Spyro: Dawn of Light, 3-13

SPYRO: DAWN OF LIGHT
Part 3



CHAPTER 13




The sun rose behind thin rainclouds, a light drizzle wetting the vale of Summer Forest.  Even the grayish lighting of the stormy weather felt refreshing and calm instead of the dreary, dismal effect back home.  Cynder stretched and yawned, her tailblade singing through the air as she lashed her tail around.  Glancing up through the window, she rubbed her eyes, feeling a bit sore from yesterday's scare.  She could hear Flame snoring nearby, the fire dragon shielding Sparx from the rain with his wing.  Apparently he had relocated sometime in the early morning but had gone right back to sleep.  Rolling her eyes, the black dragoness turned to Spyro on the couch behind her.  She was surprised to find him awake, his eyes glazed over as he stared into the distance.  "Hey Spyro..." she whispered, leaning up to nuzzle him.  He blinked and stared at her hazily, coming back to reality, then smiled softly.

"Hey Cynder..."

"You okay?"

He nodded and stretched, wincing a bit.  "Still hurts, but it's more of a sore ache than a sharp sting of a cut now."

"What were you thinking about just now?"

"Hm?"

"You were staring into space."

He shrugged and yawned.  "Wasn't thinking about anything."  She gave a little accusatory glare.  "Seriously.  I was zoning out.  I don't think the drugs have worn off yet.  I was trying to piece things together but I kept going blank so...I just went with the blank for a while."

"Do you remember anything from last night?"

He yawned again as he shook his head, then stretched.  "Not a thing."

"You derp."  She playfully smacked him upside the head with the flat of her wing's thumb-blade, then turned and stretched once more before padding outside.  "Brrrr that's chilly rain!"

"Oh yeah...where's Sparx?"

Hr wing flared out, pointing with the outer finger.  "Over thataway with Flame I'd assume, he went out last night to check on the bug.  Probably keeping him dry.  I need a drink and a snack.  We're going to decide whether to go home or stay out here later, so you'd better make up your mind."  With that, she darted off into the rain.  Spyro laid there staring after her, then shook his head and sighed, hiding under his wing sleepily.  

Two hours later everyone except Spyro was awake and milling around waiting for the Professor's results.  Cynder had returned with some more fruits to nibble on, though by now the kids were all wishing for some meat.  They had jerky and dried fish in their reserves, but a home-cooked meal sounded really good right then.  Plazyma rolled a berry around before popping it up and snatching it in her jaws.  

"You guys never answered my question last night."

"Wazzaht?" Flame asked through a mouthful of berries.  Plazyma and Cynder both scowled in disgust, prompting him to sheepishly swallow.

"You were all talking about elements but didn't give any ideas on why Caelos is fu_____ censoring me...see there he goes again!" she sighed in exasperation.  The wind dragon sat there with a self-content grin.

Flame shrugged.  "Not a clue, honestly."  Pausing with a paw of berries halfway to his mouth, he looked up at the others with an unusual air of determination.  "This stays between us until further notice, but the Guardians have been keeping major things secret from us.  They knew full well about this place, but they're trying to hide something."

"Well yeah, no need getting so serious over it," Plazyma quipped with a shrug, rolling a berry down her foreleg, popping it off her elbow and snatching it in her mouth.  I'm sure there's a crapload more secrets they don't discuss with us."

"That's not my point.  There's something very serious going on and we're right in the middle of it.  I think every question we have about this place, they can answer.  But it's not just that.  Piecing two and two together, I think something big went down not too long before we were born and there was a massive cover-up.  I also think that led to our society's rapid degradation back home.  And it has to do with this place.  Something isn't right here and I have a feeling we need to milk the information from the elders before we uncover it ourselves.  We need to know what we're up against."

"Good luck with that..." came Spyro's muffled voice, still beneath his wing.  "Ignitus was pretty pissed off when he found me about to open a book on the Forgotten Realms.  If you want information, you're gonna have to go through him."

Flame blanched and gulped, the mere thought of an angry Ignitus enough to make him second-guess.  However he steeled himself again.  "Ignitus is scary when he's angry but this is worth the risk.  I have a bad feeling that the more we involve ourselves out here, the more likely we are to encounter whatever happened."

Caelos made a few quick signs.  ::Could it be related to the Eternal Nightwatch?:: he asked.  

"Most likely.  In fact that may have been it, but without investigation it's still just a theory.  But it would explain a lot."

A loud sparking noise outside and a yelp of excitement caught their attention.  Tempted to get up and investigate, they managed to refrain, in case it was another of the Professor's random tangent thoughts.  However, the squat mole came toddling in quickly, his hair frizzed and sparking.  "It worked!  I lost a few pieces of equipment but the power cycling worked!  This-this is a major breakthrough!!"

