Archive of Our Own

Dark Matter.

Dark entities that travel through galaxies and planets, often referred to as the manifestation of negative thoughts and feelings. Their origin is unknown, yet they seem to share the same goal, conquering planets and destroying all kinds of ecosystems as they see fit. It is not known whether they do this for pleasure, out of hunger for negative energy, or simply because of their natural hatred. Although they can be as invasive as the smallest cockroach, they also display intelligence and emotion, factors that suggest they are consciously aware of the terror they spread. However, plans and conquests are mostly carried out under their designated leader, who often pretends to be the respective leader or king of a particular planet by possessing that individual and turning the entire population against them and dragging them into the abyss.

Despite their thousands of attempts to deceive, which either fail or succeed, they lack an understanding of how the individual they possess reacts, personal aspects or language, knowledge or body language. These things are quickly recognizable and indicate that the subject is under the control of a dark matter.

They do not seem to be great manipulators and this appears to be one of their weaknesses.

However, their dark, negative essence seems to attract anyone who only wants to strive for it.

Nevertheless, these Dark Matter pack leaders also seem to be very interested in individuals who are stronger and much more powerful than them or who possess certain powers that theydesperately want to have at their disposal- ...The faint tapping of a quill dipped in ink echoed through the cold, dark room, the writer's face warmed by the lone candlelight, becoming more desperate and thoughtful as he wrote down his latest findings.

“Aughh...” the writer's voice echoed through the dark room as fatigue set in and his understanding of the subject waned. Sir Arthur rubbed his eyes, laid down his quill pen, and sighed in despair. “No—that sounds—aughh...what if this dark matter had another reason—” Sir Arthur took his research very seriously, sometimes too seriously, wanting to record everything as accurately as possible in his notes. Yet this dark matter was the complete opposite of accurate and understandable, its nature as incomprehensible as the galaxy itself.

Sir Arthur leaned tightly against his chair and whispered to himself, deciding to take a break shortly thereafter, until someone burst through his door, slamming it against the wall with a loud bang. To his surprise, it was none other than Sir Falspar, who had startled him once again, so much so that Arthur reflexively drew his sword.

Sir Falspar leaned against the doorframe with a broad grin as he stuffed his sandwich into his mouth. “Working again?” he said, as he always did when their leader spent hours in his room without any contact or daylight. “Did I scare you so much that you drew your sword?” Falspar laughed.

“Don't worry, I'm not a ghost or anything.”

Sir Arthur, on the other hand, was stubborn as a mule. “Very funny, Commander Falspar. I almost attacked you. Please don't ever do that again.” Arthur turned back to his desk.

“Come on, Captain, the other warriors are already worried about you.” Sir Falspar devoured the last piece of his sandwich and approached his exhausted captain.

“You've always been the most reliable member of our group, so we were worried that something had happened.” Sir Falspar playfully nudged his captain's shoulder with his elbow, but this statement made Arthur think. Yes, it was true that he always tried to be the most reliable, but today he didn't have time to celebrate with his warriors. To be honest, since peace had been established between the GSA and HolyNightmare, they seemed to celebrate almost every month, but today was a special case because they had defeated a horde of Dark Matter in less than a month.

But now, when he thought about it, he had the feeling he had forgotten something important... something very important.

“You could be lying unconscious at your desk, oh! Or maybe you’ve been kidnapped by a Grand Doomer and taken to another dimension, anything can happen, right?” joked Sir Falspar.

Sir Arthur, on the other hand, was in no mood for jokes, because he couldn't shake the feeling that today was not just a day of celebration.

“Oh! And besides... because we were worried... did you get into a fight with Nightmare or something...?” asked Falspar in a questioning tone, so that Sir Arthur knew it was no joke.

Sir Arthur was taken aback by the question. “Huh, fight—what? No, why?” Sir Arthur paused briefly. “Did you... did you do something that I need to worry about?”

Sir Falspar's expression showed confusion.

“Didn't you have an appointment at HolyNightmare four hours ago... you know, with Nightmare...?” Sir Falpsar's voice trailed off as he saw the look of surprise on Arthur's face. He had never seen such a panicked expression on their captain's face before.

In the last few hours, some had feared that a war would break out, simply because Arthur had not left his room and had not shown up for the meeting Nightmare had invited him to. Especially since many were aware that Nightmare, as a galactic CEO, had a very busy schedule, which was to be expected.

Some, however, knew that war could not happen, especially since they helped Nightmare's company just a month ago against the invasion of the Dark Matter.

So it would be a rather strange move.

But as always, they always imagine the worst.

“Tell me... you didn't forget, did you?” whispered Falspar and gritted his teeth as Arthur suddenly rummaged frantically through his calendar, which hung above his desk, and saw the date. Arthur jumped up from his desk, quickly put on his mask and armor, which were hanging on his bed, and ran swiftly to the door.

“No, no, no, how could this have happened? No, no, I've never forgotten an appointment before!” He had always been reliable, especially when it came to Nightmare. The Dream Wizard might not be able to keep all his promises, but reliability was one of them. Nightmare would be furious with him for being five hours late, and he could already imagine how this would damage the relationship between the two parties. Little did he know that he was once again imagining the worst-case scenario.

Arthur looked back at Falpsar and gave an order, the celebration could wait for the two of them.

“Commander Falpsar! get ready and accompany me!” shouted Arthur, darting out the door.

Sir Falspar saluted “Aye, sir! See you in ten minutes in the departure lounge!”

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

As expected, the flight took exactly one hour, so Arthur now had to reckon with a five-hour delayed arrival. These five hours would be difficult to explain to Nightmare, especially since he had always informed Nightmare's little humanoid of even the slightest delay or change of schedule by telegram.

It's a complete disaster.

“Nightmare is going to decapitate me” wailed Sir Arthur. He had never whined like this before, so Sir Falspar was surprised to hear such worry and fear in Arthur's voice, which he had never heard before. Even their brave leader has fears and flaws that make him the individual he is now, and that makes him imperfect in many ways, but benevolent and good, as he should be.

Falspar looked at Arthur, who was sitting next to him, with a worried expression as he flew the spaceship.

“Relax... he may be a fearful wizard, but you can talk to him normally, as you saw with Comet Nova.” Falspar frowned.

“I'm so glad we got rid of that thing. Those wishing comets are known for not being the most accurate or controversial when it comes to wishes...” Arthur didn't seem to be in a good mood at that moment and wasn't even listening, but Falspar always knew how to cheer up his captain by asking him about his research, of course.

Arthur could talk about his studies for hours if he could.

“How about changing the subject? I don’t want to stress you out even more“ Falspar said.

“How is your research going? Um... you know about the Dark Matters that broke into HolyNightmare and caused a lot of damage?” Falspar paused briefly and coughed to get Arthur’s attention. “And I mean a lot of damage.”

With that sentence, he immediately drew Arthur into the topic. “My research...? Well...” Silence fell between the two, so Falspar thought Arthur would rather not talk about it, but it seemed that Arthur was finally happy to get rid of some knowledge and incomprehensible things he didn't yet understand and share them with someone.

