Sydney, Australia, Earth
February 10, 2558
Gabrielle couldn't believe it. In mere hours, she would be married to a man she had met a few months ago and reluctantly began their relationship as just friends. Now, the intimate attraction between her and Marcus Austal had suddenly exploded into something she couldn't comprehend.
To him, she was the love of his life and easily vice versa.
The wedding had been planned for Valentine's Day, a very popular day for weddings and everything had been planned out. Madeline and Kate would be her bridesmaids with the former bearing the Maid of Honor title and her third bridesmaid was absent, although a memorial to her fallen sister.
Marcus was honoring a deceased as well. Fowler was his best man with Ross Pine as a groomsman and his second one was dedicated to the late Captain Jacob Bowman, who had agreed to be one during a conversation en route to Sierno to rescue Adrian.
Their guest list was small, numbering mostly fellow Spartans and Gabrielle's close friends from school and work with Austal's side being much taller than hers. Everything had been set. Her dress picked, with her bridesmaids all wearing lilac colored dresses. The Spartan's uniforms had been neatly pressed and ironed; all of them glistened with shiny medals earned both before and during their Spartan careers.
Then things had all begun to fall apart.
Since Austal and the remainder of Eon were called to HIGHCOM Bravo-6 in Sydney, the Supreme Headquarters of the United Nations Space Command, the couple had agreed to have their wedding in Australia before returning to Reach and preparing for a well-deserved honeymoon.
Arrangements had been arranged and all that remained was for Valentine's Day to approach to bond the two of them together forever.
Then a direct order from Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood had thrown all of it out the window, stating that this order was of the utmost priority. All four 37th SSD teams were to participate in the UNSC's expedition to Requiem. They would be stationed aboard a Vindication class battleship inside Requiem and perform some of the most dangerous operations, deep behind Covenant-Promethean held territory.
There were no exceptions to this order and despite Tyrant's protests about the wedding, he was unable to change any scheduling. Hood himself had told Austal that he sympathized the unfortunate event, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Just when all they had planned for had fallen apart, Austal had come up with an idea to move the wedding date the night before they would have to leave for Requiem. She agreed and most of the guests had prepared for an earlier date anyway, so it worked out better than expected.
Now standing beside her on a beautiful cloudless day overlooking an azure ocean, was Austal. Only this time, he was decked out in his MJOLNIR armor, a sleek black design with insectoid features and definitely a variant that had never been seen before.
His former Scout harness was damaged in the explosion beyond repair and there was no other choice than to scrap it and recycle the intact parts for spares. Therefore, he had been booted to the top of the line to be assigned a new armor, which happened to be a variant that was designed by sangheili.
They called it the Helioskrill, named after a predator on Sanghelios, the armor had been made by a sangheili prodigy inspired to test her skill against the best that humanity could make.
There was nobody better to rise against that challenge than Austal himself.
He looked down at Gabrielle, who had closed her eyes against the orange sun casting a beautiful glow on her face. He never should she could ever look any more beautiful than she did now. Her gown was silky white and it trailed behind her in gentle wisps. Similarly, her hair was slightly curled and fell against her shoulders. What had hit him the most was her eyes. They shined brighter than the sun beginning to set before them.
"Not as good as a tux," He flexed his biceps through the black undersuit, "But it'll do."
Everyone cheered loudly and clapped their hands as the two of them walked together down the aisle. Many of the other Spartans had not yet put on their armor and would do so when they left for Requiem.
They took their places at the front as everyone sat down and the preacher had come forth to begin the ceremony. He greeted the crowd in a soft Australian accent before going straight to business.
"Dearly beloved, we gather here four days early," He got a laugh out of everyone after saying that, "To witness, cherish and celebrate one of life's greatest treasures. This is the union of Gabrielle Valerie Addison and Marcus Eric Austal. Now before we get started, I believe our couple here have a few words to say to one another."
He looked over at Marcus who nodded and turned to his bride to be, "Well I'm not one for fluffy speeches, so I'll make this short as possible." The audience chuckled, "Gabrielle, just a year ago, I was a simple man living a single life in the military who had given me my sole sense of purpose, even when my previous taste of love had abandoned me. I didn't know what to expect when I first met you, but after understanding that we both fill niches in both of our lives, I realized that I was meant to love someone again and that person is you. It sounds cliché when I say you're perfect for me, but you are and I am the happiest Spartan here because you are about to be my wife."
"Marcus, I too was uncertain what to make when I had first met you. My father had given me a dark moment in my life and it seemed as if I had lost any will to move on from the scarring moment. While you couldn't heal those scars alone, we healed them together and without you, I'd feel like I would be a completely different person. Like you said, marrying you would make me the happiest woman here."
He turned to Marcus, "Do you, Marcus Eric Austal take the woman before you to be your wedded wife? To love her, comfort, protect and cherish her for the remainder of your days?"
All eyes fell unexpectedly on him and he nodded, "I do."
"And you Gabrielle Valerie Addison take the man before you to be your wedded husband? To love him, comfort, protect and cherish him for the remainder of your days?"
"I do." Her smile was one of the biggest he had ever seen.
"Now, Marcus please repeat after me."
He listened to the preacher before repeating, "I, Marcus Eric Austal take you to be my lawfully wedded wife to have and hold from this day forward. To love, cherish and stand beside in both joyful and trying times until death do us part."
"Gabrielle."
