Author's Notes:
11/05/2019 edit: changed chapter title, story title, and story summary to reflect new purpose for this story.
A plot bunny that refused to leave me alone until I wrote it.
This is a crossover shortfic featuring Joshua from my fanfic Aimless and Ever Riley from The Impossible Sky. Two humans who found themselves in another world somehow meet and talk to each other. One gets advice, while the other gets answers.
Written with the approval of SnickerToodles and ported over to public domain with permission from same.
Aimless timestamp: 1M.
Enjoy!
First Entry: Aimless x The Impossible Sky
Advice and Answers
"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't."
- Erica Jong
"Lord, I must be dreaming."
Joshua Renalia said to himself, unable to make heads or tails of the situation he found himself in this time.
The apparition in front of him—a blonde human who looked old enough to pass as his grandmother—reached for his shoulder. She hesitated, as though he too was a ghost, a mere figment of her imagination. Her diffidence was fleeting for not even a second passed when her cerulean eyes shone with determination and she pinched him.
"Eek!" the young man let out an uncharacteristically pathetic whine and recoiled. "Don't do that!" He slapped her hand away. Only when he felt, and heard, his skin meeting hers did he realize that he wasn't dreaming at all.
Or was he?
Ol' Gran-gran's reaction knocked his out of the proverbial ballpark. She choked on her own saliva. She raised her hand and cupped her mouth, stifling a sob. Tears fell down her eyes.
Joshua cocked an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you, granny?" he said. "You're acting like you haven't seen another human your entire life." Where the f*ck was he anyway? His eyes scanned their surroundings. It's a house. A house in a clearing in the middle of a f*cking forest. The gamer ambled to what was clearly a wooden door. Made for someone the size and shape of a human being, he observed.
Great! Looks like he wasn't in Warfang anymore. Thank f*cking God. "Ma'am," he said, absentmindedly, "would you mind showing me to your living room?" Christ's balls, hopefully Dad hadn't changed his number. Who knows how much time passed when he was stuck in the Realms. "I have a phone call to—
He felt Gran-gran wrap her arms around his waist. Joshua rounded on her. "Whoaaa! What's this about?" She clung to him, held him tight. The gamer blanched when this old lady just hugged him out of the blue and leaned into his chest.
"Lady, sorry if I sound disrespectful, but I don't know you and I DEFINITELY do not do cougars—
"You're real," she said. "You're really real..."
"...what the hell?"
He didn't want to hurt her, but he wanted her OFF of him, like, now. Joshua gently wrapped his fingers around her fragile arms and tugged her until she reluctantly let go. He looked into her eyes and saw a combination of surprise, melancholy, relief, and—
How the hell did he know all of this? Wait a minute... Joshua narrowed his eyes on this strange, bizarre granny and focused. He looked at her. No, he emptied his mind and, with a glaze forming over his eyes, looked beyond her, grasping for...
Oh no.
Oh HELL no.
Joshua could see her sphere of life, rapidly changing colors, erratically shrinking and growing from the chaotic thoughts that were surely assaulting her within. He still had his power. He still had the Unknown Element. He could still feel the life signatures of people a few hundred meters away, a brief "scan" of their pulses revealing they weren't human.
An anvil of emotions slammed into the gamer. He felt dizzy. "I, I need to sit down." Joshua spotted a chair nearby—one of two, with a small table between them—and dropped his ass onto it.
Gran-gran gave him a wry smile. "I'm, sorry. I didn't mean to overwhelm you like that. It's just... I haven't seen another person in decades."
Joshua eyed her. He cogitated on his reply. Should he... nah, he shouldn't. He must be dreaming. He definitely must be dreaming. This was a lucid dream. That'd explain why everything felt so vivid, so real. He needed to wake up before Kilat did a Pikachu and thundershock him awake...
...but he just couldn't resist going with the flow. Who knows? Maybe his subconscious wanted to talk to him. Christopher Nolan's Inception was all about this kind of shit.
"Another human, you mean?"
"Y-yes. That's right. How'd you know?"
