Jack the Giant Slayer: Afterwards

A/N: Howdy folks! Here's the new installment! Sorry this one had less Elmont and more Erika, but I'll add the knight in later I promise. I'm exhausted writing this so I apologize if it's not up to par with the others.

I felt all the blood rush out of my body as I looked Jack in the eye.

"W-What?" I asked, not believing what I heard.

"It's Elmont, come on!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the medical wing of the castle. Nurses ran to and fro, everyone looking as panicked as Jack and I. We burst through the door of the main room and what I saw made me sick.

He was in horrible shape. His armor was dented and broken and there were cuts all over where his flesh was exposed. He looked sickly pale, all the color had drained from his body from blood loss. Blood trickled its way down his chin from his mouth, causing my breathing to speed up. But the most horrible thing to look at was the sword lodged deep into his abdomen. It looked as though it almost went all the way through him, and nobody was going near it. I ran over to him, seeing that he was barely conscious.

"Elmont?" All of my hatred for him magically disappeared as I looked down at the wounded man below me. He looked up at me and forced a smile through the pain. It was a smile I would never forget, one of true pain and true happiness all mixed into one small facial expression.

"Erika... I'm sorry..." I cut him off by pressing my finger to his bloody lips.

"Please don't apologize, I... I understand." He shook his head.

He closed his eyes and clenched his fists in pain and stopped talking for awhile. I grabbed one of his hands in mine and looked at him with sympathetic eyes. I wished I could just take his place and get him out of this situation. As I was looking down at him, a nurse tapped my shoulder.

"Excuse me, Erika, but we're going to try and remove the sword now. You may leave now if you'd like." I just shook my head and held Elmont's hand tighter.

"I'm staying right here. I'm here for you, Elmont. Just focus on that." Though he didn't open his eyes to look at me, he did nod slightly and squeeze my hand back. I heard him take a deep breath as one of the doctors gripped the weapon lodged so deep in his stomach.

Gasps and screams of pain were all that were heard as they tried to remove the foreign object from Elmont's poor body. He thrashed and convulsed on the bed, crying out random obscenities when the doctor would get it to move an inch or two out. I couldn't bare to look at his pain stricken face as he squeezed my hand tighter and tighter. I leaned down and tried to whisper calming words into his ear and stroke his sweaty forehead to try and ease the pain for him a bit. The bleeding was almost getting out of control, and it covered the bed and the floor under him. I saw a tear roll down his cheek and I really started to understand what kind of pain he was going through. He hadn't opened his eyes for awhile and his grip on my hand loosened.

"Elmont..." I whispered, "Please... If you can hear me, I want you to know that I love you. I wish I could have told you sooner and I know that you might not feel the same way, but..." I couldn't talk any longer, my throat had burned for too long and I finally let the tears go. His hand let go of mine as the doctor finally pulled out the sword. His lifeless body looked blurry through my tears, and Jack had to hold me back as they took his body to a different room.

"They have to see what they can do for him after he lost all that blood. You need to stay out here with me." he said, looking me in the eye. I struggled to get away from him, wanting nothing more but to go and see Elmont.

"No! Where are they taking him? I have to see him!" I cried, pleading with anyone and everyone who would look at me. Jack sighed, and I could see him fighting with himself. He wanted to go to, and I knew it, but we both understood the consequences of us distracting the doctors. I stared longingly at the door, wondering how they were doing in there. It was silent in the room we were in now, save for the sounds of the nurses cleaning up all of Elmont's blood that had spilled on the floor. I felt my stomach turn and excused myself to go and be sick. I wiped my mouth and tried walking back to where Jack was, but just ended up falling to the floor and curling up in a ball.

"Erika?" I didn't look up, I knew it was Isabelle. I continued crying until I felt a small hand touch my shoulder. I jerked up, and my tears streaked face met an equally tear streaked one. She pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to me, allowing me to wipe the tears from my face. I tried to compose myself in front of the princess, I had only met her a handful of times and this wasn't setting a good impression, but the tears wouldn't stop flowing.

"I'm s-sorry, p-princess." I squeaked out, and she shook her head.

"You don't have to apologize to me. We all are feeling what you are. I just know you've been particularly close to Elmont since your arrival here." She sighed softly and continued, "He's talked quite a bit about you, you know." She sniffled along with me, and I admired the fact that she could attempt to make me feel better even though she was probably feeling as bad or even worse than I was at the moment. I let out a forced chuckle.

"Mostly complaints, right?" She smiled.

"Yes most of the time, but there was something in his eyes that didn't agree with the words from his mouth. I truly believe he cared for you."

For some reason, hearing it from someone else made it sound so much better. I smiled a genuine smile that time and bowed to her.

"Thank you, your highness." I bowed again and headed to my room, my crying subsiding just a touch. I couldn't stand waiting in a room, pacing about and waiting for what was to happen next. It would be easier to just sleep and know what happened when I woke up. But it was easier said than done.

I tossed and turned for an hour before I just couldn't take it and got out of bed. I wandered down the corridor, alone, and listened to the calming clicks that my shoes made on the stone floor. I walked past the kitchen, the dining room, and a few more rooms before finding myself in front of the entrance to the castle. I sighed and pushed my way through the doors, inhaling deeply. I walked through the garden, running my hands along the flowers as I passed by them.

I walked through the market, and outside of town, making my way to my dad's house. I knocked once on the door and walked in, seeing him making some soup for lunch.

"Hey dad." I said weakly, and he turned around quickly.

"Erika! Don't scare me like that." He chuckled warmly until he saw the look on my face. "What's wrong?"

I explained the situation to him and he nodded his head along slowly, a morose look settling on his face.

"So I couldn't stay cooped up in there anymore." I finished, sitting on the chair opposite him. He nodded, folding his arms like he usually did when he had a story to tell. His eyes looked down at the floor as he began.

"When your mother died, I was lost." he started, and I gasped softly. He wasn't implying Elmont was going to die, was he? "I loved her so much and she was taken unfairly from this world. She had been sick for awhile, but she didn't want to worry us, so she kept it to herself. I'm sure she thought she was helping, but I didn't have any time to come to terms with her death, and niether did you. I'm not saying that your friend is going to die, but... I guess my point is... You never know how much something means to you until you can't have it anymore. I can see you really like this man, and he's helped me out more than I could ever think of asking for. I'm just-" I cut him off by tackling him in a hug and crying into his shoulder. He patted my back and let me cry, and I think I started to understand what he went through when my mom died.

"Pray for him, will you?" I asked, picking up my head and wiping my eyes with the back of my sleeve. He nodded, kissing my forehead.

"I will. I'm sure he'll be fine." I nodded back, heading towards the door.

"I better get back, I do have a job to do. Thank you, dad." We smiled one last time and I left the house.

Heading back to the castle, I felt much better than I had leaving it. Talking to my dad had made me feel like there was someone who could relate with me, and it was comforting knowing that he had been through it too and he's still friendly and optomistic. It gave me hope and I held on to that shred of hope as hard as I could.

Reaching the castle gardens, I took a deep breath and prepared myself for what kind of news I might recieve upon entering the doors. With shaking hands, I pushed open the doors.