Journey of Phantasia: The Dream-Weaver

Part 4: Two Wicked Witches

"I seriously don't know what else we could do. We tried water, feathers and everything, and she's still not woken up!" Ayan heaved, lightly shaking the sleeping Lousine as if it would have any effect. But she remained still, with her eyes closed and the locks around her ears. Ayan was in tears at this point. One, he'd only gotten one friend back so far! He wanted them all! Two, while carrying both of them out of the swamps wouldn't be impossible, knowing he'd failed taking this person down really upset him. And three, IF he brought Lousine back to her house like this, her mother, queen Tangrana, would definitely have him killed.

He slammed the ground, upset.

His chest hurt, and his head hurt. Pretty much everything hurt when she wasn't awake.
Vuraria, who had been checking if Albedo hadn't given any signs of consciousness yet, eventually walked over to him and sat down. Judging by her face, she too seemed upset about this. Sad, even. She definitely seemed quieter than usual.

"Hey... I think I might have an idea."

"I'm NOT leaving them behind!" Ayan replied, slamming the ground once more. It got quite deep, there was mud on his hands now. Vuraria leaned backwards, holding her hands in front of her. "No, not that. Un-clench those fists before you hurt yourself, you goat-head."

Ayan took a few long, deep breaths, but did as she asked. There were still tears running down his eyes.
"What now?"

Vuraria shuffled to sit more comfortably, looking from Lousine to Ayan. "You know how, in stories, the princess always wakes up from, like-"

"An apple in her throat?"

"No, you numb-skull!" Snarled Vuraria. She once again looked at Lousine, fumbling with her hands and stumbling over her words. "The princess always wakes up from poison, or death, or whatever, with, um... A kiss."
Ayan cocked his head. He didn't hear these stories before. "Do they?" His face turned to one of unease before he clumsily leaned over her face...

"Not you, you dumb idiot!" Vuraria warned him. "Let me finish. It's mostly a kiss from a hero, true, but..."
"But what?" Ayan did not get the gist at all, but sat back, letting Vuraria finish her sentence this time. He just wanted Lousine back, that was all.

"A prince, more often than not."
Ayan frowned. "If you think I'm going to Alvea right now and get Ru-"

"Can you let me finish?" Vuraria sighed. "Damn!" She crossed her arms and pushed Ayan out of the way. He rolled over in the clearing and Vuraria now inched closer to Lousine, uncertain in every move she made. "I know it might be breaking tradition at this point, but, who cares about tradition in a time like this? I-" She let out a short, stressful sigh.
"Listen, all I thought was; Why not a kiss from a princess?"

Ayan sat back up, rubbing over a sore spot. "But can't you turn into-"

"For just this once, Ayan!" Vuraria replied, audibly getting annoyed by him at this point. "Just, don't- don't look, or whatever." She cracked her neck, closing her eyes and moving her hair out of the way. Her heart thumped deep in her chest, not making her seem any less nervous. "It's... Worth a try, at the very least."

She leaned in. "For just this once..."

Lousine snapped awake and tried to jolt upright, smashing her head hard against Vuraria's. The latter of which did not see that coming at all, and fell backwards, yowling in pain with her hands covering her mouth. Ayan got up, hugging her from behind in ecstasy. "YOU'RE BACK! YOU'RE-..." He saw Vuraria and his face pulled into an uncomfortable grimace. He quickly looked at Lousine, the locks were gone, luckily, and then he raced over to Vuraria to check on her. "Hey-... On the positive side, I think it worked!"

"Will you shut up?! My lip is bleeding! Get me a faun-damned cloth or something before I kick your ass!"

Lousine stared blankly ahead, for all of this was a lot to take in. She pressed her fingers against her lips, certain she felt something. Then, out of the blue, her eyes grew wider, as she had forgotten one crucial thing in the dream of the bare lands, with Firus.