Midsummer NiGHTopia [open, and still accepting characters, humans now avalible]

in seconds, Reala and SPiTE dash out into the open sun, hovering over the sand and being bashed by the carrying winds of sand and dust. Using their hands as visors they traveled through the brushing winds, feeling the sting and whiplash of the winds, in attempt to push them away.

Puc was not so certain on the answer to the puzzle that will gain them access to the castle, but maybe there's some way this grid works.....maybe like a lock. Pressing the squares in a certain order might be the way of entree. Although, he wasn't even sure how many of the blocks are needed for this lock, or even the order. The more numbers, the less chance of getting in. "I'm thinking that puzzle is like a lock......but...I'm still not sure." Puc told Eva, it might be their only option for now.

"A lock..." Eva muttered, staring at the grid and its squares with a thoughtful stare, "A lock...lock...so then we must figure out its key to get around it..." How intresting, Eva has never seen a lock of this nature before. Usually the only ones she ever spys are the good old good ones that only open with its matching key...yet this lock's key was not a solid object, but some form of strategic combination...huh...
"...Do you think there might be a hint to the combination key around somewhere?" Eva asked with hope, taping her finger against her lip as she continued her stare down with the lock. Perhaps a clue was hiding in plain sight...something ment for aid, yet nothing that would attract intrest...huh, just like Exo.

Exo waited with patience as Chive started to fumble around for his words again. He honestly didn't think it would be that hard for Chive to tell him whether he locked the hag in before leaving or not, but it seemed as though Chive had shame against his decision to do so...Exo didn't find it a big deal. "I locked her in before I left, yes..." Chive admitted faintly, squeezing his hands together in a tight bind, "but it was for her own good...she was acting a little too worrisome to leave unattended."
"Worrisome?" Exo questioned with a tone of humor, putting a finger to his chin as he watched Chive nodd sadly. "Well brother, that's why he have piglet now. Whenever Eva goes "worrisome" again, just toss the little piglet in there. We don't have to bother about her anymore..let her lash out at her servant, not us."

"A hint huh...?" Puc had to think, a grid, 3 x 3, guess it's time to take chances. "maybe there is a hint around.......let's look and see if we can find anything." Puc said as he got a closer look of the lock, this was strange, is there something that needs to go on this grid? Or was it as simple as applying key to lock.....Puc wasn't sure....

While Puc went to investigate the lock itself, Eva began to scout the area around them...with still no complaints from her. A hint....a clue...what could be a hint or clue? Heading over to some of the bushes along the way Eva quickly kneeled down, pulling apart the leaves of the bush as she stuck her head in. Nope...nothing here....uck. Heaving a dissapointed huff, Eva pulled her head out, quickly moving to the next bush and repeating the same procedure.
Surely there must be something around here...it's always the last thing you think to look for...

Reala pushed through the rushing desert winds with no hesitation, while SPiTE struggled to keep himself floating in the air, trying not to touch the ground and get stuck once again...how humiliating. He had to get through this...just have to, to prove to himself and Reala, that he has the skills to survive. The sand continued to sting, the winds grew more brutal, they must be getting closer.

Puc continued to ponder, this was just the first puzzle, yet it was difficult to solve....why is that? He had to think back to when he was here before....perhaps the dreamer changed the puzzles.....no...the gate whats open when he was here, only because the dreamer was here. Then this puzzle must relate to the girl.....but how.....

With another unhappy huff and a quck pull upwards, Eva yanked her head out of the last of the bushes, unpleased with not finding anything promising for their situation, but still nowhere near ready to give up.
Alright...think Eva, think. If there aren't any hints in hiding, then maybe the grid itself is their only clue...but what could you do to a board like that? Roatate its squares maybe....maybe push them in some form of orde-...no, they would need a hint for that.
"...Figure out anything, Puc?" Eva called out as she got herself back into the air, plucking the finelt trimmed leaves from her collar.
...Are they perhaps making this more complex than it really is?

