Chapter Text
Lup and Lucretia had gone off to search for the light this year. They had a good idea of where it landed, and the people here seemed friendly enough, so they reckoned it was enough for a two-person mission. It was a few weeks after their departure, when the rest of the Starblaster’s crew were sitting around a picnic table, enjoying the pleasant weather, and the even better lunch that Taako had made, when a postman delivered a letter directly to them, which was weird, but the Starblaster didn't exactly have a mailbox.
Taako opened it and read.
“‘Dear friends I'm sure you're as excited as we are about the upcoming wedding in the capital. We ask Merle to preside over the ceremony, but we’d very much like the rest of you to help with the preparations for this wonderful occasion. Taako, we’d love for you to cater, Magnus, we ask you to decorate, Davenport, you can host reception, and Barry, we feel you are the most qualified to make sure things go smoothly. See you all very soon.’”
Taako read the letter again, and again, flipped it over, held it up to the light, no, that was it. That was all it said.
“Alright this is great and all, but whose wedding are we invited to?”
The postman had obviously realised this too, and was rummaging through his bag, looking for something else. After a few seconds, he pulled out another letter, and handed it to Taako.
“‘Dear Taako From-Tv, Magnus Burnsides, Merle Highchurch, Barry Bluejeans, and Drew Davenport, we are delighted to invite you to the wedding of Lup From-Tv and Lucretia-’ since when were they getting married?”
“They must have decided whilst getting the light,” Magnus suggested.
It was true that they had been unofficially engaged for several cycles now, they were just waiting for the right world to get married on.
“Listen Taako,” Lup had said, almost two years ago now, “I don't want to have my wedding in the middle of a war, or in some uninhabited island. I do want it to be a personal thing, but I also want more than four people in the audience, ya’ understand?”
He did understand, but what he didn't understand was why she couldn't take the time to come tell him herself. Of course, he wasn't going to disapprove, but a heads up would be nice. He tried to voice his concerns to the others, but they were too busy talking among themselves about how they'd play their part and how they were so glad they'd finally gotten around to it. Taako sighed to himself. There had to be a good reason, right?
The train journey over was little over half an hour, but when they got to the capital, something was decidedly off about it. There was a shimmering turquoise barrier surrounding the city, forming a dome over the top of it and presumably stretching underground as well. The train stopped just outside the field, before slowly starting back up again. Passing through the barrier, Taako shuddered as a wave of magical energy washed over him before disappearing. The magic was gone too soon to have a decent reading on it, but it felt off in some way, like no magic Taako had ever felt before. As he looked around, it seems that everyone had felt the same way.
“We really need to do more research on the magics in this plane,” Barry said, “and hopefully never interact with it again, that was gross.”
The train pulled into the station, and looking around, the situation was a lot more dire than they expected. They had been to the capital before, and there had been guards here or there, but never really like this. There were people in armour everywhere they looked, and when they got out of the train, they were searched and, once they were sure to be contraband free, let into the city itself.
“Jeez, what's with all the security?” Magnus wondered aloud.
“We’re kinda big shots around here,” Barry said, “maybe this wedding was more important than we realised.”
“Important enough to have an entire militia on duty at once, though?” Merle asked.
“Well, weddings do seem to bring out the weirdest of people.” Davenport said, pointedly looking at Magnus, who had spotted a dog and had rushed over to pet it.
“Security smurity,” Taako said, “I’m going to talk to Lup.”
Taako found Lup on one of the many bridges that connected the buildings of the capital. She seemed to be casting some spell or another, but looked up excitedly when she saw Taako approaching.
“Taako!” She called, “how are you? I've missed you! It's so good to see you again!”
Taako's frown didn't change. “Not good enough for you to tell me you were getting married in person.”
Lup looked at the floor sheepishly. “About that. There's been an increase in security around here, you must have seen the guards-”
“Yeah, there's a big wedding going on, maybe you've heard about it?” Taako snarked.
