Lol you guy's are gonna make me blush with these kind words, and I don't want to take such credit for the combo moves as I mainly had the idea reading another persons fic that did something along those lines with ice and lightning and it gave me the idea to expand on that somewhat with the possibility for other combo moves and it would only make sense a group of people who are as close as them would be great at fighting as a team in such a way.(Also I was watching fullmetal alchemist at the time and I had roy mustang on the brain and that's where I got the idea for the directed flames.) But I appreciate the kindness and support nonetheless and without further delay let us begin with the next installment.
btw this one is gonna be slighlty shorter than normal I'm afraid. the next one will hopefully be at the usual letter count.
Malefor was somewhat suprised by the wind dragon's sudden desire to speak with him, but he would not deny Ventus the chance to converse if that is what he wished. He nodded his head at the black and white male before he spoke in a somewhat reserved tone. "If that is what you want. What reason did you have to speak with me, if you don't mind my asking that is?" He made sure to choose his word's carefully, treading around figurative eggshells with this dragon. Ventus cast a glance at the messy bowls that had just moment's ago been filled with soup, his mind returning to a simple time in his youth where his mother would use these same dishes to serve the family every morning, before responding. "I want to know something. I want to know exactly why Spyro and Cynder took your side, I want to judge you for myself, because I need to know whether or not to hate your guts, or if I should be looking out for you like you looked out for my friend's," Ventus was quiet once more as he attempted to find the right word's. "Thanks for that by the way. If you hadn't stepped in the way I might have done something I would have regretted for the rest of my life." Turning his gaze back to the purple dragon he spoke his eye's narrowing. "How did you become the dark master? How did all of that even start? Tell me everything you told them." He phrased it like a demand, though Malefor could sense the hint of fear in his voice. "He's afraid, afraid of getting an answer he doesn't want to hear." The purple dragon kept this thought to himself as he nodded in agreement.
Malefor inhaled a breath of air, before he exhaled, allowing any lingering stress or discomfort to fade away as he began to speak of his past. As the purple dragon told the tale of his fall to darkness, an assortment of emotions passed over the green eye's of Ventus. When Malefor spoke of the time he spent with his friend's, the smallest spark of envy would grace his orbs before it disappeared. As he described all of the stress and the exhaustion that eventually led to his corruption, a brief glimmer of pity could be seen in his green eye's. "Most of the time I spent in a cell, I was deeply hoping that I would either be locked away somewhere or just simply executed, because I was afraid of not being strong enough to stay me. To remain as myself. I hurt so many people as the dark master. I couldn't allow something like that to happen again." As the purple dragon said these word's, Ventus had noticed the dragon's purple talons clench upon the counter, leaving barely visible scratch marks upon it's surface.
"But..." He said as a small smile graced his muzzle. "Those two just wouldn't have it. They were so insistent on sparing my life that they managed to sway Volteer. Cyril baffles me and I'm not sure what he thinks of me. But I know Terrador had faith in me at that moment and I am forever grateful for the chance he chose to give me. I can't just let them down now can I?" He asked rhetorically causing the wind dragon to quietly nod. Ventus took a few moment's to process this information, his face scrunching up in deep thought. When he did speak again, it was slow and hesitant. "I...lost my parents...in the war. Hercules is the only family I have now, him and my friend's are what keep me sane. That's why I hate the war, because it tore my family apart. I can't afford to lose anyone else to another crisis, I just don't think I'd be able to handle it..." Malefor couldn't look the male in the eye anymore, choosing instead to gaze upon the stone like table, knowing his family was taken away from him because of his mistake was painful to think about. "And he is just one of the creatures who have felt this kind of loss because of me..." Unsure of exactly what to say, he opted for the simplest gesture. "I am so sorry Ventus, I truly am. If I could change the past and make it so the war had never happened, I would." Ventus merely sighed before waving the dragon off. "Don't start apologising, your not the one who took them from me anyway. It's just...sometimes we get dealt a shit hand at life, it's just how thing's are. Best we can do is keep pushing forward and not look back."
