Disclaimer: I do not own Jak and Daxter

Chapter Twenty-Four

For abi the weird

The KG officer shivered against the cold air wind as he patrolled the front gate to the palace, thinking of his wife and children and also about how much he would be comforted by sitting in front of a warm fire. At least he had that to look forward to at the end of his patrol which shouldn't be long now. He was hoping that they were warm and safe in their beds having nothing but pleasant dreams. He could only hope for so much in these times. He would dread to think that anything from the nights dark shadows would come to hurt them without him there to protect his family. It was his job, his duty to protect them from those things. Not just his duty to the city. Sometimes he missed the, sometimes he hated that his job took up so much of his time. He wished that he wasn't out here, not just because it was cold but also because there seemed to be an eerie feeling in the air. As if something was prowled, waiting its time to spring out and devour him. Ever since the metalhead alert had been issued to the Krimson Guard it had caused a stir amongst the men. Everyone was wondering what it meant. Some said they were going to war, others said that it was just a precaution due to a few sightings. However the latter was completely dismissed by the fact that they were instructed to not tell their friends and family, which meant that there was something serious going on.

When this was requested it meant that they didn't want this information to become public information in case this caused a panic amongst the citizens. This meant that this looming danger was very real. There had been rumours that the city was finally go to war with the metalheads. It was only a matter of time anyway. The idiotic council were finally starting to use their common sense if that was the case. All the KG agreed that the only safe option was to go to war. To finally get rid of the metalhead scum and rid it from the planet. Ever since their arrival they had been polluting the planet, they were vermin killing off humans slowly one by one. Slowly by gradually they were coming an increasing threat and they needed to get rid of the relatively small problems before it became a big problem. He heard a sound and spun round. His breathing was deep and quickened as his heart began to beat faster with the fearful thoughts of facing a metalhead filled his thoughts. Suddenly it went quiet again. It was too quiet. As if something from the darkness was waiting. Waiting for the right time to attack. He inhaled deeply and stepped forward to the place where the noise had come from. He was about to curl his finger around the trigger until another KG spun around the corner.

He held it back sighing to himself. That was close...

He looked to see who it was and frowned. He had to wait a while until they were close enough for him to them. You could never be too careful with the times they were living in now. For all he could have known it could be a Metal Head, a lurker or maybe even a criminal. The criminals were always the ones to look out for. They were the ones who were starting to sell out the Metal Heads. It was amazing how much less the Metal Heads would be hitting against the city once you took out one of their contacts inside the city. The mist began to clear and finally he was able to see who it was. It was the sub-head guard, Aella Auroalis. A lot of controversy had been stirred up by her arrival, not to mention her appointment in the Palace. Many KG officers such as himself had been working at the palace for many years but she didn't work for one minute there and suddenly out of the blue she began to second in command of the guard. She just made a reputation of herself in the city guard and suddenly she is promoted so high into the King's esteem. Some people speculated that she was a mistress of the King who was planning her full rise to power as his Queen and was simply trying to make her appointment more legitimate by becoming a noble.

Of course, she was known as Lady Aella Auroalis now. When she had a title like that you also got a lot of bonuses on the side, whatever it was that you did for the King. Whether you were a council member, a Captain or a whore. No one knew about her past but some had heard rumours that she was born of a light woman who dedicated her life to pleasures and that all the children she had were born of different men. One, apparently was born of one of the Barons of the city. He had noticed that there were a couple which she was a little more colder towards than others which only made it all the more obvious that this may be true. In fact, there was another legend that her mother was even the mistress of a Baron to the city, which one was never really specified. But the officer never really thought of her in this way. If this was of any importance she would have been leading the exact same life as her mother not one of the KG. If she was really the mistress of the King she would be between his bedsheets at this time of night not out checking of the patrol men. From what he had heard, being even the mistress of a Baron was a full time occupation. People in his position would have noticed and would be the ones to consult upon the matter rather than the courtiers who had nothing better to do than gossip. She was humble and grateful when it came to her appointment of a confident to the King.

He bowed. "Lady Auroalis."

