Disclaimer: I only own the story and my OCs.
XIII
A City of Dragons Once More
"They're here." Terrador stated, a sense of wonder practically visible in his voice. Simply looking at how Terrador's gaze was fixed on the horizon, on the wilderness beyond the gates of Warfang, Lex didn't even need to guess who Terrador was referring to.
And yet, the ice dragon still followed the Earth Guardian's gaze, as does everyone else present, to gaze upon the beautiful, almost painting-like combination of grass green and sky blue that he had come to love. Well, the grass green is there anyway. The sky blue is barely visible, covered by hundreds upon hundreds of what seemed to be shapes of varying sizes and colors. Upon squinting his eyes, Lex found that the shapes seemed to be flapping their wings, and they all seem to be getting closer.
Lex allowed himself a short chuckle of disbelief.
"Shit, that is a lot of dragons."
"Indeed." A voice beside him responded, though with that accent, the voice could only be Eve's. That elegant and sophisticated accent always was one of the defining features of that orange-furred cheetah ever since he met her, and it always made her stood out from among his buddies.
"It seems Hunter and I would be considered the 'rare ones' now." Eve quipped, her lips curved into a small smirk, looking all smug - like she won some sort of weird 'rare-off' contest.
Well, that's another thing that made her stood out from among his buddies. Spy's a straight up nice guy, Sparx has an almost-godlike knack for not shutting the fuck up, and while Cyn has her moments, Eve really takes the crown for snarkiness, as well as the occasional bitchiness.
A quick, smug glance at his direction signaled Lex that she expects some sort of reaction. Looks like it's time for yet another round of snark-to-snark combat.
"Oh, now you like being the odd one out, eh?"
"Oh, you misunderstand. I like being unique. I'm quite certain you should know; it is your lifelong dream, yes?"
Damn, that's pretty good. This round goes to her, it seems.
Lex replied with a small, accepting shrug; a signal of his defeat. Eve definitely noticed it, since her smile grew a tad bit bigger just a second later. He made a mental note to not share anymore deep, personal secrets and desires with her. Can't have her winning too much now; with that one, he's already two points behind.
Seeking to get his mind off of his most recent defeat, Lex felt compelled to divert his gaze to the faces of his buddies, curious as to how they would react to this. They do, after all, care a lot more about all these shenanigans than he ever did.
The Guardians', predictably, glowed with hope, with a slightest hint of relief, no doubt because the burdens of war has finally been lifted from their shoulders, and at the same time they look thoroughly strengthened by the promise of a bright future. Hunter kept his calm demeanor as always - arms crossed with a straight face, but Lex could see the glint of awe and admiration in his eyes as he watched the draconic flock grew nearer. Sparx was left wide-eyed and slack-jawed, utterly speechless, thank the Ancestors for that. Cynder was in awe just like the others, though he could see a little bit of fear and apprehension mixed in. Understandable; just looking at the sheer size of the dragon group, there must be a good number of dragons in them who wants her dead for what she sort-of did.
And Spyro… well, in a word, he looks like he's having the best day of his life.
The young purple dragon grinned from horn to horn, his expression contorted into one he has never seen before; a smile of pure joy, and eyes shimmering with hope, certain of the good things that is sure to come. Justified, judging from what he heard; the sheer amount of shit that Spyro went through would make any reaction less than that simply unacceptable. To see that everything he did, every hell he braved, was not in vain, and to see it all come into fruition right before his very eyes… it must have felt indescribably satisfying.
As his buddy, there is only one thing he could do in a situation like this; spoil his fun.
"Bet you're feelin' pretty nervous 'bout that speech tonight now, eh Spy?"
That smile, along with everything it represents, quickly dissolved into a look of pure horror.
"… I completely forgot about that."
Lex flashed him the sweetest smile he could muster. "Glad I could remind you, then."
Spyro looked at the nearing dragon flock again, now seeing it in a new light. "Sweet Ancestors, that's a lot of people."
"And I'm pretty sure that's not even all of them. There's gotta be some late stragglers bringing up the rear, and then there are the dragons that already live here, and the moles native to the city, plus some representatives from the tribes in Avalar." Lex continued innocently, though he let his smile grew just a tad mischievous at the end.
"Lex, cut it out." Cynder interjected, sending him a look that is equal parts amused and annoyed.
"What?" Lex said, still faking his innocence, though the evermore apparent mischief in his smile betrayed his ruse. "I'm just helpfully informing my good buddy here that he would have to give a speech to, say, ten thousand or more people in just a few hours."
Lex turned to the purple dragon, trying his damnedest to keep his smile innocent. "Aren't you glad that I made that clear for you, Spy?"
Spyro's reply was a single, audible gulp.
