Today was the happiest day of my life. Maybe not as great as the time I first met Jesse and everyone else who I would come to see as family, but I doubt that any other moment could top that. Still, I couldn't help but feel butterflies fluttering around in my stomach. After everything that happened in the past six or seven years, I was finally going to get married.
It had been a few months since Jesse proposed to me after our big fight with Romeo, and ever since then, we had been preparing for the biggest wedding that the world has ever seen. We sent out invitations to all of our friends and families, and since me and Jesse were also considered to be the greatest heroes that ever lived, especially after defeating Romeo, tons of people came from all over Beacontown and even from other nearby cities like Champion City just to see us get married. It was pretty overwhelming at first, but thanks to some encouraging and comforting words from Jesse, I could honestly say that the thought of numerous strangers watching us on our most important day no longer made me want to hide under a rock.
My new adopted sister, Stella, was adamant on overseeing our wedding, no matter how much we told her that it wasn't necessary. "You still need to reconstruct Champion City," said Jesse. "You don't have to plan our wedding on top of that." "Oh, but Jesse, I WANT to oversee you and Alex's wedding," Stella replied in her usual, slightly snobbish tone, which didn't sound so snobbish now that we knew how sweet and kind she really was. "It's actually been a dream of mine to plan a wedding, especially for two of the greatest heroes in the world." "Stella, come on," I chuckled, blushing heavily. "I mean it," said Stella, taking me and Jesse's hands in her own. "You've both done so much for me, and I want to repay that. So please let me."
Needless to say, there were more than a few tears that followed, mostly from Jesse.
Binta and the people of Fred's Keep volunteered to help Stella rebuild Champion City, which explained how it was already half finished in a matter of weeks. And Annie, who was responsible for evacuating most of Champion City's population before Romeo blew the whole place up, was hailed as a heroine by a lot of people. Amusingly enough, Annie was more than a little irritated from the praise she kept receiving from people she hadn't even met before, and preferred to stay indoors until the whole thing was over with. Now she knew how me and Jesse felt whenever the residents of Beacontown praised us and called out our names.
Ivor and Soren not only reconnected with the rest of the old Order of the Stone, but also reintroduced their long lost friend, Ramus. Gabriel and Magnus were absolutely ecstatic to find out that Ramus had been alive for all these years, but were still saddened by the gloomy fact that Ellegaard was never going to enjoy the same happiness, may she rest in peace. At one point, I hesitantly asked Magnus why he hated her so much when she was still alive, hoping that I wasn't overstepping my boundaries. Instead of getting angry, Magnus just looked into the distance with a sad expression. "I was in love with Ellie," he explained. "But...she never returned those feelings, so...I acted like I didn't care. Things pretty much spiraled out of control from that point on. It was only until after the whole Wither Storm event when I found out that Ellie was a lesbian. Man, I sure wish I knew that sooner. Would've saved us a lot of heartache." He sighed and looked me in the eye. "Here's some advice, squirt. Never take anything for granted. I made that mistake and now I regret it every day of my life." I remember hugging him tightly and promising him not to make the same mistake he did. "I'll hold you to it," said Magnus.
Although Ramus, Soren, Ivor, Gabriel, and Magnus weren't quite the same team of heroes as before, the group DID start getting back into their groove. They began going on adventures and collecting artifacts just like the old days, this time without the influence of the command block. Curious, Gabriel once asked Ivor what had happened to the enchanted sword that Jesse used to slay the Wither Storm. "I threw it into a volcano," Ivor said nonchalantly. "The sword brought too many bad memories." Imagine how surprised he would be when he finds out that he threw the enchanted sword into the same volcano as the one where Jack threw away the missing piece of the map that revealed the location of the sea temple!
