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How had it come to this?
The answer was debatable, and the outcome was stranger still than the situation that had birthed the question.
When Ripto and his "bodyguards" — two lumbering but beloved oafs — unexpectedly found themselves in Avalar instead of simply escaping to a temporary hideout from the law enforcers chasing them, Ripto got angry and slightly scared, thinking that this was the work of his enemies. The sorcerer was never known for friendliness, and his temper was legendary — so there were plenty who’d gladly be rid of him. But spotting a hushed trio of unfamiliar creatures, Ripto paused and looked around in bewilderment. He sniffed the air… and realized there were no vile dragons nearby to interfere if he disrupted the natural order. For once, surprises were welcome — not a waste of time.
This place begged to be conquered. Ripto eagerly announced it as much to all present, already envisioning the magical resources and jewels he’d take from this world’s peaceful inhabitants. But the same trio who’d brought him here tried to stop him. Using a handful of fairies, they deactivated the portal and scattered Avalar’s power orbs across the realms and worlds. In his frantic — and futile — attempts to seize even ten orbs from the fairies, Ripto missed the moment the trio vanished through another portal, loudly conspiring to thwart him.
Tracking the conspirators by scent was easy. Ripto merely raised an eyebrow, watching chaos unfold across the realms. Worlds were already mired in clashes and conflicts, destabilizing order without his help. Magic streamed from every portal to adjacent realms — stolen or hidden orbs causing arches to sputter or fail.
Catching up to the " rebels against his future reign” in Glimmer, Ripto spotted a brand-new archway from afar. Locals were tinkering with it. Seeing their handiwork after they activated the arch, Ripto snarled in irritation.
They. Had. Brought. A DRAGON.
Just a kid, but no less troublesome.
The dinosaur sorcerer was forced to retreat as soon as he blasted a rift into the insolent dragons’ world, in order to avoid the arrival of adult kin — all while Spyro puffed up with indignation at being ignored by Ripto at all.
Poisonous thoughts coiled like an octopus in Ripto’s mind; his intuition screamed about danger like never before.
He should’ve fled while he had the chance...
He should’ve run and never look back…
He should’ve been more alert…
During his brief reign in Avalar, while the sorcerer TRIED to be a real one, he was too late to realize: he’d been set up. Hugely. And like an idiot, he was sinking deeper into this Avalar’s shit as he was trying to fix things himself.
Wars and conflicts flared up with renewed vigor because of his attempts to intervene and bring order, and all the blame was placed on him. Overnight, he became the living embodiment of evil — a foe these cunning creatures would outwit at any cost. Locals shamelessly manipulated the good-natured dragon into stealing the artifacts that were supposedly "stolen by Ripto" to return them home. Spyro, clueless and naive, played along — what else could you expect from a child?
But then… that little brat knocked out Crush. And when Ripto returned for him, clearing the rubble of the dungeon passageway with Gulp… his comrade, his friend and silly brother, was already dead. Those local liars… had stoned the unconscious poor guy to death with rocks and stakes.
Ripto went berserk, and while Spyro was having fun in the Autumn Plains, the sorcerer cursed and tortured the killers of his adopted brother. He got too carried away by his revenge, being delayed for half an hour from what he had promised... Just a measly half an hour... To return to Gulp, who was left to guard the dungeons of the Autumn Plains, to find a giant fire with the dying remains of his beloved green big guy.
Ripto snapped.
In a hurricane of fury, he tore Autumn Plains apart stone by stone and stormed into Winter Tundra. No mercy was shown. And the lizard made the trio - who’d incited the dragon to "heroics" - die slowly , savored their cries for mercy with sophisticated pleasure and mercilessly took revenge for the creatures dear to him. Spyro, meanwhile, was herded into the Arena, awaiting the "final battle against evil" his "friends" had promised. Ripto had one grievance against the boy personally, and he voiced it the moment their eyes met:
"Why did you hate my guys so much that you let them die?"
