Author's note (yet another to glaze over or ignore): Thanks for your reviews. From the feedback, I'm glad you guys like the last chapter. Battling, Torn dying... Rygar dying... Jak erhh...
I'm nearing the end of the story and so I shall have to say goodbye to you soon! It's inevitable! But until then may you dwell on the writing and take pleasure in the story... if you can ignore my bad spelling and grammar! Mawhahaha!

Enjoy!

Light and Dark Eco is the most powerful of all and its surpasses all the Eco put together. Combined they can create a terrible power that no life form has ever contained! Only the Precursors themselves can wield its awesome power.

Jak sat on his bed fiddling with his cane with his hands. The afternoon sun lit up his pale white skin, as his deep sapphire eyes stared aimlessly ahead, unblinking to the light that shot into his eyes. The room was dimmed and his door closed, his bed unmade and his neat room was in its early stages of becoming a tip.

He couldn't care less about the state of his room let alone himself. Jak's thoughts were consumed by the incident that happened almost a month ago. It was constantly in his mind driving him to reflect on himself with merciless criticism and 'what if' scenarios.

I am telling you that you have a job to keep the balance. If not, as you've experienced, darkness will consume you and the consequences can cost you a life...

It's been four weeks since the event, a week since he woke up in hospital physically exhausted. Jak never felt such a drain in his life. It's perhaps because he never had to hold so much Eco. The Dark Eco injections were nothing compared to what he had to carry. He remembered his friends by his bed side but he spoke to them very little knowing he'd failed them. He failed the all. They tried to tell him he saved the world, again, but Jak knew none of this would have happened in the first place. All of this could have been prevented and prevention is better than the cure.

He continued to fiddle with his cane knowing he brought this isolation on himself once again. He didn't want to talk to anyone... he just couldn't face them. His physical health was declining again as he continuously stayed within the confines of his room. He thrived in his solitude knowing it was easier to run than to face up to anything.

You still continue trying to forget what has been told you as if the faults don't exist...

Jak realized he was doing the same thing before all this had happened, when he first became blind. Jak only wanted to be out in the field again to continue his life as normal. He craved the sweet thrills and spills of the adventure but instead he just played right into one old Krimzon Guard veteran's hands. All along he was doing what the man wanted that ended up in dire consequences. Jak saw, with the Eco power, what he was capable of, what he could have done and it frightened him every time he thought about it.

He was weak.

How can you ever hope to face the trials ahead if you refuse to face yourself and understand what is inside of you?

He wasn't strong enough to control the power he was forcefully given and in the end it changed his mental thinking along with his physical aspects. He knew he let everyone down. Solrin constantly pushed him to face and to understand the powers that were inside him but, instead, he let himself be caught up in Rygar's games so much so that when his powers became an actual threat he couldn't control it.

Jak knew the responsibility he held, the expectations others place on him and recently had to perform to them, despite the obvious physical set back. Outwardly he projected hope and strength but inwardly he was in despair and was weak.

A door creak reached his long ears. Jak heard the light but paced footsteps on the carpet instantly identifying who it was in his head. He heard some cluttering like ceramic jittering on a tray. He didn't bother to use his Light Eco powers to 'see'. After the incident he hadn't bothered to use any of his powers, it reminded him of the formidable sensory vision he once had. It reminded him of the whole incident...

"Jak, you need to eat" the female voice urged

Jak didn't respond. He knew she would leave him alone again. He was hungry but he didn't feel like eating. He heard her placing the tray on his bed but he didn't hear her footsteps leave.

"Daxter didn't cook it so its safe to eat" she cracked the empty joke but he still didn't respond

She gave a sigh. Jak still felt her presence but he stood solid knowing she would leave him alone eventually.

"Please don't do this again" she suddenly pleaded

Jak blinked before turning his head slightly in her voice direction.

"Leave me alone" he said quietly, more as a request than a threat

"No" she suddenly protested

"Keira-" he was cut off

"I wont" she said more fiercely

Jak paused then turn his head to face the window again and shrugged, "Suit yourself"

"You can't keep doing this to yourself!" Keira said, "It's not your fault what happened and you know that"

Jak closed his eyes out of habit, "You don't understand..."

