Tales of Vesperia: Royal Engagement
Chapter 3: Setting the Stage
Flynn was told the following morning of Yuri and Estelle's decision about the proposed marriage brought up by Ioder. He was completely shocked to hear that Yuri would really go through with it. They met in Estelle's room the following morning.
"Y...You're SURE about this now Yuri?" Flynn asked. Yuri sighed.
"How many times am I gonna have to say it? YES I'm sure." Yuri said. Flynn looked to Estelle and started to blush bright red, thinking of her as Yuri's wife. Estelle quickly noticed Flynn's face.
"Flynn? Are you okay?" Estelle asked. Flynn gasped, starting to stutter and turn away.
"Wh...What? N...N...No! I'm fine Lady Estellise. I...uhh...ahem. I just have something in my eye." Flynn said. Yuri sighed, shaking his head at the sight of Flynn.
"SURE Flynn. You never were good at fooling people." Yuri said. Flynn groaned.
"Sorry Yuri. I guess...I guess I'm not used to the fact that you two decided to go through with this. It's kind of a lot to take in." Flynn said. Estelle smiled, lightly reaching for Yuri's hand.
"To be honest, I had a bit of trouble saying it to Yuri. After he left, I thought about everything the two of us have been through together since we left the capital the first time. And...the more I thought about then...the more I realized that Yuri was someone I could always depend on and turn to when I lost my way." Estelle said. Yuri smirked, blushing lightly himself.
"Estelle..." he muttered.
"Yuri had opened my eyes to all sorts of wonders that I never would have seen if I hadn't left the castle. And even in times of which I was afraid or too nervous to go on, he always encouraged me to follow my heart. That's why..." Estelle said. She was stopped when Yuri slipped out and placed his hand on top of hers.
"Hmph. Lemme just cut in by saying that it was an honor traveling with someone like Estelle. Sure, I'll admit that she was a bit of a pain in the start and I wasn't making things easy for her...no offense." Yuri said. Estelle shook her head, saying she didn't mind. Yuri smirked and continued on.
"If I didn't have Estelle with me when we faced those difficult times on our travels, I don't know where I would be now. She always was so cheerful, never once wanting to show a frown even when things were tough." Yuri continued. Estelle started to blush.
"Yuri..." she muttered.
"So yeah. Even if things don't work out with Brave Vesperia right away, if Ioder says that us marrying could show the guilds and the empire how to get along...then I'll do it." Yuri said, turning back to Flynn. Estelle turned towards Flynn, giving a nod.
"As would I." Estelle said "Without each other, we wouldn't have become the people we are now." Flynn smiled.
"All right then. I guess that's good enough for me. I'll make sure to tell Master Ioder as soon as I meet with him later today." Flynn said. Estelle giggled, deciding to hurry off and tell Rita. But just as Estelle left and Yuri began to follow, he felt Flynn's hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see Flynn's smiling face.
"Yuri? I'm proud of you. You truly made me realize that you and Lady Estellise are perfect for one another. Thanks for making her happy." Flynn said. Yuri smirked, turning to Flynn and the two high fived.
"No problem. I just have one request. Since this is going to be a wedding, you ARE gonna be my best man. Right?" Yuri asked. Flynn lightly gasped, but quickly regained his smile.
"Sure pal." Flynn said.
~ Tales of Vesperia ~
With word of the wedding soon reaching the pleasing ears of Ioder, the process to begin preparations was soon underway. One of the first tasks was delivering invites to the people of Dahngrest, Zaphias and any friends of Brave Vesperia. Yuri's friends decided to take that assignment and soon left with Ba'ul. Repede stayed behind to pass out invites to the citizens of Zaphias.
"All right. So we've got some invites to hand out, right? Where should we start?" Judith asked. Raven smirked, rubbing his chin.
"I've got a pretty good idea of as to who give them out too. And I think I know where to find the right folk. Drop me off around Dahngrest and I'll be quick." Raven said. Ba'ul gave a loud cry as he flew through the skies over the world and arrived in Dahngrest within the hour. Raven quickly departed and found Gauche and Droite at a table in the Sagittarius Tavern. He quietly slipped the invite in front of Gauche, disguised under a dark robe. But Gauche recognized him right away, stopping Raven with but a glance.
"What's going on? What's this?" Gauche asked, holding the invite. Raven smirked.
"Just consider it...a "gift" from us folks at Brave Vesperia. I'm sure Yeager would like to have come." Raven muttered, walking off soon after. Gauche looked at the royal seal on the front and showed it to Droite. Raven hung around, watching until he was sure that the two girls would attend. As he rejoined the others, Karol had went out to give an invite to Harry, Don Whitehorse's grandson.
"Thank you Karol. I'll see to it that I come. I'm sure my grandfather wouldn't want to have missed this." Harry said. Karol thanked Harry and was soon off to join Raven and the others. Their next stop was at Myorzo, with Judith sending invites to her fellow Krityan and to the Elder.
"Hmm. Thank you Judith. I would be honored to come. Your friends are truly some remarkable humans." the Elder said. Judith smiled.
"Thank you elder. I hope you do come. It will be so much fun." Judith said. Back at Zaphias, Repede was quick to dart down to the lower quarter, arriving at the local tavern and finding Hanks.