"Dude, stop it, you're killing the moment for my bro here." Sparx spoke up, hovering in the space between Lex and his brother.
Annoyance flashed across Lex's face the moment Sparx opened his mouth. He doesn't really understand why, but he found that even the smallest squeak from that bug's mouth just annoys the fuck out of him. "Please, it's not that bad." He retorted with a roll of his eyes.
"Man, I haven't seen Spyro this freaked out since we first saw that giant Golem!" Sparx spoke, annoyingly, as usual.
Lex sneered. "If you think that's bad, wait till you see me dish out some real shit."
"As amusing as that would be," Dammit, Eve just had to butt in, "I do believe that you have ruined this moment for good Spyro here."
"No, it's- I'll be fine, guys." Spyro spoke up, taking in a single, deep breath. "I just… need a moment to- to take it all in."
"Are you sure, Spyro? You look… winded." Cynder took a step closer to Spyro, eyes filled with concern.
"I'm fine, Cynder, really. You don't have to worry about me." Spyro replied with a gentle smile, gazing affectionately into his partner's deep, emerald eyes. A tinge of red appeared on Cynder's cheeks, and the black dragon found herself smiling back, hoping that her smile is every bit as affectionate as Spyro's is.
And just like that, the lovebirds have entered sappy mode.
Lex had to keep himself from scoffing, or grimacing, or sticking his tongue out in disgust, and in general stop himself from reacting to the event unfolding before him like how any normal person should. He's really not in the mood to get slapped by Cynder again, or another lecture from Eve, or both.
Though, they're not that bad, he supposed. They genuinely seem to be happy with each other, and if his buddies are happy, then he's happy, even if he personally finds their lovey-dovey antics to be rather stomach-turning.
Not wishing to dwell upon the oh-so-tender moment Spyro and Cynder are currently sharing; Lex diverted his attention to something more interesting, which, in this instance, happens to be the Guardians.
"For goodness sake, calm down, Volteer!" Cyril snapped rather harshly, glaring at the Electricity Guardian, who, from what Lex observed, is this close to losing his shit for some reason.
"But this is unprecedented!" Volteer replied, in his usual, and frankly rather impressive, 'a mile a minute' way of talking. "They have appeared before our presence nearly an eight of a day ahead of their estimated time of arrival!"
"Volteer, that was just a guess. Besides, we already knew they could arrive ahead of schedule." Terrador reminded calmly, though Lex could see even he is getting fed up with how agitated Volteer is lately.
"But our preparations are yet to be complete!" Volteer rambled on. "Housing matters have yet to be resolved, as well as the accompanying issue of supply distribution. The preparation for tonight's party are not finished either; from the most recent reports, a moderately-sized portion of the main district is still undecorated, the moles currently have produced food for only two thousand individuals at most, and several sections of the Temple is still undergoing repairs. And in more pressing matters, our grand welcoming fanfare isn't even ready yet!"
"Actually," Hunter interrupted, gesturing towards other sections of the wall, "I think your welcoming committee finished their preparations just in time."
Volteer's head snapped towards, from what Lex could see, a group of moles carrying horns and drums. There are several more groups along the wall, carrying the same instruments. The instruments are massive, at least compared to the moles handling them, and intricately and grandly designed, decked with gold and gemstones and all that fancy crap. Lex had to suppress a wince; he has seen the moles practicing with those instruments before. The sound that they make is simply way too fucking loud. And that was when they were just practicing. He's not looking forward to hear them being played for real.
"Oh. Well, at least that issue is resolved." Volteer's words returned Lex's attention back to the Guardians.
"And we'll deal with the other problems as we go along, Volteer. So please, stop worrying so much, my friend." Terrador reassured. He turned towards Hunter and spoke, "Speaking of welcomes, we should start ours."
Hunter nodded, turning to face the nearest mole group and giving them a quick wave. The moles took notice, signaling the next mole group, which then signals the next, and the next, and the next, and so on until all of them held their instruments at the ready.
Lex let out a low sigh, and braced himself.
The horns went off first, followed by the drums, and even though he'd already expected it, how absurdly loud the instruments are still manages to get to him. He can't help but wince, as he felt as if his eardrums could explode if he had to endure this for one more second. He understood why they had to be so loud though. Their sound had to reach the incoming dragon flock, so as to let the dragons know that the city saw them approaching, and it had to be heard throughout the city, so as to signal its inhabitants that the dragons have appeared. And also probably for celebrations because they won the war and the dragons are finally returning and all that.
Still, it doesn't explain how Eve, Spyro, Cynder, and even Sparx could act normal and stand straight and even fucking smile in the midst of this auditory torture. On most days, he would fly straight to the nearest mole group playing those ancestors-forsaken instruments and give them a nice little gift, and by 'a nice little gift', he really meant 'several particularly sharp ice shards rammed up their asshole'. But, today, he'll let this one slide. The only reason they are doing that is because they won a war, and that is the sort of shit that earns his respect.
