Snow falls, "Aven please!" I scream, vocal chords tearing some more, "Stop it while you have a chance… please…" I fall to my knees, "Don't let Mum and Dad marry."
There are now only three months left until the wedding. Dad said there are going to be people at the wedding who know how to use SoulCraft! Finally, I'll be able to see other people—maybe even make some friends my age! I wonder if the SoulCraft users will be strong… Maybe they can teach me how to actually use it. Dad's only ever seen me train once. He told me to practice as much as I can, and he'll watch me again once I bear his name as well as my mother's. After the wedding, I'll officially become Aven Kaymar-Calypso.
"Mum…" I whine, "He's been gone all day, when is he coming back?"
Mum doesn't reply, instead licking her index finger and flipping the page on her book. I don't know what's gotten into her recently, since a few days after Dad proposed, she's grown noticeably quieter, every time Dad's out for work, her book comes out fully taking her attention off of anything and everything. Must be a pretty good book too, sometimes I catch her with tears in her eyes whilst she's reading.
"Gosh, Mum, that book always takes all of your attention, I'm here too ya know!" Just then, the door handle begins to twist, Mum flinching at the sound, "Aven, go talk to your father." She instructs as she jumps out of her seat and rushes out of the room. "So now you notice me." I mutter with a sigh.
As the door opens, I find myself flying through the air and into Dad's glowing arms, "There you are!" He calls out. "Dad you took ages!" I pout.
"That's because your uncle wanted to take his time taking pictures with fans instead of actually completing his part of our job."
My eyes glisten, "You mean the mountain buster?! He has fans?!!!" I pause, "Does that mean you have fans too Dad?"
Dad grins, "Well-"
Just then Mum walks back into the room, "W-welcome home Darian." She says as she passes me a glass of water, her hands, are they shaking? "How was-"
"Mum!" I interrupt, "Did you know uncle Jory has fans?!"
"Oh yeah," Dad begins. I take a sip of water, "You're going to be acting as his son at the wedding okay?"
I spit my water into Dad's face. "What?! Why?" I glance at Mum for help, "But Mum, I want to—"
"Listen to your father, Aven." She interrupts.
"Aven, because of where I work, it'd be best to keep you a secret for now. Only a handful of trusted people are going to be attending, but you never know what could happen. Plus, your uncle Jory's pretty strong…"
"SoulCraft?!" I guess.
"Nope, even better." Dad replies with a smirk.
"Got it! I'll stay with mountain monster Jory at the wedding, but I'm not calling him 'Dad' okay?"
Dad chuckles, "Got it."
Time seems to accelerate leading up to the wedding. I continue to spend most of my time at the training tree, whilst Dad goes to work and Mum reads her book. She's now completely stopped teaching me about the world like she used to, that book now taking up all of her time. She's trying to hide it, but I can tell she's nervous. Dad says only a handful of people are coming, but maybe she doesn't like meeting new people?
"D?" Elira asks whilst Darian adds wood to the campfire they're setting up in the garden. Darian pauses, looking at her with a smile. "The ring you brought me is so beautiful, I've been thinking… Perhaps we should swap it?" Darian drops the logs he's holding. "B-but why? I thought this one was perfect; the emerald matches your glimmering irises, and you said silver was your favourite colour? Did I do something wrong?" Elira traces the ring with her thumb before answering, "Darian, you did nothing wrong; this ring is perfect."
"Then why", Darian begins before being cut off by Elira, "I just thought, this must've been really expensive, and I didn't want you to feel like you had to waste all of your money on me." Darian and Aven glance at each other before bursting into laughter. "That's what it was!" They announce simultaneously before jumping on her at the same time, knocking her over. "Boys, what are you—"
"I thought you were being weird." Aven tells her between laughs.
"Yeah, I thought maybe I had proposed too soon; you were worrying me, you know." Darian takes a sigh of relief. "Don't worry about the money. Elira, like I said before, my job covers the three of us. You taking care of Aven the way you do is way harder than anything I encounter at work. Plus, your existence is compensation enough." He says whilst scratching the back of his head, "As for the ring," he holds her hand whilst glancing at it. "Yeah, it wasn't cheap." He says with a chuckle. He turns to Aven, "Has your mother taught you about money yet?" Aven shakes his head. "A little,"
"Well, here's lesson 1: Don't buy a ring." Darian glances at Elira, whose lip begins to quiver. "No, no, no, it was a joke, Ellie. I'm about to get a promotion at work; remember the one I've been fighting for since you were pregnant?" Elira's eyes widen as she looks at Darian. "Really?! You did it?" Darian nods with a soft smile. "Yep, I did it."
"Oh my gosh, that's amazing!" Elira announces before jumping on him, knocking him over.
"Why is this happening to me? This is mine and Aven's thing." He sarcastically asks whilst pouting, "Well done, D. I knew you could do it." She says with a smile before pecking his lips with a kiss. "Umm, Mum…" Aven interrupts, causing Elira to chuckle "Sorry, Aven." She says with a smile.
During the weeks leading up to the wedding, Mum seems to grow quieter, constantly trembling. Dad told me to ease up on my training and instead spend more time with her to calm her nerves a bit. I keep telling her that it's okay because Dad got promoted, which is why he could buy the ring for her, but she doesn't listen. Tomorrow is the day of the wedding. Dad's staying at Uncle Jory's house so they can 'prepare', whilst Mum stays with me at our house. Dad's a liar; I know he is secretly at a pub in the mainland. Mum put me to bed for the first time today, but it feels weird because Dad never read me one of his stories. I think I might sneak into her room and ask her to get me one.
As I tiptoe out of my bed, I approach her door with caution. I can hear her inside, so I know she's awake. Dad taught me the number one rule when trying to be undetected is to conceal your sound. As I reach the door, preparing to surprise her, I place my hand on the doorknob and begin to twist. It creaks. Busted. I hear Mum scrambling around inside, so I knock and open the door. "A-aven?" she asks, her voice shaky. "Mum, can you read me a story, please?" She wipes her eyes before answering, "I can't. I don't have the key to your father's room, remember?" I frown. "But what about your book with the V on it?" I ask, recalling her rereading it every day. She sighs before answering me, "I burnt it, Aven. That book doesn't exist anymore." She pats the pillow next to her. "Just for tonight, for one last time, you can sleep next to me, okay? Just make sure you go straight to sleep." I nod before jumping into the bed, falling asleep as my head touches the pillow whilst replaying my mother's words, from seven months ago, "In exactly seven months from now, our lives will change forever!"
Snow continues to fall, "Save me." I plead. "Jory, Dad, God… please, someone… just… save me."
That day is tomorrow… the day my mother lost her final argument with fate.