Out of the box
By the time Thunderbird and The Frost sisters switched place with Celine with Émilia's help it was almost dinner time. Another guy joined them as well, they called him the memory architect. Charles couldn't help but he awed by the wonderful talents that could be found on Ganosha.
"Are you sure this the only way?" Asked the Frost girls. It was getting a bit on everyone's nerve how they seemed to be one person in three bodies.the girls' identical black skirt and white jumpers with knee-high boots wasn't helping the picture. Charles was already feeling jittery. There was too much of Emma in them.
"Positive" said Hank. The truth was no one was thrilled about this solution. The scientist eyed the pile of boxes on the table in the center of Charles's office. "Is that all?"
"It's all we had of them. "Answered Thunderbird. They had brought boxes of the stuffs that belonged to the de-aged mutants. "Tell me again why you brought all these?" Charles asked. No one actually told him he just got flashes.
"Just like people" started the Memory architect, " objects too have memories, these belonged to them, i can use them re creat the memories. So you don't have to rely on others memories to get ."
"That remarkable "he commented not being able to help himself. Raven rolled her eyes. "I also brought this" Émilia said. There was a big green metal box beside her on the ground. There was an ' E.L' carved on the top of it.
"Is that...?" Raven asked.
"Erik's ?" She answered." Yes. I brought it from his place. I know we all have quite a lot of memories of him but..."
"This is the more reliable option" Charles finished. "I suggest we all get some dinner and a good night sleep. Tomorrow we'll figure out a way to tell everyone "
Nobody had the energy to continue. So soon they all retreated back to their rooms to change and then go to eat something. For a moment Charles was tempted to go and open the box that belonged to Erik, curious what was so precious he had kept with himself despite everything but he thought better. He was so tired that he didn't neither felt nor noticed the shadow behind his window.
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"So?" Erik asked impatiently as Laura jumped down from the now dark window. The spent the entire day looking for clues on how to contact Laura's uncle. But it was like looking for a shadow on a rainy day. That was until the saw new people suddenly appear in the threshold of the private quarters of the building. Laura said that's how Ganoshians arrive and that Magneto which was the man's other name was usually with them. So they followed the group who ended up in the professor's study but they couldn't get close. That was when Laura said she could go behind the window and listen because she could climb the wall and had enhanced senses. Erik , who at this point was barely surprised because in this place people read minds and walk through walls and we're BLUE! for crying out loud, agreed. He stood in the yard clinging to himself to keep a little warmth to himself while she was two floors above the ground listening through the window. She jumped down few seconds after the lights were off.
"Well I think they are on some sort of dangerous mission. " She patted her knees to get rid of the dust.
" he's coming?" He asked hopefully. Laura said he was in charge of something and Herr Doktor always said if you want something done you have to do it yourself.
"I don't know"she said scratching behind her ear which Erik has learned meant she was thinking. "But I've heard there is huge metal box there that is from him or for him, but maybe it helps."
It would, Erik was being trained to track people. "Can you get it here?"
"It's like five to two to three feet long... I don't think I can carry it here or we can move it inside without everyone noticing on time."she looked at the window as if , if they looked the box would come out on it's own.
'oh' Erik suddenly looked up sharply. "What if.." he focused on his words trying to find the right ones " we move it from that window to my room. it's right beside the professor's." He said still looking between two windows.
" Did you not listen to a word I said?" Laura asked confused.
"I did" Erik said defensively. "You said metal. I can move it."
"Oh..." Laura's eyes lit up" you can do that?" She asked.
"Yes but too much power... I need " he looked at the window again letting his senses spread. It was easy to locate the box. He opened the window easily with a flick of his hand but the box was too big. "It's big... I need the pain, the anger, for power to move it."he almost mumbled looking back down at her. "You should stab me"
"What?" She almost shouted.
"It's how my powers work" he said while shushing her.
"I don't want to stab you Erik!" She said slowly yet firmly.
"Laura..." He looked her in the eye," he might be my only chance to save my people!"
There must have been something in his voice that made her look torn between leaving or doing it. It was okay. Erik could take it. A stab wond was nothing compared to what he had been through before. He couldn't save his parents, his uncle or his sister. He has lost the sight of Magda a long time ago. But Kalb was still there and a lot more people. He hated everything about that camp and this was his chance.
"I don't like this..."she tried again, "if you need pain... There must be another way"
' Sometimes you get a moment. A time when everything lines up, when anything is possible, when suddenly, you can make things happen. God help us if we take that moment. And God forgive us if we don't.' his Papa's words came to his mind. "You see this spot? "He pointed at a place between his ribcage and hip bone. A little to a side so no vital organs where in the way. She nodded. "Punch it , hard, it'll hurt but no damage." He knew this too well.
She took another minute but nodded eventually. "I still don't like it" she said but got into position regardless.
