Chapter Text
Marcy sighed, staring idly at the rows of books and books that were upon her. They mumbled to themselves, surely this would be a good distraction from the point that- Well- She was dead. But Marcy refused to remember what was her cause of death. It could be easy, but it felt like her memories were a puzzle. They would have to search and look carefully at each piece that wasn’t a part of it yet and piece it together until it was intact. She felt like a normal person would normally hurry and try to remember every little thing as fast as they could, but Marcy didn’t. They didn’t want to remember why they weren’t with their friends, or why there was a hole in their chest. It would be like a scar that Marcy couldn’t make go unnoticed.
But Marcy shook their head, it was time to read. She had tried multiple ways to distract and occupy themself from not remembering their death for the past few days, this was about the 7th attempt in at least 4 days. Exhaling, Marcy walked down the aisles of books, despite being a ghost, she could still hear her boots clanking against the wooden floor of the Newtopia library, trying to find the oldest and most appealing ones. In the end, they were with about 2-3 large books, having at least over a thousand pages? At least- Marcy guessed, as they didn’t have numbered pages.
Cracking her fingers, Marcy grabbed the first book, the cover having giant letters;
AMPHIBIA’S HISTORY
XXXX - ____
Marcy frowned, it didn’t say when the book ended. Maybe that meant the present day? Though, the book looked like it hadn't been touched in at least a decade, dust covering the creased and wrinkled surface. They were also pretty bad at memorizing what numbers looked like in Amphibia’s runes. So, she had no idea when the book ended or when it started. But, they wouldn’t find out if she just sat there wondering. So, Marcy opened the book, coughing as a few dust particles flew around from the book opening for the first time in ages.
They waved the dust out of the way, surprised at how packed the first page already was- It was much different than the other history books Marcy had read before. Instead of just an introduction, it had already described how Newtopia was founded- Salamanders, Andrias’ species had found an area full of Newts. It described how the king's ancestors conquered the land to call their own to rule in vivid detail, unlike the others. The strange thing was that after this happened- It stated that all amphibians were living in unity and peace. Most had painted it that they always had tension and the divide between species was inevitable.
With that, Marcy finished the new chapter. They blinked, it was like frogs, toads, and newts were friends. She never saw a friendship between the species, during the dinner, the Plantars, Marcy, Sasha, and Grime had the frogs and the toad had always had a strange tension between them. It made sense to all amphibians to have a sense of rivalry, though this painted amphibians having an equal sense to all species. What ruined it?
Nonetheless, Marcy decided to keep on reading. They had discovered many different things about Amphibia. They also saw how Amphibia used to be way more advanced- It was so much more different compared to what Amphibia was now. But she couldn’t complain, the world was still cool. They also wanted to know how this changed… It was like the world went back a few steps in tech and advancements instead of forward. Also- The sketches and how the book described it looked way more high-tech than Earth.
Marcy found herself enjoying this book more than she expected- But that was expected. So, they turned the page, revealing a sketch of the Calamity Box. The top of the page was labeled in excited, large, bold letters, stating The Leviathan’s Greatest Achievement. Marcy stared at the page. Would they even want to read it? Maybe she could skip it… But this was the first reference to the music box in history books they had seen in Amphibia. It was also the most important thing in Andrias’ bloodline-? Though, if it was why had no one talked about it during the time Marcy was in Amphibia?
Marcy took a deep breath, “Alright Marcy. Let's read this, “ She mumbled, their voice feeling grainy and sore from not talking in days. They had only thought frantically to themselves. But that was beside the point. The book had read; The king had gone down into ruins that had been discovered. It was almost like a temple about the box itself. The walls were covered in runes stating things about the box. How the gems could be recharged and travel to different worlds. And how the box had a prophecy about it.
The book also stated olms living in the temple, unknowing of the king who stole the box. -Marcy had also discovered that the royal family had then lied to the olms, stating that the box would be used for good intentions. Something about that set Marcy off. Lying to people to use the box for your gain. Then also learning the box was used for discoveries and gaining resources for Amphibia. Sometimes capturing creatures and killing otherworldly creatures too.
