It hadn’t been his intention to throw a lavish, giant wedding; if it had been up to Nemesis, he would have had it as small as possible with only a handful of people attending. This was his third marriage in total and twice before, he needed not to worry but when it came to his soon to be bride, Angela had other plans and before he knew it, the god would have to oversee her whole family. It wouldn’t have been a problem until he had to learn just about how many people were in it, especially of the extended. Seeing how her heart was into it, he decided to play along and offer the Bastion’s cathedral as the place to hold the ceremony, which made sense once Reaver was appointed to ordeal it. The Lo'vada twins would assist him and Maalik would serve as his best man, though he was concerned once that elf half Dante got himself involved to help his avatar plan out the party the night before. Needless to say, he wasn’t a fan of his taste, though he enjoyed watching Steele punish him hard for it.

On the morning of the wedding, everyone had made it and were either mingling or helping to prepare. Nemesis was just finishing throwing on his waistcoat and was accompanied by Maalik as they headed down into the hall where the food was being prepared nearby. A good deal of attendees was there; many of them either a part of the Rose family or of his inner circle.

“Aww, look at the groom”, Dante pointed out with a dashing grin. “You are going to be in store for one hell of a honeymoon.”

“Shush, Dante”, Kaiser while pointing at Vincent who was holding Fiona, who was fast asleep. They had to keep quiet and certainly keep her away from her mother who was in the middle of fighting the other women while they tried to dress her. “Oops, my mistake.”

“I suggest you take the baby out of here, I have something to say”, Nemesis said bluntly and the pirate captain nodded and took his leave momentarily. Once that was out of the way, he shouted, “Listen up! This is a big day, and Angela’s been looking forward to it since we announced it. We may all be family after this day, but I swear if anyone ruins this, I will END you.” Taking a deep breath, he relaxed just a bit, “So to make sure that everything goes smoothly, there will be some rules.”

“Rules? Blah!”, Garland spoke, taking a deep drink out of his flask. “Look here, sonny- Wintercrests don’t play well with rules and such. We are wild and untamed…” The god gave him a deathly stare- he was far older than this lycanthrope and yet he was being addressed as though he was a child? While he was contemplating that, he snatched the flask away from Garland. “Hey! That’s my juice, boy!”

“Can it. There will be not excess drinking! You can wait until the reception.”

He then turned to the rest of them, “There will be no flirting or running away to some sort of sexcapade.” There was a loud groan from Dante and Gabriel. His eyes then went to the Wintercrest brothers, “No fussing or cock comparing contest” Both Krys and Blaine shrugged at each other and he looked to Eirik, “No complaining about the clothes”

“But I hate this monkey suit”, the large man grunted.

“Get it out of your system and quick then.” Desmond thought himself to be clever and hid in the back with a drink of his own, only for it to be swiped away from his lips. “No drinking”

“What about some Pixiedust?”, Dante questioned, showing off a hookah that was taken quickly by Maalik. “No smoking.”

“You’re killing me!”

“Don’t care.”

Nemesis paced around, looking at the males around him. “After we are done here, there will be no swearing”

“Good luck with that, Fortuna and Toya swear like fish swim”, Blaine explained. “I will handle them then and most importantly…”

He stopped pacing and pointed at a few of them. “No fighting! We will have a damn peaceful, fun, happy time! Got it?” There were some nods, some saying yes, and others simply sighing and agreeing to these terms. The god, satisfied, turned to Maalik. “Go and see if everything is ready with the ladies.”

The shifter left and headed towards the west wing of the cathedral and gave the door to the changing room a couple of knocks. “Is everything alright?”

“You look really good Mother,” Aaryona was fixing a hem to the end of the train on Angela’s dress. “Though I can see where Rezza gets her ability to rip things on their big day from,” Angela smirked down at Aaryona and shrugged.

“Really, it was the children,” Angela reminded gently.

“That is true… What have you two learned?” Aaryona looked over to Wisteria and Emry who were wearing matching little dresses in crimson and gold.

“…I thought it was fun?” Wis admitted looked up and Emmy nodded as she got up and totted over to her mother with her arms up.

