The nightmare came rather late in the night as you gripped Tulipelle protectively. You had the sense that the sun was rising in the east. You had slept through the night, but the dream was very real to you. It was if you could truly feel Jovek's pain as he was poisoned or see Princess Ivyanna's rather dark promise that you would be hers. All of this seemed to startle and bewilder Tulipelle as she didn't know what had triggered your startled fears.
"Irisette... Irisette, what's wrong?" Tulipelle asked at you as you clutched at her nightgown, "What is it? I was just making breakfast when you screamed!"
You looked at her and saw the concern on her face and you had the feeling that she was fine. There was nothing physically wrong with her and she was very much alive. It gave you a great sense of relief and made you realize that it was just a silly nightmare, likely brought on by all the stress of the day before. Facing an insane wizard and then learning that he had been murdered while he was powerless weren't little things and certainly wouldn't be easy things for you to adapt to when you're also trying to adapt to the fact that you had become quite obviously female and a fairy besides. The dream was probably born out of that stress, nothing more.
"It was just a nightmare," you said after a moment and stepped back, looking rather embarrassed, "nothing to worry about."
"Irisette, you screamed my name is if you watched someone murder me in the most painful way in front of you," Tulipelle spoke, "it couldn't have been 'just a nightmare.' Is something wrong?"
"No... it was nothing," you spoke, "nothing more..."
Tulipelle was not impressed.
"Irisette, if it was nothing, you wouldn't have screamed as you did," Tulipelle said to you, "Tell me, what is wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong," you insisted, "it was just a nightmare."
Tulipelle moved toward you and gripped your shoulders in her hands and flared her wings, either to keep your attention focused on her or to make it difficult for you to get extremely close to her.
"You're dodging, Irisette," Tulipelle said firmly, "now, tell me... What is wrong... What happened in this nightmare?"
"You'll think it's silly," you protested.
"Maybe... but it scared you enough to scream," Tulipelle spoke, "please... tell me what is wrong?"
You sighed and looked over to her.
"It was about Princess Ivyanna," you said slowly, "she was the one who murdered Jovek in the dream and then went on about planning some war against the Queen..."
Tulipelle raised an eyebrow as you spoke, but she didn't laugh or anything like that. You then continued to explain.
"And part of her plot revolved around me," you said weakly, "Like she wanted me for some reason and felt that with you around I'd never side with her..."
"And so she kills me in the dream to take you?" Tulipelle finished after a moment.
"How..." you began.
"You were headed in that direction," Tulipelle answered, "and it was a rather silly dream."
You only looked down in embarrassment. The dream had scared you and felt very real. So real that when you didn't find Tulipelle next to you when you woke up, you feared that the murder had come in the night. Tulipelle's hands then moved from your shoulders and to your chin. She then lifted up your head so that you were looking into her eyes again. Her face remained calm and accepting.
"It was a silly dream," Tulipelle repeated, "but you went through a lot yesterday. You became a fairy, got involved in stopping Jovek's scheme, and being told that there was a dark fairy in the area... That's a lot for any changeling to have to confront in a twenty four hour period... shoot, it'd be a lot for a changeling to go through in a forty eight hour period. More than likely the stress of yesterday just boiled over in your mind and created the image that Princess Ivyanna was the one who murdered Jovek, as she was the last fairy, other than myself, that you met... and you're still adapting to our ways."
"You don't think me silly?" you asked her nervously.
"No," Tulipelle gave a soft and understanding smile, "the dream itself was silly, but I can understand how it came about..."
"It felt real," you admitted.
"Nightmares can," Tulipelle sighed and shrugged, "but as I told you earlier... once fully trained, you will have nothing to truly fear from a dark fairy... and neither will I."
That relieved you after everything and you felt yourself relax a bit.
"So, what's the plan for today?" you asked.
"Right now, breakfast," Tulipelle smiled, "from there... there is plenty to work with... I can help you with fairy history and our culture. I can continue to help you hone basic spells to get you ready for Enchantress training. I can teach you a bit about magic in general. And there is still what you'd said about wanting to assure your family that you're okay."
You nodded.