Confused, the dragon child lost his enthusiasm for the battle and sat down where he stood, and, judging by the appearance of the sorcerer, Spyro saw something terribly unpleasant in what was happening behind his back. Ripto looked terrifyingly feral: drenched in others' blood, eyes crimson with fury and silent grief, magic streams lashing like severed cables, black smoke curling from Ripto’s lips as his throat burning with wild fire. Ripto was shaking and his legs were buckling from exhaustion, but the dinosaur stubbornly walked, leaning his whole body on the magically empty staff, which now served him as an ordinary cane.
Looming over the little dragon, Ripto hissed lowly:
"Answer me, oh hero. Why did you let them kill my only friends and family?"
The morally shattered Spyro had no time to answer, still processing how selfish, treacherous creatures had exploited his trust. The Arena shook with an explosion—the first blast destroyed the exit; another, bigger, followed instantly at the platform’s base. Clearly, the arena had been pre-mined, rigged to kill both reptile magic creatures. Judging by the blast’s power, no one intended the boy to survive—his "friends" knew he couldn’t fly without Powerups.
Glancing at Spyro’s ashen face, Ripto battled the urge to abandon him and flee this cursed place that had stolen everyone he dearer for. His pure rage for Avalar knew no bounds; his vengeance wasn’t finished yet. Summer Forest still stood, even though there were not so many living creatures left, Autumn Plains burned and blazed with green flames of Ripto’s magic fire, and Winter Tundra was falling apart stone by stone to its very foundations. Ripto intended to destroy Avalar, to erase it from the universe … if only he had the strength for it. Only pain drove him forward, and it wasn’t enough now. He was empty and exhausted. There was very little magic inside him, but rage and grief clouded his mind. If only he were stronger... if only he were smarter... If not for this insufferable dragon…
If not for YOU, none of this would’ve happened! YOU killed them! It’s YOUR fault!
Ripto's eyes glazed over. The thought felt alien yet undeniable… agonizingly true Perhaps he was going crazy and had become completely insane, but he was sure of one thing and this knowledge infuriated him: Mother Magic would not forgive him for killing an innocent child, even a dragon, under any circumstances, especially considering the genocide of Avalar he had committed earlier. Spyro clearly did not know what was happening, he was being used blindly, Ripto understood this too, although he could not stop feeling anger and disgust towards the little dragon. If he left now, leaving Spyro to die, he would suffer a punishment much worse than death. Icy goosebumps ran down Ripto's spine from the mere thought of what would happen to him, and losing his magic would be the weakest of possible punishments. There was only one option to turn everything to his meager advantage... Only one path remained...
Ripto grabbed Spyro by the scruff and, with his last magic, tore him from the collapsing floor — hurling Spyro off the arena with all his might. The dragon, accompanied by a dragonfly, fell like a purple comet between the wide battlements of the castle walls, choking from the air knocked out of his lungs.
Refusing to die passively, Ripto resolved to deny the dead the pleasure of watching him perish meekly... The crystal, torn from the dead paws of the local professor, was jammed into the staff instead of the already empty one. Ripto intuitively took this big shiny crystal, just in case, so that he would have additional fuel to continue his revenge, but the situation forced him to change his plans. Sharply spinning the hastily restored staff, the dinosaur hastily began to build mini platforms from the remains of the Arena under his feet, with the help of which he quickly scrambled toward the castle walls. Dodging explosions of lava, Ripto barely had time to cast protection on himself. His shields burst like bubbles from magic-saturated magma, the strength to overcome even the minimal jumping distances between the created and crumbling into dust platforms was becoming less and less possible.
Of course, the crystal came to him too easily…
When there was a miserable meter left to the wall, the crystal cracked and detonated. The blast hurled the unsuspecting dinosaur backward. There was no way to slow down the flight into fiery hell, the explosion had torn off his arms, putting Ripto into shock and stunning. Spyro seemed stunned too, lunging forward desperately to catch the edge of Ripto’s cape. Small fingers barely grasped the fabric... but the worn material simply tore, leaving a shred in the boy’s palm...
