'We need to do something, and quickly,' Bianca said. Elora nodded, watching the last few remaining Avalarians leave from Summer Forest. She stood on the platform, her friends behind her, in silence.
Moneybags was never a terrible person, just greedy and a bit of a nuisance. It was common knowledge that he was a sucker for gems, so it was easy to assume that a compromise of gems was somewhere amongst all of this, but who would want to pay someone to do something like this?
'Avalar doesn't need a government,' Elora said, turning around and facing her friends. 'Moneybags of all people would know that, since he's been living here longer than almost all of us. We've never need any kind of law enforcement or government to "even things out".'
'Something fishy is going on,' Hunter said, his fingertips stroking his goatee.
'We've already established that you furry numbskull,' Bianca said to Hunter.
'We've got to talk to someone who would know what to do.'
'Who?' Hunter asked.
'Come with me,' Elora nodded to Hunter and Bianca to follow her into Glimmer. 'Meet me you know where,' she nodded to Zoe, who disappeared in mid air amongst sparks. Elora walked straight through the Glimmer portal, the strange and saturating feeling sweeping over her as the purple and pink sky palette swirled around her, forming the hillside and bright coloured realm that was Glimmer.
All over the place, gigantic gems protruded from the grassy earth, as the Gemcutter's way of showing off their talents. Glimmer was basically a traditional mining site, which had glamorously structured architecture and the ultimate gem hoard. They adorned gems amongst stonewalls, interwoven in hand sculptured swirls and special décor.
Elora marched forward, the sound Hunter and Bianca forming from the portal echoing behind her. Elora's hooves barely touched the surface of the grass; she was matching at such a fast pace. Hunter and Bianca had to jog to keep up with her.
'Elora, what's the rush?' Bianca called, but she didn't reply, she quickly hopped down the steps and walked straight on through to the underground mining cave.
'Man these gems are huge!' Hunter said, admiring a green gem, half-hanging from the ceiling.
'You always say that when you're here,' Bianca said, shaking her head at Hunter's wide gem-impressed eyes.
Inside the cave, the enchanted gem in the centre of the room was lit, the different coloured smaller gems hanging from the ceiling around the larger one were all alight, sharing exactly the same shine and movement, making the large enchanted gem sparkle as if hundreds of gems had been stuck together. The bridge was connected to the other side of the mining pit, and a few Gemcutters were all in discussion with one another.
Elora walked straight to the foot of the bridge, and stopped in front of Pogo the Gemcutter, who was in conversation with Sheila the Kangaroo.
'Elora, good to see ya!' she said cheerily.
'Hi Shiela, I'm glad I bumped into you,' Elora said.
'Great! What can I do ya for?'
'I'm going to need your help with this Moneybags-situation.'
'Yeah, sorry about that love, awful when Pogo here told me what that bear'd done.'
'I know, I wasn't really expecting it.'
'Don't blame ya,' she smiled sincerely, 'but can I do ya for?'
'I need you to go and get the rest of the Forgotten Warriors.'
'Forgotten Warriors?' Hunter repeated, 'who're they?'
'Hunter!' Bianca elbowed him in the ribs, 'how can you not know who they are?'
'I've been trying to find my running shoes!' Shiela giggled and Bianca rolled her eyes.
'No worry's Elora, I'll have them report back to you as soon as I get to them.'
'Thanks, you're a life saver,' Elora smiled, 'but before you go,' she said, stopping Sheila mid-hop, 'I'm going to need to borrow you for a second.'
'Of course,' Sheila replied, looking interested. 'Pogo, could you let us in please?'
'Sure,' Pogo replied cheerily.
'Let us in where?' Hunter said, confused.
'Seriously Hunter, do you even listen to anything we say at all?' Bianca moaned, 'come on.'
Shiela, Elora and Pogo moved even quicker over the bridge, Elora was the only person to ever have been able to keep up with Shiela's speedy jumps.
'So who're the forgotten warriors?' Hunter whispered to Bianca, trying not to get a large dose of "HUNTER!"
'Hunter! Tut, it's Bentley, Sgt. Byrd and Agent 9!'
'They're warriors?'
'They have been ever since Elora put them together. You remember? Spyro released them all while trying to stop the Sorceress, they sorta became a collective.'
'Wow. Warriors. I'm like, the warrior of skating,' he said, laughing at how proud he felt of his skills. Bianca shook her hand, and grabbed Hunter's hand as they walked through the tunnel, leading to the back of Glimmer.
Elora and Sheila walked around the large, door-less building in the centre of the vicinity, until they had made almost a perfect 180-degrees turn around the building when they stopped, looking into the wall. Pogo hopped forward, and used a tiny red gem hidden in his hand to reveal an invisible door that sunk into the ground, revealing a room with lots of gem-like technology.
'I didn't even know this was here,' Hunter said in disbelief, 'how did he open the door?'
'The Gemcutters have a lot of magical gem enchantments around here that only they can use, it's fascinating,' Bianca said excitingly at the thought of magic. They crossed over the threshold and were plunged into the dark room. Pogo shut the magical door behind Hunter and Bianca, disappearing behind the stone.
