a.n: happy twos day! (Shhh I totally made it before midnight 😉😇) in honor of our Two, here's two free chapters of the 2nd episode of The Stolen Umbrella. On the house! The rest is coming before next Sunday. Enjoy and please don't be shy, let me know if this series brings you a smile!You will surely make my year

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☂︎ 𝔱𝔰𝔲 | ❛ ᴏɴᴇ ᴀᴘᴏᴄᴀʟʏᴘꜱᴇ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ ❜

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐇𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐌𝐈𝐂 𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 of the dinner bell chimes throughout the mansion, reigning in the seven children that have already begun making their way to into the dining hall. A strict routine was law when you lived under the thumb of the great Sir Reginald Hargreeves. He ran a very tight ship and the only comfort during their days at sea were the many stolen moments within each other's company-that didn't end in an argument that sent one or more of them to the hospital wing-and the occasional warmth from their mother Grace on the sidelines. This included their single file march to the dining table where the voice of Herr Carlson echoed out from the record player. They were seated when asked and only then, never a moment sooner and never a moment later. And that never happened until their father joined them.

This evening, they stood rooted behind their designated chairs for at least ten minutes as they waited. Neither of them dared to try anything, they had learned well from experience. It didn't matter he had disappeared yet again-nowhere in sight-he always found out.

Just as their heels had started to ache from standing, the heavenly sound of footsteps approaching lifted their spirits only slightly. In their thirteen years, none of them had any clue as to where he disappeared to so often. When he wasn't holed up in his study he was nowhere to be found and frankly, it scared them.

But here he stood at the head of the table pulling out his chair as if not even a minute had passed since the dinner bell rang. He took his time meeting their eyes before sharply declaring, "Sit!"

And like the show dogs he had trained them to be, they eagerly piled into their seats.

Dinner had continued on in silence like any other; Luther, Allison, and Vanya were really the only ones who were dead set on eating thanks to the appetite that came with higher training. Diego had started playing with his steak knife and carving intricate patterns into the handle of his chair as Klaus had started rolling a joint in between bites. And Ben was well into his latest novel, The Bet by Anton Chekov. Five was the only one who stood out from his siblings.

To Vanya's left at the head of the table, he sat seething, losing a one-sided glaring contest with his father. Five snapped and the steak knife he pulled from the table was stabbed suddenly into the surface grabbing the attention of everyone in the room.

"Number Five?" Answered Reginald in a tone, not unlike a teacher calling on a raised hand.

"I have a question." He seethed.

"Knowledge is an admirable goal but you know the rules. No talking during mealtimes. You are interrupting Herr Carlson."

"I want to time travel," he states through gritted teeth.

"No,"

"But I'm ready." Five launches himself out of his seat. "I've been practicing my spatial jumps just like you said."

On cue, the boy is swallowed by reality and reappears at his father's side. "See?"

Reginald never looks up from his plate, he merely discards his fork and grabs for a sip of wine. "A spatial jump is trivial when compared to the unknowns of time travel. One is like sliding along the ice. The other is akin to diving blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn."

"Well," scoffs Five, quietly under his breath. "I don't get it."

"Hence the reason you're not ready."

Five glances across the table for help, the only being Vanya who sits at the opposite head of the table. Her dark eyes flicker to their father before landing back on Five. 'Don't,' comes her silent plea. But Five wouldn't be shaken so easily.

"I'm not afraid," he says. It feels more like he is saying this to Vanya or himself than he is to Reginald.

"Fear isn't the issue," states Reginald. Boredom cutting away at the steak on his plate. "The effects it might have on your body, even your mind are far too unpredictable."

"Now," He drops the silverware from his hands and looks up at his son for the first time since he jumped. "I forbid you to talk about this anymore."

Five grits his teeth, anger seeping into his lungs with every breath. He was sure he had never felt more frustrated-more ignored and insignificant until now. Anything and everything infuriating the man ever said to him had shot up to the surface and broke what little patience Five had been clinging to.

