The Truth Beyond
WARNING!
This chapter contains a scene at the end, depicting an attempt to suicide. Please read at your own discretion.
"WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING?!" Sasha's voice was filled with anger, seeing the betrayal unfold right in front of her, her nighttime trip to get a glass of water leading her to something much worse.
"Sasha!" Hop Pop gasped, desperately trying to come off with a way to explain himself. "What are you doing here?"
"Don't you try to turn this around," the girl hissed, the feeling of betrayal filling her voice with disappointment. "You were trying to bury the box! We trusted you, and you were going to betray all of us! Why?"
"Sasha, what's going on?" Anne yawned, peeking out of the door with a half-asleep expression "It's late, come back to-"
She stopped, as her eyes laid on the scene in front of her. Sasha. Hop Pop. The tree. A recently dug hole into the ground. The shovel. The Box. The dots were all there, but she didn't dare to make the connection yet.
"What's happening here?" Anne murmured, shock spreading all over her face.
"He was trying to bury the Box!" Sasha replied immediately, pointing at Hop Pop with an accusative look, "He knew that it was the only hope we had to return back home, and yet, he was attempting to hide it from us!"
Anne followed her friend's thumb up to the old frog, now shrunken into himself, a guilty expression on his lips, looking aside, not daring to look in the eyes, silent as stone. She waited for him to speak up, to defend himself, to deny the accusations that Sasha was making, to tell her that no, he would never do such a thing, never try to hide the box, never betray the trust she and everyone else had placed onto him.
But he didn't.
Every second that ticked by without him saying anything made the cold realization sink further into her mind, the shock, horror, and betrayal manifesting as Anne's eyes widened and her mouth opened. Suddenly, Anne felt like she had just been slapped in the face.
Emotionally, she was.
"Hop Pop…I…you…" the girl gasped, unable to process the unexpected betrayal. "How could you?"
Silently, the old frog hung his head out in shame.
A few minutes later, the whole family was gathered in the living room, for an impromptu trial, Hop Pop sitting in his armchair with a guilty expression, as he felt the accusatory glares of the six human children, his children, looking at him from the couch. Anne held the Box clenched in her hands, holding it tightly as she feared losing it forever if she ever got distracted for one second. Jacob was fuming, walking to the kitchen and back with a furious expression, stomping his feet; even Marcy, the gentlest, friendliest being that he ever met in his life was now looking at him with eyes full of shock, unable to process his apparent betrayal.
He believed he knew when he tried to hide the box. He believed he knew what would happen if they ever found out about his attempt to hide the Box. He believed he knew how hurt they would be from his actions, and that he could withstand them for their safety.
Now he realized that he knew nothing.
"I-I still can't believe it!" Marcy said for the -nth time, holding her head with both hands. "Hop Pop, how could you?"
The old frog grimaced. No matter how many times he heard that sentence, it still hurt him every time he realized how hurt Marcy was by his treachery, how devastated she was after Sasha and Anne told her they found him trying to bury the box. That was a sight that made Hop Pop hate himself, feeling like he had greatly damaged (if not utterly destroyed) her innocence.
"Hop Pop…" Polly murmured, she and Sprig awakened as well as they were forced to witness a scenario that they never hoped to come true: their family divided, the bonds that connected them on the verge of ripping.
"Why did you do that?" His grandson asked in an exasperated voice, unable to understand why they were in such a situation. "Why did you try to hide the box?"
"Yeah, why did you try to do it?" Anne glared at him, "What are you trying to do, keep us here forever?" She gasped. "That's it, isn't it? You sicko!"
"What? No!" Hop Pop protested, managing to find some voice to defend himself. "I wasn't trying to hurt you; I was just trying to protect my family!"
"Protect your family?" Amelia accused; her eyes filled with bitterness. "Aren't we your family now?" She pointed with her eyes to the family shrub, where the images of the six kids on the branch departing from Hop Pop's were visible for everyone to see.
"Of course, you are! But I mean…it's complicated!"
"What the frog is that even supposed to mean?!" Sasha roared again, her anger resurfacing. "You tried to hide the Box, our only hope to return to our world! How complicated is that?"
"Well-" Hop Pop began to speak, before noticing James getting up from the couch and walking until he was right in front of him, the British kid's usually gentle face now twisted in sourness.
"Hop Pop," the human spoke, even Sprig and Polly noticing how distraught he sounded. "I don't know why you tried to do such a thing, but whatever reasons you had to make such an attempt unbeknownst to us, I suggest you tell us. Right here, right now. If you tell us the truth, I promise you that I'll try to understand them, no matter what your reasons are. But if you lie one more time," he glared at him, making the old frog shiver as he noticed the spark of darkness in his eyes, the coldness in his tone, "it's over. We'll walk out of the door, and you will never see us ever again!"
Hop Pop's eyes widened, as he realized that James meant every word, all the other humans nodded as they leaned toward him, waiting for his choice. Had shame not dominated his mind, he would have felt tempted to laugh at his own foolishness, realizing his attempt to protect his family ended up putting them against him.
I guess I have no choice, he bitterly realized, his eyes closed, but to tell them the whole truth.
"I tried to hide the Box because I found out it was dangerous."
"Dangerous?!" Sasha exclaimed, "How can you think that?"
"And how did you discover that?" James pointed.
"Sprig, can you go into my study and bring me the book on my desk? The one to the left."
"Huh, sure?" Sprig replied, jumping to the room, and returning a couple of minutes later with a heavy old book, the insignia of the Plantar family on his cover.
"What book is that?" Amelia raised an eyebrow, focusing on the mysterious tome.
"This book," Hop Pop explained as Sprig passed it to him, "has been in our family for as long as I can remember. And…look!" He opened a certain page, turning it around so everyone could see.
Marcy gasped, as she suddenly saw the image of the Box, drawn on the book, surrounded by warning words like DANGER and BEWARE!
"Calamity Box?" Anne read aloud, her eyes moving between the real box and its drawing on the book, "Eesh. That does sound bad."
"Wait a second, are you telling us you had a hint about the Box?" Jacob interjected, "How long did you know?"
"Ever since the day you showed the Box to us after we returned from Camp Phlegmington." Hop Pop said, no longer hiding the truth. "I know, I lied to you when I said that I hadn't seen it before, but I wanted to be sure myself. It was only later, that I confirmed that your Music Box was the same Calamity Box of my book."
"And you never told us before because-"
"Read it yourself, Jacob: the book says that the Box is dangerous! According to it, I should've destroyed it as soon as I realized what it was, but I knew that it was important to you, so I thought simply hiding it would have been enough."
"OK, that's a bunch of crap and you know it! We've been carrying it around for almost two months and nothing happened! Moreover, if the Box really was as dangerous as your book says, why did you think that simply digging and burying it under a tree right next to the farm would make it less dangerous?!"
Marcy tuned out as Jacob kept on grilling Hop Pop's motivations, focusing on the book. She quickly noticed that, while the warning signs were legible, most of the text on the pages was written in some unfamiliar language, made of runes, that she had never seen before. Yet, somehow, she felt like the information hidden in those runes would be…invaluable, to her and her friends.
