(Oh god, I feel so weird writing this first bit. Please forgive me for the awkwardness.)

Dusk's eyes slowly fluttered open, her face twisting in a grimace as the light from both outside and the hotel room awakened her. As she stretched her arms out, she felt something was rather off. She looked to her right side, seeing Klaus with the white bedsheets draped over his body, still snoozing away. Not only that, but she saw her dress and parts of his suit lying on the floor, along with one of the lamps that had been knocked off the table, the bulb flickering on and off. Holy shit... did we?

"Klaus, get up!" She started shaking him awake as he groaned in response. "What's going on?" He muffled into one of the pillows. As he slowly turned onto his side, Dusk pointed to the mess they had left on the floor. Klaus's vision soon cleared, and his eyes widened as well. "Well, it looks like we got up to some mischief last night, eh?" He smirked, bumping her shoulder with his elbow in a joking manner.

The junkie reached over to his side of the bed and draped his satin green jacket over her shoulders, giving her an extra bit of coverage. "Do you remember anything?" She asked. "Only us heading into the elevator after saying goodnight to everyone," Klaus scooted over and kissed her cheek. "And based on the evidence, we did the old Devi-" "Do not finish that sentence!" She shushed, pressing a kiss to his lips to silence him. 

He smiled the longer they stayed pressed together and the late-night shenanigans seemed to move to the back of their minds as they recapped their memories of the wedding. "Did you see what happened with Five and Vic?" She questioned, recalling while she was finishing her performance of Michael Bublé's Sway, her twin pulled in the redhead about to kiss her. But as his lips connected with hers, she caught glimpse of Victoria's knife pointing at his throat. But the longer the kiss lasted, the more she sunk into it, dropping her knife and kissing him back.

"I saw! Fivey's got a girlfriend now!" He squealed like a little kid hyped up on sugar. "For a moment, I was worried I was about to watch him get murdered," the glimmer of Victoria's knife made her shudder. She'd rather not picture the outcome that could've been. It would've been a horrible thing to see on a night that was supposed to be memorable. The raven felt her chin slightly being lifted, and she made contact with the beautiful emerald eyes of her lover.

As they were about to share another of their most intimate kisses, a knock came from the door. "Klaus, Dusk, are you decent?" Reginald's scruffy voice called from the other side. The couple's eyes widened and immediately they got dressed. Realizing she left her regular clothes back in the room she shared with Allison and Viktor, Dusk grabbed a robe from the nearby closet and double-knotted it just to make sure. As Klaus finished getting dressed, he opened the door, surprised to see their father was holding two metal trays.

"Took you long enough," the old man commented, slightly squinting at the pair. Dusk ran a hand through her hair trying to straighten it out as she tried to act as natural as possible. "What do you want?" She asked. "What does it look like? To feed you, children! I'm sure after last night's festivities, a hearty breakfast should bring you a bright start to your day," The monocle replied as he stepped into the room. His unusual enthusiasm set a bunch of sirens off in Dusk's head. He had never acted this way before toward anyone. He obviously wants something, I know it!

As Reginald set the metal trays of food down, Klaus took off the tops and revealed them to be breakfasts of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast with a few different kinds of jelly, and two cups of orange juice. It seemed normal enough, but the raven was a little scared to eat, thinking there might be a touch of poison or anything lethal. But contrary to the phoenix, Klaus started to chow down his portion of the meal.

"Aren't you going to eat as well?" Reginald looked over at her. "I'll ask the questions here, Reggie. You want something, so you might as well come out and say it," Dusk squinted as she sat on the arm of the couch. "To be honest, I have some concerns," the old man admitted. One of Dusk's eyebrows raised in question. Since when does he care? "May I remind you that I am not the Hargreeves you grew up with. Yes, we share the same DNA, impeccable style, and mannerisms. But I can assure you that our life circumstances are very different,"

Dusk resisted the urge to roll her eyes, just waiting for him to get to the point of his unexpected visit. As Reginald carried on, she looked over to Klaus who was polishing off the last of his toast. But then a loud explosion made her look towards the window, interrupting Reginald's discussion as well. Pieces of one of the last remaining skyscrapers had separated from the structure and floated off in the direction of the kugelblitz.

"He's due any minute now," Reginald stated, bringing both the phoenix and seance's attention back to him. "That was a joke," he slightly chuckled. Klaus smiled and laughed alongside him, while Dusk sat there in silence, not finding even the slightest bit of humor in it. "Trying jokes now, huh?" Klaus questioned. "Actually, what I'm here to discuss... is deadly serious. Once you finish your breakfast and get yourselves dressed, meet me downstairs in the lobby,"

With that, Reginald walked out of the room, leaving the couple to process their thoughts. "I don't like this..." Dusk murmured. "What's not to like about him, hon? He brought us breakfast!" Klaus looked up at her with surprise. "Ever since he came to the hotel, Project Oblivion's the one thing that's been on his mind. He's not gonna stop until we all agree," the raven paced back and forth.

