Chapter XXI

Her cryptic question revealed that ShikaraStalker also found a way to deal with the ladies' night in Demon Gate. It was a clear reference to the third riddle. It went as follows.

Find the Wedding of the Century,

Be sure to bring the perfect gift,

Find a duo quite extraordinary,

They're the ones you need to assist.

I got the impression ShikaraStalker already knew the poem for a while now. I just received it an hour ago and wasn't going to share details about my progress. I decided not to reply.

When Finn arrived back home later that afternoon, he first had to give his girlfriend an elaborate update. When he finally got back online, we met in the recording studio.

We started searching for famous weddings held in 1996. There wasn't one that really stood out. 1996 did have the divorce of the century. That year prince Charles and princess Diana separated.

But marriages? The one with the highest profile was probably pop star Prince's wedding. A marriage that only lasted for four years.

"If this quest takes us to that Prince planet, I'll just stop," Finn said. "Seriously, I won't sit through that one. No matter how close we are to the finish. I hate that planet."

It felt safe to assume we had to look for a fictional wedding. I fired up all the wiki's for nineties sitcoms like Suddenly Susan, Seinfield, Friends, The Nanny, Frasier, Spin City and ER to see if there was a wedding that year in one of those.

Those sitcoms were extremely popular at the time and often there would be a romance that would develop over the years and lead to a wedding episode near the end of the show. I didn't find a clear lead.

Meanwhile the count of my unread messages and video views kept piling up. I was wondering if I had to do something with that, bask in on the glory now that it was here. I didn't necessarily feel the desire, all I wanted was for Sara to return.

I was thinking about Argentina and what she would be doing there. It's five hours later in Buenos Aires. In spring time I imagined there would be lively nightlife in that town. I didn't know much about the country beyond the cliches of tango, soccer players and big fat juicy steaks.

And of course Evita. The story about first lady Eva Perón. The musical got a movie version in 1996. That's why it was on my radar. Now all of a sudden, this movie seemed relevant.

According to a wiki I read, Perón was the most powerful woman in the world before she tragically died. Her wedding might as well have been the "Wedding of the Century" in 1945. The movie no doubt featured that event.

I told Finn I had a lead to follow up on, returned to the gym and waited for my brother to invite me to his ride. When he did, I teleported on board the Air Patroller. It was the airship from PAW Patrol, Finn used it to travel the OASIS.

With my Thunderbird 4 in orbit, and being last seen entering the gym, people had to assume I was still on Satoshi. We snuck off and set course for the planet Rice & Webber in the Broadway system.

There was a flicksync to participate in, but players could also just visit various movie locations separately and enjoy a favorite scene in person.

On the way there I found out that the actual wedding ceremony only took one and a half minutes in the 1996 movie. The dim catholic church had a mystical vibe, enhanced by the soundtrack.

In the OASIS they expanded that ceremony and I arrived just in time to join the church crowd. Sara promised to take me on a date to mass someday, but we never did. Now that I was in an Argentine church, it was hard not to think about her.

I sat there for about half an hour while the priest performed his sacraments and rituals. I only got to see the back of Madonna and Jonathan Pryce. Already I kind of dismissed the idea that this was the wedding of the century.

The movie was from 1996, but the wedding itself seemed unimpressive compared to other major weddings of the 20th century. At the time of the ceremony, Eva Perón was not yet as famous as Princess Diana or Grace Kelly when they made their vows.

But I enjoyed sitting there in that church, listening to Spanish rites. Thinking about Sara. When it was over I asked Finn to beam me back up and told him it was a dead end. He flew me back to Satoshi in silence.