[Co-Author: Butterfly123199, credit for the fun title by the way!]
**Warning angst lol**
Context: With more foreboding and ominous messages of what's to come, the days just keep getting darker. Jak and Dax had freed lurkers apparently.
They peered around, inevitably waiting for something. What was it though? They did not know. They swore they were in reality, remembering upon surrendering into slumber...
Wherever they were, their feet, (despite being enshrouded by utter darkness) felt smooth sand grazing against their skin. The world was black, yet they knew they were standing in some kind of unknown scenery, completely hidden from their own eyes. They could hear water somewhere nearby. Everywhere they turned though, it was the same picture: a vast void. They had no sense of direction except for the ground and a sky (supposedly).
'Here again.' The slightly feminine sounding voice muttered, their heart felt heavy.
"Here? Where's here? What does this mean?"
Elise could horrifyingly remember the last time she was in this situation.
"He's dreaming, but what of?"
They looked up into the skies, reaching out, calling for the star. The dot suddenly appeared, the same star from before.
Elise was expecting to get pulled underwater or something once again, fear bubbling at the edges of her own mind. But no, instead, a figure walked ahead of her. And she did not follow it as if it was her body, or rather, as if she had shared it.
Elise could recognize the vague shape of that mask any day. 'You...'
It seemed like he wanted to ask of her for something, it was a little desperate and empty. Or perhaps lost like she was in this mindscape.
"What is he doing..?"
She tried to take a step forward, but it felt as if she had been stuck—held in place by something or someone.
"Why can't I help him..?"
He wanted to reach out, tell her something, but no words came. She felt something pang in her heart, unsure if it was her feeling or Trin's.
Both of them had a moment of disorientation from suddenly falling down and like all dreams are, in the next instant, she was somewhere else. Elise almost panicked of being alone in this place, but regaining her senses, she noticed it was the same place as the repeated scene from last time.
The prison.
They were one again. Something was different however, there was no one else with this child Elise was experiencing as. Young, small hands were grabbing into the darkness as if to find someone. But there was no one there.
"Anyone?..." The child cried out softly.
When the child looked down upon the same puddle, it was just as before. Except there were ripples against the reflection and surface. There were droplets like rain, and Elise knew where it came from, because their vision was blurry.
...
"He's crying..."
She attempted to blink away the tears as if they were even her own. But of course, she didn't gain much progress at all.
"Why is he crying..?"
He sat with his knees close and tight to his chest, right next to the lonely puddle. His head turned to look around the barren and empty room consisting of dull gray metal and concrete. Elise noticed with each blink, turn, and darting of their frantic eyes, the walls suddenly had scratches.
Some were tallies.
Their hearts raced as the kid clutched the top of his head, Elise feeling the tiny horns. Endless tally marks covered the walls, even getting to the point where it got smaller and sloppier until they became random gashes and claw marks. The silent darkness seemed to surround him, making him feel dizzy and terrified.
A whisper came about.
"Wh- who's there?" Their voice was hoarse and raspy, as if they haven't spoken in a truly long time. It made their throat ache a little.
Panic settled in, 'They're going to control me again- they're coming again.'
Having experienced the same thoughts and emotions as the child, Elise could tell he must've thought of the scientists and guards.
"It's him." She felt guilt pile inside of her for some odd reason. "Why is he seeing this..."
She hadn't done anything had she? Was she the cause of the sufferable memories? Was it something she did?
"Or is it just me?"
Elise could only watch in horror, helplessness, and heartache. Even worse, she had the front row seats and is feeling all of it first hand. Her own consciousness began to scatter or lose sense of itself again.
The child kept scratching at the base of his scalp, unkempt pale yellow hair being pulled by his own hands. 'I need control-'
Something unknowingly had wrapped around their entire curled, sorry form like a blanket.
'N- Nyx?...'
Wiping their eyes and brushing their hair aside as best they could, they saw a raven-colored whip of darkness. Elise could recognize it as Dark Trin's wings. But what confused her was the mentioning of the name and the guilt deeply laced within the kid's quivering voice. She could feel their heart jump in fear, but it quickly calmed when there were whispers of a girl's voice. Something about those incomprehensible mutterings calm Trin for a bit.
"I can hear her.."
Elise did her best to try and look around, but got the same result as every other time.
"I can feel her, but I can't see her, where is she?!" She became desperate for an answer, anything to help her fathom what was happening.
Then, something had snapped, Trinity's heart beating against his ribcage like a wild animal. A flash of anger, of anxiety. A familiar pain bubbled in both of them, the feeling of being sick, the burning feverish sensation, and the sickening blue hue of the child's hands made El look in horror.
