𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈
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𝟏𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕
I wasn't sure I'd heard her right. Pregnant? Since when?
"Whe- What?..." She didn't reply, and instead shoved another sushi roll in her mouth. Diego gave an awkward smile and I knew she wasn't kidding.
I raised my eyebrows slightly, plastering a smile onto my lips. "Congratulations! I'm happy for you!"
Diego's smile smoothed and Lila grinned as best as she could through her mouthful.
When she finally swallowed, a small chuckle escaped her lips, "Thanks."
I wasn't sure what to think. Yes, I was happy for them-of course I was. But why tell me? Did the others know?
As if reading my mind, Diego added in a hushed voice, "You're the first person we've told. Don't let anyone else know about this yet, okay?"
I nodded obediently. "You have my word."
Lila handed me a plate of various sushi, placing another unagi roll in her mouth. "Eat."
I smiled.
It wasn't long before Reggie came bounding down the stairs, calling to us all. "Gather up, children. Now that we've had a chance to catch our breath, the real work can begin."
I finished the rice I was chewing and hopped down from the barstool.
"Ah, the myth of the seven bells, eh?" Five spoke in a matter-of-fact kind of way.
"Exactly. Somebody's being paying attention."
Diego and Lila approached my side and the three of us joined the others.
"Okay, so we find the bells, then what?"
"No, no, no, no." What?- "The bells are just a metaphor for this."
He held up his notebook, displaying a pattern of circles, lines, and squares, with neat cursive writing below.
"The sigil."
"Correct, Number Five." Reggie praised, "The sigil is the key to the seven bells. Once we find this symbol, we're one step closer to resetting the universe."
Sloane spoke up, "What do we do when we find it?"
"I don't know." Reggie sighed.
Yay. This is just great.
"Excuse me?" Viktor waved his hands in annoyance. "We're here because you said you have a plan."
"I do..." Liar. "Up to a point."
Lila scoffed and it took me a second to realize I had too. "Great. So we'll just stay in this hotel forever, staring at the walls, and eating bad sushi." I didn't think it was that bad...
"Finding the sigil is our only way out of here and the best chance we have of resetting the universe." Allison defended. Huh.
I wasn't the only one who thought something was wrong, since Five added, "Funny how you and Dad are on the same page again."
Viktor sighed, and changed the subject. I got the feeling they knew more than they were letting on. "Okay, uh, where do we start?"
"We'll split into groups. I will go with Allison and Sloane, Ben and Five, you're with Viktor."
What about us?-
"No, we want Allison." Viktor argued.
"Ben for Allison." Five added. Yeah, they definitely knew something. "We've trained together, so it makes more sense if we take Allison."
"Yeah, no thanks."
"Why not?" Allison glanced over at Reggie.
"Splendid idea." He said, "Allison, you go with the Umbrellas. Sparrows, stick together. Everyone take a different floor. We must find the sigil."
Allison walked off, soon followed by Viktor and Five. The latter eyed me as he walked past. I tried to smile.
"What about us?" Diego called.
Reggie raised a dismissive hand, "You're a trio. Now, spread out, leave no stone unturned, and meet back here in 30 minutes."
I followed after Lila and Diego as they made their way to the elevator. Diego held his speargun tightly.
"Did you hear that? He called us a trio." Lila grinned, turning to look between us. "I think your father's starting to grow on me."
The elevator rang as the doors slid open, and Diego skipped out, baring the speargun. Lila and I followed closely behind.
"Hey, we're gonna make it out of this mess, alright?" Diego assured. I hung back a little since it sounded like the conversation was about to get personal. I didn't want to intrude.
I took my times tracing the wallpaper pattern with my finger as I walked, keeping a safe distance from them. Their voices stopped, though, when I turned the corner after them. Hang on. They were just here. Where...Shit.
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𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕
"Where the hell is Y/N?" Diego turned back to the corridor they had just walked down, though the young girl was no where in sight. Lila followed, her expression twisting into one of worry as her heart beat faster.
As the pair made their way back, they only became more concerned. Where was the speargun Diego had just placed down? And hadn't there been a cleaning trolley there just a second ago?
As the pair grew more anxious at Y/N's sudden disappearance, the girl tried hard not to panic. She ran down the corridor, desperate for a glimpse of one of her companions.
"Diego?" She called, her voice shaking slightly. "Lila?!"
Neither replied, only making her state worse. They wouldn't have just left her, right?
Y/N collapsed against the wall, tears threatening to spill. She swiped them away before they could fall and sucked in a deep breath.
"Fuck..." She muttered, mentally scolding herself for being such a fool. She should just return to the lobby and meet them there. There was no use in panicking.
The girl approached the nearest elevator, stopping at the sign beside it. Engraved in the black square was a gold number 5. She was sure they'd been on the sixth floor though...Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her?...
No. No, she definitely pressed the button for the sixth floor. So how on Earth did she end up here?
Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by a low rumbling noise, and the floor shook beneath her feet. The lights swayed and turned a warm yellow, sending the corridor into a golden luminescence. She could faintly hear the sound of a bell ringing too.
As Y/N's thoughts circled in a panicked frenzy, the rumbling sound travelled along the walls. Before she even had time to process what was happening, the wall exploded beside her and she felt something slash against her leg.
With a chilling scream, she dropped to the floor, blood streaming from the deep gash in her thigh. She looked up to see what had been the cause for the wound, to find something of a warrior staring back at her. It bore a samurai sword, dripping with her blood.
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𝟏𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕
Fuck.
I shoved myself away as best as I could, trying hard not to focus on the pool of blood forming rapidly below me. Focus. Focus on the ringing.
The soft blue light began to glow from my hands as it had so many times before, and an electric wave burst from my chest, sending the guardian rumbling backwards.
I had to run now. There was no way in hell I was gonna be able to fight this thing off alone.
I hauled myself up against the wall, glancing towards the crimson stain on the carpet. Shit, that was a lot of blood.
I hadn't the time to wait around as the guardian was already pulling himself to his feet. With a deep breath, I sucked down the pain in my leg and ran.
Running wasn't as hard as I'd thought. I'd done this a thousand times before, minus the injury, but my body had been through worse. In fact, despite the situation, it actually felt good.
I could hear the metallic steps of the guardian behind me as he closed the distance between us. The feeling in my leg numbed, though somehow this made everything so much worse. I was aware of how quickly I was slowing down.
A sharp turn of the corner and I ran into something hard. Whatever it was stayed right side up as I toppled to the ground. He looked down at me with a look of both annoyance and disgust. Of course it was Ben.
"Y/N!" Sloane offered me a hand, hoisting me up quickly. "What happened?!"
I couldn't find my words. Having just ran for so long after losing so much blood knocked me short of breath.
"I...guardian...sword..." Was all I managed to get out, but the three of them understood. Wait, three? Shit...Five.
Ben and Sloane turned the corner to see the guardian stood at the end. The boy approached me.
"Y/N." He mumbled, helping me back to the floor.
"Five." I replied, though he didn't say anything more.
Instead, he pulled my leg out flat and removed his tie. With firm yet gentle hands, he wound the fabric around my thigh, tying a knot. I threw my head back with a scream muffled by his hand before taking a deep breath. He sighed.
"God, you really can't stay out of trouble, can you?" He scolded, yet a smile crept onto his lips. I grinned back, glad that he didn't seem upset to see me.
He removed his hand from my mouth and helped me back up again, before pressing a firm kiss to my lips. He pulled away much too soon, but I supposed he had reason too. We were still just moments away from dying.
Sloane's piercing scream filled my ears and I hesitantly peered around the corner. I wasn't prepared to see her bleeding out.
Instead, she was running towards the guardian. My brain couldn't even begin to comprehend how, but she flipped through the air, still with the grace that she always held, and landed behind the guardian.
Five moved past me and pulled an axe from the wall. I stayed put.
Ben glanced at me and back at the guardian, before deciding to join me. He leaned against the wall, blocking my view of the others. Really? Then again though, maybe it was for the best. I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle anymore deaths...unless it was my own.
"You okay?" Ben asked as I fell back against the wall again. Shit, maybe the wound had been deeper than I'd thought. My head was beginning to reel.
I scoffed, closing my eyes. "Why do you care?"
He didn't answer. I peeled an eye open to see him scanning my face, eyebrows furrowed.
His gaze dropped to the floor before he muttered, "I don't."
Then he pushed himself away from the wall and left to help the others. I shut my eyes again and felt my body sliding down to the floor. Just keep your eyes open. Stay awake.
I forced my eyes wide, squeezing them shut quickly and blinking a couple times.
There was more screaming and grunting as the three fought off the guardian. The more I tried to stay awake, the more I wanted to sleep. Their voices became muffled, the metallic sounds of the guardian too. My eyes fell shut again.
Though I was vaguely aware that I wasn't falling asleep, rather that I was dying, I no longer had the energy to peel open my eyes again. I could feel my breath slowing as it shakily clutched onto the life that was slipping out of me.
This was it. I was going to die. No one was here to help me now, not like they had in 1963.
My thoughts strayed to all those we had lost; Klaus, Luther, Stan...Dad. I tried to focus on them. I'd see them again at least. Unless I went to hell, which wasn't entirely impossible.
Still, as I took my final breaths, I tried to look at the positive. I'd see them again, and that was all that truly mattered. I smiled.
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so...yeah ur dead again 🥰
anyways, this book is so close to finishing, it's so sad ;(
i think it'll only be two/three chapters now until the end, but i still wanna thank all of u sm for making it this far. i love and appreciate u all so much, literally u have no clue <33
hope u enjoyed, and i'll see u next Friday :)
-eva xoxo