust, "as its name suggests it'd prone to just randomly throwing up, and unfortunately its bile is an ingredient used in many potions."

"Hey this is a great opportunity," said Maddie opening an empty bottle, "We can get a lot of bile right now."

"Please tell me you're joking," said Luz, "collecting it is nasty."

"Hey no one said making potions was pretty," countered Maddie, with that she handed an empty bottle to Luz and Marcy and motioned for them to follow her. They got close to the bird just as it was about to hurl. They held up their bottles and did indeed manage to gather a lot of the bile, only to also get covered in it themselves. Luz was not amused.

"Ahhh it's all over me," she said trying desperately to wipe it off. Marcy couldn't help but laugh a little at seeing Luz's misfortune before coming over to help clean her.

"On the bright side we got two full bottles of bile," said Maddie holding them up in triumph, "should last us quite some time. And hey Marcy got some hands on experience getting potion ingredients."

"I guess that makes It worth it," said Luz as she continued cleaning herself.

"It totally does!" said Marcy, "I learned a lot, made some good notes in my journal. I can't wait to learn more. What should we do tomorrow?"

"I was thinking we take a trip to the archives," said Maddie, "there's bound to be some books about magic there we can take a look at. And who knows maybe we'll find out something new about curses."

"That sounds amazing!" said Luz, "anything we can learn about curses could potentially help Uodeela."

"Exactly!" said Maddie.

The next day the three friends took Joe Sparrow out to the site of the Archives. They landed near a hole in the ground, Anne having informed Marcy and Luz about their previous misadventure there.

"I can't believe Sprig almost trapped them down in here," said Luz, as the group approached the hole.

"Still they did manage to get out so I'd say it all worked out," said Marcy.

"Aw man they really did trash this place though didn't they?" said Maddie as she peered down into the hole.

"You know I have to admit maybe that sunlight timer wasn't the best idea either," said Luz, "I mean is there a reason the archives can't just be open all the time?"

"I think the original idea was to keep out large bugs and night predators," said Marcy, "They didn't want those things just walking into the archives."

"Yeesh considering all the damage here it will probably be ages until Wartwood spends the money to fix this place," sighed Maddie, "it sure will make looking through the books harder."

"Well that just means looking through here will be more of an adventure!" said Marcy.

"Alright then here we go!" declared Luz as she jumped into the hole, it was a bit farther down than she thought, but luckily she landed on a pile of books. Marcy and Maddie followed soon after, as they got up to look around it became apparent at how dark it was inside.

"Can't see very well in here," said Marcy as she fumbled around in the dark.

"Oh no worries I have something," said Luz reaching into her belt she pulled out a bottle of golden liquid.

"Oh good idea," said Maddie, "an Elixir of Light is just what we need."

"Here Marcy," said Luz offering her the bottle, "now you can have a taste of a real Elixir."

Marcy was ecstatic at this and took the bottle from Luz, she downed the elixir slowly and wiped her mouth when she was done.

"Mmmm tastes kind of peachy," said Marcy. A moment later her vision changed and suddenly she could see in the dark.

"WOW! This is so AWESOME!" she yelled, "it's like my eyes are night vision goggles." Marcy began to look around frantically taking in her new power. She glanced all over the underground archives testing out her new power.

"This should last a few hours," began Luz before suddenly getting an idea, "Hey Marcy can you try something for me?"

"Yeah sure," answered Marcy.

"So this may sound weird but why don't you try and imagine a ball of light forming in your hand," said Luz.

"Oh, okay," answered Marcy, she closed her eyes and held out her hand. She did her best to imagine a ball of light forming in her hand, but as the minutes went by nothing happened.

"I don't think it's working," said Marcy, "is there something I'm supposed to be doing?"

"No….I was just curious, I thought maybe….it's nothing," said Luz.

"Okay well in that case lets get looking for books on magic!" said Marcy moving to a pile of books

Over the next few hours the three friends went through as many different books on magic and curses as they could find. While they didn't have success in finding a cure, Marcy enjoyed using her night vision to explore the archives. At one point as she was making her way back from putting a book away Marcy tripped and slammed into one of the pillars by the stairs. As she hit the pillar she noticed that it sounded hollow. After recovering Marcy knocked on the pillar and confirmed it was indeed hollow. Placing her hands on the pillar she finally managed to find some groves in it where she could put her hands. Marcy slid that section of pillar aside and looked inside. There she found an old leather-bound book. Marcy carefully removed it from its resting place and opened the cover to the first page. There was an entry on there she began to read.