A moment of silence seemed to pass between the two before the wind dragon tentatively stretched out a paw. The silent offer was more than a suprise for the purple dragon, and he was unsure how to respond. It was after what felt like several minutes that Ventus spoke, his voice full of irritation. "Well?! Are you just gonna sit there gawking or you gonna shake my paw and let us try to move past this crap." He sighed before his tone become quiet and saddened. "Look, I can't in good conscience blame you for something that wasn't fully your fault, as much as a small angry part of me want's to. I want to be better than that. So how about it? Let's both try to move on from this grief, we aren't friend's, far from it. But we can try to get there can't we?" He offered his paw once more, hoping the slightly larger male would accept his apology and agree to make amends.
He was relieved when without another word, Malefor grasped his black paw in his own purple scaled talon and shook it firmly. "Sounds good to me." A small smile came to the wind dragon's maw before he removed his claw from the slightly larger dragon's. "Hey so since we're sort of acquaintances now, could I ask a slight favor?" Malefor asked rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin. Quirking a brow Ventus sighed. "Fine, what is it you need? I suppose I still owe you from before." He said refering to the scar across his houseguests torso. When Malefor realized this he quickly attempted to dissuade the wind dragon from thinking that he was being forced to do something for him. "Hey wait a moment! You don't gotta if you don't want to. You really don't need to make up for anything, seriously. I just need some company while I head back to the dragon temple. Terrador was gonna get me something for..." He realised his train of thought had once again returned to his wound. "...shit"
The wind dragon briefly began to tap the countertop in thought as he considered the request before he replied. "Sure, let's go now then, Herc won't be up for another few hour's I'd bet so it's best if we just leave now and get it done. Let me leave him a note just in case." As the wind dragon hopped down from the bar stool and walked back into the kitchen, Malefor hopped to the ground and began to flex his wing's and limbs, fully testing the limits he could put his body through. "Still not fully healed, I can't stand this wound, so damn sore..." At the moment he could walk without any trouble, he was unsure about flying still, not to mention swift movement's could also cause strain on his wound as well.
Ventus had retrieved a small slip of parchment and wrote a message upon it before leaving the scrap of paper on the counter. Leaving the room behind he grabbed a key from a nearby shelf before he and the purple dragon stepped outside the front door. Locking the entrance behind them, they began their walk in the direction of the temple, noticing rather quickly how many eye's were upon them. "Looks to me you have a few fans, maybe you should offer them an autograph." Ventus whispered causing Malefor to chuckle at the joke."I doubt anyone would want that." He responded with a small smile. As they continued a steady pace, the crowd's of people would continue to stare but no one seemed very keen on actually saying or doing anything. Eventually they both began to speak on plans for the future, Malefor explaining his concerns on being able to teach Spyro and Cynder effectively, while Ventus talked about plan's he and his electric mate had made for the future. "It may sound a bit odd, but even though we only recently came back to Warfang, we both want to go traveling. You know? See the world without fear of getting caught up in the war."
Malefor nodded in agreement as he noticed it was a straight shot to the temple from where they were. "I understand, our world is a gorgeous thing, you wish to enjoy it. Nothing weird about that. You know now that I think about it, the first time I ever met Terrador wa-" suddenly the purple dragon was cut off by a loud bellowing voice. "Ancestor's be damned! Look who it is, Ventus!" it yelled. The wind dragon's muzzle grew into a large frown as he lifted a claw to massage his forehead. "Oh no, not him." He muttered, causing Malefor to raise a brow in confusion before he glanced in the direction the voice had come from, which ironically enough was the way they were going. His eye's immediately caught sight of the large yellow dragon walking towards them, his visage bearing an uncanny resemblance to Hercules. Although there were slight differences, such as his eye's being a vibrant blue, and his wing's were marked by a striking blue lightning bolt pattern. The large smirk on his face was unsettling as he walked over to the duo. "It's Midas." Ventus muttered through a growl.