Speaking of Jack, he and Nancy had been dating for a while and got along great. And fortunately, Nurm was never outed as an unnecessary third wheel to their relationship. The three of them almost became a small family of their own. Well, four of them, to be more precise. Since Isaac had nowhere to stay, he decided to move in with Nancy, meaning that either Jack or Nurm were bound to meet him face to face. At first, Jack was slightly apprehensive of Isaac, due to the latter being a former hitman, but quickly warmed up to him upon seeing how much dignity and respect he held towards Nancy. While living together, Nancy and Isaac bonded over an unusual hobby: martial arts. It turned out that Nancy was very skilled in that area, which impressed Isaac enough to persuade him into teaching her some new moves.
"My former husband, James, wanted me to take up martial arts," Nancy explained. "He was afraid that something might happen to me while he was away on one of his expeditions." Nancy and Jack weren't the only ones who were dating. Petra and Ghost were also officially a couple, and a pretty cute one too, not that anyone dared to tell that to their faces.
Sometimes, Jack, Nancy, Ghost, and Petra went on double dates together. When Ghost heard about Nancy's martial arts prowess from Isaac, he was suddenly able to recognize her as the woman who beat up his father in a boxing match in Boom Town a long time ago, back when he was just a kid. Right after that, Nancy recognized Ghost as the son of the man that she beat up and apologized profusely. "Ah, it's no big deal," said Ghost, waving it off. "My pop was a real jerk anyway. I was too young and stupid to realize how bad he was at the time." He went on to explain how after the boxing match, his father, Anton Wilson, gave up on his boxing career and left Boom Town, eventually opening a business that gave out charities to people who had fallen on hard times. "You really must've knocked some sense into my old man," said Ghost. "Losing for the first time gave him that taste of humility that he needed to fix himself up." Nancy smiled and said that she was glad to have set his father on the right path in the end.
Nancy was also surprised when she learned why Radar looked so familiar. Ever since she first saw him in the Sunshine Institute, there was a nagging feeling in the back of her head telling her that she'd seen him before, but she couldn't remember where. Then, upon seeing him again in Beacontown, everything clicked. "I know your father," she told Radar. "His name is Edgar, right?" Radar stared at her in shock. "Yeah, that's right," he said, then put his own pieces together. "And you must be the woman who saved his life in Boom Town."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Nancy said bashfully. "How is your father, anyway?" Radar looked down gloomily. "We're not on the best terms," he said sadly. "He wanted me to be a lawyer like him, but I wanted to be Jesse's intern. We had a big fight and I ended up leaving while he moved somewhere else. I don't know where he is right now." "...oh," Nancy spoke softly. "I'm sorry." "Don't be," said Radar. "It was my fault anyway. I acted like a brat. But someday, I hope to find out where he lives, visit him, and tell him how sorry I am."
Nancy also found out that Reginald Jones, her best friend back when she used to run the orphanage, had become one of my mom's most trusted guards. The two of them visited each other and reconnected, catching up on old memories. It was amazing how she was catching up with so many people from her past who she never thought she'd see again.
And of course, nobody could forget the adorable animal couple, Lluna and Lucifer. The two of them were practically inseparable and could be seen in various different places around Beacontown, sometimes sleeping next to each other and nuzzling each other. And thanks to them, Stella now had more cute animal photos than she knew what to do with.
Isaac and Stella tried patching things up between them, but even after weeks of trying, they still had bitter feelings towards each other. Stella was still angry about Isaac killing her sister and ruining her childhood, while Isaac was still angry at Stella for defending her father, who was largely responsible for his family succumbing to poverty and dying in the streets. The two of them eventually gave up and avoided each other as much as possible despite my protests. "You could still become friends with each other," I said to both of them. Stella shook her head. "I just can't," she said. "Every time I look at him, all I see is the man who killed my sister. I can't forgive him." "Neither can I," said Isaac. "Her father drove my family into poverty and ruined our lives. Seeing his own daughter just brings up too many bad memories." And that was that. There was nothing else that I could say or do to convince them.
