“So, Sarah, how does it feel?”

“Hm....” I thought hard on Death’s question. It had been a few days since he had dropped me in that fucking replacement vessel, something I never want to have to do again. I had gotten my body back just a few minutes ago, and honestly... it felt strange. Almost six hundred pounds of metal was removed from my skeleton, it’s hard to adjust to that kind of shit.

“This is...” I said slowly, looking over myself, “different. Really fucking weird I guess you could say.”

“I would hope so,” he scoffed, “you just went from over six hundred pounds to about seventy and a half. Not to mention the other change that was made.”

I stopped looking over my body and stared at him, “Other change? What do you mean?”

“Well,” he sighed, “when I brought your body back to Purgatory, I left it with a team of experts who could remove the skeletal frame in a much more... sensible and precise manner than I could.”

He paused after that, so I said, “Alright.... But what does that have to do with this “other change”?”

“To put it simply... they took notice of the particular....” He made a few gestures with his hands, “Damage done to your genetalia.” Oh.

“And uh... the change?” I asked hesitantly, “Actually, do I even want to know?”

“I could just tell you to go see for yourself....” He muttered, then shook his head and said, “Look, the other change made, put simply, is that the damage done to your genetalia was pretty much repaired, or at least as much as they could fix it. You don’t have your virginity back, but any damage done is pretty much not there anymore, including the steel clamps.”

“I’ll... be honest Death....” I scratched the back of my head, “I’m grateful, but... that was so far from what I’d expected that I don’t even know how to respond....”

“I understand,” he said, shaking his head, “it’s a strange thing to hear, after all.” He sighed, then asked, “But aside from that, how are you feeling? I know you didn’t have the best time in your replacement vessel, so you should at least be mentally well in your own body, but adjusting to the physical difference is another story.”

“I don’t know, honestly....” I slowly got up from the bed, gripping onto the headboard to steady myself, as I could pretty much feel myself falling over if I didn’t. “It’s a bit hard-” I was stopped from falling onto my face by Mary, who ran over and caught me. “Thanks....”

She smiled weakly, “No problem....” She then straightened me, letting go and saying, “Wow, you are a lot lighter than before, I’m not surprised you’re having trouble standing.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, “this is going to be complicated. Really complicated.”

“I suppose” Death suddenly said with a dry laugh, “that I should tell you to really hold onto something then, because the next bit of information may knock you off of your feet.”

I tightened my grip on the headboard to steady myself, then looked at him and raised an eyebrow and asked, “And what would that be?”

“To keep it short; a man calling himself Ultimatum somehow contacted me- I would like to add that he is a Wraith, one I have no knowledge of ever creating.” Well that’s certainly weird, “But anyway, he contacted me with information that “would be crucial to Sarah Akinson’s recovery”, as he put it. I don’t know what he meant by that, but I can certainly agree that this information would be important to you.”

“O...kay? What’s the information?” I don’t know why, but I felt really... odd about the whole conversation, like... I don’t know. I felt like it wasn’t something I’d like to hear.

“Do you remember those... abominations, is the only way to put it, that A.N.G.E.L. made, the Nobodies?”

I was right, it wasn’t something I wanted to hear. Still though, I nodded and answered warily, “Yeah, I remember them. Why?”

He said nothing and stepped to the side, revealing the wall behind him. From nowhere though, a portal, like the one I had walked through with Mary when she came back, appeared on the wall. It was there for a few seconds, when suddenly it started to move around, then out... stepp...ed.....

“Oh Jesus....” I breathed out. I felt myself trembling, and I let go of the headboard and fell back, sitting on the bed as Mary, Ardiente and I just stared wide-eyed at who came out of the portal.

Standing there was... me. Well, kind of me, I guess. I mean, she looked like me, exactly like me, just... she had both of her eyes and arms, and she wasn’t covered head to toe in scars, so pretty much like Mary I guess, but... I knew she was me.

Death mentioned the Nobodies, and she looks exactly like me, so she must be a Nobody, there’s no other explanation. But... but once the clones were born, they were hyper-aged and turned into Nobodies as soon as they were old enough, how.... Did she escape? She’s not attacking me, and the facility... Dean killed everyone there, so she couldn’t be a Nobody sent to kill me, besides, her body isn’t a fucking mess like the Nobodies.

“I... what... Death, what the fuck is going on?” I asked, still trying to figure out how the fuck a Nobody was standing in front of me.

“This,” he said, putting a hand on the Nobody’s shoulder, making her flinch, “is a Nobody that escaped the facility, after the dehumanization process, I might add.”

“After the- but she has all of her skin, and teeth and eyes and... everything! How could she have gone through the process and still look like... well... me?” I shook my head, “You know, without the-”

“Scars and damage done by A.N.G.E.L., I know,” Death finished, holding up a hand to silence me. I did, and he went on, sighing, “Well, like I said, a man named Ultimatum tipped me off about her, and when I found her, she was a mess like the Nobodies at the facility, but she could still think for herself. That’s how you escaped, right?” He looked down at her as he asked the question.

She slowly nodded, looking away from all of us, “Y-yes, that’s right....” Holy shit she even fucking sounds like me. “I-I saw what they were doing to the others before they brought me in for the p-process, and I got scared. S-so, they knocked me out with... something, but I woke up about halfway through and... I don’t know how, but I managed to escape. I-I don’t really remember any of it though....”

