The Voices in Her Head (No. 8)

III

Katrine followed Five out to where he had appeared. Her eyes drifted to the statue of Ben. She remembered the day when eight became seven, or seven became six, depending on how one looked at it.

She realized she didn't have an umbrella and Klaus instantly grabbed her waist, pulling her under his tiny pink umbrella.

Luther walked out to the courtyard with their father's urn. Luther, along with Diego, had no umbrellas, and were soaked in a matter of seconds.

Vanya, Allison, Five, and Grace each had their own black umbrellas.

Luther walked to the front of the group.

Grace asked blankly, "Did something happen?"

Katrine frowned at her mom's confusion and Allison said, "Dad died. Remember?"

Grace looked at the ground. "Oh. Yes, of course."

Allison continued asking, "Is Mom okay?"

Diego was the first to defend Grace. "Yeah, yeah, she's fine. She just needs to rest. Y'know, recharge."

Pogo made his way towards them while looking at Luther. "Whenever you're ready, dear boy."

Luther released a breath before opening the urn. He tipped the urn upside down and the ashes fell to the ground. Katrine had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

Luther frowned at the ashes as Pogo said with slight amusement, "Probably would've been better with some wind. Does anyone wish to speak?"

The siblings remained silent. Neither one wanted to say something good about their father. Mostly because they had nothing nice to say.

Katrine took a moment to listen to her siblings. Klaus was thinking, 'Good. He's a bastard.'

Her other siblings were thinking similar dark thoughts.

Pogo shifted and sighed. "Very well. In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made me what I am today. For that alone, I shall be forever in his debt.

"He was my master, and my friend, and I shall miss him very much. He leaves behind a complicated legacy--"

"He was a monster." Diego interrupted.

Klaus laughed at Diego's words.

Diego focused on the ashes as he continued, "He was a bad person and a worse father. The world's better off without him."

"Diego." Allison scolded, giving him a look.

"My name is Number Two. Y'know why? Because our father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names. He had Mom to do it."

"Would anyone liked something to eat?" Grace questioned.

Vanya smiled. "No, it's okay, Mom."

Grace returned her smile. "Oh, okay."

Diego stepped closer to Luther. "Look, you wanna pay your respects? Go ahead. But at least be honest about the kind of man he was." He pointed at the pile of ashes still on the ground.

"You should stop talking now." Luther said harshly.

Diego glared at him. "You know, you of all people should be on my side here, Number One."

Luther stepped closer to him. "I am warning you."

"You still respect him despite the fact you know he never loved you. You believe he thought of you as a leader, but you know he knew you weren't."

Diego's eyes narrowed further. "After everything he did to you, he had to ship you a million miles away."

Luther answered through clenched teeth, "Diego. Stop. Talking."