Pandora twisted the silver knob, opening the door and letting herself back into her home. She dropped her bag on a countertop before walking back to the living room. Her older sister Marin was curled up in one of the large chairs in the living room, peeping her head around the corner as Pandora stepped in.
"Did your exhibit go well?" Marin asked with genuine curiosity.
"Yeah, a good handful of non regulars showed up so that's pretty good," Pandora said, turning on the tv to the news before sitting down. "We're expecting more people coming in over the next few days," Pandora picked up some knitting needles and the blanket that she had been working on, continuing where she left off.
Marin broke the short length of silence that developed while watching the news and asked, "Are you picking up Klaus in the morning or am I?"
"I told him I would, I even called in for tomorrow..." Pandora started, however her attention was grabbed by the current news report: "Sir Reginald Hargreeves has been found dead in his home...."
Pandora gasped, setting down her needles and placing her hands over her mouth, "Oh my god." Marin too was now glued to the tv screen ahead of them, not nearly as affected as her younger sister.
"My god," Marin commented, "I thought the old man would never drop dead."
...
1994
Pandora stepped up onto the stairs of the Umbrella Academy, her mother holding her hand tightly in one hand and Marin in the other. Robin let go of Pandora's hand just for a moment to knock on the doors of the academy, grabbing Pandora's hand yet again after.
"Momma, why are we here?" Pandora asked, looking up at her mom.
"Because sweetie, we gotta meet our neighbors, that what's what we do what you move somewhere new," Robin explained. "Besides, there someone here that can help you Pandora."
In that moment, the door of the academy opened, and they were met by a blonde woman wearing an apron, "Are you here to see Sir Reginald?" The woman asked.
"Yes, we are," Robin nodded.
The woman smiled then opened the door wider for them to enter, "Sir Reginald is in his office at the moment, I will take you up to meet him. Do you want me to introduce them to the other children?" The woman asked
"Of course, Marin and Pandora will love to meet them." Robin nodded.
"Great, my name is Grace," The woman smiled yet again, "The children are in their study at the moment, but they will love to meet someone new. Follow me please," They followed Grace down several hallways, eventually coming upon a collection of bedrooms.
"This here, is Vanya, or Number Seven," Grace introduced. "Vanya, meet Pandora and Marin," The girl that was standing in that particular bedroom gave a short wave before looking back down at her books.
"They have numbers for names?" Robin asked.
"Sir Reginald gave them numbers, I gave them names," Grace smiled, "Now, here in this next room is Diego, or Number Two," They went around, introducing themselves to everyone. Luther, Number One. Allison, Number Three. Klaus, Number Four. Five, Number Five. Then finally Ben, Number Six.
"If you want to now, I can take you up to Sir Reginald," Grace said.
"Of course." Robin nodded, then let go of Pandora and Marin's hands, "I'll be done before you know it. If you need anything, just come and get me. I love you two." She kissed them both on the top of their heads, then followed Grace up the stairs.
Given the new and very unfamiliar environment, Pandora and Marin stayed right where they were, shoulder to shoulder in the hallway. From their position in the middle of the hallway, they saw two young kids come out of their rooms and start whispering. One of them was introduced to them as Luther and the other was Allison. They walked over to the pair and said hello for the second time that evening.
"You wanna play hide and seek?" Allison asked. Pandora and Marin first looked at eachother, then nodded shortly. "Good! Vanya, you go with Marin and Ben you go with Pandora."
"Why do I have to play with a buddy?" Ben questioned, almost complaining.
"They've never played here and they don't know anywhere to hide, what if they get scared? I'll count to one hundred in my room, go!" As soon as she said that, everyone scattered, including Allison who bolted to her room.
"Follow me!" Ben said, then grabbed Pandora's hand as they ran down the hallway, at the end, they came across a kitchen. Ben opened an empty floor cabinet and motioned for Pandora to get in. After her, he squeezed himself in too and shut the door.
"Do you have a power too?" Pandora asked after spending quite a few minutes in the dark of the cabinet.
