Fall into Your Sunlight
By: Amari412
"There's the heart. There's the sun, taking all these shattered ones to the place we belong and his love will conquer all"
-Trading Yesterday, "Shattered"
Every day was a reminder.
Every day was a gift.
Every day was a curse.
Every time he looked in a mirror he was reminded. Every time he spoke he was reminded. Every second, of every day for the past six years. Reminded of what he lost, and forced to reflect what could've been, had the circumstances been different.
Way different.
He remembered her, contrary to what he would tell people. How could he forget? Those beautiful blue eyes, that long, graceful curled hair that was kissed by fire? Or that soft, faintly British accented voice or her contagious smile? He was always a sucker for blue eyes after her. He was never sure why, he just knew he loved blue eyes. Maybe cause they helped to take the pain away. Or maybe because they were just yet another reminder…
(Six years ago, May, 2009)
"Caddy! Caddy!" he remembered calling her nickname, as he actually called them by names back when he was young in the Foundation.
The red haired girl stopped in the hall and turned to look at him, her blue eyes bright as aquamarines and a faint smile on her lips. She greeted him with as much enthusiasm.
"Hello there yourself, Dr. Cool. You seem to be in an awfully good mood today" she replied.
"I've got news, Cadence".
"Oh? What's that?" she leaned against a nearby wall, eager to listen.
This was Cadence Revan, AKA SCP 2991-The Crystal Princess. Their friendship had been an uneasy one at first, and at times had its own set of difficulties. After all, she was an anomalous object, and he was soon to be a researcher. Most people in the Foundation looked down on their friendship, but he didn't care. She felt a little more uncomfortable with the constant whispers and rumors, but at the moment, she was okay.
"Tomorrow…it's gonna happen. I get to start testing on 682" he told her.
"Are you kidding me?! Have you lost your mind?".
"Wouldn't be too hard to believe given where we are".
"True…but still…Would you risk your life?".
"It's all a part of the job. I want to do this, Cadence. I want to study Keters, and I refuse to take the easy way out".
"I know, but he's the most dangerous one of all…well, no 106 might be his one rival, but still…you could be killed".
He put a surprisingly gentle hand to her face. That was one of her greatest abilities, and she didn't even know it. She provoked different emotions in him. The world away from her was violent, cruel, and short. These short tender moments had become a part of what he lived for.
"Have faith in me. I'll make it through this time. First time's the hardest, I promise" he tried to reassure her.
Cadence however wasn't buying it. "You could be killed" she repeated, "I don't want to lose you".
"You'll never lose me".
"Promise?"
"I swear, you'll never truly lose me. Because no matter what happens, no matter how far away we are, I will always find you".
"I'll always be here, so you won't have to go too far".
"They may move you someday to a different site".
"I'd rather not think about that".
"Hm…then what would you rather think about?"
The redhead's eyes lit up and she held out her hand, gloved in black silk. She had to wear the gloves to keep her from crystallizing materials she touched. The type of crystal she created varied depending on her mood and surroundings. She could also turn liquids into crystals, pure crystals, even bodily fluids like blood and tears could be crystallized.
"I suppose we should do something to celebrate this momentous occasion. And I think I know how. I wanted to show you something that I can do…if that's okay?" she asked, taking a seat down on the floor, leaning against the wall.
He followed her down. "Of course. You know I'm always up for whatever you need to show me".
Cadence nodded and took off her gloves. The skin of her arms appeared pale and soft, reminding him of a calla lily. For just a moment he couldn't resist and his hand caught her arm, just to feel her skin. As it was just on her arm, there wasn't any danger. Cadence looked at him for a minute and then at his hand, gentle on her arm. He was so much bigger than she was, yet never once did he try to hurt her, unlike so many others before him.
He knew it was stupid, to see her as more than an object. In that moment though, with his hand brushing the skin of her wrist and arm, it was so hard to think of her like that. She was a living breathing woman. A woman who had a strange effect on him…
His fingertips traced the length of her arm, almost brushing against that delicate hand. He swore he felt some kind of energy as his fingers barely touched hers. It was almost magnetic. And when he pulled away, his gaze found hers. Their hearts pounded as their foreheads touched.
Too close, he told himself, he was getting too close. He was going too far, and he knew it. But he ignored those hated thoughts and closed his eyes, reveling in her nearness. Cadence pulled away slightly.
"Stop it…" she asked quietly, her voice a calm whisper, "Or I'll crystallize this entire hall".
"Give me a chance and you'll crystallize this whole facility".
They both laughed at that and turned to see a sprout of rose quartz emerge from her hand. Cadence blushed and looked down.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I…I was trying to show you I had better control of it…"
"Well it appears I threw your control off. My apologies, ma'am".
"You're so full of it" Cadence laughed, a sound he loved almost too much, "Watch".
She concentrated hard on the rose quartz sprouting from her hand. Before their eyes, the light pink crystal's form seemed to take an almost liquid like state. It seemed to levitate from her hand, forming into the shape of a heart before Cadence caught it before it fell to the ground.
