A/N: The chapter title translates to "Shut Up My Heart," which sounds a lot nicer in French, honestly. It's the title of a French song I very much enjoy.
Luminesyra, one-shots of the Muses' backstories would be interesting, though to be honest, a lot of them haven't told me much about their backstories yet. I suppose, we'll see. dinohuntsmen, Sandy's pretty suave, you know. ForeverACharmedOne, I'm glad to have caused such a range of emotions in you in the last chapter, haha. But yeah, poor Clio and her hasty cleaning job. Panda-Chan8, hello, new reviewer! Thank you for your thoughts, I'm glad you've enjoyed everything thus far and I wish you luck with your tattoos! gossamermouse101, yes, wedding! ArouraBorialice, I'm sure I'll at least do some sketches of the wedding, no worries! Tanairy Cornelio, aw, I miss Rowan too. It's weird not having the option to switch into her point of view! misuky7, Thank you, I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! Wowom, as fun as it is to make Jack miserable, I do feel bad for him too. AkariWolfPrincess, haha, yeah, one of the many reasons thins weren't going to work out for them long term when she was alive.
This was a happy occasion. He should be happy.
Chapter Eleven: Tais-Toi Mon Coeur
The rumors that the Guardians the Muses were breaking up their alliance had barely had a chance to start spreading (and, consequently, start worrying their other allies) before Calliope and Sandy called a meeting, claiming that they had a solution to this problem.
Everyone was settled in the Warren again, safely out of Apollo and Manny's prying eyes. Polyhymnia rubbed at her eyes, sniffling the whole way, still very much allergic to something, if not everything, that was growing around them.
Jack leaned against the nearby egg statue lazily, mind still spinning from everything that had happened since the last meeting. Hopefully Calliope and Sandy truly were offering up solutions this time, rather than more problems.
"I don't know what it is, it's not as though I've never been around plants before," Polyhymnia sighed.
"Had I known we would be having another meeting this soon, I would have tried to get you something for it," Bunny said.
"I appreciate the thought, Bunnymu—" Polyhymnia stopped speaking in order to sneeze again.
"I think I have a book that has an allergy remedy in it, I'll look for it after the meeting," Clio said.
"Sorry! Am I late? More lost teeth than usual today, usually it doesn't get this bad until around Halloween," Tooth said, as she darted in through one of the nearby tunnels, a handful of mini fairies in tow. She was the last that they were waiting on.
"You're fine, Toothiana," Calliope said. The eldest Muse had seemed nervous while waiting for the others to arrive.
Jack was used to seeing Calliope on edge due to the stress of having to be a stand-in leader for Muses, not to mention the always-serious matters that had to be discussed at these meetings. Today, however, she seemed nervous in an almost excited way.
The winter spirit had seen a lot more of Calliope over the past few months, and had begrudgingly come to respect her after resenting her for so long, but it was still very strange to see her expressing anything close to joy.
She would always be the stern, no-nonsense, assertive representative of the Muses to him.
"Now that everyone's here, I suppose, let's get to it," Calliope said. The others silenced their outside discussions and turned to watch Calliope and Sandy. "As you all know, there are a growing number of people skeptical of our alliance. With everything else going on, we can't have that threatening our chances to make and keep other alliances. It's important that we make a statement that shows everyone that the alliance between the Guardians and the Muses is still strong and not about to go anywhere."
"So does that mean you're turning Artemis down?" Bunny asked. Jack watched Calliope expectantly.
If the Muses went with Apollo on their own, it would at least take one burden off his shoulders. Apollo would no longer expect him to try to convince them of anything.
"Not necessarily," Calliope said.
Of course, it couldn't be that easy.
"So, what sort of statement are we going to make, then?" Clio asked.
"Do you want to tell them, or should I?" Calliope said, glancing back at Sandy, who gestured back to her, as though to say that she should do it. She nodded and cleared her throat, turning her attention back to the others. "Sanderson and I are getting married."
The sentence had barely passed her lips before the entire Warren erupted in statements of surprise at the news. Jack's own eyebrows shot upward, never picturing Sandy as the marrying type.
Although to be fair, before a few months ago, Jack had never pictured Sandy as the dating type, either.
"We're going to have a wedding! Congratulations!" Erato said, throwing her arms around the couple.
"Marriage for political gain, how old-school of you," Melpomene commented with a slight laugh.
"Thought you two always said you weren't getting married," Bunny said, cocking a brow.
