KINGSLEY
"I’m dying to feel again.”
-Imagine Dragons, Gold
NameKingsley
A simple name, yet it hints to the account of who he once was in his past life. Most do not recognize who he once was, and by some he is overlooked as a human, but the name serves as a clue. Kingsley does not necessarily feel comfortable uttering his new name, yet far more than ever speaking his old one. To him, the new name symbols his new life, whereas his old one is a bitter reminder.
NicknamesNone
Kingsley made not have any nicknames, but his original name itself, Midas, is an insult to him when uttered to his face. Especially if the speaker is well acknowledged of his past and his distaste of who he once was. Only those who choose to spite him, intentionally use the name.
The Original NameMidas
Story of originKing Midas and the Golden Touch
Age50
GenderMale
Sexual OrientationHeterosexual
MagicNo
Kingsley is not an addict nor is he influenced to any use for the drug. He is contaminated with a virus known as the Golden Touch. The virus taints his blood flow with an infection capable to transmute anything or anyone into gold. If ignored, the virus can render Kingsley dead due to starvation because of his inability to eat without being fed like a baby. Within his origin story, Kingsley, at the time King Midas, could cure himself through the cleansing of his hands with enchanted water from his garden fountain. Yet the curse is not temporary. As time passes the effect of the water wears off and his reliability on the water becomes a daily routine. Kingsley has created a more effective method to buy himself more time before his next exposure- injection. But, with each puncture to his flesh, he suffers a short period of intense inflammation as the blood rejects the drug. Kingsley obtains the drug known as Well Water through the streets with every begging coin he can earn.
As for the infection itself, the Golden Touch easily transmutes objects into gold in a matter of seconds. However Humans and Vales are much more complex, there is an immune system to fight. A person has twenty-four hours before the virus takes full transformation. Within the first eight hours, one will experience a drop in temperature, fatigue, and a yellowing of the skin. After sixteen hours, movement will be highly restricted and walking itself will be a strenuous task. The heart will decease in rate of speed and dehydration will take place. Once the twenty-four hours are completed, he or she is severely paralyzed and weighed by layers of pure gold; it is as if they are a prisoner to their own shell. A small injection of well water is only curable during the transformation period. However, the Golden Touch is a very rare virus, and to most, a myth. Therefore they really have twenty-four hours to find the cure either on their own, or by interrogating Kingsley with any means necessary, if they first successfully discover that he knows a cure. But once they are fully turned into gold, they can still be saved with a bath of Well Water. Yet with such an unpopular drug these days, it is hard to get a tub full of the stuff.
Animals survive a time of only five hours when it comes to the virus however. And once they turn, they turn, there's sadly no revival for them.
Job/PositionBeggar
A twist to dear Kingsley is that he is in fact homeless, but because he chooses to. He runs from any sort of luxurious lifestyle, especially if it be through his haunting temptation of simply using his curse to spout wealth from his fingertips. Instead he now spends his days on sidewalks gripping the surface of a cardboard sign begging for pay through any job offered. Most coins aren’t spare, nor work given because of the rumors brewed, telling that Kingsley spends his earnings on drugs. Which is true, yet Well Water is more of his medicine than his drug.
AppearanceKingsley does not dress in a king’s fashion, but in the style of a peasant. The clothes weighed upon his back are unwanted garments scavenged. Upon his head he wears a black seamed cap as his hair drops down around his eyes, making his face much more unrecognizable to the monarch he once was. Often he wears the hood of his crimson jacket on top of the cap, hiding his true identity even further. As for what lies below the torso, his jeans tattered with a few holes and boots, also too tattered with a few holes. As for his physical appearance, Kingsley mirrors the picture displayed except his arms are affected by his Well Water addiction. From the wrist up, the veins are swollen and color themselves with various shades of purple mixed with a bit of black. Often the damaged is covered, however, by sleeves.
"Midas, a poor, poor fool. All he had was money, that was it."
PersonalityThough Kingsley may look like he has gone through hell, he still manages to keep calm. Perhaps, it is a special trait of his, one which ties into his undeniable optimism. Kingsley is known to be brutally forgiving, understanding he himself wishes for forgiveness. Once getting to know him, he is portrayed as a notably wise figure, which is true. Kingsley is a thoughtful man, but you can’t help but to sense the doubt inside. And then it makes sense, why he is so positive. It is because Kingsley is thus far so desperate for freedom and all he can do now is hope. It is almost as if he receives hope with the hope he gives by sparing the little he can to those just as needy as him.
