"Alex, things are a lot more delicate than they seem at the moment. So would you please just stop pacing around the room for one minute?!" Justin loses his last nerve as Alex finally finds what she's been looking for after 2 days of nonstop research.
"I found it! How did I not see this before? We have to move countries."
"No, we're not doing that," A knock on Justin's door alerts him and Alex as the two siblings turn at the same time. "Come in."
The door flies open, revealing a young wizard with brown hair and multicolored eyes looking up at Justin with a smile. She looks innocent and sweet but she emits the same dark energy as Alex. That's what Justin thought when he first met her in class.
"Professor Russo, since my parents can't fly out here to sign the permission slip for my trip to volcano land, I was wondering if I could sit it out? Mrs. Braxberry told me that I'd have to ask you if I wanted to be excused."
"Why do they have to fly out here? Can't you just mail it to them?" Justin was exhausted, even his hair was unruly and sticking up out of his head in spikes. Normally, he didn't have spikes.
"No, they don't have access to magic where they live. The only time I can see them is during winter break, or spring break. I spend summers in school."
"Where is it you live again, um…"
"Daisy, and my family lives in the human world. My parents are actually mortals," Justin gasps, biting his hand as she reveals this new piece of information he didn't know about her. "Crumbs made an exception for me since I was gifted in the magical arts. Somehow, I had full powers even though I was born to two human parents. Neither of them even knew about the Wizard World until Crumbs appeared at our doorstep one day after I experienced glitches with my powers and then we found this strange fuse box in our basement labeled "Powers." And then he gave me a weird hat and everything went back to normal. He suggested that I attend the school so I can study magic and learn more about the Wizard World. He said he was more surprised at how I still had powers even though no one that we know of was paying the bill. You know, so my powers don't get yoinked away forever?"
"Yeah we know, we've been through it. Are you sure that neither of your parents knew about the Wizard World beforehand? I mean, our parents are mortals but our father was a full Wizard who gave up his powers so he could marry our mom." Alex sat down on the desk, leaning in slightly as the girl looked at them with confusion.
"I'm sure they don't. Either that or they cast some complex spell that made them forget. But who would actually do that? Anyways, they can't sign my permission slip so I need you to give me the okay so I can stay here."
"Wait, let me get this straight," Justin thought Alex found something important so he stayed quiet until she said what was on her mind. Although if it's from Alex, it can't be good. "You want him to give you permission so you can stay in school? Now that's just sad."
"Alex!" She stumbled backwards as he whisper-yelled at her, smiling nervously as the student waited for Justin to dismiss her.
"What? It's like asking a teacher to give you detention while your friends go have a pizza party in the cafeteria." She mumbles as he shakes the table and gives Daisy a nod.
"I'll take care of it, feel free to stay in your dorm or explore the school. Stay away from the Tower of Evil though, please. We're trying to do some construction there so that no one accidentally wanders up there again," He chuckles nervously, waiting for her to leave before closing the door with a flick of his wrist. "Sometimes, even I don't know why I like you."
"Maybe it's 'cause I say what's on my mind. I'm blunt and sarcastic, what more could you want in a girl?" Alex giggles, summoning a slice of pizza in her hand before nibbling on it.
"Wow, you are the complete opposite of Juliet."
"Yeah, but she cheated on you. I would never do that," She says between bites, and seeing Justin's smile falter a bit she realizes her mistake. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up again."
"No, you're fine. It's okay. A part of moving on is to admit that you've lost the person you held so close to you a long time ago. Let's look at it this way: if Juliet hadn't broken up with me, and if Mason hadn't dumped you so cruelly, maybe we would've never disclosed our feelings to each other. You're the last person that I thought I'd fall in love with." Alex sets down her chicken wing, walking behind the chair to give Justin a kiss on the cheek before hugging him.
"You're so sweet. It almost made me forget about Mason, for just a moment."
"Don't worry, we'll get through this together. Like we always do." He rubs his chin on her hair as she snuggles into his chest. Justin's scent was always comforting to her, and now she feels no different. Unlike Mason, he smells nice and doesn't have a slight dog stench on him. Alex never knew that a man could actually smell good, but Justin once again disproved it.
Back at the loft, Max was busy working on a project for school. He had to build a rocket out of plastic. It's technically a project from seventh grade, but he had to calculate angles and such with Geometry this time. It looked like he was paying attention in class and for once, he wasn't doing something that involved a dead animal.
"Jerry, you've gotta come see this." Teresa calls her husband as he makes his way upstairs after a light jog outside.
"What's going on?"
"Max is doing his homework."
"This, I've gotta see," Jerry peeps around the corner, right above Teresa as the two eye Max from a distance. "I can't believe it. I think our little boy is really growing up." Jerry starts tearing up as his wife puts a hand on his shoulder, watching Max as he writes down more equations.
"Hey Max, what's up?"
"Hi. I'm not Max." He points finger guns at him as Jerry walks towards the kitchen. He stops in his tracks, staring back at the boy who looks like his son.
"If you're not Max, then who are you?" He asks.
"I'm his Conscious."
