A Serpent's Tale
Chapter 292: Coiled Moon Festival. Day 1. Theatre

Chapter 292: Coiled Moon Festival. Day 1. Theatre

I’ll be honest, the demon in the dungeon was kind of unnerving, but Ba’arhim assured me that everything was under control.

I was a little unsure of how true that statement was, but he was strong enough and had experience, so he should know what he’s doing.

He said to just enjoy the festival as much as possible and worry about the dungeon matters afterwards.

I did as he told and stopped worrying about it and decided to just enjoy this time with my friend as best I could. Which is what I was planning to do.

Today was the first day of the festival, which would last for three days, and in those days, we would offer up our faith to the God or Goddess of our race alongside any other religious figures that we might worship.

That would happen on the second day however. On the first day, which is today, we are meant to enjoy the festivities and have fun.

I was wearing a stunning purple dress that was mixed with some orange linings that depicted the moon. Quite fitting for this event, which is why I chose it.

And I found out that the reason we’re here to have fun is that apparently, the higher our spirits, the better our prayers or something. Or so one of the vendors claimed as I bought a cute Fox-Kin mask because I liked the white and red colours on it.

I convinced the others to get some masks themselves and they agreed because they thought it would be fun. There were several others doing this as well, and from what I could see, these aren’t face masks, but more like hair ornaments.

David got something that looked like an Orcman for some reason. Asty got something similar to mine, except she got a Feline mask, whereas Foxes are more Canine in nature. As for Ash, instead of getting some sort of beast-kin themed mask, she instead got some sort of symbol.

"Ash, what exactly did you get?" I asked, because although I could see it, I still had no idea what it was, nor had I ever seen it before.

Actually, none of the vendors selling masks seemed to be selling such an item, so I was curious as to where she got her hands on it. Was it a gift from someone, or did she make it herself?

"Oh, this is a mask of Shandrakazaa. You wouldn’t know about them, but they’re basically the reason someone like me can exist." She explained mournfully as she took the mask off her head and caressed it lovingly.

"Okay... That’s a weird statement." I stated with a little bit perplexed as to what she meant by that statement.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was talking to myself here. Don’t worry about it." She brushed it off quickly, saying it wasn’t anything important, even though it clearly was.

Seems like she has secrets of her own. I won’t pry into it though. She’s stayed out of mine, so I’ll stay out of hers.

After we all got our masks, we went to attend a theatrical performance in the arena at Ash’s request. Specifically the one I broke.

Everything seemed fine and that I wouldn’t be questioned or reprimanded, but I couldn’t help but be a little nervous about it anyways.

But my worries were unfounded, and I quickly relaxed as soon as the play began.

"Once upon a time, in an era far gone, there was a young serpentine whose name has been lost to the sands we live upon."

Someone wearing a white mask that covered the upper portion of his face an equally white robe loosely draped his body started to dramatically narrate the start of this story, which was supposed to last an hour, which should take us late into the evening, which is perfect for dinner time.

"She was a simple individual, she only wanted to live her life, yet the world had a plan in store for the poor girl."

As the narrator narrated the story, a dainty looking girl came out wearing a similar mask and started to wander the arena, which was being magically manipulated live to give a greater sense of immersion, depicting her travelling across the dune seas.

"She travelled far and wide for a place to call home, eventually finding a nice mountain to settle at."

A sudden tall rock burst out of the ground quietly and smoothly.

"This mountain had all she needed to survive, shelter, food and water."

The rock opened and the girl got in and curled up inside. Then, someone wearing a costume made from Dune-Worm hide burst out from the ground and crawled its way over to her.

’Hey wait a minute, that hide looks familiar for some reason? Is it the skin from the one I hunted down?’

Before I could think much about that though, the play continued, as a spray of water came gushing out of the mountain after the girl punched the Worm.

The girl drank from the stream as the narrator continued.

"With a steady supply of food, the girl was able to live her life without worries. No people to bother her, and nobody could tell her what to do."

Then, out of nowhere, the arena was engulfed in a sandstorm. When it resided a couple minutes later, the scene had changed completely, from out in the desert, to a simple home.

"She had always wanted this freedom since her parents always berated her for being different somehow. This cause immense distress in her psyche, which made her run away from home."

There was a scene of two adult Serpentine looking down on a smaller Serpentine girl that had curled up into a ball.

The scene started to shift once more as the sand billowed into the air again to change scene once more.

This time, when it fell back down again, it showed a group of various different Serpentine searching the Dune Seas.

And the narrator explained why.

"Despite leaving, the girls parents still despised their child, and began to spread rumours as to why she disappeared."

"Such rumours included the fact that she was planning to summon an unspeakable evil. Others said that she was planning to curse her home."

"Regardless of what was true or not, she was wrongly accused of things she had no say over. And when she saw who was leading the charge, she panicked."

The scene shifted over to the young girl as she saw several lights off in the distance that were starting to approach.

"And because of her young age and timid nature towards others caused by her parents, she was unable to fight back against those that came to end her."

The girl was replaced with a burning replica of her body.

I could hear people sobbing and crying around me, and I was on the verge of tears myself. I could relate to this so much.

But as I was about to cry, the fire stopped and a billowing plume of black smoke burst out screaming from the ashes.

"SSHHAAAAAAAA!!!!"

It was a screech of pure hatred. And the pitch-black smoke soon took the form of a Serpent. Not a Serpentine, but a serpent. A true Serpent, like those on my rings.

It stared down at the people standing below it and began speaking in a cold and echoing voice filled with malice.

"You people are worse than demons!" It shouted wrathfully. "You killed me for NOTHING!!!"

"For that, you shall PAY! Your descendants shall be cursed to look like me for forever!"

And as soon as the smog finished saying that, it dove down from above and crashed into the Serpentine below.

"It didn’t harm them of course, but they were now cursed to have children that would forever be ostracised for their appearance."

"No one knows what the young girl looks like, since this happened several thousands of years ago. But it’s said that this curse cannot be removed, even to this day, it still remains."

"This has been the story of an unnamed girl who perished due to the views of society. A story that has only recently been brought to light."

"It was originally thought that the people who were cursed had failed, but upon further inspection through magic, it has been discovered to be untrue, and that this curse still lives to this day."

"Somewhere out there, someone’s appearance is cursed to be hideous. And it is said that the only way to break the curse, is for someone to accept this person for who they are, rather than what they look like."

"This is a tale about someone who was despised just because they were different. And this is why the Duchess herself despises the current ideology of disposing of the unwanted in our corner of the world."

So that’s why... Everything’s starting to make sense now...

"In fact, the Duchess is supposed to be one of the descendants of these people."

*GASP!*

The crowd gasped in shock, and rightfully so.

"For her grandmother, was supposedly someone who had this curse, but she was accepted for who she was, causing the curse to be broken for her lineage."

"But her family line was not the only one to be cursed of course. Many others were cursed, and they are said to still be out there to this day. Waiting, to just be accepted for who they are."

The narrator went on to explain a little more about the supposed history of these cursed people, and how they treated their offspring, and how most of them killed themselves.

These people kept trying but killed themselves to rid themselves of this curse, but their children remained to spread out and continue living.

Not all of them were able to continue their bloodline, and they slowly died off.

And that was the end of the play.

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