A/N: This is only going to be a two- or three-part fic, so don't worry about a delay on The Rejected or Mary Porter and the Musician's Metronome, if you enjoy reading those stories. This is a story focusing on Seem. I hope you like it. :)
A special thanks to Krin for letting this be published. This is no way intended at all to be plagiarized of her original idea, so don't even think that it is. After finishing this chappie you must go and read one of her masterpieces, for this is nothing compared to her writing. Now, on with the story!
Disclaimer: -Sighs- why do I even bother with these anymore? I don't own Seem or the Temple or Spargus or Haven City or Onin or Pecker or the Krimson Guard or Damas or Kleiver or Baron Praxis or anything relating to that. This is in no way intended to be an infringement of any worldwide copyright laws at all, and is done simply to amuse myself when I should be doing my Algebra homework. -Sheepish grin- All stuff relating to Jak belongs to NaughtyDog!
Key terms to know (All are Spanish)
Muchacha - Girl
Templo de Montaña - Mountain Temple (Temple of the Mountain)
Siesta - Nap
Policía - Police Officer
Esperanza – Hope
Amor - Love
Luz - Light
Geheim paced the sandy floor next to the window. Streams of sunlight rained on her and the chamber. Pacing, thinking, stopping to stare out at the window, pacing again… Five steps forward, five steps back, five steps forward…
"…Geheim?" asked a white-faced monk. The priestess turned to face the tiny man. Ocean-blue eyes sparkled up at her with concern; a chalk white hand placed itself on her shoulder. "The Council wishes to know if you have decided."
She shook her head no; this was much to hard a decision to make for her. The fates were not controlled by only one force, and it was not up to her to choose.
The solemn monk nodded silently, and left the chamber in a cloud of distress.
Geheim turned her old, frail body towards the sunlit window. What an enigma, life was. Hers was coming to an end dangerously soon, and, because of her position as High Priestess, she was given the option of selecting an heir. She looked into the beautiful red sunset, wondering what it would be like to fly with the clouds in the Afterlife.
Again, the Council haunted her memories. Nearly a month ago, it had been.
She looked around the wide room, standing in the great semi-circular center of the Temple. There were no windows; only a great skylight in the roof that filtered dull light into the room. Around the circular part of the wall, several elves either of great age or great wisdom sat on small, orange cushions: the Council of the Precursors. She'd only been before the Council once, a long, long time ago that she barely recalled.
The Council was made of all male members, monks and priests, mostly, but a few spiritually perfected Outsiders as well. These men were of the highest caliber on the planet. They foresaw the future, learned of the past, and determined many things that affected the present. The men never left the Temple and never spoke with women, save for the High Priestess. Few Outsiders had ever had even the slightest notion the Council existed.
The one seated in the center of the Council stood and spoke. All the other Council members observed emotionlessly.
"High Priestess Geheim, welcome to the Council Chamber. We have foreseen something very grave concerning you. It should be no surprise that in less than two months, you are going to die. You have served the Temple and the Council superbly, but, clearly, it is your time to leave this world very soon.
"You have but one decision left before your life expires: do you wish to select your own heir, or have the Council choose?"
"... I shall require time for consideration, Grobein," she replied. The one addressing her, Grobein the Almighty, sat again.
"You are free to go, Priestess."
She bowed, and scampered out of the Council Chamber. The place scared her; it was, after all, the spiritual center of the planet. But why the Spirit had only masculine mediums and channelers befuddled her. Women were the celebrated Bringers of Life, and surely they deserved a portion of the Spirit. She and all the other High Priestesses since the beginning of Time were the only females to ever come within the presence of the Spirit; other women weren't even allowed in the Temple.
Geheim's heart jumped in Hope; there was still Hope for the Spirit, still hope for the Council. She would choose her heir. She would choose the one who would realize the Spirit's potential and would set free the Spirit for the world. She would choose well.
Luz was a short twelve year old with hollow red eyes lacking in emotion and dark, dark hair. Though she was gorgeous in a very strange sort of way, she was considered abnormal, heretical, even. She walked dejectedly with her sad eyes always down at the ground, and was never at peace.
Esperanza pulled her depressed child along through the Bazaar. Poor Luz, she just had to live as a rejected Water Slummer. Esperanza frowned guiltily as she thought of all the time she left her daughter home alone while she worked one of her three jobs. She tightened her arm around her daughter's shoulder. Luz was the reason Esperanza lived, as her husband had been banished from Haven City when she was still pregnant with Luz.
