"Quiet," a commanding voice echoed, cutting through the noise in the room like a knife as its owner stood up from his grandiose wooden throne. "I am Cullen, the King of this cluster young man. And you are Damien of the Humans, soon to become family. Are both parties and the mortal witness ready?" the Fae King asked.

He stood roughly twenty feet away and five feet higher than Damien, a royal dark purple cape resting upon his small shoulders as black and red checkered shorts covered his lower half. Eight colorful wings were stretched to their fullest as he showed them off with a knowing smile.

The King's entire person, what little he was, radiated a confidence Damien was sure he could never mimic. Short hair blacker than night, a handsome, sharp face, and the same black color for his eyebrows all demanded admiration and attention. Even with the strange outfit and miniature disposition, his toned body and blue eyes still brought everything together to a model image of a man in his thirties.

Jade shook her head in the negative while groaning, breaking Damien out of his staring contest with the King's abs. He neither responded in the affirmative nor did he shake his head to answer as he was still confused about what was going on, but definitely beginning to connect the dots.

"Excellent," the King said, pulling a silver plaque out from a black hole he conjured. "Do you, Seria, ta-"

"NO!" Jade, or Seria as the King called her, screamed out, interrupting the King.

He didn't seem to mind though and only chuckled as a green mist floated out from Seria's mouth, echoing the word no as it traveled toward the silver plaque in the King's hands.

"Ope, can't let that happen now can we?" the King said with mirth, snatching the mist from the air with a hand before it touched the silvery tablet in his hand. "Now then just a little... tweak and... there we go!"

Damien watched as the mist writhed around in the King's grasp before it changed from green to red and flowed into the plaque. Seria's name then slowly etched itself into the top portion of it, deep maroon in color. Her face seemed to pale upon watching the spectacle as she clenched the podium with her hands, gouging a chunk of wood out from it.

Damien's body shuddered at the thought of that strength being turned on him. He didn't understand just what the hell her problem was, but perhaps saving her was a mistake.

"PLEASE! I don't want to be tied to a Human! Can't you pick someone else?!" Seria begged with upturned eyes to her King, launching the piece of wood into the side of Damien's head as she pointed at him.

'What's so bad about Humans,' Damien asked himself as he looked down at his hands then back up, breaking out of his wandering thoughts.

Now was definitely not the time to ponder the endless list of things that were indeed bad about his race.

"Well, no one else wants to, for one, and it is your punishment. So no. Now then," the King said, turning to Damien. "Just ignore everything she's said, my boy. Damien Tearen, do you t-"

'NO!'

"Apologies for interrupting your eminence but... are you trying to marry us?" Damien asked.

"Marriage? What?" he heard Alexa say behind him in a tone that made him very much not want to turn around.

Damien didn't want to interrupt a King but he didn't exactly want to be married off either. If Cullen forcibly changed his answer to the positive like he did the fairies, Damien would be stuck with that evil witch for life. Selfish, rude, mean, threatening, stupid enough to almost get herself killed, not at all thankful... Damien would rather marry a Grask, which was apparently a terrifying combination between a spider and an elephant.

He'd seen the pictures, and they were nightmare inducing.

"Marry? That thing you mortals do to waste money and force each other into a monogamous relationship? No no. Perish the thought," the King responded, an affronted look on his face. "You'll be bound!"

"It's just, some of the lines sounded similar and I thou-"

"It's nowhere near the same, I assure you, my boy. Now, do you take Seria to be your wi- *ehem* partn-"

"Stop. No, you definitely just almost said wife. I don't want to get married, I am four. How about we just call ourselves square for me saving her life and go our separate ways?" Damien interrupted a second time.

The Fae's blue eyes narrowed as his expression darkened in an instant. The slight din that had been the background noise of the room went away the same moment and Damien was reminded that he was speaking to a King. Not much of one perhaps, but a King all the same.

"You have already accepted our offered bracelet, you would return a gift of the Fae?" he spat out towards Damien, as if the words were disgusting to even say.

Damien was no fool. Though it was a yes or no question, it was very obviously one that would be met with serious complications if he answered in the affirmative, much like actually doing what one wanted when their wife said, "do whatever you want." At the least, it seemed the Fae as a race would henceforth begin disliking him. At most... death perhaps.

But just accepting everything at face value... Sure the Fae were powerful and mostly misunderstood, but would having them as an extended family be worth the rest of his life being ruined continuously by an immortal? He was certain she could hold a grudge far longer than most, the look in her eyes promised as much.

