Where The Dead Ones Go Book 3 -Emirate-

Chapter 18

"If you two are serious about your desire to become man and wife, you will exchange rings as a symbol of your everlasting loyalty and love to one another that will stand, as it goes without saying, the test of time..."

After Zenith said those words, our son, the demiurge of the goddess of stars appeared from behind Gala, my maid of honor, and Morris, Kairos' best man bearing two beautiful rings that are obviously made by Eonia.

She alone knows the stones that we both love and our preferences when it comes to jewelry.

Made from simple silver, the two rings are encrusted with pearls and onyx sitting on top of a black and white cushion carried by the small hands of our child.

He offered it to the two of us with a sweet smile on his face and we accepted gratefully.

Kairos and I looked at each other before he slipped the ring onto my trembling fingers before grinning sheepishly, "I know we barely know each other but I can't really shake the feeling that we are never apart at all. That we have been together for ages."

"Who knows, Kairos? There might be a ring of truth in those feelings of yours?" I answered nonchalantly as I did the same and put the ring to his finger, "In time, all will become clear to all of us. But for now, let's live for what you represent, the present."

Before he can reply to my cryptic words, Zenith spread his arms triumphantly, "Now that the exchange of rings has been done, I am therefore allowed, by the grace of the goddess of marriage, my patroness, Queen Hera, together with the immortals and mortals here with us who are witnesses to your vows, to pronounce you, husband and wife. Kairos, my lucky man, show me the last of your moves."

Morris and Gala snickered when they heard what the High Priest has meaningfully said to my husband while Taurei and Avesa burst into tears as the spawn of time slowly lifted the veil and gaze upon my face as if it was like the first time he has seen me personally, many eons ago.

"At long last, time finally got its due, Viera..."

Before I can even react to the words he unconsciously said, he kissed me passionately that I returned in earnest as I heard rapturous cheers and applause that filled not only the temple but also outside as millions upon millions of wellwishers celebrated with us.

When he finally let me go, he looks so pleased with himself, he smiled despite himself when Asher, Vaski, and Syden cheered for him loudly as Clite lead our philharmonic orchestra with his sisters to maximum volume as he blasts out a joyful rendition of the imperial march that I adore so much in my past life.

"Immortals and mortals, the Empress and Emperor Consort of the Empire of Plurinational Alliance Xenocracy!"

Even the king and queen of the gods stand up from their thrones and bow before us as we stepped down from the altar and head straight to Hyro who is waiting for the two of us.

"If you are the Emperess and Emperor, then who am I?"

Kairos and I looked at each other before kneeling before our precious little one as our guests throw petals at the three of us.

"Why you are our little Imperial Prince, of course," Kairos said happily as he lifted him up only to be taken by the god of time who gave him a hug, "Looks like your grandfather want to spend time with you, my son."

Khronos raised an eyebrow dangerously at his spawn, "I prefer if you see me as not as different as you. That child is as much as mine as he is yours, Kairos."

Before he can answer, Mr Atomo appeared beside us as our class lead by our adviser began to strike a pose behind us happily.

"Nice to meet you, Lord Khronos, I did my best to raise your son as much as I can in just a short span of time."

The god of time passed Hyro to my great mother as he walked towards the three of us and lowered down his voice.

"Let me get this straight just between the four of us," he said in a dangerously serious voice, "I am going to only say this once so listen carefully. Mr Atomo, Kairos and I are not the same as the demiurges of Thanatos and Elpis. I know and am thankful for everything that you taught him together with Jeeves, Seolla, and Tina for I am on the receiving end of the knowledge he gained."

"But father..."

"Enough, Kairos, I am not your father. You are born from my powers, that much is true but when it all comes down to it, we are not that different at all," he said with finality and my husband finally got the cue and nodded quickly, "You can say that I can call Mr Atomo here as my guardian as much as you consider him your own. The same can be said to your wife here, if you get what I mean."

I gave him a knowing look before the god of time just laughed out loud that made the other mortals and immortals around us fall silent when they are surprised to see him show any emotion at all.

He then made a grand show of summoning his grand mousy brown wings and began hovering above us all with the face of time in his open hands stuck a minute before midnight.