The women sighed a bit as there was yelling coming from the room just before. Aurora and Aelwen were fighting with Furtuna to put her into a dress. Raine was attempting to calm everyone down. Her long pink hair was in an updo and she was in a cute short dress with ribbons decorating her feet and legs instead of shoes. “PLEASE PRINCESSES!” Raine attempted to argue but got met with more shouting.

Raine heard the knocking above the fighting and she opened the door. “MAALIK!” Raine hugged herself to him and looked up at him with teary eyes. “They are being so meannnnn….” She pouted up at him before looking back at Furtuna who was in full fight mode. “THAT’S IT I’VE HAD ENOUGH!” Raine stomped her little feet over and colorful magic left her as she paralyzed the Gensai. “NOW! YOU ARE GETTING DRESSED AND THERE WILL BE NO MORE SHOUTING! FROM ANYONE!” Raine in an uncharacteristic way screamed and everyone was left in a bit of shock as they proceeded to help Furtuna changed.

“This wayyy~” Raine took Maalik’s arm and knocked on the inner joint door. “Lady Angela is in here.” Opening the door Angela was standing up on a podium in her shoes. Aaryona was fixing the lace fixing. The dress was mermaid style off-shoulder dress made completely of lace. It deeply cut down her cleavage towards her naval in a scalloped fashion.

Her red hair was pulled back with a golden leaf clip with a cascading white veil. Ruby jewelry was fit around her neck, wrists, and even on teardrop earrings. “Oh Maalik, it’s so good to see you now that the screaming is done,” Angela smiled towards him. “Our little flower girls are ready too.” Emry gave him a toothy grin as she looked down at her basket full of red petals. It was the same size as Wisteria's. “She is determined to push it. Kaiser is going to walk them down and make sure they get to where they need to be.”

Raine curtsied her goddess and smiled up at Maalik. “Queen Toya is all ready in her dress and her hair is done. It took a bit of fighting but we just threatened her golden years as you told us too. Princess Furtuna… I had to paralyze.”

“That’s fine,” Angela cooed as the magic wore off Furtuna and she listened to the pirate queen.

“WHERE IS MY BABY,” Furtuna marched out with her hair done and dress on.

“Is everything else ready to go Maalik?” Angela asked curiously as she moved her dress a bit to step off the podium with her daughter’s help.

“I think we just need to get all of the guests into the cathedral to sit!” Raine was all happy since she would be working with Maalik to get everyone seated.

It didn't bother Maalik when he opened the door to feel the rushing Raine collide with him; by now he was used to her antics and petted her head. "I see…" The Rosenites were a rowdy bunch, and it was made clear earlier that nothing could go wrong unless the wrath of his lord was wished to be felt. Heaven knew if Angela would retaliate if something was to happen on her big day. He peeked up to see the two young ladies wrestling with the one that his master was specifically concerned about prior. Oh she would do best to be on the correct behavior- Nemesis wasn’t playing around today. He could feel his master being tense over the last few days, hence his little outburst earlier. Arriving into the room, he bowed before Angela, the soon to be lady of the house. Radiant as always, she was like the sun.


“You know, all that screaming will wake the baby that’s a few rooms down. I hope Furtuna remembers well of your husband’s temper”, he spoke bluntly. “He’s squared away the other men, for the lack of a better word.” He scratched the back of his head. “The lord’s been a bit uneasy, probably because he wants everything perfectly. Now that I think of it, I don’t think he’s ever had a formal wedding before.” He had to think back and sure enough, he couldn’t recall either of his previous weddings being as large as this one. Maalik hoped that the men would take Nemesis’ word to heart, particularly the more troublesome ones.

He looked over the baskets and then at the girls; he was quite familiar with how young Emry operated, especially with how she had taken quickly to life in Kurayo. One would think that she was a sort of gang boss the way she stirred up trouble.

