Hello everyone. Sorry for the delay, but I had to read a LOT for my english classes and pretty much burned myself out for two weeks...that and I got sick and wasn't feeling well. It wasn't really until today I felt up to finishing this chapter, so if this chapter isn't up to snuff, that's probably why as well. My apologies! Alright, we're at the climax of the story! The final battles are upon us! Will the heroes succeed against Deadlock? We'll just have to see!
EDIT: I have rewritten the ending of this chapter a good deal, if you've read this before, re-read at least that part!
Endgame
Spyro and company slowly got ready, it was early in the morning, before the sun had even rose. As they'd planned, they would sneak in during the guard change. But they couldn't rush, everything would depend on the outcome of the upcoming battle and they all knew it.
Sparx floated nearby, watching. For once, he had no intention of complaining. This time, he had good reason to be onboard with everyone; his parents were being held captive, and he still loved that egg as much as Spyro, it was his nephew after all. He then looked over, seeing Delilah wrapping up a scroll in a red ribbon. "What are you doing?" he asked, confusion in his voice as he flew over.
"Oh, just sending my response message to my friend, she got back to me earlier," said Delilah, waving one of her tails in the air next to her, opening up a blue vortex in the air that she slid the message through.
Sparx blinked, staring at the strange vortex. "W-what's that?"
"Dimensional portal, duh!" replied Delilah, once more in that tone of voice implying it was perfectly normal.
"Oh…" replied Sparx, looking at it with a perplexed look on his face. "So that goes to the dimension of the talking magical horses?"
Delilah nodded. "Yep, want to take a peek? It's safe, I promise."
Sparx cautiously flew over. After looking it over for a second, he stuck his head through and then came back out with a look of confusion on his face. "… Why is everything flat there?"
"Oh, it's not flat, it just looks like it to someone from this universe," explained Delilah, as if this were a completely normal thing to be talking about. "This universe looks bulgy to people from that universe."
"Oh… Ok…" replied Sparx, confusion still clear in his face. "So… Did she mind you missed her party?"
Delilah shook her head, giving a small smile. "No, she said it was fine. Her friends threw her a surprise party and she had fun. But she said next time to send a message ahead if I was coming so there won't be cupcakes there."
Sparx blinked. "What are those?"
"Oh, they're a snack food," explained Delilah, hitting herself lightly on the head. "My bad, forgot you don't have those here. I can't eat them though..."
Sparx nodded, still confused. "Ok… Are you like allergic to them or something?"
Delilah shook her head. "No, I'm deathly afraid of them, ever since the Cupcakes Incident…" she explained, getting a completely bewildered look from Sparx. "Oh… There was an incident... In a parallel universe… Trust me, you don't want to know… Just know to be very careful when dealing with alternate universe versions of people you know…" she explained, then gave a frightened shiver. "That poor Pegasus…" she muttered, looking quite upset for a second.
Sparx simply blinked, rather confused by this, but deciding not to push it, seeing how upset she was by…whatever happened. "Ok then…" he said simply, unsure of what to say.
"Everyone!" called Spyro, walking over with Cynder. "Time to go," he said, everyone getting ready. "Alright. This won't be easy, but we have to do this."
"I know where the dungeon is, I'll lead the others down there and we'll free the captives while you two defeat Deadlock," said Pyrus, trying to be helpful.
Cynder nodded, still with a slightly anxious look to her. "Alright, let's go…" she said, letting Pyrus lead the way out of the temple, towards Serpent's Edge.
Grendel slowly slithered up to a large statue of a seven headed serpent atop Serpent's Edge. Cast from bronze, it had green eyes in each head and a hole exactly in the center of it's chest, two outer heads in line with it. He put the sun and moon jewels into those heads and stood back. "Perfect…once the sun begins to rise, the ritual will begin," he said, smiling as he circled the statue. "The power to take my vengeance on those pathetic dragons will be in my claws and they will suffer!" he stated, laughing sinisterly as he slithered back to wait for his plan to come to fruition.
The group slowly peeked around a rock as guards filed into Serpent's Edge to switch off. At Pyrus' signal, the group snuck in after them, then hide as the replacements took their positions.
"Alright, the guard switch is over, but we're in," said Pyrus. "Most of the Naga are still asleep at the moment…" he explained. "Mom's chamber is down that way, just keep going straight and you'll find it, the big door with the golden trim is really hard to miss."
"And you three head downstairs and free the prisoners," replied Cynder, getting nods from them. "Alright, good luck everyone…" she said, a little nervous, but holding herself together.
"Don't worry, I've been in tougher spots than this," said Delilah, giving a thoughtful look. "Well I've seen heroes in tougher spots, like that one time when those guys in color coded costumes had to fight-"
"No time, let's go," said Pyrus, pulling Delilah along as he, Demi, and Ember started off.
"Sparx…" said Spyro in a serious tone, looking to his brother.
Sparx blinked. "What is it?" he asked, seeing Spyro's seriousness.
