EPISODE 1- WE ONLY SEE EACH OTHER AT WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS

Oia, Santorini, Greece | July 1st 2003

In the sleepy village of Oia, Maia ran across the beige stone path that weaved around the houses. The thirteen-year-old's blue flowery dress trailed behind her as she let out a string of laughter, her eyes fluttering over to a bed of flowers that stood before her, waving in the wind.

Their array of pinks, oranges, and reds matched the sunrise that sat over the horizon. The golden sun rose slowly, its reflection shimmering into the ocean below.

She cooed the sight, running up to the white wall and peering over it with a bright smile.

The salty smell of the sea she knew all too well embraced her like a soft hug, the sound of waves crashing into the pale wall entering her ears as softly as a kiss.

She looked down at the ocean, watching as explosions of blue thudded against the white wall before being pulled back out to their home, the sea.

Her brown eyes flowed to the bed of flowers beside her.

Curiously, she picked one of the orange flowers, placing it in her long brown hair before looking at her reflection in the water below.

She smiled, touching the flower with cautious hands before picking another one, this time a pink one.

Excitedly, she ran towards an old lady, Cassia, who was trailing behind her in a black wheelchair.

She slipped the light pink flower into her silver locks with a smile.

Cassia placed a careful kiss on the girl's temple, opening her mouth to say something. However, Maia began to hold her stomach, tears falling from her eyes.

She stumbled as a yell erupted from her.

Cassia yelled, reaching out to support the girl while mumbling words of comfort. Maia began to screech in pain, tears covering her face.

And then the impossible started to happen.

Maia's stomach began to unnaturally expand at a rapid speed. Maia’s screams overwhelmed the area, echoing off buildings as she struggled, Cassia holding onto her as tightly as she could.

Thirteen year old Maia died a horrible, excruciating death. Why? Because of me.

On the sixth hour of July 1st 2003, I, Eunice Hargreeves, was born under mysterious circumstances.

One orphanage, adoption and flight later, I was introduced to my elder siblings as Number Zero, the child who would secure The Umbrella Academies future.

Toronto, Canada | March 21st 2019 | Hargreeves Mansion

“How does this thing work again…” I muttered looking at the heap of metal before me. There were several dials, buttons of all colours, tangled wires and screens, a type writer like machine plugged into it. It had been a while since I had sent a transmission out into space, however, this was something I needed to do.

Pogo was out taking care of some things and Mum was acting strange so I was the only one left in the house who could do this, and it needed to be done, he needed to know.

I twisted a dial, pressed a button and pressed on the screen, changing where the wires were plugged into and twisting another dial.

Suddenly, a high pitched beep rang out throughout the room, and the screen lit up. Experimentally, I pressed a letter on the typewriter. It appeared on the screen. I tapped out two words.

We're free,

A tear rolled down my face as I erased the message. I took a shaky breath, tapped at the letters and re-read the sentence.

Reginald is dead,

Eunice.

Straight to the point, formal, precise.

‘Yeah… that sounds fine.’

I pressed enter.

I gulped, fidgeting with my hands before sighing and rolling back on the chair.

It had been ages since I had spoken with Luther ever since he went to the moon on that dumb mission.

Suddenly, a loud beep filled the room as a response came in.

Suspected arrival time is 0900, March 24th 2019

Luther.

I sighed, dragging a hand through my hair and writing out another response.

Stay safe

‘No… that doesn't sound right.’

I deleted it.

See you then

I sighed, deleting that as well before I unplugged the typewriter and shut down the machine before gazing out of the window, at the planet that had been my brother's home for the past few years; the moon.

It shimmered, watching over me and the city, no, the world with its silver breeze of light as I ran away with my imagination, imagining the view Luther had once described to me; when the sun came rolling over the horizon and it hit everything just right, everything would turn to white glass.

I didn't dwell on it for long though. whacked knocked me from my thoughts.

“So, I'm taking you've told him?”

My eyes travelled to the mahogany door away, and then down to the fury half human half monkey that spoke. Yes, your heard that right, a half human half monkey that could speak.

I nodded.

“Took me a while to figure out the controls but… yeah.”

He hummed.

“The rest of your siblings have been informed, they'll be here in a few days to make the proper… arrangements.”

“Right…”

My eyes travelled down to what he was holding in his hand, an ornate vase with a curved shape.

“Is that…?”

He nodded, a solemn expression resting upon his face.

My face twitched as he opened it, tilting it so I could see the grey ashes. I bit my lip and tried to hold it back…

A chuckle slipped out, and then another and then I was caught in a fit of laughter.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry I-I….” I said between fits, “he reduced to ashes I just…”

A string of laughter flew out of my mouth as I held my stomach. I could practically feel Pogos disapproving eyes burning into my soul.

“I get… I get that he was nice to you and all but just… just let me have this!” I exclaimed, chuckling.

The old man was reduced to something as pathetic as ashes… It was a sight I treasured.

“So, where… where are we gonna dump this?” I asked, calming down from my fit.

“That's between you and your siblings, but now I'm not so sure—”

My eyes widened in alarm. Luther would have certainly killed me if I had gotten rid of such a responsibility.

“No, no, it's fine, it's fine, we can handle it.” I said giving Pogo an encouraging smile.

“Alright then, what time did your brother say he will arrive?”

“0900, March 24th 2019.” I said in a mocking tone. Luther always spoke like that, I mean, I would've gotten that if he was speaking to Reginald but to me?

“Right, I'll have someone pick him up.” Pogo said before walking away.

I sighed, walking the opposite way through the long corridors. Everything was cleaned spotless, courtesy of our mother, and there were antiques scattered around, from mahogany bookcases to chairs with the finest gold and red patterned silk.

Umbrellas were engraved into the stained glass windows alongside other unique and intricate designs. They were dotted around the house and overlooked the vast city's buildings and people.

Then, I got to the bedrooms. Walking through this particular part of the house always made me feel as if I were walking through a ghost town. There were strips of cartoon fighting poses that ran across the wall, each one was engraved into my head, and then, of course, there were the bedrooms.

Despite having not been slept in for years, they were spotless, not a speck of dust in sight. A few things went missing (usually due to Klaus’ regular ‘visits’) however everything else was locked in its place, like statues. Each room was different, from Allisons, which was as pink and stereotypically girly as anyone could imagine, to Diegos, which was small and only had basic necessities in, with the accepting of a dart board (though there were no darts or knives to go alongside it), stationary, and some pictures.

The wall separating Klaus and Viktors room was long gone (again, due to Klaus) however the markings of pen near Klaus’ bed still remained. All Viktors things were long gone. Luther's room was all about space and mechanics.

At the end of the hallway were a set of stairs, and on the next floor, there were three rooms; the attic, Five’s room (directly above mine) and Ben's room. It wasn't often I ventured up there however, on that day my feet carried me up the stairs and in front of the doors.

I took a breath, opening Ben's door.

Like everyone else's, his room was spotless (courtesy of Mum) however nothing, from what I could tell, was missing. His art supplies were tucked away in the corner of the room, his academy uniform was lined up in his wardrobe and his books were in alphabetical order on the shelf. The bed was made for a boy who would never return home.

