Hey all, I hope I haven't lost my readers because that will make me more sad than I already am. A lot has happened since my last update, from my grandmother passing away on the 5th of September to my desktop completely crashing and I had to wait a bit before I could even type this because my laptop didn't have word. Anyway, I'm going to stop boring those of you who are reading this with my problems and let you read.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted things I use, I do own my OCs and this story.

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Chapter 2

"Annie, I'm telling you this is a terrible idea," the ice dragon told his companion, a pale blue dragoness. She was slim and quite attractive to many of the students at the temple, with two pairs of yellowish-gold horns, a violet underbelly and an arrow-like tip on her tail the same color as her horns.

"Don't be such a wet blanket, Azure," the female responded calmly, continuing on down the hallway, "Think of all the treasures we'll find in that secret room!"

"Or all of the lethal traps meant to keep out intruders and would-be treasure hunter students," he pointed out with a snort, keeping an eye out for teachers and guards roaming the school to make sure students were obeying curfew. Annie glanced over her shoulder to give her friend a dubious look and rolled her eyes.

As his name implied, Azure had dark blue scales and a light blue underbelly and wing membranes. His horns curled like that of a ram's and were crystalline in appearance, almost as if they were made of ice. He had navy-blue icicle-like growths on his shoulders and tail tip. He was well-muscled and desired by many of the dragonesses at the temple, as well as envied by the males.

"Where's your sense of adventure, Az?" she asked him, turning her gaze back to the way the two of them were walking.

"In bed, sleeping," he answered with a yawn, "Like we should be. C'mon Annie, let's head back before someone catches us!"

"But we're already here," she said excitedly, coming to a halt in front of a seemingly walled up archway. The stones barricading the way were scratched and chipped in places, yet seemed as sturdy and immovably solid.

"Are you sure this even is a hidden chamber?" Azure questioned doubtfully, sitting down on his haunches while she got a bit closer.

"I told you I swiped a scroll from Volteer's study while he was rambling during one of the private lectures," Annie said shortly, feeling the wall for anything that seemed out of place, "It was full of information on secret passages and concealed rooms all over the Temple. This is on of very few that hasn't been opened, and the only one that isn't in a hard-to-reach place."

"Did it occur to you that there might be a reason it's unopened?" he asked dubiously as he listened for anyone coming.

"Or the Guardians have been too busy to explore it," she countered as one of her claws brushed against a stone that had a strange sigil on it that she didn't notice and it sank into the wall before she could see it, "Oh, I think I did it!"

The two young dragons watched in awe as the stones moved and shifted until there was a large enough hole for most full-grown dragons to pass through. Annie looked back at the male triumphantly, while he simply let out a snort and they entered the now-open archway.

Inside, it was almost pitch-dark until Annie lit the lines of torches on both sides of the long corridor with separate streams of bluish flames. Azure looked at his friend in shock at the sight.

"Since when could you breathe fire?" he questioned, stunned, as they continued down the hallway. Neither noticed the stones return to their original spots behind them, becoming a wall that blocked the entrance and exit once more.

"I've only been able to do it for a week or two," she admitted, keeping her face forward as she refused to look at her friend, "That means the only one of the Base Elements that I haven't unlocked now is Earth."

"Have you told them yet?" he asked seriously, watching as she lit the next series of torches with relative ease.

"And give my parents another reason to smother me with pointless rules and fill already small free-time with even more boring lectures with the other Guardians? Thanks, but no thanks," she scoffed sarcastically, shaking her head, "It's bad enough they know I can use both Ice and Electricity, I don't need them and everyone else thinking I'm another Purple Dragon, too."

"But at this rate it's obvious you are, Annabelle!" Azure pointed out, looking over at her. For a moment the male dragon saw his friend's blue scales replaced with purple, while her underbelly was a brilliant shade of gold like her horns. He blinked and the image faded, her appearance changing back to normal.

"But it doesn't make sense!" she blurted out, exasperated, "Every piece of legend and history says that Purple Dragons are only born once every ten generations, and they're supposed to be Purple! It's in the name! So why can I use so many of the Elements!"

"I don't know, Annie," he answered honestly, comfortingly, "The only ones who might be able to answer that question are your parents and the other Guardians, but you have to tell them."

"I'll…think about, okay?" she relented, spitting out another jet of flame that lit a line of torches that spread and revealed a huge room full to the walls of all kinds of treasure that was covered in a bit of dust with a cobweb or two scattered throughout.

