Chapter 54: Holding Out Hope

"Cynder...! Cynder, you have to run! Get away from him!" The cries of a voice spoke over the ringing of ears. "No! I won't lose him! There has to be something we can do!" The ringing of the ears grew louder and louder as the voice grew more panicked, "Spyro please...! Please, hear my voice! It's me! It's Cynder!" The ringing became all too loud to bare, "Spyro...! SPYRO!"

Gasping heavily to collect as much air as he could, the purple dragon coughed, struggled, and strained from his body's lack of strength and energy. He was quick to roll to his side, coughing up bile violently and in many waves. His spit and saliva splashed to the ground below; his paw gripped to his neck from pain, and with his muscles unable to support him, his wings took aim to the ground below to aid his figure. Even then too however, he could not stand. His arms and legs wiggled, his body feeling like a complete mess, and a headache powerful enough to vibrate his frontal lobe. Dazed and confused, the atmosphere around him was something he's never felt before, and as such and due to this overwhelming feeling of death resting at his shoulder, swift recovery was needed. Or, at the very least, a cloak over his unfortunate circumstances. Wiping the spit from his mouth, his vision slowly recovered from its daze. The white liquid gaining color to form red. It was an easy thought, and one he wasn't too worried about, Blood? Arching himself back, some of his ligaments and joints popped: a form of stretching gave way to loosen his body. From the way his pain radiated from head to toe, a thought came to mind, Must've had it out with Malefor or something. But even he himself couldn't do THIS much damage. Raising himself up to stand on his feet, his back curved forward and his paws pushed his back, another pop sounding the area.

"Damn!" Spyro exclaimed, a little more worried now as to why his back could be in so much pain, "I'm gonna have back problems in my twenties and I haven't even had kids yet, hehehe," Still not quite focusing on his surroundings due to his eyes clamping shut with near every move he made, the realization hadn't hit yet, "And, before you say anything, Cynder! I'm am once again being threatened by a trident and are unable to speak and or clarify on that point."

His claw pointed ahead, believe this to be where Cynder was standing. However, there wasn't much to see, let alone stand. Spyro yelled, jumping back in a fit of sudden panic. Where he had pointed was nothing but wasted space. Dragons did not stand before him, but rather bones that laid in the area. Buildings took an unfortunate turn too. Their doors, windows, appliances: nothing was left standing. Neither dust, nor sand, nor dirt. Before him was a pile of ash: remnants of what looked to be a city and it's inhabitants. The color he gained back mattered little. The world was red, dark, and though light shined through, where he was wasn't the place of something holy. It didn't deserve the sun's light, nor the sound of life.

"NO!"

His walk back made him trip. More bones of dragon remains cut his scales and tangled around his arms and legs.

"STOP! Stop-stop-STOP!"

Violently gripping the bones from his body and tossing them to the floor, he fell to his back in his fit of panic. The hit to the ground below wasn't graceful. But laid to his back now, still radiating pain from his back, something within him screamed. A pain enough to cause a very powerful roar to explode from his maw, "AHHH!" Reaching to his back, he moved his paw around, trying to understand where this pain was coming from, "Son of a... BITCH!"

His eyes clamped shut once again. He rolled from one side to the next, trying to rub the pain away. Thinking about it was near unbearable, but it was hard enough to stand to his feet, let alone all fours. Attempts to forget the pain altogether were fleeting thoughts, but something caught his eye enough so that he didn't need to tell himself to forget. Once the pain was bearable enough for his eyelids to rise open, his heart stopped for even just a second, and the breath he went to take was caught in his lungs. The sun hadn't, couldn't shine. The area above him, the sky of once blue and filled with clouds or wildlife, was engulfed in a hurricane of red, orange, and dark blue. The swirl outwards coughed dark smoke, ash, and a blackened cloud. This swirl circled the middle of lightning: a black hole brought to earth itself it would seem. This hurricane covered miles wide, but not enough to completely engulf the earth itself. Spyro saw the sun's light, but far. The Volcano was visible, the mountains were visible: all had light expect where he was. His heart pounded, and though everything within him wanted answers; the headache growing worse, these questions acted as adrenaline, and a large amount of it too. He was scared, but upset all at the same time. Rolling back to his fours and jumping up to gain himself, he inspected his surroundings, trying to gain some kind of ground on where he was. But, a quick look to his right easily helped him determine where he was. He gasped, whispering to himself in a broken voice, "Ignitus..."

Rushing forward and towards what he saw, he picked up a piece of the monument. The fountain that once stood to the town's square had been burned to the ground: destroyed from top to bottom. Each of the Guardians that once stood were shattered. Their bodies in ruins, their heads stepped on, and a piece of history lost to time. Picking up the piece of broken headstone, he looked into its eyes for a second. His tears dripped down onto it: his mind slowly coming to terms with what had happened.

"No..."

More tears fell, blurring his vision. One such tear hit the eye of the piece of remains. This tear connected with Ignitus's eye, dripping down his own cheek, sharing what looked to be a tear with his son. But this all wasn't real. It was a statue: nothing more than a piece built to signify something. Where Ignitus really was; a mystery that needed to be solved, but in doing so, Spyro needed to raise his head and take it all in. He clenched his eye of tears first before gaining the guts to face the truth. His head was slow to raise, but he saw it all. Piles of bones that stretched all throughout the area. Some buildings stood, but those too had remnants on them. The walls that protected the city were toppled. The citizens that once covered the city in colors, laughs, and cries of all types were nothing but dust and echos now. The ground below him stained the color red, but the bones and remains seemed to point at a long time passing. For such a nightmare to be reality to him; his fears being faced right in front of his very eyes, he couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. To have Warfang sent to ruin, to have woken up without a family or lover in his arms or by his side; this was hell brought to life. His teeth gritted, his body titled, and with hate and anger flying out into the sky, so too did his wings as they were thrown open, "ENOUGH ALREADY!" Tears ran down his eyes, his vision looking all around to whomever may be watching him, "You've beaten me! Abused me! TORTURED! ME!" His voice echoed; his body standing tall once having stood to his two feet, "IS THIS ABOUT LUNA?! OR ARTEMIS?! Instead of relying so heavily on these thoughts, emotions, and fears, FACE ME YOURSELF! KILL ME INSTEAD!"

His voice finally subsided. Heavy breaths were to follow in the aftermath of his yell. His chest raised and lowered, his heart pounded forward and back; his body ached real pain, his voice gave real volume. What was real was a mystery, but for what all he could see, this wasn't his imagination or a simple thought. His vision was clear. His scenes all reacted to the world around him. His could smell blood, see corpses, hear his own voice, taste the death within the air, and touch the rough cobble beneath him. This was reality, and he came to that conclusion already. But to face it was a different story. One thing after another hit him, and though he dropped back down to all fours to catch his breath, his head suddenly pounded. Like a swift kick to the guts, his brain seemingly hit his skull in all directions. The quick expansion stayed, like his brain was trying to explode out of his head. Spyro rightfully so grabbed his head in agony, falling to the floor and yelling out in a tear shattering cry, "AHHHHHHHH!" He rolled to his back; his claws wanting to dig their way through and silence his pain, but he persevered, "UUUUGGGGHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHH!" His ears started to ring as though an explosion had gone off next to him, but thankfully for him, everything slowly subsided, "UUUggghhhh, son of a... BITCH!"

