Nights Twilight Dreaming
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Casper had just entered what appeared to be a shadowy place as he went to sleep in the capsule he had entered. When he looked around, all he could see at first was darkness. But he checked his hand just in case. He could see that he had five different colored lights in his hand as opposed to the one red light Crystal had in her hand. He realized that he was in the Night Dimension and looked up ahead. Recognizing where he needed to go, he wasted no time sprinting toward the light, all the while shining a light of his one by summoning his scepter. His weapon was the same one he had used as his alter-ego, the Spirit Magician Kid, and has been his trademark weapon ever since. He aimed his weapon at the darkness and summoned a guiding light in the direction he needed to go. He continued to surge forward in a hurry as the light in front of him grew brighter. As he made it to the light in question, he can see where he needed to jump. Braving the darkness, he immediately accelerated his movement and jumped into the hole below right into the light, which transported the young nineteen-year-old boy into the World of Dreams.
As he fell using gravity to his advantage, stars were flying upwards as he was falling past a shower of cosmic space. He continued his descent until he came across the Dream Gate. Desperate to make it to the resistance, he pulled in his arms and legs to act as if he were a falling lead balloon. This was done to make himself fall faster. After he reached his destination, he landed straight down right on his feet. He could see that Crystal had already unlocked two of her dreamworlds, but could not see her. Needing to be sure, he promptly got up and raised his hand, showing his five Ideya. The door to the resistance headquarters appeared in a flash the moment he did this. Immediately, he sprint for the door and dove right in closing the door right behind him. Several Nightmarens were shocked to see him here, especially Lumière who had just entered the lobby when he entered. The others looked over to Casper in concern as if they felt that he needed assistance. Casper immediately sprinted for the research facility in hopes of finding Crystal.
"Hey, where's the fire, boy?" asked Lumière calling out to him as he ran past him. The young lad didn't respond as he was far too busy trying to find Crystal. He made his way through one of the hallways hoping to catch a glimpse of her. He then reached the stairs to the scaffolding above and looked around. He could see the research facility just up ahead and went straight to it to see Hikaru jotting down some notes. She sees Casper and gave a confused stare.
"Are you looking for someone?" she asked rather perplexed at his urgency.
"Princess Crystal!" he blurted out. "Have you seen her?"
"She's heading to the library," said Hikaru. "It's downstairs in the hallway to the left of the lobby. You can't miss it."
"Thank you!" he told her as he took off to the library. Hikaru stared at the lad as he took off for where Crystal was going. A Lumiralan approached her as she pondered what had transpired. It was the same one that Crystal had spoken to at the Lost Park.
"He worries for her," he told Hikaru. "When she returned to our resistance headquarters, a mark in the shape lips caused fear and despair to take hold." Hikaru looked at her assistant in confusion.
"He did seem like he had seen a ghost, or worse," she replied. "You're rarely wrong about these, Anlea. The only question I have is who is this visitor." The Lumiralan known as Anlea began to concentrate as he briefly envisioned the young lad's past.
"That was Prince Casper of the Duel Monster Realm," he told her. "Born on February the fifth. An Aquarius. Born to Prince Arkana of the Duel Monster Realm, and Candice Maroon Lyra of the Dark Empire, whose egos control their drive for power. The father now lingers in the spirit world while the mother awaits trial for her crimes of purging the light and unlawful neglect of her children." Hikaru shuddered upon hearing the last part of the information. She then realized something.
"I just remembered," she told him. "He's worried about Crystal. What if he's her boyfriend? It makes logical sense if he's truly the kind of man who cares for their lover more than themselves." Anlea concentrated again before a brief vision crossed his mind. He turned to Hikaru calmly.
"They are betrothed to marry after Crystal's nineteenth birthday," he told her. "I can sense an era of peace once these two ascend the throne of Ophelia. Even still, there will come a time when one or many try to disrupt the peace."
"A mixture of chaos and peace," Hikaru repeated. "Well to be fair, ever-lasting peace will be stagnant, so the chaos part does make sense." She then turned to the door worried about the lad. "I just hope things don't end up in a downward spiral."
Casper darted back downstairs and did exactly as instructed by Hikaru running past Nightopians, Nightmarens, and even some visitors as he ran. They looked a bit confused as to why he was here. As soon as he saw Crystal and her group. Zephyr and Azure looked behind them when they heard footsteps behind them as did the others. Casper panted when he caught up with them.
