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It had all seemed like some kind of horrible nightmare for Anne. First, Sasha betrayed them and tried to take over all of Amphibia, then King Andrias betrayed them, and planned on taking over the human world, then, just to add insult to injury, Marcy revealed that she had planned for them to be sent to Amphibia. It felt like every second, her day just got worse and worse.
Then, Marcy had managed to get the Calamity Box from Andrias. She opened a portal back home. Anne and the Planters jumped in, but just as Marcy was about to join them, Andrias stabbed her through the back.
She fell to the ground, cold and lifeless, and the box shut. Anne screamed out for her friend, but the portal closed, cutting her off.
***
Anne and the Plantars laid in a forest. The trip between worlds had apparently incapacitated her.
Anne groaned as she sat up. “You’d think I’d be used to this by now.”
“Well, at least we’re all together,” Hop Pop sighed as he stood up.
“Yep,” Polly said, rubbing her head.
Anne looked around, making sure everyone was there and accounted for. She saw Spring, Polly, Hop Pop, and... the head of Frobo. She then got a look at their surroundings; they were in a forest, but it wasn’t like any forest she’d ever seen.
“Where are we,” Sprig asked, “Is this the human world, Anne?”
“I... I don’t know,” Anne said, completely unsure.
As the others talked, Polly noticed something through the trees. She quietly slipped away to investigate.
“What’re we gonna do now,” Hop Pop panicked, “Andrias has the box, and he’s probably gonna come lookin’ for us!”
“What do we do, Anne,” Sprig asked.
“I... I... I...,” Anne sputtered, starting to panic.
“Uhh, guys,” Polly said, looking through the trees, “I think you may wanna see this.”
The group followed the legged pollywog through the dense vegetation and came up to a cliff, a cliff overlooking a town unlike anything they’d ever seen, in either Amphibia or Earth.
The buildings were like something you’d see in a dark British fantasy movie about wizards and magic. It was a dense, medieval-style town surrounded by bone mountains and forests, with two large green arms looming over it. As they looked even further, they could see the town’s inhabitants, and not a single one of them even remotely resembled a human.
“OH COME ON,” Anne shouted, “where are we now?!”
Hop Pop stepped forward. “This place looks kinda like He—AHH!”
The others looked to see a tiny purple fairy had fluttered up to him. “Aww, it’s a cute little fairy,” Polly said as she and Anne approached the creature.
The fairy then opened its mouth, revealing a huge maw filled with sharp teeth. “GIVE ME YOUR SKIN!!!”
The group screamed as the tiny carnivore slowly approached them. Sprig quickly shot out his tongue and grabbed the creature, dragging it back into his mouth.
He chewed on the fairy, much to the disgust and horror of the others. “Huh, tastes like candy.”
Everyone started at him in shock. “What?”
***
The group made their way through the town. Luckily, they didn’t seem to attract too much attention. They got the occasional odd stare here and there, but for the most part, they were pretty much unnoticed.
It felt kind of refreshing to the human girl. Back in Amphibia, whenever she went into a new town, she was invariably a magnet for attention. Yet here she was, in some sort of realm of nightmare creatures, and barely anyone paid her any attention.
The amphibians however, they were a whole different animal… literally. The Plantars felt uneasy, they weren’t used to being the outcasts. Being by Anne only made them feel a little more comfortable.
The group wandered into a market of some kind, numerous creatures were selling their wares. They saw everything from a knife sharpener to cursed paintings. Eventually, they noticed something that caught their attention: a sign that said “Human” on it.
They approached it cautiously, they couldn’t see the rest of the sign. For all they knew, it was a stand that sold humans as pets, or as food. But they were willing to take that chance, because if there were humans in this crazy world, then chances are there was also a way to the human world.
The group got closer and closer, and they could finally read what the sign said: “Human Collectables.” To their disappointment, it was just a junky old stand with a bunch of junk from the human world.
Everyone let out a collective sigh of disappointment, except for Anne, something there had caught her interest, or more accurately, someone. There was a Dominican-American girl, probably around her age, sitting at the stand, reading a book. She had brownish-purple short hair styled in a pixie cut, and hazel eyes. Her clothing consisted of a pair of ebony earrings and a short-sleeved half-white and half-indigo hoodie.
Anne and the Plantars gasped at the sight of the girl. “Luz,” Anne exclaimed incredulously.
The girl looked up from her book and gasped at the sight of the group. “Anne,” she said as she put her book down.
“LUZ,” Anne exclaimed happily, running over to the girl with arms wide open.
“ANNE,” the girl, Luz, exclaimed as well as she ran over to Anne.
The pair clashed in a hug that erupted into joyous laughter. The Plantars joined them, they knew why Anne was so happy: this was a reunion between unlikely friends who met under the most bizarre of circumstances.
The pair separated, with their hands on each other’s shoulders. “What are you doing here,” Luz asked joyfully.
“It’s a long story, dude,” Anne said, “you see, we—
Suddenly, someone else came out from behind the stand. “Luz, what’s going on out here?”
It was a tall, slender woman with ivory skin, ears, maroon lips, and a golden left eye, while her right was grey. Her untamed hair was thick, long, and layered with two tones of gray, with a white streak on the right side. She had a single golden fang that stuck out, orange claw-like nails, and an oval black gem on her sternum that showed over her two-tone maroon dress with a ripped-like hem design and gray leggings.
She just stood there for a minute, staring at the scene in front of her, before her confused stare brightened into a surprised smile. “The Plantars,” she exclaimed, “what’re you guys doing here?”
“Eda,” Hop Pop greeted, “you look... different...”
Eda chuckled softly, “Yeah, that’s kind of a funny story—“
“EDA THE OWL LADY,” a loud voice roared, interrupting her.
They all looked over to see a burly creature wearing a mask like a plague doctor’s. “You’re under arrest!”
“Which I can tell you at my house,” Eda shouted, “NOW RUN!!!” She then leapt over the table and ran further into the market, with Luz running after her.
The Plantars all ran after them. “Who was that,” Anne asked as they ran.
“A coven guard,” Luz answered, “they wanna lock Eda up because she refused to join a coven.”
“Wait,” Polly exclaimed, “you’re witch-criminals?!”
As the group ran further into the market, more and more coven guards joined the chase. Sprig looked back as they ran and screamed, they were severely outnumbered.
“They’re gaining on us,” he exclaimed.
“Don’t worry,” Luz said as she pulled out a piece of paper, “I’ll slow them down!”
Luz then slowed down, dropping behind everyone. Anne looked back and reached out to her friend. “LUZ! WAIT!!!”
The coven guards drew closer and closer to her, but Luz didn’t seem worried. She raised the piece of paper up to the sky, causing all the guards to stop dead in their tracks, one of them even screamed like a girl. Luz slammed the paper down into the ground, causing a colossal wall of ice to pop up between them.
