Iván suddenly found something caught in his throat. It was as if time had stopped around him, them. His eyes were stuck on @Corvella, Titan wearing a dress, the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. He felt his heart stop. Or was it merely pounding ever so slowly? He felt his face grow hot. Or perhaps his whole body did in actuality? Her question confused him the most. How did she look? She looked amazing, ravishing, absolutely fantastic. Iván had never felt like this, especially not in the presence of anyone, woman or man, but it suddenly dawned on him that there might be a reason for that. He might be in love with Corvella. Wait, what? How? When? Where? Why? True love, as minstrels often speak of, often come out of nowhere, often has little to no reason, often cannot be comprehended by mortal minds. Love moves in mysterious ways, love at first sight, love is blind, love comes when you least expect it... All of those things seemed to make sense to Iván now more than ever. He had previously thought he'd be immune to such things, such follies, but there he was, standing with a hand on his chest, feeling strange, bewildered, excited, in love at the sight of Corvella in a dress. "You look beautiful, Corvella," Iván could do nothing else but let those words slither out of his mouth as if not of his own willing. She did look beautiful. She would make a lovely wife. For Iván? Maybe. He would be so honored, so lucky, so blessed, to have someone like her take his hand and stay with him for all that remained of his mortal life. She was a warrior and a beauty, a perfect combination to say the least. "Doesn't she?" Lautner Swift interrupted the blushing illusionist's train of thought, walking towards Corvella to help her fix a few tiny details with the dress. "Like I said, my friend, she deserves better...if not the best." We're not friends, but you're right. Corvella does deserve better, if not the best. Iván walked towards her, slowly, carefully, grinning like a fool. His eyes stayed glued on hers throughout, even though his heart started racing like mad, as if it was going to burst out of his chest any minute now. Offering his arm, he offered her a better smile, a lovely one, an invitation of sorts, "My lady, your carriage awaits. Shall we?" The tailor swiftly finished his job helping Corvella, and as quickly as he could, opened the door for the pair, revealing the carriage that had been waiting for them from out of nowhere. Did Iván order this carriage? Did the tailor? Who cares? Everyone was caught in the moment that tiny details like that were immediately forgotten, buried in the deepest corners of their minds. Iván looked at his partner again and smiled wider than before. He was a lucky guy. She was a gorgeous girl.
"You look beautiful, Corvella," the words were stuck for a while inside her head, echoing again and again sending her to a trance while the tailor fixed up her dress. That might be the first appreciated compliment coming from Iván, no, maybe ever. Then again, they were going to go into the restaurant famous for being Swanky and all, so dressing like this is perfectly normal. "Y-You look handsome in that suit, too." Or he might be handsome in general. She never saw his face up until yesterday, as he's regularly hiding behind a mask, hoodie and oversized turtleneck, so the suit isn't as much as a change, but still complements his look. It would be complete if they walk in a red carpet into a carriage... Okay, there's an actual carriage waiting outside. Not only a usual one, but with ornaments around it. There's no way this is affordable with the rest of the gold they had. The man offered his hand, to lead her into the carriage. It was a common sense that a woman should take it with her right hand, walking on the left of her man. But in this situation, Corvella just couldn't. Instead, she smiled and awkwardly took it with her left hand, unusually standing in the right. God, he'll definitely notice it this time. The black-dressed woman looked the other way, to not make eye contact with him as they walked towards the grand carriage. Inside the carriage, they sat side to side, and it was not long before they departed. A bit uncomfortable with the spending of the budget, Corvella asked. "Uh, isn't this a bit too much? I mean, Le Swanky is supposed to be near here." And she was right, not long after, they arrived in front of the swanky restaurant. This is it, Barbarossa's here, and they won't let him escape again this time.
