"Before we proceed, I want to make it clear that you aren't to blame for anything we're going to talk about. You are a victim of circumstances, and I want to help you adapt to those circumstances and learn to use them. Just because this condition has been thrust upon you does not mean that it is entirely a bad thing."

Apex opened his mouth to say something, only to freeze. What was there to say? How could he even begin when he had no information to base a question on?

"What?" Apex asked instead.

"...Maybe I've skipped over the important part." Cynder shook her head, then looked directly at Apex. "Through some means, probably the giant purple crystal you mentioned yesterday, you have come into contact with a force of magic that many people call convexity."

"Oh." Convexity? Wait. Null had talked about it a few times, hadn't he? He'd said that he'd read something about Convexity bening the domain of the Dark Master. That was… not good. "Oh no."

Are we dying? Are we going to die?

"Convexity tends to spread when it comes into contact with another source of magic, such as a dragon's internal mana. That means that if you are exposed to it in the correct way, it can bind to your energy and become a permanent part of your magic," Cynder explained. She had a sympathetic look on her face, and that only made Apex more worried, "When convexity is made a part of a dragon's being, it tends to… change them. Physically, emotionally, mentally, and magically. The changes aren't the same in every case, and I can't say for sure that there even will be changes, but if there are changes then you will need to learn how to adapt to them, and that is what I am here to help you with."

"Am I going to die?" Apex asked quietly.

"I certainly hope not! Of the three dragons I know who have harnessed convexity, two of them are healthy and the third was Malefor." Cynder laughed lightly. "No, you're going to be okay. We're going to make sure that you're okay."

"Oh. Okay then." Apex took a deep breath and nodded, letting it out slowly. That didn't help a whole bunch, but at least he wasn't dying.

"Spyro tends to avoid using convexity if he can help it-,"

"Wait, Spyro has convexity?" Apex asked in surprise.

"He's the purple dragon. Spyro has every kind of magic at his disposal. Admittedly he's more comfortable with the light elements - fire, earth, lightning, ice, wind, and water - but he can use all of them. That's because his innate magic is aether, the root of all magic. Convexity is a form of aether as well, but it's less… stable." Cynder paused to make sure Apex could process everything she had told him before she continued. "Due to its instability, convexity has strange effects on dragons. Spyro experiences brief periods of emotional distress, usually leading to destructive outbursts, but he is physically unchanged. That's why he avoids convexity. It's powerful, capable of destroying matter at its most fundamental level, but that power is usually much more destructive than needed.

"Until yesterday, I thought that I was the only other living dragon who had been affected by convexity. What I went through was awful, and I don't want anyone else to have to experience it." Cynder shuddered, then sighed. "I was made a puppet and imbued with convexity to make me stronger and easier to control. Convexity made me angrier and more violent, and Malefor used that. He made me a weapon. It changed me into what I am now, and imbued me with additional elements."

"So you weren't always…" Apex tried to come up with a good description, only to fall short.

"Bladed." Cynder lashed her tail, the sharp metal blade on the end flashing briefly. The blades on the forward joint of her wings flexed for a moment, extending just a bit before falling back against her scales. "Volteer thinks I was a wind dragon, once. Something about wingspan and body ratios. But more importantly I am most comfortable with wind magic. But my magic has been changed by convexity. Shadow, poison, and fear are now elements I am able to use, even though I was not born with them."

"Am I going to get fear and shadow and poison magic?"

Cynder shrugged. "We don't have enough dragons to know what could happen. To use Volteer's words, we have a sample size of one. We'll just have to keep an eye on your condition to make sure you stay healthy."

"Right. Okay. So I might still die," Apex said nervously.

"Well, it's… possible. But unlikely." Cynder shook her head. "We'll need to look at everything you've experienced due to convexity so far."

"So that's…" Apex furrowed his brow as he tried to remember. "Rapid healing, extra wings, that one time I used purple lightning - which I guess was just convexity breath? Um… I used two furies in two days a while back, if that counts. There was that time I absorbed blue spirit gems and there weren't any consequences…"

As Apex trailed off, Cynder got a thoughtful look on her face. She made her way to a closet and extracted from within a small wooden dummy. She placed it against one wall before she started speaking again.

