Nights Twilight Dreaming

Chapter Thirty

Nightmaria readied her sword as she pointed it at Crystal whilst shouting, "Draw your weapon!" She then pointed into the air and blasted a ray of black and white straight-up to summon a health bar for herself. Her and Nights' battle with the possessed Crystal is about to begin. Crystal began with the spell Hydro Hurricane, a spell in which the caster summons a vertical tornado of water toward her opponent. Nights and Nightmaria dodged her attack and used some spells of their own, which were Umbral Saber, and Dancing Star respectively. While Nights was busy ramming into Crystal while spinning like a ballerina, Nightmaria slashed at the young princess who dodged some of her attacks while receiving damage from some of them. Crystal then used Frost Fusion which worked the same as last time. While dodging the attack, Nights used the spell Halo Disc Barrage to keep her guessing. Nightmaria did the same while Crystal dodged each one and got grazed by others. As soon as she activated Twilight Flash, essentially giving Nights and Nightmaria a taste of their own medicine, she activated Halo Saber and ran up to the latter to slash and stab her superior. Nightmaria parried the other sword swings having had more experience with the blade than the young princess. After enough parries, she performed a riposte against Crystal knocking her unconscious. The battle was not over yet, as the Dark Ideya made the girl rise after a brief moment as if pulling her strings. Crystal awoke from her daze and jumped backward to give Nightmaria and Nights some space before striking again.

Nights activated the spell Starlight Navigation, a homing attack where the spellcaster summons a circle of stars and sends them toward the opponent one at a time until the last one is gone. Crystal has been buffeted by some of the stars while Nightmaria used the spell Black Hole Eclipse, a spell that summons a series of vortexes and orbs that surround the area, in hopes of tricking the young princess into falling into one of the holes she had made. Some orbs buffeted the young girl while straightened herself out and countered with Etoile Magica.

As the spell worked the same as last time, she collapsed from exhaustion while Nights activated the spell Galactic Wave, the cosmic equivalent to Shadow Wave, causing some damage to the girl. He followed up with Star Rain for good measure as Crystal recovered and activated the spell Glacial Tempest, an icy spell that summons a gale so cold it seems to freeze anything in the air. After countering with Umbral Flame, a dark magic spell that summoned flames as black as night to melt the icy wind, Nightmaria then knocked out the princess and proceeded to use Halo Saber to slash her with a series of parries, and finishing with a riposte. Despite this, the girl survived and got up before jumping back to give the duo some space.

After healing herself, the Dark Ideya possessed Crystal used the spell Cherry Blossom Tornado which summons a large tornado of cherry blossom petals that are as sharp as daggers. While the tornado tried to buffet Nights and Nightmaria, the former used Seraph Wheel, a move which summons a large wheel of light to strike the opponent with. He held it in place, aimed it right at Crystal, and Drill-Dashed into it forcing it to attack her. This caused some damage to the girl along with Nightmaria's Hexing Shade.

Crystal quickly recovered from the attack and activated the spell Lightning Shower, causing Nights and Nightmaria to weave around the lightning strikes one after another. She followed up with Thor's Hammer, having absorbed some of the lightning strikes to strengthen her power during the struggle. Nights and Nightmaria were stunned for a moment while the girl activated Tempest Saber and ran right up to Nights. She was about to strike before Nightmaria quickly recovered and intercepted Crystal's attack through a series of parries. After a resounding riposte, Nights, taking an opportunity whilst the two battled, flew right into the air to charge one of his attacks. He took ten seconds of charging to produce the spell Lunar Cannon, a spell that uses the power of the moonlight as a powerful beam to blast the opposing force. In his case, however, he transformed into a cannon to do so while pushing her to the brink of consciousness. Crystal felt limp as the blast was too powerful for her to dodge, let alone absorb or redirect. After flying right to Crystal, he used Shooting Star one more time for good measure knocking her out instantly. He and Nightmaria then combined their power and finished the battle with the conjoined move Twilight Judgement, ending the battle instantly. Crystal was saved.

