"Daniel, I presume?" someone asked from behind. Turning around, Daniel laid his eyes upon someone with a striking resemblance to Connor. "Yes, I must be right. Ah! I suppose this will be our first time meeting each other. Well then, my name is Gulliver, Gull to my friends."
As soon as Daniel processed who this man was, he leapt from the grass he once sat at, almost falling into the river behind him. Gulliver. Platinum rank three, The Longshot. If it wasn't for Gulliver moving behind Daniel so quickly it seemed like he had disappeared and reappeared to catch him, he would have surely fell in.
"Ah- um... th-thanks." Daniel stammered, stuck in between absolute shock and relief.
"I won't have you dying on me now, Daniel, especially after I just met you." Gulliver said, gently guiding Daniel further away from the stream. "Now then, we can't dillydally around here, we've got some training to do."
It was just as Daniel predicted. This new life was too good to be true. 'Training'. There had to be a catch. And now that catch as reared it's ugly head. It was just as Gulliver began to walk away, beckoning Daniel to follow that he resolved to make a decision. Daniel stopped in his tracks, attracting the attention of Gulliver who was a few strides in front of him. That choice was:
"No." Daniel said, clenching his fists to try and stop them from shaking. "I- I don't want to... train." By now, Daniel could barely lift his head from where it was stuck staring down at his feet.
"Oh?" Gulliver said. "Now, now we can't have that, could we?"
"I-..." Daniel began to say, his own body screaming at him to just agree or else this man, this god trapped in a mortal's body, would rain down his wrath upon him. "I don't want to train."
A tangible silence penetrated the air after Daniel's decision, Gulliver's curiously sharp gaze turning into one of scrutiny, realisation and then disappointment.
"If Avo was going to train you as was planned, he probably would have punched you into the river right here and now." Gulliver said, his statement sending a shiver down Daniel's spine. "However, I'm not Avos Ashbeck. I'm Gulliver Harris. I'm a little more tolerant than Avo and so, instead of reprimanding you, I praise your courage. Not many are brave enough to say no. Yet, I cannot allow you to say no. For if you don't, the Inquisitor will eventually find you and you won't be able to defend yourself when he kills you. I can already sense the anguish on your face. Why are 'they' deciding this for 'me'. Are they going to hurt me? Do they perhaps have an ulterior motive?
"I don't always agree with my fellow Platinums, especially Avo and Lucan, but you need to get yourself together, Daniel. You may be broken, you may not be physically fit, but you're excuses aren't going to stop you from getting killed. So, I'm giving you the choice again. If you want to, you can say no. Avo and Lucan will probably come down on you, yet I will leave you alone. If you say yes, though, you will become stronger and you will eventually move past your faults and learn to accept them. It is only when you can accept yourself for who you are, can you truly heal. After all of that, I then shall ask you; do you want me to train you?"
Daniel's expression, just like Gulliver had predicted, was one crunched up in anguish. All his fears and doubts were laid bare in front of him and then diminished in front of the looming threat of death. For Gulliver had given him the true reason they were doing this. Simple generosity. So that when the time comes, he won't die. Daniel, even back then in the memories he dared not recall, hadn't really though about death. Since thinking about dying meant giving up.
Death had never bothered Daniel before. A simple person like himself couldn't comprehend the gravity of non-existence when all he had ever knew was life, existence. Almost everyone say that they don't want to die. Why? Why do they not want to die? Is it the fear of unknown that comes after death or is it the notion that they have not done enough in their short life? Daniel didn't fear the unknown after death as he had come face to face with it so many times before in those forbidden memories. Was it the fact he hadn't done much of anything in his life then? No, Daniel was more than content with the life he had lived so far. So what was it then? What fuelled that primal fear? Yes, that's what it was.
Survival.
All that Daniel had ever done after those painful days was to survive. To make himself meek and small to not make those who wish him dead to notice him. And even if they did notice, he would run, and if that didn't work, grovel beneath their feet and beg. Daniel would forsake his pride and self-worth in a heartbeat for survival. Survival was an instinct so deeply instilled upon mankind that it was what enabled them to live this long in the first place. And it was that wish to survive, the wish to prevail that was sourced by the fear of death. Despite that, Daniel had no fear of death, but he had a wish to survive. A wish so potent that Daniel would do everything to fulfil it.
Daniel couldn't explain or sort out his feelings well enough to find what sourced his want for survival if not the fear of death. Yet, he knew that he wanted to survive. And that was good enough for him.
"...n-..." Daniel surprisingly hesitated, still unsure in spite of the surety he had felt mere seconds ago. Even if it spelt pain for the rest of his days, even if it meant he would like a terrible life full of misery, Daniel would survive. Daniel would waver, Daniel would suffer, Daniel would cry and Daniel would retreat back into the husk that he calls himself. Most importantly, Daniel would survive.
Daniel will survive.
Like a fish swims, a bird flies and humanity lives, Daniel survives. It was in that moment, like and unlike every moment before him that he had ever considered, that the answer was never clearer.
"Yes."
"Well then, let's begin your training."