"Silent, slumbering giants wait to be awakened. Two heroes, destined to save the planet. One is silent and dark as death itself. The other is cheerful and a shining beacon to many. They will soon find out that not everything is the same as it used to be, and it never will be again."

Hey, it's me again. Yeah, Izaya. Last you heard from me, I was still seventeen and fixing up the Citadel, right? Well, things have changed since then. I guess I should start by saying that I got to stay in the Citadel for a good couple of years, fixing it up and studying Dark Eco. Yeah, I know what happened to Gol and Maia when they did that, obviously.

But as you probably remember, Dark Eco, even when I got hit with a rather large amount of it, had absolutely no effect on me. Well, it did have one... But I'll save that for when it's relevant. Anyway, Samos enlightened me to my true destiny, what I was really supposed to do.

Apparently, there is supposed to be a Sage of Dark Eco, and apparently, that Sage just so happens to be me. That's why it didn't affect me.

But either way, I spent a few years in the Citadel, studying Dark Eco, and even salvaging Gol and Maia's remains from the Silo. I put them in a special vat of carefully made Light Eco to 'detox' them from the Dark Eco. They're slowly changing back to what they're supposed to be.

But I didn't do that until I had experimented a little. Teko's human again, thanks to that experimentation, though. She's happy, but there's one tiny problem. I didn't leave her in the Light Eco long enough, so she can shape-shift between Ottsel and human forms now. And while that's not exactly a problem, as such, she tends to choose her Ottsel form over her human form most of the time.

"Been an Ottsel too long. I'm too used to it; my human form just feels weird... And I feel naked without my fur." She said when I inquired about it right before our second adventure started.

"You confuse me sometimes, Teko." I replied, shaking my head.

There was a knock on the door, mostly to signify that someone was there than because of necessity. I didn't bother looking to see who it was, just continuing to work.

"The door is open!" I called.

I heard it open and heavy footsteps approach me at my lab table.

"Still experimenting, Izaya?"

"Why not? It's not like I can know too much about Dark Eco." I replied.

Yeah, that one effect the Dark Eco had? I can talk now because of it. I didn't notice at first, since I'm naturally a relatively quiet person. I looked behind me, at Jak. Daxter hadn't come with him this time, apparently. Daxter never was around when I felt talkative. He still hadn't heard me say anything since before the fight with Gol and Maia.

"Daxter still not like coming up here?" I asked.

"Nope. Reminds him too much of the chance he lost." He replied.

"And yet, he told me he's had plenty of chances to change back but never took them."

"The one chance he actually wanted, then." Jak amended.

"So, what did you come up here for? It's not like you to just visit."

"Heh, you know me too well." He chuckled, "Samos sent me up here to get you. We're heading to Haven City and he wants you to come along."

"Oooh, I get to go to the future. Nice!" I said, "Except for the fact that it's ravaged and pretty much broken."

Jak rolled his eyes. "Oh, be nice. Haven is my home, whether I like it or not."

I chuckled, "Oh, I know, I know. I'm just not all that keen on war-ravaged places. Most distastefully bad Juju comes outta places like that."

"Yeah, well you'll give them all the creeps too, Izaya."

Teko laughed at that before changing back into an Ottsel and jumping onto my shoulder. She did her usual lazy number and laid down across my shoulders and the back of my neck instead of standing up. I rolled my eyes now but followed him out of the Citadel. We hopped through the Warp Gate, and then we were in Samos' hut.

"Hey, Gramps. Long time no see!" Teko immediately said, completely eliminating the need for me to say anything.

It seemed like Teko and Daxter were determined to make sure no one knew I could talk. I shared a look with Jak but just gave up.

"Don't call me that, you furry little— Whuh?!"

She had jumped off my shoulder and turned back into a human. "What was that about being furry?"

I snickered behind my hand at the shock in the room. None of them had seen her since I isolated us up in the Citadel. None of them but Jak, that is. He was the only one willing to go up there and visit me from time to time.

"What're you sniggering about?" Daxter asked in annoyance.

Yet again, I didn't even have to say anything. Damn it Teko, couldn't you have let me say something to him, at least? It gets frustrating when you actually can talk, but no one gives you the chance. I know why you weren't letting me talk, but maybe we should've let him in on it.

"She's sniggering at you guys because you didn't expect to see me back in my original form." She scrunched up her nose. "Okay, I feel really naked without my fur. I'm changing back now."
And with that, she hopped back onto my shoulder.

"Anyway, we're goin' to Haven City? Why'd you want us to come, Old Green Stuff?"

"I wanted you and Izaya to get a look at what you'll no doubt be experiencing again sometime soon. Soon for you because you'll be locked in stasis until after we bring you back here."

"Wait, what? Locked in stasis where? I don't understand a word that just came out of your mouth, Old Man!"

"Well, we're taking you to Haven City so you can know what to expect. You'll be in stasis pods in Gol and Maia's Citadel up until after we bring the present versions of you back here. I can't tell you exactly when you'll be put in stasis or how long you'll actually have to wait to get out, but this is basically a survival run." Jak explained.

"So… let me get this straight, you're basically throwing us to the dogs and making sure we can actually survive in Haven before you bring us back here and then go back to wake us up, right?" Teko asked after a moment.

"That's a rough translation, but accurate." Torn replied.

"Okay, bring it on."

"Shouldn't you ask Izaya about it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope. She agrees. I've known her long enough to know that."

When they looked at me I only rolled my eyes. I didn't trust Teko not to interrupt me. They all took that as a yes and had Jak power up the Rift Rider and Rift Ring—new versions that Keira had been working on for some time. For some reason, no one else could get it powered up.

So we piled into the Rift Rider and waited for it to shoot into the Ring.

"Hopefully it doesn't fall apart and scatter us this time." Daxter said nervously.

"I built this one sturdier than the last one. Don't worry about it, Dax." Keira said offhandedly.

If I could've gotten a word in edgewise, I would've made a remark about my confidence in that, but, as usual, I was interrupted.

"Why does that not inspire confidence in me?" Teko asked.

Took the words right out of my mouth. The little bugger.

I just rolled my eyes again and waited. And, right when I started to get impatient and opened my mouth to say something, we shot forward at an insane speed. You have to understand that for me to call any speed insane it has to be very, very fast, so you can grasp exactly how fast we were going. And let me tell you, my skin was flat against my cheekbones. Yeesh, I've never moved that fast in my life.

And then, it spat us out, in mid-air. If it weren't for the fact that I've never been scared of heights, I probably would've screamed along with Teko and Daxter, but, along with Jak, I just stoically watched as the city grew closer and closer to the edge of the Rift Rider. At the same time, we grabbed our furry friends and jumped off the side, rolling into a standing position. We high fived with blank expressions.

I looked around blankly. Oh, bugger...