Chapter 8: The Festival of Masks
The Festival of Masks has begun! The Kitakami siblings and Juliana joined in on the festivities with the food and games. Then a mysterious child arrives…
The first night of the Festival of Masks has begun. At Kitakami Hall, the villagers had on their jinbei and were wearing all sorts of masks ranging from the Loyal Three, the ogre, and some were wearing Pikachu and Eevee masks. Multiple stalls had tasty food and cool masks.
Juliana, Kieran, and Carmine walked up the steps of Kitakami hall. The former was amazed by the sights and the sounds of music playing at the festival.
"H-Here we are! The Festival of Masks!" Kieran showed Juliana. "Today's only the first night. It'll keep going for a while."
"This is so cool!" Juliana loved what she was seeing. "I've never been to a festival like this!"
"Really?" Carmine remarked. "Guess you don't have festivals this big over in Paldea or whatever, right?" Juliana was taken aback by her question.
"Uh…"
"Oh no!" Carmine pretended to be shocked. "Guess it's so incredible you're at a loss for words, huh?"
Kieran let out a sigh of exasperation, not too thrilled with his sister's rubbing it in his friend's face. "It's OK, Juliana. Just ignore her…"
"Time for a photo!" Carmine announced. "That way you can remember this amazing night forever. Let me borrow your Roto-stick."
"Okay, sure." Juliana obliged and gave Carmine her Roto-stick.
"Scooch in closer you two!" Carmine gestured.
"OW! You're stepping on my toe, Sis!" Kieran complained feeling hurt.
"Oh, stop complaining! This'll only take a second!" Carmine shushed him. "Say Chansey!"
"Chansey!" All three said and smiled as the camera shuttered. The photo came out really nice with all three of them smiling.
"Now that's what I call a festival vibe!" Carmine complimented the photo. "The Festival of Masks is held so we can all honor the Loyal Three, the brave heroes of Kitakami! The Loyal Three are the Pokémon that once protected this land from the evil ogre, you know. Most of the villagers in town wear masks of the Loyal Three, like me. Did I mention they're our heroes?"
Kieran laughed with his hand covering his mouth. "Hehehe…"
"What? What's so funny?!" Carmine looked at her brother and demanded to know.
"N-nothin'! I was just thinking it was funny that, like…you don't know anything about the ogre." Kieran remarked.
Carmine glared unpleasantly at him with shaking fists to her chest. "What?! I know the legends of Kitakami better than anybody! Pretty gusty of you to laugh at your big sis!"
"S-Sorry…" Kieran apologized and slumped over.
"Kiki's still a little baby, so of course he thinks some terrible monster's cool. He likes the ogre more than the Loyal Three so much, he's practically obsessed." Carmine teased him.
Kieran immediately perked up upon seeing one of the stands with treats on display. "Oh look! They have candy apples! Let's go check out the stalls."
"Wait up, Kieran!" Juliana followed him.
"E-Excuse me…two candy apples please." Kieran requested with shyness in his voice.
"Coming right up!" Said the stall vender. Kieran gave them money and accepted the candy apples the vendor gave him. He offered one to Juliana. "Uh…here Juliana, you can have one."
"Oh, are you sure?" Juliana asked.
Kieran nodded. "Grandma gave me some pocket money, so it's no big deal. My treat."
Juliana smiled and accepted the candy apple. "Thanks Kieran."
Kieran smiled back. "You're welcome. I love candy apples. You don't get to eat them every day, y'know. Grandma just always makes us mochi as a snack. I even evolved my Applin into a Dipplin because of my love of candy apples."
The two teens found a little spot to sit and opened up their candy apples from the wrappers and each took a bite. Juliana's eyes lit up from the flavor explosion in her mouth. From the sweet taste of the sugar coating to the slightly tart and honey-like taste of the apple. "It's delicious! So sweet and juicy!"
"Right?! They're the best!" Kieran happily agreed.
As they were eating. Juliana saw and overheard some kids passing by and saying something about a game where they pop balloons that look like the ogre. "Hey Kieran?" She got Kieran's attention and asked. "Do you know what those kids were talking about? They mentioned a game where you pop balloons?"
"Oh. I-It's a game called Ogre Outsin'," Kieran explained. "I-It's this game w-where you pop balloons that look like the ogre's masks to collect berries a-and earn points." Kieran frowned a bit. "It's not really my thing though… But we can check it out when we're done eating."
The two finished eating their candy apples and threw the sticks in the trash. Then they went over to the Ogre Outsin' game. "Step right up for a game of Ogre Outsin'! So, y'all want to have a go?" asked the woman at the booth
"Sure. I'd like to try." Juliana responded to the woman at the game.