Whenever I remembered Ben, I saw a sketch pad or a book and a quiet, gentle, kind boy hiding behind it. I saw him through the crack of an open door, in the mansion's makeshift classroom or smiling for a camera. The memory I had of him was brief, he was only around for the first three years of my life afterall, yet, according to Diego, my first word had been his name.

My foot hovered over his wooden floor before pulling back. Going in there felt like I was disrespecting the dead, so I closed the door and turned to the next room.

Five, the brother I had never met. I couldn't place what he had been like.

His room directly above mine (we shared a fire escape) and the walls were painted blue. His walls were lined with pictures of famous physics and maths depictions I could barely understand. Everything was arranged in an orderly manner and I couldn't help but wonder whether he was a messy person or not. There was a toy train on top of his shelf along with several stationary supplies on his desk and papers full of equations stacked up in the corner.

When Reginald talked about Five, he always talked about his abilities, his potential and his mistake of running out that door years ago. The painting of him in the living room was a sour reminder of what not to do.

Again, I left and went down the stairs to my own room. It was small with yellow walls and a few pictures I had printed off at the library of my siblings during press interviews. Several articles about myself that I had never gotten around to taking down, hung up around the room. A small wardrobe sat near the door and my bed was tucked against the wall opposite the window, freshly made. Fairy lights (that Klaus had put up) were strung around the bed frame and lined the walls of my room.

Suddenly, rapid footsteps from outside filled the room, and then, screams.

“Eunice, Eunice, Eunie!”

I sighed.

Every couple months or so, Klaus would turn up to my window high and/or drunk, moaning about an annoying ghost, an ex partner, some drug dealer or something else.

However, prior to this moment, he had been MIA for several months.

“Is it true?” He yelled before the clanging of metals rang out as he ran up the fire escape. “Please tell me it's true! Has the old man finally kicked it?” He yelled, rushing to the top of the fire escape and then bashing on my window.

I sighed, walking over and grabbing my curtains. As I began to tug them shut, Klaus groaned.

“Look, I know… I know we didn't get off on the right foot last time but—”

“You lied to me Klaus.”

“Well it was more of a little lie…”

I raised an eyebrow before rolling my eyes and digging the curtains again.

“Okay, okay! It was a big lie, a massive lie!”

I paused, gesturing for him to continue.

“And… I'm sorry, okay? I just need to know if the old bastard really is dead.”

I sighed but nodded.

“He died earlier this afternoon, heart failure—”

“Holy shit, a heart attack is all it took to kill the old fuck?” Klaus exclaimed, his eyes wide and smile wider as he chuckled. “This means we are getting a family reunion, and since I can't be asked to walk all the way back around…” He said, looking down at the window and then up at me encouragingly.

I sighed, pulling the latch and opening my window.

Klaus smirked, jumping in and grabbing me, pulling me into his arms and squeezing tightly. I got a mouthful of the purple faux fur that lined his patchwork jacket, and a whiff of the familiar but unwelcoming stench of alcohol and drugs.

“Oh, how I've missed you, sister mine!” He exclaimed.

“You’re high…” I muttered as he pulled away, laughing.

“As a kite!”

“Do you know how much effort it took for me to get those drugs Klaus?”

Silences muffled the room. I continued.

“You said you were going to quit, you said you didn't want to do it cold turkey, so I tried to help you,” I said coldly, “I broke into the medical room, got the drugs, I even took some from evidence and what did you do? You didn't even try to quit, you just took them and you ran.”

“I… I've been rehab since—”

“A whole lot of good that did you.” I muttered.

“Well you know I did make some… friends along the way I guess…”

I took in a shaky breath before rubbing my temple.

“Just… I'm sure Pogo will let you stay, your old rooms all clean and since Reginalds dead—”

“Aw, does that mean we can't have a sleepover here?” Klaus said dramatically falling onto my bed, “come on, just like old times?”

“Go and sleep in your own room, Klaus,”

He groaned but did not move.

“Klaus.” I said impatiently.

“But your bed—”

“Out, now.”

“But—”

“Now Klaus!”

“Fine, fine, don't get your knickers in a twist.” He stumbled to his feet and begrudgingly left my room.

I laid on my bed for what seemed like hours, looking up at the ceiling, just thinking. A series of knocks pushed me from my thoughts.

“Yes?” I asked.

My bedroom door opened to reveal a man dressed in a leather spandex with knives hooked on him. I stiffened however the second I looked at the owner of said knives and leather spandex, my eyes softened.

“You can finally enter through the front door huh?” I remarked, getting up and walking over to Diego.

“And Klaus is finally free to stay in his room?” Diego said with a smirk. I nodded.

“He showed up earlier, apparently he's fresh out of rehab.”

“And already high?”

“Yeah, the smell gave that away huh?”

Diego rolled his eyes.

“Classic Klaus huh?”

“Classic Klaus,”

There was a gust of silence in which we just looked at eachother.

“I'm surprised you didn't pick a different outfit, you could've scared Pogo half to death.” I remarked.

He looked down before laughing and walking into my bedroom.

“I've just come from a mission,” he said, “home invasion, I was surprised you weren't sent out and then I saw the news…” he took a breath, “he's dead, huh? It's not just some fake news, right?”

I smiled and nodded.

“You wouldn't have made it one step into the house if he was still alive.”

He chuckled.

“Guess that should've been a sign…”

Suddenly, his radio that was strapped to his side went off, reporting some robbery at a convenience store downtown.

“A new one?” I asked. “Didn't Patch take your last one?”

“Yeah, but these are easy to get… well, I'm sorry but I've gotta split,” he said walking over to my window and opening it, “I'll see you at the funeral, yeah?”

As he was about to climb out, I asked him to wait as an idea struck my mind.

“Yeah?”

“Can I come?” I asked opening my weapons cabinet.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why do you want to come?”

“Well, we make quite a good team—”

“We do but, in case you haven't noticed, the old man is gone, you don't have to do this anymore.”

“Yeah, I know that.” I said loading up a gun and slotting a pair of handcuffs into my pocket.

“Hang on… I thought you hated missions?”

“Yeah, I hated missions for Reginald.”

“So then why?”

I huffed out a chuckle, looking him up and down.

“Why do you?”

We had a staring match before he sighed.

“Just hurry up then.”

Toronto, Canada | March 22nd 2019 | Hargreeves Mansion

Mum dusted the bookcase, humming some tune with a smile on her face. It was hard to know what she was thinking. She was made by Reginald to act as a mother and a protector to myself and my siblings and she was programmed to follow Reginalds strict rules.

For a robot, I presumed losing their creator must be confusing.

“Here, let me Mum.” I said with a smile, carefully taking the duster away from her. She blinked like she was processing something before she turned to me. Her confused expression turned warm.

“Thankyou Eunice, I'll make cookies!”

And, with that, she walked towards the kitchen. I sighed, biting my lip as I dusted the shelf.

Just as I started, I heard the familiar ring from the telephone. I raised an eyebrow, placing down the duster and walking up to it.

Hesitantly, I took it off the hook and held it to my ear.

“Hello?” I asked.

The caller took a deep breath before speaking.

“Eunice?”