"You lost a few pieces?" Plazyma asked warily.  "Do I smell a retrieval mission?"

"Oh if you would be so kind!  Yes, yes, unfortunately the power flow was too much and vaporized some of the components, but I know exactly where some higher capacity parts can be found!"  Hopping up and down and spinning, he clapped his hands.  "Oh my I can't remember the last time I felt so excited!  If you could retrieve the parts for me I can have the drained Power Orbs recharged and reinstalled in the gate by sunset!"

Spyro sighed with relief.  "Finally we can go home..."

"I thought you liked it here?" Cynder teased, sticking her tongue out at him.  "Well, let's go get those parts then.  Where do we look?"

"Hurricos.  The portal gate is in the castle, but it'll need some juice.  The Power Orbs that are still active will give enough energy for you children to pass through without issue.  I only need one or two Orbs to make a firm connection."  Smoothing out his hair, he then led them across the garden and through the castle to the deactivated gate.  Producing two Power Orbs, he fiddled with the gate some.  "Alright, so reroute the energy lines here aaaaand..."  The gate suddenly sparked to life in a shower of gold, floating runes accenting a rather stormy-looking watercolor landscape.  "Beware though, with the portals down like this I'm afraid many of the worlds have been left to their own devices, so there may be some Rhynoc incursions or sieges.  Or other local enemies."

"What pieces do we need, exactly?"

The Professor produced a cross-sectional slice of a wire and handed it to her.  "Five cadanine wires in this size, about...hrm...about as long as your outstretched wing.  Not the irondium in these pieces."  He paused, then chuckled awkwardly and rubbed his neck.  "Erm, I just realized, Spyro shouldn't be moving yet.  Could you help me move him to the Super Portal so I can keep an eye on him?"

"...Derp..." Flame grunted under his breath with a roll of his eyes, following Caelos.  Cynder looked over the slice of wire in her paw, Plazyma idly twirling her crests again.

"Pretty damn thick, how does such a tiny creature work with such massive machinery?" she asked.

"He lost me at that huge key he pulled out when we got here.  These outer worlds are almost comical."  Tucking her crests behind her horn she huffed and looked up over the far edge of the courtyard wall, watching the clouds serenely floating by.  As Cynder watched her, a myriad of questions came bubbling up, but died on her tongue as she stuttered and caught herself.  The electric dragoness was not oblivious either.  "If you've got something to say, then say it, don't just sit there and gargle."

"I-...nevermind."  Busying herself with the piece of wire she tried to distract herself from the near embarrassment.  Despite the obvious connection between them she still couldn't wrap her mind around Caelos and Plazyma courting each other, and it was starting to really bug her with curiosity.  On the other side though she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge her desire to be with Spyro, partially out of pride and embarrassment, but also because the last time she had acknowledged it, things had gone to hell in a blink.  

The boys finally returned and together they headed through the portal to Hurricos.  Back at the Super Portal, Spyro was finally starting to shake off the drugs, watching a rejuvenated Sparx darting after tiny butterflies around the garden.  "Hope they'll be okay without me..." the purple dragon grumbled, feeling bored already.

"Don't worry.  I'm sure that with the limitations of these realms their power and abilities currently match yours."  The Professor disappeared inside the bulky shiny blue generator machine, his voice echoing comedically with intermittent tinks and clanks of nuts and bolts and pieces being shifted around.  "Someday I would love to witness your true power levels and abilities, young dragon, such ideas have haunted my dreams for...well, as far back as I can remember!  It must be nothing like these old faded texts and tomes suggest!"

"Heh..."  He rubbed his shoulder, feeling awkward with so much praise and excitement.  "Actually, to be honest, I don't know my own power level.  Every time I think I do, I find I'm barely scratching the surface.  You overheard Cynder's recount of our fight against Ripto?"

"Indirectly through Elora, but yes!  I was quite impressed!  His complexity of spells and defenses signifies an astounding deep connection to magic and darkness, incalculable power, and yet you tore through him so easily!"

"Eheh..."  Now he was getting embarrassed.  "Well, at the time, Cynder had wanted me to show her my full power.  And I thought I was.  But as the battle progressed...it felt like...kinda like all that time before I had been jogging along a plain trying to reach the mountains ahead, yet when I scaled those mountains at that battle, before me lay a valley so deep I couldn't see the bottom, and its far wall was a mountain ridge so high I couldn't see the tops, and yet though I couldn't see beyond them I felt like there was an even greater expanse beyond...it was strange.  And it scares me..."  He faded off there.