No, he decided. He was tired of being walked all over-of being used, never respected. It's not like the old man would ever care if something did happen. But it wouldn't. The blind and unflinching stubborn belief he could do it and prove that man wrong was all that mattered now. It was all he could focus on.

He was running for the door before anyone could stop him, the only protests coming from his father who called after him in fury.

"Number Five! You haven't been excused! Get back here!"

But he was already out the door. He relished in the evening chill that washed over his face and the sense of fresh air it brought him. This wasn't like recreational time, cooped up even in the outdoors where Reginald allowed them to be in the courtyard or the roof. This was his choice, and it made the air around him sweeter. Five threw open the gates and paraded out into the street where he mingled with the passing bodies out for a stroll. All the while a relieved smile broke out on his face.

It was time.

When he first broke through, he would have thought that it hadn't worked if it hadn't been for the dizzying feeling buzzing around his head and the taste of metal on his tongue. Five continued to run and as he did, he couldn't help but beam at what he had accomplished; Five had successfully traveled through time.

"Not ready, my ass," he grinned.

He couldn't be sure when he was, but the warm breeze and sunlight streaming through the trees told him it was summer. Ice cream vendors that hadn't been in his peripheral a moment ago were handing out cones and kids raced by on their scooters. And that's when it hit him all over again; He had traveled through time.

So why stop there?

The second time he jumped, he was assailed with bitterly cold winds that nipped at his skin. He looked around the snowy landscape of his street, the sidewalks barren and shops closed.

When he jumped a third time, his senses were struck with a flurry of invasive stimuli. His first breath in this world inhaled plumes of smoke and ash that forced a horrific cough. He couldn't shake the smell of burning flesh under the stench of sewage and saltwater from the excess water streaming by his feet and burying the first layer of rubble. The water was black and yet left his shoes red, forcing him to face the fact of just how much carnage had been left.

But the sight he now stood before wasn't any more welcoming; The sky was ashen gray and the black clouds rained down ashes of what little remained. By the looks of it, the whole town had been leveled. But a sick feeling in his gut told him they weren't the only ones who had been hit by whatever had passed. Not a single building or complex had survived, all that had was a burning pile of rubble and Five himself.

He had stumbled upon the end of the world.

His heart leaped up into his throat choking his airways but still, he ran. He knew deep down he would find nothing but destruction but he had to see for himself. He had to see...

His feet crash against the two-inch stream of water racing down the street, and waves of ashy, bloodied water splashed up onto his ankles staining them with watery red streaks. His heart fights to break from his chest and his lungs work as twice as hard as he fails to fight the rising panic overtaking him. But the world comes to a halting stop when he finds himself outside the academy. It's in ruins, like everything around him. Billows of smoke rise from where the dining room had been, where he last left his family only moments ago.

They were gone.

But they couldn't be! He just couldn't accept it, it was too hard.

"Vanya!" He calls, hearing nothing but his broken voice echoing down the streets. "Ben! Dad!"

But no answer. There was no one, nothing left except for the fires that still burned bright as they swallowed what remained of his home.

"Anyone?!" He cried.

Back, he thought in the midst of his daze. He needed to get back.

But all he felt was an intense wave of lightheadedness crash over him. Five twisted and pulled at reality, clawing to get out but any effort to jump back was completely warped.

"Come on!" He looked at his clenched fists through his teary eyes and tried with all his might, but all they gave off was a weak glow that flickered out. He was drained. He was stuck. "Shit,"

The pain overwhelms Five; everything he had felt only moments ago felt like lightyears away as he collapses to his knees before his decimated home. His family, his siblings... All of them were gone. And there was nothing he could do about it.

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"I survived on scraps," Five says, his thumbs nimbly tracing the cup of coffee Vanya had procured. "Canned foods, cockroaches, anything I could find."

