Chapter Thirty
After discussing with the two other party members (Ambermist and Dumbugg), the decision to leave was reached (Mostly because several merchant guilds had hired vigilantes to catch the recent cat burglar that was rumored to be running around town.)
That evening, Jea and Laguna snuck out of Shikatsu's house. They hurried down to the temple district to get a priest to perform the marriage ceremony.
Jea eyed the street nervously, eyeballing the religious fanatics with uneasiness. "So, um.Any preferences, Laguna?"
The paladin nodded. "A priest of Goku."
"Um.Okay.Why?" Jea inquired dryly.
Laguna insisted, "I am a paladin of the Order of Goku. To see a priest of any other order would be rude to my god."
Jea heaved a sigh, wondering once again why the Lady of Fate had done this to her. -Ha ha, Goddess.Sometimes I swear I must be your idea of a practical joke.- "Okay, Laguna, we'll do it your way.On one condition. One of my Lady's servants should be present."
Laguna looked at her with a puzzled expression-the same kind little kids get when something goes over their heads. "Um.what do you mean? Your Lady? I didn't know you worked for anyone.I thought you were a free ranger."
Jea smacked her forehead with her palm. "My Lady is the Goddess of Fate. That's what I call her. Haven't you ever heard of 'Lady Fate?'"
"Ooohhh.." Laguna nodded in understanding. "I get it now."
Jea merely grunted in response and studied the crowd of people on the Street of the Zealots. Without a word, she headed for a dark corner near an alley. Laguna, puzzled, could only follow behind her in confusion, shrugging off the fanatics that reached up to grab his clothing.
Suddenly a man stopped in front of him. "Excuse me sir," he wheezed in a crackly voice. Laguna jerked to a halt, annoyed.
"What is it?" he asked, trying to keep an eye on Jea. He assumed the crooked humanoid in rags before him was simply a beggar, looking for coin.
The old man gripped his arm. "You would make a good convert of the god, Gashna, yes." He licked his filthy lips, inspecting Laguna's form. "A very handsome young man, yes.Tell me boy-how are you in the sack?"
Laguna twisted away from the creature and hurried to catch up to Jea. The wheezing laughter followed him. He bumped into his fiancée, and she looked at him. "Are you okay?"
The blonde haired man flushed slightly and mumbled under his breath. "Nuthin'."
The half elf raised one eyebrow and kept walking. The paladin followed her to the edge of the alley. A thin robed woman was waiting there. Jea raised one hand and made an obscure gesture. The woman nodded. "I've been waiting for you Jea Kinnaran. We knew you'd come. The head Servant bade me come witness your wedding."
The woman paused and pushed her hood back. She had a narrow face, with a pale complexion, and piercing violet eyes. Her midnight black hair was long and straight, and Laguna judged her to be roughly 35 years old.
She smiled broadly at Jea. "And I must say, it's about time."
Jea grimaced. "Very funny, Igra. You were right, okay? I admit it: you were right, I was wrong."
The woman patted Jea's cheek. "See, was it so hard to admit, dear?"
Jea grunted. "Let's just go," she muttered. Without saying another word, the ranger walked away, heading towards the Temple of Goku. (You couldn't miss it-it had a 20 foot stone statue of Goku in front of it.)
Igra walked next to Laguna, and spoke quietly. "Greetings, Laguna Kimsteed. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. We've been waiting for a long time for you to appear and force Jea to face her destiny."
Laguna frowned. "Excuse me?"
Igra merely smiled and said nothing. She motioned for him to catch up to Jea. Cocking his head in confusion, he sped up.
"Jea," he hissed. "Who is she?"
Jea glanced over her shoulder. "Her? That's Igra, Head Seeress of The Lady. I knew her years ago when she was just a beginning Seeress. She and I were friends. Sort of.She's full of riddles and predictions.The Lady knows the purpose of everyone, and She informs Her seers when destiny needs a helping hand.
"For some reason, they are all convinced I'm the heart of some strange divergence for the world." The mahogany haired woman laughed derisively. "Yeah, right! Like I could possibly be that important! Probably important to the destruction of the world.C'mon, let's do the wedding thing."
Even more lost, Laguna ran his fingers through his hair and entered the temple.
* * * * * *
"You want what?! No way! A paladin cannot marry! I will not participate in such a hoax!" The middle aged man shook his head adamantly.
Jea raised an eyebrow as Laguna attempted to reason with the priest. "I don't understand. Why are you so against it?" the knight queried.
"Because! A paladin must be free to right wrongs and punish evil. He cannot do so when he is distracted by-by desires of the flesh! A paladin should be as a priest-celibate! Secondly, she is a commoner and unworthy!!!"
