Horray, get ready for some really awkward, soap opera-esque family drama! Introducing Destiny and Pegasus's asshole grandparents! *facepalm
"What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life, and, most importantly, cookies."
~Rudolph Giuliani
The city of Boston was a strange place for young Destiny Pegasus. It was small, busy, and old. Brick and leaning, with narrow cobblestone streets filled with rushing cars and people. The city had a unique beauty that was heavily accented with the never-ending scent of the sea. It held a cozy and warm aura even on the cloudiest of days. Today was one of those days. It was mid-October and the air was crisp and ripe with thin winds and frantic leaves that chased away the summer haze. The trees were ablaze with the flames of autumn leaves and the pale sky held the promise of rain. Destiny trudged along the narrow sidewalk in a brooding manner, lagging her feet and picking at the hem of her dress.
"Stop lollygagging, Destiny" Pegasus called over his shoulder. "There's no point in delaying the inevitable."
"But do I really have to do this, Pegasus?" Destiny demanded.
"Do what?" Pegasus asked, without turning around.
"This!" Destiny replied, waving her arms around her outfit; which consisted of a lavender sundress, maroon Mary Jane's, and a turquoise cardigan with a matching bow that Pegasus had somehow managed to tie into her hair.
Pegasus glanced at the outfit.
"It's not that bad" he commented after a pause of observation.
"Are you kidding?" Destiny cried. "This is ridiculous. I look like an American Girl Doll."
"Well, that's good then" Pegasus said with a smile as he shouldered one of his bags and went back to walking. "You're already blending with the culture."
"I meant one of those ones from the 1930s" Destiny muttered as she lugged her own suitcase along in a now frantic dash to keep up with her brother.
Pegasus chuckled. "It's not my fault our grand-folks aren't fond of the idea of little girls running around in T-shirts and khakis" he said simply.
Destiny glanced up at the rows of smashed-together brick mini-mansions of Beacon Hill and thought about her grandparents. She didn't remember much of them, having been so small when she'd last seen them; but she'd learned from Pegasus that they were not the typical stereotype grandparents. She knew that, once they arrived, there would be no screen door being thrown open, no warm hug and beaming eyes behind wire rimmed spectacles, no messy gray curls, or exclamations of how big they'd both gotten, no living room where football was playing, no big guts and unclean shaves, no aprons or kitchens smelling of fresh platters of chocolate chip cookies.
No, none of that.
"Well, here we are" Pegasus announced and Destiny's heart changed places with her stomach as she beheld yet another red brick mini-mansion.
However, this one had a small garden in the front, framed with dozens of rose bushes of various shades of pink, red, and white (no purple.) A cobblestone path wormed its way through the neat lawn to a set of two stones step and up to the front door.
Destiny gripped her brother's sleeve with her free hand and the other's palm began to chaff from how hard she was gripping her suitcase.
Pegasus glanced down at his little sister.
"Can you see it?" he asked.
"No" Destiny replied but Pegasus brushed frantically at his silky silver hair all the same before slowly opening the iron gate and he and Destiny moved as one through the garden and up the steps.
"You need a haircut" was the first words Destiny's grandfather said to Pegasus when he opened the door. Destiny gazed up at him from her half-hidden position behind her brother.
Warren Mage was a tall, thin, stern looking man, with broad shoulders like Pegasus, and a hard, rather unpleasant face that scrutinized the two with a pair of cold black eyes behind a set of square glasses. His hair was stark grey and lay lean and flat across his scalp. He was dressed in a neat blue suit, with black tie and shoes and he stood entirely in the doorway as though he had no intention of letting them in.
"How did you know it was me?" Pegasus asked with a forced smile.
"Only Cyril's son would let himself go like that" Warren Mage replied thickly.
"I'd hardly considered this to be letting myself go" Pegasus almost snapped back but Warren Mage wasn't listening. His eyes had fallen on Destiny, and she dropped her own to observe her Mary Jane's.
"And you must be Destiny" he grunted.
Destiny nodded, eyes still fixed on the ground.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you" Warren Mage thundered and Destiny instantly obliged.
"I see you haven't taught this girl a thing about manners" Warren said to Pegasus.
Pegasus opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted.
"Warren? Who's at the door?" a voice from within the house called.
"Our estranged grandchildren, Priscilla" Warren replied, not drawing his piercing gaze from either of the siblings.
"Well, I'll be. I'd thought they'd have starved to death in some providence in Africa by now" Destiny's grandmother snapped as she strutted down the hall to stand beside her husband.
Pegasus shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
"Hello, Nana" he mumbled to the ground.
