ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜɪʀᴛʏ ꜰɪᴠᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴅɪᴠᴏʀᴄᴇ
'ʀᴇɢɪɴᴀʟᴅ'ꜱ ᴅᴇᴀʟ'

The hotel lobby was almost as quiet as it was the night before, with whispering chatter being passed between the family that sat waiting for Reginald to speak to Five who sat outside of the hotel, after he had insisted that he wasn't going to attend the meeting with the others.

"How was your party for one last night then?" Delaney asked Inanna, looking over at the red head who sat on a table in front of one of the blue pillars which held up the hotel, with her legs crossed and a glass of water which Lila had forced her to have, sat next to her.

"Almost as good as the wedding" Inanna said pulling her crossed legs up to her chest as she hooked her arms around her knees.

"I don't think i've ever seen you as happy as you were last night" Luther said, furrowing his brows as he tried to recall a moment where he had seen Inanna happier, but he couldn't find one.

"What can I say, Luther, I love a good wedding at the end of the world" Inanna shrugged. "Doesn't beat my wedding at the end of the world, but I'll let you and Sloane take second place".

"Why can't we be first?" Luther asked.

"Because I don't want you to be" Inanna smiled with a tilt of her head as Luther looked to Sloane, his slightly wide eyes asking Sloane for help. Sloane set her hand on Luther's cheek, unable to hide her smile.

"Woo! Five! Yeah!" Klaus shouted standing up from his seat as Five entered the hotel with Reginald, wearing the same black suit jacket that Inanna had lost at some point the night before.

A chorus of cheers broke out, Diego whistled loudly as he stood up and Lila jumped up onto the couch. The others clapped, shouting Five's name and each sound caused Inanna's ears to ring.

"That speech last night! Wow!" Diego shouted.

"Brought me to tears, you big softy" Lila said.

Five stood next to the pillar with Reginald, tucking his hands into his pockets as he stared at his family, regretting the speech his drunken self had given after Inanna had left the wedding.

"I especially liked when you referred to us as a family bound by destiny and love" Viktor said as Five walked passed him to an empty chair opposite Inanna, against the wall.

"Okay. Enough" Five ignored Lila who jumped off the couch, opening her arms to him for a hug. "It was the booze talking. In the light of day, you're all still deplorable" Five looked around at the others, before settling his eyes on Inanna. "Except you" Five tilted his head with a small smile.

Inanna shook her head, leaning her chin against her arms which were still propped up on her knees to hide her smile which grew with each disgusted response from the others while Lila fake gagged and Anna muttered "Vile" under her breath.

"Your day's about to get worse" Reginald interrupted. "The Norse had seven sleepers" Reginald began once the attention was him and Five had sat down on the chair furthest from him. "The Blackfoot, seven stars. As a boy, I heard the legend of the seven bells-".

Inanna wasn't sure where she had heard 'The legend of the seven bells' before, but it sounded oddly familiar.

"-All these stories are the same. The village is under threat by flood, by fire, by a night that never ends. A shaman brings his disciples to a sacred cave. He tells them if they can ring the seven magic bells, the village will be saved, and all will be restored just as it was".

Goosebumps rose on the back of Inanna's neck as the colour drained from her face. When she was in the midst of getting drunk to forget about the argument she had with Viktor, Inanna had made a deal with Reginald Hargreeves.

"Reggie?" Lila raised her hand. "Can we get a little less Brothers Grimm and more 'What the hell does this have to do with us?' Lila asked.

"There is a truth to these myths" Reginald responded. "None of you can deny what's going on around us. All of existence will be gone by the end of the day, but whoever or whatever wove together space and time, they left a way to put things back together if the universe ever faced total annihilation. There is a portal in the universe. I built this hotel around it, and on the other side is the answer".

"And... we're supposed to, what? Just stroll in there, ring some bells, and fix this shit?" Luther asked.

"Sarcasm aside, you are mostly right. Except for the guardian" Reginald said.

"What kind of guardian?" Viktor asked, placing his hands in his lap.

"Kinda guardian that does this" Diego held up his hand which was missing two fingers. "He had a sword".

"It is a force to be reckoned with" Reginald said with a nod.

"See? Yeah" Luther pointed at Reginald. "This is where you lose me".

"This is where he loses you? I checked out at the sacred cave" Lila said leaning into Diego's chest as she gestured to Reginald with her hand.

"Why would the builders of this 'back door' need to have a guardian?" Viktor asked.

"Ah!" Sloane pointed at Viktor. "To protect it from people who want to use it for nefarious means".