Jea smirked and interrupted before Laguna's anger could flare at the derogatory comments. "Really, is that what you think, my friend? A paladin should have nothing to share the attention he spends fighting evil? .Well, I'd like to argue that. If a person has nothing to fight for but himself, he has nothing to lose. However, if he knows that someone is counting on him for survival, don't you think he'll give it his all and more-for the sake of family and friends? Love is not a negative emotion, priest; it is as positive as friendship and loyalty."
The priest shook his head. "The desires of the flesh cloud the mind and impair judgement!"
"And you think that by refraining entirely from sex, a paladin will not have his mind fogged over by the urge? I know how the body works-when it is made celibate. The urge remains.if anything, it grows more powerful by the day."
"It does not matter! I will not participate in this farce!"
Jea puffed a sigh. "By The Lady of Fate, man! Your own deity has a blasted mortal wife! If your deity can have one, then why can't I, Jea Lyra Kinnaran, marry Laguna Kimsteed?!" The ranger woman was irritated to the point of strangulation.
The priest was taken aback, and thought over her words for a long minute. Finally, he responded. "Very well," he said in a stiff tone. "I will perform the ceremony-but I still do not agree with it."
Jea smiled-not noticing Igra's hand gesture that was made behind her back. The priest had seen it though, and knew what it meant-the matter was one out of his hands. He prepared the ceremony.
* * * * * *
Within three days, the party bid Shikatsu and Greyhawk farewell and set out again-this time heading east, crossing a river that fed into the Nyr Dyv and following the roads once more.
It took them another two and a half months to reach Laguna's town. Those months were filled with dirt, sweat, and complaints (both aloud and silent.) Ambermist and Jea ate like ravenous animals, between them devouring huge meals.
Jea spent the time torn between two vying emotions: a strange inner peacefulness she felt without trying, and righteous fury at the necessity of developing an irregular walking gait. As a compromise, she fumed in silence.
When they reached the town near Laguna's home, they took rooms at the inn. Laguna made it quite clear that Ambermist and Dumbugg were to stay put while he and Jea visited his parents.
* * * * * *
Two hours later, Jea and Laguna were riding double on Arkadia, Wolf and Thistlechaser following loyally behind, heading for Laguna's parents' home.
Both of his parents were outside, working with some of the horses in the late afternoon light. His mother looked up when she heard the hoofbeats. Her eyes widened in shock as she took in the sight. She stared at the armored man on the back of a sparkling green horse, with two large canines following him. Gasping out her husband's name, she pointed the sight out to him.
Jea noticed Largo and Kironi's apparent terror and poked her own husband through a seam in his armor. "Take your helmet off, stupid! You're scaring them spitless!" she hissed.
Laguna blinked and reached up to pull his helm off. Shaking out his longish blonde hair, he waved. "Mom! Dad!"
His folks calmed down upon recognition. They moved out to meet him as he slowed Arkadia. Sliding down, he hugged his parents.
His father looked at Arkadia. "Son, you do realize that horse is green, right?"
"Yes, Dad, I do. His name is Arkadia. He's my war-horse."
Jea decided I was time for her to dismount. As she dropped lightly to the ground, Laguna turned to look at her-for once seeing her as his parents would.
She was tall-especially for a half elf; at 5'7" she was almost eye level with an average human male. Her complexion was the bronze of someone who spends their life in the sun, blending with her reddish brown mahogany hair that lounged on her shoulders and cascaded down her back as a living animal might. Jea was dressed in worn, brown leather breeches, with calf high boots of a similar material, and a loose forest green tunic. Her midsection was definitely thicker, but it took a knowing glance to determine that the added size to the muscular and lean body hidden under baggy cloth was the result of pregnancy. A large chain belt cinched her shirt loosely below her disappearing waistline.
Jea stood shyly, one hand resting on her stomach, waiting for someone to notice her. Laguna's mother, Kironi, saw her and exclaimed, "Laguna? Who's your friend?!"
Laguna and his father both turned towards Jea. Laguna cleared his throat nervously. "This.this is Jea. Jea, these are my parents, Kironi and Largo Kimsteed."
Laguna's mother smiled at Jea as the ranger woman shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, dear."
Largo, on the other hand, looked at Laguna. "Kinda fat, doncha think, son?"
Jea raised one eyebrow as Laguna groaned and buried his face in his hands. Kironi smacked her husband. "Stupid!" she hissed quietly. "She's pregnant!"
