A/N: Just to let you know, this fanfiction has very little to do with the NiD world. Claris and Elliot are in or mentioned in this fanfiction. It's just that they went through the story in a JoD kind of style, which is why Claris knows about Owl and Personas.
Disclaimer: The Dream World and any Dream Creatures belongs to SEGA. Hannie and Reese belongs to EternalFluffy, and Jen belongs to Angel.
NiGHTS into College
Chapter 4
NiGHTS felt the pillow slam to the back of her head. NiGHTS felt a drain in her body, and Pomona told her that she probably needed some sleep. NiGHTS had never slept before, so that was going to be a new experience. She closed her eyes and snoozed away.
For full seriousness, NiGHTS thought that her four years at college would be a break from serving Wizman. She was wrong, because once she got into a state of dreaming, she saw Wizeman right in front of her. Next to her, was Reala, and Jackle was hanging out at the edge of the door.
NiGHTS had bowed down to her master, along with Reala, they had took their differences aside to serve the same Nightmare God.
"Permission to speak master," NiGHTS had asked her master, she had to tell Wizeman about all of the Dreamers on campus.
"No," Wizeman refused the permission, "because you have a mission at the Wize campus."
NiGHTS wondered what would be important at the Wize campus that Wizeman would want something from that very place.
"You will come to notice that there are many Dreamers at Wize College, some of them with many Ideya. They are all at a weak age, between childhood and adulthood. What you need to do is…."
NiGHTS and Reala knew it, even though stealing Ideya was third rank work; it was going to be their job.
"…Make them succumb to me," Wizeman told the two.
"Permission to speak master," Reala stood up, but spoke anyway, "you're actually going to make Visitors your minions?"
"If you let me explain," Wizeman yelled out to Reala, "I have figured out that Ideya is more powerful if in the Visitor than out of the Visitor."
Since Reala was already in trouble with Wizeman, he continued to speak, "But Visitors are so…different from us Nightmaren. They're easy to convince, I could do that easily, although any Visitor would change their mind."
"As much as I can change a Nightmaren human, I can change a Visitor Nightmaren."
NiGHTS had also spoken out of context, although it was less of speaking, more of screaming, "What?"
"Master," Reala had bowed back down to represent his full respect, "you couldn't even fully turn us human, how could you turn a Visitor fully Nightmaren?"
"They are already in the Night Dimension," was Wizeman's answer, "I just don't have the power to transport you ~and~ turn you fully human."
"We will do it master," Reala said without any hesitation.
"And," Wizeman added, "to make sure that you are giving me my new, ever so powerful minions, Jackle will be going to the Wize Campus to make sure that you are doing your job."
"Master, why would you do such a thing?" Reala objected. He just couldn't believe that Jackle would also be on Campus. "Wasn't I already a stretch to get myself in?"
"I've got him in too, with a single room," Wizeman said, "besides, since Jackle is what NiGHTS likes to call a, '1.5 rank Nightmaren,' Jackle is perfect for this job, since he is partially in my control."
NiGHTS just wanted to wake up from her first nightmare, but she couldn't. Right then, she felt how Visitors felt when they were having a Nightmare.
**
NiGHTS woke up screaming, which made Pomona, who was on her laptop, look back to see what was wrong. Yet the entirety of what Pomona had seen was NiGHTS taking deep constant breaths. Pomona immediately asked, "Wow, bad dream?"
"I've never knew that there was an intention for me to be here," NiGHTS continued to gasp for breath, "this is more than just a punishment, it's a test!"
Pomona was confused out of her mind about what NiGHTS had said, but Pomona thought that is was good to calm NiGHTS down, "how about some breakfast?"
The door to NiGHTS' and Pomona's dorm was wide open, and a young man with bright orange hair, dark skin, and blue eyes stood by the door. He was wearing black baggy pants, and a grey tank top with an orange and white mantle. On top of his head were two jesters like tassles, only thinner than NiGHTS' and Reala's. Pomona actually had no clue that this person was, but she had a feeling that he was from Nightmare, so Pomona took out her hand for a shake and said, "Hey, I'm Pomona."
The man looked at Pomona's hand, which the finger nails were painted in a pastel pink. He looked upwards at this girl, her long brown hair was put into two pigtails, and her hazel eyes were surrounded by purple eye shadow. There was no thought to the man about how elegant she looked; it was only how the mini top hat stayed on her head.
Pomona was expecting a shake of the hand, but she put her hand down and curtsied instead with her overly poofy purple skirt, "how do you do?"
The visitor of the dorm just looked at her some more, until he realized that she was just being polite, "I do very well, but what are you doing in my brother's room?"
