Chapter 11: First Time for Everything
Jet: Okay so in the last chapter, baby Mar is cute and clingy. You know it probably didn't help that Damas and Molly left him with Erick for a night.
Jak: That's a scary thought, I hang out with Praxis and we don't want to kill each other.
Penny: Anyways, he also doesn't like to be in his crib and at one point he climbs out of it and crawls for the first time.
Jet: Hey Jak, here's something to think about. You impressed Damas before you were even a year old.
Jak (Blushing): …
Jet: Anyways, after that Damas gives Molly a locket with a picture of them inside it for their anniversary. Then a few months later Mar says his first word.
Penny: I thought Jak was mute until he was seventeen.
Jak: I did have the ability to speak before then.
Jet: Yeah, go a play the first game again. When Jak and Daxter save the red sage Jak looks like he is about to say something but Daxter cuts him off. Anyways, so after that Damas and Molly take Mar for a walk in the city and then a puppy comes up to them. Damas convinces Molly to keep the pup and that's where the crocadog the kid is with came from. Well that's it, on with the story.
Damas was sitting at the desk in his study, pretending to work as he watched Mar play with Mutt. Everywhere Mar went, Mutt would follow. Mar had a little rubber ball that he would throw and Mutt would chase after and bring back. Damas smiled as Mutt brought the ball back and dropped it so Mar could throw it again. Mar looked at his father and started to crawl to him with Mutt following behind him.
Mar reached up to Damas, "Dada." He said.
Damas picked him up and let him sit on the desk, "What are you doing?" He asked as he started to tickle him, Mar just laughed. Damas felt Mutt paw at his leg and looked down at the pup. He had put the ball next to Damas' foot. He kicked it and Mutt chased after it. Then he looked back at Mar who had is arms out to him, Damas smiled and picked him up. He held his son close and kissed the top of his head.
Then the door opened and Molly walked in, Mutt ran up to her and started to run around her. Molly walked up to Damas and Mar and looked at them. "I thought you were working." She said. Damas gave her an embarrassed grin.
Mar looked at her, "Mama." He said.
Molly took Mar from Damas and rubbed noses with him. "Are you hungry?" She asked. Mar giggled so Molly took him out of the room to get him some lunch, Mutt following them. Damas looked back at the papers on his desk, he really didn't want to read another report on how there was a large amount of eco missing. So he got up and left the room figuring he could use some lunch too.
At the fortress, Erick was mad. It had been almost a year and the only thing that had changed about Jak was the small amount of hair that was growing on the end of his chin. Other than that he was the same as he was when he was brought in. Errol didn't understand, Onin had told him that Jak was the one, could she have been wrong? Errol looked down at Jak, who was screaming in pain as dark eco poured into his body. What was it about him that made it so the dark eco didn't have any effect on him?
"Dark eco injection cycle complete." A robotic female voice said, "Bio reading nominal and unchanged."
Erick glared down at Jak, "Why is it not working?" He asked, angrily. Then to let out some of his anger, Erick punched Jak in the gut, causing him to cough up some blood.
Errol looked at Erick, "Sir, if I may. He is the only one we've been trying this on. What if we try using someone else?"
Erick glared at Errol, "You said he was the one we needed. Now you think we should use someone else?"
"We know that no matter how much eco we put into this boy, he won't die. Let's try it on someone else. Just to see if it works the same way on others."
Erick looked back at Jak, "Very well."
Errol dragged Jak back into his cell and went to get another prisoner. He stopped and looked at a tall muscular man, 'He would make an excellent Dark warrior.' Errol thought.Then he saw another guard and called for him to open the man's cell. The guard did as he was told and he and Errol led the man to the Dark Warrior Project. The guard watched in horror as the prisoner was tortured. The screams ended long before the machine was done working. Erick and Errol looked at each other not understanding why the project had killed this man when Jak had been on the project for almost a year and almost nothing happened to him. The guard didn't say a word as he left while Erick and Errol tried to figure out their mystery.
The man stopped, sat down and took off his helmet. 'What is going on?' He thought. Then another guard came up to him.
She took off her helmet and looked down at him with a worried look, "Torn, are you alright?" She asked, seeing how pale he was.
