After freeing both Argus and Thomas from their new prisons, where Cosmos apologized for what had happened due to him accidentally activating the scepter that had been in Gnasty Gnorc's hands for a long time, Spyro, Spike, and Ember returned to relaxing and watching their elders play their game of sheepball. Spyro and Ember were interested in the game, more in the sense that it would be worth seeing if it could be improved in the future or at least studying the movements so they could take part in a game when they were older, though at least it seemed pretty straightforward, even if this was the first time they were seeing something like this. Spike, on the other hand, seemed to be observing how they moved as he made a few notes on the game, mostly to see what the library of Dark Hollow had on the topic, but his siblings knew that the first thing he wanted to finish was the journal that contained the information of their entire adventure, so he could bind it and add it to the library that the other scholars worked in. Even the Leaders and the other dragons knew that as well, that Spike was a scholar through and through, meaning that he would be busy with that journal for some time and that there was no stopping him from finishing it, but, at the same time, all of them were looking forward to seeing what he had written down, when it was published.
Nestor was happy to see the siblings unwind from their adventure, as both Spyro and Ember eventually moved out and started playing around the area they were in, where he found that they discovered a ball and seemed to be passing it between each other, using their tails to hit it. Spike, of course, wasn't interested in that sort of thing and didn't leave his writing supplies behind, but that didn't stop him from pausing every now and then to see what his siblings were up to, where they seemed to be in the middle of knocking the ball back and forth between them, while trying to add tricks to it to make it more interesting. A few of the sheep that were nearby, either from the sheepball game that was going on or just happened to be wandering around the area, stopped to see what they were doing, where Spyro paused and patted them before going back to his game, showing Nestor that the lesson that Toasty had taught him must have sunken in, which his siblings had learned at the same time, and he had to admit that it was something he would have to tell his fellow Leaders about when their next meeting happened. Based on what he had learned so far Nestor assumed that he and the others would have a lot to talk about, given the fact that the Junkyard had been freed from Gnasty Gnorc, who had turned it into an entirely new area than what they had originally used it for and he felt that it was time to ask them about something that had been bothering him for a number of years, but he pushed that to the back of his mind for now as he watched the siblings having fun in their own ways, knowing that they deserved all of this.
He wasn't the only one that thought that way, as many of the Artisans dragons personally thanked the siblings for saving them, usually waiting for them not to be focused on something before doing so, and he could see that Spyro, Spike, and Ember were happy to receive their thanks, especially since they had restored order to the Dragon Realms and took back everything that had been stolen from them.
When it got closer to the time that the siblings usually went to sleep, so they could rest and recover from what they had done that day, Nestor declared that it was time for everyone to retire for the night, as while he knew that everyone wanted to party into the night, and not worry about their duties for a few days, he also knew that it would be in everyone's best interests to get some rest, especially in the case of Spyro, Spike, and Ember, since they had traveled the entirety of the Dragon Realms in a single day and had to be exhausted. Everyone was still amazed that the three young dragons had gone through the five lands that the dragon clans called home, and all the realms that were connected to them, in a single day, as well as taking out Gnasty Gnorc, something he and the other Leaders would have to discuss once they were sure their lands were back to normal. At the same time, however, everyone had to agree with Nestor, as the mention of sleep seemed to make some of them feel more tired than they seemed to be, no doubt because they were excited by what the three young dragons had done, or maybe it was the sugar talking, and soon they stopped their game of sheepball, with Argus being the winner, much to Thomas' annoyance once more, before departing for the various realms that they called home. While that happened Nestor also let his fellow Leaders and Magnus spend the night in the realm that was where he rested, as he knew they had to be tired from their various flights to Gnasty's land and from the flight back to the land that he watched over, so he wanted to make sure they got a decent amount of sleep before the morning arrived, since they would be leaving to make sure their lands were just fine.
After making sure everyone else was fine, and that there were no negative side effects from being in those crystalline statues for some time, Nestor made his way back to Stone Hill, the realm that the three young dragons called home and slept in, and smiled when he arrived at his destination, as Spyro, Spike, and Ember fell asleep near each other and it appeared that it would be some time before they woke up, so he left them to their well deserved sleep and headed back to his own realm so he could sleep as well.
