Flameslinger drummed his fingers across the table as he pressed a hand to his cheek. His blindfolds laid crooked down slightly, just enough so that he could keep his eyes fixed on the mess hall's door while he waited for his anticipated visitor. It was a little bit after when they arranged to meet just before they called it quits for the night. Had she forgotten, or worse, done something rash? It may have been a silly concern for it being so little time, but she'd acting odd ever since that time...

Yes, that time when they went to confront Dreamcatcher at the Highland of Mirrors, and she trapped them in those strange orbs, those manifestations of their worst nightmares brought to life. Now, he was sure anyone would be shaken by an event like that, but still, he couldn't help but worry. She became more timid, much more avoidant compared to her normally cheery and outgoing self. Even reading her beloved books didn't seem to help, for she always tended to space out and mutter to herself. That's why he arranged to meet her privately, but—

"Sorry for the wait!" cried a familiar, gentle voice. The door to the Mess Hall creaked open just so, and in came Eugenie as she creaked the door to a slow close behind her, just soft enough that it wouldn't alert anyone else. "I, I kinda lost track of time helping Hugo." Eugenie's gaze faltered a bit; she shuddered and turned back to Flameslinger. "I hope you didn't have to wait too long!"

Flameslinger shook his head and grinned.

"Ah, you're fine. Just take a seat," Flameslinger said.

He pushed a cup of cocoa filled with whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles and extra marshmallows, just the way she made it for them all the day she first came to Skylands.

Eugenie tugged on her cape as she sat down, and she started to frown for a moment. But, once the wafting aroma of warm chocolate came to her nose, she snatched the cup off and downed it without a bit of hesitation! She sighed in relief as she placed the cup down and licked the whipped cream from her face.

Flameslinger couldn't help but smile at the sight. After all, that was the happiest he had seen her since that day! It was nice seeing his portal master in high spirits.

Eugenie squeaked, turned aside and frantically wiped her face. Her enthusiasm fell, and once more she twiddled her thumbs.

"Anyways, Flames," Eugenie whispered, "why'd you want to talk to me?"

Flameslinger frowned. She was finally in a bit of a good mood, and he didn't entirely want to spoil it, yet he couldn't stand seeing her sulking around like this. Besides, somebody would have to bring it up sooner or later.

Flameslinger sighed and turned back to Eugenie. "It's nothing much," he said, his hands folded together. "I just wanted to know if there was something bothering you, Jenny."

Eugenie's eyes went wide. Yep, there definitely was something wrong. She forced a grin as she tugged on her cape, but she couldn't even bring herself to look Flameslinger in the eyes!

"Ah, er, why do you ask, Flames?" Eugenie bit her lip. "I mean, I, I don't think I've been acting weird or anything."

"That's what you might think." Flameslinger separated his hands and laid them on the table. "But lately, you've been spacing out more, and you've been a lot more jittery. Just, you've been acting odd ever since we fought Dreamcatcher."

Just the mention of Dreamcatcher's name sent a chill down Eugenie's spine, and she bit her lip even harder as she reached for her hood. "What, what about Dreamcatcher?"

Eugenie's voice turned cold and completely free of tone. She flipped her hood over her head the same way she always did when her nerves got the best of her. It was just like he thought: she must have really seen something bad.

"It's just, I figured that being trapped in your own worst nightmares would mess with anyone, and I just wanted to check in on you." Flameslinger tilted his head. "Make sure there wasn't anything about it that was bothering you still. I know George had his fair share of bad dreams afterwards, and Bruno was still a bit shaky after all that" — Flameslinger pushed Eugenie's cocoa cup closer to her — "I guess, I just wanted to let you know that if something about it bothered you still, you didn't need to deal with it alone."

Eugenie released her bite on her lip, and drew up the cocoa cup with shaky hands. Though he could barely see them from the shade her hood provided, her lips trembled, as if she barely restrained her sobs. But, she just gulped and hid them away with another cocoa sip.

"Are you sure? I mean, it's, it's kinda stupid," Eugenie whispered, and her voice strained as if she choked on her words. "It's not something worth being upset over."

