The soft sound of NiGHTS' flute rang in the air. The visitor that NiGHTS was playing with was long gone so he and I sat at the dream fountain, relaxing. This happened quite often, but I am a patient creature and I appreciate the slow moments in life. Unfortunately, NiGHTS does not.
"Owl, how long have you lived here?" NiGHTS asked.
I jerked from the sudden sound, but then laughed.
"Have I not told you NiGHTS? Hoo!" I laughed, "Why I was the first being here NiGHTS. Well, along with another being."
"And who would that be?" NiGHTS asked.
"Oh, er, well... Wizeman."
"But that's impossible!" NiGHTS said, "Wizeman told me that I was created shortly after he was born. And I'm only around two thousand years old."
"He likes to distance his past self from his present. He thinks his new form is the purest and strongest. But hoo! You proved him wrong!"
"Tell me, were you and him friends?" NiGHTS asked.
"Well, belive it or not NiGHTS, I looked to Wizeman as my role model."
The dumbfounded face from the purple jester told me that I needed to elaborate. I sighed.
"I believe it is time to tell you the story about the creation of Nightmare... Wizeman and I were created when the first dream world was established. In those days, visitors all gathered in one large dream world and shared their dreams. Wizeman and I decided to watch over this world we called, Nightopia."
"Wizeman would use his large eyes to watch and protect the visitors while I interacted with them. When Wizeman noticed many of the visitors were becoming lonely, he created a new species. You know them today as nightiopians. I was not as rushed as before because the nightopians would entertain the visitors."
"Wizeman and I kept this up for many, many years. We watched the visitors be joyful, but we also watched them suffer. Sometimes, a visitor's life in the waking world was so awful that it resulted in their dreams being awful as well. Wizeman could not stand any more of the suffering, so he absorbed the negative energy from all of the dreams."
I closed my eyes and slowly shook my head.
"I told him it was a bad idea. He refused to listen and I could do nothing to stop him. The negative energy left him hungry for power. Whatever good was in him was gone. He stole ideya from the visitors, that he once loved, in the thousands. With as much magic as I could muster, I created separate dimensions for each visitor, slowing him down. The spell weakened me greatly though and left me a tired, old owl."
"Wizeman found himself with a slow process of attacking a visitor one by one. That's where you come in, NiGHTS."
"He created nightmaren in order to get the visitors' ideya faster." NiGHTS whispered.
I nodded at the boy.
"He also created Nightmare as a place where negative energy can be stored... To this very day, I have done my best to stop him. I am weak though and all of my magic is kept for separating the visitors. If it wasn't for you, NiGHTS, I don't think Wizeman could ever be stopped."
NiGHTS stood up and looked straight at me with fire in his eyes.
"I want to change him back." He said.
"Hoo! Hwot!?" I stuttered, "I-I do not even know if that is possible, my dear boy."
"Well I'll make it possible!" He shouted, "If I turn him back, then all of the visitors could be with each other. All of the Nightmarens could live in harmony with the nightopians. Then maybe... maybe..."
NiGHTS turned away.
"Maybe we could all be a family..." NiGHTS whispered.
"Do whatever you think is right." I said, "If you make a mistake, well, it can only broaden your path."
The boy's hands clenched into fists.
"Don't worry Owl," NiGHTS said, "I'll find a way."
He flew high into the sky and danced. When I watched him, a familiar yet distant feeling flowed within me. I felt a sense of relief as if the future held so much more than the past. NiGHTS has the weight of Nightopia and the waking world, but acts as if nothing challenged him and everything will be all right.
"I see so much of your father in you..."