"Then help me to understand" she replied stubbornly

Jak shook his head his voice flat, "You really want to know?"

"Yes"

"Fine. I could have prevented all this from happening"

"What? A power like that is impossible to stop! How can you say that?" Keira shook her head her logical mind knew the very power that had once coursed through Jak's veins... saturating his body in raw Eco energies.

Jak didn't reply. How can I explain it? The silence dragged out before Jak gave a sigh and for the first time in a long time he opened up.

"Someone once told me I had to face myself... my powers and fears. All I did was ignore it hoping it all went away but instead it came back right at me to bite me in the butt. If I... if I faced myself then I could have better control over the Eco powers then none of this would have happened..."

"Jak" Keira interrupted quietly, "You were holding all the city's Eco. If was a miracle that you are even here at all. If someone was to contain all that power they would have died the instant they would have fused"

Jak snorted, "Come on, you know by now about my channeling abilities. You know that I'm not average"

"But Jak with or without your abilities no one can stand raw Eco energy, not even you"

"But I did. It doesn't matter, it was expected from me wasn't it? Everyone wants the impossible from me and I can't deliver. I'm sick of all this. I'm tired of fighting... I don't even know who I am anymore..."

"Jak..."

"Just leave it ok?" Jak suddenly snapped

He heard Keira sigh before her footsteps were heard. He knew she was leaving.

"I just need some time to deal with this... alone" he muttered

"You're never alone" Keira said quietly before closing the door behind her

Jak gave a small sigh of his own before returning to his thoughts. It constantly milled around his mind, churning negativity. All he could think about what could have been prevented, about the consequences and what was going to happen now.

The future wasn't too happy. He would return to his blind existence, perhaps continue with the HQ if they let him. If not then he would have to kiss his warrior life goodbye. After all he'd been through he was ironically back to where he started, dependant, alone and vulnerable. He was nothing without his powers, they were only a tool to him and he became dependant on his supernatural abilities rather than himself.

He didn't know what to do or where to go. He didn't know how to get out of the hole he was in and so he continued to dig deeper.

"A warrior isn't judged by his strength but by his heart"

Jak perked up and turned to the general voice direction.

"Or more accurately It's not strength alone but it's strength of the heart"

"Solrin? How did you-" Jak never even heard him come in, "You know what? Never mind"

"You should eat you know" the older man stated, "Eating your greens makes you grow big and strong"

Jak blinked before turning back to the front, "Just tell me off already. Get it over and done with"

"So you finally come to understand what I have been trying to tell you?"

"That if I faced myself, my powers, then all of this could have been prevented. Yeah"

"Then it was your fault that an evil man thought he could play God" Solrin said firmly

"I-what?" Jak blinked

"It was your fault that he took the ones that were more close to you to manipulate you and bend you to his will"

"No I-"

"It was your fault that he caused the accident that destroyed your ability to see" Solrin interrupted

"Well-"

"It was your fault that he blamed you for all the mistakes he wanted you to make knowing it will ware you down and create self-doubt. It was your fault that he saw you as a means of gaining a greater power. It's you fault that you value your friends more than yourself. "

Jak rose from the bed and turned to Solrin's general voice direction, his green brows frowning.

"It was your fault that he used you. It was your fault that he saw your weakness. It was your fault that he controlled you and forced you to attack the very people to fight to protect"

Jak growled, "Not everything's my fault!"

Solrin continued ignoring him, "It was your fault that you felt angry. It was your fault that he died. It was your fault you regretted and it was your fault that you realized what you have done and returned to normal"

Jak gritted his teeth, some of the statements stung him as it rang true but others seemed so silly and unreal. It felt strange that the things he was stupidly blaming himself for were voiced out loud.

