I had finally made it into the sprawling city streets of New Dwarden. After a short walk through a U-shaped tunnel, I found myself at the center of the festival. The festival was everything I saw from high above in Nessiah's home and much more. Smells of exotic food seduced my nose from all directions, music of all kinds -both familiar and mysterious- were welcomed dearly, and most important of all, I was free to roam the streets.

Different was an understatement, I was surrounded by something extraordinary, something unique, something amazing every second. If not the endless array of mouth-watering mystery foods and hanging meats, then it’s the people themselves. Men and women towered over each other easily. Never have I witnessed such differences in heights, even when my parents and I visited...I can’t remember…Can you not remember? Wonderful, looks like we’re just about finishing forgetting or are we not?

“Not yet!” I said aloud.

I couldn’t help it. Its voice became ever louder than before and equally condescending, equally volatile. I could hear the voice inside cackling again, like something whispering loudly into my ears.

“Quiet, don’t want to stand out, do we?” Said Lian, the boy who needs to hurry instead of taking in the sights.

Who are you? What are you? Leave! Leave! Leave! We’ve met! You and I have met! In fact, we are great friends, or do you need a reminder Lian, child of Embrace?

To my dismay, I began laughing loudly and uncontrollably, my hands just waved around as if I was being hit by some sort of high powered wind. Before I knew they were at least three to four people dancing uncontrollably next to me. Luckily they seemed highly intoxicated.

“Hey, kid! You get it! This is the night of all nights!” Said the man closest to me.

Most people, if not everyone around me wore a weird mask, like some sort of high-class victorian Mardi Graw only with mask that covered the entirety of there faces. Some of the masks appeared to have fantastical animals, while others were lit-up with steam and were more like the comedy and tragedy masks I knew before. It was strange. In an environment bursting with so much fun, how would it be difficult for me to stand out? People don’t seem to care too much here...

“Ye-uuuuah!!!!!" *hiccup, said the stumbling man next to me.

“This n’ gotta baby wit em’, and a li’l pupper too. Come darling! Check the balls on this little lad. He ain’t go no one with him!” Stuttered the man.

“I could smell your loneliness from here. Are you sure you're looking in the right place? I feel as though you and the trash over there have too much in common. Don’t be shy, give her an ello! ” I laughed loudly.

“What did the little bloke just say!? You disrespectful little shite!” Yelled the drunken fellow.

It was then that the man and two women that accompanied the intoxicated individual burst into laughter, laughing mercilessly at the drunk’s rage.

“He got ya, good mate!” Laughed the man next to him.

“Cheeky little fellow!” Taunted the equally intoxicated woman.

“I outta hand you to the Arc, little pip-squeak.” Shouted the drunken man.

“Come love, the boy is merely having his fun, as today would warrant a little delinquency, right?” Said the other woman seductively.

“Reminds me a little of you when you were a boy.” She continued while smirking.

“Oi.” Said the drunken man as he crouched in front of me, now face to face.

“You’re all right.” Laughed the man once more, this time he stumbling onto the ground.

“Ok I get it!” I whispered quite annoyed.

Evan. Eva boy. Eva. It’s Evan … why are you in my head? I thought you were stuck in the music box. Well, that’s also me, but so is this. I don’t understand. To put it lightly, I am projecting a piece of myself, an emotion that may choose to act to its own accord. Well, I suppose you seem a little more joyful than the usual mystique of murder. You know murdering and telling jokes are sometimes one and the same. … I simply see what you see Lian. So this how it’s going to be? Me talking to myself in my own head. Are you blind boy?! This is a festival, surely you don’t expect me to completely confine myself to the world of that box! With all due respect Eva, Evan, Evan, how am I supposed to finish what you had asked me to do If you are sabotaging any chance to stay hidden in this city. Open your eyes boy, the city is watching.

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“Oi! The li’l lad getting away!” Shouted the drunken man.

“Another drink?” Asked the drunken woman towards the drunken man.

“Why yes? Quite kind.” Replied the drunken man.

Just like that, they appeared to have lost interest in me, despite my outburst and “not having no one with me”. Is it wrong to walk around on your own? Or is it because of the baby? New Dwarden is still a mystery.

It appears that if I want to remain undetected I’d have to somewhat blend in. Should I go buy something? Perhaps a mask? Maybe a robe? I didn’t have too much time to stare, but the way the people with the drunks dressed was quite elegant. Even if half of them were too drunk to stand, they appeared as though they come from somewhere high up the social ladder, actually just like everyone else around me. Most wore some sort of Victorian dress or vest, and some even had strange pipping appendages attached to them. If it wasn’t for the few drunks wearing nothing but their simple white pajama’s, I would have felt like an odd one out, instead I just feel like a belong on a bench with some alcohol as company.

