Wow sorry guys about not updating for a while. I guess this wasn't the best time of year to post this. I had two parties to go to this weekend, I'm attempting to reread HP5 before the sixth book comes out, I'm trying to revise my older fan fics so I can maybe create my fan fiction website, and I have finals next week that I haven't even begun to study for.

So yeah. I'm been a little busy and I'm so very sorry for that. Usually I don't have a life :P

Dinner was scheduled as planned that evening and Clark assured Rolf and Viren that he was well enough to walk down to the dining hall. It did take him a while to reach it (not to mention a few short breaks in the corridors to catch his breath), but when he did find his destination, he knew it was worth it.

The room was just as elaborately decorated as the ballroom, but smaller in area. A long oak table filled the center and a pair of old-fashioned candlesticks holding a handful of glowing candles stood on the table.

He noticed there weren't a lot of people who had been invited and the guests only occupied a small portion of the table. Viren and his parents sat together on one side, and Rolf, Aimee, and Lana sat on the other. An empty chair was left next to her.

"Welcome, Monsieur Clark! I'm very delighted you are healed!" Rolf stated sincerely.

"I could hardly believe it when Viren said you were awake." Aimee said in her sweet accent. "I had almost lost all hope…no one has ever survived from Amon's Dodtrice. I still don't understand how…"

"You're the best healer Sogni Dromen has ever seen, Aimee," Wenda complimented with a smile. "And Clark is an extraordinary young man. I knew he had to be all right."

Clark smirked modestly and limped over to his seat, feeling the uncomfortable tension still rising between Lana and him. It had been hours since they had last spoke or even looked at each other.

He knew she was still bitter about his whole alien confession. He really couldn't blame her. He should've told her sooner. Why did he always wait until the last possible minute to act? It only made things hurt even more…

"How are your cuts doing by the way, Clark?" Wenda asked in a motherly tone that reminded Clark of his own mother.

"They're better…thanks to Aimee…and Lana." He turned to the girl next to him, giving her the best apology look he had in him – puppy dog eyes and all.

She noticed it, but quickly looked away before it could take any effect.

He sighed defeatedly.

"Well, this palace certainly has a whole new look to it now that the Mist is in control again," Emmet pointed out as he looked around the room.

Clark took this into consideration and realized he was right. Everything was brighter…cheerier…happier.

"The Mist is truly a miracle," Aimee stated sincerely. "As soon as I was informed that Clark was awake, one by one the wounded from the attack last night began to heal. It was as if the Mist was reaching into them…reviving them…"

"Wait. You mean everyone from last night is healed?" Clark asked in shock.

"Yes. Isn't it wonderful?"

"But there were people…fairies and dwarves…they were killed…they didn't survive…"

"They were Reborn."

"Reborn?" Clark asked with a frown.

"They were dreamed up again. In all honesty, no one ever really dies in Sogni Dromen," Viren explained seriously (even though he couldn't hide the fact that he was overjoyed no one was hurt). "They just disappear until some one dreams of them again by chance. They come back into this world and are alive again. It's extremely rare for so many creatures to be Reborn at the same time like that. Aimee is right. It's an absolute miracle."

"Then what about Amon and Diaba and Haras. They aren't truly gone?"

"They weren't exactly wounded like the others were. The Mist sort of…banished them." Viren's face dropped. "I've never seen anything like it. No one has. The truth is that we really don't know if those three are still here with us…we can only hope that the Mist truly saved us from them."

There was a short silence in which Rolf excused himself to help the servants to bring out the dinner.

During the meal, the conversations were very trivial and neither Lana nor Clark joined in on any of it. Both were to in to their own thoughts to register what was going on around them.

It wasn't until everyone was well into the meal that Rolf spoke about a more important subject.

"Well, I think it's about time we tackled the matter of getting these young kids back home, vrai?"

Lana's head snapped back to glare at Clark, which surprised him a bit. He'd never seen her look at him like that before…

Still, he knew what she wanted him to say and decided it would probably be the best thing if just went out and said it.

"Um…actually there's something I need to say about that." Clark swallowed hard when he noticed that all pairs of eyes were now focused completely on him. "Um…I don't think we're gonna be able to go back…at least not the way the Old Story says we are."

"Why in the world not?" Emmet asked hysterically. "You fit the description perfectly."

"No, no I don't," Clark shot back, very frustrated. "Lana does and I don't. Look, it's a really complicated thing that you probably wouldn't believe and even if you did I'd just feel weird telling you, but basically I'm not the boy the Old Story is asking for. Only a girl found the Mist, so the prophecy was wrong and we aren't going back. You can go ahead and try to find another way out, but if you do, please do the whole world a favor and just take Lana. She deserves it a hell of a lot more than me."

The whole speech Clark had just given lasted less than half a minute because he was talking so fast. For some reason something inside him just had to get it out. He knew it would be uncomfortable to sit in the aftermath of what he'd just said, so when he finished, he quickly stood and walked as fast as he could out of the room.

"What was the meaning of that?" Viren asked strangely.

Lana looked down at her plate, feeling even worse then she had. Sure she was angry at him for not even having the heart to tell her about himself, but she never once thought he'd rather live in a dream world alone than back in Smallville with everyone he loved. He could've just felt upset, but she'd never even seen him that upset before. It scared her. She was sure if he stayed here, with or without her, he'd force himself to dwell in the fact that it was all his fault. She knew he'd felt that feeling far too many times, and she wasn't going to make him feel it again. She was going to find another way to get Clark and her out of this together.

"He's just really angry that we aren't going to be able to go back is all," Lana stated weakly.

"That's how many of the others acted when they finally decided to give up finding the Mist. They cried and locked themselves in the strangest parts of the castle. Eventually they accepted it. I remember there was that young couple almost three decades ago that came here. Oh, they were so excited to find the Mist…"

Rolf continued on with his past memories, but Lana wasn't paying any attention to him. She was still trying to figure out a loophole. There had to be one, there always was. But what could there possibly be that would help them get back…

" – always seems this place gets landed with the nicest humans, though. Take Jake for example: for years he felt so horrible that he couldn't help us, and he swore it was him and that other young girl who would find the Mist, but they just never got the chance…"

"Jake!"

Rolf stopped talking and joined everyone else in staring at Lana blankly.

"M'excuse?"

"Jake…he's alive…isn't he?" Lana wondered, feeling a little stupid that she'd spoken out so rudely.

"Yes, he's in another part of the wing. He's being healed along with the others. He should be completely recovered anytime now."

"Then he must be the boy…he's the boy in the Old Story!" Lana's sudden smile could not have gotten bigger. "The Old Story said a boy and a girl would arrive in Sogni Dromen, but it never said they had to come at the same point in time."

Everyone else exchanged glances, slowly comprehending what she was telling them.

"Jake passed out after the snake bit him and missed the whole battle with Elsu and that's why we haven't gone back. Clark had nothing to do with it. All we have to do is wake Jake up and tell him who the Mist was! And I'll finally be home…" Her smiled was so large her cheeks began to hurt. She was sure Clark would be able to come back with her. Maybe if they held hands or something…after all, they'd came into this world together…oh she couldn't wait to tell him!

"How very clever of you, Mistress Lana," Viren commented with a nod. "I say we all head up to Jake's room after this fine dinner, say our good-byes, and let these humans go back where they belong."

They all eagerly finished their dinner, especially Lana who could hardly contain her excitement.

Clark, however, stood leaned up against the doorframe of the dining hall depressingly. Lana's words ran though his mind like a sharp blade:

"Clark had nothing to do with it. All we have to do is wake Jake up and tell him who the Mist was! And I'll finally be home…"