Family Outing
The shrill alarm was loud within the confined of the cluttered bedroom. The Nightmaren laying the bed was doing his best to ignore it, until finally his patience snapped and he hurled a pillow at it, along with a few choice epithets.
He missed, and someone stared hammering upon his door. He groaned and pulled the covers over his head in a vain attempt to muffle the sounds that had intruded upon his slumber.
The door suddenly burst upon, and a young nightmaren woman burst into the room. Like her twin, she had blond hair, rose-hued eyes, pointed ears and a pair of scalloped wings growing out of her back.
Her long blond hair was held back with a red ribbon, and she wore a black blouse with lace cuffs, a red skirt, black legging and knee-high boots.
She glanced about the room in disgust as she stormed over to the bed and tore away the covers.
'Good grief Aurican, you are the biggest slob!'
Her brother responded by groaning and rolled out of bed.
'You burst in here to tell me that?' he snapped.
'No, I came into your garbage dump of a room to tell you that dad wants you to move your butt!' she replied exasperated, 'do not tell me that you forgot that dad was finally going to take us into a Visitors Dreamscape. We get to explore while he is busy painting.'
Gavanized, Aurican leapt to his feet.
'I forgot,' he yelped, and Rosalynn left the room so he could dress.
Aurican rummaged through his remaining clean clothes and selected a yellow buttoned shirt, black trousars and shoes, and then topped his outfit off with a black leather duster that slits in the back for his wings.
Once he was should his appearance was acceptable he found Rosalynn waiting outside, she gave hime the once over , and nodded her approval before the pair then went downstairs to where their parents awaited them at the breakfast table.
Their father, Soren was busy reading the evening paper, while their mother, Anwyn sat in her place, tinkering with something, a row of intricate tools and small bags of material set out before her.
'New invention mother?' Aurican asked sitting beside her as she set a crimson hued gem onto the brow of the device and soldered it into place.
' Just a little something for the two of you,' she replied revealing a pair of Persona. They were both forged from a silver hued metal, but one had a feathered wing rising up above the left eye slit, and had a lemon colored gem set into the brow. The other had a wing rising above the right eye slit, and had pink hued stone set into the brow.
The twins took up the Persona and gleefully examined them.
'What are their powers?' Rosalynn asked.
Anwyn smiled; 'You will just have to figure that out for yourselves,' she said, ' however, please only use them when it is nessary.'
Soren set down the paper and picked up his art bag.
'I second that,' he said and gave his wife a pesk on the check, but you can be sure that what ever powers they contain are like you mother, spectacular!'
'Flatterer,' Anwyn laughed and gave him a playful push, ' hour is late you three had better get going!'
Soren nodded and the three of them bid their farewells and left for Nightopia.
It was almost midnight when they had arrived, and Soren had silently counted his blessing that he and Anwyn had immigrated to the border town of Azanyn, not long after the twins had been born.
Despite such areas being labeled as havens for the resistance , for any nightmaren couple wishing to raise children away from the Nightmare Court and their machinations, it was an ideal setting, particulary since the regional governors were less paranoid.
A brief flash of light signaled that they had crossed the border into Nightopia, a realm of lush green fields and forests. Drifting all over the region were hundreds of bubbles, each one the size of a basketball.
Soren flew about, peering briefly into each one until he found the one he wanted, drifting above a cluster of blackberry bushes.
He summoned the twins and then following his example they each placed a hand upon the bubbles' prismatic surface.
In response a whirlpool appeared and sucked them in, and when the whirlpool of color gradually slowed and stopped they found themselves standing upon a balcony overlooking a gothic city
Fireworks lit a night sky that was studded with stars and a brillant full moon.
Behind them music swept out of the ballroom, and following Soren, Aurican and Rosalynn beheld a celebration of colour and light as couples waltzed over a floor of white and gold marble.
'This is perfect,' Soren said as he set up his easle and took out his paints.
'How long are you going to be?' Rosalynn asked.
'It will probably take the rest of the night, and then some,' he replied, 'go, explore and enjoy yourselves. However keep an eye out for each other, and for the Visitor if you can find them. I have a feeling, that there are other Nightmaren lurking about and I doubt their intentions are harmless.'