The Last Time

A voice sounded from behind her and Ikigai's heart clenched. The pale princess looked over one black marked shoulder and gave the man a small, sad smile. "Kotori," she spoke his name in soft greeting. He thought that she was gone and, while that had been the initial plan, she'd been here the whole time, her mother having decided that she would wait until her birthday before joining Elysium. "Only for a few more days." Then she would be off to her new life.

Kotori then asked what her instrument was. "This is a Koto," she informed him, looking down at the long, stringed instrument. "It was a gift from my father and the Shamisen," she motioned to a closed case nearby, "was from my grandmother." He sat nearby but he didn't sit too close, nor did he embrace her as he may have prior. It bothered Ikigai a bit, but it was for the best that they didn't get too close. This was already difficult for her. Had he only said something sooner...

Without being asked, Ikigai took a deep breath, then began to pluck and stroke the strings of the Koto, bringing about dramatic and somewhat soothing twangs that echoed within the stone walls of the chamber. The song was slow and melancholy, becoming even more haunting when the snowy fae's maw parted and she began to sing. Ikigai's voice was practiced, perfect and clear, her lilting tones melding with that of the Koto as she sang in her father's tongue. A sad song of lost love, but Kotori wouldn't know that. She sang it for him, however.

"Ikigai"