38. The Temple of Courage

"We shouldn't be much farther now," said Marcy as she held up the music box, guiding Joe Sparrow towards the location that the gem was pointing to. After a few more minutes Joe began to descend into a large swamp, trees obscured the light from entering into this dark forsaken land. The water was dark and muddy and devoid of life. Finally Joe Sparrow landed in the swamp and the group disembarked.

"I am so glad I have a new pair of shoes," said Anne as she looked at the water around them, her boots keeping her feet dry.

"This is the area that the box lead us to," said Marcy looking around her, "but I don't see a temple."

The group continued to look around Luz in particular feeling a sense of déjà vu as she took in her surroundings.

"Hey this may seem weird, but I think I've been here before," said Luz, "I think this is where I first appeared when we opened the box."

"Oh really, does anything in particular stand out?" asked Marcy.

"No I can't say it does, and I was unconscious when my friends found me and brought me to Uodeela's place so I don't know exactly how to get there."

"We're still in the southern area," said Sprig as he looked around, "I though that flight wasn't that far."

"Yeah we are," confirmed Marcy, "The first temple was in the East, and the second was in the North, this temple is in the South which makes me think the last one will be in the West."

"So Mar-mar do you have any info on this temple?" asked Anne.

"I do actually!" said Marcy, "when I was researching this temple there were a lot of references to a very old Amphibian opera. Something about a Frog Knight who had to prove himself here."

"Wait do you mean Glenn the Frog Knight?" asked Luz intrigued.

"I think that was his name," said Marcy, "yeah that's right. There's a scene in the opera where Glenn has to prove himself and pass through the trials of a temple."

"Wait Luz, how do you know about this opera?" asked Hop-pop.

"Oh well, when I was studying at Tadpole Pond me and my friends might have put on an abridged version of the opera," answered Luz.

"Tell me you at least got a frog to play the role Glenn," said Hop-pop a little frustrated.

"Yes we did, we thought it made sense since well it's about a Frog Knight," answered Luz.

"Oh thank frogs!" said Hop-pop, "I am so tired of seeing that play be performed with a Newt in the lead role. I mean he's a FROG knight he should be played by a frog," as Hop-pop said this he let out a heavy sigh.

"What's wrong HP?" asked Anne.

"It's nothing began Hop-pop," though after a second he continued, "alright it is something. When I was younger I wanted to get a chance to play Glenn in a production of the Frog Knight. That was my dream role! But I never got the chance and now I'm much too old."

"Hop-pop talked about that a lot," said Sprig, "he really wanted a chance to play Glenn."

"One of my great regrets in life," said Hop-pop "the other being…" he stopped talking instead taking a looked at Sprig and Polly for a second.

"Hey don't worry about that HP," said Anne leaning down and talking to him, "you're still pretty awesome in my book." Hop-pop smiled back at Anne.

"Now come on let's find this temple," said Anne. With that the two split up looking for any sort of clues they could find.

"Hey I think I found something," called Hop-pop as he motioned for the group to come to where he was standing. They all came over and saw Hop-pop standing on a small raised circular dais. There was purple writing on the dais and Hop-pop stepped back to allow Marcy to read it.

"The temple you seek is deep down below

To make it rise up, put on a show"

"What do you think that means?" asked Luz.

"Hmm not sure," said Marcy as she put her hand to her chin trying to deduce the meaning of the clue.

"Hey look there's more markings," said Hop-pop pointing to the dais. The group looked at the markings and for the first time Marcy was stumped.

"I….don't know what those mean," she said, she looked in her journal just to be sure, "I'm not seeing any sort of translation for those symbols." Marcy continued to stare at the symbols, as she did Sprig came up to look at them.

"Hmmm wait a minute, l don't think those are letters," said Sprig, "here let me try something." With that he pulled out his fiddle and began playing a song. As he finished the ground around them began to shake. The group moved quickly to get out of the way, as they did a large building shot up form the swamp water. As the water drained off the building it was clear that this was the temple they were looking for.

"Sprig you're a genius!" said Anne coming over and hugging her friend.

"Just a hunch I had," said Sprig, "I think those markings are notes."

"Fascinating," said Marcy as she came over to the markings and made some notes in her journal.

"Well let's get this temple started then," said Hop-pop marching up the stairs, the rest of the group following him.

As they got to the top the door opened allowing them entry into the temple. It put them in a small foyer, as they stepped into it torches lit up around them, though they were filled with purple fire. Letters also appeared in front of a hallway leading to the next room. Marcy took out her book and translated

"You must make your way, across this deep pit

Do you have the courage to attempt it?"

"Wonder what pit it's talking about?" said Sprig as the group wandered into the next room. As the group arrived in the room it was clear what pit the writing was referring to.

In front of them was a deep chasm that seemingly had no bottom to it, all they could see looking down in it was an endless void of black. There was no bridge or structure to cross the chasm either, they looked across to the other side and could see the entrance to the next room. It seemed that the temple meant for them to find some way across.

"I don't think even a really strong frog could make that jump," said Hop-pop.

"Pssh, no problem," said Polly, "Luz can just use her magic powers and get us over there."

"I guess I could," began Luz, "but….I tried using them in the first temple and the temple shocked me. I'd hate to try using them to jump across only for them to suddenly not work."

"Yeah that's too risky," agreed Anne, "if the first temple didn't let you use them, then we better try another way to get across."

