Nights Twilight Dreaming
Chapter Thirty-One
Back in the Dream Gate, Crystal ran straight to the door of the resistance headquarters and went straight in with her fellow insurgents following behind her. She made her way past the main area and straight to Dr. Fergali's office where the good doctor was waiting for them. She seated herself on the examination table when she got there along with her allies. Rhodonite, Seraphinite, and Morganite were passing through when they saw Crystal and the gang while Charlotte Anansi came from her post via a string of web. As Crystal stood still, Dr. Fergali examined her and looked over her health just to be sure.
"Never a dull moment with you, your highness," he told her. "I've been watching the battle between you and Nights and Nightmaria. The Dark Ideya seemed rather resilient for something that peters out over time." Crystal nodded in response to this.
"Before it possessed me," she told him, "it made itself into a carbon-copy of me and stalked me. What on earth was that all about?" Morganite and her siblings were freaked out the moment she made mention of her doppelganger.
"It went fetch mode on you?!" exclaimed Seraphinite. "That's a new one on us!"
"It's not a fetch," said Nights while shaking his head. "That was a Shadow Nightmaren." Crystal looked at him in confusion.
"A shadow what?" she asked while Dr. Fergali gives her a potion which she takes with a nod and a, "Thank you." Lumière entered the room the moment she asked this and raised his hand.
"Shadow Nightmaren," he replied. "They're nasty little bugs that stalk you like a lion in the wild."
"They look like you, talk like you," chimed Nights, "and if you get too close, they'll slash at you!" He playfully scratches the air at Crystal while she giggles at his antics. Owl was slightly amused at Nights' explanation as was Nightmaria and Lumière.
"What he means is this," he told the young princess. "A Shadow Nightmaren can take the form of the visitor they target to either lurk in the shadows to watch their prey, or to befriend them to gain information about their target and use any weakness they have against them. They are quite rare to come by in the Night Dimension as they can only appear when the visitor has inner darkness within their heart. In your case, the Dark Ideya was projecting the side of you which you refuse to ignite or rather a sort of madness that has been suppressed never to utilized in any capacity." Crystal thought it over while sipping a bit of the potion while the others nodded in agreement. She then turned to Owl when she paused on the potion.
"So what we're up against is the Nightmaren version of a doppelganger," she recited with a better understanding of the situation.
"Exactly," Nights replied with a bit of enthusiasm. "They're pretty easy to tell apart from the real visitor though, especially when we can tell who's who by checking for a birthmark."
"Ah," replied Crystal with a smile.
"That only applies to 1st Level Nightmarens," Nightmaria clarified. "All other Nightmarens will know the visitor by appearance and by the amount of Ideya they currently have." Crystal nodded in understanding upon hearing this notion from her superior. She took another sip of the potion and thought it over while she let the effects take place.
"Well we can't just call her the Shadow Nightmaren forever," she told her allies while her pets came to her with Cumula placing herself on her lap allowing her to place her hand on her yellow cloudy fur. "I think we should give her a name to better suit her attitude and actions." The others were impressed with her resolve and nodded in agreement.
"What name do you have in mind?" asked Morganite. Crystal thought it over before speaking again.
"Coppelia after the doll of the same name," she told them.
"Coppelia?" Nights inquired slightly confused. Crystal at this point has just polished off the potion and given the empty beaker back to the good doctor.
"It's a reference to the ballet," she explained. "The mad doctor, Dr. Coppelius, invented a life-sized doll that did nothing but sit in the chair and read a book all day. His strategy was to bring the doll to life through dark magic. The doll he supposedly brought to life was Swanilda, the main protagonist of the story, disguised as Coppelia, and she distracted him by messing with his machines and inventions. All to save her boyfriend Franz whom he rendered unconscious through a sleeping potion." Nights snickered along with Nightmaria and Lumière chuckling as she added, "Needless to say, his efforts failed."
"A fitting name for one whose purpose is to place you under Wizeman's control," replied Nightmaria with a smile. "Although it is not of the norm for a visitor to name the Nightmaren, it is possible for one to adopt the name in remembrance of one closest to them."
"Indeed," Owl spoke. "If this Coppelia is lying in wait for the next time she emerges, there may still be time to counter her next strategy. Should she appear again, it is up to you to alert the resistance of the foe at hand."
"I won't let you guys down," Crystal replied with a smile. She managed to straighten herself out after taking one last gulp of the potion and letting the effects take place. Her next part of her dream world has yet to be explored, and she is about to find said area alongside her friends.
Having fully recovered thanks to the potion given to her, exited the good doctor's office and began to explore a bit of the resistance headquarters again starting with the main hall. Nights was alongside her as were her four companions. Among the Nightmaren insurgents were Sunburst and Carmilla, the latter of which had recently joined. She approached them as they greeted her.
"Hi Sunburst," she greeted her. "Hola, Carmilla. Nights and I are going back to the Quartz Palace while we wait for my second Nightopia to open up. Do you want to come?"
"Sorry, chica," said Carmilla. "But I'm new to the rebellion, so I need to catch up with Señora Nightmaria. I'm hoping she can show me the ropes."
