Hope you're enjoying the story so far! I'd like to take a second and apologize to my followers who haven't seen a lot of activity from me. I'm sorry No-Name-Kid has been delayed for quite a bit, but I plan on updating, along with reworking some of the chapters. Anyway, if you're one of my followers reading this, I'd still like to thank you for your dedication and support. Thank you all! Now on with the show! ~Cosmo

The monster that pretended to be my mother got closer and closer. The earth trembled underneath her heel. I couldn't fight back, couldn't then, can't now. Staring on, at the silhouette in the fog, it was the waiting that got me. If she was going to do something to me, she should just get this over with.

"Oh Darling, why did you have to run from your mother?"

The streetlight activated.

Without any falter, it had produced more light than the sun. I heard a guttural howl as the woman vaporized by the whiteness. Next thing I knew the sidewalk gradually had faded away. I was falling but at a snail's pace, uncertainty overtook me. The debris of the road still remained in place as I drifted further away. I glitched out of my reality.

My body was still tucked into a ball, as I was falling. The tunnel that I found myself trapped in was the polar opposite of a black hole. Inviting, it was warm, like the feeling you get when hugging a close friend. The interior of the tube was odd and shiny, sparkling akin to that of hummingbirds' necks. In the thick, cream-colored, lining of the tunnel, I could make out the shapes of gigantic jellyfish and squids. The haunting, large, beasts casually swam above the tube. As if it were an everyday occurrence for a person to fall down a random materialized hole. The tentacle of the squid draped across the glass ceiling as if it were acknowledging me. That's when I saw that the tentacles had plumes of topiaries decorated with bell flowers, with cords of ivy constraining their slimy bodies. The jellyfish had mushroom cap heads, strings of fungus adorned their arms. Their electricity charged. Wrapping around the fungi-jellyfish creating a powder blue outline behind the frosted glass. It was like watching the discovery channel on mute. Somewhere far off was the progressional scales of a xylophone played, as I floated in my descent. The earthy, after rain smell of rural Washington, was replaced with vanilla, fresh ripe raspberries, and the sweet, strong, honey-citrus scent of rum.

I was being bombarded with feelings of nostalgia, and the subsequent low hitting melancholy that comes with it. Summer fireworks, laughing too long at someone's joke, forgotten friendships that withered away in the heat, texts that were left unread because you just couldn't bother, the feeling that you were on someone's mind but in the worst way imaginable. They were feelings that all plagued me suddenly. It was like I had been here before…

The tunnel began to take shape around me, forming an invisible slide. My back rested against a smooth, glass-like surface. There were black grid lines engraved everywhere. That gave slim, glimpses to the outside. The opening looked rather tight, like a cone. Upon closer inspection, I could see stars of all shapes on the other side of the exit.

Time seemed to restore to normal. Or I should say physics? As my descent down the slide seemed to be more intense.

In space, there is no sound, no weight. Yet, I could still hear the wind rush past my ears when I was zipping through the light, at an increasingly alarming speed.

I was launched out of the slide with a pop. After losing the only stable ground I had. My feet reflexively kicked trying to find a way to swim through this…space. It had actually taken me a few good seconds for me to actually register where I was. I-I was among the stillness of the galaxy. It was more at peace than anything I had ever experienced before. Streaks of soft violet and pinks mixing with the white flecks of stars stood out against the blackness. Which in its self couldn't even be described as just dark. It was a patchwork of other colors my mind couldn't yet perceive. It was boundless, infinite, yet so empty. I was right there in the midst of everything and nothing at the same time. I felt …small, the entrancing sight made me forget what I was even running from.

It was overwhelming…

Something tugged at the ends of my fingers. As I continued to float down toward an island hanging over a large somewhat ominous form of dark matter slumbering underneath it.

I was being delicately led by the hand by force that escorted me like royalty. It was approaching land, at a taxi. I extended out my right leg for the landing. The tip of my shoe touched down gently on the stone pathway, the rest of my body rested itself upon the path. My knees bucked inward like my body had to teach itself the new gravity of this...plane. My bones became jelly yet I felt at peace. The light ebbed away every nervous thought like an ocean wave rushing the shore. I took hesitant steps toward a copper gate; the steps were clumsy, and I ended up finding myself on my knees. My hands had gripped the edges of sleeves near my wrists. That's when it dawned on me like a sudden splash of cold water to the face, I-I wasn't wearing long sleeves! I glanced down, my bright red pajama bottoms had replaced my grey jeans. I heard the metallic squeaking of the gate opening. Snapping my gaze forward. There were two feathers that swung back and forth reaching the ground softly as I once did when I arrived.