Malefor didn't recognize that name but he could tell Ventus didn't wish to have anything to do with him. "Who's he?" He asked. "You might not believe it cause he's the biggest ass in all of Warfang, but that's Herc's twin brother." He explained under his breath before turning his gaze toward the approaching male. "Little busy here Midas, if you don't mind we'll just be on our way." The wind dragon spoke quickly attempting to push past the much larger dragon, though his effort was in vain as Midas stepped in the way and spread his wing's out to block the smaller male's path. "Woah woah. Just what is the rush now?" Midas snickered before lowering his head to be eye level with the shorter Ventus. "So tell me is purple boy here your new fancy? Have you finally decided to detach yourself from my brother's hip?" He asked the grin on his face ever prominent.
The wind dragon let out a snarl in response, his eye's furious. "NO! I did not. Get it through your thick skull Midas! Me and Herc are happy, why can't you be happy for him?" He barked, demanding an explanation as to why he was being hassled. At this little outburst the grin that was etched across the larger dragon's face disappeared, being replaced by a neutral expression before it became a large frown. "Alright then if that's how you to play it, runt." He muttered hissing the last word with emphasis. Nearly head butting the smaller dragon he snarled in the wind user's face. "Listen here, you need to cut thing's off with him, your dragging him down with you and all your problems! He has so much potential and he is wasting it on a little brat like you. He should be out in the real world, looking for a real mate. A girlfriend, not playing pretend with some runt that lives in a fantasy land." He growled out leaning a quick claw out to grab Ventus by one of his horns.
He was shocked to say the least when his arm was stopped, held in place by a purple talon. Lifting his blue eye's to gaze back at purple and yellow, he quirked a brow at the former dark master. "Walk. Away. Now." Malefor spoke firmly, leaving no room for question, his eye's were wide and focused. Midas was somewhat startled by the purple dragon's intervention, but he quickly overcame it and slapped the other male's claw away, pulling his arm back as he did so. "You want to start something you can't finish? Huh, murderer?" He asked forsaking the wind dragon and making Malefor his new target. "If you want to defend that runt, then you clearly don't know who I am, do you?" He snarled in the purple dragon's face, though he was unfazed by the intimidation attempt. "I have no reason to fight you, but if you could kindly step aside that would be nice." He spoke, a small smile appearing on his face that held no true kindness for the slightly larger dragon.
Midas was beginning to curl his lips back in another snarl before it disappeared and was replaced with a small smirk. "Alright then. I'll get out of your way..." He said somewhat stepping to the side. Malefor and Ventus attempted to pass by but were stopped as a large black and blue wing was placed into view. "On the condition of course that the dark master here agree to a friendly little competition." He spoke confidently, sporting a massive grin that showed off his fangs. Quirking a brow Malefor resisted the urge to take a cautious step back, not wishing to appear weak. "What kind of competition?" The purple dragon asked warily. Malefor didn't think it was possible but the yellow dragon's grin got even wider. "Just a friendly fight between the two of us, no harm. Look at it this way..." He said wrapping an arm around Malefor's shoulder. "You win and I'll back off, I'll stop bothering Ventus here, hell you'll even get some prize money just for winning. But if I win, you have to do exactly as I say. What do you say pal? Deal?" He offered his paw for a shake, his grin still wide and prominent.
Malefor shook his head and simply broke free of his grip and shouldered past the electric dragon with Ventus following close behind. "Thanks for the offer but I'll pass, kindly leave us out of your game's in the future if you don't mind." He spoke with a firmness many had only seen in Terrador when addressing troops in the war. Midas never lost his smirk and as he thrust his body into the air he shouted after the fleeing duo. "If you ever gain the courage to accept my challenge, I'll be waiting in the arena! Dark master." He sneered before flying off presumably towards the aforementioned arena. Before Malefor could give any further thought to the word's of the rude male, Ventus caught his attention with a tap on the shoulder. "Ignore him, he's always like that. Beside's, It's my problem not yours." He said resuming a leisurely pace toward the temple, the purple dragon following closely.
