“Urrgh,” Noah groaned woozily, drifting between the realm of consciousness and unconsciousness. He could feel a tremendous amount of pain coursing from his left arm, but for now, he just felt like having a good, long nap and thinking of his worries later.

“The health potion, lad,” Noah could hear Liam’s loud voice echoing in the background. What did he mean, ‘the health potion’? Hadn’t he already downed one? Oh… He could vaguely recall having a spare one in his left pocket. Noah willed his left arm to reach for it, but a surge of sharp, stabbing pain caused him to let out a shrill scream in pain instead.

Thankfully, the pain seemed to rouse him from the drowsiness, and he begrudgingly reached for the potion with his right arm, downing it without hesitation. Sweet, blissful nectar flowed down his throat, and Noah could feel a warm, soothing sensation flow down towards his arm. He finally turned his gaze towards his arm, seeing a large, misshapen lump right near the center. From the looks of it though, it was slowly, but steadily subsiding.

“Hey Liam, we safe for now?” Noah asked in a hushed whisper, trying not to cringe at the sight of his arm.

“Yeah lad, it’s clear. That arm will heal up in a few minutes, just don’t move it too much,” Liam replied, causing Noah to sigh audibly in relief.

Noah tried to examine his surroundings, but all he saw was pitch black darkness engulfing everything in darkness, except the glowing silhouette of Liam who looked as comfortable as ever on his plush recliner.

“Can….,” Noah hesitated for a second, but decided to steel himself and press forward- he had been inches away from death for the second time in this day, how could he look the other way now, “I tell you something?”

“Sure lad, anything,” Liam turned to gaze Noah in the eyes as if he somehow knew that he was dead serious this time.

“You know, I should hate you… for what you did to me. And a part of me does hate you for yanking me out of my daily life and throwing me into this, pit of horrors. But a part of me…. is oddly grateful for what you’ve done, even though I want to deny that part of myself…, I can’t. Back on Earth, I… well I always believed I was headed in the right direction- I’d gotten into the college I wanted to, I was a decent student, and I didn’t get sidetracked easily. Life wasn’t perfect, but it was good, y’know? I had awesome friends, a supportive family, and I could see myself exactly where I wanted to be in five years. Then…. Then I got the news. It hits you like a truck, man. One moment, my father was seeing me off to college, with that goofy smile of his… and the next, he, well he was just gone. No farewells, no last words, just, that was it, man,” Noah sputtered out, his voice weak and almost cracking while narrating certain parts of the story.

“I am sorry,” Liam stood up from his chair and walked up to Noah, his face lacking even the slightest hint of a smile. “The Eternal Lion bows to no one,” Liam said, his voice loud, booming, and prideful, reminding Noah of the Liam who was armed in magnificent silver armor from head to toe. “The Eternal Lion bows to no one…. But this time I will make an exception. I am sorry,” Liam said, and gave Noah a deep bow without an ounce of pride or derision… just regret.

Noah audibly gasped at the sight, and for a moment the jovial, always smiling Liam looked so… frail, so weak compared to the mighty aura he projected. As Noah glimpsed into his eyes, he saw a flicker of the deep pain and anger concealed behind them. A pain that superseded anything he’d ever felt, and a wave of anger so large it could envelop the entire world and still not be sated… it terrified him.

“For a hundred long years, I fought to prevent the destruction of humanity…. The destruction of my loyal companions, the destruction of the only woman I could ever fall in love with, the destruction of my only daughter, and the destruction of every life that had ever touched me or I, them. It came regardless, and now my past identity, the person I used to be is forever lost in the river of time. The people I love still live, but they shall never know who I was, and never know what horrors lie ahead until it is too late. That is my punishment, Noah, and I accept it. I apologize to you because if given a choice I would do it all over again, implicate you all over again because fighting the end is all I have left. It is the only thing that I have left… to live for,” Liam slowly intoned, his voice sounding almost ancient, withered by the ravages of time.

Noah felt a single tear trickle down his cheek, unable to understand why he found himself sympathizing with the man who’d condemned him to this fate. Noah knew that pain… it was all too familiar to him, but what Liam described was on a level he couldn’t even fathom, let alone even begin to understand. How could someone like Liam laugh with such a cheerful smile? How could he laugh, how could he still have the will to fight back? Noah couldn’t understand… he wasn’t sure if he wanted to understand.

“After I… after I lost my father,” Noah sputtered out with much less grace than he’d wanted to, “I wasn’t sure what to do with my life. I didn’t give up, no my father would never let me indulge in self-pity or excuses for too long, but each time I got rejected it didn’t sting as much as I thought it would. I just couldn’t bring myself to believe that it had any meaning, that I was doing something I actually wanted. So, thank you, Liam, for giving me my purpose back. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do right by the world, but I want the people I care about to live for as long as possible. For that, I’ll fight,” Noah said, using his right arm to get back up on his feet.

Liam quickly went back to his default state on the recliner, and there was no trace of the remorseful expression that had previously been on his face, just a jovial smile.

“Well then, lad! We better get going if we want to get back by time for the final fight,” and with that Noah followed Liam deeper into the pitch black surroundings with uncertain steps.