"I understand, Carmilla," Crystal replied with a smile and a nod.
"No worries," said Nights. "Don't get two left feet now." Carmilla giggled upon hearing this.
"Jokes on you, playful payaso," she told him. "Dancing has been in my blood since my creation." She then twirled away to Nightmaria's quarters as Crystal snickered upon hearing her reply. Nights didn't mind her snickering as he was intending to make both parties laugh.
"All right, let's get going," said Crystal. "The Tanzanite Falls is next on our list of areas in the Quartz Palace."
"Why's it called Tanzanite Falls?" asked Sunburst.
"Because of the purple water, you goofball," answered Nights with a laugh. Crystal snickered slightly upon hearing this.
"That," she added, "and it has some Chronos Lilies in the area so that we can catch a glimpse of the past. I'd like to see some of those past events up close if possible." Nights nodded in agreement along with her pets. The group then went to the door of the resistance headquarters and exited to the Dream Gate. Crystal and the others went straight to the door to the Quartz Palace and entered in hopes of entering other areas of the dream world taking a shorter route to where she needed to go. As soon as she opened the door, she made note of the areas within the Quartz Palace and choose the one closest to the Tanzanite Falls, the Alexandrite Canyon. She and the others entered one at a time to the area once more.
Once they made it to the canyon, Crystal and the others spotted something in the distance. It was what appeared to be a waterfall similar to the one she had seen while she was retrieving the milky quartz from the river during her second trial. She was relieved. She knew exactly what the location was.
"There's Tanzanite Falls," she told them. "And lucky for us, there's a shortcut." She looked over at the canyon leading up to the waterfall and smiled.
"Then what are we standing around here for?" Nights piped up. "Let's go!" The group began to surge forward toward the shortcut in question. A Nightmaren hoard appeared during their trek, but it was quickly dispatched in less than a minute. Crystal and her allies continued their journey to the destination and found themselves near an area littered with good Nightmarens and Nightopians. The group saw a good Marluke, whose fur was yellow, performing some sort of trick. They approached and the weasel-like Nightmaren waved its' magician's wand over a top hat only for the trick to bungle. The Marluke, confused at this, tried to shake it to get the hat to work before looking inside. It then erupted in a small billow of smoke and confetti that engulfed the Marluke's face causing it to be dazed for a brief moment. Crystal and the others laughed at the mishap as the Marluke grinned with embarrassment and took off to meet a fellow Nightmaren elsewhere. Crystal turned to Nights with a smile.
"That was a little cockamamie," she told him with a giggle.
"He needs to take lessons from Lumière with that trick," Nights added.
"I know right?" piped Sunburst. "Maybe he can be the assistant!" Crystal and Nights nodded in agreement before the group went on their way. After a second Nightmaren hoard that caused the good Nightmarens and Nightopians to hide, they come across another shortcut straight to where they needed to be. Crystal and the others made their way past the shortcut and straight to Tanzanite Falls where Owl is waiting for them on his perch. Crystal waved to him as they approached allowing the old bird to wave in return. They then quickly approached him ending their trek for a brief moment.
As Nights performed figure-eights in the air, and while Sunburst bounced around on a trampoline mushroom, Crystal was walking toward the waterfall when she discovered a strange-looking jar. It was brown and had what appeared to be yellow spots surrounding it. She approached it, curious of the contents of the jar, and took a look inside. Out popped a blue, pink-spotted octopus with yellow wings and blue eyes staring back at the princess. It come out so fast that she was startled and confused for a brief moment. It waved one of its' tentacles to her with a friendly sound. The creature flew out of the jar and went about three feet in front of her before flying backward while releasing rings similar to the rings in her obstacle courses and coming forward and going through causing them to disperse. Crystal giggled at the sight as it repeated this motion a second time.
"That octopus is spewing rings instead of ink," she noted with a smile. Nights flew right next to her with excitement as he had also seen the playful creature.
"It's Octopaw!" he shouted in glee. Crystal looked at him confused at his response.
"Octo-what now?" she asked with a quizzical look. Owl flew right to her while flapping his wings with a smile.
"Oh ho!" he replied with equal excitement to Nights causing the young princess to turn her head to him. "Octopaw is a rather curious creature. When he flies, he expels a series of rings. It was once quite fearful of Nights, but has since grown fond of playing with him over time." Crystal looked back at the creature now known as Octopaw who in turn was giggling at the group. Pidge and Cumula were nudging her while Octopaw flew right over to Nights and circled him playfully like a halo. Crystal saw this along with the Screecher twins and Sunburst and smiled as it demonstrated its power for the third time ending it with a giggle.
"Ooo, he's challenging us," she deduced rather quickly. She turned to her gleeful friend with a smile. "Nights, you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Hee hee, I love this game!" Nights replied excitedly. He turned to Crystal and added, "Come on, Crystal! Let's see how many rings we can fly through!" He held his hand out to her as Crystal smiled.
"My thoughts exactly, Nights," she replied. "Let's go." She took his hand and they are once again surrounded by a bright light causing them to combine into one as Octopaw gleefully giggled as he took off in the direction of the falls leaving some rings behind.