“Hey, don't be like that,” Lup said, “it's not that at all. There's been a threat made against the capital and they've asked me and Lucretia to help protect them. Here, look at this.” She stepped back to the spell book and drew her wand, she started casting and Taako didn't recognise it as any spell he knew, or as any Elvish, or any other of the dozens of languages they'd learnt over the years. She finished the incantation and pointed her wand towards the sky, and a stream of magic shot upwards and joined the bubble over the city, which grew slightly more opaque. When Taako looked back down, Lup was clenching her eyes and clutching her forehead.
“Headaches,” Lup explained, “It's a lotta magic at once. Luc’s so much better at it than me.” She paused. “So, now you know why I didn't tell you, would you do me the honours of being my best man?”
They had discussed this before, of course, it was one of the things they'd agreed on since they were kids, if they didn't end up having a double wedding, Taako would be Lup’s best man, and Lup would be Taako’s best woman. Still, it was a pleasant surprise, and when Taako heard, he enthusiastically agreed, and scooped Lup up in a hug and spun her around.
“Who's gonna be Lucretia’s best person?” Taako asked.
“Magnus,” Lup said, “if he says yes, of course."
Taako put her down and she looked over the side of the bridge. “Hey, speak of, there she is now! - Hey, Luc, babe, Taako said yes!” Lucretia looked up in acknowledgment of Lup, but didn't make any move to go up to the bridge. Instead, Lup grabbed Taako’s hand and lead him downstairs, before jumping into Lucretia’s arms.
Taako made no move to hug Lucretia, but did hold his hand out for a high five. Lucretia accepted after a moment of hesitation but didn't continue the intricate handshake they’d been developing over the past few cycles. Instead, she just smiled at Lup as she talked and talked about how she was glad everyone could make it and how they better do their jobs right because this means a lot to her, you know that, right, Taako? Taako wasn't focused entirely on Lup at the moment, because although he was overly glad to see her again, he was more intrigued by Lucretia. The way she held herself was off. She seemed stronger, more confident than she usually was. Her clothes, as well, seemed a tad too bright. Lucretia always tried to wear neutrals whenever possible to balance the bright red of her jacket, but today she seemed to forget about that. She was probably just still really happy about proposing? Being proposed to? Taako still wasn't sure of the details. But the unnatural feeling magic still bugged him. He had felt Lup's magic, and Lucretia's, and neither of them felt like that.
The end of Lup's speech snapped him out of his reverie, and he smiled and nodded at Lup.
“Everyone's super excited about it, we can get to prep right away, if you want.”
“Oh, that'd be wonderful,” Lup said, “god I love you guys so much.”
The next few days were filled with planning and preparations for the big day, and Taako was growing more and more suspicious by the hour. Lucretia had been watching over the situation almost more than Barry had, and Lup had been gone almost the entire time.
Lucretia had walked into the kitchen whilst Taako was baking, not washing her hands Taako noted, perhaps a tad cruelly. She looked over the hors d'oeuvres disdainfully, tried a sampler of the cake and criticised most everything about it. When Taako offered her a bag of jam tarts to take away, she ate one, then threw the entire bag away as she left. Taako looked pointedly at his sous chef - some half-elf guy from a local restaurant - who shrugged and suggested that maybe that batch just wasn't great. Taako tried one, it was fine, he tossed one to the half-elf, also fine. Lucretia normally loved Taako's baking, what was up with her?
This required further investigation, Taako decided. As it turned out, investigation wasn't too difficult. Taako had taken the last layer of the cake out of the oven, and he had an hour to kill before he was sure it was cool enough to ice, so he wandered around the city, eventually ending up in the hall where Lup and Lucretia were to be wed. Magnus was there with Lucretia, babbling on and on about flowers and colours and lights and more things that Taako didn't really follow.
“... and you're probably going to be wearing your IPRE uniforms,” Magnus explained, “so I've done my best to make sure nothing clashes with red - hi Taako! - but should we be going with a more pastel or navy theme? I know Lup is probably going to be wearing something dark, will you be too? I don't know what you guys are wearing, that's not great-”
“I have a dress sorted, Magnus,” Lucretia said, seemingly at the end of her patience.
