My father’s grin was clear in his voice as he teased me, despite the precarious position we were in. I recalled a conversation I had with Akari when she told me his flippant, joking attitude during dangerous situations was a sign that he was the strongest, because nothing could ever threaten him. The fact that he had gotten here from across the continent in less than an hour was enough proof of that statement. 

As quickly as he appeared in front of us, he disappeared. A storm of steel feathers flew in all directions, hooking onto any stragglers’ clothing and flying them to safety. The barbules of his feathers picked up any vibrations coming from a human. Breathing, screaming, even heartbeats. Not a single sound was missed in the onslaught of terror caused by the monster. 

In just five minutes, everyone was flown to safety. Father quickly scooped Claire and I up, warning us as he dropped us off with the other evacuees, “We gotta get out of here. Cover your eyes and turn around.”

I was still processing what happened, but I managed to close my eyes, but not turn around. I heard Novaflare shout the name of his signature move loud and clear, and that was all I remembered before being assaulted by the light of a thousand suns.

Eminence’s Supernova!

The ensuing shockwave from the aftermath of Novaforge’s attack washed over me as a violent wave of warm air, pushing me backwards a few inches. As I blinked rapidly in an attempt to recover my eyes, I could vaguely see a billowing pillar of steam ascending with unbelievable speed. As another smaller shockwave of warm air hit me again, I noticed Father’s feathers rapidly rotating around Novaflare who was in the epicenter of the steam pillar. 

Sparks flew around the feathers as they began to slow down. The crowds of people had now begun to chant Father’s name. As the chants grew louder and louder, Father pumped his fist to the sky, shouting the name of the signature move he used to funnel the steam explosion.

Victory Storm!

After his celebration, he hastily flew back to fish an unconscious Novaflare out of the water. Whether he had forgotten about him or let him fall into the ocean on purpose, I wasn’t completely sure. He carried him over and dropped him like a sack of potatoes before landing in front of me.

“Atlas…” he began. “Do you even know how dangerous that could have been? I mean for God’s sake—”

“Vicky! He knows. He knows better than anyone,” Claire said. She turned to me, cupping my face in her hands and pulling me into a big hug. “You did the right thing, Atlas. Don’t let anybody fault you for that.”

She broke into tears as she continued. “You don’t remember this, but when I was still at Novaforge, you were in a villain attack. When that happened, I chose to save other people, thinking you would be alright. When you got hurt— I— Oh God, I couldn’t forgive myself. I told myself that if it ever happened again, I would make sure to save you, even if it killed me. I’m so sorry, Atlas.”

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” I said gently. “Besides, the mother and the little girl are alive. That’s what matters, in the end.” 

As it began to settle in that I had directly helped to save someone, the guilt I carried from my childhood began to dissipate, just a little. It was liberating, to say the least. I knew that this was what I needed to continue doing, even if I was giftless. 

My father clasped a hand on my shoulder. “That’s not what she’s apologizing for. You’ll understand eventually.”

That night, since the first time I moved to Canada, no, since my mother’s funeral, I had a dream that wasn’t a nightmare. The little boy who always nested in my heart, weighing it down and making every breath feel like I was stealing it from someone else finally smiled at me. It wasn’t a sarcastic smile with a tired glare, like at the airport, but a genuine ear-to-ear smile. A smile that filled me with mixed emotions. I was happy to see his smile, but a part of me felt like I didn’t deserve to see his happiness. No, I was the one who failed to save his brother.

But for tonight, I thought to myself. I’ll forget about that.

I was woken up in the morning by Father’s booming voice. He was laughing boisterously downstairs about something with Claire. Not only could I hear his voice clearly projecting through my door, there were ever so slight tremors shaking the floor. Groggily, I walked downstairs to see what the commotion was. 

“Atlas! Good timing! We were just talking about you,” he said. “I was heading here yesterday to deliver you a gift from Akari, before I picked up on the monster alerts.” 

He handed me a red gift bag. Inside was a small box surrounded with red wrapping tissue. Behind the box was a white letter card. I reached in and took the two items out, opening the card first. A smile spread across my face in anticipation that Akari would write me an emotional tear-filled letter in appreciation of my sincere goodbye note. My grin instantly dropped as I read what was actually written, remembering that I had ghosted her just a week prior.

Atlas. You are fucking dead. Just wait until I get my hands on you, you little shit. Akari wrote. I can’t believe you would leave without saying anything and then ghost me. Make sure you apply to Novaforge so I can kick your ass in the Battlefield League. P.S. the old man said I should get you something to remember me by.

Below Akari’s messy chicken scratch that she called handwriting was another message, written with what looked like blood, if the running “ink” at the bottom of each letter was anything to go off.

Kid, if you make another move on my little girl, I will throttle you. I will never accept this relationship. Just know that I didn’t tell Akari to waste anything on you. Watch your back. Love, Uncle Akaza.

“I did warn you,” Father said as I squinted and blinked at the letter, thinking my eyes were playing tricks on me. “What’d she get you?” 

Father peered at the small velvet box in my other hand. I opened it gently, anxious to see what was inside. In the center of the box was a single earring. It had a simple design, just a plain gold ring. As I picked it up, I noticed that the inside of the earring was engraved with something. The letters were far too small for me to see, so I asked Father to take a look at it.

Father simply hummed as he took advantage of his hawk-like vision. He smirked knowingly at me, before tossing the ring to Claire, who nearly dropped it into an air conditioning vent. 

“What does it say?” she wondered aloud, holding the ring up to the light to see better. Her vision was also enhanced, although not to the degree that Father’s was. “Oh. That’s cute. I wish I had a boyfriend.”

She sighed as she flicked the ring back at me. That was weird. 

Of course, Claire complaining about now having a boyfriend was nothing new. I heard her complaining almost every day about it, whether it was on a livestream, to her friends or just her yelling into the void. This was different, though. It almost seemed like she was complaining about something else, something that she couldn’t say. 

My father glanced at her before pulling me to the side. I noticed that his wings were still dull, although his condition was slightly better than it was at the funeral. The stubble on his chin, while usually relatively short, was now growing out. It was unruly and unkempt, as if he didn’t even have the time to be shaving.

“Don’t worry about Claire, she gets like that at this time of the year.” he said to me. “How—”

“How are you doing, Father?” I interrupted. 

He pursed his thin lips as his eyes absently looked side-to-side. He was definitely considering how much to tell me. A sigh escaped his mouth before he pushed his palm against his forehead, running his hand through his black hair.

“Not great, to be honest. I was only visiting to check up on you to tell you in person that I wouldn’t be able to contact you for a while.” 

“What?” I squeaked. “Are you serious? Why?” 

“The entire reason I moved you here was to get away from villain threats. Vancouver has a really high concentration of heroes, so it’s safer than other areas,” Father reminded me.

“Yeah, and New York doesn’t?” I countered.

“Will you let me finish?” Father sounded exasperated. “Villains have been targeting hero families recently, but also, monsters have been attacking much more often across the continent. I’ve been flying non-stop to assist areas with fewer heroes.”

“Atlas, I’m sorry, but it has to be me. I can’t just let innocent people die when I could help them,” he continued. “It’s what your mom would want.”

When he left, all I could think about was how he was right. I knew it was what my mom wanted, and no matter how badly I wanted him to change his mind, to focus a little more on me, I knew he couldn’t. 

You can’t hold him back any more than you already are, Asphodel whispered in my imagination. Ever since Claire had mentioned my old imaginary friend, I referred to the little boy in my dreams as Asphodel. I figured he was the result of a cruel joke God was playing on me, haunting me for the death of my mother. 

“Don’t you think I know that?” I sniffled.