"Let me see maybe I can get us across," said Marcy lining up her arm crossbow and aiming for the wall on the other side of the chasam. Marcy shot her arrow and it sailed across only to fall just short and sink into the abyss.

"Aww dang-it," she said in frustration.

The group continued to look for some way to make it across but couldn't think of what to do. Finally Luz spoke up.

"I guess I'll have to try jumping across," she said in a somber tone.

"What?!" exclaimed Marcy and Anne at the same time.

"If I use my powers I think I can make it to the other side," said Luz, "I'm pretty sure I can."

"But what if the temple doesn't let you?" asked Anne with worry in her voice, "I don't want anything to happen to you Luz."

"Oh I have an idea," said Marcy reaching into her bag and pulling out a few pieces of paper, "what if you tried using the glyphs?"

"Hmmm I guess that should be okay," said Luz taking the offered papers and crouching down.

"Wait are you sure?" asked Anne, "that gap is really long."

"Well we have to get across somehow," countered Luz, "so let's give this a try!" With that she pressed the two glyphs with her hands, then put them to the ground. A second later Luz launched into the air and across the gap, but it wasn't enough. She quickly began to fall towards the endless abyss.

"LUZ!" shouted everyone at once upon seeing her fall.

In the next instant Luz stopped falling, landing on a seemingly invisible bridge.

"Whoa, what the heck?" she exclaimed as she stood up and looked around her. Luz was standing over the pit with seemingly nothing to support her. Slowly she began to inch her foot forward, testing to see that whatever invisible force keeping her above the pit would still hold. After that she began to inch her foot back in the direction that the rest of the gang were.

"I think it's safe," called Luz to the group. They all looked at each other nervously before Hop-pop decided to test it and slowly stepped onto the invisible bridge. After a second step he was fully on the bridge.

"Whoa this is freaky," said Sprig, "I mean how are you supposed to guess that you could just walk across? Do you think this thing goes the whole way or does it stop at some point?"

"I sure hope this isn't a trick of some kind," said Anne as she cautiously stepped onto the invisible bridge. Once both her feet were on the bridge she relaxed a little but still stepped rather slowly. Anne looked ahead and saw Luz slowly making her way to the other side. As soon as Luz had made it to the other side she waved at the group, encouraging them to cross. After a bit longer the frogs, Anne, and Marcy had all made it across.

"Whew that was a little stressful," said Anne, letting out a sight of relief.

"Yeah, but we all made it in the end," said Marcy, "let's see what's next!"

As the entered the next room they could already here the noise of various machines and contraptions. The room wasn't lit, but as soon as they entered purple torches along the walls lit up revealing an obstacle course of sorts.

"No poem this time?" asked Anne as she looked around the room.

"Guess not," said Marcy also looking to make sure she hadn't missed it, "but I think it's pretty obvious what we need to do. We have to get through all the obstacles."

The group took in the site before them. First was your standard smasher from the ceiling, though it came down at regular intervals. Next after that was a conveyer belt with a set of three blades slicing into it at different points along the path. After that were a series of pits that had fire jets spewing up from them that blocked the path.

"Whoo-boy, this looks rough," said Sprig.

"We'll just have to be careful," said Luz, looking out at the various obstacles in front of them, knowing that one wrong move could spell death.

"Wow this is just like a real life video game!" exclaimed Marcy in excitement.

"Yeah except we don't have any extra lives," said Luz, "here let me go first."

"Luz are you sure?" asked Anne.

"Yeah," said Luz, "I got this!"

With that Luz moved into position just before the large smasher came down. Luz let the smasher come down a few times, getting a feel for it's rhythm before finally running under it as it rose back up. She cleared it just fine then found herself on the conveyor belt. The momentum of the belt tried to force her back so she had to run to keep from being pushed back into the smasher. Luz looked at the three blades as the sliced down onto the conveyor belt, again watching them for a few seconds to learn the pattern. When she was finally ready she charged under the first one easily clearing it. Then she looked a few times before crossing under the second one. As she got to the third one she was starting to get a little tired from constantly running, but pushed through the fatigue. She again studied the pattern of the blade and when she was ready charged under it. The edge of the conveyor belt was in site and Luz made a mad dash to the end finally jumping off of it.

"Whew," she sighed, "that was definitely a little touch and go. But I'm almost done!" As she said this she looked out over to the final obstacle. There were three pits in front of her that she would need to jump over. The all had fire jets that shot up from them at different intervals. The pits were a bit wide so Luz decided to use her wind glyphs to help her jump across. She crouched down, paying attention to the timing of the flames before finally jumping across. After two more times she had made it through the entire obstacle course!

"I made it guys!" Luz called back to her friends.

"That's great!" said Sprig, "now how do we get across?" The group looked nervously at the obstacles in front of them thinking that all of them would have to cross them. Though as they did Marcy's eyes noticed a button on the far wall where Luz was.

"Hey Luz," called Marcy, "press that button over there," Marcy pointed to the button. Luz walked over and pressed it. As she did a pathway extended out of the wall on the right side of the room, allowing the group to simply walk to the other side.

"Well that wasn't so bad," said Anne as the group reunited with Luz, "good job there Luz!" Anne offering her a high five.

"Only one more room to go then," said Luz, "let's get moving!" With that the group walked into the next room. It was a large empty rectangular room. At first glance there didn't seem to be any sort of challenge in it. There was also no poem to offer them any hint.

