THE FUNERAL
"Wow, great burn Allison, I think Diego needs some ice."
Everyone was around the kitchen table while five walked around the kitchen making a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich. Svetlana stood behind Diego, who was half sitting on the edge of the table.
"What's the date? The exact date" Five asked.
"The 24th" Vanya responded
"Of what?" Five asked
"March" Svet responded, sending her brother a small smile
"Good" He replies, returning her gesture.
"So, are we gonna talk about what just happened?" Luther asks Five, but Five just ignores Luther and continues making his sandwich.
"It's been 17 years." Luther states, getting up from his chair. Svetlana thought it was maybe to assert dominance, but either way she groaned at the gesture.
"It's been a lot longer than that." Five scoffs, taking a step closer to Luther then blinked behind him to grab something off the shelf.
"I haven't missed that." Luther grimaced causing Svetlana to roll her eyes.
"Where'd you go?" Diego asks the question everyone wants to know the answer to.
"The future" Five replies, blinking back to the head of the table. "It's shit, by the way" he added
"Called it" Klaus exclaimed at the same time Svet said "I knew it" under her breath.
"I should've listened to the old man. You know, jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice" Five states, quoting their father then looks up at Klaus and comments "Nice dress"
"Oh, well, danke!" Klaus responds.
"Wait, how did you get back?" Vanya asking the other question everyone wanted to know the answer to.
"In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every instance of time." He replies, but Svetlana has absolutely no idea what he's talking about and by the looks on her sibling's faces they don't either.
"That makes no sense" Diego states as Svetlana simultaneously says "What?"
"Well, it would if you were smarter." Five says to Diego, causing him to get up lunging to attack him, but Luther puts his arm up before he can do anything.
"How long were you there?" Luther asks
"Forty-five years. Give or take" He replies blankly, making Svet's eyes go wide and Diego and Luther sit back down again.
"So what are you saying? You're 58?" Luther asks
"No, my consciousness is 58. Apparently, my body is now 13 again" He replies angrily.
"Wait, how does that even work?" Vanya asks.
"Delores kept saying the equations were off. Eh. Bet she's laughing now" Five says, staring at the wall.
"Delores?" Vanya asks curiously as everyone is wondering who this mysterious "Delores" is.
"Guess I missed the funeral." Five says, completely ignoring Vanya's question and picking up the newspaper on the table.
"How'd you know about that?" Luther asks.
"He just said he went to the future, I think that's shit works Luther." Svetlana states. "That's also a really stupid question" she adds and Luther sends her yet another dirty look.
"Heart failure, huh?" Five asks
"Yeah" Diego replies but Luther butts in right after saying "No".
"Yes," Svet repeats, more aggressively than Diego and the other four siblings just stare at them.
"Hmm. Nice to see nothing's changed" Five states as he starts to walk out of the kitchen.
"Uh, that's it. That's all you have to say?" Allison asks, finally adding herself to the conversation.
"What else is there to say? The circle of life." He states, exiting the room.
"I mean, he's not wrong." Svet says with a shrug.
"Well... That was interesting" Luther says as Allison scoffs at their brother's antics.
~~~~
They all walked outside towards Ben's statue with umbrellas in hand, with the exception of Luther and Diego. Diego had given up his umbrella to their mother Grace, but Luther just didn't want one Svetlana guessed.
"Did something happen?" Grace asked the siblings, causing them to look at her in confusion.
"Dad died, remember?" Allison said.
"Oh. Yes, of course." Grace stated grimly.
"Is mom okay?" Allison asked Diego.
"Yeah, yeah, she's fine. She just needs to rest, you know, recharge." He reassured her.
"Are you sure?" Svetlana whispered to Diego who was on her left.
"Yeah, don't worry about it Svetka" He whispered back with a small smile.
Pogo walked up to the group with his cane in one hand and an umbrella in the other. "Whenever you're ready, dear boy" He said to Luther.
Luther slowly took off the cap of the urn and dumped out the ashes, which fell into a big pile on the ground and everyone cringed slightly. "Probably would've been better with some wind." He stated. "Svet?" He said and he gestured towards her.
Svet sighed before agreeing "Fine" she stated blankly and then moved her free hand around to move the ashes, making them appear as though they were flying through a nice breeze. Pogo smiled towards her gratefully before asking
"Does anyone wish to speak?" but everyone just avoided eye contact with the chimp. "Very well." he stated before continuing.
"In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made me what I am today. For that alone, I shall forever be in his debt" He said grimly with a sad smile. Svet looked over at Diego and could see the gears turning in his head.
"Don't do it" she whispers harshly towards him, but he just turned to her and furrowed his brows.
"He was my master and my friend. I shall miss him very much" Pogo continued. "He leaves behind a complicated legacy-" Pogo tries to say more but Diego cuts him off.
"He was a monster" Diego states simply, earning a laugh from Klaus and causing Svet to let out an exasperated sigh.
