#arc17

[tangopapa13750]

Arc 17 international training. Japan/french/british/usa joint operation in tinian and guam.

[sanctuaryoftheodd]

Credits/Preview for Part 2

Special thanks to my girlfriend Wakraya, who I've been dumping ideas on for years. I wouldn't have gotten this far without her input and encouragement!

Also thanks to Jcog who has read and commented on every single chapter! Seriously, I don't always say it, but I super appreciate your support! Helped me maintain my motivation while writing this series, and I hope you'll keep following the story well into the sequels!

All art was drawn by me on the Procreate app with an Ipad Pro.

I purchased a bundle of brushes created by Di over on Gumroad. Most of my lineart was done with their Soft LineArt brushes. The coloring was done with the Marker Brush Set. Also used their Galaxy and the Alien Galactic brushes for depicting the void and stuff. The Magic Forest, and Japanese Forest brushes were used in that one illustration with Future Anne.

I also got the Fantasy Art Toolbox by Meteoro Workshop. Is because of them that I was able to give Marduk scales, and have a stone wall texture. Their provided font of Medieval Comica was used predominately in Bonnie's Citizenship card, while CodexMeteorusNova was used whenever the Mother of Gods spoke in the Non-Canon comics.

Photopea was used to shrink down illustrations to page size, as well for some touch ups.

Sanctuary of the Odd is copyright © Kelsie Finefeather. All right reserved.

Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons is coincidental.

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Preview for Part 2!

An alliance with Marduk causes allies to flock to Sanctuary, launching it into a super power among the multiverse. This leads to an era of growth and prosperity for the city. However, with power and money comes enemies lurking in the shadows. Not to mention the ever looming threat of the prophesied Demon War. Can Anne and her friends stay vigilant enough to see an ever growing threat on the horizon, or will their complacency be Sanctuary's doom?

You're on the tumblr mirror, so we'll just keep going on to Part 2 starting Monday on the same blog! No sense separating them like Wattpad is forcing me to do. xD

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Arc 18: Story So Far

[sanctuaryoftheodd]

Chapter 100: King Anwir's Assistant

Greetings. My name is irrelevant. You may know me as The Monster King Anwir Plott's personal assistant, and he's got me under contract.

You see, I'm a demon, but he's corrupted me into an angel. Now I'm compelled to serve him, forever. This was a common fate of demons back in the era of gods. Thankfully, my belief abilities only apply to filling out paperwork and keeping things in order, otherwise he would have sent me out to fight like the others. Who knows if the friends I grew up with were still alive by now. I didn't want to think about it.

One positive was that as the King's assistant, I didn't have to wear an apathy collar. I hated those things. Though I had to wear a fake one for appearances.

"What was the king thinking?!?" Shouted a dragon.

"Give us back his body so we can bury him!"

"We made the king! We can unmake the king!"

These were the Grey Dragons. They were the Rainbow Dragons, but when Chroma Catastrophe died, they changed their name out of solidarity.

Speaking of Chroma Catastrophe, the king has confiscated his body for his experiments.

"Give him back to us! This is a slap in the face to all those who mourn his death!"

"An outrage!"

"The sacrilege!"

"Now now," I nervously interjected, "he has promised to return it soon enough!"

"He never had the right to take it in the first place!"

"Watch it, demon. If you don't cooperate, it would be only one gulp."

I knew it very well. I doubt the king would even prosecute them. "Eating me won't accomplish anything! Please! I'm just a mere pawn!"

It wasn't common knowledge that I was an angel, so from their perspective, I was complicit in everything the King did. This may be how I die.

However, a very authoritative dragon flew in front of the group, shielding me from their hungry glares. "You all should know better than to shoot the messenger. A collared demon has no power, you all are aware of that. The true enemy here is the king."

The dragons who were looking at me like I was to be lunch, seemed to have been begrudgingly swayed by his words. The authoritative one turned to me. "Consider that we have shown you mercy, but the king will be shown none if he does not return that body. Make sure he remembers who put him in power in the first place!"

