Chapter LXXII (72) - Festival of Light Begins

He met up with Emilia in the town center. People bustled about in every direction, even more were crammed into the square than on a usual weekend. A temporary stage had been built in the center of it. It vaguely reminded Kizu of an image of a gallows, but a pulpit sat on its center instead of a noose. Underneath the stage, vendors harked out toys, souvenirs, and sweets. The vendors were a mesh of locals, fifth year students, and traveling merchants. Kizu stopped and examined one stall that sold paper lanterns. But Emilia pulled him away, explaining that it would be better to buy those later in the evening, so they wouldn’t need to carry them around for hours.

“Want some dango?” Kizu asked, ready to put his fat purse into use. He pointed to a Hon woman selling the skewered rice sweets.

But Emilia shook her head. “Not really a fan. I don’t like the texture. How about some plum wine? I have a friend selling some over this way.”

Kizu thought it was still a bit early for drinking, but he kept the opinion to himself as he purchased them both a glass. They found an empty space on a bench in the shade of one of the permanent shops and squeezed into it together. As he sipped his drink, he found it pleasantly warm. He voiced his surprise to Emilia and she laughed.

“Well, it’s easy to forget here in tropical paradise, but it is the middle of winter right now. They traditionally like to heat up the drinks to help fight back the chill.”

“Does Edgeland get much snow?” he asked. While the Hon Basin got nowhere near chilly enough for snowfall, the northern mountains of Hon got some of the heaviest snowfall in the known world. He had seen his fair share as a youth.

“A bit,” she said. “But mostly it’s icy and windy. Our rainy season is in the fall, and then that all tends to freeze over.”

She started telling him about how they strapped blades to special shoes to glide across expanses of frozen water. Kizu attentively listened as he sipped his drink. Apparently, Emilia won a couple different dancing contests involving the sport.

When they finished, they returned their empty glasses to the stall vendor and continued walking through the throng. Kizu held Emilia’s hand, telling himself that he didn’t want to accidentally lose her in the crowd. At the touch, she smiled at him which caused his heart to quicken. Eventually, they broke through the crowds to the beach where people were more evenly spaced out. But Kizu decided to keep her hand in his. And she voiced no complaint.

“What did you bring to bury?” Emilia asked as they found an empty spot.

“You said it’s custom to bury something that represents my past demons, right?” Kizu said as he pulled out a folded up piece of paper from his pocket. “So, I brought my old test scores from my entry into the academy.”

He had considered bringing something from his time living with the crone. A memento from that time to show that it really was in his past now as he moved forward. But, he couldn’t bring himself to part with any of his things from that time. In a lot of ways, he actually preferred his life back in the Hon Basin. So, in the end, he decided to just go with test scores simply because he couldn’t think of anything else.

Emilia nodded her approval at his choice though, her few golden scales glittered in the sun at the movement. Kizu couldn’t help thinking that they looked a bit like angelic freckles.

“You’re in a far better place now. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you passed Sene a few more times by the end of your education. Everyone says you’re a prodigy.”

Uncertain how to respond to the praise, Kizu decided to try to deflect the conversation back at her. “And what are you burying?”

She removed a bracelet from her wrist, where it had been hidden under a sleeve. Rubies studded the golden band.

“An old memento,” she said, eyeing her jewelry with distaste.

“Wouldn’t it be smarter to sell it?” Kizu asked. “It looks valuable.”

“It is. But not worth selling. Value comes from multiple facets. It’s not worth losing the face of selling it for cash. Reputation lasts longer than coins.”

Kizu was about to ask why she didn’t just sell it in a different city if she was worried about people here seeing it, but he decided against it. Instead, together they began to scoop out sand with their hands. By the time they had a divot about half a meter deep, they both dropped their objects in their hole.

Before they began the process of covering them back up with sand, Emilia stepped down into the divot and ground the bracelet deeper into the sandy dirt with her heel. Once finished, she looked relieved as she stepped out and together they pushed the sand back over the hole. It only took about half an hour in total, but Kizu noticed the tips of Emilia’s ears had already turned pink from the sun.

