Part 2:
Trigger warning: Holocaust imagery.
A man knocks on the door of the Xavier mansion. Mother answers, and there is urgent whispering. Charles drags his teddy to the top of the stairs and peers down through the railing.
Mother collapses to the floor with a wail. She's clutching a bundle of cotton to her chest.
That was the day the mahogany hardened and cracked and broke.
Three days after, Mother kneels in front of him and adjusts a black tie around Charles' neck. He looks at her in confusion and touches his fingertips to the pearls around her neck.
'Now where has Teddy got to?' Mother asks with a tight smile.
Charles pointed to the chair Teddy was propped up on and Mother picked him up.
'I'm just going to borrow Teddy for a while, okay?'
It's not okay, but his heart aches and shudders at seeing his mother so destroyed, so Charles nods. After the ceremony, which is full of sad faces and welling tears but Charles just doesn't understand.
That night, Mother settles him into bed and strokes his hair.
'I have something for you.'
She pulls out Teddy and the toy has been restuffed. He's a little warm when Charles hugs him close.
'I think Daddy would have liked it.' Mother says. Her eyes shine with tears and Teddy's are black buttons with white thread.
This is the first time Charles' mind reaches out and touches another.
Look at him, Brian, my love. See our golden boy.
Charles climbs out of his blankets and wraps his little arms around her neck. They hug fiercely, Teddy warm and soft between them.
Schmidt has Erik accompany him on a walk through the camp every second day. It's a threat, or a reminder, or merely continuing to stoke at the building rage that Erik carries.
Erik is tucked under Schmidt's arm and he can't shake it off. Shaved and pale and gaunt, the women all look the same. The Doktor points out one with the same bright eyes as Mama, and the only way to flinch away is to bury his face in Schmidt's chest.
There is a mountain of shoes behind the showers, the smoke stack billowing grey above them. Each shoe is unique and devastating.
The second mountain they pass isn't quite discernable at first. Misshapen objects all bundled together, soldiers sorting them into smaller piles, being carted away by the shaved women with a sickened look on their faces. They get closer and Erik sees it for what it is.
They're hearts. Hundreds of piled up hearts, made of silver and leaves and chalk. A wax heart tumbles down the pile and a bubbling laugh escapes, the wisps of laughter spiralling into the winter sky.
A second heart makes its escape, a little brown sparrow with a crumpled wing darts from under the shattered glass and takes flight.
Herr Doktor Schmidt ends another heart with the crack of his pistol.
Charles is seven when Mother tells him to comb his hair and come downstairs to meet Kurt Marko. Marko is a big brute of a man, with a furrowed brow and thick, sausage fingers and Mother says he'll be Charles' step-father.
Beside him is a red-haired, sour-looking boy, his arms crossed over his chest. Cain Marko, Mother says, you two will be the best of brothers. Charles smiles at him, but is rewarded with only a scowl.
Charles tilts his head and stares at Cain. There's a stab of pain at his right temple and he winces as he rubs it. He feels the sharp edges of Cain's ruby heart and knows of the purple bruising on his ribs.
The way Kurt Marko looks around the Xavier mansion makes Charles frown, but his golden heart won't permit him to do much more. He settles for asking after the man's heart.
Pyrite, is the answer.
That afternoon, Charles heaves a large encyclopaedia to the reading armchair, knocking over a chessboard in the process. He settles the huge book on his legs, his bare feet dancing side to side off the edge of the seat along to the wireless until Charles finds his answer.
Pyrite. The book says. Fool's Gold.
Sorry for the epically short chapter, but I couldn't find a good place to break the next one. So, short now, long in a couple of days or so. Good deal? Please review! Tell me what you think!