The night hung heavy over the slums of Eden Prime as I once again ran through the narrow alleys. I was ten at the time, a neglected child like many others. The rain fell, black and oily, from the floating cities above, mixing with the filth on the streets. My bare feet ached from the sharp metal edges on the ground, but I couldn't stop.
"Kyro!" Aria's voice echoed through the darkness. "Over here!"
She was fourteen, taller and stronger than I was. Her black hair, streaked with glowing blue strands, clung to her face in the rain, while her eyes seemed to glow in the dark. For two years, we had been inseparable, ever since she had found me half-starved in a dumpster. She became my big sister, my protector, my family.
"The Blood Chain thugs," I gasped as I crawled into our secret hideout – an abandoned maintenance shaft that we had outfitted with stolen blankets. "They saw me take the bread."
Aria pulled me to her, her arms warm and safe. "The world will try to break you, little brother, but you have to be strong and fight for what you believe in. You can't trust anyone except yourself and me," she whispered as she ran her fingers through my tangled hair. She pulled a moldy loaf of bread from her pocket. "Here, eat. I found some too."
That was our life – a constant struggle. Aria taught me how to steal, how to fight, and how to hide. To be honest, she showed me how to survive in Prime Eden. Her blue strands often shone like a beacon in the darkness, a symbol of hope in a hopeless world. But then, Aria started to change. She disappeared more often, sometimes for days, and when she came back, she had new scars and a strange gleam in her eyes. Her blue strands seemed to glow brighter in the darkness than ever before.