Eyes | Amphibia

Chapter 23

TW: This chapter contains violence and fighting. Proceed at your own risk.

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Yunan and Olivia rushed to the throne room as soon as news of Darcy's entrance into the city had spread to them.
"Sire!" Yunan called out as she shook Grime, who had fallen asleep on his throne. "The Core, it's— it's here!"
"Huh?!" The king's eyes shot open as he was startled awake. "But what about all the guards we put around the city?!"
"It managed to get through them, somehow!" Olivia replied, her eyes transfixed with fear. "The spell isn't here yet, and Sasha is still in the hospital... what do we do?"
"We'll... we'll just have to defend the castle as best as we can until Anne gets here with the spell." Grime rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes before hopping down from his throne. "Yunan, go escort everyone else in the castle to safety. Olivia, go down to the hospital and inform Sasha of the situation and see if she has recovered. I'll go wake up Anise and prepare everything here. I'm sure there will be a battle, so be ready for that when you return."
"Yes, sir." Yunan and Olivia said in unison before they went off to do as they were told. Grime, on the other hand, headed to the guest room he had given Anise and knocked on the door. "Anise? Anise, are you awake?" He called out.
Surprisingly enough, it wasn't long before Anise opened the door, yawning as she looked down at Grime. "Hey, Grime. What's up?"
Grime tilted his head to the side. "Were you sleeping?"
"Eh, not really," Anise shrugged. "I tried to, but I had too much on my mind. Anyways, what did you need?"
That was a bit concerning to Grime, but unfortunately they had no time to dwell on what could possibly be ailing Anise right now. "Anise, The Core is here. It somehow managed to break through our defense and is likely on its way to infiltrate the castle now. We must go and prepare for battle."
"What?!" All of the sleepiness seemed to leave Anise in an instant, her eyes wide and her jaw agape in fear. "Seriously?! B-But we don't have Sasha, and Anne isn't here with the spell yet! Are we really ready for this?"
"We have no choice but to be ready. I sent Lady Olivia down to check on Sasha, and Anne... we'll just have to hope that she gets here soon." The toad sighed. "Now, go on and get ready. I'll be waiting for you in the throne room."
Once Grime had left, Anise closed the door and let out a heavy sigh. After taking a brief moment to process the situation, they changed out of their pajamas and grabbed their bat.
They hesitated as they reached out to open the door. What was going to happen beyond this point was a mystery, and Anise couldn't help but be afraid. They had never been in a situation like this before, and none of their friends were here to help them. Worst of all, their closest friend was the one they had to fight.
They had tried so hard to stay optimistic like they always did, but the harsh reality of the situation was weighing on them, and they had a bad feeling about what was to come.
But all they had to do was hold Darcy down until the spell got here. It couldn't be that hard, right?
Surely not. Holding onto all the determination they had left, Anise opened the door and began heading to the throne room.

...

Upon her arrival at the hospital, Olivia was quickly escorted to Sasha's room, where she found the blond lying in bed, awake and scrolling on her phone with her good hand. Her injured arm was wrapped in what appeared to be a splint, but from the way it was just limply lying there beside Sasha's body, it still seemed to be completely immobile.
"Sasha?" Olivia called out as she stepped inside the room.
Looking up from her phone, Sasha was surprised to see Lady Olivia. "Lady Olivia?" She asked as she sat up in the bed. "Hey, what are you doing here?"
"I'll get to that momentarily," Olivia responded as she walked over to Sasha and sat on the edge of the bed. "How are you doing?"
"Not great," Sasha sighed. "They ran some tests and found out that the blood in my arm has gone completely solid. The doctor said I was lucky that it stopped at my shoulder, or else it would've spread to my heart and killed me."
Olivia couldn't help but cringe. "Oh, wow... well, is there anything they can do?"
"Well, they've been trying all different treatments on me, but if nothing works then it'll have to be amputated." By the look in Sasha's eyes as he gazed down at his lifeless arm, it was clear he was disappointed with his fate. "B-But anyway, what did you need?"
Olivia frowned. Her heart ached for Sasha, but seeing her in such a condition only heightened the urgency of the situation. They had to stop The Core before more people ended up like her. "Sasha... The Core managed to break through the defense we assembled around the city and is likely on its way to infiltrating the castle as we speak. The king sent me to tell you and see if you were well enough to fight, but it doesn't seem so."
Her eyes widening, Sasha's face almost immediately went pale. "Wh-What?! Already?!" She exclaimed. "Is Anne here with the spell yet?"
"Not yet, but we sent a message to Wartwood that stated that the spell was needed as soon as possible. We'll just have to defend ourselves until it gets here." Olivia replied, as calmly as she could force herself to sound.
Sasha hesitated a moment before standing up from the bed, looking at Olivia with eyes aflame with animosity. "Alright, let's go."
"What?!" Olivia stood up too. "But Sasha, you are in no condition to fight!"
"I don't care! I'd rather die than sit here idly and let Grime and Anise take on that thing alone! Now come on!" Without looking back Sasha rushed out the door, and Olivia had no choice but to follow.