Akemi was very pleased with her new temple. It wasn't very big yet - really just a warehouse that had been hastily converted into something that could accommodate an altar and a few seats - but it was a very good start. When the god you served was the god of beauty, you didn't have to worry about anything being too plain for long. Already, worshipers and curious passers-by had left behind heaps of flowers and other trinkets with which to ornament the god's shrine. Akemi hummed to herself as she arranged them around the altar and in vases placed along the wall.

"You always were good at that sort of thing," said a voice behind her.

Akemi smiled. "Why, thank you, my lord."

She was answered by a soft trill of laughter. "I didn't surprise you at all, did I?"

"No, my lord."

Akemi turned to face the front pew, which now held a single occupant. It warmed her heart to see him. Her master had always been good at painting on a smile he didn't feel, but today his smile looked genuine, his posture relaxed and confident as he lounged on the padded bench. He'd always been lovely as a human and dazzling as a god, but today he literally glowed.

"I'm glad to see you making such good use of your time," said Pearlite. His gaze roved approvingly around the temple, taking in the changes she'd made since last they spoke. "I can see I chose well in making you my chief priestess."

"I'm glad you approve," she replied. "You've been away a long time. I'm glad to know I've done well in your absence."

"I apologize for being out of touch," said Pearlite airily. "I'm afraid I've been rather busy."

"Doing what?" she asked, since his expression made it clear he wanted to be asked.

Pearlite positively radiated smugness. "Getting married."

Akemi didn't have to fake her delight - she actually had to repress a most un-priestly squeal.

"Oh, that's wonderful," she said. "I'm so happy for you. Who is it? Oh, I wish I could have seen the wedding. Tell me everything!"

"I'm not going to tell you everything," said Pearlite, still looking entirely pleased with himself, "but I can tell you a few things. You see, it started when Aurite first appeared to me..."

Akemi listened, fascinated, as Pearlite explained the particular conditions of his ascention to godhood. He didn't give nearly as many details about his courtship as she would have liked, but she supposed she could hardly ask to intrude on a god's privacy. Still, it all sounded rather romantic, the way he told it.

"So," she said, "these men of yours. Are they treating you right?"

Pearlite smiled. "You look so fierce. You'd march right up to the Heavenly City and give them a piece of your mind if they weren't, wouldn't you? No, don't worry your pretty head. I promise I am being treated very well. In fact, I couldn't be happier."

"I'm glad to hear it," Akemi replied, and she was. Certainly, that accounted for the change in her master's demeanor. If he had finally found someone - or some-two, by the sound of it - that he actually liked, that was a remarkable occurrence indeed.

"Not nearly as glad as I am to be living it," said Pearlite candidly. "But I hope my honeymoon counts as sufficient reason not to be in touch with you."

"I certainly wouldn't want to deprive you of that," Akemi replied. She was certain that if she were honeymooning with a pair of attractive gods, she wouldn't want to be interrupted either. "Nothing has come up that I couldn't take care of by myself. There was really only one thing..." She paused, biting her lip. It seemed like such a trivial thing to trouble her master with.

"Go on," Pearlite prompted.

"It's only... there's been this demon hanging around," she said. "Just a little one, like a green hedgehog. It runs away if I shout at it but it always comes sniffing around again. It was asking about you after the funeral. It hasn't hurt anything that I know of, but I wish I knew what it wanted."

"Hmm," said Pearlite, frowning slightly. "Well, I can't imagine what that's all about. I'll ask Aurite about it when I get the chance. Demons are his business, not mine, I'm happy to say. I don't suppose it could matter much, if it's only a little imp. Just keep it out of the temple."

"I can do that," she agreed. She didn't like having it in the temple anyway. For one thing, it kept trying to eat the offerings, including the flowers. She wasn't about to put up with that sort of thing.

"Very good," said Pearlite. "I know I can count on you. You're a good and loyal servant."

"Thank you, my lord," she said.