"This temple sure is inconsistent," said Sprig, "what are we supposed to do here?"

"There's nothing here," said Luz as she stepped forward looking around, the Plantars joining her. Marcy and Anne hung back as Marcy looked in her book trying to see if there was any information in it that might help them.

Suddenly as Luz and the Plantars walked forward a trapdoor opened up under them dropping them into a dark room beneath. Marcy and Anne ran forward to check on them,

"Guys!" they both called to the Plantars and Luz.

But before they could do anything the trapdoor closed trapping Luz and the Plantars down below.

"Ahhh what happened?" gasped Polly, "I can't see a thing!"

"Where are we?" asked Sprig, "it's so dark down here."

"Kids you okay?" asked Hop-pop.

"We're fine," they both replied.

"Hey where's Luz?" asked Sprig.

"Luz! Are you down here?" asked Polly calling out into the dark, no response coming back.

"Luz!" called Sprig, still no reply. Though after a few moments they heard a sound, it didn't sound like Luz though.

"What is that?" asked Polly nervously.

"That sounds like-" said Hop-pop trailing off, "no it can't be."

"Help is someone there!" called a female voice from the dark. Hop-pop wandered off in search of the source of that voice.

"Hop-pop where are you going?" asked Polly, she took off after him, but lost him in the dark.

"Polly get back here!" yelled Sprig, he tried to chase after her but was stopped as a figure appeared in front of him, blocking the way.

"Hey twerp," said the figure. Sprig couldn't see who it was, but he did recognize that voice.

"What no it can't be?" he said.

"Oh but it is," said the figure as she stepped forward drawing a familiar red sword and pointing it at the frog.

"Sasha!" exclaimed Sprig, "what are you doing here?"

"What do you think friend stealer?" said Sasha, "I'm here to get rid of you and get Anne back for myself."

"Yeah right," said Sprig in a challenging voice, "she doesn't want anything to do with you."

"Are you so sure about that?" asked Sasha with a mischievous grin, "how do you know Anne doesn't secretly miss me? How do you know Anne won't dump you for me the moment I find her?"

"She wouldn't do that…." said Sprig, though his voice faltered as he spoke, "Anne would never abandon me for you."

"You don't sound so sure," said Sasha, "admit it, you're afraid of losing Anne aren't you?"

"No….I….I'm not," yelled Sprig.

"Then I think it's time to get rid of you permanently!" with that Sasha swung her sword at Sprig, he manged to duck out of the way, but Sasha chased after him.

"Get back here friend stealer!" yelled Sasha as she chased after Sprig.

Meanwhile Hop-pop kept wandering around in the dark. He tried to follow the voice he had heard, before long he saw a figure ahead of him a female pink frog, one he knew only too well.

"Anura," said Hop-pop in a whisper, "is that really you?"

"Of course it's me dad," said the pink frog with a smile.

"But how?" asked Hop-pop, "I thought you were…. I remember what happened, you and Victor, you were both….eaten by herons."

"Pop, if that were true how could I be right here in front of you?" asked the pink frog.

"I…I…" stammered Hop-pop

"Of course if what you're saying is true then that means its your fault isn't it?" said the pink frog, her smile suddenly fading.

"What?! No!" said Hop-pop, "I….wasn't there."

"Exactly you weren't there!" said the pink frog, "you could have done something if you were there, but instead you let me and my husband die!"

"No!" yelled Hop-pop trying to convince himself, "I…I tried to stop them."

"Well obviously you didn't try hard enough," said Anura, "I was your only daughter, you said you'd be there to protect me and you just let me die." Anura turned away from Hop-pop her face falling into a frown.

"You abandonded me!" she said while looking away from Hop-pop.

"No! Please give me a chance!" said Hop-pop as he reached forward trying to place his hand on his daughter's shoulder only for the figure of his daughter to vanish leaving Hop-pop desperate and alone.

"Guys! Guys!" called Polly "where are you?"

Polly continued to Hop around trying to reunite with her brother and grandpa but couldn't see very far ahead of her in the dark basement.

"What's going on where'd you all go?" she asked.

"Your family can't save you now," said a creepy voice from the shadows. Polly froze as she recognized that voice. A few moments later and orange frog in a suit with an eye-patch stepped forward.

"Curator?" said Polly in disbelief, "but you died!"

"Did I?" he asked in a sly tone, "didn't you hear what I said? That wasn't blood that came out from under the door, that was wax. I'm just fine."

"Oh, well I'll just have to make sure and kill you for real this time!" said Polly trying to sound brave

"And how are you going to do that?" he asked.

"Like this said!" said Polly running forward and throwing herself at the Curator, he simply dodged out of the way.

"Bwahaha!" he laughed at Polly's attempt, " why don't you just admit it? You put on a big show making people think you're brave, but you're just a scared tadpole. You can spend all day acting tough but it doesn't change the fact that you're weak!"

"I'm not weak!" yelled Polly as she charged at him again, only to be swatted aside by the Curator's cane.

"I know you're afraid of me," he taunted, "I think I can make a good wax display of you though. You can be a part of my museum FOREVER!" with that he chased after Polly who hopped away in terror!

Luz picked herself up and dusted herself off. She squinted in the dark room trying to see anything. After a few moments though she realized she was alone.