"We never felt like we had to. After all these years together, I mean, we never had anything to prove," Calliope said. Sandy nodded, images flashing above his head as though to say that the timing is right and the alliance needs this, so why not make things official?
Jack could sympathize with Calliope's statement, he supposed. He had spent so long watching marriage evolve and watching so many marriages fall apart that he hardly saw the point in signing a piece of paper to prove that you loved someone.
Immortality only complicated things further. "'Til death do us part," was much longer when neither of the parties involved were going to die any time soon. It seemed sort of daunting to make such a commitment.
Not to mention, it was easy to grow bitter about such a concept after spending centuries alone. Jack had sort of resigned himself to the idea that marriage was never going to be a possibility anyway.
There were some things that were just never going to be an option when you spent most of your time invisible and in solitude.
(Or, when the girl you fell in love with after years of solitude was a mortal whose friends and family could not see you, and who was going to out-grow you and die long before you.)
But, this was about more than a piece of paper. Sandy and Calliope had been together for a period of time so long that Jack could hardly wrap his mind around it.
This wasn't just to make a point about their relationship, it was so that no one, Artemis, Apollo, or otherwise, could attempt to break the alliance up again.
Jack might not have been thrilled when he had learned that the alliance between the Muses and the Guardians existed in the first place, but it was hard to deny its importance, especially after the full moon back in January.
"If this is what you want and you are happy, than I am happy for you, my friends," North said with a smile, embracing Calliope and Sandy once Erato had released them from her grasp.
Happiness. Right, Jack shouldn't be standing here, dwelling over his personal thoughts and feelings over marriage. He had never had a close friend get married before, but he imagined that sulking in the corner over one's own bitter opinion of the institution of marriage was not the polite response.
He should try to be happy for Sandy.
He was the Guardian of Fun, wasn't he? The boy forced a smile, hoping it looked sincere.
"When are you getting married?" Tooth asked.
"As soon as we get everything together, we think in about a month," Calliope said, catching her breath after North's spine-crushing embrace.
"Arachne is going to be so excited, she loves making wedding dresses," Thalia said with a grin.
"Is it going to be a big wedding?" Terpsichore asked.
Sandy shrugged, the silhouettes above his head implying that it would be "big enough."
Jack wondered what "big enough" meant, thinking back to the amount of mythical beings that had attended the New Year's Eve ball. He kneeled down and clapped Sandy on the shoulder, offering him a congratulations.
This was a happy occasion. He should be happy.
But instead, he kept thinking about Rowan and his smile grew more and more forced.
Goddamn it, this wasn't about Jack or his missed opportunities! It was about Sandy! It was about Calliope! It was about keeping the alliance together no matter what Artemis or Apollo did!
He tried to focus on all of that instead, listening to the others as they continued to ask about wedding details.
"Where is it going to be?" Polyhymnia asked.
"Oh, Poly, are you crying?" Calliope said, looking concerned.
"Allergies, though I am very happy for you, sister," Polyhymnia said with a smile and a sniffle. "So, where is it going to be?"
"Sandy's island, we think," Calliope said. "And all my sisters will be bridesmaids, of course."
"Duh," Thalia said.
"As though you could get away with not having us as bridesmaids," Erato said.
Sandy turned toward the Guardians, images appearing above his head quickly, all ending with a question mark. From what Jack gathered, the man was asking if they would be his groomsmen and stand with him at the wedding.
Jack hadn't been to a wedding since becoming immortal, and as previously stated, he had never had a friend get married. Unsurprisingly, he had never been part of anyone's wedding party.
It surprised him in the same way he had been surprised to be invited to spend Christmas with the rest of them. It was a simple gesture, but it was one of close friends, family.
"Would be an honor to stand with you, of course," North nodded.
"Definitely, Sandy," Bunny agreed. "Just as long as I don't have to write a speech or something…"
"Sign me up!" said Tooth.
"Absolutely," Jack said.
"I was going to ask you to be a bridesmaid, Toothiana, but Sanderson wanted all the Guardians as groomsmen," Calliope said with a smile.
"I'd be happy either way," Tooth said.
"Calliope can spare him one. We have to balance things out at least a little on his side," Terpsichore said. "Calliope's still got eight to his four."
The sand above Sandy's head twirled, forming the shapes of hearts, bows, and arrows.
"You're going to ask Cupid, too? Well, good, that's five," Urania said.
