Set in medieval AU
—
Xisuma, the king adored by all. He watched over his kingdom with kindness and grace, improving the daily lives of those who lived in his domain.
That is, until something changed.
It started like any other day, the ruler seated on his throne, as those who inhabited his kingdom came to meet and discuss their issues with him. It was something small he did weekly, but the villagers seemed to appreciate his generosity.
Xisuma adjusted the golden crown that rested on his head, his chestnut hair pulled back into a ponytail. He still wasn't completely used to ruling his kingdom, but it seemed to be going quite well so far. Nodding at the two guards posted by the front entrance, the knights opened the heavy wooden doors that creaked as the sunlight flooded into the castle.
Already, there was a woman standing in the doorway, as if she had been waiting for the palace to open. Her brunette hair had been cut into a short bob, with a crown of wilting pink flowers resting on her head. She wore a black cloak that draped down to her feet, which flowed behind her as she walked towards the throne.
"Hello, my king." She greeted, her kind voice holding a soft British accent. "My spouse went missing three days ago, and I'm wondering if there's anything you can do to try and find them. They're name is Iskall, they were a guard on the night watch near the edge of the kingdom."
It was clear that he was a bit stunned by the request. "Oh, erm.." Xisuma hesitated, normally people came requesting money to feed their families, so this was a more difficult request compared to what the ruler had dealt with so far.
"Well, I could send a few of my guards in search of them, but I can't guarantee that we'll find your spouse. Guards watching over the edge of the kingdom often go missing and never return, normally killed or kidnapped by bandits. I'm sorry, but there's not much I can do.."
The woman blinked, her smile and kind eyes never wavering. "Are you sure there isn't anything you can do? I'm worried sick, and Iskall would be able to fight off a few measly thieves."
Having enough of the crazy woman, Wels stepped forward, the head guard placing a hand on her shoulder. "Alright, let's get going. We can't help you with your spouse, ma'am, so please hurry along so the next resident may state their issue."
The knight grabbed her wrist, ready to pull the brunette out of the castle if he needed to, but she turned around to face Wels, using her free hand to send a blast of glowing red magic at the guard. He was thrown backwards, slamming against the wall and falling unconscious upon impact.
Xisuma froze up, horrified at the use of dark magic. The witch turned back to the king, sending another blast right at the ruler. Unable to move or run, the dark magic infected his body. Xisuma gasped for breath, feeling as though his chest was being crushed. His eyes were beginning to fill with red, which quickly overtook him completely.
He passed out against the throne, and when False glanced towards the witch, she had vanished into a puff of smoke. The blonde knight ran over to the king, lightly shaking Xisuma to see if she could wake him up, to no avail. It was lucky that the long-haired ruler was breathing, but the he was out cold.
"GUARDS!" False called for reinforcements, which rushed in upon hearing her call. They quickly took the unconscious king to his bedroom to rest, while taking Wels back to one of the spare rooms.
Something about that witch made her feel off, the blonde knight frowning as the castle's throne room began to empty out. False shook off the feeling of dread, heading back to her post in case the magic user returned.
—
"We're cursed?!"
Scar, who was Xisuma's royal magical advisor, only nodded calmly. He flipped through an old book with one hand, while the other held a long staff with a purple crystal at the end. Wels impatiently tapped his foot against the ground, narrowing his eyes as he waited for an explanation.
"I'm afraid so. And by the looks of the magic that's flowing through the both of you, this witch knew what she was doing. I'm guessing she could have been over a hundred years old."
"Okay, okay. There's gotta be some way to fix this, right?" The king asked, though Scar shook his head sadly.
"Only the witch can remove the curse, this magic is too advanced for me to untangle."
"Well, what's going to happen to us?" The head guard snapped the question, much colder than normal.
The wizard stepped forward, inspecting Xisuma's appearance with a frown. "This is the beginning of the curse." Scar said, pulling a strip of the king's long hair away from the rest of his ponytail. "Since it's already begun, there isn't much I can do. The transformation should only get faster and faster as your resistance weakens."
The tips of his hair was turning from a shade of chestnut brown into a snowy white, with the color seeming to spread. "Wha—...? Why is my hair changing?"
"That curse is slowly going to remove the kindness from your heart, leaving nothing but cruelty and anger. By the end of this, you will be completely erased, while another, darker part of you takes hold."
"How long do we have?"
"I'm not sure. The curse should progress faster if you let your anger take hold, so try and relax while the guards search for that witch. Maybe we can fix this before it's too late."
"Oh sure, we'll just try and relax while all the goodness in our hearts disappears and we're practically erased as the evil in us takes control. How calming." Wels sneered while crossing his arms, while the ends of his hair slowly shifted into a darker hue.
The king placed a hand on his knight's shoulder. "Just breathe, Wels. False is going to find that witch, and we'll be okay.."
"Right. Yeah." He sighed, though the guard wasn't optimistic.
"Just think positive. Try and steer away from negativity and anger, that will only further progress the transformation."
Xisuma placed a hand on the side of his head, slightly tugging at his knotted hair. "I think I need to lie down.." he muttered, lightheaded and dizzy.
"That would be best," Scar suggested. "you too, Wels."
"I'd rather hunt down that witch myself, since False can't seem to do anything right." Wels said, though he muttered the last part underneath his breath.
"Come on. Just trust her." The king said, sitting down on the edge of his bed as the room slightly spun.
