"I have never been so insulted in my life!" The princess flounced out of the room, heading straight for the main doors, ignoring how King Kurt tried to stop her.

"You can't be leaving already!" The King yelled, trying to force politeness into his voice, "Your parents promised a marriage ceremony within a week!"

"Your son is a thug!" She turned and glared at the King, "I was promised a marriage to the Crown Prince, and instead you throw… that at me!"

She sent a vicious glare back at the doors that she'd just come through, where Cain was stood, before storming out, slamming the doors behind her. King Kurt spun around, "Be a gentleman." He hissed, "What was so hard about that?!"

"It's hard to be a gentleman when that bitch can't take her eyes off of Charlie."

Of course.

What girl would look twice at Cain, when the gentle Crown Prince was nearby.

"Right." Kurt growled, storming off in the direction of the gardens, where he knew the Crown Prince and his sister were going to be.

"CHARLES!" He bellowed, quickly catching sight of the Prince, stomping over to him and back-handing him across the face, sending the young man to the ground, "HOW DARE YOU! STAY OUT OF SIGHT! WASN'T THAT WHAT I SAID? OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND!"

Raven glared at him, helping her brother to his feet as the young man winced. "My apologies." Charles mumbled, "I just needed a bit of fresh air."

"Cain is to be married first, remember?"

"But…" Charles frowned, "… I have to get married by my next birthday. That's the law if- "

"- If you're to keep your position as Crown Prince, I know." Kurt smirked, "Why do you think I'm focusing on Cain first?"

Without waiting for a reply, King Kurt stormed away again, leaving the two siblings alone.

"Charles… are you okay?"

After being stunned into silence for a moment, Charles glanced over at his sister, forcing a smile onto his face, "Of course I am… don't worry about me."

"But- "

"- It'll all be alright." Charles glanced towards the walls that surrounded the garden, "Maybe it'll be better if I'm just… not here anymore."

….

"SHAW!" Cain bellowed, storming into the throne room, "SHAW, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

"You called Your Highness?"

Cain spun around to glare at the advisor, "Have you found that so-called magic lamp yet? If I don't find a bride before Charlie boys' next birthday, then I can kiss that throne goodbye!"

"There have been some… complications."

"Great! Just great!" Cain started to pace, "Charlie can't have that throne, he just can't!"

"I understand your frustration Your Majesty, however, it appears as tough only one person can enter the Cave. To find this person, I will need your mystic blue diamond… the one on your ring."

Cain rolled his eyes, pulling the ring off his finger and throwing it in Shaw's direction. "Whatever you need. You know I want all these jewels back at some point!"

"Of course."

Bowing one more time, Shaw turned and headed out the room, rolling his eyes when he knew the Prince wasn't watching.

"We need that lamp…" Emma piped up when he rounded the corner, where she'd been waiting, "…If I have to listen to that- "

"- I know my dear." Shaw sighed, pulling a book that enabled him access to his own secret chamber, hidden within the palace, "Soon, I will be King. Not that… creature, and certainly not Charles."

"Just so long as I'm allowed to deliver the killing blow."

"I wouldn't dare deprive you of that pleasure."

…..

"How can you weigh so much for someone so skinny!" Raven grunted, giving her brother a leg up over the castle walls, disguising herself as a guard… just in case.

"Raven!"

"I know, I know."

Eventually, Charles managed to pull himself onto the top of the wall, turning to smile at his sister, "Remember, keep your distance from Kurt."

"I'll stick to being a guard." Raven shrugged, "He'll give up eventually."

Charles nodded in understanding, sliding down the other side of the wall and dropping down outside the palace walls, just as the sun was starting to rise.

…..

"MUTANT! FREAK!"

Erik smirked as the officers raced past his hiding place, making sure that they were fully out of sight before stepping out into the light, just as Azazel popped into existence.

"Dinner is served." The red-skinned man held up the stolen food proudly, and together, they rested against the wall and tucked into the food…. Until movement caught Erik's eye.

Woah.

Erik found himself entranced by the sight of a young man moving through the crowds, stunning blue eyes and a soft, wonderous smile on his face.

He was the most beautiful person Erik had ever seen.

"Erik? Erik?"

The young man turned in his direction, catching Erik's eyes, only to turn away and flush… almost like he knew what Erik was thinking.

The young man then spotted a child near one of the fruit stalls. Clearly a thief in training, but the young man clearly didn't see that.

"Are you hungry?" He asked softly, reaching out and taking an apple, handing it to the boy, before moving to walk away.

"I hope you're planning to pay for that." The stall-owner growled, darting forwards to grab the young man's wrist, only to freeze in place.

"I did pay you." The young man whispered quietly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a gold coin, slipping it into the stall-owners' hand, "Remember."

"I… remember." The stall-owner seemed to be in a trance as he headed back to the stall, not aware of how the young man sighed in relief, making a speedy exit.

