AN: About friends, to a friend. This chapter has both AC and the Nightopian pair in it, Nightdragon, and so it's dedicated to you.

AC: How come you never dedicate a chapter to any of us? We're your MUSES.

*pokes him* Because you never inspire me, stupid.

AC: We do too!

Bass and Insomnia: *are currently beating each other over the heads with an oak table-leg and the broad side of a big silver axe, respectively*

*watching them* Yes, but you inspire all the wrong sorts of things in me. That's the problem.

What can I say about Nightdragon? We're different, and yet the same; we speak to our muses, we're sensitive to dislike, we tend to be empathic; when it comes to our theories and our ideas about NiGHTS, which was what brought us together, we couldn't be more different. Bring up any debatable issue connected to this fan base, and it's likely she and I will be on opposite sides.

I couldn't care less.

Molly was one of the first people I met here, and she helped shape my online personality---she let me know that there were nice people out there. Friendly, caring, open, and funny, she's always been there, ready to stand up for me or give me a shoulder to cry on. Every time I needed to whimper to someone, moan about my life, complain about my feelings or growl about something that had happened, she was willing to listen, and she still is.

In honor of our friendship, Molly.

Disclaimer: "How come you never dedicate a chapter to any of us? We'"---AC

Whom the gods destroy, they first make mad.

Fragment, by Euripides

Chapter Five:

Cursed By The Gods

"G'mornin', AC," mumbled Jackle sleepily, blinking at his crow friend through the fringe of invisible bangs that he felt over his eyes but could not see. "How's th' night?"

AC cawed and scratched behind his head with a clawed foot, standing up on his toes to yawn in a bird-like manner and then stretch out his wings, one at a time. Jackle followed the same routine, yawning and stretching as he began the daily business of working his way out of the bedclothes that had become entangled about his body. "Why is it I always get tangled in the covers?" he muttered.

AC gave a laughing caw, finding the demi-maren's struggling attempts to break free amusing. Jackle halted and glared at him. "You could at least help out!"

AC gave him a demure look and turned away, shouldering up next to the bed post to rub his head against it, bright eyes closed. Jackle muttered something about incorrigible crows as he shoved at the sheet that was wrapped tightly about his legs.

Finally, with a large amount of effort, he managed to break free and tumble out of bed, getting up off the floor where he'd landed with a bad-tempered glare at the bed. AC chortled to himself in a crow-like way.

"That was mean," Jackle accused to coverlet, shoving it back onto the bed without actually trying to give it any form of bed-making decency. "Next time attack someone who's armed and awake!"

He turned away with a pleased air, convinced he'd given the covers a good scolding, and began hunting for his cape, looking under the bed and in the bureau, peering out on the balcony. "Cape," he muttered, reminding himself of what he was seeking for. "Cape, cape, cape. Cape cape cape. Cape."

"Cape!" he called to the room, as if expecting it to jump up in answer to its master's call. "Cape, ca---cape!" he pronounced happily, as he caught sight of the piece of flaming-yellow fabric that lay draped over a giant block, where he'd thrown it the night before.

"There you are," he told it, scurrying over and drawing it around himself as if he were greeting an old friend. "Got lost, did you? I told you not to wander off at night! Sitting on a block as lonesome as you please, hm? That's no way for a cape to act."

He turned away and began searching for his hat, absently talking to the cape as he did. "What's with the giant blocks, hm? They're nice and all, but you'd think this room would have a bit more space to move about in! Who put the blocks here in the first place? Well?"

The cape, apparently, did not know, as it did not answer. Jackle didn't seem at all fazed by this, but continued chatting to it as he found his hat and put it on; turning to AC, he gave the crow a smile. "I'm off to breakfast. See you in a bit."

AC bobbed his head sleepily as watched the demi-maren bound out, happy as could be; as soon as his friend was out of the door, he settled down for a long nap. Now that he was staying awake nights, watching over Jackle to make sure the demi-maren didn't come to harm in the dark, he needed all the extra sleep he could get.

Bouncing down the corridor, Jackle passed by a mirror. He stopped and backed up, grinning at his reflection. "Hello, there. What are you doing hanging in the middle of the hall, eh? Who would---"

He halted. Something about the scene---a dark and shadowed place, a mirror hanging in front of him, seeing his reflection---brought back a memory with burning speed. He stared, eyes wide.

He began to whimper softly, still staring; pressing one fist to his mouth, he gazed at the picture of himself reflected there, all eyes and empty air. He whimpered around his fist.

'Who am I?'

