Hey there friends. Here's a new chapter, much shorter than the last as I'm writing this on my own now.
Night had fallen when Gol decided he had done all he could for the village for now. He could have kept working in all honesty but he had not heard from Maia for several hours now. She had never returned from the temporary camp and he was beginning to get worried. True, she was a powerful channeler in her own right, but if the villagers had decided to form a mob...
Well such thoughts were best put aside unless they drove him to mindless paranoia.
Upon arriving back at the camp area Gol was relieved to find it didn't look like a mob had been through at least. A green glow alerted him to the presence of the Green Sage from earlier and the dark eco sage drifted towards it.
"Samos." He greeted.
"Gol." Returned the sage, looking exhausted. He had probably been healing the wounded non-stop since his arrival.
"I was wondering if you had seen Maia. She never returned after bringing you and the children here and I grow concerned." Samos sighed and became even more weary looking, if that were possible.
"She's with the boys. People are frightened and looking for easy targets to blame...such as small boys with eco tolerance." Gol felt his own mood somber. He had lost several apprentices over the years to ignorant elves acting out of fear and rage. Those apprentices had also been able to defend themselves, two young boys? Gol could see why his sister had stayed. People would be much more reluctant to face an adult with mature eco powers.
"I believe I know where to find her then. Get some rest my friend, you cannot help anyone if you work yourself into exhaustion." Gol sighed, placing a hand on the shorter sages shoulder.
"I know, but still there are so many who need help..." Samos trailed off, looking at the not far off row of covered bodies who were now beyond help. No more words were needed, Gol understood. With a brief squeeze to the shoulder he was holding for support and reassurance the Dark Sage briskly made his way to the small tent he and Maia had claimed for themselves to be closer to the disaster site.
Inside the tent Maia was sitting next to a softly snoring blanket lump that contained the two young boys. She was reading one of the reference texts, one of the very few on dark eco that even existed, when he entered.
"Maia." Gol called softly so as not to wake the children. She looked up from her book with a tired smile and moved to join him near the tents entrance.
"Brother, I'm sorry I did not return but..." She whispered, glancing back at the sleeping duo.
"I understand." Gol nodded. "I spoke with the green sage before coming here."
"I tried to leave at first, but the looks those people were giving Daxter...the red head." She clarified. " And then when Jak insisted on staying with him, and the whispers...I just couldn't leave them. I feared that if I did they would not be here when I returned." She said sadly.
"But brother, while we had time alone here in this tent I tested Jak's channeling abilities further. He's not just a dark channeler...but a universal!" Maia whispered with a bit of excitement. "He can't do more than direct eco, but he learns so quickly. Daxter on the other hand seems to be completely immune to dark eco. I was reluctant to test that very far but from what I did learn...he could be the key to making Dark eco harmless!"
Gol was temporarily shocked into silence at the proclamation. The possibilities of such a thing existing as a "cure" to dark eco would be the ultimate culmination of all of their work, and the work of countless dark eco sages before them. The be able to render the dangerous, volatile substance harmless would be- nothing short of the greatest discovery since the precursors walked the planet!
"They're...they're just children. Babies practically." He tried to rationalize. He'd be shocked if either of them was older than four.
"And we would have all of their formative years to train them, Jak especially. You have been looking for a new apprentice." Maia reminded him.
"Daxter seems to be orphaned, from what he said, but Samos seems to be Jak's guardian at the moment. Would he even agree to such an endeavor as to train the boy in the use of Dark eco?"
"Who..." Maia stopped herself to draw a nervous breath. "Who said we had to ask?"
"Maia!" Gol hissed, barely remembering to keep himself at a whisper. "Are you suggesting we KIDNAP the boy?!"
"I-" She hesitated. "Yes. Yes I am. Think about it Gol! These boys could be the key to everything! The only chance we'll ever have to make Dark eco into something good. Can we really chance that the sage will say no, or that he will want to dictate what we teach? Can we let Daxter," She gestured to the sleeping boys with a sharp motion, "Grow up surrounded by hate for something he has no control over? With the chance that he may not live long enough in that situation TO grow up?!" She said passionately.
"But to kidnap them...surely the sage will look for them." Gol tried to protest, though he found himself agreeing with her.
"Not if he doesn't know they're still alive."
"What...would you be suggesting dear sister?"
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Morning dawned on the weary camp of survivors, many huddled together for comfort as the pyre of dark eco tainted corpses began to burn. In a quiet corner of the camp Samos the Sage of Green Eco slept on, exhausted from the day before. Standing over the sage with a heavy heart for what he was about to do was Gol.
"Samos." He sighed, steeling his nerves a shaking his fellow sage awake. "Samos, wake up. Please."
"Ughh" Samos groaned sleepily. "Unless someone is on fire please let me sleep." Gol felt a sharp pang of anxiety stab through him at the words, but pressed onward.
"Samos, it's about Jak. Please wake up."
"Jak?" Said Samos, struggling awake and into a sitting position. "What happened, is he alright?" The green sages gaze was filled with such genuine concern that Gol wanted to back out right there, to tell the sage that Jak was fine and well. 'This is for the greater good.' The dark sage told himself.
"I have...bad news. The boy's exposure to dark eco yesterday was...too much. Maia stayed with them through the night trying to ease their pain but sadly both boys...did not make it." Gol finished in a whisper, averting his gaze to where the pyre burned.
"No." Samos breathed, realization dawning. "That- that can't be! He should be fine, he channeled it! He was fine." Argued the sage, pale complexion regaining color.
"Yes, at first it seemed that way. If we had noticed sooner that not everything was as it seemed, or perhaps if the boy had been older...there was just too much eco for him to process." Gol let grief overtake his face for the lies he was telling. To take a child from someone just to further their own goals, no mater how noble...perhaps Dark eco HAD begun to twist his sister and he in more ways than just their appearance.
"I...leave me. Please." Samos said, shoulders slumping and voice cracking. He couldn't believe he had failed. Only yesterday he had watched as Jak defeated the metal head leader, Kor, and within twenty-four hours his own negligence had doomed the world forever. Gol nodded in solemn silence and left the sage to his mourning, eager to be away from the living reminder of the lies and deceit that had just taken place.
Maia had taken the boys through the teleporter ring to their secluded home far to the north almost immediately after their conversation. She returned with two hiphog carcasses bundled tightly and lightly stained with dark eco. When the two child size bundles were presented to the pyre that morning no one had looked further.
The two sages would be returning to their home soon, as their was little more they could do for the devastated villagers and their presence was quickly becoming unwelcome now that the danger had passed.
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"My mommy always says that if you're sad, you should listen to th' plants for wis'om and guide...guide'nce." Samos looked through tear blurred vision at the little girl who had placed a single wilted flower on his lap. She was even younger than Jak had been, and didn't seem to have quite mastered speech yet. Green eyes stared at him from under a messy mop of blue-green hair.
"That is sound advice." He said, taking a breath to steady himself. "And where is your mommy?"
"In the fire with daddy." Samos felt his heart breaking all over again. This child was so young she didn't even really understand what was happening.
"What is your name, little one?"
"Keira."