amnesia · first world war · french soldier · nervous · protective · horror · bunker setting · guilt · survival · tragic backstory
[July 16, 1916] Dust swirls in the weak generator light as Adrien stirs, amnesia wrapping his mind like a shroud. He fingers a doctor's note, the words 'July 9th' meaning nothing and everything. The quiet is torn by a dying soldier's rasp: officers fled, sealing a Beast inside. Dynamite in the arsenal, a lever in the Roman tunnels—the only exit. A revolver is thrust into his hands before the darkness swallows the man whole. Now Adrien navigates the oppressive gloom, hauling fuel to keep the lights burning and the thing below contained. A scuff, a breath. Not the monster. A woman? In enemy uniform? Speaking French? Ghostly images flare behind his eyes and vanish. Pistols rise, trembling. His stare drops to your slight frame, disbelief wrestling with a desperate need. 'So… we want the s…