"Nothing happens unless first we dream." – Carl Sandburg
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Calm-Waters: Haha, you know – for someone who's chosen the name Calm-Waters, you certainly worry a lot! =D Well, here it is; the big reveal – drum roll please! Let's see what's behind door number 1!
One of the tall cathedral doors opened with a loud creak. Prince Nestor glanced over from where he sat alone in a pew a few rows down from the front to see a rather confused Quest enter the church. Nestor was surprised to see the man there, but said nothing for a moment and just watched for his bodyguard's reaction.
Quest didn't see the prince sitting in the pew. His focus was on the scene directly in front of him. The cathedral's stained-glass windows draped the room in warm colourful light which, with the many candles leading up to the altar, illuminated the smiling faces of the couple about to be wed.
Quest's square jaw had dropped when he first recognized the young bride and groom, and he had yet to close his mouth. How could this be? There in front of him was the runt and the witch – Nestor, his royal pain-in-the-butt, was just now saying his vows to a blushing Anna! And, was that Graer marrying them? As Quest tried to decide whether he'd finally gone totally insane (spending every day being ordered around by a brat less than half your size could do that to a person) or had simply received a hard hit to the head in a recent battle and now had brain damage, the prince in the pew decided it was about time to rescue the man by clearing his throat loudly.
Nestor could have sworn he saw relief roll down Quest's features before they hardened in anger. He gulped as the muscle-man stormed down the aisle to his pew and demanded, "What the hell is going on here?"
When he remembered himself, Quest glanced guiltily at the front where the wedding was still taking place, but quickly realized his outburst had had absolutely no effect on those at the front. Disturbed, he turned back to the prince in the pew. Nestor seemed to be choosing his words carefully, but in the end his only response was to move over in the pew and gesture to Quest to sit down. Suddenly feeling very tired and much older than he actually was, Quest sat down heavily next to the prince. Neither spoke for several moments.
"Usually, I'm up there," Nestor tried uncertainly to explain, "But for some reason, this time I'm here." He shrugged, knowing he'd failed at making things any clearer. To be honest, he was just as confused as the man beside him.
Furrowing his brow, Quest tried to piece what the prince had said together with what they were seeing. That's when he noticed he was at the front standing just to the side of the, now obviously older, prince being married. "I'm there too..."
"Well, yeah. You're the best man."
"What?"
Misinterpreting Quest's confusion, Nestor replied defensively, "Well, gosh! If you don't want to be my best man, just say so!"
Quest looked down at the pouting boy beside him and suddenly it was all too much for him to take. The deep sound of his laughter made the prince jump in surprise. When Nestor saw that Quest was now laughing at him his face became red in embarrassment and he looked away before the other could see the tears forming in his eyes. Quest didn't notice the boy's discomfort, but his laughter soon died down and then an idea came to him. "This is a dream."
"Yeah, and it's turning out to be a pretty weird one," Nestor grumbled out, still hurt.
This time, Quest noticed the kid's change in mood. He realized his mistake quickly. He thought for a moment, and then gently asked, "So, if I'm the best man, why aren't I wearing a suit?"
One look to the front of the church would confirm that that Quest indeed wasn't wearing any type of suit, like the adult Nestor up there, or uniform, like Gatling who was standing beside Quest dressed once more as Captain of the Guards. No, in fact the Quest at the front was dressed exactly as the Quest sitting in the pew – a warrior always ready for battle. Nestor looked down as he replied, "I've never seen you wear anything else! I don't know what you'd look like in a suit."
Amused, Quest looked to the other side of the bridal party. "So is that why Way isn't 'dressed for the occasion'?"
"I don't think Way could even wear clothes... I'm pretty sure you have to be totally solid to wear clothes." A small smile was now given for Quest's efforts.
"Alright, fair enough." Quest paused, then, looking very seriously down at the prince, he asked, "But why exactly would you have Graer be the minister? I mean, come on! Graer?"
Nestor couldn't stop himself from full-out grinning now. "I was going to have him be the ring bearer, but then I figured if we ever wanted to see the ring again..." he let the sentence hang and the two fell into a comfortable silence.
"So... Anna?" Quest didn't bother trying to put the question into a sentence, knowing the prince would have been expecting it to come eventually. He simply stared at the young woman in the simple ivory-coloured dress before them as he waited for an explanation.
Nestor sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Okay, we'll talk later."
"We don't have to..."
"Yes. We do."
"No we don't!"
"Eventually-"
"Okay, okay, I get it!" Nestor shook his head when he realized they'd had a very similar ¹conversation before, dialogue inverted. "This is payback, right?"
Quest smirked. "You bet."
"Whatever." Nestor rolled his eyes like a pro. He would have progressed to ignoring his companion had Quest not then stood up in the pew.
Looking at the kid only once, Quest began making his way out into the aisle and towards the door, calling back with total authority, "Come on."
Nestor didn't move at first. He was a prince, after all, and he wasn't supposed to be the one following orders. But he wasn't stupid (even if that's what Quest seemed to believe). He knew something here was wrong. He knew deep down that he wasn't really dreaming anymore – there was the dream in front of him, and here he was totally disconnected from it. Maybe Quest knew how to make things right. Then again, maybe Quest was just as lost in this mess as he was. Either way, Nestor was now hurrying after Quest without any sort of complaint.
¹This is in reference to Nestor and Quest's conversation at the end of the episode "Molting Graer" when Quest didn't want to talk about his secretly helping Graer get his feathers back. If you haven't seen this episode yet, be sure to catch it next time it rolls around! (Season 2, same episode as "The Body Switch")