"Let it be known that I, Khronos, the god of time, fully bless this union as well as pledge my full support behind the Olympian King this time around," he said in a booming voice as his body began fading away from reality itself, "Don't waste this precious moment when finally, the mortal and immortal realms will be united when they should've been ages past. You already know full well if you face this threat divided. Use all the time that you can to finalize armistices and truces before sealing this alliance during the celebration later, as temporary as it may be until we can all see again the time when mankind and deities together hand-in-hand reach for beyond the very stars herself. Glory to the mortal Vieta Imperial Dynasty and its future successor blessed by the gods and goddesses themselves!"

And with a deafening and loud ticking of countless clocks, Proto vanished from our sight but not before making the temple bells ring joyously to announce that our wedding ceremony is finally over and the start of our married life has finally begun.

"Vivet..."

I looked at Kairos and heaved a sigh before giving him a loving hug, "Hush, my love. All will be well. I assure you."

That is right, all will end happily.

For everybody...

Except for one.

-0-

"We are so honored to be your masters of ceremonies!"

I looked at the couple standing before me and Kairos holding a pair of matching microphone triumphantly after they set off the wedding reception successfully and well into the sumptuous banquet without a single problem.

"You can say that your very wedding a while back really left a good mark in our minds," I said truthfully that made Rica shed a tear of joy, "Not to mention the scrumptous food and warm welcome you have showed the three of us. If I want a hassle-free reception, I would rather get someone who have the experience of pulling one off themselves, isn't that right, Patrick?"

The grinning man nodded repeatedly as he shake the hand of my husband and Morris before bowing at Gala who are sitting besides us at the principal table at the very center of the grand hall of Vaski's palace.

"We thought we are dreaming when the president told us about your request! Finally it became a full circle for us all. Again, congratulations and please be at ease, notwithstanding the immortals, we will make sure that the mortals are well taken care of, Kairos, Vivet."

With a jovial bow the two left and began proceeding with the activities that are custom to be done in weddings such as these.

Mortals and immortals alike quickly flooded the spacious and smooth dancefloor when the couple announced that the customary dance will commence shortly and true enough, Apollo and the Muses began playing the music with ease and utmost professionality.

At first, we thought it will be a very bad idea to combine the banquet for mortals and immortals especially those who deities who have their immortal spouses and my friends' mortal parents.

But looking at Ms Zenaira and Hera gossiping intently while sitting near the god of lightning who is eating animatedly with the twins and Zenith, I guess we just worry too much.

"Why the long face, Hyro?" Morris asked at my son who is eating while sitting at his lap and beeing spoonfed by Gala, "Last time I checked, we are at the wedding of your parents not a funeral."

But the child just shook his head and sighed sadly, "Mom is not here. All sorts of gods and goddesses are here but she isn't."

My cousin looked at me as I inclined my head meaningfully at him, "I want to say that he should cheer up and don't mind it at all but I don't want to lie, Morris."

"Hear hear, Vivet. No matter how I try to convince myself, I am still annoyed that father just have to drag Aunt Elpis on gods knows where on the very same day of your wedding," he thought with a hint of anger in his mind but quickly removed it from our minds, "But let's forget about that for now, we are still on the preliminary stages of the celebration. The agreements will be finalized near the end of the banquet so instead of moaning about our absentee parents, we have to make sure ourselves that all will go according to the plans of the goddesses of peace and armistice."

True enough the two pacifist goddesses are making rounds with Ares as their personal bodyguard and personally reaching out to the various deities enjoying their meals and securing their allegiances.

"You know, if I will be frank about it, I wouldn't care a bit if Zeus and his ilk got blown away by Typhon..."

I looked up and saw Apollo's predecessor and mentor, the burning and shimmering Titan of the Sun himself, Helios accompanied by his beloved twin sister and Artemis' tutoress and mistress, Selene, Titaness of the Moon.

"Now, now, brother. We already talk about this before we accepted the invitation, right?" the beautiful mother of Taurei's guardian reminded her brother who just grunted in annoyance, "It's all well and good if that monster stopped wreaking havoc after he destroyed the gods and goddesses together with the mortals but as we all know here, he would not rest at that, you can be sure that we are next to his list."

Their intentions are clearly not aligned with ours but it looks like we are forced to secure a temporary alliance to face a threat that will not just be the end of the other but of everyone, period.

"Lord Helios and Lady Selene, I doubt you two wouldn't want the mortals gone," I said nonchalantly as I accepted their hands to kiss in respect, "After all, who would look up to marvel at your magnificent visages if we are all dead?"