Flameslinger patted Eugenie on the shoulder. "Jenny, if you're this upset about it, it's not something insignificant." Flameslinger grinned and retracted his hand. "I promise, I'm not going to judge you."

Eugenie frowned and rotated the cocoa cup in her hands. For a moment, Flameslinger could've sworn he saw tears streaking down her cheeks. Her lips trembled again as she bit them; she placed her cup back on the table and sighed. She took a glance back at him, and it was then that Flameslinger caught her eyes. They were puffy as if she cried her hardest, and baggy as if she lacked sleep. Oh, she really had been in bad shape, worse than he had thought, even!

"Well, back when I was in that nightmare realm, when we were fighting Dreamcatcher…"

Eugenie turned back away and clutched her hood's fabric.

"I saw my dad."

Flameslinger pursed his lips, and already he felt a few goosebumps growing on his spine. Her, her father? By all accounts he knew he couldn't guess why, but something in his gut gave him a bad feeling about this.

"I, I was stuck on a trophy shelf, and he was showing me off to all his friends from work like I was one of those trophies or something! The weird thing was, all those trophies, they all had my name on them, but he talked about it all like they were his." Eugenie's voice cracked again, and she reached for the cocoa cup once more. "I tried to correct him, but he wouldn't listen to me at all! So, I tried getting out, but then, I knocked over the whole shelf and everything shattered!"

Eugenie's hands quaked, but she still kept them wrapped around the cocoa cup right as she could.

"Then, he got super mad at me, and the whole world just, disappeared!" Eugenie sniffled, and tears rolled down her cheeks once more. "We were in this void together, and he was super huge and I was super small, and he started yelling at me about how useless I was, and how I'd never amount to anything without him, and, and..."

The tears rained down Eugenie's cheeks, and she sniffed once more as she went to wipe them away. Right as she did, the cocoa cup slipped out of her grip! It hit the table with a thunk and rolled on its side, sending an amalgam of cocoa, half-melted whipped cream and marshmallows with it.

It wasn't a major mess by any means, but the moment Eugenie laid eyes on it, she reacted as if she'd destroyed the world's most precious jewel! Her eyes went wide as she faced Flameslinger, himself still a bit taken aback from the sudden jolt. She stumbled out of her seat, and near-completely collapsed on the floor in a sobbing heap, curling into a ball with her face buried in her arms!

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I promise, it was an accident!" Eugenie sobbed, her hands dug right into her face as her body trembled. Her knees knocked, hands shook; she had all the works of somebody in a bout of utter panic. "I, I, I didn't mean to—"

"Jenny, Jenny, it's okay!" Flameslinger whispered as he sat down by Eugenie's side and rubbed her shoulder. "It's just an accident, alright? We can just clean it up. It's alright, I promise."

Eugenie wiped her tears away and looked up at him with a whimper, a rare look of vulnerability crossing her face. She only nodded her head, as if she prompted him to go on, and when he nodded in return, she stood up and quelled her sobs. To see her like this, so terrified and upset over one little incident… It was upsetting, sure, but to Flameslinger it was also terrifyingly familiar. She didn't say anything, but the way she reacted told Flameslinger all he needed to know.

Before they talked further, Flameslinger dashed into the kitchen, grabbed an old cleaning rag, and dashed out faster than one could say spill! So fast, in fact, that he could smell something burning behind him—wait a second. Flameslinger turned around, and a sharp gasp came from his clenched teeth as a trail of flames burned behind him! Shoot, he thought he'd taken off his boots before he came in, but he supposed not.

Eugenie gasped. A cool, strong breeze came in with a flick of her hands and extinguished the flames. Normally Fire Element magic was much stronger than Air, but Flameslinger supposed the flames were weak enough that their size negated their strengths.

With one problem taken care of, Eugenie snatched the rag from his hands and scrubbed away the hot cocoa puddle from the table. Her eyes were glassy and her actions were monotonous. That spacey look returned on her face as she scrubbed up and down, up and down, up and down; it was the same one she'd worn for the past week, and Flameslinger didn't like it.

