After being violated, impregnated and tortured by Perkele, Toki retreated to the depths of the abyss where her Elysium lay.

Toki pondered "I don't understand. For someone as powerful as Perkele to exist… his black blood… just by drinking it he can control everything about a person as he wishes."

Toki pauses until she continues "Even now… I don't know if my thoughts are my own… If my ponderings aren't just Perkele making me relive what he did in the mirror dimension… And now…"

Toki touches her belly and makes a disgusted face.

Then Toki curls to a fetal position and mutters "What am I supposed to do now? He doesn't allow me to tell anyone about what happened and he forces me to carry out this pregnancy. Should I go to a higher level of the abyss so that the child is born without the knowledge of my family, or should I just let time pass normally in Elysium?

I don't know. I simply don't know.

Even grandpa isn't allowed to know. And even if he knew, Perkele has influence over him as well in all likelihood, so even if grandpa found out, Perkele could just make him forget the whole thing."

Toki is left to ponder for who knows how long. Since she is so deep in the abyss, the pregnancy won't progress any further than it is. This means the amount of time Toki has to be able to ponder alone is near endless.

But at some point, Toki thought "I have to at least go to the wedding. I'm sure dad wants me to be there. Thankfully I have as much time to prepare as I want to before I go, but…

What if Perkele is there? Is me wanting to go to dad's wedding also one of Perkele's ways to torment me?

Why does it have to be like this?"

A couple days have passed and the wedding is about to begin. Lud can't help but feel that the wedding is a bit rushed, but since so many people helped him to organise the whole thing, the pace feels like it should be obvious.

In the groom's room, Lud has been dressed in an extremely fancy and expensive looking suit fit for a wedding. It was white with some fur on the side from a very rare species of dragons.

As the suitors and the makeup artists help him look the best he has ever looked, he asked one of them "Should I be nervous right about now?"

One of the makeup artists says "Oh you'll be fine. Feeling nervous is something that you shouldn't worry about."

Lud says "That is the thing… I don't feel nervous."

The people preparing Lud fell silent for a moment before the makeup artists asks "Then how DO you feel?"

Lud answers "Surreal… yet calm all the same. I feel like… I'm in a dream and being dragged along to whatever scenario I've been given at that time and going along with it."

One of the people there says to Lud "I think you feel overwhelmed at the moment and it just feels surreal to you. You are marrying three women after all, so that SHOULD feel a bit surreal for someone who doesn't see themselves as an important person."

Lud asks "How do you know that I don't see myself as an important person?"

The same person answers "It might be due to how many people I have met that I can tell. You feel like you don't deserve what you are about to receive, so you take it in as something that shouldn't be, and thus, something that feels surreal."

Lud mumbless "Is that so." And let the people there finish preparing him.

Meanwhile Mercy is in the bride room along with Sarah and Tifa, being prepared to go to the altar.

Mercy says "I didn't ever think I'd find someone I'd marry."

Tifa says "I didn't think I'd remarry my hubby either."

Sarah only makes weird sounds as the other two converse.

Mercy asks Sarah "Are you okay over there, Sarah?"

Sarah responds "How should I be okay? I feel like I'm an alien in a foreign land right about now. All these preparations are driving me nuts. Why do I need to have such excessively expensive looking hair even though I'd only like to sign a paper or two to get it done with?"

Tifa says "That is just the way it goes for people of Lud's and Mercy's stature. It has to look extravagant, or the masses will be furious for one reason or another."

Sarah whines "But why can't I be excluded from the event? I just want to officially be a wife without all the hassle."

Li, who is in that room, says to Sarah "I too find it strange. These weddings… Why does it have to be a whole ceremony and not just an announcement? Back in my day, rell just said another rell's name who they want to spend most of their time with, confirm it with the other individual and then it was my job to write it down in the archives."

Mercy asks "Wouldn't that sort of system cause trouble later on since it was so casual?"

Li answers "It was meant to be casual. We felt that there were times when our original songs resonated with other rell and that in all likelihood, the resonance of the two people's original songs falling off tune was an inevitability in most of the cases."

Sarah, feeling a little calmer now "Was there truly no two rell that spent the rest of their lives as partners?"

Li answers "I mean there were people who didn't officially end their partnership before being slayed by those damn gods. And due to how our system of partnerships never was upgraded after the concept of death came to us, we couldn't fully erase the connection between two original songs. Those who've lost their partners often fell to hallucinations. The effect of the resonance of two original songs was too strong and the resonance didn't fully disappear after death if they had a partner."

Sarah asks "Isn't that… kind of romantic in a sense?"

Li answers "I can see your point of view. Even in those times, there were rell who considered it a way to preserve themselves if they happened to die. This did cause delirium amongst some rell, who then tried to force a resonance between their original song and someone else's. The desperation that I saw in their eyes felt agonising."

Tifa says "Well this became depressing."

Maumar says as he appears out of nowhere "I concur. Romantic, is what I would say."

Tifa says in her usual manner "Go to hell you fuckface."

Maumar responds "Love you too, my daughter."

Tifa asks "Why are you here anyways?"

