It's been a few days now, and I still can't go back to my body yet. Rainbow says that maybe since he hasn't done this before, it's going to take longer. I actually don't mind, it just gives us more time to catch up. We're looking through the portal-thing again, when we see someone walking towards the cliff. "Is that a Colorless Guard?" I ask out loud.

"A what- oh yeah. Right." Rainbow says. I recently explained them to Rainbow. "Looks like it."

I notice where the Guard is walking towards. "Wait, he's gonna go look in the cliff-" The Guard peers over the edge. I scream, "Oh no, he's going to find my body!"

"WHAT?!" Rainbow yells. If someone finds my body, Rainbow's whole plan will go haywire. We need to wait until I'm revived, then we can start our revenge. Yes, revenge. Rainbow's shown me what they put me through again, and more. He's had enough, that's why he's reviving me. Now, I have too.

The Guard speaks to others, who are now behind him. "Right where the search party said he would be..."

Search party? Why? I mean, I guess Light would've wondered where I was- wait. This means that people already found my body. Oh no...

"Did they find your body while we were sleeping or something?!" Rainbow exclaims, worried.

"I don't know, man! But this is bad!" I answer.

Rainbow sees something while I'm panicking. "Wait, they're going down to it."

I look over again and see the Colorless Guards climbing down the cliff to my body. What are they gonna do to me? Rainbow and I sit and watch as the Guards climb down and begin to inspect my body. Probably trying to figure out what happened to me.

"Looks like he was stabbed, then thrown down here." One guard says.

"It would match the theory, with the Corrected Sun member we caught and all that." Another says.

"Corrected Sun?" Rainbow asks. "Aren't those the guys that tried to take over the Kingdom?"

"Yeah, and they sucked." I answer. "I was even ran out, before I got some help."

Rainbow suddenly jumps and screams, "THEY'RE TAKING YOUR BODY!"

I snap back to the scene, where indeed, the Colorless Guard have my body in a bag, strapped to a sled of some sort.

I wonder aloud. "What are they doing?"

"I think they're taking your body back to the Kingdom... or something." Rainbow says.

"Well, either way," I slouch back from the viewing portal. "Our plan is screwed. How am I supposed to be revived if that happens?"

"I think I still have an idea, as long as they're doing what I think they are." Rainbow says. "You can go cool off or whatever, I'll keep an eye on them, okay?" Rainbow smiles.

I sigh. "Okay, Rainbow. Whatever." I walk a little farther into the abyss we're in, then just lay there. I try to think of something to do, but Rainbow is busy, and there's not really anything else here. So, I just fall asleep.

—————————————————————————————————————

[Light's POV]

Shock pierces the room. The Orange Leader springs from his seat. "What do you mean, he's been killed?!"

The words keep ringing in my ears. Sabre's been killed? But how?! All it was is a simple mission! What could've happened to make this... I don't even want to think about it, but the Guard starts to explain.

"A search party found his body at the bottom of a cliff, near the village he was supposed to investigate. They almost missed it, as a fallen tree was over the opening. That's probably why it took so long to find him."

"D-do you have any idea what happened to him?" The Yellow Leader asks.

"From what the search party described, it looks like Sabre was ambushed. It was said he had a stab wound..." the Guards trails off.

"This must be what the Corrected Sun member meant..." the Green Leader says. The Guard continues.

"A group of Guards are recovering his body now... to be buried in the graveyard." He turns away. "I'll... leave you to your meeting now."

As the Guard leaves the room, I look around, still in shock. The Orange, Violet, and Blue Leaders are silently crying. The Green and Indigo Leaders look as if they are still trying to process the new information. The Yellow Leader is gripping his throne, visibly holding back tears. A few minutes of silence pass.

"Maybe... maybe we should end the meeting, for now." I say. "I believe everyone needs some time."

The Leaders nod in agreement, and we leave. Heading back to my quarters, I reflect on what just happened. How are we going to tell the people? What do we do with the Corrected Sun member? Did he do this, like we thought? As I enter my room, something else hits me.

Almost all of my friends are dead. The Orange leader and Happy Orange Steve are the only two I have left from better times.

...I try not to think about it. I sigh, and look towards the window, my hand burying my face. How is everyone going to react to this? Sabre was just fine a few days ago, and the last anyone ever saw of him was when he left on that mission. Did he even make it to the village? Suddenly, a cry sounds through the citadel.