“Yes, that's me?” I asked, raising my eyebrow, “if you're going to ask for a statement, I'm sorry but I'm not giving any at this time.”

“No I'm not here to ask for that I uh….”

There was silence.

“Yes?” I asked.

“It's me, Allison…”

My eyes widened as I stuttered out an apology.

“Allison I'm so sorry, it's just… its been a while and—”

“No, no, it's okay… I would forget too if I hadn't… yeah.”

There was an awkward silence.

“So, what do you need?” I asked, trying to keep the shakiness out of my voice.

“Well… I was wondering if you guys could send a car to pick me up from the airport.”

“Oh yeah, yeah of course I'll pass the message onto Pogo… March 24th right? What time are you due?”

“Around…” She took a second, “around quarter past nine?”

I hummed.

“Alright, I'll get that sorted.”

“Thanks… and Eunice?”

“Yeah?”

“It's… It's been nice talking to you, we can speak some more when I arrive okay? I promise.”

I smiled.

“Yeah… it's nice to hear from you, see you soon, okay?”

“Yeah… yeah see you soon…”

After a few seconds of silence she hung up.

I returned back to the dusting.

Toronto, Canada | March 24th 2019 | Hargreeves Mansion

My head rested on the mahogany table as I stared at the ornate urn before me and the pictures my mother and Pogo had put up around it to honour Reginald. In each of them, he had the same expression, same face same ancient wrinkles, that fucking monocle…

The last couple days had been… weird. It was quieter than usual without Reginalds constant commands and training regimes. Pogo had been wallowing in a grief which felt foreign to me while Mum had the same smile she had on everyday, however it was strained and her memory was frail. She still carried out the same housekeeping tasks, seemingly finding peace in the routine of it all while Pogo carried out the final arrangements. Klaus had stayed for the night and then ventured out to the streets, only popping in for the occasional shower, snack or nap and Diego had been busy with work.

I'd taken to helping out around the house and cooking with my mum as well as working out whenever I got the chance. The press kept on reaching out for interviews, I kept on declining them. Honestly, I hadn't done one in a while. The Umbrella Academy had become more of an underground organisation throughout the years.

The front door swung open as a heavy footed being walked through. I took a deep breath before getting down from the bar stool styled wooden seat and walked into the foyer.

I watched from a distance as Luther looked around the house in a slightly dazed manner before his misty eyes settled on me.

“Eunice.” Luther said, seemingly stunned as he looked me up and down. His giant form towered over me, just like it used to.

Slowly, he walked up to me as a small smile stretched on my face.

“Hey…” I said awkwardly, yet the stunned look never left.

“You uh… you've grown,” he said with a shaky breath, “and your… your hair… it used to be longer”

I hummed.

“Yeah I cut it a bit after you… yeah,” I said before continuing, “so, how was the moon—”

“Where did Dad die?”

Slightly confused and stunned I pointed up the stairs.

“In his bedroom…”

“...how?”

“Heart failure.”

He nodded and walked past me, walking up the stairs with his hand brushing the rail.

“Did you check for any open window… abnormalities?”

“I… yes I did, there was nothing suspicious,” I said, jogging to catch up, “so… the moon?”

He stopped and looked at me for a second.

“Oh uh… yeah it was… it was good,” he said, his response rushed as he continued walking, “who found him?”

“Oh, uh, Pogo I think…” I said.

“Has it been tampered with?”

“His room? Besides the removal of his… corpse… no—”

“Okay, how much do the press know?” He asked, opening the door to Reginalds room. His room matched the attire of the entire house, it was large, well respected and old fashioned with antiques dotted around.

I watched as Luther went to check the locks on the windows.

“I haven't done an interview yet but Pogo put out a statement which just gave a brief overview of how he died and around the time he died, he said… he said that I will no longer be going out any missions, announced there would be a private funeral—”

Luther stopped dead in his tracks before interrupting.

“No more missions?”

“I… yeah,” I backtracked, “no more Umbrella Academy.”

“Why not?” Luther asked. “Dad would've wanted it to continue.”

“Reginald would've, yes, but… Pogo think its in my best interests to… stop, plus Reginald had some way of getting all the information, we don't know enough about his contacts—”

“Dad,”

I paused, looking up at Luther whose sharp eyes were on me.

“He's our Dad, not just Reginald…” He muttered before his voice loudend, "I thought that was just some… some childish phase!”

I shook my head.

“What kind of Dad sends his kids to die?” I hissed. Luther paused.

“That was… it was all for the greater good—”

“Greater good my ass…”

He sighed before looking at the windows again.

“Don't bother looking for any clues, there's none there.”

“Maybe you haven't looked hard enough.”

The floorboards cracked outside the room as an extra person joined the conversation.

“I could save you some time,” I turned around to see Diego leaning against the doorframe in his vigilante attire, “they're all locked. No forced entry, no sign of struggle. Nothing out of the ordinary,” said Diego, walking into the room and taking in Luther's figure, “oh, you got big Luther. What's the secret, huh? Protein shakes? Low carbs?”

“What do you want?” Luther asked.

Diego looked at me, with a smirk, before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a piece of paper.

“The autopsy report.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“How did you get that?” I asked even though the answer was obvious.

Luther reached out for it however Diego pulled it back with a teasing grin before slowly holding it back out again. Luther snatched it and opened it, taking in every word.

“Well I broke into the coroner's office,” he said, taking a half bow and sitting down into a seat, “and surprise, surprise, Dad's death was… normal, but you already knew that didn't you? Just chose to argue with our little sister about it… you're looking for things that aren't there…”

“His monocle…” Luther muttered as Diego laughed.

“What about it?” I asked.

“It's not listed in his inventory… has Pogo got it?”

“He said he couldn't find it.” I said.

“So what if his monocle is missing, huh?” Diego asked, “there's nothing to solve here!”

“Can you ever think of a single time you saw Dad and he wasn't wearing that monocle?”

Diego stayed silent as I sighed, reluctantly shaking my head.

“No. Which means someone took it,” Luther continued, “which means, there's a chance he wasn't alone when he died.” Luther turned to look at me suspiciously.

I sighed. I already knew the question before it left his mouth.

“Where were you at the time of Dad's death?”

I rubbed my temple.

“I was on a mission.” I said.

“There is no mystery here,” Diego said standing up, “nothing to avenge, nothing to solve, nothing like that. It's just a… sad old man who kicked it in a big, empty house. Just like he deserved.”

“You should leave,” Luther said coldly, “both of you.”

“Whatever you say… brother.” Diego said before turning to leave. I stared at Luther for a few seconds before sighing and turning around, following Diego out into the hallway.

“You alright?” Diego asked.

I rubbed my temple.

“Yeah… yeah i’m fine its just… been a while you know?”

He hummed.

“Yeah, I know…” Diego said, “I also know you guys had an argument before he went to the moon… or something happened… wanna finally tell me about that?”

I took in a shaky breath, screwing my eyes shut and purging the images from my mind. I hid my shaking hands behind my back and averted my gaze.

“Not really, no.” I muttered.

“Well, it's obviously bothering you.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Doesn't mean you have to know about it.”

“Come on, all I'm asking is if our brother was a dick to you.”

“And I'm telling you, for the hundredth time, it's not important.” I said climbing down the staircase.