When morning arrived Spyro, Spike, and Ember rose with it, where each of them stretched for a few moments and took a few moments to yawn, as well as the fact that Spike had to pick up his new hat, since it had fallen after they had gone to sleep the previous night, and make sure his satchel was on, before they were ready to depart from the realm they called home and see what the new day had for them. Once he was ready to go the three of them headed for the exit portal and returned to the central hub area for the Artisans homeworld, though once they were on the other side they spotted a few of their fellow Artisans dragons walking around, either transporting things from one realm to another, for the various art pieces they were working on, or just heading to one of the other realms to help someone out. It was almost like Gnasty Gnorc had done nothing to the Dragon Realms, as the dragons seemed to be going about their days as if nothing bad had happened the previous day, but the other dragons knew what had happened and they were about to forget about it anytime soon, especially since they seemed happy that the siblings were able to defeat Gnasty Gnorc. Still, it left the three of them with questions, especially since some dragons from the other homeworlds had mentioned a great destiny for them and wouldn't tell them anything at all, except indicating that all the adults knew something that they didn't know, and Spike hoped that Nestor and the others would tell them what everyone else had been talking about.
They explored the central hub area of their home for a few more moments and found that the hidden entrance to the Flight Realm was still open, either meaning that Lucas considered the secret exposed and wasn't doing anything about it or he hadn't had the time to seal it, not that it mattered since all the Artisans dragons knew where it was and could likely guess how to open it, especially if they looked at what Spike wrote down for this area. The other thing they noticed was the fact that Nevin hadn't closed the dragon head statue that covered the portal to his personal realm, which meant that he was either taking a break from his paintings or that someone was visiting him in his castle, but even as they saw it the siblings turned away and headed elsewhere, as they were hoping to find Nestor at some point. Spike did pause after a few moments and looked at the area that all the reclaimed treasure was in, where he had left the Bag of Holding he had created at the start of their adventure, and found that some of the Artisans dragons, the scholars from Dark Hollow to be exact, were in the middle of counting the gems and were placing them in various containers, each with a label that told him that the treasure was being divided and returned to the homeworlds they had been stolen from, which was perfectly fine with both him and his siblings. The three of them were happy to see that everyone was returning to their daily routines, with some slight changes in some cases, and that nothing seemed out of place, to which they continued walking around the central hub area as they resumed their search for Nestor, to see if there was anything else they could do to help the other dragons, along with asking about their destiny, if they were lucky.
As it turned out Nestor was in the other half of the central hub of their homeworld, the half that contained the portals to Dragon Shores and all of the other realms that they hadn't visited yet, something they were going to have to do at some point in the future, though as they approached him, however, he turned towards them with a smile on his face, no doubt due to what they had done the previous day.
"Spyro, Spike, Ember, are the three of you ready for what I have planned today?" Nestor asked, his tone sounding like what he would use when he wanted them to know that he either had a trip to one of the other homeworlds planned, with the approval of the Leader of the land in question, or when he had some training for them to do, as in something new they had to learn or something they had to practice, which meant things were back to normal.
"Of course we are!" Spyro exclaimed, because after chasing down and beating Gnasty Gnorc, as well as the same thing to the beings that were his commanders for the various homeworlds, he felt like he was ready for anything and everything that Nestor could throw at him and his siblings, especially with Spike's incredible magical abilities and Ember's prowess in battle backing him up, "We can take whatever you can throw at us!"
"That's good to hear, even though I'm not going to be throwing anything at you today," Nestor replied, to which he turned to the side and beckoned to the portal that rested in the middle of the area they were in, the one that would take them to Dragon Shores, one of the nicest spots in the entirety of the Dragon Realms, hence why it had five portals that connected it to each of the homeworlds, so all of the clans could enjoy the small island that was often considered to be a paradise to all dragons, "I'm taking some time off from my duties, while you three will take some time off from training, so we can go back to Dragon Shores and have some fun."
"How long as it been since our last visit to Dragon Shores?" Ember asked, though at the same time she had to admit that the idea of taking a day off to relax on the beach, enjoying the sunlight and playing in the water, while even building a sand castle or two, sounded really appealing at the moment, even if she had been hoping that Nestor would have offered them some new training for their deed, something that might come in the coming days or weeks.
