Here we go, chapter two! Let me know what you think about the chapter and if you have any theories for the next chapter!
The landing was surprisingly soft. Only Diego landed on his feet, which left him to help his siblings up. Together, they looked around, trying to discern where Five had taken them. Again. Sunlight filtered through the thick canopy above them. Deep green vegetation stretched out wherever they turned, though Diego was growing more certain with each step he took that there was stone beneath the vines and moss. "Where in the hell are we now?"
"Machu Picchu," Five replied curtly, "Sometime during or just after the time when the Spanish colonized South America." He couldn't believe the audacity of whoever had broken his concentration. He had not meant to take them to an overgrown old Incan city that wouldn't be discovered for another eighteen years. It was safe, sure, and he doubted the Commission would think to look for them there. Which was… well, actually perfect, but he didn't like that it hadn't been his idea. He needed to find out who it was that followed him, and he needed to do it soon. They wouldn't be able to stay in Machu Picchu forever and it wasn't safe for them to travel through space and time with that voice pulling him to places he didn't mean to go. "Who are you," he muttered quietly, walking away from his family on wobbly legs, "What do you want?"
With increasing trepidation, the rest of the Hargreeves siblings watched Five stagger away from them. They knew he had to be tired, they hadn't had much time between their jumps in time, and even he had to run out of energy at some point. Allison and Ben rushed forward when he suddenly collapsed. "He needs rest," Ben said, helping his sister shift Five into what looked like a more comfortable position, "We don't actually know how much power he needs to take us to places." Their little, older brother snored softly, probably sleeping deeper than he had in decades.
"Let him sleep," Luther said, sitting down on the ground as he opened the backpack Diego had thrown at him, "We should eat, maybe get a fire going." He pulled some bread from the bag, handing out slices to those of his siblings who were still awake. There was no butter, which was probably a good thing. It would've melted anyway. They ate slowly and carefully, mindful that they only had a limited amount of food available. There was no telling when they'd be able to get more. Luther watched Five worriedly. Something wasn't right with him. Granted, there was always something that wasn't right with Five. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe the apocalypse had done a greater number on his brother than they'd all thought.
Harsh as it may sound, Diego wasn't all too concerned with Five. He was busy thinking about the woman who had followed them from the store. Who was she? What exactly was the Commission after? She'd had the opportunity to end them right there outside the store, yet she'd just stood there. She didn't have to chase after them, but she'd let them escape. It bothered him. No matter how he twisted and turned it around, he couldn't make sense of it. And now every shadow reminded him that they were likely to be forced to run for the rest of their lives. It didn't help that Five was out of it. They'd gotten lucky, landing in Machu Picchu. But there was still that nagging worry. What if they wound up in the middle of a war zone next? With the Commission chasing them, who knew when Five would panic and make a mistake that would cost them their lives? Ben had just gotten his back, and the rest of them had barely made it out of the twenty-first century with theirs intact.
In the corner of his eye, he spotted movement. But when Diego turned his head to get a better look, it was gone. It was probably an animal or something. Though that didn't stop him from wondering what would happen if it wasn't.
Of all the siblings, Ben was the most relaxed about being stuck in a strange place, at an undetermined point in history, with their only mode of transportation out cold on the ground. Even Klaus was picking at his slice of bread anxiously. In all honesty, Ben was just glad to be somewhere that wasn't a rehabilitation center or a back alley. He was a little worried about Five, of course, but he didn't see the real problem. They were traveling. After so many years under Reginald's strict upbringing, or death in Ben's case, they were finally seeing other parts of the world. Yeah, it was just the one for now, but he was certain that there would be more. And he couldn't wait.
Unaware of his siblings' troubled minds, Five was fighting with his own. His dreams were filled with doors of various designs, but whenever he reached out to open one, it disappeared. The voice was back, whispering unintelligibly. There was only one door he had been able to touch and he absolutely refused to open it. He had no good memories associated with the brown double-doors, there was nothing he wanted to see behind their windows. He knew. The way they hung crookedly, battered to their limit. He knew what lay behind them. And he wasn't ever going to go back.
