//------------------------------// // Academy Days: Details and Arrangements. // Story: Righting wrongs. // by Sylif Daring Doo //------------------------------// *The Skylands, Skylanders Academy, Dark Spyro's POV.* I can not help but feel a wave of nervousness wash over me as I fly with Cynder to the Grand Library, I'm not entirely positive where it's coming from, but when I spot Spyro pacing around outside with an annoyed expression on his face, one that I am getting used to seeing actually, I feel my anxiety flare up but I push past it as I fly down slowly as to not appear threatening or in a hurry. Spyro turned around to continue pacing but he must have spotted us coming as he turned his head and looked at us, I can see a smile form as he glances at Cynder who is flying next to me but it is soon suppressed into a flat expression when he looks at me. I soon land and look at my Purple half. "What brings you here Spyro?" I ask in a polite manner, hoping to avoid a conflict. Spyro grunts in reply, he gives Cynder a friendly smile before returning to acting aloof. "Master Eon called me here, he wants me to bring you along and I had a good feeling this is where you would turn up...looks like I was right." He replies before nodding his head to the library. "Let's go, I'm not sure what this is about, but I would rather get it over with." He said in a tone that said he would rather be doing literally anything else but willing to do what Eon asked. I say nothing in reply and follow Spyro into the library, he pushed open the right side of the door and I open the left side, Cynder walked inside with a nod to my counterpart and then to me, I roll my eyes and enter the building, I let the door close behind me and I walk beside Spyro as we walk further inside. I soon spot a few familiar faces in the room, among them were Sunset, Tempest and Master Eon , the Headmaster saw us come in and he gave us a small nod before speaking as we entered the room and walked closer to my friends. "I am glad you are here, it would be best to get these matters out of the way tonight rather than tomorrow anyway." Eon said before walking a few feet away from us. "Why are we here Eon?" Spyro asked the question that I am sure we are all wondering. "You told me that it was important." He added, making me wonder what was going on. "It is important, and we shall get to that point of business immediately." Eon replies as he turns to face us. "First, I will make it clear that I am aware of the fights earlier today Dark Spyro." He said calmly, but for some reason I feel like I just got caught red handed doing something illegal. "I am also aware that you have confirmed the hastily made lies of every cadet who assaulted you today, by the rules of the Academy I cannot punish them unless you step forward so I shall ask...what do you want done about these cadets?" Eon asked, his tone was firm and demanded a straight answer. I suddenly feel all eyes on me and I take a breath, I then look at Eon with surety. "Nothing...Their anger should be out of their system by now and the last thing the Skylanders need is less cadets because of a crowd frenzy." I answer, I feel my nervousness fade away slowly as I speak, even though I know the cadets should be punished for their actions, I can't find any desire to have them punished when in the end, it is my crimes that led up to this situation. Master Eon did not show much emotion but nodded in understanding, as though he knew what I was thinking. "Very well." He said before walking along the row we had all found ourselves making, he turned around and walked back to me and Spyro. "I will admit to my reluctance to have you face punishment even though we said you would not face any." Eon began before looking at my good half. "But with recent events and some advice." He glanced at Sunset for a brief second. "I have decided to put you on parole for both your safety and the comfort of everyone else." Eon looked between Spyro and myself. "I believe that Spyro is more than capable of supervising you." He states, his voice is filled with confidence in his choice. I blink in surprise and look at Spyro, only to discover that he is just as surprised as I am with this turn of events, the purple dragon looks at me and we share a stare for a second. "Are you sure about this Eon? it's kind of like lighting a match next to a powder keg." I ask. "Not to agree with him or anything." Spyro interjects. "But he does make a good point." He adds, I don't feel much surprise at his words because they are only confirming what I said a second ago. Master Eon nodded as though he understood what we are saying. "I know, but I am certain this is the correct choice, it won't be easy, but for now, let us move on to why we are all here." He said before walking a few feet