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The Legend of Spyro: The Next Generation

CH 10: Aftermath

"Where am I?" Synthie asked herself. She looked around and saw nothing but pure darkness. Suddenly, she heard something move in the distance. "Hello?" her voice echoed for what seemed like forever. "Is someone there?" Silence. Then, another movement was heard in the darkness. Synthie looked behind her in the direction of the sound. There, she could make out the form of a large dragon. The dragon seemed to be impossibly darker than her surroundings.

Slowly, the little dragoness walked towards the figure. As she got closer, she began to recognize its form. It looked an awful lot like her mother Cynder. "Mommy?" asked a frightened Synthie. The mystery dragon didn't respond. "Mom… is that you?" This time, the dragon acknowledged her and turned its head to her. It had piercing white, pupiless eyes. It gave an evil smile, revealing its razor sharp fangs. Synthie felt it's glare shoot straight through her like a powerful arrow. She began to back away, but the dragon placed its tail behind her and tripped her.

The dragon laughed evilly at her and then said, "Yes young one… It is I… your mother!" Suddenly, the dragon, now confirmed to be Cynder, lunged at Synthie, mouth wide open and ready to tear her to shreds.

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"NOOO!!!" Synthie yelled as she woke up with a start. She looked around and saw that the dark dragon was no longer with her. In fact, she wasn't even in the same place. She was back in her room, the twin moons illuminating it through her window just enough for her to see. Once she realized she was safe, she began to cry. She was still very shaken about what she had seen. This is the fourth night in a row that I've had this nightmare, she thought to herself as her tears dropped unto the bed.

Indeed, this was the fourth night after her parents and Flame had rescued her. During that time, everyone was properly treated for their injuries. Flame was also being looked over at the temple. During his stay, he asked for Spyro and Cynder's forgiveness. Cynder explained to Spyro that if it weren't for Flame, Synthie would have surely been corrupted by evil. After much discussion, Flame was forgiven and their friendship began to heal.

Although things were looking good between friends, the same couldn't be said within the family. Ever since they had returned, Synthie would always try to avoid her mother whenever she could. The little dragoness would make up excuses. She would say, "Sorry mom, but I uh… gotta go practice… I don't want to get rusty," or "I'm not feeling too good right now," and so on.

Back in her room, Synthie had been crying for a good ten minutes when she heard a soft knock on the door. "Synthie?" asked the voice on the other side, "Synthie are you okay?" The door slowly swung open to reveal her purple father standing there. Spyro saw his daughter crying and quickly walked over to her bedside. "Synthie is everything alright? Why are you crying?" he asked in a calm yet concerned voice.

"I just… had a bad dream… that's all," said Synthie in between sniffles. She began to calm down as her father nuzzled her comfortingly.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked her. She shook her head. Spyro sighed, slightly disappointed. "Okay… just remember that if you need to talk, your mother and I will always be there to listen." He grabbed the blanket with his maw and pulled it over Synthie. "Try to get some rest… you're going back to school tomorrow… unless you still don't feel ready to go back."

"No, I'm ready… I miss my friends." Synthie had stayed home from school for the past four days and she really wanted to go back. She gave him a small smile before repositioning herself in her bed to try to go back to sleep. "Thanks dad," said the little dragoness. She laid her head down on her pillow as Spyro gently closed the door to her room. It took Synthie a while, but she eventually returned to her slumber, this time without any nightmares.

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The sun had risen over the horizon to start a new day. Synthie was already up and ready to go back to her class and her friends. Spyro and Cynder met her out in the hall. Synthie looked at her mother and saw that she still had a bandage around her chest to help keep her ribs from moving too much. She had received three broken ribs from her fight with Stath and they would take some time to heal. "See ya later mom," said Synthie, still keeping her distance.

Cynder was not going to join them because every time she tried to fly, her injuries would send a fresh wave of pain through her body. It irritated her because not only did she love to fly, but it also meant that she wouldn't be able to spend time with Synthie… though she hasn't been able to anyways. "Have a good day honey," replied Cynder with a smile. Spyro and Synthie turned down the hall and left for the academy.

