Phobia

They/He - Nightmare Jester - Unknown orientation

Once, Phobia was a regular court jester. They’d happily entertain the kings and queens of their era without a worry in the world. Singing merry songs to lift the spirits of the royals they cared about, there was nothing ironic about their performances. Through happy times, he was the star of the show with the blessings of the royal family on his side. Everything was perfect back then.  His name was not Phobia back then either, but it matters little to him now. 

Born with highly magical prowess, they didn’t initially care to pursue it as they much preferred the work in front of an audience. However as more and more time went on, slowly their magic started to leak into the world from his own disuse of it. He didn’t know what effects it did on the kalons he performed for; almost after every performance those kalons would have horrible nightmares for days on end. Soon after, the king and queen started to go mad in front of his very eyes as their nightmares worsened throughout the the years. He watched as he found himself unable to reason or fix what was happening to them as he couldn’t understand why the servants started to talk to themselves while they found themselves unaffected by whatever they were plagued with. Despite them feeling they had a good relationship with the royal family all of a sudden one day, the king threw him into the dungeon against their own pleas. The court officials ordered that they would be executed for attempting to take over the throne and tampering with black magic. 

On the night before their execution, a mage unexpectedly rescued them from the depths of the dungeon as they took the jester to where they lived, later explaining their magic and offering to help them control their abilities better and hopefully use it for good. Phobia at the time agreed to live with them as they had nothing left to go back to as a wanted criminal for a crime they didn’t commit purposely. Over time, they eventually felt the betrayal of the royal family they cared about fade away as they studied magic underneath the eye of the mage they lived with. Soon, it had felt like he’d honed his previously chaotic magic in; the mage told them that they were no longer having nightmares. However, the further they studied into magic, the more horrified they became of their abilities.

As time went on, they found that by inflicting a nightmare onto themselves, they found they could predict the future through it. However through their nightmares they used on themselves they found that the future was a wasteland; caused by them. No matter what paths they took in their dreams, it was all grim all the same. As time went on and as they got better at their abilities, it became clear that it was too dangerous for them to have it. As they found their abilities to manipulate and inflict prophetic nightmares, they became desperate to at least find a positive use of it or seal it away forever. He’d go out of his way to be nice to the mage because they feared their own power; the calm before the storm.

And once again, they lost control of their powers. They desperately tried to hold it in, only to make it worse as the mage they looked up to suffered because of their own power they tried so hard to control. He watched over the mage as they slowly started to die as the jester found themselves unable to help. Tragically, unable to control their own powers the mage perished, leaving the jester in shock and horror of what he’d done. 

They ran as far as they could, trying to move on from what happened but as time went on, they found themselves shunned and almost killed as they lost their control on their own powers. Every time they’d try to settle and hopefully be left alone, they found themselves chased out and hunted after. As time went on as their notoriety grew over time they spiraled leaving nearly nothing of their old self. Once an entertainer, now he was forced to take up the role of a creature that was used to scare kits to sleep.

Throughly demoralized, they reasoned that since they only spread misery and suffering around them even if was something they couldn’t control. Betrayed by the family he cared about, accidentally murdering his mentor, and throughly despised  and feared by everyone he met. Even in their own eyes, they were a monster. So why not become what everyone thought they were? Why not take control of their own situation? With nothing but a lighter and some knives for self defense, they decided to reinvent themselves to fit their new image. A terrifying assassin for hire, capable of creating nightmares that predict their own doom. If it was the role he was meant to play in life, it would be one he would take. He choose the name Phobia; a fitting name for one capable of causing so much fear.

In present day Phobia is a wanted criminal in many countries, wanted for the wake of destruction they leave in their path of chaos. More disturbingly, their powers have stabilized once again as Phobia uses it to cause terror and fright as they ignite whatever and whoever is in their way. Though they wear a smile on their face, there is nothing but sadness and anger as they desperately hope that maybe someone will put an end to this. Feeling as they are undeserving of redemption and love, they lack any hope in this act of their life.