Frustrated by the lack of answers to his dreams, Leo seeks out a single clue leading him back to the Ruins of Despair.
...
He was here again, sunken in the deep dark of water that continued to trap him. No matter how much Leo swam he could never reach the top, always being pulled down by something, a force he couldn't control.
The only time he'd be pulled out was whenever his dreams ended, leaving him with no answers and even more questions.
Leo had begun to wonder if he could even dream, this was all his mind could do while he slept. Yet no matter how long he waited, how long he mulled over the fragments of his memory it all felt...pointless.
Nothing had changed, the same memories continued to play in broken segments only giving in a vague idea of who he was.
To him at least, it seemed he'd been given some form of task, and whilst trying to complete that he'd ended up slipping during a storm ending up in the woods just outside of Wartwood, with no memory of anything.
But whatever task he'd been given, and who exactly he was beforehand was a total mystery to him – and the more he dreamt, the longer it seemed that he was running in circles trying to piece any of it together.
Suddenly though, his body was jerked under the water further than it had been before. That was when he noticed the familiar image of the factories they'd come across when they'd first left the valley.
It was the same place where the same robots as Frobo were being made, it hadn't really crossed anyone's mind to question it, they'd just accepted it as where he'd been made, not even Marcy knew much about them.
As soon as his thoughts began to clear, and he stepped into the memory he was just as quickly flung back through the water waking up.
Instead of a cold sweat, Leo groggily opened his piercing red eyes grunting as he sat up careful not to wake Anne sleeping just a few feet away from him.
"Again...well at least I saw something different. But it feels like my brain is stopping me from putting everything together," Leo mumbled to himself, reaching for his journal.
As he did, Frobo's bright yellow eyes illuminated in the darkness its metallic face right in front of his own.
Leo fell back off his bed, causing a stir that made Anne grumble in her sleep turning to her side. The robot didn't shift an inch, only dimming its eyes as it continued to stare down at him on the ground, "Yeah...what is it? Don't you normally stay in Polly's room?"
No more than a few days ago, Frobo as he'd now been named had wandered into the town out of nowhere. Leading to Polly befriending and then abusing its power the very second, she realized she could.
Of course, it was all remedied in the end leaving Polly in charge of the robot.
Glancing back at it, Frobo gave no answer only tilting its body in response, "You came from those factories, right? If I have a memory that isn't from when I visited them with Anne and Sprig, then you must know more about them."
When he received no real answer Leo sighed, "Guess you're not really listening, are you?" Frustrated, Leo settled back into his makeshift bed prepared to fall back into a dreamless sleep.
Just as he closed his eyes, Frobo's lit up once more showing off what seemed to be the factories only in a much less desolated state, fully operational creating more and more robots that resembled the one standing in front of him.
"This is what they looked like...why would I have visited there? Seriously, this just raising more questions like usual," Talking with the same dry tone, Leo continued to examine the screen displayed in front of him.
Honestly, he was desperate for anything at this point even if it only accounted for a sliver of information, he wanted something.
Sure, Leo was happy with every one of the memories he had now, but if he was going to keep moving forward to be a better person just like Anne, then he had to know everything.
He just didn't feel like a person without them.
Just as the screen flipped off, Leo was left in the darkness with the robot his decision made, "Tomorrow, you're coming with me to those ruins...and I'm getting some answers," Frobo beeped back, "I'm basically just talking to myself."
Pulling the covers back over himself, Leo settled in, going back to sleep. That was until he opened his eyes, still finding Frobo deadly still beside him not moving an inch away.
"Leave!" He ordered, keeping as quiet as possible.
It was nearly the crack of dawn when Leo awoke, he wanted to get to the ruins as early as possible, and as selfish as it was, he wanted to do it without any questions.
Leo knew they cared, and he appreciated that more than anything. But he didn't want them to think he valued his forgotten memories over his current ones.
This was something he had to do al-
"Hey, Leo! Watcha doing up so early!" Stopping as he was pulling Bessie from out of her stable, Leo glanced downwards to find Sprig standing as chirpy as ever, grinning up at him.
In an instant, Leo lost all his composure nearly tripping back, "Sprig!? W-What the hell are you doing up so early!" The pink frog continued to look up at him innocently before answering.
"Well, I heard you get up. And then I followed you outside and saw you taking out Bessie...also Frobo came and woke me up," He pointed over to the robot standing off to the side, giving Leo a little wave as they met eyes, "Anyway what are you doing?"
