Chapter 9: Black Wedding

Kevin's dark eyes woke up suddenly. It was early in the morning. The sun wasn't even up yet. He looked out his window…the sky was dark. He didn't enjoy getting up early, but today he had to. His guests would be arriving and he had to make sure everything was perfect. He continued to stare out his dark window. He would be arriving today…this day. This was his day to put on his traditional smirk and pretend he was thrilled to have him stay in Bellwood, in his palace.

He sighed and looked at the clouds forming in the distance. Great, it was also going to rain. The clouds were heavy, meaning it would rain for a few days. It would rain on the day of his wedding. He wouldn't be surprised if Charmcaster put a spell on the weather for it to rain. He could see the grey sun rising into the clouds. He had to go…he had to prepare. He couldn't just stand and daydream all morning long.

But still, he couldn't help but think of Ben. Well, not specifically Ben, but her. Why had she agreed to go with Ben to Omnitrix? Was she that miserable here? Didn't she enjoy his company like he enjoys hers? Why would she want to leave? If it wasn't obvious before, there was definitely no attraction she felt towards him. But he wasn't weak. Sure it was hard showing his feelings, but he didn't fear telling her how he felt…or did he?

Now that he thought about it, he did fear how she felt. He had never felt this way before. Out of all the other woman he dated, had an attraction to, or even liked was easier than this. Why was he afraid of what she thought of him? There was suddenly a knock at the door. After three seconds, the door opened. Without even looking, Kevin spoke.

"Hey Fred."

"You highness, I was just checking if you're awake, just like you asked me too," the servant spoke.

"Yes, I'm awake."

"Surprisingly a guest has already arrived. I told him it was too early, but he didn't care," Fred tried to explain. Kevin turned to him with a smirk, which surprised Fred.

"Did this guest have a green and black carriage?"


Julie and Gwen walked down he halls of the palace. It was around noon now and the grey cloudy sky tried to light up the sky, but it wasn't working very well. They had to light the lamps to light up the halls. The whole palace was decorated with curtains of purple and violet. Flowers and ribbon were sprawled decoratively everywhere, making the palace amazing.

"So, I think we have a problem," said Julie, taking a match and lighting a lamp.

"What now?" Gwen groaned, lighting one herself.

"Ben thinks you're coming with us to Omnitrix still. I didn't know what to say to him, so I just went along with it," Julie said, looking at Gwen with uneasiness.

"Well I would just go along with it too. I can't say no, I'm leaving for good instead."

"Oh good, I was worried I screwed it up," Julie sighed with relief.

"Where is Ben anyway?"

"He's with his grandpa. Apparently, he rode in with style early this morning…a little too early. Guess he's excited," said Julie. Gwen went back to the day he first met King Max. He hugged her randomly and gave no explanation for it.

"Well, he is a pretty weird guy."

"But that's not all," began Julie with a mischievous grin on her face that Gwen immediately noticed. "Not too far behind, a group of rowdy handsome heroes were with him. Apparently, all of them are friends of King Max and Prince Ben. I must say I was drooling a bit before Ben noticed."

"A group of guys?"

"It seems all of them are friends of Kevin too, but I've never even seen them before."

"Hold on, wait a second…how were you in King Max's room with a bunch of guys and Ben?" Gwen asked, seeing Julie blush slightly.

"Oh, well Max was welcoming me to the family," Julie said proudly, as she finished lighting a lamp.

"Oh well excuse me," Gwen said back.

"I'm going back there in a hour, you should come with me."

"Well aren't you miss popular all of a sudden."

"You can say that," Julie smiled, flipping her short hair to the side. "I'm nervous though."

"Don't be. Ben will take care of you. He's not going to let anything happen to you."

"Does that mean you'll come with me today? I'm going right after lunch."

"Mm sure I'll go. I've got nothing else better to do. I've been trying to avoid Kevin all morning, and this is a good reason to avoid him more."

"You know, when someone is their personal servant, they kind of have to follow all of their commands and be with them all day long…" said Julie, looking at Gwen seriously.

"I know, I'm being such a child right now. But it hurts to see him, to hear him, and to think about him. Why do you think I'm running away in the first place? I can't take it here anymore," Gwen reasoned.

"He's probably wondering where you're at, you know. King or no king, it's not good to do that to a person."

"I saw him this morning," Gwen admitted. "He was with her in the kitchen. He told me to work with you guys for the day until I can help him with his wedding attire tonight." Gwen flinched at the word wedding and decided to stare out the window, where she could see multiple carriages riding up to the entrance. Julie didn't say anything.