“I still don't understand why they attacked HolyNightmare, a galactic company, of all places...” Arthur paused and crossed his arms. “It makes no sense at all that they targeted this place, especially a place where there isn't as much positive energy flowing as on a planet... Popstar, for example... or generally selected a place that has a lot of external contact with other planets, which is absurd,” Arthur sighed.

“Unless it could be...”

Falspar interrupted because he had guessed exactly the same thing as Arthur. “Do you think they weren't targeting the company and its employees, but... maybe they were targeting Nightmare?” The theory sounded stupid, but possible, and Arthur agreed.

“I've been thinking about that theory too. It could very well be that they wanted to use Nightmare to get into the dream world to further their plans, but we can only speculate whether it's true...” Not even an hour had passed, and Sir Arthur was eager to get back to his research. His curiosity about inexplicable things fascinated him greatly.

Falspar suddenly tapped Arthur lightly on the shoulder, because things could have ended much worse a month ago, but they were still here, unharmed and with few losses, and they owed that to none other than Arthur.

“But hey, at least we acted in time, especially you, since you were the first to notice that Nightmare was acting very strangely when we were planning the anniversary together...”

“Me?” Arthur squealed, but not out of malice. “Weren't you the one who first came up to me when Nightmare's little humanlike manager didn't want to shake your hand?”

Sir Falspar protested. “HEY, whenever we were there, he shook my hand, alright?” Falspar tapped the steering wheel angrily to defend his opinion. “I knew right away that something was wrong just because he didn't shake my hand!”

“Yeahhh righttt” Sir Arthur whispered sarcastically and laughed along with Falspar.

“But you're right... even during the briefest conversation with him, I knew something wasn't right.” Arthur took a deep breath.

“When I asked him if we could get permission for a small expedition to Shiver Star, I got the most incredulous answer I've ever heard... In retrospect, I knew we would be rejected, but I wanted to at least try, and when I got a yes, I knew something was very very wrong.” Arthur had always been aware that Shiver Star was not just a planet for Nightmare, this planet was under his utmost protection, to the extent that he even forbade anyone from entering the solar system where this planet was located. What Nightmare found interesting about this planet was still a mystery to him. In hindsight, it was just a frozen Planet, that was the theory he kept telling himself.

“Oh man, I'll never forget the look on your face when Nightmare approved the expedition!” Falspar laughed loudly. Arthur laughed along with him and carried on.

“We are very fortunate that we were able to repel the Dark Matter in time...it could have been much worse. Thankfully, none of Nightmare's employees were killed either, and there were no casualties to mourn.” You can call it a miracle that they were able to repel the Dark Matter invasion in a week with the help of Holy Nightmare's employees, of course. Arthur really doesn't want to know what would have happened if the leader of the Dark Matter had completely taken control of Nightmare. In any case, it wouldn't have ended well, he can attest to that.

 “I still feel sorry for that little humanoid... what was his name... Nightmare's little manager, Takashi, wasn't it?” said Falspar.

"He has a broken nose because of me, but I was so desperate and didn't know how to drive a Dark Matter out of a body, so I just lashed out. Still, he and Nightmare looked terrible after they were no longer possessed, I do feel a little sorry" Falspar grimaced in disgust, he hadn't realized the after-effects could be so fatal, but it made sense that beings like Dark Matters could pollute your insides with their filth so much that you could think you were no longer alive, all your energy stolen.

Arthur's memories also came flooding back. The sight was terrible. At first, they had worried about how they could even remove a goddamn Dark Matter leader from Nightmare's body. Weapons like the Star Rod and the Rainbow Sword were hard to come by in this situation, but it seemed that Nightmare had been able to free himself by somehow binding his soul to the dream world, so that was what he had explained. yet the sight afterwards was fatal.

Arthur still had a clear picture of it in his mind, the cold atmosphere and the pain-filled grunts in his ears came back to him like a vivid memory. When he faced Nightmare alone, he didn't even realize at first that it was Nightmare, his former arch-enemy had changed so much, at that moment he was so vulnerable, it was unbelievable and abstract. He had to watch as Nightmare broke free from the Dark Matter, it was an abstract game. First, he tore the white and red wings from his back, then the halo, and then there was only a scream. Arthur was glad that it had all taken place in a dark room not even he could have watched it, and he didn't want to imagine it in detail. Afterwards, Nightmare lay on the ground. The Dark Matter had removed everything from his body after they were discovered, and these were characteristics that his arch-enemy had never revealed before. Nightmare no longer wore sunglasses or any headgear at their abstract meeting. He had covered his eyes as a blood-like liquid dripped from them to hide his appearance, but he couldn't hide his long pointed ears and long brown curls without the adornments he always wore.

Despite the things Arthur would rather not have seen, he tried his best not to look into the wizard's eyes, not because he was afraid of seeing something terrible, but because he accepted that Nightmare didn't like to expose himself. Everyone deserved privacy from the things they were ashamed of. Arthur was also the only one who saw Nightmare in this state, he had forbidden his warriors from even getting a glimpse.

He didn't want to break such deep trust by letting everyone know how weak their former arch-enemy looked.

A snap brought Sir Arthur back to the present, which was good because he should rather not think about this traumatic event anymore. “We're finally here, hopefully you'll come out alive“

Sir Arthur could clearly see the sarcastic grin behind Falspar's mask.

But Arthur had a clear answer as he got up from his chair “If I go down, you go down with me”

 “Haha, yes Captain, I certainly will.”

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

They had been to HolyNightmare several times before, whether for appointments, repair requests, or specific orders they had placed. Almost every reason imaginable, but today seemed to be busier than they had seen in recent days and months. Customers and many employees crossed their paths and greeted them warmly, but it seemed that all the stress the company was currently under was probably still the aftermath of the invasion. After all, they had suffered huge losses, yet Nightmare seemed to be fighting very hard not to fire any employees just because of this one loss, which they would still feel in their wallets even after months.

They arrived at the reception desk and greeted a familiar face at the counter. It was a young woman with blue eyes and long red hair tied in a bun and, of course, wearing red glasses. Many of the employees wore glasses, it was the company symbol that you worked here. You could say that it was mandatory to wear them, but they could never agree that this statement was true. Nightmare would not be the type to force his employees to wear certain clothes, except to be tidy and elegant for the customers.

Even though they could hardly see the woman's eyes, they could sense that they grew wide when she was greeted warmly by the warriors. “The honored Star Warriors, it is an honor to see you again” The woman’s voice sounded gentle and warm, a tone that years ago would have been unimaginable between them and the employees of Nightmare’s company. It was wonderful to finally share such hospitality with each other, which will hopefully continue for many years to come.

“What brings you here? In our bad, stressful times?” said the woman, looking at her computer.

Sir Arthur cleared his throat. “We have an appointment with your boss himself, but…” He paused.

