The Telling of a Story

Part Three

When the time came for Iogam to leave this world, Azonos managed to remain strong. His son was his world, and by giving over his own mortality, he gave his son his life back. It took a few years for Azonos to completely understand Maructus' reasoning, but in his heart he knew that Maructus was being fair.

Centuries have come and gone, but his son will forever live in his memories. He remembered the day Iogam met Hepria and how thrilled he was to have a friend. He had met her when they were both children, but her family moved away to the rain forest when her mother was promoted to a government job. Everyone knew that important people lived in the rain forest, so it was an honor for them to move. But Hepria came back. She did not want her mother's life, and she remembered there was a certain boy who would love to see her.

Once the two were together, any fool could have seen how perfect they were for each other. Azonos knew that it they were meant to be with each other so he went to Maructus for a favor. The Great Sea God was more than happy to perform their binding ceremony and he especially loved that it was a surprise. Azonos decided that it would be his final gift to his beloved son before he officially became a man. To get the two down to the beach, Azonos told Iogam that Hepria would be his new thing that he would present to Maructus. As far as he knew, Maructus had not seen a female Mateix in a long time, and this one was not your ordinary woman. Hepria and Iogam's appearances were almost laughable when they were side by side. Iogam's dark brown skin shone in the constant twilight and his black hair was in tightly coiled curls on top of his head. Hepria's pale skin was almost translucent and with her white blond hair, her electric blue eyes almost popped out of her head.

Finally, the three arrived at the beach. They crossed over the ruins of Maructus' old wall and the couple was very surprised at the scene before them. Azonos knew that Maructus wanted the event to be special, he just did not think he would have made it such an extravagant affair. On the beach Maructus had taken plants from the ocean, things only Maructus could have known existed, and arranged them on the sand to form a walkway to where he stood as himself. Vibrant shades of purple, pink, and orange were splattered across the beach. The sea flowers looked like the Puff Flower, but these had longer petals, and hopefully Maructus would not have used poisonous flowers as decoration. Azonos looked to Maructus and was forced to squint his eyes. His divine blue glow was taking up all the space on the beach and it was absolutely beautiful. It almost made the sky look blue. How strange that would be. Azonos placed his hand on his son's back and gently pushed him forward.

"Father...I don't know what to say." Iogam was flustered at being in the presence of the Great Sea God, and Azonos knew exactly how he felt.

"This is my final gift to you. I love you Iogam. I want you to be happy." Azonos felt the tears well up in his eyes as his son beamed down at his love and took her hand. The two looked back at Azonos and before Azonos could protest, they tackled him in a hug. The hugs broke Azonos and his tears started to flow freely. He could feel Iogam and Hepria's tear also, but this was a moment where tears were allowed. Azonos took a deep breath and gently pushed his son's body off of his. With a nod, Iogam and Hepria joined hands again and made their way to Maructus.

"Hello Iogam. It's nice to see you again. You truly have grown into a man," Maructus shifted his gaze to the woman standing beside Iogam. "And you must be Hepria. You are a sight to behold my dear," Maructus chuckled to himself as Hepria shrank back when he said her name. Any normal Mateix would have been beyond scared if Maructus knew their name personally, but this was not one of those times. Maructus placed his hands on the couple's joined hands and lifted his head to the air. Maructus could feel his power radiate from his body. His hands began to glow a dull blue at first. Slowly, the light became brighter and brighter until it was pure white light. Maructus pulled his hands of the couples and thrust both his hands palms up in the air.

"I MARUCTUS, THE GREAT SEA GOD, THE RULER OF THE SALTY DEEP, AND ONE OF THE ORIGINAL FOUR. I HEREBY DECLARE THAT THESE TWO SOULS ARE JOINED FOREVER UNTIL THE END OF TIME." And with that, Maructus lowered his hands. Iogam and Hepria were staring at each other in awe at what they had just witnessed. Maructus looked up and saw Azonos who was standing near the entrance to the beach. He mouthed the words 'thank you' and with a nod of his head, he disappeared from the shore. Maructus knew that this was the last time Azonos would see his son if he were to follow the original binding ceremony rules, but Maructus was ready to make a few more exceptions for his friend.