Crystal, still possessed by the Dark Ideya, stumbled back before Carmilla and Sunburst both circled her and summoned chains to keep her in place. Sunburst's look as if they were made of flames, though they didn't burn the young princess, while Carmilla's looked like braided vines. Nightmaria approached the bound girl after stowing her sword into its' scabbard. Crystal looked up at her, her sclera and hair still black as night, and face as emotionless as a porcelain doll. Nightmaria placed her hand on her forehead and nodded, knowing that she was not at fault for her actions. She then turned to Nights with a stern expression.

"Now Nights," she ordered. Nights smirked with his eyes half shut knowing precisely what was needed to set her free. He closed his eyes, positioned his fingers to mimic the flute, and began to play. The melody is the same as last time, and as it began to resonate through the area, the Astral form of Crystal came out of hiding along with her four pets and some Nightopians. She can see that her body is struggling to resist the music that Nights had created to calm her down. Owl then made his sudden appearance alongside a few good 3rd Level Nightmarens and looked in the possessed Crystal's direction hooting in fear.

"Good heavens!" he shouted realizing the situation she is enduring. Crystal's body was emitting the same dark aura that flew into her earlier, and it was now pouring out of her as her pets flew right to her to keep her steady. Nights' melody continued during all of this as the shadowy mist went straight into a nearby quartz crystal and, the young girl's Astral form flew right over and phased right into her body automatically causing herself to go limp from exhaustion as the dark mist formed into her doppelganger in the quartz. She looked as though she was in pain from hearing Nights' song from his invisible flute as she kept her hands over her ears. Crystal's hair began to return to the normal brown hair with blonde streaks as her breathing returned to normal. Nightmaria looked at the doppelganger with stern contempt as Owl flew right to the young princess to comfort her. Once Crystal had returned to normal, Nights finished the song and flew right over to her to check on her.

"Crystal, are you all right?" he asked placing his gloved hand over her right shoulder. Crystal brushed some of her hair out of her face after Carmilla and Sunburst deactivated their respective chains.

"I'm fine," she replied while looking at Nights with an embarrassed smile, her eyes now their normal white sclera selves. She looked over to her doppelganger in the large crystal quartz who in turn looked at the group with fury in her black sclera-ridden eyes. She sighed slightly at her double with slight sympathy and a snicker.

"Wish I could say the same for my doppelganger," she added. Nights mimicked the flute again with a smirk and half-shut eyes. This appeared to agitate their adversary. The phantom double hissed angrily at the group as her plans had been thwarted by a group of rebellious Nightmarens and the young princess. As Nights snickered at her response, the Screecher twins and Pidge did their respective sounds to let her know that she wasn't welcome here with Cumula puffing herself up as a defensive measure. Owl looked sternly at the double along with Nightmaria. The doppelganger shouted angrily with a hiss, and she ran in the opposite direction turning into shadowy mist in the process. Crystal breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her double retreat into the Nightmare Realm. Sunburst and Carmilla flew right over to her and they checked her over for any damage.

"Hoo!" Owl hooted in relief as he turned to the young princess. "I didn't think that this would occur so soon. Fortunately, Nights and Nightmaria managed to release you from your villainous twin's grasp."

"Yeah, well," said Crystal a little winded from the battle, "my possessed self put up a pretty good fight. Given my reputation as a warrior, I was pretty tough for them to handle."

"I'd say we handled it pretty well," Nights chimed in with a beaming smile as he nuzzled Crystal a bit.

"Indeed," Nightmaria spoke with a content smile after turning her head to Nights. "However, this will not be the last appearance of this doppelganger. We'll need to be prepared for when she would make her presence known once more."

"You got it, commander," said Sunburst excitedly. "I'll meet you guys back in HQ." She then flew right to the door to the Dream Gate and vanished right into the open door which glowed brightly for a brief moment before closing again. Crystal chuckled slightly upon seeing her so giddy.

"And I thought Nights was hyper," she told her allies. Owl hooted a slight chuckle while Nights winked at her knowing that she meant well. The young princess looked at her condition as Carmilla examined her as well along with her pets.

"Truth be told," she spoke, "I'm in no shape to explore the rest of the Quartz Palace right now. I'd suggest we follow her lead and talk about what we just saw in that clearing."

"My thoughts exactly, your highness," replied Nightmaria. "Owl and I will explain everything about that duplicate." She then turned to Carmilla with a stoic look.

