//------------------------------//
// Academy Days: Regret and Fear. 
// Story: Righting wrongs. 
// by Sylif Daring Doo 
//------------------------------//


*Skylands, Skylanders Academy, days later, Sunset's POV.*



I sigh and rest my head against the wall, I am sitting outside the infirmary where Dark Spyro was taken just a few days ago, the medics were not allowing anyone inside while they worked and it has been nerve wracking just sitting and waiting for news.

After Dark Spyro was knocked out by Master Eon's magic, there was an uproar in the crowd that the headmaster had immense difficulty calming down, and while he was largely unsuccessful, he was able to send everyone home for the night, then the medics took Dark Spyro to the infirmary and Marx was in shock from the fight.

And at the moment I didn't know whether to be mad at Dark Spyro or Marx, on one hand my friend basically said he wished that Tempest had died, but on the other hand the Salamander was the one responsible for what happened.

Marx had explained everything in his shocked state, he didn't even seem to care at the time or wasn't able to process anything, he told us all about his plan to reveal Dark Spyro's evil side in some weird sense of justice, he had gone to Pop Fizz when he heard about the tournament, and he convinced the alchemist to brew a potion to reveal the true darkness of an individual.

And then Marx explained that he kept the potion hidden on his person at all times in a fireproof potion vial, though when questioned for his motive, the Salamander clammed up, stating that he would only tell one person and one person alone, and that person was none other than Dark Spyro himself.

Master Eon and Team Spyro were beyond angry, none more so than Pop Fizz who felt completely betrayed, but regardless, Eon did not expel the Salamander, instead he suspended him and placed him on house arrest until he explained his actions.

In my personal opinion, I think Marx should have been expelled on the spot, but my anger at Dark Spyro's words to Tempest kept me quiet enough to not voice my opinion on the matter.

On the matter of Tempest however I'm not so sure, she flew back to Cynder's house without a word though she had tears in her eyes, Cynder on the other hand was acting very peculiar, instead of anger or frustration, she was perhaps the most calm out of everyone, at least as far as I can tell, she also sat in the waiting room with me but hasn't said a word.

Chen and Tinker took Marx home though they looked very disturbed by the turn of events.

I look at Cynder and see the dragoness idling by tapping to an invisible tune that mildly annoys me, I let out a deep breath and return to silently waiting. 'I should be at Cynder's comforting Tempest, not waiting around here for hours on end.' 

Just as I finish my thought, the doors to the infirmary open and Master Eon walks out with Spyro. "What's the verdict?" Cynder asked immediately, going comepletely silent as she waited for an answer.

Spyro and Eon share a look and the former speaks up. "He's awake, you can go in." The dragon stated, his voice flat.

That was all the incentive I needed as I stand up and enter the infirmary, there is no one in here aside from a single Elven medic and one familiar dragon facing away from the door and laying down, I hear Cynder step up behind me and sigh.

The medic walked up to me and Cynder and spoke up. "Be careful with him, he's rather upset." He warned before stepping out.

'He better be upset.' I tell myself as I walk up to Dark Spyro's bed. "Hey, I know you're awake." I say coldly and with barely contained anger.



*Not long ago, Dark Spyro's POV.



I groan in pain as a terrible ringing goes through my head, my limbs ache and my head is throbbing, I force my eyes open and immediately regret it as a bright light shines right into my eyes. "Gah!" I cry out as I hold my right claw over my eyes to block the light.

"What do you know, he woke up after all." I hear my other half say sarcastically.

I grunt at his tone which is much too loud for my liking. "Shut it, come back in the morning." I demand.

"No can do, now look at me." Spyro orders, I reluctantly do so and see his annoyed or angered face, I'm not sure, I'm too tired and sore to care. "Do you remember what you did?" He asked immediately.

I blink and looked around the room that I recognize as the infirmary, I see Eon sitting on the bed next to me watching like a hawk and I see an Elven medic standing by the door, to answer Spyro's question I wrack my brain. "Well... I got into the ring with Marx, we fought for a bit and then he threw a potion... it must have been a sleeping potion cause I blacked out... what's with that look?" I ask out of confusion, referring to the frown on Eon's face.

"You blacked out alright, after Eon cast a spell on you that knocked you out for three days." Spyro stated and I feel my confusion grow.

I feel a powerful throb in my head and I clutch it. "I guess there's a reason I hurt all over?" I ask, ignoring the fact I've been asleep for three days.

"Oh there's a reason alright, you almost killed Marx." Spyro stated flatly.