"Whoa…" they both breathed, looking around in awe at the horde of valuables they'd discovered. Walking down the short flight of steps, they began to wander aimlessly through the stacks of wealth, occasionally stopping to examine a piece that caught one of their eyes and place it in the bag Azure carried.

Eventually they found their way to the center of the large chamber where they found two tomes on separate ornate pedestals made of what looked like white gold. As they got closer to the books they noticed something strange, however.

"There isn't a speck of dust anywhere near them," the male said with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity.

"They must be enchanted, or something," Annie said as Azure took a few steps closer to get a better look at them.

"But what's in them that makes them important enough to be put in a secret room full of treasure in the Dragon Temple?" he wondered aloud, coming to a stop just in front of the pedestals.

"I don't know, but if you want to find out then grab 'em and we'll get a few more things then we'll get out and come back with the others tomorrow night," Annie told him, grabbing a gold ring off the ground and cleaning it a bit before twisting it onto her right horn.

"Yeah," he said, nodding, before removing the tomes from their pedestals cautiously and placing them into his bag carefully. He half-expected some ancient booby-trap to have activated once he had taken them, but as far as he could tell there was none to be seen. However, when he turned around he found he as mistaken.

Glowing, ethereal dragons were rising out of the ground one by one, surrounding the young drake and Annie until their backs were to the pedestals. Each of the strange apparitions had a different color shade and markings to them, seemingly dividing them into their various Elements. It took Azure a moment to realize that there were only eight, which meant they represented the Base and Secondary, or Dark as some people still thought, Elements.

'You have removed the texts from where the last of the Aether Dragons placed them,' eight separate voices spoke in unison inside the two young students' heads, causing them to cringe, 'You have now opened your world further to the war that we Embodiments fight. Your destruction or-'

The voices were cut off as a ninth ethereal dragon rose from the earth. This one's appearance was that of a graceful female with silverish-colored scales and a dark grey underbelly. Her wings were feathered, like that of a bird, and were the same color as her scales, but there were strange archaic symbols on the backs of them. Her tail was completely devoid of any weapon tip, and her eyes were blue without any whites or pupils.

"Do not scare the children, brothers and sisters," she said aloud, her voice as refreshing as a Spring breeze, "Do not drag them into your bickering."

"Sister, have you come simply to interfere or have you finally chosen a side?" the crimson one with markings of flames across his body questioned, his words seeming to scorch and heat the atmosphere.

"I have chosen nothing, Brother, because both sides are wrong on what must be done," the silver female responded, her eyes narrowing, "Neither side understands, and the more you fight over this, the less likely it is that you ever will and we might as well hand this Realm to the Dark One on a silver platter. Like infants, you are ignorant of the world."

"You dare to claim that we are nothing more than children?" the blood-red female with white markings on her face that made her appear skeletal.

"I do not claim, now begone! Go back to the Realm Between and continue your foolish dispute there," she told them before the other ethereal dragons dissipated as if they were smoke blown away by the wind. Once they were all completely gone, she turned to face the two terrified drakes. Speaking softly and gently, she asked them, "Are you alright, younglings?"

"Y-yeah," they answered shakily, glancing at each other.

"I am glad," she said, cracking a small smile, "My siblings have become more and more foolish as of late and I had feared that they might have harmed you."

"Who…what are you?" Azure asked cautiously, trying to size up the ethereal silver in front of him.

"I am commonly referred to as Aethrea, or I was when my siblings and I walked more often upon this Realm," she responded calmly, her voice soothing and seemed to make the two drowsy, "I and my siblings and their children are the Embodiments of the many Elements found throughout the Realms. Unfortunately, when the two of you awaken you will believe this night's events were nothing but a strange dream the two of you shared."

"Wha-?" Annie slurred sleepily, her eyelids drooping as the prospect of slumber grew more and more appealing.

"I am sorry, but the one thing my family agrees on is that current events have made it very important that we remain as little known and as unnoticed as possible for now," the female told them regretfully as the two students passed out. Walking over to them, she whispered, "but I fear even this rule may not last much longer. The tomes will help you keep many safe, but only one can truly save everyone…"

Her eyes turned the same silver as her scales instantly and a glow surrounded the two young dragons. She unfurled her feathered wings and flapped them, causing the pair to vanish and making all of the torches go out in an instant as she dissipated in the same fashion as her siblings.

