PROLOGUE: The beginning
I know this story is going to go around the beaten path for an Exosquad fan fiction but this story has been floating around in my head for the last week or so and I figured what hell and write it anyway.
The bells were chiming in the background as people gathered into the massive ballroom and sat down in the pews. A cool breeze blew into the otherwise warm stone room from the open large wooden doors at the opposite end of the room. It was a cool autumn that flowed through the doors; otherwise it would have been stifling hot in the large, packed room.
The moon was beginning to rise as the organ began to play another song to keep everyone's spirits high. Marsala thought it was odd how tense everyone was considering that they were all in their best clothing.
Marsala stood at the top of the fifth step, waiting. He glanced around the massive stone room. For some strange reason he could not understand why he was there or the oddness of the clothes he was wearing. He was wearing an outfit that could only be compared to that of King Henry, complete with black velvet coat and pants. Marsala did not consider it to be the most comfortable of outfits that he would have chosen for any event. He definitely wanted to know where his uniform went off to and why he had the most hideous of outfits on. He could not complain too much because apparently the outfit had been custom made to fit him and not a terrain.
He also realized that he did not have one of his guns. Instead, he had a sword on either side of his hips. He knew that he had no experience with swords and was trying to figure out why even had them on him.
He did not recognize the building he was standing in or the people who were in there. There were several hundred people in the room all waiting for something. Even their attire was very odd. The women wore simple white chemise with a floor length overdress with re-enforced boning in the front bodice for extra strong tight lacing and the men wore, what appeared to be, their best tunics; the sleeves and garments were cut as one piece using only one seam. The front was open a few inches and adorned with trim as well as the hem and sleeves.
After glancing around the room, he realized that he was in some sort of church. Except all the churches that he knew had either been destroyed during the neo/terrain war or that at least had air conditioning. This place seemed ancient. Windows had stain glass in them allowing some of the moon's silvery-white light to trickle into the ancient building. Hundreds of silver and gold candelabras on the walls were lit to keep it bright in what would have been a dark and dismal room. The flames of all the candles flickered from the soft breeze but never went out.
Marsala heard the organ player change songs and realized it was a wedding march that was being played. He knew that his generation of neo sapiens was not capable of human emotion nor would they have formed a bond with one of their own to the point of marriage. He glanced around the room again looking for the groom this time but none was to be found and he was standing in the groom's position.
There was an old man standing behind him with a white and silver robe on which matched his hair. He had an old leather book tucked under his arm with a gold tassel bookmark stuck between its pages. But the priest was not old nor was he young. His face did not carry any wrinkles or signs of what his age might possibly be. He appeared to be both in Marsala's eyes. His pale blue eyes twinkled as he smiled at Marsala and then looked forward at the open doors.
"Here she comes, my lord" the priest stated as he pulled the book out from under his arm and opened it.
Marsala was very confused by the priest referring to him as "my lord". He was not a lord but a soldier turned representative for his race.
Marsala looked to where the priest gestured and he saw white. An absolutely incredible dress that had a fitted corset made of hand beaded and embroidered silk and it was laced up on the sides. It resembled a rose: it was designed as if the corset was the tight part of the rose with pointed leaves from which the fuller more elaborate flower, the skirt came out. There was soft lace which peeked out between the points with little two toned silk roses gently placed in the crevices.
He swallowed hard when the woman dressed in white walked towards the steps. There was a long veil covering her hair and face but he could still make out hints of golden blond curls under it. The veil was obviously held in place with something but he could not tell what.
In her hands, the approaching bride held a cascading bouquet of all white roses, baby's breath, shooting pearls and white ribbon loops with streamers. On both of her wrists he could see an arm cuff made with strands of wound, flattened, smoothed and textured brass interwoven in an intricate and organic pattern. There were two ivy leaves cast in the same brass gracing the front of the cuff and were surrounded by three glowing rubies on each cuff.
