Chapter Text
Let it be known that the job of the Ghost King is not a metaphorical walk in the park. Territorial disputes, constant badgering by the Observants, misguided Denizens who think they could do better, and…paperwork; all these things ensure that the King had their clawed hands very full.
The Infinite Realms are just that, infinite. There was no shortage of work to be done and, to be honest, Cepheus was at their wits end. With that upstart that they couldn’t be bothered to remember the name of, the Realms that they love being bombarded by new universes coming into creation, and a new Ancient set to be born within the next few millennia…the stress was starting to get to them. Clockwork had recommended they take a break a few hundred years ago. How Cepheus wished they had listened.
Cepheus sighed, looking out of their white marble castle walls into the Infinite. They wish they could fly free again, ignoring their duties. But nooooo…that would be irresponsible and childish.
Cepheus shook their head. ‘No, focus. No point adding those floating eyeballs' words to my worries now. Not with… this.’
Cepheus looked down at the report they had been putting off for the past few days, the formerly tightly rolled scroll now lying flat on their desk. ‘This… is a problem.’ They carded their fingers through short, cropped hair. Their left hand remained there, gripping their scalp in stress, as their right took the report again, trying to understand how this had become their problem.
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED
Hazard Report: Dimension 20112013
After an intensive investigation into the natural portal in sector 15067 and the reports of missing souls from DM20112013, it has been found that creatures now dubbed “Entities” have been attempting to circumvent the natural cycle of life and death. The Entities have been consuming civilization after civilization, utilizing portions of their being as converters to absorb all different types of energy, including the souls of the departed. They utilize this energy to continue their onslaught against the other forms of life within their dimension. As a result of the absorption of energies in their vicinity, any ghostly forms of dead Entities are sucked into those remining alive. For Entities that parish and form as ghosts away from living Entities, they being to actively hunting other nearby ghosts and spirits with prejudice, continuing to follow their instincts of gaining power. This has become an issue due to the cannibalization of local souls that would otherwise have made their way to the Infinite.
It is this Observant’s opinion that, should this cycle continue, the Entities will become an extreme threat to the Realms. This issue requires the immediate action from the High King of the Infinite, King Cepheus Alder. These creatures must not gain access to the Realms at any cost, lest they consume everything.
- Observant Osfellos, Lead Investigator, Sector 15067
Cepheus could almost feel their hair going grey, even if that was physically impossible. The Observants were always like this. Everything was important and dire, and it had to be handled then and there, or everyone would cease. Every time the King prioritized one of their “dire” situations, it had turned out to be either nothing or a complete misunderstanding. To be certain, the King would need to see the problem for themselves.
Another sigh of frustration left the King’s lips. ‘I wonder if I can just… ignore it? No, if I ignore it then the Observants will just make my days hell. If Clockwork wasn’t busy with that new Ancient, I would just ask him. I mean, the kid isn’t even born yet, let alone dead. I never imagined Clockwork as a worrywart.’ Cepheus released their scalp from their grip and, stretching their arms out, let their back pop.
‘I’m sure I could delegate, right? King’s do that, don’t they?’ Cepheus ran through a list of their trusted attendants, thinking of who they could send to investigate. Not a Living Ghost, surely…according to the report, they would be eaten by these ‘Entities.’ A Neverborn, like Fright Knight, may be better, but he tended to be more of an enforcer then an investigator. There was also a concern that the type of Denizen would not matter to these creatures.
‘If I could trust the Observants to not exaggerate, it would be better…’ Cepheus brought both their hands to their head, frustratingly moving their fingers though their short locks again. When their hands reached the back of their head, they held them there and hunch over the report, as though staring at the document would change its contents.
The words on the page stubbornly stayed in place. Another sigh. ‘Fine,’ the King huffed as they pushed themselves from their seat. ‘Once I get this over with, I can deal with something more important. Like… anything else.’
