Nights Twilight Dreaming

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Crystal and her friends had just entered the library of the resistance headquarters. She gasped as she looked around her while her pets jumped up and down at the number of bookshelves lining the area. Candles were floating in the air on their own as if they were carried by an unknown source. Machines that seem to measure planetary alignments were shown to be operational. Tables were lined as if waiting for someone to rest a while as they kept their eyes on the words of each page.

Floating in the air was a new 1st Level Nightmaren who looked similar to Nights. He had the same complexion yet his eyes were fuchsia. His hat was the same as Nights' hat, except that it was blue with navy-blue stripes with tassels that ended at his waist. His attire was a white, long-sleeved shirt with navy-blue cuffs fastened together by yellow cuff links, a lilac-colored, yellow-lined vest with mint-green shoulder pads, a diamond-shaped broach with a square green gem in the middle, a white-collar, a pair of blue pants, a purple sash around his waist, and a pair of lilac-colored boots with a square top hemmed in mint-green, a mint-green stripe in the middle of the foot portion of the boots that seemed to be pronged, and blue at the toe portion. Owl and the others approached the new Nightmaren who was reading a book of some sort before turning his gaze to his allies.

"Greetings, Magi," Owl greeted the young Nightmaren. The new Nightmaren, now known as Magi, closed the book before turning to the group.

"Hello, Owl," he greeted. "I had a feeling you would arrive with guests." He looked over to Crystal and was quite curious about her.

"Is this the visitor with the Dark Ideya within her?" he asked.

"Magi, this is Princess Crystal," said Nights. "She's here because one of the Nightmarens has been spotted in the Temporal Millennium. Do you still have that pantheon handy?"

"Certainly," replied Magi. "Right this way everyone." He then flew in the direction of where they needed to be with Crystal and the others following right behind him. They managed to make their way to a certain section in the library where pantheons of fellow Nightmarens were stored ranging from measly 3rd Levels to the powerful 1st Levels. Magi gives the group the motion to wait while he floated to the top to reach a certain book and took it to make sure it didn't fall over. This was what appeared to be a book on 2nd Level Nightmarens. He looked at Crystal with a smile and floated right to her carrying the book.

"Thank you, sir," she said politely while taking the book.

"You're welcome," replied Magi in kind. Crystal then opened the book with Nights looking over her shoulder. As she flipped through some of the pages, she saw a familiar image of Clawz on one page. Reala's pet panther, she thought. I'll bet he's still sour about losing his lunch. She then turned a few more pages to what she was looking for. It was a picture of Bomamba. There she is, she thought. According to this, she's based on the fear of cats as well as a muddled mind. I don't think that last part is the case with me. Neither is the fear of cats for that matter. She then held the page for Nights and the others to look at.

"Here's our cat witch," she told him. Nights snickered along with her pets. Morganite beamed along with her cat friend Nicodemus.

"That's Bomamba all right," he told her as she pulled out her mirror to check for her image. "But what is she doing in the desert of all places?"

"That's because mysticism was quite common back in the ancient days," explained Crystal, "even before the concept of witches came about. Plus, cats are considered sacred in both ancient Egypt and the modern era and are also guardians of the underworld in Egyptian Mythology." Magi was impressed by her knowledge though he did scoff a little at the term witch.

"The magic yielded by priests was thought to be power from the gods," he elaborated. "Rather foolish I must say." He turn to the mirror and thought it over before adding, "If Bomamba is the cause of the distortion hanging about in your Nightopia alongside a second one, perhaps defeating her and her ally in the next two trials will alleviate the damage."

"Maybe," said Crystal. She placed the mirror over the image as she added, "We beat both Cerberus and Scorpinoir in the same Nightopia last time, so you're not wrong about getting its' light back. Though last I checked, it's usually one Level Two Nightmaren per Nightopia." She looked back at the book and noticed the mirror glowing while saying, "Hey, what the?" The mirror looked to be scanning the image of Bomamba while the others looked in amazement. Magi snickered slightly as Hikaru entered the library via a paraloop vortex. The mirror-finished the scanning the image as it elaborated on Bomamba the cat witch. Crystal looked to Magi, looking at her with a smile and his eyes half-shut.

"I did not know it could do that," she told him with a perplexed look. Nights giggled along with the rest of her pets, Luminaire, and Morganite.

