The sun was rising, a time when all respectable Nightmaren went to bed. Reala was in his chambers in the castle preparing to do just that when Jackle burst in.

"Hey Reala, whatcha doin'?" Jackle asked.

"Well, I was going to bed." Reala replied with distaste. Until you burst in.

Jackle considered this a moment, then began to pelt Reala with questions.

"Are you going to Stick Canyon tonight?"

"No."

"Will you play cards with me?"

"No."

"Will you play poker with me?"

"No."

"Will you play Gin Rummy with me?"

"No."

"How about Hearts?"

"No."

"Will you tell me you wear that black makeup on your eyes?"

"No."

"Will you tell me what your persona mask does?"

"No."

"You wanna play poker?"

"NO!!"

Jackle blinked. "Will you just answer one more question?"

Reala eyed him suspiciously. "Will you leave if I do?"

"Sure…" Jackle shifted his weight to his other foot, then blurted out, "Will you tell me how you got those scars on your eyes?"

"Fine." Reala snapped. "I'm only saying it once so pay close attention." Might as well tell him, he's been asking me that question since I met him.

"It was a long time ago. Before you came along, and before NiGHTS betrayed us."

Jackle absorbed this. "Okay."

"NiGHTS got in trouble with Master Wizeman, but I lied, and said it was my fault, because at the time I didn't want to see NiGHTS get hurt, being as he is my younger brother." Reala paused, then continued. "So instead of NiGHTS getting punished, I took his punishment. All the other scars healed, except for the ones across my eyes." He stopped.

"That's it?" Jackle asked.

"That's it."

"Wow…" Jackle sat on the bed for a moment, eyes wide. Then he went back to normal and asked, "Are you sure you don't want to play poker?"

"GET OUT!!"

Jackle did as he was told.

T.A.R.N.S.: I was browsing through my stories folder the other day when I came across this poor half-finished drabble. So, I decided to finish it and stick it up here. I've occasionally wondered where Reala got those scars, and for some reason, when it comes to NiGHTS stories, I seem to do better with Reala than NiGHTS. (I still don't know why that is.)

I'm not sure how good it was, so I guess I'll leave it up to the reviewers to decide. So please review and tell what you thought.

P.S: This thing turned out odd, especially because because involved Jackle. Anyway, please be kind and leave a review.