"Oh, aren't you just the most precious little thing!"
Okay, when Spyro told Nestor he wanted to get to know the female Artisans, this wasn't what he had in mind.
The drake had just entered Astor's home – Alban directed him here after one of his godforsaken calligraphy lessons– when this old lady came down upon him like the grim reaper's grandmother.
His poor cheeks were currently at the mercy of an old carnelian dragon with a raspberry underside, medium pink wing membranes, darker raspberry for the spine ridges running from head to tail and three pentagonal spots on each deltoid, gray hair–on the top in a granny bun, slightly thick eyebrows, and as a tuft on the tip of her tail—and curvy white horns reminiscent of Tomas' with much smaller ones in front. Her clothing consisted of a violet blue overall apron and arm sleeves, and a pair of black-framed square glasses.
And holy fudge did this lady have a grip!
"Uh, thansh?" Spyro eyed Sparx out of his peripherals in desperation. The dragonfly merely shook his head in both bemusement and speechlessness, just as beside himself. It was clear neither of them had been prepared for this.
To Spyro's fortune, the older reptile took notice and thus released the boy with a fond chuckle that exposed her snaggletooth. "My apologies, dearie! The idea of getting to meet you has been on my mind ever since Astor and Nessie and everyone else sent me all those letters about you!"
'Nessie'. PFFFFT. How Spyro and Sparx managed to keep straight faces, the world would never know.
"Ah, that's right, how rude of me! My name is Amanda; I'm Astor's wife and Nestor's stepmother!" With her intro out of the way, she started to gently herd Spyro and Sparx into her and Astor's living room. "Come along, come along now! Here I am smothering you while the others are dying to meet you!"
"There's a gross overstatement," a dry kind of squawky voice quipped somewhere to Spyro's left the moment they entered.
Out of the kitchen to the left stepped out a tall, slim yellow dragoness with light cream for the underbelly and front of her muzzle, a darker yellow for the wing frame, wavy head horns like Nevin's, a tinier horn on the nose and three each running along her jaw, mottled pale-yellow spots along her back, and a pencil-like yellow cone with a darker tip at the end of her tail. Her dark green/green clothing consisted of an Inverness cape, ascot, belt, and studded wristbands.
She schooled the younger dragon before her with a cool smirk. "Personally speaking, your preceding reputation sounds like more entertainment than I need in one lifetime, but if it's any consolation – OOF!"
"Be nice." The reproach and accompanying elbowing came from an orange dragoness with a body shape like Tomas' (albeit somewhat slimmer) and yellow-orange underbelly. Dark red colored her short wavy hair, freckles, and wing membranes as well as her sparse tail-mane and trio of spots on each outer thigh, orange her wing frames. Her angular off-white horns formed a diamond shape while her same-colored tail club resembled a rounded marquise gem, three horns on each side of her head as well except on the cheeks. Her periwinkle blouse contrasted well against both her medium-blue sleeveless Victorian-style vest and its dark-blue buttons and stripes and the single-eyed black loupe around her neck.
"Don't mind Carmen, Spyro," she assured him. Her British-accented voice was quite prominent. "She's perhaps been the most excited out of all of us to meet you; she just doesn't want to admit it. Mother Serpent knows how her husband Devlin and brother Nevin deal with her." She ignored Carmen's indignant huff as she put a hand to her own chest with a smile. "My name's Eleanor. You know my fiancé, Gavin. It's a pleasure to finally meet you!"
Spyro returned the smile. "Nice to meet ya, too! This here's my good buddy, Sparx!" The golden dragonfly offered a happy welcoming buzz in turn. "So, since the gang's all here, what you ladies got planned?"
Amanda clapped her hands in eagerness. "Ah, I knew my silly self was forgetting something!" She gestured everyone to follow her as she moved to step out the back door. "This way, everyone!"
Moments later, all of the group except Amanda sat in white wicker chairs on the house's backdoor veranda, the eldest reptile having gone back inside to fetch some cherry lemonade while the others conversed, Carmen and Amanda answering whatever questions Spyro and Sparx had on their minds.
"So, you're some kind of detective?"
"Private investigator, in fact. It's essentially the same occupation except I'm not restricted by affiliation with law enforcement." At Spyro's blank stare, Carmen held back a sigh. "I get to solve crimes however I want."
