ELEVEN: THE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS
APRIL 18
PHOEBE DOMINGO
"THIS PLACE IS ABSOLUTELY STUNNING," Phoebe gushed, gazing around at the secluded spot in the vineyard where she and Drew were spending their lunch. In an effort to keep their relationship from turning into a friendship with occasional sex, Drew insisted on taking Phoebe on a romantic date every weekend. That weekend's date was a picnic among sweet, blossoming grapevines and chatty birds around them. Phoebe felt like she was in the middle of a fairytale.
"I thought you might like it," he smiled back, leaning forward and pecking her cheek. "We need to get away from the others every now and then, don't you think?"
She nodded. "Did you guys pick out your tuxes for prom?" she asked. Yesterday, while she and the girls spent hours picking out couture, the guys spent a fraction of that time trying on tuxes. According to Kate, Cam had a traditionally boring suit but Phoebe hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Drew about his.
"Found a nice one, complete with a bowtie and all," Drew beamed proudly. "You know what was weird? The entire time, Rogers sat there reading Gatsby. Like he absolutely hated every minute of it."
Phoebe shrugged complacently. "Maybe that's just who Logan is. I mean, he couldn't wait to get away from all of us when we got back from the attack in Purgatory. Sure, he lost his best friend but he disappeared so quickly after Dr. K's funeral. And he didn't even say goodbye."
"Technically, he was kidnapped by the Darks shortly after," Drew reminded her, smirking. "It's not like he was trying to completely abandon us, darling."
Phoebe shrugged away the details. "My point is, I think he prefers to be alone. Away from all of this mess."
Drew moved so he was laying down and then pulled Phoebe so she could lay with him. She nestled her head on his chest and their fingers intertwined.
"I think you should talk to Wil," Phoebe said after a while and Drew lifted his head to look at her.
"Diamond, why?"
"She and Damon broke up," Phoebe revealed. "And I get the feeling it wasn't a mutual decision. Between losing her magic and now losing him, she's a mess. I'm trying but I can't get through to her. And you've always been good with her so I thought you could try."
Drew nodded. "I'll talk to her," he promised, rubbing her shoulder to ease her worry. "She'll be okay. This is what she does."
Phoebe chuckled at the irony. "You know, the last time someone said that, she warped off to another Realm and was killed by Jeremiah."
A deep laugh rumbled in his chest beneath her.
"You worry too much."
She nestled closer to him.
"I happen to think I worry the perfect amount. Maybe you don't worry enough."
"I am laying in the middle of a vineyard with the girl I love in my arms," he let out a happy breath. "Darling, I'm not worried about a thing."
WHEN THE SUN TURNED TO A blend of oranges and pinks, Phoebe and Drew packed up their picnic and made their way back to the house—just in time for dinner. Walter and Clarion were learning the ins and outs of the kitchen (which both Diamond twins claimed was a first for their parents) and judging by the smells of tomatoes, basil, and garlic wafting throughout the first floor, Phoebe concluded they were in for some sort of Italian cuisine.
"What are the chances we end up ordering food again?" Drew murmured when they entered the house through the back door, stepping right into the heart of the kitchen. Phoebe giggled, rolling her violet eyes. In the weeks since their relocation, Walter and Clarion tried to prepare dinner multiple times and almost every one of those times, they ended up resorting to a drawer of takeout menus when their attempts failed.
"Sh!" she hissed through her giggles, hurrying into the house under his arm. They were in the middle of quietly laughing with each other when Phoebe looked over to the stove.
Standing there stirring a pot was a tall figure and at first glance, she thought the man might be Walter. However, the figure was a few inches taller (and thinner) than the King. Her next guess was Damon (who'd been avoiding the main house in the wake of his breakup with Wil) but the man at the stove had hair down to his shirt collar. The man at the stove turned around when he heard Drew and Phoebe enter and his mossy eyes locked on hers.
Her breath caught short and her palms grew sweaty. Oddly, guilt crept up her throat like bile when she realized she still had Drew's arm around her.
She exhaled and then blinked, like she thought her vision was playing tricks on her. But even when her eyes refocused, the man standing there didn't change.
"Leo?"