"It finally happened! We were able to get the box working, with this box we will not only bring about a new age to Amphibia but it will also allow us to explore other worlds! I have decided to chronical the adventures I have in those other worlds in this journal. Who knows what fascinating secrets we may discover or what new lands and creatures we will meet along the way? As someone who has dedicated myself to studying Amphibian Magic it will be interesting to see if any of these other worlds have magic in them, and if so I wonder if that magic might work in Amphibia."

"Hey guys I found something!" called Marcy getting the attention of Maddie and Luz. She went to go find her friends and the three of them met up.

"What you got there Marbles?" asked Luz.

"I think it's a journal of some kind," said Marcy holding out the book so the others could see, "but what's interesting is whoever wrote this talks about a box and traveling to other worlds. I think they might be talking about the music box."

Marcy showed the entry to Maddie and Luz both of them quickly read it intrigued.

"I have to admit that sounds amazing!" said Luz.

"Huh other worlds," said Maddie, "so there are other worlds besides the one you guys came from?"

"According to what I found out about the box yeah!" said Marcy, "the box not only connects to Earth but other worlds as well. Wouldn't it be so cool to explore some of those places?" Marcy looked at Luz as she said this.

"You know if we were a bit better prepared and knew what we were getting into then yeah I suppose it would be cool," answered Luz. Marcy's eyes lit up at hearing this.

"Hey if the author of this journal did visit other worlds then maybe there's a chance they discovered other ways to do magic," said Maddie, "maybe they know of a way to remove curses." The three friends all glanced at each other as they realize what this could potentially mean.

"Here let's get back outside so we can read this clearly, I think my elixir is starting to fade," said Marcy. With that the group climbed out of the hole and back outside the archives.

"So what else does this person say about these worlds?" asked Luz. Once the girls were settled back outside.

Marcy flipped through the book quickly scanning the entries trying to find one that talked about magic. "Oh I found one," she said, landing on a particular entry. She began to read aloud to the others.

"I just returned from a most wondrous place, a world where witches and demons live, the locals call it the Boiling Isles. From what I've been able to gather they live on what they call a "Titan" an enormous creature that is dead, but whose bones are still able to provide land to live on. That is not all, this creature, whatever it was, apparently contained great power and even though it is dead it's mere presence acts as a sort of background field that provides the witches here a way to cast magic. This field is similar to the one I theorized exists in Amphibia, the one that allows for curses to be cast, the one that delights in causing pain if you so invoke its power."

Maddie and Luz looked at Marcy intrigued by what she was saying, "go on," they said together.

Marcy was about to continue but suddenly a strong gust of wind blew the journal out of her hands. Marcy chased after it worried that she might lose the journal, as she did the wind picked up a bunch of small pebbles along with the journal. Marcy finally managed to catch the journal but as she did, she starred down at the ground.

"Guys, come check this out," she called to Luz and Maddie. The two approached where Marcy was and looked down at the ground where she was starring. The pebbles that had been swept up in the wind seemed to have fallen in a formation. The pebbles had landed to form what looked like a symbol of some kind.

Marcy, Maddie and Luz were starring at the strange symbol unsure of what to make of it.

"What is that?" asked Marcy curiously.

"I don't know, it looks like some kind of ruin or glyph," said Maddie, "but I've never seen anything like it before."

As Luz continued to stare at the symbol she realized it had formed as the pebbles were blown in the wind.

"I wonder….do you think it's related to how Uodeela was able to use magic?" asked Luz, as she said this she got an idea.

"Marcy can I see some paper and a pen?" asked Luz. Marcy obliged handing them to her.

Luz took the paper and drew the symbol onto it, as she finished drawing she tapped the symbol with her pen, suddenly the symbol turned white and a gust of wind blew out form the symbol. Luz jumped back in surprise!

