~AN~ Don't worry, it's not quite the end. Yet.

To DB---I guess you haven't read the reviews or some of the earlier author's notes, as I think this whole thing has come up at least ten times… In answer to your question, no, I haven't played the game, and it shows quite often. I have been informed that the comics are not canon---I was recently involved in a debate concentrating around that very question---but they're the only type of 'official' things I have access to. Thanks for pointing that out.

I like going off into my own little sidetracks---love it, in fact---but I thought I'd do a little experiment to see whether everyone preferred me staying closer to canon than I have, or they liked originality. Under the circumstance, there doesn't seem to be much emotion either way---

Bass: Avis, you moron, you've only gotten two reviews.

Ahem. UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, there doesn't seem to be any radical emotion either way, so I'll just continue on being my usual 'Gee Let's Just Swirl Things Around A Bunch Without Paying Attention To What'll Happen When We Do' self. Please, tell me if you'd prefer a more canon story. An author needs to know what their audience wants!

Oh yes, and Happy Birthday to my dear friend Dusk!

Insomnia: Come on, everybody! Sing along! Ha---*is gagged simultaneously by both Bass and Jules*

…Bass is giving me dirty looks, so I'm going to shut up now.

Disclaimer: "I was not."---Bass

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,

Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;

But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,

When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!

The Ballad Of East And West, by Rudyard Kipling

Chapter Twenty-one:

The Dawning Of East And West

The storm was beginning to die.

The midnight moment had passed, and the gap between the Waking World and the Dream World would not be available to be opened much longer. Time was pressing.

Overhead the clouds were beginning to break, and sky that had not been seen for days began to peek through tiny slits in the calming masses. The wind did not shriek so shrilly as before.

Two Nightopians that had taken shelter under Mystic Forest's eaves during the downpour peeked out as the rain began to slow. For a moment they both were content with looking out; then one pushed the other into the rain. His victim fell out in surprise, and was promptly drenched. He gave his giggling companion an evil glare. "Napp!"

Napp was still giggling musically; then he gave a yelp as he was dragged into the rain along with his friend. "Hey!"

His friend folded his chubby arms and stuck out a small pink tongue. "Serves you right."

"Does not, Snuze!"

"Does too!"

This went on for a minute or so; by the time sixty seconds had gone by, however, they had forgotten what they were arguing about and were happily involved with playing tag in the rain. This new game was abandoned as something large and purple shot by. "'Scuse me, make way! Renegade nightmaren comin' through!"

Snuze fluttered back, curious. "Really? Never met one of those before. I'm Snuze!"

"I'm Napp!" injected his friend, not wanting to be left out. "We're Nightopians!"

NiGHTS paused, shooting a desperate glance at the Clock Tower not a hundred yards away. "Um…I'm NiGHTS. Look, fellas, I'd love to chat, but I've got a universe to save."

"Really?" The two Nightopians fluttered hard to keep up as he headed for the Tower's top window.

"Yes!"

"How?"

"By hiding these dream spheres. Now shoo!"

They followed him into the top window, halting when they saw its otherworldly interior. Snuze looked around at the warped, emerald-green walls of the glowing room. "You gonna hide 'em in here?"

"No, through here. This is the doorway to Reality. It can only be opened once in a hundred years…and these spheres are the key!"

He pointed at a small, gradually shrinking hole in the pulsing walls. Napp and Snuze fluttered around it curiously before getting shooed away by a desperate NiGHTS.

"If I can shove 'em into the real world," he explained, thrusting one of his glowing spheres into the hole with a crackle of energy, "then Wizeman will never get his hands on them!"

The other sphere followed the first, shoved through the still-shrinking hole with desperate strength. The doorway, however, was still growing smaller. With a shriek of energy a chip broke loose, and the Ideya slid through the hole.

NiGHTS yelped as a burning shard of Courage Ideya buried itself in his chest, merging with his skin as if it were supposed to be there all along. He pressed his hands against it, his mind flashing to the past like a case of déjà vu. A burning pain in his chest, and a glowing diamond of red…

Slowly he raised his hands, staring at the shard that was flashing from his chest. There was no pain, only a pleasant warmth. And it felt right.

Turning, he fled the tower.

Reala flung himself on his back, buffeted about by the rough winds, rain pounding against his face with harsh drops, thunder cracking in his ears. Sheer, unlimited power, and no one else but himself---no one to get attached to and betrayed by. No one. Just he, and power.

Perfection.

Then the power began to fade. He opened his tightly-shut eyes to find that the storm was breaking up, showing spaces of sky. The winds were dying. The storm was disappearing.

That meant the door was too. Everything came back, and he felt anger surge through him again like a wave of fire, burning in his throat, making him want to howl at the sky. He wanted blood.

A flash of purple attracted his eye. NiGHTS was emerging from the Clock Tower---and he was not carrying anything.

Reala's eyes flashed wide. The Traitor.

Without another thought he was off, streaking through the air, golden claws begging to feel flesh.

The storm was dead.