"Uh, I don't know." Ben responded. "But I hope I can fly."
"That would be so cool! I wish I could fly," Pandora whispered, "You wanna be best friends? All I have is Marin."
"Yeah, best friends," Ben smiled.
...
Pandora opened the doors to the Umbrella Academy, greeted by the large wooden stairs ahead of her. She took off her coat, hanging it on a nearby rack. The house was eerily silent like it had been for the past thirteen years, earlier times willed with laughter and yelling children. Now it destined to stay this quiet for the rest of its existence.
"Pandora? Is that you?" Pandora turned her head to see the the person the voice came from in just the other room. Number Three, better known as Allison Hargreeves, stood in the doorway. Allison stood a lot taller from the last time she saw her in person, although, Marin and her were always seeing her in blockbuster films.
A smile danced across Pandora's face, it'd been years since she'd seen her welcoming face, "Allison, it's so good to see you again," Allison pulled Pandora into a hug, towering over her short stature, "I just wish we were meeting on better conditions, I'm so sorry about your Father."
Allison let go of the hug and sighed, "You know, things happen and it was his time to go, coroner said that he passed from a heart attack." Suddenly Allison perked up with another question, "Will Marin be coming anytime soon? For the funeral at least? She spent as much time over here as you did."
"Marin's at piano rehearsal, but she'll be here for the funeral. She'll be glad to see everyone again," Pandora nodded.
"I'm glad... I just," Allison began, "I was afraid that you wouldn't come because of what Vanya said in her book," Allison stated, looking down at the floor before looking back up at Pandora again.
Pandora shrugged, not letting Allison be aware of how much Vanya's words had hurt her, "I'm aware of what Vanya wrote in her book and to be honest, I didn't really appreciate on how she painted me as a whore. But, there comes a point in the process of where you can only forgive," Pandora said truthfully. "Speaking of which, have you seen Klaus come into the house? I was supposed to pick him up from rehab but they said he checked out last night."
The actress looked around as if she was collecting her thoughts, "I haven't seen him yet, but Diego and Luther might have," she then suggested, "I would suggest looking around, I'm going to wait until Vanya shows up so she's not alone when she get here."
"Good Idea, I'll talk to you later Allison," Pandora smiled, then passed by Allison, pacing up the steps ahead of her. As she reached the top of the stairs, she turned to the left, heading towards Reginald Hargreeves' office with the feeling that Klaus would be ransacking his dad's office, looking for anything of value. That suspicion came true as soon as she stepped into the office.
Klaus had his back to the door, his arms moving frantically as he searched for anything worth something. "So, Klaus... Where were you when I was supposed to pick you up from rehab?" Pandora asked, leaning against the frame of the door. Klaus dropped whatever he was carrying, the objects scattering across the hardwood floor, obviously startled at her voice.
He straightened up laughed a little bit to hopefully work the disappointment off of Pandora. "Oh, my dear Pandora it's so good to see you! They let me out just last night, I'm so sorry that I didn't get the memo to you in time," Klaus said, feigning innocence before moving to hug Pandora.
"Klaus you saw me just a couple of weeks ago."
"But you know how much I miss your face. Hey! Have you seen anyone else yet? You know, besides Ben? I saw Diego but he's always brooding, he's more brooding than usual and Ben's always following me around, besides when he's with you," Klaus asked, letting her go from his hug.
"I saw Allison when I walked in, and Vanya's on her way," Pandora told him.
"Speak of the devil, Allison is that you?" Klaus asked, moving past pandora and hugging his sister who had now appeared in the doorway as well, "Long time, too long. I was actually hoping to see you, actually. I wanted your autograph, add it to my collection."
"So you just got out of rehab I hear?" Allison asked, letting him go from a hug.
