Okay, here's 38. kinda needed to do a lot of brainstorming for this one. oh, and i put up the profiles for the Guardians and Cynder's Brother. and i also updated Spyro and Cynder's profiles (as in they have new abilities).

Chapter 38: warnings, boxes, evil spirits, what's next?

Location: Flint Hospital. Carlos' room.

Date: April 2nd. 4:38.

Character: Ignitus.

Ignitus spent most of the day on the desk, watching Carlos. Every now and then Carlos' wristband made a chirping sound, then Carlos stopped whatever he was doing and took some pills out of the small bottle Ignitus had seen the night before.

From what Ignitus could tell, Carlos was somewhat healthy. He didn't have all that much muscle, was almost as skinny as a rake, and yet he was lively and active... for the most part. Most of the time Carlos was sleeping in bed.

Ignitus looked at the crystal hanging from his neck. Valhalla's probably going to contact me any minute and scold the hell out of me. He thought. Valhalla's the only human in that place that I'm scared of… mostly because she has a lot more skill than I do when using temporal magic. She can just outright knock me unconscious in one hit.

Ignitus got up and stretched, yawning. "Do you have to stay there all day?"

Ignitus shook his head. "No, not really. But right now I'm just trying to think."

"About why you're friends are here?"

"Yeah."

Carlos sighed. "Well, hope they're in the city and not out there." He said.

"Out where?"

"Outside the barricade."

Ignitus shook his head. "Carlos, the reason why I asked if it was December 29th is because they won't get here until then."

"So how do you know that they're coming at all? Can you see the future?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Carlos. No, it had already happened before I came here." He shook his head. "I'm not completely sure, and this is just a theory, but somehow you're Dark magic was strong enough to create a small vortex in time as well as space. That'll explain it."

Carlos groaned. "Okay, than why did you-" he stopped as his watch beeped again. He took the bottle out and opened it. He sighed, then he covered the bottle with his hand and the bottle filled with Dark Energy. Then he took out two pills and swallowed them.

Ignitus jumped to the bed and looked at the bottle. "Why did you just use Dark Magic just for pills?" he asked. "That is a little trivial."

"Not as much as you'd think." Carlos said, putting the bottle on the bedside table and sitting down.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ignitus asked.

Carlos sighed. "I think it's already obvious, but I'm in sick condition."

"Yes, and hat does that have to do with pills?"

Carlos looked at the bottle. "Well, for starters, I need them. The virus I have is a lethal one, but it can be contained using that kind of medicine." He sighed again. "Unfortunately, the main doctor misdiagnosed it and has been giving me the wrong medicine for the past seven years. This one lady found out, tried to help me get the right medicine, and the main doctor – who is as self-centered as the queen from Alice in wonderland –" here Carlos made a face. Ignitus took that as a sign that whatever that was, Carlos didn't like it at all.

"Go on."

"That doctor fired the lady, and took the medicine."

Ignitus sighed. "Well, you're still here, so maybe-"

"Ignitus, I need the medicine I'm using my powers to get. If I don't take this in over twelve hours, I'll fall into coma and subsequently die."

Ignitus started. "Hold up. You've been using Dark magic for seven years just to keep yourself alive?" he asked.

Carlos nodded. "Yeah, that's why I didn't think much of it. The way I think, Dark magic is something that always has a downside. And since I've been using my power for seven years, and nothing's changed, I didn't think it was Dark magic." He blinked. "Wait, did you panic last night because you thought I was like the others that used Dark Magic."

Ignitus lied down, nodding. "Yes, that's what I thought at first." He said. "Carlos, you're a rarity, that's for sure. I mean, most humans can't use any kind of magic at all, and you've been using Dark magic to keep yourself alive for seven years. And it's powerful enough to create portals through time and space."

Then the door opened. "WAIT, I'M GETTING CHANGED!" Carlos yelled, grabbing Ignitus by the neck again.

Character: Carlos.

