[Earlier That Day]
It was early in the morning, and Anne Boonchuy was walking down a dirt path with Sprig,
and their now new companion, Olivier Clawthorne, in the direction of the main town of Wartwood.
"You got that shopping list, buddy?" spoke Anne.
Sprig held up a list with some writing on it. "Got it RIGHT HERE, Anne!"
"Great!, hopefully the market is in stock today."
Olivier took some time to survey his surroundings.
"Sooo...there really are no imperial scouts or guards patrolling this place?"
"Nope!" said Sprig. "The closest thing we had to that were the Toads,
But we haven't seen them around since we blew up Captain Grime's tower some time ago."
Anne grimaced, feeling very uneasy over that particular event.
"So, you don't have any law enforcement at all?" mused Olivier.
"Nope!" said Sprig, again. "King Andrias doesn't really pay much attention to us.
I guess we kinda govern ourselves, if that is what you are asking."
Olivier pondered this.
"What's with the Twenty Questions, Oliver?" asked Anne, curious.
"Oh, ss-sorry. I'm just curious is all." spoke Olivier. "My world is...very different from this one."
Anne looked at Olivier. "Hey, I don't think you ever did tell us about your world.
What's it like?, I mean aside from apparently being a real life "Vagabondia Chronicles", and all."
"I still don't understand what those words you say mean." remarked Olivier.
"As for my world, well...I live on an island in a boiling sea made from the dead bones of a Titan."
Anne and Sprig stared at Olivier. "uh-huuuuhh..."
"In my world, Witches and Demons co-exist together and pretty much everyone can use magic" continued Olivier.
"However, the city of Bonesborough where I live is ruled by Emperor Belos, who is kinda a dictator."
Olivier then grinned. "OR, as my mom describes him: "a Dick-tator", with a "C.K."
"He claims to "speak for the Titan", and has long since outlawed "Wild Magic."
Demanding by law that all Magic Users wear a Coven Brand that limits their magical capabilities."
Anne had a pale expression. "that...sounds Awful!"
"It is. which is why I live with my mom in a cottage at the edge the isles, far from the main city." continued Olivier.
"Mom believes witches should be free to practice any magic they want to.
And because of that...we are considered criminals by the Emperor, who hunts us down."
Anne scowled, not liking at all what she was hearing.
Being a Thai-American, she understood 'discrimination' all too well.
And whoever this Emperor Belos was, he sounded disturbingly similar
to a certain 1940s dictator that she learned about from history class back in her own world.
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but...What happens to the "Wild Witches" that get caught?" asked Anne.
"They are taken away to the Conformitorium." answered Olivier. "Where they are jailed until their petrification ceremony."
"Petri-what?" spoke Sprig, puzzled.
"Petrification." repeated Olivier. "It's where they are turned to stone...FOREVER."
Anne and Sprig both bore stunned expressions at this. "holy frog!"
"So, to clarify: You have NONE of that stuff in this realm?" inquired Olivier.
"Not even remotely!" spoke Sprig, quickly.
Olivier then looked at Anne. "What about your world?"
"Dude. THAT kinda thing is beyond illegal!, and would be considered a Hate Crime in my world." said Anne.
Olivier pondered this...and then smiled. "then...maybe this won't be so bad afterall."
Anne shrugged. "ya' know...I used to think this world was Hell to live in.
BUT (no offense), compared to YOUR world, Amphibia really is a Paradise."
"none taken." said Olivier. "Even I know my world has gone to the inferno, and could be better."
"and you STILL want to go back to that kind of world?" inquired Anne
"It's the only world I have ever known." explained Olivier.
"I know it isn't the most ideal place, but My family is there.
and, my mother still needs me. So, 'Yes'. I have to go back. I *need* to go back."
Anne nodded. "yeah...I guess I can understand that.
But, STILL...If things even do get much worse, you can always relocate to my world.
I am sure my folks would give you a place to sleep until you found a place of your own."
Olivier stared at the bushy haired girl. "I'll...keep that in mind." spoke Olivier.
"For now though, let's just focus on getting back to my world so we can use my mother's portal."
Anne smiled. "yeah!...let's stick to the plan."
As the trio continued to walk, they soon came across an elderly frog near a tree.
"HEY!, that looks like Mrs. Croaker." spoke Anne.
Olivier covered his mouth as he tried to hold in a chuckle.
"Why is she hitting that tree with her walking stick?" spoke Sprig.
Olivier looked up into the tree, and saw a spider-like creature
that was the same size as a small dog clinging to a low tree branch.
"I take it THAT is some kind of pet, or something?" pointed out Olivier.
