Chapter 3.

Birthdays only came around once a year and from my standpoint, a year never felt that long.

So what was my excuse for forgetting one visitor's creation date? Nothing. Despite it being hard to believe, Maurisa's birthday sat just a few months before mine.

Now, I can calculate questions in my mind like no human can and I can aim any projectiles flawlessly with the right amount of observation. I had a strong understanding of musical concepts too and over all, not to brag or anything, I was a sharp individual− and yet I couldn't remember a birthday?

There was something wrong here.

I plunked myself down on one of my favourite branches. It sat not far from the largest waterfall and hung just above the ground. Shaped like a smooth, wide hammock, it was the perfect perch for sleeping… and nothing much else. There wasn't more you could do in a place like this. Now that I thought about it, there wasn't much you could do for someone's birthday here either. No ideas were coming to me and it was at that moment I really found himself in a deadlock.

So here Renhet sits, pondering away.

Wasn't 18 suppose to be a special number? She talked about it a lot. Something to do with− being classified as a fully grown in her world? Doubtful. Maurisa couldn't pass as an older teen let alone an adult. Then again, I couldn't say the same for myself.

Even after all my years growing up with a visitor at my side, they were still confusing. Regardless of this, I had still learned a lot. Actually, more than Mum or Owl probably knew.

I've grown to respect their diverse tastes in music. Humans were a very creative species. Sometimes a visitor's most treasured belongings would travel with them into the dream world and I was just lucky that Maurisa loved music as much as I did. I had a reason to fight her for that song-playing-device called a phone. There was always something new and exciting for me to listen to.

She also taught me how to speak her language quite fluently and I tried to help her with pronunciation at times in return. Her accent still needed some work.

Slang, human fraises, martial arts, pop culture, otaku culture –as she referred it to−, it was a breath of fresh air greatly foreign compared my own. I enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, not all the things I learned about visitors were positive.

Maurisa taught me about the concepts of school, where you had to sit in a chair for hours while adults taught you things. I almost pitied her for it. Almost. I also became aware of things that still didn't make sense to me. I found out the most disturbing thing about humans in probably the worst possible way. It was an embarrassing incident and a prank gone too far. Ever since I was little I enjoyed the adrenaline rush scaring others gave me, Hell I still do, and many times I got my fix out of the closest source. That source being Maurisa herself.

My plan played out like usual. I wasn't sure why I did it, but at the time, Maurisa was using a fallen log to cross over one of the many hot spring ponds. I came swooping up from under the girl without her notice and flipped up the knee-high skirt she wore.

The next thing that happened was the shrieking. This confused me, it wasn't the usual shriek I was expecting. She moved too quickly for me to keep up. Maurisa's foot, shoe and all, nailed me square in the eye, while it was open. I ended up on the ground, screaming just as loudly.

Now, I have come close to dying a few times in the past, but that had to have been one of the worst pains I had ever felt.

What followed this incident came a talk from the wise old Owl, which both Maurisa and I found equally disturbing to this day. The concept of human biology had been weird to grasp and I really didn't want to know how the bird discovered this knowledge.

The most important thing I realized from the talk was that Visitors were born, they lived a short life span, and then they died. They were fragile and one wrong move could easily put them in the ground. Maurisa was different though. Hell, we use to spare against each other when she took Taewkondo. In strength we were equally matched. After all my time spent around her, Maurisa had become my ideal image of a visitor. It was easy to forget how extraordinary she really was.

Distracting me from these less-than-pleasant reveries, a giggle beside my perch convinced me to open an eye and investigate. It was a Nightopian who disturbed me. It fluttered at my side, tiny hands gripping onto the bark near my knee. I craned my head a little to look at its purple wings. Surely enough, it was Gimpers.

"Oh, it's you. I thought Mori'd be playing with you."

It chortled and its eyes lit up happily.

"That's because I'm over here."

I sat up a little too quickly not noticing the leaves of the tree until they slapped me in the face. Cursing and brushing them out of the way, sure enough there she was. Maurisa sat on the hill not far from my spot and I frowned.

Fucking hell. I hadn't even heard them arrive. I couldn't even blame Maurisa's music-player this time.

"Oh, Hi." I had to play it cool. Keep looking around, I told myself. There's bound to be something you can use.

The girl smiled awkwardly at me and my skitterish approach, "Hi."

"You're here early." As a matter of fact, very early.

Maurisa shrugged and Gimpers stumbled over to where she sat. "I had a headache. Probably fell asleep on the couch or something. I know I won't be getting up until morning."

A headache. Better than what's happened in the past.

I rose and went to join them both in the grass. Was it a horrible thing to hope she'd forgotten about her own birthday? Naw, not really. I'd hoped for worse things before. "Cool, so, what's up?"

Mori raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You're up to something, aren't you?"

Typical Maurisa. Just to get her paranoid, I would have said yes, but I resisted. "What? Why do you say that?"

"You're all jumpy. Pretty damn obvious. So spill, what's up Ren?"

Her playful suspicion was a little too quirky, so I laughed. "You're thinking way too far into this. Nothing's up my sleeves this time." Sure. Nothing up my sleeves. I concluded that it was time for a distraction, "Feel like going flying? I almost fell asleep down here waiting." I offered a hand to the visitor on the ground, challenging her with a smirk. The girl looked up at me and hummed thoughtfully.

"Well sorry. Okay, fine, but you better not try anything funny." The girl huffed and grasped my hand. The familiar feeling of dualization calmed my nerves a little, it always did now. Fully fused, I didn't waste any time before taking off.

Once we were up in the air we had a full view of her Nightopia, the highest peak of the world caught my eye. Maybe improvising would work this time.

~Close your eyes for a second.~ It was easy to hide what I was thinking. Before, when we were younger, both of us were like open books to each other's thoughts. It took many years of practice, but eventually I figured out the trick of blocking. It was around times like these when I was thankful for that knowledge.

