C H A P T E R N I N E
Ben woke up with a groan, then sighed. "My head—"
"Not so loud."
"Klaus? Klaus?" Ben muttered at the voice, sitting up from the Billiards table. "Klaus, where are you?"
"I'm here, I'm here." Klaus replied, eyes still closed and halfway under the table. "Don't panic. Nobody should panic."
Ben exhaled sharply as he got off the table. "Do you—" He started, pointing at Klaus.
Klaus stood up as well, laughing. "No. Not a thing."
"Same."
"Yeah, that was some night." Both chuckled, and Klaus did a little happy dance.
"It was." Ben laughed, holding up a shoe with a ball inside of it. "It really was."
"See?" Klaus snapped his fingers. "I knew you had a little of the ol' Ben in ya. Now you can stop with all the sulking and the brooding."
"I don't brood."
"Ben-er-ino."
Ben's smile quickly washed away. "Don't call me that."
"We were making so much progress." Klaus whined.
"With what?"
"With your Mr. Tough Guy routine. Last night! I remember!" Klaus clapped his hands. "You opened your kimono to me, remember? And you showed me who you really are inside. All those bottled-up emotions."
"I was drunk." Ben said firmly.
"You're a good person, Ben," Klaus continued, despite Ben's objections. "But you're trying really, really hard to be a bad one."
"I hate you." Ben seethed.
"No, you don't."
Ben furiously put on his shoes. "I do. I do. I really do!"
"No, no! Ah, classic defense mechanism. Pushing away the people who care about you the most. Just like Dad." Klaus put emphasis on the last three words. "You know, it wouldn't hurt to try to get to know him just a little bit better. You'd be surprised how much love he has to give. And also, he's got this whole plan to save the universe. Done! One and done! Come on! Ben-eri—" Klaus cut himself off as Ben walked away and flipped him off. However, Ben tripped over a body and fell over it with a grunt.
"Fuck you." Celeste mumbled in pain. "Get off." Celeste groggily pushed him off roughly. He sat up with a grunt, still on the floor.
Celeste rubbed her head as she looked around the room. Bottles, fish crackers, and almost every piece trash known to Earth were scattered everywhere, and she had somehow changed into a weird all-black outfit — as if the Grim Reaper were to attend a Met Gala. "Please tell me you remember what happened last night." She pleaded, finally turning to Ben and realising that he was not wearing a shirt.
Ben frowned, quite oblivious to the fact that she was staring. He stood up with a roll of his eyes. "If you're going to torment me on the opening of my kimono—"
"Opening of your what?"
"Nevermind." Ben concluded that they both genuinely had no idea what happened. So much for the no-alcohol rule she had. "Don't remember anything."
Celeste shook her head, finally tearing her eyes away from his torso. She spoke slowly as she combed back through her memory. "All I remember is. . . half of Sloane's bachelorette party and it's like I blacked out the entire night. I don't even remember drinking. In fact, I swore not to drink."
He only shrugged in response, then left. Celeste didn't attempt to cover up a snicker as she saw the word "Asshole" written on his back.
"I don't remember you drinking either," Klaus walked over, pulling her up from the ground. "But I'm not exactly a reliable source."
Celeste frowned. "It just feels like a huge chunk of memory to lose. Not to mention that I now can't remember anything about Luther's wedding. I feel like an asshole."
"World's ending in less than 24 hours." Klaus stretched, and a few cracks were heard. "At least you were there. Fun times."
Before Celeste could respond, Allison walked into the area. "Hey." She greeted. Klaus and Celeste waved in response. "I just wanted to come by and say I'm sorry. I've been really shitty lately."
"Weren't exactly shitty to me," Celeste grabbed a bag of food from a chair. "But I appreciate the apology as long as you're giving it to Viktor and Luther as well." Klaus pat Allison's back.
"Thanks, and I already did. Don't worry." Allison smiled. "Dad called a meeting at noon today. Are you gonna come?"
There was a pause, and Celeste frowned at the thought of it
"He has a plan." Allison elaborated,
"A plan he thinks can save the universe." Klaus added.
Allison grabbed Celeste's hands. "Please, come."
Celeste sighed. "I'll be there."
"Great!" She exclaimed, walking away. "Okay, I'll just go inform the others."
Klaus and Celeste ate breakfast — which was just a bag of goldfish crackers and orange juice. Shortly after, they and the rest of the family were seated in the lobby, waiting for Five and Reginald to return.
"Woo! Five! Yeah!" Klaus cheered along with the others.
"Here he is!"
"That speech last night! Wow!" Diego clapped.
"Whoa! Brought me to tears, you big softy." Lila said, wiping away fake tears and placing her hands on her heart.
Viktor joined in. "I especially liked when you referred to us as a family bound by destiny and love."
"Yes." Celeste whistled, sitting in between Klaus and Ben. "That was great."
"Okay." Five gave good-humoured smile and took a seat, ignoring Lila's outstretched arms for a hug. "Enough. It was the booze talking. In the light of day, you're all still deplorable."