He bowed to me and then flew off. The other dragons sneered at me and followed suit. I was alone on the landing platform. I let out a sigh of relief. Escaped death another day.

Unfortunately, I had little time to breathe. I had to return to work. As I resumed my rounds through the castle, I couldn’t help feeling a twinge of paranoia. If Sanctuary wins, and the Adelaide is put into power, there is very little chance I’d be shown much mercy. I unfortunately have to do anything I can to prevent that from happening, my neck was on the line.

As I was making trails, a wormy little pombero approached me.

"Excuse me, assistant, I have a suggestion for the king if you'd pass it up."

The King was a very reclusive man. Getting an audience with him was very difficult. "What did you have in mind?"

"If the demons of Hek realize that mortal Hekatos is in Sanctuary, they might join their side. I think we need to start a propaganda campaign to prevent that eventuality."

Hekatos was heavily involved in the birth of demonkind, we practically revered him as the father of all of us. The fact I was forced to act against him struck fear in my heart. "Create fliers with false information and air drop them. Something about Sanctuary enslaving and eating demons. Be certain to use paper that could survive the atmosphere."

He was surprised. "You're certain we don't need to inform the king, first?"

"My authority is enough to get this done for now. I will bring it up to him later."

I apologized to my people in my heart for what I had just done. I didn't deserve their forgiveness, but I could foolishly hope that one day, they'll understand that I had no choice in the matter.

I eventually stood outside the king's war room. I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for the visit.

"I already know you're out there, just come in already."

Busted. I wasn't sure how he knew, but he somehow pieced it together this time. The door slid open automatically and I stepped through.

There he was. He was looming over a touch table displaying a map of his universe.

He was alone in here. He didn't have any advisors, and he didn't let any of the generals see his plans, the only one allowed in his war room was me. It showed how little he trusts people when the only one with passage in his strategic operations is a person physically unable to defy him.

"I don't require your commentary. What do you want?"

I gulped. He was so imposing. "Uh, the corpse of Chroma Catastrophe is currently in stasis in your lab."

"Good. Is that all?"

"Well, I don't know what you intend to do with it, but he's missing his brain."

"I have a spare on hand, so that's no hindrance."

I didn't want to think about what he possibly could have meant by that, so instead I continued. "Um sir? The Grey Dragons are furious that we took the body. They've been threatening revolt-"

He grimaced. "Did I ask for their opinion?"

"Uh, no sir."

"Then I don't require it. I'll have something for them soon, so just tell them to hold their horses until then."

"Yes, sir."

"Is that all?"

"Oh uh, there was concern that the demons on Hek might side with Sanctuary, so I had propaganda fliers made."

"I know, tell the twerp that suggested it that we will go forward with his plan."

I have no idea how he knew the idea was suggested. I didn’t dare press the matter. "I have nothing else to report."

"You are dismissed."

He tapped on the screen and it changed to a view of his lab, the body of the dragon right in the center. His face twisted into a wicked grin at the sight of it.

I turned around to leave.

"With this, I'll be one step closer to obliterating my enemies! Anne, the Adelaide, ALL OF SANCTUARY will BURN!"  He started to cackle.

A chill spread across my spine. He often talked to himself like this, and every time I could feel the intensity in the air, as if his desires were spilling into reality itself."They will PAY! For always whispering their stories in my ear! I will make them all pay! I WILL escape my fate! I WILL show them all that I'm still me." He was laughing maniacally. "I'm still me!" His cackles chased me as I escaped out the door and into the hall. "I'M STILL ME!!"

End of Part 1

[sanctuaryoftheodd]

Chapter 99: Festival Date

The town was ablaze with patriotism and good spirits. Banners were strung up all over the place, all emblazoned with Marduk's name. Though, off to the side on every single banner were the handwritten words "& the Princess' Engagement." I guess it's about both now. I wonder how the Chaos Serpents are going to feel about that.