Anne and Sprig looked to where Olivier was pointing. "Oh, YEAH...That's Fluffy."
"Must've gotten stuck up the tree." mused Sprig.
"How does a SPIDER get stuck up a tree!?" said Olivier, bewildered.
"This happens so much, I try not to question it." said Anne.
"Hmm...Maybe I can do something about this." said Olivier.
Before anyone could say anything, Olivier drew a golden light ring in the air.
He then extended his hand through the ring, making his hand glow as the ring disappeared.
Holding up his glowing hand, Fluffy began to glow with the same golden energy.
The Spider then lifted up into the air as Olivier motioned his hand upwards.
"FLUFFY!" exclaimed Mrs. Croaker, alarmed.
The spider then hovered over the old frog lady, and into Olivier's hands.
The Witch Bot the smiled as he approached Mrs. Croaker with Fluffy.
"Here you go ma'am. No need to-GAHH!"
Unfortunately, instead of being grateful to Olivier's good deed, Mrs. Croaker began whacking him with her wooden cane.
"RELEASE MY FLUFFY RIGHT NOW, YOU WITCH!"
"OW!, OW!" exclaimed Olivier, trying to shield himself. "HEY!, QUIT IT-!"
"MRS. CROAKER, STOP!" exclaimed Anne, as she ran over with Sprig.
"ANNE! oh, thank frog. QUICK!, Help me with this ruffian!" exclaimed Mrs. Croaker,
STILL whacking Olivier with her cane. "He's a WITCH with unnatural powers!. He tried to curse my Fluff-"
"Mrs. Croaker, NO!" exclaimed Anne, trying to defuse the situation.
"This is Oliver, and he's my friend! Yeah, he Technically is a Witch, but he's a GOOD Witch. I SWEAR!"
Mrs. Croaker stopped hitting Olivier and eyed Anne. "Are you SUUURE...He looks shifty to me.
I mean just look at the color of his eyes. They look so...UNNATURAL."
Olivier rubbed his head and GLARED at the old frog angrily.
He clenched his hands into fists that began to glow blue.
"uh-oh..." spoke Sprig, expecting something bad to happen.
"Oliver...CALM DOWN." spoke Anne (ALSO getting worried) "It was only a mis-"
Olivier turned around in a huff, and marched back down the path.
He was jogging so fast, that he was quote a distance away in just a few seconds.
"I assure you, Mrs. Croaker. Oliver really is a good guy." spoke Anne, quickly.
"He only recently got transported here from his world, and me and Hop Pop are trying to-"
"Just what we need: ANOTHER Newcomer." grumbled Mrs. Croaker.
Anne exhaled, feeling she wasn't getting through to the old frog at all.
"OKAY, I gotta go. I have errands to run for Hop Pop."
Anne began to sprint down the path, with Sprig hopping close behind.
By now, Olivier was nearly a mile away. prompting Anne to walk faster.
"Oliver!?..OLIVER, WAIT UP!" called Anne.
Olivier finally stopped long enough so Anne and Sprig could catch up.
"Oliver, I'm...REALLY sorry...about what happened there." spoke Anne, out of breath.
Olivier scowled at Anne...but then breathed out sharply.
"it's fine...you don't need to apologize" said Olivier, calmly. "That old bat was just being a jerk for no reason."
"ACTUALLY, She's a Frog. not a Bat." corrected Sprig.
Anne cast a glare down at Sprig.
"gonna ignore that." said Olivier. "SO, how far away is the town?"
"Not much further." answered Anne. "It's just over that hill up ahead."
"Thank the Titan." spoke Olivier, as he resumed walking with Anne and Sprig close behind.
As the Trio entered the town square of Wartwood, Olivier's foul mood lightened up
as he looked around and marveled at the quaint little frog village.
All the buildings were just barely bigger than he was,
and had a well rounded shape to them that he somehow found pleasant.
The sky was clear, and had a warm color to it with the sun shining bright.
Olivier was so pre-occupied, that he didn't watch where he was going
and accidently bumped into a random bystander, knocking them over.
"oh...Sorry there, I didn't mean to-"
"AAH!, M-MONSTER!" The Frog leapt up, and ran away.
Olivier looked, and saw that the other Frogs were now looking at him funny.
Some were walking really fast to get away, while others hid in a panic.
"Pretty skittish folks, aren't they?" mused Olivier.
"Well, to be fair. we do live in constant danger of being eaten alive every single day." said Sprig.
Olivier pondered this...and THEN remembered that giant snake from the other day
that nearly at alive Anne, Sprig and Maddie in the deep forest.