Iván was all smiles when @Corvella took his hand, elated at the idea that he was escorting a beautiful woman, beautiful in mind and body and soul, to a grand carriage that just appeared from out of nowhere. For some reason. What exactly was the reason, though? Was he simply delighted at that image in his head? Or has he always felt this way for his Witch Ops teammate? Was the carriage even for them? Who even paid for the carriage? So many questions, suddenly a minor headache that was surprisingly gone as it was, as if it had never been. Out of the corner of his eyes, Iván noticed something off about Corvella. And not just her being out of her armor, wearing a beautiful dress that normally no one could afford, which was surprisingly a refreshing sight. He wondered, in that moment, if he would be so lucky, so blessed, as to always have her beside him like this. He found her beautiful, she found him handsome. It was perfect, wasn't it? Maybe too perfect. Or maybe he was just overthinking things again. "Are you okay?" He stopped right before the carriage door, turning to her, holding her face carefully with each hand. Iván looked Corvella right in the eyes and felt his heart race, his face burn up. It was that feeling again. Maybe he should kiss her. Maybe he should ask first. Maybe they just need to get to the restaurant. Their moment was interrupted by the carriage driver who opened the door for them. Coughing, Bound Prince let go of Titan's face and helped her inside. He smiled at the carriage driver awkwardly, the man smiling at him in turn. Strange. His smile reminded him so much of the tailor's. Switfly, Iván turned around to look at his old friend but he wasn't there anymore. His shop was also already closed. That was fast. So fast. Too fast. But the horses neighed and Iván found himself back on solid ground, rushed to get inside the carriage where his partner was waiting. "Yeah, uhm, it's just around this corner..." No sooner had those words escaped Iván's mouth did the carriage stop. In a matter of seconds, minutes, their door was opened and the pair was greeted by the carriage driver's awkward but familiar smile. The man helped Corvella out of there first and continued to hold the door for Iván. Bound Prince and Titan were already close to the restaurant's door when the former remembered they had to pay the carriage driver. Unfortunately, when he turned around, the driver and his carriage were already gone. "That was fast." Barbarossa wasn't anywhere near the restaurant, but for some reason, probably because they were hungry or the food was just that great... Wait, hadn't they already eaten? ...the pair remained, waiter graciously and generously entertaining them not only with course after course but also with drinks and the most courteous of service. Iván found himself suddenly nervous, as if this had all been part of his plan. What plan? He didn't know. He couldn't even remember where he'd seen the waiter's smile from, it being so familiar to him. There was that nagging feeling, though, weighing on him heavily, that seemed to whisper in his ear... Do it now. Do what now? "I have to..." Iván suddenly stood up from his seat, as if something had shot him in his butt. Figuratively, of course. It was all feelings, that nagging feeling, nothing more, nothing else. "...pee." He offered his date an awkward grin before rushing off towards the bathroom, disappearing from her line of sight. It wasn't the most magical moment but he needed to be in the bathroom at that exact moment. Why? He didn't know. He just felt like he needed to go.
There's no signs of Barbarossa, or she hadn't been paying enough attention. They casually continued to have the fine dining served to them. Moments and moments pass, and Corvella still couldn't concentrate on having the dinner, let alone speaking to the man sitting across her. Her eyes scans from one corner to the other corner of the restaurant, but there's no indication that Barbarossa is here, even though she felt this really strange feeling ever since she stepped on the carriage. Was this just a distraction so he can run away? No, that isn't very Barbarossa-like. It felt like few minutes, but they have actually finished the main course already. Frustrated with the development of this investigation, or to be accurate the lack of it, she decided to ask Iván whether he noticed that someone was off, but that thought is quickly silenced as quickly stood up, as if he was about to act, only to drop it like a cartoon plot twist. Corvella did hope that he was planning something and that Iván's not actually going for a pee for real. "Don't be long." Waiting in the table alone, she continued to spy on other guests and the waiters walking around. There's definitely something wrong here, but every time she thought she noticed something, it was quickly shot down. Suddenly, she felt very vulnerable and threatened. It was like every pair of gaze were fixed on her, every one of them looked that they might jump on her at any given time. Then, Corvella noticed that she did not brought any of her gears, shield and the spell ring, and with the broken right arm she wouldn't be able to punch. Hoping that this is just her imagination, the girl in the black dress clutched her arms. "Please, come back quick, Iván." What's with their smile? She felt like she had seen them multiple times. Recall it, where did she- Never mind, head hurts. It's like they're trying to tell her something. Their smile spoke. It's perfect. It's the right time. Perfect time for what? She asked back inside her mind. The voice didn't reply, probably because they were mostly just her imagination.