"But I thought….he wasn't supposed to...Ugh, Max!" Jerry calls out to his son after trying to figure out how the heck his non-magical child could do such a thing.
"Yes, father?" Another Max pops out from upstairs, startling Teresa as she stumbles back in fear.
"There's two of you? Which one's my son?"
"How is this even possible? You're not supposed to have magic, you lost the Wizard competition, right?" Jerry thought he was losing his mind.
"Haha, got you!" Max gives his double a high-five as his parents wait for an explanation.
"I'm not his Conscious. I'm actually his friend." Daya pulls out her wand to recite the spell which turns her back into herself.
"Another Wizard? You know what, I'm going to the meat shop. I knew it was too good to be true, Max doing his homework."
"Dad, get this, Daya is a Wizard and a fortune teller!" He does a strange thing with his fingers as he says that, making makeshift goggles out of his hands.
"Wait, you're a Seer?" Jerry's forehead wrinkles in worry as he thinks back to the prophecy that he dreaded so much. Max owned the mummy's eyes, he knew a Seer, and it was only a matter of time before Alex and Justin decided to confess their undying love for each other. And yes, Jerry knows. His kids always had a "special" bond, not to mention that incest is legal in the Wizard World so if the time ever came Justin and Alex could start a future together there.
"Yup. I met Max here after seeing a vision and then telling him what to say to make the vision come true." She explains.
"Ohhh, so does that mean you're a timekeeper? Do you have to make your vision come true?" Jerry asks in a hurry, walking towards the fridge to grab a snack.
"No. Most of the time, if I don't make it happen, it happens by itself. Even if I went to the ends of the Earth to prevent it from coming true, it will still come true. That goes for good and bad visions."
"So you can see the future but you can't actually change it?"
"No." Daya shakes her head, as Jerry writes it down in a notepad.
"Dad, Daya is teaching me how to see into the future. Isn't that cool?" Jerry drops his pen. It looks like the prophecy is coming true faster than he thought.
"Your son has a natural talent, Mr. Russo. Max here already saw his first vision yesterday."
"Yeah, in the middle of work while I was checking out this lady I got this weird flash in my eyes and I saw Alex and Justin sitting in the middle of the room when mom's vase suddenly broke and they ducked." Jerry looks at the green vase sitting on the shelf, unbroken as the day it was bought.
Which was two weeks ago since Harper broke the last one while she was moving a clothing rack from the living room to the basement. The vibrations caused it to wobble and fall down. Luckily for them, the furniture store has a surplus of the same vase so Jerry didn't have to worry about ever running out of replacements.
"I call them visions because you don't see the bigger picture. It's just a glimpse of the future. And not a possibility either, more like what will happen in the current timeline." Daya explains to Jerry, and he finishes noting it down before flipping the notebook back and retreating downstairs to the lair.
"I'll be downstairs in our lair, kids. Max, feel free to show Daya around the house as long as you don't open your bedroom door, I know something died in there and I don't want you stinking up the entire place."
"That was weird. Anyways, do you want help with your homework?" Asks Daya as Max props down on the couch.
"Could you really help me?" Max asks with hopeful eyes. He didn't want to take advantage of her but she was cool and smart. He'd be spending more time with her if he used the rocket as an excuse.
"What were you supposed to do anyways?"
"I have to build a rocket."
"That's cool, it looks like you already wrote the formulas! Now to add numbers...do you have measurements or any diagrams I can look off of?" Max shrugs. "Then let's start with that."
Back at Wiztech, Justin left Alex in charge of his office while he dealt with a dragon problem in the science lab. Luckily, most of the students were already in their dorms so he didn't have to worry about them being caught in the middle of the fight.
While Alex was waiting for him to return, she got five phone calls but didn't answer any of them because they were probably for Justin. She hops to her feet when the door bursts open, and in comes storming a very angry teacher.
"Where is Justin Russo?" She asks with a stern expression as Alex stands still, hoping she can't see her if she doesn't move. "I can still see you." The woman rolls her eyes as Alex snaps, leaning back on the desk as she awaits an explanation.
"Isn't that Professor Russo to you?" Alex asks as the woman laughs haughtily.
"Oh! Hardly. He's just a runt, barely knows how to run the academy as is."
"And who are you to say that?" Alex asks, stepping forward in an intimidating manner.
"No one important...just a schoolteacher that has been working in this fine institution for over 500 years. Not that anyone would care."
"No, no. Your opinion matters. You see, Justin cares about what all of you have to say. It's just hard for him to run the school when you won't give him the chance. So can you please tell the other teachers to start treating him with the respect that he deserves as headmaster?" Alex finally said what Justin was too afraid to say from the beginning of his time at Wiztech.
"Yes. You're right." The lady turns on her heels and walks back into the hall, leaving Alex to finish her bowl of grapes in peace.
"Did I miss anything? And why was Mrs. Joules happy?"
"I just had a little chat with her," Alex dusts off Justin's robe as he looks at the ground in fear. "Let's just say your position is more secure. You'll be treated with the respect you deserve." They share a smile before heading out together.
From a distance, as the two siblings head back home, someone watches them from behind, tracking their every move. They are not alone.