The tram rocked swiftly on it's track as it costed towards it's destination. Giants of steel, glass, and concrete loomed on the horizen. Tiny feet kicked lazily against the steel seat, keeping rhythm with the clacking of the tram. Eyes the color of tropical oceans stare intently out the window, watching in amazement as brightly colored figures leap and fly from the City Hall.
"Does it hurt to fly? Flapping their wings for so long must hurt," a tiny bell-like voice pipes up, face tilting to look at the figure beside her.
A soft chuckle answers.
"No, little one, flying doesn't hurt. Heroes don't fly like birds. They don't use wings...at least most of them don't," the older woman replies, smiling down at the little figure next to her.
"Oh," the child exclaims, eyes thoughful.
A tiny finger twirls a strand of bright auburn hair in thought.
"So then one day I can fly without wings?"
Ice blue eyes smile warmly into the inquizzitive turquoise ones.
" You never know. The future can hold many surprises."
The little girls smiles happily. " Daddy says I can do anything if I try."
" Your daddy is a very smart man," the woman replies warmly.
" Do you love him cuz he's smart?"
"One of the many reasons, yes."
"Do you love me cuz I'm smart?"
Another soft chuckle.
"One of many reasons, yes."
The woman leans her head down to kiss the little girl's forehead. The little girl giggles as a strand of her mother's copper-colored hair tickles her neck. The little girl wraps tiny arms around the woman's neck to hug her.
"I love you too, mommy. Always."
"I'm glad to hear that," the woman replies, returning the hug.
The trains starts to squeal as it coasts into the station.
"This is us, little one. Don't forget your backpack," the woman reminds her daughter.
The little girl quickly grabs her pink bag, slipping it on as her mother grabs a black briefcase. They exit the tram hand in hand and begin to walk down the sidewalk.
The little girl chatters excitidedly, questioning and rambling as the two stroll down the street, both figures smiling and laughing.
The two redheaded females come to a stop infront of a small, inviting-looking building with a short fence encircling it. The laughter and chatter of children drift from the open windows. Her mother opens the gate and leads her through. They head up the stone steps and into the small building. A rainbow of bookbags and light jackets hang from tiny golden hooks lining walls that are papered with hand-drawn pictures.
The little girl practically skips towards one of the rooms, dragging her mother.
"Good Morning, Mrs. Taylor. Hello, Kegen," a short woman with dark hair smiles at the pair.
" Hi, Mrs. Pierce," the little girls waves before stripping off her bag and coat.
" Good Morning, Mrs. Pierce," the woman replies, before kneeling infront of her daughter.
She hugs the girl and kisses her forhead.
"Behave, my firey one. Daddy and I love you. Learn lots!" she exclaims before letting the girl go.
"I love you and daddy too. Bye," she waves excitiedly before skipping into the room with her classmates.
" Have a good day, Mrs. Taylor. We'll see you later today," the teacher replies warmly, seeing the mother off.
Kegen happily makes her way to the Arts and Craft area where two of her friends, Mia and Aria, have started to fingerpaint.
The class day goes by, full of learning and play, before snack time rolls around. All the kids gather to the table to eat veggies and dip, fruit snacks, and drink their juice. The teacher happily hands out the snacks. The kids devour their snacks before racing off to continue their play.
Kegen happily races off to the dress-up area with her friends. As she gets halfway there, her head starts to feel funny. Her vision gets blurry and she looks to Mia who is rubbing at her eyes. Everything starts to feel it's trapped in slow-motion. Her arms feel heavy and she can't speak. She groggily turns towards her teacher, who smiles wickedly as some of the children fall to the ground. Kegen tries to call out for help as Aria falls to the ground before her. She tries to run but finds her body is starting to shut down. Darkness creeps into the corners of her sight.
MOMMY!! she cries out mentally before surcomming to the darkness.
As Kegen starts to collapse to the ground, she hears manically laughter.
A soft, lilting voice hums an old lullaby that I know very well. As the singer continues to hum, I hear a gentle, loving voice whisper in my mind.
Go to sleep, go to sleep, my little one. The world shall wait for you.
It was almost hypnotizing. I let myself fall into the rhythm of the melodic humming and the gentle voice in my mind. It was comforting and it felt like...home.
The blaring alarm ripped through the comfort of my sinking, deep sleep. The alarm was agonizing to my hyperacute hearing. I crack open a sleep caked eye. I groggily focus on the blood-red numbers in the darkness, the mechanical screech of the alarm fueling my sleepy anger. I lazily lift my hand and flick a finger at the colon between the four and the thirty. A bright flare of light leaps from my finger and engulfs the clock, slamming it against the wall. It's screech becomes gargled and lost under the crackle of flame. I smile in triumph and snuggle back down into my pillow. Before I can close my eyes, I feel a weigh land upon my back. A wet nose touchs my ear before a low meow echos in my ear. I wince and buck off the creature.