Joshua eyed her. She wore clothing. (Duh! why didn't he notice that before?) It resembled those medieval clothes LARPers loved to trot around in as they happily made fools of themselves in public. The same clothes he was wearing, he noticed upon glancing down.
"Personal experience," Joshua said. He evaluated their surroundings again, but this time with scrutiny. The house had the work of Moles written all over it. He could recognize their architecture anywhere. The vegetation around them, he recognized those too. There was the Lemegeton tree, with its curled, eyelash-shaped leaves. He also recognized the tree bearing blue and red berries, and the shrub with the yellow ones—that shit almost killed him once!
And the most telling sign of all? The bush of red crystals sprouting from the ground, right where the ground sloped downward. A house on a hill in the middle of a forest. Was his mind drawing information from those Aesop's fables he used to read?
He threw the bomb at Ol' Gran-gran. "Ma'am, are we in Warfang?" Joshua could barely see the city past the trees. Were they in Fracture Hills? Vara said this place was uninhabited for environmental reasons. Since when did the Council allow this? "I can't even see the walls from here..."
Joshua's question stunned the old lady. Her mouth dropped open. She couldn't speak for a full ten seconds. He resisted the urge to groan. "Guess that answered my question."
Seeing the inquisitive look on granny's face, he addressed the elephant in the room. "I'm a gamer. Was a gamer, back home. Spyro was my all-time favorite series, and I loved everything before the devs desecrated him with Skylanders. I've played and replayed all those games enough to recognize places from Classic or Legend."
"I, see." The old lady nodded. "Those are, terms I've heard before, a few times."
Probably not an avid gamer like he'd been, then. Joshua rerated her a bit lower. He felt a little disappointed. She was the second human he saw in God knew how long, and it just had to be a normie.
"How long have you been here?" she beat him to the question.
"By my count, probably longer than a month in our calendar. The days here feel longer, to be honest."
Gran-gran went quiet. Unsettingly quiet. It went beyond Joshua's expectations. He anticipated more questions from her, maybe questions about Earth, like what year it was, whether Donald Trump became President, stuff that wouldn't have reached him at all if it weren't so pervasive on Discord, Facebook, and Twitter.
"Errrrrr..."
"And where have you been during this entire time?"
"The Temple. It's all I've ever known. They put me under room arrest. It sucks but at least I'm not dead. I've got Cyn and Volteer to thank for that."
Her eyes suddenly widened, as though she came to an epiphany.
"What? Was it something I said?"
"Kid, I'm friends with them. They would've told me about you the first chance they got."
"Friends? With Cynder and Volteer?" Joshua shoved away a nagging feeling that suddenly sprouted in his head and scoffed. "Last I checked, ma'am, I was the first human who ever showed up in Warfang. Pardon my language, but I wouldn't have had to go through a lot of f*cked-up shit if you've been living here for years."
Her eyes darted to his limp arm. "I'm friends with all of them," she said, slowly.
Joshua sank in his chair. He had to accept it. The gamer buried his face in his hands. "Just my f*cking luck. I'm teleported to this f*cking dragonland, and now I find myself in a different parallel universe of the same place. Goddammit. I swear, it's like someone's toying with me..."
"I thought so," said the old lady. "Do you want a cup of tea? There should be some in the pantry, I think."
Joshua raised his hand. "Hold up. You mean this isn't your house?"
She smirked. "I never said that to begin with, kid."
Gran-gran left the gamer alone. He sat in his chair. Joshua didn't want to think anymore, not right now. If he did, he would go insane. He'd have to worry about Kilat back in the other Warfang, then concern himself with the changes here. This Warfang was likely just as f*cked up as the one he just came from. He was sure of it.
He was really sure of it.
Joshua didn't realize Gran-gran came back until a cup of hot tea was placed in front of him. It was actually a bowl. Something for Kilat's size.
The grandma had just taken a sip from her own cup when she said, "I just realized, I never got your name."
"It's Joshua, ma'am."
"I'm Ever." Another smirk. "You can stop calling me 'grandma' in your head now."
"W-wh-what—no, I would never—!"
"Obviously I was a teen once. My attitude towards the elderly back then were... similar."
"...okay, ma'am, you got me."
