TEN YEARS HAD PASSED SINCE THE FALL OF THE SOUL KINGDOM, YET WITHIN THE CRUMBLING HALLS OF HIS DARKENED CASTLE, OSIRIO, THE ONCE DREADED SKELETON KING, REMAINED CONSUMED BY GRIEF. ALONE IN HIS THRONE ROOM, HE WEPT TEARS OF EMERALD FLAMES, MOURNING THE LOSS OF HIS BELOVED QUEEN AND THEIR LOST CHILD.
"My love…" Osirio's voice trembled as he clutched a faded picture of his wife, his heart heavy with regret and sorrow. Blaming the world outside for his anguish, Osirio shut himself away, even from his own generals, cloistered within the confines of his decaying memories. And so he sits, Alone.
Nearby, outside of the mausoleum holding the body of the queen, lurks a thief withholding a sinister purpose. Equipped with a satchel and a type of hooded cloth to conceal their identity, the thief moves steadily towards a group of Soul soldiers, dressed in blood red armor. As the thief moved with silent grace, shifting from visibility to invisibility, they infiltrated the mausoleum and beheld the queen's perfectly preserved form beneath a glass coffin. Symbols adorned on top of the coffin, “My eternal love”. Without hesitation, the thief pulls out a common ruby and begins to creep their way around the coffin. The thief carefully places the ruby on the head of the coffin. With their hands above the coffin, the thief begins to chant in a language that can only be described as the language of the elven.
Suddenly the symbols begin to glow as the glass starts to dissipate. The thief reaches within his satchel and grabs another item. However, the item is not another ruby. It is a piece of gold marked with the symbol of the diamond kingdom. The thief slowly approaches the queen’s head. As they stare at the queen’s lifeless body, they notice a pink quartz atop of the queen’s head. The thief quickly switches the quartz and the piece of gold. Before the thief can react, two guards enter the chamber where they see a floating quartz crystal.
“What the hell– sound the alarm! Someone is robbing the queen’s grave!” their shouts ringing through the chamber. As the other soul soldiers hear the message. They rush to sound an alarm to alert the generals. The thief scoffs.
“Idiots.” They exclaim. The Two guards begin moving towards the Thief with their silver blades drawn. One guard shouts “WHATEVER YOUR FORM, DO NOT MOVE!.”
The thief puts the cursed quartz in their satchel and pulls out a dagger. Before the guards can counter, the thief slashes both of their necks and escapes through the front door. It is not long before word spreads around this vast kingdom. As Osirio sits on his throne, still weeping, he hears a loud boom come from outside his door. Bursting through his door is a distraught soul soldier. “SIRE COME QUICK! THERE IS TROUBLE IN THE QUEEN’S MAUSOLEUM!” The soldier exclaims.
With immense anger, OSIRIO rushes past the soldier. As soon as he reaches the mausoleum, he begins to shrink himself to fit within the room. He walks towards the guards who begin to shiver with his presence. As he walks, the skeleton king hears discourse among his soldiers. They whisper behind him “Is that the king? He hasn’t shown his face in so long.” OSIRIO walks up to the Captain of the Soul soldiers and begins to question him. “WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE? WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MY WIFE?” Osirio commands. Terrified to give his king the true answer, the answer that guards under his command, let a thief infiltrate their defenses, the captain hesitates.
“Sir as of right now, it seems as if someone has trespassed into our territory and um...”
He gulps, nervously. “It seems their goal was to steal the gem on top of the Queen’s coffin.”