"And it what?  My apologies, I didn't catch that-ouch!"  He came dancing out holding his foot.  "Definitely didn't catch that either..."

"Nothing."  Flexing his tail and wings he sighed, then glanced sidelong at the mole, his tail growing stiffer with apprehension.  "I have a question."

"I may or may not have an answer."

Spyro rolled his eyes and sighed again, wondering how to phrase this.  "How far back does the history out here go?  I mean...what's the last mention of other realms?"

Pausing his rerouting of cables, the tiny scientist readjusted his glasses.  "You're serious aren't you."

"The fates of all the realms may depend on it, though I can't say for sure."

Leaning on the generator, the Professor pulled out his pencil, but didn't go for his clipboard, idly tapping the side of his head as he thought.  "Your question ties in with a theory of mine, one that has me anxious to get this gate finished and you children home as soon as possible.  You see, while I could give a reference of time, I'm not sure it'll apply to your timeframe."

Canting his head in confusion, Spyro tried to anticipate what this might be leading to, but failed.  "What do you mean?"

"Simply put, ever since the connections between this and your 'Outer Realm' were severed...I don't think your world and ours follow the same time.  It may be linked to the lack of power this far out.  I have no way of knowing for sure until I can personally go to your world and see for myself, but the last mention of connection to another realm was eighty years ago.  I was still a child at the time.  It may be my age, but as the world powers fade I can't help but feel that time is not flowing the same anymore.  It may have something to do with dragons not being here, it may have been the lost connection to the realms closer to whatever epicenter we're straying from, but the math continuously points to time flow having changed and continuing to change.  So, if that holds true, eighty years for us may have only been a few for you.  How long ago on your end were things cut off?"

Spyro shook his head.  "I don't know.  I didn't even know about the Forgotten Realms until just a day or two before we came here.  They were vaguely mentioned in a book on ancient artifacts and magic weaponry.  The Guardians, our teachers, apparently went to great lengths a while ago to seal away knowledge of the old days.  Things are starting to piece together, and I have a feeling Ignitus was the one who cut off the connection.  He's been very agitated with us getting so close to uncovering the past."

"I see..."  The mole turned back to his machine, idly toying with a few inactive switches, giving off rather comical clicks.  "That would make sense with what I've read.  I'm hazarding a guess, but you described your situation as being the ancient evil figures resurrecting via the dark powers of the Eternal Night opening a 'Well of Souls' where they were trapped?  And there's the Eternal Nightwatch out here...I have a feeling that we were cut off for our own good.  I hope I haven't gone and opened up the Pandora Box..."

"Huh?"

"I wonder if this Ignitus fellow might have cut us off to prevent old horrors from resurrecting here?  But there must be more to it than that.  I don't understand why they would bury history on your end too.  There must have been something far darker on this side that they didn't want anyone to find."

"It's not just the Forgotten Realms, there are a lot of things they didn't want us researching either."

Tapping his head a few more times, the mole finally stood up again and grabbed his wrench.  "It sounds to me like opening this portal to send you home may not be a good idea anymore.  But concerns from the first day come to mind, it was suspected that this was all set up?  That someone had engineered this situation?  Its starting to sound more and more like that, in which case it may not matter if the connection between realms is reestablished."

Red-skinned wings slowly flapped as Spyro stretched again.  "I think that even if it exposes your world to the old horrors, for the long-term survival a connection may be necessary.  Not to use discovery as bait but perhaps if you cross-referenced this realm versus ours, a lot more answers may come to light.  Some of which we may need in our battles."

The Professor nodded grimly.  "I have to agree.  In my zeal to discover, it seems I may have doomed both our worlds.  But we don't know until we try.  When your friends get back with the parts I need, I'll just plug them in and we should be good to go.  After the trial and error with these orbs and the force-cycle recharge method, with only the wires blowing out, I can't see much else going wrong after those are replaced."

Spyro glanced over at Sparx.  "Hey Sparx!  C'mere, we gotta talk!"  The golden bug came to an abrupt stop, then flitted over.  "Good to see you're feeling better, but we need to know what happened.  Are you well enough to tell us?"  A few brief flash patterns.  "No, the others are out getting new wires so we can head home.  What did you find in Magma Cone?"





"Oh my gosh..."

"Why would anyone live here?"

"Don't let them hear you say that, idiot."