"Jenny, I can take—" Flameslinger started, but Eugenie just cast him away with a wave of her hands.

"No, it's fine!" Eugenie insisted, not even a moment taken to look back at Flameslinger. "I was the one who spilled the cup, I should be the one who cleaned it up. It just wouldn't be fair to make you do it."

Flameslinger sat back down and crossed his arms and legs. Eugenie's eyes turned distant, and it left him a bit more to his own thoughts, with the only sounds being that of soft scrubbing. Her nightmare was about her father treating her like a trophy and getting mad when she objected? Flameslinger understood maybe a little too well.

"… Jenny, you said you saw your father in your nightmare, right?" Flameslinger asked.

Eugenie stopped scrubbing and squeezed the rag tight. She dispelled the cocoa she amassed earlier, and dried it all off with a cast of her hands and a cool breeze. She didn't even look at Flameslinger, but finally she bit her lip and made the tiniest of nods before she continued scrubbing.

"I won't force you to talk about it if you don't want to" — Flameslinger leaned back and placed his hands on the bench — "but, what exactly happened between you and him?"

Eugenie paused, and her hands trembled once again as she lifted them from the rag. She dried the spare cocoa off her hands with a snap of her fingers and another quick breeze, sat down and tugged on her cloak. Ergh, that didn't look good—maybe Flameslinger shouldn't have asked. But then, she stared back at him with those sad blue eyes of hers, and that worry turned to a burning feeling in his chest. Eugenie sputtered as she rubbed her cloak, unable to find the words to speak at first, but then she sighed and turned away from Flameslinger.

"My dad, well," Eugenie whispered as she clung to her cape, her fingernails digging tight into its crimson fabric. She gulped, and her hands started to tremble. "Where do I even start?"

Eugenie's voice cracked just a bit, and she took a breath.

"Well, even since I was little, he's expected me to be nothing but perfect." Eugenie clasped her hand and rested it next to the faint stain on the table, the sole remnant of the cocoa she dropped. "If it wasn't a hundred percent, top score, best of the best, it might as well have been nothing in his eyes. If we didn't make the best score, he'd always tell us it was because we weren't working hard enough."

"We?" Flameslinger asked.

Eugenie breathed in and out as her tears started to flow, and she sighed yet again.

"I, I have an older brother. Dad was always just as tough on him as he was on me, and they always fought about it. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when he ran away the moment he turned eighteen, but, ever since then, Dad's been putting all this weight on me to make up for my brother's mistakes. One slip-up, and he'd give me all these lectures about how I'd end up a useless bum like Leon who'd never get anywhere in life. Heck, even when I did do well, I'd still end up hearing about how I should've done better or what the next thing I need to do is. He only ever seemed to praise me when he could brag about how amazing of a dad he was to the neighbors."

Flameslinger hissed, but quickly held back his breath and let Eugenie speak. Much as he'd want to give his two cents on this so-called father of Eugenie's, he did say the floor was hers. But, as he heard the faint sniffles of her tears again, the urge rose and he bit his tongue.

"And I, I was so scared of making him and Mom upset that I just went along with it. I never really had any close friends cause I spent all my time studying, never got to celebrate all the holidays like everyone else did" — Eugenie's sniffling turned louder — "you know, I never really wanted to skip high school, but my dad, he spent all this time talking about how I could absolutely do it, and he was bragging to all the neighbors and all his coworkers about how I was some genius in the making, and I was scared that I'd let him down if I said no!"

Eugenie sniffled some more and wiped her tears away with her sleeve. "I hear Bruno and George talking about their parents and how close they are, and I just feel jealous cause I could never see myself doing that with my dad or mom." Eugenie's voice cracked again and she lowered her head. "I know he just wants the best for me, but, but…"

First came one sob, and then two, and Eugenie buried her face in her cape as the tears rolled down and stained dark patches into the crimson cloth of her cape. Flameslinger frowned, unwrapped a blindfold, and gently, barely even nudged her shoulder with it. Eugenie stared at him with a bit of hesitance, but when he nodded, she lifted the blindfold from his hands and wiped her tears away with it. He didn't need it, quite frankly. He had hundreds of those things sitting in his quarters, and right now, what she needed was a shoulder to cry on.