Ripto expected triumph or mockery in dragon’s eyes. Instead, violet pupils swam with pure terror — horror at watching him die slowly, helpless to save him. Spyro’s lips moved soundlessly. Spyro's lips were actively saying something, but stunned sorcerer could not make out what exactly. It seemed to be… an appeal for mercy?
As Ripto’s back hit lava, magic flared like a supernova, swallowing consciousness and world around…
Ripto awoke in an unfamiliar place.
He floated in the blackness of space, where nothing existed but distant, glittering stars. His body was gone, and he felt profoundly strange—as if he’d been twisted and dragged through the eye of a needle at impossible speed, his very essence warped and reshaped for this new reality. His soul had undergone a metamorphosis: if before his soul was an astral projection, completely copying his physical form, now he was a shimmering silhouette of firelight, shaped like some unknown creature. A thought flickered—Had falling into magic lava turned him into a fire spirit? That explained his form, but not why he floated in this utterly empty, lifeless universe.
Drifting forward on inertia alone, he narrated his thoughts aloud just to pierce the suffocating silence. It felt like going nowhere, circling endlessly… until something shifted.
He entered an unnaturally dark space with a discernible floor and ceiling, yet there was still no connection to the usual gravity for him. And there sat a distorted being that was incomprehensible to him. A porcelain mask stared back with blank white dots for eyes; deep cracks like claw marks tore from its sockets. Its mouth gaped in a grotesque black chasm on white mask, shocked by this intruder in twisted spacetime. Its body looked like ephemeral blackness, spreading along the white edges and forming small curls of tasteless smoke, only the snow-white hands clearly shone on this canvas of astral mass.
The creature spoke some gibberish for the dino's sensitive hearing, interspersing the speech with active gestures. It excitedly tried to convey some thought or knowledge to him, but Ripto could hardly distinguish the sounds that barely resembled the wild dialects of Ripto’s homeland. Frantically gestured, it tried to say something, but Ripto caught only fragments. Their first meeting ended with the universal slow-motion gesture: "I. Don’t. Understand."
Fortunately, they had plenty of time to understand each other.
At first, Ripto tried to escape his current confinement, denying any responsibility for his current situation. He quickly realized his power was insufficient to break the anomalous loop of repeating space or restart the frozen time. It was as if he was missing something - not just his body, but a key to freedom.
Rage soon bared its teeth. Ripto raged for ages over his stupid death and this prison, hurling useless energy flares into the void. The pale-faced observer nearby raised barely invisible eyebrows beneath its shifting mask and edged away, avoiding Ripto’s wrath.
When anger finally burned out, it was replaced by cold apathy and inner fear, the dinosaur did something unprecedented: he pleaded with the Mother-Magic, bargaining for release. He promised reform and improve himself, vowed to fulfill any demand that the Great and Bestowing One asked, but his desperate prayers echoed through the emptiness like drowsy whispers, barely resonating in his own terrified and exhausted soul.
An eternity of self-flagellation and depression proved a torment beyond physical torture. His entire being ached; his mind fogged with helplessness; magic lashed wildly around him; memories corroded the last remnants of his arrogant ego.
Apparently sensing the right moment, the curious silent observer tried to start a dialogue again. The sorcerer, devastated and morally destroyed, listened, fully concentrating on the strange speech of the second tenant of this prison invisible to mere mortals.
They were able to begin communicating, studying each other’s language through simple words and gestures. Ripto's ability to create within a certain area of the anomalous zone, which had not disappeared, was of great help. The dinosaur could still temporarily transform his energy into things, although until the moment of interaction with the second inhabitant, he had no need for this, except to forcefully influence the spatial phenomenon holding him in captivity. Naturally, this was useless, but the ability to create a simple slate and chalk came in handy, with the help of which each of the cellmates actively taught the other a new language.
Another eternity passed with more pleasant pastimes and in good company.
They spoke. Endlessly. Sharing all they knew, pondering all they didn’t.
