Pride(1)

[ Before the confrontation….]

Jean gazed around the interior of granny Jo's house. He breathed in quietly, the feeling of nostalgia overflowing within him. His eyes trailed along the large wooden table without any chairs. Jean smiled, he remembered always being shorter than this table, now he was clearly towering over it, signifying his growth. He gazed along at the same old dark brown floorboards, the windows laced with dark purple curtains, and all the charms plastered along the walls and floors, even the covered windows.

'It's like time stopped in here….nothing changed at all' Jean thought. Jean looked at the table, and a small chuckle came from him.

"Haha, I see you still refuse to have chairs in your house, how are you supposed to entertain your guests?" Jean asked with a wry grin spread across his face. Granny Jo grunted.

"BAH!! Who cares for guests. If their bones ain't broken, then use ya legs. Chairs are unconventional, a waste of time" Granny Jo patted her legs "These babies will get ya up and going, so why not use em, I swear you youngsters and ya laziness, truly weirdos"

Jean snorted 'The only weirdo here is you for not having any chairs here…' However Jean chose to keep that bit to himself. Had he said it out loud, he knew he'd be delivered a swift kick and possibly to the face this time.

"Huh and you still religiously cover your entire house in these ol charms, '' Jean said, his gaze trailing along with the plastered charms in every nook and cranny of the house. He was thinking she has a serious obsession with them. This prompted Granny jo to kick the pot she was boiling tea on.

Steaming hot water splashed on the floor, barely missing her foot. "BAH!! THE HELL WTH YOU WETBACKS AND YOUR FANCY STONE TRINKETS! YA GET THE REAL DEAL WITH THESE CHARMS HERE. THEY WILL NEVER GET OLD AND NEVER LET YA DOWN" She shouted stamping her foot in indignation.

The charms around her house were known as "Rune Charms". Before the advancement in rune technology, many people during olden times would use these charms for daily activities. Granny Jo in particular during her time of youth would manufacture these charms with her family, for they were known for it.

However, they soon became lackluster sorely due to their lack of power and efficiency. With the long process, it took to actually create the "paper" itself and the ever-growing population of the kingdom; the kingdom had an increase in demand for them. However, those needs couldn't be met.

There was also the fact that rune charms couldn't really endure the engraving of certain affinities like fire or ice. Therefore the kingdom wanted a more powerful, quick, and durable outlet for engraving magic. Eventually, a newer more advanced form of Rune technology came about by the use of using pure magi- crystals or stones to harbor certain affinities in them.

Granny Jo glowered at the thought of the new rune technology. She felt that all the hard work of her and her ancestors were cast aside, more frankly, she and her "old" knowledge of the runes were cast aside for more young and fresher minds.

'BRATS THESE DAYS DON'T UNDERSTAND THE TRUE ESSENCE OF WHAT IT MEANS TO ENGRAVE SOMETHING!!!' She thought as she poured boiling hot tea in two long bear mugs.

She slammed the tea on the table, some dripping on the surface. Jean flinched and stared at the cup. "T-thanks for the…..tea"

"Hmph" Granny jo gulped down the steaming hot tea. After a bit of silence, Granny Jo finally broke it. "A kid that was supposed to have been missing comes up alive and well with children….Ha, I've done seen it all" She said growling at her cup.

"Before you have any weird ideas, those children aren't mine," Jean said quickly. Granny jo snorted "OF COURSE THEY WOULDN'T BE, THOSE KIDS DON'T HAVE THAT UGLY MUG OF YOURS EITHER, THEN I'D BE SEEING 4 OF YA"

"I swear you've been missing for almost 10 years, not sending a single letter or whatnot, and ya dare to show up here nice and dandy with a couple of brats! Why'd you even come back here? I swear did that old koot Carter not teach ya anything worthwhile?"

Jean flinched at the mention of that name. He cautiously gazed at Granny Jo as she was still spewing out bereavements.

' Here we go…' Jean thought solemnly.

"What's that old fogey doing anyway…" Granny jo grumbled.

"Granny…." Jean's tone of voice was quiet. Granny Jo looked up, noticing his tone of voice had shifted. She frowned.

