Since I know a lot of you have been patiently waiting for the next CHS installment, here's a little sneak peek! This'll get taken down once the fic itself is released, but here's a juice little morsel for you to chew on in the meanwhile~
SLAM went the front door as it flung open, but Chihiro hardly had the mind for it as she pressed her ear against her parents’ bedroom door. She just barely made out inklings of her parents’ conversation behind its thick, wooden surface, but that same surface also masked most of it from her ears. It sounded more like muffled gibberish than anything. Chihiro could only make out a few words about “plans”, “cars”, and “baking”, or maybe “making”? The latter one sounded more accurate, but she wasn’t that sure. Chihiro gently pressed herself against the door some more, just enough that her parents wouldn’t hear it shudder in place as she pressed her weight against it. Maybe that would help—
“Mom, Dad, I’m back from practice!”
Chihiro hissed through clenched teeth as Mamoru’s words echoed around the silent halls. She leaped back for a moment. She eyed the door with a stern, silent command. She prayed her parents didn’t hear, and she wouldn’t have to go scrambling back to her room so she wouldn’t get scolded for eavesdropping. Thankfully, the door didn’t open. The conversation seemed to still for a moment, but quickly picked back up; it still rang muffled from the door’s other side. Chihiro pressed herself against the door once more and narrowed her eyes…
“You wouldn’t believe what happened at baseball practice today! The snotty kid from fourth grade struck a home run for once, and I had to run super fast, and slid all the way across the field just to catch it, and—hey, what’re you doing pressing yourself against the door like that?”
Chihiro let out a sharp gasp, and whipped around to immediately shush Mamoru before he could say anything more. She wasn’t sure how he sneaked up on her like that, especially considering that he was not known for being the quietest person there was, but here he stood now. He hadn’t changed out of his baseball uniform with its muddy knees from sliding one too many times on the diamond, and it complimented the faint streaks of dirt on his peach cheeks and blond hair. His blue eyes shone with a ring of curiosity.
He puckered his lips as those curious eyes darted between Chihiro and the door. “Seriously, what’re you doing?” Mamoru lowered his voice to a whisper as he eyed the door. “Whatever Mom and Dad are talking about can’t be that interesting.”
“That’s what you think~” Chihiro whispered back. She pressed her ear to the door, and lowered her own voice so her parents hopefully couldn’t hear. “See, when I got home from school earlier, I overheard them talking about going to some place and taking us over spring or something.” Chihiro grinned as she turned to Mamoru. “I think they might be taking us on vacation for spring break!”
“We’re going on vacation?”
Mamoru’s excited gasp raised his voice, but Chihiro shushed him once more.
“That’s what I’m trying to find out, now be quiet! They haven’t said anything to me, so I think they want it to be a surprise… Or they just haven’t decided yet.” Chihiro turned back to the door and pressed her ear against it again. “And that’s what I’m going to find out.”
“I’m gonna listen in too! I wanna hear about this vacation!”
“Only if you’re—“
“As quiet as a sheep hiding in Hugo’s bedroom?”
The two shared a knowing smile, and Chihiro nodded as she seceded her place against the door to Mamoru. She had to admit, she hadn’t expected him to become as passionate about the Skylanders games as she was when he asked her if he could play a round of Giants with her. It was both welcome and awkward: welcome because she always enjoyed having someone to talk about her passions with (even if he did complain that she never shut up about it sometimes), but awkward because it was incredibly hard to do so without spilling the beans about Skylands being a real place. Oh, it would be so much easier if she didn’t have to hide this stuff from her brother. But, she knew she had to. It would be too dangerous if ordinary people from Earth knew Skylands existed, so this was her burden to shoulder, she supposed.
Speaking of that, if they did go on vacation, she’d have to let the Skylanders know! They had a lot of stuff to do in these coming days, and she’d definitely have to plan around that if she went on vacation. Time in Skylands tended to pass much faster than on Earth. Thanks to that, Chihiro truly learned the meaning of “time flies”—but again, that was even if they went on vacation.
Chihiro and Mamoru both pressed their ears against the door. Their hearts beat in sync as they tried to pick up on their parents’ mumbles. Most of it was still inaudible mumbles, but slowly, slowly, her father’s voice raised in time with her own heartbeats.
“That place sounds find to me, then,” her father said, his voice raising over the sound of his own footsteps as he paced around the room. Chihiro’s mother always said she got her pacing habits from him.
“Yes, I’ve already picked out the rental, and I’m going to call the homeowner later and see if we can’t rent for a few days. Oh, I should probably pick up some sake to offer to the car’s kamuy, too. We may only use it for a little bit, but it’ll still need to be welcomed like any other thing we use…”
“Of course, dear. Do you want the ones we got for the car last time?”
“Get a new bottle, the finest you can find. If we’re going to travel to a place this far, we’ll need to make sure we please the car’s kamuy so it’ll keep us safe.”
That was like Mom for sure and definitely promising to boot. Mom always told her and Mamoru about the importance of respecting the kamuy, and the almost symbiotic relationship that her people held with them. If they respected the kamuy, the kamuy would care for them in turn. If Mom went to the lengths of preparing an offering with only the best sake like she always did, she was definitely getting that rental car! At least, Chihiro hoped so.
“Now, the question is where to go! There’s a few amusement parks in the area, and this one even has a water park and a baseball field. I’m sure Mamoru’s going to love that one. There’s the zoo nearby that’s apparently holding a show with their animals soon. This museum apparently got a new display on the history of video games, and I’m sure Chihiro will want to see that…”
The more her parents talked, the more Chihiro’s heart raced. All that stuff sounded like so much fun, but she couldn’t get her hopes up just yet. Not until they said they were going! A small hum of excitement came from Mamoru beside her, and Chihiro grinned as stars danced in his eyes.
“Don’t get too excited yet, Mamoru,” Chihiro warned at a whisper. “They’re just planning, remember? They might not actually go through with it—“
“I’d say that sounds like a good schedule!”
“Go let the kids know then. We’ll need to get packing quick if we want to be ready!”
Chihiro and Mamoru let out the sharpest, shrillest of gasps. The sparkles that shone in their eyes said all: they were going on vacation! They said not a word, yet the widest grins stayed stuck to their faces. This was it! They were going on the spring break vacation to end all spring break vacations! They shared this tiny bit of excitement for only a moment; next, they were off like rockets! After all, they had so much to plan, pack, and prepare, and they just couldn't wait!
The door to her parents' room creaked open. Slowly, everything faded into a dark haze, and Mamoru's distant calls of excitement rang in the air.
"Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"
Chihiro groaned and rubbed her eyes. She unfurled herself from where she laid curled in her seat. The world around her was a mesh of color and sound that she could barely comprehend in the post-nap haze, but she rubbed her eyes and it cleared nonetheless. Funny, she hadn't expected to be this tired. Normally, it was impossible for her to fall asleep on a car ride.
