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❛ ᴡᴀsᴛᴇʟᴀɴᴅs ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐎𝐍𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴍʏ ɴᴀᴍᴇ ɪs
ʟᴏʟᴀ ɢɪᴍʙᴇʟ ꒱


❝ DO YOU GUYS WANT
TO SEE A MAGIC TRICK? ❞

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Lola Gimbel was a very peculiar child and it wasn't because she was one of the forty-three children born on that fateful day in 1989. Instead, she was strange because at the ripe young age of fifteen, she had already started her autobiography. It wasn't that she was famous and needed her life written down or that she was planning on dying anytime soon; on the contrary, she planned to live a long and fruitful life.

(One must be careful with what they wish for.)

Instead, her inspiration came from an eleven-year-old girl who'd lived over seventy years ago in a fictional work called The Book Thief. Lola admired Liesel's perseverance and survival skills during war-torn times and the romantic part of her wanted someone like Rudy to stay by her side. This created the urge to pen down her own life story, first by asking her family members about the early years beyond memory until she could rely on her own.

Then, she spent many, many nights hidden in her basement writing by the aid of flickering candlelight. Of course she didn't need to use such old-fashioned ways but the atmosphere helped set the mood and was a replica of how her book-hero wrote. Unfortunately, Lola didn't think she had anything interesting to write even in the two and a half notebooks and counting. So far, she had:

My name is Lola Gimbel and I was born August 1st, 2004. My family consists of my mother, Diana Gimbel, my father, Edmund Gimbel and my uncle, Edward Gimbel. I go to the local public high school in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. My father and uncle own a department store downtown called Gimbel's Brothers. (An original name, I know. Don't tell them I said that!) This is where I spend most of my free time after school. My mother works long hours as a nurse and apparently, I can't be trusted enough to stay home alone after burning eggs one morning.

I'm getting ahead of myself; I was born in Indianapolis General Hospital at 9:15 a.m.. According to my birth certificate, I weighed five pounds, five ounces. Tiny, I know! My mother was in labor for almost nine hours and when I finally arrived, she named me Dolores. I hate my name because it sounds so old fashioned and it means sadness. I'd like to think I was a gift to my parents and I know they love me, so instead of telling them that, I call myself Lola which is better. It's still a derivative of Dolores, after all. 

The writing continued on for pages and pages, detailing everything she could— and couldn't—remember from her life. There was one thing that she did not include, however, as it would give her parents a heart attack: the mansion the next block over, home of the long-forgotten Umbrella Academy, housed the biggest library she'd ever seen and she stole books from it.

✧✧✧✧
[Three years ago]

It had really been a coincidence that she'd taken any interest in the building at all. While it was the biggest thing in the city practically, the old man who lived there was an eccentric recluse who never left the house. And, despite its past grandeur, the gilded entrance had faded with time and memory. Even those who'd grown up in the golden years of The Umbrella Academy had let their passions for the group of crime-fighting children go by the wayside as they got older, leaving the large house to sit without audience for years on end.

Still, that didn't stop some interested passers-by from peering in occasionally and Lola was among them. One night, she'd been on her way home from a evening walk and had travelled by the house. She'd passed by it hundreds of times before but that night she'd seen something. Or, rather, someone. A slightly stooped figure had lingered in the window until they'd sensed they were being watched and had disappeared.

Since then, curiosity had plagued her to go check it out. Maybe, just maybe, she'd have something interesting to add to her life's story. Her mother would cluck her tongue and say curiosity killed the cat but her Uncle Edward would wink at her and chime in with but satisfaction brought it back. So the next night Lola didn't hide in the basement. Instead, she donned all-black clothes and crept to the house.

She'd never broken in anywhere but she had an inventive, quick mind and that could almost always come up with a solution. The first-floor windows and doors had been locked and secure but after a few terrifying minutes of climbing— luckily the old stone had great places to cling on to— she'd reached the second level. Despite the ache in her fingers from grasping the side of the building, Lola had pressed on, hoping for luck, which arrived in the form of a second-story window being unlocked.

The brunette pushed it open carefully and dropped in, keeping low. A young girl would hardly trigger any alarms but she wanted to be cautious anyway. The room she'd landed in was dark and with only the faint filter of light from the street lamps, she made her way into the hallway. A part of her hoped to find the figure she'd seen, but the other part- the larger part- hoped she wouldn't meet anyone.

