Okay, I'm back from my vacation to the Land of the Long, White Cloud so I'm diving right back into it. Sp all rise and tuck in your shirt's for chapter six!
Chapter Six – My Boyfriend's Wedding
"Excuse me, but may I ask what exactly we are doing?" a very formal looking pixie with lavender hair, blue eyes and dressed in a blue gown that looked like it belonged in a period play asked politely.
"Stella's boyfriend Brandon is currently being held hostage in a place called Down Land where their Queen, Amentia, plans to marry him against his will so she can have the perfect husband. Apparently she's a perfectionist, only she's taken it to an insane new level," Layla explained as the group walked through the tunnels. Stella had stormed off immediately after the group decided it was time to save Brandon, and the others had to almost jog to keep up with the pace she was setting.
"So, who are these other pixies?" Bloom asked, looking at the group that now fluttered along with them.
"Oh, how incredibly rude of us," the formal looking pixie gasped, a horrified look on her tiny face. "My name in Tune and I am the Pixie of Manners. May I also introduce Digit."
"Hello," the blue pixie greeted formally.
"Chatta," Tune continued.
"Hi there!" the blonde pixie who's hair was pulled up into two long pig tails to give her a cheer leader like look almost screamed.
"Zing."
"Hey-ya," a pixie wearing what looked like a bumble bee costume waved.
"And Glim," Tune finished. Glim, a tubby looking orange pixie, made a gurgling noise as a greeting.
"It's nice to meet you all," Bloom smiled warmly, but Stella was quickly losing patients.
"Enough chit chat, people!" she ordered, marching along. "We've got to get to that dreary Down Land and bust up this bogus wedding that pasty cave queen's got planned. I swear, I'm gonna gouge out her big, bug like eyes!"
"Stella, we can't just storm into Amentia's castle," Sky tried to tell her as he lit the tunnel with a torch. "We need a plan."
"You wonna a plan? I tell you what the plan is; I'm goin' in there, smacking her around and takin' my man back!" Stella told him in a tone of voice that clearly indicated that she planned to do exactly that. "Nobody is going to steal my boyfriend!"
"But if we come up with a battle plan we'll have a much better chance at success," Sky tried to warn her, but all he got in response was a feral growl for Stella. "Believe me."
"I read that being in love impairs your ability to think clearly," the pixie Chatta said and Sky got the feeling that with Stella, that was exactly the case.
"Love's about feeling," Amore defended sweetly. "It's not about thinking, Chatta."
"Pick it up, guys!" Stella snapped, storming off down the tunnel.
Sky sighed and knew that he had to try and make Stella see reason. Sure, he wanted to stop this wedding as well, but rushing in there without planning something was not the way to go. "We're hugely outnumbered and you three don't have your powers."
"So what?"
Bloom decided to try a different approach and took a seat on the ground to try to get Stella to stop. Layla and Sky both stopped as well, but Stella just kept right on marching. "Why don't we just sit here for a sec and think about how we'll pull this off?" Bloom tried but Stella completely ignored her. "She's not even listening to me."
"I'll talk to her," Chatta said, flying over to the enraged sun princess. "Hey! Stella!"
But before Chatta had a chance to say anything further, Stella let out another scary growl which caused Chatta to pale. "We're not going to stop and we don't have any time to lose!"
"Okay, somebody just needs to explain logically why we can't rush in there like hot heads," Digit advised and Sky quickly started after Stella.
"Digit's right. Listen Stella, the third rule of tactics states very clearly that emotion is the enemy of victory," Sky told her and when Stella came to a stop he thought he had finally gotten through to her. However, that thought quickly dissolved when he saw that Stella was now actually shaking in rage.
"I'm going in!" Stella finalized turning around and getting right up in Sky's face. "Kay? You can come or you can stay!"
Sky flinched as Stella snatched torch out of his hands and stormed off toward Down Land and her imprisoned boyfriend. 'Wow, Stella can be really scary when she wants to be.'
"Amore, I do not envy you being bonded with her," Digit said, echoing relatively the same thoughts Sky had for Brandon.
Amore, however, didn't seem to mind in the slightest. "Oh, I think she's the best."
"She's certainly committed," Tune agreed.
"That's one word for it," Zing muttered under her breath, but the group followed after Stella none to less.
Brandon slouched as the two four armed guards that flanked his sides practically dragged him through the halls of Amentia's palace. The groom-to-be would have walked on his own, except he no longer had the strength, so he relied on the guards support as he stumbled between them.
"Please," he croaked wearily. "I'll do anything. I'll serve a thousand years in servitude. I'll eat dirt. I'll sit through hours of Battle History class. Hell, I'll even try to teach Lex advanced philosophy. Just, please, no more grooming. Please."
One of the guards nodded curtly and said, "We have to take you to the Queen and get her approval."
Brandon didn't think he had been through anything as horrific as Queen Amentia's pre-wedding perfection ritual. Every inch of his skin – and that was really every inch – of his skin had been scrubbed and measured for Amentia's benefit. His Red Fountain uniform had been taken from him and he had been dressed in what he viewed to be one of the most ridiculous outfits in existence. He even almost wished that a rescue party wouldn't come for him so no one would see him like this. The squire wore a cape about his neck as well as a large necklace. Head band wrapped around his head and he had Down Land sandals on his feet. Amentia had denied him a shirt of any kind so the only thing covering his body was a piece of material that one could probably call a skirt if it didn't go against everything about what Brandon was, though he did find it to be surprisingly free and breezy.
