Ike hurried away from the meeting, unable to really look at anyone as she hide her face. The princess felt tears well in her eyes as the emotions became far too much to bear. She wanted to be a perfect child for her parents so bad, just like Ikigai. But she was so far behind her sister, she was the opposite of graceful and poised. She wasn’t nearly as creative or talented, She wasn’t as beautiful as Iki inside or out. Not with the nasty emotions that finally spilled over. Like her heart was going to burst, and hot tears of jealousy and anger spilled over her dual toned eyes.

She raced to a clearing in the white woods, somewhere away from everyone else where she could wallow in her feelings. She stewed in the emotions she felt towards her sister, and then in the same breath felt sorry and ashamed for how she felt. Kiyohime felt like a wreck and she didn’t know what to do about it. Frustration roared within her and before she could even think about it the girl stepped back and rammed forward. She headbutted the nearest tree as hard as she could.

With the echoing sound of two resounding cracks Ike’s jaw dropped and she carefully stepped from the tree. Both dual toned antlers fell from her head and dropped to her paws. Despair sounded from her throat and Ike was forced to sit back as she let the emotions overflow, she cried heavily, dumbstruck, shocked, and helpless as she invited crisis on her heart.

Ike had run away from the Ashen meeting with tears in her eyes. Iki didn't understand why, but had wasted no time in running after her sister. Seeing Ike in pain caused her pain and she didn't want her favorite sibling to be alone when she was hurting. As Iki searched for her sister, she came upon a shocking sight. There, laying in a clearing beside a tree, were Ike's antlers! Ikigai gasped aloud and scanned the area for her sister but there was no sight nor sign of Ike. Iki had zero tracking ability, so she couldn't even begin to think about how to find her sister. Was this what Ike was upset about? Had her antlers been falling off during the meeting? With a frown, the pale princess picked up the antlers gently between her teeth and set off back to the palace. She had an idea.

-----Time skip-----

The slender girl had taken the dual toned antlers back to her room. Iki had an idea that she was sure would boost her sisters mood. Iki set to work, tearing apart her best and most grand headdress. Ike was worth it. With great care and a lot of work, Iki eventually affixed her sister's shed antlers to the headdress. Adding a few embellishments to make the headdress even more grand than it had been originally, Ikigai was soon satisfied. Now she had to find her sister and give her the present.

Carrying the wrapped package, Iki moved through Ashen lands, searching high and low for her sister. In time, she came to the beach and sat Ike sitting there in the sand, looking sad and upset. With her tail snaking across the sand, Iki made her way to Ike's side. Sitting the wrapped gift before her sister, Iki sat. "I'm sorry that you were so sad yesterday. I made something for you." With one slender, dexterous paw, Iki slid the fur wrapped package just a little closer to her sister. She was very excited to see the look on Ike's face when she got her antlers back.

Okiku Ikigai Ōritsu Abraxas

She sobbed and ran, ran towards the islands to get away from everyone else. She wanted to go to black island but she didn’t trust herself so for a long while she just hid on Nephilim island. Everyone used it more of a bridge than anything else anyway and she was left undisturbed to cry away her sorrows. To lament everything she felt was wrong in her life and the absolute unfairness of it all. She was blind to her blessings, and dwelled on her jealousy.

The sea ate her tears, and as the tide was rising to her paws she caught movement from the corner of her eye. Ikigai’s pale coat reflected the setting sun and she walked as if she really was the goddess Toxicity thought. Kiyohime could have cried harder had she not shed all her tears. Part of her hated how perfect her sister was, despised having to look at everything she wasn’t day in and day out. Jealousy burned beneath the surface and Ike nearly spit like a frightened cat when the princess approached with her package.

Ike settled at Iki spoke, offered her condolences for her sadness and a gift to help make her feel better. Ike didn’t want to look at it, but very cautiously she reached out and revealed the gift. A beautiful, incredibly crafted headdress with her antlers as the centerpiece. All of the anger and disappointment in herself surfaced and the princess Shuriken grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut as the emotions overwhelmed her.

"Why, Iki?” She cried through clenched teeth, her heart about to burst from her chest as she gasped for breath and tried not to scream. "Why are you so perfect?” Ike questioned, the gift forgotten as she lost control of herself, she lost her virtues and herself. Just barely she restrained her taloned paws in hitting the box right into the ocean, but there was still a sliver of self that remained.

"Speech"

Iki had expected a smile from her sister. A smile and a kind word just as she had offered to Ike, but instead she was met with tears and malice. Ikigai was truly confused and reflexively got to her paws, taking a step back, her mercuric eyes wide. Ike questioned her with gritted teeth, asking why she was so perfect. Perfect? The pale princess was far from perfect. She was anxious and unsure. She was too quiet and would never be a warrior like her siblings. She wasn't adventurous and was often afraid of things that she had no control over. Sometimes it reduced her to tears or vomiting. No... Ikigai was no perfect. "I'm... I'm not," she tried to convince her sibling.

It... hurt. Her heart clenched in her chest and Ikigai raised one paw to rest it over her breast. Her heart hammered and her rate of breathing increased. Ike had never been like this to her before. She was so utterly confused and had no idea where all of this animosity came from. "Ike, I don't understand." She took a step towards her sister, reaching out with one paw as though to touch her, to try to embrace her, but she thought better of it. The sheer anger and pain on her speckled siblings face it just shocked Ikigai to the core. Tears began to form in her own eyes and she dropped her paw to the sand once more. "What can I do? What can I do to make you okay, Ike?" Her gaze was pleading. She just wanted to help her sister more than anything.

"X"