away and facing us all. "There is only one step remaining for you to become a Cadet, and it is a matter of your Element." He stated. I inwardly groan, I had comepletely forgotten this step, I hear Tempest speak up and I listen carefully. "Why is that so important?" The griffon asks. "The Element is linked to the inner magic of each individual, personality can also affect Element but not by much, for instance if a fire element was surrounded by nothing but water, they would be drastically weaker, even if they do not directly use fire." Eon explained. "So, I need to have my Element revealed so we know what it is." I say, cutting off any further attempts to derail the conversation. Eon folds his hands behind his back and nods as he looks to me. "Correct." He says as he walks to the center of the room, he holds his hands out and channeled his magic to cast a spell and soon enough, a magical image of all the Elements appeared in a circle around us on the floor in the form of circular icons, they all shined just bright enough for everyone to see them. I look over and see that Tempest is in awe at the sight of the Elements before her. "What are they all?" The griffon asked as she looks at the symbols on the floor, fascinated by it all. "Fire and Water, Life and Undead, Air and Earth, Magic and Tech, Light and Dark." I say before Eon can reply, I then blink and look away as Spyro and Cynder look at me with amused expressions, not willing to admit that I actually studied this topic. "As Dark Spyro has said, those are indeed the Elements that exist in the Skylands, knowing your Element is vital if you are to be a Skylander, as your Element will provide you with advantages and disadvantages, I suppose as an example, I would be classified as a Light Element." Eon explained. I huff, getting the attention of Eon and the others again. "More like Magic and Light." I correct before falling silent again as Spyro sighs in annoyance. "Dark Spyro does remind me of something I should mention." Eon spoke up, not letting my interruption bother him at all. "It is incredibly rare, but it is possible for one to have two Elements instead of one." He explains. "Now, who would like to go first?" He asks curiously. I roll my eyes and go to take a step when I hear Tempest speak up again. "I'll go first." The griffon says, surprising me and Sunset. Eon motioned for Tempest to stand in the circle and waited for her to take her place, once Tempest was in the circle, he channeled some magic into his left hand as he held it out to Tempest. "Now stay still, it will be a little startling but it will not hurt." He advises as a small beam of magic shoots from his hand and connects to the griffon's head, splitting off to where her heart is. Eon canceled the beam after a second and looked around the images of the Elements, he waited for around ten seconds before the Element of Air lit up. "Tempest, Air Element." He declared. Tempest didn't look surprised and walked out of the circle once Eon told her it was safe to do so, she stretched her wings and...wait, when did she get so many feathers? I rub my eyes to make sure they aren't playing tricks on me, but they weren't. Indeed, Tempest's wings were now half filled with feathers, I find myself wanting to ask her how but I am silent as Sunset speaks up. "I'll go next." The unicorn says as she approaches the circle. I turn my attention to Sunset and watch as Eon does the same thing for her, the main difference this time was the wait was around half a minute, soon though the images for the Elements of Magic and Fire lit up, Fire being the brighter of the two. "Sunset Shimmer, Fire Element with Magic Influence." Eon declared as the unicorn in question stepped out of the circle. I feel my muscles tense up as Eon looks to me and motions for me to approach, I steel myself and approach as calmly as I can manage, once I am in the center of the circle, Eon gives me a comforting gaze as he casts his spell, the beam stings but it is not very painful as it connects to my head and heart, I remember this sensation from when Eon did this for Spyro years ago and it was far more uncomfortable at the time. Eon soon stopped his spell and we all waited as the rest of the magic worked on determining my Element, I am honestly surprised that it didn't immediately choose Dark. I watch with slight impatience as the image for the Dark Element lit up briefly before returning to normal, something it didn't usually do, normally the images don't dim until the recipient leaves the circle, but for some reason the spell was acting as though it were...confused. By the time a minute passes of waiting, Spyro spoke up with an impatient tone. "Is this spell ever going to decide on an Element or what?" He asked before sitting down. "It never takes this long." He mutters