WHOOSH!

"Yep, that should be the last one," Insider said as another pair of cyclopes jumped off from the warp panel and face the area before them.

The warp panel led their group to a gigantic stone courtyard with a fancy golden gate the sole obstacle to their passage ahead. Well, that, and all the crystals that emitted bright laser beams and were scattered here and there and everywhere.

"Now, how are we supposed to get past there?" Spyro asked as he flew up and examined the area before them. His golden eyes fixed on the gate as Spyro flew ahead, and cast an aside gaze over towards the gate's sides. "A-HA!" Spyro flew back to the group's side and snapped a claw, "It's a light puzzle this time!" Spyro turned back around and gazed over at the crystals strayed about the floor. "We just have to make those lasers align with the crystals next to the gate!"

"What crystals?" Insider peered back at Spyro as he snapped his claws and created a telescope out of magic.

"Take a look!"

Spyro offered the magical telescope to Insider, who warily took up Spyro's offer and peered through the telescope. After a short peek taken, Insider handed the telescope back to Spyro and nodded as the telescope vanished into thin air.

"He's right!"

"This should be easy enough!" Chihiro interrupted as she leaped out of the crowd and stretched to the heavens. "Just gotta do some heavy lifting!"

Ever eager to proceed, Chihiro skipped over to a nearby crystal and shoved its back end, but it didn't move an inch!

"Alright," Chihiro heaved as she leaned against the crystal and panted. "Probably just a bit stuck." Chihiro spun back around to the back and got into an offensive position. "Maybe a little kick'll give it a good start! HI-YAH!"

Chihiro's face scrunched up as she side-kicked the device, all breaths around bated, and…

"OWCH!" Chihiro exclaimed as she reeled back and fell on her rump. "Who made these crystals so hard, anyways?"

Spyro frowned and flew to her side as Chihiro rubbed her leg. There was a sting of pained tears in her chestnut eyes as she bit her lip, but the moment she noticed Spyro, she shook her head and forced a smile.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt that much." Chihiro winked at Spyro. "I'll be fine!" Chihiro pointed over to the other side of the area. "I think they could use some help, though."

Spyro looked away to where the cyclopes pushed, pulled, adjusted, even punched and kicked the crystals as well! But no matter what they did, the crystals stood firm where they were placed, and their lack of inclination to budge became quite apparent at this point. Spyro frowned as he flew over to one and placed a paw on its smooth, warm surface.

"Let me try," Spyro said as he gazed down the cyclopes who unsuccessfully tried to push it.

His eyes flashed a raw violet in color as Spyro looked down at the crystal, and then at his paw as it flared with purple magic. He placed a second magic-covered paw on the crystal as it enveloped in purple light, and a stroke of hope ignited in his chest. However, both the light and his hope fizzled out. Spyro let go of the crystal and flew to the skies once more; he frowned deeper and placed a claw on his chin. They were immune to magic, and physical force, so what could possibly move these things?

Before Spyro could think more, he heard a strange creaking sound, looked down, and beamed! The crystal started to budge at last! As it slowly turned, Spyro looked to an overhead alley and caught the eyes of a cyclops who stood next to a pulled lever and gave him a thumbs up! Spyro smiled and returned that thumbs up right before something singed the fin of his tail!

"YEOWCH!" Spyro exclaimed as he pulled up his tail and rubbed his singed fin. "What was that?!"

Spyro cast and glance downwards and found his answer! The crystals that were once stagnant were now hyperactive as they spun in excited circles, and their lasers swerved about with them as they cast scorch marks and burns into everything around!

"TAKE COVER!" Eyeantha shouted as she and several others ducked down and dodged a bright laser that narrowly missed them.

Spyro flew into action while the others scrambled for safety like chickens pursued by a fox,! He kept his movements careful so as to dodge the lasers, and Spyro cast a shield at the area where they began. Spyro watched as it stood tall against a rampant laser; with its strength assured in his mind, he flew around, yanked the cyclopes off the floor and tossed them over the other side of the shield!

Once everybody was safely over, Spyro flew back to the shield and cast a glance to the left. In the midst of all the chaos, Chihiro stood tall and thrust hands aglow in aqua, and her whole body radiant with pure magic! What was she thinking?

