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Lorelei was running. To where, she had no clue; all she knew was that she had to run, to disappear into the dark forest on the other side of the road from the riverbank. The tenebrous night provided a sort of blanket, a feeling of anonymity and a place out of time.

Twigs snapped under foot, branches lashed at her body, her side ached, and her head pounded. Slowing, she dashed the tears from her eyes, coming to a gradual halt. "He didn't mean it," she tried saying, forming the words silently. "He didn't mean it. He didn't mean it..."

Sighing, she stumbled backwards in exhaustion, back hitting a tree. She slid down to the ground, the back of her dress, the one she'd worn when she'd fled her home all those months ago, snagging on the bark. Lorelei mouthed the words over and over, and each time, she believed them a little bit more.

But what did it matter if he hadn't meant it? He'd said it, and now she found herself thinking, remembering, and she couldn't stop it. She buried her head in her hands, crying.

She stayed like that for almost ten minutes. It was about then, though, that she began to hear soft music, singing, the sound of feet hitting the ground not in a panicked run, but in a frenzied dance. Rousing herself back to life, she stood up, wavering. Where was that coming from...?

Lorelei picked her way towards the sound, catching the tune more fully and beginning to hum along with it. Just a little further, and... yes! There was a small fire, and the shapes of five or six lithe, beautiful, androgynous creatures dancing around it. Their hair was long and fine, glinting either purest white or darkest black in the firelight. Lorelei, still sniffling, took a few entranced steps forward. A tree root, jutting from the ground, caught her foot and sent her tumbling down.

"Aaaie!" she yelped, closing her eyes right before she hit the dirt.

She heard the music stop.

There was no sound.

Nervously, she opened her eyes, looking up. The fall had brought fresh tears to her eyes, but through the blur she could make out two of the figures bending over her, their eyes large and expressive and brilliant, fantastically colored. One of them held out its hands to her.

"Are you all right?" Its voice was reminiscent of the zils she held at her waist, in their pouch, musical and comforting.

She nodded shakily, and took its hands. They were warm and delicate. She felt herself lifted to her feet.

"Why do you cry?" asked the other one, reaching forward to wipe the tears from her eyes. "What is wrong?"

Lorelei looked away, face contorting as she let out a great sob. The two ethereal creatures wrapped their arms around her, holding her close between the two of them.

"Shh, tell us what is wrong..." Their speech was very formal and slightly stilted, as if they did not usually speak her language. "We will listen. We will help."

Resting against the two of them, Lorelei slowly regained some of her composure to the point where she could whisper, explain, only choking up occasionally. She explained to them the story of Shamira, of how Shamira had disappeared. She told of her father's overbearing personality, the oppression of her childhood. She related to them the accidental words from Voltaire that had made her flee into the dark, upset.

All the while they stroked and coddled her, listening, smiling gently.

"Sometimes I wish that I could just sleep... sleep and sleep forever."

"Why do you say that?" one asked, blinking.

"Maybe I would dream happy dreams. Maybe I would get Shamira back, if only in sleep. I could go to a simpler dream world, where everything is happy and beautiful..."

"We can give you what you ask, but know that it cannot be taken back without much difficulty. You might suffer nightmares eternally."

She shook her head. "I can't believe that... I've been living in a nightmare my entire life. There haven't been monsters... but I've felt so afraid, so oppressed. Any dream will be better than this. In my dreams at night, I see Shamira. I only cry when I wake because she's not there with me. I know... I know that I will dream only happy dreams." Lorelei looked at them imploringly. "Please. Let me sleep... or let me live with you. You seem so kind... maybe, in your song and dance, I could forget..."

They both shook their heads. "You are mortal. There are ways, but they are dangerous and not to be spoken of." One loosened her braid, combing its fingers through her hair, gently. "We would love it if you could come away with us, but it is much safer for you to sleep. We wouldn't want you to get hurt, or die, and what you'd have to go through to come away with us is very, very dangerous."

Lorelei nodded, sadly. "I understand. Sleep, then... I would like very much to sleep."

"We can do that. Come."

They led her to the center of the clearing, where what had appeared to be a fire was revealed to be a hovering, shifting faerie light. It flickered out, and the two odd creatures helped Lorelei lie down on the ground.

"Close your eyes," one of them murmured, and the other reached up to a small, creeping flower vine growing on the ground near them, miraculously untrampled from the dancing. It plucked three small flowers from the plant, and, cupping them in its hands, blew on them gently. They made a chiming sound and turned to glass.

Lorelei closed her eyes, her tears dried. A soft smile touched her lips - she felt that she was on the edge of freedom.

She felt the cool weight of the flowers as they were placed on either outside edge of her eyes and in the middle of her forehead. The flowers refused to slip, somehow sticking without any wax at all. She felt a glorious warmth steal over her, and then her world went dark.