Mara had spent the last few days planning the wedding with Prudence and Karma. A sister and mother she never had. It felt weird doing something as mundane as picking out colors, flowers, a place and cakes with everyone and Malum. She had to admit, the cake tasting was her favorite part so far but she loved how Malum was so involved and enthusiastic about everything. "Okay so we've got colors, fabric choices, a DJ and music, church," Prudence started listing off things they accomplished and Karma pretended to gag when she said church. Prudence rolled her eyes and everyone giggled. "Flowers and arrangements, cake, Malum is working on the tuxes. You need to pick out bridesmaids." Prudence said turning to Mara and Mara sighed. "Can't mom do it." Mara groaned waving at Karma in defeat. "Nope. we're the planners for everything so you don't have to worry about me and Lady Karma." Prudence said with a smile.
Mara rolled her eyes and sighed. "How many groomsmen we got?" Mara asked and Prudence magicked a tablet out of nowhere. "The four horsemen and Karma's boys so six total." Prudence said. "So I'll have the girls play rock, paper, scissors for the ….ring barer?" Mara asked. Prudence and Karma looked at one another pensively and then smiled wide. Then they looked back at Mara and nodded. "Perfect!" they said in sync. "And then they can do the same for the matron of honor." Mara added and the ladies nodded.
"Okay so the reception, we need to find a place we want and catering." Mara said grabbing the laptop Malum let her use. "Nope!" both Prudence and Karma said in sync, popping the P. "Lord Malum has already decided and wants it to be a surprise! We'll handle the cater and everything else." Karma said with a nod and smile. Mara's eyes grew wide with shock. She knew he was excited and invested like she was but she didn't expect him to surprise her like that. "Alright fine. So….dress shopping anyone?" Mara said and they all squealed excitedly.
It didn't take long for the girls to find a boutique they liked. It had all types of dresses in various colors and styles. Prudence wanted Mara to try something different than the traditional white since it wasn't like she was a virgin anymore and Karma wanted me to have the traditional look since I wanted a traditional wedding so to speak. "I'll try both and see what I like but no pictures. I do NOT want Malum to see until I walk down that damn isle." Mara said sternly and they nodded and clapped excitedly.
The owner of the boutique took care of them personally, wanting to impress the girls as much as possible. "Alright ladies so I have a line of traditional and non traditional dresses for the bride to be. I was advised black, red and gold are our go to colors, yes?" she asked for clarification and Prudence nodded. "Malum's favorite color may be black but his house colors are scarlet and gold. As he is king of his house or faction in the underworld, you will be our queen." Prudence informed Mara.
"Alright so I am a woman who loves options so here we are. We have two beautiful gowns here in our scarlet and red theme. Option A is a full length, corseted, A line, sleeveless gown. Gold satin underneath covered by layers of beautiful diamond studded tulle. There's a gorgeous gold floral calligraphy embroidery on the front of the corset that spreads down into the waist and comes up from the hem of the skirt." The owner said. Karma looked at the dress pensively while Mara and Prudence stared in awe at its beauty.
"Option B is a mermaid style dress with golden tulle as the base and ruby studded scarlet embroidery that shapes our short sleeves, nearly there neckline, down the bodice and tapers out past the thigh line. My favorite part of this dress is the peekaboo section here. Shows the girls off while leaving something to the imagination for honeymoon night." she said with a wink. They all giggled like a pack of school girls telling naughty jokes.
"Now this next line up is in the groom's favorite color and has various under shades of cream, gray or white to offset. Options a through D all have a corseted bodice while option E is less constrictive so to speak. A and E are the only one with sleeves, A being off the shoulder short sleeves and E being long sleeves. I do love the lace touch for the sleeve themselves instead of normal fabric. A and C through E all have the black lace with satin underlay but B is my favorite. Corset deep plunge neckline, and made entirely of embroidered black lace onto black satin and the lace is student with diamonds and onyx stones." she informed them and prudence nearly fell out of her chair. "If YOU don't get B, I will," Prudence said with a dead serious face.
Mara and Karma giggled at her outburst while the assistance rolled out another rack. "This here is our hybrid rack. A mix of traditional and non. All of the dresses are corseted and sleeveless A line dresses. A and E incorporate the white with the bride's favorite color, purple. B and C incorporate the white with the groom's favorite color, black. D incorporates the white and red." the owner said as she stood aside and let the dresses speak for themselves. Prudence seemed disappointed and really wanted the all black dress. Karma wasn't sure she was too comfortable with the mix.
"I see the pensive looks ladies, no worries. Our final and most lush rack, mom's preference if I remember correctly, our traditional all white gowns." the owner said and Mara looked to Karma with a smile. Karma gave her a knowing look and smiled back at Mara, patting her hand softly. There were so many different variants of white satin, tulle or lace. Some she'd need a bra and others would or should hold her up nicely. By the time the owner was done making her selling points Mara couldn't decide and Karma had turned into the giddy school girl.
"What do you think?" the other owner asked Mara. Mara visibly paled with nervousness and shook her head. "I have no idea!?" Mara screeched, fisting her natural hair and groaning. This was worse than shoe shopping at DSW with coupons and during a sale. "Might as well try them all" Mara muttered and the owner's eyes lit up. "Girls, one of you help sister Prudence find possible bridesmaid dresses. You get the snacks and drinks. Mom sit comfortably and have fun." the owner said and clapped her hands while the assistance scurry off like mice.
