Astrid Knight was the definition of cold. Preferring to stay in shadows, she had managed to successfully avoid any life-threatening incidents.
Fending for herself was hard when she was a minor, forcing her to work on the other side of the law.
After...
"If I told you of the darkness Inside me, Would you still look at me like I'm the sun?"
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"ASH?"ARIA'S CALL TO HER was a plea, desperate with longing and love.
"Yeah?" Astrid's reply was quick, almost instant. It was a habit really, to answer as soon as she did— even if it was just to let Ari that she was alright and alive.
"I don't want to do this." She sighed, her breathe tickling Astrid's feet.
Ari laid beside Astrid, her head near Astrid's feet and her feet near Astrid's head. The Agency had decided to torture them by cramming them into the same single sized cot that was a little more softer than a rock.
"They want to make us monsters, Ash." Her voice trembled. Unlike Astrid, Aria was not malleable. She was rough and she stood by her morals.
Astrid on the other hand, she accepted the change and adjusted to it. She let herself bend so she would not break.
"I-I can't do that." Her breathe tickled Astrid's feet in uneven brushes. "I can't become what they want me to be."
They were kids.
Except they were not.
Kids were vulnerable and scared. Kids were naive and kids were victims. Kids let themselves be abused because they don't know how to fight.
Kids were scared of bugs and paper cuts. Kids were afraid of bears and animals.
Aria and Astrid watched each other be ripped apart during days and pieced each other back during the nights.
"I want to be a monster." Astrid had declared. She was done bending, and she was done surviving just so she could watch this. "And I want to be the best one out there."
If they wanted a monster, then fine. They'll get one.
"You... do?" Ari had asked timidly. "But then you won't be good."
"I could be a good one."
"Like... vigilants?"
"No." Astrid shook her head. "Better."
And that was the day Astrid had accepted Marina's offer to train both of them herself.
She wanted to hurt them for hurting her.
Marina made both Astrid and Ari into something who weren't just weapons, but something far worse.
It had started another kind of training. Marina made Astrid learn numerics and languages that she already loved. Where she encouraged Astrid's curiosity towards human behavior and human brain, where she learned the structure of the mind, of personality, of identity. It was the start of Marina shaping Astrid and Ari into something other than blunt weapons, and into lock picks and sharp, intricate daggers.
