§The next morning...§

Chihiro groaned and rubbed her eyes as soft, warm light filtered into the room she laid in, though it didn't feel as nice as it usually did. Even though she just woke up from a good night's sleep, she still felt tired and achy all over, like she hadn't slept a wink last night! Every bone in her body was aching to curl up under the soft, fleece blankets and go back to bed, but wait a second, something was off here!

These peach walls and white floors, they looked nothing like the wooden floors and stone walls of the room she called hers! In fact, they looked a little more like the infirmary rooms. What on Earth was she doing in the infirmary? Chihiro rubbed her head as she tried to rack her slightly less tired brain for clues, but she didn't have the foggiest idea of what happened last night. She only had a vague recollection of when she and the guys went to get the Eternal Tech Source, and then after that everything was a blur.

"Let's see, we helped those trolls, then the minions got beat up, and, and then what?" Chihiro mumbled as she splayed out her fingers and counted them off. "There was some spheres, and, and, and—"

"Chi, you're awake!" Spyro cried.

Wait, Spyro? Chihiro lifted her head, and her eyes locked on Spyro's bright, golden ones as he stood in front of the now-open doorway with Master Eon hovered close behind him. He flapped in place as he stared at her with those wide, golden eyes that rang with a bit of worry and made Chihiro uncomfortably front and center, but finally he dashed forward and leaped onto her bed!

"You feeling any better? Any aches and chills?" Spyro asked as he gently pressed a paw against her forehead. "Let me tell you, hearing you got messed up with that cursed magic gave us all a big shock!"

"Cursed, magic?" Chihiro repeated as she warily lifted Spyro's paw from her forehead and raised an eyebrow. That did sound vaguely familiar, but…

"Do you not remember?" Master Eon asked as he floated next to Chihiro while his ghostly body turned a shade of bluish-purple. "Well, I suppose you wouldn't, given the curse."

Chihiro bit her lip and tugged on her blankets, for something in her gut told her she wasn't going to like whatever Master Eon told her.

"When you and the Skylanders went to retrieve the Eternal Tech Source, you were inflicted with a massive amount of cursed magic! You were in awful condition when they brought you here, it's a miracle you're even awake now!"

"No kidding!" Spyro affirmed as he patted Chihiro's shoulder with his tailfin. "Trig told me you were screaming and had the weird magic glow and everything! I'd have come to check on you sooner, but Whirlwind said you really needed the overnight rest."

Chihiro's jaw fell just slightly as she clenched her blankets even tighter. Though her memories were fuzzy, she could just barely recall what went on now, from those minions getting beat up to their weird sphere essence stuff chasing after the Eternal Tech Source; and then, that same essence slamming right into her chest, and the whole world turning dizzy and dark. She screwed up yet again, and made everyone worry about her, and on their mission to get the Eternal Tech Source, no less!

Chihiro's breath grew shaky and shallow as she leaped out of bed without a second thought, and she dashed towards the door. Oh god, the Eternal Tech Source! Surely they must have lost it because they were so worried about her! Chihiro's whole body ached as she stepped out of the door, but she couldn't worry about that now! She had to regroup with the others and get back to that place, if it was even still at that place—

"Young Chihiro, what are you doing?" Master Eon exclaimed as he flew in front of Chihiro and magically pushed her back. "You need to stay in bed and rest, even if you are feeling better!"

"But, the Eternal Tech Source, we lost it 'cause of me! Because I wasn't fast enough to stop those things, everyone had to drop everything and take me back!" Chihiro retorted as she dug her heels into the ground and stopped Master Eon's spell in its tracks. "I've gotta get back out there and—"

"Young Chihiro, there's no need to fret! We were still able to retrieve the Eternal Tech Source nonetheless!"

Chihiro blinked and stepped back as Master Eon floated up to her, but she gritted her teeth still. Even though she should've be reassured by this, Chihiro couldn't help but feel uneasy still. Her body groaned and numbed itself like it was about ready to give in, and her heart wasn't much better as it practically pounded out of her chest.

"But, but, I've still got so much training to do," Chihiro whimpered and looked aside as the world around her grew fuzzier, "and, the portals! Somebody needs to take care of patrols, too!"