Upon entering the two were greeted with a pair of familiar faces. It was none other than Spyro and Cynder and upon closer inspection the duo both seemed to be a state of distress. Approaching the pair and announcing his presence Malefor called out to them. "Spyro, Cynder is something wrong?" He asked concerned for their sorrowful expressions. In response they looked to each other and a silent message almost seemed to pass between them before they turned back to the reformed villian. "It's...Ignitus's funeral, it's in a few day's." Spyro spoke his voice full of sadness at the thought of his former master's sacrifice, his face falling somewhat. Malefor tensed up at the mention of the old fire dragon, before lowering his head in shame, feeling he was to blame for the fire guardian's death. "I'm...so sorry Spyro, I really am." He began to mutter, before out of nowhere the other purple male struck him lightly in the shoulder with a clenched fist, not putting any real strength behind it.
When Malefor looked back at him in confusion, he was met with a mixture of sadness and annoyance in Spyro's eye's. However the young hero's maw was curled up in a small genuine smile. "Don't start blaming yourself, it isn't going to do anyone any good, you know? Just... When the time comes, try to be there. Ok?" He requested. Spyro's word's shook the elder purple dragon from his brief funk, as in response to the younger dragon's request Malefor gave his word to be present for the upcoming ceremony. "R-right, of course... I'll be there, I promise." He said giving a brief nod, still unable to break the habit of apologizing for the past misdeeds of the dark master.
The group of four were silent for a moment before a claw tapped Malefor's shoulder. Turning to face Ventus, the wind dragon gestured his head toward the entrance. "I should probably be heading back now, if you need a place to stay in the future you know where to find us." The wind dragon offered before turning to depart. "Thanks Ventus, I appreciate it." Malefor called out to the departing wind dragon as he disappeared through the front doors before taking to the sky. "You should probably come with us to see Terrador, he said he had something for you." Cynder suggested to the violet and crimson male, who nodded in agreement before allowing himself to be led down the hall's to the room in which the guardian's had been gathered upon the night of his return to the city.
As they walked both dragon's asked him how his night went, specifically whether or not anything interesting had happened with the wind dragon. "No, a fight didn't break out if that's what your asking about. In fact I think thing's are a little better than they were before, me and Ventus spoke a bit, he had some questions for me, I answered them. He asked to put what happened before behind us, I agreed to do so. Turns out him attacking me was a mistake, he mistook our prank for a legitimate threat. We agreed to put it behind us and while we aren't exactly friend's, he did say he would be happy to get to know me better, which I must say was somewhat suprising given our first meeting." He spoke with a chuckle at the end, attempting to make light of the recent fiasco, which in turn brought a new thought to the front of his mind. "Speaking of that night, did the guardian's say anything to you two about those wolves yet?" He asked a tad hopeful that someone would have stumbled upon anything useful regarding the location of the pack's leader or their mysterious employer.
Cynder shook her head frowing. "Afraid not, no telling how long it could take before we see those guy's again. My suggestion, try not to worry too much because honestly I don't think we'll be running into them unless they want us to." Spyro rolled his eye's. "Because that isn't terrifying." He sarcastically remarked. Malefor sighed before they soon arrived at their destination where they were greeted by the earth guardian Terrador. The green dragon turned to look in their direction when he heard the door creak open, a smile crossing his face at the sight of the trio. "Ah there you are. Come over I have something for you all." He motioned for the younger dragon's to come over to where he was seated next to a small round table with drawers lining the edges. Pulling one of them open he plucked four small brown cloth pouchs from within. Handing one of the four to Malefor he explained it's contents to his long time friend. "In that bag are a few special crystals that have been enchanted to not only heal your body but also give you a sort of numbing effect to any pains or aches, there are only so many of course so make sure they last. You still remember how to partially drain a crystal correct?" He asked Malefor who in turn scoffed. "Of course I do, I wouldn't forget soemthing like that."