“But...?” the woman asked innocently and cluelessly. “Do you want to reschedule the appointment or maybe make a new one...?” The woman became a little concerned.

“Unfortunately, our appointments have been pushed back a lot because of the incident, so...” She typed hastily on her computer.

“No, thank you, we don't need a new appointment... the appointment is today, but unfortunately we are very late.” Sir Arthur didn't even try to lie or make up an excuse, when it came to things like this, which were his fault, he always found it difficult to lie.

“That's why I would like to ask if we can talk to your boss despite the enormous delay?”

The woman thought for a moment but quickly picked up the phone. “I could ask our darling Takashi... he should be in the warehouse department with our boss right now. Would that be okay?”

“Yes, that would be great, thank you.” Arthur’s clear answer prompted the woman to quickly dial a number and make the call. It didn’t take long before she put the phone down again to give the two Star Warriors the good news.

“Despite your delay, you are still welcome to visit our boss in person today, but as I have been told, we cannot be one hundred percent sure that our boss will have time for you…” The woman looked concerned. “After all, our warehouse departments are currently dealing with a lot of complaints and inventory issues.” The woman then realized that she was starting to talk too much again, which she really shouldn't do.

“Oh! Sorry, I can be a bit of a chatterbox sometimes. I don't want to keep you any longer... As I said, our boss should be in warehouse 006 right now” The woman pointed to a sign hanging next to them. “You just have to go to the lowest floor and find warehouse 006 in aisle 001, which should be at the very back.”

“Thank you, we won't stay here long, we don't want to disturb you in your work” said Arthur and dashed off, Falspar almost following him until the woman's call at the reception desk stopped him.

 “Sir Falspar is your name, isn’t it?” asked the woman.

“I still want to thank you all very much for saving me from those ugly creatures… but I haven’t had a chance to thank the warrior who saved me” The woman adjusted her glasses. “I believe the warrior's name was Sir Galahad...?” she asked innocently, and Sir Falspar could see a slight blush on her face.

“Sir Galahad, yep thats right! I'll be happy to pass on your thanks to him” said Sir Falspar in a sudden burst of good humor. He simply loved hearing others say thank you, even if it wasn't directed at him.

“Thank you very much and...” The woman turned her head toward where the warriors were now heading. “I don't want to seem unfriendly, but we have elevators” she said, as Sir Falspar realized that Arthur already had a big lead, but...

“He took the stairs again” whispered Falpsar with his hand on his forehead, thanked the woman, and ran off.

It didn't take long for the two of them to reach the lowest floor and the door of the warehouse where they needed to go. Sir Falspar was leaning against the wall, waiting for Sir Arthur, who arrived a few minutes later, breathing heavily as if he had run a marathon.

 “How are you-” Arthur asked.

“Elevator”

The astonishment was visible behind Arthur's mask, but because of his own stupidity, he preferred not to say anything.

“That never happened, I just wanted to warm up.” It wasn't meant to sound like an excuse, but it did.

Together, they entered the warehouse and set out to find Nightmare, which in retrospect was not a difficult task, as the Wizard was large enough to be recognized even from the greatest distance. But they had to dodge hundreds of electronic pallet trucks and stressed-out employees just to get anywhere.

Suddenly, they ran into Nightmare's little manager, who seemed to have been looking for them, because even though they tried, they couldn't get anywhere, it was pure chaos here. This was also because Arthur always had to push Falspar aside when he had to dodge another vehicle.

“I hope you haven't lost your way, it's pure chaos here at the moment,” said Customer Service, shaking hands with the two star warriors. Falspar tried to sound or appear cheerful, but it didn't work when he finally had the chance to apologize to the little humanoid.

“Sorry about your nose, I really didn't mean to hit you so hard... Takashi, right?” Falspar pointed to Takashi's nose, which was still covered in bandages and band-aids, but it looked like it was healing quickly.

“Oh...?” Takashi hadn't expected an apology, perhaps because he was used to thousands of complaints from customers, and touched his nose gently so as not to cause himself any pain.

“Yes, Takashi, and you don't have to apologize. Better to have a broken nose than Dark Matter contaminating your body.”

“Haha, that's exactly my attitude!” shouted Falspar, taking everything in stride as usual.

Takashi adjusted his glasses, but despite the large size of the glasses, dark circles could be seen under his eyes. The Dark Matter had robbed many of their sleep, and this time it was not a metaphor that people tell each other.

“But enough chatter, my boss should still be with the department heads. I have already informed him of your arrival. I will take you there.”

 Takashi clutched the clipboard to his chest as he led the Star Warriors to a small office area, which appeared to be the office for the respective warehouse department. People in fancy suits were rushing back and forth, some carrying the largest stacks of paperwork they had ever seen, until they arrived at a door. Instead of knocking, however, Takashi turned to the two warriors and had to get something off his chest, because he knew his boss wouldn't be honest enough to admit this little mistake.

“Don't tell my boss, but we have to admit something…” Takashi paused briefly as he looked at his clipboard and the thick papers, scribbled with appointments after appointments. Sir Arthur and Falspar were confused, yet curious about what was coming next.

“Your arrival took us by surprise we weren't expecting you today,” Takashi sighed. "We were so busy with appointments, inventory paperwork, complaint paperwork, that I didn't check the visitor calendar... which I always do... that's how we made the mistake of not scheduling it." While Takashi admitted the cold truth that his boss would never admit, Falspar nudged a relieved Arthur to let him know that he wasn't the only one who had missed the appointment and could finally relax.

It seems that he and Nightmare aren't as different as they always think they are.

Takashi then apologized and bowed slightly to them. “We're sorry for this misunderstanding.”

Sir Falspar, on the other hand, was the first to intervene. He understood the importance of being polite to guests and customers, but he didn't think it was necessary to go overboard. Still, he found this gesture somewhat endearing. Perhaps he was simply accustomed to the constant fighting and the difficult life of a warrior.

“Hey now, you don't have to apologize. These things happen, especially in this chaos.”

Takashi straightened up with relief, his head a little emptier than the thousands of uncomfortable scenarios that didn't come true. “Thank you for your understanding. You are really a thousand times nicer than some of my private customers.”

Falspar laughed. “We're glad to hear that!”

Takashi turned towards the door and nodded three times so as not to keep his boss waiting any longer before entering and holding the door open for the two warriors so they could finally come in.

There they saw Nightmare and three department heads sitting at a large table, Nightmare this time in a different size than usual, yet even with this size he still towered over his employees. Tense whispers could be heard, making the room feel warmer. Takashi approached his boss, his small frame not even reaching the height of the table, and whispered something to him.

“Sir, the star warriors Sir Arthur and Sir Falspar are here. Should they stay here or should I send them to the waiting room first?” Takashi received no verbal response, but a physical hand gesture that he clearly understood and nodded in response.

The murmurs about issues such as shortages and complaints grew louder in the room until Nightmare wanted to bring the conversation to an end. “I think I've heard enough for today. I'll try my best to find a solution, but now I'm finally sending you off for the evening as requested.” Nightmare's voice sounded hoarse and weary, as if he had been sitting here for five whole hours trying to sort things out.

