Chapter 12
Jet: Okay, let me start by saying yeah I have more than 1000 hits . Oh, and Penny is not here right now and to be honest I am starting to wonder if anyone is really reading the recaps so this time I'm not going to do one. I'm just going to start the story. If you do like them then tell me and I'll start doing them again. But for now I'll just say on with the story.
As Lilly and Rick slept in the cave out in South Haven forest; Far away in Kras city, a young girl walked the streets alone. She was about fifteen; her hair was a dark orange and fell just below her neck, her bangs were combed so they framed her face but the rest of her hair was brushed strait back. Her eyes where a dark, almost dangerous green. She also had ear rings that were at the tips of her ears. She had on a dark brown jacket, dark blue pants and light gray boots. The girl walked until she reached the Bloody Hook. When she got there she sat down by the door and waited.
She sat there until the last person– Razer -walked out, when she saw him she knew it was the person she had been waiting for. She got up and walked up behind him, he didn't take any notice of her until she tapped him on the back. He looked at her, the sight of her almost made him drop his cigarette. The girl was close to tears, after a long moment of them staring- the girl finally said, in a shaky voice, "Father?"
Now Razer really did drop his cigarette, "Katrina?" The girl hugged him as tears started to fall down her face.
The next morning, Rick woke to find his chest covered in blood, he looked down at Lilly who was still asleep. He wiped the blood away and looked at his chest the cuts weren't as deep as they could have been. He looked at his hand which was now covered in blood, he moved Lilly, careful not to wake her. He went to the wall and wiped the blood onto it. Sure he knew it was strange and a little gross, but so what?
He looked back at Lilly, she didn't seem to be hurt. She began to wake up herself, she was a little surprised that she was laying on the floor, Rick looked at her, "Morning, how'd you sleep?"
"Okay, I guess." she saw the blood on his shirt , "Rick, what happened?" She almost shrieked in concern.
"Nothing really, I just hurt myself… again." He said.
Lilly got up, "Let me see." she said.
"Um… I have enough scars as is." He said, backing away a little.
"Hey!" She said with a laugh.
"You hungry?" he asked.
"A little."
"Well come on." He said as he walked out of the cave.
Lilly followed him, "So what have you been eating?" she asked.
He stopped at a very large bush covered in small red berries, "These." He said picking one off the bush and putting it in his mouth.
Lilly looked at him, confused, "You've been living off these little berries for the last three days?"
"Mostly." He said, putting more berries into his mouth.
"It didn't cross your mind that those berries could be deadly?"
"No, Lil, just try one, you'll like it. They're really sweet." He said, handing her one.
She took it and put it in her mouth; he was right, they were sweet- almost like candy. The two of them ate the berries. When they were done, the two of them sat by the river and watched twigs flow down it, "Hey," Lilly said, Rick looked at her, "how far away from the city are we?" she asked.
Rick smiled, "Why? You want to go back?"
Lilly smiled at him, "Only if you're coming."
"Well I'm not going back. At least not right now."
"Then I'm not going back." She said as she threw a small rock into the river. "I just want to know."
"We're not really that far away. I've stayed close to the river because it can lead me back." Rick looked back at the river. Lilly pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on his shoulder, he put his arm around her, she shivered a little, "Are you okay?" he asked.
She looked up at him, "I'm a little cold."
He wrapped both his arms around her, "That better?" he asked.
"A little." The two of them sat in silence for over an hour.
But then Lilly heard the voice again, she stood up. Rick looked at her, "Lil, what is it?"
"It's that voice again." She said as she began to follow it.
Rick stood up and grabbed her arm, "Lilly, there is no voice. You're hearing things."
She looked at him, "I don't think I am." She pulled away from him, "C'mon." Rick rolled his eyes and followed her. Lilly was listening to the voice, trying to figure out what it was saying, the more she listened the more it sounded like 'This way. This way.' Lilly and Rick walked back down the path they had walked last night. They came out at the clearing and on the other end of it was Jak. "Daddy!" Lilly exclaimed running up and hugging him, Jak dropped his bag and picked her up and hugged her back. "I'm sorry I left without telling anyone." She said, looking at him.
"I know you are," He said, "and you know that was wrong thing to do, right?"
"Yes."
"Okay then." He put her down and looked at Rick.
He walked over to him. The young elf didn't look up at him, "Are my parents mad at me?" he asked, looking at the ground.
Jak knelt down and gently made Rick look at him, "They're not mad, they just want you to come home."
Rick backed away, "I can't." His ears drooped a little, "I'm too dangerous."
Jak put his hand on his shoulder; Rick looked up at him, "I know how you feel."
