Jack's back ached as he and Ivy made it back to base camp, the sun having long set and the sky dark with clouds. Lightning flashed in the distance and lightning roared across the broken valleys, but none of it held a candle to the fight that had happened earlier before.

Jack disembarked at the same time as Ivy, and she swished her hair enough for Jack to notice.

"Getting tangled?" he asked.

"Mm. There are not many hair care treatments out in the field," Ivy replied.

Jack nodded before looking around. To say the camp was in turmoil would be an understatement. Thankfully, they were able to avoid many casualties due to a bulk of the army being elsewhere when the Ashborn Colossus attacked, but that didn't mean it was zero. A few men and women laid on stretchers, clutching at their guts or their knees or whatever body part had been mangled or injured. Jack winced noticing a woman's leg nearly completely severed below the knee, and more than a few had burn scars.

Ivy pressed forward, and Jack followed. Their destination was the largest tent of the camp, and inside, they both knew what they would find. They hadn't been the ones to recover Queen Lumera and Alear - as far as Jack knew, it was Clanne and Framme who had done that, with Vander's help. Speaking of, the old knight stood in front of the tent, his arms crossed and a dour expression stretched across his aged face. The rain didn't seem to bother him, judging by his head of wet grayish-white hair.

"Before you inquire, I am led to believe that Queen Lumera and the Divine One are going to make a full recovery," Vander said, guessing the question on both of their tongues.

"I see," Ivy replied, "May we see them? It would do our hearts good to see them able."

"The other royals are already inside," Vander said quietly, "I will ensure that you are all not disturbed, unless another royal arrives."

Ivy bowed her head. "Thank you, Sir Vander."

Wordlessly, Jack followed Ivy's example and entered the tent.

He expected to see Lumera and Alear in a rough state, and they very much were - the wounds of their dragon forms weren't exactly reflected in their human forms - there were no gaping wounds or gougings, but they were clearly injured, and Alear's midsection was wrapped in bandages, though he was still conscious and looking around. Besides those two, Alfred, Timerra, and Diamant were also in the tent. That, and another person-

"Veyle?" Jack asked, his voice betraying the sheer surprise he had at seeing her. She stood almost a foot taller than she did when last he had seen her, her features filled out and her face had sharpened and her violet eyes almost resembled a bird of prey. The only reason he was able to recognize her was because of her hair.

Veyle smiled sadly, looking down at her feet as she held her staff in one hand.

"Surprised? So was I," she said. "When that form I used faded, I was left… like this. It will take some getting used to.

"I'll say," Jack remarked.

Ivy shot him a glance, and Jack shook his head.

"I didn't mean it like- nevermind," Jack sighed.

"Don't mind me. I did not mean to do that. I don't… yes, nevermind," Ivy said, looking beyond Veyle and marching forward. "Divine One, are you-"

"I'm not fine, but I'm alive," Alear said, holding up a hand while the other rested across his wounded stomach.

"As am I," Lumera added. "Such a foe, I have never seen before… even in the most harrowing days of the last war, no such creature was ever seen. Corrupted Wyrms? Corrupted Wolves? They were terrible, yes, but that thing, that Colossus…"

"I am almost glad I did not see it up close," Diamant said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "It sounds like a nightmare."

"Oh, it was," Alfred supplied, hands on his hips. "It was probably one of the most horrific things I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot since joining up with the Divine One."

"Even more horrifying than whatever Brianna turned into?" Timerra asked.

Alfred scratched his chin. "That'd be a close second."

"I'm so glad we're coming together to unload on all our shared trauma," Jack said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "But, to be honest, that thing was - considering what it was made of, I think we know what it was, exactly."

"The Ashborn," Alear whispered, "How could Sombron do such a thing? It doesn't make any sense. So much meaningless death…"

Jack's face contorted into a deep frown as he shrugged. "I think we've kinda accepted that Sombron is willing to do anything to get his way, even something like this. Now, how he did that? I have no idea. Maybe he really does have a benefactor. Something's helping him to do all this shit, while not directly empowering him - otherwise, he wouldn't have lost to you and Queen Lumera."