"He was a bad person and a worse father. The world's better off without him" Diego says and Svet hums quietly in agreement. She couldn't argue that the world was better with him in it, he really was not a great person or father at all, there was no denying that.
"Diego" Allison warns harshly.
"My name is Number Two. You know why? Because our father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names. He has mom do it." He said, anger dripping off of every word he spoke about the man.
"Would anyone like something to eat?" Grace asks, still acting strange in Svet's opinion, granted she hasn't seen her in a while but it was still odd.
"No, it's okay mom" Vanya answers.
"Oh, okay." Grace answers with a grim look on her face.
"Later, mom" Svet tells her mother with a smile and she can see her words made her mother much happier.
"Look, you wanna pay your respects. Go ahead. But you should at least be honest about the kinda man he was." Diego states angrily while walking forward so could face everyone.
"You should stop talking now." Luther threatens and Svet just knows this isn't going to end well.
Diego turns around towards Luther to argue some more. "You know, you of all people should be on my side here, Number One."
"I am warning you." Luther threatens Diego again. Svetlana and Klaus make eye contact and she just raises her eyebrows towards him in annoyance.
"After everything he did to you? He had to ship you a million miles away" Diego continues, gaslighting Luther's anger and irritation.
"Diego, stop talking." Luther grits through his teeth trying not to let his anger get the best of him and lunge forward so he can punch his brother.
"That's how much he couldn't stand the sight of you!" Diego says poking Luther in the chest. This was Luther's last straw so he lunges forward and swings his fist. They keep fighting each other and Pogo tries to stop them.
"Boys!, stop this at once!" he exclaims, clearly annoyed with the situation. Everyone backs away in the efforts of not getting hit by them.
"Come on Big Boy!" Diego yells, making Luther lunge forward but Diego punches his gut so he can get in a few punches on his back.
"Stop it" Vanya yells as Klaus chants "Hit him! Hit him!", no one knows who he's rooting for but they know he's not helping.
Pogo scoffs and walks back towards the house as the guys keep throwing each other around. They keep throwing punches until Luther grabs Diego by the collar.
"Get off me!" Diego yells as he flails around to get out of his grasp.
"I don't have time for this." Five sighs as the two keep throwing hits at one another and he walks back into the house. Svet stays outside worried that something might go very wrong.
"Come here big boy!" Diego yells, standing in front of Ben's statue. Luther lunges forward but Diego swerves so Luther punches the statue.
"No!" Svet screams as she drops her umbrella to put both her hands up in order to save the statue. "You idiots!" she screams once she puts Ben's statue back in place.
An irritated Allison goes to walk back inside when Diego pulls out a knife. Svetlana hears Vanya scream "Diego, no!" which makes her turn around from picking up her umbrella to see Diego throw a knife at Luther. She doesn't even have time to use her powers before it slices Luther's arm making him gasp in pain and clutch his arm then hurriedly walking inside.
"You never know when to stop do you?" Vayna asks.
"You got enough material for your sequel yet?" He retorts bitterly.
"He was my father, too." She replies before walking inside.
Diego walks over to Svetlana and Grace before grabbing Grace's arm and says "Mom. Let's go inside. Come on. Okay? Come on."
"Di, we need to talk." Svet said as she walked in the house with Diego and Grace but Diego just waved her off saying "Later".
17 years ago
All the siblings (excluding Vanya) were at the bottom of the stairs waiting for Vanya to blow the whistle. When the whistle was blown they all started running up the stairs. Diego had just gotten ahead of Luther when Five blinked in front of him.
"That's not fair, Five's cheating!" Diego exclaimed
"He adapted." stated their father.
Svet thought that maybe if she "adapted" then she wouldn't have to go into that god awful place today. So, that's what she did, she used her power to throw Luther to the side after she ran past Allison and Ben making him groan in pain as he hit the wall. Now, Luther was pissed so he ran extra fast to catch up to her then shoved her, she hit the wall hard but used her powers to make Luther stop so she could pass. She was almost at the top when Five blinked in front of her so she stopped him until she reached the top of the stairs, then she let him go.
~~~~
Diego had just finished getting his tattoo and it was Svet's turn, she sat in the chair and put her left arm out. Once the needle hit her skin her eyes glowed red and a red mist covered her hands, the young girl didn't have a high pain tolerance like she does now so these were just side effects of her being hurt. Allison and Klaus were sobbing into each other's arms, Diego stood silently crying and the other three boys sat in their chairs watching as the girl in front of them was almost completely covered in a red mist. She wasn't crying, screaming or groaning at the pain but she couldn't control how her powers acted. Reginald scoffed at the girl and walked away, presumably towards his study.
~~~~
Reginald was monitoring Numbers 1-7 while they slept but he had no way of monitoring Number 8 that night. "Why?" you may ask, which is what Svet was repeating to herself as the night went on. You see, Reginald had decided that Svetlana's little "act" when they had their tattoos was quite enough and that she needed to be taught a lesson. Most days her powers would go out of control at some point in the day which meant that she had to go into this other room at night instead of her bedroom. It resembled a cell more than a room, he would put her in there and place the dozens of locks on the door. She was told repeatedly that the only way out was to use her powers to take off the locks, her father said it was for control, but she knew it was her punishment. She'd spent up to two days there before with little to no food. These nights still haunt her dreams to this day.