"The eyebrow plucking really wiped him out," one of the guards commented as they approached Queen Amentia's private quarters. The young queen was sitting at her dressing table applying her lipstick to her cold lips. Both the guards came to attention "Your Majesty, we have finished Brandon's pre-wedding perfection ritual."
"Good," Amentia said calmly. "So he's been de-germed?"
"Yes, you Majesty."
"He's pours have been unclogged and his toe nails been cut to the exact same length?"
"Yes," the guard said as they threw Brandon forward. The young hero stumbled slightly, but he managed to keep his feet as his support was taken from him. "But you should know that we measured his arms and that the left one is one millimeter longer, but that's normal. He's almost perfect."
Amentia suddenly went very still. Getting up to her feet, she moved towards the guards, seething with fury. "There is no such thing as almost perfect! Everything in life is either perfect or imperfect and imperfection is utterly and completely unacceptable!" the queen screeched. She completely snapped and slashed at their faces with her lipstick, causing massive, red crosses to be drawn on their helmets. "Is that clear gentlemen?!"
"Yes!" both guards saluted before they made a break for it, leaving the engaged couple alone in Amentia's room.
"I guess I'm not suitable for you," Brandon said, and he couldn't lie and say that he wasn't relieved that he had a small right arm. If it meant getting out of this marriage, Brandon would gladly cut of his arm to the elbow. Amentia, however, seemed unfazed as she closed the door and turned to face him, giggling girlishly "I'm sorry to disappoint you but I'm sure the perfect guy is out there. Huh?"
Brandon looked at the Queen to see that she was not at all put off by the tiny fault. In fact, she looked almost seductive as she glided over to where he stood.
'Oh no.'
"Wait! I'm not perfect!" Brandon tried to tell her, and in a panic he backed right up into her bed. As his legs hit the sides, he lost his balance and fell onto the perfectly soft bed. His worst nightmare became realized as Amentia followed after him and climbed on top of him to straddle his hips. 'Not good! So not good!'
"You're arm can be fixed," she told him. "I'll take care of it right now. A little stretching should do the trick."
"Please, get off me," Brandon begged, not liking this compromising position at all. There was only one girl that Brandon wanted to be in this situation with and Amentia definitely wasn't her.
"Why? Do you like it?" Amentia purred, leaning over to get her face right up close to his. Brandon instantly started to sweat, and not at all in a good way. "But of course you do."
"Amentia, please."
Amentia looked oddly pleased at Brandon's panic, but she climbed off him with a sly smile. "However, no matter how strong our urges may be, we cannot give into desire," she said, before looking over her shoulder and giving Brandon a smoldering look. "At least, not until our wedding night."
Brandon suddenly felt like he had just had a bucket of ice cold water dumped over him. Wedding night? That horrific thought hadn't even entered his mind up until that point, but it did make sense. Wedding night and honeymoons traditionally followed a wedding and the happy couple was expected to finalize their marriage on that night. Brandon had fooled around with girls in the past, but he had never 'gone all the way' with one before, and the thought of having this pale, controlling cave queen as his first made Brandon start to hyperventilate.
'I've got to get out of here.'
Breaking into a blind panic, Brandon tried to make a bolt for it, but as he shot past Amentia, the Queen of Down Land took firm hold of his right hand and jerked back on it with such force that it sent Brandon tumbling to the ground. Amentia may look like a weak, spoiled young woman, but she had enough strength to almost rip Brandon's arm out of its socket.
"There. One millimeter longer," she commented dryly and Brandon cupped his aching shoulder. "Now you're perfect, my husband-to-be."
"Where I'm from, a person can't get married without parental permission if their under the age of eighteen (1)," Bloom said as the group walked through the tunnel. "Maybe Brandon can get out of it that way."
"Yeah, but Amentia's the Queen of the realm he's getting married in, so I'm sure she could overrule a law like that," Sky pointed out.
"Isn't eighteen a little young for people to be allowed to get married?" Layla asked.
"Not when you consider that people much younger can become parents."
"I'm not going to get married till I'm thirty," Bloom informed the group.
"That's old," Stella commented.
"There's a realm in the eastern magical dimension where to concept of marriage doesn't even exist," Sky told the others. Of course, in that particular realm, only one out of every eight babies born was male so in order of the population to be maintained, a man couldn't be restricted to one sexual partner. Every heterosexual teenage boy dreamed at one time or another to visit such a promiscuous realm, but Sky didn't think the girls needed to hear about that right now.
"I don't see why people even need marriage. I'm not getting married," Layla said before looking at Sky. "How 'bout you?"
"Oh, I don't know," Sky skillfully side stepped. He had already been engaged once and he didn't really feel like answering that question while the girl who caused him to break off that engagement was walking three feet away from him.
"I always though royalty had to get married. You know, kind of like a requirement?" Bloom said.
"I'm going to get married when I'm twenty-five and Vira Won is going to design my wedding dress," Stella said as if all this had already been arranged. "The whole kingdom of Solaria will be invited. Bloom and Layla, you will be two of my bridesmaids."
"Oh, that's great," Layla said with a vast lack of enthusiasm. But the conversation about weddings stopped when the tunnel suddenly came to an end and opened out into a massive cavern that housed the entire civilization of Down Land.