"Some of those sound familiar. That does indeed sound like convexity breath, I have used many more furies than any dragon should be able to, and both Spyro and I have absorbed far more blue spirit gems than should be healthy. My theory is that while it's active in your body, convexity will let you adapt to survive. It doesn't matter what you go through, it will ensure you live. Your internal magic supply was used to regenerate you, while any excess - be it from blue spirit gems or from natural reserves - is used to improve physical development."

That's me. She's talking about me.

"So that's why I'm so much bigger than Null."

"In all likelihood. The question is, why did you grow another set of wings? Is there a reason to it? Does there need to be?" Cynder shrugged. "I was made a weapon, so weapons were what I needed to survive."

I don't want to fall again.

"It happened right after I fell out of the sky…" Apex furrowed his brow. That actually made sense. "Maybe I felt that I needed more wings to make sure it can't happen again?"

"That could be it." Cynder nodded. She gestured to the wooden dummy. "We'll never know for sure. But we can test something else fairly easily. If you don't mind, could you give your best effort at destroying this dummy? Just do what comes naturally."

Destroy the dummy? Well that should be easy enough. It was wooden, so he could just rip it apart with wind magic. He flapped his wings-

A countercurrent dissolved his attack.

Apex glanced at Cynder, who raised one brow and tilted her head towards the dummy. He watched her as he sent another blast of wind towards the dummy, and she pulled one claw across the floor to tear his attack apart. She was counterspelling him. Using techniques he'd never seen or heard of to dissolve his attacks.

"I thought you wanted me to destroy the dummy," He said, frowning.

"I do." Cynder nodded.

"Then why are you preventing me from doing that?!"

"I didn't say to stop."

Apex scowled. It was some kind of test, wasn't it? That was always annoying. Dolus would do the same kind of thing, forcing him to do something and then keeping him from doing that until Apex figured out what he actually wanted. Well, clearly Cynder didn't actually want him to blow the dummy apart with wind magic, but he had no other options. Apex drew in a deep breath, then let out a flurry of blades, concussive blasts, and forceful crosswinds.

Every one, every single one, was dismantled with expert efficiency. It was like he was five years old again, humiliated by his father holding a toy just out of reach.

I could do it.

No.

Apex unleashed everything he had, in every combination he could think of. He fell just short of unleashing a fury - this didn't warrant that level of destructive force - but he got oh so close. By the end, he was panting from exhaustion and wincing from the pain in his side, not quite healed yet from that morning.

And the dummy was untouched.

"Hmm. Maybe not today, then." Cynder picked up the dummy and returned it to the closet. "That's good, actually. It means that your magic hasn't been altered very much yet. The convexity in you will still only surface for life or death struggles, which means that it's not engrained very deep."

"I don't… feel… good…" Apex panted, collapsing onto a mat on the floor. "Feels like you… played an awful prank… on me."

"If it makes you feel any better, you're quite talented. As good as I was when I was your age, at least. Especially impressive when you consider my… upbringing." Cynder gave him a brief smile, tinged with sadness. "Where did you learn combat magic?"

"Dolus, my… father, I guess. Hate him." Apex struggled to his feet, steadying his breathing. "Beat combat magic into me for years. I was good at it, too. Better than him after a while. He taught me tricks with wind magic like vacuum shoves and still-air walls."

"Not very common techniques. I had to figure those out for myself. Your father must either be very clever or taught by some of the best," Cynder said, "Though I don't see much use for creating a vacuum outside of dousing fire."

"It's easier to get fine control with vacuum shoves than with most wind manipulation, even if it's only in a single direction at a time. And it's the only technique that works properly on Null, which has actually come in handy a couple of times." Apex chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment before he continued. "You know, I never even tried using any other wind techniques on Null. Ever. I wonder if that's why Dolus taught me the vacuum shove first. But that would mean he knew the whole time…"

If he knew and told nobody, I'm going to kill him.

We're not killing anyone.

