A/N- Here we are, a new update , Yeah!
I know this story is no very popular and I think it might be because it is too gloomy or too demanding, or maybe, just maybe it actually sucks… lol.
I honestly don't know, but I'm not backing down either because I love it to death. And for those of you who still show interest in it, I'm sending all my love. Happy Holidays!
Know thyself
Mind the game -(Chapter ten)
Magneto opened the door to his private chambers without touching the knob or even flicking his wrist towards it, his hands were rather busy charring a tray of food into the room just like a meager servant, none the less he wore a smile on his face, recalling the way Charles had always managed to reduce him into a hopeless admirer ever eager to please.
The room was dark and poorly ventilated; it reeked with sweat and rotten food. He stopped at the entrance, needing time for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before he could locate the boy, not on his bed, but sitting at the corner of the room, bundled up in his filthy sheet, arms wrapped over his chest hugging himself without much comfort.
Even in the shadow of the mucky room, Magneto could follow the outline of the boy's lovely face, narrow chin, lush lips, noble nose, long eyelashes, high forehead, and ivory skin, so beautiful and so young.
"I've heard you gave Beast and Mystique a hard time, quite impressive."
The parallel Charles straightened up on his seat with fear, recognized his tormentor right away and after the initial instinctive fright he struggled to regain his calm.
"There are few gifted individuals that can throw Beast off balance, and seems like you are one of them…" Magneto stepped slowly into the room as he spoke, reaching the table and placing the tray on it."There are even fewer ones that can throw me off balance and turns out that you are one of them too, you see… I've never meant to lose control over my actions the way I did. It will not happen again."
"Is this your sorry attempt asking my forgiveness after what you've done?"
Such a simple question, with such a calm voice, Magneto felt as if his blood turned to ice as those blue intensive eyes were locked on his, boring a way through him like laser beams.
Admitting anything of that kind would be a defeat, that little parallel shit, he was good, he was really good, and Magneto could not have that, will not have that, he was not going to bow out so easily this time around, so he summoned his rage and turned to the youth.
"You get above yourself, boy, and the way down is long and painful. If I remember correctly it was you who came into my house, tried kill me and ended up hurting my men. You fail at your attempted to end my life and I speared you yours, which makes you mine to use as I please, I hold no account to you."
Charles lips curved up into a bitter smile, then he looked away, shutting down again, losing interest in his surrounding, Magneto included.
The metal plate left the table and glided slowly in the air until it landed itself at boy's side, earning none of his attention.
"Eat." Magneto commanded.
Charles glanced at the plate for a second, sniffing the enticing scent of a freshly cooked meal, his stomach cramped with yearning resulted by the last few days of self starvation, but Charles willed it to stop. He reached for the tray, only to push it away.
Magneto narrowed his eyes with a scowl, and the tray traveled back to its place. "There's a human child I keep in a small cell downstairs with the instructions to feed her only with the same amount you take, she's been deprived of any nourishment for the last three days, so if you plan on starving yourself to death, you should know you'll have company."
Charles's eyes widen with terror, he locked gaze with Magneto once more, reaching into his thoughts, only to crush against an invisible wall with much pain. A moan of pure agony escaped his lips, and blood started dripping from his nose, traveling down to his lips and chin.
"I speak the truth." Magneto smiled now, walking the room to lounge himself on a nearby sofa, watching Charles as he struggled with this new information. Would he continue his hunger strike knowing he has an unwilling companion or would he give in?
The boy just sat there, pressed against the wall, licking off the blood from his lips but otherwise not moving.
A sense of unease crept up Magneto's spine, although he gave away no indication of it. Can he do this? Can he watch Charles wither and die in such a manner?
After a long while, stretching into eternity, Charles picked up the tray and began to eat, slowly and reluctantly but eating none the less.
Magneto's lips curved up into a thin smile, celebrating this small victory.
Like a good, obedient boy Charles finished up the meal, cleaning his plate. When he finished he looked up to meet Magneto's gray eyes that glittered with satisfaction. "Please release the child." The telepath said. "I will raise no further difficulties in this manner."
"If you wish it so…" The metal manipulator obliged.
Silence fell between them again, a complete suffocating silence. Charles had never experienced stillness such as this in his entire life, because no matter how strong and high he raised his shields up, there was always a constant murmur to accompany him wherever he went. Now he had only his thoughts to keep him company, and not pleasant ones, filled up with fear, hopelessness and despair. He missed Raven so badly, she always knew how to put his mind at ease.
In this strange silence, Charles took the time to study the man in front of him, his nemesis, the monster he has been trained to kill from an early age but now was sprawling at his mercy.
The man was tall and slender, but his lithe form did not suggest weakness, on the contrary, his body was made of bone and muscles, strong as steel, his mind sharp as a blade, no wonder his Sensei spoke of him with such a resounding respect.
Charles gazed into those silver eyes and tried to assess the situation with calm and logic, the skills that were not yet taken from him.
"Do with me whatever pleases you, and it would still be pointless." He concluded "I've already won."
Magneto eased himself further on the sofa smiling, amused at such bold words leaving such red blooded lips.
