Just as they were getting imrse in their conversation, they heard a child cry. "Mommy, my lollipops are missing!"
Yrin looked at the crying child. Cail rembered that Yrin seed to have taken sothing. Then he looked at the lollipops that Yrin was eating.
Crushed under his teeth, Yrin tossed the lollipop stick on the sand. He looked a bit confused, "I thought it was free... But I just took one. I rember that the bowl seed to be filled with lollipops before... Why is it empty?"
Cail shifted his gaze. The rest of the lollipops in his space are a testant to his cri. "Soone probably took it." He casually shifted the bla.
Yrin didn’t think much of it. His aide gave him two cans of beer. He passed one to Cail. "Wanna drink?"
"I’m underage." Cail refused. Of course, that is not the real reason. He really just doesn’t like beer.
For so reason, Yrin sat up and took off his glasses, and Cail t his eyes. He stared at Cail up and down and said, "No way, you’re kidding , right? You don’t look underage at all."
Cail felt a bit offended by the violent reaction. "You look like soone who just realized they had a sexual relationship with a minor."
Yrin laughed, "I was just shocked. You’re very mature for your age."
"That’s what he said." Cail muttered, then asked, "How old are you?" To be honest, this man looked like he was in his late 20s...
"I’m 47."
Cail almost spat out his drink. He stared at the man and his elastic skin... He doesn’t look old! Is this guy a void user or is this the power of a facelift?
"You are old enough to be my father." Cail said. His mother is just 45. She gave birth to him when she was 28.
"Wanna be my son?" Yrin teased, "You’ll have a little uncle." He rembered Veyr.
Cail had goosebumps at the ntion of ’son.’ "No, I’d rather be an orphan."
Yrin had taken a liking to him. Maybe the aura, but everything just clicked when he saw him. "You sure? I could be your Godfather if you want. I’m rich."
Hearing that, Cail actually considered... They are not related by blood and it seed like he just took a liking to him... But "I’m fine." Cail refused.
The man was disappointed but not much. "Then I’ll be your friend. You seem fun enough."
The two of them were leisurely looking at the beach. After ordering food, the event started. Loud music blasted through the speakers.
Cail squinted his eyes. He felt a bit of headache. The music was unexpectedly loud to the point that his sensitive hearing was overwheld.
"That was sudden." Yrin looked at the people excitedly cheering. He was sipping his beer as the crowd cheered louder.
As the music blasted and the sky turned orange with the setting sun, Cail rubbed his temples. It wasn’t just loud. He even felt his eardrums vibrating from the sound.
The music shifted—still electronic, but with an unnatural harmony with the sea. Cail frowned. It didn’t sound like it was coming from the speakers anymore.
The aide also tuned to looked serious. This was not planned. He and his Lord had also just seen this event poster on the beach.
Then, the temperature dropped. It was freezing cold. Sothing you shouldn’t feel at the beach especially when the sun is still visible. The laughter and music blurred together for a second... At this point, Cail had no idea if he was having hearing issues or if sothing strange was once again happening.
The big disco ball hung by a rope glowed. It cast a circle on the sand. From the crowd, a woman stepped into the light.
Her skin shimred faintly. Not glitter—sothing deeper. It was like her skin was truly reflective. Her eyes were pitch black, and she moved as if gravity treated her differently.
"Oh," Yrin muttered, suddenly alert. He placed his beer down. "Is this one of those events?"
The aide and Cail turned to him.
Cail asked, "What do you an by those?"
Yrin didn’t answer imdiately. Instead, he watched the woman raise her hand and the sea started to pulse, as if it were a heart.
He looked at Cail and smiled, "Are you accepting of the supernatural?"
Cail smiled, "What do you an? Did we encounter a ghost in daylight?" But inside, he was already slamming the floor. Let rest...
"You ever been to a Threshold Party?" Yrin finally asked. "It’s when the veil between this world and the next gets thin. Sotis the sea people co up to dance."
Then he clapped his hands. "This is amazing. After eting a new friend, we are greeted by a new adventure. My trip here wasn’t in vain."
The aide looked at the exhausted-looking Cail and felt that he probably couldn’t relate to his master’s excitent.
"The sea people?" Cail echoed. "That’s not a taphor?" Sa as before, Cail tried to flimsily struggle to act normal.
"Not remotely." Yrin stood. "You’ll know it’s real—when they start walking on water."
Sure enough, in the distance, figures began to rise from the waves—not wet. They just appeared like reflections stepping out of the ocean’s surface. They moved with elegance, dressed in formal wear that shimred like liquid tal.
Cail whispered, "Are they human?"
"They were," Yrin said cryptically. "Once."
"I think we should leave. This doesn’t seem to be our party." Cail looked at the few ’normal’ people. They seed to be hypnotized and didn’t realize that sothing odd was happening.
They were all happily dancing to the strange beat, oblivious to the aliens surfacing from the water.
Then the woman in the spotlight opened her mouth—and the sound that ca out was music, but not in any human scale. It echoed inside Cail’s chest and stirred sothing ancient.
Yrin offered him a lollipop, deadpan. "You might want to suck on sothing sweet. It keeps you grounded."
Cail refused. He looked at the ss that was happening and thought, "This man is very energetic... He better be just as energetic as this after I stir up trouble."
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