It had been a few hours but the finger food and wine helped the time pass. Mara still hadn't decided on a look and when she texted Malum for an idea he said 'Whatever makes you happy my dearest Mara. This may be our day but I want you to enjoy this for you as well. Have fun. I love you. -M' "Alright I have some at the top of list but I need to sleep on it." Mara said with a nod and the owner nodded with a smile. "Perfect. Once you've decided we can get a tiara and veil for you and finalize the bridal parties dresses." the owner said. "No worries on the Tiara, we already have a crown for her." Karma said as she and Prudence gave Mara a knowing smile.
Mara was escorted back to and dropped off safely at the penthouse. She fed herself a wholesome meal since the twins burnt through all the finger foods she practically inhaled. Once the monster that was her black hole of a stomach was controlled, she took a long hot shower. "Nap time!" she squealed excitedly as she texted Malum to let him know she was going to take a nap. She tossed off her towel, made sure her bonnet was secured and slid into bed, passing out almost instantly.
It didn't take long for the connection to be made. Mara was more than familiar with the stark darkness and empty space around her. The air was chilled even though there was no breeze and fog rolled across the ground. "Why have you summoned me Baron?" she asked, switching to her native tongue of Haitian Kreyol. "Time to call in that favor, old friend." he replied as the fog turned into black shadow masses that formed into Baron Samedi himself. "Oh a human form? Looks good on you." Mara joked, wondering what he was up to.
His human look was a derivative off of his normal undead appearance. He had chocolate skin coated with a full but close cut beard and mustache. His nose wide and lips supple and full. What she found most interesting were his eyes. At times they were a normal brown and other times they seemed to glow grey with a mix of purples and oranges. "Well thank you very much." he replied with a sly smile and tipped his usual top hat to her. It was black and worn leather with skulls coated in silver around the base. Of course he added some colorful feathers for flair.
This outfit was seemingly simple, a red-orange wife beater, dark wash jeans and a black jacket donned with shells and features to match the ostentatiousness of his hat. "How can I help, old friend?" Mara asked as they were suddenly teleported to an empty looking tavern. He pulled out a seat for her and she rolled her eyes before taking it and he pushed her in gently. "You little ones are weary of me. Congrats by the way." he joked before pouring himself a drink and sitting down across from her at the small round table. "Get on with it Baron." she sighed as she rubbed her belly absentmindedly.
"This favor I need is important. You do this for me and it cleans your slate whole. All favors you've asked for, paid in full." he said and Mara looked at him in utter shock. No God ever offered such a luxury and miss out on repayment of debts, especially not the Loa of Death. "What is it, that could be so important and big that you would offer such a thing?" Mara asked wearily as he hands covered her belly protectively.
He stood slowly and placed both palms on the the before taking a deep breath. He let it out slowly and looked up to her with a seriousness in his eye she'd never seen before. "Remember that one drunk story I told you about. The one with me and the others finding our little light?" he asked and she nodded warrily. "That wasn't just a drunk story. It's all true, she's real, and we finally found her. We can't lose her this time. We won't." he informed her and her jaw fell open so far it cracked audibly. "What!?" she asked thinking it was a joke of some kind and the other Gods of Death were waiting to have a good laugh.
"Mara I am serious so please. Listen." he asked sitting back down. She finally managed to reconnect her lips as her mouth had grown dry from the over exposure to air. "What do you need?" Mara asked hesitantly. "I need a tether to the living plane." he asked and looked up at her with hopeful eyes. "Pardon? Am I to be your tether until you just woo this girl off her feet and she will be your tie?" Mara asked, almost offended. "No, please. Hear me out." he asked with a pleading look and hurt in his voice.
Mara sat back and rubbed up and down her face while taking in and letting out a deep breath. She looked at him and motioned for him to speak with her hands. "Anubis' true form and body is buried in the living plane, preserved, sorta, by the magic that is used to imprison him. He's been able to feel this cult information over the last couple of hundreds years and with the technological boom it has helped immensely. They just need someone to take the reins and organize the proper way to pull him out. Once he's up and free, he will be my tether until I can complete the bond." he explained.
Mara rubbed her temples and looked at the floor pensively. She was about to embark on a new part of life she never thought she'd get to experience. Not that Baron would slight her, they had a weird but close friendship. She knew how much this woman meant to not just him but the others and quite frankly it would be nice to see them happy. It hurt them to lose her lie they did, as many times as they did. She groaned and leaned her head back before letting out a sigh. "Okay, yeah I'll do it. On one condition." She said and he nodded his head with a smile. "If it puts me or the children at risk I'm cutting you off. My babies and my life come first." she said with a serious face and he nodded.
"Perfectly understandable. I can agree to that." he said and stuck out his hand to her. She stared at his hand before sighing again and shaking it. She felt the bond immediately take hold as the words in an ancient written Loa language scrolled around their clasped hands. The binding marks glowed brightly before fading into an unseen, magical tattoo. She could immediately feel Malum push at their bond and she managed to hold him back which she knew he wouldn't like.
"Go back to you mate. I'm sure he's worried about you." Baron said, tipping his hat to her again. "And thank you for everything. Consider your debts cleared." he said as he stood up and bowed. She was still sitting on the chair but the rest of the room shifted, pulling away and disappeared just and quickly as it had appeared. Mara woke up instantly to her phone buzzing off the chain. She answered a, more than perturbed Malum and began to explain what was to come.