Midas' Destiny (Original Version)

Past Times: The Tragedy of Two Siblings Part 2

A/N: Warning, there is blood and quite some violence in this chapter. Also, I'm not sorry for the Rue stans because she is a bitch in this story.
This is kinda cringe and bad but honestly I can't be bothered to put all my energy into writing a perfect story with perfect storyline and no clichés. I'm happy the way it is and I'm grateful for all the positive feedback I've been receiving. I haven't written a fanfiction since 2014 and the way this is going at the moment is fine for me. Someday I might come back to change a few things but for now, this should be enough. Thanks again for every read. Now enjoy Midas suffering.

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A scream woke him up. First distant, but it became louder and louder and it made him more and more uncomfortable. The first thing he noticed was, that for the first time the deity, the Fallen King, hadn't visited him in his sleep, or at least he didn't remember anything from it.
The second thing he noticed was, that Roy was gone. He must have left at some point, probably to eat something. Maybe Maya was back now. It was late, he slept for longer than anticipated.
But the third and most important thing, Matthew noticed was, that the scream came from the house and wasn't an imagination. He ran out of the bedroom and waited for another scream, which he quickly heard. Someone needed help. And that someone must have been Marie, so Matthew made his way into the lab, quietly sneaking there, tightly grasping a knife. His heart was pounding, as he started hearing silent sobbing, the screams had stopped.
"Marie?" Her name barely came out as a whisper. When he opened the heavy door, the first thing he noticed was blood on the floor. Not much, but enough to make him feel nauseous.
The sobbing came from the inventory, so Matthew slowly made his way there, where he found Marie tied to a chair, beaten up, with a knife to her throat. The knife belonged to a girl in a black trench coat, she couldn't be older than 18. Matthew knew her. Matt was pretty sure, Mr D, their boss, was her father or something.
"What's going on here?", he asked, his voice cracking, as he looked at Marie. Her right eye was swollen and her nose was bleeding.
"Stay there or your sister will die. I came here simply to look at the progress, you should have made by now, when I noticed something you should have hidden when you left the house this morning to visit the spider lady." Rue took the knife away while talking and Marie had the chance to breathe again. 
Of course they would spy on him. He should have known better. 
Rue smiled at him. "You see, Mr D's eyes are everywhere. He knows who to trust and you and your sister aren't part of that, especially not since your girlfriend knows about the experiments."
"Maya! Where is she? What did you do?" Matthew grasped the knife even tighter, ready to attack.
"She's being taken care of, don't you worry. Now listen, Matthew, I heard of reports that you all of a sudden have magical powers and I want to know where you got them and if you two have lied to us all this time, after everything we have done for your pathetic asses." Rue went back to Marie. "Talk fast or she dies and we will cut your weird looking hands off", she added with her annoying sing-song voice.
More steps behind him. Heavy. A tall, masked man with a pistol in his hand, which he pressed right into Matt's back.
"And you will die too", the man added, his voice deep.
Matthew gulped, not being able to say a word, partly because of his anger, partly because he was scared to death.
"When you were employed", Rue began again, putting the knife back at Marie's throat and slightly cutting into it, "you were street rats. Nobodies.  We only employed you, because we knew that you mother, our employee, was a scientist and that she taught you a thing or two. Because both of you are intelligent young minds and determined. You wanted the house back, you grew up in but you needed money to buy it. We gave you everything. Resources, food, this giant place to stay at, and no to forget enough money for you to buy a ring for your girl, and how do you thank us? By keeping it a secret that you've found an answer we have been looking for all these years."
A few drops of blood made their way down Marie's throat. Matt could see that she didn't dare to breathe or swallow. 
"So. How did you do it? And don't you dare make me believe that your nutcase of a mother actually told the truth when she talked about your... ancestry. We all know you aren't the One."
"Leave Marie out of this." He couldn't take that girl anymore. It was too much.
Use your gift wisely, that's what Crisanto had said.
"Or what? Are you going to turn me into gold? I'd like to see you try with a gun to your head"; Rue answered, laughing, a slight touch of madness in her eyes.
He had the power to make her shut up. To stop her from taunting his sister and he knew it, but why was he so scared? Because of the weapon? Or maybe because it could backfire?
Maybe he was just too scared and after all nothing but a dumb boy. 
This was all wrong! Matt should be the one tied to the chair, beaten up, not Marie. He was the one with the magic, Mr D wanted. He needed to make a decision, and he needed to make it quick. 
And just as he was about to give up, the image of a skeleton appeared right in front of him. The deity. Suddenly, he remembered everything from the last conversation just a few minutes ago.
And that gave him the necessary courage he required to do what he was about to do.
Matthew reached behind him, tightly grabbing the man's wrist with the gun, which he dropped. From where he grabbed him, gold spread on his entire body, slowly but surely immobilizing him.
Matt went for the gun, picked it up and shot twice at Rue's hand, only winging her, but it was enough for her to drop the knife. Then Matt charged at her, but stopped right before her face and pressed the gun to her forehead. 
"Untie her. Untie her or I'll do the same to you as I did to your friend. Maybe even worse." He was breathing heavily, trembling and ready to pull the trigger, but something kept him from it. 
"As you wish", Rue answered, the smile still on her face, but he saw fear in her eyes. She took the knife and kneeled down to cut the ropes. 
Meanwhile, Matt looked at his sister, her eyes wide open from shock. When she was free, she didn't run, just sat there and looked at the weapon in his hands, which he still pointed at Rue. 
"Now get out of here and leave us alone. We don't care about Mr D or his business." He was much more confident now and meant what he said. They had money. Matt had the power to turn things into gold, for God's sake. They could finally get out of there and return to their home, live in peace. He could marry the woman of his dreams, that is, if she was still alive. Oh, how much he wanted that.
But of course, the wheels of Fortuna weren't on his side. That's what he realized when Rue burst into laughter.
"Are you really that stupid? You don't get it, do you? The entire organization was built on the idea of an old legend. Your own mother was the one to build it and your father was the one who made it work. We all serve one purpose and that is to find you, Matthew. We never wanted you to turn lead into gold, we wanted you to connect to the Fallen King!"
"Matt, what is she talking about?" Marie was whispering, still trembling.
"Your brother is the vessel of something of pure greatness." Rue walked towards him, standing right in front of Marie.
And then, Matt had enough. He reached out for Rue, but she ducked, throwing her arm with the knife in the air. Agonizing pain on the right side of his face, then warm blood. He could barely see anything and stumbled forward, his hand barely grazing his sister's shoulder, but it was enough.
Matt fell into a shelf, taking it down with him, as he saw his sister slowly turning into a statue, and that's when Rue took a chance to flee.
"Marie, no !" He crawled to her, covering the wound on his face. "Please, no..."
"Matt...", her voice barely a whisper, "I love you and... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what happened." It spread painfully slow as Matt had to watch his sister die.
"I will fix this, Marie, I promise. You will be okay and then we will get out of here and move into our home and you'll be an aunt. That's what you want, right? You want me to become a father and you want to take care of my children."
"Don't, Matt..."
"Stop. Stop it!" He slammed his free hand on the floor, tears in his healthy eye, which made his vision even blurrier. Then he looked at where Crisanto had appeared and screamed. "Help me! You said no one will be hurt! You said I wouldn't hurt anyone!"
A soft sigh from Marie, her face unnaturally peaceful, yet full of pain, as the last part of her face turned to gold.
A single tear escaped from her eye, which turned golden aswell, and then there was nothing. Nothing but Matt, screaming at the wall, wishing for it all to end, as the pain from his wound came back and he eventually passed out.

