Chapter 5

“What the hell is this? One second it's calm and the next I feel like I'm walking through a wind tunnel.”

“I await your arrival” the wind whispered in his ear. Rainer felt as if the voice was familiar. It sounded soft like a woman’s voice but he wasn’t quite sure.

The wind died down once more and as Rainer looked in front of him, he noticed a door had appeared in the middle of the path.

“What the?” He was confused. The door was not there before. Rainer searched the side of the door and even behind it. Yet it was just a simple white door standing in the middle of the path. The copper door knob was only on the front, and the back of the door was blank.

“Well this is an obvious trap. Will it explode? Or will it eat me? Maybe it does both.” he whispered to himself.

Even though Rainer knew it was a trap he was tempted to open the door. Not out of curiosity but because he felt like it was calling him. Before he could even react his hand was already turning the door knob. The door opened, revealing a serene forest. Rainer walked through the doorway and it slammed shut behind, then vanished like it was never there. All around him was just a forest with no animals, not even an insect. It was so quiet Rainer thought he was deaf.

A loud cry in the distance snapped him out of his trance. “So there is someone here.” he whispered to himself. Rainer ran towards the noise and in a clearing he witnessed a man being pierced by a pinkish tentacle. In a flash of blue light he vanished and the person who had killed him was floating in the air. A man clad in gleaming silver armor, his face covered by an onion shaped helm.

Rainer drew his sword and prepared himself for a battle. Before he could make his move the man faded into the forest. Another creature with tusks and light chainmail ran into the clearing from the far right, he was being chased by a copy of himself. A dark copy that ferociously attacked the real one.

Rainer rushed in to help the tusked creature and successfully knocked the copy back with his sword. “Is that your crazy brother or something?” Rainer asked the tusked creature.

“That thing is not my sibling. It’s what that armored thing called my darkest secret. It’s a crazed version of me that I wish to kill. I thank you for your help and offer you advice. Run far from here, that silver knight will get you next.” The tusked creature replied.

“Look, I can help you kill this thing, and then you can show me the way out.” Rainer suggested.

“No! This is my fight. If you help me kill that part of me then it will be like I never existed. This is not your fight, boy.”

Rainer hesitated to leave but realized that he was right. It wasn’t his place to deny someone their right to defeat their darkest part of themselves. “Fine. But try to stay alive, I would enjoy fighting you.” Rainer smiled and ran into the forest to look for an exit. Behind him he heard the clash of swords.

A few minutes later he found himself near a small lake with a small island in the middle. The island was plain except for a dead tree at its center. The lake itself was so still that it mirrored the sky and looked solid.

As Rainer attempted to run around the silver knight appeared and attacked him with a large octopus-like tentacle that protruded from his back. Rainer dodged it well enough to not sustain injury but his movement was sluggish. “Well damn. Looks like I’ve been caught.” He nervously smiled.

The knight stared at Rainer “Interesting,” he said in a hoarse voice. Rainer was too cautious to move, knowing that the tentacle would easily catch him if he tried.

“Your inner secret would prove useful to me.” He grabbed Rainer with the tentacle and pulled him in. Rainer tried to struggle but it held onto him so tightly that he was barely able to breath.

After being pulled in face to face with his adversary, the knight placed his finger upon Rainer’s forehead. It was then Rainer felt like his very essence left his body. He felt cold, almost like he was dead.

The knight dropped Rainer on the ground and faded into the forest. Rainer gasped for air and stood on his feet. He still felt cold but was relieved he was still alive.

“Don’t think you're free just yet, you jackass.” said a familiar voice behind him. Rainer quickly turned to find another version of him with blackened eyes, a white sword, and white clothing instead of black. This copy had a crazy and bloodthirsty smile on his face.

Rainer felt nothing but pure rage towards this copy. He knew exactly why, and it was because this copy reminded him of something he had wanted to forget. It reminded him of what he was.

“Get lost. I don’t want to fight you here.” Rainer said in a commanding voice.

“Really? What would it take to get you to fight me? Maybe we should kill Cleo again, that seems to always change your mood” The copy taunted.

Rainer clenched his fist and angrily stared at the copy. “You. Go back to being lost in my memory. After what you did, don’t you dare stand in front of me!” He charged at the copy and the battle began. They were evenly matched, attack for attack it was like an endless draw.

“Come on. Don’t you think it’s time we stopped pretending like we care? Our sister would have killed us without a second thought.”

“Don’t you dare mention her in front of me!” Rainer angrily swung his sword at the copy.

The copy easily parried his attacks. “She would have shot us a hundred times if that’s what it took to save those precious kids of hers. Yet here you are, with the regret of shooting first.”

“That's enough. Stop talking.” Rainer quietly warned him.

“You know, I think deep down you were relieved you pulled the trigger.” The copy jumped back and stood on the surface of the lake as if it were solid. “You were relieved that our life was spared.”

Rainer was getting angrier and whimpered “shut up.”

“You forced us to feel guilty, when we knew we weren’t”

“I said shut up.”

“And then took on the responsibility of freeing those children so you could feel better about yourself.”

“That’s enough!” Rainer charged onto the lake and used his prana to run towards the copy. No matter how hard Rainer fought, the copy matched him.

He continued to antagonize Rainer. “Remember when she trusted us? Remember when she thought we could save her? Remember when she believed we could be a hero?”

Their swords heavily clashed, causing the water on the lake to splash loudly around them. “Do you know why you couldn’t save her? It’s because you’re weak. We were born to kill, we killed our own mother from just being born. We had potential, and you threw away all of it just because you wanted to be something you weren’t. You yearned to be a heroic figure like Cleo, but as long as she was alive, you could never be one. Killing her was the only way. And you took it.”

The copy broke out of the clash and began to overtake Rainer with his sword. “You were angry at Veiga, yet you never attacked him. He gave the order to kill Cleo and you still let him live!”

The copy grabbed Rainer by his sword arm and threw him at the dead tree in the middle of the lake. Rainer’s back slammed into the tree, forcing the wind out of him.

“All you had to do for revenge was kill him, and you couldn’t even do that. You’re so terrified of him, that even killing your own sister was easier than fighting back. And you know what? That disgusts me.”

As the copy made its way to the tree he continued speaking “Tell me. Is it worth living a cowardly life?”