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Post by glitters on Dec 5, 2009 19:47:17 GMT -5
Everything was so quiet as they had approached what was left of the Loque house. It sat depressingly by the lake with the door blown open, windows broken, things missing, weeds overtaking what was once a thriving garden and a lonely grave by the side.
On their way to the house, Jasmine had collected a few more flowers to replace those that were withered on top of Hala's grave. She sighed deeply as her eyes laid on the mound of dirt, still hard to believe sometimes that the woman was really dead and laying in the dirt before them.
"What have you been doing all this time, Andy? Since I left, I mean," Jasmine had quietly asked as she set the flowers down gently. Until she was ready, she at least thought she'd make conversation with him, it'd been so long.
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Post by Andy Jammer on Dec 5, 2009 19:52:38 GMT -5
He couldn't help it, staring at the house that was so full of warmth and thinking of the warmth that was absent now. It shot a chill up his spine, which caused Andy to adjust a bit of his cloak as he spoke, "I have been with Kara, Gensayce, and Tempest for awhile. Right after you left I...ran into Trucido."
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Post by glitters on Dec 5, 2009 20:36:01 GMT -5
"Did you? I'm glad you're all alright then...he's an absolute tyrant," Jasmine spoke softly as she looked from the grave up to the house and sighed. She caught Andy glancing up at it, too and smiled.
"I still remember the days when you'd leave with Mr. Uruhane and Mother and I would look after the house and take in patients. And Kara, Mother...all of us would have dinner together. It was nice. This was home...it was like we were all a family."
She cautiously stepped towards the door, peering inside. Jasmine had to make sure no one was in before she started playing with her fire spells...
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Post by Andy Jammer on Dec 5, 2009 20:43:35 GMT -5
"Yeah...I'd get back late and your mom had set aside a plate for me. Sometimes we'd finish early and Kevin would join us for a bit..." Andy frowned, his expression though hidden by his cloak, "That was...the closest thing to a family I ever had."
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Post by glitters on Dec 5, 2009 21:09:33 GMT -5
Jasmine made sure the house was clear, her smile still on her face as Andy spoke.
"Mother absolutely adored you and Kara, even if she was a little bitter and seemingly mean at some points. She was an evil woman at times, but I think all mothers are in some way. That's probably how they keep their houses under control," she chuckled slightly as she stepped back out and away from the house, "that's why after she was gone...things became a little scary. Papa seemed angrier, we all did. But call me crazy but...in the end, it was almost like it was better that it happened this way...are you ready for this?"
She stopped her thoughts then, twirling the pages of her spellbook that hovered at her side to find the spell she was looking for. She was going to use the bottle of napalm her grandmother had forced her to make, but decided against it as she'd like a fire she could actually CONTROL.
Jasmine was careful and concise with her incantation, rolling the strange words her grandmother taught her off of her tongue and in a moment there was a flash, a pop, and from the ground up the house lit up in warm, eerily welcoming flames.
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Post by Andy Jammer on Dec 6, 2009 12:46:41 GMT -5
Andy sadly listened to her words, the light caught his attention as he stared upwards at the flames. Watching the place slowly burn to the ground, memories and little moments in time slowly turn to ashes right before his eyes. The warmth of the flames surrounded him as he stared onward, looking through the flames as his mind unwillingly pulled him into the past. It was as if, for a brief second, he could see Hala in the empty halls. His eyes widened briefly, at the almost ghostly image that seemed to appear before him...before she vanished. A trick perhaps, of his memory and the flames.
A reminder of his greatest failure.
His hand unconsciously brushed Jasmine's and wrapped his fingers around hers. Her small hand resting in his now as he watched the flames tear apart the only normal life he had ever known.
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Post by glitters on Dec 6, 2009 15:29:18 GMT -5
Jasmine smiled as he grabbed her hand, his touch warm like the flames that brought the house down to its own grave. Soon enough, it'd rest peacefully beside the woman who made it. Jasmine closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to push her own memories out of her head out of fear of them taking control of her thoughts and it wouldn't do good to dwell in the past.
