***
'It is time...'
the voice was croaky as if they had gone too long in silence. Ice picks for fingers touched her shoulder and Jasmines eyes snapped open.
'Are you woke, child?'
His hair was midnight black. His eyes were a piercing blue that rivaled the Caribbean Sea.
'You have seen what the stone bears. You gain the knowledge of your creators.'
Jasmine could only stare at him. An entity only she could see...
An entity that had been with her since she could remember...
***
"I see you are awake, witch." The monotone voice of the silver haired elf greeted her. Jasmine looked at him, and through him at the same time.
She was a little girl again... sitting all alone in a white room where she was by herself and crowded at the same time. Her world was never quiet.
It was the blue eyed man who kept the nightmares away...
"Witch-" "My name is Jasmine." Jasmine whispered as she remained on her back with her hands on her stomach.
The elf remained silent, "Your name matters not to me, girl." Jasmine blinked at his hard tone.
"You see the past."
"I see the dead."
"Death is past life. You see the past." The elf corrected. Jasmine looked at him, "The stone. What did it show you?"
"The past." Jasmine whispered.
Edymond stepped into the room to be greeted with an invisible wall that was gone with a raise of his hand. "Your spells are pathetic at best, girl. You should stick to healing others." The elf stepped further into the room until he was at the foot of her bed. He stood tall, with his hands in his pockets. "Those that see the past tend to become powerful healers." He spared Jasmine a glance before he made his way to her bookshelf. "If the darkness does not corrupt them, they grow to become the guardians of life, is what my teacher told me when I was taught to heal." Jasmine only listened, her mind going between the past and the present.
"Do you see the past?" Jasmine whispered, "No." the elf replied. The silence stretched between them, until Jasmine spoke again, "You're a more powerful healer than me."
"I am far older than you, girl. The magic in my blood is also stronger than yours."
Jasmine looked at the elf who looked elsewhere. "If you train well enough, your healing capabilities will surpass mine in given time." Jasmine blinked. "Your eyes resemble those of the Goddess. Do the nightmares plague you as well, girl?" "Nightmares have visited me since childhood." Jasmine whispered. She recalled the white coats that would put silver rods to her head and lighting would course through her body.
They would ask her questions and if she said the wrong answers she would be thrown in a padded room wearing a white jacket that took movement from her arms.
She recalled fists, booted feet, and cigarettes being pressed to arms and legs when she would wake up screaming. Jasmines eyes drifted to the closet door, remembering a time when that tiny room was all she knew…
"I... I apologize." Edymond whispered. His voice was shaking. When her eyes travelled down the length of his body, she noted that he was shaking. Hands that were once in his pocket were balled fists at his sides.
"I have pried too far." The elf whispered again.
With a gasp, Jasmine shot up. Without thinking, her thoughts were voiced aloud...
"I..." there was nothing she could say. But that look in his eyes, that sad, helpless look... it told her more than his limited words could.
"Edymond-"
"Edymond!" Angalo called as he carried a limp Atoli into the house. Axel followed with a limp Myriah. 'Goddess…' Edymond thought as he waited for the witch to get up as well.
Should we still be injured Edymond would have three injured to deal with on his own.
"Jasmine!" Angalo called again. Jasmine tossed her feet over the bed and followed Angalos voice with Edymond hot on her feet.
"What happened?" Kain asked as he came into the room shortly after Edymond and Jasmine.
"It's Myriah-" Tyler gasped and paused as Mika guided him to a seat. "And what happened to you?" Kain asked the wheezing boy.
"He got crushed." Mika muttered. Kains wyes widened a fraction as he helped Tyler sit down.
"How-"
"Bring the Vampiress before me." Edymond murmured. Jasmine looked at Myriah who was curled in Axels arms. The last time she healed this girl, unspeakable images plagued her mind. The rage and the shame were all too familiar...
'That makes us the same…'
Jasmine has taken an immediate curiosity to Myriah despite the girls cold shoulder to her. She wanted to know her. How she deals with the darkness. If she remembers…
"Why are they unconscious?" Jasmine whispered.
"Myriah..." Axel shook his head, "Myriah touched the stone again."
"What-" Kain started but Angalo held up a hand, "You know it had to be done. Had you been straightforward rather than having a pissing match with our witch over here, who is probably a quarter of your age, we wouldn't be dealing with this."
"I-"
"Enough." Axel barked. He looked to Jasmine who spoke:
"When I touched the stone... I saw memories." Jasmine murmured as she stepped out of Axels way so he could continue to Myriahs room. "Memories?" Axel asked. Jasmine nodded, "I can tell the difference between a dream and a memory, though they may both be the same to you." Axel narrowed his eyes, but Jasmine ignored him, "I felt indescribable anger."
"So did she." Axel murmured. "She seamed to have gone mad. Lost in a whirlwind of emotion." Jasmine tilted her head, "You say you saw memories." Angalo murmured, "what exactly did you see?"
Jasmine took a deep breath, "I may be wrong, but I believe I saw the one that is Called Teacher." She summarized, Axel and Anglao froze. They looked at one another with wide eyes. After a long moment they both looked at the witch. "I saw the ancient dragon, Caddock." She said again. Axel and Angalo looked at one another while Edymond looked at the witch. "And I believe that is his heart that we bear."
Kain flinched and caught edymonds gaze.
"Why do you believe that is Caddocks heart?" Kain asked while holding Edymonds gaze, "it beats. So the creature is alive." Jasmine obersved.
"Dragons were alive once, whose to say they're not still alive?"
Anglao and Axel shared a look.
"After all the pure ones were completely wiped out, and here is Myriah."
"Not to mention that golden flaming presence that dwells within Myriah." Tyler murmured, "the one that killed that woman, Zfyrina."
"Most importantly, Myriah can touch the stone and receive its memories."
"She also doesn't get burned." Axel murmured.