"Hop Pop," Marcy raised her hand, "What kind of language is this?"
"I have no idea," The frog replied. "My father didn't know, and neither did his father or the father of his father. As I told you, this book's always been in our family from before anyone could remember."
"Still, that doesn't change what you did!" Sasha accused, still wondering why someone would label the box as dangerous. "You told us that you tried to hide it because the book says it's dangerous, but…why would you take its words for granted? Why are you so frogging paranoid and obsessed with protecting your family?"
"Because I already failed to do so, once!" Hop Pop yelled back, unable to contain his own emotions. "Because I couldn't stand to lose my family twice!"
"Twice?" Anne gasped, her brain starting to connect the dots. In response, Hop Pop sighed again and said four small, simple words.
"Sprig and Polly's parents."
Everyone looked at him, the humans' eyes widening again while the aforementioned brother and sister frogs looked at their caretaker in shock, perking from both sides of his armchair with a sorrowful expression.
"Hop Pop…"
"That wasn't your fault."
"It was…a few years ago." Hop Pop started to narrate, as his mind drifted back to that horrible day, when his life took a turn for worse, "I was on a journey when herons attacked Wartwood. Sprig and Polly hid in the basement, and thus managed to survive. But their parents... weren't so lucky."
Tears began to drop out of his closed eyes, as Anne looked at him and felt his suffering, like just remembering what happened caused pain to him.
"I was returning to Wartwood with Bessie when I realized something was wrong. A couple of moments later, I realized the town was in flames, people scattering around, as a horrible shriek cut through the air and the shadows of the Herons appeared in my sight. My first thought was of fear, as I hid Bessie and then ran to the farm, hoping to still find my family. But then, one of the Herons dropped something out of his mouth, and then I realized- I realized…"
He stopped talking, the pain in his chest making it impossible for him to say more, as Sprig and Polly tried to comfort him, reassuring him that the events of that day weren't his fault. But again, the old frog didn't listen to them, for he knew that it was his fault, that his daughter had died.
Sasha took a step back in shock, her eyes darting back to Sprig and Polly, remembering of the day the herons attacked the town (for the second time, as now she knew), how they ended up pinned down on Stumpy's restaurant-
Oh, she thought, as she looked back at Anne, and Anne looked back at her. Both girls realized it at the same time: if it wasn't for Sasha's timely intervention, Sprig and Polly could have ended up like their parents on that day.
"If I just had been there…" Hop Pop continued, small tears forming in his eyes, "I know things would've been different! Ever since then, I swore I'd never let my family down again. That I'd do anything to protect them. This is why, when I found out the box was dangerous, I lied and tried to hide it away."
For a minute or two, no one dared to say anything, Sprig and Polly trying to comfort their grandfather, Anne gasping as her best friend and adoptive brother was confirmed to be an orphan, James leaning back on the wall as he tried to sustain himself, the other humans struggling as they finally came to understand why Hop Pop had been so protective of his family (of them!) this whole time.
Then, Sasha spoke up again.
"I…I think you had very good reasons to act the way you acted," the blonde girl said, "I can relate to that. I understand why you tried to hide the Box."
"You do?"
"Yes," she replied, before giving him a stern glare. "However, that doesn't mean I'm going to forgive you."
"Sasha!" Both Sprig and Polly gasped at the same time.
"Sasha, haven't you heard what he said?" Marcy tried to push on the issue. "He just-"
"I heard that, Marcy." The former cheerleader said, looking back at Hop Pop. "Let's make a hypothesis: what if, the day the Herons attacked Wartwood for the first time, Sprig and Polly's parents hadn't been killed by them? Rather, what if unbeknownst to all of us, they ended up in some different world, by accident?"
Hop Pop gasped, as Sasha continued her description, the girl's icy words showing him another horrific side that he hadn't seen so far.
"Let's assume they ended up in a different world, populated by creatures different from the ones you're used to. Maybe they were lucky enough to find nice people that took them under their wings, protected them, and helped them orientate themselves in their new reality. Maybe they even became close friends, but nothing, no matter what, no matter how, could make them forget the world they left behind…and the children they loved so much."
Sprig and Polly stood there, their jaws hanging, as Sasha kept on explaining, wondering what her point was.
"So, obliviously, they tried to find a way back to their world and maybe found one, the only way possible they had to return to Amphibia, to Wartwood and their children. But they couldn't return, because someone ended up, no matter for what reason, destroying their only hope of return. No matter how benign their intent was, that means that Sprig and Polly's parents are now forever trapped in another world, with no way to return or see their children ever again, all because of someone's action."
She looked at Hop Pop, the old frog slumping in his armchair, her words heaving him like swords barely hanging from a thread. He had guessed, by now, what her aim was.
"Tell me, Hop Pop. If this is what happened, and you could know it, would you forgive the person who ended up trapping them in their world? What amount of logic and reason will be enough to forgive the one who's ripping them from their children forever? Answer honestly, Hop Pop."
Hop Pop took a deep breath, Sasha's words making him see a new perspective. If Sally and her husband had ended up trapped in another world not by choice, would he be able to forgive the person whose action, independent from the reason behind it, caused them to be lost and far away from him and his grandchildren?
"None," Hop Pop answered, the truth coming from his heart. "No matter what reason they had, I'd never forgive them for taking my daughter from me."
He thought he hated himself before, but now, the self-loathing he felt increased exponentially, as Sasha laid bare the truth for him to witness: in his goal to protect his family, he was going to force other families to live through what he had to experience on that fateful day.
"That's what I thought." Sasha quietly said, walking to the basement's trapdoor.
"Sasha?" Marcy asked, "Are you going back to bed?"
"No, Marcy." The blonde human replied, her voice full of sadness. "I'm just taking my backpack and the rest of my things, and then… I'm out."
"What?" Everyone in the house exclaimed at once, in horror.
"Listen, old frog," she looked back at Hop Pop, "You explained to us why you tried to hide the Box, and while I personally can't share your feelings, I can see the logic behind your choice. And while the old me would have never listened to your explanation in the first place, I'm trying to go straight from now on, so I'm trying not to hold a grudge. But…I cannot forgive you, I just can't. I believe…I need some time to calm down and think about it."
"Sasha, come on! What are you doing?"
"I'm sorry Marcy, but I cannot stay in this place. Not with…him." She glared at Hop Pop, the old frog looking even more defeated. "I'm going to ask Felicia for hospitality, for tonight at least. I know that no one is going to betray me there!"
"Sasha…"
"Jacob." The blonde girl replied, noticing the boy standing between herself and the door. "If you're trying to stop me-"
"I'm not going to stop you, Sash." The boy almost chuckled with a sardonic look, almost amused by their own misfortune. "Actually, I'm leaving with you."
"Say what?" Hop Pop gasped again.
"Jacob!" Marcy almost cried.
"Look guys, I can't believe I'm saying this too, but Sasha's right. It's too raw now, and I think I need some time as well to think clearly and make my own decision."
"I guess that settles it. I'm leaving as well."
"Me too."
