Chapter Six
A History Unfolds
Elliot sat in the hotel room, reading his book aloud. His hand was gently holding onto Claris', trembling slightly with both fear and exhaustion. The doctor had suggested that Elliot read the book to Claris. There had been documented cases where people had heard their loved ones reading and had woken up.
The nurse came in and checked up on the both of them. Elliot had become a regular sight in the room. They were taking care of both him and their patient sometimes, and it had gotten to the point where the staff had let Elliot stay long beyond the end of visiting hours, hoping that the young man would wake up the girl. The doctor had told Elliot that she would call if Claris woke up, but that coma's tended to last a very long time. Elliot, however, had faith that Claris was in Dreamworld right now, and that Nights would be watching over her, and would bring her back to where she was supposed to be. Until then, Elliot would stay right here and read and wait.
"Hey Elliot, what are you doing?" Geoff walked into the room, a bundle of flowers in his arms. Elliot smiled when his friend came in, closing his book. "The doctors told me to read to her. They said that it would help." Geoff nodded his head, walking over to the vase and removing the old flowers and putting the new ones in. "They're probably right, I've heard stranger things have brought people out of coma's." Geoff started to arrange the flowers in the vase as his eyes wandered over to Elliot. "And how are you doing?"
Elliot rubbed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders, finishing a long yawn. "I'm alright, I guess. What are you doing here, though?"
Geoff smiled and stepped back to look at his arrangement, nodding his head in approval. "Well, I guess I'm mostly here to see you. I have a friend who's a nurse here. I asked her to keep an eye out for you and she said that you had been spending long hours here. She's worried about you, and frankly, I am too."
Elliot looked surprised. He wondered which nurse it was and then wondered why Geoff thought he might need looking after. "Well, like I said, I'm alright. I'll be great once Claris wakes up."
Geoff walked over to a chair and sat down, leaning back. "Yeah, you look alright. You've got heavy bags under your eyes which means that you haven't slept, and I'm probably guessing right when I say that you haven't eaten in a while too." Elliot was about to say that he wasn't hungry when his stomach gave a long growl. Geoff chuckled and says, "Busted. Are you going to spend the rest of your life here, waiting for her to wake up?"
Elliot simply nodded, "If I have to. I want to be here when she wakes up. I'll still go to practice, and to school. The rest of the time, I'll be here waiting."
Geoff gave a sad smile and a sigh. "Elliot, I don't think that would be a really good idea."
"Why not? I should be here when she wakes up. I love her. Don't you think that someone who loves her should be here all the time?"
I know you love her, but look at you, Elliot? You aren't sleeping, you aren't eating, and your friends and family are worried sick about you. Do you honestly think that the doctors or Claris' mother won't call you the minute she wakes up?"
Elliot's hand continued to shake as it clasped Claris' once more. He turned and looked at the beatific face, sleeping serenely on the pillow. "I know, I know. It's just.." He let out a long breath as his head lowered.
Geoff stood up and walked over, placing a hand on Elliot's shoulder. "Besides, you and I both know that she is safe."
"I just don't want her waking up and wonder where I am, wonder if I've stopped caring because I wasn't there when she woke up."
The older man nodded his head, "Have you two ever had an argument before? I mean, a really good screaming match?"
Elliot nodded again, giving a sort of laughing and sob mix. He remembered the time that he mistakenly told Claris that he would rather go to a basketball game with his friends than to one of her recitals. They had argued about that for over an hour, a screaming match that Ralph Kramden would have admired. In the end, he had gone to the recital. He smiled, wiping a tear off of his cheek. "Yeah, we've had a few."
"And you always went back to her, or she came back to you, right?" Geoff smiled as he saw Elliot's smile grow wider. "Every single time we got back together. We were inseparable for a while, until Gerald. After that, her career started taking off and I hardly ever saw her.
Geoff nodded his head, "You've taken care of that, though, haven't you?"
"I hope so."
Geoff squeezed Elliot's shoulder, "What I'm saying is that if she does wake up and you're not here, she's still going to love you. When you do show up, it'll be a great reunion. It's good that you visit, and I think you should keep it up. Visit for an hour, however, and get on with the rest of your life. Otherwise, when she wakes up, you're not going to have anything to talk about."
Elliot laughed and nodded his head, looking at his friend. "Yeah, you're probably right. I am kind of tired, and I've been pretty lax at practice. Are you sure she's not going to hate me?"
