Alright, here's chapter 3! Thanks for all those who took an interest in this fic! I'm having so much fun writing it, that I've started to fall behind on my homework…so if there's ever a gap in my updates, it's because I'm catching up. But don't worry! I've got the whole thing planned out, so it'll all be up here eventually. Enjoy!

I drummed my fingers on the tablecloth, tiredly listening to various speeches and announcements. No wonder these things only happened every 100 years! They were dull. Of course, it would soon be over with the speeches, and then everyone would be free to dance and mingle…despite the singer mysteriously going missing. I wasn't saying anything, but after six verses of 'da-ba-do-wah, dab-do-wah,' I had explicitly seen Leah and Damian shove some lady into a closet. Various kids who I presumed to be students were in uniform, handing out beverages, though one idiot had been thrown out for deafeningly announcing his name and stealing food. My mother was sitting over at the table for 'important people'-AKA Love, the Elements, Time, ect. Most of the Gods were projecting through in their avatar forms, as very few are normally humanoid and even fewer could fit their true bodies in a ballroom. I had been dropped at the kids' table with the other Jr. Forces like myself. Most of them were fidgeting uncomfortably, not used to being in the same dimension as their parents, let alone the same room.

Eventually it was my mother's turn to speak, not that I would know if I didn't happen to be looking up- my headphone buds had been shoved in my ears for the past hour. I probably should've perked up in case I was quizzed later, but she had started to go off about the balance (like I always said-it's a hippie cult! You need your own tye-dye kit to enter!), instantly causing me to zone out. It wasn't until after I vaguely felt the room rumble with clapping that I felt someone nudge my shoulder. I extracted a single headphone, and looked over at Isaac.

"What?"

Whoa, he looked awful. Why was he so pale?

"L.J.!" Mary hissed across the table, startling me with the urgency in her tone. "Why didn't you tell us! ?"

I looked at her blankly. "Tell you what?"

"That you're bloody engaged!"

I blinked.

"Huh? I'm not! What?" I was just confused now.

"Well your mother just said you are!"

This was one weird joke. "Well this is the first I've heard of it!"

"What do you mean this was the first you've heard of it! ?" Adam loudly whispered furiously. "You're getting married!"

"I mean this is the first I've heard of it!" Now I was getting upset, because their was this bitter, creeping sensation crawling around in my gut.

I took out my other earpiece, and suddenly realized how really, really quiet the room was. And then I saw everyone staring at my end of the table.

"Um."


It was after the speeches had ended and everyone was free to socialize that I was absolutely jumped by my friends and Godling charges from the Institute.

"This is a weird joke, right boss?" Josh, son of Winter leaned as far across the table as he could to look at me. "Great Mother's trying to jerk you around or something?"

"Of course. I mean… almost definitely."

At least for the 'jerking around' part, but as far as a joke… I was becoming less and less sure. No one was laughing. I had heard no punchline.

To be honest, arranged marriages weren't completely unheard of in our species, but they were few and mostly revolved around the Balance, so we always saw them coming. They were the same relationships our parents had established- Fire with Air, Water with Earth, for example. I had not seen this coming, and as far as I knew, my mother had never been married to anyone. My stomach gave another twist as I looked at who was sitting with Lord Death- that crazy-druggie-emo boy from before, who for some reason got to sit at the adult table.

The more I began to think about it, the more it began to make a sick kind of sense. My mind drifted back to the 'important conversation' from before. Damn it all. Especially the fact that if I hadn't snuck out, I could have learned this beforehand and be halfway to Europe by now. Crazy boy didn't look surprised at all, he didn't even look that crazy at the moment. Had he known? Guess his family life didn't suck as much as mine. And if I weren't about to throw up my lunch, I'd have internally admitted that he actually was kinda attractive. He had good posture, anyway. Was this… possibly… for real? A bunch of the waiter-kids were staring, but that couldn't have mattered less. Because one thing was for sure. Heads were gonna roll. Hopefully mine wouldn't be one of them…


Later that night…

"What the hell, mom! What. The. Hell!" I was in Death's office, screaming and waving my arms around like they were signal flags.