"Hey, you're one of those kids that came all the way from Paldea, right?" The woman asked.
"Yes, I am."
"I can't very well take money from a guest then. Have a go, on the house!"
"Thank you so much!"
"Oh, you're gonna try it, Juliana? I'll, uh…I'll cheer you on from…a safe distance…" said Kieran.
"You're up for a run of Ogre Outsin, huh?" Carmine approached them. "I just did one and it was pretty easy—for me that is. My score was 6,390! Think you can beat that?"
"Go for it, Juliana!" Kieran cheered for his friend.
One game of Ogre Outsin' later, Juliana earned a score of 6000 points. Just a bit behind Carmine's score.
"I, Carmine, Mossui's reigning champion of ogre balloon busting… has triumphed!" Carmine bragged with a satisfied smirk on her face. "I really wanna have another go to deliver a killer score! But I don't have much pocket money left…" She turned to Kieran with a sweet smile. "Kiki, you go serve Juliana a sound defeat for me!"
But of course, Kieran didn't want to play a game that put his idol in a bad light. "N-no thanks… I-I'll pass…"
That sweet smile Carmine had quickly turned into a shocked and sour glare down at him. "What's that?! You're taking the side of an outsider over your own sister?! That makes me so annoyed I think I'm gonna black out!"
Kieran looked at Juliana, feeling embarrassed at his sister's behavior. "Ugh…Sorry she's causing such a scene. Don't worry—I'll deal with her. Why don'tcha go wander around a bit in the meantime?"
"You sure you're gonna be okay?" Juliana asked in a whisper.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry." Kieran replied and reassured her.
Juliana did as Kieran suggested and went for a little walk around the festival. Her eyes caught a glance of someone from a distance. She could've sworn she'd seen a small green hooded child wearing a mask. Her curiosity led her to follow the child close to the staircase that led up to Oni Mountain. She got a closer look and saw the mask the child was wearing. It was similar to Kieran's mask, only bigger. She bent down to the child's level to greet them.
"Pon?" the child said in a curious high-pitched voice.
Juliana smiled cutely at the child. "Hello there. My name's Juliana. Are you enjoying the festival?"
"Ponio!" the child cheerfully jumped in the air. Juliana giggled at the sight.
"That's a cool mask you have there. My friend has one that looks like yours." She complimented.
Meanwhile back at the Ogre Outsin' game, Kieran appeared to be dizzy and moaned. He held his head with his hand to ease the lightheadedness. Carmine pinched the bridge of her nose in embarrassment. "Seriously, Kiki?! You had a lot of time, and you couldn't even pop ONE balloon?! You have zero talent! You seriously gotta up your game! It's like you weren't even trying!" She shouted at him.
Kieran shook his head out of his dazed state and shot a glaring look at his sister. "I told you a million times! I don't like Ogre Outsin'!"
"They're just balloons! Ugh! Forget it!" Carmine didn't feel like arguing with him. Not on a festive night like this one. "I'm gonna go get some chow! You do whatever!" She ran off to the noodle stall to cool down.
Kieran sighed in relief after that little tiff was over. He decided to go find Juliana to clear his head. After a minute of looking, he spotted her talking to someone and went over to her. "Hey Juliana."
"Hi Kieran. Are you okay?" She noticed Kieran looked a little sad. "You look a little unhappy."
"Sorry…" Kieran apologized for making her worry. "I played a game of Ogre Outsin' just to get Sis off my back, but…" He sighed heavily. "It didn't go well at all. I didn't pop even one balloon. Sis got so mad and said I had no talent…" He looked down and noticed the green hooded child next to Juliana. "Hm? Who's your friend here?"
The child jumped scared at Kieran's presence and ran up the stairs. "Wait, don't run!" Juliana called. Without thinking, she ran and followed the child to the base of Oni Mountain at the bottom of the stairs.
"W-Wait, Juliana!" Kieran followed behind, concerned for her safety. "You shouldn't run off on your own!" He looked at the hooded child next. "H-hey, you up there! You need to come down too!"
The child quickly jumped and did a backflip to try to escape as if it didn't want to get into a conflict. Unfortunately, the kid stumbled upon landing and dropped the mask they were wearing. It rolled down the stairs towards Juliana and Kieran. Without the mask, the kid had an orange face with yellow eyes and two little black horns on their head. The kid tried covering their face, not wanting to reveal themself. "Gah…"
Juliana picked up the mask off the floor and tried to return it to the kid. "Here. You dropped your mask."
