The Wedding

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the world of Cephiro.

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The Cephirean Palace was quite peaceful. Its crystalline beauty awed the citizens of Cephiro, for they knew that it had been created by some of the most powerful wills in their world. The Master Mage Clef was one of them. Another was the Prince Ferio, younger sib to the late Pillar Emmeraude. Lantis, the magic swordsman and the junior brother of their once-high priest Zagato also contributed once he came back to Cephiro. Lafarga, captain of the castle guard, aided, though he knew no magic. Ascot, the former child-like beast summoner also contributed.

Its halls were always polished to a mirror's shine, the only surface to not be waxed on a regular basis was the floor, due to people's tendencies to slip and hurt themselves on it. The great throne room was immense, allowing all people to come and meet their Prince, who now ruled in a trio with the Master Mage and Captain. One wing of the immense castle was devoted to the habitation and training of the Magic Knights.

This was one of the most luxurious wings of the castle, mainly due to the many gifts the Cephirean citizens had bestowed upon their rescuers. The hallway presented to the Water Knight was covered in blue and silver. Tapestries of the great Rune-God Selece and her famous attack the Water Dragon lined the walls. Interspersed were portraits of the Magic Knight herself. Blue carpets were thickly laid in her suite and numerous gifted rapiers, daggers, armor and other assorted weapons and armory hung in racks in a special room.

The Wind Knight's hall was similarly decorated, but in green and with tapestries of Windom and a green tornado. The Fire Knight's was only slightly different, decorated in black, gold and red. The Magic Swordsman Lantis lived in the suite opposite the Fire Knight's, and thus the gifts to him were displayed in her hallways, not that Hikaru minded.

This wing was often bustling with activity, with the Knights training or welcoming their friends of different worlds. This night though, it was oddly quiet. Odd, due to the fact that the Royal Wedding of the Prince Ferio and the Wind Knight Fuu was approaching. Still, Fuu and Hikaru reveled in the silence, enjoying their rare moments of solitude with the men they loved. Silence, that was soon to be broken.

"Fuu!!!" The shriek echoed thought the halls, reflected and repeated off the crystal walls. The Water Knight Umi streaked through the palace. Panting, she threw open the door to Fuu's suite. She stomped into the entrance room and Fuu quickly emerged from her bedroom, robe thrown haphazardly on and glasses askew. A dark shadow, with suspicious green hair, lay on the bed behind her. Quickly, she threw the door closed and glared at Umi with angry emerald eyes.

Umi, quite used to walking in on her friends in, well, she called them intimate moments, ignored the glare. "Fuu! Look at this!" she would have screamed, except that she didn't have any breath left. Irritated, Fuu snatched the paper from Umi's hand.

"What about it?" she asked, not getting what Umi had seen.

Umi sighed, exasperated. Before she could answer, Hikaru appeared at the still open door, rubbing tired ruby eyes. "What's wrong?" she mumbled as Lantis dropped a robe around her shoulders.

"This!" she said, pointing emphatically at the paper that Fuu held.

"Umi," Fuu answered, doing her best to be patient. "I don't get what has you so upset."

By now, Clef, Lafarga, Caldina, Presea and Ascot had appeared in the doorway, crowding into the room. Ferio appeared to have given up, and came to the entrance room, mostly dressed.

"What's going on?" they all demanded, in different ways and different tones, most rubbing sleep-filled eyes since it was two hours past the usual visiting times.

Umi, growing more aggravated, and Fuu, growing more irritated at Umi, both sighed. Umi snatched the paper back from Fuu.

"This!" she stated, shoving the paper at Clef, one of the few she felt would catch on. He studied the paper. With a deep sigh, and a look that said he wanted dearly to bang his head into the wall, he finally gave them their answer.

"This couldn't have waited until morning?" he asked first, though. Umi looked surprised, and then glanced out the window. Her eyes opened wide and she clapped her hand to her mouth.

"Oh Fuu, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize it was this late."

Fuu ground her teeth together, but wasn't surprised that Umi hadn't realized what time it was. "Whatever, let's just find out what's wrong, hmm?" she answered, raising an eyebrow at Clef.

"Our dear Water Knight," he began, dripping with sarcasm, which made Umi feel even worse, "has discovered that your Rune Gods are required to appear at the wedding of their Knights. In their creature form."

Hikaru clapped her hands together. "Oh that's wonderful! We wanted to invite them anyway!"

Everyone else, however, groaned in misery and collapsed on the various couches and chairs. Hikaru was severely puzzled.

"I really could have waited till morning to hear that," Fuu said, rubbing her temples. Ferio began to rub her shoulders, knowing the tension that was coming.

"Fuu, what's wrong?" Hikaru asked.

Clef answered her. "It means the wedding will have to be held outside Hikaru. Which means all of the plans, every single one, will have to be redone. In two weeks."

As one, the room groaned again. "Can't we elope?" Fuu begged.

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A/N: For those who've read my Whiskey Lullaby fic, this is a prequel to it. Again, this is OVA Clef. Ah so fun to torture them.