"Do that again!" yelled Maddie wanting to make sure what she had just seen was real.

Luz again drew out the symbol on the paper and again tapped it with her pen. Again it produced a gust of wind that blew out from the symbol. Maddie and Marcy both looked at Luz then at each other, all of them with smiles on their faces.

"That…was…AMAZING!" yelled Marcy in delight!

"Whoa I can't believe it!" exclaimed Maddie, "could this be a new way to use magic without a gem? Let me try!"

Luz handed Maddie the paper pad and pen, she described how to draw the symbol to Maddie who wrote it out on paper. Then instead of tapping it with the pen Maddie hit it with her hand. Again the wind blew out of the symbol, Maddie feeling incredible at being able to cast magic in this manner.

"Oh I have an idea," said Marcy as she asked for the pen and paper, Marcy drew out the symbol and tore out the paper it was on, then she put it on her hand so that the symbol was facing out she quickly tapped it with her other hand and this time the blast of wind went out away from her.

"Oh that is more pragmatic," said Maddie, "good idea Marcy!"

"Have we really just discovered a new way to do magic?" asked Marcy excitedly to the others

"It sure feels that way," said Luz still in disbelief over what just happened.

"Well there's only one thing to do," began Maddie, "we have to keep experimenting!"

"Hang on a second," said Marcy as she reached for the journal, "there's more."

Maddie and Luz came over to where Marcy was sitting down next to her. Marcy continued to read from the journal

"The locals of this place refer to this type of magic as "wild magic" I believe this term is to denote that it comes from nature. I have observed other types of magic (for instance they are able to brew potions much like we can in Amphibia) but this magic that they refer to is unique. The witches cast it by drawing a symbol in a circle and then activating the effect. They refer to these symbols as glyphs. For reference I have drawn these glyphs in the back of my journal."

At that Marcy quickly turned to the back of the journal to find the aforementioned glyph. She did and turned the journal to show both Luz and Maddie. Though as they looked at the page they noticed something strange. There were three black stains on the page as though someone had drawn over symbols that were already there.

"Hey it looks like there were more glyphs," observed Maddie.

"You're right, agreed Luz, "it looks like there were four on this page, but it seems like someone crossed out what the others were.

Marcy moved the book around and tried to put it in various positions to see if she could glimpse what the glyphs were, "Ugg no good, I can't see anything under these ink stains, whatever they were they're lost."

"Well at least we still have one," said Luz.

Marcy took out her notepad again. Luz and Maddie gathered close to Marcy as she drew the symbol on a piece of paper and then hit it with her hand. When she did it caused an orb of light to consume the paper and rise up to rest in Marcy's face. Maddie and Luz observed in awe!

"Wow I know it doesn't seem like much but that's amazing that we can form that ball of light on command," said Marcy.

Luz meanwhile was thinking in her head, that looks just like when I first formed light after trying the Elixir. It's unreal how similar it looks, I wonder…. does that mean anything?

Maddie used the notepad to try her hand at this new glyph she had already summoned a few orbs that hung low on the ground. After she was done Marcy had continued to summon more orbs of light. They small orbs hung around the ground. The sun had begun to set bringing twlight to the area, in the dim light the orbs looked just like little stars.

"I guess it's a good thing we learned a light spell," said Maddie as she sent up another orb, "it is starting to get dark, we should probably head back."

"Ah but we just unlocked a new method of magic!" said Marcy excitedly, "we have to keep experimenting!"

"And we will," said Maddie resolutely, "but we should at least get back to Wartwood, it's never good to be out in the wilds after dark."

"Okay, Okay," said Marcy, "but I want to keep practicing these glyphs when I get back, Oooh I can't wait to show Anne!"

"I wonder who wrote that journal?" pondered Luz aloud, "whoever it was must have known how to work the music box. It's crazy to think that besides Amphibia there might be even more worlds out there!"

"Yeah I bet it has some cool information in it," said Marcy, though as she said this she looked at Maddie, "which is why I think you should have it Maddie." With that Marcy offered the book to Maddie.

"Huh really?" said Maddie smiling brightly.

"Yeah I mean Luz and I are going to leave this world at some point, but the information in this journal is probably a lot more useful to you since you'll still live here," said Marcy.

