All breath was bated as the elevator lurched to a stop, and slowly drew open to reveal a gigantic laser that soared just above Hex's head and zapped the elevator's walls! Everybody gasped and ducked, but lifted their heads as they heard a familiar worried chatter.

"Double Trouble!" Cali called as she pulled herself back to her feet.

Sure enough, there in front of them was Double Trouble! He was frantic as he held his staff tight and cut through waves of foes with beams of sheer eldritch magic, but the look of concern on his face showed he wasn't entirely sure if he could keep this up! Double Trouble breathed a slight sigh of relief as he looked over towards the quintet, yet frowned as his eyes fell on the still-weak Persephone and Aura.

"It's a long story," Cali panted as she followed Double Trouble's gaze, "that we'll explain later. For now, we have to shut this place down!"

Double Trouble nodded and spun his staff as high as he could! As he spun it round and round, a gigantic purple cloud streaked with rainbows formed below the ceiling! The soldiers all looked above in confusion, seemingly entranced by this strange cloud, but yelped and jumped out of the way as gigantic eldritch thunderbolts struck the ground beneath their feet! But, they weren't going to get away so easily; the ground rattled beneath everyone's feet, and anyone who hadn't been struck by lightning unceremoniously fell flat on their faces!

While the guards raced about in a panic, Cali jumped out of the elevator with Hex close by her side. As they all piled out, Aura and Persephone pulled themselves back to full flight.

"Come now," Persephone said as she turned her attention to the panels, "we have the luckiest opportunity!"

Calliope and Aura nodded and followed Persephone as she flew through the crowds. The three of them were perfectly masked by the cover of conflict as they dodged the guards and fell towards the abandoned parts of the floor. It was completely perfect—nothing could stop them from shutting this place down now!

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" shouted a voice that came from seemingly nowhere!

Calliope, Aura and Persephone all froze in place as a bunch of troll soldiers dropped from the ceiling and blocked off the way further. Their lances were just as sharp as their lancing gazes, and their shiny, sleek armor was only enhanced by the cyan-colored glow of its power buttons. Clearly, they meant business!

"Thought you could sneak out, did you?" asked the head of the ground as they pointed their lance at Persephone. "Think again, you obnoxious sprites!"

Calliope snarled and flew in front of Persephone and Aura with hands outstretched. "Don't worry," Calliope said as her hands glowed with a red flare, "I'll take care of—"

"COWABUNGAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

A gigantic ocean wave made of magic soared above the trio and crashed right onto the troll soldiers before Calliope could even launch an attack! While the soldiers flailed and cried out as the flood washed them away, Calliope turned around and smiled.

"Young honorable Chihiro!" Persephone called as she looked over Calliope's shoulder.

"You bet it's me!" Chihiro shouted back as she ran up and gave them a thumbs up. "We'll take care of these guys! Just focus on finding the switch!"

"Understood!"

Persephone turned back to Calliope and Aura, grabbed their hands and flew further down the way. Soon enough, the fighting was little more than background noise to the sound of beeps and mechanical chirps as they found themselves in a room filled with gigantic machines!

"If my memory serves me right," Aura remarked as she scratched her chin, "this should be where the power switch is!" Aura flitted over to the various machinery and all its panels, winced and bit her nails. "Which one of these is it?"

Calliope fluttered over to another panel and pressed a few multi-color buttons. "Maybe it's one of these?" Calliope suggested under the sound of beeps and whirs.

As she pressed the buttons, all sorts of things happened on the battlefield across! Disco balls dropped from the ceiling and spread rainbow lights everywhere they went, parts of the floor folded up and down, confetti rained from the ceiling… But nothing shut the place down!

"Here, let me try!" Aura exclaimed as she flew over and pulled down a large lever. In response, a gigantic panel in the ceiling opened up and dropped a large cake on the floor!

"Nope, that's definitely not it!" Aura winced as she pressed a few more buttons, completely ignorant to the soda-scented wave that washed away a few trolls as it flooded down the halls.

"Maybe if I twist these knobs," Persephone remarked.

She turned a few dials, only for several large robots to come out of the shadows!

"CLEANUP ON FLOOR THREE, CLEANUP ON FLOOR THREE!" the robots proclaimed in mechanical voices as they approached Persephone.