"Hey, this is it!" Stella said, looking out over the whitish-green city. "Bleak, isn't it?"
"I've seen nicer realms," Bloom said delicately.
"It's in desperate need of some colour," Stella noted. "If I could just . . . oh well. It's not my kingdom."
"Ah!" Lockette suddenly gasped. "Look!"
Sky followed Lockette's trembling finger and saw what had the little pixie so spooked. "Quiet, one of their guards is coming."
Ducking behind one of the many rocks Down Land had on offer, the teenagers and the pixies all hid as the giant guard passed by them. And if all the guards were as massive as that guy, Sky knew that they were going to have a bit of trouble sneaking into Amentia's castle to try and save Brandon from a fate worse then death.
"Everybody, keep the noise down," Bloom ordered before stepping out from behind the rock. "Alright, c'mon. Follow me."
Keeping low, the teenagers crept out from behind the rock to move to another large rock. If they could just keep hidden like this, they might have a chance.
"C'mon," Layla said to the pixies. The tiny little creatures flew out from behind the rock, but they didn't make the same effort to stay low as the others did. "Stay down!"
Sky almost laughed out loud as the pixies literally dropped in mid air to fly closer to the ground. Moving from rock to rock, the group managed to enter the city without being spotted, but the city of Down Land proved to be a much harder terrain to conceal themselves than the area surround it was. Most of the streets were empty as the trog prepared to attend their queens wedding, but countless guards and sentries still patrolled the streets.
"We're going to have to create a distraction," Sky said as they watched one guard that was currently blocking their path.
Layla looked around for something that they could use, and she ended up selecting a rock. Handing it to Sky she said, "Here use this."
Understanding her plan instantly, Sky accepted the rock and hurled it in the direction of the guard. He wasn't aiming to hit the giant trog, but to have the rock land not far from him. The sound of the rock hitting the stone ground of the city alerted the guard who quickly went off into that direction to investigate. Without wasting any time, the group bolted out from their hiding place to move deeper into the city, but as she ran out into the open, Stella tripped over her own feet and fell hard onto the ground. "Oh!"
"Stella!" Bloom gasped, skidding to a stop. "Hey."
The guard that had just left the area must have heard them, because he turned around and started making his way back to the street he was just patrolling. Bloom helped Stella to her feet since it looked like the sun princess was once again suffering from an energy drain.
"Everyone, in here!" Sky said as loudly as he dared, opening the door to one of the trogs houses. No one was home, so it could act as a hiding pace for them for a few minutes. Layla quickly hurried inside, but the pixie's and the other two fairies were still outside and the guard was getting closer. "Quickly now! Go! Hurry!"
The pixies all flew in and then took hiding under the trog cookware that was sitting on one of the shelves. Stella and Bloom then followed with Stella leaning heavily on Blooms shoulder. The blonde had gone very pale again and she looked like she was fighting the urge to be sick.
"Everybody be quiet," Layla whispered, trying to hear if the guard had followed them. "Maybe he'll go by."
"Be quiet," Sky stressed and everyone fell silent. Stella swayed slightly where she stood, and when her balance wavered she placed her hand on the table to help support her. Unfortunately, her hand hit a butter knife that had been left on the table and it was knocked to the ground. Everyone flinched at the sound it made.
"Huh?" the guard grunted, not sure if he had heard anything or not.
Sky pulled out his phantom blade just to be on the safe side, but he didn't extending it right away. He wasn't even certain that the trog had heard the noise, so the prince wasn't going to jump the gun and blow their cover.
"Huh? Uh–uh," Layla whispered to Sky when she saw the sword and she proved right when the guard passed by without search for the source of the sound. Everyone collectively let out a sigh of relief.
"How do you feel?" Bloom asked Stella as soon as she figured it was safe to talk.
"A little dizzy but I think I'm going to be alright," Stella assured her friend. Sky knew that Stella probably shouldn't be down here away from the sun, but he also knew that he had no chance in hell to talk her out of finding Brandon. But at the same time, Sky was well aware of the fact that if anything happened to Stella, Brandon would probably kill him.
'Damned if I do and dammed if I don't,' Sky thought glumly to himself. Chatta was right; being in love really did impair someone's ability to think clearly and as a result it gave everyone around that person a painful headache. But all thoughts on that matter were driven from Sky's mind as something hit the door from the outside, giving off a loud banging sound. Layla let out a gasped and Sky responded by extending his sword to full length. They were going to find Brandon and get the hell out of this place, even if it meant cutting their way out of here
The door flew open and Sky got ready for a fight, but he froze when he saw that the creature on the other side of the door wasn't a guard at all. Instead, it was a long tailed cat that came saluting into the place as if it owned it.
"Oh, hey kitty," Bloom greeted with an obvious note of relief in her voice. Sky felt his own body relax as he withdrew his sword. The cat observed each of them regally with its golden eyes, then turned up its nose at them and continued on its way.
"That cat's got an attitude problem," Sky said. He was more of a dog person than a cat person anyway (2).
"Hundreds of years ago, cats were worshiped as gods by this civilization on Earth," Bloom explained. "My dad always says that they've never forgotten that."
"Hey, it's clear," Layla told them, checking the street outside. "Let's go."
The group headed off again, and the pixie's followed behind them with the cookware that they had hidden under in the house still over them. It meant that no one to see them, but it also meant that they couldn't see where they were going so they soon got separated from the teenagers.
