It has been three months since Starlight's arrival. She still isn't use to the Visitors and hides from them, but she has been making process by playing with the younger Visitors and hiding them from the nightmaren army. NiGHTS enjoys her company and her help. One time they even did a duet playing Dreams Dreams. Owl keeps telling more and more about the Night Dimension and the Waking World. Starlight still doesn't know nothing about her past, but being with NiGHTS and Owl makes her feel not so bad.
Starlight is flying in Delight City just outside the neon light city. She hums a song she heard a Visitor sing, something called The Big Bang. She doesn't really know what the lyrics mean only that the melody sounds really good.
A nightopian flys up to her holding a ball and holds it in front of her. She looks behind the nightopian and sees more looking at her. She smiles at them and back to the nightopian in front of her, nodding her head. The nightopian squeaks in happiness and flys back to his/her friends. Nightopians don't have a gender, or at least that's what Starlight thinks being how they just bump into each other and there's an egg. The nightopian tosses the ball up in the air and the others hit it with their hands, heads or their feet. Starlight bounces the ball off her chest and gives it a little kick. She and the nightopians play happily together.
Suddenly there is a loud explosion which makes the ground shake. The nightopians flee and hide. The city's lights go out for a while then come back on. Starlight is confused with what just happen, but decides to go look around Delight City encase someone got hurt from the quake. Sure enough she does.
There is a huge crater in the ground, grass and lose dirt scattered everywhere. Mangled pipes that use to be monkey bars. Several pieces of cement and concrete building parts lay on the ground. It looks like a tornado hit the place or at least a huge bomb went off. There is also a bunch of cards sticking out of the ground, walls, and pipes.
Starlight is shocked with no words by the damage. She darts her head about looking for anyone hurt or unconscious. Her eyes widen when she sees a purple jester laying against a building with no signs of movement. She dashes over to the body and sees that his eyes are closed and his face is motionless. Their are rips and tears in NiGHTS' clothes to only reveal gashes and wounds. She panics and shakes NiGHTS, but no response. So she places her head next to his chest. Thump-thump-thump. She gives a huge sigh of relief knowing NiGHTS is alive, but it doesn't look like he'll be waking up anytime soon or moving at the matter of his wounds.
She gives NiGHTS one last look before putting his arm around her shoulder and grabbing his waist, hoisting him off the ground. He is a little heavy but she can at least carry him to the Dream Gates. She leaps into the air with NiGHTS and starts to head for the door.
When she is only a few feet away, she hears moaning. She looks to NiGHTS but he doesn't make a sound. Then she hears it again only behind them. She looks over her shoulder, about to dash with NiGHTS if needed. She only sees a big piece of clothing material lying on the mangled pipes and orange shoes dangling in the air. There is another crater in the ground but it is smaller and two red and black shoes stick out from it. She knows who they belong to the instant she sees them.
She flys over to what looks like a pile of laundry and let's go of NiGHTS' waist to check if there is a body. She definitely feels something warm and soft before being able to touch the cape. She doesn't need to check the smaller crater with the shoes already knowing who it is. She pieces together what she knows about the three and comes up with a pretty good idea of what happened. One of the three must have ticked the other off and they started fighting and created a huge blast knocking them all out and causing this damage. It isn't unusual with the three fighting and causing damage but this is far more destruction then normal and they never really knocked each other out before.
She turns around and starts to fly to the door again, but she feels her stomach tie itself into knots.
She looks back to the unconscious duo. She tries to take a few more feet away but her head and heart are having a war between weather or not to actually help them. Her brain reasons with her by remembering all the things they did to her. But her heart keeps pleading and begging to help them. It is like there is a angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. After what feels like half an hour her 'angel' reasons that if she helps them maybe they can be more kinder to her. Then her 'devil' sides they might not and will probably hurt her. But will they really hurt someone that just helped them. Starlight sighs and gives in.
She whistles and a few nightopians come out of hiding and fly to her. They see NiGHTS all torn up and gasp.
"Can you guys please take NiGHTS to Owl for me?" She asks them with hope in her voice.
The nightopians turn away from her and shout something in their weird language. Soon a bunch more nightopians show and gasp once they see NiGHTS. The ones who shouted talk to them and made a gesture towards both NiGHTS and Starlight. They all nod their little heads and the two nightopians turn back to Starlight beaming at her and nod.
