Part Two: Duel
The night air was clammy, the summer heat was smothering the city like a quilted blanket. Jak tossed and turned on his large bed as he struggled to catch a few hours sleep. He wasn't used to sleeping in a bed, that was the problem. Two years imprisoned in a cold bare cell and sleeping rough with the Underground meant that such comfort was now alien to him.
Next to him in the bed, Kiera stirred.
Jak glared down at the sleeping woman, she wasn't making things any better. Kiera was terribly clingy and in this humidity that was not a good thing. He would finally drop off only to wake up a few hours later to find Kiera's form wrapped round him, the heat generated by this was unbearable.
With a grunt of frustration Jak flung the covers off him and climbed out of bed, gods he needed a shower, the bed sheets clung to him. Jak ambled over to the en-suite bathroom, pulled off his boxers, locked the door and set the shower to cold.
Ahhh, much better, he though as the cool water slid over his skin like a mother's caress. He stood with his head tilted up, his long green blond hair hung limply down the side of his face.
He wasn't used to sleeping in a bed, that's what he told himself, once he got used to life as Haven's "ruler" he could settle down to the quiet life he craved. Or thought he did.
In truth this "quiet life" was the cause of his insomnia. He was bored, nothing to do but sit around in the palace all day trying to sort out the city's complex political corruption. His body was protesting at not being used, he wasn't physically tired when he went to his bed, his mind was exhausted, his body was not, he was restless.
He felt useless, Torn was out leading the Krimzon Guard while they eradicated the last of the Metal Heads, Jak wished he could be out there with them, even if Torn got on his nerves, but a ruler couldn't go off like that, not at a time like this, that's what underlings were for.
He didn't even have Daxter to keep him amused, he was kept very busy with running Krew's old bar with the aid of Tess and Sig, the only person he could seemingly really have fun with now was Kiera, but she seemed to spend most of her time hanging off his arm and give all the noble woman angry glares should they try to even catch his eye. This had been rather amusing to begin with, he had never really expected Kiera to be the jealous type (until she first met Ashelin in the Race Garage, it was still kind of funny when he though back to it) but now it was just tedious and extremely annoying.
The young man climbed out of the shower and shook himself off, cat-like. Looks like it was going to be another night of pacing the long corridors of the palace.
Heck, if he was in luck, he might find where they were stashing the booze and he could drink himself into a stupor.
Jak finished dressing then crept silently past the bed where Kiera was sleeping. He opened the door and stepped out into the corridor.
'I'm just going for a walk.' He told to two guards posted outside, they saluted.
'Yes Lord Jak.'
Jak rolled his eyes at the title, he didn't think he was ever going to get used to the titles, but at least "Lord" wasn't as bad as "Your majesty" or, worse of all, the dreaded "Your Eminence". That one gave him the horrible feeling that he was suppose to spend all of his life in some sort of enclosed space and never speak to women.
Jak wandered aimlessly through the corridors, up and down stairs, sticking his head into rooms to see what was there.
He had just reached the library when he realised something, where were the guards? Usually they could be found patrolling the corridors, but tonight the palace was almost abandoned.
He turned a corner and blanched at the sight that met his eyes. Okay, this was why there were no guards patrolling. They were dead.
Three guards lay sprawled on the floor, one of the men had his neck broken, a pool of dark blood surrounded the second, coming from an ugly wound in the back of his head and the final one lay rigid on the floor, eyes staring in blank horror, there wasn't a mark on him. It was almost as if he had been scared to death.
Jak dashed over to a control panel in the wall and hit a large red button with his fist.
Nothing. Whoever had killed the guards had obviously disabled the Palace alarms. He quickly took stock.
No communicator. No weapons. No Eco. No help. He was all alone in a dark corridor with a homicidal maniac (or possible maniacs) on the loose.
Nothing to worry about then.
He set off at a gentle jog, ears and eyes pealed for any sign of movement. He could feel the adrenalin starting to flow through his veins like a steady flame, he was becoming more aware, his warrior spirit was stirring, flexing it's fingers and grinning at the prospect of a desperate fight for survival.
Who was he kidding? "Done with adventures"? His entire life had been one long adrenalin rush, one fight after another, the buzz was incredible. If he survived, and that was part of the thrill, not knowing if he would survive or not, he would definitely sleep well tonight.
But that wasn't the only thing that stirred at the prospect of a battle. In the darkest part of his soul the beast stirred, lured out of the slumber the death of Metal Kor had placed it in, the sweet sent of blood awoke Dark Jak, and he grinned in animalistic delight. Dark Eco wasn't necessary, should Jak's negative emotions overpower him, the black tide of the beast would sweep over him like a tsunami.
