"Luna, what a pleasant surprise. First Leo and now you, I wonder if Father is up to something?"
Theo cast the black barrier around Luna, but she didn't care. Her Father warned her this could happen.
Meanwhile, in the church:
"Hello, I am Aislinn, one of the phoenixes from Rebirth. Luna is risking her life as we speak. We must hurry. I have temporarily stopped time in this church."
With a flash, Sophie and Zander experienced something no one else had ever experienced. It was painful and loud, like they were being squeezed with pressure.
When the pain stopped, they both stood stunned as they were in Eden, outside of a manor with Tej, Soraya, Leo, the Father and several Phoenix children they had not seen.
Leo was busy taking pictures. He handed Zander the phone and as Zander went to give him his, he politely refused.
The phoenixes put on quite the magic show and the Father approached Sophie first.
"My dear Sophie, one of the many things in the prophecy I could not see coming. Zander and Zintan made the right choice!" as said as he gave her the blessing of the Father.
"Is Luna going to be ok?" They both asked quickly.
"By you two asking that, it shows the very reason we took this risk. I am hereby blessing your marriage and you should both know those rings are not ordinary rings. Learn of its power through love. Also, if one of you catches fire, please stop worrying. I know it's painful, but it's the evolution process," the Father stated while holding their hands and they both felt a glow of magic touch each of the 5 parts of their souls.
"What did Soraya mean by this is goodbye?" Sophie quickly asked.
"Ah, this," The Father showed his bind with Theo.
"I am not to interfere with humankind and he will not touch Harmonia until and can't touch see or hear Zander until he turns 18. If you're out of Harmonia by then, he likely won't touch it at all."
Tej and Soraya flew in for a family hug and Ashlinn said "sorry we have to go," and through the same painful process, Zander and Sophie were still kissing to the roars of the crowd.
Sophie threw her flowers towards the section of the orphan girls, where one of the older ones caught it and was thanking everyone so much.
Back in Phantoms Keep:
"So Luna, why are you here?" Theo asked.
"Is it true my brother visited you and is considering joining you?" Luna demanded.
"It's you, not me in the barrier my dear sister. Yes, he did, and what of you?" Theo asked.
"I just came to confirm my suspicions, I am acting on my own behalf." Luna stood her ground.
"Almighty truth," Theo stated and shot magic at Luna, and then he simply released the barrier.
"I will not speak of this to anyone, you have my word," Luna offered to make a bind.
Theo, who deep down had always loved his sister, said, "No need I know you were always the pure one. It was nice seeing you and tell that man you call Father to keep being a good boy. Humankind relies on Solace not interfering."
"I will, goodbye Theo, I wish you wouldn't have left," Luna said with a tear.
"Almighty truth," Theo shot again and to his surprise, his sister was genuine as she went back to Eden.
As Luna returned, she heard the good news about Zander and Sophie.
Zephyr immediately linked with Luna and showed her everything and said, "she looks exactly like you, everything but the eyes, that explains a lot of the dream we shared when Zander was a baby."
"It certainly does," Luna said with a smile.
Back in the church, everyone had moved to the reception area and everyone kept clinking their glasses for them to kiss.
Cyrus gave a heartfelt best man speech and Mr. Grace followed with a tear filled "happy to let my daughter become an Elrod," speech.
Mrs. Grace and her restaurant's best chefs prepared the meals for everyone and baked the cake. Everyone was happy and Zander was glad everyone stood by the, "no gifts," rule.
Around 5 PM, they had their first dance as a couple and they discussed, "wow, we were humans in Eden," and both were grateful for the Fathers blessing, not only on Sophie but on their marriage as well.
"I guess I should tell you I have a Phoenix system in me, I have since birth. It activated the first time you saw me burn to ash. I don't know a lot about it but after our honeymoon we should try to train and figure it out," Zander said while twirling his beautiful bride.
"Sounds good babe," a phrase Zander always loved hearing because his dad always called his mom that.
After everyone had a great night, everyone finally practically shoved Zander and Sophie into the limo to take them back.
"Be safe Sophie," Mrs. Grace whispered, to which Mr. Grace held her tight and said, "I don't think we could have done any better as parents," to which Mrs. Grace laughed, "except you giving our daughter birth control pills with serious side effects," to which Mr. Grace said, "must be a Sophie thing." As they both smiled.