"What? What?!" Sprig yelled in horror, as all the humans quickly gathered their belongings and walked toward the door. Only Anne and Marcy didn't move to follow them: The Thai-American girl was still sitting on the couch with a shocked expression, the Box tightly in her hands. And Marcy, who at first looked the most inclined to forgive Hop Pop, was stunned by the new course of the events. She just stood in place, motionlessly. Unable to do anything but watch, as everyone walked out, possibly forever.
She moved a hand to her chest, her breathing becoming more and more weary, as the panic started to settle on her mind, her heart hyperventilating, cold sweats of horror dripping from her forehead as she realized that her friends were leaving. Leaving the farm, leaving the family. Just…
…just like they would have done if they found out about her secret.
"Mar-Mar?" Polly asked, breaking the silence, everyone was too stunned to do anything, as she saw the girl's knees shaking, almost struggling to stand up.
"Marcy?" Sprig asked, tears leaking from his eyes, walking toward her from behind, putting a hand over her shoulder.
"I…I don't feel good." The dark-haired nerd quietly said, before rushing outside, the emotions she was feeling sent her mind into overdrive and making her run out of the house, just like that day…
(…)
"Who could be at this hour?" Felicia grumbled, hearing someone knocking on his shop's door with violence. Her irritation, however, quickly turned to surprise once she saw who it was in front of her door.
"Sasha, sweet tadpoles!" The teashop owner said, noticing how something was clearly wrong within her. For a common frog wouldn't have noticed the emotions in her eyes, face, and body, but to Felicia…it was like Sasha was weeping.
"Sasha!" Another voice announced the arrival of both Ivy and Sylvia, both frogs were woken up in the middle of the night and were now looking at the human with worried expressions. "What happened to you?"
"It's…a long story." She replied, struggling to contain her own emotions, "I'm sorry to bother you, but…can I stay, at least for tonight?"
"Of course!" Sylvia said, her lips blooming again in a smile. "You know you're always welcome among us."
"Oh, thanks," Sasha simply replied with a small voice, as she walked inside and felt the warm temperature on her skin, Felicia moved to make some tea while Sylvia and Ivy tried to help her…
(…)
"Jacob, mate!" Soggy Joe exclaimed, recognizing the human standing in front of his dwelling, "What happened to you?"
"Something… painful," the human replied, sitting down as he felt the weight of the emotions crushing on him. "I'd tell you, but even just thinking about it makes me feel bitter."
"Uhm, how about something sweet to help you?" Soggy looked at him with a bright expression, "I know some pancakes can lighten up even the most dreadful experience."
"That would be nice, I guess," the boy answered with a smile, before the reality of the situation returned to him once again, his smile rotting and turning into a scowl "But no matter how sweet they are, I don't think pancakes can compensate for what I just went through."
"I'll take that challenge, then!" The survivalist frog smirked.
(…)
"James, you look like you had the worst day of your life," Mrs. Croaker murmured, seeing the boy slump on her couch, his usual kindness nowhere to be seen. "I guess that, until you're able to get back on your feet, you're welcome to stay."
"Thank you, Mrs. Croaker," the human teen replied. "Of course, I do not want to be a bother to you. So, if I end up upsetting you in any way-"
"Nonsense! I had to sleep in the open while it was raining, with large bugs crawling all over me, unable to move in order to avoid getting found. Seriously, I doubt you can be that worse."
"I guess that's another of the stories of your…life's work?" James asked, Archie crawling on his lap as the boy started to pet him and caress its fur. "Was that during the mission to locate the missing heir of the Gwezada family?"
"Actually, it was a little earlier, during the fifth time I ended up facing the Assassin's Guild and their mercenaries…"
(…)
"Amelia is sleeping," Farine Flour said, walking back into the room where Maddie and her sisters were busy trying to cheer up Marcy. "Poor kid had been through so much; she fell asleep just as she laid down."
"I suppose she's the luckiest of all of us," Marcy bitterly said, still holding her head in her hands. "Thank you again for the hospitality, mister Flour. I know that it was all sudden, but…"
"You don't need to thank me, Marcy." The baker frog smiled at her. "I did what anyone else would have done, given the circumstances. Though, I'm curious as to why you and your friends came to our house, in the middle of the night, looking for hospitality."
"I have to admit, I'm curious as well." Maddie nodded, "Wasn't everything solved already?"
"I-I believed that as well," Marcy sighed, looking down once again.
"Marcy, why are you sad?" Rosemary asked, "Did something bad happen?"
"Kind off, but…it's a long story."
"Oh well, we've got nothing but time. Though, I suppose it is related to what Maddie told me happened earlier today, about the Box?"
"You know about the Box?" Marcy gasped, noticing the look in his eyes.
"We all know about the Box," Ginger nodded, "Maddie told us."
"Maddie!"
"I told them about how it was this that brought you into our world, and that its magic looks completely different from anything I've ever studied before." The local wizard replied, "Was there anything else?"
Marcy was quick to notice the hidden meaning in her friend and master's words: she didn't tell them that Marcy was the one that found it in the first place.
"So…care to tell us what happened earlier?" Mr. Flour asked, "Or you don't want to talk about it?"
"No, actually, I think you…you deserve to know." The human said, as she started to recall everything that had happened. How Sasha ended up "busting" Hop Pop as he tried to bury the box in the yard. How Hop Pop ended up telling them that the Box was dangerous and that he was trying to protect his family. The revelation on how Sprig and Polly lost their parents in the first Herons' attack. Sasha choosing not to forgive him, and instead opting to leave for the night, everyone but Anne imitating Sasha's decision. Even herself.
As the human narrated, the frogs around them reacted with various expressions. Maddie's eyes widened, as Marcy recalled that Hop Pop knew about the Box, while her triplet sisters gasped once they learned of how Sprig and Polly lost their parents. As for Farine…
"So, I don't know what to do now!" Marcy cried, feeling herself ripped in two. "I mean, Hop Pop wasn't doing something bad, he was just trying to protect his family. And he had every good reason to do so!"
"Hopediah may have had a sound reason to do that, that's true." The Flour's householder said, "Yet, that doesn't justify what he tried to do. Your friends had their reasons as well to not forgive him immediately."
"But-"
"Marcy, I know that, in your heart, you've already forgiven him," the baker frog said in a reassuring, almost paternal voice. "You're a nice person, and you're always ready to believe the best in others, but that doesn't mean your friends feel the same way. And Sasha…she didn't say she won't forgive him, she just said she wasn't ready to forgive him already. Just give her some space and let her relax a bit. Your friend is hurt, but time is the best healer, the best doctor, and the best medicine."
"You…you think that?"
"I'm speaking from personal experience, kiddo. Time can lessen any pain of the heart; even the loss of someone dear." He sighed, Maddie and the triplets nodding.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Marcy started to apologize, "I mean, I didn't want to say…"
"It's alright, Marbles." Maddie smiled back at her, and so did everyone else. "We know you didn't want to sound offensive to us."
"Plus, I don't even dare to think what Hopediah went through," Farine said. "Losing a wife was enough for me but losing a daughter?" He grimaced, looking over Maddie and the triplets almost as he was afraid for them. "There is a reason why people who lose their children have no proper name: no word is able to express such pain."
