Your overnight bag dropped onto the bed soundlessly despite the silence of the room around you. It was almost uncomfortable how the quiet permeated the air. The noises you made seemed unnaturally loud and unnerving so you tried your hardest not to make any, which only seemed to compound the situation.
Silence was a stranger to you now. At home, there was always noise. Fuku, you, Chara, and Temmie filled the house with laughter and talking and banter and noise. Even when everyone slept, you could feel the familiar buzz of their magic brushing on the edge of your senses, lulling you to sleep like a lullaby.
This hotel room had none of that. There was no familiar laughter, or jokes, or even banter. There was no familiar hum of your family's magic. You couldn't even feel the hum of Chara's magic brushing up against your own.
There was only silence.
This shouldn't be so strange, you rationalized. Not so long ago, you'd lived in a dorm room just as impersonal and silent as this room. Being alone for a few nights shouldn't seem so dauntingly harrowing to you.
But it did.
The air conditioner under the window kicked on loudly, startling you. It wasn't quite the kind of noise that you wanted, but for now it would have to do. It was all the noise you had.
You opened your bag and took out the cobalt dress inside, hanging it up so it wouldn't wrinkle before the wedding. You smoothed your hands over the fabric, easing away any wrinkles it had gained from the trip. The event itself was in two days, but that didn't mean you wouldn't be too busy to do it later.
Deciding to shower before bed, you started yanking things out of your bag. You had found almost all of your toiletries when a small, wrapped object demanded your attention.
Chara's gift to the newlyweds.
You sat down on the armchair behind you hard, barely even registering that you had done so. It hurt. You had stayed so neutral. Asgore, in Chara's best interest, had stayed just as neutral. But that dumb, biased comment from Toriel…
Chara was supposed to decide on their own. With no outside interference. It was too easy to influence people when they had a tough decision to make. You and Asgore had the memo. Temmie, Fuku, Grillby, Udnyne, Alphys, Sans, and even Papyrus had followed your lead, refusing to influence the teen in one way or another.
You couldn't help but be upset by the fact that the monarch had ruined that decision.
And here you were, far from home. Completely and utterly alone. At least if Toriel hadn't said anything, you could be content with the situation.
You set the gift aside and threw your belongings off the bed before climbing in it.
Showering in the morning sounded good just then.
The light, flowing fabric of the dress felt good against your skin on such a warm spring day. The crimped bottom layer of the dress made it a bit warmer, but it breathed quite nicely despite this. Around your wrists and ankles were clasped decorative silver chains. On your right ankle, it had been modified to frame your mage mark beautifully. A bejeweled circlet that matched both the chains and dress rested on your forehead.
Eve had gotten hold of your hair that morning, tying it back in intricate braided patterns with bejeweled hair ties and a silver hair comb. She'd spent nearly an hour and a half fussing over your locks and making sure your circlet sat just so before snapping a quick picture. You weren't sure why, since the photographers would be careful to get absolutely everyone, but you ignored it. She probably wanted a keepsake of her handiwork.
You weren't the only one dressed this way. Everywhere you looked, the guests were dressed in the same intricate way, in colors that matched their magic. This was a mage's handfasting after all. You were, however, the only one to receive the honor of getting her hair done from the bride herself.
Not even Damien got spoiled in such a way.
It had been so long since you wore ceremonial clothes of any sort. Summer ceremony dress was the best. You caught yourself wishing that Chara had gotten the chance to wear the clothes you'd made for them.
Nope. Not heading down that road today. Today was a happy day.
Eve looked even better than you did, decked out in her lavender attire. Unlike you and the rest of the guests, Eve forewent the circlet in favor of a tiara, usually worn by the female mage leading a ceremony. In her hands, she held a small purple candle, about half the size of the white one you held.
Once everyone had arrived, the procession began. Liam and Eve led the way toward the lake, only the soft sounds of nature intruding on this moment.
The grass tickled your feet a bit as you walked with the other guests. Eve and Liam met by the water's edge, grasping each other's' hands firmly before stepping out onto the surface of the lake. They were a few steps out when you, Damien, and Liam's two brothers stepped out behind them in perfect synchronization.
The water was cold beneath your bare feet, a last remnant of the chilly winter. The magic output required to walk on the surface of water was pretty easy once you got the hang of it. The children present had been practicing for months. Chara had too.
Behind the four of you, the rest of the guests, children included, walked onto the water in a single file line. When Eve and Liam reached their destination, they stopped to face each other without letting go of their hands. You split off from your own group to move to the east side of the circle.
