now it goes short and sweet

[a-total-sap.livejournal.com]

Who: anyone who RSVP'd... and some who didn't
What: what's a Refugee wedding without epic?
Where: Radiant Garden
When: Wednesday Sep 16th



Sora had never actually been to a wedding before. Birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, even receptions, yes - but weddings? What was surprising was that he had grown up on a small cluster of islands where everyone knew everyone, and friends grew up to marry childhood sweethearts. But for some reason, Sora had never actually gone to the wedding ceremony. Something had always happened - he was sick, he had homework, Riku had challenged him to a race and forgotten that a family friend was getting married that morning but it wasn't like either of them would back down...

He had to ask Kairi in the end what was appropriate to wear to a wedding, having decided last minute that Ryune would be too busy actually planning said wedding to help. It was how he ended up sitting outside of the chapel dressed in black pants that were too itchy, a red short-sleeved dressshirt that just felt wrong, a tie which was doing its best to choke him...and sandals. He had to draw the line for comfort somewhere.

He was glad about the change of wedding date too - it threw off the media. Maybe it would throw off Calum too. Sora was an optimist by nature, knew that everything was going to turn out for the better... but he wondered sometimes, about the light and the darkness and a war that never seemed to be won.

Comments

HERE COMES THE BRIDE

[taistoi.livejournal.com]

and then...

It was time.

The massive organ, played by a dapper little man in trailing tuxedo tails, began to moan low notes, warming up as the organist pounded out March Caprice (Ryune, in her perpetual quest for lulz in inappropriate settings, had requested Kingdom Hearts music for all except the main march). Cherry, Cheryle, Ray, Stephanie and Becky all proceeded down the aisle, taking their places at the sides of the altar.

And then, music burst forth from the wall-spanning instrument, trumpeting the beginning chords of Wagner's Wedding March, indicating that it was time for everyone to stand. Ryune stood at the back of the chapel, her arm in her father's, trembling in absolute terror. Heartless? Eh. Maleficent? Meh. Xemnas? Whatevs.

Getting married?

She gripped her Daddy's arm tightly and whispered "we need to go now before I bolt for the gummi ship."

The walk down the aisle felt like an eternity. Ryune stared straight ahead, smiling in spite of being scared spitless. She did catch glimpses of people - Braig and Miranda, Ienzo, Sora, Auria, Roxas... Eric? Holy hell, Ryuu? Orpheus?!. It slightly amused her that everyone appeared to be armed.

Brandon, and all their friends, were waiting for her at the front. The large bouquet in her hands shook, giving a visible sign of her nerves. And even though it felt like forever, she was there at the front before she could even realize it, and her Daddy was lifting her veil and kissing her on the forehead.

It's finally happening, she thought as she climbed the steps and handed her bouquet to Cherry.

Holy shit.

OOC!

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

((Funny Fact: in my RL wedding's reception, my husband and I totally did our first dance to Sanctuary.))

Re: HERE COMES THE BRIDE

[anzila.livejournal.com]

Brandon heard the music start, and his heart skipped a beat. Turning quickly, he straightened and tried to look composed, but that faded as he saw the first of the bridal party begin to walk down the aisle.

He knew he should acknowledge the others walking down the aisle, but if he was being honest, his whole attention was reserved for one person. He felt his palms sweat and fought desperately to keep from fidgeting. He hadn't seen her yet and a thousand scenarios were running through his head about what might have gone wron-

And then he saw her, and time seemed to stand still. Even after all the time they'd been together, everything he'd been through, it still amazed him how much seeing her could still make him feel like the first time they kissed. He supposed this was what it felt like to be utterly in love. Oh god, he was grinning like a schoolboy wasn't he?

...Then again, when the woman you were about to marry looked that beautiful in her wedding dress, you had a right to grin like a fool.

Suddenly she stepped up towards him, and he realized.

Oh my god, this is actually happening!

Re: HERE COMES THE BRIDE

[a-total-sap.livejournal.com]

Sora had a huge grin on his face as the bridal party walked down the aisle. He was really excited to see everyone, especially the people who had fought alongside of him last year, and was so very happy for all of them. He was nearly bouncing in his seat, especially when Ryune came down the aisle. But it seemed that she was distracted...?

Sora blinked, looking from Ryune to Brandon, and his grin grew just a little bit bigger. It seemed like the world had stopped just for the two of them, and that the only ones who mattered in it were them. So that's what it was like to be in love? Not that Sora had too much experience in that area.

He glanced back at Kairi and Riku, even as the priest began the ceremony. With all of his friends here and all of them so happy... this really was a good day.

[taistoi.livejournal.com]

"Dearly Beloved - Family, Friends, Refugees and Heroes, we are gathered here today to witness the union in Holy Matrimony of these two young people..."

