Chapter 5: Twists

"I wish you didn't have to go."

"Me neither, but duty calls."

Spyro, Cynder, and Gale were gathered on the roof of the temple as the pair of dragonesses prepared for their trip back to Shatterpoint. The day following Spyro and Cynder's sparring match, the dragoness said her goodbyes to the students, the Guardians, and to her parents. Now, Spyro was seeing her and Gale off.

"Make sure you win the League," the purple dragon said.

"I'll see to it," Cynder beamed back.

Spyro looked to Gale, "It was nice meeting you, Gale."

The wind dragoness smiled, "It was good to meet you too. You were quite impressive in the arena yesterday. Don't hesitate to give the Dragon Fighter's League a try."

Spyro hesitated for a moment before saying, "I appreciate the thought… but I think I'll stick to teaching."

"Just a thought," Gale glanced at Cynder, "We should be off."

As Gale walked away, Cynder and Spyro started at each other.

"So," Spyro started, "this is goodbye."

"For now, I'll keep in touch."

I've heard that before, a voice in the dragon's head said.

Spyro pushed the thought down, "I'd like that."

The black dragoness smiled, turning to leave when she paused. Suddenly, she turned around, stepped close to Spyro, and pecked her lips on his cheek. The purple dragon's cheeks heated up and his eyes widened. When Cynder pulled back, she giggled at Spyro's reaction.

When she calmed down, she said, "Thank you."

After Spyro collected himself, he asked, "F-for what?"

She replied back with a soft smile, "For being you."

With those words, Cynder and Gale took to the sky, making their way back to Shatterpoint. The purple dragon watched as the pair slowly grew smaller in the distance, eventually becoming mere specs in the sky. Soon they vanished; and Spyro's form slouched, a throbbing pain in his heart. For the second time in his life, the best dragoness he had ever known had left.

"I don't think we should be making this stop, Cynder," Gale protested as the pair walked toward a building, steam covering the area.

"Gale," Cynder said, "You have to enjoy some of the little things. Besides, we should relax."

As the dragonesses entered the building, an earth dragoness spoke with a smile, "Welcome. Are you here for a treatment, or the hot springs?"

Curiously, Cynder asked, "What is the treatment?"

The dragoness smiled, "A full-service massage to help relax your joints."

"That sounds nice. I'll do that after some time in the springs."

The dragoness nodded, "This way please. Let us put away your things."

Cynder followed the earth dragoness with Gale following.

When they entered a room for storing belongings the dragoness said, "Take as much time as you need. The towels are on the racks. Come see me once you are done."

When the hostess left, Gale finally said, "You are going to enjoy yourself whether I like it or not."

Cynder was already removing her jewelry, "Don't forget that massage."

Gale sighed, shaking her head, "I might as well join you."

"That's the spirit."

The pair walked out of the building and to the pools of hot, steamy water. It was empty, much to Cynder's joy; there was something nice about relaxing in seclusion. The black dragoness stepped into the hot water, the heat already providing nice feeling on her paws. Soon, the dragoness was in the spring, the water reaching her upper neck.

Cynder let out a sigh of enjoyment, "Perfect."

She was joined by Gale, who had the same reaction upon feeling the hot liquid brush her scales, "I take it back. This is worth it."

Cynder smiled, "Best part is, no one is here."

"You know we will get hell when we get to Shatterpoint," Gale warned.

"It will be worth it. Besides, I have days before my next match. What is a day or two late going to do?"

Cynder's heart rate quickened as the two dragonesses landed in front of the Heart Diamond Jewelry headquarters. The office was not nearly as tall as the other buildings in Shatterpoint, but it was technically two buildings. The front half was the Shatterpoint store, the largest of Heart Diamond's. While the back half was the main office.

Cynder swallowed, she and Gale ended up enjoying their journey too much, and were two days late. She knew she was in for a little talking to.

Gale opened the door and the pair walked inside. The office was busy. Much busier than usual, in fact, Cynder had never seen it so busy. It looked almost hectic. Some of the workers took notice of the dragonesses and paused for a moment, only for something Cynder did not expect to happen.

Cheers erupted inside the building.

"Congratulations!"

Cynder and Gale were thrown for a loop. Many crowded around Cynder and shared more words.

"It was only a matter of time!" one said.

"I can't believe this is happening."

"Oh, this is so wonderful!"

Cynder blinked a few times, completely lost of words. She had no idea what they were talking about.

Thankfully, Gale stepped up, "I apologize of… cutting this short, but we need to check in. We are late as it is."

When the pink dragoness woke up this morning she did not think she would be looking at what lay before her on her desk. The dragoness had gold horns, chest, underbelly and wings. She had bright blue eyes, and her pink scales were polished to perfection.

Of course, this was good; in front of her was a report of a major spike in Heart Diamond Jewelry sales that occurred in the last few days. Not only in Shatterpoint, but in other locations as well. She would be celebrating, she should be; but the reason for the sellout lay on a few newspapers and magazines on her desk. Of course, the fact that the two individuals she needed to talk to were days late did not help her mood.

Suddenly, she hears the sound of cheers from her office door.

"Finally," she muttered to herself.

The door to her office opened, "Miss Ember?" A red, fear dragoness asked from her door.

Ember looked up to the other dragoness, "Yes?"

"Cynder and Gale are here. Should I let them in?"

"Yes, and close the door behind them. We have a matter to discuss."

"Of course," she replied.

"Thank you."

Moments later, Cynder and Gales walked into the office, with the fear dragoness closing the door, leaving the three with privacy.