The group stopped running and looked at Luz’s creation. The Plantars marveled at the icy monolith, while the witch and her apprentice were more concerned with escape.
“Come on,” Luz ordered, “let’s get going before more show up!”
***
The coven guards looked at the ice wall, there was no way around it.
“What’re we gonna do now,” one of them asked.
“We should go tell the boss about what we saw,” another suggested, “I think he’d be pretty interested to hear that there’re more humans on the Boiling Isles now.”
The other coven guards nodded. “DIBS ON NOT TELLING HER, 1 2 3, NOT IT!”
Every single one of them put a finger to the tip of their masks, except for one who was a bit too slow. “Aww dang it!”
***
The witches and Plantars finally lost the coven guards. With no one chasing them, they slowed their pace to that of a leisurely stroll. They walked through more woods until they finally happened upon a house on the cliffs outside of the town, Bonesborough. It was a large house made from white brick with a sloping blue roof. A stained glass window above the door gave the impression of a large orange demon eye. It also had a crumbling stone tower with orange moss growing on it located to the rear left of the house.
Sprig groaned in disgust, “Who would want to live in a place like that?”
“That would be my home,” Eda said as she walked over to the front door.
“And it’s lovely,” Sprig said nervously, before stopping and looking at a large rock, “I like that boulder, that is a nice boulder.”
The group made their way to the front door, Anne noticed a little owl face on the door. “Aww, what a cute little decoration.”
“Thanks,” the owl face said in a shrill voice.
The Plantars all jumped back and shrieked at the strange door creature. The owl like creature stretched its neck out of the door, like some kind of worm. “Oh boy, you’ve brought company!”
The frogs all huddled together in fear. “Hop Pop, is this what nightmares are made of,” Polly asked shakily.
“Yes, Polly, yes it is,” Hop Pop replied, utterly terrified.
Eda then poked the creature in the eyes, causing it to retreat back into the door. “We got no time for this, Hooty.”
“Ow, alright, fine,” Hooty said, “geez, you never wanna have any fun anymore! Ow! Hoot!”
Hooty then opened his mouth incredibly wide, until it encompassed the entire door frame. Luz and Eda walked through without hesitation, but the Plantars stood their ground, too shocked to move. Luz looked back and motioned for them to follow. The Plantars nervously followed after her.
“Welcome to The Owl House,” Luz said, motioning around the living room.
It was enchanting; it included a fireplace facing opposite two couches, candles, a wall of artifacts, and Eda's wanted poster, and artwork of an owl creature on the ceiling.
“Wow, this definitely beats the Plantars’ basement,” Anne said, “no offense, guys.”
“Oh, none taken,” Hop Pop said.
“Yeah, this place makes our house look like trash,” Sprig added.
They then heard the sound of tiny footsteps approaching them. They looked over to see a tiny creature with a skull head emerge from the hallway. “You’re back,” he shouted as he leapt into Luz’s arms, “I didn’t miss you at all.”
“Hi, King,” Luz greeted, holding him like a puppy, “look who we brought!”
King gasped as Luz held him up to their guests. “The Plantars,” he exclaimed as he dropped out of Luz’s grasp.
“Hey, little dude,” Anne greeted.
“King, my man,” Polly exclaimed as she walked over to the diminutive demon and high-fived him.
“Woah, Polly,” he exclaimed, “you’ve got legs now!”
“Yep,” Polly said confidently, “no more hopping and rolling for this tadpole.”
“Edalyn, are you home,” they heard a feminine voice call out. A pale, slender woman with dark hair and a low battery graphic tee over a two-tone dress then walked into the room. Similarly to Eda, her right eye was grey while her left eye was cyan, and she had a grey streak on the right side of her hair, clashing greatly with her dark hair.
“Oh,” she said in surprise, “I didn’t know we’d be having guests.”
“Plantars, this is my sister, Lilith,” Eda introduced, “Lily, these are our friends, the Plantars. We met them on one of our adventures a while ago.”
“Oh, it’s nice to meet you,” Lilith said awkwardly, extending her hand outward.
“Nice ta meet you too,” Hop Pop said as he shook her hand.
Lilith took her hand back slowly, getting a look at the slime Hoppediah left there. “Oh, how... charming,” she said, trying to hide her disgust while she rubbed her palm on her dress.
With introductions out of the way, Luz felt it was time for answers. “So, Anne, you never did tell us how you got here.”
Anne let out a sigh, retelling the series of misfortunes that led to this moment was not going to be fun. “Pull up a chair, cause this is gonna be a saga of blunders, right here.”
The Plantars sat next to her, Polly placed Frobo’s head on the coffee table, Luz sat down in front of the couch, King sat in her lap, and Eda and Lilith stood besides the couch.
“So, what happened,” Eda asked.
“Well, for starters,” Anne began, “I found my friends.”
“That’s great,” Luz exclaimed.
“Yeah, it was for a while,” Anne said, her tone flattening, “but then one of my friends started a rebellion and tried to take over all of Amphibia, and turns out my other friend was the reason we got sent to Amphibia in the first place.”
“Oof,” Luz groaned, “that’s rough, buddy.”
“Oh, it gets worse,” Anne said, “before all that happened, we met the king of Amphibia. He told us that if we recharged the music box that sent us to Amphibia, he’d use it to send us home, but he was lying; he wanted to use it to conquer other worlds, like ours.”
“Ugh, lying overlords with ulterior motives,” Luz groaned in annoyance, “we’ve been there.”
The other inhabitants of the Owl House all nodded, they definitely understood her pain.
“So, we fought against him, and my friend, Marcy, managed to get the box away from him,” Anne recalled, her breathing starting to intensify, “we went through the portal, but Marcy and Sasha stayed behind, and Andrias... he... he...”
Anne started to hyperventilate, visions of Marcy being impaled by Andrias flashed in her mind.
“Woah, woah, Anne,” Sprig said as he and the other Plantars tried to calm her down. Lilith rushed out of the room, trying to get something to help settle the nerves of the young human.
“Anne, it’s okay,” Luz said, standing up and putting an hand on her friends shoulder, “you don’t have to tell me! It’s alright!”
Anne’s breathing started to slow, she was calming down. Lilith reentered the room, a cup in her hands. “Here, have some tea,” she said, handing it to the Thai-American girl, “it’ll calm your nerves.”
Anne took a sip of the tea and let out a relaxed sigh, “Thank you.” She took a moment before finishing her story. “So the portal sent us here, and now Sasha and Marcy are stuck back in Amphibia with the king, and he’s got the music box now.”
Luz looked at her with concern; the poor girl had been through a lot lately, and all the trauma had definitely taken a toll on her. “Anne… I… I’m so sorry.” She put a comforting hand on her friend’s shoulder.
Suddenly, Anne brightened up, as she recalled something from their last meeting. “Wait, you said Eda had a portal! We can use that to go back, stop Andrias, and then go back home!”
