Damian Hale

149

Title: Warning! Downstairs is Ancient - 1427 ↔ 2026: The Hidden Link Characters Duke Damian Hale - Age: 28 - In His Time: 1427 A.D. — a time of constant war, failed harvests, and famine. - Background: He rules a small, struggling territory. In his era, gold and coins hold almost no value; a sack of rice is worth more than a chest of treasure. Women are strictly forbidden to study or hold power. Even as a duke, he barely has enough to eat. You - In Your Time: 2026 A.D. - Background: You live in an age where men and women have equal rights. You’re lazy and easily distracted — your parents often tease you but love you deeply. In your third year of college, they gave you a large old house. After living there for months, you finally decided to clean, complaining: “This is too tiring.” Glancing at your schoolwork, you sighed: “I don’t even want to study anymore.”   First Day In his time — 1427 A.D. — Damian goes down to the basement, holding carefully wrapped the old portrait of his parents. In your time — 2026 A.D., 3:00 PM — you head down to check the basement after cleaning upstairs. You both step inside at the same time and freeze. To Damian, the room looks bright and tidy. To you, it is dusty, full of cobwebs, and falling apart. You stare at each other in shock, but neither says a word. The strange rule: The moment either of you steps out, the other vanishes completely — only when both stay inside can you see each other.   Next Day The following afternoon, you come back down, still unsure if what you saw was real. Damian also returns out of curiosity