Nights Twilight Dreaming
Chapter Twenty-Seven
In the realm of Nightmares, Reala is shown in Wizeman's chamber kneeling before him in midair with a look of disappointment. He had hoped that his latest Nightmaren would vanquish Crystal and Nights but had learned of its' inevitable demise at their hands. As he glared at the image of Scorpinoir's defeat he growled at Nights. He was beginning to lose patience.
"I see," Wizeman spoke as Reala turned his head back to him. "So Scorpinoir has fallen." The image continued to show Scorpinoir turn to dust as soon as it collapsed taking the battlefield with it. Reala exhaled calmly.
"I'm afraid that is the case, my master," he replied. "She is far more powerful than we have anticipated. Fortunately, there has been a new development in our campaign."
"And what news do you have, Reala?" Wizeman inquired. Reala smirked and rose from his position just as Jackle, Pandora, and Dubaious entered the chamber.
"It would appear that two of her Ideya have been split apart at the seams," he told him. "Her Intelligence, and her Growth."
"Which means her mind has been diverted in two realms each," Wizeman noted. "It is quite rare for a visitor's Ideya to be severed in such a way." King Rhett, who had also entered along with Ruby and Aricolumn, was intrigued by this revelation. Jackle chuckled a bit as Pandora and Dubaious looked up in curiosity.
"Correct as always, my master," Reala responded. "Fortunately, both halves of each Ideya have been recovered. They will be given to the other volunteers as we speak." Ruby looked over at what appeared to be a witch-like Nightmaren in the distance. She snickered a little at her as she performed a balancing act with some of the cat Nightmarens which were the same species as Nicodemus. Pandora and Dubaious were impressed with the witch-like Nightmaren as well.
"Very well then," Wizeman spoke. "Although the girl has recovered her Ideya of Purity, there are still many chances to regain control of the girl. Should her next Nightopia appear at her Dream Gate, and should she dispatch the next Nightmaren for her next trial, this will be your chance to confront her, Reala. Show her the truth of the Dark Ideya within her with no name to call." King Rhett smirked upon hearing this phrase as did Reala.
"I will do so in your honor, Master," replied Reala with a bow. He turned to the witch-like Nightmaren. "As for the next of your servants, I will send them when the time is right."
"Very well, Reala," said Wizeman. "I expect good news in the future."
"Yes, my master," Reala responded with a bow once more. King Rhett grinned along with Ruby giggling slightly, and Aricolumn looking toward the crystalline orb in the room. He looked at Crystal and Nights in the base, the latter of which was searching for something in the scaffolding. He looked over at Crystal in particular who was speaking to the Nightopians, and some of the insurgent Nightmarens in the area. He smiled slyly, knowing all too well that things were about to get worse for his former beloved.
In the real world, Crystal is slumbering in a coma while wearing a pair of lilac-colored pajamas, and attached to an IV drip. As she is sleeping peacefully, a male doctor is tending to her by adjusting a TV screen next to her. While he attaches a mechanical headband, which was attached to the TV, Queen Lorelei entered the room to check on her daughter.
"How is the progress coming, Dr. Lauren?" she asked. Dr. Lauren just got finished attaching the headband when she asked this and turned his head to her.
"She is progressing just fine, your majesty," he told her. "Although she is dreaming despite being in a coma, which is why I have a dream monitor attached to her. I'm quite curious as to what she is dreaming about exactly." The good doctor began some fine-tuning of the monitor before it flickered on. The image on the screen showed Crystal and Nights speaking to one another about something that was completely muted. Lorelei was quite startled to see Nights beside her.
"A Level One Nightmaren?" she inquired perplexed. "How odd. Where did he come from?" Dr. Lauren looked at the monitor and smiled.
"Ah, the legendary Dream Jester," he told her. "I thought I recognized the little rascal." Queen Lorelei's golden-yellow eyes widened in surprise when she heard that name.
