Chapter Text
Marcy stared out the window of the plane, looking at the land far below her.
She’d had a busy morning; getting up at 3 am because her parents wanted to avoid the worst of the crowds at LAX. Not like that did much, since it was LAX. They had been in quite the rush, barely managing to board the plane in time, even though it had been delayed for weather.
Now, it was a few hours later and Marcy was looking at the rising sun. The orange-ish red reminded her of the eyes that she saw in her mind, and the red moon that had almost crashed into Amphibia. At least she remembered that bit.
Marcy woke up, finally out of that strange fantasy world.
“You’re alive!” Sasha exclaimed.
“What’s going on?” Marcy asked. “Where did that world go? The one where we were happy.” Marcy still didn’t understand, not really.
“What are you talking about, Mar-Mar?” Anne asked.
“I-I don’t know.” It wasn’t real, was it? “Nevermind. I’m just happy to have you here. I was so worried about you after we all got stuck in Amphibia! Speaking of that, where are we?”
“Marcy, get a hold of yourself.” Sasha said. “You’re not making any sense.”
“Sasha! She’s confused, she probably just needs some time to adjust.”
“Adjust to what?” Marcy asked.
“You know, not being possessed.” Sasha said.
“Possessed?!”
“Yeah, by the core.” Anne said. “After you got stabbed, remember?”
“Stabbed? What are you guys talking about?”
“Stabbed in the back by Andrias.” Sasha said. “Literally and figuratively.”
“But… Andrias would never do that. He cares for me.” Marcy later learned that a lot of her memories had been erased by the Core.
Anne and Sasha had filled her in on the most important details: Andrias stabbed her in the back, and later she was possessed by the Core and used as its host. But there was still so much she didn’t understand. How had she even lived? What exactly had happened that day? No matter how hard she tried to remember, those memories were gone.
She needed to tell her parents what happened. She couldn’t just keep it a secret- she’d almost brought it up 3 times already, and she didn’t think she could go much longer without talking about all the crazy things she discovered in Amphibia.
“Mom, dad?” Marcy said. Her parents turned to look at her; dad in the aisle seat, mom in the middle seat.
“Yes, Marcy?” Her mom said.
“I know you were wondering where I’ve been for the last several months.” Marcy said. “I’m going to tell you. And it has something to do with the invasion last week.”
“Oh, the invasion.” Her dad said. “Good thing that Boonchuy girl saved us, or we would’ve been victim to the king’s agenda. Don’t get me wrong, he’s smart and pragmatic. But not enough for superpowers, I suppose.” Smart and pragmatic? Andrias had almost taken over the world, why would her dad talk about him like that?
“Yeah, isn’t Anne one of your friends?” Her mom asked.
“She is.” Marcy said. “Me, Anne, and our other friend Sasha got stuck in the dimension where that newt king came from. It’s called Amphibia, and it’s full of talking newts, frogs, and toads.” She wasn’t going to tell them about how she got stuck intentionally, of course.
“I was separated from Anne, and ended up in the city of Newtopia. Home to newts, of course, and also the capital. They took me in, and I studied the world and improved their city. They really liked me, actually, since I built a bridge, made their sewers more efficient, lots of stuff like that.”
“That’s a good use of that scenario.” Her dad said. “Being productive and making progress. I’m proud of you, Marcy.”
“Oh, thanks.” Marcy said. “Unfortunately, I was stabbed by the evil king and was barely able to help Anne and her frog friends escape.” She didn’t mention how she was tricked- her father would be disappointed in her, for not being able to recognize the signs of manipulation.
“Oh dear!” Her mother exclaimed. “You were stabbed? Are you okay? Do you need medical attention? Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
“I… think I’m fine.” She didn’t tell her parents that her blood was still green sometimes, because it had become less frequent and would probably go away.
“Then, after I recovered, I was possessed by a super-intelligent AI hivemind who was manipulating the king into taking over the world.”
“Hm.” Her father said. “That must’ve made you a lot smarter. You were already an intelligent girl before, imagine what you could do now.”
“Okay…” Marcy said. She had some doubts about that, she didn’t feel much smarter. She mainly just had memory loss.