"Now that I think about it," Maddie jerked up, catching the opportunity to change focus of the conversation, "you said that Hop Pop already knew the Box from a book that he kept in his study, and that it was that book to tell him the Box was dangerous."
"Yes, so it said," Marcy nodded, pulling out her phone and showing the whole family some quick photos that she managed to snap before leaving the farm. "As you can see, it depicts the Box surrounded by warning signals."
"What about the rest of the text?" Lavender pointed out, noticing how the readable words were just a few, all warning.
"I don't know. Hop Pop said that he had never seen such writing before, and he doesn't know anyone who can read it."
"Can I see?" Maddie's father asked, looking over the runic writing. "Frog, I've never seen it either!"
"Maybe some language from some other place?"
"I don't think so, Marcy." Farine raised an eyebrow, his eyes focused on the images on the human's phone. "Ever since I was little, my father always told me that Amphibia had been unified and all people were speaking the same language for centuries. Thus, this writing must be even older!"
Older? Marcy gasped, as her mind realized that she wasn't dealing with some foreign language with a completely different alphabet, like American English and Chinese Mandarin. What she was facing was some old language, probably lost in the sands of time…
The next morning, when Sprig woke up in his bed, he was the first to realize that something felt wrong. As the sunlight filtering through the window helped him wake up, he suddenly came to the realization of what had happened.
The Plantar's farm was quieter than normal.
No happy chat coming from the kitchen, no laughs, no strange rhythmic knocks as someone pretended to play some music. Even the farm itself seemed somber and quiet…now that Sasha and everyone else had left. Only Anne had remained but…
…for how long?
(…)
"I'll stay," Anne said, after the shock of seeing everyone but herself leaving had worn off, "But only for them," She added, looking at Sprig and Polly, their smiles dropping once she said those words. "Not for you."
Hop Pop gasped as he realized that Anne wasn't looking at him. Rather, she was avoiding his eyes, almost like she was ashamed of him. But he didn't contest this, nor he tried to call out to her: instead, he lowered his gaze once again, silently accepting the judgment laid onto him.
"I…I'll go to bed now. I can't do this anymore" The human said, walking back to the basement with a sad, monotone voice, not even turning her head once. As she closed the trapdoor behind herself, Sprig felt terrible, as he started to realize that he may have lost another family…
(…)
As he walked out of his room and down to the kitchen for breakfast, he smiled as he saw Anne near the stove, like every morning, preparing breakfast. However, when the girl heard his footsteps and turned around, he was saddened to see she was moping.
"Anne," The young pinkish frog said, coming closer. "You look awful."
"I know," the human girl replied, working slowly, her usual morning sparkle nowhere to be seen. "I had trouble going back to sleep last night, and since I was alone…"
"Hey, family!" Polly jumped in, yelling. "What's happening in here?"
Anne said nothing simply looking back at her with a gloomy look, the pollywog feeling the pain in her eyes.
"I'm sorry Polly, but…I don't feel like chatting now."
"Are you still angry at Hop Pop?"
"I don't know. I mean, part of me wants to be: he did betray our trust, and Sasha was correct in her analysis. Yet…he may have had a good reason to do that." She looked at them, and smiled bitterly, her eyes showing a teary look as she kept on preparing breakfast almost automatically.
"Hey, where's Hop Pop?"
"Still in his room," Anne replied instantly. "I'm leaving him a portion for later if he decides to come out."
"Anne, can I…ask you a question?"
"Only if I can ask you one in return."
"Fine for me. I wanted to ask you…is the fact that he tried to hide the Box the main reason why you're this angry at him? I mean, I know that what he did was wrong, and-"
"It's worse than that, Sprig. When he went on to hide the box, he broke our trust! Not just mine, but everyone else as well: Sasha's, Marcy's, Jacobs…all of us. We believed he really wanted to help us, and we never suspected that he was planning to backstab us! He may have a good reason to do so, and yet…I'm still hurt by it! Like Sasha said, did he realize he could have trapped us here forever? Never to see our families, ever again?"
As Anne continued her rant, both frog siblings shared a glance, moving behind her and hugging the human from behind.
"Wha-"
"Anne," Polly spoke, hugging the human's ankle with her flippers, "You may not remember, but we know what the pain of being separated from your family feels like."
The human stopped, as she realized who she was talking with. She remembered Hop Pop's confession of last night, how he ended up revealing Sprig and Polly as being orphans, all her anger now shifting toward herself: she still had a chance to see her family again, after all. They…didn't.
"Guys," Anne stopped, feeling the need to apologize, "I'm-"
"No need for that," Sprig smiled at her, the expression on his face making her feel better, even if just a bit. "I mean, I suppose it's a good thing you miss your parents. Polly and I…can't."
"What do you mean?" Anne gasped, feeling like she wouldn't have liked the answer at all.
"I know that this may sound strange to you, but… I had just stopped being a tadpole when it happened. I barely remember someone telling us to hide in the basement, to not come out until they returned…we don't even remember what they looked like. Much less the sound of their voice."
Anne looked in shock, as Sprig confessed this to her, Polly holding close to her brother as she attempted to comfort him, the anger in her dissipating as guilt took over.
"You know, I've always wondered... can you miss someone you never actually knew?" He chuckled, "That's silly. I mean, of course, you can't."
Anne couldn't hold herself anymore, and grabbed both of them in her arms, embracing the two siblings in a warm hug, tears dripping from her eyes.
Only a minute later, she realized that someone else was listening to their conversation.
"Hop Pop…" The human said as she noticed the old frog leaning on the door frame, his eyes wet just like theirs.
"Anne, I…I know that this won't be enough for you to forgive me,"
"You're right, it won't." The girl replied, turning toward him and smiling. "But…I get it. I mean, I don't think I can properly forgive you yet. I don't know when or how but… I'm willing to trust you, once again, if you're going to do the same with me."
"Anne?" Hop Pop gasped, shocked by the sudden turnabout of the events.
"I-I have a question, however. Can you tell me, Sprig, and Polly, how their parents were?"
The old frog stood there, motionlessly, for a couple of seconds, before smiling, sitting down on the ground as the memories of his lost daughter resurfaced once again.
"Their mother's name, my daughter, was Sally, and she was…the most reckless and fearless frog that I had ever known…"
(…)
When Amelia woke up, in the improvised bed she had taken in the Flour's house, she didn't feel rested at all. Rather, she felt even more exhausted than last night, massaging her temple to cure the migraine she was experiencing without access to painkillers.
It took less than a minute, for the girl to realize that her current mood was because she still felt disturbed about what happened last night.
I guess it is different when you're the one affected by it, the girl thought, thinking back to all the shows she had watched in the past, every one of them having a scene with a character doing something behind the others' back. A scene so overused by now that had become cliché, but watching it happen to the main character in a show was different than when you were the one subjected to it.
Frog, I'll never be able to watch anime again without feeling this hurt, right?
Still grumbling, Amelia got dressed, Yamato at her side and the cone hat on her head and walking into the living room. She quickly noticed Marcy, Maddie and the triplets laying around in there, surrounded by a large quantity of sheet papers with drawings and writings all over them and several books that she didn't recognize. Only Farine was absent, and by the sound coming from the shop's main kitchen, he was busy working on the bread for today's customers.