"Chihiro!" Spyro exclaimed as he swooped down to her side. "What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna try and see if I can stop these things!" Chihiro shouted back as her hands flared with bright magic, and took only a moment of pause to dodge a laser that was a hair's breadth away. "You keep everyone safe!"

Spyro winced and flew closer. "Chihiro, there's way too many of them! Let me do it!"

"That barrier's not gonna hold for long, Spyro!" Chihiro nodded back towards the barrier, and fixed her eyes on the crystals once more. "You need to keep it running! Besides, handling this and that at the same time is too much for one person!"

Spyro winced as he glanced back at the barrier, and found that Chihiro was somewhat right. Though it stood as firm as it could against the lasers, cracks and heat depressions already began to form in its surface, but, it could surely last long enough for him to handle it!

"Chihiro," Spyro looked at Chihiro with all the concern he could muster. "At least let me help you! It's like you said—that's way too much for one person to handle by themself!"

Chihiro frowned as she looked over the crystals, clearly deep in contemplation, but cast a short nod as she thrust her arms forward. "I guess you're right." Chihiro formed a weak smile as her whole body flared with a cyan-colored glow. "You take care of the barrier, I'll try and see if I can hold these down for now!"

Spyro gave her a hesitant look once more, still not entirely certain if he should stay or go, but felt a soft light on his face and turned back to the crystals. Sure enough, Chihiro managed to stop them! They were all lit in cyan coloring, and now stood stagnant as their lasers frozen in place in accordance.

Spyro seemed a bit reassured to see them freeze, but something felt wrong. He couldn't even get one to budge with his own magic, so how could she hold down so many? Unease wavered in his heart as he flapped his wings then turned to attend to the barrier, but he could've sworn he saw one crystal twitch out of the way from the corner of his eye. With a tremble in his heart still, Spyro placed a paw of the barrier then healed it of its injuries. The barrier glowed with the strength of a thousand, and Spyro heaved a sigh of relief, turned back to Chihiro, but gasped.

Chihiro trembled and strained, sweat watered on her brow as she struggled to keep the crystals stagnant. She could really use some backup! Spyro flew over to her, but before he did, one of the crystals broke free of her grasp and zipped around! The crystal's laser shot into Chihiro and sent her on her back in pain, which in turn loosened her grip on the other crystals and freed then as well! As they swerved around once more, Spyro dropped to the floor and scuttled over to Chihiro, who laid on her back and whimpered as she held her shoulder.

"Chihiro!" Spyro called as he finally reached her and placed himself in front of her body.

Spyro darted up to the skies, threw out both front paws, and growled as a gigantic magic blast rocketed away from his paws to paint the entire area in shades of monochrome. Everything around Spyro came to a stop—animals, teammates, and most importantly, the crystals as well! The only thing left animated was Spyro himself, who threw himself into motion and swooped back down to the crystals.

Spyro examined the crystals with a frown, snapped his claws, and the crystal dissolved in a purple glow! The once-static crystal turned far away from him and towards another crystal. As its laser shot that crystal, the glow spread to it is as well! Spyro's magic spell jumped from that crystal to the next one, and the one that followed, until each and every crystal was under his spell!

Under his commands, the crystals finally found some sense of order. They now positioned in a careful, attentive way that locked only into either each other, or the crystals that stood firm beside the gate. Good thing too, because the monochrome palette of the world around slowly started to flicker back into color! The color finally returned to the land, and the gate slowly rumbled open—but that wasn't too important to him right now. Instead, Spyro rushed back over to Chihiro's side and held his paw on her uninjured shoulder, his gaze now cast towards the other.

"Hey, Spyro, what happened?" Chihiro asked as she looked to her side. "Those crystals! They're not moving anymore!"

Chihiro yanked herself out of Spyro's grasp and went to examine further, but instead fell to her knees and winced as she held her injured shoulder!

"We can talk about that later!" Spyro proclaimed as he rejoined Chihiro and turned her to face him. "How bad it is?"

Chihiro bit her lip, just barely held back her tears, and warily removed her hand from her shoulder to find—oh great Dragon Gods, it really was bad! The burn itself had to have been a second-degree at least! The laser scorched right through the shoulder of both her vest and sweater, and black singe marks grazed around what little fabric remained. The skin underneath didn't match the peachy tone of Chihiro's body, but rather a nasty reddish color that glowered with heat. Judging by the way Chihiro just barely restrained herself from crying, it wasn't just for show, either. It was causing her a lot of pain!