"Where are the pixies?" Layla asked when she realized that they were missing.
"They were right behind us," Bloom said, looking back the way they had just come.
The location of the missing pixies was answered for them when they all heard a trog woman say in a loud voice, "Isn't that your cookware, Martha?"
"Yes!" the trog called Martha exclaimed. "Thieves! Someone stop them! Thieves!"
"You think that's the pixies?" Sky asked.
"It's gotta be," Layla replied, glancing in the direction that Martha's voice had came from. A relived smiled spread across her face and she waved at someone. "There they are."
The pixies, their disguises gone, flew over to them as fast as their little wings could take them. Glim, who was still wearing a can over her, however, couldn't see where she was going and flew straight into a wall. The canned pixie dropped to the ground where the pixie remained trapped, kicking her tiny legs in an attempt to get free.
"She's stuck," Sky couldn't help but chuckle. Crouching down, he picked up the can with the pixie still inside. "Let me help. Here."
After shaking the can a few times, Glim popped out and smiled graciously up at her rescuer. Sky smiled back, but that quickly vanished as a large shadow feel over him from behind. Before Sky had a chance to react, the massive trog guard knocked him over the head, smacking him senseless. (3)
When Sky slowly started coming around, Bloom had just taken care of the guard that had attack him, but two more came running up to replace him.
"We have intruders," one of the guards announced, moving in to seize said intruders. Layla and Stella suddenly joined them, but they were both running away from another guard.
"This is where a plan would have been good," Layla said as the giant trogs moved in on them.
"Let's improvise," Sky suggested, but when he couldn't think of anything that would immediately get them out of this mess, he fell to his back up plan; run.
"So Sky, what did you have in mind?" Stella panted as they ran.
"Not sure," Sky told her offhandedly.
"We're faster than them," Bloom pointed out as the distance between them and the heavy guards increased. "I say we just keep running."
"Okay," Sky agreed. "Straight ahead to Amentia's castle."
With their plan set, the four teenagers knuckled down and started putting all their strength into their pumping legs, and the gap between them and their pursuers kept growing. But then, there was a sharp whistle from behind, followed by one of the trogs yelling, "Guard Worm!"
"What's a guard worm?" Sky wondered out loud.
"Don't know, but how bad could it be?" Layla replied just as the ground started to shake. The cave wall in front of them smashed inwards to reviled a massive, cream coloured worm. The teenagers froze as they observed the massive monster and suddenly all chances of escaping that thing seemed very small. "Very bad," Layla answered her own question.
"Yup," Sky agreed as he stared in awe that the worm. That thing was freakin' huge! And it had completely cut off their escape rout. The trog guards came up behind them and this time there was no side stepping them.
"You're coming with us," one of the guards told them gruffly.
"You're gonna insist on that, now aren't you?" Stella asked as the guards moved in the seize them.
Preparations for Amentia's wedding had moved forward at an alarming pace and in less that twenty-four hours, the front courtyard had been set up to hold a grand, elegant wedding. It was all perfect, just as Amentia would have wanted it, but for Brandon it looked as inviting as an execution stage. Feeling like a man on death row, Brandon stood at the window of his private quarters that Amentia had arranged for him, staring down at the courtyard. The only other living creature in the room – Brandon didn't count the two guards post at his door to make sure he didn't try to make a break for it as being in the room with him since there were on the other side of the doors anyway – was a strange little parrot that Brandon called Birdy. Birdy had a rather astounding level of awareness and a vast vocabulary for a bird, however, he was not using either of these things to make Brandon feel any better.
"Oh man, are you in for it," Birdy squawked from his perch. "It's going to be bad. You're in Down Land. Husbands are only second in the pecking order to me. I feel for you man. I feel for ya."
Brandon sighed and walked away from the window. He couldn't look down there any more. Moving over towards Birdy's perch, Brandon looked at his little feathered friend. "Thanks buddy. I never thought that things would end up like this for me."
"Life is twisted," Birdy replied.
"Yup, one day you're going on a routine mission. You're just there to support your girlfriend and the next day you're engaged."
"Your life's over."
Even though Birdy was probably the closest thing Brandon had to a friend in this place, the little parrot wasn't being too helpful. "That's it! I'm getting out of this realm! There's got to be a way out of here!"
"There isn't," Birdy told him. "I've tried."
Trying to rack his brain for some kind of an idea, Brandon jumped when the sound of the door opening and one of the guards entered the room. "They are ready for you to make your entrance," the trog told the groom.
"What did I do to deserve this?" Brandon asked the heavens, but he got no answer.
"The bride mother will walk you down the aisle. Here comes Her Majesty," the guard announced as the ground started to shake as if a stamped was making its way down the hall way.
"Hey! Heads up! Don't let her step on your toe!" Birdy warned as Amentia's mother entered the room.
Brandon's father had once told his oldest son never to be disrespectful to royalty in their presence, no matter what you think of them or their actions. But Brandon couldn't help but gawk at the Queen Mum as she made her entrance. The lady was massively obese and looked as though she may have been related to the ogre Knut. How could a girl as thin and as oddly beautiful as Amentia be the offspring of someone like that?
"I'm so delight to finally meet the man that's going to tend to my daughters every need," Amentia's mother greeted, playfully tapping him on the back with one of her flabby hands, but the blow was strong enough to knock Brandon off his feet. "Look at you. You could use a little meat on your bones."