A wave of regret washed over Marcy. It made her… Remember something. They remembered going to Newtopia with Sasha and Anne. Sasha led a rebellion. Things that they hadn’t remembered before. -How did she forget an entire day? She now remembered Andrias making Marcy reveal the truth about what they knew about the music box. She remembered the crushing amount of guilt and sorrow that they were filled with- Feelings that now returned.
-Most importantly, Marcy remembered opening a portal. Fiddling with the music box from what they had read before, a familiar melody played before a bright light had opened in front of them. She was trying to drown out the noise of Sasha and Andrias fighting, quietly mumbling to herself with stress and panic. They remembered turning back, the blinding light behind her, and shouting at everyone to enter the portal. She had to do one last thing as Anne shouted for them to enter the portal. The next thing was then feeling a warm- More like burning hot- Feeling around their chest, then a sharp pain that wanted to make Marcy scream out in pain. Though, nothing came out. It gave them a few milliseconds to scramble for something to say- Or do. Remembering their throat closing up and feeling like she would cough up blood Marcy remembered uttering the words “I-I’m sorry… For eve-ry-thing…” Before collapsing with tears in her eyes.
The rest felt fuzzy. Marcy remembered a cold wash over them that made her nerves feel numb. They couldn’t move and were exhausted too. Remembering having shallow breaths and just fighting to breathe. Everything was muffled for them too. The feeling of the coldness started to swallow Marcy up as feeling the floor- Which she could barely recognize, dragged under their feet. The cold swallowed Marcy up until they had woken up in her room that was inside the castle- Cold and now without those memories until now.
It took Marcy a few minutes to realize she was staring at a book page and quickly closed it, clutching their chest. They- Died. Andrias killed them- The same Andrias who would bring Marcy to live her favorite fantasies and was her friend in Amphibia. He was the same Andrias who tried to kill Anne and killed them. Marcy wasn’t even sure if Sasha and Anne were her friends still. Did they forgive her? What was Marcy even going to do? They couldn’t contact the physical world- At least- They didn’t think so. Did she just watch as the entire planet of Earth dies? As her friends might die too?
It scared Marcy- The thought of not being able to do anything. It was like finding out they had to move. She felt like she couldn’t do anything and tricked Anne and Sasha into going to Amphibia. But this time they couldn’t do anything. They were a ghost. Because of a stupid decision and now she doomed the entire universe. This was all their fault and Marcy wanted to cry because of it.
She took in a shaky breath, they could at least try to help Anne and Sasha. They relaxed their hand that was clutching her chest, standing up. As they tried to walk, her legs felt like jelly for a second. But Marcy kept walking, out of the library and then into the endless hallways of the castle. She would say that finding the throne room was easy, but it wasn’t. The castle was filled with many hallways and rooms. They always got lost in their middle school- So a castle was even worse.
After trial and error, and Marcy walking into many rooms by accident, she found herself in the throne room. Unlike the last time Marcy was in here, being when they got stabbed, it wasn’t brightly colored and as vibrant as Marcy remembered. The throne loomed over everything almost antagonistically, covering everything in a deep shadow with the sun almost acting like a red color to contrast as it was sunset.
Marcy looked around eerily, it wasn’t like anyone could see her but they were still filled with anxiety. They spotted the pistol that was holding the music box, still powered by the magic (power?) and glowing with the color of the gems. She looked around one more time, wrapping their hands on the box. It felt like electricity was radiating from it because of the gems, the metal of the box being warmer than Marcy themself. They inhaled sharply, about to take the box off, and were preparing to feel the castle fall from the ground.
A voice came from behind her, familiar and filled with venom. “Why, aren’t you Marcy Wu?” In a voice that was almost like Marcys herself. It sent chills down Marcy's spine, turning around to see their body with replaced forearms, legs, and armor that covered everything but the head. Though, that was also covered with a big helmet with antlers branching out and multiple eyes. The most important part of this unknown person was that their chest had a large eye in the middle of it, having a dark purple chest plate on it too. The eye was where Marcy was stabbed, almost like they were showing off that it was her dead body proudly.
The thing reached out its hand with an unsettling smile, in a form of a handshake,
“Hello Marcy Wu, aren’t you supposed to be dead? Y’know completely gone?”