Akemi bowed to her master, keeping her eyes on the floor. After a second or two, she felt the brief sense of warmth and smelled the gust of flower-scented air that meant that Pearlite had vanished. She waited a little longer, just to be safe, then raised her head. The temple seemed a little dimmer without Pearlite's radiance brightening it. Still, she felt better for having spoken to him. Hearing about his wedding had been cheering - she would write about that in her record book right away. It was reassuring, too, to know someone would be doing something about the demon problem.

And really, Pearlite was right. There was nothing to worry about. After all, how much harm could one tiny little demon do?

In the end, they'd had their wedding ceremony, and it was everything Akoya could have hoped for. The music, the candles, the flowers - everything had been spectacular, and of course his wedding suit had been the most extravagant confection of silk, satin, pearls, and lace that he could devise. The sight of his consorts' faces when they had first seen him walking down the aisle towards them was something he would cherish forever. After the wedding, there had been a celebration unlike any he'd ever seen before, with feasting and dancing that began at sunset and continued throughout the night and into the morning, and on into evening again without any signs of flagging. He'd danced with everyone who'd asked him, from the minor nature spirits and crossroads gods up to Aurite himself, and even sleepy En had taken a turn around the room with him during one of the slower songs, but somehow he'd always found himself back in the arms of his wonderful new consorts. Then, as the sun began to set once more, he and his husbands had slipped back to Ryuu's suite for a celebration of a more personal nature.

Akoya smiled a little at the memory. Married life was nice. He felt rather foolish, now, for ever having shown reluctance.

"I'm sorry," he said to his companion. "My mind is wandering. What were you saying?"

The god of music smiled indulgently. No one really expected a man who had only returned from his honeymoon a few days ago to keep his mind strictly on business.

"I was saying," he said, "that your help would be appreciated. It's very important that he bring a good report back to his country, for the sake of diplomatic relations. I can make sure that the concert goes off smoothly, but music in his homeland is so different from theirs that I don't know for certain that he'll enjoy it. You'd be a great help in diplomatic relations."

"I'll do whatever I can," Akoya promised.

Next to him, Aurite nodded his approval. There was a small group of them - Akoya, Aurite, the aforementioned god of music, the goddess of medicine, and some assorted nature spirits, relaxing together in a courtyard of the Palace of the Gods. For some reason that Akoya hadn't quite worked out, the nature spirits seemed drawn to him - if he stopped and sat anywhere public for any length of time, one or two were bound to turn up. Well, he couldn't blame them for wanting his company, but why it should be that particular group beyond any other was a mystery to him. It was not, however, one he chose to plumb too deeply. He was happy enough just to have people around him that he could consider friends, people who spent time with him because they liked his company and not because they expected anything from him. He was surprised how well he was getting along with Aurite these days. He'd assumed that the other man's cool behavior towards him indicated a personal dislike. Now he understood that it had been simply Aurite's aversion to disorder. Akoya was supposed to be picking consorts, and he was supposed to be doing his job, and as long as he was doing neither of those things, he was a problem. Now he was happily married and active in his work, so Aurite was pleased with him.

It's such a relief not to have everyone clamoring over me all the time.

He'd rather expected, after his wedding, that his rejected suitors would be bitter about the whole thing, but he'd found that most of them took it all philosophically. Now the only people who spent time with him were the ones whose company he actually enjoyed. He'd never thought he liked people, but he found he quite liked some of them when all they wanted to do was talk to him about music or proper skin care.

All the same, he wasn't unhappy to see Ryuu walking towards him.

"Hey, hope I'm not interrupting anything important," he said, bending down to kiss Akoya's cheek.

"You are never an interruption," Akoya purred. His companions, sensing the conversation was coming to an end, began drifting away.

"Glad to hear it," said Ryuu. "Listen, my work is wrapped up for the day, and Io has some free time. How about you?"