"That was my fault," said Hikaru as she landed in front of the group. "I forgot to mention the mirror's secondary function. If you place an object against the mirror, be it a map, or a page from a book, the mirror can gather information for you by scanning the object in question. Scanning a map will result in the map appearing in the mirror thus allowing you to navigate the dream world with ease while scanning an object will show you information on the object's origin. It's a very handy tool when used properly."

"Wow," said Crystal. "I had no idea it was an inanimate info box." Owl placed his wing on her back to forgive her for her mishap.

"Not everything is at it seems, your highness," he told her. "You just need to get used to it as time goes on. Although time moves differently in the Night Dimension, there will come a time when knowledge of the dream world will become your most powerful asset to your adventure." Crystal nodded in response to his explanation.

"I'll keep this in mind for the next time I use its' scanning power," she told him. She then put the mirror away in her satchel just to be safe. She then noticed that the candles in the room have been flickering non-stop.

"We better get going, Nights," she said worriedly. "Bomamba's not gonna find herself." She then began to walk to the entrance of the library as Nights and her pets followed her lead. After activating a vortex of her own, she and her allies entered hoping to catch her at the Temporal Millennium.

Crystal, Nights, and the pets were falling together in this vortex for what seemed like minutes. In reality, it was but mere seconds. As they fell, Nights was positioned in a swan dive while Crystal held onto Cumula as she was planning to land feet first. As the Screecher twins and Pidge dive-bombed to the bottom, a sudden bright light began to envelop the group as they are transported back to Crystal's second dream world. There was no time for relaxation yet.

Above the desert skies of the Temporal Millennium, an orange and yellow vortex appeared above the dunes. Crystal's pets flew through and reached the ground first while Nights came out after them. Crystal pierced through the vortex while performing an aerial twist in the air. She then landed on her feet and she crouched on the ground before looking up with a grateful smile. Nights joined her and her pets as she straightened herself up and looked ahead as she got up. She and her allies surged forward having heard cat noises in the distance.

"Jeez," said Crystal slightly worried as the group surged forward. "It sounds like a gang of cats fighting each other." She said this was just a Nightmaren hoard that attacked the group.

"Don't all cats do that in the Waking World?" asked Nights playfully.

"You joke about this now," replied Crystal slightly amused, "but that kind of thing is very common during kitten season. But this type of fighting I'm hearing is different. It sounds like a kitty version of a witch hunt." She activated the spell Thor's Hammer as she explained what she could hear in the distance. With their combined forces, the gang defeated the hoard and continued.

"Witch hunt?" Nights asked rather confused.

"Attacking a person with differing points of view from the other people," she told him explaining the definition. "Essentially, if they don't like your opinion, you're practically an outcast. In any case, let's find out what all the fuss is about." She and her allies continued in the direction of the sound. The yowling of cats gets louder with every minute passing as they come closer. The screeching is almost unbearable, but they persevered. Soon they made it to where the noise was coming from.

Crystal and Nights, along with the pets, have just made it past an oasis of some sort when they see an interesting sight. It was a Nekomamba fighting a hoard of their kin. Unlike the others, whose fur is black as ebony along with green eyes, this one had fur as white as snow with blue eyes. She was getting rather aggressive with her kind as she yowled and hissed while attacking her aggressors. The literal catfight continued with what appeared to be a second Nekomamba rolling away from the skirmish and hiding in a nearby bush. He peeked, his green eyes peering from the bush looking as if he was annoyed with the situation at hand while growling slightly. Crystal took note of him hiding there before looking back at the fight at hand. As she did, she noticed that the Nekomambas bullying the white-furred one were all pulling at her fur as if stretching her like rubber. Some of them were growling while others were snickering. Rather quickly, the white Nekomamba wriggled free and started the attack on them again while hissing, yowling, and growling. Crystal and Nights quickly recognized what was going on.

"She's being picked on for her fur coat," Crystal noted to Nights with slight annoyance.

"Yeah," said Nights who was also peeved at the situation. The fighting between the Nekomambas continued with the white one arching her back like a real cat would to intimidate their attacker. Bomamba floated into view as the group of black ones continued hissing and yowling at the white one with one of them rolling into her and her rolling back at them. Bomamba was laughing at the situation as the two stopped rolling into each other due to it being a stalemate. The white Nekomamba then growled at Bomamba for a brief moment before she eyed Crystal and screeched in delight. She then rolled into a ball and rolled right to her while yowling in delight. This caused Nights to fly back slightly as well as the pets to scatter a bit as the young princess caught the ball of white fur as it nearly sprinted past her.

