Eike‘s mental state is something that is very hard
to read from the outside, especially from someone who only
knows him as the cheerful boy.
He is just the person who learned very early on, how to cover
uncomfortable things, with talking, smiling and small jokes.
He just don‘t want to seem, like someone broken, and helpless,
as that are aspects, that are signs of weakness from where he is coming from.
All those happiness is just make up, covering bruises.
Eike‘s plan is simple: Turn pain into humor, awkwardness into
conversations, and internal fear into a bright smile, so people
actually believe that he is doing fine.
Deep down, this make up is just some superficial thing, that keeps
the mountain of guilt unter the surface of his skin. Infact three of his
sisters he has, hate him, blaming him for being the thing that caused
their mother‘s paralysis.
A part of him grew up thinking, that maybe his birth and general existence
has taken something precious from his family, that seemed to have been so
loving, according to the stories his mother told him, laying in her bed.
Eventhough Eike knows, that he could not possibly be the reason the curse
was struck at his mother in the first place, it just makes it emotionally a lot harder.
He never properly let go of this thought.
This part of his past makes him pretty sensitive when it comes to rejection.
If someone suddenly becomes distant, or pulls theirself out of group conversations,
Eike always asks himself, what he did wrong, for the person to behave this way.
Even if he didn‘t do anything at all.
Being afraid of rejection, also makes him feel the need of being liked and included.
While being ignored, and left out most of his childhood, attention acts like some
sort of soothing balm. It signalises him that he might matter to other people.
Such a deep need is also another contribuition to him being this charming boy
most of the people know, That‘s why he talks so much, or smiles through uncomfortable situations.
Now it may seem that all this charm and happiness is just acted and not real.
Eike really can be cheerful and enthusiastic, but sometimes this brightness
he embraces acts as a shield. If he his entertaining enough, maybe the next
people won‘t leave him.
Fear is a powerful thing, but if there is something, Eike is good at, it‘s fighting.
He is stronger, than he gives himself credit for.
Sometimes he forgets that he survived, bullying, family cruelty, physical pain
and the feeling of not fully being wanted in his own household.
However, instead of becoming someone cold, he became quite the opposite.
Instead of hating the world he was living in every day, he became
curious about it.
His mind is something that never rests, is overloaded with emotions
and to full to
take in any more, it still makes room for his creative and hopeful thoughts.
Even if Hope and creativity is something that roams the surface of his soul,
beneath
all this goodness, something much colder is scraping at is insides,
as something trying
to crawl it‘s way outside.
Eike carries feelings he would and could never admit out loud.
Not to his mother, who has always been his safe place, not to his sisters,
not to the world.
They are ugly, really ugly, that also frighten him, because they are aspects,
that don‘t fit the person he is trying so hard to be.
Sometimes beneath all this carried guilt, there is the shimmer of anger.
A dark shimmer blooming brighter and brighter on some rough days.
It‘s not just sadness, not just hurt, but a quite bitter rage toward people
who blamed him for something he never chose.
As he never chose to be born at all.
It makes him angry, it makes him hate
the fact, they, those people made him carry this grief like it belonged to him,
and only him.
And that makes him pretty scared.
Because sometimes he does not only feel
the urge to be understood. Sometimes he just wants those people to feel guilty.
Sometimes he just wants them to look at him and see what they did to him.
To see the numerous scars they left on his skin and on his soul.
Eike is not cruel by nature, but he has learned what cruelty is, and how it works.
He knows how to smile while feeling hurt, or he also knows how to sound cheerful
and harmless, while he hides resentment.
He knows how to make people comfortable
around him, to make them unnoticed to the fact, of how much he is really studying him.
That really is the terrifying part of him.
It‘s not the violence, but the control.
It‘s the ability, to keep everything locked away so perfectly, that noone would notice,
what dark roots some of his thoughts have.
Eike wants to be good, he geniunely wants to.
He simply doesn‘t feel like he could ever fully be happy.