I wasn't alone.

Rubbing my leaking nose with my black sleeves, I sniffled quietly. Leaning forward I edged my hand toward the ground and plucked a feather from the ground. It felt unusually weighted, I twirled it. The feather upon closer inspection seemed ornate. Having this embroidered pattern with circles and points. The embroidery itself was a clean silver against rest of the tawny feather. Standing up, I felt the cool stone on the soles of my feet as the pools of baggy fabric from my pajamas covered the tops. I see my shoes are gone. Well, I guess that makes about as much sense as anything else at this point. It felt like every movement I made was in molasses. Trudging through, I found myself staring at the gate. I didn't hear a horn, so I'm not dead, or at least, I'm not in heaven. The bars weren't even cold when I reached out to touch them, it's like something held these open for me. Once I was Inside the hedge circle, the metal squawked again. Startled, I spun around to see the gates lazily shut. My teeth clenched together to avoid drawing more attention to myself. Like a male peacock wearing bright neon construction gear with a bullhorn. Keeping my eyes glued to the gate, I took a step back, then another, then one more... Then my back brushed up against something-! I shut my eyes tight, swinging my fist blindly!

"HOOO!" There was a screech, my hand made another lap around my body, twirling me around while I fumbled to my feet. My breath became shortened once again, I gazed upward at what appeared to be an...owl? The owl flapped it's father tiny wings to keep itself afloat. His head was about the same size as his chubby body. The best way to describe it would be that it looked like two watermelons on top of each other. How I recognized it as an owl is beyond me. It wore a purple vest with copper-yellow buttons. It had on a burgundy overcoat, and yellow tips on its feathers. It had such slim eyes, paired with large, round, circular glasses. The owl stared down at me and I stared back from the ground. Its beak moved in an unnatural way... like it was forming words?

The voice it used was like Wilson's from before. In fact, it's sounded like a lot of people I've heard before. It was like my memories overlapped each other. Somehow its words came across as clear as a bell,"Careful there, visitor!"

I coughed. Still a little unnerved by the owl, and partially trying to stretch my voice like it was a t-shirt that didn't fit,"I-I-I'm sorry. I just, c-could you tell me where I am? I think I'm lost, bu-"

"Lost?!" There was another scrambled voice that interrupted me. From somewhere else, somewhere up above.

The owl chortled much like that of my grandfather. The bird laughed, how pipe tabacco smoke looked,"Well, uh, ahem, dear visitor, you're in the world of dreams!"

I sighed with a bit relief,"I see...of course, I'm dreaming." Of course, that was the only plausible explanation for all of…that.

The owl floated closer to the ground extending his wing,"There's much to see, come now."

Grasping its wing gingerly, as to not hurt it. I had trouble remembering when exactly I fell asleep. I questioned,"Would it be alright if you just gave me the quick version of the tour? I want—" I rephrased my urgency,"I need, t-to-to wake up soon."

Faintly in the distance, I heard laughter. The owl glared to the tree canopy above us. It hooted itself,"Blasted freeloader."

I stretched my neck to see this person he was talking about,"Who?"

"Hoo."

Rolling my eyes, I just assume none of my questions will be answered with a valid response. The owl led me to the sparkling fountain that had three levels with multiple faucets spewing water into the main bottom pool. I took a spot on the ledge of the fountain,"I don't think I'm getting this. What exactly is going on? I need to wake up."

The owl shrugged,"All within due time, all within due-"

"Why would you want to leave?" The 'freeloader' voice sounded closer.

"Who is that?!" I demanded while scanning to my left.

As I was attempting to find the stranger, hands slipped around my chest. It was like something was hugging me from behind, yet I could feel no body. I stole a quick glance; Seeing a set of large hands with fingers laced around the largest portion of my chest. My heart stood still. The hairs on my neck stood on edge as warm breath danced along my skin; goosebumps pimpled up as the hands clasped me tighter.

"Boo," The voice announced coyly, as the hands ever-so-gently let go, placing the pads of its fingers against my chest.

My body shuddered. The owl cocked his head at me, he opened his beak as if to announce something. All around me it was eerily still. Even the soft sound of the water from the fountain splashing into the main pool seemed to drift away.

Then the hands ever-so-gently shoved me into the fountain.

