Episode 72 - Toad Away

## Synopsis

The students were escorted back to their rooms. Winsler pulled the Tear of an Angel and showed it to Kurt. He seemed very excited, and pushed aside many of the of the plans and papers that cluttered his bed to make room for the Tear. Together they spent the night poring over their notes, to make sure the final assembly went smoothly.

When Mira arrived, her room was filled with a pungent floral smell, the same scent as the night before. While her roommate, Allena, used the bathroom, she attempted to open the urn under her bed.

Pulling with all her strength, she managed to unseal the lid, and opened the urn. The floral aroma filling the room immediately intensified to unbearable levels. Inside the urn she saw a thick,  green, semi-translucent liquid. Curled up and suspended in the liquid was a small humanoid body.

Mira reeled back and slammed the lid shut, then covered the urn in a towel and stood it up to the side. She spent several hours just staring at the urn, afraid that whatever was inside might try to kill her. As she stared, the snakes on the urn seemed to shift and slither, and as she looked at her left arm it appeared to shift and squirm under the surface of her skin. She eventually fell into a fitful sleep.

All the students were woken up in the morning by a knock on the door.

“*Breakfast is available.*”

They opened their doors to find a tray of food, and turning to see Ari or Tol walking away to deliver more trays.

When Serinepth woke, she found a full spread of breakfast already laid on her table, even more extravagant than before. She covered the table and brought in the other breakfast she had been brought.

A trail of frothy slime led from the table to the locked cabinet. She uncovered the table, and opened the cabinet. Inside the slime jar was still sealed, the slime’s colour had darkened, and it seemed cleaner that it had before.

She brought the jar back to her table, and sat it in front of her. Deciding that she wanted to thank the slime for making her food, and ask it some questions, she spent her day trying to talk to the slime.

“*Hi, my name is Serinepth, I realise we don’t really know each other—*“

To the side she said, “*I’m talking to a jar.*”

*“— I don’t know if you were aware of the whole thing with the Oblex. I don’t know if I  had originally thought you were a part of that, but now you’re doing nice things so I’m guessing you’re not a part of that, and I was hoping you could answer some questions I had about what you are, who you are, that kind of stuff. Did I accidentally steal you away from the kitchen, is that what you want to go back to?*”

As soon as she mentioned the kitchen, the slime started frothing even more in response. As she continued throughout the day, she noticed that any mention of the kitchen, food, or even the plates, caused it to foam up even more. At the end of the day she promised to take it back the kitchens were it belonged.

Winsler and Kurt spent their day trying to attach the Tear to the golem body. They constructed the concave disk which the head seemed to sit on, with Winsler making the calculations, and Kurt hammering out the brass.

Late in the afternoon, they all heard a knock on their doors. Integrity opened her door to find Tol standing outside.

*“Miss Idleberry, please accompany me. We must go get your group mates.”*

“*Why?”*

“*The Council of Administrator has made certain decisions regarding detention duties, which must be carried out now.*”

The four students were assembled in a room just outside the  Dining Hall, they were also joined by Cyndra Sunfire. The cupboard was labelled ‘*Golem Maintenance’*. Tol opened the door to reveal a small room, with a crystalline tube in the corner. In the middle of the room was a table with a small box of wands, and the wand-destroying machines from their previous detention.

Tol locked the door, and turned to the students.

“*The council of administrators has agreed that your detention duties shall be ended due to the lockdown of campus. However, in Underbough’s final written words, he wanted all detention duties carried out one final sentence.*”

The students stood in disbelief at this revelation. Tol held up one of their hands and told them the request had been written many years ago and had no basis on them specifically. Mira asked why they hadn’t just brought Underbough back from the dead. After a moment’s hesitation, Tol told her that he had specifically asked not to be brought back.

Tol told them they would be disenchanting the box of wands, and then knelt down in front of Winsler.

“*We are aware of what you are doing. The new one’s Tear must be polished.*”

“*Is that my specific task?*”

“*You could entrust it to myself, it is necessary, else the new one will have not ideal desires. It is a fast process, so I have your permission to include Ari in this as well? It is important, it has been many years since a new one was created.”*

“*Uh, I don’t think I want Ari in this, just you know, if that’s fine*.”

“*I will see what is possible. I will come to your dormitory and retrieve it under the cover of night so as to not arouse suspicion. It is a fast process, it will not damage the Tear.*”

“*Alright*.”

“*Very well, please continue with your disenchantment. I will supervise.*”

The students walked over to the table, and began the disenchantment process. At the bottom of box, they found three rods. One was very glittery, and had a large bell one either end. Another was metallic, and had a little crystal ball on one end. The final rod was a long stick with strips of cloth aimed to it, and one end it had a brass frog head with a ruffle around its neck.

Integrity picked up the metal rod, gaining a feeling of authority while holding it. As she looked at the crystal on its head it began to glow with a dull white light, and rolled over in its socket to revealing a deep purple iris, pointing at Integrity. She walked over to a poster on the wall, turned her back, and slipped the rod into her cloak.

Serinepth let picked up the frog rod, and instantly heard a whooshing sound as the tassels nailed to it began to flutter in a non-existent breeze. The frog’s mouth opened, trumpets played, and the frog spoke.

“*The Grand Duke of the land calls for your aid, a cruel beast has fallen upon the realm and a true champion must rise to meet it else all will be destroyed forever!*”

Serinepth turned to her friends, trying to see if any of them knew what it was talking about. Dukes had not existed in Agiya for several centuries.

Tol looked at the rod. “*That one has been quite the nuisance.*”

Mira subtlety pointed at Serinepth and *Messaged*, “*Do you want to keep it?*”

“*If there’s a way to not have it yell for the rest of detention them yes.*”

Mira set out to distract Tol, blocking their vision of Serinepth and asking about whether they were in any danger from Underbough’s murderer. They told her that they didn’t believe it to be a danger from them.

While she was talking, Serinepth put the rod down, then picked it up through her robe and went to stand by her cousin. As the rod came closer to her body, the tassels began to flutter slightly again. She slipped it into her robes and immediately cast *Major Image* to make it look as though it was still in her hand.

As the rod entered her robes, the sounds of trumpets and voices began to emanate, though muffled by the fabric. She ‘disenchanted’ the illusion of the rod.

In her heart, Serinepth somehow felt trumpets and triumph, and the noise stopped. The other students and Tol watched as from her back, a small spectral frog emerged, then passed through Cyndra, Integrity, Winsler, and Mira. As the spirit passed through each of them, they also felt the trumpets in their hearts, except Winsler, for which they felt muffled and distant.

Every time it went through one of the students, it grew larger and more corporeal. The frog wore the same ruffled neck as on the rod, as well as a purple and orange doublet tucked into tight trousers. After it had passed through their chests several times, it landed on the floor with a bow.

“*I humbly thank you for accepting the hearts desires, the hearts quest. The Grand Duke will be in ever your debt.*”

It wiggled its fingers, there appeared to be small embers connected to each of them by a wisp of energy.

“*The Grand Duke will return to you when it might need to deal with this evil cruelty, in a manner of moments. We thank you humbly.*”

The frog bowed again, then vanished in a puff of smoke.

The students looked bewildered at what had just happened, trying to understand the scene they had just seen. They felt the trumpets in their hearts disappear, and the rod fell silent. At the same moment, all of them felt a sudden loss, as though something had been taken from them.

As the frog disappeared, Winsler felt the weight of Mr. Wiggles against his chest, disappear.

The noble frog stood in a forest. Surrounding it were four other creatures: A small grey cat; a blue, nine-tailed squirrel; a purple-quilled hedgehog; and an origami crow.