Ryune only listened with half an ear to the priest's opening sermon, tapping her toes rapidly inside her boot in impatience. Just get to the damn vows he hissed in her thoughts.

She stole a quick glance over at Brandon, and was relieved to know that he looked just as nervous as she felt.

[morleidr.livejournal.com]

Chase watched with a calmness that was almost as uncanny as Lilith's, a faint smile on her face as she watched the proceedings. Something seemed to be amusing her, but it was very difficult to tell what.

She listened to the ceremony intently, only glancing to the back of the chapel once. Who or what she was looking for wasn't apparent, but when she looked back, the temperature in the chapel dropped just a little bit, hardly enough to be noticeable, but still there.

[anzila.livejournal.com]

Brandon knew he should be paying attention, the last thing he wanted to do was miss his cue, but he couldn't help himself from glancing at Ryune. He wasn't sure if the butterflies in his stomach were from his nerves or from Ryune's wedding dress, but either way he barely avoided fidgeting.

When he saw her glance at him he gave her a warm smile, trying to convey how much he loved her with a simple expression.

Then he tuned in just in time to realize the priest was rapidly approaching the vows. He had a feeling he was about to find out if someone could float away from happiness.

[hyperpsyche.livejournal.com]

Ren was having a difficult time keeping a straight face as well. She was already on edge with the wedding itself and from seeing Lilith among the guests. But it sounded like the ceremony was coming to its high point now, which meant that if Calum was going to pull anything, it'd probably be then. The little creep did have a flair for the dramatic, after all.

Also, was it her, or had the temperature in the room dropped by a handful of degrees? This was really starting to make just standing still and smiling pleasantly a challenge. "Maybe I'll do some of the punching too if he does show up," she thought as she clenched and unclenched her interlaced fingers together in an attempt to work off a little bit of her stress.

[lovely-fatale.livejournal.com]

Lilith found the entire ceremony trivial. It made mortals happy, but the demon could not understand it, promising oneself to another for an entire lifetime. When one's lifetime was virtually unending, it made the entire prospect of "marriage" seem daunting and ridiculous.

Still, she was supposed to be listening. She noticed some people - those children, of course - tense as the vows rapidly approached, but of course, there was one thing that needed to be asked before then.

Speak now or forever hold your peace.

Forever was a long time. Lilith waited, but patiently began weaving her dream spell.

[lefthandedsidhe.livejournal.com]

As the words were spoken, sinister laughter echoed through the chapel. Every shadow in the vicinity seemed deeper, darker, and longer. "Well, while I wasn't invited, I did want to give the lovely, young couple a . . . gift."

There was a short pause, as what appeared to be a purplish-black vapour rising from the ground. Where it touched the skin it was cold and clammy. Even the joyous feelings brought about by the wedding seemed muted. Numbness and weariness followed.

"But, since I was *not* invited . . . well, I really think it's a kindness. It never could have ended well. He would have betrayed you, you know; they always do. It would have been . . . a nightmare."

The vapour rose up higher. The sensations of icy darkness and exhaustion increased. The magic enwrapped the various guests, sending all those who were not immune to such magics into a strange and horrible sleep.

Every nightmare had been personally crafted with infinite care, and there were two . . . no, three ways out.

There was flight, a door down into the deepest of dreamless slumber, no need to face the nightmare, no need for pain or change, but also no chance of waking for hours, no chance to help fight whatever was happening in the waking world.

Or one could turn and face the nightmare, fight it, however dreadful it was, risking what the horror could do to you. Only then could one wake to fight.

Or . . . .

[morleidr.livejournal.com]

Chase got to her feet the moment the voice echoed through the cathedral, turning slowly to smile at Brandon and Ryune.

Then the glamour melted away, and Calum was standing there in his stolen host's body, and he nodded what in any other circumstances would have been a civil greeting.

And as the glamour melted away and the vapor rose higher, the temperature in the room dropped to freezing levels.

"I do love a good wedding."

[taistoi.livejournal.com]

Ryune watched the vapor appear with growing horror, her fingernails digging into her palm as those who hadn't spend most of their adventures with her fell to sleep.

And then Calum - disguised as Chase, the BASTARD - rose to speak to them, to speak his ill intent.

Ryune wasn't scared. Ryune wasn't upset.

Ryune was FUCKING FURIOUS, more so than she'd been in her entire life.

"I'm going to give you five seconds to get the fuck out of my wedding," she said, her voice low and cold with venomous anger. "And if you aren't out of this chapel in five seconds, I am going to march back there and show you exactly why I'm not someone you want to fuck with."

Because really - if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

"ONE."

[lovely-fatale.livejournal.com]

"Five."