"I can now see where you're coming from. If I were in your position, I would want to leave too."

"Yeah well-,"

"Julie-kun, lunch is ready in the kitchen," Julie's mother appeared from around the corner. "Are you girls finished with the lights?"

"Yes Ms. Yamamoto. We're just finishing up," Gwen said lighting the last candle.


"Well that was good," commented Gwen, licking her fingers while walking up the stairs to King Max's room.

"We ate the test food for the wedding. That's the stuff Charmcaster doesn't like."

"How can she not like it? It was amazing!"

"Well it is her…" said Julie.

"True, very true," giggled Gwen. They both stopped before some very large tall doors.

"This is it, you ready?"

"Yeah, I guess. I just hope he doesn't start hugging me again," giggled Gwen, as Julie knocked on the door, giggling herself. A big old man opened the door suddenly, smiling down on Julie.

"Julie my girl, welcome again!" he smiled huge. She smiled back, doing her best to not blush. Max's eyes widened as he saw the girl next to Julie. "And Gwen, it's nice to se you again too!"

"Uh yes your highness, it was a pleasure last time."

"Oh Gwen, you know you don't have to call me by my royal title," he shrugged away. Gwen couldn't help it; she felt the need to do so. She didn't know if it was because he was an elder or he'd been king for a long time, but she felt the need to call him by his title. "Come in both of you. The gangs all here."

Both of them walked in to see Ben and, just as Julie said, a group of men ranging from their early to mid twenties. But what stopped Gwen's heart was that Kevin was sitting among all of them. What was he doing there? Her plan was supposed to avoid him as much as she could…and this is what she gets. He was laughing with them, not even noticing that they had entered the room. Oh how I hate you!

No you don't…

"Hey Julie," Ben came running up to her, kissing her lightly on the lips. Some whistles were going off behind him, making him blush. "Hey Gwen." Gwen simply waved her hand, trying to avoid too much attention. It failed miserably. In fact, once the group heard that there was another female in the room, they all became silent to check out the red head. Immediately she became embarrassed…especially when Kevin looked at her.

"Everyone, this is Gwen…another one of Kevin's servants," explained Ben.

"One of the best," added Kevin, sipping his drink, which was probably rum. "Gwen these guys call themselves the Plumbers. They protect the innocent from the evil in this world."

You're marrying evil…

"One gang of protectors. I'm very proud of my grandson…both of them in fact," Max said proudly. Gwen was confused.

"Both of them?" she raised a brow. I thought he only had one…

She heard a cup being placed on a table behind her. Gwen turned around sharply to see a very handsome man. "Sorry, we weren't introduced properly. I'm Ken. I'm-." His words suddenly slurred when he got a good look at her. She did the same, only her eyes got huge and she remained silent. He was tall, had red fiery hair and green eyes. If Gwen were a boy, she would look exactly like him. Only thing was, his face wasn't as round as hers and his nose was bigger. The connection that was flowing through them was crazy. She knew him from somewhere, but didn't know where. He was feeling the same way. They continued to stare into each other's eyes; not in a romantic way, but in an astonished one. Max was standing proudly, smirking to himself, while Ben was astounded. He never saw how similar they looked in person.

Kevin, on the other hand, was looking from Gwen's face and then back at Ken. He was jealous suddenly, finding the need to want to break up this staring. Then Ken shook his head suddenly.

"I- I'm sorry. What was I saying?"

"You're Ken?" Gwen shook her head too, noticing that his emerald eyes looked exactly like hers.

"Oh, yes. I'm Ken, the leader of the Plumbers. Nice to meet you," Ken held out his hand for Gwen to shake. She took it generously and shook it.

All of a sudden, the world around her became fuzzy and disappeared. Ken and the others were no longer there. "Hey, what's happening?" She found herself under a dark sky where the moon and the stars were shining brightly. She looked around. She was on a dirt trail, where a forest surrounded it. There was a oil lamp next to the road, lighting the path slightly. In the distance, she saw a huge palace and a city that lit up the sky with elegance. She had seen that palace before, but she couldn't put her finger on it now. In front of her was a simple farmhouse that looked abandoned, until a man stepped outside of it.

"Uh excuse me!" Gwen yelled, running toward the man in a rush. "Excuse me, could you tell me where I am? I was in Bellwood, but now…well, I don't know where I am…I…I." Gwen would have kept going, but the man was not responding to her. In fact, he wasn't even looking. She thought it was rude that he was completely ignoring her. She then shrieked when he phased right through her, as if she were a ghost.