"I'm just. I've got something to do, ok? You can go back to bed it's not like I'll be gone long okay," Leo tried to talk quickly, hopping onto Bessie as he did.
Before he could pull her reigns to get moving, he heard another voice speak up this one much older, "If you won't be gone long, then there's no problem with us tagging along is there?"
It was Hop Pop, following behind Frobo who had obviously woken him up as well, "Frobo..." He audibly groaned, rubbing his tired eyes already regretting waking up so early.
Sprig was bouncing on his two feet, eagerly seating himself next to Leo atop the snail, "So! Where are we going," His cheerful energy was enough to make Leo want to head back to the basement and sleep.
"We? Come on I get that you two got woken up, but I'm handling this myself," His red eyes sharpened, what would've normally scared away most frogs he'd come across didn't deter them in the slightest.
Realizing neither of them was relenting Leo caved, "Fine. I'm heading back to those factories we came across when we first left the valley, I think they have something that will help my memory..."
It felt a little awkward to pause there, but Sprig or Hop Pop didn't argue, "We're coming with you then!" Sprig declared raising his fist in the air proudly.
"You sure? High chance it's going to be pretty boring," said Leo.
"As if. Last time we went there Hop Pop almost died!" Hop Pop soured a little at his words, "I didn't find it very funny..." The older frog grumbled.
Glancing over to an innocent Frobo, Leo couldn't help but smile just a little bit. He was a little annoyed sure, but he couldn't stay mad if anything he was oddly relieved.
Pulling on Bessie's reigns they took off from the farm, heading over to the ruins, "Wait for us to get back Frobo!" Sprig called out as they disappeared down the hill.
As they did, Frobo robotically began to whir to itself watching the three ride away.
It had been a calm and quick ride out of the valley and to the factories, none of them had noticed it previously but they seemed to stretch on for miles, some trapped under the ground completely hidden from view.
Small frog statues that had become overrun by nature, there were only a few that really stood out to them, "Which one are we going to? Did you remember a specific one or something Leo?"
Now, stood on Leo's shoulder Sprig pointed to every open one he saw. Most looked destroyed and others didn't stand out – his crimson gaze continued to scan over the empty fields.
He wasn't searching for anyone in particular, just one that seemed right.
Finally, he pulled them to a stop patting Bessie as he jumped onto the ground facing the structure. It was clear, with little to no moss patterned on the sides.
"I know you said you're not too sure Leo, but what is it you're looking for?" Hop Pop asked, the three of them walking closer to it watching as the door slid open surprisingly smoothly.
Leo stared down into it, "An answer... that's all I've been doing. I can't move on if I don't at least know who I used to be."
"We're with yah," Hop Pop patted his back as Sprig giddily sat on his shoulder, "Yeah! All the way Leo!"
"Thanks, you two."
His mouth moved to say something else, but Leo stopped himself. There was more he wanted to say to them, but he couldn't not yet.
Steeling them, they all slid down the tunnel much like they'd done during their first encounter. Making their way down to the abandoned factory, it was in a much worse state than the previous one they'd entered.
Whilst the other one was old it still seemed operational; this factory was close to collapsing at any given moment.
"Watch where you step kids, I got sucked in by the floor last time I was in here," Hop Pop warned, a foreboding tone in his voice.
Ignoring what had happened previously, Sprig leaped at the giant module eager to press any buttons that would still work.
Before he could, Leo grabbed at the pink frog yanking him back, "Not the time Sprig. I'm not planning to stop Hop Pop from being crushed again."
"Oh, come on Leo! I know the last one was still working but look at this place! There's just no way," The white-haired teen didn't answer, staring Sprig down as he shuffled throughout the dim room.
He pulled up decayed scraps of metal, gears that had rotted through, and continued to pile on top of each other.
The glass that allowed you to peer into the bulk of the factory was layered in dust and grime, making it near impossible to look into them, the more they were looking around the more stupid coming here was.
As they continued searching throughout the room, whatever remaining system that was still activated booted up.
It wasn't due to anything in particular, but it had noticed the doors being pulled open, and three distinct weights entering the building.
A singular eye peeled open from out of the room's walls, making no noise as it continued to stare at the figures through the darkness.
There were two frogs, the system quickly glossed over them marking them lower than a threat. It was it scanned Leo that it encountered an error.
Quickly, he became the center of its attention not just because he was a species it hadn't come across before, but it couldn't help but look back into its hard drive finding something familiar about him.
