An Amphibia Carol (A Christmas Fanfiction)

Chapter Four: The Fourth Spirit

Andrias was given time to think once again.

There are so many other people out there that matter than just you.

He thought of Sprig and Polly, who had lost their parents...

Andrias had lost his mother...

He thought of their grandfather, Hop Pop, who was gladly raising them.

He thought of all their smiling faces.

...He and his father had never laughed with each other like that...

Just because he was never able to live the life they were living didn't give him the right to take it away from them...

And the Ghost of Christmas Present was right. They weren't the only lives he would be ruining...

And it went beyond just amphibians too...

The humans on earth's lives would be ruined too... and so would their Christmas spirit...

...Did he really want to take all that away...? And just for his own happiness, which wasn't even true?

And then Andrias suddenly teleported somewhere. No spirit had even appeared to him and brought him there, he was just suddenly... there.

He looked around.

He was outside of Newtopia's city walls. But... it was so different...

There were factories and machines everywhere, billowing smoke, which covered the once beautiful blue sky, turning it dark and grey.

The once green and gorgeous landscape was now grim and torn up.

Land that was once filled with wildlife was suddenly abandoned... no animals to be seen...

The once clean air and water was now polluted and Andrias even found himself struggling to breathe.

And that's when the last spirit appeared beside him.

She was another human, wearing a long, black cloak. She was wearing the hood of the cloak, casting her face in shadow, but from what Andrias could see, she had dark brown eyes and short black hair. Her cloak was littered with holes, as if parts of it had been burned, especially the bottom, which blew a bit in the haunting wind, and around her chest.

There was a huge stab-wound through her chest, and like the Ghost of Christmas Past's scar, it glowed. But this time it shone as if it were fire, lighting her up in some areas with a yellow glow and intensifying the shadows in others, making her appear even more ominous.

Despite being much bigger than the spirit, Andrias felt very unsettled and disturbed by her.

What made it worse, she didn't even say a word to him. She didn't even greet him like the previous spirits had done.

And when he asked her, "What happened to Newtopia?" she didn't respond, but just looked up at him silently for a long moment and then looked away again.

He already knew the answer, and he knew the spirit knew he did too.

...It was him... He had happened to Newtopia...

And he had a feeling it wasn't just Newtopia that was like this, but all of Amphibia... and he was willing to bet earth too...

He was tempted to ask her what had happened to her too, but decided he actually didn't want to know the answer.

So, instead he asked, "...You must be the Ghost of Christmas Future, right?"

The spirit just nodded slowly.

"...And this is the future... if I invade earth..."

The spirit nodded again.

She waited another few moments for Andrias to keep taking in what he was seeing, before walking, but with her cloak it appeared as if she were gliding, towards the city gates.

They walked through the gates without even opening them like how he and the Ghost of Christmas Present had walked into the warehouse, and the Ghost of Christmas Future signaled to the once glorious, now contaminated, city of Newtopia.

The houses were falling apart and boarded up and frobots patrolled the streets.

For once in his life, Andrias felt small. Small, standing there in the streets of a once majestic city and small, standing next to a truly tragic looking spirit.

Was this his idea of improving Amphibia?

...This wasn't the city he had grown up in... This wasn't the city he had protected and ruled over for a thousand years...

Andrias felt all the blood rush away from his head and he began to feel sick.

But the spirit wasn't done.

The next thing Andrias knew, scenes were flashing quickly before his eyes. He was seeing Leif's funeral and all the frogs who were morning her death. He watched as time passed and her ancestors remembered her and told stories about her proudly.

Then he saw Barrel's death, bravely defending a village against a large, snake-like creature. He watched as generations passed once more and the toads told stories of Barrel as well and his heroic feats. They had even given him the title, "Barrel the Brave."

And then... he watched and listened as amphibians shouted for joy in the streets of Newtopia, exclaiming joyfully that the king had finally passed away and that his reign of terror was finally over.

...Was this really how his subjects felt...? Would they really rejoice in his death instead of morn for and honor him like they had done for Leif and Barrel?

He didn't even realize he was doing it at first, but he was now crying in horror.

"I- I don't want this to happen! I- I was just so hurt by my friends! I just wanted my father to be proud of me! I don't want this to happen, spirit! Do you hear me!? I DON'T WANT THIS TO HAPPEN!" Andrias shouted, looking down at the Ghost of Christmas Future desperately, who didn't look back at him, "I WON'T INVADE EARTH ANYMORE! I'LL BE A BETTER KING! I'M SO SORRY, SPIRIT! I'M SO SORRY!"

That's when the spirit did look at him.

She just stared into his eyes as if she were looking straight into his soul before Andrias once again found himself in his chair by the fire, gasping for breath.