Spyro, Spike, and Ember were currently sitting at a table in one of the rooms of Autumn Plains' castle, one that looked like it was designed to be a meeting area of some kind for the Royal Guard and whoever they served, which seemed to be no one at the moment since there was no King or Queen to speak of, so the room was used by Elora, Hunter, the Professor, and the guards when they needed to talk about something. All three of them were resting from the battle they had just finished, especially since Spike had expended a great deal of his energy to create and use Storm's Wrath, the incredibly potent and highly dangerous magical spell that took on the shape of a serpent made out of lightning, to destroy yet another airship that the Breezebuilders had been planning on using to decimate the Land Blubbers. Ember, on the other claw, had used all of her skills and tactics to subdue all of the enemies they came across, where the Royal Guards now understood why she was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, but for now she was munching on some of the meat, cheese, and other items that had been put on the table before their arrival, mostly since they hadn't eaten anything since they came to Avalar and she was hungry from all the energy she expanded. Spyro, however, was silent as he thought about what he had seen during the war and what had happened when he told the two forces to stop fighting, because he was still stunned by the fact that he had managed to get them to stop what they were doing, and while he had no idea what he had done he knew that Spike and Ember did, even if they weren't saying anything right now.
He was sure that his siblings would tell him what happened soon enough, once they made sure that Lord Capulet and Lord Montague had set aside their differences and made sure that war between their races never occurred again, hence the reason they were here in the first place, so he was more than willing to wait and see what his siblings had to say, which was why he remained silent as they waited for Elora and the others to arrive.
A minute or two later the door opened and the siblings glanced towards it, where they watched as Elora and Hunter walked into the chamber they were sitting it, followed by the pair of Lords, who were now wearing finer clothing, walking in behind him, where the Professor seemed to be heading elsewhere for some reason, which none of them were going to ask about, but Aeros did join them, mostly to make sure the Lords didn't try to attack each other. It was rather interesting to see the Lords without any of the other members of their races standing nearby, as they were definitely much taller than what they were expecting to see, even after everything they had witnessed back on the battlefield, and both of them held their own aura of authority, which also made sense since each of them were the leaders of their own species. Elora and Hunter, on the other claw, had taken the time to take off whatever armor they had put on and were back to how they had looked when the siblings first met them, but while they were happy to have stopped the war they also seemed surprised by something, no doubt the same thing that Spyro had been thinking about since the battle had ended. The table seemed to be a little too large for all of them to be sitting at, or at least that was how things seemed to be at the moment, but the siblings said nothing as they waited for someone to say something, since they wanted to make sure the air was cleared between the pair of Lords, so this didn't happen again, before they even considered heading home.
"Lord Capulet, Lord Montague, thank you for coming to this little meeting I set up," Elora said, because while she was happy that the two leaders weren't at each others throats, like they usually were, she was still stunned by what she and the others had seen at the end of the war, while at the same time her words revealed that she had been quick to talk with both of the Lords and got them to agree to this meeting, "There are a few things I want to go over, like why this war even happened in the first place, before we head back to trying to restore order to the rest of Avalar, and I know the two of you are interested in hearing why the two of you went to war with each other."
"Its because Lord Montague and his fellow Land Blubbers stole Juliet with the intent to harm her and force me to surrender to their demands." Lord Capulet stated, reminding the siblings of what happened when they tried to convince the one Breezebuilder that none of this was actually the fault of the Land Blubbers, though at the same time the large bird glared at the large slug, who was sitting on the other side of the table so they had to exert themselves to get to where their foe was sitting.
"Says the bird that has been stockpiling weapons for the last few months, with the intention of blowing all of Zephyr to pieces, and freaked out when I wanted a few of my own to make my people feel safe," Lord Montague replied, his tone revealing that he hadn't bought the weapons to declare war on the Breezebuilders, even if the thought had likely crossed his mind when the items were delivered to him and his forces, which meant that if Moneybags hadn't been behind this war happening it would have been the fault of Lord Capulet, in the siblings eyes anyway.
