As the group went outside the house, the air in the town felt totally different; the city was getting ready for the festival. Near the house, at the entrance of the port part, some people were building some decorations.
Liro was already excited to see that; even if they weren't finished, he felt really happy just at the sight of them. Liro immediately ran towards the two workers, who looked below with a happy face.
"Eh, I think the outsiders will enjoy our festival," whispered one of the men towards his other friend who was helping him.
"I'm sure they will," answered the other man. The two workers returned to work while the others slowly reached Liro.
"In the middle it feels even more alive, should we go?" asked Lily. Everyone agreed with her and the group started to walk.
In the town there were already a lot of children running through the streets; still, some of them, the moment they saw Darian and the others, immediately decided to change direction.
"I'm glad there are people like them who aren't afraid of us," commented Liro, referring to what happened right before.
"Maybe it is just the fact that the festival is about to come and they all feel happier," said Darian.
"No, no, I've told you, not everyone is against outsiders. We were lucky to find people who weren't scared or hated you for no reason…" said Lily, a bit annoyed. Near them there were two old ladies whispering between them something really bad at the sight of the outsiders.
"Now that I think about it… they are mostly old people who are afraid of us," pointed out Vane.
"Exactly, sadly they have the ideas of their times. They grew with these ideas. We are trying to make the children grow differently; with some of them it works, while with the others…" said Lily.
The group passed right in front of a small group of children. As the group passed in front of them, the children immediately stopped and took some steps back.
Vane tried to reassure them by making a smile; the children just felt more scared and ran away.
"Tch," said Vane, annoyed and clearly offended. Both Darian and Liro made a small laugh.
The group had now reached something that made their eyes spread wider. They were right in front of the huge old tree in the middle of the city; around it, a huge stage was being built. It was entirely made of wood, the old tree was in the middle of the stage, and it was big enough for like twenty people to get there.
"Woah…" gasped Liro in surprise as he looked around. There were many people who were all working together and smiling as they built the platform together.
"Will this be used by Garoo during his show?" asked Darian.
"Yes, but it won't be only used by him. In fact, every time we have this type of festival the mayor goes there and talks about the city and how it is growing, and what the voice in the tower told him…" said Lily as she felt a bit sad at the end of the sentence.
"But if what we were able to realize is true and the AI really stopped working…" said Vane as he wondered if the mayor would really tell everyone about it.
"Darian, are you really sure that there isn't any way to adjust that voice?" asked Liro. Darian shook his head.
"Sadly it is almost impossible. I'm the only one who has some knowledge about the AI, and I would never be able to repair something like that," answered Darian.
"I…" said Lily as she took a small step forward. "I think that the mayor has something in mind. He won't leave the city like that. He's figuring out a solution, right?" asked Lily, but deep inside her she already knew that the answer was no.
"We can only hope," said Darian, trying to comfort her.
As the group remained still, they heard some footsteps coming towards them. The moment they turned around, they saw a girl and a boy who looked the same age as Lily and were waving towards her.
"Lilyyyy!!" said the girl. She had short black hair while the boy had short blond hair, and both of them were waving towards Lily.
"Guyss," said Lily as she immediately ran towards the two teenagers. The group immediately hugged together the moment Lily reached them. Darian and the others walked near her, a bit awkward.
"You're coming to the festival tonight, right??" asked the girl.
"Obviously, I think you're going too, right??" asked Lily happily.
"Yeah… but I have to help my parents at our stand," said the boy with a sad look on his face.
"By the way, are these friends of yours, Lily?" asked the girl.
"Oh, are they the outsiders? I've never seen them before," said the boy as he slowly took a step back, scared. The girl, realizing that too, took a small step back.
"Don't be scared, they are really good people, you don't need to worry," said Lily as she immediately stepped back, putting herself in the middle between her friends and Darian and the others. The group smiled awkwardly.
"Aki and Tatsy, I present you Darian, Liro, and Vane," said Lily warmly as she presented the group of alterids. "While Darian, Vane, and Liro, I present you Aki and Tatsy."
Lily still saw the scared faces of her friends and decided to reassure them. "Don't worry, they are good people," she said. With that, it felt like the other two had become more calm.
"Hehe, you always told us not to be scared of the outsiders, but we never thought that what you said was actually true," said Aki. He opened his hand towards the others, and the group shook their hands normally.
"Yeah, but it's nice to see real outsiders. Since I was born, I had never seen one of them. I thought they were scarier," said Tatsy.
"We promise we won't bite," said Vane joking. The other two laughed softly.
"Well, I didn't plan to meet with you before the festival… should we go somewhere else so you can know each other better?" asked Lily. Everyone agreed with her and left the main square.
As the group walked around, they kept speaking. "I know that there are also three other cities other than Yalemba. From which one do you come from?" asked Aki.
