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“This place seems very familiar, somehow…”
Helen found that there was something about the towering trees, the ivy-covered buildings, and the abundance of greenery within the Memory Forest that was jogging her memory. Somehow, it all felt like she was home. It was unfortunate, then, that she couldn’t seem to recall just what this place was making her remember. Perhaps if she explored a little more, the answer would eventually come. Until then, it all seemed uncertain.
“Reala, what do you think?” Helen turned around to find that Reala was staring at the forest, his arms crossed. He was silent and wore a conflicted expression upon his face. “Reala?” Helen asked, “Is something wrong?”
“Mmmm. Not necessarily.” He turned to her. “I’ve just realized that there’s something I forgot to tell you, is all.”
Helen nodded understandingly. “You can tell me now! I really wouldn’t mind.”
“I promise you, it’s not all that exciting,” Reala said, still looking fairly hesitant.
“That’s okay,” Helen said, “If you don’t want to, then you don’t have to.”
Reala exhaled. “How do I put this, Helen?” he started, “You see, I-”
He was then interrupted by the sound of a portal opening and closing. Reala and Helen turned around to find NiGHTS floating in front of the two of them. The smile on their face was a little too serene.
“ You! ” Reala snarled, “Back again already? Don’t you think you’ve already bothered us enough ?”
NiGHTS blinked, a hurt expression on their masked face. “Reala, you can be so unkind,” they said, “I came all this way to congratulate you, and this is the welcome I get?”
He raised an eyebrow. “ Congratulate me?”
“That’s right!” NiGHTS broke out into a grin. “You, my twin, have done a great job collecting all the Ideya! Somebody ought to thank you for your help.”
Reala stiffened and avoided NiGHTS’ gaze. “I have no idea what you’re going on about.”
“Don’t be so humble, Reala.” NiGHTS floated over to his side and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Thanks to you, the plan has gone swimmingly so far! I couldn’t ask for anybody else to play this part better than you have.”
Helen furrowed her brow and looked at the two of them. “ Play this part… ? What part?”
NiGHTS snorted. “You might want to pay attention, Visitor,” they said with a roll of their eyes, “I’m obviously talking about Reala’s part in our plan to steal away your Ideya. What other plan would it be?”
“Helen, listen to me,” Reala said, struggling in NiGHTS grip, “Whatever you do, don’t trust a single word that leaves NiGHTS’ mouth. They’re trying to manipulate you!”
“Lies?” NiGHTS snorted. “Oh, I see how we’re doing this!”
They turned to face Reala. “Well, Reala, have you told the Visitor the truth about yourself yet?”
Reala’s face, despite being chalk-white, somehow managed to pale even more, and he flinched. Helen, meanwhile, looked to NiGHTS, unsure of what they were about to do. “The… truth?” she asked, worriedly.
NiGHTS gasped and looked to Reala. “You mean you haven’t told her yet?” Reala didn’t respond. “Or have you just been too ashamed to say anything?”
Reala said nothing, but a faint whimper escaping from his closed mouth betrayed his true feelings. “Just as I thought. Looks like I’ll have to fill her in for you.” NiGHTS turned to Helen. “Visitor, Reala and I have something in common, and it’s not just our ridiculously similar bone structure. No, I’m afraid that Reala here is a Nightmaren, just like me!”
Helen’s eyes widened, and she looked back and forth between the two of them for confirmation. Reala said nothing, while NiGHTS watched her expectantly. “Wh… What ?” Helen found herself struggling to choke out the words. “No… that… that can’t be true!” It couldn’t be. She refused to believe it. Reala was her friend. He would never knowingly hurt her, right? He would never, ever, ever -
Wait , that was it! “Because Reala has been helping me save Nightopia,” she declared, standing her ground, “A Nightmaren wouldn’t do that!”
Reala’s eyes widened at her in disbelief, and he inhaled sharply. Then, he shrugged himself away from NiGHTS, made a defeated noise, and hung his head low. Helen felt her chest ache at seeing him this way. Suddenly, she no longer felt so brave.
“You really don’t believe me, then? Maybe I’ve been going about this the wrong way.” NiGHTS made a face and floated over to Helen’s side. “Here’s a different question: have you or have you not ever seen Reala wear something like this?” They tapped at the side of their mask idly.
Helen studied the little golden mask carefully, with its diamond-shaped red gem and the two blue feathers sticking up from the center. She thought back to the Crystal Castle, and how Reala initially greeted her there, referring to it ‘the World of Glass’. Helen blinked rapidly as she recalled that during that moment, he was sporting a golden mask with black feathers surrounding the sides and a purple-
Helen gasped and staggered back. She had seen him in a mask like the one NiGHTS had.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” NiGHTS said, “Either way, this mask here isn’t an ordinary little accessory! It’s called a Persona, and Wizeman gives them out to his highest-ranking Nightmaren. They wear it as a symbol of their loyalty to him.”
Helen wordlessly shook her head in disbelief. She covered her hands with her mouth and let herself begin to sob. “Oh, Visitor …” NiGHTS reached over and wiped the tears away with their fingers. “There, there. I know exactly how you feel.”
“You do…?” Helen sniffed and continued to cry.
“Oh, of course!” NiGHTS circled her as they spoke. “A long time ago, I too was betrayed by somebody I thought I could trust and count on. After all of the Ideya we stole together and all of the nightmares we gave children, it hurt so hard to see him abandon me. And wouldn’t you know it?” NiGHTS looked up and shot a nasty glance towards the broken Reala. “He’s standing right there.”
“No, no… ” Helen murmured through her sobbing, “It can’t be-”
“It is, Visitor. And now you’re just as alone as I was.” NiGHTS sighed and finished the circle. They flew away from Helen and hovered there pensively for a moment, not saying a single word.
Reala turned to Helen, a remorseful look on his face. “Helen, I’m s-”
Suddenly, NiGHTS whipped around and faced Helen. “In any case, maybe it’s a good thing that you’ll never have to see him again.” They grinned disturbingly. “Not where you’re going, at the very least!” They raised their arm and opened the portal they had created underneath Helen.
“What? No! ” Helen looked down and screamed helplessly as she sunk into the gaping abyss at an alarming speed. The portal closed immediately after swallowing her up.
“ Helen !” Reala reached for Helen, powerless to save her. He let out a frustrated scream and balled up his fists by his sides.
“I hope you weren’t too attached to that one,” NiGHTS said to him. Their eyes widened as their older twin began to quiver violently. “Reala, are you going to cry too? I wouldn’t do that. You might ruin your eyeliner.”
He turned around and stared at NiGHTS with a dangerous look in his eyes. “I was about to tell her the truth about me,” he said, “I was going to -!”
“And yet you didn’t,” NiGHTS said coolly, cutting him off, “Too bad. So sad .” Reala sharply turned away from NiGHTS and shuddered, as if the slightest touch would cause him to explode. “You know,” NiGHTS continued, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she hates you now.”
This remark caused Reala to sink to his knees. “I wouldn’t blame her if she did,” he replied in an unusually soft voice.
NiGHTS smiled. “There. At least we can agree on that.”
Reala hung his head. “What’s going to happen to her, NiGHTS?”
NiGHTS grinned as a trio of Goodles riding brightly colored birds appeared behind them, eagerly anticipating what was to come next. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”