Chapter 33 - Festival of Argus, Pt. 1

Miko I stared into my mirror as Kile helped me fix my suit. Although it ended up costing all of my current money, it would be worth it to look good in front of Aruna. Also, maybe Roan would give me a sign of approval for once. "You've changed a lot since the day you disappeared." Earlier he had seen the scars from my fight against the clones. When I took their slashes head-on, taking injuries to my arm, leg, and shoulder. All in an effort to kill them. For some reason, my healing magic wouldn't heal those scars. When he saw the scars he understandably freaked out. Despite my saying that it was ok, he repeatedly denied that claim, exclaiming, "It's not ok! You're getting hurt here!" It wasn't until I explained the situation to him that he understood. I was the people's last hope against the demon lord, against darkness. Finally understanding, he had said, "Yeah, I can see why you would go through this pain then. You've always been selfless." Another person who believes in me. Snapping myself back to the present, I gave a slight chuckle and said "Yeah." I have changed a lot. If you told me just 3 weeks ago, a kid doing his best to just pass high school and pay rent, that he'd be tasked with saving this land from such an oppressive force, I'd have to call you insane. "Just promise me you'll stay safe, Miko." "Uh, I'll do my best!" I started to flash a smile, attempting to interject humor into a sad reality. Safety wasn't a thing I could enjoy anymore. My smile dropped when I took note of the haunted look on Kile's face. "Kile?" "I worried about you every day since you disappeared, hoping you were alright. Even now, I'm not so sure if you are." "What do you mean?" "I mean that it's obvious this place needs you. That if you were to leave, everyone would die. But still... I guess it's selfish. But Miko, I need you to look after yourself. If you die, what am I supposed to tell Mom when you're not there for Christmas?" As he cried, I pulled him into a hug. "Ok. I promise I'll stay safe. Don't worry." ... It was about an hour until the main festival was going to start, but Nola wanted to see us beforehand. I took a while to get ready, so I thought that Kile and I would be the last to show up. My guess was close, as Farv and Roan were already there. Of course, Roan sent a disapproving glare (that quickly dissolved into a grunt of approval as he saw my suit.) Aruna wasn't here yet though. It's strange, as she usually tries to be punctual with everything. Hopefully, everything is alright. Clearing her throat, Nola greeted each of us. She had invited us to some sort of observatory sporting a huge transparent domed roof, perfect for studying stars. Her daughter and the cigarette guy stood behind her, laughing amongst themselves. "Hello, my esteemed guests. In your short time here it is my hope that you have grown accustomed to my peers, regime, and nation, finding our service nothing short of perfect." Roan spoke up, saying, "The service has been nothing short of outstanding, ma'am. We thank you daily for your hospitality." Smiling, Nola continued, "Good, I'm glad to hear that! Well, I just wanted to ask if you would be fine with accompanying my children during the festival. Just to get to know each other."  The girl (what was her name again?) instantly began protesting, while at the same time, Mr cigarette just smoked. "I don't want to spend my evening with them, Mom! I- I was supposed to go with my friends!" Nola wasn't going to budge from her stance. "Then invite them along too." "This is just because of that stupid upstart gang, isn't it!" As soon as those words left her mouth, the daughter knew she made a big mistake. I had no idea what she was talking about, but the death stare and pursed lips from her mom made it clear that she shouldn't have said that. "I said what I said." Hugging her kids (I still had a hard time believing Mr. Cigarette was her son), Nola told them to have fun before leaving. Probably to do her science stuff. ... After around 15 minutes of awkward silence, Aruna finally arrived, looking as stunning as ever. Her white dress was too beautiful for how simple it was. Honestly, even though I knew my suit was elegant I still squirmed from an uncomfortable feeling of inferiority. Throwing out a radiant smile, Aruna said, "Hey, where's Nola?" The girl, who had been pouting in a corner ever since her mom left, mumbled, "She's gone. You were late as always. She said I'm stuck with you guys." Her brother playfully slapped her back, exclaiming, "Hey Paige, stop being all gloomy! I doubt Miko is going to scare your boyfriends off!" Her name is Paige, that's right. Paige glared at her brother, clearly not in the mood to play. "Shut up. It was supposed to be my night with Isaac. Now I'm stuck with you guys." Aruna made sure to put me and Roan between her and Paige before saying, "Well, why can't he come with us? Too embarrassed?" "Shut your prude ass up!" Noting the rising tension (why do these 2 hate each other), I began thinking of ways to lower the tension. Thankfully, Roan stepped up for me, saying "Nola said we are to stay together. That means we are staying together. If you have someone else you want to take with you, fine. But this infighting is over now. Both of you know better than to behave this way." His decree made, he left the observatory, knowing none of us would challenge him. ... A lot of the festival was sort of reminiscent of theme parks back home. There were stands with scammy minigames everywhere, multitudes of food vendors, and a bunch of kids running around screaming. We quickly learned that there were a few clear distinctions between the festivals back home and this one. The biggest one is that some vendors have no problem selling drugs to children. Thinking that we found the closest thing to a taco stand, Kile and I ordered a bunch of these little burrito-looking things. Seconds later, Aruna appeared behind us as if she were a ninja, knocking the food out of our hands. Kile yelled "Hey!" as she explained. That food was called Shuga, and it was a stimulant. I think it's like ecstasy. Anyway, it is pretty messed up that they'd sell that at all, but especially to kids. Anything to get a buck here, though. After saving us from our near-death experience, she put herself in a position as our sort of chaperone. Truthfully, I think she needed a reason to create as much distance between her and Paige as possible. What's the deal with that? I mean, there was something weird about Paige I guess. There have been about 5 guys so far that have joined and left our group, and I had no idea which one is Isaac. Every time one of them left, Aruna would mumble some obscenity under her breath. Of course, Roan didn't take much part in any of the festivities, instead delegating himself to the task of watching over everyone. Farv and Mr. Cigarette were out, barely in Roan's line of sight (they even got yelled at a few times for leaving it. They are brave souls.) I'm not sure exactly what they were doing, but hopefully, it was enjoying the games and not harassing other people. That left Kile, Aruna, and I alone. Every 2 seconds Kile would look at me as if begging for help. I guess he never learned how to talk to girls. "Hey, look! It's a Ghash stand!" Aruna took off in a flash, leaving me and Kile sprinting to catch up to her. "I've always wanted to try one!" As we caught up to her, I realized her expression had soured. "What's wrong? They out?" She held up her coins. Looking at the price, I saw that she was a bit short. She mumbled, "Sorry, sir. I guess I'm not used to this yet." I stared helplessly as Kile nudged me. "Hey, you still have your change?" Oh yeah, he's right! I reached into my pocket to pull out the little bit of change I had left from buying the suit. Handing them to Aruna, I asked "Is this enough?" She looked at the coins in disbelief. "Uh, yeah, but their yours-" Dropping the coins into her palm, I smiled saying, "It's fine, take them." The clerk had his own little smile as he brought out 2 of those Ghash things. "One's on me, don't worry." Aruna was smiling as she grabbed hers, tears of joy in her eyes. She really wanted one of those things, huh? After grabbing mine, I tore it in half and handed it to Kile. His eyes lit up as he said, "Cool, alien food!" He and I laughed as Aruna stayed mesmerized by her food.