The Festival: Morning (or, The Celebration Begins)
Light was streaming in from the staircase when he awoke.
Felix blinked once, trying to clear the sleepy grit from his eyes. A kind elderly couple had allowed him to use an extra bed which had belonged to their grandson before he had been killed in Sol Sanctum. He was hidden under layers of thick woolen blankets and flannel sheets; the whole night had been like sleeping under a sea of covers. The old woman who lived there had been frantic with worries that "the poor little Angaran boy" might get cold in the night that she had drowned him in the warm covers. Felix had tried to tell her that he knew how to sleep in the cold; Vale was a mountain village, after all, so it wasn't like he hadn't experienced winter before. The old lady had been so insistent, however, that Felix had finally given up on his pleading.
As a result of this, Felix had awoken to find that he was practically swimming in his own sweat. His body heat hovered beneath the covers, wrapping itself around him like one more heavy blanket upon his chest. It didn't help much that the room he slept in was underground, not to mention that Felix's bed was next to the fireplace in the stone-walled cellar. The fire had most likely been going all night, as Felix could tell from the smoky odor in the still morning air.
Needless to say, Felix sat up and threw off his blankets almost instantly after waking. He regretted doing so immediately, however, as the air streaming in from the staircase was bitterly cold, indicating early morning. The fire looked to have gone out long ago. Meanwhile, the sweat on Felix's skin grew cold with exposure to the frigid air, and now made Felix feel that he had just stepped out of a cold bath.
He looked down at what he had worn to bed and scowled. His chest was bare, and the leggings he had worn were of a very thin material. His shirt was nowhere in sight, much to his dismay. However, a glance around the room revealed a fresh set of clothing awaiting him on a desk at the foot of his bed.A red tunic, a pair of breeches, and a grey jerkin all were folded neatly on top of the wood, along with a knitted scarf that lay in a curling, tangled heap, like some sort of snake. Felix sighed in relief at the site of the clothing and began to get dressed, barely ignoring the chill that pressed itself into his skin.
As he was finishing with his jerkin, Saturos came down the stairs. The blue-haired man had apparently decided not to don his armor today; he instead wore a sleeveless blue tunic, revealing scale-like particles on his upper arms and shoulders. His headband was still in place, and the leggings he wore under his tunic were thin and flowing. A scarf was messily tossed around his shoulders,and he carried several large silver canisters in his arms.
His red eyes darted momentarily to Felix before refocusing on the stairs. "About time you woke up, whelp. The festival began over an hour ago!" He finished walking down the stairs and walked across the room.
Felix moved on to his boots, pulling one on and wincing as he tried to get his foot in. "Festival?" he asked as the leather boot finally gave way.
"Yes, whelp, festival! The Sun Festival is today!" Saturos gave Felix a glare. He had made his way over to the corner of the room, where a nice-sized pile of the canisters was beginning to form. Only now did Felix notice how many had been there before Saturos had brought down this load.
"What are those?" he asked.
Saturos grinned at him, eyes dancing with amusement, then turned back to the canisters, adjusting them carefully, as though they might break upon touching one another.
Felix frowned and stomped one foot. "I asked what they are!"
"Hormonal, aren't you, whelp?" Saturos asked, turning back to Felix. "Don't you stomp your foot at me. Besides, what they are is really none of your business, whelp!"
"But--"
"If you hurry,"Saturos continued, "you might be able to catch the parade. It starts at Mars Lighthouse and comes all the way through town. I believe you'll like it."
"But what's the festival for?" Felix asked. Being confused always gave him such headaches.
Saturos smirked at Felix before standing up and walking back upstairs. Felix realized he was still only wearing one boot, so he pulled on the other as quickly as he could and grabbed the scarf. After a few minutes, he still hadn't had any luck with getting the scarf to stay neatly tied around his neck. He decided no amount of fiddling would fix it and ran upstairs, hoping that maybe Alex was somewhere close by.
He didn't even get out the door before the elderly woman greeted him.
"Felix, dear! Did you sleep all right? Were you warm enough? You didn't get cold in the night, did you? Did you have enough blankets? The night air didn't get to you, did it?" She began toying with the scarf as Felix himself had been seconds ago.
"I'm fine, ma'am," Felix said, holding back a wince.
"You're warm enough now, aren't you?" The woman's orange hair was falling out of its tightly-wound bun. "I can't imagine how you manage to stay warm with that tiny frame of yours! Look at you, all skin and bone, no meat on you whatsoever--"
"No, really, I'm fine." The wince was tugging at the corners of Felix's lips.
"You don't have to be up yet, you know. You can sleep in however late you want to," the woman continued, as if Felix had never said a word. "Poor thing, I can't even fathom what a tragedy you must have gone through, nearly drowning in that storm that killed so many others."
