"Hello world! Brie and I are officially getting married on July 14th! In the meantime, Jackson and Elizabeth Smith will be taking over temporarily as King and Queen in our absence! The council is all aligned with this and I trust you'll be in good hands. We will return in September, after our honeymoon. As much as we would love to have a giant, royal wedding, we decided to keep things small. I hope you all understand! We do not expect any gifts, but if you absolutely must, please have them delivered to the castle. Make sure to leave a return address so we can thank you!" Sora said with a big smile while Celeste filmed a livestream.
Within minutes, every news station across Exteria had every angle on the wedding one could imagine.
Thankfully, Brie called her parents beforehand and let them know a car would pick them up on July 13th and take them to the location of the wedding. When they asked why they were being so secretive, Brie told them, "Because I'm the Queen, duh!"
It made Sora laugh.
"It's going to suck not being able to see you for a night and day!" Sora complained.
"Oh, you'll get over it," Sasha said with a laugh. "It's not like you two haven't spent the last year and a half living together anyway."
"You do realize you've been with us just as long… right Sasha?" Sora said while laughing.
"Don't forget about me, I was the next day!" Levi said while receiving a punch from Sasha.
"You're supposed to be on my side Levi, what happened?" Sasha laughed. "Anyway, the party is all ready. What are we going to do with Julius?"
"He has to come, doesn't he? It's not like we can leave a 16-year-old in our mansion alone," Brie suggested.
"Someone said I get to come with?" Julius said while appearing from the corner he was hiding behind.
Sera smacked Julius upside the head. "I don't care that you just turned 16 last month. Manners!"
"Well Celeste, you go on ahead and make sure everything is good on their end. They know we're all coming, right?" Brie asked politely. "Dorian and Camilla too, don't forget."
"Yes Brie! We've been over this so many times. Everything will just be fine!" Celeste said as she eagerly teleported to the Elven Barrier. 'I swear this wedding planning stuff is too much.'
As she approached the barrier, she said, "I'd like to play the song that gives way to the Meadow," and the barrier opened.
*****
Back at Sora's mansion, he used a giant armored limousine he had in his garage. Leila, Sera, Brie, Levi, Jubelle, Sasha, Julius, Sora, Camilla and Dorian got into the backseat.
"So, you still haven't told us this surprise location of the wedding," Dorian said with a smile. "Is it really that amazing?"
"We hope so– we need Brie to be our shining beauty and our glimmer of hope," Sora said while holding Brie's hand.
"Don't tell me… you've found the elves?!" Dorian said quietly.
"You know we're in an armored limo, right?" Sasha said with a giant laugh.
"Dad, you're so embarrassing…" Jubelle said with a facepalm.
They joked the rest of the way about how long it would be before Brie and Sora had babies… which for everyone but the two of them, was a great time.
Eventually the limo was far enough north where it came to a stop.
"I don't see anything, what are we doing out here?" Camilla asked, confused.
"Just follow Sora and me," Brie said cheerfully.
As they approached the barrier, Sora gave Brie a nudge. "You're up, beautiful."
Brie said, "There's a songbird that sings a beautiful melody in the snow, where she sings an opening will surely show."
The party watched in wonder as a beautiful magical archway, about 30 feet tall opened. They walked through quickly and couldn't believe their eyes.
As they walked through, winter disappeared. They were in a beautifully sunny, warm, luxurious forest-like entrance. They were greeted by two large, yellow furred Chimeras, much smaller than Rook was. As they walked through the initial trees, the land opened up into fields of beautiful green grass with houses built into the landscape. Stone walkways were lined with larger homes and elves were walking freely around, chatting away in the summer air. In the center of it all was a giant, beautiful golden castle. A moat surrounded the castle, but the river didn't stop around the castle, rather, intertwined itself beautifully throughout the beautiful, green landscape. Sora thought it looked like Earth would, just with the technological advances that come with 5000 years with elven magic sprinkled in.
"Are there other Chimera here? Anyone with the last name Zeke?" Sora asked politely.
"Yes, there is Bishop Zeke. He lives in the castle but is kind of hard to get a hold of. He keeps to himself these days. Why do you ask?" the younger Chimera smiled cheerfully.
"A few of us knew his brother, Rook. He was one of the nicest souls I've ever met." Sora said with a smile.
"He was also really intelligent. We tried to save him, but he wanted to pass on into the afterlife," Brie said cheerfully.