“Thanks for telling us this.” Her mom said. “We’ve been worried about you, even when you came back, so it’s good to know where you’ve been.”
Marcy hadn’t really told them everything. Just enough for them to stop worrying about her. They never really cared, did they? They were taking her away from her friends, with no concern for what she wanted, and they still went through with it, even after she was absent for so many months.
And now, she would hardly get to talk with Anne and Sasha. She didn’t even have a phone anymore, she had no clue what happened to it, and her school laptop didn’t allow her to use the chatting programs she usually used with her friends.
She knew she should be sad. But she didn’t really feel anything, other than ennui. She just wanted something to do on this plane flight, something to distract her.
She looked out the window, watching the sun slowly rise until it was out of her eyes. By now, she was about halfway across the country. When she was younger, she always liked looking out the window of a plane. There was just something about being in a moving vehicle and looking out the window, whether it be a car, plane, bus, or train, that she liked.
But now, she just wished she could distract herself to be free of the emptiness inside of her.
—
“Do you think Marcy will be okay without us?” Anne asked.
“Of course.” Sasha said. They were waiting around for school to start; Marcy had left for the airport hours ago, and she was now on the flight to Massachusetts. “Marcy is passionate about her interests and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. She’ll do fine alone.”
“I don’t know, Sash. She doesn’t even have a way to contact us.”
“Marcy is smart, Anne. She’ll figure something out.” Sasha reassured. “Anne, I know you’re concerned, but this isn’t the end of the world. We don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
“I know, Sasha. I just sometimes wish things could go back to the way it used to be.”
“I don’t.” Sasha said. “I’m not the same I was back then, and I don’t want to be.”
—
Marcy didn’t know much about the town they were moving to, and she didn’t care.
She hardly paid attention as they went through the airport and took a bus to their new house.
Marcy and her mom walked to the doorstep of their new house. Marcy was used to hot temperatures, but here, it was cold, and she liked it; she always wore hoodies, but they didn’t fit with LA or Newtopia weather and she often ended up overheating.
The overcast skies were also nice; the sun had felt harsher ever since her possession, but now she didn’t have to squint.
Her new house was fine, all things considered. It wasn’t that different from her old house, but it felt empty. It was empty. It had basic furniture, but nothing else.
“Marcy, we need to talk.” Her mom said. Her dad was currently dealing with moving stuff, so it was just her and mom.
“Okay.” Marcy took a seat at the dining room table. What was there to even talk about? Her parents didn’t need to know more about Amphibia.
“You disappeared for almost a year, you had me worried sick. I’m glad you told me what happened, but that doesn’t change that you went missing.”
Marcy just nodded, not feeling the need to say anything.
“So, Marcy Wu, you are grounded.”
“What?!”
“I can’t have you getting into more trouble. Especially not in an unfamiliar town. So you’re grounded for a month.”
“An entire month?”
“Yes. It’s for your own good, Marcy.”
“Fine. I can’t say I’m surprised. You never care about what I want or what I like. I don’t want to listen to you for another second!” With that, Marcy grabbed her suitcase and went to her new room.
Marcy sat on her new bed, which was not yet covered in a sheet. Her room had a desk, a nightstand, a shelf, and a closet. She’d packed all the stuff she would need immediately in her suitcase: her notebook, sketchbook, an extra outfit, and a few other things.
None of that was more important than the small hard drive that she’d sewn into her favorite DnD hoodie. She brushed her fingers along it, comforted by its presence. She may have lost her phone, but at least she still had this.
Marcy pulled out her sketchbook, which was full of doodles of Amphibia and War of the Warlocks fanart. She began to sketch Lady Olivia, not wanting to forget the faces of people she’d met in Amphibia.
For some reason, she had photographic memory now. Perhaps it was a side effect of being possessed by the Core? Either way, it came in handy. Now she wouldn’t have to peruse through fandom wiki galleries to draw fanart.
Marcy continued to sketch people and places she remembered from Amphibia, until she was called down for dinner.