She smirked. "That's Captain Auroalis to you, Officer. Not Lady I only tolerate that from the nobles. I would much prefer to not have it either. I was only give that appointment so that I could be on the King's Military Council."

The Officer chuckled. "Yes, Captain. It must be strange though to have multiply names."

She scratched her head thoughtfully. "Yes I suppose it is."

~ (***) ~

Amos pulled her along knowing that this was something which he should have done long ago. He couldn't believe that he had left it this long to actually finally do it. He should have known from the moment that he saw her in the street years ago. He had been dragging her from town to town, city to city knowing all along that there was nothing he was going to be able to give her. Her place was with those of her own kind. She glanced up at Amos, looking a little concerned about the expression on his face. She knew. She wasn't stupid.

"Alright." He knelt to his knee and took her by the shoulders. "You have to wait here until someone comes to the gate and you tell them everything, Seem. Do you understand? All that you can see, what happened to you, everything except about yourself. You can't let them know anything about me."

She nodded. "Yes, but Amos. Why can't you come with me?"

He sighed. He knew why he couldn't go back in. He knew the moment they saw him there they would bring out the torches and pitch forks and she would be murdered with him.

"They won't let me come back. So long as you don't tell them anything about me they will let you in. They can look after you better than I can, Seem."

She began to sob and he wiped away her tears. "I don't want to go without you."

"I know." He said softly.

"Then why won't you come with me?"

He had to think about what he was going to tell her. It had to be enough to make her go in there. He had to tell her half the truth and half a lie. The only reason why he brought her in wasn't because he was lonely it was because he had too many regrets to let this one go. He thought that maybe it might make up for the fact...

"Because I have to let you go."

~ (***) ~

She looked out onto the cold, dark night and turned back to the Officer. "It's a cold night."

"Yes, Captain. It's also very quiet. These are very uncertain times."

She nodded. "Yes. I think the council is finally considering going to war. A smart move also. It may drain our resources but it needs to be fought none the less. It may cost money but would that override the cost of many lives."

"Absolutely, Captain. I suppose..." He hesitated, trying to think a way to say his next words without insulting her. She waited patiently for him to gather up his thoughts. "I suppose its good for someone like you to have the ear of the King. We need someone who speaks for the whole regiment."

She nodded to him in thanks. "It's good for the King finally have someone who speaks some common sense. Not those pompous fools who call themselves nobles. They are anything but noble."

"Many people would have you killed for saying that." She replied. "But since I agree with you, I'll keep it to myself. You are right, there were once nobles who would ride into battle with their King. Nobles would be appointed on the basis of their military skill. Now its someone who either complimented the King the most or claim it is their birthright. Thank goodness there is a King on the throne who had more integrity than that. He is someone who knows his duty to his people and sets aside pleasures and indulges for duty."

"It seems you admire his majesty. Usually women sing the praises of his sister." He teased.

"Hm." She grunted.

He raised his eyebrow. "You don't?"

She sighed. "I think...I should keep my opinions to myself."

"Come, come. I confided my opinions of the aristocracy the least you could do is confide your feelings of the King's sister. You obliviously have a very different and interesting opinion of her."

"Well, she doesn't dedicate herself to pleasure. She's a very religious and austere woman. She's so strict and restricting on herself she believes all she has, all her boundaries go as far as being a good wife. That is it, that is all a woman can amount to."

"It seems to me that this antagonism was caused by her disapproval of you."

"Believe me I tried to overlook it, but it soon got boring. She about to be married off you know. To a warrior king."

He chuckled. "That would be a very interesting marriage."

She smiled. "Yes. Very."

She laughed. "Yes. I wonder how they would get on. In fact, we had a discussion on whether to go to war and she said we should try to settle it peacefully. I mean I would love to know how their marriage would get on with her mindset and his thirst for the battlefield."

"Sounds like they're going to make a war out of their marriage." He joked, which made her roar with laughter.

"Not before trying to draw a peace treaty." She retorted. The patrol man chuckled at this wondering who was idiotic enough to think a plan like that should work, considering who their enemy was.

