SUPER IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please be aware that I only name the "understood 'you'" character for the sake of filler; please, feel free to fill in your own name instead of the character's. This story is meant to be involve the reader and I feel that using blanks instead of an actual name just kills the feel.
Also: I DO potray NiGHTS as male in this fic. If you were looking for either a genderless or female NiGHTS, this is not the fic you are looking for. If you have a problem with the fact that I am writing him as such, please try your hardest not to flame me about it.
"Rule One: A Nightmaren should never form a bond with a visitor..."
You feel like you're falling, falling, falling. In fact, you feel like you've been falling for hours. The idea of falling is almost boring now that you think about it. This must be a dream. A dream! You try to flap your arms and fly, but to no avail. You sigh, and continue falling; you feel like Alice down the rabbit hole. Finally, ground is in sight. You brace yourself and prepare for the worst but as soon as your feet hit the ground, it's like you were never falling. Like you just glided onto land. You breathe a sigh of relief, and walk forward a few steps before you take in your surroundings. You're standing before a huge gate, beyond it is the most beautiful garden you've ever laid eyes on. You gasp as you see the stars above you and even a shooting one or two. "Beautiful, isn't it?" you hear a voice say.
Wait, did you just hear a voice?
You turn your head to the side and see a massive brown owl flying in midair beside you. A talking brown owl. You yelp and fall backwards, stumbling over your own two feet. "No, no, no, don't trip! You'll fall off!" the owl warns; you look behind yourself and realize that this whole place is a huge floating island.
"What is this place?" you ask.
"Oh my dear, I do believe you've landed at the Dream Gate, what your people would call a 'dream world'. This," he points to everything," is where all dreams are created." You marvel at the idea of a land of dreams, "Even the nightmares?" you ask innocently.
"Well, no," the old bird stutters, "Those come from somewhere else... Somewhere much darker..." His face seems to drain as he thinks about it. "But never mind that, follow me, child. We shall explore your dreams." You feel you should be offended for being called a child, but you brush it off and forget it, following the old crazy bird down a stone path to the gate.
The owl lands on an odd perch, seemingly made just for him. He points to the gate doors with a scruffy, feathered wing, and you push them open. Geez, they were a lot heavier than they looked. You step inside the plaza, and gaze at all the beauty of this place. The fountain in the dead center seems to resonate with some strange power. You shudder. Suddenly you hear music... Soft music, but nice music all the same. The old owl catches up to you, breathing heavily. "Oh no, " he mumbles, "Not that ruffian..." Weird sparkles begin dancing all around you; you try to dust them off but they just keep appearing. You can hear the music clearly now, it's definitely a flute. It's almost heavenly. You feel the presence of another body and look up to see a young man floating above you. Floating? Oh yeah, this is a dream after all, expect anything. The suspicious, flute-playing man floats down from the treetops, almost resembling superman in his flight. You laugh silently to yourself. He lands next to you, but doesn't touch the ground. It kind of creeps you out. This guy is weird already and he hasn't even said anything. The owl scowls, his old feathered face distorting into a frown. "Get out of here... You... You..."
"Delinquent?" the strange young man finishes, smiling.
"Yes, delinquent."
"You can't make me; this is my land too, ya' know."
Yeesh, what a brat. He looks to you and smiles even wider. "Well hello, visitor. You look new. What's your name?" You chuckle at his over-enthusiastic British accent and fancy purple jester outfit. "I'm Alex," you state proudly. "Oh what a nice name. You certainly look like an Alex," he laughs quietly, the sound pleasing to your ears. "Well it's good to meet you, Alex. I hope to see you around here often," he winks.
Oh no, he winked. That can't be a good sign, you think to yourself.
"Hey, you ever wanted to fly?" he asks, out of the clear blue.
"Uh..." you stammer, you've never really thought about it before. Come to think of it, it might be kind of nice. You don't get a chance to answer him before he grabs your hand and places your palm in his. His hands are warm and inviting, as is the gentle smile on his face as he stares deep into your eyes. The last thing you hear is the old owl
grumbling as a white flash of light explodes in front of you, temporarily blinding you. When you open your eyes, you realize you're about forty feet above the plaza grounds, and you're not falling back down. You hear a voice in your head, the same as the strange young man's.
It is the strange young man's.
