Nights Twilight Dreaming
Chapter Thirty-Four
Back in the Nightmare Realm, Aricolumn had just returned along with his Marluke friends with his findings. Ruby was waiting for him next to a smokey quartz crystal as he entered with a smirk. She rose from her position and walked toward him. She recognized his smirk anywhere.
"Any news on the forefront," she asked.
"Only that Crystal had a brief encounter with her captor," he told her. "She seems to think he is lusting for her, but I sense none of this feeling in him. A rather strange phenomenon, don't you think?"
"Weird, but efficient," she replied. "What our shadow friend just did was give our little princess a memory jolt. Reala's told me her memories of the incident have been scrubbed clean, and because of that, she has no idea about who her kidnapper is." Aricolumn chuckled a bit upon hearing this bit of information.
"I'll take your word for it," he responded. As the two were about to enter a different part of Nightmare, Jackle and Reala appeared via their respective portals. Ruby and Aricolumn weren't surprised one bit as they have gotten used to them by now.
"Pardon the intrusion," Reala spoke.
"Right on time, Reala," said Ruby. "What kept you?"
"I had an encounter with an old colleague of mine in the new Nightopia," he explained with a smirk. "She was an easy target."
"She?" Aricolumn inquired. Jackle flicked his gloved hand in the air causing a card to appear before throwing it into a nearby pillar. The card enlarged itself before donning an image of Hikaru with her mask on.
"Say hello to Hikaru," he explained. "Our former scientist in the Nightmaren Army. She went AWOL because of one too many bullies on the team. Nobody took her research seriously. What a shame."
"Heck of a way to rebel," Ruby commented. She looked back at Reala while adding, "Still, when you consider her knowledge of her former workplace, she might as well have used that to her advantage in the rebellion."
"Which is precisely why she must be brought home," explained Reala. "Her insight of the Nightmaren Army will be detrimental for our cause unless she is brought to her senses by Master Wizeman."
"So in other words," said Ruby, "Wizeman wants to reprogram her. I doubt it's his first rodeo doing that."
"Correct," said Reala. He turned to the other pillar which had an orb showing Crystal exiting the Quartz Palace alongside Nights and Sunburst as well as her pets. He smirked knowing that she is planning to enter the second Nightopia at any moment. Keep trying to find your captor, my dear, he thought. You'll come to regret the result soon enough. His mind chuckled maliciously knowing that her trouble will soon follow in the future.
Meanwhile, Crystal, Nights, and their allies have returned to the Dream Gate in high spirits. As they were about to enter the resistance headquarters, Owl appeared and beckoned to them. The group came to him as he looked at them with a smile. Crystal waved to him respectfully.
"Hi Owl," she said to him. "Sorry for the late arrival. We had a bit of a trip down memory lane."
"Understood," he told her. "However, some important news just came up. Some of your allies from the Waking World have joined the resistance. You may recognize them from your adventures together against the despotic Malevolent Shadows."
"Hm?" Crystal said confused. "How did you know about them?"
"One of them explained about them in great detail. But if I explained, I may rattle on to the point of exposure. So into the resistance, we go. We'll continue our discussion from there." Owl disappeared soon after. Crystal pondered for a moment.
"Allies from the Waking World," she spoke aloud. "I thought folks aren't supposed to interact with each other while they sleep."
"The Dream Gate and Nightmare say otherwise," Nights explained. "That's the only time visitors get to talk to each other while in the Night Dimension."
"Let's go see who these allies are," said Sunburst excitedly. "More visitors means more members in the rebellion! Yahoo!" She did an aerial flip before entering the resistance headquarters rather quickly. Crystal snickered alongside her pets upon seeing this sight while Nights beamed at his fellow Nightmaren.
