Chapter 9
Jet: Okay, I'll make this quick before Penny comes back, Praxis is in Rick's dreams, and Rick nearly died in his sleep, Lilly couldn't heal him and Sue, Jean and Danny show up. They talk and Sue goes home and Jean and Danny go to their beds. Rick decides he is sick of staying in bed so he gets up and walks a little bit, Jak still doesn't feel right about his daughter practically dating and –
Penny: Hi Jet. Did you start the recap without me?
Jet: Maybe.
Penny: Hey, I just remembered something I forgot last time, when Praxis was talking to Rick, it reminded me of that part in 7th Harry Potter book when –
Jet (Covering Penny mouth): Don't spoil it Penny! Some people might not have read the book yet or even seen the movie. But to anyone who knows what she was talking about I really didn't even see that until I finished writing it. Anyway, so Jak goes to the Naughty Ottsel to talk with Daxter and this girl walked in and she wanted to kill Jak for the death of her uncle. Jak felt bad about killing him until he found out her uncle was Errol. Daxter gives her a job and a home and turns out Keira knew her. Well that's it, so on with the story.
The next morning, Keira for once was up before Jak. She had had a hard time sleeping; she couldn't believe that Errol's niece, a sweet and harmless little girl tried to kill Jak. Keira got out of bed as her husband slept on, she walked over to the window and looked down at the city streets far below. She thought back to the day of the class one championship race that seemed like a lifetime ago.
Although she was no longer on speaking terms with Errol- she still cared about his niece, he had asked her if she would watch Kat as he raced. Keira, not being able to say 'no' when she looked at the little girl, agreed. The two of them watched the race on a screen in Keira's garage. They both saw what happed after the race, Errol in his jealousy had drove towards Jak with the intention of running him over but Jak, being so quick, had jumped out of the way just in time causing Errol to run into the eco that Jak had won. Keira and Kat saw Errol die in an eco explosion; Keira could remember holding Kat as she cried.
Then Keira heard a sound form behind her and that brought her out of her thoughts of the past; she looked back at Jak who was now waking up. He opened his eyes and looked at her, "Good morning sleepy head." She said.
"Morning," He yawned, "You're up early." She walked over to him and he embraced her and began to kiss her.
"Jak," she laughed, "stop it."
"Why?"
She looked at him and started to play with his goatee, "Because I said so. Do I need any other reason?"
"I guess not." Jak said, placing one more kiss on her forehead. He got up and got dressed.
Keira also got up and left to go get dressed, by the time she got back Jak was gone. She had a feeling that she knew where he was, but she went looking for him anyhow. And sure enough, he was outside Rick's bedroom door watching Lilly and Rick sleep. Keira went up behind Jak and tapped his back, he looked at her, "You're never going to be alright with this, are you?" she asked even though she knew the answer.
Jak looked back at the sleeping kids, "Don't get me wrong Keira, I'm glad that she's happy but…" he paused and looked back at his wife, "I don't think I'm ready for her to have something like this."
"Jak, you knew this was going to happen someday."
"Yes, someday" he said, putting a lot of emphasis on the word, "meaning, let's say ten years in the future." He looked back at his sleeping daughter, "She's still my little girl."
Keira shook her head, "Ten years or ten days, you still wouldn't be ready to let her go."
"And you are?"
"Of course I'm not. She's my little girl too, but I know there is nothing we can do to stop this." She took Jak's hand, "You know back when I was her age, I knew I loved you."
Jak smiled, "I was a completely different person back then."
"I don't think so." She hugged him and he hugged her back, "Not anymore."
Jak looked back at Lilly, "Keira, maybe we should take Lilly with us when we go to the Naughty Ottsel." He looked back at her and for some reason he was not surprised to find her glaring at him. "Don't look at me like that, it's not because I want her away from Rick -"
"Yes it is." She said.
"Well… maybe a little. But I was thinking, maybe if Kathena talks with Lilly she'll see I'm not a bad guy."
"And why can't you just talk with her?"
"Because I don't think she'll listen to me."
Keira shook her head, "Jak, you don't even know her."
"Neither do you."
"Well, then, I can talk to her; there is no reason to get Lilly involved. I can explain what you did."
Jak almost laughed, "Keira, let's face it. Lilly has watched the memory charm so many times, she knows what happened in my adventures better than I do."
She sighed, he had a point- and she half hated him for it. "Alright, it probably would be better for Lilly and Rick to spend a little time away from each other anyways. But let's just let them sleep for now." Keira took his hand and led him away.
