7 Thoughts and Memories.

As I stand here now, looking back it's hard to believe everything that's happened sense I met her. For so long I just spent my life doing nothing, it was meaningless…

Kyoto stood at the top of the ruined building that towered out ever so slightly above all of the others. No one noticed him, or the building for that matter as they were near the edge of the subterranean level. Besides that, the building itself was hard to spot because of a large shadow that drooped over it from an iron deposit that hung overhead.

"Kyoto…" Day said as she came up from behind him and gently wrapped her arms around one of his. "You're thinking about it again aren't you?" she said with a gloomy look in her eyes

"Well… no, but that's where my mind was headed." He stared off into the beautiful city with dazzling lamps and lanterns lighting up the whole main street. "How's Tayo?"

"She's going to be alright… might be out for a while though, I can't imagine how hard that must have been on her body."

"Day… I'm sorry that I stopped coming by after I moved out."

"Its fine, I understand I can get a bit annoying." She let go of his arm and sat down on the ledge. Looking down below them.

" I want you to know that wasn't the reason, You've never annoyed me bad enough for me to not want to be around you, the truth is that I…" he looked down finally shifting his gaze and his sad stare met hers finding peace within her presence. "I thought that if I spent some time alone that it would help me to process everything, to get over it all."

"Oh, I see…"

"I'm sorry I should have stayed with you, you were probably hurting even more than I was."

She looked out over the city in silence smiling. "It's so beautiful don't you think. The noise isn't all that loud from here but I can still hear them, bustling around, haggling for better deals, talking about what they want for dinner."

He was surprised at first that she changed the conversation, but after thinking about it he went along with it and sat down beside her. "You can really here them from way out here?" he asked humoring her.

"Yep, my power is to concentrate light right, well that goes for all light not just the visible spectrum, however its more complicated than even just that. I control light by manipulating the waves, sound waves are much slower and longer so they are actually a lot easier to manipulate. I do it without even trying most of the time."

"So then… is that why you stay here, all alone?"

She laughed a little bit trying to keep her smile. "Well actually it's quite the opposite… I don't really like talking to most people, but I like being around them, I get customers now you know. I've got a reputation and a business now too, so I'm not all alone like you think. My ears aren't supersensitive either if I think somethings too loud I just tune it down, besides I could never leave this place, it was my first home… still the only one I've ever had."

"I'm sorry I should have known that's how you'd feel."

"You should really stop apologizing Kyoto it doesn't suit you at all."

He looked over to her again as she was smiling wide now, getting some of her energy back from teasing him.

"Ha, maybe your right, truth is though, I'm not sure what suits me anymore, I've been the tough guy, the nice guy, the protector and the villain, I've been the lone wolf, and before when our family was still together I was all sorts of things with them too."

"Just be yourself."

"Yea your probably right, but I still don't know who I am. How am I supposed to be someone I don't know?"

"Stuff like we've been through only changes people that let it, maybe just think of who you were, then try and be a batter version of that guy." She laid back and looked up at the giant deposit that hung overhead as it sparkled with a few crystals here and there meshed in with the rock and iron.

"A better version of who I was…" He said thinking out loud.

"Well, right now you're like a crazy mash up of everyone we used to know, like trying to impersonate them will keep them alive in our memories… Truth is, that will just make us lose one more."

He tried not to get angry at what she had said but couldn't help it clinching a fist as his body heated up.

"See, that guy that's angry right now for a reason you can't explain, just be him."

He relaxed his hand and looked back at her staring into her eyes as his mind suddenly went blank and all of the words she had said finally hit him with full force.

She sat up. "I always liked you the most Kyoto… I know you wish that it was Fae that came out alive instead, and I miss her, I miss them all I really do… Even now, it still hurts just talking about them."

She leaned into his arm grabbing at her chest over her heart. "But I'm glad that you're the one that made it out with me. I wouldn't want anyone else instead, that's who you are to me, and maybe it's selfish but that guy that saved me, he's the guy that I want to stay by my side."