"And your day's about to get worse." Reginald interrupted them, and Celeste had to suppress a groan. "The Norse had seven sleepers. The Blackfoot, seven stars. As a boy, I heard the legend of the seven bells. All these stories are the same. The village is under threat by flood, by fire, by a night that never ends. A shaman brings his disciples to a sacred cave. He tells them if they can ring the seven magic bells, the village will be saved, and all will be restored just as it was."
"Reggie?" Lila was leaning on Diego and raised her hand. "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." Reginald paced a bit. "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, they left a way to put things back together if the universe ever faced total annihilation. There is a portal in the universe. I built this hotel around it, and on the other side is the answer."
"And. . . we're supposed to, what?" Luther frowned. "Just stroll in there, ring some bells, and fix this shit?"
"Sarcasm aside, you are mostly right. Except for the guardian. "
"What kind of guardian?" Viktor asked.
"Kinda guardian that does this." Diego gestured to his sliced off fingers. "He had a sword.
"It is a force to be reckoned with." Reginald commented.
"See? Yeah. This is where you lose me." Luther said.
"This is where he loses you?" Lila rolled her eyes. "I checked out at the sacred cave."
"Why would the builders of this 'back door' need to have a guardian?" Viktor asked with a shake of his head.
"Ah! To protect it," Sloane quipped. "From people who want to use it for nefarious means."
"That is correct, Sloane." Reginald said monotonously, nodding.
"So it's gonna take all of us to defeat the thing protecting the bells." Allison concluded in an authoritative voice.
Five scoffed, seated in the coach across the lobby cart she was sitting on. "You're actually buying his crap?"
"How is a guardian and bells any crazier than time-traveling briefcases and assassins with cartoon masks?" Allison shot back.
"Actually, she's got you there." Luther pointed out.
Ben stood up and walked over beside Reginald. "I'm in."
"Me too." Diego suddenly stood up, and Lila fell back on the couch with a small 'ow.' "But I think some of us should stay back." Diego continued. "Like Lila."
"Uh. . ." Lila's head tilted as she stood up. "Or you can stay, and I can go."
"No." Allison stood up as well. "This is much bigger than all of us. Nobody can stay back."
"You, my children, are all that stands between us and oblivion." Reginald said, stepping forward. "Are we ready to go?"
"Well, I say we vote." Viktor spread his hands.
"This isn't a democracy." Ben scowled. "Dad's calling the shots."
Five clicked his tongue. "I'm with Viktor. We vote."
"The world is ending, and you want to count hands?" Reginald asked in disbelief. Celeste gave a low whistle and lied down with her head on her arms.
"You're asking us to risk our lives." Luther emphasised. "I think it's only fair you give us time to discuss it. Privately." Reginald left with a scoff and Ben returned to his seat. "Why don't we meet back here in an hour?" Luther suggested.
The group agreed and split again, and Ben stopped Celeste from leaving by holding her shoulder down. She raised an eyebrow, but sat back down beside him anyway.
"What's your happiest memory?" He suddenly asked.
"What?" Her eyes narrowed. "Why does it matter?"
"I want you to think about it." Ben reasoned, sitting more upright. "Whatever it is. Picture it clearly, as if it happened yesterday."
Celeste closed her eyes for good measure. "That's not. . . exactly easy."
Ben didn't care to ask what it was, or why it was complicated. "Don't you want more memories like that?"
"It's not exactly possible to make more memories like it." Celeste opened her eyes and crossed her arms. "And it's not exactly comforting that you're trying to appeal to my emotions instead of being an asshole."
"I'm not exactly a two-dimensional person." Ben dragged out the word 'exactly', just as she had.
"I do want more days, and I do want more time. . . but I'm just so, so tired." Celeste reasoned. "Think of a time you've failed."
Ben mirrored her, and his arms crossed as well. "I've never failed."
"You and I both know that's bullshit. Think of your biggest failure, then imagine going through it multiple times. Now imagine that the fate of the world depends on whether you succeed or not. It's exhausting."
"It's what we were made to do in life!" He emphasised.
"Life isn't really worth living for anymore. I mean, if we survive, then what?"
"Your family? Klaus, Luther—"
"What about it? If the Apocalypse, or apocalypses, never happened, I wouldn't have seen any of them at all."
"So you're still voting to stay?"
"Are you still voting to go?"
Ben sighed, leaning back down on the couch. "I'm not done living."
. . .
"I think you can all guess which way I'll be voting." Allison started in the middle of the lobby. "We've all been through a lot. We've all lost people, mannequins. . . but their deaths have to mean something. Which is why I'll be voting to go with Dad."
Lila hopped off the stairs. "What she said." She whispered as she passed by Diego. "Let's go save the bloody universe!"
"Woo-hoo!" Klaus cheered.
"All right, well, since she said yes," Diego kicked himself off the wall. "I vote stay. How's that for nice?"
"You're not being serious?" Lila asked, but Diego was serious.
"It's his vote, Lila." Allison said. "Klaus?"
"I am with Father." He nodded at Reginald, who responded with a "Hm."
"Okay, that's four to one. Celeste?"
