Bluebirds Without Wings | Julie and the Phantoms

Veil

"I love you, too," Julie managed to whisper. There was a pause in the call, and she could hear her dad take a deep breath. He was also trying not to cry.

He said in half a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood, "Happy birthday." Julie let out a laugh.

"Thank you."

-

Luke knew where Julie was. She was being kept in the private cells at the very top of the castle, and she would be guarded more than King Caleb himself.

He was forced to sleep in a swampy castle room with the lingering stench of mildew and wasn't allowed to leave with his parents until "they won." He hadn't seen King Caleb yet, and he wasn't planning to. But that man had eyes everywhere, and if he wanted to find Luke, he would in an instant.

Luke got up and changed into a Kingdom of Malachite knight uniform a servant had left for him. It was an all black attire with a bullet proof vest, but they didn't give him his gun back. He didn't want to wear it, but he had no choice. Nobody had a choice in that kingdom.

He had forgotten he was always meant to come back, to serve a greedy king with delusional plans. A king that forced him to play spy at fifteen years old for a plan that wasn't meant to carry out. Luke didn't think the plan would go through when they first told it to him. But Julie was on the top floor, and his parents were in the cells in the basement.

He was on his way to see them, trying to go through the halls without getting noticed. There was a huge lack of security in the palace despite there being a war, but he assumed they had been sent out to the battlefield. Occasionally he passed a servant in a gray uniform who looked at the floor when passing him. Without realizing it, he searched for the faces of people he knew when he passed them. Some people from home would have had to join the castle after his mom's arrest. Worse, they were forced to become a knight as he had.

He went down stone stairs, the walls lit up by torches the same way they had been two years ago when he last saw his parents. He wondered how long it had been since his parents had seen sunlight, and it ached in his chest. He walked faster as he approached the bottom of the staircase, people in cells turning to look at him. They were all covered in darkness, wearing the familiar black prison uniforms.

Luke started running as he had when he was in the woods, reaching his parents cell at the end of the long hallway, getting the attention of those who were in the quiet of their cells. He turned left and saw them.

His mom was on a bed, whittling away at a block of wood and his dad was reading a book Luke had brought him two years ago. He gripped his hands on the bars as he stared at them, waiting for them to notice.

"Hey," Luke said to them, their heads immediately turning to see him. His mom dropped what she was doing, her knife falling to the concrete floor as she ran over.

"Luke!" she yelled putting her hands over his on the bars, reaching out to touch his face and shoulders. His dad rushed to her side, and he also put his hands in Luke's hair, his hands shaking. "Oh my god they kept you for so long." She started to cry, drying a tear that was falling down his face. "You're a grown man now, my baby," she whispered to him, smiling. Luke couldn't help but smile, staring into his mom's eyes.

They both looked so worn out and tired. They had each lost a lot of weight and were so pale. He held both of their hands and sighed a shaky breath, trying to not get overwhelmed. This is why he did it. Why he did everything.

"Why are you back?" his mom asked. She had a frown on her face, but she had a good reason. Luke stayed silent and stared at her, and her mouth fell open. "You did it?" Luke looked to the walls in shame. "Where is she?"

"Up," he answered. His dad sighed and fixed a wrinkle on Luke's shoulder.

"We told you we could handle our own. You're just a kid," his dad said. "Or you were at least."

"They were going to kill you guys," Luke reminded them. He tried not to get angry. He had learned to push down so many things in his time, he knew he could keep his anger down. "It was the only way." His parents had said it wasn't the only way multiple times to him before he accepted the plea deal on their behalf. They were stubborn, and they fought about it while they stood in their cells and their teenage son was struggling to survive on the other side under the veil of a fake freedom.

But it seems that two years in darkness makes you think about things. His mom stroked his cheek again and smiled. "We know you did it for us." She paused and moved his bangs out of his sweaty forehead, "But you have to go help her," she whispered. "Even if they kill us."

-

A/N: We finally got his parents! Next chapter will be a full flashback scene so we'll get all the answers then :) I know you guys are curious about him. And I enjoyed reading your reactions to last chapter's reveal haha. I hope you guys have recovered.