"Stop that 'ma'am' business. You're making me feel old. Ah, and just to let you know, Spyro and Cynder live here. They're out on a quick flight right now, but they'll be back in a jiffy."
Joshua immediately spat out his tea and went to his feet. What the f*ck! "We gotta get out of here!" He blinked. "No, I need to get out of here! He'll try to kill me—
Ever stood up and held him. "He won't, kid. He won't. Spyro's one of the nicest dragons who's ever lived. Trust me. I'm one of his closest friends. He will help you."
"No! You don't understand, Ever. He'll kill me the second he sees me!"
With hands on her hips, Ever said, "Now just what makes you think that? He's Spyro. The hero."
Joshua hesitated. Should he show her? Was she changed too, like him? Like all those people in the bad fanfiction?
Ah, you know what, f*ck it. This was probably a dream and he was gonna wake up soon. Best to just roll with it.
Joshua draped his sense of self around Ever—whose cold sphere clearly indicated she didn't believe a single thing coming out of his mouth—and the vegetation around the house. Insert a harmless little "purpose" in there, and voila! His right hand started glowing white and a cloud of energy formed around the fingertips. "There. See this? That's why."
"Huh. Would you look at that." Ever bent down. "That's... well, I didn't know you came with superpowers, Joshua."
"It's an Element."
"Like what the dragons have?"
"Yes."
Ever pouted. "I didn't show up with this. I'm just a plain jane mortal, trapped in a whole other world with no way back. So what does this have to do with Spyro wanting you dead?"
"It's an Unknown Element!"
Ever's face remained deadpan.
He facepalmed. "Look, I've only just learned to start using it properly. Cynder and Volteer—MY Cynder and Volteer haven't discovered everything about this yet, but this thing has killed people. Spyro's gonna kill me the second he lays eyes on me—
"I'm going to kill who what now?"
The familiar voice sent shivers down Joshua's spine. The small, white cloud suddenly vanished. When Joshua turned to face the other voice he blanched, for Spyro himself was touching down on an open section of the front yard, with Cynder not too far behind.
Joshua stepped back. This Spyro was even bigger than the one he was dealing with. As tall, as wide, as bulky as a full-grown adult dragon. His purple scales were hardened from fighting. His horns were as jagged, S-shaped ice picks. And the brimming muscles beneath that gold and purple hide... a scaley would have prostrate the dragon once he saw it all in person.
"A second human!" he said, voice practically booming in Joshua's enhanced hearing. "That's not something you see all the time."
"Spyro, that's not something you see at all." Cynder touched down beside him. Like Spyro, she stood several heads above Joshua. A fully-grown dragoness, her magenta scales glinting beautifully in the sunlight. They complimented her black hide marvelously, and even Joshua couldn't help but mutter to himself that she was more beautiful and regal in this world. "And look, it's a male. He looks even younger than Ever was when she freed us from the time crystal."
Joshua whipped his head at the old lady. She played a role in the DotD story? Did she let them out early or what? Damn. How long had she been living in the Realms?
He faced the two dragons once more. No, he couldn't think about this stuff right now. "Spyro, stay back! Keep away from me!"
Joshua separated himself from Ever. He made sure nothing stood between him and the side of the house. He could escape through the backyard. Hopefully he could pull off complete imperceptibility as well as he did in Alona Hall—that was a bitch to visualize.
Spyro glanced at Cynder once before they parted. The latter approached Ever (who had been walking towards the dragoness the second Joshua stepped away from her) wile the former padded towards the gamer. "You, know me?"
Joshua quaked at the sight of Spyro's natural weapons. His teeth, his horns, his claws. All of them looked incredibly more dangerous, more imposing than they had ever been in the other world.
"Of course I do, Savior! Now get back."
"Savior?" the dragon chuckled. "Now that's something I haven't heard in years."
"I said get back!" The Unknown Element manifested next to Joshua as a lance of light floating above his head. The human's hand was cocked at the shoulder, ready to "fling" the ethereal weapon the moment he whipped his arm forward. "Look, I'm not here to hurt anyone."
Spyro recoiled at the sight of the magic spear materializing before his eyes. "Whoa! You can use magic! What's wrong with you? Put that away, boy, before someone gets hurt."