Wow, looks like they spent the whole night doing research, the wannabe samurai chuckled, taking a note paper that she almost stepped on and carefully placing it back on the table in the middle. Usually, she would have felt curiosity about what they were researching, but today, her heart just wasn't in it. And her curiosity simply bowed to her need for respite. She could still ask Marcy later.
As she left the bakery and started walking around aimlessly, trying to think where she could go or who she could see, a question popped into Amelia's mind:
What now?
Contrarily to her cousin, Amelia wasn't angry at Hop Pop for attempting to hide the Box. Or rather, she wasn't as angry as Jacob or Sasha were. True, he did try to deceive them, but he did have good intentions (so, it was the execution, not the reason behind it, that she took issue with). Moreover, a part of her wondered if all that had happened was her fault, as she was the one who took the Box away on that day when she went delivering food with Akitsu.
If she had left the Box on the farm, would all this ever have happened?
But you had GOOD reasons to take the box with you as well, another voice whispered in her ear, almost "tempting her". You weren't simply looking for clues with no hint, you were also trying to find the friend of the Moss Man. The one who's called…Leif.
Amelia grimaced, as she remembered her own fruitless research, and how frustrated she was that. After all this time spent searching for clues or records, she was no closer to Leif or her current whereabouts than she was after meeting the Moss man for the first time.
And her attempt for a "more rewarding, more dangerous" approach had led her to the Bizarre Bazaar, and everything that derived from it.
Feeling regret won't help you, Amelia remembered the words of her master, looking back to the past only make you lose sight of the present. What is done is done, you cannot change it. But you can still make new choices and change the path you're walking in.
But still, that didn't help her: what was she supposed to do now?
She thought back about Akitsu, her friend and companion. What if she simply took it and…left? Flying toward the sunset, like the heroes of a movie on to new adventures and challenges?
If she proposed that, Jacob would probably join her, and James with him. But…where would they go?
Maybe she could look for her master? Go with her, and start training under her wing like a part of her still hoped for? Sure, Jacob's reaction when he would discover that her master was real would have been priceless to see. But would she be able to find her again?
As she raised her gaze, Amelia realized she was now in the middle of Wartwood, and more specifically, close to Stumpy's diner. She touched the small bag to her side, still full of copper coins she had earned on yesterday's job, and realized she had been so moody that she didn't have breakfast yet.
Maybe after eating, I would feel better?
As soon as she entered, she was surprised to find that the restaurant was less empty than she expected. Most popular restaurant in Wartwood or not, most of the customers only come for lunch or dinner, so in the morning only Stumpy and Wally (who they weren't able to scrub off the first time) were usually there.
But today, on a lonely table in the middle of the place, Jacob and James were there, sitting in silence, eating slowly the chocopedes on their plates.
"Hey, kiddo," Stumpy greeted her, as soon as he noticed her hat and sword, "What happened to your friends?"
"It's… a long story, Stumpy," Amelia replied, trying not to reveal anything unnecessary. Stumpy nodded, as he realized that whatever to the humans, she too was hit as hard as them.
"I see. Here, take this," he passed a plate of chocopedes and some cocoa-looking drink. "Nothing better than sweets when you're sad to feel better. On the house!"
"Thank you, boss!" Amelia smiled at him, walking to the table where her cousin and friend were sitting, both the boys barely grumbling a "hello" as she sat down with them.
For several minutes, the humans sat still in their places, not even talking, looking down at the table surface, until Amelia, taking a deep breath, chose to break the silence first.
"So…what do we do now?"
"I have no idea," James murmured, still looking down. "I mean, I can understand why Hop Pop did that…but I'm still hurt by his action."
"Yup, me too!" Jacob nodded, "I mean…come on! Why did he believe that stupid book?"
"What if there is a good reason for it?" Amelia suggested.
"And what is that supposed to mean?!" Both boys almost yelled, glaring at her.
"All I'm saying," Amelia replied, striving to keep a respectful, yet stern tone, "is that it has been almost two months now, and we still know next to nothing about the Box! Sure, we know that it can bring people to other worlds, and the frog on the lid hints that it was made in Amphibia, but…for what reason? What if its capability to open portals to other worlds is just a side-effect, what if its main use was another one?"
"Another one?" James replied with a puzzled expression, his mind starting to analyze the implications of those words.
"Like… what if those warnings were generic and indirect for a reason? Maybe they were trying to warn us…without directly warning us."
"Warning us about what, for example?" Jacob raised an eyebrow.
"A complicated and delicate situation or event…that may be connected with the huge destructive power that we have seen Anne wield, that any of us might have inside of our bodies…"
Frog, Jacob's eyes widened, and so did Amelia's, are we speculating that the Box might have turned us into weapons of mass destruction?
"I want to go home and puke," Amelia confessed, horror shining on her face.
"I think we all should go home and puke," James groaned. "Still, before doing that, I think we should face Hop Pop."
"If you're suggesting forgiving him, I'm not ready yet!"
"No, only meeting with him again. And even without forgiving him, we could still reach an agreement. Unless, of course, you're ready to leave the farm…"
"I'm not," Amelia suddenly said, getting up on her feet, "I…I believe I'm willing to give Hop Pop another chance."
"Me too," James nodded. "Of course, as long as he is willing to work towards it."
"Then I guess I should do the same," Jacob grumbled. "But if he tries to do something like this ever again…"
(…)
"So…do I have to pick a side?"
"What? No, of course not!" Sasha replied, looking back at Ivy with a surprised expression. "I'm not that petty!"
"Good, I don't want to stop hanging out with Sprig-" she stopped, as she noticed the look Sasha was giving her, "not like that!"
"Sure, sure," Sasha chuckled, the issue of the betrayal momentarily forgotten. "Remember that if your firstborn is a daughter, to call her Sasha."
"Ugh!"
"That's quite an…interesting approach you have," Sylvia said, walking into the room at that moment. "Of course, I expect you to do the same for your children."
"Hey!" Sasha protested, only for Ivy to join her grandmother.
"She's right, you know? Oh, can you name one after me and one after Mom? I mean, I don't know how humans have children, but-"
"Ok, ok, I understand, drop it! Geez, are you trying to embarrass me to death?"
"In wise frogs' words, Sasha, what goes around comes around. Though, I'm still young enough to have patience for more grandchildren. What I really want now is to have a chat with you."
"A chat…with me?" Sasha replied with a puzzled expression. "About wha- oh." She stopped herself, as she realized there was only one possible argument Sylvia would want to speak about with her.
"Yeah," the oldest Sundew frog said, implicitly admitting it. "Both Felicia and I…would like to ask you what happened last night. I mean, I know that whatever it was, you were greatly hurt by it."
"Hurt? You have no idea…" Sasha grumbled while hugging her knees, memories of Hop Pop's betrayal filling again in her mind.
"Maybe this will help?" Felicia said, walking in with a hot kettle and some teacups, one for each one of them. "Hot tea and sweet pastries are useful to send your sadness away."