"No, unfortunately...." He had hunch on what it might be....but Eva was right, they keep thinking of this puzzle as being more challenging then it really is. Okay then, if looking for clues didn't work, maybe this should be solved in more of a simple manner. Puc looked up at the bored, and jumped to touch lower center square of the grid, the square glew red for a moment as a low note travel through their ears.

Eva watched Puc with intrest as he jumped up to tap on the lock, but hearing the low tone echo it's way throughout the area, Eva let out a gasp. There isn't any key for them to find at all...the lock is their key! So basic, yet incerdibly clever...but they weren't past it quite yet.
"So it's music oriented..." Eva mumbled to herself, gliding over to meet Puc at the lock. If that was the case, then all that the two of them needed where the correct melody to get by...well, this can't be that hard, right?
After all...it's human made.

The two nightmarens darted through the brutalizing winds, sand bashing all which round, it then grew quiet, they had reached their destination, the eye of the storm. Sitting in front of them as they landed on the firm peak of sand, crowded by small castles made of sand, sat a boy with his head tucked between his knees. His head, had two jester shaped horns appearing out of his head.

Puc shivered at the sound of the note, what a terrifying noise. Eva caught just as well as Puc did, a musical lock. All theses puzzles are based on the thoughts of that one girl.....she must have been a musician. Puc's other guess was hitting the wrong note caused that terrible noise. "I'm guessing we have to press them in a certain order..." Puc suggested.

"A certain order, huh?" Eva asked with a tone of amusement, tapping her finger against her lip as she held her steady gaze on the lock, "I wonder what it might be..."
Eva slowly felt her arm lifting itself up greedily to touch one of the squares, but she quickly placed it at her side in defiance to its want for information. This isn't something to rush into...
"...Well, if we have to start somewhere on this," Eva began, turning to Puc with a smile, "..which square feels lucky to you?"

Puc thought this through carefully, only one of those nine squares was the right note....well, maybe just the first right note. He wasn't sure of what the certain code was....but he felt it was best to follow Eva's words, "lucky....I believe.....the middle one." Puc answered, if any, the center should start the chain....and if not that, there are seven other guesses. Puc jumped up to touch the center square, quickly covering his ears as he landed back on his feet, not wanting to hear the terrible noise again. But instead of being wrong yet again, a cheerful chime echoed through the air, Puc looked up to notice the center square glowing green, and staying lit, the first note was found.

Eva smiled at the sweet and rewarding sound of a correct guess drifting merily by them. "Excellent choice, sweetheart." Eva cheered happily, giving a small applause for Puc's on-target intuition. "...Now only eight stand to make us wait...but which could the next one be..."
Eva still wasn't sure whether the whole grid would be needed to crack the lock or not, but through the power of elimation, they'll find out soon enough.
...Now...where is that lucky square number two..

SPiTE and Reala were speechless, each for their own reasons when they saw the boy horns like theirs. Reala knew what he was, a hybrid, a creature created through Wizeman's prototype, and somehow found its way to nightmare, creating its own nightopia of blistering sand. SPiTE didn't understand, this kid, it didn't look like a nightmaren, but yet.....he felt it was like them.....
"Is he like us...?" SPiTE asked Reala
"He's not..." Reala answered as he approached the boy.

Puc blushed, he has happy to hear Eva's cheer, but it was just a lucky guess, he had a greater chance of finding the wrong then the right, but still, Eva's excitement will help him stay focused, "Alright, the next one...." Puc was not sure, it was down to choosing 8 yet again....
"I think you should choose one Eva." Puc smiled, trying not to do all the work, and giving Eva a chance as well

"...Me?" Eva asked with a smirk, glancing quickly from the lock to Puc as she crossed her arms. "I'll give it a go...but I do hope you've enjoyed your hearing, Puc." Ending with that hopeful little crack, Eva looked over all the dull colored squares again and again. A one out of eight shot she gets it right...not impossible odds, right?
With an unsure float upwards, Eva let her greedy arm lift up and press the square in the top-right corner of the grid, automatically turning her face away as soon as she felt it move inward. She knew she'd choose wrong, but even if that horrid noise does comes back, at least it will show them what not to do in the future.
..Huh....for once, the thought of messing up on something that needs to be done actually sounded a little humerous...meh, this is probably only a one-time feeling.

