The Great Unknown

Dandelions - Ruth B.

As the group stood outside in the rain under black umbrellas Charlotte's brain flashed images of the last funeral she had attended, although it wasn't in this timeline and the event felt like a lifetime ago it also seemed to happen yesterday. Klaus' arm was wrapped around Charlotte's shoulder as the pair stood under a clear umbrella with pink trim. The two standing in all black watched as their brother, Luther, stood in front of the group with two urns. As the rain hit his head and shoulders making his black coat seem even darker, he took off the lids and turned the urns upside down. Wind from the storm rolling towards them picked up scattering the ashes in the wind.

"Goodbye Dad, goodbye Ben." He mumbled softly as the group watched the ashes fade in the gust of wind. No one had the strength to say anything as they stood in the backyard. The group had been healing their wounded hearts for the past few days. Diego had returned back to his apartment for a few nights and Vanya's boyfriend had brought her home only a day before. The pair stood now holding back tears as they tried to remain strong.

Charlotte looked to Vanya in awe of how different she was this time in the last timeline. Vanya turned to lock eyes with her former neighbor and offered a weak smile. Charlotte returned a smile as tears rolled into the creases of her cheeks. The group stood for a long while, Pogo and Grace being the first to walk away. Diego and Five left and then Vanya. Klaus squeezed Charlotte in his arms as the couple walked into the house.

Allison reached out for Luther but he shrugged her had off his arm looking off into the distances.

"It's not your fault." She said already knowing what he was thinking.

"Number One, the leader." He responded as if that was enough evidence to prove his crime. His voice was weak and sounded scratchy due to the fact that he hadn't spoken in two days.

"We were all there."

"And we all failed," Luther said looking towards Allison. His eyes had been red for the past two days. He barely came out of his room and on the rare occasion that he did, he never spoke to anyone.

"We all failed." Allison nodded reaching out for him again, this time Luther gave into her touch. He leaned her body into her resting her head on her shoulder as he cried. Allison cried as well the two crying and holding one another as large raindrops soaked their clothing almost as much as their tears did. The two walked into the house arms wrapped around one another as their clothes dripped from the excess amount of water. As the family dried off and sat around the dining room table Grace set down large plates of food in front of them.

"Food is good for the soul." She said with a small smile before leaving the room. As the group ate a soft chatter began to build up, the members of the family remembering the good memories of their lost ones. After two hours of eating and talking everyone at the table had laughed and cried with one another.

The night was the first night that the remaining members of the Hargreeves family slept soundly. Diego and Vanya left after dinner to go to their own homes while Klaus, Charlotte, Five, Luther, and Allison all remained in the house. Klaus and Charlotte laid together wrapped up in one another's arm in Klaus' bed. Luther and Allison went their separate ways and slept in their own rooms saying goodnight with longing looks for one another. Five fell asleep in the house's living room and library with a glass of scotch and a book resting by him.

Around four in the morning the walls of the house began to shake causing everyone to jump out of bed and meet in the entryway of the home. Pictures and paintings fell off the wall and vases and books fell off the shelves crashing onto the floor.

"What's going on!" Allison yelled to her siblings.

"Do we seriously look like we know?" Klaus yelled back motioning to how sleepy everyone appeared. Luther and Klaus both stood shirtless, Luther wearing a pair of pajama bottoms while Klaus only wore boxers. Charlotte stood in a pair of shorts and one of Klaus' shirts while Allison stood in a pajama set.

"Five?" Allison turned to the man still dressed from the funeral.

"I fell asleep in the living room!" He responded. Suddenly the house became still and everything was silent.

"Maybe a plane flew over too close?" Charlotte offered hoping she could return to bed now. As everyone considered what she said the front door flew open and a large man and small woman stepped into the home.

"Hazel?" Five asked in shock looking at the man who was dressed in a blue suit.

"And Agnes!" The woman said with a kind smile.

"What the hell?" Klaus mumbled rubbing his face. The adults all stared at the new arrivals in confusion and disbelief.

"Agnes and I escaped before the world ended but clearly so did you all. We've been traveling through time now for almost a century." Hazel said smiling as he looked towards the woman next to him.

"We've been finding birds throughout the decades!" She said overjoyed.

"How have you not aged at all?" Luther asked in confusion staring at the pair. He remembered Agnes from the donut restaurant and Hazel from the multiple times they tried to kill one another.

"I took a tip from Five. We jumped back to when Anges and I first met and then we travel around for a while till we wanna jump back then again to rest our ages." Hazel said nodding towards Five who simply rolled his eyes.

"Why are you back here now then?" Five asked crossing his arms.

"I got a message from the Handler, and after a century of not hearing from anyone I was a bit shocked when I read what it said," Hazel said fishing out the note from his pocket and handing it over to Five. Charlotte, Klaus, Luther, and Allison all crowded around him to read the small piece of parchment.

'Find what's left of the Hargreeves Family and help them stop the new apocalypse.'

The group looked to one another with a mixture of fear and determination with all eyes landing on the cause of the next apocalypse. Charlotte.