"Leena? Leena, come on, we're gonna be late!" Seedos knocked on the door to Leena's tree house, rocking back and forth nervously. He was wearing an orange tux covered in blue and white swirls. Not exactly the most fashionable thing, but it was the cheapest tux he could scrounge up. Even then, he had to save for a whole entire month just to buy it!
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Leena ran towards the door, her chunky heels clicking on her wooden floor. She swung the door open, her chest heaving, silently thanking God that she didn't trip and tear her dress in her hurry.
Seedos gasped when he saw his girlfriend and stumbled back a few steps, nearly falling off of Leena's deck. Leena looked stunning in a sky blue gown covered with shimmering sequins arranged in a traditional Piñata Island pattern. Leena's usually unruly hair was fastened into two little buns that were adorned with white flowers. When she saw how Seedos was looking at her, she blushed and looked at her feet. "Seedos… you don't have to stare."
"Leena, you look prettier than the bride could ever dream of being!" Seedos opened his arms and beamed at Leena.
"Oh, you're such a flatterer…" Leena hugged Seedos and gave him a little kiss on the mouth of his mask. "Come on, let's get going! Avalon will have my head if I'm late for something as fancy as a wedding…"
"Yeesh, you're right…!" Seedos shimmied halfway down the ladder before jumping off. "Come on! We've gotta go fast!"
Leena carefully descended the ladder, grabbed Seedos' hand, and the two of them took off to the eastern side of town. There was a lavishly decorated wedding chapel there, barely touched since the wedding of Lottie and Willy so many years ago. Willy and some hired Helpers had restored it when news of Fannie's marriage to Flavius Pendragonache spread throughout town. Now the chapel sparkled like new and the crowd inside of it were buzzing with excitement about Fannie's nuptials.
"Good morning!" Petula greeted Leena and Seedos at the door. She was Fannie's maid of honor, but judging by the glow surrounding her, one would think that she was the one getting married. She would be lying if she said she wasn't feeling proud as a Peckanmix about being chosen to be the maid of honor! "Leena, you look great!" Petula gave Seedos a once-over and bit her lip. "Uh, hi, Seedos. Thanks for coming! Fannie appreciates all her guests!"
"Thanks, Petula… I guess," With a shrug, Seedos linked his arm through Leena's and they entered the chapel. "That's her way of telling me I look horrible," Seedos whispered to Leena, who giggled.
As soon as the two of them entered the church, the sweet smell of flowers hit them like a truck. The chapel was absolutely covered in potted floral arrangements and rose petals covered the carpet that went through the aisles. At the front of the chapel was a priest, wearing a Cocoadile mask, which Leena couldn't help thinking wasn't well suited to his profession. Next to the priest was Flavius, Fannie's husband-to-be, looking confident and happy. He was flanked by three groomsmen that weren't from the Village. They had the air of the city around them and didn't have a single shred of nervousness in their expressions. In fact, they looked kind of bored… didn't they care that their friend was getting married?
Seedos and Leena sat near the aisle, next to Avalon and Yen. Avalon's arm was very close to being completely healed, but it still hurt, so her elegant attire was marred by a sling. Yen, wearing a sober black tux with subtle dark grey patterns, had his arm around her and his head on her shoulder. This was the first wedding he ever went to, and he was happy he got to take the girl of his dreams as his date!
"'Ello, Leena," Avalon waved her good hand and gave her a pale smile.
Seedos leaned over and smirked at Avalon. "Still mad your cousin is marrying Fannie?"
Avalon's expression darkened. "Shut up, yew."
Seedos snickered and leaned back. He knew it.
"Did you guys know Fannie asked me to play piano for the wedding?" Yen sat up, moving his hair away from his eyes. "I told her I would, but only if she paid me, so she changed her mind."
"Wouldn't that be a great opportunity, though?" Seedos cocked his head to the side.
"I didn't know you played piano, Yen!" Leena folded her hands under her chin, looking quite amazed.
"It's not a well known fact, I have no idea how Fannie even knew," Yen shrugged his shoulders. "But they got Eddie instead, and you know how he is. I bet he'll be too busy crying to even play the piano properly."
Avalon couldn't help chuckling. She glanced over to the grand piano and saw that Eddie was already dabbing his eyes, his now heavily pregnant mother hovering over him like a Dragumfly and attempting to calm him down. "I bet 'is performance will be… interesting."
The pastor gestured to Eddie, who jumped and whipped around, his tears disappearing. Eddie's mom waddled as fast as she could back to her seat in the front row and Eddie began playing Piñata Island's lively version of the bridal march.
The first person to walk down the aisle was little Babochka, skipping down the aisle and tossing flower petals everywhere. She was the only little girl in the Village, so she was more than happy to have no competition for her role in the wedding. She would have fought her tooth and nail for the position of flower girl.