Lilith let her dream spell loose - she didn't use the vapor as Maleficent had. No, her dreams were utterly in the mind. She couldn't put everyone to sleep, but she damn well could knock out the rest.

And she only had one potential target.

[anzila.livejournal.com]

It was amazing how mercurial emotions could be. One moment Brandon had been filled with the kind of joy you usually only heard about in fairytails and corny children's book.

The next was a moment of cold fear as their enemies revealed themselves, and then that fear had its head shoved under a ocean of rage and held until it drowned. No, he wasn't scared of these bastards, he wasn't intimidated by their parlor tricks and mind games. Once again he was faced by arrogant condescenting overblown bastards who thought their own selfish petty power games were worth threatening his family.

Brandon was not naturally a killer. In truth he didn't like fighting, and underneath the instincts he'd had to learn to survive following the fall of his world he was still a scholar.

Calum had just found the one thing that could make him kill.

The air vibrated and crackled with pure unrestrained power, and the lights in the ceiling exploded one by one as he stepped beside Ryune, eyes crackling with a anger that was being restrained by a thread.

"You have one chance, turn and walk away now. If you don't, I swear by any power that is listening that I will hunt you down, I will find you, and fuck right or wrong I will end you. And then I'll let my wife have you and the pain will really start."

[hyperpsyche.livejournal.com]

Okay, she didn't see Maleficent's "gift" coming. But after Calum showed up right on schedule, Ren's stream of consciousness ran somewhat along the lines of "did that really have to count as tempting fate? Really?" and "oh, fuck this!" (Despite her efforts to maintain ladylike speech, growing up around her father had undeniably affected her inner voice, at least.) Ryune and Brandon far outclassed her and had much more personal reasons for their rage, but she had been pushed just a little too far by now.

Funnily enough, the special (read: gag weapon) knitting needles imbued with a Reflect spell that she had tucked up her sleeves had protected her from Maleficent's spell when she had only been expecting Calum's. But she didn't stop to think about that. She just stared directly at Calum and quietly reached back for her staff. "I know you're probably not much of a praying man, but considering what you just pulled, you might want to think about taking it up," she said through gritted teeth--she was trying to keep them from chattering. "And for heaven's sake, can't you come up with something other than the same old 'icy cold' trick? I'm really getting sick of it!"

She wasn't going to kill him, no. Not only did she know that she had no chance of that, but Josiah was still in there, and she had promised to try and save him. But she was going to make him hurt. Potions and awkward apologies to Josiah could come later.

[seolearo.livejournal.com]

"Calum?"

That was the last thing she saw before the vapor rose around her and the scene seemed to change in the slightest way. Everyone was still in the chapel, but Calum and Maleficent weren't a problem anymore. Everything looked normal enough for a wedding; it had, however, been forgotten.

Ray stood staring at everyone in disbelief, taking a few steps back. They advanced on her, and she retreated further until she felt her back hit the wall. "G-Guys, what -- guys, Calum just -- and Maleficent --"

She dove to the side just in time to avoid a flying dagger. Something was wrong; something was definitely wrong. The wedding had started, but then... everyone had turned against her, weapons drawn. She didn't even know what she'd done! And yet, here they were. Nothing seemed different about them, if you discounted the fact that they were, well, out for her neck now. She reached for the knife she'd strapped on under the dress as the bride lunged with her own weapons.

Her mind raced over the possibilities, and finally, as a Fire spell caught her on the arm - she barely managed to stifle a pained cry - a thought struck her. She'd done a lot of things that could be considered of questionable morality... what if they'd found out? What if was all adding up, and what she'd done recently was just the last straw?

Suddenly, the panic Ray had felt vanished, replaced by a resigned calmness. She'd been right; they obviously wanted her gone, thanks to everything she'd done. She should have left, long ago. Well, that was fine, she'd leave.

But if they thought they'd chase or kill her off without a fight, they were wrong.

[ariakitsune.livejournal.com]

Aria really wished she hadn't shown up. And about now she wished she had given the other ribbon to someone else instead of keeping it.

Fighting Calum was not something she wanted to do for a number of reasons. She couldn't see if anyone else was awake from where she was in the back.

But all she could really do at the moment was watch.

[taistoi.livejournal.com]

Ryune stood steadfastly beside Brandon, until she felt something like cold claws grasp her mind. Briefly, she remembered something about Lilith's spells only working on boys, until that kicked her memory further and reminded her that she had been a boy for a few weeks last summer.

Well, shit.

With a high gasp, Ryune collapsed on the stairs of the altar, dead to the world and dreaming.

