Chapter 5:
In the morning, Maria woke up. It was Christmas Eve. To her, Christmas Eve was never really significant, other than finishing up wrapping gifts, and dreaming about what the day after would be like. Honestly, she didn't really understand why it was such a big deal. It's just a day before a holiday. She also questioned why New Years Day was a holiday. It's not that she didn't enjoy the day off, but all of the fun happened on New Years Eve- hoping and dreaming about the year to come. After that though, the year becomes just as mundane as any year.
Maria got out of bed, and walked over to her computer to check out her social media accounts. Of course, none of her friends were on, so she simply checked what stuff they posted from the night before.
Jamie: posted some commentary about some sports game
Abby: reblogged some pics of her favorite actors and singers
Raya: posted a picture of her makeup from that day (it's always really fancy and cool)
Tyler: reblogged pictures that fit his steampunk/clockwork aesthetic
Fiona: Nothing
Other internet friends+Will: memes and stuff...
After that Maria checked up on some of her favorite tv shows to see when their specials would air. Nothing was too interesting after that, so she decided to go downstairs, make breakfast, and then maybe binge watch whatever Christmas specials were on. As she walked into the kitchen, she saw her brother with his chin on the table next to his cereal bowl, eyes glazed as he stared at his phone.
"Will, what's wrong?" she asked, but her words seemed to startle him, making him respond, "Don't do that Maria!"
"I didn't mean to startle you!" Maria exclaimed.
Will cringed at her loud voice covered his ears. "Maria!"
"I'm sorry Will. I didn't mean to be loud," the sister replied. "Is there something wrong?"
That seemed to hit a bad chord with her brother since he bared his teeth, and yelled. "Stop trying to give me therapy! What's my business, is my business; not yours, so shut up and go away!"
Something wasn't right with her brother. This wasn't his typical annoyance. He was outright furious for some reason, and Maria didn't know why. She wanted to asked him kindly about what happened, so she could help him, but he was not in a state that he'd listen or find her presence calming. It took effort, but she was able to take a few deep breaths and turn her attention to breakfast. This morning, she felt like eating less, so she wouldn't gain too much weight the next day. She went to the pantry, and grabbed some oatmeal, pouring into a bowl, adding water, and then microwaving it. As she set her oatmeal down on the table, Will glared up at her, immediately getting up and storming upstairs to his room where she heard a loud slam. She sighed, wishing that her brother wouldn't be so cold, but there was nothing she could do.
After Maria finished her food, she walked upstairs, grabbed her laptop and her phone, and walked back downstairs to the living room. There, she plopped herself down on the couch, turned on the TV to the closest channel that she knew was airing Christmas movies all day, and opened her laptop to some of her stories, and began slowly typing.
Back in the Dark Realm:
"Master Wizeman. I'm here."
Wizeman looked down at the red and black ram horn nightmaren in front of him.
"So another piece of Fryght has awoken. What do you call yourself?" the god asked.
"I am Nightmayr, and I'm am your faithful servant." Nightmayr bowed in the air in front of his creator, though hiding the very dark look on his face.
"I had a feeling that another piece awoke. I'm glad that this time you chose to be loyal to your creator."
"Of course," Nightmayr replied, looking up at the two large eyes that meticulously judged him.
"Now tell me, which powers did you inherit?"
Nightmayr then changed his glance from the closest eyes to the further eyes, and gave them a dark smirk. "Strength and shadows…" Nightmayr surrounded himself in shadows that quickly hid his body, though his bright red-eyes showed right through.
"Good…" Wizeman muttered.
Back in the Waking World, Maria had dozed off for a second, but awoke with no recollection of what she dreamt. She was about to go back to watching TV, but she was interrupted by her dad entering the house.
"Hi dad," Maria waved over at her dad who was carrying extra bags full of food for tomorrow, and also an extra roll of wrapping paper.
"Good morning Maria. Happy Christmas Eve."
"Happy Christmas Eve," Maria replied.
"Did you see Will yet today?" Mr. Taylor was putting the food down and sorting it into the refrigerator and pantry.
"Yeah, but he's not in a good mood, so I recommend you be careful."
"Is it just normal teenage moodiness, or is like how it was two years ago?" Will had began keeping his distance from his family starting in 6th year, which Maria had assumed was due to Will naturally turning to his friends for support since dad was usually busy at work, and also the fact that he had put so much pressure on himself to be liked by his classmates.
"I don't know yet, but it seems either that level, or worse," Maria answered.
Her father sighed. "Oh well. I won't pressure him too much then. I just hope he will feel better for tomorrow."