Marsala held his breath when she started to climb the steps up to him. The bride finally made it up to the top step and stood before him. He watched as she raised her head to look at him.
Nara!
Marsala could not believe his eyes. There was Nara standing there in front of him; a vision of beauty that made his heart skip a beat. A shiny brass crown designed with Celtic-style scroll work and a combination of flattened and round wirework and adorned with ivy leaves in varying sizes with a ruby cabochon in the center sat on her head underneath her lace and pearl veil.
He just could not fathom why she was here with him. Then it finally dawned on Marsala; he was the one getting married to Nara. He just could not understand why.
"My king, is something wrong?" Nara whispered in a soft breathy voice that held a hint of a British accent.
"Nothing" he did not even recognize his own voice when he spoke. He smiled at Nara ad then heard the priest clearing his throat. He could see a set of matching ivy leaf drop earrings, each with a single ruby on them and a matching necklace.
"Shall I continue on, my king and queen?" the priest questioned as he continued to hold the book open.
"Yes" Marsala found himself smiling at the thought of marrying Nara, especially when he saw her emerald green eyes look up at him with such happiness in their depths and he knew in his own heart that this was going to be probably the oddest marriage he had ever heard of in his lifetime. Neo sapiens were not capable of reproduction so marriage was not something his kind had ever considered, especially to a terrain.
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace" the priest began his speech and the people in the pews stood up to hear his words of wisdom.
"May the sun bring you new energy by day, may the moon softly restore you by night, may the rain wash away your worries and the breeze blow new strength into your being, and all the days of your life may you walk gently through the world and know its beauty" the priest continued as he closed his book and the people sat back down.
The priest took one of Marsala's large hands and placed one of Nara's tiny hands into his.
"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. This cord of three strands is not quickly broken." The priest stated as he pulled out a three-stranded silver cord from a pocket in his clock.
The priest then proceeded to wrap the silver cord around their hands, binding each to the other. In that moment, Marsala knew that he could not survive without Nara nor could she survive without him.
"Heart to heart and soul to soul. I bind you both to each other. You both must work together as a unit to make this marriage work. Neither of you can live without the other. You must trust each other and out of the bonds of trust, hope and love will blossom in full" the priest stated, matter-of-factly, with a knowing smile.
Marsala lifted Nara's lacy veil over her head with his free hand. Her blond hair had been pulled away from her face up into curls on top of her head. Some pearls and baby's breath had been placed into her hair. Down her back, a section of her hair had been braided with pearls and white satin ribbon.
"You look breathtaking" Marsala stated as he got ready to kiss her smiling cheek but was interrupted by the sound of battle outside the church.
"My lord, your brother is attacking" a soldier stated as he came running into the church.
"We will fight together" Nara stated as she slid her bound hand from his and reached for one of his swords.
"No. You need to get to safety. I do not want to place your life in jeopardy, Nara" Marsala stated he placed a hand on the side of her face.
"Too late, my brother" a voice came from behind the priest.
"Phaeton!" Marsala was in shock when he came face to face with the one neo that he thought was dead and had been for almost a year.
Marsala awoke from his rest covered in sweat. The dreams about Nara were becoming more intense every time. Phaeton's resurrection made him afraid for Nara's safety. He knew that there was no way that Phaeton would come back to life and no one would want to bring him back. That is why Marsala had a hard time understanding why he was having these strange visions during his rest periods.
Sometimes during his awake moments, he caught glimpses of Nara in her white dress. It was as though she was calling out to him and begging him to rescue her from an unknown fate.
He heard knock on his office door. Shaking the cobwebs from his brain and realizing that he had, yet again, fallen asleep at his desk. No wonder why he was having a hard time resting. He passed out on his hard desk and not too soft chair.
"Enter" Marsala said as he wiped the last remaining beads of sweat from his face. He still did not feel very well but he knew he had a job to do and it had to be done.