"Where's Eyeantha?" Spyro demanded as he whipped around and glanced at the cyclopes. "We've got a really nasty burn here!"

"Here!" cried out Eyeantha as she shifted through the crowd and raced down to Chihiro's side. She some kind of first-aid satchel out of nowhere, knelt down and examine Chihiro's burn. "You weren't kidding!" Eyeantha's eye widened as she glazed over Chihiro's burn, "That really is nasty—" Eyeantha's surprised look faded away to confidence as she rummaged through her satchel "—but I've got just the thing for those!"

Eyeantha whipped out some kind of bandage roll that shimmered with sparkling purple and green lights.

"Now, stand still, alright?" Eyeantha drew closer to Chihiro and carefully unraveled the bandage roll, "This should only take a few minutes."

In a few careful minutes that seemed like an eternity, Eyeantha wrapped the bandage roll around Chihiro's shoulder. Once she finished wrapping it around, she paused and drew an ointment jar from her bag.

"Normally this would take about an hour." Eyeantha unscrewed the jar, then dipped her gloved hands into the ointment and rubbed it over the bandages, "But with this ointment, it'll be good as new in seconds?"

"Really?" Chihiro whimpered as she made a teary-eyed gaze back at Eyeantha.

Eyeantha only nodded as she withdrew from Chihiro's side, then pulled off her gloves and held a hand on Chihiro's.

"One, two, three…" Eyeantha started as she gave Chihiro a kind gaze.

"Four, five, six…" Chihiro continued as she wiped her tears away.

"Seven, eight, nine, ten!" they finished in unison before Eyeantha unraveled the bandages.

Chihiro looked down at her shoulder and gasped in pure glee, as did Spyro—for the burn completely healed! All that was left with a faded, pinkish spot where it once resided!

"Thanks a lot!"

Chihiro beamed and giggled as she hugged Eyeantha tight, for her pain clearly vanquished with the burn.

Eyeantha smiled and patted Chihiro on the back. "It's what I do, honey."

Eyeantha grinned still, but withdrew from Chihiro's side and went back to tend to the others. As she left, however, Spyro's smile faded as he watched Chihiro. The burn may have easily disappeared, true, but Chihiro was still injured really badly, under his watch no less! How could he have let that happen?

"What's up, Golden Boy?" Chihiro asked as she looked back at Spyro.

Spyro sputtered out a few noises, shook his head, and drew closer to Chihiro, just in case. His heart practically stopped when she reeled back from that laser shot, after all! He couldn't let her get seriously injured like that again.

"You don't need to worry about my burns, it doesn't hurt anymore!" Chihiro tilted her head, then gently rubbed his crest, "Somethin' else bugging you?"

Spyro frowned and shook his head in some quaint attempt to expel his fears. "I'm fine," Spyro lied as he flew forward, "I think they're getting ready to move on."

Spyro was right in that regard. Everybody else thankfully lacked injuries, so it was time for them to move on to the next path. But still, that only reminded him of how he neglected his duties yet again. As much as he wanted to berate himself, he couldn't do that, not in front of Chihiro. She could clearly pick up on how upset he was; Spyro shook his head and trained his gaze on the gate ahead. No, he couldn't worry that much about her right now, there was still a mission to attend to and all that. He couldn't stop himself from sneaking a quick glance back at Chihiro, who spun around and sung some song from Earth he didn't quite know the name of as she walked behind him.

It was strange, almost. One minute she was so scared and hurt, even though she did her best to hide it, but now it was like it never even happened in her mind! It almost kind of threw him off his train of thought.

"Spyro, why're you looking at me so funny?" Chihiro questioned as she skipped up to Spyro's side. "Do I have something in my teeth or somethin'?"

Spyro jolted back and shook his head. "No, no, you're fine!" Spyro denied before he subconsciously took her hand. "Come on, we're getting close to the next switch, I can feel it!"

"Alrighty!" Chihiro walked beside Spyro as she squeezed his paw tight. "Is it a kind of purple dragon thing, like how your eyes change color and stuff?"

