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To Nightfall

A/N: And finally, Chapter 20!! Thank you to everyone who has given this series your love and support. It honestly means everything in the world to me that you guys read and enjoy it. This series is like my first-born child and I have a very deep connection with it. The writing process for this third installment was so fun and satisfying; this was probably some of the most fun I've had writing this series. I have no idea what the final season has in store for us, but I just hope it's a happy ending so I don't have to worry too much about Five and Reader. But until then, I hope you enjoy the final chapter of To Nightfall! Thank you all so much, happy new year and much love to you beautiful people ❤️❤️

Warnings: character death, violence, blood, mentions of death/dying

Word Count: 6640

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Chapter 20: Que Será, Será

The lights within the practically turned-over laundry room sparked as the guardian stood from the ground and dragged its katana back to its side. Surrounding it were about ten of (Y/N)’s clones, all lifelessly scattered around the floor. On the other side of the room, behind the dryers, was Sloane, (Y/N), Five and Ben, all taking cover. All of them sported some kind of face wound, except for Ben.

“You, (Y/N) and countless of her clones have hit him with your axes countless times. He should be dead by now.” Ben glared at them, as if they were the issue.

“It’s the armor,” Five informed. “It’s hitting like cement.”

“There’s a space,” Sloane explained. “Between the backplates.”

(Y/N) elevated herself a bit to look over the dryer, her ax still clutched in her hands. “We need to get behind him.”

“Let’s kill this thing.” She nodded and stood to her feet.

“Sloane, wait-”

“Hey, asshole!”

Before they could stop her, she ran out of cover. Five grabbed (Y/N) and blinked away as Sloane ran up on the wall. The guardian turned to her and, like it was nothing, flung a knife towards her. She cried out in pain when her exposed waist was slashed, resulting in her crashing to the ground. The guardian roared and marched up to her.

Just as it was about to attack her, Five’s whoosh sounded from behind it. Hearing the whoosh, the guardian turned and struck Five across the face, sending him to the ground. (Y/N) gasped and dodged the swing of its katana, running to stand behind it. However, she wasn’t fast enough and ended up being forcefully kicked to the other side of the room. She screamed out in pain when her back and head came into contact with the wall, the girl nearly knocked out cold when she hit the washer below her, then the ground.

She painfully lifted her head to meet the end of a katana, her demise staring her right in the face. Her heart rate increased as she tried to move quickly, but every part of her body ached too much to move. She whimpered as the guardian lifted its weapon high in the air.

Its attention was taken off of her when several tentacles wrapped around its body. The three turned their heads to see that Ben had emerged from cover and was using his power to hold the guardian back. He yelled with the strain put on him as the guardian struggled against the tentacles. His yells turned into cries of pain when the guardian ripped itself free, tearing apart the tentacles. As soon as they were injured, they retreated back into Ben’s body for recovery. He glared up at the guardian as it turned its back to the three, rushing up to Ben with his katana at the ready.

Opponent right where she wanted it, (Y/N) forced herself to her feet with a grunt and a groan. She scooped her ax into her hands and ran up on the guardian, swinging down and hitting it in its weak spot in its back. It abruptly dropped its weapon and fell to its knees, face-planting into the ground with the ax sticking out from its back.

Safe for the moment, the four exchanged looks of relief. (Y/N) let a smile twitch onto her face as she and Ben shared a nod. Perhaps Luther and Klaus were right. Perhaps there was a bit of the old Ben in him. Somewhere.

On the fourth floor, Viktor sped through the halls in search of anyone. “Five? Allison? (Y/N)?”

As he passed by a closet, he heard a very faint ring resonating from inside, but his adrenaline was too high for him to worry about it. That was, until the door was busted down. Spinning around, he was met with Lila, who stepped out of the closet looking disheveled and very pissed.

“Finally. Someone with a power worth mimicking.”

“Lila? Why were you in a closet?”

She exhaled and went to answer, but she caught sight of a guardian down the hall. “I’ll explain later.”

At the sound of a snarl, Viktor turned to be met with the ax-wielding guardian twirling its weapon through the air. “Shit…” He sighed out. “I’m tired of running.”

“Me, too.”