“Well, it clearly is if it's been bothering you all these years.”

I stayed silent, walking down the stairs and into the foyer to the view of someone sitting in the chair, staring at the picture of Five that sat above the flickering fire.

I paused and raised my eyebrow, not recognising the figure until his eyes locked with mine.

“Viktor?”

He stood up.

“Eunice… hey…” He said, scratching the back of his neck and… boy did he look and sound different.

“Hi… it's… it's been a while.”

It had been years.

“Yeah… you've grown.”

“So everyone keeps saying.” I muttered, walking into the room and sitting down on a chair. Diego joined me, staring daggers at Viktor the entire time.

“Look, I feel like…” Viktor started, “I should say sorry, for that book I mean… Jesus the media storm after was like nothing I could've anticipated… and… I should've asked before publishing it.”

I opted to stay silent, unsure of what to say.

Diego crossed his arms while I nodded in acknowledgement.

“Yeah, you really should've.” Diego spat, rolling his eyes.

The room went silent. It wasn't a nice, comforting, soft silence, no, instead it was a tense, ear piercing, cold one.

And then Klaus stumbled in.

“Oh my gosh, Vikky!!! You look so good!” Klaus exclaimed, rushing over and hugging Viktor who thanked him and returned the hug, “Diego, dressed as batman, as per usual.” Klaus said with a smirk, before going to the cabinet.

“At least I didn't get it out of a dumpster.” Diego remarked.

Klaus scoffed as a bunch of clanging and bashing rung out.

“I don't believe that for a second,” Klaus taunted before digging out some alcohol and taking it over to the bar at the back of the room. I sighed, sitting back in my seat as Klaus hummed, mixing up some concoction of drinks, “Eunice, you want some?”

Before I could say anything, Diego sighed.

“Klaus, she is fifthteen!” He hissed.

“Almost sixteen, remember she's a summer child, plus I was already way into hard drugs by that age!”

Diego rubbed his temple while I averted my gaze to the fire.

The silence fell again. I found my eyes wandering up to Five's portrait. He was dressed in the make version of the uniform I was in and looked straight at the camera, emotionless and stoic just like Reginald had been. I leant back into the seat as Viktor spoke.

“It's been 16 years, 4 months and 14 days…” Viktor reminisced.

“Since when?” I asked.

“Since Five left…” and just like that, the atmosphere of the room changed entirely, “Dad told Pogo to keep count,” he said before looking at me, “wanna know what he was like?” He asked softly.

Suddenly, the sound of mixing, pouring and clanging came to a close as Klaus began to speak.

“Oh, Eunice, let me tell you, Five had the most creative insults!” Klaus exclaimed with a smile, “he was smart, like super, super, super smart! Sadly, that made him my main target, you see, I always used to sneak into his room and copy his homework, and he never caught me! Truly quite the feat!”

Viktor laughed softly.

“Oh no, he definitely knew.”

“Wait… are you serious?!”

“Yes, yes, I'm serious…” He said his smirk was replaced with a soft smile. “He… cared for everyone in his own snarky way, he always acted up against Dad when things got… unfair, and surprisingly he loved peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches…” Viktor said, eyes going misty with nostalgia. “Do you remember, when you were little we used to go down to the kitchen and leave sandwiches out for him?”

I took a second and then nodded as memories of those late nights came back in flashes.

“Yeah… yeah I think so.” I said with a smile.

“I saw Pogo step in one once.” Klaus remarked with a laugh. Everyone went silent and looked towards the painting.

Before anymore stories could be told, a tall women walked in. Admittedly, despite her celebrity status, it took me a while to identify her as Allison. She wore a midnight blue top, long black pants and her hair was freshly curled. Her eyes brushed over everyone in the room, lingering on me the most.

“Wow… you guys really have changed, huh?” Her eyes drifted to me. “Wow you really have—”

“Grown?”

She laughed softly.

“Yeah, yeah you have.”

There were a few seconds of silence before she walked in and took a seat.

“Ally, want anything?” Klaus asked.

“I don't mind.” Allison shrugged.

Klaus smiled, happy to play bartender. He gave Allison something with a smile before returning to his own concoction.

The room fell back to silence, pouring and awkward glances and then Luther walked in and gave everyone one awkward look over.

“Uh I guess we should get started…” Luther said, “So, I figured we could have some sort of memorial service in the courtyard, at sundown… say a few words, just at Dad's favourite spot…”

I narrowed my gaze.

“...favourite spot?”

“Yeah, you know, under the oak tree?” Luther said. “We used to sit out there all the time. None of you ever did that?”

Luther was Number One, the leader, Reginalds favourite… The best guess as to where the old man's favourite spot was would've been his office or the training room, he did seem rather fond of holding his longest rants in there after all.

“Will there be refreshments?” Klaus asked, walking over to the seating area with a concoction of alcoholic drinks in one hand and a cigarette dancing between the fingers of the other, “Tea? Scones? Cucumber sandwiches are always a winner.”

“What? No, and put that out, you know Dad didn't allow that in here—”

“Is that my skirt?” Allison blurted out.

“What?” He asked before his brain caught up with him, “oh yeah, this, I found it in your room, its a little dated, you know, but very breezy on the bits… i'm surprised Eunie hasn't stolen it already,” I averted my gaze as Klaus cooed. “Wait, so you did try and take some things?” Klaus asked, “I always knew you were a little delinquent.” He teased, ruffling my hair. I pulled away from the touch before answering.

“Well, I tried it on, but it didn't fit—”

“Listen up,” Luther continued, “there's still some important things we need to discuss…” he turned to me, “Eunice, did Dad ever talk to you about who would take you in if he ever died?”

I raised an eyebrow.

“I always suspected it would be Mum, or Pogo…”

“Well, Allison's already a mother, is she not?” Klaus sang, “I'm sure she could take you in? Or Diego, hasn't he been all doting over the years?” Klaus then cooed, not giving anyone a chance to intervene, “Eunice, what if I took you in? Just me and you, the wind in our hair—”

“...Do you even have a house—” I started, however, Luther interrupted.

“Dad tried to get Pogo and Grace rights, however they got denied since Pogo is half monkey and Grace is a robot. Somehow, they settled onna compromise, they said that she can stay here until we find other arrangements, however, if it takes more than… I think two weeks from now, CPS will take her, so… I'm going to file for custody.”

“Yeah, not happening,” Diego hissed, “you've been on the moon for several years, you couldn't even have a normal conversation with her!”

“Well, I mean I have a flat, a steady income… I could make it work, I mean, if you want, of course?” Viktor asked shyly.

“Oh yeah, and use her to gather information for another book?” Diego snapped.

“I… I apologised—”

“You call that an apology?”

“Wait, so I'm currently without a guardian?” I asked.

“Grace and Pogo are your temporary guardians, you just can't be with them long term,” Luther explained, “I'm going to sign for custody—”

“Hey, you think if I can make a stable household in two weeks they'll let me take her?” Klaus asked.

“You're using, Klaus, I think you need to be clean for a set amount of time before you can take in a kid, plus that is an impossible task,” Allison said, “Luther I have no doubt you'll get alot of Dad's inheritance and the house so I think you're our best bet.”

