Work Text:
Stupid.
That’s what she was. And selfish too.
Stranded herself along with her friends just because she was scared of being alone? And in another world too. One with the largest and weirdest flora someone could think of. With deathly creatures every now and then, waiting around the corner.
Look at how much fun we had. Look at how much you’ve both grown.
She overthinks that sentence over and over until the back of her head starts hurting. In fact, Marcy didn’t know what her friends had been up to during those past months. She remembers faintly how a big part of Anne’s missions ended up with her almost being eaten.
How’s that supposed to be fun?
Sasha’s porcelain face had been shattered forever, all thanks to her desires of traveling to that damned world. Her friendship with Anne was too broken to be repaired and it was all a chain reaction to Marcy’s decisions.
Is that the way they’ve grown? Like ugly thorns in a dying rose bush.
Too many reckless actions for someone who’s supposed to be the wit .
Stupid.
That’s what she was. And selfish too.
You deserved it, what happened to you. Marcy agrees, because she knows there’s no point in denying it. She wanted to escape from her life so badly. And in the end, she got ripped apart from it. She wouldn’t be able to complain about it, ever again.
Did Anne manage to escape through the portal?
Sasha. What happened to Sasha?
She went numb right after Andrias’ sword appeared right below her nose. She was so shocked. She didn’t even get to feel how badly it hurt as she instantly fell to the floor.
I’m sorry, for everything.
It was true, she was sorry.
Inside that damned tank she had been positioned in, she could only feel guilt. She had ruined everything. Her life, her friends, everything . She even contributed to ruining Amphibia as well. If she hadn’t asked Sasha to get Anne to steal that stupid box, none of this would have happened.
She wanted to go back. Back to earth. To her life. Even if she would be separated from Anne and Sasha right out from the bat. That bitter goodbye sounded more enchanting than her current situation. Because she would still be able to hug and kiss them one last time. But now, she could only feel water surrounding her. And it didn’t feel like Anne’s soft hands playing with her hair. Nor did it sound like Sasha’s laugh, provoked by one of her ramblings.
She didn’t even die. Not even that was in her favor. She messed up and had to pay for it. She didn’t even deserve the sweet emptiness that death would have been.
Marcy recalls the first time she came up with the realization that she wasn’t dead. She had found herself floating in what her brain assumed was some kind of tank. Her eyes tried meeting the exterior of the tank, but due to how tired she felt, she soon gave up.
At some point, between drifting in and out of consciousness, she felt like she was being lifted. She didn’t try to escape or even open her eyes. What was the point in doing that? She felt her clothes being changed, the cold air piercing her skin. Surprisingly enough, the presence of the air felt more daunting than the sword that opened her chest like rotten wood.
Shortly after, the weight of the horrifically warm water was covering her again.
How long had she been there? Marcy’s mind kept writing stories with one unique script. Similar rhetorical questions invading her soul. Were her friends coming back for her? Did they remember her? They weren’t going to leave her there, right? She would ask for forgiveness. Beg for it. She couldn’t live without them, hadn’t that been proven to be an ongoing issue already?
Every now and then she heard voices. But she did not pay attention to it. Not after the first few times she had heard them. They didn’t sound like them. So she didn’t care. But then, she heard a different set of voices, they sounded more melodic, and she felt herself being lifted again.
Could it be them? Was she finally being given a second chance? Was she going to be able to redeem herself?
Oh frog . Was she finally going to see Anne and Sasha again?
Marcy felt anticipation running in her veins and felt like crying. She would have smiled if her mouth wasn’t covered.
Her feet hit the floor. Her feet hit the floor.
Whoever had taken her out of the tank was also setting her free from all the tubes that she now felt connected to her arms and legs. And as soon as she noticed that there wasn’t anything covering her mouth and nose, a massive cough fit attacked her as air started to mercilessly jump down her throat. Breathing air again felt nice, even if the first few breaths had felt like daggers.
She rapidly opened her eyes, she couldn’t wait any longer.
Sashy? Anne?
She asked and extended her arms as high as she could. Maybe if she wished it hard enough, they’ll let everything slide for a few minutes, and hug her before calling her a selfish friend.
She's out of it. Wake up human!
No Sasha. No Anne. But it was obvious that it wasn’t going to be them. Why would it be them? She betrayed them, locked them up in a box and threw them into the pits of the ocean, acting as surprised as them when they couldn’t break through the box’s walls. But when said box had turned soggy from the salt water, and they managed to make a hole through it and reach the surface, Marcy had stayed in the bottom of the ocean. Unable to swim, unable to breathe underwater.
She was shaken by some arms. Her eyes were open but her gaze couldn’t focus on her surroundings just yet.
One of the voices spoke again. General Yunan and Lady Olivia. Yes, she remembered them. And as much as she had felt loved by the duo, seeing them again didn’t comfort her as much as seeing her friends again would have.
But they promised they were taking her out of that castle, and that did comfort her.
But like every other good thing that had happened to her for the past months, it didn’t last long. And now she was sitting on a kind of throne. And if it weren’t for the situation itself, Marcy would’ve adored how cool it all looked.
But that sweet and cheerful Marcy died as soon as The Core got inside of her mind.
She found herself surrounded by darkness. The air was velvety dense and it made her mad because it was actually pretty calming.
She hadn’t properly slept in these past weeks, or months. How long had she been in that tank, again?
Marcy yawned, unable to control the constant blink her eyes made.
And then, inside that black painted room where she was, a small bed appeared.
We don’t usually sleep, but we know how sleep deprived you are, so rest, wit.
