MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYBODY <33
It's not much, but here's an update as a gift from me to you!
Enjoy reading✨
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Earlier that evening...
HE THOUGHT HE was so sure when he asked her.
"Please marry me, Y/N."
It left the girl stunned. She didn't know what to say. It's not that she didn't want any of this. In fact, she would have said yes. But looking at his bloodshot eyes was a constant reminder that he was still drunk. He wasn't thinking straight even if he confirmed that he was serious. She couldn't take advantage of that. "Let's sit down, Five."
Y/N held his hand, guiding him back to where she was sitting a moment ago while she pulled up two chairs with her telekinesis. Five put up a dazed frown while he plopped himself on his seat, puzzled that wasn't she grinning at all. "What's wrong?" He asked.
"Listen to me." She started, "You're drunk." She blurted out.
Number Five scoffed at her response to his proposal. "So what if I am? I can be sober enough right now to know what I want." He argued like a pouting little child. "We could... we could just get Klaus right now and let him pronounce that we're married as shit. It could be in secret if you want."
Y/N chuckled softly as she shook her head. He couldn't even look at her without his whole world spinning around. "Darling, as much as I love that idea, I can't take that offer right now."
Five wasn't able to hide his grimace. "Oh, but Y/N, we don't have the time anymore." He murmured. "I don't... I just want to experience this with you before we die." It never was in his knowledge that alcohol kicks into his emotions as well.
"Five," Y/N cupped his face and gently made him look at her with his tired teary eyes, "I love you, but you're not thinking straight right now, you're boozed up. I'm boozed up. I don't want to take advantage of that and have you regret things the next day." She said to him.
She had only found out that he was less stubborn when he's drunk. "Hell, you probably won't even remember this in the morning. But when you do, and if you really want this after you get through your hangover, just ask me again. And I'll immediately drag Klaus to officiate."
"Even if we don't have vows?"
"You've already told me a bunch, so I don't see why we need it." The girl smiled. The beam on her face was contagious when the boy found himself grinning lovingly at her. "You mean that?" He asked again, trying to earn another reassurance from the girl.
"I do. Just don't be afraid to ask me again, okay? You have to ask me again if you really are sure about it." Y/N reassured, gingerly running her thumb along his jawline while she held his face. "Because I won't remind you anything in the morning."
****
Number Five peacefully slept at the hotel's kitchen on top of the counter shelf. He only wanted to shift his position, until he felt this excruciating pain pounding its way through his head.
It only got worse when a bunch of utensils slipped out of the shelf. It clashed steel-on-steel just below his ears. He couldn't help but groan, "Why?" The majority of his memories were immediately wiped out of his mind.
"Nice to know you're not dead."
He propped his head up as the light shone above him, hearing Y/N's soft voice nearby. His eyes diverted to her, who was pouring freshly pressed coffee into two mugs. "Morning." She greeted. It was evident that she'd just gotten out of bed, considering her pajama bottoms and a slightly oversized muscle shirt.
"What did I get up to last night?" The boy asked. Though it was more of a thought than a question for the girl.
Only flashes of his memories came to his mind. he could remember giving a speech while being fully wasted;
Luther! Congrats. It's... It's a goddamn miracle, that's what it is.
He could also remember running around the hotel with mannequin parts. Although it seemed like he had plenty fun doing so, he couldn't remember his motive for it.
I mean, did anyone here think that Luther, of all people, would find someone to touch his...?
That guy's a monkey virgin from space. It's a... It's a hard match to make.
All he knew was that he took all the crazy stupid with him while he was drunk. Thinking about it was absolutely hurting his head even more.
We're all... We're all thinking about it. It's the elephant in the room, buddy.
I wish you well. Happy-- it's not your birthday. Happy wedding day, my friend. Take care.
He then remembered stumbling upon the White Buffalo suite. The real elephant in the room was apparently Reginald talking to another person inside the room.
"There is no time. I can't do this without you." He could recall him holding his hand up to someone, "Do we have a deal?"