"Or to protect it from our nefarious father" Anna muttered leaning her head against Delaney's.

"That is correct, Sloane" Reginald responded to Sloane, missing Anna's comment which she had spoken quietly to avoid Reginald's verbal attacks.

"So it's gonna take all of us to defeat the thing protecting the bells" Allison spoke up for the first time since she had sat down.

"You're actually buying his crap?" Five asked Allison, pointing at Reginald with his thumb.

Allison turned to Five. "How is a guardian and bells any crazier than time-travelling briefcases and assassins with cartoon masks?" Allison asked.

"Actually, she's got you there" Luther said as Sloane leaned her head against his arm.

Ben stood up and took his place next to Reginald, "I'm in" Ben nodded at Reginald.

"Me too" Diego stood up and Lila fell back onto the couch where he had been sat. "But I think some of us should stay back. Like Lila" Diego looked at Lila.

"Uh..." Lila stood up. "Or you can stay, and I can go" Lila suggested.

"No" Allison shook her head. "This is much bigger than all of us. Nobody can stay back" Allison said.

"You, my children, are all that stands between us and oblivion" Reginald said. "Are we ready to go?" Reginald asked. Reginald nodded at Inanna, expecting her to get up but she only averted her gaze away from him — until she knew the terms she had agreed on, Inanna wasn't going to side with him.

"Well, I say we vote" Viktor said looking to Luther.

"This isn't a democracy" Ben said. "Dad's calling the shots" Ben said.

"Yeah, I don't like that" Anna shifted in her seat, leaning her elbows on her knees.

"I'm with Viktor. We vote" Five said.

"The world is ending, and you want to count hands?" Reginald asked in disbelief.

"You're asking us to risk our lives. I think it's only fair you give us time to discuss it. Privately" Luther spoke for the rest of the family.

Reginald sighed, realising that he wasn't going to win them over and that it would be best if he let them choose on their own. Reginald turned to leave, patting Ben's shoulder as he did.

"Why don't we meet back here in an hour?" Luther suggested.

"Agreed" Five responded.

"Yeah, sure" Diego muttered.

As the others began dispersing across the hotel, Inanna slid off the table to met Five in the middle of the small lobby space.

"Do you feel okay?" Five asked as his eyes inspected her face, noting the lack of colour in her usual rosy cheeks.

Inanna nodded and stepped into Five's embracing, settling her hands on his back as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"You wanna tell me what going on in that beautiful brain of yours?" Five whispered.

"Just trying to piece together my night, that's all" Inanna mumbled. Inanna pulled away as Five's arms dropped from her shoulders and she ran her hands from his back to his waist. "You wanna tell me what's going on in your beautiful brain?" Inanna asked.

Five nodded as he glanced around, he couldn't see the others but he thought it would be best to have their conversation more privately like the others were.

"You wanna go somewhere else to talk?" Five asked. Inanna hummed with a raise of her brow.

Five blinked him and Inanna out of the lobby, landing them in the same place that Luther had held his bachelor party the night before, behind the reception.

Inanna stepped back from Five, feeling a wave of dizziness knock her. Five set his hands on her hip and shoulder, wishing that they had walked instead of teleporting.

"When I asked if you were feeling okay" Five lead Inanna to the couch, sitting her down before he sat next to her. "I wanted to know if you were going to hurl" She wasn't.

"How'd you get your jacket back?" Inanna asked, leaning her head against his shoulder as she closed her eyes.

"I can't remember much but I think you and I met up in the kitchen at one point. I found this in my hand when I woke up" Five mumbled as he reached into the pocket of his jacket.

Five held his hand out, revealing one of the silver earrings that Inanna had worn. Inanna touched her earlobe like she had done in the elevator, still unsure of when she had taken it out. "Little thief" Inanna mumbled with a small smile as she took the earring from Five.

"You stole my jacket for most of the night" Five said as Inanna pierced the earring back through her ear, knowing that she'd only loose it again if she didn't put it back in.

"There was no stealing involve on my end".

Five scoffed as he leaned back onto the couch and with his arm around Inanna's shoulder, she fell back into him, settling her head on his chest next to his heart. "Of course not" Five mumbled.

"What's your vote?" Inanna asked, dragging her nails across the back of his hand that sat in his lap.

"I want to stay" Five spoke almost hesitantly, expecting Inanna to disagree.

"Why?" Her tone alone told Five that she wasn't going against him, she just wanted to know his reasonings for wanting to stay instead of fighting.

"Because I've spent my entire life trying to beat the apocalypse and no matter what I did the outcome never changed. I want it to be over, even if that means we only have a few hours left. I'd rather spend those hours with you than fighting for something that might not exist".

