《•••The Present•••》
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past nine years, or simple weren't alive at the time and was born not that long ago, you'll be familiar with the 2012 phenomenon. But if you are not, let me explain. The 2012 phenomenon was a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or otherwise transformative events would occur on/or around December 21st, 2012. A civilization called the Maya's, thought this date marked the start of a period during which Earth and its inhabitants would undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 21st of December 2012 would mark the beginning of a new era. But of course, most people started to believe that this 'transformation' would mean the end of the world. Because of this, people around the globe started to lose their minds. They sold their houses, cars, furniture and all of their possessions to buy something that they thought would help them survive. Some people wanted to buy a rocket, so they could live in space, others build underground bunkers, hoping that whatever would end the world as we knew it, couldn't hurt them in there. And as the day drew near, more and more people became scared and joined the others around them in the hopes to survive. Of course, not everyone believed this and as you may have noticed, the world didn't end on December 21st, 2012. And the people who didn't believe it, laughed in the faces of the people who did.
Every once in a while, somebody in the world would come up with the next date on which the world as we know it will end, without any scientific proof, but they all have been wrong up until this point. Or maybe you're reading this book years in the future, and you're one of the few survivors of the big tidal wave, earthquake, meteor rain or some angry sorcerer's dark curse that destroyed most of earth's populations. In which case, congratulations on still being alive and good luck surviving.
Anyway, the skeptical feeling most people get when somebody tells them the world is about to end, again, was exactly what Kiara first felt when her adopted brother told her that the world was going to end in eight days. But unlike most people, Kiara was able to tell when people were lying to her by feeling their emotions, and right now she was feeling that Five was telling the truth.
"I survived on scraps. Canned food, cockroaches, anything I could find." Five chuckled joyless, "you know that rumor that Twinkies have an endless shelf life?" He paused for a second while Kiara nodded her head, "well, it's total bullshit."
Kiara chuckled shortly, "I knew it." She said with a snap of her fingers, trying to lighten the mood, but almost immediately noticed she failed. "I can't even imagine how it would've been like," she quickly added, voice back to the serious one that matched Five's.
"You do whatever it takes to survive, or you die." He continued, "so we adapted. Whatever the world threw at us, we found a way to overcome it."
Kiara leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees, "we?" She asked, "you mean you and Delores? Or were there more?"
Five didn't immediately react, but looked at his now empty cup of coffee, eventually deciding to dodge the question. "You got anything stronger?"
Kiara looked down at the cup in his hands, sensing the unease he felt after her question. "Yeah, unless Brian drank it I must still have some whisky." She mumbled as she got up, walked to the small cabinet that stood beside the couch and took out a still closed bottle. While the woman pored the liquid in the glasses, she realized something. "Actually," she said as she put the bottle down on the counter, taking one glass in each hand. "I shouldn't be giving alcohol to a minor."
Just when Five was about to take his glass out of her hand, Kiara pulled it away, earning a sigh and an eye roll from him. "I already told you, my conscious is 58."
A smirk grew on Kiara's lips, "but your body is 13. It's still full up growing and developing. It would be irresponsible of me, as an adult, to give an innocent, little boy like yourself such a devastating drug as alcohol." Through her entire little speech, Five had been glaring daggers at number Eight.
"Are you done?" He asked, sounding annoyed, which only made an amused smile appear on the woman's face.
"Yeah, I'm done. Here ya go." She said while handing Five his glass. He took a sip, just as Kiara and the room fell quiet, an uneasy silence filling the air.
"You think I'm crazy." Five said eventually, moving his gaze from his drink to his sister in front of him.
Kiara crossed her brows, swallowing the liquid in her mouth before answering. "No. Of course not. It's just, so many people have claimed the world would end, and it never actually happened."
Five looked back down at his drink, scoffing at her words, "so, what you actually mean is that you don't believe me?"
Kiara shrugged, "I just don't fully understand-"
"Exactly what don't you understand?" Five interrupted her, sounding more annoyed then before.
"Just- Why didn't you time travel back to the day you left? You'd have had more time to fix it- if what you're saying is true."
Again, Five scoffed, seeming to be loosing his patience. "Gee, wish I'd thought of that." The sarcasm in his voice made Kiara roll her eyes, but she didn't interrupt him as the brunette continued. "Time travel is a crapshoot. I went into the ice and never acorn-ed." Five's voice softened, "you think I didn't try everything to get back to my family? To get back to you?" The last sentence was almost a whisper, but Kiara still heard it. The annoyance she had felt before started to fade, realizing that it must have been harder on him than on anyone else. Even though she still didn't fully believe his story. Five may not be lying, but just because he believed something doesn't mean it's true.
"I read Vanya's book," Five said out of nowhere, changing the subject. "It was really good, all things considered..."
