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He did it, he finally did it: Wizeman had finally captured NiGHTS. His six eyes watched the purple jester struggling against the column to which he had tied them as they woke back up. Reala stood near his Master silently. One of Wizeman's hands moved the column to be more near as NiGHTS jolted awake. "Foolish pest, you should've accepted my offer for a new soul. But it seems that you were too ignorant to see it, or perhaps you enjoy punishment just that much" a dark chuckle filled the room and made everything tremble slightly as the Wicked Lord watched with pleasure the horror building up in NiGHTS' eyes. "Wh-" before NiGHTS could say anything at their 'master', one of his metal claws scratched their chest, making them scream in agony "it appears I'll have to remove this... jewel before I can put you back in your place. Now hold still, scum". Wizeman's nails dug into the jester's chest making a new string of cries and curses to escape their mouth. Reala flinched at the screams, subconsciously moving his hand over the scars that covered his arms and that were all too similar to those scattered on the rest of his body and that were to form on NiGHTS chest as well. He closed his eyes, trying to block out any sound coming from the lair around him, trying not to think about what was happening right in front of him. However, his mind had other plans.
"Rewala stop pulling my hwat" groaned a small NiGHTS who was struggling to keep their balance on the chandelier with their brother's firm grip on their hat. The two siblings were in a kitchen in Nightmare Castle and had been playing tag for a while when NiGHTS had decided to climb the chandelier to use it as a swing. Reala sighed, he knew there was no way he could get his sibling down on his own. He flew down, back at floor level. He quickly left the room, zooming through the castle looking for his uncle. He found him playing with his deck of trading cards, mumbling to himself as colorful rectangles of paper flew everywhere as a sign of his frustration. Reala politely knocked on the door, mumbling. "Uncle Jackle, I... Uhm I need your help". The deck fell on the floor with some sad swirls as Jackle got up and approached the baby maren. Reala guided Jackle to the kitchen, a small sigh of relief escaping his lips as he saw that nothing changed from when he had left. "W-w-w-what's the matter, child?" asked Jackle just as NiGHTS started swinging the chandelier back and forth. Reala pointed at their sibling "she won't get down" they quietly said, tugging the border of the Mantle's mantle. Jackle watched the scene and laughed "I don't see a problem, c-c-c-child". The tall maren approached the chandelier, which was big enough for Puffy to fit inside of it, and sat near NiGHTS. He put a hand on the small shoulder of the jester and smiled down at them before starting to make the chandelier swing faster, NiGHTS giggling and laughing happily now watching the scene from between Jackle's horns. A small creak could be heard, then another one and another. Soon a loud creaking escaped the ceiling as the screws that attached the chandelier to it gave in under too much weight and movement and the lighting source was sent flying on the uneven floor of the room, Jackle quickly shielding NiGHTS with his mantle. The crashing sound could be heard from every room in the castle and Reala knew that was no good. Jackle stood up, helping up NiGHTS who was still laughing adorably, making Jackle chuckle. The floor was now littered with glass shards and Reala could see a reflection he wished was just his eyes tricking him. He could feel his purply eye staring at the scene. with the snap of a finger, the three marens had been teleported in front of master Wizeman. "What. Was. That." the wicked master roared, obviously unamused. Reala tried to explain but his words were cut short as Wizeman slapped him, his nails digging slightly in his flesh in the process. Reala said nothing, gazing in the void below him, his heart pounding in his chest, his eyes so desperate to release the tears he was trying so hard to conceal. NiGHTS stood in front of her sibling, shielding him. "It was my fault mawster. If you have to pwunish someone, pwease punish me" she said, her voice dripping with courage as she stood to protect her brother. Wizeman's eyes stared at her as he spoke, infuriated. "You will be punished, but so will he, it was his responsibility and he failed" the tyrant lifted another one of his hands, readying himself for a second blow, as Reala closed his eyes in fear. "Don't! He twied to stop me to the best of his abwilities! I didn't listen, I didn't obwey him! I'm the weason why he failed plwease you can give me thrice the pwunishment but please, I'm bwegging you, don't hurt him" NiGHTS spoke so fast and with such strength that Wizeman stopped his hand and silence fell in the room. After a while he spoke "Have it your way" and he brought down the hand to hit NiGHTS, a piercing and burning sensation filling their body on impact. Jackle moved Reala out of the way of the hit with a swift move, hugging the poor baby and bringing him to his lair, singing to him to calm him down. NiGHTS screams could be heard anywhere in the castle as Wizeman inflicted them both their and Reala's punishment. Reala let go of the tears, weeping in his uncle's loving embrace, shielded from the rest of the world by his mantle.
Reala could feel his eyes water at the memory. NiGHTS always protected him from his master's wrath. He shook his head to hide that painful memory away, but his mind was flooded by them. All the good times he spent with their sibling and Uncle Jackle, all the times NiGHTS would do something funny or stupid and Wizeman would get furious at the twins, causing NiGHTS to always get all the pain, all the punishment. He remembered the only time he ever saw NiGHTS without their clothing as they were changing into a pair of new ones. Scars covered every inch of their body, even their face. Each good memory they had lead to horrible, nightmarish and foggy memories. He couldn't contain his tears any longer. As one small, pure tear ran down his cheek and touched his persona, he heard a small, shy cracking sound. He didn't pay attention to it, he tried so desperately to stop the pain, to stop the screaming, to stop his ears from hearing, his head from thinking. He couldn't take it anymore, not again. His eyes suddenly opened wide as he felt that the screams had stopped. He saw NiGHTS almost passed out from the pain, their clothes reduced to shreds and their ideya slightly chipped off on the edges. His blue-green eyes met the blue ones of his sibling as they used all of their strength to reach out to them with a tied up hand, before falling completely numb, as if dead. Reala's eyes left out another tear, followed by many others as he wept, doing his best to hide his face from his master. "Now, let's get rid of that soul of yours, shall we?" Wizeman's voice boomed through the heavy silence that had filled the room, his tone giving away his sadistic nature. The sound of something cracking up became far more audible as Reala's tears didn't stop. One of Wizeman's hands turned around to see Reala's persona covered in cracks, all starting from the purple gem in its middle. The hand's eye widened as Wizeman roared, his voice betraying the fear he was feeling. The persona shattered in milion pieces as the gem disappeared and a bright light bled out of each and every crack. Reala felt a new surge of energy, a powerful blast that extended outwards as this warm, cozy and peaceful light spread outwards from him like the ripples in a river. This healing light closed all of the recent wounds on NiGHTS and stunned Wizeman, whose eyes had been temporarily blinded by it. Reala panted heavily, a few more tears rolling down his cheeks. He flew quickly towards his sibling who was waking back up thanks to the restoring light. He freed NiGHTS and helped them up, placing one of their arms around his shoulder and wrapping his arm around their waist. "Reala, I..." NiGHTS had started to speak, their voice weak and barely hearable, but Reala shook his head and cut her off "Don't. Save all the energy you can, I'm getting you out of here".