"It's been a few years, at the very least, since our last visit," Spike replied, because he knew the dates of certain events better than either Spyro or Ember did, since he was the one that actually paid attention to things like that, even though he had to admit that if he was wrong, and that their last visit hadn't been a few years ago, than it was likely around the time of their first birthday party, before it if his memory was correct.
"I figured that, before you resume your various training exercises, you deserved a break for saving all of us," Nestor said, though he was referring to the siblings finding their own paths, the professions that spoke to them, even though it was pretty clear that Ember was a warrior at heart and that she could rival Trondo and Titan one day, while Spike, on the other hand, was definitely one of the strongest magic users he had ever seen, something that he was sure Cosmos agreed with, but that left Spyro without a path to follow, which he was hoping to help him with in the future, "and, in addition to the party we had last night, I figured that a day in Dragon Shores was called for as well, to let the three of you truly relax before we do anything else."
Spyro, Spike, and Ember looked at each other for a moment, as they were still caught off guard by the fact that Nestor was allowing them a day off like this, to Dragon Shores no less, and it wasn't long before they turned back to face him and nodded their heads, where Nestor moved out of the way and let them charge through the portal that was directly behind him, allowing them to start relaxing before he joined them. It didn't take the siblings long to appear on the other side of the portal, where they noticed they were in the area where all of the portals lead to the five homeworlds, which was easy to understand since each land had a different style to their portals, a courtyard area that Spike recalled Nestor calling the Nexus at one point. The only downside to that name was that either the Leaders or Nora, who had her own type of Nexus that she had access to, would have to change the name of what they were talking about, just so no one got confused if they knew about both instances of the Nexus, but that was a problem for them to figure out and was something for the siblings to ignore for a good period of time. As soon as they came to that decision, however, they turned towards the path that was leading away from where the portals were standing and followed it, as that would take them right to where the beach was located and allow them to start relaxing as soon as they arrived.
As soon as they emerged from the path, and reached the area that the beach was located in, a smile appeared on all of their faces as soon as they noticed the waves and took in the sights once more, where Spyro slipped off his scarf, Ember made sure to take off her bracers, and Spike set both his satchel and his hat aside, before they focused on the fact that they were allowed to take a day off and started to have fun. The last time they had been here there had been a number of adults watching over them, due to them being hatchlings at the time and having no idea what in the world they were doing that day, though even as that thought came to mind Spyro charged at Spike, fully intending to knock him into the water like he did when they were younger. The only difference this time around was that Spike simply moved out of the way and let Spyro run right into the water, showing that he was too focused on one thing and that it had been predictable, which did cause Ember and their dragonflies to chuckle for a few seconds, as it was fun to watch this sort of thing happen when they weren't in danger. Of course Spyro got his revenge by bursting out of the water and used his wings the send some of it at his siblings, hitting them in the process and allowing him to laugh at them, but neither Spike or Ember were upset by that, as today was a day to relax and enjoy themselves, especially after the long day they had yesterday.
While the three of them expanded some energy in the water, however, Spike did notice that several dragons did join them at the beach, where he noticed Alvar setting up an area for him to work on some food, just like the last time they had visited Dragon Shores, before Nestor and the other Leaders joined them, all wearing the appropriate attire, the swimsuits they had worn a long time ago. Of course they weren't the only ones to join them, as Nora showed up after some time, seemingly appearing out of thin air, and laid down to enjoy the sunlight, silently showing the siblings that she wanted a day off as well and that today seemed like the perfect time to do so, before Argus and Thomas showed up with another sheep, so they could play a beach version of sheepball, as if Thomas hated losing and wanted to show everyone that he was better than Argus was. Spike also spied some buckets and shovels that were resting in the sand, the same ones that Ember had used a long time ago when she was building her first sand castle, though for now his focus was on jumping around the water and playing with his siblings, while their dragonflies rested in the shade, as they had also earned a break from all the training they did. He wasn't the only one that thought about that, as Gavin, the barista that created some of the finest drinks in the Dragon Realms, joined the group that was having fun and gave the dragonflies something to drink while they relaxed, to go with something that Alvar prepared for them, showing Spike that this was both a time for him and his siblings to relax, as well as a time for the other dragons to continue the party from last night.