"Hey, buddy!" she told the little cat Nightmaren as she caught her about to roll away. As Crystal lifted the ball to her eye level, the Nekomamba then unrolled herself and looked up at her with a smile before meowing and beaming at the girl. She then jumped and rolled up into a ball again before rolling around her in a circle and jumping around playfully causing the four pets to giggle at the sight. She then rolled up to Crystal's feet and started rubbing her cheek against them while purring.

"Awe, the Nekomamba likes you," said Nights who was rather enamored at the sight. Crystal then picked up the Nekomamba again as it continued the purr and curl up in her arms. She then pets her in reassurance knowing what the little cat has been going through. As a shadow came closer, causing the four pets to huddle behind the young princess in terror, the white Nekomamba then looked over to whoever was approaching and yowled angrily at them before rolling into a ball and rolling right behind Crystal and resting on her shoulder with her tail hanging on to her arm and glaring at the approaching figure. A witch's cackle is heard as Crystal looked to see Bomamba approaching the group along with her litter.

"Well, if it isn't Princess Crystal," said Bomamba impressed with her appearance. "Reala's told me all about you my pretty." She then giggled slightly before looking at the white Nekomamba and adding angrily while pointing her finger wildly at her, "And you were meant to frighten the girl, you traitor!" Nights visibly rolled his eyes in annoyance as she said this. The white Nekomamba hissed at the witch angrily upon hearing this remark.

"The joke's on you, cat witch," said Crystal sternly. "I happen to have a soft spot for cats. I consider them to be part of the family, unlike you."

"No my pretty?" replied Bomamba. "Being soft with them is for wussies, girly. I doubt that relationship with her is going to last long with you." Crystal rolled her eyes at the notion. Bomamba took notice and scowled.

"Don't give me that look," she scolded her as Nights giggled at the young princess. "You're lucky I have no intention of fighting you here and now, otherwise I'd send my litter after you. Then you'll see what ailurophobia can do. Arrivederci!" She began to spin around in a circle along with her litter and she disappeared into a swirl of smoke along with the rest of the Nekomambas, except for the two left behind. Crystal wasn't surprised at this response.

"What an unpleasant Nightmaren," she noted. Nights nodded in agreement as the pets came out from their hiding spots. He looked over the white Nekomamba who was still clinging to the young princess.

"Hey, look on the bright side," he told her. "You've got yourself a fifth companion. And a Nekomamba no less." The white Nekomamba began to play hide and seek with Crystal as he said this.

"Well to be fair," said Crystal as she played along with the cat-like Nightmaren, "cats to witches are the perfect familiar for us especially black cats." She eventually finds the Nekomamba and nuzzles her.

"That makes sense," said Nights. "And explains why cats don't scare you." Crystal laughed slightly before she spoke again.

"I'm not lying when I say I'm never afraid of cats," she told him. "It's the owner that's the problem. Sometimes pets mimic the behavior of their owners and sometimes lash out when they've been treated poorly." This sparked something in Nights' memory.

"Didn't you say Bomamba reminded you of someone?" he asked. "Who would that be?"

"Helga von Dusselheim," said Crystal with a slight smirk. Her whisper crystal began to glow with Zephyr's voice emitting from it.

"That crazy old German cat lady next door?" he asked rather annoyed at what he just heard. "Why her of all people?" Nights couldn't help but laugh at Zephyr's comment while Crystal pulled out her whisper crystal to help him elaborate on the matter at hand.

"I've heard about her from Zephyr," said Azure from the same whisper crystal. "She originated from Lunarvale over in the Dark Empire. Why is she viewed as a threat to the both of you?"

"I'll explain why since Azure's not quite up to date yet," she told Nights with slight embarrassment. "She's not only obsessed with cats, but she ironically doesn't treat them very well. We've been trying to bring her to justice for three months now since she keeps hoarding them so much. Trying being the keyword here."

"Well," said Nights, "it never hurts to call somebody about the number of cats she has in the house, right? She can't keep them all under one roof if she's that bad to them."

