Atlas POV

My fingers drummed an impatient beat on my knees as I waited anxiously for the plane to depart. Every time I boarded a plane, something in my heart ached. A pit formed in my stomach as I thought about how inconvenient not having a gift was. A flight from New York to Vancouver was six hours. If I had Father’s gift, it would only take me about an hour. 

No. Stop.

I heard Akari’s voice speaking to me. 

You’re strong. You don’t need a gift to be a hero.

The first time we met was in a preschool where we got into a fight for the first time. She beat me to a pulp, of course. But after the fight when Uncle Akaza took us to a restaurant to make up, she was the one who said I could become a hero. 

Memories of my school life at the Academy flooded into my mind. Akari was the only constant in all of them. The familiar comfort of a pale face, with crimson red hair, matching her eyes. The sharp-toothed smile that I loved seeing, the arms that would hold me when I needed it most, the warm touch that I relied on when things got tough. I was about to leave it all behind. It was starting to settle in as the plane began to take off.

I plugged in the headphones provided to me to listen to music as I dozed off. The plane ride was peaceful, apart from the occasional bit of turbulence. Sometime in the middle of the flight, the man next to me tapped my shoulder to wake me up. I quickly took my headphones off and turned to face him.

“Pardon me, young man,” he said. He was a man with a heteromorphic gift, which meant that he had the appearance of a humanoid centipede. His antennae twitched nervously as he asked if he could watch the news on my screen display, since his wasn’t working. He explained to me that due to the nature of his gift, being away from the ground caused him extreme anxiety, which was only made worse by the turbulence.

“I’m really sorry to wake you up, you must have been startled by how I look.”

“Oh, no, not at all. My father is actually a heteromorph as well, so I get it. People really come in all shapes and sizes.”

“That’s a great outlook, young man. If only more people accepted mutants as easily as you do.” he said with a bittersweet smile. 

I wasn’t particularly engaged in my music, so I flicked through the channels until I found a local Canadian news channel. The poor man looked like he really needed something to immerse himself in. The news was pretty boring, only including relatively mundane and standard everyday happenings. Suddenly, a breaking news segment caught my attention.

“We have just been informed that yesterday’s kidnapping accident resulted in the death of Novaflare’s oldest child, Astrophel Feng. His other child, the younger twin sister, Aurora is currently receiving burn treatment at the Vancouver General Hospital. There are no other major injuries. Novaflare has since issued the following statement.”

A recording of a press conference held by Novaflare, the top Canadian hero and 2nd ranked global hero began to play. He was a handsome man, often accurately described as having the looks of a Hollywood star. However, his handsome looks were nowhere to be found. His white hair was singed and his eyes were sunken into his face, causing a haggard and disheveled presence.

His eyes were red and swollen, barely hidden by the effects of makeup and editing. I recognized his expression. It was the exact expression my father had when he held a press conference regarding the death of Mother. My heart panged with sympathy as I thought about how cruel it was to force heroes to hold press conferences in times of grief. 

“They should give him time to grieve,” the man next to me said, as if he was reading my mind. When he caught me staring at him, he smiled apologetically. “Pardon me, my antennae are sensitive to emotions. Didn’t mean to intrude on your feelings like that.”

“That’s quite alright, no need to apologize,” I said before turning my attention back to the broadcast. Novaflare’s voice was hoarse as he addressed the media. 

“First off, I would like to offer my sincere apologies to the workers of the nuclear plant that were endangered by my lack of care. The fact that my children were used as hostages against me is deeply shameful, and should never have been allowed to happen under my watch. Furthermore, I would like to extend my thanks to Edgewing, for stepping in and rescuing everyone while I was containing the fire. If not for him, I fear I may have lost my daughter in the accident as well.”

He paused for a moment and looked down, before wiping his tears with a handkerchief. 

“Finally, for the villains who kidnapped my daughter. I will stop at nothing to make sure you are brought to justice. There is nowhere on the surface of this earth that you can hide from me. I will burn anything in my path to bring you down, even if it costs me my life.” 

With his last sentence, he torched the handkerchief in his hand and closed the press conference. A moment of silence out of respect for the deceased commenced as I closed my eyes and reflected on my argument with Father. I didn’t know half of what he was going through. I figured that because he was the greatest, as soon as he showed up, everything would be okay. Knowing what he was like, the life of a child being lost on his watch explained the dull state of his wings.

“It’s truly disgusting that villains feel the need to attack innocent children of heroes to get an edge over them, isn’t it?” the centipede man asked me.

I nodded my head, still thinking about my father. 

“You know, I really admire Edgewing.” 

I snapped out of my thoughts, turning to face the man. Did he know who my father was? 

“He’s done a lot for mutant-types like me, and it’s crazy how even while he was mourning Elemix’s death, he was able to step in and resolve what could have been a continental crisis.” 

I pursed my lips, focused on how the man used the word “while” and not “instead.” 

“Does the term ‘mutant’ not offend you?” I asked, glad that he didn’t seem to know my relation to Father. 

“I mean technically, we’re all mutants, aren’t we? I never thought of the word as particularly offensive, but I understand the historical connotation behind why some people might find it offensive. ”

“I suppose you’re right. By the way, I want you to have this.” I reached below the seat in front of me and fished an autograph from my father out of my bag. He had given it to me as a joke, saying that it would help me make friends at my new school if I gave them signed merchandise. I figured that if most people didn’t know Father had a child, then I would be better off leaving it that way.

The man’s eyes widened. “Where did you get this? I heard he rarely signs anything!”

“Ah, I’m his son. Keep it a secret though, okay?”

“I see. I didn’t know he had a son. Sorry about your mom, young man.” I was internally thankful that he didn’t ask how I was feeling, or tell me he understood what I was going through. 

As the conversation wrapped up, the flight began to land. While walking through customs, thoughts began to swirl around my mind. I wondered why everyone knew about Akari and Novaflare’s kids, but when it came to me, everyone was surprised to learn that Edgewing had a son. 

I thought back to the centipede man consoling me about Mother’s passing. Another wave of sadness washed over my heart. I reminded myself of my promise to her, to carry on with a smile, but when tears began to spill against my will, I felt guilty. Just why did I make a promise I wouldn’t be able to keep?

I passed through customs without any obstruction, since I technically had dual citizenship from my father’s side. The airport was breathtakingly beautiful. As I headed down the escalator to the area for arrivals, I stared at the massive aquarium mounted to one of the walls. The sight of the blue backdrop and the different species of fish brought back fond memories of when I would visit the aquarium on my parents’ days off. 

A sense of deja vu suddenly washed over me as I recalled my memories of the aquarium. I had been to this airport before. And I was here with someone important to me. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I tried to ignore the cloudy buzzing slowly starting to fill my head. It seemed like the harder I tried to remember, the more the memory faded.

The last thing I remember before blacking out and falling face-first down the escalator was the face of the older of the two boys who would show up in my dreams. Only this time, I could see what his face looked like when it wasn’t covered with rubble. He was a boy with dark blue hair and red eyes, with a gaze meaner than any boy of his age should have had.

“You sure like looking at the fish, don’t you?” he chuckled sarcastically with a smile on his face. “Come on, before I leave you behind.”