Destiny's grandmother was like a piece of straw: thin, stiff, and blonde. She had the same eyes as Pegasus: a bright hazel. However the held none of Pegasus's warmth but rather they were icy and brittle. Her short, light hair framed a pointed, narrow face that looked as though she had swallowed a rather large lemon. Her body was poised in an uptight manner with clothes that consisted of pearl jewelry, an orange turtle neck, and white pants.
"Could you not have written?" Priscilla Mage demanded, crossing her arms. "The two of you could have been lying burned up in a desert with buzzards picking at your eye sockets for all we knew."
Destiny grimaced at that unpleasant image but otherwise remained silent.
How does one say: oh, sorry, Nana and Gramps. We didn't write because you hate us for jumping the boarder so we wouldn't have to live with you.
"Get your hair off your face" Warren Mage suddenly ordered Pegasus. "You look as though you have something to hide."
You have no idea, Destiny heard Pegasus whisper through their mind link. His thoughts otherwise scrambling for an excuse not to uncover his face and reveal the Millennium Eye when he was saved.
"Hey" a voice called. "Who's here?"
Destiny and Pegasus both turned were they stood to see a middle aged man trooping around the side of the house; laden with buckets, with big feet encased in a grimy pair of Wellington boots. This man was large, hunched, and rather alarming. He had squinty, bright green eyes, a wide mouth, red-brown hair that was beginning to thin at the top, as well as a pair of enormous ears.
The man stopped dead when he caught sight of Pegasus and Destiny standing awkwardly on the front step and his expression split into an even wider grin.
"Well, I'll be" the man exclaimed, discarding his buckets and rushing up to the siblings. "Maximilian! Is that really you? My god, you're giant" he exclaimed as he embraced Pegasus, who looked slightly taken aback.
"Jasper?" he asked, a little breathless as the man released him.
"Yes, it's me!" the man called Jasper cried, nodding his head vigorously. "It's been forever since you were last here; nearly seven years, I believe. Look at you, all grown now. You look just like Rosalyn. So, what brings you state side might I ask?" he added in a rather rushed ramble.
However, before Pegasus could reply, Jasper's shining emerald eyes fell on Destiny who was nudging at a fleck of dirt with her shoe and he was off again.
"Good heavens! Is this little Destiny? Pardon, you're not little anymore. Are you? Practically a young women and the spitting image of your father. That's Cyril as a girl, that is."
"Jasper" Destiny's grandmother suddenly snapped and Jasper instantly shut up.
Destiny stifled a giggle as Jasper's cheeks burned slightly. She decided right there that she like him, whoever he was.
Pegasus answered her unspoken question.
"Destiny, I don't think you remember Jasper Moore. He's our grandparent's gardener and was friends with our mother as kids."
"Nice to meet you" Destiny said shyly as she shook Jasper's hand.
"Indeed, what a sweet little thing you are" Jasper exclaimed brightly, ruffling Destiny's hair.
Warren Mage cleared his throat pointedly.
"Well, I suppose you'll have to come in sooner or later" he said gruffly.
"Yes, that'd be nice" Pegasus replied, readjusting the position of his suitcase on his shoulder.
"Come along into the living room and be sure to remove your grimy shoes on the welcome mat. I don't want any mud on my nice clean floor" Priscilla added.
Destiny and Pegasus quickly removed their loafers and Mary Jane's upon the mat, not feeling the least bit welcome.
Warren Mage turned to Jasper.
"Get back to work, Moore. Your break isn't until three."
"Yes, sir" Jasper Moore said brightly. "I'll see ya in a bit, squirt" he added to Destiny with a wink as he walked back to his buckets and disappeared around the side of the house.
Destiny gave Jasper a small wave before following Pegasus into the house.
The Mage's living room was like stepping back three hundred years into the past. There was an ornate, hand carved fire place, a beautiful coffee table, and gorgeous antique couches.
"Bouncy" Destiny exclaimed as she dropped down onto the couch and began to jump up and down onto it.
"Stop that this instant and act your age" Destiny's grandmother ordered.
Pegasus slumped down onto the couch beside Destiny with a sigh.
How ya holding up? Destiny asked through the mind link.
Barely, Pegasus replied giving her a grim smile.
"Misty" Priscilla Mage hollered down the hall. "Bring us some lunch and set it for four. We have guests."
A few minutes later, a short Asian woman with a tight mouth and black hair tied into a bun shuffled into the room, carrying a tray of cucumber sandwiches and glasses of iced tea.
"Thank you" Destiny said brightly as she gratefully accepted a sandwich and drink, having forgotten how hungry she was.
