Sol's Shine and the Kingdom of Terra

Chapter 20 The Strongest Orc Alive

Their struggle to deal with Amaterasu continued on but Lilac's entire world seemed like it was fading away. She pushed her allies away to rush to William's side. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably and she could barely produce any words like the capability of speaking was taken away from her. The only thing she was able to do was sob. Four of Jordan's arrows stuck out of William's torso. The orc could barely keep his eyes open but they turned to Lilac and he opened his mouth as if he desperately wanted to say something to her.

"Lilac... I don't get it. What happened?" He asked her. Lilac's face felt drenched. The fight with Amaterasu made her sweat but the tears she was shedding for William was immense. As she held tightly onto his hand, she was finally able to form some sort of speech. "Stay with me. Stay with me Will! Look at me!" "Everything feels... cold. Lilac I-" William paused for a moment, as if he was about to drift off. "William! Please stay with me! Will!" Lilac kept crying out his name which was just about the only thing keeping him awake a little longer. "Lilac I... always loved you. You're much braver and stronger than me. I don't think I was ever strong enough, like an orc should be. Was I strong enough?" William did his best to smile even if it only lasted a couple seconds.

Seeing William's face and hearing his words made Lilac realize something. She had to be as honest as she possibly could with William before she lost him forever. "I wanted to come all the way out here because I came to eventually love you too. You are the strongest and bravest person I know. But you're also the kindest. You were always strong enough to keep up with us, brave enough to stay with us when things went wrong, but most importantly you were kind enough to help everyone you could. Just hold on!" Lilac wasn't sure how much William was able to hear before his eyes turned dull.

Lilac shook his hand and held his face. "William! William, stay with me!" There wasn't going to be any response. Upon seeing one of his friends lie dead on the ground, Sol couldn't help but feel an internal rage slowly build up within him. It was right then and there that the prince fully realized that he had to be completely honest with himself as well. Sol was never going to change his mind on whether or not he could be a good leader but seeing the sacrifices made to be one made him not care about the role. He never really did. All Sol wanted to be was a good friend to others and the distinction became clear.

The sudden responsibility that was unfolded before him as soon as he held the Shining Giant skewed his vision. He could be a leader to a kingdom, but he never wanted to be. He only wanted to be with those who were closer to him like friends or family. Now with one of his friends gone, Sol's body was set ablaze thanks to Elgria's weapon. He felt no pain and his clothing was unaffected as if Sol was in full control of his flames. However he didn't feel as if he was in control of his own body and could hardly believe what he heard coming out of his own mouth. "AMY!" One by one, Sol slashed through Amaterasu's illusions, making absolutely sure that his allies were out of harm's way first. His instincts went into overdrive and Sol could instantly tell what he should slash and what he shouldn't.

A few times, Amaterasu tried to fool him into killing another comrade though it didn't work this time. "Stay away from me!" Amaterasu was shocked enough by Sol's sudden change in aggression that she couldn't help but lose her concentration for a moment. "FOUND YOU!" Sol was aiming to kill. If it weren't for the fact that Amaterasu hadn't suddenly tripped over a tree root sticking out of the ground, Sol would have taken her head. When Amaterasu looked up to Sol looming over her, the only thing she could see was a pillar of fire with two eyes and a mouth.

Traces of Amaterasu's blood ran across the Shining Giant. Sol only managed to make a deep cut across Amaterasu's forehead but the blood started to run across her own face like a curtain. "YOU WERE WORSE THAN ME YOU KNOW! TOO BAD YOU FORGOT! YOU WOULD TAKE PEOPLE'S MEMORIES AND MAKE THEM FORGET HOW TO BREATHE! DON'T GET MAD AT ME HYPOCRITE!" Amaterasu's claim felt genuine enough to break Sol's concentration and made his fire go out as he stared at her in disbelief but the rage hadn't completely left his tone quite yet. "WHAT?!" Sol asked. "Women.... children... you killed them all and watched them all beg for air!" Sol couldn't stand to hear anymore and tried to strike at Amaterasu again only to figure out he was distracted long enough to fall for another illusion.