Nights Twilight Dreaming

Chapter Thirty-Nine

In the real world, Crystal's mentor Atem was monitoring her dream while Jessica was asleep beside her comatose sister. It was apparent that she had been with her for a few hours. Atem looked at her with an amused smile. Some things never change, he thought. Jessica still deeply cares for her elder sister even while she is healing. Atem looked to the monitor and witnessed what appeared to be Crystal taking in Opal. He recognized the Nightmarens beside his pupil right away including Nights.

"This Nightmaren is the first to diverge from Wizeman's regime," he noted while pointing at Nights. "I understand his conviction given his creator's treatment towards the ones he created in the first place. It would seem the young one has made allies in the Night Dimension while she is healing from her tulpa exposure." As a shadow came closer to Crystal, causing her four pets to huddle behind the young princess in terror, Opal 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. Atem was about to witness their conversation.

"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 Opal 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. Opal 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. Atem couldn't help but chuckle at the exchange.

"The Nightmaren equivalent to Helga von Dusselheim," he noted. "I'm surprised she hasn't been apprehended yet considering her treatment towards her felines. I may need to look into this further." He looked at his sleeping pupil with a smile. "Rest well, young one. May the Ideya within your heart shield you from fear and darkness." He then walked out of the room, but not before placing a blanket over a sleeping Jessica using telekinesis.

As soon as he left the room, a pair of shadows appeared in the room. They looked to be 1st Level Nightmarens. Neither shadow could be identified. The two appeared to be spying on Jessica as she slept beside her sister's comatose body. The first one approached the blonde girl and ran his shadowy fingers down her cheek as if he recognized the girl. The shadow looked to the other and spoke inaudibly before coming to a mutual agreement. The two then approached the girl and went right beside her with one carrying her on the left, and the other carrying her on the right. With Jessica in tow, they opened the door with their telekinetic power and flew through without making a sound.

No one was in the hallway that night so it was easy for them to carry Jessica without arousing suspicion. The two shadows were approaching the capsule room where Casper had entered to be beside his beloved fiance. The one on the left whirled their free hand in the air to create a vortex for them to go through. The paraloop vortex appeared to be in shadow, so it was hard to see which Nightmaren it belonged to. Jessica didn't stir once when they approached the vortex and went through to the room on the other side.

One of the capsules was still vacant, so it was easy for them to find it. It was right next to Casper's. The two landed in front of the vacant one as one of them pressed the button on the capsule causing it to open rather slowly while the other hoisted the blonde princess over his neck waiting for his partner. After it opens, the other shadow approaches it and carefully places Jessica into the capsule along with the blanket she was under when they entered the room. They then strap her in together before exiting the capsule and pressing the button via telekinesis. One of the shadow Nightmarens nods to their partner before exiting the room via a vortex while the one who stayed behind looked at Jessica in the capsule with a slight leer. As he approached the sleeping blonde girl, he placed his hand over the glass of the capsule before grinning maliciously at her. It was as if he knew who she was before they had even met in person. He activates a vortex and exits with the machine indicating that it is currently occupied.

Jessica was on the ground face first as if she had been knocked unconscious. As she stirred, she slowly opened her eyes and looked up. As she got up, she realized that she had just entered what appeared to be a shadowy realm, the same one that Casper had encountered. As she looked around, she began to ponder how she ended up here in the first place. She then looked to her hand for a clue and found that she had held on to five different colored lights. She was aghast when she discovered this.

"What?" she whispered to herself. She began to walk backward as she pondered her findings. She felt herself collide with an invisible wall as she realized the gravity of the situation. "How did I end up in the Night Dimension?" She then realized what she had questioned and chastised herself while saying, "Oh right, I fell asleep. But how did I end up far away from the Dream Gate?" As she wondered about this, she heard some voices approach her. She turned to look behind her only to find one of the shadows from before staring daggers into her. Jessica jumped before the shadow and it approached the young blonde princess. Oh no! A Nightmaren! She was backing away in a defensive stance as it began to raise its' hand to strike. Jessica raised her hand indicating that she is not about to go down without a fight.

