I sighed and rested my head against the wall. The trial would be held soon... and what was I going to say? I wasn't even completely sure what had happened. The evidence was pointing against me, but no... I couldn't have... They weren't even trying me as a child, either, which only would make it worse if I was guilty...

A child doesn't murder fifty people... I thought to myself. I furrowed my brow.

I looked up as I heard several footsteps. A few moments later, the three Guardians came into view. I couldn't make out any emotion on their faces, so at the very least they probably weren't going to yell at me.

I stood up and walked up to the bars of the cell. "What is it? Why are you here?" I asked in confusion. I hadn't had any visitors... not even Spyro or Sparx. Yet the Guardians came...?

"I want to know... we all want to know... What happened out there?" Terrador asked.

"What I know of you and your behavior certainly doesn't match the mindset of most people who commit a crime as serious as this one," Volteer said.

"Did you really...?" Cyril trailed off.

Can I even answer that question? I thought.

"No... no." I shook my head. "I-I don't know."

"It just doesn't make sense," Cyril said, more to the other Guardians than to me.

"You're right. I'm confused as well. I don't feel like a killer. Not that it matters anymore." I laughed, but the laugh was forced and frightened. "All I can say is that I don't feel like I did it. I don't think did it. I don't know I didn't do it, but I feel I'm innocent."

"If what you say is true," Terrador said, "then I'll do everything I can to help you."

"As will I," Cyril said.

Volteer merely nodded reassuringly.

"Thanks... I really do appreciate it. But I don't think there's much else that can be done." I retreated to the back of my cell to wait.

Two hours later, a guard came to the cell and led me to the trial room. Spyro, Volteer, Cyril, Terrador, the jury, and a small group of people I didn't recognize were here, along with the guards who stood on either side of the door. I was led to the front of the room, where the jury was sitting in an orderly line. There were seven dragons making it up.

"Crystal, you've been charged with fifty-three counts of murder in the first degree, thirty-seven counts of arson, and two counts of assault. How do you plead?" a male juror asked.

I paused. Should I just give up? No... I couldn't. I had to try. "Not guilty."

There was a short pause, before one of the jurors asked, "Where were you on the night the crime took place?"

"Altonfield."

"So you admit to being in the town the crime was committed?"

"Yes."

"Why were you there?" Another juror spoke up, this time a female.

"I was passing through on my way to Warfang."

The juror stared at me. "I call on Spyro," she said.

Spyro stood up and awkwardly made his voice over and sat down a few feet away from me.

"I understand you and your sister have some sort of special connection? Specifically, something that prevents you from going far apart from each other?"

"Yes."

"Where were you on the night the crime was committed?"

"Well... near Saifae, in the Swamp..." Spyro said.

"How is it that you were far away from each other? Why didn't you accompany your sister on her journey to Warfang?"

"I was needed at Saifae for the time being, and Crystal was the only one who was able and willing to go. The connection doesn't prevent us from going far away from each other, it just... tries to prevent us."

"I see... you may go back."

He went back.

Another juror turned to me. "Crystal, what exactly happened when you arrived at Altonfield?"

"Well, I had stopped to travel on foot about an hour before, so I wasn't flying when I came to the town. All I remember is walking along the road, and then everything went black. I'm not sure if I fainted or something hit me, or what happened. When I woke up..." I hesitated. "The city was burning, and all of the occupants were dead. And that's it."

"So you claim you have amnesia?" a juror asked.

"Yes. I can't remember what happened."

"What a coincidence..." the female juror said in a tone that stated that she didn't believe a word I was saying. "I call on Kori."

I looked around and spotted a male ice dragon. He met my gaze with a... well... icy glare. The dragon, apparently Kori, was such a light blue that he was nearly white. He had four horns, two small, of the same strange color. His eyes were steel blue and unusually large, giving him a childlike air.

"Kori, where were you on the night the crime was committed?" yet another juror asked.

"I was in my home in Altonfield."

"Do you live alone?"

"Yes."

"Tell me, what happened after Crystal arrived?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure what happened when she first started her rampage, but I heard an explosion and went out. That... that demon was killing off everybody and setting the town on fire! Luckily, I managed to get away, along with these other four before she could slaughter us."

"I did no such thing!" I exclaimed, glaring at Kori.

"An investigator found traces that the element of convexity was used to kill some of the people residing in Altonfield," a juror said, turning to me. "Is convexity not an element that can only be wielded by purple dragons?"

"That's not true. There are special cases where a normal dragon can use that element."

"Like Cynder, for instance? She cannot breathe the four elements—your elements—that were used to kill, and there are no other dragons known to us."

As the trial progressed and each dragon told their story, it began to dawn on me. It wasn't long before I couldn't push the thought away. There was no way to deny it. All the evidence pointed to it, while I had no evidence to support my own claim.

I was guilty.

I continued to fight, though. I still clung to a shred of hope. Maybe I still had a chance.

