𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 ━ five hargreeves³

8│BEGRUDINGLY SAVING THE WORLD ( AGAIN )

As he unbound Klaus' aunt's journal, Allison's eyes narrowed at the coincidental interruption. "Like what?" she asked sarcastically.

"This," he answered evenly. He began to flip through the book.

"Who are they?" Viktor wondered.

"Our mothers," Alexa explained.

Klaus reached out and quickly put his hand on one of the pages. "That one's mine."

Excluding Allison, the rest of the siblings leaned towards the picture. Five looked up from the image. "They're all dead. They all died on the exact same day, October first, 1989."

"That's our birthday."

"Not anymore, it isn't. They all died before we were born."

Diego didn't seem to be impressed. "That's dumb. If we weren't born, how can we exist?"

"We don't," the blonde replied. "At least, not this timeline's version of ourselves. We travelled here from outside the linear events."

Five couldn't help but give her a proud look. "Exactly. Someone's been paying attention." Alexa smiled, pleased.

Viktor was still confused. "What are you saying?"

"What Lexa means is that when we jumped here, we created a time paradox. Alright? Not just any paradox. This is the grandfather paradox."

"What the hell's a grandfather paradox?" Klaus asked.

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

Some time later, they hadn't made much headway with their siblings. Diego let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm so confused."

Allison remained aloof from the group as she leaned against a nearby pillar. "Shocking," she commented.

"Well, someone killed our mothers, so we shouldn't exist," Viktor reasoned. "But clearly we do exist and the universe can't handle it, which is a problem."

Klaus was listening to his siblings debate from his spot on the pool table where he lay face-up on the green surface. He repeatedly hit himself in his face with the journal out of boredom. Alexa had jumped up to sit on the edge of the billiard cloth to let her feet swing above the floor. Five had commandeered a cup of coffee and was leaning against the table next to her, close enough that his side pressed against her leg. At his brother's explanation, he lifted his cup in acknowledgement. "Big problem."

Stan— Diego's son, who Alexa had been indirectly introduced to— remained nearby as he twirled a pool stick around in the air. He let out occasional 'karate' sounds to accompany his movements. "Yah!"

The dark-haired man immediately turned his attention to the boy. "Stanley! Now is not the time to be doing karate, okay?"

The twelve-year-old rounded on him. "Yeah, well mom said I need to practice."

"Yeah, she's not wrong," Diego agreed more quietly. "You're very bad."

"Well, I saved your pathetic ass."

At the boy's comment, Alexa shot her brother a sharp look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he replied quickly. He knew that she'd only worry incessantly over the fact that she hadn't been there and blame herself for anything that happened. It was already in the past so if she didn't know, she couldn't feel guilty about it.

Thankfully, Allison cut in to keep her from badgering him about it. "Okay, hold on. Five, so we caused a paradox. What does that mean?"

"It's hard to say," he admitted. "It's all been theoretical until now but things have started to disappear."