Chapter 218 - 2.95 A Mythical Surprise
The Pantheon were on the edge of their seats, whispering amongst themselves. Some thought they'd be crazy to take it, others thought they couldn't pass it up. Sora and Brie both hoped they took it because they wanted their son to be happy and knew that he'd lose the chance to get married to his soul mate if he said no and they were worried Diana's heart would break. They were also worried Diana might say no and Xander wouldn't be the same.
"It's ok Athena, they don't look mad or upset." Eris said, grabbing her sister's hand.
Athena had a few golden tears falling from her face. "I feel like a monster from keeping this from them."
"Shhh. Stop. You've been nothing but great to them and you can't help that dad's insanely powerful blessing comes with harsh consequences! He can't just freely let them share abilities without having balance! Otherwise this wouldn't be such a special, unique wedding. You created this beautiful event. Xander and Diana are going to say yes, I think." Eris laughed while handing Athena a cloth she formed out of thin air.
"Thank you Eris," Athena hugged her sister while hiding herself while wiping her tears away. They both turned back to look at the stage.
'I've never seen her look more confident in her life. That makes me happy. Why don't we get to say vows or anything to each other? That kind of sucks.' Xander thought quickly as he grabbed the box from his brother and thanked him.
"Yes Master Zeus. I accept the blessing." Xander said without hesitating.
"I do as well." Diana said confidently.
"Excellent! Now, please exchange rings and place them on the other's finger and prepare for, well, let's just say prepare for my blessing." Zeus laughed.
'It's going to hurt?!' Diana thought nervously.
Xander literally teleported to Diana and kissed her passionately, which caused the Pantheon to stare at each other in confusion, until Athena and Eris cheered. Then they all followed suit and started cheering and clapping.
'Just like his Dad.' Brie said while tears finally fell from her eyes. Sora was there to hug her tightly.
"I love you babe, our baby just got married!" He exclaimed.
"Yes, he did. Those are some insane consequences but the benefits are unbelievable. You would have said yes, right?"
"As long as you were a goddess of course. Hesaphus said you would die as a human if you accepted this blessing, so I would have just found a loophole in order to marry you anyway," Sora smiled.
"Aw, you're so sweet. I love you baby." Brie said while kissing him.
"Mama! Dada! We're already watching our brother make out with his new wife. We don't need to see you two kissing too!" The twins complained, which made Aphrodite and Cyrus laugh.
Xander and Diana were both speechless as the rings. They were both perfectly crafted of materials the two had never seen before. Diana's had a massive clear stone in it, which she figured she'd ask Athena about later. Xander's was extraordinary and rather than just a solid band, it was two bands woven into one with smaller clear gemstones mixed in together.
"Well, are you two ready?" Zeus asked with a smile.
"Yes," they both said confidently.
"Ok, now stand here like this." He said as he shrunk a bit and helped them stand facing each other, with Diana's arms wrapped around Xander's shoulders and Xander's arms wrapped around her waist, holding her close with his hands on the middle of her back.
They looked like they were about to kiss while dancing as Zeus' golden eagle expanded into a massive, 20 foot eagle that flew into the sky. Skylar flew over with Tej and dropped off another baby phoenix into Zeus's massive hands.
Diana gasped. "No way!" She muttered.
"Stay still!" Zeus whispered, holding the beautiful white phoenix. "He's only two days old, but this is the first part of my blessing. The rest will follow, so neither of you move."
Diana bit her lip as Zeus magically placed the little guy into her heart. She felt like she was going to pass out from pain, and Xander could tell it hurt.
'That's nothing like my experience. I have a feeling this blessing is going to suck.' Xander thought.
The next thing both of them remembered was standing together.
To the rest of the world, they appeared frozen, and Zeus was gone.
"Where the heck did they go?"
******
"Woah, where are we?" Xander asked Diana, who was still in her wedding dress.
"We are in your soul space, Xander. I have to transfer her abilities to you and put a block on your emotional and moral abilities." Zeus said calmly.
"Is that why Diana can't hear me?"
"Precisely." Zeus said while his golden aura was copying and transferring her abilities to Zander, who felt sick.
"Am I supposed to feel like I'm about to throw up?"
"That's better than being in immense pain! This is the first time I've done this in over a million years but you're the first god and goddess who will be going to a planet with this blessing, not living in Paradise with it. Be careful. Hades is an evil god. I know you want to take part in the war, but that is your father's destiny, not your own. No one would be upset if you and Diana stayed in Paradise."
"That's something I would have to talk to her about." Xander said with a smile, talking seemed to help.
"Ok, I am done here. I am off to Diana. Good luck Xander!" Zeus said.
******
"Xander why won't you talk to me?" Diana screamed.
"What the heck is going on?"
"Sorry Diana, I was just with Xander. We're in your soul. He can't hear you, he was trying to talk to you in his as well," Zeus said with a laugh.
"Oh, that makes sense!" She exclaimed, finally able to relax a bit.
"Thank you very much for the beautiful phoenix, what's his name?"
"That is your choice dear, they left it up to you." Zeus said as he began copying Xander's long list of abilities and transferring it over to Diana.
"Orin." She whispered.
"That's a beautiful name, I love it! Now, I would suggest not messing with time magic and letting him help you with it and I would encourage you to help him with his foresight. The rest of them, you two will be able to master it pretty well. I will tell you the same thing I told him, no one would blame you two if you stayed in Paradise while Sora and his party fought this war. This is Sora's destiny, not Xander or yours."
"I'd have to talk to Xander about that," Diana smiled.
"Funny, he said the same thing. Well. You both now have each other's abilities, cannot see anything in the future regarding the war on Exteria, but might start having some weird visions about futures in other realms. A part of each of your souls is also shared, it's not exactly the same as the elven blessing, but it's the best I can do." Zeus smiled.
"Also, I'll make it so you don't have any children right away. After 6 months, that will wear off, so if it's meant to happen, it will happen."
Diana blushed. "Thank you, Zeus."