𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 ~ 𝗞𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀

~ Chapter Forty Four ~

Around seven o clock, Dusk was getting ready to head to this "Light Supper" her father had spoken of in his letter. As she brushed her hair in the bathroom mirror, she couldn't help but feel nervous when it came to seeing her father again. Sure, this was a different timeline, and he hadn't taken his own life then, but it still scared her. 

The last time she saw him was when she was nineteen years old. She was through with all his bullshit, and after a heated argument, she carefully and quietly started packing up her stuff before sneaking out of the academy through the fire escape and making a new life for herself. She could no longer deal with the flashbacks from those missions and couldn't stop thinking about a life outside the academy. A life away from all the pressure.

"Alright, you should probably start heading out now. Don't want you to be late," Mary said, handing Dusk a lightweight coat for the unusually chilly night. "Thank you. I'll be back in a little bit. Just take care of yourself and James, okay?" she said before walking out. She pulled out the envelope with the address printed at the bottom, hoping the rest of her siblings would be there.

A bit later, she pulled into a parking spot, getting out to see the neon signs of the Southland Life building. To Dusk, this building looked more like a business rather than a reasonable meetup spot. Part of her became tenser as she walked up the stairs towards the elevator, worried that this dinner was a façade and the actuality of that letter was something entirely different.

She pressed the singular button on the panel, slightly tapping her foot as she waited for the elevator door to open. A moment later, it did, and she stepped inside. As it was about to close, a hand got in the way, and the doors opened again to reveal it was Five. He gave her a smile before standing about a half-foot away from the small metal panel of buttons. "Wait up," A voice said, making the two look up. Diego also got into the elevator, Allison, Klaus, Vanya, and then finally, Luther.

"Good, we're all here," Five said, satisifed as the elevator doors closed for certain this time, and they started moving. The tiny box was full of silence, only broken by the quiet sounds of slow breathing. Unexpectedly, a weird smell entered the elevator, making everyone scrunch their faces in disgust and cover their noses. "Luther, that smells amazing!" Klaus chuckled, making everybody burst into small fits of laughter while still trying to block out the smell.

"Sorry, I'm just nervous," Luther stated as the elevator stopped. The doors opened, and The Hargreeves Seven walked out, heading towards a large round table with different varieties of fruit in the center. Soft island music played from the speakers just as they reached some of the chairs. "Alright, when Dad gets here, I'll do the talking, okay?" Five stated. "I've got a few questions for him myself," Diego said, making the raven roll her eyes.

He must really want to save Kennedy, aye?  "Hey, we don't want to scare him off. He might be able to help us stop Doomsday and get home," Five said as he pulled back a chair and sat in it. Diego continued to protest, saying they needed to find out why he was planning to kill the president. This only made Five irritated, telling him that this was a matter of life and death.

"You know what? Maybe we should take turns talking, okay? Like whoever has this conch shell gets to talk," Vanya said, lifting the decorative shell. "She does have a point. We all have questions. Maybe Dad can give us some of the answers," Dusk attempted to reason. "Dusk, Vanya, we don't have time for a debate," Five slowly shook his head. "Maybe I should lead. We all know I'm a better public speaker than the rest of you," Allison said, taking the conch shell from Vanya's hand.