"For the two of you? I have all the time in the world," Akoya assured him.

"Great. We were thinking of doing dinner together. Maybe a picnic," said Ryuu.

"I think that sounds like a lovely idea," said Akoya. "At the spring, perhaps?"

Ryuu grinned. "You read my mind. Why don't we get some food together and meet you there."

"I'll be waiting," he promised.

Suiting action to words, as soon as Ryuu was gone, Akoya transported himself to his private valley. It was a perfect afternoon for a picnic. With as much influence as he had put on it, even a rainstorm would have been lovely to look at there, but he had no desire to eat dinner in the mud. Today, though, the sun was shining and the sky over the mountains was a pristine blue. It was the sort of day when it was hard to imagine anything could go wrong. Akoya selected a low smooth stone to sit on, picked a handful of flowers, and began braiding them into a crown while he waited for dinner to arrive.

He didn't have long to wait. Within a few minutes, Io and Ryuu had arrived, with Io carrying a picnic basket and blanket, and Ryuu carrying a couple of bottles of rose lemonade. Akoya smiled and walked to join them. He reached up to drop the wreath of flowers on Ryuu's head.

"A little gift," he said.

Ryuu laughed. "Gee, thanks. Just what I always wanted."

They spread out the picnic blanket and settled in to enjoy the contents of the hamper. Akoya was pleased to see that someone had remembered to bring along plenty of the macarons he enjoyed so much. Io had brought along a book of comic plays, and the three of them read aloud to each other between bites, making each other laugh - Io with his dry wit, Ryuu with sly innuendo, and Akoya hamming up every line for their amusement. When the food was gone and the dishes cleared away, Io brought out his chess set, and he and Akoya began a game while Ryuu looked on, amusing himself by braiding flowers into Akoya's hair. It was a perfect afternoon.

It couldn't last. One minute, everything had been peaceful - sun shining, birds singing, butterflies occasionally alighting on a chess piece to make sure it wasn't some strange new kind of flower. Then there was a sudden stench, a darkness fell across the sky, and a presence forced its way into the peaceful valley.

In a flash, all three gods were on their feet. Akoya was dimly aware that Io's clothing had gone from gold to black in an instant, and that Ryuu was suddenly wreathed in flames. Akoya found himself wishing he had a sword. As it was, all he could do was glare at the thing that had forced its way into his private domain.

The intruder looked like a human man, but Akoya was not fooled. Nothing that arrived in such a manner could be human. To tell the truth, the newcomer looked just a little bit like Ryuu - same general build, same height, same basic facial structure. His hair was red, true red, worn a bit longer than Ryuu's, and his eyes were red as blood. There was something wrong about his smile, something that was nothing like Ryuu's smile at all. When Ryuu smiled, the expression was full of good humor, and usually also the healthy desire that was born of genuine appreciation for whoever he was smiling at. When Ryuu smiled at Akoya, it made him feel special and wanted. When this creature smiled, it was like the distillation of every leering, covetous look that had ever come his way.

"Oh, great," Ryuu muttered. "Him again."

Akoya gave the intruder a scowl. "Who are you, and what are you doing in my valley?"

"Careful, Akoya," said Io tensely. "That's a demon lord. A particularly nasty one."

"We've had dealings before," said Ryuu. "He's my opposite number - the demon of lust."

"Well, whoever he is, he's not wanted here," said Akoya. He turned to glare at the demon. "Go away. You're disrupting our picnic."

"Now, that's no way to treat me," the demon purred. "You should show me some gratitude. After all, you owe everything to me."

"What are you talking about?" Akoya snapped. "I don't owe anything to you!"

"Oh, but you do," said the demon, "and I've come to collect."

Ryuu's eyes widened. "Wait, that was you? I should have known!"

Akoya turned to stare at him. "What? What do you know? What's going on?"

"This demon," said Io, "put you under a curse." He turned his attention back to the demon. "But it won't help you now. The curse was broken when he chose to marry us. You don't have any hold on him anymore."