The Owl House occupants all took a sharp breath and cringed, confusing Anne and the Plantars. “What,” Anne asked.
Luz stepped forward, her hands clasped together. “There’s something I need to tell you about that.”
***
Outside, Hooty was jamming on his headphones, not a care in the world.
“YOU DID WWWHHHAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT,” Anne screamed from inside, scaring Hooty so bad that he buried his head in dirt.
Back inside, Anne grabbed Luz by the shoulders and started to shake her. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DESTROYED THE PORTAL?!!!”
“I HAD TO,” Luz exclaimed, her voice wobbling as Anne shook her, “if I didn’t, Emperor Belos was gonna kill Eda, and probably invade the human world!”
“So you mean we’re stuck here,” Hop Pop exclaimed, “FOREVER?!!!”
“Not forever,” Luz objected, “Actually, we’re kinda close to replicating the portal.” Anne let go, and she and the Plantars looked at Luz funny.
“This was the key to the portal,” the witch’s apprentice explained as she held up a small key, “I’ve been studying it for a while now, hoping I could use it to find a way home, and recently, we made a breakthrough.” She then put the trinket back in her pocket. “Actually, I was gonna meet up with my friends in Bonesborough to gather the ingredients for a portal spell. If you guys want, you can come with me.”
The Plantars were silent for a moment before Anne stood up and approached her. “If it’ll help me get back home quicker, I’m in.”
“And we’re with you, Anne,” Sprig said as he hopped on Anne’s shoulder.
“And I just wanna get away from that nightmare bird monster in the front door,” Polly added.
“Then let’s go,” Luz exclaimed enthusiastically as she led the youngsters out the front door.
Anne stopped for a moment and looked back at Hop Pop, “You comin’, HP?”
“Nah,” Hop Pop shook his head, “we’ve had an… ‘interesting’ couple of days, I need a minute to rest and relax.”
“Okay,” Anne replied, “see ya when we get back.”
Anne then closed the door, leaving the elderly frog alone with the diminutive demon and the Clawthorne sisters. An awkward silence hung in the room as they sat there. It took a while, but Hop Pop finally got the courage to say something.
“So, Eda, how’d that elixir of yours work out?”
Chills ran up Eda’s spine at the mention of the elixir, the one she went to Amphibia to find a special ingredient for. She then gagged, “I don’t wanna talks about it.”
Lilith and Hop Pop looked at her with confusion.
***
Elsewhere on the isles, in the palace of the Emperor, the guards from the market were reporting to their superior, Kikimora.
“So,” the tiny creature said, “you’re telling me you saw the Owl Lady and the human with another human, accompanied by some strange frog creatures?”
“That’s right, mam,” one of the guards nodded, “and I heard them say something about coming from another world.”
Kikimora put her hands behind her bac. “Interesting…” she then snapped her fingers and summoned a strange robot with goopy purple arms and legs. She climbed on top of the creature’s shoulders and it walked past her underlings, “I think I’ll have a chat with this ‘other human.’”
***
The group of youngsters made their way through Bonesborough, seeing all sorts of strange creatures. At one point, they saw a tiny white creature with red hair and a big nose, ranting and raving about something.“This world is a simulation of a simulation, nothing we do has any consequence!”
Luz leaned over to Anne, “I’ve met her before, she’s kinda the local coot.”
“Huh,” Anne replied, “kinda reminds me of One-Eyed Wally back in Wartwood.”
Come to think of it, a lot of things in Bonesborough reminded Anne of Wartwood. The quirky townsfolk, the market filled with townsfolk selling their wares, the strange and deadly creatures that came out of nowhere to swoop in and take civilians away. It was starting to make Anne miss the little frog town. Is it possible to be homesick for a place that isn’t your home?
“We’re here,” Luz exclaimed, snapping the Thai girl out of her thoughts.
The group was back in Bonesborough, and a ways away they could see three young witches. One was a chubby girl with light skin, pointed ears, green eyes, and short, turquoise-blue hair wearing a long sleeved yellowish-tan dress with a blue tie with an oval chartreuse gem on it, light gray and dark gray striped leggings, and brown boots. The next was a young boy with brown skin, pointed ears and dark brown hair with lighter shades wearing a green tunic with white sleeves, a black belt, black tights and brown boots. And the third witch was a skinny, pale girl with short purple hair and bright gold eyes. She also wore a black short sleeve dress with crimson leggings and black point shoes with golden crescent moon buckles.
“Hey, guys,” Luz exclaimed as she ran over to the trio.
“Luz,” they greeted back joyfully.
“I’ve got some friends I’d like you to meet,” Luz said, motioning to Anne and the Plantar kids as they walked over. “Meet Sprig, Polly, and my fellow human friend, Anne.” She then put an arm around Anne’s shoulder, the purple-haired witch seemed to take offense to that.
The witch in glasses and the boy witch stepped forward. “Nice to meet you,” the girl said as she extended a friendly hand, “I’m Willow.” Anne shook the girl’s hand happily.
“I’m Augustus, but you can call me Gus,” the boy introduced as he shook Sprig’s hand.
“Amity,” the purple-haired girl greeted coldly with crossed arms.
“They’re visiting from a world of frog people, called ‘Amphibia,’” Luz explained, trying to sound whimsical. Willow and Gus responded with various “oohs,” and “aahs,” Amity seemed unimpressed though.
Gus then pulled out a pen and a notepad. “I have so many questions!”
“I WILL REVEAL NOTHING,” Polly shouted.
Gus rushed over to Anne. “How did you get to the frog world, what are the major differences between it and the Boiling Isles, is your hair frizzy to hide your dorsal fins?”
Anne looked at young witch in confusion, Luz leaned over to her. “Yeah, they don’t know a lot about human anatomy here.”
Willow put a hand on Gus’ shoulder, “I’m sure she’ll be willing to answer all your questions, but right now we’ve got a spell to brew.” She then turned to Luz, “You got the list?”
Luz produced a long list, “You know it.”
The group of youngsters marched into the market, with the Plantars occasionally stopping and staring at the various strange objects that were being sold. There were things like demon heads, griffon eggs, and weirdly enough, spider cheese.
“Woah,” Sprig remarked, “this kinda reminds me of our market back in Wartwood… only less terrifying.”
“What did you guys sell,” Gus asked.
“Mostly vegetables,” the little frog answered, “we were a farming community.”
“I was considered a monster for the first couple of months,” Anne added, “then after standing up to some tax collectors, I became a town hero.”
“We’ve had a lot of cool adventures in Amphibia,” Polly said before making a traumatized face, “I’ve seen things… horrible things…”
Luz chuckled, “Ya know, we’ve had quite a few adventures ourselves.”
“Ooh, do tell,” Anne encouraged.
“Well, Willow snuck me into school to pass as her abomination for class,” Luz recalled, “I almost got dissected.”