Rolling his head to his side and blinking a couple of times, his vision took a while to readjust to his surroundings. The flash and ringing in his ears took time before it all went away. Luck seemed on his side however as the distance brought upon a distraction. To a half destroyed building stood something. A silhouette of a dragon. The figure was dark and hard to make out. The stutter in his vision shifted, making out hundreds of this said figure. Once fully caught up to speed and his body rested nicely, these hundred figures were silenced to just one. One singular black dragon, or rather, dragoness. Her wings of red and her horns of seemingly silver stuck out like a sore thumb. Gasping at the sight of her, Spyro rolled over and jumped to his fours, "Cynder?!"

She gasped as well, ducking out of sight and seemingly running away. He didn't understand why she'd run from him, but above all else, he needed answers and took chase, "Cynder! Wait!"

His wings flung open, and thanks to his gentle touch to the ground, his body was propelled forward and off the ground in mere milliseconds. He was able to reach the rooftops with an easy glide, worrying little now about his surroundings even as destroyed and terrifying as they may be. His focus was to his female who jumped from rooftop to rooftop to run from him. What for he couldn't ask. She was too far to a point of conversation, but he used his voice to try and reason with her as he chased her, "Cynder! Please! It's me!"

Following along in her footsteps, he jumped from destroyed building to destroyed building, only, unlike her, he jumped at least two or more each time. The rubble to each fell down into the holes and remains of Warfang's once thriving city, and though Cynder was heavily weighted and on his mind, the thought of what had happened twisted his heart. The pain almost made him miss a dodge to save his life. Daggers encased in shadow were thrown his way, and just seconds before they hit his face, he jumped to another building, "Whoa!"

The barrage didn't stop there. His moves had to be constant due to Cynder's aggression towards him. Every building she missed, the female would hit the ground with wind to hover over certain areas, allowing herself freedom to spin around and throw attacks back at him. At least three were thrown each time, each flying past like a bullet due to her multiple uses of power. Her shadow would create the daggers, and her wind would eject them at high speeds towards him. Sliding below another three before leaping to another building, he was closing in on her; the attacks becoming much harder to dodge, "Cynder - ugh!" He ducked at the last second to avoid her attack, "What's wrong with you?! What's happened?! Why is...?!"

Her final attack tripped her own self up. Instead of flying over a building, she fell into the rubble of it. There wasn't enough power given to her boost as she underestimated the depth of the ground below her. Her fall wasn't graceful at all, her head slamming down and onto the insides of the building's ruins. Spyro gasped in a cry to see such a violent hit, "Cynder!"

Her crash destabilized the building's structure, the remaining pillar holding it up got knocked by her body shifting the movement of the bricks around her. The fall was sudden, and the collapse was right on top of her. Finally taking aim and exposing his wings, Spyro kicked off the last building to save her. His body flung to the top of her, landing over her laying figure and taking the full weight of the building as it collapsed on top of him. He struggled to hold it up; his body far weaker than before for some unknown reason. He tensed, struggled, and strained to keep the roof of the building from crushing the two, or at the very least, from crushing his love, "Cyn... der...! You've... gotta... move...!"

She regained herself, holding her head that now dripped blood. Seeing him atop her didn't garner a smile or a blush to his help, but fear. She didn't care much for what he had done, but instead attacked him. Clawing at his neck, blood splattered out from the wound and to the rubble. This attack caught him off guard, and with the sudden pain and loss of airflow, he collapsed, as too did the building. Cynder herself made her escape into the shadows. Phasing through the floor, her body slithered underneath it all. Like a pipe to the side of the building, she made her way up and out of the shadows, popping up on a building that still had a nearly intact structure. She watched as the dust kicked from the building she left. It had completely collapsed over the purple dragon, leaving him with no way out and a cut throat. She scoffed to that thought, her eyes tensing closed against negative emotions for what she had done. But she knew it was right. She turned to make her leave, but before she could, earth suddenly seized her body all the up to her neck.

"What the...!" She was caught off guard by this

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what's happening or what's gotten into you."

To her front stood Spyro. He had escaped the rubble in a swift, near indescribable speed. His neck wound already healed thanks to his darkness. She struggled to get free, demanding with rage, frustration, but also, fear, "Let go! Let... ugh... LET GO OF ME, RIGHT NOW!"

"Cynder, please, it's me! It's Spyro!" He tried to reason with her, his approach only causing the worst of anxiety.

"STAY AWAY - STAY AWAY - STAY AWAY!" The more he approached her, the harder her heart pounded.

Her mental state and response was all that of pure panic. The sweat that dripped from her could fill a gallon jug; the shaking within her pupils made it hard for her to focus on him, and for all that she was feeling at once, the female neared a state of having a seizure. So rather approach her, he backed away a good number of steps, trying to raise his paws best he could to show he meant no harm, "Okay... ...okay..." She was still freaking out, so the best he could do was assure her, "Look, I'm backing away... ...I'm backing away... ...I'm not going to hurt you... ...I promise..."

"Yeah, you promise, do you?! Said the same shit to Ignitus probably, right before you killed him!"

He stopped dead cold to hear her say this. His pupils shrunk and his body locked, "Wha... ...what...?"

His heart nearly stopped. The only thinking keeping him alive now was his thoughts that rejected her words. Where he wanted to stay passive, her words made him hostile: vengeful as he knew what was happening, "No... no no no no, this is a nightmare!" He didn't know how to leave, but he knew just like any other dream or thought that was manipulated, there was always a way out, "I wouldn't kill Ignitus! MY OWN FATHER! Claire would kill me! Ersa would kill me! YOU...!" He stopped before slowly starting up again; not liking the idea of putting pieces together himself in situations he knew nothing about, "You... would've killed me... ...just like... ...how you were trying to do seconds ago..."

He couldn't come to terms with this idea. Everything was being thrown his way all at once and not a single question had an answer to it. Spyro knew he needed to breathe, knew he needed to think back to what happened before this all started; before he had even gotten to this very moment. He needed answers, and right now his only hope wanted him dead and herself as far away as possible from him. It was hard to tell himself to calm down and think racially, but thankfully, his nightmare that Corvus provided him lead him to believe this was fake, "I grabbed Corvus by the throat to lure out the threat..." His words confused the trapped female, not realizing he was talking to himself at this point, "I saw a bright light... and then... woke up... here?" He sat and studied, looking through his past to understand this future, "I must've been knocked out by the attack. I'm sure that there's someway to find the way out, or maybe even find help before my Cynder arrives. I could just sit here and past the time until then..."

