"Lana... the prophecy has failed to come true. The hero in green is not here, and the Dark Prince will be resurrected... Please, find the three heroes who can stop him. Only through the unity of Power, Courage, and Wisdom can we prevail... I leave the kingdom in your hands, Lana... I trust you to stop this approaching threat."

 

After witnessing her sister, Princess Zelda, fade away into a pitch-black fog, Lana awoke from her dream, screaming as she did so. She'd had the same nightmare for the past three months, and dreaded what it could mean. However, just as legends had told of such prophecies coming to past princesses in dreams, Lana trusted the final words of her now-missing older sister. Regardless, she was anxious of the events that would occur today.

 

As she was beginning to climb out of her bed, her door suddenly burst open, and a large woman wearing a plain blue and white dress entered the room, panting for breath. "Princess Lana, are you okay? I heard a scream..."

 

"I'm fine, Impa." Lana nodded. "I had the dream again... That's all."

 

"I see." Impa quickly managed to catch her breath once again, then stood up straight. "Well, soon there will be nothing more to worry yourself about! Today is the day that we get to meet the heroes that the previous princess told you of!" She spoke cheerfully, knowing how worried Lana was. The poor girl was already distraught after being forced to the throne at the young age of 14, but over the past four years, she'd only grown more worrisome and stressed.

 

"Yes... you're right. I should not be so concerned." Lana responded as she stood. She made her way over to her mirror, and took a short look at herself. Her tired eyes were the first thing she noticed. She'd barely managed to get any sleep the previous night. Her long, black hair also fell in front of her face. In general, she looked like a complete mess. "Now... excuse me, Impa. I need to get ready."

 

"Ah, yes, I understand!" Impa nodded. "I'll have the three wait outside the throne room while we wait." She ran off, rushing to make the necessary preparations.

 

Lana sighed, but a slight smile spread across her face. Impa had supported Lana ever since her ascent to the throne... She deserved a rest after this ordeal was finished. She began to prepare herself for the meeting she would soon have...

 

 

Meanwhile, Impa had just brought Sara, Irisviel, and Rou to a small lounge room within the castle. "The princess will be ready to meet with you soon. I thought it would be a good idea to let you meet each other before we get on to the serious talk." She smiled at the three. "I'll be back soon, okay? Stay in this room, please!" She left the room, and headed in the direction of the throne room to wait for Lana to arrive...

 

 

Sara was amazed by the inside of the castle. Having spent her whole life in a small cottage with only her older brother, a home of this size felt surreal to her. Why did the princess need such a large place to live? Who did she share the castle with? Many questions ran through the woman's head as she waited for Impa to return. However, she quickly snapped back to her current situation while thinking about what Impa had told the three about meeting each other. Ah, yes... I should make a good impression for these two. She smiled at her new comrades. "Hello, my name is Sara. Who are you two?" she asked politely.

Sara quickly managed to fall asleep.

 

After helping the other two, Lana realized how tired she was. After speaking with the guards, she decided to go rest in her room as well...

 

 

After walking for a long time, Impa finally found Rou, passed out in a field. At least he's asleep now... This means I have to carry him, though. She somehow managed to begin dragging the large man back to Hyrule Castle...

Somewhere along the line Irisviel sleepwalked around the castle, and inexplicably through the power of Irsviel, she ended up curled adorable beside Lana of all people. How she got there, no one was really sure.

After a while, Impa had finally returned to the castle with Rou. She set him down in his own guest room, asking a few guards to watch over him to make sure he wouldn't break too many things in there.

 

Around the same time, Lana woke up. For some reason, she felt... different. Like she wasn't alone. She looked next to her, and noticed Irisviel somehow cuddling her now. "H-how did you get in here?!" She shouted, surprised by the girl's sudden entrance. "The guards should have noticed you!"

Irisviel awoke and rubbed her eyes. She turned and got on her knees.

"I am sorry Princess...I must have...have sleepwalked..."

 

And her small bow became her pitching forward across Lana's lap, where she promptly passed out.