Cynder sighed in sadness and began to wander around the temple. During her little walk, she bumped into Ignitus who was just sitting, staring into space. "Oh, good morning Ignitus," as she greeted him, she looked into his eyes and saw that something was troubling him. "Is everything alright?" The fire guardian didn't respond to her and she became worried. "Ignitus…?" she said a little bit louder. This broke him out of his trance-like state.

"Hmm? Oh good morning Cynder, how are you this fine morning?"

"I'm okay, thanks, but what about you? You seem troubled… is something on your mind?"

"I was just thinking that's all. I can't help but feel that this could have been avoided…"

"Don't dwell on it Ignitus. What happened happened. There's nothing we can do now except be thankful that we didn't lose anyone important to us." She gave him a warm smile and he relaxed a little.

"Heh, you always seem to amaze me with the amount of wisdom you have… and you are still so young."

"Well I'm not as young as I used to be," commented Cynder. They both let out a good laugh. Cynder bid Ignitus farewell and continued her walk. Ignitus smiled at her as she went off. As soon as she rounded the corner, Ignitus's smile quickly vanished.

Should I have told her? He asked himself.

Earlier that morning, he looked into the pool of visions as he did every morning. This time however, instead of a vision of a possible future, he saw a vision of the past. In it, he saw the events of Synthie's kidnapping from beginning to end. There was one scene that troubled him the most though. It was when the machine was turned on. When the dark crystals began to glow, its energy was almost immediately shot into Synthie's body. Unfortunately, she had gotten a good, small, dose of darkness before Flame could turn it off. His vision also showed him that the darkness was still lurking in Synthie's body. It seemed that it was dormant and wouldn't cause any trouble, so Ignitus kept his mouth shut.

If Synthie truly is the daughter of Cynder and Spyro, then that darkness shouldn't be much of a problem. He nodded to himself, content with his reasoning. Though, on the other hand, they have every right to know… He continued arguing with himself for several minutes. He finally decided that, even though it wouldn't be easy and it was going to hurt them deeply, he had no choice but to tell them. As soon as Spyro returns, I'll tell them.

Soon after he made his decision, Spyro walked through the front entrance of the temple. He made his way down the hall looking for Cynder. Instead of finding his black dragoness though, he came across the fire guardian. "Hey Ignitus. Have you seen Cynder?"

"No… she was here earlier but I don't know where she went," said Ignitus. "When you find her, please come see me… I have something to tell you… the both of you." His voice was clearly sorrowful and it was hard for Spyro not to notice.

"Is everything alright?" There was no response from the red dragon. "What's going on Ignitus?"

"Just please come with Cynder to the pool of visions," Ignitus said as he walked off, not even waiting for Spyro to respond. The purple dragon was left both concerned and confused. He walked off in the opposite direction to find Cynder.

Soon enough, Ignitus heard the couple walk in through the door. "Spyro, Cynder… please sit down…" Spyro and Cynder exchanged worried looks and then refocused on Ignitus. The fire guardian took a deep breath and began to explain.

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At the academy, Synthie opened the door to the training room where her class was in. She had missed the first day of the week so she was not sure what new moves they had learned.

"SYNTHIE! You're back!!" squealed Zedona, overjoyed to see her friend again. Synthie looked up to see the teal dragoness leave her training dummy to come greet her. Kain noticed this and came over as well. "Where have you been? I thought something terrible happened to you! We heard what happened to you… what Crystal did… are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," said Synthie, "I was just depressed because of that. I was afraid of coming back… but I'm feeling a lot better now." She wanted to tell them what had happened but two things kept her from doing so. One, she could barely remember exactly what had happened after they forced her onto that machine… thank the ancestors. And two, what she could remember still hurt to even think about. "How about you two? How have you guys been?" asked Synthie, trying to change the subject.

"I've been good," started Zedona, "but these new skills that we're learning this week are a lot harder for me… I'm afraid I wont be able to pass this time…" her voice was filled with worry.

"Hey don't worry about it," reassured Kain, "just keep practicing and you'll have those moves down in no time." Kain smiled at Zedona, who seemed to brighten up a little. "As for me, well things could go a little smoother at home…"

"What do you mean?" asked Synthie.