The blonde girl smiled, as she noticed the sweets. Yet, if Felicia believed that those were enough to loosen her lips a bit…
…she is right, Sasha admitted in her head, as she took the first sip. Plus, the more she thought about it, the worse she felt: maybe venting about it would actually help her.
"Ok, so, let's start about what happened after Amelia revealed she had the Box all along…" Sasha started to talk, her frog family sitting around her as they listened to the painful recalling of her memories, how she went out late in the night to get a glass of water and ended up finding Hop Pop trying to hide the Box by burying it; the shock that it caused to her and the others; the reveal that he knew about the Box ever since Anne had showed them that evening, and how he tried to justify his actions with the story of how Sprig and Polly's parents had lost their lives in a heron attack.
As Sasha kept narrating, every frog around her had a different reaction: Ivy gasped when she heard that Hop Pop had tried to hide the Box, and she did it again when her adoptive sister nominated the first heron attack. She was little when it happened and didn't remember much: her mother putting her to safety, before heading out, staying into hiding until she returned, much later, with teary, worried eyes. As for her mother and grandmother's reactions…
"I…I can't believe Hoppy would do something like this!" Her grandma gasped, "I mean, I knew he had gotten a hyper-protective streak after…that, but-"
"Mom, I think Mr. Plantar has got a point."
"What?"
"Sasha, allow me to explain. I'm not trying to justify Hop-Pop action. About the Box or what he did to you all. And yet, I can see his logic in wanting to protect his grandchildren. After all, … I would have done the same for my own daughter."
"Mom?"
"Ivy, I was here too when the Herons attacked." The teashop owner said, tears leaking out of her eyes, Sasha noticing the miserable expression on her face. "Sometimes, I still have nightmares about it. The city in flames, the screams, the shadows of the herons grabbing and eating the unluckiest of us from above…even myself, with all my training as an adventurer, could do nothing but run and hide, like a coward, for there was nothing I could do to stop that massacre. And then…I saw Sally and her husband, walking toward the Herons."
"Wait a minute, Sally?" Sasha jerked up, her eyes widening as she remembered the first time Felicia uttered that name when they went with Hop Popo's ship on a cruise. "Felicia… who is she?"
"Sally is- was, the name of Sprig and Polly's mother," Felicia admitted with a dry smile, Ivy looking in shock while Sylvia moved to comfort her daughter as she was forced to relive the worst day of her life. "Ever since we were young, we had been the best of friends, united by a strong sense of adventure and desire to see the world beyond the Valley. She even promised me that she would join me on my adventuring quests when we would be both adults, but before she did…she met him."
"You mean, her husband, right? Sprig and Polly's father?"
"Yes, Sasha. He wasn't a bad catch, I'll admit it, but as Sally started to spend more and more time with him…I grew jealous as my best friend drifted away. We had been together all our lives, and now suddenly, she couldn't keep her promise to go adventuring with me for…him!"
"Huh, why are you not saying his name? Didn't Sally tell you?"
"She did, but I refused to learn it. And as years passed, and she kept on returning to her life and I returned to mine, my jealousy grew as her husband proved himself to be a kind, honest, and hardworking frog while I…" she hissed, at the memory of the frog that she trusted enough to consider her husband, the one who gifted Ivy to her. And then, abandoned her.
It wasn't right the way I treated you, Felica thought, thinking back to Sally's husband, Sprig and Polly's father. I saw you as a thief, taking away my best friend from me, and I never attempted to be friendly until it was too late. In hindsight, it wasn't worth it, it wasn't worth it at all!
"But that is another story. The Herons were attacking Wartwood, and everything felt like all was lost. But then, they came out of hiding to face them. I thought they had gone mad, and I was ready to do whatever it took to buy them enough time to run away. But they did something I didn't expect at all: they started to… dance."
"Dance?" Sasha raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting that twist. "Like, they gone mad or something?"
"That wasn't a simple dance!" Sylvia interjected. "Hoppy told me already: it's the Plantar's hunting dance, passed within the family for generations. It says it can confuse and even hypnotize those who saw it."
"That's true, Sprig told me about it once!" Ivy nodded, "I mean, I never saw him doing that, but he said that Hop Pop would teach him once he was old enough."
"So, their parents tried this dance for…what? Disorientate the herons?"
"Even better, they were trying to use it to stop the attack and entrance the Herons, to give us time to evacuate Wartwood. At first, it worked, and many of us are still alive today thanks to this; but then…"
"What happened?" Ivy asked, her voice so low and trembling that Sasha had to suppress her urge to hug her.
"As both Sally and I learned in the hardest way, that day, the Plantar Hunting Dance must never be interrupted by force. As they were dancing, many frogs tried to take advantage of that to run for their safety, but one of them ended up tripping and knocking into both of them, before the herons were fully entranced, snapping them free and allowing them to resume their rampage. And it was then that-that…"
Felicia looked down, weeping as Sasha felt a lump forming in her throat. And her uneasiness grew, as she moved her hand to her chest, and pulled out a small item, placing it in front of her for everyone to see.
"What's that?"
"This is the last memento of my best friend I had left." Felicia said, her eyes wet, as Ivy went for it and timidly opened it, showing the content to Sasha. The human and the frog were both flabbergasted when they saw the image of two frogs sitting next to each other, one with yellow skin and red hair, clearly Felicia when she was about Ivy's age, the other one…
Yup, that must be Sprig and Polly's mother.
"Mom, I…I didn't know."
"That's because I wanted to keep you in the dark until you'd be old enough to listen to my sad story. How I ended up losing my best friend…after wasting so much valuable time being jealous of her happiness."
"This-this is the reason why you had no objection when I became friends with Sprig, right? All the other frogs used to say he was a weirdo and told their children to stay away, but when you found out…you didn't say anything."
Felicia smiled, and Sasha realized her little sister had hit the mark. "Indeed, I allowed you to become Sprig's friend, when no one else was ready to, out of respect for my lost friend. And, because I know he would make you happy, just like she did with me."
"Mom…"
"Hello? Sash?" A voice called from the outside "Are you in there?"
"Marcy!" The blonde girl gasped, walking to the door and opening it, to find Marcy, Amelia, and the whole Flour Family waiting outside.
"Hi, Sash. I know this may be quite unexpected," Amelia started to speak, while the Sundew reached the door and peeked from behind Sasha, "However, we may need to speak with you…about what happened last night. More specifically, about Hop Pop's book."
"You mean the one which showed the Box, proving that he knew about it, but he didn't tell us until he was forced to?"
"Yeah, that one…" Marcy shrugged, still feeling uneasy about the whole sequence of events. "The point is, Maddie thinks that it may be the key to find a way back home."
"That's just a hypothesis for now," the blue-skinned wizard frog replied. "Still, it's the best path we have so far, and nothing seems to contradict it. Moreover, the fact that one of those gems is in the same color as your friend's power reinforces the idea that their power somehow has become imbued inside your bodies."
"So, I guess that little event wasn't just for her, huh?" Sylvia said, peeking outside, "Hello Farine, hello girls. It has been a long time since we last saw each other."