Eike Leoba Aethelgard was born into a Wizardborn family, that lived in a small wizrad-town on the Faroe Islands. His parents both held jobs, that had established them to travel a lot around the world. All places were as unique, as the names of their five children. His father, Jógvan worked as a reowned magizoologist. A man that liked to explore the world of the magical creatures. While his mom, Apolline had been known across several countries as an international Quidditch Player. She is a sharp-eyed Woman, but with a big heart. Eike is the youngest of five children. Their parents had bought a big house in an all wizard town. everything surrounding the, was green and buzzing with life all the time. Life was good. The family was even awaiting another addition.

However even before Eike was born, everything changed, on a Wednesday night in August.
The normally quiet wizard-town they lived in, was being attacked by dark wizards. Windows just suddenly shattered into a million of pieces, Curses flew through the air, people ran through the streets, trying to save theirselves and their loved ones. Among all this chaos and drama, was Jógvan, trying to protect as many people he could, leading them to where it was safe. The air was thick of smoke, and everywhere were burning houses.

During all this chaos, a dark shadow of an even darker wizard made his way towards the family‘s home.
Hearing the children‘s voices he stormed into the house, only to find a woman standing there, despite being pregnant, ready to fight him. Apolline pointed her wand at him, while her shoulders were tense, her eyes remained on the wizard infront of her. she was ready to defend her family from the one‘s who threatened them. However before she could even be prepared to cast the first spell, the Wizard rose his wand, and send a curse flying towards her. Thankfully she reacted in the last second and used a protective charm. The curse still struck her, even as the protection charm had stopped most of it, from reaching Eike directly, the force still slammed into her body. It struck her stomach, sending a burning pressure, through her body. The curse tore downward through her spine and legs, making her double over and lead to dropping her wand, her fingers suddenly going numb and lifeless. The sudden lost of strength in her legs made her crash on the floor of her living room. She tried regaining her standing position, but she was no longer the master of her body. She no longer felt anything from shoulders down, no stirring in her legs, no motion at all. It was as if the Curse took the power she had all her life long. She just lay there, silently praying for Eike to be okay. Eike‘s father appeared just in Time, and struck him with a Petrificus Totalus spell, making the Wizard fall over, frozen in place, unable to move. After the wizard got immobilized by Eike’s father, other Town habitants kept him secure, till the authorities arrived later on.

Apolline was later brought into St.-Mungo Hospital as there was no specialist in the area they lived, that focused on sudden loss of power over it‘s own body. However there was no cure to the now paralysation caused by dark magic. After the news that there would be no chance, she would ever move her body shoulder downward again, something in Apolline broke. The once so fierce and independet woman was now reduced to someone, who couldn‘t do anything alone anymore. She struggled with the fact she wasn‘t the master of her own body anymore. Being a former Quidditch player, her life was filled with movement. Losing the ability to move her legs and arms meant losing a part of her identity.

Not only did the curse leave behind damage on his mother‘s body, it also affected Eike. When parts of the curse had slipped through the weak shield and hit the body of Eike‘s mother, the dark magic had scattered into fragments, and had spread through her body, also gathering where Eike‘s legs and feet were still forming and developing. His right leg and foot took the most damage. The magic had wrapped around those tiny bones who where easy to shatter. It had thightened around the ankle, pulled at it‘s tendons, and forced the delicate foot inward. The bones did not break, they just grew wrong and deformed. The muscles shortened in uneven directions, while the heel turned slightly , and the foot curled into himself. Something that couldn‘t be fixed. This deformation that wasn‘t discovered until Eike was finally born.

Eike was brought into this world via C-Section.

When it was discovered that he had a deformed leg and foot, the healers tried to force it back into it‘s normal place, through herbs and potions. But nothing helped. The curse had altered his bones and tendons so much, that the deformity had become a part of his natural anatomy. Even the healers realised after some time, that there was not much they could do, without risking any further damage.