A distant triumphant sound rang in her ears, and she looked down at the game console in her hand. The screen shone brightly as it depicted her character standing in a field, scouting out monsters to add to her collection—and below it, a bright red battery light! Crap, it must have seriously drained while she slept!
Chihiro popped open the menu and scrambled for the save button; her teeth clenched tight as it slowly, slowly, extremely slowly saved. Maybe it was the tension of the low battery flashing like a warning sign, but it seemed like the save process took forever! Beads of sweat curled around her brows as the save icon flashes and spun.
Saving, saving... Saved!
A cheerful chime confirmed the action, and Chihiro breathed a sigh of relief as she turned off the console. She supposed she'd just have to charge it when they got to the place they rented for their vacation. Cheerful shouts came from beside her, and she turned to the seat next with a grin.
There, Mamoru sat dressed in a red tank top over a white t-shirt with light red stripes, blue shorts, and light red boots with white cuffs, blue tongues, and brighter red laces and soles. It was the very same outfit he'd packed first-thing for their spring break vacation, unlike Chihiro's own haphazard picks.
She looked down at her own choice of clothing: a white-to-light gray gradient, short-sleeved hoodie that was longer in the back than the front, black leggings, and dark gray boots with white cuffs and darker gray soles. A bumpy mass underneath her hoodie's cloth confirmed that her pendant laid hidden against her chest, but the cloth was thick enough to disguise its light. Good thing, too. In all her excitement, she'd forgotten to pack her clothes and had to grab something at the last minute. She wasn't sure if the cloth was thick enough to keep her pendant, her secret, from the rest of her family, but thankfully nobody noticed.
"So, are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Mamoru begged as he kicked his legs against the seat, his eyes wide with excitement.
"We'll get there when we get there," her father sighed, his voice a tired drone that showed he'd answered that question many times alright.
"You're certainly excited, Mamoru~" her mother teased, turning around from the front to catch a glimpse of Mamoru.
"Of course I am! You said there was a ton of fun stuff to do there! I wanna check out that amusement park with the baseball fields, and that gigantic swimming pool, and that motorcycle museum, and hey, do you think we could go to that fancy pizza place for dinner tonight? No, wait, I wanna check out that huge movie theater first!"
Though she was too tired to show it, Chihiro certainly shared in Mamoru’s excitement. After all, she practically jumped out of her skin when she heard about the vacation! Chihiro shook her head as another thought crept into her mind. That's right, vacation stuff could wait. Once she got there, she had some important business she needed to attend to.
"You can do all that when you get there, Mamoru," her mother said as she fiddled with the radio, "but right now, we need to actually drive there."
"But when are we gonna get there?"
"Yeah, when are we getting there?" Chihiro asked as she glimpsed out the window to endless valleys of trees and flying birds. "It feels like we've been driving forever!"
"We should be there soon," her father replied.
The rental car swerved. Soon, the endless forest scenery relented for miles and miles of suburbs not unlike the ones back in Treasure Lake, but with not nearly as much greenery or wildlife. Even those relented soon, for her father passed by the scenery for another, more forested area where a cozy-looking wooden house stood still and peaceful in a tranquil backdrop. The rental car pulled into the driveway...
"In fact, here we are!"
Chihiro and Mamoru cheered as the rental car wound down to a stop, and it unlocked with a click. The two of them threw their seat belts off, and flung themselves out of the car with a similar fervor as they examined the house. It seemed about the same size as their actual house, give or take, but something about its solid-wood exterior invited a cozy, mysterious feeling. Perhaps that was the excitement of their oncoming vacation creeping up their spins? Whatever it was, Chihiro and Mamoru exchanged wide grins, for it seemed to infect them both!
"Thank goodness we made it here alright," her father sighed as he left the car and wiped sweat from his forehead. "I was a little worried about how the rental would fare, but it worked like a charm!"
"See, I told you the kamuy would like the sake you gave it," her mother teased. "You didn't have to worry so much!"
"Well, I don't know much about the preferences of kamuy, and that brand seemed like it was done a little cheaper than it used to be. Seems like everyone's cutting corners these days..."
Her parents shared a chuckle, but it disappeared just as quickly as her mother's turn of attention. "Chihiro, Mamoru, can you start unpacking?" she asked.
"Sure thing!" Chihiro and Mamoru both chimed.
The two of them popped the trunk open and grabbed bags in twos, but Chihiro's fingers itched from the prospect. Okay, now she knew why she was so antsy; she needed to get to Skylands! She had important business to attend to, and she couldn't exactly attend to it with her parents watching! She pulled a few of the smaller bags out as Mamoru grabbed a particularly large one with all his baseball stuff out, the two of them worked in a slow rhythm.
Their parents soon joined them as they pulled out bags, and deposited them in the living room in movements that seemed to take forever. With every trip, Chihiro nervously eyed the trunk that seemed to be endless, and with every drop-off, her pendant's light seemed to burn against her skin. The light became a harsh reminder of the work she needed to do...
"Alright!" her father grunted as he dropped the last few bags into the living room. "That should be the last of them!"
Chihiro popped up to her father. "Alright, I'm gonna go check this place out! I'll be back in time for dinner!"
Chihiro dashed off before any of her family members could say anything, and she slammed the door behind her before they could see. She bolted from the driveway to the beaten path beside it, the one that trailed from cobblestone to dirt and grass. She ran as the grass brushed against her boots, ducking under the cover of mottled light and darkness from the trees. The spring breeze caressed her hair in a cool, inviting manner, and she breathed in its crispness to ease her heart.
Her father said there was a small lake beside her when he talked about their vacation stay, and she supposed something like that would be perfect for the getaway. A glimmer and a gargle caught her eye as she carefully hiked down the lower half of a dirt hill. She slowed her movement as she walked. She had to keep careful enough so that she wouldn't go into a run she couldn't stop, but she kept enough speed that she soon reached the bottom of the hill…
And the beauty that awaited! Right before her was the biggest, clearest lake she had ever seen on Earth!
Its aquamarine waters were like liquid gems that shimmered and sparkled as they moved under the afternoon sunlight, and it glowed almost like magic! Chihiro crept closer, and peered into its crystal-clear waters to find the water wasn't the only crystalline thing about it. At the bottom was an array of all sorts of crystals colored in all sorts of colors, but they sparkled and glistened all the same.
"Y'know, I hear Mom and Dad talking about this place. There was some science-y thing going on that made crystals grow at the bottom of the lake, and you'd think a bunch of people would wanna come to a place like that," Chihiro mused before she shook her head. "Ah, I can think about that later. For now, Skylands needs me!"
