Royal Road
872. You Are My Star – The Vows of Eternal Love
872. You Are My Star – The Vows of Eternal Love
Snap peered through the windows of the estate. Frost and Jury exited their separate rooms and stared at each other down the hall. A small ensemble escorted them hand in hand. Emotions burst in their eyes like fireworks as they stood in front of each other, utterly captivated by the other’s beauty like they had fallen in love all over again for the millionth time.
“It’s embarrassing if you stare that hard.” Jury giggled.
“How do you think I feel?” Frost laughed, taking Jury’s hand. “Shall we?”
“Mhm. Let’s go, towards our future.”
The triplets and Ignis followed as they walked down a hall leading to the front entrance of their house. Though they couldn’t hear anything outside, they could sense the presence of nearly a thousand people waiting with bated breath.
The doors swung open.
Light flooded into the halls, blinding them temporarily.
“As for the main event: in comes our sacred Amalgam and her beloved Jury.” The Arbiter announced. “Savor the moment. No amount of royal blood or riches of Kings and Queens will ever hold a candleflame of veneration to our rightful leaders of the Nexus.”
They were greeted by the welcoming sight of hundreds of admiring eyes and celebratory applause, though this mostly came from the Healers. Moons held an arm across their chest as a formality. Order was ingrained into them. Entities like the Stars followed suit, albeit with a heavy bow out of respect.
Black Wings on the other hand stood with full salutes. Those who were of higher ranking took off their peaked caps and held it behind their backs.
Lanes of Moons, Stars, Healers, Black Wings and familiar faces such as Stella, Aster, Revy and Sana flanked either side of the entrance, opening a clear path that led to a raised platform where Nav stood wearing a white suit.
Behind her stood the Archetypes who wore the same-colored suit. The tails and wings of the Arbiter encased them in a world of white. Feathers fell like confetti, landing on the head and noses of countless.
Holding her hand was Ilya who wore a complementing pale dress.
Frost and Jury left the triplets and Ignis to stand at the doors. They had the best view out of everyone. Of all the people present, these four were the closest to being their spiritual children.
The steps they took towards the platform felt like they were retracing their steps that led them to this moment. Snap repositioned itself and zoomed in on Frost’s face. Her face gradually morphed from slight embarrassment to one of unbreakable confidence.
Snap replayed snippets of Frost’s past. They included moments of soul-crushing struggle and betrayal. The image of a perfect world crumbled even after she left the Black Forest. And it only continued to get worse after Divas Pass and the discovery of the Derma Layer.
It reached a point where Frost considered burning it all down to start anew.
Her hand tightened around Jury’s.
The reason why she was able to overcome that shadow was because she wasn’t carrying the weight of the world alone.
Likewise, Jury recalled moments of her past. Back before she became a Corrupted. She lived a life of blissful ignorance and was eventually taken into a dark world for no reason other than a past that didn’t belong to her.
Jury always felt like she was alone. 14 years of isolation and rarely seeing that mysterious woman, and another 12 in a world where chasing after the light meant certain death. This was the world Jury knew. If she happened to see a star in the sky one day, then would it also have sharp teeth like the big scary beast of the Black Forest?
She was afraid to find out.
But one day, a living star wandered into her world and offered her a hand.
Jury’s grip tightened.
That same hand was here. And even now she was being shown new, wonderful places beyond that dark forest. Their eyes were half-lidded in attempt to hold back their tears.
The sacrifices.
The hardships.
The failures.
The despairs.
The hopes.
The dreams.
There wasn’t a single person who didn’t think about what it took to reach where they were right now.
The marriage marked a major shift in the climate of the Nexus. Stars were never allowed to set foot into the Floor of Amalgamation, nor had there ever been a marriage that took place in the Upper Sanctums, let alone in the Middle.
An Archetype and Beholder too? What was going on? Was there ever a Beholder with a lover to call their own?
Furthermore, what kind of ruler allowed themselves to be vulnerable? To let their raw emotions be known to the world rather than to hide it?
Emotions were a weakness, after all.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
The answer was obvious to them all. The Moons especially.
This was because Frost found strength in embracing one’s emotions.
It was no secret that the removal of Serum G has resulted in even more powerful Moons.
“Ahem. Frost.” Nav spoke into a crystal carrying [Amplification] magic, allowing her to be heard from across the Floor of Amalgamation. “The Amalgam.”
The cheers and applause ceased. Not everyone knew Frost’s true name. Hearing it caused various Moons to seize as Stars savored the name of their very own Star.
“And – Jury, the Beholder of Time Reverberation. Do you two have any words to share with the Nexus before you swear your love upon an oath?”
Jury nodded.
“I used to think that there wasn’t a world beyond my dark forest. Everywhere I looked was the same. The little me lived in a world that had no concept of the outside. To me, that was my world. Frost was and still is my Star who constantly shatters my world. There’s so much I learned about the world and myself because of Frost.”
She held onto both of Frost’s hands gently, raising them to chest height.