"Oh, he'll be thrilled you want him involved after everything else," Erato said.
"He's still family," Calliope said. "And he's so important to both of us."
"Speaking of family, are Apollo or Artemis invited?" Clio asked. The Warren grew silent as they waited for Calliope and Sandy's answer, Calliope frowning.
"They'll be offended if they're not invited, but they'll cause a scene if they are," she said.
"You mean, if they're invited and actually show up," Melpomene said. "They might get so mad they just don't go out of spite."
"Nah, they'd worry the other one would show up, see that they aren't there, and think they won," Thalia said. "I say, don't invite them. It's your wedding, it shouldn't be interrupted by their rivalry."
There were murmurs of agreement throughout the group. Sandy nodded.
"I know, you're right," Calliope said, though she was still frowning.
Well, at least Jack wouldn't have to interact with Apollo at this wedding. He could only imagine being pulled aside and asked if he had convinced any of the Muses to stay loyal.
"What about Manny?" Tooth asked.
"We figured we would ask him to officiate, like he did with North and Yelena," Calliope said. "I'm still not pleased about the secrets he's kept but in light of recent news, he's the least problematic of all our leaders… the only one that hasn't been hostile recently."
"I am sure he would be very pleased to marry the two of you," North said.
"Oh, man, Apollo and Artemis don't get an invite and Tsar Lunar officiates the ceremony? I know two gods that are going to be so mad," Euterpe said.
"Well, they gave us no choice," Erato said. "Good riddance, I say. This wedding, politically motivated as it is, should be a celebration of love, not an opportunity for more conflict."
"Agreed," Bunny said. "One day without conflict would be nice."
"So, what's the color scheme? Please tell me you're gonna make Mel wear a pink dress, you know she hates that color," Thalia said. The group erupted into more chatter about small details and décor. It was mostly the Muses, though Bunny seemed to have opinions on colors as well.
Jack took a few steps back from the group, still urging himself to be happy.
Stop thinking about Rowan.
"Oh, I haven't been to a wedding in about… a hundred years! What about you, Jack?" Euterpe said taking a few steps closer to him with Terpsichore close by.
"Not since I was a mortal," he said.
"Oh, when I was mortal, I was constantly at weddings," Euterpe said.
"Well, you had something like a thousand cousins," Terpsichore snorted. "When I was mortal, where I was from, marriage wasn't really a big formality, you know? It was like, you started living together and sharing your stuff and then everyone recognized you as married."
"Well, that's certainly not going to be the case this time. The bigger the fuss, the better," Euterpe said.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm always down for a party. We certainly weren't strangers to dancing and feasts," Terpsichore said, tapping her heels rhythmically.
"You okay, Jack?" Euterpe asked, eying him again. Terpsichore looked his way as well. He suddenly realized the smile he had been forcing had started to falter as they spoke.
"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine," he said, hoping he sounded convincing.
"All this wedding talk reminding you of Rowan?" Euterpe asked.
"To be fair, most everything reminds me of Rowan," Jack shrugged.
"Did you two ever even talk about marriage? By today's standards and where she was from, she was pretty young for it," Terpsichore said.
Jack winced, thinking back to that conversation at the pole a few months back. "Just enough to acknowledge that it wasn't going to happen for us."
Euterpe and Terpsichore exchanged glances.
"It's not a big deal," Jack insisted, though it felt like a lie. At the very least, the fact that marriage was not an option for him and Rowan just highlighted all the underlying things that made their relationship difficult. "I mean, I'm happy for Sandy, but for a long time now I've personally been sort of turned off by the concept of marriage."
"I feel that. Being immortal changes things," Terpsichore nodded.
"Calliope and Sanderson are very lucky that they've found someone they're willing to put up with for probably thousands of years," Euterpe said.
"Well, they've gone this long," Terpsichore said.
Thousands of years together.
Jack couldn't stop himself from thinking about the fact that he and Rowan hadn't even gotten one.
The recreation center was an unintimidating brick building, with pools, various options for working out, and a number of classes to choose from. When Lorelei parked the car, Jamie spied the nearest pool through the gate, watching with furrowed brow as some seniors attempted to do water aerobics, with a young and enthusiastic instructor leading them.
Sophie was wearing water wings and smelled strongly of the thick layer of sunblock that Lorelei had slathered on the squirming child before they left the house. She was set to begin swimming lessons while Jamie took his first art class.
