Disclaimer: I do not own Jak and Daxter and I do not own Superior Mind by Amy Studt

Chapter Nine

For Ecomadness

It'll never change, it'll never make sense.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no.

You'll never find your way, if you never used to play there.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no.

You keep making the same mistakes over and over.

Your love turns to hate, and your hate turns to love.

To cure all the things you used to be dreaming of.

Superior Mind, Amy Studt

~ (***) ~

The concept of having a father has always escaped Aella. All the other girls she knew from school or how lived near her always seemed close to their fathers but whenever she saw them together she was never upset about the fact that she didn't have a father because that would imply she was feeling like she was missing out on something. Surprisingly enough Aella never saw the point in missing something she never had. The idea of her even having one never bothered her as she accepted long ago she knew the man who had conceived her was unlikely to show up on her doorstep telling her who he was. She knew that was a fairy-tale a lot of girls in her position dreamt about almost every night but Aella knew there was no point in making up fairy-tales, espeically in this harsh world. Especially with what her mother was like and the consistency within the type of men she attracted it was unlikely to be someone she wanted to meet. It wasn't someone you would be proud to point out in the street and say 'See that guy he's my Dad'. Her imagined reaction was looking away and begrudgingly admitting to the unfortunate connection she had with the man. So when she heard someone mention her father to her it really had no effect on her...At first.

When she heard the words'you are your father's daughter' she would've regarded that as something which generally wasn't a good thing. A warrior, hired gun or terrorist wasn't exactly words which sprung to mind when you were asked what should be required within an ideal father figure. But considering the context this was being mentioned under implied something else entirely. This implied that her gift was something which had been passed down to her. So her son may even be given this gift which she has been passed down to her from her father. Whoever he was. The only question she had to ask was how did Seem know this? Did she meet him? Was she instructed by him? If she knew who she was and who her father was why had he not sought her out? Was it because of her reputation and what she had had done to others? She hadn't been bothered about not having a father, she had plenty of good father figures in her life but she couldn't help but feel a little hurt by all the lack of attention she had received as a daughter. He sounded like a 'good' guy if he was supposedly not like the idea she once had in her mind. She could even bet a lot of money that he knew that this 'gift' would be passed down onto his child.

She could imagine her mother not bothering to tell him she was pregnant with his child but then again she couldn't imagine her mother with a holy man either. Then again Seem knew who her father was which meant someone else had to know in order to tell her and someone had to know about the relationship he had with someone which was of course forbidden amongst monks and she couldn't imagine it being something which she allowed ot be public knowledge amongst the holy community. Unless he was a little bit of a rebel towards the order. She was sure she got a little bit of her rebellious side from her mother but she was rebellious for entirely different reasons to her. So perhaps she could imagine why the two would be attracted towards one another being two rebellious souls. But then she could remember Pecker recalling another Oracle coming into the city with a 'party girl' which was more than enough to assure her that she was talking about her parents. She had to make a mental note to ask after this mysterious, passing Oracle when she arrived back in the city.

"Do you know my father?" She demanded.

Seem nodded. "Yes."

"He instructed you. In the art of being an oracle?"

Seem nodded yet again wordlessly.

"Why did he never seek me out? Why didn't he try to find me if he knew about my existence? Or did he simply want to ignore the great shame he brought upon himself?"

Seem blinked. "Why would there be any shame in having the next Aella?"

Aella rolled her eyes. "I know monks are forbidden to have sexual relations with others. I'm not stupid I was almost pulled into the monastery myself when they found out what I could do."

Seem regarded her coolly. "Because he knew it was you who had to go to him not the other way round."

"Well it would've been nice to have a father around. I wasn't expecting him to marry my mother, Precursors I wouldn't wish that anyone. But he could've come for me. I'm sure he knew my mother was going to die pretty early on."

"He was only going to see once you needed him. Your gift has not become apparent until the recent years. You haven't needed him until this point."

"Can you tell me where he is? When I need him?" She added.

Seem looked away. "You might not like my answer."

