(ON HOLD) The Perfect Cure! (SCP-049 × SCP!Reader)

0.ARC | Prologue

"Mom! Dad!"

I dodged yet another flaming arrow, setting a shelf of my favourite books on fire. "No!"

Two strong arms lifted me by my armpits, putting my small body on my father's shoulders. My parents ran; to where? Hell if I knew. I had my face buried in my dad's tangled hair. I could only hear the screams of my neighbours, the cries of my friends, and the yells of our guards and the invaders.

But soon, that had faded. Replaced by the crunching of leaves between my parent's feet, and the occasional snapping of branches.

This was how my parents and I started living in the forest. We were pretty deep in there, considering the fact that nobody found us, and we found nobody. My parents were relieved, but me? I wanted to see at least another human soul.

I was 14 at the time, I think, and had told my parents I would play outside. That was technically true, I called adventuring "play". What else could you do as an only child, with no friends your age? So I explored. I always found my way back, anyway. I came across mountains, lakes, river... but this time, I had come across...

...a skeleton.

Due to my loss of books, the lack of skeletons in said books, and my parents' refusal to educate me on that, I had no clue what the thing was. Whoever they were, they had this weird black robe and a bird-like mask, the mask intrigued me. I decided to take the thing, putting it on.

As I walked away, I did not notice the skeleton regain its flesh and blood...

●●●

God knows how long it had been since my parents passed. Dad died at 56... and my mom, who lasted no longer than 3 months after that, died at 55. But I had outlived them.

I stopped counting at 293 years old. I'm pretty sure I am more than double that age now, but as I said, I stopped counting. It's also strange that whenever I looked in a mirror, I don't think I physically aged since somewhere in my mid-20s. My mom, on her death bed, said it was a blessing, but the way I always looked the same somehow made me feel... left out. Maybe it's because I haven't seen any other living thing other than the birds, the insects, the poor animals I keep hunting for food and clothes.

At 174, I learnt I didn't need any food nor water. How strange, I recall needing it so badly during the first four months of life in the forest. But I hunted and ate anyway. It made me feel, made me taste something other than the bitter loneliness that whatever God was up there cursed me with.

Sometimes, during my playtime, I stumble across more skeletons. They are the only reason why I have clothing that doesn't make me look like a caveman. Whenever I touched these skeletons, they seem to reverse in time, until they eventually wake up, scream, and run. Those who talk to me do so in languages I don't understand. So I started collecting whatever books I had from the skeletons before they had a chance to wake up.

Most of them are diaries. I know what those are, and I don't mean to invade their privacy, but I read all of them thousands of times over. I managed to learn a variety of different languages, or at least be able to read symbols in a somewhat understandable manner. The more recent ones I collect, the more it seems that civilisation was crawling closer to me.

And although I was truely afraid of what may come showing up, whether they would stab me with a sword or accept me into their society, I cannot wait.