A split-second later there was pandemonium around in the courtyard. It was as if they were near a battlefield. Aella and the patrol man turned their eyes in the direction the noise was coming from with their expressions strained with confusion and worry. There was a range of shouts, guns blazing and screams of the metalheads. Aella's heart was beating faster than it ever had done before. She never thought these creatures would be able to break through their defences, unless they found another way to get into the city. She could see the faces of those she had lost the countless times she had gone out to face them to fight them off from the city walls. Even if it was against the wishes of the council but was done in wishes of the King. She shook the thought away and turned back to the issue at hand. It was madness, chaos. They knew what it was, all they were wondering now was how they broke through the city walls and reach the palace without being noticed. Both Aella and the Officer looked at each other and found themselves running in the direction of the battle before even thinking about it. She didn't know whether she was stronger and younger or if it was pure will but her body carried her as swiftly as the wind and she was at the courtyard in a matter of seconds. There were already dead bodies of soldiers and metalheads alike. Gunfire was being exchanged and firing back and forth.

She jumped into action swinging her firearm from around her back into her hands and readied her gun. She had done this before and she could do it again. She curled her finger around the trigger and took aim at the biggest metalhead there. She was going to take them down and she going to take the biggest one there out first so that they would know that they meant business. And also to show that she was not afraid. It stood tall on four legs and looked like at overgrown crab in a way but only when it came to its legs. The rest of the body and arms was the same reptile-insect forms as the others. She took aim at the head doubtlessly and it fell to the ground a millisecond later. She took aim at the other two where the last one crashed down on some smaller ones. Some of her men were firing aimlessly. Without really thinking about what they were doing. They were panicking. She had good cover and the metalheads had detected her presence...yet. They were losing. Soon they would break into the palace and Precursors knew what else would happen. She had to finish this and quickly. She took out a peacemaker which the Head Guard, Huan gave her. She fixed it onto her gun put it up the maximum and charged. She would be taking a risk but thankfully that was what her communicator was for.

"Huan."

It took a while for there to be a reply. "Aella?"

"Yeah. Listen, I'm hidden in the bushes over the courtyard. I took down the big ones but this is a losing battle. The guards are panicking. I'm going to use the peacemaker you gave me but you have to clear the man out the area. The level I put it on...it may kill them but its the only way to stop this attack."

"Aella are you sure?"

"Positive."

She put her gun down and took a breather. She clutched her heart and felt herself slipping from this world. It was the same feeling she had when she was trying to save Barack. It always went back to that night. There was something about it which made her wonder about something stirring inside her. She shook it off knowing it was all down to nerves. She was probably having doubts as much as Huan over whether she would be right. She hoped she was right. She had to be right if the city was to live out the night. She knew this was the only way that they could save the city's inhabitants from dying in a nights worth of slaughter. If she took them out in one swift swoop, rather than taking their time they may go into the city and Precursors knows what would happen then. It would be worse than chaos. She waited until Huan asked them to pull back and shut the gates to the palace. She was on her own now, she smirked thinking of the phrase people tended to attach her to. A lone reed, she just never knew that the day would come when it would actually become literal. By this point the peacemaker had been charged up and without any hesitation launched it onto the army of metalheads heading towards the palace. It swirled and soared through the air hitting its target in a destructive collision with such a force which caused her to fall back and soon the world faded into darkness.

~ (***) ~

Amos fell to his knees the moment he heard the explosion in the distance. He heard someone speaking of a Metal Head attack which made him consider running back to the monastery to get Seem back. Maybe she wasn't safe here after all but then again he knew that she should stay here. She was safer here than anywhere else that she was going to take her. Besides, he could feel something stirring within him. Something had happened. It wasn't happening to him though, it was happening to someone else. He could feel the darkness moving in. Not the Dark Makers, another kind of darkness. Something which consumed you for any length of time which it desired. For as long as it felt fit for the person who had postponed this meeting which had been waited for, for a long time at that. There was a feeling of being sucking into a world far from this own. He knew this feeling. She was beginning to see. After all this time...Yet, she had left it so long which meant that she was about to endure the worst of visions that a seer would have to experience. One which was only for those who had blocked off these visions until adulthood.

"Aella." He gasped.