Another strong part about Kingsley that has not been mention is that he is a family man at heart. His overprotectiveness is a prominent flaw of his because he fears he may lose someone he loves again due to his carelessness. But with this overprotectiveness comes with a type of loyalty so deep he is willing to risk his own self being.
Strengths- Kind- You could say Kingsley has a heart of gold.
- Wise- Kingsley is a deep thinker, considering sides of the story most often missed.
- Strong- Kingsley’s build is that of a faded king- a remnant of his past, yet perhaps the only benefit from it.
Weaknesses- The Golden Touch- a curse, a virus
- Memory Loss Episodes- After Well Water injections Kingsley can experience episodes of an identity crisis, to which he does not know who he is. This is caused because Well Water is numbing the part of him that makes up his fable- the Golden Touch. These episodes happen at random and often he warns close companions of it.
- Slower Movement- Within mainly the arm region, Kingsley is rather slow due to his intake of Well Water. This also causes delayed reflexes.
- (Mortal Weakness) Magic essence- if Kingsley is injected with this drug, the infection he carries will break out upon his own body in a sort of overload with the curse. He then will transmute into a gold statue, just as his daughter once was.
FearsKingsley fears that he will never find a cure to his curse, and that all his life he will be dependent on a drug, that freedom is unobtainable. Kingsley also fears his curse will be discover and soon he will be someone’s literal prisoner, forced to be their golden goose or weapon.
"An apologize means nothing without action."
HistoryKingsley is infected, he always has been, ever since he was Midas. Poison rushes through the veins with cries saying, Be careful what you wish for. And now he is the utter example of that old saying. He has not only lost his will to feel again without fear, but his daughter too is far from his grasp. Marigold, yes, he cured her, cleansed in a bath of enchanted water, yet could she ever wash away the memory of a type of greed so deadly a father kills his child through a single touch? She left him, so did his treasures, his kingdom, and the fairy prince who first casted the hellish curse.
Kingsley spends his days alone with little of people ever acknowledging his existence nor his true identity. Scratching for a little something to get him by without days of starvation is his daily routine. Yet he sleeps his head on the cold hard floor as he sulks with the loss of his earnings as they are sometimes stolen from him. Kingsley lives his new life from the opposite spectrum of his old one. If he can luckily pinch your pocket change then he’s found himself a fortune, but if he buys a cure, then he has bought a miracle. Money cannot buy everything.
Likes- Dogs- Kingsley’s love for dogs may seem like any unusual one giving that he feels incline to rescue and raise any lost stray despite his struggle to survive on his own. But he cannot help the protective trait he so easily expresses, especially with an arm full of pups abandoned in a dumpster.
- Physical Touch- Kingsley’s will to feel the warmth of another being has been restricted since the curse. It is hardly known of his infection however, but his beggar’s stance deems him far too useless and disgusting to spare a friendly embrace. He cannot blame them, but his longing to feel again builds his ever lovable character stronger.
- Music- Instrumental to be precise, Kingsley enjoys the vibration of the soundwaves as he lets the pure sound drain out the noise occurring in day to day life.
- Chocolate Milk- You could say the drink is Kingsley’s guilty pleasure. But who can refuse a smooth glass of milk with just the right taste of choclate?
Dislikes- Gold- Indeed, his once prized possession, now his arch enemy. He feels a crippling cringe inside of him with the very shine of gold. Even the worst moments, where the haunting image of gold surrounds him, Midas will excuse himself as he starts feeling rather light-headed and dizzy. There is only one piece of gold Kingsley can tolerate- his crown. But this is moreover because he has grown use to the sight of it. The crown aids him in forgiving his past self.
- Indulgences- Indulgences can involve, drinking, smoking, and cursing. But no matter, Kingsley does not have fond liking for either. He believes men can become consumed such easy habits. In fact, he finds it quite sad that a man hinders himself with distractions rather than dissecting the motives behind it all.
- Bullies- Those who dominant themselves over the weaker sickens Midas. Even if the bully is a well-off individual, enough so he deems himself better than the poor therefore expresses it.
- Well Water- Every day is a constant reminder why he hates his own medicine, just as much as he hates his own curse.
"If you could put a price on freedom, what would it be? Could I buy it? Is it ever for sale?"