During the limo ride home, Zander and Sophie talked about how amazing the wedding was. Zander said her clip and vows was an amazing touch and it made him feel like his parents were there.
"You know, I thought in Eden we'd see them." Sophie said.
"Maybe it was too hard for the Father to pull all of it off, I just hope Luna is ok." Zander said.
Scarlett and Zintan both informed Sophie and Zander she was.
"Was my aura really gold when you met me?" Sophie asked.
"Yes, from the first time I could see it it was the only one, Jackson had dark green with faint lines of gold but that was it," Zander said.
Sophie leaned in for a kiss and as she went to turn off her cell phone, she almost got mad for a second but told herself it wouldn't let it ruin her day.
With her face scrunched up, eyebrows furrowed, Zander said "what in the world can have Mrs. Elrod down?"
Sophie explained Claire texted," I hate to tell you this now but I broke up with Cyrus. He's a great guy and he agreed we could remain friends."
"Pretend you didn't read it, I could always distract you," Zander had turned off his phone and began making out with Sophie and all her thoughts were back to joy.
As the limo pulled into the driveway, Zander gave a generous tip and gave his blazer to Sophie, who flipped her heels off and said, "finally," Zander took his dress shoes off as he carried her all the way to their master bedroom.
She looked Zander deep in the eyes as he took his tie off, she crept forward and started kissing him. She took off his shirt and asked if he minded helping her get out of the dress, to which he asked, "are you sure?" to which she teased, "yes I'm sure I want this heavy dress off now."
As he took off her dress, she was still looking him deep in the eyes and she said, "are you sure?"
When they finished, Zander hugged her so tight and said, "I love you Sophie Elrod, with every ounce of my being,"
Sophie responded, "I love you Zander Elrod, with every ounce of my being."
She excused herself and went to take a nice, hot shower.
Zander, laying in bed with a smile got something he'd never thought he'd get in his life, "secret quest complete. Consummate your marriage. Reward, 15,000 experience! Congratulations you are now level 14. Race: young Phoenix, strength 11, mana, 11, endurance, 10, agility, 10, stamina, 10. You now have 7 stat points available. Health 200/200, Energy, 320/320. Skill fully unlocked: magical infusion.
"Your mate is not currently in her fertile cycle. No child conceived," and he quickly realized that Sophie was probably getting another evolution so he stormed into the bathroom, ran over and cast healing and cooling magic on her.
She got up, embarrassed, but felt stronger than ever and her body had refined yet again. She, like Zander, looked like a young adult. Her muscles were well toned, she grew another 2 inches and her breasts and buttocks grew in proportion to her body.
"I never thought I'd have anything other than an A cup but this Phoenix thing keeps making me have to get new clothes and now my butt is getting big," Sophie chuckled, as she also now had feathers on her clawed hands, up to her elbows feathers up to her shins, with larger, stronger talons and a mix of pink with white flames.
"Your body has always been beautiful and you are perfect just the way you are," as he transformed to match hers, grabbing her hand and they noticed their rings were fine.
"That's amazing," Sophie said while canceling her transformation as Zander did too.
Zander had immediately started kissing her passionately and they returned to the bed.
It was a bit strange, as she was now about six feet and when they met she was 5'8 to his 6'4. But they both laughed about the body changes and Zander said, "at least we can give a lot of clothes to charity," which made Sophie feel better.
Sophie turned on her phone, as did Zander and they realized it was 2 AM.
Sophie texted Ella, "thank you so much for forcing me to wear that underwear and bra set. I'm going to need new clothes before the honeymoon, I grew two inches and I'd guess I'm probably a 34B size now. Thank you so much. I know it's last minute."
Zander laughed and said, "remember when I told you about my Phoenix system…"
"Yes, what's up babe?" Sophie asked while, laying on his chest.
"It told me my mate wasn't currently in her fertility cycle and no child was conceived, both times," Zander said with a smile.
"Maybe that's why I threw up the birth control. So, you're telling me you'll know when we can have a kid, that's amazing." Sophie said with a smile.
"Yes it is, I wanna enjoy our life first." Zander said and noticed Sophie had fallen asleep.
He heard her phone ping and just set it on the nightstand. He prayed and the Father was quite grateful for Sophie and his prayer, as Sophie prayed many thank yous that day and night.
Zander laid and wondered why his parents weren't there today, but eventually drifted off into a deep sleep.