"THE CRYSTAL IS GONE!"

—————————————————————————————————————

"Sabre! Wake up, silly!"

I'm shaken awake by Rainbow, excitedly bouncing around about something.

"Alright, alright. I'm up." I stretch and look towards the viewing portal. It's now facing a grave, the moon looming above behind the leaves of an oak tree.

"It's nighttime already? Was I out all day?" I ask. Did I really sleep that long? It was early morning when the Guards found my body.

"Two, actually, but that's okay!" Rainbow says with a smile. "We don't really have a sense of time here, or an internal clock, but you're gonna need that energy soon anyway!"

Wait, what?! "I was asleep for two days?! Why didn't you wake me up, man?!" I yell, panicked. Rainbow rolls his eyes.

"Dude, chill. Like I said, you're gonna need that energy soon anyway!" Rainbow bounds over to the viewing portal and points. "Look!"

I peer inside, and look more closely. It's a fresh grave, dirt still overturned in front of the gravestone. I look at the name and information inscribed on it;

Sabre

Loyal Friend, Ally, and Hero

May He Find Peace in the World Beyond

"World Beyond." I snort, remembering my last death. "Like that's gonna happen now."

"Aw, don't think that way, buddy!" Rainbow says, attempting to cheer me up. "There's gotta be some way to have your place back, and I'll find it!"

"What's my own grave gotta do with anything?" I ask. A mischievous glint fills Rainbow's eyes.

"It's time." He says, excitedly jumping over to right next to me. "The Crystal is finally ready!"

"What?! How?!" I exclaim. "Our plan was screwed, wasn't it?! Aren't people going to see?!" Rainbow grabs my arm and drags me over to be in front of the portal.

"Nope! They buried your body next to that really old oak tree on the hill next to the Kingdom! The one you always went to, remember?"

During my time in the Kingdom, I would stand under an oak tree a little ways outside the walls, near the abandoned library. I'd usually just go over there to have some time to myself, like read a book or write in my journal. Sometimes reflect. "Yeah, I remember. They really buried me there?"

"Yeah, and the best part is, it's not visible from inside the walls!" Rainbow says. "It's perfect for our plan!"

I smile, a new hope igniting. "Mind telling me any changes to the plan, chief?"

"Okay, here we go, one last time;" Rainbow begins. "As soon as you're out of the grave, I'm already gonna be sharing your body with you, and I'll appear like a spirit next to you. People are still gonna be able to see me though, but whatever. I'll be able to interact with things, so that'll help. As soon as you get your bearings, we book it into the forest and find a place to set up temporarily." He stops and catches his breath. "Got it?"

"Crystal clear." I smirk. Rainbow starts laughing.

"Seriously? Come on, buddy! Focus!" He punches my arm.

"Okay, okay! Chill. Don't worry, I got it. Just... a good pun was right there. I had to take the opportunity, man."

"Alright." Rainbow says. "Brace yourself, and grab my hand."

I do so. "Why do I need to brace myself again?"

"Because I couldn't tell whether your wounds were completely healed or not, they buried you before I could see."

"Ah." We both pause. This is it, what we've been preparing for days. We're going to live again. I take a deep breath.

"Ready to return to the world of the living and leap into the unknown?" I crack a smile. Rainbow smiles back.

"You've done it before, you can do it again." He charges some sort of energy. "I'll just be in your head this time."

A strange energy surrounds us. As it swirls around, I start to feel as if I'm covered in static. It's not painful, it's just a weird feeling, as if my entire body fell asleep. The grey abyss slowly fades around us, a black nothing taking it's place. I see something start to glow above us. I look up.

It's a light, and we're moving toward it.

—————————————————————————————————————

The first thing I feel is the pressure of six feet of dirt on top of me. It's hard to breathe, and I can't open my eyes. I hear Rainbow calling for me in my head.

"Sabre! Try to dig upward! I'll help you out of there!"

As I feel Rainbow start to dig me out of the grave, my body realizes what's happening. I'm alive, but in danger of suffocating. Adrenaline fills my veins, and I start to dig up like Rainbow told me. Soon, I break through the layer of soil, and Rainbow grabs my arms and pulls me out of the hole.

"No time to catch your breath, we gotta run!" He says, normally this time. He does look like a spirit, like he explained before. He's just not see-through.