They shared a look before they both rolled their shoulders back and clenched their hands into fists, Viktor summoning his energy and Lila mimicking it. Unfazed, the guardian charged for them. They stared it down as they strengthened their power.

“This feels oddly familiar.” Lila referred to the war they fought against each other in 1963.

“At least this time, we’re not aiming at each other.”

They glanced at each other before turning back to the guardian and releasing their power, blasting it back. It flew down the hall and smacked into the floor with a loud thud, its chest sizzling with the gaping hole left in it. Lila chuckled and cocked her head in the opposite direction.

“Let’s go.”

In the lobby, the quartet had entered, unknowingly joining their family. (Y/N) felt her heart flutter when she saw Klaus being helped to his feet by Viktor and Allison, groaning in pain as he held his head. “Klaus!” She cried out, running up to her brother and tightly wrapping her arms around his middle. “Oh, my god! I’m so glad you’re okay!”

Klaus groaned and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “It’s good to see you, too, sister dear.”

Viktor stepped back from Klaus to assess Five and (Y/N). “You guys look like hell.”

“You try fighting a guardian.” Five tiredly mumbled.

“We just did.”

“So did we.” Ben added.

“Klaus, I thought you were dead.” Sloane awed. Klaus nodded and waved everyone off as (Y/N) pulled away from him.

“Yes, yes, I’m alive and amazing, despite Dad’s attempts to bash my brains in, but tearful reunions later. What you guys need to know right now is that… Dad killed Luther. And he locked me out of the tunnel, and he rang that stupid bell!”

Noticing Reginald walking about the front of the lobby, (Y/N) rushed up towards him with her family following behind. “What the hell are you planning here?!”

“We don’t have time for this, my child.”

“You killed Luther!” Sloane screeched, holding her bleeding side.

“I had no choice. You refused to come together as a team.”

Ben growled and shook his head. “All of your stupid myths and stories. There were never seven bells or Norsemen. (Y/N) was right, you didn’t bring us here to save anything. You brought us here to die!”

“That’s not so.” Reginald dismissed. “Somewhere in this hotel is the key to resetting the universe. We just need to find the sigil!”

“I don’t care about your sigil!” Sloane hissed. “None of us do!”

“Yeah, we barely survived that guardian with his stupid helmet and his sickle!” Diego roared.

As everyone continued to scream at Reginald, Five’s eyes began tracing a familiar shape on the floor. To get a better view, he ran up the staircase to look from the bannister.

“The guardian we killed had an ax.” Viktor frowned in confusion. (Y/N) turned to him with the same expression.

“I killed one with a sword.”

Diego and Lila looked to each other and spoke in unison, “There’s one left.”

From the bannister, Five’s gaze trailed over the stars marked on the floor below everyone’s feet. The pattern they made was one he swore he saw countless times. The one on the tattoo he cut out of his older self, the one from Pogo’s book, the one on the pachinko machine at the Hotel Obsidian, the one Reginald had shown them in his journal. The sigil.

“Hey!” He shouted down at them. “I found the sigil! It’s on the-”

From the ceiling, glass shattered, the final guardian falling through. It threw the sickle-end of its chain towards Five and struck him in his arm. He screamed as a white-hot pain surged through his body, the boy falling to the floor.

“Five!!!” (Y/N) hollered and bolted up the stairs without a second thought. When she reached his side, she quickly sat him up and leaned him against the bannister. “Oh, god, Five! A-Are you-”

A strangled gasp left her lips at the blood spitting out of where Five’s arm should have been. Snapping her head to the side, her eyes widened at the sight of his arm lying on the ground a couple feet away from them.

Below them, the guardian landed in the lobby. It wasted no time in swinging its sickle into Klaus’s stomach, leaving a deep gash. It then tossed one of its explosives, blasting back some of them. The mace-end of its chain was thrown and sent into Ben’s abdomen. They were losing. They were all losing.

Meanwhile, (Y/N) was still composing herself as Five gasped and held the stub of his arm, blood spurting out from it. Thinking quickly, she ripped off the elastic waist of her harness. “Okay, okay.” She rushed in a panicked tone. “I got you, I got you.”

In the lobby, Diego had managed to land a few hits to the guardian, but they were deemed useless when the guardian simply swiped its sickle down and sent Diego to the floor in a heap. The only one left standing was Sloane.

