I Want the Truth
By: Jetboard Kid

Jak sat alone on the steps in the Spargus throne room. The whole of the city was celebrating his victory and he hated them for it. How could the people of Spargus celebrate when just a few short hours ago their King had died? It was wrong for them to celebrate; did they just not care?

Jak heard the elevator coming up and looked to see Sig. The two wastelanders exchanged somber looks as Sig came up to him, "May I join you?" Jak just nodded. The older wastelander sat down, he understood why Jak was upset; he had watched Damas die, and Sig knew that couldn't have been easy. He understood, or at least he thought he did.

They sat there quietly, "I don't understand." Jak finally said. Sig looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "How can everyone be so happy? Don't they care that their King is dead?"

Sig shook his head, "Most of them don't know what's happened." Sig explained.

Jak looked at him, "What? How do they not know?"

"I haven't told them."

"Why does that fall to you?" Jak asked.

Sig closed his eye and sighed, "Because with Damas gone, I'm the king."

Jak just looked at him, "Well why haven't you told them?"

Sig cracked a smile, "Because out here we almost never have anything to celebrate. Tomorrow everyone will know the truth, but tonight let them be happy." Sig sighed, "He would have wanted it this way anyways." Sig looked at the room and with a sigh placed a hand over his face, "I failed him." he whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Jak asked.

Sig looked at him, contemplating on whether or not he should say; he sighed, knowing that now it didn't matter who he told, "I told you Damas lost something in Haven and he wanted me to find it. Remember?" Jak swallowed and nodded, remembering exactly what Sig had said and knew where this was going. "I was looking for his son. I spent over a year looking for him and I couldn't find him, and now, I have to stop. I can't rule the city and look for him."

Jak looked down at the water, so that was why Damas had asked Jak to find his son; he knew Sig wouldn't be able to and that way he died knowing that someone was still looking for his kid. "You don't need to worry about that." Jak said, his voice cracking a little, Sig looked at him, "Damas asked me to find him, and I know where he is."

Sig's mouth hung open, "What? How? Where is he? Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

Jak looked at him, "Last year, the underground was protecting a two-year-old boy." Jak reached into his pocket and pulled out the seal of Mar that his younger self had given him, "He had this around his neck."

Sig just stared at the amulet, "How did you get that?"

"He gave it to me; just before he went through the rift ring back to Sandover." Sig just stared. Jak sighed as he put the seal away, "You didn't fail him; you found his son."

Now Sig was just confused, "What are you talking about?"

"Sig, I grew up in Sandover village, then I found the rift ring and came here. After I killed Kor, my younger self gave me the seal and then I sent him back to Sandover." Sig just stared at the younger elf, Jak pulled his knees to his chest, "I was the boy you were looking for. I'm Damas' son."

Sig's mouth just hung open; it was just too unbelievable to be true, the man that sat next to him, who had killed the Metal-head leader and had saved them all from the Dark Markers, was the little boy he had spent over a year looking for. His first thought was Jak was lying but now that he had said it he could see the relation between Jak and Damas. Why hadn't he seen this before? Jak's ability over eco should have been a clue that he was related to Mar somehow. "But if you knew why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't know." Jak stated, resting his forehead on top of his knees, Sig placed a comforting hand on the young warrior's back, "I didn't know until it was too late."

"Jak I'm… I'm so sorry." Sig stammered. He had been wrong, so very wrong as to why Jak was upset. He hadn't lost just a king or a friend like everyone else in the city. He had lost his father, a father that he was now never going to know, "If I had known I would have said something."

Jak looked at him; "I know you would have." he looked back at the water, anger filling him again, "You're the only one who would." He stood up, his fists clenched, "I have to go." He stated, heading for the elevator. Sig didn't stop him.

He walked through the streets looking for her, he was furious. What she had said was playing over and over again in his head, 'I knew Damas would find you. He doesn't miss much in this desert.'

'How do you know him?' Jak had asked; it was what she had said next that infuriated him.

'It doesn't matter now.'

She had known who he was, she had known that Damas was his father and she had thought that didn't matter? He found her and Torn near the beach; he made his way to them, not knowing what he was going to say. She saw him and smiled, "Jak, there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." he came closer as she spoke, his fists clenched tight, "There's something I need to ta-" he punched her. She fell on the ground and looked at him holding her cheek, "What the hell!" she yelled as Torn helped her up.

"What is your problem?!" Torn demanded.

"Torn, this doesn't involve you." Jak stated.