"Gah! What should I do?!" Iván was a bundle of nerves in the strangely empty male bathroom, pacing back and forth, oblivious to the fact that not a single soul was nearby. Well, unless his two magical familiars had souls. Snowy the Snow-Quilled Guardian and Antonia the Ant Queen weren't technically a Snow-Quilled Guardian and an Ant Queen, respectively, rather they were both magical familiars that took on either forms through Iván's penchant for nostalgia and the fact that he had each a different souvenir from both related missions, the stinky red Guardian Mask from the failed expedition down in that Inverted Spire and a bottle of ant juice from his failed mission for the Aristocracy, respectively. Regardless, they were closer to him than his brothers, if he had brothers, and most definitely close enough to him to actually be considered his best friends. Snowy let out a guttural noise that no one really understood but most definitely everyone feared. If Iván hadn't been used to it by now, it would've terrified him. Antonia supported Snowy's stance with some chittering of her own. It was a weird combination of sounds, succession of noises, but Iván didn't seem to mind. They were what he had, and he needed to talk to someone, something, at that exact moment in time. "I know, I know, I know! But should I do it? Now? Here?" Iván turned to the two monstrosities, expecting a sage advice or two from either of them, or both, forgetting that they actually don't speak human and wouldn't bust out a long-winded speech in Morgan Freeman's voice. As if on cue, Snowy and Antonia turned to each other, and after a minute that didn't actually contributed to anything, in anyway, they turned back to their master, completely confused and utterly useless. "You guys are right, what am I doing? I shouldn't even be stressing out like this." It's the perfect time... Do it now. "It's the perfect time," Iván grinned at the familiars before snapping his fingers to make them disappear. "I'll do it now." Back out into the dining area, a violinist appeared from out of nowhere. He was playing a sweet tune, a romantic tune, and was seemingly slowly, carefully, heading towards where @Corvella sat. He had a grin on his face, a familiar smile, somewhat haunting and creepy for a second but quickly became jovial and nice. As if on cue, Iván walked back out, slowly, carefully, towards Corvella. Instead of taking his seat, he stood right next to it, a wide smile on his face, eyes on Titan's eyes, the violinist's music augmenting the romantic atmosphere. It was the perfect time. He was going to do it now. Everyone else seemed to stand still, even though a lot of them were sitting down, all their attention towards Iván and Corvella, seemingly drawing everything and everyone in by their sheer presence together. "Corvella," Iván began, suddenly sounding like that awkward British guy from that weird romantic comedy with Drew Barrymore. Hugh Grant? Were those two even still alive? Did it matter? Iván was caught in the moment, in his speech, even though he had only just uttered one word and it was her name, that nothing else mattered but this moment in time, made perfect by the music and the atmosphere around them. "We've been together for quite a while." Technically, it was true, but not really in the sense that those words wanted to imply. "You've saved my life countless of times." Maybe? "And I will always be grateful for that, for you." That was the best he could do? Or was that the British guy's gimmick? Make everything awkward to emphasize the pop that was the end of the romantic scene? Iván suddenly, from out of nowhere, dropped to one knee. A couple of women screamed, but there were no serial killers around. Some of the men wore uncharacteristically wide grins. Iván took something out of his pocket as he kept his eyes on Corvella's. It was a box, a purple box, with Majolica's face on the top? He opened it, grinning, chuckling for some reason, and revealed a diamond ring that was both expensive and extravagant. "What I'm trying to say is," Out with it, you fool! "I would like, for you, to become my life. Will you be my wife?" Dang. Someone should've snapped their fingers in a z formation at this point.
The man she's been waiting for came. "Finally, things have been quite weird.." But he didn't seem to listen, instead he spoke like a person asking his crush to go to prom with him. "... Yes, Iván?" She doesn't like the way where this is going, or does she? "I know, but I don't think this is the right time to talk about...." Will you be my wife? Her heart stops beating for a while, as the pairs of eyes all around the restaurant locked their gaze to both of them. Women began to scream with men chanting things that Corvella couldn't focus on right now. What, what just happened? Did Iván just proposed to her, here, in the middle of a mission, in a restaurant where a deadly trap could be prepared for them? DId he prepared that diamond ring? All of it sounded like a trap Barbarossa planned, but Iván's stare was so sincere. Her lips trembled. She wanted to say something, even if she felt that it's wrong, very wrong. But she couldn't lie, not even to herself. "Iván... We're in the middle of the mission. This, this sounds really wrong. But..." Corvella whispered, so soft that only herself could hear it. But tear began to fall from the corner of her eyes as she finished speaking. Was this something she ever wanted? "Yes." Her tears could not stop running down her cheeks . "Yes, Iván." They were never engaged, or even dating, and suddenly he proposed to her. It's weird, but isn't love a weird thing? A concept, so mysterious until the end of time. And then the whole restaurant was filled with applause and shouting, clearly rooting for the two's newfound relationship. But for now, where to go next? They did not find Barbarossa anywhere, but they found love for each other.