"No you don't." Rick said, looking away.
At this, Lilly started to laugh; Jak glared at her. She cleared her throat, put her hands behind her back and looked away from them. Jak looked back at Rick, "Rick," He said to get Rick to look at him, "I know what it's like to feel like you're too dangerous to be around everyone you care about. Let me help you."
Rick smiled at him, knowing he was right, "Okay." He said.
Jak stood up and walked back over to Lilly. He picked up the bag and started to go through it. He pulled out clothes for them to change into. They took them, Rick took off his shirt and put the other on, Lilly looked at him, "Do you mind?" she asked.
"What?" he asked, starting to take off his pants.
Lilly covered her eyes with one hand, "I'm going over there." She said, pointing to a bush that was behind her, she went behind the bush and started to change.
"What's with her?" Rick asked as he finished changing.
Jak smiled and shook his head, "Nothing."
When they were done changing, Jak started to lead them to a different clearing, "Daddy," Lilly said, getting his attention, "what was wrong with the other spot?"
"Nothing. It's just nice to see new places." He grabbed her hand, "So where were you two going when I found you?" He asked.
"Ask Lilly," Rick said, "She was following some 'voice' and we found you."
Jak looked down at his daughter, "Voice? What voice?"
"I don't know, I heard it yesterday, too."
"Do you know who it was?" Jak asked.
"No, I never saw anyone."
"I never heard it." Rick said.
"What did it sound like?"
"Nice." Lilly said, "I just felt like I could trust whoever was talking."
"Was it a man or a woman talking?"
"Both, I think. It was like a group of people speaking the same thing at the same time."
Jak looked at Rick, "And you can't hear it?"
"No, I think she's crazy."
Lilly glared at him, "I'm not crazy!" She snapped.
"Yes you are." He smirked.
"No," Jak said, both of them looked up at him, "She's not. I know what is going on."
"Good, cause I don't." Lilly said.
Jak laughed, "Lilly think about it, where are you?"
"The forest."
"Right, and what is your mother?"
"A queen." She said in complete child innocence.
Jak smiled, "Yes, but what else?"
"The sage of green eco."
"Right, and because she is that what can she do?"
"Um… talk to the plants?" Lilly said, not sure if that was the answer he was looking for.
Jak nodded his head, "You know that you have to be sage someday, too. You have the potential of doing the same things she can. Your powers don't just come from me."
It took her a moment to see what he was getting at, "Are… are you saying that I was talking to the plants?" she asked.
"Well, they were more talking to you, but yes."
Lilly smiled at Rick, "Told you I wasn't crazy." She stuck her tongue out at him. Rick crossed his arms and looked away from her.
Jak took them deeper into the forest away from the river, they reached a clearing and he turned to Lilly, "Hey Lil, do you want to learn how to fly?" he asked.
Lilly eyes lit up, "Really!" She asked as a smile stretched a crossed her face, Jak nodded.
Rick looked up at him, "I thought, you were going to help me." he said.
"I will, I just want to teach Lilly this first. Okay?"
"Okay." Rick said, a little sad. He went and sat down next to a tree.
Jak looked back at Lilly, "Okay, flying- believe it or not- is really very easy."
"Then why haven't you taught it to me before?" she asked.
"Because you weren't ready. Now get into your light form." She rolled her eyes and did as she was told. Jak smiled at her, also getting into his light form. He picked her up and took off, when they were a good height Jak stopped and looked at Lilly, "Lil, Do you remember how I taught you how to swim?"
"Yes." She said, a little annoyed. It had not been a pleasant experience. When she was three, Jak had taken her to the beach. He carried her into the water to where she couldn't reach the bottom, but he could. He put her in the water, let her splash around and then let her go thinking she would swim, the whole sink or swim thing. But when he let go she panicked and sank, Jak quickly pulled her out of the water and calmed her down. When she was calm, he told her that there was nothing to be afraid of. He put her back in the water, and let go more slowly this time. He let her go and this time she was swimming, well doing the dog-paddle anyway.
"Tell me you're not just going to let me go." She said.
"Well how do baby birds learn how to fly?" he asked.
"They get shoved out of the nest." She said, looking at the ground that was very far away. She looked back at Jak and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Don't let me go, Daddy!"
Jak pulled her away and looked at her, "Don't be scared, I'm not going to let you get hurt. You trust me, don't you?"
"Yes." She started to flap her wings and Jak let her go very slowly.
When he was just holding her hands he smiled at her, "Hey Lil, you're doing this on your own."
