Chapter Text
Will was falling again.
It was just like the night before, he thought, so he wasn’t worried about it. No nightmares to run from, just a nice and easy fall. And, honestly, how could he have a nightmare after such a wonderful day?
He felt a little bit bad about lying to his dad about how he knew Helen, but his dad would never believe the real explanation. That he’d met Helen is their dreams and fought the creator of all nightmares. There was no way he’d believe that, even if it
was
the truth. If Will hadn't lived it, he probably wouldn't have believed it either.
Soon he landed on the now familiar path up to the Dream Gate. He didn’t see Helen as he headed down the little path, through the open gate. There was no sign of NiGHTS either.
But Owl was there, perched on the edge of the fountain, looking perfectly fine.
“Owl!” Will exclaimed.
He’d been worried that he wasn’t going to see Owl. He didn’t know if Owl needed to help anyone else out like Owl had been helping him. He might not need to, Will didn't know. Without NiGHTS’ awful dad bossing everyone around, things in Nightopia would probably be a lot calmer. Even with that, Will was sure there were more people than him that might need Owl’s help understanding what was going on. The Night Dimension was a pretty strange place.
“Hoo! Will!” Owl exclaimed, fluttering into the air. “You’re alright. I was quite worried when you ran away on me.”
“Sorry.” Will said sheepishly. “I had to go help NiGHTS. And... I'm sorry about knocking you into the fountain.”
“While it was certainly not the best course of action, I do forgive you.” Owl settled back down on the fountain, adjusting his spectacles with a wing. “You only wanted to go and assist your friends, despite the danger. It was a very reckless thing to do indeed, hoo... But I can hardly fault you for wanting to ensure that your friends were safe and sound.”
“Thanks, Owl.”
“Is young Helen alright?”
“She’s fine. We met up. In real life, I mean. She was with her mum. She’s fine. And her competition went really well. I think?” He didn’t really know much about music. The trophy had to have meant things went okay, right?
“Hoo-o! Splendid. I’m simply glad the two of you are alright. After all of that business with the Nightmaren... though there hasn’t been a single Nightmaren in any of the Nightopias tonight.”
So, without Wizeman, the Nightmaren were gone. They’d done it, then! Will grinned.
“We beat Wizeman,” Will explained. “Me and Helen and NiGHTS.”
“Oh, that is wonderful news! Though... hoo.”
Owl sounded... kind of sad.
“What’s wrong?” Will asked.
“I shall return. I am going to go look around for a moment. I won’t be long.”
Owl lighted off of the fountain and took off, quickly vanishing into the trees. Will blinked. Owl sounded sad. Was something wrong?
Well, Helen would be showing up eventually. Will walked around the fountain. There were six doors now, the empty archways having been filled in. The one with the tree stained glass might have been the door to the forest Nightopia that belonged to Helen, it sure looked like it might be. And all of the doors to his three Nightopias were there too. That was kind of cool. Maybe he’d be able to visit Helen’s dreams on purpose now.
There were footsteps. Will turned and- oh, it was Helen! He waved her over and she ran up, smiling.
“Sorry I’m late,” Helen said, skidding to a stop so she wouldn’t bump into him.
“It’s fine, I haven’t been there that long,” Will assured her.
“Have you seen NiGHTS?”
“Not yet.”
"Do you think they're..."
“Hoo! Visitor! Welcome.”
Owl was back. He returned to his perch on the edge of the fountain.
“Hello, Owl,” Helen greeted. “Have you seen NiGHTS?”
“No sign of them, unfortunately. Hoo...” Owl definitely sounded sad now. “Young Will told me the two of you defeated Wizeman, which means that our friends NiGHTS... they must be...”
“Stop telling everyone I’m dead, old bird!”
“NiGHTS!” Will and Helen exclaimed.
The jester lighted down, bags under their eyes and their normally vibrant clothes looking a little washed out, but aside from that they looked perfectly fine.
And then Reala touched down beside them, along with an unfamiliar Nightmaren. Who seemed to have no body, only a cape that Will vaguely recognized from the night before, the one that had appeared on Reala before they’d vanished. They also were wearing pair of orange and red gloves and shoes and had a set of hat-horns that stuck up and dipped over around the front at the top, in shades of orange with stripes of yellow and pale blue and a yellow diamond on the front of each.
With a pair of pale blue cat-like eyes and a floating, sharp-toothed grin.
“...Cheshire?” Helen asked, sounding confused.
The invisible bodied Nightmaren cackled. They didn't look too tired, but they also didn’t have a body, so it was hard to tell. Reala was in pretty bad shape though, intensely dark circles under their eyes and they were only barely floating, toes skimming the ground.
“The name’s Jackle, little Strength,” the weird invisible Nightmaren said.
“ Cheshire ?” Reala repeated, a look of scorn on their face. “Really? That old stupid human story?”