"okay, fair enough." said Olivier.
The trio continued to walk through town as they headed towards market street.
Anne and Sprig waved to some frogs, who cheerfully waved back at them.
Olivier then smiled and tried doing the same...but the response he got was different.
Frogs either gave him a suspicious glare, or tried not to look at him.
Olivier scowled, starting to dislike the cold reception he was getting.
Anne noticed this and tried to hold his hand...but Olivier pulled it away.
This made Anne frown a little, but tried not to let it bother her.
Eventually the party of three reached Market Street, and approached the line of stands.
"He-ey, Lenny." spoke Anne, as she and Sprig approached a Frog Merchant.
"Good Afternoon, Anne." said the Frog, with a cheerful smile. "How may I help you-"
It was then that Olivier approached Anne and Sprig...and Lenny pulled at a hanging rope,
which triggered some tree bark to fall like blinds, barricading access to his stand.
"Hey!"exclaimed Anne, confused."Lenny, what are you-!?"
Sprig then tugged at Anne's purple skirt, pointing at the other stands.
Anne and Olivier then watched as all the Frog Venders closed their stands up like Lenny did.
The frogs that were customers all hid behind the stands...leaving Market street empty, and quiet.
"Must be closing early." spoke Sprig.
Both Anne and Olivier had a feeling THAT wasn't the case at all.
"I'm just gonna go." said Olivier, scowling as he turned away.
"W-wait, Oliv-"
but before Anne could finish her sentence, Olivier was already gone.
Having disappeared in a flash of light, leaving no trace of his presence.
...And as soon as he left, the stands reopened and the frogs resumed what they were doing before.
"SO, how may I help you!?" said Lenny, resuming his 'friendly' demeanor as if nothing happened.
Anne just scowled at the vender with a displeased look on her face.
"sprig." spoke Anne, her voice monotoned.
"yeah, anne?"
"can you take care of Hop Pop's groceries without me?...I need to go find Oliver."
"uhh...sure, Anne. I can-"
Anne then stormed off, a grumpy expression frozen on her face.
Anne was now wandering the town square the Wartwood Village,
searching for any trace of a human like herself amongst all the frogs.
Surprisingly, this was proving to not be an easy task.
"OLIVER!?" called out Anne. "OLIVEEEERR!..."
As Olivier continued to elude her, Anne grumbled as she thought back to recent events.
She was well aware just how closed minded the frogs of this town could be.
and, while the days of being treated like a monster were behind her... she STILL remembered them perfectly.
She hated how she was initially treated, and was willing to do anything to get it to stop
(even joining Bog, and his gang of Toads. which proved to be the wrong way to gain the town's respect.)
So the last thing she wanted was for Olivier to go through the same hardships she did.
(Especially since he apparently had to go through enough of that in his own world.
The last thing he needed was some bigoted frogs shunning him JUST for being a new face.)
Anne was so deep in thought, she wasn't watching where she was going...and bumped into someone.
"Wa-Whoa!" exclaimed Anne. "ss-Sorry, I-"
Anne looked down...and saw a blue skinned frog girl.
"oh, Hi Anne!" said Maddie, a smile on her face. "I was actually looking for you."
Anne raised an eyebrow. "you WERE?"
"Yeah!, I wanted to talk to Oliver about something." explained Maddie.
"Sprig's Gramps said he was with you and Sprig, and-Hey, why are you by yourself?"
Anne exhaled. "I was with him...but the townspeople were being rude to Oliver,
So I am letting Sprig handle Hop Pop's errands while I try and look for him."
Maddie frowned. "yeah, this town CAN be rough for newcomers."
"I know. BELIEVE me, I know...and I hate it." said Anne.
"From what Ollie told me, he's been through enough crap and shouldn't deal with this."
Maddie cocked her head. "Ollie?"
Anne blushed upon realizing what she just said. "OLIVER. I meant to say "Oliver."
Maddie grinned a sly smile at the human. "riiiight..."
Anne cleared her throat, wanting desperately to change the subject.
"So, uhh...MADDIE. You have any idea where Oliver might've gone?"
Maddie took a moment to ponder this conundrum.
"well...If I were in his position, I would want to get away from everyone." began Maddie.
"Go somewhere quiet where I could be alone with my thoughts, and calm myself down."
Anne exhaled sharply. "yeah, I did that alot when I first got here.
I spent so much time in the Plantar's basement, that it was practically-"
Anne suddenly froze, her eyes widened in realization.
"what?!"
"I think I know where Oliver is." answered Anne.
[End of Part Seven]