Chapter IIX: The Dream
Keira was laid out on the couch in Carla's house, resting. Tomorrow would be her first time going to the stadium, hoping to get a job. Her eyes were closed and hovered on the thin line between the waking world and the dream world. Hundreds of thoughts chased around inside her head, but one thought stood out above the rest… Jak. Where are you? Keira wondered, wishing with all her heart that someone… anyone would tell her the answer, but no one spoke. Jak, where are you? With this one thought in mind, Keira slipped off the line into the land of dreams...
(Dream-state)
Keira's next conscious thought was Where am I? Indeed, she found herself is some sort of dark void. Then, the next thing she knew, it wasn't dark. It was like someone turned on the light switch, and Keira gasped at her surroundings.
"Sandover?" Keira gasped. Well, not quite. She was standing on Sentinel Beach. The sun was setting and the water was at it's most magnificent; the entire ocean was a reddish-orange color, making it look like an ocean of fire. But it was a gentle ocean of fire. Gentle waves lapped onto the beach and a breeze came in from the ocean and rolled over her. She breathed deeply to take in the salty smell that she knew so well.
Suddenly, she got that feeling that she wasn't alone and she turned around. She found herself looking into deep blue eyes… eyes that she loved. "Jak?" Keira asked, hardly able to believe.
It was Jak. He was exactly the way that Keira remembered him, blue tunic, blue eyes, kind face, and green/blonde hair that seemed to defy the laws of gravity. He smiled at her and Keira was almost sent to her knees. She loved that smile, that loving, slightly cocky smile… she loved him. "Yes, it's me." Jak spoke. Keira gasped.
"Jak… you can talk?" Keira asked.
"This is a dream." Jak replied. "Dreams are not fully ruled by the way you remember me. This might not be my real voice, but I can talk."
Keira couldn't stand it any longer. She jumped at Jak and gave him the biggest hug that she could muster. Jak, caught slightly off-guard, fell to the sand under the force of Keira's bear hug. "Hey." He laughed, returning the hug affectionately.
"I've missed you." Keira said.
"And I miss you." Jak said, speaking in present tense to remind Keira that this wasn't real.
"Jak…" Keira stared into his eyes and Jak met her gaze. "Where are you?"
For the first time, Jak frowned. "I can't tell you." He said. "I don't want to put you in danger. Besides, you wouldn't be able to help me even if you knew where I was." Jak paused. "But that is beside the point… I've come to warn you, Keira."
Keira, still lying in the sand next to Jak, scouted closer to him. "Warn me of what?"
"Keira…" Jak brushed a strand of aqua hair out of Keira's face, his eyes full of love and… pain? "Where I am… I'm in great danger. They won't let me go until they get what they want."
"Who are 'they'? What do they want?" Keira asked.
"They' are evil men, Keira. Stay away from them… whatever you do." Jak said. "As to what they want… I'm not sure. It has to do with Dark Eco. But… you should know…" Jak's eyes filled with tears. "You are never going to see me again."
Keira sat up, horrified. "What do you mean?" The thought of never seeing Jak again scared her more deeply than she could explain.
"Where I am… what's happening to me…" Jak paused, sitting up also. "I'm not going to survive."
Keira acted out her first response… denial. "No!" She said. "You can't die!"
"No, I can. I am mortal, after all." Jak said.
"No! You can't die! Wherever you are… you'll beat them! You always beat them!" Keira was near tears. "You can't die!" She repeated.
"Keira… I wouldn't tell you this unless I was sure of it." Jak said. "The last thing I want to do is never see you again. But… I'm sure. It's happening already. I'm dying… ever so slowly."
"But there's so much more that we have to say… so much that we have to do…" Keira paused, putting her hand on Jak's shoulder. "I love you, Jak." Keira's face was really close to Jak's now.
"I'm just a dream, Keira." Jak said, noticing how close they were. "You know this isn't real."
"I don't care." Keira said, stubbornly. "Just… kiss me, Jak."
Jak smiled slightly. He lowered his face to hers to comply with her wishes. Keira prepared to accept the kiss that she wanted ever since she was a young girl.
"Keira! Wake up! You've got to go to the Stadium!" Carla yelled, snapping Keira out of her dream. Keira couldn't believe it, her and Jak's kiss interrupted once again! Even though he was only a dream, she so desired that kiss, practically lusted for it.
Keira curled her knees up against her chest and cried. According to Dream Jak, he was going to die, and she was never going to see him again. She had confessed her love to Dream Jak, but the real Jak was out there, in danger, and he didn't know how she felt. It was enough to make her sick inside. And the fact she didn't know where in the world he was made matters worse.
Keira looked up with blood-shot eyes from crying. "If I really never see Jak again… I swear I'll never love another." Keira paused. "And I'll remember him forever."
"Keira! Hurry up, you're going to be late!" Carla yelled from the kitchen.
"Coming!" Keira yelled back, throwing on some clothes and running out of the room to go to her job interview. She met up with Carla by the door. "Okay, I'm ready."
"Good." Carla said as they both went out the front door. Carla paused only to lock the door and then they were on their way. They were about halfway though the Slums when Keira's stomach growled. Carla laughed. "You hungry?" she asked.
"I'm fine." Keira said.
"No, I have a little bit of money." Carla said. "We'll get something here." She turned into a Slummer eatery. A small bell tinkled as they walked in. A couple people looked up, but then went back to their food.
There was an older woman behind the counter. "Hi, and welcome to…" She slowed to a stop as she looked up at Carla. Suddenly, the woman bowed her head in a respectful manner, Keira watched in confusion.
"What are you doing?" Carla demanded the old woman quietly.