"…guardian of Pharaoh Khafre's final resting place…"
With a start, Five woke up. His siblings looked down at him, concern written on their faces. The light filtering through the treetops was gone and it took a moment for him to remember that it was because the sun had gone down. Slowly, he sat up. "Did anyone bring a flashlight?" Something rustled to his right and Diego handed him something smooth and cold with a single switch. Had they been in their own time, Five would've second-guessed it. But as he doubted Diego was stupid enough to pull that kind of a joke in their current situation, he flicked the switch, covering it with a hand to avoid temporarily blinding someone. He stood and swept the beam of light over their surroundings. "This way," he murmured, well aware of the creatures lurking in the dense forest around them that would happily kill them for a quick meal, "There should be an entrance up ahead that leads to this chamber where they think the leader sat."
"How do you even know that?" Vanya didn't like the way Five paused. Nor was she overly enthusiastic about his response.
"I don't know."
It didn't come as too much of a surprise to Klaus that Five was right. They entered a large chamber that was as empty and almost as overgrown as the outside had been. He didn't like the whispers. He knew there had to be ghosts there. He wished he had a bottle. Pills or alcohol didn't matter. All that mattered was avoiding having the ghosts of the people who had lived there trying to talk to him. Trembling, he caught up with Allison, grabbing her hand as he fought off the cold sweat that threatened to break out. His sister squeezed his fingers comfortingly and he relaxed a little. At least he wasn't alone.
"Remember that time…"
"No, I don't," Five growled lowly, "Leave me alone." He found a corner that looked safe enough and gestured for his family to settle down there. There was a thick layer of moss and ferns, which would provide a comfortable enough surface for them to sleep. He already knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. Not if the voice was back. "I'll stay up," he stated, turning the flashlight off, "Someone needs to be on their guard at all times."
Vanya shook her head, even though she knew Five wouldn't be able to see her. "You passed out, Five," she told him gently, "You need to rest." The only reply she got was a derisive scoff. She rolled her eyes, smiling a little as she understood that she probably wasn't the only one. She cuddled closer to the nearest sibling, Klaus, if the bare arms were any indication. Five was Five. He might think he was invincible so long as he got his coffee but she was willing and able to acknowledge that sleep was essential for her. Squished between Klaus and Luther, Vanya fell asleep.
Listening to his siblings' breathing, Diego wondered if he would ever be able to get some sleep too. He lay on the floor, one arm under his head for support. His thoughts were swimming, images of the woman from earlier, and Five collapsing keeping slumber just out of reach. Pushing the thoughts away to the best of his ability, Diego could feel his eyelids grow heavy.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about!"
Five's voice jerked him out of sleep's sweet embrace. Who the hell was he talking to? Without moving a muscle, Diego surveyed the silhouette of his brother in the faint moonlight trickling in through a window above them. None of the others were moving. Only Five, who, true to character, was pacing back and forth. He was gesturing wildly, his voice lowered to indiscernible mutterings. For the first time since just before they left the apocalypse behind, Diego was truly afraid. He hated to admit it but Five was the brains of their group. If he went 'round the bend, how the fuck were they supposed to find somewhere safe? "Five," he called, sitting up, "Get some sleep, I'll keep watch." The way the tiny package of anger whirled around made him glad that Five didn't have any weapons on him. "Five…"
Had Diego been someone from the Commission, Five would've reveled in the shaky caution in his voice. But that wasn't the case. Diego was his brother, someone he could trust. Someone who shouldn't have to be afraid of him, no matter how large the gap was between them. Brothers, he thought silently to himself, they were brothers. Family. "Very well then," he relented, lying down near the pile of sleeping siblings.
