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There is to be a wedding between the Crowley and the Mathers family today. The venue is a small chapel a few miles off of Jasper, Texas. The chapel was built in the early 1900s and was left behind by a community that had been born and died within a decade.
Thus no one will be there to mind a decidedly unchristian ceremony was taking place. Though if someone told them about the event I doubt people in the area will approve of the wedding no matter how much adherence to the Christian doctrine is performed.
You see this is no ordinary wedding full of hopeful and often young love. This is a very political wedding between two members of the Fallen.
The groom is a proper son of the Mathers family, who idolized the Simurgh, a herald of chaos, despair, and bloodshed to the majority of the world. He will be wearing a white suit with a half-cape decorated with white feathers. An accessory given to him by a cousin who hoped that it would prove popular enough to be requested by more members of the family for similar occasions.
The groom’s cousin would have preferred to be a seamstress full time but she would take the opportunities she was presented with.
The bride had been adopted into the Crowley family. The Crowley's venerated Leviathan, who had single-handedly killed millions with salt water and changed the maps of the world. She will wear a dark green dress decorated with ribbons of lace that imitate strands of seaweed.
Her dress had been handpicked by the leader of this particular branch of the Crowley family and officiator of the ceremony, Desmond Crowley. As he had the tattoo every member sported on their neck. Water swirling around stars arranged like Leviathan’s eyes.
Crowley was not the name his parents had given him though by now it was the name he’d had for the last 13 years. His birth name had been Dennis Belldin. He’d been a sailor on a cargo ship that had briefly docked in Kyushu, Japan. He’d seen the island sink with his own eyes. Seen the devastation and seen the thing that did it. The thing he called a god ever since.
He’d triggered right there on the ship with the power to attract and repel liquids with a radius around him. Something that quickly earned him favor among the Crowley’s when he returned to the United States and sought people who shared his understanding of the Endbringers.
In truth the wedding wouldn’t have been occurring without him. Desmond had been the one to engage in talks with the Mathers. Desmond had been the one to offer up weapons and a business connection with a criminal gang that managed to operate in Housten under Eidolon’s ever vigilant eye, all in exchange for a parahuman groom for one of his own.
But enough about this zealous man who repeatedly preached that humanity would be driven away from each and every coastline. Let your eyes turn to the other members of this wedding party.
The bulk of the guests would be members of the local Crowley branch and their underlings. This consisted of Aiden, Cavanaugh, and Dolores Crowley, along with roughly fifty men and teenagers gathered from all over Texas.
Aiden Crowley was not going to enjoy the wedding sober. Or at all if you asked him. He’d been extremely interested in acquiring a wife from the Mathers family for personal reasons that would earn him a beating from most people if they knew of them.
When he’d learned that Desmond was in talks with the Mathers he’d seen it as an opportunity. Normally Aiden performed the tasks he was given with limited enthusiasm as he had mostly joined the Fallen as a means to keep himself out of prison or worse. He’d killed four men in a badly botched bank robbery and left his fellow criminals behind for the heroes.
After learning there was a wedding in the works, Aiden had been as prim and proper a soldier as any member of the severely diminished militaries of the world. It wasn’t enough for Desmond and after a brief and violent discussion Aiden was now content to drink his alcohol and not make too much fuss.
Next there is Cavanaugh Crowley. He preferred to be known by the moniker Sinkhole.
He’d joined up with Desmond back in 2005. Cavanaugh and his friends had found a VHS copy of a survivor’s experience of Leviathan’s attack on Seattle. Cavanaugh’s friends hadn’t liked it and left it with him after viewing it the first time. He’d rewatched the tape until he’d ingrained the footage into his mind to the extent that even years later he could effortlessly recall the events.
Cavanaugh hadn’t been interested in gaining a spouse though if Desmond had asked he would have agreed. Cavanaugh was happy to sit back and let one of his “siblings” strengthen the ties between the Crowleys and the Mathers. He was even happier to keep an eye on the Mather’s delegation and he’d be absolutely over the moon for the chance to kill Aiden without repercussions.
He’d told Desmond so.
Third we have Dolores Cavanaugh. She was a woman in her late forties, even older than Desmond. She’d been an honest, God-fearing woman from Louisiana for most of her life. Then one day she and an entire riverboat of people had encountered the Slaughterhouse Nine.
She’d been a broken woman for several years after that experience. She looked out at the world and could only see the slow decay of the world around her. Then one day she wandered west and encountered the Fallen. They offered a different view.
One of a world that would be quickly washed clean and something fresh and untainted would come to replace it.
Shortly after that she met Desmond and joined him and his. Her Brute powers meant she often had to wade deep into her new family's violent acts but she never acquired a taste for it like Aiden or Cavanaugh.
She saw the day’s wedding as a silly piece of useless ceremony done so the vain Mathers boy could swan about and report back to that witch of a mother. Dolores could no longer understand why anyone thought that these fleeting human rituals would outlast the floodwaters.
It was just tying a ribbon on a dead and rotting corpse if you asked her. Though unlike Aiden she preferred to keep her thoughts to herself. Still a spiteful old bitch if you ask me.
Last but not the least of the Crowleys is the bride herself, Helen. She’s…hmmm. A hard to read young thing. Turned 17 a few months ago, gained her powers two years ago, and…joined the Fallen along with her parents when she was 13.