"Cool! Do you ever get to see any crime scenes? Robberies, car chases, murders? What about going undercover?"
A cocky chuckle met these inquiries. "All that and more, my boy. Of course, don't go expecting anything of that level of excitement once we're properly situated into Nestor's lesson schedule."
Oh right, Spyro realized with a cringe. He hadn't considered that. A hand atop his head eased his concerns before they could bum him out.
Eleanor spoke up. "Don't worry, Spyro. We Artisan ladies have a little more sense when it comes to teaching others."
That and Amanda gave Nestor and even Astor a chew-out once they shared their approach in teaching Spyro. Not that said approach had been completely wrong since the men had been teaching the boy necessary lessons; rather that every single Artisan got shoehorned into the role of teacher.
Because Alvar? Not with that temper.
"Is that your way of saying your lessons are gonna be more fun?"
Carmen rolled her eyes. "If by 'fun' you mean 'less likely to lose your attention 10 seconds in', then yes." Her lips curled into a sardonic smile. "Though compared to the likes of say Argus, I doubt watching out for such will prove that difficult."
The muted clink of drowned ice cubes against the inner walls of glass drew attention to Amanda, who emerged right then with four tall, chilled glasses of the promised coral beverage. She even brought a saucer filled with the same fruity goodness for Sparx. After a round of thanks and minute or two passed via sips, Spyro seized opportunity to learn more.
"Okay, so Carmen's here a private investigator. Nice. What do you guys do then?"
Amanda and Eleanor shared a debating look before the latter, out of politeness, gestured her elder to go first.
"I'm a toymaker. Puppets, dolls, wooden trains, the occasional spy device. Nothing too spectacular." The blissful senior ignored everyone's (Spyro's and Sparx's in particular) weirded-out stares as she took another taste of her drink. "It's a deep shame I missed your infancy though, Spyro. It would've been such a delight to spoil you back then."
Spyro held back a blush, ignoring Sparx's amused snicker, but still smiled. As embarrassing as that sounded, he had to admit a certain appeal to having someone shower him with that kind of affection.
Not that Nestor and the others skimped on showing how much they cared. For as long as he could remember, Spyro knew they all did their best to raise him right and ensure not just his future but his happiness as well. Heck, even all those lessons, frustrating and boring as they could be, were sheer proof.
It just...it just seemed as though Spyro always found a way to screw things up, almost like Fate ordained him to be nothing short of a disappointment. Because he tried, he tried to do right by his guardians, show them he could be as great as them, the people who cared for and put up with him for so long. Over and over, only to fail again and again for one reason or another.
Thinking about all that started to put the little dragon into a funk he'd rather avoid right now. He didn't want to give these ladies the impression they were stuck with some perpetual mope. Fortunately for him, Amanda chose that time to speak up.
"Well now, Ellie dear. I believe that's all on my end; the floor belongs to you now."
"Oh right!" The tangerine dragon cleared her throat. "I myself am a jeweler. Brooches, necklaces, watches, earrings, anything you can add on to look nice: if it needs making or fixing, you can always rely on me."
Spyro cocked his head in interest. "Basically, if I want any bling-bling, you're the gal to see."
Eleanor gave an amused half-smile. "Basically yes. Speaking of which," she took another brief take of her drink, "I recommend being at your best for your next lesson, seeing as it will be with me."
"What, are you like super-hard or something?"
Noting the boy's somewhat nervous tone, Eleanor smirked. "Not super hard. Just super hard-working. In short, don't expect to get away with slacking under my...," she paused for dramatic effect, "watch."
Her audience stared back in silence. Carmen and Spyro decided against pointing out how it qualified more as a Lindar-pun than an Eleanor-pun. Speaking of whom, the dragoness sighed with a sag once she caught on that her joke fell flat. Amanda pat the younger dragon's back out of comfort.
"Since we're on the topic of lessons," Carmen spoke up after she drained the last of her drink, "Nestor brought to our attention that there's been a marked change in how you've been approaching your lessons as of late. He even went so far to call it an improvement of sorts."
Spyro furrowed his brow. "Like what?"