~Why? Lier, so you were going to do something.~

~So much distrust!~ I chuckled, diving sideways and cutting through the clouds.

~Okay then. So where are we going?~

~You'll see.~ The truth was, her birthday surprise wasn't the only reason why I kept her eyes shut. Despite trying to help the visitor conquer her fears, Maurisa still had much to work on. She still refused to fly with Mum, or for us to do any free-flying.

That was probably why she refused to fly with my creator in the first place actually. That's sort of what he lived for.

The last thing I wanted to deal with at that moment was one of her panic attacks. This year had to make up for the last one and it was better to avoid as many problems as possible.

~Ren?~ Oh right, we're here already.

I reached the top of Flat Peak, a nick-name we had given to the rock as kids for its leveled plateau. We rarely went up here, or at least Maurisa did for obvious reasons. We usually stuck to the forested sections as there was much more to do there.

Once we were up on the highest platform, I landed.

~Reeeennn.~

~A little patience wouldn't kill you. Fine, open up.~ When she did, Maurisa's emotional response confused me at first. At one moment she showed fear, the next wonder, than joy. Human females were hormonal rollercoasters. Relieved when she disconnected from our bond, I watched her walk a few feet to the ledge to gaze out at the view.

"Wow, we haven't come up here in a long time. So this was your special plan?"

"As good as it gets. Happy birthday by the way. Hopefully nothing horrendously wrong goes down like last year."

"Thanks." She turned to face me, smiling sadly. "Yeah, that wasn't the best time to get news like that. I always seem to have the worst luck."

"It's no big deal."

Only it had been for her.

The previous year on her birthday, Maurisa arrived but ran past everyone in a hurry. We were all concerned for her so I left to find her. It took me hours of searching and it got to the point where I almost gave up. If I hadn't heard her muffled sobs, I wouldn't have found her hidden in the bushes.

It turned out that Maurise had come back from a doctor's appointment earlier that evening. She assumed that her body had healed from her nasty childhood experience. After the tears stopped, she told me that because of the accident, she would never be able to have kids.

This became a sickening reminder for me. Procreation was very important to visitors. Maurisa told me that I'd probably never understand, because our race was never meant to reproduce in the first place. I could still remember her catching herself before she could continue but regardless of how cruel the statement was, it was true. Maurisa was right, I was a freak accident. At least I could admit that honestly.

We spent the next hour up there, sitting on the overhang and chatting away about aimless things. For once, I assumed we were in the clear for the day, until Maurisa asked me an odd question.

"What is that?" Her index figure jutted out at something down the mountain slope, effectively catching my awareness. Mori looked fairly disturbed and slightly frightened. I came up behind her and looked over the edge of the rock in the direction she indicated. I tensed up when something below− actually, two something's flew past and disappeared around the left side of crag.

"Mori. Get away from the edge." She did as I ordered and stood, backing towards me slowly.

"Ren. Where those Nightmaren?"

The nodded out of her peripheral vision to confirmed her suspicions. "Probably."

Besides the two rouges who could pass as family, Maurisa hadn't come face to face with another of our kind before. The vine monster and the shadow from nine years ago, didn't really classify as a head-on encounter in our opinion. She knew I was in the same boat.

How did these ones get in? Why now of all times? These were good questions indeed. After a period of stillness and silence, Mori spoke up again.

"Do you think they're−"

"Shhht!"

Maurisa held her breath and clamped her mouth, watching as I kept alert for any sounds or movement. I then whispered, "Okay. Take my hand. We're getting out of here." Doing as instructed we becoming one entity again and she allowed me take the lead.

I paused to check if the way was clear. This was exciting and horrifying at the same time. I wasn't sure how she felt about this. In any other scenario, I would be pursuing them. I wanted to know about the rest of my kind, even to challenge them if possible. Unfortunately I had little miss. Deadweight with me. While I was perfectly aware she could defended herself on her own, we still had less of an advantage above ground level and out in the open.

~Shut your eyes again. I'm going to get us some cover.~ I spoke through the mind link, just in case the enemy was nearby and Maurisa silently agreed. I then jumped from the rock face, clinging close to the cliff as I descended silently. Relieved, I saw nothing as we dropped. When we met the bottom, I slid under the forest canopy.

Slowing to a halt, I then gave her the signal. ~You're safe. Open your eyes.~ Mori sighed gratefully, thankful to be near solid ground once more probably. The dualization ended and her feet touched the ground. Around us sat scattered wood, metal, rails, destroyed structures. It wasn't like this before.

"Do you think we're both crazy? Or do you think there's actually something out here?" She asked, sarcasm evident. Of course there had to be something there, unless a typhoon wiped the area out. I responded with a bit of humor but my expression remained grim.

"It's eccentric. Not crazy. And I don't think this is over yet. Notice how quiet it is? The Nightopians are hiding." The girl paused to listen and frowned.

"I hate it when you're right."

"Well what do you know! VaIkU, it looks like the rouge has made an appearance. How bothersome."

The raspy voice had both Mori and I whipping around to locate it. There behind us hovered a reptilian Nightmaren who stood taller then then us both and had a bulkier build. Its creepy, golden eyes stared us down, a wiry smile stretching at its scaled lips. Another Nightmaren stood just behind it composed of grey pigments. It looked just as ominous with its bladed hands and dull, inverted eyes.

I used myself to block the path between the intruders and Maurisa, a defensive stance at the ready. "Found us did you? Don't believe we've met." I made sure to sound flippant when addressing them. These characters looked powerful, but I wasn't going to let them get the better of me. Mori twitched uncomfortably behind me as the green reptile continued.

"Have a lot of spunk, don't you? You shouldn't be making our job harder for us. Hand over the little girl." At first its voice was oddly friendly but the end of his sentence curled into a cold threat.