Her parents had been proud of her when she gained her powers. It had been one of the proudest moments of their lives as their daughter gained the personal attention of Desmond Crowley.
Their pride had continued even as they saw her less and less, as Desmond kept her busy with work for the family. Though not as busy as she told her parents. A fact that she keeps close to her chest, along with many others. Things she doesn’t share with anyone else. Interesting.
Secrets glimmer within her to my eyes. Indistinct shapes I can only just tell exist. Must be her power. Something anti-Thinker. My apologies. Pay her no further mind.
I beg your pardon for delaying my introduction until now.
John Mathers, pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am the groom promised. Third-born son of Mama Mathers herself. I won’t take too much of your time so I shall be quick.
I can learn things people thought or said in the past. Only the past and it takes me time to ask the right question and figure out if they meant it. Turns out people say and even a lot of things they don’t mean. Sorry, let me speed up a little.
I turned 16 just last week. This is the furthest from home I’ve ever been. I love my family and I’m so, so scared of Mama. I can hear her breathing in my ear even now.
I was sent to make sure the Crowleys were behaving to Mama’s standards. If I determine they don’t I'm supposed to signal my companions and they’ll kill all of the Crowleys and blame it on a Houston gang.
The leader of my companions is a man named Blair Whittiker. He can make swords and spears out anything non-living and he’s very good with them. All I need to do is talk to the Mama behind my eyes and she’ll tell him it's time to start killing.
The rest are just hired muscle to hold guns and maybe slow down the other parahumans until Blair can cut them.
As far as the Crowleys know my companions are just here to make sure I’m not stolen away or just murdered a couple weeks after I’m married.
That happened to a cousin of mine and Mama made sure examples out of my cousin’s murderers. They’re still alive somewhere but I know for a fact they wish they weren’t.
All in all a wedding full of outlaws and monsters. Which is why I’ve alerted Aiden’s former allies all about it. It seems one of the men Aiden betrayed at that bank robbery has clawed his way up in the Houston underground and now leads his own gang.
All it took was looking back through Aiden’s mind to find a phone number and a payphone to call from. Now Mr. Dunnigan is driving to pay a visit to Aiden as we speak.
Mama likes the idea and hopes it will weaken the Crowleys and put them firmly under their thumb. She tells me all I have to do is stay back and let Blair keep me safe.
I’m leaving this message in case Mr Dunnigan’s bullets miss their target.
I hope they don’t. I am so tired of living like this.
The above was a transcription of papers found stashed underneath a floorboard in Old Rock Chapel
Below is a transcription of a message written on the back in a different handwriting
I know we’re only married in the eyes of the Simurgh, the Leviathan, and the new god Khonsu but I wish my husb John had told me about inviting wedding crashers. Mostly because I did the same damn thing.
I dropped a tip to the PRT about this wedding shit last week and I've been holding my breath half-expecting John to point at me and declare me a traitor in front of everyone.
I’ve been thinking about the Fallen for a while now. I bought into everything they said at first. But I know better now. Desmond might believe what he’s saying but I know Aiden never did.
Dolores is just in love with Desmond and Cavanaugh is just a goddamn freak. How could any god want these people as their chosen ones?
And then Scion killed Behemoth last year. Gods or Endbringers aren’t supposed to die.
Or does that make Scion the only real god?
Doesn’t matter. All that matters now is a bunch of people are dead and my parents are alive in lockup somewhere.
John got grazed during the fight and I had to drag his bleeding ass out of there. He zonked out a while ago and I found this message in his pockets.
Now unlike the movies he woke up while I was still reading this. We disagreed and I’ll admit he can throw a decent punch for a pretty boy. Unfortunately for him I’m strong in this dimension. Now he’s glaring at me and nursing a bloody nose with his unshot arm.
I don’t know what to do now. The plan had been to grab some cash and leave the state. Maybe take a portal to Gimel.
Now I’ve got only a dress and Captain Hindsight. Could leave him and run. But he did stop spear man from running me through.
We’re hiding in the chapel thanks to my power. The heroes left hours ago and now it's just PRT people gathering up the guns and the bodies. I can see their footsteps above us like they’re walking on frosty glass.
Gonna try to sleep.
The first handwriting resumes
Helen gave me back my papers. I can’t see or hear Mama so I’m going to write what I’ve been wanting to.
I wanted them to shoot me dead. I wanted anyone, even my so-called wife to kill me rather than let me go back to Mama. Everything’s been getting weird since Lord Behemoth died.
Actually even before then. People have been saying the world is going to end next year. I don’t know if it’s true or not but I do know one thing.
I don’t want to be with my family if it does happen. I’d rather die alone. But I’m not dead.
Instead my left arm burns with every heartbeat and my fingers are numb. Helen and I are going to try and make it to one of the Crowley safehouses and work our way west from there.
Maybe California. Maybe Gimel.
Either way we’re done with the Fallen. I’m done with you Mama.
Brother Elijah I hope they missed one of those maggots in your eyes.
Second handwriting resumes
Goodbye Desmond. I really don’t think you’ll ever read this even if you aren’t dead. Thank you for keeping me alive through some rough times. Never let anyone tell you that I’m not grateful.
Dolores I know everything is shit but maybe Gimel could be better.
Aiden and Cavanaugh you just go straight to whatever hell there is.
Goodbye Mom. Goodbye Dad.