The goddess of the moon giggled when we saw her brother blinked and looked seriously contemplating about what I said before sighing, "Well, now that you said that, I guess I will feel bored and sad if there are no small mortals waiting for me to come and brighten their pathetic lives every day."

"As requested, we are going to give our gifts to your wedding to your son ten years after this," Selene said as they both curtsy before me and my husband, "If you are confident enough that we will still exist in ten years time still capable of giving gifts then I guess you don't plan on letting that Typhon do what he wanted for so long."

"That's the plan, my lord and lady. He wouldn't be around to be a problem for our son, that's for sure," I said with utmost confidence that made them nod in agreement before waving us goodbye to let other well-wishers pay their respect to me and Kairos.

A blindfolded goddess appeared before us, on her hand, a young man, roughly the age of my own son, holding the unseeing deity's as if to guide her.

"It has been a long time, Your Imperial Majesty..."

I nodded and tried to hold back the tears welling from my eyes right now as a mix of emotions suddenly hit my very being when I realized who the two are.

"It is, Lord Plutus," I answered in trembling voice as the goddess in his hand inclined her head respectfully to me, "I am surprised to see you here, Lady Tyche, but then again, all invitations are sent to immortals regardless of who they are."

The goddess of luck pressed her lips when she noticed the hint of contempt and anger in my voice but decided to speak all the same, "I know that of all the deities here, I am the one who is the most unwelcome of them all. But that's the very reason why I ask Plutus to bring me here, so that I can offer myself to you once more."

"For what, Lady Tyche? My empire has fallen, fractured, and dismantled on the brink of eradication, in steep decline for eons. It has been too long since the Lost Age, yet still, when my memories returned, all I find are descendants of my citizens, still wallowing in misery and bad luck. It's just one thing after the other, I was beginning to wonder if you just ceased to exist altogether."

"Your Majesty..."

"As my Aunt Rhamnusia has already decreed, I have already paid my due to you thousands of years ago but I am still at loss as to when will my turn for good fortune be settled? Tell me, Lady Tyche, what happened to the goddess of luck and providence that the people of the Golden Age once knew?" I asked in barely a whisper as my husband gently put his arm on my shoulders to stop me from shaking in grief and anger, "Why have you forsaken the very mortals who believed in you despite your blindness?"

Tears fell from the blindfolded goddess as she bowed her head to me in shame, "I have no excuse, Your Imperial Majesty. Like the mortals, I have fallen into despair when I saw all that I have given has been taken in just a single day and night of terror and horror, although unseen to me, impacted my very existence as much as mankind's through the following eons. I thought what's the use to dispense good luck and fortune when it can be taken away all that I have provided."

"But still..."

"I know, Empress Viera, I know that I can never return to the days where I should've been at the side of the mortals that prayed to me in their direst moments but I will no longer hide in shame and live an existence so incomplete," the goddess of luck said in a determined voice as Plutus began to play with Hyro in earnest, "I pledge the entirety of my existence to your son in a decade's time, Your Majesty. That much I can promise and assure you. His will rival, no, will surpass what the Vieta Dynasty has experienced. Dawn of a prosperous Golden Age so bright in its splendor, the age you previously reigned over will pale in comparison."

There was a brief silence between the two of us, only broken by peals of laughter from Hyro and the god of wealth enjoying the company of each other and running around the goddess I once scorned of them all.

It is as if a sign of the better days to come promised by the respectful deity before me.

"Look at me, committing hubris on the very day of my marriage," I said in a quiet voice that made the goddess of luck smile a little at me, "I accept your offer, Lady Tyche. May my child know you and Lord Plutus even more than the whole dynasty of Vieta had ever known in its entire existence."

She then takes a careful step forward as she offered my hand carefully as if afraid that I will decline it, "And here I am, being pathetic in front of a mortal. The path towards my atonement has already laid in front of me. I will not fail you, Your Majesty."

"I know you won't, Lady Tyche," I said reverently as I kissed her dainty hands as a sign of respect and maybe, forgiveness that she is looking for all these long years, "Be there for my son, and I will consider us even."

The goddess nodded firmly before asking Plutus to guide her back to her table as my son asked me if he can come with the two to play more.

Who am I to decline?