Five chuckles half-heartedly. "You know that rumor about Twinkies having an endless shelf life?" She nods. "Well, it's total bullshit."

"I can't even imagine," she croaks, eyes drilling into the floor as everything settles in.

"You do whatever you can to survive," he shrugs. "or you die. So we adapted. Whatever the world threw at us, we found a way to overcome it,"

A wistful look lights up his face and he takes a cautious sip of coffee. The corners of his mouth twitch upward in an almost smirk and his eyes glaze over as his memories take him far away. But Vanya was too focused on his choice of words and confusion became her, that was until she recalled the name he let slip back at the mansion. Delores, she thinks.

"We?"

His face clears as he returns from the past, and with a sinking heart she realizes he was already at work stamping down the memories. He simply raises his mug and quirks a brow.

"You got anything stronger?"

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Vanya watches her brother carefully as he downs the glass of brandy. He had insisted he could handle it, being fifty-eight and all but she still had a hard time understanding how his younger body could physically handle it. Didn't make much sense to her, but the more he explained the more tangled and convoluted the science of it all became.

He grits his teeth, wincing at the feel of the hard liquor racing down his throat when Five catches the look in her eye and mistakes it for something else.

"You think I'm crazy," he says, overwhelmingly disappointed.

Vanya quickly shakes her head. "No, i-it's just," she sighs, shaking her head. "It's a lot to take in,"

"Exactly what don't you understand?" He all but seethes.

"Why didn't you just time travel back?"

That seemed to be the wrong question, and she knew it too and yet it still jumped off her tongue and put a scowl on Five's face.

"Gee, wish I'd thought of that," he says. "Time travel is a crapshoot. I went into the ice and never acorn-ed." He softens, but only a little. It's his anger and frustrations melting back into exhaustion. "You think I didn't try everything to get back to my family?"

A silence falls between them that speaks volumes. They both knew the hostility that lingered was of no fault but circumstance.

"If you grew old there, you know, in the apocalypse, how come you still look like a kid?"

"I told you already," He scoffs again, waltzing back to the counter and getting himself a refill. "I must have gotten the equations wrong,"

"I mean, Dad always used to say," Vanya offered as gently as possible. "that time travel could mess up your mind... Well, maybe that's what's happening?"

Five slams the now empty glass of scotch on the counter as hard as he can without breaking it.

"This was a mistake. You're too young," he says simply, squeezing himself past Vanya to grab the car keys on the kitchen table and made way for the door. "Too naive to understand--"

"No. Five," she calls. "Five, wait,"

Hesitantly, he stops in his tracks and turns to face his sister. Her eyes are pleading and her voice shakes. A subtle wind picks up inside and he knows she's hurting.

"I haven't seen you in a long time, and I don't want to lose you again. That's all." His hand stops around the doorknob and his eyes fall to the ground. "And you know what, it's getting late and... I have lessons early, and I need to sleep, and I'm sure you do, too. Here,"

Vanya clears a spot on the couch, fluffing a pillow and unfolding the wool throw blanket for him to sleep on. She was relieved to see he had dropped any visible intent of leaving and gave him a reassuring look.

"We'll talk in the morning again," she says. "Okay? I promise."

He nods, but still avoids eye contact. He knew she was genuine but that didn't stop the itch lingering in his skin and the unshakeable feeling of adrenaline. He always hated that part.

"Night," she says, slipping off down the hall towards her bedroom door.

"Night,"

Five waits until he's sure she not coming back out before he takes a seat on the couch. His hand returns from his pockets with a worn, thread-thin cloth that held his only clue. The prosthetic eye was still in contact, of course it would be a wonder it wasn't given he hadn't let it out of his sight since he found it. His eyes glaze over the back as they had a million times and yet it hit him clearly for the first time.

MeriTech. He had finally gotten back to his family, before the big day too which meant he could finally do what he always planned. And given what he told his sister, the world was ending in eight days and he had to get to work.