Then there would be blood.
He turned a corner and slid to a stop, the girl standing about ten feet in front of him looked up, her eyes were covered by a pair of dark green goggles and a purple scarf covered her face from to nose down. Jak realised with growing disgust that her left foot was pressed down on the corpse of a guard, his eyes were bulging out of his head, his tongue lolled and his face was blue. Suffocation was a nasty death.
Rox stared at the man who had the misfortune to come across her. Wasn't this the new ruler of Haven, what's-his-name? Dark blue eyes like the ocean at night, slightly damp green-gold hair and vaguely familiar.
Wait, if he was an heir of Mar then of course he would be familiar. The girl was grateful that her green tinted goggles hid her eyes as the darted towards the door to her left, where Heaven and Ruby were trying to hack into the secret files.
'Who the hell are you!?' The young ruler demanded.
This was the man who took down Kor, he was bound to be a better fighter then the dead guards that lay scattered around the palace, and she needed to give Heaven and Ruby as much time as necessary. This thought process took only a fraction of a second and then she was off, streaking down the corridor as fast as possible.
'Hey! Where do you think you're going!?' Good, he was following her.
Jak ran as fast as he could through the Palace, but whoever this girl was, she was fast, faster than him, he could barely keep up with her. It got to the stage where whenever he turned a corner he would see the flash of the tails of her faded black leather trench coat vanishing around the opposite end.
Why would someone who obviously doesn't mind slaughtering the guards in the most brutal of fashions be running from me? He thought to himself.
Rox came to a halt in the throne room.
'Damnit!' She hissed. There didn't look like anyway out for her, she was going to have to make a stand here. She eyed the large throne at the opposite end of the chamber and smirked. Well, if it was going to be fight, it might as well be on her terms.
The double doors opened and Jak slid to a halt. The psycho chick was sprawled on what was technically his throne (only technically since he hadn't actually been crowned yet) like there was nothing wrong with the world.
'Who the hell are you!?' He demanded.
'Very good question. My name is Rox, who the hell are you?'
'I'm Jak, ruler of Haven city, and you've killed my guards. Why?'
'Your name is Jak? How can you be sure?' Her reply stopped him in his tracks. That had been something he had wondered about himself.
'What do you mean?'
'I know about you.' Rox said calmly. Kor would spend hours gloating. She silently added. 'I know everything about you.' Damn she loved psyching people out.
'Listen, I don't know who the hell you are, or why you're here, but you're going to leave, or I'm going to make you.' Jak snarled, feeling his blood begin to boil.
Rox rose from the throne and walked towards him, swaying her hips. 'I would love to see you try little boy.'
'Really.' Jak's eyes glowed with demonic light.
~The beast flexed its claws, but the scent the female gave off did not make it wish for the crimson glory of death nor the soft sliver of entrails. Well, not much~
She was inches away from him, the lights from the city dances across her oddly pale flesh, turning it to the colour of moonlight.
~The beast sniffed the night air, a silver shape flitted from tree to tree in the dark forest, long, slender yet muscular legs propelling it and great speed. The chase was half the fun~
Jak made the first move, closing the space between then with a punch, sending the girl sprawling to the floor. She gave a short laugh. 'Well done.' She kicked out with her legs, but Jak was expecting that, and jumped back. 'Very well done.'
Rox leapt to her feet and stood lightly on the balls of her feet, hands dangling loosely at her side.
~The silver creature looked round, so the beast wanted to play. It wasn't going to make it an easy game~
Rox backed away from him slowly, eyes beneath her goggles never leaving his face. 'What say we make things a little more interesting, my lord?' She had backed into a weapons rack and pulled out a wicked, heavy blade like a meat cleaver.
Jak's eyes dropped to the point of the weapon, it certainly looked very sharp. 'I don't suppose you'll let me get my hands on a sword?'
There was a deceptively soft noise as Rox brought the blade down to her side. Jak noticed that the hand holding it, her right, had only three fingers. The odd thing was that it didn't look like one had been cut off, more like she had been born that way.
'Of course my lord, the sword is the weapon of kings. You are not a king, but apparently, as the ruler of Haven, you come pretty close.' Was that a bitter irony in her voice he could taste?
'I've always wondered why that is.' Jak said as he pulled a slender short sword from the rack. 'Why is that, why lords and barons but never kings?'
