"Thanks for all the help today, Skylanders!" A mabu donned in robes said as he withdrew the drawbridge. "We couldn't have gotten it done without you!"

"It's no big deal!" Terrafin shouted as he waved back from where he, Stealth Elf, Master Eon and Chihiro stood on Ancient’s Peak. "That's what we're here for!"

The four of them all watched as the ship slowly flew away, until it was little more than a dot in the afternoon sky. Once it dispersed, yawns sounded all around.

"That was one heck of a repair job," Terrafin remarked as he stretched his muscular arms to the sky and walked off, "I'm heading out."

"Likewise," Stealth Elf chimed in before she completely vanished in a puff of green smoke.

All that was left behind of their quartet was Master Eon and Chihiro, who quietly stood together in the warmth of the afternoon.

"I will be headed to my citadel to rest for now," Master Eon said as he floated off. "I'd advise that you do so as well, young Chihiro—you'd had quite an afternoon."

"But, what about my training?" Chihiro asked with a sense of urgency in her voice.

"That can wait for now—I need to—"

"NO, IT CAN'T!" Chihiro shouted without even realizing, her body shaken with fury.

Master Eon paused and turned back to Chihiro. Though he had no face, he was clearly shocked by her sudden outburst judging from how his colors wavered and flickered.

"I NEED TO KEEP TRAINING! I CAN'T KEEP BEING SO USELESS!" Chihiro whimpered as hot tears streaked down her cheeks. "Everybody else is counting on me to be some great hero for them! You, and Hugo and everyone are working so hard, and the Skylanders are always facing so much danger—"

"Young Chihiro, there's no need to be concerned! We all understand how long training takes, and the Skylanders can handle themselves plenty—they're professionals—"

"But they're my friends too!" Chihiro grabbed her sleeve and bit her lip, "… If something happened to them, I don't think I could ever live with myself. Fin and Stealth, they could've gotten seriously hurt when that windbag thingie attacked them, and all I could do is stand there and watch!"

Hot tears streamed down her face as Chihiro bolted away from Master Eon's side. "WHAT KIND OF A PORTAL MASTER AM I?!"

"Young Chihiro!" Master Eon called as he floated towards her path, then reeled back.

§

"Projectiles," Chihiro croaked as she thrust her hands in front of her, "come forth!"

Nothing. Her hands didn't even glow as she stared down the arena training dummy before her.

"Dummy, shrink!" Chihiro pointed a finger at it, but nothing about it changed. "C'mon, set yourself on fire or something!" Nope. Nothing happened. Chihiro only gazed in sorrow at the dummy before she slunk down to her knees. "Oh, what's the use?"

Chihiro sniffled as she looked around the training arena. It seemed perfectly pristine, as if it had been completely untouched, like her training sessions from the past days never happened.

My useless training sessions, Chihiro thought as she looked over the plush training dummies and felt tears well in her eyes. Look at me, I'm supposed to be some super powerful magical magician and I can't even do a bunch of simple spells that even a baby could probably do!—Chihiro bit her lip as hot tears salted with rage streaked down her cheeks—I'm useless!

Chihiro balled her hand into a fist and punched the dummy straight in its chest with a cry of wrath. As her tears streamed down, the punches came nonstop, and she didn't know why. All she knew was that beating these things up made her feel a little better about herself.

I should've mastered that stuff in minutes! Seconds, even! But I'm too much of a failure to even do that! Chihiro sniffled as she shot another punch at the dummy. Everybody's counting on me to learn all the spells and stuff and be some big hero… The Skylanders, Master Eon, Hugo… But what can I do?

Her energy now a bit depleted, Chihiro shot one last punch at the dummy before she unfurled her hand and let her palm rest on its woven cloth. Now too tired to even be angry or sad anymore, Chihiro only felt numb as she stood there and let her tears fall.

I'm completely worthless as a portal master, as a hero, as a…

"Young Chihiro?"

Chihiro let out a shocked squeak as she frantically wiped her tears and turned around, only to find Master Eon as he hovered in the arena's hallway!

"I thought I'd find you here," Master Eon said as he floated towards Chihiro and sat down next to here.

"Where else would I be?" Chihiro asked as she hung her head. "I have no business just lazing around when everybody else is working so hard!"

Master Eon seemingly frowned as his glow dimmed just a bit. "Young Chihiro, your heart seems troubled." Master Eon flew up to her side and glowed just a little bright.

Chihiro only clutched her shirt and frowned. "What gave it away?"

Master Eon stayed silent as he floated in place, then cleared his throat.

"You shouldn't fret so much about these spells, young Chihiro. You can still open portals, correct?"

"Well, yeah."

"Well, as a portal master, your main job right now is to open portals and send the Skylanders on missions, and you've done more than enough of that. As for all the other things, just do your best and things will work out—"

"But what if they don't?!" Chihiro trembled as small tears fell down her face, sighed, and looked away from Master Eon. "These spells are all supposed to be basic stuff, but I couldn't even get one right. ONE!"—Chihiro stared Master Eon straight down, then shuddered as she drew away from him—"truth be told, I don't know how I'm gonna do this. You're one of the greatest portal masters of your time, right?"

