Grey gripped his head in pain, his eyes slowly drifted upward as he found himself standing in a place that was unknown to him. He didn’t remember how he had gotten here but he swore that something had happened to him. Something bad. No matter how much he tried he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he was forgetting something, something important.

           Grey looked around, his vision was blurred and he could hardly make out his surroundings. His vision cleared slightly as he focused only to find that he was in some sort room surrounded by bars. With slow weighted steps he found himself approaching the bars he was confined in. Have I been captured? Grey tried clearing his mind as his sight began to adjust to what lay past the prison he currently found himself in, looking past the metal bars he could see a large well-furnished room, much larger than any human would have need for... He looked down and realized he was not in some sort of jail cell but instead a cage, a cage that was suspended high above the ground, next to an equally large elegantly made bed. A strange feeling overcame him as he looked around his new surroundings, a feeling of familiarity.

           “I’ve… been here before...” Grey muttered to himself.

           Grey turned to see a man sitting on the floor of the cage just a few feet away from where he stood. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed the man until now. Looking at the man from behind Grey noticed his unusual appearance. He wore what appeared to be a silken purple tunic and his hair which was clean and well-kept fell about to his shoulders in length. But the strangest thing about his hair was its color, the man's hair was a silvery white, and based on the way the man sat, Grey couldn’t have guessed the man was that old. Grey found himself slowly approaching him. He hesitantly reached out his hand to tap the man on the shoulder but before Grey could reach him he suddenly turned catching Grey by surprise. For the first time Grey saw his face, he was young, younger than Grey initially thought. He looked roughly around the same age as Grey himself despite the color of his hair, but the thing that truly stood out about his face was his eyes. Violet in color. Grey stared at the strange young man that sat before him. Neat, white hair, violet eyes, royal purple tunic, and fair skin much like himself. His eyes looked tired and as Grey’s eyes began to adjust he could now begin to see that his tunic was not as fine as it had first appeared. At least not anymore. It looked worn, with multiple tears here and there, as if the man had been put through something his clothes were not suited for. Grey noticed that the man's gaze was not pointed at him, but more through him, as if he was looking at something the lay beyond where he stood. As Grey followed where his gaze lead he turned in time to see a large slender hand slowly descending upon him. Grey began to panic as the hand prepared to capture its prize.

           Grey woke with a sudden jolt. His eyes flew open as he found himself staring up at a ceiling that seemed as if it were miles away from where he currently lie. Slowly he began to force his body up, only to wince as he felt a sharp pain suddenly make itself present across his body. Grey quickly fell onto his back once more and let out a gasp of air as the pain continued to let its presence be known. Grey submitted to the pain’s suggestion and remained lying on his back as it slowly subsided, but still continued to linger. He stared once more to the ceiling trying to recall where he was, and how he had gotten here.

           He recalled traveling, through forest, tiring days, and sleepless nights. But why, why was he traveling? Memories of Jack and his goons, as well as the treasure he sought began to resurface and with that the giant’s home. His mind slowly traced its steps back to when he had first glimpsed Jule, and memories of his time with her started to fall back into place. His initial fear of her, the conversation they later shared, the arrival of her friends, how he struggled with them. Then he recalled Zeke. He almost swore it was a dream. Zeke’s sudden arrival after years of being missing, and the strange ability and skills he now seemed to possess. Nothing like he had ever seen before. Grey wasn’t sure if he had truly even seen his friend. Then as if being hit in the face by the King’s very own personal Paladin, Grey remembered. He was once again captured, and had given himself in to his fate. Jule, the giant who he had sacrificed himself for on a whim, had eaten him. He remembered lying in her stomach, as the pain of digestion finally took hold of him, and the sound of her heart lulled him into a black numb silence. He had died. He must have, but if that was the case, then where did that put him now?