"More like a gut instinct." Spyro made an awkward shake of the head, then heard a scuffle and jolted up, "Chihiro, watch out!"

With a growl he readied his flames and looked around, but only saw a mouse as it scurried along the floor. Spyro sighed as he watched it run out of view, and looked over at Chihiro, who looked over at him with an equally-concerned look.

"Are you sure you're not bugged out about something, Spyro?" Chihiro frowned as she laid a hand on his shoulder. "You've been acting really weird."

"I told you, I'm fine." Spyro diverted his gaze away from Chihiro's exposed shoulder with a wince and flew further down the path. "Let's just go."

Well, that was a big lie. There was something bugging Spyro, but he couldn't tell just what. Some kind of strange feeling bubbled up in his chest as he saw Chihiro, but he wasn't sure what it entirely was. Concern after seeing her hurt? Fear that she'd be injured even worse? Anger at her for constantly prying at things she shouldn't have to worry herself with? Well, no use brooding on it. Spyro could save that for when he finished taking care of this mission.

As Spyro flew down the pathways, the stone underneath them had turned from carefully-crafted pathways to raw, untouched minerals. Sure enough, they left society and found themselves in a rocky cavern covered in stalactites, rocky walls, and even more rock everywhere one could look. The only noise was the sound of footsteps and flapping wings, and it only added to this cavern’s oddly fascinating atmosphere.

Spyro flew in place for a moment as he admired the strange beauty of the cavern, but he had no time to sit around and smell the rocky roses. He had to rejoin the rest of the group, who had surely gotten far ahead of him at this point. Yet, something kept him frozen in place; he couldn't tell why…

"Are you worried about Kaos again?" asked a voice from behind him.

Spyro's might've been a bit concerned, but he could definitely tell who that voice belonged to. Sure enough, Spyro turned around and Chihiro was behind him once more with her eyes as worried as ever.

"I appreciate your concern, Chihiro, but it's not that." Spyro shook his head and faked a look of sincerity. "I can take care of myself. You should worry more about the mission."

Spyro flew off, and Chihiro strolled close beside him withher arms behind her back. "I guess I can't force you to talk about it if you don't wanna," Chihiro admitted as she made a nod, "but—"

Before Chihiro finished, loud chatter echoed around from up ahead, chatter painted in the sounds of excited, familiar voices!

Chihiro tilted her head. "Hey, what's that? It kinda sounds like…"

"The rest of our team!" Spyro finished as he flew ahead!

"Hey, Spyro, wait!" Chihiro panted and ran after Spyro. "Not all of us can fly, you know!"

Chihiro's footsteps were background noise in Spyro's mind as he flew down the cavern's halls, and his mind fixed on the mission before him. That is, until he heard a familiar giggle and Chihiro ran past him!

"WOAH, SPYRO!" Chihiro called as she ran out of his view, "Look over here!

Spyro lifted his head, and flew closer to the source of Chihiro's voice. When he finally found her, his eyes sparkled in pure awe! Lodged into the stone of the cavern's paths before them were tons of round, colorful jewels! They were all so pretty and came in such a bright rainbow of colors and shades and hues; just being around them felt like home, almost! Spyro landed, padded over to a round, violet-colored crystal, and peered at its shiny surface. As he watched his warped reflection, he couldn't help but grin.

"None of these would happen to be the Crystal Eye, would they?" Chihiro asked as she nudged herself next to Spyro and stared down their reflections.

"I'm afraid not," Spyro replied as he looked up at Chihiro and shook his head, his tone more whimsical than anything.

Chihiro huffed and crossed her arms. "Darn. More traveling for us, then!"

As they walked further down the pathway, the sounds around grew louder and louder, but this time, those sounds were the background noise in Spyro's mind. Rather, he was more fixated on Chihiro, who examined all the crystals with some kind of wonder! It seemed like every five seconds, she'd stop and gaze at her reflection, or rub the surface of one as she tried and failed to guess just what kind of gem it was. The way she took in their splendor was oddly fascinating, almost, to see her so cheerful and amazed.

Without even thinking, Spyro himself even broke into a smile of his own! As he felt his face, he couldn't help but chuckle—something about the cheer she radiated with infectious. It was like he had completely forgotten about the task at hand! He, he kinda liked that about her, almost, how her happiness was so intense that it infected everything around her like an airborne remedy.

