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 time frame. Which, in hindsight, made sense. Some 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 fgs 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 vilge itself for the party, but instead we all walked closer to the ke by some of the ruined structures that existed near the shore. There was this one particur 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 pce to understand how skewed my expectations really were. Looking at this pce and calling it a party, as the type of party I knew about, was just not fair. To me, a party or a festival would basically boil down to one table with some food and drinks and people surrounding it talking in hushed tones while at the same time 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 movement 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 names. There were ughs 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 time tracking them all.

  From simple fish, to rice and potatoes, and a lot of fruit for dessert. There were even eggs. It took me less than a minute to figure out where they came from. As the person who brought them was boasting loudly. Apparently somewhere on the outskirts of the vilge. 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 me.

  That information made the entire situation even more confusing. Wasn't the ke 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 some reason. Or maybe it had to do with the ke. If anything started scaring them, whoever or whatever lived inside the ke wouldn't handle and decide to come out. There were too many questions and not enough answers today.

  But my thoughts were pushed to the side the moment a woman passed in front of me carrying a tray with a few dozen chocote-covered muffins. I had no clue how they got chocote, 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 me, 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 Pame's sister and not even attempting to find out more about her situation. There was still something in the back of my mind telling me 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 some nterns with fish oil that frankly smelled 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 vilge would just spend a few moments thanking the ke for everything it had done for them, for the protection and all the things it's brought to the vilge.

  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 vilge, each one of them unique in their own way but at the same time blending together very nicely. There were small fgs, flower arrangements, and pieces of tapestry all pced 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 seemed to grow louder. There was something about those ruined dwellings, something about the way the pilrs and rubble were resting against each other, and the tiny strange craters on the floor that bothered me. But I couldn't quite wrap my finger around the reason why it felt so wrong. It was as if there was something 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 pying their instruments. 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 ke 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 moment 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 ke.

  The song she was singing wasn't something new, and the lyrics were truly nothing special. Just mentioned love, a good life, the night sky and good friends. It was a mixture of jazz with something a bit more rural, maybe something 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 some histories from his childhood. Some about how he was brave and scared off a rge animal, and others about how he tried to sneak a bite out of some particurly tempting dessert, only to be caught by the baker and get a scolding from his parents. Astrid and I were in the same group, mostly listening to the stories that were being shared, but any sembnce of worry or curiosity about what happened to Pame'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, Pame managed to find me. And I barely managed to recognize her until she pulled me 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 come 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 mean, 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 time 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 ke gives us. I cannot put into words how proud I am of all of you, of this vilge, for growing so much in the st year. Every day that I wake up here, I feel blessed to be close to all of you and being close to the ke."

  There were some cps as people started to realize what was going to happen.

  "But now, as it is tradition. It is time for us to give something 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 cps as everybody settled.

  "But before we start, I do have a reminder for our visitors. It is tradition to put the names of everybody in the vilge on the hat from where names will be drawn. So I do hope that if you are chosen to marry the ke, you would also participate in the ceremony to make sure that our vilge can continue to prosper in the next year. But the chances of one of you being chosen are pretty small. I mean, 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 vilges I passed by.

  With a nod, Amelia 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 ke, we wouldn't have the right to refuse.

  She made a show of slowly picking one of the names that was written down on pieces of paper. After a moment she pulled her arm out of the rge top hat that was sitting on a table. Her hands seemed to have carried two names 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 ke wants two spouses this time. First," she opened the paper slowly, making sure to build the tension to increase the impact of what was going on. Amelia did have a fre for the dramatic. In a different situation, I could see her making her life as an entertainer.

  "Pame, I think the ke really enjoyed being married to your sister st year. That's why you have been chosen. Congratutions. You're following in her footsteps."

  Amelia pointed at Pame, 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, Pame seemed to rex. As if this was something 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 some doubts about that.

  The matriarch started to open the second piece of paper that came with the first. "Would you look at that? Michael, please come here."

  He shot me a knowing look that quickly became a big smile and started walking towards the matriarch, causing some of the people in the vilge to cheer him.

  The Matriarch asked some people to bring their wedding dresses, which, funnily enough, was a dress for both Michael and Pame 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, Pame seemed to realize what she was about to do and tried to come up with an excuse as to not be married to the ke. Saying that she didn't know how to swim and, because of that reason, couldn't go to the other side of the ke. But there is a solution for that. Instead of swimming, Pame could take a boat and row all the way to the other side. As long as Michael was there, and someone was actually swimming, the ceremony would be completed without any issues.

  Amelia framed her expnation as if the ke itself had picked the two spouses for that very same reason. The way she spoke really made it seem everything makes sense. As if the ke really was interacting with them in such a direct way and preparing everything for the future. At the same time, it gave me more of the cult vibes that I was already getting from this pce.

  The members of the committee quickly helped the two people who were about to marry the ke 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 Pame to be ready to start swimming.

  That's when everybody was guided to a pier where the boat that Pame 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 ke 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," Amelia 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 ke and waved an oil mp. Another light suddenly appeared there. It wasn't on the opposite side of the ke, but it would still be around 1 km [0.6 m of traveling.

  Amelia continued speaking again, and this time 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 ke and people did so. The only moment 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 some warm food as a reward for their efforts.

  So, the best pn 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 something nefarious going on we had to make sure our suspects were unaware of our suspicion. But the reason for our movement quickly changed as the moonlight hit the ke at a specific angle and showed a rge shape following Michael and Pame as they moved to the other side of the shore.

  Perizou