Chihiro withdrew her pendant from her shirt, and grinned as its crystal spun around in her hand. The light welcomed it the way it welcomed the lake. Its brilliant cyan and purple sparkles seemed to glow with a new shine as it shone in tandem with the lake!
Chihiro chuckled a bit at the sight, but quickly masked the light as she clasped its familiar bumpy, gritty surface in her hand. Chihiro breathed in and out, and the magic swelled in her veins. It filled her with a new energy, a new fervor, and she grinned as it tickled her face.
"Crystal," she proclaimed with a voice loud and clear, "take me to Skylands!"
Beams of light burst from the gaps in Chihiro's fingers, and slowly they swirled around her, welcoming her as their own. The ground was light underneath her. The world tinted cyan and purple before it turned to faint, stretched visions of itself. Soon, the lights would bleed out the rest of the world, their shrieks indicating that it was time for her to go. She smiled and closed her eyes as the light gently warmed her body, and soon, the sounds of gargling lakes and chirping birds disappeared under the shriek of burning light.
Amid that, she could have sworn she heard a single voice.
"Chihiro! Chihiro!"
Was that Mamoru's voice calling for her? Chihiro wasn't sure, but she cared not for it as the light's grip made her weightless. She just breathed in and let it take her to her second home.
§
A twinkling sounded in the air as the ground returned underfoot, and Chihiro popped her eyes open. No longer did she feel the soft, long fingers of grass stretching from the lake’s grounds, but the sharp and short fields of Ancient’s Peak. The forest and lake disappeared with the passing light, and unveiled that once more she stood in the land’s heart. Curiously, nobody was here besides her! Normally, there’d at least be a few Skylanders running around on patrol, or maybe Master Eon flitting to and fro as he tested out the recent expansion of his ghostly form, or Flynn trying and failing to fix the Dread-Yacht after its latest failed excursion. But, the only ones here were her and the flowers that swayed. That… Wasn’t good. Just where was everyone, anyways?
Chihiro winced and toyed with her drawstrings as she scanned the area around. She didn’t want to think that something awful happened while she was gone, but she’d been having some pretty awful feelings every since she’d come to Skylands lately. She knew deep down that something was coming. She could never explain it, but she felt it in her dreams, she felt it every time she stepped foot on Ancient’s Peak, or every time she felt the breeze of Skylands’ vast, open skies in her hair. Maybe that was just the dream thing, though. She’d been having a lot of weird dreams when she came to Skylands lately, and not weird in a good way.
“Master Chihiro!” Hugo called as he scurried across the land, his glasses haphazardly stuck to his face and his books bouncing in his oversized lapel. “You’ve arrived just in time!”
Chihiro gasped and reached out to summon a sword. Hugo skidded to a stop when she did, nearly stumbling over his own face. He looked oddly tranquil, as if he didn’t understand Chihiro’s own confusion. Didn’t he realize something strange was going on here? Chihiro studied his tranquil face, fearing that maybe another impersonator tried to take his place.
It was then the sun unveiled his bald spot. Chihiro took a breath of relief, for the impersonators always somehow forgot Hugo’s bald spot. Yeah, this was definitely the real Hugo, so that possibility could be crossed out at last.
“Hugo, did something happen?” Chihiro asked, craning her head around the near-empty island as she spoke. “Where’d everyone go?”
Hugo craned his head and a frown crossed his face. “Master Chihiro, you haven’t forgotten what today is, right? Surely you’d know they’re off doing the most important work right now?”
Chihiro blinked. Was today that important? Her brain was fried from her excitement over her oncoming vacation, and the thing that seemed to haunt her every time she came to Skylands. She kept drawing a blank. She summoned her calendar from her bedroom on Ancient’s Peak, and frowned as she glanced it over. Firstly, her calendar of Skylands’ cutest animals had some cuddling dragonbunnies for the vernal season, but more than that, she checked what should be today’s date, and…
“Oh, right!” We were supposed to do that deep-clean of Skylanders Academy before the re-opening ceremony tomorrow!”
Chihiro whisked away her calendar with a breathe of relief. How could she have forgotten? They’ve been talking about this all week, and a Skylands week at that, so she’s had it on her mind for a whole month, really. They couldn’t reopen Skylanders Academy when it was a total and utter wreck, after all, but she heard from Master Eon that it required a lot of cleaning.
“The others have already gone on ahead with the cleaning, but they asked me to let you know where they were, Master Chihiro,” Hugo informed, and he sheepishly adjusted his glasses as he added, “and, er, apparently nobody thought the sheep flock hiding in the cellar was an issue, so I had to return for my anti-sheep spray…”
Chihiro rolled her eyes. “Hugo, how many times do we have to tell you? Sheep are perfectly harmless! Just because a sheep ate your candy bar one time or something—“
“I’m telling you, those sheep are conspiring against us all!” Hugo wagged a finger at Chihiro. “As a protector of Skylands, you’d do well to take that threat seriously!”
Oh, Hugo and his sheep.
“Alright, Hugo, if you’re that worried that the sheep cowering in fear in the cellar for who knows how long are somehow going to bring about the end of Skylands as we know it, I’ll go shoo them out. Besides, I wanna see how the cleaning’s coming along.”
Hugo scoffed at Chihiro's flippant response. She didn't have any sort of time to entertain whatever fears he had about sheep taking over Skylands today. Instead, she summoned a warp start with a snap of her fingers, charged it with magic, and envisioned the one place she wanted to be most right now. The magic swelled within her again, and it fed into the warp start as it glowed with a familiar cyan light. A flick of Chihiro's wrist, and it flew onto the grass as it expanded into a shimmering warp begging for someone to use it. Its light warmed her like sunshine, and Chihiro grinned as she took Hugo by the paw.
"To Skylanders Academy we go!" Chihiro cried as she leaped onto the warp with a rousing start.
Hugo wailed in surprise as the warp whisked them both away, but his cries quickly ceased as the light enveloped them both. One blink later, and the surroundings of Ancient's Peak were no more. Chihiro felt not grass or dirt, but cool stone underneath her boots, and the air rouse with chatter from voices she knew by heart.
Chihiro lifted her head, and found that before her was not Ancient's Peak, but a large building akin to a castle. Its body was make of sleek gray stone that shone like marble, and practically every inch of the land was lined with trees and hanging, creeping leaves and flowers. Banners in rich red velvet fluttered from crevices and windows alike. At the heart of the island was a large entrance with a mantle bearing weaponry and banners with the elements' symbols on them, all under the gaze of Master Eon's head... and Master Eon himself!