"Well, after what Crystal did to you, someone told an instructor about it, who told the head of the academy. She was expelled and now she stays at home with my mother. Let me tell you… when they heard that she got expelled and the reason for it… they exploded with anger… it was actually kinda funny." He was smiling at the memory of his older sister finally getting into trouble for all her bullying in school and at home.

"Even so," he continued, "there's a tension at home that I don't like. My parents have gotten a little stricter about stuff and my sister always gives me a threatening glare. I think she thinks that I'm the one that snitched on her."

"Well did you?" Synthie asked her friend.

"No! I heard of what happened after our class was let out for the day." Before Kain could continue speaking, their instructor, Primus, walked over to them.

"Come now children… there will be time to talk later. Right now, you need to train and ready yourselves for the upcoming test." He looked down at them and noticed the black dragoness. "Ah Synthie. So good of you to join us… are you feeling better?" Synthie nodded in response. "Good. Come with me. I'll give you a scroll so you'll know what to practice. As for the two of you," he now focused on Kain and Zedona, "back to training." Both dragons nodded and returned to their dummy targets while Synthie obtained the scroll and began to read.

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At the temple, Ignitus had finished explaining to Spyro and Cynder what he had seen in his vision. Spyro was in a state of shock, unmoving with his mouth agape. Cynder was already in tears, crying uncontrollably. "I am so sorry you two…" Ignitus said, his voice trailing off. Tears were forming in his eyes too. Synthie was still so young… why did this have to happen to her of all dragons?

"No…" Spyro suddenly said in barely a whisper. "No… No! It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Spyro now said loudly as his tears began to flow as well. "She was supposed to live a normal life! A life Cynder and I did not have! And now she has to live with this darkness inside of her like we do everyday?! Damn it all!" Spyro quickly turned around and walked out of the room. He needed to think, he needed to be by himself.

Back in the room, Cynder somehow managed to calm herself down enough to get up and walk out of the room. She wandered aimlessly for thirty minutes before she found herself outside in the garden. There, she saw Spyro, staring into the distance. "Spyro," she began softly, "what are you thinking?" Spyro only sat there, as if made of stone. Finally he gave a loud sigh and looked at Cynder.

"Cyn… we have to tell her…" he began in a whisper. Cynder looked at him, slightly puzzled. "We have to tell her… everything. About us, our past and what actually happened to her." Cynder's eyes grew wide.

"Spyro no! We can't! She's doesn't have to know that! She-"

"Think about it Cynder!" Spyro cut in with a stern voice. He had never once talked to her like that and it pained him to do so. "Over the past few days, I've stood by, doing nothing but watch as the relationship you and Synthie shared burn to ashes! This is the only way we can possibly fix that! She deserves to know who we really are and how we got this dark power within us! And she has to know that there's no reason for her to be afraid of you!"

Cynder just stared at him, trying to comprehend what he had said. "No," she began, "Spyro I'm sorry… but I refuse to tell her anything she isn't ready to hear! She's still too young!"

"Well fine then! You can go ahead and wait if you want! But I'm not waiting any longer… as soon as I come back from Warfang with her, I'm going to take her to our room and talk to her. If you change your mind you'll know where to look." He then took off into the air, headed towards Warfang.

Spyro couldn't believe what he had just done! He was enraged with himself! How could he do that to the dragoness he so deeply loved? He began to cry once again. Please forgive my Cynder… but it would kill me to see your bond with Synthie completely break apart… I have to do this… I'm so sorry.

Back on the ground, Cynder fell to her stomach and began to cry again as well. She couldn't believe what she had just seen or heard. Why would Spyro do this? Because he's right… Cynder answered herself. We have to tell her… I don't want to lose my only daughter over this. With renewed courage, Cynder walked off to her room, awaiting Spyro and Synthie's return… and the one of the hardest challenges any parent has to face.

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Kinda boring and uneventful but hey… that's what happened. Expect chapter 11 to be the same… sorry.

Also, within the next 2 or 3 chapters, there will be another time leap, which, as far as I've planned thus far, will be the last one in the story.

Till next time!