After Lilly had gotten up, Jak told her what was going on. "So… let me get this straight…" Lilly said after Jak had explained everything to her. "Errol, the guy who, along with Praxis tortured you in prison, had a thing for mom when you where teens and who also came back from the dead as a robot who tried to destroy the world with dark Precursor technology… has a niece?"
Jak blinked, she really did know his teen life better than he did, "Y–yes." He said, slightly surprised that she knew all this by heart.
"And you want me to talk to her so I can convince her that you're not the bad guy she thinks you are?" Lilly asked.
"Yes." Jak said, hearing it come out of her mouth made it sound a little strange.
Lilly looked up at him, "Daddy, if you wanted me to be away from Rick for a little while all you have to do is say so." Jak looked at her even more surprised- and a little busted. Keira couldn't stop herself from laughing a little bit.
Lilly walked away, "Where are you going?" Jak asked.
"Just to tell Rick that I'm going to be gone for the day, I'll be right back." She said casually and continued off.
A little while later Jak, Keira and Lilly where walking into the Naughty Ottsel, "Hey there you three." Daxter's voice said coming from behind the counter.
"Hi uncle Daxter." Lilly said, going over to see him, "Where's Sue?"
"I think she's still asleep."
"I'll go wake her up." Lilly started to walk but then Jak grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her back, "Daddy. Let go." She said laughing.
"Lil, just let her sleep, she'll be up soon." Jak said.
Keira looked around the room, "Um Daxter, where's Kat?" she asked.
"Kat?" Daxter said, a little confused, "Do you mean Kathena?"
Right on cue Kat came down the hall; she saw Jak and looked at him with disgust. "Great, you're back."
"Get used to it," Daxter said. "He comes here all the time."
"Great." Kat said angrily.
Keira looked at her: time had changed her. Keira had known her as a small, happy little girl now she was a teenager mad at the world, "Kat?" Keira said. Kat looked at her, "Do you remember me?"
Kat looked at her, she knew her but she couldn't think where she had seen this she-elf before, "Do, I know you?" Kat asked.
"Well it's been a few years; I wouldn't be surprised if you had forgotten me. I'm Keira, remember? Your uncle use to be a … friend of mine."
Kat looked at Keira trying to remember and then it hit her. "Keira!"
Keira smiled, "You remember."
"Yeah, you where my uncle's girl-friend."
"GROSS." Lilly said. Jak coved her mouth with his hand.
This made Kat see her- the little girl- for the first time, "And what is so 'gross' about that, kid?"
Lilly pulled her father's hand off her mouth, "Well, she's my mom and Errol was an evil as-" Jak covered her mouth again.
Kat looked back at Keira, "She's your daughter?" Kat looked back at the kid, she could see the resemblance, but then she looked at Jak and back at Lilly and then understood, "You married the eco-freak?"
Lilly pulled Jak's hand away from her mouth again and exclaimed: "My daddy's not an eco-freak!"
Kat laughed, "Right, then what is he?"
"He's a channeler, like me." Lilly said, she was getting a little mad now. Jak put a hand on her shoulder, she looked at him.
"So you're a little eco-freak like him."
"Kat! What happened to you?" Keira asked, "You used to be such a sweet little girl." Kat didn't say anything, she just walked away.
Lilly pulled away from Jak and started to follow Kat, "Lilly," Jak said, she looked at him. "Please don't lose your temper."
"Yes daddy." Lilly said, she continued to follow Kat.
Meanwhile at the palace; Rick, still covered in bandages, was walking around, he was sick of staying in his room and with Lilly gone he had no one to talk to. Plus he was fine, he didn't feel any pain. He actually thought that even though Lilly hadn't been able to get rid of his scars she had been able to somehow get rid of his pain and if he didn't look at himself it was almost like nothing had happened.
He walked down a hall and heard a thumping sound, like something hitting a wall. He opened a door and was nearly hit in the face with a knife, lucky for him, he had ducked just in time. The knife hit the wall and stuck there. Rick looked back and saw Danny on his bed with a 'my bad' look on his face. "What the heck Danny!" Rick asked, "You nearly killed me!"
"Sorry, I didn't think anyone was going to open the door."
Rick looked at the back of the door and was shocked to find four knifes all almost in the same spot, "Where did you get all the knives?"
"The kitchen."
"Why where you throwing them at the door?"
"I was bored." Danny said, laying back onto the bed. "My mom said that I was born with great aim, like my dad."
"Who was your dad?" Rick asked, taking the knife out of the wall.
"I don't know. My mom said he disappeared when I was baby, I don't even know what he looked like." Then he looked at Rick, "Hey, what are you doing, shouldn't you be in bed?"