Turning his attention to the other two in the room he gave both Spyro and Cynder one of the three remaining bags each, plopping the object's in their paws with a jingling sound before handing the final one to Malefor as well. "As for these, within each one is five thousand gold coins, all three of you don't currently have a source of income, but to help you adjust to city life and to thank you both for the debt the city owes you we have decided to provide you all with a sort of allowance, once at the beginning of each week you will receive the following amount to do with as you please, though I hope you will be smart with your fund's and set some aside for the future." Upon placing the final pouch in the former tyrants claw, a conflicted look was apparent on Malefor's face. Before Terrador could ask what was the matter, the purple dragon held the bag outward to the large green male. "I can't accept this Terrador, not after all that's happened. There must be many other creatures who need this more than me right now." He practically begged the guardian to take back the pouch of money.
Shaking his suprise off, Terrador simply pushed Malefor's claw back toward him and held his fingers shut around the small cloth bag. "Please just take it, if not for yourself then do it for me, if it really bothers you that much your more than free to pay it back in the future whenever your able. But I insist you keep this for now." He stated refusing to allow the small gift to be returned. For a moment the purple male was thinking about what he could even do with this money before his mind returned to the medicinal crystals in his other claw. The gears in his head began to turn before he remembered the challenge that had been made to him earlier and what would happen should he win. "If you win I'll back off, I'll stop bothering Ventus here..." The word's of the confident electric dragon echoed in his head for a few moment's before he began to grit his teeth in anger at how Midas had been treating the wind dragon.
Without another word he placed the sack of coins in his satchel before opening the bag of crystals and plucking one of the red eyeball sized gems from within its depths. Closing the smaller pouch and tucking it away he lifted the small crystal to eye level before gently squeezing the small gem, ignoring the sudden confusion his action caused among the earth guardian and the two other young adults. Upon closing his paw around the small gem he could feel the burning essence within the small container, and focusing his mana into the small object he felt the crystal crack in his palm but not shatter. As a red light shined outward from his clenched fist and began to envelope his scales in a brief crimson aura, he could feel the minor soreness and pain fade away to nothing.
As his talon eased it's pressure on the tiny cyrstal the light faded almost immediately, a sigh of relief escaping Malefor's lungs. "That feels so much better, I must say. Thanks Terrador." He bowed his head to the larger and older dragon before placing the partially exhausted gem back in his satchel with the rest. "You know, if the pain was that much of a problem I could have just gotten those last night." Terrador said quirking a brow at the immediate use of the limited resource. Malefor simply chuckled at the lack of communication on his part before explaining his reasoning. "Oh no it's not that, actaully it was bearable to an extent, but I should probably mention you aren't going to like my reason for using the crystal so quickly." He said with a sheepish grin, to which Terrador sighed in exasperation before muttering. "I hate that smile of yours, everytime you grin like that it means you have a stupid idea forming in that stunted brain you have. It always did get you into trouble, though I doubt I could honestly stop you from going through whatever it is, no matter how hard I try to convince you." He stated with another small sigh.
Malefor only widened his smile, and ignored the harmless insult toward his intelligence. "Right you are my friend, and here's the idea." Chuckling nervously as he could already predict how the earth dragon would react. "I...am going to be fighting in the arena." He said already tensing up in preparation for what would come next. Terrador's expression was the exact opposite of joyful or pleased, while Cynder appeared somewhat disapproving and Spyro had an knowing smile on his maw. "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Terrador roared not wanting to risk the purple dragon being needlesy injured any further, before he closed his eye's and took a number of deep and slow breaths to calm his nerves."I know what I just said about not being able to stop you but that is just foolish and dangerous, you aren't even healed yet what is the point in straining yourself further? Certainly not for money alone I hope." He asked hoping for some sort of explanation.
