So Nadia prepared to shout that one important sentence at Grandis, the one sentence that might actually bring her Jean back - or at least would provide her with a possibility.
"Grandis, Jean is in your...!"
But she realized that finishing her sentence would have been a futile attempt, for unfortunate reasons: first of all, the aircraft was suddenly making a terribly loud noise, probably due to some engine problems.
"Hey, you idiot, I told you to fix the engine!" Hanson shouted at Sanson.
"Relax, pal! The aircraft is working, right? That´s all that counts!" Sanson defended himself.
"Yeah, it´s working, but that noise tells me that it won´t last much longer!"
"Don´t be such a worrywart! It´ll work, trust me!"
"Trust you? Oh great..."
Of course, their red haired, prissy boss was slightly annoyed by their discussion, so Grandis ultimately interfered.
"Shut up, you morons!"
"Aye, aye, captain Grandis!"
"Cut that crap! You shall call me boss!"
"Affirmative, boss!"
She paused a second, looking at Nadia, who was still standing at the balustrade, with the aircraft slowly flying away from the Eiffel Tower.
"Hm...didn´t that girl yell something? Oh well...wasn´t that important anyway, I guess."
"Boss, what´s our next move?"
"Let´s head back for our lair!"
"Aye aye!"
Looking one last time at Nadia, who slowly but surely was getting out of Grandis´ sight as the aircraft was flying further away from the tower, Grandis somehow felt strange. What did the girl want from her? According to how she called her name, to the expression in her voice, it seemed like it was an urgent matter, but that was none of their concern anymore. They would see the acrobat girl again soon enough, that was for sure. Grandis swore that she would not rest until she (including her likable henchmen...) was in the possession of Blue Water and the girl. Especially because she knew too well what failure would ultimately mean. It was not that she had any choice, though. She absolutely did not want that stone for herself, as she would have never invested that much work just for a single, probably worthless amulet. There were thousands of amulets in European Aristocracy that were much more precious than this Blue Water and truly worth of getting stolen by her. And every single one of these thousands of amulets would have been easier to steal for a masterful, genuine thief like her. But that Nadia sure was persistent and much stronger than those aristocrats she was normally stealing from. And of course they had not only to get Blue Water, but also the girl herself, although kidnapping was normally not their business. But still, she had to get that stone. For her sake, and for Hanson´s and Sanson´s sake as well. So if they did not want to suffer the horrible consequences of a possible failure, they better had to get the stone at their next try. Grandis swallowed hard, looking a bit worried, but only seconds later, her confident and crazy smile returned. Stealing the stone and kidnapping the girl would be a piece of cake. She might have managed to escape her grip this time, but that was a mere coincidence because of some unfortunate circumstances. Next time, the girl would not be so lucky.
"Beware of my wrath, Nadia! Next time, we will get you! Do heed my message! Hahaha!"
"Uh...Hanson, who´s she talking to?" Sanson whispered.
"Who knows? The boss is just having another eccentric outburst."
"Eccentric outburst? Oh my...why did we fall for someone like her?"
"Shut up before she hears you!"
And so, the aircraft, along with its wacky female captain, was heading to the thieves´ lair. Grandis and her henchmen were already looking forward to their next attempt to steal, and they surely had to be confident about their next try, and they had to be successful. Failure was not an option for their ultimate try to get their dirty hands on Blue Water.
But hardly did they know about the despair two lovers felt at that moment. Jean, who was standing on the flesh of Grandis´ stomach all the time and who was carefully listening to what was going on outside Grandis´ body, let himself fall down onto the soft and slimy ground, sighing deeply. He had quickly realized that Nadia´s attempt to make Grandis notice her tiny passenger inside her stomach - who happened to be himself, unfortunately - so it was only too understandable that he was frustrated to say the least. His hopes for a quick escape had been destroyed, and he knew exactly that he had to get used to his surroundings, since it would surely take some time for him to leave the horrible insides of the Red Dragon...uhm, Grandis, of course. He was literally trapped in the belly of the beast, and his only hope was Nadia. He prayed that she would be able to find Grandis quickly. And even if that would not happen, there was still the more than likely case that these thieves would go after her again. An unfortunate situation for Nadia, but at least a possible way for Jean to escape this nightmare. Sitting on the ground of her stomach, Jean was looking at nothing but Grandis´ stomach walls, pulsating violently as if they wanted to make fun of him for being trapped inside their "host".