Rox snorted. 'Pah, you're ignorance of history is appalling, Your Eminence, there have been no kings nor queens since Mar and his company, nor shall there be until the White Light returns to our battle-scarred world.'
Jak held the sword up in his right hand, the blade pointing to heaven. 'Guess I need to catch up on my history lesson, but when you're in jail they hardly worry about your education.'
'Very true boy. We have quite a surprising likeness.'
Jak gave a deep sigh. 'You know, I really hate it when the bad guys say that corny line.'
'It is rather vexing, yes.' Rox held up her blade and tapped Jak's with it. 'Let's see how you fare, son of Mar.'
Jak lunged forward, swinging wildly. Rox easily sidestepped his clumsy attack and brought her sword up to his neck.
Jak looked along the length of the blade. 'Damn, you must be pretty strong to heave something like that around.'
'You have no idea.'
'What now?'
'Onto round two.' She lowered her blade and stood back.
Jak glared at her suspiciously. "Why haven't you killed me yet?'
Why have you not killed him yet? Rox asked herself. You have killed thousands, men, women, children, without a feeling-
-you could not let yourself feel, you had to block it out, else you would go mad-
-you are mad, they made you mad-
-no! They did not win!-
-dose a sane person dangle their friends by their throats off the top of buildings? Kill him-
-...no-
-no? Kill him!-
-no-
-why? Why is this boy any different? Because he is the son of Mar? Look at his eyes, they're just like her's! The same shade of blue-
-no, I will not kill him, even if his eyes are blue-
-WHY!?-
-because I did not let Kor win, Rox, and I will not let you either.-
'....I have no quarrel with you, just your predecessor.'
Jak swung his blade, Rox parried. Thus the dance began. The partners circled each other, testing for weaknesses, testing for strength. Though it seemed to Jak something had changed in his opponent, near the beginning, despite having a natural talent for sword play, Jak realised that he had made many mistakes. He gave easy access to his body, but she did not make use of it. She fought like a master, and he was hard pressed to counter, but it truly did seem that she had no desire to do him any harm. This was the reason that Jak scored first blood, rushing forward with a surprising flurry of blows that caused Rox to stumble back. Giving him a chance to draw a thin line of blood across her abdomen.
~The beast gave a trilling growl in the back of it's throat, it pressed home it's advantage. It would have its conquest.
However, it underestimated the fighting spirit of the silver creature~
Snarling like a fiend from hell, Rox surged forward like a tempest wave, curling the hand that held the sword into a fist and punching Jak. He screamed and stumbled back, clutching at his face, the sword dropping from his hand.
You have to kill him now. That treacherous voice in her mind spoke. He will heal in a moment, you know what Praxis made him, get him out of the way now, or he will never let you leave.
Get him out of the way?
Rox dug in the pocket of her trench coat, cursing silently under her breath. I bloody well hope I remembered.
Jak heard a sickening crunch as his nose snapped back into place, gods that girl had a punch! No wonder the guards hadn't stood a chance. And at least that damn Dark Eco was good for something. He lowered his hands and opened his eyes just in time to see Rox throw something. Then the cold, he was frozen to the spot, how?
'Blue Eco restraints.' He looked up. Rox was right in front of him.
'You bitch!' He hissed.
'They went out of fashion quite a few years ago, thanks to the Eco shortage,' Rox continued as if she hadn't heard him, 'but a few are still around. As you can no doubt tell, they render their victim, quite, quite helpless.'
She leaned forward. She was so close. He could hear her breathing, in, out, in, out, slowly, calmly. It was so quiet now, he was almost sure he could hear the faint thump of her heart, in perfect rhythm with his own. He felt his own breathing slow, the furious pace of his heart slowed. She was so close now, he could smell her.
~The silver creature crooned deep in it's throat as it leaned over the beast. The beast purred as it reached out to caress the silver creature's back. The silver creature shifted it's position is a slight but crucial way, and the beast moaned~
Jak could feel something deep down in the centre of his being stir at this close contact. Was it fear? He was afraid, a psychopath had him in her power. It was fear, but something else was attached to the fear. Was it desire? Desire for what?
The voices in her head had silence, they too, it seemed, were curious to what would happen next.
What now? Rox tilted her head to one side as she considered Jak, up close he was even more handsome, his high cheekbones, and the intensity of his sapphire eyes, which burned with such anger and hate, but behind it, she could see something else. She was confused, so Rox leant closer, her chest touching his, to get a better look.
