Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Wake Up, Ida
The girl, no more than 16, walked down the aisle of pews to the front where a large rainbow stain-glass window shined down on her. She looked down at the huge book, expecting it to be a bible but it wasn't. Curious, she flipped the golden pages, then stopped at the marked section.
At the top, in English read: “The Ideya”. It had a picture of the five ideya and a very detailed description of each orb, but also a mention of something else. She looked at the other page, to her confusion it was on a completely different topic. Lifting the ribbon marker she sighed in disappointment. Someone had torn the page out.
She walked up the steps to the stone mural on the wall. It was a picture of a battle. On one side, a grand figure clothed in gold, majestic and regal, the figure stood over the dreams, gold sparkles of energy flowed from his hands over the dreams at his feet. On the other side, a copy of the golden one, only this one was adorned all in black, looming over menacing looking creatures. One of them stood taller than the others, it had a head that was covered in horns and many hands. The black being seemed to be standing directly behind the tall one, a black hand on its shoulder, whispering to the appointed leader.
The was a battle between nightmares and dreams, frozen in for all time in coloured glass. The girl looked between them. There down the middle, she saw figures she recognized, they were humans, the Dreamers. Caught in the crossfire between the warring sides. The golden one seemed to be reaching out a protective hand towards them while the Nightmares were depicted as attacking the dreamers and stealing them away to the side of darkness.
The girl reached out to touch the glass mural. Only to have it shattered, the moment her fingers connected to the smooth surface. The coloured shards fell apart to an endless starry corridor, and formed a rainbow bridge, stretching out into the cosmos as far as she could see. The girl stepped forward on the bridge with caution and slowly walked down the path.
Suddenly a faint golden light glowed a distance from her.
“There it is again; that light. Where is it coming from? What is it coming from?”
She walked toward it, wanting, no; needing to discover what the source of the light was. But with every step, the light got further and further away from her.
“No! Stop! Wait! Come back!” She shouted, quickening her pace into a full-on sprint.
It's happening again. Just like before, again and again. It's always the same. But no matter how much I try, I can't stop myself from giving chase. Even when I know the bridge will break before I can ever reach it.
Just when it seemed like she was catching up, a figure appeared before her, blocking her path. The other was wearing a cloak, its face was hidden in shadow. Such a dark figure seemed so out of place in such a beautiful place.
She stopped in her tracks. “Please move, I need to follow that light!” Just like before, this person would always block her path, a silent toll collector, only he or she never asked for payment. They never said anything.
So it shocked her when a man's voice spoke from within the darkness of that hood. “You are not ready, Ida.”
“You... spoke? B-but that's not happened before... How do you know my name?” That voice. So familiar.
Before Ida could extract an answer from him, the sound of bells chimed loudly in her ears. She pressed her hands against the sides of her head to block the noise. The bridge shook and cracked, shattering into thousands of pieces. As she fell into the starry abyss she never took her eyes off the stranger. “Who are you? How do you know me? Tell me! Tell me!!” she screamed over the ringing bells.
***
Ida sat up, gasping for the much-needed oxygen as her alarm clock dinged furiously at her, demanding that she'd wake up and turn off the alarm. Her violet eyes glared at the clock, grabbing it with both hands and shook it furiously.
“Stupid clock, I was about to get answers to that stupid dream! You stupid, obnoxious clock!” She threw the offensive item against the wall, on the impact the dinging ceased and a clock shaped dent had been added to the wall’s decor.
She stared at the hole for a moment before moaning and holding her head in her hands. “Mom’s going to kill me.”
Ida Sanders tumbled out of her comfortable bed onto the hard cold floor. Sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she looked around her pale yellow room and her eyes fell on the Nights calendar hanging on the wall with a day circled in purple which happened to be the last day of school.
Today.
“I'm going to be late!” She exclaimed, scrambling to get ready for school.
She pulled off her nightshirt and quickly scrambled around her room for a fresh change of clothes, finding her favourite shirt at the top of the shirt pile, and then jumped into a day old denim jeans (they still smelled clean... ish). With a few swipes of her brush, she was able to tame her hair of its hedgehog bedhead look. 'As much as I love those spiky rodents, I don't want to look like one.' Her mother had been furious when she came out of the bathroom one day holding a pair of scissors and her long hair had been chopped off in a pixie cut (or at least her attempt at one, she didn't have that kind of money to go to a salon).