"Now, I do believe those supplies should go to the janitorial closet, and these books need to be delivered to the academy library," Master Eon proclaimed as he flitted to and fro amid the busy crowd of Skylanders carting cleaning supplies and materials, though he stood tall and regal as ever, "and those" — Master Eon stopped in his tracks as he glanced down at Chihiro — "Master Chihiro! You've arrived!"
"You bet I have!" Chihiro chirped as she skipped up to Master Eon. "I wouldn't miss Academy Cleaning Day for even the best vacation in all the universe!"
Master Eon chuckled, and Chihiro couldn't help but manage a chuckle with him. She had to admit, she was still getting used to how his ghostly form regenerated itself in the past two years. It enough that it had a proper form, and not just a sphere of floating light.
He was tall, taller than most humans in Skylands, and his pale peach skin was wrinkled in age matched by his long white beard. Despite this, his blue eyes twinkled with energy, and a smile stretched across his lips. He dressed in a blue viking helmet with twin pairs of horns and a round gem in its center, a long blue robe, and a sash with the symbols of all Skylands' elements stitched into it. He looked so lifelike that if not for the blue tint to his body from his ghostly status, he'd look no different than a guy she'd see on the street!
Well, in Skylands, anyways. Chihiro wasn't sure she'd see a guy like him on Earth. Chihiro didn't come here to marvel on Master Eon's new form, though. No, she came to help clean up the Academy, and given how hastily everyone ran across the courtyard, Chihiro had a feeling they needed it. Chihiro whistled as Stump Smash tripped over Ghost Roaster's chain, nearly knocking Ghost Roaster's face into a box of something labeled for kitchen storage.
"Geez, everyone sure is busy, huh?" Chihiro remarked.
"Of course they are, Master Chihiro!" Hugo exclaimed as he stepped forth. "Tomorrow is the grand re-opening of Skylanders Academy, after all! We have to make sure this place is cleaned and prepped from the top to the bottom, and that's no simple feat!"
"You're telling me!" Spyro groaned as he flitted by with a few brooms in paw. "I forgot how long it always took to clean the Academy. Even with all the Skylanders in our ranks, it would still take ages!"
"Well, if we've got that much to do," Chihiro chuckled, "I suppose I'd better get cracking!"
Spyro perked up at the sound of Chihiro's voice, and the brooms slipped from his paws. He seemed to finally realize she was here, and his eyes sparkled like actual gold as a smile cracked across his face.
"Chi, you made it!" Spyro called as he tackled her into a hug.
Chihiro giggled, drinking in the embrace of Spyro's warm purple scales as he folded his wings around her in a hug. No matter how many times she held him, that warm, fuzzy feeling always built in her every time she saw him, held him in her arms, or even just sat with him and watched the sunrise or sunset between missions. It never once changed, not in the two years she'd come to know her Golden Boy. She hoped it never did.
The two breathed in as if they drank in each other's scents, but finally quickly broke apart.
"So, how's the vacation?" Spyro asked as he summoned the brooms back to his side. "Seen anything cool yet?"
"Oh, you bet! We drove super far to get our vacation house, and it's in this cool forest with these pools that, get this, have CRYSTALS at the bottom instead of regular ground! It's super clear and pretty too, and—" Chihiro shook her head. "Wait, what am I saying? We need to get to work cleaning!"
Chihiro cracked her knuckles as the warmth of eagerness boiled in her heart.
"What's left to do, Golden Boy?"
A CRASH and some cursing sounded off in the distance, and Spyro grimaced as he glanced at its source.
"A lot." Spyro flitted off, and Chihiro quickly tailed after him as he balanced the brooms. "Right now, we're replacing the parts of the flooring and ceiling that got damage when Kaos tried to blow the Academy to pieces two years ago. Thankfully, we've got the Giants helping out there..."
Spyro grinned as he pushed a door open, and urged Chihiro inside. She crept underneath its round door frame. The door swung to a close behind her as Spyro swept beside her.
"And they've been a GIANT help—pun completely intended."
Chihiro now found herself inside what appeared to be a common area with half-broken, half-solid wooden flooring and ceiling framed with stone. Sunlight poured in from a large gap in the roof that Chihiro highly doubted was actually part of the room plan. Stone framing kept the room in place as beings thundered in and out, all under the guidance of a few gigantic beings that towered enough to cast shadows well across the floor.
The tallest of them all, Tree Rex, held out his hands as he crafted wooden planks in all sizes and bends by the dozen. They fell in stacks beside him, but lasted there for only a second. In the next, he heaved them over his shoulder like they were little more than pillows, and hauled them over to where Ninjini and Swarm outfitted planks into the ceiling.
"Delivery!" Tree Rex called as he dropped the planks beside them. "Wooden planks, fresh off the tree!"
"Good timing, babe!" Bouncer cried as he zipped over. He paused for a moment to plant a kiss on Tree Rex's cheek, and yanked the planks from the ground the next. "This one patch's just about done. Just gotta..."
A rumble came from within Bouncer's circuitry, and next thing they all knew, a jetpack burst from his back! He soared up, planks in hand, and carefully fitted them into the gigantic ceiling hole before he seared them in with some kind of strange material he shot from his fingertips. Chihiro wasn't quite sure what it was, but it definitely did the trick. In moments, that gigantic hole was no more, and the room darkened till only the round lamps served as a light source.
Chihiro whistled as she strode up to Tree Rex. "Man, you all seem to have this down pat! I'd say we're just about done!"
"Oh, I wish that was the case," Tree Rex chuckled. "Unfortunately, that's just one part of the ceiling. We've still got a lot more to go."
Bouncer, Ninjini, and Swarm all cast glimpses to the masses of holes like spotlights that stretched across the massive length of the room. Chihiro had to assume it was probably the size of a football field, or maybe two placed together, but either way, it was long.
Chihiro hissed and clenched her teeth as crossed her arms. "Yeah, I see your point."
"Not surprised," Spyro remarked as he flew up to Chihiro's side. "The Academy took a pretty bad beating from Kaos’s forces back when he took over Skylands, and we've been so busy that we haven’t had time to clean it all up till now."
"Yeah, we've got our work cut out for us, alright."
"Indeed," Tree Rex sighed with a sagely nod of his head.
"Hey, you're not the only ones working here!" chirped a gruff, but cheerful voice from around the bend. "You might be the big guys on campus, but you don't need to take all the blows!"
Chihiro chuckled as Terrafin walked in with a bundle of wooden planks over his shoulder. Behind him, Drill Sergeant carried a wagon full of the planks and other building materials, and Boomer and Slam Bam carried in even more. Hex and Double Trouble slipped out next. With a snap of their fingers and a wave of Double Trouble's staff, the materials all lifted from their spots! They fitted themselves into the ceiling like puzzle pieces, slowly slipping and locking together until the lights in the ceiling dimmed.