"I am?" She said, she looked at the ground and smiled. She let go of her father hands and headed to the ground, not because she was falling but because she was flying, really flying. Jak followed her back to the ground and changed back. Lilly on the other hand was having too much fun, she flew behind Rick and scared him before she took off into the sky.
Jak and Rick watched her climb higher and higher, "Lilly," Jak called, "don't go to high." But she couldn't hear him.
She knew light eco used a lot of energy but she didn't care, she kept going. But then all of a sudden she changed back and began to fall, screaming as she went. Jak was about to get into his light form when a black blur zoomed past him. Lilly covered her eyes, she was falling but then she stopped, someone had caught her. She opened her eyes expecting to see her father but it wasn't Jak, it was Rick, "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes but…" she trailed off as her eyes found that Rick had wings, long black bat like wings. "Rick you have wings!" She exclaimed.
"WHAT!" he exclaimed, looking over his shoulder and nearly dropping Lilly. He quickly caught her again, "Sorry."
She looked up at him, "Just put me back on the ground."
He put her down and Jak came up to them, "Are you alright?" he asked, hugging his daughter.
"I'm alright, but I don't know what happened. Has something like that ever happened to you?"
"Um… no, but I'm sure it's nothing."
Lilly walked back to Rick who had been trying to get a good look at the wings that had just came out of his back. "Rick," he looked at her, "Thank you for saving me." She kissed his cheek.
He hugged her, "You're welcome." While Jak was helping Rick with his powers Lilly tried to talk to the plants but it seemed that now they didn't want to talk. As the day went on Rick got more confident with his powers. At about dusk Jak said that Rick had done enough. The young elf fell back on to the ground, Lilly came over and stood over him, hands on her hips, and looking a little annoyed, "What?" he asked.
"I've been thinking, I've had my powers my whole life and I just started to learn how to fly."
"Yeah," Rick said, sitting up, "So what?"
Lilly sat down next to him, "You didn't even know you could fly and somehow you were able to do it without even trying." She pouted her lip, frustrated and envious.
"Lilly, I didn't ask for this to happen. Okay, so I'm a little better at flying then you, big deal."
She glared at him, "It is a big deal!" She snapped.
"Why?"
She looked away from him, "I don't know…" Jak came over and sat next to them, Lilly leaned up against him, "Why am I so bad at flying?" she asked.
Jak put an arm around her, "You're not. You're actually really good at it."
"If I was good at it then I wouldn't need saving."
Jak smiled, "Lilly, just because you ask for help that doesn't mean you're bad at something." She looked up at him and smiled. Then she looked at Rick and started laughing, he had fallen asleep.
A little later back in Haven, Keira was looking out one of the palace windows, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that Jak had found Rick and Lilly. But still; Lilly had left without telling anyone. She couldn't help but be a little worried about her little girl. She looked away from the window; at least the three of them would be home tomorrow.
Much later that night, back in the forest Jak and Lilly were sleeping peacefully in the sleeping bags Jak had brought with him, but Rick wasn't. He awoke with a splitting headache that would not go away; he got up and tried walking it off. He walked past Lilly and stepped on a twig that was close to her head, she woke up and watched him walk away, "Rick?" She asked, getting up and walking up behind him, "What's wrong?" She asked.
"Get away." He said, not looking at her.
It was clear he was in pain. "No. Not until you tell me what's wrong." She reached up and put her hand on his shoulder, "Let me help you."
"Just get away!" He mostly yelled, this woke Jak up.
He put his hand on her left shoulder to push her away but didn't realize his claws had come out. When he pushed her: four of his claws slashed her from the top of her left shoulder to below her ribs on her right side. She was too shocked to scream, "Rick…" She breathed. She hit her head on a rock and knew no more.
Rick looked at her and saw her lying on the ground. "NO!" He screamed, he knelt down and held her, she was breathing but her chest was already covered her own blood, "Lilly, I'm sorry. Why didn't you listen to me and get away?" Jak came over, Rick looked up at him, "I – I told her to get away, she – she wouldn't listen to me."
Jak took Lilly from him. Her chest started to glow a bright blue and the slashes on her chest turned into scars. Jak looked back at Rick, but he was gone; Jak saw him running away, "Rick." Jak called after him, whether Rick was ignoring him or could not hear him- either way, he didn't look back, he just kept running.
Lilly began to wake up, she looked up at Jak, "Daddy," she looked around, "where's Rick?" she asked. Jak just hugged her, "Daddy where is he?" she asked again.
Jak looked at her, "He ran off again."
She didn't say anything, she stood up but that made her feel a little woozy and she fell back down. Jak caught her, "I have to go after him. He has to know I'm all right."