"Actually, the both of you are wrong. Neither of you are to blame for this war happening," Spyro said, where the pair of Lords turned and looked at him for a moment, which was where he noticed that the desire to fight seemed to fade from their eyes for a moment, but he decided to focus on what he wanted to tell the two Lords and didn't want to waste time trying to get them to stop arguing with each other, "Listen to me, Juliet is safe and sound, as she willingly chose to be with Romeo and was trying to bring an end to your feud in their own way, even if they were waiting for the perfect chance to tell you what was going on, so the bear that told you she had been kidnapped, and was being held as a hostage, lied to you with the intention of inciting a war."
"Excuse me? Are you implying that Moneybags lied so he could steal our money?" Lord Capulet asked, though even as he said that Spyro, Spike, and Ember got the feeling that some of the residents of Avalar would have a hard time accepting the truth of the matter, hence why it was a good thing that they had evidence of the bear's crimes and would be able to show them what was going on.
"He is, because that is what he and his siblings discovered while they were helping your realms out," Elora answered, where she withdrew the notes that she and Hunter had looked at, which had caused them to gather the Royal Guard in the first place, and handed it over to Lord Capulet, so he could see the truth for himself and realize that he and his fellow Lord had been played by the bear.
Spyro glanced at his siblings for a moment, who were curious as to what the Lords would say when the both of them finished reading the notes that had been given to Elora earlier, but none of them said anything as they waited for one of the Lords to say something, even though it was pretty obvious that Lord Capulet was quickly infuriated by what he was reading, something that was echoed by Lord Montague when it was his turn to read the journal.
"So... Moneybags is to blame for what happened..." Lord Montague commented, eventually putting down the book and let Elora collect it, since it was evidence of the bear's crimes against the residents of Avalar, before he glanced at the siblings for a few seconds as he thought about what the other Land Blubbers had told him when the initial attack had been repelled some time ago, before he sighed, "I would like to punish Moneybags for his crimes, especially since he is now responsible for all the destruction that has happened to our realms, not to mention all the civilians that this war has hurt since it started, be they be on my side or on Lord Capulet's side."
"That won't be necessary, since the rest of the guards are in the process of seizing everything he owned," Aeros said, speaking for the first time since this meeting started, though even as he said that the bracelet Hunter was wearing flashed for a second, where the cheetah excused himself to see what the Professor needed help with, before he turned his full attention back to the Lords, "With Elora's help we're going to make sure all of the gems that have been paid to him are returned to their original owners, such as the payments you might have made for the weapons, and whatever is left over will be used to help repair all the damage that he's caused to all of the realms of Avalar... as for the bear himself, well, he was captured right after Ripto was defeated, so right now he's sitting in one of the dungeons, waiting to be sentenced for his crimes against all of us."
"That's good. At least he'll pay for what he's done." Lord Capulet stated, though it was clear, from his posture and his tone, that he was thinking about something else at the moment, or rather someone else, where it didn't take the siblings long to determine that he was thinking about his daughter, Juliet, and the fact that she wanted to marry a Land Blubber, no doubt the oddest way to end the rivalry in his eyes, before he glanced at the siblings, "You said that Moneybags lied about what happened to Juliet, that she wasn't kidnapped by the Land Blubbers to be used as a hostage, but we haven't seen her since Ripto showed up in Avalar..."
"They went to Idol Springs, to escape the constant fighting between your two realms," Ember remarked, as it wasn't hard for her to recall what she and her siblings had heard when they helped the two lovers out, even if the only thing Juliet was upset by was the fact that Romeo was slightly shorter than she was, but at the same time the two Lords seemed a tad bit surprised by that information, "My best guess is that they thought that if they remained missing for too long the two of you would call a truce, for a time, and join forces in looking for them, to teach you the benefits of being friends or working together, but that plan backfired thanks to Moneybags taking that information and twisting it to suit his own purposes, so he could incite the two of you into declaring war on each other so he could profit from it."