I DO, TOO Hidden: theme How long has it been since @Corvella said yes to his marriage proposal? Days, weeks, months, years? Iván couldn't remember. In fact, all manner of time seemed to be completely erased from his mind, his concerns. What he could remember, though, was how it felt when the woman of his dreams gave her her most-sought-after yes. He couldn't remember the faces in the crowd around them, how many they were, how big it was, but he could remember the jovial, positive, approving atmosphere then and there. He could remember Corvella's face, her beautiful face drenched in those tears of joy, when she accepted him, their love. The wedding preparations, Iván could remember to be more hectic, less fun, definitely not charming. It was the first time that they had ever argued. Was it? But in the end, their love for each other allowed them to compromise even in the most heated of conversations. To be fair, Iván couldn't actually remember much of those conversations. Were they arguing about her dress, how expensive it was, it needed to be? Were they arguing about his suit, for the very same reasons? Did they argue about where their wedding would be, should be? Did they argue about the number of people to bring as guests, who should be invited, who should be left out? Had they also argued about the person marrying them? "Their decision to marry has not been entered into lightly, and today, they publicly declare their private devotion to each other. The essence of this commitment is the acceptance of each other in entirety, as lover, companion, and friend. A good and balanced relationship is one in which neither person is overpowered nor absorbed by the other, one in which neither person is possessive of the other, one in which both give their love freely and without jealousy. Marriage, ideally, is a sharing of responsibilities, hopes, and dreams. It takes a special effort to grow together, survive hard times, and be loving and unselfish." The voice was familiar to Iván, but it was the least, the very least, of his worries. All his attention at the moment was on his bride, his wife-to-be, Titan, looking ever-so-beautiful in her dress, her gown, perfect as usual, as always, the woman of her dreams, the only woman he would need, want. He couldn't help but smile, realizing that the rest of his life was just about to begin and with the love of his life to boot. No one could be as lucky as him. He was, perhaps, the luckiest man in the world. "Do you both pledge to share your lives openly with one another, and to speak the truth in love? Do you promise to honor and tenderly care for one another, cherish and encourage each other, stand together, through sorrows and joys, hardships and triumphs for all the days of your lives?" Iván mouthed "yes" almost at the same time as Corvella did. At least in his head that seemed true. Somehow, someway, he felt something strange was up, but it was always almost immediately buried back down in the deepest, darkest corner of his mind. Why? Probably because it wasn't that important, whatever that something strange was. Nothing was more important than his wedding, than this union between his heart and that of the woman he would call wife, he would cherish and hold, forever and ever. "Amen," the priest murmured. Wait, what? That wasn't what the priest should have said. Iván turned to him and found out it was a her, his mother mentor, the greatest illusionist and chronomancer he's ever known, Alphabet Chocolate, "What?! That's not what you're supposed to say." "Yeah, well, you two aren't supposed to be here," Alpha priest suddenly started glitching, as if she was fighting something that was corrupting her very existence. "Are you okay, mom? I mean, Alpha?" "I'm not Alpha, you dingleberry," she was straining herself, itself, still glitching, turning into pixels, barely keeping a stable visual form. "I'm just your sweet ol' subconscious. You two buttfaces need to---" More glitching, this time more violent. Iván winced. Whatever was happening to Alpha, it probably hurt like hell. "---kiss." And then, as if nothing had happened, the Alpha priest simply smiled at them, no longer glitching, no longer a personality of its own. Iván raised his eyebrow at her, it, for a few more seconds before simply shrugging. That was weird. And on his wedding day of all days. What was that all about? Probably just nothing. Alpha has always been weird. Yeah, it was probably just Alpha being weird and stuff. Nothing more, nothing else.
