Am I Still Pretty?

The boy spoke about the difficult times in his own pack and Iki sighed, her brow furrowing. It was bad everywhere. She knew that it was. The pale girl could feel it in her bones. In her very blood. She felt so connected to all of it. The crystals, the mushrooms... they all pulsed in tune to her heartbeat. How could she not feel in tune with it all?

"It's everywhere, Kotori. Everywhere." She was so tired. So physically exhausted that it was difficult to even keep her head up. The pain was so intense that Ikigai was forced to close her mercuric eyes. Her breathing came in shallow little gasps and she once again buried her face in the darkness between her forelegs. More of the magenta ooze was transferred from her face to her long, pale limbs, but it hardly mattered. Ikigai wondered if she would be like this forever, or if the spirits would eventually decide that the creatures of the world had learned their lesson.

Kotori lay down beside her, but was careful not to touch her. She didn't blame him, but it made her a little sad. Right now, all she wanted was to be protected, but no one could protect her from herself. The crystals were growing from the inside. She wouldn't be free of them until the spirits decided that it would be so. "Just keep me safe for a little while, Kotori," she released his name on a soft, barely audible whisper. She was so... so tired...

"Speech"