Marcy didn’t talk much during dinner, instead letting her parents express all the things they liked about this new town. She left the table as soon as she could, spending the rest of the evening journaling and reading the Cynthia Coven books.
Marcy went to sleep earlier than usual, even though she was now three timezones ahead; she’d had a tiring day. Marcy didn’t feel very optimistic about this town so far, and she just wanted to see her friends again.
—
Marcy floated in space, cape swirling behind her as the moon plummeted towards Amphibia.
“Marcy, what are you doing?” Anne exclaimed. “Do something! Stop the world from being destroyed!”
Marcy tried to move, but she was stuck.
“Classic Marcy.” Sasha said. “Putting your own needs above everyone else’s.”
“Mar-Mar, I thought I could rely on you!” Anne added, flying in front of Marcy. The moon crashed into the planet behind her, on full display for Marcy to see.
“I-I’m so sorry.” Marcy said.
“Sorry doesn’t mean a thing.” Sasha replied. “I said sorry and I turned on you. But unlike you, I actually atoned.”
The scene changed to the temple, Marcy at the flipwart board as Anne, Sprig, Polly, and Hop Pop were about to get killed by the temple.
“Marcy, do something!” Anne said. “Please! Hop Pop is going to die if you don’t intervene.”
Marcy tried to move her hands to flip her own wart, but she was stuck, frozen in place.
The temple moved again, however, this time it didn’t move the flipwart pieces. The ceiling started coming down, crushing Anne and the Plantars with ease. It approached Marcy, getting closer and closer to crushing her, until-
Marcy woke up with a gasp, looking around the unfamiliar room. It took her a little while to remember where she was- everything was different, with the dresser not having action figures on it and the wall absent of posters.
She was in her new room, in Hopkinton. She reached for her phone on her nightstand, only to remember it wasn’t there.
She needed to talk with her friends. She needed them to reassure her that she didn’t mess everything up, that she wasn’t the reason everything went wrong.
Marcy climbed out of bed, slipping on her d20 hoodie and walking out of her room. She didn’t even have a phone anymore. How would she call her friends?
Marcy spotted her mom’s phone on the dining room table. Perfect. She walked back to her room. Her photographic memory came in handy, with her being able to perfectly remember the password.
It was 1 am, far too late for anyone to reasonably be up. But for Sasha and Anne, it was 11 pm. Anne likely would be asleep, but there was a good chance that Sasha was awake, studying. Sasha had become a perfectionist after returning from Amphibia, determined to get good grades and be a model student.
She dialed Sasha’s number and held the phone to her ear, waiting for her friend to reply.
“Mrs. Wu? Why are you calling me so late at night? Isn’t it like 1 in the morning for you?”
“Sasha, it’s me, Marcy.”
“Oh, that makes more sense.” Sasha replied. “Can’t sleep? You can ramble about DnD until you fall asleep, and this time I’ll actually listen.”
“Actually, I, uh, I had a nightmare.” Marcy said. “It’s just… I feel like it’s all my fault. I’m the one who got us stuck in Amphibia! I separated you and Anne from your friends and family for my own selfish desires!”
“Marce, I staged a coup .” Sasha said. “I was about to become Amphibia’s youngest dictator because I couldn’t handle not being in control. And you forgave me once I realized my mistakes.”
“Your mistake didn’t almost cost us two entire worlds.”
Sasha was silent for a moment, thinking of what to say.
“Marcy, someone was going to find that box. If it hadn’t been us, it would’ve been someone else, and they probably wouldn’t have been able to save the world. But we did. We made Amphibia a so much better place, all because of your actions. That doesn’t make it right, but the point is that you’re being way too harsh on yourself.”
“Thanks, Sash. You’re a good friend.”
“You really mean that?”
“Of course I mean it. You’ve really changed for the better.”
“I’m…” Sasha hesitated. “glad.”
Marcy heard footsteps in the hall. Oh no. Her mom.
“Anyway, was nice talking to you. but I gotta go!” Marcy hung up quickly, but by then, her mother had already opened the door.
“Marcy Regina Wu.” Her mother said. “What are you doing with my phone, when you’re supposed to be grounded?”