He didn't quite understand it, but, he liked it.

"I FOUND IT!" cried a voice from ahead that pulled Spyro out of his thoughts yet again!

Spyro flew to the source of the shout, which was none other than the rest of the team. "Found what?" Spyro asked as he flew past the ground and eyed the pathway ahead.

The path was once against blocked off, this time by a golden, jewel-encrusted gate with several depressions in its surface that were likely keyholes. But what were the keys?

"This gate's probably opened by some of these crystals that're hanging around here," proclaimed a cyclops with several round crystals in their hands, "and I think I found our keys!"

The cyclops placed the crystals they held into the slots one by one with a confident hum, and bated their breath, but only watched as the crystals dropped out of the slots and rolled onto the stone floor. So much for that.

"Welp." The cyclops heaved a sigh as they placed their hands on their hips. "Guess it's back to the drawing board! Everybody, roll out! Find those crystals!"

Everybody cheered in understanding, scurried across the way, and gathered crystals all the while! Even Spyro joined in as he flew up, plucked a couple round crystals from the ceiling, and dropped down and placed them in the slots, but once again they just fell out. Spyro sighed, and stepped aside as several other cyclopes lined up and placed the crystals they retrieved into the slots as well to similar effects.

"Too big," said the crystal cyclops as several large crystals struggled to fit into the slots.

"Too small." The crystal cyclops sighed as several small ones rolled out of the slots.

"Those aren't even the right shape!" The crystal cyclops slapped a hand against their face as someone tried and failed to fit some square-shaped crystals into the slots.

Spyro sighed and flew off, ready to search some more, but something tugged on his tail!.

"Hey, hey, Spyro!" Chihiro said as she tugged on his tail fin some more. "I found something neat! Come here!"

Chihiro dashed a few paces down the way without any further prompting, and stopped short, all while Spyro's tail sat clasped firm in her hands. She bounced up and down, glanced up and grimaced as a dizzy Spyro retrieve his tail from her.

"Sorry." Chihiro giggled as Spyro stared her down, spun around, and outstretched her arms, "Ta-dah!"

There, among a cluster of crystals, was a long, skinny one with a form that almost reminded Spyro of a lever.

"I know what you're thinking! Kinda looks like a lever, right?" Chihiro beamed and pushed the crystal back, "Wait for it…"

The two of them waited for a few seconds, and with a low rumble, the stone next to it withdrew and revealed some kind of path!

"A hidden passageway!" Spyro exclaimed.

"Yep!" Chihiro chirped as she leaned against Spyro and winked. "I bet there's something really cool down there, so come on!"

Chihiro grabbed Spyro's paw and slid down the path with a hoot! Spyro let out a shout of surprise as he slid on his belly, and the two of them leaped forwards as they landed in a pile on top of each other. Spyro groaned and rubbed his head as he opened his eyes, but no words came out of his mouth.

The sights before him was far too beautiful to even speak of, almost! They found themselves in what seemed like a room made of rainbows, but it was almost hard to tell. The translucent, crystalline walls reflected the colors of the crystal spires that formed in the ground, which came in all sorts of bright, eye-pleasing shades and tones. As the lights danced around the room despite the lack of sunlight, a kind of magic cascaded onto Spyro's heart. It felt so enchanting, like he landed into an entirely different world!

"See?" Chihiro asked as she stepped around and leaned her head in front of Spyro's. "Told you there'd be something cool!" Chihiro spun around and hummed as she watched her reflection in the crystal walls. "Heh, you know, it almost reminds me of a dancefloor!"

Huh, an odd comparison to make, but Spyro could kind of see it. It did kind of feel like the place to hold a dance party with the bright lights and the floors sparkled with diamond dust and glitter. Well, if it wasn't so small, anyways. The room felt like it only really fit about two people, maybe three of four if they squeezed in hard enough.

With a smile and a giggle, Chihiro leaped forward and spun around, though her movements felt a bit more… Coordinated, more planned than her usual excited spins and leaps. As she spun around, she'd occasionally clap her hands or wiggle her arms. Wait a minute, was she dancing?