"But what could possibly be giving him the power to create such abominations?" Ivy asked. "I saw nothing of this when I was still in Elusia - I didn't even have knowledge that people had been summoned from another world aside from Natalie, but surely I would have seen something like this."

"I have a theory," Veyle said, using her staff to lean on as she spoke. "The 'Enemy' the Architect talked about, in the ancient city."

"Oh, you mean the thing that completely rewrote the canon and gave Pandreo a heart attack?" Timerra asked. "Yeah, I was thinking about that too. Although 'The Enemy' isn't really descriptive, is it?"

Veyle shook her head. "It's not, and that's a problem."

"Then Sombron has the power of some, what, otherworldly entity backing him up? This day cannot possibly get worse," Diamant grumbled.

"Don't forget that you have the power of two otherworldly entities on your side," Jack said, jabbing a thumb into his chest. "I can't make giant abominations appear from thin air, but I can kick someone's shit in with the best of them now. And whatever power this entity has, it's not infinite, or else Sombron would've won by now."

"That's a good way of looking at it! We've got Sombron on the ropes now, so we can't just stop here because we're afraid!" Timerra cheered. "My mom is coming up from the south and Diamant's army from the northwest, right?"

"Led by a late retainer of my father, yes. A woman named Saphir," Diamant said, "Still, I do think we should proceed with caution. Just because we destroyed this creature doesn't mean there can't be more traps waiting to be sprung."

"Something like this must've been a massive undertaking, though, right?" Alfred asked.

"How do you figure, Alfred?" Alear said, leaning back in his stretcher.

Alfred paced for a moment. "If Sombron could just do something like this whenever he wanted, he would've just overwhelmed Lythos with an army of these things, right? And considering how many Ashborn he must've had to sacrifice to even create that Colossus, he probably will try to keep as many as he can. Only way he'd be able to do that is if he had more people in Elusia to sacrifice, and I think he's dry."

Ivy looked down and away. "If there is some good news to all of this, then hopefully there will not be much more sacrifice. I will see Elusia restored."

"And you have all of our support in that endeavor, Princess Ivy," Lumera said, and Jack could detect a distant scratchiness to it, like she was sick. "And I see the truth in all of your words. Now is the time to press our advantage. The Elusian capital is far from here, but if we give Sombron any more time to fortify his position-"

Lumera went into a coughing fit, and Jack expected there to be blood on her hand when she pulled it away from her mouth. Thankfully, there was not. That was a good sign.

"Elusia Castle would be where he would fortify and try to outlast us in a siege," Ivy said, crossing her arms. "There are enough supplies there to last an army for several months, let alone only a handful of live people. If there are any people alive at all besides him and Zephia."

"Press the advantage. All in agreement?" Jack said, raising his hand.

Timerra was first to follow, with Ivy and Alfred next. After a few moments, Alear, Diamant, and Lumera did the same.

Jack nodded. "If you want, I can let the troops know, Alear. I've gotten pretty good at orating I think."

Alear nodded. "Thank you, Jack. Really."

Jack snorted. "Don't worry about thanking me. Just get some rest, champ. Uh, Ivy-"

Ivy was the one to take him out of the tent, much to the bemusement of those within. Jack heard Alfred snicker as the flap closed and they pushed past Vander, who looked on with indifference. A few moments later, they were both in a secluded portion of the camp, surrounded on one side by broken pine trees and on the other by the wall of a tent.

"Now that we are alone again," Ivy said, "Are you alright?"

Jack tilted his head. "Huh? Did I give off the impression that I wasn't?"

"Seeing such a horrid monster would give anyone something to think about, least of all if it was built out of their own people," Ivy pointed out. "I just wanted to make sure that you were not bottling it up."