She smiles in relief and let's go of NiGHTS' waist and lowers him down. The nightopians gather underneath NiGHTS and hold him up with their small hands. She rests NiGHTS on to the bed made of nightopians and let's NiGHTS' arm slide off her shoulder. Once the nightopians have a firm grib on him they start to fly off with the unconscious NiGHTS. Starlight watches as they leave and doesn't move 'til they are out of sight.
She turns back to face the sight of destruction again. She gives a huff then flys over to the crater. Reala lies there completely unconscious and his persona missing from his face. She notices there are black slit scars over his eyelids. She picks Reala up carefully and slings his arm around her shoulders. She looks about and sees a little gleam coming from the grass. She walks over and sees Reala's persona partly dug into the ground. She picks it up and wipes a bit of the dirt off with her lime green jacket and places it in one of her pockets. She floats over to once monkey bars and pulls the cape maren onto her back. She then plumets to the ground and tries to keep herself from falling on her face. Jackle weighs a ton, definitely more than NiGHTS. She struggles to keep herself standing up, balancing Jackle carefully onto her back and uses one of her hands to make sure he doesn't slip. She tries to float but only gets an inch off the ground. She can't fly with this much weight. She gives a big huff of hot air and starts to walk to the portal. Lucky the portal from her home and Delight City isn't very far and is close to the ground. It takes a while but she crosses through the portal and stands on the tower.
She balances at the tip of the roof trying her best not to fall. The tower isn't high enough to kill her but definitely brake a bone or two and holding the two nightmarens make it more difficult to keep her balance. She keeps her balance and hops off the little tower's roof and starts to walk on the other roof that connects to a high wall with a window. She pushes the two into the window and carries them again. If I remember correctly we're in the west corridor and my room is in the northeast tower. Why does my room have to be so far away. Starlight's thinks to herself being she'll have to lug these two close to going half around the castle, and she'll have to carry them up the stairs.
It takes a while but she is now walking up the stairs, half way there. She is panting hard and the two haven't even moaned or moved a muscle. She notices the deep blue chipped paint door and has passed it. She is only a couple steps away. This gives her an extra boost and she hurries up the steps and makes sure the cape maren doesn't slide off her back. She comes up to the door and pulls the handle.
She quickly walks into the room and smiles brightly until she sees NiGHTS lying on her bed still unconscious and banged up. She is so shocked her grip on Reala starts to slip, luckily she catches him before he hits the floor. She looks back to NiGHTS with a bewild look on her face. She walks over to the bed and places Reala and Jackle down besides him. She rubs her aching back and gives it a push and straightening her spine with a creak. Why is NiGHTS in her room, lying on her bed? Did she not tell the nightopians to take him to Owl? This is all confusing then she looks around her room in case the nightopians left her a clue. She spots a yellow note on her desk and picks it up to read the scribbling on the piece of paper. It says:
Gonna to the Waking World for ingredients and other medical needs. Will be gone for the night.
-Sincerely your wise friend, Owl
Starlight hits herself on the head and reads it over again not believing her eyes. She gives in and believes it. Her owl friend, the one who can heal NiGHTS, and is the only one with the keys to their home (Owl can't trust NiGHTS with the keys being he'd lose them in less then an hour) is gone for the rest of the night. She places the note back on the desk and looks over to the bed. The Nightmaren general, the guardian of Nightopia, and the mantel gambler, all in her home and what's worst in her very room. She can't believe this is happening and even pinches herself to make sure she isn't just dreaming or imaginating the whole thing. Nope. Still there.
The three don't move an inch. Starlight gives a sigh and leaves the room to go to the bathroom and get the first-aid kit from her cabinet. She floats back up and they still don't move an inch from their spot. She opens the red box and pulls out a bottle of disinfecting, some cotton balls, and woven bandages. She removes the cap and puts a bit of disinfecting on the cotton ball and daps it a bit on NiGHTS' face. He doesn't move or fidgets until she gets to the nasty ones. She does the same to Jackle and Reala and uses the woven bandages to keep them clean. She screws the cap back on the bottle and places the remaining woven bandages back in the first-aid kit along with the bottle of disinfecting. She closes the box and picks up the used cotton balls and heads back to the bathroom. Deposing the cotton balls and putting back the kit into the cabinet. She flys back up to her room with the three now bandage brothers.