"The hell it doesn't!" Torn was now standing between the two.

"Torn, stand down." Ashelin ordered. He did. "Jak, maybe we should talk privately."

"Fine." Jak said in a low tone, "My house isn't far." He started to walk away.

Ashelin started to follow him as did Torn. She looked at him, "Torn, no. I need to talk to him alone."

"Ashelin, he just hit you."

"And whatever's going on, I can handle it." she smiled, "Go enjoy the party. That's an order." Torn sighed, knowing better then to disobey an order, even ones that he knew were more of a joke, and bowed his head as she and Jak walked off.

"Okay, so, what's going on?" Ashelin asked as they walked into Jak's house. She crossed her arms and gave him a playful smile as Jak shut the door, "Did Keira find out that we kissed?"

Jak just started at her; did she really think this was about a meaningless kiss? "No!" He snapped, "This has nothing to do with that!"

"Then what is this about?"

Jak just stared at her a moment before telling her, "Damas."

Ashelin eyes widened, "I was looking for him too. There's something I need to tell the both of you," She smiled, "And neither of you are going to believe it."

Jak leaned on the door, his arms crossed, "I know, he's my father."

The smile fell from Ashelin's face, "You know?"

Jak looked away from her, "Yeah, I do."

"Does he?"

Jak closed his eyes, "No." he said in low tone.

Ashelin just started at him, "If you knew, why haven't you told him? Where is he?"

Jak glared at her, "He's dead."

Ashelin's gasped, letting this fact sink in. She sat down on the couch and looked at the floor, she looked back at Jak who was still glaring at her, "Jak, I'm so sorry. When did he…?" she couldn't bring herself to say it.

Jak didn't need her to, "A few hours ago."

"I can't believe he's gone."

"Stop pretending like you care." Jak ordered, his voice rising a bit.

"I do care."

"No you don't!" he snapped, small burst of dark eco jumping from him, "If you ever cared you would have told me sooner!" Ashlein curled away instinctively; Jak's hair and skin were slowly turning gray as his anger at her became more prominent. "You knew the entire time and you never told me!" he was yelling now; his eyes had turned black and his claws extended.

"Jak, calm down before one of us gets hurt." Ashlein said, he was blocking the only way out and he was losing control.

"No! Do you have any idea what I could have had?! What I've lost!? Because of you!" He looked away from her; he was so upset that he was shaking, trying so hard to stay in control.

"Jak, I'm sorry!" Ashelin yelled, "What else can I say? You're right, I knew the whole time and I should have told you sooner. But please, understand that I have my reasons."

Jak wanted to hit her, but he knew if he did he'd most likely would kill her. And yes part of him wanted her to die but not the part of him that was sane. Instead he hit the wall behind him, dark eco escaping his body in deadly bursts. "What reason could there be to justify what you've done?" he asked, in a low tone.

"Jak, I needed you in Haven, we were dying and you were the only one who could help us. And I thought that if you knew who he was then you wouldn't come back."

"I would have, at some point."

"It would have been too late. We needed you then."

Jak shook his head, "Ashelin, the only reason I came back to Haven was dumb luck. I wasn't trying to go back."

Ashelin shook her head; he was still completely dark but seemed to calm down a bit. "Regardless, I regret it but I did what I thought I needed to do. I'm truly sorry for what that cost you, but what else could I have done?"

The dark elf leaned on the door, "You could have told me." he sighed, changing back, "Ashelin, how did you know him?"

Ashelin looked away from him, ashamed, "Jak… I should have told you when you asked the first time. I was wrong not to, and I know that, but now that he's gone… what difference does it make?"

"I have a right to know." Jak stated.

Ashelin looked at him for a long moment before saying, "You're right, you do." she sighed, "But you're not going believe me." he just stood there, quietly. Ashelin looked at her feet, "I grew up in the Haven palace, I've never lived anywhere else."

Jak shook his head, "Well that makes sense, your father was the Baron."

Ashelin chuckled, "Jak, my father was only sixteen when I was born." Jak just started at her, his eyes widened as she continued, "Your grandparents were still running the city."

"My… grandparents?"

"Yeah, when I was little I actually thought they were my grandparents."

"Why?" Jak asked, completely confused.

"Because they raised my father. And because or that…" Ashelin bit her lip, "Our fathers were friends, in fact they were basically brothers." Jak just stared at her, "both of your parents and your grandparents were like family to me. I don't know what I would be if your family didn't have such a big pull in my life."

"You knew both of my parents." Jak asked, Ashlein nodded. "You knew… my mother."

