Anne discovers what Hop Pop's true intentions were with the music box and separates herself from him, leaving Leo to try and put it back together.
...
Leo and the Plantars had all congregated at the table for breakfast, once again. The red-eyed teen had nonchalantly gulped down a bowl of soup containing a plethora of bugs and insects, it was something he had grown accustomed to.
He lit up a little watching Anne slide into the room, carrying a letter, "Hey guys check it out! I got a mail-fly message, he's so cute!" She gawked at the little fly carrying her letter.
"Lucky," Polly sulked, "I never get mail."
"Who would you even get any from?" Leo murmured.
"Exactly my point."
Unfolding the envelope, Anne read it aloud, "It's a checklist of stuff Marcy wants us to bring to the first temple! Food, weapons.."
Sprig leaped onto the table, grabbing his breakfast, "Check!"
Polly reacted appropriately, stabbing Leo's sword into the table, "That's where it went.." Leo grumbled, snatching it from the pollywog's flippers.
"I don't get to have any fun..."
"Apparently, we need armor," Anne explained.
"Do we?" They all turned to Leo, who had spoken up, "I mean...at least not to some crazy extent. Right?"
Hop Pop brushed his claims aside, ushering them into the living room, "Don't worry, I've been working on my own set of armor for you all!" They all shared a skeptical glance with each other.
Sure enough, all four of them were covered in rubbery and bloated costumes, completely restricting their movement, "This isn't necessary...at all."
Just as Anne was about to lose her footing, Leo grabbed onto the thick layers of the suit keeping her upright, although she ended up tripping a little too close for comfort, a streak of red dusting her face, "S-Sorry.."
"D-Don't worry about it," Leo responded as calmly as he could, keeping a level head as he typically did.
Polly struggled helplessly to remove herself from the uncomfortable confines surrounding her entire body, "This is not a suit of armor, Hop Pop!" Sprig suddenly flopped onto his face, losing his balance.
"Exactly my point! No mobility means no one gets hurt! It's perfect!"
Leo sighed a little exasperated for something like this so early in the morning, he scuffled to pick his katana back of the couch, using it to pop his puffed-up costume, finally allowing him to move.
"Anne, what else do we actually need to bring?" He questioned, popping her outfit as well.
The Thai girl briefly scanned over the list, responding almost instantly, "Oh right! The music box!"
Although no one had turned to see it, horror had morphed around the older frog's face. Memories repeated through his mind how he'd originally buried the music box, never expecting to dig it back up again.
He'd lied his way through the entire journey to Newtopia, it had originally been to protect Sprig and Polly, but now he wasn't quite sure what his reasoning was.
Nevertheless, Hop Pop put up a front, "Sure, no worries. I'll make sure my contacts get it to me by tomorrow!"
No one batted an eye at his response, there was no reason to. They all trusted him just fine.
Stirring in his sleep, Leo was once again haunted by a pulsating orange filling his dream, quickly spinning it into a nightmare, where once again it was combining the fragments of his memory into a torturous picture.
Once again, he snapped awake on his makeshift bed covered in a cold sweat, Leo rubbed his crimson eyelids, adjusting himself to the darkness of the basement.
Anne flipped over next to him, practically bouncing out of her sheets, "Wait, Leo are you alright, did you have the same dream again?"
"Oh, yeah don't worry I'm fine," Leo rubbed his own, trying to keep himself, "You're still up?"
"I can't help it, Leo! I'm too excited dude, we actually have a chance to go home!" Anne grinned swaying on her feet, she was adorned with her bag and fully clothed for the day, showing no sign of sleeping.
The floor above them suddenly creaked, as the trapdoor to the basement shuffled, "Sounds like someone else can't sleep either," Leo watched as she crawled up the stairs, peeking out from the basement.
"It's Hop Pop, wonder what he's doing so late.." She turned back to a groggy Leo, bobbing in and out of consciousness.
"Did you forget? Other people live here Anne, he's probably going to the bathroom," Leo said softly, rubbing his drooping eyelids.
"He's heading outside though.."
Leo quirked his head to the side, he blamed it on Anne rubbing off on him as his curiosity overtook any sensibility to go back to sleep, following after his roommate as she snuck outside the door.
They trailed after the frog, squinting through the night as he dug into the ground, frantically searching for something.
"No! No! The music box, where is it!? It's gone!"
