Chapter Text
For as long as he could remember, his mum always told him that he was special.
Blessed.
Destined.
All because of a handful of freckles on his neck.
His mum said they aren’t just freckles, of course. They’re stars. His own personal constellation, that match an actual constellation even, way up in the heavens. He can remember the first time she pointed it out to him, whispering the names of all the stars as she traced her fingers along the matching spots on his tiny neck.
He was kissed by the gods, she said. They gave him his stars so he could one day find the special person who was going to love and cherish him always. He would know them because they would have their own stars, just like him. She told him the story, every night before he went to sleep, of Altair and Vega, the ‘star-crossed lovers’ who had made their way across galaxies to be together. She showed him the constellation that matched his own, so he would know his soulmate when they met.
He worried of course, even then, that she was just making it all up to make him happy. Happiness was hard to come by. He worries about other, more serious stuff now.
He looks out at the snowy landscape, his little sister clutched in his arms, the sound of gunshots ringing in his ears. He feels numb, but he’s not sure it’s from the cold. He squeezes Lizzy tighter to him, stroking her hair as she sobs softly into his shirt, as they are carried to some sort of weird plane, and taken far away from their home, away from their parents.
He doesn’t know how much time has passed when they finally arrive wherever it is they’ve been brought, but Lizzy is asleep now. He looks down at her tiny tear-stained face for a moment, before he gets tugged up by one of the men who’d been sitting with them. He hears them talking, but he can’t understand a word they say. They lead him out of the plane-thing, towards a big building next to a thick forest. It’s nighttime now, he thinks numbly. He tilts his head up, realizing he might not get another chance to see the stars for a while.
He looks around quickly before he spots them. He takes a breath, shaking, as he lists the stars in his head.
Aladfar.
Sheliak.
Sulafat.
Xihe.
Chasoň.
Vega…
He squeezes his eyes shut, hears the doors closing behind him as they step into the building. He doesn’t make a sound as they’re led through more and more doorways. His arms are straining with the effort of carrying Lizzy, but he won’t put her down, won’t let her out of his sight, not for one second.
They finally stop walking, there are more adults in front of him now, talking again, and he doesn’t hear a word they say until he catches “grab the girl” and then suddenly he’s screaming.
He’s too small, too weak, to do anything when they tear her from his arms, but he screams, rages, trying to claw back to her, and she’s crying again, wailing and calling his name. He makes a desperate lunge for her before he feels a sharp sting in his neck. He stumbles, vision blurring, and he calls out brokenly for her before he collapses, and everything goes dark.