X

Aesir looked himself over in the reflective walls that covered the outside of the mansion he and the two older dragons he accompanied stood at the door of. Once again he found he could barely recognize himself being so…clean. As far as he could remember, his scales had always been a dull grey while his horns had been a very dirty off-white, but now his scales were a reflective silver and his four horns shone like polished ivory. Despite his now almost-regal-looking appearance, he still felt small and out of place in the upper-class district of Warfang, making him antsy and ready to snap.

Noticing how tense he was, Cynder said kindly, "Relax, you aren't going to be the only young dragon here. Plenty of the guests brought their children. No one is telling you that you have to talk to anyone, however."

Aesir nodded in understanding, thankful for the dragoness's words, but noticed her eyes lingering on the various now-visible scars that covered his body. In his own opinion, the worst of them was a jagged one that went from the base of his neck to the tip of his tail. He'd gotten it when Bero had his cronies hold him down while the crimson dragged one of his claws down his side. He'd only been about four or five at the time and to this day he didn't know how he survived losing so much blood.

His train of thought was interrupted when the door swung open, revealing a large Earth dragon. He was a dark shade of green with his underbelly, wing membranes, and horns the color of stone. His stance and various battle-scars, including a large trio of scratches going down his face and across one his grass green eyes and had turned it a misty and sightless blue, showed he was an old warrior and Aesir couldn't help but wonder what this dragon had experienced.

"Greetings, Tremor," Cyril said to the drake, his tone friendly, "We've come to congratulate your daughter on her twentieth hatchday and to conduct one more test to make our final decision on naming her the new Fire Guardian."

"Very well, as long as the test waits until after the party dies down," he said calmly, his one seeing eye looking at the Ice Guardian, "She may no longer be considered a child, but I don't want her trying to show off to her friends and making herself look like one."

"We understand," Cynder responded, her green eyes reflecting a serious and serene expression, "May we enter?"

"First, I'd like to know," Tremor said, turning his head to look at the silver, "Who is this youngling that accompanies you? He certainly seems like he's seen more than his share of battles for one so young, and has nearly as many scars as I do."

Feeling the training he'd been given kicking in, Aesir's slightly troubled expression changing into his mask of fierce confidence as he said, "My name is Aesir, and the scars I bear come from learning how to survive in the slums of this city. Cynder gave me a chance to get out and attend school at the Temple, and I accepted. See me as anything less than an equal and I'll demonstrate some of the lessons I've learned without any hesitation."

All three of the older dragons were struck speechless by the silver's words. Cyril was appalled by the open threat the drake had delivered, while Cynder was shocked by his sudden return to his old demeanor. No one spoke until Tremor broke into a deep, hearty laugh.

"Spoken like a true warrior," the Earth dragon chuckled, nodding his head in respect to the younger drake, "It is good to see another dragon from the streets going on to make a difference. My brother and I were the same, I became a general in the fight against the Dark Master's original attempt to destroy the world while my brother took the place of Master Quake as the Earth Guardian after Quake had been killed during one of the earlier skirmishes."

"Indeed, and despite being the youngest Guardian and general in the written history of the dragon race, the two of you rallied the most people to the cause to raid the Dark Master's fortress and allowed us to overwhelm his defenses long enough for us to seal him away in Convexity," Cyril added, recovering from his shock when he realized that Tremor wasn't offended, "However, Terrador didn't seek the position of Head Guardian and you stepped down from your position and left to protect Shattered Vale just before the raid on the Temple when almost all the eggs were lost besides Cynder's and Spyro's. It's only since Ignitus died that he has taken up the mantle of Head Guardian, albeit reluctantly as even Volteer and I agreed that he would perform better than either of us."

"And while my brother is the leader of the leaders of the dragon race, I raise my family, something my brother seems incapable of keeping together," Tremor stated with a slight chortle as he moved to the side to let them through, "But come in, come in! Everyone will want to see you all!"

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And there's chapter two, introducing a few more characters, some old and some new. Well, only one old character, really, though she's had a bit of a revamp and is older than her original incarnation in the Forgotten Saga. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to write as this one did, but if it does it gives everyone more of a chance to figure out who the mysterious dragoness in Aesir's memory is. Remember, first one to get it right gets to have one of their OCs as part of the main group!

This chapter is dedicated to my grandmother, who constantly placed others before herself and introduced my family's annual to biannual trips to Disney World in Orlando, Florida to us. I will miss her greatly, but I'm glad she's no longer in pain. Rest in peace, grandma…