{-Sharena-}
She followed the path through the forest, taking in the autumn scenery. For most of it, Lekra was kind enough to let her feel like she was the only one there—something that was pretty rare, now that she was their dreamer. It was peaceful, and actually gave her some time to think about what she knew so far.
That is to say, she noticed just how little she actually knew.
"Wow, Mirabilis, thanks for telling me there was a tree here! And don't tell me you conveniently forgot about it before we left! Ow… I really didn't miss pain…"
At first, Sharena only stopped because she realized someone else was there. Then, after thinking about it, recognized that voice. It belonged to one of the girls featured in her dreams… it was Peony's.
Finding her was simple, since she was actually just off the path. She definitely looked like Peony, seeming straight out of a fairytale with her outfit and butterfly-like wings, though seeing her in person gave Sharena enough melancholy that she felt like she was about to cry. Lekra was still there—that meant that she wasn't dreaming. This was undeniably real.
"Mirabilis?" Peony looked around, clearly not finding whoever she was talking about but seeing Sharena instead. She immediately got to her feet and ran over to the princess, pulling her into a hug as soon as she was close enough. "You really are here! I mean, not that I doubted Mirabilis's ability to bring us to a place where we would find you or anything. You're a lot taller now than you were, but I still don't think you're taller than Triandra. Maybe the same height. I don't know, it's been a while since I've seen her. But it's been longer since I've seen you! You haven't changed much at all, have you? Mirabilis wasn't lying when she told me that! You know I was just about to give up ever actually getting to see you, and— oh! No, don't start crying!"
"I'm sorry…" Sharena's voice was little more than a whisper, hugging her like she might disappear. "We… we were friends, weren't we? I thought I would never forget a friend, no matter where they were or how long it's been since they left… but I forgot you. How could I possibly..?"
"Is that what you're worried about?" Peony let out a weak laugh. She stepped back in order to better see Sharena, and smiled at her. "Of course you don't remember me, silly. I know that; I was the one that helped you forget about us. So are you going to introduce me to that nightmare that's right beside you?"
Sharena wiped her tears away with her sleeve. "Are you talking about Lekra..? Can you see them too?"
"Lekra. So that's what your name is." Peony wandered over to them, fluttering around them while she talked to Sharena. "They're a nightmare, and I'm an álfar. We're both related to dreams in one way or another, and I've seen other things like them in Dökkálfheimer on the few times I've been there. Mirabilis told me about them—she's told me a lot of what I know about what's going on with you since you grew up." She attempted to poke Lekra, but they moved further away.
"Don't touch me," they warned. "You're nauseatingly bright and I don't like it." For that statement, Sharena swatted the air in their direction; her touch would've gone right through them if she tried. "Sharena, she's a ljósálfar. In other words, she's a bringer of good dreams and banisher of nightmares. Do I need to remind you what I am?"
The look she gave him wordlessly showed that, even with that explanation, it wasn't a good enough excuse to be rude.
Peony seemed to think nothing of it, at any rate. "You ruined my big reveal. I was supposed to tell her I was a ljósálfar! Assuming she didn't remember that much. I'm not really sure how far along the lines this remembering everything thing is."
"I guess I kind of knew that? It was mentioned in my dreams a couple of times I think…" Sharena paused, realizing this probably wasn't the conversation topic they were supposed to be having. "If you're related to dreams then… why are you here? Unless I'm having an incredibly realistic dream for the fifth time this year, this is the real world."
"Right. That. I'll explain it when we're all in one place—Freyr told me to bring all of you. Do you remember Freyr? And where are the others, anyway? I don't see any of them. Not like I actually know what any of them look like, since I've never seen any of them in person before. You've also got to tell me everything I missed since you grew up. I pretty much have the basic idea but I'm not sure and I don't want to end up saying something that offends someone." It was clear already that Peony wasn't going to be someone Anna would like; she might even end up annoying Alfonse, depending on his mood.
Sharena began to lead the way back to the royal castle. "Where should I even begin..?"
…
By the time they got back to the castle, she'd pretty much summed up six years worth of stories. Peony still had yet to explain who Mirabilis was, but it was safe to assume that she was a ljósálfar as well. Basically the only question Sharena could get her to actually answer was if everyone else would be able to see her (the answer being yes, mentioning Mirabilis yet again in her explanation of how she knew that).
It didn't take much to locate Alfonse. Sharena found her brother in the dining room, surrounded by some of the books Henriette had given him a couple weeks ago, and only actually noticing her when she gave the door a half-hearted knock. She gestured for Peony to stay out of sight for a little while longer.
He didn't even wait for her to say why she was there. "Are you aware of how often you're randomly disappearing without telling anyone where you were going, or even letting anyone see you leave? That's not mentioning that you've been near the nightmare's heart for an obsessive amount of time, with barely any time to recover from it. None of it is healthy nor safe, especially taking everything else into account. I'm going to have to assign guards if you're going to keep ignoring everyone else like that; I'd rather not but that doesn't mean I won't."
"And it's completely fine for you to be cooped up in some corner somewhere all day because, what, you're king now?" she returned. "Can't say you're setting a pretty good example."
"Please don't do this right now…" he sighed. "If you have something to tell me then go on and say it. You have my attention for a couple of minutes, anything longer and you'll have to go to Mother."
Sharena stepped inside and gestured Peony to follow. "I, uh… came across her on my walk. You can see her, right..? I don't know if this is a nightmare-dream thing or not…"
"It isn't. There's a person that shouldn't even be possible standing right beside you, and I'm not even the slightest bit surprised." He gestured to the other seats. "Close the door, sit down, and explain why she's here."
Peony only seemed to listen to about half of that instruction. "Like I told Sharena, it'll be easier just to have you all in one room. But before that, I think we should probably introduce ourselves first. I never did it with Sharena because she never asked and I kinda assumed she remembered that much, at least, if Freyr thought it was beginning to become a problem. I'm the sweet dream, Peony. I'm also a lot of other things but none of that really matters right now, so… You're Sharena's brother, right? Alfonse? She talked about you sometimes, but I'm sure a lot's changed since the last time she did. It sounded like a lot of stuff happened, anyway, when she was telling me what happened since she grew up. So are we going to see the others? There should be two more. Anna and Fauna, I think? I know Anna's right, but before Fauna there was a Zacharias and Sharena kind of skipped over most of that part of the explanation. Like, she skipped a whole year. Was there a reason for that? I wouldn't really know, Mirabilis couldn't go then and—"
"Gods, can you please just decide on a single conversation topic instead of three?" Alfonse was only now marking his place in whatever he'd been reading, and got up. "Change of plans. Sharena, can you take her to Anna? There's a few more things I want to get done here, but I'll be over as soon as I can."
((A/N: This was a scene I've wanted to do since I had the idea for this story. For some weird reason, I really wanted to make Peony hit a tree.))