“Then there was the time Luz, Gus and I got shrunk at a carnival,” Willow added, “we almost got eaten by a tiny unicorn.”
“And there was the time we brought Eda’s house to life and took it for a joyride,” Gus remembered, “we almost got pushed off a cliff.”
“Woah,” Anne replied, “do all your adventures bring you close to certain death?”
“Don’t yours,” Luz asked.
The Plantars kids were silent for a moment. “Touché,” Anne replied.
Luz stepped in front of everyone, “Alright, let’s split up, that way we can get the ingredients faster.”
Amity walked over to Luz, “I’ll go with you.”
Anne walked over to Luz as well, “Me too.” Amity scowled at the other human girl, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“I guess we’ll go with these guys then,” Sprig said, referring to Gus and Willow.
“Great, we’ll meet back here once we have ,” Luz said before tearing the list in half and handing the bottom half to Willow. The group then split up.
As Sprig’s group walked away, Polly stopped and sat down. Sprig turned to check on his sister. “You okay, Polly?”
“I’m kinda tired from walking,” Polly explained, “why did no one tell me having legs was so much work?!”
Willow then walked over placed Polly on her shoulder, “How’s that?”
“Great,” the legged pollywog replied, feeling a bit of muscle on the witch’s shoulder. “Do you work out?”
“Every morning,” Willow replied nonchalantly.
***
Back at the Owl House, Hoppediah was entertaining King and the Clawthorne sisters by recalling one of his adventures with Anne and the kids in Amphibia. Eda, Lilith, and the little demon laughed uproariously as he told it.
“So there we were, in the middle of the cornfield in the middle of the night, Anne and I were hallucinating this horrific corn monster, and it turns out it was Sprig and Polly the whole time!”
Eda snorted, “So then what happened?”
“Luckily, we stopped hallucinating just before we actually hurt them,” Hoppediah exclaimed, “and good thing too, farm tools make painful weaponry.”
“Glad that story had a happy ending,” Eda said as she wiped tears of laughter away. She then looked down into her empty cup, “I’m gonna go get some more apple blood.”
She then got up and walked back into the kitchen, with King accompanying her, leaving Hop Pop and Lilith alone. “Hoppediah,” Lilith began, “that was a great story, I haven’t laughed this hard in ages.”
“Well shoot, I thought you’d have tons a laughs bein’ around Luz, Eda, and King,” Hop Pop said.
Lilith smile then turned to a frown. “Well, to tell you the truth, I haven’t been around my sister and her housemates that long,” she explained. “It wasn’t until recently that Eda and I could even consider each other friends again.”
Hop Pop’s smile drooped to a concerned frown, “What happened?”
Lilith sighed, “Back in my youth, I made the worst mistake of my life, and it’s been affecting Edalyn horribly ever since.”
“Oh hush,” Hop Pop scoffed, “I bet it’s not that bad.”
***
One recap of Lilith and Eda’s backstory later…
***
“And now, our magic has been weakened and I am doing everything in my power to make it up to my sister,” Lilith explained.
Hoppediah sat there, his jaw wide open and his eyes practically bulging out of his skull, utterly shocked by the story he was just told. There was a long silence before he said anything. “LADY, YOU ARE MESSED UP!!!”
“I know,” Lilith sighed despondently, “but do you want to know what the worst part is; it feels like everyone forgave me instantly. Like all the terrible things I did in the Emperor’s Coven were forgotten in an instant, like how horribly I treated Edalyn and Luz was immediately excused, like my slate was wiped clean and everyone just immediately saw me as a better person, when I know deep down inside I don’t deserve such forgiveness.”
Hoppediah watched as the witch sulked. “Sounds to me like the only person who hasn’t forgiven you is yourself.” He then looked down into his cup of apple blood, “I know what that’s like.”
Lilith raised an eyebrow and the old frog’s remark. “A while ago, I buried the music box that sent Anne to Amphibia because I thought it was dangerous, and I didn’t tell her.” The witch looked surprised, “when she found out, she was devastated. Here I was, goin’ as far as to call her my adoptive granddaughter, and I very well could have stranded her in another world forever, all because I was afraid.”
“Well, it looks like all has been forgiven now,” Lilith tried to console the old frog.
“Maybe, but it sure took a while,” Hop Pop argued, “and even then, I still haven’t fully forgiven myself, I still feel terrible about it.”
Lilith put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “You did it because you wanted to protect them, your motives, while paranoid, were ultimately selfless. My mistake was made out of desperation and selfish ambition.”
The pair smiled at each other. “Ya think we’ll ever be able to forgive ourselves,” Hop Pop asked.
“Maybe, in time,” Lilith suggested.
Eda and King walked back into the room. “So, what did we miss,” Eda asked as she sat back down.
***
Anne, Luz, and Amity had managed to procure quite a few of the ingredients. For Luz, this was a matter of getting home and being reunited with her mother, but for Anne, so much more was at stake. Not only did she want to be reunited with her parents, but she also wanted to return to Amphibia to rescue her friends, and stop Andrias’ invasion.
They scoured the market, and while some ingredients were easier to find, others were as elusive as Eda when an ex-boyfriend came knocking. Luz and Amity could feel their frustration beginning to build, as for Anne though, she could feel something else beginning to build up.
“Hey, do you guys know where the nearest bathroom is,” she whispered.
“Sorry, can’t say I do,” Luz apologized.
“I can show her where it is,” Amity suggested, standing up.
“Thanks, Amity,” Luz replied gratefully, “I can always count on you.”
Amity blushed feverishly, then quickly regained her composure. “Come along, human.”
Anne followed Amity through the market, but something felt… off about it. She was leading her to a bathroom, she could tell that, but Amity seemed displeased. As a matter of fact, she seemed displeased the entire time. And then there was the way she addressed her, “human.” Now she may have just forgotten her name, but even then, the way she said it, her tone, just seemed to harbor a hidden distaste. As the pair finally reached the restroom, a single thought persisted in Anne’s mind: ‘What’s her deal?’
After taking care of her “business,” Anne washed her hands in the bathroom sink. With everything on the Boiling Isles having some sort of demonic or magical twist to it, she was kind of relieved to see that the public restrooms were more akin to what she would see in the human world.
As she dried her hands off, Amity watched her, her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. The added fact that she was completely silent didn’t do anything to put her at ease either. As she turned to face the door, Amity finally spoke up.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.”
“What,” Anne asked, completely and utterly confused.
Amity slowly walked over to the human girl, never dropping her scowl, or unfolding her arms. “Don’t play dumb. You think you can just show up here and sweep Luz off her feet, well I’m not gonna let that happen.” She then poked Anne in the chest, “Stay away from my Luz!”
“What are you talking about,” Anne exclaimed, “Luz is my friend, and honestly, I’ve only ever met her one other time, I don’t know her that well!”
