Crash, Spyro, and the Magical Shapeshifter C4

Chapter 4: Past, Present, and Future Deceit

Forty-two years ago: What does it mean to take the mantel of a god? It means to bear the burden of your people’s faith, hopes, and prayers. This is what Alisha did in becoming her people’s goddess of life. It was a great honor and a greater responsibility. To live up to gods of past and maintain the standard for gods of future. Her inauguration at the age of eighteen would also be when a new god of time was indoctrinated, Tempus. Together they climbed up to the top of Sunset Vista, a monument built by her people’s ancestors long ago as the gateway between heaven and earth. And together, they ascended through a portal of their own formation.

Thirteen years ago: Anvi’s birth was the cause of a vision for Alisha: knowledge that her daughter’s future was intertwined with the birth of another girl on the same day, a shapeshifter and a demon to be feared by Bahaguin because of what Alisha envisioned she would cause in the future, including the murder of her daughter, Anvi. So when her husband was told of this development he sought out to kill the demon child to protect her daugher and peoples from her foretold destruction.

This young shape-shifting demon's name was Emily, and she was born within the Buddakan tribe, one rival to the Bahaguin tribe of the other island. These tribes were long-standing rivals, and the only withstanding reason for peace was the water which separated their mutual hatred of one another. The disparity and the abhorrence between Bahaguin and Buddakan was a religious one. Buddakan’s gods are blasphemy, Bahaguin’s gods are reverence. As such warfare against bitter enemies was just. Murdering Emily became a crusade to protect their own and to kill the heretics who threatened Bahaguin at the prediction of Alisha and Tempus. So via the command of their gods, the Bahaguins attacked. It was a war between cultures and deities, mirroring the schism which divided the once unified tribe one thousand years ago. A conflict between ideals and a conflict between brothers: Aku-Aku and Uka-Uka.

The righteous, ordained, mission to kill in service to their tribes left many dead and a Buddakan village in ruins, but ultimately Emily was spared from execution. She miraculously survived due to the actions her now deceased mother. Alone amidst a forest fire, Emily was found by a surviving Bahaguin warrior who took pity on the child unaware she was the infant his god commanded to be executed in the first place.

Eight years ago:  The battle left Buddakan decimated, a fraction of it’s former glory, but by no means quelled the rage its inhabitants had for the Bahaguins. Their god of war, Proelium, was enraged by his tribe's loss but at the same time was wounded in the direct confrontation with Tempus. Handicapped, the duty to lead his people in righteous retaliation fell to his son who was destined to become the god of the night. However his son at first was more concerned with helping his own tribe through medicine rather than warfare to his father’s anger. But this viewpoint changed when the young boy’s mother, who supported his doctor endeavor, died in the battle. His people’s legacy was warfare and strength, akin to the teachings of Buddakan’s founding prophet and first god: Uka-Uka. Rage was power. Control was through fear.

His father never believed Aadhai was strong enough to take on his mantel. He berated him for it. Blamed his weakness for his wife’s death. He should have protected her, defended her from the Bahaguin swine who murdered her. He should have fought instead of cowered in fear, even if only at ten years of age. He was from a warrior race. He was a disgrace to his ancestors. Only the strong should survive. Medicine was a mockery to that. Aadhai was unfit to become a god!

“The only thing unfit, is you father. I’ll prove it to you.” Aadhai then murdered his father, the god of war. “It’s only a matter of time.”

Three years ago: Emily’s adopted parents who recently told her they saved her from death were quite magically inclined like the gods they worshiped. They taught her the ways of Bahaguin magic, that strength came from wisdom. Knowledge was power, akin to the teachings of their prophet god: Aku-Aku.

“We draw our power from the gap inbetween the world and heaven beyond, the Convexity. We harness the great power in-between the divine and our world to shape reality. This power which surrounds our world: the convexity. You have a great ability within you my daughter, in time you will use it for great good. Are you ready, Emily?”

She nodded in agreement. She had trained most of her life for this. Today was a right of passage. She brought her hands together, one in a fist and the other held out flat, and drew in a breath. She then moved her hands in intricate patterns and spoke the words necessary for the spell. “Dolores inferni circumdederunt virtus convexi. Aperite portas caeli et terrae!”

The words in an ancient language were the intent of her spell. Her hands and body began to glow purple akin to the midnight sky. It was a powerful yet ominus sign. The power of ancient darkness which preceded light itself: The convexity. “Sim Sala Bim!”

