Chapter 4:

Author's Note: Hello everyone! I'VE GOT MORE FOLLOWERS ON DEVIANTART!1 XDXD! Thank you very much, ScarletRosia, MushyBeanCurd, and Stasiagamer24, for following! As for you guys on , keep on keeping on! Alright, let's GGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! XD

The child was fast asleep on her bed, the pup also asleep beside it. Then, something broke the silence and aroused the child. It was the unmistakable sound of footsteps. Surprised, the girl shook the puppy, waking it up. "Someone's coming, hide under my bed, and when I'm talking to that Galacta Knight guy or whoever it is, sneak out and run!" she whispered. As soon as the pup obeyed the child and hid, a knock was heard at the door. "Come in!" the child said with false cheerfulness.

Galacta Knight opened the door, came in, and said, "It's time. Please come with me."

"Sure!" the child said, yawning. "Sorry, I just woke up… So, how are you?" she asked, seeing the pup silently go out the door form the corner of her eye.

"I'm doing wonderfully," He said flatly and sarcastically. "Just fantastic. Now please cooperate and come with me." Now that the pup was safely out of the room, the child obeyed this time and followed him down the long, twisting hallways. The girl didn't ask Galacta Knight any questions this time; his last outburst had frightened her enough to keep her silent. After the two walked for a while, the child began to feel a bit chilly. Sure, the girl's body and the rest of the structure was surrounded by temperatures so cold that most creatures would die within seconds if suddenly transported to the planet, but Poyonan's bodies are used to this. However, the temperature that the child felt was a bit colder than this. As they continued, the hallway only became colder. The child eventually had to wrap her cape around herself to feel the slightest bit of warmth. She looked over to Galacta Knight to see if he had taken any sort of protection against the cold to find that he wasn't. "That's weird," the girl thought. "Doesn't he feel cold too?"

That's when she realized that she's felt this way before, back in her very first hours of consciousness. The fear soon followed, icily gripping the child's mind with its firm grip. She stopped in her tracks, her breaths growing quicker and shivers growing more intense. "N-no," she stuttered quietly. "I—I… I'm not going any farther than here!" Immediately following this, she quickly spun around and was about to run away when Galacta Knight suddenly gripped her bandaged arm tightly to keep her in her location, causing her to fall over and moan with pain.

"Do not disobey, girl!" Galacta Knight yelled, dragging her across the floor. This time, the girl didn't care about the punishment; she just wanted to, had to get away from this horrible sensation. She clawed at the floor, trying to grab something to keep the knight from moving her, but only the cruel, smooth surface greeted her. She wanted to thrash about to get out of Galacta Knight's grip, she wanted to scream. Alas, she couldn't, the cold had made her limbs too numb and weak to move, and her lungs were paralyzed with fear. All she could manage to do was moan quietly as streams of tears trickled down her face. It wasn't long until her vision grew blurry and the child blacked out.

…

Galacta Knight swore once he felt the girl's body go limp. He released his grip and checked the child's vital signs. They were all normal. "That imp must've hyperventilated until she passed out;" Galacta Knight thought bitterly. "Such a pathetic child, her mind isn't even strong enough to be in the presence of Nightmare!" A single question plagued her mind after this.

"How is it even possible to have that weak a mind?"

"Even the most pathetic of Star Warriors can be near Nightmare without going unconscious," Galacta Knight continued his thoughts while he continued to drag the child across the hall. "The natives of the planets we capture can handle it! Is it because she's an incomplete demon beast? It could be… it's happened before… but I've never heard of this sort of event occurring so far away from him!" He paused for a moment to check the child's vital signs again. This time, however, she struggled to breathe, and her pulse was rapid. He swore again under his breath as he produced a syringe full of a black liquid from his side; he had brought it with him in case this happened. Being sure the needle hit the vein in the child's arm, he inserted it and pushed down on the other end of it, sending the liquid into her body. Within a few minutes, her pulse and breathing relaxed.

"Maybe it wasn't because of her mind… Her wounds could have gotten infected… or she could have post-traumatic stress disorder…" With these thoughts, he directed his attention to the girl's wounds that weren't bandaged, especially the one across her eye. They showed no signs of infection or irritation, and the bleeding had seemed to stop. "Probably PTSD…" he answered himself, secretly doubting himself. Eventually, Galacta Knight arrived just outside the giant door of Nightmare's living quarters. "I have the girl." He said as he knocked.

The door opened a crack, just enough for Galacta Knight to enter. "Come in." Nightmare said. Before he entered, however, Galacta Knight checked the vital signs of the child one last time. Her heartbeat was normal, but her breathing was the slightest bit heavier. Galacta Knight paid no mind to this, he was sure that the child would be fine. Then, he entered, dragging the girl behind him. Nightmare stared down at the girl's limp body. "Why is she unconscious?" Nightmare inquired.

"I don't know exactly… she fell unconscious about a fourth of the way here."

"Odd," Nightmare mumbled. "Was it all of a sudden?"

"No," Galacta Knight responded. "She was very panicky and noticeably shaking. Right before she blacked out, she even made an attempt to turn back. I had to use the Black Elixir on her."

The only immediate response out of Nightmare was a sigh. "How could this happen?" Nightmare thought. "1,200 years of work and she's a Star Warrior? The heir to the throne is a Star Warrior?!" Then, Nightmare finally broke the deafening silence. "Did you use all of the Black Elixer?"

"Yes."