        A shadow slowly enveloped him as one of the most beautiful faces Grey had lay witness too filled his vision. A fair skin woman; much like Jule, looked down at him with a warm gentle smile. She had the largest and most beautiful set of green eyes Grey had ever seen and her long silky smooth hair hung slightly on her shoulders. If I knew this was waiting for me, I would have just let Jack’s goons have me.

        “Hello.” The woman spoke with a gentle and caring voice. “I’m glad to see you awake.”

        Grey felt his heart pounding and could even feel his face turning a deep shade of red. “Ye… Yeah.” His words stumbled out like a prepubescent boy attempting to hit on a courtesan.

       The woman giggled softly as she lifted a hand to hide her laughter. Grey slowly tried once more to sit up only for the pain to remind him why he was lying down in the first place. The woman taking notice of his plight looked on with concern as she lifted her hand above him.

        “Be still for a moment.” She whispered. The woman closed her eyes as a golden light slowly drifted down from the palm and fingertips over his body. Grey felt a warm soothing sensation wash over him as the light continued to fall. After a moment the woman opened her eyes and the light stopped. “You may move now.” Grey slowly sat up, this time instead of pain he felt a sore numbness where the pain had previously been. Alright, so far this is much better than life.

        Grey stretched his arms adjusting to the new numbing sensation he felt, as he did so he noticed something constricting the movement of his arms. He looked to see white bandages wrapped around his arm and part of his hand, he looked to his other arm and noticed the same. It wasn’t long before Grey took notice of the bandages wrapped around his torso, legs and even feet, but that wasn’t what Greys mind was preoccupied on. Grey quickly became aware to the fact that he currently sat naked, with only a small white cloth loosely placed over his pelvic region. Grey began to blush even more deeply than before as he sat almost completely exposed in front of this gorgeous woman. He frantically scrambled to pull the cloth more closely around him in an attempt to keep himself somewhat unexposed, much to the women's amusement.

        “There is no need for such modesty, Grey.” She said with a playful laugh.

        Grey looked up at her pausing his action, and then nodded. “Right, I guess that would make sense. No need to hide anything from a goddess.”

        The women cocked an eyebrow and let out a surprised laugh. “Goddess?” She said. “My my, you have called me many things, but I do believe this is the first time you have ever referred to me as a goddess.”

        Grey looked at her in confusion as he tried rethinking things he might have said. His eyes widened at the realization of what she meant.

“I’m sorry!” Grey blurted out frantically. “All the things I said in the past! I didn’t actually mean them, I was just frustrated is all! I didn’t know I was actually calling you those things! I take them all back I swear!”

        The women let out another amused laugh. “What are you going on about?”

        Before Grey could respond a voice spoke up, revealing that they were no longer alone. “Grey, are you alright.” Grey turned to see Zeke stand up from a crouch as he had just finished climbing up whatever platform Grey was currently sitting on. Unlike before Zeke’s mask and cloak were gone, letting his longer dark hair hang down past his shoulders. Zeke looked up at the woman Grey was speaking to as he continued his hurried stride forward. “I told you to get me the instant he awoke.”

        Amelia smiled. “He had only just woken.” She retorted in a coy tone.

        Zeke ignored her and continued to walk toward Grey. “How are your injuries? Are you in any pain?” Zeke spoke in an almost methodical manner.

         “Yeah… I think I’m fine. But Zeke, what are you doing here? Did they really kill you already?”

        Zeke looked at Grey, utterly dumbfounded. “Grey, did the acid seep into your head or something?”

        Grey shook his head. “What? No, I’m asking did they kill you, I thought they were waiting.”

        “What the hell are you talking about?”

        “Us, Zeke. Were dead, I’m just a little surprised to see you so soon. I thought you would have at least a week or so left.”

        Zeke stood in complete astonishment. “Wha… what the? Grey!” He shouted. “Sorry to disappoint you since you have been trying so hard, but we are both very much alive right now.”

        It was Grey turn to look at Zeke in confusion. “What?”

        “You aren’t dead. We managed to get you out before you died, albeit barely. That's why you're all bandaged up. You suffered some rather serious acid burns while in there, but we still managed to get you back out alive.”

