When Midas was a child, he used to think death was a bad dream, a nightmare. He believed something like that simply couldn't be real, because his eyes had never witnessed death before. It was a typical thought for a child his age, nothing unusual, really. However, that very thought planted the seed of trauma deep inside his heart.
Because he refused to believe in the reality of death and instead immersed himself in a fantasy of eternal life and happiness, he could not endure witnessing death for the first time.
A person's first experience with death is usually tied to someone close to them. That was what Midas experienced.
The death of his mother.
It was a vivid memory etched into his mind, because it was the root of his depression:
Many years ago, Midas and Maissa cried in front of their mother's corpse after she died in an avalanche inside the mines.
***
He opened his eyes to nothing but darkness. Pain spread through his entire body, and he writhed where he lay. He was on a simple bed covered in different animal pelts, warm enough to withstand the cold nights.
He sat up with difficulty and held his head in pain. It had been a long time since he had slept so deeply, but something about all this felt wrong.
"Where am I? The leviathans…"
His eyes widened in horror when he finally noticed that his hands were free. Immediately, he shrank into the corner of the bed as the torturous memories of the past dragged his mind into a state of extreme panic: an anxiety attack. His body trembled and his eyes darted frantically around the room. He felt like the oxygen was leaving his lungs, and his breathing became heavy and rapid.
Cold sweat drenched his forehead as he desperately clutched his head with both hands.
At that moment, during the battle against the sea beasts, Midas had almost killed everyone aboard the ship. If Briar hadn't said those things to him, he would have lost control, turning everything around him into a massive layer of gold.
"Not again… not again…" he repeated to himself, trying to calm his anxiety.
The remnants of magic still lingered throughout his body. Regulus, the beam of light he fired at the leviathans, had been all the mana stored inside him, unleashed with every ounce of willpower he had left. It was the first time he had ever used his magic that way. With no other choice, he released it in a single direction instead of simply exploding like he had that day ten years ago.
Trying to calm himself was agonizing. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't do anything, because his own mind was far too unstable.
"Where is it? Where's the inhibitor? Where? Where?"
Amid the agony and desperation, Midas kept asking himself that question. The inhibitor was the key that locked away the door to his emotions. With it, he could be certain he would never hurt anyone. He would feel safe if only the inhibitor were nearby, but it wasn't.
He was terrified of crossing the door to search for it, because he feared losing control of his power. However, for now, that was impossible. Midas had exhausted all the mana he had gathered over the last ten years, so he couldn't use magic anymore. Well, he technically still could, but doing so would risk his own life.
"Why did they take my inhibitor away? Where is it? Where?"
On the verge of tears, Midas closed his eyes. Despite his body lacking mana, everything around him began turning to gold. The runes on his back glowed faintly, flickering in different elemental colors. The gray color on his chest spread a few more centimeters, and in turn, it triggered a violent headache.
Once again, Midas used the little—or perhaps none—of the mana he had left. He fainted in that same position and did not wake again until the sun had risen.
When the hours passed, Midas opened his eyes once more, now fully aware of what was happening. In silence, with a darkened gaze, he climbed down from the bed and sat on the wooden floor. He curled up in a corner, trying to avoid the rays of sunlight slipping through the gaps in the door and walls.
'This place is similar to that prison, but even though I have the option to leave… I can't… I can't…'
The door was there, unlocked, with freedom waiting on the other side. And yet…
'I'm scared. I don't want to repeat the same story again. I just want to go home. I want to see my sister again. I want to live in the past forever and never leave it behind. That's all I want, but I can't leave this place…'
He felt trapped inside a small dark room with four walls. The door stood open, and he could leave whenever he wanted, but Midas remained hidden in the corner, afraid of the future, clinging harder and harder to the memories of the past.
To Midas, all of this was a nightmare.
Then suddenly, the door creaked open slightly, revealing a thin line of light entering the room. After that, Tiana peeked her head inside and found Midas.
She said a few things, but Midas didn't want to listen to her. He only told her to leave so he could continue sinking into the darkness of the room.
"I can't leave without knowing what's going on," she said with unwavering confidence.