Next were the bridesmaids, led by the confident Petula, who moved elegantly down the aisle like the wedding was all about her. Behind her was Melody, the person who helped Fannie write her musical that was still going strong in Poprockolis, and Leafos, Storkos, and Gretchen.
Patch gave Leafos a shy little wave as she walked by and she coyly winked at him.
"YEAAAAH! THAT'S MY GIRL!" Yoto leapt out of his chair when Storkos walked by, and Bart pulled him down by the tails of his suit coat and covered his mouth.
Finally, it was the bride's turn. Fannie wore the oversized, sheer veil that was a tradition for Piñata Island weddings and a white dress that sparkled in the light. Her beautiful outfit was marred by her oversized mailbox mask, as always. Her father, a short, stout man with a mustache that any man would be proud of, choked back tears as he led his little girl down the aisle.
Fannie finally reached Flavius and he took her hands, smiling at her as she stood across from him.
"You look beautiful," he whispered, which made Fannie blush a deep red.
The two of them made their vows and soon it was time for the kiss. Fannie threw her sheer veil over Flavius' head and the two of them removed their masks beneath it. They shared a kiss, the audience clapping as they saw their silhouettes come together under the veil.
The happy couple put their masks back on and the pastor raised his arms. "I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Flavius Pendragonache!"
After the giggly newlyweds made their way down the aisle, everyone started slowly filing out of the church, heading to the P-Factor hall for the reception.
"How'd I do?" Storkos asked, flying next to Yoto and slipping an arm around his waist. "Did I do well?"
"You looked awesome!" Yoto gave Storkos a great big kiss. "You were a natural up there!"
"Whew, that's good…" Storkos sighed, resting a hand on her stomach. "I've been nauseous all day. It must be nerves…"
"You? Nervous?" Yoto blinked, his brow furrowing with concern. "Are you okay?"
Storkos waved Yoto off. "Psh, don't worry, I'm fine! I've just… never been in a wedding before. I'll feel better if I eat something. Hopefully."
"Take it easy, okay?" Yoto whispered words of encouragement to his girlfriend as they left the chapel.
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Leafos was taking a brief siesta on a bench in the village square, sighing and massaging her legs. She had practiced walking in heels for far too long last night and had pulled a muscle. She hoped she didn't waddle down the aisles like a brain damaged Pengum…
"Luh-Leafos…?"
Leafos knew that voice. She looked up to see Doc Patch, who was shakily holding out a bouquet of roses, snapdragons, and lilies. "I guh-got these for you. As a congratulations… and a thuh-thank you."
"A thank you…?" Leafos blushed as she took the flowers. Patch must have asked Storkos or someone about what kind of flowers Leafos liked… there's no way he could have gotten all her favorites just by guessing.
"Fuh-for helping me. With work. And buh-being a guh-good friend…" Patch shuffled his feet. "Now that Dastardos is… you know, gone, things are a lot easier. He used to threaten me at night and write me notes saying to suh-stay away from yuh-you. I duh-didn't tell you because I thought you would wuh-worry…"
"Patch! You shouldn't keep those things from me!" Leafos rose from the bench, shaking a finger at the doctor. "What if he hurt me just to make you miserable?!"
"I don't… I duh-don't think he wanted to hurt you…" Patch bit his lip. "I think he luh-liked you, Leafos."
Leafos wrinkled her nose. "I really doubt that. He never so much as looks at me when we're in the same place at the same time. He probably just wanted to make you miserable."
"You're puh-probably right…" Patch twirled his index fingers together. "Well… I guh-guess… we don't have to worry about him anymore, huh?"
"You're right…" Leafos let out a sigh of relief. "He's gone. Probably for good. No one's seen him for a month."
"Let's… let's not think about Dastardos anymore…" Patch smiled at the slightly shorter girl and she smiled back up at him.
"C'mere, you big lug."
With that, Leafos and Patch shared a kiss in the middle of the Village Square.
Avalon and Yen were walking by just in time to see that and Avalon felt her heart sink into her stomach. For some reason, every time she saw a couple together, it made her stomach twist and turn. There was absolutely no reason for that. She wasn't jealous… she had Yen, after all, but something felt off. Something was missing. She hadn't felt one hundred percent ever since the night Dastardos yelled at her before running off and disappearing forever.
Avalon resisted the urge to slap herself. No, Avalon. This isn't about 'im. Don't be silly!
"Why the long face, Avalon?" Yen moved closer to Avalon and took her hand, offering her a genuine smile. "You never struck me as the type who would get emotional at weddings…"
Avalon froze for a moment, but decided to roll with it. "Yeah, well, I'm full of surprises," she said, giving Yen a forced grin. She felt like someone punched her heart. God, that sounded like something Dastardos would say…
She couldn't tell Yen the real reason she was feeling so awful. If he knew, he'd probably flip out… he had expressed his happiness that Dastardos was gone on so many occasions. Avalon had to swallow her pride and enjoy the wedding reception… after all, she didn't want Yen getting suspicious…
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The reception was quiet and pretty uneventful, apart from Lottie getting completely sloshed and passing out right in the middle of the dance floor. A few hours after the reception, everyone in the Village got the same message sent to their Alert Systems:
*YOU'RE INVITED!*
Where: Eddie Lizard's home
When: Next Sunday at 5:00 PM
Why: To celebrate the peace in the Village!