"Carmilla I presume," she told her.

"Yes," replied Carmilla rather relieved that she wasn't going to be chastised for her involvement.

"I see you've finally escaped Wizeman's control," added Nightmaria, "and escaped from Calavera's unwanted advancements."

"Well," said Carmilla rather sheepishly, "let's just say he was getting a bit too much for me to handle." Crystal raised her hand as a way of letting her know she had additional information.

"I sympathize with her on this one," she told the commander, "since Aricolumn is still stalking me to this very day." Nightmaria nodded in acknowledgment before turning back to Carmilla while one of the Nightopians placed Crystal's Millennium Rod back in the holster for her.

"And Wizeman did nothing to put an end to this behavior?" she asked sternly.

"Precisamente," responded Carmilla. Crystal and the others nodded in agreement. Nights then perked up when he remembered something.

"Crystal," he asked. "Don't you still have her persona?" Crystal knew what he was talking about and searched her satchel before producing the mask in question.

"Right here," she told them showing the persona. "I took it off her face before we headed out to the Dream Gate. Though we got distracted along the way thanks to Callie dream hopping again." Owl shook his head in disappointment when he heard this. Crystal released her grip on Carmilla's mask allowing it to return to Carmilla who in turn placed it in her dress pocket for safe-keeping.

"We'll discuss Callie's sudden appearance later," Owl told her. "Let's get you rested for now. There is still some time before the second Nightopia of yours makes its' presence known." The group then entered the Dream Gate's doors one by one with Crystal and Nights being the last ones to exit the Quartz Palace together.

In the real world, Crystal is still sleeping away with her brother Zephyr in the room this time. He and their mother are looking over her results and were impressed with the results so far. Zephyr looked over at his sleeping older sister and was surprised that she was sleeping for so long. After a quick once over just to be sure, he snickered.

"Looks like the treatment's working out pretty good," he noted. "Sissy's a trooper."

"It's going to be her second day of the coma treatment tomorrow," said Queen Lorelei. "We can't bring her out of treatment just yet. Once this is complete, she will be rid of the effects of the tulpa. And better yet, she has returned to the very plane of dreams that she ventured to as a child." Zephyr was surprised.

"You mean the Night Dimension?" he asked. "I thought she was kicked out because some punk snatched her from her dreamscape."

"Yes," explained Queen Lorelei, "and it was a Level One Nightmaren as well. I suspect it's because of her power as an Elemental Magician of Light. As for her return to the Night Dimension, well I suppose her power to change her dreamscape at will has been reinstated. This will be perfect for any Nightmaren who dares to challenge her while she sleeps."

"Hey, her powers are stronger than mine," he said. "I'm a powerhouse myself, but not to her level of magic. I'm way more a brute force kind of guy. I know that and she knows that." As they discussed this, Queen Lorelei took notice of a dark aura surrounding her eldest daughter. She muttered, "What on earth?" Zephyr looked over at Crystal and yelped with a, "Whoa!" Crystal's body is covered in a dark aura as she is sleeping peacefully in her coma. Zephyr dashed out of the room with his Lightning Dash and quickly returned to the room with his bag and fumbled to retrieve something. As the dark aura darkened Crystal's hair, Queen Lorelei bought her son some time by placing a barrier between them and Crystal's body. Zephyr finally retrieved his trusty claymore keychain, the Tempest Cleaver, as well as a paper talisman from his and Crystal's trip to Japan. As he looked up, he and Lorelei witnessed Crystal's eyes shoot open to reveal her black sclera eyes. This shocked and horrified Queen Lorelei while Zephyr activated his Tempest Cleaver bringing it back to its' original size, which was about five feet and three inches. He aimed it at his sister's body which began to rise from her position and look right at the two.

"Who are you?" Queen Lorelei demanded. "And why are you possessing my daughter!" The body of Crystal was staring at the two and looked as though it had no emotion. The enemy possessing Crystal began to speak.

"I am the Dark Ideya," the monster responded its voice a mixture of Crystal's and an unknown male's. "Sent by my master to bring destruction upon you. Your daughter, who I am speaking to you through, has been chosen as one of five vessels to bring Nightopia and your world to its knees." Zephyr flinched the moment the being mentioned this. Despite this, he kept his composure.