The day passed quietly. Nightmaren followed their normal routine; fighters trained, cleaners scrubbed floors and replaced firewood and tinder, bakers and chefs worked industriously all day long to provide food for the teeming population of maren that lived within Nightmare Castle. Gatherers and suppliers ventured out into the Dream World to bring in food for the kitchens and wood for the fires of Blacksmithy, but they did not dare stray far. Ideya count was strangely low, but the general knowledge was that Ideya count wasn't really what mattered now, and no one was bothering counting anyway; intake slacked off. Amaranth worked hard at his bellows, hammering the metal sent to him by the maren who worked in the mines under the mountains of Spring Valley. Morgen was kept busy with handing out weapons to those who had been sent to a new position in the fighting ranks.

The High Seekers were strangely absent from sight of the masses. Gulpo was hiding somewhere deep in the underground caverns he frequented; Gillwing was curled up in his lagoon; Puffy was sitting in the Great Hall, not reading for once but simply staring at the fire and pondering; Clawz and Jackle were nowhere to be found.

Reala was struggling to regain the position he'd held before NiGHTS had stolen the Ideya; he hadn't had such a title, perhaps, but his orders had been obeyed without question. Now maren murmured and talked among themselves, questioning orders and giving him suspicious glances. He barked and snarled and even hit one of the students in a moment of rage; Heckler stumbled back, but the look he shot his superior was one of contempt and resentment, not one of fearful respect. Reala trembled with anger both at himself and his followers. They refused to respect him, and he couldn't make them give him that respect.

'Blast it, NiGHTS!' He slammed his golden claws into a training post and stood still, back heaving. 'If you hadn't done that, none of this would have happened! Things wouldn't have collapsed! So…why did you do it?'

He ripped his claws out of the wood, panting. No, questioning was not good. Questioning made things more confusing; it was questioning that really bought this whole thing about. He shouldn't question. 'It's all your fault, NiGHTS. I don't know why you did it, and I don't care. It's all because of you!'

Yes, that was better. It was easier if he just shoved all the blame on his strange brother. He picked a splinter of wood from under his claw thoughtfully, forcing himself to calm down and be a reasonable general like he was expected to be. 'Come, think now. There has to be a way to make them snap back to attention. There has to.'

He turned away from the splintered training manikin, ignoring the students who were watching him fearfully from a corner. They put their heads together to whisper as the Seeker General strode out.

"So is training done?"

"I dunno, Strix. He's never walked out in the middle of the session like that."

"You shouldn't have asked him about NiGHTS, Yarrow."

"How was I to know he'd react like that?"

"You guys can complain, but I personally am happy to have the rest of the session off."

"You bet I am too. But I wonder what's wrong with Reala?"

Nip hugged the tree branch he'd landed on contentedly. "Those were good berries."

"They were a bit dry," Tuck commented as he looked towards the Ideya Palace. "I like them fresher."

"I thought they were good."

"They were still nice." He cocked his head to one side, then turned to his brother. "Where's NiGHTS?"

"What?" Nip rolled over and looked towards their friend's prison.

He was gone.

In the middle of Splash Garden, inside an Ideya Palace, sat a very confused, very disorientated nightmaren.

NiGHTS stared about him dizzily, still trying to get over the strange, sickening sensation and sudden change of location that had hit him. 'What the Ideya…'

He hadn't even been sitting upright---he'd simply been lying there, staring at the ceiling, and begun wishing he was in Splash Garden so he could see more open spaces. Then the sensation had come over him, and the world seemed to melt into a whirlwind of color.

Now he was here. He looked about himself, shaking his head slowly as he tried to grasp a hold of what had happened. Some sort of instant teleportation, it felt like.

'Which makes no sense.' He reached out towards the tempting empty space between the pillars, knowing quite well that he'd be repelled but figuring he might as well try anyway just in case. He was. 'Since when have I been able to teleport? And why right here?'

'Well, let's try it again.' He thought hard of his room in Nightmare, concentrating every single ounce of energy he had into going there. 'Cummon, cummon cummon cummon…'

When he opened his eyes, he was still in Splash Garden.

'Oh well.' He kicked absently at the floor of the Palace. 'I wonder why that happened. Doesn't really matter, although the Nightopians back in Spring Valley might worry about me…'

He gasped as the sensation of being grabbed and pulled down an elevator far too fast once again engulfed him, leaving him, dizzy and surprised, in the middle of the Spring Valley Ideya Palace.

Nip and Tuck nearly fell off their branch as NiGHTS re-appeared, none the worse for wear and looking very confused. They fluttered to his side. Nip yelled, "What was that?"

"Don't ask me," mumbled NiGHTS, staring down at himself.

"You just appeared out of nowhere," Tuck informed him.

"Not nowhere," corrected NiGHTS absently. "Splash Garden."

"Splash Garden? How'ja get all the way over there?"

"Don't ask me. I was just sitting here wishing I could go there, and next thing I know, bam---there I am."

"And why's your chest glowin' like that?"

"Like what?" NiGHTS glanced down to find that the Ideya shard sealed to his chest was indeed glowing, lit from within by a deep ruby light. He rubbed at it, confused.