Reala stared down at the child, this boy knew they were there, and yet he continues to hide away from every thing.
"Do you know why you're here?" Reala called out to the boy, but no response.
Reala decided to take action, grabbing the boy at the horns, a yell sounded through the air, as the boy pushed Reala away, and the winds started up again.
Reala and SPiTE shielded their eyes, this child struggled to escape from this, he was yet to become a hybrid if his horns cause him pain. Just like the boiy, they were all looking for a way out of here.

"..Throw Puc at her?" Chive repeated with a snicker, joining his brother in his small chuckle as they both pictured such an event occuring. Chive knew without a doubt that Eva wouldn't ever do anything like what she does to Exo to her servant...especially since they're in you-know-what, but even so...maybe Exo did have something there. On Eva's last worrisome panic fit the night before, Chive was the one to try to tame the touchy sibling down...but maybe things would have ended immediately if Puc had been sent in instead of him....it made him wonder...these strange feelings of hers has been changing her mood a lot, lately..
"Well, if that is all you need, Chive," Exo said lazily as he stood himself up, posture perfect as ever, "I suppose I'll leave you to your buisness."
"Thank you." Chive responded polietly with a light smile, waiting for his brother to once again reside behind his closed door before letting out his sigh. ...He still debated whether to tell Exo of Eva and Puc...but even if he never says a thing about it to him, regardless, Chive knew exactly what his brother would say first.
"...Does Master know about this?"

Puc blinked, he felt how Eva was in her voice, she didn't believe luck or fate could make a difference, only what happen happens.......then maybe.....he awaited as Eva touched the square, the higher note sounded through the air....that familiar noise....he remember the creator of this nightopia.....she hummed a tune to keep herself safe, even with that purple jester with her.....the lock must be the same....those first two notes. "La...La...La" Puc sung the first two notes and what he believed was the third note, as the square to the center right glowed green.

To see that her nothing but random choice amongst the grid had actually proved correct completly amazed Eva. She was convinced that she would choose incorrectly...huh, well, what do you know...there is such a thing as dumb luck in the world.
With a smile spread across her face as she turned back around to Puc, Eva let out a relieved sigh, pleased to have not caused a mistake...but hearing a noise.....made her stop in every movement. Purely beautiful....purely beautiful that noise, that sound...Eva wasn't sure herself, but....had she not heard this wonderful music before? ...Yes...yes, a haunting melody that had drifted to her above some blur of green and brown, she could remember that much...could this song in her mind..be from Puc's voice..?
"...You know this tune, Puc?" Eva asked Puc with curiousity, shaking herself awake from the haunting song in her memory trying to sooth her. Eva didn't know Puc could sing..let alone in such a wonderful voice, but perhaps this melody could have come from somewhere else...uck, if only she could remember that what was made to be forgotten..

SPiTE wasn't sure what to think of this, a dreamer with nightmaren horns, trapped in their own nightopia, just by fear. "Look kid, if you don't want to be here, then we'll help you out..." SPiTE offered, but the boy did react, "Just tell us how you got here, and we'll get you to the exit of this place..."
Reala knew it wouldn't be that simple....at least SPiTE was thinking of a safer plan, if anything, they would have to use force to find their way out.

Puc did not stop, he continued the hymn with his beautiful voice, the squares on the grid lighting up one by one, until... the sound of the creaky gates interrupted him, now open ajar, the first puzzle was complete. "I remember being here before, I followed the creator of this nightopia, she hummed the same song...." Puc answered, his heart feeling heavy....this song brought back another memory.....this song .....the same song, he allured Eva with....the first time they met.