Who the hell is he talking to?
Y/N's quiet footsteps removed him from his train of thought. "Here." She placed the second cup next to him, subtly witnessing the same hangover memories due to her telepathy. When she saw Reginald in the view, she herself pondered who the old man was talking to.
And Five already being aware of what she saw in his head, he jumped right into the subject without a physical context. "What was the old man up to?" He wondered.
"I don't know." Y/N shook her head without any knowledge of whatever the vision meant. "But it's clearly something."
It was also clear that he had the vaguest memory of what happened between them last night. With that being said, she decided to keep her word and keep that moment to herself.
After all, it was a new day with a new mystery that has yet to be solved. And she knew damn well figuring it out would take some time.
No matter how much she could hear Number Five's mind wracking over it all of a sudden.
"Don't be afraid to ask me again."
"Ask me again, okay?"
"Just ask me again in the morning."
She echoed that line in many ways last night. It made him feel puzzled. Ask her what exactly? Was it something important? He wondered. He looked at Y/N, who zoned out while taking a sip of her hot beverage.
He hoped she would enlighten him of the events that happened between them last night. She sounded so... emotional and intimate with him, moreover, gentle. "You kept telling me last night to ask you something again in the morning." He had to ask, "What did you want me to ask again?"
The Unseen darted her eyes onto him and shook her head. "It's nothing important." She said, even though she knew he wouldn't just feed off on the spoon that she gave.
The fact that she was nonchalantly letting him forget got Five convinced that it was definitely important. Before he could ask his follow-up, Y/N briefly pressed her lips against his own for a good morning kiss. "Don't worry about it, Love." She preceded with a smile. "Just enjoy your possible last coffee and clean yourself up after."
That kind facade was shown even after she turned around and made her way to the exit. But in the back of her mind, she was trying her best to shrug off the most expected results of last night, We wouldn't have the time anyway.
****
Meanwhile, Viktor was considering to sleep in soundly until his body tells him to wake up. However, that plan backfired when he suddenly saw the old man towering over him with a silver tray of food.
He'd fully woken up perplexed of what was offered first thing in his morning. "Bad dream?" Sir Reginald asked, as if fatherhood was part of his expertise.
"Why are you here?" Asked Viktor in the process of sitting up on his bed.
"What does it look like? To feed you, child." He replied, "I'm sure after last night's festivities, a hearty breakfast should bring you a bright start to your day."
Unfortunately, his day already started off strange. "It's all such a blur." He remarked. He was starting to feel the subtle pain of a hangover. Perhaps he needed to drink some water.
But just as he picked up the glass of water, dear old Reggie sat down and watched with his signature scowl. Viktor thought he would be leaving the room by now. "Is there anything else?" He questioned.
"To be honest, I have some concerns." Sir Reginald remarked.
This was indeed a strange way to start the day. Viktor couldn't hide the fact that he wasn't used to it. "Since when do you care?" He questioned him once more.
"May I remind you, I'm not the Hargreeves you grew up with." Sir Hargreeves retorted. He was beginning to get sick of this repetitive treatment the Umbrella Academy gave him. "Yes, we share the same DNA, impeccable style and mannerisms, but I can assure you our life circumstances are very different.
"And being the only sober person at the wedding, I had a unique opportunity to witness your argument with Allison and how Y/N left your apology astray." Reginald recalled. Soon, he lifted the meal cover and broke a bit of a scone to take a bite for himself. "Such a shame to see a family struggle so."
"Family." Viktor repeated the terminology that's always mentioned in this bunch. "What does that even mean?"
"Family are the only people who know us whilst we endure our most epic trials." Reginald pulled out his words of wisdom to him again. "I think that should count for something."
He always found a way to word out his wisdom beyond adequately. Viktor could never tell himself if he was touched or not. But right now, he just felt the urge to scoff at the idea, "Why don't you tell Allison that?" He suggested out of sarcasm.
"Jesus."