under his breath but I ignore it. I sigh and look at Eon, about to ask him to try the spell again just in case, but just as I go to ask I see a light behind Eon, I look around the Headmaster and see that the image for Undead was lit up much to my surprise, I feel my jaw drop and I take a look at the other Elements, I see that Dark is glowing brighter than the Undead Element and that Magic and Fire are very dimly lit. "What in the world?" I ask as I look around, checking to see if any others were lit up, to my shock and confusion I saw that Light was barely lit up. "Dark Spyro, Dark Element with Undead influence and traces of the Magic, Fire and Light Elements." Eon declared before sighing. "Incredible, I did not think it was possible for Dark and Light to mix, but it would seem I was wrong." He said as he looked at me, stroking his beard in thought. I am unable to speak as Eon motions for me to leave the circle, I do so wordlessly and sit down next to Spyro, my counterpart says nothing but I can feel his eyes staring at me for a moment before looking to Eon. Eon waves his hand and the circle disappears before our eyes, he glances at me before nodding. "I believe we all have had enough excitement for the night, I suggest that you all get some rest tonight, orientation starts at nine tommorow and classes start at nine thirty...goodnight." He said before walking away, and from his posture, I knew he was going to be thinking about this for a while but I decided to just look at the others. "So Sunset, Tempest...have either of you worked out where you'll be staying?" I ask, and judging the sudden surprise and look of realization on my friends faces, I knew the answer without a reply, so I quickly spoke to inform them of Cynder's offer, I glance at Cynder who nodded at me in confirmation, I figure that she doesn't know how to approach my Equestrian friends, so I speak in her stead. "Cynder was kind enough to offer us a place to stay, though I won't hold it against you if you decide to find somewhere else." I say, hoping that it was good enough to help Sunset and Tempest understand they were not being pressured. Tempest let out a breath of relief. "Thank you so much Cynder." She said gratefully to the dragoness who nodded in reply, showing that it was no problem at all. "We'll try not to overstay our welcome, and thank you." Sunset added a little too politely, I raise an eyebrow and look at the unicorn with a confused expression as does Cynder. "What do you mean? it's no trouble." Cynder asked, trying to understand the unicorn, I silently agreed with the question, not understanding either, and clearly neither did Tempest. Sunset looks at me. "Didn't you tell me that Cynder lives with a team of Skylanders?" She asks with a raised eyebrow, now confused as to our behaviors. Spyro meanwhile sighed and walked to the door. "I'll let you four sort this out, I'm going home, goodnight!" He said as he left the Library and took flight. "They moved out." I tell Sunset. "They went off to find the Doom Raiders a while back and they couldn't stay." I add, leaving out the part where Cynder was having terrible nightmares. "Well, more like they moved out and back to their own places and the next day they went off to find the Doom Raiders, but if you don't want to stay at my house, that's your decision." Cynder stated, finally finding her voice. Sunset looked a little pensive about it for some reason and Tempest didn't seem bothered by the offer, she instead seemed grateful. "Maybe we should just spend the night and then work it out tomorrow?" The griffon suggested, this seemed to appease Sunset who nodded in agreement. "So, let's go then." Tempest said before walking to the door to leave. I follow the others and we quickly make our way outside, I close the door to the library and look at Cynder who stood in front of us three. "Ok, my house isn't far from here, we can use the teleport pads to get closer." The dragoness said before motioning for us to follow her to the teleport pads as she walked to them. I follow Cynder quietly yet my focus was on Tempest's wings, I definitely remember them not having many feathers, and the ones that were there weren't anywhere near the length they are now, which is to say almost full length if I'm guessing correctly, as we walk I can't help but wonder how her wings were so close to being healed now, I quickly return my focus to Cynder who turned to face us again when we reached the teleport pads. "Alright, the place you want to teleport to is called Aerie Town, just remember to go to the third plaza." She explained before walking to the teleport pad and teleporting away a moment later. I walk up to the teleport pad and mentally say my destination, I am not sure if that is how these teleport pads work, but it usually