The Ink Goes Back Up Top

Crystal suddenly felt the ink split in two and rush up each side of her torso. What else could there be? she wondered.

That question was answered when the two moving pools of ink emerged from the collar of her shirt and coated the outsides of her ears. She clapped her hands over them, but it made no difference. She could feel the quick pinches in her ears, and feel the metal beneath her hands. Lifting her hands away, she saw what she suspected -- small silver rings piercing the outer edge of both ears, all the way around the semicircle. Much larger hoops dangled from the lobes.

A tendril of ink suddenly scooted outward from her right ear toward her nose, and left behind a silver chain that linked the ring through her nose with one in the ear, dangling just a bit.

The ink then moved further upward, disappearing beneath Crystal's short, spiky black hair. She could feel her scalp tingling, and wondered what could possibly be next.

She got her answer as most of her hair began disappearing -- she felt the sensation of the strands literally melting away. A relatively narrow strip in the center from front to back seemed to be getting longer, though. Crystal suddenly realized what was happening -- her hairstyle was becoming a Mohawk, and an attention-getting one at that. Within seconds, her head was perfectly smooth, covered only by the ink, except for the strip where black hair stuck upwards about a foot.

Crystal could only gaze at herself in the mirror and wondered if the hair would be permanent, the way her piercings apparently were. Her scalp was still tingling from the magic ink, which almost seemed to be resting, as if it were gathering energy for more changes.