And there was no time like the present.

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"Oh, you gotta be shittin' me,"

The words fell from Diego's lips before he could stop them. Your floating body, while a sight to behold, was far too chilling. Denial managed to stave off the heinous truth they were faced with now; the long-awaited answer to their father's darkest secret was more wicked than any of them could have anticipated. The answer that was now staring them right in the eye with an understandably wild and frightened look.

"Oh, my-- Oh, my god!" Gasped Allison from his side.

Her shock had already broken herself and her brothers from their daze and into action. They all began fondling the walls, desperate to find something in the dark to help them. Their flashlights were dying - not that much of a surprise since the batteries hadn't been replaced in years and it was a miracle they had lasted as long as they had. As they scrambled for anything that might help them get inside, their stare never stayed away from you long. You were still sinking in an invisible ocean, but your entire body was tense and on guard.

Your eyes met with Diego's and he hesitated under your stare. It was moments before he noticed despite this, it was yards past him. He realized then that there was a very real chance you couldn't see through your end. One-way glass?

"W-what-- what do we do? What do we do?" Allison stuttered, accidentally bumping into Klaus as they shuffled around in the dark.

-"Can she see us? Does she- she's gotta know we're here?" Klaus wonders aloud, his search for clues bringing him in front of the window where he found her frowning at the window just inches off from his eye line.

"Who cares?" Diego snapped, slipping through his cluster of siblings with great urgency. "We need to get her out of there."

"How?" Came Luther's voice. It was filled with stress as he scrambled around awkwardly.

"How would I know?! Just feel around, maybe there's a latch or something. Or better yet break, break it down if you can!" Diego threw a venomous look over his shoulder and up at his brother. With every passing moment, his adrenaline spiked dangerously. "Well, go on!"

Luther brushed off his brother's behavior and pushed himself forward to the window. Through it, he saw your frightened face. It was evident, or easy to spot as you were very guarded and clearly confused at the muffled voices barely breaking through the mirror window. You were drifting farther and farther to the back of the room, with each movement your anger grew. You were putting up your guard.

"Well?" Called Diego. "Do your thing! Hulk smash!"

Luther shot his brother an icy glare in warning before pulling back his arm and rearing his fist.

𝗧𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗞! Nothing happens. Not at first.

𝗧𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗞! A large indent blooms in the steel.

𝗧𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗞! The glass of the window cracks.

𝗧𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗞! The loosened door begins to cave in, breaking off from the doorway.

𝗕𝗔𝗠!

The door had finally been liberated from its many hinges, and with a final swift kick, it was sent crashing to the floor where it lay a dented heap of steel and cracked glass. The moment it had, every urge the Hargreeves siblings were previously harboring to storm through vanished. It had completely drowned in hesitancy when they saw your face.

What you were doing in the far back corner could almost be described as cowering from where they stood. But no, while you had retreated to the far left corner you were not low to the ground from cowering but crouching. Your knees were bent a little, keeping you closer to the ground and away from them all but it was also like you were rearing back. Ready to jump up and flee at any moment. To flee. There was in fact fear in your eyes, but it was almost nonexistent - or at least noticeable as it under your furrowed brow and steely glare.

Nobody knew what to say. Nobody knew what to do. What would one say in a situation like this? That question bounced around their skulls, begging to be answered. And Klaus was the first to give it a shot.

"We come in peace,"

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Please notify me if you suspect my resources are untrustworthy. (this goes for my usual links as well) I am hesitant to add more links/info on Ukraine given the amount of false info being spread. I'm still learning (as I always will be) and I thank you for your patience/understanding. 💞

There is a false rumor being spread that the Polish border is closed. This is confirmed false. If you or others need more information, the Polish government has a website up for those seeking asylum: ua.gov.pl

A thread of resources in regards to what is happening in Texas right now:

[link in comments]

Free to Be Me: A Toolkit to Protect LGBTQA+ Students' Rights:

[link in comments]