|
|
Post by glitters on May 19, 2009 0:41:12 GMT -5
((Vincent and Jasmine will be having themselves a chat, but it's open for anyone who wants to jump in))
The last few days most certainly hadn't been the easiest for Jasmine, and somehow she was sure that they weren't going to be the hardest yet.
And that reality made her only a slight bit more depressed than she already was.
She felt fortunate enough to have Kara and Andy by her side, though. After losing her mother, the company of her friends was what made each day slowly become more bearable.
Except for where she remembered that there was still one person who had yet to be told of the...news, and that was none other than Vincent Loque, Hala's husband himself.
The last time Jasmine had heard, or at least according to her father's outrageous plans (Being told "I'll be in Ignis three times this month" wasn't really much to go on), he was supposed to be in Ignis. Figuring at best, he'd be in the Master Volcano Atoll's city, somehow getting the idea that he might have been causing trouble in a tavern.
Or perhaps he wasn't, she could not be sure. All she knew was that she had to keep an eye out for him....though she wasn't all to sure if she wanted to.
She shivered; despite it being so warm in Ignis, she felt so cold.
|
|
|
|
Post by vincent on May 19, 2009 12:25:35 GMT -5
Hey, Vincent never walked around picking fights in taverns, the taverns picked fights with him!
But regardless, he wasn't anywhere near a tavern but rather just checking out some small roadside shops. He carried a small bag with him and chatted up the locals, trying to smooth talk into getting information on all sorts of treasures and rare things to find around the world. Whether the people were telling the truth or not he'd soon find out.
He turned from one of the outside carts and saw Jasmine's familiar face, yet her clothes seemed to had changed. She looked like one of those...things...those ones you'd find inside one of the holy Crepusculum temples.
That kind of made him worry. He didn't want his daughter turning into a nun, those things were creepy.
"There's my little girl!" he greeted her warmly and suddenly pulled her into a hug as he approached her. He dangled the bag by his side and held it out to her with a smile.
"I know I'm not good at this father thing, but I've gone and found a whole lot of stuff just for you - hopefully they'll help with your spells and elixirs and the other hocus-pocus kind of things you and your mother do," he laughed.
|
|
|
|
Post by glitters on May 19, 2009 12:38:54 GMT -5
Jasmine's heart sank - he was so cheery, she had no clue what or how she was going to say it to him.
Her tummy felt sick as she looked up at him, trying to smile, failing, and she could already feel tears trying to fight their way out from the back of her already puffy, tired eyes. She had taken the bag, looked inside of it, nodded and muttered a "thank you" and when Vincent hugged her, she did not wrap her arms around him but rather rested her head against his chest.
|
|
|
|
Post by vincent on May 19, 2009 12:43:44 GMT -5
Vincent wasn't really good at the father thing, or at least he thought he wasn't. But he'd know that look that Jasmine was giving anywhere. He remembered it, seeing his baby girl's eyes fall the way they did, the way her lip curled, and the way she shook when she was upset about something but was trying to fight it.
It was just now she was older and everything had a slight different look to it...but he could still clearly see it. His face fell, and he pulled out of the hug and rested his hands on Jasmine's shoulders to look over her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked simply. Even years later, he hated seeing his daughter like this. And just like years before, he always felt obligated to make everything right, just to see her smile.
|
|
|
|
Post by glitters on May 19, 2009 12:54:56 GMT -5
Jasmine stared up at him for a long moment, breathing deeply and trying to find the words to say.
"M-mother..." she had started and trailed off a bit, bit her lip, it was almost like saying each word would stab her in the chest.
"Mother's dead, Papa..." she swallowed hard, and one of her tears escaped and slid down her cheek as she said it. She took another deep breath in an attempt to relieve the pain she felt in her chest, hoping it would calm her down. She closed her eyes suddenly, remembering Andy's arm around her when they buried Hala...she pretended she could feel his arm around her again right now, it had been so comforting.
|
|
|
|
Post by vincent on May 19, 2009 13:16:45 GMT -5
So now how is he supposed to reply to this? He knew Jasmine wasn't lying, she couldn't lie about something like this, Hala was the closest thing in her life.
At long last, he sighed and nodded. "....I see..." was all he could really find to say at the moment as he kept his hands firmly on his daughter's shoulders.
In actuality, this was something that didn't surprise him. News like this was something that the man had been preparing to hear for years upon years, and even though he was sure he could take the hit (like he was now), he still had tried to avoid it by running off on his family.
But it appeared that even after all of his efforts, he finally lost one of the only two important women in his life, one of the ones he'd spent so much time just trying to protect.
"...Dare I ask what happened?" Vincent finally spoke again, quietly. Somehow, he was sure he already knew.
|
|
|
|
Post by glitters on May 19, 2009 13:24:38 GMT -5
Jasmine continued to shake uncontrollably as the tears fought to fall down her face yet, and she kept trying to take slow and steady breaths to calm herself down. It wouldn't be good for her health to keep getting so upset over it, even if it did hurt so much.
