4.
It was all perfect… The sky was of a lively blue. The clouds were soft and puffy… Expression of a genuine, childish, Joy to Live. The same joy those two playmates and improvised role-playing brother and sister, were experiencing at the moment.
The birds were singing a certain Italian song they found appropriate for the situation.
"Nel Blu dipinto di Blu" by Domenico Modugno
Penso che sogno così
Non ritorni mai più,
Mi dipingevo le mani
E la faccia di blu,
Poi d'improvviso venivo
Dal vento rapito,
E incominciavo a volare
Nel cielo infinito.
Tails and NiGHTS were having the time of their life, enjoying the breeze and the true blue they were flying in… Enjoying this dream. A dream so beautiful they feared it would never return.
Volare ho ho
Cantare ho ho hoho,
Nel blu dipinto di blu,
Felice di stare lassù,
E volavo volavo
Felice più in alto del sole
Ed ancora più sù,
Mentre il mondo
Pian piano spariva laggiù,
Una musica dolce suonava
Soltanto per me.
They flew, they rushed through the clouds, they went as high as they could go, and even beyond, trying to surpass the other and laughing like the children they were meant to be…
Or, in NiGHTS's case, the children she was meant to represent.
The little birds continued their singing.
Volare ho ho
Cantare ho ho hoho
Nel blu dipinto di blu
Felice di stare lassù.
To fly… To sing… In the Blue painted in Blue… Romantic, indeed.
Ma tutti i sogni
Nell'alba svaniscon perchè,
Quando tramonta la luna
Li porta con se,
Ma io continuo a sognare
Negl'occhi tuoi belli,
Che sono blu come il un cielo
Trapunto di stelle.
A pure sky blue… Just as their eyes used to be. In the few moments they would be head to head, their respective gazes would encase themselves into each other's…
In those moments, a sudden sting of pain would find its way into the propelled kit's heart…
He feared all of this to be nothing more than a dream… A dream from which he'll be forced to wake up from… Because that was the meaning of dreams… To wake up from them and face reality…
Or was it?
He didn't know if this world was true or not… He would not care at the moment, though. Once again, he stared at the jester's eyes… So similar to Hers.
And kept dreaming… And flying…
In the Blue painted in Blue.
Volare ho ho
Cantare ho ho hoho,
Nel blu degl'occhi tuoi blu,
Felice di stare qua giù,
E continuo a volare felice
Più in alto del sole
Ed ancora più su,
Mentre il mondo
Pian piano scompare
Negl'occhi tuoi blu,
la tua voce è una musica
dolce che suona per me.
Volare ho ho
Cantare ho ho hoho
Nel blu degl'occhi tuoi blu,
Felice di stare qua giù,
Nel blu degl'occhi tuoi blu,
Felice di stare qua giù
Con te..
Yes, it was all perfect… Too perfect.
In the midst of such painted perfection… Of such dreaming pleasure… Of such Freedom… Something had to happen.
Why, you may ask? Because there can't be a dream, or a story, or even the dream of a story, without some twist… At least, that's not how my dreams and stories usually works.
And something did happen, as a matter of fact… Something sudden and uncalled for… Just like Death…
Or a nightmare.
Tails started to fall from the cloudy sky he was playfully riding just a second earlier. NiGHTS noticed it and immediately darted to his rescue… Panic perfectly visible on her facial features.
She managed to grab the kit just a few inches from the ground… Despite this being her world and all, she didn't know if it was actually possible to die here… Not that she wanted to find out, that is. She reached the ground with the kid cuddled in her arms.
It would have been a very tender sight… If it wasn't for the boy's current conditions…
He was shaking like possessed, his once azure eyes were rolled and saliva spread itself out of his mouth… He was having a seizure.
NiGHTS was utterly worried now… She didn't know what to do with him. She tried to cuddle him, she caressed his forehead in the vain attempt to calm him… Nothing worked. She was on the verge of tears, she truly feared for his life…
The fox boy was important for her, as she realized… She grew fond to him… She didn't know the reason but somehow she figured this kid had an important role in her life… Other than that, she could not let her only guest she ever had, to die like that.
She wished she could speak to him, reassure him with the sound of her voice… But for some reason, she couldn't. She could only emit sounds like giggles, open laughs and sobs, but she could not speak… Just like small infants would do.
Considering her role, it sounds quite inconveniently appropriate, isn't it?
Suddenly… Tails's trembling fur started to change… It became darker. His three head bangs grew sharp and pointed… Then, the seizure stopped.
And Tails opened his eyes.
His tear-consumed, bloodshot eyes.
NiGHTS found herself to be horrified and scared at the sight of the now changed two-tailed vulpine in her arms. Those red eyes fixed themselves into her own… Freezing her with uncalled fear.
The being formerly known as Tails grinned… A feral grin that revealed brand new sharp teeth.
Then… It attacked.