"This is going to be bad," Brandon predicted.
"Told ya," Birdy squawked as Brandon slowly got to his feet. That was going to bruise, he could feel it.
"I'll put you on my secret weight gain diet but we'll control your weight so it's always is an even number. That's crucial. Amentia can't stand odd numbers," Amentia's mother told him before dragging Brandon off to face his doom. "Ah, welcome to the family. Chop chop! The sooner you're married the sooner you can start serving Amentia."
"Oh boy," Brandon groaned.
"Hope you can clean or you're in for it."
"Welcome to Queen Amentia's wedding!" Brandon heard someone announce over the loudspeaker outside. Brandon had seen all the guests arrive from his private quarters, so now all that they were waiting for was the happy couple to make their entrance.
"You'd better make my daughter happy," the Queen Mum said as they walked through the corridors of Amentia's castle.
"Oh, I'm sure I will," Brandon said with a vast lack of enthusiasm.
"Because you know if you don't, we'll eat you for dinner, right?" the trog laughed, making Brandon's blood freeze.
"For real?"
"Oh, absolutely."
Brandon stared at the trog in pure horror. What the hell was wrong with these people? And what the hell did he do that was so bad that deserved to be thrown into this freak show? This entire realm was completely wacked!
"Please rise and tuck in your shirts!" (4) Brandon heard the announcer order from outside. "Presenting the incredibly immaculate, positively pristine and perfectly perfect; Queen Amentia!"
Trumpets sounded as Amentia walked down the aisle to the altar, escorted by her father. Inside, her mother led Brandon down the stair case that would take them to the courtyard door.
"All I ever wanted to be was a simple squire," Brandon lamented sadly to himself, as memories from his childhood flashed before his eyes. Meeting Sky and becoming his squire and best friend. Heading off to Red Fountain with his prince in the hopes of becoming a hero. Meeting Timmy and Riven and the havoc they could cause when they put their minds to it. And of course falling head over heels in love with Stella. They all seemed such a happy, distant memory now.
"And now please welcome the groom!" the announcer said as the doors opened and Brandon stepped out into the courtyard. "The luckiest man alive!"
But Brandon didn't feel very lucky as he made his way to the altar. His head remained down for the entire walk and when Amentia's mother left him in front of the priest next to his bride to be, Brandon felt like he was going to be physically ill.
'This can't be happening,' Brandon thought to himself as he looked up at Amentia. 'This is all just some horrible, horrible dream.'
Sensing his eyes on her, Amentia looked at her groom and smiled sweetly. "Hey," she greeted fondly, before blowing him a kiss.
'I can't take this,' Brandon thought before everything went black.
Slap!
"Hey!" someone called as Brandon's brown eyes snapped open. One of Amentia's four armed guards was standing over him and the left side of his face was stinging for some reason. "Wake up."
"Huh?" Brandon grunted, looking around. He was lying on the ground for some reason – not the best idea considering the fact that he was wearing a skirt – and everyone was looking at him.
"Don't hit him too hard," Amentia ordered, observing her fingernails. "My groom cannot have a red mark on the side of his face. Now stand him up and let's get this thing started."
Once the groom was forced back on his feet again the priest began his service. "Down Landers, we are gathered here today to celebrate our Queen. Brandon, you may now say the vow that Queen Amentia requested."
"I promise perfection, cleanliness and order always," Brandon recited as he looked around at all the guards. The chances of him escaping or being rescued were getting smaller by the second.
"Marriage is a union where the man worships the woman," the priest continued. "Where he commits to serve her. He commits to love her, comfort her, cook for her and bestow upon her his hearts deepest devotion. If anyone objects, speak now or forever hold your peace."
"I object!" Brandon instantly spoke.
"Not you. You're not even supposed to talk," the priest told him firmly. "The groom forgets that men should be seen and not heard."
"He's so cute," Amentia gushed.
"Moving on. The groom will pledge his eternal love for the bride. Please bring to the altar the devotion bouquet and the ring," the priest ordered. The seven purple girls entered with rings and flowers and Brandon started to sweat in a state of panic.
'Okay, running out of time!' Brandon screamed in his mind. 'Sky! Now would be a good time to show up man!'
For once the heavens seemed to be listening to his prayers because on one of the bridge pathways that were above the courtyard appeared Sky, Bloom, Layla and Brandon's beloved Stella.
"Guys! Hey guys!!" Brandon called, an insane amount of hope building up inside of him. He could picture it now. The three girls would transform and come flying down at the unsuspecting wedding guest. Balls of fire, sunlight and water molecules would rain down on the trogs and anyone who didn't fall under the fairies attack would have to face the skilled blade of the Prince of Eraklyon. Then Stella would flew in and carry Brandon off into the distance – very fitting since he was still wearing a skirt – and they'd all go home and have one of Saladin's milkshakes. But his face fell and his dreams were dashed to ribbons when he saw that along with his friends, two guards were also on the bridge and by the looks of things they had the teenagers in their custody. "Oh. This stinks."
The trogs held their prisoners hands behind their back and lift them slightly off the ground, a position that was making Sky shoulders burn in agony. One guard held Bloom and Stella, while the other had Sky and Layla. Sky struggled against the awesome grip of the Down Land guard, but no matter what he did he just couldn't seem to get free. "Let go!" the prince ordered, but the giant trog paid no attention to his demands.
