I swear I'll update my other stories soon, but this seemed really good in my head. So. Enjoy!
There's a moment in everyone's life where the innocence of your childhood is torn away. For some, it's a simple as learning Santa isn't real, while for others, it's much, much darker. For some, the moment comes before they've even started kindergarten, while others get to keep the charade up for longer. Most, however, don't last until they're fifteen.
In retrospect, he wasn't surprised it hadn't happened sooner. He knew now that his older brothers had grown up far too fast, that they had to take care of him and the younger. He was the genius, but he didn't realize how awful the world was until years after they did. He realized later how much of their time had been spent protecting his optimism, and he ended up adopting the action for his younger brother, pretending various mythical creatures existed being the largest part. After all, if one of the smartest people you know says they're real, they must be, right?
He had always loved stars. To think that thousands of lightyears away, there were complete galaxies like theirs, completely encompassed in a small light up in the sky! It was amazing, a miracle to a five year old. If something that big was showed as something so small, who's to say something-or someone-small couldn't end up as something huge?
He dreamed of going to the surface and seeing the stars. Occasionally he caught glances from sewer grates, but the streetlights and cars drowned out any good view. He decided to stick to reading, his favorite book one that showed full color prints on every page, each constellation pointed out, small facts in every caption. Most children dreamed of catching the Tooth Fairy or being a superhero, but he dreamed of seeing a twinkle of lights cover the sky.
When he was older, he learned that stars were made primarily of hydrogen and helium, two common elements, and his love grew. Everyone knew about the elements, these weren't anything special, but they made something beautiful, and maybe that applied to mutants, as well! Every time he learned something new, it occupied his thoughts for days, promising him that some day, he'd be someone.
When he was ten, he realized that all the lights in a big city like New York covered the most amazing stars. This seemed like the worst news in existence to him. After all, his entire life had been devoted to something that he would never get to see. But his positivity persevered, and he decided that if the visible stars could shine through everything blocking them, he would as well.
Still, it'd be a lie to say his heart didn't flicker with disappointment the first time he went topside when there was only a scattering of stars instead of the flood he had always seen pictures of.
He couldn't tell you the exact moment he realized he had to grow up. It was everything that had happened in two years, every normal person who said they were freaks, every invention he screwed up, every time he fell, that did it, but if he had to choose, he'd tell you it was the first night in the woods.
He had stood just outside the cabin, eyes wide as he took in the countless stars. This was what he had imagined seeing, thousands upon thousands of glowing dots covering the sky so it hardly seemed dark at all. He had imagined staying outside for hours, identifying every point of interest, but after a few moments, he turned to go inside. It was strangely ironic to him that the same thing that told him he'd be worth something some day could make him feel so small and meaningless.