Liam's brother started the circle call from the north side. "Spirits of earth, we invite you to this sacred space and pray you ground any negativity you find here." The green candle in his hands burst into an emerald flame as similarly colored marks appeared on the water like a sequence circle, reaching halfway both to you and Damien on the West side.
Damien held his candle calmly. "Spirits of water, we invite you to this sacred space and pray you wash away any negativity you find here." His candle burst into blue flames and blue symbols reached back up to meet the green ones, closing the circle.
Liam's other brother was next. "Spirits of fire, we invite you to this sacred space and pray you burn away any negativity you find here." His candle burst into red flames as red symbols formed on the water.
It was your turn. You held the candle in front of you reverently. "Spirits of air, we invite you to this sacred space and pray you blow away any negativity you find here." With no input from you, the candle burst into white flames and white symbols formed on the water for your fourth of the circle. As the symbols spread far enough to touch the already formed green and red ones, your magic linked into the space you were creating.
The outside world faded away as your magical consciousness linked with your other circle casters. A world of swirling colors was there instead when you opened your mind's eye. To you, it looked like a galaxy, but you knew from experience that it would look different to each person who viewed it.
You could sense the line of guests behind Damien began to walk around the circle, evenly spacing themselves before joining hands. You could see the magic flowing from each of them to the next as they provided a second protective barrier, joining the four of your consciousnesses in magical space as the space expanded outward to include their circle as well.
Eve and Liam, both holding purple candles, touched the two wicks together. "Spirits of magic, we invite you to this sacred space and pray that you purify any negativity you find here." The joined wicks burst into a purple flame as the two joined with the rest of the consciousness.
Liam's earth brother began to speak again, though his voice wasn't the only one there. "To you two who wish to be one, we earth spirits join you in body." The hands that Eve and Liam held clasped together were surrounded in a magical green ribbon and tied.
Damien was next. "To you two who wish to be one, we water spirits join you in heart." You could feel the magic flow, but this time it did not produce a visible effect.
Liam's fire brother continued. "To you two who wish to be one, we fire spirits join you in passion." Again, you could feel the magic, but nothing visibly happened.
Your mouth opened without your input and words came out that both you and something else spoke. "To you two who wish to be one, we air spirits join you in thought." Magic flowed through you then to Liam and Eve.
"To you two who wish to be one," the entire outer circle chanted in unison, "we join you in magic." Green and violet magic surrounded the two, swirling together until the two magics were completely inseparable before sinking back into their hosts.
Everyone present spoke in unison again. "So mote it be."
The magical space began to fade, the outer circle collapsing first as each person in reverse order let go of the magic holding it together. You had to begin the send off, since you were the last one in the formation. "Spirits of air, we thank you for your presence here." A whimsical, fun feeling washed through you as your candle went out. Liam's brothers and Damien followed suit until the space collapsed completely and you opened your eyes to find yourself still standing on the lake.
Eve and Liam were the last to "wake up", staring at each other before turning out to view the rest of you.
"Congratulations!" You all chimed, not quite so synchronized anymore now that the magical subspace wasn't connecting you anymore.
You couldn't wait for the party and food.
It was too quiet at their blanket. Chara didn't seem very interested in either the food or picnic games going on, even though they had loved them all last year. Sans couldn't blame them. He felt the same way.
Without you there to enjoy it with, the whole event seemed a bit dimmer to him.
Finally, Alphys coaxed the both of them into a volleyball game by the pond. Sans and Chara against her and Undyne. They were 2 and 0 in the lead when Sans's phone buzzing distracted him and the ball flew right past him into the water.
Everyone paused for a moment. "I-I'll get it."
Chara held up a hand to stop her as they walked to the waters edge. They looked down at it for a few seconds before stepping out. Sans had expected them to sink, like normal, but their feet remained firmly planted on the surface of the pond as if it were solid ground.
"WHERE'D YOU LEARN THAT?" Sans questioned as he pulled out his phone, making sure to watch for Chara's answer.
'I learned it for the wedding.' They signed after dropping the ball in the sand.
Sans shot the teenager a sympathetic look before opening the message he'd received from your sister. He promptly dropped his phone in shock.
It was a picture of you, and you were beautiful. He scrambled to pick the device back up so he could admire you as Chara, Alphys, and Undyne crowded behind him.
Sapphires gleamed in your hair and on your forehead, blending perfectly into your intricate hairdo. You were smiling cutely as your hands gripped each other in a prayer-like pose, showing off your arm adornments and dress just as beautifully.
Alphys whistled from behind him.