" I know...I'm up," I reply sleepily.
I throw off the comforter, hearing a muffled and irritated mreow, as I swing my bare feet to the cold steel floor. I strech my whole body, hearing my vertebre snap and pop, wiggling my toes and fingers at the sensation.
Meanadering my way to the bathroom in the darkness, I contemplate my reaccuring dream. Blinking at the floreusent blaze of the bathroom lights, I begin my morning ritual.
After a hot, refreshing shower, I head to the closet. Venus winds her long sleek, spotted body around my bare legs. I drop a hand down to stroke her head before grabbing my uniform. I slide on the thermal, gossamer pants and top, making sure to tuck the silver locket into the top. Sitting on the bed, I slide on the matching boots, then gloves. Standing, I stare into the closet mirror as I slide on my black, butterfly cut mask. Combing my long hair out from the mask, I strap on my dark gold blast googles, sliding them up to keep my hair out of my eyes.
Staring at my reflection, I sigh as I wonder what today will bring.
Every line of my uniform meet cleanly. The black and gold of my Justice styled costume made the natural red of my hair stand out. My ocean blue eyes practically glowed in contrast to the black mask. I smirked at the wings that laid over my chest.
I'm definately not an angel.
Saddness washed over me. Something was in pain deep inside of me. Sometimes, I feel a rift within my soul and it is agonizing. I closed my eyes and beat down that pain, that emptiness, swallowing it up before it could swallow me.
I released a deep breath and readied myself for today's trails.
I gave Venus a can of food before heading for the door of my small room. A soft green beam scanned my eye.
" Agent Etherburn, Clearance Level 3, scheduled for Polar Core Training, 6:30 am to 12:30 pm. Medical Observation 2:00pm to 3:00pm. Team Training Session 3:30pm to 6:30pm. Endurance Training 7:30pm to 9:30pm. Report to Dining Hall for morning meal and have a productive day," a mechanical voice relays my daily schedule before the door opens to release me from my cage.
I stare into the low-lit steel hallway of The Compound. I sigh softly before stepping out of my doorway. My door closes with a mechanical whoosh. I square my shoulders as I read y to head to the dining hall. Then I swear softly.
2011- Paragon City, Atlas Park
The tram rocked swiftly on it's track as it costed towards it's destination. Giants of steel, glass, and concrete loomed on the horizen. Tiny feet kicked lazily against the steel seat, keeping rhythm with the clacking of the tram. Eyes the color of tropical oceans stare intently out the window, watching in amazement as brightly colored figures leap and fly from the City Hall.
"Does it hurt to fly? Flapping their wings for so long must hurt," a tiny bell-like voice pipes up, face tilting to look at the figure beside her.
A soft chuckle answers.
"No, little one, flying doesn't hurt. Heroes don't fly like birds. They don't use wings...at least most of them don't," the older woman replies, smiling down at the little figure next to her.
"Oh," the child exclaims, eyes thoughful.
A tiny finger twirls a strand of bright auburn hair in thought.
"So then one day I can fly without wings?"
Ice blue eyes smile warmly into the inquizzitive turquoise ones.
" You never know. The future can hold many surprises."
The little girls smiles happily. " Daddy says I can do anything if I try."
" Your daddy is a very smart man," the woman replies warmly.
" Do you love him cuz he's smart?"
"One of the many reasons, yes."
"Do you love me cuz I'm smart?"
Another soft chuckle.
"One of many reasons, yes."
The woman leans her head down to kiss the little girl's forehead. The little girl giggles as a strand of her mother's copper-colored hair tickles her neck. The little girl wraps tiny arms around the woman's neck to hug her.
"I love you too, mommy. Always."
"I'm glad to hear that," the woman replies, returning the hug.
The trains starts to squeal as it coasts into the station.
"This is us, little one. Don't forget your backpack," the woman reminds her daughter.
The little girl quickly grabs her pink bag, slipping it on as her mother grabs a black briefcase. They exit the tram hand in hand and begin to walk down the sidewalk.
The little girl chatters excitidedly, questioning and rambling as the two stroll down the street, both figures smiling and laughing.
The two redheaded females come to a stop infront of a small, inviting-looking building with a short fence encircling it. The laughter and chatter of children drift from the open windows. Her mother opens the gate and leads her through. They head up the stone steps and into the small building. A rainbow of bookbags and light jackets hang from tiny golden hooks lining walls that are papered with hand-drawn pictures.
The little girl practically skips towards one of the rooms, dragging her mother.
"Good Morning, Mrs. Taylor. Hello, Kegen," a short woman with dark hair smiles at the pair.
" Hi, Mrs. Pierce," the little girls waves before stripping off her bag and coat.
