{-Sharena-}

"Peony! Personal space!"

"Oh, come on, Lekra! We might as well be half-siblings!"

"And Iztali might be my brother by that logic but I still don't want him that close to me!"

Sharena sighed. "Stop bothering them, Peony. You're doing it intentionally at this point." The álfar grinned but relented nonetheless. Once there was some distance between them, she decided to peruse the earlier topic a little further. "What do you mean by you might as well be half-siblings?"

"So you don't remember that part yet?" Peony actually seemed happy to answer, even if Lekra clearly didn't like it. "It's what I meant by what binds you to the dream world the most. Your existence is more or less why Lekra and Iztali exist and what keeps them alive. You're just as responsible for making me and Triandra álfar as Freyr and Freyja are; we wouldn't exist without you either."

"The Dream-King can tell you more about it," Lekra mumbled. "It's a much longer story than that. While we may have the time, it's certainly not the place."

"It's not going to take that long to find Mirabilis," Peony remarked. "She's got to be close."

She perked up at the sound of another familiar voice. "Alright, you're starting to annoy me. Light's out!"

Peony darted in that direction and Sharena rushed to keep up with her. They stopped at a small clearing with a couple of sleeping bandits and the álfar they were looking for.

"Mirabilis! Are you okay?" Peony rushed up to her.

"I think you're forgetting which one of us has done this before," Mirabilis replied dully. "This is your first time here, not mine. I know what to do if mortals see me." She nodded to Sharena. "But it's good that you've already done what we came to do. Let's get back to Freyr before he starts to worry."

Mirabilis led them to a place they were very unlikely to be interrupted. She once again turned to Sharena and said in a cold tone, "If you care about your nightmare you better make sure they stay close to you. Álfar aren't really fond of random nightmares wandering around."

"You are still the only álfar I met who says that," Peony pointed out.

"You would too if you know what they did."

Lekra was the only other one who seemed to have an idea about what Mirabilis was referring to.

Mirabilis opened a small gateway that stayed open just long enough for all of them to pass through, then once again took the lead. She slowed down considerably now that they were in the dream realm, like it wasn't quite as urgent anymore. Peony started to poke her when she started going too slow; Sharena eventually realized (and partially remembered) that it was to keep her awake until they got to Freyr.

"Why did you have to take us so far from the palace..?" Lekra dared to ask, nervously glancing at everyone they walked past. They probably took the stares they got in return as their distaste of seeing a nightmare; personally Sharena felt like it more came from confusion on why a normal human was with the álfar.

"We're the same distance I always enter from," Mirabilis responded curtly. "Legs exist for a reason."

Despite how much they both clearly wished they could do something, neither Sharena nor Peony could do nothing to help the tension; they were aware that, whatever they did try, it wouldn't make things any better. Their best hope was that nothing would happen to make it worse until then.

When they got to the palace, Mirabilis continued to guide them through it until they reached the obvious throne room. All she needed to do was call the dream-king's name and they heard his call to enter.

Freyr could not have looked less prepared. He quickly gestured away the álfar he'd been talking to (who Sharena, vaguely, recognized as a dökkálfar named Plumeria) and got off his throne to greet them. "It's good to see you all safe. I… honestly thought you'd take a little longer…"

"We actually came later than I intended," Mirabilis remarked. She walked to a corner and sat down, giving them a dismissive wave as she mumbled, "Wake me up when it's time to bring Sharena back." She got a bit more comfortable and closed her eyes.

Lekra was the only one who actually seemed to think of bowing before the dream-king. "Please, Dream-King, tell us what we're here to do."

"You don't need to act so formal." Freyr managed a weak smile. "Freyja considers you the same as any of her dökkálfar, and you should know what that means. She's just as proud of you as she is any that she has helped create." Lekra would have blushed if they were capable of it.

"Speaking of Freyja, she's coming, isn't she?" Peony prompted.

"She'll be here shortly with Triandra," Freyr sighed. "Then we can explain everything in more detail."

((A/N: On a mostly unrelated side note, Freyr is like the only good father figure in this AU! Gustav is… dubious, Surtr was bad, Fjorm's dad has been DEAD for *counts* seven-ish years and isn't even NAMED (though he was good when he was alive), Fauna's father figure probably forgot she existed half the time… then there's the álfar, where two have an abusive step-father, one's father died when she was little, and the other was raised by a single mother who did not want a kid. I've dabbling in writing for the Book V cast and Ótr isn't the best role model but Fáfnir kind of evens it out as a kinder voice of reason when he… isn't thinking of world conquest or nearly going insane because of not-demon-dragon-possession.))