One of the three department heads spoke first. “Understood, sir. Tomorrow we'll send you the rest of the reclamations. By then we'll have at least finished that.” Nightmare nodded slightly, and the three department heads finally left the room, greeting the unexpected Star Warriors as they left, of course.

Nightmare looked at his little manager, who was rummaging through his hundreds of papers. Nightmare had the chance to take a short break for at least a minute, but of course he had to ask about things. He had no time to relax.

“Because of the reclamation papers, have you sorted them this time, as I said, so that I know which ones were caused by trainees and which ones weren't?” asked Nightmare. “And of course with the trainee's confirmed signature?” For Nightmare, the issue had actually been settled long ago, but as he had noticed for some time, there were currently arguments between the younger and older employees, with some experienced employees blaming the younger trainees for things that weren't even their fault. Of course, he also had to take care of the harmonious working atmosphere when things got too bad in some areas.

“Yes, sir, I checked and I have already laid out all the papers in your office.” Sir Arthur and Sir Falspar sat at the table and waited for their cue to speak, but let the two clarify a few things first.

“How much?” asked Nightmare. Takashi hesitated briefly at the question.

"There are exactly five thousand papers, sir“

Nightmare grunted tensely and leaned back in annoyance. “I'm going to have a lot of fun tonight, a lot of fun,” Nightmare said sarcastically, tapping his fingers on the table until Arthur finally gave him his attention.

“Arthur, it's lovely to see you again, it's been a long time” said Nightmare, his voice slightly altered, as he was finally able to talk about something other than company problems.

“Same here,” said Arthur. “As always, we were warmly welcomed by your staff”

Nightmare grinned and took the tablet Takashi had already prepared for him. Even though he had messed up the appointment with the Star Warriors, he could at least make up for it a little and present his project. “I'm glad to hear that, at least something positive that I've heard today.”

Nightmare placed the tablet and some papers in front of Sir Falspar and Sir Arthur, because he already knew what questions were coming.

“About your message, you said you had started a project that was only for us Star Warriors?” asked Sir Arthur, remembering why the meeting had actually been arranged.

Nightmare crossed his arms and tried to keep it as short as possible. In five minutes, he had to be with the craftsmen in the crafts department. “Unfortunately, our little celebration has been postponed until next year due to the invasion, but I still owe you something...”

“I owe you for protecting my employees and helping us drive away the Dark Matter invasion, so...” Nightmare pointed to the tablet, and Arthur and Falspar looked to see what it was as Nightmare continued.

“I have decided on a project, a project where each of you Star Warriors will receive an individualized, reinforced weapon and armor, whether it be strengthened with a piece of a Crystal Shard and so on, forged by the most talented blacksmiths and with ore from Halcandra.”

“A thank you from my entire company, HolyNightmare.”

Arthur was speechless when he read the papers and listened to Nightmares words. He had expected anything but this. It was beyond anything he had imagined. Sir Falspar, on the other hand, jumped out of his chair and celebrated.

“New weapons? Finally! We needed this so badly!” Sir Falspar celebrated and couldn't wait to try out the weapons.

Nightmare looked at Takashi and gave him the word. Takashi cleared his throat. “But we ask each and every Star Warrior to come here once. Our blacksmiths and certain weapon manufacturers need to test each and every one of you and individualize which strengths and weaknesses each of you has so that we can improve your strengths and protect your weaknesses.”

Nightmare added something important. “Arthur, you, on the other hand, will receive something much special. As the leader of a galactic army, you deserve my respect.”

“Something much special?” asked Arthur, and Falspar stopped celebrating to listen.

“There's not much I can give you, but I will forge your sword and armor with my own dream magic, a sword and armor forged from dreams and nightmares.”

Arthur almost flew off his chair, feeling as if he were in a dream himself, Sir Falspar with his mouth wide open because he couldn't believe it himself.

“That's a great honor, but...” Nightmare interrupted him.

“No buts, you will accept the gift.” Nightmare straightened up to prepare for the next conversation.

“You are welcome to stay here for the night and think about it, and you are also welcome to look at the concepts I have given you and consider what you would prefer...” Nightmare glanced briefly at his little humanoid and then back at the two warriors.

“You've had a long journey and a long day. How about you relax a bit in the cafeteria and let me know later? The food and drinks are free for you, of course.” Nightmare looked back at Takashi and couldn't help but finally send him off for the day.

Nightmare leaned down slightly. “Can you take the two of them to the cafeteria? You can finally get something to eat there too,” said Nightmare. “I'll finally send you off for the day now.”

Takashi hesitated and wanted to complain. “But sir-”

“No buts, or sir, you need to rest, you’ve been working far too long,” Nightmare didn’t sound like someone who could sound concerned, but he couldn’t help but soften toward his little humanoid.

Arthur and Falspar agreed that it was better to think about it first and digest everything before spouting big words. Nightmare floated over to them and explained the most important details to the two warriors, with Takashi in the middle of it all, trying to convince his boss that he still had the strength to continue working and that he wasn't the only one who deserved a break.

“But sir... you should also get some rest. You've been working for three weeks without sleep or a break. You should rest and sleep in a dream fountain before-“ Takashi fell silent when the everyday occurrence happened again, something that sometimes happened to his boss after the Dark Matters incident.

“Sir, your... your eyes again.” Arthur and Falspar also fell silent when they didn't understand what was happening when Nightmare went silent, except that Arthur suddenly saw red substance dripping next to him and backed away slightly.

“Augh... not again.” Nightmare tried to wipe the red substance from his face and stepped out the door, annoyed but with one last word. “When you've made up your mind, Arthur, come to my office.”

Arthur jumped up from his chair. “Yes, of course, I'll let you know... but... is everything okay? You...”

Without another word, Nightmare disappeared, leaving the three alone. Several minutes passed before Takashi finally led the two warriors to the cafeteria as his boss had ordered.

On the way there, the humanoid didn't exchange a single word with them. They could sense that there were more thoughts than words going through his mind, but Arthur tried to understand the situation as usual.

“Is... is Nightmare feeling okay?” Arthur paused. “Are the aftereffects still so severe?”

He thought he was being ignored, but after what felt like an eternity, he got an answer.

“Since the invasion a month ago, my boss is still complaining of pain.” Takashi handed the two of them some kind of ID card for the cafeteria, surely so they could identify themselves and get everything for free.

“Since then, he has been working non-stop for three weeks to improve our situation in the company.”

“He also told me that he was responsible for everything and that it was his fault...” Takashi's voice became shakier.

“Which I can't believe, because we were specifically targeted by the swarm of Dark Matter. They bypassed all our security measures as if they were nothing.”

“If anything, it was my fault for not following and reinforcing the safety precautions.”

“My fault-” Takashi's face contorted with shame, as if he were about to burst into tears from stress, and he didn't want to disturb the two warriors any longer as he tried to make a quick getaway.