"You're an idiot!" She blurted out, this making Spyro laugh instead of hurting him.

"Yeah yeah. I'm a monster, I'm a villain, and how could you ever love me; this same old spiel," He now approached her without a care in the world, nonchalantly waving his paw around, "The Guardians are dead and you want me to pay for my sins."

"Spyro... ...Spyro, please, stop! Stay away!" Her anxiety kicked up again.

"Yeah yeah, I already know. Suddenly I'm gonna pop into the future cause I somehow killed you and my powers are the cause of that," He laughed, "Not gonna lie, I like a dominant, Cynder. I wouldn't mind if you grabbed my..."

"OUR HATCHLING DIED!"

Cynder gave her final cry. Her tears were too much, and the pain she felt was all too real. Spyro had to take two from hearing something like that. He stopped dead in his tracks, rather surprised by her saying this. He tried to laugh it off, but even for him, this didn't sound like a joke, or a simple nightmare that fed on his fears to hurt him, "Hehe... uh... well, that's, um... that's new..." He didn't like the way she cried her tears, or the way his heart felt; she seemed so real, sounded so real, and her emotions were all real to him, "Cynder, we... we've never... done it, before... And even if we could've, the time before we..."

"Three and a half years..." Her head hung lowly, unable to face him with this information, "You've been gone... for three and a half... years..." He sat now to listen to her story; really grasping what was truth and what was reality in this situation, "After that... thing... hit you... ...It turned you against them... against us... ...against... ...the world..." He couldn't see the way her claws curled, but the vein to her neck as her teeth bit down was enough, "You... were met... with a choice. In your nightmare, you had to make a decision. Either kill me, or kill yourself. By killing me, your emotions would've taken over. I was too closely attached to you that the thought of killing me meant killing everyone you loved... ...So... in your mind... you had no one... no one that loved you, no one that cared about you, no one... to understand you. Had you killed yourself... none of this would've ever happened. Your suicide would've meant the end of only yourself. And yet... ...here you are... ..." She couldn't grasp the emotion she wanted to feel, but talking to him now after so long felt like a kick in the gut to everything she's been through, "Even you can connect the dots to determine what choice you made..."

Finally he had gotten some information out of her, and what was given sounded too real to be a fabrication. He had no memory of his choice, or even the feeling left over from making that decision. From what emotions he was feeling now and the thoughts left within him before his inevitable rise to the morning, he disproved her words, "Then why and how am I standing here now talking to you with love and emotion? Why do I still feel the need to rub my scales against yours to incite moans that I wish to hear from you for hours in a day? I just said I wanted you to dominate me, so obviously I didn't kill you."

"Then all that work and effort to regain your emotions must've worked..." Cynder had a valid reason as to why he must've been feeling this way, "We knew we couldn't kill you. Even Ersa's must destructive of concoction only weakened you. But with your power of time and quick healing, it was nearly impossible to get your light or dark side down at the same time to truly kill you. So... we tried the next best thing. We tried to reignite the flame of love within you... within... ...me," Her body hardly wanted to move; the bottom of her neck growing red in a bruise due to the pain of resting on rock, "This was two years and a few months later. Now at the age of eighteen, Ersa made a... aphrodisiac."

"An afro what now? Isn't that a hair style that I've read in one of Volteer's books back when I first rescued you?"

"An aphrodisiac boost the sexual... well... everything, within your body. The idea was to use it against you and for us to mate well enough that you'd return to your senses."

"Uhhhhh... ...what...?" Spyro was just as embarrassed as he was confused, "Wait, so than... we... actually...?"

"It was... wild... to say the least..." Ever for herself, she blushed, "However... your emotions were still... ...beast like. After you were done with me, you didn't... kill me... but you injured me well enough to keep me where I was..."

"What?!" He backed away a bit, "Why the hell would I do that?"

"Ersa said that your bite marks on me are a way to show affection, and the reason you don't break my scales or truly make me bleed is because you love me enough to understand what my body can and can't handle. But since it's been so long and your powers are exponentially more powerful... you... ...broke through... and... paralysed me..." Spyro was starting to believe everything she was saying; the story seemingly so vivid and full of detail; her head now raising to face him in tears, "But I was nothing to you... ...You didn't kill me because you required... me. You had a side to you that needed release, that needed to be off your mind. You kept me alive so you could use me later when you felt you were ready..."

Spyro eased the earth around her. As the rock made its way down, so too her body. She couldn't stand at all, but with the gentleness of his abilities to allow her to descend, her body gracefully lied to the ground below her. He gasped in horror to see her body, now that he wasn't chancing her or trying his best to keep a building off her. Her wings were scarred, her neck was scarred; not one side of her body was without a wound, and like the Dark Master, holes were punched through her wings of once beauty and tranquility. Her body too grew the size of an adult. Not too much bigger than her sixteen year-old self, but definitely not smaller; very close in line with her Terror body. He didn't have much time to say or do but inspect the dirt, dried blood, and punctured wounds from around her body. Cynder seemingly desperate to finally talk and let the truth be known to her long lost lover, "Of course... for what we had done... ...I got pregnant..." Her laugh was as painful as her cry; the crack in her voice too much for Spyro's heart to bear, "I was ready to take that step... to birth our hatchling in hopes that... once you got back... once we found a way to revert our lives... ...we could be a family... but once Warfang was destroyed, what was next was... ...It... ...I..."

Cynder couldn't bring herself to tell the truth. What had happened was traumatizing enough to have experienced, but now here she was reliving that memory by discussing it. She broke down into tears, and from her story alone, Spyro now was faced with an emotionally taxing question, No flashes of constant death, no sudden fights, no... demons... ...It's just her... it's just... ...But... Ignitus once did something like this before, where he showed us a vision into what live could be like if Malefor was saved instead of killed. Is this a reality that shows what will happen if I do fail? But... how can I act if this... light... has already hit me in the head? Am I being prepared for this? He couldn't think on it long as Cynder's story continued, "If you're wondering what happened to the Guardians... everyone else is dead except Terrador and Trish... ...they decided not to stay after Volteer's passing."

"What?!" Spyro cried, "No... no, of all people, Terrador would've-!"

"PEOPLE DIE, SPYRO!" She fought back against him, "Terrador was tired of fighting a useless war! You've seen it, I've seen it, we all saw how much he changed and what Trish did for him!" Spyro backed down and gave Cynder the room to speak, "He wanted to love her, to have a family with her... and once he knew that Trish was pregnant, they flew off. Volteer's death came first, and on the same day he got news of the pregnancy."