"Hop-pop! Polly! Sprig!" she called trying to find her friends, "Anne! Marcy! Did you guys fall down here too?"

After a few minutes of no response she called out again, "guys where are you?"

"Mija?" said a voice in the darkness, Luz gasped hearing that voice.

"Mama?!" she said, first in a whisper, but then she yelled, "MAMA!"

Camilla Noceda emerged from the darkness in front of Luz.

"Mom!" said Luz running up to hug her mother, "how are you even here?"

"Mija I can't hug you," said Camilla holding out her hand to stop Luz.

"W-w-what?!" said Luz in surprise, "why?"

"Because I know you're lying to me!" said Camilla in a serious tone, causing Luz's face to fall.

"No…I…I didn't mean to lie to you mama," said Luz tears forming in her eyes, "I was just afraid of…"

"Of me finding out my daughter was bisexual?" said Camila starting to get angry.

Luz didn't reply to that and just stood there looking at her mom in shock.

"How could you do this to me mija?" she asked, "isn't it bad enough that you got yourself expelled from your old school? You're already so different and troublesome, now you have to be gay too?"

"Mom I…" began Luz, but she faltered unable to think of what else to say to her.

"You know how hard it's been for me ever since you're dad died, now you want to make it harder for me by being gay," said her mother. It was that statement that made Luz finally stand up and realize what was happening.

"You're not my mom," said Luz firmly closing her eyes and refusing to look at the figure in front of her.

"Mija, how could you say that to me?" asked her mother.

"You're not my mom," repeated Luz, "my mother was devastated the day dad died. Every year the two of us gather flowers and visit his grave, we loved him! My mom would never use his death as a way to make me feel guilty about something. YOU'RE NOT MY MOM!

As she screamed these last few words Luz opened her eyes, and when she did they were once again glowing a familiar purple color. Luz instantly moved from her position to right in front of the figure of her mother.

"Oh wow!" she exclaimed, "these powers can do other things besides magic, sweet!"

With that she looked into the face of her "mother" before summoning up an orb of light and launching it directly at her. As it struck the figure it seemed to explode into some sort of black goo. It then instantly reformed into her mother again behind her.

"You're so scared of me finding out about your orientation you lied to me about what happened at the dance that night," said her mother.

Luz launched another light orb at the figure of her mother, once again the figure exploded, only to reform again.

"You can't even face your own mother and tell her the truth, what makes you think you can face me?" asked the figure. Again Luz tried to strike down the figure, but again it reformed.

"Admit it!" said the figure, "you're terrified of your mother finding out the truth, she's all you have left. If she rejects you for being Bi you won't have anyone."

Luz began to tear up at this, but after a few seconds she got an idea for how to finally beat this thing. Deciding to stop fighting she landed next to the figure of her mother and began to talk to it.

"Yeah I was scared," admitted Luz, "I was scared of what my mom would say, scared that she would think I was a freak, scared that she would punish me, but mostly I was scared that she would make me feel worse about myself after what I did at the dance."

The figure didn't say anything so Luz continued, "I've thought a lot about what happened, and I know what I did wrong, I've made things right with Anne, and I'm going to make them right with my mom when I see her again! I'm going to tell her the truth!"

The figure of Luz's mom didn't say anything, she kept looking at Luz for several seconds before finally smiling, and nodding her head. As she did, she faded into the darkness. Luz began to hear screams from around her and hurried to find the rest of the Plantar's. She found Polly first being chased by a strange orange frog.

"Luz help me!" screamed Polly, "I'm too weak to stop this guy."

"No you're not Polly, it's not real!" said Luz coming up to Polly.

"Oh you sure about that!" said the orange frog as it swung its cane at Polly, Luz stepped forward and used her staff to block the strike. After blocking the attack, she tried to stab the figure but it once again quickly remerged behind her and began to taunt Polly.

"You're all talk when it comes right down to it," said the orange frog, "you can't actually fight anything."

"Polly, it's some sort of fear monster, it's praying on what you're afraid of," said Luz as she again stabbed the figure with her cane, only for it to again reemerge in a different location.

"You have to stand up to it!" said Luz trying to encourage Polly.

"But it's right," admitted Polly, starting to tear up, "I really am just all talk."

"No you're not," said Luz coming up to Polly and looking her directly in her face, "Anne told me about that time the three of you stayed in that Inn. She told me how it was you who rescued everyone. You're not just a weak tadpole! You're a lot stronger than you realize, and if you're this strong as a tadpole I can only imagine what you'll be as a frog someday!"

Polly looked from Luz's face, then into the face of the Curator no longer afraid of him. She hopped towards where the Curator was.

"I beat you before and I can beat you again!" yelled Polly in triumph, "I'm not afraid of you."

The Curator didn't move or say anything, instead it nodded its head before finally disappearing for good. Luz and Polly looked at each other smiling before moving towards another noise. This time they recognized Spig's voice as he seemed to be screaming from the darkness.

"Whaaaaa!" yelled Sprig as he ran away from the figure of Sasha.

"Come back here friend stealer!" yelled Sasha as she chased after him, "or don't, run away and let Anne come back to her real friend. She never liked you anyway!"

"Well that's a lie for sure!" said Luz emerging from the darkness to stand in front of this figure of Sasha.

"Oh great you're here too," said Sasha.

"Luz it's Sasha I don't know how she got here, but you have to do something!" yelled Sprig as he cowered behind Luz.

