Rainer lay sprawled, face buried in sand as the island winds howled, scattering silt through his hair and across the white and gold of his jacket. The grit clung to him like a second skin.
With a groan, he pushed himself upright, grains cascading down his shoulders in a slow trickle.
Blinking against the brightness, he sluggishly looked around. Coconut trees swayed in the gale, their fronds rattling like bones. His eyes widened as realization struck.
"This… is my mind space."
"Indeed." Came a soft, dignified voice, carrying the weight of calm authority.
Rainer turned toward a boulder before him. Perched atop it was a black cat, green eyes gleaming with neutral patience.
"Oh…" He gave a lethargic blink, shaking sand from his head. "It's you, Era."
Era leapt down, landing with feline grace, and padded toward him.
"You lost consciousness while training," she said evenly. "I had completed the task you gave, and judged it appropriate to bring you here."
The wind buffeted her fur, tugging at her ears. She glanced aside, and with a casual sweep of her paw across the sand, the winds eased, air falling still.
Rainer sat back and studied her. For a moment his gaze was thoughtful, then a smirk tugged at his lips.
"Damn… you really have changed." He chuckled softly, almost in disbelief. "You've mellowed. No longer as edgy, nor as spiteful of me and everything in existence."
As if to prove his point, he extended a hand, and instinctively, Era stepped into his palm, leaning into the fond touch.
Through hooded eyes, she confessed, "Hate no longer hath place in me. To enact a vengeance, unknown. I must tend a calm mind."
Rainer smirked and guided her back.
"Never mind. Seems you've only just relocated stat points from your bark to your bite, flossing your maw for Dreadnight."
Era sat, expression neutral once more, though her tail flicked with a subtle liveliness.
"Such an arcade-level analogy oversimplifies my mental state," she replied, then glanced away. "—But is apt, nonetheless."
"Sure." He drawled, then nodded toward her paws. "The books?"
Era blinked, sighed, and turned toward the sea of memories.
With a sweep of her paw, torrents of fairy dust-like clouds surged upward, swirling in a great arc into the island before crashing down in their midst.
The impact burst into a plume that engulfed Rainer in the dust.
He coughed as glitter fell from his lashes.
Before him now lay three thick volumes, their covers gleaming like something out of a children's cartoon.
"You know," he muttered, unimpressed, "there are cleaner ways to give these books form."
"There are cleaner ways to end a conversation," Era countered, placid as ever.
At that, Rainer pressed a palm to his forehead.
'Aye, women. I can't even understand my own feminine side.'
This normally should have remained merely a thought—if it hadn't echoed aloud in his mindscape, booming like a voice through a cavern.
Era's eyes twitched.
"This is your mindscape, Rainer. Your thoughts dwell here. It sometimes escapes me how ridiculous you tend to act."
He shrugged, picking up a book for assessment. "Well, I do try…"
The volume had no pages, only a solid white block within a hard candy-like cover. On its front, two silhouettes clashed, apparently frozen in glorious combat.
The forms of the silhouettes held a familiarity about them, as if they were silhouettes of himself from some points in time past he couldn't quite recall.
"This one contains my martial art memories, right? Then the others are…"
Rainer's gaze drifted to the other two: one illustrated with herbs and insects in a bowl, the other with a crisscross of multiple polearms behind a round shield.
His eyes wavered.
"I have gone to great lengths compiling these from your least favorite memories," Era said gently. "Yet the memories you spent in combat were among your best. This will be a loss regardles—"
"Then I will make more."
Rainer cut her off, dispersing the gloom. His grip tightened, cracking the cover as a smirk spread across his face.
"I sense an exciting life ahead of me here. The winds carry whispers of an encroaching doom. I may yet leave behind a lasting legacy."
Era studied him, then reminded.
"At activation, you will recall them as though experienced yesterday. You will not forget them while you live, but they do not make you a master. Much practice is demanded for mastery of the skills of your past."
Rainer inhaled deeply. "Gotcha. Let's get this done with."
Without another word, Era's eyes shut, then flared brighter as they reopened. At once, all three books shot skywards, till they exploded like fireworks. Their brilliance, substantial even in the daylight.
Soon after, the dust began drifting down across the Island, and upon reaching the ground, coalesced into colorful shadows that became animated.
Rainer's breath caught. "These are—"
"Your past selves," Era said, leaping back atop the boulder.
The shadows moved: one balanced vertically on a single hand, pumping pushups; another leapt like one training for a competition, fluidly unleashing a flurry of kicks and punches upon an envisioned opponent. Suddenly, a spear arced high and fast overhead, having been tossed from somewhere far ahead, it sailed toward the horizon behind disappearing in a demonstration of a perfect throw.
Beside him, a shadow ground herbs in a pestle, then sprinkled in something from a pouch, only for the mixture to suddenly explode soot onto his face.
Rainer chuckled. "Oh, I remember this one. I was preparing medicine for the King of Poisons. That bastard ate more than he could chew. Literally."
His eyes soon softened, reflecting on the vivid scenes. To him, these weren't just colors—they were lifetimes, as real as the dawn.
Through all this, Era watched him with a contemplative silence. She soon looked away and stretched, then with a calm voice, announced.
"Activation complete."
Rainer blinked, startled out of his reverie. "W–what?"
"The morn hath come, Champion." She smiled faintly. "I pray that by the end of this life—you hold no regrets."
A frown tugged at his brows. Why did it feel like a farewell?
"Era—"
"Till we meet again, Rainer." She swept her paw gently against the rock, and the world dissolved.
"Wait! Er—"
He reached out, but his body melted into the background, vision blurring.
—
–
-
«Whu—»
Rainer's eyes snapped open as a tear slid down his cheek.
" ...Era," he muttered, still shaken by the experience.
The winds blew and the tree leaves rustled overhead. Morning light gently filtered through the branches.
With a centering breath, he shook away the strange feelings and tried to rise—but the memory of his defeat at the Bructeri woman's hands struck him suddenly like a headbutt.
With a grimace, he slumped back down.
"Fargh!!!" He groaned, curling over as the embarrassment gnawed deeper now that his past exploits were clearer in his mind.
'The prior versions of myself would never have lost. With my battle memories revived, I no longer have an excuse to lose anymore. The pressure is real!'
He rolled around with frustration.
Rainer felt that the memories of his past were such a boon that it was sufficient to rule the very world, after all, legendary leaders had done it with less. He simply needed to train, get his body up to standard and he would be okay. To him, if he fought and lost now it would be a disservice to the sacrifices made to make this recovery possible.
At this moment, Roman auxiliaries patrolling a short distance away, spotted him then ridiculed.
"Hahaha! Look at him squirm like a worm! Pathetic!"
"Roll into your spear! Maybe then you'd be useful as bait when we go fishing, slave!"
Rainer froze, eyes narrowing. He looked up at the patrolling soldiers, and among them, he recognized a face—Cormac, the man who had fled at the grave site.
"Hmm."
An intrigued glint sparked in Rainer's eyes.
'It appears I am being bullied. Well now…what kind of guest would I be if I don't reply in kind?'
A smirk curled up his lips, like a cat discovering new toys.