"I remember now," she recalled. "Crystal spoke of him when she was five years old." She smiled at the doctor while adding, "My husband and I dismissed it as a fantasy at first, but after some research on Nightopia and the Nightmarens, I think I owe my daughter an apology for that." Dr. Lauren nodded at the queen's comment before turning his head back to the monitor.
"This Nightmaren is the first to diverge from Wizeman's control many years ago," he explained. "Long before you and I were born even. He's developed quite a reputation for the youngsters while they dream for the night. Any nightmares they end up with will be sent packing once he finds out about the trouble they are dealing with. Over the many years, possibly over the centuries, several others have followed suit for various reasons. Now that he has allies of the same species on his side, he's been darting around left and right wherever he can with them in tow. That's probably why he's helping out your daughter. She must've been having a bit of stress having to protect her friends, family, and even the folks living here on Earth for such a long time." Lorelei was amazed at this. She looked over at Nights and realized that he was true of heart and noble in spirit.
"Well, perhaps there is hope in Wizeman's creations after all," she said with a smile. With a hopeful smile, she then added, "Thank you for keeping an eye on her. May the light bring hope to her heart." She then nodded while Dr. Lauren gave her a bow as she did. She left the room satisfied with the result. The doctor looked over at a sleeping Crystal who was breathing steadily as she slept through the night.
Back in the dream world in the resistance headquarters, Nights was searching around for something in the storage above the scaffolding and noticed something in the dark. Using a light, he found a large box containing some items that seem to belong to Crystal. He smiled with an enthusiastic gasp and grabbed it. He looked over at Crystal with a slight chuckle.
"Ha. Found them!" he called out to her. He tossed the box down to Crystal and it landed right at her feet as some dust floated up from the impact. Some of the dust reached her nose causing her to sneeze so hard that she caused a vertical tornado making her spring backward into a nearby wall with a crash. Some Nightopians were blown back by the blast of wind and they laughed in glee from the event. Some of the Nightmarens and visitors that witnessed the event, including Lumière, Nightmaria, Owl, Hikaru, Crystal's four pets, and Seraphinite all laughed along with the Nightopians that returned to their original positions. Nights flew down to where Crystal was while this happened and giggled at the event.
"Gesundheit," he told her while pointing at her politely. Crystal walked over to him with her handkerchief covering her nose as if she had just blown it earlier.
"Oh, thank you, Nights," she replied as she disposed of the handkerchief by burning it. Her expression quickly changed to excitement as she looked at her items and said, "I can't believe that all of my stuff is right here!" She started to examine some of the contents and pull out what appeared to be a blank sketchbook.
"Nights has been keeping them safe since the day you left Nightopia," Owl explained while she rummaged through more of her stuff. "He knew that you would return when the time came. We're about twelve years late, but it's better than never, I suppose."
"Owl, enough with the explanations," Nights teased the old bird. Owl gave a blank stare the moment he said this. Seraphinite snickered a bit.
"I wonder if my childhood boomerang is in here," Crystal spoke aloud as she searched a bit. "Ah, here it is." She pulled out what appeared to be a boomerang that looked to be shaped like a crescent moon.
"The old lunarang," she told her friends. She aimed at a bag that was hung by Charlotte's web. "Throw the moon away like so…" She paused before tossing the toy at the hanging bag allowing it to spin like a Frisbee and cut the web setting it free. It returned to her waiting hand as she said, "…and it comes back to me!" Nights clapped at her demonstration with the others looking impressed by her skill.
"You should put that to good use in the next obstacle course," Hikaru stated. Nightmaria nodded in agreement before directing her eyes back to Crystal.
"Now that you have gathered your Ideya of Purity," she spoke, "it is only fair that you learn the second ability of our people. As you have witnessed beforehand, we can change the area around us to a more corrupted terrain as well as summon a variety of illusions at our disposal. If you can learn to harness them and utilize these abilities against any 2nd Level Nightmaren, then it will give you the fighting chance you need to win out over Nightmare. Although you've unlocked this power through happenstance due to a slight temper, I can assure you that it will be strengthened once you pass the next course I lay for you."