Maumar answers "Why else? To watch my one and only child getting married."

Tifa says "You could have just watched it from a distance like you usually do."

Maumar asks "Is that how it should be? What do you think, Li Last?"

Li answers "I think that what you want to do is pretty obvious for a parent to do as far as I can see, but what I come to understand in most wedding cultures is that there are people that are unwanted in the events that I hear can ruin the experience for some people."

Maumar considers this for a moment and asks Tifa "Do you feel like I shouldn't attend this wedding, my daughter?"

Tifa answers "Do whatever you like. You probably asked the me in the abyss if you should come anyways and she gave the same answer."

Maumar makes an "Ah" sound as he realizes something.

Tifa asks "You did ask the me in the abyss about it, right?"

Maumar says "One moment."

Then Maumar proceeds to puff out of existence for a moment and then pop back in moments later.

Li asks Maumar "How did it go?" and Maumar says "More mean than usual, I'm afraid."

Mercy asks "But you did gain her approval as well, right?"

Maumar answers "She didn't say no."

Tifa sighs and says "Whatever."

Some time later, after Li and Maumar got seated on the front seats, the event had begun. Lud was already waiting at the altar as his upcoming wives were walking towards the altar gracefully. The sounds of the organ were like the very gods were singing and there were some guardians of the gods who played trumpets on the outside of the church.

Once Mercy, Tifa and Sarah were at the altar, the Pope Lucious himself started a sermon praising the gods for the fated union between the man and his wives.

Gods were also at the church, Perkele unfortunately included. And so was Toki. Perkele sat right in between Toki and Maumar on the front seats.

Sante was also in the church, but amongst the crowd as a bystander. Besides him sat a man with an old looking spear called Aktor. Beside Aktor sat a woman named Eilish. Besides Eilish sat the god Delir. Besides Delir sat a man named Nor. Besides Nor sat a man named Relse. Besides Relse sat an elf named Lex.

The wedding happens, and the Pope asks the Lud "Do you… Faust Ilumnos… accept Mercy of Absolution, Zolotifa, Sarah Ylfianos Rosten Ech Alifana Setto Livendig, as your wives from hence on forward?"

Lud answers "I do."

Then the pope asks Mercy "Do you, Mercy of Absolution, accept Faust Ilumnos as your husband from hence on forward?"

Mercy answers "I do."

Then the Pope asks Tifa "Do you, Zolotifa, accept Faust Ilumnos as your husband from hence on forward?"

Tifa answers "For me, he'll always be Ludwig Freigner, but yes, I do accept."

Then the Pope asks Sarah "Do you, Sarah Ylfianos Rosten Ech Alifana Setto Livendig, accept Faust Ilumnos as your husband from hence on forward?"

Sarah answers "I do."

Then Pope Lucious announced "As it has been invested in me. I, Pope Lucious Pon Enkel III, will grant you four, the gift of marriage. You may now kiss."

Mercy, Tifa and Sarah all take turns to kiss Lud. Then Lucious raises a crystal, holds it between the married people and casts some spell in it that breaks the crystal in four pieces.

Lucious says "May these four pieces signify the union that you have for each other. May light guide you all."

And thus ended the wedding ceremony and now was time for the ball.

There people dance and have a jolly good time, all except of course Toki. Perkele came to Toki and offered his hand for a dance, to which Toki didn't have the opportunity to refuse.

Strangely, Eris came to Lud and said "Now now, you truly have done it now. Oh how sad it is to be a little old me who will only know you better when the next era comes. Oh boohoo."

Lud says to Eris "You are not welcome here. Please leave."

Eris laughs it off and says "Oh you joker. I'm not here to cause trouble. And that said…" Eris looks at Perkele, who is dancing with Toki right about now. "He made sure to humble me quite a bit during our match, so I… for some reason, feel a lot… calmer now."

Lud says "How can I trust what you say is true?"

Eris shrugs it off and says "You can't. And that is part of the fun. But you'll see in the following times that I have found peace in waiting for things to just unfold as they are.

Lud says with caution "So… you won't make me appear as some animal in some other timeline again, right?"

Eris says "Well… at least not as often as I have done previously. And to be honest, I feel like you'll feel a little lonely after I leave things just be for a while."

Tifa comes and says "If you hurt him any more than you've already done, there will be consequences."

Eris laughs and says "Good luck with that. But trust me, I think I have mellowed down a notch, so you can relax. At the very least, for the next couple following decades."

Maumar appears and says "She isn't lying. She won't cause… too much trouble for any of you any more."

Lud asks "Really?"

Eris acts shocked and says "Is that how little you feel for me? Oh, I'm so hurt. I personally would have happily been your fourth partner, but alas, we haven't made such a connection in this time yet, so I'll let things be… for now."

Mercy says "For now, huh?"

Eris then waves as she leaves "Relax. I won't do anything too bothersome for a while, but I can't say that your lives won't be as complex as they have been in the past. Toodeloo."

The married group look at each other for a moment and due to Maumar's words, they take it that Eris meant what she said.

Lud even takes Eris appearing as Eris this time as a sign of her commitment in some strange way.

