"Max, your mother and I have something very important to ask you," Max raises an eyebrow, folding his arms as his parents stand in front of him, side by side as he finishes writing down a love poem for his ex-girlfriend. "How would you like to take care of the sub-shop for an entire night while me and your mom go out for a fancy dinner at that new Italian place downtown?"
Now, Max screws up a lot. He makes terrible mistakes, and sometimes he even puts animals in danger. Yet, never in his life has his parents trusted him with something so important as this. They never gave him the chance to do so, anyways. Plus, he has always dreamt of owning the substation. Being a family wizard with unlimited wizard powers would've been a bonus for him. It wasn't like he couldn't do it, he was just never presented with the opportunity. Until now.
"Are you sure? I mean, it's just me, Max. Do you think I could handle the responsibility?" Jerry puts a hand on his son's shoulder. He knew what Max felt like, in fact he felt the same way when his father told him that he wanted Jerry to run the substation.
"Son, I already gifted this place to you. If you're going to be the future owner of this restaurant, you need to at least know what it's like to run this place alone. You know, one day your mother and I won't be here to help you out. It's gonna be you, your future wife and kids. Someday." Jerry's words somehow make Max even more worried. He was used to relying on the talents of those around him to succeed but now they were counting on him? Wow, he never thought this day would come so soon.
"Thanks dad, this means a lot. I won't let you down." As his father leaves to change into a nice outfit, his mother stays behind to talk to him.
"Don't worry, you've got us on speed dial in case something goes wrong and you also have Alex but I doubt she'll be of much help so just hang tight and if it gets too tough just close up, alright?" He nods as his mother leaves him with a kiss on the cheek and a single black apron with his name on it. He gets up, pushing himself off the table and crumpling up his letter to Talia. There was no way she was coming back to him, and he has to accept reality now rather than later.
"Excuse me, do you know where I can find Max Russo?" A girl's voice captures his attention, and as he looks up from the cash register, his eyes soften. In front him stood the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, thought of Talia slowly forgotten. She has soft pink lips, a heart-shaped face, and rosy cheeks. Her dark brown hair cascades down her shoulders, the ends just a few inches away from touching her hip. She's also shorter than him by a few inches, but nothing too crazy.
"I know where you can find him." It's as if she recognizes him, and he has no clue who she is but he would've been sure to have remembered meeting a girl as beautiful as that.
"You're Max, aren't you?"
"Guilty is charged." He shakes her hand as she gives him a strange but curious look. She didn't look like she wanted to run away from him, but at the same time she had one of those faces that told him she was getting uncomfortable.
"Look, I know it's a little weird for a stranger you just met to be telling you this, but later today, a man wearing a blue checkered button-up will ask you if you saw a vision of the future. If he asks you this question, say no. Regardless whether the fact is true or not." The girl leaves as quickly as she arrived, leaving a very perplexed Max Russo to wonder what transpired. He's confused about a lot of things, but this was confusing on another level.
"I didn't even get her name." Max sighs before turning back to prep more food. He has a long night ahead of him.
Meanwhile, Alex and Justin are busy going through prophecies and books on prophecies in the Wizard World Archive. It's the largest library in the known universe. Luckily, Justin knows his way around the area so he knows exactly where to look.
"I wish there was some way we could get the information without actually reading it." Alex coughs as she dusts off her hands, which were covered in cobwebs from some ancient texts she picked up from a shelf in the corner.
"That contradicts the point of reading. Reading is supposed to help increase your vocabulary and smarts. I guess magazines don't really do that for ya, huh?" Alex glares at Justin. That was a lame connection.
"Hey! I still saved the world more times than you." She retorts, flipping through a lighter book this time.
"Um, Alex, I think I found it. 'Different Interpretations of The Prophecy of Renaldi's Wand,' Yep, this is our book."
"Okay, then what are you waiting for? Open it up." He starts reading aloud as he flips a couple of pages.
"First Interpretation: The secret mentioned in the prophecy is a secret that all Wizards share in common, this means the Wizard World could get exposed to mortals. The next few lines are too confusing to understand so this chapter will be discontinued."
"What?" Alex raises an eyebrow, ripping the book away from her older brother to see for herself. "That's not what it says, it says that the forbidden act that the siblings partake in is…" She clears her throat, putting the book down before it gets any more awkward.
