"During that time, children would run amok," Cryptarch Matsuo explained. "They would extort foodstuffs from the citizenry under threat of vandalism."

"Hence the participants' eagerness to disguise their identities," Eido mused. "But how does this spirit of lawlessness relate to communion with the dead?" she continued, puzzled.

Matsuo shrugged. "Maybe the Hall Between was a celebration of transgression in general. A period when people disguised themselves to act out of character."

"…When docile hatchlings acted as bandits," Eido supplied, "and the dead returned to speak with the living."

"Exactly," the Cryptarch nodded. "And those without heads were granted replacements… for a time."