But perhaps the biggest surprise of all came in the forms of Maya and Gill, who heard about what had happened and came over to visit, probably so shocked by what they heard that they just HAD to see if it was all true. They also caught up with Lukas and congratulated me and Jesse on our wedding. "You won't believe how many people know about that!," Gill exclaimed with a wide smile. "You two are like the most famous couple in the world right now!" While me, Jesse, Gill, Maya, and Lukas talked and laughed with each other, Nancy came up to us and stared at Gill and Maya like they were aliens from another galaxy. "I can't believe my eyes," she whispered, interrupting our conversation. "Gill? Maya? You're both...alive?" Needless to say, we were all pretty confused by what she was saying. "Um...do we know you?," asked Maya. "You look familiar." "Alex, why didn't you tell me that they were coming?," asked Nancy.
"I didn't know that you guys knew each other," I said, confused by what was going on. "But we don't know her," Maya corrected me. "Only she seems to know us." "Guys, are you sure you haven't seen her before?," asked Lukas. Gill scrunched his face in concentration. "...I mean, she looks familiar," he said slowly. "Yeah, now that I think about it, I HAVE seen you before. But I don't know where…" "Maybe we should all start over," Jesse suggested. "Nancy, how do you know Gill and Maya?" "Well, they used to live in my orphanage," Nancy answered, causing me, Gill, and Maya to stare at her in shock. "Wait, what?!," I cried. "You mean they were…?"
"Oh my god, it's Nancy!," Maya suddenly squealed, her eyes wide with happiness and wonder. "I finally recognize you now! Gill, it's Nancy!" Gill seemed to have come to the same conclusion, if his wide eyes and open mouth were any indication. "Nancy?!," he cried. "It IS you! It's been such a long time!" "And you both look so different," said Nancy, smiling at them. "So much older. It's great to finally see you two again." Meanwhile, my mind was running around in circles. Since when did Maya and Gill stay in the same orphanage as me?
"Wait a minute," said Lukas. "Didn't Alex live in that orphanage too? How come you guys didn't recognize each other in Endercon?" Maya appeared deep in thought. "I...don't know," she said. "I only remember Nancy, and even that memory's sort of vague. Everything else about the orphanage was a blur." "...none of you recognized each other?," asked Nancy, giving us a sad expression. "But you were all such good friends. You and Aiden." Suddenly, the atmosphere dropped. Maya and Gill looked down at their feet silently while the rest of us shuffled around awkwardly. "Um...Nancy?," asked Jesse. "There's something you should know about Aiden. Let's talk in private." "I'll come with you," said Lukas. The two boys dragged Nancy away in order to break the news of Aiden's death in Sky City, leaving me, Gill, and Maya by ourselves. "...was Nancy right?," Maya asked meekly. "Were we really...friends with you?"
"I guess so," I said, just as mystified as they were. "But if we were friends, why didn't we recognize you?," asked Gill, an expression of guilt on his face. Maya had the same look. I smiled sadly and hugged them. "Hey," I said comfortingly. "At least we know now. That means we have more time to catch up with each other." A dark pit formed in my stomach. "...was I also friends with Aiden?," I asked. "...I can't remember," said Maya. "Aiden was adopted from the orphanage too, so...maybe?" I sighed heavily, my mind flashing back to when I saw Aiden's corpse hanging from a noose, his face purple and his eyes bulging out. Apparently, I was friends with him a long time ago...but now he was dead. I would never see him again.
"...what did Nancy mean when she said we were alive?," asked Gill. "What happened after we left?" I sighed again and recounted what Nancy told me in the Sunshine Institute, as well as my own account of being abandoned in the woods with the other orphans. "Some mobs attacked us and we got separated," I recalled. "I never saw them again, but Nancy was able to make contact with them. But she was too late. They all died. Everyone but...us."
