Alexa, Melody and Jazz spent the next several hours talking, catching up, laughing. Luna had managed to squeeze herself into the kitchen through the back door and Melody had excitedly started giving the metal pup all the love and attention she wanted. Melody's hands barely ever left Luna's belly during that time.
Their conversation continued until Melody noticed just how much Alexa was yawning. It wasn't a big surprise, she had to have been up a full twenty four hours by this point.
Melody gently but firmly shooed Alexa upstairs to her room. Once upon a time this room had belonged to Jazz's grandma, but after that first Christmas together Melody had given it over to Alexa's use. The bed was made up tidy, in one corner of the room was a bookshelf with a few tech manuals and comic books, and against the far between the closet and the window was a small work table with a four year old half abandoned lump of scrap resting on its surface.
Alexa breathed in the smell, despite years of not hosting one it still smelled like an old lady's room. Still, it was hers. She had just started closing the door when Luna nudged her way past and immediately curled up on the rug in the center of the room. The metal dog looked left and right, appraising the place. Evidently finding nothing wrong, Luna put her head down on her paws. She gave Alexa a series of short whirrs from her internal motor.
"Well I am excited." Alexa responds with a yawn. "My best friend is getting married! Why shouldn't I be excited? I'm just really tired."
Luna yawns herself, letting out another few sleepy whirrs.
"I know. I love you too. Good night Luna." Alexa climbed into bed and fell asleep seconds after her head hit the pillow.
Alexa found herself in a chapel. On her right, filling the pews was everyone she had ever met. Jazz, Melody and her cabin mates took up the first row, other campers filled out the rest, Chiron had the third row all to himself due to his horse half.
Glancing down, Alexa was more than a little surprised to find herself shoved into an immensely poofy and uncomfortably warm wedding dress, and across the aisle from her stood a faceless man in a black suit.
"Well? Were you surprised?" Standing between her and the faceless groom, playing the role of the officiant, was Hera. The goddess grinned at her.
"Oh the look on your face, dear! I could never be as mean spirited as some of the others, but I do like a good joke once in a while!" Hera giggled.
Alexa tried to answer but Hera tutted lightly.
"Seems someone else is pulling you away and I won't keep you to myself all night. Take care, dear." The chapel and everyone in it vanished and Alexa found herself back in normal clothes, in some sort of living room.
There was a tv pressed against one wall, two large welcoming looking armchairs, a squishy looking sofa and a coffee table with magazines like "Comfortable Dying", "Better Tombs and Gardens", "Afterlife Improvement", and a dog eared paperback titled "Handbook for the Recently Deceased" resting on it.
The walls were lined with bookshelves, one holding actual books, mostly kids books, another housing Vhs tapes, and a third stuffed to the brim labeled as "Achievements of the living". On the third there were pictures, one golden framed image in particular caught Alexa's eye, a black haired girl with pigtails and a missing tooth holding tight to a pudgy, brown haired toddler
"You'd be surprised of the things they'll get you if you ask." Alexa's heart skipped a beat and she dimly wondered if her real heart matched the dream's movements.
She turned and found herself staring at Morgan. Her sister wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a black top that showed off her arms. Her hair was combed back out of her face and she wore that same proud smile Alexa remembered. Morgan crossed the room and silently hugged her stunned sister.
"You've grown!" It was true. Alexa never really imagined her sister as short, but standing there with her...well, Morgan only came up to her armpit. Alexa was rapidly coming to terms with the fact that her last growth spurt had put her well into the lofty heights of tallness.
It took a moment for Alexa to get back in control of her body but when she did she squeezed her sister back fiercely, trying to shove over a decade of love into the embrace.
When she finally broke away, Alexa tried to speak, only to find herself mute
"Yeah, that'll sometimes happen." Morgan said apologetically "Dreams are pretty fickle about working right. I've been trying to contact you through one for five years now. Couple of my friends around here suggested it. I'm just glad we can talk, even if you can't actually speak." She motioned to the couch and the two sat.
"I didn't exactly reach out to catch up, though. Or to tell you how proud you make me." She reached out and squeezed Alexa's hand, her grip like ice. "Though I am. Really. You've made me more proud than any other sister in the underworld. Though I think the Brontës could give me a good run for my money."
Morgan sighed and shifted slightly on her cushion.
"I gotta play the ominous ghostly apparition bit. How is that fair? I mean…" Morgan let out her frustrated little grunt, the same one she had always made when the sun went down and it was time for the sisters to return home. In that moment Alexa found herself missing Morgan and simultaneously dreading what was coming.
"Alexa...there's something coming. We can feel it. Something is stirring and some of the older shades haven't felt anything like this in decades. The last time they felt anything like this...it was right before World War 2." Alexa shivered and Morgan nodded.
"They don't know if it's one thing or an event, but something is coming. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but in the near future. A lot of us down here... we'd feel a lot better knowing someone capable was in the loop about it." Alexa blinked and pointed at herself questioningly.
"Of course you, you ding dong!" Morgan laughed. "I don't want to bog you down with worry about it though...that wedding comes first." Alexa groaned silently and rolled her eyes.
"Oh hush! It'll be fun and you know it! So what if you got to dress up for it! Wearing something fancy for a day won't kill you!" Morgan teased. Alexa huffed and stuck her tongue out at her chuckling sister. Morgan's eyes softened again.
"I never thought this was the way things worked…Gods and demigods and all that. But if there's one good thing that came from what happened it's that it got you out of that house and with people who love you. That's what made it all worth it for me. I only ever wanted you to be happy." She squeezed Alexa's hand again and Alexa wiped a few dream tears from her eyes. The world around her had started to fade around the edges. Morgan let out an irritated sigh.