Caelos rolled his eyes and squinted against the sharp gust of wind that rolled past them.  Dark green and purple clouds swirled all around the strange clifftop citadel around them, partially obscuring  fading orange sunset.  Small windmills could be seen powering glowing glass objects.  Through the taller hills they saw archways of tunnels, but across them were fields of blue electricity.  Upon seeing this, Plazyma had a brief flashback to that strange bipedal creature that had fought her in the clouds above Elamrof using blue electricity, but she shook the thoughts from her head as the others trotted before her into the town of Hurricos, if it could be called a town.  From where they were, no dwellings could be seen.  In the distance near a bridge they could see a hulking orange figure with a black vest and a ridiculously oversized wrench, and not too far from him was a small blue creature with huge, thick glasses, a small brown muzzle, and two stiff black antennae or ears that occasionally sparked and shot blue electricity back and forth.  Blinking in confusion at the odd creatures, Cynder cleared her throat and approached the small one.  

"Hi, um...we're here to request new machine parts?"

"Oh!" it replied in a high, rather nasal voice, "if I could help I would, but you see, the Gear Grinders...we've always had trouble with them, but now they've gone and set up forcefields, and now we can't get to our machines for repairs.  If you could find the diodes to the gates, you can use them to turn off the forcefields.  I would do it myself, but my eyesight isn't what it used to be..."

Plazyma raised an eyebrow, glancing slightly to the side not three feet away at a small glass object.  "...Obviously."

"So if we get rid of the Gear Grinders and shut down the fields, you can get us the parts?"

"Of course!  We Electrolls have the finest in electronic pieces!  I don't know how many forcefields there are though, I've been stuck out here on this ledge for some time now.  If you can find him, I suggest talking to Ampp about parts.  He's probably still fussing with the lightning stones."

"Alright, we'll clear this place," Flame said, going over and picking up the diode.  As soon as it touched him it disappeared in a puff of star-shaped sparkles, the young dragons seeing it pop up in their field of view briefly.  Rolling his shoulders he charged over to the Gear Grinder.  "RAAAAHHH!!!" he cried as his claws tore into the soil.

CLANG

Cynder and Plazyma winced as Flame was flattened into the ground.  He popped back up and stumbled sideways, his eyes swirling.  "Whahuhwhoaa I don feel goo..." he moaned, then flopped sideways.  "I see stars spinning...so pretty..."

Plazyma snorted and padded over, the Gear Grinder raising his wrench and waving it, ready to smack her.  Just as she got close enough for him to clock her, she yawned, lightning leaping from her throat and shocking the huge brute into a puff of smoke and sparks.  "Get up, you're fine you drama king."  Flame just grunted in reply, not wanting to get up and face another wrench.  Padding up to the gate, Plazyma approached the square slot in the frame.  The diode sparkled as it hovered from her, swirled around a few times, then quickly settled into place, instantly shutting off the blue forks of electricity.  "Huh.  It does it for us.  How the heck do these people out here have so much trouble with their own stuff?"

"Dunno," Cynder replied, following Caelos through the gate.  Flame shook himself off, feeling worse for the wear after taking that hit directly to his health.  

"Urgh...really wish we had dragonflies right now..."

Over a bridge between spires they came cross a bowl in the hills, lined with upwards-facing windmills which were apparently harnessing the sharp winds that blasted through.  A slight drizzle began to fall, the young dragons shielding their faces with their wings.  Behind the windmills stood several more Grinders, as well as a strange purple one with huge arms and no armor, carrying a diode.  Flame held up a wing, then motioned in a circular pattern to Cynder.  After a brief yet silent back and forth of facial expressions she finally got it and slunk away, keeping to the shadows while Flame walked around in plain sight.  The Grinders raised their wrenches, which made the fire dragon flinch.  Caelos and Plazyma darted in, rolling aside to dodge the heavy tools being swung at them.  The purple one fled a few paces, clutching the diode.  Without warning it yelped and tumbled head over heels into a puff of smoke, Cynder grimacing and smacking her lips.  "Ew my poison tastes so gross out here..."

Distracted, the Grinders grunted and fell over, zapped and blasted with wind.  Cynder picked up the diode and padded up to the nearest forcefield, the shiny glass bulb floating into place and shutting off the electric arcs.  "Easy enough," Flame grinned, then yelped when thunder snapped directly overhead.  

"We'd better get inside, I don't feel like getting hit by lightning," Plazyma grumbled.  The others all looked at her oddly.  "I may be the avatar of electricity but if I'm caught off guard it hurts like hell.  And I don't have my electric projection out here."

The rain suddenly picked up in thickness, pelting them with stinging fat drops.  "Over here!!" Flame called out, standing in the mouth of a metal-plated tunnel.  Darting in and shaking themselves off, they had no choice but to settle in for a while and wait out the storm.  Plazyma had drawn a good point about electricity, and with so much of it being used for barricades they didn't want to chance stepping into a connected puddle or something, especially not knowing how things worked out here.  That tangent led Cynder's thoughts as they idly milled around, listening to the rain outside.