I smirked and laughed outright, "Over my dead body, scales. You won't get rid of me that easy." I raised his fists, ready to go.

The larger Nightmaren sighed, unresponsive towards my attempt with intimidation. It tilted its horned head back while rolling its shoulders before speaking again.

"Very well, pest." I blinked and the other Nightmaren was already in front of me, lashing a set of heavy claws at my face. Oh fuck. The blow sailed over my head as I ducked away. Countering with a left swing, I struck the perpetrator in the jaw, effectively putting them off. It only took the other a moment before they were back to swinging punches.

One hit managed to land into my chest and the impact nearly sent me flying into the rocks. This bastard was stronger them me and a lot more agile to boot.

"Ren!" I glanced over to the location of the cry.

Shit, I'd forgotten about the second one. It approached Maurisa slowly, cornering her against the cliff wall.

There wasn't much I could do at the moment. It took everything I had to keep this one occupied. If my opponent was already a challenge to take on, then Mori was in trouble. There was only one option for her right now.

"Run!"

She hesitated when I yelled, looking conflicted with her choices, but darted for the trees anyway. The other Nightmaren followed her in hot pursuit.

Before I could turn back around to face the enemy, I received a hard blow to the gut. This time it was powerful enough to knock me out of the air and into the rocks. I hit the jagged surface hard and a shout jumped from my mouth. Son of a- A clawed hand reached down before I could recover and it grasped my collar. The arm lifted me from the ground and as he did my head lulled to the side in a daze.

"You've proven to be troublesome. I warned you to stay out of our way." My back slammed into another object, eliciting another grunt. The reptile grinned, "Let's see if this will teach you a lesson."

My eyes flew open as the Nightmaren's hand flew up. A long, sharp metal pipe held in one claw. They brought it down, piercing me through the right shoulder. I cried out and snarled, lashing at the other only to find that they had already released me. The green monster had me pinned to one of the trees and I couldn't get free. I struggled fruitlessly, growling in pain and shouting curses at the other.

Maurisa was really in trouble now and they knew I couldn't do anything about it.

"That should hold you. First-levels can stretch like rubber, but stab wounds are another story, hm?" The reptile smiled gleefully at me, like one would admire a pinned bug specimen on display. "It's time to find your friend."

888888888

Maurisa couldn't recall the last time she had ever run this fast. She leapt over fallen logs and dodged pot holes like a frightened deer, knowing that if she paused for a moment it could be the end of her. The whole time Morisa ran the knowledge of Renhet left behind bothered her. She wanted to turn around and head back, but what was she supposed to do when she got there? Jump the scaly Nightmaren on steroids and hope to God he didn't kill her? Both ideas were horrible. Her happy day had taken a downward spiral for the worst.

Their best bet was for her to find NiGHTS, he would know what to do.

The adrenaline pushing her forward vaulted up a level when she looked over her shoulder. The enemy Nightmaren was still after her. It's cold, lifeless eyes stared intently on its target. That target being her. It darted through the trees just a little faster than the pace that Morisa ran. Eventually they would catch up. Where the fuck was NiGHTS hiding?

When Maurisa switched her gaze to what lay ahead of her, she shrieked.

There waiting in front of her stood the other intruder, waiting patiently with a filthy grin on his face. Maurisa was close enough to see the splatter of pink dotted his bone armor and claws. The sight of the blood and what it suggested caused her stomach to drop.

If he was here, then where was Ren?

Maurisa tried to avoid the Nightmaren by lunging to the left, but her grey pursuer had caught up to her. They grabbed her right arm, using the softer palms of its hand instead of the sharp edges of their fingers. Their extra precautions stumped her, but now was not the time to be analytical. She had to escape by any means necessary.

"It's no use struggling, girl. Your friend won't be coming to save you. Your Nightopia has a nearly impenetrable barrier, did you know that? You must have some impressive Ideya hidden in your heart." The green one snarled, approaching to an arms distance. "Now that we have you, I guess it's time to discover what treasures you conceal." The Nightmaren reached out his clawed hand to mockingly brush Maurisa's cheek. Before he could make any contact, a familiar voice rang out over the sound of her frantic pulse.

"Hey!"

Everyone looked up. Maurisa felt a numb sensation sweep through her when she spotted a purple jester lounging above them.

"NiGHTS." She wanted to sob in relief but instead she held her ground. She still couldn't lose the grey Nightmaren's grip, but kept up the struggle in spite of it.

The green beast floating beside her looked shocked for a moment, before they let out a loud burst of laughter.

"Well, well. We've heard about you. I thought for sure you were the other one back there. My mistake." The reptilian one snickered. "So you're the one they gave up the chase on a decade ago. The notorious NiGHTS. Who's the new addition? I thought it took two to make one."

"Well, I haven't heard of you. New run-of-the-mill I presume?" NiGHTS scoffed back down, completely ignoring the other while they tried to pry into Renhet's origins. "I'd prefer that you'd let her free. That girl won't be losing any Ideya tonight, thank you.

"Oh, of course, how rude of us. We forgot to introduce ourselves." The other sneered. "I myself am called Naer. This is my twin, VaIkU. Now that we are all acquainted, it's time for us to get down to business." Maurisa was aggressively torn from VaIkU's grip, their carful claws slipped along her arm and sliced into her skin. At that moment, Naer lurched an arm through her chest.

NiGHTS hollered out to her, panicked. He hadn't seemed to expect the other Nightmaren to go through with the Ideya extraction so quickly.

To Maurisa's shock, the appendage went right through her body like a ghost passing through. The feeling that came along with it was a sickening, cold pain. Another overwhelming emotion followed that didn't seem natural. It was fear in its purest form.

A sizzling sound became audible to all of their ears. Her attacker's hand slackened and his expression transitioned from spoiled glee into horror.

Naer screamed, wrenching his arm free. A flash of violet light followed its retreat like an angry burst of fire.

