Falling.

No, no, no, not again… please, I can't do it again…

It was almost soothing, to have the wind rushing past his ears. He loved the sky, the freedom flight gave him. He was in his element, the place he belonged.

I'm scared. My wings… I can't…

He stretched his wings wide, catching an updraft in order to gain height. It was easy, effortless. The way it was always supposed to be. He looked down on the world below him, marveling at how small everything looked.

I can't see, why can't I…

Was that Null down there? Apex smiled. He was always happy to see Null.

I'm going to drop him. I can't hold on. I can't let him fall, but I can't hold on.

Really, he was just happy Null was okay. Hurting, maybe, but okay. As long as Null was okay, Apex would be okay.

I'm not okay.

And they were so close, now! Null had said they would reach Warfang tomorrow! They would finally be done with this awful trip, and they could relax.

Why aren't you listening to me?

Apex frowned, stalling in the air for a moment. Something was wrong. In his chest. In his gut. Something was wrong.

I'm just trying to help and you ignore me.

Apex gasped, spiraling downwards to land safely on the ground. The sky was darkening, clouds forming from nothing. In moments it was dark, darker than even night. So dark Apex could barely see.

And then a pair of glowing white eyes opened in the darkness.

"What do you want?" Apex asked, "Every time I see you, you just torment me with things I've already moved past."

The shadow in the darkness gasped, dark purple splattering to the ground. It didn't speak for a while, panting as more dark purple dripped from barely outlined teeth. When it did speak, it was with his voice. Scared, hoarse, like he'd been screaming for hours.

"You're not past it. You've never been past it. We've never gotten past it. That was the whole point. It's still in here. All that pain you've never addressed. Never acknowledged. It hurts," The shadow whispered, "We can't keep doing this."

"What are you talking about? I'm fine." Apex furrowed his brow, confused.

"No we're not."

"Yes, I am."

"Null was right." The shadow sobbed, purple leaking from its eyes now, too. "You shouldn't be feeling well. And we're not. I'm trying so hard to keep you alive. Keep you healthy. I took the pain away, just as I said I would. For Null. We can't keep doing this. We can't. We can't. We're going to start falling apart, and there's nothing I can do at that point."

"Why are you so… volatile?" Apex asked, "Last time it was sympathy and anger, before that you were belittling me and trying to make me doubt my choices. Now you're trying to tell me to back down, and lay off keeping Null safe. What's your deal?"

"I'm you, I'm you, I'm you…" The shadow mumbled, repeating itself over and over helplessly. "I'm Apex…"

"You keep saying that, but it doesn't tell me anything." Apex started pacing around the shadow, keeping his eyes on it. It didn't even look up, staring down at the growing puddle of dark purple. "And if you're me, why are you always being so cryptic? So hard to figure out?"

"You keep hurting me, why are you always hurting me?" It whined pitifully, its wings fluttering for a moment before stilling once more. He could see, for a brief moment, that its silhouette had two pairs of wings. One pair was riddled with holes and misshapen. "Stop. Stop!"

"Okay, calm down-,"

"Calm down?!" It looked up, staring through him with its white eyes. They weren't featureless, he realized. They glowed and that made it hard to make out detail, but they weren't spheres. They were full of scratches and parts had been gouged out, leaving behind barely enough to look like eyes at all. It bared its teeth, dark purple energy crackling between its fangs and dripping to the ground. "You're tearing me apart, dumping your pain and trauma on me to carry, and now you tell me to calm down?!"

"Yes, I'm telling you to calm down! You're not making any sense!" Apex was irritated now, but it was an almost muted sensation. Like he really couldn't be bothered to work himself up. "Can't you have some consistency? Just tell me what you want!"

"Quit yelling." And just like that, the shadow was cowering again, its gaze downcast. "Please. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm trying. It hurts."

"How do I make it better? What do I do?"

"Make it stop. Let me give you back your pain. I can't carry it anymore."

"But I… I need to protect Null…" Apex protested weakly, "You… you agreed with that already. We need to protect Null, and we just don't have time yet to deal with this."

"...Null. For Null. We hold on for Null. I love him. I need to keep him safe," The shadow repeated it like a mantra. After a moment it looked at him again. "We hold on for Null. For now. We can't hold on forever. We can't keep doing this."

"We'll figure it out when we have time," Apex said.

"Will we?" It asked, "Or will we continue to pretend nothing's wrong?"

Apex didn't have an answer.

O-O-O

It was kind of funny, how quickly his wings had healed. Once they'd stumbled across a cluster of spirit gems, his wings were back to normal the next morning. Although something else was decidedly not normal that morning.

His second set of wings had grown in all the way. Just as large as his first set, though with a slightly different range of motion. They weren't very strong yet, so he mostly kept them tucked to his body when flying, but he was sure they'd give him amazing aerial mobility. If he could figure out how to use them, that was. Right now they just got in the way when he tried to use them to supplement his normal flight.