"I'm ashamed of the fact that we let him get away with all of this for so long," Elora added, showing that she didn't like the fact that she and Hunter, members of the Royal Guard, even if she was in a different division than Hunter, were also ticked off by the fact that Moneybags played them as well, meaning that the bear had deceived everyone in Avalar into believing that he was a friend and that he would help them out, even if he was really helping himself to their gems while they were focused on something else.
"Well, you won't have to worry about him trying that again anytime soon," Spike said, because now that everything the bear had done was revealed to Elora and the others, and that information was likely being told to everyone else in Avalar, it was only a matter of time until they sentenced Moneybags and punished him for his crimes, even if Ember would likely think that anything the bear was given was too good for him, since she didn't like him at all, before he turned back to the pair of Lords, "Anyway, Romeo and Juliet are fine and, when Hunter gets back from helping the Professor with something, we can send him to Idol Springs to make sure that's where they are, even if its possible they might have come running due to the news that you two were getting ready to destroy the other."
"Which you three and the Royal Guards stopped." Lord Capulet remarked, though where one would expect the Lord to be angry about that fact, since he had been denied the opportunity to finally take out his rival, he actually seemed to be thinking about his actions and everything he had witnessed, especially the fact that he and his forces had ignored the swift arrival of the Royal Guards and their attempts to stop the war, where he shuddered for a moment as he recalled what had occurred when Spyro raised his voice at him, Lord Montague, and their soldiers.
"Is that so?" a familiar voice asked, where Spyro, Spike, and Ember stopped for a moment, as they were surprised to hear it so soon, since they were sure the owner was back in the Dragon Realms, to which they turned around and found Nestor standing in the doorway, with Titan, Cosmos, Bruno, and Lateef following him and Hunter, who had lead the five Leaders to the chamber.
"Hey, check out who I found in Winter Tundra, standing beside the Super Portal," Hunter remarked, which meant that the Professor might have seen the dragons come to Avalar and had sent Hunter to talk to them for a few moments, to see what was going on, before he stopped by the siblings for a moment and glanced back at the older dragons, "So these are adult dragons... you know, if it wasn't for what happened an hour ago, you guys would have terrified me when I first laid eyes on you, but now, after seeing what Spyro, Spike, and Ember are capable of when they fight, I'm more terrified of what would happen if I pissed them off."
"It sounds like we missed seeing the end of the war," Titan stated, his tone revealing that he would have enjoyed using his axe in battle again, especially since it wasn't everyday that something like a war revealed itself to him and the others, while at the same time Elora and the others from Avalar raised their eyebrows, as they were unsure of what to make of the newest arrivals, even if it was clear that the siblings knew them.
"Nestor, what are you and the other Leaders doing here?" Spyro asked, because while he and his siblings were happy to see them again, even though it had been some time since they had been in the same area as all five Leaders, he was a little curious as to what was going on at the moment, even though he was sure that Spike already had an idea as to what was going on and was keeping quiet.
"Nora detected a new portal opening on Dragon Shores and we went to investigate it," Cosmos replied, showing them that he and the others had been worried about something bad happening to the island, especially after letting the Gnorcs build on the island in question, before he considered what they had discovered when they finally reached their destination and met a certain Gnorc, "there we met the Gnorc who oversees the gates and he told us about the new portal and the fact that the three of you had been pulled to a new land of some kind, and that you were apparently going to stop a war that was raging at the time... one that you stopped, based on what we just heard."
"You should have seen them go at it! Ember was a force to be reckoned with, thanks to her hardening ability," Hunter said, because while he had gotten in on the action, and had convinced Elora to help them out in her own way, it was hard to even acknowledge the fact that they helped since Spyro, Spike, and Ember were the ones that deserved the credit for putting an end to the war.
"Hardening ability? You mean this?" Titan inquired, where he raised his left hand for a moment and it shimmered for a few seconds, quickly taking on the same blackened shine that happened whenever Ember used the same technique, even if she hadn't actually named it since since she had been focused on stopping Ripto and his plans, "This ability is known by two names, the first being Color of a Soldier, or, as it is more commonly called among the Peace Keepers, Warrior's Armor, an ability that allows one to channel their spirit into armor, to protect themselves or to deal great damage to a foe, or both if the user is incredibly skilled."