The vendors had come out to sell their wares, this time actually bringing out the conjurators so you can eat the food on the spot. The most popular was a table run by Annabelle the pig lady. She was running a full BBQ that had anthros gathering from all over to get burgers and hotdogs. When Belle saw the two of us, she sneered. Was it just me or was she more pissed at Raina? It must have been my imagination. Well, neither of us ate meat, so nothing was really lost for us.

Instead we headed for the stall run by Wolf's Bane a few tables down. The place was attracting most of the humans. The two of us tried to get in the back of the line, but the queue quickly parted as we approached to let us through. I tried to tell them not to do that, but they had already cleared a path. I knew this was normal for royalty, but I feel like I'm cashing in karma coins whenever I take advantage of my position like this.

Anyways, we quickly reached the front counter. A wolf girl in hippy attire was quick to greet us. "Congratulations, Princesses!"

"Thank you!" I said.

"I notice Marduk did it, too, but... Princesses?" Raina tilted her head in confusion. "My rank is Duchess!"

"You're a member of the Monster Royal Family, so you are a Princess!" She exclaimed.

"Well... you guys could have waited a bit before adopting the new title..." My fiance said glumly.

"Anyways," the wolf turned her attention to me, ignoring Raina's annoyance, "what can I get ya?"

"I'll have the kale wrap, please!" I ordered

"Veggie burger..."

"Coming right up!"

We walked a bit while eating our food. I liked getting the wrap considering it was contained in foil for easy holding. Raina grumpily ate her burger out of one of her mage hands.

"I think the Princess title suits you!" I tried to bolster her up.

She didn't look too reassured. "Weren't you trying to push the job on me when we first founded Sanctuary?"

Now that she mentioned it. "Oh yeah, but that was before you decided the leader should be called 'Princess.'"

"Oh right." She chuckled. "I blackmailed you with gender euphoria."

"So you DID do that deliberately!"

"Hehehe, yeah!"

I smirked. "Blackmail is a crime ya know! I ought to bring you in!"

"You'd have to catch me first!"

We then playfully chased each other around for a bit. She was laughing, I preferred her this way. I nearly caught her, but she suddenly teleported a few feet away. "Hey! Magic is unfair!"

"All's fair in love and war!" Raina giggled to herself.

"Well, in that case..." I turned into light, flew until I was positioned right in front of her and threw my arms around her as soon as I was solid again, pulling her into a tight hug. "I caught you!"

"Light powers are unfair!" She said in between her laughs.

"And magic is?"

Raina pulled me in closer as we hugged and laughed in the middle of the street. I'm sure the civilians around us were getting one hell of a show watching their leaders flirting publicly like this, but I didn't care.

“Also, you probably should put your clothes on, you’re in your underwear now.”

I looked down to find that my clothes had fallen off when I turned into light. Oh right, that outfit wasn’t part of my identity, so it slipped right off. It’s been so long since I had a clothing mishap that I kinda forgot the rules. Well, I wasn’t embarrassed about PDA, but I was certainly embarrassed about this!

“Ahhhhhh!!!” I screamed, snatching up my clothes from the ground and running to an alleyway to change.

I managed to get my clothes back on and we continued our tour of the festival grounds. I was desperately trying not to think about what just occurred when a stall caught my fiance's eye. "Ooh! Bloody Mary's is serving today!"

Specifically, it was fog candy. The stall was continuously covered in a haze. To be honest, I'm not even sure how she knew the stall was even there.

We approached the front register and placed a ʞ1000 coin, then we both chanted "bloody mary" three times in front of the mirror. Two of the sticks in the dispenser lifted up on their own and some of the fog would gather around it, weaving into cotton candy.

We took our candy and headed for some of the dew covered seating nearby. We saw Lexine sandwiched between Foxman and Sotakeh on a bench. The married couple was taking turns feeding her chunks of the candy while the vampire was blushing profusely through the whole thing.

The two of us ignored the elderly antics and found a bench ourselves. Raina immediately tore off a piece and held it up to my mouth. "Say 'ahhh.'"

