Where The Dead Ones Go Book 3 -Emirate-

Chapter 17

"Less is more, isn't that right, mother?"

"Oh my dear Estelle, in this situation, I am inclined to agree wholeheartedly!"

The goddess of beauty lifted my chin carefully as she looked at me in front of the golden mirror I gave her daughter as a gift.

"I never thought that I will be the one who will take care of the empress on her wedding day nor I even imagined that it is one of my children who will pull off one of, if not, the largest nuptials in recorded history of the Olympians!"

My obviously tired but vindicated-looking friend raised her head in pride, "I put my very dignity and lineage on the line to make sure this wedding of yours will be successful and looking at you now, I guess I can finally heave a sigh of relief after being sleep deprived for two weeks."

"Thanking you Estelle will never be enough but words are all that I have..."

She and her mother assisted me in standing up as the three of us marvel at the wedding gown that Gala made for me.

Aphrodite shed a tear when she saw a depiction of her daughter riding the feral form of Asher to battle, "Athena's weaving may be more beautiful, grandiose and breathtaking but I bet even she will agree that this one has a certain charm on it, eh, my daughter?"

"Indeed, mother. It has "feelings" on it. I can feel just how much every scene woven on the very fabric itself is full of emotion of all sorts," Estelle agreed before looking at me one last time and bursting into tears as she and her mother bawled their eyes out, "Go Vivet. Lady Iris is waiting outside the door. Leave us be in our tears of joy. We will follow you after we cried our hearts out!"

I nodded and left the two as I opened the door of my friend's room and indeed I saw the goddess of rainbow waiting for me patiently in all her colorful glory as she wears a multicolored gown that matches her equally colorful eyes.

"I am sure Elpis is so proud right now, Vivet," she said as she gaze upon me with utmost joy and happiness, "As I am, of course. Now, the moment you stepped out of my rainbow path, which I assure you will bring you in front of the red carpet in a blink of an eye, you have to be aware that the whole Gearth will be watching your every step and breath. Give them a taste of what the empire is in all it's glory so that they will yearn for it once more after all has been said and done."

I bowed a little at her as she snapped her fingers and a rainbow portal similar to Ms Irene's appeared in front of me.

I hold the bouquet of sampaguita close to my chest and took a deep breath before taking a step inside the portal and true enough, not a single moment has passed and I am already outside the palace and right in front of the temple of Hera in the Scythian Emirate fully renovated and decorated with countless garlands made of the same flower I am holding right now.

The crowd erupted into loud cheers when they finally saw me and began throwing white petals at the path that I will be walking as the children of the wind gods flew above us all in a beautiful formation.

I started taking my very first step towards the doors of the temple, alone, or so I thought.

A flash of golden light erupted from the heavens above and countless glowing dust motes began raining down on us all before giving form to the hundreds of Imperial Armada Forces that resides deep inside my soul.

Barius, in his golden form, appeared directly in front of me, kneeling, as flagbearers materialized on the path that I will be walking holding up proudly the banners of my empire.

Behind me, my loyal handmaidens stand up in a straight line like they always did to promise me that whatever happens, they will always have my back.

My retainer slowly stood up before saluting the Pax way and turning his back on me before marching forward followed by my soldiers and as ever was, I followed their lead forward.

From the skies, the children of the wind gods from my era flew together with their present counterparts who welcomed their presence and performed a marvelous airshow that I will never forget.

They made a full floating emblem of the empire, the symbols of Pagos, Anoixi, Scythia, Cretonia, and Auralia united in one coat of arms showing everyone the solidarity that the provinces enjoyed during my reign a long, long time ago.

I never felt so proud in my entire existence the way I am at this very moment.

All the grandeur and splendor of the nation I once lead was brought to bear all thanks to the goddess of hope.

When we reached the foot of the stairs, Barius stepped aside and bowed respectfully to let me pass as I ascend towards where my foster mother and grandmother are waiting for me in front of the closed doors of the temple.

"I know I promised I will not cry but, the urge to bawl is rising..."

The goddess of darkness chuckled at the daughter of Iris and looked at me from head to foot before giving me an approving nod, "Elpis is indeed my daughter as much as I don't want to. She sure knows how to create a grand entrance the way I wanted it. Compliments to the one who wove your gown, my spawn. It is truly a marvel that even I can only praise."

"I will make sure that she will hear it, great mother," I replied respectfully before looking at my foster mother who is now crying silently as I wrapped my arms on hers the way I did with my grandmother, "I never thought I will see you cry like this, Ms Irene."

"Silence, Vivet, empress you may be, I am your mortal guardian. You will make me look good today!"

"No wonder she turned up well despite of being my daughter's child. You sure know how to keep your priorities straight," Nyx said to the demigod of rainbow who bowed a little at her humbly before smiling a little.

"Shall we, Lady Nyx?"

"Let's get this empress to the altar, Irene."

And as if on cue, the giant doors in front of us opened slowly to reveal the beautiful interior of the temple.

Gian ivory statues of the goddess of marriage and her sacred animals, the peacock, and cows, line the entirety of the grand edifice.

Sitting on the countless rows of marble pews are familiar faces that I have met in my life as Vivet.

My teachers at the Hellenic Citadel, workmates at the Iris Delivery Service, government employees of the magistracy, and republic.

The Scythian soldiers I have fought with and the parents of my dear friends are all looking at me with utmost awe and joy.