Maurisa collapsed. The experience only lasted a couple of seconds, but it felt like hours of agony and terror. Her eyes closed without her realizing and when she opened them again, NiGHTS was at her side and looking down at her. Maurise couldn't distinguish much sound. His lips moved but his words were too muffled to distinguish.

Suddenly the volume dial in her head twisted up and everything came back in one solid rush. NiGHTS was holding her up under the arms while Naer cursed and yelled. The intruder Nightmaren clutched at his arms and VaIkU stood back away from him. Time leapt forward again and both of the figures were gone, two portals leading into the ground shrunk into the grass until no evidence of their presence remained.

"Are you alright? That was quite the scare." NiGHTS helped the visitor walk to a tree stump not far from them. Maurisa sat, bracing her vertigo-assaulted brain with her hands.

"Yeah. I think so." The sound of her voice surprised her a bit. It was groggy.

"I didn't know he was going to pull a stunt like that. Were you really scared?"

"Yes and no." She answered honestly and NiGHTS frowned. "I felt like I was going to die when he had his arm in my chest though."

"That's normal. He shouldn't have been able to do that though. You have to be at a certain level of scared to death in order for an extraction to take place. But your Ideya− Oh, your Ideya." NiGHTS derailed from the topic, suddenly enraptured. "That violet light. That was your Ideya?" The purple Nightmaren looked onward in awe, "I've never seen anything like that before."

Head finally steady, Maurisa stood up. "Yeah, it's always been like that−" She paused, her mind jumping back to where it was when she fled the fight. "Ren! We need to find him. I'm not sure what that freak did, but I know where they fought last." NiGHTS was suddenly up and alert, now aware that there may be even more problems ahead.

"Alright, lead me there."

888888888

Renhet's hands scrabbled against the metal pipe again. It was slick with blood at this point, making the task of removing it nearly impossible. He still needed to get free though and Ren was losing a lot of blood in the process of trying. His ego had taken quite the beating today, no, that was an understatement. The one thing that bothered him though, other than his hurt pride and the pole jutting out through his shoulder blade, was the thought that Maurisa might not have gotten away.

He growled in frustration as his hand slipped again, the movement jostling his injury. Today was not in their favor.

Renhet heard a patter of shoes approaching him and relaxed, knowing exactly who it was. Maurisa sprinted into the clearing clumsily, stumbling at the sight of him.

Her thick eyebrows knit together and tilted up in horror, "Ren!− Oh, holy shit. Don't move."

"Yeah, because I can." He grumbled. Maurise, still in shock, quickly approached him and examined the metal pipe. NiGHTS came rocketing into the clearing as well and was instantly at his side.

The purple jester gaped silently before choking out a common question, "How the hell did this happen?"

"I'd rather not answer that− Now can somebody pull this out, please? I've been impaled here, if anyone's noticed." Ren spat, his hand reached up again to grasp the pipe.

Maurisa's hand jumped out to grab his and pushed them away. "Woah, woah! Okay, let me do it. I'll be careful." Her small hands took hold of the metal pole. "This is probably going to hurt−" She warned and then added, "A lot."

"I don't fucking care. Just get it out!" Maurisa yanked, her strength performing the task easily. Renhet tried not to holler out as the movement detached him from the tree trunk, but a hoarse yell did escape. Maurisa instantly dropped the pipe and her hands came up to enclose over the gaping hole in his chest. He knew exactly what she was about to do before it even started, but it still didn't prepare him. A burning warmth against the agonizing wounds told Ren that she was re-knitting the flesh.

Along with the insane strength Maurisa possessed, she had another strange ability that they had discovered. Her ability to heal.

They all knew she was different. It had been painfully obvious for a long time of course. The light of her Ideya was abnormal and many questions still remained unanswered.

NiGHTS knew not to worry about his son's safety. Renhet had already gone through many near-death experiences and if Maurisa hadn't had her ability he would have been dead long ago.

The girl had gained their trust, at this point she was like family to them. Her Nightopia had served as their safe-haven for many years and it hadn't been until now that its walls had been breached. They hoped that this wouldn't happen. Whatever power Maurisa possessed had just been discovered by enemy Nightmaren. Now that these Nightmaren had escaped, the only thing to follow would be trouble.

They had to help protect this special visitor in any way they could.

NiGHTS crossed his arms and spoke up over Renhet's cursing. "We need to talk to Owl, Wiseman probably already knows we're here."

Maurisa turned to look at him, an uneasy frown on her face, "As in, the Master Wiseman, you talked about before?"

"Yes."

"Great, so they got away then, didn't they." Ren grumbled, Maurisa removed her hands covering holes through his back and chest. Nothing remained there except for a circular scar. Ren stood up and examined the mark through his torn and bloody clothing. "Well, that's another one to the collection. I didn't see that coming at all. The guy's power levels were− Over nine thousand." Maurise wacked his good shoulder and Ren swayed off balance. The blood loss made his head fuzzy.

"Ow, what?"

"Don't reference human culture when you've never watched the show, or read the books."

Ren smirked playfully, "Aw, but I thought it fit."

"Children, enough!" NiGHTS huffed, irritated. And visitors complained that he wasn't as childish and careless as he used to be. It was amazing what being a parent could do. "Okay, Maurise is in serious danger. Those Nightmaren were powerful, maybe even more than you say Ren."

The air beside Maurisa fluctuated and out popped Owl from one of his teleport sequences. "Hoo, NiGHTS! There you all are. You dashed off in quite a hurry, did something happen?"

"Our position's been exposed and Wiseman knows exactly where we are. Other Nightmaren can get through Maurisa's barrier," NiGHTS nodded his head in the girl's direction. "I bet anything that he's going to be interested in our girl here. Especially after that burn she gave one of them."

"Hoo, this is bad news." The birds concern became ever more grim, "What do you mean by, burn?"