Slipping on a pair of socks and old tennis shoes, and she clipped her crescent moon choker around her neck, then began to fill her backpack with the necessities of the school.
Books, check.
Pencils, check.
Wallet, check.
House Key, check.
Folder of NiGHTS fan art, always check.
CD player, check.
Sketchbook. Never leave without it.
'There, now I’m ready.' She zipped up her pack and checked herself in the full-length mirror hanging on her door. Then sighed at her appearance. 'Hello, self-esteem. You're looking rather low today.' She humphed and placed her hands on her hips. Yeah, she was short, so what she couldn't seem to breach 5.2, wasn't her fault she missed her growth spurt.
'Did I gain weight?' Ida turned around, inspecting her butt and thighs in the size 6 pants. They did feel a bit snug- “What am I doing?” She shook her head. She didn't care about this stuff, who cared at all? No one. That's who. The only person whose opinion mattered was her dad's. And he said that she was as strong a diamond and as precious as a ruby. And that was enough for her.
Speaking of Dad. She crouched down at her dresser and rummaged through the bottom draw beneath her socks and pulled out an old book. Wedged between the pages was an old slightly crumpled picture taken when things were happier and simple. Her father's blinding grin smiling through the printed film, her 4-year-old self laughing in his strong arms as he tried to tickle her just as the cameraman took the picture. She had inherited a lot from him. His soft, royal blue hair; and his dark sapphire eyes. She'd like to think that she also got his smile.
Maybe that was why her mom tried so hard to wipe it from her face.
Ida bit her lip and took a deep breath through her nose as the horrible tingle and tightness started to affect her sinuses. Not right now. Just 2 more years. And then she could escape.
She shook her head of the bad memories and kissed her father's face forever frozen in the picture. “I love you, Daddy,” she whispered and quickly put the picture back in its hiding place, then pushed to her feet. “Okay! Time to go,” she said, throwing on her backpack and then unlocked her door before heading down the short hallway to the kitchen.
Checking the cheap watch around her wrist, she calculated that she would have enough time to fix something quick to take to school with her. 'Maybe a PB and pickle sandwich, and an apple. I can slice it at school. Need to get more peanut butter.' she thought to herself as she rounded the corner and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight in front of her. 'Well, there went my appetite.'
Nikki Sanders, aka 'Mom', was seated on the counter, and had her arms and legs wrapped around the waist of her newest boyfriend, Stan, and was currently attempting to inhale his mouth and face. Ida had lost count of boyfriends there had been in this house since the divorce. Her mother was a magnet for losers.
Her dad had been the best thing that had happened to her and then she went and cheated on him. Ida had been 10 when her dad had finally caught her cheating. She could remember that fight and then when divorce had been filed, her dad had fought to get full custody, but the stupid courts gave it to Nikki. She had been a very convincing liar. Whatever money he paid in child support, Ida never saw a cent of it. Then when the money suddenly stopped coming in, instead of taking her father to court again, she just decided to take that frustration out on her instead.
The following six years resembled the stories in fairy tale books about wicked stepmothers. Ida would find herself home alone most of the time but in the moments her mother was home she would find an excuse to yell at her even if she had to make one up. Ida would fall asleep waiting up for her to come home but quickly learned not to do that as Nikki started bringing home strange men. Sometimes it would be the same guy but by the next month he was gone and her mother's happiness went with him. Ida hated the breakups and learned to avoid the wrathful mother at all costs till she brought home another loser.
Speaking of losers, Stan Jenkins was the worst as they came. There was something very ... off about him. The other boyfriends had ignored her but she had started noticing Stan taking a particular interest in her. Even asked Nikki to meet her daughter and would ask her questions like, where she went to school if she was in any after school events.
At first, Ida was a bit happy with this one, finally, someone that could curb her mother's behaviour and treatment of her and maybe, just maybe, she could find actual happiness. But then she started to feel really uneasy with how often he would stare at her, and there was something in those looks that made her guts twist into a knot.
“Ida! Ida! Oh for fu- IDA!"
Ida flinched and realized that she had been just standing there and staring for about 3 minutes straight. Her mother looked really pissed and annoyed, and Stan was looking at her in that way again.
“I-I was just... um..." she looked at her watch. "Nothing. I'm going now...” Ida murmured, not having the guts to look at either of them as she beelined for the front door and slipped out without grabbing any food.
Running to the bus stop helped her trembling nerves, but as she took a seat on the old leathery seats she couldn't stop shaking.