"Sprig it's not real," said Luz trying to comfort Sprig.

"What do you mean it's not real?" asked Sprig, "she's right there! She's going to take Anne away. She said Anne doesn't really like me."

"Sprig trust me, you are a better friend to Anne than Sasha ever was," said Luz getting down to look Sprig in his eyes, "you were there for her when she really needed you. And….I never told you this, but thank you for being there for Anne when I couldn't be."

Sprig looked up into Luz's eyes. Eyes that were beginning to tear up.

"Before we left Earth, Anne and I were going through a rough patch, and it was completely my fault," admitted Luz, "at the time I wasn't being a good friend to Anne. So thank you for being there for her and for being a friend when she really needed one."

Sprig looked into Luz's face, then wrapped his arms around her. The two shared a hug before turning to face Sasha.

"Anne would never leave me for you," declared Sprig triumphantly, "she and I have a real friendship. You just want her to do whatever you want."

"Anne's going to leave eventually, that's the whole reason you're recharging the stones," taunted Sasha, "are you still going to be friends even then?"

While the question did catch Sprig off guard it was only for a moment before he replied, "if Anne wants to go home to her world, then so be it. Even if I never see her again after she leaves we'll always have the memories we made here in Amphibia." Sprig's resolve seemed to wavier as he said this but he held his face firm.

The figure of Sasha looked into his face before saying, "you speak with conviction, but I wonder if that conviction will still hold when it comes time to say goodbye…." With that the figure of Sasha faded into the darkness. The group knew there was only one more person to find and they raced to find Hop-pop.

"Anura! Anura! Where are you?!" called Hop-pop in the darkness, "I can't lose you again!"

"You already lost me dad," came Anura's voice, "you didn't protect me and my husband when you had the chance. Now we're both dead!"

"Hop-pop don't listen!" came Luz's voice as she and the others ran up to him, "whatever's out there is only an illusion it's based on your fears."

"Is that all I am an illusions?" said a voice, with that a pink frog stepped out from the darkness, Sprig gasped as he saw her.

"Mom…." he said slowly as he took in the sight of her.

"Yes dear it's me your mother," said Anura opening her arms.

"Mom…." repeated Sprig as he slowly walked towards her, Luz quickly stepping in his way.

"Wait Sprig, that's not your mom," warned Luz.

"What how could you say such a thing?" said Anura, "Sprig it's me, I can be there for you."

"NO!" yelled Hop-pop rushing forward, he crashed right through the Anura figure causing her to disappear. She then reappeared behind Sprig.

"Your grandpa let me die," she whispered into Sprig's ear, "don't you hate him for that?"

These words had an effect on Sprig who quickly pulled away from the figure of his mother.

"Hop-pop took us in an raised us like we were his own," he said glaring at his mother in the face, "he sacrificed so much for us. Why should I hate him?"

"Anura…" said Hop-pop getting down on his knees and looking his daughter in her face, "I am so sorry I wasn't there. If I had been maybe I could have saved you, but ever since that day I've done my best to take care of your kids. Everyday when I see them I promise myself that I will make up for not being there for you, by being there for them."

The figure of Anura closed her eyes as Hop-pop said these words, she smiled at Hop-pop and her kids before finally saying one word, "Thank you," and fading away.

The group stood there motionless as they all tried to process what had just happened to them, Sprig and Hop-pop both crying at having the encounter with their deceased family member. After a few minutes though the roof opened above them and a path lead out from the chamber they had been kept in. As the made their way out of the chamber Anne and Marcy came over to greet them

"Guys!" they called rushing up to them, "you're okay!"

"Anne!" said Sprig running up to give her a hug. Sprig eagerly hugged Anne, still shaken by his experience.

"Oh we were so worried about you," said Marcy, "we tried to find a way to get down there, but we couldn't. I thought it might be one of the trials of the temple, and hoped you'd get through it."

"That's actually what it was," said Luz, "but it sure was tough."

"What did you have to do down there?" asked Anne.

Luz paused for a moment before responding, "I think it was some sort of the whole "face your fears" test."

"Yeah we each saw different things that scared us down there," said Sprig.

"Oh like what, what did you see?" asked Marcy.

Luz and the Plantars all looked uneasily at each other, none of them wanting to talk about their fears. Though Hop-pop finally spoke.

"Anne…." began Hop-pop "Did I ever tell you what happened to Sprig and Polly's parents?" Anne shook her head.

"Well, when I was down there I saw my daughter," said Hop-pop, he paused before continuing, "it was a few years ago, I was away on a journey when the herons attacked…."

"Hop-pop," said Polly coming up to him.

"That wasn't your fault," said Sprig in a reassuring voice.

"I just know if I had been there I could have done something," continued Hop-pop, "when I was down there, I saw a vision of my daughter and she told me how it was my fault that I wasn't there…."

"Hey it was just a vision," said Anne.

"It doesn't mean it's not true," said Hop-pop falling to his knees, "and maybe that fear is a reason I did something else I shouldn't have."

"What do you mean?" asked Anne.

"Anne I-" began Hop-pop but he stopped unable to finish his confession, "I did something I shouldn't have done, I let you down."

"HP, you've been like a grandpa to me since I got here," said Anne coming up and giving Hop-pop a hug, "you're here trying to help me get through this temple. You've done so much to help me get home."

