Phase | Dennis Pater |

Chapter 11: No give up

Daniel's normal day: he gets up in the morning, has breakfast, brushes his teeth, gets dressed, puts on his schoolbag and takes his skateboard to school, as it's not far enough to take the school bus. It was an average, sunny day in the bustling city. When he arrived at school, he went to his locker to get his notes for the day's lessons and took his laptop with him. At lunch, he eats with Miyuki and Sarah, sometimes joined by others. After classes, they go back to the accommodation with Miyuki and Sarah, and they talk. When they got back, Daniel had to train for the Second Phase. They discovered that if they took a longer, 1 hour break, they could practice several times a day. Unfortunately, they couldn't make any progress at all. but they didn't give up. After training, he ate dinner and studied. If there was a monster attack that day, they dared to fight. And finally, he went to sleep.

Daniel didn't have bad grades, in fact, he was a very good student. Despite the challenges his master has set him, Daniel is still performing well in school. The same could be said of Miyuki. Another day had begun. Everything happened as I had just outlined. Daniel, Miyuki and Sarah arrived back at their accommodation; however, they saw that Tracker and Gary, were there in the living room.

Daniel: Hi Gary, long time no see!

Gary: Hi, you guys, okay?

Miyuki: Yeah, kinda. 

It is important to know that Diana and Arthur are not living in the accommodation, as they wanted to have their own home and the accommodation was just a place to work. Arthur and his wife have started a farming business nearby. The state pays its heroes a pretty hefty salary for being heroes, so they had the start-up capital and became wealthy because of it. Diana was wealthy before she became a hero, thanks to her parents. She simply wanted privacy, as she always had. It's not like she hated everyone anymore. The point is, they were in the accommodation for a change. Joe lives at the accommodation by default, like Daniel and Miyuki.

Daniel: Diana? Arthur? What are you doing here?

Diana, Arthur and Joe looked very sad and desperate as they looked towards Daniel.

Miyuki: What's going on?

Daniel: Dude (Joe), what happened? Somebody tells us!

After a few seconds of silence, Diana spoke

Diana: I'm so sorry, Daniel!

He didn't understand what was going on. More and more, he wanted to know what was going on. Gary spoke.

Gary: I'm sorry Daniel, but I have some terrible news for you. 

Daniel: What could be so terrible?

Gary: Today, your parents and sister were found dead by the police in your house. I'm pretty sure it was murder. We haven't been able to determine the motive or who killed her.

Daniel looked forward and then down, shocked. Diana went to Daniel to hug him and then began to reassure him. When she stopped hugging him, Daniel slowly made his way towards the gym. Then he said.

Daniel: Now...I can't allow myself to cry. If it would break me, I couldn't save others. I need to train as much as possible.

Then he went to the gym.

Sarah: Will Daniel be, ok?

Joe: I'm a little surprised he didn't cry at all.

Tracker: He'll cry, just not in front of us.

Miyuki: But why?

Tracker: Because he doesn't want to show his weak side in front of us. He wants it that way now, so let's respect that.

Daniel started punching the punching bag. Suddenly, fragments of memories surfaced. When he was happy, when he was sad, when they were there for him... when his father first taught him to ride a bike, when his mother cooked his favorite meal, when he taught his little sister to ride a bike after she had learned to do it, to show what a good big brother he really was, when he was scared to go to school for the first time as a little boy and his parents reassured him that there was nothing to be afraid of, when he won the regional karate championship, and saw how proud his family was of him, when he could be proud of his family, when his father was a professional engineer, his mother a doctor, and his sister the best student in her class, and he was the best volleyball player in his school, when they were together, even when everything was good and bad...when they were just together...

Daniel was already teary-eyed as he punched the bag. Then he let out a loud sob. He stopped hitting the bag. He was crying. He just wanted to be alone. The others heard the whole thing and felt very sorry for him.

Two hours later, when Daniel had sorted his thoughts and wiped away his tears, he came out of the gym and went to Tracker.

Daniel: Master, can I ask a favor?

Tracker: Sure, why not. What do you need?

Daniel: I would like to train a lot more for the Second Phase, so I can control it. Can you help me?

Daniel asked with a serious face.

Tracker: I'm happy with your decision, as long as it doesn't come at the expense of learning.

Tracker said calmly.

So, he trained even more than usual. And slowly but surely, progress was beginning to show. Every time now, there was a little improvement in the management of the Second Phase.