"Go fetch some more then," he ordered. "We might need it."

"Yes sir." Galacta Knight responded, taking his leave, about to take the girl with him.

"But leave the child." Nightmare said abruptly.

"Very well." He said, emitting a faintly audible groan as he once again dragged across the child's body across the floor and left it in the middle of the room. After this, he finally left. After this, Nightmare starred at the girl's unconscious body, into her soul. He could see that her soul was incredibly weak, barely able to function on its own. If he were to possess her, the toll on her mental stability would be massive. "She won't be able to unlock her full potential like this," he thought bitterly, considering his options. "Shall I awaken her? Or shall I not?"

After a while, Galacta Knight returned with five vials filled with the same dark liquid that he injected into the child earlier. "I brought it." He said bluntly.

"Good." He replied.

"What are you going to with her?" he asked, annoyed and curious.

"I'm… I'm not sure," He said stressfully. "How's the child doing?"

Galacta Knight walked over to her and checked her pulse, then her breathing. "Her pulse is a bit quicker, and her breathing is heavy." All that was audible was Nightmare sighing. "Shall I-?"

"No," Nightmare cut him off. "Not yet. Only do so if she displays signs of distress when she awakens."

"Very well." Galacta Knight grumbled under his breath, looking down at the child hatefully. "Stupid girl. She reminds me too much of brother…" he thought, nudging the girl lightly with his boot. "Far too much of him…" His mind soon drifted off into deep thought.

Galacta Knight was thrust in to reality again when he heard his name being shouted by Nightmare. "What?" Galacta spat.

"She's awakening!" Nightmare responded. Indeed, the girl's eyelids began to flutter. Galacta Knight focused his full attention on the child as she began to awake.

…

The child awoke slowly, her head throbbing and heart pounding. She saw Galacta Knight above her, but she also felt a larger, more frightening presence above her. "W-what happened?" she barely managed to whisper, weakly coughing afterword. Then, a familiar stab of fear and cold engulfed her, causing her to moan in pain. It was duller than when she fell unconscious trying to get away from Galacta Knight, but still more than unbearable. She could tell that the mysterious, currently unseen presence that she sensed above her was emitting this displeasure. Suddenly, she felt something sharp and small being thrust into her arm, and her mind immediately… numbed. She felt no emotion whatsoever, and she felt the air around her return to its original temperature.

"You just fell unconscious, child, nothing major." said a horrifying yet soothing voice. The voice echoed around the room and in the girl's mind.

The Black Elixir numbs the subject's mind, so one with a weak mind can be in the presence of Nightmare while being conscious. It can also allow for Nightmare to… tamper with the mind.

"But why?" the child asked, curious.

"You see, your mind isn't as strong as most because there was an… accident while you were being created. Galacta Knight gave you some medicine to help with that."

"Alright." She responded simply and quietly.

"Do you mind if I do something to fix this problem permanently?"

The child didn't respond right away. She wanted to know what this thing was going to do and whether or not it was going to hurt her or what this thing was. "What does it mean by 'created'?" she thought. Her mouth tried to form the questions that plagued her mind, but some unnatural force was keeping them from doing so. This same force also seemed to urge her to answer the being… to say yes. "No! I'm not going to answer until-" her thoughts of refusal slowly faded into nothingness and she was barely able to choke out a weak whisper, "…y-…yes…" though she couldn't see the being's face, she could sense that it was smiling.

"Good, child, good…" the being cooed softly, as if trying to calm the girl. Despite this, the child was still frightened to her very core. Suddenly, an incredible amount of pain consumed the girl's entire being. The pain was more than the child had ever felt, and this pain was both physical and mental. She felt betrayed; she had no idea why the being would hurt her after it said that it would help her. She felt as if she had murdered, murdered someone she cared about. To make it worse, her body screamed at her; she felt like the hottest fire consumed her and the most extreme cold embraced her, and that pain was excruciating. She wanted to scream until she was mute and grip at her heart in an attempt to make the pain go away. However, she couldn't move to do any of those things because of the unnatural force.

Instead, that same, evil force made a soft, yet blunt smile grace her face.

"W-what's happening?! Why is this… hurting… it hurts… it… h-hurts…" were the horrified child's thoughts that faded slowly. Finally, after what seemed like years of agony the pain abruptly stopped. Her body went limp as the force left her body, breathing heavily and tears rapidly running down her face. Anger suddenly filled the child's previously numbed mind, eyes turning red as the blood that spilled from her. "What had you done to me?! Who are-?!"

"Now, now, girl," The being interrupted in the same tone. "All these questions will be answered in time, but for now… Don't you feel much better?"

The child paused. It was true; she did feel better. Cold still surrounded her, but it was less intense than before. Even the fear that was constantly present when she was near the being had mysteriously vanished. "Y-yes… Yeah, I guess I do." She replied as the rage faded and her eyes returning to their normal color.

"Good." It said as a large, grey hand, which the child immediately knew that it belonged to the being, caressed her body. It was the coldest thing the child had ever felt, yet the child made no move of rebellion. Too weak and too mentally traumatized to do anything, all the child did was think.

"Just you guys wait, as soon as I regain my strength, I'll rebel in any way I can!"

Author's Note: I DID IT! XD! I FINISHED THIS CHAPPIE! Meh gosh, sorry I took so long writing this, with all the big rush of school starting and TOO MUCH HOMEWORK! GAH! DX! Ok, thanks for reading, see ya!