Almost a week later, Anne was squeezing water out of her hair when Marcy came rushing up to her and the Plantars.

"Anne! Anne! Anne! I have- what happened to you?"

"Sprig nearly got eaten by Manta Rays at the aquarium, and I had to save him... we're now banned from there." Anne said.

"I regret nothing." Sprig said with his hands on his hips.

"Sprig!" Hop Pop said, scolding his grandson.

"Well, sounds… eventful."

"More than you think. So what's the happs, Mar-Mar? You got news for us?" Polly asked.

"We found a bit of information about the Music box." Marcy said, "I am heading to Newtopia University to do a bit of research since they have one of the biggest libraries in all of Amphibia."

"Newtopia University? The greatest school in all of Amphibia?" Hop Pop asked in awe.

"The same one Bella has a mountain of student loans from?" Sprig added.

Marcy nodded.

"It's my dream for one of my grandchildren to attend that school." Hop Pop said, holding onto Sprig and Polly.

He looked at his grandkids and then grabbed Anne's wrist and pulled her close.

"I would like all THREE of my grandkids with me while I daydream, Anne." Hop Pop said.

"Day dream?" Anne asked before they could all suddenly see Hop Pop's day dream!

They were all in a fancy mansion with Sprig and Polly in the pool while a very old and weak Hop Pop was in a wheelchair that Anne was pushing.

"Uh... is this normal?" Anne asked.

"Usually." Sprig asked, "Just ride it out."

"Aaaah, seeing my grandkids living wonderful lives, I can finally go in peace." Older Hop Pop said, slowly closing his eyes.

"Um, not to complain, but why am I still a pollywog?" Polly asked, looking over herself.

"And why am I still here?" Anne asked.

"Shut up, I'm dying in peace." Hop Pop said to them.

"Okay, this is weird." Anne said, pulling away from Hop Pop.

"Um, what just happened?" Marcy asked, not seeing the flashback.

"Hop Pop had a weird dream." Anne answered.

"Wha-"

"Don't ask, I don't get it either." Anne said, "Let's go to the University."

With that STRANGE situation still in her mind, Marcy lead the Plantars and Anne to Newtopia University.

"Oh my, I can't believe we get to see Newtopia University in real life." Hop Pop said, "I've only seen pictures."

"Really? But I could've sworn I saw a picture of-"

"Hey, Marcy, what's your favorite equation?" Hop Pop asked, cutting her off.

"Where do I start!" Marcy said, gleefully.

Almost like she was a college student, Marcy began giving the Plantars a full tour of the campus.

"And here is where the head master's office." Marcy said, "He's a very friendly guy, also a bit old."

"Do my eyes deceive me?" A voice said, "I don't believe it, Hopediah, is that you?"

They all turned and saw an elder newt, most likely the head master.

"Hop Pop, you know this guy?" Anne asked.

"Know me? Why, he was once my finest teacher back when we had an agriculture course."

They all looked at Hop Pop in shock.

"Well, if you listened to me when I talked about my past you would know this." Hop Pop said, "Besides, it was only for a year."

"That's still incredible! Not just anyone can teach at Newtopia U! You're probably one of the best farmers in Wartwood to have been able to teach here!" Marcy said to Hop Pop with a whole new light of respect.

"Indeed he was." The Head Master, before greeting the others, "Greetings, I am Professor Herringbone, headmaster of Newtopia University."

He looked at Sprig.

"Ah, this must be your grandson, he's a lot bigger than you spoke of."

"He's a growing boy." Hop Pop said.

"Wait, you've been speaking about me to him? Since when?" Sprig asked, pointing to himself.

"Well, you were only a tadpole when I taught here." Hop Pop said, "But I told him it would be a dream if you were to go here."

"And I can make that happen if I see the same promise that he sees in you." The professor said with a smile.

"We are offering a program, if you're interested, I can bring you to my office and give you a rundown of it."