Conversations drifted from the abstract to the intimate: family, friends, relationships, regrets… Starved of connection and escaping from the excruciating loneliness, boundaries between them blurred grotesquely. Silence thrust them back into solitary confinement—a mental cage where their personal tormentors and overseers were memories filled with bitter regret and sadness. So even when they were tired, and there was no topic, Ripto deftly conjured up instruments and in two pairs of hands they plucked strings and pressed keys, defying the void with defiant melodies...
Finally, Ripto learned his cellmate’s name. The being spoke eagerly of his world, his fate, his life’s work: he was a magical scientist whose people were imprisoned in an underground by humans, and he was looking for a way to free them all and himself without unleashing a new wave of deaths among his people. Until an experiment got out of control, he found himself trapped here, erased from his world’s memory. Though, he could still glimpse at his home but not interfere. Here, he’d become something formless… indistinct.
After such a story, Ripto wondered: “Had my own absurdly magically explosive death erased me from others’ minds too? No one would mourn or miss me anyway.” He did not know the answer, but also didn’t feel any regret about it either. Ripto decided that it would be even wonderful if everyone forgot about him. “At least no one would laugh at me anymore. Or curse me.”
Of himself, Ripto confessed bluntly: "I lived as a villain. Acted like an asshole. Hated everyone. Craved power. But I fell… avenging the only beings I loved." No family. No friends. No home.
His new companion sadly pressed his thin lips together at these life-depressing statements and looked at him strangely with a heavy and wise gaze.
Ripto remembered how that look had changed: first, fanatical curiosity— the fanatical gleam of a mad scientist beholding a rare specimen. Purple sparks had danced between his cellmate’s slender fingers; that white pupil had hungrily scanned his face, as if discovering something astonishing. Then, slowly, research gave way to kinship and a more friendly mood. The creature, who had become something formless and unclear, craved to reason and think, to solve some problems… And in their pre-death limbo, silence ceased to exist for a long time since they started to talk.
Sometimes, silence inevitably fell between them. Though neither needed food nor water, their forms required rest and something close to sleep. Ripto slept fitfully, tormented by nightmares—some conjured by his fractured mind, others ripped from his darkest memories. His cellmate thinned during sleep, as if nearly escaping the void, only to snap back with a choking gasp, opening the black holes of a snow-white mask which was his eyes for now. Eyes full of terror and sadness.
"What’s happening to you?" Ripto finally asked during one of his companion’s awakenings.
"I see my world," the being articulated carefully, hands shaping the words. "I see temporal rifts... matter straining against foreign will. My children and friends are suffering. I watch how they were given a hope only later it be erased from their memory and making them despair more than before."
"You’re trying to interfere," the sorcerer guessed, levitating closer to the scientist hunched in anguish.
"Yes." The presence of Ripto’s warm and glowing form always relaxed the scientist, which made him stop shaking from the inner horror. "But only my eldest son... and that Devil... sense me."
"Senses alone won’t change anything."
"Precisely."
For the first time, heavy contemplation drowned their dialogue. The situation was strange, unknown, and therefore dangerous and exciting. Ripto had never been noble or heroic… yet he was familiar and not alien to such concepts as understanding and caring. He’d cared for Gulp and Crush, in his own way, but still…. They’d accepted him as he was, they were always loyal and kind to him. They were his only friends and family. Now, sympathy and compassion for his new companion stirred in him unexpectedly. Yet he hated to see the despair that etched on the white face of the scientist.
"Can I help?" the sorcerer asked, pursing his lips in displeasure from the stupid idea of showing concern.
"How?" White pupils sharpened, studying Ripto’s blurred form with desperate hope.
"Am I a sorcerer or not?" Ripto forced a laugh, extending his hand. "Give me your hand. I’ll try one spell on you."
The scientist hesitated for a moment of reflection and analysis, then decisively touched Ripto’s smaller fingers, carefully encircling them with his own. The sorcerer tried accurately to share his magic, aiming to stabilize his companion’s form while tracing the energy tether stretching toward scientist’s world.