        Grey sat for a minute in silence as he looked at the bandages wrapped around his arms and hands. Grey then looked back up to Zeke, before his mind turned to the giant women he had been talking to.

        “If I’m not dead.” Grey turned his attention to the giant women that sat beside him smiling. “Then who's this?” He couldn’t help but feel a sudden urge to once again make sure his cloth was secure as he asked the question.

        Zeke brought his hand up to his face as he let out a deep sigh. “Right… well. Grey this is Amelia.” Zeke said motioning to the woman. “She claims to know you.”

        Grey looked up at the giantess, as she continued to smile. As much as he tried, he couldn’t recall ever seeing her before in his life. Which would have been rather easy to recall, even as a human she would have stood out to him. Yet despite not recognizing her, there was something he couldn’t quite shake. He had never met this woman before, yet he had already felt a strange familiar comfort in her presence. But despite this familiarity, Grey still couldn’t say he had ever met her.

        “Hunter Zeke, if I could ask of you to give the two of us some privacy.” Amelia asked in request.

        Zeke glared at Amelia, arms crossed, trying to gain any idea of what she intend. It was a futile effort, since the moment she had arrived Zeke was unable to get a single read off of her. But Zeke remained vigilant. She may have worn a pretty face, but if she truly was who she claimed to be, then Zeke knew there was much more that she hid under the surface of her smile. This had already been proven when Zeke had previously tried to fire a fully charged arrow at her hoping to catch her by surprise. While the shots would have easily taken any of the other three giants out with it; including the magic capable Marissa, the arrow never even came close to Amelia, as she effortlessly moved out of the arrow trajectory almost as if it were an afterthought, and not only that but she was immediately able to pinpoint his exact location despite never even turning to see where the arrows had been fired from. That skill alone was impressive, but Zeke had heard of many more stories of the supposed Giant Queen. Stories that had him questioning her strange behavior since the moment she arrived.

         After a moment of silence Zeke decided he would adhere to her request. Without saying a word Zeke walked to the edge of the nightstand both he and Grey were currently on. As he approached the edge he stopped.

         “If anything happens to him. You’ll answer to me.” His words coming out as a threat. Though with what he had seen earlier. He didn’t know how much weight they truly held.

         “I can assure you.” Amelia began. “You have naught to fear from me. Nothing will happen to Grey under my watch.”

         Zeke didn’t respond, as he took a step over the ledge, with no hesitation. Grey nearly jumped in surprise seeing his friend's sudden drop over the edge, but he could tell from the look of Amelia’s eyes that he must have landed more than alright. Amelia sat beside the nightstand where Grey was placed, her eyes following Zeke as she watched his departure in silence. After a few moments she finally turned her attention back to Grey.

         “You’ve certainly made an interesting friend.” She stated, after she was sure he had gone.

         “You're telling me.” Grey said in contemplation. “He’s a lot different then I remember him to be honest.”

         “Well he cares for you, that’s for certain. I say you’ve done well.” Amelia tilted her head slightly with a smile. Rather formal in the way that she spoke. Grey blushed slightly at the sight of her. He didn’t know what was coming over him. It was as if he had never talked to an attractive woman before. Grey was no stranger to trying to charm women, especially if it offered some sort of monetary benefit, and it wasn’t because she was an attractive giant. He had found Marissa, Kassandra and especially Jule to all be fairly attractive, and he was able to communicate to them without any embarrassment. At least for the most part. Yet compared to this giant he felt like a child.

           “I like what you’ve done with your hair.” She said after a moment.

         Grey looked at her in confusion. “What?”

         “You’re hair. It looks nice. It’s not as regal and exotic as it once was, but I like what you’ve done with it. You have a more… adventurous, wild look. It’s attractive. Though I do wish you had at least kept the color.”

         Grey shook his head. He couldn’t even begin to have the slightest clue on what she was talking about. “I’m sorry. But… I don’t think we’ve met before.”