Kiara nodded, "it is, she worked really hard on it." Five hummed shortly, recognizing her words.
"It's just," he started, "did you really do all that after I left? The waiting and all the experiments with your powers, just to get me back?"
Kiara looked away for a moment, not liking to be confronted with that part of her past. "Yeah, I did. All of it. I stopped for some time after the incident with the Triskeleon." Kiara chuckled shortly, "whatever that symbol ment, it had nothing to do with past, present or future."
"You should've stopped after that, it was way too dangerous."
Kiara laughed shortly, "when did that ever stop me?" A small smile appeared on the boys face for a short moment, but he didn't say anything. "You're right though. I should've stopped." Kiara mumbled, looking down at her gloved hands, "if I had this never would've happened."
Five also looked at her hands for a moment. "What made you think drawing eyes would work?"
Another chuckle escaped her mouth. "I read a book, it was fiction. I don't really remember any of it, except that there was a creature. It's eyes were in it's hands instead of it's head, making it blind to it's environment, but able to see the past and the future. It was a stupid idea, but hey! It worked, once drawn on I was able to see parts of the past and future. Not that far back or forward, but enough that it was convenient. I prevented Klaus from covering Allison in orange paint and glitter that way." A sad smile formed on Kiara's lips at the memory, but it quickly disappeared. "But as always, the drawing started to fade and it became unstable, visions started to stutter, only showing milliseconds of things randomly. For some time, Reginald made me erase and re-draw the eyes on a daily basis. Until I grew tired of it and said it was pointless to do every day. And he agreed. Should've known he was planning something like this..." Kiara bit down on her bottom lip, "I should've kept my mouth shut 'bout it."
Five nodded, taking another sip from his whisky. "How does it work?"
Kiara frowned at her brother, his tone of voice was somewhat demanding, which made her a little suspicious to his intentions. "You said you read Vanya's book, she explained most of it."
Five made a forced smile appear on his face, sounding more sincere, "yes, it's just, that was a long time ago and I want to hear it in your words. To understand it better." Kiara squinted her eyes slightly, she knew he wasn't lying, but there was something else he wasn't telling her, something that made him nervous. Eventually Kiara shrugged, deciding to tell him and see where it would go from there.
"Okay, well, as I said before, I drew those eyes on my palms which made me able to see parts of the past and the future. And Reginald wanted to make it permanent. He made me get them tattooed, almost exactly the same way as I used to draw them. You see the problem?" She asked her brother with a small smirk.
Five nodded, "almost."
"Yep, almost. He didn't draw them the same, they were different and so the power I got from them was different as well. Instead of seeing the past and the future, somehow I got connected to other people's emotions."
Five frowned, "I don't see the connection."
Kiara scoffed, "at first, me neither. But turns out, the bullshit people say about the eyes being gateways to someone's soul? That you're able to see their emotions and intentions in their eyes if you pay enough attention?" Again, Five nodded. "Turns out, that's true. At least part of it is. The tattoos made me able to not just see, but relive people's memories, as long as it's bound to a strong emotion. If they're scared and I touch them without the gloves, I'll relive the time they were the most terrified. If they're in pain, physical or mental, and I touch them, I'll relive the time when they were experiencing the worst pain they ever felt. And I will feel that pain as well. Of course it works the same when somebody is happy, or sad, any emotion, really." Kiara drank the last whiskey from her glass and refilled it immediately. "Of course, it also works on objects. If I touch something somebody else was touching while experienced a strong emotion, I'll relive that memory as well."
"So, for example," Five started, "if you would touch me, when I'm happy, you'll relive the most happy memory I have?" Kiara nodded. "And if somebody stabbed someone else with a knife, and you would touch the knife?"
"I will probably relive the memory of the person who got stabbed. Unless the person who stabbed the other person also stabbed another person with the same knife, and that person experienced a stronger emotion at that moment."
Five nodded again, frowning as he thought of what Kiara just had told him. "But that doesn't explain how you know what somebody is feeling. Vanya wrote that you can tell without actually doing something." Kiara looked down at her glass, starting to get annoyed by the questions. She hadn't have to explain how her powers worked to anyone in the past few years and now she had to explain it to Five.
"That's because I can't stop the emotions. The gloves keep me from reliving memories every time I touch something. But somehow I can always feel other people's emotions. I know someone is lying because the body's reaction is almost always the same. I can't always tell, especially by sociopaths or psychopaths, their emotions work different, if they have any at all. Or when somebody is drunk or high, those things influence their emotions in such a way that I can't tell what they are."
"So Klaus..." Five started, which made Kiara chuckle shortly
"Yeah, no idea when he's telling the truth or what he's feeling most of the time. The first time my powers got activated was when he touched my hands after I got the tattoos done. Apparently he was scared, because I relived one of the times he was locked in the mausoleum. It freaking me out so bad that I didn't touch anything for the rest of the day."