"Really? But-"

"He'll take it!" Hop Pop said, covering Sprig's mouth. "Polly too."

"You don't speak for me!" Polly shouted at him as Sprig pulled his hand away.

"Can I at least have some time to think about it?" Sprig asked the professor.

"Sure."

"Great, so now on with the tour?" Marcy suggested, still acting as the tour guide.

"Sure, let's go." Anne said, thankful SHE wasn't "offered" a spot.

The last thing she needed was to try and get a degree to a world she doesn't even live in.

"Oh! Another human! Do you wish to attend as well?" The professor asked Anne.

"No thanks." Anne quickly said, waving her hand at him. "I'm not as smart as Marcy, so going to college here wouldn't do me much good. Besides, Marcy and I have work to do."

"Work, you say? Well, if Marcy is a part of it, it must be VERY important." The professor said with a nod, taking his leave.

"Alright you two, have fun!" Anne said, quickly walking away before Hop Pop could sign her up as well.

"Wait for me!" Polly shouted as she hopped after Anne in her bucket.

Hop Pop looked at Sprig.

"Sprig, this is a great opportunity!" Hop Pop said.

"I guess but aren't I too young to attend college right now?" Sprig asked.

"Yes but It's never too early to plan for your future when you ARE old enough to attend this fine institution." Hop Pop said, slapping Sprig on the back, "Now why don't you try? For me?"

"Hmmm." Sprig hummed as Hop Pop have him the "guppy" eyes as a form of begging. "Okay…..but only a trial run."

"That's my boy!" Hop Pop said.

'I hope I don't regret this.' Sprig thought.

With Anne, Polly, and Marcy, they were in the library, checking whatever they could find about this 'Temple' Marcy found.

"So you're saying this temples could recharge the gems?" Anne asked.

"Yeah, the gems have been around for as long as Amphibia has existed. Maybe even longer." Marcy said.

"So... we need the box?" Polly asked.

"Yeah, I'll go look for Hop Pop, see if he can get his contacts to get the box here." Anne said.

I'm actually jealous, I didn't think anyone but the king could have contacts for ancient artifacts." Marcy said.

"Honestly, Hop Pop has been around for a while, if anyone would have contacts it would be him." Anne said, "He did say he had a mysterious past, and since we learned that he was a teacher here, that doesn't really surprised me."

Anne got up and headed to look for Hop Pop.

"I'll keep looking for more information with Polly." Marcy said as Polly was actually reading a book.

"Better than being tricked into a scholarship." Polly mumbled.

Speaking of school, Sprig came out dressed in the school uniform.

"Oh, my boy is growing up so fast." Hop Pop said.

"I'm still not comfortable with this uniform." Sprig said, pulling the collar a bit. "Do I really need to wear this for just a trial run?"

"I'll admit it's designed for a newt more than a frog, but it is the mandatory uniform." Hop Pop said, "Now go make the family proud!"

He slapped Sprig on the back to send him off in his first trial day of college, so proud as a tear fell from his eye.

'It all starts today.' Hop Pop thought, crying a bit.

"Hey, HP, I need to talk to you." Anne said, walking up to them, "Hey, Sprig, looking smart there, buddy."

"Don't feel smart. Just feel choked up, literally." Sprig said, pulling at his collar again. "Wish me luck, though."

"Ah, they grow up so fast." Hop Pop said.

"Yep, so, HP, can you contact your... contacts?" Anne asked, "We need the box here so we can work at recharging the stones?"

"Oh... uh... yeah, I will go send them a letter, see if they can get it sent out by the end of the day." Hop Pop said.

Anne felt something was off, but the closer she got to getting home, the more she began to ignore her instincts. That and she was trying to ease up on being a leader, her adopted frog family was right, she wasn't a pack leader.

"Okay." Anne said.

Hop Pop felt a sense of relief as his secret was safe once again….at least for now.

'I shoulder go send out a letter to someone in town, someone I can trust.' Hop Pop thought.

