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Three laid on the floor, a flimsy blanket wrapped around her body, which did nothing to deter the cold feeling of the floor under her skin.
What was she doing? Her thoughts got away from her often. Living in this grimey cage would do that to you.
How long has it been? 14- 16 years? They didn't keep track anymore. Such a long time... With no one here to talk to but themself. But even that was rare since it took too much energy just to open their mouth.
Everything took too much energy now. She was always so tired, all she could do was lay down. Everyday, just the same nothing. She felt terrible, physically and mentally.
His value was lost, he didn't know who he was anymore. 3? 3.1? 2.9? Who was he again?
What even was their name? It had been so long since they've heard someone say it. Three... Three, that was it, right?
"Thre..e..." she muttered, her voice hoarse and dehydrated. She suddenly just wanted to go home. She hadn't been home in so long.
The number closed their one eye again, trying to imagine what home was like. A large grass patch with a small playground that was math themed.
They acted like kids with no supervision back then. Three hoped they still did. The blurry figures of her siblings came to her mind. She couldn't remember quite what they all looked like anymore, but she still knew she missed them. She used to watch over them being one of the oldest, but now they were all alone with out her.
"Fi-Five...Fo..ur...N-Nine...Tw-", they tried to repeat their friends names so they wouldn't forget, but the words held no meaning anymore. They were just words on her tongue, same as everything else.
He opened his eyes again just to stare at the ceiling. What else was there to do.
The sound of footsteps made its way to her ear. She groaned. Was that Four again? Why wouldn't he just leave her alone to rot? She hated them seeing her like this.
With a push, they turned themself over to face the bars. A blue number stood, blocking the dim light from Three's heavy eye.
She couldn't tell who is it was from so far, her vision took a much longer time to adjust now, and it was even harder with just one eye.
"Three?", a sweet, honeyed voice asked with concern ringed the number's name through the bars. Three shuttered when she recognized the other number.
It wasn't the voice of Four, instead it was the voice of the very person who did this to her. One.
The red number's eye soon focused of the other. One used her powers to make the bars to the cage vanish into nothing. Why? Three just wanted to be left alone.
One walked up to Three, each step she took brought back a sense of fear to Three's body that they would rather forget. "I'm here!", the older one spoke, "I'm here to fix this- fix you."
One stood over Three with a wide, anxious smile. A beat of silence passed between the two numbers as Three glared at the other.
"Three?" One repeated, "I'm going to fix this, okay? I'm going to fix my mistake and everything will be better!"
Three remained silent.
"I'm- I'm sorry it took so long, heh..."
Three eventually blinked at her own drowsiness. She grabbed a side of her blanket and rolled over to her other side, where the light wasn't hitting her sensitive eye.
One paused, anxiety rising in their voice, "Did you- Did you even know they put me away for this?" Their voice wavered, trying not to come off as aggressive but they were clearly upset. "Threy locked me away for YEARS, Three!... I see they did the same to you..." they grumbled that last part.
But they were wrong. No one put him in here but himself. He locked himself away so that no one would ever see this broken value ever again. What was the point of doing anything else when he couldn't help anyone in this sorry state.
"Three! Can you- Can you please just.... talk to me!?" One began to raise her voice. The noise hurt the others head.
Three then heard the plop of One falling to her knees next to her. "Please? I came all this way and I just-"
"You can't... f...ix it...." Three whimpered out.
"What?"
The red number adjusted herself to sit up and face One. "You can't... fix it," she repeated.
One paused, dumbfounded at their response. "Wha-why would you say that?"
"Because.... you can't. No one can...." They were broken beyond repair. Killed and brought back wrong. What could One do at this point.
"I don't believe that," One retorted confidently. Three just stared at them.
With a sigh, Three pushed herself on her legs, at first unsteady and wobbling, but she soon balanced herself. Though she was still shaking on her frail legs.
"What are you..." The blue one watched in confusion.
Three slowly began to walk out of her cage, there was no point staying there if the bars were gone. The blue light temporarily blinding her as she stepped out. She winced.
One quickly got to her feet too, aiming to follow the larger number. "Where are you going!?"
"Away," Three replied with a bite.
It had been a while since they had explored the castle Four had built them. It was cute and thoughtful, like him. Three just wished they had the energy to appreciate it more.
One lowly followed behind her in her exploration. Occasionally she would try to talk to the dulled number, only to be met with the same response each time.
"...What are we doing here?" The blue one asked while walking in what she could only assume would be called a 'four'est. A forest made of 4s.
"I don't know...." Three's voice trailed.
".... Can I talk to you now?"
"No," he said, looking up at the crack in the sky. He could almost see the sun through there. It's warmth forgotten by the poor number. His body ached for it, but his mind just couldn't abide anymore.
He stopped walking.
"Ugh! We've been walking for hours and you won't even say a single thing to me!" The smaller number whined.
Three turned around, their face exhausted and angry. "I don't...want you...here. I want to be... alone," they breathed heavier than before.
"I came all this way for you!" One complained, "At least let me try to fix-" She reached her foot out, magic at its tip, only to be slapped away by Three's hand.
"NO!", she yelled. "I don't need your help, One! Look what happened the l-last time you tried help," she heaved.
They both stopped in silence. The only thing that was heard was the sound of Three's breathing, raspy and hoarse.
Three swooned and fell to the floor. One rushed to her side and she was too tired to push them away again.
One selfishly began to cry in pity at Three's condition. "I'm sorry," she sobbed.
Three's body shook all over as she tried to catch her breath. She was so tired. Sleep sounded like heaven right now.
The two sat in the blue grass trying to recover. One clung onto Three desperately, as if she would be gone any minute now. With the little energy she had, Three leaned over and whispered into One's ear,
"I'm glad they locked you away."