If only I knew how to say 'No! Stop, crash imminent!' In flag.

"I tried to tell you-"

"Thaaaat's not the point." I said hastily, trying to cover up the part that was my fault (and the fault of my semi-intoxicated outburst). "The point is that I am 16 and getting married to a stranger!"

"L.J., this was planned for a very long time."

Oh, I'm sorry? Was that meant to make me feel better? BECAUSE IT DID NOT. I looked around wildly for my next tactic.

"What, this- this is bloody arbitrary silliness, is what this is! You're gone for 4 bloody years and now- augh, oy! You, emo guy! What do you feel about this!" I pointed to him, who was sitting in some fancy chair and watching me like a somewhat amusing television show- which I have to admit, is not so strange considering the way I was acting.

He thought silently for a moment, but I didn't miss his eyes narrowing slightly at my name-calling. Finally he said,

"My goal in life is to make the world symmetrical."

…Good for him? Augh, maybe he was on drugs.

"For light and darkness to be completely balanced."

Oh dear god.

It couldn't be so and come on emo guy don't do this to me-

"Marrying you would the personification of that, and would be a significant step to my goal, so I'm told."

Ooooh-ho-ho-ho, hell. No.

I blinked. "You are seriously willing to marry me, a complete stranger, for the sake of symmetry? The world's gone crazy… I must have gone crazy!"

I had to find a new angle to work and fast-oh yes! I'll take Damian's idea and play victim!

"I-I'm just a kid! I'm not ready! I've never even had a real boyfriend!"

"L.J. relax. You get a choice." My mother said, and I could tell by her voice that she was getting exasperated.

"I do!" I couldn't help but hope.

"Of course. Either this…or let the world slip into unbalance and chaos."

Hm…

"L.J.!" Apparently I wasn't supposed to think about it for that long.

"W-wait." I paused. "If life and death have to join like you say, why didn't you two get married?"

"Are kidding?" Death and my mother said together, "I can't stand him/her."


"You're moving to NEVADA! ? HERE! ?" Leah yelled as we all sat on the front steps of the school.

"What do you mean, her? We're moving to Nevada." Isaac said, slumping over. "Elements can't be too far from Life. And that counts for us and L.J. too."

Leah spun on me. "I hate you."

"Hmph." I grunted, not wanting to argue so much as sulk.

"Hold up. If what they say is true, what's kept the world from falling apart thus far?" John asked.

"You weren't listening in class, Johnny." Mary said, poking him in the head. "Life and Death made a contract, saying that for each soul that was killed/devoured, a new soul would be born, good or bad. It keeps good and evil equal. And up 'till, say, a few years ago, that kept the balance. But recently, with all the new madness, discord, and the Gods' interference it hasn't been enough. New adjustments have to be made. See, Life and Death should have joined in Union together back then, but instead it's been pushed off onto you guys."

"They taught that in our class?" John asked.

"The first bit. The rest requires at least two brain cells to rub together."

"Well, it still sucks." Damian sighed. "…I get to ride in the limo at your wedding, right?"

Adam had to restrain me for the next ten minutes to keep me from strangling him.

Once I had calmed down, I plopped myself back onto the pavement grudgingly.

"I'm not actually getting married until I'm eighteen, Damian. They just announced it tonight because they thought it'd be something 'special' to say it at the Gathering. Pfft."

"So you won't even be able to legally drink at your own damn wedding! ?" Damian spluttered. "Sucks."

My eye twitched at how he was completely missing the point, but I said nothing.

"What sort of engagement ring is that?" Leah pointed at the skull-ring on my finger.

"Oh, you like?" I asked with weary sarcasm, "Emo's got two of them to preserve his 'symmetry.'"

"…Really 'sucks."

"Hm." Hey wait.

…At some point some one really ought to tell me this guy's name.