“It’s fitting, don’t you think? I couldn’t go about using my real name. The wrong ears could have heard them. Besides, who do you think they got the idea from? Hehehe.”
Reala simply glared at them.
“Are you alright, NiGHTS?” Will asked. “We saw you...”
NiGHTS waved a hand dismissively.
“Side effect, side effect,” they assured them. “I’ll be a touch out of sorts for a couple of human days and I’ll bounce right back, just like last time. Just need to eat and rest up. Last time I spent a week napping in a Nightopia called Soft Museum and eating nothing but cake.”
“And Nighotpians!” Jackle declared. “Don’t soften the truth for the children, oh Fool of Violet. We are Nightmaren. Besides, they’re delicious.”
“Taste like human pastries,” Reala added with a devilish grin. “With a jam filled center and a nice crunch.”
“The halos taste like what you humans call biscuits,” Jackle added with a conspiratorial grin.
Will made a face, trying not to gag at the idea. How could anyone eat a Nightopian? Helen looked as grossed out at the idea as he did.
“Fine, then I won’t!” NiGHTS declared. “Nightopians are delicious and I won’t apologize for it. Anyway, how about the two of you? Will, did you win your game? Helen, how was the competition?”
And so the stories came out. Will’s team had won by a single goal that Will had scored and his father had made it just in time to see the end of the game. Helen had won a trophy for being the best soloist in her year and hadn’t choked up on the sight reading, earning all max marks and a trophy to boot on top of her mum making it just in time to watch her perform.
“Block removed!” Jackle cackled. “I told you, little Strength! You’ll go far one day, just you wait.”
Helen just nodded and said nothing.
“Insufferable,” Reala muttered under their breath.
“Oh, don’t be such a grouch, Ree,” NiGHTS said, slinging an arm over their sibling’s shoulders. “The old man’s dead again. You’ll have plenty of time to get to know these two before I have to go and smack him back down again. No more General things, no more armies. You’ll get to hang out with me , isn’t that wonderful?”
Reala’s muttering were in a language Will didn’t understand, but it was probably something rude.
“I’m glad you’re alright, NiGHTS,” Helen said. “And... thank you. For everything.”
“Any time!” NiGHTS beamed, flying over and sweeping Helen up in a brief hug before setting her back down. “If you need anything, just shout and I’ll swing by as soon as I can, alright? In fact, I’ve got an idea. I’ll see you back here tomorrow. I’ve got someone you’ll enjoy meeting that I haven’t checked in with for a bit.”
“Alright.”
Huh. Who could that be? How many people did NiGHTS know?
“Do you still want to meet up tomorrow?” Will asked Helen.
“Of course. Do you want to get lunch together?”
“Sure. This time, we’ll go to somewhere I go all the time. My dad's great, no way he'll say no if I ask. Especially not after a game like today's.”
Helen giggled. Will grinned.
Last night had been weird and confusing, but also totally awesome. He’d saved his two new friends and, maybe, also saved other people? Will wasn’t too sure on that. But he certainly felt like he’d done something at least a little heroic.
“Will, do you want to visit one of my other Nightopias?” Helen asked suddenly.
Huh? Why not, they had the whole night to go and do whatever they wanted.
“Sure. Which one?”
“Well... do you like the beach?”
“Yeah! I haven’t been there in years.” He hadn’t been to the beach since the last time his dad had taken him to the seaside.
Helen grabbed his hand. “Then come on, you have to see Aqua Garden.”
The two ran off toward the door to a Nigthopia with fish and coral in the stained glass above it.
On the other side of the door was a world that looked like they were underwater, but they were breathing air just fine. Fish swam in lay schools. There were cool ruins dotted here and there, coral formations, and... was that a-
“Is that a pirate ship? ” Will asked, staring at the mossy mast of a sunken wreck.
“I’m not sure,” Helen answered. “Do you want to go check it out?”
“Of course! I wonder if there’s treasure.”
“Oh! Maybe there is!” Helen sounded like she hadn’t even thought of that. “I didn’t get a chance to take a proper look at it last night. Let’s go!”
“Yeah!”
The two ran for the ship, feet leaving the ground for a few seconds at a time as they ran, neither of them noticing. Will laughed, feeling lighter than ever. No Nightmaren around - well, except their friend, who was back at the Dream Gate spending time with their family without their horrible dad making them fight each other - and nothing but time to kill. And Helen’s dream was so cool! It was a lot less confusing to navigate than that forest had been, that was for sure.
And tomorrow they’d meet up and hang out again. Will grinned at the thought.
He’d made a new friend. Two new friends, counting NiGHTS, even if they couldn't hang out when Will was awake. And even if the sunken ship didn’t have any treasure on it, that was fine. The point was that they were having fun and spending time together. As friends.
And that was all that really mattered.