"Come on, Spyro!" Chihiro paused and waved at Spyro. "It's not as fun with only one person doing it!"

"I think I'm good," Spyro sputtered as he shook a paw, "I've got four left paws."

"Oh, nonsense! It's not like anyone's watching but me!" Chihiro grabbed Spyro's paw and pulled him in. "Just follow my lead!"

Spyro let out a shout as he found himself drawn into this makeshift dancefloor, amd watched as Chihiro went back to her strange dance. As she spun and clapped and bounced, he awkwardly copied her movements, though at a bit of a slower pace than Chihiro's. In lieu of her cheery gallops, Spyro flew from side to side as he clapped to her beat, and slowly, a smile came upon his face as he found himself absorbed into the moment without even realizing. Spyro made a soft chuckle of his own, swung over to Chihiro's side and clapped along with her, but stopped short as she turned around and smiled.

"This is fun, right?"

Chihiro's smile amplified by the cheerful lights of the crystals around. For a moment, Spyro felt time stop around him, but not in the way of a time spell, no. It felt like, for just a moment, he and Chihiro were the only two people in all of Skylands, and all that mattered was the carefree fun they had in this small room. It was a strange feeling, the kind he hadn't felt in quite a while; for just this little bit of time, he forgot all his worries and all he wanted to do was dance with her, or he could just watch in amazement as she gallivanted with all the cheer in the world.

Chihiro came spinning forward, and Spyro realized that he was right in the collision course!

"Spyro, look out!"

Chihiro tried to stop herself, but it was no use! She gathered far too much momentum to stop now, and Spyro was far too slow to fly away! So instead, they crashed forward! Spyro closed his eyes in full anticipation of a painful collision, yet felt nothing of the sort.

First, he felt something soft and warm against his back. Had she caught him? Spyro opened his eyes and found them fixed on Chihiro's chestnut-colored ones, which seemed warmer than usual thanks to the lighting of a nearby yellow crystal. But soon enough, that faded away too; all Spyro could see was Chihiro, as everything else completely faded to white in his mind.

"You alright?" Chihiro asked with a few rapid blinks, her tone a bit softer than usual. "You almost had a nasty fall—WOAH, WOAH, WOAH!"

Before she could even finish, Chihiro lost her balance, hopped a few steps forwards, then both she and Spyro toppled over each other onto the floor! They both let out yelps of surprise, then dissolved into laughter as they got up and dusted themselves off. Spyro looked at Chihiro, who now had the biggest smile on her face as she brushed diamond dust out of her hair, and he couldn't help but crack a grin himself.

"Y'know…" Chihiro leaned back and looked at Spyro. "It's really nice getting to see your smile. " Chihiro giggled and brushed a flyaway strand of hair. "It's as golden as your eyes!"

Spyro's grin dropped to a gaping mouth as he stood awestruck before Chihiro. Her compliment was so sudden! He didn't quite know how to respond just yet!

"It's just good seeing you so happy." Chihiro leaned forward and scratched the back of her neck. "You always seem so worried, like you're got the weight of the world on your shoulders. Seeing you this happy is kinda like finding a rare treasure!" Chihiro giggled and turned away. "It's, really nice."

Spyro just closed his mouth, now completely unable to speak, but able to smile at least. "I don't know what to say," Spyro said at last as he turned away from her view, "I guess it's just something about you."

Chihiro's eyes widened, and Spyro himself stumbled back as heat gathered in his cheeks. Had he really said that?

"I'll take that as a compliment!"

Chihiro chirped, jumped up, and examined the crystals around them and all the strange reflections they made of her. Spyro was more interested in seeing her, quite frankly. He honestly didn't know why; he didn't feel this way around his enemies for certain, but he didn't feel it around his friends, either. It was an odd kind of feeling, the kind of feeling that made him want to tear down his walls and pour his heart out in some kind of big adrenaline rush!

It was weird, confusing, and almost kind of dangerous, the way she made him feel. At first he wanted to keep his distance… But… He honestly kind of liked this strange, strange way Chihiro made him feel. It didn't make sense, he knew that much. By all accounts he should have avoided it, and yet part of him wanted to dive in and know more. After all, he dealt with personalities like hers before—bold and energetic and curious. None of that was new to him, but she carried those traits with some kind of flavor, like the secret ingredient to a delicious recipe that he couldn't quite pin down.