Many things happened in such a short time. Some time after the proposal, Iván found out about Corvella's broken arm, prompting him to dismiss her from the mission with Majolica's permission in favor of her recovery. That day, Barbarossa never shown his face everywhere, and there was no flamboyant killing since then. Did they successfully stop Barbarossa? Nobody knows. They had their fights, usually on the small things. It's natural for couples to disagree on something. They finally agreed that the wedding should be as big as possible, inviting everyone they know all over the continent. Getting the money wasn't easy, but the couple saved some from their fortunes. Because of her arm, Corvella retired from adventuring and worked as magic instructor. The dress and the suit aren't your usual clothing, Lautner Swift made sure to create the masterpiece just for this wedding. And the day finally came again, as the world came back into the present day, like all of it suddenly zoomed out from Iván's masked face. Do you promise to honor and tenderly care for one another, cherish and encourage each other, stand together, through sorrows and joys, hardships and triumphs for all the days of your lives? "Yes." Corvella affirmed. There's something weird coming afterwards, as the priest turned out to be Alphabet Chocolate. Wait a minute, wasn't she far back among the crowd moments ago? She quickly turned her head to face the audience, scanning to find the earlier Alpha. What she caught on her gaze was a girl, with a blonde hair and green eyes, reminding her of someone she might know. Not platinum blonde like herself, but rather yellow, tied in the back. She waved to Corvella, making unintelligible gestures to her. "What?" Corvella whispered out. The mysterious girl just stood there, mouthing something that she couldn't think of. Wait, was this girl invited? She can't remember her face from everywhere, but her face looks familiar to her, as if it's her own face. Her own face. Corvella blinked unnaturally fast. Her mind brought her somewhere deep within her memory. An illusionist's training session with Majolica, Iván, and herself. She opened a dusty book, reading a chapter about illusion. "Even the strongest illusionists could expose themselves to an illusion." She read the old book, her fingers tracing through the faded writing. "What separates them from the amateurs is that, they always place something in their mind; a countermeasure..." She zapped back to reality. Of course, a countermeasure. For what? Why did the face of the girl reminded her of that training session? The blonde girl looked panicked as she tried to move around the crowd, but failed as everybody dismissed her and told her to stay in her seat. In a desperate attempt, she pointed to herself and mouthed something. This time, Corvella could make something out of it. Freya. Her own name. That girl is her, in real life. Why did she forgot that she has a real life? Most importantly, that she met the real version of herself? Corvella glanced at Iván, trying to get his attention. "Dear," she asked, "Today is really beautiful, isn't it?" Out of her will, her mouth continued. "It's like if it's an illusion." Now, she's not certain yet what's Freya is telling her, but the last word of her own sentence is clicking on something. Iván should have felt it too.
"What's wrong, darling?" Iván was quick to notice when something seemed to distract his beautiful bride, @Corvella, from the festivities at hand. It was their wedding day. Finally, the time for their hearts to unite as one has come. What would be more important to her than that? "Who are you looking at?" Turning to where his beloved had her gaze so affixed, Iván a blonde girl waving at him, at her? Who was this girl? Why did she seem familiar to him? He couldn't remember if he'd ever met someone like her before. He wouldn't forget, what with that face and those eyes. Then again, the past few days have been quite blurry to the illusionist. He was losing some of his memories, rather he was becoming more and more forgetful. What was he doing before this day? What were they doing before they arrived at this church? Iván couldn't remember. He found it odd. Why couldn't he remember? Illusion? The word seemed foreign to him but at the same time quite familiar. The word slithered out of the mouth of the love of his life with relative ease, though it seemed to latch on to his brain, his senses. Why? Why that word? He turned to Corvella, his eyes on hers, searching for an answer, for a clue, but all he could find was the beauty kept in them. He felt his heart race, his cheeks flush, his throat tighten. It was a beautiful day indeed. But it wasn't day. For a moment or two, something happened. Alpha priest, with her unbreakable smile, frozen in time and space, grew transparent, as if she was blinking in and out of existence. Corvella's wedding dress seemed to follow suit, being replaced by her trademark armor, the same armor he had seen her in before... Before all this happened. There was a fire, wasn't there? Everything was set ablaze. Iván looked around him, them, and the church was transforming. They weren't in a church. There were in a...castle? The burning castle! But, wait, it wasn't burning. It was just a castle. Iván felt his body twitch, as if he wasn't in control of it. He felt something cold on his back. Following his instincts, he looked at his clothes, his hands... His suit was blinking out of existence, being replaced by his usual set of clothes. What was happening? Was he dying? Did someone snap their fingers in an attempt to erase half of the universe? Suddenly, he wasn't feeling so good. He felt the urge to apologize to someone but there was no one around him, except Corvella, rather this version of Corvella, back in her suit of armor but with eyes devoid of anything, of life, of joy, of soul. Was this her? Where were they? Iván felt himself panic uncontrollably. He turned around, started to move, to run, but ended up slipping... Except he didn't. He was frozen. In space. In time. He just stood there, awkwardly, anticipating the fall that never came. He felt warmth on both arms, as if some invisible force had grabbed him, kept him still. He could see nothing but he could no longer move his arms, even his entire body, except maybe his head. He turned to Corvella one last time, Corv? And then everything went white. Everything was consumed by brightness, a foreign voice, unfamiliar and at the same time something he's heard before, whispering something to him, something he could not hear, and Iván found himself back in the altar, still standing in front of Corvella, memories of what he had seen or heard or felt from the last few seconds slowly disappearing, slithering to the back of his mind for their own safety. "It is...isn't it?" Iván could only smile at the sight of his lovely bride. "It's a really beautiful day."
