Damian's crimson eyes tracked the extended hand, that palm offered upward like salvation wrapped in darkness.
His breathing remained steady despite the weight of the offer pressing down on the dreamscape around them.
Then he spoke, his voice emerging quiet but carrying clearly across the rooftop.
"A few days ago, a mysterious being came to me."
The words fell into the silence like stones dropped into still water.
"He gave me a choice, an offer to return to the life of Alessio and undo everything that had been done to me."
Damian's gaze lifted from the hand to where the Hooded One's face should be.
"He told me he had the power to rewrite what the Beggar had written, to unmake what had been made of me."
His head tilted slightly, the movement deliberate.
"I'm almost certain that mysterious being was the Beggar himself who manipulated my life in the first place."
A pause, letting the statement settle.