"Pardon my tone," Flameslinger said as he crossed his arms, and the burning feeling in his chest seeped into his tongue, "but this father of yours doesn't exactly sound like a good or pleasant person to me."

Eugenie winced, squeezing the blindfold's worn and wet cloth between her fingers. "I mean, he's not a bad person, he's just doing what's best for me. He only wants me to be successful and work hard. I mean, sure he raises his voice a lot, and he can be really harsh sometimes, but he doesn't really mean it, he just gets frustrated because of work and loses his temper sometimes."

Eugenie's voice held a bit of hesitance despite her claims, as if she didn't really believe the words she was saying. Truthfully, Flameslinger didn't either.

Flameslinger's hot tone turned to a sort of tranquil rage. "Eugenie, you shouldn't have to be so afraid of your own father that he's haunting your worst nightmares."

Eugenie must have noticed the change in tone, judging from how she flinched and shied away from him. She clutched her cape once more, and her gaze turned wide-eyed as she trembled. Oh Ancients, he didn't even realize how angry he sounded, so he cleared his throat.

"Pardon me, I didn't mean to raise my voice."

Eugenie blinked, and her death grip on her cape relented as she laid her shaking hands on her lap. Her lips trembled, and her brows tensed as she clenched her leggings.

"Flameslinger, he's really not a bad person," Eugenie insisted with her weak, wavering voice. "I, I just got nervous because college was so stressful, and then I came here to all this, and—"

"Let me ask you a question, Jenny. Did your brother really end up a useless bum?"

Eugenie bit her lip, glancing at Flameslinger for only a moment. "I, don't really know. He, he stopped talking to us after he ran away, but, but, if Dad said it—"

"That doesn't mean it's true, Jenny. If your parents hoist their love and care for you on what you can do to make them look good, and not because they love you as a person, quite frankly they aren't very good parents."

Eugenie sniffled a bit, and Flameslinger laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Jenny, I promise, whatever they told you isn't true. You're not some failure or waste of space if you don't clear every single bar they force you to. If they can only bring themselves to care about you when you're perfect, they don't deserve to call themselves your parents." Flameslinger placed his hand on Eugenie's own hand next. "You deserve better parents than them, and I'm sorry the universe wasn't kind enough to give them to you."

Eugenie bit her lip and turned away. "But, how do you any of this? How do you understand anything about them?"

Eugenie's tone sounded like it wanted to spit venom, but all that came out was wavering tones and confusion. Flameslinger couldn't find it in him to be angry with her. After all, she clearly still held a lot of complicated feelings on those parents of hers, torn between loving them as family, and the pain she felt from how they didn't reciprocate that. Perhaps, a story would help her come to a realization, so Flameslinger cleared his throat.

"Well, once upon a time, there was a boy born with a most unusual gift. In his eyes, normally blank for his species, danced the brightest of fires—but that wasn't the end of it."

A bit of bitterness seeped into his tone, and Eugenie flinched at it. Yet, her eyes danced with wonder, silently pleading for Flameslinger to continue. He obliged her with a nod.

"See, those flames could see through any nearby fires, from a neighbor's hearth to the fires that burned in the king's kitchen. Word spread of his gift fast, and his parents…" Flameslinger clenched his teeth, and his own face heated with a bit of rage.

"They knew an opportunity for easy money when they saw one. They turned the boy into a living spectacle. Day in, day out, hundreds would come from all across the land to watch his gifts, and his parents would revel in the money he brought them. The boy wasn't allowed any sort of respite. He never had any friends or schooling because he was forced to work all the time, and just the act of existing was held over his head as a privilege. His parents would remind him at every given moment that his work was what provided for them, and he would end up destitute if he relented—even though his parents mainly used his earnings to indulge themselves, and never seemed to care for the boy's well-being until it interfered with their money. If he grew tired or sick for even a second, his parents would berate him until he stepped back on the stage and perform for all the world to see."

