Nations- Wedding
Title: Wedding
Fandom: FF7
Set: Nations
Warning: None but the AUness
Note: This one comes to a stunning 1,297. Longest part of this thing yet. The ceremony.
This was one of the few occasions in which he could honestly say that he wished he had never been trained. The mage rights weren't public, and they had been taken care of that morning after the preparations had been started. He'd watched the guests filter into the great courtyard, a sea of bright colors and overdone finery easily seen from his current perch near the building up on the platform.
He hadn't exactly volunteered for this duty, but he was here, as was Aeris, much as he wished she had not found her way to him. There was no shame in being one of the King's gems. There was no shame in being a slave. He just knew that while she understood, she didn't seem to grasp why he wanted this life. At least she'd stopped trying to convince him to return with her. It had made the time spent in this small area while they set up the ceremony a very quiet affair though.
He eased back as the last symbol was scribed on the tiles with his brush, gaze flicking to the assembled guests, and he wished dearly that someone else might have been eligible for this task. There was no second best for the King though. He was here and he was powerful, and a priestess had come to them of her own will. There was nothing else needed, social status ignored during this in favor of knowledge.
That was simply how these things worked.
Pulling up to his feet, he noted that Aeris was doing the same. Unspoken cues had them circling to check the work of the other. They were done with the preparations, and now all that was needed was the wedding party itself. A look upwards was enough to tell him it was time, and he gestured Aeris to her place. She was to embody the female and be his assistant in these rites.
It didn't feel nearly as unnatural as it should have to be in this position. He'd been told so often that he'd never lead rites before he'd left the Temple that to be in charge of one so important… he would have been rather happy about it if he wasn't marrying someone, who his life was devoted to, to someone he didn't love. As it was, he focused on his task.
Moving forwards, he opened his arms, the deep blue of his vest rippling as a breeze swept through the yard, slowly hushing the crowd. He was wearing his earrings and anklets, as he always did, and the chime of the sapphire and silver on his ankles reminded the people whom it was that he belonged to. It was an artful way to understate the man's power; he would definitely give him that. He had no doubt that some people were noting and filing it away for later consideration.
It was not, however, something he could afford to focus on just now. Projecting his voice as he'd been taught when he'd still been an initiate, he started to speak. "I ask now that all those who would desecrate this union leave now lest the Lady protest your interference."
There wasn't any movement, and he hadn't expected there to be. These people did not believe in the gods. They did not fear them, and they did not know the sincerity of his request. There were those who were not in attendance who did, and he didn't see the faces of some who would very likely be at the reception. They, at least, understood not to interfere in magic.
"As it shall be." He eased back, one pace, then two, and watched people move to the edges as he pushed open the doors that led inside, signaling to those within that they were ready for them.
The princess was first, and the moonlight glow of her dress was broken up with a veritable rainbow of designs in the fine threads. The king's attire was opposite as he followed four steps behind, dark velvets a pattern of many colors as silver threaded them together at the seams. For each, the wedding attire suited, and he watched them get arranged in their places. The king stood before the priestess, the princess before himself to the king's right.
He was aware of the others slipping out to their positions, Amethyst was on the steps at the corner of the platform to the king's left, Diamond was to the princess's right in a mirroring position. He didn't need to turn his head to see Ruby slipping down three steps behind the pair. They were going to be used in this ceremony as the sentries. He could feel Reno stationed behind himself and Aeris opposite Ruby. The three behind the pair were turned out towards the crowd, while Reno was with his back to the doors and as such was looking through the group down to the people below. All sentries had to be the same gender, and close to the pair who were being united. It was just convenient that in this instance there was already a set.
Sweeping his gaze to be sure everyone was in their respective positions, the people milling below already having quieted as the ceremony started, he nodded to Reno. The man pulled the doors shut.
"Freya, this servant asks your attendance to this ceremony. He calls on the right of your hands that this union be always defended."
When he paused, Aeris started to speak. "Freya, this servant asks your compassion for this ceremony. She calls on the left of your hands that this union be always strong."
He shivered as he felt their calling heeded, and he moved forward one step to stand before the pair as they turned to each other to join hands. Aeris was getting the cords, and he knew she didn't realize that their goddess would pay them this attention, but he noticed when she noticed that the careful marks they'd laid out were starting to glow, rippling out from his position over the stone. The light crawled along the wards of protection already laid in the walls.
"I would ask this union be blessed by your hands. Lady of many faces, see them and give that which you would give." The cord found its way into his hands, and he was oblivious to the murmurs breaking out in the crowd, the fact that attention was turning to him because of the glow suffusing his skin as he wrapped the hands of the royal pair. "I would ask they be blessed in their future and love."
The glow jumped, not leaving him but spreading to the couple, and it brightened certain coils of the design as it encompassed their sentries. He was more focused on getting the threads, so many colors to show that single-mindedness would not be part of the union, into place. The light flared when they were settled and he lifted his hands away.
He felt Aeris move forward more than he saw her as the light faded away, and he heard her voice ringing clear. "We thank you lady for your grace and the blessings bestowed on this day. Know the invitation stands always to your grace." The light drained out of stone, the power settling back where it had come from. "It is done! Go and tell all of your queen that there might be celebration!"
The blindness of using power was the cue he'd been waiting for to tell him there wasn't anymore to do, and he let out a breath of relief as his vision went dark. The ceremony was finished now. Stepping back and to the side out of sight of all those below that had come to watch, he summarily collapsed.
