Silena/Charles (Gods, can I just call him Beckendorf please?) for PJO Ship Week #2. Enjoy!
Metal Doves
~AU in which Silena and Beckendorf survive the war~
"And then we'll have the roses draped over the ends of the pews so that- Silena? Silena, are you even listening to me?" Lacy sighed, rolling heavily makeuped eyes. "Look, I know that you're excited, but we need to get these wedding preparations done."
Silena, however, paid no attention to her half-sister as she continued to text someone on her phone, a smile gracing her beautiful features. Lacy scowled and grabbed the phone, causing Silena to let out an indignant "hey!"
"Who are you even texting?" Lacy glanced at the name at the top of the screen, smirking. "Oh, I see. Hmm, what shall I tell him you're doing?"
"Don't you dare!" Silena snatched the phone back, holding it protectively to her chest as she glared at Lacy. "I'm seriously regretting letting you plan the wedding right now."
"You didn't just let me plan it, you let the entire Aphrodite cabin plan it," Lacy reminded her half-sister. "Which reminds me, Kristen should be here in a couple minutes to show you the seating arrangements for the reception, so you need to stop texting lover boy and tell him you'll see him tomorrow!"
Silena glanced at her bemusedly. "I'd never thought I'd see the day when you tried to keep two soul mates apart."
Lacy sighed. "It's just… it's just… this is the biggest wedding since Percabeth! In less than 24 hours, you'll be standing at the altar with the boy of your dreams, saying your vows!"
Silena smiled. "Well, when you put it like that… I guess I could text him after we're done here."
o-o-sb&cb-o-o
"You have got to be kidding me," Leo held up the tuxedo to his chest, frowning at his half-brother. "All of the groomsmen have to wear silver suits? Dude, we're gonna look like robots?"
Beckendorf sighed, patting his younger (and still much shorter) sibling on the shoulder. "Yeah, sorry about that. Silena's sisters decided that since the theme colours were pink and silver, the wedding party should wear them as well."
"So what you're saying is that Piper thought it would be funny to see us all looking like bizarre space aliens and convinced the rest of the Aphrodite cabin that it was a good idea," Leo winced. "I only walked in on her and Jason once! She didn't have to punish me like this!"
Beckendorf opened his mouth to respond, but all of the sudden Nyssa dashed into the room, holding a garment bag to her chest. "Why is this dress pink?" She growled, glaring at both of her brothers. "I specifically told you guys that I wouldn't be a bridesmaid if the dress was going to be pink!"
"I don't remember hearing anything like that," Beckendorf said, looking confused.
"Well, I told Leo," Nyssa amended, whirling around on the Latino boy. "Meaning this is all your fault!"
Leo squeaked and ran out of the room, Nyssa hot on his heels. Sighing, Beckendorf turned towards his phone and began texting Silena. Who knew weddings would be so dramatic?
o-o-sb&cb-o-o
"Good morning!" A voice sang out. Silena groaned and rolled over, only to see half of the Aphrodite cabin standing there, grinning.
"Get up, get up, get up!" Chelsea, one of her half-sisters, pulls Silena forcibly out of bed. "We have so much work to do! The wedding is in"-here all of her siblings simultaneously check their designer watches-" five hours!"
"Great," Silena mumbled sleepily. "Let me sleep for three of those hours, and then you can doll me up within the next two."
Lacy gasps like she's said something atrocious. "We can't do that! Your nail appointment is in half an hour! Now, hurry up and get changed. Piper will help you!"
And with that, the entire group- with the exception of Piper- leaves.
Silena sighs, flopping back into bed. "Gods, I wish it was time for the wedding already!"
"Well, you'll just have to wait the whole five hours before seeing your Prince Charming," Piper says dryly. "Anyways, Lacy will kill me if I let you leave this room in jeans, so let me go and find you something to wear."
"Thanks," Silena sighed, closing her eyes again. A few seconds later, she heard the thump of clothing being thrown onto the bed next to her, followed by the telltale creak of bedsprings as her half-sister sat down beside her.
"You nervous?"
Silena laughed a little. "I'm terrified. I just keep picturing him standing me up, or saying no at the altar, or saying he could never marry a spy-"
"Stop," Piper said firmly. "First off, we all know Beckendorf would never do that. Second, you are just suffering from pre-wedding jitters. Everyone has them, you know."
"You know, for someone who's special day isn't for another few months, you seem to know an awful lot about all of this." Silena remarked, raising an eyebrow.
Piper shrugged. "I had to do the same thing when Annabeth got married. She was so scared that Percy would reject her- which is never going to happen, because he is one of the most loyal people I've ever met- that she almost threw up. Compared to her, you seem totally calm. Now come on, you're going to miss that nail appointment. "
o-o-sb&cb-o-o
"Wake up!"
Beckendorf groaned and pulled the pillows back over his head.
"Dude, seriously, wake up!"
Beckendorf burrowed further underneath the blankets.
"You missed the wedding!"
Beckendorf shot straight up in bed, only to see Jake, Nyssa, Harley and Christopher standing there, laughing their heads off. "Not funny." He grumbled, standing up.
"Aw, come on, it was hilarious!" Jake grinned. "Anyways, you better hurry or you will actually miss the wedding. Lynette told me that Silena's been up since eight, and it's ten now."
"Okay," Beckendorf ran over to his dresser and slipped on a pair of jeans. "What do we have to do?"
While Harley and Nyssa began to rattle off an extensive list, Beckendorf sighed, running a hand through his short hair. He can't believe today is the day. After the war, when Silena had revealed herself as the spy, they had broken up. However, Fate (and some very persistent siblings) had gotten them to try dating again and, eventually, he had proposed. Still, everything that had transpired since all seemed like some kind of hazy dream to him- a dream he did not want to wake up from.