"More confidence. Less of a tendency to give up in frustration when what you do doesn't proceed as planned." Granted, there had still been mishaps (this was Spyro after all) but overall, the little drake pushed forward with more purpose than before according to the reports.
"Oh, that! Heh, I guess having to go on an epic world-saving adventure does wonders for self-esteem." Sparx rolled his eyes at his friend's bravado. Not that Spyro didn't have a point but still.
"Don't misinterpret that I'm not happy for this development in your growth, but that brings up a point I've been meaning to ask you ever since Nestor and the others told the story to us: how did you manage to not get caught up in the blast?" Gnasty managed to entrap very adult dragon present in the Dragon Realms with his spell. Did Spyro squeak through because of his size?
The purple dragon waned in his smile. "I sort of figured Gnasty didn't bother cuz he didn't think I'd be much of a threat."
Not too out of character for the Gnorc leader. Regardless, Carmen felt dissatisfied with that explanation.
Eleanor butted in before the yellow dragon could bombard the boy with any further questions. "All the same, you deserve credit for going as far as you did to help the others. I'm just glad the spell didn't prevent them from being able to speak with you."
"Yeah about that. Nobody ever explained anything to me about that spell Gnasty used, I think mostly cuz they didn't quite get how it worked either."
Eleanor rolled her eyes once she noticed Carmen perk up at this 'prime opportunity' to show off. Oh, sweet Mother Serpent. Better get comfortable for this one.
"Allow me to explain then! Essentially what you freed were their souls and minds. Think of them as ghosts of people who hadn't died yet – they were still alive but phased through everything in the physical world while their bodies remained in a magical subspace contained to those platforms you found them on. Usually, such an advanced spell can only end for real if the original caster either undoes it or is soundly defeated."
Okay wow. That was a bit to take in.
Regardless, Spyro and Sparx shared a look of mild understanding. They well remembered the terror from seeing Nestor's hand phase through Spyro's head in a denied attempt at comfort. Ghosts but not ghosts, huh? That would explain why all the adult dragons couldn't tag along with them at the time, let alone why they always shimmered away once they got done talking to Spyro.
Although that begged another question, one Carmen predicted without flaw.
"And just to save your breath, I can also verify that despite his intentions, Gnasty clearly lacked the know-how for the spell to restrict his targets' movements all the way. Though the other dragons were still prisoners in a sense, your efforts granted them mobility in the spiritual realm. In most cases, that would be all one could do in such a state, but since we dragons are magical beings by nature and they were full grown no less, they had enough power to alter their prisons' positions as well."
Which given how far the Dragon Realms in general are from Gnorc Gnexus, could not have been an easy feat for any of them, even the Magic Crafters. That just went to show their urgency to ensure Spyro as much heads-up as possible before facing Gnasty.
Spyro blinked, eyes wide in awe. "Whoa, that's kinda wild. But...wait. How do you know about all this stuff? No offense but you're not a Magic Crafter."
Carmen smirked. "A truly effective investigator must be as well-rounded as possible in their knowledge. Even the smallest or most seemingly insignificant detail can overturn a case after all!"
Made sense, made sense. Spyro pursed his lips.
"Okay...then how come only Sparx and I could free everybody?"
That. That was a good question. For once, Carmen found herself at a loss for words, tail tip curling inward from reluctant uncertainty.
Once again, Eleanor came to the rescue. "You know what, Spyro? It's fine if we can't figure the answer to that out. What matters is that you took a stand and saved the day when no one else could! Few dragons can say they did that, let alone at your age!"
Even though Sparx could see the obvious change in subject, the clear boost to Spyro's self-esteem in the small dragon's smile and posture made the dragonfly appreciate the dragoness's save. Plus, she had a point; no point in worrying over how you pulled something off if it helped everybody in the end.
"I'm just glad you ladies weren't around to get caught in Gnasty's spell-happy spree yourselves." That did not look fun for Nestor and the guys.
Amanda chuckled. "Only because we were still helping the Ecologists pan out some details. Otherwise, we would have settled back with everyone else ages ago and very well have been our own decorations." She noticed Spyro arch a brow in interest. The elder dragon wagged a finger. "Now, now. We can't spoil all the details; you'd still like to be surprised, wouldn't you?"
