Submission (#613) Approved

The sun in Layer Three was doing its thing—hanging like a peeled mango in the sky, hot and golden and lazy. Below it, the Carnival of Sunlight had sprung to life, flooding the open plains with fluttering banners, booths that smelled like sugar and salt, and magic-saturated music that hummed through the grass. It was, by all accounts, the kind of place a criminal mischief-maker like Kairos would ruin within twenty minutes.
But not today.
“Oh please,” Kairos scoffed at the skeptical glance Nadira shot him as they approached the gates. “I’m not here to rig ring tosses or swipe someone's enchanted lemonade stand. I am here,” he paused dramatically, “to vibe.”
Nadira raised an unimpressed brow, the sun glittering off her deep crimson and violet iridescent scales. “You're really going to pretend this isn’t a scouting mission for chaos?”
“I brought sunscreen, Nadira.”
“You also brought a collapsible grappling hook.”
“For emergencies.”
Despite herself, she smirked.
The carnival was in full swing—flying paper lanterns shaped like frogs, glittery bubble trails zigzagging through the air, and enchanted mist fans keeping everyone cool. Kairos moved like a hummingbird with pocket money, darting from one booth to the next with a cherry snow cone in one paw and a plastic flamingo straw sticking out of his mouth.
He got his face painted as a tiger (then asked for glitter on top), won a lemon-shaped plush in a game clearly designed to eat coins, and accidentally ate a popsicle that made his tongue glow green.
“Why is it spicy?” he wheezed dramatically.
“You ordered the ‘Solar Flare Surprise,’” Nadira said flatly, though her shoulders were shaking with laughter.
At a watermelon carving competition booth, Kairos carved his fruit into a deeply cursed version of himself. “Look,” he told Nadira proudly, “it’s my melon-sona.”
“Please stop.”
But she didn’t walk away.
They shared a skyberry parfait under the shade of a parasol that shifted hues with the passing clouds. Around them, music floated up from string players balancing on stilts, and little kids ran by with firefly kites trailing behind them.
Kairos leaned back, paws behind his head. For a second—just a second—he looked genuinely relaxed.
“I used to think stuff like this was boring,” he said casually. “Too sunny. Too… I dunno. Nice. But I guess it’s not so bad when you’re not running from security every five minutes.”
“That’s because I confiscated your illegal fireworks,” Nadira replied, spooning another bite of parfait.
“Small detail,” Kairos said. “I’m actually having a good time. Weird, right?”
Nadira gave him a sideways glance. “I think you might be… healing.”
“Gross.”
They both laughed.
Just as the sun began to dip toward the treeline, casting everything in syrupy gold, a paper flyer fluttered through the air and slapped Kairos square in the face.
He peeled it off, blinking.
"The Sun’s Secret Show — One Night Only! Starts at Moonrise!"
“Oho,” he grinned, eyes glinting. “Unreasonably sparkly mystery event? Sounds like my kind of night.”
Nadira glanced at the flyer, then at him. “You're actually going, aren’t you?”
“I’ve already cleared my schedule of crimes. Might as well lean in.”
They stood, their shadows stretching long across the trampled grass.
“You still owe me details about that absurd tent you brought,” Nadira said as they wandered toward the evening bonfire.
“Oh ho,” Kairos purred, “wait until you see it. It has three rooms. And a disco snail."
“…What?” Nadira looked at him with a chuckle her tail twitched and lifted slightly to be more at head level.
“A disco snail? I wonder if it can be my friend!” The tail stated with excitement, causing Nadira and Kairos to laugh, and so they headed for the show laughing and having a wonderful time at another one of the festival’s attractions this summer.

Reward	Amount
Gold	5
Summer Daze Music Festival - Design and MYO Raffles (Raffle Ticket)	1