Midas's fear was true; able to feel the sun shine onto him as he stood in the eye of the warping sandstorm that surrounded the temple he stood in front of, he felt a foreign presence in the distant dark that submerged everything past the open entrance into the pyramid-like structure. The limestone it was made out of had been chipped away at by sand and time; risking closing his eyes, he saw an invisible shade that roughly took form through his eyelid - deep underground.
The eerily still air around him didn't help to get rid of the feeling, as everywhere he looked were the seemingly infinitely high-rising walls of the surrounding storm - submerging everything around the building in an almost perfect circle. Sterning his brows, he eventually went inside the ancient temple, his eyes planted onto the sandstone tiles - not trying to risk running into another possible trap.
After a short tiled path, Midas slowly descended a set of never-ending stairs - wishing he had the fire stone that belonged to Fuegir, the youth clutched his teeth. He had no time to waste; Midas had to make sure he would arrive in the water kingdom's capital city as soon as possible, having to meet the pirates to pay the debt he was still bound to - while also having to rescue Skye. Feeling more restless than scared by the darkness, he was able to feel the pull of the glass flasks become increasingly strong, pulling him away from the wall; he let his hand trace along to keep a sense of direction.
Blindly walking a broadening hall, the youth tried his best to make out more than the tiles beneath his feet. Even though the gold flasks emitted faint light, he was unable to see the roof above him. Even the walls to his sides now vanished - as he went further, Midas was able to make out the dimly shaded form of a pillar. His cautious steps echoed on the grainy stone slabs that made up the floor, occasionally able to hear sand make its way through the cracks of the old building to drizzle down.
The vials of gold began to almost levitate now - the strength of their pull ever increasing with every step the boy took through the darkness, descending another set of stairs. Midas was eventually faced with a similar kind of stone he had seen under the northern fort - much more chalky, almost completely grey when the faint light of the flasks shone onto it. The sudden change of material meant that the temple was most likely constructed on top of a much older structure, making the path he now walked even older than the temple - which was most likely constructed much earlier than any other ruin he had now seen from the old world.
The floor beneath was made of dusty pebbles - empty canals that seemingly used to transport water ran along both of the halls' sides, only faintly able to see them - Midas was able to see the same curving and warping patterns on the walls he had seen in the circular room in which the rune in his right hand was stamped into him, his palm tightening around the strings that held onto the glass flasks - momentarily bringing them closer to the wall to examine the markings.
Midas was able to feel that the gold inside the glass was desperate to escape now - clinging to the base of the vials as if it tried to press through it, seemingly seeking out whatever was in the darkness ahead of him. Following the pull again, the youth eventually lost track of the walls to his side as the gold seemingly directed him to the center of whatever room he found himself inside of. Barely able to make out what the stone object in front of him was, the youth looked down onto a long rectangle, able to fit a grown man.
The vials of gold pressed tightly against the stone lid of what most likely was a grave, Midas widened his eyes in dawn; this temple was not only used as a residency but also a burial site for the golden knight. What he stood in front of was most likely the grave of that said knight; the fact that something attracted the unusual gold, however, made even less sense now - mana usually fades out of one's body after their death, causing Midas to ask himself how the storm came to be.
Crouching down to examine a way to open up the lid, he froze at the sound of something banging against the stone - before Midas could act, he instinctively took a step back as the lid of the ancient coffin was broken apart by whoever rested inside of it. The dim glow of the gold disappeared right after the youth was able to smell dust filling the room - backing away further, Midas's back was pressed against a wall. He wasn't able to tell where the exit was - now stuck with whatever was inside, beside his increasing heartbeat - the youth was able to hear the shattering of the vial's hull through the room.
The cracking of joints sounded dimly after every movement it took after its awakening - he was able to hear a metallic hull against the stone floor, hearing the dim clacking of it sound against the floor. The youth had to get out of here as fast as possible - silently moving around the edges of the room, his hand scanned the curve of the seemingly circular room as he felt his teeth clutch tighter with every other step it took, hearing the faint howl grow louder as it already seemed to have noticed his presence.
A dry groan faintly echoed from the pitch black ahead, sounding almost like a curse that it weakly muttered towards him - angered to have been woken up by the boy. Suddenly right after, Midas felt the wall to his left crumble, the collision most likely caused by one of its limbs - as soon as the youth stared forward with wide eyes, he felt that something was right in front of his nose, staring down at him. Barely even able to breathe - trapped in the depth of the ancient structure, the boy felt a cold and hard object poke against the dead center of his forehead, the tip of one of its fingers, or so he hoped.
After a long moment of silence, Midas grasped the sickle from his back out of desperation - blindly swinging it at whatever kept him trapped. Even though he could tell that he had cut through something, he quickly felt a cold, clutching hand grip around his throat - the fingertips of its slim, bony fingers digging into his skin. Hearing his sickle clink in multiple shards to the ground, the youth gripped its arm, trying to somehow struggle his way out of its ever-tightening grasp. Unable to free himself, the youth raised his right hand - quickly hoping to use his sunshard - before feeling a sudden sting around his right wrist and the numb feeling of his five missing fingers.