"That's what he meant." Ember said, where she focused for a second and her front right claws hardened, even though she made sure to cover her entire limb and not leave a section bare, and once she was done she smiled for a moment as the Leaders and their new friends glanced between her and Titan, but even as that happened Hunter realized that they were using the same ability.
"Well I'll be, I've never heard of a dragon, Peace Keeper or otherwise, being able to gain this ability at such a young age, much less the control you seem to have over it," Titan remarked, though at the same time he chuckled for a bit as he released his ability and let his hand return to normal, which was followed by Ember doing the same thing to her claws, only for him to rub her head for a moment, to show that he was very proud of her, "When we get back, and I tell the others about this, we'll have to do something special, because stopping a war and mastering the Warrior's Armor technique to such a degree are things that need a proper celebration."
"But, before that, we should properly introduce ourselves to Spyro, Spike, and Ember's new friends," Lateef said, as he knew that none of them had really told the faun, the cheetah, or the others their names since they arrived in this land, as just saying that they were looking for the siblings had quickly informed the cheetah that they were allies, which was when he focused on the pair that was staring at them, "I am Lateef, Leader of the Dream Weavers, and these are my friends Nestor, the Leader of the Artisans, Titan, Leader of the Peace Keepers, Cosmos, Leader of the Magic Crafters, and Bruno, Leader of the Beast Makers, and its our job to watch and guide the five clans that call the Dragon Realms home... though its soon to be six, given the work that's been going on lately."
"Six?" Elora inquired, though at the same time the pair of Lords excused themselves, as it was clear that this meeting had taken a different turn and they were no longer the center of attention, to which they left the room and focused on the next task they would be doing, looking for Romeo and Juliet, but as that happened Elora tilted her head for a moment as she glanced at the siblings, "I thought you guys said there were only five homeworlds in your home land, like how Avalar has three, not the six that Lateef is talking about."
"Well, some of the dragons have been working on creating a new home for some of the other dragons, the Machinists as they'll be called in the future," Spike replied, informing the pair as to what Lateef was talking about, even though it had been some time since he and his siblings had been to that homeworld, since the first time had been when Gnasty Gnorc was in control of the area and the last time had been when they were helping some of the dragons move things into the various locations they wanted things in, which had been a long time ago, "I didn't want to confuse you, but we will have six homeworlds at some point in the near future, once the soon to be Machinists dragons finish their work on their new home and then move in to continue their work."
"So they're the technical dragons. Good, then the Professor will have friends to talk with," Hunter remarked, though as he said that Spyro knew Hunter would be disappointed, because at the moment the Dragon Realms didn't have anything like what the Professor was used to, not in terms of the various machines that they had seen during their adventure, but, at the same time, only time would tell, especially since they could help the Machinists out.
"And, in addition to that, the Phoenixes are planning on revealing themselves to the rest of our clans." Nestor stated, to which the siblings raised an eyebrow as they heard that, mostly because none of them were expecting that sort of thing to be said, especially since they had been sure that the race in question valued their privacy, meaning something must have changed since the last time they saw the Phoenixes, "I know, it caught me by surprise as well, but they're determined to join the rest of us and step out of the fog of legend that our predecessors wove to hide them, so sometime in the near future we'll have more than just dragons hanging around the various homeworlds."
"Sweet, that means we can hang with Sol more often!" Spyro said, because that had been one of the things he and his siblings had been slightly annoyed by, the fact that they weren't able to hang out with their only friend whenever they felt like it, even if they understood why such a thing was happening, but now it seemed that someone had changed their mind and was going to reintroduce the Phoenixes to the Dragon Realms.
"You three seem to have a lot of friends," Aeros commented, reminding the entire group that he was still there, as the Lords didn't need assistance in leaving the room, allowing him to see and hear what was going on for himself, but he could tell that they had already befriended Elora and Hunter, which was good in his eyes, before he considered something he had heard after the war ended, "and some of the Royal Guards are thinking of trying to do the same thing, especially after your performance in stopping that war earlier... not to mention the large serpent made out of lightning and that strange wave that knocked some of our enemies out."