He was getting out of bed when he got a glimpse of the outside through the window. It had occurred to him that the round planet had already turned into an inverted pyramid overnight. He kept forgetting the inevitability of the Kugelblitz.
"He's due any minute now." The old man by his bed chimed amidst his thoughts. He figured he would throw in a joke to rekindle his sudden glum mood. Though it only confused Viktor. "It was a joke." He explained, earning a soft chuckle from the brunette.
It was no lie that Viktor was amused. "You do jokes now." He pointed out.
But all kidding around was short-lived when Reginald's face contorted back into a serious frown. "Actually, what I'm here to discuss... is deadly serious."
****
Number Five seized the day with a happy hour by the edge of the remains of the world. Y/N gave him time to think by himself.
Come to think of it, he noticed she was giving him too much time to be left alone with his thoughts. Before he could ask for her to sit with him a while ago, Y/N already disappeared by the time he blinked his eyes once.
Now, he had no choice but to sit by the horrid glimpse of fate all alone.
He wanted to talk to her about what happened between them last night. All he knew was that last night, they were all over each other and the next morning, one of them seemed to be distant.
He tried so hard to remember what that question was that Y/N claimed it wasn't important. Five knew Y/N enough to know she was lying.
I love you so much. I hope I said it enough. I hope I showed it enough.
Discomfiture had found its way to him by the time he remembered how awfully needy he sounded last night. He found it embarrassing that Y/N wasn't drunk enough to forget that moment the next morning.
Other than his display of neediness, flashes of them waltzing came to his mind. He couldn't help but smile as he started to remember every bit of it; the way they were both so happy. The way their foreheads touched as they found comfort and safety from each other; part of him thought Klaus was right about them acting like an old marri--
"Oh, shit." That is, until he started everything he said to her last night. Especially this one, nerve-wracking line:
I wanna marry you.
He grimaced at the fact that he could hear this memory very clearly. It made him question himself if it really happened or was it just some mind game he made for himself.
Please marry me, Y/N.
Now that his mind had grasped onto this thought-provoking memory, Five felt hesitant of following the deal they made. He felt doubtful and self-conscious of asking her again. Although she gave him a sure answer, he couldn't tell if alcohol took the wheel last night on her end. What if she changed her mind?
Five could no longer bring himself to be as reckless as he was last night. All he could do right now was drink to him being a delirious drunkard last night.
Just as he removed his lips from the rim of the bottle. A familiar old man with a monocle appeared in the corner of his eye. Word has been going around that he was calling for a family meeting. Just by merely looking at him made Five grit his teeth, "Reginald."
"I take it you know why I'm here." Sir Reginald stood and towered over the boy as he preceded his anticipation.
Number Five absolutely didn't need him to repeat his orders. "How 'bout I save you some time? Give you the 'no' upfront." But it didn't mean he would follow them.
His mind easily drifted off to what he had witnessed of Reginald last night. Five never forgot how he looked after his many endeavors of making a fool out of them. "I'm not the least bit interested in this bullshit plan you've been cooking." He deadpanned.
"It's not, as you so colorfully called it, bullshit." Reginald argued, only to remain to be seen as someone whom Five has successfully provoked.
Number Five drank to that as he mocked him with a look before he turned away. Expecting him that he'd be gone and be left alone to recollect his thoughts again.
"Mind if I join you?"
"Actually, appreciate some..." Alas, the old man had decided to take a seat, "...solitude." He almost forgot it was always a one-sided decision with him. "It seems I won't get any."
He handed his happy hour bottle unwillingly to let Reginald take a swig of the terrible drink. It was predictable to find someone like him would cringe to its taste as it ran down his throat. "Oh, dear God!" Reginald exclaimed I'm disgust.
Number Five hummed in agreement, "Louis XIII, it ain't." He remarked.
There was nothing to do but to just wave off the drink's horrible texture and taste, "I've had worse." Sir Hargreeves said, setting down the bottle between the two of them while they looked at the outcome of the ball of light's craft in front of them.
