well well well..3 years, it's been awhile. Gotta say, I didn't think I'd ever come back here when I left, thought I left this part of my life behind. Now, you might be wondering what exactly I'm doing here, To tell you the truth...not sure, I just felt like I needed to come back here. Upon my return, it became clear to me that these stories of old that I have written back in the day...well, they sucked. Like, hardcore sucked. People may like them, but when I looked at them after being away for so long, I just cringe. I also noticed that I kind of made a lot of my stories convoluted as shit, they didn't make sense and this whole inter-connected storyline I was trying to go for was not great, like sure, I achieved it, but at the cost of the actual quality of the stories. Everything is too intertwined, and as the name of this story suggests, I am essentially cleaning the board. Restarting everything and creating more cohesive narratives and just better stories. Stories that will be unified in direction and kept in their own little corners, no more Multiverse shit, no more confusing plot points, and definitely no more of having to read every story just to understand everything else. Despite this desire to reset everything, I do still wish to send my old timeline out in style, hence this book. I shall be taking inspiration from a storyline known as Flashpoint, for those who don't know, it is a comic book run published by DC which involves the creation of a splinter timeline, and once the timeline is erased, a brand new one is created as a result. With all of that out of the way, we can begin our little tale. Please enjoy and of course, feedback is always appreciated.

Chapter 1: Prologue

Another day, another class.

That was the repetitive nature of Crystal's day, that was how it always was. Bland, boring, no substance, perhaps she could try to find some fun activity to pursue through her day, but it was futile. The black Dragoness was bound to be trapped in this cycle till the day she graduated the Skylanders Academy, much had changed since their expedition to Warfang and the discovery of the past life that her departed Uncle Spyro had been a part of. 7 years after that incident, her cousin Blaze had grown up, graduated, and became a fulltime Skylander alongside his lover, Flare. Now she, a 16 year old Dragoness, was left alone in the Academy as Blaze was never around anymore, unable to escape the dreariness that the place seemed to obtain. Crystal couldn't explain it, but ever since their trip to Warfang, something changed about the Academy, it had lost it's soul, at least to her, but she was prone to being mellow-dramatic at times.

Still, it felt unnatural, and she just wanted to graduate already and be rid of that place. Something told Crystal that it had something to do with the fact that her Uncle Spyro used to attend that school, which made his death feel fresh in her mind. She may not have been born when he died, but the fact that her Parents were literally the dark halves of both Spyro and Cynder given flesh meant that she could at times, feel the repressed emotions of depression that laid within Cynder as she had inherited the mental link that her parents shared with their counterparts, which served to always remind her of him despite the fact they never met. Crystal hated it, but she could never be rid of it. Suddenly her alarm went off, and the Dragoness knew that it was time to start her day as she quite literally rolled out of bed, falling onto the floor with an unceremonious thud.

"Ow..." Crystal grumbled as she stood up and brushed off her shoulders, inspecting her choker and wrist guards on her bedside table, next to the buzzing alarm which she was quick to deactivate. A closer inspection of the bedside table was the framed picture of her with her parents: Hope and Rhea, the dark twins of Spyro and Cynder, and there she was in the middle of them. Crystal picked up the frame briefly, admiring her younger more energetic self, how did she do it? How was she so optimistic in this photo? Perhaps it was because she was only 10 when the photo was taken, maybe she even faked it, who knew? But it made Crystal envious of herself. She set down the picture and turned to look at her archaic yet organized room, it was small and comfy, on the wall opposite of her bed, there was a large bookcase which was sparsely populated with any items, as much of the books that used to reside there were children's stories. Adjacent to the bed was a window at the end of her room with curtains currently blocking out the light of the sun, with a coffee table just underneath it that was used for quite literally anything but coffee as it was covered with textbooks. Next to this window, just in front of the end of the bed was a desk with unfinished notes on a lecture and a desk lamp, along with pencils which were either strewn about the desk or inside of an empty mug.