Aella looked at her. Obviously these monks were wittier than people thought. Most people thought that they were polite and respected others but surely Seem should know that by saying this was enough to tick her off. This girl in particular seemed to want to push her buttons. She was avoiding her questions on some turns and she didn't want her to fully know the truth about her father. Although when Aella looked at her she had a serious expression her face. That sort of expression could be trained anyone could try an look serious and not mean anything by it if they had trained themselves for long enough. Aella could even get away with taking the piss out of someone by just putting a serious expression on her face.

Aella narrowed her eyes. "Don't push it."

"I wasn't teasing. I'm being serious. Listen I was going to go to him anyway but not for a while. I'm still to finish my training here then I will send word for you to come and travel with me to where he is now residing."

"And where is that?" Seem opened her mouth but no words came out. Aella leaned forward and glared at her menacingly. "Where is it?" She insisted.

"Spargus." She answered.

~ (***) ~

Samos walked through the streets of Haven City wearily knowing that if he was seen by the wrong people he would be arrested on sight. This place had no place for sages or monks any more. Unless you were willing to sell your soul to Praxis rather than giving it to the Precursors. Once it was a Haven by name but ever since the dark shadow of Praxis was cast across the city it was no longer a Haven by name nor by nature. He was taking a huge risk in coming here but he knew that there was no denying what the vision had told him. There were never any mistakes in who received these visions nor by what they meant. He had to find her. He had to find the leader of the Underground and request membership. It was no secret who was the leader and he hoped that he would be able to recognise him. He could remember her from all those years ago even when they only spoke to one another for a few moments her name was eventually echoed throughout the streets and he knew her name was no mistake nor a coincidence. She was to have a great destiny. Someone to be remembered. She just had no idea what for. He just knew he had to take her place. He could see it, so that she could pursue her real destiny.

He just hoped that they wouldn't laugh in his face. He hated being laughed at especially at such a time and when he was on such a mission. He could imagine the idea of recruited an old-ish man such as himself would be a laughable idea. But it was what he had to do. He just hoped that he would be able to convince them that a sage would be able to serve them quite well, though they may not even know what a sage even is. Ever since Baron Praxis came to power and openly rejected the use of the monastery which resulted in a crippled reputation of any man who dedicated their lives to the Precursors. Faith amongst the citizens of Haven City even began to subside. They figured since all these horrible things had happened to them it seemed illogical for there to be a higher power watching over them and their best interests. Since sages weren't very well known they were always associated with religion rather than being viewed as what they were which was something between science and religion.

He turned on the last right as he had been instructed and walked right to the end of the street. He glanced at the door and knocked waiting for an answer. There was no immediate reply and he didn't expect there to be either but after waiting for five minutes he was starting to get annoyed and banged on the door.

He was making such a racket that the man living next door appeared and stepped out his doorway.

"Hey! Hey! Take it easy pal."

"Well wouldn't you be a little ticked off if someone refused to answer the door. I mean they're basically laughing at me."

The man glanced at Samos then at the door. "Sir do you think you've got the right place. I mean where do you need to-"

"I know perfectly well this is the headquarters of the undergr-" The neighbour covered his mouth to stop him from finishing his sentence

"Quiet! That isn't something you should be shouting in the street about." He hissed. "Anyway what do you want with them? You're not joining them are you?"

Samos was able to slip out of his grip and flung his arms at him. "None of that is your concern young man. I want to know where they are now."

"I don't know. They're not always there. Listen you shouldn't be going round with them anyway. I know you may want to help but what they're doing is very dangerous and you're likely to get yourself killed."

Samos glared at him hoping that he wasn't going to be receiving the same response from the former Lady Auroalis. His whole life he had been told about his limitations rather than what he should be rising above. He could remember being the weakest of the group of homeless, parentless children in the orphanage he grew up in. It was a miracle that a sage came along and noticed his potential otherwise goodness knows what may have happened to him. He could be anywhere by now. He could even be dead if Kieran hadn't found him. He shook his head not wanting to think about that. There was no point thinking about the possibilities that never came to be. And there was no point standing here and wasting his time. He was going to Onin, she would know where to find her.