"Marcy's right," agreed Luz, "it makes sense that you should hang onto this journal, Maddie, plus I'd feel better knowing a former student of Uodeela's had it."

"Wow, that's….I really don't know what to say," said Maddie as she accepted the journal, "thank you both! I promise to take care of it!"

Maddie looked hard at the journal before continuing, I'll admit I'm curious myself who wrote it," said Maddie, "but at the end of the day it probably doesn't mean that much. No point getting obsessed over it."

"Obsessed?!" said Marcy and Luz at the same time.

"Yeah obsessed," repeated Maddie, "like I'm curious who wrote the journal but I'm not so curious that I'd do ANYTHING to find out who. I mean hypothetically, say a demon came up to me and offered to make a deal with me in order to maybe (and I stress MAYBE) find out who the author of the journal was. Oh and let's also say this wasn't the first time I met this particular demon. I had in fact met him before and knew he wasn't trustworthy. But then he comes offering me a "deal" to maybe learn the identity of the author of this journal. Now you have to admit making any sort of "deal" with a demon is usually a bad idea, but to make a deal in order to MAYBE learn the name of who wrote a journal (like come on REALLY?! That's what you're going to make a deal with a dark entity for?) you gotta admit that would be REALLY STUPID!"

Luz and Marcy considered everything Maddie had said before replying,

"I mean yeah that is stupid!" said Marcy, "you'd have to be an IDIOT to do something like that."

"I'm not sure I'd still want you to succeed if I saw you do something that stupid," said Luz, "like I think I'd root for the demon to win if you fell for something like that!"

"Exactly!" said Maddie, "glad you girls can see just how idiotic that would be. I mean the only way it could be worse is if you (the person making the deal) were supposed to be "the smart one" and yet I have a feeling that most people would give this guy a pass and either not realize just how stupid that was or say "whatever he needed to know." As she said this Maddie, Marcy, and Luz made a glance forward looking straight ahead…

With that the three friends walked towards Joe Sparrow and flew back to Wartwood.

A few days later Maddie decided to head to the Plantar's house. She had just finished brewing up a potion she thought would prove useful to her friends. As she got closer to the Plantar house she saw Marcy hovering a bit off the ground using a small tornado to keep her afloat. Anne and Luz were close by watching.

"Ah there you guys are!" said Maddie, "enjoying using that new glyph?"

"For sure," replied Marcy as she moved over to where Maddie was, "as you can see I've just come up with a way to use a tornado to hover."

No sooner had Marcy said this though, then the tornado faded away causing her to fall to the ground.

"Ooof," said Marcy as she picked herself up and dusted herself off, "Obviously there are still a few kinks to work out."

"Marcy's been having a blast using those new glyphs," said Anne, "She and Luz have been testing them to see how they work. I have to admit it's really cool to see."

"We started drawing them out on paper and carrying them with us," said Luz showing Maddie the pre-drawn glyphs. "I told Anne she should carry some too, who knows when they might be useful."

"Eh magics not really my thing," said Anne, "Chock it up to the negative experience I had when I got cursed, but hey you guys go ahead and knock yourself out."

"Oh that's a good idea," said Maddie, "drawing the glyphs out takes time, having some ready to go would be smart."

"I bet they'll be helpful when we go to the next temple," said Anne, "in fact we're just getting things ready, we're heading to the second temple tomorrow."

"Oh perfect, glad I caught you before you left," said Maddie, "thought I could give you a peak into the future."

"Oh how so?" asked Luz.

"Well in my efforts to try and become a better curse user I've been trying some more advanced potions," said Maddie, "there was a potion Uodeela showed me that she said I wasn't ready for at the time, but….ta-dah!" Maddie pulled out a bottle filled with purple liquid in it.

"Ooooh What's that?" asked Marcy intrigued.

"This is a prophecy potion," said Maddie, "it's a lot tougher than any potion I've tried making before, but If I did it right then I can drink it and have look into the future. I figure it would help you out considering all the temples you still have to go to."

"That would be helpful, thanks Maddie," said Luz.

"So how does it work?" asked Anne.