"It's impressive, isn't it?" Reginald implied as his eyes followed every bit of the Earth chipping away to the sky.
"All the ways we could have screwed the pooch, this way it the most complete." He replied, recalling all the apocalypses that they've tried to prevent yet remained disastrous. All of them before this one only got to his and Y/N's nerves.
"I'm relieved, actually." He said, sipping onto the bottle of terrible cognac, "This time, everything goes. There's no Commission, no leaping away. No life spent going mad with the desperation to see a familiar face." He grumbled to the last part of his emphasis of his relief.
Once again, Reginald Hargreeves took the bottle from his hand to pour a mouth half-full in him. It didn't take long for him to acquire its taste. "I've seen worlds end in ways that would knock your socks off, old man." He fessed to the boy.
"Wow! Reginald Hargreeves," he applauded the old man in monotony, "you never cease to surprise me."
"That is some comfort. You know, they all run together after a while." Reginald nodded, he looked back and took a trip down to his past experiences with worldly endings, "But you never forget your first —— your home. Your original sin. You never stop wondering, ‘Did I do enough to save the people I loved?’"
"Did you?" Asked the boy.
"No," Reginald grimly replied. He thought it was about time to get to the point of this heart-to-heart, "but I was hoping you children could help me out with that."
And it was no confounding surprise for Number Five. "And there it is." He downed the bottle again, "Sorry, Reg. I got a message from the future." He said.
"What future?" Old Reggie frowned.
"My future self told me very explicitly not to save this world."
For that, Reginald Hargreeves let out a laugh. The words coming out from this boy's mouth were nothing but ridiculous, he thought. "You are an arrogant son of a bitch, aren't you?" He mocked, "Future you; Present you. The past is as much a mystery as the future." He stated, before he decided to insist on him again, "You ruined your life once before by not listening to me."
"Are you prepared to do that again?" He questioned.
Five let out a reluctant sigh after his former father held his mistakes against him. "Fine," he said, "I'll attend your stupid meeting."
"Excellent!" Reginald beamed in an instant as he stood up from the rigid gravel.
"If..." But Number Five wasn't gonna let him off easily, "you tell me what happened with you in the Buffalo Suite last night. Who were you talking to?" He returned the questioning, "Was it Klaus? Was it Ben?"
"No one. I was alone." Reginald immediately replied right after Five finished the question.
Ditto. Number Five thought in sarcasm. He knew full well the older guy was making a fool out of him.
"Though I doubt you were in any condition to remember." Reginald pointed out. "We should go. Don't want to be late for the meeting." He rambled.
The more he blathered lies to Five's ear, the more his tolerance for Reginald got lower. He found himself thinking that he was stupid to ask Sir Hargreeves directly when he has the ability to deny without a flinch.
"I would move if I were you."
"What, are you threatening me?"
Suddenly, a rumble below him almost dragged him down the cliff. He was able to get on his feet before the debris below him chipped and fell down to an endless pit.
"Shall we?"
Five watched him from behind in distrust. Last night couldn't be a trivial coincidence. Otherwise, this meeting wouldn't even exist. Unfortunately, Reginald Hargreeves wanted a complete attendance.
****
Y/N stared into space, seated on the armrest of an orange chair while she waited for the meeting to start with the others. In the process, she got lost in thought of what was she gonna do once she sees Five waltzing back inside the hotel.
The truth is, she found herself unintentionally avoiding the boy. Y/N only realized it now that she always left him astray whenever they bump into each other for a short period of time. It was as if her body was in control rather than her mind.
Y/N couldn't bring herself to be close by or follow behind Five at all. She thought he might think she was pressing him to remember and ask her again. Thus, she decided to leave him be.
Claps started to erupt, causing her to snap back into reality. Her ears easily cancelled the abrupt noise when she laid eyes on Five, who entered the lounge with cheers from his family.
"Woo! Five! Yeah!"
"Here he is!"
"That speech last night! Wow!"
"Brought me to tears, you big softy!"