I was used to being fed at this point. I opened wide and she dropped the candy in. Fog candy melted immediately in your mouth like cotton candy did, except it melted into a fluid, giving you a flavor filled shot with each bite. My taste buds were overwhelmed with the intense tang of soulsberry blue. So refreshing!

Not leaving a flirting opportunity rest, I bend my arm so I can pinch off a bit of the fog candy. I held it up to Raina's mouth. "Now you try some!"

She didn't hesitate and accepted my savory offering. I think she wasn't expecting that flavor as it nearly knocked her out of her seat. After making sure she wasn't going to fall forward into the stone street, we both laughed at her reaction.

After having some fog candy, we went back to walking. After a while, we heard music in the air, but not the typical sort you'd encounter in a festival like this. There was a band playing nearby.

"Wanna go check it out?" Raina asked. I nodded and we ran off in that direction.

A frog was playing a banjo and singing in the middle. A raccoon was blowing into a jug off to the side. One eccentric hare was playing the fiddle. Then finally, a human playing music on his computer, dressed head to toe as a DJ. I could only describe the sound as a weird clash of a jug band and a club track. I'm not sure how they are making that clash of aesthetics work but they were somehow accomplishing it.

We saw a number of Sanctuary citizens dancing. A jackalope was doing the quadrupedal form of a line break dance. Honestly everyone was kind of doing their own thing without cohesion or fear of judgement. Yeah, that tracks for our town.

Raina extended a hand towards me. "Shall we have this dance?"

I nodded and took her hand. The band took note and switched to a slower song as Raina led me into a waltz. I can tell she had been taking her dance lessons seriously.

Mind you, what occurred today wasn't a complete assurance. There were many perils and uncertainties ahead. However, one thing was for certain: If Raina kept playing my heartstrings like this, she was going to get laid tonight!

She almost missed a step as she fought to suppress the laughter. "D-Don't hit on me in narration!"

[sanctuaryoftheodd]

Chapter 98: Isn't it Too Early to Start Planning?

"Well, with that out of the way, let's finish up the meeting, shall we?"

Gah! I forgot the original purpose of this thing!

"Since you've agreed to my terms, a tad enthusiastically so I might add, I feel no qualms in forging this alliance with you. Please bring out the treaty."

Lexine pulled out a legal document from her inventory and placed it on a podium we had set up for the occasion. She stepped out of the way and I took her place. I pulled out my signing stamp and pressed it down hard onto the document.

Upon seeing that I had signed it, Marduk reached out a claw, a magical glow extending out from his body which drifted down like a feather in the wind. It landed gently on the treaty, and the signature was suddenly engraved directly into the paper.

"It is done. From here on forth, we are now allies!"

He extended out a claw towards me. As soon as it was right up in front of my face, I wrapped an arm around the very tip of it. We shook loosely as the onlookers cheered our new alliance. I would have preferred keeping it with bows and curtsies, but the symbolic gesture of a handshake was too important to pass up, even if both participants didn't even have hands at the time.

With the meeting over, the crowd parted to join in on the festivities. As soon as the alliance was formed, the festival would begin, that was the plan. I kinda hoped the fact it looped around back to being about our alliance was enough to remind people that this was a party honoring Marduk and not my engagement.

"I wouldn't mind if it was about your engagement." Marduk remarked. It was hard to tell in his dragon form, but he had the look of a proud father that was watching his daughter grow up. He's only been reunited with her for a week... "Well, if you don't mind, I'll take human form and join the celebration."

Taking human form would have made things easier to begin with, but he had to come here as a dragon because he was signing the document as Marduk Kimathi the Dragon. Taking shortcuts doesn't send the right message, ya know?

However, I was kind of surprised. "You're transforming yourself? You're not going to fly away and send an avatar?"

"No, I want to experience things myself today." He said with a toothy smile.

His body was enveloped in a glow as it shrank smaller and smaller. Eventually, it took the shape of a man, and the light faded away to reveal the same form he was in when he talked to me the other day. He straightened himself out and then turned to me. "I'll see you later, Princess Anne, Princess Raina." He said with a smile before awkwardly walking towards the food carts that had been setting up.