"It's simple I drink the potion and then I make a prophecy," explained Maddie, "thing is I won't remember it so someone needs to be close by to hear it. And don't worry when I drink this potion I go into a sort of trance, but I'll be alright."

"How likely is the prophecy you make to happen?" asked Marcy.

"If I did it right it should be a for sure thing," answered Maddie, "so you gals ready to learn something about your future?"

"Yeah why not?" said Anne, "this could be fun." Marcy and Luz nodded their heads in agreement.

With that Maddie uncorked the bottle and drank its contents in one gulp. For a moment nothing happened, then she closed her eyes and began to clutch her stomach as though she was in pain.

"Maddie you alright?" asked all three girls coming up to her concerned. Just as they got close Maddie suddenly stood straight up and opened her eyes, they were glowing a deep purple. She looked straight at all three girls before speaking in a deep unnatural voice

"The black wind howls…..One among you….will shortly perish…."

And with that Maddie fell face-down in the dirt, the girls didn't immediately rush over as they were still in shock from what she had said. Maddie opened her eyes and got up noticing the expression on all three girls.

"Uh hey what happened?" she asked. None of the girls replied.

"What's with that look on your face?" asked Maddie now concerned, "what did I say?"

Anne, Marcy, and Luz looked at each other then at Maddie, not sure what to say to her or if they should even say anything….

1000 Years Ago

Newtopia

"Interesting…." said King Aldrich rubbing his chin, "these time pools are fascinating, do you think such a phenomena exists in Amphibia?"

"I doubt it sire," answered Sheresade, "from what I learned about the pools they are created by a substance called Titian's blood. I think these pools are unique to the Boiling Isles. Still what they allowed me to learn has given me an idea for how to approach that world."

"Go on," said the King intrigued. Sheresade continued.

"When I initially arrived in the Demon Realm it was a very primitive location. There were only feral beasts about with no sign of any intelligent species, but when I happened upon a time pool I was able to travel to the future of that realm when witches had colonized it and turned it into a thriving city. Not only that but these witches could do magic naturally."

The King looked hard at Sheresade, "what do you mean?"

"I mean they could cast spells naturally, not like here where it is required to be attached to a gem, or where we must brew potions or cast curses, They could do it by merely waving their hands."

Andrias and his father looked at each other, "this is most fascinating!" exclaimed Andrias.

"Indeed my son, a way to cast magic naturally, why if we were able to add that ability to our species we would be even more formidable!" he turned back to the salamander, "so what is you recommendation Sheresade?"

"I say we keep an eye on this world and wait," began the salamander, "the species that live in that world now are too primitive, as I understand it they way they are able to cast spells is through the use of an organ called a "bile sac." But this species did not always have this organ. They had to evolve it, so if we were to wait say oh about 1000 years or so then we could return and harvest the species. We could dissect them and figure out how their bile sac works. Then perhaps we amphibians could learn how to develop such a skill."

Aldrich looked hard at Sheresade before speaking, "it would be a rather long time to wait, still the reward would be well worth it. Very well Sheresade I concur with your assement. Now let us speak of another matter, Andrias, Sheresade come with me there is something I must show the both of you."

The King stood up and lead the two of them down a hallway into the basement of the castle as they walked he turned to his son, "don't you think it's time to say goodbye to those childhood friends of yours?"

"What? Why?" answered Andrias

"Because you're about to become King, it won't be long before those two start asking for favors, using you," said Aldrich.

Andrias was going to say something but Sheresade spoke up first, "if I may say so sire, I don't think that is likely to happen. Barrel is a distinguished soldier who has more than earned his position as captain of the guards he is a toad of good character And Leif, why her family has served as gardeners for generations. They have always helped us to maintain and cultivate the flora we discover on other worlds. Leif is one of the most honorable frogs you will ever meet!"

"Yeah, they're the best dad," said Andrias, "in fact I was going to ask Barrel to be my best man for the wedding!"

The King stopped walking and turned around glaring at his son, raising his voice "you told them about the wedding?! I told you we weren't going to make that public until after you succeeded in the next mission!" The King slammed his staff on the ground causing Andrias to shrink in fear.

"But dad, I thought that only applied to the court and the general public, I didn't think it also applied to my friends," said Andrias sheepishly.