Stella somehow managed to slip free from the grip of the guard that was holding her and ran to the side of the bridge. Her honey eyes were wide with horror as she viewed the service below. "Brandon!"
"Stella!" her boyfriend shouted back. (5)
"What is going on?" Amentia's father demanded to know.
The priest peered at the four teenagers on the bridge. "Are they Up Worlders?"
Brandon could only stare at his friends longingly. Over the last twenty-four hours he had wished for nothing more than to see them again, but now it looked like they had arrive too late, and Brandon didn't want them to see him go through with this wedding. It would break Stella's heart. "Oh Stella."
"Don't do it buddy! Don't let you make them do it!" Sky yelled, and Brandon suddenly had an overwhelming desire to punch his best friend in the mouth.
"Take those intruders to the snake pit!" the king of Down Land ordered.
"No!" Brandon shouted. They might not be able to save him from this fate worse than death, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let anything happen to them. "They're my guests."
"Generally the groom's not allowed to have guest," Amentia's mother told him. "But we can put them in the back row as long as they remain quiet."
"And make sure you don't let them eat any of the horsdourves," Amentia's father added.
The guard had seized Stella again, but the blonde princess would not be denied. Breaking free, Stella ran to the side of the bridge to once again try to stop this wedding. "No! Don't do it babe!"
Brandon wanted exactly the same thing she wanted, but he couldn't justify saving himself if it meant putting Stella in danger. Amentia had already threatened to kill her if he refused, and with one word from the queen, the guard would cut Stella's throat with the knife he already had placed there.
"These rings are tokens of your love. Symbols of your unity," the priest continued. "With these rings we will seal the wedding."
"Brandon," Stella sobbed, tears running down her cheeks. "I . . . I love you Snookums."
Any other day, Brandon would be jumping for joy at those words, but right now all he could do was hang his head. He had found the girl of his dreams, but he was being forced to be with another. He suddenly knew how Sky must have felt all last year, but at least Sky was able to get out of his arranged marriage. By the looks of it, Brandon wouldn't be getting his fairy tale ending. "I love you Stella. I'm sorry."
"Do you, Queen Amentia, accept this man as you husband?" the priest asked.
"Yes, I do," Amentia replied as she received the devotion bouquet off her maids.
"No!" Stella wailed. "It can't be!"
Queen Amentia smiled coyly at Brandon, before lifting the flowers to her nose and breathed their scent in deeply. "These flowers . . ." she said in a slightly dazed voice. "They smell so good."
"Hey guys!" Layla suddenly gasped. "That's one of Amore's soul mate blossoms! Look!"
"Soul mate blossoms?" Sky repeated.
"Just watched."
"Oh my," Amentia suddenly said, slipping into a trance like state. Her amber eyes had gone very wide, and her trembling hands lost their grip on the flowers so they fell to the floor. "This is all wrong. Brandon's not the one who's supposed to be next to me at my wedding."
'Oh gods, please tell me this is for real,' Brandon's mind screamed, not daring to trust what Amentia was saying in case it wasn't true. But from the look in Amentia's eyes, this wasn't an act. She was really waking up and realizing that this wasn't right.
"I've never felt like this before. I have to find my true love. Where is my soul mate?" Amentia asked pleadingly, looking around to see if she could find him. But she suddenly faced Brandon and said, "Don't be upset Brandon. I'm sure the blonde will take you back."
In all his life, nothing compared to the fantastic feeling that swelled up inside Brandon as Amentia said that to him. Even being accepted into Red Fountain or realizing that Stella didn't care that he was a squire paled to this moment. Brandon couldn't even begin to put his delight into words, so he simply stared up adoringly at Stella, both of them with an expression of pure delight and relief on their faces.
Amentia was still in search of her soul mate. "I must find him. Where is my love?"
"He's there!" someone shouted, and the entire wedding congregation all looked up to see none other than Sponsus moving towards where the Queen stood by jumping over the back of the chairs.
"Here I am!" he cried. "Here I am, my Queen."
"My soul mate!" Amentia squealed, running towards him as well. Unfortunately, the seven purple dancers were standing between the couple, but Amentia would not be stopped. Plowing into the group, Amentia sent the girls flying into the air as if they were shot out of a cannon, but no one paid any attention to them. All eyes were fixed on their Queen and the sentry that was apparently her soul mate. "I love you!"
"I love you too!"
"Sponsus!"
"Amentia!" Sponsus cried as she crash tackled him into a hug. For a second everyone stared at them, too stunned to even blink, but then as one the crowd cheered, delighted that their Queen had finally found happiness. And Brandon was cheering right along side them.
"Hey Brandon," a voice said softly, and Brandon looked up to see a little pink pixie hovering over his shoulder. And for some reason, the pixie look very pleased with herself. "There's true love waiting for you too."
"You bet there is," Brandon grinned widely, turning his brown eyes upwards and staring up at his beloved girlfriend adoringly. "Stella!"
"Brandon!" Stella cried back. In such a short amount a time that you would have been sure that she had teleported herself down, Stella was running towards Brandon's outstretched arms before launching herself into his embrace. Brandon couldn't remember Stella's skin feeling so smooth, or her hair being so soft, or her ever smelling so damn good, so he burnt it all into his memory. The way her body fit so perfectly against his, the way her fingernails dug gently into his bare back as if to try and prevent losing him again and the way her lips tasted underneath his. Brandon was going to make sure he was never going to forget just how they all felt for as long as he lived.
