CHAPTER 552: CEREMONY

With modernization over the past millennium, the wedding ceremony went through great changes. The loss of religious belief also played a huge part, and finally, the Apocalypse destroyed any memories of the marriage process.

Remnant symbolisms, like the bride’s white dress and the groom’s black suit, remained, yet the meaning behind each became completely lost.

People still got married, but the cultural structure’s loss made the ceremony meaningless. Every household held its marriages differently, since no records remained about the exact process.

However, the Angelic Order brought a new cultural and religious wave into civilization. It refined society’s very structure by introducing new laws, trends, policies, fashion, mannerisms, etc.

Lilith and Adam personally wrote most of these rules, which influenced society to its very core. But since they lived busy lives, the wedding reform only happened about half a year ago.

They wrote a brief document about how an Angelic Order wedding should be held. For example, the colors the bride and groom could wear, or who can officiate the engaged couple.

The document also left many parts ambiguous, so the couple could still have their creative freedom. For example, they wrote nothing about make-up, hairstyles, the church’s interior design, etc.

However, there was one rule, which surprised everyone, including Sera herself...

"Sera, I’m nervous!" whispered Bea, while standing atop a podium below a large gate-like structure, covered in golden and blood-red seven-petaled flowers.

The ’small’ church that Lilith and Adam chose for their wedding was in fact gigantic. Its interior height reached about twenty meters, and could hold a few hundred people.

"Don’t worry, I’ll do the speech, you just stand there and look pretty!" Sera whispered back and grabbed Bea’s shaky hand.

Behind them, through an enormous circular mosaic, the sun shone down onto the church’s main entrance. It created a beautiful artistic design of the Angelic Order’s seven-pointed star intertwined with bright green vines.

The close to fifty guests sat at the front, near the podium, while the few Brothers and Sisters who managed the church watched the ceremony from high above, hidden in shadows.

The biggest change Lilith and Adam brought into the marriage process was duality. They introduced equality at every level. Both the bride and groom had the exact amount of friends by their side. They both had their own flower girl or flower boy, and an older husband and wife gave away each.

This also meant there wasn’t a single officiant but two. Usually, these two should be married Angelic Older priests, but since both Lilith and Adam wanted Sera to officiate them, Bea became the second priestess.

She wasn’t comfortable standing there beside Sera, since she feared her mere presence would lead to some disaster and ruin the wedding. Luckily, Sera’s firm hold gave the magnificent woman strength and drowned out the anxiety.

"If you get too stressed, just imagine me naked!" said Sera with a light giggle.

"That’ll only make me horny, which wouldn’t calm me in the slightest!" whisper-shouted Bea, then glanced over Sera’s golden petal dress.

Unconsciously, she followed Sera’s suggestion and, to her utter surprise, it actually helped. She forgot about the anxiety as she imagined seeing her girlfriend in different positions with wild, alluring expressions.

Gradually, all the hushed voices silenced as they felt a vibration along the fabric of reality. The smell of fresh flowers filled the air as the Sisters and Brothers hiding in the shadows began singing as a choir.

Along each side of the church, two different colored banners hung. On Sera’s side, they were golden, matching the Angel’s own clothes, while on Bea’s they were blood-red, matching hers.

The main entrance opened on silent hinges. The air pressure change made the banners dance to the singing’s rhythm.

The first to enter were the youngest couple, Vicky and Henry. All the guests stood up as they entered.

In the previous days, Cass sent everyone details about the color schemes, and forbade any guests from wearing either golden or red clothing. However, she also strongly suggested that they wear something bright and colorful, which meant no blacks or whites.

Vicky wore an elegant golden dress, which reached just above her ankles. It stuck close to her lithe form while a pair of puffy shoulder sleeves held up the dress, revealing the young girl’s neckline.

Light, tasteful amount of make-up covered her face. It brought out the Princess’s white eyes, while her mouth had a deep blood-red lipstick covering it. Her scar remained in sight, which wasn’t surprising.

After Sera created the same scar as her daughter’s, both Lilith and Adam adopted the idea. They damaged their souls, like Sera did, so the scar stretching from their brows to their jaw would remain permanent.

However, when people began mutilating themselves because of their firm belief, Vicky herself put out a statement. She forbade anyone from scaring their face, since only Sera and those close to her are allowed to wear this mark of honor.