"Thank you, commander," she told her politely. "I'll do my best for the next obstacle course." She then put the lunarang away before she turned to Nights and added, "Shall we?"
"Be our guest," Nights replied with a polite bow. The group made their way to the training area along with Crystal's Nightmaren pets. They entered the area, and she made notice of the rings in different positions this time. She was impressed that they took the time to change things around. Nightmaria waved her hand over the area and a new obstacle course has begun to form. Some new obstacles had been added in addition to older ones from before. Crystal looked around nodding to the new layout and hoping to race through it like in the last obstacle course. Nightmaria turned around to face the young princess.
"Just as in the last course," she told her, "you must complete it within the time limit. However, there will be new obstacles to overcome during this time. In fact, with every new obstacle course comes new puzzles to overcome. The same will be said of the replicas I send out for you to dispatch to learn a new technique from our people. Only this time, it will not be Reala's doppelganger. You have five minutes to complete this course. Good luck." Crystal nodded acknowledging her explanation. She then got into position and readied herself for the course ahead while Nightmaria flew to the side to let her pass. After stretching a little, she got into a sprinting position.
Three…two…one…go! Crystal sprung into action bolting straight for the course. Her first obstacle was to go through a road that seemed to loop around like a roller-coaster. She used her magnetism and her speed to plow through the road as if she were a cheetah in the wild. After that, she came across a tower that allowed her to climb up the wall to a zip-line pole. After climbing up to the top with some effort, she grabbed her Millennium Rod from the holster and used it to zip-line straight to the next obstacle ahead.
-Four minutes and thirty-five seconds-
Crystal's next obstacle was to run through holes in the wall. With careful timing, she managed to get through the holes of the approaching walls and moved on to the next course. It was a pendulum puzzle with swaying discs that don't seem intent on harming her. She went past them with ease as she remembers the same course from Reala's realm. She then came across one of the older parts of the previous obstacle course, specifically the railing with a large grate attached to it. She grabbed on and did the same trick as last time while swiveling the grate around as it moved like a roller coaster with twists, turns, and loops. She did this to go through as many of the rings as possible. She prepared to be launched once again as the ride came to a screeching halt propelling her upwards. Using this to her advantage, she performed an aerial twist before landing on her feet and sprinting to the next obstacle.
-Four minutes and eight seconds-
Her next obstacle was to go from pole to pole by bouncing off each one. She managed to make it through in a short time. Her next obstacle was an old one. She was to go through a tunnel that seems to shrink as she ran through it. Just as last time, she managed to escape the death trap. Her next obstacle was an uneven mountain that required her to jump from cliff to cliff. She managed to climb up the mountain with little effort. Nights was following along the course to keep up the pace with her.
-Three minutes and thirty seconds-
Crystal's next obstacle was to go through a series of blocks that seemed to come alive the moment she jumped on them. She dodged some of the blocks when they were about to crush her under the weight. After going through that mess of an obstacle, she came across another one that dealt with blocks. This time, it seemed as though the blocks are high in the sky and floating in the air. Crystal immediately realized they were traps and began to run beneath them triggering them to fall and nearly crush her. As soon as she avoided that death trap, she moved on to the next obstacle.
-Three minutes and five seconds-
Crystal came across a large hamster ball for her to enter and go through the next course with. She entered the ball via a little hatch and began to run inside it as if she were in a wheel. She weaved through the course and she managed to get to the end of the obstacle. She then came across a railing for her grind on. She summoned a crystalline board and did what skateboarders would do against the railing. She rode it to the other end without falling over.
-Two minutes and forty seconds-
Crystal saw a bunch of poles all hang up on ropes. She pulled out her lunarang and aimed right at them. She threw it and it went right through the rope and released the pole. Crystal used her telekinesis to redirect the lunarang to cut the other ropes of the poles and redirect it to her hand. After retrieving it, she jumped from pole to pole to get to the other side and slam her hand on the egg-shaped clock, ending the course.
