(tw: implied suicide thoughts/attempts)
I can't tell if I like this or not lol I wrote most of this half-awake
•
“Fuck.”
Light stared blankly at the room. There wasn’t much damage, a chair knocked over and the blankets all messy, the closet doors wildly flung open, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed without just moving a few things back.
No, it was the fact the room was dead empty. The house was empty. Not a signal sign of Sabre.
“Fuck!” Light kicked the already knocked-over chair and watched it hit a wall, not enough to leave a dent. He wanted to kick it again, but he needed to keep himself composed in front of the guards. Kicking the chair was already him showing emotions, he didn’t need to worry the guards by showing more.
“Look around the room, find anything that’ll help us.” Light mumbled, starting to move around the room as he said so. There wasn’t anything that stood out, just a mess of a room. Light opened up the desk drawer and found nothing but papers and pencils, along with a journal.
He skimmed through the papers until he noticed something that grabbed his attention. It was Sabre’s handwriting, along with someone else’s. It only took a quick read for Light to figure out who he’d been talking to.
“...god. God. Sabre, you idiot.” Light shoved the paper in his bag, maybe the professor could figure out something with this. Light was already trying to piece what had happened together. There was a minimal struggle, nothing broken. Most likely Sabre didn’t have time to grab anything to attack. His sword was still poking out from under his bed, no blood or anything on it.
Most likely he tried to run, maybe even hid in the closet. The attacker got in, and took him. At least he thought so. There was a slight, horrible possibility in his head that Sabre was dead, but there were no signs of blood on the floor or furniture anywhere.
“Ay, captain, you might wanna see this.”
One of the floorboards was removed, and Light gasped at what he saw under it. Photos.
Light felt chills run down his spine, most of them were of Sabre, but a few were of him and M. More of M, Light only found one picture of him. It was obvious they hadn’t been paying attention when these photos were taken, and it made Light feel sick.
Some of them had marker scribbles on them, others were ripped or had stab marks on them. There weren't any cobwebs, and there was a very minimal amount of dust, meaning these weren’t here for a very long time.
Light needed to tell M about this, now. There needed to be a security boost around the Red Kingdom, at least for M. Then they needed to get the papers to the professor, see if he could get anything from them.
“Guards, examine the rest of the house and bring anything suspicious to me. I’m going to the Red Kingdom to inform Amory of this.”
/
“... what..?”
M stared at Light in disbelief. He dropped his pen he’d previously been holding had fallen out of his hands, he stood staring at Light as if he were joking, like this wasn’t actually real.
It was. M felt the dread of it set in, and for a moment he didn’t know what to think. The tears fell down his face before he even knew he was crying, and he felt like the world had paused if only for a mere moment.
“W-When…?”
“Last night, we think, my guards are asking around the village and exploring the house to find anything more suspicious.”
Light pulled out the notes and a few of the photos out of his bag and set them on the desk. M buried his face in his hands and sighed, trying to control his tears.
“You- You really just have the best timing, don’t you..?” M mumbled between sobs, not bothering to glare at Light, not even bothering to look at the papers. He knew what they probably were, but he didn’t care. His best friend was now missing.
“...I’m sorry to bring this upon you so quickly”, Light said, trying his best to have some sympathy in his voice. He really did feel bad, but this was also the quickest way to find Sabre. He hated that emotions and logic couldn’t mix well without someone hating the taste of it.
“Mhm- Mhm.” M mumbled out through his tears, fully crying now. He finally stared up at Light, his eyes already becoming bloodshot. Light’s heart twinged for a moment, and he stared at M. The words he previously had in mind seemed unimportant to say now.
Slowly, Light hugged him, trying to hold him firmly. He forgot how to understand emotion fully, like he used to a few years ago. Warm, cold, hot, soft, firm, he more just saw emotion through color now. It was easier than making everything messy, to pinpoint the exact feelings that needed to be met for it.
Despite his lack of thought for it, M hugged him back anyways.
