The Bitter King

[Rayse Valentino]

"Agh!" Rayse yelled out, flipping over on his side. Pure red filled his vision, and he felt the stairs under his body. A dream...? He got up, shaking his head and feeling for the wall on his left side.

He remembered vividly what happened, the details still sending shivers down his spine. This world sought to make him part of it, but he refused to give in. He brushed himself off and continued the climb, feeling an overwhelming sense of dread from the nightmare.

It took hours to shake off his skittishness, but soon he could see more clearly in the mist. At first it was just his hands a few inches from his face, but soon he could make out the wall, the stairs, and the edge of the ledge. Going further, his vision was no different than when he had the goggles on, and out into The Nameless City he could see only an ocean of mist. He looked up and was almost glad to see the Red Maelstrom, its center like a great eye that watched him. Soon enough he saw what looked like the top of the wall, the end of the staircase.

Yet, he could not feel any joy. He looked back at his progress, the staircase that grew into the mist, inviting him to come back in.

How... How could I possibly have second thoughts now?! I'm almost there, I just need to put in foot in front of the other a few more times, and... !

He fell to his knees, unable to suppress the dread he harbored for so long.

I've been lying to myself, saying over and over again in my mind... ever since they first used the word 'plane'. I knew, deep down I knew that I was in another world, but I still came here. I still climbed this stupid fucking staircase instead of going with William. That was my best chance! If I made it to the portal with him, that would've been the end of this! And yet... and yet... !

His body shivered, but a ghoul could shed no tears. He was now the furthest from his freedom, the absolute edge of this world's explorable setting. All that awaited him now...

Rayse got up slowly and started climbing again, his eyelids halfway closed. There was nothing more he could do but reach the end.

The top of the wall was similar to the city of ghouls in its smoothness, but there was nothing here except a flat plateau in all directions. He pulled the gloves out of his pockets, the ones with angel wings stitched onto them. One of the few things he remembered was the purpose of these gloves. When worn, they caused actual wings to sprout from the wearer's shoulders, allowing flight. Even if he didn't get his powers back from stepping off the wall, the wings would carry him.

"Hmm?" he said, looking beyond the edge of the wall. It was a couple hundred meters across, but he could see something significantly different beyond it. As he got closer, he noticed the familiar sea of mist, but there was something more slightly beneath the surface. Everywhere he looked, strange white vines were twisting through the mist, as if there was a jungle on the other side.

He was halfway to the edge now, and each step felt more taxing than the last. It was not the strain on his body that gave him pause, but the nauseating sense of recognition and familiarity, the words at the tip of his tongue, the thoughts just barely out of his mind's reach. He pushed through this sickening feeling, moving straight to the edge and putting the gloves on. As he looked down on his gloves, he saw something beyond them. His body froze, and in that moment he became a statue.

Below him was... a skull. A skull so large that it completely filled his field of vision, despite it looking like it was halfway down the wall. The rest of its body followed, its bony arms gripping the wall, puncturing the stone. Several hours passed in each moment, Rayse's eyes meeting with the empty sockets of the skull.

And then, an indescribable sense of dread overtook him. A shock that didn't let up, a horror that persisted. The fear compounded, getting worse and worse, growing beyond the limits of what he thought fear was. The air grew heavy around him, and he could see The Bitter King's form grow into the mist, its bones twisting and turning to form the 'white vines' that Rayse thought he saw earlier. It was as if the rest of this plane was composed entirely of this being.

The familiar sensation assaulted his memories. I... I've felt this before... right before...

--

"This is the place?"

Rayse stepped into the crater, noting the smoothness of the rock beneath him. Just beyond the crater, all the usual signs of life were evident; Trees, grass, moss, and bushes. It was as if a mountain-sized giant scooped up the land before him. He wasn't sure how much he bought the story of an entire town disappearing thousands of years ago, but there was definitely something unnatural about this crater. He took another drag off his cigarette, blowing the smoke into the wind.

"My ancestors lived here for generations," said a man next to Rayse. "And then one day they were gone, their fates tied to the new plane they were in." The man wore a simple brown tunic, and sported large white angel wings.

Rayse had been told about this phenomenon of keys and portals, and while he was no stranger to teleportation via magic or science, he wasn't sure about the idea that it could happen without any outside stimulus, that there simply existed portals in the world, waiting for someone to bring the right key to them.

"Why now?" Rayse asked. "You said this happened thousands of years ago."

The reason for this winged man's visit was because his town in the other plane was under attack by its native inhabitants, and apparently this was a recent event. It was explained that it took this long to even find a portal that brought the winged man from there to here, but there was still a missing element to the story.

"The reason... is right here before you." The winged man glanced over to his wings. "The native inhabitants are all winged beings, but we were not. However, recently we began to adapt, and this development threatens our overlords."

"And if I help you, I'll get more artifacts like the one Pierce showed me?"

"Correct. In our realm, they are merely traded and passed down amongst our people. I imagine they would be worth a lot on your world."

Smoke escaped Rayse's lips as he took another drag and walked further into the crater. He certainly wasn't adverse to a little thrill.

"You never figured out what the key was, which is why you need me to go to this intermediate plane which has a known portal to yours?"

"Correct," replied the winged man, who stayed near the edge of the crater. "This spot is a planar host so to speak, so it is home to a lot of different portals, which is why it's also the location for the entry to the intermediate plane."

All I have to do is beat up a bunch of winged freaks and then I'll get artifacts that rival the ones the Thaynes left behind, eh?

Rayse took the spent cigarette out of his mouth and flicked it. He was done thinking about this.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to decline. I'm nobody's hero."

"That's too bad," said the winged man, which made Rayse look up because the voice came from far above him. The winged man was floating in the sky, his wings flapping to keep him airborne. "I never needed your consent in the first place."

"What?!" Rayse yelled, before realizing what was going on. "W-Wait!"

It was too late. The winged man knew the key, and Rayse was standing right on the portal.



--

The last vestige of hope turned to despair, the idea that he came here with a plan, that if he simply restored his memories then he would be saved.

All that was left was the cold glare of The Bitter King.