"It isn't that simple," said the demon. "You may have broken the curse, but he still has the gifts I gave him. He still owes me."

"Tell me about this curse," Akoya demanded.

"I'd be happy to," said the demon. "It truly was a beautiful curse. Before you were born, your mother bargained with one of my creatures, who promised her that her child would be the most beautiful creature ever born. That was my gift to you. The curse was that everyone who looked at you would be vulnerable to my touch, and all of them would covet you but never love you. I knew it would leave you lonely and isolated. You should have been glad when I finally came to take you away from it all. You would have been my perfect mate, but someone had to go and interfere!"

Akoya stared at him, eyes wide. "That was all your fault?" All those years of misery, because this thing wanted to claim him as its mate?

"That's right," said the demon. "Everything you have now, you owe to me. I made you what you are. I'm the one who made you so beautiful even the gods couldn't resist you. It's time for you to pay me back."

"I don't owe anything to you," said Akoya. "Io and Ryuu married me because they love me, not because of your awful glamours. I owe my happiness to them, not you."

"Oh, you think so?" the demon snarled. "Well, we'll see about that. You'll be more tractable when I've rid you of your so-called husbands. Zundar, deal with them!"

"Yes, master!"

There was a rustle in the grass, and Akoya turned in time to see a little green hedgehog bounding into view, spines bristling. He had just enough time to exclaim in surprise before it fired off a volley of quills. The spines shouldn't have been more than an inch or two long, but somehow they expanded in midair until they became as long and sharp as daggers. Before anyone could react, they plunged into Ryuu and Io's chests, and both of them went down, gasping in pain.

Akoya whirled on the demon, eyes blazing in fury. "How dare you!"

The demon only smiled. "There. Now let's see if you're willing to cooperate. Come back with me to the netherworld, consent to be my mate, and I'll have my imp remove his spines from them. Refuse, and I'll leave them here to writhe in agony until someone can figure out how to get them out. Maybe you'll even find someone who can do it before they die, but then again, maybe not. There's only so much pain even a god can take before they can't stand to exist any longer. So, what will it be? Come with me and save your friends, or...?"

Akoya couldn't answer. He was literally trembling with rage. How dare this creature? He had been so happy. He had finally escaped the last vestiges of the misery of his old life. He had consorts he adored who loved him in turn. He had useful work to do that he was good at and enjoyed. He'd been making actual friends. For the first time in his life, there was no aspect of his world that he would have wanted to change, and this creature dared to come along and demand he give it all up?

"You say there is only so much pain a god can stand, do you?" he answered, his voice deadly soft. "Then I am going to test that theory on you if you do not let my consorts go free right now."

The demon only laughed. "Do you really think you can hurt me? You're the god of beauty. What do you think you're going to do, blind me with your good looks? There's nothing you can do to hurt me. You're helpless."

"You think so, do you?" asked Akoya. A wind was picking up now, tossing his hair and the hems of his robes. "We'll see about that."

In a swift, fluid motion, he reached for one of the flowers that Ryuu had been braiding into chains, and came up holding a sword, its pommel in the shape of open petals, its cross-guard two outstretch leaves, its blade a stem spiked with thorns. It weighed no more in his hands than the flower had, but it felt true and strong in his grip. He knew instinctively that if he willed it to, it would cut through stone the way a striking hawk cut through the air. He saw the demon step back in surprise, and he smiled a thin smile.

"You challenge me?" he asked. "I am Pearlite, god of spring and beginnings, and every beginning is born from the end of something else. Your power is no match for me."

The demon gave a roar of anger and defiance. It held up one hand, its nails becoming claws, and it lunged. Akoya dodged easily, years of fencing practice combining with new instincts and the superhuman strength and speed of a god. He slashed at the demon's side, and it bellowed in pain. In that instant, its outline flickered, and Akoya caught a glimpse of its true form - something bulbous and dull purple, covered in spines, and not the least bit human or handsome at all. Akoya felt his stomach churn in disgust at the thought of something like that daring to touch him.