The guardian snarled and stepped closer to her. She immediately held her hand up and used her power to halt it, but since she was already severely injured, she wouldn’t be able to hold it for long. She whimpered and strained until her power gave out. Just as the guardian went to attack, it was stopped.

It was stopped by Luther.

“Nobody hurts my wife, you son of a bitch.”

The guardian turned its head to face its smirking opponent, who had appeared behind it and was holding it by the sides. Luther let out a grunt before lifting the guardian and tossing it back, the armor-clad monster flying back and crashing to the ground. Luther didn’t even look at it, his focus on his teary-eyed wife. The two smiled before he approached her and gently pulled her into a hug. Sloane couldn’t find the words she wanted to say to him, rendered speechless by his sudden appearance. Despite the slightly-healed slash through his chest, he still looked exactly like the man she married one night ago. He was still her Luther.

He glared up at Reginald, who was staring in astonishment, yet disapproval. “All those years I stayed loyal to you. You wasted my life on the moon, and for what? To use me on this stupid mission?”

“You did have a purpose.” Reginald gravely responded. “I left you to guard the most precious thing in the universe.”

“And what was it?”

“You’ll soon understand. You all will.”

Having enough of his half-answers, Luther pulled back to lovingly peer down at his wife, cradling her face in his hand. Sure, she was battered and bruised, but she still managed to be the most beautiful creature he ever laid eyes upon.

Their gazes shifted to his hand when neither could feel the other’s touch anymore. Luther’s hand was fading, becoming transparent. He quickly turned to Klaus, who was splayed on the floor with his hand held out towards his brother, the blue hue surrounding his hand withering and dying out. “Klaus…”

He rasped as his other hand weakly pressed into his stomach wound. “I can’t… hold it.”

Not wanting to waste another second, he turned back to Sloane with a gentle, adoring look in his eyes. “I will love you forever. Okay?” He whispered, Sloane wobbly smiling and nodding in answer. The tighter she held him, the faster he seemed to disappear until she was left holding the empty air before her. Once again, the love of her life was taken from her. She was just thankful she could say goodbye this time. Though, as Allison and (Y/N) had warned, it still wasn’t enough.

And with one final breath, the blue of Klaus’s hand diminished as his body went limp.

From the bannister, Five let out a loud groan as (Y/N) tightly fastened the elastic strip near the end of his stub, the bleeding slowing to a stop. He would have kissed her and thanked her endlessly had they been in very different circumstances, but now was not the time. The both of them leaned against the bannister to look down at their family spread out in the lobby, their stomachs twisting when they noticed the final guardian gaining its strength and rising back to its feet.

“The sigil is in the lobby floor!” Five shouted down at them. “It’s the stars!”

“Children!” Reginald immediately called out. “Find a star on the sigil! Stand on it!”

As if on cue, Klaus sucked in a deep gasp and sat up straight from the floor with a groan, gently holding himself as he shivered vigorously. He had reanimated, and not only that, but his wound was completely healed.

“Ben, now’s your time, boy! Quickly!” Reginald shouted. Ben hesitated, but slowly stood from the floor as Sloane absently stepped to the side, stepping on the star beside her and causing the panel to click.

“Seven points, seven of us?” Viktor stumbled around in confusion. “We’re the bells?” He and Lila stepped on two other stars, the panels clicking and lighting up just as Sloane’s did. Right as Allison went to stand on a star, Reginald called out to her.

“No. Not you.”

Klaus staggered to another star and stood on it as the guardian straightened itself and situated its mask back onto its pore-cluttered face with a monstrous growl. “Hurry!” Reginald urged as Five reached the end of the stairs with his wife assisting him. “It’s the only way to stop him!”

Ben and Diego stepped on two more stars, leaving the last one dead in the middle. Allison, (Y/N) and Five stared at it before they locked eyes on each other. Awaiting the next move.

“Number Five, quickly!”

(Y/N) widened her eyes at Reginald. He wanted Five to go. Why did he want Five to go? Why not her? Why not Allison? It would make sense that Allison would be exempt from any danger considering they made a deal. Her heart hammered faster in her chest at the possibility of this being a sacrifice. She looked in the other direction to see the guardian swinging the mace-end of its chain menacingly. It was now or never.