It was like something out of a cartoon. It was a fierce shove, sending just my left shoulder back. I launched back first into the fountain. I'd like to point out that this was the second time tonight that I was forced into the water. Not any more fun the second time, I must say. I saw the backsplash from where my body was submerged, I began to wonder how deep the fountain as. My legs were still caught onto the cement ledge, I whipped myself upward, tossing water forward. I secretly hoped I had somehow managed to douse my attacker. My hair clung to the front of my face, as I had swung forward. With my nightshirt, also drenched, it bonded to skin tightly, the cold began to seep through. Okay, I've been here less than five minutes and I'm going to kill something.

The owl sighed while dodging my water projectile,"That's not funny Knights. You're going to scare the visitor half to death, and they've already had such a hard landing. Oh, bother."

A pair of white pristine gloves with sharp pointed fingers then levitated over my face. The gloves high-fived each other. A blur of lavender bounced behind the pair, still too close for comfort. My eyes widened in shock to see a figure with no neck! Two horns that curved behind it's back. Its face only had two large cat-like eyes that were the deepest striking blue I had ever seen. It was taller than me and skinny as a rake. There was a large red diamond in the center of its chest. The clothes that it wore were unusual, to say the least. The clothes were extremely vintage in their style. The figure sported a neck ruffle, an overcoat with puffy cuffed sleeves. There appeared to be words from another language, no human could read, embroidered into the sleeves the jacket. The creature was bipedal. Having a very humanoid silhouette, but it was very clear that this wasn't like any person I've ever met. A hand with a clawed finger poked me on the nose before the pair of hands floated back into the coat sleeves of the creature.

"I-WHAT THE-WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" I jumped onto the balls of my feet on top of the fountain ledge.

The frustrated owl introduced,"Th-this is Knights. Hoo."

"It's quite rude to talk about that way about someone you just met!" In my mind, the creature spoke in a British accent, much like the owl. Though like the owl the way its mouth moved it seemed like its words didn't quite match up with what they were saying. Akin to that of a bad Kung-fu movie dubbed from the 70s.

I relaxed somewhat yet still remained on guard, insincerely I remarked,"I-I'm sorry, but you scared me! I didn't expect you to… yknow… look like demon Liberace…?"

The creature gasped, clutching its chest over-dramatically.

"Oh, will you stop." The owl flapped trying to gain air, yet failing,"You don't even know what that is!" He said while floating near Knights's face,"How could you possibly be offended!?"

"I'm messing with you, you old bird." it chuckled, which sounded rather odd, laughter in this world was a like a symphony tuning up. That could've been only applied to that creature, considering it was alluringly annoying.

Taking a seat; I shook my head to dry off my head faster much like a dog, producing my own cloud of mist.

"Snrk—"

Feeling my face flush; I glared at the flamboyant creature,"Oh go shove it."

The creature floated in the air laying on its stomach in mid-air, sticking its long black tongue out at me. Owl jumped up in front of the creature trying to gain my attention once more,"Cease this immaturity at once!" With his wing, he slicked back some stray forehead feathers. Owl let out a weary breath,"Visitor, I'm so sorry you had to experience two night-terrors back-to-back. I imagine it was quite stressing." The way Owl spoke to me was much different than he did to his helper. He began apologizing,"Knights didn't mean any offense."

I tilted my head to the right. The creature with its thumb placed where it's nose should have been, fingers waggling, and still tongue hanging out of its mouth, insultingly. The Owl did not seem aware of this.

I deadpanned,"Yes, I'm sure 'Knights' did not mean anything by it."

The creature slammed Owl out of the way, swimming through the air leaving a trail of sparkles. It pointed in my face with its index nail,"That, is not how you pronounce my name!"

"What'd you mean?"

"You're not saying my name right."

"What? I'm pronouncing the word 'Knight' wrong? I-is-is that it?" I asked facetiously.

"I don't blame you, I mean, it's pretty hard for a simple minded person." It condescended,"It's the like the time after dusk."

I gritted my teeth,"H-How the hell is that any different?"

It shrugged,"You say it hard on the N, the G, the H, the T-"

"Okay, I think I get it,"I dismissed, cutting them short. The G in 'Nights' was silent though? I scratched my head.

"Okay, then, say it!" it ordered, placing its clenched fists on its narrow hips.

"What?"

It balled it fists to its sides, "SAY MY NAME!" It yelled, seemingly upset by my question.

"NiGHTs?" I said not changing the pronunciation from 'Knights'.

"See? I knew you could do it."

I nodded, with every hint of sarcasm,"Uh-huh."