Torn looked up at her, "No, I'm not. Do you know what your father and Errol are doing?"
Ashelin shook her head; Torn looked at his feet not knowing what to say to her. She sat next to him, "Torn, whatever it is I'm sure it's for the best." Completely naive of the subject.
Torn looked at her disgusted, "You really think that?"
"All he wants is to end the war, so yes."
"You really don't have a clue about what he's doing, do you?"
"No. What is he doing?"
"Have him tell you himself." Ashelin looked at Torn as he threw his helmet aside in anger. "I'm done." He said.
"With what?"
"With all this, I'm quitting the guards. I don't want to be a part of this."
"Torn you can't just quit, you'll be put in jail."
"Ashelin, I'm sorry but I can't be a mindless soldier anymore. Over the last year the city has been getting worse."
"King Damas is doing all he can to fix that."
"No, he's not. If he was then maybe he would stop the Baron. But all the king seems to care about is his son."
"Mar isn't even a year old yet. He's only a baby, and he needs his father." Ashelin said trying to get Torn to see reason.
"So what? Is the city just going to have to deal with the Baron running it until the prince is old enough to take care of himself?" Torn asked, standing up.
"My father is not running the city." She said, also standing up.
"No, he's just handling the war, the prison and everything else the king doesn't want to deal with." Torn took a deep breath to calm down a bit, "I sorry Ashelin, but I don't want to told what to do by someone like your father."
"What are you going to do?" She asked, scared of what his answer could be.
"I'm not the only who has noticed that your father is taking over the city. I'll find the Underground and help them." He turned and started to walk away.
It took Ashelin a minute to figure out what he wanted to do. Her boy-friend was talking about a group of people that wanted to take down her father. But she loved Torn, what was she supposed to do? Making up her mind, she ran after Torn and gave him her communicator, "If you ever need me, call and I'll do anything I can."
Torn hugged her, "I love you." He said, as tears began to run down Ashelin's face.
Later on, Errol left the fortress, his sister had asked him to take his young niece Kat to the race track. Errol didn't have a problem with this because at the track there was a young beautiful girl who was a mechanic. Her name was Keira and Errol had met her about a week after Jak was thrown in jail. He was practicing his racing and she had caught his eyes and he crashed. Not too badly, his zoomer was in worse shape than he was, Keira had seen the crash and had come over to him. She offered to help him fix it and they got it back to working order in no time. They had become friends after that, but after almost a year of knowing her Errol found himself looking for any reason to go to the track to talk to her; even taking his niece with him.
Errol and Kat got to the track and found Keira in her garage, "Keira?" Errol called.
Keira came out from behind a green curtain, "Hey Errol, what brings you here?" She asked.
Errol shrugged, "Nothing much. Kat wanted to come to the track, so I thought the three of us could go catch a race."
Keira smiled at the little girl, Kat was a nice looking girl with orange hair and green eyes, "Hi Kat."
"Hi Keira." Kat said, "Uncle, we're going to miss the race." The toddler tugged on his arm.
Errol looked down at her and picked her up, "No, we're not." He looked back at Keira, "So you coming?"
Keira smiled, "Why not." She said, the three of them walked out of the garage and went to see the race.
Later that day at the palace, Mar was playing with Mutt while Damas and Molly watched as they sat on their bed. Mutt would walk in a circle and Mar would crawl behind him, every once in a while Mutt would turn around and lick Mars face making him laugh. Damas looked at Mar's crib then he looked at Molly, "Molly, I've been thinking. Maybe Mar should start sleeping in his own room."
"I think your right. His birthday is next week after all; he should have his own room."
Damas smiled at his son, "I can't believe he's almost a year old." Mar crawled over to his parents with Mutt following him. Damas picked his son up and set him on his lap, "Hey, little guy. Guess what, tonight you're sleeping in your own room." Mar just smiled up at his father while his mother ran her fingers through his hair.
Mutt tried to jump onto the bed but being that he was so little he couldn't get up. Molly looked down at the pup and smiled. She picked him up, sat him on the bed next to her and began to scratch him behind the ears. Damas smiled at her, she looked at him, "What?" She asked, smiling back at him.