Scoffing underneath his breath, the knight rolled his eyes. "Sure," Wels said, leaving Xisuma's bedroom without a second word.
Scar watched as he stormed off, turning back to the ruler. "I'll go and make sure he calms down." He said, leaving Xisuma alone in the silence of his bedroom.
He didn't notice that the wizard had left, the king much too distracted by his aching head. It felt like his head was ripping apart, Xisuma could barely think.
Shutting his eyes, the best that he could hope for was a few moments of peaceful dreaming to try and forget about the stress of this curse.
—
By day four of the witch hunt, the Royal guard still couldn't seem to find the witch that had cursed Xisuma and Wels. The snowy white color that infected the king's hair seemed to only spread, faster and faster with each passing day. And with it, Xisuma's patience wore thin.
"They're useless, I tell you!" The head guard snapped while pacing back and forth, his eyes gleaming with a deep, ruby red. "I say we execute them one by one! Starting with the biggest failure, False!"
"Can you shut up for one second?!" Xisuma growled in response, "My head is killing me, it hasn't stopped since we got cursed."
Rubbing his temples, the king leaned back in throne. His eyes were a deep shade of crimson, with a fiery glow of hatred that burned bright. Xisuma's kindness and genuine love for his kingdom had melted away, leaving nothing but anger and greed in his heart.
"Just send in the next fool, Wels." He snapped at his guard, who rolled his eyes as he walked over to the entrance of the castle. The doors let out a low creak, sunlight filling the long hall. Xisuma squinted at the light, he hadn't left his castle since the curse. He had grown accustomed to the darkness that welcomed him.
Stumbling into the throne room, a young man with a worn down red sweater and dirty blonde hair made his way into the palace. The king scoffed, he should have had the guards throw the peasant out just for looking so disgusting.
"My king," he kneeled before Xisuma, who gripped the armrests of his seat as he stared down at the man. These people were worthless to him, nothing more than pawns that he controlled.
"I-I'm here because of the increase in taxes. The village has been struggling to pay for food and resources because of it, people are losing their homes, we can't handle it."
"Well then, that sounds like quite the problem, doesn't it?" He asked, leaning back in his chair with a smile. Cruelty shone through his eyes, Xisuma snapping his fingers together as his calm smile turned malicious. Wels grabbed the collar of the peasant's shirt, a similarly evil grin spread across the knight's face.
The king let out a dark cackle, watching as his head guard dragged the squirming peasant out of the castle, carelessly throwing him onto the path that led back to the village before slamming the heavy wooden doors.
"Awe, that was fun." He smiled, Xisuma resting his cheek on his fist as Wels walked back to his place beside the king. "It made me forget about my headache for a moment, watching that villager struggle for dear life. Hilarious!"
"Maybe I should drag him back here and we can throw him into the dungeon!" The knight laughed at his suggestion, with Xisuma joining in on the cackling.
"Oh, I haven't had this much fun in a while." The ruler smiled with an evil gleam in his eyes. "I've been so stressed about how the residents of my kingdom feel, but who the hell cares! I can have them all executed if I want!"
"Heh, might as well call you 'Ex', then. After all, the good king Xisuma is dead! Now, you're in charge! Why care about your subjects when you can spark fear into all who hear your name?"
There was a pause from Xisuma, in the back of his mind he remembered the warning that Scar had given. "By the end of this, you will be completely erased, while another, darker part of you takes hold."
He shook the words of the wizard out of his head, grinning at the suggestion of his knight. "Perfect." Ex laughed, the last bits of chestnut brown coloring at the roots of his hair seeming to lose their color as the blank white color overtook the king's hair.
"If I'm getting a new name, you should too. I've always thought that the name 'Wels' was stupid, anyway."
"Of course, my king." He said the last part mocking, taking out his dark sword to stare at his reflection in the blade. Wels stared into his ruby eyes, the gentle orange glow from the torchlight behind him. He grinned upon examining his new appearance, with inky black hair and eyes that held evil intentions.
Glancing back up at Ex, Wels' twisted grin spread to the ends of his face. "Call me Hels," he said proudly. "since I bring hell onto anyone who opposes us."
"It's stupid," Ex hissed with a roll of his eyes. "but it suits you very nicely."
"Than— wait.. Hey!" Hels snapped as he realized what the king had meant, only gaining a cackle in response.
"I'm only trying to annoy you," he smiled. "you're name is only slightly idiotic."
"Wow, I feel so much better." Hels sneered sarcastically, another laugh coming from the evil king.
"Oh, I can tell we're going to have fun, Hels. This kingdom will kneel before us, and then we'll expand our evil empire!" Ex said as he rose from his throne, gesturing towards the entrance of the castle, as if he were gesturing towards the entire village.
"First order of business—" The king said to his loyal knight, glancing down at Hels with a twisted grin. "—get rid of anyone who stands in our way. Starting with Scar and False."
"Too easy. At least give me a bit of a challenge."
"Throw them in the dungeon when you catch them," Ex said with a wave of his hand to dismiss the guard. "they could be useful in the future. While you do that, I'll prep the kingdom for the arrival of their new king."
Hels smiled, gripping the handle of his blade as he rushed off, deeper into the castle in search of Scar. As he disappeared, Ex slowly reached for the crown that rested on the top of his head, taking off the headpiece with a frown. Staring into his eyes in his golden reflection, it was odd to see himself like this. Xisuma didn't recognize himself.
But that was perfect, since he wasn't Xisuma anymore.