Anne's heart sunk at his words, unable to mutter anything more than a simple, "What..."
Hop Pop flipped at the sound of her, his face was left aghast, and he could feel the hopelessness swirling in her eyes as if trying to understand.
They then blipped to Leo's scarlet pools, ominous through the darkness. They were just as confused, but more so they were focused on Anne, scanning her face, he was more worried about her, "W-Why.."
Several lies bubbled and threatened to spill from Hop Pop's mouth, until he finally caved, "I can't do it! I can't lie anymore!" He yelled out, breathing heavily.
"I buried the box here, I tried to keep it hidden! There are no contacts Anne! I read that the box was dangerous and on instinct, I hid it!"
Anne had no response, Leo was just confused at his frantic notions, "You can't have. Were you expecting to keep it buried? Even after Anne told you...it was her way home and it could've been.." Leo paused, scrunching his fist at the thought.
"I had a good reason! I-I promise! I was just trying to protect Sprig and Polly!" The older frog argued, cutting himself off.
Anne interjected, "No! This whole time you've been lying to me. And not only did you bury the box, but now it's gone, and I needed that to get home.."
Burning his eyes into him, Leo wanted to say a few words of his own. He stopped himself though, aware of the pain lost in Hop Pop's eyes, wanting to explain himself despite being completely unsure of how.
"Anne, please you have to listen to me, it wasn't like that. It's just that...I've lost so much-"
"Stop. I...I can't be around here right now, Leo let's go," Anne spat out, flinging her bag over her shoulder as she trudged off into the dark forest.
Leo stopped in his tracks, a twisted look controlling his emotions. His usual blank demeanor changed entirely, "Anne...shouldn't we hear him out?"
Instead of turning away from the situation or taking everything at face value like he would beforehand, Leo wanted to listen, to at least try to understand.
He wanted to trust Hop Pop.
"Leo, no. This isn't the time for it, he's been lying to me for months, and now because of him, I might be stuck here! I can't see my parents, I can't take Sasha and Marcy home with me, I can't even show you any of it," Anne berated out loud, her voice turning hoarse.
"I...I know Anne, but-"
"Enough. I can't be here right now. Follow me or not I'm going," Her words were final, and Leo could only watch as she disappeared into the woods.
Despite his nature, Leo wasn't able to get that much sleep that night, feeling completely rooted in the ground.
The next morning felt as if it had dragged on, Leo's eyelids peeled open as he raised his body, the basement felt empty with just him there, he couldn't help but wonder how Anne had slept that night.
Alone and hurt.
Heading out of the basement, Leo stared Hop Pop in the face, he was looking a lot worse than him, with his eyes bloodshot as he struggled to keep them awake.
Both Sprig and Polly huddled into the room as he did, a little shocked by the sight of them both, "Are you two, ok?" The pink frog queried.
"I messed up big-time kids. I buried the music box out front under the tree, and when I tried to dig it back up...it was gone, and now Anne's gone."
"WHAT!?" The two yelled in unison, Sprig blurred to Leo in confirmation, getting a short nod in response.
"I...I would've gone after her, but I wanted to hear it from Hop Pop first. I get it now though, and I want Anne to hear it as well, she has to," Leo explained curtly, his voice resembling his emotionless tone from months ago.
Hop Pop slammed his mug onto the table, resolving to his words, "Leo's right, I have to go find her!"
"No..." Leo replied, "I want to go after her, don't worry. You can explain everything to her Hop Pop, I just want to talk to her first..."
Sprig and Polly shared a glance, "If you're doing that then me, Polly, and Hop Pop will look for the music box! We'll have it for when you bring her back!" The pink frog leaped on Leo's shoulder, "So, make sure you do."
"I'll make sure I do," Leo stated, reaching for his katana as he ran off out of the house.
As he did the two plantar siblings turned to their elder, "Listen, Hop Pop. Even if you messed up, if we don't get the music box, it won't matter if Leo brings Anne back if we don't have it!"
"Then let's get on it kids!"
The three plantars hurried into town, finding that it was littered with holes in every spot they could see, with everyone having seemingly lost something.
"This doesn't look good," Hop Pop murmured.
Sprig approached Maddie as she was inspecting one of the deeper holes, "Hey Maddie, do you know what's going on?" He questioned.