I feel my heart skip a beat and I look at Spyro in horror, but I don't have the chance to speak in my defense when the memories come back to me in full force.

I remember my desire to kill, how I almost obliterated the Salamander with a pillar of lightning and how I tried to kill him after he gave up, I feel something rising up in my throat and I rush out of bed and to the closest bedpan where I empty my stomach.

"I guess you just remembered that huh?" Spyro asked coldly, to which I just look at him. 

"I... I don't, I would never..." I mutter before more bile rises in my throat.

As I throw up I hear Eon speak up. "Marx used a potion to reveal your inner darkness, that is why you did the things you did." The headmaster states.

I look at Eon and shake violently, my mind is a little fuzzy so I can't remember everything clearly and I don't know if that's good or not. "What happened? is Marx alright?" I ask hesitantly, afraid of the answer.

My question catches Eon and Spyro off guard but my other half is quick to answer. "He's been suspended until further notice, but he's not hurt, the one you should be worried about though is Tempest." Spyro states.

"Tempest?" I ask, confused, worry quickly builds up. "Is she hurt? what happened?" I ask frantically.

Spyro tenses up but Eon answers. "She is not physically hurt, but you said something to her that had her flying home in tears." He answered.

I grit my teeth and stand up, no longer feeling any bile rising up, I return to my bed and sit dejectedly, I am about to speak when I hear my voice, the words stabbing like a knife to the heart.

"I should have let you die in those mines!" I lower my head in shame. "Why did I say that?" I mutter.

"I don't know why you said it, but that wasn't really you, that was just-" Spyro is cut off as I raise my head and glare at him. 

"I AM the evil half you halfwit!" I snap. "I might not be directly evil but if I said or did anything because of that potion, that means it came from ME!" I say angrily as the events of my fight with Marx become crystal clear in my mind. "So don't go telling me that it wasn't me, I know what I did and I can't take that back!" I all but shout.

"Dark Spyro calm down!" Master Eon ordered, I look at him and take a few deep breaths before resorting to quiet sulking. "What is done is done, what matters now is making things right, you have two visitors outside right now, and then you need to talk to both Tempest and Marx, are you capable of that?" He asked though it was more of an order.

I grumble and nod before laying down on the bed and facing away from the door. "Alright." I say quietly.

After a few seconds I feel a hand on my shoulder, I look to see who it is and see Eon. "When you are feeling up to it, come and see me, there's a few things we need to discuss." He stated before letting go, I rest my head again without saying a word.

I hear Master Eon and Spyro walk away and I hear the medic approach me, I keep still as the medic turns on a device and checks me out with it before walking away.

'What have I done? I thought I was free of those kind of thoughts, why did I try to kill Marx?... and why did I want it so badly?' I ponder.

I hear quiet voices nearby followed by approaching hooves and claws. "Hey, I know you're awake." Sunset's voice is cold and hides a barely contained fury, I sigh and sit up, I prepare myself for a painful scolding from the unicorn who has a look of fury on her face, and just behind her is a strangely passive Cynder.

'This can't be good.' 

"Before you start shouting, maybe you could not shout in my face? I already feel like shit." I mumble quietly.

Sunset growled. "Shut up." She orders and I do so without protest. "I don't really care what's going on inside your head right now, but you need to understand something, Tempest bloody adores you, or used too at the least." She states harshly but not loudly to my relief.

Sunset continued speaking. "Her people have a custom called a Life Debt, do you understand what that means for her?" She questioned, I shake my head in response and the unicorn explains. "It means that she is honor bound to fulfill that debt, you saved her life in those mines and she feels like she can't repay that, she joined this Academy so that she could one day repay the favor if she had too." She states and I feel guilt rising up again as a deep pit in my gut and a stab to the heart.

"She's your friend Dark, and yesterday you practically shattered it with what you said to her, potion induced insanity or no, those words came from you directly." Sunset finished.

I look up from the floor and I stare into Sunset's turquoise eyes, I let out a shaky breath as I return to gazing at the floor. "I really am a horrible friend aren't i?" I say with a sad chuckle. "Even when I try to be good I screw up." I mutter before turning my gaze to Cynder. 

"What about you? anything you want to scold me for?" I question blankly, fully prepared to accept whatever words she had for me.

Cynder shakes her head. "No point, I'm not great with this kind of thing, so I guess I'll be the empathetic one and ask you how you feel?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

I chuckle half-heartedly and answer truthfully. "I feel like I'm dying all over again, everything hurts, I have the urge to vomit and I may have just destroyed one of my few friendships." I state before getting off the bed and standing.

