Deep in the realm of Nightmare, a red harlequin hovered over the black, rocky landscape. His dark eyes scanned his surroundings as he proudly surveyed his domain. He was Reala, first-level Nightmaren, trusted servant of—
A purple blur sped by, slapping him on the shoulder as it passed.
"Chase me!" it said, cheerily.
Reala reoriented himself in the air, having been knocked off-kilter by the newcomer.
"Chase you?" he repeated.
The purple harlequin stopped in midair and turned around the face him.
"Yeah," he said. "Chase me."
"Why?" Reala asked.
The purple Nightmaren shrugged. "Just because."
Reala shook his head. "NiGHTS…"
NiGHTS flipped upside-down and grabbed a fist-sized stone from the ground below him.
"Catch it!" he called, flipping right-side up again and throwing the stone at Reala.
Reala caught the stone and looked at it, turning it over in his hands, but it was just an ordinary black rock, like the thousands of other rocks that dotted this part of Nightmare.
"Now throw it back to me!" NiGHTS prompted.
Reala blinked at him, confused. "Why?" he asked again.
"Just do it!"
Reala threw the rock at NiGHTS, who caught it, spun around, and threw it back again with another shout of "Catch it!"
"NiGHTS, what are you doing?" Reala demanded, letting the rock fall to the ground.
"Playing," came the response.
Reala blinked. "Playing."
NiGHTS nodded, the blue feathers on his persona shaking. "The Nightopians seem to enjoy it."
"The Nightopians are stupid little imps," Reala pointed out, beginning to grow annoyed at his sibling's antics.
"I know," said NiGHTS, "but I wanted to try it."
He picked up another rock. "Catch it," he said, throwing it again.
"You are behaving like an idiot," Reala said, moving out of the rock's path.
"Come on, Reala!" NiGHTS persistently let another stone fly, this time right towards Reala's face. "Catch it!"
Reala snatched the rock out of the air inches from his nose. "Catch this," he snarled, whipping his arm around and sending the stone zooming high over NiGHTS's head. NiGHTS shot upwards, snagging it with his fingertips.
"Ha!" he said. "Beat that!"
He returned the stone, throwing it far past Reala, who lunged after it, catching it. Then he threw it back towards NiGHTS.
They continued to throw the rock back and forth, sending it farther, faster, and higher with every toss, pushing their bodies to the limit as each tried to outdo the other, enjoying themselves more than the red Nightmaren would have willingly admitted.
Finally, NiGHTS dropped the rock off to the side, flashing a cheeky grin at his sibling.
"Catch me," he said, turning and flying away at top speed. Reala followed without hesitation, and the two Nightmarens sped across the rocky region, dodging around boulders and skipping over mountain peaks. But no matter how fast Reala flew, NiGHTS always seemed to be just out of reach, evading his grasping hands with ease and laughing all the while.
The red Nightmaren slowed to a halt and hovered, staring down at the ground. When NiGHTS realized that he was no longer being pursued, he slowed as well and turned back.
"Too fast for you?" he called in a slightly mocking tone. When there was no response, NiGHTS's brow furrowed with concern and he flew back to hover beside Reala.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, reaching out towards his sibling's shoulder. Suddenly, Reala lunged forward, grabbing NiGHTS around the waist and forcing him to the ground.
Reala smirked as he pinned NiGHTS's arms under his body. "Caught you," he said.
"You big cheater!" NiGHTS accused. "That wasn't fair. You tricked me!"
Reala chuckled. "Oh, my dear sibling… If you never set the rules, then you can never say what isn't fair. As the Visitors say, 'winner takes all.'"
"Okay, fine," said NiGHTS. "You win. Now let me up."
"Make me." Reala grinned, showing off all of his pointed teeth.
NiGHTS pressed upwards, trying to free his limbs, but Reala only laughed and continued to hold him down. When it came to brute strength, the purple harlequin was no match for his sibling.
But they both could play at the game of trickery.
NiGHTS lay limp, breathing hard as though exhausted.
"Too hard for you?" Reala mimicked him.
Then NiGHTS threw himself sideways, sending him and a surprised Reala tumbling down the rocky incline. Even as they rolled and fell, Reala tried to keep his hold on NiGHTS, while NiGHTS tried to break free. As they hit the bottom of the hill, NiGHTS pulled one of his arms out of Reala's grip and struck out at his sibling's face, knocking his persona off.