After aimlessly weaving through the seemingly endless crowds I encountered two brown-robed children just in front of me, playing amidst a clearing in the crowd. When I began to walk around them I noticed the two were playing some sort of dice game. The dice game seemed to have consisted of a great gamble because as soon as one dice hit the pavement, one person jumped in joy while the other groveled in anguish. In the midst of their game, I took the time to examine there clothing and faces. To my surprise, they were certainly not children. One of them was an extremely short, muscular, and hairy variation of a person while the other looked almost like a child except that he was missing his eyes, had a full head of shaggy hair, and a large canine-like smile with a dog-like nose. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before.

"Why question anything if you've seen a frog-lemur that speaks English." I thought to myself as I walked passed the dog-human and hairy creature.

As I continued to pass countless other groups of people I began to realize that not everyone was the kind of human I was used to, in fact, the majority of people seemed to have an unusual trait to them. Most people would initially seem to be normal, but after close examination had extremely lanky arms, large black eyes, or even giant feet seemed to appear. Despite the urgency, I fought hard against the continuous distraction that bombarded me, such as the eight-foot humanoid beings who walked with others who were merely a foot, or how some people looked like lizards or even the extremely wide people with faces that mirrored that of a frog. Xi-Fu? No.

The longer I stood in the parade, the more the parade felt like a river current. People always seemed to pour into the parade from unseen cracks within the city, I found myself constantly fighting the direction the crowds were going.

"Aside from the bizarre human-like creatures, this is a festival... just like the ones at home! Right!" I repeated to myself as I found myself feeling like a mouse traveling around a busy kitchen floor.

I felt as though I was panicking, I couldn’t see anything. Too many people, too many dangers potentially in front of me. Despite this, people were of all different shapes, colors, and sizes, and I have yet to be caught, so I must be doing something right.

Traversing crowds is certainly difficult but every now-and-then the crowd would break up giving me a chance to glimpse the scenery or to eavesdrop on certain conversations. To add to my confusion, I noticed that despite the shocking variation of people and creatures that inhabited the city, their dialects primarily consisted of oddly accented English, some feeling British, while other feeling more in line with an American accent; with only a minority of people speaking in unknown tongues. Like the language, the streets also seemed more familiar as I traveled along them. Each step deeper into the city reminded me of the streets of Victorian London, only wider and not from a television or a detective novel. Though my memories of my life prior to arriving at New Dwarden is fading, I can still vaguely remember watching movies with my mother on Victorian London. My mother would always boast how the English had the best architectural skills, so she based the creation of the city of Embrace on their style. I never thought a movie about the bricks and rocks of London would prove useful, then again I never thought I would see a humanoid dog winning at a game of dice.

Personalized booths lined up the streets like the sidewalks. Because of the crowds, some booths reminded me of a twisted carnival, while other's seemed more like cooking or dance shows. With every glance I took upwards, there seemed to be a party to match right below me. I noticed mysterious circular furry animals bumping into my leg every now-and-then. Every time I would try and catch a glance at them, I would bump into someone around me, so just like everyone else I could only ignore them. Normally I would be scared but something familiar about there appearance made me feel safe. Fluffier versions of bunnies perhaps? I don't know. So long as they don't hurt me, I won't make a scene.

After a couple of hours of sifting through the crowd, I had only accomplished retaining gossip from the crowds and a little sightseeing. At this point, I feel like I should be aggravated, but since the city of New Dwarden is so new to me every piece of gossip and every second of sightseeing is helping me piece together what this enormous city is all about. As far as I can tell, the inhabitants of New Dwarden seem to be happy with there way of life. Most of the gossip that managed to float into my ears was about local eateries, family quarrels, and advancing in the individuals respective job. My father always told me "If someone isn't complaining about something then there is something wrong.", although this is New Dwarden, so who knows if this applies. Strangely of all the gossip, none spoke of these supposed Mad Madachi. For people who claim to cure any disease, these Miracle Men aren't getting much buzz.

"Do these Mad Madachi even exist!?" I thought to myself as I regressed back into deep thought.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Mister!" Asked a mysterious voice from behind.

"Oh no, did I space out in the middle of the crowd? Did I stand out too much!?" I thought to myself in panic as I felt a small hand grab my hand from behind.