Damien did some quick thinking before coming up with an excuse.

"I wouldn't think of it, fair sir. I merely do not wish to see one as fair as she forced into something she does not want," he said while laying it on as thick as he could to placate the King.

The King's glare seemed to vanish in an instant as a smile spread from ear to ear, almost literally, showcasing rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Damien shuddered.

"Excellent! Well it is of no matter, I am forcing her and she will abide by my wishes whether she likes it or not, but if you would have another of my family, you may! Though, I don't think you'll find one willing. Being bound to a Human is tedious after all, or is it that you would prefer a man? I saw the way you were admiring me earlier, but unfortunately for you, I am quite off the market."

Seria's eyes lit up at that, Damien noticed. She turned toward him with a look that demanded his compliance in the matter.

"Yes! Pick any other man, do it!"

Damien sighed. The King's last words notwithstanding, he had been given a choice and that only served to complicate matters. Everywhere he turned the Fae avoided his gaze, especially the men. All except the Fae of the lake who probably weren't included in the-

"You said anyone of your family? So I may pick anyone in the room?" Damien asked.

"Yes yes, anyone here is fine," the King said, waving his hand dismissively.

Damien sighed in relief.

"I pick her then," he said, finger pointing toward the only Fae he ever truly had a positive interaction with, wearing a shiny blue dress and sitting next to a Fae with eight wings, apparently signifying status he'd begun to notice.

All eyes in the room turned as one toward the only member of the Fae of the lake with normal colored skin and silver freckles. He didn't understand why she'd changed from green skin to tan, but it made it that much easier to pick her out.

Some Fae laughed while others remained silent, shaking their heads. The one in question tilted her head to the side while staring at Damien, confused.

"I said members of my cluster, Human, not any Fae here," the King stated as he saw whom he'd picked.

"Well, you actually said any member of your family and since your representative had labeled them as a sister tribe, I assumed that would make them family. Also, they are in the room, so they meet both criteria... is that not acceptable?" Damien asked apprehensively.

He felt like he was walking a tightrope, telling the King he was wrong while trying to get something to go his way. He'd initially hoped the Fae would just say, "Ok no problem!" but that didn't seem to be how this would pan out.

"That is not what my intention was, however. You are to be bound to my cluster, not another-"

"Now now, Cullen, don't go back on your word. If the Human has chosen a member of my tribe, so be it. We are practically one cluster as is anyway, why not let the boy have his way?" the Fae with eight wings that was sitting next to the freckled one asked, standing from her place near the front aisle.

Wearing a dark grey dress over her green skin, her heterochromatic eyes of blue and purple stared into the King's. Dark blue hair like the rest of her tribe's fell down her back, stopping at her slim waist. Her ears were sharply pointed and poked through her hair while her smile was menacing.

"Tia, this is hardly the place f-"

"Tiana in public, dear," she said, interrupting the King's refute.

The King cleared his throat and looked to the side slightly before continuing.

"Tiana, we found this Human and have claim over him. I won't let him just jump ship to your cluster."

"Then it is too bad your words said you would, is it not? It is of no consequence, either way, we will just merge our clusters and be done with it," she stated.

Damien watched as the Fae King atop his mighty throne looked about restlessly as he tried to counter the woman. He seemed to be in a panic; Damien almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

"Surely now is not the time to make such a decision," he said.

"Now is the perfect time to, though? You have danced around this particular topic far too long anyway, my dear. We even have all the necessary procedures in place right now. Come down from there so we may bind our groups to one another, now."

The woman, who Damien assumed was the Queen of the lake cluster, spoke in a tone that brokered no arguments as she demanded of the King something that sounded eerily close to marriage for a race that denied they married. Glancing back at the King showed a defeated man as he looked about for help from his people and received none, all Fae dutifully keeping themselves from making eye contact with their King, including his representative.

"Avery, surely you cou-"

The red-haired Fae Cullen was petitioning disappeared from everyone's sight in the next moment as if he'd been a mirage.

The Queen looked to Damien.

"Boy, I truly am sorry for interrupting your binding ceremony, but I'm sure you don't mind. I'll be sure to thank you for giving me the perfect opportunity for this in giving you Kastra's hand, no matter how unwilling sh-"

"It's fine," a voice flowed outward from the Fae he'd pointed to earlier, womanly in nature but not in a high pitched or cutesy way, instead carrying a deeper, warmer tone similar to Vanessa's.