"Thank you." He moved his hand again and the window of his room opened as well. Bracing himself he planted his feet firmly to the ground and nodded. It took another minute and then smash! Laura's adamatium fist punched his side. He didn't scream or even moved much more than what was the impact of the force behind the punch. He stored it. It wasn't the pain directly that fueled his powers, but the hatred, how much it was a dark reminder of the creature Schmidt was molding him into, how much he hated him and how much he hated himself for being his monster, all that hatred all that anger burned his heart and core. The metal in the yard gave a little shiver. He closed his eyes and raised his hands. Concentrating his powers on the box as he moved it . He didn't saw Laura's awed face as the box shakily moved from the Xavier's room to his. He closed that man's study window before he let the pain wash over and doubled on himself letting out a choked sob. Soon a hand was on his shoulder. He tensed and flinched back a moment too inside his head before he heard a tud. He looked at his side and saw Laura thrown a few feet away. She was just about to stand back up.
'metal skeleton! Idiot' Erik was already feeling like trembling. "Sorry, 'am sorry" he whispered shakily.
The girl came to his side. "Hey it's okay. You didn't mean to. You did great." She paused. "I wanna help you stand, I'm going to touch you okay?" He nodded as she helped him to his feet. "You okay? I didn't hit you bad did I?" She sounded genuinely concerned. The truth was she did hit him very very hard but Erik knew she didn't mean to and it did hurt like hell and probably bruising already but he didn't have the heart to tell her and it was irrelevant anyway. He shook his head " 'am fine, we should go."
"It's dinner time soon Papa is going to look for me, and someone for you as well."
"You go." Erik said," I'll start looking"
"But dinner..."
"No worry."
"Okay just be careful." She said before running inside. Erik too went in and up straight to his room. He melted the lock shut behind himself. He sat on the ground in front of the chest. 'E.L ' the first thing that got his attention was an stupid helmet. He put it aside. There was a cupper bottle. He has seen stuff like this in camp. He picked it up and opened it. There was a piece of paper in It, it was dusty and old edges turned yellow. He opened the folded letter and started to read.
' My name is Max Eisenhardt. ' He felt his breathe hitch. This was impossible. That was his name. When they arrived to the camp his Mom had him pick another name. And introduced themselves with her father's family name. So they can hide easier thinking the real names might come handy later if they ran and needed to hide. He picked his uncle name, Erik. No one knew but his mom, Ruth and Kalb who was his school teacher before all that. With shaky hands he continued to read.
'I’ve been a Sonderkommando at Auschwitz for almost two years.'
He has just became one. After Schmidt sent Ruth to a gas chamber alongside another group of hundred people, after he had to stay there watch them. He was told he could saved them if he disabled the mechanism with his powers he couldn't. They all died, Ruth died, and it became his job to handle the bodies ever since. A reminder of his failure. Erik let out a sob.reading with blurry eyes. It made no sense. This guy has escaped Auschwitz and didn't take anyone? The question burned his mind.
' I watched thousands of men, women, and children walk to their deaths. I pulled their bodies from the gas chambers. I dug out their teeth so the Germans could take their gold. And I carried them to the ovens, where I learned how to combine a child’s body with an old man’s to make them burn better. I saw my fellow workers buried alive under an avalanche of rotting corpses. I saw thousands of murdered people burning in giant outdoor pits. I have seen at least a quarter million dead human beings with my own eyes…and I couldn’t save a single one. To whoever finds this, I'm sorry because I'm dead and it's now up to you. Tell everyone who will listen. Tell everyone who won't. Please don't let this happen ever again.'
He checked the date. Two years... Two years from... Now? Erik didn't know how to think anymore. He didn't even know how he ended up here, where here was. This was a Testament . Written by him? Someone who was just like him , now that wouldn't make sense... Neither made sense. Nothing did anymore.
He put the letter down like it burned his hands and looked inside the box. There was a pocket. Thicker an a normal letter. He opened it. The moment he brought out what was inside his body froze. The first one was his Uncle's photo, a date underneath. He remembered doing it. Marking the day the man died, the bravest man he knew. He stayed behind to fight. The second photo was his Papa, the most kind man. He was killed in one of the random fires. Then his Mama, she was the most gentle human. By the time Erik reached Ruth's picture he was shaking, her older sister, she was the most elegant beauty even after she was starved to the edge of death. He put the photo down but there was more. There was Kalb's, a year and half from now, He almost sobbed as he saw Magda. It was her, the necklace he gave her before they parted and her eyes... He recognized her. It was 8 years from him, a little girl's picture , a girl he never saw the same day. There were other people as well, another woman and girl, decades from him. There was a locket. Also some other people, a blonde woman , a red skinned man, and others, others... He shakily put them on the ground feeling like there was no end to the mementos. That was when he realized he was crying. There was just one more thing left in the box the moment he picked it he knew what exactly who this Erik was. The coin, the god-damned coin was there. And Erik knew as his hand curled around it. This wasn't another man's belongings, he didn't understand how, but it was his and he has failed, not just his family, not just his friends or people, he has failed and killed anyone who came near him. He had became the monster Herr Doktor wanted him to become.
He didn't feel the blood that was trickling dow his hand from where he held the coin tightly. He didn't remember bringing his knees to his chest. He wasn't at the school anymore. He was back. Back to the cold rooms and muddy ground. The smell of burned flesh burning his brain. He could hear the screams. All around him dead bodies, he could sense them. He could feel them staring at him telling him it was his fault. He killed them all!
