“Good day, little heroes! Hello, you… you three…”
Everyone present somewhat eyed Lightblade over his choice of words. Lightblade hesitated briefly, then decided to explain.
“I am sorry. I was on the spot and was desperately trying to not call Shatterblade and Leafblade traitors, like I always used to do. But either way, it is good to see you all!”
“It… it is good to see you too…” Itaviir muttered. “We appreciate you meeting us on short notice.”
“It is not a problem!” Lightblade was oddly chirpy. Soulblade and Voidblade though both seemed annoyed and Litvir immediately noticed. Litvir also immediately decided to point that out.
“There is a problem though.”
“There is a different problem…” Voidblade growled slightly, but picked himself up and changed his tone. “That problem has been dealt with for the moment.”
“Did it involve Justarian ships at your border?” Litvir asked.
“Yes. We have defined and guarded borders. We also communicate with the Justar sub-sect on the border. Those ships were not supposed to be there and were not part of Arcblade’s legion.”
“Is Arcblade a Beh’en?” Galyn suddenly asked.
“Indeed. He runs the border sub-sect. We allowed him said duty. But Arcbearer was unaware of those ships and respects our borders, so we do not know what is going on… Anyway, please, follow us to the observatories, so we may discuss in private.”
Voidblade stomped off, dragging Soulblade with him. Lightblade shrugged then dragged everyone else along as well. They all swiftly made their way to a familiar observatory, which had a faint spot on the door where a sign used to be. This was clearly the observatory the Thantir had used when they were a much smaller sect, and Voidblade had kept it mostly intact.
“So, what do you need?” Soulblade asked, doing his best not to answer his own question, while everyone sat down and Lightblade handed everyone a bottle of light mead. “You wished to invite us to your wedding ceremony in person?”
“Actually…” Vikalos decided to get straight to the point, because he could tell his partners were struggling. “Actually, we would like to ask you to be the witnesses in our wedding ceremony.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Soulblade was caught off guard, not just by Vikalos’s request, but also by how quickly Voidblade and Lightblade had answered. Voidblade and Lightblade glared at each other, but Lightblade lowered his head slightly, allowing Voidblade to speak first.
“We are not offering even more to the former Traitor and the forever Deceiver. You ran away, you made your own paths, distinctly separate from the Phantai. It makes no sense to me that we should in any way be responsible for two thorns in our sides uniting in a relationship. Tey broke our bonds and our trust. I do not want any more to do with them. Us Phantai do not even really do marriages anyway.”
“See, that is where we disagree!” Lightblade explained. “These three asking us to be witnesses is also a way to heal the past. After all, despite what they did, Shatterblade and Leafblade brought the terrifying Firestorm into their fold and the three of them were a large part of why we are one of the few sects who has succeeded in their duties and actually rid the area of local Voidborn cults. By accepting their request, we can make peace with each other in a gentle but significant way. They have repented for their sins and we now accept their repentance and allow them to be bound, officially, via our blessing.
“This may also allow others a chance to heal wounds and fix grievances as well. Shatterblade and Leafblade are not the only Beh’ens who have fled the Phantai and gone elsewhere. Others may see this and want what they have. And on top of that? Well, us being witnesses earns us some soft power and keeps us relevant, and, admittedly… we do owe the Thantir. If we are to repay that debt, I would much rather we repay it in a very innocent way.”
“We would never do such a thing!” Retvik tutted.
“Well, you, maybe, but I would consider it…” Litvir muttered. “Then again, I am much more of an asshole than you are.”
“Hmph. No argument there…”
“May I ask a question before I end this tie of differing opinions?” Soulblade asked. “Because I am edging towards Lightblade’s argument, I would like to know what being witnesses to the marriage actually incurs. I assume it is nothing strenuous.”
“You would just have to stand by the happy throuple, then sign your names on the marriage certificate,” Retvik explained. “I will be doing most of the hard work, and even then, it is not hard at all, because Litvir and Arkay are doing most of the planning.”
“I see… And who is attending the wedding?” Soulblade had lots of questions.
“As many people as we can muster!” Vikalos smiled.
“Including Sini, that nice Life Goddess who lives in the Kinigian Wilderness?”
“Ah… not her…” Vikalos’s smile flickered. “Sini went back into the universe business.”
“But we will have two Life Goddesses attending, two of the Final Mother’s other daughters!” Galyn quickly added.
Voidblade blinked. “Two… wait… how many daughters did the Final Mother have?”
“As far as we’re aware, four!” Arkay piped up. “Phovos is confirmed to be the youngest of Kinisis’s daughters but she generally keeps that info on the down low. The eldest daughter also works with the Thantir. You can meet them, if you want.”
The Great Blades all glanced at each other, having a telepathic discussion. But it seemed that they had all quickly come to an agreement.
“Very well!” Voidblade exclaimed. “We shall be the witnesses in your wedding ceremony! On the condition that we can meet this eldest daughter. And yes, we will behave and not be creepy towards her.”
“Wonderful!” Vikalos’s smile returned as he reached into his satchel and pulled out three envelopes. “Here are your invites, with a few added instructions. You will need to arrive a bit earlier than most, but I assume you will do that anyway.”
“Thank you very much!” Lightblade was also smiling. “Do you have plans right now? We would like to… celebrate a little, in advance, and would like to invite all six of you to a fine meal.”
“We cannot stay for long, we have to go get supplies for the wedding, but I suppose we can stay for a few hours?” Itaviir shrugged. “If that is alright?”
“That is fine by us! Please, stay here, we will send someone to fetch you and bring you to the fancy suite for dinner in ten minutes.”
The Great Blades all marched off, leaving the Missing and the Tattered Navigators in silence and confusion.
“Did you mention Phovos and Elkay-En on purpose, Arkay?” Galyn eventually whispered.
“Yeah, sorry. Some mimicked time and telepathy powers kicked in suddenly and I realised that would be the easiest and fastest way to get them to agree.”
Itaviir shrugged some more, then downed his mead. “It is fine. We got what we wanted, right?”
Vikalos and Galyn nodded in agreement. “We definitely did…”