The portal was supposed to be green. Instead it was black. “That power… it is the power of the wicked.” Her father said in terror. But then he began to be ensaired by the portals grip, drawn closer to it against his struggles.

“Father!” Her pregnant mother was also caught in the current of the portal Emily created. Emily was unable to close it, she didn’t know how! She screamed and tried to grab her mother’s hand, but it was too late and she too was lost. The portal as quickly as it had opened collapsed. Leaving Emily orphaned again.

One thousand years ago: It was the final confrontation between Aku-Aku and Uka-Uka. Brothers turned rivals upon how to use the godly power of the Convexity.

“I can’t let you do this brother. The ancients won’t allow it!”

“The ancients are a lie! A myth! The gods are not mortal men of divine intervention. True gods are those who can find and embrace true power! True gods are the living who are here capable of ruling! There is a Dragon buried within a dimension beyond whose power shall be mine to inherit. This is our birthright brother! We are the kings of the earth now! Our magic and power is to be unchallenged! All you have to do is embrace it.”

“There are some powers not meant to be handled. Our ancestors knew that. The Dragon you speak of was imprisoned by his brethren for this reason as well, for the same mistake you’re about to make!”

“Don’t be a fool! Don’t plead blind allegiance to the elders who try to control our power! The Convexity is ours! The power of the heavens itself! Of life, of death, of time, and of space! With this I’ll become more than a god! I will become the god of gods! Dolores inferni circumdederunt virtus convexi. Aperite portas caeli et terrae! Uukada Uukada!”

The seal was broken, and a portal between heaven and earth sealed millennia ago to keep imprisoned the destructive force of darkness and terror was opened. Two malevolent eyes could be seen in the portal Uka-Uka summoned.

“Malefor” Aku-Aku said worried. Meanwhile Uka-Uka’s bone staff was raised forward and slammed to the ground.

“Help me kill this beast brother, and it’s power shall be ours! We will rip it from it’s dead flesh!”

“Brother if this dragon is unleashed on this Earth once more he will be the end of all!”

“I will not lose to an inferior creature! I wield the same power it does, and when I kill it my own shall increase exponentially!” Malefor now returned to Earth, hundreds of thousands of years since he was first banished.

Hundreds of Thousands of years ago: What is the mark of a purple Dragon? It is something unheard of. Not an adeptness to the convexity. But to be born with it’s signature which matches the color of it’s skin. Purple dragons are to bring either an era of peace or an era of death to the world he’s born to. The path of a purple dragon, tranquility or reckoning, is determined by whether he has a moral, loving connection to the world he is sworn to protect, so that he doesn’t lose his way upon discovering the extraordinary power that his his birthright. Spyro will have such a connection in the future. He will have someone to love.

Malefor did as well in his time alive. Until that dragoness died in front of him. Cynder*… He learned through the power of the Convexity he could restore her life. All he needed to do was slay a god. His mentors, the Guardians, were appalled by the idea. Malefor’s inability to let go and accept death was corrupting his judgment, ethics, and morality. The tragic loss of what grounded him to good corrupted him. He wanted to save her, was told that was wrong, and lost faith in what was “right.”

_{*note that Cynder’s role in this story is drastically different than the canon for The Legend of Spyro Trilogy, as is Malefor’s backstory and Spyro’s. I am aware that what I’ve wrote is a drastic change to both when Cynder was alive and who her love in life is. This change was made to the benefit of this story’s story. And it will make sense in a future chapter, where Malefor’s identity and past is more clearly revealed.}

In his lust for power Malefor forsake his elder’s teachings and limits and sought total control over the Convexity for what was once to restore Cynder’s life turned to his own selfish desire to be stronger. So he was sealed away in a suicide mission by his four Guardians who swore to protect Dragonkind no matter the cost during a bloody final confrontation. And with their life energies, Malefor was banished in the Convexity itself. Confined from the mortal world forever, he used it’s unlimited power to stay alive indefinitely in a vain attempt to live long enough to find a way back, until one day a portal unexpectedly opened back to earth several millennia after he was sealed away, back to Earth now inhabited by humans. They were small and insignificant, but the two who greeted his return wielded the convexity to an admirable extent; the brothers who faced him. Malefor would have won the altercation, but the righteous, noble of the two like Malfor’s ancestors before sacrificed his life energy after his brother was defeated to reopen a portal to the convexity and trap Malefor within its depths once again.

