Nights Twilight Dreaming
Chapter Twenty-Two
Crystal, Nights, Silvermoon, Cumula, and Pidge all continued to traverse the area toward the quartz crystal they were looking for. They were going through an emerald green canyon fighting a few Nightmaren hoards in the process. As they made their way past, they can see what appeared to be a fellow rebel Nightmaren in the distance. Crystal waved in their direction. The rebel waved right back and took off in the direction of the star quartz. Crystal and her Nightmaren allies followed suit. As they made their way over, they crossed a sapphire-blue river with Silvermoon and Nights flying over it, and Crystal using an amber bridge to get across. They took about five minutes of traversing the emerald grass plain even fighting a few more Nightmaren hoards along the way.
As they made their way over, they got a better view of the Nightmaren they have waved to. She was the same rank as Nights and Silvermoon with snow-white skin, long, lime green hair, and pink eyes. She wore a pink and green rose dress with pink boots, green tights, a red collar, and a pair of pink roses in her hair. Crystal was enamored by her appearance as roses were her favorite kind of flower. The quintet ran right up to her as she beamed at them.
"Hi everyone," she greeted them politely.
"Fancy meeting you here, Rose," said Silvermoon.
"How do you, madame?" Crystal greeted with a curtsy. Nights beamed at Rose with a wave.
"Looks like you guys made it just in time," she told them. "The commander sent Owl and me to the star quartz just in case Reala and cohorts came in to take it before you can."
"Smart thinking on her part," replied Crystal impressed with their initiative. "By the way, where is Owl?"
"He's over by the star quartz," Rose explained. "Follow me, everyone." Rose took off in the direction of the star quartz with the quintet following right behind her. Looming behind them, however, was Reala who was tailing them the entire time. As soon as they were heading in that direction, he followed them and stayed hidden behind the various quartz crystals they've gone past along the way waiting for the moment to strike.
Meanwhile, Owl was on a perch next to the star quartz waiting patiently for the group's arrival. A group of Nightopians and good 3rd Level Nightmarens were playing together near the quartz with what appeared to be an emerald sphere. Among them was what appeared to be a Nightopian with Hollow-like eyebrows, and a collar that matched the Hollows playing with him. The group approached them just as one of the Nightmarens bats the emerald gem so hard that it came to the group at break-neck speed. Sensing this, Crystal ducked her head just in time for Nights to catch it in his hand. The Nightopian with the Hollow-like eyebrows and collar approached them and babbled an apology for the hard throw. Nights pat the little one with his free hand before giving the ball back to it. After a few quick nuzzles, the Nightopian hybrid went back to their friends to continue their game. Crystal was intrigued by its' appearance.
"How about that, a half-Nightopian," she stated complimenting its' appearance with a smile before turning her head to Owl.
"A Mepian to be precise," Owl told her while beaming. After opening his eyes, he explained, "Sometimes a Nightopian would bump into a Nightmaren by pure happenstance, thus creating the result before you. Although they inherit the chaotic side of the Nightmaren, the Nightopian side of the Mepian is what tempers it from causing any harm to the rest of their kin."
"A balance of light and darkness," she noted. "I like that." She looked over at the star quartz and walked over to it with Nights, Rose, and Silvermoon following behind her. Owl stepped aside while Crystal looked over at him and said, "Thank you for babysitting the star quartz, Owl."
"You're welcome," he beamed. Crystal knelt to the ground and placed her hand on it to form cracks on the earth. Nights became a jackhammer to cut the gem loose while Silvermoon and Rose held the quartz steady. As soon as they were able to remove it, Crystal used Voyage to activate a portal, and Rose and Silvermoon dropped the large star quartz into it closing the portal in the process. Cumula and Pidge both jumped for joy almost in unison.
"That leaves one more quartz crystal," Crystal stated.
"Which reminds me," Owl told the quintet. "It would appear that the final crystal quartz was counted by mere mishap. However, given that most of the ones the Nightmarens have targeted have been acquired, I see no harm in collecting the tenth one as well. Reala is, unfortunately, catching up with you and Nights so now it is a race against time."