Inanna sat up, turning to look at Five. "Are you really done?" Five nodded, and Inanna couldn't lie if someone asked, Five looked exhausted, not only just from the wedding but from the years of stress that had weighed him down. "If half of your family go, you'll stay here?" Inanna asked.

"That's the plan" Five responded.

Inanna casted her eyes down to her hand which sat just above Five's waist. She had decided even before Reginald had spoken to them of his plan that she was going to wait out her death, she wasn't going to cry or beg Five to save them, she was just going to hope that when her time came, she'd find her family again in whatever afterlife was awaiting for her.

Inanna's eyes met with Five's again after a short moment. "I'll stay" Inanna said.

Five shook his head. Though he was happy with Inanna's decision, he wanted her to choose because it's what she wanted, not because Five wanted it. "It's your choice, Inanna".

Inanna nodded. "I'm choosing to stay. However long we have left, I want to spend it with the man I love".

A smirk tugged at Five's lips "I'm sure Luther is around-".

Inanna set her hand on Five's thigh, halting his movements as he went to stand up to make a show of his joke. The aim was to stop him from leaving but when her eyes locked with Five's as he leaned back against the couch, she realised her innocent intentions had twisted to something else in a matter of seconds, causing her pulse to spike.

"You could have at least said Klaus to make it believable-".

Five pulled at his tie as Inanna made the first move, slotting herself over Five's thigh while tearing her dark blue jacket off her body. Five tossed his tie onto the floor, letting it fall by his feet next to Inanna's jacket, before winding his hand into Inanna's hair to tilt her head back.

Five's lips explored Inanna's throat as he pressed kisses from her jaw down to her collar bone, using his hand which had been sat on her thigh to pull her shirt to the side to expose more of her soft skin. Inanna closed her eyes, sinking further into Five's searing touch with her fingers threading through his dark hair.

Inanna was positively certain that Five could feel her heart beating rapidly in her rib cage, but that was the last thing on her mind in that moment.

Working his way back up her throat, Five's free hand found the back of Inanna's thigh, and with a tug of her body against his own, Five's lips found hers in a quick kiss which ended much too soon in his opinion. Inanna broke apart from him and dropped her hands from his hair, in a near breathless gasp. Inanna ran her hands down his chest, finding the buttons of his waist coat as she pressed her forehead against his.

Five shifted an inch making himself more comfortable while he watched Inanna with hazed eyes as she pulled open his now unbuttoned waist coat and began unbuttoning his white shirt. Five was certain that he had never met anyone as beautiful as Inanna, and could still remember how love struck he instantly was the day he met her. His feelings towards her had never wavered, only becoming stronger with the years.

"What the hell is this?" Inanna's hands were sat on Five's chest, holding his shirt apart as she stared at the large tattoo which sat in the middle of his chest in black ink, still healing from when it had been drawn onto his skin. "When the hell did you get this?" Inanna's looked from the tattoo to Five who had almost completely forgotten about the new permanent ink on his body.

"A few days ago" Five's response only puzzled Inanna further as she tried to work out the blurry timeline. "My older self had it and I-".

"Very original" Inanna muttered, tapping her thumb against his skin.

Five groaned and he leaned his head back against the top of the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Inanna rolled her eyes as she lifted herself up onto her knees and gripped Five's chin with her thumb and finger, forcing his gaze back onto her with a tilt of his head.

"We are very much on a time schedule right now and as much as I would love to shit talk your tattoo, i'd much rather do something that we'd both enjoy, but if you'd rather sulk-".

Five pushed his hand underneath the back of Inanna's shirt, his sudden actions startling her as he pulled her against his chest, with his face centimetres from hers. "Only if you stop talking" Five whispered.

"I'll only stop if we get back to what we started".

Five pressed a kiss to Inanna's cheek before lifting them both off the couch, holding Inanna close to him with one hand against her back and the other gripping the back of her thigh. Five turned and lowered Inanna onto the couch first, pressing her back into the cushioned seats.

Five's hair hung messily in front of his eyes, as he kneeled above Inanna, and quickly finished unbuttoning his white shirt. Not only did they have a time limit before the vote, Five didn't exactly want to be interrupted by one of his siblings or Lila — especially not Lila.

"I love you" Inanna's uncommon affirmation of her love, as she watched Five, brought a smile to his face, which didn't flatten as he tossed his suit jacket to the floor, keeping his shirt and waist coat on, and captured Inanna's lips in a breath stealing kiss.