"I want you to go with them," replied Spyro, looking thoughtful and worried. "Deadlock is targeting our loved ones, that's why Drake and Blaze couldn't come with us… It won't be like the other enemies we've fought, she will target you just to hurt us… I want you to go with Pyrus and his group… So you'll be safe."
Sparx was about to retort, when he saw how worried Spyro looked. Sparx sighed. "But… Yeah, you're right… Will you be ok without me there with you?"
Spyro nodded slowly. "Yeah, don't worry."
Sparx nodded softly, then looked to Cynder. "… Keep an eye on him, ok?"
Cynder nodded thoughtfully. "Of course, Sparx, don't worry."
Sparx sighed. "Alright… Just be careful," he replied, flying off after the other group.
Cynder put a paw on Spyro's back. "You did the right thing, we can't put him at risk because of us, Deadlock would just attack him to hurt you."
Spyro sighed, then gave a nod. "You're right… Let's hurry, there's not a lot of time…" he said, turning in the direction Pyrus directed them… Then slowly turning back to wave to Sparx one last time before he and Cynder continued forwards.
"… And then the ship blew up and everyone lived happily until the next major villain arrived," finished Delilah, speaking as she and the others walked, entering a huge stone chamber. It had a small openning at the top to let in light, the rest provided by gems hanging on the ceiling. A great many stalactites hanged around them, water slowly dripping from them.
Ember blinked. "Why did the bad guy turn into a giant squid?" she asked, curiosity in her voice from the strange story.
Delilah shrugged. "Don't know, he just said it was his true form. Though his head kind of looked like an octopus anyway…"
Sparx sighed. "Alright, it's official, your life is at least nine times weirder than mine is!"
Delilah chuckled lightly. "Oh that's nothing, you should hear about this one time I went to this world where monsters composed of desir-"
"Hold up," interrupted Pyrus, looking around. He sniffed the air and gave a small growl. "Cyros!" he called, looking around. "I know you're there! Come out!"
A deranged laugh suddenly came from the shadows. Cyros slithered her way out from a ledge. "Hello brother! How are you doing?" she asked, her voice unhinged as a crazed smile crossed her face. The black pattern had spread a good bit more now.
"C-Cyros?" asked Pyrus, shock in his voice. "What happened to you?"
Cyros gave another deranged laugh. "I absorbed Commander Venti's power! Thank you so much for beating him for me!" she said, circling her brother and his group in an almost predatory fashion. "And now, I'm finally going to get my rightful place as princess… By taking out the only other heir," she stated, before giving another psychotic laugh.
"She looks a lot like Gaia did…" muttered Demi timidly, watching the now insane dragoness circle.
"Pyrus…" said Delilah, her serious voice now showing itself again. "Absorbing Venti's power must've tainted her with his evil," she explained, slowly. "She's not herself… She's like her and Venti merged together… Well not physically, but her mindset… I've seen both happen to someone, this one time at the same time. Anyway, this isn't your sister, Pyrus… Not right now…"
"Cyros… Don't do this," pleaded Pyrus with a hurt look on his face. "Please…" he said, hearing Delilah, but not really listening.
"No, I've made up my mind," said Cyros, giving another chuckle. "You're going to die!" she exclaimed, going into another bought of psychotic laughter.
Pyrus sighed, then looked to the rest of the group. "…Guys, head on to get the prisoners… Cyros is my sister… I can't let you get hurt because of me…" he admitted, realizing Delilah was right and Cyros wasn't herself and probably wouldn't listen to reason. "I don't know what she's going to do, but I don't want you guys to get caught in the crossfire. This is my fight…"
Ember looked to the others, then back to Pyrus. "… You guys go…" she said, stepping up next to Pyrus, feeling herself getting hot under the scales. "I'll help Pyrus."
"Ember…" said Demi, before Delilah put her paw on her shoulder carefully and shoot her head.
"I've seen this more than once too," said Delilah, her voice more profound this time. "It has to happen like this, trust me…" she explained, seriously.
"Wow… Delilah is serious…" said Sparx, blinking lightly. "We should listen to her. And trust her, the other universes thing is actually true… I saw one… Full of horses!"
Demi blinked and nodded slowly. "Alright… Good luck, Pyrus, Ember…" she said, turning hesitantly with Delilah to head off, Sparx flying with them.
"Ember… Are you sure?" asked Pyrus, surprise in his voice. He knew his sister was strong and now mentally unstable… But something just felt… Right about having Ember standing by his side. He got hot under the scales for some reason…
Ember nodded, no confusion in her face. "I'm sure… I don't know why but… I really, really want to help you…" she said, looking up with a bit of the uncharacteristic shyness she'd shown in the past few days.
Before Pyrus could reply, Cyros let off another deranged laugh. "Oh this is hilarious! Little Pyrus has a girlfriend!" she exclaimed, laughing hysterically at this. She then suddenly snapped back to a serious face. "I think I'll kill you both! This'll be so fun!" she cackled. Before the two could react, she sent a serge of fire right at them, forcing them to dodge. She followed quickly by letting loose an onslaught of ice shards, once more forcing the two fire dragons to run to avoid being hit. She quickly continued with a burst of wind, blowing them both back against the wall.