“Oh, that's great, can I see it?”
“Yeah, sure?” Lucretia said, “and also, I’m not going to be wearing this jacket to my wedding.” She rolled her eyes, “if you just wanted to bring me here to talk, I have better things to be doing.” She paused for a moment, then forced a smile. “Anyway, I trust your design expertise completely, I'm sure it'll look fine.” She turned towards the door, and her smile dropped. She even glared at Taako when she walked out.
“She didn't tell me where her dress was,” Magnus said from across the hall. Taako chuckled, and walked over to where he was standing, looking over Magnus’s notes and giving his input. Yes, the tablecloths should have lace; No, chrysanthemums weren't an appropriate choice, the guests might see them as funeral flowers, dahlias would work better. They talked and talked for a good half hour, until Taako checked his watch and had to go back to the kitchen.
At the end of the day, the boys found themselves sitting around a table outside a smoothie bar, discussing what they had been doing. Taako listened to the conversation for a few minutes, occasionally giving input and slowly realising that this smoothie was the first thing Barry had eaten all day. When the conversation reached a lull, Taako began to voice his concerns.
“Do y’all think Lucretia’s been acting a little… off, lately?” There was a murmur of disagreement from around the table, which Taako was surprised about. Surely, they’d all noticed this too? “She's being mean to everyone and criticising what we do.”
“I mean, it's her wedding, Taako,” Magnus said, “yeah she's gonna be strict about it. Hopefully she's only gonna have the one.”
“Hey, Dav was a stickler for details when we got married,” Merle added, “I’m sure it's just that. She's gotta be pretty nervous too, so many things could go wrong.”
“Ha, hopefully they won't go wrong,” Barry said, sounding nervous. He was carrying a clipboard that had a dozen sheets of paper that were all covered in notes and scribbles, and he kept looking through it, occasionally showing it to the others, to check that everything was lined up properly.
“I mean, she did threaten to take away my position as best man once,” Magnus said, and before Taako could say anything, he continued, “but I think she was joking, and I had just asked her if we could have flame print fabric for the tablecloths.”
“Hey, that's rad as hell, and I'm sure Lup would love it, why’d she say no?” Taako asked.
“I think she said something about taking this seriously, and that people had to believe this was real.”
That was suspect. Taako finished his smoothie, wished the others goodnight, then went off to find Lup again. If anyone could set this straight, it was her.
Taako found her at a seamstress’s, looking for things that would go with her dress. Taako had already seen her dress, of course, it was knee length, black, and had orange-yellow accents that, when she moved, shimmered in a way that didn't look exactly like fire, but was close enough. When she saw Taako, she waved him over, and grinned as she put on a wizard's hat.
“So? Yes, or no?” She laughed.
“Sis, I love you, but it really doesn't work for you like it does for me,” Taako said, Lup rolled her eyes, but put the hat down. “Hey, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about.” He tried to keep his voice as serious as possible, despite the fact that he was talking up to Lup due to her heels.
“Okay, shoot.” She said.
“It's about Lucretia.” Taako said, and Lup made a noise of confusion, “she's been acting weird the entire time we've been here, she's strict, she's mean, she threw my baking in the bin! The others say it's because of nerves and how she wants this to be perfect, but you haven't been like this at all!”
Lup was silent a few moments, she opened her mouth to talk, but then twitched, and when she did, she looked angry.
“That's my fiancée you're talking about Taako, and one of your best friends!” She was almost shouting. “Yeah, she's being strict, she wants this to be perfect, as do I, for that matter-” she would have gone on, but the owner of the store told them to pay, or get out. Lup handed over the gold pieces for the shoes, and walked out of the store without saying a word. When they got out, Lup seemed to have calmed down slightly.
“Your baking sucks anyway, Taako,” she said, but the smile on her face told him she was joking, “there's a reason Lucretia’s marrying me, not you.”
