Chapter 41

POV Narrator:

A complex expression rests on the Colossus’ granite face, his mouth hanging open in disbelieve. “Like an old friend, you appear again.” He says, his brow forming a frown. “From nowhere, you appear time and time again. Not once did I call upon you, but here you hover!” the Colossus shout accusingly. “What do you say in defence ‘old friend’?” he continues.

Storm Emperor Title granted for stopping a hurricane. Colossal Dream Requirements met... evolving. Completion time 1000 years.

“I thought as much, it’s always the same with you!” the Colossus snorts, his eyes radiating a subtle anger. “What is this all even for? Every time you appear, I evolve and better myself, but at what cost?” he continues, his frustration building with each word. “If it means abandoning Zohn to a thousand years of isolation, then I would rather not evolve at all!” the Colossus concludes, his eyes radiating a grim resolution.

“Col, you shouldn’t say that!” Zohn quickly shouts, shocked by the Colossus’ proclamation. “Col, the past year we spent together was one of the best years of this old man’s life, I’m satisfied with it, but you can’t throw away your dream for my personal happiness, I won’t allow it.” Zohn continues, his eyes growing red as tears threaten to pour.

A kind expression rests on the Colossus’ face, in a deep and caring voice, he speaks, “Zohn, a year ago I vowed to never abandon you again. The world has already forced us apart, for a thousand years, and I won’t allow it to happen again. Whatever fate may befall on the two of us, we’ll go through it together. We are companions, are we not?”.

A single tear falls from Zohn’s wrinkled face, washing away a thousand years of loneliness. Zohn opens his mouth, preparing to speak, but before he could, thunder suddenly cracks from the cloudless sky. The last time this happened, was a long, long time ago. Zohn’s eyes widen in shock, his mouth hanging open in utter disbelieve.

Evolution For unrivalled dedication towards the chosen companion, requirements have been met to evolve title.

Eternal Companion has evolved into Eternal Champion. Completion time 900 years.

“Col! Looks like the world isn’t as heartless as we thought,” Zohn shouts in excitement, his beard swaying left to right as he talks. “What do you mean Zohn?” the Colossus asks, pleasantly surprised by Zohn’s sudden outburst. “The System has granted me an evolution, looks like we’ll enter the hibernation sleep together,” Zohn says, practically shaking with excitement.

“Really?! Then you should prepare for the sleep, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to stay awake.” The Colossus commands, his face strained as he struggles to stay awake, but clearly relieved, as if a giant weight has been lifted from his towering shoulders.

Without waiting, Zohn rushes into the forest and towards his home. Its granite walls still look as pristine as the day it was made, the only difference is the vines covering almost every part of it. Zohn barricades the front door with a giant wooden beam and quickly makes his way through the winding hallways. He goes through every room, locking the doors.

Within five minutes, Zohn arrives at his bed. Struggling to stay awake, the call of the evolution sleep keeps growing stronger with every step that he takes. He bolts his bed to the floor and gets in. He manages to strap himself to the bed and holds his spear with both hands in the middle of his chest. At last, he closes his eyes and enters the evolution sleep, his legendary spear keeping guard over his body.

Up high, the Colossus, as if sensing that Zohn has entered the sleep, stops his struggle and embraces his. “In a thousand years, we’ll meet again, my dearest friend…” the Colossus mumbles. The towering Colossus, measuring a kilometre tall, plummets towards the scarred ground. With a loud bang, like an exploding bomb, the Colossus impacts the ground. His body landing in the ravine that he just climbed out of, burying everything except the forest on his back and Zohn’s house.

The forest shakes violently, but remains intact, as the Colossus impacts the ground. The Colossus’ elemental essence protects the forest from disaster. Somewhere in the forest, near Zohn’s house, a particular tree sways in the wind, almost sad, like it’s waving goodbye.

Far away, Natine rises from her meditation. Next to her, in empty space, she hears a voice, “Are you done?”. “Yes, Elder brother.” She replies respectfully. “This took faster than usual; did anything strange occur?” the voice asks curiously because of the sudden change. “No… nothing strange occurred.” She answers with slight hesitation.

For a minute, silence ensues, then the voice speaks again, “Okay then, return home, it’s time to prepare for the next cycle of Ages. The next one is going to be extremely important and I won’t allow for any mistakes.”. Cold sweat drips from Natine’s back, as she releases a deep breath, “At least he didn’t notice anything, I couldn’t have afforded him to notice my slight failure.”.

“It’s strange, what could have stopped my power?” she wonders to herself. “I didn’t willingly stop my power, something destroyed it completely, but what could it have been? I’m sure it wasn’t one of my brothers or sisters, and there shouldn’t be anything else that’s capable of rivalling us in power. This is deeply unsettling, but I don’t have time to investigate. I’ll investigate it later, alone. I can’t let anyone know of this failure.” She decides as she disappears into thin air.