Lorelei had asked if he had wanted to go swimming after his class, had offered to bring along what he'd need if he did. After all, a great deal of his friends were no strangers to the rec center pools this time of year.
The idea of pretending to be sea monsters or trying to beat his friends in a contest of who could hold their breath the longest didn't sound like fun at all, though. He had no desire to do cannon balls off the diving board or dive for rings like he had only a year prior.
So, he had said no. He would just go to his art class while Sophie learned to swim.
They stopped at the front desk where there was a high school girl wearing far too much eye makeup and trying desperately to look like she wouldn't rather be anywhere but there at that moment. She forced a smile and politely asked how they were doing.
Lorelei said they were very excited about starting their classes today and Jamie saw the girl's eyes dart to him for a moment before Lorelei asked how she was doing. Jamie was sure that he didn't look "very excited."
It occurred to him that he hadn't really felt "very excited" in a while.
The girl shrugged, stating that she was doing all right and asked if they needed help. After a bit of back and forth, Lorelei was given directions to both the art room and the entrance to the pool from the art room.
Lorelei left Jamie at his class, after reminding him again that she would be at the pool with Sophie if he needed her and telling him to have a good time. The class was filled with other children around his age, chattering about their summers, bouncing in their chairs, talking about the things they liked to draw.
The instructor told Jamie to sit anywhere, and he chose a seat in the back corner, a fair distance from the others. He didn't know any of the other children here. There were a few he had seen before, around the playground at school, but he hadn't interacted with them much, as they were in different grades.
"You can sit closer to the rest of the group if you want, Jamie, no need to be a stranger," the instructor said with an encouraging smile.
He glanced at the others, knowing full well that had this been a year ago, he would have sat with them. He would have talked with them, shared in their discussion of what they liked to draw and talk about great at art his cousin was.
But not now.
"I'm okay," he said, shaking his head.
"All right," said the instructor with a slow nod.
When everyone had arrived, still leaving Jamie in his corner by himself, the instructor introduced herself and explained that today they were going to learn all about colors.
She explained which colors were warm and which colors were cool, and the difference between primary and secondary colors. She pointed at a color wheel and explained what complimentary colors were. When she was through talking, she passed out paper and poured paint for everyone to mix their own colors and make their own color wheel.
Jamie stirred his paintbrush around in the small blobs of red and yellow paints, watching it turn orange. Rowan had explained all of this to him ages ago, going into much more detail.
He remembered her telling him that he could, in theory, get any color he wanted as long as he had red, blue, and yellow (some black and white didn't hurt, either). She had complained that red and blue acrylic paint wouldn't blend into purple all that well and anyone painting with acrylics was better off just buying purple paint if they wanted a nice, bright purple.
He tried to paint a nice, neat circle of orange in the corner of the color wheel where it was meant to go.
He remembered Rowan showing him how she would sketch, saying most everything started with a circle.
He glanced up from his paper, watching as the instructor spoke to the other students enthusiastically, having not gotten back to him in her sweep of the class yet. Other students had already mixed their purples, coming out far too dark and dull, just as Rowan had mentioned.
"May I go to the bathroom?" Jamie asked suddenly, raising his hand. The instructor gave him permission and he left the room, ducking into the boy's bathroom as tears sprang to his eyes.
He sat in a stall and tried not to draw attention to himself as he cried. Rowan knew so much more than that woman, it was clear. Rowan had known about the purple, she had made color wheels with dark and light variations and so many more colors.
And even if this woman did know all that, she was holding back. She was teaching the basics.
Rowan always showed him more than just the bare basics.
He realized he didn't remember so much of what she had said about colors and how to figure out which colors went with which. He didn't remember a lot of the terminology she had told him about.
He could never ask her. She would never teach him anything again.
He had always just assumed that if he forgot something he would be able to ask her again later.
Jamie coughed at wiped at his eyes.
Art class was supposed to be fun. Summer was supposed to be fun.
He just wanted that back.
Cupid wasn't sure where he was safe anymore.
The Guardians and the Muses had put him on probation, promised him a second chance to prove himself and earn back their trust, which was great. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable lurking around any of their lairs, as though everyone was simply waiting for him to mess up.
The clearing where he used to meet Artemis seemed out of the question. He was not supposed to give her any more information. He was supposed to remain neutral now. Artemis knew this, but hadn't seemed to take the information all that seriously when he had relayed it to her.