Finally, after an hour, the trial was over and it was time for the jury to decide whether I was guilty or not. I was forced into the back of the room with the others, so I wouldn't hear the conversation.

I was very uncomfortable. All eyes were on me as I sat with my head low, as frantic thoughts raced through my mind.

"We've made our decision." The female juror rose and stepped forward. Her face was grave. "For the charge of fifty-three counts of murder in the first degree, we find the defendant not guilty. However," she said, making me stop in the middle of my sigh of relief, "we have concluded that the defendant had committed those murders in the second degree, and for that, we find her guilty."

"For the charge of thirty-seven counts of arson, we find the defendant guilty," another juror said.

"For the charges of two counts of assault, we find the defendant not guilty," yet another one said.

My previously relieved look was now crestfallen. My hopes were draining fast.

"We were previously going to sentence Crystal to exile, but we remember what happened with Malefor," the female juror said, glancing at me. "We sentence the defendant to life in the prison Barrin's Keep."

"No..." The word escaped my throat before I could stop it. Kori and his group looked visibly displeased, but they kept their silence.

"This meeting is adjourned."

A half an hour later, I was back in my cell. My transporting to Barrin's Keep was pending and I would be leaving in less than an hour.

I heard the Guardians' footsteps and a few moments later, they came into view. I lowered my head and made no move to move to the front of the cage.

"I'm sorry. We tried to reason with them, but they wouldn't listen. We've done everything we can," Terrador said.

"You're sorry? I'm the one who should be sorry. I failed you. I failed everyone," I said.

"Despite what they say, I certainly don't believe you murdered anybody," Cyril said.

"Yeah, well, believe it. I wasn't lying when I said I didn't remember what happened, but what they say I did was the only thing that could have happened. And even if that's not the case, it doesn't matter. I'm going to spend the rest of my life in prison." I sighed. "You should go. Goodbye... and thank you for trying. It means everything to me."

The Guardians exchanged glances before turning and heading out of the room.

I didn't have peace for very long. Spyro walked in a few minutes later, but unlike the Guardians, he was in no way calm. I could feel the anger radiating off him.

"How could you?" Spyro demanded immediately.

"What?" I asked, taken aback. Spyro was almost never angry. Spyro was always calm and collected, but now he was enraged.

"How could you kill all of those people? Do you know what you did?"

"No. I have amnesia, remember?" I asked, recollecting my senses.

"You're lying!"

"I'm not lying!"

"Why do you keep fighting this? It wouldn't be so bad if you just admitted you're lying!"

"I'd never lie! I'd never do something like this! I haven't changed; I'm still your sister!"

"Are you? I don't think you are anymore. My sister wouldn't do anything like this. You're a monster, not Crystal. You deserve what you're getting." Before I could say anything else, Spyro promptly turned and left the room.

I awoke from my flashback dream, only to find that I was back in my cell. I sighed deeply. Spyro didn't feel like that anymore, at least, but it didn't help to know he had felt that way.

"What have I done?" I asked aloud.

"Because I know you. And your heart would not allow it. Because I believe you are destined for great things..."

I'm not sure why the voice came, but the words that had once calmed my fears filled me with anger.

"Great things, huh?" I muttered. "I guess you didn't know me that well, Ignitus."

A few seconds passed. As expected, I didn't get an answer. I stood to my feet. "You were wrong! Why did you lie to me? ! Why did you tell me that? !"

The guards outside the door ignored me. Screaming was common among the prisoners. As I was quieting down, four staccato taps came from the left wall. I walked over and pushed the rock in.

"Hey, what's the problem?" Jayred whispered.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Yeah, that explains why you're screaming. What's wrong?"

"I just had a bad dream. About the trial," I mumbled.

"What was all that yelling at the end?"

"Nothing, nothing. It doesn't matter... anymore. Just never—" I gasped as the door swung open. Sure I was dead, I whirled around.

Spyro and Sparx were there. I breathed a sigh of relief at seeing them. "Has it been three years already?" I glanced at the marks I had scratched into the wall—tiny lines, to help keep days—and smacked myself when I saw what the date was.

"Yeah. That restriction they placed is so stupid." Sparx rolled his eyes as Spyro closed the door.

"Agreed. Three years is a little much..." I said, secretly worrying. I hoped they hadn't heard my outburst.

"How have you been holding up?" Spyro asked, sitting down.

"A little worse than usual... the guards get meaner every day. But I'm alright," I said.

"Is that Spyro and Sparx?" Jayred asked.

"Yup," I answered.

"What about you, Jayred? How have you been?" Spyro asked.

"What Crystal said."

"Oh, don't mind him. Days around here are just boring."

"How bad is it around here? Not counting the smell, anyway," Sparx said.

"Bad. We're only allowed to go outside twice a year—"

"What?" Spyro asked, appalled.

"...The guards practically torture us, there's nothing to do, and... well, no matter, it isn't really that bad. You get used to it after a while."

Both Spyro and Sparx were staring at me now.

"Really, I mean it! After a while... never mind. How are Mom and Dad?"