The Festival of Disaster

"There you are," Kas said as Ralkos walked up to him, she was keeping herself from looking forward. "I almost began to believe that you weren't showing up."

"And miss out on both the festival and ceremony?" Ralkos jokes patting Kas on the shoulder. "Never."

Kas had a confused look as he glanced towards the gathering of people at the grounds. Ralkos frowned for a moment before checking with him. "You do remember right? The ceremony lasts from midnight until night."

"Right, size of the groups and all," Kas answered as he took a deep breath. Ralkos could sense something was off, it was like Kas was searching for an excuse. Bending down she reached out and lightly touched his shoulder causing Kas' eyes to snap towards her. "Kas, are you alright?"

"Tired," Kas answered before patting her shoulder. "You look well rested, a lot better than when you were taking the test."

"That's what happens when people tell me ghost stories," Ralkos replied as she led Kas away from the starting group and towards the festival stalls. The bright colors and lights were always a welcoming sight in the darkness. Kas' eyes were drawn everywhere as if planning the route he was going to take. Ralkos relaxed as he always did this. Perhaps she was tired as well and just seeing things. She was thinking about what Kavis told her, about the Slime being a sign of someone being possessed. Richard stated that he always left her body in order to keep them from being bound permanently. 'Not those words exactly, but close enough.' Ralkos thought, it was like she was hyper aware of everyone around her. 'With all of this evidence it means that there are two Draemons… Demons… whatever.' Ralkos thought as she looked around for anyone acting suspiciously. If Richard was the distraction it meant that there was another one planning something big.

"Food first or games?" Kas asked, snapping Ralkos out of her musings. Ralkos looked around making a quick decision. "Games first."

"First one to one a hundred prizes gets treated to food," Kas said before bolting towards one of the stalls. Feeling the challenge, Ralkos pushed her worries to the side and ran forward to join him. She glanced at her watch once in a while waiting for either their number to come up or her parents to call. Kas had already joined his parents, the contest having been a draw, and was now talking with them. Ralkos frowned before moving to find some skewers to munch on.

"Hey," Siti's voice called out, pausing for a moment. "Ralkos?"

Ralkos turned her head to see Siti approaching her with a rather nervous look on her face. Ralkos glanced around before greeting. "Siti, this is unusual."

"Yeah, thought I'd get away from my family for a bit," Siti replied before sighing. "They just want to sit through the ceremony not wanting to miss a moment to make snide remarks."

"Your family sounds… interesting," Ralkos told her before turning her body to face her. "So why hang out with me? I thought you didn't like me?"

"You stood up for me, a lot, during the exam," Siti told her and this caused Ralkos to close her mouth. Sure that might have been Richard most of the time but she didn't actually expect it to mean something. So she just made up an excuse on the spot. "Well even if we don't get along doesn't mean you're not a bad person. You helped me out a lot."

Siti smiled before looking around. Ralkos glanced towards Kas who seemed happy to be with his parents before offering. "Want to go around the festival with me?"

"Where's your family?" The question was innocent enough but Ralkos wasn't sure how to answer it. She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, I guess their assignments are taking longer than they thought or something."

Siti hesitated before nodding her head. "I've actually never been to one of these before. I really don't know what to do."

"Come on, I'll show you around," Ralkos told her before leading the way through the different stalls. She showed her the food and the games that were available. The shops that were open displaying the wide varieties of clothing and toys that were available. Ralkos was looking at the handmade wooden figurines when Siri asked. "Who's this guy?"

Ralkos turned to look at who Siti was referring to, in her hands was a blue mask with four eye holes. In her other hand was a greyish lavender mask with three eyes. Reaching out and tapping the blue mask Ralkos explained. "This is the mask of Tyrus, he's a bit of a legendary figure. Similar to a saint who protected Venorosis during the Dark Times and granted the Crystal of Tyrus when we lost our color."

"Isn't that when the Draemon supposedly ruled over the galaxy or something?" Siti inquired and Ralkos nodded her head. "And someone believes that this is what Tyrus looked like?"

Ralkos touched the mask lightly before jerking her hand away as if it had burned her. "Yeah."

She rubbed her wrist subconsciously, the mask looking like that demon from Richard's memories. She couldn't shake the feeling growing in her. Siti looked at the two masks before handing them back to the stall owner. "They don't really look like good guys."