Well, he wasn't going to give it a chance. He danced out of the way of another slash of claws and struck out with his blade again, managing to sever one talon. Blackish blood spilled on the ground, sizzling and smoking. Akoya almost smiled. He was on his home ground. He had poured his strength into this place, day after day. He'd proposed here, been married here, made love in the cool grass under the warm sun here. This place was an extension of himself, and the demon had been very foolish to challenge him in it. Here, every step Akoya took was solid and sure, while the demon slipped in patches of mud, stumbled on stones, caught his feet in thick tangles of grass. Here, the light always seemed to be behind him, glaring in the eyes of his enemy. Here, the wind blew dust and leaves into the demon's face, but somehow never tossed Akoya's long hair into his eyes. The demon was floundering, and always, everywhere he turned, Akoya was coming at him with that wickedly sharp sword.

"You want me to repay you?" Akoya snarled. "Then let me give you this."

He feinted, ducked, and lunged forward, slamming his sword into the demon's chest. It made a choked noise, eyes going wide. Akoya smiled his sweetest smile.

"Till death do us part," he said, and the demon dissolved.

For a moment, there was absolute stillness in the meadow, broken only by the rush of wind and the bubbling of water. Then there was a small rustling, as of something trying to escape very quickly into the grass. Akoya turned and jabbed his sword down into the thickest patch of plant life, and something gave an alarmed little squeak.

"Not so fast," said Akoya. With a flick of his sword, he sent the hedgehog tumbling back out into the open. "You're not going anywhere until you take those needles out of my consorts. Unless you'd like to end up like your master?"

"No, no, of course I don't!" the hedgehog blurted. "I'll get them out, da!"

He rattled his spines, and the quills that had been protruding from Io and Ryuu's chests became dull and fell away. The two men began shakily sitting up and looking around, expressions registering astonishment. Akoya nodded his satisfaction.

"Good," he said. "Now go away, and don't bother us again, or next time it will be you on the end of a sword. Understood?"

The hedgehog gave another little squeak and dove back into the grass. Within seconds, even the rustling was gone.

Akoya dropped to his knees, all the energy going out of him. Immediately, Ryuu and Io were hovering around him, being gratifyingly attentive.

"Are you all right?" Io asked. "Did he hurt you?"

"That was amazing!" Ryuu enthused. "How did you do that?"

"I'm fine," said Akoya. "Just... a bit shaken. That took rather a lot out of me. I don't think I had better do that again for a while. I'd like to just sit here and rest for a minute."

"I just watched you kill a demon," said Ryuu. "You can sit and rest all you want."

Akoya shook his head thoughtfully. "I don't think I killed it. I'm not sure you can kill something like that. I just... sent it back to the darkness for a while. It will come back as something different next time - a human or a tree or a rock. Or a hedgehog. But he isn't going to bother us anymore." He raised his eyes to look up at them both. "Are you all right, though? You were hurt..."

"Fine now," said Ryuu. He rubbed at his chest where he'd been stung. "Seriously, that was just a little imp, no big deal. We would have shaken it off pretty soon no matter what that liar siad. Aches a bit, but that'll go away. Have I mentioned that you are amazing?"

"Yes, but you can keep saying it. I won't mind," said Akoya. His expression sobered. "Why didn't you tell me about the curse? You knew about it, didn't you?"

Io and Ryuu looked uncomfortable.

"Yeah," said Ryuu. "We knew."

"We probably should have told you," Io admitted, "but we were sure the curse would break as soon as you were married, so we thought that as long as you made your choice soon, it wouldn't matter."

Ryuu nodded. "Anyway, we didn't want you to rush into something you'd regret later just so you could shake off the curse. We wanted it to be all your own decision, not something you were pressured into. We thought we could keep you safe." He grimaced. "Some good we were."