"Oh, we're coming from Therya," answered Liro.
"Oh, and what type of city is that?" asked Aki.
The group had just reached the outside of the city; they went near the old tower where Lily spent most of her days reading her old diary. As Liro talked about the city to Aki, Tatsy walked closer towards Darian. Even if it wasn't him the main reason she got closer, it was because of Snowy.
"Sorry, what is this creature?" she asked with excitement in her eyes. She tried to pet him, but Snowy, scared, slowly moved his head away. Tatsy looked sad.
"We can sit here," said Lily as she sat down on the ground. She noticed that the group was getting along quite well, and because of that she felt really happy and reassured.
"He is my companion, he's called Snowy," said Darian. The moment he sat down, he slowly moved Snowy from his shoulder to his lap. Tatsy tried to move her hand to pet him; Snowy, still looking a bit scared, watched behind him towards his owner.
"Don't worry, Snowy, she isn't bad," said Darian. It looked like Snowy moved his head, annoyed. Tatsy sat down next to Darian and started to pet him.
"By the way, where did you find such a creature? Does Therya have this kind of animals?" asked Aki as he got closer too. Now even Vane, Liro, and Lily got closer as well; Darian, together with Snowy, was in the middle of everyone.
"Oh, actually only me and Vane are from Therya, while Darian…" said Liro as he waited for Darian to explain his story.
"And I have to tell about it another time… I'm from the old world," said Darian. Aki and Tatsy gasped in surprise as they heard the words "old world."
"How is that possible? Wasn't that like five hundred years ago? How can a human survive this long?" asked Aki, both confused and excited.
"Well, you see…" Darian then started to tell everything about his past, how he met Snowy, and how it was possible that he could be five hundred years old.
"I know that it sounds strange, the fact that he's five hundred years old… to be honest, I haven't fully understood it yet."
As the group spoke about Darian's past, many hours passed. In less than an hour the festival was about to start, and the sun was about to set. The group was so interested in Darian's story that they didn't notice that the mayor dived inside the pond and even came outside.
"It's hard to understand, I know…" said Darian as he slowly looked down, thinking that they wouldn't believe him.
"Don't worry, Darian, we believe in you, especially because of this beautiful creatureee, ahhhh!" shouted Tatsy as she couldn't contain her excitement. Snowy still looked a bit scared, while the others burst into a big laugh at Tatsy's scream.
"You know, Tatsy has always been so interested in animals because of her power," said Lily. Darian, Vane, and Liro turned towards her, confused.
"Is she an alterid too?" asked Darian, curious. Lily nodded.
"With my power, if I touch an animal, I can know the thoughts of the animal," said Tatsy. With that, Darian immediately had an idea.
"Wait, you already touched him. What was he thinking?" asked Darian, now the one who couldn't contain his excitement anymore.
"To be honest, I haven't touched him for enough time," said Tatsy. "I need some concentration," she added. Darian slowly grabbed Snowy in his hands and put him right in front of Tatsy.
"Don't worry, Snowy, it's for science," said Darian. Snowy just looked at him, confused.
"Okayyy, I'll tryyy," said Tatsy, all excited. She positioned both of her hands on the creature, closed her eyes, and concentrated as she read his thoughts.
Around thirty seconds passed. Both Lily and Aki were confused.
"It feels strange, it never takes this long," said Aki.
Suddenly, Tatsy opened her eyes again. She felt scared.
"I… I wasn't able to use my power, but not in a way that it wasn't working," said Tatsy. Everyone around her felt curious about what she was saying.
"I didn't feel any thoughts coming from him, but I could see something. It was a big white space, but I couldn't move there. It felt strange… and scary," said Tatsy as she slowly started to shake.
"Wait, could it be because Snowy is from another planet?" asked Darian, confused. Tatsy didn't even move her head to answer him.
"I don't know… with animals on Earth it worked, and I could hear their thoughts… but I never found myself in that weird place before," said Tatsy, still shaking.
'Wait, a white space… could it be the same one that I dreamed about that day?' thought Darian as he lost himself in his thoughts.
"By the way, I think that it is time for us to go, everyone. I'm sure that the festival has already started," said Lily as she slowly stood up. Everyone else did the same.
"Well, with this I don't think I can classify you as an animal anymore, Snowy," said Darian to his small friend, who climbed back onto his shoulder and decided to rest as he felt tired.
The group walked towards the city while Tatsy remained in the back, shaking.
'I felt something watching me while I was there… the pressure was too much, I could barely move,' thought Tatsy as she looked at Snowy sleeping normally, like nothing had happened, on Darian's shoulder.
The mayor was looking at the group from behind the tower; no one had noticed that he had been watching them for the past two hours.
"I don't think I will hide it for much longer… but they will be really helpful," whispered the mayor as he laughed maliciously.