"You're not going anywhere, you're hurt too badly."
"No I'm not." She said.
Jak shook his head, "Lil, look at your shirt."
She looked down, seeing the slash marks with blood on her shirt, and then looked back up at him, "Okay, it's covered in blood, so what? I'm fine now."
Jak smiled and hugged her, "Only you would say something like that."
Lilly looked up at the sky over Jak's shoulder, at all the stars. One of them seemed to be getting bigger, "Daddy, what's that?" She asked, pointing to the sky. Jak looked up and saw what she was looking at; it was getting bigger and bigger as it came closer. It wasn't a star, it was a ship that Jak hadn't seen since he had defeated Cyber Errol and the Dark Makers. The ship was coming right to them; Jak picked up Lilly and took her to the edge of the clearing.
The ship landed, the door opened and a bright light came out and lit the clearing. It blinded Jak and Lilly for a second but then Jak looked up and saw three ottsels come out of the ship. One of them had on a helmet that covered his eyes and buck teeth; the other ottsel had a calm look on his face like he had no trouble at all; the third was much wider than the other two and was the only one that seemed to have anything on his mind. He held a staff: it was clear he was the leader of this group of ottsels. The ottsel leader and the ottsel that had the calm look both had a patch of brown hair on the top of their heads. The sight of these three ottsel filled Jak with dread: what could they want? Hadn't he done enough for them? Lilly wrapped her arms more tightly around Jak's neck, she knew who the three of them were and knew if they had come to see her dad then it couldn't be anything good.
The three ottsels looked at Jak. He sighed and pulled Lilly away. He set her down, she used a tree to keep herself from falling. "Stay here." He told her.
"But, daddy…" she said, grabbing onto his arm.
He smiled at her and ran his hand through her hair, "Don't worry, I'm sure everything is fine. Just stay here." He said, walking away, his smile fading as he went. He got up to the ottsels, "What do you want?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"Chill out, buddy," the ottsel with the calm face said, "it's nothing big or anything."
"Indeed," the ottsel leader said, "I have a small favor to ask of you."
Jak rolled his eyes, "I'm getting too old to be doing your 'favors' and besides, I have a family now."
The ottsel leader shook his head, "It is not something that will put you or your family in any kind of danger."
"Then what is it?" Jak asked.
"I believe you and your friends are sending your kids to school soon."
"What of it?"
"All I want you to do is keep an eye on my son until he has finished school." The ottsel leader said.
"You have a son?" Jak asked.
A small ottsel popped out from behind the ottsel leader. The ottsel leader looked down at the boy, "It's alright, Devin." He said, pushing the small ottsel forward, "There is no reason to be shy."
Jak looked at the small ottsel: he couldn't be much taller than Sue, he had on a dark purple T-shirt and black pants, his hair was brown and covered his left eye, but his other eye was a pale blue. Devin looked up at Jak and waved modestly. Jak knelt down, "So how old are you?" He asked. Devin opened his mouth but very little sound came out; "I'm sorry, I don't know what you said."
"I- I'm seven."
Jak looked back at the ottsel leader, "So you just want me to send him to school with my kid and keep an eye on him?"
"Yes."
"No monster? No saving the world? Just watching this kid?" Jak asked, very unsure that this was it.
"You've got it."
"What's the catch?"
"There isn't one. I just need someone I can trust." The ottsel leader said.
"Dad," Devin said, getting his father's attention "How am I going to go to a school of elves, I'm not an elf."
"Right, I almost forgot." He said, pushing his son away from him. He pointed his staff at him and in a flash of light Devin was turned from an ottsel into and elf, his clothes were changed to fit his new shape and his yellow feet had been turned into yellow shoes. Devin sat down and took off his one of his shoes and found that he had five toes. The yellow stripes on his wrist had bled into his skin like tattoos. Devin looked at his father, "Dad! Change me back!"
"You can change back on your own."
"Really?" Devin thought: picturing himself as an ottsel and then he changed back and hugged his tail.
"There now, there is no reason you can't go to school. Oh and," the ottsel leader pulled out a small bag and handed it to Devin, "when you see a small ottsel girl sprinkle this on her, that will give her the ability to turn her into an elf as well."
"Maybe you should give that to me." Jak said.
"Why?" Devin asked.
"Well a random stranger dumping something on her will not make her happy. It's just better if I do it." So Devin handed him the bag.