Persephone turned around and screamed before she clumsily turned the knobs backwards while the robots receded back into the shadows.

"Which one of these is it?" Aura exclaimed at last as she tugged on her hair.

As Aura caught her breath, a twinkling sound rang while something shimmered between her and Persephone—Chihiro!

"Girls, what's the holdup?" Chihiro asked as she finally teleported over and patted confetti and candy wrappers out of her hair. "We can't hold off these guards forever!"

"We know, we're trying!" Calliope called from across the panels. "There's so many buttons here that we can't tell which one's supposed to deactivate the thing!"

Chihiro frowned and pulled a facility map from the nearby desks. "But, it's supposed to be on this floor," Chihiro whispered as she turned the map around. "Unless…" Chihiro summoned a bright, magical light and shone it over the map. "That's it!"

Chihiro handed over the lit map to the fairies, which unveiled an arrow pointed towards a nearby passageway under the light of Chihiro's sphere.

"It's hidden in a secret compartment!"

"Thanks a lot," Calliope said as she beamed and snagged the map from Chihiro. "We'll take it from here!"

Chihiro nodded, turned around and shot a wave of spheres at some incoming troll soldiers.

With the cavalry holding things back for the time being, no time was to be wasted! Calliope held the map tight as she followed its trail, her eyes fixed on its paper surface. The map itself drew them all into a more secluded part of the base, one far away from the staff's prying eyes.

"Alright, if the map is correct it should be right around…" Calliope bit her lip and looked up. "Here?"

Calliope winced as she looked down at the map, and poked back up to the spot it led to. There before them, a bulky troll completely blocked the way to the place they needed to go while it took a quick snooze!

"They've got guards!" Persephone gasped as she and Aura flew to Calliope's side. "Now what should be do? There's no way we can dance around it without waking it up."

"I doubt that we're in any condition to fight them," Aura whimpered as she looked down at her hands.

"Leave it to me!" Calliope proclaimed as she flew ahead and shook a fist at the guard. "HEY, UGLY! OVER HERE!"

The guard grunted as they cranked their head upwards, their nap completely forgotten, and gasped as they caught wind of Calliope!

"How did you fairies get out?" the guard exclaimed before they shook their head. "You know what? Don't even answer that!" The guard snarled and cracked their knuckles. "I'll throw you back in myself!"

The guard charged towards them at rapid speeds, but stopped completely as Calliope zapped them with a blood red lightning bolt! Calliope grunted as she levitated the guard in midair, presumably to sap their power, and yet, the guard didn't look any worse for wear! In fact, they immediately broke free of the spell and went to punch Calliope!

Calliope was swift enough to dodge, but that wasn't enough to dissuade the guard who continued to swipe and grab at her. "Go now!" Calliope ordered as she dodged another blow then looked back at Persephone and Aura. "There isn't much time!"

Persephone and Aura took quick heed of Calliope's words as they flew past the guard and into the facility they guarded. It was a rundown place, quite unlike the more technologically advanced areas they saw prior. It was cold and rusted and full of bare machinery and stray panels, like it hadn't been maintained in years, and the sharp creaking and hissing noises that echoed around the area served to exemplify this fact.

"I don't like the looks of this place, Lady Persephone," Aura whispered as she trembled and clung to Persephone.

"Neither do I, Aura," Persephone admitted as she clasped Aura's hand tight, "but, we must dance onwards! We can't possibly—"

"Lady Persephone, look out!"

A gigantic frayed wire fell down from the ceiling and sparkled everywhere Just as Aura pulled away Persephone! The shock from its fall was great enough that it forced them to catch their breath, but not for long. Moments afterwards, even more wires and paneling and assorted rusted machinery rained down from the ceiling.

"This way, Aura!" Persephone proclaimed as she flew around the falling machinery with a dancer's elegance.

Aura's breath was heavy with panic as she followed Persephone, all while they both dodged falling machinery, literally electrifying wires, and all sorts of other troubles. Would this come to an end soon? Would this be the end for them as the wreckage slowly began to block off near-everything around them?

"There it is!" Persephone proclaimed as she pointed ahead. "The switch!"

There in front of them, a gigantic switch rested on a panel striped with yellow and black tape. Surely, this was what they were looking for!