The dance where Perkele and Toki were part of ends, and Toki leaves as soon as she can, and Perkele is left laughing.

Then Perkele sees Sante going to the balcony and follows him.

Perkele says to Sante "So you are the almighty Fateweaver. Pleasure to meet you."

Sante says "Pleasure is all yours, I'm afraid.

Perkele asks "What? Not in a chatty mood?"

Sante answers "Not a fan of weddings. I have a tendency to believe that marriage is bullshit for the most part and won't last in most cases. To which I have statistics proving I'm right in some sense."

Perkele asks "So why did someone like you come to this event?"

Sante answers "To see how it all turned out despite my bad description."

Perkele says "Oh really? Are you saying that someone as mighty as you can't write properly?"

Sante answers "You keep me in too high regard. I am… or at least was, just a mortal with a wish to be a writer when these events were written. I never considered myself as someone great or even smart. Though I did have that small part of my life where I considered myself as a genius in math, but that is just a small part of my life that doesn't need to be remembered.

Perkele thinks for a moment what to say to, what is basically his creator, and says "You needed an antagonist in your story, so you wrote me, right? That should go without saying."

Sante responds "Calling you an antagonist doesn't really fit."

Perkele asks "How so?"

Sante explains "Antagonist is a character that goes against the protagonist. You are amongst the most evil and characters I've written so far, but as far as the story goes, you don't want to go against the main character of this story. In fact, you endorse the main character to do what fate has in store for him."

Perkele leans back a little and says "And that so-called fate is to be the next host of the abyss that ushers a new era. So tell me, am I a necessary part of this story?"

Sante laughs a bit and responds "Necessary part of the story? Absolutely not. But a necessary part of this world? Absolutely."

Perkele smirks and says "That was what I was hoping to hear. So tell me, how am I in the following eras?"

Sante responds "Same old, I guess. Always existing in one shape or form. At this point in time, while I was planning a sequel to this story, I thought of making the main character change the world to only hold one solid fate for everybody with no exceptions."

Perkele says "Oi oi. Then what would all that effort I put through have been for?"

Sante says "Relax. I didn't go through with the idea for a multitude of reasons."

Perkele says "That is a relief. I thought I was about to be kicked out of a job."

Sante says "Don't joke like that. You know that your job never ends in theory."

Perkele says as he raises his mug of beer "True that." Then he takes a swig of it.

Sante then says "I did think about making you an allegory for something."

Perkele asks after the swig "Am I not?"

Sante laughs a bit and says "Like I have that kind of foresight. But if I had to make up something on the spot that you are an allegory of, then I'd go for the fact that no matter how hard people try to prevent it, there always will be people who are just bad."

Perkele says "Oh! Exciting. Care to elaborate?"

Sante sighs and says "Entropy is what I think. To be good, you have to often try to be so, but to be bad, you can just sit and let the world devour itself like Ouroboros. As I often wander to the realm of nihilism, I see that it is just easier to let the world burn. But then again, I have gone out of my way to donate blood ever since I became an adult. I have O- blood, so it kind of felt like my duty to donate it. Because inside, I wanted to save at least one person somehow and proof that my journey in nihilism isn't the only thing I can do.

I'd always liked to be just an observer, that is why I'm here. The effort that I had to make to be good instead of bad proves to me that fighting entropy is pointless in some sense. That is why I turned to alcohol to quicken my exit eventually, though I can no longer remember if that is what took me out in the end."

Perkele says "You drowned yourself in booze? Hah! That is hilarious, no wonder you put so much effort in making me shine."

Sante says "I wouldn't call it drowning myself in it, but I did take my fair share to a point I made sure I won't feel bad the next day. Skipping a day or two and then pouring one down the hatch. How did it end, I wonder. I hope I didn't turn into a narcissist like my pops."

Perkele says "I think we are getting out of topic here since you are now talking about the potential alcoholism you may or may not have had. We were talking about the fact that there are people who are just bad. But do tell, why not just say that there are people who are just evil? People who are born that way and spread it across the lands."

Sante responds "I did consider that part, but being evil takes effort, and my nihilistic self doesn't see people making their life goal to be evil. Even Hitler… well that is something you don't know and it is a dangerous topic, so I won't jabber about that guy any more than that.

But the point is, it is easier to be a bad person than it is to be an evil one. Everything that takes effort is something that goes against entropy. The natural state I see the world in is that of people drowning in laziness or dopamine."

Perkele says "You are one crazy person. That much is true."

Sante responds "Crazy? I don't think so. I'm just… a naturally lazy person that sometimes loses their filter. Even as I tell this part, I am wishing to just go back to sleep even though I'm not that tired.

And as a nobody, a simple man you could also say, I played god and created this scenario so that it'll bring entertainment for others.

At the time it might not have been real, but for me, here, at this moment, I can feel the weight of my actions of bringing people to existence. Even you Perkele."

Perkele asks "You are sorry… for me?"

Sante answers "Yes. Because what is more cruel? To exist and possibly suffer… or to not exist in the first place? For me, as a nihilistic person, I feel that the answer should be obvious. So hence…

I am… a bad person."

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