Lana sighed. I've heard of people doing strange things while sleepwalking, but I never really expected this... I guess I'll be stuck here for a while. She decided to try to get a little more rest while she was stuck under the sleeping girl who had somehow broken into her room.

And it got easier, as Irisviel adjusted so her head was on Lana's stomach, the girl no longer all the way across the woman's lap now. Just kinda half on, half off.

Lana took use of her new freedom by standing up. I should probably take her back to her room now... She sighed, and lifted the girl. Hopefully no one gets the wrong idea... She left her room, and made her way towards Irisviel's guest room. No one seemed to notice, however, she was met by someone just before making it to Irisviel's room...

 

"Hm...? Hello, Princess Lana. What are you doing with Irisviel?" Sara asked, looking slightly sleepy despite having just woken up. She began to wonder why the princess would carry Irisviel... She eventually remembered when Irisviel carried her. "Do you have one of those 'crush' things on her, your highness?"

 

Lana's face immediately turned red. "Wh-what?! No, she just happened to find her way into my room, and I'm taking her back to her bed..."

Irisviel yawned and moved a bit, snuggling closer to Lana, the only source of warmth nearbye. She looked calm.and peaceful, and...somewhat happy. This did nothing to help Lana, but it was clear Irisviel was having a great time sleeping.

Lana sighed. "Regardless of her enjoyment of this right now, I assure you that I would prefer to not be carrying someone through my castle." She informed Sara.

 

"Hm... very well." Sara nodded. "I suppose I have much more to learn, then..."

Iri was still asleep...

"Well... I'll go drop her off." Lana said, and went into Iri's room. She set the sleeping girl down in her bed, then left.

Iri tried to hang on as Lana let go, but she didn't put up much of a fight...of course, when did anything ever end that easily...and go well?

Rou awoke in the room, his body still numbed from the boar's meat having a sleeping agent within it. He moved his neck, struggling to see where he was. "...By the bells of... Ugh... Where am I...?" He coughed, taking a breath through his nose, the smell was sickeningly familiar. "...The castle..." He muttered, deciding to fall asleep to wait for the toxin to settle out of his body.

(Uh... since everyone else is asleep... I guess we'll skip ahead a few hours or so)

 

Sara had been waiting in her room for a while now. Waiting for the others to wake up so she could spend more time of them. Lana was awake now, but busy with her duties as ruler of Hyrule. As a result, she didn't really have much to do. She took a nap at one point, but had trouble sleeping. She was too excited to get to know her new comrades.

While Sara waited quietly and Lana did her duties...and while Rou did whatever...Irisviel was tossing and turning all over her bed...and finally awoke, screaming up a storm.

Sara quickly heard Irisviel's screaming. She ran into the girl's room as soon as she could. "Are you okay, Irisviel?" She asked, obviously worried about her new friend. "Did something happen?"

Irisivel saw Sara and held her arms out, still sobbing. She looked pretty shaken up.

Sara hugged Irisviel, trying to calm her down. "What's wrong, Irisviel?" She asked again, curious about what had made her scream.

Iri sobbed into Sara's shoulder.

"Nightmare...nightmares again...they won't leave me alone..."

"Nightmares...?" Sara was relieved that it was just a nightmare as opposed to something that could have been much worse. "Do you get those often...? You make it sound like you do..."

Iri nods. "I get them every night..." she says softly. "Sometimes I can just wake up...sometimes I just scream and scream and scream..."

Sara felt bad hearing Irisviel's story. She couldn't imagine having a nightmare every night... "It is okay, Irisviel... Nothing bad is actually happening. Everything is okay." She smiled, trying to calm her down again.

Irisviel pressed against Sara, hiding her face. "Please hold me. I promise I'll be good...just hold me..."

"What do you mean, you promise you will be good?" Sara looked confused. "You have not done anything wrong..."

Irisviel just muttered that a few more times before calming down. Relaxing, she nuzzled Sara. "...th...thank you..."