The guardian let out a roar as she launched herself off the stairs and darted for the star. Before she could reach it, though, Five had blinked and appeared on the star. She fell to the ground at his feet and stared up at him in horror. His panel lit up and clicked before a beam of light cast down on each of the seven. A bright light glowed in their chests before a lightning-like energy blasted out of them and connected in the center to Five’s body. He cried out in pain as another string of energy shot out from their combined power and struck the guardian in its chest.

The monster dropped its weapons and shook uncontrollably until it fell to the floor, lifeless. An innumerable amount of cockroaches fled from out of the armor, causing the body to deflate into nothing.

The seven were released from the lightning-energy as (Y/N) stood to her feet slowly and stared at Five in alarm. He stared back at her and moved his mouth to speak, but instead of words, a strained gasp left his lips as his limbs locked and he threw his head back.

“Five?!” She gaped. Looking around, she realized that the other six were in the same state as him, indisposed by the beams that had them in their grip. Her eyes moved all around when she noticed every single inch of their surroundings crumbling and melting away until they stood in a bright yellow outline of what once was the Hotel Oblivion. “What’s happening…?”

Reginald walked around the seven and to the now empty front desk that rotated in a straight angle and came to a complete stop. He stepped through the opening of the desk as a hologram lifted from it, indescribable codes glowing and shifting around the screen-like surface as he used his hands to move them around.

(Y/N) watched in horror as the color drained from her family’s faces. This scene was all too familiar. She remembered the night of Viktor’s concert when he had nearly killed them all, when he had nearly killed her. She remembered her brothers and husband having the lives drained from them with their faces sinking in and their bones straining against their skin. If it was possible at all, and it proved itself to be, they seemed worse off now. Because whatever was killing them now was showing no sign of stopping. And she could do nothing to stop it.

“This wasn’t part of the deal.” Allison hurriedly walked up to Reginald. “You’re hurting them.”

“I can’t stop now.” He replied, sparing her a glance. “It’d shut down the machine.”

“What machine? I don’t understand.”

“The hotel was just a facade. We’re stuck inside a machine in another dimension. Whoever created the universe built this place.”

(Y/N) whirled on him. “What are you doing to them?!”

The beams shone brighter and the seven screamed louder.

“What are you doing?!”

“The particles inside their bodies are the only things that fuel the machine.” He explained as the same particles ejected from Harlan were being extracted from them. (Y/N) realized then that those were their lifesource, what they were made of, what fueled their powers. They weren’t entirely of this world, but of another somewhere she may never find.

Five moved his eyes to her, the only part of his body he was able to control. “You have to stop him.” He choked out. “He killed Luther. He tried to kill Klaus. He won’t stop until we’re all dead.”

And she wanted to, she swore she did, but when the volume of their cries increased along with the brightness of the beams, her need to help them spread further in her heart. Without thinking, she reached her hands out to grab hold of Five’s arm, but as soon as her hands made contact with the beam, an unbelievably striking pain shot through her body. She wailed in pain and drew her hands to her chest. She stared down at her quaking hands to see that the color had faded from them.

Allison gasped and turned back to Reginald. “You need to stop.”

“I’m almost done. And when I am, you and I will get what we came here for.”

“No, you are killing them!!!”

“Everything in life has a price.”

She glanced at her dying family one last time before whipping her head to Reginald.

“Stop!!!” She screamed, her eyes glowing that bright orange once again. Unfortunately, the hologram surrounding Reginald also acted as a forcefield, which blocked out her power, rendering her harmless.

(Y/N) was sick of it. She was sick of Reginald’s lies, his deception, his constant betrayal towards anyone in his path and the countless half-truths he spewed towards them. He cost too many people their lives. He killed Luther, he tortured her and her siblings throughout their childhood and when they tried to escape the abuse, he pulled them right back in. (Y/N) remembered that night the breaking news of his death was broadcasted on every news channel around the world. A heavy weight had lifted itself from her shoulders and for a second, she actually felt free. She would do anything to feel that again.

Anything.

