5.
THE THUNDER rumbled loudly, scaring the sun that hid behind the thick grey clouds responsible for the pouring rain all over the gloomy town. At the academy's courtyard stood the soaked statue of their dearest Ben who unfortunately lost his life on a mission.
Everyone who lived under the roof came out, holding their umbrellas above their heads which hung low mournfully.
"Did something happen?" Grace asked out of nowhere. The Hargreeves including
Y/N and Pogo flashed her a look of worry.
"Dad died. Remember?" Allison answered. Their robotic mother looked down as the realisation hit her.
"Oh, yes. Of course."
"Is mom okay?" Number Three asked her siblings. Diego was quick to answer the question as if by pure instinct.
"Yeah, yeah. She's fine. She just needs to rest — you know, recharge."
Pogo stepped up and looked at Luther. "Whenever you're ready, Dear Boy." Number One clutched the columbarium and opened the lid, scattering what remained of Reginald Hargreeves, a pound of ash.
Unfortunately for them, there was no wind to support the action resulting for the ashes to pile up on the wet ground of the courtyard like ground gunpowder.
Y/N looked at him oddly. As did Diego and the others. "Probably would have been better with some wind," Luther remarked.
The girl arched an eyebrow. 'Was that supposed to be a joke? As wet as everything is under this pouring rain, my humour at the moment is dry,' she thought.
"Does anyone wish to speak?" Pogo asked, looking at the children. No one answered.
"Very well," he shifted and pursed his lips before speaking, "In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made me what I am today. For that alone, I will forever be in his debt. He was my master and my friend, and I shall miss him very much. He leaves behind a complicated legacy — " The assistant's speech was then cut off by Diego who frowned with rain soaking his clothes.
"He was a monster," Klaus laughed at this as everyone stared at him. "He was a bad person and a worse father. The world's better off without him."
"Diego," Allison called with a warning tone for him to stop. Yet he didn't. Instead, he replied bitterly, "My name is Number Two. You know why?" The curly haired girl shook her head in frustration.
"Because our father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names. He had mom do it." The kraken continued.
"Would anyone like something to eat?" Grace asked randomly once again.
"No. It's okay, mom," Vanya replied.
"Oh, okay."
Y/N frowned as she sensed that this was going to another new level. "Look, you wanna pay your respects? Go ahead, but at least be honest about the kind of man he was."
"You should stop talking now," Luther stepped in.
Y/N sighed. "As much as I don't like Moon Boy over there, I agree with him for once. Diego, this isn't
the right time to vent."
Diego ignored his friend's comment and looked at Luther, speaking. "You know, you of all people should be on my side here, Number One," emphasising his name made him feel like was slowly going to be pushed to the edge.
"I am warning you."
Klaus whispered an 'ooo' to himself as he felt the tension rising. Five looked at him, eyebrows furrowed.
"After everything he did to you? He had to ship you a million miles away."
"Diego, stop talking." Luther said between gritted teeth. Though, this action did nothing to stop the fuming kraken.
"That's how much he couldn't stand the sight of you!" He yelled, jabbing his finger to Number One's chest.
Once he got Luther to his limits, the strong built man threw his fist hoping to hit his brother's face. Diego however dodged the sudden act of violence. Nith of them grunted, continuing to fight in their family's very own eyes.
Y/N rolled her eyes to the point that her head hurt. The girl facepalmed and let out a puff of air, "Lunatics."
"Boys, stop this at once!" Pogo clamoured. None of them listened.
"Don't even try, Pogo. They won't even listen anymore," the girl who had the ability of seeing the future interjected.
Klaus held his hand out to try and protect Five, but the boy only pushed his hand away.
Diego screamed. "Come on, Big Boy!" Luther grabbed his sibling and all Kraken could do was elbow his back as hard as he could do.
"Stop it!" Vanya commanded.
"Hit him! Hit him!" Klaus encouraged. Pogo was the first to walk away after sighing.
Then Five, "We don't have time for this." Without taking too much attention to his action of taking ahold of Y/N's wrist, he mumbled. "Let's go back inside."
She looked at Luther and Diego, then nodded. He started to walk away from the scene with Y/N trailing behind him closely.
seventeen years ago
"Nietsche once said," man is like a rope stretched between the animal and the superhuman. a rope over an abyss. it is a dangerous crossing, a dangerous looking back, a dangerous trembling and halting."
sir hargreeves closed his journal shut and looked at Vanya, a signal for her to blow the whistle. Once the children heard it, they all hurriedly ran up the u-shaped stairs as a part of their training.
Luther was the first one to lead, then Diego.
"as much as you must strive for individual greatness, and strive you must, for it won't come to you of its own accord. . .you must also remember that there is no individual stronger than the collective."
Five used his powers to teleport just in front of Diego who complained to their father. "that's not fair! Five is cheating!"