“She’s with Vincent a couple of rooms down, Lady Furtuna”, he managed to speak out as she left. “Yes, everything’s about ready. Reaver’s awaiting for you, the lord and the other guests. Riven has received the rings, the band is readying their instruments, the ushers are helping to set up the seating, Lucian’s waiting for your arrival….” He was about to continue on the long list of items for today when he stopped mid sentence and was pulled away by Raine. “Yes, yes. I was getting to that sooner or later…” She led them into the main hall and they started to show the guests to their seats. Considering the amount of people present, it was a long process and Nemesis was already standing in the front with Reaver, overseeing the room filling up. Riven was there with the rings around his neck to make certain he didn’t lose them.

“Are you ready, brother?”, Reaver asked and Nemesis gave a low shrug. “As ready as I’ll ever be”, Nemesis responded a tad anxiously. “I just want to get through this.”

“Sounds like cold feet.”

“I don’t get cold feet”, he argued. “I simply had preferred this to be more private.”

“Marrying into a family isn’t a private affair. And this one especially since it’s so big.”

He rolled his eyes and stood patiently (as much as he could muster) and Reaver looked to Raine. “Is the bride ready yet?” When he got confirmation, he nodded to Isaiah who instructed the band to begin the music. The chattering ceased as the ceremony was starting- even Ivan had kept quiet due to the vow of silence he promised Nemesis and Celeste as his wedding present. Probably the former’s favorite gift to receive today. The flower girls were first to arrive, tossing their wares about, or in Emry’s case, chucking the flowers about. Kaiser was behind the pair, shaking his head as he watched his stubborn daughter pull the heavy basket along with her as she did her job. Afterwards the bridesmaids, Aaryona and Nerezza arrived and soon the music began to tune up just as Lucian arrived with his mother and all eyes were on the bride as they descended to the altar where he would give her away before taking his place. Nemesis looked on, taking in the comfort that this was finally going to happen.

Reaver looked to the two gods and nodded and then the band went completely silent. He cleared his voice before proceeding. “Ladies and gentlemen, it is on this day that we come to see the union between Angela Rose and Nemesis Volkov. The Lady of Life and Love and the Lord of Darkness and Fear. A union is never to be taken lightly, and surely not one as this one, my friends for these two will be joined together as one. If anyone can show just cause to why they may not be joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”

As much as Nemesis would have loved to glare and stare down the crowd, he kept himself in line, only for the sake of the bride and the family that would be joined with this union. Fortunately no one spoke a word against it. Reaver continued, “Very well then. Let us commence. I will be the first to say that I have known Nemesis the longest and yet I have never pictured this scenario- that I would be conducting his wedding nor would I see that he and Angela would marry. I have met her in a short time and at first I was sure that they couldn’t get along as they are day and night. Yet, as we all know, one can’t truly exist without the other and I can see, along with the rest of you that until now, they were both halves missing the other. Only Lady Celeste can claim to have seen this before any, including this lovely pair here. But as they continued on their path, they have seen what was plainly there- there had existed love and commitment that they had been blinded to before. It is with our hope that their love continues to grow and blossom and the Houses Rose and Volkov be united evermore for the rest of their lives and the lives yet to come. Now who gives this woman to be wed?”

“I do”, replied Lucian, and the Head Priest nodded. “Very well. Now if we may, we will let the couple read their vows to one another.”

Nemesis turned to Angela and held onto her hand, “I, Nemesis, take you, Angela to be my wife and partner from this day forth. I never imagined in my lifetime that we would ever get along well, much less becoming married. Regardless, a part of me had and has loved you in our briefest of times together, no matter the situation that brought us together. We have two beautiful children and a granddaughter that I hold dearly to my heart and we have done everything for the sake of them, even at times we disagreed.“

Taking a deep breath, the groom continued, “Perhaps in part because of my stubbornness, I didn’t realize it before and continued not too even if we found each other in this world. In a single moment, I confessed something to you- that in another life, I could have seen us together but it wasn’t meant to be. But you have supported me through everything, even seeing to it that Sergei was born. I never understood why, and from my teachings, couldn’t understand until we were given a second chance. On this day going forward, I will not call you the redhead devil, but my wife instead.” There were some chuckles from the crowd and even Reaver himself. “To honor and uphold, to love and respect until death do us part.”

