Disclaimer: I do not own Jak and Daxter and I do not own Just A Little Girl by Amy Studt. All copyrights belong to the songwriters/composers etc
A/N: Hey guys! I just wanted to say a few things before you started reading the awaited sequel to Krimson Underground. The first thing I might suspect you guys may be asking is why this story isn't calledDestined Mother as it was originally going to be called and basically its because I wasn't really keen on the title and also I was listening to my itunes and a British artist called Amy Studt started playing. You may not be familiar with her but when I started listening to her I kind felt like she was singing about Aella for some reason and I thought maybe I could base her journey on her album False Smiles, hence the title of this story.
This is basically going to begin four years after the end of Krimson Underground and is actually going to take her through to after Jak is born so this is going to be a rather long story in fact if you really want to know its going to be including the prologue and the epilogue, fifty-one chapters long. I don't know at this point if this is going to change but that is all I can really tell you at this point. So I'm going to stop talking and let you read.
I know this makes me sound like a geek but if you want to know an interesting thing I found out, the name Aella is not made up entirely, it means 'whirlwind' in Greek and is the name of an Amazon warrior killed by Herakles (or Hercules as he is also known as) when on the task/quest to obtain Hippolyta's girdle. So that was an interesting thing I found out and I might incorporate those meanings a little bit into the story. Anyway. Shutting up now and enjoy the first chapter.
Prologue
For Mental Verin
Sometimes I feel you're not listening
Sometimes I feel you don't understand
But I think I've got the answer
Already know what you're gonna say
'Cause I'm just a little girl you see
But there's a hell of a lot more to me
Don't ever underestimate what I can do
Don't ever tell me how I'm meant to be
-Just A Little Girl, Amy Studt
~ (***) ~
After leaving your father in the desert I went to a life of desolation and secrecy back in the city where those who were in control wanted me dead. But I was a hard woman to find alive, let alone a resistance fighter who was hard to kill. I saw the future my child and I knew my legacy would live on past the death which I gladly gave up if I had to. Obviously, most people would think that I took the wrong option and because of that I made the worst decision of my life but you know me, my darling, I have no regrets. I refuse to give in to such a thing. Your uncle, along with many people, and it was not very many, who heard this story, except for the proposal of marriage thought I was a fool or mad. Perhaps I was both. I always had my moments when I knew I had something stupid or beyond the limits of sanity. But still no regrets. Some people would turn and run. That isn't in my nature, then again I turned and ran from my destiny because it wasn't part of my plan. That was something which scared me the most. Others may have accepted your fathers offer and simply forgot what they left behind. However as you may have well gathered I am not like many people. I was not afraid to die for what I believed. Something else which not many people had. I was not afraid to face death and laugh back. It wasn't just from the government it was those for all directions.
Power is a word which has to be used with great caution because it can mean a lot of things, Jak. I only say these things because I fear you may be corrupted as I once was. It is a concept in itself to be feared also. With the combination of imagination sometimes it can have no limits and it can also endlessly feed the greed of empty souls. I've seen it happen and that is why I am telling you this because I know you will be going down a road where you shall be tempted by such things. Don't ever use that word until you have fully understood what it means and have thought about it prior to opening your mouth and speaking as to whether it is the right word to use in that context. It is a word which has echoed across the centuries and has been used far too many times. Power can also be attributed to the power a government has over a city or country. It can refer to the power a gang leader has over the streets. It could be a power to see the future gifted by a deity for unknown reasons. It could even refer to the power I had over the city. I sound a little hypocritical and egotistical but in some ways that was actually the case. Otherwise Praxis wouldn't be so afraid of me as he would search for me endlessly throughout the city. He wouldn't have driven your father and I away. You may think that this may be somewhat ironic to say I have any power at all but allow me to explain.
When there is a corrupted government it is able to have control over everywhere in the sector which it controls as we can take into account the fact that it will have connections with the underground crime ring. It will have control over the monastery because there would of course be riots if anyone broke the law which can be dominated to a certain extent by the religion or belief of that particular area. This soon spreads like a disease and soon the people begin to follow suit. They are so drunk on their own power it is unbelievable. I never thought that such power could be possible and that so much freedom could be diminished in such little time in the name of justice. Yet again another dangerous word to use in terms of how it is applied. Never did they believe that they could achieve this much. They are soon blinded by this power and are unable to see the dangers of behaving this way coming. You must always be alert and by doing so you must be, like your father was, always focused and never to let that power get to your head. Another problem this creates is that as a result of stretching their legal as well as moral capabilities they forget those who remember those boundaries. That being me and I must admit I have no shame into admitting I was the one who solicited that fear.