"Casper, what are you doing here?" Azure inquired.
"Isn't it a bit early to take a nap?" asked Zephyr rather confused. Crystal called from behind the group.
"Casper?" she asked rather confused at the situation. She walked up to him as he looked up to see her coming toward the front. She took notice of his frantic state and ran up to him.
"Are you okay?" she asked noticing his exhausted state of panic. "You look like you've-!"
"Oh, thank Ra!" he interrupted as he immediately hugged her on the spot in front of everyone in her group. Crystal was surprised to have received this gesture but reciprocated his hug with a gentle pat on the back.
"There there, Casper," she told him. "No need to make your fiance freak out, okay." Nights look over to him in concern before realizing something.
"Wait a minute!" he said amazed at the situation as the couple broke off from the embrace. "Your boyfriend is Casper Maroon Princeton?" Casper looked up in surprise to see Nights right behind her.
"Nights?" he asked. He let his fiance out of his grasp and dusted himself off.
"I'm sorry about that," he told him. "It's just that, I've been worried Crystal when she had that burn-mark and…"
"Easy, tiger," Crystal politely interrupted. "It was nothing a little aloe couldn't handle."
"It's not just that, but," Casper explained rather frantically. "When I was a kid, little kid, Nightopia was my only means of escaping from the cruel reality of my father's experiments and dark magic. Nights freaked me out the first time I saw him, but he showed me that not all Nightmarens are as bad as I thought they were. My dad eventually found out about my dreams even though I was keeping my mouth shut about them, more so out of fear of him and mom chastising me for my active imagination. He brought me to the Nightmare Realm and let's just say that I was terrified beyond belief when he introduced me to…" His voice trailed off when he looked at the ground in fear.
"To who?" asked Crystal worried about her fiance. Casper looked at her with equal worry and said, "I'd rather not say his name. He's already haunted me from my nightmares as is."
"There's no need to if he traumatized you so much," said Nights with a slightly cheerful tone. "You just need to wait for the right time to overcome that fear, that's all." Casper looked up at him with a hopeful smile.
"Thank you, Nights," he told him. He looked around at the other Nightmarens and noticed something amiss. He was slightly okay with this but voiced his concern with, "I kinda wish Prisma was here even though she's been gone for a long time. Whatever happened to her?"
"Prisma?" asked Crystal.
"Yeah," he replied.
"She died, honey," she clarified causing him to sigh in sadness.
"I had a feeling that she'd be a ghost by now. When was that?" he inquired with Owl patting his back. Azure and Zephyr were equally surprised upon hearing this news.
"She was executed sometime after I disappeared from the Night Dimension," she told him.
"Ah man," said Zephyr looking down at the ground in sadness. Azure comforted him with a pat on the back.
"Two days after to be precise," said Lumière coming into view while balancing his cane. Casper turned to face him.
"Lumière," he replied surprised to see him.
"I was wondering what made you run like a mouse, boy," he told him. Casper backed away slightly upon seeing him only for Crystal and Nights to steady his movements.
"Easy there," said Nights. "He's on our side now." Casper was surprised to hear this and composed himself. Crystal walked up to Lumière as a way of showing him to Casper.
"Lumière," she said. "This is my fiance, Casper. He came running to the Night Dimension earlier to check on me."
"We've already met, little lady," he told her. "Of course, I was a lackey for Wizeman back then." He chuckled slightly upon saying this.
"Don't remind me," said Casper slightly embarrassed. Owl approached the young lad and patted him as a sign of comfort while Crystal's pets all clamored to get their master's attention. Crystal turned to them and asked, "What's up?" They all clamored at the doorway to what appeared to be a sign with an open book facing away from the group. Crystal recognized it right away.
"Oh, right. The pantheon," she said with a sweat drop running down her brow. Her pets all giggled at their master's lack of focus as she turned back to her boyfriend.
"I almost forgot about the library," she said. "Sorry about that."
"It's okay," said Casper realizing the situation at hand. "It's my fault for holding you up. I'm going to need to sit down for a bit to catch my breath." Crystal proceeded to hug her boyfriend as a comfort for the young spellcaster while saying, "You do that. I've got something to look up quickly. I'll be back before you could say Jack Sprat." Casper and Crystal let go as the former gives a reassuring nod in return. The two parted ways as she entered the library along with her friends, the only exception being Zephyr and Azure who stayed behind to keep him company. Casper then sat down as he sighed in relief with Lumière joining him while sitting in the air. He pats the lad on his back to show him he's right here with him when he needs assistance.