NiGHTS stared up at Reala, who had ended up still on top of him in the end.
"You look funny without your persona," he said.
"Do I?" said Reala. He plucked NiGHTS's persona off of his face and tossed it aside.
"Now you look funny, too," he said.
"More freaky, really," NiGHTS amended. "'Funny' isn't really a word that fits us, now is it?"
Reala grinned. NiGHTS giggled. And then the two Nightmarens were lying on the ground at the end of the rocky hill, equally battered and exhausted, laughing their heads off.
There was a sinister rumbling, like thunder. Reala and NiGHTS abruptly stopped laughing as they looked up to see Wizeman, the lord of Nightmare, towering over them.
"And what is this?" he demanded in a voice that seemed to make the very ground shake in terror. "Are you two…playing?"
Reala and NiGHTS quickly genuflected before him.
"N-No, Master Wizeman," Reala stammered.
"Do not lie to me, Reala," Wizeman snapped, one of his all-seeing hands descending to leer at the cowering Nightmaren.
"Yes, my master," said Reala. "Forgive me."
Wizeman continued to loom over his creations silently for several moments.
"Playing is a happy thing," he said finally. "And if there's one thing I will not tolerate, it is happiness. Happiness has no place in Nightmare. You shall not play. Is that understood, my children?"
"Yes, Master Wizeman," NiGHTS and Reala chorused.
"And don't let me catch you without your personas on again," Wizeman continued. "Otherwise, your loyalty in me might appear to be in question. And you wouldn't want that, now, would you?"
"No Master Wizeman." "Of course not, Master Wizeman."
The hand withdrew.
"I should hope not," Wizeman said, his tone a warning. There was another roll of thunder, and when the Nightmarens dared to look skyward again, their master had gone.
Reala immediately scrambled to where his persona lay and reaffixed it to his face. NiGHTS moved more slowly, getting to his feet, brushing the dirt from his vest and picking up his persona.
"He doesn't have to know…" NiGHTS muttered, fiddling with the feathers on the golden mask in his hands.
"What?" Reala stood, his feet about an inch above the ground.
"We could play when he's not around," NiGHTS elaborated. "He doesn't have to know."
Suddenly, Reala was right in front of NiGHTS, his eyes wide behind his persona and staring intently into NiGHTS's, his hand gripping his sibling's shoulder tightly.
"Have you lost your mind?" he hissed, his claws digging into NiGHTS's shoulder painfully. "You're talking about disobeying a direct order from Master Wizeman! Do you have any idea what he'd do to us?"
"Reala… Reala, please, you're hurting me!" NiGHTS protested.
Reala's grip slackened, and he withdrew his hand.
"I… I know what he'd do," NiGHTS said, rubbing his shoulder tenderly with his opposite hand. "But… I liked it, Reala. It was fun. Didn't you like it, too?"
Reala hesitated and glanced behind him cautiously before answering.
"It was…enjoyable enough, I guess," he admitted. "But it's not worth the price of getting caught disobeying him."
NiGHTS sighed. "I guess you're right."
"Besides," Reala continued. "We don't need to play to have fun. Remember last night, when we started an avalanche over that Nightopian village? That was fun, right?"
NiGHTS giggled. "You'd have thought the sky was falling, the way they were rushing about."
"Exactly," said Reala.
There was a pause.
"You should put that back on," Reala added, motioning towards NiGHTS's persona, "before Master Wizeman sees you."
NiGHTS nodded. "I will."
Reala nodded slowly. "Well… See you around," he said.
"Yeah," said NiGHTS. "'Til then."
Reala turned and flew away into the night. NiGHTS watched him go until he was a tiny red shape on the horizon, and then he raised the golden mask to his face.
He stopped, having caught a glimpse of his reflection in the shiny metal. He turned the mask from side to side, trying to see his whole face. He did look funny without his persona on; his face was emptier, and his eyes were too wide. They blinked at him, big and blue on his pale face.
It was strange.
NiGHTS put the persona back onto his face, and for a long while he stood there, hovering above the black, rocky landscape, his home.