"Me too," Maria sighed.
Right after that, the writer decided to finish wrapping her gifts. She works at the local library, so she was able to buy the gifts herself. For Will, she got a new gaming system, which was a lot of money, but her dad wasn't willing to get it, so she decided to save up. Hopefully he would really like it, and it would be enough to get him out of this slump. For her dad, she got a book, and a few other gadgets he asked for. Christmases have always been small ever since her mom's passing.
"Maria!" her dad called. "Could you help me prepare the food for tomorrow?"
"Coming!" she called.
The only big celebration she has on Christmas is Christmas dinner. She, her brother, and her father go over to her grandparents' house. It's always been a little awkward, since these are her mom's parents, but they are always super sweet, and welcoming. Her aunt and her daughter also come, and after dinner, they open more presents.
When Maria got to the kitchen, she quickly turned on the oven in order to preheat it. First, she worked on the Christmas cookies, which was a family recipe. Her mother made these cookies each year, so when she passed away, she and her father continued the tradition.
Once Maria had pulled the cookies out of the oven, the sweet smell wafted throughout the house. Only 5 minutes later, Will came wandering downstairs.
"Coming to help?" Maria inquired, knowing fully well that Will only came down to sneak a cookie or two and return to his room. Will gave Maria a glare, huffed before leaving wordlessly and cookielessly.
"It would have been nice if Will stayed," her father sighed. "I could really have used some help with this fondue."
Maria sighed back. "It's just sad to see him isolating so much. I wish he would try to be part of the family." After both releasing a final sigh, the two continued their work, mostly without conversation.
After the cooking, baking, and cleaning was done, Maria's father took out some leftovers, and asked Maria to call her brother down for dinner. Will came down, just as moody as earlier, and they all finished off their day.
That evening, Maria went back to sleep, only slightly excited for the holiday, but mostly excited to see more of Nightopia. As she drifted to sleep, she found herself back in the Dream Plaza.
"Twylight?" Maria called out, hoping that her friend was nearby, but it seemed her friend must be occupied somewhere else. But, as Maria was about to wander around the Dream Plaza more, she was startled by a voice behind her saying, "Hmm… I haven't seen a Visitor around these part in years." Maria spun around to face a nightmaren with yellow horns with zig-zagging black stripes, and a pair of aquamarine goggles over its eyes.
"Uh, who are you?" Maria asked, only feeling slightly nervous in this encounter.
"I'm Jolten. But what really matters is who the heck are you? This place is kinda my territory."
"I'm Maria. It's nice to meet y-"
"It doesn't matter what your name is. What are you doing here?"
Maria was completely bewildered by this jester that she was tripping on her words. "I came to friend find- I mean, I came here to find my friend."
"If you're trying to find NiGHTS, you're looking in the wrong place-"
"No. I'm looking for my friend Twylight."
Jolten looked completely confused. "Who now?"
"Twylight. They're a nightmaren like you," Maria replied, confusing Jolten even more.
"You must be delusional," he chuckled. "I know every nightmaren, and I mean every. I've been around since even before NiGHTS, and in all that time, I have never met a nightmaren named Twylight."
"Well I guess you'll have to meet them then," Maria concluded, turning around to the castle. "Twylight, are you around?!"
From out of the corner of her eye, a portal formed, and Twylight peeked out, and motioned for her to follow. Maria looked back at Jolten who was looking at Maria with suspicion. "Um, I guess I'll be off, trying to find my friend," the writer shrugged awkwardly, stepping away from the jester.
"Weird," she heard under Jolten's breath, but decided to act like she didn't hear it, and walked away.
As she walked to the place where Twylight's portal, she felt a tug on her shirt, and was dragged backwards through a portal. On the other side of the portal was her rainforest Nightopia, but a different part which she was less familiar with. Beside her was a large waterfall which formed a just as large river, and on the other side was Twylight grinning down at her.
"So, do you want to look around more?"
"Sure!" Maria replied, following Twylight towards the waterfall. "Where are you leading me?" she asked.
"I found a cool little cave behind the waterfall," Twylight replied. "Although, you'll have to go under the waterfall, but I can carry you through it," she warned.
"That's fine," the human stated.
Quickly, the nightmaren swooped the dreamer into their arms, and dashed under the waterfall. On the other side of the waterfall was small opening, but as the two continued forward, it opened up into a huge cavern full of crystals, moss, and vines hanging from the ceiling. In the center of the room was a pedestal, which was surrounded by huge flower petals and leaves, like it was the center of a flower.