"Indeed, Mrs. Sundew," the baker frog replied with an amused smile. "I guess ol' Hopediah's actions caused concern to you as well."
"I-I know he only meant well to his family. But I suppose I'm still having to give him a piece of my mind."
"Then, how about we cooperate on this issue?" Another voice called out, everyone present turned to see James and Jacob, accompanied respectively by Mrs. Croaker and Soggy Joe, emerging from the bushes. "I guess Hop Pop deserves…an intervention…"
"I'm…I'm not that sure anymore now," Hop Pop confessed, walking on the path to the Sundew's teashop with Sprig, Polly, and Anne accompanying him. Earlier, Ivy had come to the farm, and brought to them a message from Sylvia, telling them that Sasha was with them, that she was safe and healthy, and that she wished to speak with them in the hopes of "reaching a compromise". While Sprig and Polly had jumped at the chance to make amends and restore peace among the family, he still felt uneasy about the whole thing, anxiety and fear dominating his mind, every step of him heavy, feeling like a prisoner being brought to his execution.
"Come on, Hop Pop. You can do it!" Sprig interjected, trying to cheer him and give him the proper motivation. "If Sylvia said that she wants to speak with you, that means that there is hope. I mean, Sasha would never agree to such a thing if she wouldn't be ready to forgive you."
"Come on, Hop Pop. You can do it!" Sprig interjected, trying to cheer him and give him the proper motivation. "If Sylvia said that she wants to speak with you, that means that there is hope. I mean, Sasha would never agree on such a thing if she wouldn't be ready to forgive you."
"I don't know, Sprig." Anne pointed out, "Sasha…has never been the kind of person to forgive and forget so easily. One time a girl cut in the line… and Sasha held a grudge toward her for months."
"That was before she decided to be better," Polly replied. "Maybe she is willing to return home?"
"Maybe, but I won't expect it. Of course, I'm here just to mediate, so…don't expect me to side against her."
"We're here!" Sprig said as he recognized the Sundew's house, quickly jumping toward the front door and knocking with energy. "Sasha, Ivy? Yu-hu, we're here!"
The door opened, and Sylvia emerged from the inside. From the moment her eyes met Hop Pop's the old frog started to feel even more guilt about his action, as he saw the emotions of his longtime crush in her eyes: disappointment, displeasure, annoyance, with some small hints of anger and frustration. And his anxiety grew again, as she spoke.
"Hopediah, you may come in."
Hopediah? Hop Pop gasped, noticing how much cold her voice had sounded to him, not Hoppy? Is she that disillusioned with me due to my actions, that she is no longer looking at me in that way?
As they walked in, Anne noticed that they weren't alone. On one of the biggest couches, one usually reserved for the clients, Sasha sat with Ivy and Felicia at her side. Marcy was at her left, her phone in her hand, while Amelia stood behind them, looking at her with a neutral look. Maddie was sitting on another couch with her sisters, Farine standing behind them, his back leaning on the wall. And on the other side of the room…
"James? Jacob?" Anne gasped, "You're here too?!"
"Yup, Anne." The boy with the Viking hat replied, looking at them. "I guess it's time we have a talk about us. About last night…and what it means. For everyone."
"Hoppy," Sylvia faced Hop Pop, "I know you're a good frog. I've known you since we were both tadpoles and after everything Sasha told me, I know the reason why you took such an action. But you hurt her. Her and every child you had under your care. Regardless of your intentions."
"I was doing what I thought was the best for my family, Sylvia," Hop Pop sighed. "I know it was foolish, but that's what being a parent means: you do everything you can to protect those you care for. And I didn't want to lose the people closest to me again."
"I suppose I must apologize as well," Sasha grumbled. "No matter how angry I was, I had no right to involve Sally in this."
At those words, Hop Popo's eyes widened in shock, while Sprig and Polly almost jumped out of surprise "How-how do you know her name?"
"Mom told us," Ivy confessed, "She said that your daughter and she were very close."
"Mrs. Sundew?" Sprig looked at her.
"You weren't the only one who was wounded by Sally's death, Mr. Plantar. Sally was your daughter, but she was also my best friend. I owe her my life, and I think many people in Wartwood would say the same. She and her husband…they were trying to protect us, that day."
"Protect you?" Hop Pop narrowed his eyes, before realizing it. "They…they were attempting the dance?"
"What dance?" Anne asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hop Pop, is that…"
"Yes Sprig, the Plantar Hunting Dance. The same one I taught you last spring." The old frog chuckled, before turning again to face Felicia. "Were they…attempting to use it on the Herons?"
"Yes, and it worked at first. But as you already know…the dance can't be stopped before its target is completely mesmerized."
"Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"Because…I felt guilty!" Felicia admitted, "Guilty of my previous jealousy, how I felt betrayed by my best friend, only because she declined not to follow me, and how I couldn't save her when she needed me!"
"You…you knew Mom?" Sprig asked, his eyes filled with tears. "How was she?"
As her own mother went on to support her, Felicia once again took the item she had and passed it to him, the son of her late best friend, his mouth opening in surprise as he saw the image it contained.
"She was the best friend a snotty, yet fearless frog like me could ask for," Felicia smiled. "Just like you are for Anne and my daughter."
"Sasha…" Anne said, looking back to her old-time friend. "I know it won't be easy to forgive Hop Pop."
"You're right, Anne: It won't. But…I suppose I can try, at least?" The blonde girl said, walking toward Hop Pop and then lowering herself so her eyes were aligned with his. "Listen to me old frog, Hop Pop, what you did was awful and even if I understand why you act like you did, I can't accept it. And because of that I can't forgive you just yet. But…I'm willing to trust you once again if you're willing to do the same with us."
"T-The same?"
"That means, no more secrets, no more deceptions. I'm willing to give you a second chance, but…there won't be a third!"
"I…I suppose I can live with that." Hop Pop shrugged, "I assume you won't return to the farm?"
"Not for now; plus, I do want to stay with my other family as well!" She looked at Ivy, Felicia, and Sylvia, every one of them smiling as she called them "her family."
"What?" Sprig protested, "But…you can't do this!"
"Hey, I'm not breaking ties with you!" Sasha was quick to add, "I'm just moving: we'll still be able to hang out with each other. Plus, six in a basement is a bit overcrowded, don't you think?"
"That, I can agree with you," Anne nodded. So far there had not been issues, since it was a place they used only for sleep, but…she wouldn't mind more vital space.
"Also, from now on the Box stays with us!" Jacob interjected, "After everything that happened, I'm not feeling comfortable to hand it over to you anytime soon."
"But what if it's actually dangerous?"
"This is something we should talk about too!" Marcy chirped. "That book with all those warnings, did you take it with you like we suggested?"
"Huh, yeah?" Hop Pop nodded, as Sprig took it from his hands and placed it on the table, opening to the page that showed the Box.
"Interesting…" Maddie gazed all over it. "Look, the warning signs are more recent than the rest of the text."
"What does that mean?" Amelia asked.
"It means, that they were added at a different time, later than the main text! While I've never seen such writing before-"
"I did!"
"What?" Everyone gasped at once, turning to the frog who had revealed the unexpected news.