Angela let Maalik have a smile. “I too want everything to go well. This isn’t just for me you know… This is doing things right for our family. A big entrance to the world for who we will be and what our family is. It’s important.” The goddess felt like this was the right move and perhaps it was just a bit too big for Nemesis but she was sure he would understand.

Raine had helped Maalik usher in everyone and she joined the men upfront even though she was standing in for Angela’s real maid of honor the goddess Shiloh. (Who was paralyzed in a luxurious dress in the corner like a nobleman’s statue. There was hissing coming from her once in a while.) “Aye, she just got her dress fixed up!” Raine was shining bright since she found out she would get to walk with Maalik.

Wisteria was having the time of her life as she almost barreled down the aisle. She was skipping and hopping as she threw the yellow and red petals everywhere. Her giggles were almost contagious as she made it to the end and ran into one of her sibling’s arms like she had been instructed.

Emry was next as she pushed the basket down the aisle. Her tiny hands reached in and she chucked the petals at people who were making funny faces. As she finally made it up to her grandfather she took the basket and flipped it dumping the rest of the petals at his feet. Her rattle, always with her, fell out of the basket and she picked it up and proceeded to lift her arms at her father. Clearly she was over the whole thing no matter how cute she looked.

Angela kissed her son’s cheek as it was their turn. “Thank you for escorting me. I couldn’t have picked a better person for the job.” Once they reached the altar Angela gave her future husband a gentle smile. It was finally time to make fate stop waiting after it had done its job of pushing them together.

Nemesis’s words made little wells of tears appear in Angela’s eyes. It wasn’t often that Nemesis was forthcoming nor did he tell a room full of people how he felt. This meant everything to her and when it was her turn she was silent but for a few moments. “I, Angela, take you, Nemesis to be my husband and partner from this day forth. It’s been a long road. I hated you at first. I blamed you silently, though briefly, for what happened with my son but I never once took it out on you. Maybe it was because fate had always had other plans for the two of us. Our beautiful children for example and even Sergei by extension. Without them we would not have Emry nor would we have the children in the future that I can clearly see.”

She took a deep breath and gave a smile finally as she looked out over her family before back at Nemesis. “Even love can be blind to what it feels. The floodgates for me opened thanks to Celeste and it allowed me to love you with my whole self. You have always supported me even if you thought I was a devil. You never pushed me away and in my darkest moments, you even comforted me. For better or worst, you were always there even after Nathaniel was killed. You helped me parent two bratty kids who grew up into amazing people and we have always been a good team when needed. I can think of no one better suited to be by my side. From now until the day life leaves me and death receives me, you are no longer that brutal stuck up bastard I can’t stand but my beloved husband whom I trust completely.” There was quite a bit more laughter that time around as Ang gave a mischievous smile to her groom.

“To honor and uphold, to love and respect until death do us part.” They sealed the deal with their rings and a pleasant kiss once they were told. Once Reaver announced them as wed Wisteria hopped off her sibling’s lap and ran up to them hugging Nemesis’s leg.

“WE’RE A FAMILY NOW,” Wis yelled up and Angela pat her head.

“Yes, we are,” there was a laugh as Angela scooted her to Lucian so the two of them could walk down the aisle together.

The doors from the cathedral opened up now to a huge ballroom in Elysia. There were many seats, tables, and the smell of food was all around them. A huge cake was on one side with another smaller cake labeled “For Tristine”.

Angela and Nemesis were escorted by Raine and Maalik to two chairs to receive presents from their guests. First, though, Angela pulled Niall from thin air as she released the paralysis spell on Shiloh. “Now, Shiloh… You understand why I did it… Right?” She dangled the ferret in front of her. “You are my best friend~”

After she got done with the goddess she joined her husband and kissed him again as Wisteria ran up to them and hugged them. Angela seated her daughter on her lap before watching Emry coming up and put a bow on her head. “Oh? You are our present?” Emry nodded and Angela laughed as she scooped the little one up. “I think you are the best present.” The little girl giggled as she was handed off to Nemesis to hold.