With Marduk and the crowds gone, we all could finally breathe a bit.

"This was quite the eventful meeting!" Lexine laughed. "Congratulations!"

"Does that mean Vera is going to my grandmother-in-law...?" Bonnie looked happy at the prospect.

Sotakeh approached me. "I'm quite happy for you two! Please send me an RSVP when the time comes."

I laughed. "Just an RSVP? You're walking me down the aisle and that's that!"

Momma Sota was surprised to hear it, but she simply smiled and said "Thank you..."

"Wait, aren't I technically the father of the bride? Shouldn't I be walking you down the aisle?" Foxman looked glum.

"Oh." He had a pretty good point. "Well, I haven't discussed this with Raina, but if she's fine with it, how would you feel about officiating the wedding?"

"R-Really?" Foxman's tune did a u-turn when I said that.

"I'd be fine with it!" Raina responded. "I'd prefer it to be a family member after all!"

"Hell yes!" He practically bounded with joy, his tail wagging frantically.

"Ooh! How about Lexine and Bonnie as bride's maids?"

"Do I not get to be a bride's maid?" Panchi sounded a bit hurt.

"Uh, do you want to be one?"

"Ye"

"Well, then you are one!"

She gave me a thumbs up. "Awesome, thanks Noodle Girl."

Then Raina chimed in. "Ooh! My mom can be the best man!"

Now that I think about it, I just kind of cornered Raina into being the groom in this situation.

"Oh no, I'm more than fine with being the groom! As long as I get to see you in a wedding dress!" She said to me, grinning as she imagined it.

My face went hot. That's right! I can wear a wedding dress! Ahhh the gender euphoria!!! "Wait, so am I allowed to wear white? I mean considering..."

"Raina!" Suddenly, we could hear shouting in the distance. Vera was running through the crowd towards us. That's right, she didn't want to face Marduk, so she watched the meeting at her new home.

"Mom!" Shouted my girlfri... wait... my f-fiance beside me.

She started to run towards her mother, but it was no good, Vera covered the ground like she had gained super speed. She tackled Raina. "Congratulations!!!"

We had made our way to the changing rooms off to the side of the podium. The plan was for us to attend the festival all casually. Lexine argued that we had earned the time off considering recent events. We were going to spend time with our families, but Bonnie and Vera already agreed to go to the festival together so I would go with Raina. I'm glad they did. After what happened, I really want to spend the day with my fiance. (I need to get used to calling her that!)

I changed into a party outfit. I chose it because it reminded me of Raina: the top was brown like her hair and the skirt green like her eyes. I had picked this outfit days ago, but now the fact I was literally wearing Raina's colors had a whole new meaning to it. I somehow put some make-up on. I’m still shocked I didn’t smear my lipstick!

Seeing myself in the mirror made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I was going to knock Raina’s socks off with this look!

When I left the dressing room, I could see Panchi was already done dressing. She was wearing a yellow flower print tank top and black shorts. Her hair was in a simple scrunchie. "I honestly never thought to see you in such casual attire, Panchi!" Even when we first met, she was in martial arts robes.

"I have the rest of the day off, spending it with the squish."

"The what?"

"Coozin, I'm spending the day with Coozin."

"Oh! That's cute! Spending time with your sister!"

"Oh, we don't use that lingo anymore. We were using it as an in-joke for a while, but in retrospect it's waaay too creepy."

"Uh, what?"

But before she could elaborate, suddenly Raina came out from her dressing room. To my shock, she was wearing a pink tube top and a red skirt. Her eyes went wide when she saw what I was wearing. Then she smirked mischievously. "Looks like we had the same idea!"

"Yeah!" I laughed.

Coozin came running soon after. She had traded her chef's outfit for a very cute blue dress with a snazzy vine pattern on it. "Hey, Panchi! Hurry up! I want to get some zucchini fries before they get sold out!"

The minutian turned to us. "And that's my cue to leave, have fun lovebirds. Don't be too indecent!"

"See ya, Panchi! Have fun!"