"I got bored." Rick said, sticking the knife in the door. "And besides, I'm fine."
"So you just thought you would just walk around without a shirt?"
"What? My upper body is covered in bandages. What do I need a shirt for?" The boys started to laugh.
Back at the Naughty Ottsel, Lilly was trying to get Kat to listen to her, but Kat had locked herself in her room. "C'mon, why won't you listen?" Lilly shouted through the door.
"Why should I listen to an eco-freak like you?" Kat asked, also shouting through the door.
"You should listen because apparently I know more about what was going on with your psycho uncle than you."
"How old are you?" Kat snapped, "Like five?"
"I'm six." Lilly stated.
Kat opened the door and looked at her, "Okay, your father killed my uncle years before you were even born. How could you know more about him? You never even met him." Kat asked, and then there was a flash of light; in just a blink of an eye Lilly vanished. Kat looked down the hall but didn't see her, she shut the door.
"I know more about him," Lilly said, Kat jumped and looked behind her to see Lilly, still glowing a bright blue sitting on her bed. "because, I know exactly what happened in all of my daddy's adventures."
Kat stared at her, "How did you…" Kat started, surprised, then she got mad, "Get out!" She snapped.
"No. Not until you hear me out." Lilly said, going back to normal.
"I'm going to throw you out."
Kat began to walk over to her; Lilly got into her dark form to keep Kat from grabbing her, "Do you really want to try that?" she asked. Kat backed away, "Now please, just listen to me." she said, it was clear that she was in full control.
"W–Why should I?" Kat asked, clearly scared of the dark eco creature that was on her bed, "You're just a little freak. You and your father, you two shouldn't be allowed in the city."
Lilly went back to normal, "Actually, my daddy was banished from Haven when he was eighteen. He killed the Metal-Head leader, saving the whole city- and how do they repay him? By throwing him out."
Kat crossed her arms and looked away from Lilly, "Well, of course he was thrown out. He's too dangerous to be in the city." She looked at Lilly, "I'm surprised you don't hate him."
Lilly was confused, "Why would I hate him?"
"It's his fault you're a little freak, it's his fault you will never be normal."
"Why would I want to be normal? I like being different, I've been like this my whole life. Yeah, it can be hard at times, people are afraid of me and I never can lose my temper. But so what? At least I can fly."
"You can fly?" Kat asked. Not really believing.
"Well, not really." Lilly said looking away from Kat, "I more glide, I can't really fly yet."
Kat went to sit next to Lilly, for some reason she had decided to listen to what the little she-elf had to say, "So, what do you think you know about my uncle that I don't?" Kat asked.
Lilly looked at her, "I can do more then tell you, I can show you everything he did."
"How?" Kat asked, now she was really interested.
Lilly pulled out the memory charm. "With this." Lilly said and she turned it on, Kat watched how her uncle treated Jak in prison, but she thought 'Well he's a prisoner, what more should be expected?'
She watched the street race that Errol and Jak had driven, and saw the end of it, "Okay, my uncle might have been a little competitive but so what?" Kat asked.
"A little?" Lilly asked.
"Just play the next part..."
Unfortunately the next part was the class one race, Lilly could only show Jak and Daxter's memories, Jak was talking with Praxis and then he heard a sound coming from behind him, Errol was driving up to him, with the intention of running him over, but Jak jumped out of the way and Errol- unable to slow down- ran into the tubs of eco and died.
Lilly looked at Kat, "See? My daddy didn't kill him, it was his own fault."
Kat looked at the floor and shook her head, "No, It… Your dad… He didn't…" Kat didn't know what to say. Then she glared at Lilly, "GET OUT!" she yelled, "JUST GET OUT YOU FREAK!"
Lilly looked at Kat, "FINE!" she yelled and walked out of the room, she slammed the door.
When she was gone Kat reached into her pocket and pulled out an old photo of her and her uncle. She was three years old in the picture, she was sitting on her uncle's lap and she had his mask on top of her head, they where both smiling and laughing in the picture. Kat laid on her stomach and hid her face in her arms and cried, "Why uncle?" she whispered as she cried.
Lilly walked down the hall and Sue came and joined her, "Hey Lil, what's up?" the small ottsel asked. Lilly didn't say anything, "Wow, you're mad about something." She said as she jumped onto Lilly's shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Lilly looked at Sue, "Teenager!" she screamed. "They're idiots!"
"What makes you say that?"
"Forget it, let's go play or something."
"Okay, but um… how's Rick doing?" Sue asked- mostly to see Lilly turn red.