"A lightning serpent?" Bruno inquired, to which he thought about it for a moment, no doubt thinking about a creature that could control the element for a few seconds, before he shook his head and focused once more, mostly because magic and technology weren't the strongest points for the Beast Makers, which was when he glanced at Cosmos, who was in the middle of thinking about something, "Cosmos, do you have any idea what he's talking about?"
"It sounds like Storm's Wrath, an incredibly potent and destructive magical spell, but only certain Magic Crafters even know how to use it," Cosmos replied, which was just like Spike thought, as he had said something to the same effect when he told both Spyro and Ember about it the first time he used the spell, even though it didn't seem like Cosmos had caught onto that fact yet, which was just fine since they could surprise him in a few moments, "I mean, I know its possible that Spike could know about the spell, but even then he's only eleven years old and that spell is something that only the master level Magic Crafters are capable of pulling off, and it usually takes two of us to make sure nothing bad happens..."
"Well, I've used it twice so far, to destroy airships that were carrying weapons to flatten an entire realm," Spike stated, which was the moment that Cosmos simply stared at him in shock, nearly with his mouth open as he heard that response, while three of the other four Leaders were surprised by what they were hearing, even if it took Bruno a moment to really understand why the others were so shocked.
"You've used the Storm's Wrath spell... TWICE?!" Cosmos nearly exclaimed, though at the same time his tone told both Elora and Hunter how weirded out the Leader was, while Spyro and Ember remained where they were sitting, because if this was how their Leaders were going to act when Spike dropped his news on them, about the spell, than they were going to be beyond shocked when they heard what happened at the end of the war, "On your own, with no one to assist you, and without anything bad happening?"
"That's about right... of course using the spell did drain me both times, but that's common with the higher level spells, especially ones that require you to manipulate the weather like that." Spike replied, showing Cosmos that he understood how to form the spell and, based on what he had said so far, how one was supposed to channel and use the spell, which he seemed to have trouble processing, even though he had been surprised when they had told him and the other Leaders about his battle with Blowhard.
It was in that moment that Cosmos did something that Spyro, Spike, and Ember, not to mention the other Leaders that were near him, weren't expecting, his grip of his staff disappeared and it fell to the ground, displaying his shock for all of them to see, which was around the time that Nestor picked it up and tapped the dragon's shoulder, causing Cosmos to refocus on what was going on at the moment as he accepted his staff.
"I see... well then, we're going to have to reevaluate and redesign your training sessions." Cosmos said, though it was easy to hear the part of his tone that held his shock, since he wasn't used to hearing about young dragons being able to do these sorts of things in the past, before he shook his head for a moment as he considered what he and the other Magic Crafters would have to do when the siblings returned to the Dragon Realms, "I mean, we had to do that after you three brought down Gnasty Gnorc, since your knowledge and usage of spells was more than what we were expecting at the time, but it does appear that we'll have to do the same thing again... but still, for Ember to master the Warrior's Armor to such a degree, and for you to use such a spell on your own, twice I might add, its quite impressive."
"If you think that's impressive, you should have seen what happened at the end of the war we stopped." Ember said, as this was the big piece of news that they could possibly drop on their Leaders, the knowledge that a dragon, Spyro to be exact, had unlocked and used the Voice of a Leader, Conqueror's Spirit as Titan knew it, because that was going to blow their minds more than what she and Spike were able to do, "Spyro unlocked and used Conqueror's Spirit."
What happened next was a chorus of 'Excuse me?!', 'He did what?!', and, of course, their brother's reaction of 'I did WHAT?!', with Titan and Cosmos dropping their weapons to the ground as they heard the news, while Nestor, Bruno, and Lateef stood there with shock written all over their faces, and Spyro, well, his jaw just dropped after he heard that, while at the same time Elora, Hunter, and Aeros glanced at each other, unsure of what to make of this situation.
"I don't get it. What's so special about this spirit thing anyway?" Hunter asked, because while this was the first time he had heard of such a thing, mostly due to the fact that he hadn't talked to the siblings all that much during their adventure to stop Ripto, just hearing the name and seeing the reactions told him that whatever Spyro had done to stop the war was massive in the dragon world.