"Just stay the f*ck away from me!"
Any moment now, and he was going to attack. The Purple Dragon would cloak himself in Dragon Time and take him down before anyone realized it, his neck caught between those teeth. Joshua didn't trust this "gentle" approach one bit. He'd turn on him the second he let his guard down.
Cynder motioned at him with her wings, catching his attention. "Joshua," she spoke. It was so weird, hearing her say his name with the same voice he came to know and draw security from. "Calm down. Spyro will not hurt you. You can trust him."
When Joshua remembered he could at least tell when someone was lying straight to his face, he felt quite stupid. The gamer drew himself into his sixth sense, appraised Spyro's and Cynder's life signatures, and found...
Nothing.
He found nothing.
The violent swirling and continuous, unabated contractions that often terrified Joshua every single time he observed Spyro's sphere of life was remarkably absent. Aside from fluctuations arising from what Joshua had long classified as astonishment, the pulse had even closed in on itself but only up to a certain point. From his experience, that suggested worry, anxiety. Emotions that Spyro would never direct at him to begin with.
Cynder's sphere of life was remained the way it was. It didn't turn warm at the sight of him, making it even more painfully clear that this Cynder wasn't the same dragoness who empathized with his situation and stood against the entire city and her own mate to fight for him and his right to live freely.
Joshua hid his own disappointment as best he could when he locked eyes with Cynder. He gawked at her mate. "You... you aren't scared of my Element?"
"Your Element?" Spyro asked. "You mean that thing?" He eyed the floating, white lance. "That's actually an Element? I don't recognize it."
"I don't expect you to," Joshua replied. "But... really? You're not gonna do anything?"
"Not unless you're gonna hurt someone with that thing. Now put it away and let's talk."
Joshua hesitated. "I..."
He panned his viridian gaze from right to left. An unusually approachable Spyro. A cold stranger wearing Cynder's hide. An old human lady suffering from eye cataracts. All displayed no aggression.
"I..."
Only warmth.
"I'm..."
Acceptance.
"Okay."
Joshua relinquished the image he'd been visualizing. The lance dissipated shortly. With nothing to protect him now, Spyro could kill him and he'd have no way to resist.
The dragon strolled to him. He loomed above the gamer, a large shadow falling upon him. Joshua flinched. It took all his willpower to stay still when Spyro raised his forepaw—and all those frighteningly sharp claws—and clasped him on the shoulder.
"See? Nothing to be afraid of. Now calm down. Let's go have a seat and talk. They said your name's Joshua. Why not tell us more about yourself?"
Joshua's mind went blank. Hugging the massive purple dragon in front of him was the first thing he did. He sobbed.
"Ancestors! He is not okay." Joshua felt Spyro turn his neck. "Ever, come with me. Let's get this kid sorted out in the yard. Cyn, follow us once you're done checking in on Lillian."
"Yes, my love."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Joshua held nothing back. He was sick and tired of lying, of feeding people bullshit. The gamer, leaning back on a tree, told them everything.
Kilat, the dragoness he adopted.
The Unknown Element.
The incident at the Gates, including Infernus's scheme to assassinate Cynder and pin the blame on Joshua.
Room arrest in the Temple.
Spyro's constant aggression towards him.
Employment as a manual scavenger.
Cynder and Spyro's most recent fight over him in the Audience Chamber.
And of course, his trauamatic experience with Kaos.
By the time he was finished, the sun had started to set. The twin moons emerged in the sky. Ever sat between the two dragons, cradling a gray-scaled whelp even smaller than Kilat in her arms. Spyro's pensive expression couldn't hide the shock echoing in his soul.
"Joshua, to sum up everything you've said, you're originally from Ever's home, but you ended up in Warfang, about... four years after the War?"
"Yes."
"And... I hate you?" Spyro squirmed uncomfortably. "That doesn't sound like me."
Joshua nodded. "I'm not shitting you, man. It's true! You've tried to kill me a few times already, once behind Cynder's back." A frown appeared on this Cynder's muzzle. She probably couldn't imagine her mate doing something underhanded.
