Remember me Skylanders

by DJester

*Season 3 spoilers*. Its finally over the skylanders have won, but not everyone is happy. Spyro cannot get over that Eon is gone and he never got the answers about his past, his family. In the shadows a new figure emerges and makes the wildest of claims. "The answer you seek Spyro lie in my name." First work.

5. Chapter 4: walking in your own shadow

Author's notes:

Hey everyone, just wanted to give you all a big apology about something. It took a long time but…

Cynder is finally here and is kind of a big deal in this chapter. This is not really a spoiler since I this chapter contains that information, so I guess this is more of a 'heads up'.

I saw a few comments from people looking forward to seeing this chapter. I hope, this lives up to your expectations.

Also I apologize for the long chapter.

Enjoy the show

Chapter 4: Walking in your own shadow

Mabu's village

"What have I done?"

The only sound that responded to Spyro's question was silence followed by the sound of the wind rushing past his face. Spyro was at a loss of words and felt completely empty on the inside. 'What happened?' he thought thinking back on when he felt his rage boil from within. It all happened so fast when thinking back on it but all the memories that he saw when he was in that state felt slow at the time. Spyro was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard a sound in the distance.

"Woah, and here I thought that I was going to be the one to destroy them. Now they gone and destroyed themselves." The voice said in a distance which to Spyro's ears was a voice that he knew all too well. Spyro turned around to see Kaos approach from, his dark cape dragging on the ground oddly enough his cape looks light comparison to the ground that has been charred by the heat.

Kaos was looking around the area as if he was searching for something, when he turned around as saw Spyro looking straight at him. "Well if it isn't the big guy himself." Kaos says with his high-pitched mocking tone. "How does it feel? You feel relaxed or perhaps refreshed from the mass carnage that you made? Honestly, I am surprised that you had that all in you still." Kaos says as he casually approaches Spyro.

This greatly confused Spyro. "Why are you talking to me like that? What do you mean by 'had that all in you still'?" Spyro made sure to put emphases on the word still as he has fears as to what that word means. Spyro's fears are confirmed by what Kaos said next.

"Why being evil of course." Kaos says as if this was the most natural thing in the world. "I thought that when you were in that fight, your attacks were getting more aggressive and, from what I saw, you had this look of total rage on your face. After that you had destroyed everything."

Upon hearing these words from Kaos, Spyro was heartbroken. He didn't mean to do this. He thought about the village that he destroyed the innocent lives that he might have taken. Then the thoughts of his friends had emerged. Tears start falling from Spyro's face as he starts to realize what it is that he had done. Seeing this Kaos backs away trying to give the dragon some space to deal with his problems. Spyro tried to figure out how this had all happened. He didn't even know what it is that he did exactly. All he knew for certain was that he was angry at many things at the time and recalled about what happened in his dream…

"That's it my dreams." Spyro shouts breaking from him from his sorrow. He looks at Kaos with a little gleam in his eyes, making the young dragon look a young menacing in Kaos's eyes. "The dreams have to be the answer. They must. If I can find out where they are communing from then I can figure out what is going on and maybe a way to fix this." As Spyro is saying this, Kaos is slowly backing away from the dragon. Kaos is not sure why but he has a feeling that Spyro want him for something and he is pretty sure he is not going to like it. "And where do you think you are going?" Spyro asks as he suddenly appears right behind Kaos stopping him from escaping any further. Before Kaos could say anything Spyro confirmed Kaos's gut feeling by saying "You are going to help me, Kaos. Well specifically you are going to help me find someone who can help me."

"Who are we looking for?" Kaos asks, starting to regret ever coming over here in the first place.

Spyro turns to Kaos giving the little sorcerer a menacing stare as if to say to Kaos that he isn't taking no for an answer. "Dreamcatcher." Spyro got himself into this mess, and right now he will do anything to get himself out.

Mabu's Village (some time latter)

It was quiet and cold now. The ground has long since stilled and any source of fire has long gone out. The ground looks bare and desolate, unwelcoming to all forms of life. Suddenly, a small patch of ground starts to shake, disturbing the silence that once remained. The patch continues like this until a hand pokes out from under the ground. The hand is small and green, holding an oddly shaped dagger in its hand.

Stealth Elf pokes her head out of the ground feeling the fresh air enter her lungs. "Finally, we are out" she says trying her best not to sound too excited. However, being stuck underground for an unknown length of time can wear down on a person's mind, so showing a little excitement is okay.

"A little help down here." A voice shouted from the whole that Stealth Elf just made. Upon hearing this, Stealth Elf stopped taking in fresh breaths of air and offered a hand in helping the rest of her team out of the ground. When everyone was out, they all got to see what was left of the village. The team was silent as they just stared at the barren land, silently hoping that no one was hurt. After a few moment, Stealth Elf started teleporting all around the island looking for something. "Guys!" she says in a worried tone making the team feel on edge, "I can't find Spyro or Kaos anywhere."

After saying this the ground starts to shift and make some noise a little way away from where the team stood, causing them to shift their attention to the source of the sound. From the ground, a whole was made and out came Jester, who was modernly injured. "Did anyone get the license plate on the truck that hit me?" he asks, the team responds with getting themselves ready to fight even though they are exhausted. Jester looks at them and rubs his neck as if it was sore, "Look I said that if I was knocked down, I would forfeit and leave so can we just leave it at that?"

It was Eruptor who spoke up first, "No. How can we just let you get away after what you have done to the village and the people in it?" Eruptor gave a look of determination on his face, and the rest of the team followed.

"Village? What village?" Jester says sounding confused, "Oh, you mean the village over there?" Jester points in the direction behind him and at this point the clouds start to part to reveal another village filled with Mabu. The buildings looked in good repair and other then the Mabu looking sacred, they seemed to be fine. Jester sees the look of surprise on the Skylanders faces and answers the silent question "I told you all at the beginning, that the game that we are playing is between you and me. So, I did a fake attack on their village to lure you here. Then I just made a fake village that was destroyed to lure you all into one spot. None of the villagers where harmed and I don't have any intention on doing so otherwise." This remark had left the Skylanders with open mouths and they all seemed to lower their weapons save for one.

"What have you done to Spyro then?" Stealth Elf asks with a threating tone as if to say that he better not be lying to her.