"Honey, the coast is clear," said the man. He was a tall man with brown hair and glasses covering his brown eyes. A young boy jumped out of the barn, followed by a woman with red hair and green eyes carrying a baby. The woman looked tired, including the man, and drained. Her determination was the only thing that was keeping her going

"Mommy, what's happening?" cried the young boy, clutching to his mother's legs. Gwen watched intently, noticing the young red head looked completely terrified. The father took the baby and the mother bent toward her son.

"Honey, I'm going to ask you to be brave. Can you be the strong young man that I know you are?" the mother said her words carefully.

Am I in the past?

The boy nodded his head shakily, his sobs becoming more silent as he listened to his mother.

"But where are you going? I don't want you to leave," he sobbed again, his father kneeling down next to him.

"Son, we have a big job to do that involves your sister. We need to protect her…we need you to be brave. Braver than you've ever been before. I know you can do it. You've got your grandpa's spirit in you."

"But I'm afraid…what if you don't come back?"

"We'll come back…I promise," his mother spoke sweetly, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "We'll come as soon as possible."

And with that, the mother, the father, and the baby left into the dark forest, leaving the small child creeping back t the farmhouse by himself and crying himself to sleep.

Gwen's world went blurry again. The boy was no longer there and slowly Kevin's palace was surrounding her once more. She blinked when she realized her hand was still shaking Ken's. Her head was spinning; she'd never had the worst headache before. Her knees gave out and she fell to the floor. She felt like crying, but held it in.

"Gwen!" cried Kevin, getting up out of his chair.

"Are you ok?" Ken panicked, bending down to help her, grabbing her hand to help her up. Gwen looked into Ken's eyes once more, the same exact eyes she saw in the vision. Was it him? Was he the boy in the vision?

Kevin didn't like the way Gwen was looking into Ken's eyes. He went right next to her, but she didn't even notice. Ben stared in astonishment, wondering what the hell was happening. He looked at his grandpa for some answers. Max had his brow furrowed, thinking himself what was happening. Ben would talk to him later; if anyone knew what was going on, he would.

Gwen shook her head in distress, totally confused of what just happened.

"I uh…I have to go," she practically jumped, pulling her hand away from Ken's. She sprinted as fast as she could out the door. Julie followed her not far behind, knowing exactly where she was going.

Gwen was running to where no one would be. She ran to the most secluded place she could think of. The stables, right next to Kevin's horse. She didn't stop running until she collapsed into a huge amount of hay, and that's when she let the tears rush out of her eyes. She heard Eleven whimpering next to her, but she didn't want to get up. Why was she feeling this way?

"Gwen?" she heard Julie's voice.

"Over here," sniffed Gwen. She felt horrible. She was beyond embarrassed, the guy was probably embarrassed, or freaked out, and she couldn't help but think what was going through Kevin's mind right now. He probably thought she was a freak. She looked up and saw Julie, who looked sad to see her friend crying.

"Gwen, what happened?" Julie asked, wanting to find the answer to this whole thing. Gwen whipped her eyes dry.

"I saw his past."

"Who? Ken?" Julie asked, taking a seat net to her. Gwen nodded. "How?"

"I don't know. I just touched him…and then I was in a different world."

"The past? How do you know?"

"Because I saw him as a child…his family abandoned him," Gwen said sadly.

"Gwen, that whole group has had horrible things happen to them in their lives. It's common for them to have struggled in their pasts. I didn't even know you could see the past."

"I can't," said Gwen, getting a look from Julie.

"Then how?"

Gwen tried to remember what Verdona said to her a long time ago. She breathed. "I have a connection with him. That wouldn't happen to any normal person in any circumstance what so ever. It really got to me though. I didn't think I could ever get this emotional before. It just happened…this feeling…this connection."

"What kind?"

"I don't know! I've never seen him before in my life."

"Except you two look like you could be twins," Julie reminded her, while Gwen gave her a sour look. "Ok, ok, sorry I said anything." They remained silent, Gwen playing with the hay.

"Gwen?"

"Yeah?"

"That was the most strangest thing I have ever seen two people do," Julie finally admitted, getting a big smirk from Gwen.

"I felt strange," she said calmly. Then she became scared of what the others might have seen. "Did my eyes glow?"

Julie could see the panic and answered quickly. "No, no, you were just in a daze for a couple of seconds and then went back to normal."

"All of them must think I'm so weird."

"You should have seen everyone's face. All of us were freaked out…we didn't know what to do. Ben wanted to say something, but Max hushed him down." Gwen looked up.

