"Mikoto, here is the next load of ingredients."

"Thank you, Chigusa! Just put them down over there."

"Yes."

"Mikoto, I´m nearly finished with my part."

"Understood, Haruhime."

The giant kitchen in the Heart Mansion was a whirlwind of activity. Mikoto and Haruhime were constantly working on various far eastern dishes, Chigusa helped as much as she could, while Ouka went shopping for them.
Both had headbands on and sleeves rolled up...they were cooking at breakneck speed. The reason for this activity happened two days ago.

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"Lord Takemikazuchi, I wanted to give you this."

Bell handed Takemikazuchi a letter, holding it with both hands and bowing slightly forward, in the far eastern style. It was an invitation for the God and his Familia to the wedding of Bell and Ais, as well as a request.
Mikoto had sat on Takemikazuchi´s right side...her personal spot. Only the Familias would be invited to the wedding, as was the custom. But in Bell´s case, he counted the Miach and Takemikazuchi Familias as part of the Hestia Familia, since they formed the small alliance...or else there would be very few guests on his side. Hephaistos also came, as Welf´s partner.

"We will come gladly, Bell!"

The god smiled happy.

"But I also have a request."

"Just say the word."

"Would it be okay for you to make some far eastern dishes? I also want to ask Haruhime. We plan to do various dishes."

Mikoto nodded.

"That shouldn´t be a problem, is there something that Ms. Ais favores?"

Bell grinned, the reason why they would have various dishes was quite obvious. Instead of a menu, they decided on a big buffet...so that Ais could eat whatever she wanted. Bell himself didn´t had much in mind what he wished for at a wedding, he was statisfied with Ais being happy...and that he would marry her.

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So Mikoto and Haruhime did their best to test and try their dishes, anything below absolute perfection could not be tolerated...their pride as chefs forbade it. Chigusa, Ouka, Asuka and Takemikazuchi would help them at the important day, but for now they made the dishes mostly alone. It was easier to work like this, instead of telling the others what to do.

But it weren´t only them who were busy. Lily worked together with Finn to organize everything, like the order of the seats or when Ais would arrive, where would they do it and other things.

And many others were busy too.

"Alicia, the meat is soon ready."

"Understood, the sauce is nearly done, the vegetables look good."

In the Loki Mansion, Lefiya and Alicia had confiscated a kitchen, they too were cooking. Like back then at the cook off of the Familia, they were preparing their elven dish. Various elves of the Familia did that, even Riveria would prepare one dish, but only for Ais and Bell alone.
When they heard that Bell´s Familia members made own dishes, their spirit of competition awoke, they would defend the honor of their Familia...losing was not an option. And not only to defend the honor of their Familia, also to prove that elven dishes were superior. Especially after they heard that Gareth would prepare an typical dwarven dish...they didn´t knew that he could cook at all...but some Familia members scolded them to never underestimate Gareth...he was really popular with his old man charm.
To be honest there was only one dish that Gareth was able to do. Since most dwarves lived in the mountaints, their dishes contained of a huge amount of various mushrooms and cheese from goats, as well as goat meat. Their fine elven noses could smell that Gareth also made tests on his dish...there were enough Familia members to taste test it for him.

The Loki Familia was always competitive, which included their goddess...

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"No, no, no Hestia! I tell you this is the best option!"

"You have no idea what you are talking about, this is obviously the best!"

"What do you know? Have you even tried it?!"

"I know enough about wine!"

Both were discussing what would be the best wine for the buffet, for each dish. They would later get reminded by Riveria that nether Ais nor Bell drank alcohol... There would still be a large amount of alcohol there, since for Gareth´s dish alone was dwarven beer needed.

But also new members got the spirit of the Familia.

"Hmmm~Hmmm~Hmmm."

Lena hummed happily while she was busy testing a few dishes too, true amazon dishes. When they had seen this, Tiona and Tione were quite shocked.

"You can cook?!"

Bete had sighed. "No she can´t..."

"Mout Bete! Of course I can cook! Or rather I´m learning it right now!"

Lena had grinned to the twins, they got along really well, since they were all amazons. She had stretched out her belly...that had started to bulge slightly.

"I´m going to be a Mama, so I want to be able to make good food for my daughters...and my Hubby!"

"Your..."

"Hubby?..."

Both had looked at Bete, who just bared his teeth at them.

"Jup! My Hubby is the best! He said he will eat anything from me, it doesn´t have to taste good, he also cares so much and takes all the stress and work away from me! So I´m putting an extra potion of love into it for him! Oh but I don´t mean a love potion."

The amazon twins looked at Bete with new eyes.