"...L-L-Lilith...the queen of A-Alberisato..." was all Jasmine managed to choke out, and she brought her hands close to her chest, clutching the bag that Vincent had given her.
|
|
|
|
Post by Andy Jammer on May 19, 2009 13:31:57 GMT -5
"It's all my fault Mr. Louque," Andy's voice spoke from behind Jasmine, he followed her there to her father. "I couldn't save her from Lilith..."
|
|
|
|
Post by glitters on May 19, 2009 13:52:15 GMT -5
Jasmine had shook her head, and started mumbling, "No, Andy, no..."
She looked up at Vincent with pleading eyes, hoping he'd disregard anything Andy said. Her father was a warrior too though, so he'd understand, right?
Right?
|
|
|
|
Post by vincent on May 19, 2009 14:10:04 GMT -5
Vincent nodded at Jasmine and had answered with, "...I see.."
He was right, he did have an idea of what had happened. The queen was pissed so of course everyone had to suffer.
"You know why she did this though, right, Jasmine? She wants to see you upset; she wants to see me upset," he shook his head and breathed deeply himself, "but you know what you do is you don't give your enemy that satisfaction. It's only you and me now, and we're both wanted for different reasons, that being said..."
It had been then that Andy had spoken up and Vincent stared at him. He had to take a long moment to think, to recall the last few months from when he met Jasmine again up till now, and through it all he kept a hard gaze on Andy until finally...he nodded.
"You know, Mr. Jammer, I think you could be right," he ignored any looks that Jasmine gave him as he stepped past her to face Andy himself, "you know why? Because Hala and Jasmine are the very world to me, and the reason why I left all those years ago was to protect them. With me gone, they were safe. My wife today may have still been alive had I let Xisa kill Jasmine up in that mountain - but instead, I chose to protect her and blow my own cover, putting my family's life back in danger..."
His voice was slowly starting to rise, too, just as his eyes started to narrow a bit at Andy as he continued.
"Not to mention your company with my daughter also seems to be getting her into too much trouble. I've gone and upset one of the royals and because they know my connections they went and killed my wife - all of those years I could have spent with that woman and risked her death the whole f***ing time and instead I had to play it safe and she still died," he couldn't see it, but he was sure Jasmine was already getting worked up and he immediately reached out behind him to grab her wrist and keep her close to him, "and for what? What for, Andy? Because you're reckless, you don't think, my whole plans were messed up, an innocent woman died and her daughter's going to be next because of your complete lack of responsibility!"
And....Vincent was angry now. He looked at Jasmine, looked back at Andy and shook his head.
"I can't afford to lose her, too. And now she's in trouble no matter what we do - the Sumata's pissed at me and will kill her because of what I did, and they're all after you, too. What the hell am I supposed to do? You tell me what I'm supposed to do, because I almost lost her once because you can't look after her...I think it's better if you disappeared from this picture, boy."
And Vincent was done.
|
|
|
|
Post by Andy Jammer on May 19, 2009 14:13:56 GMT -5
"What did you say?" Andy asked, "Did you say it would have been better if Jasmine died from Xisa?! What kind of father says that about his daughter?! I know it was all my fault, that I couldn't save Hala, but for you to say that...no monster would say that, no human would even utter it!"
|
|
|
|
Post by glitters on May 19, 2009 14:30:02 GMT -5
Jasmine couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her eyes widened and she began fighting back even more tears as she tried to pull away from her father's hold.
"N-no...Papa, it's not his fault, please, it's not his fault..." she tried to look past him to Andy as she squirmed, "Andy, quit talking like that! Papa, even I wasn't around when Lilith attacked Mother! If he was there, he would have helped her...he would have helped her, Papa. He was at least there for me..."
|
|
|
|
Post by vincent on May 19, 2009 14:35:34 GMT -5
And Vincent was not in the mood for attitude from either of the kids. He stood straight and took a threatening step toward Andy, glaring daggers at the young man.
"I said nothing of the sort! I'm saying you gave me the choice of my daughter or my wife. Had I left my daughter that day, my wife might have still been alive. I saved my daughter and my wife ended up dying - either way, it was your pathetic and nonsensical actions that lead up to that decision, a decision that no man should ever have to make, you little punk!" he yelled, and people around in the streets started looking with wide eyes, "I don't want you being the reason why my daughter's lying in a cold grave, either! I don't want to catch your ugly mug near her ever again, you got it?! Jasmine, you're coming with me - now!"
And with that, he gave Jasmine's arm a yank and turned to walk away.
|
|
|
|
Post by Andy Jammer on May 19, 2009 14:37:33 GMT -5
In a flash Andy leaped over Vincent and landed a few feet in front of him, he placed his hand on his sword and glared at him.
"Stop right there. I don't think Jasmine wants to go with you, let her go."
|
|
|
|
Post by vincent on May 19, 2009 14:47:03 GMT -5
"Stand back, Andy," Vincent growled, "you're not going to tell me how to control my own daughter, alright? And I'm not letting her be around some unstable, irresponsible fool such as yourself."
He ignored Jasmine's squirming, gripped her tighter the more she fought, and just as Andy had done, rested his hand on the hilt of his own sword.
"Learn to pick your battles, boy. You have no clue what you're dealing with. Now back off!!"
|
|