"You see, already you are making them privy to things that don't concern them," said the king, "I thought that after I found you a wife you would cease needing these so called friends."

"Your majesty, they are my friends too," said Sheresade trying her best to assert herself, "if we were not supposed to tell them of the wedding then I apologize, but I assure you that they have not told anyone else. If I may be so bold I think you speak too harshly in regards to them."

The King looked at Sheresade before replying, "as much as I like your adventurous spirit in the field, sometimes I think you are too stubborn for your own good." The King starred hard at her before continuing, "yet I suppose I should be glad for that same spirit. I hope it means you will produce a strong heir."

Sheresade and Andrias looked at each other before awkwardly turning away their faces bright red. The King finally arrived at the place he had wanted to show both Andrias and Sheresade, the wall in front of him slid open to reveal a new chamber. Aldrich stepped into it and spread his arms wide.

"As strong as you may think bonds can last, everything in this world is fleeting, the body decays, the flesh is weakened, time takes us all in the end, except for those of the Royal Family. Behold the Core!"

As he said this four large robotic arms stretched down from the ceiling landing on the ground. This was followed by a terrible screech as a large metal object with many hellish eyes came down from ceiling landing in front of both Andrias and Sheresade, they both let out a small gasp at seeing it and held onto each other momentarily afraid. The King continued to speak as the Core moved forward towards Andrias and Sheresade.

"It contains the combined memories of our greatest minds including your ancestors." The Core came right up to Andrias and looked him in the face.

"Uh hello," said Andrias nervously.

"As for you Sheresade," began the King, "once you are married to my son you will be granted one of the greatest honors of all. When you reach the end of your life your great mind will be preserved in the Core!" The Core then came up to Sheresade looking her in her face causing the salamander to shrink in fear.

"Ah, well, that is uh….I must say I'm speechless, your majesty, I had no idea such a thing ever existed," said Sheresade.

"Yes, well it is a secret that is only known to the Royal Family, you and my son have been engaged for long enough. With your marriage approaching it is time to tell you of certain things for soon you will be Queen of Amphibia.

"It's just this seems rather…extreme does it not?" began Sheresade, "there are surely other methods for recording and preserving one's history and accomplishments. I love the idea of passing on knowledge and was even thinking of writing a few books about everything I learned about magic. Perhaps I can even record a few holo-tapes too-

"Sheresade you would refuse an honor that is only granted to a select few?" asked Aldrich firmly, "this is one of the great perks of being a member of the Royal Family, you are being offered a chance at immortality."

Sheresade looked between the Core and Aldrich part of her wanted to continue to protest being "preserved" but another part of her realized how foolish that would be, so she said nothing. The King continued speaking

"Now about your mission, we'll be invading a medieval world called Earth. You must exterminate the savages there so we can mine the planet for its resources."

"What wipe out a whole race," exclaimed Andrias, "doesn't that seem a little….extreme?"

"Pssh, trust me Drias you'll be doing us all a favor getting rid of them," said Sheresade, "I had an encounter with one of those savages in the Demon Relam remember." Sheresade held up her left arm showing off her stump.

"Ah yes Sheresade had already scouted out this world for us," said Aldrich, "she determined that there is nothing of value worth harvesting, so instead we will simply mine this world. Rememeber son, invading other worlds is expensive and we need all the resources we can get. For our way of life to continue this kind of work needs to be done. Sheresade do you still have the key?"

"Ah yes of course your majesty," said Sheresade reaching into her cloak and pulling out the key to the music box. She was going to hand it back to the King before he held up a hand to stop her.

"No, no, give it to Andrias," said the King.

"Wait really?" said Andrias his eyes lighting up, "does that mean I'm-"

"Officially in charge," said Aldrich managing a smile, as he put his hand on Andiras's shoulder, "now make me proud son!"

"Yes father," said Andrias.

"Remember do a good job on the Earth invasion and when you get back, we'll have a grand wedding! You can make it as lavish as you wish! It will be a time for celebrating the continued legacy of the Royal Family!"

"Is that all then for now dad?" asked Andrias.

"Yes that is all, you are both dismissed," said Aldrich.