Eugenie frowned. "That, that sounds awful."

"It was, and the boy resented every second of it. Why couldn't he play and learn with the other children or have ordinary lives like they did, all because of some fires that shone in his eyes? Why was he expected to provide for his parents while they rested in the lap of luxury and never shared an ounce of it with him? Why was he treated like an object to gawk over rather than a living being?

"These questions burned in the boy's eyes the same way the fires in his eyes did, and those burning feelings only got stronger as he got older. He'd beg his parents at first to just let him lead an ordinary life, but when his words fell on uncaring ears, he turned to actions. He'd slip out of the house more, find any excuse to hide away where nobody could gawk at him, where he'd have a moment of respite. Eventually, everything became too much for him to bear, and freedom's siren song grew too loud for him to drown out."

Flameslinger cleared his throat to still his trembling heart and hands.

"So, when the boy came of age, he covered his eyes, gathered what little belongings he had, and fled into the woods, far, far away from him home and his village, and not once did he look back."

A small thud sounded as Eugenie leaped from her seat with a bit of urgency. "But, where would he go? It's not like living on your own in the woods is easy! Did, did he die, or get hurt, or did his parents…" Eugenie bit her tongue and sat down. "What happened to him?"

Flameslinger's ears twitched at the worry in Eugenie's voice, but still he smiled.

"Well, you see, the boy became an incredibly talented archer, for he spent all his time alone honing his skills with the bow and arrow. One day, he rescued a fire spirit from drowning, and that fire spirit gave him enchanted gifts as an act of gratitude. Using these gifts, he entered archery tournament after archery tournament, became a renowned name across the land…"

Flameslinger moved from his seat, and stood tall before Eugenie with a smile.

"Eventually, the greatest portal master of all time caught word of his talents, asked him to join the Skylanders, and now, he's standing right before you."

Now, Flameslinger was sure Eugenie would pick up what he meant, but just to emphasize, he pulled down his remaining blindfolds, exposing his vision for only them to see. The fires that danced in his eyes turned gentle in their warmth like a hearth, gentle and comforting as they laid on Eugenie.

Eugenie, for her part, sat a bit dumbstruck. She blinked back her tears, but soon gently wiped them away as she sat in contemplative silence.

"I know how hard it is to live with parents like yours, Jenny," Flameslinger said as he gently held her hand, "but I promise, this pain and suffering won't last forever, and until you can finally leave it behind, nothing that they say about you defines you as a person. You are so much more than what they desire out of you, so much more than a trophy or a good grade. You're Eugenie and that's all you need to be. If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, or someone to talk to about them, I'm always here for you."

Flameslinger gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and smiled when Eugenie squeezed back.

"Thanks, Flames," Eugenie whimpered as she wiped her tears away and smiled—a small smile, but one definitely genuine. "I, I really needed that."

The two of them held each other's hands in contemplative silence, but finally, Eugenie slipped her hand out and made her way for the Mess Hall's doors.

"Anyways, it's getting late. I should really get some sleep."

"You do that, Jenny. Just don't forget what I told you, alright?"

"I promise."

Eugenie disappeared through the doors with a flutter of her red cape as the last sign of her existence. The doors closed with a creak soon after, and Flameslinger took his seat as he drank in the familiar sights and sounds of the mess hall—however, his mind laid on his earlier conversation still. His teeth clenched on instinct as he recalled the tears Eugenie shed, the spiels about her father's actions… The gentle, hearthlike flames in Flameslinger's eyes burned like furious wildfires, and Flameslinger clenched his fist. Now, Skylanders were honor-bound to not kill without reason, but if Flameslinger were to ever meet this father of hers… Well, he was certain he wouldn't be faulted if an arrow "accidentally" slipped loose of his bow.

But, that was a matter for another time, so he took a breath and rested easy, knowing that hopefully, Eugenie would be able to as well.