Disclaimer: I do not own Jak and Daxter

Chapter Ten

For LeiaOrganicSolo

Nik and Oz sat in the waiting room while Aella was talking to the KG officer. Why she had thought this was a good idea he would never know. She was probably criminal number one for all they knew. Or if not somewhere in the top five in the city. Nik was tapping his foot against the floor nervously which he was sure was beginning to annoy the receptionist and any officers around him. As he sat there with Oz sleeping in lap he tried to get his head around how and why they had got to this point in their lives. He may have been young but he wasn't stupid. He knew about their mother. Their mother, the promiscuous woman she was more or less led them to this kind of life. But one mixed with crime was something else. She was sometimes careful. She sometimes had a plan. But this all happened when she stopped planning. It truly took someone who was selfish and impulsive to launch other people's lives, even your children's into this kind of again those were the two attributes you could easily use to sum up Lynder Auroalis. He was never close to his mother. None of them were. That was the depressing thing. His sister was more of a mother to him and his mother was more of an annoying older sister who got into trouble all the time. She was only one who had really pulled them through the wreckage. She was the only one working for the family. Lynder lived for the moment, Aella worked for their future.

She never wanted to attend parents evening. Sometimes it was Aella who had to go in when the school asking for a conference with someone. They would get confused at first and even point blank refuse to talk to Aella but when it was made clear that her mother wasn't coming to the meeting they had no choice. Nor did she want to go to the science fairs. They soon got used to it when they saw that the daughter was obviously more mature than the mother. Instead she would go out on nights partying and coming home in the early hours of the morning when Aella would have to make sure she made it to the bed and then leave a glass of water to wake up to and a bucket for her to vomit into. Such was their life and it had always been their way of life. Until now. Now everything had changed. Now that their mother was dead they really had no ties to Jinx and Krew. They could have another life now. But they had to pay a price for it. Even though she wasn't a good mother they didn't hate her that much. There was also Oz to think about. What kind of a single father would Jinx make? Wasn't it Nik and Aella's responsibility to make sure that Oz had a better upbringing than they had? After experiencing such a childhood they had the hindsight to understand that it was their responsibility to make sure than no one had to go through that. Especially Oz.

Nik glanced down at his younger brother as he slept peacefully as if nothing was wrong. He stroked his head and heard him make a murmuring sound. Something caught between a sound one made when eating something delicious and one when someone was gently snoring. He had to admit he could see some signs of affection coming from their mother for Oz at times but then again he was the most adorable out of the three and that wasn't because he was the youngest. He knew that if she stayed around for a little longer that the affection would soon wane. It was the same with him. When he was the youngest out of Aella and himself he got more attention. Merely because he was the boy. Then Oz was born and their mother was still with Jinx. Oz's curly blonde hair rested against his older brother's chest. His slender, delicate body making the slightest of movements over each passing breath as he slept silently. Nik smiled and ran his fingers through Oz's hair affectionately. He was so small, so fragile that he looked like if you dropped him he would break. No wonder their mother thought he was adorable, anything which looked breakable was adorable. He wrapped his arms around him feeling that it was almost a miracle that he had not been chipped under the harsh confines of the world they had been thrown into. It was a miracle any of them had survived. The two brothers mostly.

Don't worry, Aella nor I will ever let anything happen to you, buddy. I can promise you that...

The door of the office Aella opened so suddenly it caught Nik off guard and almost fell out the chair. He was able to grip onto a table next to him to stop him from falling but as a result some leaflets and a plant fell to the ground with a loud crash causing the receptionist to tut at him and hurried over to the wreckage to clean it up. He gave her an apologetic smile and turned back to his older sister who seemed more amused that annoyed. He turned to his younger brother who still seemed to be sleeping. That boy was able to sleep through anything as it seemed. That would be a stupid thing to do and he would also wake up Oz. He didn't want him waking up in a police station. He wanted him to find himself in a warm bed as if all of this was just a bad dream. If only... He looked up with a startled expression on his face like an animal hearing the slightest sound of an approaching predator. However he had to decide whether this was going to be someone to be threatened by or not. Aella emerged out of the doorway followed by a KG officer who looked like he was seven feet tall but was probably around six foot five or something. He had a stern look on his face but his eyes said differently. It was probably all the armour he was wearing that made him look so tall. She walked over to her brother and then turned back to the officer when she was standing beside them.

"Officer Lowe, these are my brothers Nik and the little one sleeping in Oz."

The officer held out a hand to Nik, who took it with caution. "Hey there." He greeted. "My name's Officer Lowe but you can call me Duke. It's what they all call me around here."

"Nice to meet you." Nik replied roughly. He didn't want to jump onto informal terms yet but he didn't want to seem like he had an attitude problem either.