The moment she spotted the sickle on the ground, she dropped to the floor and clutched it in her hands. She locked eyes with Allison, who simply nodded at her. It was the perfect opportunity, with Reginald turned away from her and completely engrossed in his work. She could end it all. She could save them all.

“This is for (Y/N).”

The girl lifted the sickle and slashed Reginald in the side of the face with it. His hands drew away from the hologram, causing the beams of light to vanish, releasing the seven. They all fell to the ground with coughs and groans. (Y/N)’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as she and Allison fearfully backed away from Reginald.

Half of his face was now gone, the inside of his head anything but humane, a green substance oozing from his head rather than blood. He crashed to the ground in a lifeless heap, his otherworldly blood dripping down the other side of his face. He wasn’t human. He never was.

Figures.

Without another thought towards him, (Y/N) dropped the sickle and rushed over to Five, wrapping her arms around him and lifting him into her lap. “Five? Five, look at me. Look at me. I’m here… I’m here.”

Five coughed and weakly held her hand in his. It was deathly cold and almost limp, but she kissed it all the same. She pressed his palm against her cheek in hopes of warming it and he smiled tiredly at the sentiment. With slight difficulty, he turned his head to the side, eyes widening. “Allison…”

She looked up to see her sister standing before the hologram, her hand hovering over a glowing red button on the screen. “Allison! Stop! We don’t know what that does!”

“Allison, stop!”

Allison turned her head away to look at Viktor, who shakily got to his feet and glowed a dim blue, his power sputtering a bit. “Don’t make me do this!”

“Do you trust me?” She whispered.

He paused for a moment because, ultimately, he did trust her. As foolish as it was, he knew that after everything, Allison’s intent for her family was good. She wasn’t behind Luther’s death, she didn’t want Klaus to die. Whatever deal she made with Reginald would save them. And he believed that wholeheartedly. That was why he let his power deactivate.

“Viktor, what are you doing?” Five frowned. “Stop her!”

Allison smiled at Five with misty eyes. “You don’t need to worry about (Y/N) anymore, Five.” She sweetly whispered with genuine care in her tone. “She’ll be okay soon.”

(Y/N)’s face morphed into terror.

“She’s gonna be happy.”

Everything about that did not sit right with her at all. (Y/N) inhaled deeply and carefully stood to her feet, her hands letting go of Five. “(Y/N)? (Y/N), what are you doing?”

“I’m stopping her.”

The girl jumped over Five’s body and bolted towards her sister. Allison sniffled and smiled wider at her before turning back towards the button.

“Allison!”

Her hand reached up.

“Wait! Allison, don’t!!!”

Her hand neared the button.

“No!”

Allison pressed the button.

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The night was dark and stormy when the cab pulled up to an extravagant home settled in Beverly Hills, California. Thunder rumbled as Allison climbed out and shut the door behind her. She stared up at the house she hadn’t been to in so long. This time was going to be different.

Allison reached under the potted plant on the porch and picked up the spare house key, just where she knew it would be. She unlocked the front door and took little time to observe the interior as she made her way through the lounge room and up the winding staircase. The door to Claire’s bedroom was open, as she knew it would be. Allison stood in the threshold of the door, her heart warming and picking up pace as she smiled at the little lump on the bed, turned away from her, wearing a silk scarf for her hair. She gasped and choked on a sob as she moved towards the bed.

Exhaling, Allison sat on the edge with a wobbling smile, gently placing a hand on the child’s leg. “Claire…” She whispered.

The little girl turned, the beautiful face Allison had been yearning to see smiling tiredly at her. “What’s wrong, Mama?”

Allison joyfully laughed and brought her daughter into a tight hug. “Nothing, baby.” She sniffled. “Oh, I’m just so happy to be home.”

A lifetime without this moment felt like eternity for Allison. Her constant fighting and tears and bloodshed felt all-for-naught up until now. Now that her beautiful Claire was in her arms once again, her heart felt whole again. She didn’t think she could be any happier.

“It’s where you were always meant to be.”

Her eyes snapped open at Ray’s voice. Slowly, she turned to meet her husband, the same age as she left him in 1963, smiling fondly at her. “Hey, baby.”

She tilted her head with a grin, her entire chest warming with the growth of her heart. Ray’s smile widened before he nodded to Claire. Allison looked back to her daughter and took her smiling face into her hands, thumbs caressing the apples of her cheeks and her lips pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. Everything she wanted was right here, in the home she had missed so dearly.