Even as he thought about that he noticed a few more sheep had joined them, either for the sheepball game that was going on or because they were relaxing as well, which was a surprise that he wasn't expecting to see, though even as he considered it he had to wonder if a few of them were like Toasty, only without the terrible rage towards all dragons due to what they did to all sheep.
After about thirty minutes Alvar called them all in and revealed a decent breakfast that would give everyone there the energy they needed to play in the sand, chase others around in the water, and do whatever it was they wanted to do on this fine day, where the siblings found that the meal consisted of eggs, bacon, a few other bits of meat, a number of fruits and vegetables, and a couple of pastries that would keep them going, which had come from Devlin. One thing that Spyro, Spike, and Ember enjoyed was the food Alvar produced, even if it was something as simple as breakfast, and with that being combined with Gavin's drinks and Devlin's pastries they knew that today was really going to be a good day for them and the dragons that were around them. Even the dragons that were from one of the other homeworlds, like Nora and Titan, enjoyed the food that had been produced, either indicating that the chiefs in their lands were terrible or that Alvar was superior to them, though Spike had the feeling that the latter was correct, which would no doubt make Alvar even happier than he already was if it was true. Alvar also included the sheep in the meal, as in he had something prepared for them as well, showing that not all dragons treated their kind horribly and that they were well taken care of, and the sheep gladly ate what they had been given, though that really made Spike curious about them and wondered what he could learn if he ran a test or two on them in the future, before shelving the idea for later, as today was not the day to be worrying or focusing on something else.
Despite that, however, he did have one question he wanted to ask Nora, before he and his siblings went back to playing around in the water or moved onto building castles to compete with what they knew Nestor had to be thinking about since he came to the beach.
"Hey Nora, can I ask you something?" Spike asked, because he wanted to get this question asked and be done with it so he could go back to having fun, though at the same time he noticed that Nora shifted her gaze and focused on him, just as she finished part of the drink that Gavin made for her and the others.
"You just did." Nora replied, where she chuckled for a moment as Spike realized what had happened, though he also knew she was just messing with him and that she would get serious in the next couple of seconds, where his thoughts proved to be right ten seconds later and she focused on him again, "Okay, I've had my fun. What is it that you wanted to ask me, before I made that comment?"
"Aren't you worried that someone might get the Nexus that's associated with Dragon Shores mixed up with your more personal Nexus, if they knew about both of them?" Spike inquired, figuring that now would be the best time to ask the question, before Nora got involved in whatever her next project or experiment was, that way she would have enough time to figure out an answer to his question.
"You know, I thought about that myself, after I told you and your siblings about my Nexus," Nora admitted, showing Spike that she had already taken a moment to think about what he was talking about, though at the same time she took another sip from her drink before continuing with what she wanted to tell him, "so I decided to call it the Teleportation Nexus, to distance itself from the Nexus that's located here, on Dragon Shores... and I think the first thing I'm going to do, when I finally get everything figured out, is make sure Gavin is the first dragon I visit, to get me some good drinks before I focus on opening the Teleportation Nexus to everyone."
Spike honestly wasn't surprised that Nora might have already thought about changing the name of her Nexus, as he would have done the same thing if he was in her position, before he nodded his head and returned to where his siblings were playing, as he was happy to see that everyone was enjoying themselves. The only thing he could ask about was what Nestor and the other Leaders had planned for the land that Gnasty Gnorc had ruled over, as it had been shaped into a new island that could be expanded into a true homeworld, but for now he decided that he'd ask that some other time, just in time to jump out of the way as Spyro landed on his back in the water in front of him, mostly to avoid the bits of water that rained down on where he had been standing moments ago. It appeared that whatever game Spyro and Ember had been playing had resulted in Ember knocking Spyro away from her and claiming victory, or at least what Spike assumed was victory, before the three of them resumed what they had been doing before breakfast had been served, and while they did that Spike noticed that Alvar started to relax as he slow cooked the dinner items he had brought with him, just like he had done the last time they visited Dragon Shores. Just thinking about that made him want to deal dinner already, as he remembered it being good the last time they ate the slow cooked meat and the other items Alvar had prepared, but this time around he focused on what he was doing and enjoyed himself, knowing that the time would come when he and his siblings could eat what Alvar was making.