Malefor was stuck there again! He was banished alone for hundreds of thousands of years, yet it seems his curse of being sealed in the Convexity for so long has had an unexpected upside. He has outlived every dragon in existence. The planet was his for the taking without resistance. All he had to do was get back to it. The human's use of the Convexity, though a mockery of its true purpose and potential, was intriguing nevertheless. For it was his only way back to Earth. All he needed to do was manipulate one into reopening the rift. Through Uka-Uka’s followers he could do just that. Their use of the convexity was of selfish and warmongering purposes. The “mortals” they chose to be “gods” also used the convexity to travel to “heaven”. Those from Buddakan who made the trip unsuspecting of the Dragon awaiting them, had to face Malefor in the Convexity. Through them, his ploy was set in motion. Time was of no consequence to him, he was immortal via the convexity like a true god. So over a thousand years he pulled the string of politics via the false gods of Buddakan to be reverend as a deity. After all, what was the point of owning the world without anyone to rule? When he returned, humanity would fear him, the ones he spared at least.

And then the ultimate irony would be that the descendants of Aku-Aku, who imprisoned Malefor in the Convexity once more, would in turn be the reason he’d return. A girl finally was born stained with the power of the Convexity like Malefor was millennia ago. It was only a matter of time given how long her culture was using the Convexity, yet Malefor’s patience didn’t run thin in waiting an extra thousand years. The “goddess” of Bahaguin foresaw Emily being the reason of grave danger for her people, and also saw that her daughter’s life was in danger because of that same girl. LIke any worried parent Alisha focused on the danger posed to her own daughter and assumed the terrible thing Emily would cause is what also would kill her daughter. But Alisha didn’t see the whole story in her vision, or the role she was playing in her own child’s demise upon gazing at the future. The irony was so brilliant it allotted Malefor a laugh due to his brilliant machinations manipulating these pathetic, worthless, people. The “god” of Bahaguin altered to the danger to his daughter then wanted nothing less than Emily dead. He and the rest of Bahaguin tried to kill her but predictably failed. Murdering a convexity barrier was not easily doable even at infancy. She upon escaping persecution was raised by sympathetic, unsuspecting Bahaguins blind to her real power. They taught her how to summon a portal to “heaven” per Bahaguin custom of those magically inclined enough to do so. Instead, it would be Malefor’s ticket out, for the young demon would be the only person able to open the portal wide and stable enough for him to escape. But she panicked in her inexperience and in the process her parents were sucked in, leaving Malefor still in the convexity, but with two more humans to ploy with.

Four days ago: Her father’s spell book was her prized possession, a memory of the good man he was. It would be her ticket to resurrecting her parents from the hell she left them in and redeeming herself. She wouldn’t be a dark demon if she could help it. They loved me, that was proof enough, right? I could save them and they could love me again. Her father’s face upon being sucked into the rift she opened replayed in her mind. No, she thought, I could still save him, redeem myself.

But a complete stranger then offered to help. A young man she didn’t think she could trust. But he was persistent, and said something that caught her off guard. “There’s only one way, to bring back your parents. A portal to heaven is not something a mere mortal can do on their own easily. For you to have the strength to do so, you need a god to sacrifice to reach their domain.”

How did he know that? I’ve never seen him before. My parents though I was capable of opening a portal on my own so I tried. Was I not able to? Was that why they were sucked in when the portal collapsed? “Who are you? How do you know about my parents!?”

“It’s simple. I know of the place they’re trapped in because of you, demon. There little girl they raised from childhood repays that favor by stranding them within the convexity. It’s quite sad if you think about it.”

“I was opening a portal to heaven, like my father instructed. It’s a wonderful place! I would never strand them within the boundary to heaven on purpose!”

“But you did. How do I know this little girl? Because I am a Buddakan. Because I listen to the convexity. It is our source of power to use. And once you understand that, you’ll be able to wield it properly, too.”

He was a Buddakan, her people’s sworn enemy. “Get away from me, or I’ll destroy you!”

“Like your almost did with your fake parents? You do know that you were adopted?”

“Yeah, they told me when I was ready. How do you know that Buddakan!? How do you know anything about me?”

“Because I listen. And you should listen to me as well. Do you know how you’re real parents died?”

“No. But why should I believe anything you say?”

“Have I been wrong yet with things you already know? And I also just told you how you can save your adopted parents, too. I just need to tell you which god to kill. As payback to the false gods which set in motion the events which lead your real parents to die in the first place.”