Gill and Maya stared at me in shock and horror. "They shut down the orphanage?," Maya whispered. "And everyone else died?," Gill whispered. I nodded sadly. "We're the only ones from the orphanage who survived," I said. "Luckily, you and Aiden were adopted before the orphanage was shut down, and I was taken in by Annie and Thomas...you know, the guy who… murdered Aiden." "Oh...him," Gill growled under his breath. "Geez," Maya whispered. "All of that actually happened? I...I'm sorry you had to go through that without us." "It's alright," I assured her. "The experience toughened me up. Besides, I'd never want either of you to go through that like I did." Then, Jesse, Lukas, and Nancy came back. Nancy's eyes were red and her cheeks were wet with tears. "Jesse told me what happened to Aiden," she said, her voice slightly hitching. "I'm sorry." We got into a group hug, then for the rest of the day, we never broached on the topic again. That day was definitely a heavy blow for me. I had three friends this whole time, friends that I had forgotten about, and one of them died before I could find out.
Fortunately, that was the only depressing day out of the many others since we defeated Romeo and Jesse proposed to me. After Petra decided to stay in Beacontown rather than set out on her own as originally planned, the rest of us were determined that she would never feel alone and unwanted again. Sure, Ghost turned out to be a man of his word and did exactly what he promised: be SUCH a perfect gentleman and give Petra SUCH a great time. But the rest of us were worried that it wasn't enough. So Jesse always made sure that there was enough time in his schedule to have adventures with Petra. I visited her as much as I could. Sometimes, we'd mine for diamonds or hunt zombies. Other times, we'd decide to do something more relaxing and shop for the perfect dress for me to wear on my wedding day.
Lukas was understandably a little tired of adventuring, so he would spend his time reading books with Petra and having nice conversations with her. Axel took Petra to Boom Town numerous times to judge TNT contests with Magnus, while Olivia usually brought her along to Redstonia to look at various redstone machines. Even though our ideas of a good time were vastly different, each of us had the same goal in mind: keep Petra happy.
However, Petra was not born yesterday and quickly figured out what we were doing. "Guys, it's fine," she told us. "You don't need to keep doing this stuff to get me to stay. I already said that you're all my family, right? I'm never leaving you guys." "Oh, thank goodness!," Axel sighed tiredly. "'Cause bringing you to Boom Town all the time was downright exhausting!" He was quickly silenced by an elbow jab from Olivia. "What he meant to say is that we're glad you think that way," she said, smiling. "You don't know how much it means to us."
Finally, there was my mom, Isa. For her, meeting Ramus for the first time in years was just the beginning. She also got to meet our newest member of the family, Stella. Fortunately, Isa took to Stella pretty well...if her picking up Stella in her arms and squeezing her to near death was any indication. Isa also nearly had a heart attack when we told her everything that had happened after our last meeting. I also told her about my origins and where I really came from...and boy, was THAT an extremely awkward conversation to have with her.
All in all, a ton of crazy stuff happened in the span of a few months. And on top of that, everyone - mostly Stella - was putting their backs into pulling off the greatest wedding in the history of mankind. So yeah, there was never a single dull day in Beacontown.
But there was one day that stood out among all of the others - the day before me and Jesse were set to be married. For some reason, I found myself inside a dark, wet cave. I didn't know where I was or how I even got there, yet for some reason, the place looked familiar to me, like I had been there before. I was standing in front of a strange structure that I also felt like I had seen before. The structure was basically eight blocks of gold arranged in a three by three square, with a single hole in the center, which was filled by a mossy cobblestone block. Directly on top of the mossy cobblestone was a block of netherrack that was lit on fire, and surrounding the netherrack on top of the gold blocks were four redstone torches. It was the only thing lighting up the cave I was in, and it provided an eerie glow that was not in the least bit comforting. Why does this place seem so familiar?, I thought to myself. How did I even get here?
Suddenly, numerous footsteps echoed across the cave. Like phantoms, a crowd of people emerged from the shadows, each one wearing a blood red robe. I didn't recognize any of those people, but they seemed to recognize me, if them staring right at me with unnervingly blank eyes was any indication. After a few seconds of creepy silence, the crowd lost interest in me and focused their attention on the structure in the middle of the cave. The flames flickering on top of the netherrack gave their faces a hellish and eerie orange glow.