But Arthur stopped him by grabbing his arm. “Hey now, no one is to blame... not Nightmare and not you either. We were also surprised not to have noticed the swarm they completely bypassed our radars too”

Sir Falspar pushed his mask up to reveal his cuddly face and gave a cheerful wink, which made Takashi feel a little queasy, not out of discomfort, but because he hadn't expected the Star Warriors to feel so comfortable showing their faces to them. “I have to agree with our captain on that, and by the way, where are you going?”

Arthur let go of Takashi's arm, and this time Falspar grabbed the humanoid, but not out of malice. “Didn't Nightmare say you should eat something?” Sir Falspar dragged the humanoid behind him. The Star Warriors may be small, but Takashi was sure that this little ball could probably carry him without effort if he wanted to.

“And besides, you look like someone who needs to gain a little weight, don't you think?”

Arthur followed behind the two and had to admit that he was worried, and the person he was worried about was none other than his former arch-enemy. At that moment, images from the past came flooding back, images of the dark room where he had found Nightmare exactly one month ago.

Sir Falspar, on the other hand, was concerned about other things. “I haven't seen such a slim body since the last war.” Sir Falspar jokingly grabbed the humanoid's stomach. Even though their bodies were different, they could still recognize the various aspects.

Takashi blushed a little and was surprised. He hadn't expected anyone to worry about him. In his working life, he had rarely experienced this, except from his boss.

When the two entered the cafeteria, Sir Arthur stopped and looked back. Should he just go to Nightmare now? Should he wait? No... wouldn't it be better to keep the Wizard company now before the after-effects got even worse? Arthur thought about it and felt trapped in a paradox, but his concern and uneasy feeling grew, so he turned around and ran back.

“Arthur?” asked Sir Falspar when Sir Arthur suddenly turned his back on them.

“I'm not hungry, you can have my portion, and besides, I still have something important to do” said Sir Arthur, speaking his last words and running back down the hallway.

Sir Falspar and Takashi were confused, but Sir Falspar was used to Arthur's sudden changes of plan, so it came as no surprise, and he went alone with Takashi, at least he had someone to talk to.

Arthur's steps were slow at first, but they became more and more frantic and faster as thousands of thoughts filled his head.

Could it be that the Dark Matter is still in Nightmare's body? And that's why he's still suffering from pain and aftereffects? Maybe it was all just a trick and the Dark Matter is still in there, hidden away from everyone until it finally had a chance to strike again? That must be it, right?

These creatures are smarter than they look and act.

Arthur's steps quickened, and in his frantic panic, he accidentally pushed some employees aside, drawing strange looks from them as to why the leader of the Star Warriors was in such a hurry.

Was he just overthinking everything, and none of these theories were true? Still, it seemed better to keep a close eye on Nightmare.

He slowed down as optimistic thoughts came back to him. He must be exaggerating as usual. Surely none of these things were true, and as always, he was just panicking.

He had been so overwhelmed since the invasion. Shouldn't he just rest and take deep breaths, as his warriors had always told him to do? Everything was stressing him out at the moment.

But he couldn't forget the day he found Nightmare on the ground... Why did he suddenly feel so soft towards the Wizard? Was it really because of that day?

The day when he and Nightmare had shown more than just trust? He didn't know. But for some time now, he had been showing interest in the Wizard. His curiosity led him to find out more about him, about his origins, his knowledge, and much more.

But Nightmare had always been very difficult to crack.

Arthur sometimes wondered whether Nightmare was hiding more about his past than he was willing to admit.

Every living being had its own adventures, from birth to death.

But sometimes secrecy is better than the truth.

Sir Arthur suddenly stopped when he ran out of breath, hoping he had taken the right path to Nightmare's office. Beads of sweat ran down his face when he saw his shadow and could have sworn he had seen an eye. Was he being followed? Or was his mind playing tricks on him?

Without thinking, he drew his sword and struck through his shadow, and as he had expected, a small cloud of black smoke suddenly flickered in the air and quickly disappeared when his sword struck a second time. It seemed that some Dark Matter remained, but it was a lone entity, which was strange, as they had an advantage in groups. He sighed and lowered his sword into its sheath.

He should inform Nightmare that some of these pests were still in the company; they couldn't drive them all away. Later, he would also have to inform Kid Cosmos and Sir Galahad so that they could quickly eliminate the remaining pests together. Unfortunately, Jecra, Meta Knight, and Garlude were currently on Planet Popstar, so they couldn't help out, but he couldn't deny that they deserved their little break.

Arthur kept walking, but something was different. His warrior instincts were sounding the alarm. Something big was about to happen, he could feel it. But he couldn't guess what it was yet.

The dark matter wasn't done with them yet.

He kept walking until a sudden dark presence made his hair stand on end and his shadow suddenly grew larger.

 “YOu orGanIc BeiNgs aRe sO teDiouS” thousands of voices rang out in an arrhythmic tone, a pitch that did not belong to any organic being. It sounded like pure hatred and disgust for everything that did not fit in with them.

Sir Arthur drew his sword as he waited for an attack, watching his shadow wobble and form into hideous shapes, but it seemed they were not after him.

“LOrd ZeRo TWo iS aLivE, aNd wW mUsT bRinG hIs ofFerRnG tO hIm." The shadow leaped from shadow to shadow through the endless corridors, Arthur following behind, guessing what they were looking for.

Arthur ran through the corridors, but his little feet were not made for speed, so the small herd of  Dark Matter had caught up with him. He suddenly rushed through an office, his eyes darting everywhere to spot the slightest danger. Suddenly, the woman he had met at the reception desk ran towards him, somewhat concerned about why he was rushing in like this, and Arthur couldn't help but lose his composure.

“Is everything okay?” the woman asked, and she got a clear answer.

“Where... where is Nightmare?!” he screamed, gasping for air. “It's important!” His tone frightened the woman a little, but she answered his question nonetheless.

“Our boss should be in his office, at the very top...” He didn't even let the woman finish before rushing off, leaving her staring at him in confusion, as if he were the only crazy person in the room.

He ran and ran like he had never run before, rummaging through his small bag. Somewhere, he had to have fragments of a starrod. He had actually wanted to use them on Nightmare a month ago, but he hadn't had the chance, and in the end, it didn't matter anymore.

“Come on, I still had them in there.” The running made it harder for him to fish out the shards, but just as he reached the top, he held them in his hand. He just had to hope that he wouldn’t hit Nightmare with the shards when he cut through them. Without another thought, he stormed into Nightmare’s room and saw the awful sight before his eyes...

Dark shadows and the gloomy glances of several eyes flooded the room, but one particular Dark Matter shone differently from all the others, concealed in the shadows. However, Sir Arthur was not easily fooled; the large red eye easily gave away the large Dark Matter. He had to process what was happening in the room before he finally spotted Nightmare in the shadows. Nightmare fought back rapidly, but the shadows seemed to be tightly wrapped around his throat, trying to bring him under control. At that moment, Nightmare couldn't do much. He was weaker than usual, and it didn't help that he hadn't rested or regained his strength the entire time. This mistake came back to haunt him.