"This is called 'Dualizing', Alex; you assimilate with another being to acquire their abilities for a short time. Try it, Alex. Try flying." You hesitate at first, but remind yourself that this is a dream, anything is possible. It's a rough flight, but you understand quickly and soon you're soaring around the entire plaza. You hear the young man's sweet laugh in your ears, "Yeah, that's it; you've got it!" Maybe this isn't so bad. Maybe he isn't so bad.
You land and the white flash returns as you un-'dualize' with the strange man. You catch your breath from all the excitement and he walks up to you slowly. "You were wonderful up there!" he exclaims proudly, "I apologize for not introducing myself earlier, I'm NiGHTS, the dream jester." He bows elegantly, taking your hand and kissing it gently. "And this here's Owl," he points to the scruffy old bird, then leans in to whisper to you, "he's kind of a stick in the mud..."
"I heard that," the owl yells. You giggle, coming here every night might not be that bad.
You hear a rumble and the ground shakes below you. "What's going on?" you yell, totally freaked out. "A nightmaren..." the owl whispers eerily, he's probably as freaked out as you are. NiGHTS eyes widen and he clutches his chest as a black hole in the middle of the air appears. You step forward but the young man's arm swings out and pushes you backwards. "Don't," he warns, looking back to you. You squint your eyes and see a muscular, bluish arm reach out of the portal. Owl comes up behind you, grabbing your hand, "Come on child, let's go somewhere else." You jerk your arm away, "No, I want to see this." You look back to the scene unveiling before you, now a whole figure has emerged from the portal. He appears similar to NiGHTS, same jester outfit and look, but seems... evil. His suit is dark with reds and blacks, his body type much more muscular. His skin is bluish and covered in scars, his face is full of malice and hidden by a incredibly detailed mask. And his voice... His voice is rich and deceiving as he speaks coldly and calmly to the flute playing man.
"Well, good evening, dear brother," he gestures to NiGHTS, "I heard the good news. There's a new visitor here to spend some time with us." "Visitors aren't your play-things, Reala," NiGHTS snaps, bearing his teeth.
Brother? Oh, they must be related. That would explain the looks.
The newcomer looks directly at you, his eyes boring into yours. "New here, eh?" He speaks seductively. You're too afraid to even nod. "Go away! You're not wanted, Reala. You're scaring the visitor!" He glares back to NiGHTS; you breathe a sigh of relief from being unlocked from his gaze. "Oh no, you can't fool me, brother. It has the Ideya of Courage. It can't be scared THAT easily. He looks back to you and you freeze in place. Then he glides across ground as gracefully as swan straight over to you. His hand reaches up and caresses your cheek so sweetly that it's menacing. He whispers to you, "And I will have it, dear visitor." The hand on your face suddenly grabs and squeezes your shoulder, his face turning to NiGHTS. "And as for you, brother, I'll dispose of you for good this time."
He snaps his fingers and suddenly NiGHTS is out cold, collapsing on to the stone below. He releases the grip on your shoulder, laughing maniacally, then picks up the lifeless body of NiGHTS and floats off through a door in front of you.
That door wasn't there before.
"Hoo, I'm sure that was quite frightening, wasn't it? I'm quite sorry that you saw all that." The old owl comes up behind you, a comforting look in his eyes. "W-wait! Is that red light..." You look down and see a strange crimson glow emanating from your hands. You scream and flail around, trying to rid yourself of the creepy light around you, "What the hell is this!" The owl calms you down, "No, no it's okay, this is good! It means you have the Ideya of Courage; most visitors loose their Ideya upon entry." You look back down at yourself; hmmph, some courage you just showed.
"Well what does this Ideya do for me?" you ask, almost selfishly. The owl grins, "With it, you opened the door to Nightopia, where NiGHTS is captured. You must save him, visitor!" You give him a strange look; why are you involved in all this?
You sigh and the red light fades away; you stretch your arms and yawn. You decide you have nothing better to do than to take care of it, so you step up to the door looming before you. You rest your hands on the cold metal of the handles and pull forward; the doors fly open and a plethora of butterflies and sparkles frantically cover your face. You cough and spit, wiping the debris from your eyes. What's with this world?
You step through the door and everything goes black.
Author's Notes:I personally enjoy reading 2nd person stories, so this was a treat to write. My first fic posted here, so please be gentle.
I figured Alex was a generally gender ambiguous name; if there are any complaints, I will gladly change it.
Disclaimer: I do not own nor gain profit from any of the characters portrayed in this work; all characters belong to Sega.