Then, just when the situation couldn't seem to get any weirder...they began to sing.
"Herobrine. Herobrine. All the children try to run. Herobrine. Herobrine. To him, it's part of the fun. Herobrine. Herobrine. Eyes as white as the moon in the sky. Herobrine. Herobrine. You most certainly will DIE." That was what they sang, over and over again. It was repetitive, but there was also a hauntingly beautiful undertone to it that I just couldn't place no matter how hard I tried. As I stared at the singing crowd and tried to decipher what was going on, for a moment, I could've sworn that I saw Patrick standing among them, staring straight at me with bloodshot eyes and a wide grin. He silently mouthed three words to me, words that I was somehow able to make out: the Great Beast. But a second later, he was gone, like he was never there to begin with. It must have been my imagination. Patrick was supposed to be dead...right?
All of a sudden, the crowd of robed people stopped singing. They began to separate, creating enough space for one of them to walk through them. He was most likely the leader of the crowd, judging by his snow white robe, which sharply contrasted with everyone else's blood red robes, and his face was completely hidden in the dark shadow cast by his hood. He was carrying a child in his arms. The child looked sickly gray and was horrifyingly thin, shaking and muttering. The robed man walked towards the structure, then raised the child above his head. "Herobrine!," he yelled in a booming voice. "We, the people of the Abyss, have come to offer you a sacrifice! You, the paragon of paragons, the most gracious, most kind, most honorable being in the universe, you have watched over us and protected us for the past ten years. My dark lord, please accept this child as your newest meal, so you will protect us for ten more years!" My eyes widened in shock and horror from what I just heard. This wasn't just some creepy ritual that I was witnessing. This was a sacrifice. A human sacrifice!
Before I could do anything, the man tossed the child into the fire. The boy's screams of pain filled the entire cave. "No! Stop!," I tried to shout, but for some reason, my mouth was unable to move. In fact, I couldn't even move my entire body anymore. It was like something was freezing me in place, preventing me from saving the child from the burning fire. But why couldn't I move? I'm an Admin now, damn it! This shouldn't be possible! Why are you all just standing there?!, I screamed in my head. Do something! Instead, the robed people watched the boy thrashing around in the flames with blank faces. Suddenly, another person rose out of the flames, somehow unharmed by the intense heat of the fire. At first, I was relieved, believing that the new visitor was going to rescue the child. My relief quickly turned into horror when the man picked up the child, sprouted three inch long fangs that filled his entire mouth, and tore a hole in the boy's chest with a single bite. Blood gushed out of the bite wound and sprayed everywhere, covering most of the robed figures from head to toe in blood, yet they acted as if nothing was happening right now. The blood blended in perfectly with their red robes.
I was still unable to move and could only watch in horror as the man...no, the BEAST… continued devouring the still burning child, ripping off chunks of his body with his bare hands and greedily stuffing them into his gaping mouth. Meanwhile, the crowd of robed people kept watching him silently, unbothered by the fact that a young boy was being eaten alive in front of their very eyes. Finally, the creature took what was left of the child - which was only a bloody mess of torn skin, broken bones, and hanging entrails - and gulped the whole thing down, his mouth unhinging and opening like a snake's. Once the creature finished his meal, everyone bowed down to him and chanted, "Herobrine, our lord and our savior!" over and over again. I was disgusted and horrified by what I saw. Then, Herobrine turned to look right at me.
His eyes glared right into my own. They were pure white with no pupils, and they were filled with so much hatred and loathing. At that moment, I knew exactly who, or rather what, he was. The Great Beast. His fangs had reverted back to normal teeth, but his mouth and the entire front of his body was still covered in the child's blood. He had dark brown hair, light brown skin, and wore a blue shirt and purple pants, which was somehow unaffected by the flames licking at his clothes. He grinned at me, his teeth stained with blood, and pointed directly at me. "You're...next…," he spoke ominously. Then, the crowd of robed figures ran towards me and began tearing me limb from limb, while Patrick's insane laughter rang in my ears.