"Not good," replied Crystal cringing. Nights got into a battle stance the moment he heard this.
"I fear it may be far worse once we complete the trial," Owl stated with slight fear. "If you obtained the final quartz crystal, regardless of our current position, I'm afraid that it may spell doom to this Nightopia as well other dream worlds to follow." Crystal looked at the ground solemnly as her Ideya of Courage glowed brightly in her hand. Pidge and Cumula both nudged her in reassurance.
"Not if we have anything to say about it," Rose told him enthusiastically. This perked up both Crystal and Nights as well as gave relief to Silvermoon and Owl.
"We're gonna beat them right to the punch," said Rose, "even if we have to fight Reala and his Goodle squad to do it." Crystal was perplexed by the name of Reala's guards before realizing what she was talking about.
"You mean those buzzards from the chase and 1st trail?" she asked rather amused at the mere mention of them.
"No, those are Buzzares," Nights told her through telepathy while giving a silent laugh. "The riders themselves are called Goodles."
"Ah, I see," she replied with slight amusement. She turned to Rose with a smile.
"Our final crystal quartz awaits," she told her. "Shall we head on over there?"
"You bet," Rose replied. "Once we get that thing, Reala's going to bad so mad he'll light a tree on fire." Crystal shuddered slightly upon hearing that notion while Cumula and Pidge both huddled behind her in a panic.
"I can't imagine how that would play out," she replied. Nights pat her on the back for reassurance while Silvermoon nodded in agreement, adding, "He is known to have quite a temper. Many of my colleagues have witnessed it first-hand."
"Myself included," replied Nights with telepathy. He mimed Reala's behavior when angry with an image of him throwing a fireball at a nearby tree before taking off.
"Yeesh!" replied Crystal with a cringe. She composed herself while she began to move forward. "Let's move on before he sees us." The others nodded in agreement and went to catch up with Crystal, Owl included. Little did they know that there was danger around the corner, and things were about to take a turn for the worse.
Meanwhile, in the Nightmare Realm, the mysterious man is shown to be watching the event unfold through Reala's torchlight. He was watching Crystal in particular, glaring daggers into her while his eyes narrowed as if he was sneering at her. Prowling alongside the shadowy man was Clawz who was growling at her in contempt. As he roared at the image of Crystal and the gang going toward the final quartz crystal, the man turned his head to the red-striped panther with a smile.
"Patience young panther, patience," he told him petting his head in reassurance. "Your master is already on their trail. And not a moment too soon as they are reaching the final quartz crystal." He turned back to the image to see Reala hopping from pillar to pillar to give them the element of surprise. The man grinned at his colleague. He added, "This intervention should be quite a show to behold." He chuckled knowing all too well about how Nightmarens ambush their prey when they least expect them to appear. The light continues to flare as the image of Crystal and the gang appears in the previous image's place.
Nights, Crystal, and the others were all going through an emerald green mountainside in hopes of getting to the final quartz crystal before Reala and his army can. As they made their way over to it, they ran into some hoards of Nightmarens. They were dispatched by all, except Owl who was cowering in fear the moment they appeared. They continued their trek shortly after and they used the river as their guide. As they continued to follow the river, another Nightmaren hoard appeared and attacked the group. The hoard was quickly dispatched as well. After this, they went about their way and made it past a clearing, still following the amethyst colored riverbank beside them.
As they made their way through the valley, they felt a disturbance in the air. The group looked around to see a crowd of Nightopians and good 3rd Level Nightmarens overlooking a cliff. Nights and Crystal took a closer look and realized the problem. A lone Nightopian with a broken wing was holding onto a pearl spike for its dear life. It looked down to see a trio of lion-like Nightmarens approaching the poor soul by going from stump to stump of the rocky mountainside.