Relief flooded Diego's senses when Five surrendered without a fight. It showed that he wasn't unreasonable. Not yet, though Diego didn't doubt that the assassin boy would remain amicable for much longer. Sitting up, he leaned against the wall behind him, eyes trained on the entrance. Even if it took the Commission a while to find them in the lost city, there could be other things out there that wanted to hurt them. To reassure himself, he took a knife from his belt, tossing it up into the air and catching it expertly a few times. A noise made every nerve in his body strain, keeping him alert. He only relaxed a little when a bird lifted from a branch just outside the entrance. They were being followed, Diego knew that all too well. And though their pursuers wouldn't find them just yet, it was only a matter of time.
Ben was the first to wake up the next morning. The light filtering in from outside was pale, still not strong enough to completely banish the night and wake the others. Slowly, to avoid waking Allison who had her head resting on his arm, he sat up. Diego sat with his back against the wall, knife hanging limply in his hand as he fought off sleep. Cautious and aware that Diego could be as jumpy as Five, Ben shook his brother. His eyes opened wide, and Ben held his hands up to show that he wasn't an enemy. "Hey, it's okay," he whispered, feeling a little easier when Diego slumped a little, "You could probably get a couple of hours in if you need to, I won't be able to sleep more anyway."
An absent nod as Diego lay down again. "It's still weird that you're here," he muttered, closing his eyes, "Glad to see you, though." Which was the last thing he managed to get out before he succumbed to his exhaustion.
A crooked smile spread across Ben's lips. "It's weird to be here," he replied quietly, even though Diego couldn't hear him, "But I'm glad to be back." Even if he wasn't exactly sure why he was back. He'd been dead, and last he checked, the dead didn't just come back to life. If that was the case, Klaus wouldn't ever have to deal with ghosts and there would be a significantly larger amount of people in the world. Probably dinosaurs too.
"There must have been some kind of rift in the time-space continuum," Five said, voice rough with sleep, "There's bound to be a timeline where you survived, it's possible that you possessed that body."
"Are you saying that I'm still dead and just happens to be possessing my own body?"
"Well, is there someone else in there with you?"
Ben shook his head.
"Then you're probably alive." Five could see the hesitation on Ben's face and almost felt bad for bringing it up at all. Sighing, he walked over to his brother. "If you want, I can choke you to see if you can leave the body or not." If had been a half-serious suggestion, one that he doubted that Ben would take him up on. But the former ghost nodded, causing his eyes to widen. They'd need to move fast before the others woke up. "Alright then," he said, "You try to leave your body, and if you can't, just tap out."
And it was to the sight of Five choking Ben that Luther woke up. "What the hell is going on?"
"We're testing if he's actually alive."
The casual tone in Five's words worried Luther. They may have been a dysfunctional family, but it wasn't okay to choke out your siblings. He moved to tear Five away from Ben, only to stop. He'd be a hypocrite. In all fairness, he'd only made sure Vanya was unconscious. Five was actively trying to kill Ben, just to see if he was alive. There was no way that the logic checked out. But then Ben slapped Five's left arm twice and coughed as he was released. His neck was covered by red handprints that were likely to turn into bruises. The others would riot.
"Well, you're not dead," Five said analytically, helping Ben sit up properly, "Good to know."
There was no little amount of disbelief on Luther's face as he watched his brother's high five each other. God, he wished he had a normal family. One were attempted murders weren't considered good experiments. One where traveling meant fun adventures and discoveries, not running from an organization set on killing them all. "There's something severely wrong with both of you."
"Uhm, guys," Ben mumbled, heaving himself up with the help of a piece of rock that might've been a column once, "We should probably go." He pointed towards the entrance. Outside, at a sort of safe distance, the woman from Dallas was watching them. He turned panicked eyes to his brothers. Luther immediately grabbed their bags and woke the others, while Five listed and debunked several places for them to go.
"What's happening," Vanya asked sleepily, "Is everything—"
"No time," Luther interrupted, dragging all of them over to Five, "We gotta get out of here."
They all held onto each other, Ben and Luther clinging to Five who barely managed to open another vortex above them. He knew exactly where they needed to go. Unfortunately, someone else had other plans.
"It's believed that the Sphinx was built…"