It felt like a dark transformation Elise had when she tried to hold it back, but it was worse. Static and fuzziness cluttered their minds, a ringing of tinnitus and indecipherable mad whispers of many voices made them dizzy. The child's head began to hurt and the protruding feelings of his horns growing felt as if someone was running a knife through their head, they whimpered. Looking back down, were the all too familiar black claws scraping the metal ground. He scratched it. "I need... ESCAPE." Then began to scratch it even more, then more, and more, and more-
Then with all the aching and pain in his body, it felt like a little timeskip itself, they didn't remember how they got to this point, but they were full on clawing and slashing at the walls and doors and floors. Panic striking at their hearts, another spoke. It was slow-spoken and the child was crushing his teeth so hard it was beginning to hurt, he was hissing and spitting bits of blood and saliva like some beast.
"Stop this stop this, please, STOP IT!"
"I NEED SILENCE!"
The child cried out, full on screaming in whatever little cage they were in. They screeched so high pitched like some kind of banshee. But with all kinds of terrifying unknown noise around them, she couldn't tell if she was sharing the madness and swearing she heard a girl's voice screaming. Elise suddenly realized there were writings on the wall, both in that red substance or just clawed right out to make words.
It was all like a horrible movie.
If she could pull and yank at her own hair, she definitely would. The sounds were horrifying, the sight was mournful and she could sense nothing but malice in the child's heart. She would never dream of something like this...
So that told her it wasn't her own dream.
"Please, wake up, wake up, please I CAN'T TAKE THIS WAKE UP WAKE UP!"
"I need- !"
It was as if this dream world had frozen in time.
"CONTROL!"
The child let out one final cry, their back feeling as if it had been stabbed by needles made of ice, and were raising their arms up high.
SLAM!
A blast of Dark Eco and fearsome purple arcs of lightning crackled and roared, shaking the area around them. Grumbling hungry electricity echoed into the endless shadowy horizon, the metal floor became water. Thousands and thousands of black droplets of the dark blue sea around them sprayed all around and had let forth a vicious ring of an ocean wave from them.
As soon as the most devastating Dark Bomb Elise had ever seen was released, she felt herself get pulled out, as if a powerful force of nature ripped her out from Trin. As her mind ran on a million miles per hour, she saw right before her own eyes; the water being quickly conquered by utter darkness. The 'sky' looked as if it had a glassy barrier all around them, making it feel like this was some kind of globe. It looked like the pendant itself.
The wings sprouted out, from what Elise could see... Within the next terrifying moment, she saw (the now present day) Trinity's own dusky tendrils embedded itself on his back! They were lined up in such a way that it looked like giant gloaming and spectre-like claws were trying to tear him into two, he was knelt down on the watery floor of abyssal darkness, curled up, and was grasping at the sides of his arms. He groaned weakly, "I can't stand any of you!" A harsh voice croaked.
"Trinny..."
Elise could feel sweat dripping down her forehead, her entire being now trembling with fear.
"Wake up.. wake up.. please, just wake up..." She covered her ears and gritted her teeth. "I don't want this.. I hate this, I HATE IT! WAKE UP WAKE UP!"
"Stop it, we're making her cry- Argh- I'm trying Nyx..."
Trinity uttered a small whimper.
She trembled, her tears practically non-stop. She didn't know who was to blame. Baron? Erol? Dark Eco? The precursors?! The whole damn universe at this point!
"I-I didn't..." She choked out a sob and fell to her knees. "M-Mean.. for this t-to happen... I-it was.. supposed to help you..." She cried. "I'm so sorry, my love.."
The wings that tried to dig deeper into his spine stopped and weakened one by one, then all at the same time pulled away. They were like snakes, slithering away from his own back. "It's not you..." A sweet, sad voice spoke. It sounded like a woman, or Trinity's voice without the collar.
He was still knelt down on the ground, when the water settled Elise noticed the strings of the nightly colored ocean were tethered to Trin's body like a slightly translucent web. In fact, they look just like the wings that were always quivering.
They sighed, Trinny moving so he was pulling his knees together, the same way he did in that memory or dream. "We've battled it for years. We- I tried to keep my...Our? Memories away." Uncertainty bled through them, the water droplets glided down the metal mask as he turned his head to the side.
They took a sharp breath, hissing. "You're lucky to have them, we're just pieces of ourselves, trying to control and maintain ourselves- " He shook his head, "Rgh! What got you so damn riled up?!" He continued to mumble and argue with differing demeanors to himself. One final deep breath, Trinny gritted his teeth. "It's not enough, it's not enough..." His wings clawed at the ground, the dark, watery webs of the abyss tightened on him.
