In all retrospect, going to a festival after all that had happened was a poor decision. Or rather a childish one. But there was something she had to get done during this point and time and so she would sacrifice the current better judgement to achieve that goal. She looked at those annoying shackles on her wrists, knowing Alari was the only one who could remove them, but she first she had to bear her heart on her sleeve, to tell him how she honestly felt. 
She sighed, rubbing her forehead as children ran around her, laughing at the fun thy were having. She watched them for a moment, envying the fun that they were allowed to have still. She took a deep breath, looking around for Alari. She pulled her cloak tight around her, feeling a kind of chill, regardless of the sheer number of people around.
Mary was also looking for him, standing on the rooftops close by, not sure if he had gotten her message imploring him to not remove the shackles on her sister. Though admitting to Alari how she felt was a big step in Mera opening up herself to someone else, but if he removed those shackles, Mera was undoubtedly going to go after their father, who wouldn't have mercy on her, seeing what he did to their mother. Something hadn't been right with their father for a long time, the air around him feeling similar to what she felt around Sybil, but she had never seen anyone like Sybil before so she didn't know what to compare it to before Mera saved her from him. 
She looked at her sister standing on the edge of the festivities, the bright light of the lanterns behind her, people laughing, dancing, playing causing a great clamor that didn't seem to penetrate the air of solitude and silence around her. She looked up and around the village, in to the darkness that seemed blinding in comparison from the lights below, squinting as she searched for that aura- how close was he now?

Hotaru was standing amidst the crowd, watching some little kid try and play a game, trying to catch a fish using a paper net. It seemed like such a useless attempt since the paper was almost guaranteed to fall apart once it hit the water, but the little boy was so determined to catch on for his little sister, "How cute," she smirked lightly before looking around. 
Erynhil had gotten his way in getting to dress Hotaru "properly" for a festival after he had shown up bright and early, tempting her with a "guilt free" lunch and by incessantly begging her until she finally said yes. He put her in a knee length blue kimono since she threatened to slice the bottom half of anything longer off that had the typical bell sleeve, her blond hair pulled up in to a rather fancy bun with decorative needle holding in place, blue beads that matched the kimono dangling off it, "I feel ridiculous," She muttered as she looked at herself, the beads brushed across her shoulder, the kimono a little more open across the top, though she refused to let it show anything more than her shoulders, much to Eryn's disappointment. There was no telling if something might happen sometime soon, so there was no sense in making it difficult to get to action quickly, though the little bastard had taken her katana away. He had also tried to put make up on her, though he had only gotten a bit of powder on her cheeks and some red on her lips before she tried to stab him for some comments about how it was sometimes easier to make a man look pretty than her since she refused to let him do anything. 
She crossed her arms before starting to walk down the path way, though she end up smiling a bit as she saw the kids running around with the masks on. She stopped at the mask stand and bought herself a fox mask, figuring it could be a little fun wearing it. Once she had it in her hands, she looked around for Larel, wondering where he had gotten to or if he was here yet. She hadn't seen him since she was turned in to Eryn's pet project and she was trying not to be seen by Kaori, figuring any comments that came out of his mouth would seriously just piss her off.