Still looking at them as if expecting one of them to wake up, straight-up and ask where they are and why the enemies are here as well. She gives a giggle at the thought of it. She pulls a chair from the desk and places it by the window facing the bed. She plums herself into the chair and waits for them to wake up. She starts to nod her head off and places her elbows on her thighs to prop her head up. Her eyelids start to drop and she is trying to keep her eyes open. She had to carry Reala and Jackle from Delight City to her home and bandage NiGHTS, Reala, and Jackle and it is finally taking it's toll on her. She can't stay awake anymore. She falls asleep in the chair with one arm resting on the window sill and the other dangling at her side.
It is a long time but one of the three stirs, but Starlight is still asleep. Reala stirs around and opens his eyes. Black. That is all he can see along with a line of light. He gets up and feels jolts of pain shoot through his arms and legs but ignores the pain, and walks to the line of light. He puts his hand out and feels a hard wooden surface. He gives it a push but it doesn't budge. Then he feels around the surface and feels cold metal and it feels like it is in the shape of a hook. He pushes the hook up and gives the door another push and the doors open. He looks outside and sees towers of crystals and towers and walls made of stone. He is in Crystal Castle. How he got there is unknown to him. He tries to recall what happened before he waked up. He remembers that he, NiGHTS, and Jackle were fighting until Jackle threw one of his explosion cards at the bubbles that were about to collided and then everything went blank. Well that would explain what happened but still can't understand how he got here. He moves his arm and feels a ping of pain and he raises his arm up and realizes that it is bandaged. He stares at it and checks the rest of him, and yup he is bandaged up all over. I was unconscious and I'm no where close to Nightmare. So then who did this? Reala thinks, looking at the dressed wounds. Then he notices someone is sitting right next to him. He looks at it's face and realizes it is Starlight sleeping. He looks more intently and sees how the moonlight is shining on her face giving her a soft glow. He admits she looks beautiful and feels his face heat up a bit. Wait, am I blushing? I can not be blushing just by looking at her. But Reala is, his cheeks are blushing a very light pink. Now Reala feels confuse and humiliate that he is blushing just by seeing how pretty Starlight is.
Then NiGHTS and Jackle open their eyes and give a yawn, sit up, and see each other. They both shout each other name's which makes Starlight wake up with a start. Reala jumps back when Starlight jumps in her chair. She looks about and then remembers what happen. NiGHTS then sees Reala.
"Reala!" He shouts and sees he is next to Starlight, "Get away from her!" He jumps out of bed runs to the two. Jackle gets off the bed and notices that NiGHTS and Reala are bandaged up. He checks himself and sees bandages on his arms and chest.
"Anyone care to explain what happen here and why me, you, and Reala are bandaged up?" Jackle says, pointing to NiGHTS.
"Me and you were fighting NiGHTS. You threw a card at the bubbles me and NiGHTS launched and caused a big explosion that could have ended us!" He shouts at him angry being that he nearly killed them.
"Ohhh right. I forgot." Jackle says, remembering he threw one of his most powerful cards at the bubbles, "But that still doesn't explain how we got here and why we are like this." He gestures to his and Reala's dressed wounds.
"I-I did that." Starlight stutters blushing. The three turn their attention to her with shocked faces. "I found you guys injured badly and sent NiGHTS to Owl and took Reala and Jackle here. The nightopians that took NiGHTS sended him here because Owl is gone for the night. I'm sorry." She says feeling like she did something bad. The three are still shocked and confused then Reala speaks up.
"But why did you help us?" He asks questionably. We are her enemies and threaten her many times. Why in the world would she help us? Reala thinks still confused.
She gulps a bit and answers, "I didn't like seeing you guys hurt." The three are even more shocked, "I don't like seeing anyone hurt." She says quietly feeling ashamed and has her hands in her lap.
NiGHTS, Reala, and Jackle are still confused and bewild but Reala just decides to drop it.
"Come on Jackle." Reala says, slipping out the window, "Master is no doubt wondering where we are." Jackle nods and flys out the window with his brother. NiGHTS just watches them leave. Then Starlight remembers something.
"Reala wait." She says flying after them. NiGHTS is surprise by this but flys after her. Reala spins around to face Starlight. "You forgot this." She says holding out Reala's persona. Reala's eyes wides and snatches it from her hands. "It fell off when I found you." She says being Reala is probably wondering if she stole it.
Reala places the persona on it's rightful place and turns back in the direction he is going. He mumbles "Thank you" and leaves.