Chapter 46: Festival of Flowers, Once More

The day the Festival of Flowers is held was a cloudy day, which was almost too dark for summer. Tobias thought that the weather was fortunate and merciful, because he could imagine that wearing dresses while underneath the sun’s ruthless glare would have been a nightmare for the girls involved.

That’s why the girls’ dances and parades were usually held late afternoon, just so they wouldn’t suffer from the sun. But with how persistently cloudy and dark this day was, they might actually just decide to hold the presentation during noon, just so it could be wrapped up sooner than later.

Speaking of which... All of the girls from his home were missing; Clara and Catherine were out to wear their dresses, while his mother and younger sister might be out to help them wear their dresses, or something like that.

So as a result, everyone that was left back at home... they were the boys. Pierre, Andre, Tobias, Jacques, and Bastille, and all of them shared something common aside from their genders.

They were all seated around the dining table, and all of them glanced at each other – trying to find the slightest weaknesses which might be present from anyone’s faces, as they all bore stony, frost-like, calculating exteriors. In their hands, they each held a hand of red-white checkered cards, and they all kept each hand only visible to them.

The common trait they all had... Was their competitive drive to win.

Tobias drew a card from the pile of cards, and he let out an internal sigh. The card he drew was an Eight of Hearts, and was absolutely useless for his hand; Three of Hearts, Five of Clubs, Seven of Clubs, Nine of Diamonds, and Ten of Diamonds.

So without any emotion, he dropped the newest card towards the dump pile, card facing up.

Bastille’s eyes lit up as he snatched the card, and he dropped a Set.

It was a Set of Hearts; ranging from Seven, Eight, and Nine; three cards in total.

That was a start, if nothing else. But it did annoy Tobias because while the dump card was dumped for a reason, seeing his card being used to build another player’s Set is... very, very, very slightly annoying.

And with that, Bastille took a card from his Hand, and dropped it. It was a Queen of Spades.

It was Andre’s turn next. He drew a card, before dumping one from his hand – a Five of Diamonds, and once more, it was ignored. Nobody had any cards to build a Set out of that one, either.

Tobias already thought of this before, but really, who exactly decided to teach his younger brother how to play card games? His gaze idly flicked towards Pierre.

What an irresponsible father.

Jacques dumped a card of his own, and it was a Jack of Diamonds. Tobias let out an internal sigh. How unfortunate – if it was his turn, he would have been able to take that dumped card, and use it to drop his own Set of high-valued Diamonds.

Pierre’s turn was next. He drew a card, took a quick glance from his deck, then his eyes seemed to shine with particular delight. Then he grabbed four of his cards, and dropped it towards the board.

A Four-of-a-kind of Aces...!

And with that feat, Pierre’s hand only had two cards remaining...!

It was Tobias’ turn once more. He took a deep breath, and stared at the pile of cards. He carefully reached out towards the Deck, and prayed to some gambling God out there to give him an Eight of Diamonds so he could get rid of his highest value cards...!

And he slowly looked at the card he attained.

It was a Six of Clubs. He did need that to make a Set of Clubs, but he didn’t quite want that particular card. But that was much luckier than simply getting a useless card, so with a particularly indifferent hum, Tobias dropped his Set of Clubs.

His deck now had three cards remaining; Three of Hearts, Nine of Diamonds, and Ten of Diamonds.

And in the next turn, Bastille took a card from his Hand, and dropped it towards Tobias’ set of Clubs. It was an Eight of Clubs. Then the Sorcerer dropped another card into the Dump Pile, and it was a Two of Diamonds.

That was fine. At least the Sorcerer didn’t take Tobias’ dump card, and used it to increase his chances of winning by that much.

Andre took the Two of Diamonds, and used it to drop a set... Alright, how the fuck does he have a four-of-a-kind of Twos? Now, the younger boy only had three cards left in his Hand.

Tobias idly glared at Pierre, who only gave back a particularly innocent face.