She accepted the offer, half because she was really tired, and also because that voice felt too horrendous to actually deny any of its orders.
Days went by. She felt herself in a constant dissociative state, she could only walk around that stupid room. Marcy quickly understood that the room was connected to her emotions and needs, hence the bed that had appeared when she had felt sleepy. Or all the fantastic animals from her favorite games when she had felt sad.
And there were other things that the room had made up for her. Marcy just refused to acknowledge them.
“Come on Mar-mar, come play with us, we have your favorite video game here waiting for you!” Anne said. But it wasn’t Anne. Anne didn’t know what her favorite game was, she never really paid attention to that.
“Yeah girl, if you don’t get here soon we’ll start playing without you,” Sasha spoke. And obviously it wasn’t Sasha either. Sasha never wanted to play her games back home, at least not without Marcy making several deals and promises first.
Marcy broke into not-so-silent sobs. She was sitting with her knees pressed against her chest, facing one of the room’s corners. Just like a little kid. Because maybe that was all Marcy was, a scared kid who needed reassurance and comfort.
“Stop pretending to be them!” She screamed.
“Marce, what do you mean?” Anne spoke again. Marcy felt a hand on her left shoulder, the touch igniting a million shivers throughout her body. She slapped the hand away, her eyes red from all the tears she was shedding.
Anne backed on her steps, her face mimicking the same concern her voice had shown.
“Woah Marcy, calm down would you?” Sasha spoke from behind Anne. “We want to know why you look so sad, we care about you Marbles,”
“We’re just worried for you, dude,” Anne’s voice said.
Marcy stood up, rage boiling hot in her veins.
“No, you’re not worried and no, you do not care. You’re not them, and even if you were,” Marcy yelled while several tears left water marks on her dusty face, “I highly doubt you’d care either,” She finished. Her voice decreased with each word.
The two figures of her friends went limp like mannequins for a long second. They melted into the floor of the room, like a wax figure that had been exposed to sunlight for too damn long. The liquid turned a dark reddish color and shortly after another figure was standing in front of Marcy.
This new person who stood right before her very own eyes stole the little to no air that was gathered in her lungs. They looked just like her; the same damned attire but they had orange eyes, a ton of them, and at the top of their head, various axolotl-like antennas pecked through their hair.
“We know, it’s kind of a big deal, this whole appearance, but this is how we’re perceived right now.” The person spoke, their voice sounded like a very distorted version of her own. And the fact that they could easily read her mind made her sick.
“Listen kid, you’re right, they don’t care. But this is supposed to be a partnership, so please, let us know what is it that you want so we can finally start our mission,”
“You can’t just keep making fake scenarios and expect me to foolishly appeal to them so you can do whatever it is that you’re planning with my body,” Marcy replied. “Plus, how do you even know what they feel about me, as long as I’m concerned you haven’t left the castle, so,”
The figure nodded. Some of their eyes scanned the room and her. Then a smirk hooked the corners of their lips.
“You’re right, we haven’t left the castle, but we have drones and robots, kid,” And to prove their point, a projection of one of the drones started playing on one of the room’s walls.
Marcy saw Anne and Sasha in Wartwood, together . They seemed to be talking about something that got them both smiling wide.
“How do I know you’re not lying and this isn’t another made up scenario,” Marcy replied, not even fazed about what she had just seen.
A sigh.
“Alright, we’ll let you be in control of our eyesight for a few minutes so you can see it for yourself,”
And for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Marcy’s eyes felt the warmth of the amphibian sun that pecked through one of the castle’s chambers. One of Andrias’ drones was floating next to her, and the same projection played again.
She now let herself actually interiorize everything. Sasha’s hair was longer and Anne’s laugh felt too real to be a made up illusion.
Marcy felt her eyes water again, but before she could start crying she was returned to the room.
“We told you they didn’t care about you,” The figure replied, at this point Marcy knew that it was The Core, but she didn’t want to give it the respect of actually giving it a name.
“But we care, we’ll give you everything you had always wanted. Unconditional love, support, we’ll hear your ideas. And you’ll eventually merge with us. You’ll never be alone, Marcy ”
And it could be a mix between knowing that the two girls she had spent years loving in secret didn’t give a single shit about her with being addressed by her name, but the offer didn’t sound that bad anymore.
“What exactly do you need me for,” She replied.
“Your wit, basically. You’re quick minded and great with strategies. We want power and control, a bit of acknowledgment on it too. You’ll be such an important facet in this fate that surrounds us, and we’ll make sure you know how important we know you are. So tell us, Marcy, how about a truce?”
Marcy thought about it. She couldn’t keep dancing over the fantasy of fixing things with Anne and Sasha. Neither could she give herself the honor of believing in miracles. No, it was all over.
“Alright, I accept,”
And The Core smiled, this time it didn’t startle Marcy that much. She’ll have to learn how to find warmth in that smile.
Anne and Sasha didn’t even seem to remember her, so, when The Core suggested a memory wiping process to get rid of unnecessary memories, Marcy agreed without further ado.
Maybe if she forgot about them too , the pain would be replaced with calmness.
And she needed to feel relaxed as much as she had been waiting for them to rescue her.
Stupid.
That’s what they were. And selfish too.
One last memory shot through her mind
“When I die, bury me in a daffodil field, please,” She once told her friends.
“Why?” One of them had replied. Marcy no longer could recall who.
“They’re pretty, and calming, plus, daffodils symbolize narcissism, aka selfishness, in my opinion,”
“Awe Mar-mar, but you’re not selfish at all,” Was what she had gotten as an answer.
But she was selfish.
And she would start embracing it now.