Kizu considered heading back into the town center to try out some of the carnival challenges, but, not wanting to look childish in front of his date, he instead followed her lead as they entered into a beer garden for another drink. This one seemed like a regular spot for Tainted. He noticed a few different familiar faces, including Gregor and Tara, his fellow percussionists in Music F.

This time Emilia ordered them ciders. At first, Kizu was confused by the order, thinking that cider meant juice. But when the drinks arrived, it only took a taste for him to realize cider meant alcohol in Edgeland. Thankfully, it really wasn’t bad. It still remained pretty sweet, despite the fermentation.

He glanced over his shoulder and noticed Harvey nursing a cup in the back of the beer garden. The Tainted boy wore a sleeveless tunic, revealing the elaborate blue tattoos he had shown off at his last fight. Though, the designs currently lacked the glow Kizu had seen on them the other day. Harvey looked almost cruel with his head shaved and a sneer on his lips. At first Kizu thought he was staring at him, but then realized the look was actually directed at Emilia.

“Your cousin is here,” Kizu said to Emilia.

She perked up and looked around, completely oblivious to Harvey’s glower.

“Braxton? Where?”

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“No,” Kizu corrected. “Harvey.”

Only then did she meet her cousin’s eyes. She visibly deflated as she returned the glare with her own look of disdain.

“Oh, him. Ignore him. He’ll be gone soon enough.”

“What makes you say that?” Kizu asked. Harvey’s drink looked full.

“He’s not academy material,” she said simply.

“Wait, you mean gone from the academy? Did you speak to him recently?”

“Briefly, yesterday,” she admitted. “About you, actually. I really approve of your decision to put distance between yourself and him. He has brought a lot of ire to the family recently.”

About him? Kizu wanted to press for more information about the conversation, but Emilia made it clear she was past the conversation as she began discussing the pub’s food options.

The sun was dipping in the horizon slightly when their server arrived with their meal. Kizu lit the candle at their table with a brush of his hand. A bit preemptive, since the sun still shed plenty of light, but he wanted to show off the ease of the skill.

When they finished their candlelit dinner and moved on to a dessert pastry cake, Kizu considered bringing out his circlet gift. But something held him back. He told himself silently that it just wasn’t quite the right time to give her it, but the image of her smashing her foot down into that bracelet earlier flashed across his mind. Of course Emilia wouldn’t do that to a gift from him. However, right when he convinced himself and was about to finally shift the conversation to the gift, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

For just a moment, he thought he’d seen the ghostly image of a girl. When he focused though, nothing was there. Just a tablecloth overhanging from a nearby table.

“Kizu?” Emilia said, sounding concerned. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Sorry, just not used to drinking,” he said, refocusing on her conversation.

“As I was saying, the Festival of Light’s Golden Hour Speech starts in about twenty minutes. If we want to make it, we should probably head out now.”

“What happens at the speech?” Kizu asked.

“Nothing too exciting. But it’s a good place to be seen. A lot of influential people come out here for the festivities every year. Visibility now can snowball into future successes.”

Kizu was starting to be reminded a bit of his parents in how Emilia placed so much value in presentations. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing. Emilia prioritized success for both of them, and obviously success was a good thing.

After paying the bill, Kizu glanced back towards where Harvey sat alone in the back of the beer garden. The long shadows cast by the setting sun darkened his seat, but Kizu still spotted him there staring down into a new glass in front of himself. Kizu looked away and they headed back into the main streets of town.

Earlier in the day, Kizu had thought the town center packed, but this new volume of people put those numbers to shame. Despite being pretty distant from the stage, in moments the space behind him filled with people, blocking their exit.

Just as the sun finished setting, the entire town square suddenly lit up with gorgeous lights of all shades all at once. A paper lantern hung from every eve in sight. The lights above the stage sparkled in violets, indigos, and blues. Then a plume of glittering cerulean smoke exploded.

A gust of wind wiped the smoke away, sending new mock stars into the sky. Sene stood on the stage in the plume’s wake. Kizu doubted the spectacle was her idea, as she eyed the disappearing smoke with distaste.

“Welcome all,” she said, her voice amplified to be heard over the restless crowd. “To the Festival of Light, presented by Wave Edge Academy. My name is Kajima Sene, the President of Wave Edge Academy’s Student Council.”