Cyros flew forwards, pinning Pyrus' arms to the wall with her legs and letting out a laugh before attempting to hit him with her ax tail, only to be blasted off of him by Ember's fire breath. The corrupted ice dragoness let out a fierce snarl and sent a stream of ice breath at Ember, who managed to narrowly evade as the ice froze the wall.
Pyrus flew in, tackling Cyros and pinning her to the ground. "Listen! I know this isn't you! You're my sister! You're a jerk to me but you'd never try to kill me! That's Venti's evil talking, snap out of it!" he yelled, pleading with his sister to realize what she was doing.
"You don't know me as well as you think you do, brother dearest!" cackled the deranged princess before she blasted him off with fire. She flew up and dove at him with her ax, only for a Comet Dash from Ember to hit her in the side and launch her across the room. Cyros snarled and flapped her wings, launching a barrage of air cutters at Ember, managing to inflict a narrow gash on her right front leg. "Stay out of this!" she bellowed, sending a cascade of fire Ember's way.
Pyrus powered up his tattoo and countered Cyros' fire with his ice. "It's no use, she's not in her right mind…" he said, sorrow clear on his face at this fact.
Ember looked at him sympathetically. "Maybe if we knock her out Delilah or someone can find a way to fix her," she suggested, before the two dodged an incoming Fire Bomb.
Pyrus looked to Ember and nodded slowly. He then leapt out of the way of his sister's fire breath and countered with a fire breath of his own, forcing her to dodge. Cyros gave a deranged chuckle and blasted the stalactites on the ceiling with her fire breath, causing them to fall at the two.
Ember and Pyrus managed to evade and both counterattacked with their fire breath. Cyros replied with a barrage of ice shards, then dodging. As the two fire dragons jumped out of the way of the shards, Cyros flew in and tackled Ember, slamming her into the wall and trying to hit her in the head with her ax, only for her to counter with her Heat Breath and blast her off. Cyros snarled before having to leap back to avoid a blast of Pyrus' fire. The ice dragoness saw Ember aiming her fire breath at her and formed a wind sphere in her mouth, catching it and sending it right back, blasting the young Fire Guardian against the wall.
Cyros let out a deranged laugh. "Watching that black dragoness friend of yours had some advantages, like learning to do this!" she stated before firing several Wind Spheres at Pyrus, forcing him to fly up and out of the way to evade. He then flew in close and tackled her, pinning her down, only for her to bring both legs up and kick him in the groin. Pyrus moaned and fell to the ground in pain. Cyros laughed at her hurting brother, raising her tail blade up. "Don't worry, it won't hurt long!" she cackled, preparing to bring her ax down on his neck when Ember flew in and used a Comet Dash on her, knocking her away.
Ember quickly looked to Pyrus. "Are you ok?" she asked, worriedly.
Pyrus groaned but nodded, supporting himself with one front paw while still covering his groin with the other. "Y-yeah, I'm fine…I wish my sister didn't play so dirty though, ow…" he groaned, trying to ignore the pain.
"Dirty?" asked Cyros, getting their attention, revealing she had retrieved her guitar. "You haven't seen anything yet, brother dear!" she exclaimed, playing the guitar and sending a visible sound wave to blast them both backwards with it. "I haven't even began to play dirty yet!"
Ember groaned, getting to her feet. "Not the guitar again…" she muttered, before her and Pyrus flew upwards to dodge another sound wave.
Cyros laughed psychotically and tapped the jewel again, turning it yellow and playing again, this time a rather face paced, chaotic tune.
"Welcome to your final show!
Now we'll get to prove who is best!
Will it be me or my foes?
It's time to put this rivalry to rest!" sung Cyros, lightning erupting from the jewel of the guitar and following the two dragons as they struggled to dodge.
"What's wrong, my brother dear?
Isn't this what you wanted all along?
To prove you've got nothing to fear?
Now is your chance to prove me wrong!" she continued, the two dragons barely avoiding the lightning as she tapped the jewel again, turning it bright purple.
"Welcome to your final show!
We'll bring the house down!
Better start flying low
Or nothing of you will be found!"" she sung, the stalactites on the ceiling glowing purple and beginning to fall at the two dragons, forcing them once more on the defensive.
"Why is she singing?" asked Ember, before blowing up a stalactite with a Fire Bomb.
Pyrus barrel rolled out of the way of a falling stalactite. "Cyros loves to sing, it's just who she is!" he yelled back. "I guess even when she's insane!"
"What's wrong, pinkie pie?
Don't like my singing voice?
Or are you just afraid to DIE?
Sorry, you don't have any choice!" sung Cyros, laughing psychotically as she sent more stalactites falling at the duo, who blew them away with fire breath. She tapped the gem again, this time turning it bright green.
"Welcome to your final show!
I hope you're having fun!
Don't get too comfy though
Now you'd better run!" she sung, causing green spires of rock to erupt out of the walls and come close to hitting them. One of the spires managed to collide with Pyrus, knocking him to the ground, which distracted Ember long enough for the same to happen to her. Cyros then tapped the gem again, turning it back to purple.