"Wait here." Erik asked Azazel, before rushing after the young man, ignoring his friend's protests. He made his way over to the stranger, falling into step beside him, "I would be a bit more subtle in the future." He whispered, smiling as the young man glance over at him, "Most people don't take kindly to mutants in this city."

"I-I- "

"Come on." Erik held out a hand, "I have a safe place for you to stay until you get on your feet."

"I- thank you."

…..…

"With all due respect…" Emma chuckled from her seat, watching as the mutant on the treadmill ran as fast as he could, a red cloud of smoke building above him, "… A storm-creating mutant would have been an easier option."

"But not as much fun." Shaw carefully placed the mystic blue diamond into a specialist device, watching as lightning shot through the blue diamond and into the sand below. "Dark sands of time…" he hissed, "… reveal to me, the one who can enter the cave."

The sand swirled around, eventually forming a picture of a slim man, who was helping another up onto a rooftop.

"Erik." Shaw whispered, "Of course."

"Erik Lehnsherr?" Emma made her way over, frowning at the image, "He's not going to just go in for you."

"Which is why we need to be… a little more devious."

…..

"We're almost there…" Erik whispered, leading the young man over the rooftops (a good way to stay away from mutant-hating police), "… not long."

"Thank you."

"So… you're new here, aren't you?"

"Was it that obvious?"

Erik chuckled, "Just a little…. Okay, it's just through here. Mind your head." Gently, he led the young man down an opening in the roof, onto a pile of blankets below.

Landing with a soft thud, the young man glanced around the small room in amazement, "You live here?"

"Hmmm, me and my… friend. We come and go as we please."

"Sounds… perfect."

Erik shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, "It's not that good…" He waved his hand, using the the metal rings attached to the curtains to pull the material to one side, to reveal a gorgeous view of the city, including the palace, "… but the view is- "

"- Incredible!" The young man rushed over, but instead of focusing on the view like Erik thought he would, he took Erik's hands in his own, "Some kind of Ferrokinesis?"

"Ummmm- "

"- Fascinating!"

Erik couldn't help but smile at the younger man's enthusiasm, "So… you're a student of genetics?"

Almost immediately, the smile on the young man's face disappeared. "Well…" He shrugged, "… I'm interested in genetics. I'm not really allowed to… go and study something."

Erik frowned, "Where did you come from, that you weren't allowed to go and study?"

"It doesn't matter…. I ran away and I am not going back." The young man sighed, continuing as Erik gave him a questioning look, "I'm being forced to get married."

"That's… terrible."

There was a flash of red smoke and a loud popping noise, as Azazel teleported into the room, glaring at Erik, "Zank you for leaving me." He hissed.

"Sorry, I got a bit distracted."

"Hmmm." Azazel rolled his eyes and stormed towards his room, muttering angrily under his breath in Russian.

The young man seemed to understand what was being said though, as he winced. "Not my biggest fan."

"You can understand Russian?"

"Well… actually, his surface thoughts were loud enough for me to pick up the gist of the rant."

Erik's eyes widened, as he leaned in closer. "That- that's your mutation?"

"Y-yes, of a sort."

"That's… amazing."

They leaned closer, but before their lips could touch, the proper entrance to the apartment slammed open, to reveal several armed officers.

"There you are!" one of them bellowed as the pair leapt to their feet.

"They're after me!" "They're after me!"

They both turned to each other in confusion.

"They're after you?" "They're after you?"

As the officers stormed closer, Erik raced to the window and the young man backed away. "My Step-Father mut have sent them after me!"

"Do you trust me?"

The young man spun around and frowned at the question, "What?"

Erik held out his hand, "Do you trust me?!"

Slowly, the young man took Erik's hand, a confused look on his face, "Yes?"

Beaming, Erik summoned a large metal disk, climbing onto it and pulling the young man close before they headed out of the window.

For a while, they seemed to be in the clear, until a shot rang out and Erik yelped in pain, losing focus as they crashed down into a dumpster. It was a painful landing, but they didn't linger on that, clambering out of the dumpster and making a run for it… straight into an officer.

"What bad luck…" the man sneered, grabbing Erik by the collar and pulling him close, "… anything to say Lehn- ARGH!"

Erik pushing the man away using his belt buckle, grabbing the young man's hand and tugging on it. "RUN!"

They tried to run, however, any exits were soon blocked by more police.

As Erik was grabbed and his hands forced behind his back (with plastic handcuffs, Erik noted in annoyance, wincing as his grazed arm was roughly yanked), the lead officer smirked at him. "Finally… it's the cells for you Lehnsherr."

"Get off me!"

The young man went on the attack, striking the leader in the face, "Get off of him!"

Another officer rushed forwards, reaching out to grab the young man just as the lead officer pushed him to the ground, "I always knew you liked them pretty Lehnsherr!"

"Get away from him!"

The young man glared up at the officer, before pushing himself back to his feet and pulling a beautiful ornate necklace out of his jumper. "Unhand him, by order of the Crown Prince!"