"There is nothing you can do to force me into helping you; we will all die on this planet."
Magneto breathed deeply and his smile grew into a smirk. "Have you taken your precious humans into your considerations? I will extend my generous offer- I will save them every one upon this miserable rock and never lay hands on earth in return for your cooperation."
Charles gasped at this tempting offer, but forced himself to calm down again. Slowly he shook his head. "No."
"Why not? Will you condemn all your helpless little humans to death only to see me killed?"
"It is for the greater good." Charles explained with unease that only intensified as Magneto began to laugh. The man had such a strong vibrating laughter, it seemed as though the metal walls had trembled with his chuckles.
"The greater good…indeed…" Magneto's laughter withered into a sigh. "You are X's parallel after all, with his pretentious moral sense and ludicrous god complex. Who are you to decide where the greater good lays, given such thing even exists."
Charles burrowed further into his sheet, the only barrier between him and the world; hiding his face from view smearing blood into the already filthy fabric.
He didn't notice Magneto's leaving his place on the couch, nor did he sense his approach until it was too late, and Magneto was hovering over him, tugging down the sheet to reveal his teary face.
Charles peeked at him through his tears, to find some kind of tenderness in the cold eyes or was it just his wild imagination?
"Look at me…" Magneto whispered to the weeping boy "Do I look like a monster to you?" He did not wait for an answer, and Charles could not give him one while struggling to stop his tears. "If I am one, then I am here among my kin. Do you know what was carved into the walls of the ancient temple of Apollo in Delphi? "Gnōthi seauton"…"Know thyself." The only real aim a man should aspire to achieve in his lifetime. Charles Francis Xavier, do you know what kind of a monster you are?"
The boy did not answer; he just gazed at Magneto through a veil of tears and for a while there was no sound between them but the occasional hitch of a breath. After a while something in Magneto's cold eyes had soften and he turned his gaze away.
"Maybe it is a kindness not to know… Maybe this is the only grace left." The metal manipulator seemed to be mumbling to himself, and while doing so, the bracelets on Charles's wrists melted away and dripped down to be absorbed at the floor.
"We still have some time before this world breaks apart, weeks if we're in luck. I will not seek your help anymore, nor will I harm you in any way. From now on you'll be treated as a guest, free to do as you wish."
"The Osmium… "
"The Osmium barrier will remain, for the sake of my men if nothing more, not to be removed unless you are willing to help us. Other than that, you'll be safe as any of us here really is; I'll pass the word to the brotherhood as I leave. Get cleaned up, get dressed, eat some more and do as you please. If you change your mind let me know, otherwise I have no further interest in you"
XxXxX-XxXxX
About 1000 years ago
Erik held on to the remains of his pleasure, as his arms held onto Charles with a tight, desperate embrace. He was breathing heavily, sweaty and sticky after a hot summer night of love making, at least on his part; Charles on the other hand lay quietly on his back, pale and soft body unmoving like a marble statue, blue eyes fixated on the moonlit ceiling, face not stern but also not revealing any trace of emotion.
Erik sent a finger, tenderly tracing the plump shape of Charles kiss swollen lips "What's on your mind?" he whispered, trying not to take offense as Charles hand smacked his finger away as if it was an irritating fly, although he did try to mask it as a playful whim, it still hurt.
Erik leaned closer instead to kiss Charles's cool cheek.
"Go to sleep." Charles replied softly.
Erik smiled affectionately "I cannot simply go to sleep while something is obviously bothering you, and since I'm not a telepath such as yourself, my dear, I must use words as meek as they might…"
"Stop it! Just cut it out." Charles moved into a sitting position very fast and very roughly, tearing himself away from Erik's embrace.
"Baby, what's wrong?" Erik asked worried, pulling himself up as well.
Charles glanced at him, eyes glittering. "Stop pretending Erik, you know what's wrong, everything is wrong."
"Sweetheart… " Erik sighed, sending his hands to massage Charles trembling shoulders, but even this comforting gesture was not welcomed, and Charles shook away and got up, Erik's worried gaze following him around as he picked his shirt up and then his pants, and then his shoes?
"What are you doing?"
"Getting dressed."
"Why?"
"Because it is a social convention not to appear nude in public."
"Where are you going?"
"Out." And then he truly got out, with a soft thud of the bedroom door.
For a while, Erik just set there, confused and a bit weary but soon he had enough of sitting alone in the quit room hugging his blanket, so he got up and found his robe and slippers and trotted outside into the cloudless night.
He found Charles on the stone bench in the garden; he was beautiful even among the garden roses, legs drawn to his chest, chin resting upon his knees. For a moment all Erik could do was watch, and listing to the cicadas' chirps and breathing in the air which was heavy scented with lilacs.
"I had it stashed in the bushes for two weeks now." Charles said as Erik's gaze fell on the big leather bag below the bench. "It has no metal in it, not even a buckle."
"Are you going somewhere?" Erik asked slowly with a low voice, unwilling to hear the answer.
Charles breathed deeply and his body shivered, he must have spent the last few minutes crying. Moving his hand through his dark locks he nodded, unable to speak.