"Gaos," Silvermoon inspected the Nightmaren group approaching the Nightopian. The group that was staring at the situation looked at the group and frantically babbled in their language about the danger down below. The broken-winged Nightopian looked down to see the Gaos quickly approaching it and screamed before ducking its head into the spike it was clinging onto. Crystal was worried about the Nightopian as she knew what it was like to be in its' shoes.
"Poor little fella," she noted with a worried look. She looked over at Nights, and said with a smile, "Let's give him a hand." Nights nodded in agreement with a heroic smile. Crystal summoned a vine from her before tying it around her waist and tossing the other end to him allowing him to turn into a crane for better leverage. Being the brave girl that she was, she jumped off the cliff while still attached to the vine while Silvermoon and the others came to their side to supervise the rescue. As soon as Crystal was down to the level of the cliff the Nightopian was trapped on, she used her magnetism to cling her feet onto the side of the mountain. She looked the situation over to see Gaos quickly making their way to the Nightopian. After nodding to herself, she began to run on the side of the mountain. As she ran while similarly holding onto the vine like a mountain-climber, Nights moved toward where she was going to help her along. She ran so fast that felt as though she were swinging in the jungle. She jumped just in the nick of time before holding her right arm outward in hopes of catching the Nightopian. As the little one cowered in fear, Crystal caught it before the jaws of one Gao nearly bit the tiny dream creature.
"Up you go," she told the Nightopian as she hoisted it onto her shoulder. It clung on to her as swung so high up that she flew high into the sky. She brandished her Millennium Rod rather quickly as she did this and activated Diamond Sabre to cut the vine attached to the crane, essentially cutting herself loose. Nights transformed back into his true form as he, Owl, and his fellow insurgent Nightmarens watched her twirl in the air as she fell while holding onto the Nightopian and her Millennium Rod. She landed right on her feet before performing some flips on the ground and then performing her aerial twist and landing on her feet while crouching. She looked up to see the group of Nightopians approaching her and the Nightopian in glee. The celebration was cut short when they heard the Gaos roaring in their direction.
"Looks like it's not over yet," she told her allies. As the group of Gaos managed to make it to the cliffside, they landed on the ground and roared at the group. Nights, Crystal, and the others got into a battle stance. Owl and the broken-winged Nightopian went into hiding soon after.
"Come on, gang," Nights' voice rang out to Crystal and the other four allies. "Let's show these Gaos we mean business." Crystal and Silvermoon nodded while Rose added, "You got it, Nights." Thus the battle against the group of Gaos begins.
Crystal began with the spell Magnitude 8 in hopes of tripping the Gaos up during the battle. This worked while Nights used Dancing Star to ram into them. After noticing some incoming Gaos, Silvermoon activated the spell Flower Hurricane to confuse the new group. Rose used the spell Petal Storm to amplify Silvermoon's already active Flower Hurricane for good measure. Crystal, having deduced rather quickly that the Gaos used thunder and lightning magic, used the spell Diamond Formation, a spell where she summons an array of colored diamonds and kicks them one by one into the targets as if they were soccer balls. Pidge and Cumula were pitching in with their respective attacks as well, even though they were vulnerable to the Gaos electrical attacks.
Nights began using Celestial Shower, a move in which he summons a large group of stars to rain down on his opponents. Some of the stars land on the Gaos confusing them as they did, while new ones were coming by the minute. Crystal ran up to the group of dazed Gaos and began to slash at them with Diamond Sabre. While Rose and Silvermoon used their respective Trumpet Lily, a move in which lilies appear and blast a powerful horn to disorient the enemy, and Leaf Storm, the nature equivalent of Celestial Shower, to take care of Gaos surround her, Crystal used her flurry of slashes to dispatch the ones in front of her. She finished them off with a riposte. Pidge used a series of Fireballs to get rid of some stragglers while Cumula bowled them over with her puffed up cloudy body.
Some of the Gaos tried to use their electricity to try and take down Crystal, but she would absorb their attacks every time as if they did not effect her. Nights was intrigued by this revelation as Crystal used the charge she absorbed to her advantage. She gave them a taste of their own medicine through the spell Thor's Hammer. Impressed by her power, he flew up to her and hugged her before continuing the fight.