Jack's lips thinned as he turned around quickly before looking back again. "How am I supposed to react to it? Pound my fist into the dirt? Scream and cry? Curse God for allowing it to happen? There's nothing I can do other than move forward with you, Connor, Hortensia, Lionel, and the others. I gotta make sure Lionel is okay after this but otherwise… I dunno. I just feel tired. Tired of all of this. Tired of getting up in the morning and seeing this scar across my face. But I don't mind that, because I know what we'll have after all this. I mean, that is, if something catastrophic doesn't happen- ah, well, I jinxed it, Ivy. We're doomed."

"How terrible," Ivy drawled. "It is good to know that your spirits haven't been dampened at least. Just - let me know if you need someone to talk to. You know that I am here to listen."

"As I am to you, yeah," Jack nodded, reaching his hand out and cupping Ivy's cheek. "I can't stay away from that beautiful face for long."

Ivy reached her own hand up to grasp his, though she didn't try to move it away. "Stop trying to avoid the topic at hand. You can't compliment your way out of this."

"Is that true?" Jack asked.

Ivy leaned into his hand. "Yes. You are welcome to keep trying, but I will not budge."

Jack saw a flash on the horizon, and a moment later thunder rumbled across the broken forest. He sighed.

"Maybe later. But, really, Ivy - thank you. For everything. I know we're still a young couple and talking about the future like this might be wishful thinking, but hopefully, one day, I can call Elusia home."

Ivy smiled. "I look forward to that day eagerly. And I would not worry about the future - wherever it may lead us, I only hope we are together."

"Are you trying to make me blush now or something? C'mon…" Jack said, rubbing the back of his neck as a sheepish smile crossed his face.

"It is far easier than I could ever imagine," Ivy remarked, running her hands up along Jack's arms before encircling his neck. "Maybe I should try it more often…"

"We can't go a single night without touching each other, can we?" Jack remarked bluntly.

Ivy hummed. "You're right. Perhaps now is not the time, but… later?"

"Absolutely."

The rain came just a few short minutes after Jack's meeting with the other royals and with Ivy. Lightning danced across the sky intermittently, with thunder rolling across the shattered cliffs soon after. The clouds ensured that the only light available came from either covered torches or oil lanterns. The dreariness was almost enough to make Jack wish for Solm's never-ending sunny sands.

That feeling would have been present even if the stars had been shining, however, mostly due to what Jack was going to do and who he was going to talk to.

Lionel had been rushed to his own tent shortly after Chloe and Ivy arrived at camp the first time. Usually he would've been sleeping on the Somniel or in a tent with several others, but those weren't good circumstances. Not anymore. Luckily, that didn't mean he was unattended - there was a small guard detail within his tent to ensure that he didn't try anything or hurt himself. Jack felt his chest tighten as he thought about it. Lionel deserved better than that, but if he was suicidal before-

Jack stood in front of the tent as someone marched out.

"Seadall?" Jack said, tilting his head. "I mean, I guess I should've been expecting you, but-"

Seadall shook his head before walking right beside Jack and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Please, spare your angry words, if you have any," Seadall said quietly. "Instead, listen to what he has to say."

"Is that what you did?" Jack asked.

Seadall nodded. "Yes. And I choose to stand by him, as should you."

Then, Seadall walked past Jack and into the night. Jack rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a long sigh as he walked into the tent. The guards had apparently been dismissed by Seadall, and Jack made a mental note to allow them back in once he was done.

The tent didn't exactly have room for much decoration aside from a homely-looking bed, which Lionel sat upon, looking at the canvas wall before him. Aside from the bed, there was also a chair, which Jack took and placed backwards so that he could lean his hands on its back. For a few seconds, Lionel didn't provide any indication that he had noticed Jack enter.

"Lio?" Jack called.

"Oh," Lionel sighed. "Hi, Jack."

"Hi," Jack greeted back, rubbing his cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"Bad. How about you?"

