"The Void Wears A Crown Of Forget-Me-Nots"

Chapter 4: A Corpse

'To whatever higher being there may be, please, please just let me sleep...'

Xelqua could hear the door loudly colliding with the wall.

'Fuck you too, God.'

Zera rushed into the room, Qakel and Qukal following close behind him. The golden-haired child rolled onto his back and pressed the pillow into his face, trying to let cold, blissful sleep overtake him once again. But his attempts failed as Zera loudly stumped over and grabbed Xelqua's side and began to violently shake him.

Zezy was saying something along the lines of- well, the sleep-deprived child knew he was saying something for sure, but Xelqua couldn't hear him over the static in his ears.

The tired child let out a long groan, but it came out as more of a muffled scream as he pressed the pillow harder onto his face.

Qakel and Zera only rolled their eyes as Xelqua screamed. Qakel said something, but in Xelqua's "I will kill you" sleep-deprived state of mind, he really didn't care enough to try and understand it.

"Just let me sleepppp," Xelqua groaned into his pillow.

"Xelqua!" Qakel's voice was sharp and rang through the static like a gunshot.

Qakel stepped forward and ripped the pillow out of the grumpy child's hands. 

This, however, turned out to be a mistake on her part when she was immediately met with a bone-chilling glare from Xelqua.

The small, thin, and malnourished, child's eyes burned as bright as a wildfire. The dark circles around his eyes had only deepened, making his eyes almost look sunken in. His skin was such a ghastly pail that his lips, which were pulled back to bare his teeth, looked more like a smear of blood.

The girl stood frozen for a long moment, one single word coming to her mind as she stared at the first person who ever tried to be friends with her; a corpse.

Without thinking, or even realizing it, Qakel had taken a step back. The other two children peered around her, then went pale themselves when they saw him.

Zera's eyes widened slightly as he took a reluctant step forward. "...Xel?" He asked softly. Sitrust was warily watching his friend as if Xelqua might jump forward and bite him at any moment.

Xelqua watched their horrified looks for a moment, then reluctantly gave up on his blissful sleep. The deathly child huffed and moved to sit up, his joints cracking with each movement he made.

He grided his teeth against the pain and soreness that awakened all over his body. His ribs and left arm screamed in protest, but Xelqua ignored them.

Finally settling, the child couldn't help but pull his knees to his chest as he rubbed at his sore eyes.

"What?" he snapped, his voice sounding like the aftermath of eating food laced with broken glass.

Zera made a noise, and Xelqua couldn't help but look up and meet Sitruat's wide eyes.

Xelqua's breath caught in his lungs as he stared into Sitruat's all too familiar heterochromic eyes. The golden-haired child couldn't help but soften at the utter warmth and comfort that was held in his friend's gaze.

The golden-haired child stared for a long moment. Not even noticing that he and Sitruat were the only ones left in the room. All Xelqua could see was his late friend's eyes and soft smile.

And Sitruat, on his part, managed to suppress his tears as he stared at his friend, who looked like the definition of death.

Xelqua blinked, words suddenly bubbling up as he seemed to sputter back to life. "S-sorry... I... I didn't mean to snap at you..." was all Xelqua could think to say as he looked down and rubbed at his wet eyes.