Eva blinked a few times, putting her hands in a firm bind at her waist, a hint of amazement still faintly lingering in her eyes. Never has Eva heard anything that can compare to Puc's voice in all her life....it made her blush a light shade of pink.....Puc still never ceases to amaze her...even when he doesn't even try.
Letting her gaze rise up to him, though...Eva found it a little odd. It appears that Puc seems to be recalling something of his past again, judging by his expression, but Eva had no way to tell if the thoughts that are playing across his mind are pleasent or painful to him...oh, she only hoped nothing was troubling his poor mind again..
Breathing a sigh, Eva decended to Puc's side, landing on the stone ground gently as she let her hand wander over and grasp Puc's lightly. "..It appears as though our door is open now..." Eva began quietly, giving a soft smile, "...so perhaps...if you wouldn't mind at all, that is..while we're walking and all...maybe...would you tell me a little about your amazing voice?" Eva wasn't the least bit ashamed to admit it, Puc's singing is one of the most amazing things she has ever heard, but to be honest...she just had to figure it out. She's definately heard his songs before.....ugh, her head hurts...

"Sure...." Puc simply replied, he had to tell Eva...well...what she wanted to know, but it still made him curious....what Owl said....everything he has found out til now...even Vaye's return....Puc still felt incomplete. Puc and Eva entered into the main entrance of the castle, the floor decorated in a black and white checkered pattern, with marble pillars, and beautiful red drapes, hung across. "Every nightmaren is given a certain skill to follow as their...trait....mine happen to be singing, I've enjoyed being able to use my voice in such ways......although....it was meant for torture.....not entertainment...."

Eva listened with full attention to Puc as they walked into the castle together. Huh...Puc's voice used for torture......nope, Eva couldn't picture such a lovely thing used in such a way, it must be possible somehow...but Eva sure couldn't picture it. "I see..." Eva began in a light tone, nodding her head a little, "..well, I suppose whether your gift was truely ment for pain or pleasure does not make much of a diffrence now, seeing as you are your own person now, sweetheart."
Eva gave a happy smile, but behind her grin, she couldn't help herself from biting her tounge harshly. To say such words....to way such words! Implying that one under Master's concideration is not their own person...pah! To say such words! Puc would agre-....no..Puc might not agree with her on that, but..but that's okay. No matter what, that's okay.
...Now if only this dumb headache would go away.

The boy was willing to answer, being frightened only kept him in confinement of his dream. he raised his hands up, voice shaking, "It was dark.......I saw.....hands...several of them, with eyes....starring at me.....I woke up.....here alone..."
"So that's how he plans this to work.." Reala spoke up, understanding the master plan, "he made that hybrid prototype to send a virus through each dreamer, in which he can see them before ever getting to the dream gate, cutting off the path of the dream gate, and create new nightmarens...." but it still puzzled Reala, Wizeman created a powerful prototype, but these spawns like this boy, have yet to reach that form, delayed....
"Master is making dreamers into beings like us? Is that why he had the girl test us....? To replace us?!?" SPiTE didn't want to believe it, always proving himself to be the most powerful nightmaren.....and now...he found the order of nightmare to be...corrupt

Puc smiled, he felt better from his scarce memories knowing that Eva can accept him for who he is. "Thank you Eva, it means a lot to hear that." Puc blushed as he kissed Eva on the cheek and guided them to the next room, a large empty room with the same floor design, across from them at the other end of the room, two stairways, one on the left, going up, one on the right going down. Two paths to go on...."Which way to go...?"

Being brought up to a fork in the road didn't bother Eva in the least, being too busy dreamily rubbing her cheek to care. "...Up or down...." Eva mumbled to herself as she let her free hand droop back to her side, "..so basically it's either to the top or the bottom of this place.."
Eva thought quietly on the possibilities each set of stairs might hide...going left, upwards...that would take them higher into this place, most likely towards more of a grand view of the outside. That sounded like a rather pleasent thing see...but then again...anything could downstairs...ugh, curious people like Eva weren't made to make these kind of evil decisions..
"Oh...maybe up..? But then again...down..?" Eva looked from left to right again and again, uttering a light huff as she looked to the floor.
..Times like this are why she's happy to be told where to go.

Puc blinked, Eva couldn't make up her mind, and neither could Puc. If anything, the last time he was here, was just descending up two floors....before getting lost and then......the puzzles from here on would be tougher, but as long as he had the faint memories of this nightopia...."Let's see where the ascending staircase leads us." Puc said as he led Eva into their next challenge.