Writer's missing...again. To all who are reading my other stories...I'm sorry. I truly am sorry.
Next update for those stories will probably be sometime next week. I'm going on a trip tomorrow. It's going to be for about 4 days at least, a week at most. It depends on how much fun my family and I have. Bringing laptops is a big no-no according to my mom so no updates...Yeah, sorry about that.
Okay, so I've been looking around and I see all these stories about Shaw taking Charles and trying to turn him evil (Star Wars much?). I was like, this is such an awesoovy (Haha! I didn't use awesome!) idea.
So here's my take on it. This story will probably not be updated as often as my other stories just because they're more important to finish right now.
Warning!: This chapter doesn't feature much of it. But there will be references to what the Jews were forced to do in the concentration camps. Again, this chapter barely has any of this stuff but some chapters will feature a lot of it.
Warning 2!: English is not my second language okay? I just started learning English about a year ago. I just want to let you know there is probably going to be some grammatical errors in the story. So yeah.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. The characters from X-Men First Class belong to Marvel Comics.
Fear not the flame of my love's candle
Let it be the sun in your world of darkness
Give unto me all that frightens you
I'll have your nightmares for you
If you sleep soundly
Give unto Me by Evanescence
Requiem of the Fallen Kings Ch. 1: Ghosts
Charles walked through the halls of his mansion. It was very late at night but he had no intentions of falling asleep. There were a lot of thoughts that were plaguing his mind and with no signs of them letting up, sleep was out of his reach.
Not only that, the occupants of his mansion were screaming at him with their thoughts. All of them were suffering from nightmares. He did his best to calm them down. He sent a comforting wave in their direction and hoped it would be enough to relieve them of their torment.
Slowly, their minds began to calm down. One by one, he lulled them into peaceful dreams. But one stayed writhing painfully in his nightmare.
Erik.
Charles knew very well of the torture his friend had endured because of Shaw. When he first connected with Erik's mind, he had accidentally delved far deeper than what was necessary. In an instant his mind was assaulted with a barrage of emotions, thoughts and horrible memories. It was painful to deal with the such a sudden invasion but he managed to negate its effects long enough for him to save Erik.
Now, Erik needed saving again, though this time it was not from Death's wicked grip but from a nightmare. Erik was in obvious need of something stronger that the temporary feelings of solace. But he couldn't do much else to help his friend other than send pulses of comfort because of the distance between them.
His decision made, Charles began to length his strides and quicken his pace until he was flat-out running. It didn't take him very long to reach his destination.
He carefully opened Erik's bedroom door and stepped into the dark room. Even with the low light, he still saw the thrashing figure on the bed. Charles cringed at the sheer aura Erik was emitting. It was filled with so much pain and agony. He paused and summoned his mental walls to defend against Erik's unintentional army.
He knelt beside the bed and tried to place his fingers on Erik's temples but he couldn't due to the fact that his friend moved away every time. Feeling slight guilt, Charles connected with Erik's mind and froze him.
He was hesitant to establish such a deep connection between them. He had connected with minds before to help relieve people of their nightmares, but he had never dealt with a nightmare as strong as Erik's. Charles wasn't that worried about himself, he was more worried about Erik. Since he was the one with the telepathic powers, he had a better chance of protecting himself from whatever issues the connection might bring up. Erik however, did not posses any powers of that sort.
If he did anything wrong, Erik would surely suffer the consequences.
But it was the only way to rid Erik of his demons, even it for a night. He closed his eyes and amplified the connection he already had with Erik. He steered clear of Erik's memories and rushed straight for his nightmare.
Once in the nightmare, Charles a wave of dizziness washed over him. He never entered a dream or nightmare before, at least not to the extent of actually becoming a part of it. When he shook himself of his disorientation, he searched for friend.
He walked through the muddy grounds of the world he entered. It was raining heavily making the ground even harder to walk on. He only marched for about a couple minutes before he came across a big metal gate. It was twisted and distorted, almost as if a bunch of kids thought it was nice to beat it up with bats. He placed a hand against the rusted metal, he knew exactly how important this gate was to Erik.
Above him, a couple words were engraved into the iron gate.
ARBEIT MACHT FREI
Charles didn't know German but he still felt the power behind the words.
"Charles?" Charles turned around to face Erik, "Is that...really you?" He stared at the telepath with disbelief and surprise.
"Yes, it's me my friend."
"That can't be, you're supposed to be dead." Erik responded, slowly backing up.
"Dead, Erik? How can I be dead if I'm standing right in front of you."
"No, this is just another trick."
"I assure you that I am real. This is no trick Erik, I really am alive."
"I saw you. I saw your dead body right in front of my eyes!"
"You're having a nightmare, my death wasn't real. I'm alive! Wake up my friend. Wake up."