Their magic collided. The scientist’s power was deceptively calm and swift, like a restless river, but strong control and an iron will keep the currents in the channel. Ripto’s own power was burning and sharp, heavy and at the same time biting, like a nimble fire salamander overcoming and erecting insurmountable obstacles from heavy stone. When their forces united for a brief moment, Ripto lost control of himself when he felt a resonance of other power with his. It was as if he had been washed with cool water on a stuffy afternoon, softly wrapped in a cool blanket on a hot night, and if the itchy sand of prickly thoughts had been carefully watered and in here began to peck through tender greenery.
Sharply Ripto tore away and breaking contact, gasping useless air, more out of habit than from the need to calm the core of his soul beating in excitement. The scientist stared at his own palm, amazed and unfocused, literally a moment ago holding something very amazing.
"That... was unprecedented," he breathed.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Ripto laughed nervously, watching the man rub his hands as if it’s burned.
"What were you attempting?"
"To channel my magic into you."
"It didn’t feel like power transfer. Not like I felt with other monsters." The scientist’s gaze deepened. "Let's do it again."
The second attempt to touch and exchange energy lasted longer than the previous one. The scientist decisively intertwined their fingers, holding the small palm tightly and fully concentrating on magic. Ripto did the same. The streams intertwined too easily, softly merging the power into one, although the final combination was flowed specifically toward Ripto. His core, unlike the source of the scientist, was more monolithic, dense and voluminous. It easily absorbed a new and extremely nutritious type of power. But at the same time, the dinosaur felt echoes of another mind seeping into his. As if they were completely merging, as if his soul was completely opening up under the methodical studying streams of the scientist's magic.
Ripto wrenched free, and flew to a distance, levitating out of the scientist’s reach.
"Fascinating," the scientist murmured, his voice suddenly clearer and deeper. A honeyed baritone, full of dignity and wisdom, that raised goosebumps on Ripto’s spines.
It unsettled Ripto again. He always rebelled, always decided for himself and did not listen to anyone, and now... It was as if he was hypnotized... dissected without a knife... conquered... subjugated...
"It is vaguely similar to soul resonance," the scientist mused, delving into the analysis of his own sensations. "But why? You didn’t reveal yours. We barely touched our current shells, not souls."
"Reveal my soul?" Ripto stared. "How?"
A crumbling gray upside-down heart materialized in the scientist’s palm, violet edges glinting mystically.
"Whoa! That’s your soul?" Ripto drifted closer to get a better look. He had never seen anything like this in his existence and had never encountered a dense visualization of such a substance as a soul."Kinda cute. What’s mine look like?"
"You... can’t see it?" the scientist’s thin eyebrows arched, and the mask’s mouth-hole rounded in shock.
"No? Should I?" the sorcerer was amazed by the counter question.
"Strange. In my world, magic is the soul’s embodiment. It shapes our essence into semi-physical form. My people are magic. Destroy the core - destroy the being."
"So you’re a dual mage," Ripto reframed.
"Dual?"
"Magic equals life. No magic, no life. Two halves: mind and magic."
"Correct. And you?"
"I’m a triune mage. Mind, flesh, and magic."
"Meaning you possess..."
"A body independent of magic. Blood and bone. My core is part of my soul, not the soul itself. I could become dual, but it would weaking me and make more needful for magic inside me, plus, to learn how to produce it all the time to exist. It’s possible but I am not such a creature for this."
"Incredible!" The thoughtful scientist muttered in confusion. "My people only theorized this after the war... This changes everything about our energy contact—"
"Think away. You’re the brains here," Ripto shrugged indifferently, hovering in the air at a small distance from his interlocutor.
"Aren’t you curious what happened?" The scientist sounded almost hurt by his indifference. "Together we could figure out this new soul-phenomenon."
"You know… sometimes I doubt I even have a soul. So... discussing its 'appearance'?" Ripto exhaled convulsively, smiling crookedly. "Save it for another time."
Silence swallowed them again—thicker this time. Ripto stared into the void, ignoring the chalk’s frantic scraping behind him.
"You despise yourself too much, my volatile friend." Ripto could swear the scientist was shaking his head sadly, eyes narrowed as carefully looking at Ripto’s fear-frozen silhouette. “I will reason, and you correct me where you think necessary.”