Largo inspected Jea's appearance closely. "Oh." Then he said, "Jeez, Laguna, why'd you go an' do a thing like that?! I can't believe you got her knocked up!"
Jea was about to die laughing in a fit of giggles at poor Laguna's embarrassment. Her wedding band glinted as she put her hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter.
Kironi, once again the observant party, spotted the sparkle, and smacked her husband again. They're married, idiot!"
"Oh.." Largo looked at Jea. "Sorry.Um.Are you part elf?"
For Jea, it ceased to be amusing at that point. "Yes," she snarled stiffly.
Laguna's mother hit Largo once more and told him to go groom the horses. He meekly complied and Kironi turned back to Jea. "I'm sorry about that.Laguna, why don't you go put Arkadia in one of the stalls and come inside."
As Laguna left, and Jea followed Kironi in, Laguna's mom remarked, "Those are beautiful dogs. What breed are they?"
Jea chuckled. "Ma'am, these aren't dogs. They're wolves-but don't worry; they won't hurt anyone."
The older woman's eyes widened in surprise, but she said nothing as the ranger woman and wolves followed her into the house. She asked Jea some curious questions: how was Laguna doing, was he taking proper care of himself, how did they meet, etc.
The half elven woman answered as best she could, until Laguna returned. He looked at his mother. "Hey, mom? Is it okay if we take my old room for tonight?"
"Certainly, dear. No one's touched it since you left."
"Okay. C'mon, Jea."
The blonde paladin led her to his old bedroom. Grinning, he picked her up and carried her through the entrance way, depositing her gently on the bed and closing the wooden door.
Sitting down next to her, he pulled her close to him. "Hey, how are you doing?" the young man murmured lovingly.
Jea put one hand on her swollen middle. "Tired from lugging an awkward weight around twenty-four/seven . Other than that, I'm fine, Lover. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the kid. I'm really leaning toward the Dimension Egg-if for no other reason than safety. I don't want to be carrying a baby in the middle of a fight."
Laguna nibbled her ear. "I understand," he purred quietly. "I'm sorry about my dad. He can be a bit of a moron."
Jea pulled his face down to hers and kissed him fiercely. Her other hand made quick and mind-bending examinations of Laguna's form. He groaned, breath quickening in his throat.
"Jea.." he moaned, protesting slightly. She was very adamant about her actions though, and Laguna gave himself over to her.
After discussing with the two other party members (Ambermist and Dumbugg), the decision to leave was reached (Mostly because several merchant guilds had hired vigilantes to catch the recent cat burglar that was rumored to be running around town.)
That evening, Jea and Laguna snuck out of Shikatsu's house. They hurried down to the temple district to get a priest to perform the marriage ceremony.
Jea eyed the street nervously, eyeballing the religious fanatics with uneasiness. "So, um.Any preferences, Laguna?"
The paladin nodded. "A priest of Goku."
"Um.Okay.Why?" Jea inquired dryly.
Laguna insisted, "I am a paladin of the Order of Goku. To see a priest of any other order would be rude to my god."
Jea heaved a sigh, wondering once again why the Lady of Fate had done this to her. -Ha ha, Goddess.Sometimes I swear I must be your idea of a practical joke.- "Okay, Laguna, we'll do it your way.On one condition. One of my Lady's servants should be present."
Laguna looked at her with a puzzled expression-the same kind little kids get when something goes over their heads. "Um.what do you mean? Your Lady? I didn't know you worked for anyone.I thought you were a free ranger."
Jea smacked her forehead with her palm. "My Lady is the Goddess of Fate. That's what I call her. Haven't you ever heard of 'Lady Fate?'"
"Ooohhh.." Laguna nodded in understanding. "I get it now."
Jea merely grunted in response and studied the crowd of people on the Street of the Zealots. Without a word, she headed for a dark corner near an alley. Laguna, puzzled, could only follow behind her in confusion, shrugging off the fanatics that reached up to grab his clothing.
Suddenly a man stopped in front of him. "Excuse me sir," he wheezed in a crackly voice. Laguna jerked to a halt, annoyed.
"What is it?" he asked, trying to keep an eye on Jea. He assumed the crooked humanoid in rags before him was simply a beggar, looking for coin.
The old man gripped his arm. "You would make a good convert of the god, Gashna, yes." He licked his filthy lips, inspecting Laguna's form. "A very handsome young man, yes.Tell me boy-how are you in the sack?"
Laguna twisted away from the creature and hurried to catch up to Jea. The wheezing laughter followed him. He bumped into his fiancée, and she looked at him. "Are you okay?"
The blonde haired man flushed slightly and mumbled under his breath. "Nuthin'."
