Saint Joseph School

Overture
---

Diary. Day Two.
Overcast skies. Rain. Lots of rain.

Nobody here at all. Nothing makes for a great week like waking up in your bed and finding the world abandoned. I must be dreaming. Right? No powers either..what is going on?

Least that's what I've been telling myself to stave off worrying.

Diary. Day four.

Ventured outside today. The halls are empty, but at least I found food. Still not sure if this is a dream, why I can't wake up. Where is everyone?

Day 12.

Where is that music coming from? Can't sleep. Can't eat. Can't wake from this nightmare. Someone help me.

---

Arly sighed and shut the diary, staring out at the constant rain and grey mist, before standing and picking up her coat. Whatever was going on, she certainly wasn't getting the answers staying here.

She packed a few supplies from the fridge, humming quietly despite the total disconnect from her powers, it calmed her a little anyhow.

"Well then, whoever is running this little charade. I'm ready"

Laughter, faint at first, but then gathering in volume until it became a deafening roar, and then the floor shattered beneath her. She knew this feeling, it was that same pit she has fallen into so many times before. All Arly could do now was brace herself for the impact.

Only this time it didn't come, and instead she found herself seated upon a plain of grass made of glass, tinkling in the wind, as a familiar voice spoke to her. "You really don't get it do you? All you see is what you hide yourself in. Some freakish charade of cruelty and random chaos. Its downright disgraceful."

Arly whirled about, raising a brow to see herself standing there. Or rather, her as a 5 year old child, but wrapped in the same dress as the little girl who has given Arly her powers.

She blinked, staring shocked into the girl's face "But you're, I'm...what?"

The little girl shook her head, skipping away through the fields. "Not everything is shadow, You must understand that or else the nightmares will only grow darker. Follow me, and maybe you'll learn the truth of your purpose and place"

Seeing no further choice, Arly nodded and carefully started following, wincing as the sharp glass cut at her legs and feet the entire way down the small hill, before the scene shifted suddenly once again to a ballroom, with hundreds of fae dancing in perfect harmony and step with one another.

Arly blinked yet again at the sudden change, taking in the sights and sounds for but a moment before a man dressed in what appeared to be a deep blue silk tuxedo and a top hat, a mask upon his upper face approached her, smiling a perfect smile, "May i have this dance good lady?"

"Uh..sure, I suppose so?" Arly blinked, suddenly realizing she was wearing a long satin evening gown with matching gloves, being pulled into the dance.

"We've been expecting you for some time milady. MAGI didnt see fit to elaborate on the nature of your gift I assume?"

"Elaborate? what do you mean?"

The man grinned again, peeling back the mask to reveal Jack of the Long Knives. "You, in essence, are a very necessary part of Faerie, as are all chosen like you, daughter of faerie."

"Daughter? Er, I'm pretty sure my parents are human, Jack. Whats this about?" Arly frowned, definitely confused as the small girl ran out of the crowd to perch upon Jack's shoulder.

"Ah..I misspoke perhaps. Daughter not in the physical sense. Once every generation the new princess of the Fae in a city chooses a chosen girl or boy as a...balance. " he grinned again. flashing the knife-like teeth. "The time has come for you to be tutored in the use of the powers you contain."

"And if I refuse?"

He hesitated, then smirked. "You won't. Already you wish for control. For a purpose. For the ability to not shy away so much from others out of a fear of hurting them. You only perceive the Nightmare, you do not understand the Dream at all, as a balance you must know both intimately. Besides..mastery brings certain..benefits."

"Like..?"

"The ability to one day sing without calling forth the Nightmare or the Dream"

Arly paused, blinking as the fae offered her a chance to escape her powers most limiting part, pondering for a moment, before ignoring the one part of her mind warning her to say no, and nodded.

Jack and the small girl grinned, the floor faded to darkness, and Arly fell once more into darkness.

Crescendo
---

It was cold, wet, and dark. Arly had no idea how long she had been there at this point, all she knew was that the digging was the only way out. The ground surrounded her, at least she hoped it was ground. She was definitely in faerie, so god knows what ground could possibly entail, better to not think about it and keep digging.

She continued to scratch and claw for what felt like an eternity..and then the music again, playing in the distance as her hand broke the surface. Arly blinked as she pulled herself out into a calm meadow, sunlight breaking on the horizon, and flowers blooming in the open fields, a single figure looming atop the nearest hill in the area.

Arly craned her head upward, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand as she walked to the figure, blinking as it turned around to reveal a girl clad in pure white satins, cut into streamer like portions, her face covered with cloth. "Good morning Arlina", She said in a melodic tone.

Arly sighed, eying the strange figure "Uh..Hi? whats with the mask?"

"I should ask you the same question. You always wear it"

Another blink, and a raised eyebrow "meaning..what?"