"Come, Child, Light of Mine, stay here, and be Free," Esperanza sang softly. Luz glanced upward for a second into her mother's dim, sorrowful brown orbs that were her eyes. Esperanza saw her husband's, Amor's, eyes in her daughter: a fiery red determination with an unmatched strength. A single, chilled tear dropped down Esperanza's cheek. She resumed singing. "Child, stay, for here is better than out in the cold; don't escape into the outside world, for here, it is just the two of us…"
"Just the two of us, forever intertwined in Love," finished Luz. It was a lullaby her mother had sung to her since she could remember. It was one of the few things her mother knew; Esperanza was not only illiterate but had had no formal schooling, either.
"Light of Mine, which way is Onin's?" Esperanza whispered, motioning to a sign written in Precursorian.
"To the north and east," read Luz. Esperanza clutched Luz's shoulder again, and steered her along the streets of the Bazaar until they came to a great large canvas tent.
"Grandmother?" Esperanza called softly. The woman insidemoved her hands around, and the air around her gave off blue and green auras.
"Arwwak, Onin says salutations. Do you have any money to pay us for your fortune?" blurted a half-sleeping parrot that looked very much like a monkey. Esperanza whacked the Monkaw over the head.
"Greetings to you too, Pecker," she mumbled. The Monkaw squawked an apology.
"Suppose I'm stuck watching the muchacha again?" mumbled Pecker. Again, Esperanza slapped him.
"Yes, you will look after Luz for me. Luz, Light of Mine, be sure to get back in an hour or so," ordered Esperanza. Pecker grumbled and Luz nodded. Without another thought, Esperanza began 'talking' with her grandmother.
"So, muchacha, where are we, ARRWAK, going today?"
Luz rolled her red eyes at the bird hovering next to her and began walking to the Agricultural Sector, where she always went during the times her mother spent time with her great grandmother.
"Arg, not the Templo de Montaña again, muchacha!" whined Pecker. He said something about just getting a good siesta, but Luz ignored him.
A bit later, Luz walked up the giant ramp and through a tight airlock. She giggled happily as she breathed in fresh air from the area. It was all so tranquil and peaceful. Why couldn't she and her mother live here?
Luz dove through a Warp Gate and landed on the other side safely. She jumped over a platform and down an elevator, carefully avoiding Metal Heads and enjoying the beautiful greenery.
Pecker flapped his wings and perched on one of the upper limbs of great tree near a roaring waterfall and watched as Luz dove in.
"Muchacha, you are like a fish!" he exclaimed. Luz splashed him, much to his dismay.
"Pecker, you are like a monkey!" she retaliated. Pecker squawked and joined Luz in the water.
Luz surfaced and glanced up at the sky; it was turning a vibrant orange.
"Oh no! Pecker, it's been over three hours!" Luz cried out. The bird, which had been having a nice siesta, grumbled and flew behind Luz as she sprinted back to the Warp Gate, and inside Haven City.
Krimson Guards twirled around and bolted after her when they heard her screaming, "Where are you, Esperanza!" in the dying day. Obviously this child was trying to spark some sort of rebellion, screaming, "Where are you, hope?" The Guards chased after the child and pinned her down on the ground. One Guard dressed in yellow marched over to the struggling girl.
"Are your parents working with the Underground, kiddie?" sneered the Krimson Elite. He motioned for the Guards to pick her up.
"Come on, get her to the Palace," the Elite ordered the others. Then, he leered at Luz, "I'm sure the Baron will be quite interested in you."
"Esperanza! Esperanza? Help, Esperanza, help!" yelled Luz. She struggled wildly, crying for her mother.
"Hope can't help you now kid, so I suggest you shut the hell up!" bellowed the Elite. His Guards hauled her into the passenger seat of a HellCat.
"Mother! Esperanza! Pecker! Someone, please help!" called out Luz. The Elite became very frustrated, and knocked her out with the force of his gun.
"Hey, Policía! Arrwak, bring back the muchacha!" squawked Pecker, who was flying alongside the HellCat. The Elite growled and fired a bullet at the Monkaw. Pecker fell to the ground in pain, and watched as the HellCat zoomed away.
"For High Treason and Association with Underground Fugitives, you are from this day forth, banished from Haven City forever."
The Hover Bus pulled away into the sky, and Luz sat down and nearly cried. She tried to keep her strength, but somehow the child had been hollowed to an extreme; even her voice sounded like a soft hiss.
The Wasteland was silent around her as she stood up. Scared, she began to sing as best she could, even though she could only mouth the words. The sand around her had gotten inside her throat, which was unused to the harsh desert dust devils.