Damien sighed and grabbed his head as the Fae that should have had no voice spoke. His brain hurt. The situation kept changing too much and he desperately needed a drink.

He conjured a chair of rock and sat down while the rest of the room became an uproar of confusion and questions, all demanding in one way or another to know why she would willingly stay near a stupid Human until he died. A few took the break from formality to start flying in circles, crashing into each other and the walls while giggling like they were playing a game.

It seemed being serious for five minutes was taking a toll on their sanity.

"Now then, let's just get this over with shall we?" the Queen, Tiana, stated as she sat atop the throne next to Cullen who was doing his best to be in a different world as he stared at the wall.

He no longer looked majestic.

Their ceremony had just completed and the room was a bit worse for it, the benches all but destroyed from the celebration when it finished and the gate Damien had walked through burnt to the ground. In fact, the only place that was left as it was when the ceremony started was where Damien currently sat, the podium, the throne, and where Alexa sat.

"Do you, Kastra, accept the Human boy as your bound, to... yadda yadda details don't matter..." she asked in a monotone voice, trailing off near the end.

"I do," was the response that sounded from his side.

This time, red mist poured out of Kastra's mouth as it danced through the air and entered the new silver plaque, drawing her name elegantly across it.

"Good. And you, Damien, are you fine with being bound to my lovely Kastra, who for some odd reason most likely connected to a negative influence you caused while she observed you, is willing to stay by your side till death do you part?" she asked.

"I... wait, can I ask a quick question first?" he answered, eliciting a sigh from the Queen.

"Speak."

"What exactly are the details you skipped there? And what is this binding going to do to me? And... are you sure this isn't marriage?" Damien questioned.

"I would have just gone over her role as a caretaker, expressing her need to feed you daily and make sure you don't die as a Human representative of our race. As for you, you'll be adopted into the Fae and held to the same standard as we. You will be subservient to all that Kastra requests of you and work toward establishing a relationship with our people and others. You will both be unable to stray further than one hundred feet apart by your own will until death and in the event you are forced, will spend the remaining time you have left attempting to return to one another's side. In the event of your death, you will be avenged. In the event of Kastra's death, you will die as well. That is all," she stated matter of factly while staring at him. "And it is not marriage," she finished.

Damien sighed in relief, ecstatic he had asked for the fine print. He could only shudder in fear at what would have happened had he been forced to accept such conditions with Seria as his... wife-bound-thing. She could have just committed suicide and cause his death while coming back later without memories. She would have.

"Right... is there perhaps an uh... different binding pact? One that puts us on more equal terms, me and her? And removes the distance and death sentence?" Damien queried, motioning toward Kastra.

"He wants even more?!"

"We merged our clusters for you and you ask yet for more?!"

"Banish the Human!"

"Bite him!"

"Leave our Kastra out of this!"

The Queen didn't speak for a few moments, considering his question as the room erupted into mock outrage.

"Quiet," she finally spoke silencing the room. "...There are different pacts, but only upon request and we are unable to force her to accept them. The Equals pact is what you speak of, having the subservient requirement removed. The death pact is not removed, however as when you die then Kastra will follow you to the grave as well, though not permanently. It also removes the distance requirement but makes you both aware of each other's state of mind and general location at all times and the longer you spend apart, the more it will influence your emotions and desire to be together. Not together in a romantic sense, but a physical one, slowly driving you to do whatever you can to see the other party, though this doesn't happen until you've been apart for longer than around half a year. The contract cannot be annulled but can be altered with both parties consent, adding new conditions or removing ones you've added. You can never alter the base conditions of the contract."

"There is also a Soul pact which increases the effects of an equals pact while causing those with it to reincarnate together. When done on a Fae, they give up their immortality and follow you to the grave permanently to be revived when and where you come back. It is considered taboo among us and has only been done the one time it took to learn it's effects. I will only allow an equals pact here, with her consent," the Queen finished, gesturing lastly to Kastra.

Damien looked over to Kastra, begging with his eyes as she stood still, quietly considering.

It was strange, these pacts. It seemed like they were designed for those who were getting married yet not marriage themselves; like an addon with perks and drawbacks. It felt more like he was being adopted than anything.

"I'm fine with that, too," Kastra said as the man next to her changed his face to one of reverence.

