Another Friend in Amphibia

Chapter 83: The Mourning After

Marcy and Lady Olivia were walking together through the halls. "So this... recording? How exactly does it work?" Lady Olivia asked.

"All our sounds travel as waves. The microphone built into my phone can remember those sounds and play back those exact same sounds on the speakers," Marcy explained.

"So King Andrias' voice... when you recorded that on your phone. It would play back exactly what he said and how he said it?" Lady Olivia asked.

"Yep, that's pretty much how it works," Marcy said.

"It is quite an ingenious idea, creating a decoy of the king that can talk just like him." The duo stopped outside the throne room. If all had gone to plan, Marcy's deception would have worked. "Are you sure he wouldn't have figure it out?"

"He will figure it out eventually. A decoy doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to be convincing long enough for your opponent to make a mistake," Marcy explained.

Lady Olivia slowly opened the door and peered inside. "Hello? Master Marcy is here to..." she trailed off. She immediately closed the door. "I'm afraid Drake's not here."

"What? Let me go in." Marcy tried to push past Lady Olivia.

"He's not... here... why don't you join me for a cup of tea," Lady Olivia lied.

"What happened? Let me in!" Marcy grabbed the handle and tried to open the door.

Lady Olivia held it shut, trying to prevent her from opening it. "Best you don't go in Master Marcy. A cup of tea is best."

"What happened to Drake?" Marcy started fighting with Lady Olivia over control of the door. The newt didn't respond; she simply held the door shut. Marcy began struggling more intensely as she began to panic. "What did he do? What- what did he do?"

Marcy managed to win the fight and charged through the door. There was blood on the wall, on the throne, on the floor, and on one of the pillars. There was too much here, it couldn't have come from any one person.

The guards along with General Yunan were in the process of picking themselves off the ground. The Plantars stood near the door looking shocked. They turned to see her entering. Yet that was the last thing she cared about.

Near the center of the room sat Anne who was covered in blood. In front of her was Drake who was lying down in a growing pool of blood. His torso had a large open wound. Marcy took a few steps forward trying to get a better look. "Drake?"

Anne looked at her with horror as she began to plead. "Marcy? I didn't mean to-! Please! You have to believe me! I-"

Marcy didn't really care about that however. Her eyes were focused on Drake who was lying dead on the ground.

Hundreds of thoughts were rushing through her mind at once. How Drake had warned someone could get hurt. How he claimed she wasn't being serious enough. How she brushed off his concerns as baseless anxiety.

Now here he was dead on the floor, every concern she dismissed had come to pass. She would never hear him laugh about her luck with dice. She would never hear him cheer when she won in a video game. She would never hear his voice again.

Marcy turned around and ran as fast as she could out the door crying. She ran past Lady Olivia who did her best to keep up. She ran past confused guards and servants. She ran all the way back to her room, slammed the door shut behind her and locked it. Then she fell onto her plush bed still in her adventurer's gear and sobbed into one of the pillows.

Not long after, there was a knock on the door. "Master Marcy! It's Lady Olivia! Can I come in?"

Marcy couldn't bring herself to give an answer. She knew Lady Olivia had the master key with her and could come in whenever she wanted.

There was a small click when the door was unlocked, then the door opened revealing Lady Olivia approaching. She sat down next to Marcy and gently patted her back. "Master Marcy?"

Marcy stopped crying for a moment and turned her head to look up at Lady Olivia. She choked on her tears. "He's gone... and it's all my fault!"

Lady Olivia pulled her up and into a hug to console her. "No... you couldn't have known what would happen to him..."

"You don't understand! I was the one who stranded us here! All because I couldn't bear the thought of losing my best friends and that's exactly what happened! If- if I hadn't- Drake would be safe back on Earth. He would still be alive!" Marcy buried her face into Lady Olivia's shoulder. "He is dead because of me! Because of what I did! I killed him!"

Lady Olivia didn't know what to say. She simply let Marcy cry while patting her back to console her.

Another newt stood at the door. "Am I interrupting something?" Marshal Kerry asked.

"Not at all. Master Marcy is in mourning over her friend." Lady Olivia replied.

The newt marshal looked at Marcy who was still sobbing. "Why are you crying about that? He died the way all humans hoped to. In combat!"

Marcy didn't say anything. She buried herself even deeper into Lady Olivia.

"Is there something you need?" Lady Olivia asked.

"Oh yes. The king requests Master Marcy's presence in his quarters," Marshal Kerry explained.

"Can't it wait?" Marcy asked.

The newt marshal shook his head. "The king requests your presence immediately."

Marcy rubbed her eyes. "I guess duty calls." Marcy walked to the king's chambers with her head low.

She could hear whispering as she walked. The servants were talking about the assassination attempt. More so, they were surprised about a human getting killed. Although some didn't believe the rumors were true simply because they didn't believe humans could be killed.

Marcy knocked on the doors to King Andrias' room. It opened shortly after revealing the king who held his arms open. "Welcome Marcy!"

Marcy wasted no time. She jumped straight into his arms and continued to cry. "Drake is dead... I'll never see him again..."

King Andrias reciprocated the hug. "Actually, I wanted to talk with you about that. It's not too late for him."

Marcy looked up. "It's not?"

"Our ancient empire had some of the most advanced technology to ever exist. I can restore his body, bring him back to life, and you two can be reunited as if he had never died. How does that sound?" King Andrias asked.

"That's impossible though. Death is permanent," Marcy stated.

"I can assure you death is not permanent. Just think about it, maybe talk with your friends," King Andrias said.

Marcy buried her face in King Andrias again, but she was deep in thought. She would give anything to see Drake again. She couldn't imagine living in a universe where he was dead. Yet, everything she knew about the human body and medicine would declare his death as permanent.

Every time a doubt crossed her mind, she found a way to push it aside. She had the same doubts about the calamity box's portal powers but that didn't stop her from taking a gamble. A gamble that ended up working. If betting everything on chance worked once, what's stopping it from working a second time?

Author's Note

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I thought about trying to split this chapter the same way I did with True Colors. However, in the end, I thought I could maybe get more out of the situation if I continued on normally with shorter chapters. The plot is moving once again.

Now that I've given Marcy her own chapter to process what has happened. I'm planning to do the same with Anne and Sasha.