Chapter 8

The guard turned the corner, and down the hall was met by someone dressed in pure white cleric robes. He had loose and messy silver hair with a single strand braided that stretched to his waist. His appearance was that of a human male, and was quite handsome. 

The guard stopped in front of him. “Don’t you think it was a bit harsh to punch him like that? He might lose motivation thinking he lost to a mere guard.” said the man with a soft voice and smile.

“My mission is to train him, and with the tournament only a few days away he has to learn quickly. Would you have done it differently, Merlin?” 

“Well I would not have punched him, maybe whacked him lightly with a stick.” 

“And that’s why I came along, you’re too forgiving when it comes to this. Even with me you were too soft.” 

“You needed little convincing, Arthur. Well never mind that, do you think he can bring out what we need?” 

“I think he can, he is one of us after all. However, keep yourself hidden until after the first part of the tournament ends. Do what you need to, but don’t be seen by him. It would be a shame if Phoenix interrupted his body while it’s adapting.” 

“Understood, I’ll see you around then. Oh, and weren’t you just as whiny back then?” said Merlin with a smug face.

“Don’t make me hurt you.” The two walked separate ways. 

Meanwhile, Rainer was left standing in the middle of an empty hall with his thoughts. "Who am I? What kind of question is that? He makes it sound so easy to just move on, but he's right. I don't know who I am anymore, I was the person who protected those kids because Cleo asked me to. Now that they discarded me, I'm lost.” 

Even though he was unsure of what to do or where to go. His body seemed to know in his stead. “Cleo, you were always the independent one. You always knew what the right thing was. Would you go with him?” 

He thought about what answer his late sister would have given him. Then it occurred to him “You would have told me to run towards whatever felt right. Right now, following him feels right.” Rainer rushed towards the practice arena and was relieved to see the guard waiting on the bench.

“Looks like you made it after all. Let’s get started.” Rainer drew his sword, and shut down every part of his mind telling him to walk away. “Tell me, will I really find a new path if I do this?!”

“I may be greedy, but I never lie. If you go through with this tournament, I promise you will find what you seek.” he said with a smile

They raised their swords and began practice. It was a tough session, but Rainer was absorbing information quickly and felt motivated to learn. He was still unsure if this was what he wanted but it felt better than just doing nothing. Although, being knocked down over and over did hurt his morale a bit. 

After four hours of practice passed, Arthur sighed and lowered his weapon. “You’re striking is getting better but you’re too tense. Loosen your arms and swing, but keep the motion of the sword under control with your wrist.” 

Rainer fell to his knees from exhaustion, gasping for air. “Well I guess, you did improve. At an astonishingly fast rate too. How do you pick these techniques up so quickly? It took me almost a year of practice to get to where you are now.” 

He was unable to reply, as he was still gasping for air. “Ah, that's right, take a breather and we’ll continue after fifteen minutes.” After a few minutes of deep breathing, Rainer was finally able to relax. 

“Just how much more do we have to do. Haven’t I improved enough?” he asked in between large sips of water. 

“Well not enough to be a match for some of the bigger opponents in this, but good enough for the smaller guys. Just hope you don’t get paired up with a minotaur, that would suck.” 

“A Minotaur? Like the big monster with horns and anger issues?” Rainer asked nervously

“They’re much worse than you hear. Tough skin, sharp claws, and somewhat smart.” 

“I’ve already decided to try this new path, so even if a Minotaur appears, I’ll win. Or most likely run to fight another day, whichever feels right at the time.” 

The guard lightly punched Rainer’s arm “That’s the Arden spirit! Break is over so let's finish up this session and you can go.” 

Their practice ran for another two hours, completely draining Rainer of his stamina. He quit for the day and headed back to his room, just barely able to stand. Tonight, he fell asleep fairly quickly, with no malice in his mind. 

Rainer opened his eyes and found himself standing on the crystal staircase, and the cloaked man in front of him was still climbing. He quickly started climbing to catch up to him. 

“Welcome back.” said the phantom 

“The same dream, again?” 

“I thought I told you this wasn’t a dream.” 

Rainer began climbing behind the phantom “You’re right, this is starting to look like a nightmare, climbing all these stairs is hell.” 

“So you do have a sense of humor?” he questioned Rainer

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean, is that the type of person you are?” 

Rainer looked up at the shining star like lights. “The real me?” a small pause fell. He wasn’t too sure how to reply, so he answered with the emotions he had discovered. “I don’t know. I’m not sure how to act as myself. I’m not sure what to do.” 

“Just do whatever pops into that head of yours. Before you know it, you’ll be how you were meant to be.” 

“Anything that pops into my head? Even the thought of stabbing someone to death?”

The phantom let out a slight laugh “Well, maybe think a little.” 

Rainer noticed the stairs had turned into a blood red shade. It caught him off guard, forcing him to slip. The cloaked man grabbed his hand and was able to keep him from falling. Once Rainer’s heart stopped racing, he carefully planted his feet on the steps. 

Still a little dazed from the shock, Rainer composed as much of himself as he could “Thanks for the help, although, I would have just woken up if I fell.”

“Yes, you would have, but all of my progress would have been for naught. You falling would set me back to the bottom along with you. This is your soul space, if I lose you in here, I would end up lost as well.”

 “Look, I don’t know what any of that means. What is a soul space anyways?” They continued their climb up the steps, as Rainer’s mind was littered with questions. 

“A soul space is the world within you that harbors your soul. It is where all magic resides, where your true self resides.”

“Right, the magic of being me. Sounds cheesy, but why are these stairs red?” 

The phantom stopped climbing and looked down at the steps. “Don’t you recognize it? It is all the blood you have spilled in your lifetime. My, it’s more than I expected.” 

Rainer bowed his head and spoke in a solemn tone. “I was given two choices, either I kill or everyone who tolerated me died.” 

“It’s odd.” interrupted the phantom

“What is?” asked Rainer

“You think of them as friends but you don’t acknowledge them as friends. Why is that?” Silence fell as they walked up the steps. 

“Once my sister Cleo died, I just… I didn’t want to be alone anymore. I knew one day they would blame me for everything, considering I helped capture them and train them. I ruined a lot of lives. Maybe I earned this hell.”

“Were you ever happy with your life?”

“Of course not.” He said while shaking his head. “But if I could change it all, I would change it in a heartbeat.” 

“What has happened, happened for a reason. There is no point in dealing with what you cannot change. What you can change is the future.” 

“I’m having a therapy session with my own head, and it’s making sense.” Rainer snickered.

“Again, I’m not a part of you. I’m a phantom who is climbing the stairs when you cannot, to unlock your potential.” 

“Right, well Mr. Phantom, I’m going back to the real world before I go insane.” 

Rainer awoke to the sound of knocking on his door. He stared at the door for a few seconds to collect his thoughts. “I should start drinking before bed.”