Geoff put his hand his heart and said, "I promise. Now come on, I'll buy you some dinner and get you home for the night. You need to get some rest." Elliot nodded once more and allowed himself to be led out. Geoff waved to the nurse's station, and the two nurses behind waved back, smiling warmly to Elliot. "In the meantime, you can tell me how you and Claris met, and maybe we can talk a little about Dreamland."
As Elliot walked down the hall with Geoff, he started talking, and for a while his worries were forgotten.
Nights stood and looked at the small Nightopian that fluttered around the corner on tiny gossamer wings. He laughed and said, "You've got to be kidding me. Aren't you a little young to be an Archivist?"
The Nightopian gave a small snort and crossed its arms. "I may be young, but I am an Archivist." It fluttered over to Claris and looked at her with its bright eyes. "My name is Somei, and I'm the youngest here, but I'm still much older than most of you." The Nightopian was dressed the same as all the others that Claris had ever run across. His dark violet gown hung down to his feet. Around his neck was a high collar of a lighter shade of purple, almost pink. He had a pointed head that had a small halo around it, the same color as the collar. His eyes were a bright blue, and he had two rosy cheeks that seemed to blush a deeper shade of pink as Somei looked at Claris. The girl giggled, "I'm Claris, and that's Pirdy and Nights."
Somei spun around in midair and flew over to Nights, blinking in surprise. "You're Nights? The same one that defeated Wizeman?"
Nights continued to smile as he pointed down to Umbrae. "Apparently I didn't defeat him. If I had, she wouldn't be here. What was she doing here, anyway?"
"She came here before and stole some books and scrolls from the older sections of the library. I guess she didn't find what she was looking for."
"Books?" asked Pirdy, "What kind of books?"
Somei shrugged in midair as he hovered lower over Umbrae to get a good look at her. "I don't know, we haven't taken a full inventory yet. We've been in the secret chamber since the attack. The Elders think that something big is on the horizon and they've been storing some of the oldest and most important books down there."
Nights looked at Pirdy and pointed up to the dark shadow that Umbrae had appeared out of. "Head up there and see if she left anything behind."
The healer nodded and flew off towards the dark corner. Claris looked at Umbrae, kneeling down next to her. "She's so young. How did she become so dangerous?"
Nights shook his head, helping Claris to stand. "I don't know. I've never heard of these Night Terrors before. When I worked for Wizeman, he had Reala take care of all the dark and dirty work. Somei, can you take us to the Elders? I need to talk to one that has knowledge of Dreamers."
Somei grew bright once again and hovered back up in front of Nights. "Sure, but I don't know if any of us can really tell you bout the dreamers. Still, couldn't hurt to ask, I guess."
"Nights!" came a shout from above. "There's a backpack up here." Pirdy reappeared a moment later and flew down to the others, a black sack in her hands. She landed gently and handed the bag over. "It's heavy, there's something inside of it."
It was definitely heavy, thought Nights. He opened it and dumped all of the contents out on the floor of the library. Amid the clatter of daggers came a deep thump and a hollow sound. Somei hovered over the contents. Nights looked at the Nightopian and said, "Well, it appears she had come back to steal. Any idea what they are?"
"No, I'm afraid not. These books are very old, and are retained in a section that I had not been to yet. We'll ask the elders." Nights nodded his head and reached down, picking up the book and the scroll. "Careful putting the daggers away, Pirdy. Some of them might be poisoned." The healer's hand drew back quickly as though the daggers would strike out at her. She gingerly put the things back in the bag and sealed it up tight. She threw the bag off into the distance, and away from Umbrae. She then knelt down and took off Umbrae's hat, using it to tie her hands up tight with. Pirdy checked them one more time and then ran off after Nights and the others. As she caught up, she heard the middle of a conversation.
"..hundreds of years old. I haven't seen this language since I lived in Nightmare Tower and even then only Wizeman could read it." He had the scroll open and was looking at the spidery script.
"Can you read it?"
Nights started rolling up the scroll, nodding his head towards the book that was now in Claris' hands. "No. I imagine that book could help you with that, however."
"Then why did she come back here? She had the scroll and the translation book. She didn't need to return."
"Who knows. It could have been something as simple as pure laziness. Whatever it was, she wasn't expecting to find us here, I'm sure." Nights and his crew continued to follow the young Nightopian through the corridors of Soft Museum. Claris was amazed by the vastness of the building. Shelves upon shelves of books, statues, and other artifacts were everywhere to be seen. The musty smell reminded Claris of the smell of libraries back in her own world. The amount of knowledge would have amazed anyone back home, and she knew quite a few people who would have given anything to be here right now.