Before Midas knew it, he screamed in pain - having realized his hand was now cut off from him, his scream muffled through his teeth, the youth tried his best to find another solution - still being choked by it, he tried to lunge his feet against it. Even though he repeatedly hit whatever was holding him there, Midas was able to feel that it wasn't backing away whatsoever, eventually causing him to halt his attempt. Scared and hopeless, he lost the feeling of his limbs - his body trembling, even if it spared the rest of his body for now.
Of course something like that would happen once he found himself goals to accomplish - the sense of having a direction to take in his life was quickly shut down in this very moment. Unable to accept it, the youth pressed his lids together - the hollow laugh that toned through the cold body of it being the last thing he might hear. The dim laughter arose louder inside of its body - amused greatly by the boys' struggle as it eventually became painfully loud, mixed with Midas's stress, it created a familiar ringing in his ears - a sound that quickly became unbearable.
"End this process already..."
Hissing through his teeth, Midas braced himself for what was to come - feeling himself being released from its grip, he lumpily fell onto the ground, sitting against the wall. Eventually being spared, the youth spent no time trying his best to crawl away - his will to live blocking out the painful sting of his missing right hand. Exhaling in luck, he felt his left hand grip onto the edge of the room's exit - desperately using his elbow and feet, Midas lumped his way through the hallway, breathing dryly with every slump motion he made; he could feel it follow him.
Hearing its empty snickering as it watched him struggle, Midas pushed forward, desperately clinging to the stairs steps ahead, using his foot to push him further. Writhing with the pain of his lost hand, he managed to inch his way up again - dryly catching his breath, he was able to feel sand grains stick to his sweating palm. The walking remains of the golden knight followed him, silently amused to see him struggle for his life as he used the boy to find its way outside - whatever it was, it could've never been the same knight Ajan had told him of, as it seemingly completely lacked empathy.
If Midas would be losing his life anyway, he could at least try to get out, hoping it would lose its interest in him once it found its way to the outside world. Seeing it easily withstand strikes of his sickle while cutting through the boy's body like butter somehow made the existence of the gigantic sandstorm much more plausible - if it was able to create such things, then it surely had no need to trouble itself with him anymore.
The youth exhaled with each step he pulled himself up on, his knees completely weakened to the point he couldn't stand anymore, his teeth clenched in desperation as he heard it laugh at him from afar - slowly walking behind him. Dragging himself out of the broader hallway, Midas was able to see the sunlight shine into the building from the distant entrance - groaning loudly, the youth picked up his pace as he clung his way forward into the sunlight.
Slowly walking over him, Midas was forced to watch as the lengthy figure stepped out of the darkness - he could feel his own eyes widen in shock as the sunlight reflected on its bones, its slim limbs shining in the same color of gold that was stored in the vials. The youth watched as it looked down on itself - the skeleton's jaw parted briefly, looking down onto its hand as its fingers slowly stretched out in the sun as if it was currently realizing its freedom.
Groaning in frustration, the youth couldn't hide it anymore - the fact he tried to accept the fact that his life would suddenly just end here was something he couldn't align himself with. Midas still had things to do, multiple people to meet - most importantly, he never got an answer to who he really was before he woke up in the same desert he now found himself dying in. Flashing his teeth with a hung-down head, he slid his torso to rest against the wall - his left hand pressed against it as he shakingly got to his feet. Midas couldn't accept the fact that his last moments would be spent being used by something that seemingly didn't even respect his existence.
Looking up from his hand, the golden skeleton slowly strode forward - somehow the way it stared at the youth from afar felt like it was determined to do something. As Midas lumpily made his way forward while stabilizing himself on the wall, he watched the skeleton come closer, watching it with the same stare as it towered over him. The completely still face of the golden figure in front of him looked at the boy in silence - its empty eye sockets seemingly only focused on him as it raised its right hand, angling it before stabbing it into the youth's stomach.
Spouting blood in masses, Midas's eyes widen in blinding shock - his body curling up at the pain, collapsing instantly, the youth was tormented by stinging that ran through his entire body - his agonizing screaming muffled by the spouting blood as he felt a foreign liquid make its way through his bone marrow - his bones felt like they would expand, making the boy pinch his eyes together as his head felt like it would swell up. As his body writhed in pain, the youth clung to the limestone tiles of the floor - his voice hoarsely sounding through his bloodied teeth as the golden skeleton seemingly vanished into his body.
His own cries and screams were eventually beginning to fade, his vision beginning to whiten from the cruel pain as ringing sounded from inside his ear - trying to suppress the foreign motions of his left hand, Midas clutched his hand into a fist as the numbing whiteness eventually took over completely.