Ghozal stood at the entrance to Flio's house under a clear blue sky,
scratching the back of his head. He wasn't wearing his usual rugged
clothing, but instead a neatly tailored tuxedo. "I don't mind wearing this or
anything," he said, "but you didn't have to do all that..."
"Nonsense!" Flio said, smiling and smacking Ghozal amiably on the
shoulder. "This is a special day!"
Behind them were Sleip and his twenty-one former subordinates, led by
Dalc Horst. "To think that I would be in attendance at the Dark One's
wedding!" he said. "Or, I suppose he's just Lord Ghozal now. Ahhh, my
heart could just about burst!" He raised his head to the skies, tears of joy
streaming down his cheeks.
"Lord Sleip!" Byleri said, proffering a handkerchief. "Like, here!" She
had been standing quite close to the former Infernal.
"Thank you, Byleri," he said, taking it and dabbing his damp eyes.
"Excuse me." But the handkerchief wasn't nearly enough to stop his torrent
of tears.
Dalc Horst and his crew, too, were weeping joyfully as they cheered.
"Lord Ghozal! We are overjoyed to see you wed!"
"Congratulations, Lord Ghozal!"
"Long live Lord Ghozal!"
Ghozal looked uncharacteristically nervous as he surveyed the crowd.
"H-Hrm!" he said, his voice hoarse. "What's gotten you all so sentimental?
It's just a wedding!" But the cheers and tears showed no sign of abating.
Blossom was watching the scene from a little ways away, smiling
happily. Instead of the usual attire she wore for farm work, she had on a
fancy dress. "Well, who woulda thunk?" she said. "I suppose Balirossa's
gonna be the first one married after all!"
"E-Excuse me..." Maunty said, his voice shaking. "Miss Blossom?"
"We need to talk..." added Hokh'hokton. The two of them seemed
terribly nervous. Behind them stood Maunty's wife and sixteen children.
"Hm?" Blossom said. "What's up, you two?"
"Oh..." Hokh'hokton said. "Well... Even though he's Mister Ghozal
now, he was at one time the Dark One, you know..."
"Yeah." Maunty nodded. "In the Dark Army, we were the lowest of the
low. It just doesn't feel right, being at his wedding like this..."
"Oh, is that it?" Blossom said, grinning from ear to ear. "There's nothing
to worry about. Here!" She turned towards Ghozal and raised her voice.
"Hey, Mister Ghozal!"
"Hrm?" he responded. "What is it, Ser Blossom?"
"Do you got a problem with Maunty and Hokh'hokton being at your
wedding?"
"Of course not!" Ghozal said, grinning back at her. "Why would I?
We're all freeloading at Flio's house, aren't we? The more the merrier, I
say."
"L-Lord Ghozal..." Maunty sobbed.
"Th-There's no need for such kind words!" said Hokh'hokton. The pair
were in tears.
"S-Stop crying!" Ghozal said. "Everyone's crying too much! Sleip, Dalc
Horst! You too! Cut it out!"
"It is only natural, is it not?" Hiya said, appearing beside Ghozal. They
were wearing their same scant wrappings as always, but the halo behind
their head had reshaped itself to spell out the word "congratulations."
Damalynas was holding on to Hiya's arm, a happy smile on her face. "I
would say so," she said. "Everyone's been looking forward to today!"
"W-Well..." Ghozal said, knitting his eyebrows. He seemed terribly
awkward. "I suppose, but..."
"I agree with Hiya and Damalynas," Flio said, his smile as carefree as
always. "You should celebrate with everyone!"
"But I mean..." Ghozal stammered. It looked like he had more to say,
but then the door to Flio's house creaked open.
"The brides have arrived!" Rys declared. As she said, in the entryway
were Balirossa and Uliminas, dressed in pure white. Sybe, in its unicornrabbit form, strolled out ahead of them, wearing a little tailcoat and bow tie.
It snuffled happily as it hopped along, scattering flower petals from a basket
it held in its paw.
The brides in their wedding dresses walked forward at a slow, measured
pace. For a while, Ghozal could only watch them. "Beautiful..." he
muttered, the word leaving his mouth before he could think to stop it.
"Not meow!" Uliminas hissed, her cheeks turning red.
"Sir Ghozal!" said Balirossa, blushing every bit as much as Uliminas.
"Honestly..."
In procession behind the brides were Garyl and Elinàsze. Elinàsze wore
an angelic dress decorated in white feathers. Garyl was dressed in a tailcoat
and bow tie, identical to the set Sybe was wearing. They were walking in
step with Balirossa and Uliminas, holding up the ends of their long veils to
keep them from touching the ground.
"Now now, you two," Rys said, smiling at the brides from her position
by the door. "You can hardly blame him; you look extra breathtaking today.
Don't you think so, Elinàsze? Garyl? Aren't they pretty?"
"They're amazing..." Elinàsze said, smiling brightly.
"Yeah!" Garyl agreed, grinning.
The brides seemed unable to speak after all that praise.