"Max?"

"Yeah, he said 'don't interrupt them' and Ben backed down."

"What does that mean?"

"I have no idea," said Julie, as Gwen laid her head back and closed her eyes…

This King Max had more to him than met the eye. He was different and probably knew things others shouldn't know about. He was smart and secretive at the same time. She knew there were secrets in his mind that he didn't want anyone else to know. If she visited Omnitrix, she would have a long conversation with him. Gwen found herself falling asleep in the hay next to Julie…


There was a dark sky that loomed over Bellwood once more. The moon couldn't be seen under the dark clouds. It was going to rain tomorrow. It was going to rain on the day of the wedding. Not only was it going to rain, but it was going to rain hard. Gwen was going to show up any moment. He didn't know if she was handy with hemming, but he wasn't going to use much of it anyway.

Gwen.

He wanted to talk to her about what happened earlier. What the hell was that? He didn't like the way they were looking at each other. Was it love at first sight or something? No, that couldn't be…Gwen needed to get to know a person first, he'd known that much of her. She wasn't stupid, never was and never will be. The knock at the door made him jump. Gwen entered. Oh how she wished she could be in any place but here.

"You ready?" she asked hesitantly, holding a bag of needles and thread.

"Uh yeah, let's do this," he replied, stepping up on the platform. He was getting nervous. Pull it together man…

"So why did you ask me to do this? I'm not that good at sewing. I'm sure Julie is way better at this than I am considering she can actually make clothes," Gwen tried to give him a reason that she was not up to the job at hand. Truth is, Kevin wanted to see her one last time before he had to do something drastic in the future.

"She's not my personal servant. Besides, I'm sure you'll do fine," he said coolly. She sighed heavily and began to work on his outfit. She thought it looked fine on him; it fit perfectly. What was wrong with it?

"What's wrong with this?"

"Huh?"

"It fits perfectly fine," she argued, giving him a glare. He did this on purpose, of course.

"Are you kidding? The legs are totally too baggy," he made an excuse. She rolled her eyes. If he wants tight pants, then that's what he'll get. Both were silent. Kevin wanted nothing more than to talk about what happened today. But he had another idea.

"So…I heard you're leaving," he said, waiting for her response. Gwen remained quiet. "You're going to Omnitrix for a while…"

"Yes I am."

"Ben offered…and you took it."

"Yes I did." Of course these weren't her real plans, but it was a good excuse so far.

"Why?"

"Why?" repeated Gwen, wondering where all of this was coming from? "Why do you care?" She didn't mean to have a snippy attitude towards his question, but it still sounded that way.

"Because you're my servant," Kevin didn't know what else to say. It sounded completely shallow, but what else could he say?

"So? You can get another one of those in a second."

"Yeah, but none of them will ever be as good as you."

"Oh trust me, there are way better people out there than me. You should have Charmcaster pick the next one, that way she won't complain about me ever again."

"Charmcaster said you two were friends…"

"Oh I'm sure that's what she told you…just to make you shut up," her anger was rising. She hated him seeing defend that evil woman. "I bet she also told you we talk and enjoy finishing each other's sentences too."

"Where is all of this coming from? Why are you so angry?" he asked, raising his voice as well. She wasn't even doing his pants anymore, she couldn't. She was on her knees, looking up his tall body and into his eyes. "Like today…what was up with that?"

"What about today?" she asked innocently.

"You know what I mean. You were totally in a daze, you practically fainted, and then you ran out without an excuse. What happened?"

"Oh now you're concerned for my well being? Things just keep happening everyday, don't they?"

"Yes I care about your well being. You can trust me Gwen."

"Trust you? Don't talk to me as if we're friends, because I no longer do. You want to know why I'm leaving? Because I hate it here! I hate this place, I hate this castle, but most of all I hate you. You might have thought you made my life better…but you made it worse," her fury was raging. She held up these words inside her for so long, that they were coming out like a fountain. She stood back up, catching the disbelief on Kevin's face. He shook his head in despair.

"If only you knew Gwen…"

There was another knock at the door. "Come in." Fred appeared, sensing the tension right away.

"Your highness, King Hex has just arrived. He wants to see you."

"Thanks Fred, I'll be right there," Kevin said in a low voice. Fred left, leaving him and Gwen once more. She couldn't help but feel slightly bad. She took a deep breath.

"Your pants are ready," she left the room, not wanting to see him ever again. He still had the nerve to defend Charmcaster over her. She went straight to bed with no dinner.