With Jak being so distracted with the ottsel, Lilly had slowly snuck off looking for Rick. She looked around but there was no sign of him; she looked the plants, "Help me, I'm looking for my friend." She said. Then the voice came to her and she fallowed it. The voice led her to the cave, she went in and found Rick sitting on the floor, his face buried in his knees, crying. Lilly went up to him and put her hand on his back. He looked at her, "Lil?" he hugged her, "I'm so sorry. I didn't want that to happen." He pulled away from her, "This is why I left in the first place."
"Rick, this wasn't your fault, it was mine. You told me to get away and I didn't." She kissed him. Then she smiled, "At least you didn't cut my necklace off." She said, starting to play with it.
Rick laughed half-heartedly, "Really? I nearly kill you and you're worried about your necklace?"
Lilly also laughed, she stood up, "We should head back to where my dad is. I'm sure he knows I wandered off." Rick didn't move. "C'mon." she said holding out her hand but he didn't take it.
"I can't." he said.
"Rick –"
"No, I could have killed you again. You have scars because of me."
"You think I care? I don't. I have scars, so what? You're covered in scars." She crossed her arms, "I don't see what the big deal is." Rick didn't look at her, "Rick I love you and I… I need you," he looked up at her, "Like I said last night; I've had my powers my whole life and- yeah, my dad has the same powers, but he didn't have to grow up with everyone hating him. And I don't hate him. It's not easy; everyone in Haven hates me, and there are very few in Spargus that treat me like a normal person- and that's a little annoying. You, Sue, Jean and Danny are the only friends I have that treat me like a regular person. So, you see, I need you."
Rick stood up and embraced her, "Okay, we'll go back." He looked at her and smiled, "But I think your dad is going to kill me." Lilly smiled and shook her head.
Back with Jak and Devin –the other three ottsels had left– Jak was looking for Lilly. Devin sat on a rock, "Does your daughter always go off on her own?" Devin asked.
"Only if she's looking for something." Jak said, sitting down to wait for her to come back.
"Who is she looking for?"
"One of her friends, Rick." Not much later Lilly and Rick came back, Jak got up and met them half way, Devin followed him. He looked down at the two kids and crossed his arms. "Where have you two been?" he asked, then he looked straight at Lilly, "I told you to stay put. You can't keep wondering off like that."
Lilly looked up at him, "You told me to stay but I never said I would." She said, smiling like it was a big joke. Jak glared down at her and her smile faded, "Daddy I- I didn't me mean to disobey you. I just wanted to find Rick so he would know that everything was alright."
Rick was looking at the ground and saw Devin, "Who are you?" He asked.
Lilly looked down as well, "He's an ottsel, like Sue." Rick glared at her, "What?"
Devin looked up at Jak, "Well," Jak said, "Tell them who you are."
Devin looked at Rick and Lilly, "I'm Devin." He said rather quickly.
Lilly smiled, "I'm Lilly and this is Rick."
"Um… did you spill something on your shirt?" Devin asked, referring to the blood on Lilly's shirt.
"It's just blood." She stated like it didn't really matter.
Devin looked at her, a little confused and a little concerned, "What happened?" he asked.
"Don't ask." Lilly, Jak, and Rick said at the same time.
By now the sun was just starting to come up. Lilly yawned and rubbed her eyes, Jak looked at the three kids, "Let's try to get a little more sleep before we go back to the city."
Jak went back to his sleeping bag but Lilly went with Rick to his, "Lilly, I'm not going to go anywhere." He said.
"I know but…" She hugged him. He hugged her back and the two of them got into the same sleeping bag.
Devin went over to Jak, "Are they always like this?" He asked, now referring to the female and male in the same sleeping bag. Jak more groaned which was all the answer that Devin needed. The small ottsel got into Lilly's sleeping bag and also fell asleep.
A few hours later, back in the city, everyone was in the Naughty Ottsel. The bar was closed and everyone was just having a laid-back day. Jean, Sue and Danny were in one of the booths on one side and Ken and Kat were in another booth on the other side of the bar. And Keira, Torn, Ashelin, Daxter and Tess were at the bar waiting for Jak, Rick and Lilly to come back.
Sure enough, just a little later they all walked in (Lilly was in a different shirt but the neck line came down just low enough that some of her scars could be seen.) Keira, Torn and Ashelin ran up and embraced their children. Keira looked at Lilly, "What were you thinking?"
Ashelin also pulled away to look at her son, "Do you have any idea how worried we've been?"
"Don't you ever do that to us again." Torn said.
Rick looked up at them, "I'm sorry," he said, "I just…"
"Lilly," Keira said, "What happen to you?" she asked, seeing the scars on her daughter's chest.