Elise squeezed her eyes closed, forcing herself to calm down. "Okay... okay..." She whispered softly to herself for comfort, slowly rising to her feet. She was still trembling—that is something she couldn't control.
...
"Come here..."
When he turned, he saw her standing with open arms. Beside her, Beth stood, with that wondrous and motherly smile she had given him before he had left her.
There was a moment of pause and silence, a small weep uttered. The shadows began to recede away from Beth, the anxious air and creeping sense of claustrophobia lessened. The brunette looked around her, the water was a beautiful blue. Looking deeper into the reflection, somewhere in the distance, was a small part of a city.
It was extremely familiar...
As she stepped forward to the broken man in front of her, watching in silence, the shadows continued to teeter around the edges of her proximity.
The light and reflection followed her.
'Old Town.'
"I want it back..." The soft voice echoed from under the mask and into the air all around them, Trinny began to hiccup a bit, choked up in tears, and still in his dark form.
She sat right beside Trinny, being next to him, Beth saw that the dark strings clinging onto him were actually silver, ghostly webs acting as chains. "Is this your home?" She asked gently.
Trin nodded, the wings wrapping around both of them tenderly. "It was our home once...Trinny still misses it."
"I know."
Beth slowly wrapped her figure around him from behind. She wasn't as small as Elise, but she was still small.
"I can't change the past." She squeezed. "But we can be part of your future - if you'll allow us… You've taken care of everyone your whole life..." Beth closed her eyes. "Just let me take care of you now."
'Trin' cried into her shoulder, there was a fleeting second where an image popped into her mind, like some long faded memory. It was the child who had long golden hair.
The world around them illuminated slowly, as the horizon glowed rosy into the distance. Brighter and warmer did the world become, until they both blinked. There weren't any metal buildings like Haven City had, there were shapes of huts and rocky outcrops behind them, far into the colorless fog that surrounded them. They were sitting on the beach of some sort, a little empty, but serene for once. Beth glanced at the watery mirror once again, seeing that blurred figure of a child with that same lengthy hair. It glistened just like Dark Trinity's eyes. It was hard to see what the kid looked like clearly, but she had a feeling they were smiling. The wings for once stopped shaking and just rested on the ocean's waves, being carried along by it. The skies were blazing orange, peachy, and pink. They could see the purple glow of the Day Star shining from afar.
"It's so quiet." He whispered.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Beth asked, a gentle smile on her face.
For the first time, in a very long time. They were at peace.
She gently wrapped her arm around the child, and brought them to rest on her. She brushed her fingers through their hair and sighed softly.
"You're safe now..."
They both stared at the scenery before them, Trinity watched with sad and tired eyes.
"It was lonely." Trinny spoke, "We don't get to see anyone so...close before." A longing feeling of homesickness poisoned their heart. "I just want to be here forever sometimes. Everything goes so- so fast."
Beth listened, not daring to speak over him and when he finished, she sighed softly.
"Life isn't fair..." She brushed some hair behind his ear and rubbed his shoulder. "You're stronger than any man I've ever seen - any legend I've ever heard, any myth ever told. And I can truly say without a question of doubt; You're a good man." She narrowed her eyes, "But it's the best people, who suffer the unimaginable. I can't fathom a thought of what you've been through; I could never compare. And as much as Elise has been through, it's hardly a small fraction of your pain."
She looked up.
"We can't slow time. By the precursors, I wish I could, but we can learn to catch up. Time will always out-best you, always be one step ahead of you. But that doesn't mean you should keep letting it torment you, Trinity…And Nyx."
"Haven't been called that in a long time, it's kinda weird honestly." Nyx lightly giggled, their cheeks feeling rosy. Despite Trinity's mask hiding it, it was easily readable. They slowly held up a pinky, showing utmost reluctance. "P- Promise me, all and any of you...to never leave us?"
Beth looked down at them, a sad smile on her face. She moved to kneel in front of them, much like a mother would with their toddler.
"I can't promise that, because someday, even you'll be gone." She reached her hand up and brushed more of their hair back. "But I promise. For as long as we exist... Me, Dawn...You, Nyx... and Elise."
She looped her pinky around theirs.
"We will never be apart for long... never ever." She held open her arms. "Even when this world ceases to exist, our hearts are connected. Just like you're part of Trinity, you're part of us now. And we're part of you."
"Always and forever."