"All right, let's follow suit and meet the recruits," she said while smiling amusingly. Nights nodded in agreement before Crystal opened the door and entered alongside her allies. They entered one at a time for good measure in case of stragglers in the Dream Gate. Crystal was about to go to Rhodonite alongside Nights when she sees a familiar face talking to a fellow Nightmaren. She sees a rather small yet rotund red cat with large clawed arms lined with yellow stripes, a pair of feet with no visible legs attached to the bottom part of his small body, a yellow-furred muzzle, green sclera eyes with slit pupils, pink dots covering his small body, and a large yellow-striped tail which he appears to be sitting on. Speaking to him was, to her surprise, her younger triplet brother Zephyr.
"Thanks for giving me the lowdown Marms," he told him.
"My pleasure, Prince Zephyr," he responded politely.
"Zephyr?" Crystal inquired catching his brother's attention. He looked back at her and smirked while saying, "Heya, sissy! Didn't think I'd be here, did you?"
"No, I didn't," she told him. "How did you find this place?" Silvermoon came from one of his portals and tapped her on the shoulder.
"I was the one who brought him here along with Prince Azure," she told her. "Aside from you, we were severely lacking in others of your race."
"Azure's here too?" she asked rather confused at the situation. Zephyr walked over to Crystal and patted her on the shoulder.
"It was his idea to come here and give you a helping hand," he told her. "We had a run-in with some jerk possessing you from the dream world during your coma treatment, so we volunteered to join in on the resistance shenanigans." He looked over at Nights who was beaming while waving to him.
"Hey Zephyr," he greeted him. "Long time no see."
"Howdy Nights," Zephyr greeted in kind. "Happy to see me again?"
"You bet," said Nights while laughing a bit. "I missed you and your corny jokes." Crystal was just as confused when she first heard the news of her brother joining the resistance.
"Wait," she spoke. "You two know each other?" She asked these while looking back and forth between the two. The rotund red cat bounced over to the siblings and Nights while she did this.
"They do," said the red cat. "Zephyr has been here many a time before and our dear friend Nights has often enjoyed his company." Nights snickered upon hearing this.
"He once called me a dream monster as a bit of a joke when we first met," he explained as Owl appeared and perched beside the group. Crystal looked at her brother with a stern expression upon hearing this statement causing him to rub the back of his head in embarrassment. The red cat cleared his throat before speaking again allowing her to turn her head back to him.
"Forgive my manners," he told the young princess. "Call me Marmaduke."
"Princess Crystal," she greeted in kind while shaking the cat's hand. She couldn't help but notice some wares behind him that resembled elixirs and other accessories up for sale.
"Am I safe to assume you're a salesman?" she asked.
"I would prefer the term merchant myself," said Marmaduke, "but yes. I have a variety of items on display for purchase. Elixirs, personas, even some items from the Nightopias that are currently available at the Dream Gate. Feel free to browse if you'd like. But I can only accept blue chips as payment. Ideya to me is far too cumbersome to hoist around so to speak." Nights snickered upon hearing that statement while Crystal looked at Marmaduke as if he was joking.
"That's funny," said Zephyr. "I thought they'd be the size of a baseball when you pick it up." He pointed to Nights
"That depends on the Level of the Nightmaren, my boy," said Marmaduke. "The size you mentioned only applies to the 1st Levels such as your friend here." Nights was slightly embarrassed upon hearing this but paid no mind to the comment.
"Anyhow, let's see what you have in store," said Crystal with a smile. She checked her balance of blue chips just to be sure. Currently, she had a thousand blue chips from her ventures into Nightopia, which astounded her at first, but quickly gave her some relief. She was looking over to the persona masks on display and noticed a rather fancy one next to the rocket one that Nights had used earlier in their battle against Cerberus. Upon closer examination, she read the name of the mask. Dolphin Persona, she thought. After thinking it over, Crystal bought that first and foremost which cost her one hundred blue chips. This will help Nights dive underwater. As she bought some of the items on display, which cost her another three hundred blue chips, she finished the transaction. Crystal turned to Nights carrying the newly acquired mask in her hand.
"Nights," she spoke. "Last time you used a mask to turn into a rocket to take down Cerberus." A brief flashback of Nights entering the battlefield to assist Crystal while in his rocket form before returning to reality.
