undying power [amphibia]

chapter 9 (the king's ultimatum)

Another Toad Tower dream. I'm used to it at this point so I don't think anything of it at first. Anne and I are fighting, the tower started to crumble, and I almost fall when Anne catches me. I knew what happened next. I let go of Anne's hand and Grime catches me.

So I let go of Anne's hand, and almost immediately noticed something was different. I've never fallen this far before, I thought. And I then I realized. Grime isn't gonna catch me.

This is what I wanted, isn't it? Finally knowing what would happen if no one caught me. Don't get me wrong, I know I would die, but what would it actually be like it?

I suddenly hit the ground. It didn't even feel like anything. It was all black. It was all nothing. Numb. Just like I wanted it to be. Or is it?

I then woke up quickly, sweating and panting. Is that really what it's like when I die? Suddenly, I felt the urge to live. I didn't want to be numb. I wanted to feel something. Anything. Even if it was just pain.

Even though I changed my mind, I wasn't gonna let anyone know. That would be showing weakness.

I looked over at the clock on my side table. 7:30. That was much later than I usually got to sleep in.

My curtain quickly flew open, revealing Lady Olivia. "Good morning, Sasha. How are you feeling?" She asked. "Um, I don't know. I literally just woke up." I could tell she didn't like my sass. "Sasha, this is serious. I need to make sure you're going to be ok," she told me, raising her voice a little. I really did t feel like arguing so I just gave in and told her.

"Good to know you're feeling a little better! You can stay in here and just lye back for now," she said to me.

"Where is Anne and Grime," I asked.

"They're training outside. You don't have to worry about them. They can handle this without you for now."

It was the 'without you' that really angered me. "But I don't wanna sit back. I wanna help them. I wanna be out training right now."

"Take a breathe. Stress isn't good for you right now."

"I don't give a shit! I'm over all this. I might not be able to do much right now, but I swear once I can..."

I paused. I could tell Olivia was confused since I was yelling and just stopped.

I stopped because I felt something. I don't know how to explain it. I just felt... fire-y. I then looked over to see my hair glowing pink. Like Anne's was in Newtonia.

I freaked out for a second but then realized what was happening. "I have cool anime powers!" I yelled. In that moment, I was so excited that I didn't even notice Olivia leave the room. But I didn't really care. I was mad at her.

3rd person

The Core were sitting on the King's throne, impatiently waiting for him to get in there. Finally, he came in and looked shocked to see it. "Andrias! Nice for you to join us. We need to talk," it said.

"My lord, I wasn't expecting to see you here. What do you need from me?"

"What do we need?! We need you to stop being an idiot and Heart."

"I've been trying. Honestly I have."

"SHE'S I CHILD! It shouldn't be that hard."

"I'm sorry, my lord. I promise I'll do better."

"Yes, you will," the Core said, pulling out a flame knife and making cut in Marcy's skin with it.

"Because if you don't," the Core continued. "You will have a consequence you don't want to imagine. If you don't have Boonchuy here in 24 hours, let's just say it won't be pretty," it said with a smirk on its face. "Now go. I want you out of my sight."

"Yes, my lord," Andrias said, bowing and walking out of the room.

The Core continued to make cuts, knowing that it was hurting the human. "Useless, incompetent," the Core said, standing up and starting to pace around the room. "Failure, hopeless, vain. He is not worthy of being king. We would be much better in that position. So let's hope he fails his mission, so we can finally take over."