"What? Brat spit it out! I ain't got all day" Though she tried to sound normal. A sense of anxiety could be heard a bit.

Jean breathed in and let out a short breath. "Old man Jenkins.....is dead"

A long silence enveloped the room.

Granny Jo didn't move, nor did she shout, cry, or even sniffle. She simply turned her head and stared out the window. Her eyes were steady, Her expression, oddly calm. However, to Jean, it was probably the most unbearable thing to see this look on her face.

Jean gazed at her with a worried expression, but he couldn't speak. It wasn't that anyone was forcing him nor was it regarding the shift in the mood. It was simply because Jean couldn't find any words of consolation when he himself was still grasping with the imposing reality.

After a long while, Granny jo spoke.

"I remember…." She paused. Her voice was steady and calm, yet underlying in it Jean could feel the relentless sorrow.

"I saw two young kids a boy and girl…..they were always together, happy, laughing, they'd even dance…" Jean's expression changed as he listened.

"Hah, I thought they were crazy, but I found myself drawn to them somehow, it was like they were the most relaxed people in the world, nothing could ever get them down"

"Then time seemed to flow like the wind and those two kids grew into adults, at that time….. I already considered them my own"

Granny Jo's eyes were dazed and listless. Memories flashing in her head like a film.

[Granny Jo Granny Jo guess what?"] a happy voice popped in her head.

[He popped the question, haha, you shoulda seen his face he was as red as a tomato!']

[A-AH OI D-DON'T TEASE ME LIKE THAT IT TOOK A LOT OF COURAGE' ]

' [YA BRATS I AIN'T HERE FOR YA LOVE STORY!!']

[Aww come on granny Jojo, I hope you'd come to my wedding!! You can be the minister!!!]

[YOU KIDS JUST GET HITCHED AND GET IT OVER WITH]

[AWW DON'T BE LIKE THAT HAHA]

[YEA GRANNY JO]...

"Then...they brought you over, still happy as ever. I thought that nothing would ever break that family apart"

Another pause.

"About 10 years ago….when I heard that your parents were being executed" Jean stared at her, his hands clenched.

"I was so shocked I laughed….thought Carter was playing an old joke on me, he was weird like that" She stared out the window, her hand, covered in aged wrinkles, were firmly planted on the table surface. Jean felt that her hand looked so small and frail, it wasn't like he remembered it from his youth.

"I kept saying those two would never do something like that, it must be some sorta story to shake me or something" Granny Jo looked down at her beer mug of tea which was now cooled. Her powder blue eyes looked empty as she recounted the past.

"It wasn't until I found myself pleading for their lives did I realize that this was real….."A small tug peeked from the corners of her mouth.

"Even Carter begged with all his might but they denied both of us saying their crimes were too far against the Golden principals, and that they were now considered blanks…." She paused and her forehead began to crease

" and then there I was watching those same two kids, whom I watched all those years….become falsely accused…..there bodies burned to dust, and there was nothing I could do about it"

Then Granny Jo turned her head and stared at Jean straight in the eyes with her firm gaze. He could see the same rock-solid foundation etched into her eyes. Jean felt that those eyes could see through him, to every tip of his soul, laying bare all his darkest emotions like a page in a book.

Jean was trembling now.

He lowered his head.

He felt a massive sense of shame dumped over him. Guilt bit into his heart and coursed through his veins like poison. He couldn't even look at the old woman before him. He gripped his pants, his teeth clamped tight, almost as if they might break at any moment.

He opened his mouth. His voice low and trembling

"I-" but he was promptly cut off.

" Not once….did I ever believe that they did those things…" Granny jo's voice was harsh, seething with unpent rage as she stared at Jean.

Jean flinched at her tone.

"And till this day while my bones are creaking and my death is near….I still don't believe it now"

"I-I"

"And here lies the grand culprit….the one they say that was the true person who sliced those crimes. A heathen, a bastard and coward who abandoned his own parents to their deaths" Granny Jo said.

Jean's mouth trembled more. The woman before him was like an iron wall, her will so strong that penetrating it was futile. Jean felt weak against this frail old lady, who was stronger than any person he's ever met.

" However…... I don't believe that…"

Jean was shocked to his core.