Being disabled, resulted into a big disadvantage when it came to walking. It was never easy. Every day things took longer and costed more energy. Stairs felt unclimbable, walking was painful at first, and those exercises to help him get better were exhausting. There were nights were Eike was crying because of the pain. Despite being in pain, Eike never gave up, even as he was still a toddler. When he fell he got up, and tried again.

Eventually moving around became his favourite thing to do.

When he was 4 years old, he got his very own cane. He was getting taught how to use it properly. Eventhough he doesn’t need it all the time. On good days, he is able to limb short distances without assistance. Walks on uneven terrain,and for a longer period of time, the cane was still necessary. He mostly used the cane outdoors.

In addition to getting a cane, Eike had to attend regular appointments with magical healers, that specialized in physical rehabilitation. As his family was financially pretty wealthy, they could afford private treatment, and a caretaker that would take him to his appointments.

All those aspects strengthend his love to move.

Over the years the love for moving transformed into the desire to dance. Even with his disability. It was strange for someone who had trouble walking properly, but that didn‘t stop him.

Soon enough his spirit was drained by the constant nagging of the other children from the families that normally were very friendly. They found it funny how such a boy with a disability would be able to walk, let alone dance. They mocked the way he took steps. Sooner or later mocking wasn’t the only thing that happened, whenever the kids began nagging him. They began kicking against his leg, taking away his cane and insulting him worse than before.

Even his own home wasn‘t a save haven anymore and didn‘t protect him from the constant bullying. Three of his four sisters were as cruel as the other children, Eike encountered every day. Their dislike towards him, grew upon the grief of their mother not being able to do anything again. This grief slowly turned into anger and than into pure hatred. In their minds, Eike was the reason for her not being able to pursue what she loved. He was the child, their mother had sacrificed her ability to walk again. Deep down, burried beneath their hatred, they knew he hadn’t chose any of this, but they cared too less to not blame Eike for it. They called him cursed, a monster even.

When their father was away, which happened often, due to his job as a magizoologist, his sisters knew they could treat him like they wanted, as their mother couldn‘t do anything anymore, beside staying in bed.

Only his eldest sister Hò-ó stood beside him, and protected him. She was the one that helped him bandage up, and always told him, that it wasn‘t his fault what happened to their mom.

But even she wasn‘t always there to protect him.

Gladly Eike could have some peace, when all his sisters began to leave for Durmstrang.

Now being alone at home, when his sisters were at school, and being the only child with a deformation in the Aethelgard Family, his father decided, it would be the best if he was homeschooled. Jógvan argued it was only for his best, but it was clear even he was ashamed of having a disabled son, that caused the love of his life so much suffering. Rather working on his own guilt, he began associating those memories, those failures with Eike. His son‘s disability became a constant reminder of that attack. He provided the things for Eike, but he couldn‘t stand being together with him, or being emotionally there for him. That‘s why he decided to hire a teacher.

So there was young Eike at the House‘s table, with some teacher, that tried teaching him about some literature, that didn‘t even interest Eike that much. Even seeming to be uninterested, he showed some sort of talent for literature and all sorts of writing. His teacher, Lady Tessa, was the only one who discovered this hidden talent. She encouraged him to unfold his talent, while also being someone who listened to his endless stories, and never made him feel like less, just because he struggled physically. One day she listened to him babbling, how he loved to move around outside, and how he always wanted to see a ballet performance, as his sisters always used to talk about it. Tessa felt bad for the boy, as he was alone most of the time, and nobody took care of him, expect the caretakes that came in every day. A few days later she came back with two tickets to a danish natioanl opera house, that held a Ballet performance.

The moment the performance began, Eike was captivated by the dancer‘s movements. Every step they made, seemed so effortless, eventhough Eike understood that every move they made required enormous physical dicipline. His eyes had traced the dancers, watching them leap and turn, while looking utterly etheral in their Tutus. Watching this performance ignited a spark in this little boy, letting the seed of love for dancing grow even bigger.

From this moment on, ballet, and dancing in general became his safe haven.