Cepheus stood from their desk and exited the office, moving through the white halls of the castle, the tapping of their boots echoing off the walls. Cepheus was never a fan of the Keep; too white, too…clinical. The color made their own coloring stand out like a sore thumb: their fiery blue hair and black and silver armor, a ring of glittering stars adorned their finger with a matching star circlet floating over their head.
While they enjoyed cleanliness and organization, the Keep never felt like it belonged to them. Their original haunt was much more their speed… a silent, dark field set on a new moon where the sky shined with stars, camping under the stars with their fraid.
Unfortunately, their haunt was no more, along with their fraid. ‘No, don’t think about that now.’ Cepheus shook their head as they passed the gates, stepping out onto the outer lawn of the Keep. As they prepared to depart, they heard a deep voice call out to them.
“My King,” Fright Knight appeared before them and took a knee in a deep bow, as he always did when Cepheus passed the Keep’s threshold.
“No need for that, Frighty,” Cepheus waved him off, feeling uncomfortable with the display. They had known Fright Knight for many millennia at this point and the excess ceremony really didn’t suit the King's taste. “Please stand. You know you can just… wave hello...” Cepheus trailed off as his Knight stood.
“Apologies, my King. I was unaware you would be departing the Keep today.” Stiff as ever, Fright Knight looked down upon the King, standing a good two feet taller than them. “Allow me to escort you.”
“NO!” Cepheus exclaimed, waving their arms frantically in front of them. They did not want to risk their… not really friend, but something close… to an unknown threat, “I mean, no, thank you, Frighty. I’m just going out for a change of scenery, to... um... lift my spirits, you know. No need to stress!” Their eyes shifted, not looking into Fright Knight’s green glowing eyes, hand rubbing the back of their neck with a nervous chuckle.
“Hmm,” Fright Knight, ignoring the pun, squinted at his liege, who began to shift as though they had done something wrong. The King tended to act as though they were of a younger sort, though that was expected as they had died young. “As you say, Your Highness. If you require assistance, please do not hesitate to call for me. The Challenger, Pariah Dark, has been skulking around the Keep as of late. As you will not allow me to remove him, I request the utmost caution.”
‘Thaaaat was his name!’ Cepheus attempted to commit it to memory, however they knew that the name would quickly slip their mind again. Dark was not the first to attempt to take the throne from them and would not be the last. He was just another minor annoyance to deal with that just kept coming back.
“You have to admire his tenacity at some point,” Cepheus joked, chuckling to themselves, “but yes, Frighty, I’ll be careful. I should return within the day.” Fright Knight nodded, bending in a bow as Cepheus began to float into the air. They gave their Knight a wave and flew off, legs morphing into a tail for speed.
‘Now where was that again?’ Cepheus began to search for the location of the portal to the problem dimension. They flew past many haunts, floating islands home to many Denizens. The King smiled, seeing their subjects enjoying their well-deserved afterlives. While they never expected or wanted to be King, they were happy that they could make a difference to those around them.
There was a pull, and Cepheus knew they were headed in the right direction. A surplus of energy was pooling out of a natural portal ahead, making it's location obvious. As they got closer, Cepheus began to feel a…a wrongness: the bastardization of life and death. It crawled on their skin like insects, sending a shiver through their core. The King could feel the screams of agony from their trapped subjects, begging for freedom… for home.
Cepheus paused, finally arriving in front of the portal in question. It wasn’t natural. There was no way it could be. This portal was a tear, a rip in the fabric of reality, caused by the emotions and pain of all the souls these ‘Entities’ shredded and pulped into their power source. Cepheus was stunned and felt warmth leaving they’re very being at the sound of such suffering.
‘This is…it’s not right…’ Cepheus stifled a sob, feeling their core call out instinctively to their lost subjects. They realized their mistake too late. A sound, a wail coming from the very vacuum of space, carried through the hole between dimensions. Cepheus could feel the rush of energy, of power, before laying eyes on the creature.