His pointed fangs sank themselves into NiGHTS's left shoulder… Crashing her soft skin. She screamed in pain and terror then quickly punched the creature in the stomach with her free arm. "Tails" rolled away from her prey, still savoring the delicate taste of her blood. He stood upright on his spot giving a good look at his handy work… What it saw managed to shock it.
There she was, NiGHTS, the mysterious jester and ruler of this dreamland… With her right hand clutched tightly on her left shoulder… Fighting the pain she felt. The wound seemed to be deep… Blood was spreading all over…
Green blood.
"Tails" dried its mouth with one of its paws, then look at it… It had green blood on it. Her blood.
It smirked devilishly. It spoke.
"I see… You're like Her, don't you? YOU'RE A SEEDRIAN LIKE COSMO!!!" It yelled with a new dark voice… A suffering dark voice.
NiGHTS's eyes went wide open. It knew about her? About the origins she was supposed to have? Who really was Tails? Who was this being right in front of her?
As if acknowledging her questions… The fox like demon answered.
"When Cosmo died, Tails was left empty and void… Consumed by despair and tears. I am the answer of his tears!" Its features began to change while it was talking… Its paws became sharp and pointed… "I am the result of all his rage and hate towards the cruel world he was forced to live in!" Its furry skin became stuffed and lifeless, like the one of a puppet. "I am the one who filled his void… I am the pure emotion that managed to keep him alive!" Finally, a weird, little red gem break through its forehead… All in all, it looked like a doll… A demonic doll… "I AM VENGEANCE!!!"… A Tails Doll.
She was frightened beyond reason… This stuffed monster was what Tails had become because of his grief… Because of the sorrow caused by the loss of a beloved one.
Then… It all became clear. The meaning of her dreams. The clues they would bring to her. Everything.
She knew, deep inside, that it was all true… She was a Seedrian. She had relatives. She had a mother, her name was Cosmo, who died. She had a brother, his name was Void, who's life has been cursed since his very birth… Although she didn't exactly know how.
And then… She had a father. The one being that loved her mother beyond the undeniable boundaries of Life and Death… The one who tried to save her but failed because of her own desire… The one who planted her seed, allowing the birth of Void… But didn't find the second twin seed… The one from which NiGHTS would be born.
Her mouth was agape in shock… Shock of such realization… Of fear… And new found grief.
The young, two-tailed kit known as Miles "Tails" Prower… Was her father.
And now… He was gone. Replaced by this doll like monster, embodiment of his rage and rancor.
"In order to successfully achieve his goals and avenge his beloved one…" The Tails Doll resumed. "… Every shadows, every clues, every object or memory that even hardly resembled his childhood… Every dreams and childish thought… Everything he's ever loved… THEY ALL MUST BE DESTROYED!!!" It said ominously, then grinned. "Starting with you… The Cosmo's remembrance!"
With that said, it launched itself against its target.
Despite the tormented state she was in, NiGHTS's instincts kicked in and she avoided the otherwise lethal attack. She tried to fly away, she could not do very much with her shoulder in that state… The loss of blood was starting to ill her. Her vision was already blurred and she also felt cold… The possessed doll was quickly behind her, it had no intentions to let her escape.
The chase began.
It was fast. Surprisingly fast for a stuffed puppet… It managed to come too close a couple of times but NiGHTS was an experienced sky fighter and air acrobat… Heck! She did those numbers since her birth! The pain was almost unbearable and she became weaker by the minute, but she still was able to Para-loop her way out of impending demise, plus, she had the home field advantage.
The Tails Doll lost her tracks right after she entered a thick cluster of clouds.
"You can hide… But you cannot escape!" It said in slight irritation, then started to look around.
A few meters below, on a leaf hidden branch of a particularly huge tree, stood the hurt jester who was trying so hard not to breath in order to avoid detection from the monster's part.
Her wound hadn't stop bleeding… A wound caused by her own father, who happened to be a child younger than she was (or at least, she thought he was) and that now ended up possessed by his evil side which happened to hate anything related with dreams and childhood… Specifically, it wanted to kill her.
There was a positive side in all of this gruesome situation, though… The birds had stopped singing.
Thank Chaos!
Once the flying stuffed puppet of doom flew far enough from her position, she relaxed and diverted her attention to her awful looking shoulder. She focused and gathered all her remaining energies in order to cure herself. She succeeded and the wound slowly disappeared, in turn, she was left drained. She tried to make herself comfortable and rest a bit. She knew she would have needed all the strength possible if she wanted to have a single chance to defeat that creature and, hopefully, bring her father back.
Her father… It sounded so weird. She's been alone her all life, she only found some company with the local animals and some random children she had to meet while visiting their dreams… But she never had a true friend… Or a true family.
A sudden burst of determination powered up NiGHTS's body. She was going to bring her father back of die trying! Then she just fell into slumber, too tired to even think.
And for the first time ever… She had a dreamless sleep.