"It wasn't your fault," said Akoya graciously. "Some people are obviously just very poor losers."

Io smiled a little. "You handled it very well yourself, anyway. I suppose now we know why the flowers respond to you the way they do."

"I suppose we do," said Akoya. He dredged up a smile. "I suppose this means Aurite is going to find even more work for me, now."

"He can make you work later," said Ryuu. "I think right now, we should all go home. We all need some rest, and you deserve some pampering."

Akoya smiled. "I never argue with a proposal like that."

Bells were ringing over the village. It was a perfect spring day, and many of the local townspeople had come out to the Temple of Aurite to see the happy couple who had chosen that particular afternoon to get married. The lucky pair, dressed in their finest, stood on the front steps of the temple, accepting gifts and congratulations from their neighbors. They weren't the most striking couple, as these things went - just two ordinary young men, neither of them particularly handsome, but they glowed with delight and never quite seemed to take their eyes off each other. It was clear to even the most casual observer that these two were overjoyed at being wed. Their names were Wario and Kazutake Chiku.

After some time, the priest stepped out of the temple and kindly reminded everyone that the newlyweds had a honeymoon to be getting to, and perhaps everyone might clear off so the boys could be on their way? With a few final words of well-wishing and a bit of good-natured ribbing, the crowd thinned out and dispersed, leaving the newlyweds to themselves. They made their way to their getaway vehicle - a covered wagon with a horse hitched up to it. Usually, Wario used it for the delivery of furniture to his clients, but today it was serving as transportation for the two of them and their luggage. They were on their way to the nearest big city, where they planned to spend a few days honeymooning at one of the better inns. Both of them were looking forward to it immensely.

They were a mile or so outside the village when they got a surprise. Up until that point, they had been sitting side by side at the front of the cart, gazing into each other's eyes and murmuring endearments while the horse picked its own way down the road without their guidance. They were jarred from their rapturous contemplations when the horse suddenly stopped with a lurch, and both of them turned around to find three men standing side by side in the middle of the road. Both men in the wagon stared at them. All three of the strangers were dressed in colorful robes. One was all in gold and spangled with jewels, one seemed to be wreathed in shimmering pink flames, and one was so lovely that it was hard to look straight at him.

"What the...?" Wario blurted.

Kazutake stared, eyes wide. "Are those gods?"

Vesta grinned and waved at both of them. "Hi there! Don't worry about us. We just came to offer our blessings."

"You don't know it, but you've done us a favor," said Pearlite, nodding graciously.

"And we wanted to give you something in return," Sulfur concluded. "So we've come to offer you wedding gifts." He made a scattering gesture with one hand. "My blessing is upon you. As long as you two are faithful to each other, you will prosper in all your endeavors. You'll never run short of money."

"And my blessing, too," said Vesta, blowing them each a kiss. "You'll be happy in your home life, and trust me, this is going to be one honeymoon you'll never forget."

"And I give you a beauty that will never fade," said Pearlite, "because it will shine from within. All of these gifts will last for as long as you two keep faith with each other. Go now, and be happy together."

"We will! Thank you!" the newlyweds blurted. They stared with wide eyes until the three gods faded from their view. Even then, they sat and stared in silence for a few seconds longer before they finally nudged their horse onward and continued down the road in a contemplative mood.

From the shelter of the trees at the side of the road, three figures, invisible to mortal eyes, watched them go.

"Well," said Io, "they'll certainly have a story to tell when they get home, won't they?"

Ryuu grinned. "They're good kids. I'm glad they managed to get together."

"As am I," said Akoya. He was staring thoughtfully off in the direction the two young men had gone. "It really is very beautiful, isn't it?"

Ryuu smiled and tucked an arm around him. "Love is the most beautiful thing there is."

"I won't argue with that," said Akoya. He smiled at both his consorts. "Not one little bit."

The End