The half elf raised one eyebrow and kept walking. The paladin followed her to the edge of the alley. A thin robed woman was waiting there. Jea raised one hand and made an obscure gesture. The woman nodded. "I've been waiting for you Jea Kinnaran. We knew you'd come. The head Servant bade me come witness your wedding."
The woman paused and pushed her hood back. She had a narrow face, with a pale complexion, and piercing violet eyes. Her midnight black hair was long and straight, and Laguna judged her to be roughly 35 years old.
She smiled broadly at Jea. "And I must say, it's about time."
Jea grimaced. "Very funny, Igra. You were right, okay? I admit it: you were right, I was wrong."
The woman patted Jea's cheek. "See, was it so hard to admit, dear?"
Jea grunted. "Let's just go," she muttered. Without saying another word, the ranger walked away, heading towards the Temple of Goku. (You couldn't miss it-it had a 20 foot stone statue of Goku in front of it.)
Igra walked next to Laguna, and spoke quietly. "Greetings, Laguna Kimsteed. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. We've been waiting for a long time for you to appear and force Jea to face her destiny."
Laguna frowned. "Excuse me?"
Igra merely smiled and said nothing. She motioned for him to catch up to Jea. Cocking his head in confusion, he sped up.
"Jea," he hissed. "Who is she?"
Jea glanced over her shoulder. "Her? That's Igra, Head Seeress of The Lady. I knew her years ago when she was just a beginning Seeress. She and I were friends. Sort of.She's full of riddles and predictions.The Lady knows the purpose of everyone, and She informs Her seers when destiny needs a helping hand.
"For some reason, they are all convinced I'm the heart of some strange divergence for the world." The mahogany haired woman laughed derisively. "Yeah, right! Like I could possibly be that important! Probably important to the destruction of the world.C'mon, let's do the wedding thing."
Even more lost, Laguna ran his fingers through his hair and entered the temple.
* * * * * *
"You want what?! No way! A paladin cannot marry! I will not participate in such a hoax!" The middle aged man shook his head adamantly.
Jea raised an eyebrow as Laguna attempted to reason with the priest. "I don't understand. Why are you so against it?" the knight queried.
"Because! A paladin must be free to right wrongs and punish evil. He cannot do so when he is distracted by-by desires of the flesh! A paladin should be as a priest-celibate! Secondly, she is a commoner and unworthy!!!"
Jea smirked and interrupted before Laguna's anger could flare at the derogatory comments. "Really, is that what you think, my friend? A paladin should have nothing to share the attention he spends fighting evil? .Well, I'd like to argue that. If a person has nothing to fight for but himself, he has nothing to lose. However, if he knows that someone is counting on him for survival, don't you think he'll give it his all and more-for the sake of family and friends? Love is not a negative emotion, priest; it is as positive as friendship and loyalty."
The priest shook his head. "The desires of the flesh cloud the mind and impair judgement!"
"And you think that by refraining entirely from sex, a paladin will not have his mind fogged over by the urge? I know how the body works-when it is made celibate. The urge remains.if anything, it grows more powerful by the day."
"It does not matter! I will not participate in this farce!"
Jea puffed a sigh. "By The Lady of Fate, man! Your own deity has a blasted mortal wife! If your deity can have one, then why can't I, Jea Lyra Kinnaran, marry Laguna Kimsteed?!" The ranger woman was irritated to the point of strangulation.
The priest was taken aback, and thought over her words for a long minute. Finally, he responded. "Very well," he said in a stiff tone. "I will perform the ceremony-but I still do not agree with it."
Jea smiled-not noticing Igra's hand gesture that was made behind her back. The priest had seen it though, and knew what it meant-the matter was one out of his hands. He prepared the ceremony.
* * * * * *
Within three days, the party bid Shikatsu and Greyhawk farewell and set out again-this time heading east, crossing a river that fed into the Nyr Dyv and following the roads once more.
It took them another two and a half months to reach Laguna's town. Those months were filled with dirt, sweat, and complaints (both aloud and silent.) Ambermist and Jea ate like ravenous animals, between them devouring huge meals.
Jea spent the time torn between two vying emotions: a strange inner peacefulness she felt without trying, and righteous fury at the necessity of developing an irregular walking gait. As a compromise, she fumed in silence.
When they reached the town near Laguna's home, they took rooms at the inn. Laguna made it quite clear that Ambermist and Dumbugg were to stay put while he and Jea visited his parents.
* * * * * *
Two hours later, Jea and Laguna were riding double on Arkadia, Wolf and Thistlechaser following loyally behind, heading for Laguna's parents' home.
