Damian followed his fellow soldiers back to their encampment, most seemed to be in a similar state to him, broken armor, missing weapons and more than a fair few injuries, but overall the mood was rather lively, it was a strange thing to see, all these people had nearly lost their lives and yet they were happy, happy that they defended against an overwhelming force and came out on the other side, of course they would be doing the same again the next cycle, and many of them would likely fall, but they didn't seem to care.
After marching for what felt like an eternity in the scorching desert heat Damian took another look at his fellow soldiers, and saw something strange happening, as he watched them he noticed that the armor was slowly moving, as small flakes of dust flowed towards each soldier like a river, looking down at himself he noticed the same dust flowing over him.
He watched it for some time, forgetting to breathe for a few moments, the dust was attaching itself to his armor and repairing it, he watched slowly as over the course of their march, more and more of the armour he and his allies wore slowly rebuilt itself, looking back on the battlefield, he could see the chunks of broken armour slowly dissolving, before following them, what was stranger was that he noticed that the dust came from all forms of armour, not just the ones that were relevant, as he watched a discarded vambrace break down and form into part of someone's shattered chest piece, yet the original markings made into the armor where the same every time, no matter the source.
His own wounds were not so fortunate however, so despite the armor repairing itself being a blessing, having the hot stone pressed against his torn flesh was far from a pleasant experience, however after a long march back, they finally returned to camp.
It wasn't long before Damian found himself laying in a cot at the barracks, after a long night of fighting for his survival, he felt like he had earned the right to rest for a while and so he laid there, trying and failing to get some sleep, in the end he only had his own thoughts to keep him entertained, so he decided to think back on what had happened to him over the last day or so,
'...then I woke up here, in the shade of that armory, I should probably go there to get a new shield when I'm done here, I lost it sometime after I killed that legionnaire. Wait, didn't the voice tell me someone after I killed him? I received a… something from him.'
Opening his eyes he stared at the bottom of the bunk above him, and thought about those strange words he saw earlier when he thought about himself. Immediately the set of shimmering runes appeared in his vision, looking around at the other soldiers, he confirmed his suspicion, that no one else could see this but him, turning back he read them again,
***
Name: Damian
True Name: -
Rank: Aspirant
Soul Core: Dormant
Memories: [Broken Chain]
Echoes: -
Attributes:[Deadeye] [Incessant] [Undisturbed]
Aspect: [Soldier]
Aspect Description:
[You ventured through distant lands conquering what would be rightfully yours. In the end all that was left to be found were the bodies you left in your path.]
'Huh? Broken Chain, that's certainly new.'
Focusing on the runes of the memory he saw an image of a rusted chain with a spike on either end appear in front of his eyes, as well as a new set of text appear underneath,
[Memory: Broken Chain]
[Memory Rank: Dormant]
[Memory Type: Tool]
Memory Description:
[Broken Chain: A piece of chain forged from The cage of Hope, as the seven chains fell to the sky below the legionnaires of war left their shattered home in search of salvation in the light of freedom, but only a fool would believe themselves to be free of their binds once the first link is broken.]
'What the…'
Damian was lost for words, he didn't know what this thing was but its description was strange, it had given him details of an event that he didn't have any knowledge of, was it trying to justify why his enemies were the way that they were or was it something else entirely.
His head began to hurt, he had already been overwhelmed by all the new information in this strange hell and this wasn't going to make understanding what was happening any easier, rubbing the sides of his head he tried to gleam any meaning from these words, hoping to find out something more, but it was all too much, he couldn't make sense of any of it, especially since he knew he didn't have enough information to begin with.
Having too many thoughts already pounding at his skull he decided it would be a good idea to get up and go for a walk around the settlement for a bit, his armour was mostly repaired by this point so arid heat wasn't as terrible anymore, yet it still was unpleasant. Walking around for a while, still trying to understand the strange runes in front of him he looked back at the street behind him, the street was clear bar a few soldiers here and there, all going about their duty or just lazing around until the next cycle, the pristine sands of the path reflecting the light as if they were shining themselves.
As he looked over the road however he realised something strange about where he had come from,
'Wait, why are the sands so perfect? Where are the footprints from where I was walking?'
Looking down at his feet he decided to take a few steps, staring with wide eyes he couldn't believe what he was seeing, there wasn't a single trace of him leaving footprints behind, confused, he looked towards the other soldiers in the distance, watching the ground around them, he saw them leave deep impressions onto the brilliant sands, as the weight of their boots pressed against the floor.
A hint of an idea crossed his mind as he looked back on his runes and found his [Undisturbed] attribute, its description talked about not leaving a trace on the world, did that mean he didn't leave tracks behind? Thinking about it, he thought about leaving footprints and took a few more tentative steeps, this time, they kept, leaving deep impressions in the sands, going back and forth with this thought he alternated between leaving the prints and not. Behind him, lay a trail of footprints which look like the strides were taken by giants, it was as strange as it was amusing to him.
He knew it was a little childish, leaving impressions to make it look like giants were walking among them, the only difference was that they were, but he couldn't help but make a small smile from his lips, he had to remember to find joy in the little things in order to prevent himself from going mad, it had been the same in Europe too, finding joy in things which seemed like nothing was the only way people like him found their way home.
Looking down at his body he wondered if this man had a home, the body he was in was not his own, he knew that, so he wondered if he had a life before, if he had kids, a wife, brother or sisters, if he had parents which were still alive, it was a strange thing really, wondering about a life he would never know, would he be stuck in this form forever, would he have to assume his life, somehow Damian doubted it.
He had guessed that this place was some sort of test, to determine what he didn't know, he was unsure if it was trying to help him, or just watch him fail, but what would be the point of a trail without an end goal, no he knew it was designed with a purpose, or so he hoped, if the Gods spoken of here and there where real, did they even have a concept of good and evil, he doubted they did, or that their ideas were too vast for him to ever grasp.
He was curious about the nature of this place, it seemed almost too perfectly made for him, he was a soldier in an unfamiliar land trying to conquer his enemy, all of which he had known all too well before, but at the same time the circumstances were reversed, he was the defender, not the aggressor this time, and now he had to fight on the frontline and not far back in a spot where he was invisible, it was almost like it was testing him, in a way that felt both familiar and foreign all at once.
He wondered if this place was built for him, on one hand it seemed poetic, a horrifying semblance of normalcy with a strange twist applied, but at the same time, he had seen time roll back from above, he had seen the battle in reverse and knew the outcome before anyone else, he knew they would invariably fall, why would he be thrown into a conflict which was destined to fail, it did not make any sense…unless…
As he thought about it for a second his breath grew heavy as a realisation washed over him, his face grew dark as he almost began to laugh at the absurdity but seeing this all in a brand new light he finally understood why he was here, he wasn't here to fight in a pointless war, no he was here to change its course, so the future he saw would never come to pass, that was his trial.