"Even my room is depressing these days.." Crystal sighed to herself as she noticed that her ceiling light was off and gave the room a rather dull color, which didn't help since her walls were already painted grey. The Dragoness finally turned around and grabbed ahold of her choker, which was gold and had engravings of a strange looking Dragon without wings which wrapped around the metal. She fastened it to her neck before sliding on her bracelets, feeling satisfied as she looked back at her scythe-tipped tail blade which twirled around in response to her feeling. Crystal then grabbed her bag and stuffed it with the textbooks she would need for the day before finally leaving her room, as she walked down the hall from her room, she passed the bedroom of her parents as well as her bathroom before descending down the stairs to the main floor, where she was greeted by the enticing smells of bacon, sausages, and eggs..chicken eggs, of course. Crystal peered over to see her mother, Rhea, hard at work at the stove as she was essentially cooking three things at once, using the separate stoves to her advantage as she kept a keen eye on all of the food.

"Morning, Mom." Crystal said plainly as she rubbed her eyes, prompting Rhea to turn back and smile at her daughter.

"Good morning, dear, how'd you sleep?" Her question was met with a light shrug from Crystal.

"Eh, same old, can't really have new experiences with sleeping." She replied as her mother turned back and lifted the pan with the sausages off of the stove, before sitting on her haunches and using a spatula to lightly roll the sausages off the pan and onto a small plate which rested upon the island counter in the middle of the kitchen. Crystal reached out her arm to grab one but her paw was smacked away by Rhea as she wiggled her finger at her daughter.

"Nah uh, patience is a virtue, sweetie." She told her as she turned back around to finish the rest of breakfast, leaving Crystal to feel her paw gently while Rhea removed the bacon from the pan as well and placed it on a separate plate. Finally she tended to the eggs and set them in a larger glass bowl, Rhea turned off the stove and set the pans in the sink before reaching for an overhead cupboard, grabbing three plates and pulling them out.

"Why do you need the extra?" Crystal asked as Rhea handed her a plate to grab some food.

"You know how your father is, the moment he smells this, he'll be out of bed in a heartbeat." As her mother said this, a loud thump could be heard right above them, causing both of them to snicker. "Right on cue." After saying this, the faint sound of a door opening caught their ear as soon after Hope emerged from upstairs, groggy and very much being led by his stomach.

"Something smells really good." The black dragon licked his lips as Rhea giggled, already holding a plate that was prepared for her mate as she held it out for him to take.

"Morning, sleepy-head." She smiled as Hope grabbed onto the plate gently and was also given some utensils for which he could use to eat his breakfast.

"Thank you, my dear." Hope walked over to Rhea and gave her a kiss on the cheek, causing Crystal to cringe.

"Bleh! I'm right here, Dad." She stated as both her parents looked at her.

"Hasn't stopped me yet, sweetheart." He wittily replied before carrying his plate over to the living room while Crystal sighed and served herself up, scooping up a considerable amount of scrambled eggs, along with a strip of bacon and two sausages. She then went towards the fridge, opening it to grab herself some milk as she reached for a large quart glass of the liquid. Crystal pulled it out and removed the top before grabbing a glass from another cupboard above, and poured some of the milk into the glass before placing the top back on and returning it to the fridge. The black Dragoness sat at the isle countertop, and was instinctively angsting without realizing it, Rhea noticed this and walked over to her daughter as she silently ate her meal.

"Crystal, honey, is something wrong?" She asked and placed a gentle paw on her daughter's shoulder.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Crystal responded with her own question as Rhea didn't buy her answer.

"You're brooding again. I've raised you for 16 years, I know when something's wrong, just talk to me, dear, what's troubling you?" She said compassionately, there was no hint of judgement or malicious intent in her words, Crystal soon gave in.

"I really don't wanna go to school today.." She admitted.

"How come?"

"It just...feels dead when I go there. I know it's been 14 years but...the fact that my Uncle used to go to the Academy just..I don't know, makes me feel on edge and whatnot." Crystal explained as Rhea smiled compassionately at her.

"I understand how you're feeling, sweetie." Her reply surprised Crystal as she looked up at her mother.

"Really?" She asked as Rhea nodded.

"I understand you've inherited the mental link I have with Cynder, not a day goes by where I don't feel her pain. As someone who is familiar with such negativity, I have the benefit of knowing how to deal with those emotions...but I can't imagine the toll it's taking on you, dear, you're only 16, you're still dealing with emotions you don't even fully understand yet." Rhea's understanding of how Crystal was feeling reassured her as she smiled wearily at her mother.

"It just feels hard sometimes, y'know? Ever since Blaze left to be a Skylander, being alone is...difficult, especially when people still pick on me for being your daughter...Add in how I can feel Cynder's pain and I just...it's really hard to get out of bed some days." She responded as Rhea felt a tug at her heartstrings, her daughter didn't deserve this burden.