"Anyways, old Ferrus taught me more about actual combat than Dolus. Ferrus was a soldier when he was younger, after all. That training served me well in the Skavenger arena." Apex shrugged. "Although most of the enemies I faced didn't have any way to fight wind magic."

"Most creatures without magic don't." Cynder nodded. Now that Apex was paying attention, he saw that there was a small pot bouncing up and down in the air next to her. Using his wind-sense told him that she was creating vacuums to keep it airborne. "You're right, one direction at a time, but I know exactly where it's going. I hadn't ever thought of that before, thank you."

The pot stopped bobbing, hovering in the air for a moment before it slowly lowered back to the ground.

"So… what's next?' Apex asked.

"Well, next I would ask you how you're feeling emotionally, in order to gauge how convexity has affected your mental state. But you've already said you feel perfectly fine so any changes to your emotional state or personality are ones you wouldn't know about…" Cynder walked to one of the mats on the floor, sitting down. "I suggest a bit of meditation, taking a moment to clear your mind of all the things that distract you. I've found that it helps me manage my emotions and keep balance within myself."

"Okay." Apex wasn't quite sure how this would help, but he was willing to do as instructed. "Are you going to teach me how to do those counterspells?"

"Eventually." Cynder laughed. "But we can only do things one at a time, and it's best to start at the basics."

"Oh. Alright then." Apex sat down on the mat next to him, mirroring Cynder's pose. "So… how do we do this?"

"Close your eyes."

Apex complied.

"Breathe in…"

He drew air into his lungs, his chest expanding as he inhaled.

"And out."

He released his breath.

"Clear your mind."

That was the hard part, wasn't it? Not thinking was just about impossible, especially with so many things buzzing around his head.

"Breathe in…"

He'd try anyway. Might as well give it a shot.

"And out."

Focus on things inside our mind, not on the world around you.

"Breathe in.."

Apex drew in a deep breath

O-O-O

This wasn't the real world.

That much was immediately apparent when he opened his eyes. The world was absent, replaced by… nothing. Not a void, because that would require something to compare to, just nothing.

Well, not quite nothing. Someone had started to shape this nothingness. There was a bed, little more than a blanket on the flat… floor? It was still 'nothing' but it was solid, somehow. There was a small table, with the splinters of a tiny wooden statuette spread across its surface. Someone had painstakingly reassembled part of the statuette from nothing but fragments. A picture frame holding a portrait of Null sat nearby. It wasn't very well done, but he could tell that it was Null from the colors.

"It's not much. This is the first time you've come to me instead of the other way around. Normally you already have a scene constructed."

Apex looked around. It was only a moment before he realized that his shadowy double was standing right in front of him.

"You live like this?" Apex asked, wincing and closing his eyes. It hurt his eyes to look at the nothing for too long.

"You don't let me out." The shadow moved across the 'room' to the table. He could tell it was moving even with his eyes closed. "So I'm stuck in this corner of our mind with all the things you don't like."

"Your wings are still broken," Apex said, frowning, "Why are your wings still broken?"

"I took your suffering. For later. So that we would be able to protect Null." The shadow glanced at him. "You lied."

"What? To who? I haven't lied!" Apex protested.

"You lied to me. To us." The shadow picked at the pile of splinters on the table, digging through until it found the one it was looking for. It gingerly placed the splinter on the destroyed statuette, completing a leg. "You said you'd let us experience the pain when we were safe. When Null was safe. We're safe now. But you aren't letting me out."

There was the sound of distant sobbing and pained screams, and Apex flinched and shied away. The entire space wobbled, distorting in strange and impossible ways before it settled back down.

"What was that?" Apex whispered.

"Us," The shadow answered listlessly, "Suffering. You just shoved it down here to ignore it. Even though it still hurts."

"I keep telling you, I'm fine!" Apex argued, "Yeah, it hurt, but I've already recovered! Because of convexity, or something."

"I keep telling you, but you won't listen!" The shadow slammed one paw on the table, disrupting the pile of splinters and causing its partially-completed project to collapse. "I fixed you! I took your pain, and your suffering, and your distress! I tucked it away so we could protect Null! And now you won't even follow through with the most basic agreement!"

