Chapter 38

Kiki and I managed to destroy all the different Dark Eco mortars and we then got a call from Sasha soon after.

"Hey, guys? I lost a bet and we found something out from Samos," Sasha said, me wondering what that bet was.

"And what are they?" I asked.

"I now have to give Errol a foot massage when we get down time... and we found out from Grandpa Green that the old Precursor Ruins in South Haven Forest can only be accessed by gaining 5 special artifacts from the Desert West. No doubt talking about the Wasteland. You and Kiki head over there while me, Errol, and Daxter stay behind. Okay?" Sasha said, me smiling at the fact she had to give Errol a foot massage... but why? "And before you ask, I made a bet I could heal more plants than Errol and that the loser had to rub the winner's feet... and I lost by at least 30 plants," Sasha said, me smirking at that. It's like she could read my mind.

"Okay, I'll take the Air Train over to Spargus, then," I smiled as I told Kiki what was going on and she smiled and followed me towards the Air Train, which was actually still run by the guy that ran it back in Praxis's days.

"Ah, you two, huh? How are you back in the city already?" the Air Train guy asked.

"Veger flipped the votes to banish us unfairly, which we heard from Ashelin. Anyways, can you take us to just outside of Spargus City and wait there until we finish up business there?" I asked, the guy nodding at that as he started the Air Train and we zoomed off towards the Wasteland. It took around 30 minutes of a trip to get there, but we eventually arrived right outside of Spargus's gates, where we then proceeded into the garage to see that Sig was there and waiting for us.

"Hey there, guys," Sig smiled at me.

"Hi, Mister Sig," Kiki smiled at him as we then heard a bit of a bluster of wind outside and we saw that a storm was coming in.

"Looks like another storm's gonna churn the sand! Scanners show some more artifact sightings. You feel like burning up the sand to find some?" Sig asked, me nodding at that.

"You bet," I smiled.

"Okay, get to 'em first and they're yours to keep. Wastelander rights. Go waste 'em!" Sig smirked, me nodding at that and getting in the Heat Seeker for a change, since it was faster than taking the Sand Shark.

"Don't tell Kliever about me using this car," I smiled at Kiki and she smiled at me.

"Of course," she smiled as she took to the skies and started to search for artifacts along with me, her using some bombs against the idiotic Marauders that kept trying to get in our way and shoot holes in us. We managed to get roughly 35 different artifacts combined and we saw that one of them looked very important. It looked a lot like a cube, one that could defy gravity and, unless being held, it always traveled in a circle, much like it were in a gravitational pull with itself.

"I think this may be one of the items needed," I said as I then got a call from Keira.

"Hey, Jak? It's Keira. I wanted to know how far along you are in getting to HQ," Keira said, me smiling at that.

"Actually, Kiki and I are in the Wasteland trying to find artifacts to take to South Haven Forest. Any clues on what specific ones we'd need?" I asked her.

"Oh, really? Well, from what I remember from the Precursor history books, that particular ruin can be used as a telescope. And it can use 5 objects, all of which are rare Precursor items. They are the Holo Cube, the Beam Generator, the Precursor Prism, the Quantum Reflector, and a Time Map. It can operate with everything but the Time Map, but the Time Map is also the most crucial part of the machine," Keira said, me smiling at that.

"Well, we found some odd-looking cube-shaped Precursor technology thing out here. Could that be the Holo Cube?" I asked.

"Yep, that's it! You'll need to find some more and then come back here to put them together at the forest. Be careful, okay?" Keira said, me smirking at that.

"Of course," I smiled at her while Kiki then got a message from something, her rubbing her temples a bit as she then spoke... in some weird clicking language. "Kiki? What's going on?" I asked her.

"Metal Morah's contacting me... she says there's a Light Eco crystal in the Metalpede nest... but the Metalpedes inside have gone crazy from the Day Star... she says it's only a matter of time before it commands them to attack Haven, so we should go get rid of them immediately," Kiki said, me smirking at that.

"I'll leave that to you, then, Kiki. Go give 'em hell," I smiled at her before Sig came into the garage with a smile.

"What's this I heard about giving stuff hell?" Sig asked.

"I'm going to take on a bunch of Metalpedes in the Metal Head nest. Want to come with, big boy?" Kiki smiled.

