Black Sword Broken

Joei gazed out over the cliff as he sat next to the X marked rock up on Tenzen Pass. He had come out here, every day for months and had lost all track of time. He looked down at the water, remembering when he and Riou jumped into the cold river to escape Rowd. Nobody was there to see the tears that fell on the cold stone, and he was almost glad his friend couldn't see him cry.

"He didn't come back...Riou, you broke your promise to me..." He stood up as the sun began to set. "I guess you think I deserve this, Riou...or you would have come by now." Joei stood up and took his staff into his hand and began making his way down the cliff. "There's no place here for me anymore..." Joei kept walking, having no idea where he was headed until he found a stable. He wandered in and asked the stable hand how much he'd sell a horse for. Joei showed him a large amount of Potch, showing how much he was willing to pay. The stable hand smiled and showed him a healthy stallion, willing to let him buy it. Joei hopped onto the horse's back and rode far away from Highland, still having no idea where he was headed. Joei stopped every now and then to feed and care for his new horse and decided to leave it at a stable one day until he could return for him. He walked through the forest silently, passing through small gatherings of people in clearings. Something sparkling caught his eye and he looked in the direction of the light. That was when he saw her, the mysterious runemaster named Jeane. He had seen her in Greenhill when he took the city for Luca. He had known that she was one of the people Riou recruited for his army and sometimes had seen her on the battlefield. He walked up to her to see if it was really her.

"Jeane..?" He looked at the woman with the silvery hair and sparkling clothes.

"Yes?" She looked at Joei and blinked, he seemed oddly familiar, but she couldn't remember why. Joei showed her the hand that contained the true rune, the Black Sword.

"Maybe this will help you remember…" Joei looked at her.

"Oh…Joei…" Jeane finally remembered how she knew him and looked into the man's eyes.

"Yes…it's me." He nodded solemnly. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm not sure…I just came out for a walk today…I don't really have a reason." As Jeane spoke, Joei noticed how dark the forest was getting. She saw him looking around and noticed the darkness as well. "Joei…do you have a place to stay?"

"No…not really." He answered truthfully.

"A bunch of us from the wars are living together in the forest, and many other people as well. Would you like to come stay the night, since you have nowhere else to go?" Jeane smiled faintly as she waited for a response. Joei considered this, and although he didn't have shelter for the night, the idea worried him.

"But Jeane…I betrayed the State. They won't want me there…"

"Joei…surely they'll forgive you…I'm asking you, please be my guest tonight?"

"Well…alright…" Joei sighed and gave in, following the runemaster through the forest.

They reached the massive castle soon and Jeane opened the door and led Joei in. The scene that followed was utter chaos. From the den, Flik saw Jeane coming in with Joei and hatred welled up inside him.

"Joei! How dare you show your face here?" Flik stood up and walked to them. "You dare to walk into my home after what you've done?"

"Flik, I…" Joei knew that this was exactly what would happen, but he still wasn't prepared to defend himself. "I'm…I'm sorry, I did it all to protect the ones I cared about…I didn't mean for it to go that far…"

"Flik, leave him alone…" Jeane seemed to glare at Flik. "Just leave him alone. I found him out there with nowhere to go and I brought him here. If you have to be mad at anyone, be mad at me." Flik seemed half-stunned that Jeane spoke out to him.

"Fine…but if he tries anything…he's gone." Flik turned away and walked back to the den, leaving the two alone.

"I'm sorry Joei…Flik's just stubborn…" Jeane sighed.

"It's alright, maybe I should just go."

"No, Joei…you're staying here. Come on, I'll show you to your room…" Jeane led Joei off to a room, glancing back at Flik once more, before going to her own room for the night.

A few days later, Jeane and Joei were back outside in the forest sitting near the lake. Joei sighed softly, knowing he needed to tell someone his terrible secret.

"Jeane…this rune in my hand…it's draining all of my energy and my essence. I don't have much longer to live…"

"No…" Jeane looked horrified as she heard this. "No, I can't let that happen…"

"Jeane, there's nothing you can do…" Joei had resolved himself to a quiet death, he thought nothing could help him now.

"No…I'll get doctor Huan…and Leknaat if I have to. Joei, I'm not losing you…" Jeane seemed determined and gave him a soft look. For a moment, Joei almost seemed hopeful.

"But what if it doesn't work…" He lowered his eyes and sighed.

"I won't let you leave…if you die, I'm going with you…"

"Jeane…don't…please…" Joei's eyes filled with tears, hearing that she cared about him that much. Jeane, however, whistled into the forest and seconds later the elf Stallion appeared beside them.

"Stallion…please go get Doctor Huan…" Jeane looked up pleadingly at the blue-haired elf.

"Right away!" Stallion ran as fast as he could to find the doctor. In fact, it almost seemed just a few minutes later when he returned. He left the doctor with Jeane and Joei and ran back into the forest.

"Doctor Huan…can you help me remove Joei's rune…? I know you're not supposed to be able to remove True Runes…but we must…or he'll die…" Jeane had a flowing rune attached to one of her hands, and sat ready to use it to help heal Joei. The two of them worked on Joei's hand for hours, Jeane tried her best to keep him still, for she knew that this must hurt pretty badly. Joei screamed as they finally were able to pry the rune free, leaving a large gash in Joei's hand. Jeane gently held Joei's hand with her flowing rune and began the healing process. Doctor Huan put the remnants of the rune in a small case as Jeane helped Joei. Jeane slowly removed her hand and let the doctor bandage it up.

"Now, that's going to be pretty sore for awhile, Joei." Doctor Huan stood up and handed Joei the case with the rune inside and started heading back home. Joei laughed quietly as he saw his bandaged hand.

"It's…it's gone…"

"Yes, it is…" Jeane smiled and hugged Joei softly. Now he could stay with her much longer than he thought he would be able to. Joei happily hugged her back, looking forward to his long life with Jeane and everyone else.