"Hmm? Repede? I haven't seen you in a while. What is it boy?" Hanks asked. Repede gave Hanks his invite, handed to the old man with help from his mouth.
"Ho ho ho! So Yuri and that young lady are getting married eh? Well, tell Yuri that his friends down here can't wait." Hanks said. Repede barked, soon darting off with his next invite in paw. Repede also mananged to track down LeBlanc, currently patroling Zaphias' royal quarter.
"Thank you...ehh...doggie." LeBlanc said. As Repede darted off again, LeBlanc groaned and dropped to his knees.
"To think...Yuri Lowell...is marrying Lady Estellise. Oh! I was SO close to catching that troublemaker too!" LeBlanc yelled, pounding the ground in frustration. Meanwhile, Ba'ul had brought the others to Nordopolica, giving an invite to Natz at the gate entrance. As Raven delivered that invite, Karol had found Nan, Tison and Clint about to leave Nordopolica.
"Karol?" Nan asked. Karol chuckled.
"I didn't think I would find you guys. But...since I did, I...wanna give you this." Karol said, presenting them with their invite. But all Tison did was huff and Clint turned away without a word. Karol sighed until he saw the invite in his hand taken by Nan.
"Th...Thanks. I'll make sure to look at it." Nan said. Karol watched as Nan hurried back to the others, blushing from cheek to cheek.
"Nan..." Karol muttered.
~ Tales of Vesperia ~
At Aspio, Rita was dropped off earlier to invite the people of the recovering Aspio to Yuri and Estelle's wedding, promising to bring up the problems befacing the reconstruction of their city. Soon after, she rejoined her friends and went to Torim Harbor, passing word along to Patty.
"Wh...What? Yuri and Estelle? No way!" Patty cried. Rita nodded, telling Patty all the details about the wedding and how she could possibly help. Patty giggled, saying she'd help them with anything she could. She joined Rita in finding Kaufman, also within Torim Harbor at their guild headquarters, and pass an invite to her.
"Hmm. So ol' Yuri decided to settle down with that lovely princess eh? Hmm. Should be for quite a show. Tell Yuri that I wouldn't miss this for the world and congrats." Kaufman said with a smile. Rita nodded and thanked her for the time. They returned to the others and made one more stop at Nor Harbor, presenting an invite to Teagle and his family.
"Oh my. I never expected something like this. Are you sure it's all right for us to come?" Teagle asked. Judith smiled.
"Of course. You helped us out before and you want to repay us for all the help we gave to you. So consider this your way of repaying...by being there for our friends' wedding." Judith said. Teagle's family smiled, telling Judith that they would come.
"Thanks. If you can excuse us now, we've got just ONE more invite to drop off. Thanks for your time." Raven said, leaving alongside Judith. Their last visit was to Halure, allowing Raven to slip in and give an invite to the mayor of the town.
"A wedding? Well, you can be sure that I'll come. If it is for those young folk that helped repair our barrier in the past, I would be honored." he said. Eventually, all the invites were given out and everyone gathered together again at Zaphias, meeting together in the royal quarter.
"So...are the invites handed out?" Yuri asked.
"Yep. But man...I gotta tell ya. It was one heck of a world trip to get them to everyone. You had the EASY part of sending your pooch to give invites to everyone in the lower quarter." Raven said, sitting down on the ground. Rita huffed.
"Once an old geezer, ALWAYS an old geezer." Rita said. Patty lightly giggled as Raven frowned.
"And once a stubborn little lady, ALWAYS a stubborn gal. Right back at ya blastia girl! Ha ha ha!" Raven laughed before Rita struck him. Karol watched with a nervous chuckle at the bruise on Raven's face.
"Well, everything else is being taken care of by Ioder and Flynn. So...that just leaves what YOU guys can do for the wedding." Yuri said. His friends looked on. The first noted was Rita, facing Estelle.
"Rita? I would like you to be my maid of honor." Estelle said. Rita gasped, blushing bright red.
"Wh...What? M...M...M..Me?" Rita squeaked. Estelle giggled, saying she wanted to pick Rita as her first choice. Rita gulped, shaking down to her shoes as she accepted Estelle's invite.
"Huh? Hey...Rita? You ok...DOW!" Karol cried, punched in the face by the jumpy Rita. Yuri chuckled.
"Hey. Don't bruise the boss there Rita. He's gotta have a working nose if he's going to be the ring bearer." Yuri said. Karol gasped, facing Yuri.
"Huh? Me? The ring bearer?" Karol asked. Yuri nodded, saying he already asked Flynn to be his best man and learning from Judith that the Krityan Elder would be the marriage officiant.
"So...what does that mean for ol' Raven? Come on Yuri. We're pals, right?" Raven asked. Yuri smirked, asking Raven to be one of his groomsmen alongside Flynn and Repede. Raven smirked.
"Ho ho! Not a bad offer Yuri! I accept." Raven smirked. Estelle turned to Patty, asking her how the idea of her being a flower girl. Patty gasped.
"Wow! Really Estelle? Okay then!" Patty cheered. Judith chuckled, already learning earlier that Estelle asked her to be apart of her bridesmaid.
"Okay then. I think that's everyone. So let's all make sure to be ready by the end of this week. That's when the wedding will take place. Don't be late." Yuri said. His friends all smirked and gave a thumbs up, promising to be there, including a still skiddish Rita.
TO BE CONTINUED...