Shadows & Mirrors // f.hargreeves fanfic

:::: Fifty-Five ::::

Five led the trio back to the lobby. There they encountered the rest of the Umbrella Academy along with the two remaining Sparrows, Ben and Sloane. As soon as the others caught sight of Five they began to whoop and holler. They were congratulating him on his big speech from the night before. Although both Five and Nova couldn't actually remember what he had said during the speech.

"Woo! Five! Yeah!" Klaus exclaimed as he clapped his hands and the others cheered around him.

"Here he is!" Luther chuckled as Lila and Diego moved to give the boy a standing ovation.

"That speech last night! Wow!" Diego cheered. Nova couldn't help but notice Ben and Allison weren't in the same cheerful mood as everyone else. Honestly, she couldn't blame them. The world was ending. They had a right to feel any way they wanted and if moody and brooding was what they chose to feel so be it.

"Brought me to tears, you big softy," Lila chimed in.

"I especially liked when you referred to us as a family bound by destiny and love," Viktor added.

"It was the booze talking," Five attempted to defend himself, "In the light of day, you're all still deplorable."

"And your day is about to get worse," Reginald jumped in and Nova couldn't help but roll her eyes at the old man.

Five settled down on the empty armchair and pulled Nova down into his lap. As they got situated Reginald continued by telling some story about how the universe could be saved by eight of them. Honestly, Nova wasn't actually paying much attention to what Sir Reginald Hargreeves was saying. She may have agreed to come to this meeting but she never said that she would actually pay attention.

"Reggie?" Lila asked as she raised her hand after Reginald had finished his story. "Can we get a little less Brothers Grimm and more: What the hell does this have to do with us?"

"There is a truth to these myths. None of you can deny what's going on around us. All of existence will be gone by the end of the day, but whoever or whatever wove together space and time left a way to put things back together if the universe ever faced total annihilation. There is a portal in the universe," Reginald explained. At this Nova's ears did perk up a little bit. She would never admit it to anyone but she was slightly intrigued by Reginald's words.

"A portal? Dad, what are you even talking about?" Manuella spoke up in confusion.

"Yes, a portal. I built this hotel around it and on the other side is the answer," Reginald finished dramatically.

"Well, that's not cryptic at all," Nova said sarcastically.

"So, we're supposed to do what? Just stroll in there, ring some bells, and fix this shit?" Luther added.

"Sarcasm aside," Reginald began as he sent dirty looks toward both Luther and Nova before continuing, "You are mostly right. Except for the Guardian."

"What kind of guardian?" Viktor asked after Reginald paused dramatically.

"The kind of guardian that does this," Diego said before holding up his bandaged hand. Nova's eyes widened when she noticed that her friend was missing a few fingers.

"Holy shit, Diego! What happened to your hand?" Nova gasped in shock.

"He had a sword," Diego shrugged.

"It is a force to be reckoned with," Reginald nodded.

"Wait, so, Diego, you've already gone through this portal, correct?" Manuella asked as she turned to face the man who nodded slowly. "And you encountered this guardian in the other dimension and he chopped off your fingers?"