She hoped (Y/N) was just as happy where she was.

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The ding of the elevator sounded before the doors slid open. It revealed five pathways that all met in the center of the outside memorial, where a stone platform stood. Viktor stepped out first, followed by Five, then Diego, then Lila, then Ben, and then Klaus. The six slowly walked about the greenery around them that stood between each pathway as some sort of decoration.

“Cool.” Lila laughed. Five walked up to the stone platform to see that it held a statue of Reginald’s head. He looked down at the plaque engraved in the stone.

OBSIDIAN MEMORIAL PARK

Graciously Donated By

SIR REGINALD HARGREEVES

The 1st Day of October 1989

Another timeline with Reginald Hargreeves.

Viktor turned his head back to the elevator when he noticed someone else step out of it, a bright smile stretching across his face. “Luther?”

Luther looked around at them with wide eyes and a hopeful smile as his brother approached him. “Oh, shit. You can see me?!”

“Yes!”

“I’m alive?!”

“Yes!”

“I’m alive!” He cheered as Viktor threw himself into his arms, Luther catching him and holding him tight.

“Luther’s alive!” Klaus cheered as well.

“Oh, my god!” Lila grinned.

Now back on his feet, Viktor took a look at his brother and gaped in amazement. “Wait. That’s not all, big guy.”

“Huh?”

Luther looked down at his body and realized that his abnormally large muscles and beastly body hair was gone. Once again, he was back to his normal size. His size before Reginald had injected him with that serum. “Whoa! Oh, shit! My body! Wait.” He marveled at his figure as Klaus joined his side. “I look amazing.”

“Luther’s all svelte now.”

“Wait. I gotta show Sloane!”

Five lifted his arm and then froze when he realized he lifted his arm. “I got my arm back…”

“This is so cool. W-Wait… Where’s Sloane?”

Klaus blinked a few times. “Oh, she was, uh… She was right behind me-”

“When Allison hit the button.” Lila reminded.

“She’s gone, too.” Diego pointed out.

Five’s heart sank to his stomach when he didn’t spot his love anywhere. He twisted his body every which way in hopes that she would emerge from a corner or step out of the elevator. “(Y/N)’s gone, too… Has anyone seen (Y/N)?!”

“Last I saw her-”

“She was trying to stop Allison.”

“Would they be in the same place?”

He held his head in his hands as his siblings’ voices overlapped. He tried to wrap his head around it all. They were in a different timeline. They were standing in the hotel. Well, where the hotel used to be. Reginald had done it. He reset the universe.

“You got your fingers back!” Lila gasped and held Diego’s hand, the man grinning in relief.

“Sloane? Sloane!” Luther called out before marching up to Five and fisting the front of his suit jacket. “Hey, I don’t care about your resets, alright? I want my wife back. Where is she, Five?”

Five lifted his head. “I’m glad you’re alive, but take your hand off me.”

“Not until you give me an answer.”

“My wife is missing, too, Luther, and I would like to get to the bottom of it if you would let me go.” He jerked his body forward, but nothing happened. He was still in the same spot. He didn’t jump. “Something’s wrong…”

“That’s right. You’re about to get your ass kicked.”

“Yeah, kick his ass.” Diego excitedly grinned.

“No, you moron. My power.” Five frowned at Luther. “I can’t blink.”

At once, everyone tested out their power. Luther clenched his fists, but they didn’t squeeze nearly as tight as they used to.

Diego twirled his knife in his hand, but it slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground.

Klaus held his inkless palm out to summon a spirit, but nothing happened.

Ben shut his eyes and braced his core for his tentacles, but nothing within him moved.

Viktor tried to summon his energy, but his hearing was no longer advanced enough to listen to the sounds around him.

“This means I’m mortal again?” Klaus whined. “Awe, man!”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Ben shook his head. “How do we get ‘em back, you idiots?”

No one answered, because no one had a single clue as to what they just got themselves into. Luther began to back away. “I gotta… I gotta go find my wife.”

Klaus gasped and turned to Luther as he ran down one of the pathways. “No! Luther, you can’t go. You were dead five minutes ago. You’re fragile!” He turned back to his family. “I gotta go after him.”