"May we sit down?" Lateef inquired, mostly since they had been standing the entire time since their arrival in this area and was directing it towards the ones that seemed to be the ones that ran the land that the siblings had been called to some time ago, to help them with a problem they would learn about later, though when the faun nodded her head he and the others sat down, with Titan and Cosmos taking a moment to collect their gear, "Thank you. Now then, the reason that Conqueror's Spirit, or Voice of a Leader as some call it, is so important is because its an incredibly rare and rather potent ability that allows one to exert their willpower over those that are around them, knocking out the weak-willed in seconds, and if the user adds a command while they use the ability there is a good chance of the command working... Titan, that is what you teach the other Peace Keepers, right?"
"It is, but we haven't see anyone with this ability in two hundred years." Titan replied, where he rested the head of his axe near him and took out a stone for a moment, where he carefully tended to the head of his weapon since he had been so foolish as to drop it, and it didn't take him long to fix what was going on, before he put the stone away and focused on the others that were in the room, "In years past, when there were users of this ability, Conqueror's Spirit was used to scare certain enemies into submission and even stop certain events from escalating to the point of no return, but, and this is the most important part, those that possess Conqueror's Spirit are said to have the qualities of a leader, with those that do have it going on to be some of the greatest Leaders in dragon history."
Spike nodded his head in agreement, as he had read the scrolls and tomes that told him exactly what Titan was saying at the moment, which did act as confirmation for Elora, Hunter, and Aeros, who seemed rather shocked by all of this, not that he could blame them since they were now learning that Spyro was more special than they originally believed, but at the same time the other Leaders knew that they were going to have to change up the training sessions in the future, especially after everything they had learned so far.
"I don't remember using such a power." Spyro commented, because that was the thing he didn't understand, as while Spike and Ember seemed to know what had happened at the end of the war, to get the two Lords to stop what they were doing, he wasn't sure he had done what his siblings had said, even if it would have been nice to have his own unique skill that neither of his siblings possessed.
"That's fairly common in those that possess this skill, as all of the previous users said the same thing when they were told what they had done," Nestor remarked, as he had read the stories and heard the ancient tales as well, like most of the Leaders that watched over and guided the Dragon Realms did when they took their position, before he took a moment to think about what he had learned in the past, when he became the Leader of the Artisans dragons to be exact, "All of them unconsciously used the Voice of a Leader a few times, unaware that they possessed such a skill, before eventually growing aware of their skill and then, with some time and a great deal of training, were able to master it to a degree... but right now Titan and the other Peace Keepers are the only ones that can possibly instruct you on how to use this power, and how to access it at will."
"So what you're saying is that Spyro is destined to replace one of you one day?" Elora asked, mostly because she had no idea how the Dragon Realms operated and figured that she might as well ask the question while the Leaders were here, since they were willing to discuss something that seemed like a rather important topic for their land, based on what happened when Ember told the Leaders what her brother had done.
"We shall see... I mean, we still have to train him first." Titan replied, reminding Elora of the fact that Spyro had only just gained this ability earlier that day and had no time to really understand what he was doing, so now that they knew he had Conqueror's Spirit, even if such a thing was still surprising when they thought about it, both to them and to the young dragon in question, they just had to train Spyro to the best of their abilities.
"But first, Spyro, Spike, and Ember deserve some time off, to rest and relax, before we start any new lessons," Nestor said, because he was sure that the war had interrupted whatever vacation the siblings had been trying to enjoy, or that was that the Gnorc had told them earlier, and felt that, after saving another land from another villain, they deserved some time off before they resumed their studies, even if such things would need to be modified, thanks to all the information they had learned today.
Spyro, Spike, and Ember glanced at each other for a moment, because despite everything that happened, and what they had told their Leaders about, it would be nice for them to actually have a vacation that wouldn't be interrupted by a war between two realms, and yet, at the same time, they were looking forward to seeing what the future held for them and their new friends.