"Get the hell out of my head Shaw!" Erik roared as he charged forwards and grasped Charles' neck, hoisting the smaller man up in the air. Charles' hands flew to Erik's on instinct. He tried in vain to pry it off. He could feel his air supply slowly being cut off as the hand tightened. His focus faltered as black spots danced across his vision. Charles panicked, this was exactly what he did not want to happen.
His control over his power was slipping just as his hold on consciousness was. Charles gathered up all his remaining strength and fired a mental bolt at Erik.
The result was instantaneous.
Erik was flung backwards, letting go of Charles in the process. Charles collapsed to the ground, gasping and wheezing. He rubbed his neck and stood up. He was a bit wobbly at first but he regained his balance.
"My friend, I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Charles said as he ran towards Erik's convulsing body. Erik didn't say anything in reply as he grabbed Charles' arm, eyes blazing with rage.
"I told you Shaw. Get. Out. Of. My. Head!" Just before Erik's fist connected with his face, Charles managed to pull himself out of the nightmare. Safely out of harm's range, Charles let out the breath he was holding.
That was close, too close. If Erik's fist had hit him...Charles didn't even want to think about what might have happened.
He curled his lips in thought, going into Erik's nightmare again was something he did not want to do again. Now he had to think of another way to help Erik.
'Maybe I could send him another comfort wave, the connection is stronger so maybe it will work this time.' He thought as he geared himself up for what he was about to do. He concentrated and sent out a wave of comfort, the strongest one yet, and waited patiently for the result.
What he didn't expect was Erik to block the wave and send it crashing back to him.
Charles wasn't really affected by the wave, he was the one who made it after-all, but the feeling of Erik shutting him out hurt him very much. Just the idea of being completely cut off from his friend...
He pushed the thought away violently. Right now, Erik was important.
After a long moment of deliberation, he finally had another plan. This time, instead of trying to help Erik get through his nightmare, he was going to take it away. He had done this sort of thing before but with thoughts. It was risky but it was the safest thing to do out of all the other things he had thought of.
Charles reached out to the nightmare and brushed the surface. Almost immediately, he felt Erik resist him but Charles didn't stop reaching out to him. After a few seconds, he pulled himself out of Erik's mind, towing the nightmare with him. Charles snapped their mental connection and opened his eyes.
He found two green orbs staring right at him.
"Err...hello?"
Charles didn't even last two seconds before Erik kicked him out of the room. He winced at the sound of the door slamming shut behind him. He sighed and took one last fleeting glance at the closed door before leaving. He made his way towards the kitchen and brewed himself a cup of tea.
Sipping his tea, Charles allowed himself to get lost in the nightmare he took from Erik.
Smoke.
Fire.
Screams.
A young Erik looked away from the pit before him. Herr Doktor clasped his shoulder and forced him to look back at the fiery flames. Young Erik protested with all his might but Herr Doktor was much too strong.
"This is where you'll work for the time being Erik." Herr Doktor told him with an emotionless voice, "Welcome to the crematorium - Oh look, your first one already."
Young Erik fearfully turned around and gasped at the sight of the dead body of an adult male. His skin was pale and marred with wounds all in various stages of healing, the most prominent one being the large 'X' on the man's chest. But what scared Young Erik the most were his azure eyes. Open and absent of life.
Dead.
"Well Erik? What are you waiting for?"
He shook his head and choked back a sob. He wouldn't do it, he couldn't do it.
Herr Doktor sighed. He shoved the dead man's body into Young Erik's arms and stepped aside, revealing a fourteen year-old boy behind him.
"Erik meet Lukas. Lukas, Erik." He said offhandedly, already pressing a gun to Lukas' temple.
Young Erik took a step back and dropped the body he was holding. It made a terrible noise as it slumped to the ground much like a pile of meat would. Images of his mother's bleeding body resurfaced in his mind.
"What's it going to be? The body of a dead man or the body of a live young boy?"
A body fell into the fire.
Never shall he forget the smell of burning flesh.
Never shall he forget those eyes.
Charles inhaled sharply, breaking out of his reverie. He clutched his head and locked the nightmare away deep inside his mind.
There was no way he was sleeping now.
He dumped his cold tea in the sink and left to find his piano room. Playing the piano always helped pass the time and it put his mind at ease. It was exactly what he needed after seeing what he just saw.
He locked the door behind him and approached his piano. He sat on the wooden bench and curled his fingers over a couple keys. Closing his eyes, he struck the keys and a melodious chord resounded throughout the room.
Soon his fingers were flying over the keys, the notes striking deep into his soul. He hummed along with the song that was forming.
Minutes passed - but to him it felt like an eternity - and his song was done.
He was about to play another one when a dark chord came from the piano. His eyes widened in fear as he looked to his left.
Shaw.
He saw no more.
ARBEIT MACHT FREI - Work makes you free/ Work liberates
These words were put on almost every concentration camp gate. The most infamous being the words written on the gate leading to Auschwitz I.
So there you have it. Chapter 1.