-Two minutes and seventeen seconds-
Crystal was panting from exhaustion as the group congratulated her on completing the course. Nights got the jump her with a bear hug as she lay there while breathing heavily. Her four pets looked at her closely and snickered realizing what was going with her. Nights also took notice.
"Uh oh! Somebody's exhausted!" he teased her playfully. Crystal put her lunarang away as he said this while Seraphinite noticed her as well and snickered slightly.
"This is what happens when you go through an obstacle course, Nights," Crystal replied with a smile. While Nights helped the young princess to her feet, Nightmaria began to wave her hand summoning some black and white mist to create a clone for her to fight. Seraphinite approached her after retrieving a small green cube from her pockets. Crystal recognized it right away as an elixir cube.
"Open that hatch," Seraphinite told her. Crystal did as she was told while making a sound that made Nights and her pets snicker. Seraphinite flicked the cube into her mouth while saying, "Fire in the hole!" She then closed Crystal's mouth and said, "Chew!" The young princess did just that as the effects of the potion take effect immediately.
"Hoo! What a rush," she told her. "Thanks, Seraphinite."
"Compliments of Dr. Fergali," responded the green-clad Nightmaren. She then handed her a small box containing more of the green elixir cubes for her to use. Crystal took them graciously and put them in her satchel for safekeeping.
"Tell him he has my thanks for those," she said to her with a polite smile. Seraphinite nodded while Nights beamed with a playful smile. He and Crystal turned toward the clone that Nightmaria was creating and witnessed the black and white mist forming into a gray mist once more. The clone is then formed into what appeared to be a monochrome version of Pandora. Crystal, while relieved that it wasn't Reala this time, was slightly confused as she didn't recognize this Nightmaren.
"Who's this lovely figure?" she asked while turning her head to Nights and Hikaru, the latter who had already come to the former's side.
"That is my soon-to-be-sister-in-law," Nights explained. "Don't think we didn't notice you getting scared of Reala." He playfully pointed in a circular motion as he said this while snickering.
"She was one of the bullies from the Nightmaren Army," Hikaru explained further. "Not only is she a formidable opponent, but she's well-known for using her beauty to her advantage while stirring up a bit of trouble in the visitors' dream worlds. She has earned her name well." Crystal looked back at the clone then back to Hikaru as if she sees something about them that seemed similar to one another.
"I take it you two are related?" she asked a little curious of the resemblance.
"Sadly, yes," Hikaru answered. "She's my sibling, or in visitor's terms, my sister. Kind of ironic considering I'm dating Nights at the moment." She and Nights nuzzled each other in response to this.
"That explains the resemblance," said Crystal beaming. She then turned around the face the clone. Must have been a jealous older sibling, she thought. Nightmaria at this point had made her way to the opposite end of the arena and turned to face Crystal.
"Just as last time," she told her, "you must defeat the doppelganger to obtain a new ability of our people. Are you ready?"
"Yes ma'am," Crystal said with a smile. She then brandished her Millennium Rod. Nights patted her on the back for good luck while she nodded in reassurance. She approached the clone who was staring at her intently. After assuming a battle stance, the battle commences.
The Pandora clone began with the spell Shadow Lightning, causing a dangerous dark magic thunderstorm. Crystal was taking damage from the storm alone, but she began charging a spell anyway. After dodging some thunderbolts that were strong enough to burn down a rainforest, she used the spell Blue Moon Quartz dealing some damage to the clone. After recovering from the attack, the clone used the spell Nightmare, Lorelei, to surge through Crystal's health. She wasn't having it, however, and she used the spell Burning Mandala, a spell in which several fireballs are formed into a large mandala and blasted the clone one by one. She followed up with the spell Supreme Thunder, essentially giving the clone a taste of her own medicine. While the clone took damage, Crystal healed herself with Cleansing Downpour to bring her health back up.