Viktor nodded thoughtfully while Klaus reluctantly made a sound of agreement. Everyone turned to look at me.

“I… I guess that should be fine.” I said.

“I'll take over once I get a better place than a boiler room.” Diego said. Allison shook her head.

“We can't keep her moving around, I don't think CPS would like it, we should stick with Luther.”

Before Diego could say anything else, Luther continued.

“So, now that's decided… we need to talk about the way he died.”

“And here we go…” Diego muttered, “Eunice, please do tell everyone what we've already told Luther.”

“It was a heart attack, nothing more, nothing less, I checked the scene, the only thing we have to go off is a missing monocle… which…” I frowned and thought about it for a second, “actually, maybe there is something going on…” I muttered.

“The last time that I talked to Dad, he sounded strange.” Luther continued.

Klaus leaned back in his chair and gurgled his drink. “Oh, quelle surprise!”

“Strange how?” Allison asked.

“He sounded on edge, told me I should be careful who to trust…” He turned to me, “did he ever say anything like that to you?”

I paused.

“Before undercover missions, yes, but not as of recently… he was acting fairly normal.”

“Fairly?” Luther asked.

“Well, as normal as he is usually.”

“Luther,” Diego said, standing from his seat, “he was a paranoid, bitter old man who was starting to lose what was left of his marbles.”

“No he must've known something was going to happen,” and then Luther turned to Klaus, “look, I know you don't like to do it, but I need you to talk to Dad.”

Allison scoffed.

“I can't just… call Dad in the afterlife and be like… Dad can you just… stop playing tennis with Hitller for a moment and take a call?”

“Since when? That's your thing.” Combated Luther.

“I'm not in the right frame of… mind.”

“You're high?” Allison asked.

“Yeah! Yeah, and how are you not hearing all this nonsense?!”

“Well then sober up this is important—” Luther started.

“I mean…” Viktor intervened quietly, “can't Eunice help him? She can boost your guys’ powers, right?”

Luther nodded, turning to me.

“I can,” I reasoned, “and I would, he needs to agree—”

“Which, for the record, I don't.”

“—and I'm a bit rusty… wait why the hell wouldn't you agree? It would solve everything!”

“It wouldn't solve… world peace, world hunger… war… should I continue?”

Luther rubbed his temple.

“Just… get it sorted between you two…” Luther said taking a breath, “and then there's the case of the missing monocle—”

“Who the hell gives a shit about a stupid monocle?” Diego hissed.

“Exactly,” Luther reasoned, “it's worthless, so whoever took it, I think it was personal. Someone close to him,” he continued, eyes glazing over everyone else but lingering on me, “someone with a grudge.”

“Where are you going with this?” Klaus asked.

“Oh, isn't it obvious Klaus? He thinks one of us killed Dad.” Diego said, staring daggers at him.

The silence confirmed everything.

I took in a sharp breath.

“You do!” Klaus exclaimed.

“How could you think that?” Viktor asked, betrayed.

“I was on a mission, I wasn't even here…” I muttered.

“Great job Luther,” Diego said, his eyes not leaving Luther for a second, “way to lead.”

-

“Eunie!” Klaus sang, his voice and footsteps getting closer until he was at my door, knocking.

“What now Klaus?” I asked. Klaus took this as an invitation to enter and flop down on my bed.

“Well, I was wondering if you would like to help me conjure Dad, you know, get those answers you guys so desperately want.”

I sat up.

“And you won't chicken out last minute?”

“I give you my word.”

I sighed.

“Where do we start then?”

Klaus smiled.

“Too the urn!” He said, standing and marching down the corridor. I followed him as he muttered about whatever. When we reached the living room, he took a shaky breath.

“Go on then, hit me.”

I frowned.

“It's… been a while, I mean I've done it to Diego on occasion but… yeah… I would recommend you sober up first else this may all be for nothing…”

“Well, Luther is rushing us so your power will have to deal with drunk and high me.”

“Okay well… don't say I didn't warn you if this turns out to be a waste of time.” I muttered, grabbing Klaus’ hand.

I shut my eyes and reached deep inside of me, searching for the warmth buried within. Whenever I pictured my power, I pictured an orb just as Reginald had taught me too. It floated in a black void of nothingness and radiated a golden light.

Everything else faded into the background as I cut into the golden orb, looking for Klaus’ tune.

Everyone of my superpowered siblings had it, a part of the orb that called out for them. Once I had located Klaus’, I carefully broke it off, letting it break into small parts, almost like sprinkles, and allowing it to flow through my body and pass into Klaus.

After that, as if they were a magnet, they were drawn to Klaus’ powers, however, I knew his abilities would only accept it for so long.

I opened my eyes.

“You have around three minutes.” I muttered, letting go of his hand and sitting down.

Klaus let out a shaky sigh and his eyes darted around, he looked almost scared, before the confident look I was used to took over and he gave me a smirk.

I furrowed my eyebrows but said nothing as he sat at the urn. He stayed silent for about thirty seconds before he sighed and began to pace around with his eyes shut. Before I could talk to him about what a dumb idea that was, he stubbed his toe and let out a hiss of pain.

“Mother fucking shit balls!” He said, hopping on one leg, “fucking hell!” He then stared at the picture of Reginald beside the urn and began to speak, “hello, Reggie, anyone there? Your favourite son wants to talk to you!” I said in a sing-song voice, “come on, haunt this earth… you know you want to torment us~” he said, pacing with his eyes open and a slight limp.

I watched as he continued pacing, humming a tune to himself.

“Maybe if you sit down—”

“I need silence, sister mine, silence,” he exclaimed, “I'm the expert on the dead, not you.”

I sighed and sat back in the seat as the pacing continued. Klaus looked distracted, his eyes darting around the room before settling on looking at the floor and, on occasion, Reginald's urn, before he let out a frustrated noise and threw his arms in the air.

“Come on!” He yelled, “come on, chop cho!” He continued, clapping in time with the final two words, before he pointed at the picture, “you always were a stubborn bastard— alright, alright, shut up, shut up!” He yelled manically, covering his ears and screwing his eyes shut before groaning.

“I didn't say anything.” I said, sitting up. Klaus took his hands away from his ears and winced.

“Holy fuck, why won't you manifest!” He said opening his eyes and stomping his foot on the ground, “and why won't the rest of you shut up?!” He yelled his eyes looking all around the room and settled on the spot next to me, “oh don't even get me started on you, you and your angry ghost lectures!”

It became apparent he wasn't talking to me.

“Is… is Reginald…?”

“No, no, it's just an annoying pest I can't seem to shake.”

I sighed.

“You're wasting time, you need to focus.”

He sighed.

“It's a little hard to do that when you're all screaming!” He yelled before groaning and turning back to Reginalds picture, “god you're so stubborn…” he said before shutting his eyes, taking a deep breath and, finally, shutting up. He still shook and looked annoyed but he was focusing.

‘Good, this isn't a complete waste of time.’

After thirty more seconds, he opened his eyes, sighing.

“Did you… talk—”

He moved to the bar and sat down. Just as he did, I felt his body and mind reject the powers I had given him. I saw the golden particles rotating around his body. Quickly, I rushed forward, grabbing his hand. They flowed into me, automatically sticking in the golden orb.