He swore – that guy really taught Andre how to play, if nothing else. But then again, Pierre did also teach Tobias how to play card games so... It was fair. He shrugged.

And with that, Andre dumped a card. It was an Eight of Spades.

Jacques’ eye seemed to light up with excitement, as he took that card, and used it to make his own set. It was a Set of Seven, Eight, and Nine of Spades. And after that, he dumped his card, a King of Clubs.

How was everyone making their own Sets from each other’s dumped cards...? It was amazing how it happened, because by now, everyone else only had two, or three cards left in their hands. Tobias still had three cards, and since they had so much value, he knew that he would lose.

And considering how the Aces and Twos have been removed... Then the lowest possible card in each players’ Hand is a three of some sort. Tobias himself owns a card of Three.

Pierre drew a card from the Deck, and he seemed to sigh, before simply moving to drop another card. It was an Eight of Diamonds...!

And it was Tobias’ turn! So with an overly swift hand, he reached out to grab the latest dumped card, and placed down his own Set; Eight, Nine, and Ten of Diamonds...!

And just like that, the three cards in his Hand became one.

...

It took a while, but eventually, Sets have been made, and the game was concluded. In the end, Tobias didn’t win. After two turns, his luck ran out, and he stared at the hand he dropped, allowing all to see.

His Hand consisted of Three of Hearts, Three of Spades, and Five of Spades. Total Value; Ten.

The winner was Bastille, whose hand consisted of a solitary Three of Clubs. Value; Three.

Jacques’ Hand was close; as he had a Four of Diamonds.

Pierre’s Hand had Seven of Diamonds, and a Jack of Hearts. Total Value; Eighteen.

And finally, their youngest member Andre’s hand, consisted of a Four of Spades, and a Nine of Hearts. Total Value; Thirteen.

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“Alright.” Bastille said, as he gathered the cards and aligned them, before shuffling them with an experienced hand. The cards he shuffled made a buzzing noise whenever he split the deck into two parts, before layering them on top of each other quickly. “You guys still wanna play one more round?”

“I still want to play.” Tobias replied, with a disappointed frown on his face.

After all, in the ten or so rounds they played, he only won once. Even Andre of all people already won twice.

“While I would like to say that I’m down for another game...” Pierre said, as he stood up from his seat and retrieved a silver watch from his pocket. “My wife is going to kill us when we go to the festival late. And since we had a bit too much fun, I may or may not have forgotten to keep track of the time.”

Tobias only stared at his father, blinking every now and then as he tried to understand the words he just said. And then – everyone seemed to realize what he was saying, as each of their confused, blinking faces morphed into expressions of understanding, then terror.

“Well...” Jacques slowly began, as he coughed into his hand. “Fuck.”

... That was certainly one way to put it.

And with those words, everyone sprinted towards the door of the house, as they scrambled to get to the town square as quickly as possible.

***

Once again, the Festival of Flowers was held in the Village Square, where everyone seemed to gather. The different colored ribbons hanging about really made the air much more festive, and the different flowers and bouquets being held by various people only enforced the purpose of such a Festival.

And while the crowds of people were certainly loud... If one was close enough to their particular group, one might be able to hear the loud clap of a hand, slapping against a person’s face.

Tobias wondered if the slap was the loudest he had ever heard. But to Pierre’s credit, he bore such a slap with a straight, unflinching face, even though Elizabeth was openly glaring at him, and her palm was slowly glowing red.

“Are you telling me that the reason why you were almost late to your own daughter’s performance was because you played too much card?” She said, as she winced, withdrew her hand, and shook it lightly in the air.

Yeah. That was a really hard slap when even the one who slapped felt pain from that.

“Yes.” Pierre replied, with a truly serious nod.

But for Tobias, what was even more amazing was the fact that his father could actually be serious for once. Because really, his father tended to be sarcastic and witty most of the time, and never seemed to take anything too seriously.

“You... I do not even know what to do with you.” Elizabeth grumbled, as she shook her head and turned away from her husband. But unfortunately, that only led her to looking towards Tobias, and her glare made him gulp. “And you – you are the eldest son, are you not? Why did you not berate your own father for his lack of awareness?”