Cynder decided to make her own opinion heard at this point, concern was written across her face. "Malefor, are you sure that's a good idea? You've had barely two day's to heal, this just doesn't sound like the best plan." She voiced her worries to which the purple and crimson male responded with a slight frown. "I understand why your concerned, I'm aware of what could occur but I can't sit around like this. Also..." The face of the yellow male known as Midas appeared in his thoughts, causing his lips to curl back slightly as if he were about to snarl. "It isn't just for my sake that I'm doing this, I didn't want to say anything earlier because Ventus told me not to worry about it but he's being harassed by someone, an electric dragon by the name of Midas.
This made Terrador perk up as he quickly voiced the thoughts in his mind. "Wait, you mean Midas?! As in one of the arenas strongest champion's? He challenged you?" The earth dragon questioned, his tone becoming increasingly worrisome. Malefor nodded a confirmation before responding. "That's probably him, but I don't care how strong he is, it doesn't give him the right to be cruel to other's, so like it or not you won't be able to stop me. The least you could do is come to watch" he lifted his claws off the ground before making a punching motion into his open palm. "As I mop the floor with the guy who decided to give Ventus a hard time. He said a small smirk on his face at the thought of not only being able to fight once more but also grinning at the prospect of knocking the confident electric warrior off his figurative perch.
Elsewhere the ice dragoness Crystal was currently working her day job at the armory for the arena, checking stock of all the combatants gear and accepting new fighters who join on occasion. The ice dragoness was not the owner of the arena but her grandfather had been giving her more job's amd responsibilities each day to prepare her for when he inevitably passed down ownership to her. As she just finished most of her tasks, she stepped out to one of the several snack carts that have been set up outside the main entrance to get something to relax with. After standing in a rather short line she found herself beneath a nice shaded spot below a nearby awning with a refreshing ice cream in claw. "Mmm I always did prefer vanilla over chocolate." She thought to herself before leaning in to take a lick of the frozen treat.
Just before she could taste the reward for her hard work however a large yellow arm draped over her shoulder rather suddenly as a particularly loud voice nearly yelled into her ear causing the paw she held her ice cream in to spasm in shock which resulted in the frozen desert falling to the floor in a messy splatter. "Well hello there Crystal, your looking quite nice today I must say." The pompous voice that had caused her to spill her snack turned out to be none other than one of the arenas strongest fighters. With a sigh of obvious annoyance the ice dragon turned to face the vile murderer of iced treats. "What is it now Midas?" She asked not wishing to speak with the prideful male. Midas merely grinned at her before attempting to start up a conversation.
"I don't really need anything, but I saw you slinking about, and I just wanted to see if you were up to anything." He said his smile still a toothy grin that spoke of less than pure intent. She quirked a brow at him trying to ignore his arm which was still draped over her shoulder and cast a depressed glance down to her ruined snack. "Well I WAS going to enjoy my ice cream but look how that turned out." She muttered gesturing to the melting puddle on the floor. Snapping his gaze to the once tasty treat he twisted his snout into a grimace before responding. "Hmm pretty sure that ain't good anymore, but anyway, how would YOU like to go have dinner with me tonight to make up for it?" He suggested a somewhat lecherous look in his eye's. Inhaling a deep breath of air, Crystal attempted to restrain herself from filling the large electric warrior with dozens of ice shards.
Just as she was about to lose her temper when the male refused to leave her alone, a familiar voice called out to them. "HEY MIDAS!" A shadow passed over head before two violet scaled forms and one with scales as dark as night landed nearby causing the surrounding crowds to whisper amongst themselves at the suprise appearance of Spyro, Cynder and Malefor. Before she could even ask what they were doing here, Malefor had already taken quick steps to find himself directly in front of the electric champion. "You challenged me earlier, well I accept. And when I win your gonna hold up your end of the bargain got it?" The purple dragon demanded. The confused ice dragoness could only gawk at the tone that was used with one of the arguably most talented dragon's in the city. "Wait? WHAT?!? CHALLENGE WHO?? WHEN?!" she shouted hoping someone would explain what was happening, though no one seemed to be paying her confusion any mind.