Rys began to clap, and soon the whole party joined in the applause. As
they cheered, Uliminas took her place to Ghozal's left, and Balirossa to his
right.
When all three were ready and in their places, Flio held up his hand and
cast a spell. An enormous magic circle appeared on the ground beneath
their feet. Slowly, it began to revolve. Flio held his hand over his head, and
the magic circle rose up into the sky and vanished, whisking the party away
to the inside of a building styled like a grand cathedral.
Hiya gasped. "Exalted One!" they said. "Is this...your mindscape?"
"What?" Damalynas exclaimed, stunned. "A mindscape? Is that
possible?"
The spell that enables its caster to enter their own mind and sculpt it into
a mindscape was Hiya's specialty. It was magic that only a djinn could use.
However, when Flio came to this world, the gods had blessed him with the
power of Transcendence. As soon as he had reached Level 2, all of his
abilities rocketed far above their limits, and he instantly learned every spell
and every skill that existed in this world. One of them was the spell
Epiphany. When he had been struck by magic from the Dark World by an
enemy djinn, this spell activated, instantly granting him knowledge of all
the magic to exist in the Dark World as well, including the magic Hiya
could use as a djinn.
"I was aware that the Exalted One had mastered the magic of the djinn,"
Hiya said, bowing deeply. "But to create such an elaborate mindscape in so
short a time! Extraordinary!"
Ghozal, Uliminas, and Balirossa stood in the cathedral's chapel in Flio's
mindscape, waiting as Flio stepped up in front of them. "Are you really
okay with this, Mister Ghozal?" he asked, quietly. "You know I'm not a
priest..."
"That doesn't matter," Ghozal said. "I've never been much for worship.
Why would I go to some god's servant for a blessing when I could get one
from my best friend Mister Flio!"
"Best friends..." Flio repeated, smiling happily. "All right. Then with
your permission, I will play the role of priest." Flio took a deep breath.
Belano was waiting behind him, carrying three wedding rings on a small
tray.
And so the ceremony began. Ghozal, the former Dark One, was to be
married at last.
◇ ◇ ◇
The ceremony had gone off without a hitch. After they were finished in
Flio's mindscape, Flio returned the party to where they had been, in front of
his house. There was a large table nearby, set with dish after dish of food.
Rys and Byleri had gone all out cooking for the wedding day. The two of
them had prepared a feast for all the many residents of Flio's house. When
they had first come to live here, they'd had hardly any experience cooking,
but over time they had become so skilled that they could probably run a
professional kitchen.
Ghozal stood in front of the crowd with Uliminas riding on his right
shoulder and Balirossa on his left. "Meet my wives!" he said, grinning. "I
promise you, I will love them both equally for as long as I live!"
Atop Ghozal's shoulders, Uliminas and Balirossa were stealing glances
at each other. "I... I hope our partnership is a long and fruitful one, Ser
Uliminas," Balirossa said.
"Mew can count on it!" The two shared a smile.
Sleip was standing nearby with Byleri pressed close. "Say, Byleri," he
said. "Perhaps we should make like those three and—"
Byleri cut him off, holding a finger to her mouth. It's okay, she seemed
to be saying. I totally get it. "Don't worry," she said. "I'll be happy as long
as I can, like, be with you. Y'know?" She wrapped her arms around him in
a fond embrace.
"Byleri..." Sleip said, holding her gently.
"Balirossa... Byleri..." Blossom said, drinking straight out of a bottle as
she watched. "Everyone's finding love all of a sudden... Hey, Belano! Us
single girls gotta keep each other company, huh?" She wrapped an arm
around Belano, who was nearby serving herself food.
"I-I don't drink!" Belano squeaked, extracting herself from Blossom's
grasp.
"C'mon!" Blossom said. "Live a little, Belano! Ah, well. Suit yourself."
She looked up at the sky. "But it sure is nice, how happy those two are..."
"It is..." Belano agreed.
◇ ◇ ◇
Flio was watching the reception from some ways away, his wife Rys
pressed up against him.
"I can't believe that Ghozal, marrying two girls at once," Rys said. "Ah,
but I suppose demons are allowed to take up to three wives..." She glanced
at Flio.
"Well, I'm a human," Flio said. "All I need is you, Rys." He pulled her
in by her shoulder, hugging her softly.
"My lord husband..." she said, her face lightly flushed. "Thank you."
Just then, Elinàsze came running up. "Papa," she said, "you should get
some food!"
"You too, mama!" Garyl said. "It's all delicious!"
Elinàsze took Flio's hand and Garyl took Rys's, leading their parents
towards the table.
"Aha ha," Flio laughed. "All right, all right!"
"Don't pull, you two!" said Rys. Both children had big smiles on their
faces.
As Elinàsze and Garyl brought Flio and Rys over to the rest of the party,
Rys leaned over to whisper in her husband's ear. "My lord husband," she
said, turning slightly red. "Didn't our children say the other day that they
wanted a younger brother or sister?"
"They did, didn't they," Flio said with his usual easygoing smile. "Well,
I suppose we can't disappoint them!"
The merrymaking lasted well into the night.