"Then please tell us how to meet this new Dreamhunter," Shew said.
Babushka put down the fork and knife, wiped her mouth, and stood up as if she were a normal human being. She reached for Loki's Alicorn on the kitchen table and looked at it. Neither Shew nor Fable understood the implication. "Before I tell you about the Dreamhunter I know, I have to test something." She handed the Alicorn to Fable. "Try it," she said.
"Try it?" Fable took the Alicorn, feeling attracted to it again. The whole feeling of weirdness, that she wasn't herself, returned. "How?"
"Say what Loki would have said to make it work," Babushka said. "Say, 'Ora Pedora.'"
"But—"
"Say it."
Fable stared at the Alicorn for a while and held it the way she had held her toothbrush in the mirror this morning. She took a deep breath, squinted, and said, "Ora Pedora!"
To everyone's surprise, the Alicorn turned into a whipping snake, the same as when Loki used it. Shew winced and pulled back from the snake, and Fable dropped the Alicorn once she saw it. Babushka held the snake and patted it, then pulled it back into the Alicorn.
"But how is that possible?" Shew stared at Fable.
Fable wanted to ask the same, but she couldn't find her voice from the surprise.
"I will tell you in a minute," Babushka said to Shew. "Fable, you said you were also able to ignite Carmen this morning, right?"
Fable nodded.
"And you have been feeling weird, saying Loki's words and feeling a bit boyish?"
Fable nodded again.
"Great!" Babushka clapped her hands. "It means there is hope we could save Loki."
"How so?" Shew said, utterly confused.
Fable needed to know why, but her voice hadn't returned from the shock.
"Simple," Babushka said. "Fable is our new Dreamhunter.
16
"I am the new what?" Fable found her voice finally.
"You're the Dreamhunter who can help us go to meet Charmwill in the Dreamworld, and hopefully find Loki's Fleece," Babushka said. "You're basically Loki right now."
"I don't understand," Shew said.
"The spell Fable used to possess Loki's body in the last Dreamory left what magicians like to call a 'mark' on Fable's soul," Babushka explained. "Being in his body in the Dreamworld was an intense moment," she said to Shew. "Fable's soul collected most of Loki's powers—Chanta, to be precise. It won't be for long, so we have to act fast."
"That's why I have been feeling weird all day." Fable rubbed her chin.
"So Fable has the power to enter a Dreamworld now?" Shew asked.
"Definitely," Babushka said.
"But Loki needed two bodies in the Dream Temple to enter the Dreamworld," Shew said. "The Dreamer's and Dreamhunter's bodies."
"Then we should use the same rituals Loki used and let Fable enter your body," Babushka said. "Your body will be the vessel to the Dreamworld, and Wilhelm Carl Grimm will be the Incubator." Babushka stopped to think about something. "However, Shew won't be able to do anything in this Dreamory, unlike in the past."
"But why?" Shew said. "Each Dreamory, I was able to act in it the same way the Dreamhunter did."
"That was when Loki, a true Dreamhunter, entered the Dreamworld," Babushka explained. "Fable only has part of Loki's power passed to her. As for you, you will be nothing more than a Sleeping Beauty used as a vessel to the past."
"You mean the Shew I will meet in the Dreamworld will not be the same Shew?" Fable worried. At least Shew beside her would make this a bit easier. She couldn't believe she had such a sudden responsibility weighing on her tiny shoulders.
"Regretfully, no," Babushka said. "The Shew you will meet will not recognize you came from the Waking World."
Shew gave Fable a sympathetic look. "You don't have to do this if you can't."
"How so?" Fable sighed. "Do you think I can stop myself from helping Loki's resurrection?"
"Deal," Babushka chirped. "You saw Loki do the Dream Temple ritual, right?" she asked Fable, who nodded. "I know you won't have a Fleece, but you will be doing a much-appreciated job, Fable." It was obvious Babushka didn't want to mention that, without a Fleece, Fable had no safe way back. She couldn't ask for help if something happened to her in the Dreamworld. She was going to be all alone there.
Fable said nothing. She grabbed a bowl of breadcrumbs and began nibbling. It was the only way to calm herself down. "Did Loki love breadcrumbs?" Fable found the courage to finally ask.
"Not that I know of," Babushka said. "Why?"
"Because among all the weird things today, I have been craving breadcrumbs all day."
Babushka slowly turned her head to Shew. Both, although not entirely on the same page, exchanged looks Fable couldn't decipher. She felt they knew something about her she didn't know, but they weren't telling.
"What is it?" Fable said.