AU: Haunted Hero

Context: Light comes to investigate the damage done to Sabre and Time's cafe (Prompt 6A) to see if any clues as to who could have done it could be found.

Warning: Mentions/description of blood

—————————————————————————————————————

[3rd Person POV]

As the lighting faded, Light looked into the village. Almost no one was outside, the streets mostly quiet.

Making his way to his friends' shop, he sees people looking tense and anxious as he passes by them. What happened must have scared the villagers pretty badly, especially after so many years of almost nothing threatening them.

Not to mention Sabre's condition.

Sabre had been taken to the Green Kingdom shortly after some of the villagers managed to slow the bleeding from his wounds, and based off what Light had been told by the Green Steves attending to him, he won't be up and walking anytime soon. Time might have to close the shop for a good while to help him recover.

Finally, Light arrived at the scene. It was left almost untouched by everyone, save for whoever had put barriers around the front of the building to keep others from messing with the possible evidence. The entire street the shop was one seemed to be avoided, all nearby shops closed and nobody even glancing at the building. It was understandable; despite it being so jarring, the blood left by Sabre's injuries was still pooled on the ground, unable to be cleaned up without getting too close to the glass shards.

Multiple Colorless Guards were stationed around, most of them inside. Time Steve stood talking to two Guards outside of the shop. As Light approaches, they look up and the Guards salute, while Time looks somberly at him.

"Sir." The Guards greet him.

"At ease." Light responds, and the Guards go back to just standing. "Anything so far?"

"No sir, we were only able to get here around an hour ago." One of the Guards answers. "We've still been doing observation and getting different sides of the story before looking for any evidence as to who did this and why."

"Why were you only able to get here an hour ago? I sent orders for you and your team to come out here at sunrise."

"People were gathered around the Headquarters, asking questions. Word's already gotten out about the incident."

"Alright then, continue your observation. Could I speak to Time?"

"Of course, sir."

The Guards left, joining the others inside, and Light turns to Time. Time smiles at him, but he's very clearly exhausted.

"Hey, Light." Time says. "Thanks for getting all the way out here."

"It's no problem Time, of course I'd want to check on my old friends after... something like this." Light replies. "Speaking of... were you told about his current condition?"

"Yeah... I stayed with him while he was taken to the Green Kingdom, actually. Was up all night waiting for updates on him... they had to give him a lot of stitches. Even repair some damage. At least he's in recovery now."

"Yeah... I heard about it from the report. I'm... so sorry this happened to you both, Time."

"Don't be. Just catch the one that did this to him, alright?"

"I'll do everything I can. You though, you should go get some rest."

"You sure? You might need me to access some things in the shop-"

"I'm sure, Time. Don't worry. Just go and get some sleep. You'll need it so Sabre won't get in your case about it when you visit him."

Time laughs.

"Alright, alright. Again, thank you. Like I told the Guards, if you have questions about anything in the shop, I left a note about important information on the bulletin board."

"Again, no problem. And thanks."

With that, Time walks away. Light heads into the shop, looking around.

It'd be just as nice and cozy as he remembered it, if it wasn't for the broken glass, broken counter, and the blood. The two Guards from outside and a third one were talking next to the bulletin board on the wall opposite to the front door, while two more are looking at the damage to the counter.

Light goes up to the bulletin board and finds a piece of paper with Time's handwriting on it, listing some things. Looking at it closer, it's the previously mentioned important info.

- Only the storage room is locked. We were just about to lock up the rest of the shop before it happened, so that's the only room you'd need the key for.

- We had one of our friends in the shop when it happened, his name is Therapist Green Steve. In case you need him as a witness, he's in the woods east from the village entrance.

- It's been brought up because of the oddly shaped shards, so I should mention that the window that was shattered wasn't normal glass. It was glass infused with deepslate. Sabre was worried about something or someone breaking the windows, so all of the windows in the shop are made of it.

- There was a note on the stone that was thrown through the window. I don't know if someone's moved it since then, so I'm letting you know that it was tied to the stone.

Light put the note back and walked to the counter.

The two Guards move out of his way so he can see, and he examines the large crack in the wood counter. The area where the stone impacted is splintered and in smaller pieces, while the rest of the crack slightly spiderwebs out.

"Have you found anything here?" Light asks.

"A few things, sir." One Guard answers. "The note that was mentioned in the information Time Steve left, and we've determined that the stone used to cause the damage is actually a chunk of obsidian."

"Throwing obsidian through deepslate-infused glass...?" Light wonders aloud. "Whoever did this must be abnormally strong to do that. Where's the note?"

"Right here, sir." The other Guard hands it to him.

Taking the note, Light looks at it for a little while, confused by the message.

"'Harbinger'... strange. Wonder who that could be referring to."

"Some of us believe that the culprit may be referring to Sabre." The Guard adds. "Because he's the only one out of the people present during the incident that knew sword-based combat, and he's been called similar things before. But 'Harbinger' is definitely a new one."

"Indeed. Have you checked where the culprit could have been at the time of the crime?"

"Judging off the trajectory we were told the projectile went by onlookers, it appears the culprit was on one of the nearby roofs to stay out of sight."

"Hmm... alright then. Return to what you were doing."

The Guards move back to their spots as Light leaves. He stops for a moment to look at the mess of drying crimson on the cafe's floor, unsettled. But, he knew that there was only one person he could ask about the assailant's note, and get possible answers.

However, he'd have to wait until Sabre recovers from his injuries enough for him to do so.