The mere sight of the vile red haired giantess was not the only thing Jean had to get over at that moment. His entire body was still trembling, as he has not fully recovered from his terrible experiences during the last hours. Most importantly, his body and soul still had to fight with the shock Jean was having when he was inside Grandis´ stomach and swallowed down there again by Grandis after trying to leave her body in vain. It was a far more disturbing experience for Jean than one might think. When he was inside Nadia´s stomach, he didn´t even bother, it was instead an overwhelming experience. But the way Jean perceived Grandis´ innards was entirely different from what he experienced inside his beloved Nadia. He could actually see her stomach working back then, with all the disgusting results. That, as well as the thought whose stomach it was, already were upsetting for our poor little Jean. The exhaustion he felt when carrying the Blue Water up Grandis´ throat and landing inside her stomach again were the icing on the cake of Jean´s misery. He had to overcome the fear all this had created inside him, and it certainly was not easy. In fact, he even had to get used to being outside a human body again, after having see the innards of two different girls for the last few hours. Seeing that his entire body was still covered in saliva and digestive juices, Jean was about to gag, but he was successfully able to hold back. So the results of his adventures were enough to make him feel really bad, and seeing that evil person in front of him, smiling down with a shy and embarrassed expression, caused an emotional outburst only Nadia´s sight could cool down.
"Jean, please, relax."
This was probably the first time Jean disagreed with something Nadia said. Relax? He was supposed to relax? Did she even have any idea what he went through just for her sake? He could have died easily, and his body and soul were currently in a bad condition, so there was no reason for him to relax at all. But of course he did in the end, thanks to Nadia once again. She was able to see that Jean´s body was shaking, and it was also clearly visible that his breathing had become heavier. So Nadia did the best thing possible for a girl in order to help easing the pain her boyfriend felt. She carefully touched him with the pointer finger of her left hand, and looking at the gigantic dark finger descending at him alone was enough to make Jean feel better.
"I know that what you went through was terrible. And the thought of you being in such a bad condition because of me is unbearable. I´ll never be able to forgive myself for all the misery I put you into."
"No, it´s all right, Nadia. I...I´m okay. And I did this because of my feelings for you. It was...a pleasure."
"My brave little hero!"
It´s funny to see how quickly Jean´s condition can change. One moment he was scared and extremely, and just because of Nadia´s intervention, he was feeling like the happiest man on earth again. His look quickly turned at Grandis again, who was still smiling like some girl, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"What´s she doing here? Why is she..."
"Jean, she´s on our side."
"On our side?! She tried to steal Blue Water, and she swallowed me down into her stomach on purpose! do you know how it felt like? Being afraid of never getting out of there again? Being afraid of never seeing you again...Nadia?"
"..."
Nadia didn´t know what to say. Jean was right, of course. She really understood that Jean couldn´t forgive her just like that. She couldn´t even imagine the horror of being swallowed alive and being scared to death. Nevertheless, Grandis had finally given proof for her being a good person. She still hoped that she could convince Jean of forgiving her.
"But Grandis gagged you out again, by her own free will."
"How heroic." Jean said, obviously being ironic.
"She certainly deserves a medal for not letting me rot inside her innards."
It was clear that Jean still despised that woman and that he did not give up his anger toward her. But then, Grandis herself tried to break Jean´s shield of hatred.
"I fully understand how much you despise me, Jean. Really, I know how you must feel."
"..."
"There´s probably no way for me to redeem for what I did to you. And I don´t expect you to forgive me."
"..."
"But I want you to know that I´m aware of the mistakes I´ve made. And I´m willing to atone for them."
Jean was at least surprised to hear such deep words from a maniac like Grandis. It could as well have been mere camouflage in order to hide her foul intentions, but she seemed to be honest. So Jean dared to look into the woman´s face, seeing that she was still smiling.
"And therefore I decided to help you and Nadia find out the truth about Blue Water."
"You´re...what?"
"Yes. Grandis decided to help us."
He couldn´t believe that this woman even wasted any thought about other people than herself. It sounded rather incredible that she changed her attitude out of a sudden, acted nice and cared about other persons´ worries. And yet Jean could not deny that there was honesty in Grandis´ smile and in her eyes. He could not turn down her offer to help them, anyway. Nadia already had decided that she would come with them, that much was clear. And if she really knew something about Blue Water, then it would be for Nadia´s sake. Could he really let down his girlfriend because of his own grief? There was no way he could. He would do anything in order to make Nadia happy, thus helping her find out details about her past, so he would even team up with someone like Grandis just for the mere purpose of helping Nadia. He simply fell for her; he would actually even make a deal with devil if it could provide him with an ability to help this wonderful person. Looking at Grandis, Jean sighed deeply.
"All right. I have no problem with you coming with us. And...I forgive you."
Grandis brought her face nearer to Nadia´s palm until her head was "floating" in front of his tiny body on the vast dark palm of Nadia´s hand.
"Thank you, little man."
She then brought the small finger of her right hand toward Jean, and he knew instantly what this meant. It was some sort of confirming their new "partnership", so Jean touched Grandis´ impressively huge small finger (contradiction? Not for someone of Jean´s size) with his entire hand.
"I´m so glad that you two finally settled this. I´m sure it will be lots of fun now that we´re going to travel together!"
Nadia said this with the passion and excitement of a cute small girl, and it was one of those things about Nadia he absolutely adored: hat child like innocence of Nadia´s appearance; something unusual for girls, as Jean thought. Looking again at Grandis, Jean felt like he had to say something in order to break his own shield of anger that still surrounded him. It was not that he absolutely hated Grandis, though. It was just a really terrible experience he had to live through because of her, but maybe he would really be able to forgive her. He somehow even hoped he would, since Grandis really might have been a nice girl, like Nadia claimed.
"I´m...glad you´re with us, Grandis."
"Thanks, small one. I hope I´ll be of service."
Now that the group was kinda complete, everyone looked at each other with an expression of confusion, but as the seconds passed, all three began to smile slightly, as if they wanted to say that they didn´t let the situation bother them and were ready to know each other better.
"Nadia, Jean, I think I should be telling you now about my...emloyer."
"Employer?" Jean asked, not yet knowing who she meant.
"The man who hired me for this job. The man...who wants Blue Water."
Nadia already knew that there was someone with a keen interest in her precious amulet, but Jean was perplexed to hear that there was a person working in the background, with Grandis merely being a pawn. So it seemed that Blue Water really was more than just a stone...