"It must've been awful." Five stated, on which Kiara nodded.
"It was... at some point I couldn't tell the difference between my own emotions and the emotions of the people around me."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that alone." Five said, seeming to forget about his intention of the conversation since Kiara couldn't sense his nerves anymore.
"I wasn't alone." Kiara said with a soft chuckle. "Not really. Vanya and Klaus helped me. Especially Klaus. He always tried to cheer me up when everything became too much. One time it had gotten to the point that I hadn't smiled in weeks. Even Klaus hadn't been able to make me laugh. Until one day, after being gone for hours, he came skipping into my room. His cheeky smile reaching his eyes, he was so exited and giddy to tell me something. I didn't understand what was going on until he showed me his hands. He had them tattooed, 'Hello' on one hand, 'Goodbye' on the other one. And with the proudest expression he said: "now you're not alone anymore." It was so stupid... and sweet.... My first reaction was tearing up. You should've seen his face when he thought he made things worse, until I bursted out laughing." Another smile appeared on the blue haired woman's face.
"Dad must've killed him for that." Five mumbled, earning a laugh from Kiara.
"It was a close call." After a moment of silence, Kiara cleared her throat, "anyway. You ready?" She asked, taking off her gloves. Five looked at her hands, seeing the tattooed eyes on her palms for the first time, confusion written on his face.
"For what?"
Kiara smiled at him, "I wanne see the future."
Five blinked a couple of times, crossing his brows, "are you sure?"
Kiara nodded, "of course I am. I need to know if what you're saying is actually true, and assuming you didn't die, I'm save."
Five seemed to consider this before walking closer to his sister, "okay, how does it work, exactly." Kiara gestured him to sit down on the couch, which they both did.
"I need you to focus on what you felt back then. The strongest emotion you felt, most of the time negative emotions work best since those leave the biggest impression. If you focus on it, I should be able to feel it as well and hopefully see it through your eyes. You won't notice a thing, I'll be the only one effected." Five nodded, looking at Kiara with a trace of worry in his eyes.
"Okay, I think I've got the memory. You ready?" Kiara nodded, stretching her hand out to Five. He hesitated for a moment, but eventually took Kiara's hand in his. Almost immediately Kiara's tattooed eyes lit up with a red light, just as her own eyes did the same. The room around her made place for a different scene. She was standing in front of the Academy, but everything seemed normal.
"I didn't say you can't, I'm just saying it could be better if you train first. Get better, just to be sure." Only then, she noticed she wasn't alone. Five's head turned to the person who had spoken to him. It was Kiara, only a lot younger. Kiara felt Five was smiling at her younger self, before brushing some hair behind her ear.
"Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it. I mean, time travel! I could be gone for years and for you it could be five minutes." At that point, Kiara realized which memory of Five she was reliving. Is was the one from just before he had left.
The young Kiara sighed, "it better not be longer then a day." She ordered, glaring at him.
Kiara felt Five's realization which was followed by a wave of excitement. Another smile lit up his face and before she knew it, Five had stepped closer to young Kiara, placing his other hand on her cheek and kissed her. It was a weird sensation, Kiara felt her adopted brother's emotions from back then, he was feeling so happy, so self assured and loved. When Five pulled away, the smile on his face was even brighter, "ten minutes. I'll be back here, in ten minutes."
The memory ended, and Kiara was back inside the present. Five looked at her expectantly, hoping she would understand him now, that she would help him. Only Kiara just bursted out laughing for a solid five minutes. "What the hell are you laughing at?" He bit at her, making her stop laughing.
"I- I'm sorry Five. But the memory I got to relive was the one were you kissed me. I just basically kissed myself. Gosh, I looked so stupid!" Five rolled his eyes, trying to hide that he was slightly flustered, but failing of course since Kiara could feel it. "Don't worry," she said, still with a big smile on her face. "Let's try again. This time, I really need you to focus on the memory when you first got there. The moment you jumped into the end of the world. Try to feel what you felt back then and choose the strongest emotion out of those. Hopefully that will work. Like I said, my powers are still pretty unpredictable." Five nodded, seeing his sister was getting back to her serious state of mind. This time he closed his eyes, really focusing. After a few minutes he nodded and stretched out his hand.
"I'm ready."