The two of them lunged towards the switch, but froze as the ceiling above them began to creak. They looked up, then screamed as a particularly large back panel from a nearby machine came loose and crashed down on them! All went dark for moments as both stood wide-eyed, but finally Aura thrust her hands out in front of her and froze the panel into place!

"Aura!" Persephone exclaimed as Aura strained to keep the paneling from crushing them both, a bit of hesitation in Persephone's own eyes.

"Lady Persephone, please hurry!" Aura begged, her voice and gaze strained as she put her all into holding up the machinery, but then it grew solemn, more confident even.

"Don't worry about me, Lady Persephone. If it's to save our home…"

Aura grunted, and sweat streaked down her face as the panel she held up creaked higher and finally snapped back into place.

"I'll do anything!"

A glint of inspiration shone in Persephone's eyes as she nodded. With a soft hup, Persephone vaulted herself over to the switch's harboring platform, flitted ahead and flicked the switch!

"ALL SYSTEMS… DEACTIVATED," proclaimed a robotic announcer above them.

One by one the lights shut off, but the blanketing darkness was hardly enough to dissuade Persephone as she grabbed Aura's hand and rushed back out! The sound of crumbling debris and pieces of metal crashed all around as Persephone created a sphere of sparkling blue light, a bit of a guide in all this darkness.

Persephone cried out in shock as she nearly dodged being flattened by a loose ceiling panel, dove under some split tubes and flew over a sizzling halved cable. The lights went out faster, but there was still some left to show the way back down! However, with all this debris to outrun, things would be risky. Just then, Persephone's eyes widened as a green glow surrounded her!

She turned to her side to see an absolutely radiant Aura give her a gentle nod, a nod of understanding that Persephone was quick to return. Persephone leaned forward, flicked her wings, and zipped straight out of the passage at lightning speed! Before she even knew it, she was back in the heart of the first floor with Aura still at her side!

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" demanded one guard, "I—OOF!"

Before that one guard could even finish their sentence, they all fell in droves among the darkness, and the culprits to their defeat were none other than the rest of Persephone's team!

"Persephone, you did it!" Chihiro exclaimed as she popped up in front of Persephone and hugged Persephone tight.

"Indeed I did, young honorable Chihiro," Persephone said as she smiled and returned Chihiro's hug for a few moments, yet pulled away and turned serious, "but, it's not over yet. Come now, we must release everyone from those awful cages!"

Persephone and Chihiro nodded as they released their hug, then passed by the strings of now deactivated computers with only a moment's pause taken to survey the area. Though the castle grounds were completely wrecked, the Skylanders did well to clear Kaos's cronies out of the area. Most of them were unconscious in some form, and the ones that were still somewhat conscious were tied to chairs and poles with thick rope, and probably awaiting punishment at this point.

In the center of it all, the Skylanders and Cali stood by the elevator with their faces highlighted by the sphere of golden light Spyro summoned.

"Ready to free some fairies?" Chihiro asked as she strutted up to Spyro and placed her hands on the elevator.

Everybody around her let out cheers of delight as the elevator doors glowed underneath Chihiro's palms!

"THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR!"

With a swipe of Chihiro's hands, the elevator doors crept open with a bright, friendly ding! Everybody piled in immediately, and watched as the doors closed and soft, jazzy music played from the elevator's speakers.

"Now heading to the fourth floor," droned a mechanical announcer as the elevator heaved its way up then lurched to a stop. "You have arrived at the fourth floor."

Voices trickled into the elevator as its doors receded. Were those fairy voices? The doors fully withdrew at last to reveal that sure enough, they were! From what it seemed, the fairies' magic returned to them, and slowly but surely, they rescued one another from the magic pods! It was a magical, uplifting sight; all these fairies, once helpless and crying for rescue, took their situation into their own hands!

Persephone watched in awe, and Chihiro smiled and urged her forwards with a gentle nudge. So, Persephone flitted forward and cleared her throat.

All at once, the fairies stopped what they were doing and turned to Persephone. Everyone was completely silent for all of five seconds before the fairies hooted and hollered with unadulterated glee all at once while they crowded around Persephone!

"The queen has saved us!"

