Blood, Milk & Chocolate - Part 1 (The Grimm Diaries Book 3) (8 page)

15

Candy
House

Babushka
was cooking again, and Fable loved it.

Fable saw
the confusion on Shew's face, as she hadn't met Loki's mother before—hopefully
mother-in-law at some point? Or maybe she had met her, but didn't remember,
like most of the things she still didn't remember.

But
Babushka didn't look like she had met Shew before. Fable wondered where
Babushka fit in this complicated story of the Grimm Diaries, but decided that
would be too much to think about at the moment. They needed Babushka to tell
them how to get Loki's Fleece to resurrect him, if Axel was right about her.

And, of
course, Fable wanted to have some fun with her first.

Shew
seemed perplexed by Fable befriending a ghost who looked like a zombie with
parts of her flesh peeling off. Fable noticed Shew's dilemma, but didn't
comment. Everything was getting weirder and weirder. It was a weird day,
anyway.

"So
Loki didn't know he can summon you with cigarettes?" Fable asked, helping
Babushka prepare lunch on the table.

"Of
course not," Babushka said, stirring something in the pot. She dipped her
zombie hand inside and tasted her cooking. Fable suppressed a laugh at Shew's reaction—
staring at Babushka with glaring eyes. It was rather ironic how a vampire,
always soaked in blood, thought a zombie-like ghost was gross. "A
three-eyed woman with three tails and one leg helped me with a spell a long
time ago," Babushka explained. "The spell made it so that whenever
Loki smoked, it would summon me to reach over to his world and stop him from
smoking."

"That's
weird," Shew said, sitting at the table, not helping at all.

"I
believe Axel figured it out because I only appeared to Loki when he smoked in
his car on his way to Sorrow, and when some of you lit up cigarettes trying to
poke the huge raven that entered the house a few days ago." Babushka
brought her pot to the table.

"Wow,"
Fable said, sitting down and preparing to eat. "My brother notices
weird
stuff."

"You're
a weird family." Babushka giggled, as if that were a compliment. Her jaw
fell as she spoke, but she picked it up nonchalantly and sat down to eat.

Fable was
hungry, but was more into the breadcrumbs than anything else. She dipped them
in the soup so no one would bother asking her about her new addiction. Shew, on
the other hand, seemed reluctant to eat.

"Eat
some food," Babushka demanded. "I made you a recipe that will help
quench your thirst for blood for some time."

Fable
could sense slight tension between those two, who only had Loki in common.
Otherwise, they didn't seem on the same page at all.

"How
do we get Loki's Fleece?" Shew said bluntly, not eating anything.

"By
entering the Dreamworld," Babushka replied.

Shew looked
puzzled, and Fable felt the same.

"Why
not go get it from my mother?" Shew said.

"I
have no idea why you say 'mother.'" Babushka rolled her eyes—only
once, so she wouldn't drop any eyeballs. "But if you have the guts to
confront her and get the Fleece, be my guest."

Fable fell
silent. Babushka was right. Who dared speak to Carmilla? "Do you mean get
the Fleece from Loki in the Dreamworld?"

Babushka
nodded, as if it were an easy task.

"But
Loki is dead, even in the Dreamworld." Fable scratched her head. "At
least, this is how I understand it."

Babushka
stopped eating, her eyes glaring at Shew for a moment. Fable thought she had to
release her anger. After all, Shew had killed her son in the Dreamworld, and
Babushka hadn't made a fuss about it until now.

This is
really a weird family.
Fable wondered if anything
not weird
was
going to happen today.

"That's
why you need Charmwill's help in the Dreamworld," Babushka said. "Frankly,
I think there is something wrong with the timeline of events, but I can't prove
it. Only Charmwill can."

"But
we can't resurrect him," Shew said. "Even while we know his True
Name."

"We
don't need to resurrect him," Babushka said. "Not now, at least. We'll
use his name as an Incubator in the Dreamworld, just like Carmilla used the
Phoenix in the last dream, like you told me."

"But
we don't know where this would take us," Shew said.

"It
doesn't matter," Babushka said. "I'm sure Charmwill's real name will
take us to a memory where we meet
Charmwill
. He could guide us from
there. I am shocked why you haven't thought of this before."

"Because
we don't know of any Dreamhunter but Loki," Fable said. "Do you
happen to know another Dreamhunter who can help?"

Babushka
took some time to answer. She seemed reluctant to answer, gazing intently at
Fable. She finally nodded, though.

"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.

"Nothing,
dear." Babushka patted her and then hugged her to calm her down. "You
must just be hungry and agitated because of the noble mission you're about to
do."

"Really?"
Fable began shivering. She knew Babushka was lying. Something else, other than
having Dreamhunter powers, wasn't right. Somehow, Fable was afraid to know.