Kieran tried calling the kid again. "D-Don't be afraid! Please come down! It's dangerous to wander by yourself at night!"
Unfortunately, the kid was more scared than it felt before and ran off towards the mountains quickly. Both teens were saddened, and Juliana just put the mask in her bag for safekeeping. Kieran tapped her shoulder to get her attention. "Hey Juliana. Who was that kid?"
Juliana started to think differently about the encounter they just had. "I-I don't think that was a kid at all…"
Kieran looked at her in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"I think…" She came to a conclusion that'll surprise Kieran. "I think that was the ogre."
Kieran's eyes widened and was stunned. Could the stories he heard as a child were true? "Th-The o-ogre?! Like the one in the story on the signboards?" He took a couple of shaky breaths before settling down. He realized Juliana might be on to something. "I think you're right though. They did run towards the mountain…A-And they dropped a mask. It's gotta be the ogre."
"Kiki! Juliana!" They were interrupted by the sound of Carmine's voice as she approached them. "There you two are! What are you guys doing back here?"
Juliana started to explain without thinking. "Oh, we just found the ogre-"
"Mask!" Kieran cut her off suddenly as if he was covering up something. "The-The wind blew my ogre mask o-off my head."
Carmine was a bit confused and skeptical given their location at Oni Mountain. "And it flew all the way back here?"
Kieran sheepishly smiled. "Y-Yep. That's what happened. Good thing we found it though. Right Juliana?" He urged her to play along.
"R-Right! Kieran got his mask back safe and sound!" Juliana said following Kieran's instruction.
Carmine looked at the staircase leading up to Oni Mountain behind them and felt a little suspicious inside. "You two weren't planning to climb Oni Mountain, were you?"
"Of course not!" Juliana answered at least knowing that part was true.
"Hmm…" Carmine gave them another look before shrugging. "Alright then, I'm heading back to the festival." She took off and went back. However, as she was walking away, she started to get suspicious again. All kinds of thoughts swirled into her head. Those two are hiding something…especially that outsider, Juliana! Grandpa needs to know about this.
Back to Juliana and Kieran, once Carmine was out of an earshot, the latter let out a heavy sigh of relief and turned to the former. "That was close."
"Kieran, how come you didn't want Carmine to know about the ogre?" Juliana asked genuinely curious.
"Umm…Y-You know how I told you everyone is scared of the ogre?" Kieran asked if Juliana remembered.
"Yeah, I do." She confirmed.
"W-Well…" Kieran prepared himself for a long explanation. "My sis may not seem like it given how she tends to be mean and insensitive a lot, but…she's always been kinda overprotective of me. She really doesn't like the idea of me getting close to the ogre. If Sis knew about us meeting it, she'd freak out. So-So please don't t-tell her." He looked at Juliana pleadingly.
Juliana saw the look in his eyes. Although Carmine was acting kinda mean towards her and Kieran, she knew that Carmine had a caring side as she remembered her saying to look out for Kieran. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I won't tell. Promise."
He smiled, feeling a weight was lifted. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." She replied back.
"That mask we found. We should see my grandpa tomorrow. He might know something about it."
"Sure, I think that's a good idea." Juliana said yes.
"C'mon we should head back to the festival before Sis gets suspicious."
Juliana nodded in agreement and both of them headed back to the festival. They helped themselves to some fried noodles and shaved ice from the stalls. After they were done eating, Juliana was ready to head back to the Community Center. Kieran walked with her back to Mossui.
"Thanks for taking me to the festival tonight, Kieran. I really had a lot of fun!" Juliana thanked him with a big smile.
"Y-You're welcome. I'm really glad you liked it." Kieran smiled back, grateful to have shared a part of his culture with his new friend. "See you tomorrow then!"
The two waved goodbye to each other, looking forward to the next day and hoping to find out more about the ogre's mask.
Note: Here it is! Juliana and Kieran meet the ogre instead of Carmine.
Shout out to YouTuber Tempertenchi for the inspiration for Chapter 8! This person created an AU post on their channel where the main character and Kieran meet the ogre.
Juliana's Pokémon on hand: Meowscarada (F), Swadloon (F), Cutiefly (Shiny, F), Lucario (M), Espeon (F), Gabite (F)
Juliana's ride Pokémon: Koraidon
Pokémon in Juliana's boxes: Dachsbun (F), Lycanroc (Midday Form, F)
Read Chapter 9 where Juliana and Kieran find out more about the ogre!
More of the story coming tomorrow!