"I, Gabrielle Valerie Addison take you to be my lawfully wedded husband to have and hold from this day forward. To love, cherish and stand beside in both joyful and trying times until death do us part."
At the same time, Fowler stepped forward, handing him a ring.
"The ring is in a circle shape because of its never ending cycle of renewal, rebirth and completion with a symbol of eternity, without a beginning or end."
Gabrielle's mouth dropped open, instead of the gold and silver ring he had originally presented upon proposal, this new one was a silver band with a dark obsidian inside. She instantly knew what it was.
The preacher took the ring to hand it to Austal, "This ring was fused with intact pieces of Marcus' previous armor during his time of service on Providence. Being sealed inside for eternity, Gabrielle now always will have a part of him wherever he may be at any time."
The ring was slipped onto her right hand by him as he looked into her eyes, "Gabrielle, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vows. With this ring, you will always have a part of me wherever I am. With this ring, I thee wed."
Now she took a small gold ring to slip on his finger. This one was instead white gold in color and had a single dark blue emerald on the main surface. An engraving was on the bottom reading, "With this ring, I thee wed."
"Marcus, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vows. With this ring, I will always be with you and my love will accompany you and will remain strong no matter the danger that you may face. With this ring, I thee wed."
The preacher stepped forward, "With the exchange of the rings, Gabrielle and Marcus, you have consented to be married to one another until death do you part. With the witnesses here and in God's presence, we ask to shed happiness, safety, a long and prosper life upon these newly weds. By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you to be husband and wife! Marcus, you may kiss your bride!"
Gabrielle couldn't wipe the silly grin off her face as she leaned forward. Suddenly she felt something wrap around her back and let out a startled gasp.
Marcus had lifted her above him and they then shared the best kiss in their lifetimes. Both were vaguely aware of the others cheering, but it felt as if they were along together. When they had broken apart, they looked out over the celebrating crowd with huge smiles on their faces.
"It is my pleasure to announce to all of you, Mr. and Mrs. Austal!"
Their reception place had agreed to hold it a few days earlier, but the couple and their bridesmaids and groomsmen had spent a half hour with pictures before heading into a nice hotel that lay on Sydney's beachside.
After a dinner worthy of an emperor, both Fowler and Madeline offered toasts to the new couple before Marcus and Gabrielle shared their first dance. Afterwards, Gabrielle tossed the bouquet which was caught by Madeline, much to her delight. Marcus had a wolfish grin on his face as he slipped the lacey garter off her thigh and flung it over his shoulder, being caught by a young little boy, a son of one of the Spartans whose cheeks flushed red after Madeline asked for a dance. A laugh ensued when he hid behind his father's legs, too flustered to respond.
All in all, it was a beautiful ceremony, but despite the happiness, the prospect of going right back into combat in mere hours hung in his mind nonstop. Every Spartan there was going to be deployed and were departing in an hour.
Right after he was getting married, Eon was being called back into duty at Requiem in one of the most dangerous territories inside the Forerunner shield world.
The majority of the partying time, Austal and Gabrielle went around thanking people for coming before he gently took her aside as they strolled on the beach.
Several guests had looked out to see what was going on before Fowler and Pine had ushered them away.
"Let's give them a little privacy."
Austal thumbed away tears that had begun to fall down his new wife's eyes as he gave her a gentle hug, "It's only for a couple weeks. We're all going to be on good hands and I'll be back before you know it."
"What happens if you get injured again or killed?" The worry was here more than ever.
"I won't." His effort to try and make light of the situation was best he could muster. Despite that, it severely pained him to think if he died over there. She would only be married temporarily with nearly zero time to spend with her husband before getting widowed.
"You promise?"
Marcus gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, "I promise."
He did keep his promise, returning home safely before whisking them both away to a well-deserved honeymoon.
Their original plan was to go to New Corsica, a place where they had both been born to spend at a resort for nothing but relaxation, but costs of the trip were too much at the moment. So he had settled a better place.
Hawaii.
He had always wanted to go to Hawaii as a child and they had reserved a private beach that specialized in such quiet vacation getaways that included honeymoons.
It was hard to think that two days ago, he had been shot at by fanatical Covenant and Prometheans and now was finally reunited with his beautiful wife, whom they had a lot of catching up to do after he had been stolen to Requiem.
Their place was just a walk away from a blue ocean and it felt serene with the sound of waves crashing against the surf in the background.
The lights warmly lit their bedroom as he carried her inside and set her down on the soft bed in the center. She rolled over on her stomach and looked back up at him.
"First time?" He asked.
She nodded. "I'm just worried, I'll disappoint."
"Disappoint?" He chuckled, "Never. You're too gorgeous for that. Mrs. Austal."
She grinned, her hands spreading apart and her gaze had drifted to his shirt, him pulling it off as he slowly moved on top of her on all fours, "I like the sound of that."
"Me too." His hands glided along her curvy body, enjoying her lingerie and he pulled the blanket over them.
Marcus placed his lips at the nape of her neck, hitting Gabrielle's sensitive spot to make her gasp, feeling a chill run through his body. Underneath, she had broken it off and turned around to face him.
"I love you Marcus."
He kissed her on the lips, "I love you too Gabs."
They make such a happy couple!
Well that wraps up the second volume of Eon, but you can guarantee that there will be a third! In the meantime, the Blades will be back with their fifth adventure!
A special thank you to all those who subscribed, followed, favorite and of course reviewed. You all give my writing purpose and I do it for all of you!