"He adapted," the old man said.
"The ties that bind you together make you stronger than when you are alone."
Allison cried in Klaus' arms as he consoled her from the pain of the tattoo that was put in the skin of their wrists.
Diego groaned as he tried his best not to do something stupid from the pain. his mother tried to hold his hand, but he quickly dismissed her.
"they will make you impervious to the pain and hardship the world will thrust upon you. and believe me when I tell you, life will be hard. it will be painful."
Meanwhile, Luther, Ben and Five were waiting nervously. Vanya and Y/N watched them from the stairs. number seven took a marker out and started to draw on her wrist to which the girl beside her smiled.
"You don't need a tattoo to be a part of the academy. I'm not allowed to have a tattoo like them too, but I still believe I'm just like them." she said.
"Why are you included in the training, but not when they're fighting bad people? You have power but you don't get a tattoo." Vanya said.
"Your father said I'm not powerful enough. He said I don't get a tattoo because he can't let me play with them as well."
"But why are we still here in the academy?" Y/N chuckled and gazed at the others.
"Because this is home, Vanya." she said and sighed, knowing all too well that this isn't her own. She belongs to another world.
"This is home," she repeated.
"We can accomplish anything when we accept responsibility together. This is what creates trust."
The static crackled as sir reginald stayed up late in his office, writing his observations of the children while they slept. He checked Numbers One, Three, Five, and Seven.
. . . and Y/N.
Vanya's monitor started beeping fast and loud. odd and unusual. The old man continued to write and observed Y/N more.
The truth was, and Sir Reginald was afraid of admitting it himself, but she had something undiscovered, and he's yet to discover what it was. All he knew, and all that he was aware of was that the girl had the capabilities of something bigger.
༉‧₊˚.
Five rummaged through the cabinets furiously, not stopping even when Allison's footsteps were audible followed by her query of Vanya's whereabouts.
"Oh, she's gone," Klaus answered.
"That's unfortunate," Five commented. Number Two, thinking he was referring to Vanya's absence, replied, "Yeah."
"An entire square block. Forty-two bedrooms and nineteen bathrooms but no, not a single drop of coffee." The boy said as he put the glass carafe on the table with a slam and a paint of disappointment on his youthful facade.
"Dad hated caffeine," Allison commented.
"Well, he hated children, too and he had plenty of us," Klaus replied with a snicker.
Right on time, Y/N showed up with a huge hat on her head that ended up covering her whole entire face. she laughed maniacally as she bumped on the doorframe.
The three of the Hargreeves looked at her, confused and concerned. "Are you okay?" Allison was the first to ask.
"Oh, I'm fine. Are you? I just found this huge stupid hat upstairs somewhere. Looked like a tortilla, sure, but it spoke to me," Y/N said.
"Really? What did it say?" Number Four asked, everything about him invested in this shenanigan.
"I'm hungry for fresh burritos," she whined, lifting the hat and throwing it to the side without a care in the world.
She noticed how they all looked at her weirdly. The girl cleared her throat and furrowed her eyebrows, "Sorry. Just missed being a kid again — having no worries but how I was going to find my lost doll in the middle of a hide and seek."
Five hummed. "You love coffee, right?" He questioned the girl. She nodded in response.
"Yeah. Why?"
"I'm going somewhere. I want you to come with me. We're taking the car." The girl knew what this was about. So, she bobbed her head again but this time, exasperatedly like an avid two-year-old.
"Where are you going?" Number Four asked with a smirk. Five frowned as he turned his head to Klaus' direction.
"Didn't you hear? To get a decent cup of coffee!"
"Do you even know how to drive?" The curly haired woman asked. Y/N laughed and covered her mouth with her hand.
"I know how to do everything," Five argued and spatial jumped out of the building.
"I feel like we should try and stop him, but then again, I also kinda just want to see what happens."
Both Klaus and Allison turned to look at Callisto. "What?"
"Are you guys going on a date?" The seemingly sober sibling asked. The girl grimaced at that.
"No. Gross," she answered and walked towards the exit of the kitchen.
Outside the building, Y/N got in the car and slammed the door shut as Five watched her through the rear-view mirror. "We're not just going out for coffee, Callisto. Wipe that grin off your face."
The girl grimaced for the second time. "First of all, I know that. Second, I wasn't smiling, you ugly frog. Third, you might want to start driving now; I'm eager for that cup of coffee. Lastly, why does this car smell like feet?"
Five chuckled and lifted his eyebrows in consideration. He turned the engine on and started to drive. "Man, I don't know if I should trust you. If we end up in a hospital, I swear I'm going to kill you myself."
The boy slightly smirked. obviously amused by this girl's sudden behaviour. He decided to tease her by beginning to accelerate the car.
"To hell with you, Five!" She screamed.