False gods. My parents always told me to believe in the gods of Bahaguin. They’re wisdom and kindness is what leads to Bahaguins prosperity. “My gods are not false, yours are Buddakan! How dare you try to corrupt me with your blasphemy.”

“All gods are false except one. The one who hales in the convexity. And he has told me the truth. Of our gods, of Aku-Aku and Uka-Uka, and of truth before humanity. And he tells me of your parents whom you have stranded with him. He holds them in safe keeping until you open the rift stability to allow their return.”

Was what he was saying true? He knew things he shouldn’t about my own life. Should I hear him out? Do I have a choice? “This god of yours. He wants me to open a portal to the convexity. Why? Does he simply wish to have my parents freed?”

“His desires to return to Earth, like your parents you abandoned with him. Getting what you want gets him what he wants. He has told me of how to help you, so that we can help him.”

“And why did he tell you, specifically? Why not tell me directly instead?”

“You don’t listen to the convexity like I do, and I am next in line to become the god of War, upon my father’s recent… death. Though I’ve more recently learned the mantle I am to inherit has little meaning compared to the real god adrift in the Convexity.”

Proelium died. And this was his son. “Why can’t your real god come to Earth himself like ours can? Is he not strong enough to do so?”

“He has the ability, but millenia ago those jealous his power sacrificed their own lives to seal him away from Earth. But Uka-Uka discovered how to free him yet Aku-Aku didn’t want him to return to the mortal realm. This is the true purpose of the schism between our peoples. It’s just that the Bahaguin gods have spun a lie which has forever kept the divide between what was once united people erected. Their arrogance and deception has even lead to you being orphaned in the first place. Care to know why?”

“What do you mean?” This young man was insulting her gods, and yet he was spinning a tale so wide it was hard to just blatantly ignore it. What did he mean it lead to my real parents death?

“You possess the rare ability to wield the convexity quite powerfully, similar to but nowhere near close to how our true god can. As such, you are capable of freeing him as Uka-Uka once tried to do a thousand years ago. But your false god of life, Alisha, foretold that you would try to release the real god within the convexity. Being deceitful as she is, this story was spun to claim that you would attempt to kill her then just born child Anvi and wreak havoc on Bahaguin. So at the rallying call of your father, Bahaguin waged war once again against Buddakan. And in the process, your real, Buddakan, parents were killed, leaving only you alive. Your adopted father took pity on you and raised you as his own, oblivious to the fact that you were the infant he and the rest of Bahaguins army’s were sent to kill in the first place.”

“LIES! I am not Buddakan like you! My gods are not evil and wicked like you!”

“Wicked huh? Interesting choice of words. Isn’t that, what your adopted father said of your powers before you trapped him in the Convexity?”

His words stabbed her, tore at her heart as her eyes were full of tears. The memory of her father disappearing into the portal she made played once more, as well as the words he said before he and my mom vanished. Wicked.

“Believe me now, Emily? Buddakan, Bahaguin, it does not matter. The tribes are meaningless. Our beliefs and values do not hold a candle to true purpose, the true god. You’re false god set in motion for you to be killed for the prophecy that you would murder her own daughter. Turns out she was right. Anvi is the one you will kidnap. She will be your means to free your adopted parents so that they can bare witness to the return of the long awaited true god and see the false gods die. All that is needed is you and your link to the Convexity. Defy Alisha, kill her daughter like she foretold as vengeance for what she has done to you and your real parents.”

Emily at this point was crying in misery. Her world was once again turned upside down. A wicked demon, a Buddakan, false gods that caused her real parents, adopted parents that feared her real power upon witnessing it. No… Bahaguin, Buddakan, it didn’t matter. I need a family. My adopted parents do not hate me. They said the loved me minutes before they disappeared. I will bring them back! No matter what it takes! Even if what it takes is poetic justice!

“I’ll… I’ll do it.”

“Anvi will arrive in Bahaguin two days from now. That will be your chance to abduct her from her mother. I can show you how to conceal both yourself and her from Alisha’s vision. You will then enact revenge and rescue your parents, all in one act. No one will be able to stop you.”

“Whatever it takes. Even… Anvi’s death… I’ll… I’ll do it. I just want my family back. That’s all. That doesn’t make me a demon to want that, right?”

“It makes you an agent to righteous change. Your parents will be proud of you.”

“Thanks… Didn’t catch your name, by the way.”