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Perhaps a bit too much, actually. The horns were starting to feel a bit painful. They needed to be tempered. Another layer of keratin? Ah, but too much might render them inert. The sensitivity was to be useful, wasn’t it?

Only for physical matters. For spiritual essence, that would not be a problem.

What? Who said that? Chergoa? No. Huh? Emiliana?

Agam?

Agh.

That pain was getting sharper. Needed a decision. Keratin coating? No, use the plant proteins. They could protect, too.

More green. More buds. Argh, this was difficult. Unfamiliar territory. They were really pushing it now, weren’t they?

Pain. Elsewhere. Not focused on the horns but along her skin. Little specks. Pellets? Seedlings? Spores.

Why did we need those? You’re going overboard.

Stop asking questions and just see for yourself. Our minds were one, weren’t they?

Sure, but it wasn’t that simple, either. We were still new this, remember?

Are still new? Were still new? When?

Agh.

Okay, that was enough. They had to ease up.

Had to separate again.

The pain heightened for one final spike, and then everything blinked. Everywhere. All of existence. Gone, then back.

And Emiliana groaned as she slowly came to the realization that she felt like herself again. Alone with her thoughts again.

She felt grass on her face. Oh no. She hadn’t tried to--that couldn’t have been what she--!

Oh. It was just because she was on the ground. The grass was from this little sanctuary. Not growing out of her face.

Phew. Yeah. Wow. Gradually, she opened her eyes and pushed herself up onto her knees.

She focused on her breathing. How steady it was. How calm she felt.

How free.

Geez.

Dopamine was still hitting, huh? That sure felt nice. Made her feel like... maybe this power of hers wasn’t the worst thing in the world, after all. Not just a curse to be endured.

Maybe.

She looked around. Ah, her slightly obscured vision hadn’t changed, apparently. Damn. She’d wanted to fix that, but after thinking about the mess that she’d just gone through, maybe it was for the best that she hadn’t thought to tackle that, too. She could always try later.

She didn’t see the reaper, though. ‘Chergoa? Where’d you go?’

No response.

A pang of worry struck her chest as she stood up and began searching through the grass.

It didn’t take long. Chergoa was right there, though barely recognizable. An ethereal, amorphous lump on the ground.

Emiliana dropped to her knees and scooped her up, pulling her close.

Shit. Chergoa had acted all calm collected through that whole thing, but truth was obvious now, wasn’t it? She’d been pushing herself incredibly hard.

Tears welled up. Uncontrollable. Gratitude and anger intertwining. Stupid reaper. Going that far for her. She struggled not to start sobbing.