Five couldn't point out if their cheers and prideful amusements were truly genuine at all. Concurrently, he didn't care if it was sincere or satire. He had already declared last night the most embarrassing moment of his life.
This morning was the outcome of it all.
"I especially liked when you referred to us as a family bound by destiny and love." Viktor claimed.
"Okay. Enough. It was the booze talking." In which he swatted out of his way before they held that drunken speech against him, including Lila's open arms. "In the light of day, you're all still deplorable." Instead, he had his own arm open to wrap around Y/N's waist.
"Excluding you, of course." He saved himself from Y/N before she could get a say about it.
Out of amusement, she rolled her eyes as his lips connected to her cheek. "You don't say." She remarked.
Number Five took a seat with her hand in his while he did his best to hide his thoughts from her once again. He rather wouldn't let her find out that he remembered the moment they drunkenly shared together for now. Not when the older man, who called for this meeting, came to pester their anticipated fate.
"And your day's about to get worse." Reginald started. "The Norse had seven sleepers. The Blackfoot, seven stars. As a boy, I heard the legend of the seven bells."
You also adopted seven children, go figure. Y/N did all she can to listen with intent, despite her internal voice screaming bullshit. "All these stories are the same." He pointed out, "The village is under threat by flood, by fire, by a night that never ends.
"A shaman brings his disciples to a sacred cave. He tells them if they can ring the seven magic bells, the village will be saved, and all will be restored just as it was."
"Reggie?" Dumbfounded, Lila stated what they were all thinking about the number of sevens he'd mentioned, "Can we get a little less Brothers Grimm and a little more ‘What the hell does this have to do with us?’"
With that being said, Reginald Hargreeves proceeded, "There is a truth to these myths."
It's called myths for a reason. She internally commented, not bothering to waste her breath toward something she couldn't care less about.
"None of you can deny what's going on around us. All of existence will be gone by the end if the day," The old man said, "but whoever or whatever wove together space and time, they left a way to put things back together if the universe ever faced total annihilation."
He then shared something they never thought he would come from him, "There is a portal in the universe." He said.
"I built this hotel around it, and on the other side is the answer."
It was certain that Ben Hargreeves already was considering to take his word for it. It was another mission, in which his father was counting on him. It had to be.
"And... we're supposed to, what?" Luther questioned the man's point, "Just stroll in there, ring some bells, and fix this shit?"
"Sarcasm aside, you are mostly right." Reginald nodded to the first Umbrella. However, the key word, mostly still remained. "Except for the guardian."
"What kind of guardian?" Asked Viktor. From the looks that Reginald Hargreeves gave, it must've been adept to danger.
Diego already knew what type of guardian he was talking about. "Kinda guardian who does this." He showed his two synthetic fingers to the crowd, "He had a sword." He recalled.
Reginald shook his head as he concurred with Diego, "It is a force to be reckoned with."
The Unseen quietly fiddled with the boy's fingers on her lap. Seven. It was a number seered onto her brain. He only ever needed seven people. What was the point in listening when she's nothing but a person who was left astray, who was only picked up from the streets out of pity?
Apparently, she wasn't that only one whom Reginald had lost in this discussion. "See? Yeah. This is where you lose me." Luther interjected. He, too, was also done with trying to fullfil his favors.
"This is where he loses you? I checked out at the sacred cave." Lila followed his contradiction without a second thought.
Viktor, on the other hand, still had dozens of questions. "Why would the builders of this ‘back door’ need to have a guardian?" He air-quoted.
"Ah! To protect it from people who want to use it for nefarious means." Sloane gladly answered her brother-in-law. She answered him as if she was seated in class in the midst of a graded recitation.
"That is correct, Sloane." Reginald remarked.
For the first time throughout this meeting, Y/N had finally heard the lady beside her talk. "So I guess it's gonna take all of us to defeat the thing protecting the bells." She concluded.
You guess, huh? Y/N thought. Allison sounded so sure about it. One thing she knew about her after years of living together is that doubts never left her alone before she could take the leap, moreover the amount of her hatred towards the old man.