"It's just a mask," Ralkos chuckled nervously before nuding Siti out of the way watching as the stall owner stared at them. It was starting to creep her out as well. There was a throbbing in her head as she walked away from the tower. She stumbled a bit but felt someone steady her. Glancing down she saw Siti leading her to a bed for her to sit down. "Okay, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure myself," Ralkos admitted as she breathed heavily. "I-I can't remember most of the tests, in fact what I do remember was when my talons were coming and waking up at night a few times."

"I didn't want to mention how strange you were being," Siti told her as she leaned back. "I mean you were like yourself most of the time but there were times when you were off."

Shaking her head, Siti looked up at the sky as she mused. "It was like you were possessed by a parasitic alien or something."

"Not a parasitic alien," Ralkos muttered, there was silence for a moment as Siti turned her gaze to Ralkos. It was as if she was silently asking if Ralkos was kidding or not. After her eyes scanned for any hint she asked.

"A Draemon."

Ralkos hesitated wondering if she should trust Siti with the information she gathered. She knew that Siti was more reliable to give it to her straight. Though there was the chance that Siti would just scoff at her and call her a loon. Steeling herself, Ralkos decided to be truthful. "Okay, not a Draemon exactly, apparently there is a difference. He calls himself a Demon."

"Wait. Wait. Wait." Siti told her, holding up her hand. "A demon, like the one from Earth mythology. Servants of Lucifer, enemies of Heaven. That sort of thing?"

"Maybe?" Ralkos honestly didn't know anything about the religions of Earth. "Anyways… he was possessing me to hide during the day. At night he would leave in order to look for alcohol."

"So there is a demon at the festival right now?" Siti glanced around before moving around in front of her. This shocked Ralkos for a moment, she honestly hadn't expected Siti to believe her. She stared up at her for a moment as if to gauge whether or not the human in front of her was possessed. "Don't look at me like that. Like I said before I thought you were playing host to a parasite. You kind of were in a way. Still trying to wrap my head around the fact that demons exist but you getting possessed by some alcoholic demon thing makes a lot of sense."

"Did he say anything that would tip you off that he is an alcoholic?" Ralkos wanted to make sure that it wasn't just what she said. Siti let out a deep breath before looking up at Ralkos. "It was either that or a drug addict. While waiting for the tests to begin or just being around you for the day you kind acted like the father of a friend I had back on Earth."

Leaning forward and clasping her hands together Siti continued. "Despite coming here when I was young I remember him clearly. I remember everything which makes it hard to forgive a lot of people. My friend's father had turned to alcohol and gambling after his mother died. One day… My friend made sure to get rid of all the alcohol and keep his father from going out. I got to see first hand someone suffering from withdrawals when I went to deliver the schoolwork."

"I was in that bad of a state?" Ralkos didn't want to think about what Richard had to suffer through while he was in her body. Siti nodded her head. "It was more like subtle movements. Like you weren't craving it but at the same time you were. Yet when you caught me watching you, you would just settle down."

The watch beeped letting Ralkos know that Kas' group was going to get their colors next. She was shocked about how much time had passed. Between showing Siti around and them just talking her perception of time had been warped. She stood up glancing down at Siti telling her. "I was going to see Kas' ceremony. Did you want to join me?"

Siti hesitated for a moment before nodding her head. "Sure. Nothing better to do."

With that they began to head back to the building. Ralkos was glancing around for any sign of Richard. Yet it seemed like the demon did not wish to be found. 'Not yet anyways.' she thought seeing the crowd of people at the entrance to the exam building. Squeezing through the crowd, Ralkos managed to find a good spot to watch. Siti seemed a little irritated that the only free chair was right by her parents and kept close to Ralkos. Ralkos was wondering if she wanted a better view so she leaned down whispering to her. "Did you want me to lift you up?"

Siti glared up at her before hissing back. "I'm fine."

Nodding her head, Ralkos straightened her back as Lynnoak walked onto the stage. "Thank you for attending the Ceremony of Adulthood. For those who have been here since the beginning I commend your dedication. For those who do not know each of the exam participants will come up and place their hand on the Crystal of Tyrus. The Crystal will then bestow upon them a color that is correlated with their chosen job."

