They all arrive in the termina, the moon shines down on the crowded streets. All around are several stalls, selling various items and food, as well as carnival games. They walk up to a game stall, with three metal milk jugs stacked up. Elias and Sole stare each other down. They slam some coins down on the table. The vendor curls his mustache.

Vendor: Ah, so are you going against each other?

Elias: Yes.

Vendor: Ok, then the person who knocks down the most jugs wins.

He takes Elias’s money and gives him three balls. Elias aims and throws his first ball with power. It bangs off the top jug, and it topples over. He throws the second ball on the left jug, knocking it over. He takes a deep breath as he throws his last ball. It smacks into the last jug, causing it to slide, but not knock over.

Vendor: Two jugs! Not bad, not bad.

He walks over and counts Soles money.

Vendor: This will get you three balls.

He places three balls on the table.

Sole: No.

Vendor: No?

Sole: I only need one.

He picks up the ball and throws it. It smashes into the middle of the bottom two jugs, sending them both flying to the sides, and the top one tumbling down. The clerk stands there in shock. Sole lifts his right hand and points to a stuffed dog.

Sole: I’ll take that one.

Vendor: R-right.

***

They begin walking around again. They see a small shrine with candles all over it. People stand around it, praying, and setting more candles alight. An old woman stands near it.

Luna: Excuse me? What’s this for?

Old Woman: I see, you must not be from around here dear.

Luna: Yeah, I’m not.

Old Woman: This shrine, or really this whole festival is to pay respects to those who passed away. Specifically, those who had passed away years ago in a tragic accident. But it has since evolved into a way to pay respects to all those whose lives had ended before their time.

Luna: Oh, I didn’t know. May I ask what happened all those years ago?

Old Woman: It was before the walls were built. We had ways of warding off monsters, but they had failed. The monsters entered the town, and well, you can probably tell what happened.

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Luna: That’s horrible.

Old Woman: Yes, it was. 14 men, 6 women, and one child had never got to live their full lives. So now, every year we celebrate from 12 to 3 and release lanterns at the end of the night.

Luna: I see.

Luna and the group lower their heads and pay respects. The group continues to look around, play games, and buy various items from vendors. Luna and Red linger in the back talking when suddenly Luna is hit in the back of the head with a water balloon. It explodes, drenching her in water. Luna and Red quickly look back, and see a small child laughing, while holding a second water balloon. Luna gets angry and begins to run after the kid. The kid looks shocked and begins running. Red follows her, turning the corner only to be met with his own water balloon. Both Luna and Red now drenched, she grabs the boy’s arm.

Boy: Hey! Let me go!

Luna: No, why would you do that!

Luna looks down at her hand that’s grabbing the boy. A cockroach sits on it. She lets out a little yelp before letting go and rapidly shaking her hand. The boy begins laughing and runs away. She looks at the bug resting upside down motionless.

Luna: It’s a fake bug. That little brat!

Luna begins running after the kid again, right after Red caught up. He sighs, shaking his head. He then begins to chase after her again.

Luna: Gadreel!

The cat appears, running alongside her.

Gadreel: Hey, what’s up?

Luna: Gadreel, you go right, I’ll do down the center. And Red, you go left!

The three split up and go their separate ways. Eventually, the boy looks back and sees Luna. The boy looks left and right, noticing he’s cornered.

Luna: Gotcha!

Boy: Oh man.

Luna: Hey kid, why did you throw water balloons at me and Red.

Boy: Because I, well, it was funny.

Luna: Oh, where are your parents?

Boy: I don’t know!

Luna: You don’t know?

Boy: … No.

Luna: … Sigh. Alright, fine. We will help you find them.

Boy: Find them? Ok.

Luna and Red begin walking with the boy back toward the main festivities.

Luna: Did you get separated from them?

Boy: Uh, yeah.

Luna begins to talk and she looks back at the boy. He stopped walking and is staring at a stuffed bear. Luna walks over.

Luna: You want that?

Boy: Mhm.

Luna: Okay then.

She lifts the bean bag and tosses it. It goes perfectly in the hole, winning the boy the stuffed animal. When she gave him the animal, the boy had a face of pure joy.

Boy: Thanks, miss!

Luna: You’re welcome.

The boy looks at the next stall and runs over. It’s a ring toss game. Red runs up.

Red: Oh I’m good at this game!

Boy: Really?!

Red: Heck yah!

Red is given a few rings and misses every shot.

Boy: Man you suck at this game!

Red: Hey now! These rings were just too small.

Boy: Excuses!

They sit in silence before they both laugh. The three of them go around and play multiple games for what feels like hours. Eventually, Luna looks at the time. 2:45.

Luna: We should get a lantern. It’s almost 3 am.

The boy gets a sad face.

Luna: Oh it’s ok. We will get a lantern, send it up at 3, then find your parents ok?

Boy: … Ok.

Luna and Red get their lantern and sit down. Eventually, the chime of the clock rings out, notifying all that it’s 3 am. Red uses his insignia, to light it. They let it go to join the countless lanterns floating through the sky like fireflies in the night. Luna and Red watch, encaptured by its momentary flare of beauty. As they begin to spread out and disappear into the night sky, Luna turns around to face the boy. But she is caught off guard by what she sees. The boy has a faint blue glow and is becoming almost transparent.

Luna: W-what’s…

Boy: Thank you for playing with me! I had a really good time.

The boy smiles and begins to tear up, before completely disappearing. The teddy bear in his hands tumbles to the ground. Speechless, Luna walks over and picks up the bear. She walks back to Red.

Luna: H-he was the boy. That the old lady told us about.

Red: Yeah.

The two sit in silence for a few minutes.

Hiro: Heyyy Red! Where have you been?

Red: Oh hey.

The rest of the group catches up. They all begin to head to the cart to go home.

Luna: Hey Red.

Red: Yah?

Luna: I wanna come back next year. I want to come back and play with him more.

Red: Right. We will. I promise.