The Scarlet Phantom: Finding the Light in the Darkest of Times

Radius

Gray loved her. He loved her more than anything in the world. Her scarlet hair was his first memory of life. Her soft, squeak of a voice was the first sound he ever remembered. The first smile she ever gave him was his fondest memory.

What came before these memories, however? Were his memories only limited to the good things? No, not really. In theory, he knew what came before he met her. He just didn't remember. No, more like he didn't want to remember.

'Your name's Gray?' Yor giggled 'How did you come up with that?'

"I didn't..."

Unlike Yor, Gray hadn't had the luxury of choosing his identity. The man who had kidnapped him as a six-year-old in the park and sold him into that construction site had chosen that for him. The man had had a habit of naming the kids by colors. And Gray's crystal clear, kaleidoscopic stormy grey eyes were his most defining trait.

'You need to learn this!' Gray sighed 'C'mon Yor! Focus! Math is important! Pay attention, will you?'

'But it's sooooo boring!' Yor grumbled, puffing out her cheeks and making her face go red. She was still trying to perfect that scowl 'Who cares if the radius of a circle is half its diameter!?!'

Yor jumped up. She was a good head shorter than him and was overall very petite and frail. And that's what worried him. Before they met, she was always picked on by the guards and the other laborers. If there is any one word that can describe bullies is "coward". Bullies are nothing but cowards and always pick the easiest and smallest targets. And that was Yor. But Gray had only been kidnapped a few days before he met Yor, and he was far, far better fed, stronger and healthier than any other laborer. And when he had met her, she was more akin to a porcupine than she was a human. Balled up with her knees pressed to her chest, her hair a dense, dense tangled jungle of scarlet and dirt. She didn't even know what hygiene was at this point. But after a long, long, long bath and a haircut, parted straight fringes with a hime cut and a below ear messy bob accented by a handmade headband, she looked adorable.

She hooked her arms around his neck and jumped onto his back 'That's your last name then, Dr. Gray Boredom...Radius.'

'Gray Radius? Seriously?'

'Yup!' she squealed, positively exploding into rainbows and glitter. He couldn't say no to that face, no matter how ridiculous the name was.

And that's how they were. Bringing color and joy in their horrible living and working conditions. They looked after each other, protecting each other from any and all bullies who even looked at the other funny. And that's how they survived in that place. It was no place for children, not by a long shot. But their little found family pushed past it all. She was really, truly his pride and joy. His world. The one thing that made life worth living. And then...One day, their world came crashing down.

Imprisoned within the concrete walls, they never knew just how precious and rare Yor's scarlet locks were. But the prison guards knew, and one of them tried to chop them off to sell. And something snapped. Her hair was what and bought her and Gray together and it was the most precious thing to her. The one thing she had that was her. And in self-defense, Yor scratched the guards' eye.

Gray knew from the commotion that something was wrong. He began pushing through the gathered crown of laborers. When they saw him, they panicked and tried to shove him back.

'Stay away! You don't need to see this!'

'your presence will only make it worse!'

'They might hurt you too!'

'Leave it alone!'

But at that point, Gray's heart was beating so fast and fiercly he could hardly register what was going on around him. And then, scarlet flooded his clear ireses. The guard with the bleeding eye was taken away to the hospital, and now another guard was holding Yor by her hair so roughly that she was in tears 'If you're old enough to try and kill somebody, you are old enough to face the concequences!'