"Admit it" Solrin snapped, "You killed him. You killed him because you were angry. You were angry at his manipulation, his pride and arrogance, his carelessness with peoples lives and endangering yours and your friend's lives. And you were especially angry with what happened to you through the years with Praxis and Vegar's interference, including your father's death"

"OK!" Jak suddenly burst out, "I'm angry! I'm sick and tired of people using me for their own gain! I'm sick and tired of having no control or say in my life! I hate them all! They ruined my life, took away the only real family I had left! Now I'm blind and I..."

Jak stopped realizing what he was saying. He couldn't believe he just let his anger go like that. He could even feel his dark side stirring ready to lash out. He knew better, his short temper got the best of him.

"I..." Jak repeated softly trying to finish his sentence, "Why me?"

"Life is a complex path to travel" Solrin replied with a soft tone, "There are those who seem to get it easy while others seem they get all of life's rear end of things. All we can do is live life the best we can and to be true to ourselves and others. I know you think you are cursed with this burden, with this constant awareness and responsibility with your powers but with this you fail to see the other end of the scale.

What Rygar did to you and his death was his own doing. He brought it upon himself because he knew what he was getting himself into. He got too arrogant and corrupt with the power that he fail to see his own doom. You didn't grow corrupt and yet you were the one actually holding the power.

You're human Jak, we all make mistakes, we all have weaknesses and we're not perfect. No one expects you to hold the world on your shoulders, the only person that expects that is yourself. Rygar knew all about you from the start so he knew what drove you, what you care about the most as well as your abilities and aspirations. He may turned them against you but you were stronger and you over came that"

"I didn't over come anything..." Jak shivered as cold memories rose, "I just got angry"

"But you saw the truth with the Eco power you held. You realize the danger it possessed and you got rid of it. You managed to regain yourself through the Eco power and realized what you cared about most. Eventually those elements that Rygar turned against you became your strength and you forfeited your powers in that state of mind"

Jak blinked taking this all in.

"Your anger is just like everyone else's. You cannot withhold anger without consequences, as much as the next man. Its time to let go of your past, you have a different life and a different meaning now. Your anger drives people away when you need them the most. I don't think its fair on anyone to isolate yourself and run away because you are angry and doubt your self-worth"

Jak suddenly felt better. He didn't feel like he was holding a huge burden anymore. All that he feared seemed to minimize or diminish. Someone saw him for a human and not some super indestructible hero. It also felt good not to have all his frustrations, hurt and anger bottled in though the ever churning dark void would always be there...

"Do you understand now?" Solrin asked, "Do you understand that you are not weak by the lack of control over your powers but by the emotions you hold? Your powers have always been triggered by emotions of anger, determination, fear and protection. A few times when the power had been overwhelming on your mind eventually a powerful emotion takes command. What you have been afraid of all along didn't even exist"

Didn't even exist...

Jak blinked in surprised completely bewildered by what Solrin was saying to him. Once again the older man just pin pointed things only he knew about. The answer was surprisingly simple and yet he never understood it. All this time he was trying to control his alter egos by mental will. He was so afraid that he could never control his powers with his mind that he was afraid to do beyond what he could currently control. So when something did go beyond what he could control, he would mentally kick himself for not controlling them better. He was going about this the wrong way. Why didn't I realize sooner that my powers are controlled solely by emotions?

"Why... why didn't you tell me this before?" Jak asked, wondering why Solrin wasn't straight forward.

"For the butterfly to have the power of flight it must brake through the cocoon and release itself. Through this process the butterfly is given the ability to fly. If you help the butterfly when it is coming out by cutting a larger opening the wings become shriveled and it is doomed to be grounded. I cannot tell you everything. You need to find things out for yourself and sometimes you have to struggle through the tiny opening of the cocoon to understand and fly free once you are released. On your own two wings you will fly.

You did not listen to me before for you did not understand. Now I only have pointed out things that you have experienced and through these experiences you understand and become wise"

Jak gave a smile, the first one he wore in a long, long time. So all this time I was worried over... nothing? I was so worried with the responsibility of keeping the 'balance' that I lost all aspects of everything else... It ok to have weak moments and the weakness I though I had with my powers wasn't even there. I just misunderstood how to controlled them.

