I woke up to the sound of cheerful laughter.
Slowly opening my groggy eyes, I saw a group of colorfully dressed people singing and dancing around a partially visible pole-like structure with a bonfire lit beneath it in the dead of night.
I slowly stood up from my seat, clutching my aching head I walked towards the nearest person holding a torch while trying to ignore the weird feeling in my gut telling me that I was forgetting something crucial.
"Hey there, excuse me but where are we?" I hesitantly pointed towards the people prancing around the bonfire. "..and what are they doing exactly?"
The young man wearing a black robe accompanied by a tall hat and a crystal monocle over his right eye smiled at my question and answered earnestly, "Just outside of the Holy Cathedral, we are here to celebrate the May Day."
He eyed me up and down before asking, "Are you new in town? I don't think I've seen you around here before."
My breath became slightly heavier as I tried to remember how I ended up here, resulting in another spike of my headache. I stepped back and buried my head in my hands, muttering in a pain-stricken voice.
"I-.. I don't remember.." With a slight delay I continued, "I think I came to visit here for the Walpurgis Night? I'm sorry it seems I had a little too much to drink last night, my memories are all jumbled up."
I slowly looked back up as the pain started to subside and some of my memories stabilised, nodding at his question. "I'm from Moon City."
His eyes lit up at my answer, hastily adjusting his crystal monocle he took my hand into his own and shook it enthusiastically. "Ah, so you're from Moon City? Welcome to our small town, recently we have started to get a lot of visitors from over there!"
Noticing my surprised expression he slowed down and sheepishly rubbed the area below his nose, "I'm sorry, it seems I got a bit carried away. My father also used to live there, you see."
I waved my hand dismissively, "It's fine. Your father used to live there..? Why did he move over here then?" I switched the topic back to the town to try and gain some more insights on it.
"Oh you know, life happens. He used to be a member of the expedition team before I was born, a proud and strong person who wouldn't think twice before sacrificing himself if it meant saving someone else; which was exactly what happened." The man's voice hinted at a sense of loss, something that reverberated deeply within me in my current state.
Even now, watching over people having a wonderful time together, I couldn't help but feel a sense of loss. It was as if I had lost something very important to me, but I couldn't remember what it was.
He turned his eyes in the same direction as mine, quietly gazing upon the people enjoying the festival from afar. "During one of his expeditions he got injured trying to save his teammate, which eventually led him to an early retirement. He was the kind of person who couldn't sit still if he were near the battlefield, so for his safety and those of his teammates, he decided to leave the city and settle all the way over here."
He chuckled dryly, pinching the monocle between his fingers, "If only he hadn't been so reckless that day, maybe he would've gone on to become the captain of his team and do far more good than just saving the life of a singular person."
He paused for a bit, "..though I guess if that had happened, I wouldn't exist." Turning towards me with a gaze that seeked answers, he questioned "What do you think?"
"I think he made the right choice." I replied instantaneously, facing him earnestly, "If I were in his shoes, I'd probably do the same. It isn't like there was any guarantee that he would've become the captain if he just didn't get injured that day, so saving those he could in the moment while he was still capable of doing so certainly isn't a choice to be looked down upon."
"To that person, he was a saviour; and to the rest, he was a hero." I shook my head with a soft smile, "Besides, I don't think he would've regretted a choice which eventually led him to find the love of his life and start a beautiful family, all the while also saving someone's life."
"Interesting.." The man watched me with fascinated eyes, nodding approvingly; when suddenly, the singing and cheerful voices coming from the distance abruptly stopped.
"Ah, I think it's time. Let's go!" The man beside me started walking towards the group in the distance with his torch in hand, leaving me little choice but to follow his lead.
Upon reaching near the group my legs hastily staggered back, my head burned and my instincts screamed at me to turn around and run; but for some reason I couldn't move.
It felt like I had been disconnected from my body; I couldn't feel any of my limbs and any attempts at movement were met with failure.
Slowly, as if possessed by a phantom, my head slowly raised up on its own forcing me to face the scene in front of me.
A sense of dread shot through my body as everyone started to clap; as if they were welcoming the arrival of an honored guest. Short and tall; bulky and scrawny; old and young; all of them; every single member of the group donned a crystal monocle over their right eye!
Several memories of familiar scenes flashed in my head.
Memories of me standing alone near a cathedral's gate whilst all of them stared me down like prey.
Memories of an old man with a foggy face holding a lantern in front of me while walking up a terrifying staircase.
My head involuntarily turned in the direction of the bonfire. I cried out in fear inside my head upon realising that the pole-like structure they had been dancing around wasn't a pole at all, but rather a tower made of human limbs stacked on top of each other protruding up into the dark sky.
Several more memories flashed in my head; memories of a setting straight from a nightmare.
Memories of these same people chewing down human limbs like monsters.
Memories of the Walpurgis Night.
In sync with the cries in my head, a figure stepped up from the back of the group. It was an old man with a similar frame to the blurry one in my memories.
It was an old man wearing a bloody priest's robe, clutching prayer beads in his hand.
It was my Old Man, wearing a bloody priest's robe, clutching prayer beads in his hand.
It used to be my Old Man.
This wasn't him, this.. 'thing' couldn't be him.
I was sure of it.
My body started walking towards him while the crowd cheered me on until I reached the centre of the huddle, standing right before him beside the bonfire and the repugnant structure.
Slowly, Old Man– or rather the one controlling his body, leaned near my waist, retrieving a crystal monocle from my left pocket.
The corners of his lips curled up into an unfamiliar smile before he adorned it over my right eye.
"Praise be to the May King."
[End of chapter 3: The May Day]