The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'-Chapter 463 - …And A Reluctant Lack Of Crabs
The male teenager had fallen in love with a style that was both flowing and structured, with layered robes and a stiff half mantle on top that came complete with a collar and shoulders that would make the outfit take quite nearly the same amount of sewing and cutting time as a full suit! Of course, he had also asked with eyes that held an ’I am not begging, but...’ quality if she could do some of the other details he’d seen, like the hanging tassels and round-sphere pommels.
And of course they could not be simply more silver, but eight globes of glass filled with ’colored sand’ in the very same religious style of the ancient cultivator he suddenly decided, that one fateful evening... was his role model. Seeing the three primary, three secondary, and black and white sands making somewhat of a rainbow about his feet, Elua especially thought she should not have showed him her old acquaintances - or admitted that the one he pointed out had an obsession with scorpions similar to how her dear, *dear* disciple loved crabs.
She had, however, firmly denied him when he asked if she could make them hang from his sash in a segmented pattern to look more like crab legs. Less because she was sure as she could be that Nohre would have held a grudge against her... and more because it clashed with the ears and snout framing she gave to the hood of his mantle. A detail which she could tell he was not sold on, but went with for her sake as well as that of his fiancee. She had been so happy to have a piece of the nickname from her master being incorporated on her headdress that he could not be the only one to refuse.
...Even if he thought of the lazy and weirdly misandristic russet colored creature every time he thought of the vulpine form now.
In either case, both of their outfits had been woven with plenty of details and stitching that made them no less formal than anything they could find on the continent. And, while she did not expect them to take to her way of living, she still placed plenty of sigils within their one-time use belongings. To keep the items preserved and their wearers safe from what may come. For it was not only their outfits she made, but everything that involved Silver and this event.
Holding out the braided cord for dramatic effect - designed from the ground up to make better use of what little original purpose the ones still in use on the continent likely had - the cultivator pulsed her essence field down into the lance of spiritual energy touching the altar. It rose quickly, its frame breaching the surface before the gas panels spread out from containment and the entire structure slapped lightly onto the water.
It had gotten just a *bit* bigger than her original design so that the lacy runs of silver that spiraled from the tall, angled, tent-like masting would really show a grand effect. Elua went all out with artistic geometry mesh that *meant* much of nothing. But it looked pleasing to the eye... with a very specific viewport toward the cliff wall behind them that El hoped did not make things too obvious. About why Zyris was supposedly late to see these parts of things.
As the three of them made it to the center of the platform, Fusand using a small floating spiritual construct boat because his Adhesion was not yet usable for the walk like he wanted... their officiator spoke in a soft voice as she pointed back in that direction she and Nohre had just processed from.
"I’ve brought you the witnesses you deserve for this occasion."
The stone wall began to ’reshape’ itself, the illusion caving inward to reveal tiered seating that overlooked the altar. The ceremony space on the lake turned into something of a natural theater, each seat positioned to have a great view of the altar platform down below.
Nicely carved seating began to fill. Shimmering figures that were all specific sets of couples from across Elua’s millennia of experience - pairs she had known personally. People who had found lasting love and contentment together... as far as she knew. Each illusory person was rendered with plenty of detail, showing small gestures and comfortable intimacy with their partners that had stuck with the former Acid cultivator.
’You could even say some of them were my role models. To the kinds of love that Qat gives me so easily. And the way to show appreciation back.’
A merchant couple who had built an empire together while raising seven children. Warriors who had protected each other through decades of conflict. Scholars who had spent centuries in comfortable academic partnership. Artists whose creative collaboration had outlasted kingdoms. Of course, not all of them were in the same field of work and life, but the ones with such well paired spiritual noise always stood out to her... since she knew her own would never ’match’ the type of people she loved.
"These are all people who achieved what you intend to promise today. Couples who made it work. Across years, hardships, and with joy in the small and quiet moments as much as the large ones. They are here to see you join their ranks. They are here because you are."
Green eyes shone with a ’water’ she hadn’t planned for this early, as Nohre looked upon all the contentment and peaceful love next to each other - with only a few... excessive cuddling displays that made her wonder just what sort of situations their master had seen these people in. Her hand was squeezed tight, her betrothed deeply appreciating both the technical achievement and the emotional significance. Projections were well and good, but ones that could affect people deeply were something he wanted to strive for.
Zyris watched alone, from a spot in the crowd. The eldest daughter of her friends had offered to make a copy of her husband, Meyran, so she did not look out of place up there. However, the Dame Talcres had quietly refused the offer she was sure that the girl did not expect or want her to take in the first place. Instead, she just quietly manned the spiritual construct meant to visually record the event on the water... a sort of idea that quickly came about after having made the prosthetic eye.
Memory fragments were nice - and she certainly was not shy of using those despite the drain on spiritual accumulation - but there was something to be said about simple solid-light drawings on irradiated crystal medium. Especially since she was thinking it would be a nice technology that shouldn’t destroy the world to send back...
’One of these years~’
