Midas' Destiny (Original Version)

Past Times: The Tragedy of Two Siblings Part 1

"How do I control these powers? I don't want to hurt anyone!"
"No one will be hurt, boy. It is only you and your mind who think so."
"But whatever I touch... I... what if I touch alive things? What if I touch my sister or... Maya? Will they die because they're gold? Or... will they be locked in that position forever?"
"You need to let go of your fear and do the work. I have blessed you with a godly gift and it is only you who can wield it. Use it wisely, boy. Do not make me regret my intuition that you are the One."
"But what if I'm not? What if I'm really just a dumb kid that tries to do the impossible. Even with your powers, I am the same clumsy boy. I can't trust myself now."
"Cover your hands until you learn to control it, boy."
"How?"
"You will find the answer. Now awake, and use my gift wisely."
"Wait, you never told me your name!"
"It shall stay unknown for now."

Matthew awoke that morning, covered in sweat, as always after his conversations with that deity. It scared him. He didn't know what it was or if it was just haunting his dreams, night after night. He had been having sleeping problems lately, too scared to fall asleep and see that king again, but once he was in his dreamworld, it didn't take long for the  creature to find him. He hadn't told anyone about it, not even Marie. She would think he had gone mad, or worse, she'd make fun of him, because that's how big sisters are. 
He didn't know if he could go to Maya, after all they were going to get married. But what could she do? The best would be to search for Arachne's help. Matthew's foster mother had always been there for him, ever since his mom died and he needed motherly advice. If anyone knew about weird mythical creatures, it sure was her. 
When Matthew was finally aware of his surroundings, his heart dropped: his blanket and the rest of the bed were completely gold. The young man carefully looked at his hands and a shiver went down his spine. Both were gold aswell, some swirls going almost all the way to his upper arms.
"This isn't real...", he whispered, eyes wide in shock, reaching for his phone, but of course he had to watch it turn into gold. "This is absolutely crazy..."
The young man stumbled out of bed, careful not to touch anything, but still touching too much out of curiosity and sooner or later, one could trace where had walked. Matthew sat down next to his cardboard, opened it and looked everywhere for at least two pairs of gloves until he finally found some. He put the first ones on, which eventually lost their original dark green color. When they were on, Matthew tested it out, touched an old empty box that had no use anyway, but of course it had to turn gold.
The young man let out a curse, then put on the second layer of gloves, but again failed.
Sighing, he took the gloves off.
"What the hell is this?"
He had to get to Arachne as soon as possible. Find a solution, and then he had to find a way to talk to the deity about its great idea to cover his hands.
You will find the answer, it had said.
And his instincts told him that those answers were known by none other than his beloved foster mother.
Getting out of the house was harder than expected, especially with Maya having such a light sleep. Matt had decided to sleep in separated rooms when the dreams had started, because when his fiancée was sleep deprived, she could be quite the beast, and he didn't want to unleash such a beast on the world just yet. Arachne had once joked that once a baby would be in their lives, the sleep-beast would be overthrown my motherly love, but at the moment Matthew couldn't see a the chance of being a father, not with this... as the deity called it, gift.
He didn't want to realize that technically all the hard work over the past year had been for nothing, that all their answers lied within his touch, and Matthew didn't want his boss to know. That could be quite the disaster, one which he didn't want to cause.
So the boy put on clothes, which proved to be quite hard but somehow he managed not to turn anything golden by really, really focusing on not wanting to do it. When he was dressed, a giant hoodie that hung like a bag on his thin figure, and ready to go, he left his room, just one more time looking at the mess he had created.
As he opened his door, his cat strolled in, proud as ever. The cat didn't really have a name yet, he had just gotten it a month ago, and Matthew didn't really want to give it a name. Maya called it Roy, so apparently that's what all of them rolled with.
So Roy came into Matthew's room, ready for his daily morning cuddles. He sat down right next to the bed and Matt looked at his fur-friend. "I'm sorry boy, this has to wait. Maybe try to get into Marie's room? I heard her door's open during the night", he told his little kitten with a wink.
Roy wasn't even a year old and Maya had gotten him from an animal shelter. She was convinced that Matt needed a pet.
Of course, Roy was probably pissed now, indicated by his meowing, but he did walk out of the room and headed straight for Marie, which meant that Matthew had to get out of here now.
He sneaked into the kitchen, took the keys for the car, not really caring about the change anymore, and went into the elevator, which brought him on the surface. Living underneath was kind of tiring, but apparently necessary, that's what the boss' assistant had told Matt and his sister. That was all the information they had and Matt actually did miss the old house they had lived in.
Matt stepped into the car and drove, nervous about meeting Arachne, as he hadn't seen her in a while.