The underside of the massive gem that protruded from the roof's ceiling was touching the floor, a smaller purple gem sat in front of it, and at Elora's touch, began to show writings and drawings that Elora was somehow managing to control.
'Who're ya calling?' Sheila asked Elora.
'The Professor,' Elora replied, 'I don't know if he can do anything but he might be able to suggest something.'
The gem continued to show different pieces of writing, that would disappear and move around, following Elora's eyes and fingers. The underside of the gem began to light up a magnificent bright blue light, from what they could see, the other half of the gem was alight too.
'Ahh!' Hunter gasped, as he noticed that he was all of a sudden looking at himself inside of the large gem.
'This is the reason we've never brought you here before,' Bianca groaned.
The gem swirled and morphed into shapes, leaving Elora, Sheila, Hunter and Bianca, standing in the gem untouched by the moving magic. But soon, a small, plump figure began to shape, and soon enough, the brown skin and grey hair of The Professor began to morph into vision.
'Elora!' he said warmly, 'I'm so glad you called, it's been a wee while now since you called me last, how're things?'
'Not good Professor,' Elora said, frowning.
'What's happened? Has Hunter really made an ordeal about his shoes this time?'
'Hey!' Hunter said loudly.
'No it's worse Professor, Moneybags held a sort of show in the Summer Forest garden today, he's working for someone to bring a government to Avalar!'
'A government?' The Professor repeated in disbelief, 'that's strange even for Moneybags.'
'Is it though? He'll do anything for gems,' Bianca added.
'True, true. Still it wasn't that long ago that he abandoned his new shop in the Volcanic Isle for some reason, perhaps this was the reason?'
'It wouldn't surprise me,' Sheila said, 'if that bear is willing to pull something like this on Avalarians, then I say no matter what situation he was in when he agreed to do it, we gotta stop him.'
'But how exactly are we gonna do it?' Hunter asked.
'I don't know,' Elora replied, 'he's disappeared and we don't know where to find him, looks like he's been taught some type of new magic.'
'Blast, new tricks! I'll still have to study it until I know what exact type it is, in that time he would've already put this so-called 'government' in Avalar and got it up and running,' said The Professor.
'We need to find out what this really is about, and put a stop to it before it happens,' Shiela said heroically.
'But no matter how hard we try, we know that he's going to get it up and running before we get a chance to figure it out,' Elora moped where she sat, 'we really don't need this.'
'Maybe you're missing the point,' Bianca said enthusiastically, like she just sprouted a good idea.
'How?'
'We're not looking at the right angle on how to approach it, we could use this to our benefit.'
'How the heck could we do that?' Hunter asked.
'Well this government hasn't been established yes, has it?'
'No, but it won't be long,' Sheila laughed.
'Well maybe that's enough time for us to get in?' No one replied back to her straight away, they look at one another confused, not understanding what she had said.
'We want to get rid of it, not join it,' Hunter said.
'We don't have to join it, well, not on a genuine scale anyways. We can stop Moneybags from the inside. If we become part of this government, we can work ourselves up, and get him where he least expects it. Plus, if he's working for some villains, we can get to them from the inside too. It's a good idea!' she said happily, looking at the others to receive their positive opinions.
'Are you sure it is?' Hunter said.
'Of course it is, it's better than trying from the outside, and getting punished by them for trying to save Avalar.'
'I don't know,' Elora said looking unsure.
'It might actually be crazy enough to work,' said The Professor, 'if Moneybags thinks you're on his side, then you can do all the dirty work behind him.'
'This sounds too intense,' Hunter began, 'Moneybags is more of a friend than a villain, even though he is annoying. Won't we be going behind his back by doing it.'
'Yea but Hunter,' Bianca grabbed his hand and held it towards her, 'if it means we can stop someone from potentially hurting Avalar then it's worth it.' Hunter looked at her and nodded, understanding where she was coming from.
'I do quite like the sound of that,' Sheila said, 'if we can kick butt from the inside, it'll worth it.'
'Yeah I suppose, but before we do anything crazy,' Elora began, 'we need to figure out what's going to happen and when it's going to happen, and then we can figure out how to get in.'
'I'll do some digging and see what I can find,' Bianca said, 'I'll take a trip back to the Forgotten Realms and see if there's anything going on there. They could be using it as a hiding place.'
'Moneybags mentioned the Forgotten Realms when he was talking, so that's a good idea,' Hunter stated. Bianca smiled at him and kissed his cheek.
'Make sure you contact me, Elora,' The Professor said, 'I'll come if I have to, but realm travel is particularly difficult in the Volcanic Isle, all this mist,' he scrunched up his nose and gave the four a little wave, and then turned to smoky-magic, swirling up through the large gem, and out of sight.
'I better get onto finding the other three,' Sheila said cheerily, 'I'll come with ya to the Forgotten Realms if you like, Bianca?'
'Yeah sure.'
'What're we going to do?' Hunter asked Elora.
'Have a look around in some of the worlds and see what we can find, I've got a feeling that someone will know something.'