"Nothing." He put an arm around her and kissed her forehead.
Then the door opened and Erick walked in, "I knew I'd find you in here." He said. Damas and Molly looked at him and smiled as he walked over and ruffed Mar's hair, "How's my favorite nephew?" He asked. Mar smiled up at him.
Later that night, Damas and Molly looked down at their sleeping son. Erick had helped to move the crib to Mar's new room and Mutt was laying next to the crib also sleeping. Damas kissed Molly and the two of them walked out of the room. When they were in their own room, Molly locked the door and smiled at her husband. Damas smiled back at her, pulled her close and began to kiss her. Now that Mar wasn't sleeping in their room they could do something they hadn't done for since before Molly had found out she was pregnant. Seeing as Molly had fallen under the same curse as every other queen of Haven… there was no risk of anything happening.
A week later, Molly was the first to wake. She got up, got dressed and left, taking care not to disturb her still sleeping husband. She walked to the room next to her's and opened the door. Mar had gotten out of his crib again and was sleeping on the floor using Mutt as a pillow. Mutt looked at Molly with his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging, Molly smiled, walked over to them and picked up her son. Mar began to wake up; he looked up at his mother with half open eyes, "Mama." He said.
Molly smiled, "Good morning, Mar." She kissed his cheek, "Happy birthday." She let Mar cling to her shoulder and walked out of the room with Mutt following.
Damas woke a little while later. He got dressed and after looking in Mar's room he figured that Molly had taken him to get something to eat. He went down to the kitchen and found Molly trying to get Mar to eat at least a little bit of mashed peas, but Mar wouldn't have it. Mar saw Damas and smiled, Molly turned around to looked at him also smiling, "Morning." She said, putting down the spoon.
Damas came over to them and ruffled Mar's hair, "Hey, birthday boy." Damas looked at Molly, but before he could to say anything to her, he felt a good amount of mashed peas hit his face. He looked at Mar, who was laughing. Molly was trying not to laugh but she couldn't keep a smile from stretching across her face. Damas playfully glared at Mar, "Did you just throw your food at me?" He asked. Mar just kept laughing.
"Maybe he's just not hungry." Molly said, taking Mar out of the highchair and cleaning the food off him.
Damas went to clean the baby food off his face. After he had it all off, he looked back at his son and wife. Mutt walked up to Damas and sat next to him, Damas knelt down to pet him. Mar got a little jealous that Mutt was getting more attention from Damas then he was, so he started to reach for him so Molly put him down so he could crawl to his father. Damas picked up his son and walked over to Molly with Mutt following him, the four of them walked to the garden to enjoy the beautiful morning together.
Damas wasn't planning about doing anything that involved the counsel or the war today; it was his son's first birthday after all and he wanted to spend it with him. Erick and Ashelin had decided not to go to work today, because it was Mar's birthday. That was one good thing about being practically family to the king of Haven; it was easy to say 'I'm not going to work today.'
Around midday Damas snuck off to his parents' old room, he opened the door and walked in. No one had been in there since his parents' death more than eleven years ago. He walked over to the dresser were a wooden box sat covered in dust. Damas opened the box and pulled out the seal that had once been his father's. He put the seal in his pocket and then looked at a picture that was next to the box, it was of Selena and Alexander on their wedding day. Alexander had his arms wrapped around Selena as she kissed him. Damas couldn't help but smile, he missed them but at least he knew they were together. He turned and walked out of the room.
Damas found Molly playing with Mar and Mutt in one of the reading rooms. Mutt would help Mar sit up and Molly would playfully push him down, this made Mar laugh. Molly looked at her husband and smiled. Mutt helped Mar sit up, but rather than wait for his mother to push him down again, Mar grabbed her shirt and pulled himself up onto his feet. Molly and Damas looked at their son; standing wasn't something new, he could stand up but not on his own. Molly took both of her son's tiny hands and started to guide him towards Damas. After a little while she let go of his hands and let him try on his own. Damas knelt down and reached out his arms towards Mar as he began to take his first steps on his own.
Mar walked to his father and Damas picked him up, proud that his son could walk on his own. Molly stood up and walked over to them, "Good job." She said, tickling Mar under his chin.