"I know this has been a blast!
But we can't do this for all that long!
This fun just can't last!
Can't have mommy knowing something's wrong!
Welcome to your final show!
This is the last act!
It has to end and so
Please die with this attack!" she sung, a large chunk of the roof glowing purple and plummeting towards the two prone dragons. Pyrus saw it coming though and blasted it with a surge of ice, allowing him and Ember to fly through it with a double Comet Dash. Cyros snarled in response, tapping the jewel and making it glow yellow.
"Now you two just don't know when to quit!
This time certainly isn't a lie!
You can stop now, I really mean it!
Just hurry up and die!" she sung angrily, sending a lightning bolt at both of them, managing to know Ember out of the air and shock her, only to be forced to fly up from a burst of Pyrus' fire breath. This caused Cyros to hit the crystal again, turning it back to red.
"Welcome to your final show!
This time it's most certainly true!
My patience is now running low!
Hold still so I can kill you!" she sung, her voice getting more furious by the second as she picked up a large number of rocks with the magic of her guitar and hurled them at Ember and Pyrus, only to be dodged.
"You can run but you can't hide!
This spell won't let you get away!
Time is the only thing you bide!
So do yourself a favor and die this way!" she sung, the flying rocks following the two flying dragons.
"Welcome to your final show!
It's time for this to end!
No matter if you fly high or low
There's nowhere safe to hide in!
Welcome to your final show!
This much I can assure!
You those rocks will follow!
Until you are no more!" she sung, cackling as she watched the rocks chase the two dragons…then gasping as they flew right at her. "Stop! Stop!" she yelled, realizing too late as they flew over her and she was hit by her own attack, knocking her a good distance one way and her guitar the other.
Pyrus spun around, panic now on his face as he remembered who they were fighting. "C-Cyros?" he asked, worriedly.
The ice dragoness snarled viciously, getting herself to her feet, favoring her right front leg. "… This isn't over…" she snarled, glaring evilly at her brother.
"Cyros, that's enough!" yelled Ember, seeing Cyros had been injured.
"She's right, Cyros," said Pyrus, pleadingly. "Its over… Cyros, please listen to me. I just want to-"
"Brag about how you beat me?" yelled Cyros, before letting out another psychotic laugh. "No, no, NO! I NEVER lose, you haven't won yet! You'll never win!" she retorted in a frankly insane tone.
"Cyros… Please… Something is wrong with you, you need help," pleaded Pyrus, desperately. "Please…"
"Please, listen to him. Venti's power is messing with your head," implored Ember, trying to get through to her.
Cyros let out another cackle. "I know what you're doing! You want my power for yourself, just like you took the crown for yourself!" she suddenly yelled. "But no, no, that's not going to happen, not this time!" she replied, taking out the crystal containing Tyrania's energy. "Not once I absorb this!" she yelled, slamming the crystal into a spike on her choker, energy surging out of it and into her body.
Cyros laughed, wrapping her wings around herself as her skin became a much darker blue, her membranes a deep purple. She threw her wings out as they suddenly grew to the size of an adult dragon's, the claws bursting out into sharp blades. Her body crackled with energy as it began to grow rapidly, darkness engulfing her until she batted her wings to blow it away, revealing a now fully grown version of herself, with a spikier hide and serrated ax blade tail, though she was actually a good bit larger than a normal adult dragoness. She now had a black shadow-fire tattoo and red version of Gaia's earth tattoo running down her back, each going down a leg not yet claimed by her existing tattoos. Her irises turned completely red and a tattoo of blood red eyes appeared under her true ones.
Kage watched from behind a nearby pillar and gasped. "No… I-I have to do something… I can't let you do this to yourself, Cyros… There's one thing I can try… I just hope it isn't too late…" he said, worry in his voice and face. He slowly slunk away out of the chamber.
"Those eyes…" said Ember, backing up in fear. "It-it can't be! Empress Tyrania?"
"That's right!" yelled Cyros, her voice now heavily distorted, sounding as if she, Tyrania, and Venti were talking all at once. "After you little heroes took down Tyrania, I took her power…now I've absorbed it! It feels wonderful! Wonderful!" she yelled before giving another, even more insane laugh. "No one can stop me! Not you, not mom, not anyone!" she roared before letting loose a massive stream of shadow fire, forcing the smaller fire dragons to scatter as she blew a crater in the floor. Cyros cackled before letting loose with a red Earth Shot, Pyrus and Ember barely weaving out of the way in time, only for Fire Bomb from the now insane dragoness to blast them both out of the air and slam them into the ground. Before they could recover, she let loose another Earth Shot, buffeting them and launching them across the room.
"Such power! It's mine! All mine! And no one can ever take it away!" yelled Cyros, giving another crazed laugh.
Ember groaned as she got back to her feet, now sporting a few cuts and bruises. "Ow… That really hurt… You alright, Pyrus?" she asked, worriedly.
Pyrus nodded, getting back to his own paws in much the same shape. "But… What about Cyros?" he asked, looking at his mutated sister worriedly.
