thefablesuntold:

❦ Here lies King Valemon, reborn as Won Bin with the likeliness of Kim Dojin (Won Bin), spending the idle years wasting away as Owner of the book store “West of the Moon”. However, as the storm brews, he finds himself in the crossroads of a culminating war, labelled as good in the middle of the chaos, where he acts as a mundane specialist.

Originally from East of the Sun and West of the Moon, a Norweigan fairy tale first published by in Peter Christen Asbjørnsen & Jørgen Moe in 1871.

A NEW CHARACTER ; Won Bin prefers the solitude of his book store over any social event anywhere and whisky and books over any person, the reason for those are many and entwined so far into his mind he can’t seem to shake them away. He is a man of few words, but that does not make him cruel— just nonchalant. Though he sheds his nonchalant behaviour whenever his past wife and children are mentioned in front of him. As much as he wishes and after so much he has done to forget the bond he has to Ultima Thule it is constantly there despite his best efforts. “As long as you haven’t forgotten your country, there is a bond.”, someone once told him and he has begun to cling to that sentence as the anger against the Adversary continues to rise within him. Although his current state is but a mere shadow of his glory days as King of Ultima Thule, glimpses and pieces emerge in the most quiet of times. He is not so kind and warm as he was known for in the homelands, he’s harsh; scratched up by the time spent in the Mundane world. Still, when his eyes crinkle and his lips tugs to a smile it’s just as comforting as it was and the air around him still remains that of a King . Though he does not deem himself fit as a King and he frankly detests being called the title, there exists a wish inside him to once again step up to the throne as King Valemon of Ultima Thule.

AND SO THE STORY BEGINS ; “King Valemon”, they called among the snow and forest. “White-Bear-King Valemon!”, they rejoiced. Along with his wife, the youngest princess now turned queen, he ruled the snow covered nation with wisdom and power only a true king would have. His subjects were loyal and his people were safe. He was busy as a king, yet he always seemed to make time to walk around the town and greet his people. He had made his troubled past just that, his past, something that would bother him no more. He was free from his curse, the troll hag was gone and he had his family by his side. Valemon had been king for decades and it seemed, despite the long and dark nights of Ultima Thule, that he was to continue as so. Though things are never meant to last forever like the fables tell and all good things come to an end, often tragically.

King Valemon resisted the adversary as long as he possibly could. If words were to no use he would not hesitate to use force, but that only lasted him so long. And one day it was no more. That day he had been armed and ready himself, ready to fight the oncoming troops of the adversary knocking on his caste walls. He was not afraid, and with no intentions to hold back he directed his troops before he settled himself in his throne room, ready to fight to his last breath. But his subjects were not in the same mindset. “The king has to be saved for there ever to be a chance.”, they whispered amongst themselves. Thus with force they attempted to drag him with them to the last boat going out and away from Ultima Thule and the Homelands. He resisted despite the surprise after having been faced against his own subjects. “Sire, we must leave.”, and he roared his disagreement. He was stronger than them, but blinded with anger he failed to notice the person carrying a stone block, effectively knocking him uncounscious. Carried away just in time for the Adversary to break through and into the throne room, he found himself on the way to the Mundane world.

Once awoken, with blood trickling down the side of his head, he was crushed. It was already too late to return to the country, the portal being just ahead. The mere fact that he had escaped, albeit under force, and left his entire kingdom behind crushed him. Then a thought hit him, what had happened to his wife and children? He had sent them away ahead of time, but were they alive, on the way to the mundane world or still in the Homelands somewhere? Wherever he asked, no one knew. And over time his mind made him see them as dead, to numb out the pain and sadness that tormented him. Unknown to him at that time, that main thought would be the very reason he would not be able to sleep at night.

In the Mundane world he spent the first years in Fable town, recollecting himself and figuring out what to do from now on. But the whispers and looks he got whenever he came across a fellow fable was enough to make him flee the safety zone of the fable town. ‘Coward King”, they would whisper from the shadows and shake their head. The once so great King had been degraded to barely an excuse of a living fable in the eyes of others. This became his reason and his curse, making him open up the book store “West of the Moon” in the mundane part of Seoul. There, far away from the fables and the world he came to dislike, he has over the decades managed to study the mundane world in detail. From the old lady passing by to the lost child covering in fear he has seen them grow up and pass away and read the news that followed. He has read the books on the Mundane history and seen it in action, his own collection of books growing steadily over the years. Still, he remained uncaring towards the raging war between the fables and the Adversary, simply covered in his own cloak of destruction. He spent his day intoxicated with alcohol and nightmares constantly disrupting his rest.

And it never seemed to stop, neither has it either. His dark circles remain heavy under his eyes and his need for liquor once the dusk comes are still evident even after so many years. But as much as he used to say he never cared for allegiance int he past, he found himself offering his knowledge of the mundane world available to the Good. Sitting idly by and watching the Adversary continue was something he couldn’t stand doing any more. But despite his past life as a refined King his social skills are still not up to par, nor does he like spending time with his fellow fables more than he has to, making each encounter exhausting for the dark haired man. Yet he makes it through each one with the help of his cigarette’s and whisky, all in the hope the Good will once break through the Adversary’s defence and take back the Homelands. Though this is a thought he will never utter nor let anyone else know of as long as he lives.

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