“Frost was there on my grueling days. She was there on my doubtful nights to tell me that I have a place in this world. I thought it was just for me, but along the way, Frost lent that same hand to more and more people.”
Snap panned his view to various faces. The triplets. Ignis. Various Moons. Revy. Stella. Aster. Sana. Ilya. Michaela – the Healers… Many knew exactly what Jury was trying to convey.
“The person I fell in love with became a Star for so many people we came to call friends. Friends I’m so grateful for. Frost…”
Jury squeezed the tips of Frost’s fingers as her eyes watered.
“You’re my most precious treasure. I hope to one day repay what you did for me by giving you my love forever and ever. I love you. I’ve loved you longer than you think. I fell in love with you the moment you took me out of my dark world. You, Frost –
– You became my world!”
Her heartfelt proclamation saw her left hand begin to emit a faint, soft glow. Jury had inadvertently risen to the First State. A piece of Absolution’s power was activated, resulting in a small fragment of a halo to appear over her head.
Cer could be seen tapping on her own halo with a proud grin.
Frost’s mouth parted. A small huff came out. Her breath was taken away by Jury’s expression. Hearing how much she mattered to Jury filled her heart with nothing but joy.
“Jury… I remember when you could only speak brokenly about the big scary beast of the black forest. Thinking back, I think it was because of that I was able to keep my sanity. Hearing you try to desperately comfort me meant the world to me. I still remember that night we spent together in Grandis. Beneath the moon when you came out of the ruined Guild to keep me company.”
Frost squeezed Jury’s hand back and inched closer.
“I was happy when you thanked me. At the time there were a lot of things I didn’t know. Or if what I was doing was right. Your eyes were like stars to me when I looked up at you. Everyone keeps on calling me a Star, but then what about me? Who is my Star?”
She stepped a little closer. She could feel Jury’s breath blowing against her face.
“It’s you. It’s always been you. There isn’t a person I think about more than you. You accepted me for what I am… for who I am. You were always there whenever I felt like I was going astray. Your voice was always there for me whenever I became lost in my deluge of thoughts. You are the only one who helped me embrace this unfamiliar me in ways I never would have imagined. I’m grateful. So grateful for you. I can’t imagine a world where you weren’t with me. You are the reason why my heart still beats.”
There were layers of meaning to her final phrase. Metaphorically, Jury was the love of her life. Removing her would result in a lifeless, soulless Frost. In a literal sense, Jury had indeed stopped Frost’s heart from being destroyed.
Jury had stopped the Lance of Longinus from piercing her heart.
“I love you, Jury. You gave me hope in a place where hope couldn’t exist. I’d still be there not knowing of the world out here if it weren’t for you. You’re my star. Thank you for sticking with me.”
Jury plucked out a pair of rings from her Dimensional Storage. They were obsidian-crystal rings with a radiant, golden crystal in the shape of an eye. It was another ring imbued with [Angelic Kiss] and Galia’s warp tech.
Then, they leaned in and sealed their lips.
Their vows of eternal companionship were sealed before Nav, who could not be happier for them. She was there since the start, watching, listening and learning about the world from the two. She didn’t say it out loud, but these two were like a binary star system, with the planets being the triplets, Ignis, Snap, the Archetypes…
A better way to frame it was that they were Nav’s universe than just stars.
Jury suddenly scooped Frost into her arms, holding the ‘groom’ like a bride. They locked their heads together as magical fireworks shot into the air.
“It’s official now, huh?” Frost couldn’t stop smiling. “We’re married. I… haaah.” She gave her train of thought up and flopped her head against Jury’s chest.
“Were you going to say that you can’t believe it?”
“You know me too well.”
“Only me~”
“Yeah. Only you. Hmhmmmm~” Frost hummed as she glanced down at her ring. “It looks just like our eyes.”
“Really!?” The fact that Jury didn’t realize this caused Frost to burst out laughing.
“It wasn’t intentional? Ha-ahahaha!”
“I swear it’s a coincidence. Galia knew since she helped with the design. Did she expect me to know without telling me?” Jury laughed alongside her.
Then, after their laughter subsided, Jury wondered where they should go for their honeymoon. Their voices were drowned out by the buzz of the crowd. Now that the marriage was over, the Healers began to swarm the stage, their eyes dazzling like stars as they held flowers to give out to the newlyweds.
At least two fields worth of flowers were in their hands. There were even Healers who carried bags of them. It would be impossible to store them, let alone take them into their hands.
“I’ll eat them later.” Frost murmured. “Our honeymoon, huh. How about we make a quick stop somewhere first?”
“Do you have a place in mind?”
Frost didn’t have to think twice. She already had a place in mind, and somehow, Jury knew exactly what she was thinking. They turned to a curious Nav who wondered what they were scheming.
“Nav. Do you remember the promise we made at the cliffside?” Frost asked.
Invisible question marks appeared on her head. What promise? What cliffside? Nav was about to ask until it suddenly clicked.
“Grandis is safe now.” Jury softly said. “We can go back there, to the place where we made our first vows.”