(CLOSED)To heal his hope in the Heroes

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand had held back from following the Sumata after leaving the portal, feeling his time would be better spent observing the Heroes. To his chagrin he found that they were as motley a crew as the Sumata were. And it was in watching them that he also knew how to get exactly what he needed out of this awful trip. For once, Alex's eagerness with the ladies had paid off.

When things had died down after Alex's stunt, Seigmand slipped in past the group until he stood before Jasmine. Without any irony in his voice, he said, "Hello Jasmine, it seems that this time it is your help I need." To show that there was no trick behind his words, he tore off the last of his dress shirt, revealing a collection of burns and wounds that covered his chest and back. "I saw you were willing to heal Alex. Will you do the same for me?" Seigmand's eyes had the smallest trance of something pitiful in them.

[glitters]

Jasmine's first thought was 'Only if you're not going to behave in the same way the king of Santo-Luce did...' as Seigmand approached her, pulling off the remains of his shirt before her.
However, she hadn't quite realized at the moment that Alexander had been one of the royals. It was hard to put faces to names sometimes, especially ones she wasn't familiar with.

Her lips itched into a small frown at Seigmand, though she didn't refuse him. She couldn't, despite how much she wanted to...

"Who are you?" she asked him as she stepped forward, lightly feeling the wounds on his body and examining them, "and there's no sense in lying at this point, sir, not if I can control whether your body heals or not."

[Seigmand Dezmar]

A thin smile of relief crept across Seigmand's face. To him, the hard part was over. He whispered just soft enough for her to here as he let her examine his wounds. "I am many things. I am a king, a son of the Asmati, and a member of the Sumata. But in the end, these are just words Jasmine. It is these words that define my station in life, yet is my actions that determine who I really am. Do you understand me young healer?"

[glitters]

Jasmine paused what she was doing for only a brief moment, not quite confused by what the royal said, but actually rather...curious?

Jasmine brought her hands back, fixing up a damp cloth with a pearly white potion on it and then reached back out to Seigmand to press it to his wounds.

"This is going to sting a lot," she said before bringing her voice almost as low as Seigmand's, "I believe I understand, but what are you getting at? What's the point in telling me this?"

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand winced for a moment as he felt the cold potion seep over his burns. The pain surged through him, but he could feel the underlaying effect working, letting the dull ache of his battle wounds fade into memory.

"Ahhh, oh, well I suppose you could say that the very fact that you do understand is why I am here to speak to you Jasmine. You see, my interests do not match those of Trucido and in an effort to gain an in with your cohorts, I erred by trying to speak to the most powerful, not the most clear minded. You could AH!" He paused and hissed as Jasmine applied the cloth to an especially sensitive spot. He wanted to complain, but figured that he shouldn't push the envelop further considering he'd already managed to get her treating wounds caused by her ally.

"You could say that my injuries are the result of my... negotiations with Mark. So naturally I figured its time I sought someone who could understand exactly what I am and what is required to secure our worlds' safety. Namely I hold information, yet my hands are tied and thus I seek those than can act on my intel without revealing my intentions. Am I being clear?" He looked questioning at the girl. In all honesty, he had not spoken with her enough on their last meeting to know just how bright she was, but knowledge could be taught. It was trustful, or at least an uncynical person he needed now.

[glitters]

Jasmine listened as she continued to care for Seigmand's wounds, a small smile curving her lips as she heard him hiss in pain. Perhaps it was best she did not tell him that she could have cleaned and healed them in a much less painful way. And had she known that Alexander was going to act as he did, she probably would have tossed something into his eyes before he pulled his stunt.

She looked up and her eyes met Seigmand's, staring at him in the usual way she did, as though trying to search and evaluate him.

"You left a note for Miri to help us find Trucido. That was how we all found you at the giant waterfall," she said this more to herself as if telling these words in her own voice would help convince her that she was dealing with a man who was very much being truthful, "you're clear, sir. You sound similar to Captain Princel, save for her actually leaving the Sumata. But what negotiations with Mark are you talking about? Would he not help you, and if not then why?"

She'd understand he was looking for help, and that it was on acts against Trucido that he needed help with. However, she wanted to know why someone as determined to help those seeking aid would refuse--like Mark.

[Seigmand Dezmar]

"I do not wish to get into details about Mark out here Jasmine. The very fact that I'm talking to you could be taken as a hint of my shaky allegiance. To be brief, we both sought the same end, yet Mark disagreed with my means, namely my feelings towards discretion being the better part of valor."

"He decided that as I was a Sumata, that I could not be trusted and that my tactics were impure, but for all his years he is naive." Seigmand's eyes hardened as he continued. "I need someone who has the conviction and the strength to see that this conflict ends before the world truly suffers. Someone who will trust me enough to take my intel, and use it to ensure that Trucido never reaches his goal, even if personal sacrifices must be made. You have proof of my intentions Jasmine. Do you have the strength of character to do what Andy and Mark could not; and do more than what is good, but rather what is right for our world?"

This was the moment, the point where he had been rejected before. Seigmand's heart pounded like a jackhammer under the calm outer appearance he maintained as he awaited her reply. It's too much for her. I should no better than to have asked such a young girl, but desperate times call for this. He thought to himself, his mind half filled with doubt.

[glitters]

Jasmine's eyes widened at the mention of Andy--he'd asked him, too? Andy refused to help...?
On one hand, the fact that Andy backed out of this made Jasmine want to do the very same; if Andy didn't think it a good idea, why should she?

On the other hand, she'd spent too much time following others, doing what they thought was right and wrong. She couldn't keep doing that, it was time she had to act on her own and do what she felt was right. And what she felt was right was helping someone who asked for the help...like Seigmand. He'd helped them already, wasn't it enough to return it?