"No, no, no, no," Klaus laughed, pulling down his coat sleeves to cover up the rehab bracelet he had on his wrist, "I'm done with all of that, ask Pandora even. I just came down here to prove myself that the old man was really gone. And he is! Yay! He's dead!" Klaus moved back into the room, near the desk. "You know how I know? Because if he were alive, not one of us would set foot in this room. He was always in here, our entire childhood, plotting his next torment," He finished off with sitting in the chair to further prove his point. "Remember how he used to look at us? With that god awful scowl? Thank Christ he's not our real father, so we wouldn't inherit those cold dead eyes! Ah!" Klaus pushed back his eyelids, making a face as he did "Number Three!" Allison couldn't help herself but laugh.
"Get out of his chair," Yet another Hargreeves sibling stepped inside the room. This time, it was Number One, known as Luther. Pandora hadn't seen him in several years, and he seemed like he hasn't changed a bit since then. Still a daddy's boy and still hardass, however, he did seemed less confident in his step.
"Oh, wow Luther, you uh, really filled out the past several years huh?" Klaus asked, standing up from the chair.
"Klaus-," Luther started.
"Save the lecture, I was on my way out anyways," Klaus waved off the words that was coming out of his brothers mouth, "You guys can talk amongst yourselves." As Klaus was leaving, Luther grabbed his arm.
"Drop it."
"Exsqueeze me?"
"Do it, now."
"Luther, let Klaus go," Pandora spoke.
"All right, all right." Klaus jerked his arm out of Luther's grasp, then started dropping items from his coat, "It's just an advance on our inheritance. That's all it is. No need to get your little panties in a bunch." Klaus moved past Luther exiting the room. Pandora excused herself, following Klaus.
"Pandora, Pandora, Pandora, I'm fine. There's no need for you to follow me around," Klaus said, stopping in the middle of the hallway.
"How do I know that you're not going to go and buy drugs?" Pandora asked, "Klaus I just want the best for you."
Klaus turned toward his friend and patted her head, "Don't worry your little head about me, I'll be back before you know it. Trust me, you won't even notice I'm gone!" Klaus smiled, then started to head down the stairs.
...
Of what was left of the Hargreeves siblings, with the addition of Pandora, was now gathered in the living room. Diego, or Number Two, sitting by the fireplace along with Allison. Klaus was in the back mixing up his own drink while Vanya, Number Seven, was sitting alone on the couch with Luther facing her on the second couch just across from her. Pandora stood leaning against the doorway, arms folded across her chest while staring at the floor.
"I guess we should get this started," Luther said, then stood up from his spot on the couch, "So I figured we could have sort of a memorial service in the courtyard at sundown. Say a few words at Dad's favorite spot."
"Dad had a favorite spot?" Allison questioned.
"Yeah, under the oak tree," Luther responded, "We used to sit out here all the time. None of you did that?"
"Will there be refreshments?" Klaus asked, heading back towards where everyone was sitting, with a blunt in one hand and a drink in the other, "Tea? Scones? Cucumber sandwiches are always a winner."
"What? No, and put that out. Dad didn't allow smoking in here," Luther shook his head.
"Is that my skirt?" Allison asked.
"What? Oh yeah, this, I found it in your room. It's a little dated, I know. But it's very breathy on the uh... bits," Klaus gestured down, sitting after his explanation.
"Listen up, there's still some important things that we need to discuss, all right?" Luther dismissed.
"Like what?" Diego asked.
"Like the way he died," Luther answered.
"Here we go," Diego muttered.
"Luther, there's nothing weird or special about the way that he died, it was just a heart attack. Old people, like Reignald, die of them every day," Pandora jutted in.
"I agree with Pandora, It was just a heart attack," Vanya put in, "Dad was getting old, and that just the way he went."
"Yeah, according to the coroner," Luther argued.
"Well, wouldn't they know?"
"Theoretically. I'm just saying at the very least something happened. The last time I talked to Dad he sounded strange."
"You know, this is none of my own business, I should leave," Pandora shook her head, then started to turn her back to the siblings.
"Yeah, It would be best for you to leave Pandora. It's a family only kind of thing," Luther said.
