Want to play doctor?

It felt like time stopped for a moment as Siren admitted what had caused the bleeding from her crown... crystals that were growing from her skin. For a moment there was only confusion as she tired to process that statement. Crystals... growing out of her skin. She thought about the children with the illnesses they had only recently recovered from and all the animals and predators she had seen around the island and the mainland with various mushrooms and crystals growing from them. A beat of panic squeezed at her chest. She thought that all of this was finally over, but now here she was with these new growths. Her mind flashed back to the sight of Viper's skull full of mushrooms that Aliana had revealed during her autopsy and a chill of fear went through her. She couldn't let that happen and leave behind Rusalka, Siren, Chimera, Aliana, all of their collective children... That couldn't happen.

As all of this was running through her head Siren's words pulled her back to the present as she asked if she had felt sick or seen any glowing fluids. Dalila thought back through the days prior to this, scrambling for any other symptom besides the crystals she was currently sprouting, and came up with nothing. "No... No, I haven't," she replied after a moment, looking down at her paw where some blood still stained it. It was completely normal, just a dark red as the blood began to dry. When she had seen the glow from Cerberus back at the beginning of the Long Night it had come from his blood and she was missing that very obvious symptom. She hadn't been coughing and besides the headache as these crystal growths came in she had felt fine.

Thinking through it helped her talk herself down from the cliff. She breathed a slow sigh and she brought her gaze back to Siren's, seeing the concern written all over her sweet face. She hated worrying her love about something that she hoped would be harmless—or at least something that she was telling herself would be harmless to chase away her own panic. She pulled a small smile onto her lips and lifted her head to give Siren a tender kiss. "I'm going to be okay," she said softly, as much to her as to herself. After all she had been through she refused to let something like this take her down just as she was getting to the happiest point in her life. Whatever was happening with the crystals across her crown would have to be something she grew accustomed to. There was no other choice.

Once the blood was cleaned away and the bleeding had subsided she sighed and reclined back into the furs again. Her head still ached and the fresh wounds still stung, but all in all she was actually feeling better than she had before laid down for her nap. It was like a pressure had been relieved and now that she knew the cause it made sense. It was like a pup teething and that tooth that was bothering them finally pushing its way to the surface. She reached out a foreleg to slip it around Siren's slim frame, pulling her into her chest and hugging her close. She kissed the top of Siren's head with a soft smile, looking down at her adoringly. Siren was her anchor, the one that kept her grounded and gave her hope. "I love you," she said quietly, her claws combing through Siren's flowing fur.

"Dalila Vista Rocha"