Chapter Twenty One :  

"Advice From A Friend" ( Part Two ) / 

I awoke to a twisting, writhing beam at my room window. Stars and symbols spilled from it, sticking to the walls and floor. A deep, ethereal vibration hovered over me, making my brain fuzzy. The tall apparition of Orpheus stood at the foot of my bed. Shimmering blue fluid streamed from his eyes, pooling on the floor. I saw sadness and something else in his face, but I couldn't tell what. The words quietly echoed in my room, "Advice from a friend..." Orpheus walked across my room to the window, stepping out into the spinning chasm of glowing hues. 

I woke up, choking on what I had envisioned in my unconsciousness. After catching my breath, I looked around. I was laying on the sofa in my living room. My parents sat on the couch across from me, unmoving ( as usual ). It took awhile for me to recollect what had happened earlier, and once I did, I instantly worried about the tiger sisters. 

I plodded into the kitchen to find Dolion sitting at the table, expressionless. "Are the tigers okay?" I asked. 

"Yeah, they're fine. I don't know why you pushed yourself that hard, after you had promised Mirai you wouldn't. And besides that, you could have froze to death. Don't you understand that if you're gone, there's no saving everyone else?" From the look in its silver eyes, I figured it wasn't particularly happy with me. 

"I'm sorry... I'll be more careful next time?" I murmured. 

It tilted its head slightly. "You know I'm not upset at you, right?" Its voice was soft like a marshmallow. 

"Okay," I breathed. "And... Thanks, because you saved me. Twice, yesterday." 

It nodded its head, that familiar half smile playing at its lips. 

I went upstairs to shower, because my hair hung limply over my shoulders, and although I was in "clean," fresh snow yesterday, I felt dirty. In the shower, I coughed and spit up purple liquid that mixed with the water and swirled down into the drain. I couldn't freak out, because I had already seen plenty worse than this; it was normal in the new world. 

In the mirror, my eyes looked a little bloodshot, maybe because of how tired I was. But when I looked closer, my irises had changed, too - the delicate lavender coloration replaced by a blazing purple hue. I rubbed my eyes a few times, wondering if I was just imagining things. The deep violet color remained. I also couldn't tell if my white eyelashes really were longer, and if my body was always this slim. 

After putting on a short crepe pink sundress, oversized celadon green sweatshirt, and buttercream colored socks, I went downstairs to get something to eat. I didn't understand how I could skip meals throughout the day and not feel hungry, but I knew it wasn't a healthy thing to do and so I made a point of remembering mealtimes and eating something nutritious although I didn't feel like it. 

I ate a bowl of cereal and fruit ( with the milk that has still not expired ), and went up to my room to relax. 

Within the first few minutes of sitting on my beanbag chair in complete silence, I couldn't make my mind shut up. Words the creatures had spoken to me churned around in my brain, and I lacked the self control to sit down and sit still. I got up and paced back and forth in my room, shaking my head a bit, hoping the words would fall out of my ears and leave me in peace. 

I decided to not go outside, because the last time I did, it just made things worse. So instead I wandered in my room, tapping my hands against my desk, chair, shelf, etc. I tried everything I could to avoid the words that swarmed me like a horde of bees, stinging me with their meaning. 

I walked downstairs, past Dolion; I figured it wouldn't understand. 

Sitting in between my parents, the words ceased. Because as I sat on this sofa, all I could think about was my parents. Their once familiar faces now distant, their beautiful eyes covered in a film of white. I put my hands to both their chests just to feel their heartbeats, which thudded slowly and hauntingly. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm sorry I don't know how to fix this."