The beginning of the wedding was going smoothly as the attendants walked down the aisle. Well, until Emry had her turn and out of pure stubbornness, the little girl eventually made her way through it and her father had a face every time she decided to toss petals at individuals that weren’t sure why she had a large basket. He finally sighed by the end of it and carried his child away once she let it known that she was through with her duties and Nemesis smiled at her as he moved his feet away from the mess she made. Lucian nodded towards his mother, “It was either me or that old fool Garland. I’d rather not have him give you away.” He led his mother down as all eyes ventured their direction and took his place soon afterward as Reaver began the ceremony.

Nemesis wasn’t known to reveal his truest feelings aside from a chosen few. The fact that he was opening up to a room of strangers (despite them being Angela’s family) was a testimony to how sincere he was at this moment. And Angela knew it too from her reaction which was clear as rain to him. As it was her turn, he listened intensively to her own vows. It wasn’t too surprising to him when she recalled that she hated him, no matter how slight of time, towards the death of her son from the other world. He had always felt that she had to have held some form of resentment for his part in Nathaniel’s death, even if she was understanding of the reason. That was simply a parent’s basic reaction to hearing of the demise of their child. Even if the roles were reversed between them, the reaction would have likely been the same. His own eyes followed towards the children they created as well as their granddaughter who was safely in her father’s arms. They then fell upon Celeste, of whom none of this would have been possible without her meddling and scheming. He knew that her motives were not only for his happiness but hers as well. Sergei was loved and cherished but after his birth, she didn’t wish to fall pregnant again and it didn’t take long before he had realized that she could still be a mother to more, with Angela being a more willing carrier than herself.

Reaver, among the others, couldn’t help but laugh as she returned Nemesis’s previous pet name with one of her own. Nemesis just glanced at the priest’s direction before he calmed himself down after a few more chuckles and cleared his throat. Ivan, on the other hand, slinked closer to Celeste with a pout, “Mama, she insulted Papa! Just say the word and I’ll fix her good.” He was probably the only one that still didn’t trust Angela fully, much less her brood. Those terrible twosome that was her daughter and granddaughter were menaces to him constantly and now he was to be stuck with them?

The only reason why he didn’t object was because of his vow of silence, which he was breaking right now.

Once the vows were completed, Reaver followthrough with his part, “By the power invested in me by the Chruch of Dusk, I now pronounce you husband and wife….now after all these shenanigans, you two go and kiss and make this official.” Nemesis and Angela did exactly as they were told and there were cheers all around. Garland stood up and managed to have somehow snuck in a bottle of champagne which he shook violently and popped the cork out, sending the contents shooting upward. “Hoot! Now it’s time for bash, lads, and lasses!” Ivan groaned to himself as he was now stuck with his tormenters. “No fair!”

Nemesis felt the little redhead on his leg and he gave her a pat. He soon led his new wife through the hall into the ballroom with their guests following in suit. Everything was set up and ready for the pair as he took his seat before she had once she settled some unfinished business. Taking Emry into his arms, he sat her onto his leg as they awaited the rest of their gifts. The first one up in the line was Dante, who had a slick grin across his face. He had heard a few things bout the half-elf, none of which were pleasant but he kept his mouth closed for the time as he was handed what looked like a thick book. “Trust me, you will love the contents of it. Made it myself along with Lotus.”

Nemesis glanced through the first few pages before slamming it shut and had a crossed look on his face. “Oh no, you hadn’t even gotten to page 65 yet”, Dante exclaimed, “That’s one of our favorite positions.” Luckily Steele took ahold of the back of his collar and yanked him away. Next up was Nikolas who gave a shift bow before the newlyweds. “As promised, my lord, I secured a private island all fixed up for your honeymoon. Lord Volkov wanted such so that you two can enjoy yourselves without worry, my lady.”

“Thank you, Nikolas”, Nemesis offered.

“Hey now! They can go and practice some of the things on page 134, 135, and 137!”, Dante called out as he struggled with getting dragged about by his brother.