Siren's Elegy Volume 1: Orphans of Ashen Earth

Chapter 8: Duānwǔ Festival

June 14, 4021 12:00 [Zìyóugǎng- Central District]

Cecil and Mirai's mouths watered, both gawking at the zongzi stall owner with watchful eyes as he mixed steaming glutinous rice with marinated pork belly and mushrooms. The stall owner deftly wrapped the dish in bamboo leaves, tying the folded packages with string before handing them to the two ravenous Homunculi. Cecil giddily took the package, delicately unwrapping the lacework and unfolding the leaves to reveal the aromatic snack inside. He sank his teeth into the sticky rice dumpling, instantly enamored with the savory delight, the juice from the pork melding beautifully with the rice and mushrooms on his palate, a strong umami flavor enveloping his taste buds.

Mirai, on the other hand, struggled to open the package, a few unsuccessful attempts provoking the ire of Aisha as she snatched it out of his hands, unwrapping the package before returning the unsealed contents to him. He meekly took the package, nibbling on his zongzi. Cecil rolled his eyes at his junior, scarfing down the rest of his own dumpling before composting the bamboo leaves in a nearby bin.

The rest of the group had already made headway towards the boat races. Indra, Vivian, and Akula had arrived early to secure spots near the waterside next to rows of incense and brass gongs. The three latecomers weaved their way through a sea of locals as they cheered in support of the boaters. The wooden boats were shaped in the form of dragons, intricate colors painted across their sprawling thirty-meter lengths, housing almost sixty oarsmen. A vibrant array of colors dotted the harbor as boats lined up at the start of the designated aquatic course. Cecil reached the water's edge peering over the crowd to look for the others. At a height of 6'2," he towered over most of the spectators present, able to easily pick out conspicuous individuals from the crowd. Amongst a sea of dark hair, Cecil easily identified Akula's blinding white hair billowing in the wind. Even without his height advantage, he would have been able to easily pick Akula from the crowd since the Homunculus seemed to be the single loudest spectator at the festival, cheering his heart out and slamming a mallet into a gong. Indra and Vivian stood at his side covering their ears. Cecil led Mirai and Aisha to the others, reaching the other Homunculi.

"You guys made it!" yelled Indra over the sound of Akula's gong. "The race is just about to start!"

"Glad we could join in the festivities this year!" Cecil answered, procuring a small cube from his pocket.

He laid the cube flush to the ground, inputting specific measurements into the device, glancing at the perimeter of their persons. Finally confirming the measurements, he proceeded to push in a small lever at the top of the cube. The lever sank into the contraption which proceeded to emit a wave of distortion over their location, enveloping the six of them. He pressed a second lever on the right side of the cube which emitted another wave of distortion wrapping around Akula.

"Good, now we can hear each other without yelling," Cecil said cheerfully, satisfied with his work.

"Where'd you get that device?" inquired Vivian.

"Jìguāng gave it to me so that we wouldn't have to deal with the noise of the crowd. It excludes external auditory stimuli by dampening our own hearing so that we can only hear each other." Cecil explained.

"So it gives us heightened selective hearing?" Mirai asked.

"That's exactly it," Cecil confirmed.

"Thank God you blocked out that incessant noise coming from the gong," Aisha remarked.

"Yeah, this definitely came in handy. Now Akula can beat his gong to his heart's content without destroying our eardrums. Everybody wins!" Cecil laughed, enjoying the silence.

"Indra, here." Aisha shuffled through her own pocket procuring a bamboo leaf package and handed Indra the wrapped zongzi.

"Thanks, Aisha." He proceeded to unravel the bamboo leaf and sink his teeth into the zongzi.