Yay, chapter ten! Thanks so much for all the reviews, I really appreciate it. 3

On a side note, I actually have no idea how I'm going to get Jak and Dax off of this boat. We're just going to see how this goes. I have written an outline for this story, and I know how it's going to end. I'm going to bet that even YOU know how it will end. It is, after all, a fanfiction, so it's not my best work and a little predictable.

So, yeah. Let's um . . . see how they're going to live. I'm excited to find out. O.o;

PS, sorry for the wait. Again. I had all this stuff to do for school. I'm swamped!

Enjoy? xD

Jak had to think quickly, because the eco was gaining fast. He looked north, and to his horror, saw eco seeping through the mountains and the hills. The dark stuff was swallowing everything and Jak knew it wasn't going to stop at the water. It would, however, turn all of the water into liquid death. He bit his lip and made a rash decision.

All around them, the eco was infecting the ocean. The wooden boat began to deteriorate beneath their feet. Jak called upon the powers that had been dormant for about half a year and produced a shield of green eco around his body. Even though he had lost his Light and Dark powers, he still had his normal level of Channeling ability to work with. He jumped out of the boat and made his way to the raised bit of rock that had Samos's hut on top. His shield began to falter, so he made a running leap over the eco and grabbed a hold of the rock face just as his shield disappeared. Daxter let out a sigh of relief.

"Whoa, that was close!" he exclaimed. Jak began to scale the rocks up to the hut. The dark eco below them began to rise, but not so fast that it would catch Jak on his way up. Once he reached the top of the cliff, he walked up the ramp of the hut.

"You're telling me," Jak mumbled in response. It had been far too close for comfort. Jak took one last look at the world to the north and couldn't help but stare. Everything was purple, and the reflection was turning the sky a light violet. He entered the hut, and Samos let out a breath.

"Thank goodness," Samos said quietly. "If you two had taken any longer, this place would be destroyed along with the rest of the world."

Sandover's residents were holed up in the hut, and Jak was glad that everyone made it out before the eco struck. A few children were playing hand games while their parents looked out at the world with tear-streaked faces. The sight tugged at Jak's heartstrings, so he quickly glanced back at Samos.

"The eco is rising," Jak said. "Slowly, but surely. How are we gonna keep this place safe?"

"The Life Seed's power should keep out anything we don't want to get in," Samos stated. "It should be able to create a shield, much like you can, but it will be stronger and will protect us better. Eventually, the eco will recede back into the earth and find its way back to the silos, but it will take a day or so. Either way, when we emerge, it is likely that everything will be destroyed completely. And you, of all people, should see where this is going."

Jak stared. "Do you mean . . . Mar? And since I'm Mar, I have to . . . build the city?"

"Not just the city," Light interjected. Jak couldn't believe he could have more of a burden on his shoulders. "The eco grid. The shield wall system. The eco mines. And, not to mention, the tomb to keep the Precursor Stone safe."

"Where are we going to get the materials?" Jak asked incredulously. "All that steel? Even if the eco seeps back into the world and into the silos, everything will be infected with it."

Samos shrugged. "That's what the eco mine is for. We'll start there."

Dark shook his head and growled from the corner, "That's after we kick Gol's ass. Does no one remember that douche bag is the reason we're going through all of this?"

Samos glared at Dark. He just raised his hands in innocence. "Just asking."

"We will deal with him beforehand," Samos said. "But right now, we should put up the shield and start thinking of plans."

Jak just shook his head and began to walk out the door. "You just get that shield up. I've had enough dropped on my head for one day."

He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it coming. Sure, he knew he had to go back and build the city at some point, but he had assumed the world wouldn't be destroyed when he did it. He assumed he would have materials to work with, a huge place to build from, and everything would be easy. Right now, everything was far from easy. He was split from his egos and had everything pushing down on him. He found his legs walking him towards Keira's part of the hut.

"Hey," he said. She was working on something on the workbench, and she glanced up with a smile when he walked in. "Have you looked outside?"

The smile faded from her face. "Yeah. I can't believe it."

He plopped himself down on her stool and put his hands to his head. "I can't do all this, Keira. It's so much. . ."

"I know," she said soothingly. "But it'll all work out. You'll see."

He rolled his eyes. "Keira, I don't know if you noticed, but we're all about to be drowned in death."

When he said this, a green shield shot up over the hut, and dark eco began to rise against it. Keira seemed to ignore the events occurring outside.

"It doesn't matter. We just have to work all of this out in an orderly manner."

"An orderly manner," Jak scoffed. "You're kidding me. The entire village is done. What are we supposed to do? I just built a city and everything will be alright? We know what happens to this place, Keira. There are wars, people are going to die, but I have to do it anyway for the sake of the future?"

Keira stayed silent before speaking again. "I know trying to stay positive is difficult, but we have to keep these people happy. If their mood drops, it's chaos. They're the citizens now. We have to protect them."

Jak started pacing, cracking his knuckles. "I don't want all these lives on my hands."

"In a few days, the eco will be gone. Then we can feel free to use the land however we want. With your eco powers, this'll be easy."

"Yeah, easy. I'll just use my mind to build everything."

"Don't worry about it. I can help you with the mechanics of it. You can build the mines and get the right amount of eco out. We'll do fine."

Jak sighed. "You're right. I don't even know why I try to argue."

She smiled. "I'm always right."

For now, all they could do was wait and see.

Yeah, I'm so done.

I've had a long three weeks, guys. I'm sorry for not updating, but AP classes are the worst. No breaksss. D: So, I know this is short and a long-time-coming, but I'm just going to end this here. It's rambling on. And on. When I write the next chapter, I might combine it with this one. I'm not sure yet. But there's a lot of crap to wade through that I might just summarize.


Not the fight with Gol, though. That'll be done! :D

Bai.

-Hero