He wrapped his arm around her as she cried, not saying a word until she stopped. "Day, you know when I was in my cell and had time to think, it was never about how to escape or wondering about how many of us would make it out alive, I only ever wondered if you were ok. I was dragged out with the others into this huge room with pods and tables. One for each of us. They would first do a physical exam and then have us put into the pod, those of us that resisted were beaten into submission and then forced into the pods. I'm not sure if each pod was different but mine…" he held her tightly thinking about what he was telling her even though she was still just a little girl. It had been several years sense they got out, but he had never once talked to her about what had happened.

"Well anyway, the rest of us all saw each other every day. If we didn't, we knew what happened, but for some reason no one had seen you, so all I could think about was whether you were ok or not."

"Kyoto, I…" she wasn't sure what to say or even how she felt. This was the first time he had ever mentioned the facility and the experiments that they went through.

"I know you're still young," he started again, "but if you really want to know then I'll tell you about what happened to us."

"Hey I'm not some little girl you know! I'm 13 now and I went through some trash myself you know." She calmed down and began speaking in a tinny voice that he could barely hear. "It's not like knowing could make my dreams any worse than they already are… And why is swearing so bad anyway, When I say trash instead it just makes me sound like a little kid... I don't like feeling little it just…" She pulled her knees to her chest as she leaned into him further.

He smiled as he pulled her closer comforting her like an older brother might. "You know I used to think the same thing. Why are some words bad and others not? I think it's kind of like this, when you swear what are you thinking about?"

"I… uh… I don't know"

"Exactly, so that's one reason. Another reason you shouldn't do it is that it really just wastes time, important conversations should go quickly, throwing in extra words just complicates things, and Swearing is also is a sign that you're not really good with words in general, if you think about it the people that swear are usually either not very smart, or have lost control of their emotions to the point that they aren't thinking clearly, which means that there probably not very smart at the time."

"Right So then… basically You're saying I talk dumb?"

"Kind of, you're really smart, smarter than me, but no one would be able to tell by the way you talk."

"Oh…" she said finally starting to understand if only a little, turning red at his compliment.

"The way I see it, every time you swear you do it to add emphasis or tell people you really mean what you're saying right. Why bother doing that if your word is good enough that yes means yes and no means no, maybe liars need to swear, but we should be better than that."

She started laughing "If I'm really smarter than you than how come you're always the one lecturing me."

"I guess I'm just wiser." He said with a smirk shouving her almost making her fall off the ledge.

"Kyoto… I'm ready to hear the whole story..."

There was a long pause as the two sat their staring out over the city.

"Ok then, if you're sure." his mind drifted off to a different time as he remembered the events that he had pushed deep down for so long.

"Well I guess it all started with me. I used to live on the surface, at least my parents both lived up there when I was born. Not long after that they were both killed in a Ramaky attack. Fae and Mark found me in the ruble. They were both living on streets already, each with their own story just as sad as mine. Fae took care of me and raised me with my new family. She never talked about how she ended up on the streets, but Mark was like me. His parents were both killed in action when he was 12. Richard was abandoned by his mom after his dad was killed by robbers. AJ was abandoned at an orphanage, of course the orphanage didn't have enough food to take care of him so they sent him to the church. The church that took him in was seized by the government and torn down. Anna was originally a soldier, but she deserted after something terrible happened. She and AJ were engaged, it seemed like they were happy despite it all.

"I remember their wedding… Anna was barren so they couldn't have any children right."

"That's true but it never bothered them, they didn't want to bring anyone else into a world as messed up as ours. I still don't agree with that sentiment… but I respected them. Fae found us all and brought us together. She was younger than almost everyone else but she was our leader and everyone loved and respected her. We called ourselves the sparks. We were all that was left from each of our own stories. We may have been small and insignificant, but a spark is all it takes to light a flame that can easily grow.

After taking me in sense I was just a baby it changed the group's goal, they couldn't live on the streets anymore so they searched for a while until they found this place." He raised his left arm gesturing to the ruined building. "I'm sure you can't remember it all that well… but it was absolutely beautiful… When they first found it though it was a mess, but they built it back up wither their own hands turning it into a fortress where we could all be safe.

She left her head down gazing out over the rooftops pressed up against Kyoto's side. "I always felt safe here, even now it's not like it was, but it still feels like it's the safest place on this planet."

