The festival started much earlier than I was expecting. Instead of it being an evening party, people started gathering a few hours after lunch. And by the looks of it, that was the expected ti fra. Which, in hindsight, made sense. So of the decorations we were preparing would really only be seen during the day. And at night they would just vanish into the darkness.
Mainly the small flags that we created to give the area a more festive appearance. Another surprise was the location of the festival. I figured we would be using the village itself for the party, but instead we all walked closer to the lake by so of the ruined structures that existed near the shore. There was this one particular area that might have been a town square in the old world, or maybe a park. That's where the committee set up the various decorations, tables, and everything else.
I only had to take one look at the place to understand how skewed my expectations really were. Looking at this place and calling it a party, as the type of party I knew about, was just not fair. To , a party or a festival would basically boil down to one table with so food and drinks and people surrounding it talking in hushed tones while at the sa ti being a bit more careless than they were used to.
But the tension and the worry and, more importantly, the fear of attracting the Eater was still very much there. Ingrained in every single movent and every single action, it was taken by the people participating in the party. Yet here, that fear was simply non-existent. People greeted each other from across the park yelling loudly each other's nas. There were laughs and shouts everywhere without a care or a drop of worry. Everyone was excited, happy, and bringing so much food and so many drinks that I had a hard ti tracking them all.
From simple fish, to rice and potatoes, and a lot of fruit for dessert. There were even eggs. It took less than a minute to figure out where they ca from. As the person who brought them was boasting loudly. Apparently sowhere on the outskirts of the village. In the areas where if there was to be an attack, they would be the first ones to be hit. The areas where if one were to speak too loudly would be the most likely to attract an Eater. In those areas, there were chicken coops and people raising actual chickens. Not birds, not just more critters that live in the forest, but real chickens.
The one strange thing was that the rooster didn't really sing in the morning. Otherwise I would have heard it. I asked around and apparently, they had to remove the vocal cords of the rooster once it was born. It was a bit of a brutal process but it was the type of thing that if not done, would cause many many problems. At least according to who told .
That information made the entire situation even more confusing. Wasn't the lake supposed to protect them? If that was the case, why would they care about roosters waking every morning? Or maybe the rooster was the only creature that could attract an Eater for so reason. Or maybe it had to do with the lake. If anything started scaring them, whoever or whatever lived inside the lake wouldn't handle and decide to co out. There were too many questions and not enough answers today.
But my thoughts were pushed to the side the mont a woman passed in front of carrying a tray with a few dozen chocolate-covered muffins. I had no clue how they got chocolate, but I wasn't about to ignore that opportunity.
That ended up being the main issue during this festival. It was just too much. Too much for , Astrid, and Michael to see, too much for us to eat, too much for us to drink, too much for us to enjoy.
Which resulted in the three of us completely forgetting about Pala's sister and not even attempting to find out more about her situation. There was still sothing in the back of my mind telling to be careful and look out. But it was very hard to listen to that annoying voice when singing and dancing with people was so much fun.
When the sun went down, they all light up so lanterns with fish oil that frankly slled terrible but were a very good source of light. And as long as you didn't get too close, the scent wouldn't be a problem. Eventually The Matriarch stepped forward and started speaking. This was the first part of the festival that I was truly aware of. Where the leader of the village would just spend a few monts thanking the lake for everything it had done for them, for the protection and all the things it's brought to the village.
It was a nice speech, but I was barely paying attention. I was more looking at the houses. The structures created in the old world and how they now had this patchwork of decorations created by the people who lived in this village, each one of them unique in their own way but at the sa ti blending together very nicely. There were small flags, flower arrangents, and pieces of tapestry all placed over the rubble to make it seem less like the world had ended, and more as if people were regaining their strength.
But the more I looked at them, the more that voice in the back of my head seed to grow louder. There was sothing about those ruined dwellings, sothing about the way the pillars and rubble were resting against each other, and the tiny strange craters on the floor that bothered . But I couldn't quite wrap my finger around the reason why it felt so wrong. It was as if there was sothing that was missing.
Before I was able to understand what was going on, the matriarch finished her speech and people started the music again. Now accompanied by a complete live band instead of just a couple of bards playing their instrunts. They had not just a guitar but even a saxophone, an accordion, and a ukulele in the small group as a woman stepped forward. Her skin was darker than mine, making her blend against the backdrop of the lake in a natural and ethereal way.
It was quite beautiful the way they had set up the lights to keep the singer hidden by the shadows while still allowing us to see glimpses of her face. She was a bit on the heavier side, but the mont the woman started to sing, any prejudice anyone could have vanished. Her voice was powerful, elegant, and it carried in a way that it wouldn't be a surprise if people were able to hear her from the other side of the lake.
The song she was singing wasn't sothing new, and the lyrics were truly nothing special. Just ntioned love, a good life, the night sky and good friends. It was a mixture of jazz with sothing a bit more rural, maybe sothing leaning into country music, but even I, who didn't understand much about the subject, had to agree she was amazing.
While she was singing, everybody continued enjoying the event. Michael was regaling people with so histories from his childhood. So about how he was brave and scared off a large animal, and others about how he tried to sneak a bite out of so particularly tempting dessert, only to be caught by the baker and get a scolding from his parents. Astrid and I were in the sa group, mostly listening to the stories that were being shared, but any semblance of worry or curiosity about what happened to Pala's sister was gone. We were just intoxicated by the festival.
There was nothing else in my mind.
Later in the evening, after we had eaten a lot of food, drank a lot of drinks, and overall enjoyed the experience to the utmost, Pala managed to find . And I barely managed to recognize her until she pulled away from the group.