Jester looks to his left and right very quickly and just shrugs his shoulders, implying that he doesn't know or care. "He is one of you right? Why don't all of you go look for him and I will mind my own business. Thank you very much." The sound of Jester's voice sounds almost offended by the question that the elf asked. "Till next time then." As he says this his body is rapidly covered in the grey mist from earlier and suddenly, he disappears. Leaving the rest of the Skylanders alone on a destroyed island, missing one member and confused.

One week later…

Stealth Elf was sitting quietly in her room, thinking about the events of the past week. They still couldn't find Spyro anywhere and after several failed search and rescue missions they were starting to lose hope. The elf was really worried about her dragon friend hopping that he was still alright. She sighs as she lays down on the bed thinking how this all happened to quickly and coming from her that was saying something. She thought that none of this would have happened if they hadn't run into that Jester guy. A sudden knocking on her window snapped Stealth Elf out of her thoughts, and when she looked at what caused the tapping she jumped out of bed in surprise. "Hey, take me to your leader." Jester says in mocking tone making a weird hand jester.

Jester was in an interesting jacket when he appeared inside the great hall with the rest of the Skylanders and Kassondra. The jacket was a mix of black and grey, as the front zipper was surrounded with a grey like cloth while the rest of his jacket was a black and had a grey hoody at the top, but his hood was down. The rest of the Skylanders were all on edge with Jester in the room, most were ready to attack at a moment's notice.

Jester was walking around the hall looking at the books and at other various things in the room, not giving staying for longer then a few seconds. This made the Skylanders feel more on edge as he hasn't said a word to anyone other than saying that he would like to 'talk' to all of them about something important and that he had no intention of fighting unless they attacked him first. Normally the Skylanders wouldn't believe this for a second, but Jester has kept his word on everything so far and they also knew that they couldn't do anything to stop him, so they decided to listen to him this time.

After a minute or so of walking Jester stops in the middle of the room, "So I am just going to outright ask this. Will you lend me Cynder?" The expression on his face was serious.

Kassondra was the first to object, "Absolutely not! You think you can just come into this academy and demand one of its students after everything that you have done? Either you have really lost it, or you seriously need to learn that you don't go asking your enemies for help." The words that Kassondra said were laced with anger and her discontent towards Jester. Most could not blame her, after all he was par of the reason why her son just went missing.

"I understand that what I am asking for is a bit much, considering the few things that I have done. However, I can assure you that I need Cynders help for something that I believe will help both of us out greatly." Jester says while remaining a stone-cold expression on his face. Making everything he say sound cold and calculated.

"And what exactly do you plan of using Cynder for?" Jet-Vac asks while narrowing his sight on Jester as if to say he cannot lie to him.

"I will have her, help me, in finding and tracking Spyro and Kaos." Jester informs the rest of the group.

This put the Skylanders on hold as they weren't quite sure how to respond to that answer. They thought that he might try to be lying but there was no change in tone in his voice or even a pause in responding to Jet-Vac's question. He sounded very serious on this matter and the Skylanders were getting desperate on trying to locate Spyro and Kaos. They have tried to have Cynder help them before with her unique locating ability, but…

"If you are going to ask her to help with finding Spyro you can forget it." Eruptor says in a cold manor, ironic to his lava like body. "She cannot use her powers right now ever since the Strykore incident, and she has not been feeling well for a while now."

This caused Jester to look surprised for a moment, making it seem like he was not prepared for that response. He put his hands on his chin and thought for a moment. He then responds in the same tone that he used before, "Give me a few minutes alone with Cynder and not only will she be feeling better but will also be able to help me, I mean, all of you with finding Spyro again."

"Hold up there buster." It was Stealth Elf's turn to put a stop to this. "Even if you could help her, which I doubt that you can, why should we let you do this? And how do we know that we can trust you?"

"Yeah, and what about the whole 'I don't want anyone else involved in our game' thing. Cynder wasn't there when we first met nor when we last fought each other." Pop Fizz says while giving Jester a mean look only for it to fade away a moment latter.

"Answering in reverse. I technicity said that it was the Skylander plus whoever else was there referring to Kass over there, so Cynder is a part of this. Secondly you cannot trust me now because none of you have any reason to do so. But I can give all of you something that can help convince you that I mean you no harm, for now." As Jester is saying this to the Skylanders he pulls out a bottle from his Jacket. The bottle contains a yellowish fluid that is slightly see through and is emitting a small amount of light. "This here is a truth serum that works only for one question. If I drink this then I will tell answer the next question I hear with nothing but the truth."

The Skylanders take the bottle and look at it carefully. They aren't sure if this is a truth serum but before they could ask about how they could find out Pop Fizz takes the bottle and drinks some of its contents in a quick slurp. Pop Fizz then blenched and said, "Eh I had worst tasting potions before, but I am not a fan of vanilla flavored."

Nothing physical seemed to of happened to the guy after a little while. Jester then broke the silence by saying, "You can ask him any question you want." Eruptor was the first to take this opportunity and asked Pop Fizz "Okay Pop, do you know who ate the extra pancakes that I made this morning?"

Upon hearing this question aimed at him, Pop Fizz went wide eyed and answered, "Yeah it was me, I know you were going to save them for later for something, but they were fresh off the pan and I couldn't resist." After saying that Pop Fizz immediately covered his mouth to in hopes to take back what he said only to find a very anger lava creature staring at him.

"Now since you have proven what the potion does, can we please move on. You may ask me any question you want but I will give you a fair warning." Jester pauses as to make sure that everyone in the room is listening to his words. "Make sure your question is clear otherwise my answer is going to be vague. Also, if there is something that I don't know then my answer is simply going to be 'I don't know'." He looks around the room in a way that some might see as a stare, but Stealth Elf recognized the look as something you do when you quickly analyze people. Upon doing this, Jester then said, "I brought three more potions like this one so that give you all three questions that you can ask me, they may be anything, other then the question 'What is my real name?' That is the only question you may not ask me. If you are wondering why I am telling this to you it is simply because I want all of you to agree to do this and I don't want to hear, 'That was a vague answer' or 'What do you mean you don't know!'" Jester was walking around the room using air quotes whenever he referred to others talking in his speech. "So, ask your questions wisely." After saying that Jester downs the first bottle, then looks at the Skylanders for his first question.

Jet Vac was the first to go asking, "What is it that you intend to do with Cynder?"