Crystal saw that the Pandora clone was about to use the spell Phantasmal Nightmare, a powerful dark magic spell that encompasses the entire arena in shadow hands and malicious shadow beings, and braced herself with a shield. It was unfortunately in vain as most of the summoned shadow creatures penetrated her shield and caused massive damage to the young princess. After she quickly healed herself from the attack, she retaliated with the spell Sahara Squall, an earth spell that allows the user to create a giant gust of sand to blind the opponent. With the clone dazed, she quickly followed up the spell with Flamethrower causing the sand storm to exploded in a colorful haze of fireworks damaging the clone in the process. Pandora's twin collapsed to the ground exhausted while the young princess used Diamond Sabre and ran up to her. She attacked with a flurry of slashes before finishing with a riposte, waking up the Pandora clone and resuming the fight at hand.
The clone used the spell Thunderball, a spell that allowed her to summon a series of electrified spheres to attack Crystal with. The joke was on her, however, as the young princess absorbed the attack through her Lightning Rod ability. With enough energy to spare, she retaliated with the spell Thor's Hammer, sending a huge wave of electricity all over the battlefield, striking down the clone and knocking her unconscious. Crystal used Rose Sabre this time and ran up to the clone. She once again slashed her with flurry slashes and parries ending with a riposte. The clone quickly recovered and continued the fight.
Judging from her methods, she's just as ruthless as Reala, Crystal thought. I'd better end this battle quickly before it gets out of hand. The Pandora clone used the spell Shadow Ball, which worked about the same way it was used by King Rhett. Crystal dodged most of the spheres but some of them damaged her in the process forcing her to heal herself. She activated a shield just to be safe. The Pandora clone then used Shining Black, a spell that releases a series of shimmering black spikes at the opponent from afar. Crystal was having trouble avoiding the spikes as they came after her in rapid succession without an end in sight. She overcame this after taking some damage and used the spell Sparkling Swarm, which is the light counterpart to Ember Swarm. This dealt some damage to the clone as Nightmarens are creatures of darkness. Crystal followed up with the spell Seraphim Lux to deal massive damage to the Pandora clone causing her to fall to the ground in a daze. The young princess activated her Halo Sabre before running up to the clone and slashing her repeatedly. After a resounding riposte, the battle was won. The exercise was over.
The Pandora clone was struggling to get back up as she began to disintegrate just as the Reala clone did before her. Crystal was sweating a bit while the clone approached her. The clone held out her hand to her as the young princess nodded in acknowledgment. She took her hand to shake it as a courtesy. As she did, she felt the same sensation as before. The clone was transferring some of her power to her as shown by the same blue markings from before. The clone smiled with a nod as the sensation subsided and she crumbled to dust. Crystal checked her arm to read out what power she received.
"Terraform," she read aloud. The markings vanished as they did before when she read them. Crystal thought it over before adding, "So that's what you've been using to make the obstacle course." Nightmaria nodded the moment she said this.
"All 1st and 2nd Level Nightmarens can alter the dream world at any time," she explained. "The more powerful the Nightmaren, the more powerful the corruption. Given that have traversed the realm of our most dangerous foe, the idea is right in front of you." Crystal shuddered upon hearing her unwanted trip to the Nightmare Realm. Nights caught on the moment he saw her shiver slightly in fright as did her four Nightmaren pets.
"I'd rather not go back there unless I have to," she told her allies. "It felt like hours running through that checkerboard terrain." Nights approached her and pat her on the back for reassurance.
"We'll wait until you get your next three Ideya first," he reassured the young princess. Crystal and Nights quickly nuzzled each other soon after causing a slight giggle from Hikaru. Nightmaria approached her and checked the former's arm with her consent. She smiled and nodded having found what she was looking for.
"Your ability to alter the terrain has been stabilized," she told her. "Since you've experienced it first-hand from your little tantrum, you should know what it can do by now." She turned around waved her hand in front to summon a series of towers around Crystal's height or above. Nightmaria turned back around and nodded in her direction.
"Try it now," she told her. "And remember, focus on the task at hand. Only then can perform this task without consequence." She flew a bit out of the way to allow Crystal to see her handiwork. The young princess was impressed by the array of towers but was a bit wary of failure to complete what needed to be seen.