"I-I don't know… Empress Tyrania was really nasty, that's for sure… Now all that nastiness is in Cyros," replied Ember worriedly. "It's like with Spyro and Cynder… I guess she's Dark Cyros now…"
Pyrus sighed. "Well we can't just be sitting ducks, we need to fight back…"
"Fight back?" asked Dark Cyros before laughing. "That's a waste of time, brother!" she cackled, letting loose several Earth Missiles, the two Fire Dragons taking flight to evade but being kept on the defensive as Dark Cyros sent streams of Shadow Fire after them. Pyrus flew in and blasted her in the chest with fire, only to be batted aside with one of her wings. Ember landed on Cyros' back and superheated her body, burning the massive dragoness. "Get off! Get off me!" she roared in anger and pain before taking flight. Ember had to release her grip to avoid being ground against the roof by the mad dragoness.
Ember flew around and blasted with Dark Cyros her Heat Breath, forcing her back slightly before being sent flying herself with a powerful wind gust from the corrupted dragoness. Pyrus latched onto Dark Cyros by the back of the neck. "Sister! Break out of this! This isn't you! You'd never hurt me or mom! I know you're in there somewhere!"
Dark Cyros laughed as if this were a joke. "Not anymore!" she replied in her insane tone before spinning around, generating a tornado and throwing her smaller brother off of her and into the rising Ember. The two fire dragons got to their feet, only to be forced back into flight by a barrage of ice shards which embedded themselves deeply in the floor. Dodging streams of fire and Shadow Fire, the two spun around and hit Cyros with a dual stream of fire, forcing her backwards. Pyrus followed up with a barrage of ice shards, hitting her in the chest but doing next to nothing.
Dark Cyros took advantage and flew forwards, grabbing both of the smaller dragons with her huge paws and slamming them against the wall. "Time to die!" she cackled in a sing song tone before preparing a point blank Earth Shot, only for Ember to super heat herself, burning Dark Cyros' paw and causing her to let out a cry of pain, recoiling and allowing a double Comet Dash from both Fire Dragons to drive her backwards and escape her clutches. Dark Cyros roared in fury and let loose a barrage of Earth Missiles which were barely evaded. The two dove and weaved their way past as she swung her ax tail around, imbedding it in the wall. She ripped it out and roared as she let loose streams of fire, blasting both smaller dragons back before swiping them with one of her massive paws and throwing them across the room into a wall. As Ember rose, she saw Cyros charge a Wind Sphere and shot it right at Pyrus as he tried to get to his feet.
"Pyrus!" yelled Ember, rushing and pushing him out of the way, taking the hit herself and being hurled violently against the wall. She felt her head hard smack off of it and fell limply to the ground.
"Ember!" yelled Pyrus in shock, blinking in surprise that the pink dragoness had done such a thing for him.
Cyros then laughed, her eyes glowing red as she began to charge fire around her in preparation for a Fire Fury. "Any last words, little brother?" she asked, cackling psychotically.
Pyrus groaned, getting up slowly, looking at the unconscious Ember and then up at his sister as she began to charge. He put himself between Ember and Dark Cyros, preparing to take the brunt of the attack himself in her defense if it came to that… Then looked down sadly. "I'm sorry…" he said suddenly.
Dark Cyros blinked. "W-what?" she asked in surprise.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry you think I stole the crown from you!" yelled Pyrus, tears starting down his face. "But there's a law! Naga law says the first born is the crown prince or princess and I hatched first! But I never wanted to be crown prince! Mom had no choice, Cyros!" he shouted, trying to get the point through his sister's head. "You never gave me the chance to explain, whenever I tried, you'd yell at me and make fun of me… But I never wanted this… I never wanted the crown! I wanted to give it to you if I could!"
Dark Cyros seemed completely stunned, her attack fizzling out. Briefly, her eyes flickered back to normal. "Pyrus… Do you mean… No… No! Of course you don't! This is all a lie!" she yelled, her voice changing back to normal briefly before reverting back to their monstrous state along with her eyes as her anger returned. "You're just trying to save yourself and your little girlfriend! Well it won't work!"
Pyrus sighed. "I'm telling the truth, Cyros!" he yelled, tears streaming down his face. "All I want is for us to be like we used to be! Brother and sister! Together! And I want mom to be back to how she used to be too! I just want our family to be together again!… Don't you want that?"
Dark Cyros had a conflicted on her face, uncertain of what to make of the situation. She suddenly snarled. "Lies! All lies! When I believed you when we were kids, you went behind my back to mom and took the crown! I saw you accept it!" she roared in complete rage. "Well I'm not going to let you talk me out of it again! I'm going to kill you! You and that little girlfriend of yours too!" she roared, charging up the Fire Fury again.
Pyrus huddled around Ember, wrapping his wings around the two of them for protection as best he could… When suddenly, a purple crystal floated up over Dark Cyros. "Crystal shining with mystic light, take in this warrior's might," a male voice chanted, as the crystal began to glow and project a golden energy field. "There is power that lies within, allow that power to be tak-" he chanted before Dark Cyros canceled her Fire Fury and let loose a Fire Bomb, striking the caster and throwing him one way, the spell book she'd been using previously another, which slid to a stop at Pyrus' feet.