"Carlos, wait a minute! This isn't necessar-" Ignitus' voice was cut of as Carlos threw it into the closet and shut the door.

"Okay, you can come in now." Carlos called out. S-, my heart's going fast enough to put Sonic the Hedgehog to shame! Crap, that was too freaking close!

The door opened. "Carlos, why did you have to shout?" Jake asked as he walked in. "You know that wasn't necessary."

"Well, why are you here?" Carlos asked, avoiding the question. He didn't want to have to explain what a small, time-controlling dragon was doing in his room.

Jake took a small box out of his pocket. "This old hag at the park just hobbled up to me and told me to give you this. Said you'll need it for 'when the time comes for you're power'… or something like that. She had a really hoarse voice."

Carlos took the box, noticing that it had weird, black designs on it. Kinda like a mixture of water and fire.

Then he heard scratching from the closet. "What the heck is that?" Jake asked.

Carlos quickly put the box away on the bed. "Oh, nothing. I'll go look." He opened the closet door. "Oh, stuff fell down, I'll put them away." As he knelt down to 'pick up clothes', he whispered. "Damn it, Ignitus, what the hell are you trying to-"

"Ask him to describe the old lady." Ignitus whispered."

"What?"

"Just ask him."

Carlos got back up, then shut the door and looked at Jake. I don't know why Ignitus is asking me to ask this, but… "Hey, Jake, can you by chance describe the lady?"

Jake folded his arms. "Well, the old hag wore a black cloak, so I didn't see much. But the cloak was adorned with this weird, black stone about half an inch wide that was set into the hood. Why?"

"Just wondering." Carlos answered.

Jake shrugged. "Well, I have to go. See you later."

"Okay."

Jake turned and opened the door. Before he left, he looked over his shoulder and said, "Actually, there was one more thing about the old hag. She had this weird amulet around her neck… I think it looked like a cross with a bronze, vertical eye set into the center of it."

"Vertical?"

"Yeah, like a normal eye, except turned 90 degrees."

"Oh. Okay, thanks for telling me." Jake smiled, then left the room."

Carlos opened the door. "Okay Ignitus, spill it; you know something, what is it?"

Ignitus walked out of the closet and stretched, yawning. "Well, I have to be sure it's not just a false alarm, first." He said.

"What does that mean?"

"It means let me think it over for now. I'll tell you if I think it's necessary… what I'll tell you right now though, is that it might be connected to the fact that you have Dark Magic capabilities strong enough to open portals through time and space."

8:39 PM

Character: Ignitus.

Nothing much else happened that day. One time Carlos went out of the room and came back with another bowl of meat, which Ignitus was thankful for.

He spent most of the day just looking at the crystal hanging from his neck. Before he was dreading the moment Valhalla contacted him. But now, he couldn't wait.

Sure enough, a little after the sun set, the crystal started resonating and making a low, gentle hum.

"Hey, what the heck is that thing?" Carlos asked, dropping his book.

Ignitus looked at him. "I know this might seem rude, but can you leave the room for a few moments please?" he asked.

Carlos got up and stretched, "Well, I need to use the bathroom anyway, so I'll leave."

Ignitus nodded. "Okay, good." Now to hope Valhalla's not going to skin me alive!

Carlos left the room. Ignitus took a breath, then he placed wrapped a paw around the crystal and added a little time energy to it.

The response was immediate; a hologram of the head Chronicler materialized in front of him, angry as hell. "IGNITUS, WHAT THE F- WERE YOU THINKING, JUST DIVING INTO A PORTAL WITHOUT MY CONSENT?"

Ignitus counted himself lucky he froze time for about a minute just in case. "Valhalla, please just quiet down for a minute and let me –"

"CALM DOWN? YOU BROKE THE RULES AND DISOBEYED ME AND YOU'RE ASKING ME TO QUIET DOWN? WHY SHOULD I? HECK, WHY AM I NOT KNOCKING YOU OUT RIGHT NOW?"