Pomona looked back at NiGHTS, who at least appeared female; she was putting her pink Converses onto her feet. NiGHTS didn't really put on any of her pajamas, so NiGHTS was in the clothing she was wearing the other day. "Brother?"
"Did I say brother? I think I've meant sister," the young man smiled quite widely.
It was Pomona's turn to stare at the visitor, "well, if you mean my roommate NiGHTS here, then she can talk."
NiGHTS walked over to the door, "and you must be Jackle."
"That would be me," said the orange haired human looking Nightmaren, "we need to talk, without the 19th century reject here."
"Hey!" Pomona cried out, "Just so you know, this is very cultural in…."
"Don't care," Jackle pushed Pomona out of the room, then closed the door and locked it so she wouldn't get back in. Once Jackle heard the keys of Pomona's push into the door, he put a chair under the door knob. "So, what have you done about Wizeman's plans of his ultra powerful minions?"
The whole thing about Wizeman's plan just wanted to make NiGHTS vomit. Reala was pretty good at making Dreamers believe things that weren't true. It was just Reala didn't really talk to any Dreamers for too long, at least in any positive manners anyway.
NiGHTS on the other hand, knew more about humans, and knew that they wouldn't like Wizeman as a master very much. Most humans she knew wouldn't like this whole, "master," system, and would quit right away. Yet if Wizeman's plan of turning them Nightmaren worked, then there would be no turning back. That would be an eternity of misery. What NiGHTS had said was, "Jackle, I just woke up, you need more patience than that. Besides, that, '19th century reject' and I were going to eat breakfast, you can join us if you want."
"She's a bad choice for a friend," Jackle shook his head, "she only has one Ideya, and it ain't for courage."
"The Ideya of courage is rare; we all know that," NiGHTS told Jackle, "besides, I can be friends with anyone I want!"
"Fine," Jackle took the chair away from the doorknob, "you can eat this 'breakfast' with her, but you have to make more powerful friends than her."
Pomona opened to door to her own room, "what was that about?"
"Classified," Jackle said, "it's none of your business."
Pomona grabbed NiGHTS' arm, "well, fine," she put up her nose, "we'll just go on without you and your classified business!" She then pulled NiGHTS out of the room and to the cafeteria.
**
Pomona got some Cheerios, and NiGHTS had an omelet, with less meat than Hannie's. Hannie wasn't there, but she saw Jen, who NiGHTS decided to sit with. NiGHTS never really remembered Jen as a Dreamer at all, but NiGHTS knew that she was nice. It didn't matter if she had five Ideya or none, so NiGHTS sat down next to Jen, as Pomona sat next to NiGHTS.
Jen looked over at NiGHTS, "oh hi!"
"Hey," said NiGHTS, "how was your tour with your sister?"
Jen sighed, "Well, we saw some freshmen smoking, and she yelled at them about, 'ruining her voice.' It was annoying, even if she did have a point." She shook her head, and then looked up, "Although the tour went well, hopefully she won't get lost trying to get to classes. How was your trip to Cold Stone?"
NiGHTS began to laugh, "Well, speaking of annoying siblings, ended up that I met one of my own at that ice cream place, ended up that he's going to this college along with me."
"Annoying you say?" said a figure.
Both of the girls looked back, hoping that it wasn't their own sibling. It ended up that it was NiGHTS that was the unlucky one, since it was Reala that was standing there.
Jen slightly blushed and looked down when she saw NiGHTS' brother, "well, you know, siblings tend to annoy other siblings. Probably NiGHTS annoys you a lot too."
Reala sat down at the table, "you have a point. NiGHTS does irritate me with her ways."
Jen seemed to have a gaze at Reala, at least until someone else came to the table; she looked a lot like Jen, especially with the pink hair. It was strapped up into a ponytail, and shorter than Jen's hair. Her brown eyes were light, almost into a shade of pink itself. There was no doubt about it, this was Jen's little sister.
To NiGHTS, she looked more than familiar, she knew her by name, and by history. Her name was Claris Sinclair; it was kind of hard to tell her at first by the lack of uniform, as she wore a rainbow colored tube top with jeans. Yet it was no doubt that it was her.
Claris sat down next to Pomona, "hi, are you friends of Jen?"
"They're actually freshmen," Jen told her little sister, "just like you!"
Jen waved to the other people at the table, "nice to meet you all." Then her eyes looked right over to NiGHTS, she had a surprised look at her face, then she winked at the Nightmaren.
NiGHTS nodded her head in confirmation to Claris. NiGHTS had guessed that the horns were a big giveaway.
"Well, it's always good to make new friends," said Claris, "especially freshmen, like us!"
