A Daniel XFanfic

by Sakura Martinez

Disclaimer:

I do not own Daniel X, or the characters in that story. James Patterson owns the rights for them. What I do own is the idea for the fanfic and this fanfic itself.

Summary:

The final battle has begun and it begun with the loss of a life. Daniel, with Khadagh's knowledge and power, and with the rest of the drang must do everything in their power to put an end to the number one alien on The List before everyone that they care about is lost and before The Prayer puts his evil schemes into action. The battle for the universe and between good and evil culminates as The Prayer finally figures out a way to defeat, and ultimately kill, our hero. The road is tough, but Daniel and his drang are ready.

Daniel X: Armageddon

Chapter Twenty-Five

The Special Day

"This isn't going to work," Emma's voice shook with pre-Union jitters. Her eyes moved about the room, and I couldn't help but wonder if she was looking for an exit—any way out. "Maybe Joe and I made a huge mistake about this. Maybe we shouldn't be rushing things like this. Maybe—"

"Maybe you should relax a bit, Emma," I interjected as I fixed the crown of white flowers the Alparian Council themselves cultivated. "It's going to be fine. I promise."

"How can you be sure?" She was becoming hysterical with each passing second. I knew I had to step it up and get her to calm down as quickly as possible or else I would have to chase her around Kirinalasca for Joe's sake.

"Because you're the most rational person I know. And I know that you thought this thoroughly through before you committed yourself to this," I answered. "Besides, I don't know of any couple more fitting than the two of you to go through the Union."

"Except you and Daniel," Emma retorted. "You two should be the ones going through with this, not us."

"Emma…" I sighed.

"I know that Blaleen has accepted you. There's nothing stopping your Union with Daniel now."

"Emma, please, today's not about me and Daniel." Why was she turning this into an issue about me and Daniel? "Today is about you. Now will you please quit fidgeting around? You're going to ruin your dress!"

"Fine!" Emma 'harrumphed' before she crossed her hands and stood still, allowing me to fix the creases on her white dress. After a while, she voiced out her confusion. "I don't get it, why haven't you told Daniel that you and Blaleen had already come to an understanding."

I pursed my lips. I didn't want Emma to worry, not that there was anything major going on. It was just that, Daniel seems a little bit distant. Maybe a bit off. Like he was carrying so much and didn't want to share it with anyone, not even me.

"What's wrong?" Emma asked with a frown on her face when I hadn't said a word after a while.

Now's not the time to think about that. I shook my head and smiled at Emma, "Nothing. I was just admiring how beautiful you look. I'm sure you're gonna knock Joe's socks off."

And I wasn't kidding. She really did look beautiful. Her reddish hair was curled at the tips and hung just past her neck, the white crown of flowers accentuating it. The white ritual dress made from the silk of Chimchimi fitted her body well and showed her curves while still remaining conservative. Her feet were bare—as was required and mandated by the ritual. Despite not wearing any make-up (since Emma was so against it), she still looked blooming—her cheeks were tinged with pink, her lips were red and supple, and her eyes looked brighter than I had ever seen it before. I really was confident she was going to make Joe speechless when he sees her.

"You're just saying that," Emma muttered, but there was no denying the pleased look on her face. "But, thank you, Dana."

I smiled as I hugged her, careful not to ruin her hair and her dress. "You're going to be fine, Emma. You and Joe, both."

"Why do I have to wear something so…stuffy?" Joe asked as he tried to loosen the armor he was wearing. Not that pulling it would help him.

"Don't be such a wuzz, Joe. You only have to wear that for today. Besides, you have to at least show the people that you look like a very capable warrior suited for my sister." Willy strode towards Joe and fasted Joe's armor even tighter.

I could see Joe regretting ever saying anything and wanted to loosen the armor again. It was funny watching the two of them go at it. But, even if it was funny, I couldn't make myself laugh.

I was on edge. The problems I had with my powers was just one of my concerns, the most pressing of which was the planet's security dyring Joe and Emma's Union.

