The fight erupted without warning. Sally's form split into multiple versions of herself, each one controlling different aspects of the nightmare - one commanded the carousel horses, another the presents, and a third manipulated the very ground beneath them. The real Sally, clutching the false nightmare core, watched from atop the twisted carousel.
Kira's silver energy flared as she dodged a barrage of present-arrows, her movements fluid but increasingly desperate. "Asher! The core she's holding - it's reacting to my energy patterns!" She wove a complex symbol in the air, causing one of the Sally duplicates to dissolve, but two more took its place.
Asher moved silently through the chaos, his dagger deflecting projectiles while he analyzed the situation. The real nightmare core pulsed faintly within his pocket, waiting to be exchanged with the false one Sally clutched. He caught Kira's eye and nodded once - their practiced signal for 'create a diversion.'
Understanding flickered across Kira's face. She launched into an elaborate display of dreamwalking power, her silver threads forming a cage of light around two of the Sally duplicates. "Is this all you've got?" she taunted, drawing their attention. "All this power, and you're still just hiding behind copies!"
The Sally duplicates shrieked in unison, sending waves of corrupted birthday decorations hurtling toward Kira. She spun through the assault, her energy cutting through paper and metal alike, but a carousel horse caught her with a glancing blow. She stumbled, nearly losing her footing on the unstable ground.
Asher seized the moment, using the commotion to scale the carousel's twisted structure. A present-arrow grazed his shoulder, destabilizing his dream form for a split second, but he pressed on. Just three meters from Sally now. Two meters.
Sally's head snapped toward him, her shadow-eyes widening. "NO!" she screamed, and the carousel began to spin violently. Metal horses broke free, their teeth snapping at Asher as he leaped from pole to pole. One caught the edge of his coat, threatening to pull him into the whirling chaos below.
Kira saw his predicament and reacted instantly. Her energy surged upward, forming a spiral staircase of silver light. "Over here, birthday girl!" she shouted, her symbols pulsing with challenge. "Afraid to face someone who can actually fight back?"
The taunt worked - perhaps too well. Sally's remaining duplicates converged on Kira, forcing her to defend against a barrage of nightmare energy. She held her own, but each block taxed her strength. A present-arrow slipped through her defenses, slicing across her leg.
Asher had nearly reached Sally when the carousel pole he clung to suddenly transformed into a writhing mass of paper chains. They wrapped around his arms, threatening to drag him down. His dagger flashed once, twice, cutting through the bonds, but more replaced them instantly.
Below, Kira was surrounded by a tornado of nightmare energy - presents, paper, carousel pieces all spinning faster and faster. Her silver shields flickered under the assault. "Asher!" she called out, her voice strained. "Whatever you're going to do..."
He didn't need her to finish the thought. Using the paper chains' own tension, he swung himself upward, flipping over Sally's head. She turned to track his movement, the false core clutched tightly to her chest - exactly as he'd anticipated. His free hand shot out, not toward the core but toward her shadow-eyes, a feint that made her flinch backward.
In that split second of distraction, he pulled the real nightmare core from his pocket and made the exchange. The false core, designed to resonate with Sally's energy, merged with her instantly. Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt the familiar power, but by then it was too late.
The real core in Asher's hand pulsed once, bright and true. The carousel's spin began to slow, the nightmare's power receding like an outgoing tide. Sally's duplicates dissipated one by one, drawn back to their source. She stared at Asher, understanding and acceptance slowly replacing the shadows in her eyes.
"Oh," she said softly, the false core's energy already beginning to heal her fractured dream-self. "I... I feel different."
Kira limped toward them, her silver energy dim but steady. "That's what letting go feels like," she said gently, as the nightmare realm started to fade around them, replaced by more peaceful dreams.