"The library's west wing has been cleaned and reorganized, as requested!" Chop Chop proclaimed as he strode in with Eruptor close behind. Chop Chop shot Eruptor a glare, and though his helmet showed no emotion, the tired sigh he made showed enough. "I do question the choice of help, however. If I hadn't set up my shield in time, his magma vomit would have burned the entire library to ashes!"
"Hey, it's not my fault I'm allergic to dust!" Eruptor snapped back.
His veins glowed and crackled as if he wanted to say more, but Stealth Elf popped up in a flash and vaulted right over him.
“The east’s wing all cleaned up too!” Stealth Elf proclaimed as she landed.
Eye chuckled as he popped through the doorway next, and Brawl curled around over him. Their wedding rings still shone with a new polish, even under the minimal light. They seemed to relish in that as they basked in what little light the fixed room had to offer.
“Eye do say, I have quite the eye for organization~” Eye chuckled.
Another chuckle came, but not from anyone else—no, it was Thumpback! He held a huge book with a picture of a fish on the cover in hand, and he didn’t even glimpse at anyone else as he combed through its pages.
“So tropical cloudfish migrate there for the brumal season,” Thumpback mused as he walked off with the book. “That would explain why I never found them in any of my usual haunts…”
“Hey, you know you can’t check out books without a library card, right?” Cynder hissed as she flew after Thumpback.
Thumpback, ever oblivious, wandered off with his snout still deep in the book. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll make sure to put it back when I’m finished reading.”
Cynder rolled her eyes, and sighed as she buried her head in her front paws—but only for a moment. Dark Spyro popped in next, and quite literally at that. He leaped out from the shadows behind her, and she yelped as he shook shadows off his scales like water.
“Hot Head and I chased that ghost mice infestation out of the Academy, by the way!” Dark Spyro chirped.
“Talk about a smoke out,” Hot Head giggled as he thundered up behind them all. He raised a brow, and chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. “But, uh, just so you know, the kitchen might smell like smoke for a few days. And so will the halls. And the entire dormitory.”
Chihiro sighed and pinched her brows. Yeah, she should’ve guessed that putting them in charge of such a delicate operation wouldn’t have gone well.
“I’ll go open some windows—” Chihiro started, but a massive gust knocked her onto the floor before she could even move!
“Already on it, Chi!” Swarm called as he disappeared down the halls. He moved at such a speed that he knocked the smaller members of the team over as well, but the rest of the Giants hardly noticed!
Chihiro shook her head as she pushed her shaking self off the ground. She cast a smile to where Crusher silently hauled in stacks of bricks and repaired damaged parts of the framing. Though Crusher’s life purpose was pummeling rocks (his words, not hers), he was pretty good at making them, too. In fact, they stayed sturdy and still as he repaired arches and concrete beams alike, filled in broken patterns in brick walls, and polished them up till they were good as new! His concentration broke not even once, even as the others scattered back to their own work as they ribbed and laughed among each other.
“Y’know, it’s nice to see that the Giants adjusting so well to being part of the team,” Chihiro remarked as she wiped off her hands. “You wouldn’t even have guessed they were ancient heroes from ten thousand years in the past!”
“Perhaps, but regardless, I do share in your sentiments, Master Chihiro,” Master Eon remarked as he strode up to her side. “I couldn’t have imagined that we would have such heralded heroes working alongside us, and I was concerned for how well they would fare under the Skylanders’ code, but they’ve moved in quite swimmingly, if I do say so myself. I couldn’t be happier.”
“Yeah, they’ve definitely given us some big help, and not just because they’re huge!”
Chihiro chuckled at her own dumb joke, and Master Eon laughed alongside her. She supposed it wasn’t as dumb as she thought it was if he joined along, but Master Eon wasn’t always as above it all as he seemed. She’d occasionally catching him laughing at some old-fashioned joke she barely understood during briefings, quickly skipping over pages of books with falcons on them with trembling hands, or even humming songs about how magnificent his beard was. They were all signs that her mentor was far from the stoic beacon of hope she’d once seen him as. Maybe getting some semblance of a physical form brought a new lightness to his heart, or maybe that was just a part of growing up. Sometimes, it meant noticing things about others she’d never quite noticed before.
“Now, Master Chihiro, unless our job is supervising, I do believe it is uncouth of us to just stand around here and make the Skylanders do all the work.”
Chihiro perked up and one last, small giggle escaped her.
“That’s right, what am I standing around here for?” Chihiro cracked her knuckles and summoned an array of magical cleaning supplies. “We’ve got cleaning to do and a day wasting away!”
Chihiro spun her magically-created broom like a gymnast’s baton as she rounded the corner. The sounds, sights, and smells of cleaning and conversation grew more and more distant to her. The vast halls of the Academy stretched before her, and with it, so much work to be done: tapestries that needed mended, walls and floors in need of repairs and cleaning, old materials needing replaced… Luckily, she was the one to do it!
Chihiro released her magical cleaning supplies with a clatter and snapped her fingers. “Cleaning supplies, do your thing!”
The cleaning supplies stood tall and rigid, bowed to Chihiro, and next thing she knew, they were off! Dusters and brooms chased cobwebs and dust bunnies from every corner of the halls as mops and rags slicked down the floors till they sparkled like diamonds. Magic gloves adjusted crooked portraits and pulled out sewing materials to mend tattered tapestries. Air fresheners plopped on top of repaired side tables, and let out floral scents that made the halls feel more like gardens and open fields than school grounds.
Just looking at them work lifted an entire weight from Chihiro’s shoulders! Despite this, she didn’t have time to sit back and relax. The sounds and chatter that came from down the hall showed there was still plenty of work to be done!
So, Chihiro went to work. Her first stop was the classrooms, where Sonic Boom, Drobot, Whirlwind, and Sunburn zapped like furious bolts of lightning across the lands. Banners vanished off their benches, and manifested back onto open windows and careful placements on the walls. Though it seemed like they had things handled, she was sure a little help couldn’t hurt.
Chihiro ducked underneath Drobot as he zoomed off with a rev of his engine and legfuls of banners…
“Dro, watch out!” Whirlwind cried. “Your afterburners!”
A FWOOM of flame burst above Chihiro, and she yelped and jumped back as the banners above her caught alight! A mechanical yelp came from above her, and plumes of fire-stopping foam rained above her before Chihiro could react. The foam covered her in a thick coat, but she shook it off with a frown.
The foam cleaned off the flames, sure, but it left a huge mess, too! Foam coated the room in piles, and the singed banners half-crumbled into piles of ashes! The smell of burnt cloth reeked in the room, and Chihiro winced as she covered her nose. The smell of things burning normally didn’t bug her, but this particular one was so pungent that it overwhelmed her senses.
