Surprise Party

Jack was reaching the Hare manor when he paused and stopped at a nearby street, behind a food vendor he often bought sweets from. The old man tending the cart smiled warmly at him and offered him a free pastry in light of his upcoming birthday. Jack accepted it with a smile and sat down to enjoy it.

It was a specialty of the old man, a pastry baked with strong flour, water, some sugar, eggs, mother dough and a generous dosage of reduced pork lard, all mixed together and placed in a spiral shape. The first time Jack had seen this product, he'd marvelled at the sublime taste it had with the superb combination of sweet and savoury.

Although outwardly pleased with himself as he gorged on the pastry, he was left troubled with something he experienced when facing Kerio and the three goons earlier on. Jack initially felt himself in control of the situation and his own emotions. Even with the looming threat of a beating, he still thought he could manoeuvre the situation into a beneficial situation for him.

However, he'd almost snapped. He almost killed. He almost reverted to that old self he was trying his hardest to put behind him.

For six years he had lived without bringing back the murderer and, after such a long time, he had started believing that his past was far behind him.

This all changed when he felt the killing intent welling up inside of him and threatening to burst forth with unstoppable momentum.

Jack couldn't help but wonder if he was always going to be plagued with his dark side. Couldn't help but fear that one day it would come back and cause harm to those he loved.

From a certain point of view, this terrified him.

Jack sat in careful meditation for an hour, watching the people walking on the street as if he were an outsider. In a sense, he was. He'd come to this world escaping a literal Hell in the pursuit of a better life; but now that he was there, he felt as if a part of him had never left the Abyss at all.

His short outburst against Kerio's guard proved this.

He watched parents holding the hands of their children walking towards different food stalls, lovers caressing each other's faces discreetly, older men arguing over a chess set as to how the olden days were better than the new ones. All interactions Jack was familiar with, and yet so foreign.

He was troubled, and his heart was somewhat out of place. He couldn't help but wonder where his current path was taking him. After all, a peaceful life was foreign to him. Completely alien.

"Young man, if you don't eat that quickly, it will lose all of its flavour." Said the teller as he patted Jack's shoulder. "If it loses all of its flavour, you'll regret it forever."

"Can't I just get another one?" Smiled Jack.

"You can, but it won't be the same one." The teller struggled to sit down besides Jack and pulled out a pastry of his own. "It can never be the same one."

"Old Foo, all your pastries are delicious." Jack held out the sweet and placed it in line with the setting Sun.

"But some are more delicious than others." Old Foo took a bit and chewed it slowly. "It's a pity to waste one. Plus, I might not be here tomorrow for you to try another one." He added.

"Don't say that, you're still young."

"Flattery, even if dishonest, still feels good." Guffawed Old Foo.

Jack smiled and finished eating his own piece. In truth, he appreciated talking to the older members of Groamburkian society, maybe because he himself was a very old soul. "Thank you." He whispered.

"For what?"

"For the pastry." Was all Jack said as a response to Old Foo's question.

--

Jack walked in through the main door of the Hare manor to find the entirety of his family waiting for him.

"What is it?" He asked when no one said anything.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Said Adras as she walked to stand in front of him.

"It's not that late…" Jack trailed off at the end, feeling that something was amiss.

"But if you'd taken any longer, the cake would have been spoilt!" She exclaimed happily as she kneeled down and hugged him. "Surprise, my love."

The rest of the people started clapping and cheering. Seeing the genuine look of surprise on Jack's face, a few even started laughing. Particularly Erik and Jadelere who were both plotting a way to get back at the boy for his petty tricks with a ploy of their own.

"But it's not today." Said Jack as he gave everyone a look of befuddlement.

"Today or tomorrow, does it matter?" Asked Ichabod as he gave a light chuckle and gestured for the servants to bring in the food and presents prepared beforehand. "What matters is that right here, right now, we celebrate that you've been with us for eleven whole years."

By the end of his small speech, Ichabod's voice cracked a little bit and he had to stop himself from tearing up. Adras walked up to support him but Ichabod shook his hand in a gesture that he was fine and that he didn't need any help.

"The truth is that I'm proud of you, proud of the man you're becoming." He said. "We all are. And we wanted to show you."