EVERYONE GATHERED AROUND THE TABLE for dinner (including Damon who stole frequent glances at Wil like some kind of lovesick puppy) and only after everyone was seated did Leo begin explaining the reason for his surprise visit.
"Things in the World of Magic aren't good," he said to which, surprisingly, no one replied with an obvious duh. "Jeremiah has destroyed everything—from the Royal Home to the shops in Alchemy Alley. Even the Academy is practically in ruins. He's enslaved most of the Pures and those he hasn't keep their heads down, afraid. Anyone who opposes his power ends up dead or missing. Every day, more and more people disappear."
"Then we should go back," Cam was quick to say, ignorant to the looks that both Clarion and Walter gave him when he said it. "I mean, if the World of Magic is crumbling, we have to go back and save it. Isn't that the purpose of the Eight?"
Phoebe looked at Drew and then to the plate of pasta in front of her, reminded of the truth. The truth was, the Eight were never designed to save the World of Magic. They were a means to an end—an end to Bartemius Thawne, that is.
"We are not sending you back there," Walter was quick to object, his voice so deep it was almost scary. "It's far too dangerous. You're not ready."
"Then train us!" Drew blurted out and Phoebe hoped he regretted doing so. He swallowed a breath and then in a calmer voice, said, "I'm sorry. It's just... For months, we've been trying to fix things behind the scenes. It's not working. Maybe it's time we do something else. We can take an active role. We can fight."
But Clarion quickly shook her head at him. She dropped her fork, which made a sharp clink! sound against her plate and Phoebe jumped at the sound.
"You are not warriors." She spoke with a sharp tongue, reminding the Eight and company that on the off-chance they'd forgotten, she was still the Queen. "The Eight of you, you are children. This war began long before any of you were born and it is not yours to risk your lives and fight."
"Like hell it's not!" Wil blurted in a way that only she could. No one else dared speak to the Queen like that. "Bartemius declared war because he wanted us. Jeremiah got roped in because of him and now he is taking over our home with my magic. You keep trying to shield us from all of this but we're already in it!"
"Which is why we cannot risk you going back there," Clarion argued. "Imagine the sort of devastation that Jeremiah will bring if he would syphon all of your magic."
"How can he do anything worse than what he's already done?"
Wil wasn't backing down and she turned to her brother, raising a brow before she asked him,
"You've been there. You've seen what he's done. Tell them. Tell them we can't just sit here on our hands doing nothing."
"That's enough!"
The entire room shook with fear after the outburst which came from the head of the table—where Walter was seated. His hands were balled into fists, placed on either side of his plate, and his face was tight with frustration.
"Any decisions about who will or will not be joining this fight will be made by adults. Not children. You are far too young and naïve to understand just how dangerous this is. You have no idea what you would be signing yourself up for."
Phoebe's violet eyes flickered from Walter to Leo and then finally to Drew, as if one of them would give her some clue as to what was going on.
Across the table, Damon scratching his jaw and then cleared his throat, looking to Walter for permission to speak. Walter nodded, granting it.
"For now, it's best that you remain in school—here, in the Mortal World. You're as far off the Darks' radar as we'll ever be able to get you. You won't find a safer place."
Walter nodded in agreement.
"And when you graduate, we can revisit the idea of training you to join the fight," he followed, his tone softer than before. "But not a moment sooner."
Phoebe forced a hard swallow. Then, with the others, she nodded in agreement.
LATE AT NIGHT, PHOEBE TRAILED down the stairs while the rest of the house was silently sleeping. After the awkward conversation, dinner ended rather suddenly and Damon returned to the guesthouse while the teens went to their rooms and Leo joined his father behind a shut office door to discuss private matters. Eventually, nightfall came and everyone turned in for bed.
Hours later, Phoebe woke up with a grumbling stomach and desperate aching for a snack so she slipped downstairs quietly. As she walked from the stairs to the kitchen, she passed the living room and saw Leo outstretched on a couch, snoring softly. His feet hung over the arm of the couch and he had a blanket draped over him that wasn't nearly large enough to keep him warm. She wondered how he could possibly be sleeping in such an uncomfortable position but didn't want to wake him to ask.