Drobot hovered back over, and he grimaced as he looked down at the half-burnt and broken banners. “My apologies,” he winced. “In my haste to redecorate the Academy, I seem to have forgotten that we had yet to replace the decorations with non-flammable fabric.”
Drobot hung his head while a blue glow of shame echoed from his eyes.
Whirlwind cascaded down before him with a sheepish smile, and gently patted his back. “Don’t worry about it, Dro. It happens to everyone, even geniuses. Besides, I’m sure those banners were out of style, anyways!”
“And hey, if they’re out of style,” Chihiro added as she summoned a magical sewing needle, “now’s the perfect opportunity to fix them!”
Chihiro snapped her free fingers, and her sewing needle flew from her hand as it plunged straight into the ashes! The ashes tinted to blue as they shifted in size and texture; they grew firmer and woollier as they turned from ash to string once more. The cyan-tinted hues tinted the rest of the banners as the string wove back in, but they wouldn't stay cyan for long. A few blasts of rainbow color from Whirlwind, and they immediately returned back to their regular hues and tones!
The others nodded and cheered in approval as Chihiro and Whirlwind bowed to the audience. With a clap of Chihiro's hands, the remaining banners slid from their dormant seats on both the benches and Drobot's legs. Slowly, the banners hung themselves up in all their proper places. They spread above blackboards and over windowsills, and the cool afternoon air gently caressed them as they took their seats.
Chihiro supposed her job here was done, so she slipped back out of the classroom and moved. The rest of the work went by in a blur. She's taken up residence in the Academy's library, where she helped Hugo sort through endless volumes of texts to see which ones were still up-to-date, which ones needed to be donated due to being outdated, and of course, arrange them according to proper library codes that Chihiro herself never understood. She went to the kitchen with Ghost Roaster and restocked the produce and food while they cleaned out materials long-expired by feeding them to the trash imps. She and Boomer chased those sheep out of the cellar that Hugo so feared (she still wondered how they even got there in the first place). She and Lightning Rod competed to see who could lift more of the debris from the Academy concert area as Prism Break and Stump Smash fixed the wreckage...
And now, she took up residence in one of the many other classrooms. She'd joined Hex, Chop Chop, Camo, and Zap in sweeping up and washing off the area. She wondered why Chop Chop still insisted on using his sword and shield as a broom as she offhandedly shot him a glance, but ignored it as she levitated up and cleaned dust from a few bookshelves.
"Man, I'd say we've gotten a lot of headway already!" Chihiro chirped. "I wouldn't be surprised if we were done cleaning the Academy by the end of the day!"
"Totally, dude!" Zap chirped as he slid around and poured buckets of water over the floors. Another zap around, and he'd slipped into rags with straps that he used to dry those floors. "I think I beat my racing records just from cleaning the halls!"
"And I think I've gotten the Academy's topiaries clip-shape!" Camo chuckled as he wagged his tail. He hung some bundles of thornkins from hooks in the ceiling, and grinned as he spun them around. "I'd say all that work tending to Master Eon's garden got put to good use here!"
"Totally dude!" Zap skidded up to Camo and grinned up at the thornkins. "I bet those plants look, like, one hundred times better with your growing powers!"
"Didn't even need to use them! All it took was a little sunshine and water, and they were ripe as rainfruit~"
The two shared a hearty laugh, even though the joke probably wasn't that funny, and Chihiro chuckled. She hasn't exactly ignored how close Zap had been trying to get to Camo these past few months. It seemed like he'd always find some convenient excuse to leave something for the garden, or tag along on missions, or just follow him around like a lost puppy. The two of them were two birds of a feather, or rather, two dragons of a scale... But, Chihiro couldn't help but wonder why he was so clingy all of a sudden.
Oh, whatever, I can think about that later, Chihiro thought as she zipped over to another shelf and dusted it off. Right now, we have shelves to dust!
The dust cascaded like rain as Chihiro worked away, and a low noise echoed in the distance. At first, Chihiro thought it might've been Hex's skulls chasing spiders out of the corridors, but no, it was too distant for that. Rather, it sounded almost like it came from down the halls! It grew closer and closer, and its sound grew clearer and clearer. In fact, it almost sounded like someone screaming for—
"HELP!"
Everyone turned around as a rumbling, quaking noise bellowed from the halls. The screams drown underneath the bellows, and the sounds of engines shuddering and rattling joined them as something shook out the looser bricks from the halls! The shrill squeals rose over the waves of sound once more as something rounded the corner in one fast second. The next, it smashed right through the doorway!
The noise's source was some gigantic machine with a vacuum hose in front, and tons of mechanical arms brandishing cleaning supplies like mops, brooms, and rags in hand. It moved so fast that it tipped and swayed on its wheels, and Trigger Happy and Wrecking Ball clung to its top like a bull-rider riding an angry bull!
"HELPPPPPPPPPPP! I CAN'T STOP THIS THING!" Trigger Happy wailed.
Everyone else immediately scattered, but the movement came so fast that Chihiro barely comprehended it! One minute she dusted shelves, and another, she came face-to-face with the raging monster and its massive, screeching trunk!
"Chihiro, look out!" Trigger Happy and Wrecking Ball both cried in tandem.
Chihiro gasped and their sudden shout brought her back to her senses. Her body moved without thinking, the same way it did when she fought in the field. A sword made of magic found its way into her hands, and she slashed at the machine's heart in a single, swift strike. The sword stretched and expanded till it was comparable in size to the machine itself, and it burst in a flash as it cut through the machine!
The machine was rendered in two split halves and a pile of mechanical gore as the light faded. The top half with its outer shell collapsed to the front as Trigger Happy and Wrecking Ball flew off, and Trigger Happy slammed right in Chihiro's arms! She caught him like a baseball, but Wrecking Ball slammed into her next and tackled the all to the ground.
A good thing, too. The outer shell flopped over where Chihiro originally stood, and it turned to a shield. The machine's exposed engine and storage containers huffed and puffed with a concerning volume.
"It's gonna blow!" Chihiro cried. She jumped to her feet as she went to make a shield...
But it was too late! The machine exploded, and really exploded at that: its bolts, nuts, and severed mechanical pieces embedded themselves in walls, floors, and ceiling alike! Dust and grime burst in a shower that thickly coated the room. The area now reeked of must, and coughing sounded off as silhouettes bipedal and quadrupedal coughed and fanned their way through the storm.
"Trigger Happy," Hex hissed as she cut through the storm. She looked no different than her usual stoic self (save for the dust that coated her headdress), but a faint glow snaked across her skin and highlighted her scars in a way that made her seem almost devilish. "You do realized we just cleaned this room, correct?"
"Yeah, dude!" Zap affirmed. "I about broke my record for fastest room cleaning!"