If it made him happy, why not? She was being given a ticket to travel, to be free from her people and responsibility for a few hundred years, how could she not jump on the opportunity. She'd been a representative here for over a decade or two at this point. It was only an added incentive that she actually enjoyed his presence to top it off, so making the decision that he didn't need to be her slave was an easy one to make. The death pact was concerning, but it didn't matter too much. All that would happen is she would be reborn.

Perhaps next time she would even be normal.

It seemed the cluster of Fae present didn't like her acceptance though, as they all once again broke into a shouting match. Their reactions were at least understandable this time.

No Fae had ever entered into an Equals pact willingly. If they were going to be forced to waste a few hundred years of their existence on a Human, they wanted to be able to write the script. That, and they seemed concerned for her. Awkward or not, she was family.

"...Very well," her Queen spoke, disintegrating the second contract and creating a new one with reluctance. "You're sure?"

Kastra nodded her head.

"Then, Kastra, representative of the Loch Domhain, do you take Damien to be your Equal?" she asked.

"I do," Kastra declared, meeting her Queen's eyes seriously as a pure white mist exited her mouth and floated to the silver plaque, once again carving her name into it.

This time it took up one side of the contract instead of sitting on top, leaving room for the boy's name next to hers.

"And you, Damien?" the Queen asked.

"I-"

"And you're sure this isn't marriage?" the Celestial behind them interrupted worriedly, standing up partway from where she'd been sitting.

Kastra's Queen sighed and turned to the new interruption.

"It is not marriage, for the last time. And do take care not to speak again during the proceedings, mortal. You are here as a witness to the binding and as our guest for the kindness you showed my Husbands family, but if needed, we will remove you."

The Celestial sat back down as Kastra shook her head.

'If you are going to lie,' she thought, 'perhaps it's best to not use terms that directly expose you to the other party.'

True, it wasn't marriage exactly so her Queen could get away with misdirection, but it was still obvious it was based on marriage. They had removed certain parts of it when making their own similar concept, such as monogamy, and added other parts in that suited their extreme tastes more, such as making it a death pact, but the fact remained it was eerily close to the mortal creation.

"Well?" Tiana asked, looking at Damien.

"Hmm? Oh, uhm yeah. Sure," he responded, seemingly in his own world.

Kastra's shoulders drooped slightly at the answer, disappointed. She didn't particularly want to get married, but as the Fae could only be bound once in a lifetime, she still wanted it done right. It was hard enough not to show a reaction when the Queen first tried to rush through it, but with him following suit she couldn't hide her disappointment any longer.

Kastra watched the white mist begin to leave her bounded's mouth when suddenly, it was sucked right back in as her Queen looked from her back to him.

"Did you say, 'yeah sure'?" Tiana asked him with a glare.

"Yeah sure... sir?" he questioned back, confused but breaking into a slight smile for a reason Kastra couldn't fathom.

"You think this is a game?" Tiana demanded, his face blanching immediately.

"No sir-ma'm. I was thinking of... other things. Yes, ma'am. Will accept her hand in... binding."

Her Queen was getting more and more irritated, sending the mist once again back inside the boy's mouth as it came out.

"There are two words you will say or we will sit here all day until you do. I can prevent the ceremony from finishing as many times as need be, Damien. Now, do you take Kastra to be your wife?" she asked, looking at Kastra again and winking.

Kastra mentally shook her head at the slip-up and the wink.

'So she is sticking to customary words for my benefit.'

Kastra felt eyes boring into her back and knew the Celestial was less than pleased. It was unfortunate, to say the least. She liked the girl and they had been getting closer of late due to the constant proximity they both had to Damien.

Perhaps she'd wanted to marry the man.

"... I thought it wasn't ma-"

"One. More. Chance," Tiana growled. "Do. You."

"I do," he hastily replied while lowering his head. "I'd be honored."

Kastra watched as the white mist once again left his mouth, traveled forward unimpeded and flowed into the plaque where it wrote his name next to hers. When it finished, the names begun melting across the document into each other which caused a feeling of immense warmth to spread throughout her chest and body as she became able to sense Damien's current emotional state of mind.

Curiosity, it seemed.

"Oh, now that's pretty neat," she heard him whisper next to her, making her happy she could be the reason behind something that brought him the same joy his magic brought her.

"Now then. Kastra darling, come here for a moment please," her Queen called out.

Kastra flew forward and stopped when she'd neared the contract.

"Stick out your hand and place it on the silver once the names have finished becoming one, my dear."