Fandom: FF7
Set: Nations
Warning: None but the AUness
Note: This one comes to a stunning 1,297. Longest part of this thing yet. The ceremony.
This was one of the few occasions in which he could honestly say that he wished he had never been trained. The mage rights weren't public, and they had been taken care of that morning after the preparations had been started. He'd watched the guests filter into the great courtyard, a sea of bright colors and overdone finery easily seen from his current perch near the building up on the platform.
He hadn't exactly volunteered for this duty, but he was here, as was Aeris, much as he wished she had not found her way to him. There was no shame in being one of the King's gems. There was no shame in being a slave. He just knew that while she understood, she didn't seem to grasp why he wanted this life. At least she'd stopped trying to convince him to return with her. It had made the time spent in this small area while they set up the ceremony a very quiet affair though.
He eased back as the last symbol was scribed on the tiles with his brush, gaze flicking to the assembled guests, and he wished dearly that someone else might have been eligible for this task. There was no second best for the King though. He was here and he was powerful, and a priestess had come to them of her own will. There was nothing else needed, social status ignored during this in favor of knowledge.
That was simply how these things worked.
Pulling up to his feet, he noted that Aeris was doing the same. Unspoken cues had them circling to check the work of the other. They were done with the preparations, and now all that was needed was the wedding party itself. A look upwards was enough to tell him it was time, and he gestured Aeris to her place. She was to embody the female and be his assistant in these rites.
It didn't feel nearly as unnatural as it should have to be in this position. He'd been told so often that he'd never lead rites before he'd left the Temple that to be in charge of one so important… he would have been rather happy about it if he wasn't marrying someone, who his life was devoted to, to someone he didn't love. As it was, he focused on his task.
Moving forwards, he opened his arms, the deep blue of his vest rippling as a breeze swept through the yard, slowly hushing the crowd. He was wearing his earrings and anklets, as he always did, and the chime of the sapphire and silver on his ankles reminded the people whom it was that he belonged to. It was an artful way to understate the man's power; he would definitely give him that. He had no doubt that some people were noting and filing it away for later consideration.
It was not, however, something he could afford to focus on just now. Projecting his voice as he'd been taught when he'd still been an initiate, he started to speak. "I ask now that all those who would desecrate this union leave now lest the Lady protest your interference."
There wasn't any movement, and he hadn't expected there to be. These people did not believe in the gods. They did not fear them, and they did not know the sincerity of his request. There were those who were not in attendance who did, and he didn't see the faces of some who would very likely be at the reception. They, at least, understood not to interfere in magic.
"As it shall be." He eased back, one pace, then two, and watched people move to the edges as he pushed open the doors that led inside, signaling to those within that they were ready for them.
The princess was first, and the moonlight glow of her dress was broken up with a veritable rainbow of designs in the fine threads. The king's attire was opposite as he followed four steps behind, dark velvets a pattern of many colors as silver threaded them together at the seams. For each, the wedding attire suited, and he watched them get arranged in their places. The king stood before the priestess, the princess before himself to the king's right.
He was aware of the others slipping out to their positions, Amethyst was on the steps at the corner of the platform to the king's left, Diamond was to the princess's right in a mirroring position. He didn't need to turn his head to see Ruby slipping down three steps behind the pair. They were going to be used in this ceremony as the sentries. He could feel Reno stationed behind himself and Aeris opposite Ruby. The three behind the pair were turned out towards the crowd, while Reno was with his back to the doors and as such was looking through the group down to the people below. All sentries had to be the same gender, and close to the pair who were being united. It was just convenient that in this instance there was already a set.
Sweeping his gaze to be sure everyone was in their respective positions, the people milling below already having quieted as the ceremony started, he nodded to Reno. The man pulled the doors shut.
"Freya, this servant asks your attendance to this ceremony. He calls on the right of your hands that this union be always defended."
When he paused, Aeris started to speak. "Freya, this servant asks your compassion for this ceremony. She calls on the left of your hands that this union be always strong."
He shivered as he felt their calling heeded, and he moved forward one step to stand before the pair as they turned to each other to join hands. Aeris was getting the cords, and he knew she didn't realize that their goddess would pay them this attention, but he noticed when she noticed that the careful marks they'd laid out were starting to glow, rippling out from his position over the stone. The light crawled along the wards of protection already laid in the walls.
"I would ask this union be blessed by your hands. Lady of many faces, see them and give that which you would give." The cord found its way into his hands, and he was oblivious to the murmurs breaking out in the crowd, the fact that attention was turning to him because of the glow suffusing his skin as he wrapped the hands of the royal pair. "I would ask they be blessed in their future and love."
The glow jumped, not leaving him but spreading to the couple, and it brightened certain coils of the design as it encompassed their sentries. He was more focused on getting the threads, so many colors to show that single-mindedness would not be part of the union, into place. The light flared when they were settled and he lifted his hands away.
He felt Aeris move forward more than he saw her as the light faded away, and he heard her voice ringing clear. "We thank you lady for your grace and the blessings bestowed on this day. Know the invitation stands always to your grace." The light drained out of stone, the power settling back where it had come from. "It is done! Go and tell all of your queen that there might be celebration!"
The blindness of using power was the cue he'd been waiting for to tell him there wasn't anymore to do, and he let out a breath of relief as his vision went dark. The ceremony was finished now. Stepping back and to the side out of sight of all those below that had come to watch, he summarily collapsed.