"Leo, I hate to say but we should get going. I'm sure Bessie getting bored just waiting, that old girl has a lot less patience than it seems," Hop Pop spoke up.
"Yeah... you're probably right. Although seeing this, it's like I'm walking through my own memory. I just wish I could remember," Leo's grip tightened around his shirt, a little defeated.
He just had to hope that something would change and that he could eventually piece together who he was. No matter how tired he was of waiting.
Suddenly, Sprig was bouncing over to him a panicked expression warping his face, "Leo look out!"
Both he and Hop Pop stared at the pink frog slightly confused by his worry, that was until Leo felt his feet fly up from under him a tendril of wires dragging him back before the main module inside the room opened up swallowing him whole.
Leo whizzed backward continuing to be further reeled in by the mass of wires, watching as the glossy textures of the factories continued to grow dimmer.
He tried and failed to keep his grip on the floor, unable to stop more and more tendrils from wrapping around him, throwing him back into a mass of them further entrapping Leo in his grasp, "What the hell!"
Yelling to himself, he continued struggling in vain to escape watching as ass a clawed wire emerged just inches from his face, stopping as the singular eye studied him from the wall.
His snowy white hair and the deep blood of his eyes processed every feature of his appearance before grabbing his whole face, only making Leo struggle harder desperate to yank it off of him.
Reaching back for his katana secured around his back, Leo swung it forward slicing the current in half, a mess of wires spilled out as Leo continued to hack away at them steadily freeing himself.
There was a sudden flash in his head, a clear memory of him walking through a storm his eyes devoid of even a single glimmer, lifeless.
It was gone just as quickly as Leo stumbled out of them; he felt conflicted. Whatever the robot wanted with him couldn't be good, he had no idea what old amphibian technology would do with something that very clearly wasn't of their world.
But that awful nagging thought continued to burrow itself into his head, whatever it was doing helped him piece it together.
Doing so was dangerous and above all desperate, he was sure Hop Pop and Sprig were left panicking about his whereabouts.
Before he could move to make a decision, another clawed wire grabbed at the back of his head this time managing to force him asleep.
He was pushed into his own memories once more, watching from a third-person perspective as they played out in front of him.
Instead of just a flash, he was stuck within them every step walking him through a memory. Most were ones he already looked back on fondly, seeing fairly recent ones of their visit to the second temple, and Marcy's first day in Wartwood.
Leo walked faster, stepping through each memory faster passing by them without a second thought. All of the adventures and experiences he'd gone through were blatantly ignored, only stopping very briefly as he stepped into one with Sasha.
It was a memory he couldn't easily forget, that for whatever reason she'd pushed Yunan out of the way and him out of the fight.
But for whatever reason, he ignored going deeper placing his feet faster in front of each other, completely unaware of the effect it was having on his mind.
Back in reality, his mind was being studied the system continuing to forcefully drain him as if he were a battery, the longer Leo continued to linger within his own brain the further he would succumb to it.
Continuing to observe from the wall with its orange eye, the system ensnared itself around Leo further planning to trap both his body and mind entirely.
That was until voices began to grow from the end of the hidden tunnel, "Leo! Are yah here, answer us!" Hop Pop yelled out.
Sprig hopped out in front of him, "Leo! Leo! Come on this isn't funny...where did that thing take him Hop Pop?"
Worry ran over the older frog's face unsure how to answer, "I don't know, whatever that thing was took Leo for a reason. So, when we find him, we've got to get him out of here and fast."
Soon enough, the two found themselves tripping over an abundance of tubes and wires all steadily bundling up the further they walked.
Until they spotted Leo, encased right in the middle of it all a clawed wire lodged in the back of his head slowly draining something out of him.
Sprig leaped forward without warning, rushing for Leo before being swiftly swatted away by the system, "Alright that's it! You fangled machine, I've had enough of you!"
The orange frog shot his tongue out, grabbing at the mess of tangles before ripping them away. Sprig quickly bounced back as he did, sticking to the wall before slamming right into Leo's back throwing him to the ground.
The memory-filled world distorted and collapsed as Leo was ripped away from it, "Huh...no. I could see them, I was watching them! Why did you..!"
Just as he raised his voice he stopped, taken aback by the panicked worry and concern on Sprig's face, "I-I'm sorry...I was finally there, I was going to see who I was."
The further he stepped the more fragment and crackled the world got, but Leo was prepared to go as deep as he could to finally piece everything together.