"Really,"
Babushka said. "Now go prepare yourself while Shew and I prepare the Dream
Temple in the cellar."

Fable
nodded and ran to her room, still clinging to her breadcrumbs. Although she'd
agreed to do this, it scared the life out of her. Who was she to enter the
Dreamworld?

17

Out on the
porch, while Fable was getting ready, Babushka and Shew were talking.

"Why
didn't you tell her?" Shew asked.

"You
know?" Babushka said.

"Of
course I know," Shew said. "I figured it out in the last Dreamory. I'm
surprised that
you
know."

"Loki
told me," Babushka said. "I am surprised Axel and Fable don't know. I
mean, everything about them screams who they really are."

"I
think they're so caught up in Loki and my adventure that they can't think about
anything else," Shew said.

"If
you ask me, I think everyone else in Sorrow knows who Axel and Fable are."
Babushka chuckled feebly.

"So
they are both from the Lost Seven?"

"I
think so." Babushka shook her shoulders. "Frankly, I have no idea who
the Lost Seven are exactly. I wasn't around much when all of this happened. Nor
was Loki's father." She seemed briefly lost in a memory. "Well, I don't
want to talk about this now. I'm surprised you don't know if they are from the
Lost Seven."

"Believe
me, I don't remember much," Shew said. "I don't even
remember
Cerené. I trusted what happened in the dream to be my true memory of her."
She looked out at the rest of the town on the horizon. Babushka did the same. "It
would be really strange if Axel and Fable are from the Lost Seven," Shew
said. "I mean, when I think that they hold a piece of my heart, it's just…
I can't put words to the feeling."

"It's
a heavy bond. I understand," Babushka said. "I don't know about Axel,
but you should've seen Fable when you were trapped in the Schloss. I think she
would die for you, and the poor girl doesn't even know about her bond with you.
This is the true reason she is motivated to enter a dangerous place like the
Dreamworld."

"Poor
Fable,"
Shew
said, sighing.

"Did
you say she was mentioned as a witch in J.G.'s diary?" Babushka faced her.

Shew
nodded again. "I think she is the Witch." It was still debatable. Any
other girl could be a witch, but Fable was also Gretel, which made it more
likely to be true. None of the Lost Seven mentioned in the diary resembled
Axel, though.

"So
again, why didn't you tell her?" Shew said.

"Because
it's going to be a heavy experience," Babushka said. "When I look at
this quirky, lovable, and decent girl, I pity her for having acquired Loki's
powers as a Dreamhunter. It's such a responsibility. Her having to enter the
Dreamworld is a burden by itself. I wouldn't top it with telling her who she
is."

"I'm
just worried she'll discover who she is in the Dreamworld," Shew said.
"Who knows what could happen?"

"In
order to get Loki's Fleece, we have to risk it," Babushka said.

"How
about her sudden breadcrumb addiction?"

"That's
because of her entering your last Dreamory through that spell she used,"
Babushka said. "I think that's why she suddenly realizes she is Gretel.
The bond she has with Loki."

"So
she is bonded to both of us, me and Loki?" Shew closed her eyes. "Who
would have thought this cute little girl would have this kind of weight upon
her shoulders?"

"I
think she will be fine." Babushka smiled, a rather acceptable smile for a
disfigured ghost.

"Listen,"
Shew said, facing her. "I'm really sorry about Loki, but there were too
many things going on." Shew fiddled with Loki's necklace on her chest.
"I'm really sorry."

"I
don't want you to apologize," Babushka said. "You'd be amazed to know
that I have faith Loki is coming back. After all, he's been dying on and off
the last couple of years,"
Babushka
said proudly.
"Like mother like son, I guess." Then her laugh vanished abruptly. "There
is something else that worries me, Shew, if you don't mind me saying."

"Really?
What is it?"

"I'm
worried how you and Loki are in True Love," Babushka said. "I mean,
if you are really in love, how weren't you able to read the necklace in the
dream?"

"What
do you mean?"

Babushka
hesitated,
then
heard Fable call for them from inside.
"Nothing," she said as she entered the house. "It's just that
Loki never told me how he fell in love with you in Sorrow two centuries ago.
Don't take this the wrong way, but I can't imagine how it happened. He was
an
…well…evil huntsman, and you were his enemy. How did you
ever get together?"

"Something
incredibly beautiful must have happened," Shew said with giggling eyes. It
was embarrassing she couldn't remember how she and Loki fell in love. But the
feeling was undeniable. She loved
him,
so much it felt
ridiculous at times—particularly after having to kill him in the dream.
Shew rested a hand on her heart as a smile curved on her face. There was no
denying—Loki lived inside her heart.