They smiled sadly, as if they knew. They took a deep breath and felt sleepy, wanting to say something, but didn't mind regardless if they couldn't.
Beth smiled sweetly. "Love, it gives us a chance to be better than we are, better than we used to be."
Both of their consciousness seemed to slip away, the world looked as if it was beginning to fade away just like the dusk against the start of a new dawn...
Just like that, Trin's eyes shot wide open. He made no sound except for the tiniest gasp, frozen stiff as the orange ceiling lights of the UG bunker greeted him. Trin stared at the wall ahead of him, a little in shock. The black pendant was lying against his chest. His mind drew blanks and didn't know what to do. He could still hear the sounds of snoring and had a feeling it was so early that the sun hadn't risen yet.
The room was silent for a short while, until Elise suddenly shot up, sweat running down her forehead. She let out heavy breaths, looking around. The poor girl looked restless and frightened. She brushed her tangled hair back and took a glance at the boys.
"Just a dream..." She whispered, though it sounded much louder due to the silence.
He wasn't moving but he was glancing around, occasionally at the pendant itself. He was himself- good enough for his sudden spike in his beating heart of crushing anxiety. Trin did NOT want to drag El into it. He didn't even know if that was his doing, or if it's Elise.
She put her hand over her mouth to hide shaky sobs and breaths. A few tears threatened to spill. She couldn't tell if she was scared, happy or just flat out confused, but she could confirm she was overwhelmed.
"It was just a dream..." She breathed out in her hand. "Dear precursors, Tell me what to do... how do I save him?" She slowly brought her knees to her chest.
Heavy guilt rose in his chest and weighed him down, Trinity clutched the pendant tighter. It seemed chilling to the touch. It was honestly overbearing himself, he admitted he liked her yet this happens of all things. Trin even expects one of his voices to go lash out again, but it was scarily silent.
With his own stupid mind and habits, he wanted to break it to her, tell her that it wasn't a dream, and about Dawn and Beth.
But should he even tell her now of all times? Elise is mortified- horrified of his true selves. He didn't want her to see that, it was as if she did the same thing Trinity accidentally did the other day when meeting Dark Elise in her purest form. Not held back by physical and mental boundaries or by a leash.
Elise sniffed away any tears, but few managed to escape. The markings under her eyes seemed iridescent under the dim lighting provided in their shared bunkers. They were glossed with tears, causing them to shine even brighter.
Unfortunately, even at a time like this the girl was admittedly flushed. The 'dream' has favorable paths and not so favorable ones.
"Deep breaths, El..." she inhaled softly. "You're okay - he's. Okay, they're okay, everything is fine... it was just a dream."
'I'm sorry.'
He clutched the necklace tighter, a slight chill ran through him. But he didn't care about that, he was scolding himself. Still staring at the concrete, unpainted wall ahead. There was the slightest twitch of his ear.
Judging by Beth's unwavering kind demeanor and how she handled things had meant that it was nothing she wasn't used to, after all he could probably guess she's dealing with Dark Elise right now. But for Elise herself on the other hand...it seems that she doesn't know any of that or has remotely even seen it for herself.
The sudden voice made Elise jump. "Wha?"
She looked over at Trinity.
"You're - awake, aren't you..?" She asked. She could feel something slightly off about him, but she couldn't really tell what.
He only grumbled and his ears hung low in response, Trin's back was facing towards her as he was just - continuing to lay there. The voice she heard had sounded just like his normal kind, without the collar. But she could've sworn she caught something else in it. Whatever it was, it was either too hard to notice or she had over thought it.
She could almost feel how grumpy he was, almost like a child throwing a tantrum. She raised an eyebrow, an uncontrollable chuckle escaping her lips.
"Oh? Being a big baby, huh?" She shifted and slowly patted the spot next to her on her bed. "Come, even big babies need attention."
'I think ya gave too MUCH attention- ' He reflexively went to subtly mess with the two bits on his head again.
"Oh so it's like that huh?" Elise tossed her blanket aside. "You're just gonna be a baby?"
'Oh, oh, yeah it's like tha- ' His face flushed red with anger and embarrassment, ripping the blanket off. He finally got up to turn his head, only to meet El's brief moment of surprise. 'Nyx!' He scolded himself, sounding fed up like a parent tired of their kid. Scratching his head and spinning around to hide his eyes after she noticed. It must've been those. It must've been why she was shocked-
With a gentle laugh, Elise rose to her feet.
'Was it a dream? It had to have been..'
She walked over to his cot and sat down in front of it. She let out somewhat of a grunt and ran her hand over her exposed thigh. A short yet jagged scar rested on it.