After hearing this question Jester responds, "I plan on having her help me locate Spyro as I know that Kaos is blocking me from doing that and she is the only one with the ability to help me get past Kaos's dark magic, one of my weaknesses." Jester looks at Jet Vac and the rest of the group and silently drinks the next potion.

Eruptor is the next person to go. "You mentioned that dark magic is one of your weakness, can you tell us, in detail, how your magic seems to work?"

This time Jester frowns looking upset, he hoped that question wouldn't be asked. "Yes. My magic, as you may already no is called shadow magic. It is a unique blend of both light and dark types of magic. The exact limits to it are a little hard to explain but essentially it works on anything that can exist. For example, I can make things appear out of nowhere." As he says this a boulder falls right next to Eruptor which it wasn't there a second ago, smashing the floor and causing a small creator. "This also means that I can take things and essentially erase them from where they are and along with being able to repair certain things as well, so long as I know what they look like beforehand." The boulder then disappears in front of everyone leaving nothing behind. When Eruptor looked down at the spot that it had been he saw that there wasn't even a scratch. Jester continued by saying, "The extent of this magic even continues on living creatures to a lesser extent. For example, I cannot make or erase a living creature, but I can make your shadows freeze you in place, for a short period of time." As he says this, the Skylanders realize that they are unable to move their bodies as Jester starts walking around tapping people on the shoulder or such. To a few in the room it just seemed like a trivial trick but to Stealth Elf this was like a nightmare come true. Being able to move freely while your opponent is stuck in place is about the equivalence of target dummies. Suddenly they were all able to move again and Jester started talking again.

"Just to let you know, the potions effect, for that question, wore off after I said 'Yes'." Jester says in a very relaxed tone as if he was telling someone that your shoe was untied. "I told you to word your questions carefully and when you said 'can I' I knew the answer was going to be yes or no. Only reason why I told all that to you was so that you would gain some information about me and not waste a question."

Jest was about to take his third potion when Kassondra spoke up, "Wait! You still haven't told us why you cannot track Spyro on your own nor why dark magic is a weakness to you."

Jester thought about this and responded, "Dark magic is a weakness of mine simply because shadows don't exist in darkness nor do they exist in pure light." When he looked around the room and got several confused faces he sighed and continued, "Just like when there is no light on in a room, you don't have a shadow. If you don't cast a shadow, I cannot find you nor can I use any shadow magic on you. Though that is a different story for nonliving things though. Simply put, I cannot get to Spyro since he is probably surrounded in darkness or dark magic, either that means that he is in a place with no light all the time or he is somewhere with little K who is concealing them." Jester says with mock tone towards addressing Kaos. He got a dirty look form Kassondra but never even bothered to acknowledge it. He then begins to take the third potion and says afterwards, "Last question, make it count."

Stealth Elf looked around the room and she could see that many of her teammates were about to ask another question, but she needed to know this. She quickly spoke before anyone else could ask their question, "Do you know what is happening to Spyro?" This got everyone's attention. Everyone in the room was all looking at her and giving her a look like she asked the vaguest question of all. That is everyone, except one.

Jester eyes went wide, but this seemed different then the previous two times that it happened. This time his eyes showed panic and worry, like this question was the one he was afraid to answer. Jester fell to his knees trying to cover his mouth, but the potions effects are so strong that not even he could resist it. With a strangled cry Jester only said this, "Yes I do, I know all too well what those two are going through." There was a dead silence that fell on the room and for the longest time Jester remained completely still, as if he was afraid that one small moment would cause the silence to break and he would reveal more then he should of with the last question.

"Alright, you got our trust for now" Kassondra said while trying to change the subject, "You will get five minutes to be with Cynder and if she wants to, she can help us but, I am sending someone over there to make sure you don't do anything funny or try to capture Cynder." Kassandra approaches Jester while he remains on his knees silently. "Stealth Elf will take you to Cynder and you are not to leave her sight. The moment you do then I will personally come over and stop you myself. You may have earned our trust enough this time, but after this we will be back to stopping you and taking you down." Kassondra made sure to put emphasis on her last three words to Jester. Jesters' only response to this was getting up slowly and starting walking towards the entrance at a very slow pace. Kassondra give a look at the elf and she nods and teleports in front of Jester just outside the room. "You are going to regret telling me all about how your magic works Jester."

Jester stops moving towards the exit and slowly turns to look Kassondra in the eyes. Kassondra is taken back by how deep and sad they look, as if he is nothing more then a child who lost his parents. Jester replies to Kassondra, "When this is all over, I hope I won't have to."

Cynders Room

Cynder was exhausted. Classes are getting more difficult, she just had another big break up with her dad, and to top things all off her best friend has been missing for a week. This is what she told everyone else and, truth be told, it has been weighing down on her mind. However, there is something else that has been bothering Cynder, something that she is too afraid to mention to anyone. Because if she even where to speak it, she fears that it might come back to haunt her. So here she is lying on her bed, quietly in her room trying to rest up as much as she can to get her strength back. She knows that she must study for her Skylands history test coming up but right now she was too tired to even do that.

Suddenly, there is a knock on her door startling Cynder. "Hey Cynder, it's me Stealth Elf." The elf says from the other side of Cynders room, "Uh, you have a guest here to see you." Hearing these words confused Cynder greatly, she never has any guests in her room before, at least none that needed Stealth Elf to announce for her. Cynder thought for a moment that it might be one of her friends from the Undead- poetry club, but when the door opened, a stranger walked in.

The room, in Jesters eyes, was plain and had very few decorations in it. There was a standard Undead poster and a small desk with a few papers scattered about. There was a small book shelf, but it hardly was used. Not even enough books to fill up one shelf. All in all, the room had the essentials but nothing in it to make it say, this is my home. Upon seeing this Jester gave a small chuckle, realizing that some things never do change. Once Jester had finished looking around the room, he got a good look at Cynder. Then he asked Cynder, "Am I going to invite myself in or are you going to do so?"

"Why should I let a complete stranger, who I no nothing about into my room." Cynder asks getting annoyed at the stranger's attitude towards her. "Hey Elf, who is he and what does he want with me?"

