Elwin and his kismets, united properly at last, strolled out the great corridors and halls of Aeternitas onto its lawns of spring. And all around them, from the summit of the northern hill to the bridge by the river-rock, cherry blossoms were drifting like snow.
"Need a hand, Professor William?"
"Ah! Could you fetch some cedar planks from Mr. Friedrich's? His shop is just by the turn, beyond the bridge."
"Doesn't he only furnish stationary?"
"There is more to the man if you ask of him. Now off you go, gentlemehn and gentlefrhei! This is just the first of the twenty-five stalls!"
With the aroma of cherry petals upon the pleasant air, melodies of hammer upon metal and drums upon planks had once again come upon Aeternitas for the celebration of spring.
As seedlings of green emerged from branches and flowers threw off frost to stretch their arms, the FOUNDERS of Earth and guardians of spring, TERA and SERA, took the reins of winter from MANASURA for their turn in the great wheel of time. Before everyone knew it, they were deep into Serayasna, the third month of the year.
Life was beginning anew, and to celebrate its return and invoke blessings for a fruitful sowing, the peoples of The First Republic some sixteen centuries ago created the Festival of Flowers. Its official name was The Festival of Sera and Manasura, after the FOUNDER of Earth and the FOUNDER of Water, but many in different republics nowadays called it by their local names: people in Heian called it Hana-matsuri, meaning Flower-Festival, and the peoples of Illium called it Aiz-di-haran, meaning Festival of Blooms. But no matter what it was called, all souls of the Republics came together upon the 14th and 15th of Serayasna to celebrate, and the festivities was no exception for Aeternitas.
At the centerpiece of all celebrations was the gifting of flowers from women to men; legend told that long ago, MANASURA, the FOUNDER of water, ascended to the heavens and became the Moon to bring the tides, balance the Sun, and watch over humankind. But his reign was lonely, and MANASURA dearly wished to see his people again; SERA, who became the bridge in the sky, saw his plight and decided to help him. On a cold spring morning SERA gathered the blooming flowers upon the earth and fashioned it into a crown; on that night she reached across space and gifted it to MANASURA, so he could smell the fragrance of the earth and feel the wishes of his people once more. MANASURA, moved by her gesture, wept tears of joy, which fell upon the Earth as blessed rain that sprouted rice and beans; when they hit the ocean, they became pearls. To this day, they say, MANASURA keeps his flower-crown, and that's why the Moon has a ring like the Earth.
The Hanamatsuri was so that they could honor the FOUNDERS' exchange, and MANASURA would once again be joyed to bring his rains to spring. Though participants could choose any fashion of their choice, women most often included motifs of flowers and their colors in their hair or dress, and men opted to don accessories symbolizing the moon and the rain. Upon receiving the gift of flowers, either as a floret or weaved into a crown, men returned the favor by gifting women necklaces of argent pearls, argent as plum rain upon the soil. Of course, this was traditionally supposed to be performed, but as pearls were a rare sight inland, it was often substituted for beads of polished marble.
The gifts were supposed to be put together without the other knowing, and the kismets were almost always together, so Katherine and Mirai had secretly picked flowers in the early mornings when Elwin and Isaac were sleeping-in, and Elwin and Isaac had secretly carved their marble-beads far past bedtime, which was partly the reason why they awoke late in the first place.
The exchange was supposed to be done with the magnanimous sharing of sweets and tea, accompanied by associated cuisine, and for this purpose, every professor and upperclassman was busy hoisting up the snack and food stalls, the tents, and the gamesplaces for everyone. Professor William worked tirelessly on the fresh temporary structures, piledriving a dozen hammers at once, smoke coming out of his radiant Quan; Professor Aionia cautiously carved large swathes of earth across the lawns to make a dancefloor and Professor Irina carefully laid back the excavated topsoil onto them, every leaflet of grass still intact; Professor Thales engineered a makeshift fountain with water drawn from the lake, and Professor Helen mixed various Atomionic powders into fine ratios for her fireworks.
It was also when parents of first-years began trickling into the township of Aienwater, to hug and bless their children before the tournament began, held immediately after the festival. But the kismets were alone for the time being, and they shared their loneliness on the early morning of the first day.
"Your father is unable to visit?"
"Yeah... you know, bedridden and stuff..."