One thing didn't add up to him, and though he wanted to stay calm with her, the constant talk about the death of his loved ones irritated him, "Alright, enough! This is all bullshit, obviously! How the hell could all this have happened in Warfang over a span of three and a half years?!"

"We took refuge in Prosperity..." Once again, Cynder had the information to back everything she was saying; Spyro's heart growing cold to hear what was truth in this now decimated and failed timeline, "It didn't take long for Warfang to fall. We fought for two days straight with no rest until you finally lit it ablaze. You stretched your killings far and wide, miles each month, extinguishing what little hope we had every day. The only reason we lasted as long as we did was because of Corvus."

"Corvus?"

"He knew what was to happen to you the minute you took the attack for yourself. So, he built an army in the shadows. Every day he created hundreds of thousands of Dark Creatures, and every day, you killed a million. He was bleeding himself dry to keep you at bay. Then one day, Malefor couldn't talk to him anymore. His voice just... grew cold," Another person he held so close was now another memory, and Cynder never once made a joke about any of it, "He killed himself through over use of his abilities. He became dust... ...and died after a year of using his abilities to protect us."

Even with someone as evil as Corvus, to hear he died protecting the ones he himself should've been protecting twisted his stomach. He wanted to cry, wanted to fight, wanted to do something to end this hot feeling of discomfort from within, but there was nothing he could do but imagine and listening to everything that was said. He shed a tear over Corvus's death. Not one, but many, "Corvus..." He couldn't understand why he felt the way that he did; for someone to be his enemy for so long only to now feel pain over his death with upsetting, "Corvus..." He grabbed his chest, "Stop... ...stop, please, this... ...this isn't real... ...YOU'RE NOT REAL!"

Cynder knew he would've had this reaction, but there was nothing else she could do but give the truth, "Spyro... it's over... Prosperity is gone, everyone is gone, and I'm... ...I'm here to pick up what's left... to... document the world as is..." Spyro's heart twisted upon hearing this: lining up what she had said before to what she was saying now, "With the death of Ignitus, a new Chronicler was needed. After Volteer died and Cyril died, Terrador was next. But of course... he would've rather died than take up the mantel. So... ...I stepped up. I... still... loved you... even after all this... I still... ...loved you..." She shuck her head and clenched her eyes to remove her tears; the hope within those once emerald green eyes disappeared once having opened, "I watched your rampage and tried every single day to do something... to help you... to prevent you from continuing. But... I couldn't... after all, if Volteer's suicide taught me anything... ...it's that only hell itself could stop you."

"Suicide?!" He didn't like the sound of that at all, "IT'S VOLTEER! HE'S STRONG! HE WOULDN'T! HE...!"

Spyro stopped upon Cynder pointing to what looked to be a black hole in the sky; the same hurricane-like cloud storm in the sky he had first seen when he had first woken up. Now, there was a story behind it all, "That was Volteer's doing. A last ditch effort to kill you for your murder of Ersa. Volteer used a particular type of atom bomb that targets the person's cells down the microscopic particle but wouldn't affect the structures of Warfang in hopes that the younger generation would be able to rebuild in our memory. He added a little more bang to it though. In hopes that he'd be able to kill you no matter what, you chased him into the sky before he detonated it in his arms. The explosion was seen and nearly hit Prosperity as well... miles upon miles away from Warfang itself."

The purple dragon couldn't do much more than to sit in silence. It didn't help that his conversation with Cynder was something he's almost never had in a dream before, let alone a nightmare. Something should've happened by now. Those he loved should've been killed in front of him to prove a point to his failures; his powers were a disease to the world, and his death with the cure. It was none of that. Simply him and the love of his life at his feet, painfully discussing the gruesome and long nature of his time having passed without him knowing. This was real. His friends were dead, his parents were dead; those future bonds he could've made with hundreds of others, it was all a memory. A memory of failure and missed opportunity.

"Ignitus..." Spyro cried in a whisper, looking to the floor with blurred vision due to his tears.

Cynder sighed to see this, feeling the pain even within her self. For him to have finally awoken after so long, and to hear this kind of information, she didn't know what to do but to droop her head down in loving memory of those departed. Spyro needed to know, he had to know if anyone else was out there; his voice becoming hysterical, "Amara! Axel - Celina - Serena - AVA! SOMEONE HAS TO BE ALIVE! They... THEY CAN'T ALL BE DEAD! THEY'RE... THEY'RE NOT ALL DEAD!"

His eyes looked deep to his lovers, desperate for any kind of good news; any survivors left alive to make amends to. But from the slow shake of her head, Spyro lost his breath and listened to her words, "When you turned after that... thing, hit your neck, the guards and those around fought you off... for about a minute. After that, Amara was killed, which sent Axel into a frenzy. Serena and Ava wanted nothing more than for you to return, but after you killed Ava, the father and mother couldn't accept your existence... and... I guess you felt the same way about them too... because after that, they died just the same. Celina is still alive as she fled early on. She knew what you'd do and what you were capable of and didn't stick around to tell people, 'I told you so'. Because... what's the point in talking to a dead body when you're trying to be correct about something?"

With all he knew and loved being lost for forever, what more could he think to do; what more could he have wanted to do. He knew what he was capable of, what could happen and what that would mean to others. He needed to know one last thing, "And... Sparks...? What about my brother... what about my parents...?"

"They do still reside on this earth with their lives," Some good news was finally to be had, "After they heard what had happened, they took shelter in the Dragon Temple, and-"

"Why did no one kill me," He was frustrated now, believing in all his heart that his family would've done the right thing, "I showed Ersa my power, I know I wasn't the strongest dragon around, and I know for a fact that the darkness within me would've KILLED ME - SO WHY AREN'T I DEAD?!"

Once again, he looked into her soul for answers, and answers she most surely gave, "The same reason why the Chronicler stole Malefor's ability to manipulate time. With the power you already possessed, for you to control time itself as well... we couldn't get close to you. Even if we were to attack from all angles, time itself was manipulated and bent to your will. You shattered the realms of reality because, now that there wasn't a force to tell you otherwise, your power was limitless."

"HOW?!"

"When you were hit with that dart, the powers you possessed ripped at the Dark Dragon home world. You absorbed the planet and its people's powers for a limitless supply of energy. On top of that, your ability to control time made it impossible for a positive force, one such as Ignitus, to steal away your power. You never slept unlike Malefor when his corruption took time for the Chronicler to steal away the power. I even tried... after many... many long cries of people for years to use my darkness within you to kill you... but of course... After your transformation, it destroyed the darkness within you, purging those in your soul... purging those... that you love."

"Kettu and Xvar..." Spyro gasped upon realizing this.

"They were... an unfortunate causality in it all. Corvus was right when he had warned you that their deaths would've been instant. They couldn't survive your transformation and were immediately disintegrated."