Stealth Elf looks down and shrugs her shoulders a little trying to not look Cynder in the eye. Well you see…

Stealth Elf told Cynder everything about Jester. Well, mostly everything. Stealth Elf did leave out a few details about how he defeated the Skylanders team twice, and she left out the whole 'three questions' thing. After telling Cynder all of this, Cynder started to back down and not look so aggressive. Once the elf had finished talking Cynder speaks up, "Okay so I get who he is now, kind of, but the real thing I want to know is why is he here?"

"Because I need your help tracking down Spyro." Jester spoke up answering the question without a hint of emotion in his voice. The entire time that Stealth Elf had been telling Cynder about Jester, Jester was listening and planning his next move at the same time, so he was only half listening to things being said until Cynder spoke up. After saying this to Cynder, Jester starts walking in the room and sits down on the empty chair in front of Cynder. Jester then turns around to face the elf and Stealth Elf looks back. A good ten seconds go by before Jester then says, "I believe I am supposed to get five minutes alone with Cynder." Stealth Elf nods her head and leaves the room, after she says that she will be on the other side and that she will be there if there is any funny business going on. Jester assures her that there would be none and waits until the door closes to look back at Cynder.

"I am going to be blunt since I don't have a lot of time." Jester says immediately as the door closes. "You aren't feeling well because there is something that is scaring you and that is causing you to feel unwell." Jester says with extreme bluntness in his voice. "Don't try to hide it or give me the whole 'I don't know what you are talking about' crap, I know what you are experiencing and the fact that the elf didn't ask about something the moment we came here confirmed it." Jester pauses to get up and walks towards the poster in Cynders room. "You are having nightmares, aren't you?"

Cynder was stunned to silence, she never told anyone about those, horrible nightmares, that she was having every time she fell asleep. She knew immediately that they weren't normal nightmares that she has had before in the past. In those ones, if it became too much you would just wake up. But in these nightmares, she couldn't stop them, she could do nothing to change them. She would wake up having a horrible feeling in her head, but her body was always rested. She had the energy to move but not to think or do anything with her brain, which prevented Cynder from using her head to help find Spyro. She never told this to anyone, never wrote it down and until now, Cynder was sure that no one had even suspected that she was even having nightmares to begin with. "How did you know?"

Jester turns to face Cynder and crouches down in front of her, "Because I know you are supposed to get them, and I will leave it at that." Jester made two things clear to Cynder with that one sentence. The first thing that sentence told Cynder was that Jester knows more about her condition then he is letting on but won't tell her the details. This meant that either Jester was the cause behind her nightmares, or that Jester knows what is causing them. The second thing that Cynder gathered from Jesters sentence was that somehow Cynder was connected to these nightmares. There is nothing to confirm the second notion but somehow, deep in Cynder's gut, she knew that this was true. The thought of this terrified her, no one deserved to see those nightmares, those things are something that you don't wish upon anyone. Not even your worst enemy.

Jester saw the look of pain and sorrow on Cynders face, making it clear to him that Cynder had received the message that he was trying to get across in secret. He knows that the Elf is not in the room as he would have felt her presence but that doesn't mean that he can afford to be careless and reveal more then he should. Deep inside of Jester's mind, he is panicking. Jester is afraid that if he makes one small mistake, one slip of the tongue, or so much as provide a single hint to anything, his entire plan would come crumbling down. That couldn't happen no matter what. Originally, Jester had never planed for himself to ever visit the academy, or at the very least not so early on. However, the addition of Kaos to the Skylanders, another miscalculation, had caused Jester to force his hand. Going in to the main hall and have them ask Jester three questions was risky. But right now, talking to Cynder like this was even riskier. He had to press on though, time was short, in more ways than one.

Just as Jester had just opened his mouth when Cynder spoke up, "I want them to stop." The look in Cynder's eyes was that of a heart broken child, pleading from her core. "I want those nightmares to end, and never have them again. When I wake up after having one of them, its like my body could feel what I went through in there. I remember all of it even though it was a nightmare, and no matter how hard I try the memories of them don't go away." Cynders eyes started to water as she backs herself into a corner, as if to shelter herself from the pain. "I remember everything, the pain, the screams, and even the feelings that I had while going through it all. It's too much. Please make it stop."

Over the long time that Jester has been around, he has been called many things. A shadow, The Watcher of all, Guardian and Destroyer. Some of these names he gave himself, some other gave him, all of which he deserved by his own actions, and his alone. Now that Jester stood in front of Cynder, knowing full well what she is going through, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She is being tormented by things that she has no control over and has done nothing to deserve them. Yet there is nothing that can be done to stop it, even if Jester wanted to. She would have to endure this hardship that she didn't ask for nor did she deserve it. Jester approached Cynder calmly and with the gentlest voice he could muster he said, "I am so sorry that you have to deal with this, but I cannot stop your nightmares Cynder. I am truly sorry." It took every ounce of will power that Jester could muster to not cry while holding Cynder who is doing her best to do the same. "But there is one thing that I can do." Jester said while holding Cynder close and whispering in her ear. Jesters voice was gentle but firm at the same time, like how a friend would talk to you when you are upset. "I can help show you the brighter side of those nightmares that you have."

This caused Cynder to open her eyes and suddenly back away from Jester, confused by what he just said. "What 'brighter side'? There is no brighter side to those things!" Cynder was clearly upset about what she just heard from someone who she thought could help get rid of them for her, but it seems as though Jester's has no intention of doing that. This caused Cynder to panic and she got away from Jester in a fighting stance just behind Jester and slowly starts to circle around him. She has come a long way since entering the academy, she is now good enough to handle herself in a fight, but she rather call for backup whenever she gets the opportunity. Right now, Cynder, in her confused state, doubts whether Jester really understands the nightmares that she has been having. If he did there is no way, he would ever be able to say that there was a 'brighter side' to them. They were hell. "I don't know who you really are, and there is no way that I can trust you." Cynder says with a cold tone in her voice. She continues to circle around Jester as she says, "For all I know you could have been sent by my father to try and take be back, or something. You also could have just guessed that I was having nightmares in the first place, after all there is nothing that you can say that will make me believe otherwise."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Cynder." Jester responds Cynder's cold tone with his own, there was a hint of malice in his words, but it faded just as quickly as it came, making Cynder doubt if he ever really had it to begin with. "I can understand why you doubt me, and you have every right to do so." Jester keeps facing forward the entire time only looking Cynder in the eyes when she is in front of him, otherwise he keeps himself straight and still. "After all, it is not unreasonable to assume that I am the one to cause them, but I meant it when I said that I can help you see the brighter side of things." This caused Cynder to become more confused because she didn't get the feeling that he was lying to her, but she didn't understand what he meant either. This confusion showed on Cynders face, in which Jester responds to her confusion, "In the interest of time I will show you what I mean instead of telling you." With those words a light seems to flash from Jester's goldish eyes and when the light seemed to hit Cynders own, she felt like something was forcefully entering her mind. She tried to shut it out but was left too weak to do anything because of her nightmares. Despite Cynder's best efforts, she was hit by Jesters spell and fell to the floor fast asleep.