"Ha! Did you really think anyone could get the drop on-" started Dark Cyros, stopping in her tracks when she saw the limp, burnt form of Kage laying on the ground nearby. "K-Kage?" she asked, her eyes filling with shock, instantly reverting to their normal appearance. "Why did you…" she asked, confusion clear in her voice before she remembered his warnings, about what the energy would do to her. She rushed over to her fallen friend, nudging him. "Wake up…" she begged, tears welling up in her eyes. "Come on… Wake up! Don't… Don't you dare die on me!" she pleaded, her voice returning to normal and cracking as she spoke. "You're the only friend I've ever had! You can't die on me!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face as she looked at the badly hurt, possibly dying form of her friend who'd she'd just attacked.
Ember groaned, slowly waking up. "P-Pyrus?" she asked, then cringed, holding her head in pain.
"Ember?" asked Pyrus, surprised, then nuzzling her joyfully. "Thank the Ancestors you're alright…"
Ember blinked, getting hot under her scales. "T-thank you…" she replied, finding herself returning his nuzzle.
Pyrus suddenly got hot under his scales as he realized what had just happened. "Oops… Sorry…"
Ember shook her head slowly. "No…I actually kind of…liked it…" she replied, shyly.
Pyrus blinked, then looked on as his sister pleaded and begged to get some life out of Kage. He then looked at the spell book that had come to a stop at his feet, seeing the spell that it was open to. It was the transfer spell that Cyros had used, but someone had written new words beside the bottom parts with a deciding different purpose. He gave a gasp, realizing now was his chance to get Cyros free of the corruption now plaguing her and quickly grabbing the book and Cyros' guitar. He then blinked lightly. "I think I can play it, I've watched Cyros do it a lot, but I can't sing too good…and that's how Cyros casts spells…"
"Don't worry, I can sing," reassured Ember, looking at the book and reading what the spell said, then recalling what Delilah had said about the darkness corrupting Cyros. "Let's do it together… We'll get your sister back…"
Pyrus nodded slowly and began to play, throwing the jewel over Dark Cyros' head.
"Crystal shining with mystic light
Take in this warrior's might
There is power that lies within
Allow that power to be taken," sung Ember, her voice rather soothing and relaxing. The crystal shown with a golden aura, surrounding Dark Cyros and beginning to draw the power she'd stolen out of her as it pulled her into the air.
"Crystal of power do my will
Let within you this power fill
And take the evil away from her heart
And let it never again have a start," finished Ember, Dark Cyros shrinking as the shadows were pulled away, the extra tattoos vanishing into thin air. Once all the additional power had been taken and only her normal tattoo remained, Pyrus stopped, causing Cyros to fall to the ground her normal self, the crystal nearby.
Cyros gasped, eyes opening suddenly. "I-I'm me again…" she stuttered, her mind clear before she looked down at Kage. "K-Kage…" she muttered before he rested her head on his chest, feeling a still shallow breath there. "Kage… Don't die… Please don't die… You tried to warn me… You told me that power would do that to me… And I didn't listen," she pleaded, sobbing as she looked at the wounded Naga's. "You just wanted to help me! I never meant for this to happen… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… But please don't leave me!" she sobbed, sounding more like a frightened child than the egotistical dragoness she'd been acting like. "…You're the only friend I've ever had… I need you… Please… Please don't leave me…"
Kage's eyes slowly opened. "Princess… You're back to yourself…" he said weakly, causing Cyros to look up at him in surprise. "…I'm sorry… But… That energy… It was making you something you're not… I had to do something… So I altered that spell a little bit to target the evil that power had done to you as well as the power itself… I'm sorry I let this happen to you…"
Cyros began to cry tears of joy and hugged him. "It's ok… It's all my fault… I should've listened to you… By the Ancestors I should've listened," she cried, the sorcerer Naga hugging her back.
"Cyros…" said Pyrus, walking over, his sister looking around at him. "Are you ok?" he asked, concern heavy on his face.
"…Yeah…" replied Cyros, confusion filling her face as she wiped her tears away as quickly as she could. She then noticed neither her ice power or fire tattoo had been taken. "You… You stopped? You could've taken it all… All of my power but… You didn't… Why?"
Pyrus looked his sister in the eyes. "I don't want it… I wasn't lying… I just want our family to be together again…" he explained, a definite seriousness in his voice. "Like I said… I told mom I didn't want to be prince, but she explained the rules… I had to agree, but you must've walked in at just the wrong time…" he continued, sorrow in his eyes. "…I wanted to explain what happened and come up with… Something, but you never listened to me…"
Kage put a hand on Cyros' shoulder. "He speaks the truth, Cyros," he said, sitting up weakly. "Naga law is quite clear on the subject. The older sibling is obligated to be the heir, and its one of the laws even the queen or king cannot change," he explained, giving a sigh. "We don't even know how that law started, but its sadly the truth…"
Cyros looked like she'd just been punched in the gut, confusion and hurt clear on her face. She soon started crying, nearly sobbing. Pyrus had just spared her life and let her keep her powers when he could've taken them for himself… No matter how hard she tried to tell herself it was a lie... After that she just couldn't... "All this time, I've been bullying you and treating you like dirt… It was all because I misheard something and refused to hear the truth," she cried, suddenly unable to look her brother in the eye. "I was a fool! A grade-A fool! And because of that… I nearly lost you, Kage, and… And who I am…" she muttered, her voice full of self-loathing. "I nearly lost everything because I was so stupid!"
