The Beast

She was in danger. She had to get away. Run. She darted for the forest. Cover. Tears strung her eyes. She quickly wiped them away. She couldn't afford to lose vision, not when the Beast was after her. Her darkest nightmare personified. Fangs, claws, and horns all sharp and ready. She could hear the Beast bellowing after her. She didn't stop running. Soon she only heard twigs breaking underneath her feet. She looked over her shoulders while she ran. The Beast was no longer in pursuit. She slowed and stopped. Nothing but silence. She turned to walk away. Her screams cut short as the Beast snatched her.

Earlier...

During the cold night, nestled under cozy, thick blankets of her warm bed, little ten-year old Molly fell asleep and drifted off to dream land. There the curly-haired, freckled girl met an anamorphic owl, named Owl, in a plaza full of stone. He was very polite, welcomed her, explained how Visitors, like herself, traveled here to the Dream Gate. He then showed her how the light in her heart, called Ideya, created paradises called Nightopia.

Paradise. Molly wondered what hers would look like as she opened the wooden doors leading there. The sight of the white landscape confused her. Was this snow? She took a few steps forward, and decided it couldn't be snow for it lacked the familiar crunch under her feet. What, then, was this falling white material? It felt soft against her face and smelled wonderful. She knew this fragrance.

"Flowers!" she exclaimed as she held her hands out to catch some of the falling petals from the numerous blossoming trees. "Wow." She breathed in more of the sweet air and basked in the warm light bathing this lush landscape. "My heart really created this, Owl?" she asked with a sigh.

"Hoo. Hoo. Yes, m'dear," Owl said while he perched on a post. "This is just one of the many worlds you can create."

Just one of the worlds? She felt like her heart was about to burst with pride from just this one world. "Really?" she asked almost breathless.

"Hoo. Yes. As you know, this world was created by your Ideya, more specifically, your Ideya of Purity. There are a total of five Ideya a Visitor can...Hm?" Owl stopped, and looked back at the door that lead to the Dream Gate. "I do apologize, but will you excuse me, Visitor?"

Molly started to reply, but Owl, in the blink of an eye, disappeared. "Heh, he can teleport," she murmured as she went to the door to peak at the Dream Gate. The plaza was empty. Odd, she thought, and closed the door. Where could Owl be? She looked back at the post and Owl had reappeared. "Oh! That was quick."

"Yes. Thank goodness. Hoo. Hoo. Now as I was saying, there are a total of five Ideya a Visitor can possess. In all, they are Purity, Hope, Courage, Intelligence and...Again? Hoo. I beg your pardon, m'dear." With that, Owl teleported away.

Molly smiled, and started humming a tune. Soon she started twirling underneath the shower of fluttering petals until she heard a soft chuckle. "You're back."

"Don't stop on my account, Visitor. Hoo. Hoo. I am grateful you are having fun despite my rude behavior. In fact, why don't you go on ahead; you don't need me to explore your Nightopia."

Molly nodded her head excitedly. A field trip without an adult sounded fantastic to her.

"Let me impart some advice to you before I leave. You see those blue sphere scattered about?" Molly nodded again. "Those are called Blue Chips. Gather them and, if something tries to attack you, launch them at your foe."

Molly's eyes went wide. "W-what do you mean attack me?"

"Hoo? This is the World of Dreams, as some call it. Then, if this is a dream, surely there are also nightmares."

"Nightmares?"

"Yes. The Nightmarens will try to steal your Ideya from you, so you must protect it." Molly clutched her arms over her heart. "You won't be alone. If you ever need help, find a post like this one bearing my image and I will come to give you guidance." Owl smiled at her. "Do not be afraid. Hoo! That reminds me, I forgot to mention an Ideya. The Ideya of your heart that you'll find here in this Nightopia."

"What's that?" Molly started shivering slightly in the warm climate.

"Growth," he said before teleporting away.

Molly took another glance at her idyllic paradise: Not a soul in sight. Suddenly, she no longer wished for an unsupervised trip in this deserted land. Spotting the Blue Chips, she ran straight for them. She didn't want to be defenseless. As she collected them, she heard a sound in the distance. A sound carried easily on the wind. Her eyes widen and she turned, ready to run back to the Dream Gate. However, the door was gone. Did it just vanish?

The noise continued, and she ducked behind a tree. She listened and felt foolish as she realized the noise was just a lovely melody. A melody accompanied by laughter. After a minute, curiosity sat in, and she started moving towards the beautiful music. She remained cautious and checked before darting to the next tree. Finally, she reached the source of the music and almost gave her position away, had not the musician's eyes been closed.