"I know who you are." The woman whispered back so that no one except Carla and Keira heard it.
Carla looked worried and leaned in to the old woman. "Please, tell no one." She begged the woman, who nodded.
"So, what do you want, miss?" The woman asked.
"Two Yakkow sandwiches." Carla replied, handing over a small amount of money to pay for the sandwiches. The woman put the money back in Carla's hands and closed her fingers over the coins.
"Don't worry. It's on the house." The woman whispered with a wink that no one noticed. For a second, Carla looked like she was going to demand that the woman take the money, but then she smiled and nodded. The woman handed them their sandwiches. They thanked the woman before walking out.
Carla ate her sandwich in silence, obviously trying to pretend that the whole thing with the old woman never happened. So Keira decided to bring it up. "What just happened?" She asked.
Carla remained silent for a minute, and then sighed. "She must've mistaken me for someone else." She said guardedly. "I figured, just let her think she's right.
"Why?" Keira asked.
"Because it gives her hope." Carla answered simply as though that ended the discussion and Keira decided that it was wise to not pursue the subject further. She took a bite of her sandwich and continued towards the Stadium.
After several more minutes of walking, Keira got her first glimpse ever of the Stadium. Keira gasped, this area was more beautiful and well kept than any part of the City that she had seen. There were little atriums containing trees and grass. Some people were lounging on the grass, ignoring the 'Stay Off The Grass' signs, like they didn't have a care in the world.
The Stadium itself was very impressive. From what she could tell, it was in an oval shape with orange tarps partially covering the top of the open air Stadium. Statues of an impressive figure, towering above the people, surrounded the front. Keira had to give credit to the person who carved them. They had managed to create this man out of stone, almost to the point where he seemed alive.
The artist had somehow managed to capture the casual, yet alert, pose of a warrior, yet the solemness of a King. However, it was the face that intrigued Keira the most. The man had a dizzying range of emotions on his face. She saw joy, but also sadness, pride, but also humility, love, and also a hint of rage. But on top of it all: heroism.
Carla noticed where Keira was staring. "Good, aren't they? That's Mar, Founder and first King of Haven City." Carla paused, looking up and the sign that said 'Garages 1-5' and 'Garages 6-10' with arrows pointing to their location.
"Three." Keira answered. According to the signs, Garage Three was to the left side of the Stadium. Keira turned to Carla.
Carla nodded encouragingly. "Go on." She urged.
Keira turned and began to walk down the corridor that was on the left side of the stadium. She walked a short ways until she came to a garage with the number '3' painted on the door.
Keira looked up at a clock that was in the hallway. It was 11:55, five minutes early. But, Keira decided that it would be okay to be early, so she knocked on the big metal door.
The metal door opened and the same man that she met on the streets yesterday, Tigran, greeted Keira. She couldn't help staring. She didn't realize how hot he was yesterday. He had a lean build that seemed perfect for racing, but that didn't mean he wasn't muscular. He had rich brown hair and brown eyes that were just a shade lighter than his hair. He seemed to be staring right back at her. Keira shook her head; she hadn't given up on Jak, even if he had given up himself. "Hi." She said in a voice that was half an octave higher than usual. Damn! Keira cursed to herself.
"Hi." Tigran said in a dry voice. Keira could tell he was mentally kicking himself too.
"So… this is the mechanic girl." A new voice said in the background. Keira looked beyond Tigran's brown eyes and found herself staring into the eyes of an old man. He had the palest blue eyes she had ever seen, and she shivered, despite herself. Those eyes creeped her out big time. "I'm Bease." (A/N: "Base-eh") The pale-eyed man said. "I own this racing team. I believe you've already met my racer, Tigran?" He said, pointing to Tigran, who waved. "I've just put this team together, but I need a mechanic to get it on its feet. Tigran told me you repaired his zoomer, is that correct?"
"Yes, it is." Keira answered.
"So you know zoomers?"
"Yes, I do."
"Okay, you see this here zoomer?" Bease pointed to a racing zoomer that was well below safety standards.
"Yes." Keira answered.
"There is a race beginning in five hours time." Bease said. "Any competent mechanic would have this hunk of junk fixed by then. If you can get this zoomer race worthy before then, you're hired." He left to do whatever it was race Managers do before a race.
Tigran smiled at her and Keira was horrified to discover that she was subconsciously comparing his smile to Jak's. "Good luck." He said before following Bease out of the Garage, leaving Keira alone.
Keira glanced at the zoomer and was pleased to see that it was nothing she couldn't handle. Keira smiled and set to work.
(4 Hours Later)
Keira replaced the cover of the engine and stood back to admire her handiwork. Who says a woman can't fix zoomers? It didn't look very flashy, but it could race. Of coarse, she had to take a crash course in racing standards, but that was easy. Dozens of pages boiled down to 'must run.'
Keira began to wipe her hands on a rag, a clean one, when Bease and Tigran came back in. "The race is in one our, Missy." Bease said. "We're just here to check your progress."
"I'm done." Keira said, throwing the rag aside.
"You're done, huh?" Bease asked. "Well, let's see about that. Tigran?" Tigran walked up to the zoomer and pushed a few buttons on the display. The engine started up and started to emit a purring noise, a sign that the zoomer was in good condition. Keira grinned.
"Everything seems in order." Tigran said, he smiled at Keira and she felt herself blushing. Why am I acting like this? She demanded herself.
"Well, I guess the girl has talent after all." Bease said. "Well, I guess you're hired. What's your name, Ms.?"
"Keira." Keira answered. "My name is Keira."
LES: Forgive me if the mechanic stuff isn't very good. I know squat about cars and less about how they work. And I most certainly don't know anything about zoomers! Give me a break!