Cynder's Nightmare

Cynder felt the chill again. It was the same chill that she had whenever she was having a nightmare. Every time that Cynder had a nightmare it would be different, then the last one. Only thing is, the difference was in the details, to Cynder they were all the same. Every time it was something, either someone begging for mercy or seeing the destruction of another's village. These visions would be disturbing to anyone, but this wasn't the end to Cynders nightmare. The nightmare goes on into the finest detail of every destroyed building or life that was taken. Cynder can clearly see the life leave some of the people's eyes or see others getting burned. This combined with being able to see all this as though it was through Cynders eyes, but not her body. Every time she saw these things, she felt like she was looking through someone else's eyes, while Cynder was helpless to do anything to change it. Cynder was used to the idea of death and dying thanks to her father really wanting her to become evil, but in her nightmare, it felt like she was being evil, without a choice in the matter. As if all her free will was taken from her, and she feels the deep regret doing anything, in her nightmare.

When the chill started to fade, light started to come to Cynder's eyes as she started to see the world around her. This time felt different from the rest of the nightmares that she had before. Although, Cynder had no way of knowing how, other than her gut told her that something felt off. Looking around Cynder saw that she was not in a village or there wasn't anything being burned or destroyed. Instead, all Cynder saw was the sun rising on the cliff side with a young dragon looking out into the distance. The dragon looked to be around her age, upon closer inspection the dragon looked oddly familiar to Cynder. Cynder's vison managed to focus on the dragon, and she realized that the young dragon was herself, only slightly different. Cynder noticed that the color of her copy, had slightly darker colored scales and she also wore ankle cuffs in addition to the metal ring around her neck. Other than those two differences the two dragons, if placed side by side, could be called twins.

Looking at this twin of herself, Cynder turned her view to see the look on her face. When she did, Cynder was startled by what she saw. The look of Cynder's twin was that of a tormented soul. The twin was looking down from the edge of the cliff and said, "I am sorry". The twin's face was apologetic and made Cynder wonder why she was saying these words. Cynder then turned around to look in the direction of the twin, and Cynder recognized what it was that the twin was looking at. Down below the edge of the cliff is the remains of a village, more superficially one that Cynder had a nightmare of. Then it dawned on Cynder that her twin was the one who was showing her the nightmares, maybe even the cause of them.

The twin remained sitting on the edge looking down at the remains of the village. This made Cynder pause for a moment, considering on how she feels. On one talon, Cynder really hates the visions that her twin has been giving her for the past week, and she really want them to stop. On the other talon, Cynder sees that her twin also hates what she has done, and judging by the look on the twins' face, Cynder can tell that her twin deeply regrets doing so. This was an odd moment for Cynder because as she reflects on the memories of her nightmares, she recalls that she never really felt like she had a choice. 'Could it be that my twin never wanted to do those things, and instead was forced to?' Cynder thought. If that is true, then Cynder can't get angry or even hate her twin for giving her those nightmares. 'If it is true,' Cynder thought, 'then I can only just feel sorry for her.'

In the corner of Cynder's eye she saw a small rustle in a bush behind her. This alarmed Cynder's twin and, for a moment, Cynder started to feel panic and fear. This confused Cynder because she knew that nothing could touch her, and no one could see or hear her, so she had no reason to be afraid of anything. Then Cynder realized that her twin had jumped up from her position from before and took a fighting stance. This made Cynder realize that it wasn't her that was afraid it was her twin that was afraid. 'Could it be that I can feel what she is feeling?' Cynder thought, her mind still plagued by the fear that was coursing in her.

The rustling died down and a figure slowly emerged from the bush. What Cynder saw, she couldn't believe with her own eyes. It was Spyro. Cynder was happy to see that he was okay, and she went to embrace him. But when she tried to do this her body faded right threw him. This confused Cynder causing her to look back at Spyro only to see that it wasn't really him. It looked a lot like Spyro, but there were a few differences about him. Cynder could see that his face was a bit more angular and his horns where a different shape, and his eyes are a shade of a deep purple instead of the usual red.

After Cynder got to look at Spyro's twin, a new wave of emotion washed over her. Cynder saw that her twin had lowered her guard and seemed much more relaxed then before. The twin approached Spyro's twin, only for them to both walk away back into the forest behind Cynder. The new feeling Cynder felt grew stronger then before. She didn't know exactly what it was, but it filled Cynder with a warmth and comfort that she never felt before. If the feelings that she felt before could be put into a physical description, sadness felt like a weight slowly pressing down on her, and fear felt like small needles pushing slowly into her. Whatever this emotion was it felt like Cynder was laying on a pillow in a warm room that made her want to take a nap.

Suddenly the world around Cynder began to swirl and the emotion that she was feeling was beginning to fade. The world around her was going blank and Cynder could feel like she was about to wake up.

Cynder's room

The first thing Cynder saw when she woke up was that Stealth Elf was in front of her keeling down with a worried look on her face. Cynder got up with a groan as her body felt soar. "How long was I out?" Cynder asked, shaking the cobwebs from her head.

It was Jester's voice that responded, "About 10 seconds." Cynder could see that Jester was sitting in a wooden chair facing both Cynder and Stealth Elf at the same time. His face had a slightly annoyed look on it as if he was upset about something. "I thought I was supposed to get 5 minutes with Cynder alone. You showed up after only three minutes."

Stealth Elf turned to look at Jester to give him the meanest glare that she had. "I burst in here because I heard a loud thump and I wanted to make sure that Cynder was okay." Stealth Elf turned back to face Cynder looking over to make sure that there was nothing wrong with her. The elf wasn't exactly a medical expert, but she could tell when someone was physical hurt or if something was done to them. "She seems fine, but I don't trust you to be alone with her anymore."