Now in the actions that I took in the first few years of being leader of the underground is that like a cure to a disease I reminded the people of these morals and principles and the amount of crime began to sway. I still didn't understand how they were so easy to cure as I could say. They were so quick to dismiss the rightful King for another, so easily as I could have swayed them back to that old belief in their true king. Although I told them a lie, a terrible lie as terrible as the one Praxis told them. He told them that their king was a traitor. I told them that their king would return to save them. Praxis had told them he was gone for good, I convinced them otherwise even though in reality this was never to be the case. In that sense I could truly committed a crime. Although then again it depends of your idea of crime actually is. A crime in Haven City under Praxis' rule could arguably be called justice as the funny thing about a corrupt government is that law and morality are completely different things. I soon began to withhold the power to actually overthrow Praxis not through means of wealth or social standing but through the ways which always got me to the success I once had and that was always sticking to the right path and never looking sideways. Sheer willpower. If you stray from it as Praxis did and always will do you will gradually begin to lose that power.
Also those in power also forget the power of revolutionary. Revolution is very rightfully seen as a virus but some can be used to cure the virus which threatens to kill the body. I am that very cure, as you will be.
~ (***) ~
Aella sat in the little hideout which had been the closest thing she could call home for the past four years waiting from her brother to return along with the rest of the teams from their mission. She looked at the night sky wondering for a moment whether she was watching the moon and the stars at the same time as Damas...She still thought about him more than she cared to admit. She was never going to rid herself of the staining of his lips on hers. Sometime she could feel the burning on her lips on hers. It made her go red thinking about it and turned back to the task at hand. That was why she was still here after all. She twirled the dagger in her hand for a few minutes and got bored putting it back in the holder on her hip and paced around the room for a few minutes and also got bored of that. She was restless as well as annoyed. Beforehand she had an argument with them all, meaning the rest of the Underground. They were trying to suggest different ways of running the operation and even told her that it may be best if she sat out of this one for the time being. That was what got her really annoyed. They looked at her, despite being the leader and only saw her as a weak, naïve woman when she was perhaps older than most of them and thought it would be best if she sat on the sidelines. They all claimed that she was worried about her, just like Damas was and if she went into battle they wouldn't be in this situation.
When she set up the Underground she had no intention of being the kind of leader who organised and then set everyone off to their possible deaths. She was the kind that if a king was to issue a command of someone's execution she would be the one to swing the sword. She had no fear of getting her hands dirty. She never feared anything. She was never like that when she worked for the Krimson Guard and she wasn't about to start to behave like that now. She was the kind of leader who planned and was the first one out the door. However recently her visions had become worse and even came during some missions which did endanger those on her team but they also thought this may be a result of stress. There had to be some medical reason why she had them at certain times or when she went days or even weeks without having one. There was no way she was just able to bring them to her if she wanted. Not unless there was someone out there who could train her mind. She was interpreting this as a sign that they were afraid of the consequences of their actions and wanted to find a politer way of leaving the Underground. She was about to do something which she knew she would regret later but at the present time was something to curb her anger. Her brother stepped forward and took her to one side.
"Sit this one out, Aella. Please."
She glared at her younger brother and replied through gritted teeth. "You know how long it has taken me to set this operation up. I run it. It is my life on the line so don't think-"
"You don't think these guys are sacrificing themselves? You don't think they are in any danger? Aella please. You're becoming more and more dangerous for the team. Just give it a few weeks. Sort this out and maybe it will be okay. Please." He implored.
However since they still remained it was pretty obvious that this wasn't the case. There had been no visions that night which annoyed her even more. They were worried about nothing and they were going to know it once they got back.
~ (***) ~
The night was quiet as usual in their sanctuary. Metrodona wondered when Onin was going to join them up in the mountains. She remembered during the purges two years ago that instead of leaving the city she decided to stay behind. She felt that it was her duty rather than run away in the opposite direction. She remembered that her parting words were that she was to be their protector from fear. If they needed hope for the future they would just have to come to her and tell them when their salvation would come. Metrodona asked after this salvation and Onin simply told her that her visions of this hope would come to her when the time was right...
Metrodona looked up and smiled when she saw Seem come in. "Seem...Is there something the matter?"
Seem gave her a fearful look. "I saw something. Something terrible...Metrodona."
The young girl began to cry. She remembered when she first found her on the street after her parents had died in a fire. She had so much fear in her eyes. She would always remember that but it was undeniable that she had the vision. So many people did have these gifts but they didn't realise it. They had no idea how much they had to give to the monasteries. They had no idea how much they were needed by the world...
She wrapped her arms around her and stroked her hair. "Shhh. It's alright, child. There is nothing to fear. There is nothing to fear as long as she comes to us..."
"Who?"
She was silent for a long time. She had to be honest she didn't know how to answer her. She only really saw her. She simply saw her walking towards the temple, speaking the oracle and walking into the fire without fear. That was all she could tell her if she was to ask of her vision but she knew that would never be enough.
"The next Aella..."