Light forced a smile for comfort, even though M preferred his usual blank face. It made M feel a bit better knowing he was at least trying to comfort him.
/
It’d been hours since Light had investigated Sabre’s house.
M had told him he’d give the papers to the professor tomorrow, both out of his own emotion and concern for how Professor Red would react to it. Light understood well enough, despite wanting to get everything done to find Sabre as quickly as possible.
Now he was pacing the kingdom, thinking if he should tell the leaders about this. On one hand, if he did there’s a chance their kingdoms would find out too, and that would lead to even more of a mess. If he didn’t though, everyone might think Sabre is somewhere else and gone for months again.
Which he was, but not to the same degree as before.
“Light! G-General Light!” He perked up as he heard a somewhat familiar voice from behind him. He turned to see a boy with dull golden hair and overalls, with little lemon pins along the straps for them.
“Is there any news on Sorin yet?- It’s been a week- two-? No, no, about a week… and a half?- Since I reported his disappearance. Have you found him? Anything at all?”
Light paused, and felt a little worse about himself to realize he hadn’t thought much about it, especially now that he compared it to Sabre’s disappearance.
“No, I’m sorry. We’ll find him soon, but a new missing case has just begun. We have a bit to deal with, but I promise-”
“No you don’t! Where is he?!- It’s one kid, how hard can it be?!” The boy yelled out, making a few people turn their heads to look. Light sighed, trying to think of a response. Truthfully, he didn’t have one. There wasn’t a defense for this.
“What’s your name?- I.. Look, I’m sorry, okay? There's a lot we’re working on.”
“..Copper. My name is Copper. Have you not… found anything about Sorin yet?”
Light shook his head, “No.”
Copper looked to the ground and groaned. He felt horrible, he had no idea where Sorin was and nobody was helping him. The colorless guards had their own priorities, and Sorin wasn’t really a recognized face. He had no one, nobody. It was eating him up from inside, and that scared him to hell and back.
“...Who?”
“Hm?”
“Who else went missing? M-Maybe I can help? I know- I know a lot of people in the Yellow kingdom! I can help with this!” Copper said, a spark of joy filling the emptiness that he’d suddenly felt. Light grimaced a bit at the sudden questions and offers.
“I don’t think so, you’re a kid, besides it’s-...” He didn’t quite know how to explain this without giving away who was missing. He didn’t know if Copper would give the info away freely, “It’s a more special case, harder to find.”
“What, is it Sabre-? Or one of the villages outside-”
Light sighed particularly louder to signal to Copper to shut it, to not say all of this out loud. At this point, Sabre’s disappearance was going to become public knowledge soon, so might as well get a few missing posters up soon.
“Congrats, you’re smart Copper. I do need to get going soon though.” Light turned to leave, but something Copper said grabbed his attention back.
“Sorin was weirdly obsessed with Sabre before he disappeared…” Copper mumbled, just loud enough for Light to hear. He paused for a second to process the words and spun right back around on his heels, grabbing Copper’s shoulders. The boy flinched back from the sudden actions.
“Oh- I’m sorry just-” Light pulled away too, trying not to intimate him, “He was obsessed?”
“Well- Sort of? It’s kinda hard to explain, he had a lot of trauma related to Sabre and I guess-” Copper paused, and looked around, suddenly feeling as if all eyes were on him. Light felt the same as Copper did so. He thought about it for a second, then made up his mind. The leaders could wait.
“Can you take me to Sorin’s house?”
“..You haven’t already been there?” Copper questioned, the disappointment clear in his voice. Light grimaced a bit and looked right into Copper’s eyes, seeing the visible anger and sadness in them.
“My other guards have, I haven’t yet, I’m sorry.”
“You’ve said that a lot.”
Light didn’t say a word, because there was nothing to say. It was up to Copper to continue this.
“Cmon, let’s go..” Copper said with a sigh, almost begrudingly.
