The Sabzeruz festival is here. I wake up to a familiar wash of forest green over a tile ceiling. The mosaic glass window on the door to our guest room lets in the first rays of sunlight. It's still early, but the day has already begun.

As I peek my eyes open, I let out a little yelp. Paimon is making weird faces at me, right in front of my face. "Hey!" I shout, sitting up suddenly.

Paimon lets out a surprised squeal as our heads collide. Smack. She slams against the wall, dazed. Throwing a concerned look at Paimon, still picking herself up from the ground, I slip into my clothes and grab my bag.

"Come on!" I say. "Dunyarzad's waiting for us at the Grand Bazaar." It's our chance to learn more about the Dendro Archon, a new lead after so many dead ends.

"I wasn't the one who overslept!" Paimon says, rubbing her eyes. "All the food's going to be cold by the time we get there, all because you wouldn't get out of bed!"

The streets outside are full of carts, clattering to the brim with food and wares. No merchant wants to be late to this day of guaranteed business. We follow them down the winding road to the Grand Bazaar.

"Good morning Lumine, Paimon." Rising from a bench by the entrance to the Bazaar, Dunyarzad waves us over with a smile.

"Good morning!" Paimon exclaims. "Did you get enough sleep, Dunyarzad? You looked tired today." I nod in agreement. Dunyarzad looks a bit out of it compared to yesterday.

"I'm doing well," Dunyarzad replies. "No need to worry. Shall we start over there?" She points towards several stalls further inside. Following her gaze, I sense something strange about these shops, but I can't put my finger on it. It's as if I'm trying to remember something that doesn't want to be remembered.

"Lumine?" Paimon's voice breaks me out of my trance.

"Yes, let's go," I say, sticking closely to Dunyarzad. We walk down the narrow alley between the rows of stalls, until one in particular catches my eye. There's something about the fruits that this vendor sells.

"This is a stall offering foods from the Haft-Mewa Feast," Dunyarzad explains to us.

Haft-Mewa. I've heard that phrase before. "Mushrooms, flowers, and various fruits," I find myself saying. "To honor the Dendro Archon."

Our next stop has an impressive array of mystical-looking objects, surrounding a large cauldron whose contents had just spilled. Poring over the remains, Kimiya declares, "the remnants appear to be in the form of the Moon. The Moon signifies–" He starts surreptitiously leafing through his tome.

"Illusions and lies," I say, before he finds the right page. "But if you trust your intuition and overcome your fears, the sun will surely rise," I add.

"How did you know?!" Kimiya exclaims, more than a little spooked.

As we approach our final stop, we heard children shouting, "Farris! Farris!"

Vihar claps his hands. "Little soldiers, take your Yalda candies in exchange for your loyalty to Lesser Lord Kusanali. Dismissed!" Clutching candies, the children scurry off.

"What's going on?" Paimon asks. "Is this a play?"

"Farris, the Knight of Flowers, is another Sabzeruz Festival icon," Dunyarzad steps in to explain. "He's immensely popular with the children."

"Do you want some Yalda candies?" Vihar gestures towards five identical boxes. "Take a look and pick the one you prefer."

Paimon flies over and scrutinizes each box. "What's there to pick? They all look the same," she says.

"This is the fun part," Vihar replies. "Each box contains a random flavor. Based on your luck, you could get lavender melon, harra fruit, or sunsettia–"

"I want the sunsettia one!" Paimon interrupts.

"–And there's also lizard tail or onikabuto," Vihar finishes.

"What's up with those flavors?" I say, choking on the thought of lizard tail. It's supposed to be less spicy than onikabuto, though.

"These boxes are numbered one to five, from left to right," Vihar continues. "Which one do you want?"

I hover over each box, and eventually my finger stops at box four. Vihar hands a corresponding candy to each of us. It's sweet like honey.

"Excellently chosen!" Vihar confirms. "Number four is indeed sunsettia."

"Paimon bet you had incredible luck, and Paimon was right!" She exclaims, giddy with sugar.

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"I don't think that was just luck," I say slowly. "I don't know why, but I knew it was box four."

"Huh?" Paimon says, confused. "It's not possible, but Paimon also felt that you'd choose the right one."

"I keep having this strange feeling," I murmur. "Maybe I didn't sleep well last night." All of a sudden, I have an urge to run. "I'm sorry, Dunyarzad, but I need to leave for a moment," I say quickly. Without looking back, I dash out of the bazaar and into Sumeru City proper. By the time I stop running, I find myself in front of Lambad's tavern. Looking up, I feel an indescribable fondness towards this establishment.

"Wait!" Paimon shouts, huffing and puffing. "Why'd you sprint here so fast?"

"I need to do something I normally never would," I reply. I need to shake off this sense of deja vu.

Paimon nods in understanding. "Paimon knows what you mean," she says.

I push open the doors and take a seat near the center of the tavern. Though I've only been here once before, with Dunyarzad and Dehya, I felt obliged to sit at this table. Why?

"Welcome, welcome!" Lambad says, walking over to take our order. "Are you two here for lunch? What would you like?"

"Two coconut charcoal cakes," I say without hesitation.

"Got it," he says, taking down our order. "You don't look like you're from these parts, but I must say, you've got good taste."