"What do you mean five vessels?" he asked suspicious of the malevolent being's intentions.

"Vessels which either carry or once carried the Dark Ideya within their hearts," the being replied. "Although the others have lost their respective Dark Ideya due to age, and their respective Ideya overpowering them, this one carries hers with no consent and unknown knowledge. Her Dark Ideya, who you are speaking to, is known as the Dark Ideya of Despair replacing her Ideya of Hope." Azure, whose hair is now medium-length, was passing her hospital room when he noticed from the window. His eyes widened when he noticed his best friend is possessed by the dark aura surrounding her.

"And who is this Level One that absconded my daughter all those years ago?" Queen Lorelei commanded as Azure motioned Atem to his side who in turn looked in with a look of concern. "Is he responsible for planting this insidious seed?"

"That is only for me to know," the being spoke in response, "and for you to learn alone. The only way to find the answer is to reawaken the memories which have been hidden from her and her alone. Once she learns who had taken her from her Nightopia and the reason for her purpose to him, only she and another 1st Level Nightmaren can remove the Dark Ideya within her, which is I." Atem and Azure entered the room during the conversation which doesn't bother the Dark Ideya in the slightest.

"As for the other four vessels," spoke the Dark Ideya, "they will be reinstated in time just as soon as we reclaim the girl at the peak of her power." Atem approached his possessed student and godchild with a stern yet stoic expression.

"Where will she find her lost Ideya of Hope?" he asked the being.

"Among the Darkness of Despair lies a small Light of Hope," the being replied. "Only then will her faith be restored." Zephyr passed a paper talisman to Azure after the being said this.

"Thanks for the cryptic message," he told the being. "Now!" Queen Lorelei disabled the barrier between the group and Crystal. With Atem's help in binding her body with his staff, Azure pressed the paper talisman on Crystal's forehead causes her body to convulse and being to scream in agony. After ten seconds of this, the dark aura subsided, and Crystal returned to her comatose state putting her body back in its' original position. Her hair had returned to normal soon after. Zephyr deactivated his Tempest Cleaver soon after and Atem deactivated his chains.

"Well that was a scary event," noted Zephyr who was slightly frightened at what had transpired. "How in Twilus did she get possessed while she was snoozing away in dreamland?" Azure examined the monitor and noted that there was a recent event in which Crystal had been fighting Nights and Nightmaria. She was possessed by the same being from before. The only difference was that the being was free to move around as it did battle with the two beings. Azure recognized them straight away.

"I think we have our answer right here," he said while pointing at the monitor. Atem, Queen Lorelei, and Zephyr all look to the monitor for the answer and witness the aftermath of liberating Crystal from the Shadow Nightmaren possessing her. Nights mimicked the flute with a smirk and half-shut eyes. This appeared to agitate their adversary. Zephyr snickered when Nights did this although the others were a bit startled to see its' reaction. Atem looked sternly at his student's doppelganger.

"A Nightmaren," he noted sternly. The rest of the group looked to him in confusion, except for Queen Lorelei who was already made aware of them.

"I should have known that they would resurface after their last defeat in Bellbridge," Atem added while he shook his head while burying it in his hand.

"Hang on," said Zephyr while slightly confused. "Isn't Nights one of the rebels?"

"Yes, and he's the first to diverge from his intended purpose," Azure clarified, "Hence the lack of a mask. And the same can be said for his partner, Nightmaria, and the other insurgents."

"Oh dear," said Queen Lorelei worriedly. "Could this mean-?"

"Yes, your majesty," said Atem. "If a Nightmaren whose loyalty lies with their creator is responsible, this could only mean one thing. Wizeman, the God of Nightmares, has indeed returned." Azure and Zephyr's eyes widened upon hearing his name.

"Wizeman?" asked Azure. "As in Wizeman the Wicked?"

"Unless your ears are filled with wax," replied Zephyr with a twitch in his eye, "then you heard right, Azure." He then turned to Atem and asked, "But why is he attacking Crystal?"