"Yes. I knew her." Ashlein sadly looked at the floor. "She… she was the closest thing to a mother that I had growing up. There was only about a nine-year difference between us but I honestly always saw her as more of a mother growing up."

"What about your mom?"

Ashelin shrugged, "I never knew her. After I was born she made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with me or my father. So we lived in the palace with your family."

"What were they like?" Jak asked.

"Your family? Well, I was really young when your grandparents died so I can't really say I remember too much about them. But…" a smile stretched across Ashelin's face, "I do remember that your grandmother was one of the nicest people you could have met as long as you stayed on her good side. And your grandfather was a great leader, however his sense of humor was a bit… cruel at times." Ashelin looked at her feet, "As for your mother, well… where do I even start?" Jak just stood there, waiting, "She was… amazing to say the least. Like I said, she was the closest thing to a mom that I had growing up. She was very kind…" Ashelin chuckled a bit, "when she wanted to be. You and Damas were everything to her. She ran away from home when she was very young just to be with him."

"Why did she run away?" Jak asked.

Ashelin shrugged, "Something about her father being over protective of her. I was a toddler when that happened so I don't really remember the reason."

"Damas never mentioned her." Jak said, "What happened to her?"

Ashelin was quiet for a moment. "She was murdered." Jak's eyes widened as Ashelin continued, "The same night you disappeared, the same night my father took over the city."

"Who killed her?" Jak asked, thinking that he already knew.

"Whoever took you." She stated.

He was right; Jak shut his eyes tight, keeping his dark side from taking over again. It had really been a bad day for him. He wanted Veger dead for everything he had done. Because of him he had never known his father and the bastard had even been the one to kill his mother; Jak wanted him dead. But what good would that really do? It wouldn't change what happened and it wouldn't bring anyone back and the fact that it would be so easy to end him would not make him feel any better. Jak sighed and looked back at Ashelin, "What was her name?" he asked, so quietly that she almost didn't hear him.

"Molly." She told him.

Jak kept asking questions and Ashelin answered them as best she could. Jak had to admit, there was a lot that she told him that he didn't believe. "Okay, stop." Jak interrupted, "The Baron used to babysit me?"

"Yes." Ashelin said, "Like I said, we treated each other like family." She laughed, "I grew up thinking your parents were my aunt and uncle." The smile fell from her face, "I miss them, all of them. I can only imagine what life would have been like if things had been just a bit different." They sat quietly for a long moment, neither of them saying anything. Ashelin pulled out her communicator to check the time, she sighed as she put it back in her pocket, "It's getting late, I should find Torn and head home." She got up and smiled at Jak, "Unless you want me to stay." She added, teasing him.

Jak's eyes widened, "Um… no." he checked the time awkwardly, "I wonder if Keira's still here."

Ashelin chuckled, "A word of advice, you might want to tell her that you kissed me." Jak's eyes widened, "You don't want her hearing about it from someone else." She said walking to the door.

"Okay one: you kissed me. It was not the other way around." He stated, opening the door for her and walking out into the city with her, "And two: who's going to tell her? and if you say you will, I will punch you again."

Ashelin snickered, "Well I'm not going to, but you know Daxter might."

Jak opened his mouth to retort but closed it again, Daxter would know to keep something like that to himself but it really didn't take much for him to get drunk. "I need to go find Keira." He said, starting to walk away.

Ashelin was silent a moment as he walked away, but then she called out to him; he stopped and turned back to her. She looked so sad as she walked up to him and then she embraced him like a brother, "I truly am sorry." She whispered. Jak closed his eyes and hugged her back. She pulled away from him, "They would have been proud of you."

"I know." Jak whispered before pulling away from her and walking down the street.

End.

Jet: Hi, it's been a while since I posted a story but I've been trying to work on a number of projects at once; my TLF write out, my own books, a re-write of The Untold Story, trying to write Jamie's story and trying to re-start Lilly's story on top of the videos I want to work on and all the pictures I keep doing. So I need to do something that I could finish and post and this story was fun to do. Ashelin knew Damas and knew who Jak was- and that never really gets addressed in the game, I know she does have that one line at the end where it implied that she didn't know that Jak's name was Mar but that line never made sense to me. She knew who he was- I mean for crying out loud she gave Jak back his seal. She knew that he was the kid. But that's all I have to say on the matter, I'm still working on my TLF write out, I just have about five chapters left to write and then I can start posting that. But let me know what you all thought about this story and I'll look forward to hearing from everyone.