"Unhand him, by order of the Crown Prince!"

The symbol of the royal family that was etched onto the necklace made the officers pause…. It was possible that it was stolen… but they would have known immediately if that had been the case.

No…. this was the real deal.

"Your Highness!" The lead officer cried out, bowing quickly as the other officers forced Erik to bow as well.

Erik was so in shock and so in pain, that he didn't resist.

A Prince…. He'd almost kissed the Prince.

"What are you doing outside the palace?" The Lead officer questioned, before turning to sneer back at Erik, "And with him?"

"That's none of your concern! Do as I command and realise him!"

Erik was waiting to be let go, hoping that the Prince's powers also expanded to mind control.

Nothing happened.

"I would your Highness, but my orders come from Shaw, you'll have to take it up with him."

Shaw.

Erik knew that name.

Erik knew that name all too well.

As he was dragged away, he didn't see the confused look on the Prince's face.

…

Shaw glanced around cautiously as he left his secret laboratory, carefully sliding the stone slab shut… only to hear someone calling his name.

"Shaw! Shaw!"

Spinning around, he hoped Emma's mental shields were enough whilst he was unprotected against the Prince, covering the door gap with his body, "Prince Charles! How can I help?"

It was obvious that Charles was trying to skim his surface thoughts.

Foolish boy.

"Earlier today, a man was dragged from his home and arrested, apparently on your orders. I require an explanation for this."

"Your Mother and Step-Father have given me the task of keeping peace in this city… that man was a criminal."

"And his crime?"

"Kidnapping the Crown Prince of course."

"I wasn't kidnapped! I ran away!"

Instantly, Shaw plastered a look of shock on his face, striding past the Prince as though he didn't want to look Charles in the eyes, "Oh…. Well this is embarrassing. If only I'd known!"

He deliberately left the ending of the sentence blank, waiting for the Prince's curiosity to take over.

"What do you mean?"

There it was.

Shaw turned back to him, hoping that his shields were still strong, "Sadly, the sentence has already been carried out."

"… What sentence?"

"Death."

Prince Charles's face dropped as he took a step back, tears brimming in those stunning blue eyes.

"I am so sorry Your Highness." Shaw reached out to try and reassure the young man, "Maybe- "

Charles turned and stormed out of the room, not giving Shaw the chance to finish.

"Well." Emma appeared from around the corner, "That went well."

"Your shields are a thing of beauty my dear." Shaw smirked, "How is our guest?"

"Not happy in the slightest."

"Good."

….

"Charles?" Raven hesitated in the doorway, "Are you… are you okay?"

"… It's all my fault."

"What is?" Raven moved further into the room, taking a seat by her brother, only to see that he was close to tears, "Charles? What's wrong?"

"He's dead…. And it's all my fault."

…

Erik struggled furiously against the plastic restraints.

He flirted with the prince.

He couldn't believe that he flirted with the prince.

Did that count as treason?

BAMF.

Coughing on the red smoke, Erik couldn't help but sigh in relief.

"You are idiot." Azazel sighed, holding up the keys that were hanging off his tail.

"I know, I know. Just get me out of here!"

"I cannot believe you flirted with prince."

"Ugh!" Erik groaned, "He was… amazing though. Did you not see him?!"

"You are lucky I am good friend."

Once the cuffs were off, Erik sighed in relief, rubbing at his wrists. He knew he would never see the prince again… princes were married off to princesses and that was that.

"Right, let's get out of- " Erik stopped, feeling a sharp prick in his neck, blood running cold at the sensation.

There was thump as Azazel fell to the ground, a needle sticking out of his neck.

"Dammit…" He muttered, "… Damm- "

Everything went black.

…..

"That seemed a little extreme." Emma stared down at the two bodies, "And how exactly do you plan to get him into the cave?"

"Despite my best efforts, Erik still has a heart." Shaw glanced over at Azazel, "We still have leverage."

….

WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLUMBER?

The booming voice woke Erik up, causing his head to pound like someone was taking a hammer to it.

"So nice of you to join us Erik." A familiar voice hissed, "Tell the nice cave your name."

"Shaw, you- " Erik growled in pain, as a stabbing sensation spread through his head, forcing him to his knees.

"Your. Name."

"Erik… Lehnsherr!"

HMMMM… PROCEED. TOUCH NOTHING BUT THE LAMP.

The pain disappeared, giving Erik the chance to breathe properly. Glancing up, he froze at the sight of the giant, open-mouthed, lion's head in front of him. To his right, stood a woman dressed all in white.

A telepath… obviously.

Behind him was Shaw, Azazel un-moving at his feet.

"What- what did you do to him?!"

"Calm down Erik." Shaw waved a hand imperiously, "He'll be fine… all I need you to do, is fetch something for me."

"I am not your- "

"- Oh., but you are. Right now, you belong to me." Shaw gestured at the open mouth of the cave, that revealed stairs that led down to glowing cavern, "You are going to bring me the lamp from inside that cave, and then I will let you and your friend go free… agreed?"

Erik mentally searched for any signs of metal in the area, only to curse when there was nothing.

"Fine." He weakly got to his feet, feeling a constant presence in his mind, "Fine."

He didn't like it, but Azazel had been with him since he first broke free of Shaw's control…. He wasn't going to abandon him.

He stumbled down the steps, only for his eyes to widen at the sight of all the gold and jewels surrounding him.

Just a handful of this stuff would make him richer than the king.

/Don't even think about it. \\ A voice in his head warned, almost sounding amused.

Slamming up mental walls, Erik continued to move through the cave, scanning the area for the lamp. A few minutes later, he heard someone cursing.

Entering a darkened chamber, Erik frowned at the sight of a shorter, muscular fan staring down into a pool of water.

"What?"

The word came out unbidden, prompting the other man to spin around, lips parted in a snarl as metal claws shot out from his knuckles.

Ha!

Lazily, Erik held up a hand, stopping the man mid-lunge.

"Let's talk like civilised people." He stated, trying to be heard over the growling, "I'm looking for a lamp."

"There ain't no lamp down here bub!"

Erik frowned, hoping that Emma couldn't hear this. "Not even a small one?"

"Nope." The man smirked, revealing almost fangs, "Guess this was a wasted trip, huh?" His eyes then widened, "Look out!"

For what had happened, was as they were talking, Erik had taken a few steps back… right into a giant ruby.

The warning came too late.

Less than a second after he made contact with it, the cave started to rumble.

"TRAITORS!" bellowed the cave, "YOU HAVE TOUCHED THE FORBIDDEN TREASURE!"

"Accidentally!" Erik shouted back, "I accidentally touched the forbidden treasure!"

"AND NOW, YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY AGAIN!"

Everything all around them started to melt or erupt into flames… needless to say, Erik made a run for it, closely followed by the man from before.

Thank goodness the steps were still there.

Just as he reached the top, the steps vanished from underneath him, forcing him to grab the ledge, using his powers to catch the other man before he fell to the lava down.

Shaw was there in an instant.

"Give me the lamp!"

"There was no lamp!" Erik snapped back, "Let me in!"

"Liar! Give me the lamp!"

"THERE. IS. NO. LAMP!"

And it was here, that Erik made the biggest mistake of his life.

He let go.

He heard Shaw scream out something, followed by a familiar BAMF sound.

And then, everything went dark.