"They were... disintegrated?" He sounded confused now, like he couldn't understand how that could've happened, but he couldn't even understand himself why he felt this way, "Kettu... ...Xvar... ...Ignitus... Claire... everyone..." His emotions overloaded, and due to this thinking, he looked at his tail blade that rose from his side, "There's still life on this planet... still a chance for those left alive to rebuild... a chance for Sparks, Terrador, and Trish to live their lives... scarred... but not afraid."

"Spyro..." Cynder rose to his thinking, already knowing where this was headed.

"I knew I should've died when I fought the Dark Master... I knew I should've died when I fought the Destroyer... ...That was the world's message to me that... the longer I lived... the more problematic and powerful I'd become..." He raised his blade to his neck, finally doing what needed to be done, "I won't make this mistake again."

"SPYRO, NO!"

Cynder jumped from where she was at, tackling him down to the floor and pinning his arms with her own. She gripped his wrists, snagged his tail and bolted it to the ground with her own. She didn't want to hurt him, but a slight amount of pain hopefully would've helped keep him from certain thoughts. The blades on the top of her wings she used to dig down into his own wings. He growled out in pain, but she was quick to apologize, "I'm sorry!" He looked to her, frustrated, confused, and hurt by everything she's said and done, "I'm sorry, but...! I... I CAN'T LET YOU KILL YOURSELF BECAUSE OF MY MISTAKES!"

"Your mistakes...?"

"Ignitus tried to tell me the truth... tried to warn me of what could happen and how to save you, but... I... ...I DIDN'T LISTEN!" She cried down onto his chest; her tears falling down to his sides and mixing with tears of his own to the floor, "I told you that your choice, to kill me or to kill yourself, was brought up upon what could've happened and how we countered your emotional disconnect! Ignitus told me that he could've put you in a coma, the same way Malefor accidentally did to Carith! But I told him... that was suicide... because by that happening, either way, you'd wake up broken... or dead. If you were stuck within that coma, than your fight against me would've been never ending... and either you would've died, or you would've killed me and had to live with that fact until we woke you up."

"THAT IS NOT ON YOU!" He snapped back, and though he didn't mean to lash out, he loved her too much to put anymore amount of pain onto her, "If I'm the supposed savor, the supposed power house, and the idiot who always wanted to take things on by themselves, I SHOULD'VE BEEN STRONG ENOUGH TO FIGHT IT!" She clenched her teeth in the moment, not knowing what to believe, "You thought about me because you loved me! You thought about me because you knew I was strong enough to fight against whatever this was, and I failed you! This wasn't on you!"

"That doesn't change the fact that I want to give my life so you can start over!"

He was confused by what she meant by that, his head tilting somewhat and his voice unsteady, "Wha... ...what?"

"I know of a way to bring everyone back... maybe not all the citizens of Warfang... but at least those you know and love."

"You... do...?"

She eased off of him, resting in a rather suggestive position, but allowing her rear to sit between his hind legs with her paws on his chest. Spyro blushed somewhat to this but was easily able to ignore the cowgirl position they were in, "Do you know about the law of equivalent exchange?"

"Kind of...? I... know I heard Volteer talking about it back at the Dragon Temple all those years ago."

"Well... I read that... by giving a life to save a life... that's an equivalent exchange to save another life. However... if you were to give up something more... something of higher value... you can receive that same amount for multiple lives," He was catching on, but not to a point that would've interrupted her, "Spyro... our memories... our attachments... our... love that we made... and the death of the hatchling within me... I have... and mean... so much to you. If you were to kill me... everyone else that you know and love would come back..."

"WHAT?!"

"Spyro, please..."

"NO! No no no no no no NO! I WILL NOT-!"

"SPYRO!" Her voice raised over his own, and though he had so much more to say, she explained it further, "Everyone would have a second chance! Ignitus becoming the Chronicler again would allow him to erase everyone's memory about it all, and just the same as his time with Claire, he could forget too, aside from his Chronicler's side!"

"I FOUGHT TO GIVE YOU A SECOND CHANCE!" Spyro's heart twisted within; his love very much real for her, his care that he wished to bring to her, and his idea of becoming a father was right and at the front of his mind now, "I will not take that away! Not like how Corvus was! I would do anything to bring those that I love back, ANYTHING AT ALL! But I will not, I... CAN NOT, allow myself to kill my future wife! My mate! The one who's supposed to carry my legacy, OUR FUTURE! Within her!"

"Our hatchling's already dead, Spyro! I can't have kids anymore because of the damage it caused to my internals!"

"Then I can heal you! With the power of time or darkness!"

"You can't control the powers of time anymore because I took them! And your power to control the darkness would only start another Cataclysm Event if you dare try to use them!" The two were heavily breathing from their yells, each of their eyes filled with tears, and the memories and emotions within swirled around each of their souls, "You... can't... save me. I can't give you the power of time anymore because the Ancestors see you as a threat to every single timeline out there now. We are nothing more than another failed timeline, so it's up to us... to you... to make the right decision and restore what was once alive," Spyro's teeth clenched in frustration; half listening to what she was saying, "Let those who are supposed to be alive breathe once more. Let those who deserve a second chance have it. Please, Spyro... ...killing me is the only way to bring everyone back. I know you don't like a Sophie's Choice but... these are the only two options."

His love for her pained and conflicted with him. He knew his Cynder very, very well, and though her pushy nature was different, for so much time to pass, he could understand why she was saying or doing things in a different way than normal. He knew of his two choices, but disregarded them. He had a better idea, one that was ever lasting, "I don't care if we have kids... I don't care if we can't mate... losing you would go against the last string of humanity I have left within me, and though a life with a hatchling of our own by our side sounds like heaven... a day that goes by where I don't hear you breathe even once is hell," He was defensive, aggressive, and hardheaded on his decision, "There's so much history, story, ruins, and prophecies out there that surely there would be another way to bring everyone back. We can search together, make memories together, and recreate our love, story, and journey... together."

"Even if that were to happen, the Chronicler would still have to erase our memories! All we'd be doing is wasting our lives!"

"I'm spending time with you... How would you ever consider that a waste of our lives?" He growled back to her, feeling a sense of distaste from her voice, "I would give my life to bring everyone back, and if the same applies to me, why doesn't it apply to you?"

"What are you talking about?" Her arms wiggled; Spyro growing dominate for some reason.

"You said by me killing you, since you would mean so much to me, 'that' would bring everyone back. If that's the case, why can't you kill me instead to bring everyone back? After all, your emotions towards me would be far more powerful and impactful since I technically have fabricated emotions from what you said you did to me," Even through his aggravated emotions, he found time to take a breather and think things through, "Why do you want me to kill you so badly? Why are you giving up now when you've gotten this far and know now that I can't use my darkness or time abilities? What about me are you still afraid of?"