She launched into a lecture about the academy’s ideals and virtues. It went on…and on. Kizu could feel the crowd’s impatience as they fidgeted around him.

“You should volunteer for this next year,” Emilia whispered to him.

“What?” Kizu said, confused as he glanced away from Sene to her.

“You should announce the start of next year’s festival,” Emilia clarified.

Kizu thought that sounded like a dreadful idea. That was the exact opposite of what he wanted. But he decided not to phrase things so bluntly.

“I don’t think I’m cut out for the position,” he said diplomatically.

Emilia furrowed her brow. “In what way? You seem a perfect fit. You’re the Vice President of the Student Council. Sene has presented for three years in a row now, so it’s only fair to let others step up to the role as well. And even if a new council member emerges next year, you’ll have seniority. Unless you think Sene’s sister wants to present next year?”

Kizu stifled a laugh at the idea of Ione up in front of everyone.

“No,” he said. “She’d be more likely to summon a monster to give the speech for her. What I meant was that I’ve never spoken in front of a crowd of more than ten people at once.”

“Oh! Is that all? We can fix that.”

Dread churned in Kizu’s stomach at the implication.

“And if Sene wants to present next year too?” Kizu tried, searching for a way out. “She is still president.”

Emilia nodded understandingly. “I can pull a few strings to make certain that she gets vetoed. Besides, I doubt this performance inspires too many backers.”

Despite himself, Kizu couldn’t help noticing the truth in Emilia’s words. The audience’s awe from the initial display had faded to grumpy irritation all around the town center as Sene continued her speech at the stage’s pulpit. Emilia might be right, he probably actually could do better. At the very least, it would be more entertaining for the audience to watch him utterly fail.

For now, Kizu just did his best to make agreeable noises. It was a year off. Nothing to concern himself about right now.

Kizu jumped as another plume of smoke, this time violet, exploded where Sene stood. When it faded, a mustached middle aged man wearing a top hat at least triple the normal size stood in Sene’s place behind the pulpit, flanked by Constable Kimura.

“Thank you Kajuma Sene for the marvelous introduction!” the man said, adjusting his vermillion bow tie. “And thank you all for your wondrous support of Wave Edge Academy. This academy owes its all to you.” With a flourish of his hand, he removed his top hat and bowed deeply to his audience.

“Who is that?” Kizu whispered to Emilia.

“You don’t recognize Headmaster Ballarfulur?”

Kizu genuinely did not. He had never seen the man before in his life. And he said as much to Emilia.

“I suppose that makes a bit of sense,” she said, considering. “It’s easy to forget that you only arrived a few months ago. The headmaster’s been incredibly busy this semester so his visibility decreased quite a bit. Rumor says some sort of behind the scenes project. Apparently, he’s been seen meeting with Elites in Hon regularly, but nobody knows what for exactly.”

Kizu examined Headmaster Ballarfulur. He wore a black cape accented by a cherry red interior. His skin was a darker shade than people from Hon, Tross, or Edgeland. Not to mention his bizarre mustache that twirled into spirals on the edges. Kizu had never seen a man quite like him before. He thought there might still be a bit of glitter in the air from the smoke as well, because the headmaster’s eyes appeared to twinkle.

“And finally,” Ballarfulur said dramatically. “I must bow out. The time for festivities has only just begun! Please eat, drink, dance, and enjoy everything our fair island has to offer! With that, I, Gizrim Ballarfulur, bid you adieu and farewell.”

This time, when the headmaster removed his oversized top hat, he reached inside it. He then suddenly ripped it out, scattering hundreds of thousands of luminescent flower petals over the crowd.

Emilia looked up at him, looking joyful with the glowing pedals speckling her hair. She leaned into him, her hand on his chest.

Kizu bent his neck, about to meet her lips with his own. He hovered there, a mere centimeter away. Her warm breath mingled with his own.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a child collapse at the edge of the crowd. Then, the body ragdolled up and over the crowd. Kizu looked over just in time to see the body careen into where Headmaster Ballarfulur stood, to the side of the stage’s pulpit. The headmaster’s oof was magnified by the voice modification. It heralded the beginning of screams from throughout the crowd.

Anata had arrived.