In this moment he felt more of himself. He wasn't the man who had two alter egos, or the man who saved the world three times, or the man that people thought he was good or evil, or the man who was favored by the Precursors, or the man who was used by those in power or the man that changed the world he lived in.

He was Jak. A village kid that grew up healthy and strong before entering the big smoke. He was a man with great friends that expect nothing more from him than trust and reliability. He was a typical warrior, a spirited Wastelander that typically liked cars and guns. There was nothing more to it.

All his worries vanished as he suddenly felt more secure again. Secure in his friends, secure in himself and his powers. He felt he was back in control of his life again because he understood it. He understood it all.

"You understand your powers now? They're not a tool but they are apart of you. They are a physical characteristic of your emotions. How you use them is up to you but remember they are more than forms to assume. They both hold power that is wondrous and scary at the same time and in time you will learn to use them properly and find them ever evolving"

"How do you know?" Jak asked shaking his head trying to understand, "How do you know what's going on?"

He felt a hand on his chest and he instantly knew it was Solrin.

"Awaken from its eternal rest, eyes are dull and no sense. Eco combined so powerful but tame, return to the dust from whence you came! The new world awaits for thee, a choice to make for desire to be free. Light shine through the darkness gloom and into the light thou shall stroll into" Solrin repeated the prophecy that Rygar once followed

"Is that-?"

"Rygar didn't understand what the words had meant. He was right that they involve you but what he didn't know that they are meant for you and only you"

"What?" Jak blinked in disbelief

"It is metaphorical. It has prophesied the event that has come to past and your choice. You came to understand your fears, doubts and powers and in this understanding you were freed from your burden that you have been carrying since receiving your dark powers. I had once said light will always brighten a dark room it applies here in the words of the prophecy"

Jak frowned thinking it was way too farfetched, "All that... to help me understand?"

"Perhaps or you will discover something far more greater that this current understanding" Solrin said mysteriously

"You still haven't answered my question. How do the hell you know what going on? How do you know about the Precursors and about me?"

Jak felt Solrin's hand was taken off his chest but could feel his presence in front of him, somewhere.

"To understand others you must understand yourself" Solrin repeated the quote

"Come on! You at least owe me some explanation..." Jak wailed

"You asked for guidance and so I gave" Solrin's voice became more fuller

"Huh?"

"We are together, but we're apart. We are the same but we're different. I am you and you are me. I am a guardian as you are a protector. I am just like you Jak and you are just like me..."

"Huh? But that doesn't-"

Jak was cut off by his door opening and a call.

"Jak?"

Jak turned to the voice as he recognized it. He hadn't head it in a while but he knew who it was.

"Josan?" he asked remembering it was the teacher turned disability counselor for post war victims. She came to him at Keira's request and at that time Jak was bitter and angry about the accident and about his blind condition. That felt like so long ago...

"I'm glad you remember me" the older woman had a pleased tone in her voice, "Keira is quite concerned for you"

"Yeah, I'm sure she is" Jak said dryly feeling her coming was too late.

He already sought this out with Solrin... talking about him...

"I heard you speaking in here" Josan continued, "Its ok to-"

"Yeah I was speaking to Solrin" Jak said causally wondering why Josan hadn't caught sight of the Braille teacher yet

"Solrin?" Josan asked puzzled

"Erh my Braille teacher" Jak elaborated wondering why Josan was questioning him about someone she assigned him to.

"I never assigned a Braille teacher to you under that name" Josan's voice was in confusion, "I'm sure I asked a young woman to tutor you by the name of Toralla"

Jak blinked in surprised. He instantly tapped into his Light Powers bringing up his secondary vision. He could feel Josan's life force but no one else's in the room. He scanned every corner, every nook and cranny but Solrin was no where to be found. Somehow Solrin had disappeared as if he was never in the room...

"But he was here..." Jak gawked stupidly

"This is serious. If someone has been imposing as a teacher..." Josan murmured to herself

Jak had to convince Josan that Solrin was here. He made a mental checklist then realized that all the times he was with Solrin he had been by himself. No one else was with him and so he and Solrin had one on one conversations and for some odd reason he never mentioned Solrin to anyone.