Midas hid his face between his knees.
"Please… just stay away from me… Leave me alone."
Tiana sighed. She opened the door fully and, without a trace of fear, approached Midas. She crouched in front of him, about three feet away, and tried to look him in the eyes. Last night, she had spent a long time thinking about what she saw. Questions had surfaced in her mind, and she needed answers. Even with Midas in this state, she wanted to know this man's story.
"Yesterday, after you passed out, I saw the runes on your back. They aren't normal elemental runes."
The runes of the heptagram were ordinary elemental runes, technically speaking, but there was something sinister about them, as if their very concept had been distorted. They glowed ominously with the element they represented, emanating a powerful mysticism hidden deep within the world.
The Rune of Fire displayed rippling patterns like flames, shining with the color of the fiercest fires.
The Rune of Water appeared as a fractured droplet, pale blue in color, likely the reason yesterday's storm came to an end.
The Rune of Earth carried straight geometric patterns, resembling one carved stone stacked atop another. Its color mirrored that of Runeterra's highest mountains.
The Rune of Wind emitted a cool white light, its swirling patterns imitating the violent northern blizzards.
The Rune of Ice accompanied the Rune of Wind. It was cold, strange, and dangerous, like a tiny snowflake forged from the power of True Ice. The faint bluish-white glow of the rune was beautiful, but Tiana could only feel horror when she saw it.
The Rune of Light. This rune shone brighter than all the others. The Sun of Shurima was its symbol, a symbol of divinity and ancient power. This rune was incredibly difficult to obtain, belonging to the ancient traditions of the people of Shurima. Tiana could not understand how Midas possessed something so exclusive.
And finally, at the bottom point of the heptagram…
A strange Dark Rune. Its symbol was difficult to comprehend. Was it an eye? A jewel? A letter from an ancient language? It could barely be described as anything more than a scribble. Its sinister purple glow faintly illuminated the black stone that formed the rune. Tiana interpreted it as some strange rune connected to the element of Darkness.
"Midas, if that's really your name, I need you to tell me where you escaped from. What did they do to you?"
He didn't answer. There was no way he could tell his life story to a stranger. They had only known each other for a little over a day. The wounds of the heart are not something you expose lightly, much less to someone you barely know.
Tiana understood Midas's silence. What she was asking for was impossible under these circumstances. So, with complete confidence, she sat down on the golden floor. Then her eyes glowed faintly green, blending with the darkness. The fabric of her clothes shifted as though wind were blowing inside the room, and immediately after, her cloak split into multiple pieces of cloth that glowed the same green as her eyes.
"Looks like I asked something uncomfortable," Tiana said, fully aware of it as she raised a hand toward the ceiling. "In that case, would you like to hear my story before you can tell me yours?"
The display of lights was beautiful, enough to draw Midas's depressed gaze toward it. Even though there was no way he could bring himself to speak to Tiana, he lacked the willpower to tell her to leave. He simply stayed silent, without moving a single muscle.
"I'll take your silence as a yes. Now then… where should I begin?" She moved her hand gently, making the cloth obey her will. "Pay attention, client. I'm not repeating this. I don't think we know each other well enough to share our sorrows. We barely know each other at all, but you saved my life, my father's life, everyone's lives, and I'm grateful."
Far from the rough attitude she normally carried, she actually felt nervous about telling all these things to a depressed man she knew nothing about. Even so, that was what this was about: getting to know each other and trying to solve whatever was happening to this savior.
"Do whatever you want…" Midas said, trying not to curl further into the corner.
Tiana nodded and began. With the movement of her hands, the pieces of cloth gathered together, transforming into glowing figures. A little girl, a slender woman, and a burly man.
"During a stormy night, inside one of the rooms on this old ship, I was born. I remember my mother telling me that my father cried when I was born. I know, hard to believe. She told me my father's tears weren't tears of sadness or anger, but tears of happiness and relief. Both my mother and I were healthy, alive before him, before a man who had already lost too much. To my father, I was a ray of light in the darkness of the storm, and to my mother, the gods' greatest blessing."
The cloth moved, recreating the moments of the story like black and green shadows.