"Been better myself."

"Really? Even with your lady friend?" Lionel asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, when you look at something like the Colossus then yeah, I don't think anyone like us would be 'alright', even with a lady friend. Or a boyfriend," Jack noted.

Lionel hummed. "We all agreed to call it that, huh?"

"What, did you also think that name up?" Jack asked.

Nodding, Lionel said, "Kinda fits, doesn't it? It was pretty big."

"Yeah, I guess it was."

An awkward silence filled the tent as Jack searched for something, anything to say, yet nothing came forward. After a while, he dropped his gaze from Lionel, and let out a sigh.

"Lio, I-"

"I know what I said in that crevice, Jack," Lionel said preemptively. "Even right now, I still hate all of this, and everything. I just want it to end, but I made a promise to Seadall that I wouldn't do it again, and I'm gonna keep that promise."

"I thought you were doing better," Jack mumbled, hiding his mouth behind his arms as a blue flash of light briefly lit up the tent, followed by a slow rumbling. "You told us you were doing better. Was it a lie?"

"Not really," Lionel replied, his mouth settling into a deep frown. "Not really, I just felt like I couldn't take it anymore. This won't go away, Jack. I've said it a million times and I'll say it again: this will never go away. I will always have it. Even the pills they gave me only delayed it for a little while. Even when I feel better, it's like I've got a monkey on my shoulders. Sure, sometimes it might be silent, sometimes I might not even feel it there at all, but it'll always make sure I know it's there, eventually."

Jack sighed. "I get that, Lio. Really, I do."

"Do you? I find that a bit hard to believe, but thank you anyway," Lionel replied, clasping his hands together. "I can feel it in the way everyone looks at me, you know. The way they think that, one day, certainly, I'll just snap and kill someone. You and the other royals aren't like that. Not even the retainers, or Seadall, but the men in the army that know look at me like an animal barely held back by a leash."

"Lio, no one looks at you like that."

"Really? News to me," Lionel spat. "Maybe they're right. Maybe I wanted to kill myself because I knew that's what they saw me as. Or maybe I just wanted to go out in a blaze of glory, killing something giant. I always did like Shadow of the Colossus."

Hearing that name brought memories to Jack's mind as he chuckled to himself, despite everything that Lionel was saying.

"Remember when I came over that one time and you were trying to kill that giant flying thing? What was it called?"

"Phalanx," Lionel answered, "the wiki said so."

"Yeah, that. You used to get so worked up playing those games. Course, I never owned a PlayStation, so I could only play it at your house, but still, those were fun times," Jack said, running a hand through his hair.

"There a point to all this?" Lionel asked.

"Yeah, there is," Jack replied, his face becoming serious. "I can't make decisions for you, Lio. Nor should I. You're your own person, and to take away your right to self-determination would be fucking awful. I guess I just wanted to remind you about the good parts of being alive, despite everything."

"Good parts of being alive?" Lionel echoed.

Jack shrugged. "You're right. I have no idea what it's like to be you, and I probably never will. I can sit here and hem and haw about how life is worth living and that to take your own life would only hurt those closest to you - which I do think is true, by the way, but that's not what I'm arguing about. If you decide to go through with it at any point, Lio, then that's it, no more pain. But nothing else either."

Lionel looked down, rubbing his face with both hands.

"I just really hope that one day, Lio, you'll see that living is worth it. Lord knows I'm still not sure it is, either. Sometimes, I- well, nevermind. What I'm feeling isn't what's important. Though, if you want my personal opinion anyway…"

Jack reached out his hand and placed it on Lionel's back.

"We're the last two people from Earth who aren't horrid monsters. I don't want to be the very last either."

"C-Connor is fully Earth human," Lionel replied shakily.

"He doesn't remember it. He'll probably never even see it, no matter how much I'd like that," Jack said. "This is it. It's just you and me. We're all that's left."

"What a sobering thought…" Lionel mumbled.