"Remarkable…" he said almost breathlessly.
"You think so?" she asked.
"I know so. You have a gift, Cadence. Use it for the good of everyone".
"That's what I want to do" Cadence put her head on Dr. Cool's shoulder and looked at the rose quartz heart in her hand, "I'm a strong believer in crystal therapy, and I wanna prove that it's worth the research".
"You may just make a believer out of me" he gave her a slight smile.
Her eyes lit up as an idea struck her. She put the heart down and put her gloves back on. Cadence picked it back up and set it in the junior researcher's hand.
"Take it…for tomorrow for good luck" she told him.
"Luck? I don't need luck".
"Please…take it, for me".
He didn't believe in luck, but the way she was looking at him made him want to take it. Cadence moved his fingers so they wrapped around the heart crystal. She closed her eyes and said a blessing in Latin.
"Crystallinos dedico hoc summum bonum. Poterit in lucis et amoris" she said with her eyes closed piously.
"What does that mean?" he asked when she opened her eyes again.
He almost forgot his question as her blue eyes seemed to glow after the blessing. Magic? Hell, right then it didn't seem impossible. But then again, with Cadence, nothing was impossible.
"It means I dedicate this crystal to the highest good. May it be used in light…and love".
"Cadence…" his words melted away on his tongue.
"I'm sorry, I was just answering a question! I totally didn't mean it, like that!" she laughed awkwardly, "I mean, we're just friends…right?"
He knew the friendship idea was blown out of the water, at least on his end. In that moment, sitting in that hallway, he realized he loved her.
If only he had told her that…
The next day was pure chaos.
The confrontation…
The fight…
The feeling of claws against his throat…
And the feeling of drowning afterwards.
He heard Cadence scream for him. He needed to stay awake. He needed to stay with her, to fight for her. And he tried. God, did he try. Her blue eyes were full of tears of worry and fear. She was afraid…afraid for him. For his safety. Cool tried to speak, to assure he was still fighting, though flat on his back. But nothing would come out.
Instead, he took out the rose quartz heart and clung to it for dear life as Cadence got up and faced the enraged indestructible reptile.
"You won't touch him" he remembered her saying to the Keter SCP, "You'll never touch him again!".
682 roared at her and he remembered briefly seeing her eyes again looking down with both determination and sorrow. The last thing he remembered was something soft brush against his bloodied mouth and her voice whispering to him.
"I love you…I love you so much, it hurts. I always have" she kissed his head, "Don't forget me, okay?"
His vision blackened and he knew nothing else…
When he woke again, he wasn't the same. He didn't feel the same. Something was wrong, something had changed. He didn't remember breathing being so difficult. It felt like two holes had been punched through him. One in his throat and the other in his chest. His heart pounded and he almost panicked. He reached for his face and almost tore off the mask he found there, but his mentor was quick to stop him.
"Don't!" Dr. Gears told him, "That mask is the only thing keeping you alive now".
"W…what?" he was almost terrified of his new voice and felt forced back into silence.
"It's a miracle…682 slashed out your voice box and some of your throat. It's a good thing that other SCP was there".
Other SCP?! Cool shot up in the hospital bed and looked at his mentor.
"Cadence?! Where is she?!" he demanded, now more concerned for her than anything else.
The older researcher looked grim at his pupil and sighed. "I'm so sorry, Dr. Cool…But SCP 2991 didn't make it".
"What?! No…no, you're lying!" he refused to believe it.
"Sadly I'm not. "Cadence"…sacrificed herself to give us time to get you out. 682 ate her and she crystallized his vital systems long enough for us to get you out of there. When we came back to try to save 2991…this was all we found" he pulled something out of a nearby drawer.
It was a rosary she always wore, made of silver and decorated with amethyst crystals she herself had made. The silver was stained a rusty red with her blood.
"No…no…no, no no!" a new feeling washed over him. Something he hadn't felt in a long time, if ever.
Heartbreak…It was all he could feel and then a painful nothingness.
"NO!"
He woke once more in a cold sweat, breathing hard and his heart racing. Dr. Cool stared into the dark room alone, silence his only companion. He looked down at his hands, as if searching for that rosary, only to remember he had thrown it out years ago. He had never been a man of faith anyway, and all it did was serve as a reminder.
Just another reminder.
But there was another little thing that, tried as he might, he couldn't bear to part with. It was another reminder, but it wasn't entirely a painful one. Dr. Cool got up and looked through the old nightstand drawer until he found what he was looking for.
That little rose quartz heart. For to separate a man from his heart was ultimately to kill him…
It hadn't changed much in six years, just a few scratches here and there, and a visible crack going down the center. He squeezed it in his hand, just like he had all those years ago when he thought he had nothing else to hold on to.
"I'll get him Caddy" he promised, "For both of us…".
With that, Dr. Cool tried his hardest to get some rest, hoping nightmares of the past would never come back to haunt him…