Kevin was left by himself. She hated him. Why? What had he done to her? He was going to tell her how he felt. He was going to show his feelings, something that was not easy for him to do.

And now…he couldn't…

Now he knew the truth about how she felt for him. He couldn't whisk her off her feet and tell her…tell her anything. He only hoped that after tomorrow she wouldn't hate him so much. And when she left for Omnitrix, maybe she would reconsider.

He probably was going to live a lonely life, for he knew he would never feel this way about someone ever again.

He left his room, going to meet Hex.


The day of the wedding was sluggish. The rain was pouring loudly, lighting was striking everywhere, and the thunder roared with spirit. Everything was set and ready. Guests were arriving in their seats, which was taking place in the throne room, where Charmcaster would take the throne right next to Kevin.

Gwen and Julie were directing people to their seats, being polite as they could. Ben got Julie a beautiful pink dress that she looked stunning in, while Gwen wore a simple white one. She had nothing else fancy to wear, other than the dress Julie was going to wear before Ben got her a brand new one. They both saw the priest at the altar, preparing what to say. Then, there was suddenly a dark and eerie feeling in the room. Both looked as King Hex walked down the isle and into the front row on the bride's side.

Julie shuttered somewhat and went back to her duties. Gwen had never seen him before in person, only on fliers. He certainly seemed bored, or maybe that was just his face. You could see the power from him though. His whole body was affected by his powers. His white grey skin, the black tattoos, hallow eyes that could turn blood red at any second…he was definitely threatening.

One of his servants came up to him and told him it was time. He looked at the door at the end of the isle, where Charmcaster was waiting for her uncle to walk her down. He nodded and walked away. Gwen couldn't take her eyes off him. This was the man that completely ruined her life. He felt that she should do something…but she couldn't. She held in her anger and sat down in a chair in the far back of the room, right next to Julie.

Kevin and Ben appeared suddenly through the doors, taking their places on the altar. Julie couldn't help but stare at the best man with love struck eyes. She sighed deeply and went into her own little world. Gwen was doing the same thing, only trying not to make it as obvious. Kevin looked absolutely handsome, more than usual. His hair was actually combed and around his crown, and he simply looked breath taking to Gwen. Oh how much she just wanted to run into his arms and fly away into the clouds.

"Hey Gwen?" asked Julie, breaking Gwen out of her zone.

"Uh yeah?"

"What's with the decorations on the altar?" she asked again, as Gwen took notice. There were metal and steel vases full of flowers that simply looked hideous with the arrangement. There was so much space in the front too, as if a dance was going to happen before the ceremony. "It's so…ugly."

"Must be Charmcaster's doing," Gwen chuckled at Julie's comment. Julie's mom sat next to her and it seemed everything was ready to go. All the guests had taken their seats and the band was already playing the music gently. Max had taken a seat in the front row on the groom's side, followed by the Plumber's in the second. There was no flower girl, no ring bearer, and no bridesmaids or groomsmen, except for Ben. She didn't have any bridesmaids, there for Ben didn't have to walk down the isle.

The famous music began suddenly, as everyone stood up. Charmcaster, wearing a stunning purple dress, her white hair down and under her crown, and her makeup done perfectly was walking down the isle, her uncle right next to her. Kevin smiled proudly as he saw his soon to be bride walk towards him. She walked up the isle, dismissed her uncle, and looked a Kevin. Hex took his seat in the front, and all the guests stared to watch Bellwood and the Null Void's kingdoms come together.

The priest began talking and the ceremony had officially begun. Gwen wanted to leave right now, but Julie had persuaded her to stay so that she may have a formal goodbye with her. The priest continued to talk…of how the two kingdoms would combine, how she would now be the queen of one world and princess of the other, and of how she would now wear the crown of Bellwood. Then he talked about how love conquers all and even though they may be different, nothing could ever tear them apart.

"So I ask these small questions. Princess Charmcaster, do you take King Kevin, to have and to hold, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, and to love each other as you will in later years?" asked the priest.

"I do," replied Charmcaster, smiling hugely.

"And do you King Kevin, take Princess Charmcaster to have and to hold, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, and to love each other as you will in later years," the priest asked again, everyone waiting in anticipation. Kevin looked deep into Charmcaster's eyes, to really make sure she heard him.

"No…"

That was chapter 9! Ok, so I was going to do more of the wedding, but I guess I wrote more than I expected before that…so I just put a cliffhanger instead. Now I'm not going to talk like I usually do…you'll just have to wait and see what happens next. I'll try to hurry, but I can't promise anything.

R&R

Wtncgirl