Chapter 2: Dreams in the Night

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mother/Earthbound series.

As Ness disappeared from the dreamscape, Paula sighed. To Paula, it seemed that Ness couldn't think of her the way she wanted to be to Ness. Maybe I shouldn't have suggested a trip, thought Paula. Or maybe I could tell Ness I contacted Jeff and Poo, but they didn't want to go. Paula thought that this may be the method in which she and Ness could go alone.

But I made a promise to Ness, thought Paula. She began to concentrate and beheld Jeff and Poo's faces in her mind's eye. Then Jeff and Poo materialized out of nowhere. "Paula," Jeff started to say as he took off his glasses, "is that you?"

"Hi, Jeff," Paula said.

"It is good to see you, my friend," Poo said.

"Nice to see you too, Poo," Paula said.

"You know how school is ending?" Paula continued.

"Yes," responded Jeff and Poo.

"Well, I was talking with Ness-"

"You spoke with Ness?" Poo asked. "How is he?"

"He is doing fine." Paula almost blurted out.

"Yikes, you don't need to yell." Jeff said.

"I'll yell when I want to yell!" Paula regained her composition. "Now, anyway, I talked with Ness, and we both agreed to take a trip through Eagleland when school ends tomorrow."

Paula knew she was sacrificing any chance she had to be alone with Ness, but she continued, "Do you want to come with us?"

"Sure," answered Jeff, "Saturn Valley and the boarding school are both becoming boring. And Tony has been acting oddly towards me."

Paula looked at Poo. "I shall go, too. It probably may not be as wonderful as Dalaam, but I wish to see more of the world we saved.

"Great," Paula said, "see you both tomorrow!"

Jeff and Poo said bye to Paula before disappearing as Ness did. Paula was forlorn that she would not be to have a "just the two of us" vacation with Ness, but then she started to fill her head with all the fun activities and the places she would explore with her three friends.

When Paula awoke, it was the dead of night. She turned in her bed and looked at the clock she had on her nightstand. In the darkness she took hold of the clock and held it up to her face. It was still too dark to see the numbers on the face. "PSI fire…α," Paula said as quiet as a whisper. A small flame generated out of her palm and she held it up to the clock. It was 1:30 AM. Paula groaned. She couldn't wait for today. She then drifted back into sleep as she stared at a grease spot on her ceiling.

Paula had an odd dream. She was in a dark room, and she felt confused. Didn't I fall back asleep, she thought? Suddenly, a flame lit next to her. Paula jumped back. Another flame lit, and then another, then another until a circle was formed. When the room lit up, she saw faces. They had a cold and sneering expression on them. Out of the darkness stepped someone. It was a woman. Her skin was tanned to an almost bronze; her hair was silvery white which glistened in the dim firelight. She was twice as tall as Paula and had an average build. She was wearing a robe displaying an unusual assortment of colors. Around her neck hung a necklace with three large gems with one gem blue, one gem red and one gem green. She stepped into the circle. A face stepped out. The person was only wearing a silvery black cloak.

"Are the preparations complete?" the woman asked the man.

"N-no mistress, they are nearly complete, it is only a matter of ti-"

"Do NOT test my patience," interrupted and warned the woman, "Would you have ME wait? I am the terror of the cosmos, the queen of darkness! It would not be wise to have me wait, fool."

"N-no my lady," said the man in submission, "We are finished with the preparations."

"Good," said the woman as a cruel and wry smile spread across her face, "Now, it is time to see these four heroes who my agent says can stop my great rise."

"I do not believe anyone can stop you now, my lady."

"So I thought," Said the woman, "But my agent has ways of seeing what is to come that spans beyond the normal means of mortals. Now, start the ritual."

Paula ran out of the circle, and gazed as the woman, man and other faces started moving their arms and chanted. Soon, Paula saw PSI that was more powerful than anything she had seen before. As the PSI came out, its form was gaseous. But then it started to interact and form, and then it shaped into a star. The star opened and revealed its contents: odd goo. As the goo spilled onto the floor, Paula heard someone say "I'm not cleaning that up. You made that mess." Then the goo began to shudder and form into humanoid shapes. Then Paula looked at the center aghast. The shape looked like Ness, Jeff, Poo and herself.

Furious, the woman shouted "WHAT IS THIS?!" The man looked at the shapes and said. "They look like children, mistress."

"I KNOW THAT! I was asking why the vision is showing four human children! Have your PSI abilities become faulty?"

"No, this is indeed the image of the heroes who will defeat you," said the man.

The woman walked up to the man and used PSI ability Paula did not recognize. The man fell to the floor uncoscious.

"I will not be defeated," said the woman. "Janitor! Clean up this mess!"

"I told you, I'm not cleaning up the mess."

"Clean it up or you're not getting that Christmas bonus we talked about."

The janitor removed the man. "And you, heroes," said the woman, "The durvine shall strike swiftly. We shall prevail and Earth will be mine!"

Paula woke up with a fright. She thought about the nightmare she had. What did it mean? Meh, I'm just tired, thought Paula. She wrote the nightmare off in as nothing more than fatigue and an active imagination. She looked at clock which lay on top of her. It read 1:45 AM. Paula groaned again. She pulled the covers over her head and went back to sleep.