"He tried to take her Ideya, but during the extraction he was burned by a violet flash." NiGHTS stated.

Maurisa chose that moment to speak up, "It's kind of like that one time. When that shadow monster attacked Ren and I."

"Alright. So we know that Maurisa has an Ideya that can heal stuff, burn things, make her just as strong as we are and it can also form a Nightopia like this." Ren threw his arms out, emphasizing the forest around them, "Her Ideya's also purple, which is painfully obvious. So what I guess I'm trying to say is, Owl, do you know anything about this?" The bird and everyone else stared at him, not at all surprised by his negative attitude.

Landing on a branch above them, Owl spoke softly, "Well, if I had such knowledge I would have shared it. Stories have been told of this kind of phenomenon, but they're foggy in my memory." He shrugged. "I may be old, but not that old."

"Please Owl, tell us what you know." Maurisa stepped in front of Renhet, a subtle warning for him to back off.

"This is a bit out-of-the-blue, but alright." The old bird cleared his throat.

"They say that every millennium, two legendary Ideya appear amongst two dreamers."

"Legendary? Every millennium? Jesus Christ, it's going to be one of those stories." NiGHTS beat Maurisa at her own game, smacking the red jester's arm and shushing him loudly.

Owl started again, glaring disapprovingly at Renhet's mind-set, "It is said that these Ideya were meant bridge and balance both the corrupt and the pure, in order to keep both of the world's stable. In all honesty, I'm not sure what these Ideya's are capable of exactly, but most of this knowledge has been lost."

"Why haven't you said anything before?" Maurisa interrupted. "I know I'm a freak of nature already, but it's only one Ideya. I don't have any others supporting me and Ren and I have tried to find others. They just aren't there."

"Well, that's ridiculous. Every visitor has the five base Ideya. Some are harder to find then others. I am not sure what to tell you, my dear. Before, NiGHTS and I had our suspicions that something was different about you, but it just never seemed to be the time to bring up the subject. "

Ren cut in once again, clearly confused by this development. "Wait. So aren't Ideya supposed to be the pieces of a visitor's heart? How can there be other things besides Hope and Courage and− well, you know what I mean."

"Again, I'm not sure if I'm the right one to tell you. All I am aware of is that this Ideya is very complex to maintain and very uncommon for a visitor to receive."

"So I'm an extremely rare phenomenon. That's cool." Maurisa wasn't sure whether or not to be excited or disturbed by this news. She'd always thought that her abilities were normal for a visitor. The healing thing did come by as strange to her though and the purple light had always been a mystery to her.

NiGHTS' voice dropped and octave, worry seeping into his words. "Rare, yes. Valuable? Definitely. I know Wiseman would want to know more about this. He's always power hungry. We'll need to be careful from now on. Okay?"

Both Maurisa and Renhet nodded grimly. None of them ever thought it would come to this, but no risks were to be taken.

An awakener teleported not far from where Maurisa stood and she sighed, saying her goodbyes before leaving for the night.

"We're going to be seeing a lot more of those guys, huh?" Ren muttered to the adults. Both Owl and NiGHTS nodded.

"Let's hope that we discover the source to her Ideya's power soon. If the barrier's weakening, then that must mean there's something wrong with it." NiGHTS crossed his arms, hovering over to Owls tree.

Renhet frowned, looking down at the bloody pipe against the dirt. That discovery was soon to come.

888888888

The little Nightopian flopped over the side of my leg and struggled to lift himself up again. This was the sixth time he stumbled. I leaned over to pull up one of my vibrant knee-socks a bit after his stubby little fingers tugged it down.

I was off on my own, close to the west side of the falls. Renhet and NiGHTS hadn't appeared yet, but it didn't bother me too much. It had been almost been two weeks since our first encounter with the burly Nightmaren and by a few nights ago, others began to show their ugly heads. It was only a small cluster of third levels who'd spread themselves throughout the wooded areas. It was nothing that we couldn't handle to say the least. As a visitor I could be self-sufficient alone. Renhet, NiGHTS and myself took them out together, or most of them as far as we knew. We even made a competition out of it, seeing who could get rid of the most. NiGHTS won that one, but he had better agility and experienced under his belt.

I could easily assume the possibility of them running into something like that at this time. Oh well.

Gimpers, on the other hand, was there to greet me. He was still such a cute little guy. I always thought I was a good judge of character− no, that would be a lie. I once assumed that Renhet was the devil himself during the first five years of knowing him, but in all reality he wasn't bad. With NiGHTS I thought he was a she. The whole Hermaphrodite thing still fucked me over.

The Nightopian squealed loudly and babbled a bit of gibberish, catching my attention as we lounged in the grass. Gimpers fluttered his useless wings desperately, his sparkling eyes stared up at me close to tears. That's something new.

"What is it Gimp-kun?" I crooned, lifting the little creature up into my lap to cradle. He hadn't acted like this before. The poor guy looked as if he had seen a ghost. I frowned as the egg-headed fairy cuddled into my neck, crying out. I yawned and looked around me, checking for any sign of my friends. Nothing. Not even the other Nightopians wandered about.

Something bright landed on my knee and faded. I jumped a little at the sight of it. Sparkles? Maybe it was just my imagination, the colour of the spark looked darker in colour, but I scarcely saw it out of the corner of my eye anyway. I looked up behind my shoulder and once again nothing stood there. I'm losing it.

The Nightopian in my grasp suddenly shrieked, startling me enough to release him. I clambered to my feet and watched my companion scramble for the bushes.

I pressed a hand to my chest as if to restrain my heart from leaping out.

Okay, I'm freaking out a bit. I inhaled deeply, trying to calm the racing pulse under my palm.

Maybe Renhet was here playing one of his dirty tricks on me again? The guy use to torment me when we were little; he still did every once in a while. One would think he would've learn his lesson by now, huh?

"Who's there?" I croaked. Well, that sounded intimidating. "Ren, if that's you doing that, I swear to God."