'How does the Crystal of Tyrus know?' Ralkos thought doubt surging forth, something wasn't right. 'Did the Moderators place the data from the tests into the Crystal or was there something else going on?' Ralkos looked down at Siti and saw her own eyes narrow. Ralkos wanted to ask her if she was thinking the same thing or not. She knew the rules though, there needed to be silence during this part of the ceremony. So Ralkos remained as quiet as possible watching as each of the examinees walked up to the crystal and placed their hands on it. The crystal would pulse for a few of them as it did all those years before. Yet this time it felt sinister to Ralkos. 'Perhaps it is because I'm expecting Richard to do something.' She tried to convince herself that it was the only reason.

Finally after a while it was Kas' turn, Ralkos stood up a bit straighter. She watched as her best friend approached the crystal and placed his hand on it. It pulsed like all the others before a black color crawled up his arm. It meant that he was being placed in Spec Ops. Just as he was about to pull his hand away, clapping was heard echoing around the courtyard. Those that came to observe the ceremony began to look around when two large eyes opened up over the wall behind the crystal. The reaction from the crowd was instant. People tried to run away, while some started to scream, others began to babble nonsense. Ralkos closed her eyes when she felt the urge to run and she placed her hand carefully over Siti's eyes. She felt her reach up to remove the hand but stopped when Ralkos commanded quietly. "Don't look."

"Venorosis, I must say that I am disappointed in all of you," Richard's voice called out and Ralkos cracked her eyes open a little watching the wings slide down. She removed her hand from Siti's face who nearly stumbled back in shock. "You went and made this Alliance and forgot why."

He jumped down on the stage scraping his claws against the crystal and pushing Kas to the side. Kas stumbled back glaring at Richard. Lanus snarled before leaping towards the demon only to get caught up in a silky thread that was produced by the demon. Richard flicked his finger down causing the Ketervan to slam into the ground. "Long before the Humans joined this Alliance you forgot. You turned us into myth and legends forgetting that we are real and we are a threat."

Ralkos felt Siti shift like she was ready to walk forward. One of the eyes on Richard's wings glanced towards her so Ralkos had to stop Siti from moving. She didn't know how the demon would react. So she reached out and placed her hand on Siti's shoulder, halting any movement. She shook her head when Siti looked at her.

"Where was I?" Richard muttered as he paced back and forth, more silk strands flying out. They enveloped anyone in the crowd that moved. So Ralkos had to force herself not to react, she couldn't risk it. Kas was on the stage watching Richard carefully as he continued his speech. "Oh you've forgotten that we are a threat and you forgot who Tyrus really was."

Richard's claws scraped across the crystal as anger grew on his face. "A saint? What a load of shit."

The crystal cracked slightly under his claws before he retracted his hand. "A Draemon, that's what he was. You've been practically falling at the feet of the enemy."

Richard started laughing as the building behind him began to crack. "You fools! All of you!"

"Then why have you come?" Lynnoak called out and Richard's wings twitched as he turned his attention to her. "You are not attacking us."

"There is too much effort to kill everyone here," Richard admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. "I mean the ones who remained are quite brave and smart."

Richard gestured to his wings as he walked up to Kas staring into his eyes. "You didn't run and a lot of you figured out how my wings work."

He moved away from Kas to walk up to Lynnaok, Moderator Altos moving to block him. He was moved to the side with ease. Frowning up at the height difference he turned his attention to Lynnoak. The Moderator was silent before she decided to ask another question. "Why did you tell us about Tyrus? You could have easily presented yourself as an ally in order to trick us."

Richard scoffed as he looked away and into the eyes of Ralkos. In order to avoid people looking at her he scanned the rest of the crowd. Most were staring at him in curiosity as he opened his mouth to speak only to get nailed by a laser in the eye in the middle of his forehead. Ralkos felt a pain in her head as well, almost collapsing to the ground. Siti saw this and grabbed her arm in order to steady her. There were shouts of surprise and a few children crying as Ralkos glanced over to the entrance where security was beginning to gather. They were saying something but Ralkos couldn't hear them. All that she could hear was a high pitched whine. She looked towards Richard, her eyes widening as she watched him sit up and touch his eye. He was about to say something when a large stone fell from the building. Everyone looked towards the large tower seeing lights filling the cracks as it and the crystal exploded outwards. Roars filled the air with chanting coming right behind it. A large shadow flew out of the crystal as thunder rumbled in the distance. Ralkos barely managed to regain herself seeing Richard jump toward Kas pulling him out of the way from the falling debris. She screamed when she saw them get buried rushing to aid them.

"KAS!"

"Lookout!"