She ducked back behind another tree and pondered the strange sight: A jester, wearing a two pronged hat, mimed playing a flute, but produced music. The laughter came from the jester's audience of small creatures with baby-doll faces. Something about those creatures made her risk looking around again. They did! They had pink wings just like fairies! She remained so engrossed looking at them that she didn't even notice one flying right up to her.

"Wohaha!" The angelic creature startled Molly who gasped and hid behind the tree again. The sounds of the flute stopped.

"Is someone there?" a pleasant voice asked. No doubt the jester's.

"Go away," she whispered to the creature who hovered around her. It didn't work. In fact, more gathered around her. However, she found it hard to stay mad at them with their big smiles and adorable little coo's.

"The Nightopians sure seem to like you," the jester continued. "Why don't you come out and stop being so shy?"

Knowing hiding was now pointless, Molly stepped out from her spot and forced a smile.

The jester sat on the stump with legs crossed. Upon a closer look, Molly saw the jester had a cheerful face, large eyes and long lashes. She thought the jester was pretty like her mom.

"So, you're the Visitor who created this Nightopia." The jester looked around the white land. "It's rather plain, don't you think?"

The comment confused Molly "...I like it," she said as she walked over to the jester with the small creatures in tow.

"I like it too." The jester smiled and Molly remained perplexed. "Still, it could use a bit of color. I'm rather partial to purple myself." Molly looked at the purple and pink color schemes the jester wore.

"So, miss...?"

"What's this 'miss' stuff? My name is NiGHTS."

"NiGHTS?" Molly asked. "I'm Molly."

"Molly!" NiGHTS delighted over the name. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Molly placed her hands behind her back as she twisted back and forth.

"Are we shy again?" NiGHTS asked.

Molly smiled and glanced over. "Did...did my heart create you too?"

"Your h...?" NiGHTS gave a short laugh. "No." She shook her head. "I was created...by someone else's heart."

"Oh. How about these fairies?"

"Those are Nightopians. They exist in every Nightopia."

Molly smiled at them. "I like how they can fly," she told NiGHTS.

"You think flying's neat do you?"

"Yeah...I wish I had wings."

"I suppose wings are nice." NiGHTS grinned as she stood up. "I'd imagine they'd get in the way, though," she said as she moved towards Molly.

"I guess, but imagine being able to fly."

NiGHTS nodded her head. "All that freedom. Being faster than the wind," NiGHTS mused.

"That'd be so..." Molly's mouth hung open. She realized NiGHTS' feet weren't touching the ground.

"Do you think," NiGHTS carried on nonchalantly as she floated in the air, "if you were able to fly, you could do a flip in the air?" NiGHTS pulled her head behind and under, letting her body follow, until, once again, she was right side up. "Or perhaps act like you're riding a carousel?" NiGHTS grabbed the air, as if she were holding a pole, and even included a spin as she bobbed up and down towards Molly.

As NiGHTS showed off, Molly noticed something: Something important. "You don't have wings..."

NiGHTS jumped off her 'carousel' and floated in front of the girl. "True."

"How can you do that?" Molly asked

"Do what?" NiGHTS asked impishly.

"Fly without wings."

NiGHTS held out a hand. "Want to find out?"

Molly looked at the offered hand. "Huh?"

"Come with me and we can fly together."

"Really? You'll take me flying?" Molly beamed. "Okay!" She reached for NiGHTS' hand, but stopped. "Hey, wait. You won't drop me, will you?"

"Drop you? We'll be...ugh." NiGHTS rolled her eyes. "Visitors..." she murmured before reaching for Molly's hand. As soon as they touched, a ball of light surrounded them and Molly shut her eyes.

It felt odd to Molly, but not unpleasant. When she opened her eyes, she instinctively looked at her hands; they were NiGHTS'. "This," NiGHTS took control of one of their hands and held a forefinger up, "is Dualization. I'm sharing my body with you, so you can feel what it's like to fly."

Molly remained speechless. She kept moving their head looking at NiGHTS' body. She thought NiGHTS was just going to carry her while she flew, not this. "This is..."

"Amazing, isn't it?" NiGHTS chimed in.

"Yes!" Molly screamed as she twirled again under the falling flower petals. Gravity had no effect and and she could move so freely.

"Not bad. Seems you have a good handle on this. So...What are we waiting for?" NiGHTS asked.
"Let's take to the skies and try some real flying." As NiGHTS suggested this, Molly excitedly nodded their head. "Alright!" NiGHTS held their arms out. "Here we go!" They started moving forward on just their will alone. Faster and faster they went, leaving behind a trail of twinkling dust as they soared, and Molly's cheers of excitement filling the skies as they flew.

Their actions being watched by a dark figure hidden amongst the trees.

To be continued.