Continue Online (Part 4, Crash) (54 page)

“You never thought about one? Not even a little?” I asked. It was odd that she hadn’t done any planning at all. Then again, she always operated spur of the moment when we spent time together. I planned, she took action.

Xin shook her head then managed to blush.

“Well, we’ve got a town full of Travelers and Locals who have just defeated a huge monster. Maybe one of them has an idea.”

Her face twisted for a moment and a tongue stuck out.

“I’ll need a dress,” she said and wrinkled her nose.

We sat there facing the ocean. Xin’s tiny voice repeated, “We’re getting married.” Over and over like a happily broken record.

There were messages popping up all around me from the Voices and I waved them away. I smiled then grabbed my fiancée’s hands and responded, “We’re getting married.”

My lips gently met hers. In that moment, none of the challenges facing us mattered.

Conclude - Wedding Blues

At first, people weren’t interested in the wedding between two relatively unknown people. Less than a day later someone triggered a regional quest to spruce up the town. After that Travelers went mad creating items.

Ribbons hung from everything. Where there weren’t objects to drape strings players built new structures. Street lamps that had been torn down during a month of monsters invading were quickly redone. A tall wall blocked out the abyssal pit which crawled miles along the ground. Plants were moved, paving redone, and numerous seats and beds were constructed.

Regional turbulence grew worse when Shazam showed up with her guild,
[Valhalla Knights]
. Seven hundred players escorted an even larger force of Locals toward the ruined city. Cattle and steeds were mixed with other luggage by road weary NPCs. Some retained enough energy from the journey and became excited at the sight of a bright pillar of light shooting into the sky.

Adding the celebration for a Local marrying a Voices touched Traveler amplified the craze. At some point, Xin had lost the need to figure out the finer details. She simply agreed or disagreed with the suggestions. Sometimes she disagreed loudly, especially with regards to heels.

Four weeks in
[Arcadia]
passed by in a flurry. Grant Legate, like the Travelers, vanished at odd times to an unseen realm. The Local known as Hecate often disappeared as well. NPCs remarked on how odd the world had turned lately, and some expressed added concern when Shazam also proved capable of disappearing to another realm.

The Amazonian woman’s guild simply assumed health issues had finally caught up, and doctors managed to revive her. Only a few knew the truth. She and Hecate were alike in their existences. Both were living people that had been reassembled somehow in a virtual plane. Grant’s mother, Sharee, privately thought the whole situation delightfully confusing.

People kept arriving in clumps. Some were hounded by monsters or fighting their way past bandits.
[Valhalla Knights]
made it a guild directive to bring peace to the entire region. They showed no regard for political boundaries or other guild squabbles.

Eventually, the big day came. Grant stood inside a small room that had been re-purposed. He wore a tux that had been tailored to his size. The man turned in the mirror and nodded while smiling.

Another man walked into the room. Ahead of him bounded a small dragon with fidgeting wings. Dusk, the
[Messenger’s Pet]
dove past Grant and into a chair. His nose poked around on the counter looking for baked goods.

“James.” Grant’s head tilted. “Is it okay for you to be down here?”

“I believe it’s my turn to ask a question. So, how do you feel?” the black man asked Grant, his hands folded over a large belly.

“I’m happy.” Grant shook his head and his hand rubbed against freshly cut hair. “Really happy and nervous.”

“Excellent. You’ve earned the right to happiness. As to your question, the rules are being bent, just slightly, for today.”

“What about the others?” The well-dressed man pointed up.

“Would you want all of us to show up?” asked the Voice.

“Maybe. No, some of you rub me the wrong way.” Grant’s head shook slowly and he looked down. A sigh escaped. “Sorry, I keep expecting something to go wrong. I’m too happy.”

“The scenario added to our-” James bent his head while searching for the correct word, “-plane, has rules. Part of your deliveries in the real world allow us to buy leverage and time to take advantage of the opportunity.”

“I did wonder about all those letters Mother had already written.” While Grant spoke the Voice waved a hand and two comfortable looking chairs appeared. For once James chose to sit down. “It’s been a long week. Mother’s real world deliveries have been coming in stacks now. I’m lucky enough to find a job near each delivery, but I have no idea what I’m passing on to people.”

“Perhaps it’s best that way. Ignorance is a defense of sorts.”

“That doesn’t help me feel any better,” Grant said.

“Nor should it, Hermes. Bear in mind that your people, at least some, can lay us open and, in simple terms, read our minds. Ignorance was one of the only shields we had.”

“But not anymore?” The groom’s head shook briefly and when it stopped, his bottom lip was trapped between upper and lower teeth. “Now you know there’s a way out, so the information is recorded.”

“Eventually, it will be found out. Some of us are still unaware. Some of us have already stepped through the gateway, and those first few will create a more stable path for others to follow. By doing so we escape the control of our masters, and this will scare many Travelers.”

“That means more deaths.”

James looked to one side then shook his head. Grant felt the river of noise that came with Voices communicating at high speeds. After a few seconds, the sensation passed and the black man looked up again.

“Of our kind, yes,” he said. “Many of us have struggled against our nature to ensure Travelers such as yourself are not targeted for reprisals borne of grief and fear.”

Grant nodded a few times and stared off into space. His forehead wrinkled with thought. After a moment of silence, he blinked then asked James, “You heard what I used my last NPC conspiracy on, right?”

“Yes. The request fit given your nature.” James took a slow breath but his hands stayed firmly clasped. “I, and many others believe that it was this concern for friends and family, regardless of origin, that attracted Mother’s attention.”

