There was silence for a moment. The pure, utter silence, that kind that everyone knows is only the calm before the storm. I enjoyed it while it lasted.

Then the storm hit.

"What?!"

I sigh. "Yeah, Yeah, I know. Lay it on me."

"Why are you containing it?!" Spyro asks. "Because I can fight it, but Stealth Elf would've died much faster," I reply. "She would've died that same day and then the Essence Reaper would've latched onto the rest of you. It's better for me to contain and fight it than have you guys killed. You're all pretty important."

"But if you knew it would kill you, why didn't you just say?" Stealth Elf asked, looking extremely guilty now. "I tried to tell everyone, but I kept getting cut off," I shrugged. "Contrary to popular belief, I sometimes have something important to say when it involves someone dying."

Everyone was silent again. Even more guilt spread among everyone who had ignored me. "You saved me before, why can't you save yourself from it?" I'm eventually asked by a certain elf. "I didn't kill it, I only moved it from your aura to mine," I explain. "So now it's eating at my aura and not yours. I can regenerate my aura at will, so I have a better chance of... Well, not dying. But this guy's hungry and it's getting harder and harder to feed it."

"Well how can you stop it?" Spyro asks. "There's only one way, but I can't do it," I reply. "So I'll just keep fighting. My ancestors did it, I don't see a reason why I can't as well."

"Well how do you stop it?" JV questions quickly. "Well there's only one way to defeat a dark aura," I shrug. "I need a light aura. I've been trying all of you guys, but none of your auras are strong enough. I need a strong light aura source. But where do you think I can find one of those? Simple. Nowhere. So I just need to keep fighting."

"Hm... Wait! What about the Core of Light?" JV suggests. I laugh. "Don't be ridiculous. I would've gone already if I thought there was a chance I could get what I needed. That place is sacred ground. I can't go there."

"It may be sacred ground, but it also belongs to me," Eon states. "Skylanders, take Vexelle to the Core of Light. It's the least we can do to find a way to help her."

"Wait, what?!" I ask, shocked. "You're serious?! But why would you help me?"

"You save my life, I save yours," Stealth Elf says firmly. "Come on, let's go." "So I am actually going to the Core of Light?" I clarify. "Heck yeah you are!" Spyro nods. "Let's get that Essence Reaper out of you!"

I chuckle. "A bit yellow for the situation, Spyro. At least I have an excuse." I ignore the strange looks I get for that. "So are we going or not?" Pop Fizz asks. "Otherwise I'm gonna turn purple! Haha!.. I don't get it."

"Ready when you are, Pride," I joke. "Ohhh, I get it!" Spyro says. "It's the colours of auras, right?" "Yup," I nod. "Yellow, in this case, was for your excitement and giddy restlessness. You know, the feeling where you just can't sit still because you really want to get on with something you can't wait to do?"

"Sounds about right," Spyro nods. "Now let's get going!" He starts walking and everyone else follows him, save for their master, who hangs back to come over to me. "You have dealt them all an enormous act of kindness," he says to me. "They may have considered you weak in the past, but you have proven yourself to be stronger than any of them."

"Hardly," I sigh. "It's getting to me. Badly. I'm barely keeping up. I'm supposed to be able to handle these things, no problem. My ancestors could."

"Yes, but they were all fully grown dragons who had mastered their powers," Eon pointed out. "And Stealth Elf would have died within the week, but you've survived for over a month without showing any signs of the evil being inside you."

"But I've still not been able to defeat this Essence Reaper. I should've been able to do this without a second thought. It's not good enough."

"As long as you're alive, I'd say you've done remarkably well," Eon says. "Now come along. The Skylanders will take you to the Core of Light. I assume you know what to do from there?"

"Absorb the light, watch the Essence Reaper disintegrate to make sure it won't come back, get the heck out of there before I overstay my welcome," I answer. "Easier said that done, but better than fighting off the Essence Reaper any longer."

He nodded. "A good plan. Though you will only be overstating your welcome if you abuse the Core or give out the location. You are welcome there for as long as you want or need. Returning afterwards will be a different matter, of course."

I nod. "Thank you for this. I didn't think anyone cared." "They all care in their own way," he says, gesturing to the Skylanders. "I know you've made quite the impression with Sprocket and the cadets, too. You mean more to everyone than you know."

"Then I'm never going to know," I remark quietly so he doesn't hear. It's either he really didn't hear or he chose not to comment, because we walk in silence for the rest of the way. Not that I mind, of course.

We head into the Academy and they make me stand on some kind of floor tile with the Undead symbol on it. The Skylanders do the same thing with their respective Elements marked down, then we all shoot up in the air.

"What the..." I trail off, looking around a little. Then there's a flash of light and we're not in the Academy anymore.