This long (rather detailed) journey has uncovered a lot, with much more to uncover than what it has already however and which only, not the brave, but the curious and patient ones will find out.

For now, it's better you get an as much close as possible icon of the situation in the writer's opinion. What's going on today. The mood. The decorations. The plaza in which all will take place tonight. There's a big circle. Just like all streets of monster town it isn't paved, it's just ground.

But it still can have life drawn on it's tough soil. When the days are warm and sunny, it is a great time for little children to play in the plaza. When they get tired, they sit down, take out their few colorful pencils or other tools which can give color. And the imagination pours on the ground.

But for today, the biggest part of this circle is not covered in colors, but just in white lice stone. A white circle inside the plaza's. In the night of a monster marriage, when you think it will be lighted up with many torches or lanterns, that is not part of the traditions. Only one torch will be lighted up for the first part of the ceremony.

Even if most monsters have better vision in the dark than humans. But the white lice stone except that is part of the traditions on making the ground pure looking for whoever steps on it and for the stars and moon's glow to reflect on it, to also be distinguishable and help someone know where the boundaries are.

9 roads can lead to the plaza, which the houses of the monster town make and you walk between them. At the very end of these roads, before stepping on the circle, today there are standing 9 dome gates of thin metal, tied and surrounded by lavenders, twigs of basil and red and white oleander blossoms, more known perhaps as nerium.

Adding to it, the monsters of Portugal call the flower veneza. The gorgeous sweet aroma of these plants flies all over the plaza and reaches even further, bringing relaxation and jubilation, especially for the ones who walk beneath those dome gates. And if you know the smell of all these 3 plants!

Then you most likely can imagine them all together how they could smell like. Here, look! Maybe take a breath and you might sense it, you might feel it. Outside the white circle of the plaza, a small stage is formed and music instruments are waiting. Maybe already obvious that Danarei and her party would play their music there.

To worship this big night and bless it with their melodies. The reader may be curious, how are the monster marriages done? Here are maybe most of details, but not all of them. You will see them all later. In every land where monsters are standing, the big message behind the marriage is the same.

The 2 monsters getting married must prove not just to themselves but to all others who see them that they can be together, that they will truly stick together. To prove that they love each other and the bond of eros is real, that it ties them. Besides, when there is real love, the monster community knows they will expect strong, healthy and certain offspring.

Most of the times. The illnesses always await for anyone, even for the healthiest. But back again to the question, about how the marriage is done. From land to land, in fact, the ceremony of the traditional monster marriage follows the same ritual and pretty much has the same ideology of why it happens.

The biggest or most obvious changes might be on parts of the ceremony. Or even, while commonly a monster marriage has 3 basic and important parts, on other lands it can have more, it can have less parts.

Specifically in here, Portugal, or how most monsters still call it from the more ancient times, Olissipo, it has 3 parts. Classic stuff. Today as said again, we witness a traditional monster marriage. Which means a procedure with little to almost no changes from many centuries ago.

A procedure which the villages especially, keep it's traditions strictly. There is also the more 'typical and rather politcal' marriage, common for the higher class monsters, who are more relaxed with the traditions and get away a little from the more important point of marriage.

But that's another conversation perhaps for later. Now about the 3 parts of the traditional Portugal monster marriage ceremony. Just like on every, without exceptions, land, they all are strictly about music, dancing and rhythm, since the monsters' souls become more alive and open through it.

Basically, the whole marriage ceremony has as base, 3 dances. For each part, there's a big dance. A little before it all truly begins, a special monster that can read the auras and souls well, comes up, usually a male Elemental or even a Phenomenal monster. But it is not like the priest we know from christianic marriage.

It is not like the Maulvi or Qazi who officiate an Islamic or Muslim engagement, Nikah, it is not the Imam who hands out the marriage contracts for the couple to sign. The monster responsible for the beginning of a monster marriage is a judge of short, who is called as Judex.

The Judex is a male monster, restricted and chosen for the role to do the ritual of the first faint connection for the monster couple right, before the ceremony truly begins. First and most important condition being that he knows the ancient monster language of the land he lives.

In Lisbon as we are, he stands in front of the monster couple, blesses it through that ritual in ancient Olissipian monster language, determines and announces which of the 2 monsters getting married is more dominant and which is more submissive and conclusively a more preferable host to carry offspring.

Whether the couple is of opposite genders, whether of 2 with same gender AND different monster species, even if it is obvious or the couple knows who is the submissive, it must be determined and announced in front of public. And they must say out loud that they accept who is dominant and submissive.

By judging that, the Judex also determines which monster from the couple will be challenged on the first part of the marriage ceremony and which will be challenged on the second part. For the third no need to explain, the couple is challenged on it at the same time.

Then, the Judex asks each of the couple if they accept being dominant and submissive. If they both accept his judge and also the challenge given to each, they also accept the wish of good luck for their upcoming test. And right after that, then, the REAL 'fun' begins.

The first dance is called here in ancient Olissipian monster language «A dançacio do reconhecio». The dance of recognition. And this first dance of the monster marriage is a test for the dominant monster, to prove that they recognise the one they love not by vision but by their soul and aura.

How and what happens, it will be revealed later. The 2nd comes as test for the submissive monster. «A dançacio da forçi». The dance of strength. The submissive shows that they can handle themselves under pressure which other monsters will cause under the impression of a seemingly fast and dangerous dance.

That way they're supposed to prove that they will be a worth and strong protector of their future children. But despite that kind of dance, more grace than pressure can be seen if all goes right. In older times, it might was indeed a lot more dangerous, but in the era it all takes place, this dance has become a little bit softer on some terms.

And finally, «A dançacio da confiducia». The dance of trust. The couple works together to 'survive' that last dance, be as 1. Again, you will understand where is the difficulty to that, later. But if the couple succeeds in all 3 dances, all monsters who witnesses the ceremony is said to be fully convinced and the 2 can be as 1.

That was all about the MOST important parts of the ceremony. What happens between these 3 dances however? Well, once nothing. The marriage was processing without interruptions and the dances were danced one after another until the end or, well, until the couple failed in any of the dances.

One thing that was kept, was that with each success of the couple to overcome the dances, more and more torches would light up, as some kind of symbolism that their bond is proven more and more true. Now it's a lot different. After the dance of recognition is done successfully, it's the turn for all other monsters to go in the circle and dance.

Whether with friends, whether with loved ones. But before the ceremony can even begin, something else has already happen. The monsters write down wishes and blesses for the couple, even poems to praise and support them. And while they're dancing, someone takes the messages and reads them out loud while the music plays.

When all, or most (if way too many) of the messages are read, the ceremony goes to the dance of strength. After this one is done, successfully too, music plays again for the monsters to dance and for the couple getting married prepare themselves for the last dance. With the rest of the blessings being read if there are.

But a little different. It's not just freestyle with many pairs dancing. Everytime, one monster couple, whether siblings, whether friends, whether lovers, only one couple goes on stage and dance for everyone to see. These are dedicated dances to the monster couple getting married.

The more passionate and fast the dance is, the more honored the monster couple feels. After the 3rd and last dance (of trust), the ceremony has come to an end for them. There is nothing else to prove anymore and the monster couple is considered married, united and worth.

A few more dances follow and if there is something for the married couple to say, they announce it. It is usually thanking everyone for witnessing this important night and such. After that, everyone can go to sleep and the just fully married monsters, I dunno, most likely go have babies-.

That's all. Have fun witnessing the marriage ceremony, in this story.

1800 words for this author note before the real continuation of the plot. see you soon if you scroll to read the new chapter right now. i'll be waiting 👉🏽😎👉🏽.