"What…."

The words he was so desperately waiting to hear were not said. Instead, it was the opposite. The time he stepped out of this village and the time he stepped into this village merged as one in his head. Though both instances were different, his feelings were shredded nonetheless.

The emotions that were driving him insane boiled to his tipping point...

Then….

*SLAM*

"WHY!!! WHY AREN'T YOU BLAMING ME, YELLING OR ANYTHING" Jean shouted with all his might. However, Granny Jo was calm as she stared at him.

"WHY WHY WHY WHY!!! ALL OF THAT IS TRUE I'M A COWARD YOU SEE" Jean's face twitched and he smiled crazily, he ran his hand through his dark brown hair roughly.

"I'M STILL THE SAME OLD COWARD HAHA. I MEAN I RAN AWAY WHEN MOM AND DAD DIED, I DISAPPEARED AND LEFT ALL THAT BEHIND INSTEAD OF FIGHTING ALL BECAUSE I WAS SCARED."

Tears leaked from his eyes.

"I MEAN EVEN NOW, I WATCHED OLD MAN JENKINS GET RIPPED TO SHREDS IN FRONT OF ME, IT'S JUST LIKE WHAT HAPPENED DAT HOME, WATCHING SOMEONE I COULD CALL FAMILY DIE IN FRONT OF ME"

Jean fell to his knees. The time of his parents' execution and the time Wheatonville was burned to the ground was the same to him. A place he called home, he was once again running away, not being able to do anything. He who resented himself loathed himself for being powerless. He cursed the god worshiping land because he didn't believe that God was so merciful. If this God was so benevolent to his people, then he should have struck him down a long time ago.

Yet here he was still alive….

"ON THAT DAY….THAT DAY" Jean sobbed as he gripped his hair tightly, trying to pull it out.

"THERE WAS NO ONE TO COVER MY EYES THEN, NO ONE TO SHIELD ME LIKE THEN"

He slammed his head on the floor as he sobbed loudly. The guilt tore through him like a knife, his heart felt like it was bleeding. He felt like a child, inwardly he wanted to laugh because he was no longer a child.

"SO WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO HUH?? THEN AND NOW MY ONLY THOUGHT WAS IF ONLY I HAD DIED WITH THEM, THEN MAYBE THIS FEELING WOULDN'T BE RIPPING ME TO SHREDS RIGHT NOW"

For a long time, Jean felt as if he was frozen in time. Whenever he looked upon families that were happy, he would always long for it. Sometimes he wondered if his time in Wheatonville was an illusion and he was still stuck running. Maybe that was the case, running for so long. But now, he was exhausted.

"SO HATE ME! HATE ME!. BECAUSE I'M SO TIRED OF DOING IT MYSELF"

As Jean sobbed, granny Jo slowly walked around the table. She bent down on her knees and embraced the wounded man, But in her eyes, the man who had grown up was still the same good child she always adored.

"You fool….."

Truthfully she wanted to kick the boy, but couldn't bring herself to do it. She shook her head. 'It's still too early for me to die, still have to watch over these brats' She thought.

"You didn't have to tell me that you had left. Because I was the one along with Carter who helped you to escape."

Jean in his messy state was confused as he listened. "I knew you'd feel guilty, even if it wasn't your fault. Your mother Una, and father Vlan, were just like that. I thought that getting you away from here was the safest bet for you to heal and simply live on"

Her voice wavered as she clung to him. "But I was foolish myself. Had I not simply watched and actually did something more, then perhaps...those two would still be alive"

Granny Jo sighed. a tear leaked from her eyes.

" Do not feel shame for yourself Jean, your parents would never want that nor would they feel that in wherever they are now. Carter and I would never be ashamed of you either. That I can guarantee as an old friend of his…" She stopped hugging him and smiled. It was a small smile, but it was warm nonetheless.

"So stop crying ya brat, you got those kids to look after right?" She stood up and walked to the pot. Jean through his tears found himself smiling. it was because despite the news Granny Jo was still her same old stubborn self.

she slapped his face with a warm towel and stormed to the window. "you're a man now boy, no use in wasting tears now" Jean wiped his face. " go upstairs and get the ointment for your eyes before ya look like a ballooned frog"

Jean laughed. she would always say that whenever Jean scraped his knees back then from playing. Shed slap him in the face with a warm towel and have him trudge upstairs and put ointment on his wounds and eyes. He smiled softly at the memory.