"Well… um… you see…" She didn't know what to say. She looked at Rick who looked away from her, she looked back up at Keira with a smile, "Nothing." She lied. Keira looked up at Jak who didn't say anything; Keira didn't need him to say anything from the way Lilly and Rick were acting, she could tell that Rick had attacked her again. Rick pulled away from everyone and headed for the basement. Jean, Sue, Danny and Lilly all starting to follow him- along with Devin, who had been hiding behind Jak.
Keira saw the small ottsel and gasped, "Who are you?" she asked, this got the attention of everyone in the bar.
Devin looked up at everyone, Jak almost laughed, "This is Devin." He said simply.
Sue ran up to him and stared at him, "What?" He asked.
"I've never seen an ottsel my age before." She said. She held out her hand, "I'm Susan, everyone calls me Sue."
Devin took her hand and shook it, "I'm Devin." He said. He looked up at Jak, "Um… was she the girl my dad was talking about?"
"Yes." Jak said.
Daxter came over and stood next to Sue and glared at Devin, "Why would your dad know my daughter? The only other ottsel I've seen are Veger and three others." Daxter paused then a disturbing thought came to his mind, "Your dad's not Veger is he?"
Jak almost burst out laughing, "Dax, that is disgusting."
"Well, then who is this kid's father?" He asked.
"You remember the ottsel leader?" Jak asked.
"You're kidding."
Tess came over as did the kids, "What else could they ask you to do?" Tess asked.
Keira looked up at her husband, "Jak, what's going on? There isn't any–"
"Nothing is going on," Jak said, "he just asked me to look after his son while he's going to school."
Daxter looked up at Jak, "You know, I've been thinking about that and I don't know how we are going to be able to send Sue to school. How are we going to send this kid to school?"
Jak smiled, "I'm glad you brought that up, Dax." Jak said, pulling the bag the ottsel leader had given him into view and handing it to Lilly, "Dump that on Sue."
"What?" Sue and Daxter said at the same time.
"Just stand back and watch." Jak said still smiling.
Lilly did as she was told and Sue started to glow. When the glow faded everyone was looking at Sue in disbelief: Sue was an elf. Lilly looked at her with her mouth wide open, but it seemed Sue was not yet aware of what had happed to her, "What the heck was that?" Sue asked looking at Lilly who was speechless. "What the heck did you dump on me?" she asked. Lilly still was too dumb-struck to speak. "Whaaaaaat?" She asked. Then she looked at her hand and screamed, covering her face. She regained control of herself and said, "Okay! Okay. I'm fine, I'm fine." She looked down and saw from her shadow that she didn't have a tail anymore. She screamed again, much louder this time.
Jak was laughing so hard that he had to grab the wall to keep himself from falling. "What's so funny?" Daxter asked.
"I- it's just that-… ah, memories."
Daxter took a moment to let that sink in, then also started to laugh, "Well, Lilly acted the same way you did." He said, wiping a tear from his face, "Ah, good times."
"Daddy!" Sue said, bending down to be more at Daxter's height, "I don't want to be an elf! I like being an ottsel!"
Tess came over, "Sue, this way you can go to school with all our friends."
"But mom—"
"Um…" Devin said, getting everyone's attention, "You can change back if you want."
"How?" Sue asked.
"Just 'think' about it."
"Oh yeah, I'll just think about how I'm supposed to look and I'll just go back to the way I was." She did, but she took a moment to realize what happened. "Hey, I'm back to my regular self!"
Everyone started to laugh, everyone but Danny, Lilly saw this as he started to walk away. Lilly and Jean started to follow him down to the basement, "Danny, what's wrong? Jean asked.
"Huh? Nothing." He said.
"Danny, stop lying." Lilly said. "Now tell us what's wrong."
He looked at them, "I'm just getting tired of seeing everyone with their families." He looked away from them, "I don't have one, my mom is dead and I don't even know who my father is. I don't have a family that cares about me."
Jean put her hand on his shoulder, he looked at her, "Yes you do."
"No I don't. I don't have anyone." Lilly smacked him on the back of the head. "Ow! What was that for?"
"For being dumb. You might not have relatives that care about you but you have alot of people that do. You have me, Rick, Sue, Jean and all of our parents and you have Sig."
"Yeah, and you guys are great and everything, and Sig's great but he's not my father. I just wish I knew who he was."
Lilly and Jean looked at each other, "Danny," Jean said. He didn't look at her, "I didn't know my father or even my mother. It's okay, you can talk to me about it."
He looked at her and hugged her, "Thanks, Jean." Lilly smacked her hand to her fore head and laughed, "What?" Danny asked.