"Here we are." Claris snapped back awake as Somei fluttered straight for a bookshelf containing a series of books that were bound in black. He took one from the middle and revealed a button hidden behind it. Once he pushed it, a clinking noise could be heard, and then the bookshelf slid backwards and revealed a dark passage. Somei waved them through.
Pirdy went first, happy to be in hiding and away from anymore of these Night Terrors that might be roaming about. Claris walked up next and peered into the darkness and didn't see anything. Suddenly a myriad of images ran through her mind. An image of all of her friends being able to fly and she simply falling through the darkness until she hit bottom. As she was about to take a step back, her head shaking slightly, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Nights was right behind her, smiling his warm and friendly smile that had helped her so many times through darker times. She nodded, Nights wasn't going to let anything happen to her. She started down the steps, the Nightmaren close behind her. Somei closed the door behind them, leaving them trapped in complete darkness.
The steps seemed to last forever, twisting and spiraling down further and further. Claris thought they had walked forever, the darkness pressing itself in on her. Just when she thought she wasn't going to be able to tolerate it anymore, her mouth ready to open in a scream, her eyes began to readjust to a light in the distance. After a few more minutes she could see Pirdy in front of her. After a few more minutes, she began to see the separate steps themselves. Finally she saw the bottom. As she looked behind her, past Nights and Somei, the stairs disappeared up into the darkness beyond. She dreaded having to walk back up. For now she was happy to have light once more.
"We keep this place for the very old documents that we posses. They require a cool and dry place so they won't fall apart on us." The stone floor veered off to the right and down a long corridor. It was filled from floor to ceiling with small, round holes. Inside each hole was a scroll whose parchment had turned yellow from age. Claris and Pirdy were careful not to touch anything, this knowledge irreplaceable. Somei, however, didn't seem to mind at all, flying here and there in the corridor, sometimes only a hairs breath from wrecking into a scroll that was sticking out from a hole.
Night looked up and down the stone corridor, admiring the simple beauty of the blue marble rock, and the green marble holes. He carefully took a scroll out and opened it, trying to read the contents. The contents were almost unlegible and unreadable. "Some of the Elders can't even read it anymore," whispered Somei as he hovered near Nights. "This scroll is an example of some of the earliest writings when Dreamworld was just coming into existence. We don't know what it means, but it is kept, as it should be." Nights nodded his head and replaced the scroll as carefully as he took it out.
They continued down the corridor, walking for several minutes before they came out into a large, round chamber. In the center of the chamber lay a large, round table, a crystal-like rock sitting in the middle of it and giving off a white glow. To the left were shelves of books and scrolls, and to the right were glass cases containing ancient artifacts from a time long forgotten. In the room were at least a dozen Nightopians, dressed in robes of white with high red collars. They all looked towards the corridor, their eyes going wide. The three could hear their whispers of excitement.
"It's him."
"Are you sure?"
"And the girl too."
One by one the came forward, Nights suddenly finding himself shaking hands, answering questions, and laughing at their excitement. Claris smiled and watched for a moment more before turning and walking over to where the scrolls were. She reached out a hand to take one, only to stop and hesitate. A deep voice came from behind her, startling her a little. "Did you want to know what it says?"
An older Nightopian was hovering next to her, his wings flapping furiously. He had a long, white beard that ran the entire length of his body, and ending with a slight curl at the end. A mustache covered his mouth and wiggled as he spoke once again. "You were going to take one in your hand, but you didn't know if you could."
"They're so old, and I'm sure very valuable. I didn't want to take the chance of ruining them." Claris said quietly. "Where I come from, kids aren't allowed to touch old and valuable things."
The old Nightopian chuckled and took the scroll out, handing it to Claris. "Here, child. It's been handled a lot more roughly than you think. This particular scroll is over 5000 years old and I doubt that you could ruin it."
Claris took the scroll in her hands, but was afraid to do anything with it. She handed it back to the Nightopian who only nodded his head and chuckled once more. "You respect it, that is good." He placed it back in the hole and then turned and held out his hand. "My name is Orcim, and I am the Eldest Archivist. You are Claris, are you not?"
Claris smiled and nodded, "Yes, I am. How did you know?"
"Well, you are kind of famous around here, you know. One of the triad that stopped Wizeman in his quest to dominate the two worlds."