Wizeman watched as the clouds dissipated, slowly stretching into strands of cotton candy and wool, thin whitening ripples of mackerel scales against a stunningly blue sky. The rain had stopped, and growing things bent to the ground by its fierce onslaught were able to pull themselves up once more. Slowly the land came to life.

His furious bellow rang across the plains of Nightmare, echoing through the clearing sky.

Time up.

NiGHTS heard the bellow, but he did not pay attention to it. He was staring at his brother.

Reala floated in front of him, panting, his fiery eyes wide and dilated, his claws flexing angrily. His hate was tangible.

NiGHTS floated back, horrified. His brother had abruptly turned into a monster.

"Reals…" he whispered.

Reala's eyes flashed even brighter, an almost feverish light glowing from within. "I'm not Reals---and you're not my brother!"

NiGHTS leapt back, staring in horror as golden claws buried themselves in the tree he'd been standing in front of only two seconds earlier. "Reals, calm down! I just think that we shouldn't take over a world of innocents with so many unprepared---"

"Traitor!" Reala's bellow was filled with anger, his eyes shining with hurt turned to hate. "You betrayed us, traitor! Traitor!"

His hand grasped the hilt of the sword that he had donned that morning in preparation for their conquer of the Waking World. For their doomed plan. Without a sound the sword leapt from its sheath, its dark blade only reflecting the dimmest of light. This was Reala's own weapon: Dark Rhapsody. He had named it for the sound it made as it was swung; a high, vibrating pitch, a song for battle. A song for blood.

NiGHTS drew Lucky Star in response, realizing that not to would be putting himself in danger. "Reals, please---"

"Don't call me that!" Reala shouted at him, his voice hoarse. "Only my brother NiGHTS called me that---and NiGHTS is dead. You're the only one here, Traitor!"

And without allowing NiGHTS another word, Dark Rhapsody slashed out in a dark, singing arc.

The High Seekers were silent, cowering before their master.

Wizeman stared out across the landscape, knowing that Reala and NiGHTS were fighting somewhere. At least, Reala was fighting. He could no longer sense NiGHTS.

'Why not?' he asked himself, frustrated beyond all reason. 'Why is he hidden from me?'

His voice was low, a deep monotone. "Leave me."

The leaders hurried to obey. Once they were out they all, by silent consent, headed straight for Great Hall.

Clawz collapsed in his velvet chair, staring at the fire in a dazed way. "I don't…believe this…" he managed.

Puffy fell back on her sofa, following his example. "Neither do I."

"I can't believe NiGHTS is…a traitor…" continued Clawz. "All this time, and we never knew…"

"I just can't believe it," agreed Puffy.

"I can."

Their eyes traveled to the demi-maren, sitting cross-legged in front of the fireplace, his head in his hands and his eyes following the dancing flames. Clawz sounded annoyed. "What do you mean, you can?"

Jackle's voice was thoughtful, but distant. "Isn't it obvious? Out of all of us, he was the most likely to snap first---especially after seeing that golgoth hurt the younger ones. Yes, if anyone was going to go first, it would be NiGHTS."

The others continued to stare. "Why?" murmured Puffy. "What do you mean?"

Jackle turned half-way, looking at her through deep green eyes flecked with gold. "He's different," he whispered. "All we three are." His eyes focused on the distance, as if he were staring at something very far off. "I thought he was rather like a star…"

"What are you talking about?" demanded Clawz. But Jackle had turned back to the fire, and did not answer.

Swords clashed, not with the ringing of metal so often told of in stories, but with a harsh grating sound of steel upon steel and a shriek of energy as chips were broken from the edges. The two nightmaren strained, swords caught together by the chipped blades, then parted, both circling and looking for an opening. In an instant one of them would find one, and their swords would meet again with another grating screech. Both maren were sweating.

Their eyes were filled with emotions, but neither spoke to the other. Both were concentrating on surviving.

Lucky Star flashed down in a circling cut, and Dark Rhapsody swung out to meet it, singing. Again the blades met and rebounded, and again the transferred energy hummed through the chipped blades and tingled in the opponents' hands. It was a brutal dance that repeated itself over and over again.

NiGHTS blinked as a bead of sweat rolled into his eye, then gasped and jerked back as Reala took advantage of his momentary distraction. He just barely managed to meet Dark Rhapsody's blow, but his wrist was wrenched from the sheer power. He bit back a cry and pulled away.

Reala hurried to pursue the advantage now opened up to him, but NiGHTS returned his offensive with one of his own. A lucky slash, one that ordinarily would have been almost impossible to pull off, managed to finish itself, and Reala could not block it in time to save his arm from receiving a gash. He hissed between his teeth and jerked away.

NiGHTS' face filled with pain and sorrow as he watched Reala nurse the wound, blood rolling off his arm in crimson spheres that dropped silently and spread a red patch across the mossy forest floor. Reala caught sight of his opponent's sympathy, and his expression turned into a snarl. Ignoring the wound, he flew towards NiGHTS once again.

Dark Rhapsody continued to sing its battle song, and Lucky Star continued to flash with the light now shining down from the clearing sky. Neither swordsman would surrender, and neither could defeat the other. The two continued to fight, and the morning began to break.