Nights Twilight Dreaming
Chapter Twenty-Six
A short time later, Crystal and Nights have already made their way out of the Alexandrite Canyon, and into what appeared to be a forested area filled to the brim with emerald green pine trees decorated with jasper pine cones. They separated the moment they landed in hopes of finding their next trail Nightmaren. Bela, Stella, Cumula, and Pidge followed suit soon after. Crystal looked up ahead and took notice of an odd passageway leading somewhere. She became suspicious right away, but Nights chimed in through telepathy.
"Looks like we've got a shortcut to our next trial Nightmaren," he told her through telepathy.
"Yeah, but look at the trees and grass," she noted pointing at the scratches around the area. "Looks like your brother's been hacking his way through to the other side." Her four Nightmaren pets all trembled upon hearing this.
"With his sharp nails no doubt," he said telepathically. Crystal shuddered upon hearing this along with her pets.
"They must be as sharp as diamonds if they can cut through gems like butter," she noted. She went up to the shortcut and began to walk through, ducking under the fallen tree limbs and quartz crystals along the way. Nights weaved his way through the forest from above, even waiting for Crystal and her pets to keep up. As they made their way through, they heard a familiar voice in the distance. It was more audible to Crystal due to her superior hearing.
"Awaiting instructions, Lord Reala," said the voice. She recognized it right away as she scoffed in disgust.
"Oh, that is insulting," she said annoyed as they made it through the shortcut into the clearing.
"You heard it too?" Nights asked telepathically while looking at her in concern. She looked back at him with a stern yet concerned look.
"Yeah, that Level Two is using your voice to talk," she told him. "Except it sounds like either a robot or one of the computers from Kaiba Corp." Nights looked in the direction of their foe with an expression of childish anger while puffing his cheeks like a pouting toddler.
"Copy cat," he noted telepathically while sticking his tongue out ahead. Pidge, Cumula, and the Screecher twins all snickered at him for his childish nature.
"I know right," she said giggling slightly at his antics. "He's essentially pulling the same trick Ursula did in the Little Mermaid." The quintet was walking and floating respectively ahead to reach their destination as she said this.
"Oh really? Who's that?" Nights asked telepathically with a smile.
"The main villain," she explained. Before she could explain further and walk any farther to their destination, she looked up ahead and produced a silent gasp before hiding behind a nearby garnet boulder along with the rest of the pets. Nights took notice and looked ahead as she peeked from behind her hiding spot, Cumula, Pidge, Bela, and Stella following her lead. He saw Reala cleaning Scorpinoir before disposing of the cloth he was using earlier by burning it and taking the milky quartz right next to the huge machine.
"This should do well for you," he told it. He placed the milky quartz into the slot below the chamber causing it to light up even further than it already was.
"Ah, there we are," he said satisfied with the result.
"Charging complete," spoke Scorpinoir. "Power has been restored."
"Excellent," Reala noted with a grin and chuckled. Nights waved his hands like a flapping bird in excitement upon seeing the giant scorpion and Reala together. He pointed at them with Crystal peeking over the boulder and trembling.
"That's the Nightmaren I fought three days ago!" he told telepathically as he waved his arms excitedly. His excitement was cut short when he noticed Crystal shaking like a leaf. He was confused at her reaction, so he flew into the air for a proper look at his foe. Crystal fetched her mirror from her satchel while her pets looked at her with concern. She looked at the image and recognized it right away, while Nights looked back and forth between Scorpinoir and Crystal. When he realized how scared she was of the former he nodded to himself and quickly came to the correct conclusion before flying back down to her. Crystal was staring at the image in the mirror to confirm what made her filled with dread. It was that of Scorpinoir ready to strike at any moment. She put the mirror away and turned herself around so that her back was to the boulder as she rested against it, her face buried in her hand in dismay. Her pets all comforted her as she did this.
"Scorpions," she said regrettably. "Why'd it have to be scorpions?" Nights flew right to her with a concerned look before placing his hand on her shoulder and smiling as if trying to lighten her mood.
"You're scared of those things, aren't you?" he inquired telepathically. Crystal looked up at him as he asked this.
