Wholly Undead

With a few black tears at the corners of her eyes, Leslie walked over and removed the remaining tattered robes and other bits of the G.o.d-King"s regalia.

Now that she had stripped him bone bare, Leslie finally had time to look inside his rib cage. It wasn"t that she didn"t see earlier but didn"t have the time to see it closely.

[...Whose heart is this...?] Leslie gazed at the still-beating heart of Eris within the ribcage of Jack. It hung inside of him tethered by gold chains latches to various rib bones.

Leslie reached into Jack"s ribcage and placed her skeletal hand around the heart to feel it beat, unlike her own.

[...Just whose heart can still beat!?] Leslie questioned more.

After she retracted her hand, she thought hard, and the tears on the edges of her eyes seemed to dry in her thoughts.

[Vampires... Their hearts still beat... That new toy of Jack"s? The Vampire Princess? How in the h.e.l.l did he get her heart? Her literal heart!] Leslie felt frustrated, and then looked down to her own chest.

[...My heart no longer beats...] She felt at a loss, as she wondered even if she gave her own heart... Would Jack still like a dead heart?

She looked back up at the dirtied bones of her beloved, as she decided she would have to ask the crazy thing later.

Going over, she dipped a white linen cloth into the Holy water, and carefully came back to Jack"s side, and began to whip him down in earnest.

In the middle of this cleaned, she heard some knocking on the door.

"Yes?" Leslie spoke out, as the door was opened by one of the Holy Sentinels. Now that the G.o.d-King was injured, they had been scrambled and were agitated to the extreme. It was good that they as a whole decided to listen to the first consort, or the fate of the unfaithful couldn"t be determined in their wrath.

Leslie turned to see the doorway held Emily. She waved her hand to the Holy Sentinel, and in turn, the Holy Sentinel then let Emily into the room. It seemed the Holy Sentinels disregarded the status of the Second Consort in comparison to the First Consort.

Emily hesitantly walked into the room, and stood next to Leslie, as she watched her wash Jack for a few moments before speaking, "Is... Is he going to be alright?"

Leslie stopped for a moment, pausing on Jack"s hip bones, as she still felt the pain of the holy water on her bony hands.

"I... Yes. Yes, he will be alright. It"s not like this doesn"t happen." Leslie then gave a light laugh.

"I can"t feel anyth-"

"That doesn"t mean anything. Jack"s mysterious like that. Just believe in our husband, and everything will be fine."

Emily looked up to the bones laying on the lid of his evening tomb. Was there something in his ribcage?

"Ah... Is there something in-"

"Yeah... I"m not too sure, but I have my suspicions."

"Well then... Is there anything I can help with?" Emily asked on the side.

"...Just wait with me..."

"Alright." Emily went to take a seat in Jack"s ma.s.sive desk chair at the side of the room.

"What... What happened exactly?" Emily asked, as she was inside at the time, and forbade from leaving. She could only stay with Lucius until the go-ahead was given.

"Jack... He... He was fighting that Hermit, and then... The hermit hit me... I don"t know how he found me, I shouldn"t have interfered... I just... I just couldn"t keep watching as he flung Jack around like a rag doll."

After a moment of thought, Emily pieced together the events, and then asked, "...What happened after that?"

"Jack... I don"t know what he did, but when I came too... I saw him holding up a giant fireball and threw it at the old hermit..." Leslie gave a light "Ha."

"The old hermit flew into the fireball. I take it he wanted to smash through it to get to Jack, but Jack... Jack collapsed it... It turned... Black and small... That black thing ate everything around it and ate the old hermit too... Then Jack flew back to me... And when he saw I was alright, he... He became like this."

"I see..." Emily now had a generally good idea, as her heart turned sour, and she wondered if Jack would do the same for her. Silence then engulfed the room, as Leslie continued to wipe Jack down.

Leslie finished her cleaning and had her Handmaidens take away all the excess, under the watchful eyes of the Sentinels

"Haaa~" Leslie sighed, as it seems she had picked up this habit from Jack, as Emily to the side tilted her head, and ask, "What is it?"

"I wish he didn"t do these kinds of things making me worry... Making you worry... Making us all worry... It took everything I had to calm down Lucius, who is still taking care of the church... And I pray to Jack that he wakes up before I have to deal with that d.a.m.nable woman."

"Which, Warmarshall Verruca, or the Vampire Princess?"

"Oh, ah... There is her too... Haaa~"

Another knock at the door sounded, "Yes." Leslie spoke out loud, as she turned her head to see, as the door opened under the hand of a Sentinel.

"Dr. Hollowell, please come in..."

Dr. Hollowell nodded and walked in with a small bag in her hands. She didn"t say anything, as she crossed the room, and placed her medical bag on the lid of the evening tomb.

She looked over Jack, as his eyes grew wide.

She turned to look at Leslie with a shocked face, one that didn"t look normal for her.

Leslie nodded.

Dr. Hollowell went back to her examine. After a long while of various tools pulled from her bag and checking various things.

She put everything back in her bag and turned to face Leslie sitting to the side, with Emily also waiting for her word.

"Is it like I thought?" Leslie asked.

Dr. Hollowell nodded.

"So, it"s not like when we put him into entombment?" Leslie asked a similar but different question.

"No... It"s not like that... This seems-"

"He"s just sleeping, Dr. Hollowell." Leslie interrupted.

"...I see... I don"t th-"

"Just sleeping. I"m not sure how long his nap will be, but he will wake up... I"m sure he might even wake up soon." Leslie said with a bit of a smile.

"...Consort Leslie, if you ever need a shoulder or someone to talk to... You can find me in the lab, my office, or just call for me. I will come, okay?" Dr. Hollowell added and said sincerely.

"Of course," Leslie spoke and stood to walk Dr. Hollowell out of the room, in a show of respect.

Just as Leslie placed her hand on the door to open, they felt something behind them.

Leslie, Emily, and Dr. Hollowell looked to the evening tomb, to see the eyes of the G.o.d-King flicker, and then ignite with a blaze... A crazed fire took root in the eye sockets of the G.o.d-King!

Jack"s mouth opened, and then laughter...

"HahahHAhahAhAHAHaHAHhaHAhAhAhAhahahahahAHHAHAhahAhAH!"

It sounded, and the Glowstone lamps in the room trembled, as the light, they provided flickered like candles in the wind.

The Holy Palace shook with the vibration of laughter, and all the rooms the Glowstone lamps flickered as if they were going to go out as well.

Today had brought so many events, that the servants and Handmaidens only looked for cover, and didn"t question what was happening.

Jack sat up and looked down at his hands, and his ribcage, still laughing. As he clenched his skeletal hands a few times to receive the feeling of pressure and movement was present.

"HAHAhahahAHHA~!"

Dr. Hollowell dropped her medical bag, as she saw Jack sat up.

"I knew it..." A quiet whisper was issued that only Leslie could hear during the laughter, while a black tear finally escaped flowing along the curvature of her porcelain-like face.

Finally, the laughter came to a chuckle, as Jack spoke out, "Haha! The wheel! The wheel indeed spins again! Hahahaahaa!"