"You're sisters helping us a lot with the underground crime bosses. Her information may not be able to help us at the moment but it's a start to take down Krew and crime ring. With enough evidence we should be able to put him away for life."

Nik glanced at Aella and raised an eyebrow. She was helping the KG now? Did she realise the danger she was putting them in? Did she have any idea of what Krew was capable of? Of course she was. She had worked for him for at least a year. But she must have known that if you betray an underground boss like him they were going to bring you back, kicking and screaming and you would leave with a few fingers less than you when you were dragged through the door. So what did she think she was doing? He would have thought that all of this would be the opportunity to start a new life without having to deal with all this crap. Now she was throwing them back into it again. He glanced up at her again and saw the reason in an instant. Revenge. So that's what it was. Sometimes his sister never thought with her head, just with the mood she happened to be in at the time. He resisted scoffing out loud for her to hear. If there was any of them who completely despised their mother it was Aella. She was the last person in the family who would want to avenge their mothers death. So why was she doing it now? Did she finally realise in her death that there may be a small part of her which actually cared for her? If that was the case then all of this was an absolute joke. He shook his head and knew he had to go along with it. Once Aella starting something she wasn't going to stop.

~ (***) ~

She turned her eyes to the sky, the sun was beginning to rise again. This was her third night on the streets and still she had no idea where she was going. All she could do was wait. Only when she saw her visions she would know where she needed to go. It was the only way for her to know anything for certain. Seem had been wandering through the streets for some time now. She was no better than the beggars on the street scourging for money. The KG officers took her to an orphanage since she had no other family members to speak of but she knew just from looking at it that it wasn't where she was supposed to be. The woman there was horrible and there was something about her which made her want to run away. Although after one night there she knew she wouldn't stay for long. This wasn't where she was supposed to be so on her second night there she waited until it was time to go to sleep and waited for the lights to go out until she slipped away and went into the city. No one would miss her. She wandered the streets for a long time wondering if she was going to find anywhere to stay, if she was going to see something which would tell her where she needed to go. Since the death of her sister and her grandparents she hadn't been able to see anything. Just when she was about to give up hope she had a vision. She fell to her knees and craned her neck back as she allowed the light to swallow her whole...

"Amos...Have you heard what's happening at the outer city?"

The tall, blonde haired man shook his head. "I know. It's terrible. I wish the city council would just let us out there...Even Samos for goodness sake, he's the last of the sages and the only one who can-"

"I know, I know. I'm starting to fear that maybe...I don't know...I'm starting to think that the King no longer thinks that we have any use here any more."

"Don't talk like that, Valador. I'm sure that the King will begin to see sense. It's just those Barons..."

"Hmph. Don't I know it...I just hope that something could be done. They will need more than guns to win this war..."

Amos saw her from the window as he woke up for his morning prayers. He was surprised to have noticed such a little thing in the street. Seeing beggar children was an everyday experience when you walked through Haven City. It was a surprise really considering the King who was in power now. In fact his father was never a corrupt man either it was just the men which surrounded them who had dark, evil souls. He wouldn't be surprised if he found out that the Dark Makers had a hand in this. However then he noticed that she was doing something out of the ordinary, something which he only ever saw amongst the gifted seers of the monastery. She was kneeling there looking up at the sky as she swayed a little. He remembered the drums which would play while they shared a vision together. It was almost like dance when they played them. He had seen that look before when others were having the same visions as himself. He recalled having to oversee the young ones and when he saw it he found it rather frightening to think that he looked like that when he had a vision. Without thinking he ran down the stairs and into the street without putting something on so others wouldn't recognise him and brought her into the room. He laid her down and continued his prayers knowing that he would have to wait until she was done. He was fool to come back to the city but he had a vision. Something about his daughter...

They ran through the gunfire and madness so that they could get to the spot. Amos wrapped an arm around his mentor and adoptive father.

"Come on, Samos."

"I know the importance of getting there, my boy. The council needs a reason to keep supporting us and they are going to get it." He growled.

"Hey we need to get out of here!" Said a voice on the intercom. Amos growled and switched it off.

"Come on!"

"My boy, there is something you should know...Some people are beginning to blame you for the Metal heads coming towards the city..."

"What?"

Samos shook his head. "Something about the energy you solicit. Even when I found you as a boy even I could-"

He stopped in mid-sentence when a bright green light shone from a high point in the distance Amos covered his eyes while he heard something Samos was murmuring to himself.

"Looks like we found it."

The girl moaned and finally woke up from her sleep. Amos smiled to himself and allowed her to take her time in waking up from the vision. Sometimes it could be disorientating and the person needed time to clear their head before they could even sit up.