I balance myself as Rainbow pulls me to my feet, and we ran. Ran into the forest, faster than I'm pretty sure either of us have ran in our lives. As we felt the leaves and branches rush past us, I felt a sense of freedom I haven't felt in a long time. Everyone thinks me and my best friend are dead. We could be ourselves without worrying about anyone. I'm snapped back to reality by Rainbow, when he makes a sharp turn.

"We can't just go in a straight line, we'll be caught easily. We have to go in more than one direction." He yells, since we're far enough away not to be heard.

We keep running. I'm pretty sure we ran farther than anyone in the Kingdom has explored past beyond the walls. We enter a dark oak forest, and rain starts to fall from the cool midnight sky. Good, it'll cover our tracks once it gets muddy. As we run, I notice something's wrong. That same static feeling is back, starting from my feet and reaching up to my knees. It's like Rainbow reads my mind, as he says, "We'll find shelter soon, don't worry!"

Eventually, we find a little nook in the side of a cliff. We squeeze through it, and inside is a large, expansive, empty cave. Torches cover the walls already, and there are even a few old, ragged carpets around on the floor. Chests are along some of the walls. Rainbow lets go of my arm, examining the place.

"Looks like someone else used this as a hideout." Rainbow says. "That's really lucky!"

"Yeah, it is." I respond. The static feeling has spread to my hands. Rainbow steps further inside.

"C'mon, Sabre! You coming?" He says, grinning.

I try to walk toward him, but I immediately fall to the floor. I try to move my arms to break my fall, but I can't. Something is definitely wrong. Rainbow runs to my side.

"Sabre! Sabre, are you okay?! What's wrong?!" He says.

"I... I can't..." I try to answer, but something is keeping me from speaking further.

Rainbow quickly drags me over to the wall, and props me against it.

"Sabre, just think of what you're trying to say. I'm in your head, remember?" He says, worry filling his voice.

"I can't move! Something's wrong!"  I scream in my head. Rainbow flinches, probably getting used to it too.

"What do you mean, you can't-" Rainbow begins, but cuts himself off. "Your head... there's..."

"What? What's wrong with my head?"  I say.

"T-there's a hole in it!" Rainbow exclaims, putting his hand onto what feels like a cave-in on my skull. That hurt.

"Ow! Rainbow!"

"Sorry!" He pulls his hand back.

"I think I know where that's from. While I was falling down the cliff, I hit some rocks. Probably hit one as I landed, too." I think for a moment. "Rainbow..."

"Hold on, I-I'll look for some bandages!" Rainbow yells. He runs over to the chests along one of the cave's walls. He frantically looks through two, and on the third one, he pulls out a roll of bandages.

"Here we go! Hang on!" He says, running back to me. "I'm gonna have to take off the blindfold to do this properly. Is that okay?"

"What have I got to lose? Besides, I trust you."  I say.

Rainbow removes my blindfold, and a look of horror crawls on his face.

"Your eyes are grey... like, dead person grey." He says, almost whispering.

"They're not supposed to look like that!" I shout. Something is obviously wrong with me.

Rainbow wraps the bandages around the hole in my head, covering one of my eyes in the process. I feel the bandages keep pulling on something around my eye.

"What keeps pulling the bandages?" I ask.

"Wait, you didn't know there's a crystal there?!" He shouts.

"What crystal?! There's a crystal growing out of my head?!"

"Multiple, actually. There's a rainbow one near your eye, a blue one on the side of your head, a green one toward the top of the back of your head, an orange one to the left of the front of your head, and an indigo one next to that one. There's also a violet one on your neck, a yellow one on your face, and a red one on your shoulder." Rainbow says. We're both silent for a moment as he finishes tying the bandages together.

"...Well, that would explain the headache." I joke. Rainbow gets a cross look on his face.

"Sabre." He says, slightly annoyed, but also holding back a laugh. He scoots back. "Holy cow, I just noticed how bloody you are."

I look down at myself. My shirt is still covered in blood from the attack, however sewn back together, and my hand has a small row of stitches next to one of my fingers.

"It doesn't look too bad..." I say.

"It's mostly your face, blood is already seeping through the bandages, and there's stitches there too, on the opposite side of the bandages."

"Oh."

We sit there for a while. Something keeps crossing my mind, and I know Rainbow thinks it too. Neither of us say it, but we both know it.

My body is paralyzed. I won't be able to move. Suddenly, Rainbow has an idea.

"Maybe I could..." he mumbles, and he lifts his hand, a soft glow appearing. My head lifts up, now looking forward.