It was like a glitch, the surroundings blinked and twitched for second, but a second was enough for Corvella to see what was the vision about. The castle, the mission, but which one? She had been on many missions, many castles. But this one, she couldn't remember exactly, like it was blocked from access. She tried to glance again at the familiar girl among the crowd, only for the girl to disintegrate away slowly, still trying to say something even in the last moment. The strangest thing besides people getting Thanos'd was the fact that the audiences stared at both of them like nothing happened and all is perfectly fine, like they're scripted NPCs in a bad buggy first-person shooter game. The bride looked back into the eyes behind the red mask, his eyes looked shaken for a while, before turning normal again. Iván should've felt something. "Hey, Dear.." She whispered to his ears. ".. Do you ever thought what would happen if we never met? Or we were never trapped in that burning castle together, and all is well. We might not have found love, so quickly." With every word that she said, it's like blocks and blocks of memories were added back into herself. Burning, castle, mission, love, quick. Was there another reason they never found out how much time has passed other than madly being in love? The sleep on the fields, the sleep on the inn, the proposal. It either lasts for some minutes or took forever. "Look at the their smile. They are all happy for us." She continued. The smile, all of these smiles look disturbingly familiar. Corvella tried to speak more, but it seems that she ran out of trigger words. There's definitely something wrong here, very wrong. As she looked deep into Iván's eyes, looking for answers, a small thought appeared in the back of her head. Why she never considered the potential of illusion? She's an illusionist, @Iván Carl's an illusionist. They would definitely do checks at times. How long has passed since she last tested the reality? She stepped forward, closing the gap between the two to almost one, as her hands held the side of her groom's arms. "I felt like I lost control, long time ago. You're my only hope."
LIKE MINDS Hidden: theme Iván was all smiles as he stared into the eyes of the one he loved, his beautiful bride, his soon-to-be wife, his perfect ten Titan, @Corvella. He was oblivious to everything else, his full attention on how happy he felt, how happy she felt, how happy they were going to be. Iván and Corvella, Witch Ops members, illusionists, were going to live happily together…forever. “…trapped…” An image of Corvella saving him from the stones above inside that castle flashed in his head. “…burning castle…” Iván felt the heat, the smoke, choking him. “…found…” He saw Corvella lying beside him on that green grass, exhausted, barely conscious. “…love, so quickly…” Iván saw himself alone, on the outside staring in. Corvella’s words kept repeating in his head, seemingly empty as it was, him smiling as her voice echoed in his mind. It took him some time, a few seconds, maybe minutes at least, but he did get around to it, to what Titan was seemingly hinting at. “…smile…us…” Slowly, carefully, Iván looked around them, him, and saw those smiles, grins, Corvella had mentioned. They all seemed so…familiar. As his bride invaded his personal space, decimating it, destroying its very existence, Iván turned to her, his mask only an inch or two from her face. Control? Time? Hope? Those words, those three specific words, weighted heavily on his head, despite just being words at first glance, at first sound. He sighed, as he slowly, carefully, tried to make sense of what he had gathered, what had been given to him. There was something in Corvella’s eyes but he could not be so sure. “Am I your knight in shining armor? Or am I a PRINCE, BOUND to you and you alone?” Iván flashed her an unassuming smile from behind that mask, his eyes conveying the same thing to hers. If she could even see them. He hoped she got the memo, despite the code, having not been told beforehand. Corvella was smart. She was quick. There was no doubting she could understand the unspoken words between them, having worked together for the Witch Ops more than once. But he, they, could not trust what was around them, what they thought was around them, Iván considered as much. This Corvella could be part of the illusion, too, if this was even an illusion to begin with. Or maybe she was part of his subconscious, like that Alpha priest was, trying to save itself from this invasion. He was an illusionist. Corvella was an illusionist. They both knew how this worked, how such an intricate often unreliable magic, as most magic were, functioned, whether in technical terms or purely just the basics. The pair were on a mission, after all, a quest. Maybe all of this was part of the programming, just another episode in the daily lives of these unlucky adventurers. He had to find out. He needed her, if this was Corvella indeed, to read between the lines, past the script. I can’t be alone in this… Otherwise, what happened to you… What did HE do to you? A familiar grin flashed in Iván’s mind.