She ran off to her bunny companion and took her hand. They walked off towards the festival. I overheard Panchi saying "so you needed your zucchini before you could eat zucchini?" which got a laugh out of Coozin for some reason.

Soon after, Bonnie came out of her dressing room and she paired off with Vera. "See ya later, Mom!" She called out to me before the pair left on their own trip through town.

Raina turned to me. "Well, I think it's about time we go, too!" She declared.

I nodded enthusiastically. I wrapped a noodle around her arm and we left to enjoy the festival together. Post-engagement date!

[sanctuaryoftheodd]

Chapter 97: The Proposal

"Of course, I'm willing to accept a long engagement," the dragon conceded, "but long term, I'd just feel more comfortable that you marry into it eventually."

I was dumbfounded. Was our conversation the other day enough to make him want me to marry his daughter?

"Yes, that conversation was a large part of it."

I thought dragons were long lived! I didn't see them as the types to rush their kids into marriage!

The people were looking around confused. They were saying stuff like "who is the Princess going to marry?" and "why do they keep looking towards Raina."

Marduk, noticing the commotion, raised a scaly eyebrow at me. "Do they not know about Raina?"

"We weren't going to INVITE assassinations!" I said exasperated.

"Well, there's not much point hiding it now." Without consulting us further, the dragon turned towards the civilians and announced. "Hear this! Raina is a member of the lost Adelaide family. She is a monster princess! Also, for the record, I'm her biological father."

Suddenly the whole town was buzzing at the sudden revelation. Everyone was mutting their reactions out. I'm sure the entire internet will know within the hour. "Welp, so much for that secret." I said, slapping a noodle arm against my face.

The dragon, willfully ignorant to his fumble, turned back towards me and continued. "Listen, this is a request, not a demand. You have every right to refuse. I just would feel more comfortable if you did comply."

I thought about it. I had only known Raina for months at this point. They say "only fools rush in" but our relationship has been a speedrun from the start. We reached milestones at record times, even getting them out of order at points. At times I've wondered if we were going too fast. It's easy to confuse the butterflies in the stomach as love, so oftentimes people rush into things and when that nervousness goes away, they just find themselves in a loveless relationship. That's a common danger in a speedy romance. I’ve seen it many times before people watching from alleyways and dumpsters.

But it was different for Raina and I. We were rushing into it because everything felt so right. Things kind of naturally fell into place and we learned how to communicate and compromise very quickly. I'm not saying there wasn't more for us to learn, but after everything, I'm confident that we wouldn't have trouble getting past any obstacle in the way. When I thought about it, I couldn't imagine anyone else by my side. Maybe that was just youthful ignorance, but it doesn't feel like it.

"I wouldn't mind marrying Raina..." I started. "I'd be happy to in fact, but I don't want to force her into anything." I was fine with rushing in, but I didn't want Raina to feel like she had to. She had the right to take things slow if she wanted to.

"Anne." Raina, who was quiet this whole time, spoke up. I turned my focus to her and she was smiling so warmly, her emerald green eyes shimmered in the spotlights. She slowly approached me.

"Raina?" My heart felt heavy as she approached. The silence between her words had a weight to it too, as if the world stopped to let her speak.

"It was love at first sight for me." She began. "The second you stepped into that prison cell was the moment my future was decided. Even back then, I knew who I wanted to be with. I had full conviction on this. It never felt like we were rushing into things, not one bit! If anything, I was waiting for you!" She chuckled.

I could tell she wasn't saying all this to just reminisce. The tension in the air was strong. Not that I wanted it to stop, my ears were clinging to every word she said.

She continued. "Anne, at first I was convinced I had no future. I mean, you couldn't blame me, I was a lost princess rotting in a prison cell at the time. You gave me hope, you gave ALL of us hope! We wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you driving us forward. Now I have a bright future worth looking forward to!" She stepped in closer. "I want nothing more than to be by your side, building our future together!"

"Raina..." She was practically glowing as she looked at me. I was probably shining a few hues myself.