"It seems the further we get from home, the crazier physics gets...it's like we're on the border of some dreamworld or something..."  Cynder blinked at the blank stares from Caelos and Plazyma.  "I'm serious!  Flame was literally flattened earlier, you saw it.  Sizes are exaggerated, Flame can be flattened paper-thin by a blow to the head and pop back up totally fine..."

"Not totally..." Flame grumbled, rubbing his head.

"Headaches aside.  The creatures out here are like something out of a fairy tale, the sizes, the physics...I thought the Outer Realms were weird enough with us taking damage instead of getting cuts or bruises, or the weird creatures, but out here it's taken to a new extreme.  You can't tell me you don't find that weird."

Plazyma shook her head.  "I agree with you, it's just that I don't really care.  We've seen some s___-" she glared at Caelos, who just whistled innocently and looked away, "...but anyway yeah.  To me it's just another thing we have to deal with to get where we're going.  Which at this point is Insane.  We have no clear objective except to get home, and what comes after that is anyone's guess, especially since we're cut off and blind until we get that portal running."

"Spyro has a vague idea but he won't share it yet," Flame added.

"Anyone's.  Guess."

The black dragoness sighed and flopped down, rolling onto her side and curling her paws.  "At any rate, this place is starting to freak me out and I wanna get home as soon as possible."  She stared out into the downpour, wincing as the sharp wind angled itself enough to send a few drops onto her muzzle.  "Though, honestly, as nonsensical as this place is, I think I'm gonna miss it when we get that Super Portal activated."

After the storm died off, they continued, coming across a strange area full of oddly shaped machines and small towers with glass bulbs at their thin peaks.  Another Electroll was standing near the machines, looking around furtively.  Like the last time, just a few feet away from him was something round and shiny, but this time it was a stone with a lightning bolt etched into it.  Flame padded up, clearing his throat.  "Hi, um, we were sent to find Ampp?"

"Well you've found him, but he's busy looking for the Lightning Stones for these machines."

"Lightning...stones?" Plazyma asked, interested.  

"Yes, round orbs that we use to power these machines!  They gather the electric energy of the storms.  I need to find them and replace them before those Gear Grinder thieves steal them again.  I just got a fresh batch but I dropped a few..."

The electric dragoness picked up the stone with her mouth and carried it to the nearest machine.  There was a port jutting out from the side with two metal spikes spaced just far enough apart to fit the stone.  She spat it into the open space, watching as the orb sparked and became a beautiful translucent blue, electricity arcing into the metal spikes and powering up the tower.  She stared at the orb, watching the electric power swirling slowly inside in filaments and waves of plasma.

A loud, vibrating noise shook her from her reverie, the repeating tone sounding ominous.  "The alarm's been tripped!  The thieves are back!" Ampp cried, panicking.  The young dragons were quick to split up, patrolling the small electrical complex.  Several of those lumbering purple Grinders came dancing in with an air of self-confidence, a few picking up some fallen Stones.  When they spotted the incoming dragons they freaked out and ran, waddling comically around the machines.  All it took was one blast of breath or a headlong skull bash to end them and retrieve the Stones.  As he rounded a corner carrying a Stone, Caelos spotted Plazyma with another in her mouth, but she wasn't moving to place it in the machine.  Instead she was playfully chewing on it.  Raising an eyebrow curiously he crept up on her and tapped her hip.  Her wings flared out and she spun around, almost dropping the Stone.  She blushed and quickly turned to spit the Stone into the machine, watching it glow.  

"The electricity tastes good..." she whispered.  He rolled his eyes and smirked, placing his Stone in another nearby slot, then turning to nuzzle her.  "I know, I know.  But the stone is...I don't know, the electric crackle felt good on my tongue."

Before he could reply, the alarms went off again.  This time, there were more thieves, and the young dragons almost missed one as it tried to run off with its prize.  Plazyma reluctantly gave up the Lightning Stones to the machines again, catching herself staring at the soft blue glow.  Flame, however, was smacking his lips and grimacing.  "Begh...I canf fee mah mouf..."

"You're not supposed to touch it with your tongue, dummy, you're turning your mouth into a circuit.  Didn't you learn anything about lightning from Volteer?" Cynder admonished him, to which his wings clenched to his sides in obvious guilt.  Snorting, Plazyma wandered off, then yelped when her paw slipped on something round, wings flaring and tail waving madly as she caught her balance.  *damnit what the..."