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Laura told Logan she was with one of the kids which wasn't a lie and kept thinking about lambs and lilies avoiding professor's suspecious gaze as she thought harder about them. All the Ganoshians and the new kids where eating at the same table. Everyone who was at the school in the dining hall. "He hasn't come down all day?" Asked Peter. Laura had a good opinion on who he was asking about.
"He did ," answered Raven. "I saw his breakfast tray on the counter, but don't worry I'll take some dinner up."
"Raven?" She asked not sure if she should. But she was really curious.
"What is it Laura?" She turned to her.
"Is Erik related to... To uncle Erik?" Her Papa almost chocked on his sandwich. She saw everyone staring at her like she said something she wasn't supposed to know.
"What made you think that dear?" It was professor who asked her. She suddenly felt very self-conscious.
"Ummm... His name ? And metal thing? She said hesitantly. And his tattoo?" She said hesitantly as everyone tensed around her with each word.
"Laura ? Have you told..."
Before Raven could finish a rumble went through the entire building. "Professor?" Said Storm looking around. Charles brought a hand to his temple before wincing. "Keep The kids here" he told Jean who's face looked pained" and stay here"
"Charles" came from one of the Frost girls. They too looked uncomfortable.
"Stay here with Jean. All of you." He turned to the table. Where everyone was on their feet. The house was literally shaking every two minutes. "Kurt" he said before the pair disappeared. She saw as Raven, Hank Peter and her Papa ran upstairs too. Everyone too busy to stop her as well so she followed. She felt her bones ache and she heard her Papa groaning as the entered the hallway. The window frames and the lamps where bending. The lights going out or dimming occasionally.
"What the fuck ?" Said Papa leaning to the wall. Laura as well was feeling very uncomfortable but soon she realized the bigger the metal the more it was affected.
"It's melted shut!" Hank tried to open Erik's door.
"Charles what's goin on?" Raven said her voice dripping anxiety.
"I don't know Raven it's too jumbled. He's having flashbacks i think I can't tell ." He was wincing again.
"He is bringing the house down " said Peter zooming away from a metal beam that suddenly sprang out of the wall. None of them noticed Laura going near the door before they hear her claws smashing the lock and the saw the door swang open. " Laura Don't!" She heard her Papa shouting before she stepped in.
They all gathered in the door frame. There was a vortex of metal dancing around Erik , pens and blades made out of metal scraps , remnants of the ruined bed and windows, spinning around him all pointing... Inward! She felt like panicked as the circle got tighter. She heard Raven gasping and she did the only thing she thought ignoring the other's protest. She ran toward her friend noticing with great sadness that none of the scraps hurt her just got closer to him. He didn't mean to hurt others. He was going to hurt himself. So she wrapped her arms around him creating a shield around the squirming boy holding him tightly.
"It's okay ,it's okay." She kept whispering as he tried to pull away using her strength to tighten her hold grounding him.
"Es tut mir Leid"
The boy was repeating over and over. She didn't know what it meant. "It's okay, you're not alone anymore" she kept saying regardless. Laura wasn't sure how long it took but at some point Erik stopped struggling, the metal around them slowed down and dropped one by one as he shook and cried in her shoulder fisting his hands in her shirt like his life depened on it and for a painful moment she realized it probably did. So she just held tighter. She heard a shuffling and looked up to see Peter has left with Hank. Her dad and Raven were cleaning the room and taking the metal out. Professor was still in the doorway staring at the corner of the room. She followed his gaze and her eyes landed on the box opened all the stuff scattered on the floor. She felt Erik's hand sliding down her back and dropping to her side, he wasn't crying anymore just breathing unevenly.
"Erik?" She said panicked getting the others attention.
"It's okay kid" Papa said sitting beside her. " He just cried himself to sleep, he's okay, he's going to be alright" he picked up the boy gently and put her on bed under a blanket and returned to her picking her up. She usually would resist but she couldn't help but cling to her as he kissed the crown of her head. "You did great kid. You kept him safe I'm proud of you" he said uncharacteristically.
"I'll stay with him. " Said Raven. As Papa walked out still holding her. Laura's eyes didn't leave the boy's pale face hoping she could help. She had a feeling that if she hadn't helped him with the box he would have been okay. Professor followed them. The went to her room and her Dad sat her on bed sitting beside her.
"Are you okay Laura?" Asked the professor. She nodded.
"What happened out there kid?" Asked Papa.
"It's my fault."
"No Laura it's not." Said the professor surly." But we would appreciate if we knew what happened so we can help him.
"I told him about uncle Erik... And... He wanted to find him." She felt like crying.
"Why?" Asked Logan.
"To ask for his help. So they could help his people he said"
Both men looked very sad. "And the box?"
"We waited till you left and he moved it through the window to his room so we could find something about uncle Erik." She paused, "is he going to be okay?"
"He will be" said professor no meeting her eyes. "You guys get some rest. I'll inform the others everything is fine" he gave them a reassuring smile before wheeling out.