helps, a moment later I step off the teleport pad and look around a large town plaza. The plaza of Aerie Town is wide and open, an elevated crossroad sat in the center, four merchant carts surrounded the center of the white stone plaza and street lamps lit up the place, there are buildings surrounding the plaza but there were three exits, one was by a stone fence behind me going off to the left if facing the fence from the teleport pads. The teleport pads themselves were pretty close to the stone fence overlooking a river and a stone walkway built around the edge of the natural walls, there was another exit straight ahead from the teleport pads which led under a stone bridge connecting two buildings, the last exit was closer to the second exit, only it was off to the left when facing away from the teleport pads. The town was dark even though it had the lamps to light it up, and the plaza felt empty, even with the few stone benches spread around it, it was too dark by now to see what color the buildings were and it was difficult enough to see what I have been able to make out already. Soon enough Tempest and Sunset appeared and after a few moments to make sure we are fine, Cynder motioned for us to follow her as she headed for the exit by the water. "This place is much nicer in the day time, maybe some time I could show you around town." Cynder said with well contained excitement in her voice, her tone tells me that there is something in this town that especially excites her but I don't have the energy to even try and guess. The four of us walked for a good long while, though we eventually came to Cynder's house, it was a two story building with an attic and a small fenced in area off to the side, it was quiet and secluded in a small grove in the woods just outside the town. "This is nice." I say with approval. "It's peaceful." I add before following Cynder to the front door. "Thanks, but it was Bad Breath who did most of the lawn work, said it relaxed him." Cynder said as we neared the front door. I look at Sunset who nudged me and she mouthed the cadets name to me, I nodded and looked at Tempest who seemed a little confused about the name but didn't make any mention it, I turn my attention to Cynder who walked up to the door and opened it without a fuss, Tempest and Sunset seemed to be worried about this for reasons I didn't understand. "That's not good." Tempest said, lowering her voice. Cynder looked at Tempest with a raised eyebrow. "What's not good?" She asked with confusion. "Someone's inside? The door is unlocked?" Sunset offered as though it were obvious. Cynder rolled her eyes. "No one is inside, I have this place warded against intruders, it's not perfect of course but with how villains and bad guys prefer to work in the Skylands, my house is pretty safe." She explained before walking into the house. I sigh. "Yea, they do love their theatrics." I mutter before walking inside, followed by Sunset and then Tempest, both of them were tense and obviously uncomfortable about the door thing but I didn't say anything to either of them as the lights came on. Cynder's house was pretty cozy, the living room that we entered the house into was decently sized and slightly rounded, there was a large peach colored couch resting along the far wall with two gray wooden end tables and a matching coffee table in front of the couch, there was a small light brown sofa on the wall to the right, which had a door next to it. The carpet was dark brown in color and the walls were a light red there are a few portraits on the wall but I don't bother paying too much attention to those right now, there were two windows in the room, one close to the front door and one behind the couch and off to the opposite side of the other window, they had blinds and gray curtains, on the ceiling was a single ceiling light with a fan that wasn't spinning, most of the room was empty save for the couch, the sofa and the tables, there was a television stand in the corner opposite the sofa but it has nothing on it but a few books, on the same wall there is an open arch that leads to a room with matching carpet and nothing else that I can see from my point of view. There was also a stairway on the same wall as the open arch but off to the left of it, it went upstairs from what I could see, I soon hear Cynder speak up. "Alright uh...welcome to my house, uh, on your right is a small hall with a bathroom and a small room, to your left and through the arch is the dining room and kitchen...there's also a basement but I don't really use it." She explained. "I guess you can look around if you want, or we could go upstairs and I can show you that?" She said with sudden nervousness. "Well, maybe we should just go upstairs, I think we are all just tired." I say, I look at Sunset and