The alarms went off once more.  The purple lumbering brutes filtered in a few at a time, sneaking around the machines and distracting them by rolling some of the orbs from their slots.  When they killed one, it seemed like two more had crept in to replace it.  Finally Flame had enough of it and just madly charged everywhere, skullbashing them and leaving the others to pick up the fallen stones in his wake.  After what seemed like hours, there was finally no sign of any more pilfering Grinders.  Replacing all the Lightning Stones in their slots, the machines fully powered up.  Overhead, the lightning in the clouds began to stream steadily into the tall thin metal peaks and glass globes set high atop the hardware.  

"Great!  I can't thank you enough.  Oh, perhaps this will do?  I think it's a defective Lightning Stone, but you can have it as a memento.  I don't really have anything else to offer, unless maybe you're interested in the old Lightning Stones.  I dropped a few, I hope they didn't trip you up."  He dropped a Power Orb, which bounced musically to Cynder and touched her nose, vanishing on contact.  

"Well, we're just here for parts.  We need five...um...canamine? wires in this thickness," she replied, holding out the cross-sectional slice of wire.  Ampp took it and held it close to his thick glasses, the electricity arcing between his ears growing a bit more intense.

"Never heard of canamine, unless you mean cadanine?  We have plenty of those.  But I can't get to them until all the diodes have been replaced and the forcefields deactivated, they're all on the same security circuit.  I was getting ready to fix that with some new minted parts from these generators, but then, well..."

Flame sighed and rolled his shoulders.  "Alright, let's get cracking then.  Diode hunt, continue."  Cynder followed him, Caelos following her but curiously eyeing his girlfriend, who was trotting along behind him.  Literally trotting, with a spring in her step.  Hanging back a bit he shot her a pointed questioning look, to which she looked around innocently.

"What?  He said we could take them.  I only took the one I tripped on."

Cynder didn't hear them, but kept catching herself watching them over her shoulder, a pang of jealousy pulling at her chest.  How badly she wanted to know...

Just how had the two gotten together anyway?  
And more importantly, how did they stick together?


---------------


"So you're telling me..."

Moneybags nodded grimly, meshing his fingers together and twiddling his thumbs, his wide mouth flattened sternly.  "There is more to this than even the guardians know, for now, as they would have otherwise opposed me being here and contacting you.  But I can assure you that what I've told you is factual.  There is more to be told, but it must wait."

Neves pulled his glasses down his muzzle and sighed in frustration, rubbing his eyes.  "So there was a connection..."

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"But how do you know the worlds are still out there?"

The bear shrugged, poker-faced.  "I have my means.  If Spyro is smart enough he too will discover them.  I am honestly amazed the Professor hasn't figured it out yet.  But now, let's cut to the chase and discuss your ex."  Neves stiffened at that reference.  "You haven't much time before your next challenge, yes?  The agreement was to discuss that matter of business, though the prior tangent was necessary as well."  Leaning back in his chair and propping his head with his arms the portly bear stared up at the ceiling.  "Last I recall, your girl was searching for something.  I have not yet introduced myself to her of course, makes it easier to track her discreetly, but she was very intent on something.  I have not the slightest what it could be though."  Giving a sidelong glance to the ice dragon he chuckled.  "No, not another guy, uncurl your paws."  Neves didn't even know he'd clenched his paws, quickly unfurling them and then sliding them off the table.  "She seemed to be looking for someone or something, but not with good intention.  I heard her mention Hollow Flight, which piqued my interest, but I haven't been able to pick up her trail again just yet.  Perhaps she headed there, perhaps she was merely making mention.  But she's definitely on a mission of her own."

"Hollow Flight..."  Neves' heart almost skipped a beat with mixed emotions.  Had he really been that close to meeting her?  Had he passed her by on the streets??  Did she know he was staying with Kyria?!  He blanched beneath his white scales, his pulse racing at the thought.  If she didn't know the circumstances, there went any and all chance of apologizing to her!

"Relax, I highly doubt she's aware of your...situation."  Moneybags waved off the concern scrawled all over the icy teen's face.  "I don't have any information currently on her whereabouts, but I would suggest prioritizing your challenge and destroying these Shadow Gems.  Oh yes, there is also consult payment."

With a low grunting growl Neves pulled forth a few more gems, which the bear was all too eager to stash in the bag he had by his side.  "I guess this time the magnitude of the information is warranted."

"There you go."  Moneybags slid off his chair, slung his bag over his shoulder, then turned to look at Neves over his shoulder, readjusting his monocle.  "You should get moving, as should I.  I have further research to conduct before our next meeting."