Nadia, on the other hand, was not as upset as she was supposed to be. Yes, Grandis might have escaped and unwittingly taken Jean with her. But for some odd reason, she didn´t worry about Jean. No, it was not because she did not care about him, of course not. She loved him more than anyone or anything else, so it was certainly a terrible situation for her. Yet there was a feeling deep inside Nadia that gave her confidence. A feeling that told her that she would find these thieves and rescue Jean, even before they would start their next attack on her (Nadia knew that they would not rest until they finally got their hands on her and Blue Water; they were just too persistent). She had no idea were this confidence came from, but somehow, she knew that it had something to do with Blue Water. And that wasn´t even unlikely. Whenever she was in danger, Blue Water was reacting in one way or another, mostly by glowing and letting its power flow through her and providing her with "news" about the imminent threat. Just like now. She closed her eyes and started to focus on that feeling she was having. And she was immediately getting results. In front of her mind´s eye, she got certain images of these thieves and their lair. In a matter of seconds, Nadia realized where they were heading then, as she knew where this place was. She opened her eyes again and smiled.
"I´m coming, Jean. Just wait a little longer!"
Her grip at the cold steel of the balustrade was loosening as she finally let go of it and walked toward the lift that would take her to the first level of the Eiffel Tower again. And somehow, she was looking forward to the upcoming meeting with these thieves. She would finally be able to show Jean what she was willing to do in order to protect him, as she promised. Sure, she would not kill or hurt anyone in mean ways. But...if that Grandis would not let Jean out of her stomach voluntarily, then she would learn how angry Nadia could really get. And that would be a painful experience...not a nastily painful one, but still. All this for Jean´s sake...her lovely, tiny hero.
Since Jean wanted to get some rest after all that happened on that fateful day, he decided to take a nap. He had all the time in the world, after all, and so he began to carefully lie down on the incredibly soft, but wobbling ground of Grandis´ stomach. It didn´t even feel as bad as Jean had originally thought, it was even quite cozy inside Grandis´ belly. Sure, not as comfortable as inside his beloved Nadia, but not really disgusting. And the wobbling of the ground actually helped him to fall asleep, comforting him. The last thing he could perceive was that it seemed like Grandis was still on the aircraft, according to the terrible noise of an engine. And soon he closed his eyes, and everything around him became unimportant, as he began to sleep peacefully. And he was having a wonderful dream...of him and Nadia, of course.
Hearing an annoyingly loud female voice, Jean slowly opened his eyes.
"Away with you!"
"Yes, Miss Grandis!"
"And don´t even think of coming into my room. You know what´ll happen if you do."
"OF COURSE, OH WONDERFUL LADY GRANDIS!" two male voices were yelling in unison.
"So now...GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!"
Jean knew already what was going on. Grandis and her henchmen were having a "discussion" once again. He sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes. Honestly, he had wished that he would wake up on Nadia´s beautiful palm again, and that everything was just a nightmare. But alas, he was still inside Grandis´ stomach, still on the same slimy ground, surrounded by the same fleshy walls and listening to the same strange sounds of her body. It was the complete opposite of his dream. Ah...he had been dreaming that he was normal sized again, with Nadia standing directly next to him and holding his hand. She was wearing a stunning white dress, and both were talking and talking and talking...and near the end of his dream, she was about to kiss him! But unfortunately, Grandis´ annoying voice brought him back to reality. Looks like that woman is preventing him from kissing Nadia everywhere, whether it´s in his dreams or on the Eiffel Tower...
According to the conversation between Grandis and her henchmen, it seemed like they had finally arrived in their lair. And as he had heard a door slam shut, Grandis was obviously now alone in her room...or at least she must have thought she was alone. By now, Jean had somehow changed his mind about Grandis. After he has been inside her body for hours now, his view on this woman was a bit different than before. Since he was now nearer to her than any other man possibly could get, he looked on her as a human being now, not a dragon-like monster anymore. But that was not much of a surprise, though. The insides of a human body were something so fascinating that Jean couldn´t help but being in awe. He felt the same way when he was inside Nadia (although it was much nicer inside her), and t wasn´t much different here as well. Especially the loud thumping of Grandis´ heart beat was an incredible sound that actually represented almost everything that makes the human life so special, even Grandis´ life.
Despite all his fascination for the female body, Jean didn´t want to spend much time in here, though. He was hoping that Nadia would show up soon, or that Grandis would seek Nadia again, providing him with the possibility to get out of the gurgling and bubbling prison.