Standing from the second-floor pulpits are the countless immortals from the top and bottom of the deity foodchain and everyone from between.

The goddess of rage is grinning at me happily the way his sons did and beside her is the ever-elusive goddess of the hunt.

Behind the two is the serene titaness of the moon standing arm in arm with the bright titan of the sun, both giving me a respectful nod.

My immortal relatives are all located near the front and are all loudly and jovially waving in my direction much to the disdain of our great mother.

The moment I set my eyes in front of the altar midway through the aisle, I saw Kairos standing proudly beside my cousin as both are wearing the same crisp black suit and tie to compliment my pure white gossamer wedding gown.

My foster mother let go of my arm as she steps aside to sit with Mr Atomo who is bloody-eyed and clearly crying nonstop long before I arrived at the temple and flanked by Jeeves, Seolla, and Tina who are all joining him in his emotional outburst.

My heart jumped when I saw Zenith standing behind the altar and flanked by his siblings, Taurei and Avesa wearing their ceremonial clothes to support the son of the king of the gods who is sitting on a throne behind them besides Hera who is positively beaming at me as I near the end of my march.

The moment I reached the end of the aisle, I noticed a boy with a thick matte of curly autumn-coloured hair standing right in front of me as he offered his hand at me that he produced out of the brown, tattered cloak he is wearing over his black suit and tie.

Though his hair covers almost half of his face, it showed me his glowing brown right eye boring through my very being as my grandmother let me go to pass me to him.

When I took his hand, my mind and heart are flooded with the memories of the past that I have with him back when he is one.

Khronos, the god of time.

Or to be accurate, Proto, the god of past and one-third of he who presides over time and space.

In a split second, he brought me back to the day he appeared before me in all his full glory and power.

Proto, Meta, Kairos, all born from the same god who divided himself to three in order for him to send me and my comrades to the future and distort the very fabric of reality itself to stop Typhon from gaining an absolute victory over us all.

Those three, they are nothing.

Just nothing compared to Khronos in his full might and grandeur when he is a single entity far beyond the reaches of typical gods and goddesses.

To say that he is on the same level as my grandmother is more accurate than to think of him as just another deity that we all know today.

"I would like to remind you of our pact, Viera..."

I heard Proto's sombre voice deep inside my mind and I nodded slowly, "Now that I recovered my memories, consider me reminded, Lord Khronos."

"Come now, Viera. You will be mine formally this very moment, no need to treat me as a stranger," he urged me that made me smile a little.

"You were never a stranger to me, Khronos. You're an accomplice, a friend, a guide and now, my beloved. I still can't believe that all that you have promised has indeed come to past. No matter what happened, we will be united as one."

He laughed a little and grin at me slyly, "As you already witnessed on my present counterpart, time is selfish. What I deemed mine is mine."

"Indeed. But this is merely the beginning of the end, forgive me if I will not return yet what I have stolen from you."

"I am a willing victim, my empress. The moment I offered my very existence to you on that fated day, my very life and powers are yours to command, as long as you surrender yours to mine."

"Now that we will be betrothed to one another, will you finally tell me the truth as to why you deigned me even worthy of your attention?"

He laughed as Meta did the same in our minds, "Do I really have to tell you that? Are you just plain ignorant and naive that your true worth is eluding even yourself?"

"Khronos..."

"Fine, I will only say this once and only once. I will never repeat it again. Listen carefully, my beloved. I love you for all that you are and you are not. Born from hope in a hopeless era, neither fully mortal nor immortal, your very existence called to me. I can never and will ever let you go from my sight, mind, heart and very being. To see you succeed and be one with me is all that I ever wished for..."

"You do know that no matter what happens, the path that I lead is not a happy one," I warned him as he gave me a yearning look before letting time flow again as he escorts me to his present self who is gazing at me with utmost love and devotion, "Knowing that, would you still take a gamble on me?"

"Would I even be here if I don't, our Vivet?"

I held the warm hand of Kairos and he smiled at me so pure, it made my heart skip a beat, "You still have time to flee, Kairos."

"I already told him that, my cousin. But here he is, waiting stalwartly for you," Morris said to me that made Gala who is standing beside him smile fondly at the two of us.

"Indeed, Vivet. Now, if you don't want our Zenith to break down from anticipation, you and Kairos will show me and Vaski right now what kind of wedding for us to follow when it's finally our turn."

And with that, we walked in front of the High Priest who is smiling down at us with tears in his eyes as we sat down on the marble bench facing the altar.

"Immortals and mortals, we are now gathered in this joyous day to celebrate the betrothal of the spawn of the god of time, Khnoros and the demiurge of the goddess of Hope, Elpis in front of our very eyes," Zenith announced loudly which was received with tumultuous applause not just from inside the temple but also from the outside, "If there is anyone here who objects the union of Viera the First, the Vietan Imperial Dynasty Empress of the Empire of Plurinational Alliance Xenocracy to Kairos Paron, Presidential Son of the Republic of Anoixi, speak now, but know this, forget about me or my father, Zeus, King of the Gods, you will have Queen Hera herself to answer to. May her vengeful wrath be with you for eternity!"

Not a single being inside and outside dare even breath when the High Priest announced that his patroness will unleash her unbridled fury if they do so much as voice their disapproval of our wedding.

"None has raised their concerns, a wise choice. Now, forever hold your peace as we witness the monumental wedding ceremony of my comrades with joy in our hearts!"