Creature bachelor and bachelorette parties, Glad discovered, were not for the faint of heart.
Her party, organized by Kim and Luningning, started at The Bleeding Bean with blood spritzers and moved to... somewhere else.
"Close your eyes!" Kim instructed as they walked.
"Where are we going?"
"SURPRISE!"
When she opened them, she was in an underground cavern filled with glowing crystals, floating lanterns, and every female creature she'd ever met.
"What IS this?"
"Engkanto pleasure cave," Luningning explained. "Very exclusive. Very relaxing. Very—" She gestured at a pool of shimmering liquid. "You can bathe in youth-restoring waters. Very good for ancient skin."
Glad was in that pool within seconds.
Meanwhile, Ariel's party was... different.
"Bro, you need to experience this." Ben led him to a clearing where kapres had set up what could only be described as a supernatural fight club.
"Creature combat?" Ariel stared. "For a bachelor party?"
"Consensual! Very consensual! Everyone shifts back afterward!"
Ariel found himself in the ring, facing a tikbalang who definitely outweighed him.
"First rule of creature combat," the tikbalang grinned, "no holding back."
They fought for an hour—Ariel shifting between forms, the tikbalang using his horse strength, both of them laughing like maniacs.
By midnight, both parties reconvened at the community center, exhausted and happy.
"How was your night?" Ariel asked.
"I bathed in magic water and talked about feelings for six hours." Glad grinned. "Yours?"
"I fought a horse-man and drank blood whiskey."
"We are VERY different creatures."
"And yet, somehow, perfect together."
They kissed under the stars, surrounded by their favorite people.
The wedding was two weeks away.
Neither could wait.