"What exactly do you have to say for yourself?" Chop Chop demanded as he shook the dust from his sword with a few quick snaps.
Trigger Happy had no words, only shameful giggles as he buried himself in Chihiro's arms. "Save me, Chi!" Trigger Happy begged.
Chihiro sighed, shaking the dust and muck from his own person as she stood up. "Seriously, Trig! We're gonna have to start all over! What were you even doing with that machine, anyways?"
"Well, it was supposed to be the ultimate cleaning machine to end all vernal cleaning sessions, and I was gonna use it to get the Academy super-duper clean," Trigger Happy admitted as he twiddled his thumbs, "but I started it up and it went bonkers! Like, rawr!" Trigger Happy made an impression of a monster's roar, but sighed when nobody reacted. "I'm never buying my cleaning supplies from the Cereal Box Association ever again!"
Chihiro raised a brow. "What did you expect with a name like that?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, bad idea..."
"You bet it was!" Gill Grunt spat as he rounded the corner and fished dust bunnies from his cannon. "I just cleaned those floors, Ancients da" — Gill Grunt stopped short and cleared his throat the moment he realized Chihiro was in the room — "ng it!"
Chihiro only sighed and shook her head. Geez, she was thirteen now! Gill didn't need to worry about holding his tongue in front of her! She heard worse stuff from the Skylanders' training sessions.
"Oh, don't worry a scale on your head, old buddies old pals!" Flynn proclaimed as he walked with an upright broom in hand. "Luckily for you, the greatest pilot in Skylands is also the greatest janitor in all Skylands, too! I'll have this whole place so clean you could eat enchiladas off the floor in a second!"
Flynn scuffed the broom across the floor seemingly for emphasis, and frowned as hardly any dust or dirt moved.
"Huh, seems like this wants to be a bit stubborn, huh? Well, good old Flynn'll show them stubborn!"
Flynn scowled as he scuffled further, and Cali eyed the broom with a frown as she popped behind him.
"Flynn, you do realize you're holding that broom the wrong way, right?" she asked.
Flynn's ears perked up, and he chuckled as he slowly fixed his broom's position. "Oh, I knew that! I was just testing you to make sure you knew, too!"
Cali rolled her eyes and buried her face in her hands, but everyone else seemed to get a chuckle out of Flynn's usual shenanigans. Well, everyone except Hex, who stayed somber as ever as she summoned her skulls and fitted dusters in their mouths.
The laughter died as everyone went back to cleaning, and the time passed underneath their noses. The afternoon dipped into evening hues soon enough, but hardly anyone noticed—they were too busy cleaning! Between fixing floors and rearranging shelves, there was no mind paid to the time until the chime of the Academy's inner clock resounded around the room.
"Welp, guess that's our cue!" Chihiro chirped from where she finished dusting the classroom shelves for a second time.
With a snap of her fingers, she teleported herself and everyone else back to the Academy courtyard. The Skylanders broke off to join the rest of their ranks, but Chihiro instead strode to where Spyro and Master Eon stood deep in conversation. Smiles spread across their faces as they glanced at the Academy, and Chihiro grinned. Surely, that had to be a good sign!
"So, how'd we do?" Chihiro chirped as she swung in.
"Well..." Master Eon said, pausing for dramatic effect. He stood still and stoic for a moment as everyone else gathered around him with anticipating eyes, yet couldn't help but break into a smile. "Thankfully, Skylanders Academy is ship-shape, and perfectly ready for tomorrow's grand re-opening!"
Everyone broke into cheers and shouts of relief around her, and the positivity was so infectious that it slid its way into Chihiro herself! Her limbs tingled with excitement, and she couldn't help but leap a foot into the air and pump her fist.
"HELL YEAH! WE'VE GOT AN ACADEMY!"
"Chihiro, language!" Gill Grunt scolded as she came down.
Chihiro scoffed and crossed her arms as she shot Gill Grunt a glare. "Gill, you told me you weren't gonna get on my case for swearing now that I'm a teenager, remember?"
Gill Grunt's earfins flicked, and he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I, did say that, didn't I?"
Chihiro nodded in affirmation. The faint memory of when she celebrated her thirteenth birthday in Skylands just a few days ago came back to her. She had to admit, it was nice getting to have two birthday parties instead of just one, especially for something as big as her thirteenth. To think, she was thirteen years old! She was a teenager now, and that meant she'd practically be an adult soon!
"Regardless of language, Chi's right," Spyro affirmed as he pushed through, his golden eyes sparkling like stars as he laid them on the Academy's building. "It's good that we can finally fire up the Academy again! We could certainly use a few more Skylanders in our ranks, especially since we're still short-staffed..."
The cheerful attitude diminished in an instant, for everyone immediately knew what Spyro referred to. The rest of the Core Skylanders' ranks had been missing for two years at this point, and any possible attempts at searching for them became moot. They had no idea where the rest of the Core Skylanders went, or if they were even ALIVE still! Chihiro recalled how Spyro once shared stories about them with her while he patrolled Ancient's Peak, and how his cheerful demeanor always seemed to falter when he thought of them. Surely, he missed his friends; they all did.
"I'm sorry," Chihiro whispered, "I really do wish I could find them, but..."
Chihiro trailed off as Master Eon laid a warm hand on her shoulder.
"This is no fault of yours, Master Chihiro. The only fault lies at Kaos's feet for being the reason we lost them to begin with. I am certain they'd want us to carry on their work for them, especially with Mount Cloudbreak's eruption oncoming."
That's right—the centennial eruption of Mount Cloudbreak would come soon. As per tradition, Master Eon and Chihiro would send a team of Skylanders to guard the volcano for its special eruption ceremony. They were a little worried about how they'd handle it with so few ranks. Even with the Giants on their side, and more beings finding ways to protect their homes even without the Skylanders' help, they were still constantly strung thing. God knows Chihiro caught Master Eon fretting over it in his chambers when he thoughts nobody could hear him, to say nothing of Chihiro's own worries!
"That is," Master Eon added at a slightly lower volume, "assuming we get any new cadets. After all, between looking for Kaos, cleaning the Academy, and responding to everyday calls for help, I'm afraid we've had little time to scout for new talent..."
“Oh, don’t worry a thing! Once the Academy reopens, we’ll be up to our knees in applicants! After all, who wouldn’t want to become one of Skylands’ greatest heroes and study under the best of the best?”
Master Eon chuckled, and the age in his face seemingly lifted with his laughter. “That is quite true, Master Chihiro,” Master Eon remarked. He stroked his beard and frowned as he examined his staff. “Speaking off, I should probably ask the Grand Masters when they’ll be available to teach.” The crystal atop the orb changed, and it showed a bunch of beings clad in black and gold robes meditating in the midst of an intensive blizzard. “Last I heard from King Pen, he’d apparently taken the team to an annual intensive training study in the Northmost Reaches.”