Was it how she embraced everyone and everything new to her with open arms? Her boundless enthusiasm for every task she was given? That stubborn determination that pushed her forward? Her tendency to crack a joke and a smile at everything? Spyro shook his head. No, none of those didn't feel right either. Guess it would be a mystery for a little bit longer.

"Spyro!" Chihiro called as she raced back up to Spyro's side. "Look at these cool crystals I found!"

An eager grin spread across her face, Chihiro held out a bunch of smooth, round crystals for him to see! They came in a shiny rainbow of colors that their pristine surfaces reflected back onto the crystalline walls, and they had odd, eye-like markings engraved on their surface.

"Think these might be what we're looking for?" Chihiro shook her head. "Actually, no, these are DEFINITELY what we're looking for! Come on!"

Before Spyro could even get a word in, Chihiro already left his side and scrambled back up the ramp—albeit to little avail. Every time she marched back up, she'd only lose traction and slide back down on her back.

"Need some help there, Chihiro?" Spyro chuckled as he flew over to Chihiro's side.

"Looks like it!"

Spyro flew down, grabbed Chihiro's shoulders, and lifted her off the ground as he dashed up the ramp! Well, he would've, but she was pretty heavy, so it was more like a slow crawl than anything. With how long it took, Spyro felt his heart leap with joy when he finally caught sight of the entryway! A newfound burst of speed birthed within him as Spyro dashed through the entrance, dropped Chihiro on the ground, and caught his breath for a few moments.

For Chihiro, however, those few moments were all she needed to race forward and rejoin the group.

"Guys, guys!" Chihiro shouted in the distance, "You won't believe what I found!"

As Spyro caught his last few breaths and his strength returned at last, he himself flew back over and rejoined the group just in time!

Chihiro handed off the strange spheres she had found to the crystal cyclops, who took them in and slowly placed them inside the gates' slots! Chihiro was right, it was a perfect fit! The crystals rested snugly in the slots, though nothing seemed to have happened. A short rumble rang as the gate slowly drew open, and its path changed from rough, tampered caverns to the more organized cobblestone streets of earlier!

Chihiro gave the cyclops a high-five with a holler of glee, the smirked and placed her hands on her hips.

"See, told you those were the ones!" Chihiro proclaimed before she looked at Spyro and waved.

"Good thing, too!" Insider interrupted as they pushed through the crowd and pulled out a map, "According to this list, the final switch should be just up ahead!"

"Really?" exclaimed Chihiro, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Chihiro dashed through the tunnels, and the entire group dashed behind her with Spyro included.

The whole area pounded with excitement as the cavern's rocks gave way to fresh air and open towns, the rough rocks became cobblestone and grass, and most importantly, within a grassy circle lied what had to be the final switch! It stood tall and looming like any other, but unlike the others it brought relief. Finally, the last one!

"Spyro!" Chihiro called as she waved over to Spyro, "Let's take this one down together!"

Spyro nodded, flew over to Chihiro's side, and grabbed hold of her hand. As his eyes flashed purple, he squeezed the hand and let go as Chihiro slowly floated upwards! Chihiro giggled and beamed in wonder as she floated up to the eye portion of the switch, while Spyro flew up and joined her. The two of then shared a nod, crafted matching spheres of magic energy between them, and shot out their hands as the energy spheres flew straight into the center of the switch! The two of them fell down as a bright explosion of indigo light engulfed the eye before the stone eye fell off of the switch and slammed into the earth with a CRASH!

The cyclopes cheered behind Spyro and Chihiro as they gave each other a smile, and watched as a warp panel manifested in front of the switch's base.

"I'll bet this warp panel'll take us to the Seeing Tower," Insider said as they stepped between Spyro and Chihiro. "Now, come along, get in a straight line.”

Everybody else followed Insider's orders and organized themselves, but for some reason, Spyro couldn't turn his gaze away from Chihiro just yet. Part of him just wanted to enjoy this small moment with her just a tiny bit more, to just stand there and basked in their shared accomplishment and joy, to see her warm, encouraging smile…

Chihiro, tell me, Spyro thought as Chihiro talked with the cyclopes and spin around. What is it that makes you so special?