[✓] 𝑃𝑅𝐸𝐿𝑈𝐷𝐸 | 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐬𝐢𝐱. 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑠

"𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐈𝐒 gonna—eight—but—huh?" 

Valerie stared at Five for a moment and briefly wondered whether or not he had gone insane. He had been in isolation for so many years, after all. 

But, then again, so had she. And she wasn't crazy. Probably.

Did she believe him? Yes. Did she want to believe him? No, she'd rather he be batshit crazy. But something about his fluttering eyes and pleading expression told her that he was being honest. 

Five chewed on his lower lip, nodding slowly before suddenly standing up. He tapped her shoulder to tell her to do the same as he murmured, "We have to go."

"What? Why?" she questioned, her eyebrows furrowing as she turned her head to face the closed door at the end of the hall. "What about Vanya?"

"Vanya—she doesn't believe me. She thinks time-travelling made me go insane."

"I mean, can you blame her?" She shrugged. "I'm having a hard time believing this, too. But I do," she quickly added on as he raised his eyebrows. "I believe you."

"Which is why I need your help," he replied. "We need to go back to the Academy, sleep a couple of hours, change into clothes that don't have blood on them, and then I need you to bring me somewhere."

Her eyebrows knit tightly together from the ambiguity of his last point. "Where?"

"Questions later." He craned his neck towards the hallway to make sure Vanya hadn't woken up. "Now, bring us to the Academy!"

"God, what am I, your personal chauffeur?" Valerie scoffed as she stood up.

Rolling her eyes at his nod of agreement, she grabbed a hold of his shoulders and sped them back to the place she loved most: home.

When they had reached the main foyer of the Academy, the lights had already been dimmed, and only silence greeted them. The pale moonlight that shone through the frosted windows illuminated the foyer just enough so that they could make out the outline of the staircase.

Holding onto the railing for extra support, the two of them quickly headed up the few sets of stairs until they reached the third floor. They bid each other a mumbled goodnight before separating and heading into their own room.

She could barely keep her eyes open as she changed into pyjamas and washed her face, but she managed to fully prepare for bed before slipping in. 

Valerie could hardly sleep—hell, she could hardly appreciate the fact that for the first time in twelve years, she had an actual mattress, blanket, and pillow to sleep with.

Five's words bounced through her mind as she tossed and turned in bed, and she found herself somehow more tired when Five knocked on her door about four hours later.

With a small groan, Valerie got up from her bed and opened the door rather reluctantly. "I can't sleep for, like, thirty more minutes?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, it's not like the fate of the world is in our hands," he deadpanned before the amused smile on his face then dropped. "Oh, wait. It is."

"Oh, shut up," she muttered as she playfully slapped his arm. "Okay, where am I—" She paused as she noticed a small, circular object in his hand that he was toying between his fingers. "What is that?"

"Oh, this?" he questioned as he raised the object for her to see.

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to make out the object with her exhausted eyes. She thought she was somehow seeing wrong, but after a moment, she realized it was what she thought it was: a glass eyeball.