Suddenly there was a loud snap behind me. My head swung around to look over my shoulder. No one.

"Who's Ren?"

888888888

"What the hell was that? A punch?"

Renhet ducked to the left when Maurisa swung at him again. It had been a while since they spared, but now was a perfect time to start again. He stepped back, feeling the ground's traction under his feet. It was an awkward sensation not being in the air, but Maurisa always refused to fight him unless they were on equal ground.

Ren went along with her movements. The girl was predictable whenever she was about to attack. Maurisa's left foot would shuffle forward if she was about to kick and her shoulders would move before the punches flew. Renhet didn't even need to lift his hands.

He slid to the side when she sent a round-house skimming past his head and Renhet's arm hooked her leg. The girl yelped careening to the side as she lost her balance. He used that moment to take her down. After her back end hit the grass, Renhet sighed.

"My turn." His hands went up.

Maurisa got to her feet and huffed, placing her right leg back at the ready. "Fine, Kakatte koi."

Renhet took a few running steps at her and lashed out with his left arm. The girl move it before it could reach her and deflected the punch it with two middle blocks on the inside of his arm. Maurisa grabbed the appendage with her left hand and swiftly twisted under it to get around him.

Whatever she learned in her martial arts classes became fairly useless after meeting Nightmaren. Normal pressure points were non-existent on First-level models. There was however one spot that she found a few years back.

As soon as Maurise was behind his back, her index and middle finger jabbed Ren's shoulder, pressing relentlessly into an area on his shoulder blade. Renhet squawked and went rigid. The jester at her mercy struggled for a moment before quickly tapping out.

"Ow ow, let go!" She did as he demanded and Renhet took a few uneasy steps forward, deeply rolling his shoulders. Shooting the girl a squeamish look, Maurisa laughed out right. "Where the fuck did that come from?" He stammered.

"Remember the last time I wrestled you to the ground when we fought over my phone?"

Ren appeared confused, "No." Then after a couple moments his face lit up, "Wait− Oh yeah, you had to sit on my fucking back to pin me down… This is relevant how?"

"That's how I kept you from pushing me off."

The Nightmaren rubbed the back of his shoulder, eyes narrowing contemplatively. "Jesus. So that's why I couldn't move."

Mori quirked an eyebrow from under her bangs, "You couldn't feel me pushing my fist into your back?"

"No, I was more preoccupied with trying to figure out why my arms and legs weren't working."

The visitor opened her mouth and then closed it when her mind analyzed just what they sounded like. To anyone else their conversation would suggest… wow. Maurisa's face scrunched up, trying to hold back her giggles. She really needed to get her head out of the gutter.

Ren observed her reaction skeptically, oblivious to how obscene their chat sounded in the girl's head.

"Is it better if I don't ask?" The girl nodded sharply and he sighed. "Can we keep going? I feel like knocking you on your ass again."

"Hah, good luck."

And they were at it again. Move after move, Maurisa met his attacks with an equal amount of vigor. She knew he wouldn't hit her too hard, but after the next half an hour Maurise had to place a lot more effort into her blocks. A nasty grin flashed along Renhet's face when her feet skidded along the ground against the force of the next blow.

Maurisa growled, not appreciating the other's gloating. So she faked her next kick. Renhet didn't see the punch coming until it nailed him in the solar plexus, his eyes so focused on her legs. This set him backwards in a stumble and he nearly fell over. With a snarl, Renhet lunged forward, tripping her feet over with an extended foot. The visitor landed on her side and yelled, "Hey! That was cheap!"

"You have to be ready." Renhet glared down at her and she rose again, only to be placed back on her side once more by the push of his foot. She grunted when the impact jostled her hip.

Maurisa scuttled and rolled over to get out of the Nightmaren's reach. She stood up, patting her skirt down as the other watched her silently. The stern glare in his eyes told her to stop messing around. This sudden change of attitude irritated her. What's his problem?

Maurisa dashed for him again, planning to take him down at the right, but it was as if already pre-calculated her strategy. He shuffled out of the way.

She growled and went for jester again, and then again. The bastard even had his hands behind his back. The fourth time she threw a punch he stepped around her.

A sharp pain at the back of her skull had her yelling out. Ren had her hair and he pulled her over to the edge of the clearing. Tears sprung to her eyes and she followed in with the not-so-gentle tug.

Now she really wanted to hit him.

Surprisingly, he let go and the visitor whipped around to face him. There was his smug face. Mori lashed out with her right arm in a blind rage so it would land in the center of his wide grin.

Ren's head moved six inches to the left.

A loud crack rang out through the woods as her knuckles collided with the tree behind her friend's head.

Renhet stood there frozen with his back against the tree, eyes wide. When the wood splintered beside his face and the blood spattered his cheek, the Nightmaren snapped out of his volatile disposition.

As soon as it happened, Maurisa's face contorted in front of him as if in slow motion. The visitor screamed, clucking her forearm.

Instinctively, Ren quickly reached out to grab her by the shoulders. "Shh. Okay, okay, calm down." The girl was gritting her teeth and biting her tongue. Not a good sign. Maurise must have really damaged herself judging by her reaction.

When Renhet peeled away from the tree to look at the damage, he wondered why she also hadn't moved her arm away. When he saw the results of the attack, it blew him out of the water.

Her hand had gone right through the tree trunk.

Lovely. She couldn't move because it was stuck.

There's only one way to deal with this, he concluded. Ren pulled her close and gripped her blood splattered wrist. She sobbed when the pressure caused more pain and he hushed her.

"Bite down on my sleeve." Maurisa silently took his warning to heart and dug her teeth into the white material against his shoulder.

"On three. One, two, three." The visitor in his grip struggled and a muffled shriek sounded off as he yanked her fist free.