"That's right," he told her. "Some forms can only be achieved through personas. The Rocket Persona just so happens to be one of them." Crystal then held out the new mask to him and asked, "Have you ever tried turning into a dolphin?" Nights recognized the mask right away and shouted, "Nice!" He immediately snatched the mask from her hand before performing an aerial flip and posing with the mask in hand. His dolphin form has been unlocked. Zephyr had a mischievous smirk on his face while thinking of something.
"I gotta know," he asked them. "What happens if a visitor puts the mask on?" Crystal looked at her brother as if he had asked a rather foolish question as did Owl.
"I already tried that with Reala's mask and got zapped for it," she told him. A flashback occurs to the exact moment Crystal placed Reala's mask upon her face. She suddenly felt a jolt of dark energy surge out and strike her, causing some pain as she yelped, "Ouch!" This in turn caused her to throw the mask in their direction, with it barely missing Nights, Owl, and Hikaru as it went past, causing him to pause as it bounced a bit on the ground before landing face up at the sky. Nights had watched it land in front of Lumière and gave an embarrassed look at him with a sweat drop over him, as he then went to check on Crystal. The flashback ends soon after.
"That's because you're not the real owner, sissy," he told her. He turned to Nights and then said, "Hey Nights. Let me try the mask on." Crystal gave a blank stare as soon as he said this. Nights had a smirk on his face as he thought it over. The young princess couldn't help but notice this along with Marmaduke who had a sly look on his face.
"Okay," Nights told Zephyr while beaming. "But don't say she didn't warn you." Crystal sighed in annoyance as Nights gave him the mask to try on. As she did, Azure came into the area with Nights looking over to him.
"Hello Nights," he greeted him as he waved back at him.
"You're just in time to see a trick, Azure," said Nights with a wink. He then sees Crystal who has already become acquainted with Marmaduke and is looking at her brother with a blank stare. Owl was comforting her as she continued this scowl. Azure walked up to her while Zephyr took the mask from Nights as if he was triumphant in getting his way. He tapped her on the shoulder as a sort of greeting as she continued her stare of skepticism.
"Hi, Crystal," he spoke to her.
"Hey Azure," she replied while her eyes move briefly in his direction before turning back to Zephyr. "I assume you're friends with Nights too?"
"Since I was a baby," he replied. "Some of my family members are known to look to Wizeman as a god." He looked over at Zephyr who was giving the dolphin mask a quick shine before adding, "What is Zephyr up to?"
"He's going to try on the Dolphin mask I just bought Nights," she replied. "Knowing him, he's going to make a fool out of himself." Azure chuckled a bit upon hearing this.
"Yeah, big surprise," he noted while chuckling. Zephyr looked up from the mask while saying, "I can hear you, you know!" Azure stopped the moment he said this.
"All right," said Zephyr. "Time for the moment of truth." Nights floated right next to Crystal and Azure as the smug prince prepared himself.
"Nights, why are you letting him put it on when you know the results already?" asked Crystal a little annoyed at the scene from earlier.
"You'll see," he told her with a wink causing her to realize that he did this on purpose. "Just watch." Crystal looked back at her brother as he said this.
"You mean you planned this out?" asked Azure. Zephyr put the mask on and to the surprise of no one, especially Nights who was snickering a little, nothing happened. Zephyr smirked a little at his demonstration.
"See, nothing happens when-!" his words were cut short when, to Crystal and Azure's surprise, a large aquatic bubble suddenly appeared and surrounded the young pompadoured prince causing him to revert to his merman form. Crystal and Azure laughed hysterically upon seeing him trapped in the mess he was in while he pouted in frustration. Owl on the other hand smiled in sympathy for the young lad.
"That was perfect," said Azure still laughing a bit from the event.
"Be careful when trying on personas meant for 1st Level Nightmarens," said Marmaduke while poking fun at a frantically swimming Zephyr. Nights was laughing as well as he knew what the outcome was going to be.