"But Anne I-" began Hop-pop, "there's something I did that you don't know about, something that if you knew you'd probably hate me for. But the only reason I did it was because I wanted to make sure nothing bad ever happened to my family again."

"Let me see if I understand," said Anne, "you're saying there's something you did in the past, that I don't know about, that if I did know about would upset me?"

"Yes Anne, and I want you to know I'm sorry for doing it," said Hop-pop.

"Okay," said Anne, "whatever it is I forgive you,"

"Wait really just like that?" said Hop-pop in surprise.

"Listen HP remember that time I took your wallet to go and have "girl time?" well you forgave me for that," said Anne, "heck we've both done things we shouldn't have in the past to each other, but we got through it and forgave each other. I don't want you to feel burdened by whatever it is you did. You told me just now you're sorry for doing it, so I forgive you."

"Anne….thank you" said Hop-pop coming up to her and giving her a hug.

"No problem HP," said Anne, "now let's go recharge that gem!"

With that the group headed into the next room. There was a pedestal similar to the one in the first temple and behind that pedestal what looked to be a door leading into another room.

"This must be where we recharge the gem," said Marcy looking at the pedestal, with that she pulled out the music box from Anne's bag and took out one of the grey gems.

"Here Luz," she said handing the gem to Luz, "why don't you do the honors this time?"

"Yeah no problem," said Luz, taking the gem and putting it into the pedestal. As she did, a stream of purple light shot up from the pedestal. Luz stared up at the glowing pillar of light in awe, though as she did, the purple glow in Luz's eyes drained completely….

Once the gem was finished charging it had returned to a deep purple color. Luz removed it from the pedestal and handed it back to Anne.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, "three down one to go! We're that much closer to getting home!"

"Yeah, feels good," said Anne, as she said this the group heard a sound. They turned around to see that the door behind the pedestal had opened and lead into another room.

"Huh, this is new," observed Marcy, "I thought we were done with the temple. What's in this other room?"

"I don't know, but we're already here so we may as well check it out," said Luz.

With that the girls and the frogs walked into the next room, as they did they saw a blue glow seem to envelop the room. Once there eyes had adjusted they saw a raised platform at the far end of the room, on it was a smooth ornate stone. Resting in the stone was a beautiful impressive looking sword.

"Holy frogs!" gasped Hop-pop as he took in the site before him.

"It can't be, is that-?" began Marcy

"The Masamune" finished Luz as she starred at the sword embedded in the stone. The sword gave off a faint ethereal glow that lit up the chamber it was in. The sword was a broadsword with a golden red hilt, in the hilt was embedded a blue gem.

"To think it's actually real!" exclaimed Hop-pop, looking intently at the sword.

"I can't believe it," said Marcy, "even with all the research I did I thought it was only a legend. Does this mean the entire story of Glenn the Frog Knight is true?"

"One of my biggest regrets is never getting to play that role," said Hop-pop dejectedly, "Every frog who's ever acted has always wanted to play the role of Glenn. He's one of the most famous heroes in all the land. But now I'm much too old, to think that sword he used was actually real…."

As the group continued to stare at the sword writing appeared on the wall behind it. Marcy quickly brought up her book to translate it.

"You've shown you're courageous, here's one final test. Only one who is worthy will pull the sword from its rest"

"Wait so this temple had a way for us to recharge the stone and it has a sweet weapon waiting for us?" said Polly, "this temple is the best! Why couldn't the other temples have weapons we get to keep?"

"Yeah that seems so unfair," declared Sprig.

"Hey there's a gem in the hilt," observed Anne looking closely. Marcy and Luz came up to look at it with her.

"I bet that's a magic gem," said Marcy, "My guess is that whoever can wield the sword can also use magic."

"It does look a lot like Uodeela's gem," said Luz as she starred intently at it, "so not only would whoever pulls it out get a cool sword, they'd also be able to cast magic, that's amazing!"

"Well uh who wants to try and pull the sword?" asked Marcy hesitantly.

The group looked at each other, the weight of the sword heavy on their minds. Finally Anne spoke.

"Luz you do it."

"What me?" said Luz.

"I mean the Plantars said you were the one helped them face their fears" said Marcy, "I bet if anyone's worthy it's you."

"I….I guess this would be just like in book one where Azura got her first staff," said Luz perking up.

"Yeah, exactly she was the only one who would pull it from the fountain, she was the chosen one!" said Marcy, "except now you'll get your very own sword!"

"Uh hey if Luz gets a sword can I get her pointy stick?" asked Polly.

"Well let's see if I can pull it out," said Luz as she walked up to where the sword was.

"Okay…." said Luz taking a deep breath as she put both her hands on the hilt of the sword. Luz breathed one more time before pulling with all her might….

….only for the sword not to budge an inch.

Luz immediately tried to play off the attempt, "ha, must not have had a good grip on it. Let's give that another try!" Again Luz pulled hard on the sword….again it did not move.

Luz took her hands off the hilt and spit onto both of them rubbing her hands together before putting them back on the sword hilt and pulling with all her might! But she couldn't pull the sword out.

"No," she said sounding defeated, "no, I have to be the one who…." Luz trailed off continuing to yank on the sword only for nothing to happen.

"No, no, no! This isn't how it's supposed to go! I'm supposed to be able to pull it out! I'm supposed to…" Luz trailed off, she still kept fruitlessly trying to pull the sword, but each failed attempt only further discouraged her. Finally she gave up kicking the ground in frustration and sitting on the steps.