Claris just blushed, her hand rubbing her neck a little as she laughed. "You know about that?"
The Nightopian placed his hands inside the sleeves of his robe, "Yes, I do. All of us know about that. It's why I have no compunction about letting you touch any of the scrolls here."
Claris looked down, continuing her smile and trying to make the blush go away. She brushed her hair back behind her ear as she spoke in a quiet voice. "Actually, sir, it's your help that I..I mean we, have come to ask for."
"Oh? What is it that this old Nightopian can help you with?"
"Something is happening to me. I've got powers that I don't understand and it's frightening me." She looked back up, her eyes pleading with the Nightopian.
"No, child, this will not do." He landed on the floor and sat down. "Come, sit down and tell me what has happened. Perhaps, together, we may come up with an answer to your dilemma and I may see that lovely smile on your face once more."
Claris sat down and started telling her story. How she had healed Nights with a mere touch, how she lit a fire with a mere thought, and how she was afraid that if she didn't learn how to control it, she might wreak terrible havoc. It all spilled out over the course of an hour, a weight lifted off of Claris' shoulders. Nights and Pirdy eventually came over and joined the conversation, sitting down to tell their parts of the story. Other Archivists began to join the group, nodding their heads as they listened to the two Nightmaren and the Dreamer tell of their adventure in escaping from Nightmare Tower and into the Mystic Forest. Eventually tea and biscuits were served, as the story lasted long into the night.
Elliot and Geoff had talked for a long time about Dreamworld, and how Elliot and Claris had first met. The joy that was in his heart when he heard her singing, and when he saw her in the real world. Eventually the days spent with little or no sleep, and the large meal had caught up with him. Geoff drove him home and with a yawning wave to his parents, he headed up to his room.
He didn't bother taking off his clothes, all he did was take off his shoes and fall in a heap onto his bed. Reassured by the words of his friend, he finally felt the burden of sleep that he had been fighting off for such a long time. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was fast asleep.
Then it seemed his eyes wanted to open once more. This time, however, he didn't feel the tired ache of before, he felt refreshed and at ease. He opened his eyes to a scene of beauty and tranquility. Windmills floated on tiny islands that floated in a deep, blue sky. Their giant wheels turning in the cool breeze of the warm day. The green grass of the rolling hills extended off into the distance, stopping only for the high mountains that seemed to rise out of the horizon itself. He could hear the sound of a waterfall somewhere, and as he turned around he saw a herd of Shleep baying as they floated by. It was all here, and it was all familiar. Elliot was back in Spring Valley, he was back in Dreamworld.
A huge smile spread across his face, and he fell back onto the grass with a loud, "YAHOO!" He laughed out loud for a while, happy that he had been allowed back. He stopped and was quiet, listening to the sounds of the windmill wheels creaking, the breeze tossing the trees and grass all about him. Then another sound intruded, one that was eerie and haunting, a ringing that seemed to be getting closer and closer. The Alarm Guardian was coming for him. "No rest for the wicked," thought Elliot as he stood up and looked about for the Ideya temple. Spying it in the distance, he leaped and started heading towards it, shouting out, "I'm back, Claris! And I'm coming for you!"
Claris and Pirdy were asleep on some cots beside a warm stove that radiated some heat to keep the chamber warm. The Archivists had left the chamber, off to do their nightly duties before retiring for the evening themselves. Only Orcim and Nights remained in the chamber, sitting at the round table and drinking hot tea from tiny white cups. The two were speaking in quiet whispers so as not to wake the girls.
"Well, it seems that you have a rather large problem on your hands, Nights. Claris does indeed have a great power that she is right to fear. Unfortunately it is not something that I can help you with."
Nights sighed and nodded his head, taking a sip of the tea. "I was afraid you were going to say that. You guys know almost everything there is to know about Dreamworld. If you don't know off the top of your heads, then you know of a book that speaks about it."
"We have books on the Great Dreamer, but none of them spoke about how he controlled his power, or that he even needed to. It was assumed that he always had the knowledge to control them."
Nights nodded once more, turning to look at Claris. "What about Wizeman and a permanent way to stop him?"
"The permanent defeat of Wizeman might be something I can help you with. The very fact that you sent him into hibernation for a time bespeak of a mortal that can be destroyed. I just don't know how."
"I can't fight another war against him, Orcim. I don't have the strength." He turned his face away from the fire in the stove, immersing it in shadow so that only his purple eyes remained. "It took too much out of me last time. Umbrae was nothing compared to Reala, and yet I barely beat her."