And already he felt better than he ever had before. His body no longer hurt, he was strong, and his mind was clear. He could focus his all on getting to Warfang and keeping Null safe along the way. Although, that said, he did make sure to enjoy the wind on his face as they flew. He felt energized, although to be honest no matter how much he ate he still never quite felt full. And there was something nagging at the back of his head. Otherwise, though, he felt great.

I'm not okay.

Null was recovering well. His injuries had been minimal anyways, aside from some bad friction burns on his back. Any consequences from getting hit in the head were gone already, so that was good.

Something a little weird was happening to Null, although Apex doubted he had noticed. The front edge of Null's wings was beginning to develop tiny ridges. It wasn't hurting him or anything, and it didn't hinder his flight or ability to use his wings, but it was odd that they were there. Although maybe they had always been there and he had only just noticed, now that he was going through such drastic changes.

Whatever, he had time to worry about it later. When there was time to actually sit down and process everything. That's when he'd worry about it.

No you won't.

And now, this morning, as he and Null flew over the mountains, he saw something on the horizon.

"Well," Null said, "There it is."

Across the plains and by the sea, there was the grand city of dragons. With towering buildings designed for those with wings to enter the upper floors from outside. Great walls, scarred from battle and with new sections in places. Enormous gates, propped open by even larger mechanisms, admitted entry to enormous crowds of people.

There it was indeed.

"We did it," Apex said with a relieved laugh, "We made it to Warfang!"

"Well, not yet. We still need to actually enter Warfang and tell the council," Null replied, "Then we can relax."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Apex accelerated, swooping down towards the cobblestone road leading into Warfang. He came to a stop not too far from the front gates, then turned to look back at Null.

Null had lagged behind, unable to match his aerial speed. Apex winced. He'd just left him behind, showing Null up by so simple an action as landing.

How could you?

Null landed next to him, one brow raised. "Eager to get this over with?"

"Just… faster than I thought I was," Apex replied in embarrassment.

"You'll get used to it eventually." Null shrugged, then looked towards the city. "Let's go."

Apex nodded, then took the lead.

He had to jostle a bit to get a spot in the crowd. Too many bodies of too many different people pushed together in a formless movement towards some singular goal. It was almost claustrophobic, the press of bodies around him. But he was big enough to muscle his way through without letting them press too close around him, and that meant he could also clear space around him for Null to slip through. The actual reason for the crowd became clear eventually - security checks were being performed on any group with supplies. Guards - dragons, cheetahs, moles and otherwise - were pulling travelers aside and doing quick examinations of their stuff before waving them into the city.

As Apex and Null approached, they were given a once-over by one of the guards, who frowned but signaled for them to pass anyways.

But… they didn't know where to go in the city, or how to bring their issue to the attention of the council. Apex spotted one of the guards who seemed less busy than the others and strode over.

We shouldn't bother them, they're busy.

"Excuse me," Apex asked politely, "Me and my friend have come a long way to warn the dragon council about something really bad, where should we go to get a message to them?"

The guard in question, a male earth dragon with muddy brown scales, stared at him blankly for a moment.

"Are you okay?" The guard asked.

No.

"...Yes? We just need to know how to get something to the council's attention."

"Because you have four wings…"

Oh. That might explain the weird looks. He'd pretty much forgotten about the extra wings, integrating them into his self-image and making them a part of himself. He had gotten over it already.

I haven't.

"He's going through puberty," Null interjected dryly, "Can you point us to the council or not?"

The guard blinked. "What."

"The council?" Null pressed.

"Um. City hall. They should be in session for another hour. Open to the public, like most days," The guard explained at last. "It's the big building in the middle, has a sign…"

"Thank you for your time." Apex bowed his head, then started off.

After walking for a little bit he frowned and looked down at Null.

"Puberty?" He almost laughed halfway through the question, but managed to contain himself enough to follow up with "Really?"

Null shrugged. "I mean, it's true. Not related to the extra wings, but true on its own."

"Still, really?" Apex chuckled. "You confused that guy so badly."

"Shouldn't have asked invasive questions." Null shrugged again.

Apex laughed, shaking his head. Sometimes Null's wit got him in trouble, and sometimes it was just really funny. He found it funny at least.

Before he knew it, they had arrived at the city hall.

Apex strode up the steps and through the open front doors, passing a pair of guards who gave him more concerned looks before he was inside. Null was right next to him the whole time, and as soon as they were inside the smaller dragon pointed towards a pair of open doors with the sounds of conversation within. With a shrug, Null and Apex entered the room.

It was a cavernous chamber, with enough space for an adult dragon to take off and soar around near the roof. There were rows upon rows of seats ringing the room, some of which were designed for bipeds and some of which would more accurately be described as 'a bench with a cushion' for dragons to lay on. There couldn't have been more than twenty people in the room, not counting the thirteen around the enormous ring-shaped table in the center of the room.