"Are you coming back?"
Another shake of the head, this time for a 'no'.
Erik could feel the earth trembling under his feet, he had to sit down before falling down, so he took to the edge of the bench, near Charles but not nearly close enough.
"Why?"
"You know why."
"I know I love you, I know you love me too."
"Love has nothing to do with this, Erik."
"So tell me what is!"
"Damn it Erik! Stop! Stop pretending or better yet, stop ignoring the problem!" Charles turned to face the other man, tears streaming down his face. "I can… I can still feel them… slipping away from me, fading into nothing, my… my children…" the telepath burst into uncontrolled tears again.
Erik could only grind his teeth with frustration. It was three years ago, when the humans military elite force commanded by general Striker broke into Charles's estate where he groomed and cultivated with endless love and care the next generation of mutants, just kids, and nearly killed them all, had he not return in time to drive them away.
"We must carry on, love, we must stay strong and keep fighting. We have Genosha now, our new home to defend"
"Genosha is blockaded, and soon to be invaded. Everything is going to happen yet again, fighting, killing, dying… and there's nothing we can do to change it, nothing at all! I… I cannot stay here and watch this happen all over again….I…I cannot do this anymore!"
Erik had no choice but to get closer and hold the shivering telepath, placing a kiss on his temple with silence.
"I am sorry, Erik, I can't!"
"Hush now, it's ok."
"No…" Charles struggled away from Erik's hug. "It is not ok, and it will never be ok!"
"It is only a matter of time before we inherit the earth from those pitiful humans; their time is due, my love. We know it and they know it. The evolution driving force is unstoppable; we only need patience."
"And then what? We'll start fighting among ourselves? Every new generation of mutants would rise against the previous one? An everlasting war driven by the force of evolution? When will it end? No… There must be a better way and I must find it." The young telepath got up and picked up his bag.
"What are you planning to do?" Erik's heart started pounding real fast as fear took over him. Was this really happening? Is his beloved truly planning on leaving him?
"A wise poet once said 'If you cannot change the situation- change yourself', and that's what I'm setting off to do."
"I don't understand…"
Charles took a deep breath and turned to look into his lover's eyes. "I'm a telepath, Erik, I can manipulate minds and wills, and I've been doing it successfully since I was born, but it had occurred to me recently that I've been doing it wrong."
"Charles… what…?"
"I've been wasting enough time and effort, the only mind worth honing and shaping is my own. I'm going to reach my full potential, Erik, I'm going to weed away any obstacle within me that holds this potential back. Once I'm done, I'll have the power to… to put this world out of its misery. Good bye, Erik, good luck."
"Wait!" Erik nearly fell off the bench while getting up. With few strides he managed to catch up with Charles and grab him by the hand. "Wait just a minute, Charles! Think about what you're doing!"
Charles turned to him again and gave him one of his charming smiles. "Don't try to stop me, love, you must let go."
"This is madness, Charles! Come back to bed; let's talk about it in the morning. Please?"
"No." Charles's voice was tender, yet so cruel. "I've been postponing this decision for much too long, there's no turning back for me now." He started pacing away, bathed in moonlight, like a faded dream. It's been weeks now that Erik felt it, felt Charles slipping away, and no amount of kisses or lovemaking could ever draw him near again. The sense of loss was overpowering, squashing him into the ground.
Erik felt tears running down his face. "Ok… all right…" He called after his lover "Do what you must, but come back to me, please say you'll come back." Without noticing, he fell on his knees, first just one, and then the other, and then the mighty Magneto was groveling right there on the gravel.
Charles sighed and placed the bag on the ground than he turned and walked slowly back to him, placing a warm palm on his face to wipe those tears away "I wish I could come back, but even if I do, I'll be different, Erik, you might not recognize me anymore."
"I'll always recognize you, I'll take back as whoever you'll be, just please come back."
"Erik…" Charles whispered softly. "I'm ever so sorry but I'm not coming back. I can… I can erase myself from your memory if it will make it easier for you too…"
"No!" Erik's one hand pulled Charles into a forceful hug while the other banged on his hip. "No, please don't!" he begged and buried his face in Charles's lap like a child. "I beg you…!"
"Alright, I won't." Charles sighed and Erik's other hand joined the other on the small of his back, yet his shivering and moans had not wilted.
"Look at me, Erik, look at me." The telepath commanded "What are you doing on your knees? A proud man such as yourself? A man that one day will hold such a power no one could ever match, not even me…"
/ You must get stronger than this. Never let anyone hold you back, never let your love or empathy come between you and your goals./
"What? What was that? Did you just touch my mind?"
/My last gift to you. Go back to sleep now./
Erik started crying again, but he could hardly keep his eyes open, he was so tiered. He crushed down on the garden floor, ready to doze off where he lay. "I'll never see you again, will I?" he whispered before closing his eyes.
"I don't know… a different me, a different universe perhaps…" Charles mumbled and leaned down to kiss the man's teary cheek. "Good bye love."
Then he picked up his bag again and disappeared into the darkness.
XxXxX-XxXxX
A/N- The last scene, I hope it was not too sappy… until next time, take care!