She nodded and did so when it was time, resting her right hand on the front of the metal. The moment her hand connected to it the entire plaque melted onto her skin, leaving a silver residue over her palm while part of it traveled in a line across her skin to meld into a thin bracelet on her left wrist, their names engraved along the outside almost too small to make out.

"Now, go finish the ceremony, but do not place it on the back of his neck. That location is only for servant bindings," her Queen stated.

Kastra nodded and flit over to Damien before narrowing her eyes in contemplation. She had no idea where she wanted to place it. Somewhere visible would be nice, but anywhere it would be visible permanently would not be symbolic enough for her tastes... Maybe she'd just force him to go shirtless, then.

She bobbed her head once again to reconfirm her decision once she'd picked a spot, then slowly floated forward, coming to a stop inches from the boy. With a flash of inspiration, she grew to his full height and stood on the ground before moving her hand directly above where his heart should be.

"This will hurt," she warned, and before he could voice the question in his grey eyes, she moved her hand forward, burning a palm-shaped hole through his suit and onto his skin as a sizzling sound rang out from the contact.

His face remained confused for a moment before his teeth grit and his face scrunched up in quite the ugly expression, turning red. He grunted at the searing pain he was no doubt feeling as the liquid silver left her hand and entered his skin, while parts of it branched off and made its way to the golden band on the boys left wrist. Once it arrived, it eroded the gold away, turning it silver while their names were etched into the outside of it.

Once the warm sensation left her hand, Kastra pulled it back and watched as the suit disintegrated further slightly from where she'd touched, making a large hole through which she admired her work. Her handprint lay on his skin, petite and delicate while colored in the same silver of her eyes.

"What... the hell was that... My suit," he panted, looking down where a hole had been burned through the Fae clothing.

"Your turn," she said, ignoring his complaint as his sweat covered face slowly reverted to one of calm.

"My turn?" he asked, looking up.

"Your right hand, see? You must mark me," she said while pointing at his hand.

He looked down and seemed surprised to see the same coloring across his palm, only this time it was grey. When he met Kasta's eyes again, he seemed to be considering what to do with it as he began to circle her, curiosity tinged with vengeance leaking from him into her mind.

In the next moment, she was glad she'd chosen to stand rather than fly as the same searing pain he'd felt erupted across the entirety of her wing structure, felling her to her knees. Shocked, she looked back to see he had gripped one of the six, yet all felt like they were on fire.

The color seeped out of his hand and spread throughout her originally multi-hued wings, turning into a series of dark grey handprints all across them until they eventually were too covered in the prints to notice individual ones anymore, instead leaving only occasional lines all across them. No longer transparent, her wings now held a solidity to them that none other in her race had.

The pain receded and she tried moving them. They responded, to her relief, just like they always had. The process had been beautiful yet terrifying all the same, watching that which she'd been born with slowly disappearing under the man's endless handprints.

'It looks nice,' she thought, as she glanced between her handprint and the mark he'd made.

It felt like she owned him and she, in turn, was his, even if he didn't believe it to be such an arrangement.

"Well that was really neat, wasn't it?" Damien asked lightly, breaking her out of the trance she'd been in. "Hey, our bracelets changed as well."

Looking at her hand, she realized the silver bracelet now had equal amounts of a solid, oppressive grey in it. It looked consuming, outshining the silver's majesty almost by not allowing reflection or shine in the slightest to leak from it.

She turned her head forward and nodded once before noticing his extended hand. She reached out her own and took it as he lifted her back onto her feet, meeting his eyes. She found herself once again in a trance as they seemed to swirl with a mixture of colors, no longer only the grey they had been moments before but taking on a few strands of silver, swirling about in his irises.

"Well, that has never happened before," she heard the Queen state from the throne. "It looked painful Kastra, are you well?"

Kastra turned to the Queen and nodded once before looking back to her mark on the Human's chest and brought one of her wings into view, observing the dark, solid grey they had become.

She smiled for the first time in years.

Alexa felt her nerves flare and her chest tighten as she watched Damien get stolen away from her by the Fae. It shouldn't have mattered to her whether or not he was married, yet it did. It mattered a lot, and it hurt.

Damien was supposed to be hers, yet not hers. It didn't make sense, she knew that. But still... she didn't understand what was happening, or why her stomach was so screwed up.

All her life she'd been told time and time again by her family and acquaintances of how a Human and Celestial never could be together, yet never once had they explained why in a logical manner, always stating instead that Humans were just too inferior to sully their bloodline with. She had assumed it was a compatibility issue between the races and yet here a Human and a Fae had basically been married.

