"The Marble Obelisk was fated to die, but not I. And in a soothing goodbye, the mask cracked and all I saw was a blinding light."

And that is how I woke up. A desert covering my entire view. My coat and gadgets nowhere to be found. And a very simple white cloth as my only clothing. The sun was rising and behind me I saw the shade of an ankh. It was a monument, about as tall as myself and made of pure gold. It called me, and I felt within myself that I could not leave without it.

The sun burnt my skin, and the weight of the ankh was unbearable, drawing a line through the sand as I dragged the ankh over my back I traveled to the west, where the sun should set. But with what felt like days traveling, the sun barely moved. I craved for water and for food when I passed out. And with vague memories of being carried by a woman, some warriors tried to transport the ankh with us. And I was shown kindness.

I stared at the woman as she offered me water, I was stunned by the offer, and her face reminded me of someone whose husband I refused to kill. The warriors who protected her tiny village were all similar to warriors I once fought.

They told me the sun never moved before, and just after I arrived the sun rose a bit. They called me an emissary and together we shared stories. They showed me a map and, in it, a kingdom to the west who were cruel and destructive. The kingdom had eliminated almost every other village around the desert, forcing their people to a life of wandering.

For what felt like a couple of days later, our village was attacked by that kingdom. They begged me to run and escape, as the emissary to cross the sun. I tried to hold the ankh, at first it seemed light and weightless, but as I looked back at the village I would abandon, at the people who were selfless to me, the ankh grew so heavy it was immovable.

I ran back to the village.

With whatever I could find as a weapon we tried to hold off the invaders, but they seemed endless, for each invader dead two took their place. One of them walked past us, and raised their sword to the woman who once shared her water with me.

I cried, she cried, the warriors cried.

That is when, before his blow was complete, one tiny spider bit the hand of the invader.

Not even a second after he dropped dead.

Another spider rose from the sand, and another, and about a hundred flies, the warriors bowed down and so did the villagers, but not the invaders.

The invaders tried to fight the insects, but each they squashed, ten thousand more emerged from the desert.

Through the cries of pain from the invaders, the woman told me about the swarm, countless bugs that protected travelers in the desert. They had promised to forever save the lives of those weak, as their saviour once did for them.

I stepped towards the swarm, and waving my hands I begged for them to stop the attack. And so they did. From the invaders almost none remained, but, those who did fell to their knees with gratitude. They offered to guide me to their kingdom, and I accepted with the vow for them to never strike a village again. They vowed and I carried the ankh on my back.

It had never been lighter.

Through arid wind and countless dunes, I carried the ankh with no effort. The once invaders were confused with my actions, I wanted to teach them mercy. And I showed them kindness.

The closer we got to the kingdom, the closer the sun got to setting. The once invaders also called me an emissary. And with the sky orange and red, we reached the kingdom.

There the emperor, covered in golden artifacts, challenged me to a fight. In a golden arena we would duel and, while he chose a noble golden sword, I could choose any weapon.

I chose the ankh.

People laughed at my choice, the empress shook her head hidden behind white silk, the general left the arena and the sage asked the emperor if he wished to stop the combat, as she saw my choice as mockery. The emperor took off his helmet and told the sage that a choice should be respected.

He declared the combat's start and I saw his face, and he was the noble adventurer.

And I remembered love.

Feelings rushed through my body, hate, envy, fear, both joy from the past, but pain from the future. And the ankh's weight slammed me on the ground.

The laughers grew louder. I heard his steps getting closer to me. But I felt something different.

I felt why I woke up with nothing. I understood what my journey was. I was not the sun's emissary, I was not a saviour of the swarm. I was nothing. And I accepted that. I remembered the Marble Obelisk and I remembered acceptance. The sun followed me for I was nothing, the swarm respected me for I was nothing.

And I accepted that.

The sword was thrust towards my chest, however the blade snapped off as the ankh moved on it's own. Placing itself between me and the noble.

I grabbed the ankh, and this time it had no weight. It was so light that I felt it giving me willpower.

With one swing, the colossal golden idol collided with the emperor, and he was thrown across the arena.

The laughter stopped. The sage broke into tears and called for the general, the empress moved away the silk that covered her face and I saw the thief.

They all waited for a final blow. They feared to see the massive ankh crush their leader when I raised it. They believed I hated him for what he had done.

They were right. I blamed him for everything. I saw him as the usurper of my redemption.

However, I was nothing, and I accept that. And when I pierced the ground by his side with the ankh, he stared at me with confusion as I offered to help him get back up.

He bowed back to me, and repeated the vow to not attack others. I looked at the sage and the general, they were the scholar and the brute. I looked at the empress and my eyes watered.

I smiled at them, and without any other words, I walked away.

Traveling to the west, traveling to the setting sun. With visions of love, of family, of friends, of acceptance and of life.