Way to keep someone in suspense. Spyro sagged, mindful not to spill his drink. "Ah c'mon! Not even a little hint?"
For a moment, Amanda seemed as though she would confirm as much – except a look from the two other lady dragons gave her pause. With a creak, she eased herself out of the chair and polished the last of her drink. "Well, you did talk with Nestor prior after all and while we are serious about keeping certain plans a surprise for you, there are a few things you have the right to know about." She looked to Eleanor, who nodded and stood up as well.
"In that case, this way, boys," the jeweler stated, "Be sure to finish your drinks, first."
A few minutes later, everyone piled into Stone Hill Castle where Carmen (with Nestor's permission) pulled out a scroll detailing a letter, one sent to Nestor from someone named 'Sofia', and read it aloud for Spyro and Sparx.
Nestor, Leader of the Artisans
Words cannot do my relief and gratitude towards your consent for this undertaking justice.
Though much will still need to be done on all sides to reconcile dragonkind, I believe this first act will go far in achieving that goal.
As agreed, we will take this reintegration process at a pace agreeable to both sides while ensuring enough steady interactions that our clans establish a mutually beneficial relationship. For this reason, Ecologists will travel to your realm sometime in the following weeks to familiarize themselves with your way of life.
If any issues or concerns on your side regarding this arrangement materialize, please do not hesitate to notify me so that we can revise our plans whenever necessary.
Sincerely,
Sofia
By the end, both the dragon and dragonfly gaped. Even with all the big fancy words, the two gleaned enough to get the gist of this letter.
"Bzz bzzt?! (For real?!)"
"I know, right?!" So, this is part of what Nestor meant with all that atonement talk. Spyro looked to the older dragons, tail wagging in excitement. "Any idea when they'll be showing up?"
Carmen huffed as she rolled the scroll back up and returned it to its rightful place. "Not to burst your bubble, but I doubt every single Ecologist will be making a grand entrance in our realm. Not so soon anyway. Nestor will notify us later this evening about all this just to make sure everyone's on the same page, but from what I could infer, only one of them will be visiting for now." She stroked her chin. "No genius required to know who."
Spyro and Sparx shared a look of confusion. Amanda smiled in sympathy in turn and gestured a hand to Eleanor, drawing everyone's attention to her.
The orange dragon blushed vermillion at being put in the spotlight. She cleared her throat to regain composure. "That would be Nicolas. I accompanied him on his brief assignment to Gnorc Gnexus and rendezvous with the professor to relay what the Ecologist leader – that's Sofia by the way – intended to do concerning what the Ecologists would do going forward. The professor agreed to lift his vow of silence concerning those closest to him afterwards."
Which meant Elora shouldn't have had any trouble getting info out of him then. Good to know.
"Anyway, the reason Nico's coming here is because he's not only Ecologist but Artisan as well. Sofia wants her clan to ease back into the Dragon Realms, and she figured the biggest priority now that everyone's back home would be giving the Ecologists of mixed heritage a chance to explore and get to know everyone first. One at a time, that is." She clasped her hands together and smiled. "I think you'll come to like him, Spyro and Sparx. Nico is a very sweet young man."
"Oh, indeed he is!" Amanda added in cheer. She started counting off on her fingers. "Gentle, considerate, honest—"
"An absolute throw pillow," Carmen uttered under her breath. Eleanor elbowed her again.
"Bzzt, b-b-bzzt, bzzt bzzt bzzt! (Then we'll just have to show him a good time then)," Sparx chirped.
"You said it, buddy!" Spyro laughed before he faced the ladies with a confident grin, "Don't worry! We'll make sure this guy has a day here he'll never forget!"
That's what I'm afraid of, Carmen and Eleanor mused in silent dread.
For reference pictures of my OCs:
Artisans - ~professorrat/submissions/1927291/artisan-residents-ocs
Peace Keepers - ~professorrat/submissions/1927292/peace-keeper-residents-ocs
Magic Crafters - ~professorrat/submissions/1927294/magic-crafter-residents-ocs
Beast Makers - ~professorrat/submissions/1927295/beast-maker-residents-ocs
Dream Weavers - ~professorrat/submissions/1927289/dream-weaver-residents-ocs
Ecologists - ~professorrat/submissions/1944688/ecologist-residents-ocs