Chapter 10

Rainer clenched his teeth tightly. “I can… I can choose anything?” he quietly asked, and the Phantom nodded his head. 

“Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be free. Free from that man and that life. I knew nothing about life, I only knew how to bring destruction. I could never save anyone because my freedom was taken from me. If this is where I can be different, where I can change?” 

His mind began to clear "I can change! Everyone on Earth voted for me to be here and that was a mistake. They set me free from my prison.” 

Rainer stood back up on his feet, wiped away any tears from his eyes, and confidently looked towards the peak. "Every day of my life, I was chasing after a promise that I wasn't able to fulfill. Now I have a chance to, it's my turn to chase after a future that I can be proud of! Live or die, I'll at least go on knowing I made my own choices in the end.”

 “The kind of future I want to create, is one where I’m free to do whatever the hell I want!” He suddenly yelled without thinking. Realizing he said it out loud, he felt a bit awkward when he heard a small snicker escape the Phantom. 

“What?! I decided, didn’t I?!” Rainer yelled with a flushed face.

“Oh it isn’t that, It’s just. Well nothing, it’s a fine answer!” Even though his fae was covered, Rainer could tell he was smiling.

A dark aura began to surround the blue steps and slowly creeped on top of them. Turning them into jet black steps. The Phantom laid his arm out towards the peak “Your future awaits.” 

Rainer looked at the Phantom “Aren’t you coming with me?”

“This is your journey; I have no right to travel there. But don’t worry we will meet again.” With those words, the Phantom’s body shattered like glass and disappeared. 

Rainer nodded, turned towards the peak and began to climb. The black steps glowed with every step Rainer climbed. He felt lighter than he had felt in years, almost as if his worries were starting to wash away. As he approached the peak, he noticed the platform was made of stained glass. The various colors of glass formed some sort of multi layered circle with odd looking symbols. Symbols that looked as if they were from an ancient form of writing. 

As Rainer made it to the final step before the platform, he took a deep breath and exhaled. Preparing for whatever might happen next. He stepped onto the platform, and the many colors began to organize themselves. 

“Wait what?!” he looked around in shock, as the stairs behind him shattered. There was nowhere to run, so he ran to the middle of the platform. The inner platform had begun to form a circle, and within it was what appeared to be a barren tree made of light. Light from the tree began to overwhelm him, he tried to cover his eyes but all he could see was white. 

Rainer felt pain ring through his body and suddenly awoke to find himself on the floor with his sheets scattered around him. He slowly stood up, rubbing his lower back where there was still a slight hint of pain. “I don't feel sick anymore. I feel… Light.” 

Someone pounded at the door, and Rainer quickly gathered his clothes to see who it was. “Please don't be that guard, I can't do training this early, he'll kill me before the match.” The thought of it being the guard sent a cold shiver up his spine. 

To his surprise, it was a blue lizard-like creature that was as tall as an elementary school child, only reaching just past Rainer’s waist. Confused, Rainer was only able to let out a meager “Umm… Hello?” 

“Hello indeed, I need to confirm you will appear for your match today. Just a yes or no will do.” The creature was very proper and well mannered. His blue tunic was a loose fit and looked as if he could wriggle out of it fairly quickly.

“Well I don’t really have a choice, so yeah I’ll be there.” Rainer replied, rubbing his back. 

“Very good, sir. Your number will be called when your turn arrives. The chip inside your arm will provide you with your number if you are unsure what it is. Good day and good luck.” The creature proceeded to walk to the next room and asked the same question. 

Rainer walked to his bed and took a deep breath, focusing himself and calming his nerves. “You got this! You can do this, don't be scared. Just remember everything you learned and you'll be fine!” he kept repeating in his head. 

“Wait… What number am I? I don't even remember getting one.” he stared at his arm where the chip was installed. “How do I use this thing? There isn't any button or switch. Wait, didn't that guy on the ship just tap my arm to activate it?” Rainer tapped his arm and a holographic menu appeared out of his arm. Out of instinct he jumped back scared and fell to the ground on the other side of the bed. “I’ve got to stop doing that!” 

After sitting himself in a chair in the corner, he began to explore through the menu. "So, by thinking about what information I want, the chip reads it and shows me the information. That's both cool and terrifying. It even gives me a list of all the contestants.”

To his surprise, there were well over a few million contestants, almost ten million of them. From volunteers to those who were voted out like him. “I guess I'm not the only one with problems.” 

Finally, he was able to find his number, the number seven hundred. He liked this number, mainly because it was an even number and easy to memorize. Along with the number he found a streaming service that allowed him to witness other matches.

Curious as to what the fights were like, he activated the streaming and the holographic tv on the wall came to life. “Well that’s actually pretty cool.” He sat down on the bed and began watching. The fight was intense, between a large cyclops monster and a very angry looking basilisk. 

It wasn’t a very long fight; the basilisk had easily coiled around the cyclops and squeezed the life out of it. Blood from the cyclops would have splattered the audience had it not been for the large dome like structure surrounding the arena. Before the basilisk could leave the arena, the com system in the room turned on with a loud beep. 

A loud voice over the intercom hissed as it spoke “Number seven hundred, please report to the arena waiting room.”  

Rainer’s heart began to beat faster, he was nervous, scared, and anxious at the same time. His legs began to feel heavy and his throat was closing. “Get up damn it, don't back off now. You decided to go down this path, so don't run! For once just don't run!” he screamed in his head.

Shaking, he stood up on his feet and walked over to pick up his sword and grabbed it with unsteady hands. Upon exiting the room, he noticed arrows in the middle of the hall leading to the waiting room. He was so nervous; he didn’t even notice everyone staring at him as he walked down the hall. At the end of the hall he was directed to the waiting room.

This room was not very large, it was about the size of a minivan and was empty aside from a bench attached to the wall and the clothes that rested there. There was a note resting on top of the clothing that read “For the man who has nothing. Good luck.” 

The clothes were a light shade of gray. A thin jacket that reached to his waist, with a pair of black pants and black combat boots. His shirt under the jacket was a plain gray shirt. “It's really black and white here, isn't it?” 

“Once the button on the wall beeps and glows green, press it to open the door and walk into the arena.” said a voice over the intercom. The room began to move upwards, like an elevator, and stopped after a few seconds. The button near the door beeped and was ready to be pushed.