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The six dragons flew over the city, gliding over the airstreams. Cynder felt Spyro's fire magic wear off, the familiar warmth leaving her system. They landed in front of a massive structure, it was obviously a palace, its massive doors were closed. Michael opened the doors with a snap, they swung wide, exposing the antechamber. Spyro walked through the hall, he looked at each of the paintings in turn. He noticed that the paintings were in order by generations, males on one side, and females on the other. Spyro stopped when he saw Fury's smiling face on the last painting before the throne room.

"This place kind of reminds me of the castle I rescued Cynder in." Spyro said, shivering at the memory.

"That was an old Element Guard stronghold, the Element Guard reported directly to the king, so of course they would build the stronghold like this palace." Michael replied

They walked past the throne room, and into a strange room similar to the one Spyro and Michael found back at the magicarium.

"The Vault" Michael told them "Only Spyro or Cynder can open it now"

"I can open it?" Cynder asked

"You're the queen, of course you can open it" he answered

Cynder walked up to the door.

"How?" she asked

"Just tap it with your claws, when you mated, I tied your souls, making you connected, so you can do the same things he can, royalty wise." Michael answered

Cynder looked back to Spyro, who nodded. She walked up to the door and tapped it. The door flashed with a white rune, then opened. Spyro watched as the doors opened to reveal massive piles of treasure.

"WOOOOH, that's bigger than the piles back in Warfang" Ember said

They walked into the room, Spyro stopped and picked up a thick leather-bound book. He opened it and gasped when he saw dozens of different scales.

"When a dragon dies, a handful of scales are handed out to their loved ones before they are burned in soulfire, this is your entire family history since they moved to this dimension." Michael explained

Spyro looked up, and over to Cynder. She looked down at the book and flipped through the pages with him. Eventually Spyro put the book down and moved on, Cynder stopped when another book caught her eye.

"Is this my family's?" She asked

"Yes, they left their most prized possessions here for protection."

Cynder pulled a piece of fabric off of a painting, then stared for a minute at the faces of her parents. They finished looking around the vault. Then Michael gave them a tour of the rest of the palace. Cynder couldn't help but think about raising a family there, the thought surprised her. After a few hours the group returned to the square. Spyro looked distracted, He walked into the house and fell onto the couch.

"Did you have the same thoughts I did?" He asked her

"About a family?" She replied

"Yes"

"I did, but I don't know what to think about it"

"Maybe we should ask Mary how growing up in the palace was for her." Spyro looked at her

"That's probably a good idea." Cynder replied

Spyro sat up and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, he wrote on the paper for a while, then signed it, and wrote the fire rune. It vanished, with a flurry of sparks. Cynder walked over to him and sat down, nuzzling him. He smiled at her.

"I can't believe my father grew up there, his room looked so neat and organized."

"Yeah, it was fun to look at all the trophies and medals on the wall"

Spyro chuckled "I didn't even know you can win anything for those things"

"Rock Ball? What even is that?"

"I think I saw a team practicing once, they were tossing a large boulder around, it looked like they were trying to get it across a line."

"Maybe we should try it" she laughed

"Yeah" he responded "So, you saw your family's scale tree"

"Yeah, and you did too"

"Our parents must have been close, to let them use the royal vault. The people of Warfang wouldn't even tell me where it was"

"Me neither, I asked Ember about it, and she seemed dodgy"

Michael knocked on the door, Cynder went to answer it. He entered the living room and looked over at Spyro.

"So, how do you feel about the palace" he asked

"I don't know, my family has lived there for thousands of years, off and on" he answered

"Don't feel pressured to move in immediately, that palace will always belong to you, nothing can change that" Michael told him

"I was wondering how raising a family would work there?" Spyro asked

"Well, I use to live there a while back, usually the family would live close together in a wing. Every generation is different, some barely spend time together while others spend most of their day together. It's certainly easier in the palace because it will have maids and cleaners. Your father did not want to live in the palace because he hardly ever spent time with his father, he spent all of his time with his mother or his siblings, which left for the same reasons." Michael answered

"What happened to them, my grandparents?"

"Well, the king died when your father was in his late twenties, and the queen vanished, I've been looking for her since she left, but I think the Malefor incident made her go even farther away. They never really fell in love, so I think she was glad to get away. But, since the story of you has been going around, Spyro, King of the Elemental dragons, the Hero, it has to reach her eventually." Michael explained

"Maybe we can go out and find her?" Spyro said, looking hopeful

"Believe me, there is nothing more that Mary, Sam, and James want then to find their mother, maybe I should send some hunters to find her." He replied, looking up in thought

They talked for a while more, then Michael left and the two dragons ate lunch. After they had finished, Spyro left to go restock their food supply and run some other errands. Cynder walked out into their square, stretching her wings a bit. She looked up to see a maildragon stop and stare at her for a moment.

"Excuse me ma'am, are you Cynder?" He asked

"Yes, is there something wrong?" She replied

"We have a massive pile of mail for you and Spyro, Is he back too?"

"Yes, were back" Cynder answered

The maildragon pulled out a piece of paper, quickly wrote something on it, then drew the fire rune and it vanished.