"It's alright, Isaac. I've sent a letter to my mom to stay in Ascension, too. Didn't know the skyliner tickets were that expensive! They could come by rail, but it would take too long..."
"Yeah, I guess there's no need to waste denaros when we will see each other in less than a month, when school ends..." Isaac trailed off.
Katherine strode into the spacious lounge in her burgundy ceremonial uniform, her hair loosened to her waist. A single pin of white tulip graced her hair.
"Wow, um... I've never seen you with your hair down. You look pretty!" piped Isaac. She blushed ever so little, but was never the type to show it, so she deftly got her hands on Isaac in hopes that adjusting his badge of the crescent moon would wipe the hue off her face.
"Help, Elwin, she's civilizing me again!"
Elwin laughed. He plopped down on the sofa next to them both.
"Is Mirai's family coming?"
Katherine shook her head. "It's too long of a journey for the occasion, and too expensive. Mirai asked her father and brothers to stay."
"What about your father?"
"My..." Katherine looked down, "No, he isn't coming this time. He's got work."
"We're all sharing our loneliness, huh?" Elwin jested, gently smacking them both. "At least we all have each other. Come on, Katherine, don't look so down!"
"Yeah..."
As the boys tried to restore her cheer, Katherine caught eye of Mirai tiptoeing down the staircase. Everyone had expected her to wear her lavender ceremonial uniform as usual, but on this occasion, she chose to wear the traditional dress of her home republic.
Mirai wore a dress of light, peach pink with a sheen that gave it away as silk. But the fabric was fully opaque, and nowhere along its length did it flare out like a skirt; in fact, Mirai's Orimono came straight down to her ankles, as did her sleeves which hung like a curtain, and it was folded left over right on her chest as one would don a bathrobe. Upon the satin fabric were weaved patterns of wisteria, waterfalls, and petals of cherry blossoms blown in the wind, and on her waist was a very wide and thick gold-colored sash, tied at the back in a stiff ribbon of sorts.
It was quite unlike anything Elwin and Isaac had ever seen.
"You look gorgeous!" praised Katherine, falling into Mirai, making her blush.
"Wow, so this is Orimono from Heian? May I feel it?" inquired Isaac, leaning in.
"Of course, but... carefully! It's only one of the two I have," she replied, a little daunted. "I have a red one, too, but that's for winter. My mother passed them down to me, long ago..."
Isaac cautiously grasped the fabric with his fingers. It was silky to the touch, but there was quite the thickness and gravity to its weave. It was almost as thick as the Celendir wool upon the battle-uniform, and inspecting it closer, there were thousands of threads, crisscrossed with each other in a pattern akin to infinity.
"We call those weaves Ori."
"Ori?" Elwin exclaimed, the label familiar to him. Ah, he remembered, this is where Professor Aionia said ORI comes from!
"It's beautiful! We would've loved to have seen it sooner!"
"Really?" she asked, twirling her hair. "I always wanted to show you guys... but I've only ever put it on twice before, and it takes at least an hour to do everything – here, take a look," she said, turning. "This gold ribbon alone took me twenty minutes to figure out."
"Wow, does your arm go that far back?" Isaac mused, trying to scratch his back.
"Just barely! But I think I butchered the knot this time around..."
"I can help you do it next time," Katherine assured. "You don't have to do it alone!"
Katherine was enormously grateful to see her friends safe and healthy. Though she had six weeks of deep thought and reflection since the battle, the time wasn't enough to heal the scars that dug into her soul: in the moment of powerlessness in front of her father, she had no choice but to endanger her friends. She was supposed to protect and cherish them, as Katherine Heriz... It was a betrayal of every ideal she espoused, and she'd come to despise herself for the first time, afraid to look in the mirror to confront the liar she thought of herself. What would she do in the future when her freedom was endangered? When her life was endangered? Would she throw the people she loved into the cold sea... Her friends... her kismets... when she saw their bandaged body... when she saw Elwin's head bandaged on top of his already missing eye... she felt a knife through her heart, where no words could come.
"Katherine, Katherine... are you alright?" consoled Mirai, tugging her sleeve.
A small teardrop had gathered by the corner of her eye, and Katherine wiped it away quickly and surreptitiously, trying to muster a smile that would not come. Elwin, seeing it, suggested all of them make their way down to the lawns, to where the festivities were: a big event was about to take place.