The figure giggled "Oh come on, you've done it for so long you don't even notice it anymore? You rarely show who you really are to anyone. Why I bet only a couple of your so called friends even knows how insecure you really are, or how often you speak up just to grab a few seconds of the limelight. You don't even have the guts to admit to occasionally being envious of your roommate's lives"

Arly winced, looking angry now as she eyed the figure "how did yo-Thats not true!"

"Isnt it? Life's just a masquerade ball to you. "

More giggling. Arly stared angrily, deep down she knew whoever this girl was, she had hit some nerves Lina didn't much enjoy being hit on.

"Nothing more to say? Typical. " The girl vaulted off the hill, landing perfectly in front of arly. "Lets play a game, shall we?"

"I dont got much choice, do I?"

The girl snickered, "You always have a choice. You always have. That you refuse to see it is one of the major reasons we had to drag you into this dream to begin with. if we let Azuria and her crew do all your training you'd think faerie was all about evil and soul devouring nasties"

Arly rolled her eyes "and why on earth should I believe a faerie about something like that?"

Another laugh, this time the girl doubling over in giggles for a good couple minutes before standing and peeling back the mask to reveal the faerie princess Arly met all that time ago. "Because I'm the part of your personality that wants to get out a bit more, dummy"

All Arly was able to utter was a suprised gasp before falling over, blinking as she sat back up.

"suprised, huh? Okay. since you're sitting Let me explain what you seem to have never been taught by your "friends" in MAGI. First of all, as Jack said, you an me? We're somethin the fae call a Daughter of Faerie. See. Theres two parts to this world. Though you've only really done much with the Nightmare."

Arly raised a brow, nodding "okay..go on.."

"Faerie is related to your world, Arly. In many ways its a reflection. Spots in your world where hope and daydreams and wishes are strong become bastions for the Dream, the force of creativity and good emotions. Love, Hope, that sorta thing. Places where despair and evil occur give rise to Nightmare, fueled on darker emotions. Neither is truly a bad thing..the world needs both..and so does Faerie. But theyre rarely in balance for long. That's where you an me come in"

Arly pondered it over, tilting her head a bit "Okay. I'll bite. How?"

"Well that parts simpler than you think. You just gotta be yourself for once, dummy. bring hope and cheer to places that need it. Stop trying to be some sort of masquerade ball attendant and scare the crap out of people. The rest the faeries here are willing to teach you. Supposing you're ready to listen."

"but then..if you're..part of me..why the curse. why the meeting. Just what th-

"One, because while we may be one and the same, we're from different worlds, Arly. The day i chose you we became linked in a way. Song was just the simplest manner to link your power to what you loved. Now come on. Its a long walk ahead."

"A walk to where exactly?"

The girl turned, grinning and pecking arly on the cheek with a kiss, grabbing her hand and dragging her along down a path towards the rising dawn.

"To meet the rest of the family, silly"

On the pair walked, passing through the Faerie reflection of Paragon on their way to the princess' home, for what seemed like hours, though by this point Arly wasnt quite sure on whether time was really passing at all.

The princess inclined her head to the side as she led on, "You're quieter than usual, a bit much to take in I suppose?"

Arly sighed, frowning as she walked "You sure have a thing for understatement. But I was more curious about the buildings around us. " She gestured to the surroundings, with everything from houses swathed in candy canes and gumdrops, to places that looked like something out of a slasher film

"Ah, that. You've never walked this deep in faerie before willingly, have you? See, Arly, Our world reflects yours. When a place is filled with hope and happiness, like that house on your right, Dream magic is born. As for that large factory on your far left..I believe if I'm not mistake there was a Vahzilok operation there. broken up a few weeks ago. And yet the nightmare born from it still lingers."

Arly blanched at the sickening visuals of the factory, writhing with spikes and fleshlike appendages, "Sooo..How in the world can I allow something like that in the world?"

"You don't, duh. We want balance. Too might nightmare isnt a good thing. The Nightmare is of course necessary, but too much of it in any once space taints the balance. And Paragon these last few years is so full of Nightmare that even the hope all the new heroes have brought has yet to make much of a dent. Get it?"

"Not really.."

The princess sighed, dragging arly along "Well, you will soon enough. We're here."

She gestured forward, and Arly blinked at the sudden change in scenery she hadn't even noticed, and at the looming, dark castle in front of her "Looks cozy."

"Yes...well..Uh..That's why you and me have to save it."

Arly stared at her in disbelief "Save it? Just the two of us?"

The princess grinned "Yep!"

Arly had to admit, when she fell asleep last, she knew her powers had a purpose. She just still wasn't quite sure why that purpose involved sneaking into a heavily fortified castle. Yet here she was, climbing precariously among the rafters. "This is crazy, how are the two of us,especially with me depowered, supposed to storm a castle just to liberate it from your magic addled brother?"