"No, Pandora can stay. She's basically family anyways," Diego stood up in Pandora's defense, annoyed with his brother.
"An in-law at best," Pandora then walked up to Luther, "But I guess that's still up to debate by some." Pandora stepped away from Luther and walked away from the living room.
...
Pandora walked the halls of the academy, her hands deep in her pockets. She was weirdly hurt by what Luther had said. It was true that Pandora had been dismissing herself for years from academy discussions since Ben had died, she never wanted to take the risk of the mention of his death. Pandora found herself running her fingers across the faded walls in the hallway, passing the cartoon pictures of techniques too familiar for her liking.
She stopped short just before Ben's bedroom and froze in an odd mix of emotions. Pandora took a deep breath and opened the door.
The bedroom had been left the same for last decade or so. The same sun bleached posters hanging on the wall, the same bed sheets on the walls, the same clothes hanging in the closet. Pandora moved to the twin bed, sitting down on for the first time in nearly thirteen years. Her fingers feeling along the grooves of the fabric, the grooves he felt nearly every night. The same picture of her and Ben of when they were seventeen sat framed on the nightstand.
Pandora closed her eyes, concentrating for only a moment, only slightly exercising her power before her soul separated itself from her body. Her body, like usual, slumped to the side as she stood apart from it.
This, in fact, was normal for Pandora. Like all the other Hargreeves siblings that were born on the same day and hour as her, she had her own power. Her soul willingly leaving her body is one of the many things she can do, although Soul Manipulation was a broad umbrella.
Standing just in the doorway, was the one person that she wanted to see.
"Klaus being impossible again?" Ben asked, crossing his arms.
Pandora smiled and shook her head, "Nah, he's just like usual, it's your siblings, or, uh, should I say sibling, that is the impossible one." Pandora shook her head, the anger finally starting to get to her, "Did you hear what Luther said? The way he's already treating Klaus? It hasn't even been a day and it's your fathers funeral for Christs sake."
Ben moved away from the door frame, effectively halting Pandora's tangent, "I know, but given the very short time we have with each other, we shouldn't talk about Luther," Ben reminded her, settling his hands on her arms.
"I know, I know," Pandora said, moving over towards him and taking his ghostly hands into hers. All of this, the soul interaction, never felt the same as when she used to hold his hands, when the blood was pumping through them at a steady pace. When they kiss, when they hug, sure, she felt something but it wasn't truly him. However, Pandora never complained, she knew she didn't have that right, not with her powers.
Ben gently took her face and kissed her, then shortly pulled her into a hug after.
Loud muffled music began playing throughout the house, evidently coming from one of the bedrooms down the hall. It took a minute for both Ben and Pandora to recognize the song, but once they did, it brought them back to their teenage years, even if it was a song before their time. Ben stared down the hall towards the music, somewhat glaring at the person who decided to play the tune, however, Pandora seemed to have other ideas.
A large grin appeared across Pandora's face as she slowly began to pull Ben into the center of his childhood bedroom. Wordlessly, she let go of his hands and started to do a goofy dance along with the beat, twirling and laughing in addition. Ben folded his arm bit back a smile, watching his love move without a care in the world, something he knows she hasn't done in a long time.
Finally, after much pulling and silent pleading, Ben decided to join in on the fun and dance with Pandora. What they were doing couldn't be defined by words, nothing can describe what they just did other than the fact that they should be glad no one but a junkie could see them in this plane.
With a laugh, Ben twirled Pandora and pulled her close to his chest, looking down at how much her features had changed over the years.
A large thunder boom shook the house, Pandora quickly apologized to Ben and fell back into her body. She stood up, groaning at how her slightly stiff muscles strained when she began to move. Pandora bolted down the hallway, meeting the others that had assembled in the courtyard. A strange, blue portal had spawned just above their heads ahead of them.
"What the hell is that?" Pandora yelled over the noise.
"I don't know, stand behind me!" Luther responded, pushing his arms backwards as a barrier between them and the portal.
"Don't get too close!" Allison called.