"Well, pretty much everyone in town has lost something thanks to these holes. Including me, I lost a talisman, that if used in the wrong hands could possibly...actually never mind," Maddie coughed into her hand, cutting herself off.
"If that's happening to everyone else's stuff, then what could it be?" Hop Pop asked aloud.
Suddenly, popping out of the shrubbery was Soggy Joe, "Well, that sounds like the work of the Magpie Beetle!" The frog blurted out.
"Really gotta stop jumping out of bushes like that Soggy Joe," Polly spoke dryly, not amused.
"Shush Polly, we need his secrets!" Hop Pop knelt down, listening.
Scratching his bone-filled beard, Soggy Joe crouched down in front of them all, "Well you see, the Magpie Beetle appears every few years or so, and will burrow itself out from the ground and steal anything precious to use as its shell – which it then presents to his mate, in a beautiful ritual-"
"That's enough! Anymore and were going into gross territory," Polly finished before hopping onto her brother's head, "No let's get going."
"Now hold on kids, I think we should learn all we can about this Magpie Beetles.."
"Hop Pop!" Both Sprig and Polly yelled in unison.
"Right, right."
It didn't take long for them to return to the dugout burrow Hop Pop had made frantically searching for the music box, rain had begun cascading over the farm, shadowing them in a storm of grey clouds.
"There's something dug out in the side, come on!" Polly alerted them all jumping into it, they all followed after her, squeezing through it as they trailed down the wet tunnel.
Soon enough, the frogs lost their footing slipping down the labyrinth, eventually opening up into a swirling vortex of Magpie Beetles.
They were all huddled and together, hordes of items hung over their backs as they moved in a single circle, swirling around them all, "Dang it's Polly, this is why we should've listened to Soggy Joe!"
"You know how I get during exposition Hop Pop!"
The Plantars had no choice but to leap into the fray below, scanning from the music box amongst the mob.
Leo tracked through the desolate forest; it felt a little strange to be wandering through the thick shrubbery yet again, he hadn't done so since he'd originally lost his memory only now, he knew what he was searching for.
Scanning along the discarded trail of items Anne had dropped from her bag Leo, taking sunglasses and bobby pins into his hand, followed them as he finally made his way over to a singular cave.
Sat inside of it, fiddling with the green, mossy hair attached to an oblong rock was Anne, venting to herself out loud as she openly expressed her frustration toward Hop Pop.
All this time, whilst she'd be living with him, traveling across Amphibia with him and she'd been accepted as part of his family – Hop Pop had been lying to her about the only way she could get home.
Rain poured outside the cave as Leo's shadow was flashed in the opening, "Aagh!" Anne yelped, startled by the figure.
"You don't have to have that kind of reaction," Leo stated emotionally, shaking his dripping white hair.
"Oh, it's just you, Leo. If you've come to bring me back, then there was no point. I'm not in the mood to listen, and neither should you. I thought you'd understand, he lied to me and you and everyone – you were the same with Sasha."
With as much time as they'd spent together, with everything they'd faced. Anne felt as if she had at least had some understanding toward Leo.
So, she just couldn't understand why he was against her on this, why he wanted to trust him.
"Anne...it's because. That's what you taught me.." Leo finalized, steeling his glossy red eyes as he stared back at her.
"What do you mean?" Anne tilted her head at him, Leo sighed struggling to find his words.
"I mean. When we first met Anne, I had no real understanding of anything. Because I lost my memory and because I was aware of any social norms or anything.."
Not saying a word to interrupt, Anne just listened, "I was against Sprig, Polly, and Hop Pop at first for no reason, that's just who I was. But if you'd taken the time to know them then I did as well and now I have and I'm...happy."
"...Then there was Sasha. After everything she'd done, I still couldn't wrap my head around why you wanted to still talk things through, to try and fix your friendship with her."
"But now I do. It's just like I told you when I met her again, and even if I still don't understand her reasons, I want to, so I'm going to trust your judgement..." Leo paused, a now prominent red stained over his face, it was an expression she'd never expected to see.
Leo gently took her hands into his own, "..So could you listen to me just this once, I know how you feel but could you at least hear Hop Pop out?
Anne hid her face behind her bushy hair, not wanting to show how embarrassed she was, "I'll try."
Before either one of them could say anything else, the sound of Sprig's and Polly's shriek echoed through the forest. The two exchanged a look before retreating out of the cave together.