Misty gave her a small smile before turning to give Pegasus and their grandparents their lunch and then quickly shifting back out of the room.
They all sat in silence for a few moments, munching their sandwiches before Priscilla Mage finally broke the silence.
"So, what exactly do you do for a living?" she asked Pegasus.
"Uh, well I'm an artist…I paint portraits" Pegasus replied, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Huh, just like your father" Warren Mage snapped, sipping his tea through pursed lips. "An artist…Bah! Look where that got him."
"Not very far, you don't even have a decent home, do you?" Priscilla demanded. "How do expect Destiny to live stably like this?"
Pegasus closed his eyes. He'd expected this.
"I don't mind" Destiny exclaimed, bouncing slightly on the couch again "I like going all over the place. It's fun."
"Of course you'd think that" Priscilla said, waving her hand dismissively. "You are just an ignorant child. You don't know any better."
Destiny opened her mouth; a witty retort poised on the tip of her tongue but Pegasus tapped her thigh pointedly and she snapped it shut again.
"I understand the concerns for Destiny's well-being" Pegasus said, clearly struggling to keep his voice calm "and that is the reason for us returning to America in the first place. I am hoping to settle down and open my own company here in Boston."
"Your own company?" Warren exclaimed. "That's an amateur move, an all or nothing shot."
Pegasus licked his upper lip in an attempt to restrain himself.
"Yes, I suppose so" he muttered.
"Please stop" Destiny whispered suddenly causing everyone to look her way in alarm. "There's a lot neither of you understand about us and you shouldn't make such rash judgments."
There was a moment of silence.
"And what don't we understand?" Warren Mage asked, leaning forward in his arm chair.
"Nothing" Pegasus cried clapping a hand over his sister's mouth.
Warren raised an eyebrow and looked like he wanted to say something more but they were saved, yet again, by Jasper Moore as he entered the room.
"I finished my work sir, ma'am" he said to their grandparents. "Would you like me to show the guests to their rooms?"
"You may as well" Priscilla said with a sigh as Pegasus and Destiny jumped to their feet, glad the tension had broken.
"Alright, come along then" Jasper said to the siblings, beckoning them out of the living room which they were very happy to leave.
"I'm sorry about them" Jasper said quietly as they trooped up the stairs to the second floor.
"Don't be" Pegasus replied "it's no big deal and, besides, I can't really say I blame them for being the way they are."
Jasper shrugged "I guess so."
The sleeping arrangements were pretty straight forward. The Mage's mini-mansion had exactly eight bedrooms, all of which included bathrooms. Two of the rooms belonged to Jasper the gardener and Misty the cook and maid. The master bedroom was obviously occupied by the Mages. Pegasus was given the room that he used to stay in when he'd visited the house as a kid. Destiny was given a spare bedroom that was painted blue with a gold covered four poster and her own little balcony.
Destiny lay on her bed above the covers in a satin night gown, staring blankly at the cover of her four poster bed. A quick glance at the clock told her that it was almost midnight but, as it had been so often for nearly a year, she had just too much on her mind for sleep to drag her down into a serene bliss.
Destiny sighed as she shifted onto her stomach just for something to do.
As expected, she didn't like her grandparents one little bit. They were snobby, pushy, and pompous, not to mention judgmental. Destiny hoped that their time here would be a brief one, she worried greatly what would happen if their grandparents discovered the secret of the Millennium Eye, or the other Items, or their plan to resurrect the Shadow Games.
Destiny sat up on her elbows and stared at her pillow for a few seconds as though she was expecting it to do something. Finally, she slid off the bed and out the door.
She padded down the hall, trailing her fingers along the wall for support.
Finally, her fingers brushed the painted wood of a door and she slipped downward to turn the handle.
This room was almost identical to her bedroom, however, the bed comforter was blue and the walls were green. Pegasus was draped across the bed, dozing softly with his hand laid out across his forehead to conceal the Eye.
Destiny smiled slightly as she tip-toed across the room and clambered onto the bed.
It had been a long time since she'd gotten into bed with Pegasus but her four poster bed just seemed too big and empty tonight.
Destiny snuggled into the crook of her brother's arm with a sigh of contentment. Pegasus chuckled as he gently caressed her hair.
"Good night, little sister" he whispered.
Author's note: Awww! Such a sweet ending.
Woohoo! Over 400 views on my story! Now, how about some reviews? Pretty please.
What do you guys think of it so far? What do you think's going to happen next? What do you think of Pegasus and Destiny's bitchy grandparents and Jasper?