"Like that."

"Yes, yes, I see it now." He gave it a chastising look. "I dunno why, but I do know that every time that thing glows, something bad usually happens."

"Maybe it wanted you to go to Splash Garden!" suggested Nip brightly. His brother gave him The Look.

"Maybe you're right, Nip," NiGHTS replied, brushing him off. "I wonder why…"

"No, really!" Nip insisted. "Maybe that's why these things are here! So nightmaren with Ideya can travel around!"

Tuck and NiGHTS both stared at him. He shrugged and shielded himself. "Well hey, y'don't hafta rub it in…"

"No, no, you might be right!" NiGHTS was excited now. "It makes sense! Maybe that's what these things are here for---transportation!"

"Y'mean you don't know what they're here for?" murmured Tuck dryly.

"No---do you?"
"No, but we all just figured it was something you nightmaren did and forgot to tell us about."

"No, it's all a mystery. They've been here as long as I can remember, no one knows what they're here for…" He grinned. "But maybe now we've figured it out! It makes sense!"

"It won't make sense until you make sure it works," pointed out Tuck. "Try and go somewhere."

"M'kay." NiGHTS closed his eyes, concentrating on seeing a place in his mind. "I'll go to…mmm…Stick Canyon."

Nip chirped excitedly. "Your gem! It's glowing!"

"I know," murmured NiGHTS, right before his form blurred and he disappeared. Nip and Tuck exchanged a high five.

"He'll be back any minute now," said Tuck.

They waited.

"Any minute now," he repeated.

The Ideya Palace remained empty.

The Nightopians exchanged glances. "Where is he?" murmured Nip. Tuck shrugged.

"Hyperspace?"

"Where?"

"I dunno. Some dreamer was mumbling about it."

"Oh. Y'think he's there?"

"How should I know?"

"You said he might be."

"That doesn't mean he is."

"But then where is he?"

"I dunno."

"I thought you thought he was in hyperspace."

"He's not in hyperspace," snapped Tuck.

"So where is he?"

"Right here," NiGHTS felt like contributing as he re-appeared.

"NiGHTS!" cried the Nightopian siblings at the same time. Nip pressed himself against one of the pillars, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Where'd you go?"

"Several places." NiGHTS ticked them off on his fingers. "Stick Canyon, Mystic Forest, Splash Garden, Soft Museum, and Frozen Bell. All the Ideya Palaces."
"We were worried about you," Nip informed him.

"Sorry. I just wanted to see if I was right."

"About what?"

"About them being connected." He beamed proudly. "I think you're right about it being transportation, Nip. You can get to any Ideya Palace from any other one, but nowhere else. Kinda like a train station or something."

"Cooooool."

"Yeah. But I wonder who made them?"

"The people in hyperspace?" guessed Nip.

NiGHTS gave him an odd look. "What?"

"Ignore him, NiGHTS."

"But Tuck, you were the one who brought up hyperspace!"

"And I'm sorry I did."

NiGHTS looked between them confusedly. "Mind explaining?"

"Just forget it, NiGHTS. So, now that you know you can travel around, what are you gonna do?"
"Nothing, probably. I still can't get out. But it'll be nice for a change of scenery every now and then, I suppose."

Nip looked downcast. "Then you'll leave us?"
"Certainly not." NiGHTS smiled at him, feeling pleased that the Nightopian wanted him to stay. "A piece of scenery isn't worth anything if a friend isn't part of it."

Nip beamed contentedly. "So you won't go away?"

"Not unless the purple aliens from hyperspace come and kidnap me."

"They can do that?"

"I don't know, I'm not the expert on hyperspace. Why don't you ask Tuck?"

"NiiiiGHTS!"

"Tuck, are there really purple aliens in hyperspace?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"What are you doing up here?"

Jackle did not look up, staring out across the open lands with emerald-green eyes. "Thinking."

"Mm-hm. What about?" Clawz sat down quietly next to him, joining the demi-maren in scanning the lands stretched out beyond the castle walls.

"I dunno. Life."

"That's pretty deep for you," commented Clawz. Jackle jerked his head up.

"Why?"

"Uh…" Clawz held up a paw, pulling back slightly. "I didn't mean to offend."

"I know you didn't, but why?" Jackle's tone was not angry, but questioning. "Why can't I be deep and philosophical?"

"You can be if you like."

"Yes, but you didn't expect me to be," he pointed out. He sighed and rubbed a hand across his forehead, eyes closing softly. "Tell me something, Clawz."

"Okay---the sky's blue."

"You know what I mean," mumbled Jackle.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." The catmaren bit out the apology but managed not to grimace when doing so. "What do you want me to tell you?"

"Tell me…tell me, why am I so different?"

