Prideland

Chapter 10- Spencer

Spencer was starting to get annoyed. For weeks Leaf had been avoiding him, leaving a barren "Closed" sign in their empty shop, and making no visits to Spencer's home like usual. Whenever he asked his mothers about the family friend, he was simply told that they were sick and he was ordered not to pay them any visits. Spencer knew his mothers were telling him lies as soon as the words left their lips. Leaf never got sick and was stubborn enough to not miss a single day of work if they were. That's why this visit was so important to him. He was finally going to get answers.

An unlocked doorknob gently creaked open as Spencer walked into the vacant shack. To anyone else- it would have looked like an innocent vacation home. Faded, broken steps leading up to a planked porch, a straw roof that came dangerously close to crashing down on top of thick wooden blocks. Spencer would have felt bad for breaking into his friend's home if he didn't have a history of doing so repeatedly in the past. Everything looked normal as ever, a saggy bed that was unmade, papers and ink splotches scatted across the room in a messy manner, clothes thrown around and the foul stench of mold coming from the corners. Spoiled food sat atop of dirty counters and the morning's bright sunlight was doing its job of making everything seem less ghastly. For someone who kept their shop in a perfect, synchronized fashion, Leaf sure was a slob in their own home. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, and that's exactly how Spencer knew something was up.

Walking further into the home, he saw it. There in clear view was a giant plater of parchment with red yarn connecting pages together. Most of the yarn led to black question marks done with permanent marker while others led to torn out book pages with faded text. Lists of scribbled out and circled names with the words "deceased" and "descendant" written hurriedly in red ink while frantic urges of "the seven" and "don't tell Spencer" were capitalized boldly. Spencer soon horrifyingly realized that this was about the barrier. He was being left out of an investigation that he brought up originally. Recognizing the same material the taped pages had as the book he had viewed with Leaf the previous weeks ago, He came to the conclusion that Leaf must have lied to Spencer about not being able to crack the book's spell after all. He was being lied to and left in the dark about his theory and Leaf had everything under his nose this whole time. Spencer felt a sick and twisted feeling in his gut, like someone had just punched the wind out of him. He wanted to puke all over Leaf's stupid board, Maybe then he would actually be included in something.

Chatter outside broke his thoughts of chucking up vomit on weeks of research. His body froze as the doorknob turned and creaked open as he made direct contact with Leaf, who was holding a brown bag of assorted groceries with what looked like a bundle of cilantro sticking out. Behind them and adjusting his golden framed circle glasses was Theodore, the kingdom's historian who had a knack for making friends and just so happened to be Spencer's childhood one. With a bridge of freckles and curly brown hair, The olive skinned chubby male stepped forward, sending Spencer a happy grin as he clicked his right hearing aid into place. A hazelnut sweater with a singular chocolate stripe and giant gold buttons with tan pants assorted his figure, a drastic comparison to Leaf's silk black button up with the top three buttons loosened with silver chains and a matching black tennis skirt that hung short over their scrawny legs with reddened scars on their calves. Spencer couldn't remember the last time he had seen them in anything other than their usual apron and slacks work uniform and the new change made him uneasy. But he came for answers. Not to question wardrobe attire.

"Hey"! Spencer shouted, making Theo step back from the sudden noise, his eyes bugging out of its sockets. Leaf closed their eyes for a moment but didn't turn around, instead they kept unloading their groceries as if it was any other normal Tuesday morning. "Are you seriously going to ignore me"? His voice was on the edge of tears, which shocked him as he never cried. Theo opened his mouth to speak but Spencer held up a hand to silence him as he made eye contact. "You don't get a say in this Theo. Not after what you did. I wanna hear it from them." Theo took the hint and stood back, lowering his head in shame as he begun fidgeting with his sweater sleeves.

Leaf slammed their darkened hand on the counter, finally turning to Spencer with a hardened glare, their cyan eyes sending a piercing gaze through Spencer's head. "Don't talk to him like that. You're being immature not to mention you broke into my house. You got something to say then say it. Don't drag him into your bullshit just because you couldn't handle not having the spotlight your royal fucking highness."

Now it was Spencer's turn to dramatically slap something as his hand made contact with the makeshift board. "How could you leave me out of something like this? It was my idea in the first place and I should be involved"! He pointed an accusing finger at Theo. "And you." Spencer hunched over as he let out a tearful laugh. "You think you can just waltz back in here after you left me? Left us"? He screamed as he gestured to a fuming Leaf. "Now hang on just a-" They started but was cut off by Theo who stepped forward. "This isn't a game Spence. We found something serious and we just don't want you going on a rampage and making it about you like you always do."

"What did you find"?

"Well- your theory was somewhat correct. There are seven descendants from the creators. They have some kind of power, an ability that lets them travel in and out of the barrier as they please rather than leaving and not being able to return."

"But?"

"We haven't been able to find proof if they're even alive or even know about us. I know we should've included you but we just didn't want you to get your hopes up."

"Oh." Spencer said quietly, awkwardly shoving his hands into his pants. "Sorry for breaking into your home and screaming."

"Sorry for not telling you. Leaf, apologize."

"Are you sure I can't just punch him in the face"? Leaf whined, tilting their head to Theo's direction.

"Yes."

"What if I just break his nose a little"?

"Absolutely not."

"Fine." Leaf groaned, stepping to Spencer and extending a hand. "You're an ass." They smirked.

"You're a dick." Spencer replied back, his grip relaxing as a smile formed on his face. "Look if we're going to do this, we're going to need-"

"Codenames"? Theo ecstatically asked, bouncing on the heels of his feet.

"Of course deaf sparrow, but first- we need a plan."