"So at exactly two thirty, after the pictures are done, we'll-" Nyssa paused, frowning. "Oh Gods, please just listen to this and then you can go back to dreaming about your bride."
Leo entered the room at that moment, frowning. "Daydreaming? Dude, if this is how you are pre-wedding, I'm really scared to see how much of a sap you are after you're officially married. I mean, I thought we were supposed to be a tough cabin!"
"That's Ares," Christopher supplies happily. "Speaking of which, Clarisse is the maid of honour. Meaning, she's going to be in a dress..."
Harley clamped a hand over his mouth. "I think I'm gonna be sick."
Beckendorf tuned out his siblings at this point, not in the mood to participate in conversation. He whipped out his phone in hopes from a text from Silena, and wasn't disappointed when one flashes across the screen.
Can't wait to see you at the altar. xoxox
o-o-sb&cb-o-o
The music began to play as Silena waited behind the heavy wooden doors of the church. The flower girl, Katie and Travis's three year old, made her way down the aisle first, tossing petals into the air. She was followed by the bridesmaids- Piper, Lacy, Annabeth and Nyssa- and the groomsmen- Leo, Harley, Percy, and Christopher respectively. Then came the Maid of Honour, Clarisse, walking alongside the Best Man, Jake. Finally, the music slowed down to the wedding march, and Silena herself came gliding through the doors, her father holding her tightly. From the front row, Aphrodite dabbed her eyes with a tissue. Silena was happy to see that Hephaestus was sitting alongside her mother- for once, they were acting normal around one another for the sake of their children.
Nearing the altar, Silena saw Charlie standing there, his eyes widening as she approached. Her dress swirled around her ankles as her father gave her off, walking back to his seat on the opposite side of Aphrodite. And, with that, the ceremony started.
Admittedly, Silena wasn't paying much attention. Her focus was entirely on Charlie, and, from the look on his face, she could tell he was doing the same to her. She only snapped back to attention for the actual vows- the ones she and Charlie had long ago decided to write themselves.
"When I first met you, my first thought was admittedly 'wow'," Charlie laughed, wiping sweat from his brow. "And then you talked to me… and the whole world suddenly seemed a lot more beautiful. You are incredible, amazing, and, right now, I feel like the luckiest man in the world. I know that our journey together has had some bumps, and I know that the future won't be all smooth sailing either, but I believe that we can conquer it all, for, as you told me a long, long time ago, love conquers anything."
"Sap." Leo coughed from the audience.
Silena smiled, tears glistening in her eyes. "I know that I may not be the best person in the world, and I definitely know I've made some mistakes, but you have stuck by me the whole way and you have forgiven me for all of my wrongdoings. I love you, and I will continue loving you until the end of time."
Cue "awwws" from the Aphrodite cabin.
And then, with some "I do"s and a kiss, the couple walked back down the aisle together as Mr. and Mrs. Beckendorf.
o-o-sb&cb-o-o
A tinkling noise rang around the reception hall, the one caused by glasses hitting spoons. Beckendorf grinned, leaning in and kissing his wife- he still loved thinking of her like that- on the lips.
"Alright," Percy, who had volunteered to be the MC, said into the microphone. "I think we should start speeches now, seeing as the Aphrodite cabin seems like they're going to faint from all of the adorableness- yes, Wise Girl, I know that it isn't a word. So now, can I please call up Nyssa, Harley, Leo, and Jake from the Hephaestus cabin?"
The four siblings traipsed up, mischievous smiles on their faces, and Beckendorf groaned.
"Right," Jake said, glancing out at everyone. "So, even though why we're still confused about how our brother managed to get married, we decided that we should do an actual speech for his sake. So Beck, I know that you weren't the most outgoing of people, but you were a pretty great brother, and that's all that matters. Everyone from our cabin has learned something from you and we're all pretty grateful for that."
"Also," Nyssa added. "You made our cabin a much better place. We worked as a team a lot more than we did when you weren't around, and you taught us a lot of great skills."
"You were like the big brother we never had." Harley piped up.
"Even though I wasn't around for most of your reign, you definitely made us all better people." Leo finished. "Now, we'd like to call the Aphrodite cabin up here as well."
Beckendorf's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion when instead of his siblings sitting down, the Aphrodite cabin joined them onstage. He glanced at his wife, who looked just as confused as he did.
"Okay," Piper started off. "We just wanted to say thanks to Silena for being one of the best big sisters in the world. She was so kind to everyone and we all really enjoyed having her as our cabin leader."
"She accepted us all as people and never pressured us to change," Lacy continued. "Silena was a great person to go to when you needed help with anything."
"She would never turn you away, no matter what it was." Mitchell added.
"Which is why," Drew, to Beckendorf's surprise, spoke up, "The Hephaestus cabin and the Aphrodite cabin have worked together to create… this."
And with that, the ceiling of the hall opened up to reveal hundreds of metal doves that fluttered around the room. Beckendorf glanced over at his wife, who looked just as thrilled as he, before leaning in for another kiss while the metal doves, the perfect symbol of their love, flew behind them.
I'm not sure how I feel about this... meh. But hey, at least I didn't kill them off!
Review please!
-Jace ;)
PS: Here's the full list of ships, if you're interested:
July 14-20 (Thalia and Luke)
July 21-27 (Beckendorf and Silena)
July 28-August 3 (Grover and Juniper)
August 4-10 (Chris and Clarisse)
August 11-17 (Tyson and Ella)
August 18-24 (Frank and Hazel)
August 25-31 (Leo and Hazel)
September 1-7 (Leo and Reyna)
September 8-14 (Jason and Reyna)
September 15-21 (Jason and Piper)
September 22-28 (Free Ship!)
September 28- October 7 (Percy and Annabeth)