Keep in mind that Malefor, Synthia, Ignitus, and everyone else under Hazan's tutelage are about as old as Spyro in this Chapter.
Chapter 21: Memories
Many Years Ago...
Malefor and Synthia walked through the garden to reach Hazan.
"Why are we going through the garden?" Malefor asked Synthia, who smiled and explained.
"Who am I to stop you from admiring the flowers." She replied as Malefor looked at them.
"Well, I suppose...they are beautiful, I could never understand why anyone would want to harm another creature, if you ask me, violence is never a just answer." He explained to Synthia as she walked up to him and nuzzled him.
"That's why I love you...so kind and empathetic, you have the warmest heart I've ever seen in a dragon." She complimented Malefor, who turned and faced her.
"Well, I can use the fire element, so..." He joked, causing Synthia to kiss him on the lips.
"Come on, you dork, Hazan's probably grumpy enough as it is that we're late." Synthia dragged Malefor through the garden, soon enough they had arrived and saw Ignitus with Hazan.
"Ah, there you are, Young Dragons, I was just about to have Froststorm go out and look for you." Hazan commented as Malefor and Synthia walked over to Ignitus.
"What'd we miss?" Malefor asked Ignitus, who shrugged.
"Not much, he was mostly grumbling about when you'd get here, you know him." He answered as Malefor chuckled and patted Ignitus's back.
"I bet he's fun to take care of." Malefor guessed as Ignitus nodded almost wearily, while Froststorm stayed where he was, it wasn't long before they were joined by 6 more dragons: Zepho, a Lightning Dragon with curved back blue horns and a yellow body with a few blue decals on his side representing lightning bolts with Yellow eyes. Scorpio, a Poison Dragon who was a pale dark green with a dull salmon-colored underbelly and orange eyes, he also had very curved horns which went downwards. Flora, a Fear Dragoness with dark red and black patterns all over her body, she had straight dark green horns. Breeze, a Wind Dragon that was a bright grey with dark grey wind symbols on his lower waist, and a deep navy blue underbelly, with slightly upward-curved horns. There was also Terrador as well, as for Synthia, Malefor described her as a beautiful Shadow Dragoness, with a very dark purple scale color along with a black underbelly and purple eyes, much like Malefor's own eyes. It was one of the things he felt was special about each other, although he hadn't told Hazan about their relationship yet, especially when he took into consideration the scrolls regarding Secondary and Primary Dragon couples, despite the fact he was a Purple Dragon
"Welcome students, I trust that last night went well for you?" He asked as they all nodded and Hazan paced from side-to-side. "Very good, as you know, with the recent activity involving the Ape revolts, I've made extra precautions to ensure that we're safe, the Temple will be concealed through certain Mage's I've paid or convinced to help shield us from view." He explained while Terrador made a passing comment to Malefor.
"By convince, I bet he meant threaten their lives." Malefor agreed, Hazan was a kind Dragon at heart, he was the only father he had, but when it came to certain matters. He went to certain measures to...convince other Dragons for certain favors through rather harsh methods.
"Well, if we're prepared for our lesson today, then we can begin, let's start with our physical warm-up to loosen your joints and better channel your respected elements." Hazan had all the Dragons do stretches, Malefor usually was the first to get his done, but he always admired Synthia's rather elegant way of stretching, it was very acrobatic, so much in fact that Malefor wondered if she even had bones. No matter what she was doing, she was beautiful when doing it, Malefor was certain of that, once their warm-ups were finished. Hazan begun his session for the day.
"Let's start with basic elemental comabt 101, I want each of you to show me what you know on this training dummy." Hazan presented a basic training dummy to test their skills. Respectively, each of the students show equal promise with their skill, but Malefor was not nearly as advanced. He was a pacifist, not prone to fighting, but he also had to master four elements, including his own Aether abilities, a few Dragons snickered when they saw him fumble, but Synthia managed to keep them quiet using one of her "looks".
"It's okay Malefor, you can do this...just calm yourself, and feel the Ancestor's blood coursing through you...and channel the energy on the target, I'm here with you, we can do this together." Hazan reassured Malefor as the Young Dragon nodded and did as instructed.
"Breath...and release!" Hazan said very carefully while Malefor did so and released a stream of pure Aether onto the dummy. "Very good, Malefor! Now I want to see some of your own personal studies...show me your magic." He told Malefor, who looked uncertain.
"Are you sure?" He asked as the older dragon nodded. "Okay...here goes nothing..." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, extending his hand out as a purple aura formed around it, he slowly lifted the dummy up into the air, causing surprise amongst the others, all except Ignitus, who was confident in Malefor's skills.