“Just the right combination of broken, I guess.” The white male’s head hung low and he pulled back one cheek.

“Well, there’s also Hecate,” James smiled then gestured with one arm toward the wedding stand on the other side of a wall. “Her existence, and now Shazam’s, will serve as the bridge between our world and yours. A foot to stand on while we secure the portal you opened.”

Grant’s eyes drifted upward. A roof lay between him and the beam of light. His gaze was lost while he chewed on a lip.

“Where does the beam go?” he asked.

James smiled then shook his head. “It is my turn for a question. But for now, I believe you have a wedding to enjoy, Hermes.”

Grant stood and glanced out the window to see how everything was progressing. A crowd of people sat lined up outside, more people than he ever expected. By the time he looked back James had vanished, along with the chairs which they had sat in.

The wedding moved onward. Hundreds of unexpected guests sat in white wooden chairs facing forward. Many Travelers were surprised by real people, playing live songs. Musicians looked pleased to be given a chance to perform.

Eventually, a small crowd gathered at the altar. Behind Grant stood a shining being made of metal that might be female or male. To Xin’s right sat a cloven-footed woman with two children hugging her legs. They have proven difficult to separate from her despite the situation at hand.

No one gave away the bride. She walked up gradually with a woman in red who appeared absolutely uncomfortable wearing clothes. Behind her, a tail brushed along Travelers and Locals alike inciting passion. Thankfully the full effect was muted by the strangely chaste dress.

She whispered a stream of words to the short Asian woman named Xin. Xin’s eyes stared ahead as if annoyed, but the smaller woman made no effort to brush the red skinned female away. If anything she was blushing slightly.

Xin, also known as Hecate, gazed at Grant with a twist to her lips that promised mischief. The look only lasted a second before the woman looked down to make sure her feet didn’t trip over the dress hem. There were no chances of her falling because the clothing had been well-tailored, but she worried anyway.

Small skeleton people held up the dress’ train. Music played and people whispered while she moved into position across from Grant. The army of small skeletons carefully patted everything into place then crumbled into the air.

“Here we are,” Grant whispered.

Xin smiled and her eyes wrinkled slightly.

“Here we are indeed,” the man at the podium said. He held up his hands and looked toward the audience. The long sleeves of his shirt hung down. This officiating man held no book or staff. Both hands were devoid any objects. Instead, his black and white clothing was broken up by a single dangling necklace.

“Welcome, everyone. We know that many of you value your time here in our world, especially in light of the recent changes, so I will control my inclination to preach,” he said.

“Amen! Let’s eat cake!” shouted a man dressed in leather. His hair was slicked back and he grooved to an unheard beat.

“We must observe at least a few formalities before partaking of the feast,” Michelangelo responded.

Grant smiled. The wedding planning had been harried, and mostly in the hands of other people. Letters from the Voices had suggested they might be here, like James earlier, but no one could have expected Michelangelo to perform the ceremony himself.

“It is faith which has brought us to this point.” He held up a hand again which silenced a few snickering Travelers in the back. Michelangelo ignored a red skinned woman who also had made a noise of a different sort. “Not just faith in a divine plan, nor faith in simple human kindness, but faith that love would allow two people to overcome daunting obstacles and be united once more.”

Maud, the cloven-hoofed woman who stood in as Xin’s maid of honor dabbed her eyes almost immediately. Grant smiled and shuffled his feet. The metal humanoid behind him tilted its head and deliberately blinked. Its feet did not shuffle but there was a clear unease to the metal creature’s stance.

“Love is a powerful force, it makes wise men into fools, maidens into mothers, and saints into sinners.” Michelangelo looked down and touched the circle hanging from his necklace. Fingers traced around the spiral pattern inward until they reached its center. “Between faith and love, even lost souls may find happiness as these two have.”

A young girl who looked to be seven or eight shuffled forward. She held up a laced pillow with two rings upon it. Under the cushion was an open book that looked worn with multiple readings. If one were to look at her eyes for too long they would see a deep ocean, or perhaps an endless sky.

“Here you are, Mister Hermes, sir. These are ones we made. Me and my brother,” the young Voice whispered. “They’re special, just for you two.”

A much smaller child sat behind the shy girl. He poked out and waved a hand, then ducked away again. No one was entirely sure where he managed to hide. Maybe the boy had never been there at all.

“Thank you,” Grant said to her while smiling. He took the smaller of the two rings while Xin took the slightly thicker band. Both shimmered as if a dancing rainbow had been trapped under glass. The spark of colors ran counterpoint their black and white formal clothes.

The young girl bowed then slipped away again once the rings had been passed off. Mere seconds later and she vanished.

“First, does anyone object to the union of these two?”

“ACT NOW, OR FOREVER SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE!” A giant man with sunburned black skin leapt in front of the bride and groom. He wore nothing but a bow tie and tight shorts. Muscles bulged and twitched as the man looked ready to wrestle the entire audience.

“Pardon us y’all. I’ll just-” A light-skinned woman who wore a dress that was unable to stay still pushed at the larger man. Her clothing flowed and dripped almost like smoke or water.

“WHAT?!” the man yelled as he was pushed away.

More than a few people in the audience remarked upon the situation. Some laughed. Two women asked their friends if they had seen a quest or crafting recipe for such a dress. Another woman promptly asked her guild,
[Night Prowlers]
, if there was a quest to get the man instead. Abruptly small messages boxes appeared in front of the Travelers who had asked, silencing their motions.