Chapter 6

The vanguards could not believe that they stood in the remains of the city that Leon had grown up in. "How is this possible?" Spyro asked.

"Over two thousand years of shifting rocks buried it under the mountain." Leon said.

"It must've been beautiful." Athena said.

"It was." Leon said, sadly

"Are you going to be okay?" Cynder asked.

Leon took a deep breath before saying, "You know…it's almost funny…I've traveled throughout Avalar…living in constant suffering…trying to keep a distance from my past…and in the end…I still came full circle."

"It's hard to believe, isn't it?" Athena asked.

Leon nodded, "But what you believe and what's reality are two separate things…I understand now that you can't run from your past." Leon took a moment to stare at the dark crystal encrusted buildings before him.

"Should we give you a minute?" Spyro asked.

"No…it's not going to get any easier." Leon stated. Spyro nodded and Leon began to lead the vanguards through the petrified remains of the city. With each step Leon felt as if his legs were about to give out.

As the vanguards made their way deeper into the city, Crystal gasped, "What are those?"

The vanguards looked over to see the ghostly purple image of a young woman, who did not seem to notice the vanguards as she walked by. "It's the crystals." Leon explained, "They're using my memories to project these phantoms." Another two phantom humans walked across the street in front of the vanguards. "Don't be afraid of them."

"We're not." Twitch stated.

"I was talking to myself." Leon said, "Let's keep going."

As the vanguards continued down the street they saw more of the phantoms that inhabited the city. Children played in the streets as if nothing was wrong, men and woman walked hand in hand beside them. The city was as lively as it would have been two thousand years ago. Eventually the vanguards turned a corner and their eyes were drawn to the huge white tower that stood watch over the city. They came to a plaza where they noticed four very large dark crystals that seemed to be set in a square shape. The vanguards passed the first two crystals, but when they got to the last two, the crystals created a wall of convexity that surrounded them. "What's going on?" Flare asked as he got into a defensive position.

"I had to keep this place protected." Leon explained. "Stay calm." The vanguards watched as a purple haze rose from the ground and took the shape of Leon's parents. Leon looked straight at them and said in a calm voice, "Thine wayward son returneth home."

Leon's father nodded solemnly before saying in a kind voice "May the sun light your path."

The two entities vanished along with the convexity barriers, that blocked their path to the white tower, "How did the orcs make it through here." Flare asked.

"You really think I would let them defile this place?" Leon asked, "I made them find their own way up the mountains."

"Good call." Twitch stated.

The group continued through the plaza, and ascended the marble steps to the tower. They stopped directly in front of the tower and Leon turned to them, "I would suggest that you keep your forward and do not look down." He stated.

The dragons wondered what the purpose of his statement was, but they didn't question him. Leon pushed open the large doors and the vanguards laid eyes on a floor that was completely made of dark crystal. Leon began leading across the crystalline floor towards the circular stone door that had previously saved Leon from suffering the same fate as the rest of his people. Athena found her curiosity growing by the minute. Her mental strength failed her and her eyes fell to her feet, and the became wide as saucers "Dear god…" She gaped.

Her statement caused the other vanguards to turn to the floor as well and they found themselves frozen in place. Men, women, and children of Leon's race lay under the crystal in three circles, with one male and female set in the center. Their bodies had been preserved by their crystal grave. Cynder took a closer look at the two humans in the center, and she realized whom they were, "These are your parents." She said, turning to Leon.

Leon kept his eyes forward to avoid looking at his parents, but, no matter how hard he fought it, he could not stop the tears from dripping down his face, "I…I couldn't just leave them to be eaten by birds…they deserved better…they all did." He felt a mixture of feelings well up inside him; Greif, anger, but mostly a great sense of failure.

He then felt Athena's warm paw on his shoulder, "You did the best you could for them." She said, sympathetically. Leon reached up and placed his hand on top of hers. He then proceeded to lead the vanguards up the small set of stairs before turning right and ascending another set of stairs. After about five minutes of walking, they came to the second floor. This floor featured an open room with what seemed to be a stage set at the far end. Several dark crystals protruded from the ground and cast their purple light over the floor

"The ball room." Leon explained, "Many joyous occasions were held here; war victories, weddings, or just a general celebration for no reason other than life being too short." Leon said before adding in a sad tone, "Sometimes shorter than we think." As he spoke, a purple mist flowed from the dark crystals.

"Whoa." Flare said as the mist formed into humans that either conversed with each other or danced with their female counterparts to an unheard melody. While they stared at the scene, Cynder's eyes fell upon a particular phantom that resembled her father, conversing with five other humans.