"Well..Erm. I figured we'd improvise!" The princess grinned at Arly, then stepped futher through the rafters, Arly following behind.

"So what happened anyhow? Thought you were supposed to be in charge"

"Yes. Was. My brother apparently decided it'd be far better to take all the power for himself and damn the balance. He's so drunk on dream and nightmare that he's lost most of his ability to govern the realm sanely, too. Its become something of a problem"

Arly smirked "Somewhat, huh? So whats the plan pretty pretty Princess?"

Suddenly a voice coldly spoke from behind in a male tone "Her plan is to shut up and be quiet, as for you little dreamer..its time for you to visit the king"

Arly whirled, staring directly into a large spear. "Oh. Hi there."

---

The Throne room was massive, ornately styled with reliefs showing various scenes of pleasures undreamable or agonies that were indescribable, and upon an ornate throne, sat Jack, now dressed in royal finery and grinning as Arly and the princess were brought to the foot of the throne

"Ah, my dear sisters, I see you made it. How lovely. I hope my guards weren't too rough?"

The princess growled, eying him with hate in her eyes. "This throne isnt yours, knave!"

Jack smirked calmly "It is now, dear sister. As for you miss Arly, I see you brought her here just as I had hoped when i hijacked her little attempt to call you into the dream. Thank you for your efforts. As the King of Dream I must thank you for bringing down the downfall of the princess of Nightmares. Perhaps you would like to take a bow?"

Arly blinked, turning sideways to the princess and then to jack "She's the Nightmare? But..."

Jack smirked cruelly , then laughed "She didn't tell you anything did she? Or are you still too blind to tell the difference between intent and emotion"

The princess frowned, gritting her teeth in agony as a spear from a guard pierced her side "Emotion and intent, Arly. Jack's full name..Is Jack of the Long Knives, the Joy of Murderers and Serial Killers. Mine..is Princess Jillian of the Dark Hours, Nightmare of Evil, Terror of those would would harm the Innocent"

Arly's mouth hung ajar as she suddenly understood, as well as from realizing the princess has just given her name over to her "You realize I know your name now..I could terminate our contract and be normal again."

The princess smiled as blood began to drip down the spear and from her mouth "I Know..Its your choice. Take the power..Or go home"

For a moment, silence filled the hall as Jack watched Arly. "Make your choice. Serve your little princess. Despite the lies, the half-truths, the inability to live out your dreams. You know you hate your life. End this charade now"

Then in a seemingly endless moment of time, Arly began to sing, mouthing the words quietly at first, a song from one of her favorite musicals..and yet..after having had the night to examine her own failings, her own misconceptions and her own pride..she felt it was the only words to properly show her choice.

"Masquerade...paper faces on parade. Hide yourself so the world..will never find you"

The hum of faerie magic began to circle Arly, resplendent hues of blue, purple and gold flashing as the spell built itself into a crescendo, the faces of her friends flashing through her mind, as Arly uttered the last words of her incantation, calling forth the nightmare and dream magic in unison, both the dreams of youngsters and innocent love, and the dark fury of heroes fighting to save the people they love.

Arly smirked ever so slightly to the princess. "I choose..to stay a daughter of faerie."

And with the final words, the magic built into a crescendo, Flooding the castle chambers with a maelstrom of children's laughter and the warcries of the righteous dead as her powers erupted into full force once more, legions of faerie troops bursting into existence to besiege Jack and his bewildered troops

Debris settled onto the floor as the maelstrom of magic ceased, Arly blinked her eyes open in the sudden flood of sunlight into the room, staring at the ruined tapestries, the empty room and shattered windows, and the princess giggling cheerfully as she ran up and hugged Arly.

"You didn't have to say yes you know...You realize this means the contract is permanent, right? Even knowing my name won't break it now. And Jack will probably come back eventually..he is family after all, just a little..Crazy."

Arly smirked, grinning "I know. I may not always say so...but I truly do love what powers have brought me. Yeah, I admit part of me will always miss the stage and the fame... But I think the friends I've met will make up for that eventually"

The princess nodded, smiling "guess we made the right choice then. But for me now I got a castle to fix..and I think you've got some friends waiting back home for you, huh?"

With that, the princess giggles one last time, snapping her fingers as Arly felt the world whirl around her and fade to black, with the sound of bells chiming in her ear, slowly turning into the sound of an alarm clock. Arly mumbles quietly as she hit the clock roughly, hoping to not wake her roommates, sitting up, and stretching.

She rubbed her eyes, looking about "Now that..was one...seriously weird dream."

That's when her eyes glanced over to her costume, raising a brow curiously at a new feature upon the chest of the outfit. a single golden brooch, embroidered with the princess' name in silver script. Arly giggled a bit, and started to get ready for class.

(The End? ))