"Remember how we first met?" She asked so suddenly, she startled even herself. She traced her fingers over the old scar.
'Even then, you were so caring.'
'God, it feels like it's been so long.' He chuckled. But then a change of attitude in his mind retorted what he recalled, 'You bruised me in the torso- '
Elise suddenly smirked quite mischievously. "I was aiming lower." She rested one leg over the other in such a casual way it was scary.
'Why's he hiding his face..?'
With that question barred in his mind, Trin realized she might've only been shocked because of his outburst. He guessed that she didn't catch his eyes then. Or... did that question genuinely meant for his mask? He didn't think that was the case at the moment.
"Why ya facing the wall?" She asked. "What? Scared imma sock you in the stomach again?" She teased. Honestly, she just felt really guilty for an unknown reason.
'No, dumbass- I- I mean, we're just... We don't want to scare you.' Two voices once again were arguing with each other, but he slowly turned to look at her regardless.
"Hey! You're the- " She stopped from snapping at him when she gazed at his eyes. She huffed and slowly tilted her head, unintentionally locking her eyes with his. " -dumbass..." She breathed out."
'Oh look- she's going all dreamy...' Trinity blinked and decided to huff. "Nyx, you're a goddamn child you know that?" He muttered irritably. "Ignore her- "
"D- Dreamy?" Elise suddenly forced her gaze away, her cheeks and ears visibly going pink. "So... it wasn't a dream, was it?" She sighed and hugged her knees to her chest. "Dawn is really..?"
'So, you know what happened to Dawn then or?...' Now that El had focused more on the thoughts, there were two voices, just as before in the dream. They were equal in volume, except for the snarky, immature outbursts.
What Elise saw were sorrow-filled golden eyes staring back at her, yet there were no grown horns, wings, nails, or blue grey skin. Elise studied his eyes, her heart suddenly feeling heavy. She now understood where the guilt came from. She let out a soft whimper, her brown eyes glossing with fresh tears that threatened to spill.
She looked so heartbroken. And unfortunately, he had seen those eyes once before.
She nodded slowly.
"S- She's..."
A different tone in his voice murmured aloud to El, it wasn't so different compared to when he didn't have the collar on, but the difference was hardly noticeable. "No, they'll be back." He picked at the ends of his braided hair, not twirling it, but almost as if plucking it. Empathy swirled inside of his heart and mind, "We saw and met Beth, there's no reason why she'd lie."
Elise looked down, using the back of her hand to wipe away the tear that had fallen.
"I've been told that by so many people." She chuckled and sat with her back facing him again. "What makes them any different? What makes you any different...?" She rested her chin on her knees. "I'm gonna be alone eventually - and you're gonna miss me so much when I'm gone. Jak and Daxter too..." She played with his sheets.
Trinny glanced down, a dark thought crept across their mind. But they pushed it away. With a heavy momentary silence, they sighed. "I've been alone, you know it. You know it from my...our memory, it wasn't a dream." The marigold irises saw how familiar this all looked. The weighing fear of dying, disappearing, or being alone. "Tri- well, we have each other right now though. What happened to not worrying about how time flowed and enjoying the things ya got now?" Trinny's voice of being slightly carefree rather than deadpan wasn't something El heard everyday, it was a little genuinely odd.
"Hmph."
The tone shift somehow felt comforting to her. He was normally the one to be all moody and worried about the future and whatnot.
"Even though you'd never admit it..." She turned back around to face 'them'.
"You know you'd miss me, Trinny..." She felt the need to add in, "You would too, Nyx." She smiled weakly and flicked a strand of their hair behind the mask.
'Heh. I know...'
"I can't tell who that was." She giggled and rolled her eyes.
'Oh yeah? You may not tell us apart, but I can tell who's looking at me right now.' His ears turned a little pink, eyes still golden.
"..."
Elise chuckled breathlessly, her blush brightening.
"Pretty cocky thing to say for a man whose ears are as flushed as his mask..." She mumbled.
The silence became unbearable as the heavy tension grew. It became overwhelming, and even those who were sleeping could feel it.
So...
She decided to take the initiative.
And closed the gap - technically?
Trinity closed his eyes, he didn't mind it, and he didn't do anything to stop it.
But then there was a sudden small gasp of surprise somewhere in the room, the pit-a-pat footsteps paused. 'Oh god- ' Trin looked over Elise's shoulder to see the kid standing there with a sunny face.
Then there was a loud yawn that followed, "Ahh... Wh- OH YOAWEE!"
'I think I'm gonna die- wait Nyx, no don't make this any worse than it is...'