"Okay, if Michael and Ficas were here, they'd have a field day after seeing that!" she remarked as she laughed at her brother's poor choice.
"Yeah, yeah," he responded with slight annoyance. "Laugh it up, sissy."
"I sympathize with Zephyr on this one," Owl said to Marmaduke while sighing a little at the situation. "This would have provoked a proper challenge had we been given the time for fun." Nights pushed the hapless prince bubble to the ground just as Lumière entered the room. He sees the young man in the bubble and started to laugh at the misfortune before him.
"What are you doing in there, Zephyr?" he asked him while. "You should know better than to wear something meant Nightmarens my rank, son!"
"Get me out of here!" Zephyr shouted a little as Crystal made her way to him along with her pets and Azure. Lumière shooed them away a bit as he waved his cane and popped the aquatic bubble. Zephyr landed on his feet soon after but not without being soaked in the process, though he was now back to his normal form. His normally upright pompadour was a sopping mess as he took the mask off his face. Nights approached him with a smirk.
"Lesson learned?" he asked playfully.
"Yeah," Zephyr responded giving the mask back to him. Lumière pulled a towel out of his hat after he did this.
"Towel, kiddo?" he asked handing it to him.
"Thanks," said Zephyr taking it from him to rub it all around his hair. Crystal looked at Nights as her brother dried himself.
"You did that on purpose, you little sneak," she told him while playfully pointing a finger at him as he gave her a playful look while his eyes were half-shut.
"Better to learn from experience than to explain everything," he told her with a wink. Zephyr was done drying himself at this point as he produced his comb to fix his hair. After he combed it to its' original shape, he smiled in satisfaction.
"That's better," he noted. "Okay, no more putting on Nightmaren masks. Not unless you want to be stuck in a bubble." Lumière chuckled upon hearing this as he now knew what had transpired. Crystal approached Owl with a smile and some slight concern.
"I'm going to have to go to the research area to check up on Nightopia," she told him.
"This reminds me," said Owl. "Rhodonite is waiting for you there. He was the one who called you earlier and we mustn't keep him waiting any longer."
"Right away, Owl," she told him. She and her pets are about to leave the area, only for Nights to pull her back slightly.
"No going by yourself, remember?" he told her.
"Right," Crystal noted. "Let's go gang." She and Nights then left the area. She was making her way through several hallways until she made her way to Rhodonite who was waiting for them in the research facility. Waiting alongside him was Nightmaria. He turned to the duo with slight concern.
"Sorry about the late arrival, Rhodonite," she told him. "Who's missing in the lineup?"
"Hikaru, Zoruk, and Som," he told them. "They went to do some research on the Nightopia, but they haven't been back yet. It's not like Hikaru to leave her workstation like that."
"How long have they been gone?" Crystal asked as her pets entered the area along with Owl and Lumière.
"It's been about three hours now," he replied. Nights was slightly confused upon hearing this.
"Three hours and she's still missing?" Crystal asked.
"That's weird," said Nights. "She's almost always at her workstation to check out her findings. That's not like her at all to be gone that long."
"This is worrisome to me as well, Nights," said Nightmaria with a stoic tone. "She's already turned her back on the people who caused her mental and physical harm due to knowledge well beyond her peers. I only hope she hasn't returned to her original post without our knowledge." Crystal looked over at one of the crystal balls and noticed something about it. It was starting to glow a strange blue hue. She walked over to it and looked it over.
"Huh, a new Nightopia just opened up," she noted while starting to rub it a little to see what was going on. She continued to rub the crystal ball with her hand until an image appeared. It was an image of a pair of pyramids conjoined together to form an hourglass while surrounded by sand as was a pair of gentle sand clouds circling the area like a halo.
"Far out!" she shouted. Nights looked into the crystal ball as the young princess added, "It's the Temporal Millennium! We have to go there!"
"We have to change your outfit for the occasion before we go," Nights told her. Crystal realized by looking at her current attire that he was right.
