After the Fragments finished their candy, they barely played around before wilting one after another, dropping off to sleep.
It was not the lifeless stiffness of death, but a bone-deep exhaustion that left them limp, without even the strength to move.
Hand Princess Big curled into a tiny ball, five thin fingers wrapped tightly around itself. The eye in its palm was firmly shut, its eyelid not so much as twitching.
Hand Princess Small lay beside it, resting softly against the ground like a dozing kitten, too lazy even to move its toes.
Hand Princess Three lay sprawled on the ground, its toes twitching lightly now and then, as though it were still bouncing around fighting over candy in its dreams; Hand Princess Four floated in midair, but so low it almost touched the ground, its eye narrowed to a slit, even its light drawn in.
Hand Princess Five's large torso crouched quietly to one side, the densely packed eyes on its belly all closed, its breathing so faint it was almost imperceptible.
And the even smaller bits and pieces-ears, noses, little toes-were all huddled together in a small, pale, tender heap. From a distance, they looked like a cluster of oddly shaped little mushrooms growing on the ruins, and actually looked rather soft.
Shuo sat cross-legged on the ground, quietly watching them without a word. Kaguya stood beside him, her gaze also resting on the sleeping Fragments.
"They're fine," she said, her voice very soft for fear of disturbing the exhausted little ones. "They've just used up all their strength. They'll recover after some sleep."
Shuo nodded and instinctively reached into his pocket for candy. His fingers fumbled for a while, finding nothing but empty fabric, before he remembered he had already handed it all out. He could not