Vanya, who was staring out of the glass on the door, was the one to warn them that someone was coming. With how long they've been in this place, it should have been easier and less of a surprise to see someone who looked like her walking on the other side of the door.
"Move." They know the room was soundproof, so it was the first sound they've heard from the outside without the door open. It surprised all of them, judging by the looks exchanged, but they all got up and moved back to face the wall with their arms up.
(Five had suggested they follow all the small rules and behave until the Sparrow Academy lets their guard down someday. Everyone easily agreed, but Diego, in particular, was impatient after just a couple of days.)
"You can relax," she said in a casual tone as she entered, "I'm just looking to chat. Zero's the only one who ever gets stories around here. She's busy today and asked for a favor. You wouldn't happen to need anything, would you?"
They all slowly put their hands down and turned. Other-Vanya had her hair down straight and in the same length as their Vanya's, but the white streak is eye-catching. (Something in Vanya told her that it wasn't dyed.) She perched herself on top of a stool she dragged in with her and was leaning back on the door. She wore dark eyeliner, making her eyes stand out more .In simpler words, Other-Vanya looks like a celebrity. Klaus commented on it, sounding quite intrigued, looking at the layered, stylish clothing she wore that he had never seen on Vanya.
"Which celebrity?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Catherine Zeta-Jones." Klaus looked her up and down again, noting the hint of fishnet stockings beneath her clothes. "Chicago."
"Cicero." She replied with a hint of a smile that shows she was satisfied with his answer. "I suppose your sister and I have such different styles." She turned her gaze on Vanya and looked her up and down. "What a disaster."
"Hey," Luther stepped up, ready to defend Vanya. But he was stopped by her shaking her head.
"No, no." Vanya stepped in. "I get it. I mean, look at her!" She gestured to other-Vanya. "I would never. Could never."
"You'd look great, though!" Other-Vanya exclaimed with a pout, gesturing to herself as proof. "You could do better in fashion. And your powers." She added the last bit as an afterthought, staring intensely at Vanya in a way that made Five move to block her vision. "You didn't get trained, huh?"
"That's enough." Five said, but he was ignored.
"I mean, that's what I'm understanding from everything I've heard so far." Other-Vanya examined each of them before her eyes landed on Vanya again. "You were put under some drugs, people were scared of you. Your own siblings cast you away, did they?"
"Stop." Five tried again, noticing Vanya beginning to tremble and get lost in her memories. Allison was quick to move towards her and try to calm her down, Klaus following closely behind. The rest kept their eyes on other-Vanya, who sat comfortably and continued taunting her counterpart.
Other-Vanya noticed what was happening and sent a confused look. "Seriously? You get triggered from, what? Three sentences? Honestly — Number Seven, was it? — you seem really sheltered. Do you need some medication to help with your feelings?"
"Shut up!" Five was the quickest to respond after Vanya flinched once more. Without his powers, he could only lunge forward and try to attack her. The way she looked back smugly after a soft gush of air seemed to pass him made him stop.
"Go ahead," she said smoothly, an expression he's never seen in his sister's face staring back at him. "I dare you."
Five breathed heavily and chanced a glance back at the others to find them off their feet and suspended in the air, probably centimeters away from being impaled by the spiked running along the room's walls. He looked back at her. "You wouldn't."
She laughed. "Just because Z's been kind to you, doesn't mean she'll be vouching for you when you were the one to attack me first. We have loyalty to each other over everything else."
"You need us." He tried again. "That's why you've all kept us alive."
"Ha! No," she shook her head. "You're being kept alive because dad is currently too busy to deal with you. Though, I suppose if you aren't important enough for him to cancel some plans, he wouldn't mind if I just end your journey here."
Five stepped back reluctantly after a few more seconds and his siblings were returned, or rather, heavily dropped back to the ground.
Other-Vanya stood up and carried the stool, motioning for them to move back again as she opened the door and stepped through. The sound of the lock being put in place again echoed in the room and she smiled at them through the glass, her gaze landing on Vanya.
"Control your emotions." She looked at her up and down again, her voice echoing through the room. "Do better."
Once she turned the hallway and was out of their sight, the stool being dragged behind her, Vanya's legs gave in and she would have fallen hard on the ground if Allison hadn't noticed her still shaking.
Echoes of past memories still whispered and shouted at her, and Vanya's trying to block her ears, but it's not helping. There's a feeling like she's drowning, and she's gasping for air, but nothing's coming in. She just can't do anything right. She can't do anything at all.
"Give her space." Klaus motioned for them to move back after she flinched from being touched. Vanya has her powers blocked, so the most her emotions being triggered could do was make her fall into a panic attack. "Vanya? Vanya, can you please open your eyes? Vanya, can you hear me?" He continued to softly talk until she did open her eyes and, a little while longer, looked like she can actually see and recognize them. The gasping turned into heavy breathing and Allison was able to move her hands away from her ears without Vanya flinching from the touch.
"We've got you." Allison joined in. Vanya's hands gripped hers tight. "We're here. We've got you."
It felt like an hour or two had passed before they could all breathe properly again. Vanya had let go of Allison's hands and rubbed the tears out of her face. "Sorry. Thank you." She murmured, but couldn't look them in the eye.
"You don't have to apologize." Luther was quick to reply. "You don't have to listen to her either."
"Well," Five interrupted, clearly not agreeing. The others, save for Vanya, immediately glared at him. "I just mean she does have a better control over her powers and if that's something Vanya needs then maybe we could find out more from her or through Zero to help our Vanya."
"Right." Diego agreed in a tone that clearly said 'this is not the time' before turning to Vanya. "But don't you go thinking you have to be like her. She may know your powers more but that is not a good person."
"Yeah, Vanya!" Klaus cheered softly. "If that's what better is, then I'd much prefer you the way you are."
"When we get out," Vanya started, her voice trembling but determined, "I want to try training properly. I need to, otherwise I might lose control and cause another apocalypse and I can't—Fuck. I cannot go and do something like—"
"Hey, hey, hey." Allison soothed the moment Vanya's voice started raising again in panic. "We'll be there. With you. We'll figure this out together, alright?"
Vanya looked up to see all of them crowded around her with worried, but supportive, expressions. She remembers a time when she would be casted aside or excluded from the conversation and knows that this time it will be different.
"Alright. Together."
