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Announcement

The floor was cold and slightly moisty from the mist of the previous night. Stone glistening as the sun replaced the moon and its beams entered the room. With a deep breath, Spyro covered his face using his wings, blocking the increasing light and noise coming from the outside.

As the city continued to wake up and time kept on passing, the delicate and soft sound of bells ringed through it, followed by a lightly louder and deeper tone set of bells. He opened one eye, looked around the room, some dust was floating around the boxes on the corner of the brightening room and Cynder was still curled up in the blankets next to him. After a few more moments, he slowly and carefully got up and stretched before opening the door.

Outside of the room there was a railing on the other side of the corridor overlooking the open garden in the middle of the building they had landed in the previous night. With a small push up, he stood up on his hindlegs as he rested the front of his body on top of the railing, looking at the building and the garden below him. It was mostly covered in patches of grass and bushes rather than a uniform green look. Some cracks on the somewhat polished stone floor were also visible all around it.

On the floors below them, some moles where carrying around papers and scrolls from one room to another, some walking down aisles and disappearing around corners.

The door behind him opened once again as Cynder stepped out of the room and leaned on the railing the same way Spyro did.

"Morning, thinking something interesting?" she asked.

"Uh, no, just still waking up" he said aimlessly looking around. "Slept well?"

"Mostly".

As they watched below, people continued walking all around the bottom floors and slowly more and more were disappearing in the aisles on the sides of the building. The sounds of steps coming upstairs made them turn around and drop of the railing. Moments later, Kendall came up and walked in their direction.

"Good morning Spyro, Cynder, it's good to see you are awake already. Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"For the most part, yes".

"Yes, still waking up though".

"Good to hear. So, the reason I am here is because the guardians asked me to come look for you, they wanted to meet with you as soon as you were available".

"Oh, well, we weren't really doing anything, so we might as well now go?" he said looking at Cynder.

"... too early for meetings, but let's go" she groaned.

"Very well, then please follow me"

They walked one floor downstairs and then towards a bridge joining two buildings. As they walked, Kendall pointed out some relevant places in the buildings. Offices on the bottom floor, halls on the second floor, bathrooms on the corners of every floor, some spaces still out of service.

When crossing the bridge, huge and tall retaining walls, ramps and stairs could be seen surrounding the entire array of buildings they were on, creating an artificial hill. Many people, an ever-increasing amount, were walking up those stairs toward the main building of the assortment that formed the capitol, including them.

This building was the tallest and biggest, even with multiple parts of it missing. It faced a square surrounded on two sides by smaller and mostly intact long buildings that seemed to be being used as storage deposits. The final side, opposite to the main building turned into an open pavilion with a few statues and sets of stairs and ramps before joining the city streets below.

At the end of the bridge, guards with swords and crossbows guarded a metal gate leading to another corridor. As they approached, the gates were opened, and they continued their walk. After the gates closed, the guards that were behind, started to whisper between them.

Upon their arrival to the main building, Spyro and Cynder slowed down a bit and looked around as they kept walking. Many murals adorned the walls, a metallic grid, at the very top covered the entire open space in the middle of the building, casting thin shadows upon the dried-up pond at the bottom with an empty pedestal in the center.

As they walked through the corridors, the moles and cheetahs that were also in those places turned around or walked away as soon as they saw them. Walking up various floors, they finally reached an intricately detailed floor to ceiling set of doors guarded on both sides made of stone and metal with a translucent stone orb in the middle of it.

"I'm back by the instruction of the guardians with Spyro and Cynder by my side to attend a reunion with them" Kendall said to the guards.

"Hi..." Spyro said waiving a claw.

Cynder waved a wing.

The guards knocked on the door then proceeded to talk to a golden engraving on the wall.

"Kendall has arrived and Spyro and Cynder are with her for a meeting with the guardians"

A few seconds later the doors moved almost imperceptibly, then they were opened effortlessly by guards on the inside of the room.

"You may come in" said the guards as they left the room.

Spyro looked as they exited and then at Kendall.

"Please do, it's a private reunion" she said.

"... alright then, ah, thank you"

Spyro and Cynder walked through the doors which the guards closed as soon as they had entered. They were in a wide room with a stone mural on the middle of it leaving corridors on either side. Going around the wall, they walked through a set of opened doors like the ones behind them. There on a huge mostly empty room with a huge window that replaced an entire wall, Terrador and Volteer where sitting next to a big oval table with many documents on top of it.

"Spyro Cynder it's good to see you! Please come here there's so much to talk about" Volteer said signaling with a smile towards the mats all around the table.

The bells ringed again on the distance, although it was much louder and deeper in tone than the previous one.

"Take a seat please, we'll try to make this short" said Terrador.

Speeding up his walk, Spyro approached the two guardians while Cynder followed at a slower pace behind. He seated on the opposite side of the table and Cynder next to him.

"It's been so long since we last saw each other how have you been? And if you don't mind me asking, where were you?" asked Volteer.

"Uhm, well, I'm not really sure we were, it was just a normal, well, _normal_plain with not much in it. I do remember the direction we flew if that helps".

"And we have been mostly fine, not knowing where you are is not a fun experience, but we managed".

"I heard you arrived last night; I hope you are feeling better now".

"Yes, much better after some rest. So, can I ask a question?"

"Please do".

"Where's Sparx? And Cyril?"

"Oh, Sparx is usually somewhere near the market area, as for Cyril, he should be back by the afternoon, he's busy with preparations on a nearby village".

"I see. So, while we weren't here, what happened?"