"Where are you going?" Sunset asked.

I look at the unicorn. "I need some fresh air." I say as I walk to the door, I hear Sunset and Cynder following for a moment before I hear them stop, but In my state of mind I pay it no mind as I leave the infirmary.

To my surprise I run into no one on my way outside, I look around once I'm outside the infirmary and see no one around, I open my wings and fly up to the roof, I land as quietly as I can just in case and I fold my wings to my sides as I stare off into the distance.

'Come on, why the long face eh? you were finally able to let loose you little coward!' My own voice mocks and I narrow my eyes.

'Shut up, you made me break Tempest's heart and possibly undo everything I worked so hard to fix.' I snap back at the voice.

The other voice of me cackled madly at my words. 'Anything I do can be linked back to you! those were the words you told the old man after all, it. all. comes. from. you.' It taunted in a sing song tone of voice.

I growl as I continue my debate with myself. 'Fine then, if you are part of me, what do I want then? if you are just a part of my imagination you should know the answer.' I question the voice.

The voice fell silent and I smirk in triumph. 'That's what I thought.' I state before I pause and rub my head. 

"Did I just argue with myself?" I ask quietly before flying down from the roof.

It doesn't take long before I land, and once I do so I walk to one of the nearby benches and sit down, I let out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding and I fiddle with one of my claws absentmindedly for a short time. 'How am I supposed to talk to or even look at Tempest? what do I say? where do I start?' I run my right hand down my face and let out a shaky breath.

"Maybe I should talk to Eon first... yea, that'll be best." I say quietly before standing and taking flight once more with a destination in mind.



*Sunset's POV.*



I walk slowly out of the infirmary building with Cynder and I look around for Dark Spyro but I don't see him anywhere, I groan and look at Cynder. "Great job Cynder... 'he won't run away' well what exactly do you call this!?" I snap.

Cynder looked around as well and even flew up to the roof, she returned moments later. "Maybe he just needed some space?" She suggested and I glare at her. 

"Space? Have you lost your mind? he could have just left us forever and you think he just wants space?" I snap.

Cynder sighed and walked to the teleport pads calmly which only served to anger me more. "Come on, let's go check on Tempest, at the very least we can do that." She reasons and I feel my anger fade instantly, I grumble but follow the dragoness.



*Dark Spyro's POV.*



I soon land in front of the Grand Library, I see Cadets going about their business and quite a few stop when they see me, I steel myself before walking to the doors to go inside, I can see hate in some of them and fear in others and I hear hushed whispers as I walk uninterrupted towards the doors of the Grand Library.

Once I am close to the doors I hear a voice speak up. "Hey Dark Spyro." I turn around and see that the owner of the voice is Chen, I see Tinker standing just behind him. 

For once though I don't see Marx with them which I found to be strange. "Um, hey Chen, Tinker, uh... where's Marx? he's usually with you two?" I ask.

Chen raised an eyebrow. "He's under house arrest until further notice for his actions, he won't tell anyone but you his motive and Master Eon is afraid he'll have to expel him." He explained in a blank tone and I blink with wide eyes at the news.

I take a moment and contemplate Chen's words, but I don't need to as I know what I'm going to do. "I'll talk to Eon about it, if I can I'll keep him from expelling Marx." I promise, though I don't know if I'll be able.

Chen does something that surprises me by placing a hand on my shoulder and nodding. "Why would you do that? you don't owe Marx anything." Tinker asks out of confusion.

I look at the four armed girl. "I know that, but he doesn't deserve to be expelled." I say that will full confidence in my words.

Tinker and Chen say nothing as they walk off, I let out a breath and open the door to the Grand Library and enter it.

I walk through the doors and step further into the Grand Library, once I'm inside I see Eon looking at something on a desk. "Hey Eon." I say, the old man jumps a little in surprise but quickly composes himself. 

Master Eon approached and talked as he did so. "That was quick, I assume you wish to get this over with as quickly as possible?" He guessed correctly.

I nod. "What did you want to talk about?" I ask.

Eon motioned for me to follow him and I do so, he leads me over to a set of chairs and sits down, I sit across from him and listen intently. "While you were unconscious the medics and myself found something concerning." He began and I tense up. "The medics learned that you have an unnatural magical leak, what this means is that you are continually losing your magical reserves, they were able to fix it but you'll need to take it easy for a few weeks, which means you can't participate in the obstacle course or get into a fight." He warns.