"We will give them to you in good sized amounts, every other day, so you can have time to go through it." He told her

Just as he said that, a portal opened and a cart rolled in with 4 large bags of mail, another maildragon pulled the cart through then set it down.

"Where do you want it?" She asked, panting

"In the old nest room" Cynder told them

They each picked up a bag and brought it inside, once the cart was empty, the original maildragon brought the cart back through the portal.

"One of the bags is yours, not sure which one though." The other maildragon told her "I'm a big fan by the way"

Cynder blinked, noticing that the dragoness was, in fact, all black under her uniform.

"Thank you" Cynder replied nervously

The maildragon smiled and left, the portal closing behind her.

"Surprised you have fans?" Michael said behind her.

Cynder jumped a foot in the air, then turned around and gave Michael a dirty look.

"Why must you do that?" She asked

"Do what? I was here the whole time"

Cynder blushed, realizing that he probably had been watching the entire event that just took place.

"To answer your question, yes, I'm quite surprised" Cynder said

"You have no idea, I have placed some defensive spells to keep out those who are not welcome, these spells have been in place since I built these houses." He told her

"Really, what would happen without them?"

"Hundreds of fans would bother you, every day of every month. You hear about the stories and how people are fans. But you don't see the newspapers devoted too you two, or the fanart, the merchandise. There are three main papers devoted too you, one specifically for you, one for Spryo, and one for the both of you together. You have seen some of the fanart, but that's just the beginning, and there are posters, statues, banners, matching jewelry, all sorts of things after you two. They respect you enough to not bother you while your out and about, but they always want to meet you and get a claw sign." Michael sighed "God, the number of fans I get is.... Obscene"

Cynder raised her eyebrows. "Is that why I keep seeing other dragons wearing the same jewelry as me? I thought it was just a popular look."

"It is, because you are wearing it" Michael told her "You are an inspiration to all black dragons, being a queen and overcoming the corruption."

Cynder blushed, then looked back at Michael

"Do all the elemental kings, queens, princes, and princesses get the same problems?" She asked

"Yes, Mary still has an issue even though she left the palace, her kids are always being made fun of because of their status. The paper that covers the entire royal family talks about her sometimes. The others live in distant villages and stay away from cities."

Trice walked out of the house, chatting with a sniffling Layla. They walked over to them.

"What happened?" Cynder asked

"The drake she was dating broke up with her, saying she is a little too 'backward'. That prick" Layla answered

With a flash, a letter appeared above Michael's head, he absently grabbed it and looked down, Cynder ignored this.

"Why would he think that?" She asked

"I don't know, my traditions are different from his, maybe it was the way I talked." Layla said

"It was his father, telling him what to say to you" Michael cut in, still not looking up from the long letter he was reading.

"Why? Why would he do that?" Layla asked

"Because he didn't think you were real royalty" he answered

"Well, forget him, well find you someone else" Trice said "Even better than him"

Cynder felt a little embarrassed, she had never had these feelings before and they were new to her.

"On another note, Cynder, your uncle Jasper, and his mate and kid, are coming to stay for a while. His mate, Samantha, is a hunter, and has a job in Faun. He will be staying in the guest house for a while." Michael jumped in

Cynder smiled in delight, she wanted to get to know her family better.

"When will they be arriving?" she asked

"In a few hours, they have to take a bunch of different portals, and I even had to get a special transport out of their village." He answered, then breathed fire on the letter, incinerating it immediately.

"Was that what the letter was about?" Cynder said

"No, I had been meaning to tell you but you were a bit distracted with the fans some other things. I received a projected message from Samantha telling me she got a mission in Faun, and I organized their transport and stay here. The letter was a detailed report on my two important hunts. One is for Spyro's grandmother, and the other is for the void dragon. I'll have to tell you about that later" He responded, then took off.

Cynder watched him fly off "A void dragon?" She mumbled to herself

"A powerful jet-black dragon that is even more rare than purple dragons. Even though a purple dragon is more powerful than a void dragon, they have power over different things, things that purple dragons can't even touch." Trice explained "They are why other dragons used to hate all black dragons, because of their connection with dark magic. Which is nonsense, you only have a natural resistance to dark magics, not an active connection."

The light blue dragon sighed, and shook her head. Layla looked around.

"Where is that purple dragon?" She asked

"Running errands, I think he needed some time to think after going to the palace. It seemed to shock him." Cynder told her

Trice smiled a little, then turned to Layla.

"You want to go check out the royal hangouts? You've only been meeting possible suitors at the boring spots; you should go to the places that their parents don't want them to be, and aren't watching their every move." she said "God, royal courting traditions are so complicated. During the events drakes have to wear special armor, and the girls must wear a symbol that they are available."

"Really?" Cynder looked at her, a surprised look on her face.

"Yeah, were going to a place where only singles are allowed, that's it's purpose." She answered

Layla blushed "Are you sure that's a good idea, I don't want to be seen as desperate."

"Yeah, that's where all of the young royals go, its not a bad establishment, the parents don't like it because they aren't allowed in."

"And you dad is okay with you going?"