"So," Jack continued, standing up from his chair. "The choice is yours, Lio. It always has been. Maybe this isn't the right way to do it but it's the only way I can see. Please, just - give it some thought, okay? For me. For all of us."

Lionel leaned back in his chair. "Do you wanna know what my first thought was when my psychiatrist diagnosed me with this shit?"

"What?" Jack asked.

"'Well, alright then', barely felt like an issue at the time, but it wasn't until later that I realized I didn't just think that. In the back of my mind, there was always a tension, waiting for it to get worse. And it did, but I got meds. But now I have no meds, and now all I can think whenever it comes up is 'Well, alright then'. Whenever I think that I'm being attacked by others or some other shit, it's just 'Well, alright then. That's happening'."

Jack moved forward and sat next to Lionel on the bed, who scooted over to give him room.

"You and I are a lotta like sometimes, you know that?" Jack said.

"Things hit you like that too, huh?" Lionel asked.

"Until I started to really, really care about this place, yeah," Jack responded, rubbing the back of his head. "I know I keep saying that this is our home now, but some part of us will always be on Earth. Whether it be our parents or our relatives or, hell, even just the places we visited. You wanna know what got me to stop thinking about this place like that?"

"Hmm."

"I think about Ivy," Jack continued, "I think about Alear and Alfred and Connor and Hortensia and the others, too. I think about what they would do if I died, if I suddenly just up and left. And, well, it really brings up how much we matter to these guys. It's not just something that's happening far away, that we can just meddle in because we feel like it. We're here because of Sombron, but now we got him on the ropes. Queen Lumera is alive even though she died in the game - that's something I did. You saved Seadall and an entire village of people, didn't you? Those people would not be alive right now if not for you being here. You matter. And we're all in this together."

Lionel let out a deep sigh as he rubbed his forehead. After a few more moments of silence, he spoke again.

"When'd you get all philosophical, Jack?" he asked.

"Around the time I found out I was in a fantasy world, believe it or not," Jack replied, chuckling to himself.

"I think it suits you. You should write a book," Lionel said, sitting up straight. "You know, if ever we get back to Earth, you know what we should do?"

"What's that, Lio?"

"We used to play on my PlayStation, but how about we play on your Xbox instead?" Lionel suggested. "We could bring Seadall and Ivy, too. Could play Halo. The Master Chief Collection has a four-player split screen mode, right?"

Jack paused for a moment before responding. "I think it does, yeah."

"We should do that when we get home. Just the four of us, playing Halo. I think I'd like that."

Nodding, Jack said, "Probably, yeah. It'd be a pain in the ass to teach the other two how to use a controller but it could be fun."

"We'd also need to find some more controllers," Lionel pointed out, rubbing his chin. "I don't think I have any, so we'd probably have to ask your parents for some money. You didn't bring your wallet with you, right?"

Jack shook his head. "Nope."

"Ah, nevermind! Maybe we could just head down to GameStop and buy some. I mean, maybe we'd need to cover ourselves a bit better. Neither of us look like someone from Earth anymore."

Jack covered one side of his mouth. "You mean my scar, don't you? It's gotten better, right?"

Lionel nodded, before looking down. "Hey, Jack… no matter what happens after this, thank you. I should thank Seadall too, but - well. Just, thank you for being there. For what it's worth, I'm glad we're friends."

"I'm glad we're friends, too," Jack said, standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Tomorrow," Lionel repeated.

"Right. So, yeah… see ya," Jack said awkwardly, leaving the tent and getting blasted in the face with rain. He covered his head with his hood as he looked around, letting out a sigh.

"I need a drink," Jack said somberly.

Next chapter will be an interlude, and then we will move on to the finale of this act. After that? Well, I might continue to write until Starfield comes out, but I'll definitely be gone for at least a week or two for that lol, so be prepared.

Here's a link to our Discord server: discord. gg/u89gs745fn

See you guys next time!