"Valhalla, you're not the one whose offspring might be in danger here."

Valhalla took a deep breath, then she folded her arms and frowned. "That doesn't automatically give you the right just to open a portal – using dark magic I might add –"

"That's just it, Valhalla; I didn't. This one kid did."

That caught her up. Valhalla started, then brushed a few bangs of hair out of her face and looked back at Ignitus. "Okay, so who did?" Ignitus explained Carlos' situation. Valhalla hummed to herself, a sure sign the she was thinking. "Hmm… Carlos Riley? I'll have Gerchen look him up. I've never heard of a human capable of using Dark Magic strong enough to do this."

Ignitus nodded. "Exactly. But he did it, and here I am. It's odd, though. He said he's been using Dark Magic since this one doctor refused to give him medicine he needed… how can a human just be able to use Dark Magic of that caliber that suddenly?"

"And this isn't the only case of it, either." Valhalla said.

Ignitus started. "Excuse me? Are you saying that –"

"That humans are perfectly capable of using Dark magic? Yes. There's been like fifty cases of it in the past three thousand years or so. It's odd; humans are often prone to corruption and greed, yet they can handle Dark Magic without being affected by the Darkness in most cases."

"Most cases?"

Valhalla shrugged. "Remember Hitler?"

"Oh." Ignitus sighed. "Also, there's something I've got to ask you. One time you said that there was a group of humans going around corrupting other humans with substantial amounts of power, right?"

"Yes."

"Tell me, do they usually wear a cross with a bronze, sideways eye embedded in it?"

"Why are you asking?" Valhalla asked. "And the lesser ones do. The higher ups wear a gold amulet made up of three eyes arranged in a triangle."

"This one friend of Carlos' was approached by one of them, I think. They gave him a box to give to Carlos…"

"Get rid of it. It might be something that comes in handy sooner or later, but more likely it houses a Shade."

Ignitus frowned. "Um, Forgive me for sounding dumb, but what's a Shade?"

Valhalla sighed. "It's a spectral creature. You know, a creature that is no longer considered alive. Usually, a Shade is a spirit that has the capability to possess living beings and get them to do as they wish. Usually Shades are just evil beings that can only possess, but there is the occasional Shade that can downright corrupt the very soul of a person. In other words, that soul is no better that Malefor."

Ignitus growled. "Damn. How can I tell what the box contains then?"

Valhalla hummed again, pulling on a strand of her hair. "I'm not sure. I'll study on it and come up with a few theories. But do NOT touch the box. Or let the kid open it. Actually, let me rephrase that. Do whatever you can to keep the kid from opening that box, so long as you don't open it yourself. The last thing we need is a Chronicler on the same side as Malefor."

Ignitus nodded. "I'll make sure it stays closed." He looked around. "Um, is… is Sarah there?" he asked.

Valhalla laughed. "Well, one you sound pathetic when you're talking meekly, and two, yeah, she is. Why, you want to talk with her?"

Ignitus nodded. The hologram shifted, then Sarah appeared, paw clutching the crystal around her neck. "Sarah, are you okay?" Ignitus asked.

Sarah nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Are you okay though?"

Ignitus smiled. "Well, I'm in the best place I could be at the moment. Well, not really the best place, but a lot better than where I might've ended up."

Sarah smiled. "I'm glad to hear that." She said. She seemed worried all of a sudden. "Ignitus… I have to know… did you find them? Did you find Spyro and Cynder?"

Ignitus sighed. "Unfortunately no. I'm about seven months ahead of them. Where I am at the moment, it's the second of April."

Sarah sighed sadly. Then she brightened and said, "Well then most likely they're okay right now. They're not in danger yet, are they?"

Ignitus chuckled. "I agree." He said.

Sarah smiled. "Ignitus, please make sure nothing bad happens to you, okay?" she said.

Ignitus nodded. "I'll be fine, my love." He said.