Fragmented

Chapter Seven

TW: Death

Everything was cold and dark and empty and numb. It was like that for a single second and all eternity at the same time. Sabre didn't know if he was awake, asleep, or dead. He didn't have any thoughts at all.

A chill spread over him but quickly disappeared. He gradually felt the ground appear beneath him, and he soon realized that someone was shaking his shoulder. They were saying something, but he couldn't quite make it out.

"Sa..."

"...ke up..."

"...please..."

"Sabre!"

He jolted and his eyes flew open. Everything was blurry, but he could make out four moving shapes above him. It was all white and gray and black and brown. A bitter wind blew his hair into his face, and he shivered. As his eyesight cleared, he could see his friends had bundled themselves up as well as they could against the cold, but they still trembled from it. Time was watching him with concern.

"Are you okay Sabre? You've been out for a while, longer than anyone else."

"Y-yeah," he said. He looked around. They were positioned up against the side of a house that looked suspiciously similar to the homes in the suburbs he grew up in. The sky was cloudy and dead leaves skittered across the street next to them as gusts of wind buffeted the group. A few small flakes of snow drifted through the air along with the leaves. The trees were brilliant shades of fiery red and gold and burnt orange. More houses lined the street, and a few cars were parked on the curb.

Sabre was shocked. He had no doubt he was back on Earth, the place he was born and raised, the place he had left behind when he was taken to the Steve Realm.

"Sabre? What's wrong?" Time asked. The others looked over at him, interested.

"I know where we are," Sabre blurted. The words had tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Really?" the Professor asked. "Do you know why it's so cold and why the houses look different and what those things are over there?" He pointed at the cars parked on both sides of the street.

"Calm down, Professor," M said. "Sabre just woke up, and he doesn't need to be bombarded with your questions right now."

"Hmph." Professor Red crossed his arms, turned the other direction and fixed his gaze on the trees in the distance. M rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Sabre, if you know where we are, then can you please tell us before we freeze to death?" Light said.

"Right, right. Well, we're not in the Steve Realm anymore. We're on Earth."

Everyone stared at him like he was crazy. "Uh, what's Earth?" Time asked.

Sabre was a little confused. He thought he had told them about his home realm, then he realized that he had only told Orange Steve about it. "Earth is the place I'm from."

Time, M, and Light's eyes widened as the Professor gasped and turned back towards Sabre. "Really?!" he said enthusiastically. "So, there's more of you?"

"Uh- y-yeah? Why?"

"Half because I may be able to experiment on them in the future- with their consent, of course; I know you worry about that constantly- and half because it looks like there's no one around."

Sabre looked around again more closely. Professor Red was right. None of the lights were on in any of the windows, and there wasn't anyone outside. Come to think of it, there weren't any sounds other than the whistling wind and the shaking of the remaining leaves on the trees. It was eerie.