As he leaves, I see Paimon gaping at me. "Coconut charcoal cake, two of them! Isn't that the burned stuff?" I stare back at Paimon, and after a moment a look of understanding floods her face. "Oh," she says slowly. "You're going too far."

Soon the server brings up a platter with two charred cakes, one for each of us. Peering over, Paimon wrinkles her nose. "Are you really going to eat it?" She asks incredulously.

"We are going to eat it," I correct her. "Here goes." Picking up the coconut cake between my fingers, I hold my breath and bite in.

"The look on your face is telling Paimon that it tasted awful," Paimon comments.

"No," I say. Not awful. However, "I've definitely eaten this before," I say. The charred flavor, mixed with caramelized coconut sugar, is not unpleasant at all. On the contrary, I feel a pleasant nostalgia associated with this taste.

With much skepticism, Paimon picks up her coconut cake and pops it in her mouth. After chewing, she says, "I like this! Why do I like this flavor?"

"I just can't rid of this deja vu," I say. "I feel like I've been here many times before, even though we aren't regulars." In fact, as I glance around the room, I feel certain associations with people at each table. This man is a chronic drunkard, but he always waits until he is sober to return home. That Eremite often comes over after work with his friends, and they are a rowdy, but kind bunch.

"Let's try something else," Paimon suggests.

Leaving some mora on the table for our food, we walk back into the sun. As a matter of coincidence, Dunyarzad is sitting on a bench right outside. She looks a bit emotionally shaken but otherwise well.

"Dunyarzad!" Paimon calls out. "Why are you sitting here all by yourself?"

"I ran into some kidnappers just now, but thankfully, Dehya came to my rescue," she says quietly. "I started to feel unwell after exerting myself, so I found the closest bench and sat down."

"Oh my goodness!" Paimon exclaims. "Are you hurt?"

Dunyarzad shakes her head and closes her eyes. "I'm fine. Dehya's arm got scratched, but it isn't serious."

"That's a big relief," I say. "Still, you seem a little down today, Dunyarzad. Today is the Sabzeruz Festival that you've been so much anticipating. Aren't you excited?"

Opening her eyes, Dunyarzad smiles at us wearily. "Of course. It's just that excessive physical exertion or strong emotions tend to aggravate my illness." She sighs. "Besides, no matter how amazing today may be, it is but a single day. Eventually, my time will still come to an end."

"I'm so sorry for leaving you earlier," I say. I don't mean to hurt her feelings, but I have to know. "By the way, have you noticed anything out of the ordinary?"

"What do you mean?" Dunyarzad replies.

"A sense of deja vu," Paimon says. "Like you've already experienced something that's happening right now?"

Dunyarzad's face is bittersweet when she replies. "My days have been the same for years now. Even if I were feeling deja vu, I suppose I would be used to it by now." She looks at the sky and seems to remember something. "It's almost time," she says.

"Time for what?" I ask.

"Nilou's dance of Sabzeruz is about to begin."

Everything proceeds in a haze. We push through the sea of people, just to find the stage empty. When Nilou arrives, she's followed by two Akademiya scholars.

"With your lack of intellectual credentials, you are not qualified to debate with me," the Grand Sage Azar declares. "What you should be doing instead is finding workers to tear down this monstrosity." Beckoning Setaria along, Azar storms off the stage and through the crowd, as confused onlookers scramble to clear a path.

"Have the Scribe draft an ordinance banning public art performances before the next Jnagarbha Day," Azar says on his way out.

"I will inform him when I return," Setaria replies.

"As for the Sabzeruz Festival, let them celebrate the birth of that god to their hearts' content," Azar says with a smirk.

I chase Dunyarzad up the steps as she embraces Nilou.

"Oh, Lumine! Dunyarzad!" Nilou cries. "The Grand Sage ordered us to stop the performance."

"Nilou, it's all right," Dunyarzad says gently. "Don't worry about it."

"But you've been looking forward to this dance for so long, and I don't want you to have any regrets," Nilou says. "I know how important this festival is to you."

"It's okay," Dunyarzad says. "I don't want to cause trouble for anyone. Didn't the Grand Sage say that he might investigate the organizers?"

"If you say so," Nilou says, wiping her tears on her sleeve. "But you can sneak out for the next one, right? We'll make sure the next one is a success."

"The next one," Dunyarzad murmurs, a blank expression on her face. "I probably won't be around by then," she whispers.

"What did you just say?!" Paimon says with a start.

"Nothing. I'll be heading back to rest," Dunyarzad replies, smiling wanly. "Thank you for your help everyone." We watch as her frail silhouette melts into the crowd.

"It's a real shame," I say, "but somehow I felt this outcome was inevitable."

"We should also get some rest," Paimon says. "Maybe the deja vu was caused by exhaustion."

"My head does feel very heavy," I say, more so than I would like to admit.

"Same here!" Paimon agrees. "How about we settle in and get a good night's sleep. We can do more thinking tomorrow."

As soon as I lay down in bed, a veil of darkness overcome me, and I fall right asleep.

[*beep*]

[Observing a modest drop in the output of Jnana Energy, but values still remain within normal parameters.]

[Continue to monitor for variances in the data, and find the cause as soon as possible.]