Jester groaned softly then stopped and asked Stealth Elf with a slightly worried look on his face, "Wait, you said that you came in here after you heard a thud, right?" Stealth Elf nods her head at the question confused as to see where Jester was going with this. "So, what would you have done if I was lying on the floor instead of Cynder?"

Stealth Elf half closes her eyes and gives Jester her response in the most brutal tones that she can muster, "Probably congratulate Cynder and tie you up so that when you wake up you couldn't do anything."

This caused Jester to go wide eyed for a moment, in shock at how calm and smooth the elf could say these things right at his face. In Jesters mind, Stealth Elf is either brave, or dumb thinking that she could pull that off. Jester decided that it was a bit of both but mostly he commended her, in his mind, for her bravery and keeping calm despite the confusing situation in the room.

With the two other member in Cynder's room talking about something or other, Cynder thought back on all the things that she experienced. If she was only out for ten seconds, then why did it feel like she was in that dream for ten minutes? Furthermore, who where those dragons she saw in her dream? They looked almost identical to both her and Spyro, but they couldn't have been them. No matter how hard Cynder tried to think of an answer she couldn't come to one. Then there was the feelings that Cynder felt from her twin self. It was weird feeling someone else's emotions. However, when Cynder thought back to the last emotion she felt she wanted more. To be more precise, Cynder wanted to feel more of that emotion from her twin instead of the other ones that she felt. That and the dream she had was kind enough to Cynder that she could call it a dream, and not a nightmare. If all she had to do was help find Spyro to get those dreams, then that was motivation enough for Cynder. Cynder closed her eyes and focused her mind to try to find Spyro, carefully searching the Skylands for him. It was only a minute latter that she had found him.

Not really paying attention to the two people arguing in her room, Cynder shouted above their voices, "I found Spyro." This immediately quieted both persons in the room and caused them both to look directly at Cynder. The look on Stealth Elf was one of shock and happiness, like someone told her some long-awaited good news, whereas Jester's was cold and unmoving. Both may have looked at Cynder differently, but both were silently asking for the same thing. Where is he? "Spyro is in the falling forest right now and he is with Kaos and some others as well."

The reaction to the news was met with mixed results. While Stealth Elf looked happy to hear that Spyro had finally been found, Jester looked concerned and was puzzled by something that Cynder had said. "Who else is with them?" Jester asks with a slight concern and a little excitement in his tone. If Cynder didn't know any better, she would say that Jester just revealed that he took great interest in this knowledge but was also worried about that detail. Almost as if he cared about Spyro.

After focusing again, Cynder found out how was next to Spyro, "The Doom Raiders."

This brought the attention back to Cynder as she noticed that both Jester and Stealth Elf have worried looks on their faces. Cynder could understand Stealth Elf as she would be worried about her friend's safety and wondering why Spyro would be there. But Cynder couldn't understand why Jester would be worried.

"We will have to move now then." Jester said with a look of determination on his face. "The sooner we can get to him the sooner we can get him back here where he belongs." This time it was Stealth Elf's turn to be surprised by what Jester said. She could understand that Cynder or one of the other guys from the team would say this but not Jester. All the things that Jester has done doesn't really make sense to Stealth Elf and her gut is telling her that now was the time to ask the things that have been bothering her.

Stealth Elf took a deep breath and prepared herself for the worst. It was now or never. "Hold up Jester." She said with authority in her tone as if looking down on Jester, despite that most things, including Jester, being taller than her. "You aren't going anywhere near Spyro. We made a deal that you would help us find Spyro. We now 'found' Spyro and you helped in doing so, somehow." Stealth Elf said this while rolling her colorless eyes, which would be impossible to tell unless you know what to look for. "Besides there is something I have been meaning to ask for a while now and I think its about time you revealed your cards here."

Jester looked at Stealth Elf for a moment and started to ponder on the elf's words. He then proceeded to roll up his sleeves and said, in a mocking tone, "What are you talking about?" Jester then raises up his hands bear with nothing covering them. "As you can see there is nothing up my sleeves. So, I have no cards to show." Jester looks around the room and noticed that none of the girls in the room liked his joke. Jester sighs in defeat, failing to lighten the mood with a bad joke. After the sigh he changes his tone from a forced relaxed tone to a serious one. "You had your chance to ask your questions before so as far as I am concerned you missed your chance."

Stealth Elf responds to Jester by getting closer to him, making sure to appear intimidating to him. Stealth Elf knows that she cannot beat Jester in a one on one fight, but she can probably catch him off guard. "Even so there is one thing you can answer for me or I will make sure that we never come in contact again." Upon hearing these words Jesters eyes go wide and for a spilt second, before quickly gaining his composure. However, Stealth Elf sees this, knowing that she got his attention. She doesn't know why but Jester is afraid of losing contact with the Skylanders. However, deep in her gut she feels like this may not be the complete truth.

"There is no way that you can make that happen little elf." Jester says with menace in his tone as if to try and call Stealth Elf's bluff.

Stealth Elf smiles at this and replies back, "Maybe I cannot guaranty it, but I know when something feels wrong with a situation with my gut. We may not be able to avoid you all the time but judging by how much effort you put into making us come to find you, I'd say that you don't want to miss us even once."

Jester is losing his stone-cold face and is being slowly replaced with one of anger and resentment. "What if I do something that you cannot look away from, like harm innocent people?" Jester is looking directly into the elf's eyes making this a contest of wills.

Stealth Elf quickly responds, "You won't do that because that would mean that you would be going against your own word, and so far, you have been true to that if nothing else. And in doing so you would practically be admitting defeat, and I got a feeling that tells me you hate to lose."

Jester backs off and quickly sighs, he knew from the beginning that the elf was going to be a problem and must be handled with extra care. His original plan for the elf was to keep a distance in every way, but due to recent events he had to abandon that plan, and this was the result. He really hated this, but he needed to make sure that she doesn't break off to far from the group. "Alright, one question. But I don't have any more potions on me, so you are going to have to rely on me telling the truth or not."

Stealth Elf nodded accepting the terms from Jester. She drew in a deep breath to calm herself and think, out of the many things she wanted to know what was the most important? She closed her eyes for a moment then slowly opened them, then said while looking Jester in the eyes again, "Why are you doing this, with the Skylanders?"