“Yeah, right,” Amity said in disbelief, “you really expect me to believe you went on some great adventure with Luz and you didn’t instantly admire her bravery, or how quick-witted she is, or how pretty she is?!” Her tone softened at that last remark.
With Amity’s last statement, the wheels in Anne’s head started to turn, pieces fell into place, Amity’s attitude started to make sense. A smug smile crept across her face as she put her hands on her hips. Amity seemed agitated by this.
“What,” Amity asked, her tone becoming more aggressive, “why are you looking at me like that? Stop it!” She then grabbed Anne by the collar, but she still looked smug. “LISTEN HERE, HUMAN, IF YOU DON’T STOP RIGHT NOW, I’M GONNA—“
“You like Luz, don’t you, Amity,” Anne asked smugly.
Amity stood there for a moment, completely frozen, her eyes as big as dinner plates and her face gradually getting redder. She then quickly let go and covered her reddened face with her hands. “Yes, I like Luz, I really, really, like her.”
Anne clasped her hands together and held them up to her cheek. “Aww, that is so sweet!”
Amity parted the fingers covering her right eye, looking at Anne with surprise. “Wait, what?”
Anne walked over and put an arm around Amity’s shoulder. “I can see it now, you guys would be so cute together. OH! I just thought of the perfect ship name! ‘Amiluz!’”
Amity stared at her, more confused now than before. “So, you really don’t like Luz?”
“Nah, man,” Anne reassured, “I only think of Luz as a friend.”
Amity let out as sigh of relief, “Thank goodness.” She then clasped her hands together, similar to how an embarrassed schoolgirl would. “Sorry for how I acted earlier, by the way.”
“It’s cool, dude,” Anne reassured her, “but you might wanna tone that stuff down around Luz, I get the feeling she doesn’t really care for the whole ‘jealous overprotective girlfriend’ thing.”
Amity rubbed the back of her neck embarrassedly, “Sorry, it’s just that Luz is really special to me. Before I met her, I was kind of a bully, but the more I was around her, the more she brought out the good in me.” Amity started to trail off. “She was nice to me even though I was so rude to here, she listens to me, she makes me think about the kind of person I really want to be.”
Anne sniffled and wiped a tear away from her eye. “That is so sweet.”
Amity started to rub her arm in embarrassment, “You’re not gonna tell her, are you?”
Anne did a “my lips are sealed gesture.” “Your adorable secret is safe with me.”
“Thanks, Anne,” the young witch smiled. “But I wouldn’t really call it a secret, considering I kinda… sorta… kissed her.”
Anne let out a long gasp, which slowly morphed into an excited squeal. “OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH!” She then grabbed Amity’s arms and started jumping up and down, “Have you gone on a date yet?! What pet names do you have for each other?! Are you official?!”
“No,” Amity exclaimed as she broke away from Anne’s grasp, “it was just a little kiss in the cheek!” Her posturing became more bashful, “besides, we haven’t really talked about it yet. I was actually hoping today would give me a chance for that.” She then looked back to Anne, “Promise me you won’t make such a big deal about it?”
With that said, Anne nodded to show she understood. The pair then walked out of the restroom and started their trek back to Luz. As they walked, Anne started to think about the idea of Luz and Amity as a couple, and it was downright adorable, not quite as adorable as Sprivy, but still pretty cute. She also remembered how shy Amity seemed about it, maybe all this ship needed to set sail was a strong enough push. She made a devious smirk and started to rub her hands villainously.
Amity felt slightly unnerved by the human’s seemingly malicious mannerisms. Were all humans this odd? The pair soon rejoined Luz, who had just procured another ingredient.
“Any luck,” Anne asked.
“I found a demon skull with the three horns,” Luz answered as she looked in her bag, “but I’m still looking for the tears of a mermaid.”
Anne then got an idea. “Ya know, I don’t think I’ve checked over there yet,” she said, pointing off in a different direction, “I’ll go look over there, you two stay here and see if there’s anything else on the list over here.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Luz said, completely oblivious to her friend’s ulterior motives.
Amity started blushing. She quickly looked over to Anne, who met her stare with a thumbs up and a sly wink as she disappeared behind a shop tent. Amity stood there, alone with the girl she loved with all her heart, she couldn’t tell if this was a blessing, or some sick joke for Anne’s amusement.
***
Meanwhile, Willow, Gus, Sprig, and Polly combed through multiple shops. Sprig let out a dissatisfied groan, “This is so boring!”
Polly looked at her brother. “I don’t know, Sprig, this stuff is actually pretty interesting.” She then looked over to a shop filled with weapons and death hexes, “this place actually has some pretty cool ways to destroy my enemies.” She then let out a small sinister chuckle.
“Plus, we’re not really here to have fun,” Willow added, “we’re supposed to help find a way home for you guys.”
Gus walked over to the others, a full bag in his hand. “Which we are now one step closer to.”
“Great,” Willow replied, “what’s next on the list?”
Sprig pulled out their half of the list and examined it. “Actually, it looks like that’s it, we got everything.”
“Sweet, now let’s go find Anne and Luz,” Polly said before the group took off.
***
Luz and Amity continued their search while Anne was off looking in another part of the market. But unbeknownst to either of them, Anne was secretly watching the pair, almost like it was a romcom. Thanks to her little heart-to-heart with Amity, she got the idea that they needed a little space in order for Amiluz to set sail.
“So, what’s next on the list,” Amity asked.
“We just need one more ingredient,” Luz revealed, “a single flake of gold.”
“That’s gonna be hard to find here,” the purple-haired witch said, “all the gold in this market is either fake or cursed.”
“What,” the human girl exclaimed as she pointed over to a stand that read “100% Real Uncursed Gold here.” “Even that one?!”
“Especially that one,” Amity said, “I got Boscha a bracelet from there for her birthday once, not only was it fake, but it also temporarily turned her into a bird.”
Anne cringed, ‘I know how that goes.’
“So then what do we do now,” Luz panicked, “the spell won’t work without real gold!”
Amity put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “Don’t worry, we can just use some of the jewelry I have back home.”
Luz looked at Amity with wide eyes and started to blush. “You’d do that for me?”
Amity started to blush as well. “Well… yeah,” she stammered, “you mean a lot to me, you’ve made my life so much better, I don’t even want to think about what my life would be like without you.”
Luz’s face got even redder, Anne watched with almost uncontainable joy. It took almost every ounce of willpower to keep herself from squealing. Amity took both of Luz’s hands and looked into her eyes.
“Luz, I— I— I li—“
“HEY, LET ME GO,” a loud voice cut in, interrupting Amity’s confession. They looked over to see Anne being hassled by some coven guards.
“You’re comin’ with us, human,” the guard exclaimed as he grabbed Anne’s arm.
