The Owl and the Frog

Chapter 37: The Temple of Courage

So, first thing I wanted to clear up. If you read the last one-shot (The Lyft Ride), I wanted to say, if it wasn't obvious, the Lyft Driver is supposed to be me (or, I suppose, an Author Avatar of me). I wanted to say that, as it was brought to my attention that it wasn't obvious. There were at least two people who had read the story but weren't sure, so I thought I'd clear that up here. That might not be the last we see of the Lyft Driver either. He might come back in the future.

Moving onto this chapter, this is a big one! When I first sat down and started thinking up ideas for "The Owl and the Frog", there were three big ideas that I thought up and wanted to put in this fic. The first was the "Luzanne" ship. Even if, at the time, nothing came of it, I thought it would be interesting if Luz's first girl crush was Anne. Plus, I wanted Luz and Anne to have some sort of unresolved tension before heading to Amphibia so that they could work through it.

The next big idea I had was "The Battle of Tadpole Pond". I knew going in that was going to be a rough chapter. It was going to be the point where Luz activated her Calamity Powers and where Uodeela was going to go away for a bit. I wanted that chapter to be very big and very emotional.

The last big idea I had was this chapter. The moment at the end of this chapter was one I had wanted to do and wanted to put in the story, and perhaps also the one I was most nervous about including. I'm a HUGE fan of Chrono Trigger, so I was nervous about including this moment because I wanted it to be as good, if not better than the moment from the game. I really hope I did it justice, and I also hope that if there are some of you reading this story who have played Chrono Trigger, you'll give me your opinion on this chapter. Even if you've never reviewed the story, I want to know what you think of this chapter.

As always, thank you all for your reviews and I hope... I continue to impress you...

"We shouldn't be much farther now," said Marcy as she held up the music box, guiding Joe Sparrow toward 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 this dark, forsaken land. The water was dark, 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 surrounding water, her boots keeping her feet dry.

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

The group continued to look around, with 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."