"Well, I don't like to toot my own horn, but that is what many people have said." Master Eon circled around Chihiro. "But, even I wasn't perfect, and I still had moments where I struggled, too—"

"But you don't have to worry about some war and stuff!" Chihiro bolted up and glared down Master Eon. "I'm just some kid from Earth. I'm no Master Eon, heck, I'm no average Eon!"—Chihiro shuddered and strained out gasps as her tears fell—"but everybody's counting on me to help them fight Kaos and save Skylands! If I can't even get some simple spells right, even though I've tried a million times, what good am I?!"

Chihiro bit her lip again and fell to her knees. "I don't think I can ever be a true portal master—I'm sure a true portal master could actually cast a spell… Unlike me. I'm just dead weight."

Unable to speak at last, Chihiro only shuddered and hung her head low as tears rolled down her cheeks. As she sobbed, she felt something nudge her back and looked around. Sure enough, it was Master Eon, who looked at her with a calm, reassuring gaze, well, as much of a gaze as a ghost could make, anyways.

"That's not entirely true, young Chihiro." Master Eon shook his head as he spoke, as if to reinforce his words. "Spyro told me about the time that you and him were trapped in my library. Did you not create a shield that saved you two?"

"Ah." Chihiro placed a clasped hand to her mouth. "Yeah, I did. I dunno how I did it though,"—Chihiro shook her head and squeezed her hand—"I was just so scared that I was gonna die and didn't want to, and then when I opened my eyes, it was there!

Master Eon went silent as his glow faded and brightened seemingly more absorbed in thought that the conversation at hand. Finally, his whole body brightened.

"I see now!" Master Eon floated in placed before he rested himself next to Chihiro. "I think I know why you have been struggling so much, young Chihiro."

"You do?" Chihiro's voice resonated with a tone of shock.

"You've been quite troubled by all this, haven't you? Training, and being prepared, and living up the expectations you believe everyone has for you…"

Chihiro nodded her head, then watched as Master Eon's gentle glow grew brighter.

"You see, young Chihiro." Master Eon's body flashed purple as he summoned a magical apparition of a purple heart that shimmered with light. "The magic you and I and everyone casts comes from the heart. When the heart's troubled…" As if to exemplify his point, the magical heart grew duller in color and stopped glowing before it faded entirely. "The magic just can't come out! I believe it might be what you're dealing with right now."

"So what you're saying is, me getting so worked up about whether I can do these spells or not is what's keeping me from doing them?"

"That's the hypothesis, yes." Master Eon nudged Chihiro's side, floated over to the training dummies, and sat himself down on the floor. "But we won't know for sure until we test it."

Chihiro shakily stood and pattered over to the dummies.

"Try casting a spell—just any spell," Master Eon said, "and don't worry about me, or anyone and anything else. Just focus on your spell."

"I'll try." Chihiro's voice was feeble as she nodded, and she clutched her vest as she stared down the training dummy. Her worries piled as her head spun, but then the feeling disappeared as she bit her lip. "What should I try?" Chihiro pondered before she held out both her hands. "Actually, just give me an energy projectile. A nice, big one!"

Chihiro breathed in and held her breath, and her mind completely blanked save for the image of the projectile she wished to cast. It was blue, and bright, and about the size of a basketball—just big enough for her to hold in her hands—but most of all, it was tangible and filled with pure magic. As her focus continued, her body swelled with magic energy at such a rate it made her numb, but these concerns were of no matter to her.

All that mattered was her projectile.

"Projectile," Chihiro clasped her hands close to her chest then shot them forward, "RELEASE!"

Chihiro paused for a moment afterwards, almost a bit scared to open her eyes. Had it worked? Had she failed? She popped one eye as a soft light shone against her face opened to find…

A sphere, just like the one she had envisioned.

"It worked," Chihiro gasped, her voice breathy and full of shock as she clutched the sphere in her hands. "IT WORKED!"—Chihiro stopped short and pursed her lips—"wait a second, can I make more?"

Chihiro closed her eyes, focused hard, and opened right as several more spheres popped into existence and spun around her! With strangled sobs, Chihiro hugged the energy spheres tight before they burst, but her heart finally lightened of its load. She sniffled quite a bit as tears streamed down her face once more, but she was the happiest she could be in that very moment.

"Young Chihiro, why are you crying?" Master Eon asked as he rotated slightly. "It worked, did it not?"

"I'm not sad, silly!" Chihiro bounded forward and captured Master Eon in a tight hug. "They're tears of joy! I, I'm happy!" Chihiro snuggled closer to Master Eon and rested her head on his shoulder. "And it's all because of you! Thanks a bunch, I don't think I could've gotten it without you!"

"No need to thank me." Master Eon gently flew out of Chihiro's grasp with his glow soft and gentle. "I'm happy to help!"

Chihiro wiped away her tears and yawned. "I think all that crying must have tired me out!" Chihiro walked away to the door, and only stopped for a moment to wave to Master Eon before she closed it. "Master Eon, later today… Can we try to practice more?"

Master Eon only smiled and bobbed up and down in response as Chihiro closed the arena's door.