"Okay, that's just a possibility. The future isn't set in stone, and even if it was I would never do something so...gross." Justin bites his lip as he holds his hands in place, one hand over another. He avoids Alex's gaze.
"Chyeah! I would never...with you. Maybe it's not us. Maybe it's another pair of wizard siblings that were granted full Wizard powers." Justin puts his hand on his hips, shaking his head as Alex pulls her wand out of her boot.
"You still use your wand?" Alex nods as her brother scoffs. "Don't you know? Wands are like training wheels for wizards. Real full-wizards are so powerful that we can think of the spell instead of reciting it." She just rolls her eyes before murmuring, "Dork," under her breath. At this point she was too tired to insult Justin to his face anymore. She couldn't even look at him without getting a strange feeling in her stomach.
"Well, do you know when the prophecy will start? Is there a clock or something?"
"No, Wizard prophecies are different from regular prophecies. The events happen in the order they're stated in, but the passage of time between those events can stretch over longer periods of time. Like from a few months to even decades."
"What? Justin, we don't have time to wait that long. At least tell me something from the prophecy came true so I can worry about this now."
She also knows that somewhere along the line in the future...she does break the law with Justin. Alex can't imagine it anymore, the fantasies were already filling up her mind. She was thinking of how cute Justin would look if he wore a-He's my brother, ew! She reminds herself, putting the dirty thoughts to rest.
Just as she asks, the door to the Wizard World in their lair opens. Out comes Felix with his wand in hand.
"I just got my wand polished and I was passing through the area so I wanted to stop and say hi." Alex gives him her best smile, ignoring Justin as he flips through the pages of the prophecy book.
"Hi, Felix. I was wondering if you know anything about the prophecy that goes with that wand?" Alex hopes her award-winning smile will be enough to get the truth out of him.
"Yeah, the Prophecy of Renaldi's wand is a crucial piece of Wizard World history. Didn't you guys graduate from Wiztech? I'm surprised you didn't know." Alex and Justin share a look before making their way to the colorful red couch. Felix takes a seat beside them, kicking his legs up on the coffee table.
"Yeah, pffft, I mean how else do you think Justin qualifies as the headmaster of Wiztech? And I won the wizard competition." Felix folds his arms.
"Well, the prophecy states that the Wizard World will be exposed and it'll be totally chaotic until two wizards stick their heads together and restore order. What's confusing about that?" Justin raises an eyebrow, adjusting his seat cushion before turning to Felix.
"Wait, it doesn't say anything about chaos. The prophecy specifically says the sky will be a different shade of blue and somehow this is important because a young wizard's decision might impact the future."
"Justin, what are you talking about? That was a mistranslation. The real prophecy is this: "As soon as the lost heir returns, a friend shall bring the end of the wizard's secret, After the competition of the half mortal wizards, old enemies appear far and near, There comes a day when wizards run awry, Youngest brother that has the mummy's eyes gain sight for the future, Eldest siblings with full powers, are the ones who partake in what is forbidden must turn a parent, For future is past and past is the future, there was a reason greater that the powers were granted to two and not one," See? It says nothing about the color of the sky," Justin's eyes widen as he and Alex share another knowing look. "Are you guys communicating through your minds?"
"Felix, why don't you help yourself to a sandwich in the substation? You can stop by and say hello to Max, he's in charge of the night shift."
"Oh Maximan? Yeah, I'll say hi. Haven't gotten the chance to congratulate the kid for inheriting the weird train station-restaurant." See ya guys." Justin sends him away with a pat on the back, leaving Alex on her toes. She was panicking.
Until Justin's arms were around her once again. She felt her heartbeat calm down, almost alarmingly quickly. He breaks the hug as soon as she tucks her hair behind her ear and he's leaning on the table in front of the Abracadoodler.
"You know what, since this prophecy is bound to come true, I think we should go about things as normal. Business as usual. If we find ourselves backed into a corner, we have to be ready. So for now, stay here and study up, all of the combat spells you possibly can learn. I know you hate studying but if we don't do this right, we could end up putting the Wizard World in jeopardy." Justin ends their unsettling goose-chase on that note, grabbing some of his things to take back with him to Wiztech.