Apex didn't really know much about the dragon council of Warfang. He knew that they managed most dragon-related affairs both in the city and the rest of the dragon realms, and Null had told him that each councilmember was a representative for dragons of their element. One dragon for each of the dominant elements, plus Spyro and Cynder to represent those that fell outside of the standard elemental classification.

Spyro and Cynder, who were both seated at the council table and listening to what one of the other councilmembers was saying. Spyro, large and muscular, was renowned for his patience and levelheadedness, in addition to his heroic efforts. Cynder, with her sleek and graceful form, was less popular, known for impassioned speeches and speaking for those in less fortunate situations. The other dragons around the table, though, Apex didn't immediately recognize.

As he and Null climbed quietly onto seats situated behind the two heroes, he tried to identify each of the other council members. Some were easy, like the orange-scaled representative of fire dragons. His chipped horns and scarred scales identified him as someone who had seen many conflicts, and he was old enough to have been in the war with Malefor. The name Magnus came to mind, and after squinting his eyes to try and puzzle out what his nameplate said from this awkward angle, he decided it was close enough.

Next to Magnus sat an ice dragoness, with cool light blue scales and regal horns decorated with dangling crystals. She spoke with a self-important tone to her voice, one that immediately made Apex distrustful of her. The nameplate in front of her read Glacia.

Aurum was the name of the dragon next to her, a lightning dragon with a two-pronged tail. That wasn't the most interesting feature of his, though. No, that went to his shining golden scales, flashing with every movement the councildrake made. He spoke with a calm, measured voice, though from time to time he did make offhand comments with a twinkle in his eye. Or perhaps just in the scales around his eye.

Then there was Zepha, a wind dragoness who Apex's father frequently talked about. Never anything good, which just made Apex think better of her. She was fairly small for an adult dragon, with angular features and quick, snappy movements to everything she did. She had a reputation for speaking out of turn, and Apex got to see that firsthand when she interrupted Aurum in the middle of a proposition to ask him what the point was.

That seemed to upset the next dragon around the table, a deep blue-scaled water dragon named Niall. Like most water dragons, his wings were more akin to elongated fins, running all the way down his back to the tip of his tail. Based on the way he talked, he struck Apex as a somewhat slimy individual, never taking a stance on anything and avoiding questions rather than answering them.

I don't like him.

The next seat was empty. The nameplate read 'Granite'.

After that was Ida, a dragon with very faintly pink scales. She lacked any horns or fins, having instead a bony crest about the back of her head. She didn't speak much, but when she did it was usually to point out a key detail or shoot down an idea in a couple of words. Her tail split halfway along its length into a pair of prehensile appendages, each ending in an odd ball with a hole at the end. Apex had no idea what element she had, all his brain threw up were blanks.

The next two dragons were also hard to figure out. The first was an elderly dragoness with gray scales. She had a blindfold about her head, and if it weren't for the fact that she occasionally turned her head towards whoever was speaking Apex would have assumed she was asleep where she sat. Her nameplate declared her as Delphi. The other dragon of an unidentified element was also gray-scaled, though his scales were edged with a faint blue gradient. He sat absolutely still when not doing anything else, though the quill dancing across a sheet of paper in front of him indicated something else was going on. His name was, apparently, Jed.

It was easy to figure out what element the next dragon had, though. His sickly green scales and spined frills made it easy to figure out that he was a poison dragon. Wormwood, according to the nameplate in front of him, also possessed two heads. Apex knew that poison dragons could have some weird mutations - Null had told him that - but two heads, each acting independently from the other but still in unison, was way beyond what he'd expected.

It's not that strange.

The next dragon was much smaller, and covered in a thin layer of black fur. They had deep red scales, mostly visible on their head, tail, and joints, where the fur was absent. They also had external ears, large and twitching atop their head. The oddities didn't stop there, though, since their front legs were merged with their wings to make a dragon with only four limbs. Their nameplate was at an awkward angle to try and read, but since it only had three letters on it Apex was able to figure out that this bat-dragon's name was Nos.

The last dragon at the table, with his back to them and seated next to Cynder, was a shadow dragon. He had backwards-pointing horns and an almost skeletal frame, but he held his head high and spoke with confidence. Apex could swear his voice was familiar, but he couldn't place it.

Null, however, was glaring with more hate than Apex had ever seen in him.

"What's wrong?" Apex asked quietly, tucking his wings in and creating a small, one-way bubble of silence around the two of them. At the council table, Spyro twitched at the same time, oddly enough, but didn't react otherwise.

"It's him," Null spat, baring his fangs. Apex didn't think Null even had the capacity to be this angry, he'd never seen it before. "That bastard. This is where he went."

"What are you talking about, Null?" Apex frowned.

"Vanished in the middle of the night to play politician. Figures."

"Who?"

Null turned towards Apex, face contorted with rage. He spat two words, dripping with loathing.

"My father."

A/N:

The aftermath of great pain, from a different perspective.

And, at long last, the destination we've been marching towards. I'm not sure if you can even call this the end of Act 1, but we're starting to close in on it.