         “Grey.” She whispered, in a soft playful tone. The mere mention of his name causing a shiver to run down his spine. “There’s no need to play coy. There is no more reason to hide who you are. I’ve finally returned to you, and you to me. After so many, many years, we can finally be together again, my love.”

         My love. The words echoed in Grey’s head. They came out so naturally, as if they had been repeated a thousand times before. There was comfort in them, a comfort Grey wanted to accept despite hardly knowing the woman he was talking to. It felt right. Yet he couldn’t.

         “I’m sorry.” Grey uttered. “I don’t know you, and I don’t know who you think I am, but you're mistaking me for someone else. Until yesterday I’ve never even seen a giant… well that's not entirely true. There is one other giant I encountered, but that's not a giant I haven’t pleasant memories of.”

         Amelia looked bothered by his words. “But… you must be him. Otherwise how else could I… No. You are him. You have to be, there is no other explanation.”

         Grey could see the distress on her face as she tried to come up with an explanation. “I’m sorry. But whoever this other Grey is that you think I am. I can assure you I am not him. I think I would remember someone like you if that were the case.”

         Amelia leaned her head closer to inspect him. Grey sat, a little uncomfortable as he adjusted his cloth slightly. She stared for a moment, before sitting back.

         “You… you do look, slightly different.” She paused. “Are you sure?” She said looking up at him with almost pleading eyes. “Are you sure, you don't recognize me? Even a little?”

         No. “Yes.” Grey said without hesitation.

         Amelia sat back as she let out a long deep sigh. Grey could immediately make out the heartbroken expression she had on her face, but only for a moment. Amelia forced a smile once more, but Grey could see it was far weaker, much less sincere than the ones she gave him before.

         “Well, then... Grey.” She said. “I apologize for the confusion.”

         “Don’t worry about it. I don’t know who it is you're looking for exactly, but I can see he means a lot to you, and I’m certain he must be out there somewhere.” Grey was the one to smile this time. Oddly enough this got a reaction for Amelia who couldn’t help but smile herself, this time a little more honestly.

         “I thank you. You may not be my Grey, but you are just as kind, and sweet.” They sat in mutual silence for a moment before Amelia looked at Grey almost as if she had forgotten something. “Oh, how terribly rude of me. This whole time I have been too preoccupied with my own concerns, while you have been recovering from your own injuries. How do your wounds fare?”

         Grey nodded in response. “They're fine. After you did that… uhhh...” Grey stopped for a moment trying to decide the words. “Light… thing... I’ve felt much better.”

         Amelia smiled. “Good to hear. After we retrieved you, I had to use some healing magic to get you into a stable condition. You were in pretty bad shape, unsurprising considering what happened to you. You’re lucky though, only higher class giant’s such as myself tend to learn magic, and not all are trained in healing. To be fair, that wasn’t my focus of study growing up either, but I knew more than enough to help you. Your wounds should heal nicely, although expect some scars. I tried to minimize any lasting effects the acid would have on your skin, but you can’t expect to come completely out of that ordeal unscathed.”

         “Well, that’s fine. Wouldn’t be my first scar, and thank you for everything you’ve done.” Amelia nodded. The discussion of his injuries had reminded him of Jule. Ever since he woke he had not heard anything about her and had begun to grow worried. “Excuse me, Miss Amelia. If you don’t mind me asking, where is the giant that ate me?”

         Amelia paused to think for a moment. “Ahh, Jule. She’s fine.” Grey let out a sigh of relief to those words. Amelia looked at him curiously. “Why do you ask?”

         “Well, I just wanted to make sure she was alright… I didn’t know what you did to get me out.”

         “Ahh yes.” Amelia said nodding her head. “Well, after your hunter friend tried attacking me and explained what had happened to you, we immediately got to work on extracting you from her. At first, I must admit. Thinking who you might have been, and what had become of you, I was rather... Upset, to say the least. But I couldn’t blame Jule for what she had done, and she proved rather cooperative at well… purging you from her body. Since then she has been waiting for your recovery. Her two friends are still about, though they have been keeping their distance from your hunter friend. After I had them both agree to a temporary truce, that is.”