"I knew you'd come back! I never gave up hope!"

"All hail the queen!"

"Now, now, this is a truly happy time," Persephone chuckled as she gestured towards the rest of the team, "but I can't take all the credit!"

The fairies all gave Persephone confused glances or shared surprised mumbles among themselves.

"It was thanks to the efforts of everyone here that we were able to rescue you! The Skylanders, young honorable Chihiro, Aura, Calliope,—" Persephone turned back to the rest of the team and bowed "—on behalf of the entire fairy kingdom, I thank you!"

Everybody broke into wide smiles (well, save for Hex, who only made a small nod) as the fairies showered them in thanks! Even though there was so much merrymaking going on, not all were relieved. Calliope shifted her way through the crowds and popped out from two particularly buff fairies; her eyes glinted with concern as she scanned the crowds like a lost child looking for their parents…

"Easy now, dear," whispered a buff fairy woman with lightly tanned skin, hair in tangled brown curls and a body dressed in torn clothes, all while she helped a skinnier fairy women with paler skin and a frazzled red bob for hair out of a pod. "Don't strain yourself."

"Mom! Mother!" Calliope called as she flew towards the two fairy women.

"Calliope?" the fairy women whispered as they stopped for a moment, turned around and smiled. "It really is you!"

The three of them captured each other in one big, warm hug, the kind of hug people give when they haven't seen each other in ages. Their warmth was so infectious that it caught the attention of everybody else in the room!

"Well, I'd call this another job well done!" Chihiro remarked as she rubbed her fist on her chest. "C'mon everyone, let's go home."

Everybody nodded and chatted in agreement as they turned around and headed back for the elevator, but then, Chihiro froze and turned around to see Persephone still talking with her subjects.

"Persephone, aren't you coming?" Chihiro asked as she turned around to face Persephone.

"I'm afraid not, young honorable Chihiro," Persephone replied, a level of solemness in her voice as she shook her head. "As queen, it is my duty to care for my people, especially now that Kaos has been driven out…"

Persephone swirled her hands, summoned up some shiny sapphire pendants with bright, blue, butterfly wings attached to them, and handed the pendants over to Chihiro.

"But before we part, take these happy pendants. If you ever require my aid, just rub them thrice and I'll come immediately!"

Chihiro beamed as she stowed the pendants away in her pocket. "Thanks, Persephone!"

"Oh, right, you still need to get back home, don't you?" Calliope asked as she flew back to the others. "I'll fire up the ship!"

And so, they all parted ways with a nod. Chihiro led the rest to the elevator, and with another magical swipe, the doors opened as the elevator whirred to life once more. Before they left, however, Chihiro paused to wave back to the fairies that gathered to bid them farewell.

"Thank you, Skylanders!"

"Show that Kaos who's boss for us!"

"We know you can do it!"

"Thank you, everyone!" Chihiro shouted as they all piled into the elevator. "We'll make sure that Kaos goes down!"

The fairies all cheered at Chihiro's words, though as the elevator doors closed, nobody saw Chihiro bite her lip and hold her arm.

§

By the time the ship parked at Ancient's Peak, night already fell and the skies were painted with stars. Fireflies flitted to and fro across the island, and added a bit of magic to the purple and blue colors of the night.

But, this magic only slightly alleviated Chihiro's heavy heart as her eyes glazed over the crowds. Chihiro stepped off of the boat, watched the others walk out of sight, and gazed over the island's heart. Even though everything seemed so happy and magical, she couldn't bring herself to smile—even though, by all accounts, she should be happy! They saved the Fairy Kingdom, helped Calliope reunite with her mothers, and even kept Kaos…

Oh, right… Kaos, who Chihiro nearly lost at the hands of!

"There you all are!" Hugo proclaimed as he walked up to Chihiro with book in hand. "You’re just in time, too! We were just about to return the Eternal Life Source to the Core!"

"Really?" Chihiro exclaimed as she jumped out of her thoughts and tugged on her collar. "That's great news, Hugo!"

"Come on, then!" Hugo shoved his book in Chihiro's hands and guided her towards the Core, and the crowd that formed around it. "We shouldn't keep everyone waiting!"