As soon as she was within arms length of me, she suddenly dropped down to the floor. She was on one knee and my heart raced as I quickly realized what was going to happen. A disembodied hand reached into her inventory space and pulled out a small black box. A little too big to be a ring box, it took up the entire palm.

The box levitated until it was facing me, and then Raina used her only real hand to open it up, revealing a gold heart shaped necklace.

"A-Anne," she said, stumbling on her words a bit, "will you marry me?"

"H-How long have you had that?"

"I had it custom made when you first expressed interest in marriage."

"...back in Annesville?!?" She really was waiting for me this whole time!

"Well, Anne?" She looked up with anticipation as she held the necklace towards me.

I thought about the future Raina described and my answer was obvious. My heart swelled as I gave my response: "Yes! Yes, I will!"

The crowd suddenly burst into cheers upon my response. I was so lost in the moment that I completely forgot they were there. They were probably suffering from emotional whiplash right now considering they went from a major revelation to a wedding proposal in almost a heartbeat.

Raina got up. She removed the heart pendant from its casing and then she helped put it on me, snapping the chain together behind my neck. I looked down at my chest, lifting it up to get a better look at it. This heart represents the love between us, and the future we have together. Just the thought of that was enough for the necklace to glow, immediately adopting it as an aspect of my identity.

I looked back towards Raina and she was shining radiantly. Again, I was likely glowing a few hues myself! Our eyes met, and she closed the distance between us. I shut my eyes as she leaned in for a kiss. The crowd was now once again gone from my mind. As we smooched, in the moment, it was only Raina and I. The first kiss of our engagement!

Oh yeah, btw, we set the wedding for a full year later. I mean, we both wanted to leap onto the altar immediately after that moment, but Marduk was insistent that we at least take our time with that. I guess he wasn't expecting us to be so eager to follow his request, ha ha!

[sanctuaryoftheodd]

Chapter 96: The Sanctuary Alliance

I woke up with a start. For a moment, I was back there, phasing into Chroma Catastrophe's head uuuuwwaagh I practically gagged thinking about it.

"Did you have that nightmare again?" I heard a soft voice right up against my ear.

Raina had been clinging to me every night ever since the nightmares started occurring. As I got my wits about me and felt her warmth pressed up beside me, my "heart" rate eventually slowed. "I did, but I'm better now."

"That's good." She leaned in to give me a peck on the cheek and nuzzled in close, which melted away any anxiety I had left. She’s right, it’s all good. We're safe now, and we can't take that for granted, at least for a moment. I nuzzled into her embrace, hoping to spend as much time as possible in her warmth.

Suddenly, there's a rapping on the door. Lexine's muffled voice resonated through. "Wake up, you two! It's time for the Marduk meeting!"

And there goes my cuddle time. I groaned and moved to get out of bed, but Raina only held me tighter. "Five more minutes."

"I know how you feel, Raina, but Lexine's not going to give us that."

She moaned in annoyance. She relinquished her grasp and rolled out of bed. "We're up! We're up!" She yelled, aggravated. She started stripping off her nightgown.

I climbed out of bed too and absorbed my sleep clothes, summoning up my brand new warrior outfit. I was going to publicly debut it today. I've only worn it in front of the faun sisters so far.

As soon as Raina finished dressing, she eagerly turned towards me to see it. She glanced at me from head to leg and grinned. "Sexy warrior princess." She said with a sly chuckle. I blushed nervously.

Another rapping on the door. "You two aren't snuggling in there, are you? We've got to go get break-" I walked up to the door and swung it open. As soon as she saw me, her eyes went as wide as saucers. "-fast..."

"What do you think?" I said, giving a twirl. She stood there shocked, her eyes shimmering. I think she was starting to tear up. I was not expecting that reaction. "Lexine, is everything okay?"

"Sorry I was warned this would happen, but I wasn't ready for it to happen so soon..."

"What are you talking about?"

"C-can I hug you?" She asked reluctantly.

"Uh, sure?"