Fear. Pain. Sorrow. Loneliness. All of them too great for words. She knew those looks, eternally present in the darkness behind the eyes of a select few, she saw them in her companions, and in the mirror every day. Someone like them.
His breathing had slowed, now it was deep and heavy, his heart rate was normal. Her heart never raced, even in the heat of battle, but it was doing so now.
Why…?
There was something else in his eyes, growing with every second, eclipsing the others.
She reached out and ran her gloved finger's through his sun coloured hair, she could feel the silkiness of it with her finger tips by virtue of the gloves being fingerless.
'What are you doing to me?' Jak whispered. Her scent filled his senses, it was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. He knew the feeling now. It was a private one. One only reserved for Kiera. His higher brain was horrified at the working of his baser instincts.
Lust.
Rox's entire being ached for contact. A simple touch to show affection, something that so many took for granted. A pat on the hand, a squeeze of the shoulder, a hug, a kiss.
On the mouth, like it was meant.
Touch had been forbidden, Kor hadn't wanted them to form attachments to each other. That was only after Ivy, Heaven and Ruby didn't know Ivy like she had. They had both reached out in the dark and their fingertips had brushed. That had been almost been it.
It had almost cost Kor a servant, it did, but it could have cost him another.
Kor was now gone, fading into darkness like a shadow caught in the glare of the sun. She. They were free to touch, but they didn't, afraid of what it would mean. It was something beautiful and unreachable, like a pressed flower behind a pane of glass.
The look on his handsome, angry face.
Now Rox knew the look in his eyes. Almost in a trance, Rox pulled the scarf from her face, revealing a thin face with a soft mouth, even now she did not dare to remove her goggles. She slid her arms around his neck.
A kiss on the mouth like…
Their lips brushed, a trial before they pressed their mouths hard against each other. Rox moved her mouth against his, arching her body against his. He tasted of mountain air, river water, sunlight on ice, a far cry from the smog and filth of the city he ruled. The corruption beneath his skin, that was where it remained. The muddy, dirty dark Eco was hidden away. It was only when Jak opened his mouth to her eager tongue that she caught the barest hint of it. Hidden, but never gone.
…it was meant.
Jak eye's opened wide. What the hell do you think you're doing? He raged at himself. Somewhere in this building Kiera is sleeping, the girl you're in love with, and you're playing tonsil tennis with a murderer. What was worse, Jak knew that if it wasn't for the restraints, things would quickly escalate.
Restraints. You were restrained when Praxis had you. You lost your freedom for two years. You have now freedom now. Remember that. Remember your anger. It's your strength.
Jak pulled his face away from Rox. 'I have a girlfriend you know.' Probably not the smartest thing to say to someone who had probably fallen off the thin line of sanity.
Her reaction startled him. 'You think I care? It was just a kiss.'
Rox pushed Jak away, causing him to fall to the floor, she pulled her scarf back so it covered her face. Beneath it she licked her lips, she wanted to savour his taste, the sensation of lips against her's. She looked down into his eyes, the need in his eyes hadn't gone. Do not harbour any illusions, she told herself, he is like you, it would kill you.
'I am afraid I am going to have to love you and leave you, Your Eminence. You should be fine here until morning.'
'HEY! You just can't leave me here!'
But Rox was gone.
~The silver creature rose and fled through the trees. The beast howled in anguish. Unfulfilled, it would have to wait for the silver creature to reappear, if it ever did.
And next time, it wouldn't let it get away~
~*~
'We couldn't find anything, Rox.'
'We're sahrry.'
'Nothing? Nothing at all!? But Praxis kept records of all his experiments!'
'He did,' Heaven shook his head sadly, 'but he obviously didn't do any with Metal Heads.'
Rox smashed her fist on the wall. 'DAMNIT! Did you not find anything?'
Heaven pulled a rucksack of his shoulder and began to rummage inside. 'Actually, we did find something.' He pulled out some sheets of paper.
'It wus in Praxis' most secret file.' Ruby added.
'We'd though you'd appreciate it.' Heaven handed the papers to Rox. As she read over them a sequence of expressions crossed her face, pain, confusion, anger, sorrow, and finally relief.
'You are sure?' She asked softly.
'Positive.' Heaven smiled.
'He is alive. It gladdens my heart to know this.'
'Do you want to go to him?'
Rox bit her lip and was sorrowful once again. 'And let him see me as this? No. until we are whole, it is better that he believes me to be dead. I can not imagine what it would do to him.'
'So whut now? Do we go an' see this Onin?'
Rox pocketed the papers. 'If Onin has any answers, she'll tell us.'