The visage faded, and the crystal became a crystal once more as Master Eon sighed.
“I do apologize for making you all teach here on top of your usual duties, but…”
“Hey, don’t worry about it, Master Eon!” Spyro chirped. “I think I speak for all of us when I say we definitely need some new blood in our ranks, and if helping out at the Academy is what it takes to get it, just sign us up!”
A couple of the other Skylanders chattered in agreement, marveled at the newly-restored beauty of the Academy, or just complained about how much their backs hurt from all the work. It seemed everyone had something to say, but that was to be expected. After all, they had some pretty exciting prospects ahead of them: Skylanders Academy reopening, training up new cadets… Chihiro’s heart raced just thinking about it!
“For now, though, we should all get a good night’s sleep!” Hugo proclaimed. “After all, we’ll need to be well-rested for the big day tomorrow!”
Everyone chattered in agreement as they boarded Chihiro’s warp in masses, Chihiro included. The light flashed over her face, and its warmth fled as quickly as it came as she arrived back at Ancient’s Peak. The sun slowly dipped from evening to night as everyone parted to their quarters, but a tiny, nagging part of Chihiro wished they would stay for just a little while longer. After all, with night came sleep, and with sleep came the one thing that haunted her whenever she came to Skylands for months at this point, the one thing she so desperately wished to avoid.
She watched with bouncing eyes as the masses of Skylanders disappeared into the portal room. Her eyes sought Spyro among the crowds without even thinking. It seemed that whenever she felt caught up in something, worried to death, or just generally unstable, he was the one she immediately thought to look for. Sure enough, he’d struck up a conversation with Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy, undoubtedly about what awaited them tomorrow.
Chihiro wanted so badly to reach out, to grab him and hold him the way she always did when her heart was uneasy, but she shook it off. Something like this wasn’t worth badgering him about. She could deal with it herself, and besides, why would she be scared of something as simple as this, anyways?
Chihiro bit her lip and shook her head once more as she dismissed herself. Her eyes instead made way for the paths of forestry that led to her quarters. She forced herself to zero in on the trees, and tried her hardest not to look like she was about to explode.
Her legs shuddered like they didn’t want to move, yet she forced them to anyways. She marched, moving the same way she did whenever she was too anxious to want to move—labored and robotic, the way a soldier moved. March, march, march, don’t think about anything other than marching. When she moved like that, she didn’t have to think about the anxieties that awaited her or the things that haunted her; all she could think about was putting one foot in front of the other. It was something she’d developed when things got really bad a few months ago, and it served her well enough.
March, march, march, Chihiro repeated to herself, and she bit her lip as her heart seemed to skip, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot...
The forest seemed to stretch on forever as Chihiro marched, but soon enough, she reached her home on Skylands. She closed her eyes and teleported inside before she could even think about anything else. With a flash and a pop, she found herself in her bedroom.
The two years that passed gave her plenty of time to decorate it to her liking. The entire room was colored from ceiling to floor in purple and cyan, shelves of spellbooks and regular books alike lined the walls next to her bed, and plushies she'd brought from Earth as homesickness remedies for longterm stays stood vigilant on her bed. Even though it should have felt like home, Chihiro's heart kept skipping and racing in turns. It was as if she was on the battlefield looking for a place to fight, not her bedroom looking for a place to sleep! The shadows danced in an even more ominous way than normal, and the light flickered a way that seemed too suspicious to be ordinary bulbs.
Still, Chihiro dismissed it. She switched from her day clothes to pajamas in a snap, and begrudgingly forced herself into her bed. Her comforter seemed more like a snake suffocating her under its cloth and wool, and every little bump in her pillows was a spike stabbing her in the brain. Her heart raced, and she wanted to badly to run and be free, but she couldn't. She had a big day tomorrow, and as much as she didn't want to, she had to sleep.
At first, she did the same things she always did to calm herself: think about fun memories to ease her mind, rattle off lists of every Remedy Warrior in Beautiful Remedy by order of introduction, cuddle her plushies and bury herself in their soft plush, but once again, nothing worked. So, she sighed, and instead reached for a book on her shelf.
“Maybe some reading will get me some peace of mind,” she mumbled as she cracked the book opened.
She idly flipped through its pages, landing on something close to the midsection of the book. It showed a worn picture of a group of beings in heroic stances that showcased their crystalline weaponry, and her eyes glazed over the passage.
“Decades ago, Skylands cowered in horror under an evil unlike no other. The Doom Raiders, one of the most heinous criminal gangs Skylands had ever known, rose from obscurity to infamy seemingly overnight. They crushed massive swathes of Skylands underneath their feet, stole hundred of thousands in treasure and precious artifacts, and had every being in Skylands afraid for their futures. Even Master Eon, the greatest of the portal masters, struggled to quell their reign of terror.
“However, it was then that a glimmer of hope emerged. The Trap Masters, lead by the heroic trapped Croc Shot and his second-in-command Head Shield, emerged from nowhere and offered their services to Master Eon. Using their special Traptanium weapons and enchanted Traptanium crystals that could seal a being’s soul within their walls, the Trap Masters disposed of the Doom Raiders and brought their reign of terror to an end.
“The Trap Masters disappeared soon after, and nobody knows what became of them. General public consensus is that they quietly retired once their job was done. Perhaps, some say, they went somewhere far away to seal the Doom Raiders somewhere where they could never bother anyone again, and still watch over them to this day…”
Oh, so she landed on a section about the Trap Masters. Chihiro had always been curious about the mystery of her disappearance, but never much. The one time she’d asked Master Eon about it, he kept changing the subject—and more than that, turned bright red. Even though he kept his temper and tongue in check, Chihiro had rarely, if ever, seen Master Eon glow with such rage before. He never lost his temper, and just the notion of it scared her so much that she never asked him ever again. Besides, if the Doom Raiders weren’t bothering anyone now, surely they did something right, right? That’s what she hoped, anyways.
Chihiro pondered it for a moment, glaring down the pages, and finally realized…
“I still can’t sleep.”
Chihiro sighed and teleported the book back to its shelf. Her usual methods failed her, and she briefly debated if maybe she should use a sleep spell. She didn't want to, for it was stupid and pathetic that she'd get worked up over something like this to that extent. As the shadows stretched along her ceiling like a ticking clock's hands, and the nerves didn't seem to pass, she finally relented.
"God, why am I like this?" Chihiro groaned as she pushed a hand to her heart.
A flare of magic shot within her, and her limbs grew heavy like her bones became steel. Her eyelids felt too heavy to prop up, so she collapsed on the bed and rolled on her side as the world slowly blackened around her.