When he woke, he woke in the void. It wasn't unusual to wake here, but this time something was different. He actually felt his surroundings, and the longer he was awake, the brighter everything got, and eventually, there was no more void, but a throne room, covered in gold. The anger from before that had made him yell at the fallen king was gone.
"Where am I?", Matt asked, as he stood up and looked around. It must have been the kingdom from the story, Midas.
"You're home." The voice, which had kind of an inhumane undertone to it, spoke behind him and Matt turned around.
"This isn't my home. It's yours." Where his wound was, he felt numb and as he remembered what had happened, his breathing got heavier.
"Don't you panic, boy. This was all part of your journey towards the goal."
"And what goal is it?"
"To return what was once broken. To set yourself on fire and rise from the ashes as rightful king with me on your side. My plans for you have changed, boy. This night I saw your true potential. After all, that is why you have been chosen."
"But why me? You could have chosen anyone. Why does it have to be me?"
"You don't realize it, do you? I did not choose you, the Gods did. I am not the one to mend my our mistakes, you are. And now you and I have something in common, boy."
"Let me repeat my question. Why me?"
"Because you are different than the others. Stronger. There is no place for you in this world as it is. You are the ember that will ignite the fire to burn everything down. You were meant to be a king and I paved the way for you. Now take my hand and together we will avenge our lost ones."
"Will I lose more than just her?" 
"There will be loss, boy, but more importantly, you will rise above all and the entire world will be your golden kingdom. Now, take my hand to accept your destiny. We will find a way to free your sister and then you two can reign together over this pathetic world."
"What do you get out of this?"
"I don't want anything out of it, boy. I want you to defy the gods themselves."
And Matthew reached for the boney hand, ready to take it. Did he have more to lose? Where had Maya been when all this had happened? He needed his sister by his side and a deal with Crisanto was the only way.
"You and I, Matthew. We will change this world for the better. I will guide you."
The curse that lied upon him was from a god and as Crisanto had said, it was a gift. He was a gift and it took him too long to realize that.
Names have power. And I'm surely not the man I was before anymore.

"I have one condition."
"And that would be what, boy?"
"Don't call me Matthew anymore... I mean, you took on another name when you... embraced your powers. Now it is my turn. When I agree to side with you, I don't want to be Matthew anymore."
"And what would you wish to be called?" 
He couldn't help but imagine Crisanto smiling right now if he'd still have a face. And then he thought about it again. If he'd speak that name out loud, he would put his life behind. His life with Maya. If he really went down this path, he'd have to stop being Matthew, because Matthew was a cowardly and dumb boy who couldn't even save his sister. And what else did he have to lose? Maya deserved better. That's what Crisanto had told him. He thought about Arachne. If she'd have had a son his name would have been the same. That's what she had said.
"I want to be called Midas." And with that, he took the fallen king's hand, sealing his fate and letting go of Matthew Eldorado, as the demon and him became one.