The Bladed Rose

Chapter fifteen: The Black Dress

   EEEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE I LOVE THIS CHAPTER. I'm not gonna spoil anything here but it's about half a decade later so I'm about 53 now and she's 39, and yet I still look so very young. Yet another revelation she found out, my lack of aging.... And that I'm like 20 years older than her. That was a fun reaction. Lots of gasping and questions.... So many questions. Anyway, moving on.

   At this point we're having a date in a nice cozy cafe, it had cats and they were fluffy and adorable. We were chatting, having a good time. I had quickly swapped her finger food with a ring box and waited for her to react.

   Marzia reached down for her food and her hand found the box, she looked confused her a second, gripping it as she looked down. When she saw the small, black box her eyes widened, she quickly opened it, and gasped. She looked over to me, grinning and beaming as happy as could be. The ring was a not to large red gem fastened atop a gold band with ancient looking engravings.

   I smiled at her reaction and asked as casual as can be, "Will ya marry me?"

    "Yes! Oh yes yes yes!" She exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and running over to my side of the table, which was a few steps, and embraced me in a tight hug, holding the ring. I slipped it on her finger and hugged back. Fun fact about that ring, I made it. Also fun fact, everything I make is in some way enchanted, ssooooo this ring essentially makes it so she can punch through things like steel. Don't ask me why, its always random.

   In retrospect, perhaps such an ability shouldn't be given to a (reckless but loving) adventurer who tends to want to go everywhere, using everything at her disposal to do so. Did end up saving her hide ( and mine honestly) at least a couple times though, so very much worth it.

   We finished our dinner and I carried her to our camp and we canoodled muchly. Very happy with existing at this point. A few weeks passed as we planned out the wedding, who to invite, what to wear, food, drinks, the bridesmaids, etc. About 5 months go by and everything is ready for the wedding. So, I was getting dressed up in my gown (and silently reprimanded for the choice of dress color, "It is a wedding, not a funeral!" Well it is Marizia and I's wedding, our choice!) and getting all makeuped and such. I don't think I have ever really worn such makeup before. My dress is mostly black, has an undergown of purple, and a few white trims. It had shoulder-less transparent short sleeves, a black ribbon tied around my neck along with straps from the dress crossing around it. It has a very dark red rose at the middle top of the dress along with two white strings of beads underneath it. Towards the bottom of the dress there were strings of white beads connected by two symmetrical roses like the at the top of the dress. The underdress was a semi-dark purple with a translucent with very dark purple flower designs. (The one at the top, isn't it amazing?!)

   I take a very deep breath and go out to the altar, I was playing the role of the true bride here, Mariza is the groom in this situation. Thankfully for all parties involved her parents still lived and gave consent for us to marry. Quite the first impression eh? "Hey, I'm your daughter's girlfriend, OH ALSO WE'RE GETTING MARRIED, DO YOU CONSENT??" That's essentially how that conversation went. Needless to say they were very confused and hesitant... then after some convincing on Marzia's part they gave consent. My parents are dead as dead can get so I walked myself down the aisle. Mariza, her dad, and the priest presiding were already on the altar.

   I stood and waited, nearly having a mental fucking breakdown. The priest did the whole speech and me and her made our vows, mine being that I'll always be by her side, always do my best to protect her, make her life one of smiles and not of frowns and tears.

   Her vows were to stay by my side, as long as possible, to aid me in our adventures as she has done, and to make my life as amazing as she could. She is so sweet! Like candy, like chocolate... I haven't mentioned her dress have I? It is white and fades into black ruffles, with a white underskirt. Simple, but she insisted being able to shed any inconvenience of the dress such as any bulkiness or such at any moment. Sooo she has some black shorts and a black tank top underneath with a string on the dress (hidden as part of the dress) that she can pull to 'slide' it off. Heh, yeah that sounds like her. Always ready and rearing to move, move, move. Whereas mine was designed to be a gothic wedding dress, not the easiest to move in lemme tell ya.

   Now we come to the part where we do the "I do." We both did that, very enthusiastically. Then before the priest even said "You can kiss the bride" Marzia essentially turned into a missile and kissed me deeply and passionately, I returned it just so. How old are we at this point? I honestly forget or care, why should I? Why should I care? Not as though it really matters anyway, I'll outlive her. Weather it be because of natural causes or the universe deleting itself, I'll always outlive her. In any and all realities and timelines that me and her get together she'll always die before me... if I even fucking die that is. 

   Thats the thing about immortality; it's not what it's cracked up to be. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, not good in any fashion. One outlives all that they love and care for, one outlives the world in which we stand on, one outlives the universe in which we exist in. And its nothing but pain, suffering, and depression when you get to that stage. After all, there's nothing else left but you. You are the universe at this point. You are the stars and planets, you are the solar systems and the galaxies, you are the only thing left meaning that you are that which all other things may thrive off of. But that's up to you now isn't it? You are also the only will in this place that you are, meaning if there is life it up to your behest. That's the situation I'm in at this very moment, not during the wedding or this point in time, but in the empty that I live in now... I'll get to that later... back to the wedding.

(One good note I noticed, and eventually Marzia noticed after the wedding about our aging is that she slowed down aging after like another decade or so. Probably one of the only small mercies of the universe because she is my wife now. So even as a 60-odd or 70-odd year old by the timer the universe finishes destructing she could still move around fit and healthy.)

   After all the vows and the kiss we got congratulated a ton by everyone and onto the food! The cake was cut and served, food dug into, convos started, we had a grand ol' time.

   The cake was a three tiered black and white gothic themed cake (like the entire wedding itself) It had a black base with white floral icing all around the tops and bottoms, on the top were the wax figures of me and Marzia, ehehehhehe I made em... I like making things. I also made the cake... at first. Then it became obvious that I shouldn't even be allowed in a kitchen about during the time the entire building I was in was dosed in a deep red fire and a geyser of cake batter coming out of every possible hole. Ye, I don't cook.

   I'm kinda glad I didn't get to ruin Jax's home with that cake... although I didn't get to taste his cake after he made it... and he isn't able to be here... he would have made the best food for the wedding! I miss him and Shade, she would be enthusiastically greeting everyone... God... this is supposed to be a happy chapter! But ooofffff fucking course I need to put my own existentialism delicately intertwined into this thing... WELP GIVEN WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT OF JAX AND SHADE, He would've been the one to lead me down the aisle. Heh, I would've made Shade one of the bridesmaids or the flower girl just to see her reaction of it. I'm not sure how he'd react to a same sex marriage if I'm being honest. I feel like he'd be supportive of it but confused? Again I don't presume to know how that old man thinks. But I don't think he'd be mad or disappointed, it's just not in him to be when it comes to me. The cake was delicious, chocolate fudge.

   The rest of the wedding consisted of the average wedding shit, party, dance, more cake, lots of alcohol, ye we were drunk as fuck. And very, very, very happy, just imagine me smiling HA. Not likely, but here I was. This day is the one single day in which I will always recall with absolute vividness. I refuse to forget it. And thankfully I've been able to continue in doing so. After maybe 6-7 hours everyone left including me and Marzia, we went back to our camp. I wanted to take her to someplace nicer than some tent in the woods but we were drunk and tired and we wanted to sleep, so we slept. Passed out almost the instant we landed on the bed. Sorry that I made this chapter more existential than it should've been, just in that kinda mood it would seem... anyway, next chapter.