The mention of the storm brought images of Jenna to Felix's mind, tearing down the wall he had so carefully erected around his thoughts. He looked away. "I'm fine." There was a bit more force in his voice this time. "I'd just like to go outside and enjoy the festival."
"All right, dear, if that's what you want to do, then go ahead.I'll make lunch for you."
Felix fixed his scarf one last time and turned. "No, thank you. I'll find something to eat. Don't worry about me." With that, he walked outside and instantly blinked.
The snow over the ground sparkled like millions of stars piled on top of one another, glittering yellow, white, and silver. The shadows were falling differently that they had been the day before, and there was something warm in the normally-cold Prox air.
He looked up to see that today, no clouds obscured the sky of Prox. Instead, the sun loomed in the sky, shining a bright yellow-white against the sapphire sky. Not even so much as a brush of white clouds touched the infinite blue field above him. Only white sun and blue skies abounded.
"I've been looking for you."
Felix returned his attention to earth to come face-to-face with Alex, who wore clothes of deep blue shades and a scarf almost identical to Felix's own. He was grinning widely, and his long blue locks had been carefully brushed away from his aquamarine eyes.
"I was hoping you'd be somewhere around here!" Felix said. "Saturos was being grumpy as usual when he woke me up, but I knew you'd be nice."
"So you consider me your friend, then?"
Felix was taken aback. "Of course!"
Alex's smile transformed into a smirk. "Well, then," he said, "let's go. I've saved a spot for you near the front of the parade route." His hand came down on Felix's shoulder, and they were suddenly standing in the snow outside Prox,Mars Lighthouse looming over the horizon and casting long, black shadows in the morning sun. Other Proxians stood around them as well, forming a path from the Lighthouse to Prox itself. The two Adepts received some strange looks as they appeared out of nowhere, but the people shortly continued their chattering at they waited for the parade to start.
"Are you excited?" Alex asked, taking his hand off Felix's shoulder. "More importantly, do you feel sick?"
"Yes, and no," Felix said. "I think one teleport's all it takes to get used to the feeling."
"Perhaps," Alex replied. "Though since it is Water Psynergy, I doubt Mars Adepts would take it very well." He smirked again. "Perhaps I should try it on Saturos sometime, hmm?"
Felix stifled a laugh. "That'd teach him!" he hissed between the laughs he couldn't quite swallow.
Alex nodded, then asked, "So I assume you are completely well now?"
"I assume that I sweated it out under all those blankets last night!" Felix replied. "I might have died from heat exhaustion, Alex! The old woman wouldn't take no for an answer!"
Drumbeats announced the parade's approach, and the entire crowd grew quiet. Dancers were the first to come up the snowy pathway, twirling and prancing in skirts or breeches of gold. The male dancers wore no shirts; the females wore loose, flowing red shirts with long, puffy sleeves. All of the dancers had coated their multicolored skin with golden streaks of paint, and the women wore heavy golden earrings.
The dance itself consisted of weaving motions; the women's movements flowed around the men. An embrace, then a spin followed by the women performing quick backflips. A quick thrust of the arms to the sky, the women going into splits, the men spinning around and making arcane gestures with their hands.
Felix saw Menardi's sister Karst among the dancers and realized at that point that none of them could be much older than him or Alex.
After the dancers came several horse-drawn carts, each holding some sort of ornament to the sun. A statue of the goddess Iris, clad in red and gold, a painting of the sun glowing yellow and orange in a red sky, priests and priestesses clad in gold. More dancers. Another cart. Felix was having small things thrown at him from the carts. One hit him on the bridge of his nose; he picked it up when it fell to the ground to find that it was a round red candy.
"Proxian candies," Alex said, holding one of his own. "I've heard they're quite tasty." Felix pocketed the candy, along with a few others that laid on the ground, their colors ranging anywhere from yellow to violet.
The parade ended with a marching band, all of its members carrying gold-painted instruments, from wooden pan flutes to bugle horns. They played a lively marching tune as they passed, all of them wearing short-sleeved golden shirts and long red breeches. A group of baton-twirlers and flag-carrying women followed the musicians, after which the street was left empty.
"Rather short,"Alex muttered, "but it will do. This is, after all, the only day the Proxians have much of anything to celebrate."
Felix put one candy into his mouth and sucked on it. "So now what?"
"I'm not quite sure, to be honest," Alex said. "I suppose we could go back to the village and ask Saturos."
"Where's Menardi, anyway?" Felix asked.
"Who knows? For that matter, who really cares?" Alex said. "She'll find us sooner or later, be well assured. And then we'll have the privilege of hearing her nag."
Felix made a face as he almost swallowed his candy from laughing. He gasped for air. "Don't do that!" he yelled at Alex, who smiled devilishly in response. His hand came down in a fist on Felix's shoulder, and the two vanished again, appearing in front of the inn. A crowd of people was clustered in front of the building, watching the street in anticipation of the approaching parade.