"It would appear that her power is the key factor in his plan," Atem replied. "And with powerful magic comes equally powerful Ideya within her heart. Taking her current age into account as well, she is a more likely target for the Nightmarens dwelling within the Night Dimension."

"So how come the adult muggles don't know about him or the Nightmarens?" asked Zephyr. "They could've sent a militia after him if they crossed over."

"Unfortunately," responded Atem, "the Ideya of an adult cannot defeat the likes of Wizeman the Wicked or his creations, as an adult has far less imagination than that of children. Because of this, Nightmarens choose to inflict their dark power on children to take their dream energy instead."

"The younger the target, the stronger the Ideya," Azure replied politely. Zephyr thought it over quickly before returning his gaze to Azure.

"Azure, you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked him with a smirk.

"Yes Zephyr," he told him. "We're going to take a trip to the Night Dimension, and we're going join the insurgent Nightmarens to end Wizeman's tyranny in Nightopia, starting tonight." Atem and Queen Lorelei looked to the boys with concern.

"Are you certain of this?" asked the queen. "Dreamers cannot share the same dream as one another."

"True," said Azure, "but that doesn't mean we can't interact with each other. The Dream Gate and the Nightmare Realm are the only areas that defy that rule entirely."

"And the latter is exactly where we're going," said Zephyr with a triumphant smirk. "We'll be getting our trials squared away after we help sissy out with her Nightmaren problem." Atem was pleased with the response while Queen Lorelei breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do what you must to guide her through the Night Dimension," Atem told them. "Should the Dark Ideya possess her once more, even in the real world, we will ensure that the darkness is quickly subdued here while you do the same in there. Good luck, and do not let fear overcome you as well."

"We won't let you down, Professor," Zephyr replied enthusiastically.

"May the Light guide us to victory," Azure told the two. Azure and Zephyr both exited the hospital room together. Atem and Lorelei both smiled as the two boys made their way to the entrance of the hospital and exited for their respective destinations.

"Morpheus, God of Dreams, hear my prayer," she spoke hopefully as she turned to Crystal's comatose body. "Watch over our children." Crystal's monitor next to her bed began to flicker on as if changing the channel to another station. Her adventure was about to become brighter than ever.

Meanwhile, in the realm of Nightmares, a rather strange-looking Nightmaren of the same rank as Reala is shown in the distance. He is stalking a visitor who has wandered into the realm of his unintentional whim. It was a boy who looked to be ten years of age and was wearing formal attire. The attire was a medium-sleeved dress shirt with a black vest and tie, a pair of black pants, and a pair of white socks and black loafers. He had brown hair and blue eyes. He was beginning to panic as the realm seemed to come alive around him. The Nightmaren watched as the boy ran into the clearing before him and looked behind him to make sure no one was following him. The Nightmaren smirked as he held his cane in his right hand. A closer inspection showed the top end of it being a white sugar skull. The skull had an upside-down yellow triangle on the forehead as well as red lines near the nose hole and smaller red triangles above the eye holes. The eyes began to glow as orange petals began to form. The boy continued his frantic search for a way out when he heard a voice that seemed familiar to him.

"Reggie?" the voice called to him. The boy, now called Reggie, looked in the direction of the voice.

"Aunt Meg?" he asked. "Is that you?" He looked to whose voice it belonged to and noticed a woman in her thirties. She was wearing a white blouse and a brown skirt that went down to her ankles. She also wore what appeared to be black ballet flats. She had blue eyes and red hair. She smiled and waved in his direction.

"Aunt Meg?!" he asked again with a smile. He ran to her ecstatic to see her in the flesh.

"Oh my gosh!" he shouted in surprise. "I finally get to see my late auntie! I missed you so much!" He hugged his aunt tightly as she did the same. He looked up at her and added with tears in his eyes, "I knew your spirit would come back, auntie." She laughed playfully at his response.

"I missed you a lot tiger," she told him. "Though ghosts are hardly anything to be excited about."

"They are if it involves family," he told her while wiping his tears away. He then looked up at her and said, "We have about two years of catching up to do. Why don't we head to my dream world? This place isn't exactly the right place to chat."

"Why not?" asked the aunt. "I'm sure there's plenty to explore around here."

