Surprising Revelations
Erik had slept like shit, his dreams keeping him from fully resting. He dreamt of Anya often, he couldn’t help it, she would always be his sunshine. He always dreamt of her if he heard their song. The English tune had been her favorite,though now it only brought him grief. It reminded him of his failings as a father.
He walked out to the main living area of the home the team was staying at, averting his eyes away from the battered child. The boy had a fascinating power, he was able to know when something was about to happen.
Erik was surprised when the chubby child approached him, his dark blue curls bouncing as he made his way to the angry man. Erik wanted to kill Raven for leaving him alone with the child. It wasn’t that Erik disliked children. On the contrary he adored children, but children only brought him thoughts of sadness and death which was something he liked to avoid.
“Mr. angry man” the boy’s voice asked inquisitively.
“You know you can call me Erik right?” Erik asked a hint of amusement lingering in his voice. He ought to kill Raven for telling the boy he was called mr. Angry man.
“Mr. Erik?” The child inquired again.
“Yes child” he asked patiently, taking a long sip of his coffee. The boy wasn’t much older than his Anya was before..., he cut himself off. He would be useless the rest of the day if he let himself go down that train of thought.
“Why don’t you like the sunshine song” Erik wanted to curse. Out of all the questions the little boy could have asked, that was what he asked. Still he sighed crouching down to the boys level.
“It was the favorite song of someone very special to me that passed away it gives me bad memories “ the little boy nodded solemnly as if he understood.
“I’m sorry” the boy said and before Erik could comprehend what was happening the child had wrapped his chubby arms around Erik in a fierce hug. Erik felt like he was suffocating under the boys hug but he didn’t say anything he only patted his back. Erik would decidedly be useless for the day after all. The child’s innocent hug had brought all of his precious Anya memories to the forefront of his brain.
“Thank you,” Erik told him, releasing the boy from the hug.
“Something good will happen this week, it’ll make you feel better” Erik couldn’t help being skeptical of the little ones omission no matter what his mutation was. It would probably just be another recruit for the brotherhood or something.
After his bizarre conversation with the six year old mutant he sets out to find Azazel. He needs to get this kid to Charles before he gets anymore depressed. Erik doesn’t know how many more reminders of what he’s lost he can take before he explodes.
***
The train ride was comfortable for the children and it wasn’t too long before they made it to Westchester station. Anya ushered the twins off the train going to find a phone booth.
“Who are ya gonna call sissy?” Pietro asks curiously as he watches his sister rifle through the phone book.
“No one I’m getting an address” she says absentmindedly as she is searching the pages for the familiar name. She’s scanning the pages looking for the doctor's name when she sees it. Xavier school for gifted youngsters this had to be it, she tore the page from the book.
The three children left the station and suddenly Anya felt lost and overwhelmed again. She had the address to the school but there were no taxis to be found. Westchester was much smaller than Boston where they had been living and it seemed that the people here felt no need for public transportation. She sighed they weren’t out of the woods quite yet she would need to ask an adult where exactly this school was.
“Hey hold my hands guys” She snapped when she saw the twins starting to wander. They rolled their eyes but obediently came to hold her hand. The train ride had been torture for her little brother who now saw the world in what was essentially slow motion. He had a lot of nervous energy.
Anya saw an elderly woman with her dog and decided to act. She put on the confident mask she had used with the librarian and ticket taker and approached. The woman looked at them expectantly when the three children came to stand beside her.
“Are you lost dearies?” She asked, kindly digging in her beaded handbag for the butterscotch discs she kept for her own grandchildren.
“Actually we are just a bit, we’re trying to find the school for gifted youngsters our mother sent us but didn’t realize there wouldn’t be taxis” Anya told her putting on her best schoolgirl facade. The woman held out a hand full of candy and Anya and Wanda each took one while Pietro grabbed the rest of the handful causing the old woman to chuckle at his antics. Anya wanted to scold her brother as he shoved all six candies into his mouth at once.
“Oh yes dear the school is just straight up this road it’s quite the walk though five miles outside of town. How about I give you children a ride? My name is Mrs. Guilbert. ” The woman said and Anya was struck by the woman’s kindness. She had been prepared to make the walk no matter how long it was.
“Thank you ma’am for the ride and the candy” Anya said and the woman looked at her with a twinkle in her eye.
“Oh think nothing of it darling I had been friends with Mrs. Xavier before she passed away, the mansion isn’t far from my own home anyway. ” the kids piled into Mrs. Guilbert’s car. The car ride was only about fifteen minutes but had the nice woman not offered a ride they would have been walking all day. The gate that they pulled up to was large and ornate and it was marked with a sign stating that it was Charles Xavier school for gifted youngsters.
“Thank you again ma’am” Anya thanked her and the woman waved her off. Anya pushed through the gate and the trio began making their way to the school.
***
Charles let out a long suffering sigh, Erik had one of his men drop off a little boy with them today. Charles just wished the man would come talk to him, himself. It seemed their past meant little to the man. Charles tried not to let things get to him, but he had been suffering a bit from depression after being confined to a wheelchair. He had barely just opened the school. The little boy would only be his second student the other was a little girl that could jump to incredible heights.
“Alex could you take Robert here up to his room so he can get settled before dinner?” Charles asked and the blond mutant nodded guiding the kid up to the wing they would be housing the children in. Charles wheeled himself to his study they were still working on getting elevators put into the house. That was just one more thing that damn bullet had taken from him. He couldn’t even get up to his own bedroom without assistance.
