No matter how hard he was hit or how long it went on, it was always his fault and he was told to stop antagonizing his sister. He curled up and covered his head, taking the beatings more quietly when their grandma stormed in and told him to stop yelling. Day to day, it was the same schedule they had him on. Up at seven in the morning, dress him, make him eat breakfast, then it was off to school. He always felt that he could breathe easier at school because he got bullied there, but would rather be bullied and beaten by a thousand strangers than two members of his family. At school, the kids messed up the classroom and got loud, started arguing loudly if they were near Nova and left messes on his desk because everyone knew they wouldn't get punished for it, he would. He tried not to let it bother him most of the time but every once in a while, he couldn't help but cry. As the years passed, the insults, snide remarks and rude comments got worse and nobody chose to help him but she refused to let them win. He knew it was wrong and would fight it until he died if he had to.

As they got older, his sister found new ways to hurt him and Nova couldn't help but admire her creativity. By the time he was eleven, his sister had tried to kill him three times, had stabbed him with a blunt object, touched him in a way no child should be touched, he adapted to a lifestyle of survival. The only adult who listened to him was their mother, so it was natural he'd want to live where he wasn't hurt. The opportunity arrived on September eighth, a few months after he turned eleven, and he moved that weekend. Due to the way he'd already been raised, Nova was terrified of everything and was hyper aware of his actions, apologizing like his life depended when he thought he made a mistake, he cleaned the entire apartment, except his mom's room, every day as he'd been taught, he asked permission to go to the bathroom as he'd been told to, and his mom had no idea how to respond the first time he asked. She finally managed to say that a person didn't need to ask permission to use a toilet in their own house.

Nova quickly learned two things that would shape his future; moving in with his mother was not worth the abuse to come, and school was going to become much more difficult as he became more panicked every day. The students mocked him for jumping at loud noises, they touched his body when they found out how startled he got, the rumors spread about him would ruin an adult's career and he isolated himself more and more as the days passed. He went to therapy against his will but managed to form a bond with the therapist and told her the truth of his life, from his growing anxiety to the things his mother did, and whenever he hurt himself. Nothing was ever done to help him, even with the therapist, and he began to close himself off to everything around him. He was an empath and could tell when someone was lying, when they told the truth, and how they were feeling at their core, he forced himself to close the "gate" that allowed his empathy to work. He became cold to anyone who looked at him, he would rather come off as cruel and violent if it meant he didn't have to be hurt anymore.

His family had always berated and insulted him for his sexuality, but once he came out as transgender and identified as male at fourteen years old, he recieved the same backlash he did when he hinted at the same thing as a child. He became terrified to tell anyone about that part of himself and realized that if he started to transition at all, his family would physically attack him or even try to kill him again. More often than not, he shoved it down and forced himself to say he lied and was just confused, letting himself be misgendered everyday. The next year would make him take a drastic turn of life.