Jak was rubbing the sleep dust away from his eyelids, but hearing Daxter's whistle and all the commotion, he got up - to see them two.
He looked back and forth to the child, who was pointing and giggling so innocently. El had enough time to catch Trin's eyes, which had returned blue but they were wide in comedic shock.
"AH FFFF-" Elise took good notice of the child there.
...
'NOT HAVING IT!- '
"AH!"
THUD!
"FRICKFRREAK HECKIN' PRECURSORS!" She 'cussed' in pain. Tears pricked in her eyes at the immense pain through her uh, entire body.
'NYX WHAT THE HELL?!'
Elise stared at Jak and Daxter who were grinning like idiots.
"Don't - please don't."
Jak opened his mouth.
"Please-"
"TOOOOOORN!"
"nO-"
'That's it- I have accepted death at this point.' Trinity simply sat there.
That is, until he began to grab Moria's Stradivarius laying by the bedside, and beginning to go after the poor ottsel! "AHHH! WHY IS IT ME THAT'S BEING USED AS A BASEBALL?!"
"Because you've GONE TOO FAR! BACK IN THE BOX, RAT!" Trinity was full on waving the gun around like a club, face flashed white hot in anger! He almost bashed Jak's head like a pinata if he hadn't ducked in time! The kid was having a bout of laughter at this point.
Torn raced in at the sound of the commotion, "What the— ?!"
FWOOSH!
He ducked down under the gun Trinity was swinging around. "Trinity!" He snapped.
Elise was laying on the ground, completely unmoving. She covered her face with her hands while letting out embarrassed squeals-
"What the hell is going on here?!" Torn stood in front of Trinity to keep him from going after the two morons.
"Nothing you need to know! That's it, get your ass in gear, we're escorting the kid!" Trinity rushed out, 'Oogh- I need to go outside, I'm so not dealing with this!' Samos raised a curious eyebrow when he saw Trin suddenly outside after all that ruckus from downstairs of the UG HQ. "These recruits, I swear..."
"Hm! Not so often I see you like that." The croca-dog was nibbling on Samos' stump footwear sort of sandals, making him amused. Then the dog went over to Trinity as well, making a big goofy smile with its tongue hanging out.
Torn was pinching the bridge of his nose, Daxter was panting and sweating profusely, finally putting his hand on Torn's boot for support. "Woah- yowch, t- too close!" The ex-KG rolled his eyes and shoved Dax away making him go splat on the floor.
"Ah... OUCH!" Elise cursed as she stood to her feet. She squinted down at the kid who was in a bit of a laughing fit at her agony-
"You little— ugh.. let's go." She grumbled.
She walked past Torn and covered her ears as he went to talk.
"Can't hear you, I'm busy escorting the kid!" She yelled over him.
Jak shrugged, trying to contain his laugh and big dumb smile. He went over to pick Dax up and placed him where he usually hangs on his shoulder.
As they prepared for the incoming missions as usual, Jak and Daxter met up with the others outside. Samos spoke, "I see you're all quite energetic, I suppose you're all ready for my task?"
"Mhm." Trin was kneeling on the ground playing with the dog, who seemed fond of him. Then it proceeded to run around, encircling The Shadow as the kid began to follow behind. "I want you all to escort the kid over to Kor at the power station. He promised to look out for the boy, and I'm just too busy to babysit right now. Oh, and take the kid's croca-dog with you."
The dog gave a little excited growl.
"Oh, isn't he sweet?" He chuckled.
"So," Jak ruffled the kid's hat when he had walked by. "What's the kid's story?"
Elise limped beside them, wincing. She earned a glance from Samos and waved signaling an 'I'm alright.'
Samoa cleared his throat, "I found him just wandering the streets, but that Amulet around his neck means he may just be the lost heir to the city!" He almost sounded hopeful. Samos strictly turned to Trinity. "Commander, you and your crew..." He motioned back to Elise, Jak and Dax. "Take the kid and the mutt to the power station." He turned back to face everyone. "Watch out for guard patrols and defend the kid at all costs."
The elder man had gone to turn away, but stopped.
"Oh, and uh, if you happen to lose the croca-dog..."
The croca-dog stood up from its playtime with Trinity and growled at Samos' words.
The dog barked and ran off, the kid began to follow suit! "Hey kid! Wait, come back!" Jak ran after him!
Daxter had the morning chilly mist give him a wakeup slap, "Ack! We gotta protect him!"
Trinity was quick on his feet, a soldier in red clad was around the corner of a building. "The Baron wants every kid in this city arrested!"