"Not when it's a distorted mess," he told her while grabbing her arm. "Let's go before those dream monsters come and find us." He was about to take her in the opposite direction when he felt something sharp around his chest. He looked down to see what appeared to be a spectral scythe around his chest. He panicked as he looked to see who it belonged to. But to his dismay, his aunt was slowly crumbling away as the same Nightmaren from before was grinning at the lad. He then took the end of his weapon with both hands and yanked good and hard. The scythe went through Reggie's chest pulling out a blue Ideya. The boy fell backward and landed right on his back as a cold chill ran down his spine. His eyes suddenly turned lifeless as his face becomes emotionless with his lips parted and the lad was still. He then slowly turned to dust in the wind as the Nightmaren looked on while holding the Ideya of Intelligence behind his back.

"Adiós, Reginald," spoke the Nightmaren. The light of the blue Ideya revealed the cold-hearted Nightmaren in question. He had light-gray skin, purple eyes, and long waist-length black hair. His attire was an orange collar, a dark-red dress shirt with purple yellow-hemmed cuffs and yellow cuff-links, a pair of black shoulder pads that were hemmed in yellow, a gray vest with purple hemline and yellow buttons that seem to close the vest, a marigold resting on the right side of the vest, a red cravat, a pair of gray pants with a purple v-shaped hem, a pair of black boots with purple hem and curved stripe on the feet, and a pair of red roses each, and finally a gray cavalier hat with an orange band, a red diamond broach, and a purple feather resting behind it. He was wearing a mask that seemed to resemble a sugar-skull that was linked at the bottom in black, a black gem surrounded by a spider-web, orange petals surrounding the eyes, and a red gem on each top part of the eye. He also had black lines over his mouth to resemble a skull's mouth.

"How the mighty have fallen," he mused. He then sent his cane, which made a circle on the ground. The circle then formed a portal beneath him as he then aimed his catch over the portal, and dropped it straight down. He was satisfied with his catch after his portal closed and looked to his left to see other Nightmarens cavorting about. He sees Jackle and Dubaious in the distance flying toward him. His allies floated right next to him the moment they landed.

"Great catch, Calavera," Dubaious complimented him. Jackle chuckled a bit upon hearing this.

"Business as usual, Dubaious," he told him while polishing the top part of his cane with a cloth. "Too bad Carmilla just went to the rebel's side. I admire a spitfire like her." He then tossed the cloth into an open flame next to him disposing of it. "I'm gonna take it up to Wizeman and I'll be happy to bring her back once I found her."

"You and me both, my friend," replied Dubaious.

"Say, what's going on with Reala lately?" he asked his allies. "Did some visitor play hard to get?"

"Not exactly," Jackle chuckled. "He's been stalking an important one for about a day now. And she is a tough nut to crack aside from one thing."

"Really?" asked Calavera. "What's that?"

"Turns out the kid has a Dark Ideya," Jackle told him. "And it's been stuck in her for twelve years straight." Calavera was surprised to hear this from his colleague.

"A twelve-year-old Dark Ideya?" he responded. "What's her name, or is she some kind of chica loca?" Dubaious snickered upon hearing this and Jackle looked at him with a blank stare.

"Go ask Reala yourself for that information," he told him. As if on cue, a black and red vortex appeared behind them as Reala appeared to slowly exit the vortex in front of them.

"Don't bother," he told Jackle. "I've already made plans to speak with Calavera." His vortex closed beneath him as his gaze met with Calavera's.

"Hola, Reala," the latter greeted him while tipping his hat. "Any news on forefront besides Carmilla going turncoat?"

"We'll see to her later," replied Reala slyly. "Right now, we have more important business to attend to. Calavera, I will need your talent for the fourth trial of our little visitor." He turned to the quartz right beside the group and looked on as a world of sand is forming in space. "Her second Nightopia has already begun to form, thus leaving room for our next two Nightmarens to make their respective domains." Calavera was intrigued when he saw the pyramids in the realm forming and with one floating above the other one.

"You want my help, you've got my help," said Calavera with a sly polite smile. "Just name the target, mi amigo, and I'll be happy to lend a hand." Reala chuckled as his eyes turned to Calavera's eager face. There is going to be trouble for the resistance, and they are unaware of the situation at hand.

To be continued…