Darla and the Mystery of the Night Monster

chapter 1

It seemed to be a normal night so far. All was calm and quiet so far, but Cherry had her hands full with her dream-walking training since there was a case of nightmares going on.

"Dimples?" Cherry asked once she saw Darla who was now Atticus's adoptive little sister as she seemed to be having a nightmare of her own.

Lionel grumbled in his sleep. "Eh? What's going on?" he asked.

Cherry was in the house with him, but not exactly at the same time since she was in the Dream Realm right now. She looked like a zombie whenever she slept like this. Darla turned and twisted in her sleep, her nightmare clearly being very agonizing for her.

Cherry soon rushed over to Darla in her dream to wake her up. "Dimples, wake up, you're having a nightmare!" she then cried out to wake up the girl.

Darla soon screamed in her bed as she soon finally woke up and panted heavily which woke up Atticus and the rest of his family.

"Darla...?" Patch frowned out of concern.

"What's up, kid?" asked Lionel, poking his nightcap-clad head around the corner. "Or rather, what's keeping you up?"

Darla shivered a bit.

"Oh, Darla... You must've had a nightmare..." Atticus frowned as he sat down with his little sister.

"I did..." Darla frowned back.

"Hoo, boy... How many has it been this month, exactly?" asked Lionel.

"Cherry?!" Atticus called out.

Cherry soon rushed over with her notebook. "72 times." she then said.

"Darla, you should tell us about your nightmare, it'll feel less scary that way." Atticus smiled.

"Oh, but I can't get it out of my mind," Darla frowned. "You guys remember how terrible I was when you first met me."

"Yup." Cherry nodded.

"I saw the movie, but yes, I remember." Lionel added.

Darla let out a small moan.

"Is this because of that incident at Stage 13?" Atticus asked.

Darla nodded sadly.

"Aw, come on, Dimples," Cherry said. "Danny and Sawyer aren't mad at you anymore. You've gotten the other animals to forgive you. Even Cranston, for the grump he is, and you're living a great new life. You don't have to feel bad anymore."

"Yeah. Put the past behind you!" Lionel replied. "So what was the nightmare about? Confronted by your past self?"

"Mm-hmm..." Darla nodded.

"Figures..." Lionel replied. "Well, we gotta put the kibosh on these nightmares, tout de suite!"

"I'm doing the best I can from Princess Luna's training." Cherry said, sounding quite tired and exhausted from her best efforts.

"Maybe we can get Darla out on an adventure for a while?" Atticus suggested as he stroked the girl's blonde curls. "But where? Things have been quiet since she last saw the Sailor Scouts, so they might be too busy with other things to take her on an adventure."

Lionel suddenly snapped his fingers in realization. "Hey, I know... Why don't we go visit Fievel?" he suggested.

"Fievel?" Darla asked.

"Yeah, you know, our little mouse friend," Atticus replied. "Maybe visiting a new world will make you feel better."

"It always helps ME," Lionel replied. "I haven't seen him since I first met him during his journey to find his family. I wasn't there for his Wild West adventure, since I was busy catching up on previous adventures."