Despite the age of the house, the floorboards were in excellent condition and made no sound as she walked down the hallway. After trying a few doors only to find them all barred, Lola hesitated at the back staircase. She should really stay on the floor with the escape but something was encouraging her exploration upward, so she climbed.

There: at the end of the hallway were two large, double doors. 

Her anticipation heightened and it took everything in her not to sprint towards them. Instead, Lola continued at the same pace and, with bated breath, tried the handle. To her surprise the door swung open immediately. The room was dark but her eyes had gotten used to the lack of light by now and she could make out towering, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. She gave a squeak of excitement. Books! Now she could really be like Liesel Meminger!

Sure there were libraries, but this was so much better. Her feet moved quickly, closing the distance between the door and the books. She ran her hands enthusiastically along the spines of the volumes, unable to read their titles due to the dim light. Which one should she take first?

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Someone was outside the door. She wasn't sure how she knew but the air suddenly felt. . . charged.

Quickly, she pulled one volume off the shelf and close to her chest. At the same time, a shadow appeared in the open crack of the door.

Oh no, oh no, oh no— Lola shook her head furiously as she clutched the book. Panicking wouldn't help. The room was dark enough that whoever it was probably hadn't seen her so she could still get away. Her eyes darted around the mostly open space.

There was a couch with side tables, a working desk, library knickknacks and— aha! she thought triumphantly before she soundlessly made her way to the window.

The figure in the door entered the room, peering cautiously around before backing out again, closing the door with a sharp click!

Lola— from her hiding place in the curtain— let out a relieved breath. She took this as her queue to leave, exiting with her prize out the same window she'd come in. While she was triumphant in her first heist, her mind was whirring. The figure had been obscured by darkness but the outline had been clearer than when she'd seen them in the window— that, she was sure of— and it seemed like the person wasn't actually a person at all but a. . . monkey.

✧✧✧✧
[Present day]

9 days until apocalypse I, 2019

After school hours usually found Lola en route to her father's department store where she would spend time until closing working on homework or hanging out with the staff that was on break. While the back room wasn't the most ideal place for studying she'd become used to the constant comings and goings and the noise that came with the workers.

Now, she was sitting at a table in the cluttered space at the back of the store working on her math homework while the daily news played on a small, old-fashioned TV that was hung up in the corner of the large room. Three of the staff members, Sam, Eric and Brittany, were sitting at the table with her.

With a loud sigh, she looked up at the trio hopefully, "do you guys want to see a magic trick?"

Brittany rolled her dark eyes, "what, are you gonna pull a quarter from my ear?"

Lola grinned, "nope!" she said cheerfully, shifting slightly in her seat to pull out a deck of cards from the back pocket of her jeans.

Sam huffed, "are you going to do the 'pick a card, any card?' schtick?"

"You guys have no faith in me," the brunette complained as she pulled the cards from the container and proceeded to shuffle them, "I've been practicing."

Eric sighed, "fine, I'll bite. Hold 'em out."

Discreetly, the brunette flipped the bottom card of the deck over and then fanned them out to the other teen, careful not to let the different card show, "alright. Pick a card, any card," she said this part sarcastically with an eye roll towards Sam.

The blonde boy reached forward and pulled out the card he wanted.

"Show it to everyone but not me," she commanded, "make sure you remember it."

"Aye aye, Cap," Eric said as he flipped the card to reveal his choice.

While he did so, she turned the deck casually in her hands, feigning nonchalance. She took it back from him and placed it carefully in the middle of the deck, "now, I'm going to find your card without looking."

Lola hid the deck behind her back and flipped the top card over. At this point, she had everyone's attention. She revealed the cards again to show a face-up deck and carefully shuffled through the cards to reach the only face-down card. Flipping it over, she showed the eight of hearts, "is this your card?"

Eric let out a low whistle, "well, I'll be damned. You have been practicing."

The dark-haired girl beamed happily, pleased that she'd pulled it off. The first time she'd tried this with her uncle she'd accidentally revealed the workings of the trick as the deck slipped out of her hands.

"That's definitely better than a quarter," Brittany said begrudgingly.

Before anyone else could say something, the jingle of the breaking news broke through the work room.

