Chaotic Good | the umbrella academy

EIGHT

CHAPTER EIGHT
' YOU'LL HAVE A
CONVERSATION . '

A young redhead wandered through an overgrown garden, her fingers brushing against the tall stems of various weeds. She couldn't have been older than three as her eyes fluttered over the enormous trees that towered over her - calculating, contemplating, concluding.

She stopped before a tree, placing a small hand against the rough bark before dragging it down the trunk, causing the dry crust to crumble. A brisk wind cut through her surroundings, dancing with the trees as they waltzed with the soundless melody. It circled her, grasping the curled ends of her ginger hair and enveloping it within its systematic routine. One, it seemed, the girl could understand as she anticipated its movements with a mere flicker of her eyes.

She pulled away from the dark tree, continuing her journey through the growing forest. With another pause, her gaze fell to a dirt road that curved a corner and delved into the darkness of the compressed woods. She blinked for a moment before proceeding.

Ducking under the merciless thorns that peered at her with ominous glowers, she grasped a long branch and pulled it away immediately when a thorn attacked her. She stopped, however, not from the pain but the lack thereof. With a tilted head, she inspected the blood trickling from the tiny wound and prodded it again, blinking at the painless action. She cradled her palm in her other hand and moved into a clearing. A large mansion stood before her, weeds climbing up the pale stone.

It wasn't real. It was a mere fantasy that her mind had conjured.

But that formed another question. Why?

"Number Eight!" She spun as the voice pierced her ears from all directions. "Number Eight!"

The room was cold as a three-year-old girl curled up in the corner, her knees brought to her chest as her head rested against the wall, with a face distant. Her brain buzzed as her glazed eyes flickered over imaginary images and blinked slowly. She twitched occasionally, but in all other senses, she wasn't in her body.

Hargreeves stood before her, staring down with narrowed eyes. He tried again. "Number Eight!"

She remained in her trance before he sighed heavily and lowered to a crouch. He grasped her arm, causing her to jump and scurry away from his touch with wildly darting eyes. They settled on the space where his grip had been before beginning to rub it harshly with eyes squeezed shut.

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

Eddie sighed as she unfolded from her corner of the room, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head as she entered the kitchen. "Hermes, how long was I out for?"

"Nearly four hours."

Eddie screamed, eyes immediately illuminating green in the darkness. As soon as she spied Five reclined in a chair with a steaming mug of coffee in his hand, the redhead forced her eyes to normal and set her hand on the sideboard to give her a chance to compose herself. "I could have killed you, you know?"

"Gotta say, I forgot how scary you can be when you do that," he replied, taking a long slurp of his coffee.

Eddie sighed and grabbed herself a mug. "It's not funny, Five," she murmured but didn't answer him directly. Letting silence hover, she lowered onto a chair opposite him, picking up her legs and crossing them under her.

He watched her intently, but her gaze remained on the coffee as she swirled it in the mug. "When did your dissociations start happening again?"

"It never stopped. I just got better at hiding it." Silence settled once more, and Eddie took a sip of her coffee. "While, of course, I'm thrilled you're here, dearest, but I'm sure there's a reason for it."

"You just disappeared," he answered. "We didn't get to have a full catch-up."

Eddie ignored his sentiment. "When I mean here, I don't mean my apartment."

Five opened and then closed his mouth, a reply not immediately leaving him. "The apocalypse happens in eight days," he finally answered before leaning forward when she remained quiet. "And I have no idea how to stop it."

"What leads do you have?"

"I have the prosthetic eye of the guy who causes it." He pulled it out of his pocket and threw it. The redhead caught it, setting her mug down and leaning forward to inspect it.

"Hermes, can you put on the light?" He followed her request silently, and the sudden brightness caused the Hargreeves siblings to wince and blink to adjust. Eddie ran her fingers over it, her eyes focusing on the barcode on the back. Running her tongue over her teeth, she glanced at five before throwing it back and returning her gaze to her hands. "You need to go to Mr Bigg," she eventually replied.

"He made the eye?"

"He's the executive of the manufacturer company, I believe."

"You know him?"

Eddie hummed. "We had a run in a few years back. He tried to take my company to court to try and take the heat off a tax evasion scandal." Her eyes flickered up to him briefly.

Five grinned. "That means you have some leverage to get him to answer my questions?"

"You'll have a conversation," she confirmed. "How do you know the one-eyed man causes the apocalypse?"

The question caused Five to freeze, and Eddie raised an eyebrow. He sighed before reclining in his chair again - there was no use in lying to her; she'd see right through him. "I found it in Luther's dead hand."

"I see," Eddie answered, her gaze still locked on her hands. "And I take it was a whole family affair?"

"No Vanya."

"Good."