Midnight Nightmares

    Trying to be a God while also working to become a princess is, for lack of a better term, trying. I have to work hard, and there's never any rest. Not that I'm complaining, I come from a long line of hard workers and my parents always told me to wear my job with pride. My father always said he was an Arcade manager before he said he was a father, and my mother never mentioned me without also mentioning that I modeled for her magazine (something I hated doing because it got in the way of my homework). What separates us from humanity, they always said, is that we work.

    I genuine love both of my jobs, but my favorite part is getting to meet so many people. Lords and Ladies from all over the realms, dressed in their best, with Nightmare forms that shock and horrify if they're evil and calm and soothe if they aren't. Most of them don't wear their Nightmare forms around me of course, it would be crass and horrible to try and manipulate a lady into giving them power, but if you ask them they'd show it to you instantly. Nightmares, no matter what kind or how strong they are, are proud of our power and prestige.

   Most of us, anyway.

   There are, others, who aren't proud to be Nightmares. Children, from every class, who don't want power. They cry and run if it ever touches them. Among the human born, they even go so far as to call it "miasma" and say it'll kill you if you let it near you too often. Even if they become Nightmares, and despite our best efforts there are always a few who slip through our fingers, they almost never gain Nightmare forms. 

   They're the ones who become Midnight Nightmares, ones with the power to shape the world. 

    Avatars can't shape the world, not directly at least. I've never even gone lucid before, and I don't know anybody who has. But they do. All the time. The Infinite is full of the worlds they've made, and we have to warn everyone not to go outside the approved Dreamworlds without permits and a guide, because most of these rules don't follow our laws. It's against the law to make such a rule, but not even James would think of trying to enforce a law against a Midnight Nightmare. They don't even die, not like the rest of us do. They die of their volition, when they've decided they've done enough. 

   There's a story told about Midnight Nightmares among human kind, a story that goes that once, long ago, all of Estellia was brought to life by a Dreamer. A human. One of immense power. Some say that Dreamer is still alive, and if you find them they will grant you anything your heart desires.

   They also talk about Dreamlings, those who sleep every night to give the Nightmares power.

    I wish they knew they were talking about the same thing. Then the children born to human parents would come to us, asking for power as is tradition, and be bound by our laws. Then we wouldn't have to worry about them destroying the world before they realize they were meant to save it. 

    I've heard it said that even children who aren't potential Midnight Nightmares don't want to become Nightmares. That's just ridiculous. Why would you turn down power just so that you don't have to work? It's pure laziness, nothing else. 

   Look at the Midnight Nightmares. None of them are lazy, but some of them don't know what they are.