Chaotic Good | the umbrella academy

NINETEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN
' SO YOU DO EXIST .  '

Eddie's breathing was short and shallow from where she curled up under the blanket on her armchair. Hands pulled to her chest, there was a furrow on her face, like just existing pained her.

"Eddie!" Five skidded into the room before his eyes landed on the hammock.

She flinched but didn't wake from her deep slumber.

He faltered as he tilted his head, stalking towards her. "Eddie?" His voice grew quiet, worry arresting his face as he approached her. A sigh escaped him, and he adjusted the blanket to cover her entirely. "Hey, you'll be okay?" he murmured, staring down at her. "You have to be."

"Five?" He turned to look at Diego and Klaus, who stood at the doorway. "Is Eddie okay?"

He nodded and approached them. "She's asleep. It's okay, let's go."

The moment the brothers closed the door behind them, Eddie exhaled heavily, the furrow of her brow relaxing.

She didn't inhale again.

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

White.

It surrounded her.

The solid colour dissolved slowly into specks, shrinking until the world exploded with hues and sounds. Eddie shot up from where she lay on the ground, her eyes flickering over the forest scene before peering up as a figure rode towards her. Glancing down at her body, she wore a white dress and the shoes she often wore in her world, with twigs and leaves clinging to her clothes and no doubt in her hair.

Eddie squinted as a grimace pulled on her face. She raised an eyebrow at the girl hopping off her bicycle from where she sat on the floor.

"Edelyn Hargreeves," she spoke, almost in disgust.

"So you do exist," Eddie replied, equal distaste in her tone. "So, is there an elevator or something?"

The girl glared. "You're so sure that you're staying?"

"Huh?"

"You're not finished yet."

"You're joking," she deadpanned, her shoulders sagging as her head dropped. "For fuck's sake!" she groaned out, falling back onto her back.

"Number Eight, stand up, you're not a child."

Eddie followed the order quicker than she realised she'd obeyed. Her eyebrows furrowed before she realised the voice wasn't a hallucination. Slowly, the redhead approached Hargreeves, and when she looked up at him, she tilted her head. "Fuck you," she hissed.

He scoffed. "That is no way to talk to me. You have never been grateful for the abilities bestowed on you. I only wanted to help you swim the expansive waters of your abilities. The failure is one of the few of my lifetime."

"You ruined my life."

"Don't be dramatic."

Her green eyes glowed, fury darkening it into something more dangerous than before. "Don't you dare," she hissed.

"If only this side of you had shown itself during your training. Not the weak, pathetic-"

A sudden shot of energy escaped her and threw Hargreeves against a tree. "I wish I'd been the one to kill you."

"That's it," the girl spoke. "The energy we needed. Your brother was easier to send back. You need a little push."

Eddie glanced at her, the wind picking up around them, fueled by her power and seething anger. "What?"