“That’s fine.” Death said, giving her a pat on the shoulder, which she didn’t flinch at this time. “Whatever the case, I found her a few miles away from the facility, where she had taken shelter in a cave within the surrounding forest-”

“I was there for a year....” She mumbled, a sad expression on her face.

Death nodded and continued, “She was almost completely covered in scarring and marred flesh when I found her, part of the process as you should remember,” I nodded silently, “and so I brought her to Purgatory with me and gave her an offer. She could go to my “experts” that were working on your vessel, and request that they heal the damage as best they could, which as you can see, worked out pretty well.”

“Um....” The Nobody got our attention, then pulled the sleeves of her black shirt up to her elbow, showing that her shoulders still had numerous scars all over them.

“... Mostly well.” Death sighed, “Either way, she’s been fixed up, and she’s not under the control of A.N.G.E.L., so only one thing remains....”

“And... that is?” I asked. I’m pretty sure I know where this is going though.

“Seeing as she is a clone of you, Sarah, and she would have no other place to go without causing issues, and Purgatory isn’t a place for the still-living, there’s really only one place she can stay.” He looked to the Nobody, then at me and said, “She’s agreed to it, and now we just need to know... if she can stay with you or not.”

I was right, I knew where that was going. Jesus Christ.

“God dammit....” I sighed, having just woken up from... passing out I guess. I didn’t think that would happen. I mean, the Nobody was a big shock, and what Death said was even bigger but... Jesus I didn’t think I’d pass out from it.

I sighed again, opening my eyes to blurrily see someone standing over me. I rubbed my eyes, and I could just make out a blurry, white shape. “Mary?” I asked. She shook her head, “The Nobody?” She nodded. “Ah.”

I sighed and layed back, letting my arms fall to my sides. “How long was I out anyway?”

“Um... about an hour. Why?”

“No reason....” I stared up at her, my vision a bit clearer, and said, “Anyway... I can’t really move since I’m not really used to losing six hundred pounds, so....” I shrugged, “I guess I’m stuck here. You’re welcome to leave if you want.”

“Well, uh...” she shuffled a bit uncomfortably, “Death told me to try and get to know you more, since I’m going to be staying here....”

“Ah, well- wait. He just left you here, without me actually having any word in?”

“Um, n-no? I-if you want me to leave, I can- I mean... if you don’t want me here, I can just go back to Purgatory, I guess, uh....”

I sighed. Well shit, I think I upset her. Fuck. I didn’t mean I didn’t want her here, I was just pissed that Death didn’t actually let me say yes, he just left her here.

I weakly reached up and put a hand on her shoulder, making her flinch and stop talking, “Look...” I said tiredly, “it’s not like I don’t want you here, you’re my clone for Christ's sake, I’m just frustrated that Death left you here without actually confirming that I’d be okay with it.”

She nodded slowly, “O-okay....”

I gave her a pat on the shoulder, then let my arm drop to the bed, “Still though... this is going to be weird. Really weird. I am literally going to be living with a clone of myself. I just....” I sighed and looked up at her, “How are we supposed to get to know each other anyway? We’re both the same person technically, and we both know what happened at A.N.G.E.L., which I’m sure we both would rather forget,” she nodded at that, “so really, there’s nothing else, unless you want to-” I paused to yawn, “want to hear about what’s happened here in Equestria.”

She shrugged, rubbing one of her shoulders and looking away, “I-I guess, as long as it’s not too bad....” I raised an eyebrow, at which she hastily said, “W-well, I’m a bit... squeamish, you could say. All that stuff that happened at... you know... I can’t handle some things too well.”

“Ah... maybe I shouldn’t tell you most of it, then.” I yawned again, “Man... I am tired.... You said I was out for an hour?” She nodded, to which I stared blankly at the ceiling and said, “Jesus I am just prone to being tired sometimes. At least-” I yawned, “at least this time I realize it....”

“Um... do you want me to leave you alone, so you can sleep?” She asked. Hm... We really need to figure out a name for her. “Nobody” just sounds insulting, and I can’t just call her Sarah, that’d be fucking confusing. Ah, that can wait.

In response to her question, I just shook my head, “Nah I’m good. We need to get used to each other if you’re going to live here, so stay. Actually,” I patted the empty space next to me, “why don’t you lay down and sleep a little? I’d imagine you’re a bit tired, what with everything that apparently happened.”

She looked at the spot on the bed, then looked away and mumbled, “I am... kind of tired, but I don’t know-”

“Just lie down already,” I said tiredly, rolling my eye, “sleep’s good for you. Besides, we’re both the same person, more or less, so it isn’t weird or anything.”

Reluctantly, she did lie down, but not before looking between me, the bed, the door, the ceiling, the wall, and just about every other damn thing in the room. Jesus, is it really that awkward? I mean, I know it’s a weird situation and all, trust me I fucking know, but Jesus Christ....

“Anyway...” I sighed, “let’s just get a few hours of rest, then we can sort everything out, and get you settled in.” And what do you know, she’s already asleep, not even seconds after lying down. I chuckled at that, “Heh, she really is my clone....”

No long after, I fell asleep as well, for once not having any weird fucking dreams or thoughts.

Next Chapter: As the World Turns- Act I, Pt. VI: I don't know why this world keep turning, round and round Estimated time remaining: 33 Minutes