Both of his parents were outside, working with some of the horses in the late afternoon light. His mother looked up when she heard the hoofbeats. Her eyes widened in shock as she took in the sight. She stared at the armored man on the back of a sparkling green horse, with two large canines following him. Gasping out her husband's name, she pointed the sight out to him.
Jea noticed Largo and Kironi's apparent terror and poked her own husband through a seam in his armor. "Take your helmet off, stupid! You're scaring them spitless!" she hissed.
Laguna blinked and reached up to pull his helm off. Shaking out his longish blonde hair, he waved. "Mom! Dad!"
His folks calmed down upon recognition. They moved out to meet him as he slowed Arkadia. Sliding down, he hugged his parents.
His father looked at Arkadia. "Son, you do realize that horse is green, right?"
"Yes, Dad, I do. His name is Arkadia. He's my war-horse."
Jea decided I was time for her to dismount. As she dropped lightly to the ground, Laguna turned to look at her-for once seeing her as his parents would.
She was tall-especially for a half elf; at 5'7" she was almost eye level with an average human male. Her complexion was the bronze of someone who spends their life in the sun, blending with her reddish brown mahogany hair that lounged on her shoulders and cascaded down her back as a living animal might. Jea was dressed in worn, brown leather breeches, with calf high boots of a similar material, and a loose forest green tunic. Her midsection was definitely thicker, but it took a knowing glance to determine that the added size to the muscular and lean body hidden under baggy cloth was the result of pregnancy. A large chain belt cinched her shirt loosely below her disappearing waistline.
Jea stood shyly, one hand resting on her stomach, waiting for someone to notice her. Laguna's mother, Kironi, saw her and exclaimed, "Laguna? Who's your friend?!"
Laguna and his father both turned towards Jea. Laguna cleared his throat nervously. "This.this is Jea. Jea, these are my parents, Kironi and Largo Kimsteed."
Laguna's mother smiled at Jea as the ranger woman shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, dear."
Largo, on the other hand, looked at Laguna. "Kinda fat, doncha think, son?"
Jea raised one eyebrow as Laguna groaned and buried his face in his hands. Kironi smacked her husband. "Stupid!" she hissed quietly. "She's pregnant!"
Largo inspected Jea's appearance closely. "Oh." Then he said, "Jeez, Laguna, why'd you go an' do a thing like that?! I can't believe you got her knocked up!"
Jea was about to die laughing in a fit of giggles at poor Laguna's embarrassment. Her wedding band glinted as she put her hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter.
Kironi, once again the observant party, spotted the sparkle, and smacked her husband again. They're married, idiot!"
"Oh.." Largo looked at Jea. "Sorry.Um.Are you part elf?"
For Jea, it ceased to be amusing at that point. "Yes," she snarled stiffly.
Laguna's mother hit Largo once more and told him to go groom the horses. He meekly complied and Kironi turned back to Jea. "I'm sorry about that.Laguna, why don't you go put Arkadia in one of the stalls and come inside."
As Laguna left, and Jea followed Kironi in, Laguna's mom remarked, "Those are beautiful dogs. What breed are they?"
Jea chuckled. "Ma'am, these aren't dogs. They're wolves-but don't worry; they won't hurt anyone."
The older woman's eyes widened in surprise, but she said nothing as the ranger woman and wolves followed her into the house. She asked Jea some curious questions: how was Laguna doing, was he taking proper care of himself, how did they meet, etc.
The half elven woman answered as best she could, until Laguna returned. He looked at his mother. "Hey, mom? Is it okay if we take my old room for tonight?"
"Certainly, dear. No one's touched it since you left."
"Okay. C'mon, Jea."
The blonde paladin led her to his old bedroom. Grinning, he picked her up and carried her through the entrance way, depositing her gently on the bed and closing the wooden door.
Sitting down next to her, he pulled her close to him. "Hey, how are you doing?" the young man murmured lovingly.
Jea put one hand on her swollen middle. "Tired from lugging an awkward weight around twenty-four/seven . Other than that, I'm fine, Lover. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the kid. I'm really leaning toward the Dimension Egg-if for no other reason than safety. I don't want to be carrying a baby in the middle of a fight."
Laguna nibbled her ear. "I understand," he purred quietly. "I'm sorry about my dad. He can be a bit of a moron."
Jea pulled his face down to hers and kissed him fiercely. Her other hand made quick and mind-bending examinations of Laguna's form. He groaned, breath quickening in his throat.
"Jea.." he moaned, protesting slightly. She was very adamant about her actions though, and Laguna gave himself over to her.