Neves' brow raised in suspicion.  "I was not aware we were setting up appointments."

"Oh, you're not.  But our wallets will cross again."  With that he took his leave, disappearing from the reading room.  Neves facepawed and dragged his glasses off his muzzle, flopping on the table.  Somehow, they had gone from Ripto to a myriad of evil masterminds, and matters were much deeper than he'd believed them to be.  The ice dragon almost felt himself missing the days when Ripto was all they had to worry about.  

"So...the Sorceress created a bunch of them...how many others are controlled as well?  Are they all under some overlord?"  He pawed at one of the small books he'd purchased, then quickly flipped to one page in particular, squinting at the handwritten runes.  "'Contrary to popular belief, however, Red was not brainwashed.  The grand elder was misguided and clung too tightly to his pride, leading to his fall in Age'...oh whatever..."  He closed the book and frowned.  "These are summaries, not detailed enough for anything.  But still...Cooldown in particular, and Sleepyhead..."  Going through Caelos' list of discovered enemies, one in particular jumped out at him.  Padding into the library, and spotting the greedy bear at the far side engrossed in a book, Neves lowered his voice to a whisper.  "Jinaya the Temptress.  Search."  A few books in the older sections were highlighted in green, as well as a few translation keys.  "Aw great...more translation..."  Flying up and gathering what he needed he brought it all back to the reading room, spread it out, and pawed through the pages.  "I don't have much time for this but..."  Glancing between the book and the doorway, he finally gave another frustrated sigh and closed the book.  "I'll finish when I get back.  I need to prep for the next challenge."

Back up in the Temple proper, he came across his mom playing with the babies.  They were tackling her paw as she moved it around for them to chase.  "Awww lookit you!  So strong!  Oh yeah you got it!  You got it!  Oh where'd it go?  There it is!"  She glanced up as her eldest son entered the chamber.  "Hey Nev, can I get you to look after them real quick?  I need a drink."

He canted his head a bit.  "You're...water."

"I've had plenty of water, I need something different.  You'll know when you're older.  We have some fruit, I'm probably gonna go mash it up for these guys and have some fruit juice myself."  

"Alright, but I gotta head out soon for the next challenge."  Pulling the envelope out of his personal storage he quickly examined it.  "This doesn't open until it's active, I wanna be ready."

"I'll be quick.  You should really be wearing your armor, you know, since you don't have dragonflies out there."  She stood up and stretched, her watery scales glimmering with every motion.  Neves had to look away, it reminded him too much of Shimmer.  As his mother headed out, he took her place, sitting awkwardly amidst his siblings.  They just stared at him curiously with their huge eyes.  Despite his uncertainty he couldn't help smiling at them.

"Awww..."  He laid down on his side, watching them notice his glittering tailfin.  Flicking his tail around slightly, he laughed to himself as he watched their full attention divert to his tail, their eyes going wide with excitement as they crouched to pounce.  Pounce they did, albeit with infantile clumsiness, rolling on impact and looking around in confusion, or landing flat on their bellies with a surprised "oof!", but never giving up their quarry of the unusual white icicle scale.  Finally the little girl caught it and squealed joyously, hugging his tail tightly and rolling around, then batting off her brothers when they tried to get in on the fun.  "Aw, hey, c'mon, that's not nice... C'mere you!"  Swooping at them with his forelegs, they squealed and laughed as he dragged them close and hugged them.  They nuzzled against his chest and pawed at him, babbling excitedly.  The ice dragon couldn't help smiling at them.  They were so small, so innocent...so full of potential.  Now he really started to see why Shimmer was so eager to have kids eventually.  The thought pulled at his chest, but he steeled himself and ignored it as he watched his siblings grapple with each other.  

"Okay, big brofer..." came a whispering voice.  He started and looked around, Rivyera standing over him with a bowl clasped in her lips.  Scooting away he made room for her, the little ones chirping excitedly at the smell of fruit mush.  She giggled and settled down with them.  "Thank you, Nev."  She licked his cheek and nuzzled him, then nudged him away.  "You'd better get your armor on and get going."

"Well, I would, but..."  Flexing his back, he made his spines stand up.  "Inheritance from dad kinda gets in the way."

She clucked her tongue and rolled her eyes with a smirk.  "Alright, I'll help you."  Pulling out his old armor he looked it over and sighed to himself.  So many times, Shimmer had helped him put this on... The memories were scrawled all over his face, Rivyera not missing a beat as he presented his back.  She carefully eased his armor on, sliding the spinal gaps between the sharpened spiny scales.  "Are you sure that pursuing her is still wise, Nev?" she asked softly, entertaining the babies with her tail again as she laced him up and made sure the leather and steel pieces were secure.

