Drifting in Dreamland With You

There Will Come a Poet...

"Is that her…?" The toad whispered to the salamander king.

The King nodded. "Yes, Barrel." He simply replied.

Rosetta anxiously looked around the throne room. The room bustled with energy, buzzing with excitement to see what was happening. Who were they addressing…? She knew the King had his eyes on her little community town for quite awhile, but that was quite a few frogs.

"Welcome citizens of Amphibia…!" The King's voice boomed out, echoing through the throne room, which fell silent as everyone awaited the King's announcement. "The last time we had a meeting like this was for Barrel the Brave to claim his title as the bearer of the gift of strength and title as the first toad Captain serving Newtopia." He continued on. "Though, for the prophecy, we need a trio." He added with a chuckle.

Barrel cleared his throat and stepped forward. "It is my honor to announce who our lord has chosen for the gift of compassion. Rosetta Planter, please step forward to continue our ceremony."

All eyes were on her and her skin crawled. This was a mistake… She was just a townie from Wartwood. She held no significance…

Rosetta did as she was told, despite her immediate doubts. She knelt before the King and his toad General, not making eye contact.

"Rosetta Planter." The King's voice echoed. "From the moment you took over your family's farm to starting a full fledged business, you have shown your connection to your community. The Planter farm has flourished with you being in charge. Some even admitted that you are the friendliest Planter out there, and your honesty and compassion was the charm that brought everyone to you." He started. "Our lord has blessed you with the gift of compassion quite a while ago, and you have handled it well." He explained.

Rosetta finally met the King's eyes, and she could see the kindness and hospitality in them, though something underlying was there… She couldn't place it. Her gaze moved back to Barrel as he bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly, as if he had something else to say.

"I am pleased to announce that you, Rosetta Planter, will help fulfill our lord's prophecy as you bear the gift of compassion…!" Barrel said with a large grin on his face.

Rosetta was put off by the toad's actions. Every tale said he was a ruthless general of King Andrias, starting stereotypes about toad personalities altogether.

Her own Pop always said ever since Barrel was given power, the toads have been ruthless in their quest to be seen as equal to their powerful dictatious General Barrel, but seeing Barrel now, all those tales were proven false. Her Pop was wrong, and she could easily tell, despite not knowing him yet.

"That will be all…! Rosetta Planter, I want you to stay behind before you head back to Wartwood." The King announced, and the crowd was guided out of the room by the Newtopian guards.

Once the crowd cleared out, Rosetta looked back at King Andrias. "What did you need, sir?" She asked.

"No need to be formal, Rosetta." The King reassured. "Now, let's get right to business, why don't we?" He then said, grinning softly. "As the bearer of the gift of compassion, you must join us, Barrel the Brave of the northern toads, bearer of the gift of strength, and I, King Andrias Leviathan of Newtopia, bearer of the gift of intelligence, to complete our prophecy we are graced and now destined to finish." He explained, his grin never wavering.

"What exactly is the prophecy…?" Rosetta asked.

That did it. That made the King’s smile fall. "I was told to not ever mention it again. I hold the prophecy as I am the one worthy of the information, according to our lord. I am only doing my part as the bearer of the gift of intelligence…" He admitted.

Rosetta paused the memory and looked at Barrel. "There it is. I knew he said something like that. There is a prophecy, but he was sworn to secrecy by his lord." She said, pointing to the projected memory.

Barrel hummed. "Bro, I think we need to show this to Littlepot to solidify our point in our need to step in." He said, looking at the pink frog.

Rosetta nodded in agreement. "Of course, of course, yes…! Can you think of some other time he was being malicious?" She asked.

Barrel froze. "Er… A lot of times, really…" He mumbled out, looking away from the frog. "The biggest point would be my death, but there were many times before that…" He admitted.

Rosetta's gaze softened. "We can skip looking at them for now if you want. I don't want you reliving memories you probably don't want to see." She offered.

Barrel nodded. "Yeah… Let's skip that for now, dude." He said.

Rosetta sighed and looked back at the projection.

Andrias looked so young… His short hair and stubble contrasted his large beard and long flowy white hair he currently has. His armor has changed so much as well, though as a salamander that never stopped growing, she supposed he always needed a refitting every two years or so.

"We have to try and help Marcy Wu the best we can… Even if we can't directly contact her, the best we can do is take that deal from Littlepot so you can talk to and guide Sasha Waybright." Rosetta declared.

Barrel nodded. "Alright, let's do this then." He said.

Rosetta felt an unsettling disturbance in the force, but tried to shake it off.