"Dusk, calm down. Maybe this whole Project Oblivion is not a big deal," Klaus reasoned. "You didn't see what happened to Diego and Lila. Whatever's in there, cut two of his fingers off with a chain! If someone's capable of doing that in a split second, I don't want to imagine that happening to me or you," she looked back at her lover with concern. Seeing the panic in her eyes, Klaus walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I know that, I can't imagine seeing you get hurt either. But what if we did follow Dad with this project? There could be a light at the end of the tunnel for us. Have you given any thought as to our future if we made it out?" Klaus whispered. Dusk took a second to really think about where her life could go. Singing was something she would continue to pursue, but what else could happen? Where would her relationship with Klaus go? Would they stay together? Break up? Move in? Get married?

From the briefest smile that appeared on her face, Klaus could tell she was trying to think of something good. "Let's just hear what Dad has to say, yeah?" Dusk slowly looked up and nodded, "I guess," she answered. Number Four pressed a soft kiss to her lips before they pulled away, trying to get ready for the family meeting.

~~~~~~~

 The lobby was full of silence as they all waited for Reginald to make an appearance. But as the minutes ticked by, he still hadn't shown up. Dusk rested her head on Klaus's shoulder and the waiting made her grow more and more tired. Eventually, the sounds of the hotel's revolving doors spun, and Reginald stepped in, Five following close behind. "Here he is!" Luther smiled. Almost everyone immediately started clapping, telling him that his speech last night was amazing.

Through her sober mind, Dusk tried to recall her twin brother's speech the best she could, but there were only a few things she could remember. "The guy's a monkey virgin from space, it's a hard match to make," "Happy... it's not your birthday. Happy wedding day my friend," Classic Five, even drunk he's still a smart ass! "I especially liked how you referred to us as a family bound by destiny and love," Viktor commented.

"Okay, enough. That was the booze talking. In the light of day, you're all deplorable," Five shushed as he sat next to Victoria, who was softly stroking Pennycrumb's back. "And your day's about to get worse," Reginald stated. Everyone turned back to the monocle, watching as he flipped through the pages of an old leather notebook. "The Norse had eight sleepers. The Blackfoot, eight stars. As a boy, I heard the legend of the eight bells. 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 eight magic bells, the village will be saved, and all will be restored just as it was," 

What in the fucked-up fairytale is this dude talking about?  Lila raised her hand and Reginald looked in her direction, gesturing for her to speak. "Can we get a little less Brother's Grimm and more 'What the hell does this have to do with us?" She asked. The old man then explained there was a truth to the myths. He claimed there was a portal in the universe, and that he built the hotel around it. "The other side is the answer," Reginald said.

"And... what are we supposed to do? Just stroll in, ring some bells, and fix this mess?" Dusk inquired. "Sarcasm aside, you are mostly right. Except for the Guardian," The monocle nodded. The mention of it rang a bell in the phoenix's mind, when she, Victoria, and Stanley walked into the White Buffalo Suite and saw Diego and Lila trying to hold the door closed as the Kraken's hand bled profusely. "It is a force to be reckoned with," 

"Why would the builders of this 'back door' need to have a guardian?" Viktor asked. Sloane gasped as she knew the answer to his question. "To protect it from people who want to use it for nefarious means!" she piped up. "So, it's gonna take all of us to defeat the thing protecting the bells?" Allison stated. "You're actually buying this bs?" Five squinted. "How is a guardian and bells any crazier than time-traveling briefcases and assassins with cartoon masks?"

Five fell silent as Allison did have a point there. But he just rolled his eyes and continued looking forward. Ben stood up and walked to the side of Reginald, claiming he was in on the plan. Dahlia stood as well, though she did seem a bit fidgety when it came to standing next to the Squid Boy. Diego stood up, declaring he would go as well, "But I think some of us should stay behind. Like Lila," he added.

"Or... you can stay and I can go," the woman grinned. "No. This is much bigger than all of us. Nobody can stay back," Allison shook her head. Reginald took in a quiet breath, keeping a calm composure while his patience was wearing thin. "You, my children, are all that stands between us and oblivion. Are we ready to go?" "I say we vote. And whichever scenario has the most votes, that's what we'll do," Dusk suggested.

"This isn't a democracy, dragon lady. Dad's calling the shots," Ben hissed. Dusk slightly twisted her head, giving him a look that said, 'I'm not in the mood for a fight with you,' and the longer she held her gaze, Ben looked down at the ground in intimidation. "I agree with Dusk. We vote," Victoria nodded, along with Five. "The world is ending, and you want to count hands?" Reginald glanced at them in disbelief and hidden anger. 

Luther stood up and said that since he was asking them to risk their lives, it was only fair they had time to think about it privately. "How about we meet back here in an hour?" the Ape-man suggested. The Umbrellas all nodded in agreement, before they walked off in their own directions, feeling the giant weight of the decision come onto their shoulders.