Luz and Amity ran over to help. Luz pulled out a couple of glyphs while amity readied a fire spell. Luz slammed a plant glyph on the ground, tangling two of the guards up in vines. Amity threw two fireballs at two more guards, knocking them out cold.
The one gripping Anne’s arm miraculously avoided the attacks and held onto her. Anne struggled to get free, but the brute wouldn’t let go. The more she pulled, the tighter his grasp became, and the angrier Anne became.
Anne growled and her eyes flashed blue. “I said, LET! GO!!!” She then clocked the guard in the stomach so hard that he went flying into a nearby stand.
Too bad for him that it was a knife stand. “…ouch,” he squeaked in agony.
Luz and Amity walked over to Anne, awestruck by her strength. “Wow, how did you do that,” Luz asked.
“I— I don’t really know,” Anne said, staring down at her hands, “stuff like this has been happening ever since I came to Amphibia.”
Before anything more could be said on the matter, the three were met with the sound someone clapping very slowly. They all looked up to see a tiny red creature with hair like hands in a white coat that covered her mouth.
Amity gasped in alarm, Luz growled at the man, but Anne just looked confused. “Who dat?”
“That’s Kikimora,” Luz explained, “one of Emperor Belos’ lackeys.”
“‘Lackey,’” the tiny creature scoffed, “I hold the honor of being Emperor Belos’ right hand, you troublesome brat!”
“Really,” Anne said incredulousl, “but she’s so tiny.”
Kikimora stepped forward, causing Luz to pull out some glyphs. “Relax, human, I am not here for you or your girlfriend.” She made a spell circle, and Luz and Amity were pushed aside. She then pointed at the Thai girl, “I’m here for you.”
“WHAT,” Luz and Amity screamed in shock.
“Why me,” Anne exclaimed, “I haven’t done anything!”
Kikimora’s muscle, an abomoton robot, appeared next to Anne, grabbing her by the wrist. “I shall ask the questions here.”
Suddenly, the three glowed red and the two vanished in a flash of light. “NO,” Luz screamed as she ran over to where her friend once stood. She then fell to her knees, “AAAAANNNNEEEE!!!”
Amity walked over to Luz to console, but before she could say anything, the others appeared. Sprig, Polly, Willow, and Gus walked over to the pair.
“Guys, guys, we got our ingredients,” Sprig jabbered enthusiastically, blissfully unaware of what just happened.
“Where’s Anne,” Polly asked.
Luz stood up and faced the others. “She was taken,” she panicked, “the coven guards showed up and took her!”
The others gasped. “Oh no! ANNE,” Sprig screamed before turning his attention to Luz, “how could you let this happen?!”
Amity quickly stepped forward, outraged. “HEY! It isn’t her fault!”
“Aren’t you supposed to be powerful witches,” Polly questioned aggressively, “why didn’t you just save her with your magic?!”
The Plantar kids and the witchlings were now in a full-blown argument. Insults and names were thrown back and forth like tennis balls, both sides trying to talk over the other. Luz couldn’t stand it much longer, everyone was loosing sight of what was important.
“ENOUGH,” she screamed, getting everyone’s attention. “Anne is in trouble, and standing here and arguing isn’t gonna do anything!” The other’s heads dropped, ashamed of how they were acting. “We gotta save her, now come on, let’s go get Eda, Lilith, and Hop Pop!”
She then started sprinting to the Owl House, with the others following after her.
***
Deep in the bowels of the Conformatorium, the biggest prison in the Boiling Isles, Anne was chained down to a chair. She struggled to get free, but it was no use, the chains were too strong.
“That won’t help you, human,” she heard a familiar voice say from the shadows. Kikimora then emerged from the darkness, “Those chains are magically enhanced, you won’t be able break them.”
Anne growled at the tiny creature, “Dude, what do you want from me?!”
Kiki circled around her slowly. “You see, human, you seem to be in possession of some information, information I’m sure the Emperor will find very interesting.”
She then snapped her fingers, and a coven guard barged in. “So, let’s have a nice long chat about frog world.”
***
The kids sprinted to the Owl House as fast as they could. “EDA,” Luz shouted at the top of her lungs.
The elder witch, her sister, and King emerged from the dwelling. “Luz, what’s the matter?!”
“Anne’s been kidnapped by Kikimora,” Luz panicked. Eda, Lilith, and King gasped. “But on the bright side, we got almost all the ingredients for the spell!”
“FOCUS, LUZ,” Polly shouted.
“Right,” Luz said as she handed the ingredients to Eda. “We have to go rescue her.”
Eda nodded, “We’ll stay here and get started on the spell, we’ll meet up with you when we’re done.”
Luz then turned back to the others, “Alright, let’s go save Anne!”
Before they left, Sprig noticed something. “Wait, where’s Hop Pop?”
“Oh, he’s inside with Hootsifer,” Lilith explained, “it appears the apple blood has had an… adverse effect on him.”
***
Back inside, Hoppediah laid on the couch, his hand clutching his chest and Hooty looking over him. “I’m dead! Ooh, I think I’m dead,” he shouted, “everything’s goin’ real slow and my heart’s beatin’ backwards!!!”
Hooty nodded his head. “Mhm mhm, go on.”
“I can see sounds, I can hear colors,” Hop Pop stammered, “I FORGOT HOW TO SIT!!!”
***
Back outside, the kids followed Luz as she raced away. “Follow me, to the conformatorium!”
“How do you know that’s where they took Anne,” Sprig asked as he hopped alongside her.
“That’s where they always take prisoners,” Luz explained, “I’m beginning to think it’s their only prison!”
Eda, King, and Lilith watched as the youngsters raced away. “Good luck, kid,” Eda said worriedly.
Hop Pop then poked his head out of the window. “I measured my butt crack three times, and it was longer each time,” he raved, “I’M SPLITTIN’ INTO TWO PEOPLE!!!”
***
Anne shrieked in agony, the pain she was experiencing was too intense. “MAKE IT STOP! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, MAKE IT STOP!!!”
The Kikimora held up a hand, “Alright, Jerry, you can stop for now.”
The guard sitting next to him closed his book and stood up. “Sure, boss,” he said gratefully, “hey, thanks for giving me an audience to test my screenplay on.”
Jerry walked out of the room, leaving Kiki alone with Anne. She then walked over to the human, “So, are you ready to talk yet?”
“Alright, I’ll tell you what I know,” Anne gasped and huffed, “come closer.”
Kikimora, inched closer to the human girl. “Little closer,” she instructed. She did as she said. “Closer,” she said, and the creature complied.
Anne then head butted her, knocking her back. The Golden Guard winced in pain. “You insignificant brat,” he roared, “you shall suffer for that!!!”
She then walked back to the door and stuck her head out. “Oh, Jerry, she wants to hear even more of your screenplay!”
“OH BOY,” Jerry exclaimed from in the halls.
“NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,” Anne screamed in absolute terror.