"Stay back!" she ordered angrily with slight bravery. "I'm warning you! This rose carries thorns!" Jessica then flicked her wrist summoning thorny vines to strike down her attacker. The Nightmaren didn't seem to be phased as it chuckled slightly while dodging her vines. Before they could strike the girl, a pair of 1st Level Nightmarens flew toward her attacker and blasted them with their respective light and fire magic. The attacker was peeved but fled the scene. The allied Nightmarens revealed themselves to be Luminaire and Zoruk and turned to the young girl as she looked at them in shock.

"Level One Nightmarens?" she asked rather confused. "Why aren't you wearing your masks?" She then pondered before she realized something. "Wait." She then looked at them and asked, "Are you rebelling against your creator?"

"Save the questions for later, your highness," said Zoruk rather bluntly. "We're gonna need you to come with us to the resistance HQ. Two of your siblings are already part of the club."

"Two of my siblings?" asked Jessica confused. She looked at her attacker. Luminaire then took her by the arm and put it over her shoulder with Zoruk doing the same on the right.

"There's no time to explain," she told the young princess. She and her partner Zoruk hoisted the girl into the air before the duo took off with the girl in tow. Jessica looked back to see the shadow Nightmaren angrily staring at the duo as they flew further away from their foe straight to the light. As they approached it, they suddenly flew down into the hole below straight to the World of Dreams.

Jessica held her saviors tightly as they took her through a cascade of stars in the sky straight to the island in the sky. She recognized it right away as they continued their descent. That's the Dream Gate. But why are we going there? As she pondered those thoughts, Luminaire and Zoruk landed and gently put her down allowing her to dust herself off from the twinkle dust they emitted. She then noticed the door to the resistance headquarters and was slightly unnerved by the sight.

"Well, ring the bell," Zoruk told her. Luminaire made a motion for Jessica to do just that as the young blonde princess approached the door. She noticed a bell that looked similar to those bells used to indicate which resident of the house needed service. She reached up, took the string, and gently rang the bell beside the door. As she did, it opened to reveal Owl on the other side. He was genuinely surprised to see Jessica here.

"Good heavens!" he hooted in surprise. "Jessica?"

"Owl?" she asked surprised to see the old bird.

"Ah, sounds like you got some history between you two," said Zoruk understanding the confusion. Jessica turned back to Zoruk.

"Yes," she said to him. "He was my mentor for the Night Dimension. But I stopped coming here at the age of seven for fear of one of your cousins finding me here for a certain project."

"We've got more important matters on our hands," said Owl sternly. "Come inside quickly." Jessica, realizing that there was no point in arguing with him, did as she was told and entered without hesitation. Zoruk and Luminaire look at each other before nodding and joining her. Jessica was amazed at the layout of the resistance headquarters but was also cautious as the place was populated by not just Nightopians but also Nightmarens of each rank. Although she was unnerved, she wasn't going to show it in front of her allies. As she looked around, she took note of some visitors in the area as well as some Nightopians. Anlea, who had just entered the lobby approached the weary girl.

"This way," he told her calmly. Jessica was hesitant to follow him before Owl appeared behind her and patted her back for reassurance. The Lumiralan led the young princess past some of the Nightmarens with Zoruk and Luminaire right behind her and Owl. She was led through several areas before reaching the research facility where Hikaru, Magi, and three others were waiting for them. The other three were Zephyr, Azure, and Casper who were genuinely surprised to see her.

"Jessie?" asked Casper. "How did you get here?"

"Did you fall asleep next to sissy?" asked Zephyr jokingly. Azure looked at him with a blank stare as he said this. Jessica hesitated a bit before responding.

"I…I suppose I have," said Jessica slightly frightened at the amount of Nightmarens present in the resistance headquarters. "I was in Crystal's room when at around nine o'clock, I fell asleep beside her. The moment I began to sleep, I had entered a void of darkness at every turn. I was nearly attacked by a Nightmaren, but I wasn't taking any chances as I was fighting back." She then turned to Luminaire and Zoruk as she continued, "That is before these two insurgents came to my rescue."