Tempest who were on my right and left respectively, the latter was a little bit closer to me for some reason, they both nodded in agreement and Cynder began heading upstairs with us following. As we near the top of the stairs Cynder flipped the light switch, I notice that the walls split in color from a light red to a yellow that was not bright yet not pale, there is little upstairs aside from a single window on the other side of the room with a table holding a potted plant, there are five doors in the room, three on the right, two on the left, there was an open arch that was at the end of the room on the left which I assume is the way to the attic, the floor has the same carpet that the living room and stairs has and the ceiling simply has a ceiling light. "Ok, the first door on the right is another bathroom, the other two are empty rooms, the first door on the left is also an empty room with the other being my room, now uh, the bedrooms on the right have a connecting door to them, then the stairs at the end of the hall lead to the attic." Cynder explained to us. I nod and look at Sunset and Tempest, the latter seemed to be a little pensive due to her expression, open to mouth to speak but the griffon beats me to it. "Mind if I sleep in the attic?" She asked, making all of us look at her in confusion, I look at Cynder who seemed more surprised than confused. "Uh..." The dragoness trailed off before gaining a thoughtful expression, she was quiet for about a minute before raising her head and looking at Tempest. "I don't have any bedrolls or cots, we can probably move a bed up there tommorow if you really want too, but not tonight." She said before yawning. Tempest nodded and looked at me. "Well, I'll just take whatever room then." She said, her tone indicating that she made up her mind. Sunset spoke up after yawning. "I'll take the far room on the right then, I'll see you all in the morning." She said tiredly before heading for the room in question. "I guess I'll just use this room. "I say while pointing at the first door on the left. "We can always work things out later after all." I add before walking over to the door, I hear Tempest heading to the other room and I pause as I reach the door, I turn my head and see Cynder at her rooms door. "Hey Cynder." I say in a quiet voice. Cynder looks at me and a give her a smile. "Thank you." I tell the dragoness before opening the door which opens inwards and walking into the room, I quickly find and flip the light switch to my left and the light turns on. The room is very bare, there isn't much on the right side of the room aside from the wall and an outlet, there are two windows in the room, one on the wall ahead of me with plain gray curtains and blinds, I look to my left and see that the room is slightly circular, it is certainly bigger than I imagined, it is slightly bigger than Spyro's room but not by much, there is a large window at the center of the wall to my left with matching curtains and blinds and there is a plain single bed with brown sheets and a light green blanket along with two basic white pillows, aside from that, the room might as well be empty. The first thing I do is walk to the windows and make sure they are closed, then I lower the blinds and close them since I raised them and they happened to be open a little bit, I then close the curtains and walk to the light switch, once I am there I turn the lights off and walk to the bed, I climb on to it and lay down without getting under the covers, I then rest my head carefully on the pillows and close my eyes, eager to finally fall asleep again and get some much needed rest. That night, I slept peacefully without interruption, my mind was quiet and free of worries or doubts, yes, no interruption whatsoever...not even the sudden fuzzy feeling on my back and...wait. My eyes snap open as I feel a strangely familiar embrace, I look over my shoulder and see Tempest fast asleep with her eyes closed, her arms wrapped around my chest and her head resting against my shoulder. "Hey...Tempest!" I whisper so that I don't wake anyone else, sadly my efforts have no effect. "Tempest, get up." I say a little louder, almost at my normal sound level, again, no reply. I try to move around to wake the sleeping griffon but it is to no avail, I then sigh to myself. "Tempest, please get up and back to your room." I say in my usual sound level of voice, but it doesn't work. I narrow my eyes and as I ponder if the griffon is doing this to annoy me, so I come up with a way to find out, I channel some magic and use the absolute bare minimum of power to send a small electric jolt into Tempest, the electricity sparked and caused a twitch, a barely noticable one of course, and I promptly gave up. "Whatever." I say before closing my eyes to actually sleep.