Looking back at the system as it started pulling its wires back to life, a terrible thought of going back crossed his mind of going back.
But looking down to Sprig clutching to his shirt trying to pull him away and Hop Pop continuing to fling his tongue to protect them.
Locking eyes with his Katana it was an easy decision to make, it made Leo feel stupid as to why he'd even been deliberating on it in the first place.
He grabbed onto it, slicing apart every one of the wires glancing over to the singular orange eye peering down at him from the wall, despite being just a robot it was glaring down at him with a gaze that filled with nothing but rage.
"Let's go now!" Leo shouted to them both, sprinting back down the tunnel and shoving back into the factory as a wave of wires trailed after them.
It was so easy for him to take a step now, he felt that for once he was finally running forward without looking back.
Clambering up to the top of the factory they finally walked out to find rain now pouring down, spotting Bessie taking cover underneath an overgrown rock, "Sorry Bessie...I promise we didn't mean to leave yah here," Was the only words anyone spoke as they all sat atop the snail.
There was an uncomfortable silence as they trudged through the rain hopping on Bessie and riding away as fast as possible. No one uttered a word as Bessie rode through the pouring rain, now only seeming to worsen.
It had happened so fast that they were only now able to finally take a breather passing back through the valley, Leo gulped steeling his nervous and growing embarrassment, "I'm...really sorry guys. I made you come help after I got myself stuck.."
Sprig fiddled with his hat, the rain pouring down over them, "That weird robot thing, was it helping you with your memories? Is that why... you weren't fighting it?"
Fiddling with his pale white hair Leo gave a heavy sigh, "I guess...I was desperate. The moment I saw my memories I didn't even try to get out, it was selfish and dangerous and...and."
With his grip tightening on the reigns, Leo paused when Hop Pop began lightly patting his back, "One apology is enough alright? And when it came to you immediately got us out of there didn't you? It's ok Leo."
"It's not!" His tone shifted to more upset than angry, "I can't even dream I'm so obsessed with getting my memories. I've been doing my best to ignore and have fun, try and get Anne and Marcy home...to change but I can't do that if I can't remember.."
"Do you?" Sprig spoke up, "Come on Leo! You're not the same person you were when you first stumbled into those woods outside Wartwood. What's wrong with you changing like you already have."
The response left Leo a little stunned to be honest, such an obvious fact had been laid out in front of him and yet it had never even crossed his mind.
"You're saying...that I don't need those memories?" Leo murmured, his voice a little hoarse.
"If it'll bring you peace then I'd think it's best you do...but you shouldn't dwell on its Leo. You're just fine the way you are now, haven't we been telling you that from the start?" Hop Pop finished, taking the reins from his hands the rain finally letting up.
Leo smiled, what used to be a rarity had become such a common occurrence that he couldn't deny the difference between his old self and now...he was happy with who he was.
The sun was setting once they finally arrived back at the farm, finding Frobo still outside waiting, "I guess you really waited for us," Leo smiled gently patting the robot.
"Where the heck have you three been!? You didn't even leave a note!" Anne turned to them as they all walked into the house, a little bruised and soaking wet.
"Out," Leo said simply.
"Around," Hop Pop spoke mysteriously.
"We were in town," Sprig straight up lied.
Anne blinked at the three separate answers, "Uh...I'm going on my phone, gonna rewatch Suspicion Island," The Thai girl sighed as she descended back into the basement.
Leo let out a low yawn following after her, he'd been up since the crack of dawn after all, and it was starting to catch up to him. Anne stared at her phone, only briefly looking over at him as he tucked into the bed watching him quickly fall asleep
And for the first time, Leo dreamt a pleasant dream.
...
Eheheheh...long time no see. Bit ironic that taking a gap year and doing nothing was the real dampener on my writing, but slowly but surely I'm getting back there, I'm really sorry for the delay I just wasn't enjoying writing and anything I tried to write just didn't feel good so I hope this chapter isn't worse written or anything.
Honestly, you guys should thank Scourgessj, he is someone who leaves reviews on this story and I saw he'd left another asking where I was and it really did inspire me to get this chapter out, and I enjoyed it. Don't worry the next work will be on the third temple! (Although I'm begging you to not just leave reviews asking where I am...at least not right away that just make me more nervous)
Anyway, I hope everyone who's been reading an enjoying this story can come back and get ready as I build up to True Colours! Until then, see yah!