"Tee hee, those Gaos didn't see that coming," Nights spoke telepathically as he used Lunar Rings, the Moon equivalent to Halo Disc, against another group of Gaos.
"Thank goodness for my Lightning Rod," Crystal replied while attacking another with Blue Moon Quartz Missile. "It's not just an attack by the way. It's also a passive ability. Simply put, any thunder and lightning attack used on me will get absorbed right away, and all I have to do is disperse it via another attack of the same type." She used the move Smokey Quartz Tomb to pin some Gaos down as she said this.
"That explains it," Rose chimed in while using Rose Whip to lash out at the pinned Gaos.
"I'm afraid this is no time for compliments," stated Silvermoon as he used the spell Frenzy Plant to summon large tendrils to whip those Gaos into submission. "Let us dispatch these Gaos first and foremost. We cannot risk them attacking the Nightopians any further." He used Venus Frenzy to summon large Venus flytraps to attack the Gaos.
"Right," replied Crystal. "Let's get this taken care of." Nights used Twilight Flash while Crystal used a new spell Rainbow Quartz Frenzy, a spell that summons a group of large rainbow quartz spears that swirl, prod, and pin enemies in place, to get rid of the hoard of incoming Gaos coming in their direction. To finish off the rest, Nights and Crystal activated a new joint spell Heaven's Judgement, the light equivalent to their earlier used Twilight Judgement. This defeats the rest of the Gaos, earning their victory.
Most of the Gaos was pushed back with enough force that most were dazed while others vanished into a cloud of dust. Some ran away in fear while a select few that survived glared at the quintet and roared angrily at them before taking off. Crystal breathed a sigh of relief as she put her Millennium Rod back on the holster. Nights, Cumula, and Pidge all came to check up on her as she looked over at her allies.
"Well, that was one heck of a storm," she noted. She looked over at the broken-winged Nightopian and called out, "Are you, okay little guy?" The Nightopian nodded as he is surrounded by the rest of his kin. The young princess walked over to it as the front of the group dispersed, thus letting her through while she added, "Here, let me help you." Nights joined her as she knelt to the tiny creature's level and placed her hand on its broken wing. She began using her healing power on it to ensure a full recovery. In a manner of seconds, the wing was being reconstructed painlessly and with no effort required. Crystal finished with the spell with a very happy Nightopian jumping for joy. It jumped so high that Nights had to catch it before it went too far.
"Easy little fella," Crystal stated while laughing. "Try not to move around too much, all right?" The Nightopian babbled a thank you to her before returning to its' friends. Owl came out of hiding soon after, flanked by Rose and Silvermoon. Cumula and Pidge nudged Crystal as she got back upright.
"My word that was awful," Owl spoke. "That poor Nightopian would have been captured had you not intervened in time." Nights beamed while Crystal nodded in response.
"A true warrior always steps in to help those in need," Crystal stated with a smile. "Even while we're on a mission. I've personally been through a lot since I was twelve, and I've learned since then that it never hurts to put personal goals to help my fellow man whether it's fellow Magician of Light or otherwise." Cumula and Pidge bounced up and down in response to her reasoning. Silvermoon nodded and Rose beamed at this.
"Well said," said Owl. "I'm glad to see you've grown into a fine young mage." Crystal nodded and Nights hugged her tightly in excitement, to which she reciprocated. He released his grasp. The Nightopian that she and Nights rescued approached them and babbled something to the duo.
"You want to help us with the final quartz?" Crystal asked. The Nightopian nodded.
"All right, lead the way," she said. Silvermoon nodded in agreement as the Nightopian made its' way to the front of the group. Crystal and the group began to follow the little creature toward their destination. While this occurred, Ruby was watching from afar and looking at Crystal in disgust. She knew that she was going to complete the trial no matter what. After scowling at Crystal for five seconds, she entered the cave next to her back to Nightmare.
To be continued…