"No. No. Cynder said that I was regenerating because of convexity-,"

"I am convexity!" The shadow screamed. After a moment it recoiled, looking away. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be angry at us. That just makes it worse. I am you. I am the part of you that convexity has separated."

"...So you're some kind of… convexity construct. Lingering in my brain and trying to influence my personality." Apex nodded in sudden understanding, his eyes widening. "That's what you are."

"No, I…" The shadow, the convexity construct hesitated. "No. That's… Maybe… No. No I'm Apex. I'm…"

"I'm Apex," Apex asserted, opening his eyes and standing. The shadow seemed so small now, shrinking in on itself. Its glowing white eyes looked anywhere but at him. "You're just… convexity."

"No, I'm… I'm…" It seemed on the verge of tears. "If I'm not… If I'm not Apex then who am I?"

"I don't know, and I don't really care." Apex shrugged. "You're… magic. Or something. You exist to help me protect Null and that's it."

"Why would you… why? We need to, we need to be in accord. We're the same person… we… aren't we? I take your pain until you're ready… but you just…" It looked at him suddenly, pleading, "You can't do this. Please. Please. Please…"

"You stay here, until I need you." Apex looked around, searching for the exit.

"You'll regret this," The shadow said ominously. There was hate in its words, anger and rage overflowing almost physically. "You keep doing this and I'm going to snap. I'm going to make sure you regret doing this to me. Piling all this pain on me like this, shoving your problems to my corner and ignoring them, it's going to come crashing down and when it does I'm going to make you wish you'd never ignored me."

"Good luck with that. I'm not letting you out for even a second longer than I have to," Apex said, scowling, "Keep telling yourself you're helping me, I think you're just trying to make me suffer."

"You lie with such confidence. Just like dear old Dolus."

"Do not ever compare me to Dolus-!"

The room rumbled again, wavering impossibly as everything within was contorted in impossible ways. The nothingness that made up the walls was replaced by a wobbly image of Null, backing away from stony creatures of earth and hunched shadow monsters. He was alone, frantically clawing at anything that got close. Null flickered in and out, barely even there as Apex watched. Sometimes there was nothing but a sense that something was missing, and sometimes he was there, intact and whole.

"What is this?" Apex asked.

"I don't… I don't know. It… it's not a memory. I don't remember this…" The shadow mumbled. "I can't even see him… I'm just… filling in the gaps…"

"Is this something that's going to happen?"

"...Yes?"

"When?"

"I don't know. Soon. We… we couldn't do this until now."

"I need to go, I need to save him. I have to protect Null. I have to-,"

O-O-O

"And-," Cynder continued, as if nothing was wrong.

"Null's in danger. I have to, I have to go." Apex scrambled to his feet, opening his eyes. "I have to get to him."

"Wait, calm down. What happened?" Cynder opened her eyes, tilting her head.

"I saw… I saw him. In danger. There were these things, these shadow-creatures and clay monsters. And they were surrounding Null and I have to-," Apex started towards the door, claws scrabbling on the floor in his haste.

"Apes and orcs…" Cynder drew in a sharp breath, then rose to her feet. "If your vision is true, we need to be swift."

"Please," Apex pleaded, "I can't let him get hurt."

The door slammed open, pulled by a gust of wind, and Cynder darted into the hall. She hovered on a gust of wind, maintaining her momentum through masterful manipulation of magic. She had a veil of shadows about her, transforming everything around her into an intangible state. She was a wraith of storms and darkness, a creature beyond mortal comprehension.

"Then follow me."

A/N:

Yes, I know it's called Dark Aether. In the older days of the fandom, people called it Convexity even though that was completely wrong. Convexity is actually the name of the last level of the first Legend of Spyro game. But to mirror the spread of misinformation in real life, most people in this story will refer to Dark Aether as Convexity. That does include Apex. As for how it actually works, well, I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions.

In other news, come read this story on AO3 instead. This accursed site has the worst chapter uploading process imaginable and it kills my formatting every time.