"Oh Stella," Brandon gasped, planting kisses over every piece of exposed flesh his mouth could find. "Cup cake. Sugar plum. Honey bear. Angel pie. Stella. My Stella, I love you."
"I love you too, Snookums," Stella told him, kissing him soundly on the mouth. She didn't care that virtually the entire population of Down Land was watching them. She was back in her boyfriends unmarried arms and that's all that mattered to her. Pulling back from the kiss, Stella wrapped her slender arms around Brandon's neck and buried her cheek into his chest. "And I'm never losing you again."
"That's fine with me, babe," Brandon said, snaking his arms around her waist and holding her as close as was humanly possible. "That's fine with me."
"So, am I marrying someone today or not?" the priest asked.
"Don't look at us," Stella told him as she continued to hug Brandon. "There's no way I'm getting married in a cave."
"Of course we'll be having a wedding today," Amentia told everyone firmly. "Only now, instead of marrying some Up Worlder, I'll be marrying the most perfect man in Down Land."
"Some Up Worlder?" Brandon repeated in a slightly injured tone. "She said I was perfect before."
"Let it go," Stella advised with a hint of steel in her voice.
"Oh I am, trust me. It's just . . . some Up Worlder?"
"Brandon," Stella warned.
"Sorry."
"But Your Majesty, Sponsus hasn't been through the official pre-wedding perfection ritual," one of the four armed guards pointed out.
"He's my soul mate which makes him completely perfect so there is no need for a pre-wedding perfection ritual," Amentia informed everyone. "And anyone who objects can be thrown in the snake pit."
"Then lets get you two wed right away," Layla voiced for everyone, though Brandon did feel rather annoyed that he had to go through all that torture while Sponsus didn't. But he kept his mouth shut none the less.
"Brandon, take your Up Worlder friends and sit in the back row," Amentia ordered. "I'll give you the honour of attending the ceremony but I can't have any outsiders ruining my perfect wedding."
"Yes Your Majesty," the five teenagers said in unison, moving off to do as they were told. Stella still remained in Brandon's arms, even as they walk, and she was absolutely glowing with pleasure.
"Bet you're relieved that that's now over with," Sky said, slapping his friend on the back. "The mission was a success and as soon as Amentia and Sponsus are happily married we'll head off home."
"Can't wait," Brandon said with undisguised relief. "But first I really need to do this."
Sky was shocked when Brandon hit him sharply over the back of the head. "Ow! What was that for?"
"'Don't do it buddy. Don't let you make them do it'," Brandon mocked what his prince had said a few minutes earlier. "Did you think I was down there for a lark or something? Of course not. I didn't just think 'Sure, I'll get married today just to see what it would be like'. 'Don't let you make them do it'. Is that the best advice you could have given me?"
"Hey, you better start being nice to me or I'll tell everyone that you wore a skirt," Sky threatened.
"You do and the mullet pictures come out." (6)
"You wouldn't dare."
"Try me."
"If you don't mind, Up Worlders, we're about to start the service," the priest glared at them.
"Sorry," the two boys said in unison.
"Down Landers, we are gathered here today to celebrate our Queen. Sponsus, you may now say the vow that Queen Amentia requested . . ."
"I radioed Timmy," Sky told his friend as he walked over to where they stood at Amentia and Sponsus' reception. The wedding was over and once Brandon had been given a chance to change back into his Red Fountain uniform the group had made plans to head home. "He and Riven should be at the entrance they dropped us off at to pick us up soon."
"Thank goodness," Stella sighed, leaning against Brandon with his arm still around his waist. "I am so looking forward to having a shower. I know I got a bit of a wash when I feel into that river but it's just not the same."
"Well, I'm not cleaning myself for a week," Brandon told everyone. He had gotten his fill of grooming with Amentia's pre-wedding perfection ritual so he was looking forward to getting filthy and stinky again.
"Ew, yes you are," Stella objected. "In fact I'm going to make it my mission to buy you some good body wash and make sure that you use it."
"Does that mean we'll be having a shower together?" Brandon grinned wolfishly and Stella instantly elbowed him in the ribs, though a slight smile did tug at the corner of her lips. "What? It'll help save water."
"Brandon," a soft voice called, and Brandon turned to see Sponsus standing behind him with a large crate in his skinny little arms. "This is for you."
"What is it?" Brandon asked, releasing Stella for the first time since Amentia had called off their wedding so he could accept the gift.
"It's a special type of Down Land courage brew to try and apologize for ruining your wedding," Sponsus said, handing the crate over. "This is from the royal potion makers. I'm sorry I took your bride. Take that brew whenever you need courage."
"Thanks Sponsus, but there's really no need for it," Brandon confessed. "I'm just glad everyone ended up happy, that's all."
"Yes, very happy," Sponsus said in a distant voice, staring dreamily at his new wife before turning his big blue eyes back to Brandon. "But I really can't thank you enough for everything. If you Up Worlders had never come to Down Land, then Amentia might not have realized that she needed in her husband was a soul mate, not a pretty face. Please tell me if there is anything else I can do for you."
Brandon was about to decline, when a thought suddenly entered his head. "Actually, there is one thing . . ."