"OH SHOOT, THAT WORKED!" Rainbow exclaims.

"You can puppeteer me!" I say. "Try making me stand!"

Rainbow stands up, and lifts his hand again. Almost at the same time, my body moves again, and I get up off the floor and stand. Rainbow and I both excitedly laugh.

"Wooohooo!" Rainbow hoots.

"How are you doing this?!" I exclaim.

"I dunno, I'm just thinking of what I want your body to do, and it happens!"

"I guess this is an effect of the Crystal, since you were part of it once." I say. "It probably gave you control of me after I... absorbed it? Did I absorb the Crystal?"

"Well, either way!" Rainbow says. "This is awesome! We don't have a problem anymore!"

We talk late into the night. Planning, joking, just being us again. It's been a long time since I've been this happy. At around what feels like 4 AM, Rainbow yawns.

"Maybe we should go to sleep, we've had quite the day- er, night, I guess."

"Well, I'm not tired."

"That's cuz you slept for two days, silly!"

"Oh yeah, right. Wait, how the heck am I gonna sleep?"

"We should probably make some beds first." Rainbow gets up.

We find some cloth, hay, and pillows in the chests, and set them up in two little carved-out holes in the back wall of the cave. It kind of looks like a bunk bed. Rainbow thinks the same.

"I call top bunk!" He says, climbing up already.

"Well, I  ain't exactly able to argue." Rainbow laughs, and moves my body to the bottom bunk. As I climb in, Rainbow starts a conversation again.

"Hey, since you died and came back to life, are you a zombie now?"

I bust out laughing, and so does Rainbow. "Climbed outta a grave and everything! I AM a zombie!"

"Oh nooo, don't eat my brains!"

"Heh, there's actually something in that skull?"

"Hey! Hahaha!" Rainbow makes me slap myself in the face.

"Haha, that's fair. Goodnight, ya doofus."

"'Night, chicken man."

As I lay on my back, I see Rainbow wave his hand one last time. My eyes begin to close, even though I'm not tired. Hopefully he wakes me up at a normal hour this time. But hey, I don't really have a reason to be worried about that, especially with all the excitement we have planned for tomorrow.

After all, we have a new life ahead of us.

—————————————————————————————————————

[Light's POV]

It's been two days since the announcement of Sabre's death, and since the Crystal was stolen. The Colorless Guard have been investigating what could've happened, but it's almost like it vanished into thin air.

"It's like a ghost came in or something," a Colorless Guard tells me. "No broken windows or locks, or anything." I sigh.

"Well, we're all doing the best we can. Thanks for at least trying to find something." The Guard walks off an goes back to searching.

Maybe we should start searching outside the walls. The thief has had to be out there by now, but not too far. Hopefully so, as everything that's been going on recently has put everyone in the Kingdom on edge. As I step through the gate, two Guards salute, then go back to their duties. I don't get far before an Orange Steve runs up to me, panicked.

"The grave's been dug up!" He exclaims.

"The... the grave-?" I ask.

"Sabre's grave!" The Orange Steve says. "It's been dug up! I don't know what happened!"

I rush over to the gravesite, the Orange Steve and the two Guards following behind me. As I run up the hill, I'm met with a terrible sight. Sure enough, the headstone has been shifted backward, as the dirt in front of it is completely overturned, the hole the body was in now vacant. The two Guards catch up to me and the Orange Steve.

"What in the name of all things holy...?" One guard mutters.

I walk over to the grave, bitter from this atrocious act. I look over the scene, and something catches my eye. On the opposite side of the grave, something is glittering. I walk around to see what it is.

"Captain?" The other guard says. "What is it?"

As I crouch down to see what the glittering is, my blood runs cold. I pick up the small pieces on the floor, and stand up.

"Whoever's our Crystal thief has some real nerve..." I say, opening my hand to show the Colorless Guards. "Because they're a literal grave robber too."

In my hand are a few shards of crystal. Rainbow Crystal. One of the Guards look behind me.

"Sir," he says, pointing towards the forest. "There's some footprints over there."

I look behind me, and I see two sets of footprints leading into the forest.

"Looks like he's not alone." I say. I turn to the Orange Steve. "You go back to the Kingdom. We'll take care of this."

The Orange Steve nods and runs back to the gates. I wave over to the two Guards.

"Come on. We've got some thieves to catch." We begin towards the forest.

What sort of sick, twisted being would do this?