Instead, she entered the kitchen and after a thorough inspection of the walk-in pantry, she decided on some cereal to satisfy her grumbling stomach. The sound of her pouring it into a bowl must have woken Leo up because by the time she topped it with milk and began eating, he was standing in the doorway.
"Hey you," he said and she jumped. He chuckled, watching as she sat at the counter eating her cereal. "Sorry. I thought you heard me walk in here."
She crunched a few bites between her teeth while shaking her head. After swallowing, she answered,
"I'm surprised you could fall asleep in there," she said of his prior sleeping arrangements. "What? No beds left in the inn?"
He laughed again and stumbled over to her, wearing only a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. He leaned his forearms on the counter and as he did, the muscles in his biceps tensed. His olive eyes locked on hers and he shrugged.
"I guess my parents didn't plan on having many guests here when they gave Damon the guesthouse," he joked only to pause and correct himself. "Er, Mr. Donovan, I mean. I don't know. Is he on a first-name basis with you guys now?"
Phoebe couldn't help but laugh. "He, um, he's actually beyond that for some of us. Just ask your sister."
Leo's caterpillar brows furrowed. "He and Wil?" he asked, only to nod once he'd thought more about it. "Sounds like her. Speaking of, how have the terrible twins been? Do you know this is the farthest I've ever been from them?"
"They've been..." Phoebe struggled to come up with the right words to describe Wil's death-then-sudden-resurrection and Kate's challenging relationship with her new-vampire boyfriend. "They've been Wil and Kate. I'd ask you about your time with the Resistance but from the conversation at dinner, I take it it's not going well."
Leo reached over and tucked one of her loose tendrils behind her ear, revealing her freckly face.
"It'd be a hell of a lot better if you were there, you know," he said softly, his voice no louder than a whisper. He bit his lip when he smiled and that familiar flutter of butterflies stirred in Phoebe's stomach.
"I, uh..." She tried to say but the words refused to form. Why was it so difficult to say? Four simple words—I have a boyfriend. Given the vast realm of problems in their lives, settling that issue should have been the easiest.
"You're with Briggs," Leo finished for her, surprising her. "I know. He's not exactly a subtle person. In fact, I would almost categorize him as territorial." He laughed to show her that he wasn't upset but she found it awkward. "With our track record, it's no surprise one of us is with someone else. But I'm sure you'll have me hiding in your closet in no time."
Suddenly, those butterflies in her stomach switched to nausea and she pulled away quickly. A frown worked its way onto her face and she tilted her head while she stared at him.
"I'm not... Leo, this isn't like that. I'm not a cheater."
"Did seem to stop you before."
"That wasn't my relationship. It was yours."
"And you had no trouble jumping into it."
Her frown deepened. "I wasn't the one who initiated that. In fact, if we're going to get into the details of, that, then you'll remember that I shut you down quite a few times before that first night."
"All it takes is one night, Fi."
She stood up. "N—No. That's not what this is. Tonight's not— No."
"Geeze, Fi. I was only joking."
"But you're not," she hissed, keeping quiet as to not alert the rest of the house. "That's the thing, Leo. You're not joking. The world is literally falling apart and you are here, in the middle of the night, hitting on me despite the fact that my boyfriend is asleep right upstairs."
"The world is ending, Fi. Live a little."
She pushed her hair out of her face and let out a soft grunt.
"You don't..." She huffed in frustration and then exhaled a deep breath to ease her anger. "I made a mistake with you," she said calmly. "We should have never done what we did and I've felt guilty about it ever since. I'm... I'm with someone now. And I care about him, Leo. I really do."
"What?" Leo wore a sly smile. "You think just because you've got someone now that you're different from the girl you were a few months ago with me? Come on, Fi. We both know that's bull."
She stiffened. "No. You know what's bull? How you could look your girlfriend in the eyes and tell her how much you love her and how she means everything to you meanwhile you're sleeping with someone else. That's bull. My loving Drew? That's none of your business."
"So you love him now?"
She nodded firmly. "I do. And while that may not mean much to you, it means a hell of a lot to me. So if you'll excuse me, I think I'll head up to bed now. Don't follow me."
And she walked away, leaving him and a half-eaten bowl of cereal behind and feeling more empowered than she had in a long time.