"Wow...Bete...got soft..."

"She tamed him..."

"You wanna get beaten up, Huh?!"

"Hehe, look how he barks..."

"So cute..."

"You little-!"

But Lena had pulled at Bete´s sleeve and moved her cooking spoon slowly. "Bete...no fighting...you promised."

"I know...I know.."

Lena smiled, leaned up and kissed Bete´s cheek. The twins spared him from mean comments when they saw how loving and caring he acted towards Lena...he even gently touched her belly in front of them!

"Woah..."

"Impressive..."

So Lena Tally did her best to learn how to cook and Bete did his best to support his wife...those two didn´t waited long to marry, it was just a small ceremony with just two guests, Aisha and Samira. .

.
But Tiona and Tione also got help, since Amid would accompany Miach, she would also assist Tiona and Tione, creating a holy magic circle to prevent that they accidentely summoned an eldritch abormination again with their cooking...also she was really fascinated how they were able to do that.

.

All the people that were able to cook from all four Familias did their best...yet non of them knew anything of the danger that lurked in the darkness...the hidden, final boss of cooking...

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Another thing would be the gifts for the bridal couple...Bell and Ais told them they didn´t needed any gifts...but their Familias just wanted to prepare some small things, depending on their culture.

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Which meant...

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"Dooooooryaaaaaaa!"

"Outta my waaaaaay!"

Cries of terror were heard deep in the dungeon...the cries of monsters who were torn to shreds. Two half naked, young women cleaved and hacked their way through every monster that was too slow, followed by two supporters of their Familia, who picked up everything. Tiona and Tione went deeper into the dungeon, they had a specific Floor in mind. With a medium chance, some monsters here could drop a kind of pearl, they needed ten of those.
The pearls would hold Ais´ veil in place, the Familia spared no costs for her wedding dress. .

Ais and Bell just enjoyed a few peaceful days, their Familias wanted to make it a really big party, the best wedding ever.

"Bell?"

"Ais?"

She leaned her head against his chest and smiled. "I love you."

"And I love you."

Both were sitting at their favorite spot on top of the wall, taking a break from their training. Both looked as much forward to the breaks, as they did to the training itself. It still was their favorite thing to do together, they could tell and show each other things that they couldn´t say with words, as Lefiya had guessed, it was more a form of communication between them than actual fighting.

And then...for the last seven days before the great day...Bell and Ais didn´t saw each other. It was a custom of Bell´s village, groom and bride should use the time to think about their relationship and the other, to become completely clear if they really wanted to marry the other. Neeldess to say that Bell and Ais had problems to sleep at all in this week. Both constantly looked up to the moon and thought about the other, missing the others warmth in their bed...both really looked forward that the next time they slept together...it would be with their spouse.

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"*Hic*"

"Riveria?"

"*Hic* *Hic*"

"Riveria..what´s wrong?"

"Nothing...*Hic*...I´m just...so happy..."

Ais sat in a simple wooden chair without armrests, while Riveria stood behind hair and gently combed her hair. The scene was very familiar for both of them, but at the same time very different. The reason why Riveria sobbed...Ais wore her wedding dress. She rememberred a moment of the past very well, when a small Ais had sat in a similar chair in Riveria´s room, int front of the big mirror, while Riveria showed her how to take care of her hair...since she had no one else to do that for her.
And now the young adult Ais sat here...prepared for her wedding...and Riveria made her the perfect hairstyle for her wedding, so far she was the only one that had seen Ais in her dress, it was meant to be a surprise for everyone else.

"To see you grown up like this...that you found a man...that you will marry today...*Hic*..."

"Riveria...don´t cry."

"I can´t help it...my little girl has grown up so much...and you look so beautiful in your dress."

"Thank you."

Riveria took her time to comb Ais´ hair, it was more smooth as back in the past, since she took more care of it ever since she fell in love with Bell. It also helped to calm Ais down a bit, she was incredibly nervous...Bell had proposed to her three and a half months ago...it seemed to be just a moment ago.

"Riveria?"

"Yes?"

"You will lead me to the altar, right?"

"If...that´s okay with you...if that´s what you want."

"If you do, I´ll forgive you for "that"."

"Mmmh...I´m sorry..."

After Bell had helped Ais to get over her trauma for water and swimming, Ais had told Riveria how good he was at teaching her and how much fun it was. Riveria had told her that she was glad, but Ais made an extra point again in telling her how much better Bell was at teaching her that. Ais slowly became more cunning and it was her way to tell Riveria that she was slightly mad with her because of it. The elf apologized again, Ais teased her a bit for the next days with it and said she would be sooo happy if Riveria would lead her to the altar. Riveria guessed...it was time for Ais´ "rebellious phase"

"Ais..."