And anywhere else he lurked, well, always had the possibility of Apollo deciding that he wanted another round.
This was a small price to pay, he supposed, for what he had done. With any luck, he would prove himself and feel less like an outsider sometime before the next century.
For now, Cupid was perched on the wooden fence near a drive-in movie theater. He had been surprised to learn that it was still in business, and felt it was as good a place as any to spend the next few hours.
At least at night he was less likely to run into a certain sun god.
He watched the film, some classic horror movie with cheesy special effects, as best he could with the eye that wasn't bruised and swollen shut. He hoped his vision wouldn't have any long-term effects after it healed.
As his mind wandered, considering the possibility that perhaps someone might have a remedy that would heal his eye faster than it would heal on its own, a golden glow caught his good eye.
Turning, he found the Sandman approaching him, looking as cheerful as ever.
"Hi, Sandy," Cupid said, his voice strained as he set a hand to his chest. Apollo's heel had left it slightly painful to breath.
He supposed he should be thankful he could breath at all..
Or, at least that's what Apollo would say.
Sandy waved in greeting before images flashed above his head.
"Important news, huh? And I'm allowed to hear it?" Cupid asked.
Sandy nodded before more shapes began to form. Calliope, Sandy himself, golden bands and more flashed by to explain what Sandy had to tell the boy.
"You and Aunt Calliope are getting married?" Cupid said, his good eye widening. Sandy nodded again. "Oh, wow, congratulations! You two have been together so long, I'm happy for you."
Cupid barely had a moment to be confused, Calliope and Sandy had expressed before that they had little interest in getting married, after all, before realizing just how incredibly angry Artemis was going to be when she found out. She had hoped to keep the Muses away from Tsar Lunar as well as Apollo, and this was only guaranteeing that the Tsar was not going anywhere.
That had to be precisely why Sandy and Calliope were doing this.
The images above Sandy's head confirmed this, after thanking Cupid for his congratulations. The timing was motivated by Artemis' ultimatum, to make a statement that the Guardians and the Muses would always be bonded.
"Makes sense. Although, I hope you're prepared for Artemis to be upset," Cupid said.
Again, Sandy nodded, the image of the sun appearing above his head, indicating that they were ready for Apollo to be angry as well.
Soon, different shapes began to form, however, and Cupid watched the smaller man, puzzled.
"Oh, you want me to be a groomsman? Yes, of course I can do that," Cupid said. Sandy shook his head and suddenly Cupid felt embarrassed.
Right, he was the traitor on probation, why would he be in the wedding party?
But that seemed to be what the shapes were implying.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean, if you don't want me to be a groomsman, what is it you want?" Cupid asked, hoping he wasn't frustrating Sandy terribly by making him explain himself repeatedly.
Silhouettes of the wedding party appeared above Sandy's head, Sandy pointed to the winged figure, presumably Cupid, who stood directly to the right of Sandy.
"Wait," Cupid said. "You… want me to be your best man?"
Sandy nodded, enthusiastic.
"Really? Not North or Tsar Lunar or something?" Cupid asked, his puzzled expression hard to read thanks to the bruises.
The shapes above Sandy's head seemed to be illustrating their history together. Sandy and Calliope were, of course, Cupid's godparents. They had always been good to him, and growing up with Sandy around had been nice in the sense that he had been exposed to a man that, well, wasn't Apollo.
He was close to both of them, often spending time with them when he was younger and needed space from his mother.
Sandy was easy to talk to, easy to get along with, and easy to feel comfortable around. He was patient and kind and Cupid often felt that he hardly deserved to have someone like that around considering how difficult he could be.
And Calliope? Well, sometimes it was easier to talk to an aunt than it was to talk to a mother. Aunts walked that line between parental figure and friend with such grace.
The images above Sandy's head seemed to imply that Cupid was just as important to his godparents as they were to him. Sandy and Calliope had been unable to have children of their own (due to Sandy being from another world, they assumed), and had felt privileged to be involved in raising him.
Quite simply, they were family, and he had played some kind of significant role in Sandy and Calliope's story just by being born.
"You're sure though?" Cupid asked again.
Sandy nodded.
Cupid could hardly believe that Sandy was willing to do this so soon after everyone had found out that he had been leaking information to Artemis.
The small man's ability to love and forgive was tremendous. Cupid felt as though he truly had been given a second chance at really being part of this strange, dysfunctional, mismatched family.
"I would love to," Cupid said.