"I got sent to the ER for a scorpion sting as a baby," she explained. "If it hadn't been for my godfather's quick thinking, I wouldn't be alive today. Looks like Wizeman's been doing his homework." She looked to her pets as she spoke, "Cumula, Pidge, Bela, Stella? Take cover somewhere while Nights and I deal with this." They acknowledge her request and took off into a cave nearby for safety. Crystal rose from her position and turned around while brandishing her Millennium Rod.
"All right," she said while flicking her long hair back and emerging from her hiding spot. "Let's just fight this thing and get it over with. As much as I don't want to."
"That's the spirit, Crystal," Nights replied telepathically while making a triumphant pose making her smile. She began to walk forward with Nights floating alongside her towards the cave where Scorpinoir and Reala were located. As they approached, the former looked behind his colleague and the doll inside blinked a few times before it spoke.
"Detecting intruders," it said its eyes scanning the duo. "Subjects identified." Reala realized what was going on and looked behind his back to see what he was talking about. He could see Nights and Crystal approaching them as they went down the hill together. Scorpinoir scanned Crystal first.
"Crown Princess Crystal," it noted. "Race: Magician of Light. Light Empire. Level Seventy-Seven." It then scanned Nights who was right beside her on the left.
"Nights," it noted. "Race: Nightmaren. Nightopia. 1st Level." Reala grinned upon hearing this news.
"Right on time," he replied enthusiastically of their appearance. He flew right off into their direction leaving Scorpinoir in the cave to await orders. Crystal and Nights were on their way over to them when the former felt a jolt of terror. She used her foresight to see Reala flying toward them. She deactivated her foresight and got into a battle stance soon after.
"Reala, midnight," she told Nights. He realized what she was talking about as Reala came fast approaching them. As soon as he arrived, Nights immediately got in front and placed himself in between Crystal and Reala.
"Ah, there you two are," he said to the duo. "I knew you wouldn't be separated for too long." Crystal looked as though she wanted to zap Reala while Nights kept his eyes on his sibling as he turned his head to her. The malevolent jester grinned at her the moment their eyes met.
"Did you enjoy your little trip through my realm, my dear?" he inquired mockingly as her eyes gave off a stern look.
"I'm not exactly fond of the checkerboard interior," she responded annoyed with his question as she gripped her Millennium Rod tightly. Reala chuckled at her response.
"We'll give it a little time," he told her. He looked to his sibling with a condescending look as Nights stared at him sternly.
"And as for you, my sibling," he noted while he approached him and placed his hand under Nights' non-existent chin much to his surprise, "I hope you learned not to run that uncouth mouth in battle." Nights brushed his clawed hand away angrily before resuming his stern expression while Reala chuckled slightly.
"Enough of your games Reala!" Crystal shouted garnering his attention. "Where's the milky quartz you stole from us?"
"Ah yes, about that," he responded floating a bit away from the two. "If you were foolish enough to take it prematurely, you wouldn't have been able to complete that trial of yours. Which reminds me." He raised his lower right arm to the side and snapped his fingers. Crystal and Nights heard the loud skittering footsteps of Scorpinoir approaching from the cave, its' eight legs digging into the earth with each step. Crystal looked up in brief terror as the monstrous scorpion approached the trio right behind Reala. As soon as it stopped approaching, Nights and Crystal got into their battle positions while the malevolent jester flew right to the chamber part of the giant mechanical scorpion and placed his hand on it.
"Say hello to Scorpinoir," he told the duo. The doll in the chamber nodded to the duo as a form of greeting. Nights was ready to face his opponent, but not without a snide remark.
"It's payback time rust bucket," Nights commented telepathically. Reala heard his sibling's mind and flicked an orb of fire in his direction causing him to dodge by tilting his head. Luckily the spark had been blown out the moment it reached the ground.
"Language, my sibling," he told him mockingly. "You are forgetting that your visitor friend is present." Nights looked over at Crystal who was quivering at the sight of Scorpinoir. He approached her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Crystal, are you all right?" he asked telepathically. Crystal calmed herself with an exhale before responding, "I'll be fine." Reala sensed her fear and chuckled slightly.