Like Dana, I wanted the day to be perfect. Of course, while she was dealing with finding the perfect Chimchimi silk for Emma's dress to go along with the armor Joe was going to wear, making sure every detail of the ritual was going to proceed smoothly, and making sure the catering wasn't going to make a mistake serving meat to the Follafolils or fish to the Azrans, I was making sure the guest would behave themselves and security around Kirinalasac was tight.

Despite the reassurances of my drang, I still can't help but worry and think of the possibility that we might have overlooked something; that someway, somehow, The Prayer was going to breach our defenses and attack us now, of all days.

"Hey, Chief, you listening?" Willy shouted, snapping me from my worry-ridden thoughts.

"Huh, what?"

"Willy asked you when you were going to change your clothes for the ritual," Joe replied, he was frowning and I knew I had given him cause to worry even before he asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered. And I really was, I think. "It's just, I'm worried The Prayer might do something today and ruin your big day."

"You're not the only one worried about that," Willy admitted. "I am too, we all are. But we're not letting our worries and anxiousness get the better of us today. Besides, if The Prayer does attack, then we'll just meet him head-on and make him regret doing so."

With those words, Willy pounded his fists together. His eyes showed the confidence and determination The Prayer hoped would disappear with Uncle Windsor and Aunt Graciella's deaths.

Looking at Joe, he nodded and added, "I'm confident with the amount and capabilities of the security we installed around Kirinalasca. If The Prayer's going to attack we'll be forewarned. Besides, I'm pretty sure the fleet guarding the orbit of the planet will do their job well."

I chuckled, though I don't really know who I was laughing at, or why. I wasn't even sure what emotion went along with it. I hadn't been certain ever since what happen on Korin with Anieko. Still, I couldn't let them know that I was greatly troubled. And so, I said, "Yeah, you guys are right. I need to have faith that everyone's going to do their job."

"Right!" Joe and Willy both said in unison, grinning at me.

Then Willy added, "You better get dressed, Daniel. The ritual's going to start soon."

"Yeah, Dana's going to have a fit if you end up as the reason why the Union doesn't start on time."

The gathering was just a small one, just enough to house the dignitaries and their envoys, and the Alparian Council. Although there were a lot of people who wished to get inside the venue and watch the ritual progress, Joe and Emma both didn't wish for their Union to turn into an extravaganza. Everyone was invited to the reception; it was just that only selected people were actually asked to participate in the ritual.

There were pink and white potted flowers surrounding the outer circle of the congregation while the inner circle had a fire pit whose flames burned azure blue. Those who were present stood around the fire pit. In front of the fire pit was an altar that had a silver basin filled with water, a pair of silver chalices, and a pair of silver knives. Emma and Joe stood before the altar, while I stood next to Joe and Dana stood beside Emma.

The Union's ritual wasn't really elaborate. It was quite simple, actually. Still, it was the most important one we have—next to becoming an Alien Hunter.

It started with the bride and the groom's arrival. Joe was the one who walked in first, followed by Dana who was Emma's Second. Up her heels were the dignitaries and their envoy. I walked in after them, then Blaleen who will preside the ritual and the Council who would oversee it, and, finally, Willy and Emma.

When everyone had gathered around the altar, Blaleen took point and, as tradition, narrated the lives of Joe and Emma. The history she knew, however, was incomplete. We—the drang and I—had decided that it would be best to keep some things, especially the dangerous adventures we had upon our reunion, to ourselves.

As soon she had finished narrating Joe and Emma's abridged life story, it was then our turn—Dana and mine—to bind the two together. We first took the silver knife, and when Blaleen had given us the signal—cut Joe and Emma's palm just enough to draw blood. With their palms bloody, Emma and Joe placed their palms on each other's chest, letting the blood smear their clothing, before reciting the Words of Promise they had prepared.

After Joe and Emma both promised to be faithful to one another, we handed them the silver chalice. Once again they recited their Words of Promise and, together, they took the chalice as one and drank its contents.

Finally, Willy stepped forward and took Joe and Emma's bloody hands and dipped them in the silver basin. As the water healed and cleansed their wounds, Blaleen reminded them—as the presider of the rituals for Unions always do—that even though the water may wash and heal away the wound, they must always remember it and the promise they have made together.