Nightmare's gaze turned to him, surprised. “Art-Arthur?” were the words he managed to spit out before the shadows tightened their grip on his throat.

Arthur held the shards tightly in his hand and decided to do it, but to warn Nightmare first. This Dark Matter just needs one last blow to finally disappear. Arthur took his stance and was ready to strike.

“I'm going to use shards from the Star rod, just a warning that it will most likely hurt” said Arthur and got a slight nod from Nightmare.

“Do it.”

With that word, he hurled the shards into the air and, expecting to be stopped, jumped onto each of the small forms of the Dark Matter and, with a Sword Beam and one last leap, cut the shards to dust. The room lit up brightly in thousands of colorful lights as the Sword Beam split the large Dark Matter in two and the dust from the shards rained down on them like rain. A bright light and squealing cries filled the room, and like a miracle, the shadows disappeared in seconds as if they had never existed.

Sir Arthur let out a sigh of relief, at least this hell had been over quickly, and quickly made his way to Nightmare, who was sitting on the ground, his hand on his throat, as the shadows finally disappeared. Nevertheless, Arthur was shocked to see that, as at their last meeting, red substance was still dripping down Nightmare's cheeks, and he could also hear him moaning in pain. Now he would have to endure the pain from the shards for a while, but at least the nightmare was over.

“Arthur, what are you doing here...?” asked Nightmare, who had not expected Arthur of all people. “Did you want to play knight in shining armor?”

Arthur wanted to ask the perfect counter-question when Nightmare suddenly groaned in pain and Arthur held him up so he wouldn't fall to the floor. Fortunately, Nightmare wasn't in his larger form at the moment; but Arthur, in contrast, was still the size of a big soccer ball.

“You look terrible,” Arthur said, searching the room for items that could help him.

In this situation, he hadn't even realized how terribly worried he was about Nightmare and why he was doing this at all... but now he didn't care why he was acting this way, he just wanted to help.

“Do you have a bathroom?” Arthur asked. “Then maybe you can take a bath... I can try to carry you.” It sounded abstract for someone like Sir Arthur to carry someone like Nightmare, given his size, but this didn't seem to be a problem for him. Nightmare pointed to a door and Arthur carried him inside.

“Why... why are you doing this, Arthur?” asked Nightmare, not understanding why the Star Warrior was being so kind to him, as if Arthur was concerned for him... no, no one had ever cared about him before, he had never experienced that.

Arthur had no specific answer to this question, except to give the typical answer as always, because he himself did not know why he was doing this.

“I just want to help,” he said, but deep down he knew this was a lie; it was more than that.

Nightmare leaned against a wall while Arthur filled the bathtub with water and soap. It was somehow abstract to see the two of them in such a situation, neither of them could have ever imagined it.

But for some reason, Nightmare couldn't help but give the little star warrior a warm smile when he noticed that he was getting tired. He really had to go back to the dream world to rest and satisfy his hunger. He had endured all of this for the past few weeks without it.

Arthur suddenly heard a small click and looked at Nightmare, where the sound came from, and his eyes widened behind his mask. “What are you doing?” Arthur suddenly squeaked, which confused Nightmare a little because Arthur was a little overreacting.

“Hmm?” Nightmare hummed as he finally understood Arthur's issue. “You've already seen me without my headdress, so it's no big deal if you do it again.” Nightmare freed himself from his jewelry, revealing long, brown, tousled hair and long, pointed ears. Now Arthur saw that the tips of Nightmare's hair were black instead of brown, and that there were little stars sparkling there, which was somehow beautiful and made Arthur blush a little under his mask for no reason.

“Don't worry, the glasses stay on, of course,” Nightmare chuckled as he removed the rest of the jewelry from his body and gave Arthur a little stroke on the head.

“Thank you, Arthur... really, thank you for everything.” Arthur then jumped up in the air in annoyance, but not because of the thanks that made him feel warm inside.

“If you're going to be so revealing, I will too,” Arthur shrieked, pointing his index finger angrily at the Wizard and removing his mask. Nightmare had to admit that it was a cute look for a warrior, even though he hadn't expected Arthur to simply remove his mask in front of him.

Nightmare leaned down and pinched Arthur's cheek. “For a brave warrior like you, you have a cute face, if I may say so?”

“He-Hey!” Arthur's expression turned angry, but trying to look angry only made Arthur even cuter in Nightmare's eyes. After looking closely, Nightmare saw fading wounds on the warrior's face, but also wounds that were very fresh. Nightmare ran his hand over the wounds and felt a little guilty, partly because they had surely been caused by the Dark Matters only recently.

“You seem to have been hit very hard too...” Nightmare paused briefly. “How about keeping me company while I bathe? I'm a wizard, so I can try to heal your wounds.” Arthur, on the other hand, was so speechless that he didn't even know what to say.

“Huh... umm.” For a brave warrior, he didn't seem so brave this time, spitting out simple words, but he couldn't just reject this kind gesture.

Time flew by, but right now, neither of them seemed to care if time was against them. And somehow, they enjoyed this time off together.

While Nightmare sat in the foam-filled bathtub leaning against the edge, Arthur sat on the floor next to the bathtub with a slightly embarrassed expression on his face as Nightmare healed his wounds.

Suddenly, a pain shot through his body. “Ow, that burns!” Arthur complained. “But it tickles at the same time...” Nightmare chuckled at this statement and had to admit that his healing magic still worked despite not having been used for a long time. At least something still worked.

 He reached under the little warrior's arm to better reach the wounds, and after ten long minutes, Arthur somehow felt in top shape. Of course, his fatigue was still there, but his body felt cleansed, as if the wounds had never existed.

“Better? How do you feel?” Arthur, on the other hand, couldn't help but seem changed.

“Wow, I... I feel completely different.” Arthur gave Nightmare a sarcastic look. “I hope you didn't secretly turn me into a demon beast.”

Nightmare laughed, but you could sense the fatigue in his laughter. “I think if I had, you wouldn't be the same little bubblegum anymore.”

“Bubblegum?!” Sir Arthur jumped angrily onto the edge of the bathtub and pointed his index finger at the tired Wizard. He could have spouted thousands of sentences, meant in jest of course, but he noticed that Nightmare was burying his face in his arms and had to think about the things Nightmare's little manager had mentioned.

He remained silent for a few seconds and thought about how it would be better not to ask Nightmare if he was still in pain when he already knew, so Arthur preferred to act rather than speak.

Arthur jumped down from the edge of the bathtub, grabbed the nearest towel, and tried to hand it to Nightmare. “You still have the red substance stuck to your cheeks,” Arthur pointed to his own cheek. “Wouldn't it be better to wipe it off?”

Nightmare took the towel without saying a word and finally wiped his face with it, while Arthur jumped back onto the edge of the bathtub to keep Nightmare company until suddenly...