"He's fine." She said, a little quickly.
Sue just laughed at her, "Lilly's got a boy-friend. Lilly's got a boy-friend." She sang. Lilly glared at her and that shut her up.
They walked into bar area and found their parents, Jak looked at Lilly, "So what happened?" he asked, he had heard her screaming down the hall.
"I think it just made her more mad." Lilly said.
Jak sighed, Keira put her hand on his back to get his attention, he looked at her. "Just give her a little time. He was her uncle after all." Keira said.
"She was what, four when he died?" Daxter said, "She couldn't have known him that well, could she?"
"Daxter," Tess said, "he was still part of her family, and from what you told me when he died she lost everything. She didn't even have her parents; she probably thinks she has no future."
"So?" Daxter said. "I grew up without my parents and I turned out just fine."
"You run a bar." Sue said.
Daxter looked at her, "Fine, you want a better one? Look at Jak, he grew up without his parents and he's a king." Jak looked at his friend and then smacked him on the back of the head. "What was that for?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head.
"A laugh." Jak said.
Lilly and Sue laughed a little bit, "We're going to play downstairs." Lilly said, and her and Sue left.
Back at the palace, Ashelin was looking for Rick. She found him in Danny's room playing with him, "Richard." Rick looked at her.
"Hi mom." Rick said.
"What are you doing out of bed?"
"Mom, I'm fine. I don't need to stay in bed, I'm alright."
Ashelin walked over to him, "Are you sure you alright?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm fine."
Ashelin kissed his forehead, "Alright." She began to walk away.
"Hey mom," she looked back at him, "When is Lilly going to come back?"
Ashelin smiled, "She'll be back later." And with that, Ashelin left. She walked down the hall and found Jean sitting all alone in her room reading. Ashelin walked up to the little girl, "Hi Jean."
Jean looked up from her book, "Hi Ashelin."
"You know the boys are in Danny's room, you should go play with them."
"I'm fine here."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Then Rick and Danny came in, "Hey Jean," Rick said, "Danny and I are going to the pool, you want to come?"
Jean looked at Rick, "I didn't know you had a pool."
Rick shrugged, "It's new." He said, and then he looked at Ashelin, "Mom, it is okay if we go play in the pool, right?"
Ashelin looked at her son, "Richard, how are you going to swim when you still have all those bandages on?" she asked.
"I'll just take them off." He said, simply.
"Richard…"
"Mom, I'm fine. I'll prove it. Danny, move out of the way." he said.
Danny did as Rick said and moved more into Jean's room, then Rick went down the hall a little bit to get a running start. He ran back down the hall and did front-hand-spring, and stuck the landing, which left Jean and Danny with open mouths, "Um… Rick," Danny said, "When did you learn that?"
"My mom taught it to me a while ago." He said, then he looked back at his mother, "So can we go in the pool?"
Ashelin sighed, "Alright, but have your father help you get your bandages off." Rick smiled and ran down the hall, "And Richard," she called after him, "No one goes in the pool until I get there. Did you hear me?" but he was gone, she looked back at Jean and Danny, "I know you two heard me, make sure he did." She said and walked out.
Danny looked back at Jean, "So, you coming?" he asked.
Jean shrugged, "I guess."
"Okay," he began to walk out but he turned back to her, "Do you know where the pool is?"
"No, I thought you did."
"No."
"Well we can just ask someone."
"Okay." He said and went to go put on his swim suit.
Later on Jak, Keira and Lilly, left the Naughty Ottsel and went back to the palace. When they got there Lilly ran off to Rick's room, but he wasn't there. She went looking for him, with no luck. But she did find Torn, "Hey Torn." She said, he looked at her, "Have you seen Rick? I can't find him."
"He's at the pool."
"You have a pool?" Her face lit, she loved to swim.
"We do now."
"Where is it?" she asked.
Torn pointed down the hall, "Go that way and take the elevator down, one floor. That will put you right at it."
"Thanks." She said, walking away. She got down to the pool. The room was huge, the floor was white tile, that went all around the pool. There were chairs all around it as well, Lilly saw Ashelin in one, reading. The window that was the outside wall was what let light in the room. The room was very long, Lilly looked up, the ceiling was much higher then she thought it would be- it had an extra story. The pool itself was not anything special-looking just a long rectangle, with stairs on one side and a diving board on the other, there was a hot tub right next to the pool near the shallow end. Lilly saw Jean, Danny, and Rick splashing each other, "Hi, guys." Lilly said.