Orcim nodded, facing the fire and taking a deep breath. "Your power will return as you travel, Nights. Rest assured of that. In the meantime, while I might not be able to help you myself, I can help you in your quest to find out." Orcim fluttered up and over to the case of scrolls and searched through them one by one until he found the one he was looking for. He took it out and fluttered back to the table. Nights cleared the cups out of the way while the Nightopian rolled open the parchment. He coughed a little as the parchment whipped up some dust.
Orcim continued to whisper as he spoke. "I remember an old legend about ancient spirits that used to rule the land before the coming of Wizeman. Let's see..ah, here it is. 'We who rule this land, who have made it with our own hands for the benefit of those that have been created by Him, have grown weary with our endeavor. In order for us to regain our strength, we must sleep. A palace we have built in the green arms of this place. Here we will remain until such time as we have regained our strength. We leave this world in the hands of those created by Him.'"
The Nightmaren shook his head, looking at the block-like script on the scroll. "So you mean that there are beings more powerful than Wizeman right here in Dreamland? 'Green arms of this place'? Half of this world is green. The hills of Spring Valley and Splash Garden, the trees of Mystic Forest, I mean heck, they could be anywhere, even right outside here. The hills of Soft Museum are green too."
Orcim shook his head, rolling up the scroll. "It would have to be heavily protected. They wouldn't want just anyone coming and bothering them. They were tired, very tired, so they would have placed a number of traps and laid their chambers somewhere easily defended. Spring Valley, Soft Museum, and Splash Garden are wide rolling hills."
"Mystic Forest."
"Indeed. I have a whole section of books detailing travelers who have entered Mystic Forest and who have become lost for weeks, coming out and telling tales of terror. You even know it yourself, Nights. Nobody has gone into the center of Mystic Forest and come out alive. You can't fly there, for the forest birds rise up and attack you. Something is in the center of that forest and nature itself is set to protect it."
Nights looked at Pirdy and Claris once more, leaning back in his chair. "The center of Mystic Forest. They won't stand a chance. Heck, I barely stand a chance."
"They have to go with you Nights. They might be able to help you with Claris' problem at the same time."
Nights shook his head, "Absolutely not. Claris perhaps, her power could probably protect us. Pirdy, however, is not."
"I agree with you, but you may need her healing powers. She is eager to set things right, things that she feels she may have done wrong by working for Wizeman. Come Nights, you yourself felt the same way, once."
The Nightmaren remembered. It was the reason he had saved Claris and Elliot from their nightmares a long time ago. He felt bad about what Wizeman was planning to do. It was only afterward that he realized he could use their red Ideya to help him. He looked at Orcim one more time and finally nodded. "Yes, you are right of course."
Orcim fluttered to the scroll case and replaced the ancient manuscript and then flew to another part of the chamber. "This isn't a mission where simply acrobatics will do anymore, my friend. You need something to help you." He fluttered from case to case and then opened one, removing a long sword. "This is the sword of Gabriel. You will need it now, I think."
Nights took the sword in hand and looked at it. It shined brightly in the light emitted from the crystal, but as Nights looked at the metal closer, he thought he saw the hint of a red flame writhing inside of it. "This isn't an ordinary sword, is it?"
Orcim laughed and shook his head. "No, my friend, it is not. When you are ready, the sword will do many wonderful things for you. Until then, use it to defend yourself and your friends."
Nights sheathed the sword in a leather scabbard that Orcim provided. "We'll sleep and get an early start tomorrow." He walked over to where the girls were, running a hand through Claris' hair. "I know you mean well," thought Nights, "but where we're going, I need more than that."
Elliot looked out of the Ideya temple, the wind bristling through his hair as he looked out at the night sky. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Where are you, Claris? Where would I go if I was stuck in a coma and needed to get out." He looked up into the sky once more and saw a human shape darting against the starry backdrop. Elliot smiled, "What luck!", he once more thought to himself. "There's Nights now!" He ran out from the temple and waved his hands, shouting up to the Nightmaren. "NIGHTS! I'm down here! It's me! Elliot!"
The figure changed direction and started heading towards Elliot. The boy smiled and said, "Alright! He'll know where Claris is." As the figure came closer, however, Elliot's smile became a frown, and then a look of fear. The figure was dressed all in black, with glaring blue eyes, and a very shiny dagger in it's hands.
To be Continued...