         Grey smiled. It was good to hear that Jule was still safe. Amelia seemed to take notice of this smile and stood from the bed she had been sitting on. Grey watched as she stood, towering high above him and peering down with the same warm and gentle smile she had given him when he first awoke.

           “Well, I have wasted enough of your time Grey. You still need rest, and there are some things I should discuss with the others. I will come check up on you in a bit, to make sure you are healing properly.”

           Amelia began her way to the door, and as she opened the door she had caught Jule standing in front of her, hand up as if preparing to knock. Jule stared at her blankly for a moment.

           “I’m sorry, is this a bad time?” Jule asked uneasily.

           Amelia smiled. “Not at all, I was just taking my leave.”

           “Was he?” Jule began.

           “No, I’m afraid he is not who I was looking for.” Amelia said, her tone dropping a bit. “However, not to assume that you wish him any harm, but I would like to extend my protection to him as well. At least for the time being.”

           “Oh, I wouldn’t dare.” Jule responded rather quickly.

           “I know you wouldn’t.” Amelia smiled. “I just thought I would make it clear, I will inform your friends of this as well.”

           Amelia walked past her and out the door. Jule stepped inside the room closing the door behind her before making her way over to the nightstand where Grey sat. She took a seat at her bed, a frown weighing heavily on her face. .

           “Hey, Jule.” Grey said softly.

           She smiled slightly despite herself. “Hey, Grey.” The two of them sat mutual silence for a while, before Jule finally decided to speak. “I’m sorry.” She muttered tears beginning to well in her eyes. “I’m so sorry. After what you did for me, for me to just eat you like that. For me to do this to you.” She said gesturing towards Grey and his bandaged body. “You didn’t deserve that, you didn’t deserve any of it. If… if Queen Amelia hadn’t appeared the way she had, you would’ve been dead by now. Gone just like nothing. Which isn’t right.”

           Jule began to weep as Grey watched on from the side. He didn’t know how to respond. She was technically right. If it hadn’t been from Amelia he would have died, and Zeke would have been on his way to his own death. But at the same time he didn’t blame Jule. It was partially his own fault, and she wasn’t the one who insisted he should die. If anything she tried to defend him. He wanted to comfort her, but at his size and condition he could only watch.

           “Jule, it’s alright.” Grey said, Jule’s wiped her eyes of her tears as she looked at him. “I was the one who asked for it. I was the one that gave up. You didn’t have to do any of it, but I was the one who insisted, so don’t cry. It’s not entirely your fault, I’m just as guilty, and besides. I’m alive now aren't I?” Grey cocked a smirk as he finished talking.

           Grey felt himself suddenly being lifted as he opened his eyes to see himself being drawn closer to Jule’s chest. Grey felt himself pressed deeply into Jule’s breasts as her hands held him close to her. Despite the position he was in Grey didn’t find that he was embarrassed to be where he was. If anything he found the situation comforting. Jule held him rather gently as she continued to sob, much lighter now than she had previously. Grey pressed his head against her soft body as he attempted to return what little he could of an embrace. As his head remained against her chest, he could hear the familiar rhythmic sounds of Jule’s beating heart, and once more found comfort in it. However he preferred this location compared to his previous one. After a few moments Jule slowly began to pull Grey away from her, holding him gingerly in both hands. She smiled, with wet red eyes, as she slowly pulled him into view. Once in view however her eyes widened and cheeks quickly flushed red. Grey looked up at her confused before looking down and seeing why. At some point during their embrace Grey had lost the small cloth he had been using to cover himself. So there he was, sitting naked in the palm of a giant woman’s hands. His face joined hers as it quickly grew a shade of deep red, and together they shared a long awkward pause as they stared into each other's red faces. And like that, all the embarrassment Grey felt around Amelia was dwarfed in one single moment.