When he finally arrived, he took a deep breath, stepped out of the car and looked at it. Probably for the last time, because it sure would get stolen. Sighing, he walked deeper into the forest, looking for his foster mum, who, as far as he knew, usually took a walk at this time of the day. 
Matt called out her name and eventually saw her sitting on the ground, legs crossed and eyes closed. She was meditating. It was better not to disturb her, but this was urgent.
The young man slowly approached her and sat down, facing Arachne and watching her breathe in and out. He wondered what would happen if he touched her. Did his powers work on people or only on items? It was probably better to not find out.
"I'll be right with you, my boy." Arachne barely moved and he didn't really want to know how she knew who was there. That woman did nothing but impress him everytime he met her.
And so he waited a few more minutes. Examined his hands. They still felt normal, but were cold, as if the gold was only another layer of skin. He wondered if there was a way to get rid of this, but quickly threw that thought away. Matt was sure, that this deity wasn't only there in his dreams, but always, and he didn't want to insult it.
"What is it, my boy?" Arachne eventually said, which startled him. He was too deep in his thoughts to have noticed that she looked at him. She saw his hands, but didn't react to them.
"It's... well, you see my problem, don't you? I don't think I can tell you about it. It's..."
"Complicated, yes, I get that. Why don't you show me what those golden hands of yours can do?"
How she knew was beyond him, but of course she did. Matthew looked for something small, eventually found a flower and picked it. It immediately turned gold, hard as stone, but still flexible. 
Arachne slightly smiled and watched in awe, then nodded. "That's what I thought."
"What do you mean?" Matt wasn't sure if her reaction should confuse him or not. She knew more, that was certain.
"My boy, I know a curse when I see one, as I myself was cursed years ago."
Matt had heard about it. Arachne used to be a simple weaver and challenged a witch to a competition. The witch lost and out of anger cursed her opponent. From then on she was always accompanied by the thing she feared most, spiders, but she made the best out of the situation and now deems herself Mother of Spiders.
"I also see a legend come true when I see it", Arachne continued, "and you sure are one. Have you ever heard of the Legend of the Golden King?" Matt nodded, his mother used to tell him that bedtime story, but he didn't remember.
"King Crisanto, as you may recall, had the same magical abilities."
"But he lost his mind and died... that's how I know the story."
"The king didn't lose his mind. He lost himself and became a demon and I fear that this demon has found you."
His heart pounding, Matt stood up. He had to move. "It... it told me I was his descendant. When I woke up today, I had these abilities... it also told me that I am the One or something but it failed to tell me its name." As a child, Matt had always thought of this Crisanto figure as a great man, greedy yes, but nevertheless someone kid could look up to. A hero. Now, he was nothing but terrified.
"What does he want, Arachne? Can you tell me that?"
"I'm afraid, I don't know. The version of the story I know is, that the demon eventually perished in its fallen kingdom."
"Does it have a name? The creature. I can't think of it as Crisanto and it failed to tell me..."
Now, Arachne stood up and walked to him, put a hand on his shoulder. "Names have power, my boy. It would be better if I didn't tell you. But Matthew, I do want you to know the name of the kingdom."
"What is it?"
Arachne smiled. "It had many names but when Crisanto reigned, the meaning changed to "God's Gift". A shame, if I had a boy, I would actually consider giving him that name."
"The name, Arachne. Give me the name.", Matthew asked, getting impatient.
"Midas. It was called Midas."

After that, Matthew went back home. After all, he still had work to do and he wanted to do some research on this deity. Now that he had some information, he surely would find more. 
When Matt stepped out of the elevator, it was unusually silent. Normally, Maya would be in the kitchen by now, making some afternoon snacks, while Marie and him were in the lab, but no one was around. With his heart pounding, he went to the kitchen and found a note, saying that Maya went to go and meet a friend. 
With a different font, there was another message right underneath it saying that Marie was in the lab and didn't need any help for now, so Matt went into his room, now too exhausted to even think about what was going on, and sat down on his bed, were Roy greeted him with a loud meow.
"Hey there my friend. You still want your morning cuddle?", he said with a smile. "I'm afraid I can't... you know, I have a little problem", he continued, waving his hand, then he lay down, slipping under his blanket. "But I suppose we can figure something out." 
The cat lied down next to Matt and with Roy's purrs, he fell asleep.