"You bet! I'm game for Metal Head hunting any day!" Sig smirked with enthusiasm. They then waited until the go-ahead from the door, letting them know the storm had ended, which is then that I decided I'd go visit my parents... but hopefully to try and tell Damas about my past and about me being his son. Who knew if he'd believe me or not.

I went through the place on my Jet Board, which I could tell surprised a bunch of the Spargus citizens when they saw me using the floating board to get around the city. I then got off of it and went up the elevator to Damas's throne room and I saw that he was absent, but my mom was... who was in her glowing squirrel form.

"Um... hi," I said, still a bit shy around her. Mom immediately turned into her genie form and then hugged me... it was the very first hug I'd had with her since I was an infant.

"I can't tell you how much I've missed you... Mar," mom said, me being confused at that name.

"Huh? Did you just call me Mar?" I asked her.

"Yes, I did. That was the name I gave you when you were but an infant... I named you after the founder of Haven City, knowing you were destined for great things... but I didn't expect that you'd eventually become my son when we first met on Misty Island," mom said, me smirking at her.

"I see... so how is it like? Being a Muse, a genie, and the queen of Spargus?" I asked her, mom smiling as she sat on the rocks near the water.

"I'm going to be honest... keeping people alive and full of hope out here? In this unforgiving desert? It's kind of daunting at times... and though I was upset at being thrown out of Haven City by that horrible man, I can't deny that it's very nice to be alive," mom said with a smile.

"Don't worry, I hate Praxis, too. He's the one that turned me into a Dark Warrior with that horrid chair," I said, my fists crackling with dark energy before I calmed them down with a bit of light energy.

"You must make a life of your own, son. Look here," mom smiled as she picked up some sand and she sprinkled it about. "Sand cannot hold a shape on its own... but if you add water to it, it becomes malleable. Fate can be such, so long as the right element is applied," mom smiled as she demonstrated.

"Eco, right?" I smiled.

"I see you think alike with me and your father... I may have been banished to these unforgiving lands years ago after living from city to city as a genie or as the Muse, but I've learned a lot from my many years of eternal youth... I mustn't lose you, Mar... not again. I want to know you and be by your side when you're old, like my previous children... the original Mar was one of those very children of mine, one of the purest people ever," mom said, me being a bit surprised at her saying that.

"So... I'm related to Mar?" I asked her.

"Yes, you are. Everyone of Damas and my family line since a thousand years ago are descendants of Mar's lineage... but anyways, I'm rambling by now... I just really missed you a lot, my child," mom smirked at me as she then got some kind of buzzing and she looked at a radar system and gawked. "Uh-oh... Looks like those Marauders are getting testy again. Mar, can you go out and destroy the incoming Marauder threat? They're attacking us with flaming catapults, so make sure you choose your vehicle carefully and quickly. They'll arrive in only 2 minutes!" mom said, me nodding at that.

"I'll destroy every single one of them to protect this place, mom," I smirked as I rushed out of the palace and towards the garage, where I decided on the Dune Hopper and went outside the gates to see that the Marauders were just inching over the horizon with at least 14 different mortar catapults and over 100 different buggies!

"They're sending in the cavalry, eh, bugger?" I heard Kliever say from next to me as he actually was inside of a much bigger car and it had a large ramming front end to it. "Time to clear out these bad boys!" Kliever smirked as he went out and proceeded to ram a catapult so hard it exploded in a ball of fire! I then proceeded to blow up a couple with the Dune Hopper's grenades, which took one grenade each. We continued to do this for all of them and I defeated the final mortar, it dropping an artifact that looked very important and also kinda big. It had to be the Beam Generator without a doubt! And just as soon as I finished this, I then got a message from someone I didn't expect.

"Jak? Can you hear me? This is Seem," the monk girl said on the communicator.

"I can hear you. What's wrong?" I asked in curiosity.

"I require a bit of assistance. Some Marauders attacked one of my Monk carriers and stole some important artifacts from us and took it to their stronghold out on the southern waters. We would appreciate it if you could retrieve them... you can keep one of the artifacts for yourself afterwards, so long as you give us the rest," Seems aid, me smirking at that.

"You can count on me, Seem," I smiled as I then proceeded to drive towards this location without any haste. I had a feeling that, since Seem and her monks were into Precursor technology, at least one of these important artifacts had to be for the ruins in South Haven Forest!