"Might not be Oscar music but I think that means our time is up. I love you Alexa, and I'm going to keep watching out for you down here!" Alexa tried to fling her arms around her sister for one last hug but she found herself being dragged backwards, away from the lands of the dead and towards the waking world. Morgan smiled up at her from her couch.
"Try to live a little while you're up there." Morgan urged as her face faded. "You never know how much time you have."
What felt like seconds later Alexa was awoken by the sounds of movement in the rooms below her. She sniffed and groaned, wiping the last bit of moisture from her eyes before groggily getting to her feet. She shuffled her way to her bedroom door and immediately got a set of knuckles to the chin.
"Yow!" She yelped, jumping back. There in the doorway, looking quite sheepish and apologetic, was Sonya. She quickly lowered her hand.
"I was just coming to wake you. I wanted to go over some opinions for the big day. Now that we're all here and all." She explained.
"Well I'm definitely awake." Alexa huffed, rubbing the spot on her chin that Sonya had unintentionally knocked on.
"Give me a sec to shower. I only just got up."
"Will do." Sonya replied. She took a step away, her eyes roving over Alexa critically. She pursed her lips, but said nothing. Instead she turned and headed back downstairs.
A bit too groggy to give that look much thought, Alexa slipped into the shower.
When Alexa got to the dinning room, she found Sonya sitting at the table with a blonde woman Alexa had never met before. She was older than her, but shorter by at least a foot. Her hair fell in pale ringlets around her shoulders and her dazzling green eyes peaked out through a pair of thick glasses.
When Alexa entered Sonya sat up, the catalog both blondes were perusing clutched in her hand.
"Finally! Thought you'd never get up! Shelby, this is Alexa. Alexa, this is Sean's sister Shelby. She's in the bridal party." Sonya quickly made the introductions.
"So you're the famous Alexa, huh? Glad to finally meet you." Shelby said, practically beaming up at her. "Jasmine's told us so much about you!"
"Lies and slander, I'm assuming. Don't believe everything she's told you, I'm much more annoying in person!" Alexa grinned and Shelby giggled. Sonya cleared her throat and put her hands down on the table.
"So, here's the plan! The wedding is in three weeks, that gives us precious little time for this. Today we're going out dress shopping. Jazz has been pretty lenient on the color and cut, no matching theme, so we have free reign on what we want to wear, so long as it's not white." Sonya explained.
"Uh, why not white?" Alexa asked. Shelby smiled at Sonya's overly dramatic groan.
"Alexa, you just don't wear white to a wedding unless you're the bride! Especially if you're in the wedding party! It takes attention off the bride, where it should be. If you even look at a white dress today I'm going to make it my life's mission to spill every glass or bottle that comes anywhere near me on it!"
"Sorry! Sorry!" Alexa squeaked, shrinking away from Sonya's smoldering look. "I've just never been to a wedding before."
"It's alright, just remember this is Jazz and Sean's day. You can be eye-catching any other day of the year." Sonya's tone made Alexa certain the latter part of that sentence was meant for herself.
"Where is Jazz, anyway?" Alexa asked, changing topics with precious little tact.
"Oh! She and Sean are house hunting!" Shelby eagerly chirped "They've been living together in Sean's apartment for a while but the lease ran out three months ago and since they wanted to get a place together anyway they've been bunking with me and Mrs. Sherman to save money for a down payment."
"Sweetheart, we've gone over this." Melody chuckled as she entered the room with a plate of food she immediately set down in front of Alexa. "We're going to be family in just a few weeks, call me Melody!"
"Sorry Mrs...um...Melody. I keep forgetting!" Shelby muttered, cheeks flushing.
Alexa smiled and dug into the chicken sandwich with gusto. She felt like she was going to like Shelby.
"So," Sonya said, bringing everyone's attention back to her. "I have a few appointments scheduled with a few experts in town, we get some idea of what we're looking for, that'll give us plenty of time to find matching shoes and if there's enough time after that we can find some accessories and workshop hair stylings. Knock enough out today and the days before the ceremony will be a breeze!"
Alexa swallowed harder than she had meant to. This was sounding...uncomfortable already and she could practically feel the 'Must make pretty!' vibes cascading off Sonya.
"That all seems kinda... pricey." She pointed out...though in truth she couldn't really begin to point out why she felt so uncomfortable with the idea. Most of Alexa's wardrobe consisted of jeans and tshirts, she hadn't worn a dress since she was four.
"Oh don't worry about that!" Shelby grinned "My family's taking care of the cost for us! They want everything perfect for the big day!"
"That's really generous." Alexa said sheepishly, all too aware of the corner she was backed into. "Thank you."
"Don't thank us just yet." Sonya said darkly. "There's one thing we need to do before we head out."
Shelby nodded sagely and glanced down at Alexa's plate then at the clock. "If you're done eating we might as well get a jump on it and head out, we're burning daylight. Mrs. Sherman, can we use your bathroom?"
"Feel free, just give me a minute to find my earplugs." Melody responded, taking away Alexa's empty plate and leaving her with an uneasy feeling.
"I...uh...what do you mean?" She asked. Sonya's arm snaked out and latched onto Alexa's forearm as if she were afraid she was going to bolt.
"Alexa, we've got to wax your legs. You look like a sasquatch!" Together, the two older women dragged and pushed the teenager upstairs towards a bathroom of pain and discomfort.