"After three plus years of hell and a place that only a loner could live in, you'd want it all to end too!" Cynder cried, "I had it all... because you gave it to me... ...but for my life to revert all the way back to a time where I'm alone... on the run... and seeing the blood and bodies of hundreds, thousands, MILLIONS BECAUSE OF MY DECISION!" She grabbed at her chest; her heart pumping in a twisted motion, similar to that of Spyro's, "How could I not want this all to end...?"

"Because Kettu and Xvar would've been with you throughout it all since you're still alive."

"What...?" Cynder questioned, fire lighting up within Spyro's mouth.

She gasped, but wasted no time in dodging the blast. His fire shot outwards and to the sky, a loud ripping sound emerging from the purple dragon's red wing flaps. The female let go of his tail and slid back from the building they were at, nearly falling off the back of it. The purple dragon ignored the pain all throughout. His adrenaline was pumping, as his thoughts were flowing. Cynder watched as he slowly stood, crying out in tears for this not to continue, "SPYRO, PLEASE! I... I just got you back! Don't do this to me!"

"You're a liar..." Spyro growled, his body turning to face her.

"What are you talking about?!"

"KETTU AND XVAR WEREN'T IN MY BODY WHEN I TOOK THAT SHOT!" She was stunned to hear this and couldn't understand what he meant by it, "And how could you know that? I was too busy putting on a show to see if that dragon would show himself and attempt to take Corvus's life!" He explained further, trying to answer her questions before they even arised, "Just before I made my display, I transferred Kettu and Xvar into you to keep them safe. They were never killed by me, they were never disintegrated, and you lied about that."

"To protect you!"

"Protect me how?!"

"How the hell am I supposed to tell you that I'M THE REASON THEY DIED?!"

"YOU KILLED THEM AND TRIED TO PIN THEIR DEATHS ON ME?!"

"NO! I... I just..."

"WHERE'S PROSPERITY?!" Spyro was done playing games; he wanted answers, more than what she was letting on, "I want to see their bodies, I want to see the devastation that I caused with my own two eyes!" She didn't seem to want to give that information, but the more she stalled, the more suspicious he got, "How the hell am I supposed to trust you when all you've talked about is how I should kill you?! Isn't that what this, device, or, thing, wants?! There's no reason you could EVER give me that I would ever allow myself to kill you! You're the love of my life! And though killing myself is the right course of acting, why is it that you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel?!"

"BECAUSE THERE IS NONE!"

"Us spending our lives together after all that's happened isn't a form of light for you?! Us making amends; doing something with our lives rather than killing ourselves which would be disrespectful on all those who lost their lives trying to save me... you really think killing myself, killing YOU, would honour what it was they were all trying to do?!"

"They tried to kill you afterwards!"

"SO NOW THEY'RE THE VILLAINS?! NOW I DESERVE TO DIE BECAUSE THEY WANTED ME TO?!"

"I DESERVE TO DIE, NOT YOU!"

"ENOUGH!"

Spyro didn't expect his voice to erupt in such a way, one that signaled a loss of control and corruption within his self. Cynder especially didn't take kindly to his tone of voice, knowing all too well the significance of such an outburst. She was quick to jump away, attempting to fly even; her wings arching outwards, and her tail curved to make her escape hidden in wind. It wasn't what he had expected to come out from his throat; sure to the core of his soul that he had control, but it was clear to him now more so than ever that she was telling the truth. What ever happened, what was left, and those that remained were for him to discover on his own. He couldn't face the truth, or rather listen to it be told to him. He wanted proof, but not at the cost of his lover's sanity; the last remaining light left that could stand toe-to-toe with him, and who knew him on a level far deeper than anyone he's ever known. Knowing what he had done, rather reach his paw out to comfort her, he backed away with a dropped head. His words were as broken as he was, but it was best to say something than to have her look down on a monster, "I... ...I'm sorry, I... ...I didn't... ...I..." He struggled to come to terms with what he was feeling, but found strength to raise his head and look her in the eyes, "I... don't... ...want any one else to die. If this really is how the world is now... if... this... is what we are now... ...I'm sorry... but you won't suffer because of that... ...You won't die... because I failed to love you when it mattered most..." His words were effective, seemingly surprising to her; much so that she listened on with widened eyes, "I promised Kettu and Xvar I'd keep them safe... ...I promised Corvus that he'd reunite with his... love... Luna... ...I promised so much and to so many people... ...and if sacrificing myself for my own wrong doings... to set things right unlike no other purple dragon has before... ...I will lay down my arms and accept that fate."

"Even though you know that every purple dragon before you has ended the same?" She questioned him; an odd question, but one that raised his head, "I... read... about the previous purple dragons to better understand how I could help you... ...how I could... better handle this situation. You were similar, to him... ...and the outcome was just the same. Either a purple dragon destroys its own world to a near extinction, or... it jumps through dimensions to attempt an extermination of another..."

"And... how did they die?"

"The darkness either killed them after awhile or... someone brave enough to stand taller than the bully dealt with the devil," Cynder was honest about what she had read, what she now had some more information on; it was up to Spyro himself to decide what best course of action would lead to the brightest future, "I don't... I can't... I refuse to see you in the same form or fashion as a devil," She approached him now, "I know you want to see the truth... I know you want to do what's right... and I know... from all our time together..." She sat in front of him and rested her paws over his, "You'll do the right thing. And that will be a Spyro Promise for sure."

Her smile to him was warm and welcoming, but so too was her adult like body. He didn't notice himself how much bigger, stronger, but also thinner he had become. He looked like a normal dragon, one with simplistic features and easily understood geometry. But underneath was a force of limitless destruction, and though he saw himself like that, Cynder saw so much more. She herself viewed the devil not within her lover, but somewhere inside herself. She loved him, and before she could show that affection, Spyro took his chance to lock lips with her. Her eyes widened while his closed. Her blade swung around in defense, nearly stabbing right through his stomach. But the way he pushed against her; the warmth taking hold, her body resting in what felt like his arms. She gave way for him, made herself vulnerable, and rather have a paw to his own, she rested it to his chest in support. Their kiss felt like no other, and though the poking at his stomach caused discomfort, he fixed that problem in a romantic way. Wrapping his tail around her own, she stiffened in defense, but later gave in to the rubbing of his tail against her own. Tears fell from both their eyes. Years had passed, and though Spyro had no memory of it, it was clear from this point on. This is no dream... this... is real... That thought within the Purple Dragon's mind nearly killed him, with his only saving grace being his lover's embrace. He wanted to give up, he wanted to cry, shout, even slit his own throat in hopes he'd wake. But he wasn't about to give up. Not if there was some way, any better option than their position now. He backed from the kiss; both their lips creating a smooching sound as they did so. She seemed in complete awe. Her perplexed look made it seem as though this was their first time ever kissing, but for how long it's been, he thought nothing of it. Instead, he had a plan, "I know what I need to do."