" Good Morning, Mrs. Pierce," the woman replies, before kneeling infront of her daughter.
She hugs the girl and kisses her forhead.
"Behave, my firey one. Daddy and I love you. Learn lots!" she exclaims before letting the girl go.
"I love you and daddy too. Bye," she waves excitiedly before skipping into the room with her classmates.
" Have a good day, Mrs. Taylor. We'll see you later today," the teacher replies warmly, seeing the mother off.
Kegen happily makes her way to the Arts and Craft area where two of her friends, Mia and Aria, have started to fingerpaint.
The class day goes by, full of learning and play, before snack time rolls around. All the kids gather to the table to eat veggies and dip, fruit snacks, and drink their juice. The teacher happily hands out the snacks. The kids devour their snacks before racing off to continue their play.
Kegen happily races off to the dress-up area with her friends. As she gets halfway there, her head starts to feel funny. Her vision gets blurry and she looks to Mia who is rubbing at her eyes. Everything starts to feel it's trapped in slow-motion. Her arms feel heavy and she can't speak. She groggily turns towards her teacher, who smiles wickedly as some of the children fall to the ground. Kegen tries to call out for help as Aria falls to the ground before her. She tries to run but finds her body is starting to shut down. Darkness creeps into the corners of her sight.
MOMMY!! she cries out mentally before surcomming to the darkness.
As Kegen starts to collapse to the ground, she hears manically laughter.
"This was too easy."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A soft, lilting voice hums an old lullaby that I know very well. As the singer continues to hum, I hear a gentle, loving voice whisper in my mind.
Go to sleep, go to sleep, my little one. The world shall wait for you.
It was almost hypnotizing. I let myself fall into the rhythm of the melodic humming and the gentle voice in my mind. It was comforting and it felt like...home.
WWWRRRAAANNNNNTTTTT!!!!!! WWWWRRRRAAAAANNNNNTTTTTT!!!!
The blaring alarm ripped through the comfort of my sinking, deep sleep. The alarm was agonizing to my hyperacute hearing. I crack open a sleep caked eye. I groggily focus on the blood-red numbers in the darkness, the mechanical screech of the alarm fueling my sleepy anger. I lazily lift my hand and flick a finger at the colon between the four and the thirty. A bright flare of light leaps from my finger and engulfs the clock, slamming it against the wall. It's screech becomes gargled and lost under the crackle of flame. I smile in triumph and snuggle back down into my pillow. Before I can close my eyes, I feel a weigh land upon my back. A wet nose touchs my ear before a low meow echos in my ear. I wince and buck off the creature.
" I know...I'm up," I reply sleepily.
I throw off the comforter, hearing a muffled and irritated mreow, as I swing my bare feet to the cold steel floor. I strech my whole body, hearing my vertebre snap and pop, wiggling my toes and fingers at the sensation.
Meanadering my way to the bathroom in the darkness, I contemplate my reaccuring dream. Blinking at the floreusent blaze of the bathroom lights, I begin my morning ritual.
After a hot, refreshing shower, I head to the closet. Venus winds her long sleek, spotted body around my bare legs. I drop a hand down to stroke her head before grabbing my uniform. I slide on the thermal, gossamer pants and top, making sure to tuck the silver locket into the top. Sitting on the bed, I slide on the matching boots, then gloves. Standing, I stare into the closet mirror as I slide on my black, butterfly cut mask. Combing my long hair out from the mask, I strap on my dark gold blast googles, sliding them up to keep my hair out of my eyes.
Staring at my reflection, I sigh as I wonder what today will bring.
Every line of my uniform meet cleanly. The black and gold of my Justice styled costume made the natural red of my hair stand out. My ocean blue eyes practically glowed in contrast to the black mask. I smirked at the wings that laid over my chest.
I'm definately not an angel.
Saddness washed over me. Something was in pain deep inside of me. Sometimes, I feel a rift within my soul and it is agonizing. I closed my eyes and beat down that pain, that emptiness, swallowing it up before it could swallow me.
I released a deep breath and readied myself for today's trails.
I gave Venus a can of food before heading for the door of my small room. A soft green beam scanned my eye.
" Agent Etherburn, Clearance Level 3, scheduled for Polar Core Training, 6:30 am to 12:30 pm. Medical Observation 2:00pm to 3:00pm. Team Training Session 3:30pm to 6:30pm. Endurance Training 7:30pm to 9:30pm. Report to Dining Hall for morning meal and have a productive day," a mechanical voice relays my daily schedule before the door opens to release me from my cage.
I stare into the low-lit steel hallway of The Compound. I sigh softly before stepping out of my doorway. My door closes with a mechanical whoosh. I square my shoulders as I read y to head to the dining hall. Then I swear softly.
I hate Polar Core Training.