𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒, diego hargreeves

WE ONLY SEE EACH OTHER AT FUNERALS.

AMBER HARGREEVES.                                                                                                                            present day.

"stilettos and broken bottles, i'm spinning around in circles."

IT WAS RAINING WHEN WE MOURNED YOU. The sun was nowhere in sight and we all had our umbrellas up, facing the sky, as if protecting ourselves from the darkness would stop it from creeping in.

Every second that ticks by makes me more anxious, and I'm tapping my fingers against my leg, wishing for the silence to be filled, wishing for a drink.

The statue of Ben stands over all of us, and I'm staring up at him as if he's really in front of me through the rain. I think back to all of my memories with him, however short, and wonder if things would've gone differently had Diego and I truly focused on the mission at hand, not just trying to one-up one another. Not that we had any control over what happened to Ben, it just felt that way.

I can feel every hair on my body standing up as the rain gets heavier, the cold causing me to shake slightly in my spot as I wait. When the thunder finally quiets down, my mother walks towards all of us, and I see her for the first time in years.

She smiles through perfectly painted red lips and clutches her umbrella. "Did something happen?"

I frown in slight confusion, staring at her before glancing over to Diego, who was dripping wet from the rain since he wasn't using an umbrella, only to see he was already looking at me.

"Dad died. Remember?" Allison speaks out with a nervous smile.

"Oh." Grace suddenly sounds far more sad than before. "Yes, of course."

"Is mom okay?" Allison asks to anyone who would answer.

"Yeah." Diego glances back over to her. "Yeah, she's fine. She just needs to rest, y'know, recharge."

Pogo makes his way over to our group and looks at us through glasses. "Whenever you're ready, dear boy."

Luther nods, holding the pot of ashes. He slowly steps forward and opens the lid of the pot, gazing down curiously before pouring them onto the floor, in the middle of our circle. Hardly any ashes actually come out, and all of us stand around Luther quietly, as if waiting for more to fall out, but nothing happens.

The ceremony was rather anticlimactic, with the ashes flying slightly towards us due to the lack of wind, and immediately being ruined by the heavy rain.

"Probably would've been better with some wind." Luther mutters.

"Does anyone wish to speak?" Pogo questions to all of us, giving nobody a second glance.

When nobody says anything, I lean over and take the cigarette out of Klaus' mouth, putting it into my own. He frowns at me before waving his hand dismissively and letting me take a drag. I inhale, avoiding everyone's eye contact, mostly focusing on Ben's statue and the pile of ashes in the middle of us.

I hand the cigarette back to Klaus just as Pogo continues. "Very well. In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made me what I am today. For that alone, I shall forever be in his debt."

Diego throws his head back in annoyance as Pogo speaks. "He was my master and my friend, and I shall miss him very much. He leaves behind a complicated legacy-"

Pogo is cut off by Diego. "He was a monster."

Upon hearing this, Klaus begins to giggle, smoke forming around the area between us. Pogo begins to look around as Diego continues.