In response, the sorcerer only sighed heavily but still answered the questions that arose in companions’ thinking, even if it was boldly and aggressively. Ripto categorically didn’t want to remain silent, despite the fact that he was in an incomprehensible state of mind.
That contact had terrified the dinosaur. He’d grown too relaxed. Too trusting. What if this was the scientist’s scheme all along? To break his will and make him a slave? What if this void was his personal prison, and the pale observer was studying his suffering? Was this punishment? Rehabilitation? Torture? Enslavement?
Doubts and fear, dulled by relaxed and quiet conversations, stirred inside, devouring the crumbs of peace and rationality that had barely managed to hatch and grow in Ripto’s soul. The darkness around again seemed icy and frightening, the tendrils of oblivion were reaching out to him to grab, tear, destroy!
I will vanish. Will fade into the void. Will cease to exist completely. As soon as HE understands how to take away my magic. Take away who I am.
"Might I ask you to repeat our contact?" The polite request stabbed dino’s tense back like an ice dagger. Ripto flinched, his form dimming.
"No!" he snarled.
"Why not?"
"Because I don’t want to! Back off!"
His sharp refusal seemed to stun the scientist into wide-eyed stillness.
"Have I offended you somehow?" Regret and misunderstanding laced the words, forcing Ripto to glance at the scientist now hunched on his usual place.
"No."
"Then what’s wrong?"
He couldn’t say it aloud. Admitting he feared the strangeness of that connection was worse than silence. Worse than the abyss. But he had to say something. Distract…
"Look," Ripto rubbed his wrists, a nervous habit, soothing hands with familiar touches and convincing himself of the absence of imaginary shackles. "I don’t know what you felt during that… exchange. But I felt… exposed. Uncomfortable."
"Did I… embarrass you?" The scientist's lips barely lifted the corners, but the sorcerer still made out the strange smile of a satisfied creature on those lips.
"No!" Ripto choked on unnecessary air, desperately hoping his form wasn’t flickering like a candle. "Your emotions felt… Obsessive. Clingy."
"Obsessive how? I recall no negativity. Or is it… me specifically?"
"No! I mean yes… dammit! How can I explain it?" Ripto frantically tried to put his feelings into words, but for the first time in his memory he was at a loss and did not know how to formulate the thought clearly. "You’re calm. Measured. But… selectively."
"And you sensed this… from my soul?"
"Yes! It felt too easy to read. Too simple. That’s what unnerves me!"
"You astonish me more with every conversation," the scientist murmured, his white pupils fixed on Ripto. Fingers absently traced his sweater’s collar. "Remarkable."
That praise sparked something hot and fluttering in Ripto’s chest. His core pulsed faster and form shined brightly.
"Did my magic hurt you?" the scientist asked softly, a knowing smirk playing on his lips.
"No. It was… strange. Not unpleasant," Ripto admitted, eyeing him warily.
"Yours felt warm. Tender. Also… selective. I found it deeply comforting."
"Well good for you!" Ripto snapped in embarrassment.
His outburst dissolved into the scientist’s quiet, warm laughter.
"Still… I think I am embarrassing you, my shy friend."
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Ripto’s voice voluntarily rose an octave, becoming shriller, and after a sharp cough, it clearly wheezed: "You think too highly of yourself!"
"Your reaction suggests otherwise."
"ENOUGH!" Ripto exploded, unable to bear these half-hints and the insinuations simply started yelling. "You think this is funny? That taunting me is amusing? You think I’m stupid? That I can’t see your game?!" He levitated inches from the scientist’s face, jabbing a finger at his shadowy chest. "I’m just entertainment to you! Or a tool for your escape! Interesting only as a specimen! You talk to me because you’re desperate! NOTHING MORE! So, stay out of my head! Stop trying to dominate me! I WON’T BE CONTROLLED! UNDERSTAND?!"