Deciding to at least try to tune out the deafening music, Lex forced himself to stand straight and look forward, finding that the dragon flock is much closer now. He could already single out some individuals among the group. At the very front, there is an earth dragon bearing a passing resemblance to Terrador, but he looks older and bulkier, which seems to be the leader of the entire flock. He spotted a young electricity dragon, most likely the same age as he is, zipping around the front of the flock, no doubt ecstatic to finally enter Warfang. He spotted another individual, a dragoness looking maybe two or three years older than him, bearing light green scales that he doesn't recognize, flying much higher than the rest of the flock. He spotted another, a young dragoness with almost pitch black scales, flying amongst the lowest ones in the flock, and judging from her uncertain motions, she seemed reluctant to arrive in the city.
More and more individuals became visible as the flock nears, and despite the still-ongoing attack on his eardrums, a teeth-filled grin broke out on his face. There are so, so many people, each with their own story, their own experiences, their own skills, and most importantly, their own unique fighting style. Lex couldn't help but feel giddy. Fighti- Sparring with the purple dragon and the former Terror of the Skies were fun at first, but after his fourth victory, it starts to become rather bland and repetitive. Now, with the dragons returning to the city, he finally has a much larger variety of oppone- sparring partners to choose from.
Oh, he simply can't wait to beat them all.
"That's a dangerous look you're sporting, Lex." Eve observed, suddenly standing next to him, and Lex realized just how large his grin has gotten. "What's going on in that twisted mind of yours now?"
Lex shot her a quick glance. "Y'know, the usual."
"Well. Figures." Eve shook her head, mostly out of disbelief, but he can see a bit of amusement mixed in. "You bloodthirsty maniac."
Lex chuckled lowly. "Thanks, you're too nice."
"Lex? Eve?" A voice called out over the music. A look revealed that the owner was Cyril.
"Is something the matter, Cyril?" Eve replied, while Lex kept his gaze on the flock.
"I just wanted to remind you that, when you are mingling with the newcomers later on," Lex gritted his teeth at Cyril's words. That snobbish old coot better not… "it is in everyone's best interests if you keep your… origins a secret."
Wow. Fuck that guy, seriously.
That is literally the eight fucking time he had oh-so-helpfully reminded them about it today. He'd gotten the point pretty fucking loud and clear when the Guardians first told him weeks ago, but this asshole seemed to have made it his top priority to bother them about it every hour of every day. Besides, what reason could he or Eve possibly have to talk about where they were?! This place is a literal paradise compared to where he was. Here, he could actually control ice, he could fly whenever he wants, and most importantly, the absolute total freedom for him to do just about anything he wants. He had none of them back from he was. Back in where he was, he was weak and powerless, he was always bound to the earth, and worst of all, he was faced with the same routine, the same maddening torture every single day for as long as he could remember.
There is absolutely no fucking reason for him to talk about where he was, and this time, he's gonna make sure that that cerulean jerkass remember it.
"Rest assured, our lips are sealed." Eve spoke before Lex could utter a single word, and Cyril nodded and turned away before Lex could express his thoughts in a series of choice words.
Lex shot a glare at Eve, angry at being interrupted, while Eve replied with a knowing look. She definitely noticed that he was about explode in Cyril's face, and quickly interrupted to defuse the situation. Lex grunted, his attention going back to the dragon flock, who are now hovering directly above them, with some of them already landing in the city. In time, the giddy feeling within him returned, and with it, his teeth-filled grin.
He. Can't. Wait.
"Lex?" Eve called.
"Yeah?"
"Do try to not maim someone within an inch of their life today."
His grin grew wider.
"No promises."
Hello to the peeps in the TLOS fandom! Man, it's been quite a while since I made fics for this fandom. But I've been getting into the Spyro spirit again recently, and since I've also been trying to write more often, I thought why the hell not? Besides, I think it's about time I contribute to my first fandom with something better than the crap that is my earliest fics.
I will reuse some OCs from my earliest TLOS fics, but they will all be significantly reinvented (for example, Eve is a cheetah with a British accent now) to better fit my current writing style and the theme of the story. Another interesting thing that I wanted to for quite a while is deciding songs or music that would best fit a character. I think it's an interesting way to give more depth to a character and understand the character better. So, since this chapter centers on Lex, the song that I feel fit Lex best can be seen in the link below:
watch?v=AdPU0emEeUg
So, yeah, all in all, this is basically an experiment to see if I'm any good at writing TLOS fics. If people like it, then I might continue it. Let me know what you think!
(Also let me know if you think this fits better under an M rating.)
XVI IMAGINARY LEX XVI