"You won't be for very long, princess," he jeered as if he knew that she was frightened from the start. He turned to Scorpinoir and added, "Now then, old friend. Take care of our uninvited guests. I will return once I learn they're extinguished."
"Acknowledged," Scorpinoir replied. Reala grinned in Crystal and Nights' direction before responding, "You may have survived the first sting as a mere infant, princess, but there is always room for a reprisal." Crystal grunted in slight fear upon hearing his statement. Reala then added, "Have fun dealing with his sting, you two." He then took off into the air and created his vortex to exit the area and head directly back to the Nightmare. Crystal looked back at the giant scorpion robot as it raised its' gigantic open claw in the air.
"Commencing Nightmare formation," it spoke. It snapped its' claw so loud that it could deafen an elephant. A dark aura began to surround the area it, Nights and Crystal were standing in. While Nights had his hand on her shoulder, Crystal looked around. The landscape was changing to what appeared to be a dark and eerily large cave. She looked around as large crystal shards began to form around them. The cave looked as though it spanned for miles. She looked up to see that there was a large hole where the Nightopian sun can be seen shining through.
"Nightmare complete," Scorpinoir announced. "Chances of escape: 0%. Weaponry now engaged." It began to charge up its' huge crystal-tipped tail ready for attack.
"Bring it on, Scorpinoir!" Nights chimed telepathically. Crystal, despite feeling frightened, raised her Millennium Rod to her face as the battle begins.
Scorpinoir can be seen hiding in the darkness of the cave until the chamber lights up to reveal its location. Its claw reaches for a random quartz crystal before walking out of the shadows and crushing it to prove its' might. It then jumped out of the cave and onto the arena. Once it did, it activated the tip of the tail as lasers suddenly zipped around the arena cutting most of the quartz in half. The doll in the chamber grins wickedly as it glares at the opponents.
"I swear, Reala and Wizeman have been doing their homework," said Crystal fearfully as she ran around the arena charging a spell.
"Don't worry Crystal," Nights responded telepathically while he flew into the air to attack from above. "We'll overcome this joke of a Nightmaren. Sure he beat me once, but he can't beat me a second time, not with you in the fighting alongside me." Crystal had just placed a shield around herself while he told her this.
"You're right," she responded. "Running away won't solve anything. Let's get rid of this thing for Nightopia's sake." Nights nodded as the two get ready for Scorpinoir's first move. The monster charged a laser for a few seconds before firing at Crystal who shields the blow. This proved fruitless as the shield immediately breaks upon being impacted by the laser. In retaliation, she used the spell Cherry Blossom Storm to try and blind Scorpinoir, knowing full-well that it had gems as part of its' design. Nights, seeing this, helped her by using the spell Cosmic Typhoon to help strengthen the storm. This worked for a while before Scorpinoir charged a Shadow Wave and unleashing it thus dispersing the storm. It then used its' tail to lash at both Crystal and Nights, the former of which kept dodging its' attack until she eventually received damage from it. She has made note of the tail making large holes in the ground, however. She then used Aura Sensory to check for any sign of weakness while she charged up a Thunder and Lightning Spell. The only thing to light up in her eyes as she used her Aura Sensory was the chamber containing the pilot, the doll within, and the milky quartz that Reala had stolen earlier.
"Nights!" she called out to her ally who was using Celestial Shower to try and stun Scorpinoir. "We need to aim our attacks on either the pilot or the quartz! Scorpinoir will go down either way!" She activated the spell Supreme Thunder to assist with Nights' Celestial Shower while Scorpinoir tried to strike her with his large crystalline tip at the tail.
"We'll need to hold him in place first," told her through telepathy. "I went for the chamber last time before using my paraloop. That was my fault."
"We all mistakes, Nights," she replied in a forgiving tone. As she ran around the arena dodging the lasers emitted from the same tail, she activated a shield to protect herself and then the spell Scalding Surge, a water spell that allows her to unleash a torrent of boiling water in a large pulse. This caused damage to the chamber leaving it slightly dazed. Neither Nights nor Crystal took any chances as the former used Glimmer Wave, the light equivalent to Shadow Wave, and the latter used Frost Wave, the ice equivalent. After a few seconds, while frozen in place, Scorpinoir broke free from the icy grip and resumed its' rampage.