She was still a little dazed, "Wh... ...What...?"

"Cynder," He held her paw, and once again, she jumped in a way that seemed so different; like they were re-experiencing their love all over again, "I've wanted to give my life when we fought the Dark Master a second time... ...I wanted to do so when we fought the Destroyer... Every step of the way, I've fought, and fought, and tried to make things right, but I know now that... it's not the world's problem that needs fixing... ...It's what resides on it that needs to leave."

She knew where this was going and yanked her tail and paw from his own, "What?! No! Spyro, I...!"

"Cynder..." His voice was somber, almost a complete mutter, "I let your darkness rest at my heart to allow you access to kill me when ever you saw fit, I did the same for Kettu and Xvar. We exposed our hearts... together... and though I wish you had killed me... Kettu... or Xvar... it's up to me now to make that sacrifice to make things right where I was wrong."

"Wait... ...You allowed Kettu and Xvar access to your heart?"

"Did you... not know that?" Spyro was surprised to hear the surprised tone in her own voice, but then again, he understood why, "I... guess I never explained that," He smiled from the memory, "I've kinda... always had my heart exposed to them. I... never really had a reason not to trust them, and similar to Malefor's case, I didn't know those two were actually... alive. I shielded myself from them for the first couple of days, but as time went on, I felt there wasn't a need."

"But... why? Surely Corvus told you the dangers, especially about the hellish nature and war between the Purple Dragon and the Dark Dragons. How could you trust them so easily?"

"Hehe, well, I knew that after the fact. At that point, me, Kettu, and Xvar had become family," Spyro smiled the entire time, "That's why I let them roam free, why I don't hide my thoughts, my emotions, my memories. I've let them access it all. I wanted them to feel safe, comfortable, and understand that... I'm not like the others. Corvus always spoke about how I was a weapon... a tool of destruction... I was nothing... and never meant to be anything but a dangerous... thing... to be used... abused... and taken advantage of," He had noticed halfway through his words that Cynder showed tears, "Hey... ...you... ...you okay?"

"Wh...?"

She touched her face and looked to her finger with confusion. Her body bounced, and her eyes were filled with information. It was like this was the first time she was feeling these emotions, seeing them, and understanding them. He understood her, and where he had smiled and even chuckled; wanting to forget what life was now, his joy turned grim, "I'm sorry..." She looked up to him in tears, "I'm sorry that... I've probably forced you to lock these emotions away. I remember Volteer discussing something about his emotions, and even Ignitus talked to me back when we first met after our battle. Volteer used his powers to block his memories, to hide his emotions of someone cause they were too much to bear. Ersa meant so much to him... so... so much. And for what I've done... for the lives and futures I've taken... I must end what I started."

He turned to face away from her, but surprisingly, she ran up and grabbed his arm before he could even open his wings. Spyro was both surprised and not, understanding her fears, hopes, and intrusive thinking. His head turned, but he didn't say anything; only looking to her eyes to see so much happening within, and understanding of just how much pain she must really be in. Her grip was firm, even a little tight, and it took her some time to speak. But once she found her words, they were firm and demanding, "You better make it back here in the next thirty minutes or else I'm coming after you..." He turned slightly more to face her; her grip loosening and her body backing, "If you kill yourself... if you dare raise that blade to your neck... I will find my way through hell and make sure the devil is the last son of a bitch you have to worry about because you better be damn sure I'll be one hell of a bitch myself."

This helped him smile some, "It's okay, Cynder. The last thing I need to do is take my own life when I know it could bring back those I've killed... those that I love," He explained himself, "I remember from Axel's words where Prosperity is. 'Easiest method would be to your northwest if you're facing out from Warfang: east if your facing Warfang directly. Just head there, and after some time, you'll see our city'. He said it was a few miles, so it shouldn't take me that long."

"Just... be careful... and for what you find, or rather... what it is you don't... ...be safe... and come back to me in one piece."

"Thirty minutes," He nodded to her, "You're... not coming with?"

"I have some stuff to do, especially since you're alive now, maybe there's things we can do together to forget, or... ...enjoy the time we have left together..." She backed down from this, knowing sooner or later; a lot sooner than later, one of the would have to give their lives for the greater good, "Spyro..." Her voice was filled with defeat, "When the time comes... if... ..when... I have to choose my life over yours... I won't let you kill yourself... I... can't... look down on your corpse knowing it was my fault."

He understood the gravity of the situation. There was no win or lose here; simply who would have to live with the loss of the other. It was a difficult decision to make, one that would impact the other for the rest of their lives. But, for what it was worth and from what he had learned from his friends and family along the way, there was always another option. He had lost it all, but staying positive was what he did. He turned away from her, and with a perfect shine of the sun to his face, body, and wings, he gave her hope even when he himself had to lie, "We'll find a way."

She looked up to him with widened eyes. Cynder had nothing left to give nor say, but for him to be able to comfort her when he himself woke to his greatest nightmare come true; the tears felt endless, and his smile sealed her love for him. He was alive and well, and for him to stand tall and proud once again brought upon her emotions of negative and destructive nature. At least now however, she had a reason to disregard these emotions and feel nothing but positivity; his words and tone of voice only fueling the situation, "Every day I'm told there's only one way. Me being evil was a fact. Malefor being evil was a fact. The Dark Dragon's being evil was a fact. You... being evil... was a fact. Or rather... that's what everyone else believed," He laughed and even smiled, "I wasn't evil, just... taken advantage of. Malefor was never evil, he just had an emotionally destroyed dragon within him. The Dark Dragons I considered friend. And as for you, well..." His smile was contagious to her; the bouncing within her body couldn't be contained and her words couldn't be found, "We... mated... didn't we? Whether or not that contributed to my return is unknown... but... I like to think that... at the very least... our love is what saved us... it's... what saved everyone... and if it comes down to it... if... there's a chance... to save everyone... at the cost of my life... and your own... dying by your side... smiling... saving the world because of it..." His voice broke even when trying to smile on what was next, but for his life to be over so soon wasn't an easy thing to talk about, "I've always wanted to grow old with you. I always feared of dying alone, or for you to be by yourself even for a day longer from my passing... ...but... ...if we're to die together... in each others arms... something... almost no one... could ever experience... or ever dream to happen... ...then we succeeded in some way... ...right...?"

He couldn't speak any longer. His voice broke, his tears erupted, and his stature faulted. This was it. This was the end. What was next was unsure, and for who would have to give up their life was a mystery. For now, he sucked it up. He couldn't cave in when there was so much at stake, and for him to break down the way he was in front of someone who saw it all; he was disgusted with himself. Rather stay any longer, he moved forward, opened his wings, and gave his promise, "I'll be back! I'll find a way! I'll answer our problems all on my own if I have to!" He didn't face her, his eyes focused on the future, "I'll find whatever clue I can to make things right, and to give everyone back their future!"

