The Owl and the Frog

Chapter 29: Journey to Wartwood

Greetings, All!

Sorry for the delay with this chapter. I had computer issues. The keyboard on my laptop crapped out on me, so I had to get a new one, and that took a while. I meant to have Arc 3 already completed by this time, but rest assured, my computer is back and working fine, so I will begin work on the next chapter right away! Don't know if I can finish before November, but oh well, life happens...

So, uh, there's some big news about this fic, but I'm going to wait to talk about it next chapter as it feels worthy of an arc-ending chapter! So I'll talk about it then, though some of you probably already know what it is (in fact, it was a fan of my story that told the news to me).

I also want to talk a bit about the future of the fic. All I'll say right now is to expect another poll on my profile soon. This poll will help me determine the direction of this fic, so I would love to hear your thoughts on that. I want to nail down what's going to happen in this fic after Arc 4 before I start working on it. I think I mentioned I had come up with about four different ideas, so I want your help in choosing one. Part of that will also be affected by what happens in Amphibia season 3, so rest assured, I am watching the new episodes and coming up with ideas.

"Hola, Mama!" said Luz in a cheerful tone to her phone. She had brought it up to try to get both her and Lilly in the shot.

"I know it's been a long time since I sent you a video, though you haven't really been getting them, so maybe it's all relative... Ha ha!" Luz let out a nervous laugh.

"Anyway, a lot has happened since the last video I sent you—too much to really talk about now, but I will say things are finally looking up for me! Oh, and here's Lilly. You remember Lilly, right?" She moved the camera so Lilly could say hi.

"Hi, Ms. Noceda," said Lilly into the camera. "I hope you're doing well. Luz and I are on our way to Wartwood, where we hope to meet up with Anne."

"I suppose I should elaborate a bit, though," said Luz, looking somber. "So, a few weeks ago, Uodeela, the salamander who took me in and cared for me, transformed into a heron. She did it to try to save us from the toads who were attacking the town... and were being led by Sasha... Huh, wow, that's a lot to tell you at once, isn't it..." Luz paused as she tried to consider what to say next.

"Anyway, Uodeela transformed into a heron to drive the toads away, but she got stuck in the heron form and now she doesn't remember me or her students... She's gone, and I don't know where she is. Amara said she was going to try to find a way to cure her, but honestly, we don't know if she can be cured. In any case, before the battle happened, Uodeela told me that she heard that Anne was in Wartwood, which is where we're heading now," finished Luz.

"And that's about it for now. I hope you're doing well, Mama. I want you to know that even though being stuck in this world has been hard, I've made some new friends, and despite the dangers I've faced, there have been fun parts, too. It's like you used to tell me, 'No hay mal que por bien no venga, te quiero. Adios!'" With that, Luz ended the video and sent it to her mother. Of course, the video wasn't able to be sent without service and showed an error next to it, along with all the other previous videos Luz had attempted to send to her mother.