"I'm not pursuing her...I just...want to apologize.  I could send her a letter but it may never reach her...I just...I need to know she's okay."  He shivered a bit and pushed his glasses back up his muzzle.  "I love her, mom...I really do...but I want her to be happy.  I want her to know that she's free to do as she wants...but I also want to make sure for myself that she's okay."

"There's more to this than that, isn't there?" she asked with a bit of concern.  He paused, mulling over his response.

"I...found out through a grapevine about her heritage.  But I never told her.  She never talked about her past, and always skirted talking about her family.  Like the sea itself she kept great secrets buried...and I never pried.  She was in pain.  I just...I can't live with myself knowing this...I need to see for myself that she's still okay and hasn't...regressed or anything.  If she found me stressful or overbearing...I want her to personally know that I...I'm freeing her.  From me."  As he talked his wings were growing tighter and his tail was curling around himself.  Rivyera frowned and nuzzled her eldest along his neck, though he couldn't feel it well through the leather.

"Your intentions are noble...but perhaps she already knows this?  Shimmer's an intelligent girl and I don't think that even those high emotions would have driven her to ruin like you fear.  You likened her to the sea...and much like the sea, she flows over her problems.  She doesn't let things hold her down.  You knew her best...have a little faith in her."

"I just...want to give a proper goodbye on friendly terms...I don't want this guilt hanging over me.  I caused this problem...I want to fix it if I can."

"That's fine, but don't let it control you.  Now turn around, let me see you."  He turned around to face her, pulling out his helmet and arranging it over his face.  Rivyera smiled fondly.  "Handsome as your father.  The armor is getting too small on you but you look like a real warrior."

"Dad wore armor?"

She nodded, then waved her paw.  "Your appointment is any time now, right?  Better get going!"  He merely nodded and darted off, not wanting to be late.  When the door to the balcony rolled shut behind him she smiled at the babies still staring off after him.  "That was your big brother, little ones, never forget what you've seen.  I hope you grow up to be like him."

As he made his way to the portal hub on the mainland, Neves took a deep breath, watching the ocean glitter dully beneath him.  The hazel sky still felt as cheerless as ever.  How he longed to see real sky and clouds again.  The mainland was becoming just as brown, the plants withering and giving up from lack of real sunlight.  The haze was so thick that the sun was a clearly defined disk, one could almost look at it directly without hurting the eyes.  As he landed at the hub to the south of the Settlement, a contingent of oddly-garbed soldiers, all cheetahs, barricaded his entry to the building.  "Can I help you?" he asked uncertainly, not liking the gleam in their eyes, nor the strange elemental pressure around them.

"What help have you or your friends given us, Neves the Traitor?" the foremost one snarled, brandishing his spear.  Neves flinched, feeling even more elemental power.  "In the name of the Department of Containment, you are under arrest for unwarranted destruction of public and private property, disturbance of the peace-"

"LOOK OUT!!" the ice dragon shouted with a panicked voice, jumping back in alarm and sprinting away.  The cheetahs all whipped around, but found nothing.

"There's nothing-" their leader started, but when he turned back, the ice dragon was gone.  The cat facepawed.  "We never speak of this to the boss, he'll hang us for sure."

"That'd be wise."  They tried to turn again to face the voice but their armored shoes were frozen to the pavement.  As soon as they spotted Neves waving at them from behind, he winked and they all fell over with a muffled cry as a thick pillar of snow fell over on them.  "Told ya to look out."  Ignoring the flailing tails and kicking feet, he padded over and examined the fallen weaponry.  He couldn't help but grimace as he picked up one of the spears; its elemental energy felt sickly, almost like a crude mockery.  Noting a few other types of weapons of similar make, he took one of each and stored them away.  Carefully making his way through the complex, noting that most of the portals were deactivated and barred off, he realized he was alone.  This had been a trap set up for him.  Peeling a few bars off a closed gate he fiddled with the frame, and placed a small shard of Spirit Crystal in its energy chamber.  The gate sparked to life and he reset it to Hollow Flight.  Before he went in though, he took the letter out and looked it over carefully.  It still hadn't opened, but something about this wasn't adding up.  "We're dealing with a bunch of evil masterminds...while the Summoner may be looking for a game, I don't think it's that simple with the others.  Someone's playing us with this challenge.  That trap was for me...or the others."  Glaring in the general direction of the front entrance, he turned back to the portal, staring at the watercolor landscape of the world's reflection through Convexity.  "Alright...Kyria, you'd better not be waiting for me."