Algernon Black

(Chapter 115) Humanity's Happiness

Marve carved away at a stone he was crafting into a miniature figure of a skull when he started to hear the docking chimes of rowboats. "Well, it's about that time." The pirate remarked, observing through his window hundreds of glowing lanterns, heading the bows of ferries as the sun set, all packed full with excited spectators crossing the smaller surrounding isles to the mainland.

"Time for what?" Selice asked, who had been in the ship's kitchen along with the rest of the crew.

Marve smirked at the girl who was as confused as Beal and Cal and turned around in their white aprons with spatulas in hand to gawk at the pirate. 

"Trust me," Loy interjected with his token lopsided grin. "This isn't a show you want to miss."

Loy led the charge off the ship with the rest of the crew to follow, and as soon as they got into the street they meshed into the biggest crowd of people Selice had ever seen.

She was suddenly very grateful for how large her party was because she could rely on Marve's height to spot him anywhere and was safe from the mass of bodies behind Loy's bulky frame. Cal, who was also exceptionally tall and bulky, led the way for Beal who was still continuously getting separated from them and almost trampled on. Marve did his all not to lose any of them as he navigated through back alleyways towards the incoming parade.

As they all took a standing spot near the center of town, a symphony of music started to play and Selice stepped on her tiptoes to try to peer over the crowd, but it was useless. Her lips drew into a tight pout but opened wide in a surprised gasp when two hands around her waist lifted her into the air. Selice didn't register how high up she was until she was already sitting on Loy's shoulders. She gazed down where Loy directed her eyes forward with a nod of his head.

Selice looked up and got the first true view of the astonishing spectacle. Performers ushered ahead dressed in an ensemble of bright-colored feathered customs ahead of a orchestra striking melodies in high rhythmic tunes, and accompanied beside them were seemingly the most skilled dancers in the world who were perfectly timed to every beat. Beal noticed that they weren't only dancers but practitioners too because they all used magic to get a bit higher in their leaps or spin for longer periods on the ground.

"People use magic for more than just fighting?" Beal asked Marve in incredulity as he watched one beautiful woman get thrown in the air and spin around as sparks of light magic shot out of her like she a firework.

"I was just as shocked when I found out too," Marve said as more performers passed by. They blew kisses into the crowd and from their hands, small animals of light magic darted towards the audience. A hummingbird flew past Beal's eyes before dissolving into an array of glitter. 

Beal's face lit up as did all the children around him who jumped to grasp some of that magic. Selice and Loy turned to watch Beal and were both reminded of how young he actually was, and what a pure joyful thing it was to see a child happy.

Selice looked back up to the street when she heard the music abruptly change to a deep rhythmic thumping. It was the familiar and eerie hymn of the god of destruction and it welcomed in his float. And with its appearance, it took away the breath of every man, woman, and child in attendance and it was singlehandedly the most ultimate display of human craftsmanship Selice had ever seen.

The 20-foot tall statue of the god of destruction was the first one to pave the city's path as he stood in between a small sea and volcano with his hands outstretched to either side. Selice listened as the banging on the drums got steadily louder with his approach and a roaring from inside the statute started to shake the ground beneath her. The performers wantonly danced nearby the statue as the volcano started to simmer and blaze bright red seeming like it was about to erupt. On the opposite side of the float was a building tsunami, controlled by perfectly hidden practitioners that pulled the waters back to create a wave bigger than the statue of the god next to it. Just as Selice thought the wave couldn't get any higher, and the volcano couldn't take any more pressure, and the drums couldn't beat any faster, everything reached its boiling point. The volcano erupted and the building wave collapsed, both crashing into the statue of the god at the same time. Selice's brown eyes reflected and filled with the colors of the explosion, and lights of red and blue, stained the entire crowd as practitioners launched their magic overhead in the colors of waves and magma so it seemed like the audience too was going to drown in water or burning in fire. But just as the children screamed in fear, the magic started to get pulled inward back towards the god of destruction's statute where his figure was starting to arise. Now twice as large, his outstretched hands absorbed the magma and water and saved the crowd from the imaginary threat. He glowed the colors of bright magma and crystal blue oceans as the fight between the elements dyed down inside of him, and so did all the light, until they were left in complete darkness.