THE MOMENT
“Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace,” Regal said. The beach was quiet except for the lapping of waves on the shore. Everyone expected some sort of interruption; but, none came. Regal let more than a fair amount of time pass before he continued.
“Do you, Ruin, take Minerva as your wedded wife? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to her, for as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” Ruin said. Regal turned to Minerva.
“Do you, Minerva, take Ruin as your wedded husband? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him so long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” Minerva said. Regal smiled at the couple.
"Then, it is my great honor to pronounce you husband and wife," Regal said. "You may kiss the bride."
The couple wrapped their arms around and joined their lips together in a tasteful, passionate kiss. But, as they kissed, a black cat with a white patch of fur atop its head appeared on the floor in front of them. The couple did not notice the cat, they were too busy celebrating. But, the cat spoke even without their attention.
"Now that that's settled...," the cat said. "...I hope you all will allow me a... moment of your time."
Time froze around the cat, Minerva and Ruin were time-locked together as well as most of the rest of the guests. The handful of guests that could still move made their way to the altar. The black cat glowed with white light and she began to grow. In moments, she was human-sized with dark hair and pale skin. She wore a crisp white suit. The crowd that was frozen would have been surprised at her appearance; but, those that weren't locked in time were all expecting Dana Sharp to show up.
Billy, Tim, Chroma, Ballisea, and Regal gathered around Dana Sharp. Billy and Tim could sense the time stream; they were the ones that stopped time when Dana asked for it. Although they could both sense it, that sense took different shapes in their minds.
For Billy, he imagined the time stream to be a river flowing in one direction. And stopping time was as easy as imagining the river frozen solid. Tim imagined the time stream to be a round clock face. For him, stopping time involved imagining the hands on the clock being blocked.
Dana took a look at the gathered faces and shook her head. The moment she did, both Billy and Tim felt that they lost control of time. Billy felt like his iced river evaporated into steamy nothing. Tim felt like the blocks grabbed the hands of the clock and shook them off. Each perceived it differently; but, the message was clear. Dana Sharp essentially told both of them to 'Wait Harder'.
When they lost control of the time stream another black cat appeared at Dana's feet. This black cat had a red patch of fur on its head; it was Janet. Once Janet joined them, Billy became aware that Chroma and Regal were now time-locked too.
"Now, it's just us," Dana said. She looked around at Ballisea, Tim, and Billy. "I want to talk about... the past."