/
The house felt strange without Sorin in it. Copper always entered with Sorin doing something, or at the very least, he’d find Sorin resting in bed. It still felt like he could just walk upstairs and find Sorin in bed, or writing in his journal; unfortunately, he didn’t know if he’d ever see that again.
Copper’s first instinct was to bring Light to Sorin’s room, considering that would probably be where anything important would be. Light followed him silently, taking in everything around him. It seemed like a normal house, nothing that screamed danger in it. Copper paused before he reached Sorin’s room and sighed.
“I- uh, haven’t been in here since I realized he was gone.. A few days after, I guess. It’s not really gonna-... You’ll see.” Copper muttered as he turned the doorknob open.
Light couldn’t say he was fully surprised at what he saw, but it definitely wasn’t a pretty sight to see. There were clear dents in the wall, the door to his closet was pulled off its hinges, and anything not nailed down or too heavy was tossed about the room like a paperweight.
Copper walked over to the chair without words and put it back up, then sat down, sighing and putting his face in his hands. He didn’t stop Light as he began looking around; Although he also didn’t move much when Light went to look at the desk.
“What was your last conversation with him?”
“Gee, asking all this now?” Copper replied, not bothering to hide his annoyance. He was glad Sorin’s disappearance was being investigated, of course, but he didn’t like how he had to mention Sabre to make it happen. Light didn’t reply despite Copper’s comments, and Copper figured it was because all Light knew to respond was ‘Sorry about that’.
“... It was a day or so before he disappeared. I tried to ask him about what he was doing and all that junk, but it didn’t end well. Sorin got quiet, then just began screaming, throwing things around, yelling at me to leave. It was like something just, I dunno, snapped.”
“Has he acted like this before?”
“He would snap at things, but I never saw it that aggressively before… H-He’s not a bad person!” Copper began to protest, worried what his words would mean to Light, “He never hurt me, or anyone! I- I’ve never seen him like this, but please try not to be too harsh with him… if you find him…”
Light nodded absentmindedly, more focused on whatever evidence he could find. Finally, he noticed a journal shoved to the back of the desk drawer. He picked it up and began to look through it, skimming through the pages and reading anything that caught his eye.
There were definitely a few things that caught his eye, and he noted he’d get back to them later. The final entry was what really intrigued him though.
'I’m going to run away tonight. I don’t want to hurt Copper. I don’t remember what I said, but everything was a mess by the time I zoned back in. I don’t like this, but I don’t remember feeling so suddenly emotional (?) ever before.
Maybe I am insane. ̶n̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶t̶h̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶
I’m leaving this here. I hope nothing bad happens next? I don’t know. I don’t know what I'm doing anymore. Is this right? It felt right at first, now it feels. Wrong? No. Like a habit. It’s scary, but I don’t know what else to do.
I hate this.'
The rest wasn’t anything comprehensible, mostly just scribbles and ripped pages. Light silently noted to keep an eye out for the other pages. He continued to look around the room, putting the journal down as he did so. Copper picked it up and began to look through it, but Light didn’t mind. He assumed Copper was smart enough to know messing with the journal could lead to Sorin staying missing.
In the corner of the closet, there was a heap of stuff. Stuff that Light recognized was Sabre’s, mostly from what he’d been told was taken. Knives, a necklace, and other miscellaneous items were scattered back there, none of them seeming to have any pattern to the other; simply there for the sake of being taken.
Light looked through the items, nothing was severely damaged. The knives were dull, though that might’ve already been their state before they were stolen. There was what looked to be a hoodie that didn’t belong to Sorin, mostly because of the burns and holes in it.
“Copper, do you have any idea if Sorin would run away anywhere in particular?” Light asked, not looking up to see Copper’s face. It took a second before he responded, but the answer was a soft 'no'. Once again, Light hit a dead end.
“General Light, sir- ACK-” Whatever Copper planned to say was abruptly cut off by one of the floorboards giving out from under him. It seemed to have been already loose, more so just slipping to the side when Copper stepped a bit too closely on the side of it. Light perked up and walked over, examining what’s in while holding his arm out to help Copper up.
