"Whoa," Aragon stumbled a little as they returned from the portal. "It's still daytime over here? I thought it was getting dark?"
"Certain realms have time differences," Elora said, helping him cross the skinny river over the platform. "And besides, the sun doesn't set in Summer Forest. It's always bright and warm here."
"You're kidding…" he said, pulling out his camera again. "Are there other places like this?"
"There are. I can show you the next homeworld, Autumn Plains?"
"Totally. Let's do it."
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Aragon had to take a few minutes to sit down, as the dizziness caused by teleporting between homeworlds was much worse than going through regular realm portals.
"We can call it a day if you want to get some rest?" Elora said.
"No, I'm fine, this has been awesome! I want to get the most out of it before I have to return home."
"You have a time limit?"
"Yeah, Agent 9 is expecting me back by midnight."
"Isn't it always midnight in that homeworld?"
"Technically yes, but he still wants me back after a day's worth of hours so he's not just standing there forever."
"In that case, we should get moving. Do you feel up to climbing?"
"Climbing what?"
She pointed to the wall behind her.
"Is that… safe? It looks kind of sketchy…"
She laughed. "I know it looks like just a bunch of loose ropes attached to a wall, but I promise it's more secure than it looks."
"Well, okay then. If you say so."
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The climb was much easier than he expected. They had to climb multiple walls like that, but as promised, it was a safe procedure and not once did he feel like he would fall.
"So where are we going?"
"One of the more fascinating realms of Autumn Plains. I think you'll find it to be the most interesting too."
They went down a long staircase and approached a dark portal.
"Is it always nighttime over there?"
"Sure is."
"Well, as long as I don't lose track of my own time zone, let's do it!"
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Light breeze shook the trees. It was dark but still well lit.
"Where's that music coming from?" Aragon looked around for signs of life.
"Up there."
Elora pointed up to the top of a hill in the distance. A young satyr could be seen playing a bagpipe.
"I have relatives who live here," she went on. "The satyrs somehow found their way here many years ago and stuck around. They just love playing their music."
"The music is… interesting. But wouldn't it get a tad annoying after a while? I mean, it sounds repetitive."
"Well, yes. That caused a lot of problems with these creatures called earthshapers that used to inhabit this place, until Spyro took care of them. One day they got so fed up with the music that they turned the satyrs into stone, and attacked anyone who came near them with their pickaxes."
"Wow. Into stone? How did they do that?"
"I don't know, honestly. It was a really strange time for everyone here…"
They kept walking.
"Those trees and bushes," she pointed out to the side, "used to come to life. The inhabitants here used to also practice weird rituals and cast spells on them, which backfired in the same way the idols did back in Idol Springs. Here, let's try to find someone…"
They approached what appeared to be an open room. A skinny faun was standing outside playing with a yo-yo.
"Hey Spinner! Long time no see."
"Oh hey! What's up, Cuz?"
"Aragon, this is my cousin. Spinner, he's a traveling journalist. Do you think you could give him a quick spiel about the history of this place? I already told him about the fiasco with the earthshapers and satyrs."
"Totally. Actually, this room behind me kinda has a crazy memory for me. Years ago when these creepy earthshapers were here, they locked my friend Krista in this room and took away the key, and it was like, totally scary. It's hard to find locksmiths late at night, ya know? So like, I had to wait out here forever until help came. This like, way adorable little purple dragon Spyro came and broke down the door. It was like totally radical. But anywho, no one actually knows how the earthshapers got here, but we always just avoided them until they got real cray and turned the satyrs and our temple into stone. But I guess it was kinda for the best, 'cause once Spyro got rid of them, we realized that our beliefs and rituals at the time were like really evil and not right, and it's probably how the earthshapers got the magic to turn things into stone in the first place. We did some seriously weird stuff back then, dude. Like, I don't even know why; it's just how we were raised. We had this old alchemist too and he did some sketchy experiments. So after Spyro left we actually called Elora and she told us about the real God, and we never heard about Him before. It was radical! So once we all started believing and living for God, things got way better and way less scary here. And get this: even when we get these creepy vibes or whatever, we can call on the name of Jesus and cast it out, and the creepy vibes go away! How totally cool is that?"
"Dang…" Aragon was furiously writing in his journal. "I think I'm sensing a common theme here…"
"And what's that?" Elora asked.
"Well, it seems like there used to be a lot of evil rituals and worship of false gods in Avalar, and it caused a bunch of destruction. But once you all came to know God, He rescued you all, in ways that seem more powerful and lasting than even what Spyro did."
"Yeah, that's basically what happened. Well, not every realm in Avalar had those evil practices, but it was definitely a running theme. I myself never realized the corruption for the longest time until I had a revelation of Truth." Elora gazed up to the sky for a second. "Well, thanks a lot Spinner!"
"Any time, Cuz! Come visit more!"
"Come on," she motioned for Aragon to follow. "There's one more place I have in mind that you might find interesting."
