Aifuki

Aifuki took another long sip of strawberry milk, its sweet scent a flagrant defiance of the sulfuric air. Their companion, a chimp of few words and even fewer smiles, just grunted. They had been trudging through the marshlands of The Underworld for three days, and Aifuki hadn't stopped humming once. The guiding lanterns on their back pulsed with a warm, steady rhythm, cutting through the ash-choked gray and revealing the treacherous path. The companion had first dismissed Aifuki as a fool destined to be swallowed by the black slosh. But the fool’s light never faltered. Like Kiti, who found a tribe in the wild, Aifuki had somehow made a home in this hostile realm. "You’re going to get us killed with that stuff one day," the companion finally rasped. Aifuki just offered the carton, their eyes gleeful. "Want some?"