"You knew Master Rook?! No way! We've only heard stories of him. Was he truly as fearsome and large as they say?"
"I've never met a more fearsome foe in my life!" Levi said in his over-zealous tone. "Even his growl almost knocked us off our feet! Had he wanted to fight, we would surely be dead."
"That sounds like Rook!" the two young Chimeras said gleefully. "There are plenty of Chimeras here, but you'll have to talk to Bishop about the other Ancients. We're not really too sure there, sorry!" the young Chimera said.
"What are your names? I am sorry. I'm Sora and this is the lovely human bride-to-be, Brie. The rest are Levi, Sasha, Sera, Leila, Jubelle, Camilla and Dorian," Sora said as he pointed to each one. "The young one is Julius, he's a demon, but don't worry, so is Sera. We're kind of a mixed lot."
"Well, if you couldn't tell, we're twins. I'm Jen and that's my brother Sven." the chimera on the left said joyously.
"It's so nice to meet you! So, you're the ones coming for the big wedding. I have to warn you though; time flows differently here. Each week here is a month in the outside world. Elven magic," Sven said politely.
"Woah, that's so cool," Jubelle exclaimed. "Any other fun facts about Meadowsong?"
"We'll let you figure that out for yourselves, but I'm sure the King and Queen are awaiting your arrival. Make sure to give our best to Master Bishop. He used to train us, back when we were kids!" Jen said excitedly.
"Have you seen Celeste?" Sora asked.
"The goddess? She's at the Castle already. I wouldn't try to teleport, you'll get a nasty headache and it'll knock you back," Jen warned.
"Could Celeste teleport?" Sora asked with a grin.
"Yes, but she's a goddess–" Sven was cut off.
Sora teleported his group to the Castle without a problem.
"Woah is that dude a god? Maybe that's why the King and Queen agreed to meet with them. Otherwise, I'd say they were committing suicide! Bringing a human here. How foolish!" Jen said with a somber face.
"I just hope their meeting goes well. I liked them. They were really nice!" Sven said, also sharing his sister's concern for their well-being.
*****
Waiting at the castle doors were the King and Queen, along with Celeste. As Sora's party landed from their teleportation, they all immediately bowed.
Brie was the first to stand up, and she presented them with the Elven Scepter, Monstrosity, which she found in the dungeon she met Sora in.
"I believe this belongs to you. Ironically, this is from a dungeon on the night I first met my soon to be husband. I know coming here was a risk and I'm grateful Celeste convinced you to allow me to come. The truth is, I'd die for Sora and I'd die to ensure the safety of the Elves and the Chimera. Just like Master Rook did," Brie said with her usual, bubbly charm.
"How did you know Master Rook? Clearly the girl is lying." the King stated arrogantly.
"She's not your majesty. I am Leila Fury, you might remember me," Leila stepped out from the back.
"Sora, Brie and their party risked their lives to free me from the Monolith, a dungeon the demons trapped Rook and me in for over 2,500 years. The demons exterminated my race, yet I'm in a party with one. Just like not all gods and goddesses are good, humans, Uthra, vampires, it doesn't matter, there is good and bad in all. Brie and Sora offered to save Master Rook, but he declined and passed on a message to Sora's parents in the afterlife.
"And who exactly are your parents, young one?" the Queen spoke smugly.
"Aprhodite and Cyrus Lockheart," Sora said politely.
"Well Celeste, how do we know he is telling the truth?" the King asked.
"Let him use his left eye's magic on you. He can show you the past," Celeste said calmly.
"You want me to lie about my left eye?" Sora immediately started speaking telepathically.
"You're not lying. You're using your illusion magic to cast a real memory. If you don't, they're going to kill Brie," Celeste said calmly.
"And why didn't you mention any of this beforehand?" Sora asked, annoyed.
"Would you have come?" Celeste asked, equally annoyed.
"Good point. Ok, I got this. Thank you for all your help. I think I can show a minute illusion now. He was red with a black beard right?" Sora asked.
"Yes, dumbass. How could you forget?" Brie said while laughing.
"Wait, why are you so happy?" Sora asked.
"Because it's like I've always told you–It's like you've lived under a rock. At least now I know why. Of course they were going to kill me unless we had a good reason to keep me alive. Thankfully, we have multiple reasons and one of them is you, so please, show them what they need to see so we can finally get married!" Brie said joyfully.