She practically glomped on me. I barely stayed on my feet as I was held in her embrace. I didn't know what was going on, so I just let her get her emotions out, whatever they were.

After breakfast, we headed as a group out of the mansion. The town was a bustle. They were throwing a festival in Marduk's honor after the meeting was finished and everyone was hurrying to set up their booths. They waved towards me as I walked by, many of them reacting to my new outfit.

Bonnie was finally walking without her wheelchair. She was still a bit unstable, but she at least seemed to be good enough at it that she left the mansion without it. Despite her accomplishment, she was looking uncertain as she walked next to me. "You sure it's okay I come?"

"Don't worry, I already cleared it with him, he's fine with you being there."

"But, the last time we met I was invading his home turf..."

"Bonnie, this is a time for new beginnings. You're family, that's all that matters to me."

She still looked uncertain, but now she has a small smile to her. I'm glad she’ll have us by her side.

When Marduk explained the situation to the other factions of the Chaos Serpents, they were very eager to join an alliance with me. Heck, one faction, "Mother's Gift" as they are called, was too eager. They straight up wanted to annex themselves to me, but Marduk talked them down to simply an alliance. Weird.

Anyways, with this meeting, The Sanctuary Alliance will be born. I offered them all to send diplomats to this meeting so I could make peace with them, too, but they refused. They were adamant that  Marduk deserved a meeting all on his own first. I guess that shows how much they respected him.

We all stood in a line at the center of the stage as crowds gathered around us on the lower level. Ironically, this stage was where I was hung all those months ago when this place was Langweilig. It was long converted to a stage, with the noose removed and the trap door sealed shut. Lexine thought I was crazy using it this way, but I thought it was symbolic of the change this land has seen, that a weapon of death can now serve a more peaceful purpose.

Suddenly, the air pressure shifted. I think everybody felt it as faces swiftly tilted upwards. There flew the sun scorched dragon, descending down upon us. His gold horns shimmered in the light. His starlit backed yellow eyes turned to gaze directly at me.

I noticed Bonnie shivering beside me. I briefly placed an arm on her shoulder to calm her nerves. I don't know how much it helped, but she smiled nervously back at me.

I turned my attention towards the dragon again and stepped forward. "Greetings, Marduk of the Chaos Serpents. I, Princess Anne O'Maley welcome you to Sanctuary."

"Greetings Princess! It is an honor to be here." He said. He nodded his head a bit towards me as if he were bowing. I return with a curtsy. Again, I much prefer this over shaking hands. "Well, then let's get down to business!"

He went over the terms of the alliance. I was cleared of all of them days before, so I knew what to expect.

First of all, I had to agree to accept refugees from the Monster Kingdom. Sanctuary was already doing that so we had no problem. We were already working towards mass producing ships that could fly through the storm so we could start getting people out a lot more directly. I'm sure the crew that worked so tirelessly to recreate those designs are happy.

Secondly, I had to forge diplomatic and trade relations with the other Chaos Serpent factions. We have already set a date for that next month. We were just going to have a huge conference where anyone can come and do their diplomacy thing.

And lastly, I had to vow to continue to strive to do what's best for my people. This was also a no-brainer.

"I vow, as Princess of Sanctuary, to always stand for what's right, and to do the best I can for the people that live under me!"

That should be everything.

"I actually have one more request." Marduk said, pensively.

"Oh?" This is the first I've heard of it. That should have been the last one.

"One day, the facade may be undone, and the Odd may return to its rightful place as the Monster Kingdom's moon. If that happens, I want its ruler to be a member of the Monster Royal."

"...are you asking me to abdicate?" I asked.

"No, of course not."

That's a relief. Of course, if stepping down was what was best for my citizens, I would do it. However, I had grown accustomed to this life, and I wasn't eager to give it up.

My calm was short-lived as Marduk dropped a bombshell. "I want you to marry into the royal family."

"Marry into-" My eyes shot open as I processed his words. I turned to look at Raina and our eyes met.

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Life is a series of events. https://audioboom.com/posts/5490894-life-is-a-series-of-events