The idea of 'personal sacrifices' worried her, though. What kind of sacrifices would this mean? Would that be any different than what she was doing already? Her job, and her own personal goal had become to aid Andy, to make sure he succeeded...it was what her mother had told her to do. That was why she'd made her pact with the gods, to gain power and abilities she never would have had otherwise, to help him.
Would it be any different than what her mother had done for her? Jasmine had only recently received startling news as to how her mother knew all the poisons she knew...she used them, and quite frequently. Never for evil, but to protect her family. Her father as well killed men with families not because he wanted to, but because he had to to protect the people he loved and cared about so much.

Was this what he meant? Was this going to be the same? Would it be worse? Would it protect the people she loved, her father and Andy, and the rest of her friends?

Jasmine pulled back a bit, shoving her supplies back into her bag as she finished, but pulled out a small bottle with a potion in it. She took her sweet time pulling the cork out of it to pass it to Seigmand, as though she were...stalling for more time to speak with him.

"What do I have to do?" was all she asked next, her voice barely audible.

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Her reply left Seigmand silent. He almost couldn't believe what she had said. Nothing of doubt or mistrust, though he saw much of that in her eyes. He could see the turmoil that brewed inside her, and he wondered how much of it had to do with her mother. His spies had told him enough of Lilith's actions in the Twilight Kingdom and he cursed the foul woman under his breath.

"Well, for now, nothing. This conflict is like the desert; ever shifting and unpredictable. What little I know isn't enough to act on yet. But be warned Jasmine, this is not a minor task I ask of you. The burden is heavy, but I ask not that you share it alone. You have the Heroes. There will be times when the Sumata are vulnerable, and I may urge you and your group to slay them or take them captive at a critical point. Other times I may ask the opposite; that by sparing one you may allow the stage to be set for future victory." Seigmand took the potion from her hand, and placed the other on her shoulder softly.

"What I need most of you Jasmine, is to know that I may trust you to take my intel to heart, and inspire the group to follow you. I see the way they look at you. They trust you, and more than anything I need that." He moved to apply the potion to his body, pausing briefly as he let the initial sting pass before continuing on.

"My words will become your words, and with them you may help lead the Heroes to a victory that need never come from war. Instead of ragtag assaults and pointless skirmishes, you may strike at the few that actually propagate Trucido's goals. You would be surprised at how many seem less than eager to actually protect that man. I know that I ask a lot of someone so young, one that has likely never sat in the middle of such conflict before. But can you be so brave Jasmine? Think the answer to this question over very carefully, as the next words from your lips may change your life irrevocably."

[glitters]

Jasmine's hand slipped back into her bag as she stared up at Seigmand yet, listening carefully to what he said. In a way, this situation reminded her of when she'd had that audience with the Twilight gods; the scary thing being that they told her the same thing he did, that the decision she would make would change her life.

She, like most people, wanted to avoid a raging war if she could. A war meant she'd risk losing everyone she cared for, as the only things she had left were on the battlefield. That thought alone created a lump so hard in her throat she actually fought to not swallow it in order to keep from releasing tears, and now was not the time for them. In her bag her hand squeezed a piece of paper, one she'd found shortly after the incident in the Caribbean. It had been a note from her mother, surprisingly. How it had gotten there one could only guess, but at the moment a couple of lines stuck out in her head from it.

This is no time to be afraid, Jasmine. It's time for you to show everyone and everything what it is you can really do. As the times get worse you must continuously do the right thing...

Her thoughts drifted back to Andy and how brave he was. She wanted so much to be as brave as him, too.

"I don't have very much," she tried to mask any pain she felt, yet her voice squeaked as she spoke, "but what I do have is very important to me. Important enough that I can't afford to have something happen to them. I have to agree, not because I want to, but because I have to if I want them to live."

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand's face turned solemn, and he had to turn away to hide the feeling of self disgust that forced itself on his expression. He suddenly remembered why he had went after the swordarms first, instead of reaching out to people like her. That pitiful look on her face, the face of a mere child that stared down the cold looming road of battle ahead. For people like Mark and Andy, they looked on with determination. To Seigmand he saw the eyes of every soldier he'd met in his long road to his rule. It was the look that said, "I'm ready to fight, because I know we'll win."

But he saw the way she looked at that blood-soaked road, rather with clear eyes. Ones that knew all she could see was uncertainty down that path. Her words said it perfectly. She was only here because everything that was left for her was at risk in this conflict. In a way, he was almost sad she had agreed to his proposal. Yet he knew now, just as he knew back in his village so long ago that he had to persevere with the choice he'd made for the greater good.

Unable to look her in the eyes, Seigmand turned around to face the empty wall. "Very well Jasmine, I commend you for your determination. You have my word your trust, however tentative, is not misplaced. When I have something of importance to tell you, I shall find a way to reach you. For now, remember that to everyone, even your own allies, I am as much your enemy as before. It will be easier if only you, Mark and Andy know of my true intentions." With that Seigmand handed her back the empty potion bottle, and moved towards the exit. He paused as his hand hung against the frame, and turned slightly to face her.

"Thank you Jasmine. Thank you for more than you know."

[glitters]

Jasmine nodded, unsure of what else she could say. He said he'd find a way to contact her if and when he needed her help, and if anything she had Andy and Mark to hang on to to help her out to help Seigmand...right?

Andy and Mark would help if they knew Jasmine was willing to, right?

She didn't want to think of that at the moment. She didn't want to think of too much of anything right now, she just wanted to be reassured that she just did the right thing. It felt right, anyway. She hoped it was right. Would her mother think so?