"Felicia, honey. You've seen this language before?"
"I did, mom. Back when I was an adventurer. With my former party, we used to explore various long-lost palaces and buildings of the past, and I remember seeing this language written somewhere. This," she continued while tapping the unknown text with her finger "is Ancient Amphibian."
"Ancient Amphibian?" Marcy gleamed up, Maddie and Ivy exchanging an enthusiastic look. "How Ancient?"
"Can you read it?" Jacob asked with a hopeful expression "What does it say?"
"Sorry but I was never able to read it," Felicia confessed, "I only know the name because one of my companions told me once. It's the language that was used in Amphibia…almost a thousand years ago."
"A thousand?!" Marcy, Anne, James, and Sasha gasped at the same time, stunned by the idea of such writing being this old. In Earth concepts, it was like the text was written in hieroglyphs, or in Ancient Chinese.
It would have been easier if it was Ancient Chinese, Marcy mused.
"Hop Pop, you told me the book was old, but…I didn't know it was this old!"
"I had no idea as well, Anne!" The old frog replied, stunned as well as he struggled to grasp how much ancient the book (and by consequence, the Plantar family roots) was. A thousand years…a time long before any written history in existence. "Frog, how can we even hope to find someone able to help us read it?"
"A-hem!" Farine, who until now had stood silently and listened to the others, coughed. "There is a place here in Wartwood where you could find something that could help you."
"That's rights, the town archives!" Sylvia snapped her fingers. "The former house of Mycroft Newtback!"
"Who is Mycroft Newtback?" Amelia asked.
"He is- rather, was a scholar and researcher who lived here in the Valley, a long time ago." Hop Pop explained, "He was a great booklover and academic and, after his death, his house was turned into a public library."
A library? Marcy internally smirked, grasping the possibility of learning even more about Amphibia and visiting one of her favorite places at the same time.
"That means, that if there is some chance to find a way to translate this text, checking on there is our best option!"
"And is totally safe at all! No objection!"
"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Where are you going, lad?" Sylvia stopped James before he hurried out of the door. "The Archives' door is set on a sunlight geared timer, so people can't access it after sundown. And it's far too late now to arrive before sunset."
"What if we take Akitsu?"
"Amelia, no offense but I doubt your dragonfly can bring all of us at once."
"Hey, hey! I have an idea-"
Marcy smiled, as after so much stress and hostility, a new aura of friendship and family-ness extended all over them, her heart feeling lighter as she felt her own fears dissipate once again. Sure, Sasha and Jacob said they wouldn't forgive Hop Pop yet, but she was sure that, with time, they would be able to do so.
And if they would be able to forgive him…, maybe they would be able to forgive her as well?
Maddie looked at her, and Marcy nodded: not now, not yet. For now, she would focus on following the trail of the Ancient Amphibian that Felicia had nominated. First, try to find a vocabulary (or something akin to it) to translate the Ancient Amphibian; then, reverse-translate the text from Hop Pop's book and learn as much as possible about the Box. Surely, her friends would be much more understanding if they had an idea of how to go back home, right?
Marcy stopped, as she thought back to the memories of her home, her room, and her family. For the first time since they ended up in Amphibia, a question formed on her mind:
How were her parents, back to Earth?
Far away from the Plantar's farm and the Sundew teashop, from Wartwood, from the Valley, from Amphibia itself, there was a city called Los Angeles. One of the biggest and most populous cities of California, and the former residence of the six humans. A city prosperous and futuristic, whose tallest buildings reached for the sky, and where many different people of different cultures came and enriched together.
A small nightingale, born and raised in the borders of the great city, chirped as it landed on top of a red mailbox, standing at the entrance of one of the houses of the big city. The house had exterior white walls, the roof had green tiles and a red chimney, and its garden was quite minimalist and functional, the front garden was decorated with a small fountain on the left, and two guardian lions placed around the door. The lion statues themselves were different from each other: the left statue had an embroidered ball placed on its chest, while the statue on the right, with female features, holding a playful cub. In the culture of Eastern Asian nations, from which the guardian lions originated from, the ball represented authority, while the cub represented nurture: the two main keys of a prosperous household.
The nightingale flapped its wings, recognizing the house whose garden it had landed in front of. Yet, it was also fast to recognize that something was different from the other days, feeling a lot of negative energy spilling from the building, its darkness feeling like a whirlwind of sorrow and mourning. Opting to look out for food elsewhere, the nightingale flew away, leaving the house behind.
If the small bird had been able to talk and ask other humans what happened inside the house, they would have told him that the family that resided in that house was grieving, for the joy had been snuffed out of their hearts.
Because their only child, Marcy, and five of her friends have been found dead almost a couple of months prior.
A small blow of air, sliding under the door, poured inside, some pollen brought by the air dancing around a small piece of furniture that hadn't been there a couple of months ago.
An altar, furnished with items of their late owner: a Nintendo Switch; boxes of games with titles like "The Vagabondia Chronicles" or "Total Fantasy IX"; a fake wizard hood; a book of the Cynthia Coven saga; puzzles and items from various tabletop games; comics off various title and nature; some part school tests, kept as memorabilia of past successes; and in the middle of them, a photo depicting the girl whom the altar was dedicated to.
The photo of Marcy Regina Wu, 13 years old, the only child of Evan Wu and Mei Ling-Wu.
"Marcy…" a heartbroken voice called from the above floor, coming from the bathroom. Here, immersed in the water, a woman with short black hair and an oriental look cried, looking up, water dripping from her eyes, the never-ending pain burning through her chest.
"I may have failed you…" the woman said, her spirit broken ever since she lost her child… "but after today, I'll see you again!"
For a second, she thought back to her friend and colleagues at the hospital, how much they would have been horrified if they had known what she was planning to do. But she didn't care anymore: ever since Marcy had disappeared, only for her body to be found, she had felt like she had died alongside her.
Mentally, she felt like that.
"I'm-I'm sorry Evan." she started to apologize once again, still begging, still hoping for this to be nothing but a nightmare, to wake up and find her daughter alive and healthy. For having a chance to set things right and make amends. To stop her before she ran away, telling her that they won't move anymore.
But…she couldn't.
Her daughter was gone, and she could only live with the regret of what might have been.
Or give up and hope to see her again in her next life.
"I'm sorry, but…I want to see my daughter again…" she cried again, her left hand running to the razor blade she had placed on the side of the bathtub, moving it to her wrists…
Yet, just as the knife's steel cut through her skin, the door opened with a slam, and a middle-aged man of Oriental features, wearing glasses entered the bathroom and immediately jumped to take the knife out of her hands.
"Honey, don't do it!" The man yelled, fighting to stop her from killing herself. "Please, don't do it!"
"Evan…" his wife spoke softly, as she let his strong arms grab her, taking the razon and throwing him away, the shock barely enough to make her realize what she was doing "Forgive me…I'm sorry…"
"Don't say that!" He replied, struggling to stop her bleeding "Stay with me, honey! Stay with me: the ambulance is coming!"
The last thing the woman heard, before the blood loss caused her to lose consciousness, was the hands of her husband carrying her, as she heard the ambulance sirens coming closer…