Did I imagine him? It was too real to be imagined...

"I'm going to make a few calls, I'll be back soon" Josan excused herself and Jak felt her leave the room

Jak was sure Solrin was as real as the floor he was standing on. He felt his hand gestures and even his life force... Jak suddenly realized, His life force...

It kind of made sense to him. He recalled the words that Solrin said to him before Josan came in. We are together, but we're apart. We are the same but we're different. I am you and you are me. I am a guardian as you are a protector, I am just like you Jak and you are just like me...

Jak remembered when Solrin first taught him to use his powers back at his first lesson of Braille. Jak felt his life force and he remembered it to be so bright and pure. Almost perfect. He acted human hell he felt human... He knew he wasn't an illusion because he didn't have the luxury of sight so...

What was going on?

Jak frowned clearly confused but curious to get to the bottom of the strange mystery.

"I'm sorry Jak. I'm afraid I got an imposter on my hands" Josan apologized and excused, "I must leave. I'm sorry for all this"

Then Jak felt her life force leave the room. Jak gave a small smile.

"I'm not"

He felt another life force enter the room and he knew it was Keira, "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah its fine" Jak shrugged then gave another small smile, "I think everything's going to be alright"

Jak sensed that Keira was studying him for a moment. He threw away the cane that was still in his loose grasp and approached the door, his eyes didn't flinch at the sudden brightness of the outside world. Jak could feel a sense of joy and relief coming from his long time friend as he found himself on the receiving end of an embrace.

"Oh Jak!" she gasped feeling the overwhelming amount of relief and happiness that the hero wasn't sulking in his seclusion, blaming himself and denying the fact that he saved the world... again.

Jak didn't reply as he could feel her emotions and in the moment shared it with her. He never realized how much all this affected her. In his piddle party he could only think about himself and what he felt... he never stopped to realize how much his actions and moods could effect someone else. For a bright man sometimes he wasn't so smart...

Your anger drives people away when you need them the most. I don't think its fair on anyone to isolate yourself and run away because you are angry and doubt your self-worth...

Keira released him suddenly feeling embarrassed by her display but made no apology. Instead she stood there blushing, for once, glad that Jak was blind. She didn't realize that Jak could sense her embarrassment and her feelings. Those made him feel a little awkward and shy away not knowing how to handle such feelings, especially when they mirrored his own.

Jak felt and heard his stomach rumble. Keira heard it and gave a smile that wasn't seen by the man.

"Hungry?"

"Yeah... just a little"

"The food I gave you half an hour ago is probably cold... you want pizza? I'll order it. Daxter told me that the service is really fast"

Before Jak could say anything she moved away to the home phone to pick up the receiver and dialed the local pizzeria. Jak moved off to the couch and sat down. He felt more confident in himself and his powers now. Even if he was still blind, it didn't matter. He had only one life to live and he wasn't going to waste it in a dark room by himself. Blind or not he was going to do what he always loved and enjoy the thrills and spills of the adventures that always gets entangled in along the way.

Jak may have experienced the bad deal from life as he had its ups and downs but he knew he wouldn't have it any other way. Life would be too boring other wise.

To be continued...

I hope you understood that... I tried to make it as understandable as possible... if not ask me and I shall try to explain.

All in speculation in what will happen now (next chapter)is perhaps an elaborate (and stupid) soap opera will take place or maybe Jak will wake up and was dreaming the whole thing the whole time or maybe Rygar will come back from the dead and becomes a psychopath spirit that kills everyone in a bloody rage... wanting revenge on Jak! And once again Jak is on a quest to save the city as well as he and his friends from another maniac's hands...while being blind!

Sooooooo what did you think? Like, if you think this was so last minute writing, or, like, you think this was totally lame, or, like, you think this was, like you know, totally great then, like, review! Reviewing is, like, so the drama and, like you know, should be taken seriously... like, seriously.