"That was wild, Casper," said Zephyr. "How'd you get to the Night Dimension?" Azure looked at him with a blank stare before Zephyr added, "Oh, wait. You fell asleep. My bad. What I meant to say is how you fell asleep." Azure turned to Casper hoping for an answer out of curiosity.
"Well," Casper began, "I had to enter one of Kaiba's sleep capsules to come here. Thankfully I've been around machines for so long that I knew how to operate them."
"No way," said Zephyr impressed. "You hijacked one of Kaiba's machines?" Azure sighed a little knowing what had happened.
"Love overrides logic," he told him. "Almost like Meg pushing Hercules from a falling pillar. In this case, no deadly consequences have occurred."
"Right," said Zephyr and Casper in unison with a smile and a sigh respectively. Zephyr added, "Sissy's lucky to have a guy like you, Casper. Let's just hope Reala doesn't take you hostage, or she'd flip." Crystal, who overheard her younger brother due to her superior hearing, zipped into the area with Nights right behind her the moment he said this startling the boys.
"Reala better not lay a claw on you, Casper, or he'll be seeing things in four-D!" she proclaimed sternly causing Nights to show an amused yet bewildered look as she said this. The boys snickered upon hearing this with Zoruk, who was in the hallway saying, "Oh ho!" Lumière laughed as Crystal went back to the Library with Nights laughing at her comment. He raced back to her to join her in finding information on their target. Reala had seen the entire exchange in the Nightmare Realm thanks to his flame torch. He couldn't help laughing at this moment as if he witnessed a rather foolish moment.
"Oh, no no no no no no no no," he laughed. "I can't stand it! This is far too easy!" He dispersed the flame torch while adding in King Rhett's direction, "That child is in love with one your own, your majesty. And not just any Dark Empire royal. A prince!" King Rhett looked to one of the quartz crystals to see the image of Prince Casper exhausted from his run to Crystal's Dream Gate while Reala chuckled with his hand burying his face saying with a sarcastic yet amused grin, "Aricolumn would love that." King Rhett was in contempt the moment he looked at the image.
"Bah!" he scowled. "I nearly forgot about her engagement to my traitorous cousin. She's fiercely protective of that boy."
"Engagement to the boy, you say?" asked Reala slightly surprised at this notion. As King Rhett turned to his Nightmaren colleague, Reala's grin returned when he added, "Do tell."
"We of the Malevolent Shadows are against the idea of this arranged marriage," explained King Rhett sternly. "They've been together ever since the Eternal Winter Incident in Domino City in 2006. We intended to have him betrothed to Rowena Nightingale of our fair Scarborough in the Dark Empire. The princess's interference has disrupted this plan." Reala gave a mocking pout to this remark.
"That explains Aricolumn's devotion to her," he said while pouting playfully. He looked to Aricolumn who had just entered the room to see Crystal hug Casper in the past image in one of the crystals. This infuriated him as his fist became coated in frost.
"Who let that boy in here?!" he shouted angrily at Reala who by that point was grinning in amusement while pointing at the image. "That pauper is the fool who stole my woman!"
"Now now, Aricolumn," Reala told him calmly while jesting his anger. "We can only dispose of one visitor at a time. As much as I wish to accept Crystal's challenge of harming her fiance, I'm afraid we have far more important fears to use against her." Aricolumn growled at the image once more before surrounding himself in ice as a make-shift barricade. He then sat on the ground crossing his legs as if to meditate on the matter. Ruby had just entered the room from another location as he did this while King Rhett and Reala looked at him in amusement. Having heard the conversation in another area, she snickered slightly at the scene before her.
"Heh heh heh heh," she giggled. "Three years later, and he's still reeling from that break-up." She turned to her colleagues and added, "Admittedly, it's not good twin's fault for getting hoodwinked into thinking he was a Magician of Light, though it is kind of ironic that she chose to date one of King Rhett's cousins. Anyhow, if I can change the subject real quick, Bomamba's been scouting ahead for Crystal. She hasn't gone back yet, but it's not the end of the world, right?"
"Thankfully not," said Reala chuckling. He turned to the image in the quartz crystal while saying, "She's already aware of her presence. She just needs to learn before she can strike. And when she does return to the Temporal Millennium, we'll be ready for her." Reala chuckled at this notion. Crystal's troubles are about to be underway.
To be continued…