"Hey, what's going on? Did you find anything," the woman asked.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't. I asked Astrid and Michael, but they also were unable to co up with anything that could help."
"So that's it? You give up and whatever happened to my sister is never going to be found out?"
I let out a sigh. This was about her sister, why was she acting as if I was the only one who could do anything about it? "No, that's not what I'm saying. We are still trying to figure out to see if we can understand what happened or where your sister is, but we just started. I an, it's been a day since we started talking to people and we don't have the advantage that you do. We weren't there to know where to start. I'm sorry but things like that are going to take ti besides-" I was interrupted by The Matriarch who stepped into the middle of the square and started speaking.
"Friends, family, visitors. It is a pleasure to have you all here today to celebrate all the gifts that the lake gives us. I cannot put into words how proud I am of all of you, of this village, for growing so much in the last year. Every day that I wake up here, I feel blessed to be close to all of you and being close to the lake."
There were so claps as people started to realize what was going to happen.
"But now, as it is tradition. It is ti for us to give sothing back to the waters. And I hope all of you are excited to see who our bride from our groom will be."
There were more claps as everybody settled.
"But before we start, I do have a reminder for our visitors. It is tradition to put the nas of everybody in the village on the hat from where nas will be drawn. So I do hope that if you are chosen to marry the lake, you would also participate in the ceremony to make sure that our village can continue to prosper in the next year. But the chances of one of you being chosen are pretty small. I an, it could be what, one in 50?"
"54," a voice shouted from the crowd. Confirming how many people lived here.
I never did a head count, but that should be right. There were a lot of people here, more than I had seen in any other villages I passed by.
With a nod, Alia continued, "The odds are very small."
The Matriarch didn't give anyone a chance to respond to what she said, simply continuing the ceremony like nothing happened. It was pretty obvious that if one of us was picked to be married to the lake, we wouldn't have the right to refuse.
She made a show of slowly picking one of the nas that was written down on pieces of paper. After a mont she pulled her arm out of the large top hat that was sitting on a table. Her hands seed to have carried two nas instead of just one, one that was firmly between her fingers and the other that was just dangling underneath the original piece of cloth that she picked up. Both attached by the loose string from the sides.
"Would you look at that, the lake wants two spouses this ti. First," she opened the paper slowly, making sure to build the tension to increase the impact of what was going on. Alia did have a flare for the dramatic. In a different situation, I could see her making her life as an entertainer.
"Pala, I think the lake really enjoyed being married to your sister last year. That's why you have been chosen. Congratulations. You're following in her footsteps."
Alia pointed at Pala, slowly guiding her towards the center of the park. It was clear the woman was shocked at first. No one could deny her expression. But, after hearing she was following her sister, Pala seed to relax. As if this was sothing she now wanted to do. Maybe the idea that she could use this to learn what happened to her sister was going through her mind, but I had so doubts about that.
The matriarch started to open the second piece of paper that ca with the first. "Would you look at that? Michael, please co here."
He shot a knowing look that quickly beca a big smile and started walking towards the matriarch, causing so of the people in the village to cheer him.
The Matriarch asked so people to bring their wedding dresses, which, funnily enough, was a dress for both Michael and Pala to wear. Even if the male version was not as flowy as the one worn by the woman, it was just a long piece of white transparent fabric that wouldn't drag anyone down when they were swimming. It wasn't the full wedding gown that existed before. Just more like a random dress that they insisted on wearing.
At one point, Pala seed to realize what she was about to do and tried to co up with an excuse as to not be married to the lake. Saying that she didn't know how to swim and, because of that reason, couldn't go to the other side of the lake. But there is a solution for that. Instead of swimming, Pala could take a boat and row all the way to the other side. As long as Michael was there, and soone was actually swimming, the ceremony would be completed without any issues.
Alia frad her explanation as if the lake itself had picked the two spouses for that very sa reason. The way she spoke really made it seem everything makes sense. As if the lake really was interacting with them in such a direct way and preparing everything for the future. At the sa ti, it gave more of the cult vibes that I was already getting from this place.
The mbers of the committee quickly helped the two people who were about to marry the lake into the transparent shirts that were their dresses. Despite not seeming to be rushing them, they were surprisingly quick. It took less than a minute for both Michael and Pala to be ready to start swimming.
That's when everybody was guided to a pier where the boat that Pala was going to take was waiting for them already.
"Feel free to take the boat. You should not help each other, as that is what the lake asks of us. However, if you feel you can't go on, Michael. Feel free to hold on to the boat. Your safety is more important and we are not trying to have anyone drowning during the festival," Alia said in a worried tone. It was really hard to believe she was doing anything evil while she spoke like that.
The Matriarch continued with her speech and at one point she pointed to an area to the right of the lake and waved an oil lamp. Another light suddenly appeared there. It wasn't on the opposite side of the lake, but it would still be around 1 km [0.6 mi] of traveling.
Alia continued speaking again, and this ti it was clearly an extensive monologue. That's when I just shoot a look Astrid and gestured to the road. She nodded, and we sneaked out. According to everyone we talked to, people could watch the two of them going through the lake and people did so. The only mont when they wouldn't be seen by anyone else was when they arrived at the opposite shore. The only people on the other side were those waiting for the spouses to give them a change of clothes and so warm food as a reward for their efforts.
So, the best plan was to go towards where the light was without being seen by the matriarch or anyone on the path. After all, if we wanted to discover sothing nefarious going on we had to make sure our suspects were unaware of our suspicion. But the reason for our movent quickly changed as the moonlight hit the lake at a specific angle and showed a large shape following Michael and Pala as they moved to the other side of the shore.
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