━━━━━

With some time before the others returned to the lobby, Five redressed himself before setting off to retrace his steps, and Inanna went back to the bar to clean up the mess she had made the night before, while running her hands through her hair which Five had messed up.

"Mind if I join you?" Reginald's voice startled Inanna as she lined up the bottles on the bar which had been opened by her.

Inanna nodded hesitantly, turning to look at Reginald who stood at the end of the bar with his book in his hand.

Reginald sat down, placing his hands on his book and Inanna circled around the bar to grab the glasses that had been littered across the floor.

"I did not mean to insult you by adopting and raising Inanna, or Anna as she is informally referred to" Reginald spoke up.

"If you're here to apologise, you've got the wrong red head" Inanna said.

"I do not care to make amends with my daughter. She has made it quite obvious that she could care less about my opinion. So much so that she'd let the universe die. I did not expect you to do the same".

Inanna sat two glasses on the table and turned to Reginald. "So, you aren't here to apologise, you're here to make sure that I'm not going to back from our deal, right?".

Reginald nodded and Inanna sighed as she walked over to the bar and sat down at the opposite end of it, keeping a large distance between herself and Reginald.

"Only a coward backs from a deal. Are you a coward, Inanna?" Reginald asked.

Inanna narrowed her eyes. "I don't even recall the terms of our deal. I have no idea what I'm backing away from because I was drunk".

"Well, in the light of the day, now that the fog has cleared, if I lay out our deal, will you accept?".

Inanna thought for a moment. She didn't have to accept, she could listen to Reginald's plan and then tell him to fuck off, but deep in the pit of her stomach, Inanna had a feeling that she would accept as whatever Reginald had offered her last night had been enough for a drunken Inanna to agree.

"What do I get if I help you?" Inanna asked.

"A chance to be with your dearest loved ones again" Reginald said.

Inanna shook her head, even the smallest mention of her family had Inanna's thoughts spiralling but to drag Five and the others into something most definitely dangerous, she needed more than a 'chance'.

"I am offering you your last chance to be with your mothers, father and brother again, and you'd turn that down, why?".

"Because I need more than a chance".

Reginald nodded. It had been easier to get through to Inanna the night before, with Inanna sealing the deal with a hand shake as soon as he mentioned her family. "If you help me get my children to the other side, I can assure you that in a few hours, Five could meet your family for the first time and your life can go on how you wish, Inanna. You could have the life you and Five should have had".

Inanna dropped her gaze to the bar. There were many things she and Five had missed out on during the apocalypse. Things she had always wanted to do and places she wanted to go. Not only was she thinking about the life that she and Five could have, Inanna could help but think about Lila and Diego who would only get the chance to meet their unborn child if they survived. "And what happens if I don't help?" Inanna asked flickering her eyes back to Reginald.

"You will die here, knowing that you denied yourself and Five a better life, one where you can be truly happy" It fell silent for a moment as Reginald stood up from the bar "The others will be down shortly, I suggest you have a decision before the vote begins".

It wasn't long before the others returned to the lobby and when they did Inanna couldn't even look at them, with her arms crossed she stood as far away from them as she could, accidentally taking her place next to Reginald, who hoped that in the short time Inanna had, she had made the right decision.

"I think you can all guess which way I'll be voting" Allison started off the vote as she looked around at the others besides her and in front of her. "We've all been through a lot. We've all lost people....But their deaths have to mean something. Which is why i'll be voting to go with Dad" Allison turned to Reginald who stood behind her.

Lila stood up from where she had been sat on the stairs and whispered "What she said" to Diego as she walked passed him. Lila raised her fist in the air and shouted "Let's go save the bloody universe!".

She was going.

"Woo-hoo!" Klaus cheered.

"All right, well, since she said yes" Diego walked up the steps and turned to his family. "I vote stay".

Lila scoffed. "How's that for nice?" Diego asked.

"You're not being serious" Lila said placing her hands on her hips. Diego gave Lila a tight lipped smile.

"It's his vote, Lila" Allison said before turning her attention to Klaus. "Klaus?".

"I am with Father" Klaus pointed at himself and then at Reginald.

Ben nodded at Reginald when he looked to him. He was still set on going with his father, his vote hadn't changed.

"Okay, that's four to one" Allison tucked her hands into her pockets. "Viktor?".

"Look, I wanna believe, okay? I really do" Viktor spoke to Allison. "I just can't shake the feeling we don't know what we're getting ourselves into".

"No, but we know what we've got if we don't" Allison untucked her hands from her pockets and crossed her arms. "We have to go into this together. Viktor. A family".