"That was me and Luminaire making the rounds," said Zoruk clarifying her story. "Lucky for you, we managed to stop him before your Ideya got stolen." Azure, who at this point had been watching one of the crystal balls, noticed something odd in the real world.

"Guys," he spoke a little concerned. He turned to his allies with a bit of concern and added, "You might want to take a look at this." He turned back to the crystal ball along with his allies. The image he saw was the two shadow Nightmarens entering the room containing the capsules where Casper entered earlier. They were carrying Jessica. The two landed in front of the vacant one as one of them pressed the button on the capsule causing it to open rather slowly while the other hoisted her over his neck waiting for his partner. After it opens, the other shadow approaches it and carefully places Jessica into the capsule along with the blanket she was under when they entered the room. Jessica gasped upon seeing the sight before her.

"Those two are Wizeman the Wicked's henchmen!" she told her allies.

"And it looks like they're placing you in one of the capsules," said Azure rather suspicious of the situation. They watched as the two shadowy Nightmarens strap her in together before exiting the capsule and pressing the button via telekinesis. One of the shadow Nightmarens nods to their partner before exiting the room via a vortex while the one who stayed behind looked at Jessica in the capsule with a slight leer. As he approached the sleeping blonde girl, he placed his hand over the glass of the capsule before grinning maliciously at her. Jessica can see the second Nightmaren in the reflection as she watched him stare at her sleeping body.

"My word," she said slightly concerned. "Does this Nightmaren know me from somewhere?" The image in the crystal ball disappears soon after she asked this question. Zoruk snapped his fingers as if he knew the answer.

"That's the reason we got you here as fast as possible," he explained. "Turns out, you're big sister Crystal ain't the only target for her kidnapper, who she doesn't know yet. According to the Chronos Lily at Prisma's grave over in the Quartz Palace, Crystal is one out of five kids hand-picked for a project that one of Wizeman's loyalists was working on. She got lucky because Prisma got her out of there before they could get it up and running. It's pretty much a close call on her end."

"That's it!" Jessica exclaimed while pounding her fist into her open hand.

"That's what?" asked Luminaire slightly confused. Jessica turned to her allies with a stoic look.

"That's why I left at the age of seven," she told them. "It was because of Project Children of Ideya. I cannot say his name for the sake of privacy, but I was taken to Nightmare for the said experiment. He said that I'm the fourth piece of the puzzle."

"Fourth piece?" Hikaru inquired. "Does this mean there were three others besides you and your sister?"

"If my sister is one of these children," said Jessica, "then yes. Though sadly, the other three have yet to be identified." Zoruk was wracking his brain thinking about Jessica's words. Magi gave a stern look to Hikaru.

"I will see what I can find with this Project Children of Ideya," said Magi. "I am certain there are more answers to find in the library. Hikaru, do what you must with your station while I am gone."

"I will Magi," acknowledged Hikaru. Magi left the room immediately after. A new Nightmaren entered the room as he did, and she was rather calm and collected. She looked to be female with white skin, green cat-like eyes, and short green hair. She was wearing a lime green crop-top blouse with green shoulder pads, white cuffs at the shoulders which held green shoulder sleeves that seemed to be open like flowers, and a green hem at the bottom, a lime green white-petaled short skirt with a green and lime green diamond-patterned band, a pair of green leggings with an orange v-shaped hem, an orange long-sleeved undershirt with green and lime green cuffs of the same design as the band on her skirt, an orange oval-shaped gem on her chest, and orange collar, and lime green ballet flats. Jessica took notice of the newcomer and was startled.

"Oh, hello," she said. "Can I help you?" The new Nightmaren said nothing as she was more focused on the girl with concern. Jessica took a moment to realize something about this Nightmaren.

"Oh, are you mute?" she asked. "I apologize." She bowed rather embarrassed at the situation. Her fellow visitors snickered upon hearing this.