He needed to get that box here, soon. If he didn't... he'd lose Anne's trust forever. Back in the library, Anne sat back down with Polly and Marcy.

"Okay, find anything important?"

"No./Yes." Polly and Marcy said before looking at each other.

"I didn't find anything but she must've." Polly said, throwing her book away.

"Expected." Anne said.

"And you'll never know guess what I've found!" Marcy said with a smile, holding up the book in glee.

Before Anne could guess.

"I found a map to the first temple!" Marcy said.

"A map? Like an actual map?!" Anne asked in surprise.

"YES! It's a bit old but if we combine that with the map we have today, we have an exact location while taking into account any geographical changes to the landscape around it!" Marcy said with a wide smile.

'All I did was leave her alone for a minute.' Anne thought.

Just as before, Marcy was a genius when it came to something she's passionate about.

"Now, all we need is the box and we should be able to head out." Marcy said.

"I was just saying that to Hop Pop, he said he's gonna send a message to his contact later." Anne said with a smile, even when her instincts were conflicting with her trust in Hop Pop's words.

"Great, so now we have to wait." Marcy said.

"Yeah but what do we do now? Sprig's trial school thing is probably gonna take a while." Polly suggested.

"How about we explore a little? See more of what Newtopia has to offer." Anne said to her.

"I'm fine with that!" Polly said.

"Are you guys sure? There are some sort of seedy parts of the city." Marcy said, warning them.

"Do I look like someone to mess with? Besides, I've got a bone dagger in the Fwagon to bring with me." Anne said.

"No you don't." Polly said, pulling the bone dagger from her bucket. "I got it right here."

"Wait, how'd you get that?" Anne asked, "I put that on the high shelf."

"How'd you get it?" Marcy asked.

"I got it from General Yunan after our last practice session." Anne said.

"You don't think I can climb? I got mad muscles in these stubs! Kapow!" Polly said as she flexed her stubby arms, showing impressive muscles! "Check it!"

"Okay, now I gotta sketch this!" Marcy said as she quickly grabbed her journal and began drawing Polly flexing. "I didn't think pollywog could have such developed arm stubs!"

"Marcy, focus on getting the threatening weapon away from the baby instead of drawing it!" Anne said.

"If you want it, take it! Seriously, take it!" Polly said, offering the dagger to Anne while still flexing.

Anne let out a deep growl.

"You wanna test me, Polly?" Anne asked her. "I am a wolf, we don't do well with challengers."

"I-I-I was just kidding." Polly said, putting the knife down.

"Good girl." Anne said, petting Polly a bit and taking the dagger. "Don't put me in a position like that again, please."

'Anne has changed even more than I thought.' Marcy thought.

She was more assertive, more aggressive, and more protective. Almost like Sasha but in a good way, Marcy could just tell. She's a real pack leader in the making, even if she doesn't see it.

"So, how do you think Sprig is doing?" Marcy asked.

"Probably hating this school trial. I'm not sure of his official stand on school since Wartwood never rebuilt there's." Anne said with a shrug.

"Never rebuilt-What!?" Marcy said.

"Oh yeah, something destroyed the school back home but was never rebuilt. I never got an answer why." Polly said with a shrug.

"Me either. It's literally still smoking too!" Anne said with a nod.

Marcy pulled out her journal.

"Note to self, send funding to Wartwood to get school rebuilt." Marcy said while writing.

"With someone to overview construction. The mayor is kind of corrupt." Anne added.

"Yeah like REALLY corrupt." Polly said with a nod.

Marcy wrote that down.

"Got it. Education is important but I have to wonder how their society has been since they've just given up on the school system?" Marcy asked, looking towards Polly.

"It's not bad. We just learn more from our families than a teacher." Polly said as she shrugged.

"Awe, that's pretty sweet." Marcy said.

"Yeah, unless they say something boring." Polly said.

"Not ALL of Hop Pop's stories are boring." Anne said to her, "I mean, he was a damn teacher at the most Prestigeous school in Amphibia."