Jester took a moment to think on his answer. Several thoughts had come to mind immediately but he decided against a quick answer. After all, if he did not give enough, she would go poking around for more and he really didn't need that right now. But, if he gave too much, she may catch on and try to do something that could get in his way. Jester hated moments like this, where he is the most powerful being in the room but is forced to walk on a tightrope with the most on the line. After a minute of thinking Jester replied, "Because I promised that I would do this no matter the cost. For you I am no more than a villain that needs to be locked up, but for me, this is my one chance to get what I want done. The fact that the Skylanders are involved is just a detail. It's not my goal." Jester sees that the elf appears to have caught on to the idea and was about to ask another question, but he quickly cut her off and said, "You asked for a question and you got an answer, I will leave now since you know where Spyro and that other guy, whatever his name is, so I will leave the rescue to you. Good day now." And with that Jester's Shadow appears to rise from the ground and consume him. Once the shadow has completely covered him, the shadow quickly descends into the ground, making Jester disappear.

Falling Forest

Spyro was exhausted. He had been traveling alone for a week now getting very little rest and hardly any food. Well, he was not completely alone. Spyro was traveling with Kaos, but truth be told that was an exhausting task in and of itself. With Kaos and his constant bickering and going on and on about his half-baked schemes. Spyro was seriously doubting how Kaos managed to accomplish these schemes of his in the first place. Spyro was also exhausted from the constant traveling that he had to do. From the number of times that Kaos had gotten 'Off Track' or 'Just taking a detour' it would be enough for anyone to just give up and leave. However, Spyro needed Kaos to find the Doom Raiders, so he had to put up with it for now.

Along with the pure physical exhaustion that Kaos provided, Spyro also had his dreams to deal with as well. They had started to take a turn for the worse after the incident. Spyro's mind turned back to the event that transpired, and immediately tried to turn himself away from it. He cannot believe that he hurt his friends. Even though his friends did nothing but laugh at him and let Kaos get away with things without a scratch on him. He was glad that the marks on his face wore off in a day. 'Little miracles do happen after all' Spyro thought.

The dreams that Spyro had in the past week were different than the ones before. They were more vivid and wild at the same time. Instead of Other Spyro walking or gently gliding down, he was fighting instead. The creatures that Other Spyro was fighting, were either weird looking creatures or something straight out of nightmares. The fact that Other Spyro was fighting wasn't the problem for Spyro, what was the problem was that they felt too real for Spyro. Each time he fought, Spyro could feel like his life was on the line every time. As if the adrenaline of the fight was carrying over into him and he could feel the tense atmosphere of the battle. Every time Spyro woke up, he felt like he just came from fighting all night long, making himself feel tense and mentally tired. Feeling unsure how much longer Spyro can take the war on two fronts, he hopes his instinct was right about the Doom Raiders.

"Well it looks like we are finally here." Kaos says interrupting Spyro's thoughts. He hoped that Kaos was right this time. Upon looking in the direction that Kaos was pointing at Spyro could see that Kaos was right this time. Spyro heard that Kaos was speaking to him but, he wasn't paying attention now. Spyro needed to make his next move and it needed to be perfect. He had to convince the raider's that he wanted their help and that they would not try to cross him in the act. This is easier said then done since what he needed their help with would make him completely vulnerable. "Hello, are you even listening to me?" Kaos shoves his big head in front of Spyro forcing him to break his train of thought.

"Not now Kaos I need to think of a way to get to them without starting a fight." Spyro says with his annoyance clear on how much he is fed up with Kaos now.

"Like I said, I can handle that." Kaos says with a winey tone as if it was the most obvious thing. Spyro looks at Kaos with doubt on his face. Kaos replies to Spyro, "Look I have had my fair share of dealing with them and even though they have tried to overthrow me multiple times, I know them better then anyone else. You let me handle the interactions with them and I will make sure that it all goes smoothly." Oddly enough this was making sense to Spyro and he did have a few points. Kaos saw Spyro's face change and continued, "But I need you to tell me what it is that you want otherwise I cannot do anything to help." Spyro was afraid of this. Kaos had been asking what he wanted the Doom Raiders for all week and Spyro never answered him. Now that Spyro has had a longer time to think about this he had to know something.

"Kaos, why are you helping me?" Spyro did at first threaten Kaos to help him but he later pulled off realizing that is exactly what his evil side would have done and didn't want to be like that anymore. After Spyro started treating Kaos friendlier, Kaos was still helping Spyro, but he never understood why.

Kaos looks away from Spyro thinking a bit more deeply on the matter. To Spyro, it looked like Kaos was debating on whether he would tell the truth. Kaos took a deep breath and sighed, then he turned to face Spyro, "Because I want you to owe me big time for two reasons." Kaos then pointed up his had with one finger approaching Spyro menacingly, as if he was angry about something. "First off, I want you to tell me everything about my other dad, Eon. From what I already know you and Eon were like father and son even though he never did that for anyone else and especially not me." The last couple of words hurt Kaos, as he really didn't want it to be true. "The second reason is that for some reason you have a connection to Jester and I want to know how and why."

The last statement that Kaos made shocked Spyro. Spyro only figured that last part out after the last fight that he had with Jester, and even then, it was nothing more then a hunch. "How did you figure that out, I never told you anything?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kaos says in his trademark tone. "I know very well how powerful Jester can be and he didn't even show a fraction of what he was capable of in the last 'fight' you had. In fact, the moment before you went boom, Jester just stood there and defended from your attack. If he was trying to fight you, he would have kicked your sorry but before you could do anything. SO, that got me thinking that you and Jester know each other from somewhere and that is why you left the Skylanders to travel alone with me. What I don't get is why you want to see the Doom Raiders of all people. They are a one and done show."

This brought a new light to Spyro. Up until now the only thing that seemed impressive about Kaos was that he was a hot head with big goals and funny mess ups. Now that Spyro was traveling with him and that he just reveled his inner thoughts, Spyro almost started to see Kas as a smart individual that just has different views of things that makes him seem silly at times. Almost. Going back to what Kaos was asking for, and after Kaos giving his thoughts about the matter. Spyro said, "I need to get Dreamcatcher to enter my dream when I am asleep and tell me who or what is manipulating my mind." When he saw that Kaos was about to ask for more information Spyro cut him off, "Look I cannot explain how I know about this, or how this relates to Jester, but I need to find this out, it is my only lead. I need you to do this for me and if you do, I will tell you everything about Eon from start to finish." It was weird for Spyro to talk about Eon in a time like this, and even weirder that Kaos was Eon's son. Technically speaking, with Eon being Kaos's biological father and Spyro being the adoptive son, that tetchily makes them… brothers. The thought of this sent a shiver down Spyro's spine.