The owl parked himself next to me on the ledge, wheezing,"At, Oh-boyo… I'm actually quite winded." He hacked, holding up a wing to signal for us to hold on," A-at this rate, you—by god…you two will never D-duh-dualize."

Upon mentioning this, NiGHTs began intently staring at me. It sat in the air, crossing its leg,"Blast, the bird is right," it mumbled to itself. Owl began rambling to NiGHTs about respecting your elders or some such moral lesson.

What were they talking about? Dualize? I paused. Dual: Meaning of two parts or elements. Dualize is a mathematics term as well. In the context of a theorem, or expression; a connection between two parts by the exchange of a pair of variables. Grammatically, to dualize is to denote an inflection that refers to exactly two people or things. So the common theme here is two. The context here is that I and NiGHTs need to do something together as two people to accomplish-

"Uhhh, kid."

"Shh-sh-shhh, I'm thinking."

"Oh my, a blue id-"

"Guys, cmon, I'm trying to figure something out." My eyes opened to a squint. NiGHTs's pupils dilated to a disturbingly large degree, its eyebrows arched up, while Owl's mouth fell agape. The two of them gawked at me like I was a car on fire. I turned my head behind me,"What?"

There appeared to be nothing except the stone tile and the bush, I shrugged. The both of them still appeared to be at a loss for words. I began to get nervous, grasping my arms, their eyes continued to pierce me. At any moment my face light up like a traffic signal, to avoid eye contact I focused on my sho-

A blue glow from my hands and chest, it moved gracefully like a stream, steady and slow. Clutching my hands around the wisp, as if it was going to float away. It adjusted to the form of my hands without actually touching them. I could see my reflection in the gloss…I-It was a reflection of myself that I was actually okay with for once. I mumbled,"Geez, would you look at that."

Out of nowhere, it dawned on me that some organic form of life was halfway out of my chest, I let out an ungodly scream.

"Oh mY GOD! WHAT IS THIS?!" I began grabbing the wisp as an attempt to pull it out. It seemed to retract further into my chest as I desperately tried to catch the slippery thing.

Owl hopped onto my lap,"Visitor- please, calm down! You could damage it!"

"You… Scream, a lot." NiGHTs clamped their hands over their non-existent ears.

"GET it OUT of me!" I pleaded.

"We can't."

"What-What're you saying?"

The owl pushed his glasses up onto his beak, he explained,"Well, it's a part of you. Though it always has been, do not worry yourself." Keeping my mouth shut and I signaled my understanding, the wisp began to seep back out into my hands.

Owl gestured NiGHTs to come closer. It rolled its eyes, yet still followed its instructions. He continued,"This, is your Ideya. Specifically, this is the blue Ideya of logic." The bird squinted at the blue mass, studying it,"It's been quite some time since I've seen a visitor with only a blue ideya."

The owl could still see the confusion on my face,"The rules of this world are often lost in translation,"

"That's one of the biggest I've ever seen!" NiGHTs interrupted.

"I-is that good?" I was unsure whether to be flattered.

NiGHTs levitated their hands under mine, saying almost in a whisper,"Well, if you were to relax…"

The wisp seemed to melt into NiGHTs's hands, the Ideya glided over it's gloved fingers. NiGHTs tried to grasp it, though the mass squished out of its palms overspilling to the sides. It began to giggle much like a child yet it sounded much similar string section. My Ideya shined bright in its hands.

Owl hooted,"Ah, we've got a glower!"

My chest and hands tingled like they went numb. NiGHTs began to stroke the tendril much like it was a dog. It began to straighten out its back. The string of the mass began to thin out. The more abundant part of the Ideya coiled around NiGHTs's forearm. The skin around my fingertips progressively began to drain of color. Puzzled, I failed to see what the problem was. Thinking had almost become an uphill struggle.

"Most people seem to lose their Ideyas on the way here."

My vision began to lose sharpness, blurring everything… together…

"OH, SORRY!" NiGHTs exclaimed. It dropped the blue mist in its hands and the light began barrel itself back into my chest.

Owl shot the creature a concerned look. NiGHTs rubbed the back of its head, as it sheepishly apologized,"I-I get a little carried away sometimes… Heh."

Blinking a few times, still confused as to what occurred. The owl lifted off of my lap, hovering next to NiGHTs, Owl prodded,"I'm sure you still have questions."

I replied sluggishly with a nod.

"Well, we don't have all night to answer them, so-" he gestured for me to come with them, as he inched away in flight.

Groggily, I stumbled to my feet before jogging after them.