"Riveria?"

Ais saw in the reflection of Riveria in the mirror that she was smiling.

"I would gladly lead you to the altar."

"Hehe, thank you...Mom."

Just for a moment to not ruin the hairstyle, Riveria hugged Ais gently from behind.

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Everything was set, everything in motion. Only a few people of the Familias wouldn´t be present during the ceremony. Lena had underestimated how exhausting it could be to cook so much while pregnant, so she remained in the Mansion and took a rest. So of course Bete wouldn´t also be at the ceremony, he would remain at his wife´s side and help her rest, help her to refil her "Bete Energy"...whatever that was, but she got it through cuddling, snuggling, hugging and getting a feet massage.
A few lower leveled member of the Loki Familia also wouldn´t be present, a few would guard the Mansion, the others the ceremony. Unnoticed by everyone, another person guarded the ceremony from afar, so that no one would get the idea to attack them...due to the sheer size of that person, it was hard to belief that no one noticed him. He was there at the order of his Mistress, but he also did it on his own, to make sure his training partners would be in top form. Ais and Bell had seven training fights with Ottar so far, they agreed to do one every two weeks.
He was the toughest opponent they ever had, Bell even fought against Allen Fromel two times, who wanted to prove that he was still the fastest adventurer of Orario...also it would help him to get stronger. Maybe it was hard to belief that they get along more or less...since Allen wanted to kill Bell and Ais in the past. Also, during every duel with Allen or Ottar there was someone sitting in the ranks and watched them. In Allen´s case that was Syr...Bell had learned that he was Syr´s boyfriend...and in Ottar´s case...the goddess Freya. Sometimes Freya had Demeter at her side and bragged about how incredible strong her captain was.
More and more gods and sometimes other adventurers would come to the great arena and watch these training fights, it was something else when level seven or top level six adventurers gave their all. Over time it would become quite the spectacle. But Syr also had someone at her side when Allen fought against Bell...and that was Anya.

The location was quite troublesome at first, they had discusses where to do it...but a simple church seemed not to be good enough. In the end it would be the hill with the enormous tree on top of it. Two blocks of rows of chairs had been set up on the hill, with a red carpet running down the middle between the rows to the base of the gigantic tree. The row in the front was reserved for the gods and their partners, the next for the leaders of the Familias and their partners and so on. Loki and many member from her Familia glared at Miach, when he came with a woman at each arm...both of them his wives.

Kuh...he charmed Amid...

Especially the elves were speechless, Mikoto on the other hand was glad, since it took the attention away from her. Not only that the ceremony would be held here on the hill was different to a normal one...and Bell would be "hated" even more by some men...that he went too far again, raising the bar even further.
A few elves of the Loki Familia sat on special chairs on the side and made music on typical instruments for their kind. It was Ais´ wish to have something that would remind her of the forest and the wind. A few people looked up to the tree while the elves started the music...the light looked a bit strange up there...as if something was moving. In the last days, the elves had heard strange noises and saw strange lights, not knowing what it was. Maybe...something sensed that something was up...something that had to do with...the offspring of a greater spirit.

When the music changed a bit, everyone got up. A carriage drove slowly to the bottom of the hill, a custom-made white carriage. No one looked into the direction of the carriage, with one exception...a young elf that had waited for the carraige. Lefiya beamed all over her face as the carriage stopped and she opened the door of it, stepping to the side. Riveria got out first, she wore a simple white robe with a long, green cape.
Lefiya walked up to the chairs and waited there with the other guests, while Riveria turned around and held her hand to the carriage. What came out wasn´t a mere human...it was more...an angel...or a spirit? Ais had needed a long time to decide for a wedding dress that suited her...and that Bell would like.
Her feet were in simple white shoes with golden border, with high heels, her legs in almost transparent white silk tights. The dress itself covered Ais from her chest down to her feet, but it wasn´t a closed dress. While her back was mostly bare, her chest was nearly covered completely, only a hint of her valley was visible, the hem of the dress above and below was covered with ruffles and a golden border. The skirt of her dress had a slit in the front, so that when she took a step forward, her slender legs were momentarily exposed. Secured by two gold brooches, a sheer dress train curved back from her waist, also ended in golden borders. Hidden under the skirt part in the front was this transparent material, so that her legs wouldn´t be exposed too much. Her torso above her chest was adorned with a ruffled blue bow, with the gold-set emerald in the center just below her throat. Her gloves were made of the same material as the tights and on her head sat a golden headband, with two blue jewels on the sides. In her hands she held a bouquet of blue roses tied with a blue bow. More than one person gasped when they saw Ais like that...it was really beautiful...but her face drew the most attention. Most people had never before seen Ais with such a smile on her lips, she looked so happy, gentle...mature. No one could know that except for Ais...but she looked more and more like her mother...but most people knew one thing...Bell sure was lucky.