**********************

Upstairs he found the ointment in the sam old Jar. a rune charm has been slapped on there to keep it ice cold, it was ripped a bit and barely hanging on.

"OI JEAN!!!"

As he was busy tending to himself, Granny Jo screamed in alarm. In haste Jean rushed down the stairs dropping the jar. "what's wrong?" he cried Granny Jo pointed outside.

"It's the hounds!!! The hounds are here!!" She cried briskly walking up the stairs, she seemed to look for something. jean frowned and looked out the window, his eyes widened in utter shock. He could see Sorren being held by one of them while Callie and Cale were crying, sharp blades pointed at both of their necks.

Jean recognized one of them. It was the one that was holding Sorren down. He stared at the lanky almost boney-shaped man. his stringy hair like worms and his sadistic smile as he toyed with Sorren.

"THAT BASTARD"

It was him.

Porter Machin.

He was the very same man who was responsible for getting his parents executed. And now, he was targeting innocent children just to toy with his emotions.

Jean stormed up the stairs and into another room at the end of the hall. Granny jo was known for her eccentrics and stubbornness. The prime reason for part of her nickname being "Iron" wasn't just in regards to her strength.

Jean opened the door revealing walls racked with all types of silver iron weapons. From swords, broadswords, daggers, and even bows. Jean took a bow off the rack and slung a bag containing arrows on his back.

Granny jo came from her room and stared at Jean in horror. She was holding a crystal orb in her hand, for what purpose Jean didn't bother asking.

"Y-Y-YOU CRAZY BRAT!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOURE DOING WITH THAT?"

Jean said nothing as he stomped downstairs, his eyes laced with rage. He wasn't going to sit by and let that bastard have his fun. No, He was going to do what he should have done a long time ago. put an arrow through that cocksucker's head.

"JEAN YOU STOP RIGHT NOW" Granny Jo roared following close behind him. Jean stopped but didn't look back.

"ARE YOU EVEN SEEING YOURSELF? THOSE ARE THE OVERSEERS. IF YOU TOUCH THEM, NOT JUST YOUR HEAD IS GOING TO FLY BUT THOSE KIDS AS WELL" She cried out loudly.

Jean stood there for a while. then he spoke his tone low.

" The one thing I hated about this village...was the fact that these bastards roamed around. playing like it's their stupid playground. Those stupid nobles...I doubt they even know what their "Beloved king" had set off in this village" Jean sneered as he took out an arrow.

"Jean watch what you say, speaking ill about the nobles and the kings are against the-"

"Golden pride? their stupid principals?" Jean said sarcastically. He knew of them. It was so deeply ingrained in his head that he could practically recite it from the heart. But what did that get him? Nothing. Following those rules got his parents killed and he was labeled as a blank.

"Jean you'll be killed. I won't be able to help you if you-"

"I guess it's a good time to die then. but those kids...they won't need to be thrusted in my problems. I mean, they have to meet their uncle Anderson after all" Jean said.

Granny Jo's eyes widened she tried to stop him but, he already opened the door loading his bow.

He saw a large crowd surrounding the scene. By then Callie and Cale were about to have their heads hacked off. Jean could see Sorren crying desperately as he was held against his will.

'Sorren..I always wanted to tell you how sorry I was but was too much of a coward to do it. '

Jean breathed out silently as he aimed in between the crowd. He who lost his home and family twice could understand the torment Sorren was going through right now. Now... he was no longer running, he was no longer a coward. He locked onto his target.

In this short time. Jean remembered the time when he learned how to shoot a bow from his mother. He recalled his mothers' words:

' When shooting a bow, ya got to be calm and steady. don't let past thoughts or future thoughts cloud your mind, instead, stay firmly locked in the present. Hey just like our last names "Lock". firm and secure'

'It's been a long time coming huh....but I'll be home soon mom dad' Jean thought as he aimed and released the decision that could potentially affect him and those who knew him for good.