“Also, because we’re both about as gay as each other.” Taako joked back.
“That too.”
They headed back to the apartment Lup had rented, and when they opened the door, Lucretia was already there. Lup smiled when she saw her, and went to go hug her, but Lucretia stuck her arm out to stop her.
“Dear, can we talk?” She looked pointedly at Taako, “in private?”
Lup nodded hesitantly and moved with Lucretia to the other room, Lucretia shut the door behind her, but it swung open slightly, and Taako couldn't help but listen in to what they were saying.
“There's no way we’re wearing our jackets,” Lucretia said, “you said your dress has embroidery on it, you don't want to cover that up,”
“I mean yeah,” Lup replied, “but I can leave it undone. Best of both worlds then.”
“That would just look unprofessional,” Lucretia said, “can you please just listen to me on this one?” Taako had crept up to see through the crack in the door, and what he saw was Lucretia holding Lup’s face, and whispering something, before Lup’s eyes went blank. Taako’s heart stopped for a moment, but Lup’s eyes turned back to normal, if a little bit glassy.
“Okay, you're right, babe. I'll leave the jacket behind.”
Taako almost couldn't believe it. He had known and had been performing charm spells for almost a century now, and everything from the glassy eyes, to the unquestioning attitude, to the generally odd behaviour pointed towards Lup being charmed. Taako stepped back towards the door silently, before turning tail and fleeing before they could see him there.
Taako ran back to the flat the boys had rented, and didn't even talk to Magnus before shutting himself into his room. This couldn't be happening. This was all going wrong, how long had this been going on for? Any amount of time was far too long. Taako wanted to do something, but the others wouldn't believe him and even though he was a good wizard, so was Lup, and Lucretia was a good warlock. There was no way he could take on both of them at once. For once, sleep was easier than meditation, and he let his exhaustion win over his worries, and got some rest.
11am the next day was wedding rehearsals, just a few hours before the wedding itself at 5 in the afternoon. Taako almost didn't want to show up, but he was kind of obligated to, so he settled for fashionably late. He walked into the hall just as Merle said: “and then we’ll take the rings from the best man-” Merle paused. Where was the best man? Taako could see Lup’s concern, but Lucretia just looked annoyed. Suddenly, all his anger flared up and he ran up to the raised dais and immediately started yelling.
“Lucretia, you've got some explaining to do!” He jabbed a finger in Lucretia’s direction. She took a step back, looking around wildly at the others in the room. “The being an asshole, I get. The wanting your wedding to go right, I understand. But you have crossed the fucking line when you decide to charm my sister!”
Taako glared at Lucretia, who by this point was backed against a wall. She looked furious for a second, before her demeanour changed entirely and she broke down crying. Taako took a step back, suddenly very guilty, and aware that he might have gotten everything wrong.
“Why the fuck won't you let this go, Taako!” Lup shouted, “You know how stressed we’ve all been, and for Ohgma’s sake she wasn't charming me! She's been helping me with my headaches!”
She took Lucretia in her arms, and glared at Taako. “And you can forget about being my best man, too. Obviously, you don't want that anyway.”
Taako tried to stutter out an apology, and turned to the boys to see if they could offer some reprieve. Magnus was trying not to look, and Taako knew almost instinctively that he was crying too. Davenport, Merle, and Barry were all giving him matching looks of disapproval. Everyone left, and Taako was alone. He walked over to the platform at the centre of the room, sitting down on the stairs. He held his head in his hands and he would have stayed there all day had he not heard another voice in the room.
“Hey, Taako?” Lucretia said, and when Taako looked up, she was standing right in front of him.
“I'm so sorry. I misjudged the situation entirely, I ruined your big day, I'm so fucking sorry.”
Lucretia laughed harshly, and Taako only had a moment to be confused as she said “oh, you will be”. Flames encircled him, but they weren't hot, they slowly grew tighter and tighter around him until they were on him and he disappeared in a flash.