"What is that?" the girl inquired, looking at what stood on the pedestal. On the pedestal was a green, glistening gem that illuminated the room.
"I don't know, but it's beautiful," Twylight smiled. "Why don't we check it out?" The two approached the pedestal, assuming there was no danger, but as Twylight's foot brushed upon one of the leaves, the pedestal, and the whole flower receded underground. The ground began to rumble causing Maria to fall backwards as a new plant began to sprout. In the place of the pedestal now stood a huge Venus Fly Trap with spiky vines swinging about.
"Watch out! Twylight cries as a vine swung right at Maria. With no time for Maria to dodge, Twylight's body glowed for a second, and in place of their light mummy wrap and vest was a heavy set of armor, that looked like dragon skin. Twylight divided in front of Maria, and stopped the vine in midair.
"Whoa!" Maria gasped. "You can also transform your clothes?"
"Yes, but it's more than that." As two vines swung at them, Twylight's whole body glowed. Their form quickly expanded, morphing into a form that was no longer anthropomorphic. The light quickly dispersed. In the place of the jester was a shield and sword. "Protect yourself," the weapons commanded.
Immediately, Maria grabbed the shield, protecting herself from the vines. "What are you expecting me to do?" Maria asked hesitantly.
"I think this creature is a nightmaren. We can make it powerless by cutting off the vines," Twylight advised. Another vine swung right at Maria, and this time, Maria swung back with her sword slicing the vine off. Maria was tempted to celebrate, but it would be far too early.
As Maria continued to cut off vines, she notice the vines were slowly growing back out of ground. "This doesn't seem like it is doing anything," the girl murmured.
Once all of the vines surrounding the flower were cut, Maria decided to charge at the center, and cut the vines holding the flower bud up.
"Maria, I think its weaknesses are the gems on its leaves. If you cut down it's stem, you can reach the gems, and crack them one by one."
Once Maria had cut through the stem, and the bud fell, and landed next to her. Instantly, she began slashing at one of the yellow gems on one of its three leaves. But, once the gem was cracked, the bud rose again, and Maria was thrown off.
When Maria got up, the vines on the ground rose, surrounding the flower. "What do I do now?" Maria asked, breathlessly.
"Try cutting down the vines again," Twylight replied. Again, Maria began slicing at the vines, but as she cut in deeper, she found herself lost in the forest of prickly vines.
"Twylight! Where do I go?" Maria called desperately. With the vines closing in on her, Maria feared the worst. But, just at the last moment, she was carried into the air by her sword and shield.
From above the forest of prickly vines, Maria could see the flower bud with one of its petals drooping to the side. Without warning, the shield and sword dragged their user, and began slashing at a second gem fiercely. With the sound of shattering glass, the gem broke, and the second leaf fell. The two tried to stay on the flower, but they were once again thrown off.
Catching their friend in the air, the sword and shield carried Maria over the growth of slithering, writhing vines. They were about to go and attack the third gem, but a vine spouted up in front of them, waving about dangerously. After the two maneuvered themselves around the vine, they were greeted by similar, tall vines, surrounding the flower itself.
"We've got to cut down these vines before break the last gem!" Maria called to her sentient weapons. Without a pause, she and the sword slashed through the vines, protecting themselves from the thorns as they fell. Once they finished with the vines, they quickly finished off the last gem, with burst of adrenaline. With all of the gems shattered, the leaves and petals of the plant wilted until the only remaining features were the green crystal and its pedestal.
"Go ahead, take it," Twylight advised, returning to their normal form.
Maria slowly approached the crystal. As she neared it she could hear a faint pulsing hum. Once she took the crystal off of pedestal, all she could focus on was the crystal itself. She could feel the gem vibrating in her hand with the hums. Inside, there seem to be a faint glow.
"Pretty gem, isn't it?" a dark voice murmured in the shadows.
Maria was pulled out of her trance, as she looked around the cave to trace where the voice had come from. As she kept turning, she was startled by a claw on her shoulder. She whipped around to see Nightmayr grinning mischievously.
"Pretty gem. Can I see it?" the red-eyed nightmaren requested.
The writer felt extremely hesitant, but opened her hand to show the relic.
Nightmayr was about to swipe it out of her hand, but his sibling batted his hand away saying, "No. This crystal is Maria's. She found it."
He growled, but resorted to just observing her treasure.
Twylight and Maria ended up moseying back to the door slowly, taking in all of the sights of Frenzy Forest. Nightopians sang, and birds chirped and whistled. Upon exiting the door, Maria felt herself fading once more, welcoming the morning of the holiday.