Ice Queen (Five Hargreeves)

chapter two

"that's one badass stapler."

florence's favourite memory of the times her and the umbrella academy fought together played in her head after she had woken up.

mother was in the kitchen, along with diego and allison. none of florence's adoptive siblings knew that she was awake.

it was hard when number eight got ill. it was hard for everyone.

they were all so supportive of florence and cared for her greatly. she was their sister, after all.

everyone missed her. they would always ask mom, pogo or sometimes even father how she was doing. they'd ask about her everyday, wether any improvements were being made with her. they even went as far as to going to dad's office and asking if there was a cure yet.

but gradually, they all seemed to stop. they all sort of gave up after around a year.

of course, they all still thought about her. after ben's tragic death, everyone just moped around and it all seemed to fall apart. they got older whilst florence stayed the exact same.

frozen.

florence immediately sat up when she heard the door open to the room she had slept in. her mother entered with a tray of orange juice and three little pancakes on a white plate.

the thing florence admired about mother's pancakes was the smiley faces made from blueberries on them. mother always seemed to make things happy, no matter the situation.

i guess that's what she was programmed to do.

mom had helped a lot through the time that florence was ill for.

always bringing her food whenever she requested.

always making sure florence took her painkillers.

mother did everything for her.

florence thanked her mom and began to eat the pancakes, making sure to get at least two of the blueberries with one bite.

"mom?"

grace turned around with the sweet smile she always had on her face.

"yes, flo?"

flo.

she hadn't heard that one in a while. she'd missed it.

"when can i see father? and luther? and klaus? and ben? and vanya? and allison? and diego?"

"i'm afraid, miss florence, that we have some bad news." pogo stepped into the room with his head hung low.

"grace, are you able to give us some privacy?"

"of course. i'll go and make some cookies!" grace gleefully pranced out the room, listing in her head the ingredients of her cookies.

"miss florence, please keep an open mind to all of this."

"pogo, you're scaring me. what's happened?"

"your father passed away a few days ago."

florence's heart stopped. her face began to pale as she looked blankly at pogo.

her father.

the man who had adopted her...

was gone?

sure, her dad wasn't the nicest as times. he hardly payed any attention to the children except for when he was training them. but, throughout florence's illness, he had been by her side.

he was the one who found her the cure.

he was the one who had the idea to preserve her body.

he is the reason she is still living.

adoptive parent or not, florence loved him with all her heart.

"how, pogo? how the hell did he die?"

"he had a heart attack. it was very unexpected. i do believe that your siblings will be deciding on what to do to honour him later today."

"but if he died, surely that means he had the cure before. why didn't he wake me up?!"

"i do not have the answer to that, miss florence. your father's instructions were short and strict."

"and the others are here? please tell me all of them are okay."

"well, miss florence. more bad news comes with that. number six, ben, died not long after you were put into the cyro-tube."

if it was even possible, florence's cheeks paled even more. one of her siblings, and best friends, was gone.

"how?"

"his death was tragic. it is not something we like sharing and you will thank me for it."

ben had helped her so much. from when they were little, to when she was put away.

if she got angry, he would always be the one to calm her down.

if she was sad, he would always be the one to cheer her up.

but now, he was just a memory.

five is coming soon, i promise. i'm taking my time with this story but chapters will be up as soon as possible. hope you're enjoying the book so far.