I, Eddie Lizard, am throwing a party with the aid of Doc Patchingo. We're celebrating the lack of chaos and disorder in the Village since you-know-who disappeared all those weeks ago! Come on down and join us, we'd love to have you! Send your RSVPs to me, Eddie Lizard! Don't even pretend you don't know my number.
"Another party? So soon?" Leena blinked at her Alert System.
"Leena, you really haven't been on Piñata Island for long, have you?" Seedos snickered. "Most people take any excuse they can to party it up. It's in our blood!"
"Well, I know I'm going," Leena flipped her Alert System shut and she looked quite a bit saddened. "After what Dastardos did to Crispy, I definitely want to celebrate him going away. I hope he never, ever comes back!"
"Join the club," Seedos sneered. He couldn't believe he ever liked that idiot. "I'm surprised Eddie's not having it at the P-Factor hall… I don't think I've ever even been to his house!"
"I'm pretty excited…" Leena admitted, turning a little pink. "I wonder if it's bigger than Avalon's place…?" she thought aloud, stroking her chin. "Guess we'll find out! Hee, now I'm all excited!" Leena giggled.
"Knowing Dastardos, he'll catch wind of this and come crash the party," Seedos snorted.
"Oh God…I hope not…" The very idea of that gave Leena chills.
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Dastardos wasn't in the mood for party crashing.
After what seemed like an eternity of wandering through jungles, swamps, and deserts, he came across a commune of gardens down by the beach. The gardens surrounded a cute little port town and, surprisingly, all of the gardeners were pretty young ladies. Dastardos took great delight in taunting them, but it didn't help him forget the incident back home. He barely slept anymore; whenever he did he had nightmares where he relived Avalon's call to him. Her cruel, heartless words echoed in his head whenever he let his mind wander too much. Dastardos tried to keep busy twenty four hours a day, seven days a week in hopes of keeping her out of his head. If he stayed idle for too long, his thoughts would go right back to Avalon. He had to stay busy… he couldn't think about her.
Dastardos' favorite hobby was spying on the girls in the gardening community. The more he learned about them, the easier it was to press their buttons. He'd never forget the look on a shy, blonde gardener's face when he revealed that he knew all about her little shrine to the local legend, Eddie Lizard. The gardener had ordered a Dastardos shovel a few weeks back, and the reaper threatened that he'd tell everyone about her creepy shrine if she so much as tapped him with the shovel.
If Dastardos had been in better condition, he would have thought that to be great fun. But all he felt lately was… numb.
"Stardos, you look weird…" Magnar observed when Dastardos floated into their brand new hollow tree. It was way more cramped than the last one and had no furniture, apart from a waterlogged, faded cushion that washed up on the beach a few days after they arrived. No matter how much time passed, that stupid thing never seemed to fully dry. Magnar preferred sleeping on the floor than sleeping on that thing.
"How so?" Dastardos asked as he removed his mask, revealing that his cheeks were more sunken in than ever and that he had dark, smeary circles under his sunken eyes.
"You're all…" Magnar struggled to find the right word. "I can see through you."
"What…?" Dastardos looked at his hands and his eyes widened when he saw Magnar right through them. "That's odd… oh well, I can still pick things up so maybe I'll just scare the girls even more…" Sighing, Dastardos sat down on the damp cushion and patted his thigh. Magnar slowly made his way over and hopped up onto his lap.
"You're cold, too…" Magnar snuggled into Dastardos, a look of determination on his face as he tried to warm up his master.
"It's not a big deal, I can't feel it…" Dastardos leaned against the wooden wall, stroking Magnar's back.
Magnar sighed a bit. "It's not a big deal…" Magnar had been hearing that from Dastardos a lot in the past month. Had it been a month…? It felt like longer.
"Oh, God! My Pretztail!" a high pitched voice squealed outside.
"Ahh, that's my cue!" Dastardos placed Magnar on the floor, raising his hand in the air. The Whacking Stick appeared and he twirled it around. "Time to get you dinner, Magnar!"
Without saying goodbye, Dastardos took off into the twilit commune.
Magnar sighed and sulked off into a corner. No matter how much Dastardos insisted that nothing was wrong, Magnar knew. Whenever Dastardos slept, he would whimper or scream in his sleep. Not to mention Dastardos hadn't laughed in a long, long time.
Magnar hoped Dastardos would feel better soon…