Ever spoke next, "You said Kaos was there?" Her mouth was agape from disbelief. "Seriously? Kaos, that moron from Skylanders?"
"I'm serious," Joshua nodded again. "But he's not an idiot. He's competent, he's with Skylands, and he knows I'm from another world."
"Wow," she said. "That's crazy. Your situation sounds like one massive crossover gone to hell."
"Sounds about right." Joshua stretched and reclined back. "It'd be nice if I stay here. I really don't want to go back to that place. But... somehow I have this weird feeling I'm not going to be here long." His eyes went from Spyro, to Ever and Lillian, and Cynder. "I hope you guys have advice for me." He fixed his stare on Spyro. "Or at least an answer. I'd like to know why MY Spyro hates me so much."
The adult Spyro let out a sigh. It took a minute for him to speak. "Four years after the War... those were really hard times. Warfang was still rebuilding then, and it's just as you described it. We had problems with refugees. People refused to accept Cynder. I had to spend all my time either defending her or making sure Warfang was safe from all threats—internal or external.
"We never had the same problems like your Warfang. This 'Skylands Empire' doesn't exist here. That sorcerer you and Ever know as Kaos, he doesn't exist here. We had to deal with Apes and remnants of the Dark Army instead. It was terrible. If it weren't for Ever and the few friends she made over here, we might not have made it this far."
"That's another long story, Spyro," remarked the old lady. "Let's not get into that."
Cynder shuffled next to the gamer. "Joshua, what he's saying is, if you ever find yourself back there, you need to give your Spyro a break. He's under enormous pressure. Warfang was a powder keg in those years. The slightest spark could ruin everything. So when your Spyro looks at you he sees a great threat to the city he loves, and nobody's doing anything about it."
"What should I do then?"
Spyro chuckled. "If he's anything like me—like I was in those days, then you really can't do anything about it. I'm stubborn when I believe I'm in the right. You won't win him over with just words, whether it's yours or someone else's." The dragon smiled at Joshua. "You need to do it with action. You have to prove him wrong, and you have to be consistent about it. My best guess: it will take a few months before he realizes his mistake."
"A few months?" Joshua shrieked. "Oh my god! You gotta be f*cking kidding me! I can't do that. I'll go nuts!"
"You have to," insisted this world's Spyro. "You need him watching your back. I don't really know anything about the world you're in, but judging by your story you'll end up having extremely dangerous enemies someday. You'll need every ally you can get."
Joshua groaned. "Ughhh."
Cynder's tail nudged him by the shoulder. "Joshua, I have a request. Spyro's the most important thing that ever happened to me." The two took a moment to sweetly rub against each other. "I can't imagine what it's like to fight with him, but it must be horrible for your Cynder. You need to keep them together. Please."
He nodded. "That goes without saying! You and Spyro are my heroes. I don't want to be the reason your counterparts break up!" Then he deflated, his confidence fading away. "But, like all things, it's easier said than done."
Joshua felt Ever's hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about that," she assured him. "It'll happen as long as you don't give up trying."
"Thank you, Ever."
The old lady grinned back at him. It was a nice moment, but Spyro just had to ruin it. "Joshua, what're your plans now? What we just talked about... that'll only apply if you got back to your Warfang. But if that doesn't happen—
Joshua cut him off, staring intensely at the dragon. "My long-term plan hasn't changed. I will find my way back home. I... I gotta get back to my family."
"But what about Kilat?" Ever asked. "You'll just leave her alone like that?"
The gamer glared at her. "I'll miss her, but Kilat's a strong girl. She'll be back on her paws without me. The kid's a lightning prodigy. Someone like her, she'll have a bright future. Besides, if I'm gonna be stuck here, why the f*ck will I go look for a way back to the other Warfang? I want to go home! To Earth! It's where I belong, not here!"
"I, I-I see," Ever muttered. "You do make good points there, Joshua." She heaved a long, wistful sigh. Her sphere of life shrunk.
"Ever," Joshua called to her. "You don't belong here either. Why are you still here? You had more than half your life to look for a way home."
Spyro and Cynder looked at each other. Joshua noticed. They must know her life story. They knew the reason.