"Yeah no shit!" Diego responded.
"It looks like some temporal anomaly, either that or a black hole, ether one of those two," Luther stated.
"Pretty big difference between the two, Paul Bunyan."
"Get out of the way!" Klaus yelled, right before chucking a fire extinguisher into the portal.
"What is that going to do?"
"I don't know. Do you have a better idea?" Klaus asked defeated, his arms falling back to his sides.
A louder crack in the hole in the space time continuum sent Klaus running back behind the group, back to Pandora. A figure appeared in the portal, he seemed to be struggling through the portal, screaming as he does. And soon enough, the figure passed through the portal and collapsed on the ground, the portal he'd fallen out of disappearing.
As they approached the figure, they could see that he was young, no more than thirteen. As he stood, everyone had recognized him.
"Does anyone else see little Number Five too? Or is that just me?" Klaus questioned.
"Shit," Five cursed, looking down at himself.
...
Number Five never wanted a name, but that wasn't important due to the fact that they thought he died years ago. Now he was in front them, assembling a sandwich as if nothing strange had happened fifteen minutes ago.
"What's the date? The exact date," Five asked, gathering ingredients as he went along the kitchen.
"The 24th," Vanya responded
"Of what?"
"March."
"Good," Five answered, he almost sounded relieved.
"So, are we going to talk about what just happened?" Luther asked. Five didn't answer as he took two slices of bread and laid them out on the table. Luther stood up from his seat, distressed like the rest of them, "It's been seventeen years."
"It's been a lot longer than that," Five scoffed, then blinked out of Luther's way, grabbing some marshmallows from the cabinet.
"I haven't missed that," Luther shook his head.
"Where did you go?" Diego asked.
"The future, it's shit by the way," Five answered, then blinked back to where his bread was lying on the table.
"Called it!" Klaus exclaimed.
"I should have listened to the old man," Five said, then grabbed a jar of peanut butter. "You know, jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice," He stopped for a moment to look back up at all of them huddled together at the counter, then looked back down at his sandwich, "Nice Dress."
"Oh, well, danke!" Klaus smiled.
"Wait, how did you get back?" Vanya asked.
"In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward to a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time," Five summarized.
"That makes no sense," Diego shook his head, speaking for everyone.
"Well, it would if you were smarter."
Before Diego could fully stand up, Luther stuck out his arm to stop him. Pandora too putting a hand on his shoulder, soothing him.
"How long were you there?" Luther asked.
"Forty-Five years, give or take."
Both Luther and Diego sat down at the table finally.
"So you're what? 58?" Pandora asked.
"No, my consciousness is 58," Five answered, "Apparently, my body is thirteen again." He closed the sandwich, then took a bite out of it.
"How does that even work?" Vanya asked.
"Delores kept saying the equations were off. Eh. Bet she's laughing now," Five picked up a newspaper that was lying on the table, "I must have missed the funeral."
"How did you know about that?" Luther asked.
"What part of the future do you not understand?" Five shot back, "Heart failure huh?"
"Yeah-," Diego started.
"No," Luther interrupted, a usual interaction between the two.
"Nice to see nothing's changed," Five commented, "Although, Pandora, I thought you would have left after Ben died. You knew how much of a shit show this family was, even before the book was a thing." With that, Five headed straight out the door of the kitchen.
"That's it? That's all you're going to say?" Allison asked, turning towards the door.
"What else is there to say?" Five responded from the other room "The circle of life."
"Well," Luther said, "That was interesting."
...
"Hey, I'm here, did I miss anything?" Marin asked, coming through the front door of the academy, closing her umbrella.
"The funerals just about to start, good timing," Pandora nodded as Marin followed her to the back door, "Everyone's here, including Five."
"Five?" Marin asked, "I thought-."
"Me too. Todays just been a lot. Apparently he's been stuck in time, it's easier if he explains it," Pandora shook her head. She opened the door, everyone, including Pogo and Grace, were standing out in the courtyard. Luther and Diego, however, stood umbrella-less, using nothing to protect themselves from the heavy rain.
