Skylanders: Second Leaf

Chapter 9 ~ Fire

Spyro paced the floor around and around, lost deep in thought. Stealth leaned against a nearby wall, staying perfectly quiet, wishing and hoping she hadn't messed everything up by handing Kaos over to those... fiends. Skeleborg mainly. Even though it had been over a day ago, Stealth was still beating herself up about it. They had tried to be as quick as possible at getting back there, but every one step the took forward, something set them back two.

"Any clue what they want him for, Stealth?" Spyro asked. This seemed to be the most frequently asked question of the night.

Stealth shrugged weakly, indicating even after the millions of times Spyro had asked her, she still had not the faintest idea. Spyro shook his head, grunting, then continued to pace the floor. Stealth could swear that Spyro had worn down the floor so much that there was a slight indent on the route he kept pacing. Stealth glanced at the door. Shoria hadn't said a word since they had handed over Kaos. She had spent most of the time locked away in her room. Stealth let out a long, quiet sigh, then stood up straight.

"Let's go speak to Golden Queen. I need to find out what's wrong with me."

Spyro stopped pacing, then let himself relax. The two walked out of the room and began making their long, tiresome trek over to the Villain Vault.

Shoria, for once in her entire life, dreaded seeing the others back at the Academy. It would only remind her of the price they had paid for her freedom. For once, Shoria wanted Kaos back. She'd known he'd been genuine in his worries for her, Spyro and Stealth. Shoria now sat in the hallway outside of her room. Her head buried in her knees. After a while, Shoria felt something large and heavy sit down beside her. She looked up to see Mammagma sitting beside her. He put his large hand on her shoulder. Shoria looked over to see Shade standing a good distance away from the two, but still close enough to be comforting to her.

"Can we speak to you?" Mammagma asked.

Shoria turned her head up to Mammagma and nodded slightly. Her cheeks were stained with tears, but she had stopped crying a while ago. She hadn't slain her depression yet, though. That was still a persistent bug buzzing around her head. Shoria got to her feet slowly, turned around and opened the door to her dorm. Mammagma got to his feet too and proceeded to enter. Shoria stuck her arm out in the way.

"Just a sec, Mammagma. Don't go in yet." Shoria stated.

Mammagma waited as Shoria walked into her room, then returned with a pair of rubber boots.

"Here. Put these on. And don't heat up, please... I just want to protect you. My room has a layer of water covering the floor."

"GOLDEN QUEEN!" Spyro called as he entered the Villain Vault, "We need to have a word with you!"

Spyro proceeded to walk down the hallway to Golden Queen's cell, closely followed by Stealth. When they arrived, Spyro unlocked the cell door and the two Skylanders walked inside.

"What do you want, Skylamoes. I've seen enough of you good guys for one day." Golden Queen's voice sounded stern, but the two could detect an obvious note of fear.

Stealth peered at Golden Queen. She knew it wasn't polite to stare, but she couldn't help. Golden Queen had begun to turn more human like by the hour; her skin had turned a dark tan to the middle of her lower arm and her golden garments were beginning to turn into normal Egyptian goddess clothing.

"We're just here to speak." Stealth stated calmly. She looked over at Spyro, who motioned for her to continue talking before exiting the cell and closing the door behind him. This was between Stealth and Golden Queen now.

"I'm going through the same thing you are. More or less. You're losing your powers. I'm losing my skills. I'm as clumsy as a three-legged sheep now. You're turning into a normal being. What happened to make you change?" Stealth asked as she walked over to Golden Queen slowly and sat down beside her.