Why would it really matter, then, should she also choose to marry a Human? What should it matter to them?

"The ceremony has concluded," the King stood up and declared, regaining some of the regal attitude he'd recently lost. "BRING OUT THE CAKES AND START THE PARTY! TWICE AS ROUDY AS IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BEFORE, YOUR KING DEMANDS IT!" he shouted with glee.

She stared at the back of the Fae before her with envy as the room turned into a swarm of excitement around her. Perhaps, had she not been born with the wrong set of wings, she wouldn't feel like this.

The after party began in earnest as the fairies destroyed the court, cake smeared on the walls while confetti stuck to everything that was sticky, which was everything. Alexa asked when they'd be allowed to leave but had yet to receive an answer. Damien walked up to where she'd moved to hide in the corner of the room and sat on the floor, back to the wall and waited as well.

"Well, that was interesting, wasn't it?" he said.

"Sure, I suppose," she responded tiredly. "Congratulations."

"On what? I could have been killed had that gone wrong," he said with a chuckle.

"It didn't though. Instead, it worked out almost perfectly so... congrats," she responded again, trying to keep the tension she felt in her chest out of her voice.

A few minutes passed as they watched the chaos unfold around them. The Fae had brought out three cakes, all ten feet tall and five wide with multiple layers. It was insanity. Some flew through them and emerged covered in frosting while others scooped pieces off to eat or throw. One group of Fae swam in a soda fountain while another ran about clotheslining others with merriment.

They were sitting on the tropical side of the room, which was a thing now. One side had been turned into a hellscape of fire, another into a frozen wasteland. The throne was a jungle and where Alexa had chosen, it was sandy. Miniature waves crashed on their beach as a salty breeze hit the sides of their faces.

Alexa closed her eyes and tried not to question any of it. Most of the Fae around her were dancing and singing, but definitely, all of them were on an insane sugar high.

All except for Kastra, of course. She sat atop Damien's left shoulder between Alexa and him.

"Is everything ok, Lexi?" Damien eventually asked her.

"I'm fine," she responded promptly.

"You don't seem fine, what's up? No secrets, remember?" he asked again, persistent.

Alexa sighed while considering her options. No secrets. How hard that was when faced with this particular situation. Whereas before it had worked for her now...

She was embarrassed to explain it and didn't want to come off as a brat, yet maybe he'd understand. Plus, he knew her well and would know she was lying. If she expected him to be truthful in the future she had to live up to their promise.

"I'm a little upset, yeah," she said, the words becoming harder and harder to get out as she admit them. "Jealous, I think."

"Jealous? Of what? This situation isn't all that desirable I'd think," he said.

She shook her head before opening her mouth to speak again, "Not of y-"

"The Queen wants you!"

"The KING wants you!"

Only to be interrupted by two soda and confetti covered Fae as they flit up to Damien.

"The Quing wants to speak to you!"

"That works!"

Damien looked at the newcomers then back at her. Alexa smiled and nodded him forward. He patted her shoulder and used it as a brace to stand up.

"We'll talk more when I get back, deal?"

She nodded, hoping he'd forget and hoping he wouldn't simultaneously. The pain had started going away when she'd begun to explain it to him, but it was embarrassing.

Alexa watched him finish standing and saw him off, following the two Fae away as Kastra hopped off his shoulder and flew to her's before sitting again, surprising Alexa as they made eye contact.

"Jealous of me?" Kastra asked.

"I... why should I-" Alexa began before she stopped herself, staring at the Fae.

She had thought the fairy was gloating, yet she wore an expression of curiosity and concern, not malice. This particular Fae was strange, not taking pleasure in the annoyance of others. Here she sat, concerned about Alexa rather than torturing her as any other would.

"Why?" Kastra asked, stopping her thoughts.

"I don't really know. I just don't want you to take him away from me, I think," Alexa responded, working through the words slowly. "He's... he's supposed to be mine."

"You wish to marry him?" the Fae questioned, causing Alexa to blush furiously at the thought.

"No! No, Celestials can't marry Humans," she responded quickly, feeling the heat slowly recede from her face.

"Why not?" was the response she received.

Indeed, why not, Alexa questioned herself.

"I'm... not sure."

"You make no sense then," Kastra said.

Alexa let out a laugh at that. Here a Fae sat telling her that her actions made no sense. It was true, too. Alexa's actions didn't make sense to her or anyone else here.

"Do you wish to marry him?" the small woman asked again, her breath tickling Alexa's neck.