Pyrus put a paw on her shoulder. "It's alright… We all make mistakes… All that matters is you realize it and make sure it doesn't happen again…" he explained in a calm voice. "… I forgive you…," he continued, giving a small smile.
Cyros looked up at him with a shocked look. "You… Forgive me? You… You mean that? After everything I did… You forgive me? I tried to kill you Pyrus…"
Pyrus shook his head. "No, that was just Venti and Tyrania's power, it messed with your head and turned you into something you're not… Yes, I forgive you… I could never hate my sister…"
Cyros looked at him puzzled for a moment, processing what happened…then the tears started again as she hugged her brother. "Pyrus… Thank you…" she cried, Pyrus hugging her back.
"Cyros…" said Ember, lightly, after a few moments of watching the two reunited siblings hugging. As Cyros looked up at her, she gave a small smile. "… I forgive you too… And thank you…"
Cyros blinked in surprise. "T-thank me? F-for what? I got you kidnapped!" she asked in disbelief.
Ember nodded. "And if you hadn't, I'd not have been reunited with my dad and been able to free the slaves before the others arrived. And I'd never have gotten my phoenix powers, which have been a big help," she explained. "Even if you had mean intentions at the time, it all worked out better than it would've… And you're sorry, when someone is sorry for their actions, that proves they're not a really bad person. So I forgive you."
Cyros looked surprised. She then smiled lightly. "Y-you're welcome… Thanks for forgiving me… That means a lot…" she replied, getting a small smile from Ember in return.
"Excuse me," called a cool, relaxed voice. A female Commander sized Naga approached. Her body was primarily yellow with black patterns covering it, her head resembling that of a King Ratsnake. A tattoo identical to Pyrus' ran down the length of her back to her tail and arms. Her outfit was a light blue cloak with grey bracelets on her arms and neck, a pair of folded fans hanging from her belt. "Prince Pyrus, I see you are here," she said, ignoring the generally destroyed condition of the room and the pink dragoness standing next to him.
"Commander Khione," replied Pyrus, giving a small smile. He then looked to Ember, who was in a defensive posture. "It's ok, Ember, this is the Commander who wasn't selected by General Grendel. She's actually really nice."
Khione gave an honorable bow, then looked to Cyros. "Hello, Princess Cyros, it's good to see you," she said, then looked to Pyrus. "This group came down to dungeons," she explained, pointing to Sparx, Demi, and Delilah as they walked up. "The fox told me you wanted these prisoners released," she stated, pulling lightly on a chain, causing Hunter, chains around his wrists and holding the sphere with Nina and Flash inside it. "Can you confirm this?"
Pyrus nodded quickly. "Yeah, I want them free," he replied, doing his best to look official.
Khione nodded, unhooking Hunter's chains and pressing a magic key to the orb surrounding Nina and Flash, releasing them. "You're free to go," she said, turning to Pyrus and Cyros. "Prince and Princess, please give my regards to Queen Deadlock, I must return to my duty as dungeon keeper," she explained, giving another honorable bow and returning down the tunnel.
Sparx hugged his parents. "Sparx, it's great to see you," said Nina, hugging him back.
"It's good to see you guys again too, me and Spyro were worried sick!" said Sparx, looking up at them. "That snake didn't hurt you, did she?"
Flash shook his head. "No, not at all… In fact she gave us tea and kept as pretty comfortable."
Hunter nodded. "Deadlock spoke the truth, Khione was truly accommodating."
Sparx blinked. "Oh… Well we rescued you, that's what counts…" he said, then saw Cyros and gave a yell. "Ahh! The crazy dragoness!" he yelled, hiding behind Hunter as Cyros got a hurt look on her face.
"No, not anymore," said Ember, quick to Cyros' defense. "We sucked the evil out of her."
Demi blinked. "Ember… She kidnapped you…" she stated in a tone of complete disbelief
Ember nodded. "Yeah… But it was all a misunderstanding… Oh, and she got corrupted by evil," she said, then looked at the crystal. "That reminds me," she said, letting loose a burst of Heat Breath, shattering it to bits. The darkness inside contorted and took the form of Venti, then Tyrania, before disappearing entirely into nothingness. "Not it won't hurt anyone ever again."
Cyros walked up, looking nervous. She gave an uncomfortable sigh. "…I'm sorry… I'm sorry for everything I did… I messed up and it almost cost me everything I care about… I won't hold it against you if you don't believe me… But I hope you will…" she said, her voice genuinely remorseful.