Once all of that was done, my grandmother proclaimed my two best friends in Union with one another. Everyone cheered. And when those far from the ritual heard the cheers and learned that the ritual was done and Joe and Emma were now husband and wife, they cheered too. Despite how far they were from us, we easily heard them and their cheers were deafening.

I couldn't help but look at Dana. She grinned at me and I couldn't help grinning back at her. The dread I had been feeling of all the things that could happen to keep the ritual from proceeding vanished. When I looked at Joe, Emma, and Willy, they were grinning too. And it was obvious they really were just as worried as I was.

If the tone of the ritual was calm and settled, the reception was anything but. It was wild, loud, festive. Even more so than how the pre-Union celebrations were. Everyone was doing some dance or another. Everyone was feasting their hearts out to whatever food was prepared that they could eat. Everyone was extending their congratulations and showering the newly-weds with well-wishes and gifts.

The Beastias and the Azrans—who had grown close and had been working together ever since meeting each other—gave Joe and Emma their own home. It was "built using the Azran technology with the comforts of the Beasia lifestyle"—or so they said when they presented it to Joe and Emma.

The Draconians, much to Joe's confusion, gave Joe a war axe forged from the shards of their scales and meteocores. Although Joe accepted the gift, he had no idea how he was going to use it. I'm pretty sure Willy wasn't going to think twice of accepting it should Joe decide to hand the gift off over to him (which I think Joe was really planning on doing). They gave Emma, however, a beautiful necklace made of the purest nanantine crystal they had mined in Kirinalasca.

The Chimchimi and Follafolil's gift came in the form of showering the entire reception area with flower petals from all sorts of flowers known—and unknown and created a buzz of music around. It basked the entire region in sweet aromatic fragrance and made the reception that much more colorful. It was the sort of gift that was one for the memory books.

Although the Faceless were—out of respect—invited, none of us really expected them to give Joe and Emma any gift. They were a sour and sullen alien race, after all. It was kind of a surprise to actually see some of them attend which, I guess, is a gift in and of itself.

The Kumalumas gift was an elegant lamp, the light of which mimicked the moonlight. It was shaped as a perfect crystal and—according to the Kumaluma who presented the gift—was handcrafted from the rocks found in their home planet's moon.

The Quartians and the Thumbsies both opted to give the newly-weds a different kind of gift. Joe received from the Quartians a chip—a very special chip—that he could use to upgrade his Symbiote Computer. Emma, on the other hand, received her own upgrade from the Thumbsies, who shared with her the secrets of her powers and also allowed her to use a fraction of it.

As for our own people, the other Alparians gave Joe and Emma their own seat at the Council, replacing two of the older council members. It came as a surprise for both Joe and Emma, even though they had more than enough credentials to allow them to seek to become one of our people's leaders.

"The ritual's finished, you can relax now, Daniel," Dana said as she joined me, standing just outside of the flurry of celebrations.

I smiled at her and took her outstretched hand, dragging her close to me. "Ah, well, the celebrations are still on-going. Someone has to keep an eye out on everybody."

"And your other eye?" she asked playfully.

"Keeping it on all on you," I grinned and she laughed at my answer.

Silence fell on us after that as we simply watched everyone having fun until, one-by-one, everyone wished Joe and Emma well again before leaving. It was the peaceful and comfortable kind of silence—the welcoming kind.

When the embers of the party started to trickle out, Dana returned to me the question I had asked them before.

"What happens now?"

I shrugged, "Peace for a while, I hope. We'll just give Joe and Emma a couple of days to enjoy their new life. And then…well, how do you feel about attacking one of The Prayer's outlying bases?"

"I think that's a good way to start momentum, but are you sure? I mean, you're powers—"

"We can't delay things because of me. Not when there are a lot of people now entrusting their futures to us." I answered. I had, after all, remembered another way—another way to use my powers that Khadagh had asked me to promise never to use again.

I'm sorry, Khadagh. But if it all comes down to it, I might have to use that again.