As every second passed, Corvella become more focused. It's like she could even hear the clock arm of the fabric of time itself ticking. The more she spent her time focusing, gazing into Iván's eyes, the more certain she is that this is an illusion. The question is does the man standing in front of her also part of it, or are they linked inside a strong phantasm? His next sentence answered her question quickly. They never shared their codename publicly, only on comms and private. The witch names are their only way to communicate, without alerting the people setting their eyes on them, with grins on their faces. She smiled after confirming that Iván have his mind already in his own control. Confident that now she knew she isn't alone on this, she put her face close to the red mask to verify herself to him. "It doesn't matter who you are to me. Know that my love for you is eternal and unending, it is colossal and TITANic." Now they noticed they are currently being a pawn in someone's The Sims game, the only thing left to find out is when and who. The wedding felt like forever, with Alpha priest no more to guide them through the ceremony. The audience still sat like it's perfectly normal and nothing else should actually happen. Even with both of them now realizing that they're being trapped, it doesn't actually break them like it normally should. The probability is high the mastermind projected themselves inside the illusion, making it a three-way phantasm so if their link weaken, the third person could still hold them inside the illusion. To do it, they must actually be present physically in the wedding. Once in a while, Corvella took a quick glance at every row. But with the people's grin, it's very hard to actually identify them one by one without getting your mind overwhelmed. For that, she had to make the people react, or stand, or do non-scripted thingies. Well, ceremony be damned. The priest's gone, anyway. She spoke to Bound Prince to help her find someone among the audience. "Dear, you invited the guests to attend our happiest day. Don't you have something to say to them? One or two words, maybe?"
Titanic? Iván narrowed his eyes at @Corvella, wary about how close she had breached his personal space. Wait, he was worried about her breaching his personal space? Since when? Weren’t they in love for years, months, weeks, days now? Surely that amount of time spent together and with feelings for each other should’ve made him less wary about Titan breaching his personal space. They’ve done things, more intimate than breaching personal spaces, right? What does that even mean? Titanic… Titan--- Oh. It took him a second or two, but he finally found relief, thanks to her confirmation. Corvella was Corvella, not an illusion, a memory planted in his head to trick him into falling deeper down this illusory abyss, but the real colossal deal. It took him another second or two before it dawned on him: Whoever was behind this trick, he was more powerful than two illusionists combined. Or maybe he just caught them off-guard and started playing to their weaknesses. Despite his preference for distance, isolation, Iván was, in more ways than one, lonely. In this world, there was cause for it. In terms of romance, he found no use for it, believing that in this game anyone could be anyone else. What if he started falling for someone who turned out to be his grandma? That would be awkward. Besides, it was just a game. No one took anything here seriously…right? In the other world, it was more because of who he was, where he was from, what was in his name. Either way, no matter the details, he was essentially lonely. Was Corvella the same? “What?” Corvella’s question caught Iván off-guard. Once again. He was too deep in his thoughts, he had failed to assess the situation right away, strain the solution from the problem, consider more efficient paths to getting the heck out of there, but only another second or two passed before he set himself on the right track. “Oh, of course... Yes, darling, I have a few things to say to everyone.” He shifted his gaze from his beautiful bride, in actuality his Witch Ops partner whom he respected and viewed a great deal, to the masks of people, familiar faces, a version of them at least, in actuality complete strangers. They all had the same grin on their faces, that same, familiar stupid grin. Where has he seen that kind of grin before? Iván could swear it was a familiar one, that they shared the same stupid grin, that he just saw it recently. How recently? When the two of them, Bound Prince and Titan, don’t even have a grasp of time anymore. Iván addressed the crowd, holding Corvella’s hand and gracefully putting it on his arm, cradling it like a groom would his bride’s, like prom dates, like they were still playing their respective parts, “Ladies and gentlemen, friends and family members, we are, Corvy and I, both grateful to see all of you here. At our wedding. During the happiest day of our lives, now united into one.” He continued to scan the crowd as he spoke, one hand on Corvella’s captive hand, just in case he needed to send her a quick signal. “You all know our story, from the day we met to the day we fell in love to this day today when we finally joined together and stuff,” he emphasized the word stuff and saw no one bat an eyelash. His suspicions were right. They were pre-programmed to go through with their reactions. That meant that whoever reacted differently would not be a part of the illusion. Iván quickly turned to Corvella for a second, nodding at her, as if preparing her for what was to come. “To that I say… Shucky ducky quack quack.” A second of silence. Then immediately, everyone cheered. Everyone, save for one surprised guest, someone Iván himself failed to see, to notice. Hopefully, Corvella did. Otherwise, they would have to do all this again and maybe then, the man behind this trick would have already wisen up. Shucky ducky quack quack indeed.