"I told you, Ce-"

"That is not what I asked," she interrupted. "If not for your silly mortal rule, would you marry him?"

Alexa lowered her head and sat still for a moment, going over the question in her mind. She'd already told herself once she might if he were a Celestial and after their talk, she'd surely have wanted it. So, if he weren't, but the Families rule wasn't in place... would she?

"I... don't know. I think... I think I might. But we're so young-"

"Then, would you like to be added in?" Kastra interrupted, nodding at Alexa's earlier words.

"Added in?" Alexa questioned, lifting her head confused about what she meant.

Kastra nodded again, "We can't include the parts pertaining to being a representative for the Fae, only the leaders can, and the death pact won't extend to you, but everything else will be the same."

Alexa slowly opened her mouth, shocked.

"You mean... added to the binding?"

"What else?" Kastra questioned.

"But. Wait, what? You'd do that? Wouldn't it be weird?" Alexa asked, flustered.

"Not if you don't make it weird?" she responded, shaking her head back and forth as her dark blue hair followed and brushed lightly against Alexa's neck.

Alexa laughed at that, causing Kastra to cock her head at her questioningly.

"It's just... you said something he said earlier. But anyway. What I meant was... Is... Is it really ok with you or- well no, hold on. I couldn't anyway, even if I'd like to. I can't get married to a Human, let alone a Fae. My family would hang me," she responded, at first excited at the prospect before her brain shut her down with the grim reminder.

"It isn't marriage though, technically. Why should it matter to them what you choose to do with your life, anyway?" the Fae asked, repeating a question she had thought earlier.

True, it wasn't marriage, just similar to it. There were no symbolic rings either, only bracelets. If this would allow her to stay closer to him until she understood how she felt...

Alexa decided to jump at the opportunity in case it was never offered again. In the event it went bad, she could just annul it.

"I want to. Please, Kastra, please let me," she declared.

She nodded at Alexa and lifted her left arm in the air, conjuring the pact out of her wrist where it hung in the air as it did earlier, Kastra and Damien's names written on it.

"Do you accept myself and Damien as your Equals, Alexa?" Kastra asked her, her eyes serious.

Alexa blushed slightly and nodded to the fairy.

Kastra frowned.

"No. Say it," she demanded.

"But it's emb-"

"That's my rule. You have to say it, Alexa. Do you accept us for life as we accept you?"

'It is not marriage, Alexa. It is an Equals pact. Like friends. Best friends for life,' she told herself over and over.

"I do," she eventually squeaked out, face on fire.

"You do what?" Damien asked as he approached the duo from the front.

"Me too," Kastra said, ignoring Damien as Alexa yelped in surprise at his sudden appearance.

"It felt like you wanted me, I think?" he asked.

Alexa's face lit up even brighter as a white mist left her mouth and entered the parchment floating in front of Kastra, along with more mist from the Fae's mouth. The two names present shifted, turning slightly outward from one another as her name entered upside down and transparent, creating a triangle of three names with their bases all pointed inward.

"Perfect timing," Kastra said while flitting over to a surprised Damien. "Call out the pact, please. We have made changes you need to accept."

Damien looked from Alexa to Kastra, then back to her with a growing smile adorning his face.

"Jealous of her?" he asked.

Alexa's face felt like it would melt as they looked at one another.

Damien laughed as she said nothing. He fiddled with his wrist, eventually figuring out how to call out the contract. When he did, the plaques in front of him and Kastra melded into one.

"Do you accept the changes?" Kastra asked him as Alexa watched on in expectation.

He turned to Alexa and stepped closer while maintaining eye contact and spoke.

"I do too."

Alexa continued standing despite her knees demanding compliance with an imminent crumpling to the floor. Her gaze snapped to the ground as her body stood still, unsure of what to do with herself. The bastard was playing with her emotions and it was working perfectly. Her heart beat uncontrollably and her face was maroon in color now.

She swore in her heart to rescind her promise of kindness to him physically, but maybe not entirely.

A white mist left his mouth the same as always as the two contracts became one and her name became permanent. A warmth spread throughout her body as she instinctually began to feel the other two's presence.

"Now, we touch it," Kastra said.

Alexa tilted her head upward to see they had both already placed their hands onto the plaque. Two-thirds of it had gone with one left as it hung in the air.

She reached out slowly and felt a warm liquid spread over her palm as a part traveled to her left wrist, settling there permanently while adorning three names. She looked between it and her hand, mesmerized by the way they appeared to both flow like water and stay rigid like a solid.