"Ha, I am a LOT older than I look, I can take care of myself" Trice laughed

"Alright, maybe we can check it out" she replied, still doubtful

"Trust me, this is where you can meet suitors the real way, you can really meet them, not what their parents want them to be."

The two dragonesses took off, Trice said something and Layla laughed. Cynder watched them go with a smile, then saw Ember leave the house.

"Hi, where's Flame?" Cynder asked

"Out doing errands" She tilted her head when she saw a confused look cross Cynder's face "Did Spyro go too? They're planning something special; they must be."

Cynder smirked "We should let them, that's their job; to do special things for us"

Ember laughed "I guess so"

"Flame told me that you don't like it when he does little things."

"Well, I grew up in a palace, I've had maids and servants that always did all the little things, sometimes I like to do them myself, and do them for Flame" Ember explained

"Just let him, I can tell from Spyro that doing things like that is almost instinctual, and it messes with them if they can't. You saw Flame's look of pride when he was able to share his fire element with you."

"I know, maybe I should. If it would make him happy, I'll let him do whatever he wants" she decided

"Don't tell him though, he'll figure it out. He probably will like discovering it himself" Cynder added

They went into Cynder's house, and chatted for a few hours. Spyro came home with a massive satchel filled with supplies.

"Hey Ember" He said, then paused when she gave him a knowing look "What?"

"Nothing" was all she said, smirking.

Spyro shook his head, confused, then walked into the kitchen to put away the supplies. The two smiled at each other for a minute, then continued their conversation. After a couple of minutes, Spyro poked his head through the archway, and used his magic to float a small wrapped parcel towards Cynder. She grabbed it and gave him a weird look, he returned it before returning to the kitchen.

"What is it?" Ember asked

Cynder opened the wrapping, then gasped as she saw a glass orb. The orb was hollow except for a beautiful statue of a Cynder, the statue was intricately carved with extreme care and precision. She looked at the base and read the writing, 'Made with love, Spyro'.

"Awww, that's so sweet." Ember said

Then Flame popped his head through the front door.

"There you are" he said "Come home, I want to show you something"

Ember gave Cynder a sly smile, then left. After she was gone, Cynder jumped into the kitchen and tackled Spyro.

"Ooof" was all Spyro could manage to say as she smothered him with kisses.

"How do you keep doing things like this?"

"I... only went to a glassworker and tried out a spell they gave me, Flame made Ember a pink flower shaped one" he gasped

"Not how are you doing it, how are you finding all of these things"

"Cause I'm looking"

Cynder eventually let up.

"You're lucky I didn't do that while Ember was still here" she told him

They got up, and Cynder inspected what Spyro bought. Satisfied, they made dinner together, while eating they saw a flash of light pass their window then another, then a smaller one. They finished their meal and walked outside. They noticed three phoenixes had landed outside Michael's door. Michael opened the door and walked out.

"Hey, your back, how was your journey?" he said

"It was good, Flicker loved the landscape" Torch answered, then turned "Hey Spyro, long time no see"

"This is Spyro!" the young phoenix exclaimed "Hi, I'm so excited to finally meet you"

"Hi" Spyro replied sheepishly, stunned at her excitement

"This is Flicker, she's my daughter, and this is my mate Charlotte" Torch introduced them

"Hi, nice to meet you" Spyro said "This is Cynder"

"Cynder" Charlotte sighed "I knew she would pick that name"

Michael looked around "What's taking them so long, your uncle was supposed to be here by now. They must have gotten lost" He took off, and left to search for them.

Torch watched him go, then turned back to Spyro.

"Right after we met, I had to go to the capital and meet with a bunch of other phoenixes. We have been gone for a long time, and just got back. Lumi is one of Michael's highest generals, and has been at the front lines since the war started." He told them

"I was wondering what happened too you guys, but we also had some things going on" Spyro said

"Congrats on the ceremony by the way" Charlotte cut in

Flicker stumbled a bit, her wings flapping a little

"It's time to get you into bed" Torch said, "We were flying for a long time"

Flicker said goodnight, then flew up and landed on Michael's roof, Charlotte followed her. Torch saw Spyro's confused expression.

"We live up there, Michael built a house just for us" he told him

"He loves to support as many people as he can doesn't, he"

"Well, he has been doing it for hundreds of thousands of years. He built this city for your family, he brought them here from other dimensions, he brought phoenixes too. I stopped questioning it centuries ago."

"Centuries? How old are you guys?" Cynder said, stunned

"Phoenixes are immortal, Flicker has yet to go through her first reset, but I have gone through hundreds. I'm over six thousand years old, while Charlotte is only two. I've been friends with Michael all my life, he saved me from some hunters on some random planet when I was a chick. I met Charlotte while fighting some cursed soldiers with Michael. That was over a thousand years ago."

"You waited a thousand years to have kids?" Spyro asked

"Phoenix reproduction is quite different from dragons; our egg cycles are completely random. We were just unlucky for a while." Torch answered, shrugging "It was meant to happen, so it happened, when it was meant to happen"

They said their goodnights, and Spyro and Cynder went to bed. The two dragons curled up in bed with their normal positions, and slowly fell asleep.