***
The youngsters had finally reached the Conformatorium. They stood on the outskirts of the facility, formulating their plan.
“Alright, Willow, Gus, and Polly, you guys release all the prisoners and start a riot,” Luz said commandingly.
“I love this plan already,” the pollywog commented.
“Meanwhile, Amity, Sprig and I are gonna sneak in and find Anne.” The others nodded affirmatively. “Alright, let’s go.”
The group ran towards the facility, but Amity quickly grabbed Luz’s hand and held her back. “Luz, listen, I know if we succeed, you’re probably gonna go back to the human world with Anne, which I guess means that I’m running out of time to tell you that I… that I… I…”
Luz put a hand to Amity’s cheek, instantly silencing her. “Amity, I think I know what you’re gonna say, and… I feel the same way.”
The pair blushed feverishly, staring deeply into each others eyes. Their faces slowly inched closer and closer together. Their lips were mere centimeters away, they closed their eyes, but they were snapped out of their love-fueled trance by a sudden gasp.
They looked down to see Sprig, staring at them with big eyes. The pair quickly separated, embarrassed. “Huh, so this is how Anne feels when she sees me and Ivy together.”
***
In the Conformatorium, two guards stood under a massive lever, protecting it from being activated. Polly, Gus, and Willow approached them.
“Excuse me, what’s that,” Polly asked, pointing to the lever.
“Oh, this, it’s the master release lever,” one of the guards said, “one flip of this switch, and all the prisoners go free.”
“Cool,” Polly said before leaping onto the lever, pulling it down.
All the bars in the Conformatorium instantly opened, setting every single inmate free. They quickly ran around the prison, wreaking all sorts of havoc and mayhem.
The guards gasped. “Oh no, we’ll probably get blamed for this!” They quickly ran down to try to quell the chaos.
“Huh, shouldn’t they be coming after us,” Polly questioned.
“Yeah, these guys aren’t great at their jobs,” Willow commented.
***
Meanwhile, in the bowls of the Conformatorium, Kikimora stood in the cell, watching as Jerry read his horrible screenplay. “I don’t know what we’re doing, but I know what we should be doing.”
“KILL MEEEEEE,” Anne pleaded.
Another guard poked his head in. “Mam, there’s been a massive prison break, we need all hands on deck!!!”
Jerry quickly closed his screenplay and ran out the exit. “I’m on my way!”
Kikimora growled before looking back at Anne. “I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere,” she said mockingly.
The door slammed shut, Anne groaned angrily. She didn’t care what she did to her, she’d never talk. She already had to deal with Andrias invading the human world, but if these jerks got involved, there’s no telling how much worse things would be.
The door creaked open, probably Kikimora, come back to interrogate her more. She looked up, expecting to see her stupid face, but was greeted with a more comforting sight. It was Sprig, Luz, and Amity.
“Anne,” Sprig and Luz said as the three of them ran over to her.
“Guys,” Luz said, relieved to see her friends, “boy am I glad to see you!”
The trio quickly removed the chains, and Anne stood up, happy to be free. “Are you okay,” Sprig asked.
“They… made me listen to one of the guards’ screenplay,” Anne shuddered.
The others gasped. “That’s just in humane,” Luz exclaimed, “now let’s get out of here!” The four of them then ran out of the room.
***
Back at the Owl House, Eda and Lilith were putting the finishing touches on the spell. They stood around a glowing bottle of liquid. “Alright, it’s almost ready,” Eda commented, “Lilith, you got the last ingredient?”
Lilith then held up a single flake of gold, “I have it right here.”
“Great,” Eda said before looking back at King and Hop Pop, “how’s HP doing?”
“I think most of the apple blood’s worked it’s way through his system,” King observed as the old frog rocked himself.
“My body’s a haunted house,” he babbled calmly, “because there’s a skeleton, a ghost, and blood all over the walls.”
King took a double take at that last remark. He looked back at Eda and Lilith, “Mostly…”
Disregarding the old frog’s irrational statement, Eda quickly took the flake of gold and dropped it in the bottle. It started to shake and glow brighter, like it was about to explode, Eda and Lilith ducked for cover. The bottle then started to calm down and started to dim. The pair of witches looked up cautiously, but were relieved to see it was complete.
Eda picked up the bottle and put a cork in it. “Great, the spell’s ready,” She said as she raced to the door, “grab Hop Pop and let’s go meet the kids at the prison!”
King climbed onto Eda’s shoulder while Lilith picked up Hoppediah, who in turn picked up the head of Frobo. “I think the apple blood’s still racin’ through my system, cause I coulda swore you just said the kids were in prison!”
“They are,” Eda said before sprinting out the door.
“SAY WHHAAAAAAAAATTT?!”
***
In the Conformatorium, Anne, Sprig, Luz, and Amity raced to the courtyard. They watched as prisoners ran around, smacking guards silly and destroying all sorts of property. Gus and Willow ran to them.
“You found Anne,” Willow exclaimed with a hug.
“Wow, you guys really know how to cause a prison riot,” Amity commented, slightly nervous.
“It was mostly Polly,” Gus explained.
“Where is Polly anyway,” Anne asked.
Willow and Gus pointed over to a massive pile of unconscious guards. Atop the stack, they saw Polly, laughing maniacally. “I AM THE QUEEN OF PRISON!!!”
Gus and Willow cowered. “I am very afraid of her,” Gus whispered.
“KIDS,” they heard a voice call out from above. They looked up to see Eda, Lilith, King, and Hop Pop landing in the courtyard with the staffs.
“Hop Pop,” Anne, Sprig, and Polly exclaimed as they ran over to the elderly frog.
Luz and her friends ran over to Eda, Lilith, and King. “We finished the spell,” the Owl Lady said as she held up the bottle. “All you need to do is throw it down and we can open a portal to another world.”
Luz was a little concerned about that, “Don’t you mean we can open a portal to the human world?”
“Well, technically you could,” Eda explained, “spell works randomly: you could end up back in the Human world, or you could end up back in Amphibia, heck, you could even end up in some crazy third world, like a world of magic bug people or a world where everyone has rainbow skin and no noses.”
Luz took the spell and looked at it with concern. “So you’re saying it’s a gamble?”
Eda looked down, “I’m sorry kid, it was the best we could do.”
Luz then walked over to the Plantars with the spell, they all looked at it nervously. “Is it really good idea to use it,” Hop Pop asked.
Luz handed the spell to Anne, she looked at it, then back to the Plantars, then Luz and her friends. She let out a sigh, “It’s our only option: we have to stop Andrias’ invasion and save my friends.”
She then held the potion aloft, about to use it. Before she could use the, they were hit with a blast of magic, scattering them around. The potion was tossed high into the air.
“NO,” the group screamed.
Luckily, the spell was caught, unlucky tough, it was caught by Kikimora, on the shoulder of her abomoton. The lumbering behemoth then walked over to them. “You dropped this.”
