Eyes | Amphibia

Chapter 17

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The portal almost immediately closed behind them after they arrived in Amphibia, in the midst of a dense mushroom forest. Looking back at where the portal previously was, Anise chuckle nervously. "Uh... so we have a plan to get back to Earth, right? 'Cause like... the portal just closed..."
"Not really, no—" Anne admitted, her eyes widening with realization. "B-But if we're able to get the Ultra Stone from Darcy, we should be able to use it to get home."
"What?!" Anise shouted. "So I came all the way here just to find out that you guys don't have plan to get back?! Oh my god oh my god ohmygod—"
"Relax, would you?" Sasha scoffed. "Anne and I have gone through this already— you just have to trust us. Now, we'd better get going. Come on, Wartwood is this way."

Amphibia was similar to how they left it, but it felt... different, in a good way. The air was cleaner, the environment was tranquil, and the land was peaceful. No trace of conflict in these parts whatsoever.

It's a shame that peace was soon to be interrupted.

Anise's sparkling eyes remained perpetually wide as they took in the foreign world around them, not able to believe what they were seeing. "Woah... this place is amazing! The flora here is incredible!" They exclaimed through a wide smile.
As much as they wanted to, Anne and Sasha, however, were too focused on the mission at hand to sit around and admire the recognizable Amphibian land.
"Okay, so Darcy used us to charge the Ultra Stone— but how?" Anne asked, looking at Sasha.
"I don't know," Sasha answered, holding onto her wounded arm as she walked alongside Anne. "It seems like it was pulling something out of us, though... judging by the colors and how it impacted us, it seems like it was using Calamity energy to charge. But that wouldn't make sense, because the Calamity gems are gone and so are our powers."
"Yeah..." Anne's eyes suddenly enlarged. "Unless... our powers weren't completely gone. Darcy did say that the Ultra Stone was created as a back up for the Calamity stones, so it would make sense that it needed to be charged using the power of the original three— I guess we must've still had enough energy left in us from them to charge it."
Before Sasha could reply, Anise jumped in with a bewildered expression across their face. "Calamity stones?! Powers?! What are you guys on about?" They furrowed their brows, but then their eyes lit up with a realization. "WAIT— is that how you got those awesome blue powers, Anne?!"
With a small chuckle, Anne nodded. "I guess we have a lot of explaining to do, don't we?" She asked with a glance toward Sasha, who nodded in agreement.

With that, Anne and Sasha went on to explain the story of Amphibia to Anise. They didn't withhold anything from them: they told them all about the music box, how they got it and how Marcy was afraid of moving away, King Andrias, The Core, the Calamity stones, the powers, Marcy's odd behavior since returning to Earth, the way The Core had possessed Marcy again and wiped all her memories—all of it. The only thing they didn't mention was Anne's death, because that was still very difficult for both of them, especially Anne, to even dwell on— just the mere thought of it had the poor girl fighting off existential dread.

Anise's mouth was agape as they took in all of this new information, shedding light on all the things Marcy had kept from her prior. It was a short while before they found their voice again and was able to formulate a reply. "Wow... Marcy told me that moving was hard for her, but I didn't think it was that bad..." They frowned sympathetically. "I can't believe you three had to go through all of that; all of that pain, betrayal, fighting, and suffering... And poor Marcy— I had no idea she was struggling so much. I-I mean, I noticed she was acting different, but... I never suspected anything like this. And her memory... so when we get her back she won't even know who we are?..."
"Us either," Sasha replied. "Well, actually, we did suspect that The Core had something to do with it, but we thought it was just haunting her memories or something... not this." He sighed. "And... yeah, probably. But we'll get her memories back— that's a promise."
A somber expression took over Anne's face. "I thought it was over..." She mumbled, unzipping her backpack and reaching into it to grab Marcy's journal. "I thought, finally, there would be peace. I destroyed The Core, I watched it crumble to pieces. This isn't fair, it shouldn't be back. But that's not even the worst part..." Tears welled up in the curly-haired girl's eyes as she gazed down at the cover of the journal, covered in colorful stickers and writing. "The worst part is that its hurting our Marcy again, and we failed to notice her struggling in time again."
Noticing Anne's tears, Sasha gave her girlfriend a gentle squeeze. "Hey, don't cry... we're going to get her back. I promise, Anne, we aren't leaving without her. And this time, we're going to make sure The Core is gone for good and that it never bothers us, or anyone, again. It's going to be okay." She brought her hand up to gently tucked some of Anne's hair behind her ear, her voice and mannerisms gentle and full of care.
Sasha's words gave Anne a sense of safety and hope for the future, however the condition of her injured arm still extremely concerned her. It really wasn't looking good for Sasha— she'd be lucky if she even got to keep her arm. Sasha, on the other hand, seemed unbothered, although it was most likely all a facade so that everyone would stay focused on saving Marcy. Classic selfless Sasha, who Anne adored so dearly.
"Thanks, Sash..." After wiping her tears, Anne leaned over to plant a kiss on the blonde's cheek. "I love you."
"Woahhh, hangonhangonhangon—" Anise suddenly gasped. "Are you two... like, together?"
"Yeah. Got a problem?" Sasha raised a brow, still holding Anne close.
With a small chuckle, Anne gently nudged the blonde. "What Sasha's trying to say is, yes, we're dating. We've been planning to ask Marcy out for awhile now, and we finally went for it today, but when we asked she sort of freaked out and ran away. When she came back, it was already too late— The Core had taken over. And now... I don't know if we'll ever get to be together..."
Anis had to suppress their excitement. With softened eyes, they smiled at Anne. "Marcy really loved you two. She probably freaked out when you asked her because of everything going on, because I know she would've loved to be with you. She always spoke so highly of you guys!" They chuckled, but then their voice turned completely serious again. "Once this is all over, you three will get to be together— If nothing else does, I'll make sure of it."
Smiles found both Anne and Sasha's lips, glancing fondly at each other before returning their attention to Anise. "Thanks, Anise. We really appreciate that." Anne softly replied, followed by Sasha, "Yeah, I can see why Marcy liked you so much. You're a good friend."
Anise's grin enlarged— being called a "good friend" seemed to mean a lot to them. "Of course! Now, come on— let's go end this thing once and for all!"