Bittersweet Tears

Jack wasn't cheery in any sense of the word as he left that house. He didn't feel any sense of accomplishment or satisfaction from what he'd done. In fact, he was feeling quite gloomy.

He stopped just outside the door and raised his head to look at the midnight sky. There was just enough moonlight to bathe the bloodstains on his arms in a quasi-mystical hue, like the whimsical brushstrokes of a mad artist challenging the notions of the very word 'art' itself.

With a heavy heart, he walked a few steps away from the house, stopped, turned around, gave it one last look, sighed and then activated his movement skill to disappear from the street. He didn't turn back again.

Jack left behind a gruesome scene that would shock the inhabitants of Groamburk when it was discovered two days later: a completely disfigured Hector that had committed suicide by banging his head against the wall. That being said, those who were unfortunate enough to witness the state of his body didn't find his suicide strange; if they'd been in the same position, they would have killed themselves too.

Whatever the case, the citizens of Groamburk didn't dare to walk the streets alone at night for many months after that and the children had a new story told to them to incite them to behave well.

--

Jack strode into the warehouse whilst it was still late. He'd chosen to come here in order to wash himself up and collect a change of clothes.

He went to stand under the hose and activated the mechanism which released the water. He stood there quietly as the water washed away the blood and let it to a drain to one side, which Jack knew led to a small patch of land behind the warehouse where nothing could ever possibly grow from the amount of chemicals and other such substances that had ended up there over the years.

It seemed fitting for the bloodied water to end up there.

One clean and garbed in a fresh set of clothes, he grabbed the stained clothing and put them in a bundle which he then burned and whose ashes he tossed out casually. Then, he placed the knife and crossbow into one of the many secret compartments around the warehouse before leaving to Hare manor.

--

He didn't bother hiding his presence as he got there. It wouldn't matter, because everyone knew he had been missing. As such, he simply walked up to the guards at the entrance and allowed them to lead him in where all his family and mentors were waiting for him whilst drawing up and planning search parties.

Jack was met with a stern scolding from his mother whom had been crying the entire time he was outside. Erik, Leah, and Jadelere berated him for his rashness and utmost irresponsibility. Even Iris pitched in to say she was extremely disappointed in his behaviour.

The worst of all was Ichabod, whom shouted the loudest and was most impassionate with the way he scolded Jack, going so far as spank him a few times for having wandered the streets alone so late at night.

Of course, they asked him where he'd been, what he'd done, why he'd done it. Jack refused to talk. He said that he'd been wilful and unfilial, that there was no justification for his actions and that he was willing to accept any punishment they meted.

He was grounded, certainly, and Ichabod imposed on him a strict schedule to keep him entertained. Afterwards, he was strongly lectured on the importance of behaving appropriately and empathising with the feelings of others.

Jack held his head low during the entire duration of his scolding. Although he was listening to the adults telling him off, his mind was still on the little girl Hannah and the fact that she'd died because of him.

Suddenly, he felt the arms of someone wrap around him.

It was Adras, who started to cry as she cradled him closely against her chest, praising the Divines for allowing her son to be brought back to her. She showered him with tears, and kisses, and unending love as she wailed from all the tension she'd had built up over the hours

Something inside of Jack snapped.

He slowly raised his arms, wrapped them around Adras' and he, too, started to wail like a child. It wasn't just a few tears, it was genuine crying like a baby. All the feelings of frustration, solitude, and pain for ten thousand years he'd been unconsciously carrying on his metaphorical shoulders, burdening him and bludgeoning him for millennia started pouring out uncontrollably.

Jack started shaking as he lost control, crying and screaming and holding on to Adras as hard as he could, afraid that it would all just slip away and he'd wake up again back in the hellish scape that was the Abyss, back to his days of never-ending slaughter.

In that moment, Jack had truly reverted to a child-like state, completely giving himself to his emotions.

His change shocked those who knew what he was capable of, but they quickly realised that they had forgotten something important. He was just five years old.

Ichabod was the first to join in the hug and hold Jack tightly. Jadelere joined right after. Soon even Erik and Leah knelt down to gift their care and support. All of this made Jack cry even harder.

He cried and he cried until he couldn't cry anymore and even then, he continued bawling and shouting well into the late hours of the night until all the energy in his body was consumed. Until he literally couldn't even twitch.

Then he fell asleep.

--

Jack woke up a few hours later, whilst the Sun had yet to rise. His head hurt in a way he wasn't used to and his face felt sore from all the emotional upheaval he'd felt. In fact, everything he felt was wrong, somehow.

He wasn't in his bed, he was lying next to someone. It was Adras and Ichabod; they'd brought him into their room and laid him next to them as they went to sleep. As he felt the warmth of Adras' embrace and the ticklish sensation of Ichabod's beard playfully stroking his forehead, Jack began to think about everything that had happened to him.

Up to this point, he'd been taking every day like it was all a big joke, a play, or a game for him to partake in; as if everything wasn't happening to him. It was only now that he'd interiorised the fact that he was living a life and that his every action would have a strong impact on those around him.

Was it really necessary to cultivate arduously?

Was there a need to fight?

Jack's mind went back to the memory of his hands stained by blood. Twice in one day had he been the cause of bloodshed. In the future, would he be cursed with treading upon bodies for this life as well?

Is that what he really wanted out of this second chance at life?

No! I will not be a beast drunk with the smell and taste of blood. I will not allow myself to fall into the depths of the abyss. I already escaped it; I will not put myself through the same experience again. Not after so long.

For the first time, in a very long time, Jack felt like he had a home, a family, a place he could call a safe haven.

For the first time in all his lives, Jack didn't have a reason to fight.

Without a reason to fight, Jack could only wonder why he was cultivating.

What was the point? He looked to his finger, at the dragon crest that almost looked at a ring and he smiled bitterly to himself.

And so, at that moment in time, Jack decided that he would stop cultivating, that he would stop fighting and walk the night covered in blood.

That was the moment was when Jack decided to live.

--

Jack went back to sleeping soundly within the shielding arms of his parents, not knowing that his decision had triggered something within the dragon ring. Inside it, the gargantuan dragon that had been hitherto dead regained the heat of life within the fiery depths of its eyes.

'Finally…'