He wasn’t even halfway down the corridor before he heard another knock on the door. He briefly became hopeful that maybe Erik had come; he reached out with his mind and sank a little. There were three children outside the door two of them were mutants and one of them was human. Charles was again reminded of why he was opening this school in the first place. The younger two twins he supposed had probably manifested and their family decided to get rid of all three, he wouldn’t say no to any child though mutant or not.
He rolled himself to the door arriving right as the small fist knocked for a second time. He opened the door and put on a kind smile. The children were in what looked to be their Sunday best but the clothing seemed a little small and threadbare. The children also seemed a bit thin to be completely healthy.
“Hello my name is Charles Xavier. How might I help you children. Go on come in we can talk in my study” he said gesturing for the children to come inside. The two younger children looked to their sister for direction, and Charles frowned; it seemed that the oldest child had taken on sort of a mothering role. The twins both had powerful gifts but the eldest girl seemed to be human.
“Come on guys” The girl said giving the twins a gentle shove “my name is Anya Eisenhardt, this is my brother and sister Pietro and Wanda Eisenhardt” The girl introduced.
“Very glad to make your acquaintance” Charles responded before guiding them to his study. He waits for the kids to get comfortable. Anya takes a seat in front of the desk whilst the younger children play with the globe he has stored in the corner.
“What brings you to my school” he asks kindly and the girl tugs absently on the gold locket around her neck before pulling out his book on mutations that she had stolen from the library.
“I know you studied mutations, would you be able to help me find someone that has a mutation” Charles was a bit surprised he had expected to be asked if they could enroll in the school.
“Perhaps I am assuming correctly that the little ones have mutations” Anya looked at him with wide eyes hoping she hadn’t just made a mistake. Did this professor want to experiment on the twins ,she wouldn’t let that happen. Charles who had taken a peek inside her head again at her silence decided to assuage her fears.
“I want to do nothing of the sort my dear” he sent to her telepathically and instead of being freaked out like most people she let out a sigh of relief the tension fading from her shoulders.
“You’re special too, like the twins” it was more of a statement than a question.
“Yes dear I have a mutation as well, I’ve decided to open this school for children like your siblings so that they might have a safe space to learn and grow” Charles explained.
“Oh but would you be able to help me find someone that was special too” She asked again and Charles furrowed his brows.
“Perhaps who do you want me to find and why?” He asked before being momentarily distracted by the little boy who was spinning the globe as fast as he could which was quite fast as the boy's hands were blurred.
“Pie stop that now! You’ll be six years old next month and you're acting up like this!” The girl Anya cried embarrassed of the five year old acting up.
“It’s quite alright are you children hungry?” He asked knowing it would be difficult to have this conversation with the restless twins in the room.
“I’m starving!” The boy who was more outgoing it seemed than his twin cried dramatically rubbing his stomach.
“You just had all the candy in that lady’s purse and you had peanuts on the train” his twin rolled her eyes but he could see that she was also intrigued by the thought of lunch.
“How about I have one of my teachers Hank set you up with some lunch?” Charles suggested whilst sending a message to Hank mentally to come take care of the kindergartners. Hank came to get the kids and Anya was surprised to see that the man was covered in blue fur.
“Oh wow I like your fur, I have silver hair but we had to dye it” Pietro complimented the man who was still self conscious about the way he looked. After Hank had led the twins to the kitchen to get them some sandwiches Charles turned his attention back to the thirteen year old seated at his desk.
“Now dear who was it that you wanted me to find?” Charles asked, running a hand through his floppy brown hair.
“I want you to find our Papa, he’s special too like you and the twins. He thought I died when I was little and mama let him believe it cause she was scared of his powers. When the twins' powers came in last week Ma’am freaked out and left us by ourselves.” Anya said, trying to hold back tears. Charles would never cease to be amazed by the cruelty of people.
“You don’t have to be strong anymore my dear there are adults to help shoulder your burden now. Even if I can’t find your father, you and the twins are more than welcome to stay and learn at my school.” Charles spoke softly to the girl and she let her guard down a bit, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“But I’m not special like the twins” She wasn’t special anywhere she would always be the weird girl in school, with her accent and threadbare clothes.
“Oh but you are my dear girl, how many thirteen year olds do you know that could make it from Boston to New York without an adult? How many thirteen year olds do you know that could single handedly take care of their siblings without so much as complaint?” Charles asked, wheeling around the desk and laying a hand on her shoulder. The girl didn’t say anything but she leaned into the touch, no one had ever really comforted her except her siblings and they really didn’t understand.
“Now what is your fathers name and what special abilities did he have? It may help me be able to find him for you. You said that he thought you had died, does he know of the twins?” Charles asked her softly.
“No the twins weren’t born yet. His name was Max Eisenhardt and he could bend metal.” Charles was surprised he didn’t remember coming across another mutant that could control metal like Erik could. Anya had slipped off the locket and placed it in Charles' hand. Charles examined the locket; it was handmade possibly by the girl's father.
“That’s his picture, maybe you’ve seen him before?” She asked scuffing the toe of her worn brown boots against the hardwood floors.
Charles opened the locket and was taken aback at the familiar shark-like grin staring back up at him. In the locket was a picture of none other than Erik bloody Lehnsherr. He must have changed his name after what he thought was the death of his only child.
“What is it?” The girl asked self consciously tugging on the skirt of her green dress. Charles only now realized that he had been gaping at the small photograph in complete shock for a bit longer than he thought.
“I know your father very well, actually my dear. He doesn’t go by Max Eisenhardt any more though” he whispered half to himself.