"What the hell is that?" Riven asked as soon as Brandon set foot onto the squad ship.
"It's my new friend," Brandon grinned, putting the courage brew on the ground. "Riv, Timmy, say hello to our new buddy, Birdy."
"Birdy got out of Down Land! Oh yeah! Oh yeah!" Birdy squawked, bouncing up and down on Brandon's shoulder in what looked like a funny little jig. "Birdy got out of Down Land! Oh yeah! Oh yeah!"
"Do you think Codatorta will let you keep him?" Timmy asked, pushing up his glasses as he watched the dancing bird.
"Maybe, I dunno?" Brandon shrugged. "I just had to get this poor guy of Down Land."
"Birdy got out of Down Land! Oh yeah! Oh yeah!"
"Can it get any more annoying?" Riven asked, rubbing his forehead to try to prevent a headache coming on. He had a feeling that Layla was going to be just as difficult as before and being in a small room with Stella always seemed to result in him developing a pounding headache. And this bird was not helping lower those chances one bit.
"You shouldn't stick your fingers into power sockets!" Bridy squawked, making Riven look up sharply.
"What did he say?"
"Nothing, nothing," Brandon assured him, slipping into one of the chairs. Stella quickly snuggled in next to him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"Radio Alfea and tell Ms. Faragonda we're coming home," Bloom said as Timmy took off.
"Sure thing," Timmy said, and Birdy flew over to land on the pilots shoulder to watch what he was doing. "So fill us in guys. What happened while you were down there?"
It took most of the trip for everyone to retell everything that had happened to them since they had been dropped of. All the pixies were introduced to everyone and Timmy told them what had been happening back home while they were gone, which was pretty much nothing so it look less than a minute. The news that the Trix were free and set up with Gloomix's seemed to trouble everyone, as did the strange appearance of the paladin and his cryptic message. But it was the Down Landers and Brandon's would-be wedding that the two boys were most interested in hearing about.
"So let me get this straight; you went on a mission and ended up with a wedding proposal?" Riven asked, to which Brandon nodded. "Only someone as stupid as you could pull that off."
"That's not very nice," the pixies Tune said disapprovingly to the burgundy youth.
"I wasn't trying to be."
"Well, I think your lack of manners or empathy is ghastly."
"Oh, back off bug."
"Hey! Don't you talk to her like that!" Layla snarled, death glaring daggers at Riven.
"If you don't like it then you're more then welcome to start walking," Riven told her sharply, poison dripping from his words. The inevitable glaring match commenced, with Layla and Tune ganging up on Riven.
"Everyone stop it!" Stella ordered sharply. "I'm in too good a mood to have it ruined by your bickering!"
Riven and Layla exchanged one more heated look before stalking off to their own corners of the ship. The two of them were willing listen to the blonde princess this time since Sky had told Riven how scary Stella had been earlier that day and Layla had seen it first hand. Brandon and Stella quickly slipped back into their blissful state and it wasn't long before it started spreading to the others. Sky and Bloom kept exchanging warm glances while Birdy nibbled Timmy's cheek. Layla and Riven avoided eyes contact at all costs, and the pixies were completely enthralled with Stella and Brandon.
"What a lovely day," Amore gushed dreamily.
"Yeah," Lockette agreed.
"I'm going to write you a new cheer," Chatta told the happy couple.
"Hey, Brandon, what's in these bottles?" Riven asked, crouching down to observe the cargo. There were half a dozen bottles in total, and they were filled with a liquid that looked to be alcoholic to Riven.
"It's Down Land courage brew," Brandon explained. "It was an apology gift from Sponsus. Apparently he thought I would have been upset that he stole Amentia off me."
"Did he keep any for himself?" Riven asked. "It seems like if he's going to survive that marriage he's going to need courage brew everyday."
"But they're in love," Amore told him.
"Don't kid yourself with that crap."
Layla was instantly on the offensive. "Back off!"
"Or what?"
"Guys! Stop it!" Sky demanded. "Honestly, you two are acting like children. If you keep this up I'm going to put the two of you in a time out."
"Even if our friends are dysfunctional, I'm glad to be back with them," Brandon confessed to Stella as both Layla and Riven swore at Sky before ripping into each other.
"And I'm happy to be back with you," Stella said to him, kissing him gently on the lips. "I love you."
"And I love you," Brandon smiled softly, wrapping his arms tightly around her. He didn't know where this relationship was going, but right now he never wanted to let go of her again.
(1) Eighteen is the legal age to get married without parental consent in Australia, and now it's the legal age to get married without parental consent in Gardenia as well
(2) In case anyone was wondering, I'm more a cat person than a dog person. I do adore dogs (which I'd have to be since I work for the RSPCA) but they're something about cats that I just love
(3) Another convenient black out
(4) "Please rise and tuck in your shirts!" That is seriously my favourite quote out of all the episodes in all the season of the Win Club, I kid you not. It makes me laugh every time. At one of my old jobs I was watching the episodes instead of working (naturally), and I nearly made myself sick just trying not to laugh out loud at that line. I'm lucky I didn't crack a rib or something. It's just so funny
(5) It's very much A Streetcar Named Desire moment there
(6) See Brothers at Arms, Chapter twenty-One 'The Frozen Palace'
And by the way, cheers to everyone who viewed. That was a nice little present to come home to. Check ya later!
TBC.