"'This just in! Moments ago, police reported the death of the eccentric billionaire, Reginald Hargreeves. More on this story after the break.'"

Sam's head snapped towards the TV, "Hargreeves. That name sounds familiar."

"That's because he ran that Umbrella thing, idiot," Brittany said with an eye roll, "they were all the rage during the early 2000s. My brother went nuts over them."

"The Umbrella thing?" Lola questioned curiously.

"Oh yeah," the older girl said, "there was this group of crime-fighting children that was run by Hargreeves. They became famous after stopping a bank robbery but they went downhill after one of their members went missing. Tommy was heartbroken."

"Went missing?" Lola echoed, "as in kidnapped?"

Brittany shrugged, "no one knows what happened to him. Hargreeves isn't exactly an open book either. There were several unsolved documentaries but they flopped since there's not a ton of information. You can look it up if you wanna to know more. Personally I was more of a Disney fan."

"Of course you were," Sam said in amusement.

The dark-haired girl glared at him, "what's that supposed to mean, moron?"

The blue-eyed boy shrugged, "just that it's a girly thing."

Lola rolled her eyes as Brittany shot something back at the boy and tuned them out as the attention shifted away from her. She made a mental note to research The Umbrella thing, as the other girl had said. She stood, stretched and made her way into the main area of the store to take a break.

Despite all the time she spent in here, Lola didn't think she'd ever tire of looking at the constant rotation of styles and colors. Her favorite thing to do was run her hands along the racks and feel the shifts between soft, scratchy, wooly and a hundred other different textures.

Her favorite section was the formal wear for the vast amount of sparkly dresses that her father sold. She particularly liked the sequins because of the shine they gave off and the unique texture that passed under her fingertips. While she wouldn't necessarily consider herself a girly-girl, she did appreciate a nice dress and the occasional accessory, even owning— and wearing— an assortment of hats and dressy items that contained her favorite material.

This was the section she made her way over to now, and she immediately reached her hand out to touch the slightly-rough, slightly-smooth fabric of a long, strapless dress covered in a layer of silver-and-gold sequins.

She jumped when a gentle, warm hand came to rest on her shoulder, "hey, Sequins."

Lola rolled her eyes, "Uncle Ed, I thought I told you I hated that nickname?"

Her uncle smiled goofily at her, "what, I can't call you something that you love?"

She huffed, "it's dumb."

"That's what your mother said when you wanted to go by Lola but you did it anyway."

"Ouch, I think I need ointment for that burn."

The man laughed loudly, attracting some stares from other customers. They both ignored it, Lola being used to her uncle's easy, hearty laughter, "I thought she was going to have a conniption when you told her."

Lola's face warmed, "are you ever going to let me live that down?"

He gave her a bright smile, "no way, Dolores."

The brunette gave him a half-irritated, half-playful glare, "please, Uncle Ed."

✧✧✧✧

8 days until apocalypse I, 2019

That evening before dinner, Lola sat herself down at the computer in her room and typed in the first part of a search inquiry: The Umbrella and then Google helpfully suggested the rest: Academy.

Clicking on the first result, her blue eyes widened in shock as an image appeared on the screen. The building she stole books from almost every night was home to heroes. Good god, what if she'd been caught? She would be dead for sure. She thanked her lucky stars that she'd only met the slightly-stooped figure a handful of times and had never spoken to anyone.

She scrolled further down to read about The Umbrella Academy.

On October 1st, 1989, forty-three women around the world gave birth simultaneously despite none of them showing any sign of pregnancy until labor began. Seven of the children were adopted by eccentric billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves and turned into a superhero team that he called "The Umbrella Academy." Hargreeves gave the children numbers rather than names but the public gave them codenames. Spaceboy, Kraken, Rumor, Séance, The Boy and Horror. While putting six of his children to work fighting crime, Reginald kept the seventh apart from her siblings' activities as she supposedly demonstrated no powers of her own.

Intrigued, she clicked on a few more links that showed poor-quality pictures of six kids in domino masks and black uniforms after complete missions. Sometimes they were covered in blood, sometimes they weren't. The group visibly diminished in number after 2002, a few years before she was born. Then, when they were in their teens, it shrunk again before all articles about the group ceased to exist.