Ripto quickly gained altitude and distance, finding himself out of reach for a conversation. Indignation was still coursing through his mythical veins, but his own logic frankly called him hysterical. He understood that he was angry over nothing, that he needed to calm down and sort himself out and not yell at someone who himself did not fully understand what was happening. The scientist was simply joking softly and, with his inherent curiosity, trying to understand the new event. And the dinosaur was simply scared of his lack of understanding and lack of control over what was happening. Ripto now thinks that he is really moved, since he can be so easily upset. Or has it always been like this? Is it really so easy to anger him? To make him doubt and act impulsively?
Ripto's memory pushed out of his subconscious the situations where his ego-fueled intemperance had caused problems, clearly demonstrating that he should have grown up a long time ago and stopped following the lead of imaginary pride and past grievances.
Just admit to yourself that you are weak, that you also get tired and confused, that you are capable of making mistakes due to inexperience... I don't have to strain my veins to always be caustic, angry and impudent... I shouldn't always respond to aggression with stronger aggression, but I need to be wiser and calmer... Think. Understand myself. I can be better... I want to be better... I want to be myself.
It seems that his internal tossing and turning somehow affected his current appearance, which is why for the first time in all this time the scientist left his usual place and appeared next to him, calmingly placing one of his cold palms on his shoulder.
"I don’t know what frightened you," the scientist said in his measured calm way. "But I never meant to dominate you. Perhaps I overstepped... I only wanted to calm you. Your form flickers with your emotions, and lately... you’ve been dimming. With every long silence, every stretch of sleep. Selfishly, I tried to quiet your thoughts, to stop you from vanishing. I feared you’d disappear." he admitted quietly, which made Ripto turn around and look at him. "For that... I apologize."
The scientist characteristically swayed forward in a kind of bow, lowering his snow-white head low. He did not straighten up until the sorcerer nodded in response, accepting the apology with soft mumble of “It’s fine”. Only then did the scientist straighten up again and continue speaking.
"But you’re wrong about one thing," he continued. "You interest me profoundly, Ripto. You know I’m not much older or wiser than you. Our worlds measure time and knowledge differently. We’re peers, give or take." He shrugged lightly. "If my words made you doubt yourself, it wasn’t intentional. I can get carried away, my ego runs wild sometimes, but this does not mean that I will suppress everyone who disagrees with me or question my authority. If I offended you in our conversations, I’ll admit my rudeness and apologize again."
Dinosaur felt a prick near his ribs, that assessing gaze of the scientist for approval shift something, making a new warm inside Ripto’s chest. Ripto shook his head slowly and relaxed more.
"Though you were right about one thing," the scientist added, a sly smile forming. "I do think I’m wiser in some ways. Admit it, my friend, you understand nothing about social life and normal communication."
"I understand plenty!" Ripto snapped as quick answer.
"You lack experience. It’s obvious for me after our long talks. Aggression, bullying, mockery - that’s all you’ve known, it’s become the norm for you. Am I the first for a very long time in your life that speak to you... civilly?" The man’s smile softened into something warm and affectionate, disarming Ripto’s anger.
"...Maybe," crossing arms on chest, the dino reluctantly admitted the correct conclusion.
"I don’t blame you," the scientist raised his palms placatingly. "I’m socially awkward too. A loner. I understand wanting self-sufficiency."
"Liar," Ripto snorted, drawing a light laugh from scientist.
"How adorable you snort."
"Stop teasing me!" the sorcerer exploded in embarrassment, his face flushed.
"It’s called flirting, actually," the scientist deadpanned, stunning Ripto into silence. "My point is..." he continued to express his thought while Ripto was struggling to regain his speech apparatus, "...I mean you no harm. I don’t want to dominate or control you. I like you as you are: a sharp-tongued trickster, a gifted mage... a charismatic spark with sad, beautiful eyes."
The words carried a tender melancholy, dousing Ripto’s fear from earlier.
"Spark?" Ripto echoed, his brow arched.
"Your Core… the one I mistook for a soul, has no fixed shape like my people’s. It’s like a living fire that shimmers in various shades of red, yellow, and green. And your current form... like a lava golem shaped into a strange reptile."