"I've got this..." The Purple Dragon breathed calmly and moved it around, crashing it onto the ground and slowly crushing it, before he formed a metaphysical blade and slashed the dummy in half, allowing for many applause while he made the blade disperse and opened his eyes.
"Very good Malefor, you know your skills, now go and join your friends. As for the rest of you, we shall have a quick break, then return, and then break for lunch, once that's done, the rest of the day is yours." Hazan dismissed them as Malefor walked up to Synthia and Ignitus.
"My friend, you never cease to amaze the crowd." Ignitus said while Synthia hugged the Purple Dragon.
"You were amazing!" She said happily, both wished they could hug longer, but they were forced to part due to secrecy.
"So, we have some time to kill, what should we do?" Terrador asked as Malefor tried to think of something.
"We could go to the Garden." He suggested while the others groaned, but Synthia giggled from amusement. "What?" He asked as Ignitus and Terrador looked at him.
"You always want to go to the garden." Ignitus pointed out, causing Malefor to raise a brow.
"So? It's peaceful there, being in tune with nature is good for your soul." He defended his reasons while Synthia walked to him.
"Why don't we have some Breakfast, we never really ate before arriving." She gave her own suggestion, which the boys agreed to, and they set out to find some food before Hazan called them back.
Malefor and the others were able to find a place to eat and had returned for the rest of Hazan's lesson, which took nearly two hours, so they were hungry again when they went to have lunch. However, Malefor wanted to have a lunch with just Synthia, a lunch date, if you will. Of course that's not what he described it as to Ignitus and Terrador, as far as they were concerned, it was just a friendly lunch together.
"Finally, I'm starving!" Malefor licked his lips in anticpation while he navigated through the menu, across from him, Synthia was doing the same and giggled at his comment, despite the fact they grew up in an isolated part of the world, Hazan was able to hire on some helping hands to craft original restaurant brands, one of the reasons was so they could feel like they were growing up normally, the other reason was pretty obvious...food.
"What do you think you're gonna get?" He asked Synthia, who scratched her head while she thought about it for a moment.
"I might try the cooked fish." She figured while Malefor kept looking at the menu.
"I'll probably go for the lamb." He responded, which didn't surprise Synthia in the slightest.
"I figured." She said with a loving smile while they waited for the waiter to come and take their order. "So Malefor...I've always wondered what you did study in your free time, but tell me more about your Magic studies, I'm very fascinated about what you know." Synthia inquired as Malefor put down his menu.
"Well, it takes a lot of practice, and it can really strain your mental thought process if you're not careful about it, but I reckon you could be a natural at it, given your skill in focus." Malefor complimented her as she blushed.
"Are you sure? I don't want to overshadow you, this is like your talent." Synthia was concerned for her lover, Malefor was indeed a Pacifist, but that also meant he hadn't harnessed his elemental skills nearly as well as the others, many looked down on him for it, since he was defying the nature of a Dragon, yet...Synthia thought he had just as much worth with or without powers, same with Ignitus and Terrador.
"It all depends on what you want to do, my Sapphire." He replied as they held hands for a brief moment, and then parted once the waiter arrived.
"Hello, my name is Fracture, I'll be taking your order today, what may I get for you? Any drinks to start off with?" He asked the two of them as they checked the menus.
"I'll take some water." Malefor requested while Synthia took awhile longer to confirm her order.
"Yeah...I'll go with water too." She said as the waiter wrote down their orders.
"Have we decided what we want to eat?" Fracture asked again while they confirmed their decisions.
"I'll have the cooked Lamb." Malefor said.
"And I'll have some cooked fish." Synthia requested while Fracture wrote it down.
"Okay...Lamb, Fish...and...Two waters. That it?" He asked as the two of them nodded and let him prepare the food.
"As I was saying, the choice to pursue magic is entirely up to you, Synthia, but it takes practice." Malefor continued while the Shadow Dragoness glanced at the table.
"Well, since you seem to be so keen on Magic, maybe I can help you with your elements." She suggested, causing Malefor to raise an eyebrow.
"What're you getting at?" He asked Synthia, who elaborated further.
"I'm saying I can help you get better at mastering your natural elemental abilities, and in return, you can teach me something about magic, and we could also spend more time together." Synthia clarified, which caught Malefor's attention.
"Really, you'd help me with something like that?"
"I would, if it made you happy, I'd do it 10 times."
"Only 10?"
Malefor joked as he stared into Synthia's eyes, after that, it didn't take long for the food to arrive, and they immediately began to chow down.
"Mmmm...this is delicious!" Malefor exclaimed as he began ripping off chunks eagerly, which amused Synthia. Their love was like something out of a dream, they had all been recruited by Hazan to become the next generation of warriors to fight against the possible Ape threat (Unlike the dragons under Ignitus's care, they were not taken as eggs, they were taken at a reasonable age, and stayed in contact with their families). Malefor and Synthia had become instant friends, one reason was due to the fact they were paired together during duo sparring matches, and they shared a lot in common. So it was no surprise that one night Malefor had confessed his feelings for her under the two full moons, Synthia recalled the moment with bliss.