It was massive, bigger than many planets and spanning the multiverse making up the dimension. It was a worm-like creature, one that Cepheus would not have been able to fathom if not for his role as King. They could feel its feelings and emotions, but it was all so…foreign...alien. And this one was dead, roaming its universe looking for a way to…
“Ancients…” Cepheus cursed. ‘I need to close this down. NOW!’
With a jolt and sense of purpose, the King of the Infinite Realms began weaving the space together as the Ghost Entity moved ponderously closer and closer to the tear. Cepheus’ hands morphed into needle-like claws, calling upon the Realms themselves to assist in sealing the tear. They worked feverishly, beads of ectoplasm dripped down their forehead as tears ran down their face, all the while hearing the anguished sounds of their blended and shredded subjects within the monstrosity’s being.
Just as the Ghost Entity neared the breech, the King gave one final tug, sealing the hole, effectively cutting off that dimension from the realms. Cepheus curled into a ball, sobbing and devastated. ‘Why? Fuck… what kind of monster would do that?’ The image of a mass of trillions of souls blended…Cepheus felt their body heave. They could feel the Realms surround them, embracing them in a protective pressure like a mother comforting their child. Cepheus straightened up, looking into the void in alarm. The Realms had never comforted them before. Ancients, this was not good.
The King looked back to where the tear had been, the image of the Entity burned into their mind. No, this would not do at all. Those souls did not deserve that. Cepheus began to float back to the Keep, mind racing. ‘No, this needs to be taken care of. I need to call the Council together. This is more than just a single dimension’s problem; it could become so much worse.’
The Keep was in sight, it’s gleaming white columns and walls bringing Cepheus some comfort. They sighed, letting out some of the stress from their ordeal.
Cepheus should have known better, been paying more attention. There were other threats than those from another dimension. Threats much closer to home. But they weren’t thinking. Who would have expected it to be end like this…by a challenger stabbing them from behind. After all, the crown could not pass unless taken in a duel, trial by combat.
The blade pieced through the King’s chest, right through their core. Cepheus looked down, knowing what was to come and lamenting their isolated subject’s terrible fate. The gilded blade glowed red, burning through Cepheus’s core in moments. Their eyes turned toward their assassin, the upstart that was no longer a thorn in their foot, but a knife in their back.
Pariah Dark grinned in satisfaction as the King faded, knowing that he had finally won. The crown was his. He plucked the large glowing star circlet from where the faded King’s head had once been, and it morphed a smaller green crown surrounded by ectoplasmic green flames. Pariah’s smile twitched slightly, but he ignored the implication that his will was somehow weaker…lesser…than the simpering weakling that had just been ended by his hand.
Pariah placed the crown above his head, savoring the rush of power it brought, before finally plucking the Ring of Stars from the air where the King’s hand once was. The Realm pulsed, a feeling of loss pressing on the Denizens of the Infinite. A new king was crowned…a Usurper.
Pressure surrounded the ring in Pariah’s hand, the rage for the Usurper king warping the Ring of Stars into a simple signet with a glowing green skull with crimson eyes filled with hate and loathing. Pariah laughed in triumph, placing the Ring of Rage on his finger. ‘Finally, right where it belongs: under a true King’s influence. It is all mine.’
Fright Knight awaited his King at the entrance to their Keep as always when he felt the shift, the true death of his liege. The power of the Ring of Stars ceased to exist, instead filling his mind and body with hate and loathing. When the Usurper King finally arrived, gloating of his victory, Fright Knight bowed to his new lord, speaking pleasantries, and appealing to his ego. All the while, cold hatred at the loss of his King’s warm glow overwhelmed him. The Realms had lost a good King and received an Impostor instead. All Fright Knight could do was protect as much as he could of the Realm, however he could. He would miss the small jokes and shifts in posture that put moments of awkwardness on full display. He just had to bide his time, awaiting the true successor of the Realm’s kind King.