He seemed to relax.

“I could do with a warning next time…” I said before looking him up and down. “You okay? You got a little… crazy there… did you talk to him?”

He sighed.

“I don't know about you but I need a drink…” He said, reaching for the bottle of alcohol, key word was reaching, because he didn't actually grab it (at least not yet) instead, his arm crashed into the urn and sent it toppling over, Reginald's cremated body spilling over the bar.

Klaus stepped back, gasping and laughing with his hands covering his mouth. I couldn't help the laughter that erupted from me and Klaus quickly joined me. We both fell into hysterics however, the reality of what Klaus did hit me and I sobered up.

“Shit, Klaus, Luther might actually kill us!” I hissed, stepping back. Klaus slowly stopped laughing, his face turning into some sort of dread. He looked at me.

“Eunice, please help me with—”

I put my hands up and backed away.

“Your mess, your problem.”

“Well, since it's our adoptive father, it's technically our mess—”

“You toppled it over, you can face Luther's wrath.”

I said backing away as Klaus turned from the mess, to me, then back to the mess, letting out a frustrated groan and a string of creative cuss words.

I smirked, leaning against the door frame as I watched him scoop whatever he could into the urn.

“So, Luther's child—

I shook my head.

“I'm not his child.”

“Not yet you aren't, but you will be soon… does that make me your uncle?”

“Nope, Luther's still my brother, he will just have… parental rights over me.”

“Making him your parent!”

“No, he's my brother who will have parental rights over me.”

“Luthers becoming a father!” He said in a teasing sing-song voice, scooping up the final specs of ash, closing the urn, and holding it, “now, I'm hungry!”

“And you really wanna take Reginald with you?”

“Why not? He may pay an unexpected visit!” He said, rushing down the stairs into the basement. I sighed, going into the courtyard instead of into the basement. The leaves rustled above me and I could hear the rush of traffic that was occurring beyond the courtyard. The shards of glass danced in the wind as the clouds moved overhead.

I looked up at the statue. It was large and worn yet freshly polished.

“Hey Ben…” I whispered knowing I would get know response.

As always, the sombre look engraved onto he face his face was unchanging. Throughout the days, the more I looked at his statue the more I noticed, for example looked older than he ever got the chance to be. I found myself wondering if this is truly what Ben looked like in my father's eyes or if he crafted this statue of what could've been to give everyone a sense of guilt.

‘Probably the latter.’

Slowly, I placed my hand against the knee. My fingers brushed over the spot where the black paint was peeling away to expose the golden undercoat again and again. I did this for a while before I spoke again.

“He's dead.” I whispered.

For some reason, that's when the sense of grief for a man I hated hit me. A tear ran down my face as I traced my finger upon his name, which was engraved into the statue's golden base.

Ben Hargreeves

“I don't know why I'm crying,” I said, wiping my tears with a stray hand, “fuck, this is complicated,” I said, my finger sliding over the s in his name before going onto the next line of words.

May the darkness within you,

Find peace in the light.

“I hope you're not having to deal with him right now, in the afterlife… I didn't know you that well but I don't think you liked him either…” I swiped yet another tear, letting out a laugh, “this must be the fucking hormones…”

I sat on the edge of the statue and shut my eyes as I had done hundreds of times before. Slowly but surely, everything faded away from the rush of the wind going by to the distant morning traffic.

I dug deep inside of me for my own heart, felt it beat and pump blood throughout my body and then pushed so I wasn't just feeling my own heart, but the heart of my siblings aswell.

Feeling their hearts was something I was always able to do.

Despite the fact that it wasn't beating, I could still feel Ben's, six feet below the statue, stationary. The state of it didn't matter, what did matter is that I could feel my brother's heart and that? It helped me feel closer to him than I could ever describe.

On particularly hard nights, I connected to the seven hearts and felt them.

Yes, the seven hearts, Fives included. His was always more distant than the others but it was there, thumping, meaning he had survived.

Sometimes, my connection with Klaus’ wavered and that scared me. I could still feel the heart but there was no thumping.

I threw up quite a few times due to the death scares, however, it always came back. Reginald always said it was just my power malfunctioning which made sense, it took alot to feel seven hearts all at once, which is why I never told anyone about Fives.

I wasn't even sure it was Fives, I just felt like it was. There was no proof to back it up, it was just a feeling. It could've simply been my powers malfunctioning and me mistaking one heart for another, so I kept my mouth shut.

After a while, I came back to my senses and smiled up at Ben's statue.

A gust of cold air whipped past me as I wiped the final tear and went to walk back into the house.

Suddenly, there was a crackle followed by thunder as bolts of electric blue struck everywhere. I jumped, turning around as gusts of wind hurtled towards me.

My eyes widened as a ball of blue lightning formed mid air. I backed away, confused as my heart pelted and mind raced with possibilities. Suddenly the door opened and Diego walked out, looking at the ball of electricity with the same amount of confusion I felt. He then looked at me and rushed forward.

“This you?” He yelled over the crackles.

“How can this be me?”

The rest of my siblings, minus Klaus, joined me, equally as confused.

“What is it?” Viktor asked.

“Don't get too close!” Allison warned, reaching out to grab me and Viktor and pulling us behind the group.

“Yeah, no shit!” Diego yelled.

“Looks like some sort of temporal anomaly…” Luther remarked, “either that or a miniature black hole, one of the two.”

“Pretty big difference there Paul Bunyan.” Diego hissed.

“Out of the way!” Klaus yelled, rushing out from inside. I barely just dodged the fire extinguisher that he threw through the crowd and the blue lightning.

“What is that gonna do?” Me and Allison yelled in union.

“I don't know!” Klaus yelled. “Does anyone else have any better ideas?”

Suddenly, a big crackle erupted from the centre and Luther pulled Klaus back as I tried to push forward to get a better view on what's going on. I saw a flash of it, and for a second, I thought I could make out the silhouette of a person behind it all.

“Everyone, get behind me!” Luther yelled, blocking my path.

“Yeah, get behind us!” Diego said, placing a hand on my shoulder to keep me in place while standing in front of all of us alongside Luther.

“I vote for running, c’mon!” Klaus yelled.

Suddenly, from what I could see through the tiny gap, the silhouette became more prominent as did the crackling and thunder. Then, someone fell through the deep blue, which collapsed in on itself, the crackles and thunder slowly coming to a close.

Everyone approached the small figure, who slowly stood up. He was dressed in a suit that practically swallowed him and looked just as confused and stunned as I felt. More importantly, he looked familiar. It took me a few seconds to figure out why.

“Does anyone else see little Number Five, or is that just me?” Klaus asked.

His words seemed to register in Five's mind. The young boy looked downwards, his eyes darting around as he processed something. He then looked back at us.

“Shit…” He hissed.

There was a couple seconds of silence as we all stared at each other, and then Five rubbed his temple and sighed.

“Stop gawking.” He said walking past us all into the house. After confused glances were shared amongst everyone we all walked inside, following Five down to the basement kitchen in a stunned silence. Klaus sat on the table (no surprise there) as everyone else took a seat.