"I want to be like Mother," she finally spoke again, surprisingly with a determined push in her voice, "she thought she lost her husband in the war, and even though it tore her heart to pieces she still gave everything she had and sent me out here, too. She was willing to keep trying even when nothing was on her side, and always said she'd always help us no matter what happened. Even in death, she's been helping us..."
She stole a glance up at Andy as she continued, "We'll be alright. Everything is going to be alright...she died for a reason, we're standing here right now doing this for a reason..."
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Post by Andy Jammer on Dec 6, 2009 15:35:42 GMT -5
She died for a reason...because I couldn't save her. Andy felt his sadness bubble into guilt. He couldn't deny his guilt when it came to Hala's death.
"I think...you are already more like her than you believe Jas." he said, "I think you've always been like her."
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Post by glitters on Dec 6, 2009 16:15:41 GMT -5
Jasmine blinked.
"Really? I hadn't thought so, but...thank you."
In fact, when she thought about it, she had more than just a simple compliment to thank the man for. When she looked up at him, she squeezed his hand and smiled slightly.
"I can't say that enough, you know. You've helped me and my family with so much, and even through something like this," she looked back at the house as she spoke, "...it's nice to have someone there. It's hard, but it's like what Papa said, we can't dwell on the past because we have to worry about what comes next. And what comes next is what will determine the future."
She took her hand out of Andy's for a moment to gently put her arms around him instead as she added, "That's why I wanted to come do this. There's nothing left here for us that can make us call it 'home', it is a thing of the past. As far as I'm concerned, 'home' is where Papa, Grandmother, Kara...and you are. And I can't tell you how happy I am that you've come here to do this with me. Thank you."
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Post by Andy Jammer on Dec 6, 2009 22:04:18 GMT -5
Andy paused at her words, listening to her intently. Did he really change her life? Hers...Halas...Karas...did he matter to them? He was an orphan, a street punk, living in a world where people around him looked at him but never extended their hand to him. Here...in Crepusculum...he mattered to people, or at least to some people. This thought was so alien to him he didn't even think it was his own thoughts.
Yet still...he welcomed the fact, if even for a second, he could have a family.
"You're welcome Jasmine." he said, not using her nickname this time.
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Post by glitters on Dec 9, 2009 6:13:39 GMT -5
It did send Jasmine off-guard slightly, hearing her full name rather than the usual "Jas"...but she liked it. It was different, like he was, and after living with her mother for so many years where everything seemed to always be the same she was beginning to really like different.
Now would she say this? Probably not, now didn't seem like a good time. It never did.
Jasmine pulled away suddenly, giving a quick glance around almost as though she were checking to see if they were still alone before giving Andy another big smile as she spoke again.
"D-do you think we missed anything here, or should we be heading back? We shouldn't be gone too long, leaving Papa with his crazy imagination and all..."
She could already imagine the man freaking out at the rest of the group. Thankfully there were so many people around now to help knock sense into him.
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Post by Andy Jammer on Dec 9, 2009 10:27:26 GMT -5
Andy's eyes darted back up to the flames and at her, Vincent's panics were the least of his concerns. He figured though they out stayed their welcome.
"Yeah...we should catch up with them now. There's nothing else here." he said, his eyes darting back to the burning house one last time.
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Post by glitters on Dec 9, 2009 17:55:38 GMT -5
Jasmine watched Andy and even took a couple of extra glances to the house herself. She took a deep breath and turned her back on it then, grabbing for Andy's hand to guide him to do the same.
"There is nothing else here for us so we only have to say goodbye to the memories and move forward. Mother's body will become one with the ground and even she won't be here. Her spirit is around though, and she watches us wherever we're going. She's always trying to help us, she's always with us."
And with that, Jasmine headed back to the path to find the rest of the group.
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