The appendage came loose, bloody and mangled. This was new. Before she could punch a rock and it wouldn't do much more than bloody her knuckles. The girl in Renhet's hold wobbled, probably feeling queasy, so he gently sat her down on the grass. Mori was still staring at it when her body plunked down, looking almost as pale as him.

She was perfectly fine watching him bleed out, but herself? The visitor looked like she was going to faint. Renhet glanced around for something to wrap around the wound. He chewed his lip when nothing around seemed suitable. He offhandedly wiped a hand down the side of his face, smearing a bit of the red off. Blegh… Tasted like metal. Maurisa moved, placing her head between her knees. Ren's eyes darted to the pleated cloth holding the girl's braid together. Perfect.

"Hey, 'mind if I ruin your hair a bit? We can use those to wrap it."

Maurisa nodded silently. The girl probably didn't want to speak, lest she threw up. That was something Ren didn't feel like witnessing ever.

He took hold of her hair and began to unravel the white and violet ribbons. Estimating that there was enough to do the job, Renhet tore the pieces with his hands and knelt by the visitor. Taking her broken hand carefully, he started wrapping the base of Mori's wrist, all the way up to her knuckles. She gasped sharply before Ren could finish and he glanced up in alarm.

"Are you going to puke on me? Please say no."

The girl gave him a sour look before responding. "No, asshole. I'm not going to puke. My hand feels weird."

"Well no shit. You sucker-punched a tree." Renhet's expression lightened. She sounded just fine.

"No, like, it's not hurting. It's all tingly."

Huh… weird.

The material around the wound wasn't white anymore not long after he tied it off. So much for that plan. It was a good thing that a visitor's clothing would regenerate by the next night.

"God damnit. It's already soaked through." He huffed.

"Wait, take it off."

"What? Seriously? I just put it on." Maurisa frowned. There was a stern glare in her black eyes, also known as the 'do what I say, or I'll find a way to make you suffer' glare. He didn't like swimming in those waters.

Irritated, Ren grumbled to himself as he unraveled the bloodied material.

"It's healed."

They both stared oddly at her stained hand. The bones were set back in place and the cuts had been healed, leaving subtle white lines under the coagulated mess.

"I feel stupid." Renhet deadpanned. Maurise giggled and patted her friend's shoulder with her clean hand.

"Thanks for the help anyway. I felt like the world was ending."

The Nightmaren scoffed, taking to the air again. "That's what I'm here for. Apparently it's my job to put you back together." He paused for a moment, before adding, "In a real fight, you can't let something like pain stop you. No sacrifice no victory."

"Seriously, stop referencing human media." Maurisa chuckled softly, but knew he was right. No pain no gain. If she let something like a little hand wound affect her, she might as well lay herself down on the cutting board. It's hard to be strong.

888888888

The voice whispered directly into my ear. A biting hiss against the cold silence.

Arms fastened around my chest, locking my arms firmly against my sides. I shrieked and lashed against the restraints. This wasn't happening again. How could I let one of them sneak up on me so easily? It didn't matter now, I needed to stay strong and keep moving. Get free.

I shifted sharply, thinking overtime on how to play my next set of moves. I bowed forward, nearly flipping the aggressor over my back. It was clear by the others astonished yelp that they weren't expecting such strength.

I still had a few surprises for them. My eyes darted down to see the feet of the Nightmaren were on the ground. Perfect.

I slammed my foot down on the red and purple boot, effectively distracting them enough for their hold to loosen. I jumped into a juchum seogi, opening the Nightmaren up. A swiftly elbowed to the gut was all it took.

The feminine voice of the other hollered out and it released me.

I would have patted myself on the back for remembering my self-defense later. I turned to face the enemy, fists raised and right leg back.

What I saw surprised me.

The other Nightmaren had the same model type as one of my friends. Slender, like NiGHTS' figure, but it had a purplish complexion and wore little to no clothing. The markings, of identical colour to its lips, sat on the Nightmaren's large eyes and when it blinked, two treasure map X's would appear. This one had a wickedly gothic look about them and if I wasn't fearing for my safety, I would've found it cool.

It was the NIGHTS from opposite town.

This NiGHTS duplicate stared at me from its crouched position, as if analyzing me. It probably wasn't expecting a smack down like that. I smirked internally.

I kept a ready stance and waited, watching the other closely for any movements. The Nightmaren remained silent but finally began to shift. It still looked startled as it examined me, features stretched taught like an alert predator.

"What's wrong? Never seen a girl who can defend herself?" I had to break the ice; this silence unnerved me.

The eyes of the Nightmaren, also identical to NiGHTS', drifted to my hands poised at the ready, then back to my face.

"No. You're strong. I wasn't expecting that." Its voice was cool, crisp and barely above a whisper; maybe a few octaves lower than− Okay, I needed to stop doing that. I couldn't help but compare the similarities though. This was the first time I'd ever seen a different first-level type other than the ones she knew.

"You won't be getting anything from me," I once again spoke abrasively, I couldn't let the other see her as anything but assertive. "I've got nothing to give. Sorry to disappoint."

The Nightmaren straitened a bit, a smile pulling at the corner of its small lips.

"I see. I found your world by accident actually. I couldn't help but investigate. The scenery's lovely, but I might as well bring something back while I'm here." It spoke slowly, confidently. Fuck pronouns. This was a chick, balls or no balls.

It was time to put my skills to the test.

Don't mess up.

I suddenly ran forward, watching the other's face. They didn't seem to expect me to launch at them and the jester just barely avoided a swift kick. After that, they jumped into action, or in other words, the air.

Fuck.

"What's the matter? Can't reach?" A musical giggle from the blue figure above had me growling deep in my throat. The enemy Nightmaren shot upward and then dove, aiming for me below. At first, I panicked. The other looked like they were going to run me into the ground, but at the last second the Nightmaren slowed and flipped backwards over my head, landing behind me. By the time I turned the Nightmaren's leg swung out and hit me square in the back of the leg. Damning the workings of human joints to hell, I fell forward to my knees.

