Chaotic Good | the umbrella academy

SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN
' GLORIOUS TIME TO
BEAT EACH OTHER
TO SHIT. '

Eddie wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead, she'd rightened some of the tables of her lab and pushed the broken computers and scraps into a pile at the side, but the majority of it was still a mess. Regaining her breath momentarily, she placed her hands on her hips and surveyed the surroundings.

"Fucking it," she murmured to herself, rolling her shoulders as she shifted her weight between her feet. "What more harm could it do?"

Before plunging into it, she cracked her neck and released a breath, then her green eyes began to glow, and the room got colder. Nothing happened instantly before the remaining overturned tables rightened themselves with a sudden jolt as if a force had struck them. Eddie closed her eyes, and her hands tightened on her hips.

"Eddie," a soft voice caused her eyes to snap open. "Dear, you're dirtying your dress."

She turned to face Grace but didn't react to her presence or words. The robot made a tutting noise and ran the duster she held through her hand before approaching and using it to wipe the specks of debris off the black funeral dress.

"No worry, there. Much..." Grace's eyes flickered away, and she froze. The sudden halt caused Eddie's eyebrows to furrow.

"Mom?"

The woman's head perked up at the sound of her name and returned her gaze to Eddie. A smile reformed on her face. "Yes, dear?"

The redhead blinked, eyebrows still furrowed and her stare searching the robot's face as if an explanation would appear there. "Are... are you okay?"

"Of course." Grace smiled before dusting the lab, not even acknowledging its state.

Rolling her shoulders again, Eddie kept her gaze on her for a moment longer before returning to tidying the rest of the lab.

\_|_/\_|_/\_|_/

Eddie held an umbrella over her head as the rain poured from the sky with unyielding ferocity. As she looked around the garden, her eyes landed on the metal band lying on the ground, and a quiet curse escaped her lips. Quickly, the redhead scooped it up and rubbed the dirt off before snapping it around her wrist, a shiver going down her spine. Her eyes momentarily flashed green, her grip tightening around the umbrella until she forced herself to relax and take her place in the small semi-circle her siblings formed.

Luther stood before them with their father's ashes gripped in his arms. She shoved her hand into the pocket of her black dress as her finger ran over a bump of the umbrella handle clutched in her other.

"Did something happen?" Grace questioned, and Eddie's eyes flickered to her mother's feet with furrowed eyebrows.

"Dad died, remember?" Allison replied, her face mirroring Eddie's and the others.

"Oh. Yes, of course." Grace nodded, her face dropping gravely.

"Is Mom okay?" Allison looked to Diego, then craned to glance at Eddie.

"Yeah, yeah, she's fine. She just needs to rest. Y'know, recharge. Right, Ed?"

Her green eyes flickered up to Diego's chest, and she shifted slightly before nodding gently. "Right," she agreed softly, although the others could hear the apprehension in her voice.

Pogo entered the garden, stopping at the other end of her siblings. "Whenever you're ready, dear boy," he spoke, and Eddie could feel the sorrow dripping from him.

Luther shifted before tipping the urn and pouring the ashes onto the ground. Eddie frowned as they clumped to the dirt, the rain soaking them before they could float away.

"Probably would have been better with some wind." Luther grimaced.

"And no rain," Eddie added genuinely.

"Does anyone wish to speak?" Pogo asked, taking the attention off the mound of ashes.

Silence plagued them.

"Very well. I wish to speak. In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made me what I am today. For that alone, I shall 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-"

"-He was a monster," Diego snapped, his eyes glaring solely on the ashes.

Eddie shared a glance with Five. It was just a flicker of their eyes, but they both released a sigh - anticipating the fight that was becoming more probable as the tension increased.

"He was a bad person and a worse father. The world's better off without him."

"Diego." Allison's voice was sharp, and she shot a glare at Diego.

"My name is Number Two," he snapped. "Y'know why? Because our father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names."

Eddie ran her tongue over her teeth, fist tightening around the umbrella.

"He had Mom do it."

"Would anyone like something to eat?" Grace suddenly spoke up, her eyes lightening.

Eddie narrowed her eyes before flickering back to Diego as Vanya denied softly.

"Look, you wanna pay your respects?" Diego stopped before the group, just short of the ashes. "Go ahead. But at least be honest about the kind of man he was."

"You should stop talking now." Luther's voice was low and dripping with anger.

"You know you, of all people, should be on my side here, Number One," Diego continued, nowhere near the end of his campaign.

Eddie glanced at the others, whose eyes were flickering between the two and then herself. Although she had about zero tact, it made her good at mediating between the two boys. She spent her childhood stopping them from killing each other - her bluntness gave something of an authority between her siblings. But that was a long time ago, and things had changed. Nevertheless, Eddie tried her luck.

She exhaled heavily before stepping forward. "Come on, I know Dad was a dick, but can we do this some other time? Some of us, given it's probably just eleven-point-one-recurring per cent of us, actually cared for him, and deciding it's a glorious time to beat each other to shit is deeply disrespectful."

"Stay out of this for once!" Diego seethed in her direction, disregarding her words with a wave of his hand.

Her face dropped for a split second before it became unreadable.

"I am warning you," Luther seethed, gaze on Diego and ignoring her words entirely.

The green in Eddie's eyes became more vibrant for a split moment, and although unnoticeable within its ferocity, the rain fell harder alongside it. Then the change vanished, and she swallowed thickly before turning on her heel and disappearing through the door.