Viktor leaned his head back as he rubbed his hands over his knees. "You can't just keep throwing the word 'family' around. It isn't enough. I vote stay".

"Anna?" Allison moved on from Viktor, turning her attention to Anna who sat with Delaney next to Viktor.

"I vote to go" Anna pulled her gaze from Allison and settled her eyes on her father as her eyes narrowed. "So I can watch you fail" Anna nodded her head at Reginald.

"The whole point of going is to-".

"I gave you a damn vote, Allison, take it or leave it" Anna snapped her head towards Allison as she spat her words.

Allison rolled her eyes. "Delaney, what's your vote?" Allison asked.

"I'm going to stay" Delaney nodded as she dropped her gaze. "We- we talked it through" Delaney took Anna's hand. "If it is really as dangerous as it sounds, I will just get in the way".

Allison nodded. The vote was five, three.

"Luther?".

Luther looked up to his sister before looking back at Sloane who sat on the step below him. "Sloane and I talked, and, well-" Sloane took Luther's hand in hers. "We're out" Luther answered. "Look, we wanna spend whatever time we have left together, and not fighting some guy with a sword and ringing bells and stuff. So..." Luther nodded.

"Well, dead even. Five in, five out".

"That's leave you two, Number Five-" Reginald looked to Five as he spoke before turning to Inanna. "And you".

Reginald nodded at Inanna, trying to encourage her to go first, but she instantly dropped her gaze. Reginald was counting on Inanna, counting on her to sway Five's vote but Inanna already knew no matter what she said, Five wouldn't change his mind. He was staying.

"You could make it a draw, or a dead set deciding vote if you have the same answer" Anna spoke up as she looked between them.

"If Five votes to go, Inanna will too, and vice a versa" Diego said.

"I saw the future, and it told me to sit this one out" Five started. "I vote stay" Five's gaze darted from Reginald to Inanna, hoping that Inanna too, like Diego had said, would vote to stay like she had already told Five she would. "It's time we accept our fate".

Anna began searching her pockets for a coin, believing that they'd have to leave the deciding vote to a coin as one second of silence turned into three and then five while they awaited Inanna's answer.

"I vote stay too" Inanna's eyes stayed locked with Five's, feeling Reginald's disappointed glare burning into the side of her cheek.

It fell silent again and Inanna could finally hear the rumbling from the Kugelblitz outside which had taken everything except the hotel.

"You're all pathetic" Allison muttered.

Allison walked away from the group, heading towards the stairs that led to the pool tables and Inanna glanced over her shoulder to watch her leave.

"Why can't we go in there, just the five of us?" Ben asked Reginald.

"That would mean certain failure. There must be seven" Reginald spoke to Ben before he turned to look at the others. "Children-" Reginald took a few steps forwards. "I can't say i'm happy with this. But I see now the blame falls on me. I failed you when you were young and I have failed you now. And in doing so, I have doomed the entire universe. If anyone needs me, I'll be in the courtyard..." Reginald spoke as he walked away from the others. "Awaiting the end".

"Idiots" Ben muttered following after his father.

"Was that a real apology?" Viktor asked.

"The man's never apologised for anything in his life" Luther responded.

"I actually feel bad for him" Diego said as Anna and Delaney stood up from the steps to head back to their hotel room after grabbing whatever alcohol they liked from the bar.

"Don't worry. It'll pass" Five said.

"So now what?" Sloane asked Five with teary eyes.

"We wait for the end" Five replied.

Five extended his hand out to Inanna and she uncrossed her arms as she walked over to him and took his hand in hers.

Inanna walked ahead of Five, glancing back to Lila and Klaus, giving the latter a small smile as he waved at her.

"See you around" Five gave his siblings a short wave. "It's been interesting" He said.

Inanna and Five began walking up the stairs next to the elevators, but stopped when Anna called Inanna from the bottom of them.

Delaney looked between her girlfriend and Inanna, just as confused as Inanna as to why Anna had stopped them all of a sudden.

"Thanks for- for not being as shitty as I thought you'd be" Anna rolled her eyes as the words left her mouth.

Inanna nodded. "Thanks for not murdering me".

i was going to ask if anyone would
be against the idea of finanna having
a child or children in s4 but i have
found what i think are perfect face
claims (i have a couple options) and
have a name for the second child
which i'm going to keep to myself
for a while. so, if you don't want them
to have a kid or kids and to see inan
be the happiest we would see her,
then very politely go away.
— obviously we have a long time
until s4 comes out and my plans
for s4 might change before then and
once i have seen it but i think it would
be interesting to see five and inan's
dynamic shift with them becoming
parents.