Chapter 2 - The Power of Free-will

Well, we finished our push-ups and this time, my finger didn't swell up. :)
NiGHTS and I were flying through the course together so we could just talk.
This is how our conversation went...

"Boy, THIS is fun," said NiGHTS sarcastically.
"Well, we're about halfway there." I said with optimism.
"This is stupid!"
When NiGHTS finished her sentence, she came to a complete halt. And stopped flying.

"What are you doing?," I said stopping with her. "We still have about 3000 miles to go,
but there's no time to stop and REST!"
"But THINK, Rav. We were born to be evil so in order to achieve a high-rank as
Nightmaren, we have to fly through the town like IDIOTS?
"What do you mean idiots?" I exclaimed. "If we don't EARN our titles, then we'd be
Nightmaren, but inexperienced ones. We would have no strength, we wouldn't be able to
fly, and THEN we'd be idiots!"
"Well WHY DO WE HAVE TO BE EVIL???? Can't we be GOOD?! Can't we help people, instead
of destroying them?"
"Well we've been raised and taught the ways of the villain our whole LIVES! Remember?
The only way to get what you want is to take it and the only way to take it is to be
rude, naughty, careless, and cruel. We've lived by that code our whole lives! Why change
NOW?"
"Because Rav, GOOD people get what they want too!"
"Like?..."
"You get Respect! And respect is something that being rude, naughty, careless, and cruel
will NEVER get you!"
"But NiGHTS, if we bail out of this track fly and get caught, we could get executed!"
"It's a risk I'm willing to take and so should YOU Rav! Come with me! We'll explore the
town! We can be FREE! We can be GOOD! Please come with me Rav! Please!"
"uh..."

That was a hard decision to make. I could either live the ways of the villain in a safe,
but grueling fashion...OR I could do what no Pre-Nightmaren has EVER dared to do: be GOOD.
I had decided. I made my choice...and that choice changed me NiGHTS' life AND mine forEVER!

"Uh...NiGHTS..." I said hesitatingly, "I'll go with you."

Now I don't REGRET saying that. I'm actually glad I did. I'm pretty lucky that I didn't
get executed.

"Oh THANK you!" said NiGHTS cheerfully. "I'm so happy!"

And at THAT very moment, I knew I was making the right choice. Seeing NiGHTS so glad made
me feel just as happy as SHE was. I went with her.

"So where are we going?" I asked. "Where in Nightopia is there a place where we can be GOOD?"
"We go to the Ideya Palace!" NiGHTS said courageously.

Now when NiGHTS said that with such confidence and such bravery, I thought she was WACKED!
Nobody EVER goes to Ideya Palace. It's enough to bail off the designated track, but going
to a forbidden area? Ideya Palace is the most SACRED landmark in all of Nightopia. It's the
home of the rare Ideya that represents our dream energy. The Ideya decide whether someplace
is a dream or a Nightmare. They decide whether you live, or if you die. They are practically
our gods. It all depends on who's hands they're in, that they release their powers in their
different ways. I followed NiGHTS to the palace shivering in fright. Not a little kitten
shiver, like a frightened child. It was just a plain old SHIVER. When we got there, this is
what happened...

"HEY!" I exclaimed, "who's that in the shadows?"
"It looks mysterious!" NiGHTS said squinting. "Yet somehow familiar."

It was then when I could tell who was standing in our way. It all made sense! It wasn't
Wizeman, it was MUCH worse.

Then NiGHTS had figured it out too. I could tell by how right after the fog had cleared, the
first thing that burst out of NiGHTS' mouth was..."REALA!"
So she replied, "How'd you KNOW? YES! It's me!"
"How did you know we would be here?" I asked.
Reala grinned and said, "I saw that look on NiGHTS' face when you left the cabin.

Yup, ANYone would recognize NiGHTS' mischevious face. It's hard to explain though. It's
not really something you can SEE. It's more of something you feel. You look at NiGHTS'
out-of-the-ordinary facial expression, and BOOM. You get this strange feeling that she's
gonna snap and do something crazy. EVERYbody gets that feeling. At least everyone at this
camp. Reala wouldn't let us pass and threatened to squeal on us for raiding the palace.
That's Reala for you. Not, a tattle-tale, just loyal, TOO loyal! We had no choice but
to take drastic measures.

