"Congratulations my child, you have defeated Jormungand." My Goddess whispered.

I opened my eyes, and I stared deep into the cosmos that was held within my goddess’s eyes. She didn't say a word, she just stared back into my eyes.

"I-I didn't d-do anything. That was all Leo." I managed to squeak out.

She flew higher into the air with a smile etched onto her face. Then the cold sensation of something mental was under me. I looked down and it was like I was laying down on Zack's solidified air.

"It was because of your ability to defy Jormungand that gave Leopold the strength to fight. It was also your acceptance of him into your group that spurred him on to change. Lastly, it was your punch that staggered Jormungand, letting the twins triumph. As far as I see it, my child, you had a heavy hand in this victory."

"I suppose.."

I stood up from the floor and faced her. This didn't feel like the last few times. I was nervous, but not afraid. My heart raced, but I didn't feel helpless.

"For your victory, a new ability will be granted to you. The true symbol of the knight’s class. His blade."

She held out her hands, and a blue flame erupted to life. The cold air that wrapped around me seemed to vanish in the presence of it. The flame began to flicker, and fade away. Soon leaving behind a smoking Albion blade.

"This blade has a class of its own and will grow as you do. It has a special place in your new enchanted items inventory. You may choose to evolve your Ascalon blade, or create enchanted equipment for yourself."

"Is this what Weislung has?"

"Now three of the seven knights hold their special blades. Arrow, Weislung, and now Stryder. Keep me entertained, my knight." She said with a laugh.

Haze started to flood the area around me, soon stealing my sight of the stars. I closed my eyes, and suddenly it felt like the sun was beaming down on me. I opened my eyes, and I stared at the ceiling. I looked over to my right and saw my kitchen. This means I'm home.

I sat up and something slid down from my chest. I looked and saw a sheathed blade. The handle was the same as the one from the vision. I turned around and found Lux asleep on the couch. Then I caught a glance at Zack asleep on the floor beside me. Wait, ZACK!?

I popped up and punched him in the chest. He grunted and immediately sat up.

"Ah! The hell i-!?"

"Zack!" I cheered and tackled him.

"I was promised hundreds of virgins after I died. Not a Stryder."

"Shut up idiot and hug me! You're alive!"

"Do I have to?"

I just ignored him and hugged him.

"Where the hell am I? Your place?"

"I said hug me!"

He groaned and wrapped his arms around me. Then I tighten my hug like he was gonna vanish. Then the floodgates opened, and my tears streamed down my face.

"I told you, you got this, cry baby." Zack chuckled.

"Awww, aren't you two cute?" Lux purred.

Zack immediately threw me off of him.

"Did you just take a picture of us!?" Zack shrieked and threw me away from him.

"What? Me? Nonsense, I'm totally not sending this to Valentina and Alexis right now."

I sniffled and rubbed the tears from my eyes.

"Does that mean they got away safe?" I asked.

Lux sat up in bed and looked over to me and nodded. "Yeah, Alexis and Val are at the hospital. A few scrapes and bruises, but they're okay."

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"Thank goodness.." Zack sighed.

“Hey, does this mean Icarus got out?" I asked.

"Oh, right." She set her phone down and looked away from us.

"Lux, what happened?"

"We won didn't we?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, we blew that bastard's head off!"

Those words felt foreign coming out my mouth, my heart raced as Jormungand's face came into my mind. Even if he is dead, I still hate thinking about him. I looked up and even Lux looked a little surprised.

"You did, but the Goddess made a deal with Icarus. That in exchange for Zack's life, they'd take Icarus's."

A shiver ran down my spine.

"He did what?" Zack spat out.

"No, he.." I stopped and looked over to Zack, whose eyes were wide open.

I looked back to the ground and just stared at the wood. This is my fault.

'Icarus had a plan to defeat Jormungand all by himself'

That's what the Goddess said. We were the ones holding him back. Because of my leadership and horrible planning. Icarus gave up everything for us.

"Nobody asked him to do that! I made the deal! I was ready to die!" Zack roared.

"Jack tried to stop him, but the goddess shut him out. Then the next thing we know, your body appeared next to Stryders." Lux mumbled.

"This is a load of crap!" Zack roared and punched the floor. "Why me!? What the hell did he go and do something like that for!?"

"Lux, where's Jack?" I asked as I stood up.

"He wanted to be alone when he saw Zack's body appear. Something broke in his eyes. Then he just flew away..." Lux mumbled.

"Lux, do you know where Leo and Elo are?"

"Not a clue, they went to go talk somewhere I think. It was just me and Donum who brought you two back."

I nodded.

"We should go see the girls. Make sure Alexis is okay, and ask her about the people who abducted her and Alexis."

"What? At a time like this!? Shouldn't we be searching for Jack? Or trying to square up with the goddesses!?"

"We need to prioritize the mission." I balled my fists. "We can't let our emotions cloud what needs to get done. Making sure the girls are safe, and seeing if Alexis is willing to talk about what happened is the most important thing."

"So we're just gonna leave beta-Leo alone with Leo!?"

"When you were, when you were dead. Elo came back and helped us. Whatever Leo did reached him. I have faith in Leo."

"I'll drive us." Lux perked up and hurried over to the door.