Andrias and Sheresade left the room, Sheresade glad to get away, as they left they looked into each other's face and held hands smiling.

Twilight had fallen over the kingdom, Andrias and Sheresade had escaped up to the top of the walls of Newtopia, looking out at the beautiful sunset and enjoying each other's company.

"Remember when we first met?" asked Sheresade as she leaned up against Andrias, "after all the formal introductions were over and your dad let us go, how you brought me up here to show me the sunset?"

"How could I forget," answered Andrias, "I remember being so nervous, arranged marriages are always a bit awkward, I can't imagine it was any easier for you."

"I was nervous," said Sheresade, "my parents told me that our family was being honored by the Royal family and that I was to be married to the young prince. I know that our engagement was more our parents decision than our own, but I'm glad it seems to have worked out."

"My father said your family were some of the best witches in the land and that bringing that line into ours would make us even stronger," said Andrias, "but all I was worried about was whether the two of us get along. I'd come up here to the top of the walls a lot. It was a nice place to escape whenever I wanted to be alone, and I guess me bringing you here was my attempt at trying to be romantic."

"Well it worked wonderfully my dear! From here you could see everything the wondrous sunset and the streets of Newtopia. You could see so many things, I can see why you liked this spot so much. I remember your dad wanted us married immediately," said Sheresade, "but my parents were able to convince him that we should have an engagement period to get to know each other better. I'm glad they did, I think giving us time helped us form a real bond."

"Plus I got to introduce you to my friends and you got to know them as well," added Andrias.

"Yes I am glad I got to meet them," said Sheresade, "seeing you and your friends happy together, that's what helped me to realize you were a nice guy Drias, someone who I could see spending the rest of my life with." She leaned in and gave Andrias a kiss on the cheek.

"It won't be much longer now," said Andrias, "I'll make sure I do a good job on the Earth invasion. We'll have the best most wonderful wedding ever. Barrel will be my best man, Leif can be your maid of honor. I don't care what my dad says I'll make sure that they are sat at our table! You know since our celebration today was cut short maybe tomorrow I'll show Leif and Barrel the box, you know they've never seen it before."

"Oh that's a lovely idea Andrias," said Sheresade, "I think tomorrow I will ask the royal tailor to start work on my wedding dress!"

"Ah you will look splendid in it for sure!" Andrias looked from his fiancé out to the sunset then back to the streets of Newtopia, he saw a group of children playing together, they were all different species, two frogs, a toad, and three newts. They all had smiles on their faces as the played a game together.

"I really do like what we've done here," said Andrias to Sheresade, "this city, it's great that now that we've advanced so far we don't have to worry about competing with each other. I'm glad there's no more fighting between the different species of Amphibia."

"Yes me too my love," said Sheresade, "the world we've helped create has brought prosperity to all the species, and soon you and I will be the ones who lead Amphibia into a new age."

"I can't wait," said Andrias holding Sheresade close to him and looking out again over the sunset. The two continued sitting there enjoying each other's company. As it started to shift to night Sheresade got up and looked around.

"Remind me Drias, where is the deep part of the water?" she asked.

"Oh it's over there," replied Andrias he pointed to a section of water near the back of the city, "my dad told me we built the main gate near the shallow part and that the back of city near the deep end of the lake, why?"

"Oh I was thinking of going for a swim," said Sheresade seductively.

"Well enjoy yourself, I hope it's not too cold," said Andrias.

"And I was hoping you would join me…." said Sheresade, turning towards him and fluttering her eyes.

Andrias's face turned bright red as she said this, while he was still a young newt, he knew what it meant when a newt or salamander asked to "go for a swim" with you. Her request had left him stunned.

"Oh I….uh….well….we've never gone for a swim together…." he said nervously, "I…uh, are you sure you want to do that now?"

Sheresade came up to Andrias reaching down and grabbing his hand with hers and pulling him up, "Yes, I'm sure."

With that she made her way to the deep end of the water, giving Andrias one more seductive look before jumping off the wall and doing a dramatic dive into the water! She surfaced and once more beckoned Andrias to follow her. Andrias let out a deep breath, trying to overcome his nervousness, before deciding to dive in after her….