After that, I woke up with a sharp gasp, covered in sweat and staring up at the ceiling, my heart pounding in my chest like a jackhammer. I heard Jesse mumbling in his sleep and felt him rolling around in bed, but he didn't wake up. I sighed and began wiping the sweat from my face, making sure that none of the droplets got on Jesse. That was probably the most vivid nightmare I had ever had. It felt so...real. As I laid in bed and tried to calm myself down, I realized why the cave in my dream seemed so familiar. It was almost exactly the same as the weird dream I had in the Underneath, when me, Isaac, Stella, Ramus, Soren, and Lluna were traveling to the Mountain of Mojang. Except in THAT dream, I only saw the robed figures singing around the strange structure in the cave, but nothing after that. In the dream I just had, it continued. Herobrine, I thought to myself in contemplation. Didn't Soren mention him at one point? Yes, he did. Back in the Underneath, Soren explained how children in his home village viewed Herobrine as an urban legend. In short, he wasn't supposed to be real.
So why did he appear in my dream? Why was Patrick saying his name when he arrived at the Scavengers' camp, mutilated and eaten away? And who were those robed men and women that appeared in TWO of my dreams? Who were the people of the Abyss?
I turned in my bed to look at Jesse, who was sleeping peacefully, unaware of the nightmare that I just had. Should I tell him what happened? I quickly dismissed the thought, however. Our wedding's tomorrow, I thought. I can't just ruin what's going to be the best day of our lives. I tried going back to sleep, but it took me two hours before I got any shut eye.
When we woke up the next morning, bright and early, Jesse noticed how tired I looked and asked me if I was okay. "I'm fine, Jesse," I assured him. "I was just...nervous about today, you know?" Jesse smiled and kissed me on the lips. "I'm nervous too," he said. I smiled back, glad that I wasn't the only one who was feeling that way. Jesse had a natural gift when it came to comforting the people around him. Fortunately, he didn't dig any deeper.
Finally, it was the moment we had all been waiting for. The marriage ceremony took place in the center of Beacontown, and nearly everyone was participating in it, including people who traveled all the way from nearby towns and villages. Lukas volunteered to be the pastor for our wedding, even though he wasn't actually a pastor. Petra and Olivia decided to be the flower girls for our wedding, which surprised most of us. Petra has always been the tomboy of the group, so hearing that she wanted to be a flower girl definitely took us by surprise. "Hey, there's no crime against wanting to be a flower girl," Petra once told us, casually shrugging her shoulders. "Besides, we've all got secret dreams of our own, including myself."
When Stella told us how big and grand our wedding was going to be - numerous times, actually - she really wasn't kidding. The wedding kind of HAD to be big due to how many people were invited, as well as those who decided to come over uninvited. Just to illustrate the scope of how massive me and Jesse's wedding was going to be, here is a list of the people who were invited: Olivia, Axel, Annie, Lukas, Gill, Maya, Petra, Ivor, Gabriel, Magnus, Ghost, Soren, Ramus, Nancy, Isa, Milo, Reginald, Isaac, Stacy, Stampy, Dan, Harper, Otto, Em, Nell, Radar, Stella, Lluna, Jack, Nurm, Lucifer, Binta and the rest of the people of Fred's Keep. And that list didn't include the numerous people from Beacontown and other neighboring cities, including the half finished Champion City, who arrived to see the two greatest heroes of their time finally unite in holy matrimony. Needless to say, Beacontown was pretty crowded that day.
Me and Jesse even decided to extend an invitation to Hadrian and Mevia, who were still serving their time in the giant chicken dimension. Unfortunately, the two of them were still pretty bitter about their defeat, even after all these years, and rejected our invitation. We weren't that bothered by it, to be honest. They were still massive jerks to us AND to each other.
