Space Cherik AU - Starlight - Chapter Two
Hello! So just a quick authors note…I accidentally deleted my old account :P so this is ThatWritingSideBlog version 2.0. BUT good news! I have backups and I’ll be reposting everything, plus a bit more :). Hope you’re having a good week!
Erik led Charles from the room, leaving Raven’s body to be cleaned up by blank-faced servants with even blander thoughts. There was no surprise in their minds. Apparently, the Royals killed regularly, making this not even the first body of the day.
In any other case, Charles would have taken the time to admire the dark blue hangings over the windows, the beautiful stone inlays of the walls, or even perhaps the colorful flowers that were placed every five feet and smelled like the Westchester gardens before War had done his work and Apocalypse had come to rule. All of it slipped by him without a second thought. Charles could feel the grief building in his chest, dark, terrible, and threatening to overwhelm him with every step away from Raven’s body. He fought it off as best he could, focusing on Erik. Erik, the Royal who had killed Charles’ sister like it was nothing and was now taking Charles to who knew what fate.
Erik stopped outside twin metal doors, inlaid with twining, shimmering metals that glowed in the light of the lamps above them. He waved his hand and they parted, revealing a lavish chamber. Perhaps, compared to the other Royal’s rooms, it was not so lavish, but to Charles, who had celebrated the find of running water in one of the houses he and Raven had hidden in, everything in it was an unspeakable luxury.
“Do you drink wine?” Erik walked inside, picking up a metal decanter. Most things in the room were metal, Charles noted. They were different types and shapes and colors, but all doubtless could be formed into a weapon in an instant under Erik’s power. Charles settled on a soft velvet divan, barely registering the cup that floated into his hand.
“What are you going to do to me?”
Erik poured wine into his cup, “I don’t know yet. The possibilities really are endless…” His purr sent Charles’ hair on end, “You come with an assassin, but are not one. You are not a Royal, but even I can feel your power. You are breakable, like her, but I don’t find myself wanting to break you just yet.” He summoned a chair to his side, sprawling lazily into it. “The Others, the surface dwellers,” He said it with such disdain it made Charles’ skin crawl, “are nothing. Your life is nothing. But,” He paused, running his thumb over the edge of his cup, “Your power is not nothing, it would gain me great favor with Apocalypse.” He tilted his head to better watch the shiver that ran down Charles’ spine, “But I already have great favor with Apocalypse.”
Charles looked down at the wine in his hand, “Or you could send me home.”
“I could,” Erik agreed, “but that, I think, I won’t do.”
“Please,” Charles looked up, “Please, Erik—”
Erik shivered. It was only the slight flicker of an eye, but Charles saw it. “Did you take it from my mind? That name.”
“I can’t see into your mind. It just slipped out,” Charles considered taking a sip of the wine. It might be the last thing he’d ever have to drink and made a better last supper than the stale crackers he’d wolfed down for breakfast.
“I see,” Erik played with the silver ring on his finger, pressing it against his lips, “Why did you come here, if not to kill Apocalypse like your…friend?”
Charles gave in and drank a mouthful of wine. It was delicious, of course, the Royals tolerated nothing that wasn’t perfect. It was both sweet and bitter all at the same time, and he savored it on his tongue before answering. “I wanted to see what the Royals were really like.”
Erik’s lips curved in a sadistic smile, leaving Charles with the feeling he did not hold much fondness for the other Royals, “And are you appeased?”
“More than enough,” Charles downed the rest of the glass, “So, are you going to kill me, or keep asking me inane questions all day?” Perhaps it was the wine that gave him the courage to ask it, but more likely it was the grief Charles could feel battering against his mind, threatening to drag him into its murky depths and befuddling his mind so he could not tell courage from recklessness.
Erik’s smile lessened slightly, the cup flying from Charles’ hands to float in the air. “There is a bath in the next room. Do you know how to use it?” He answered Charles’ glare with a laugh, “Good. I’ll have the servants fetch you some clothes. I’m afraid your foray into our world isn’t quite over yet.” Erik flicked his fingers, the double doors at the other end of the room opening, “If you survive it, perhaps I’ll return you to your planet.”
Charles may not have been able to read Erik’s mind, but as Erik’s smile widened they both knew it was a lie.