Alex and Felix walked into the inn and spent the next forty-five minutes playing game after game of chess, in which Alex shamelessly beat the younger boy every time. Their most recent game was interrupted, however, when Menardi came storming in.
"And what are you two doing? I suppose you missed the parade?"
Felix popped another candy into his mouth. "Not a chance," he said, tucking the orange sweet into his cheek. "These things are great!"
"Come on, the tournament's starting!" Menardi said. "It's the best part of the day, and Saturos will be fighting!"
"Don't want to miss your boyfriend go at it, do you?" Alex muttered, taking a candy from Felix's hands and moving his knight.
Menardi's face turned even redder than its natural tone. "What are you insinuating?"
"Never you mind," Alex said. He stood up. "Checkmate, Felix." Turning his attention to Menardi, he asked, "A tournament, you said? I'd like to try my luck."
"Sorry, boy, but Psynergy isn't allowed. And I doubt you could lift a sword."
"Menardi! I'm insulted! Honestly!"
"Well, the truth does tend to hurt, Alex. . . ." Menardi frowned at Felix as he stood up. "Anyway, it's out near the Lighthouse in just a few more minutes. And you--fix your scarf, boy." She whirled to leave, her skirt flying out with the quick movement. Felix scowled at his scarf as she left and others came pouring in.
"What is everyone's problem with my scarf?" the brown-haired teen muttered.
Alex grinned at him. "Well, it does look rather unkempt." He quickly raised one hand to his mouth and stifled a laugh.
"It's not funny!" Felix protested.
"Alex, did you sleep well?" A violet-skinned woman had come up to the Mercury Adept. "Did you see the parade?"
"Yes and yes, thank you," Alex said, turning to speak with her. "The parade was wonderful, and I have to compliment you on the candies. I trust they are the same you were chilling last night? They're exquisite."
The woman's violet skin grew red,and she looked down. "Oh, Alex, you flatter me!"
"On the contrary, dear lady, your city flatters me by letting me stay in this inn free of charge.I don't deserve such treatment!"
Felix decided to head for the tournament grounds; Alex's nonsense talk was beginning to make him feel sick. "Alex, I'm going! I'll meet you there!"
Alex waved one hand at Felix and continued chatting with the woman. Felix made a face and continued outside, where the streets were now oddly vacant.It seemed that everyone had either gone inside to eat or headed to the tournament grounds. Felix looked up, spotted Mars Lighthouse's glittering towers, and headed off in that direction. It wasn't too long before he accidently ran into someone.
"Oh, whoops!" he said as the younger girl fell to the ground. "I'm sorry, are you all right?" He bent over and helped the girl to her feet.She had long blue hair against yellow skin, with large eyes that seemed more pink than red.
Felix's heart skipped a beat when he realized it was that same little girl from the funeral pyre last night. Actzir's little sister.
"I'm fine," she said, dusting off her sky-blue skirt and red shirt. "I'm sorry I was in your way. Was Felix your name?"
"Yeah. What's yours?"
"Kiana."
The two stood quietly looking at one another for about a minute before Felix came up with something to say. "I, um, saw you at the pyre last night . . ."
Kiana's eyes closed very quickly, and she wrapped her arms around herself as she began shaking. "I don't want to think about it."
Felix winced. "I'm sorry. I know it must have been hard for you to lose your big brother."
"Actzir was the best big brother in the world!" she said. Tears were starting to flow down her cheeks. "He was my best friend, too! And now all I have's my dad . . . my mother was already dead. Actzir always looked out for me! I," she gasped in midsentence, "I miss him! He would have fought at the tournament this year, but he can't because he's gone forever!"
For the second time, Felix saw Jenna in Kiana's place, sobbing as well for her dead parents and brother, tossing flowers in the river as remembrances, tears coursing down her cheeks from her red-brown eyes.
He hardly realized what he was doing when he wrapped his arms around her and gently stroked her hair. "Shh, shh, it's all right."
"F-f-felix?" she choked, her eyes getting wider as she looked up at him.
"I'll make you a deal, Kiana," he said, bending just enough to be closer to the shorter girl's ear. "Until I leave again with Saturos and Menardi and Alex, I'll be your big brother, all right? You can cry on my shoulder, and I'll look out for you just like Actzir did."
He was even a bit startled when she returned his embrace. "Thank you," she whispered, burying her head in his chest and easily soaking his tunic with her tears. After awhile, she finally pulled away, drying her eyes with the back of her hand and attempting to smile.
"Are you all right now?" Felix asked. She nodded. "Do you still want to go to the tournament?" Another nod. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'll . . . I'll be all right, as long as I have my big brother with me." Her smile was true this time when she showed it to him. He gave her one of his own in return.
"Then we'll both go."
They took each other's hand and walked toward Mars Lighthouse together.