Seven strolled through the school hallway, stretching his arms as he let out another lazy yawn.
His dark hair was a mess, sticking out in unruly tufts, evidence that he hadn't bothered to fix it before leaving home.
The morning sunlight streamed through the large windows, casting long shadows on the polished tile floors.
The distant hum of voices, the occasional slam of lockers, and the hurried footsteps of students rushing to class filled the air.
It was the usual morning chaos, but Seven remained unfazed, moving at his own unhurried pace.
"You're gonna be late to class, dumbass!"
A girl rushed past him, her voice sharp with urgency.
Her long, wavy blonde hair bounced as she ran, catching the light like strands of gold.
Her blue eyes were wide, full of the familiar panic of a student desperate not to get marked tardy.
Seven barely turned his head to acknowledge her.
His half-lidded eyes reflected nothing but boredom.
"Who cares?" he muttered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket.
The girl, someone from his homeroom, though he couldn't remember her name, didn't bother arguing.
She vanished into the sea of students, her footsteps swallowed by the morning rush.
Lockers slammed. Voices overlapped. Teachers stood by classroom doors, calling for stragglers to hurry.
Seven, however, was in no rush.
He strolled through the hallway like he had all the time in the world, ignoring the judgmental glances from students who actually cared about their grades.
The thought of sitting through another mind-numbing lecture made him want to yawn again.
Then,
A strange sensation washed over him.
His body trembled involuntarily.
His vision blurred for a second, his pupils dilating before snapping back to normal.
"What the hell was that?"
A strange chill ran down his spine as he blinked rapidly, trying to shake off the sudden dizziness.
But something felt… off.
His surroundings flickered.
The hallway shifted.
His steps felt lighter.
The air smelled different, cleaner, crisper, almost nostalgic.
Seven's breath hitched as he looked around, his heart pounding.
"I… I'm back? Earth?"
His voice was barely above a whisper.
He turned in a slow circle, scanning the area.
He was in school, walking up the stairs. But something wasn't right.
Everything seemed… familiar, yet distant, like a memory he wasn't supposed to be reliving.
'Wait… was that a dream? Why am I so young? And why am I back in high school?'
His chest tightened with a growing sense of unease.
His fingers curled into fists as he tried to piece everything together. The last thing he remembered was,
His sister.
His eyes widened.
Without thinking, he spun on his heel and bolted.
His feet pounded against the stairs as he raced toward the kindergarten building—where his little sister should be at this time.
He had to see her. He had to know if she was real, if she was safe.
But just as he reached the doors, something yanked him back.
The world around him warped, twisting into a blur of colors.
His breath caught in his throat as he felt himself being pulled away, as if unseen hands were dragging him out of reality itself.
Then, darkness.
When he opened his eyes again, he wasn't in school anymore.
He was back.
The glowing room was no longer glowing.
The eerie light that once bathed the walls had faded, leaving only dim shadows.
His hands trembled. His fingers ached.
And in his palm, balled up tightly, was the crystal.
His chest rose and fell in uneven breaths as he stared at it, his mind racing with questions.
What the hell just happened?
Just as Seven was coming to terms with reality, a sharp realization hit him.
He remembered.
The crystal. The same one clenched so tightly in his fist that his knuckles had turned white. The trap it had set for him.
The way it had pulled him in, twisted his mind, and thrown him back into a past that felt too real to be a mere dream.
'But then… what was that?'
His breathing was unsteady as he loosened his grip, staring down at the stone in his palm.
It no longer pulsed with that eerie glow, looking like nothing more than an ordinary gem.
Yet, his entire body still tingled with the lingering sensation of being somewhere else.
'It felt real. Too real.'
The warmth of the morning sun through the school windows.
The smell of the old hallways.
The sound of lockers slamming, voices chattering, footsteps rushing past him.
The way his heart had pounded when he ran toward the kindergarten building, desperate to see his sister.
His sister.
Seven's chest tightened.
His throat went dry.
If that was just a dream, then why did the emotions still cling to him so strongly? Why did it feel like he had truly been there? Like he had almost reached her?
His fingers twitched as he stared at the lifeless crystal.
Was it trying to show me something? Or… was it just toying with me?
A bitter taste settled in his mouth.
He hated this. The feeling of being played with. Of not knowing what was real and what wasn't.
His memories, his emotions, his sense of time, everything felt shaken, unstable.
He forced himself to take a slow breath, pushing the thoughts aside.
Dwelling on them wouldn't help. He needed answers.
And there was only one way to get them.
Seven tightened his grip on the crystal once more.
"…Alright," he muttered under his breath, narrowing his eyes. "If you wanna mess with me, then fine. Let's see how far this goes."
A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, but his hands were still shaking.
Just as he was pondering the boundaries between reality and dreams, a sudden shudder wracked his body.
A cold sensation crawled up his spine, making the hairs on his neck stand on end.
Something was off.
He turned his head slowly, his body stiff with unease.
His eyes scanned the dim room, searching for the source of his discomfort.
And then, he realized.
His breath hitched.
His expression twisted into one of pure dread.
The skeleton was gone.
Steve.
The skeleton that had been laying lifelessly in the corner ever since he first arrived in this strange room.
The one thing that had always been there.
But now, it wasn't.
The corner near the door where it once sat was empty.
The eerie silence of the room suddenly felt suffocating.
His hands trembled. His throat went dry.
"W-Where…" His voice barely came out.
He swallowed hard, his pulse hammering in his ears. Where did it go?
Seven's chest tightened as pure terror gripped him.
He had no idea what was happening, no idea what he had just woken up to.
But one thing was clear.
He was not alone.