In his overwhelming anger, Osirio’s eyes begin to turn blood red. He pushes past the captain and rushes inside. Inside, other guards have been inspecting the mausoleum, hoping to find any clue to who or what this thief could be. Even as the skeleton king walks into the building, they all continue working, mortified of what can happen to them if they do not find those responsible. Looking at the corpse of his once beautiful bride, and mother of his taken son, Osirio feels an intense wave of emotion. A voice that he has not heard in years, begins to slowly whisper into his mind. With no clear distinct words echoing, everything surrounding the skeleton king begins to surround him and swarm him. The louder it becomes, the more fury builds up inside the king.Until finally, he has had enough. The skeleton king softly speaks. “Get out.” The noise continues, but slowly, they all begin to turn their heads to face him. “I SAID GET OUUUUT!!” His voice echoes through the building as green flames ember around the room forcing the guards to all rush outside. Osirio simmers down the flame and begins to slowly caress his wife’s face. As he begins to examine the piece of gold embedded in her forehead, He notices the diamond engraved symbol and becomes angry.
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“THEY KILLED YOU… TOOK OUR CHILD..AND YET THEY STILL TAKE MORE? THEY TAKE MORE AND MORE. WHEN WILL MY SUFFERING END? ISN’T IT ENOUGH?!”
Osirio smashes his fists through the wall knocking a statue clear through the ground. Behind him, a darkness begins to swirl around him. Suddenly, the whispers that had come before, have begun again.
"It will never be enough," a voice whispered, laden with the weight of despair and bitterness. Suddenly, a dark phantom, cloaked in swirling shadows and adorned with a rusted bone-white face, materialized within arm's reach of the Skeleton King.
"But you knew that," the phantom continued, its voice echoing in the dim chamber. "These mortals do not fear you. No. They mean to disrespect you. They mean to destroy everything you have built. They started with your family. Who’s to say they’re going to stop there?"
Osirio, lost in his anguish, pondered the phantom's words. "What do I have left to lose?" he murmured, tears of emerald flame staining his hollow cheeks.
The phantom, its ethereal claws resting upon Osirio's skeletal shoulders, spoke with a chilling certainty. "They have taken what belongs to you, and have sought to sow seeds of destruction within your own mind."
Osirio's gaze drifted, his thoughts consumed by grief and rage. The phantom's grin widened, a spectral visage of malevolent amusement. "Have they taken your sanity? Have you forgotten what you are?" it taunted, its words piercing through the veil of despair that shrouded the king.
In that moment, he collapsed onto the ground. A clarity dawned upon Osirio, a glimmer of resolve amidst the darkness that threatened to consume him. "You know what must be done," the phantom whispered, its voice a sinister echo in the stillness of the chamber. With a steely determination, Osirio rose from his knees,his gaze fixed upon the horizon where war loomed on the horizon. “I-I know what must be done.” He spoke , his face changing from mere grief to a scorning vengeance. "They shall know the fury of a king scorned," the Phantom declared, his voice resonating through the skeleton king with newfound purpose. Osirio kisses the top of the coffin and walks outside. The phantom laughs maniacally and dissipates into the wind. Walking past the captain, Osirio commands “ Captain, ASSEMBLE MY ADVISORS.” The captain becomes confused. “Yes sire, but what should I tell them?”
Stopping in his tracks, the skeleton king looks around him. Seeing the loyal soldiers ,standing tall, with their armor and weapons on display. Osirio has one course of action in which he must take. “TELL THEM TO PREPARE FOR WAR.” As Osirio rushes back to his castle, the storm within his soul remains fueled by anguish and a thirst for retribution. Within the shadowed halls of his stronghold, he plots his revenge with meticulous precision, his every thought consumed by thoughts of vengeance.
Meanwhile, outside the walls of the Soul Kingdom, the escaped thief lurks in the shadows, a harbinger of chaos amidst the looming conflict. With a chilling whisper, the thief speaks “A new era of godhood has begun.” Their words dripped with ominous intent.As the thief disappears into the depths of the surrounding forest, a palpable sense of dread hangs heavy in the air. War looms on the horizon, casting its dark shadow over the four known kingdoms of Harmony, as the fate of nations hangs in the balance.
In the heart of the darkness, amidst the clash of steel and the roar of battle, the destinies of kings and thieves intertwine, setting in motion a chain of events that will forever shape the fate of the realm for generations to come.