After twenty to thirty more minutes the trio finally removed themselves from the water and dried off for a couple of minutes, though once that was done they picked their own buckets and shovels from the pile that had been brought to the beach and found that Nestor was waiting for them, like they expected him to be. What happened next was that they took part of the beach for themselves and started moving sand around, where the siblings tried to combine their individual ideas on what a sand castle should be while Nestor started creating what he had been thinking about since he and the other adult dragons came to the beach as well. Interestingly enough Spyro took the lead and seemed to create a way to combine both Ember's suggestions, for a castle with fortifications, with Spike's ideas, for a more defensible location that would weaken the enemy long before they reached the gates, even if there were no soldiers in this build contest, before they got to work building their sand castle. While they were doing that several of the dragons watched them from time to time, to see how they were doing in comparison to the elegant sand castle that Nestor was putting together, but for the most part the adult dragons were either having fun playing a game of sheepball, enjoying the time they spent laying in the sun, or swimming in the water, a skill that Spyro and his siblings needed to learn at some point in time, whenever one of the adults had time to teach them anyway.
Spike, noticing his brother glance at the adults swimming around in the water, assured Spyro that he would find some way to allow them to do that as well, be it finding a book that taught them how to swim, locating a spell to help them out in regards to the water and the possible weakness it presented, or just waiting for the adults to take some time out of their schedules to teach them the skill.
Spyro, happy that Spike was willing to look into an alternate method for them, in regards to swimming, turned his attention back to the sand castle that they were building and focused on that for the time being, as he wanted to see if the three of them could beat Nestor in a building contest. Since they were young dragons it was slightly hard for them to build higher and make a castle with tall walls, something that worked in Nestor's favor since he could make multiple floors to his sand castle without any problems, but that just encouraged him to work at it and see what they could make. As the three of them worked on their piece they attempted to replicate what they found in the realms that the Dream Weavers called home, like the tower that Spike had seen and the castle that Spyro had charged through, combined with what Ember recalled from the land of the Peace Keepers, where a few dragons nodded their heads as the siblings worked to make a good sand castle that would compete with Nestor's. It appeared that the watchers seemed to think that their castle was good, even if it wasn't as elegant as what the Leader of their homeworld was building at the moment, but that just prompted them to put forth their best effort and see what happened when the contest was finally over, as they were hoping that their effort was good enough to contend with what Nestor was making.
In the end the siblings made a two storied sand castle that was more of a combination between the defensive style of the Peace Keepers and the structures of the Dream Weavers, causing a number of the dragons to cheer for them and what they had done, even though it was painfully clear that Nestor's elegant three floor castle was much better than what they had made, meaning they had lost... but, at the same time, the three of them chuckled and didn't let that bother them at all, as it was all in fun and they just wanted to see what they could make if they worked together.
Once the build contest was done, however, the siblings returned to the water and resumed what they were doing before they decided to attempt building a sand castle, though at the same time they found Titan and some of them other dragons tearing down the two castles so they could see what they made as well, causing them to laugh in the process, as it was nice to see the adults having fun as well. All three of them had to admit that this was nice, especially after what they had been through since Gnasty Gnorc trapped everyone else in those crystalline statues, and while they were enjoying their time off they were definitely looking forward to what the future held for them, especially since all three of them had a few ideas as to how they could improve their abilities, something they would worry about tomorrow. As they thought about that some of the other dragons joined them in the water, so all of them could have fun, and soon the siblings were splashing the newcomers and were being splashed back, showing that everyone was having a good time and that they were enjoying their time on the beach, regardless of what they were doing. As the siblings played in the water a few more dragons joined the game of sheepball that was going on, making it a more competitive game instead of it being between Argus and Thomas, something that made a few of the other dragons stop what they were doing to watch what was going on at the moment, and Spyro, Spike, and Ember joined them for a time, just to see what the appeal of the game was and why everyone else seemed to like it.
Eventually enough time went by and Alvar called for all of them to join him, where he produced a meal that was just like what the siblings had the first time they came to Dragon Shores, a meal that tasted the same as what they recalled from the past and enjoyed all the same, though even as they did that all three of them wondered what the future held for them and the rest of the Dragon Realms.