"Malefor, where are you taking me?" Synthia asked the Purple Drake as he silently took her through the Temple, eventually coming to their destination.
"Ah, here we are." He smiled, they were at one of Synthia's favorite locations: The lakeside.
"Malefor, what's this all about?" She wanted to know badly, but he kept deflecting.
"Just wait..." Malefor trailed off as he directed her attention to the sky, soon enough, the clouds parted, and it would reveal a star-filled sky, and the two full Eclasian moons.
"Oh Malefor, it's beautiful." Synthia was in awe, and Malefor sat beside her.
"Yeah, I knew you'd like it...Synthia, I have something I've been meaning to get off of my chest for awhile now." He turned to face her, while she did the same, staring into her amethyst made him more confident. "Okay...here goes everything..." Malefor took a deep breath and spoke.
"Synthia...you are one of the most incredible Dragonesses I've ever known, I couldn't possibly deserve someone as beautiful as you, everyone I've known pales in comparison to your heart and kindness..." He began, which caused Synthia to grow excited, she knew what he was going to say.
"Malefor..." She whispered as the Purple Dragon grabbed both of her paws.
"Please Synthia, I don't know what I'd do without you, my sweet and tender Sapphire, I...I love you." He confessed outright, and Synthia's heart skipped a beat.
"Malefor...I." The first part of her statement made Malefor lose hope, but then she continued. "...I love you too." She finished and Malefor's world shot sky high.
"Do you really mean-" Before he could finish, he was silenced by her lips as they kissed under the moonlight, it may have lasted a second, a few mintues, maybe an eternity, but Malefor didn't care. When they pulled back, Synthia coiled her tail around his, they still grasped each other's paws.
"Should we tell the others?" Synthia asked her new lover.
"I don't care what the others think, right now, all I want is you...but we might want to keep it secret for now..." He responded as Synthia pulled him in for another kiss. Malefor wanted it to last forever, but unfortunately they were forced to pull back.
"As much as I love you, I also despise Mosquitoes, could we continue this elsewhere?" Synthia asked as she nuzzled Malefor's chin, causing him to quiver.
"We could go to my room." He suggested as they proceeded to go there, tails still coiled together, under the moonlight.
"Synthia? You might want to finish your food before it gets cold...or if your not hungry, I'll have it." Synthia's memory was interrupted by Malefor as she remembered her food.
"Oh right...sorry." She blushed in embarrassment as she started to eat.
"Don't be, you look cute when you're in deep thought." He replied, making Synthia's blush more prominent as they finished up lunch, and prepared for the rest of the day.
A few hours later
Malefor walked through the corridor towards his room when he saw Ignitus.
"Hey Ignitus, what's up?" He asked as the Fire Dragon walked alongside him.
"Not much, I've been looking for Froststorm, have you seen him?" Ignitus wondered, which only earned him a shrug from Malefor.
"Ah...well, I was hoping to talk to you...about someone." He said, causing Malefor to grow a little concerned. "It's a Dragoness." It wasn't helping that the Fire Dragon was talking really slow.
"Yes?" Malefor asked while Ingitus took a deep breath.
"I've been seeing someone...outside of the Temple." He revealed to Malefor, who internally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Who is she?" He wondered out loud to his friend.
"Her name is Incendia, she's a Fire Dragon like me...but there's a catch, she comes from a rival family." He pointed out, causing Malefor to grow surprised.
"A rival family? I didn't know there was such a thing, well, is she what you've always wanted in somone?" Malefor asked him as he nodded.
"Yes, she's kind, and compassionate, I was hoping to bring her here, if Hazan was okay with it." Ignitus stated to him, as he sighed and figured he'd come out with the truth.
"Well, I have been seeing someone as well..." Malefor started.
"Synthia?" Ignitus asked as the Purple Dragon retained a surprised reaction.
"How did you know?" Malefor seemed surprised.
"It wasn't hard to guess. I'm happy for you." Ignitus smiled at Malefor as the two dragons continued having some friendly banter, and then Malefor was left to himself, to which he decided to head to his room, and get some time to himself before Synthia inevitably came to meet him, before their lunch ended and they split up for the day, Malefor had offered to take her on some kind of special date, he had everything planned. Now he just had to have everything go according to plan...which is harder than it sounds.
And there you go, a dive into the past of Malefor before he became evil, there are gonna be a fair bit of chapters which shed light on this history, all the way up to his dark turn, anyways, next chapter will return to the present if you're curious for that, peace out!