"I know how you feel, sweetheart, I just wish there was a way I could help you more than with just words. Even if I teach you how to better control your mental link, it wouldn't stop the negative emotions from flowing." Rhea looked down to the ground sadly, there truly was no way for Crystal to ever be rid of Cynder's depression, and it would most likely haunt her daughter for the rest of her life.

"The fact you're trying is a lot in of itself." Crystal leaned into her mother's chest as she felt Rhea's wing drape over her.

"Despite everything, I hope you know that your father and I will always be here for you when you need us, we're family, that's one of the strongest kinds of bonds." She smiled and lightly kissed Crystal's forehead, making her smile as she leaned away again. "Unfortunately, though, you still have to go to school, Master Eon wouldn't be too keen on getting a third call within the month about how 'terrible' your chest cold is." Rhea informed her as the younger Dragoness nodded wearily, having finished her breakfast as she pushed the plate aside and stood up to get her lunch from the fridge. After retrieving it, Crystal walked towards the front door and opened it.

"Sweetie, I want you to fly safe, okay? You've heard about those Doom Raiders on the news I'm sure, how they're ramping up activity in the Skylands." Rhea requested to her daughter as she nodded.

"I'll do my best, Mom, I won't talk to strangers and I definitely don't intend on getting in any strange vans." Crystal jokingly added in the last part as her mother walked up to her, giving her a light kiss on the forehead.

"Try your best to have a good day, Crystal, and you know what they say: fake it till you make it." Rhea cupped the younger Dragoness's face in her paws gently before letting go and allowing Crystal to turn and walk out of the door. She placed the lunch bag in her backpack before securing it around her back, shaking herself around to make sure it was secure before spreading her wings and taking to the skies, charging forward through the air. Despite the negativity she felt, Crystal couldn't deny that the Skylands were beautiful, there was almost always a sunny sky in some corner of the infinite blue abyss as she took a brief moment to relish the warmth that graced her scales, and the wind which blew in her face. Crystal twirled through the air as she flew through the few present clouds that were within the air, it was in a sense quite therapeutic for the young Dragoness as, briefly allowing herself to let go of the many conflicting emotions within her as she spun around in circles, even letting out a brief laugh of giddiness as she sped forward happily, charging past the smaller islands gracefully. Hope had taught her many little tricks when it came to flying, there were times when Crystal felt as though perhaps she was one of the best fliers in the Skylands. No one else could do what she did in her aerial training class, on the contrary, her elemental training was not as progressive as it hoped she would be.

Crystal's existence was a perplexing one, as her parents were the dark halves of Spyro and Cynder, that meant that their abilities were...strange, Hope was more simple to understand, he simply had Spyro's four base elements as well as a strange variation of Aether. Rhea was more complicated, she seemed to possess dark versions of Cynder's powers, and an odder ability that only she possessed, while Cynder had her unique electricity breath, Rhea possessed some kind of vampiric energy drain which she only recently discovered thanks to experimenting with her powers alongside Flame in the Colosseum. All of this pointed to the fact that Crystal's powers, if she even had any, were a complete enigma, the only power she ever used was Dark Fire, but that was one time when she was little, and it came out as a result of an emotional outburst when Blaze had been threatened. This was the one instance in which any power she had was used for anything, and it hadn't appeared since, her strangely innate powers made her one of the few Skylander cadets which had been placed into an unclassified bracket. No element was suited for her, and Master Eon had placed her inside of every element to try and unlock her powers: Air, Earth, Dark, Fire, Life, Light, Magic, Tech, Undead, and Water.

Nothing worked, and as such, it gave the other cadets even more reason to make fun of her, which further isolated her from many of her peers. As she found herself further contemplating her lack of abilities, Crystal caught sight of the familiar building that was Skylanders Academy, and sighed as she realized that now she really did have to start her day. The Dragoness flapped her wings and began to glide down towards the island, eager to get this over with.

And there you have it, the first entry in a brand new story. Gotta say, feels weird but good to be back, I do hope you'll be willing to stick around for where this goes, I promise you, this isn't like anything you've ever seen from me before..well, that might not be true. It's more like nothing you've seen from my modern style of writing. Anyways, ciao for now!