Crystal remembered what Nights said about keeping it in place while they attacked either the doll in the chamber or the quartz itself. After thinking it over, she activated the spell Earthquake to form a few fissures around the arena. Scorpinoir jumped toward her, only to land in the fissures she had formed trapping itself in her make-shift trap. Crystal breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her strategy play out as it was supposed to.
"Great job, Crystal!" Nights complimented her telepathically as she activated Diamond Sabre and ran toward the immobile Scorpinoir.
"Thanks," she replied. "Don't expect a repeat performance though." Nights flew up to Scorpinoir's chamber and held it in place while Crystal, trying to be brave, ran right to it with the still active Diamond Sabre, and began to slash it in a furry of parries. After dealing significant damage to the chamber, especially after a resounding riposte, she immediately jumped off while Nights dashed into the chamber for good measure, causing cracks in the glass. After they back out of the way, Scorpinoir regained consciousness, and raised its' large claw into the air and snapping it, fixing the fissures as well as turning the floor into a steel-clad floor to prevent a second Earthquake attack. The doll in the chamber grinned the moment the floor had changed and continued its' rampage.
"Smart move on his end," Crystal noted. "I can't use Earthquake on steel. Nights, have a paraloop ready to go!" She said this as she was preparing an illusion spell.
"You got it!" he replied telepathically with a wink. Crystal activated the spell Kaleidoscope Crash, a spell that allows the user to make reality shatter the surrounded opponent causing some damage to Scorpinoir. The monster continued regardless of the damage dealt to it as Nights secretly made a circle trap without its' knowledge much to Crystal's relief. She did the same in secret to help him out. To lure it in, she activated the spell, Larimar Flash, a spell that allows her to summon a larimar to light up the room with cyan blue light. Scorpinoir took some damage from the light as Nightmarens are usually creatures of darkness. Nights used the spell Shooting Star to ram into the scorpion's backside garnering its' attention as well. It charged up a laser for a few seconds before firing them in every direction. Crystal thought fast and used a shield to defend herself while Nights dodged all the lasers by weaving around them.
Crystal, having thought of something creative, took a look at the lasers around them. As one came close to her, much to Nights' shock and horror, she thought fast and activated a new spell, Mirror Shield. By summoning a mirror, she bounced the incoming laser right back at Scorpinoir knocking it out instantly. Nights and Crystal linked elbows triumphantly before resuming the fight.
"That's one way to knock out a giant arachnid," Crystal said with a relieved smile as she ran up to the chamber of the beast with an active Arctic Sabre.
"That's amazing, Crystal!" Nights complement telepathically.
"Thanks," she replied. "But it's too early to celebrate. Let's try the same trick we did to bring him down." Nights flew right up to the chamber to hold Scorpinoir in place while Crystal ran up to them with the still active Arctic Sabre in hand. She ran up to it, and she began to slash at him with a flurry of parries, thrusts, and slashes. She finished up with a resounding riposte before jumping right out of the way. Nights rammed right into it for good measure before retreating to join her.
Scorpinoir awoke from its' daze to take notice of Crystal. Thinking fast, she practically sprinted out of the way catching it off guard. Frustrated, it destroyed a nearby mirror in a fit of rage thinking she had used it somehow. It began to charge its' crystalline tail one more time soon after.
"Talk about seven years of bad luck," said Crystal as the battle continued with her running around and charging a light magic spell.
"He thinks you used the large mirror," Nights explained through telepathy with a snicker. Scorpinoir has just released its' lasers by causing him to dodge most of them.
"Nope. Just a new move I came up with," Crystal replied with a smile. "Anyway, let's lure him to the paraloop spots. We'll trap him properly once he's in position." As she said this, she activated the spell Piercing Light, a spell that allows the user to redirect sunlight similarly to a laser trio, and pierce through defenses as if they were needles. This damaged Scorpinoir, but it didn't back down.
"Right," Nights responded telepathically. "Let's squish this bug!"