They all looked at her, "Hi Lil." Rick said, swimming over to her. She took off her boots and socks, rolled up her pants and sat on the edge and dipped her feet in. Rick climbed out and sat next to her. Lilly stared at him, without his bandages and with him being in nothing but swim trunks, she could see the scars on him. His right shoulder – the side she was sitting beside- had a big chunk of his skin missing, but at least it was shallow. Somewhere between his shoulder and his elbow were two diagonal scars that slanted towards his body. Both his elbows had identical scars that looked like bite marks, he had a scar on his left wrist. His chest and back had slash marks that went in all directions, his legs where scarred just as badly. "What are you staring at?" he asked.
She had made a move to touch his scarred shoulder- but pulled her hand back, "Nothing, I'm just glad you're alright."
Rick stood up, "Okay, then go put on you suit and come play with us."
"Okay." She said, and went to get changed.
When she came back, Rick was back in the water. He looked at her; she was in at two piece, it was just blue, the top was tied behind her neck to keep it from falling. She jumped in and swam to her friends. Rick looked at her and saw that she still had her necklace on, "Aren't you going to take that off?" he asked.
Lilly looked at her necklace, she held it and shook her head, "No."
"What if it falls off?" Danny asked.
Lilly looked at him, "Then I'll swim to the bottom and get it." she said in a mater-of-a-fact tone.
"I don't know Lil," Jean said, "It's pretty deep. Do you really think you can swim to the bottom?"
"One way to find out." Lilly said and she took a deep breath and dove. It was deeper then she had thought, but she was determined to get to the bottom. As she swam, she felt her ears pop. She forced herself to keep going, even though she felt like her lungs were going to pop but she was stubborn and kept going. She got to the bottom and slapped the pool floor with her hand and turned around and kicked off the ground and headed for the surface. She broke though and took a deep breath and shook her head to get the water out of her ears. "See." She panted, "I can, do it." she caught her breath.
"I think I'll try." Danny said, and he dove. He wasn't under long before he came back up coughing, "How did you do that, Lil?" he asked catching his breath.
Lilly floated on her back with her hands behind her head, "I just rule." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Not yet you don't." Jean said.
Lilly glared at her and then splashed her. Then became a splash fight when Rick and Danny joined in. With everyone splashing each other, Lilly dove under and swam behind Danny with the intent of dunking him, she was just about to when something on the back of his left shoulder cough her eye. It was a deep cut, like a slash mark, "Danny, What is that?" Lilly asked.
Danny jumped and turned around, "How… Weren't you just…" he stuttered.
"Danny," Lilly said in a concerned tone, "What is that on your back?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, "What's on my back?" he tried to get a look.
"Don't play dumb, I'm talking about that mark on your shoulder."
Jean swam up behind Danny; she reached up and gently touched it. He winced and she pulled her hand away; he looked at her, "Sorry." She said.
"It's okay. I'm not sure how I got that scar, but it never really healed." Danny said.
Lilly looked at Rick then she began to poke his many scars, "What are you doing?" he asked, as she poked him.
"I'm trying to see if you have any scars that hurt when they're touched." She said still continuing.
He grabbed her hand, "I don't have any." He said.
He let go of her and she looked at Jean and Danny then she looked back at Rick, "I'll race you three to the other end of the pool." She said to change the subject.
The three looked at each other then all three of them said, "Okay."
"Ready?" Lilly asked, "GO!" and they were off.
Jet: I am ending the chapter here.
Penny (Playing a video game with a lot of shooting): Take that, humans!
Jet: Penny, what are you doing?
Penny: What does it look like? I'm playing Uncharted.
Jet (Grabbing the game controller out of her hands): I didn't say you could play this, and you're doing it wrong. (Starts to play.)
Penny: How do you know, you beat it once.
Jet: It's a Naughty Dog game, do I need a better reason?
Penny: Kinda.
Jet: No I don't. But seeing as we are on the subject, if any one cares, at the start of first Uncharted game the main guy and the main girl are in wet suits that say 'Ottsel' on the front, and on the guy's left shoulder is a picture of Daxter. 'Why is this', you might ask…
Penny: Because Ottsels rule.
Jet: Penny, for once we agree. Now on to the usual stuff; tell me what you think. I really, really want to know so let me know. And one last thing you can preorder Uncharted 3 from game stop on 11/1/11. Have fun, tell me what you think and keep an eye out for the next part.
Penny: Ten chapters, not bad.
Jet: SHHHHHH! I just got to the library. Told you, you were doing it wrong.
Penny: Next chapter won't be up for a while but if it is when you read this then you can jump time and read the next part. Lucky you. But if not then see you next time.