“No. Wa- Klaus, wait!” Diego called as Klaus followed after Luther.

“I’m out, bitches.” Ben hissed and strode down another pathway.

“Guys, come on!” Viktor called out. “We should stick together and figure this out-”

“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Diego questioned. Lila looked up at him with raised brows.

“Live our lives?”

The two clasped hands and shared a hopeful nod before heading down another pathway. This left Five and Viktor to stare at each other in disbelief. Just like that, the family was once again separated. Five couldn’t entirely blame them, but a part of him felt betrayed by his siblings.

He couldn’t think about that right now, though. Because he had his own agenda. He needed to find (Y/N).

Without a word, Five turned and exited down another pathway. Viktor’s shoulders slumped as he watched him go. He had no idea what this new timeline had in store for him, for his family. Was there another apocalypse to come? Could they finally live in peace as they so desired? He didn’t know. All he knew was that everything they had gone through, every hardship within their lives, had started and ended with Reginald Hargreeves.

“Asshole.” He spat at the statue before heading down the last pathway, leading him into a world run by the very man he thought he defeated.

None of them knew it yet, but the water they stepped into was deeper than they ever anticipated. None of them knew it yet, but they had just set out their new lives…

In a Reginald Hargreeves dystopia.

-------------------------------------------------

As soon as (Y/N) creaked her eyes open, she shut them tight against the glaring sunlight that seeped through her blinds. She groaned and lifted her head, gingerly rubbing her temples to soothe the aching. She did it again. She stayed up too late. She couldn’t keep doing this, but the deadline for her drafts was approaching quicker than she thought.

Wait.

Her drafts?

She blinked and frowned down at the typewriter before her, a half-finished chapter typed out on the paper. She vaguely remembered working on this chapter what felt like a lifetime ago. Before the news report, before the funeral.

A tiny bark had her head snapping over to the left, where she saw a small golden retriever bounding up to her and pawing at her pajama pants. Her heart fluttered. “Mr Pennycrumb…?”

The puppy happily yapped and pawed at her calves. With a joyful laugh, she gently picked him up and scratched behind his ear just like she knew he liked, giggling giddily as he licked at her face. “Oh, my baby! I’ve missed you! Yes, I missed you, baby!”

Mr Pennycrumb wiggled and jumped off her knees, landing on the floor and skittering out of the slightly ajar door. (Y/N) shook her head and blinked rapidly as she looked around. She was in her old bedroom. The bedroom she used to share with Anthony. The bedroom she never thought she would return to.

“What the hell?”

She stood and headed over to the door, but froze when she passed by her mirror. Slowly, she backpedaled until she was staring at herself. Immediately, her hands flew to her chest and she gaped at her body. She nearly jumped for joy at the sight of her adult self staring right back at her. No longer was she in that prepubescent body. Yes, she felt a bit less energized now that she was older once again, but she preferred this much more than what she was forced into for so long.

(Y/N) gasped and reached her hands up to run over her now scarless face. Those dreadful lines that interrupted her features and reminded her of such a terrifying time in her life, were gone. She could feel tears building up in her eyes at her relief. When she blinked them away, she noticed that her hands were back to their original skin color. It was like she was completely reset. Did this mean Five was back to normal?

“Oh, god… Five!” She ran to her bedroom door and flung it open. “Five!”

She choked on her words at the two heads that perked up at her voice, distracted from their morning cartoons. She nearly fell into the wall as tears she didn’t even feel building up this time started to spill down her face.

“Mama!”

“Good morning, Mama!”

(Y/N) sobbed and ran to the couch with open arms. “My babies!”

Jada stood on the couch and jumped into her mother’s arms, wrapping her little legs around her waist as (Y/N) crushed her daughter against her. “Jada! Oh, my sweet baby girl!” She pulled away to press kiss after kiss to her soft cheeks, the girl’s heavenly giggles causing more tears to escape. “Oh, my god… Oh, my god… I missed you, babyface. I missed you so much!”

Jada gave her mother a kiss on the cheek before she was gently set back down on the couch. (Y/N) picked up Michael and gave him the same treatment, which surprised him, since he was told that he was getting too heavy for her to hold.