"Well, after you defeated Malefor and the world stopped falling apart, we've been focusing our efforts on repairing the damage done during the war so people can eventually go back to their regular lives. There's still a lot of work to do as you can see".

"My turn, so, what was the especial reason you wanted to meet so early?" Cynder asked.

"Very perceptive".

"The reason it's the same as why we wanted to keep this reunion brief, there is going to be a city meeting to officially announce your arrival and while we would have liked to give you more time to rest rumors have been spreading fast since last night so we decided it would be best for the entire city to be informed of this matter as soon as possible".

"Wait, what? Is it necessary to group the entire city for this?"

"It is. There is no need to worry though, we don't expect you to give a speech if you don't want to, al we..."

"Let me in now! Why don't you tell me about this stuff!"

"Sparx?!" Spyro said turning around and getting up.

"Please excuse me a moment" said Terrador as he got up and walked towards the main door.

"Told you" said Cynder as she only turned her head to watch Spyro.

The sound of the door opening and closing could barely be heard.

"Then send someone who knows how to say it!" Sparx shouted as he entered the room with Terrador walking behind.

"Sparx!" Spyro said with a big smile and his body slightly moving up and down.

"And what happened to my fat brother? Just look at you!" he said flying around Spyro.

"I'm happy to see you too" he said shifting his stance without taking his eyes off him.

"Great, she is here too".

"Never getting rid of me"

"Good to know" he said as he sat on her head and patted one of her horns.

With a move of her head, she threw him off and bit the air as he flew away and sat on Spyro's head.

"So, we were discussing your introduction to the city".

"Oh, leave that to me, I got many things to show them".

"Not what I was talking about but, thank you for your help Sparx".

"Despite we didn't announced an established time for the meeting people have been gathering since the first bell so it would definitely not be polite to keep them waiting for long and we also need to consider that the more time passes the more and faster the rumors will spread now that they are all in a single place".

"Indeed, your presence should help reinvigorate the spirits of the citizens, something very important to maintain and nurture right now".

Spyro sat down and looked at the lightly blurred city for a few seconds, then at the guardians and then Cynder, who was looking at him, briefly looking upwards before looking at Spyro again.

"Listen bud, all you need to do is let them see you, wave, and bask in the adoration. Easy right? I'll even be next to you, so you don't have to deal with all the praise by yourself".

Spyro took a deep breath.

"So, the city meeting is now?"

"That would be ideal, yes".

"Ok, just making sure of it. Let's do it then".

"Thank you, please follow us".

With that, they walked out of the room, the guards closing the doors then walking away towards a short bridge.

Spyro with Sparx still sitting on his head and Cynder walked behind the guardians, walking down ramps to the second floor. There was a similar looking door to the previous room. Volteer pressed the stone orb which emitted a soft yellow glow before the doors opened.

The interior was empty with many crystals embedded on the walls and columns on the side. At the end of the room there was another door which Volteer proceeded to open.

Passed that door there was a bridge with a floating roof ending in a circular floating platform. As they approached the platform, the heavy sound of bells ringed through the entire building and city once again.

The crowd gathered in the square was densely grouped despite there being a lot of free space behind them. Fur and scales fighting for space as more people continued to arrive.

Terrador and Volteer stepped at the edge of the platform, making them easily visible for the crowd below them. As soon as they spoke, the crowd grew silent.

Meanwhile, Spyro and Cynder remained out of their sight, standing behind them on the opposite side of the platform, next to the bridge.

"They certainly are glad to have you back" said Cynder.

"Yeah, a bit maybe more than what I would have liked".

"Please, there's no such thing as being too much loved".

"Maybe it will all calm down after this".

"Over time, yes, right after this, I wouldn't count on that".

Spyro turned towards the guardians as his and Cynder's name were spoken and the crowd grew even quieter than before.

"Time to say hello, let's go" said Sparx flying to the edge. Spyro and Cynder followed.

The crowd erupted in cheers as soon as the top his horn could be seen. Cheers getting louder as more of them could see him until the entire crowd applauded as one. Shortly afterwards, the sound dwelled a bit.

Spyro and Sparx were on the very edge where everyone could see them alongside the guardians. Cynder was standing next to Spyro albeit a few steps behind, where only a fraction of the gathered crowd could see her.

Spyro turned around with an awkward look on his head. She used one claw to draw half a smile on her face as she smiled and gestured with her snout towards the people while slightly opening her wings before returning to her more neutral stance.

He turned around and with a smile extended his wings and waved at the crowd below, causing the acclaim to grow louder once more.

Some more time passed, a few more words were spoken and eventually, the guardians announced the meeting was over, inciting everyone to return to their normal activities. The crowd remained for a moment longer as they saw the dragons return to the inside of the building, only afterwards starting to exit the square.

"What a start for a day" Spyro said.

"Nothing like some praise to start a good morning. Anyway, let's go eat, you really need to put some weight bro, seeing you like this creep me out".

"Very well, Sparx, seeing that you offered to show them around, please guide them to the dinning hall. And I must ask you the favor to please meet us again in the courtroom at dawn, Cyril should be back by then and I'm sure he'll also want to speak with you" said Terrador.

"He might be annoyed that he wasn't here for your arrival and introduction to the city but I'm sure under all that annoyance he'll be genuinely happy to see you" Volteer said.

"Back at dawn. Got it".

"Then, please, enjoy you breakfast, and we'll see again soon". With that, both guardians walked away.

"Follow me" said Sparx as he flew directly to the ground floor.

Spyro with a confused look, and Cynder with an annoyed expression, jumped and glided down to the ground floor as well.