With Riveria´s help, Ais slowly got out of the carriage. After securing her balance, Ais nodded to Riveria and they slowly went up...thankfully she had practiced with these high heels before. Loki and Hestia waited side by side at the small altar that was built in front of the tree...Bell was nowhere to be seen.
It should become a special wedding, so things would be a bit different. All people smiled when Ais passed them...and a few gasped when some glowing orbs slowly went down from the tree tops. It were...spirits. A few spirits had sensed something in Orario and flew to the big tree and waited there. All of them were wind spirits...they felt the kinship with Ais...that she was...something like a princess. It were seven of them...a lucky number. The two goddesses smiled when Ais reached them and waited next to the altar, the wind spirits slowly came down and drifted over Ais. Non of the guests knew what would happen next.

A few moments went by...then the guests heard a whinny.

The guests turned around and looked to the north, from where the sound came. On a beautiful white horse came riding a knight in white armor, a sword slung on his back, with a long white cloak flapping in the wind. It was almost a full gallop, and the knight seemed to have no trouble staying in the saddle. The guests watched as he reined in the horse at the foot of the hill. The horse whinnied loudly and reared up on its hind legs, from where the knight jumped out of the saddle and landed gracefully on the ground. Neighing again, the horse slammed its hooves back down, snorted and pawed for a moment before becoming still and waiting.
The clothes under the armor were white as well. The plate boots were massive, the thighs were the only part of the legs that weren´t covered by armor, as well as the crotch. Going over into a chestplate with a flame engraved in it. Round shoulderguards were connected to the chestplate, the upper arms were only covered by cloth, then came leather gloves. The hilt of his sword jutted up between his shoulder blades, the scabbard of the sword hidden by the white cloak. The head was completely covered by the helmet. In front of the mouth it was reminiscent of a castle gate, the eyes were not visible behind the viewing slit at a distance. Above the head, the helm trailed back in a series of ridges, almost like a horn crest, with a tail of white horsehair at the top.

The helmet turned upwards as if the knight was watching them. Without saying a word, the knight moved forward with strong steps, the armor pieces rattled in a perfect way to only accentuate his massive strides. Nothing would stop this knight to get to his destination...to reach his goal. Some guests gasped when the knight walked past them, they saw something flashing red where his eyes would be...like a predator that located his prey. Ais smiled gently while she waited...for her knight. The knight arrived at the small altar, bowed down before Hestia and Loki, then turned to Ais. With a swift movement, the knight drew his sword...a very famous sword that went by the name Olympus. The knight gripped the sword in both hands, twisting it and driving the point into the ground in front of him before kneeling and resting his hands on the hilt. He bowed his head in front of Ais and stayed in that position. Hestia took a slow step forward and stepped behind the knight, placing both hands on the helm and gently lifting it from his head. A fine chin, red eyes and familiar white hair appeared. After Hestia stepped back and put the helm on a socket, everyone became silent.

"My knight..."

Ais smiled again and stretched out her hand. Bell raised his face and smiled up to her.

"My Princess..."

Bell got up from his knee and took his left glove off, gently taking Ais´ hand.

The gods started.

Loki looked at him. "Bell."

And Hestia at her. "Ais."

Both turned to the gods, their hands still connected, the sword between them, which shone slightly.

Loki took a deep breath. "So finally the day came. We are here, you are here and Ais is here. Finally you came to take her away...to take Ais as yours."

Bell nodded. "Yes."

Hestia smiled. "And you plan to go with him. To take Bell as yours, to become his. For now, for all of your life...and all eternity."

Ais nodded. "Yes."

"Do you promise to love Ais, Bell? To be there for her and never look at another woman?"

"This, I promise to you."

"And do you promise to love Bell, Ais? To help him when he is troubled and never look at another man?"

"I promise this."

Now Bell and Ais turned their faces to each other.

"Bell. I promise here and now in the presence of all these witnesses, I love you and I always will. Never will I look at another man and my heart belongs to you...forever and ever."

"Ais. I promise here and now in the presence of all these witnesses, I love you and I always will. My heart belongs to you and the only other women I will ever love, will the ones that call you, Mother."

Her smile widened and her golden eyes shone, Ais got more and more beautiful by the second. All of the guests noticed the gentle golden wind that slowly moved around the couple...this happened nearly all the time when Ais felt so much love for Bell.
The seven wind spirits drifted in this golden wind and moved slowly around the two, they witnessed the ceremony as well.

