Descension

III: Disconcerting

You are Scott Lloyd.

You abruptly sit up from the bed. Whose bed is this? You try to remember where on the trail you were before you collapsed. Were you kidnapped? You must have been kidnapped.

All of the sudden, a man walks into the room. He stands quite tall, around 6 feet tall. His hair is a dirty blonde reaching right below his ears. He seems... unusually calm for someone who just hauled an unconscious man to his house.

"You're lucky I was walking into the outpost or you'd be as good as dead, sir," He sits in the rocking chair beside me. An amused look forms on his face as he asks,

"Is there anything I call call you, Mr. Business Man?" You realize you still have your suit on from earlier, and your face turns red as you say,

"Lloyd. Scott Lloyd," You start to get up from the bed, but you stop as he stares at you.

"Wait, you're Colonel Lloyd? From the radio?" You haven't heard of any radio broadcasts about you. You file it under emotional baggage as you say,

"I'm not a Colonel anymore, Mr-"

"Taren. Call me Mr. Taren, sir." He seems quick to finish your sentence. Yet another thing to file.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Taren, but I have to leave. Thank you for saving me though, I owe you. Really," You have to get out of here. You know what happens when you get too enveloped in thought. He gives you a quizzical look and asks,

"Where do you need to be at 9PM on a Saturday, Mr. President?" Shit. Now you need to come up with an excuse for leaving your savior's house.

"I have an... important meeting with a member of the cabinet. Erm, it's very classified, I'm afraid," You sit and wait for the barrage of questions for happen, but Mr. Taren just shrugs and says,

"Okay, sir. You're welcome for the life-saving, Mr. President. If you need any medics, I was in the army but left due to injury a couple months ago. I could come back if a draft were to happen," You say in response,

"Thank you for your service, sir. I'll see you when I see you. Thank you again,"

"Likewise, sir."

You look around the house for the door. You don't remember the guy, but you know you should. He must have been working for the army or something. One of the soldiers. The soldiers. Did he die in the battle? Where were they even fighting? You can't even remember the name of the city you killed so many in. What is wrong with you? You feel lightheaded. You sit down in the snow. You're not supposed to be forgetting like this. You're not even 30 yet. You push back everything on your mind as you sprint towards Strall. You need to go home.

-----------

An hour later, you arrive in Strall. You take off your coat and hang it up in your closet. Now, you can black out and remember. You need to remember. This is the only way. Right?

As you lay on your bed, you try your hardest to think back to the day you died. The battle. The battle you died.

The Battle of Township.

-[ ============ ]-

Your vision is hazy, but the sun is right above you. It becomes high noon as the troops approach. You're in Township, Aspiar, right over the border. The Westrian army is pushing south towards the capital city, but the opposing troops outnumber yours 10 to 1. However, through the haze, you see a familiar face. The name. Their name! You finally remember! It's -̷͈̝̮͋-̵-̷-̷-̴ ̵̡̞̽̊͝-̶͓͔̈́-̵-̷-̷-̴, your informant! But why are they on enemy lines? And why is the President standing right outside the City Hall? Is this a trap? Has the president betrayed us? Suddenly, Colonel Davis screams,

"Charge!" and you have no choice but to attack someone on your side. -̷͈̝̮͋-̵-̷-̷-̴ travels faster than the others, but is heading the wrong way... You realize suddenly. They're infiltrating the lines! You also travel to the side, to the house. -̷͈̝̮͋-̵-̷-̷-̴ slips in through the back. You sprint so fast that you lose your breath. Your comrades are screaming at you to come back, and calling munity, but you keep running.

Gunshots. From the house.

"-̷͈̝̮͋-̵-̷-̷-̴!" You scream. They don't answer. You finally reach the house. -̷͈̝̮͋-̵-̷-̷-̴ is lying dead on the floor. A third scar lands on their arm as you realize something. Something about their arm, about scars. They must not be dead yet. They can't be. You grab their body and run towards the medic. As soon as you get running, you see a man with a flintlock pistol emerge from the shadow of the house. You look up to meet his face, but your vision goes black as you feel yourself drop them. Tunnel vision. Memories. Memories.

-[ ============ ]-

As you wake up, the memory begins to lose meaning. Like a dream, it slips past you and you only remember the general idea of the battle. You were running towards someone, they died, you ran over, you died. That barely helps, you decide as you get out of bed. What day is it, even? It's bright outside, so you decide to take a walk to Township. You feel an innate desire to go there, to try and find the place where you died. To "finish the loop", so to speak. But you're getting ahead of yourself. You need to find the way to Township first. The only map you know of in Strall is in the barracks, so you decide to walk the gravel path again to reach it.

On arrival, you're met by General Davis.

"Sir, why have you visited me? There's nothing more to plan," Their face seems to be behind their words, with confusion only settling on their face after the sentence has finished.

"I'm taking a walk to Township, General. I'm just taking a copy of the map with me so I don't get lost," They look at you with concern, and say,

"What should I tell the people when I say the president is going behind enemy lines to just hang out?" You chuckle and say,

"Call it reconnaissance," You move through the room until you reach the map and take a smaller copy with you.

As you head out the door, you hear General Davis say,

"Don't find any bodies there, will ya?" This shakes you to your core. You had never even considered the fact that there might be undiscovered bodies there. What had it been, 10 days? 11? Would they be recognizable?

Would they be your friends?

You push forward to the border anyway. This seems more important than anything else at the moment, and if there's one thing you hate, it's non-closure. The walk takes a couple hours, but as you arrive, it's still the afternoon. There's still enough light to tell what happened. The paths still had dried blood, and the villagers were inside, scared for their lives. You realize you still had your dagger in your hand, and you discretely tuck it back into your belt as you say,

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not from Aspiar," They hide further back into crevices. You stop yourself from finishing as you realize the horrible truth.

You are the villain. You are the one who killed these people's brothers, sisters, and their friends. You. Not Henry Adin. Not mindless soldiers. You. You step back 2 paces and take in the city. The blood, it was everywhere. It lined the streets, it accented the brick buildings, it made its presence known. And you remembered where you were. Township, Aspiar. You weren't home anymore. This is a war.

In the distance, you spot a house. It's the house you died in. Your body starts running before your mind can tell it to. A gun fires as you sprint through the town square. Before you can turn around, you're tackled to the gravel.

"Why are you here, Mr. Lloyd?" You shiver as the breath tickles your neck. You have no place to go, so you mutter,

"What does it matter to you?" The figure turns you around and you stare into their eyes.

"I'll pretend you never set foot into this country if you stand up and turn back now, Mr. Lloyd." The figure releases their hold on you and stands up tall.

"You see the blood here, Mr. Lloyd. I believe some of this is yours." They gesture towards the red-stained walls.

"I suggest one thing. Watch your back. This is war." The figure's hand outstretches, but you deny it and stand up yourself.

"Clever," The figure mutters as they walk away.

Great. Another favor to repay.