Calamitous Intervention

Cursed Eclipse

It had been a mostly ordinary morning so far for Polly. She woke up, had some mediocre breakfast cooked by Hop Pop, and did some chores (at least the ones she could, considering she was a legless tadpole). By then, it was approaching noon, and Polly figured Luz was off doing magical nerdy stuff with Maddie until she heard the basement door open.

"Ugh! Why did they only give the show nine episodes for season one?!" Luz vented, plopping on the couch next to Polly. "Oh, but even with the pacing, it's so good. I could listen to the music for hours! Could Shull secretly be an Eradicator behind the scenes? Is he going to betray the Inn?"

"Am I missing something here?" Polly asked, rolling her eyes. "I'm not exactly a great person to vent to, sister."

"Oh, right, I haven't told you about it, have I?" Luz replied, snapping out of her thoughts. "Well, I probably shouldn't, but it's a show called Purgatory Inn. I am so lucky that the season auto-downloaded onto my phone before I came here."

Polly was slightly intrigued, glancing at the human. "Go on."

"Well, it's about the prince of demonkind wanting to help lost souls," Luz explained. "Shull's a main character and is a bat demon that really... loves to drink... And it has a lot of curse words that Mama would kill me if she found out I was watching."

"Ooh, that sounds like my kind of show!" Polly said excitedly. "I wanna watch it!"

Realizing she had made a mistake in telling a literal child about a mature show, Luz decided to backtrack. "Well, uh, you're not old enough to watch it. No way am I letting you."

"Aw, come on!" the tadpole protested, jumping on Luz's head and pulling on her hair strands. "You can't just tell me about something that cool and then say I can't watch it!" Polly hopped down onto Luz's arm and tried to snatch the phone out of her pocket.

"Hey!" Luz protested, swatting the little tadpole's hand away. "Not until you're older! This show is very unfit for children!"

"Then why are you watching it?!" Polly yelled angrily, trying to grab her phone more aggressively now. "You hypocrite! Let me see it!"

"Alright, kiddos, none of that," Hop Pop scolded, walking into the living room. "The Julecoming's happening today, and we can't afford to miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance!"

"The Julecoming..." Luz pondered, wondering where she had read that term before. "I think I can recall reading it in one of your books, Hop Pop, but I forgot what it's about since any information about it is scarce."

"That's because little has been recorded about it, or any detailed information was lost to time," the old frog explained. "The Julecoming is a huge event in Amphibia that happens once a century, when the sun and moon perfectly align. They say the sky darkens, the water stops stirring, and it marks the return of an ancient amphibian known as Julius Thopomas III, who will provide food and water for everybody. And for one day, frogs, toads, and newts will live in peace without conflict or bloodshed. Even the most violent creatures submit to it, and the entirety of Amphibia is peaceful for the rest of the day."

"Isn't that just a solar eclipse?" Luz asked, and the other frogs looked at her with confusion. Seeing this, she elaborated. "That's what they're called in my world when the sun and the moon align in the sky. Also, how do you know it's happening soon?"

"The signs have been showing over the past few days," Hop Pop said, leading Luz and Polly to his study room. "The sky has been getting darker, and the water's been unnaturally still..." He reached out to the shelf and grabbed a familiar book—the same book that contained information about the Calamity Box.

Hop Pop flipped it open and went through its pages, his eyes darting back and forth until he stopped on the one he was looking for. "Aha! Here it is." He stepped aside, allowing them to get a closer look. It showed a faded, old illustration of the events during the Julecoming. In the illustration, Luz saw what looked to be an ordinary, ragged-looking frog ascending from the eclipse, with a light yellow gem looking kind of cheaply glued on his forehead, but it could've just been the drawing.