as the world ends, so does us | five hargreeves

chapter 0 | prologue

"I KNOW you don't like it when I drink, Delores, but what choice do I have?"

An old man, probably in his fifties, held a wine glass and drank. The place in ruins was deserted and no one was there but him and a mannequin that was missing its hair, an arm, and half of its body, and was placed on a chair.

"Of course, I didn't forget about you. Do you even know where I got this wine from?" he held up the bottle in front of the lady mannequin. "Remember that mansion just outside the city limits? Yeah, there. And it turns out, their wine cellar was untouched," he smirked. He held up another arm that had a different bottle this time. "Got you your favorite Bordeaux."

The man sat beside Delores, placing a bottle of her favorite wine beside her. He sighed as he observed the place around them.

It has been decades since he got himself into this place (well, time is more an appropriate word); the apocalypse, the end of the world. And what has he accomplished? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"You're exaggerating. I don't drink too much," he said as he opened another bottle and then directly drank from it. "I just need time to think. Besides, I have been working too hard and all you do is complain," the man rolled his eyes. "We just need to find the correct equation and we'll be home in no time."

Well, he has been doing that for quite a long time now, hasn't he? It's just that every time he makes an attempt, the result will always be futile. It's a dead end. And it also didn't help that Delores always finds a way to tell him that he was wrong.

Actually, he can feel her mocking him about it now.

Ignoring his companion, the man stood up, took a book, and opened it. The pages were filled with different numbers and symbols which were equations he wrote. Not only that, the remaining walls of the crumbled building they were in were filled with it too, a testament that he indeed was trying really hard. It overwhelmed him if he was being honest but didn't want to admit it because a certain mannequin would just nag him about it.

"Five."

The man flinched and dropped the book as soon as he heard a voice. He immediately went to grab a gun as he started to feel something around him.

"Who's there?"

He circled the ruins of what once was a public library. Papers from a nearby shelf started to fly away. A blackboard started swinging back and forth. He turned to his side and saw the fire he lit already died.

The wind wasn't this strong a while ago, was it?

His eyes scanned every corner of the place, looking for any sign that can explain what just happened. But what if it's his paranoia just kicking in? Being the lone human being in the apocalypse for more than 40 years took a toll on him, that's a fact. He scoffed as he realized that Delores might find him funny right now.

"No, Delores! I'm not drunk!"

He dropped his gun.

"FIVE! FIVE!"

Her vision of him started to fade away but Rouge continued to shout his name, her voice getting louder and louder each time. She wanted to run but she felt like every limb of hers was tied. It was like she was being sucked into a hole, a deep and dark one, one that pulls her away from the sight of her best friend.

Oh God, she's losing him again, isn't she? The last time she saw Five, she wasn't able to stop him from leaving. And now that she saw him again, she can't bring him back.

"Rouge, calm down. It's gonna be okay. Just stay very still," a soft voice spoke to her.

She opened her eyes to bright light. Beside her was a woman who kept a reassuring smile on her face. It was her mom. Her eyes squinted. Rouge realized she was lying on a bed with a nebulizer attached to her nose as well as other medical equipment she doesn't give a damn about.

It was Five. She saw him. She brought him back. He's finally back.

She removed the nebulizer from her face and spoke with a hoarse voice, "Where is he? Is he back? Please, I want to see him."

Her mom looked behind her to see a chimpanzee holding a cane with his two hands. Rouge's eyes widened, "Pogo!" She coughed. "Please. I want to see Five. Is he there? Please, bring me to him."

The chimpanzee just sighed and walked to get closer to her.

"Pogo, did he come back?"

Seeing the chimpanzee's sad eyes, Rouge knew right then and there the answer. If anything, it was a slap to her face.

What a great thing to wake up to.

They heard someone clear their throat and all heads turned towards a man standing in a doorway, wearing a monocle on his left eye and... a scowl.

"Dad, I saw–"

"No, Number Five hasn't returned yet."

"But I saw him, Dad! It was him, I promise!"

Rouge continued to convince the man but his expression remained the same, stone-cold. She tried to remove all the things tied to her but her mom held her back. The girl gathered all her energy to explain to them who she saw but Pogo and her mother insisted that she needed to recover first.

He nodded towards Pogo. "You know what to do to calm Number Zero down."

Rouge pleaded and shook her head as Pogo injected a needle into her arm, with a face telling her he was sorry. She felt her mom's hand caressing her hair to help her calm down. Then, her vision started to get blurry again and her surroundings were fading away. The nebulizer was utterly useless as she struggled to breathe even with it. Tears were cascading down her eyes as she felt being pulled again.

She continued to fight the darkness that was consuming her whole. She can't give up just yet, not when she saw a sign that Five is out there. Somewhere. So she resisted and resisted.

Until she can't anymore.

The hole pulled her in.

— ☂︎ —
short disclaimer before we move forward to the story:
1. This is not an INCEST story. I do not tolerate incest in any way as I find it disturbing and inappropriate. The OC is a member of the academy, yes, but she's a different case compared to the others. As the story progresses, you will find more about her. Just we wait ;)
2. This is my first time ever writing a fanfic so please excuse any errors I will make. I would appreciate any criticism so feel free to leave comments/suggestions.
3. This is originally published on AO3 (though, i will still publish future chapters there) since last year before I went into hiatus. As I've said, please excuse any grammatical/technical errors. In the course of my one-year hiatus, I have allowed myself to grow and made several adjustments in my writing style and because of that, if I have the time, I will try to re-edit this fanfic ^_^

that's all! thank you <3