It was Gale that spoke, "We're sorry we are late, Ember. W-"

Gale was cut off when the pink dragoness raised a paw. She brought the paw back down, and the only sound was the tapping of Ember's claws on her desk. Ember's tapping paused, then she said, "It was simple: visit Warfang, check in on the jewelry location, do an interview, and see friends and family. Easy." Ember collected sheets of paper and said, "These are the numbers on a few of our locations; Shatterpoint, Alavar Valley, and Haven. Sales have sky rocketed."

When she paused, it was Cynder that spoke, "Well that's good."

"It would be, if it wasn't for the reason for this spike," Ember then took the newspapers and magazines and pawed them to Cynder.

The black dragoness looked over the papers and saw that it was concerning her, drawings of her on each. However, it was the titles the shocked her.

'The Obsidian Beauty Finds Love in the Amethyst Dragon'

Cynder looked over the other titles on the papers and covers.

'A Match? Black and Purple'

'Future Champion Finally Taken by Unlikely Dragon'

Finally, on the cover of a magazine was a drawn image of herself next to a silhouette of a dragon with the title: 'A Golden Couple is Formed'

Cynder was shocked. Suddenly the cheers and 'congratulations' were now it was clear as day.

Ember enlightened her, "Evidently, you are engaged to the purple dragon. And news of your… engagement spread like a wildfire. I have been declining request after request of interviews and comments." Ember then said, pointy, "So, care to explain this?"

"I'm not betrothed!" Cynder said, "Spyro never proposed, we only spent some time together and had a nice dinner."

"And, from what I hear, defended him on an interview with the Warfang Gazette," Ember said. "You should have just said that you were acquainted from your temple days and left it alone. Now look at the mess we are in."

"It will be fine," Gale said, trying to calm the waters, "We'll set up a press conference and she can set the record straight. It's only been a few days."

Ember proceeded to pick up a few papers with the sales numbers, "You forget, Heart Diamond sales have exploded, and the Obsidian Beauty line is out of stock and close to running out of back orders in Shatterpoint, Haven, and Alavar Valley. Have you not seen the chaos in this office! That is us trying to fulfill those orders! Warfang looks like it will be the same in two days or less. And if we were to announce that the story of Cynder's 'engagement' is not real, then we would be accused of conducting a publicity stunt!"

Both Cynder and Gale knew that Ember had a point, whether they liked it or not they were profiting on a story that never happened. A lie.

Ember added, "Heart Diamond Jewelry's name would be tarnished, and it would take a lot of time, and a lot more money, to get it fixed."

Cynder sighed, bringing a paw to her head, "This can't be happening."

Gale looked to the League Fighter with sympathy, "What do we do?" she asked the pink dragoness.

Ember shifted, "We play along for a while." That got the other female dragons' attention, "At least for now, maybe after the League is over or maybe in a few months. Long enough for it to seem believable, and so no one would ask questions. And Cynder can simply say that it wasn't working."

"That's crazy!" Cynder shot back.

"Then let's hear your plan," Ember retorted, sitting back, waiting for a response.

As much as Cynder hated to admit it, Ember had a point. But what would Spyro think? In fact, how is Spyro taking this news?

Cynder sighed, "Okay, we'll do it. However, I want to talk to Spyro about it, he is as much involved as we are. He gets a say in this."

Ember rolled her eyes, "What does he have to lose? He is probably bragging to everyone about how he is to your future mate."

Cynder couldn't stop a growl from escaped her, "He is not that kind of dragon! He hates being the center of attention, if anything his is panicking from everyone trying to get information out of him."

Maybe even locking himself in his room to avoid everyone trying to pry answers out of him, she thought to herself.

Gale added, "You will have to meet him, Ember. His is actually a good dragon, and I think it would be wise to talk to him about the situation, and our… solution."

Ember let out a sigh. The two dragonesses before her were really willing to gamble a publicity nightmare on some dragon. A dragon she had never met? "You're serious? Are you honestly willing to trust him?"

Ember as slightly taken aback at the serious look on Cynder's face. Very few times had she seen the black dragoness so sure of herself, "Yes."

The pink dragoness sighed once again, but this time, in defeat. She rubbed her temples with her paws, "Fine," she finally said after a pause, "We will do it your way. But, if things start to go sideways, I will take over. Understand?"

Cynder and Gale nodded at the dragoness, and Gale asked the obvious, "When are we to leave for Warfang?"

"Tomorrow, first thing in the morning. No point in letting this drag out more than it already has." Ember looked passed the dragonesses to the door to her office, "Marie!"

Soon the fear dragoness soon opened the door, "Yes, Miss Ember?"

"Please clear my schedule for tomorrow. It turns out we still have a loose end in Warfang."

"Alright. Do I need to clear your schedule for the day after as well?"

Ember looked at the black and grey dragonesses, a smirk on her lips, "No, I think we can manage the trip in one day." Cynder and Gales glanced at each other as Ember continued, "Get some rest you two, because you are going to get us to Warfang and back in record time." Ember dismissed them, leaving her to finish her business.

As the pair made their way out of the building, Gale said, "That went about as well as is possibly could."

"I still can't believe that this is happening."

"It will work out, I hope. Do you really think Spyro will agree to this, I'll be frank, insane plan of Ember's?"

"Spyro is more than willing to help anyone. That's just the kind of dragon he is, but I'm not sure about this. I mean, he always had trouble with the public about being the purple dragon, but now being my 'fiancé'?"

"There is a positive side," Gale said with a smirk, "All of those dragons that tried to swoon you will have to wonder how he managed to sweep you off your paws." Gale let out a small laugh, "I'm looking forward to that."

Cynder giggled, "I suppose that there is something positive about this."

Cynder knew that the next several weeks were going to be ones that she would remember.