"Out of our way Reala! We're going to the Ideya Palace! We're going out of a stroke
of bravery, and courage!" I exclaimed. "MOVE IT!" I screamed charging right for her
and knocking her out of the way. She flew back quite a distance, but you could still see
her through the grey fog. It seemed to surround us as if WE were the only things
on the face of the planet. Like a big light was shining on us from a background of
pitch black. You could see nothing else but the fog, and us. NiGHTS and I continued on,
but I gulped hard. I knew Reala was looking at us from behind. I was too afraid to look
behind me, but I could tell Reala was there ready to charge at us or fly off to tell on
us. It was then, when I felt an awful pain darting into my back and I screamed.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" And then I just collapsed.

I was lying on the ground still suffering from the mark on my back. I ran my hand across
the soft stretchy cloth of my Nightmaren armor covering my back. It wasn't bleeding.
Just a horrible aching. I looked around and saw Reala. Standing a few feet away from me.
She was staring at me and I had just realized that the pain darting into my back was Reala's
drill attack. A basic ability that ALL Nightmaren graduates need to know. I know it.
So does NiGHTS, but that was the first time I'd actually been hit by it. I'd never
known it hurt so bad. NiGHTS was waiting for me up ahead closer to the palace and called
out, "AARON!...AARON ARE YOU OK?" I was OK, but I didn't say anything. I just lied there.
I didn't want Reala to think I had recovered so she could hit me again. NiGHTS headed
towards the palace. She didn't go up too far until she reached the temple. I could still
see her very clearly in front of it. Reala and I did nothing. We just stared at NiGHTS,
looking at the beautiful Ideya. She began to pluck each one out of the palace, each one
she stared at for about 8 seconds, then wrapped in her arms. The final one was the red
Ideya. We still did nothing to stop her. Reala and I just looked at NiGHTS and the Ideya
in her arms. She grabbed the red one and did something different. She gasped and stared
at it for almost a minute. She showed a smile of amazement. It was then when she put it
in her arms. Once the 5 Ideya were joined, it was THEN when the story began to take shape.


Now I know I'm talking a lot. I know this is long, but I hope you're paying
attention. They say a new life form is born every time two Ideya are touching each other.
The population is being kept in check by the Ideya being sealed in the palace seperate from
one another. And when NiGHTS put the last Ideya into her arms, she hadn't joined TWO Ideya,
she had joined FIVE! Now do you know what happens when FIVE Ideya are touching each other?
Well THIS is what happened...

All the Ideya glowed very brightly. I could hardly see, then it got brighter, and brighter
and brighter until I couldn't even SEE! A few seconds later. I was in my bed. I woke up and
NiGHTS and Reala were sitting on their bunks with their arms folded and an unhappy look
on their faces. They turned to face each other, they frowned even harder, and then turned
back away from each other. I didn't understand what happened. I knew what happened wasn't
a dream. We Nightopians don't dream, since we ARE dreams. This whole universe is a dream
so I guess I shouldn't say that we NEVER dream, but that it would be safer to say that
we're constantly dreaming every second of every day, and of every night. Wizeman then
made an announcement over the intercom: "I would like to see NiGHTS, Reala, and Raven in
my office RIGHT NOW!!!!" I gulped REAL hard and stared at NiGHTS and Reala, they stared at
me, then stared at each other, and got up and walked to Wizeman's office. I then followed
them.

In Wizeman's office...
Wizeman looked at us for what seemed like HOURS, but was only about 5 minutes, he then said
something: "NiGHTS...Reala...Raven. I hear you have bailed from your track fly and wandered
off to the forbidden Ideya Palace. Am I correct?"
I was silent. I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything. I'm ALWAYS nervous around
Wizeman the Wicked. He frowned and knew that in our minds, we were saying "YES YES! YES IT'S
TRUE!" Wizeman doesn't have telepathy or anything. He just has a...way with people. He wasn't
going to execute us. What he did was worse. He reached out for me...with all SIX of his
hands...

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