"I guess it's not me," she said.

"Hey don't worry about that," said Anne coming up to Luz and putting her arm around her.

"You were still pretty cool jumping across that chasm and making it through that obstacle course," said Marcy coming up and sitting on her other side, "as far as I'm concerned that makes you worthy in my book."

"You helped save the town from Bog," said Sprig, "that has to count for something! Who cares what a stupid sword thinks."

Luz looked up at all her friends who were offering her encouragement, finally she smiled, "thanks guys! I appreciate you saying that."

"No problem dude," said Anne, "don't think too much about it."

"Hey since we are all here though," said Luz standing up, "we should make sure…Anne why don't you give it a try?"

"I…yeah sure okay," said Anne. With that she walked up to the sword standing in the same place Luz had. Anne put both her hands on the hilt and pulled….but once again the sword did not move. Anne tried one more time just to be sure, but she could not remove the sword.

"Guess it's not me either," said Anne, "see don't feel so bad Luz, guess we both aren't worthy."

Polly hoped up to the sword, "well I supposed if we're all giving it a try I may as well."

Polly hopped up to the hilt itself putting her flippers on the hilt and pulling with all her might, but nothing happened.

"Eh…I suppose I should expect that, I'd probably use the sword for destruction," she said.

"I don't really see myself as much of a sword user," said Marcy, "but what the heck, I'll give it a go."

Marcy walked up to the sword putting her hands on it and pulling, again the sword didn't move.

"Yeah….I'm not that surprised, oh well," said Marcy as she shrugged it off, "hey I just thought of something. Glenn was a frog hero right? Maybe it only works for frogs."

The group looked over at Hop-pop and Sprig, the only two who hadn't tried yet. Sprig seemed emboldened by Marcy's suggestion. He quickly hopped up to the sword.

"One frog hero coming up!" he decalred proudly, putting his hands on the hilt and pulling with all his might, only for nothing to happen. Sprig tried again, but again nothing. After a third attempt he gave up.

"I mean I do prefer my slingshot," he said, "so I guess it's not a total loss."

That left only Hop-pop, the group starred at him as he walked up to where the sword was.

"Look it's probably not me either," he said somberly, "I'm pretty sure my best years are behind me, so I doubt I'm worthy for this sword."

"Still we're all here right now," said Anne, "may as well be sure."

Hop-pop walked up to where the sword was and put one single hand on the hilt, for a moment he hesitated taking a deep breath, then he pulled hard….only for nothing to happen.

"Well that's all of us," said Luz dejectedly, "guess that means none of us are worthy."

Hop-pop could hear the bitterness in Luz's voice, and came up to talk to her.

"Now hold on a second," he began, "just because you aren't worthy of the sword doesn't mean you aren't a good person Luz. I've only known you for a bit but I'd say you're good, you put yourself in danger just like Anne did to help the town. You protected the town from Bog, you helped Maddie connect with her siblings, and you conquered your fear just now to save us!"

"Yeah!" agreed Anne, "and hey I tried to pull the sword but couldn't either, so don't beat yourself up Luz."

"Guess we're all unworthy together than," said Marcy coming up and putting her arms around Luz and Anne. The two smiled at this.

"Yeah I guess we are," said Luz perking up

"Well at least we got the stone charged," said Sprig, "that means we only have one more to go!"

"So let's go take a break and then we'll challenge that last temple," said Anne, "we're almost done with our quest."

With that the group began walking out of the temple, Luz spared one more longing glance at the sword before they left completely.

"Still it is a shame that one of us couldn't use it," she said, "It would have been really useful if we could…."

Moments after Joe Sparrow flew away there was a rumbling in some bushes next to the temple. Then Lilly, her father, Gustav, Percy, and Braddock emerged form the bushes taking in the site of the temple.

"That is impressive," said Braddock, "these temples must be real remote if so few have ever found them."

"I guess Valeriana's map was good then," said Emmanuel, "according to her the sword is here, all we have to do is get through the obstacles of the temple."

"Gee uh that sounds dangerous," said Percy shrinking back a little.

"It's okay dad," said Gustav, "if you don't want to come with us you can wait out here, but I'm going in with Lilly and Emmanuel."

Percy and Braddock looked at each other for a second before looking back at Gustav.

"Hold on son, this time I'm going in," said Percy trying his best to sound brave.

"Well if you're going then I'm going too," said Braddock.

"Are you sure?" asked Gustav, "you don't have too."

"No it's alright son, this time we want to go," said Percy.

"Yeah!" agreed Braddock, "I want to see if that sword is real!"

"Alright then," said Emmanuel, "let's go and see what trials await us in the temple!"

The group emerged into the final chamber bruised and a little weary but for the most part okay.

"That was rough!" said Percy, "fighting a monster that can transform into your fears, I hope I never have to do that again."

"I was a bit surprised by my fear," said Gustav still shaken from what he had seen, "but the point is we made it through."

"Look I think someone has been here recently," said Emmanuel, as he motioned towards another chamber, one in which a faint light was emanating from. The group pressed forward and entered the chamber themselves. There they saw the sword Masamune embedded in stone, its glow lighting up the room.

"It's here dad!" exclaimed Lilly, "we really found it!"

"I can't believe it," said Emmanuel, "makes you wonder if the story of Glen was true?"