The old lady frowned. Inexplicable sadness etched itself on her face. "I had to stay. A friend needed me. His entire family died in a Grublin attack. He threw himself off of a waterfall once. I, I couldn't let him do that again. I had to stay with him - be with him, until I knew he was okay."
"Grublins? That's around DotD. He probably got over it a few years after that. I bet he's doing well for himself right now."
"Tyren's a knight-captain at the Warfang temple," Spyro interjected. "He's been there for at least tweny years."
"Exactly my point. So why the HELL did you give up?"
"Because I grew to love it here!" Ever whipped her free hand at the two dragons. "I've got great friends! I've got the city's respect! I made a life for myself here. There's almost nothing waiting for me back home."
"That's just bullshit and you know it." Otherwise he wouldn't be sensing the agitation and anger sloshing around in her sphere of life.
"I—
"Y'know what? I shouldn't be arguing this with you to begin with. You do you! So, just go live out the rest of your days here. It's too late for you anyway. Me? I'll find my way home or die trying." Joshua got to his feet. He hoped Spyro would let him stay at his place for a couple days while he planned his next move, because Ever definitely wasn't going to, not after what he just said.
The old lady faltered, contrary to his expectations. The livid glint in her eyes vanished. For a second it was as though the old lady regressed to her own adolescent self. "If only I had your determination," she admitted, allowing pain to creep onto her face. "But what's done is done. There's nothing I can do now, even if I'd like to know with all my heart what would've happened if I told Ignitus I wanted to leave."
Ever forced herself to smile. "I have regrets, Joshua. Everyone does. At least I'm happy."
"Ever..."
Things started to click in Joshua's head. Puzzle pieces began falling into place, slowly forming an image that only someone in the gamer's position would recognize.
Ever. Tyren. Lily. The old lady who freed SpyCy from the time crystal. Ignitus giving her the opportunity to leave.
Joshua gasped. "Holy shit! You're Ever Riley!" The girl from SnickerToodles' Impossible Sky. A noteworthy Spyro fanfiction on its own. "Fighter Girl! The misfit pretending to be a cheetah!"
It was Ever's turn to gasp. "How do you know that? I never said anything about myself."
"Because someone already wrote your story in my Earth."
Ever cackled. "So I'm a fanfiction character too? Ha! Life can be so hilarious."
"I know how it ends, Ever. It's been finished for a while now."
"Don't bother," she said. "I'm going to die an old hag in Warfang. That's obvious -
"No! This, t-this life you have. This, everything!" Joshua gestured at Spyro and Cynder, at Lily, at their surroundings. "This was just a dream sequence. An alternate future! The Ever in that story realized this and knew it wasn't what she wanted."
Her life signature suddenly burst into life. Anticipation blazed in her eyes. "What happened?" she asked—she demanded. "Tell me." Ever clasped the gamer's shoulders and clung tight. "Tell me!"
"'You went with Ignitus, Ever. He guided you to the White Isle. The Chronicler sent you home."
"But... Lily? What about Lily? Did I make it? Is she okay?"
"Yeah! You were supposed to be dead, but you—
A jolt of electricity suddenly coursed through Joshua's body. He screeched, sight going white. The young man felt intense, blinding pain tormenting his entire body. The worst he had ever felt.
Yet as soon as it happened, it was gone. Vanished in a literal flash of light. Joshua Renalia's eyes snapped open. A yellow blur stood over him.
A wet, slimy tongue went up his face.
"Joshua!" cried a familiar voice. "Finally, you're awake."
It was his sister's. He'd know it anywhere. "K-Kilat?"
Joshua sprung up. Viridian eyes panned the room. He was back. Back in his Warfang. In his room. The teenager blinked. Was, that... was all that just a dream?
He scrunched his eyes. Joshua remembered meeting Ever Riley from The Impossible Sky, but she wasn't exactly the same girl from the fanfic. He recalled meeting adult Spyro and Cynder, but... what the hell did they talk about?
Joshua couldn't remember a thing. It was all a cloudy haze in his head. He tried to sort out the image. He clung to it, chanting how he mustn't forget. How he must at least remember bits and snips of it.