“I was...” Tobias paused, and wondered to himself if he should lie or not.

But then again... if she ever finds out, then there would hell to pay. So he shook his head, and steeled his resolve to tell the truth.

“I was having too much fun.” He admitted, as he let out a silent sigh. “I was not paying attention to the time, and I was carried away. I apologize.” And with that, he bowed his head towards her in apology.

A stern head-chop met him, and while it wasn’t quite painful, it still rattled his head. Idly turning his head to the side, he could see Bastille suppressing his own laugh while his cheeks were puffed out, and Jacques had an amused expression.

Tobias glared at them.

“What am I ever going to do with you...” She sighed, and then turned away to face Andre. “And you – and why do you know how to play card games to begin with?”

Andre turned towards Pierre for the shortest while, who slowly shook his head; a silent message, to tell him to lie. But Andre also knew that lying to their own mother was a disaster, so he slowly shook his head back in turn. A silent message, telling his own father that he was going to die.

“Father taught me.” Andre said, and his words only made his mother’s eyes burn with annoyance. He really did condemn his own father to his fate...

But then again, Tobias knew that it was Pierre’s fault for teaching him to begin with. As he said once; Pierre is an irresponsible father.

“Is that so.” Elizabeth said, with such resolute tone that only indicated she already speculated that to begin with, but his words only confirmed it. “I see. But I would not want to cause a scene right now... So consider yourselves lucky for this day. Only for today.” And to add to the threat, she gave a warning glare towards each of them.

Tobias knew that he had to convince his party to leave the village first thing in the morning. Because he really did not have any reason to stick around for that.

And with those words, his mother finally turned away from them, and began to watch the parade which was about to begin.

“Your mom’s really scary.” Bastille whispered, as he slipped beside him. Tobias nodded at his own words, before the Sorcerer’s expression turned to one of amusement. “It’s really funny to see you turn back into prim and proper mode, though.”

Tobias glared at Bastille, but said nothing else, only crossing his arms over his chest. But somehow, that only made the Sorcerer even more amused, but at least he didn’t say anything else anymore.

Jacques idly slipped by his side, before raising his hand to gesture towards the street. Following his outstretched hand only revealed the men with drums (that was new), and the men with wooden clappers, and just like that, the instruments begun to be played, and the parade started.

As expected, the line of young, dressed girls began to move, and sway and dance to the beat. The different assortments of dress colors, and sometimes matching, sometimes different flowers which contrasted, clashed, and harmonized with each color was an amazing sight to behold.

The dresses fluttered and waved in the wind, as the flowers imbedded within them seemed to let loose of its petals every so often, creating a very subtle, floral trail in the girls’ wake that only became more prominent the more girls walked that path.

These dresses were like that – they were sewn with petals designed to fall off, to symbolize the fleeting nature of summer, and to mark the start of autumn.

From another perspective, one could argue that such fleeting dress was to symbolize the twilight of a girl’s youth, and to know how temporary their brightest moments were.

Or something like that. Tobias really didn’t know when exactly he began to think of these flowery, philosophical thoughts.

“Daphne... Ficus... Iris... Maackia...” Bastille muttered lightly to himself. “What are the odds that those flowers would appear in that order...?”

“What are you whispering about?” Tobias asked, and the Sorcerer turned to him in turn.

“These are... Flowers I never expected to see.” He replied, and idly turning back to the line, he pointed to one of those flower-sewn dresses. “That’s a Cherry Blossom. How exactly are there Cherry Blossoms in her dress?”

But when Tobias turned to look at the dress he was pointing at, he only narrowed his eyes. “But isn’t that just a pink rose petal...?”

“Do not underestimate my eyes, Tobias.” Bastille warned, and the Soldier subtly gestured at his glasses in turn. The Sorcerer gave a small cough in turn. “My own glasses aside, I’ve seen that petal time and time again, and it shouldn’t be here, in this season at all. I know that flower really well.”