"You're right," she told him. "My clothes are not exactly meant for a sandy landscape. Here, let me check my wardrobe book real quick." She began to run to where her box of items was followed by her pets, Nightmaria, and Nights. Sunburst and Lumière followed along with Leo and Seraphinite to make sure she knew what she was doing. Azure and Zephyr both teleported to the area to see what she was up to. Immediately, she pulled out a fashion book containing some clothes she designed herself. She began to flip through the book until she came across a grown-up version of her old Egyptian outfit from when she was a toddler living in Egypt. It was a white short-skirt tunic with a neck sleeve, a pair of white over-the-knee length leggings, a white hood-like veil, and a pair of white shoes that looked like ballet flats.
"Ah-ha!" she exclaimed. "Just the outfit I've been looking for!" She immediately ran to the dressing room, to the confusion of Zephyr and Azure. Nights was just as confused until he realized what she was doing.
"Oh, she's reenacting her old childhood," he realized after a brief moment.
"Rather unconventional," said Nightmaria. As Crystal quickly took her outfit off behind the curtain while simultaneously getting the outfit on, Seraphinite commented, "Kind of looks like a long-forgotten goddess from Egypt. But that's just me." Crystal immediately came out of the changing room with a flourish.
"Ta-da!" she shouted. "I'm ready to go explore the Temporal Millennium! Let's go Nights!" She immediately started to run to the door before Leo shouted playfully, "No!" He began to push her back to the changing room, much to everyone's amusement, and to Nights' sympathy and Crystal's confused dismay.
"You can't be wearing that!" he told her while still pushing her back into the changing room. "Take that off!" He added while forcing her back in and closing the curtain, "Take that off, you dork!" Seraphinite, her pets, and her friends giggled as Crystal looked at Leo with an annoyed and angry look while he pointed at her and added, "No way!" Crystal peeked out from the changing room and said, "You meanies!" She then closed the curtain behind her before sitting down in the chair that came with the room.
"We're Nightmarens, honey," said Seraphinite with a sassy tone. "It's part of our job." Zephyr looked around for something to help his sister with before his eyes landed on an outfit that looked similar to an archaeologist's uniform. He recognized it to be the female variety and noted the colors before taking it and presenting it to Nights.
"Here's an alternate outfit for sissy," he told him. Nights took the outfit before nodding to him. Seraphinite was impressed with his decision right away and nodded as well.
"It's better than dressing like a fortune-teller," she told him. Nights began to create a vortex on the ground using his paraloop while she said this.
"Heads up, Crystal!" he called out to the young princess as he finished the vortex. His paraloop vortex activated causing a second one to activate above the dressing room Crystal was in. She held her arms out to the vortex as he dropped the outfit into the first one causing the other one to spit out the other one. She examined it further and recognized the attire right away.
"Ah," she noted, "my archaeological dig uniform. I don't how the Night Dimension produced this, but I'm impressed. Okay." She began to change out of her rejected attire. The outfit was an olive green shirt with two breast pockets, matching cargo shorts, a pair of Capri-length black leggings a pair of brown combat boots, a yellow ascot around her neck, which hid her choker, and a pair of wristbands on her wrists. After she finished changing her outfit, she was ready to explore the Temporal Millennium. The curtain opened as Crystal came out of the changing room with a slightly annoyed look on her face as she looked at Seraphinite like she messed with an important piece of history. The curtain closed behind her once she stepped out.
"Happy now?" she asked her allies as Leo and Seraphinite looked at her with their eyes half-shut and a bit of a smirk on their faces.
"Very happy," said Seraphinite. "No offense, honey, but that other one made you look like a fortune-teller."
"And you would've been mistaken for a Nightmaren too," said Leo.
"Fair enough," said Crystal shrugging a little at the situation. She then turned to her pets as she said with a smile, "All right, let's go check out the Temporal Millennium." She and her pets began to run to the door to the resistance headquarters with Nights, Azure, Zephyr, and a few others right behind her. They were soon at the Dream Gate and Crystal has noted the location of the Temporal Millennium. She looked over to the right to see a new door right next to the one which lead to the Quartz Palace. She looked at the stained glass which contained a cobra with a triangular gem on its' forehead and the door frame which looked to be decorated as if they were hourglasses, and surrounded by sand-like swirls.