Chihiro tensed her brows as she glared down Master Eon, and the world around her began to sway as she lurched back and held her head. All of a sudden, everything turned blurry and spotty, and she could barely even look ahead without it being painful and dizzying! Before she knew it, Chihiro's vision completely blackened as her whole body collapsed like a sack doll!

"Chihiro!"

Spyro teleported behind her right before Chihiro fell to the cold, hard wooden floor, and she landed on soft, warm scales instead. Chihiro whimpered as a tiny bit of strength formed within her and allowed her to wrap her arms around Spyro, who only placed a paw on her shoulder. A gentle, purple glow enveloped them both, so soft, yet so harsh to her weak eyes that it forced her to close them. Though she couldn't see the world around, she could feel the soft embrace of those fleece blankets again.

"Don't push yourself, Chi," Spyro scolded as those fleece blankets tucked themselves closer around Chihiro. "You've still got a long way to go before you're fully better. Whirlwind said you'll need at least a week's worth of rest!"

A WEEK? The shock from hearing that alone was enough to make Chihiro jolt back awake, eyes wide open and all! An Earth week would've been bad enough, but a week in Skylands was even worse; it was like four earth weeks rolled into one! She couldn't spend all that time sulking in bed, not when she had way more important stuff to take care of! In fact, that was what she said!

"I can't just lay in bed for that long!" Chihiro spat. She fully expected them to try and argue with her once again, but Spyro just smiled and laid a paw on her shoulder.

"Earth week, Chi, not a Skylands week. And don't worry, we'll all be here to check up on you, so it won't get too lonely—"

Chihiro just shook her head and lifted away Spyro's paw. "That's not it!"

Chihiro wanted to get back to her feet and get back to work, but she still felt so, so tired that she at most could just stare him down.

"There's so much I still need to do, I can't just stay around here!" Chihiro whimpered as another dizzy flash came over her. "Who's gonna help you guys fight Kaos? Who's gonna take care of portals? Who's gonna—"

"We have already figured that out, young Chihiro," Master Eon replied as he flew back over to Chihiro and nuzzled the tears away from her cheek. Crap, she hadn't even realized she was crying’ no wonder she felt even more tired. "I will handle portals and patrols for the time being—with your Missionator, things have been going smoother than ever!"

"And we'll be fine, Chi!" Spyro said as he grinned back at her. "Don't worry about us, this is nothing we can't handle!"

"Oh, speaking of portals, I should probably check on those patrols!" Master Eon flitted away. "I will be with you again in a moment, young Chihiro!"

Chihiro's heart sank a little as Master Eon flew back out the door, or maybe it was just the fatigue getting to her again. Truth is, she couldn't exactly tell. Either way, she was a bit too tired to argue with it, so she just sighed and laid on her side.

"You know, now would be the perfect time for some board games!" Spyro remarked as he sat up and wagged his tail. "I could—"

"No, I'm not really feeling up to it," Chihiro said without even thinking, her voice barely loud enough to be heard.

Spyro's smile faded away, and a frown took its place as he tilted his head. "You sure, Chi?"

"Yeah, I'm, I'm kinda tired, I guess." Chihiro winced, then barely nodded as she turned away from Spyro's view. "Besides, you probably have stuff you need to do."

Spyro seemed a bit hesitant judging by the soft murmurs he made, but finally wings flapped further and further away as he presumably made his leave. "Get better soon, alright?" Spyro whispered as her room's door slowly creaked to a close beside her.

With Spyro well gone at this point, all Chihiro could do was roll on her back and stare at the cracks in the ceiling, all while her head rattled with those zooming, racing thoughts that kept her exhausted body from finally getting some rest.

Look what you did, Chihiro! You screwed up again, and now you'll make it even harder to beat Kaos! You nearly messed up the entire mission to get the Eternal Tech Source, and now you got yourself laid up in the infirmary when you should be working just as hard as they are!

Chihiro bit her lip and wanted to cry, but she was too exhausted for even that, so she just sighed and dove further into her sheets. No use sulking when she couldn't do anything about it beyond cry. Perhaps she'd just work twice as hard when she could get back on her feet. Yeah, that sounded alright by her. So, she pulled the blankets over her head to block out the searing sunlight and went back to sleep.