Leon followed her gaze, "That was my band…and my best friends; Xander was always the hard headed one…even worse than me; Arthur was always the shy one…never saying more than a few words at a time," Leon came to the third human, and let out a small choked chuckle, "Rios, on the other hand, was a hard man to shut up; Jonathan…always getting himself into the worst possible situations…He once got himself stuck in the side of a cliff because he saw something shiny and he thought it was treasure…turned out, it was just the light reflecting off a puddle that was in the cave; and Dominic...probably the most level headed of us all…whenever there was a fight between us he would normally be the one to calm us down." Leon then sighed deeply, "He went to Clarence with Sierra…and he made a promise to me that he would protect her…or die trying…he always kept his promises." The vanguards watched as another phantom that resembled Sierra tapped the shoulder of Leon's phantom. They had a conversation that the vanguards could not hear before Sierra took Leon by the hand and dragged him to the dance floor. Athena felt uncomfortable as she watched her newfound love begin to dance with another female. Even if it was over two thousand years ago, she could not help but feel jealous. Leon watched as one of his happiest memories was replayed before him, but he found that he could not bear to watch much more. "Come." Leon then led them up another set of stairs. The stairs ended at a hallway with two doors, Leon stopped at the one on the right. He reached out and hesitantly pushed the door open with a loud creak. The vanguards peaked inside where they found a very elegant bedchamber. "This…was my room."

The vanguards marveled at the sheer size if the bedchamber. It was big enough to fit several large dragons comfortably. "Wow...I don't think that even the council has bedchambers this big." Twitch stated.

"We can stay here for the night." Leon said.

"Wait...here?" Crystal asked, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure it's the safest place to rest…and that's all that matters at this point."

"Well, if you're okay with it." Spyro said.

"Um…a-are you sure that we'll be safe." Twitch asked, convulsing slightly.

"What's wrong with you?" Zephyr asked.

"Well…this place…it's a graveyard."

"You're not afraid of ghosts, are you?" Sparx asked.

"You're damn right I am."

"Aw, don't worry, I'll protect you." Zephyr said, earning a glare from her mate.

"There aren't any spirits here," Leon said, "but I'll sleep by the door if it makes you feel better."

"Yeah…okay." Twitch said.

"Nice bed." Fang said as he stared at the mattress that was surrounded by a wooden frame and tattered curtains.

"I never spent more than four hours at a time in that bed." Leon stated, "Other important matters always called my attention."

"Was it comfortable?" Twitch asked.

"It was…but don't even think about it."

"What?"

"You know what." Leon said, "You and Zephyr would probably catch something on that thing."

"What makes you think that I-"?

"Oh come on, Twitch," Zephyr interrupted, "we all know you too well to know what's going through your head."

"Well…yeah, okay."

"But if you think I'm going to do something like that here, than you must be ill in the head."

"Okay let's get to sleep before Twitch has anymore ideas." Cynder said.

"Good idea." Spyro stated, "We still have to see how far away the bridge is from here."

The vanguards nodded before picking their spots and lying down. Leon took a look out of the window at the place that had made him what he was before lying down next to the door. Athena lay next to him and she wrapped her arms around his torso. "You made it through." She stated.

"Only with the help of you and Cynder." Leon stated, "Thank you…for everything."

"Anything for you." Athena stated before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Athena heard the sound of crackling fire and she opened her eyes to find that she was in no longer beside her lover, but instead in the middle of a street with smoldering buildings all around her, "Is this…Warfang?" She asked herself, "What the hell is going on?"

"This isn't Warfang." A familiar voice said from behind her. Athena turned to see some one that resembled Leon, except his irises were crimson and he glowed with a white aura.

Athena narrowed his eyes at the entity, "You…you're the one who helped us before."

"Indeed."

"Where are we?"

"We are in Leon's mind…well…Leon's mind as Sin would have it."

"So…who are you?"

"Hmm…" the entity thought for a moment, "for the time being, you may call me Abel."

"Well then…Abel, what's going on?"

Abel took in a deep breath, "Sin and I were born through Leon's dark crystal experiments…Sin was born of his hatred…and I was born of his kindness."

"So…you're his conscience?"

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it." Abel stated, "In any case, Sin and I both agreed that choosing to lay dormant until the day that Leon would require our assistance would be the best option."

"You mean you actually reasoned with that evil monster?" Athena asked in a confused tone.

"Good and evil depends on your point of view." Abel explained, "Do you truly believe that Malefore or the orcs consider themselves evil?"

"I…guess not."

"And a good number of dragons consider your new love to be evil, do they not?"

"Yes, but that's just…"

"Their point of view?"

"I…guess I see your point."

"Well, continuing on...After a while, Sin became…edgy…to say the least…and, eventually, he formulated the idea that we were destined to help Leon ascend and become a 'god'." Abel shook his head shamefully, "He wanted me to assist him, and when I declined, he called me weak and said that there was no place for someone like me in Leon's mind."

"So, what happened?"

"We fought…but quickly found that we were too equally matched…our battle would have killed Leon had I stopped the attack…Sin took my faltering strength to his advantage, and I was sealed in the darkest part of Leon's mind…a place of pure pain and misery."

"I see…and how did you escape?"

"Something happened…something that Sin did not expect."

"What was that?"

"Leon fell in love…again." Abel stated. Athena was slightly taken aback, "You see…in the end…you and Cynder have turned out to be his saving grace…but that does not mean that Leon is safe yet."

"How do I protect him?"

"You must-"

"So, you're calling yourself 'Abel'?" A warped voice cut Abel off. Abel and Athena looked towards one of the rooftops to find Sin perched there with his nine dark dragons. "A perfect name for a perfect weakling."

Abel quickly turned to Athena, "I am sorry, but it seems our time has been cut short." Athena's eyes widened in surprise she was blinded by bright light just before her world went dark.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa, and last, but certainly not least, a happy New Year.