Present day
"Hey Svet, I'm leaving." Diego said as he popped his head into her room to see her lying on her rarely used mattress, staring at the ceiling.
"Can I come with?" she asked and Diego hesitated for a minute before agreeing. "Good cause I'm all packed up and my flight isn't for a few days." she said.
"Flight to where?" Diego asked, still curious of where she had been all these years.
"Uh, where I live dumbass." she retorted humorously.
~~~~
As they walked into the kitchen Diego decided he wanted to be dramatic so he said. "Alright, I guess I'll see you in what, ten years? When Pogo dies?"
Svet hits his arm "Don't joke about that." she says harshly, but he just looks at her unamused.
"Not if you die first." Allison says
"Yeah, love you too, sis." Diego replies.
"Wow, great burn Allison, I think Diego needs some ice." Svet mutters sarcastically.
"Good luck on your next film." Diego says, grabbing something from the table. "Hope it turns out better than your marriage." he unnecessarily adds.
Diego and Svetlana are about to walk out the house when Klaus approaches the two.
"Are- Are we all leaving?" he asks.
"No, we're leaving" Diego replies, gesturing to himself and Svet.
"Oh, fabulous! I'll get my things." Klaus says with a giddy tone and lightly clapping his hands.
Just as Diego and Svet were opening the car doors and getting inside, Klaus comes running into the car yelling "Hey! Diego." making Diego sigh.
"You know, every time I close my eyes, I see a diarrhetic hippo about to shit on my face. It's terrifying." Klaus continues.
"You should probably get that checked out." Svetlana says.
"Terrific." Diego sighs, as he turns on the car.
"No! No." Klaus mutters, which makes Svetlana face contort with confusion.
"Lean back." Diego informs Klaus before revving the engine, driving away from their childhood home.
"Look at us." Svet comments "Just like old times. Well, except Ben of course." She adds making Diego give her a brief glance with sad eyes.
"Yeah, sure." Klaus mutters with a slight chuckle and glancing at ghost Ben beside him, neither sibling hearing him as they were too preoccupied in their own thoughts.
~~~~
They arrived at the waterfront when Diego suddenly stopped the car and got out, Svetlana was worried so she followed him outside. He stood by the edge staring at something in his hand when Svetlana approached.
"What are we doing here Di?" she asked him anxiously. He didn't reply, he just took something out of his pocket. Svetlana looked at it because it seemed familiar, but then she realized it was their father's monocle, the one Luther was going crazy about.
"Where did you get that?" she asked frantically, having the worst possible outcomes run through her head.
"I found it on mom, I took it from her so Luther wouldn't go crazy on her." he explained, making Svetlana smile at how much he loved their mother.
"Oh ok. Well, what do you plan on doing with it?" she asked as he let it dangle from his hand looking as though he was contemplating his options.
"Yoo-hoo, Diego! I hate to interrupt any kind of brooding moment you might be having, but come one man, we're starving!" Klaus exclaimed from the car, Svetlana and Diego glanced at each other with a shared look of confusion due to their brother's use of "we". Diego then glared back at Klaus, making him sigh in defeat and get back in the car.
"You know you could just give Luther that stupid monocle and this would be over with." Svetlana stated, turning back to look at Diego, who still looked deep in thought.
"But then he'd think I did it." Diego replied with a sigh. "I know I hate the old man but I'd never kill him."
"Well he already thinks I did it." Svetlana said with a shrug, hoping this might make Diego feel at least a little better.
"How are you so sure of that?" Diego inquired, making Svetlana's shoulders tense, but in such a small manner that he didn't even notice.
"Well, if you hadn't seen me for over a decade, had no idea where the hell I've been or what I've been doing in that time, hadn't talked to me once since we left that wretched place, you'd probably be suspicious too Di." She replied, with a slight bitter tone in her voice that Diego definitely noticed. "And don't lie and say you wouldn't be."
"I mean I guess I would, but I still don't know where you live, what you actually do and I haven't seen your face because you refuse to get a normal phone." Diego stated, Svetlana had a sense of guilt wash over her. She never thought about how her siblings would've felt when she left, she just knew that she had to leave.
"I never thought about it when I left, I'm sorry Diego." Svetlana said quietly, almost in a whisper and Diego barely heard her. He didn't reply which didn't make Svetlana's feeling of guilt any smaller, he just stared blankly outwards and dropped their father's monocle in the water.
Suddenly Diego's radio started saying something about gunshots at Griddy's Doughnuts, a place that held a special place in all of the Hargreeve's hearts. Svetlana and Diego both glanced at each other before he jogged ahead and snatched the radio off the car's hood
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter out,
i've just been busy with school
-hope you enjoyed it and remember
to comment, vote and share
- sarah xx