Five grabbed a butter knife from a drawer and a wooden chopping board from the side, placing it on the end of the table as everyone sat down.

“What's the date?” Five asked. “The exact date.” He said, taking some bread off a shelf.

“The 24th…” Viktor said.

“Of what?” He asked, opening the bread.

“March.”

He paused.

“Good.”

He took out the bread and placed it on the chopping board.

“So, are we going to talk about what just happened?” Luther asked.

Five answered his question perfectly by remaining silent. Luther stood up, now looming over the tiny guy.

“It's been 17 years.”

Five scoffed.

“It’s been a lot longer than that.”

He then teleported to a shelf.

Yes, teleported. He disappeared in a flash of blue and reappeared in another. I couldn't stop the look of shock that appeared on my face. Sure, I had seen my siblings use their powers before but I had never seen teleportation powers.

“I haven't missed that.” Luther remarked, not even turning to look at Five while I observed him strictly, curiosity brimming.

“Where did you go…?” I asked hesitantly. Five paused, obviously not recognising my voice at all. He turned around with a raised eyebrow and looked me up and down.

He teleported back to the chopping board and opened a packet of marshmallows.

“The future, it's shit by the way.”

“You're not gonna ask about the elephant in the room and… and the elephant not in the room?” Klaus exclaimed.

Five raised an eyebrow. Klaus gestured to me.

“Here's your first elephant,” he said, “and your second… is absent and… wait there's another elephant that has discovered things about himself.”

The room became tense.

“Dad adopted another kid, Ben is… dead, and…” Diego started, leaving Viktor to fill in the final blank by himself.

“I'm transgender Five.”

“I really thought you would've gotten smarter, i'm already caught up…” He muttered, opening the fridge door and returning to what he was saying before. “I should've listened to the old man… Jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice,” he then looked at Klaus. “Nice dress.”

“Oh, well, danke!” Klaus exclaimed.

“Wait, how did you get back?” Viktor asked.

“In the end I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time.”

“That makes no sense.” Diego remarked.

“Well it would if you were smarter.”

Diego stood up, anger written all over his expression, and Luther blocked him off from Five without turning to look at him.

“How long were you there?”

“Forty five years, give or take.”

Diego and Luther sat back down.

“...and you're going through puberty again because?” I asked, gesturing to his body.

“Oh trust me, little sister mine, this isn't by choice,” he said, “my consciousness is 58. Apparently, my body is now 13 again…”

Throughout this entire talk, Five had created a peanut and marshmallow sandwich, which, by this point, he had finished.

“Your… hungry… how are you not freaking out right now?” Klaus asked.

“There's worse that could happen.”

“Wait, how does that even work?” Viktor asked.

“Delores kept saying the equations were off… eh,” totally unbothered, he took a bite into his sandwich, “bet she's laughing now.”

“Delores?” Viktor asked.

He ignored the question, instead he picked up the newspaper.

“Guess I missed the funeral.” He said. I peered over to see the newspaper and an article on the front cover that said Reginald was dead.

“How'd you know about that?” Asked Luther.

“What part of the future do you not understand?” Five asked. “Heart failure, huh?”

At the same time, Diego and Luther answered with two very contradicting answers.

Five hummed and then clicked his tongue before placing the paper back down.

“Nice to see nothing's changed.”

“That's it? That's all you have to say?” Allison asked.

“What else is there to say? It's the circle of life.”

Five’s footsteps got further and further away.

“Well… that was interesting.” Luther remarked.

I stood up.

“Wait, Five!”

I rushed down the corridor after him.

He turned around and looked me up and down.

“Number Zero, right?”

I froze. A chill travelled down my spine.

It had been a while since I had heard that name.

“...what?”

“It's your number, the name that Dad gave you, correct?”

I nodded.

“I go by—” I started.

“—Eunice now?”

I nodded.

“Yeah… though sometimes Klaus calls me Eunie.”

“Eunie…” Five said, as if testing the name out. He hummed, seemingly having taken a vague interest, before he continued to walk onwards, his eyes darting around at everything within the foyer.

“...do you go by anything? Other than Five… or do you prefer Number Five?”

“No, just Five is fine.”

He continued up the stairs, his hands brushing the banner as he treasured every step. I followed him. I couldn't think of what else to say, so I just said the truth.

“I missed you.”

He stopped and turned.

“You had never met me, before now at least.” He pointed out.

I laughed awkwardly.

“Yes but… I still missed you…”

He looked at me for a second before he continued walking. I followed as he sighed, looking back at me, seemingly slightly annoyed. I raised an eyebrow.

“You're clingy.” He stated.

“...I guess I can be...”

“No, you’re definitely being clingy.”

“Well it's not everyday your long lost brother who you've never met returns from the future.”

There was a second of silence before he replied.

“I suppose it isn't,”

There was more silence, so much silence. We walked side by side and, at times i could feel Fives eyes on me. Eventually, Five picked the conversation back up.

“You can boost our powers, right?c

“Yeah I can.”

“Anything else?”

I frowned.

This was going to come up one way or another and I knew that, however, I still became tongue tied when I tried to explain.

It came out in a stuttered mess at first but eventually I got there.

“I can feel hearts… their… our siblings' heartbeats… yours too.”

Five froze.

“Viktors book mentioned that you could feel hearts but… You could feel mine? Even when I was…?”

“Away? Yeah. I can turn it on and off.”

“How did you know it was mine?”

“I… I just knew, I've never been able to explain it… it's like… a sixth sense? I've always been able to feel yours, it's just more… more distant than the others and, to be honest, I wasn't fully sure whether to believe whatever was telling me it was you,” I said, “anyways, I don't do it often though.”

“Why?” He asked.

“It takes some concentration, when I'm doing it… I can't really recognise what is going on around me…”

“Anything else?”

I bit my lip, not really wanting to get into that side of my power.

“Why are you even asking? You've read Extra Ordinary, you tell me…”

He sighed before turning to the staircase that led up to his room.

“I'm going to change.” He said before blinking away.

“

-

Reginald's funeral… it was a mess, but honestly, messes are something we Hargreeves create almost effortlessly.

Rain trickled down the edge of the building and Ben's statue, the water droplets pattering on the several umbrellas we had brought out, on being a familiar pink and transparent one.

I stared at it for a second as Klaus twiddled it around, his gaze landing on me.

“Oh, yeah, this!” He exclaimed, “you remember it? You used to adore it! Found it in the attic, all dusty…”

I hummed, a vague memory of laughs and the sound of rapid yet tiny footsteps entered my mind.

“You used to run around with it, playing princess or something.” Diego scoffed.

“You were adorable!” Klaus exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes looking around the courtyard. Pogo walked over, his cane crunching the leafs below.

Five, who stood beside me, had picked out the only outfit he could; his academy uniform. It was basically the make version of what I had on.

He stared up at Ben's statue with a frown before looking around at everyone.

“Whenever you're ready, dear boy.” Pogo said to Luther, who nodded and held out the urn.

After giving everyone a solemn look, he opened it, sprinkling the ashes beneath the oak tree.

No wind swept it up, it just fell to the ground in a pile. Klaus grit his teeth as everyone awkwardly stood in silence. The rain certainly didn't help.