A loud splash echoed through the room.

Nightmare was startled and quickly fished Arthur out of the water, unable to help but laugh as he held the warrior in his hands, soaking wet and covered in foam.

Arthur's face was clouded with shock, and he stared silently at Nightmare's smiling face, somewhat annoyed and embarrassed. But he couldn't help but soften and laugh along with him at his little clumsiness.

Nightmare got out of the bathtub with Arthur and handed the little wet ball a towel. Arthur then dared to ask a question he had never thought to ask the Wizard before.

“It's a strange question, but...” Arthur quickly dried himself off and was about to continue when Nightmare briefly interrupted his question.

“You're welcome to take off your armor and let it dry, Arthur... Unless you want to walk around my company soaking wet.” Nightmare leaned down. “Which I won't allow, because we pay close attention to cleanliness.” Arthur's cheeks turned a little red. Even though he didn't have much to hide under his armor, it was a matter of intimacy.

“And what was that strange question you wanted to ask me?”

Arthur paused briefly, cleared his throat, and explained the matter. Briefly and openly, “After bathing or training, we Star Warriors like to help each other with...” Arthur paused briefly, knowing it was a stupid question to ask Nightmare. “So we often do each other's hair and braids and...”

“You want to comb my hair?” Even though Arthur couldn't see it clearly, he could guess that Nightmare was frowning.

Arthur waved his hands frantically. “Um... yes, yes, but only if you want to—with your consent, of course.”

Nightmare just gave him a warm smile and turned his back on him as he stepped out the door. “If you want to, because I need to ask you for a favor too.”

“A favor?” Arthur whispered, already wondering what it was.

“When you're done drying off, come to my bedroom, it's right next door.”

Arthur took off his armor, voluntarily, placing his sword and mask on a table, and for some reason he felt uneasy. He could feel his body suddenly getting warmer and starting to sweat, which his body wasn't supposed to do. He sighed loudly to himself, his head facing the ceiling as thousands of thoughts swirled around in his mind. He looked at the door Nightmare had mentioned. It was slightly opened, and with one last courageous push, he knocked.

Nightmare opened it, surprised and concerned as to why the little rubber ball had taken so long. “You took your time,” he said and let Arthur in.

Sir Arthur had expected a normal bedroom, but to his amazement, he was presented with something completely different. For someone with Nightmare's personality and someone who was the embodiment of a nightmare, the room reflected that slightly. Sir Arthur recognized it immediately and was somewhat surprised that the room had the same colors as a dream fountain. The bed, pillows, and blankets were all covered in beautiful pastel colors, and it felt like being in the warm presence of a dream fountain, as if you were enveloped in the warm water of dreams. He had expected anything but that. But in hindsight, it somehow made sense.

Nightmare rushed to his bed and collapsed onto the mattress. “You weren't expecting that, were you?” he hummed, revealing something about himself, which was a rare occurrence. “Before I started my company, I spent all those years sleeping in various dream fountains, but now I don't have any time to sleep in one, so I had to make a few changes.”

Arthur jumped onto the bed but slipped down and held on until Nightmare helped him up and sank into the comfortable mattress. “And I thought you only used the dream fountains to unleash nightmares,” Arthur said curiously, but Nightmare wasn’t even angry that Arthur thought that; many people thought that way.

“Many think that about me, but dream fountains have been a place for me to sleep my whole lifetime, whether to rest or to eat dreams.” Nightmare handed Arthur a hairbrush. It was a little big for his small hands, but he would manage.

“Hopefully you can get through my thicket of hair, I have very thick and wiry hair,” said Nightmare, running his hands through his hair.

“Don't worry, I'll manage, as long as you don't look like Sir Cosmos does sometimes,” joked Arthur, scooping up a handful of brown hair in his hand and starting to comb the wet hair. He couldn't help but be curious when Nightmare was being so open with him.

“So do you feed on good dreams or just nightmares?” Sir Arthur asked curiously, and Nightmare answered him honestly.

“Both, but it depends. Because I use dark magic, nightmares naturally satisfy me more than good dreams, but as long as I feed well on all dreams, I don't have to slumber in a dream fountain for years,” he said, and for some reason, Nightmare felt so warm inside as Arthur took care of him. it felt like the warmth of a dream fountain, a warmth he hadn't felt in a long time, and he felt his pointed ears and face getting warmer. Maybe it was good to talk to someone, something he rarely did.

“What do you mean? If you're too exhausted or too hungry, you sleep longer? How long did you end up sleeping?” Arthur combed through the thick, dense hair and was mesmerized by the tips of the hair and the sparkling stars that were there. It seemed as if you could look through them and see the entire night sky.

Nightmare thought about it and wasn't sure anymore. “I don't remember well, But the longest time I ever slept was like 500 years"

Arthur was shocked. “500 years?”

“That's a very long time just to sleep,” he joked.

Nightmare agreed. “Yes, that time was not one of my best.” Nightmare paused briefly. “Also because during that time I started a fight with the Ancients, for good reasons.” Arthur remembered that Nightmare had told them about the Ancients before, especially those who were familiar with magic, and that after the betrayal they sought Dark Matter and chaos, but he hadn't mentioned why or what the argument was about. Only that they had imprisoned him in a dream fountain for years.

“What was the argument about?” Arthur asked curiously, information like this feeding his mind well.

Nightmare became somewhat tense, which Arthur could sense, and wanted to apologize for having apparently struck a nerve. “Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...” Nightmare interrupted him, saying it was fine, and then responded.

“They wanted me to share my knowledge with them back then, that’s what they wanted me to think, just because they—” Nightmare clutched his cape tightly, he didn’t want to mention it, but this situation just made him angry. “Just because they woke me up in the Dream Fountain on Shiv—” Nightmare interrupted himself and wanted to steer the conversation in a completely different direction. There was a specific reason why the ancients had disappeared, and that reason was a good one.

“Forget it, Arthur, it's not important.”

Arthur looked concerned but gentle. It was a great honor to listen to the Wizard's stories, even if it had only been a small part. Then Nightmare asked about the favor he had wanted to ask earlier. He couldn't ask his employees, and his little manager didn't have time for it either.

“About the favor I wanted to ask you...” Nightmare turned around, causing Arthur to briefly stop combing his hair.

“It sounds strange and weird, but...” Arthur had expected anything but what was about to come next.

“Would you stay here tonight?”

Arthur was speechless and couldn't utter a word as his eyes widened and his face showed only silence, but as always, Nightmare tried to explain the matter.

“I know it's a strange favor, but... since the Dark Matter was in my body, I find it difficult to go into dreams that are not close to me. Every time I try to go the actual distance I always do, my body hurts and I have to leave the dream world.”

“I can't rest or be a dream eater, and that's really irritating me right now.”

Arthur wanted to ask a question, but Nightmare quickly answered it. “Before you ask, I have different methods of entering dreams, but the only one that works is when I'm resting here myself. Everything else is currently impossible for me, so...”