A slight frown was visible upon the yellow male's maw before it was replaced with a large teeth revealing grin. Lowering his head to stare eye level at the determined purple dragon he responded. "Well color me impressed, you changed your tune rather quickly didn't you? I thought my 'games' didn't interest you?" He sneered hoping to elicit a reaction of sorts. To his displeasure Malefor snorted and replied with a smirk of his own. "They don't, it just so happens me kicking your tail would be killing two birds with one stone. Simply put my interests align with winning this little challenge you offered."
Grumbling under his breath, Midas turned to Crystal before snarling out a command. "Get this brat set up with some armor! We're gonna see if he's all talk or if he's got the power to back those word's up!" He growled beforw stomping off toward the front entrance.
Crystal could only growl in irritation at being ordered around so casually before she turned her attention to the new purple scaled combatant. "Well you can explain this to me while I help fit you for some gear." She sighed waving for Malefor to follow her to the entrance with Spyro and Cynder in tow. However when they got through the main door into what appeared to be a large foyer and she lead Malefor off to the side toward another door, Spyro and Cynder attempted to follow only to be blocked off by Crystal who quickly ushered them toward the path up to the stands. "Oh no this room is for combatants only, both of you go to the stands." Spyro barely managed to stutter in shock. "B-but wait! don't we need tickets or something?" He asked unsure of the rules of the establishment.
The ice dragoness sighed in exasperation before hastily grabbing two small object's from the pouch hanging off her neck which were revealed to be a pair of white and black striped wristbands, and shoving them both into Cynder's paws. "Show those to the guy up front and he'll let you through. Just give em back afterwards." She spoke quickly shutting the door in their faces as soon as the word's left her mouth. Upon witnessing the whole exchange, Malefor simply followed close behind the ice dragoness as she led him through a dim corridor. "Are...are you ok?" He asked hesitantly, unsure if she would snap at him. She simply cast a quick glance back at him before her wing's and head lowered in depression. "This was supposed to be my break period." She muttered with a slight whimper as she recalled how much she had been looking forward to relaxing with a nice vanilla ice cream.
Malefor apologized for causing her any potential grief to which Crystal responded with a shake of her head. "Forget it, Midas already ruined my ice cream, for now let's just focus on getting you fitted for your match with that big jerk." She muttered the last word to herself somewhat although Malefor heard it plain as day. "I had no idea you worked here at the arena Crystal. How long have you had this job?" The purple dragon inquired attempting to ease any tension with conversation. Not slowing down in her stride Crystal responded. "I've worked here since before the war caused everyone to fly for the hills, my grandfather owns it but he plan's on passing the deed down to me one day. So I take care of a big chunk of the tasks around here not to mention more often then not I am the one providing everyone with their gear. With help from Flame of course."
Malefor quirked a brow at the reveal her grandfather owned the arena when he recalled seeing an interesting fact in the book Volteer had shown him with the buildings schematics and some neat tidbits he wouldn't have known otherwise. "Your grandfather? But I could have sworn the arena was built and owned by a family of mole craftsmen." He muttered somewhat surprised that ownership had fallen to a dragon as mole's could be very attached to their creations. At this Crystal turned to look back at him briefly before she spoke again. "That's because it is owned by mole's..." She spoke with a small smile on her face as she slowed her walk to be right beside the purple male.
"I was raised by those mole's."
well there ya have it, Crystal was raised by mole's and she will inherit the deed to the arena one day, not to mention you got your first look at Midas who I have been looking forward to introducing since I created hercules, if it wasn't obvious however I will let it be known, Midas is in no way a pushover, he is a trained fighter while younger than your typical soldier's he is still a force to be reckoned with as we will see in the next chapter and also
let it be known by the time this is finished I can honestly say I might have to punch the next person to give me a vaccination in the face, and I'm not typically violent. BUT GOSH THOSE THING'S MAKE ME FEEL LIKE I GOT CHARLIE HORSED IN THE ARM LIKE A MILLION TIMES! It is worth it however as with the new variant going around things have been quite hectic. Hope you enjoy the chapter and stay safe out there everyone.