Elora walked over to where the door disappeared, and pressed her hand into a gem poking out of the wall. A thin crack of light shot right into Hunter's eyes as the door opened, revealing a half-visible Glimmer, stuck behind the streams of blinding sunlight.
'How long have we been in here?' Hunter said, rubbing his eyes.
'I'll just go to Sunrise Spring,' Bianca grinned, 'sun won't be as intense there.' They walked around the building together and saw six Gemcutters, talking in a circle, their heads lowered. Elora stopped walking and looked at them, and when they looked at her, a few of them suddenly looked very scared. Whenever it came to coming to someone for help, majority of Avalar would always go to Elora. She had an unintentional importance about her.
'What's going on?' She asked, knowing they had something to tell her. One of them idly walked closer, and took off his mining helmet.
'We want to close off the Glimmer portal for a while,' he said.
'What?' Bianca said shocked. 'How do you expect people to be able to get back in?'
'That's the point, we don't want people to be able to get it,' he said.
'Why do you want to do something like that?' Elora said gently.
'If we shut it off we can keep this silly government out of Glimmer. It doesn't need to be in here.'
'It doesn't need to be here at all!' Hunter said angrily.
'We just think it'll benefit the Gemcutters if we're not heard from in a while.' Elora was looking sympathetically at the Gemcutter, but he was avoiding her eyesight.
'Roo,' Elora said kindly, 'you know what you're going to have to do then.'
'Yes,' he sighed.
'What is it?' Sheila said concerned.
'We'll have to hang up our pickaxes for a while.'
'But how will the realms get their gems?' Bianca asked.
'They won't,' he said, 'gems are what we protect and if it means turning off the portals than it's for the best.'
'Roo, I'm sorry you guys have to think this is a solution, I really am,' Elora whispered kindly, placing a hand on his small shoulder, 'but we're going to need access to see The Professor. It could be a strong chance of stopping this, Apio, and if it means jeopardising a few gems,' Roo looked shocked, 'perhaps there isn't another option?' Roo thought about her words, and didn't show very much sign of co-operation. 'Come on Roo.'
'I don't know,' he replied, standing uncomfortably.
'What if I come back tomorrow?' she suggested, 'if I come back tomorrow, we'll have a fresher mind to sort it out?' He looked at her in the eye, showing more consideration.
'Okay,' he sighed reluctantly, 'the magic would take a few days to ware of anyway. I suppose we can wait one more day.'
'Thank you Roo,' Elora leant forward and kissed him on the nose. He hopped back to the other Gemcutters and started a new discussion. Sheila, Elora, Hunter and Bianca all continued back the way they cam, to the front of Glimmer.
A few more Gemcutters had scattered throughout the main field. They were all talking, and waved to Elora as she walked past. Zoe appeared a few metres from Elora, panting while she floated.
'Zoe!' Elora said suddenly, 'what's happened?'
'I met one of the turtles from Sunny Beach out the back of Glimmer, must've been when you arrived. He was asking for help because there was a fight going on at Sunny Beach! Two of the elders were arguing about what's going on, and ended up getting into a fight, I had to break it up.'
'A fight!?' Hunter said in disbelief, 'but they're so peaceful, they never fight.'
'Moneybags' news must be worrying a lot of people, they're not being themselves.'
'I don't see why they have to fight,' said Bianca, 'the chances that Moneybags' new rules won't affect anyone at the moment is pretty high.'
'They don't seem to think so,' she panted, 'something snapped and they were at it.'
'Hunter, you go to Sunny Beach first,' Elora stated.
'Why do I have to go?'
'Because I told you to, you dork,' she spat, Bianca and Sheila giggled, 'I'm going to go to Hurricos and Colossus, see what they know.'
'Okay fine,' Hunter moaned.
'What should I do?' Zoe asked.
'Occasionally keep an eye of the turtles; we don't want anything to continue to get worse. Just help people when they need it and let me know if you see anything.' Zoe nodded, and disappeared in a flash a bright sparks.
Elora walked onwards and straight through the Summer Forest portal, feeling like she plunged into water again.
She stepped back out onto the stone platforms, and waiting for Sheila, Hunter and Bianca to form behind her.
'Shiela,' she said when they had all arrived, 'you and Bianca go to the Forgotten Worlds now, get the other three and come and see me. I've got jobs for you.'
'Yes ma'am!' she laughed. Bianca walked with her to the side steps.
'Take my hand, we'll go the quick way,' Bianca said, holding out her hand to Sheila. Together, they turned into a magical prismatic streak that shone and changed all the colours of the rainbow. It swirled and looped in the sky and disappeared behind the Summer Forest castle.
'So, you want me at Sunny Beach?' Hunter said, watching the spot where Bianca disappeared.
'Yes,' Elora replied. She headed for the side steps at a fast pace, ready to sort out this business, but she turned around to see Hunter, still standing in the same place, eyes in the sky. 'This week would be nice!' She said loudly. He shook his head, rather embarrassed, and followed her back inside the Summer Forest indoor garden. 'And you wonder why I couldn't trust you with fourteen talisman.'