"Mippa was never given a voice of her own," explained Hikaru with slight embarrassment. "Wizeman in his infinite wisdom thought it would be preferred that she be seen but not heard. This is a form of control that he instilled to ensure she wouldn't protest against his demands."

"You poor thing," said Jessica sadly. "Fortunately I can speak and read Sign Language just fine so she won't be excluded from the conversation."

"That's true in more ways than one," said Casper in agreement.

"Hey, Mippa," said Zephyr approaching the new Nightmaren with a smile. "How goes the old spy business over there?" The new Nightmaren, now known as Mippa, began to use sign language to speak to her allies with Jessica translating.

"She says that she wishes to warn us about a member of the Malevolent Shadows assisting Wizeman the Wicked," translated Jessica. "It would be best for her to show us than tell the story."

"Malevolent Shadows?" asked Hikaru. "Oh, you mean the tyrants of the Dark Empire! Which one would that be?" Mippa waved her hands in the air to create an image showing what appeared to be King Rhett conversing with Reala. Azure, Casper, and Zephyr were startled to see them there in Nightmare as they were not expecting this scenario.

"King Rhett Jr?" asked Zephyr. "How did he end up here? Ghosts can't dream as they'd be dead by then."

"True, but they can traverse both realms if they became tulpas," said Azure with a concerned look on his face. Hikaru was surprised to hear such news in the room as were her allies.

"Did you say he was a tulpa?" she asked.

"Oh dear," said Owl concerned. "I've nearly forgotten about those monstrous creatures. To think that her's would be that warlock of all people." The image disappeared at Mippa's command soon after.

"Oh yeah," said Zephyr confirmed while looking at Hikaru. "Sissy got caught in what we call a Tulpa Storm." He turned around to face Hikaru and explained further, "Long story short, Rhett Jr., AKA King Rhett the second, became a tulpa and started tearing her apart noggin and body wise."

"He was enacting his revenge for all the times she interfered with his plans of conquest," Azure explained further. "At first he thought of her as the weak link to another rival, the now Khaleesi Sora Dawns of the Draconid Tribe, and forced her into Doom T to prove a point. But over time, when she became more of a threat to him, his anger was redirected to Crystal, starting with the time that she became Lady Phantasma to spark hope into the hearts of the oppressed in the Dark Empire. They've been rivals ever since."

"That explains her coma treatment," said Hikaru while thinking it over. "Tulpas are usually spirits that take the form of imaginary friends, or your greatest rival. I can only imagine how difficult her tulpa was compared to the others in that storm."

"Right," said Casper with concern. "Mine took the form of my dad. I was not a happy camper when he showed up."

"Prince Argent for me," said Zephyr wagging his finger slightly. Azure looked at him with a slight smirk.

"Hey, he and I butted heads all the time on who's the best warrior," said Zephyr with slight annoyance. "That dang shield keeps getting in the way. Jeez, Louise." Azure snickered upon hearing this.

"Mine was my elder sister Queen Violet," said Azure with a smile, "as while we have a common sovereignty of protecting our people, she is heavily misguided in her ways." Jessica thought it over before speaking again.

"Mine is Princess Rosa as both of us are quite mature for our age," she said to the others. "Though it's hard to decide who is more childish. Myself, or Rosa."

"I'd say the little shrimp is more childish," said Zephyr. The others snickered upon hearing this.

"Regardless," said Owl, "this does mean that the tulpa was much stronger than anticipated. We can only hope that these trials that Crystal is taking part in help lessen the damage done to her health."

"Our thoughts exactly Owl," said Azure. He turned to the crystal ball and said, "How far along is she in the trials?"

"She has done two thus far," Owl replied. "He third has yet to be underway."

"Sounds like we missed the boat for the first two," said Zephyr. "Oh well. We'll see what the next one's got for her."

"Only time will tell, Zephyr," said Azure. "We just need to be patient." Mippa looked to where Azure was looking and smiled when she saw Crystal and Nights making their way to the Sobek River along with her pets. Things are about to look brighter for the group even if it meant danger around the corner.

To be continued…