The feeling that welled up inside of me when I walked down the aisle in my brand new wedding gown, holding a bouquet of flowers in my hands while Petra and Olivia threw rose petals behind me, was indescribable. As I walked through the crowd while trying not to shed tears of joy, I saw everyone staring at me as I went past them, some of them whom I recognized and most of them who were total strangers. Each of them had expressions of joy and happiness that almost mirrored my own. Jesse was standing on the quartz podium up front, dressed in a neat tuxedo. Lukas was also there, dressed in a black robe and holding a Bible in his hand. The podium had a glowstone arch over it that exuded a brilliant, warm light. And to top it all off, there was a massive wedding cake carted off to the side. Many people in the crowd even had tears in their eyes, especially Ghost and Radar, who were practically sobbing with runny noses while embracing each other tightly. Behind me, I could hear Petra quietly snicker. And throughout it all, there was a band nearby playing beautiful wedding music that filled our ears.
When I was halfway through the aisle, Ramus suddenly reached out and gently grabbed my arm to get my attention. "I am so proud of you," he whispered tearfully. "We both are," said Isa, who was sitting right next to him. I smiled at both of them. "Thank you, mom and dad," I whispered back. "For everything." When I finally reached the podium and stood across from Jesse, the band instantly stopped playing their music. There was silence throughout the entire city of Beacontown. Then, Lukas spoke in a loud and clear voice. "Ladies and gentlemen," he declared. "We are gathered here today for the marriage between Jesse and Alexandra. But before we commence with the ceremony, let me recite a passage from our good friend, the Bible." Wow, I thought in amusement. Lukas is really into this pastor thing.
Lukas flipped to a page in the Bible and began reciting one of the passages. "At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights and afterwards was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.'" Wait...what?, I thought in confusion. Why would Lukas recite THAT passage on our wedding day? I looked to Jesse for answers, but he seemed just as confused as I was. I also heard many people in the audience begin whispering and murmuring to each other in confusion. For some strange reason, Lukas chose to ignore the bewildered looks and whispers that were being sent his way and continued on with the passage. "He said in reply, 'It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.' Then the devil took him to the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the temple and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"
Now we both knew that something weird was going on. Why would Lukas be reciting a passage about Jesus being tempted by Satan? "Uh...Lukas?," Jesse whispered. "What are you doing?" Lukas held up a finger as if to say, "Wait a moment" before he continued on with the passage. Me and Jesse glanced at each other. Lukas wasn't usually this rude either… "Jesus answered him, 'Again it is written, you shall not put the Lord, your God to the test.' Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain and he showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence and he said to him, 'All these I shall give to you if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.' At this, Jesus said to him, 'Get away Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.' Then the devil left him, and behold angels came and ministered to him. Amen." "Amen," the crowd repeated uncomfortably.
"Um...that was a pretty interesting passage you chose, Lukas," I said. Lukas smiled at me and nodded in thanks. Strangely enough, his smile was also all wrong. Lukas' normal smile was always carefree and cocky. This smile was much more reserved and almost had a sort of predatory feel to it. "And now, we will commence with the ceremony," said Lukas, as if nothing unusual had happened. He turned to Jesse. "Jesse," he said. "Do you take Alex as your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?"
Jesse snapped out of his thoughts and awkwardly cleared his throat. "Uh...yeah! Yes. I, Jesse, take you, Alex, to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times, in sickness and in health. I will love and honor you all the days of my life." Then, Lukas turned to me. "And Alex," he said. "Do you take Jesse as your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?" I nodded and smiled. "I, Alex, take you, Jesse, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times, in sickness and in health. I will love and honor you all the days of my life." "Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride," Lukas proclaimed. "Happily," said Jesse, leaning in for a kiss.
As our lips touched, everyone cheered loudly, their screams of joy filling the air. It was supposed to be the greatest moment of our lives. But we were so busy celebrating that we didn't notice Lukas staring at us with a mysterious smile on his face. Meanwhile, on the other side of Beacontown, someone was banging on the door and screaming to be let out...