"There it is!" she told her friends. "The Temporal Millennium. Another frequent dreamscape I use to go to as a child." Azure smiled along with Lumière, Rhodonite, and Seraphinite who were right behind him.
"I'm not surprised as you always had a fascination for Ancient Egypt," said Azure.
"That's because I've lived there for four years," Crystal remarked. "The unique treasures over there are beautiful and are perfect for museums. How else can we learn about the history of humanity?"
"Then let's go in and see what's on the other side," said Zephyr. He then ran forward while Crystal shouted while holding her hand out to her brother, "No! Don't go in…!" Her words were cut short when Zephyr dove right into the door with no one to stop him. Crystal finished her sentence while smiling an embarrassed smile by saying, "…there." Nights flew up to her and patted her on the shoulder.
"Give it a few seconds," he told her as she looked back at him for a brief moment.
"Okay," she responded after she looked back at the door. She did notice a countdown above the door he enter as it began to reach a certain countdown. Five…four…three…two…one. The door suddenly swung open as a bright light pushed Zephyr backward into another door causing Crystal to snicker and Owl to look at the lad with a sympathetic look. An image of Reala, who was watching from the Nightmare Realm, appeared on another black door and saw the exact moment unfold as he looked at Zephyr with a malicious grin. The insurgent Nightmarens laughed as he slid off the door like fabric sliding off the table. He was dazed quite a bit from the experience. Crystal laughed as she approached her brother alongside her best friend.
"Sorry, little brother," she told him. "But you can't go in there unless I say you can. Them's the breaks in the Night Dimension." Zephyr groaned a bit annoyed at the situation as he pulled his upper torso off the ground and sat cross-crossed with his arms folded.
"I forgot about that stupid law," he replied annoyed at being rejected by a door of all things. Reala's image in the door frame chuckled upon seeing this sight before him before disappearing at a moment's notice.
"No two visitors can share the same dream world," Lumière noted. "Unless you've been paralooped by a 1st Level Nightmaren." The others nodded in agreement along with Owl and Crystal's pets.
"All right, Zephyr and Azure," she told her friends, "you guy can monitor the goings-on in the Temporal Millennium while the Nightmaren insurgents keep me company while I explore the new Nightopia. And if something comes up…" She pulled out a pair of whisper crystals from her shorts pockets and gives them to her brother and friend while stating, "…just use these to contact me or the insurgents with me at the time, and we'll come right back."
"Sounds like a plan," said Azure. "We'll keep watch in the Dream Gate as well for any abnormalities. Knowing the Nightmarens who remain with Wizeman as his soldiers, they're more likely to strike once we let our guard down." Crystal looked to Marmaduke who was next to Zephyr helping him up from his fall.
"Marmaduke," she told him as he looked at her in return. "I don't want to end up going back and forth between Nightopia and the Dream Gate to keep buying wares from your shop. The reason for that is because Wizeman and his loyal servants may catch on if I do. So I would suggest that you sell your goods by the entryway of every Nightopia available, including the previously explored Quartz Palace."
"A traveling merchant you say?" said Marmaduke with a bit of enthusiasm. "I like that idea very much. If it keeps Wizeman the Wicked from finding the location of our resistance headquarters, I'll be happy to oblige." Nightmaria then appeared above the Dream Gate via a paraloop vortex and landed near the group.
"Your highness," she told Crystal, "if you see Hikaru and the others, make sure they return safely to the resistance. She has already been through years of torment and I do not wish to see her suffer any longer."
"I'll be on the lookout for her, commander," Crystal responded. She then turned to the others and spoke, "All right, let's go gang." She began to walk toward the door to the Temporal Millennium and touched the handle. After opening it, a bright light blanketed the area and she entered. Her adventure in her desert dream world is about to begin.
To be continued…