"In any case we need to report back to the resistance," said Lilly, "now that we know it's here we should bring over as many fighters as we can and see If any of them are worthy to wield it."

Emmanuel didn't respond right away, instead he starred at his daughter before thinking of an idea.

"Yeah we should do that," he said, "but first we may as well see if anyone here is worthy. We've already come all this way, who knows? Lilly you want to give it a shot?"

"Me?" exclaimed Lilly, "dad….come on don't joke like that."

"I wasn't joking," said Emmanuel seriously, "we're already here, if you don't think you can pull it then we'll move onto others….but you may as well try."

Lilly looked between her father and the sword not sure if she wanted to try, though after a few minutes she did walk up to the sword, gripped the hilt….

….and managed to effortlessly pull it from the stone.

As she pulled the sword from the stone it began to glow even brighter. Suddenly its glow enveloped the entire room causing everyone in it to close their eyes. When they opened them back up two figures were standing there, they were incorporeal almost ghost like. One was a green frog, he was wearing a gold breastplate with a green cloak, white pants and boots. There were streaks of brown along his face. The other was a figure who Lilly immediately recognized, her mother.

"Mom!" said Lilly running up to the figure and trying to hug her, unfortunately her mother was intangible and Lilly went right through her. Her mother came up to her and tried to put her arms around in such a way as to simulate a hug.

"I've missed you so much," cried Lilly into her mother's arms.

"I know," said the figure of her mother, "I've missed you to Lilly. Look how much you've grown."

As Lilly and her mother embraced, Lupe glanced out to Emmanuel.

"Good to see you again," she said, "thank you for watching over our daughter."

Emmanuel stayed silent for several minutes as he took in the site before him, finally he replied, "of course."

Braddock and Percy both stood shocked at the site before them, not entirely sure how to react. They both felt a tinge of guilt at seeing Lupe, knowing what had happened to her years before. Percy removed his hat in respect, both him and Braddock staying silent.

"Lilly, I had a feeling you would be able to pull the sword," said Lupe to her daughter looking her in her face, "but I want you to know I'm proud of you regardless. You really have grown so much, and I can see so much potential in you."

"Lupe….I'm sorry I couldn't protect you," said Emmanuel stepping forward, "it's my fault you died,"

"Hush now," said Lupe raising up her hand, "none of that, I won't have you blaming yourself for that after all these years. You've done well rasing Lilly by yourself."

"Mother," began Lilly, "I've done my best to learn to fight. I've tried to grow and be a better person. I hope I've continued to impress you."

"Lilly, you already impressed me just by being who you are. Whenever you feel doubt, whenever you aren't sure of what to do just be yourself. Trust yourself and you will find the answers you seek," as she finished talking her form began to fade.

"Mom!" cried out Lilly, "please….don't leave me…."

"I'm afraid I must," said her mother in a resigned tone, "at least this time we got to have a proper goodbye. Lilly I will always watch over you." With that her form faded away

Lilly looked into the space where her mom had previously been, tears still streaming down her face, her head still hung in sadness. After a few moments the other frog came up to her, and began speaking in a stern yet compassionate voice.

"Losing someone close to you, the pain never really goes away. I know from experience."

He came up to where Lilly was standing, she looked into his eyes she could see a lifetimes worth of stories and history in them. She could tell from both his gaze and from how he carried himself that this frog had seen and accomplished much.

"You are Glen the Frog Knight, aren't you?" asked Lilly to the frog looking from between him to her hand, realizing she still held the Masamune. The frog nodded.

"I….I….I'm not sure…..I mean….I don't know if…." began Lilly, but Glen held up his hand to silence her.

"Lilly," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking her straight in her eyes, "you are stronger than you realize, and right now Amphibia has need of that strength. I had doubts about myself after losing a friend. It tore me up inside and made me question myself. I thought if I wasn't strong enough to save him, how could I hope to win in battle again? That loss did affect me for the rest of my life, I never fully recovered, but I also never let it break me either. Your mother's sacrifice lives on in you, and everyday that you fight, everyday that you strive to do better, everyday that you pick yourself up from your failures you honor her, you honor me, and you honor all frogs everywhere!"

He stood back allowing his words to linger with Lilly. She stood there a long time absorbing what both her mother and Glen had told her.

[Start Playing "Frog's Theme" from Chrono Trigger, I recommend the Orchestral version by: Malcom Robinson]

For a long time Lilly stood there in silence letting the tears she was still crying finsih falling off her face. After several minutes she finally raised her head up and turned around to face her friends. Her heart was heavy, but her face was full of determination. In fact her face had a look of focus and confidence in it that she had never had before. Getting to say goodbye to her mother, Glen telling her how strong she was, it had erased any doubt she had about herself. Finally in one swift motion she raised the Masamune above her head and said in a loud triumphant voice,

"My name is Lilly! My mother had a dream that frogs could live free of the Toads oppression, and that dream did not die with her. For I wield both it and the Masamune! I will strike down Grime and bring honor and freedom to the Frogs of Amphibia!"

As Lilly spoke the sword in her hand glowed even brighter than before almost as though her conviction and confidence was radiating out of the sword itself! Behind her Glen was watching Lilly as she made her speech, smiling the whole time. As she finished he gave a simple nod of approval. With that Glen the Frog Knight faded from Amphibia, secure in the knowledge that a worthy successor had found the Masamune.