Arthur reassured him and waved his hand from top to bottom when he noticed that Nightmare was over-explaining.

“I understand, but why didn't you ask me earlier?” Nightmare was confused. Of course, he hadn't asked Arthur earlier; it would have been too embarrassing and strange for him to suddenly ask without explanation.

“As I told you a month ago, we Star Warriors are always there when something happens. After all, we want to help everyone in the universe as much as we can, including you.”

“So I'm happy to help you, and I'll allow you to eat my dreams so you don't starve.”

Arthur saw Nightmare's pointed ears droop like a sad dog when he didn't understand, and now he hid in his blanket as he covered himself up. “I just thought it would be embarrassing for you to sleep in the same bed with me because of that.”

“Embarrassing?” Arthur laughed. “We Star Warriors sometimes sleep together in one bed when we're not feeling well.” Nightmare could feel the embarrassment rising to his head. How could it be that Arthur was the one making him feel this way?

Nightmare whispered quietly to himself. “I sometimes forget what social creatures you are.” Nightmare sometimes forgot how different different races in the entire universe could be. He had already met many and, of course, had to work with many, but as he said, they were all different when it came to various topics. So he was also a little happy that Arthur took it so calmly.

Nightmare, on the other hand, didn't take it so calmly and lay down in bed with his thick blanket and cozy pillows, turned away from Arthur and feeling pure embarrassment for the first time.

“Hey now, did I embarrass you?” whispered Arthur, lying down next to Nightmare and realizing how comfortable the bed was, so much so that he too found it difficult to get up. It felt heavenly not to fall asleep there, like a spell that forbade you to do so.

It was quiet for a few minutes, the room enveloped in complete silence, until Nightmare finally turned to him with an annoyed expression on his face.

“But promise me you won't give me nightmares,” said Arthur.

“I'm more worried that I'll accidentally crush you in my sleep because you're so small.” Arthur wanted to protest, but Nightmare turned away from him again. Arthur sighed and closed his eyes.

“Good night,” he said.

And Nightmare wished him good night in return.

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Sir Arthur woke up abruptly, disoriented and unsure of where he was, until it came back to him. His eyes were heavy, and he felt like he would fall back asleep if he didn't fight to stay awake, but something was tickling his body. It tickled, but it was also warm and soft, and then he realized it was Nightmare's long hair covering his face. Only then did he notice that he was lying in Nightmare's arms. Great, apparently the wizard was a pillow hugger, a fact that would remain in his memory forever, but he enjoyed the warm moment and fell back into a deep sleep.

It didn't take long for Sir Arthur to wake up again, but this time he felt as fit as a fiddle, as if someone had poured cold water over his skin. His thoughts were also empty and pure, as if they had been completely cleansed. He got up, heard soft snoring beside him, and looked at Nightmare, the Wizard's hair tousled beyond belief, but it seemed that the Wizard was still deep in sleep. Had Nightmare eaten his dreams, which was why he felt so fit? He didn't know, and he didn't want to wake Nightmare to ask. Arthur jumped out of bed, certain that he had been here far too long. Sir Falspar was probably already worried about him.

He opened the door quietly and carefully so as not to wake the wizard, then closed it again. With a deep sigh, he made his way to the table where he had left his armor and mask, but suddenly they were gone.

“Where—where is my armor?” he whispered softly across the room. He was sure he had left it there. Then something sparkling caught his attention. It wasn't on the table, but on Nightmare's personal desk, and there he discovered his armor, mask, and sword, but something was different.

There was a short note attached to the sword, and he read it quietly. It was a message from Nightmare addressed to him, telling him that it was his new dream armor that Nightmare had mentioned in their brief conversation, forged from his own dreams. Arthur was speechless but had no choice but to accept the gift because he had no chance to refuse, and he admired how beautiful it was. His sword and armor were almost identical, but they had a beautiful color palette that made the room shine brightly, and the power they gave him made him feel twice as strong as usual when he put them on.

But he also discovered something else on the desk, again with a note addressed to him. As far as he could tell, it was a large golden plate with very strange symbols scribbled on the front. At first, he didn't understand what it was, but he read the message nonetheless.

In it, Nightmare mentioned that it was another gift, but that it was more of a mysterious gift that Arthur would first have to decipher with the golden disk, because he was always so curious about things. At the end, it also said that if Arthur managed to decipher what it was, he would be given permission to start an expedition on Shiver Star. Arthur almost jumped out of his skin when he read this message. Nightmare knew exactly how much of a nerd he could be when it came to secrets and lost civilizations, and his heart fluttered with joy.

He accepted the gift with delight and would show Nightmare how quickly he could decipher it; no secrets were safe from him. He rushed out of the room, the strange golden plate under his arms, as he set out to find Sir Falspar. It didn't take long before he ran into him. Nightmare's little manager was with him.

“Arthur?! We've been looking everywhere for you! I thought you'd been kidnapped by a Grand Doomer” Sir Falspar squealed, breathless but with a look of wonder on his face.

“Heyyy, cool armor!” Sir Falspar pointed to Arthur's new armor, somewhat envious that he didn't have any yet. “Was this the important thing you were talking about?”

Takashi, on the other hand, gasped in panic when he saw the golden disc between the Star Warrior's arms. “Where did you get that disc?" He seemed worried, which Arthur didn’t understand, since he hadn’t stolen it.

“Isn’t that the Voyager golden record?” Takashi said, sounding very concerned, as if the disc had been something very important to his boss.

“The-the what?” Arthur asked.

“The Voyga what?” asked Sir Falspar, who hadn't understood the sentence.

Takashi, on the other hand, suddenly realized what was going on and had to quickly make up an excuse. “I'm sorry, I confused it with one of the very valuable records we sell here,” he said, adjusting his glasses and hoping the warriors would swallow his devilish lie, which fortunately they did.

“But now we finally have to go home. The others are probably already worried.” Sir Arthur grabbed Sir Falspar by the arm and ran down the hallway.

Sir Falspar didn't even have the chance to say goodbye to Takashi in person, except to shout across the long corridor.

“Goodbye! Little guy I hope we'll see each other again, it was really fun with you, Takashi!”

Takashi waved back as the Star Warriors made their way home and he headed for his boss's office.

He was about to knock when his boss opened the door before he could, his hair completely disheveled.

“Did he accept the gift?” Nightmare asked his little humanoid wearily, leaning against the doorframe.

Takashi, on the other hand, was a little surprised. “Sir? Wasn't that the record that meant so much to you?”

Nightmare frowned. “Maybe… but perhaps I can entrust Arthur with the existence of this civilization if he can solve it.”

Nightmare looked down at Takashi. “I know this disc means a lot to you too, because you are their only descendant. I created you with my DNA, but maybe it's nice to let others know about our lost existence.”

“Arthur is someone who can keep secrets.”

Takashi nodded. “Maybe you're right, sir.” Nightmare knelt down next to Takashi and gave his little humanoid a hug after all the stress they had experienced over the past few weeks.