Nobody dared to disagree with the Princess, so eventually all the mutilated got healed, leaving only Sera, Vicky, Lilith and Adam with scars.

Beside the Princess, with his arm gently holding his fiancée’s, the Prince walked tall and proud. He wore a masterfully tailored blood-red suit with a golden handkerchief showing from his upper pocket.

Both Vicky and Henry carried a basket in their hands. Upon reaching the long golden-red carpet leading towards the podium, they let go of each other and, while taking small steps, they tossed flower petals into the air.

Vicky’s petals were blood-red, while Henry’s were golden. This contrasting view of their clothing created a spectacular aesthetic image, which caused a few guests to gasp in awe.

Both the flower boy and girl smiled as they walked until they reached the foot of the podium. They bowed their heads to Sera and Bea, then moved to the side and awaited the next procession.

As they walked down the aisle, the main entrance closed shut behind them. This way, the next couple could have a similar, beautiful entrance.

The mosaic’s pattern moved closer towards the podium as the sun rose higher into the sky... The timing was perfect so far...

The Brothers and Sisters became louder, but their words stayed incoherent to everybody. Their singing was wonderful and matched the atmosphere perfectly, so nobody had any complaints.

The main entrance opened silently, and soon Lucy and Will stepped inside. They wore the exact same outfits as Vicky and Henry, but this time they carried strange metallic spheres, which hung on small chains, reaching towards the floor.

A brazier burned on each side of the entrance, which the couple used to ignite something within the spheres. Smoke flowed through the metallic spheres’ holes, filing the air with a nice, fragrant smell.

Lucy’s smoke was blood-red while Will’s was golden, following the ceremony’s color scheme.

They took small steps and let the spheres dangle along the chains. The smoke rose high towards the ceiling, where it created a giant cloud of intermingling golden and blood-red colors.

This display was less artistic, but as Lucy and Will bowed before the officiants, the cloud above stirred as if alive. Gentle rumbles shook the church as lights danced inside the cloud, as if a storm was brewing.

The choir became louder as the entrance opened once more. A tall demon stepped in, his arm gently holding his beautiful girlfriend’s own. Their suit was the same as the previous couples’.

Crimson flames danced along Leslie’s wings, while Sarah’s body-length bluish-gray hair rose into the air, defying gravity. They walked to the long carpet’s edge, then reached out towards the turbulent clouds with their free hands.

From the clouds blood-red, fiery butterflies flew down accompanied by larger golden birds made of electricity. They danced together below the clouds as Sarah and Leslie bowed at the podium.

Each went to their side and turned towards the opening entrance...

Cass walked in her arms excitedly holding David’s own. She grinned at the gathered guests as they both walked down the aisle.

Their hands were empty, and they didn’t stop along the way, so everyone believed the theatrics were finally over. However, as they reached the podium, Cass slammed down her foot, and suddenly the church disappeared.

All the walls broke into floating pieces of debris, leaving only the mosaic and the main entrance intact. The choir, hidden by the cloud, reached its crescendo as the broken walls revealed an endless field of flowers.

On Sera’s side, the golden, seven-petalled flowers grew, while on Bea’s side, blood-red flowers grew. It split the entire world in two, creating an unbelievably magical scene.

Cass walked to Sera’s side, where all the other golden dressed woman settled with excitement. David walked to Bea’s side, where the blood-red suited man stood with gentle smiles.

The guests, still consumed by awe, glanced all over the place...

The flower petals on the ground... The clouds high above... The butterflies and birds flying all over the place... The endless field of flowers... It was all too overwhelming and amazing!

However, while they looked at everything with wide grins of shock and astonishment, the choir’s singing gradually turned gentler, until it barely echoed through the endless flower field.

The guests stopped staring at the decoration and instead turned towards the main entrance, but soon came the next surprise. Cass slammed her foot down again, and suddenly the entire world changed.

The carpet split into golden and blood-red side which led to two different entrances. The aisle widened until it reached a ninety-degree angle. The two paths intersected right at the podium’s feet, where Sera and Bea awaited the bride and groom.

The main entrances opened, and through the mosaic, two separate rays of sunlight shone down like limelight in a theater...