"How about you? Will you be okay going back to the Wizard World knowing that you'll be in trouble soon?" Alex was displaying an emotion Justin had only caught glimpses of in the past: Concern. She was worried about him because he was in serious danger already from taking the highest position Wiztech, as the youngest headmaster in the Wizard World, and because of that jealous warlocks were resenting him for taking what they thought was their rightful place as head of Wiztech. Of course, true adults normally just sulk about things for a short amount of time before picking themselves and moving on with their lives. But wizards aren't regular adults.
"I'll be okay. Take care of yourself until I get back, okay?" Justin was fairly busy, which wasn't new news for her but it was still weird to see him leave home for more than two hours a day.
She sighs as her brother takes the portal and disappears, leaving her by her lonesome.
"Study my ass, it's like he doesn't even know me." Alex chuckles before grabbing her phone and texting her boyfriend so he can come over and they can make a mexican dish that her mother left for her.
Back at Wiztech, Justin is seated at his desk, holding a family picture they took at the beach with Harper. At this point, Harper was more like a sister to him than his own sister. He felt like Alex was pushing him away, just like she did in the past whenever she didn't want to confront her emotions.
A knock on the door interrupts him from his moment of silence.
"Come in." He places the photo back on his desk, straightening his tie before facing the door.
"Justin? I've been waiting for you for over an hour for our date. Why didn't you come see me when you got back?" Juliet, his doting vampire girlfriend puts her hands on her hips as Justin sighs. It's not that he doesn't love her...but she is a little clingy.
"Sorry Juliet, something came up." He explains monotonously.
"That's always your excuse, isn't it? The last five dates 'something came up' so much that we haven't actually had a date for over a month!"
"I'm sorry, I promise that I meant to make time for you but things kept popping up here at Wiztech, like a science experiment went wrong two weeks ago and I couldn't make it to our date under the stars until I made sure those troublemakers finished cleaning up. I was on monitor duty."
"Justin, you're the headmaster. Why would the teacher make you stay behind when you have more important things to take care of?" Justin gulps. He didn't want to tell her that he was afraid of the 700-year old staff who bossed him around and gave him a sharp tongue whenever he tried giving them advice as a Headmaster. "Why are you looking at me like that? I can't read your mind," Juliet makes her way beside him, propping herself down on the desk. She glances down at the family picture Justin was holding earlier, sighing as she leans down to make eye contact with him. He was avoiding her gaze, just until she cups his chin. His eyes soften, but he's still not happy. She hated to admit it but Justin Russo had truly fallen out of love with her. "No matter what happens, you'll always put your family first, won't you?"
"Yeah." He gives her a small smile as she kisses his forehead.
"You know, I thought we were meant to be. After Gorog made me young again and put me under his influence, I followed him because he told me we could be together. That hope kept me alive, and I really thought things would be different with you."
"Juliet, why does it sound like you're breaking up with me?" Justin stands up, pushing his swivel chair back as Juliet shakes her head.
"Justin, you don't love me anymore." She purses her lips, sadly looking down as Justin tries to salvage what was left of their broken relationship.
"No, don't say that. I love you, how could you say that?" He puts his hands on her cheeks but she just pulls away, turning away from him.
"No, you don't. You loved me once, and maybe it was meant to be a short-lasting love. There's someone out there for you. A girl who's meant to spend the rest of her life with you. I'm sorry, but that girl isn't me." Juliet leaves him dumbfounded, as he tries figuring out what the hell just happened.
Sure, he was neglecting their relationship, but he was excited about working at Wiztech. He threw himself into his work because he wanted to show the Wizard Council how dedicated he was. Juliet was becoming more overbearing, but she had to understand that Justin was growing too, she couldn't expect him to stay a teenager forever like her. Immediately, there was this rift between them because while she remained 17 forever, Justin was aging and becoming a mature adult. Juliet never matured.
He felt a pang of guilt in his heart for not telling her the truth, but Juliet was so perfect in his eyes that he couldn't bring himself to disappoint her, accepting the heartbreak with open arms. Destiny just couldn't leave him alone, could it?
"Professor Russo, there's a new student here to meet with you." The receptionist knocks on his door before slowly opening it and revealing a young wizard, who stands at the frame of the door, a mischievous glint in her eye as she beams at Justin.