“Mama’s baby boy! My beautiful baby boy! I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry I was gone! Mama’s never leaving you again, you hear me? Never. Never ever!”

“No more business trips?”

“No more business trips.” She peppered kisses on his cheeks, his forehead, his nose, his lips.

“Mama! Gross! Stop!” He laughed and wiggled out of her grip until he landed on his feet.

(Y/N) kneeled before her babies and brought them into a tight hug. “I’m so happy I’m home…”

“I’m happy you are, too.”

She let go of the children and turned to see her mother exiting the kitchen with a soft smile, her signature purple slippers on her feet. “You’ve been working yourself to death lately.”

“Mom…?”

“I made breakfast. It’s still warm, so I suggest you get it now-” She stopped when (Y/N) threw her arms around her and hugged her tight. Furrowing her brows, she slowly hugged back. “Um… Alright. Good morning to you, too, honey.”

“I can’t believe this is happening.” (Y/N) sobbed. “This is- Oh, god- This is-”

“Hey, hey. Breathe, (Y/N).” She pulled away and wiped her daughter’s tears away. “Wow… You really need to work out a sleep schedule. Here, why don’t you have some coffee?”

That was when (Y/N) remembered. “Oh! Where’s Five?”

“Who?”

She blinked. “Five. My husband. I-I introduced him to you.”

“Honey, what? Are you talking about Anthony?”

The front door to the house opened, (Y/N)’s face dropping at the man who stepped inside.

“Dad!”

“Daddy’s home!”

Michael and Jada ran up and hugged Anthony, who was alive and well. He was dressed in business casual attire and his goatee was freshly trimmed. He set his briefcase down and picked up Jada, gently kissing her cheek. “Ya miss me?”

“No more business trips for you, either, Daddy!”

“Yeah, you and Mama have to stay here with us and Grandma from now on!”

Anthony softly laughed and shut the door behind him, plopping Jada back onto the couch and ruffling Michael’s hair. “I’ll think about it, alright? Morning, Mom.”

“Welcome back home, Anthony.” (Y/N)’s mother hugged the man and kissed his cheek. “How was your trip? You’re just in time for breakfast.”

“Smells great. I’ll tell you all about it.” He gently smiled at her before pulling away and turning to (Y/N), his smile melting into a more tender one as he walked up to her. “Hey, baby…”

(Y/N) couldn’t move. She couldn’t speak. This wasn’t possible, it couldn’t be. Anthony was dead. She had to see his body for the autopsy. She had to put his funeral together. He couldn’t be here.

But then again, Mr Pennycrumb was from the sixties.

When Anthony brought her into a kiss, she closed her eyes for only a moment, she only kissed back for half a second, she relived her old life for a speck of time before her eyes flew back open. Because this was not her husband. Not anymore. She was promised to Five, devoted to him, and she had no intentions of changing that. Not even for Anthony.

He pulled away and gently kissed her forehead. “Did you just wake up?”

“I… um…”

“You know she did.” Her mother chuckled and walked into the kitchen. “She was up again, trying to finish her drafts.”

“She’s a hard-working woman.” He squeezed her arm. “It’s what I love about her.”

(Y/N) watched Anthony walk into the kitchen with wide eyes, her mind racing. As she examined her home, she recognized minor differences. Anthony’s obituary was no longer sitting on its own shelf, Ben’s favorite books were missing from her collection, the family photos were updated. The last time Anthony held Jada, she was just a baby. But those photos couldn’t have been taken more than a few months ago. Swallowing, she looked down at her hand.

The white bracelet that belonged to Sparrow (Y/N) no longer took its place on her wrist. She never even remembered taking it off. But that wasn’t the worst of it.

Her new wedding ring was gone, replaced with the old one she had taken off long ago. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right at all.

“What’s wrong, Mama?”

(Y/N) turned to the couch to find her children staring at her with big, curious hazel eyes, Mr Pennycrumb happily wagging his tail between the two.

“Oh, god…” She shook her head as the aching in her temples worsened. “Something is… very wrong.”

—————————————

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THE FOURTH AND FINAL INSTALLMENT, "Before Daybreak", IS COMING TO YOU SOON!! Thank you for reading ❤️❤️

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