Pandora and Marin moved behind everyone, sharing an umbrella as they stood next to Ben's statue in the courtyard. Vanya glanced over at Marin and quickly looked back down once they made eye contact.
"Did something happen?" Grace asked.
"Dad died... Remember?" Allison answered.
"Oh. Yes, of course," Grace nodded, smiling a bit.
"Is mom okay?" Allison asked.
"Yeah, Yeah she's fine," Diego answered, "She just needs to rest. You know, recharge."
"Whenever you're ready, dear boy," Pogo nodded towards Luther, who was holding the urn that contained Reignald's ashes. Luther nodded in reply and opened the urn, dumping out the contents, which only collected into a small wet pile of dust.
"Probably would have been better with some wind," Luther said, putting the top back onto the urn.
"Does anyone wish to speak?" Pogo asked, then looked around at the circle. No one raised their voice to speak. "Very well. In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made me who I am today. For that alone, I am forever in his debt. He was my master and my friend, and I shall miss him very much. He leaves behind a complicated legacy-"
"He was a monster," Diego interrupted, "He was a bad person and a worse father. The world's better off without him."
"Diego," Allison replied firmly.
"My name, is Number Two. You know why? Because our father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names. He had Mom do it."
"Would anyone like anything to eat?" Grace asked, clearly not registering what scene was unfolding before her.
"No, it's okay mom," Vanya said.
"Oh, Okay," Grace smiled and went back to being silent, her smile dropping shortly after that.
"Look, you wanna pay your respects, Go ahead. But at least be honest on what kind of person he was," Diego continued.
"You should stop talking now," Luther said, anger entering his voice.
"You know, you of all people should be on my side, Number One," Diego said.
"I'm warning you."
"After everything he did to you? He had to ship you a million miles away-."
"Diego. Stop. Talking."
"That how much he couldn't stand the sight of you!" Diego jabbed a finger into Luther's chest to further his point. Luther grabbed Diego's arm, swinging a punch Diego easily dodged.
"Boys! Stop this at once!" Pogo shouted. But they didn't listen to the butler as they continued to fight, shouting at each other as they fought.
"Stop it!" Vanya shouted out.
"Come on! Hit him!" Klaus egged on.
"I don't have time for this," Five shook his head, then headed back inside with Pogo shortly.
Luther grabbed Diego, tossing him to the side, Diego got up quickly. Luther swung at Diego, but instead of striking Diego, he hit Ben's statue, which continued to fall, breaking the head right off the neck of the statue.
"Oh my god," Pandora gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
"Well, there goes Ben's statue," Allison shook her head, then headed back inside.
"What the actual HELL Luther?" Marin exclaimed, her eyebrows furrowing together.
Before anyone could react, Diego pulled out a knife, and ficked it towards Luther, which sliced through his arm. Luther gasped, looking down at his wound. He ran back to the inside of the house before anyone could see. Vanya apparently had left amidst all the fighting
Diego watched Luther leave and walked up to Grace, "Come on mom, let's go inside." He guided his mother into the house, choosing not to look neither Pandora nor Marin in the eye.
Pandora's eyes welled up with tears as she approached the fallen statue. "Oh god, Oh god, Oh god," she sobbed, crouching down to pick up the head of the statue, tears falling freely down her face. Her rain and clothes quickly soaked in the rain, becoming drenched, but she didn't care. She held the head close to her chest as she sobbed, sucking in ragged breaths. "He broke the statue, he, he broke Ben's statue," Pandora's body was now violently shaking, words left her mouth but no one would be able to comprehend what she could've said. Klaus, still sitting on the bench, looked away and smoked his blunt, deciding this was a situation he shouldn't be involved in.
Marin sat close by her as she cried out, placing her hand on her back gently. "Hey Pandora, let's head home. It's not good for you to be here right now," She said gently. Pandora couldn't respond, just nodded as she stood up with Marin, still clutching the statue head.