"Arachnid actually, but who cares?" Crystal corrected him while her face gave off a frightened expression. Nights activated the spell Twilight Flash to get Scorpinoir's attention as well. The giant mechanical scorpion then tried to stab them with its' tail with Nights weaving around it, and Crystal jumping out of the way. The tail did strike her a few times, causing some damage, but she quickly healed herself, and Nights just to be safe. Scorpinoir came skittering loudly toward the duo and would strike at the duo with its' claws. Crystal used the spell Meteor Shower, causing some stars to fall and crash into the giant scorpion, while Nights used the spell Dancing Star to ram into the chamber in a continuous motion.
Scorpinoir was fast approaching the duo and as soon as their legs were above the paraloop rings, Crystal and Nights nodded to each other as a form of them saying to activate their trap. The latter snapped her fingers to activate hers, and once it opened beneath it, its' legs fell into the vortex. Nights' paraloop vortex activated the moment his eyes glowed a bright blue. Scorpinoir was trapped.
"The trap has been sprung!" Crystal stated elated that it worked. She prepared a Halo Sabre before running up to a trapped Scorpinoir.
"Yay!" Nights' voice rang out in her mind. "Now let's finish this!" He flew right beside Crystal who was running toward Scorpinoir at a sprint. He reached the chamber and held it in place while she ran up to it and began to slash it. The cracks that were on the glass before had gotten worse with every parry and strike. After finishing with a riposte, she jumped out of the way while Nights Drill Dashed right into the chamber causing some damage.
Scorpinoir by this point had just escaped the portals beneath its' legs and realized that Crystal was charging another spell. Angry that she was overcoming her fear of scorpions, it reached its' claw out to her to grab her. She saw and tried to get out of the way, but she wasn't fast enough. She was caught in its' large claw. Scorpinoir grinned as he squeezed her tightly. Nights saw this and gasped before his expression changed to anger.
"The first target has been acquired," Scorpinoir spoke. "Locking on to the second target." Crystal struggled to breathe from the giant scorpion's grip.
"You coward, let her go!" Nights shouted telepathically. Scorpinoir used telekinesis to pick up some of the fallen quartz crystals to throw at Nights. He thought fast and grabbed one in mid-air. After aiming it in Scorpinoir's direction, he dashed right into the quartz causing it to ram into the chamber. The monster did not flinch from the attack despite taking damage and fired its lasers in every direction, causing Nights to weave around then like the acrobat he was designed to be. He then used Shooting Star to strengthen his Drill Dash attack as he flew right into Scorpinoir who was knocked back quite a bit from the force of the attack.
"One more time, Nights!" Crystal gasped for air as the giant scorpion tightened its' grip nearly crushing her. She was struggling to try and escape her capture as Nights flew a bit higher into the sky. He activated the spell Meteor Shower to damage Scorpinoir from a distance. The mechanical scorpion responded to this by firing its' lasers with its' tail. Some were avoided, others managed to damage him. He activated Crescent Beam, a move in which the user charges a laser-focused beam in the shape of a crescent moon. The laser dealt some damage to the monster although it continued its' rampage with the young princess still in its' clutches. Nights wasn't giving up, however, as he activated the spell Twilight Flash to confuse Scorpinoir, which worked to his advantage while dealing some damage.
Seeing an opportunity, Nights tried Crescent Beam one more time on the claw holding Crystal. After it struck the claw, it let go of the young princess allowing her to use her telekinesis to try and fly up to him. She struggled a bit to breathe as she did this, but thankfully, she didn't have to fly very far. Nights had already caught up to her rather quickly and kept her steady as she put her Millennium Rod on her holster. She reached her hand to him as he took it and the two are engulfed in light, merging them into one.
"Thank you, Nights," Crystal spoke finally. "The sooner we get rid of this arachnid, the better." Nights began to fly around the area from above Scorpinoir as it had awoken from its' daze. It was furious that its' target had been retrieved, so it began to fire more lasers as well as attempt to stab Nights in the air with its' tail. Some strikes caused damage, others were averted. Nights flew toward the tail and paralooped it to activate chains of light to pin the giant scorpion in place. Soon after, he flew toward the chamber and used Shooting Star right into it causing some damage to Scorpinoir. The mechanical scorpion got itself loose and used telekinesis to control the quartz crystals again and throw them at the duo. Nights caught one of them and aimed it just right before Drill Dashing it toward the chamber. It broke causing some damage to Scorpinoir in the process.