Kilat ruined it all when she climbed up on him and gave the gamer a slow lick around his head. "Ughhhh, Kilat! Don't do that while my mouth's open!"
The child's tail wagged excitedly. "Not my fault you're slow in the mornings! Joshua, come on! Take off your clothes." She licked her chops. "It's bath time!"
"Why are you in such a hurry anyway?"
"Don't you remember? Volty said he's taking you to class today. My class!" She ran in circles on the floor. "Big brother's gonna be in MY class! I'm so excited!"
Oh yeah... that. He totally forgot about that "special arrangement" Voleer told him about. It was Day 2, and he'd much rather have this than scrubbing dragon excreta off the lavatoria. Joshua felt stupid as soon as he realized he could've slept away his only opporturnity to raise his station in the Temple.
F*cking dragons and their mornings. Why did the Realms have to copy Earth that way?
Welp, no use complaining about it now. Joshua started stripping himself down until he wore nothing else other than a crude, handsown underwear. "All right, Kilat. Go for it." He braced himself for the utter gross about to come.
"Yey! I promise, today's bath will be quick!" She put her weight on him until he was forced to lean back and recline. "Okay, Joshua. Stretch your right arm out. Now hold still..."
.
.
.
.
.
.
Ever Riley gaped at the spot Joshua Renalia had been in, as did Spyro and Cynder.
She felt like cursing. For once in her life the girl found a way to learn what would have—what could have happened had she left Warfang for her journey home, only to have it snatched away the second she started receiving news of that so-called alternate reality.
"Are you alright?" Cynder asked her. She padded close and nuzzled the old human. "You almost got the answers you wanted."
Ever massaged the dragoness on her withers. "Thank you, Cyn. It's okay. Joshua did manage to say what meant to me the most."
That she made it. That, in another plane of existence, she decided to go home and made it back.
Joshua didn't have the chance to clarify whether her other self actually found her way back to Lily or how exactly the Chronicler sent her home—that "you were supposed to be dead" line sent cold shivers down her spine. In fact, Ever would never figure out these answers for the last few years of her life.
Ever would pass away in the near future certain of one thing: Fighter Girl made it back. It would have been nice to be that girl, but it was also fine being the Ever who stayed behind. No matter which one it was, all the Ever Rileys in the infinity of the multiverse would never, ever give up on anything they did. If one chose Lily despite everything, then for sure Lily—her dear sister Lily—would be just fine.
That alone drew out the biggest smile on her face. For the first time in her life the darkness weighing down on her heart floated away. The girl could truly, finally, be at peace.
Spyro sniffed the empty spot Joshua had just been in. "His scent's still here," he noted. "Smells like the ocean, mixed with another dragon's scent."
Ever giggled. "At least we know he's been telling the truth."
"At least we know he's real," Cynder added.
Spyro couldn't help staring at the empty space. "Do you think he's going to be okay? I know I can be ruthless to my enemies."
"Spyro, he'll be fine," said the old girl. "He'll get through to your other self eventually. Joshua's a whiner. Kid must've been sheltered all his life. Even so he never gave me the impression of someone who gives up when things get tough.
"Though I would be lying if I didn't say I was jealous of him. He had an Element of his own." And it looked sick. Life must've been so much easier for the kid, having superpowers and all.
If only she knew just how hard it was for him.
"Whatever happens to Joshua over there," Cynder mused, "I hope he finds happiness."
"I'm with you on that." Ever smiled. She rubbed the hatchling Lily on her belly. She looked cute, squirming in her arms. "Shall we go inside? I'm starting to get hungry."
Spyro reminded the girl. "You promised you'll cook something from your world, Ever. We've been looking forward to it all week!"
"I got it covered, big guy. C'mon, let's get out of here."
.
.
.
THE END
Author's Notes:
When i finished this story, I realized TIS was first posted in 2017. Considering that Joshua is assumed to have vanished anywhere from the fourth quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, this means it would've been impossible for Joshua to have read and finished TIS.
My apologies for the glaring continuity error. Just roll with it. It won't detract from the story.
Anyway, finally done! Now... back to writing Chapter 35.