Dax cried out, "Uh-oh, here comes trouble!"
The child covered his eyes and cowered away as the dog growled at the guard, barking defiantly!
"Leave him alone!" Trinity had sent a kick to the guard's chest, sending him flying and hitting his helmet on the edge of the concrete building's corner part!
Meanwhile Elise (despite the pain earlier) was fast enough to pick up the kid, who pointed to the parked vehicle, "The Zoomer guys!"
"C'mon Jak, let's get movin' and fast."
"Get in!" Jak yelled, hopping into the driver's seat.
Everyone jumped in, Elise regretfully did-
"OW MOTHER FUC—"
"AHHHHHH! STEP ON IT, JAK!"
Somehow, it looked as if the kid was enjoying himself, how this can be, they had no clue. For all they know, Trinity might've killed a soldier right in front of his eyes. But then again, there was a war being waged out and sadly enough - he most likely would've seen death here and there.
'Ooh...' Nyx and Trin painfully echoed. 'This is why I don't let Nyx get the reins. EVER.' Trin had the animal in his arms as he looked to see a KG reporting in not long after they escaped.
As on cue, the dog barked in distaste when a certain Baron's voice tuned in and echoed across the city. ["Due to recent, uh, attrition difficulties, this city needs fresh Krimzon Guard recruits. Everyone is asked to volunteer as members of their family. Come down to your friendly fortress facility. Or else."] Even the child seemed threatened by the commanding voice of Praxis.
'Should've killed him back in the Palace...' Trin's thoughts came in harshly.
Daxter looked behind them to see something tailing them, "U- uh, GUYS?! WE GOT COMPANY!"
"OF ALL TIMES- Why, ow, why aren't they shooting?"
"Shooting at the only one who has an amulet and connection to Mar like that? Even that sad excuse for a baron like him would know he's too important."
Elise hissed in pain, but cautiously kept an eye on the ones tailing them regardless.
They fended off the guards left and right, all while chasing after the dog and the kid like a wild goose chase!
"Here, poochie poochie! Oh c'mon, Kid, please, ya killin' me." Daxter tried to call them back.
"Take out the mutt."
"Wait, it's those UG freaks!"
"Pick on someone your own size!" Jak took the initiative to bash the guard's helmets with his Blaster Gun!
As they had reached for the 'oh-so-green' Industrial Section, Daxter along the way, regrettably tried to grab the dog back. But instead he was dragged along for the ride and screaming, until he finally let go and smacked his face on the side of the Power Station building. "Whew... F- Finally." He saw stars flying around his head, "L- Let's get these two to Kor, blegh..." His face finally hit the dirt, dizzy.
Picking up Dax and heading in, Dax lifted his scrapped and battered face, yelling. "Samos told us to bring the kid to you!"
Elise was rubbing a sore part glaring at a certain masked man, Trin had his arms crossed, and the Kid went over to Kor. "Ah, thank you. I'll be sure to keep him close." He smiled and patted the leather cap. The croca-dog growled at the old man who was stroking the impressive amount of facial hair. "How sweet." He said with thin lips and stared down on him.
Jak petted it and made it stick its tongue out like always.
"Interesting... That insufferable mutt never liked anyone but the boy and someone else before."
"Guess I'm just good with animals." Daxter looked offended, making Trin mirror Jak's grin, and El wanting to laugh for that.
It laid its paw on Trin's metal boot. "Here." Which he offered the dog a treat.
The croca-dog then almost bit Kor's finger off after its snack, "Don't teach it to eat things it isn't allowed to."
'Sure, old man.' A voice rang inside Trinny's mind.
Hearing Nyx, Elise raised an eyebrow.
"Mind explainin' that little outburst, Nyx?" Elise mumbled, still rubbing her lower back. 'I swear I'm gonna kill you two..'
Nyx echoed, 'Guy's crankier than loghead, didn't like how I "didn't take anything seriously".' This made Trin frown slightly and rolled his eyes.
Kor was marveling about the grand sizes of Metalheads of all kinds, most of the most dangerous ones belonging to the harsh deserts of sandstorm-flesh eating Wasteland.
'He wasn't wrong about them being huge.' Trinny replied.
Daxter seemingly recovered his energy back and exclaimed, "Yeah! We saw a big one coming out of a rift once, he was UHH-GLEY!" It caught El and Trin's attention.
Kor 'hmphed' at that disapprovingly from the interruption it seems, "I have valuable information for you. The Baron is conducting an excavation at the dig; he is still looking for that ridiculous tomb." He turned his back on them to look at the blazing blue screens. "Frankly, I don't believe it exists, but you might as well go out there and disrupt his operation just in case..."