“Is this- …Ah.” Copper went silent looking at what was under the floorboard. It had a picture frame of three yellow figures on it, one of them being Sorin. The picture seemed to be incredibly damaged and with messy repairs, with wrinkly pieces that seemed like damage from water, and other parts with ashes and dirt staining it. Copper put it aside gently, then continued to look through the floorboard section.
Light looked closer at the image, and could tell one of the figures was Sorin. Another was smaller, younger, a child. The final figure in the back was much taller, seemingly older. He couldn’t see his face from the damage, but was most likely some sort of guardian; a brother, a father, an uncle, somebody.
“Oh.” Copper said breathlessly, holding some sort of letter in his hands. Light tilted his head, silently asking what it was. Copper didn’t notice, just rubbed his thumb over some of the words in the letter then handed it to Light. Light didn’t fully understand what was wrong yet, Copper seemed to continue to skim through the letters, all while keeping a paused and shocked face.
As Light read the note, he began to understand Copper’s shock. The letter was old, it was obvious from the wrinkles around the pages, but it still left him with an uneasy feeling in his gut.
It was supposed to be a suicide note.
Light began to rummage through the letters with Copper, and they were all mostly a mixed bag. Some were the same level as the first letter, but some were more sad. Letters to who Light presumed what his family or friends, some writing as if they’d been gone a while and others speaking brutally about their deaths.
Completely lost, Light looked at Copper for any sort of answer to this, but Copper seemed mortified to what he had found. Light let the silence fill the house, waiting for Copper to relax a bit to explain. That didn’t seem to help much, it felt more as if the silence was eating up Copper.
“...This is bad. Oh god. I- I didn’t know he was this-...”
He tried to piece his words together, but it felt pointless. Light was beginning to put together Copper’s worries too.
“I- If.. If Sorin’s this- upset? I- I dunno, if he’s this.. Fuck. He could be a danger to himself and Sabre if he..”
If he did kidnap him. Which he most likely did.
Light paused, trying to think what to do next, what would get the problem solved the best. Logically, he should figure out what he can about Sorin and go off there, get a few more guards to explore his house, and take it from there. Copper could probably help too, considering he seems to be the only person who really knows Sorin.
Yet, Light felt it was better to hold off on that for the moment as he looked closer at Copper. His hands were shaking, his eyes were watery, and he looked unfocused to anything.
Light inched closer, and Copper practically leapt onto him without any sort of warning. The armor Light wore wasn't exactly comfortable to rest upon, and he'd barely moved despite how sudden the action was. However, at the moment Copper didn't care; He just wanted something to latch onto.
The house was silent for a moment, then that silence was broken by the faint rustling and creaking of Light reaching his arms over Copper's back to hug him.
/
The house (at least, that's what he assumed it was) was quiet.
At first, Sabre thought he was still half asleep, but every now and then he heard creaks and mumbles of someone wandering about.
He was also tied up. His arms and legs were aching from the rope, some of it was tied loosely and some was tight enough to cut off his blood circulation.
He also couldn't tell if he was blindfolded or if the room was pitch black. He thinks he's blindfolded. He was starting to get hungry too, how long had it been since he was taken?
Sabre tried not to think about it much, but there wasn't anything else to think about. His body wanted food, water, proper blood flow, and he couldn't do anything to fix that.
He'd screamed, yelled, tried to swing around the best he could, but he got not a single response out of it. He almost wished Sorin would come in and start the torture, or whatever he planned to do, just so he knew he wasn't going crazy.
That moment never came. Guess Sorin wasn't planning to hurt him.
Sabre screamed again, thrashing. His throat was beginning to feel sore from the lack of water and the yelling he'd done. Maybe he was doing this just so Sorin could give a reaction.
He just wanted to get home as quick as possible.
•
uhhhhh happy new years I guess,,????
im planning to give a few chapters of just fluff and comfort after the main plot is over oh my godashhhshahhaha