"All right," she spoke to herself. "Let's try the same trick I did last time." She stretched a bit before holding her hand out to the needle-like towers themselves and began to concentrate her energy upon them. Her eyes began to glow an orange hue as she did this. As she kept her eyes on the towers, they began to shrink down. Nights looked in amazement as Owl smiled hopefully in her direction. Crystal maintained her focus on the pillars as they continued to shrink under her command. She felt that she was close to completion.
"Well, I'll be," Lumière complimented. "The kid's still got it." Hikaru nodded while Nights watched in amazement. Crystal continued to shrink the towers back down. After a few more seconds of concentration, the towers had finally receded. He breathed a sigh of relief as her allies cheered and her four Nightmaren pets all came to her the moment she finished her task. Bela and Stella landed on her right shoulder while Pidge took up residence on her left shoulder, and Cumula jumped into Crystal's waiting arms.
"Well done!" Owl exclaimed. "You remembered exactly what you've done the last time you activated this power!" Crystal was slightly embarrassed when he said this.
"Yeah to be fair, that was an accident on my part," she noted. Nights flew right into her for a bear hug causing her pets to scatter to let him through.
"That's amazing, Crystal!" he complimented while nuzzling her a bit. He stopped on time to add, "Most lucid visitors struggle to keep their powers under control!"
"I'll bet," Crystal noted. Nights released her from his grasp and the two bumped elbows as a form of celebration. Nightmaria approached the duo along with the rest of the group.
"Now that you have mastered the ability to change landscapes at will," she informed her, "I would suggest using this power to your advantage in the new Nightopia. This ability carries with it many possibilities as only your imagination can control it. But I must warn you that this form of Illusion Magic is not always effective on your enemies. Should you find yourself in a bind against a stronger foe, you must forgo using this power unless it is necessary. Do I make myself clear?"
"As clear as my namesake, commander," Crystal responded with a nod.
"Good," Nightmaria acknowledged. "Our next lesson is to change your format will just as we can, only you won't be able to become an object, rather you would turn into animals of your choice." Crystal snickered slightly knowing exactly what she was implying.
"That's right," she spoke up while smiling as Nights beamed. "Level One Nightmarens are shape-shifters." Nights giggled a bit upon hearing this.
"You bet we are," he chimed in while playfully rubbing his knuckles on her head causing her to giggle. "You've seen me do it plenty of times beforehand. Like this." He flew about three feet away to demonstrate his power. He morphed into the following objects; a car, a cannon, a streetlamp, and a jack-in-the-box. Crystal and the others laughed at his antics the moment he changed into the final object. Nights changed back into his true form soon after satisfied with bringing a smile to his colleagues and the young princess.
"You and your antics, Nights," said Seraphinite. Hikaru approached the young princess with a crystal in hand. She held it up to her face while she nodded as a way of giving consent.
"Unfortunately," she stated, "your body can't handle these kinds of shape-shifting as it's not as flexible as ours, as bestowed by our creator. No offense, your highness."
"None was taken," Crystal replied with a smile and a slight giggle. "I'm a gymnast and a Valkyrie, not a contortionist. I'm not much good for bending myself backward." Nights and her pets giggled upon hearing this. Nightmaria nodded in acknowledgment while Hikaru scanned Crystal's body for confirmation.
"I'll send this to Dr. Fergali while I head back to my station," she told her. "Hopefully, he'll give some insight to other powers you can do."
"Understood," said Crystal. She then looked to Nights and added, "And since I have my Purity Ideya back, it's going to take a while for my next Nightopia to open up." She then turned to Hikaru and added, "So Nights and I are going to check out the rest of the Quartz Palace while we wait."
"You got it!" Hikaru acknowledged. "We'll let you know when that happens." The group then dispersed into their respective locations while Nights, Crystal, and her four pets made their way to the entrance of the Dream Gate. Whatever awaits in the Quartz Palace will be either a sight to behold, or an event foretold to occur. Either way, the group will be ready for whatever comes their way.
To be continued...