"That's true," said Crystal said while nodding slightly. "And it's not hard to liberate them if she were a normal old lady. However, therein lies the problem." She produced an image of the old woman in question with her Sakura Swarm, a move she learned from her sister Jessica while explaining further. "She's a Sorceress of Darkness, meaning she is from Twilus, specifically from the Dark Empire as mentioned by Azure. As such, liberating the cats from her is very difficult." She dispersed the image upon saying this.

"Oh," said Nights realizing the situation. "So she's the Waking World version of Bomamba." He thought for a moment before saying, "Too bad there are no animal cops in the Night Dimension." He beamed while saying, "That would've made her mad if did."

"Thank you, I was just getting to that," replied Crystal with a wink. She then had a slight flashback of the old woman, her white hair tied in a tight bun, and her attire consisting of a mauve blouse, dark-blue long skirt and cloak, and a pair of brown boots. Behind her were what appeared to be a hundred cats each with different colored fur and fur length. We've tried contacting animal control about the situation as well as doing a welfare check on the woman while remaining anonymous. But every time this happened, none of the folks we send ever come back from the house she resided in, and more cats arrive at her abode. The image showed the cat population behind the old woman growing with each one appearing right behind her. The scene changed to Crystal, with her hair in a short bob this time, on the roof of her mansion overlooking the woman's home she appears to be holding a camera in her hands.

We also tried to get evidence of the mistreatment going on in the home, but every time one of us tried to get a picture, the camera immediately shuts off. Crystal is trying to get an image of the woman's house but the screen fades to black before she could take the image. Crystal looked at the camera perplexed at the situation. She turned it back on and tried again, but it shuts down once more leaving the girl frustrated. The flashback ends with Crystal turning her head back to Nights, having explained everything through some of her images.

"That tells us that she put a hex on the house," she told him while wagging her hand.

"Hex as in a temporary curse?" Nights asked while pondering her words.

"Close," replied Crystal while pointing slightly. "A hex is similar to a curse but slightly different. A curse can last even after the passing of the spell caster and can only be disabled if certain conditions are met. But a hex can either be canceled early by the person who initiated it or remains in place until the caster dies. And given Frau von Dusselheim's age at the moment, the spell over the house isn't going to last for much longer. So now it's essentially a waiting game."

"That certainly seems to be the case," said Azure from the whisper crystal.

"Okay," said Nights, satisfied with the explanation. "So if she's cast over the home, maybe we can convince her to shut it down." Crystal snickered slightly at the notion but knew what his intentions were.

"It is a good idea," she replied as she pats the white Nekomamba now in her arms. "Though from what I heard from the neighbors, she can be pretty stubborn. Only time will tell if she listens to us or not." Nights nodded as Crystal made note of the sheen on the Nekomamba's fur. The feline opened its eyes to let them sparkle in the Nightopian sun.

"Wow," she noted. "Your fur and eyes are very opalescent." She then snapped her fingers realizing that she had a name for the newcomer. "Opal! That's it! After the gemstone of the same name!" The Nekomamba meowed happily at the name as the other four pets bounced around in excitement. As they did, a rustling sound is heard from the bush nearby. The Nekomamba, now known as Opal, realized who was behind the bush and approached it. She lifted the bottom branches to reveal a second Nekomamba, this time with his fur as black as ebony. Nights couldn't help but giggle at the sight before him.

"Look's like she brought a friend along," he noted playfully. Opal glared slightly at Nights while growling a little as the other Nekomamba came out. Unlike Opal, this one was rather calm and collected as he approached the young princess. He then bowed in respect to her as he trilled.

"Well aren't you as calm as the sky," she told him. "Kind of reminds me of a friend of mine from elementary school." She picked up the black Nekomamba and patted him in return as he purred while adding, "I think I'll call this one Salem after the cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch." The black Nekomamba meowed politely at the girl after she said this.

"Awe, he likes you," said Nights as Crystal picked up the black Nekomamba, now known as Salem. She nuzzled him as he purred causing Opal to beam and the other pets to bounce up and down excitedly.

"Looks like we have two for the price of one," she told the group.

"I know, right?" said Nights in agreement. "Nekomambas make great pets for both visitors and Nightmarens." Crystal then took the Nekomambas and had them resting on her shoulders. Opal and Salem have joined the cause. The group then began walking toward what appeared to be a river of sorts. As she and the others went toward it, Reala was seen right behind one of the palm trees of the oasis. He looked at Crystal with an amused smile before exiting the area via his vortex. Whichever plan he had in mind was just over the horizon.

To be continued…