Luther and Diego, the only two without an umbrella, stared at each other for a second, tense.

“Probably would've been better with some wind.” Luther admitted.

There was another brief silence and then Pogo spoke.

“Does anyone wish to speak?”

More silence.

I stared at the ground, just waiting for the miserable event to end, however Pogo chose to continue.

“Very well…” he started, “in all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made me what I am today. For that alone I will forever be in his debt. He was my master,” I bit my lip at the word. Master… It left a funny taste in my mouth, but it was true. Reginald was his master, his commander and, deep down, he continued to be, I wasn't blind to that, “and my friend, and I shall miss him very much…” honestly, I felt bad for Pogo. His voice broke as he stared down at the lump of ashes.

His relationship with Reginald, a friendship as he so called it, was different. They had history, Reginald had saved him as a chimp and turned him half human, he had raised him, in what conditions and how I do not know, however, to gain such dedication from Pogo, such loyalty, such trust that never wavered unlike like mine or my siblings did, he must've been good to him. He was, presumably, a good person to Pogo, yes, but not to us.

He had our trust, but only for some time and even then it was gained through carefully placed manipulation and threats.

The rose tinted glasses, at some point or another, fell off for all of us.

During the funeral, in my opinion, Luthers were tinted with denial rather than rose, or at least more of the former than the latter.

Everyone else's weren't.

“He leaves behind a complicated legacy—” Pogo continued. I winced.

“He was a monster,” Diego hissed.

Klaus laughed bitterly, giving me a look.

“He was a bad person, and a worse father, the world's better off without him.”

Allison's eyes skimmed to Luther’s, worry shining within them, and then back to Diego.

“Diego.” She warned.

“My name is Number Two,” he hissed, “you know why? Because our father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names. He had Mum do it.”

“Would anyone like something to eat?” Mum asked, a painfully sad smile upon her face.

“No, it's okay Mum.” Viktor said.

“Oh… okay.”

“Look, you wanna pay your respects?” Diego yelled, leaving Mums side and walking into the middle of the group, “go ahead, but at least be honest about the kind of man he was.”

“You should stop talking now.” Luther warned.

“Diego…” I muttered. I grabbed his arm and shook my head, however, he pulled it away.

“You know, you of all people should be on my side here, Number One and Number Zero,” he hissed, “in fact, you are on my side, I know you hate the old man's guts and everything he stands for, you can't even call him Dad or father,” he said to me.

It was true, I agreed with him however I knew Luther didn't and I knew Luther and Diego had a tendency to fight. Before anything else could be said, Diego turned to look at Luther.

“is that not a red flag? Your little sister can't stand to call him father or Dad because he never was one.”

“I am warning you.” Luther said, however, Diego continued.

“He had to ship you a million miles away.” Diego said, and suddenly I understood where he was going with this.

“Diego, stop talking.” Luther hissed.

“That's how much he couldn't stand the sight of you!” he said, tapping him on the chest and aggravating him.

“Diego that's too far—” I hissed, however, Luther sent a punch his way and suddenly, they were brawling. Punches, kicks and spurts of anger flew out, the fight going too fast for me to track. A flurry of limbs and varying indications of pain was all I could really make out.

"Boys stop this at once!" Pogo demanded but neither of them listened, still trading blows.

"Come on big boy!" Diego taunted as I rolled her eyes, backing away from the fight as Diego landed multiple blows on Luther.

"Stop it!" Viktor yelled. He seemed to try and project his voice a bit however it got caught up in the blows. Luther nor Diego paid him no attention however I placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back, not wanting him to get caught up in it all.

"Hit him! Hit him!" Klaus encouraged, cigarette sat in his mouth.

Diego landed a few more blows which Luther only winced a bit at, as Pogo shook his head, disappointed before leaving. He seemed like he had so much more to say.

Luther slammed Diego to the ground, the latter launching into a roll, making his landing as graceful as it could be, before jumping up, fists in front of him.

"Guys stop! Come on!" I yelled, butterflies dancing in my stomach.

A few more blows were traded between the two, a few more words and then Luther grabbed Diego in a stone-cold grip.

Luther held Diego out in front of him, hitting him all over. I caught a slight wince from my brother.

"Get. Of. Me!" Diego yelled, only just breaking out of his hold.

Five left the courtyard, stating he did not have time for this.

Diego dived out of the way to avoid another hit… which went directly to Ben's statue, sending it toppling over. The black matted stone cracked, the head rolling away from the body.

"And there goes Ben's statue..." Allison said.

Diego paced around in a circle, looked up at Luther, pulling out a knife.“Diego, no!” Myself and Viktor yelled in unison.

Suddenly, the knife flew through the air, slicing Luther's skin in the process.

Luther looked at Diego with an expression full of hurt and betrayal before staggering off inside.

“Luther wait!” I yelled, going after him, being sure to shove past Diego on my way towards the door. I followed my older brother into the house, shut the door behind me and placed my umbrella back down. We walked into the living room in silence.

He grabbed a med kit from a nearby cabinet, and patched himself up with shaky hands and I sat by him, unsure of what to say, just watching as Viktor wordlessly passed us, followed by Diego and our mother. Once they were all gone, I spoke.

“Luther…” I started.

“Did you tell him?” He hissed.

“About what?”

“About what I am.” He said from where he was sitting on the couch. My hands shook as I was violently reminded of that day.

“No, of course not!” I yelled.

Sure there had been moments where I had been close to telling him, moments when I looked at my hands and all i could see was them trembling, Luthers bare chest beneath them, bloody and bruised, or moments where I heard his wheezy breaths in the wind.

There had been moments when all I had wanted was for Diego, or even for Klaus, to comfort me however I never let a word about that day slip.

“Okay… okay that's good.” He said dabbing his wound. I sat next to him, carefully pulling out his arm and setting it on the table in front of us.

“You know, fighting isn't always the answer, sure, Diego was out of order but…”

“I know I just got angry.” He said. I sighed; at least he knew he was partly in the wrong, I guessed.

I pulled out a bandage, silently tending to the wound, muttering small apologies as he winced in pain. It wasn't the first time I had done this and it certainly wasn't the last.

He nodded and awkwardly patted my shoulder.

“Thanks, Eunice.”

I smiled softly.

“It's nothing.”

He then got up and said something about going to see Pogo before leaving the room.

I sighed and leant back on the couch, watching as Diego entered through the other door. He lingered for a second, just watching me, before he sighed and sat next to me.

“I'm sorry.” He said.

I stared forward.

“I'm not the one you should be apologising to, what you said there wasn't right.”

“I know,” he said, turning to look at me, “it's… been a long day, I talked to Pogo and he said you could come stay with me for a bit, if you want to.”

I turned towards him.

“Is Al there?” I asked.

“Yes.”

I smiled. I liked Al, he always treated me well on the odd occasion I went to the gym.

“Alright then,” I shrugged standing up, “do I need anything?”

“All your stuff from last time is still there,” he said, throwing an arm around me, “I'll apologise to Luther next time I see him, okay?” He added, voice unusually soft.

“Sure.”

“Oh yeah, I've got ice cream—”

“Chocolate?”

“Yes, yes, chocolate.” He said.