Nyx Goes to Prison

The Reef is the realm of the Awoken, humans caught in the boundary between the Light and Darkness. Some likened the Awoken to elves of folklore. They tended to stay in the Reef and kept to themselves and their own mysterious ways. However, even at the edge of paradise, there existed a dark and seedy underbelly. If the Dreaming City was the pinnacle of Awoken mysticism and philosophy, then the Tangled Shore was the lawless frontier. Nyx found it all endlessly fascinating, but none of that mattered at the moment. The Dreaming City was an interesting place to visit and explore, but the Tangled Shore better served her current purpose. Out here, the Light and Darkness wove together to form a beautiful tapestry of existential energy. Out here, the lines of reality blurred ever so slightly.

Nyx made sure she was far enough away that she wouldn’t encounter Fallen scavengers, and hopefully stay out of the Spider’s eye for a little while. He was bound to find out sooner or later, he always did. As the self-proclaimed “law and order,” nothing happened on this tangle of tethered asteroids that he didn’t know about. Nyx made sure to stay on his good side, if only to make her life easier.

Nyx stared up into the swirling purple dust clouds high above. With a sigh, she held out her hand. “Hey Johnny-boy, come out to play.”

With a flash of light, her Ghost, John Carter appeared. His eye twitched slightly as he looked around nervously. “Why are we here? This isn’t a good idea. The Fallen will find us, or worse, the Scorned. I don’t want to end up like Sundancer. Why can’t we go back to the Library? It’s safe there,” he stuttered.

Nyx rolled her eyes. “I already checked. There are no Fallen or Scorned here, I killed the ones that show up here already, and you don’t have to worry about The Marksman. He’s dead. Killed by the Hero Guardian, remember?”

John Carter stared up at Nyx. “Are you sure you weren’t the one to do it?” he asked.

“Really? Why would you even think that?” Nyx exasperated. “You’ve been with me the whole time!”

“Why would I know what you’ve been up to? You never tell me anything,” John Carter replied sadly, but Nyx just waved him off. “Right now, we have important things to do,” she said.

“Like what?” John Carter asked. “Or should I never bother asking? It’s probably something stupid and dangerous. Actually, it’s better if I don’t know. It’s better that way. Yes, yes, much better.”

Nyx grabbed her Ghost and held him so they were eye to eye. Even then, John Carter refused to look at her. “Listen here, you little scaredy-cat. I have a feeling that something very important is going to happen soon, and whether or not we survive will depend on you doing exactly as I say.”

“How is that any different than normal?” John Carter mumbled.

“It isn’t, but where we are going is somewhere we’ve never been,” Nyx said.

“How do you know that? Did the voice of your unseen gods speak to you again?” John Carter asked.

Nyx stared at John Carter and slightly shook her head in disbelief. “You know that’s not how it works,” she said.

“But that’s what happened when you went into the machine isn’t it?” John Carter asked.

“That was ONE time,” Nyx said and held up her finger. She growled and vigorously shook her head. “This dialogue is getting us nowhere! Here is what you are going to do. First, take all of my current equipped weapons and put them in your inventory.”

“But then you would be unarmed and defenseless,” John Carter insisted.

Nyx gave her Ghost a loving pat on the shell. “Aww, I didn’t know you cared so much.”

“It’s what I do,” John Carter mumbled and Nyx’s guns disappeared in a flash of light. “Now I want you to equip my most boring and generic armor,” Nyx said.

“But-” John Carter started, but Nyx held up a finger to silence him. “No buts, just do,” she instructed. Another flash of light and Nyx was now wearing basic armor. It wasn’t flashy and offered no special perks or upgrades.

“Now what?” John Carter asked.

“Now for the important part,” Nyx said, becoming very serious. John Carter noticed the change in her voice and seemed to shrink down upon himself. “This is going to be bad,” he whispered.

“No matter what happens to me, you must never reveal yourself,” Nyx said.

“No matter what?” John carter repeated in a small voice.

“No matter what. Even if I end up dead,” Nys said. She thought for a second and added, “Actually, if I die, you are allowed to bring me back under these circumstances.” And Nyx told him.

John Carter took a moment for Nyx’s words to sink in. He started to shake as he asked, “But why? What are you expecting to happen?”

Nyx shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m planning for the worst case scenario.”

John Carter floated out of Nyx’s hand and hovered in front of her. “What do you know? What are you not telling me?”

Before Nyx could answer, a crackling sound like thunder could be heard. Nyx turned around and saw a cloud and vertical beam of light appear. The beam widened into a bright circle and Princess Luna appeared. The first thing Nyx noticed was the princess was in human form and her face bore a slight scowl. And aura of blue energy surrounded her body, protecting her from the elements of space.

“So. It’s that time huh?” Nyx said.

Luna narrowed her eyes. “You don’t seem very surprised,” she said.

“I was expecting this to happen sooner or later,” Nyx replied with a shrug. She sighed and put her hands on her hips and added, “Before we get on with this, I need you to do something for me.”

“What makes you think I will agree to anything you say?” Luna asked and crossed her arms. Nyx told her what she wanted. Luna said nothing, but the corner of her mouth twitched. She then moved to the side and held her arm out to the portal.

Nyx sighed and rolled her shoulders back. “Showtime,” she said and walked through the portal.