[thirteenth_brat]

Well that was just lovely, Roxas thought. He'd had his Keyblades out as soon as he'd heard Maleficent's cackling, but saw no signs of the evil fairy. He did notice the vapor filling the chapel and though it didn't put him to sleep, he did feel a touch of the numbness and weariness it caused. That puzzled him for a moment, because he did see that it put just about everyone else to sleep. Then he noticed that Aria was one of the few still standing.

Of course, the ribbons.

Whatever, he had another problem. Calum was crashing the wedding, though it looked like he underestimated a few people. But just as Roxas was about to open his mouth to say something about it, Ryune conked out.

'What... shit, Lilith!' Of course, Calum wasn't alone. Lovely, where the hell had Merlin gone?

"Well isn't this nice," Roxas grumbled under his breath, readying himself to make a move. He had no intentions of holding back or going easy and since Calum seemed at the moment to be ignoring him...

It was worth a try. Of late he'd been using Oblivion and Bond of Flame. He'd found Bond of Flame flew better when thrown and since he was unfortunately not close enough to just strike, he sent the weapon sailing right at the pirate's head.

[morleidr.livejournal.com]

Calum's face did have any emotion on it, save for that small smile that never reached his eyes. But soon, even that faded away and he stepped into the aisle leading up to the altar, his entire demeanor cold and calculating.

"Don't bother to threaten me, boy," he said quietly as Ryune slumped to the ground and Lilith walked up to him from behind, staying just a few steps back. "Time and time again, I gave you children warnings to let me be. I had no interest in starting a vendetta with any of you, but some people just could not let bygones be bygones." As he walked, something shimmered in his hand - a cutlass, wickedly curved and sharp.

"You honestly think you could stop me? I'll tell you once again - I would love to see you try." At the last moment, he dodged out of the way as the Bond of Flames went shooting past him, lodging itself into one of the pews. He glanced back at Roxas, raised an eyebrow but then turned back to Brandon. "So I will tell you one last time - move out of my way or I will kill you." There was no empty threat in that statement.

[hyperpsyche.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Calum, do me a favor?" Ren said calmly as she moved in front of Ryune to block the path to her. "Shut. UP." She brought up her staff to defend herself and stared both Lilith and the pirate down. Again, she knew that she was out of her league, but she'd never forgive herself if she stood by and did nothing when she was one of the few who had the chance to try.

"Stop acting like this isn't something you started." Oh, she had been waiting for the chance to say this. Sure, she couldn't match him in a fight, but she still had her words. "You possessed Josiah. You refused to help us understand what's wrong with the worlds or even so much as explain yourself, then attacked us when we tried to help our friend. You attacked Amy unprovoked. You kidnapped Ari. You stole Song's memories of loving Orpheus. You attacked me in the dead of night when I was unarmed, then jerked me around in the Star Market just for kicks. You've done who knows what to the real Chase. And to top it all off, you're the one who came in here of your own free will and attacked us during Ryune and Brandon's wedding," she said, losing a little more of the "calm and collected" tone of her voice as she listed each charge. "Forgive me for not being able to see how getting married counts as 'getting in your way," she snapped, eying him coldly.

"Calum, you act all mysterious and make a big show of how you're attempting something greater than we'll ever understand, but underneath all that grandstanding, you're nothing but a conceited, bullying coward and a parasite!" she snapped. "And sure, you're probably just going to ignore everything I just told you. But if you think we're going to abandon everything that we stand for just because you keep waving your lofty, ill-defined delusions of grandeur in our faces, then you're an idiot, too."

Sure, she had probably just crossed the line from "not intimidated" to "suicidal," but she didn't care too much at this point. All Ren wanted right now was to put things back to normal and give the people she loved a chance to be happy. If Calum wanted to take that away, then she was going to do everything she could to make him regret it.

[ondraedan.livejournal.com]

In the midst of this chaos, a young red-haired woman had been easing her way past the numerous sleeping guests, making her way towards the altar. She kept most of her attention on the unconscious bride, seemingly not concerned with the conflict taking place just feet from her. When Ren moved in front of Ryune, however, she paused, giving the other girl a faint smile before hurrying to drag Ryune out of harm's way. To anyone watching, she seemed to be trying to help.

Of course, appearances can be deceiving.

OoC: Mod

[fox_the_kitsune]

Who are you? o.O It'd would've been kind of nice to know beforehand if a new account would be used in this plot... if you're even a known player.

Re: OoC: Mod

[ondraedan.livejournal.com]

Sorry, it's Amy. Mabry said the plot was mod approved, but I can delete the post. ^^;

...

[ariakitsune.livejournal.com]

Aria had belted on her sword and pulled out her tiki torch staff before she started weaving her way through the sleeping guests. She gave this stranger a somewhat distrustful glance as she came to stand next to Ren.

"You're nuts," she said to Ren. "And who the hell are you," she said to the stranger.