Grandis thought about Jean´s words for a few seconds. Yes, she was going to help him, no doubts. That might not have been like her at all, especially since one might consider her to be some sort of wacky evil-doer, as she is a thief. But deep inside her, Grandis is a good person, and despite her flaws and bad actions, she has at least some sort of code. She would never hurt anyone, not even for the sake of the items she wanted to steal. Even when she and henchmen almost got Nadia killed with their aircraft, it wasn´t exactly their intention. It was much rather a mistake made by either Grandis or her good-for-nothing sidekicks Hanson and Sanson. And she would not hurt anyone because of the fact that she herself was a vulnerable person, although she was hiding it under her appearance as this lunatic woman that would do anything in order to achieve her goals. But that was merely camouflage.
"You...what is your name, boy?"
"Jean..." the weakened boy spoke as loud as he could, still being on his knees.
"Jean...it´s a nice name..." Grandis whispered, without Jean noticing.
"How old are you?"
"I´m 15 years old..."
Despite the lack of an appropriate reaction, Grandis was shocked to hear that Jean was still such a young lad. Sure, he was already a teenager at that age, but considering what he had to go through, it hit Grandis deeply. No one ever deserved to suffer at a place like a human belly, and especially not young people who were often still kind of weak and frail. Grandis then took a deep breath. It was much for her to swallow, so to speak. Learning that she had swallowed a young, innocent boy and brought suffering upon him, she felt very bad. And it felt strange. She didn´t have this feeling of guilt for quite some time, but now it came back, nagging at her soul. Hearing his weak voice and sobs, it made it even more difficult to perceive. It made her actually even care about this boy; care about his health.
"Jean. I´m sorry that I swallowed you. Really, I am."
Jean was surprised to hear Grandis speak like that. From what he has heard from her so far, she seemed to be a prissy, arrogant person. But now her voice sounded like that of an understanding and caring person.
"And I won´t let you starve inside me. I´m gonna help you."
"How?" he asked with his faint voice.
"...Where are you right now?"
"Inside your small intestines, near the membrane that leads back into your stomach."
"I see..."
After only a few words spoken by Grandis, Jean got an entirely new picture of this woman. She sounded like a reasonable person now, no longer like the lunatic female incarnation of the devil (although he got that picture of her just because he was inside her innards). In fact, he somehow even grew to like her, slowly but surely. Although he thought that she would not let him out yet. Despite her worries about him, she would most likely take him hostage in case Nadia arrived, exploiting Nadia´s love toward Jean.
"Jean, do you think it is possible for you to get back into my stomach?"
Looking at the membrane Jean was being washed through earlier, together with the masses of wine, he thought that maybe he really could get back into the stomach. At least reaching the membrane was no problem, as it was only a few inches above, and despite his weakened state, he was sure that he should be able to get up there. And luckily, the membrane was not closed. So, although he would still have to use a considerable amount of energy in order to climb this short way up - mainly due to the exhaustion - it was doable.
"Yes...I think I can do it. Why are you asking?"
"Listen. You said you´re quite weakened, right?"
"Yes..."
"So, I take it you haven´t eaten anything recently?"
"You´re right..."
"Well, luckily for you, I have the solution for your problem. If you climb back into my stomach, I could swallow something for you to eat. Something I didn´t chew, that is. And you´ll see, after just a few bites, you´ll feel like you were reborn."
"..."
"What´s wrong? Don´t like my idea?"
"No, that´s not the point. I was just wondering...whether you could let me out of your stomach?"
"...Sorry. No can do."
Just as Jean thought.
"But why?"
"Listen, it´s not that I´m not going to let you out again in your life. I want you to stay in there...until your girlfriend arrives."
"You mean...Nadia?!"
"Yes. I´m sure she´ll show up here soon, trying to get you back. She must have figured what happened to you earlier on the Eiffel Tower."
"How can you be so sure that she´ll find us?"
Of course Jean knew how Nadia was going to find them. He had figured that it was Blue Water itself that would show Nadia the way to Grandis´ lair. But he had no idea how Grandis would be so sure.
"Don´t try to fool me. You know as well as I do that Blue Water is more than just an ordinary stone. It will lead Nadia here."
"How the hell do you know all this?!"
"That´s none of your concern."
"...I´m your hostage, then? So Nadia will give you the Blue Water when she arrives?"
"Not only Blue Water. I need the girl too."
"What?! But..."
"No "but"! Listen, boy, it´s not that I hate your girlfriend or something. I have to do this. You couldn´t possibly understand my reasons."
"Of course I couldn´t! Nadia didn´t do anything to harm you! Why..."
"Shut up, boy. I told you that I have my reasons. And you should leave it at that for now. So, do you want to eat something now?"
Jean didn´t answer. Grandis´ words were haunting him. He knew that something was not right. Grandis didn´t do all this because for personal reasons, that was for sure. It sounded as if she was being forced into stealing Blue Water and kidnapping Nadia, against her own free will. He considered asking Grandis about it further, but he quickly let go of that thought. Grandis wouldn´t possibly tell him, that was for sure.