Loki continued. "Then no further words are needed."

Hestia nodded. "By our right as your gods, we consent to your union and hereby declare you husband and wife."

It was custom in Familias that the god had to agree to the partner when a child of them wanted to marry...if the god wouldn´t consent, then the child could only leave the Familia or give up on their love, love between different Familias was more rare than common.

When Ais and Bell leaned forward to kiss each other, her wind waved up for a moment and Bell´s sword flashed. A circle of blue flames washed out of the blade and formed a burning heart around the two, with seven wind spirits over it and two gods behind...truly a sight to remember.

Loki grinned. "Now Bell, white knight, claim your price and take what is now yours!"

Bell nodded smiling, sheathed his sword and in a swift movement, picked Ais up in a professional princess carry. She blushed a bit but smiled happy as Bell turned around and carried her down the hill. The guests were to surprised to react and could only follow them with their eyes. The horse got down to it´s knees and waited, Bell went into the saddle and took the reigns with his left hand...still holding Ais like he carried her.

"My knight...I´m yours...take me away."

"I will, my princess...and I never let you go..."

Ais´ eyes flashed in sheer happiness by Bell´s words. Their lips met in a loving kiss again as Bell moved the reigns so that the horse would start to move. She laughed happy as she put her arms more around his neck and snuggled against Bell, while he rode away with her...

The guests were stunned...and not a little bit.

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"Wooooaaah, Argonaut! That was sooooo romantic! How you came up the hill and knelt down...like a true knight!"

Tiona´s eyes beamed, it was her turn to congratulate the couple. Bell had taken off his armor now and used a normal, white suit. He and Ais sat side by side at the head of the main table in the main hall of the Loki Mansion. Tiona was the umpteenth person that came to them.

"And Ais...it was sooo...hah just awesome! How you let Argonaut carry you away...Lefiya and Riveria nearly fainted!"

"Ehe, thank you Tiona."

"Mhm, thank you Tiona."

The couple smiled and kissed each other again...never before were they this happy.

Riveria´s and Hestia´s words to them were surprisingly similar, due to motherly feelings.

""Take good care of her/him.""

Something else would be different from a normal wedding, since Bell didn´t liked sweets. There was, of course, a huge, tiered cake. But contrary to the tradition of Bell's Village, they did not cut the cake together and handed each other a fork with cake on it.

Instead...

"Wow..."

"Beautiful..."

Bell couldn´t help but to agree with...his wife...the sight before them was beautiful. It was a big potato snack, it was nearly golden. A gift from the old lady that owned the potato snack stall. The potatoes were only watered with the special water from the dungeon, as well as the vegetables that were used...to feed the animal whose meat she had used.
He noticed that his wife nearly drooled by the sight, so Bell lost no time. Carefully, he picked up the potato snack and held it towards Ais. She tugged some hair behind her ear, leaned forward and took a bite out of it. Ais exhaled strongly through her nose and nearly moaned loud, her eyes widened. While she chewed, Ais took the potato snack and held it towards Bell, he also took a bite.
His eyes widened by the taste, delicious juices splashed inside his mouth from the soft meat...it was beyond perfect. As the good, freshly baked, husband that he was, Bell left the potato snack to his newly wed wife. Her face looked as if Ais wanted to melt on the spot...never before had a potato snack tasted that good.

It was...rabbit meat.

On this evening she tried many dishes, one better than the next...but nothing reached the perfection of this potato snack...no one had a chance against the cooking of the hidden, dark boss of food.

Later, when Bell and Ais started to dance, all of the Familia members watched them. Both would later change partners, dancing with their gods, Ais for a while with Riveria, while Bell danced during that time with Lefiya...everyone knew that these two had become something like sibblings...at least they behaved like it.

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And many, many hours later...both would eventually have their wedding night...it could only go in one way...

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"Zzzzzz..."

"Chrrrr..."

They lied in each others arms in their new, double bed in their shared room and slept peacefully. Not being able to see the other for a whole week didn´t let them sleep properly during that time. So they enjoyed the others presence even more and were finally able to get a good, long sleep.

In their first night.

As husband and wife.

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Authors Note: Sorry it took so long, there was much work the last days and I had a problem with this chapter. No matter what I thought about, the chapter always felt too familiar to Bell´s wedding with Ryu in "Like a Fairy", until I finally got the idea with the knight and such.

Next one will be for Blood of Zeus "Artemis´ visit", then...something special...then here again. We will now move forward to the Expedition arc, it will be quite different from the one in Like a Fairy.