“Well, that just means that this Festival of Flowers really is called like that for a reason, right?” Tobias shrugged in turn. “And besides, isn’t there some kind of magic around to keep petals fresh, at least?”

At his words, The Sorcerer seemed to contemplate to himself, before seemingly accepting his words with a small nod, and a hum to himself. “Well then, look at you Tobias. You’re getting smarter.”

He sighed. “I think anyone would get smarter when they’re talking to you of all people.”

“Fair point.” Bastille shrugged, and after that, turned his attention back towards the parade once more.

And after a few more moments of watching, there. He found the first girl that he was looking out for; his own elder half-twin sister, Catherine.

Unlike last year, where she had taken to a pure black dress with sewn crimson red rose petals, this year... She went for the complete opposite. An actual, completely 180 degree turn.

Because she wore a pure white dress – one that made it seem like Catherine was a bride from a marriage somewhere, and the petals sewn to such pure white cloth was shockingly blue in comparison. She didn’t carry about the unapproachable air of last year, and seemed to bear with her the gentlest, kindest aura she had ever expressed herself in.

And Tobias learned at that moment that dresses really were magical, in their own way.

“Now that’s Iris.” Bastille commented, and then gave a small appreciative hum. “Tobias, Catherine’s your twin sister, isn’t she?”

He turned towards him with a particularly questioning gaze. “Well, yeah. What brought that on?”

“Then how come she looks so much better than you?”

Tobias blinked. And then he turned towards Bastille. “Listen here you little–”

“Stop fighting.” Jacques intervened, and he was met with Tobias’ glare. Then their Leader sighed, and gestured towards the streets again. “You should pay attention to Clara, she’s right over there waving at you.”

And true to his word, Clara really was right over there, waving at Tobias. He idly thought how exactly was it possible for her to somehow spot Tobias, before realizing that first, she had incredibly sharp senses to begin with, and second, his hair color was somewhat attention catching to begin with.

So he waved back at her. Her hair was braided and done into a proper, yet loose single braid, which trailed behind her as she walked. He thought that it fit her really well, so he gave an appreciative nod to that; Elizabeth had styled her hair, after all. And then, his gaze went downwards.

Clara was wearing a dress.

...

That was painfully nondescript as can be, so Tobias rectified that mistake with further observation. She was wearing a purple dress, which only reached a few inches below her knees, really (which was short; especially considering the fact that he had seen some of the other dresses drag against the ground before).

But more importantly, the flower petals sewn to her dress... Why were they black? What kind of flower even had black petals to begin with? Why did she even pick black flowers to begin with?

So he turned towards someone who might know. “Bastille, what exactly is that flower?”

“That’s... I’m not exactly sure what it’s called.” He replied. Tobias only narrowed his eyes. “Sheesh, alright. No need to glare at me like that. What I do know about that particular flower is that even though it’s black, it’s not supposed to represent sadness or anything. I think it’s supposed to be a flower of hope.”

“... Black isn’t really the most hopeful of colors, though.” Tobias said, giving a small frown at the explanation.

“I don’t know. I’m not an expert at flowers.” The Sorcerer shrugged.

Despite the fact that Bastille apparently knows what each flower is called? But Tobias only sighed, and decided not to press the matter further anymore.

“And that’s not native to my... place, you see.” He added, and that explanation made Tobias nod in turn.

If he said so, then it only made sense.

And with that, he returned his attention back towards the parade, mostly keeping his focus on Clara. That girl who apparently liked him... His thoughts about the matter was already settled, and he promised her his future already, did he not?

The words she spoke yesterday... Well, he didn’t quite feel any regret for making her wait, really.

But Tobias will say that at the very least, as of that exact hour, she was beautiful in her own right. Even if the petals detached themselves from her dress with every step she took, leaving behind a trail of black against the colorful, bright petals.

It was ominous... But such mysterious appeal only made her smile even more radiant in contrast, did it not?