I feel a little better with that knowledge but I feel concern as I contemplate just how I got the leak. "Where was it?" I ask hesitantly.

Eon raised an eyebrow. "It was not a physical wound on your body Dark Spyro, the leak on your magic was old, so I can only theorize as to its origin, but if I am not mistaken, it was created either when Strykore created you or when you fought Spyro." He stated.

I ponder the implications of this and after a moment I look up at the ceiling. "What about Spyro? did he have this leak as well?" I ask out of concern, I look to Eon and watch as he opens his mouth to speak but he quickly silenced himself. 

"I do not know, I will have him examined just to be safe, but back to my previous topic." He dismissed the current topic for now with a wave of his hand and he continues.

"What I learned when I examined you personally is that you have an imprint of foreign magic within you, and when I say foreign I mean something that is not directly from you, and I believe that it is Strykore's influence, as it seems to be particularly linked to your emotions." Master Eon stated.

My mind immediately turns to my strange anger spikes during the tournament and my earlier mental debate. "It... makes sense, throughout the tournament I felt anger constantly spiking as the fights went on, and just a little bit ago I think I had a second mind taunting me." I say truthfully, to this Eon stroked his beard thoughtfully.

After a few moments he spoke up. "Has this ever happened before?" Eon questioned.

"Has Spyro told you about the nightmares?" I ask, to which Eon shakes his head. "After my fight with Spyro, I started to have visions, nightmares and I heard voices, they all came to me whenever I closed my eyes and they were so bad I refused to close my eyes for too long or even sleep, I eventually started to see hallucinations, and when I finally fell asleep I dreamt that I was in this garden, there was a circle of statues of you, Spyro, Elf, Eruptor, Jet-Vac, Pop, Cynder, Sunset and Tempest, and in the center of them all was a pedestal where I was supposed to be." I explain, I then begin to explain everything, from my dreams to my hallucinations.

Master Eon kept himself quiet as he listened, he did eventually speak after I finished. "You said you had visions?" He stated, and I feel a deep pit as he says this. "What kind of visions?" He asked, his voice level and concealing emotion.

I shiver unconsciously. "I would like to forget it honestly." I say as I start to fiddle with my claws. "The first one is the only one I really remember, it took place here, only the Academy was under siege by shadows." I say. "I just... watched, I did absolutely nothing to help as the shadows dragged everyone away, I could only watch it all happen and I even laughed when I watched Strykore strike you down... like it was all a fun game to me." I explain with vivid detail and I still hear that laughter ringing in my mind.

Eon let out a long sigh and spoke up. "I think I understand now... you are afraid of Strykore returning, you fear losing everything you care about, but most of all you fear becoming what Strykore made you to be once again, am i correct?" He asked curiously.

I can only sit stunned at Eon's deduction, and after a few moments of silence I manage a slow nod. "Correct on all accounts except you forgot one." I say quietly.

Eon raised an eyebrow. "And what is that?" He asked.

I rub my forearm nervously. "There's someone else I'm scared of." I whisper.

Master Eon must have heard me, because he nodded slowly, he then stood up. "If you do not mind, I would like to check your Element again." He stated.

I raise an eyebrow but I follow Eon regardless, he summons the magic circle just like he did a month ago, he conjured up the Elemental images, he then looked at me, I stand still as he casts the spell, sending a small magical beam into my head that also connected to my heart, after a moment, Eon released the spell and hummed.

I look around and see that Fire and Magic were not lit anymore, though Dark and Undead still glowed brightly, i looked to Light and saw that it was still as dim as it used to be. "Dark with Undead influence." Eon stated. "It would seem that Fire and Magic were lingering traces of Spyro, as for Light, I believe it either may be residual magic from Equestria or perhaps your personality." He explained.

I sigh and look at Eon as the spell ends. "Eon, before I go I want to ask you something." I say.

Master Eon nods and motions for me to continue. "Can you please not expel Marx? I need to talk to him and in the end, all he did was reveal MY darkness." I plead much to Eon's surprise. "His issue is with me, no one else, so at least give him a chance." I ask.

Eon sighs deeply but nods. "Very well, he will not be expelled, but he must be punished for his actions." He states clearly.

I nod out of gratitude. "Thank you, you won't regret this." I say before leaving, as I near the door I hear Eon speak. 

"Remember Dark Spyro, you can always come to me if you need help, and should you have any more visions or nightmares like before, or anything you feel may not be natural, let me know." Eon said reassuringly, I give him a small but genuine smile and leave the Grand Library, with one destination in mind.

Home.