Lila had never been an early riser. If she didn't have to get up for school, the purple dragon would be happy to sleep until two or three in the afternoon. But that morning was different. The anxiety of the move had slowly worn off and, while she still missed the Temple, by the second day of the voyage Lila was more than ready explore her new home. She was awake with the sun. Suishou and the girl they were rooming with were still asleep, so the purple dragoness carefully crept from the cabin, and up onto the deck.

The sun was just starting its daily climb, bathing the world in crimson. Lila stood in awe; the airship was passing near to the Floating Isles. Chunks of land, suspended in air, surrounded the vessel. To the starboard side, one the size of a small town drifted lazily by. On it sat the mossy ruins of an ancient dragon temple. The same temple Spyro had been trained in. The purple dragon felt a chill run down her spine. She was finally doing it. She was finally exploring the world.

For some fleeting, ethereal moment, Lila stood alone on the deck of the airship, watching as the evidence of that long ago finished battle drifted by. And that's when she saw it. A small chunk of land, perhaps blown by the wind, or moved by the wild mana keeping these isles afloat, shifted, revealing somewhere in the distance, the city. Volans.

The angle of the sunrise bathed the floating city in light, causing it to appear as if made of gold. It was as if she had caught a glimpse of one of the mythical cities of old, built by the Ancestors with precious gemstones, and mana incarnate. But this was no myth. This was the capital she'd read about for so long. Volans truly was as magnificent as she had been told.

All the trepidation that the purple dragon had clung to throughout the voyage, melted in an instant. She was ecstatic. Ready to explore, ready to learn, ready to see what wonders this new home held. She was half tempted to dive off the front of the ship, and fly to the city herself. She knew she would be scolded, called reckless by Terrla, perhaps even grounded by Kopaka, but Lila couldn't wait.

Lila moved towards the bow of the airship, when she heard paws clicking against the deck behind her. The purple dragon turned, and found herself face to face with Suishou. The blue scaled dragoness grinned, "I thought I'd find you up here," Then she craned her neck, looking at the city in the distance, "There it is. The hellhole in the flesh," She let out a sardonic chuckle.

"It's beautiful," Lila said quietly, turning to follow her friend's gaze.

"You get used to it," Suishou said.

They were silent a moment. Lila quickly glanced around to make sure they were the only two on deck. They were. "Y'know," she said, "I was about to fly there myself."

"Good gods, why would you do that to yourself? You'll be sick of the place soon enough."

"Yeah? Well, I guess I'm just excited. Y'know, first time visiting and all."

Suishou shrugged, "Guess I can't blame you," she smiled a little, "Now what ever happened to that homesickness you were whining about."

"Shut up," Lila chuckled, shoving the ice dragoness lightly.

The ice dragoness shoved back, "You shut up."

"So," Lila said, suddenly very serious, "Are you going to come with me?"

"You're still flying there?"

Lila grinned.

"We'll be scolded."

"You say that like I hadn't realised."

Suishou grinned too, "Sounds like fun."

"Race you there."

"You're on."

With that the two young dragons darted towards the taffrail, and dove off the side of the ship. Lila spread her wings, and caught a the same draft the airship was floating on. She beat hard, and shot forwards like an arrow. Suishou wasn't far behind, the purple dragon could hear her friend's wings beating mere inches behind.

The two dragons tore ahead of the airship, as if being pursued by Malefore himself. The wind sung in their ears, and the cold morning air bit at their faces. But neither slowed. Neither was willing to lose this game.

It only took a moment for the two to have reached the floating isles that lay between them and the city. A chunk of earth, on top of which was perched the statue of a long passed Guardian, stood between the two racing dragons, and their goal. Suishou shot upwards, on a draft originating somewhere far bellow. Lila on the other hand, tucked her wings to her torso, and fell into a sharp dive, hoping that gravity would give her that little bit of speed she needed to stay ahead.

The singing wind turned into a howl. She couldn't hear anything, but the screeching. Bits of loose dirt falling from the flying island above pelted the purple dragon's face. It stung, but Lila refused to slow. She was going to win.

After a second, the browns and grays above the purple dragon's head were replaced once again by the blue sky. She was just about to spread her wings, to kick forwards, when Lila saw something out of the corner of her eye. Something moving towards her. She turned her head, and saw a small chunk of land drifting towards her. She tried to bank left to avoid it, but she moved just a split second too late. She didn't even have a chance to curse.

The purple dragon crashed into the island at full speed. It felt like a cannonball had hit her in the chest, and broken everything. She bounced off the small piece of land, tumbling head over heels towards the ground. She couldn't breath. Her lungs had been crushed by the impact. She tried to slow her fall. Her left wing wouldn't move. She still couldn't breath. Everything hurt. It hurt so fucking bad. She couldn't cry. She couldn't scream. The sounds wouldn't come to her. Warm streams of liquid ran from her eyes, and across her face. She couldn't tell it was tears or blood.

For about three seconds she was unable to do anything but fall. The world slowly drifted, further and further away. The purple dragon felt almost like she was in a dream. A horrible, vile dream, but a dream nonetheless. After a moment she forgot where she was, or what she was doing. Lila couldn't figure out why she was falling, or why she hurt.

And then the world drifted away, leaving Lila alone.

She felt herself falling, but she wasn't in pain any more. That was a relief. Though, Lila figured that must mean she had died. Or the adrainline had done its job very, very well. If that were the case she'd dead in just a moment anyways. So, at least for the present time, it didn't really matter too much to the poor dragon whether she had died or not.