It was questionable that she was was speaking like she knew what she was doing. "You're actually buying his crap?" Number Five asked as he peered his head to look at Allison.
"How is a guardian and bells any crazier than time-traveling briefcases and assassins with cartoon masks?" Allison retorted, to which Five couldn't bring himself to let a word out to this discourse.
Luther couldn't be more amused. "Actually, she's got you there." He mocked.
"Well, it's crazier that you relied on those briefcases for dear life." Y/N spoke up, but her voice stayed toned down. Like she was only muttering her comments to herself.
Afterwards, the room went silent. Sir Hargreeves provided them the luxury to think this over, hoping that at least seven of them would come around and participate.
Though the quietness didn't last long as Ben stood by his side. "I'm in." He declared. He positioned himself next to him with no bit of his pride ever faltering.
Was he the one he was talking to? Not a minute did Five ever shrugged off his foggy memory of the classified conversation in the Suite. It was possibility that it could be him, seeing as Ben has been nothing but a Sparrow devotee. However, Ben wouldn't care less if half of them would want to stay put.
"Me too."
His eyes diverted to Diego as he stood up and changed his mind about being Lila's lap pillow. Could it have been him? He was the one insisting to keep going after all.
"But I think some of us should stay back." Diego said, "Like Lila."
Lila couldn't help but beg to differ. "Uh... or you can stay, and I can go." He can't just decide for her all of a sudden. She was perfectly capable of making up her mind on her own.
On the contrary, they both seemed to have this decision the last minute. As Five recalled, the two of them didn't even want to set foot on the other side again.
"No. This is much bigger than all of us." Allison piped up. "Nobody can stay back."
Y/N couldn't tell if it was just her trust issues or her gut talking. How is it, that she knew the size of it? She tried to read whatever it was that was in Allison's mind, but her hangover still hasn't fully subsided to concentrate.
Moreover, the sound of all of them having to cave in about this didn't sit right with her. "Why not?" Unseen couldn't help but contradict, "I don't know if you've noticed, but before Lila and I came in, he adopted seven children for both families. And he specifically emphasized on seven bells."
The girl turned her subtle scowl to the monocled man that stood upfront. "So why must we all participate?" She questioned.
"You, my children, are all that stands between us and oblivion." Reginald answered with a vague response, like he was trying to end this discourse already. Before anyone knew it, he was already asking if they were ready to go.
Her loophole surprisingly made it through their thick skulls. Frankly, apart from Allison and the reckless, risking their lives for another mission sounded trivial. "I say, we vote." Viktor suggested.
"This isn't a democracy." Ben spat, "Dad's calling the shots."
Y/N was starting to wish this Ben was in a comatose. She had never felt this annoyed at someone since the first apocalypse. The fact that he said that while he's tailing beside his father just made him look more ridiculous.
"I'm with Viktor. We vote." Number Five chimed in without another thought.
The word poppycock was how Reginald's mind described this decision. "The world is ending, and you want to count hands?" He ridiculed.
"You're asking us to risk our lives. I think it's only fair you give us time to discuss it." Luther pointed out while the five of them had Reginald cornered.
He thought he could stay and let them think about their final verdict in an instant. But, alas, it was a private matter that didn't include Reginald's advocacy of the seven bells. All he could do was scoff and walk off after patting the avid Sparrow on the shoulder.
"Why don't we meet back here in an hour?"
"Agreed."
Although the rest of them concurred, Allison wasn't able to unclench her muscles out of frustration of her family's thorough thinking. The last time she checked, they were superheroes.
But why can they no longer seem to have the courage to save the world from harm?
×וᗢ•××
Random Thought:
I suddenly remember the time when I wished for all guys to be girly pops when I was 10 or 11 out loud and all of my male classmates turned to me all mortified😭
Man, my younger self really is something HAHA
Have a good one! I'll try my best to post the next chapter within Christmas day. No promises XD
-BloodyinspiredTri｡.ﾟ+ ⟵(｡･ω･)