A hand grabbed my ankle and suddenly I was off the ground.

Double fuck.

Shutting my eyes tightly as I swung upside down, my impending fears skyrocketed, clouding my brain and chilling my body into numbness.

A sound of surprise squawked from the jester holding me up, but it barely registered through the fuzz of my rising panic.

Another set of hands grabbed me around the middle and I felt the sharp tug of myself being yanked from the other's grasp. The next moment, I was on the ground, unable to see anything besides the oh-so-familiar shades of purple, green and black. A familiar growl reverberated above me, letting me know exactly who was there.

888888888

Renhet bent protectively over the girl, glaring down the new intruder as they floated there stupidly, empty hand outstretched. He wasn't sure if Maurisa could hear him or if she was having one of her attacks, but he called her out.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" The hiss in his voice made the girl's stomach drop even further. Ren was pissed, obviously, but at the moment it wasn't making her angry at all. She felt terrible. Shaken to the core.

"I'm sorry."

"You're not sorry! You're stupid. Now stay out of the way." That shut her right up.

Renhet stood as straight as he could between the girl and the other Nightmaren. They still hadn't moved, looking at him as if Ren was a ghost.

"You're still standing there, huh? What are you waiting for, get out of here." The tone of the red jester's voice would have sent any normal person running, but the blue one didn't move a muscle.

Eventually it spoke, eyes as round as dinner plates, "You. You're− What?"

"Last warning. Leave." Ren's eyes narrowed further and the feminine Nightmaren winced seeing the look.

Before it even had the chance to avoid him, its back was slammed against the ground. Renhet had the other Nightmaren pinned to the dirt using the one side of his body. The blue jester lashed out with its claws but Ren caught one arm, holding it down in place. In the meantime, his other fist lifted up to strike the other's face.

The figure struggling under him dug claws into Ren's upper arm and didn't release. He snarled, but the pain served as a well enough distraction, allowing the other to flip Ren over and tug free their arm. The other Nightmaren poised itself above him like a cat and it struck out with its claws again, only to come to a stop when hearing the familiar sound of flight.

NiGHTS entered the clearing mid-dash and came to a stop. He hovered high above the ground looking down at the paused scuffle.

The air became thick with silence as the violet Nightmaren stared at the frozen intruder.

NiGHTS began to drift forward a little, the sorrowful expression in his eyes throwing everyone for a loop. He reached out a hesitant hand, as if not sure what to do with it.

"Akila?"

The Nightmaren's eyes widened fearfully. It jumped up off of Renhet before he could move to catch them. "Wh-wait!" NiGHTS took a few hopeless steps forward, but stopped after the third. The trees swallowed their view of it.

Renhet sat up and groaned. Maurisa hadn't moved from her spot on the ground, too out of it to react properly.

"What the hell was that all about?" Renhet looked to NiGHTS. His mother's mouth still hung agape and didn't respond to the question. Ren hadn't seen this look on him before and it greatly unnerved him.

"NiGHTS?" Maurisa stood. From here, the girl could see him trembling.

The violet Nightmaren suddenly darted for the tree tops and was out of sight before Ren could get up. His son jumped into the air and dashed after him but stopped, lingering at the edge of the canopy. NiGHTS was gone.

"Mum!" When no response came back, he huffed lowering himself back down again. Just what the hell was going on?

Back to being only a few feet from the ground, he turned back to the visitor. Maurisa looked sheepishly off to the side, clearly avoiding his eyes.

"You're lucky you're still here. Why did you fight them on your own?"

"I'm not a damsel in distress."

"She had you hanging from the air by your foot."

"I had it under control."

"Bullshit. You're lucky I got there in time. They know whenever you're afraid of something."

Maurise stopped after that, taking in his words. "What do you mean it already knew?"

She finally turned to face the Nightmaren, his posture stoic. At first, Renhet didn't say anything, they just stared each other down. Then he spoke, "We can sense fear. It's instinct."

"So you're telling me you could tell whenever I was sacred of something, after all this time? Why- what-"

Again, silence. If he was telling her the truth, many more questions could be posed about his interactions with her from the past. If he knew, then why would he have gone as far as he did?-

"Yeah. We're programmed to like it."

"But NiGHTS−"

"Still pulls tricks and still misunderstands human emotions. It's the Ideya that made him see the things differently. He's still a Nightmaren too, just like me. That won't change."

That statement hit Maurisa like a block of ice to the stomach.

An awakener, appeared between them as they both continued to stand there awkwardly. SHe silently thanked the little guy for coming to her rescue. Maurisa glanced from the little white ghost to Renhet, whose glare had softened.

"See you tomorrow."

Maurisa nodded, not breaking eye contact as she touched the back of the specter. When the visitor vanished into nothing, the leaves of the trees around them wilted a little, not enough for anyone to notice.

A tiny lizard scuttled out from under a bush, scaling the nearest tree behind Renhet while the jester stood there, palms covering his face.

888888888

Authors Note: This chapter's bit rough and also an emotional rollercoaster. I've got some damn hormonal characters. I've actually been taking Taekwondo for 7 years now. I'm going to be getting my black belt in the summer before I go off to college. ^^ I've also been working at the doe-jahng as an assistant instructor, so I have a fairly good understanding of what goes on. It was interesting to incorporate my knowledge into the story. I didn't want Morisa to be to be a stereotypical Japanese Oc. Ta-kwondo is Korean and fairly useless when it comes to actual self-defense combat. (In my opinion) It more focused towards sport.

Woooooords Translated

Kakatte koi- Come at me

Juchum seogi- (Martial arts) Horse Stance

Any form of acknowledgement is always greatly appreciated, whether it be a fav, follow or review. I've given up on hoping for them, so I'm just happy with whatever you guys grace me with. Until Next time. :)