•Apocalyptic•

Chapter 18. This is goodbye.

Jack's POV
I woke up in an actual bed. Not just a crappy mattress but a luxurious one with a soft duvet. I rolled over and wrapped my arms around Rapunzel who snuggled into me.
"Good morning." I mumbled in my sleepy voice.
"God your voice is sexy in the morning." She whispered. I chuckled softly to myself at Rapunzel's nonchalant comment. I kissed her forehead before pulling the covers off me and jumping out of bed. I was grateful that Esmerelda had given us these unbelievable luxuries but I still wasn't 100% that she was a normal person.

I wandered past Jim and Ariel whom were still asleep, curled up together. Cute.
"Get up Jim." I said sternly. He groaned before pulling the covers over his head more. I kicked the frame of their bed roughly.
"Get up I need to talk to you." I said loudly. He huffed in frustration before rolling out of bed. We walked out of the bed department of the shopping centre and out into the open part.
"Do you trust Esmerelda?" I asked.
"Yeah, she doesn't seem psycho like Belle and Beast." He explained.
"True." I nodded.
"Jack.." Jim started. I glanced over at him, he had a really serious expression on his face.
"Yeah?" I whispered.
"Ariel, she's...really ill." He croaked. I could see tears pricking in his eyes. "She's not good." He sniffed.
"I know." I smiled sympathetically. I pulled Jim in for a hug, patting his back in the process.
"Is something wrong?" I heard Merida's voice. Jim scraped away the tears with the back of his hand.
"Ariel." He said simply. The colour drained from Mer's face
"W-where is she?" Mer stuttered. Jim motioned to the bed department and Merida jogged away.
"She'll be ok man." I said to Jim, placing my hand in his shoulder.
~~~
Merida's POV
"Ari?" I yelled out for her. I heard her faintly call my name. She sounded so weak and helpless. I jogged over to her bed and knelt down next to her. Carefully, I rested my hand on her forehead, she had a horrendously high temperature. The wound on her foot must be infected and the infection is spreading. Probably blood poisoning. Fatal.
"Hey." I smiled meekly.
"Hi." She whispered. It had been so long since her bright smile had faded away, now she was just an empty wounded body.
"You've got a burning feaver." I told her.
"I know." She mumbled. "I'm going to die aren't I?" She asked.
"I-I don't know..." I sniffled.
"It's ok Mer, I'm a liability." She smiled softly.
"No you're not." I said firmly. "You're far from a liability and Esmerelda is going to give you some medication. You'll be back on your feet in no time!" I said whilst trying to sound encouraging. Ariel smiled sympathetically.
"You know that nothing will make me better." She whispered weakly. Ariel stifled a cough. At that moment Jim and Jack entered the room. They gathered around Ariel's bed, Jim took hold of Ariel's hand.
"Esmerelda will fix you up babe." Jim whispered softly. Ariel's eyes were shining with tears.
"Jim you know that's not true." She croaked. He shivered slightly and his grip on her hand tightened.
"You will be fine!" He yelled. It was easily noticeable that he didn't want to let Ariel go.
"I'm useless Jim! I can't walk, I'm weak, I can't hunt or even collect fire wood. I'm a liability." Ariel explained, tears began streaming down her face.
"But I love you Ari..." His sobbed.
"I love you too." She sighed heavily.
I shuffled next to Jack, tears were now threatening to spill down my cheeks. He held me in my arms like a big protective brother.
"This is goodbye Jim, you know it." Ariel whispered. She was barely audible now. Jim stood up and kissed Ariel's lips tenderly, his lips lingered on hers as he pulled away. Ariel's eyes were closed and a faint smile was upon her lips. Jim held tightly into her hand and sobbed into the sheets of the bed. I turned to face Jack. His eyes were red and puffy.
"I'm going to find Hiccup." I mumbled. With that I rushed out of the room, sobbing heavily.