"Spyro..." She murmured to him, "I love you..."

His body tensed to her saying. What more could he do than to nod and agree, his voice too broken to say it back. Running and jumping off the top of the building, he gave it a second to truly take flight. But with a hard, aggressive, and emotionally driven flap from his wings, the wind exploded around him. His takeoff was destructive, the buildings around him unable to support such a powerful display of his power. The wind kicked, ripped, and shredded through the area, taking on the strength of hurricane level winds. This caused the buildings to collapse crumble, and shatter to the bed of Warfang's ruins. Thankfully however, the building him and Cynder rested on top of was stable enough to handle his takeoff. He flew high, up and above into the sky at high speeds, trying his best to forget, but at the same time, remember what had happened. He couldn't believe it, didn't want to believe it, and tried his best to remember what happened before. With his tears falling behind his face and to the wind, he was focused, determined, and heartbroken, There has to be something I'm missing! Something important, SOMETHING...! Unfortunately, he couldn't think for long as Cynder's words got to him.

"If you're wondering what happened to the Guardians... everyone else is dead except Terrador and Trish... ...they decided not to stay after Volteer's passing."

"That was Volteer's doing. A last ditch effort to kill you for your murder of Ersa."

Volteer... ...Ersa...

"Terrador was tired of fighting a useless war! You've seen it, I've seen it, we all saw how much he changed and what Trish did for him...! He wanted to love her, to have a family with her... and once he knew that Trish was pregnant, they flew off. Volteer's death came first, and on the same day he got news of the pregnancy."

Terrador... Trish...

"After Volteer died and Cyril died, Terrador was next. But of course... he would've rather died than take up the mantel."

Cyril... Flair...

"Yeah, you promise, do you?! Said the same shit to Ignitus probably, right before you killed him!"

Everyone would have a second chance! Ignitus becoming the Chronicler again would allow him to erase everyone's memory about it all, and just the same as his time with Claire, he could forget too, aside from his Chronicler's side!

Mom... ...Dad...

"He knew what was to happen to you the minute you took the attack for yourself. So, he built an army in the shadows. Every day he created hundreds of thousands of Dark Creatures, and every day, you killed a million. He was bleeding himself dry to keep you at bay. Then one day, Malefor couldn't talk to him anymore. His voice just... grew cold... ...he killed himself through over use of his abilities. He became dust... and died after a year of using his abilities to protect us."

Malefor...! Corvus...!

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Unable to handle his thoughts any longer, he needed a way out. The throbbing within his head resurfaced again, and like a missile hitting the ground floor, Spyro's descent wasn't pretty. His wings blew forwards, and with his crash came an explosion. He hit the ground head first with enough force to rip the area around him to extinction. His body created a crater half a mile around him. The trees, grass, and surrounding area was hit by the strength of a earthquake. The area was rattled, sunk, and eradicated. Dust kicked from the ground below, wildlife ran, and birds flew high, fast, and in panic. The trees that still stood around him Spyro took aim to, grabbing his head and standing this his feet in agony, "AAAAAAAHHHHHH...! MAKE... IT... STOP!"

He slammed his head into a tree at full force. It had already been weakened, and though healthy and large, the once standing nature of life was ripped in two by the force of his headbutt. With the tree falling down, so too did he to his knees. Blood slowly dripped down from his forehead and mixed with his tears. He was still only human, even if others never believed so. He gripped with intense pressure to his skull, as too did his own skull to his skin. The pain was indescribable. His brain felt as though it was expanding and desperately trying to rip through the skull around him. Thoughts flooded him, ones of either past, or present, but the pain was never ending.

"Cynder! He's not human anymore! You have to get away from him!"

"CORVUS!" He knew that voice.

"Amara! Ava! Serena! Axel! Everyone else get as far away as you can! I have a plan!"

"VOLTEER!" He face planted to the rubble below, his head rubbing against the ground as the pain started to subside.

"Spyro! I know you're in there! I know you can hear me! Please! Wake up, Spyro! WAKE UP!"

"Cynder..." He murmured at the end of his life.

With the pain subsided and his mind not at rest, he fell to the ground below in tears of what was now his reality. His failures, his choices, his own doing brought him to one of an infinite number of dark timelines. He had failed, and though avoiding the previous one all that time ago, he knew it was never him who was a hero, but those that were around him. He was the problem, and he knew that from the very beginning. His eyes closed, his tears fell, and his thoughts continued in the most painful way possible. I caused those hatchlings to die by being born... I caused Cynder's corruption... I caused the world to experience pain... suffering... death... ...All because I was selfish enough to think I could have a life too... ...that I could experience life the same way others do... He knew what he had to do. All it took now was the strength to do it. I love you... ...all of you... ...from the bottom of my heart to the light left within my soul... ...I will make things right. A light not that of the sun shined above him. It was a white light, and with it came a sound. It sparkled above him, and from a small glimpse of it as his eyes slowly opened, it looked similar to the sun. His head gently raised, still weak and in pain; his thoughts doing him no favors in keeping him steady. The purple dragon was at a lost for words, hope, and people to protect. The ball of light he looked to. Something about it seemed so warm. It hovered in front of him, the sound of wind chimes within his ear. He could hear the ocean, the soft sound of rain with light thunder, and the laughter of those he remembered. Whether that was in his head or not he couldn't quite decipher, but with what little strength he had left, he reached out to it. He hadn't notice though that the ball slowly moved away from him. The once soothing sounds of life edged itself away from him. Losing his balance, he fell forward, the ball jerking back and away from him. The sounds faded, his eyelids once again met each other as they closed. He was giving up. The energy to do anything faded, as too did the small ball of light. His eyes were weighted down, his mind and soul without a rhyme nor reason to move. He knew what waited for him once he reached Prosperity; just another hole in his heart of failures and missteps. A life without reason was one no one could live, especially not for the purple dragon. He gave in and gave up, lying to the floor in wait for someone to find him. I'm... ...sorry... ...Cynder... ...But I can't move... I can't... ...stand... His voice in his head was just as slow as his heart beat, Why...? ...What was... ...so wrong... about me... ...wanting to be happy...? ...What was so wrong... about me... wanting a family... Spyro found the reason all on his own. What... ...was... ...wrong... was... ...me... His mind drifted, and his strength faded, I should've... died... that day... ...but you... saved... me... He let shed his final tear and gave his final words. Please... ...don't... worry... about me... anymore... ...I'll be... fine now... I'll... I'll rest now... I'll... rest... now... His heartbeat slowed. Every second it slowed more and more, degrading along with his soul. His heart pumped, and pumped, and pumped, but just like his body, it couldn't continue any more. It gave, just the same as he did. Ignitus... I'm... I'm coming home... ...I'm... ...finally... ...home... ...I love you... Spyro gave his final goodbye.