The doors at the end of the hallway opened up and Iris pushed in a tray with a large cake on it with Jack's name on it drawn on with exquisite calligraphy in icing made from solidified custard. It was one of Iris' specialties and she refused to let anyone know how she did it.

The impromptu party was a fun and homely event carefully organised under Ichabod's strict supervision in order to preclude Jack from learning of it taking place. The Hare household enjoyed themselves by eating the delicious snacks and sharing stories from afar as well as witnessing Jack, Erik, and Jadelere trying to beat each other with petty riddles.

"Small as a mouse, but I protect the house like a lion. Always first in, forever the last to leave. What am I?" Shouted out Jadelere as he banged the table with an empty tankard of ale, only to cower slightly at the vicious stares of Adras and Iris.

"Child's play!" Snorted Erik. "A key."

"Go fu-" Jadelere began to curse but was stopped by Jack placing a hand on his mouth.

"Here's one. If you say my name, I break, what am I?" Jack said trying to save his teacher from his certain doom if he started cursing.

"Silence." Answered Ichabod from across the table. "You can do better than that, my son."

This went on for a long time, eventually stopped by Leah who felt somewhat left out by the would-be riddlers. She was the first to hand Jack his gift. It was a short, curved blade which she'd commissioned specifically for Jack.

Jack unsheathed it and gave it a few precise swings before sheathing it again and placing it at his waist. "A good blade!" He nodded.

Erik was next and he gave Jack an old tome of alchemical formulae because he knew Jack was interested in the subject. Truth be told, it was a copy of a tome found in the deepest parts of an old tomb said to belong to a heaven-realm alchemist. At the time it had cost Erik almost all of his life savings but he'd paid the price without batting an eyelid.

"I would never have given this to any one of my pupils." Earnestly said Erik. "But you have proven yourself more than worthy of it."

Jack bowed and thanked Erik for his gift profusely.

Jadelere gave him another book, this one on the topic of accounting. Hidden between its pages, however, was one of his erotic pamphlets. Jack had black lines appear on his forehead and he almost threw the entire thing at Ichabod's head, but then thought twice and awkwardly thanked the old accountant for the present.

"It's my turn now." Spoke up Ichabod. "But you'll need to follow me upstairs for it."

"Alright."

The father and son duo left the dining hall and made their way to Ichabod's office on the second floor. Once they walked in, Ichabod made sure to lock the door behind him and then proceeded to sit down at his desk. Then, he opened up a drawer and pulled out a ring and a box.

"I have three gifts for you." Said Ichabod with a serious expression. "The first is this box. It's locked. I ask of you to only open it should something bad happen to me. Inside it is my final will and testament."

"Father, I can't accept this!"

"You must, and you will." Ichabod rejected Jack's attempt to return the box. "You are my heir, my son, and this is a responsibility that only you can bear." When Ichabod saw that Jack reluctantly agreed, he nodded in satisfaction.

"The next one is this." Ichabod pushed the ring forward with utmost care. "This was given to me on the same day that you became a part of this family. It's a storage ring, a high tiered item with unparalleled usefulness. You can use it to store any object you want, up to a limit, without burdening yourself of its weight."

"Thank you." Emotively whispered Jack. It could easily be imagined how useful such an item would be for Ichabod given his line of work. The fact that it was being gifted to him was a huge sign of the affection Ichabod felt for him. "I will take good care of it."

"I know you will." Ichabod wiped away a tear that threatened to go down his face. "The last one is, in my opinion, the most important one."

With that, Ichabod opened up another drawer and placed a flask of an unknown alcoholic beverage between the two of them. Then, he brought out two glasses and gave one to Jack and one to himself.

"Father, this…?" Asked Jack in confusion.

"If you tell this to your mother she will have Leah castrate me." Warned Ichabod. "But there comes a day when every father must share a glass of wine with their son. This day has come for us. With this, I am formally recognising you as a man. From this moment forth, you're not a boy, but a man who I can share my troubles with and whom can work with me at the same level." He explained as he poured both of them a glass.

Ichabod raised his in a toast and Jack imitated him. There were no words spoken, as nothing more needed to be said. Just a father and a son sharing their first glass of wine.

--

That night, Jack slept sounder than he had slept for a few years, a smile of happiness on his face.

What he didn't know, and couldn't have known, was that a storm was beginning to stir that would sweep everything he knew and had come to love.