Frowning, Lola then typed in Reginald Hargreeves. There were, unsurprisingly, few articles about the man himself. They were only about his notable achievements which included his knighting and entrepreneurship and few involved The Umbrella Academy. There was even audio recording of one of the few interviews he'd done, which showed the man standing outside of a bank as he introduced the group to the world.

"'Our world is changing. Has changed. There are some among us gifted with abilities far beyond the ordinary. I have adopted six such children. I give you the inaugural class of The Umbrella Academy!'"

Abilities beyond the extraordinary? Lola thought, weren't they just regular crime-fighting children? She snorted at that. There was no such thing as regular crime-fighting children. She entered her next search: Umbrella Academy superpowers.

Many articles were speculations of the full extent of the powers the children possessed, what-if questions and potential side effects or results of their use. She did learn, though, that the six powers were as followed: super strength, projectile manipulation, altering reality, mediumship, teleportation/time travel and summoning inter-dimensional beings. Lola could barely believe what she was reading. Children like this existed? And here she was, writing down her autobiography like she was someone important!

She shook her head and forced her jealousy to dissolve. The media tended to sugarcoat everything; these kids probably didn't have a very fun life if they were constantly on the job. And besides, of course she was important! She had time to do something noteworthy. Still, it felt like she'd entered an alternate universe and couldn't believe she hadn't been aware people with super powers even existed.

A part of her wanted to stop searching then and there with how muddled her mind was currently feeling but an almost morbid curiosity forced her to continue. As her final search of the night, she typed in The Boy disappearance.

Here, even less credible evidence popped up and she sifted through what she found until she had enough of a framework for a story. Apparently, he disappeared on November 10th, 2002 and his adoptive father proclaimed him dead. There were several conspiracy theories but nothing concrete, causing her to eventually give up on finding information. There was more to be found on the other siblings, she knew, but her curiosity had been satiated and she had other things to do tonight.

She stood from her desk, went to her bedside table and opened the drawer to pull out the two hardcover books she'd hidden in there. Tonight, she'd return them to The Umbrella Academy's library— that was hard to believe— and get two more. Placing them in her bag, she wondered about the lack of security for such an at-risk family but she'd seen pictures of Hargreeves; he was old, and despite being incredibly smart he probably had difficulty with technology like any older person. It wouldn't matter much now that he was dead, though.

Turning her feet towards the door to head downstairs for dinner, she wondered if the stooped figure she'd seen had been Hargreeves before she quickly discarded the thought. While the man had appeared old, he'd always stood straight and proud, never bent with age.

During dinner, she let her parents and uncle talk around her while she puzzled over the mysterious Umbrella Academy. They seemed to have a fairly large fanbase in their youth but all information on them was practically made up or guessed. Lola had always liked puzzles. Finally, towards the end of the meal, she broke her silence, "mom?"

Diana turned towards her daughter, pushing back her short, brown hair behind her ear, "yes, Dolores?"

The younger girl winced. Her mother insisted on using her formal name, "do you know anything about The Umbrella Academy?"

Now she had both of her parent's attention as Edmund cut off the conversation with his brother, "The Umbrella Academy?"

Lola nodded, "the superhero children of Reginald Hargreeves?"

Her mother shook her head, "a bit after my time, dear."

The brunette girl rolled her eyes, "you're not that old, Mom."

Diana shot her a look, "I never said I was old, just that I didn't know them."

She grumbled under her breath, crossing her arms and pouting. She'd only been trying to give a compliment. Unfortunately, the dark-haired woman leaned over and gave her daughter a firm smack on the arm, "don't grumble, Dolores. You sound like a caveman."

There was just no winning with her. Thankfully, her Uncle Edward came to the rescue by changing the subject, "any progress on your autobiography, Sequins?" he asked with an amused twinkle in his blue eyes.

The brunette sighed and uncrossed her arms, using one of her hands to push her hair away from her face, "I don't know what's even the point anymore," she complained, "especially with super-powered kids who are more interesting than me."

Her father gave her a fond look, "you're just as important as they are, don't think that you're not. And besides, this Umbrella talk reminds me: one of the children of the Academy published an autobiography a few years back, you might want to take a look at it."

She shot him a surprised look, "really? Exposing superhero secrets?"

He shrugged, "I'm not sure of the extent of what's written but it's probably worth taking a look, right?"

She chewed her lip in thought for a moment before nodding, "okay, thanks dad."