I turned to it and something snatched my collar. I looked back and saw Zack glaring at me. I grabbed his wrist firmly and stared back

Into his eyes.

"Are you trying to tell me to continue on like nothing just happened? Like you didn't just tell me someone gave up their future for me?"

"No, I'm telling you to get your crap together and keep moving forward. Icarus died because we were weak and naive. He saved everyone again and again. All we accomplished was stalling Jormungand. We need to honor the lives we have by staying focused. So this doesn't happen again."

He continued to glare at me, and we stared at each other for a bit. Then he finally let go of my collar.

"Fine." He walked ahead of me to the door. "Let's get going then."

….

"Valentina won't be back for a while. Her dad took her home, and he looked worried sick." Alexis chuckled.

She was laid back in the hospital with bandages all over her. Her right eye had a patch on it, her neck had a brace and her lip was busted.

"How are you feeling?" Zack asked as he sat in the seat next to her.

"A lot better now that you're here." Alexis smiled and reached her hand out to Zack.

He took her hand in his own and sighed with relief.

"That's great to hear, I promise I'll visit and-"

"Alexis, we need to ask you something about the people who abducted you."

Zack turned back to me and shook his head. Alexis looked to Zack, then to me.

"C-can we please talk about this later? My head isn't exactly-"

"We need to do it now!" I demanded.

"Hey! Don't you see she's not okay idiot!?" Zack shot up and shoved me back from the bed.

"Did you already forget who died for you!? Or did you only care about coming here and kissing up to some chick you don't even like!?"

I shoved him back and into the wall.

"You're just mad because she didn't like your ugly face, right? The loser who lost the girl he simped for, for years. And the same loser who almost got us all killed!"

"Boys!" Lux yelled and ran over to me.

"At least I wasn't just support the entire fight with Jormungand! You couldn't do a damn thing without me! And as for dating, I'd rather be ugly than a man whore. You're gonna turn out to be just like your dad."

SMACK!

Lux smacked me hard and I stumbled back. She glared at me and then turned back to Zack.

"Both of you get the hell out of here. Right now."

I grumbled, but I complied and walked out. I glanced back and Zack was right behind me. Then as we left the room, Lux yanked both of our collars and dragged us away.

We both complained and struggled to keep up with her as she took us down the steps. All the while doctors and nurses watched us go. Eventually, she took us outside near the trash and slammed us against the wall.

"What the hell is wrong with you two!?" She roared.

I just turned away from her.

"Hey! look at me ya little turd!"

I hesitated, but I turned my head around and met her eyes. It was like staring into a raging tsunami.

"What you said in there was completely uncalled for, and how you treated Alexis like she was just something. Was also uncalled for."

"But we need to-!"

"She's a person, she was abducted and abused. You don't demand anything of her till she's ready to talk, you should understand that better than anyone."

A memory of me and mom came into mind. She’s right.

"Right.." I mumbled.

"Prick," Zack grumbled.

"Oh! You think you're in the clear!? You need to get your head in the game. We didn't come here to just make kissy faces. Stryder was right, whoever attacked Alexis and Val is still on the loose. The fight isn't over yet."

"Didn't you just agree with me though!?" Zack yelled.

"I agreed that she is a person who needs to be handled with care. No offense, but you didn't exactly look like you came in there ready for business. Also what you said was uncalled for too."

"Do you both understand?" She asked as she looked between us.

"Yes.." We said in unison.

"Now apologize to each other."

I looked at Zack, and he looked back at me. We didn't say anything at first, but eventually, I broke the silence.

"I'm sorry I said what I said to you. I didn't mean it."

"I'm too, or whatever."

"Good!" Lux chirped. "Now I'm going back up and fixing what you idiots did. I don't care what you do, just don't come back here. And no fighting."

With that, she stomped off back into the hospital. I took a breath and looked up to the sky.

"What's wrong with me."

"Nothing, you were just looking ahead. Everything you said is right. I just didn't want to think about this anymore."

I looked over at him. He stared at the ground like he was waiting for it to give him the answers.

"I can't blame you, I'm sorry for not taking your feelings into consideration. You probably have a lot going on right now."

He chuckled.

"Stryder, I don't care about all of this hero stuff. I never did. I'm only here because you're my friend, and I hated the Red steel gang. I didn't sign up for all of this."

A cold chill ran over me. It was my fault then that he died. Because I dragged into something he didn't want to be in.

"I'm sorry, that would explain why you didn't want to bother with this so much."

"Hearing Icarus died for me really got me thinking, ya know? Like what is my life even worth? I'm not like you or Icarus. I don't have any grand goals in mind for my life, I especially don't care about people in the way you two do. Hell, if I'm honest. I'd always thought I'd go out drinking, or end up just like my old man and just waste away." He held out his hand and looked it over. "But apparently to others, my life is worth so much more than that."

"Zack, your path is your own. It's okay if you don't want to be a hero. We don't believe in you because we want you to do what we say. We believe because it's you, and we want you to live."

He smiled some and looked up to the sky.

"We were real dicks in there. I only thought about my feelings."

"And I only thought about the mission." I sighed."Let's go find Jack, we should check on him."

"Plus he might know some info on the guy too."

Zack said with a smile. He turned to me and held out his fist, I smiled and bumped his fist with my own.

"Right, sounds like a plan." I chuckled.