This question made his companion pause for a moment, rubbing his tongue along his teeth. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean." Jackle leaned back against the railing wearily, shoving off his hat with one hand and dropping it at his feet. Clawz watched silently as he began running crimson-tipped fingers through his invisible hair. "I look different. I act different. I sound different. I think different. I react different." He shot Clawz an almost accusing look. "You think I don't see it, but I do. I see it all perfectly. I see everything."

"I'm sure you do," began Clawz, eyeing the demi-maren a bit hesitantly. Jackle slumped against the railing, tossing his head back.

"Oh sure, look at me funny. But it's true---I see everything you do! Shards, I see more than you see! I've seen and heard more than you'll ever see or hear in your entire life!"

Clawz's only reply was to edge away just a miniscule amount. Jackle groaned and rolled over, slumping down onto the railing to contemplate the shadowed world from lying on his arms. "See, that's what I mean. You don't get it, you back away. What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you," murmured Clawz, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. Jackle rolled his head to one side and eyed him.

"Yeah, right. Tell me, Clawz, what do they say about me?"

"Who?"

"The others. Puff and Gulpo and Gill and Reala. What do they say about me?"

Clawz closed his eyes briefly. 'He deserves to know what maren say about him, doesn't he?' "Well, Reala says you're insane."

"Hm." Jackle rolled back to look out once more, not showing any large amount of emotion over this revelation. "Not surprised…I wonder. Is he right?" He gave Clawz a look again. "Do you think he is?"

"I don't know," admitted Clawz. Jackle laughed quietly, more of a small breath than a laugh.

"At least you're being truthful."

"It's the least you deserve." Clawz shifted on his haunches, thoughtful. "I…really don't know, Jackle. You're smart enough, and you know what's going on, but you kind of…fade out sometimes. Like you're not really paying attention to what's going on. Or like you're just slipping into another world for a little bit."

"Maybe so." The demi-maren's eyes were large and dark in the dusky light, filled with a strange sort of intelligence that came from self-inspection. "Maybe he's right."

Clawz swallowed, determined now to see this conversation to its end. "What do you think?"

"Me?" The question seemed to thrown Jackle off for a bit; his eyes glanced to the side, thinking. "I…I dunno, really. I mean…yeah, I kinda drift off into thinking sometimes, but…well…"

"You might just be a deep thinker," provided Clawz. "That doesn't mean you're insane."

"No, it's not---it's just not like that. It's not that simple." Jackle took a shuddering breath, wrapping his hands over his head. "I hear…I hear voices, Clawz. Voices out of nowhere."

Clawz did not reply, licking dry lips with a long tongue. Jackle continued on in a shaky voice. "At first it was just in dreams---I shouldn't have dreams, I know, but I have them all the time…and I used to hear voices in them. Then, a few weeks ago or something, I heard them in the middle of the day…"

He choked on a breath. "And now they talk to me a lot. They---talk to me. Clawz, I think I'm going insane."

Clawz shifted from one side to the other, thinking quickly through his confusion. "Maybe…"

For a moment, they were both silent, sharing the feelings of discomfort and vulnerability. Finally Clawz spoke again. "But you're still the same---you still think clearly, right? Most of the time. And you're still smart. Maybe it's just something that will pass."

Jackle sighed and rubbed a lock of indiscernible hair between his fingers slowly. "I don't know, Clawz. I just don't know. I feel the same, but then sometimes I get excited, or happy, or sad over nothing…like I'm drunk or something. By tomorrow I won't even think about what I said today; it'll be kind of foggy, just like everything anyone said yesterday, or the day before that. But does that make me insane?" His voice dropped to a mumble. "Is there really a line like that between sanity and being crazy? How do you know if you've crossed it? What do you do if you think you have?"

He clutched the stone battlement, bending over his stomach as if it hurt to stand straight; his shoulders were shaking. His voice, when he spoke, was strained. "Oh Wizeman, Clawz, I don't even know who I am anymore!"

The catmaren moved closer, unsure of what he was doing and so following his gut instinct. He placed a paw on Jackle's shoulder carefully, the warmth from his broad paw soothing the tenses muscles knotted underneath. "I know who you are, Jackle."

"W-who?" Jackle was shivering, a tear beginning to streak down his face. It seemed to hang eerily in mid-air, suspended by nothing visible. Clawz spread his paw wider to reach further up the demi-maren's neck.

"You're Jackle, the wild card of the High Seekers. You're---my friend." He repeated the words as if he were assuring himself as much as Jackle. "You're my friend, and you're just the same as you've always been. That's never going to change, I promise."

"But I'm losing myself," Jackle sniffed, wiping a quick hand across his face. Clawz pressed closer, holding the demi-maren against his chest and continuing to keep a comforting paw on his shoulders.

"No, you're not. You're right here, with your friend. See, I'm right here."

"M'kay." Jackle sniffled again and bent his head, wrapping his arms about himself and slumping against the catmaren next to him. They stood there for a long time.