As he was explaining the dog decided to do it's business on his staff, Jak and Dax chuckled, but Kor cleared his throat. Trin snickered slightly.
"Knock down all the scaffolding at the site. That should set him back." He began to walk off. "Here is an air train pass to get you out there."
The Kid smiled brightly and offered it, Jak slowly took it, and mumbled. "Thanks, kid."
They headed out and rested by their ruined Zoomer, Trin began. "I'm going to guess the whole lurker business was from Krew?"
Jak went to speak, but Daxter quickly let out a shout. "I GOT IT!" The orange rat pointed at Elise. "YOU WERE AN ESCORT?!"
Elise raised both her eyebrows, "I hope you're asking as a transport for people." She gently moved his hand aside. "But no."
"Precursors..." Daxter groaned with disappointment. "Why don't you just tell us?!"
"Guess close enough AH!" Elise flinched when she had leaned back against the zoomer. "Ah.. and I'll tell you. But so far, you're not even the slightest bit close..."
"What about in the other way—"
SMACK
"OW! OKAY OKAY!"
Jak rolled his eyes, "Yeah, it was from Krew. Not really much to it, but it was still one hell of a mission."
He pointed to Elise, "Secret Agent?"
She snickered, "Yeah. My codename was Nightingale."
"Ha Ha. Very funny." Jak grinned cheekily.
Neither Trin nor Nyx didn't give a single ounce of amusement. "Mm." No witty remark, no sly grin. 'Why do I have the feeling she ain't kidding? You do remember she can hear you now.' Tossing that side conversation away, he asked. "H- Hey uh, is your... back bruised?" He could feel the bubbly teasing emotions from Nyx, earning himself a tick mark from that. All the sudden he felt a funny feeling and he could tell Nyx was up to no good.
"Uh... I dunno!" Elise raised an eyebrow. "Can't really see back there, but I don't doubt it's bruised. Wanna check?" She tilted her head.
Daxter wiggled his eyebrows... and earned another smack from Elise.
"It's my lower back, rat." She blushed with a heavy glare.
Trinity just blinked and had gotten utterly rosy, but he snapped to it and decided to check. What he saw: 'Ooh...' The girl in his mind flinched at it. He coughed, "Urg, a-ahem..."
"That tells me it's bad isn't it?"
Jak and Daxter both peered their heads over and simultaneously going "Oooh..." Daxter covered his eyes. "You uh... might wanna put some ice on that..."
"What?"
The bruise outstretched even lower than her shorts line, but obviously she wouldn't let them see. It was a dark purple and blue color, showing how fresh it was.
"How hard did you hit the ground?"
"...I fell on my ass, Jak."
He snickered-
'How could you let a man like Trinny push you ove- NYX, PLEASE.'
He was muttering and El knew it was towards Nyx, who she could hear mad giggling in her head, and that made her even more flushed. "Excuse me?!"
Jak and Dax jumped back a few steps, Trinity had a feeling he was about to bite the dust.
'I dare you to give him a good one! Right in the same spot, right when we met! DO IT NO BALLS!'
"N- no! Don't!" Trinity was about to literally flee!
Oh that was it.
Her face flushed such a bright red and she let her anger take over.
"Grrr... RAHG!"
She turned around and landed a hard punch to his stomach. The exact same spot as when they met.
"OOOOHH- "
It was complete and utter agony.
"THAT'S FOR KNOCKING ME ON MY ASS!" She hissed, rather viciously too. You could practically see the embarrassment radiating off of her. Hell, Jak was feeling it second hand.
"Ow..."
Trinity for once crumpled up like weak paper, clutching his torso, the very same spot from all those days ago and the same one where the Spiderhead had pierced him back in the sewers! He collapsed on the floor, his knees crashing into the ground! Jak and Daxter flinched, feeling a little bad for the Masked Man who had fallen for once.
'Ooohhh... N- nope, that didn't feel good...'
It was as if Elise had knocked the wind out of him.
"D- deserved that...I - guess..." He wheezed out unmoving. 'Ha! Ow. Nyx, I will kill you someday- '
JV007 A/N: ...That was a lot of lore drop.
...There's literally so much crap I've been hiding about Nyx and with the pendant granting not only Elise the sight of Trinity's inner mindscape, but to you guys, you realize just how messed up Trin really is. There's so much plot dump that I literally dunno what else to say lmao
Butterfly A/N: If y'all remember; Elise met Trin by socking him in the stomach. It was meant to be, you can't change my mind.