"There are many reasons for that, this wasn't just a gang's hideout, and it was our home. We did our best to look after it because we all had such a great feeling of accomplishment whenever we did, none of us had ever had anything to call our own before and now suddenly we had this place. We never did anything within these walls that would tarnish it. Fae was a big part of that, after a while everyone began to wholeheartedly agree with her ideals. Stealing was never an option with Fae as the leader, she was the most honest person you've ever met. Instead we took on little jobs here and there until we turned into a guild of sorts, everyone knew about us. We even ended up becoming almost a sort of gang ourselves, even had our own turf. Sense guns were so rare we all learned hand to hand fighting, eventually we actually developed our own style." He laughed. "Although it was really rough at first, I can't even remember all the times they all got cut up and a few times were pretty close. It's a miracle they all survived as long as they did."

I still remember what finally convinced them I was old enough to help them fight. A gang found our hideout and started raiding it. They broke through the first gate and into the tower, everyone wanted me to run and hide but I ended up taking out more men than any of them. Of course when you don't kill people all you can do is turn them into the police right, and after you turn so many guys in its not long before people take notice.

That's actually how I met your dad. You know he actually got me my first job. A gang demanded that he look the other way when they ran wild, they kidnaped you and threatened to hurt you. He was the only honest cop I've ever met. He always did the right thing and knew he couldn't just look the other way, so he came to us and we came up with a plan… He even gave his life to save Fae while we were raiding there base. The boss of the gang had a gun and he jumped in front of the bullets taking all six. You didn't have anywhere to go so he asked us to take you in with his last few words. Fae didn't even think about it before she said yes.

The government caught on to everything we had been doing and that's when we suddenly got an invitation to a surface lab. They said they wanted to study what made us such effective fighters. They offered a lot of money and on top of that they wanted to give us titles and said they wanted to make a special unit to combat crime in the sub levels, well that's what they said at least… Kyoto paused for a long while trying to find the words while wondered if she should say anything, before she could though he continued.

"They locked us all in chambers, cells pure white with nothing in them, no windows, no beds, I couldn't even remember where the door was after a while. They came in every day and brought us to an open room where everyone could see each other, if we'd try to talk to each other though wed just be beaten, everything they did was either an experiment or to force us into submission, I'm sure every pod was different too like I said earlier, mine had long metal needles the came out and jammed into my skin, after that electricity would shoot through them like fire burning me from the inside. Every day was the same until it ended."

"I'm sorry Kyoto, I never knew."

"Yea well anyway, that's about it, the basics at least."

"So it really was just as bad for you guys then."

"Yea… some more than others." He said hinting there was more he still wasn't telling her as the crystals stopped glowing and the lights of the city began to fade.

"Day," he said looking down at her as she began to doze off covered in Greece and soot.

"Yea?"

"I'm glad that you're the one that made it out." He said as she drifted off to sleep exhausted from everything that happened."

"That's nice, I'm so… glad" she said before drifting off to sleep completely, leaning into him as if he were a rock."

"I guess there's a lot more too you than people say." Tayo said coming up from behind.

"It seems that would go for both of us." He replied as she came over and sat down next to him.

"She really is adorable you know." She said pointing at Day. "You two are lucky to have each other."

"Well that's one way to look at it I suppose."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you later… for now though, are you sure you're doing alright?"

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy when I stand up."

"That's better than expected, we need to plan our next step, the kingdom wanted us to graduate this year and be the first class to fight the Ramaky, if we can keep going until that happens we should be fine, until we prove ourselves though were really just experiments."

"So basically, if we become heroes the British won't be able to touch us anymore."

"Exactly, but we need to make it through the year, we can continue going to school for now but I think we need to work on making our powers stronger, if we stagnate they'll be able to come up with something that can take us down, then they'll have all the power."

"Ok, so how do we do that?"

"I have no idea… Another thing Day here will probably be able to help us out with. I'm not sure, but we could move here as well, that way we'd all be together and then there's no way they'd be able to take us down, even if they found us."

"The catch is that it puts her in danger while we're at school… is that it?"

"Exactly."

"I guess we should leave it up to her… in the end though you saved me from that place, I'll be ok with whatever you decide."

"Your right… thing is I already know what she'll say."

They continued to talk long after into the night as the whole world seemingly went dark sound them until they both grew tired and all fell asleep staring at the ceiling of the great underground level.