Leo and Anne came to a clearing, staring down at a twirling monsoon of bugs, all carrying their own selection of stolen objects all huddled together in a single pact.
Trapped right in the midst of it all were Polly and Sprig. The Magpie Beetles were clawing in at them both, "Help!" The two siblings screamed out to the two. Leaping above them all was Hop Pop trying his best not to get caught as well.
"What the heck is this!?" Anne blurted out, staring down at the madness.
"Doesn't matter. Let's go, Anne..." Leo brandished his katana off his back, dropping down into the sea of Magpie Beetles – he caught himself amongst the objects carried over the top of the insects.
Anne watched as he swept off the ground effortlessly. She'd seen him do just as many displays before, but it still left her a little starstruck.
She followed after him, slipping over the objects as the rain poured down onto her. Leo glanced at her as he clambered over to her.
Losing her footing completely, Anne clung out for whatever she could. Hop Pop outstretched his hand to pull her up, "Anne can you trust me, just until long enough to save the kids.."
Staring up at the frog, Anne almost wanted to pull away, but despite the dire circumstances and Leo's words ringing through her head, she grabbed onto it, pulling herself up.
The two of them sprang off one object onto the next, Leo closed in with them as well, propping himself against the wall, "Hurry, I don't think these things are all too happy with us jumping on their stuff.."
At his words, the Magpie Beetles snapped at him.
Hop Pop swung his tongue around Anne's arm throwing the two of them forward right in the midst of the swarm. With some trepidation, the teen girl stretched her arm out toward Sprig, "Come on buddy! Grab on!"
Just as they were about to throw themselves out of the cluster, Polly snatched the music box back, "Yoink!"
"Get ready Leo! Here we come!" Tossing them all into a circle, Hop Pop spun all of them up into the air. Leo leaped from his sword catching them just as the reached the edge of the pit, pulling them all over.
Sprig and Polly jumped for joy at their own victory, Anne silently took the music box and tucked it back into her bag.
Leo took her hand once more, his crimson eyes pleading for her once last time. She sighed and turned back to Hop Pop, kneeling down to his level as he looked up at her, "Hop Pop...I'll hear you out."
Hop Pop's face lit up before suddenly scowling as he acknowledged what exactly he was going to share with them.
"Thank yah, Anne. I need you to know why I hid the box; I need you to know that I didn't do it to trick yah..."
"...It was Sprig and Polly's parents. Back then, I wasn't able to do anything," Sprig tried to interject, "Hop Pop. You know that wasn't your fault."
All the orange frog responded with was a single hand in the air, he was telling them either way, "It was a few years ago. I was out of the valley when the Herens attacked, Sprig and Polly were able to hide away, but their parents...weren't so lucky."
Leo felt his stomach drop, he knew that Anne felt the same the colour seeming to drain from her face as the rain poured down over them.
"I know, that if I had been there, I could've done something...anything. So, when I found out the box was dangerous, I panicked and wanted to do what I could to protect my family. But I forgot that you're a part of that family now Anne, you and Leo. And I shouldn't have lied to you, so I'm sorry I let you down, I'm so sorry!"
As he broke down in front of them, Leo froze up completely unsure how to respond, the frog was crying and apologizing constantly before Anne took him into a hug.
"Hop Pop. I forgive you," She stated, hugging him.
Sprig and Polly slammed into the two, "Reconciliation hug!"
Watching them with a small, but noticeable smile, "The rain's getting worse...we should head inside."
As morning broke through, drying out the rain over them. All of them huddled in Hop Pop's bedroom, watching as he opened a thick book, flipping through the pages until it landed on the music box.
"Calamity Box. Sheesh...that does sound bad," Anne murmured reading over the page's contents.
"Yeah. It's not exactly comforting," Hop Pop replied grimly.
Scanning over everything the page had to say, Leo couldn't shake the thought that something about its information was wrong, although he couldn't wrap his head around why that was.
"Leo, you good dude?" Anne turned to him, tilting her head.
"Yeah, don't worry I'm fine," His gaze lingered on the warning labels scattered around the depiction of the Calamity Box, "..Fine."
...
I must apologize this chapter was supposed to come out way sooner, but I was prepping for college which how now started and I'm very preoccupied despite it being the first week back.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I have a cool idea for Leo for The First Temple, next chapter, until then. See yah!