"Well, I was just thinking: there is this guy my mom and dad met years ago..."
"Yeah, so?" Danny asked.
"Well, I saw him on the memory charm and he looks a lot like you. I was just thinking, maybe he was your father."
Danny felt like he had talk to her about something like this before, "Tell me you're not talking about Razer again."
"EWWW! No! I'm talking about Captain Phoenix." She said, with a big smile.
"Who?" Jean and Danny said at the same time.
"Here, I'll show you." She said, pulling out the memory charm. She showed them some of the things that Phoenix did when Jak, Daxter and Keira had met him. "See," she said, "He looks just like you."
Danny smiled, "You think he could be my father?"
"Maybe. There's no real way to know."
"Why not?"
"Well…" She said, looking away from him, "he kinda… blew up."
"What do you mean?" Danny asked.
Lilly looked at him, "Maybe I shouldn't have said anything."
She began to walk away but Danny stood in her way, "What do you mean 'he blew up'?"
Lilly sighed and showed him how Phoenix had sacrificed himself to help save the world. She looked at Danny, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything, you just seemed so down because you didn't know who you father is. I just thought maybe if you had something you would feel better, but it didn't work. I'm sorry." She said she started to walk away.
He grabbed her arm. She looked back at him, "Thank you." He said. Lilly smiled and went back up stairs.
As time went on things went back to normal or as normal as things could be. Jean went back to Kras City, Jak and Keira took Lilly and Danny back to Spargus and Devin stayed in Haven with the ottsel family. Rick mostly stayed in the palace. About a month later Rayn called all of them and invited them to Kras City saying that they all can send the kids off to school from her mansion. So they all went to Kras City, mostly they all stayed inside the mansion. One day, Lilly was listening to the radio and heard about a race coming up, she ran to find her dad. She found him downstairs reading, "Daddy, Daddy!" She said. He looked at her. "Are you going to race?" She asked.
Jak smiled and shook his head, "Sorry Lil, but I don't like Racing in this city."
"Oh." She said, a little sad.
Jak sighed, "How about we go to watch the race?"
"Okay." She said, still a little sad.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"You're the best racer in the world and I've never seen you race."
"What are you talking about, you've seen me race plenty of times on the memory charm."
"But that's not the same."
Keira came in, "Hey, have you guys heard, there's a race tomorrow? We should all go." She looked at Lilly, "What's wrong?" she asked.
Jak looked at Keira, "Lilly thought I would be racing."
Keira looked at Lilly, "Lil, those races are very dangerous."
"But daddy lived through them before."
"Well, do you not want to go?" Jak asked.
Lilly looked at him, "I want to go."
"Okay then," he said picking her up, "cheer up." He said, rubbing his nose against her's. He looked at Keira, "What track are they racing on anyway?"
Keira laughed, "You'll love this, they're going to be on the Deathdrove."
Jak kinda laughed, "Oh, those poor people."
The next day not only did Jak, Keira and Lilly but also the ottsels, Rick, Torn, Ashelin, Rayn, Jean and Danny. They didn't know it but Razer was there with Katrina; she saw all of them but what got her attention was Danny, he looked just like… she looked at Razer. He looked at her, "What is it?" He asked.
"N-nothing, father." She said. Razer dismissed this and led her into the stadium. Katrina looked back but the boy was gone. He couldn't be, she thought.
Everyone had a great time, there were some pretty big wrecks but no one got killed. When the race was over they all began to leave; as they left the stadium Lilly caught sight of Razer. She tugged on Jak's shirt, he looked down at her, "What is it Lil?" he asked. She pointed to Razer, Jak put a protective arm around her and led her away, everyone else following him.
At the same time Katrina saw Danny again, this time she told Razer, "Father, look." She said pointing to Danny. Razer looked and saw the boy and saw who he was with.
Razer began to walk over to them with his daughter. Lilly saw him coming, "Daddy." She said. Jak looked and stopped, he saw Razer following him.
Lilly wasn't scared. She glared at Razer as he got closer, "What do you want?" She asked.
Razer just ignored her and walked up to Danny. He stared down at the boy. Torn stood between them, "Go away." He said.
Razer glared at the man, "This does not concern you." He looked at everyone else, "It does not concern any of you."
"Then we'll leave." Jak said as everyone began to follow. Razer grabbed Danny by the back of his shirt, Danny screamed and everyone looked back, "Let him go!" Jak said.
Razer wasn't listening to Jak, He grabbed Danny by the scruff of his shirt, "What is your name, boy?" Razer demanded. Danny was too scared to answer. Rick made a movement like he was going to attack Razer but Ashelin calmly held him back; everyone was watching Razer now, if he tried to hurt Danny all of them would attack. Razer restated his question more forcefully this time.