"Yeah," said Pomona, "most of us had to leave our high school friends to go to Wize College, it's starting all over again really!"
"That's actually why I came to college with my sister," Claris explained to Pomona, "so I can have someone to talk to!"
Reala decided to be the annoying sibling that NiGHTS always was to him, to embarrass her right in front of her roommate, successful Dreamer and the sister of the dreamer. He wrapped his arm around NiGHTS' shoulder then said, "The exact same reason why I went to Wize College, to be with my adorable little sister."
NiGHTS immediately pushed Reala off of her, "We're the same age Reala!"
"So…you're twins?" Pomona asked she looked around the table to see all of the siblings sitting around the table, loving or unloving, it made her feel jealous, "You're all so lucky, I was an only child for most of my life!"
"Well, what about Will?" NiGHTS asked, "Isn't he your stepbrother?"
Pomona thought for a moment, Will was her brother, and she loved him like a brother, even if they weren't biological. She was in America and he was in England, but they were siblings none of the less, "Well, the relation between Will and myself isn't really a lifetime thing…like your sibling relationships."
Even after what Pomona said, Reala still felt unfortunate to have NiGHTS as a sibling. He looked over at Jen, who was still gazing at him. He found this kind of discomforting. Reala knew that he was good looking, but not that good looking. Reala stood up, and then gave NiGHTS a pat on the head, "I have some business to do. I will see my little sister later." Reala walked away.
"For the last time," NiGHTS called out to Reala, "We're twins!" When Reala had left, NiGHTS' forehead went right to the table, "brothers," she sighed.
Pomona and Claris knew what she was talking about, although Jen had no clue about NiGHTS' situation, she actually thought of Reala as a cool guy, so Jen asked, "Is something the matter between you two?"
NiGHTS slightly looked up, she had to make up a story for Jen, so she sighed, "When I was fourteen, I felt as though my father was over-dominant. So I ran away from home, lived with a neighbor of ours. Reala found out where I was, and tried to convince me to come back home, each time was jerkier than the last. He even tried to take me by force. Eventually I got kind of homesick, and came back. I thought Reala would change right away, but no, he's still the same way that he is."
NiGHTS looked at Claris, hopefully she would compare the end of her made up story to NiGHTS coming back to Nightmare to serve Wizeman. Claris looked a little confused, so NiGHTS stood up, and signaled Claris to come with her.
**
The Perfect Dreamer and the former rebellious Nightmaren went to the bathroom. They both looked at each other closely in the eyes.
Claris, had an excited feeling, she knew right away that this young woman was NiGHTS. She thought that she would never see NiGHTS ever again, yet there the very Nightmaren was right in front of her. This was a pleasant surprise for Claris. "So you are NiGHTS in the flesh?"
NiGHTS sighed, she didn't expect any dreamers to come to this College, but it seemed as though Wizeman lured one of the most powerful dreamers in the Waking World to one place. She couldn't tell Claris about Wizeman's plan, but there was one thing that she could tell Claris, "Yes, I am NiGHTS, and I've quit being a rebel."
The pinked haired dreamer just glanced at NiGHTS, and then giggled, soon enough her giggle turned into a full laugh, she couldn't control herself; this was too hilarious, once she stopped laughing, she wiped a tear off her eye then told NiGHTS, "good joke."
NiGHTS shook her head grimly, that wasn't the reaction she was expecting, so NiGHTS said, "It's no joke, I wear my Persona mask once again. Going here is a punishment for rebelling."
"What?" Claris was appalled by the news, yet she kept silent since it was NiGHTS' own decision. Although she felt as though she needed a reason for NiGHTS' change of mind, so she asked, "Why are you serving Wizeman?"
NiGHTS had the reason, she sighed and shared it to Claris, "I was…lonely, the few hours I get with dreamers just wasn't enough…and Owl was beginning to annoy me."
Claris looked down, "well, Owl could get annoying, but still, you're serving Wizeman! He's the god of Nightmares, what is there to like about him?"
There was some serious thought about that question. Wizeman was bossy, short tempered, abuses his powers and was kind of ugly. Yet she had made her decision, she may had looked back on it, but they were firm, she clutched her fists and told Claris "well, maybe that's just my choice, it isn't yours, I just wanted to inform you that I wasn't a free maren anymore!" NiGHTS opened the door to find a yelp. NiGHTS looked down to see Reala rubbing his head from having his head hit by the door. NiGHTS just gave Reala a glare, and then walked off.
"And you must be Reala that Elliot talks so much about," Claris mentioned to Reala, "are you here to watch NiGHTS?"
"No," Reala shook his head, "you don't want to know."