"I’m a dinosaur, since you care," Ripto declared proudly.
"I do care. What kind?"
"A cross between a Desert Raptor and a magical salamander."
"A hybrid. Fascinating," the scientist rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Pity this anomaly obscures the details."
"You look like some humanoid," Ripto shot back, smirking. "But your blurry form’s confusing."
"I’m a skeleton monster."
"Wow, really? Boss material, I assume?"
"Precisely."
Smiles bloomed on both faces. Yet Ripto still felt something hot and restless coil in his chest, tugging him toward the man.
"Well then... let’s try again?" A pale hand extended invitingly.
"You won’t drop this, will you?" Ripto rubbed his temples wearily.
"You offered first," the scientist smiled wider, offering his other hand.
The man wanted to try exchanging power with both hands at once. Perhaps it made sense for greater synchronization of their magic. This interest and the sparkle in his eyes attracted Ripto and bribed him no worse than his favorite sweets.
"Fine, damn you," Ripto sighed, placing his clawed hands in the skeletal ones.
"Swearing doesn’t suit you," the scientist chided gently, gently grasping the clawed fingers and slightly tugging the lizard towards himself so that he would fly closer. " With your well-trained voice and speech, it's a travesty to speak like a drunken sailor."
"Why don’t you go f… float in the void?" Ripto snorted with suppressed laugh.
"Someday, gladly," the skeleton chuckled.
Ripto froze expectantly, feeling the cool touch and waiting for a pulse of magic from the creature in front of him. However, instead, his own power casually clung to and surrounded the scientist's vague silhouette with a warm cocoon, giving it clarity and integrity. Now Ripto could easily discern a skeleton in him: the face that seemed like a mask was in fact a skull, scarred with cracks from an old wound in the war, the slits of the mask were eye sockets, with pupils burning with magic, the dark spots on the palms were full-fledged holes made for greater magical potential and control of the special ability of the skeleton monster, and something peeking out from under the snow-white collar of the sweater were the vertebrae of the neck, which were pointed at the edges.
From the greedy contemplation of the first clear image of the interlocutor, the sorcerer was distracted by the careful sliding of a bone finger over his own knuckles.
"I’m endlessly grateful to fate that it didn’t leave me alone here," the scientist murmured, his touch feather-light, causing Ripto’s temples to throb hotly. "I’d have gone mad with loneliness and helplessness."
"True enough. Me too," Ripto grinned, but quickly choked when the greedy bone hands deftly slid along his forearm and without hesitation grabbed by the waist, pulling him too close to the monster in front of him. " Hey! What are you doing?! Are you trying to strangle me?!”
"It’s called a hug, silly" the skeleton laughed kindly.
Ripto froze, stunned, peering inside himself. This time the contact was different. Careful and gentle. There was no magic involved, only their current shells. He was not being strangled or crushed, just held in a ring of arms. Blinking frequently, the dinosaur thought: Has anyone ever hugged me so carefully? Has anyone ever hugged me? Has anyone?
Ripto could only think of the suffocating and strong arms of Crash, who had pressed the sorcerer to himself a couple of times in a fit of delight. But that had lasted a short moment, simple pranks and gratitude. And here was something else, more intimate and personal. The sorcerer's hands slowly and timidly slid behind the monster's blurred back, holding back the initial impulse to clench his fingers and cling to the man with all his might. The nose was buried in a soft black shoulder; the soul was wrapped in a cool and calm cocoon of the scientist's palms. It was disconcertingly pleasant. Peaceful. Safe.
"Have you calmed down?" the scientist whispered and Ripto nuzzled his shoulder - a silent yes. "Good?" Another nuzzles. "Should I let go?" This time, Ripto dragged his snout along the collarbone - no.
Ripto distinctly heard the skeleton’s pleased hum, hugging him tighter and closer, resting his smooth skull against the dino’s glowing cheek. So awkward...
And Gaster hadn’t been this happy in eons. Holding this strange being who helped him think clearly... who trusted him enough to be held...That warms him in this isolation… Wasn’t it wonderful?