It occured to Lila after a moment, that this was very strange train of thought. If she were dead again, she should be mentally preparing herself to talk to this voice that had greeted her last time. If she were about to die, well, she should probably be doing the same thing.

It also occured to the purple dragon that she was strangely calm. She'd come back from the dead once, yes, but there was nothing guaranteeing that it would happen again. What if it was permanent this time? What if she'd actually died from something so stupid?

And then another thing occurred to Lila. She didn't have her eyes open. One peak is all she would need to know whether or not she was dead again. Purple eyes fluttered open, and were greeted by a meaningless swirl of color. Just like when she had died before.

Then, in that instant, Lila was no longer falling. She found herself standing in the same white void as before. She glanced around. There was nothing to be seen. No land mark in any direction. She wasn't casting a shadow, and there was no visible source of light. It was just like last time.

"H-hello?" she stuttered.

"You really aren't the brightest dragon around, are you?" It was the same disembodied voice as last time. Mortis, if she recalled correctly

"Well I... I didn't know that was going to happen!"

Mortis sighed, "Just learn to be careful. We might not be able to keep your soul here, but it's still a hell of job to put your body back together when this happens."

Lila was silent a moment. How could one sentence raise so many questions? Finally she chose one to voice, "So, I'm coming back to life again?"

"Yes, yes. You really need to work on your pattern recognition, little one."

This time Lila knew exactly how to respond, "This is only the second time this has happened! How the hell am I supposed to know how it all works by now?"

"We don't expect you to have it all figured out by now! We, the smart ones around here, haven't even figured it out. But the fact that you're not staying dead is obvious. We'd figured that out before you'd even died the first time!"

"Well excuse me for not being some all knowing god... thing. What the hell even are you?"

"Oh my gods, are you all this annoying!? How does Montenegra put up with you mortals all the time? And no, we're not gods, as much as we may seem it to your kind."

Again, Lila had more questions than she knew how to ask, but she decided on, "Who's Montenegra?"

"That would be me, sweety," A second voice came from nowhere. It was the female voice from last time.

"Oh thank the gods you're back," Mortis said impatiently, "Now we can get rid of the brat-"

"Now you wait just a moment," Montenegra snapped back, "I need to talk to her. If you send her back too soon like you did last time, I swear, I'll have you reported."

"Fine..."

The female voice sighed, "Well, welcome back, Lila."

"Uh... Hi?"

Montenegra chuckled at the purple dragon's confusion, "As you've probably surmised, this is the afterlife. Or at least the gate to the afterlife. I am... a gatekeeper of sorts. You mortals would probably call me "Death". It's my job to guide souls from your realm into the next. But... Something is blocking your soul from moving through this gate. We're still unsure what exactly that something is, but Mortis, my uh... colleague, shall we say, has joined me in researching just that. Do you follow me so far?"

Lila blinked, "...What?"

"Oh my gods!" Mortis groaned, "Not even the last purple dragon was this dumb!"

"Would you kindly shut your mouth," Montenegra said in a cold tone, "No one here asked for your input."

"So..." Lila piped up, hoping that she could distract the two from their fighting, and perhaps get a few answers, "I'm dead, but you can't keep me here for some reason, so you rebuilt my body in the real world. And this is the same thing that happened last time I died. Is that... right?"

"Yes. That is accurate," Montanegra said, "And on top of that, we think that whatever caused this, what ever has blocked your soul from moving on, originates in the material world. Mortis suspects that something, or someone, has altered the natural flow of time."

"How... exactly does that keep me from dying?"

"The mechanics are still not known to us. We're just working off of theories right now. That's why I wanted to talk to you. I want you to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Anything you think might have altered the flow of time, and report it to us next time you visit."

Lila was silent a moment, "...So, you want me to help you, kill me?"

"Eternal life isn't nearly as fun as it seems. Believe me."

Mortis, who was seemingly incapable of staying silent for more than thirty seconds, interrupted before Lila could reply, "Well now that you've had your little chat, I can send the brat home, right?"

Lila could hear the indignation in Montenegra's voice, "Fine, Mortis. You can send her home now," He voice softened slightly, "Lila. I know you like the prospect of immortality, but whatever has bound your soul to the material world is dangerous. Not just to you, but to your friends as well. I urge you to be rational about thi-" But she was cut off by the whirl of colors that had brought the purple dragon's soul to this place, and were now carrying it back to it's newly restored body.

Lila awoke with a start. She was laying on her back, facing the sky. Above her the sun was climbing, nearly to it's mid-morning cradle, and the floating islands drifted lazily about. She sat up, her body stiff, as if she had just woken from a long night's sleep on a hard, uncomfortable mattress. Glancing around, the purple dragon found herself at the top of a tall, rocky mountain, somewhere on the surface. She also realized that she was laying in a large puddle of blood.

With a yelp, she jumped up, shaking the sticky red liquid from her forepaws. "Gross..." She grumbled, "Can't they clean up a bit next time..."

After a few moments of shaking, Lila realised that most of the blood had dried. She needed a bath. The purple dragon plopped down next to the sticky puddle she'd awoken in, with an irritated sigh. She didn't quite know how to interpret what had just happened. She was alive though. That was enough for the time being. She'd think more on the rest of that exchange after she'd explained the situation to Suisou and Atash.

Lila decided after a moment that she needed to find some water. She couldn't well fly to Volans covered in blood. She stood up with a sigh, releasing in that moment that she'd probably lost the race by a good margin. Suishou had probably already finished. The purple dragon decided she should get a move on, she didn't want to worry her friend too much. With that, she spread her wings, and took off once again.

A/N: And yet again, another entirely unreasonable amount of time passes between updates. Well, at least this chapter is on the longer side...