Damas smiled at Mar, "Guess what, I have something for you." He said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the seal, Mar reached for it. "This belonged to your grandfather." Damas said, "It's very special, you and I are the only living descendants of a great hero. This seal is a symbol of that." Damas put the seal around Mar's neck. Mar smiled at him, Damas couldn't explain how but he felt that somehow, Mar understood. Molly looked at her son and husband and smiled, she knew how long Damas had been waiting to give Mar the seal. Mar yawned and began to fall asleep in his father's arms.
Damas wasn't the only one who had something to give to Mar; Molly had found an old looking cap in the bazaar. It was a simple brown cap, nothing fancy but she thought it looked cute so she bought it for Mar. She put it on him, it looked cute and Mar seemed to like it. Molly couldn't help but to play with the small tuft of hair that stuck out of the front of it.
The next day Erick and Ashelin went back to work, by now everyone knew that Torn had quit the guards but that really didn't have any effect on anyone but Ashelin. She tried to hide her sadness but Erick could see it, and he hated himself because there was nothing he could do. Erick tried not to think about Ashelin, and focused on the project. Errol and Erick had tweaked the project and put three others on it, the three new victims didn't die and had better results than Jak, who no matter what was done to him just didn't change. Jak and the three others were kept away from the other prisoners and each other just in case something happened. Erick and Errol just couldn't understand why Jak didn't die or change but at least they knew one thing: the project did work so it had to be only a matter of time before Jak did start to change.
Time goes by, now that Mar could walk on his own there was almost nothing he didn't get into. If on the rare occasion Mar did manage to sneak off when his parents weren't watching him, Mutt would follow him and try to keep him out of trouble. Mar had figured out where the counsel room was and knew that if his father wasn't around that was where Mar went to look for him. Mar couldn't get into the room so he sat outside it and played with Mutt. After the first few times Molly had found Mar waiting outside the counsel room, she waited with him. But eventually she found that he wouldn't go anywhere until Damas came out so she started to let him stay there without her.
One day when he was waiting for Damas, Mar saw a little glowing yellow ball thing floating not too far away from him. He stood up and started to walk over to it, but Mutt stood in front of him and barked at the yellow sphere. "No." Mar said, Mutt stopped barking. Mar walked to the yellow energy and touched it, nothing happened. Mar took it in both his hands and laughed, it felt warm in his hands. Mutt sat next to Mar looking at the ball of light as Mar tossed it up and caught it over and over again.
Damas walked out with Veger walking next to him, going on about the catacombs again. But Damas wasn't listening, when he had walked out of the counsel room he saw Mar playing with a ball of yellow eco. Veger saw this and- for once- stopped talking about his twisted dream. Damas walked over to his son and knelt down, "Hey little guy, what do you have there?" He asked. Mar held out the ball of eco to his father, Damas couldn't even begin to imagine how it was possible for Mar to just hold eco in his bare hands or even how he had gotten a hold of it in the first place. Damas reached out to try to take the eco but it seemed to absorb into Mar's hands. All Mar knew was the thing he was playing with had just disappeared, he began to cry. Damas picked him up, "Hey, hey, it's alright. Don't cry." Damas turned to Veger, "Not a word about this, to anyone." He said, in almost a threatening tone. Then he started to walk away as Mar calmed down. Veger watched them go; was it possible that prince Mar really had the ability to channel eco like his ancestor? Veger had to get his hands on the boy to be sure. He left thinking about what this could mean, he was definitely not going to tell anyone about this.
Penny: Well… that was an interesting ending for the chapter.
Jet: Yes it was.
Penny: Jet, you do know that Jak is glaring at you again.
Jet: Yeah, I know.
Penny: You're not even going to look at him are you?
Jet: No. He'll be less mad at me by the time the next chapter starts.
Penny: Well for your sake I hope that's soon.
Jet (Nervous giggle): You and me both. So readers tell me what you think about the chapter, and keep an eye out for the next one. Oh but one thing I forgot, I got the HD collation and it looks better than I could have hoped. Form the 7th to tonight (2/10/12) I've gone from start of the first game to the class three race in Jak II, go me.