"Yeah we'll try to transfer that to kids! It's SO boring!" Polly shouted.

"Well, why don't we go explore the city." Anne said, tired of being in the school.

"But Anne-"

"We will stay away from the seedy parts, okay?" Anne said, cutting Marcy off with her worried.

"Now are you coming with us or not?" Anne asked.

"Okay, I'm coming." Marcy said.

Marcy quickly closed the books and her notebook before getting up to follow Anne and Polly out of the library. What could go wrong?

SEVERAL HOURS LATER:

Marcy, Anne, and Polly walked back to the fwagon, covered in ash and a bit of fire.

"We must never speak of this again." Anne said.

"Agreed." Polly and Marcy said.

They entered the fwagon and saw Sprig and Hop Pop.

"Wow, what happened to you three?" Sprig asked.

"You don't want to know." Anne said, "How'd college work out for you?"

"Eh, I told the Headmaster that I wasn't ready after taking some of the classes, but you never know, maybe in a couple years I'll be ready." Sprig said.

"Maybe but then who would I annoy just for a smile and a laugh?" Polly asked, hopping over to her brother and nudging him a bit.

"Hehehe, yeah but I could visit on holidays." Sprig said, nudging back with a smile.

"In the meantime, I still have you two for a little longer." Hop Pop said, hugging them.

Suddenly a small fly came in.

"Oh, letter." Hop Pop said, "It's... my contacts, they say the box is almost here."

"Great! I'll go-"

"No!" Hop Pop said, "I mean, they don't know much about you, they may freak out, I'll go and get the box. You stay here and have fun with your friends... and clean up, you smell like rotten cheese."

"That was Polly's fault!" Anne said as Hop Pop headed to the wall of the city.

"Hey, you wanted to stop at the nacho place!" Polly shouted, pointing at Anne.

'What the heck did those three get into?' Hop Pop thought.

Hop Pop made it out of the walls, right as the moon began to rise. After a bit, a large bug flew down with the music box. On it was a note from Loggle, who Hop Pop had get it. Hop Pop took the note off.

"Dear, Hopediah, you wouldn't believe how hard it was to find this thing, first it was taken by this bug creature for a mating- yeah, yeah, whatever, at least now I have the music box, and Anne will never know I buried it."

"You what?"

Hop Pop turned around and saw Anne.

"A-Anne!" Hop Pop said in surprise and shock!

'When did she even get here?! When did she even follow me?!' Hop Pop thought as Anne slowly approached him.

"You BURIED the box? You never sent it to a "contact" at all?!" Anne asked, growing outraged.

"I-I-I-"

"What were you thinking!?" Anne yelled, "It's so important for me to get back home and you just decided to throw it in a hole!?"

"I know it's important to you but-"

"BUT WHAT?!" Anne shouted, ready to turn into a wolf right now!

"This box is dangerous! I did some research on it and found out it's real name is the "Calamity Box!"" Hop Pop said, quickly explaining himself. "I was just trying to protect, not hurt you!"

"Then why did you lie to me!?" Anne shouted, "You could've told me this and I would've help find a place to put it where no one would get it!"

"I-I just didn't want to risk it! After…After I lost Sprig and Polly's parents!" Hop Pop shouted, gripping the box tightly as he began to cry from the memory.

Anne took a step back.

"W-w-what?"

"T-There was a disaster years ago in Wartwood. A heron attack." Hop Pop said, remembering that horrible day, "I... I was out of town... Sprig and Polly survived... but their parents... weren't so lucky. Anne, you know how important family is, I know you care about this family, can you blame me for wanting to keep the only family I have left safe?"

Anne looked at the box.

"No, I can't blame you... but I'm still angry at you, if you just told me from the start about how dangerous this was, I would've understood." Anne said, taking the box, "I don't blame you for keeping Polly and Sprig safe... but you did just lost my trust."

And just like that... Anne walked into the city, leaving Hop Pop alone.

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