Radiance

|Light|

The sun shone brightly into my office as I sat on my floor, leaning against my desk. I had my head tilted towards the ceiling as I tried to comprehend what had happened to me, and what was going on now.

Unconscious. I was unconscious in the real world while I was here in my mind. I didn't know how much time had passed since all of this, so I had to find ways to occupy myself. This included figuring out how to alter my mindscape to the way I wanted it to. Hence why I was sitting in my Office at the Colorless Guard Head Quarters. This was truly a memory, but one of where I had been sitting how I was right now.

If I was to be honest... this solitude was... comforting to me, after so much chaos and being around people.

"Shy, thought I'd find you here." An echoey voice sounds and I look down towards the door that was now open and a figure stood in it. The Light Crystal, LC as I now call him, walks in, his face once again covered by his mask. "Yeah, just was wanting some alone time from my other memories. How are you?" I ask him as he goes and sits beside me, his gems on his clothes tinkling softly with his movement.

"Ah, that makes sense. I'm alright. You?" He says, then crosses his arms and leans them on his knees. Over the time, I had gotten more friendly and talkative with LC. It was... kind of weird, knowing that this thing had developed a conscience, but comforting right now. "Just doing the same, I guess." I reply, then reach up to rub my neck and sigh.

"Doesn't sound that way." LC comments, then looks over at me.

"Just... You keep on avoiding any questions about the outside world, LC. I don't mean to be persistent, but why do you not tell me?" I say, then look over at him. He pauses a moment, then sighs. "Cause if I answered you, it'd cause your stability to break." I give him a confused look and open my mouth to ask another question, but he interrupts me. "It's your mental state. It wouldn't be in tact with that knowledge. I'm glad you are learning a bit more on your mental imagery which plays a bit on the stability, but certain knowledge will cause you to loose focus, which is a fine line right now.

Quietly, I stay there for a moment. It felt like I knew what he meant, even before he said it. I glance away, nodding. "Ah."

LC sighs, then goes quiet. We both sit there in silence before I close my eyes and let go of the memory, shifting the world around us to the white void again. "Could you put me back into sleep?" I ask LC, who looks at me, then nods. I had been getting used to this feeling... this- ice that would spread up my body and cover me. But now as it came up, it felt comfortable, like my armor, or a blanket. I close my eyes, feeling safe now as I slowly fall asleep.

---

"Shy!" Crystal's voice calls out from outside as I sat in my house, reading a book. I sigh and glance out the window to see him standing there. He wasn't around the village much nowadays, but Crystal always came by to say hi to me.

I set my book down, then nervously walk over to the door and open it a crack, looking out at the bright eyed Orange steve that bopped on his feet a bit and rocked with the motion. "H-Hey Orange." I say quietly and he gives me a smile, his orange jacket and pins reflecting a bit of the fading sunlight. "Hey Shy, sorry I came over so suddenly. Uhhhh- Leader is out so I don't want to stay at his place alone  and none of the others have any place for me to stay the night, so could I stay here? I promise I won't be loud..." Crystal has a sheepish look on his face that was accompanied by embarrassment. I give a soft sigh, then open my door far enough for him to come in.

"I'm not gonna yell at you if you are loud, Orange. You can come in. I d-don't mind." I give a soft sigh of annoyance at my stutter as Crystal walks in, prompting him to look at me. "I mean it Shy- if you don't want me here..." I shake my head and quickly apologize. "No no no, sorry... Stuttered. I just find my s-stuttering problem annoying."  

Carefully shutting my door behind me, I move to start cleaning my house to make it look neater, also to clean off my couch from books and other things I had placed on it. "Ohhhhh Okay. Got you. Okay... Just... well, can I talk with you on something, shy?" Crystal asks me as I clean things off, then turn to him and nod. "Admittedly I've been on edge since Leader has been gone out and about." I look over my shoulder at Crystal who is looking down at the ground. Pausing from my cleaning, I set down the book I had picked up then walk over to Crystal. He looks up as I place my hand on his shoulder. 

"It's n-natural to feel worried. I know that e-ever since you moved from th-the village, you've had some difficulty c-connecting with us again. But it'll b-be okay. Just take some time and b-be your self." I say, then hug him. 

Crystal was a genuine guy. Just sometimes he internalized a lot of his emotions as to keep up his appearance of being happy and alright. Personally, I hated seeing him do that. It was heartbreaking to see him at any low like this.

The Orange steve smiles then lifts his arms up to hug me back.

"Thank you, Light."

I start, knowing that this wasn't apart of my memory. Pulling back, I see now that Crystal was Rainbow Steve. I open my mouth to speak, but he interrupts me. "You've done a lot. You really have... I wish I was there to see it in person but... I can tell from the world beyond. You and Sabre and everyone else... I'm- Proud. Yeah, that's the word." He gives a small, sheepish smile.

I couldn't truly believe this. How was it that he was...

"Light- No, Shy. Gosh... it's been so long since I called you that... I know that this is bizarre but... I'm breaking some rules here to talk to you. I just... wanted to say how proud I am of you. Keep going. Please." 

Just as suddenly as he came, he started to fade away.

"W-Wait, Crystal!" I grab onto his shoulders and look him in the eyes. He starts, but I continue on. "I-I never... I never got to say goodbye... To you..." I say, my voice breaking. If this truly was Crystal... I wanted to at least tell him a few things.

Tears come to his eyes as he continues to fade, but he hugs me. "I know... I know- I never got to say goodbye to anyone... I was an idiot to trust Void. But... What you are doing right now is making up for where I failed, Shy. Just... Thank you." I shake my head. "No. No you didn't fail, Crystal. You got overwhelmed." I shift back to see him crying more. "You are only one steve. Having all of that pressure on you was never a good idea and nobody knew it at that time." Something wet starts to drip down my face as Crystal gives me a sad smile.

"...Wish I knew this side of you sooner, Shy. I... Thank you. Thank you."

He disappeared after saying those words, leaving me in my old house with the sound of my clock filling the space.

Was that real...?

Tears drip down my face and I wipe them away. Crystal really was regretful of what he did...

My eyes trail down and I realize I was holding a mushroom earring. I can't help but smile at it, knowing crystal used to wear this all the time. Never saw him without it. Tiny words sat in it as I peer closer at it.

"Stay happy! :)" A smile crawls onto my face and I laugh lightly. He always knew... He always knew.

The scene changes and suddenly, I feel myself back in the white void with LC.  "Sorry for the suddenness. You're right, I should be more honest with you. I'd like to discuss something, Light."