Even Corvella was quite taken aback with the thing Iván declared, with one brow raised she looked to him. Shucky ducky quack quack, really? He had the time to think of something witty, and shucky ducky quack quack is all he can think of? Quickly putting her good eyes to use, she spotted just one person, one man specifically that reacted different from the others. He was a pillar in the in the play, just like both Titan and Bound Prince. "Dear, fourth row, third person from the right." After whispering, she quickly took off her left shoe and threw it at an amazing velocity and accuracy towards a particular direction among the crowd. It was unfortunate that the person she aimed for had quick reflex to catch it mid-air before it could hit him in the head. The attendees didn't stop cheering as the man began chuckling and monologuing like your stereotypical villain. "Well, well, well." He clapped slowly, distinguishing himself from the illusions among him. "Looks like you've found it out. That took long, to be honest. Then again, people before you never did." The man was dressed rather weirdly, with his pink-accented shirt and flower-patterned black suit. "Yes, it's me, Barrrrr-ba-rossssss-a!" The flamboyant culprit posed with one hand on his face and the other raising into the sky, sporting the familiar grin. Damn right it was him all along. "Barbarossa!" She shouted. "How dare you! How long have we been in this illusion?" She readied her other pair of shoe to throw. The criminal's apparation before them is still posing, before continuing to maniacally laugh. "I'm not the type to monologue, but since there's no way that you would escape this beautifully crafted perfection of a love story, I'll give you something; it was from the start." Corvella scoffs. "Well, you might need to learn human interaction more. Because in no way this is natural. Not even a better love story than Twilight." She turned to Iván, giving him the 'what now?' look. They've found Barbarossa, but he is the last thing that kept this illusion world running. Fighting him in any kind of way is not going to work, because this is his world, where he is the god.
@Corvella ’s shoe was already flying in the air when Iván noticed the dastardly dashing danger…dude that was the maestro of all this mess, this massive mountain of malicious maliintent. Was that an exaggeration? Probably. Things were taken up a notch when the pair discovered Barbarossa hiding in plain sight, as if his flamboyant maneuverings were contagious. Like a cold or another one of them superhero movies, overexposed and overplayed. "Everyone’s a critic..." Barbarossa crossed his arms as the couple stared at each other. To him, they seemed like they were trying to read each other’s minds, communicate telepathically, which he knew was impossible because unlike them he actually knew illusion magic through and through. At least he was programmed that way. Maybe. "And I liked Twilight, how dare you?!" If they learned anything from Barbie, it was that they’ve been tricked from the very beginning. All the time lapses, losing conscious of the passage, even concept, of time, was probably due to the fact that there was no passage of time. What seemed to them weeks or months were probably just mere seconds. Everything that they’ve felt, gone through, were mere fabrications. Did it mean that they were still in his castle, which, based on the things Iván had seen earlier, the breaks in the narrative, the things he should have forgotten but were now coming back to him, was not actually on fire? "No matter. Neither of you two have the skills, the abilities, the god-given intelligence and charisma to break this illusion, MY illusion," the flamboyant serial killer continued, the crowd not heeding his words, pre-programmed as they were. That made Iván realize that they couldn’t use them against Barbarossa. If they were real people, maybe either one of them could make a grand speech, rousing them against their illusionist oppressor. But they weren’t, which meant they were just there as accessories, puppets bound to a routine. "Face it, kiddos, you’re mine... All mine!" Puppets bound to a routine… There must be something there… There was, but Iván could not see it, could not speak of it, even though it was already on the tip of his tongue. Perhaps, it was the after effects of being under Barbarossa’s control. Perhaps, he was just losing his touch. Either way, Iván knew not the answers, the strategy, the way out, Corvella sought. He did know something, though, the only thing he could whisper to his bride, “Puppets bound to a routine?” Perhaps, she could make more sense of it than him. "Now, scene!" Barbarossa took a deep bow before twirling for effect. The crowd seemed oblivious to him and instead turned to the lawfully wedded duo, looking at them with loving eyes, cheerful smiles, wishing them luck and happiness in their new lives, blessing them with all their hearts. This was their cue to walk the married walk, whatever it was called, throughout the church, right? Iván wondered if he should just dropkick Barbarossa.