"I'll be the referee!" Sunburst piped up as Nights and Crystal had already dualized at this point. The duo nodded and they took off after Octopaw who was being playful while flying away from them. Sunburst took off after them while Owl looked on with a smile. The Screecher twins, Pidge, and Cumula stayed with Owl to watch the duo fly after Octopaw.
Octopaw is waiting for the duo and waving at them. Nights began to fly toward the little creature as it began to playfully fly away while leaving rings behind. While he flew through the rings, Sunburst piped up saying, "You've got five minutes to fly through as many rings as possible!" Nights flew through the first row of rings with ease as they were stationary. Octopaw kept creating rings for him to fly through, and he managed to keep up with them as well.
-Four minutes and fifty-two seconds-
The duo kept up the pace as they flew through groups of rings in quick succession with Crystal keeping track of how many they went through together. After going through the rings while chasing a playful Octopaw, they went through several parts of the Tanzanite Falls, such as a cave they had not traversed before. As they made their way through rose quartz pillared canyons all the while flying through rings, Crystal piped up after they reached the amount needed to ace the ring challenge.
"Great job, partner!" she shouted. "Keep it up!" They flew past a large cave of multiple gems, such as rubies, sapphires, and topazes. After weaving through the area and going through the rings laid out by the still playful Octopaw, they were still flying through the air chasing after the creature while having fun at the same time.
-Three minutes and forty-three seconds-
Nights continued to fly through the air while catching up to Octopaw who was picking up speed and leaving as many rings as possible for him to fly through. They continued this pace throughout the track with Crystal keeping score the whole time. They flew in a circle around the area as they continued to pass through ring after ring while trying to keep up with the playful creature. Octopaw continued to leave rings for them to fly through as they did while Crystal noted how many rings they went through after Nights missed the last row.
"Over seventy rings, my flying friend!" she piped up. "This may be our best score yet!"
"Not while Octopaw is still leaving rings for us!" said Nights. "Let's see if we can beat our current score!" She checked the egg-shaped clock that was following them the whole time.
"Well, we do some time left on the clock," she noted. "Why not? We'll get a few laps in until the timer reaches zero and we've gone through enough rings." Crystal and Nights beamed at each other before continuing after a playful Octopaw. They continued their circular flight around Tanzanite Falls while going through as many rings as possible to outscore their current record within the time limit.
-Three minutes and fifteen seconds-
Whilst they flew through each row of rings, they also bounced around a few quartz crystals to make them glow as bright as the sun all the while shining a light in the direction of hidden treasure. One such treasure they gathered was a token that Crystal thought was rather strange but didn't question it further. She kept track of how many rings that the duo went through during the ring challenge. She noted with the phrase, "Fifty rings so far. Let's keep this up until the timer runs out." Nights continued his pursuit of the playful Octopaw during this time as the creature let out a playful giggle.
-Two minutes and fifteen seconds-
Nights took note of the time as well and pursued the rings, not missing a single row created by Octopaw. Crystal was amazed at their progress and how quickly they managed to go through each row of rings with little effort. Regardless she was enjoying the game and nearly lost track of time. She also noticed Octopaw getting a little tired, but the creature was continuing to deliver rings for them to go through. Sunburst was following along while keeping track of their time and the number of rings they went through.
-One minute and thirty seconds-
"Looks like Octopaw is getting a little tired, Nights," Crystal told him. "He looks like a trooper though."
"He is a trooper," he remarked with a wink as they continued their flight. "But even an Octopaw needs to rest up after a long flight."
"Just like how warriors need to rest after a long battle," she replied beaming. "All right, let's finish this up while we're still in the air." Nights nodded in agreement as they continued to fly through the rings within the remaining time limit.
-One minute-
Octopaw continued its' path of expelling rings while Nights and Crystal kept up with the creature, and Sunburst kept track of the number of rings they went through to get the high score. As the seconds ticked by, Octopaw began to wheeze a little from flying so much. Crystal felt sympathetic toward the eight-legged being while Nights gave a reassuring nod to it knowing that the timer will be running out soon. As it rounded the corner, Crystal made note of the timer.
-Forty seconds-
Nights purposely missed one ring among a row of them as Crystal looked at the score in awe while saying, "A hundred and seventy-five rings in one flight?! That's insane!"
"I told you I like beating the high score," Nights stated with a beaming smile.
"No kidding," she replied. "I'll keep that in mind next time." As they reset the counter, they went through a new set of rings as the timer ticked away. Nights purposely went through every new set while missing one to avoid wearing out his eight-tentacled friend. Sunburst wasn't too far behind as she was keeping track of the number of rings as well the time alongside Crystal. As they made a turn in the circle, the rings became few and far between, which they didn't mind as time was running out anyway. The clock began to tick down once it reached ten seconds.
-Ten-
-Nine-
-Eight-
-Seven-
-Six-
-Five-
-Four-
-Three-
-Two-
-One-
"Great job, partner!" Crystal exclaimed. The ring challenge was over. Crystal and Nights celebrated their victory while separated as Sunburst tallied the results. They got an A for their high score, and they couldn't be happier. Octopaw was in the background while this occurred as it retreated to its jar.
To be continued…