Kiara took his hand in hers again; her body shot up, with glowing red eyes as the woman once again got pulled out of reality. This time, the things she saw were new. She was standing in front of what once was a building. Now, it was broken down, destroyed. Piles of bricks laying as far as she could see. Small fires burning everywhere. Terror filled her body, which actually was Five's. The boy turned around, running through a street that seemed somehow familiar to Kiara, but she couldn't put her finger on it until Five stopped running. He was standing in front of what once was the Umbrella Academy. "No..." The boy mumbled before running up the small stairs. Entering the ruins of their home. "Kiara!" He called out, but there was no response. "Vanya!" Still no reaction. "Ben! Dad!" It stayed quiet. The terror in Kiara's chest grew stronger with the second as passed Five realized they weren't there anymore.
The red light in Kiara's eyes died as she came back to reality. Her breathing had quickened, just as her heartbeat. The realization of what she just witnessed sinking in. Five noticed the haunted look in the woman's eyes and realized she must have seen something important.
"What did you see?" It took some time before Kiara looked up at Five, the fear still slightly visible in her eyes.
"Everything was destroyed..." she mumbled, on which Five responded with a single nod of the head. "Where were we? I- I mean, you came back to our house, but we weren't there. Did you find us?"
Five looked down again, his eyes dark, sadness filling his body. "I- I found you. Covered by rocks, and glass and blood."
Kiara realized what he ment and swallowed nervously, "we were dead." Five nodded not saying anything more. The room fell silent, both of them lost in their own thoughts before Kiara spoke up again. "Okay. Let's stop it." Determination had filled her voice, "let's save this fucking world one more time. You've got any idea where to start?"
Five nodded again, reaching in the inside pocket of his Academy jacket. "I found this, in Luther's hand." He said, taking out a round object and showing it to Kiara. "I think it's from the person who started the apocalypse. Or at least has something to do with it." Kiara's eyes widened as she recognized the object. It was an prosthetic eyeball.
"Do you know who it belonged to?"
Five shook his head, "no, but I hoped you could help with that." He ment using her powers on the eye, that was clear enough.
Kiara nodded, "let's see what I can do..." she mumbled, holding up her hand. Five lay the eye in the palm of her hand, were it rolled around a little before settling in. For the third time that night, Kiara's eyes glowed red. Only this time, it was shorter then the other two. The only thing she saw, was her brother, Luther, in the middle of a chaos of falling and burning stones. Without a warning, or any word whatsoever, Luther punched Kiara in the face, or actually the person whom's memory she was seeing got punched in the face. The hit knocked them to the ground, Kiara felt the fear and dizziness the person felt, before Luther reached down and ripped out the person's right eye from it's socked.
Kiara screamed as she dropped the eyeball on the ground, covering her own right eye with both her hands. Still feeling the intense pain shooting from her own eye to the skin around it. Five had jumped back when Kiara screamed, but quickly recovered. "What was it? What did you see? Who's eye is it?" Kiara shook her head, still recovering from the sensation of an eye getting ripped out. "Kiara, tell me." Five bit at her, frustration and a hint of anger coming from the boy.
"Shut up!" She bit back, carefully removing her hands from her own eye and blinking a few times. When Five thought she had calmed down a little, he asked again.
"Kiara, who's the owner of the eye."
"I don't know. The only thing I know is that our dearest number One ripped out the eye of a still living person."
Five didn't seem happy with that answer, "that can't be all. You must have seen something useful."
Only Kiara shook her head. "The only thing I can think of is that the owner could be male. They screamed when Luther took the eye, it sounded male. But I could be wrong."
"That's it? A voice? No description? No face? No clothes? Just a voice that could be male!" Five started to yell harder the longer he spoke, getting Kiara worked up as well.
"Yes! Just that. I relived the guy's memory, and it wasn't like he was looking into a fucking mirror when his eye was ripped out!" The room fell quiet again as the two tried to calm themselves down.
"Could you," Five started, not yelling anymore but still clearly frustrated. "Could you, please try again?"
Kiara shook her head while putting on her gloves. "Sorry, but it won't work. I could touch it again, but I will just see the same memory." Five sighed heavily, picking up the eyeball from the ground.
"I guess I'll just have to try something else."
Kiara shot him a sympathetic smile, "we'll figure it out. For now, let's just go to bed. We can find the owner of that thing tomorrow."
Five shook his head furiously, "no, no I need to keep going. Don't have time to sleep." As he said that, he stood up, walking into the direction of the door. Only Kiara lay her hand on his shoulder, stopping him from walking away.
"You need to rest. Who know's how long you've been awake by now. Tomorrow we'll go find the asshole who destroys the world, together. I promise. Okay?"
Five didn't answer immediately, but eventually nodded. "Fine."
A smile appeared on Kiara's face, "great, let me get ya some pillows."
《•••☆•••》
A/n: 4079 words... pretty sure this is the longest chapter I've written in something published up until now...
I've tried to be as clear as possible on the memory stuff but it was hard to describe properly. Aaaaanyway, let me know what you think so far!
~Purple Dragon (13/05/19)