Fall of the Spectrum

Chapter Twelve

A/N: The following scene is yet another that has undergone a lot of change (as stated in Chapter Two, due to the removal of the journal entries Gwen had been writing in previous drafts). The chapter has also been dissected; what used to be the last three scenes of Chapter Twelve are now in Chapter Thirteen. I hope these changes are satisfactory. :) 

Gwen knew she should finish getting dressed. Already she could hear Phenex lecturing her for her lack of readiness, could see Forneus's reproving frown considering the seriousness of their summons.

Ordinarily, anything that pertained to the artifacts—especially whatever news Apollo had regarding the Cauldron of Cerridwen—would have had Gwen out the door ten minutes earlier.

But having just returned from Barbados short hours ago, she couldn't stop herself from glimpsing through the small photo album Forneus had presented to her as a keepsake one more time; couldn't help tracing the pictures with her finger, a small smile on her lips. Each one was a shot of the three of them—sometimes just Gwen, sometimes just Phenex and Forneus, but each one candid. Each one precious, destined to become a bittersweet memory.

She tried not to think about after: After all of the artifacts were found, after Apophis's army was defeated and all those serving under him dealt—especially Reeves and Iris.

After the world was put back to the way it was supposed to be.

Gwen forced the thoughts away. She knew what would happen once they succeeded in their mission—if they succeeded in their mission. The possibility that they might not wasn't lost on her any more than the possibility that they might, and though the latter was certainly a better prospect, it still left her with no small amount of unease.

So she looked at the pictures, allowing them to fill her up with a sense of warmth, of peace. A shot of her, slightly sunburnt, a forkful of flying fish with cou-cou on its way to her mouth when Phenex had snapped the shot. She remembered chasing him around the patio table afterwards, heedless of the restaurant staff and other diners as she begged him to delete it. Despite the undignified pose, she was glad he hadn't. The evening gown and silver earrings Forneus had given her made her look more grown-up than she ever had in her life—and Forneus looked "dapper" as her grandfather would have said, sitting next to her in a dark suit that complemented his eyes.

Without being aware of it, her lips quirked into a smile at the next picture, easily her favourite of the five Forneus had developed for her: All three of them in a selfie-styled portrait, Phenex holding the camera away from them to ensure both his six-foot and Forneus's six-three frames made it into the picture. Standing between them with her arms linked through theirs was Gwen, caught mid-laugh when Phenex had failed to take the picture on his first two tries. Phenex himself bore his trademark smirk, while Forneus smiled benignly, silver eyes glinting from the camera's flash.

Gwen snapped the photo album shut, grinning to herself at the last image: Forneus in florid blue and yellow swim trunks. He had suffered no shortage of teasing from both her and Phenex on the matter, and it had only been his threat of denying Gwen her favourite dessert on their final night that had finally convinced her to stop.

Pulled from her reverie by a rap at the door, Gwen tossed the album onto her bed and started buttoning up the pale green blouse she'd decided to wear.

"I'll be just a minute!" she called out, slipping on her sneakers.

"We'll be waiting right here," came Forneus's reply, muffled through the door. She could distinctly hear Phenex's muttered response, something to the effect of, "Why do human girls always take so long?", and allowed herself a small smile. How ironic it was that in his generalization, he sounded just like every other guy waiting on their girlfriend. Or at least, the way they did in the movies. Never having had a boyfriend herself (unless she counted Matt in the third grade, which she didn't) she didn't exactly have much to go on.