"Never mind." He muttered and walked away.

~ (***) ~

Annie took Nik back to her house knowing that they probably had nowhere else to go and that it would be best for both of them to lay low for a while. For the whole time it took for them to get there Nik was silent. As they walked through the sewers, when they returned to open air and walked through the streets and down the alley ways into the Bazaar not one word was exchanged between the two. She didn't bother to talk knowing that it would eventually become awkward if she tried. Also after their previous discussion she was unsure whether it would be appropriate for her to say anything to him. She wasn't even sure whether she should be letting him come to her house.

Although she was sure Nik would want to see Oz and Tess being the legal guardian and everything. Technically, it would Aella who would become their legal guardian however the problem with that would be that she would be unable to provide a proper childhood and also if it was found out who was their guardian she would be easily tracked down and arrested.

She walked through the darkened doorway and lifted a sheet that was flapping their faces. Someone glanced outside their door as they passed by probably thinking that Nik was her older boyfriend or someone who was here to collect the children in her apartment.

She rolled her eyes and unlocked the door before giving it a good shove with her shoulder. She glanced over her shoulder.

"It's a bit stiff." She explained, breaking the silence between the two.

"I could fix it for you." He offered.

"No that's okay. Oz! Tess!"

The two blonde haired youth peered round a door into the bedroom and ran towards Nik with their arms outstretched.

"Nik!"

He smiled weakly as he returned their hugs. "Hey you guys. You alright? How have you been?"

Tess went into the other room resisting the idea of rolling her eyes. What a question to ask them. It was pretty obvious that they weren't doing well and it was more importantly, a question he should be asking himself rather than the kids. Also it had been so long since she had the picturesque, happy family life now it seemed like a fairy-tale and a cliché everyone was running after. Although she knew she shouldn't be too judgemental since he was trying to put on a brave face for the kids. He was doing much better than she would be doing if she were in his situation. She would probably dump them with the best person she knew and never see them again and carry on her work with the Underground. He was at least doing that rather than coming across as catatonic as he was towards everyone else.

She waited inside the other room while he talked to the kids. She didn't want to intrude upon this 'special' little moment. She wanted to give them their privacy. She was just the person giving them a room, she wasn't remotely close to being a friend of the family or a part of their family. Also being around children always made her feel a little bit uncomfortable. Even before her parents died she couldn't imagine herself as a mother. She was surprised at herself for bringing them home with her but Barack wasn't there and she knew any sensible person in that situation would know that they shouldn't be left in the hands with someone like Nik considering the emotions he was dragging himself through. It wasn't exactly a healthy atmosphere for a couple of kids who had lost someone who had looked after and cared for them. If anything, it was worse for them than it ever would be for Nik. He had been through this before with his own mother so this wasn't the first time he had lost someone. He had been through this before, so knew he would be able to get through it. Oz and Tess didn't even know what the first step they should take towards getting through their grief.

There was a knock on the door which made her jump and turned around to see Nik poking his head through the door.

"Hey." He whispered. "I put the kids to bed."

She gave him a blank look as if to say 'Why are you telling me this? You're their guardian' and shrugged her shoulders.

"Alright."

"Listen, I want to talk about what happened earlier."

"There's nothing to talk about. I don't know the first thing about what you're feeling. People get through their five stages of grief and respond to these situations in different ways. So-"

"You were right, Annie. I was trying to hide away in my grief rather than talking to anyone about it and even without thinking about Tess and Oz. No let me finish. I haven't even thought about how I'm going to look after them. I mean I can't imagine being able to juggle a life as a guardian with being a leader of the Underground."

"We'll be able to figure something out."

"We'll have to hope that Aella gets back soon because these guys need someone right now and that's going to be me because I know Aella isn't going to respond to this any better than I have."

Annie pressed her lips together and gave him a tight smile. "You're too good to be her brother you know that right?"

He laughed. "Yeah. I know."