"How are you feeling?"The girl jumped at the sound of his voice and backed away like a frightened puppy. "It's alright. I won't hurt you...What's your name?"

"Seem." She answered finally.

"Seem...I'm Amos. How long have you been having these visions?"

She gulped. "As long as I can remember...I've seen bad things. I wish I didn't have to see them."

Amos reached over and rested his hand on her shoulder. "It's alright now, Seem. I'm going to help you with this gift you've been given. If you'll me."

She considered it only for a moment until she nodded her head and went back to sleep.

~ (***) ~

"What is it that's actually protecting him?" Nik asked.

"He has too many connections with the council. Let's just say that he has a few agreements with enough of them to protect him from the law. But soon if we get enough claims against him not only will we get rid of most of the crime in the city but also the corrupt government running it also."

"How come the King won't get rid of the governors? Surely it must be obvious if some of them had connections with underground crime." Aella stated.

"That's something I wondered about too. But then again some of these elected governors have too high a status to not be turned down. After all its not the choice of the kind who gets elected."

"Yeah that's right they get elected by the council by majority don't they?"

Duke cocked his head to the side. "It's not as simple as that. First people put them up for election. Then solely the council, not the king includes elected five out of however many there are that year then the King chooses two of them to be put on the council. So the King is pretty much presented with whatever the council chooses."

"And the council is trying to have as much power over the King as possible." Aella murmured.

"Well they can't pass any laws without his permission. But that's as far as it goes. I feel sorry for him. He's actually getting by in his years. The older he gets the more power the council has over the government. Its not easy maintaining your health whether it be physical or mental and a country at the same time. I would be surprised if we saw another decade of his rule."

"Who will it be after that?" Aella inquired. She was never really interested in politics but she at least made sure who it actually was who was ruling the city she lived in.

"His son Damas is going to take over after him. He's a good man. A real warrior but isn't a knucklehead either. He's also wiser than his years. So overall I think we've got a pretty good rule to look forward to after this one."

"Yeah, doesn't sound like a bad guy." Nik chuckled, although everyone knew he wasn't making a joke or mocking the prince either.

"It's a shame most rulers aren't like that." Aella said thoughtfully.

She was never that interested in politics despite it being one of the other few subjects she passed at school. Physics and politics. Sure she could have made a career out of that. But only just. Although she had never really be interested in knowledge only about this world, the now, survival. That was all that ever really concerned her. She wasn't made or born for a life which she was just able to pass into. Everyone was made for a life where they could be as fulfilled as they ever could be and she knew she meant for something more than that. She meant for something more than this. She didn't want to seem too big-headed about it but she didn't want to think too less of herself to the point that the only life she could have was the example her mother set for her. It was about time she started acting like she believed in that. Even if she wasn't ready to believe in herself yet. She began to wonder what she would do if she was in power or if she was destined to be in power. She would probably be as learned as possible in all the necessary fields. Also having a good sense of justice was a good attribute for a leader but not one that was too rigid. She realised that it would take years for Krew to be taken down. Not unless she did something about it.

"Duke, I'm about to turn sixteen in a few weeks, that's the youngest you can sign up for KG training isn't it?"

Duke raised his eyebrow at the petite girl. "Yeah? Why?"

She shrugged her shoulders in reply as if it was nothing when she was going to be making the biggest decision in her life. She didn't know it yet but it was what was going to change her life entirely and was going to be the decision which would bring her one step closer to her destiny.

"I was just wondering if I could sign up."

~ (***) ~

Metrodona and Samos walked out the meeting room with a look of resignation on their faces. Valador was still speaking to someone else but he threw them an apologetic look. He had reported back from the King's session and told them all that there was going to be even less of a concentration on them. Samos turned to the beautiful, tall young woman who looked heart-broken this had been her life since she was a little girl.

"What are we going to do?" He asked desperately.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know but we need to get through to them that we're more than just some chanting monks. We are actually here for a purpose."

"I know, Donna. I know. I'm trying to get through to them but they just don't want to listen to us. I was there as well. I just hope that there can be some way we can get through to them if only..." He stopped knowing that he shouldn't speak of it. Or more accurately of him.

She blinked. "What?"

He sighed. He didn't want to speak of this knowing that this was an easy way to create a stir amongst the religious community. It old pupil and son was never far from his mind. He hadn't spoken to him since he broke the vows and fled from the city. He wondered where the child was out there. Whether they had a good life, if they had her father's gift's...

"I just wonder whether it was the right thing to run, Amos out like that."

She turned away in disgust. "He broke the vows, Samos. I know he was-"

"But he was the best we had and you can't deny that his child is out there and we don't know whether..."

"There is nothing to talk about, Samos. He broke the vows and that is that. As for the child they have a lifetimes worth of repentance to make up for the sin their father committed."