"I'm all ears," said Claris, but continued to talk, "let me guess…you merged with NiGHTS which created a super Nightmaren, and Wizeman wasn't so happy about that?"
That would have been a good idea, if Reala had thought of that. Although it wasn't the reason why he was sent to this horrible place, Reala smiled, nodded his head and spoke in a sarcastic tone, "yeah, that was what happened, disturbing, isn't it?"
Claris knew that it wasn't the case; she crossed her arms and glared at Reala, then said in a deep tone, "yeah, that really happened."
Reala made a snub look at Claris back, "you've suggested it."
That was when Jen walked over to the two, "Pomona and I were wondering what you guys were up to. Until we saw NiGHTS, she looked a bit upset. So Pomona sent her back to their room. What was going on?"
Claris bit her lip. She knew exactly what was going on. Yet no matter how much she tried to convince her sister, Jen just didn't believe that Dreams were actually a different world. It was four years since she met NiGHTS, and still, Jen didn't believe Claris on the whole situation.
"Nothing," said Reala, as he flipped his longish hair, "she just didn't like that I was listening in on their conversation. She thinks what happens in a girl's bathroom is a bit 'personal.'"
"Um, geez, Reala, what happens in any bathroom is personal," Claris made the comment.
Yet what surprised Claris was Jen's comment back to her, "well, I just think that Reala is a little curious about what his little sister had to say to you."
This had surprised Claris so much, that she blinked a few times to see if she was dreaming. Claris had to ask herself: Why would Jen say such a thing? "I better see if NiGHTS is okay," Claris told Jen, she was about to run off, until she looked back, "um, where does Pomona and NiGHTS live?"
Jen shrugged, "the dorm where Hannie is RAing for."
Claris nodded her head, "I think I know what you're talking about, but I'll ask Hannie."
**
NiGHTS lied down onto her bed, she began to feel bad about walking away from Claris, then said suddenly, "I guess, it's expected for Claris not to accept my decision." She knew that Hannie and Reese would have reacted the same way if they remembered her and their dreams. NiGHTS had also known that Elliot, Will and Helen would also hate her for what she had done. What made the situation worse was that Claris was probably the prime candidate for Wizeman's stupid plan. NiGHTS rolled over to look at the darkness of her pillow.
Claris leaned on the edge of the open door, "hey NiGHTS," she told the girl whose head was faced down on the pillow.
NiGHTS looked up to see the pink haired girl who looked a bit too joyful for recently hearing what would be bad news to any dreamer. She smiled and said, "NiGHTS, I will accept any decision you make. I may not agree with them, but you are your own maren. You shouldn't make your decision for me or for Wizeman, they should be for yourself."
NiGHTS looked down she knew that Claris had a whole life ahead of her. She didn't want Claris' life to be ruined by Wizeman's idea. "Well, you're right," said NiGHTS, she grinned slightly at the floor, "thanks for accepting my choices, I know that this is hard for you but…."
Claris immediately interrupted NiGHTS, "I just want to still be friend, you know, like four years ago?"
The bright blue eyes of NiGHTS' finally looked up, "you've grown a lot Claris, but…I have to warn you…be careful of Reala okay?"
A nod came to Claris' head, "okay," but she knew that NiGHTS' warning may have been more difficult than one would think.
**
That night, Jackle was the first to appear in Nightmare. He had approached Wizeman and shook his head, "The two aren't making the right friends."
Wizeman looked over at Jackle, "how so?"
"NiGHTS for one," Jackle explained, "has a friend with only the Ideya of Purity. It really shows too."
"And Reala," the all mighty master of Nightamren asked.
"Well," said Jackle, "the one that rooms with Reala has the Ideya of Intelligence, and that's it, no hope of regaining anymore Ideya for him."
NiGHTS and Reala had appeared, Reala had heard the sentence of Jackle, and in response said, "James is very irritating, not one to convince to come to Nightmare."
"Jackle has reported that you have done a terrible job," said Wizeman, one of his hands crumpled to a fist, as it shook, so had the room.
NiGHTS did not want to go through Wizeman's wrath again, she didn't want to do this, but she said, "Do you remember Claris Sinclair, one of the firsts to defeat you?"
"Make your point fast," Wizeman had stopped shaking the room, but his hand was still at a first.
"She's at Wize College, with all of her Ideya. She told me that she is 18, which is indeed the weak age between childhood and adulthood."
"Then convince her to come to us," said Wizeman, "if she was able to defeat me, then imagine the power she will be as my minion?" Wizeman began to laugh loudly and proudly.
NiGHTS felt like the dreamer's equivalent to throwing up.