Sparx and Demi looked a bit skeptical, but Delilah stepped forwards happily. "I forgive you, no worries."
Cyros was startled, not expecting that. "You… You forgive me that easily?" she asked, eyes wide in shock.
"Sure," said Delilah, giving a big smile. "I've seen much worse people be redeemed, trust me," she stated, giving a chuckle. "As a friend of mine once said, you're not a bad dragon; you just made a bad decision."
Cyros smiled lightly. "T-thanks…" she replied in a grateful tone.
Demi walked up, looking Cyros seriously in the eye. "Well I don't. You hurt my friends, you broke Ember's heart, you even got her kidnapped for no other reason but it served you. You've betrayed and used us once pretending to be our friend... But if Ember will forgive you for what you did to her… I will at least give you the benefit of the doubt and let you try to make up for all that," she stated, her voice serious as could be. "I'm not going to forgive you easily. After all you did, you're going to have to earn it. And I'm keeping my eye on every move you make; you won't get a second chance if you screw this one up, got that?"
Cyros nodded in a remorseful manner. "I can understand that… I don't blame you... I will do my best to make up for everything I've done."
Demi gave a nod. "You're welcome…" she said, keeping her eyes on Cyros. "You'd better," she stated, dead seriously.
Sparx flew up to Cyros, looking her in the eye. "Look, I don't trust you and I'm probably going to rake you over the coals a lot. But I guess if everyone else is going to give you a chance to make amends and all that, I will too. But I'm with Demi on this one, I'm not just going to forgive you and trust you not to stab us in the back again. Not after all the rotten stuff you pulled last time. Got it, ice princess?"
Cyros looked back to him, giving a small nod, though a bit offended by the ice queen part. "Thanks… I can't blame you, I did some pretty bad things I'll just have to make up for it, I guess… Anything you could say to me... I'd probably deserve it..."
"Yeah, you better," said Sparx in a serious tone. Normally, he'd be a lot harder on her, but his parents were present and would be hard on him if he was hard on her.
"Uh, I hate to interrupt," said Ember, apologetically. "But Spyro and Cynder are about to fight Deadlock, or might actually be fighting her right now, we kind of need to go."
The group nodded slowly and then quickly followed Ember along. Sparx looked to Delilah. "So... A friend of yours really said that?"
Delilah nodded as they walked. "Yeah… Though it was to their universe's version of a dragon, which are a lot different than they are here."
"How so?" asked Sparx, not sure if he wanted to know.
"They're really big and a lot more dangerous," replied Delilah, as if talking about normal subject.
"Oh…" said Sparx, blinking. "And… How did that happen?"
"She yelled at it for hurting her friends and made it cry… Then calmed it down and said what I did," explained Delilah. "Yeah, she's like that."
Sparx sighed, but then Flash put his hand on his shoulder. "Good job, son, we're really proud of you," said Flash, he and Nina smiling lightly. "We can't blame you for not forgiving Cyros, but it takes a lot to give someone the chance to earn your forgiveness after they've hurt you."
Sparx smiled a little embarrassed. "Yeah… I guess it was pretty impressive, wasn't it?"
Nina nodded, putting her hand on her son's shoulder. "Not as impressive as what Demi told us. About how you snuck your way into the Gargoyle Mines and helped Ember rescue all those slaves," she stated, pride clear in her face and tone.
"That was very brave of you, son," said Flash, sharing his wife's pride for their son. "We're really proud of you, you'll certainly deserve that statue now."
Sparx chuckled nervously, blushing and rubbing his head as they flew along with the group. "Well… I was just doing my job…" he said, smiling nervously.
Pyrus looked to Cyros, putting a paw on her shoulder as the rest of the group continued on ahead a bit. "Good to have you back sis…" he said, smiling.
Cyros smiled back. "Good to be back…"
After Pyrus looked back to the path to talk to Ember and they continued, Cyros' face turned to one of guilt… That is until Kage put a hand on her back as they walked. "Cyros… I know there's a long way to go until you'll be able to forgive yourself," he stated, keeping his eyes ahead as they walked. "But I know you'll be able to make up for everything you've done, you're not the kind who would take forgiveness or the chance to earn it lightly," he explained, looking down at her with a smile.
Cyros smiled lightly back. "Thanks, Kage… I'll do my best…" she replied, then continued on. I was such a fool… At least thanks to you, Pyrus, I have the chance to make up for it… she thought, smiling as she watched her brother walk along side Ember to confront their mother.
Yeah, big suprised, Commander Khione isn't evil, but then again, as Pyrus said, she's the only one Deadlock picked herself instead of Grendel. Says a good bit about old four arms doesn't it? And the "Cupcake Incident" thing with Delilah is probably a lot less funny to some people who might have an idea about it. I'll leave that up to your imagination.
The darkness may or may not have been Tyrania and Venti's spirits, but it's gone for good. I'll let you decide on that.
So Cyros has seen the error of her ways and repented, will Deadlock be so fortunate? Or will she be the victim of her own vengeance? Next time is the climatic showdown with Deadlock! Will our heroes succeed? And just what is Grendel up to?