"I. . ." She hesitated. "Abstain."
"What?" Allison asked with a shake of her head, controlling her rage with a thin veil of concern. "You can't abstain."
"She can." Ben said from beside Reginald, then gestured at all of them. "There's an even number of us."
The rest didn't bother to argue, and just nodded. "Viktor?"
Viktor sighed. "Look, I wanna believe, okay? I really do. I just can't shake the feeling we don't know what we're getting ourselves into. "
"No, but we know what we've got if we don't." Allison crossed her arms. "We have to go into this together. Viktor. A family."
"You can't just keep throwing the word "family" around. It isn't enough. I vote stay."
Allison made no comment. "Luther?"
"Um, Sloane and I talked," He glanced at Sloane. "And, well, we're out. Look, we wanna spend whatever time we have left together, and not fighting some guy with a sword and ringing bells and stuff. So. . ."
"Well, dead even. Four in, four out." Viktor said.
Reginald looked at Five. "That leaves you, Number Five."
"I saw the future, and it told me to sit this one out." He narrowed his eyes. "I vote stay. It's time we accept our fate."
"You're all pathetic." Allison whispered, but it was audible to everyone. She left the room, and a thunderclap was sounded in the background.
"Why can't we go in there, just the four of us?" Ben asked.
"That would mean certain failure." Reginald replied. "There must be seven. Children, I can't say I'm happy with this. But I see now the blame falls on me. I failed you when you were young, and I have failed you now. And in doing so, I have doomed the entire universe. If anyone needs me, I'll be in the courtyard. . . awaiting the end."
"Idiots." Ben rolled his eyes, leaving the room as well.
"Was that a real apology?" Viktor looked around, and Celeste laughed.
"The world really is ending." Celeste doubled over. "Sir Hargreeves giving an apology, ha!"
"The man's never apologized for anything in his life." Luther added, smiling a little, perhaps out of pity.
"I actually feel bad for him." Diego muttered.
"Don't worry." Five shrugged. "It'll pass."
"So now what?" Sloane asked, sat next to Luther.
"We wait for the end." Five instructed as they all stood up. "See you around. It's been interesting."
"Love you all." Celeste said, walking away.
"Hey, is there something going on with you and Ben 10?" Klaus caught up to her. "Juicy tea I missed out on?"
Celeste grinned at the nickname, but shook her head. "No, why?"
Klaus shrugged. "I don't know, actually — vibes. The way he said you could abstain? Break of character, honestly. You sure nothing happened between you two last night?"
"Even if something did, I, and even he, would have zero recollection of it." Celeste waved it off. "Besides, it's most likely what you just said — kimono's open and the poor guy is just trying to close it again."
"Yeah," Klaus clicked his tongue, unconvinced. Celeste disappeared into the elevator. "Just kimono open my ass." he rolled his eyes in sarcasm.
. . .
"No!"
With a single scream, everyone came piling in the White Buffalo Suite, only to be met with Luther's body and Sloane crouched over it.
"What happened?" Five asked.
Sloane was sobbing, struggling to get her words out. "He went to go get ice. I couldn't— He didn't come back. I, I don't know."
"It must have been him." Lila said softly. "The guardian."
"She's right. Whatever did this had a long curved blade." Diego kneeled down next to Luther's body.
"How. . ." Viktor bit his inner cheek. "How can you be sure?"
"I don't know much, but I know knives."
"Children, what's going on?" Reginald asked as he entered the room. "Oh God! Luther." He exclaimed with a gasp.
"If we attacked first, he would still be alive." Ben muttered. Suddenly, the building started shaking, and an explosion pushed all of them back on the ground. Ben glanced out into the hallway, only to see the Kugelblitz almost finished consuming the world. "G-Guys? Hey, guys!" He called their attention, panicked.
"What are we gonna do with Luther?" Sloane asked.
"Okay, we're out of time!" Five announced. "The Kugelblitz is here."
"Everyone into the passage!" Reginald commanded, holding the door to the portal open. "It's the only way!" Celeste hurriedly pushed Ben inside.
"You agreed to stay!" Viktor told Diego.
"They killed Luther, all right?" Diego gestured at the body, running inside the doorway as well.
"Come on, children! Hurry!" Reginald urged
"We can't leave him." Sloane said, still clutching unto Luther's body.
"We go now, or we're gonna die. Okay?" Allison said, trying to pull Sloane to the entrance.
"We have to go!" Viktor tugged her. "Come on."
"Children! Hurry, please! Come on!"
"Go, go, go!" Sloane finally ran into the tunnel with a sob.
"Come on! What are you waiting for?" Klaus asked while Five stood still. "Get in the tunnel!"
"This isn't over!" Five yelled at Reginald while he entered.
As Klaus tried to enter the tunnel, he was stopped. "Wait! What are you doing?"
"You've done a fine job bringing me back into the family fold." Reginald said. "You're just more trouble than you're worth. Sorry, Klaus."
"No, Dad!" Klaus yelled as he shut the door.
Then the Kugelblitz's fire consumed all in sight.