The group stood up and got ready for combat. The Kiki just scoffed, with a wave of her hand, she made everyone but Anne levitate, she was held down by chains of magic. She walked over to her slowly.
“Now I know you need this to get home, and I am also pretty sure I heard something about an invasion,” she taunted, “and I am pretty sure that would mess with Emperor Belos’ plans, so I will make you a deal…”
She then cast another spell, making a bed of spikes appear below the others, they all gasped. “Tell me what I want to know, and I won’t drop them.”
“No,” Anne pleaded.
“Don’t listen to her, Anne,” Luz shouted.
Kikimora growled and brought Luz closer. “I have had just about enough of you.”
She then clenched her fist, causing the magic to strangle Luz. She gasped for air, but it was no use.
“LUZ,” the others shrieked.
“Alright, I’ll tell you what I want to know,” Anne pleaded, “just let her go!”
Kikimora mulled over Anne’s offer. “Hmm, no, this brat has proven to be too big of a hindrance to let roam free.” She clenched her fist tighter, Luz gagged harder, until her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she stopped moving all together.
At that moment, something deep in Anne snapped. Her her heart was beating in her ears, her vision went red, and the only thing she could see was Kikimora, the thing she wanted dead. In an instant, a fiery blue aura surrounded her body. Her eyes glowed blue, and her hair stood on end, glowing blue as well.
She slowly stood up, breaking the chains that bound her. Kikimora and the others watched in shock as Anne underwent her transformation.
“Is this a human thing,” Gus asked.
“No,” Sprig answered, “it’s an Anne thing.”
Anne glared at the tiny creature. “Give her back,” she demanded with an almost demonic voice, “Give. Her. BACK!!!”
In an instant, Anne disappeared. “What,” Kikimora exclaimed, “where did she—“
She was cut off when Anne seemingly appeared out of nowhere and punched her right in the gut, sending her flying into a wall. With her concentration broken, the magic that created the spike pit and held the others in the air vanished, and they fell to the ground with a thud.
Amity quickly stood up and ran over to the unconscious Luz. “LUZ,” she screamed as she knelt down to the girl. She quickly started pressing on her chest and resuscitating her. “Come on, breathe,” she pleaded desperately, “Breathe Luz! BREATHE!!!”
The other gathered around, worried for the girl. With one last press, Luz gasped and sat up.
“LUZ,” the witchlings, Clawthorne sisters, and diminutive demon exclaimed as they hugged her.
Luz coughed, “What did I miss?” She then looked over to see Anne in her “blue state.” “Huh, a lot apparently.”
Kikimora stood up. “ABOMOTON, KILL HER!!!”
The robotic homunculus fired a blast of magic at her, but she swatted the attack away like it was nothing. She then grabbed it by it’s chest plate and threw it into the ground. She plunged her fist right through it’s chest, causing severe damage to it’s circuitry.
“You, what happened to you,” Kiki huffed, “how did you get so strong so suddenly?!”
Anne didn’t say anything, she just glared at the pest. She then took a single step forward, before seemingly teleporting across the courtyard and kicking her in the face. The minuscule demon tumbled backwards.
Kikimora hoisted herself back up. “I will not… be beaten… by the likes… OF YOU!!!”
She pointed pointed her palms at Anne and charged up a powerful blast of magic. Anne stood her ground, not even making an attempt to dodge or guard herself. Kikimora finally finished charging, and unleashed a massive beam of magic, racing rapidly towards Anne.
“ANNE,” the others screamed as the beam got closer and closer to the Thai girl.
Without any hesitation, Anne dove into the beam, and flew through it. She emerged from the blast inches away from Kikimora. She gasped as Anne wound up her fist and delivered a smashing punch to her face… literally, it knocked a few fangs out! The tiny creature was sent flying into the walls of the Conformatorium. She laid unconscious in crater, unable to continue fighting any further.
With her foe defeated and her friends saved, Anne’s blue power flickered and she passed out, falling to the ground unconscious. “ANNE,” the others exclaimed as the ran over to her.
Luz and Sprig helped the girl back to her feet. “Ugh, what happened,” she groaned.
“Anne, that was AMAZING,” Luz jabbered, “you were all like ‘RAAHHH,’ and she was all like ‘AAAHHH,’ and then you were all like ‘SHWOOM, SHWOOM, SHWOOM, POW!’”
“What was that,” Amity asked.
“I… I don’t know,” Anne said.
Sprig looked around and picked up something off the ground. “Guys, look what I found,” he exclaimed excitedly. He had found the spell, they could go home now!
“Nice job, Sprig,” Willow complimented, “now let’s get out of here, there could be more guards on their way!”
The others agreed, and quickly retreated .
***
Back outside the Owl House, the Plantars and the others were saying their goodbyes. They had gotten the spell back and we’re finally about to head home.
Anne approached Luz. “So, you comin’?”
Luz rubbed her arm, “Well… I… the thing is…”
“Luz, I understand,” Anne interrupted, “you don’t wanna go unless you’re absolutely sure it’ll take you home.”
Luz smiled, happy that her friend understood. The pair then hugged each other. “Don’t worry, I’ll find my way back.”
Hop Pop walked over to Eda and Lilith. “Thanks again for your hospitality.”
Eda knelt down and wrapped an arm around her friend’s shoulder. “You’re always welcome here, HP.” She then held up a cup for him, “Want some Apple Blood for the road?”
Hop Pop slapped the cup out of her hand. “EVIL!!!”
Sprig and Polly shook hands with Willow and Gus. “It was awesome meeting you guys,” Sprig said.
“It was great meeting you too,” Willow replied, “we should do this again… minus the whole ‘prison break’ thing.”
“Speak for yourself,” Polly shouted.
The Plantars then gathered together, it was time to go. Anne looked back at Luz, concerned for her. Was she really okay with staying there longer? She then watched as Amity walked over to Luz, and the pair started holding hands.
‘Yeah, she’s gonna be okay,’ Anne thought to herself. She then threw the spell down, and in a puff of smoke, the Plantars vanished.
***
Plantars groaned, they laid atop a strange metal chariot, surrounded by loud honking. They turned around to see a family inside it… a human family. One of them took a picture.
“What the,” Polly questioned.
They looked around to see a massive city in the distance, and a green sign that read “Los Angeles.”
“Where are we,” Hop Pop asked.
Anne looked to the sky, surprised. “Home.”
***
Back in the Boiling Isles, the bruised and beaten Kikimora knelt before her master, Emperor Belos. She was reporting her findings.
“So, you’re telling me that this ‘Frog World’ is planning to invade the Human Realm,” masked monarch questioned.
“That is what I heard,” the lackey confirmed.
“I see,” Belos said as he stood up from his throne and walked over to a window. He gazed out at the kingdom he commanded, then clenched his fist tightly.
“Then the race is on.”