Alexa was broken free from her curiosity when heard a small grunt and shuffling of feet before all she knew was pain, as a hand had reached under the neckline of her dress and rested above her heart.

She looked up rigidly and noticed a larger Kastra inches from her face, smiling sweetly with her hand over the top neckline of her dress and touching her inappropriately. Alexa tried to protest but was too busy keeping herself from screaming out as she felt her flesh burn off.

After about ten seconds, the moment passed and the hand was removed.

"I didn't want to ruin your beautiful dress. Now I'm on both of your hearts," Kastra said, another rare smile forming across her face.

The Fae backed up to Damien, who was holding his side as if he'd been elbowed.

Alexa took a step toward Kastra when she'd caught her breath and thrust her hand forward, returning the favor by placing her hand directly on the Fae's chest, slipping it underneath her dress as well to avoid ruining the gorgeous dark blue satin.

She did her best not to grope anything there, made more difficult by the woman's physical age and alluring beauty.

Taken by surprise and most likely not used to pain, Alexa watched Kastra crumpled to the ground for the second time, having to crouch as her hand pulled her down as well, stuck in place until the marking finished. It was just like the Fae to add this masochism to a ceremony like this.

She saw Damien circle around behind her out of the corner of her eyes.

"Don't mark my wings," she hastily said, dropping to her knees as she finally was able to remove her hand from Kastra.

"Why not?" he pouted.

"You'll get me in trouble if they change colors like hers! Big trouble. Anywhere else hidden is fine," she said.

"Lexi it's not a hickey..." he responded.

"Like. I. Said," she demanded. "And what's a hickey?"

"I'll show you later since you like me so much," he said, winking at her and laughing.

Before she got a chance to respond, she felt his hand rest on her back right between her wings. Alexa was glad she was already kneeling as Kastra caught her from falling forward any further.

'There goes my favorite backless dresses at any events. They were always most comfortable on my wings...'

When the pain finally receded, she jumped up and turned around, lunged forward, and tackled him to the ground, kneeling on his arms as he looked up at her, worried no doubt by the look on her face. She immediately placed her hand on the lower left side of his neck, burning through a bit of his suit like Kastra had.

His veins began distending as he held back a scream, face going bright red again. It was a sweet payback for ruining her favorite dresses and teasing her, no matter how much it hurt her to see him in pain. She tried to view it as more of a... necessary pain, like their training.

"Why.... visible..." he choked out between breaths and suppressed screams.

"Tough shit. I own you now and everyone will know," she declared with a satisfied smile. "It's not that visible anyway," she mumbled.

He was her's in a way now, and no one else would be allowed to try to take him away like Kastra almost had.

Not finishing that embarrassing thought, she removed her hand to see her piercing, velvet red hand along the left side of his neck where her small hand had been laid, just like the one over Kastra's chest.

'That... that is gonna stand out,' she thought while staring at it and feeling the warmth between her shoulder blades.

She shrugged. It was perfect. He didn't need to hide it anyway if he didn't want to.

Looking down at the bracelet showed her it was now a mixture of silver, grey, and the same velvety red.

She glanced up to his eyes and yelped in surprise as she noticed they now held a small yet vibrant string of red flowing within them. Her's most likely held silver and grey now, too.

Mistake or not, there was no going back anymore.

"Shall we leave?" Kastra asked, interrupting their staring contest.

Alexa's mind caught up with her and she realized she was inches away from Damien's face as the boy grinned at her, likely planning to try and tease her again. Thinking of a more appropriate punishment than more pain, she hastily pecked him on the lips.

His face went blank.

"Yes, please," Alexa begged, using his chest to push herself up before giving him a chance to react.

Vanessa was waiting for them and she didn't want to be here any longer than necessary.

Once Damien finally stood up, a complicated look adorned his face rather than the normal, upset one she'd gotten used to whenever she did that.

"Let's... say goodbye," he eventually said, causing Kastra to nod.

The Fae transformed into her smaller form and sat atop Alexa's shoulder this time and pointed toward where the King and Queen were, on the other side of the room.

The three made their way through the smoke and crowd, dodging flying pieces of doors and literal burning metal as they finally found the lords of the party. Offering their congratulations, they bid them farewell before a door was conjured for them to step through. After stepping forward, Alexa reminded herself to never again set foot into a Fae conjured doorway as the small amount of cake inside her came back out for round two.