Phew, at least Hugo didn't notice her current state of mind. Chihiro wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it right now, what with everyone around and all. Chihiro trudged to the crowds and took a seat next to Hugo, her mind still in a tired haze as she gazed over the dimly-lit area.

Everybody gazed in awe as Hugo laid the Eternal Life Source near the Core of Light, and its radiant green light became striking against the firefly-dotted skies.

"Now, Chihiro," Hugo said as he walked back and cast a glance at Chihiro, "the book, please?"

Chihiro, however, gazed into space. Even though such a great victory was won, and her little failure really shouldn't have mattered anyways, she felt… Strange. She wasn't sure how to put it, but something in her felt uneasy and in danger, like something was clearly wrong.

"Chihiro?" Hugo coughed into his hand and raised an eyebrow. "The book?"

"OH, RIGHT!" Chihiro exclaimed as she jolted up, grabbed the book off the ground and handed it off to Hugo.

Hugo cleared his throat, and recited yet another ancient Skylandian incantation Chihiro couldn't possibly recognize the meaning of. As he did this, the Eternal Life Source slowly sank within the Core of Light's platform till its pretty green light was visible no more. Though nothing seemed to happen for a few moments, Chihiro knew better.

After all, she could vaguely hear the sound of straining, rushing roots and flora beneath her feet, like an earthquake ready to strike. Soon, from the ground sprouted two large flowers with svelte stems! Chihiro could barely make out the flowers' colors from the darkness, but they looked kinda reddish, maybe pink? Each flower flanked a side of the Core and spat out shiny, golden pollen that fluttered in the midnight air as the fireflies did! It was really magical, just the very sight of something so peaceful and pretty.

But, even now, Chihiro couldn't possibly feel at ease. So, she just got up and walked out the crowds with her head hung down as she shifted through the Skylanders’ ranks. Her feet took her to the more forested areas that lead to her quarters, but she wasn't quite ready to go to bed yet. Instead, she pushed through the trees until the forest cleared away and brought her to a cliff that faced the ocean. As the waves caressed the cliff face, Chihiro sat down and gazed up at the midnight skies with the stars and full moon a source of milky white light among the dark, encompassing blue.

"Hey, Chihiro," whispered a soft voice as something tapped Chihiro's shoulder.

Chihiro yelped and turned around, her hand encased in cyan light, but the light soon faded as she realized that it was just Spyro!

"Oh, it's just you." Chihiro breathed a sigh of relief, and looked back at Spyro with a weak smile. "What's up, Golden Boy?"

"Is something wrong?" Spyro sat down next to Chihiro and swished his tail. "Ever since we got back from the Fairy Kingdom, you've been acting kinda weird."

Chihiro's looked down and scratched the back of her head. "Is it that obvious?"

"You aren't worried about Kaos, are you?"

Spyro cast Chihiro a frown, a bit of concern reflected in his golden eyes. Chihiro was silent for a few moments, but finally she breathed another sigh as her cheeks flushed pink.

"To be honest… Yeah," Chihiro admitted as she looked up towards the moon, "Truth is, I had no idea just how strong he was 'till now!" Chihiro forced a smile as she shook her head. "But, I'm not gonna let that stop me!"

Chihiro jumped to her feet and pumped her fist towards the night sky.

"I'll just have to keep training and getting stronger! Hear that, Kaos?" Chihiro shook her fist as she jumped up and down. "I'll get stronger and stronger, and I'll keep protecting Skylands from you and your buddies!"

Spyro chuckled, flew up to Chihiro's height and nodded. "If that's the case, I'll head to bed then," Spyro said as he flew back into the woods and waved to Chihiro. "See you in the morning!"

"See you in the morning, Golden Boy!"

Chihiro turned around and waved to Spyro, and for a moment the strange feeling in her chest disappeared. But, the moment she turned back to the sky, it returned yet again. All her mind could do was play back that fresh memory of her battle—and near-defeat—at Kaos's hands. Was it insecurity or worry that she felt? No, that didn't feel quite right. Whatever it was, however, it wouldn't leave Chihiro be, so she just went back to staring at the sky.

Mark my words, Kaos, Chihiro thought as she glared daggers towards the moon, as if she sent it her message. The next time we face each other, I'll be the one who wins!

Chihiro winced and looked aside. I hope.