"Well now, fell asleep at the desk yet again. No wonder why you do not sleep well" an older senator walked in and chuckled while he sat in a chair across from Marsala.
"It is good to see you too Senator Marcus Schumacher" Marsala said in a very somber tone of voice.
Senator Schumacher was about Marsala's age with salt and pepper colored hair and twinkling pale blue eyes that always appeared mischievous. He had a few wrinkles around his eyes which he attributed to smiling a lot. He was a tall, thin man that could just about look Marsala in the eyes.
Marcus also had a very lovely wife named Nancy who had dark brown eyes that were almost black in color with shoulder length brown hair. She was very short in stature but what she lacked in height she made up for in speech, because when she spoke, it was in volumes and it got everyone's attention.
"So, any luck in the date department or do I need to have my wife find you one on short notice?" Marcus joked as he chuckled whole heartedly as he leaned back in the chair.
"I still have another month before the Senator's Ball. That is still plenty of time" Marsala's confidence began to wane because he did not know of any female who would go with him. Human females were still afraid of his race and his race of females did not want anything to do with him. He was beginning to feel as though it would be better for him to go single or to not go at all, but he knew that all the other senators were going to be there with their dates and he was expected to attend this affair, whether he liked it or not. The answer being more not than anything else.
"No need to get testy about it. I am merely offering a suggestion" Marcus loved to harass Marsala when it came to the female department.
He knew that Marsala had a soft spot for one woman due to the fact that Marsala had stepped out of his office and accidently left a small picture of a blond haired, green-eyed young woman on his desk. When Marcus questioned him about her, Marsala quickly changed topics of conversation to meetings. That is when he realized that she was someone very special to Marsala and he was very shy when it came to the romance side but he also knew that Marsala was one of the original neos and was not capable of that sort of human emotion. But, the way Marcus figured it was that Marsala was partially assimilated to humans and more human now than neo, except in appearance.
"I know this and I apologize for my behavior. Lack of rest may be to blame for that" Marsala knew there was more to it than that but, was not about to discuss his feelings openly with Marcus, even though he trusted him just like he trusted J.T. Marsh. Marsala figured that he would converse about his dreams with Marcus at a later date and in another place besides his office.
"It's all good. Just a suggestion, why don't you ask your lady friend if she would like to go. Working girls like to go out and have fun. They also love getting dressed up like little princesses and go dancing" Marcus offered the suggestion but was not sure if Marsala would take it.
"I am not sure she would be willing to go with me, but I will take your suggestion under advisement and ponder about that possibility" Marsala knew that the only way he could possibly get Nara to go would be to apologize for his abrupt departure from Venus and give a satisfactory reason as to why he had to leave the way he did.
He still kept in contact with her on Venus and he was always delighted to hear about the farm and of her reconstruction of her home. She did mention one time that she tried to go out on a date with one man but her telekinetic powers manifested and frightened the human male off. From that point on she never went out with another man again because she felt as though they would not understand her problems and become frightened. She was also afraid that if she did marry and had a child that her baby would inherit her powers and she did not want that to happen. So, for the last six months, Nara remained single and dedicated herself to her farm.
"Okay. Are you ready for breakfast because I know I am past ready for it?" Marcus could eat like there was no tomorrow and never gain a pound. He got up from his chair and proceeded to the door.
"Yes, food does sound rather appetizing" Marsala agreed and followed Marcus. They both had a favorite eating place that was tolerant of Marsala being a neo. It was a bagel shop that sat on a corner that if someone else did not tell you about it, you would never have found it.
Like usual, Marcus ordered a poppy seed bagel with bacon, egg, and cheese all over it along with a cappuccino. Marsala stuck to a simple sourdough bagel with cream cheese on top and black coffee. They discussed work and upcoming events while they ate and drank. It was a quiet Friday morning with nothing going on.
Well, what does everyone think so far? I know it does a go a little off the beaten path but I promise it will all come together in the end or at least try to make some sense as the story progresses.