It was a crisp, surprisingly warm autumn morning in the Skylanders' corner of Skylands, and the whole island bustled with a newfound life. The Skylanders ran to and from missions, seemingly filled with a new energy thanks to Master Eon's return, and their allies were no different as they managed their daily tasks and jobs. Even the stray wildlife bustled with vigor as they went about their humble existences!

As for Chihiro, she had important duties of her own, for she and Hugo arrived at Master Eon's now somewhat repaired citadel to discuss things of an important manner.

"There you two are!" Master Eon said as he hovered off of a worn chair. "Please, take a seat."

Hugo and Chihiro nodded, then looked around until they saw two half-broken chairs behind them, shrugged, and took their seats. As they got comfortable, their eyes glazed over the study. Someone tidied up some since Chihiro's last adventure there. The rubble and debris from the battle with Kaos was cleaned up, with only dirt-streaked floors and walls with disheveled pictures left behind. While magical repairs did their work for some of the furniture, many old tables and chairs still laid split in half or covered in dust, but compared to how it used to look it was certainly an improvement—even if all the upset dust left Chihiro wanting to sneeze.

"Now, young Chihiro, as I mentioned yesterday night," Master Eon said as he floated up from his chair and towards Chihiro, "there are still a lot of things you must know about being a portal master."

"Yeah, I get that," Chihiro remarked as she nodded weakly. Something about being with Master Eon after hearing so much praise about him made her feel… A bit small, for lack of a better phrase. She didn’t know how else to describe it, but she felt like she was just a speck compared to someone as great and powerful as he was, even if he was just a floating orb of a ghost now.

"And of course, I will be your teacher." Master Eon circled around Chihiro before he flew off. "Now, while there are many things you should know about being a portal master, our dire situation currently calls for some more… Hastened lessons,"—Master Eon then floated towards the stairs near the entrance—"Hugo, Chihiro, come follow me."

Hugo and Chihiro quickly complied as they followed Master Eon up the stairs. While the staircase itself was worn and full of holes—Chihiro herself nearly fell down a few—it was stable nonetheless. After a short trip up, they all found themselves on a wooden platform filled with shelves upon shelves of books. Minimal debris covered the whole area with dust all over the floors and small piles of rocks gathered in distant corners, but seemed fairly clean overall.

Not sure what else to do, both Hugo and Chihiro stood at the top of the staircase and watched Master Eon. Master Eon, meanwhile, flitted to and fro among the bookshelves and gathered as many books as he could.

"Now, where did I put that book?" Master Eon said as he glazed over a shelf. "A-ha! There it is!" He magically levitated a book off of the shelf and onto his pile, and floated back to Hugo and Chihiro. "Now, follow me."

After a short trip back down, Master Eon took his seat back in his favorite chair and laid the books down on a wooden table in front of him.

Hugo and Chihiro took their seats as well and watched as Master Eon levitated the book on top of the pile and showed it to them. It had a leather-bound, dark indigo cover, a picture of a portal engraved on its front and something written in ancient Skylandian characters that Chihiro couldn't recognize underneath that portal. Something about it seemed to radiate with an aura of importance…

"This book is a guidebook of sorts for new portal masters." Master Eon laid the book back down onto the table. "It covers all of the basic things you'll need to know."

"What about the other books?" Chihiro asked as her chestnut eyes glazed the dusty stack of books over.

"Those will be saved for a later time, young Chihiro."

Master Eon floated towards Chihiro and cleared his throat.

"Young Chihiro, starting from today, you will be my apprentice if you choose so." Master Eon's voice turned clear and firm. "The life of a true portal master is far from easy. You are responsible for protecting not just Skylands, but the universe as a whole from evils far beyond you or I's imagination,"— Master Eon spun around Chihiro—"and it’s a very dangerous and important job. You will face great dangers, perilous missions, and truly depraved villains who will stop at nothing to stop you and your allies—even if it means taking your or others' lives. Do you understand this?"

Chihiro's heart pounded furiously as she nodded slightly. A part of her heart couldn't help but feel concerned as she heard Master Eon's speech, as if she had maybe gotten herself into a bigger problem than she thought, but she couldn't just leave! She came way too far to stop now! So, she grasped the arms of her chair tight with sweaty palms and an anticipating heart.

"Now, the decision you will make here is not one to be taken lightly." Master Eon stared her straight in the face. "Young Chihiro Hatsuki, do you wish to become a true portal master?"

Master Eon withdrew from Chihiro's face and flew back to his chair. "Give yourself some time to think, young Chihiro."

Chihiro looked down at herself for mere moments as her brain throbbed, Master Eon's words resonant in both her heart and her mind.

You heard him, you could die! Chihiro sucked on her lip and closed her eyes. Are you sure you really wanna do this? You've seen the kind of danger they get into, and if you died here, nobody back home would know what happened to you! And besides, how can you handle the stuff he did? He's some great ancient master, you're just some kid from Earth! You don't even know how to fight! Surely he could—

No, he's dead! How could he do anything about this?! Chihiro stopped short and frowned as she opened her eyes.

I came here for a reason, and it was to help my friends save the universe! They need me, this whole world needs me… If Kaos could cause so much trouble to just one village, just one place, imagine what he could do to the entire universe! Imagine what he could do to my home! And like it or not, I'm the one who found the Skylanders, I'm the one who came to Skylands, and I'm the only person who can fill these shoes.

Chihiro breathed in and stood tall, a fist clutched to her chest. Something in her heart felt as if this moment was something the entire universe aligned for, as if she was born to say these words, to feel these feelings, to live in this very moment! Yes, her destiny awaited her, right here, right now!

It's time to be a hero, Chihiro Hatsuki.

"I do, Master Eon," Chihiro stated with a surprising amount of firmness as she looked Master Eon in the eye.

Her gaze trailed back to Hugo, who stared at her with shocked, withdrawn eyes, as if he was taken aback by the sheer amount of resolve that radiated off of her person.

But Master Eon, however, only chuckled. "Very well then, young Chihiro." Master Eon floated towards Chihiro's side. "We will now begin our training—"

"Actually," Hugo butted in, "I hate to interrupt, but we still need to send the Skylanders out on morning patrols."

"Huh?" Chihiro uttered before she shook her head. "Oh, right, still need to start daily patrols."

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot." Master Eon levitated the stack of books so that they hovered beside him, "Hugo, lead us to the portal room."

"Understood, Master Eon," Hugo said as he walked out of the citadel, and Master Eon and Chihiro both diligently trailed behind him.