Scorpinoir used its' lasers one more time causing Nights and Crystal to dodge nearly every single one. It then began to stab at the duo with some strikes causing damage and others missing the duo as well. Nights thought fast and used the rocket-shaped mask and turned himself into a rocket. After dodging many of Scorpinoir's claw swipes, he charged at the chamber in his rocket form and rammed into the pilot causing huge damage in the process. As soon as he back out of the way, he transformed back into his true form. Meanwhile, Scorpinoir used its' telekinesis one last time to hurl crystal quartz in his direction. This allowed Nights to grab one in the air and aim it right at the chamber just right before hurling it back at the pilot, earning him and Crystal the victory. They bear witness to Scorpinoir exploding in a series of explosions before crumbling to dust. The battle was finally over.
Scorpinoir has begun to power down as steam began to form around the chamber as well as the rest of the body. The pilot within the now broken chamber, the doll, looked up at both Nights and Crystal in disgust while they watched their foe in their respective courageous demeanor, and frightened sympathy. It coughed slightly before finally closing its' eyes and falling limp in its' cockpit, the chamber going dark in the process. The rest of the body collapsed beneath it soon after causing a loud crash. It then slowly crumbled to dust leaving two objects behind; the stolen milky quartz, and what appeared to be a glass orb containing a purple sprite-like light. Crystal and Nights watched as the cave disintegrated with the passing of Scorpinoir and returned to the same clearing that they once stood on. They flew right back down to the emerald green grassy land and landed separating the moment they did so. Crystal exhaled in exhaustion.
"Hoo! Thank Ra that arachnid is gone!" she exclaimed breathing in relief. Nights put his hand on her shoulder to give her reassurance.
"At least you overcame your fear of scorpions," he told her telepathically. Crystal nodded in response with a smile while saying, "Yeah. And lucky for me, this one was huge." She looked over at where Scorpinoir once stood and noticed both the orb and the quartz crystal in the same spot.
"Ah, perfect!" she said while running up to the objects. She stopped in front of the orb first and put her heel over it. As she increased the pressure, cracks formed on the orb. Soon after, it shattered under the weight of her boot releasing the contents inside. The violet spark of light flew straight to Nights and swirled around him while going up as if playing with him. As soon as it reached his head, he grabbed it and quickly consumed it as if it were a bite-sized candy. He inhaled slightly before letting out a melodic sounding, "Laaaaa!" He snickered upon doing this causing a smile on Crystal's face.
"Yay, you got your voice back!" she exclaimed happily. "I missed you being a chatterbox!" She then walked over to the quartz crystal and picked it up.
"Now let's get this back to H-!" she was interrupted as she was about to walk toward Nights with the quartz in tow. The quartz shattered in her arms as she was walking toward him and in a brief moment of shock, she added while turning around, "What the?" She and Nights watched as the shards of the quartz crystal began to form into a white spherical orb with a crystalline star in the middle of the orb. It looked almost identical to a super-sized marble. Crystal immediately recognized the orb right away as it floated in place right in front of the duo.
"The milky quartz was an Ideya?!" she exclaimed in confusion. Nights approached the white Ideya and began to examine it. He put his hand on it and noticed that it reacted to Crystal's presence rather quickly with a few spins of the crystalline star within. He tried a few times to get the same reaction and beamed as he is pleased with the results. He picked it up and looked over at Crystal with a smile.
"This one must be yours," he told her. He flew up to a surprised Crystal and showed it to her. She reached her hand out to it with slight hesitation as it reacted to her presence. It then began to circle her like a halo as she kept her eyes on it. The white Ideya then zoomed right into her chest, as if fading into her like a ghost. She had obtained her first Ideya.
A few seconds later, she found herself in a starry dimension as the Ideya came to her waiting hand. She smiled as she looked at the Ideya with a hopeful gaze. The White Ideya, representing Purity. The innocence I once lost has now been recovered. She closed her eyes as the light around her began to shine as she is transported back to Nightopia.
To be continued…