"Come, Child, Light of Mine, stay here and be Free. Stay, Child, for here is better than out in the cold; don't escape to the outside world, for here, it is just the two of us…"
Luz began to weep.
"Just the two of us…"
Luz collapsed on the desert sand and hugged herself into a ball.
"Forever intertwined in Love."
"That is such a beautiful melody," whispered a voice. Luz glanced up at the older woman who spoke: her face was pale; she had cold, dying green eyes and was adorned with strange clothes and armor. The woman sat on a large green lizard like Luz had never seen before. "Forgive me; I am Geheim, and I am on my way to Spargus, but you, child, who are you?"
Luz couldn't speak; her throat was so hoarse.
"You seem to be alone and without a name, at least for the moment. I see that you seem to be…" Geheim took a sharp intake of air. This child was much more than met the eye. "Seem I shall call you. Come with me. I can help you," Geheim coughed.
Luz mounted the winged lizard quietly. Once Luz was mounted, Geheim urged the lizard forward.
Spargus was like something Luz had never seen before; it was so sandy, the air so humid. And the people! The people were tough Wastelanders who were easily angered. Luz stayed close to Geheim, trying to avoid the many stares that surveyed her in a prejudiced manner. The Priestess sensed the child's uneasiness and sent a silent prayer that her nerves would be soothed.
"Come, Seem, I want you to meet someone," Geheim mumbled quietly. Damas would require that she be brought to him anyway if she was to become the new High Priestess, and Geheim had to speak to him, so it all worked out. The will of the Spirit, Geheim pondered.
"So, you arrive to select a child amongst the common people… I will alert the city very soon, Geheim. But there is something else you wanted to tell me?" said the King in his strong, deep voice. Spikes shot out of his head; he was a burly man with a gentle side that few had ever seen, especially since after the death of his wife.
"This, your highness," motioned Geheim. "She is called Seem." She urged Luz forward, and Luz felt as though she finally could speak again. Her voice was hoarse and soft, but clear all the same.
"The Guards captured me. I was exiled here. I have a father who was banished eleven years ago; would he be here? His name was Amor." Luz's voice trailed off, and she rubbed her neck.
"Amor? Yes, I remember him well. When we rescued him, he was in a very critical condition… He lived for a while here in Spargus, but he never fully recovered…" Damas bowed his head respectfully and said nothing more.
Luz nodded yet again without emotion, though her eyes grew perhaps a bit colder. She stepped away from the main throne area and stared into the water surrounding the area.
"Your highness?" questioned Geheim softly, "She is my choice."
Damas glanced up in surprise; Amor's child not only had been banished to the Wasteland, but also was to become the next High Priestess? Well, the child did seem to be of the supernatural type. He nodded in approval and gestured for Geheim to take her leave with Amor's child.
"Welcome to your new home, Seem," commented Geheim softly. Luz surveyed the great, old structure of sandstone, her eyes taking it all in. "You will be in charge of all of this one day. I am proclaiming you as my heir. You will be the High Priestess of the Temple."
Luz strode inside, following Geheim as the old she-elf guided her through the area. The two, after perhaps an hour or so of a tour, stopped abruptly at a great stone door, which opened when Geheim muttered a certain word in a different tongue.
"Prepare yourself, child. We enter the spiritual core of the galaxy," mumbled Geheim. Luz showed a bit of fear in the red orbs on her face, but maintained a calm demeanor as she and the High Priestess entered the Council Chamber.
It was such a dark room, with only a great skylight filtering sunlight into the room. Luz noticed the light shining down on a small raised stone with a beautiful, white, stone-covered ceramic bowl in its center.
A man appeared in the light and spoke to Geheim. "High Priestess Geheim, you return once again to us, though with a child this time. Tell us, who is this child?"
Geheim stepped into the light opposite the man with the raised stone with the ceramic bowl on it in between him and her.
"This child is to be my heir. She is the child of Love and Hope. She is called Seem."
"Child of Love and Hope, take in the Light and feel the Spirit!" said the man. Geheim shoved her forward, and the man uncovered the white bowl in front of him, handing it to Luz.
"Feel the awesome power of the Precursors! Guardian of Life, we call upon you to purify this soul!"
The man pushed Luz's head into the bowl, and she felt only a cold liquid, which felt like water to her. She could hear the man chanting in the same tongue Geheim had spoken in not so long ago; others joined in the chanting with him, and, at last, she thrust her head back up and took in a deep breath of air. Though she didn't know it, it was her first breath as the High Priestess of the Temple.
A/N: Okay, done, hope you liked it. Please leave a review. And now you must go and read Krin's works, coz you just haven't read Jak and Daxter fanfiction until you've read hers. :)