Kaos nods at what Spyro said, and he responds, "Alright, but don't forget that… Brother."

"Please lets just get this whole thing over with before we get all oddly close or something. It feels really weird right now."

"Can do, that wasn't easy for me to say either. Also, is it okay we pretend that I never said the lasting thing either, it would be really bad for my image right now."

"Agreed. Good thing no one is here to hear us. Otherwise that would be so awkward."

After agreeing with Spyro, Kaos heads over to the Doom Raiders, walking out in the open. It is too far for Spyro to hear what is going on, but he can see what was happening. The first thing that the Raiders do is jump at the sound of Kaos's voice. No surprise there for Spyro since he imaged that anyone would jump out of their skin at hearing his voice return. They he saw the Raiders take an offensive stance towards Kaos while he is still just walking out in the open with both hands behind his back. Spyro heard some shouting none of which he could make out specifically, but he assumed that it was the Doom Raiders expressing how they felt about Kaos showing up out of the blue. This made Spyro think for a moment, 'If they have trust issues towards Kaos, then how am I going to get Dreamcatcher to help me without further messing up my mind?' The fact that Spyro had to be asleep for Dreamcatcher to do her work was risky in and of itself. His mind would be attacked while his body would be completely defenseless. Spyro looked up to see that the Doom Raiders where listening to Kaos and from what Spyro could tell they had accepted his terms, whatever they were. 'I just hope that Kaos is the one I can trust here. Otherwise I might be done for.'

Spyro saw that Kaos was signaling for him to come over, and reluctantly Spyro walks over to the Doom Raiders. "Here is the guy that I want you to help." Kaos says as he gestures with both arms towards Spyro, and although Spyro couldn't see Kaos's face, he could tell that he was giving a wide grin.

Pepper Jack is the first to speak up, "Now hold on there short stuff, we said that we would help you, but we are not going to help a Skylander."

"Yeah how do we know that this isn't a trick?" Choppy mages puppet asks getting a unanimous agreement form the rest of the raiders.

Before Kaos could respond Spyro spoke up for himself. "Because I am a former Skylander and I don't need all of you to help me I just need Dreamcatcher for something." Looking around he saw that he got the raiders attention but judging by their faces it would take more to convince them to do what Spyro wanted. Although Spyro does not wish to remember his darker half times, it has proved to be useful in the past. Like the time that he tricked Malefor. From what he can remember from those times was this, when you're in a room with people with questionable loyalty, you make sure that they never cross you. Spyro took a deep breath and readied himself mentally, time to appear strong. "I am not going to tell you why or how I quit being a Skylander, but I will tell you this. I destroyed an entire island only a week ago in my rage. I have been looking for you for a week and traveling with Kaos as my guide, and you know what that feels like. I have had little food and little sleep during that time and quite frankly I am getting very tired of this situation and my patience is all but run out at this point." Each sentence that Spyro speaks is getting heavier and more aggressive, partially because he needs to, to drive his point in but mostly because it still hurts to remember those events. Spyro backs off on being aggressive with his tone and starts to speak in a calm tone. "My point is this: you help me, and I will be out of your way. Cross me, trick me, or do anything to piss me off and I will show you first hand what made me quit being a Skylander."

The crowd was silenced, by Spyro's last sentence. Even Kaos was wide eyed and quiet, for once. Everyone present, including Spyro, realized two things in this moment of silence. The first of which was that Spyro was serious, dead serious. There was no telling what kind of power Spyro can have and that is a something that the raiders are not willing to find out. First hand at least. The second thing that everyone noticed was the meaning and weight behind Spyro's words. Even though Spyro's dark half is supposed to have been destroyed, it seems the evil part of Spyro is still inside of him. As if the dark Spyro was never truly destroyed, only went back to remaining dormant inside Spyro, and there is no telling what that side of Spyro is capable of.

Spyro decided that there had been enough silence and decided to break it bringing the raiders back to reality. "So, do we have a deal?"

Dreamcatcher looked around at the rest of the raiders trying to see what their thoughts on the matter was. They gave her nods and she went forward in front of Spyro. "Okay I guess I am doing this."

Spyro was relived that he managed to get Dreamcatcher to do this for him, but he still couldn't trust the rest of the raiders to not pull something. "Not here, you and I will move somewhere else. The rest of the raiders can stay here with Kaos watching." The rest of the raiders looked reluctant to agree but not wishing to push the dragon further they all shook their heads. With that being all Spyro needed he and Dreamcatcher moved away from the rest of the group for them to conclude their business.

"So, what exactly do you need from me? I mean it's not like I can just snap my not existent fingers and you are asleep, and problem solved." Dreamcatcher says with curiosity in her tone.

Spyro continues walking not facing her and replies, "You are to enter my dream when I go to sleep and tell me what you see and tell me if anyone is controlling or influencing my dreams. I will not go into details how I got this idea, and I don't need you to know that anyways. If you can put a stop to it, I will owe you one, but if not then you are to tell me everything that you know. Understand?" The way Spyro asked his question, it was clear what he was looking for a "Yes" only. Spyro saw from the corner of his eyes that Dreamcatcher nodded her head in a big way to make it clear what she meant. "Good, I will go to sleep here it will only take me a minute or two for my dream to kick in so be ready." With that Spyro laid down and closed his eyes, hoping that this would be the last dream.

Little did Spyro know that his dreams where far from over. After what Spyro just pulled off in front of the Doom Raiders, he has become a shadow of himself. The only thing that Spyro was unsure of, was which part of himself was he the shadow of. His good half or his dark one?

Chapter 5: Who am I?

Author's Footnotes:

Hey, everyone, sorry for the long chapter but there was a lot of things that I wanted to get done here and I had a hard time finding a stopping point.

The next chapter will not be out for a while. I cannot give an exact date but it will not be out until mid-December, maybe. I got a lot on my plate for work and school that I need to focus on that for the time being. The next chapter will be out before Christmas that is going to be a fact. I just don't have an exact date yet.

Let me know what you all think of the story so far. Love reading the reviews.

Yours truly,

DJester