"D-Danny, my name's Danny. Why do you need to know?" He asked, scared out of his mind.
Katrina stayed back to keep out of sight of everyone. Razer kept yelling at Danny but he wasn't hurting him or threatning him. No one liked this, but no one didn't do anything, "What was your mother's name?" There were tears running down Danny's face, "TELL ME!"
Danny was too scared to answer, Katrina ran up to them, "Stop it, your scaring me."
Danny saw her out of the corner of his eye, she looked just like his… "Mom?" He said.
Katrina looked at him, "I'm not your mom, dummy."
Razer's eyes narrowed, "Your mother, her name was Sky. Wasn't it?" Danny nodded his head, this just seemed to make Razer more angry, "WHERE IS SHE?" he yelled.
"Sh-she's dead. Why do you have to know?" Razer threw Danny on to the ground and at this both Jak and Torn grabbed him and forced him away from Danny. Lilly, Rick, Sue and Devin all stood between their friend and the villain, and Jean knelt down to be at Danny's level. Danny stood up and looked at Razer, "Why do you have to know?" he asked again.
Razer looked at him, "She was my wife."
Danny felt like his whole world was falling apart around him. There was no way that Razer could have been Sky's, his mother's husband, but if he was then that could only mean that Razer was his father. Katrina glared at Danny, "You know something little brother, or lives were great and then you came. Thanks to you our family is ruined. YOU RUINED EVERYTHING YOU LITTLE –!"
"KATRINA!" Razer shouted after Jak and Torn had let him go, "We're leaving." Katrina went to stand next to him. They started to walk away but then Razer turned to Danny, "How is that scar on you back, son?"
Danny looked at Razer in surprise, "How do you know about that?" He asked.
Razer smiled evilly, "I gave it to you; call it a gift." He said and walked away.
When Razer and Katrina were out of sight, Danny fell to his knees and cried, "Why didn't any of you help me?" He asked. He looked at Jak, "WHY DID YOU DO ANYTHING?"
Jak walked to Danny, knelt down and hugged the crying boy, "I'm sorry." He said. Since Jak had saved Danny from the wasteland, he had started to see Danny as a bit of a son, all of the adults had. But Jak had watched Danny struggle with the same problem of not knowing his father that Jak had at his age.
They all went back to the mansion and Danny shut himself in his room and rarely came out. After about two days of this: Lilly had enough, she went into his room and found him sitting next to the window. "Go away." He said, not even looking at her.
"No. You can't keep being upset about this. You have to get over it."
"That's easy for you to say. Your dad's not a bad guy."
"Danny, until two days ago you didn't even know who your father was. Do you really think that now you know you'll become a completely different person? Danny, your family doesn't define who you are."
Danny almost laughed, "You're one to talk. You always have that necklace on."
She held her necklace in her hand and shook her head, "Danny, my necklace doesn't say who I am, it just reminds me where I come from. I keep it on because it makes me feel better. Like… like I'm never alone. But my family history doesn't tell me who I am, only I can decide that."
He looked away from her, then Jean, Rick, Sue and Devin came in. Jean sat next to him, Rick stood next to Lilly, "How is he?" Rick asked. Lilly shook her head, Rick looked at Danny, "Look, stop being so upset about this. My family doesn't have a clean slate either you know, my grandfather was a psycho but that doesn't mean I'm crazy."
"At least as far as we know." Sue said, Lilly smacked her on the back of the head.
"Danny," Jean said, he looked at her, "we don't care about who your father is. We only care about you."
He looked at her and hugged her, then he looked at everyone else and smiled, "You're right." He said.
He got up and stood next to Lilly, she punched him in the shoulder, "Glad you think so. Now let's go play, we only have three days before we go to school. Let's have some fun." Danny followed her out of the room and didn't give his father another thought that day.
Fin.
Jet: That's the end of this story. Okay, when Danny found out that Razer was his father I didn't want a Star Wars moment so I hope I managed that. The next story with this bunch of kids will be called School days Year 1. But I'm going to take a break from this group and work on the story about Damas' childhood. Chapter one is already done with that story and should be up. So you all can read that. Tell me what you think about this, I would love to know. This is Jetboard Kid saying over and out.
Penny: Jet, aren't you forgetting something?
Jet: Right, Thanks to everyone that has read this story and told me what you think and thanks to my BFF who took that time to edit this so others could understand it. Now I'm going to bed. Goodnight everyone.
Penny: and happy Thanksgiving to everyone.