Chapter XXI: The Soothsayer
The pass that the duo received from Ashelin opened the yellow force field, which blocked the Bazaar from the rest of Haven City. The new area was significantly different from the rest of Haven City. First off, zoomers were not allowed in the actual area. The only way for someone to pass with a zoomer was to use the crowded highway, which ran though the center. Going full speed on this 'highway' was suicide as it was easy to crash into other vehicles. Even Jak, the speed demon, had to slow down to follow traffic.
He was not happy about this. Then again, Jak hadn't been really happy in two years. "Damn traffic!" Jak swore as he nearly ran into the bad of some law-abiding slummer's zoomer. "Get out of the way!" Jak yelled. The driver in question ignored Jak's yells. The Dark Elf growled and reached for the blaster that was strapped to his back.
Daxter, however, stopped him. "No one knows road rage until they've met you." He said. "Calm down. We'll get there eventually."
So Jak resumed sulking, waiting almost patiently for the traffic to move so that he could go see this 'Onin'. Finally, Jak got sick with the whole situation. He got off the zoomer, left it in the middle of the highway, and walked towards the edge. When he got there he leapt over the edge and landed safely on the ground ten feet below.
"Uh… yeah… walking is much faster anyway." Daxter said over the yells of the various civilians back on the highway, angry that there was an abandoned zoomer blocking the way.
"Which way?" Jak asked, looking around.
Daxter gazed around also, trying to get a bearing of where they were. "Uh… they say the Soothsayer's tent is over… that way." Daxter pointed.
Jak suddenly realized, as people stared at him, how much he stood out with a huge hole in the side of his shirt. He quickly walked over to a street vendor, grabbed a sort of trench coat, and walked away.
"Uh… Jak?" Daxter said. "You do realize that you just stole that."
Jak shook his head. "Dax, I'm already on the run for countless murders, prison-break, and joining an Underground resistance. I'm sure that Baron isn't going to care that I stole one trench coat." Jak said, putting it on. It fit reasonably well for Jak just walking up and taking the first one he saw.
Daxter sighed. He was constantly amazed how much Jak had changed. All his old childhood morals seemed to have all gone to hell.
Jak noticed the look on Daxter's face and he sighed. "Dax… I hate to tell you this, but it's the honest to the Precursors truth. Jak of Sandover died in prison. And this… pitiful… cruel joke…" He pointed at himself. "Is all that's left of him."
"That's too bad." Daxter said. "Cause we could really use him right now." There was silence for several seconds before… "Look, Jak! It's Onin's tent!"
It was a shabby little thing. It reminded Jak of the Oracle's hut, however. Very little to be said about the outside, but a mighty power within. "Do you know about this 'Onin'?" Jak asked.
"Nope, never seen her before. She's supposed to be good though. She can, like, see into the future and stuff."
"Hmm." Was Jak's only reply as he walked into the tent. He was instantly greeted by the sickly sweet smell of burning incense. An extremely old and frail woman, possibly Onin, sat cross-legged on the floor. Strangely, she wore what resembled a large bowl on her head. Her eyes were closed, like she was asleep.
Daxter's voice caught Jak's attention. "Cool! Check out all the dead stuff!" He said, poking a moncaw that was hanging form the ceiling.
Jak could hear the creature breathing and even the faint heartbeat. "Dax, that's not…" But it was too late. The moncaw woke up and bit Daxter on the finger. "Ow!" Daxter cried, sticking his injured finger in his mouth.
"Touch the goods again, rat-boy, and you'll be ARRRK counting with your toes!" The moncaw squawked with a rather thick accent. The creature let go of its perch, flew over to the woman, and landed in the bowl on her head. "I am Pecker!" The moncaw announced. Jak couldn't help but grin and laugh slightly. Daxter elbowed Jak lightly and grinned boyishly. They were both thinking the same thing. Why would anyone name his or her child after a slang term for…? Pecker noticed the looks on their faces. "Yes, yes, I know. My mother… she was… very vindictive. I, however, am Onin's interpreter."
The woman's eyes opened as if on cue, and just as quickly, Jak gasped. Her eyes were milky white… she was blind. The old woman began to use some sort of mystic sign language and Jak felt an unfamiliar wave of pity. She was mute too? Jak knew firsthand how horrible and disabling it was to have muteness, but Jak always had his eyes. To be both blind and mute… Jak couldn't even imagine it.
Pecker began translating the strange sign language. "Onin welcomes you, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah… the usual boring salutations…" Pecker paused as he watched the dancing lights. "She says it is good to see you again, Jak."
Jak didn't even bother to ask about the 'see' comment. Instead he was more concerned that this woman claimed to have met him before, and she even knew his name. How could she when he had never even been to Haven City in his life? "But we've never met before." Jak pointed out.
"Before… after… it is all the same." Pecker translated.
"Oh! Oh! Let me try!" Daxter cried out suddenly and Pecker fell silent. "She wants a Yakkow bone! A Yakkow bladder? No! Wait! I've got it! For many moons…" Daxter threw his hand in front of Jak's face, causing him to go cross-eyed for the slightest second. "She has… waited for… a juice pop? A jewel shop? Oh! She's got a hairball! A hair-lip? A hairy chest?"
"Close…" Pecker interrupted. "But no! Onin said that she wants you to perform a special task for her."
Jak glared at the woman, even though he was sure she couldn't see him. "Listen, lady, I don't have time for any of this fortune-teller crap! I've got better things to do…" Jak turned to leave.
"It's annoying, isn't it?" Pecker's voice followed him, clearly translating what Onin was signing. "Six whole years of your life… nothing but empty space." Jak paused at the tent entrance, his hands clenching into fists until his fingernails drew blood.
He turned around. "How did you know that?" He demanded.
"Six long years… and the only things you have are scattered, meaningless memories and emotions." Pecker translated. Jak stared at Onin. How can she know this? He wondered. I haven't even told Daxter that I don't remember my past! "Sandover was your earliest memory, so you believe that is your home."
"Sandover is my home!" Jak said stubbornly, not even bothering trying to figure out how she knew that he was from Sandover. She seemed to know everything about him already. It was unsettling.
"Wrong." Pecker translated. "Sandover is a place where you once lived. But it is not your birthplace, nor is it your home. Your origins and your destiny lie elsewhere."
Silence for several seconds, finally… "How do you know these things?" Jak asked.
"Onin says that she knows a great many things." Pecker said. Onin smiled, and it sent shivers down Jak's spine. "So, now, Onin wants you to collect three items from the Precursor mountain temple. Not two, not four, three! The lens, the gear, and the Precursor shard, to be precise. Use the gate on the Northwest side of the City and bring back those three artifacts." Jak turned to leave, but Pecker stopped him with more of Onin's rambling signs. "Oh, by the way, Onin also tells you not to pity her, for she has seen things that one could never see with mundane eyes, and that I speak for her. Do not pity her, Jak."
"No way! Jak doesn't pity anyone!" Daxter said. "Maybe pre-prison Jak, but not the post-prison one!"
"Onin says that everyone is capable of showing pity, mercy, and restraint." Pecker translated. "Even fallen angels."
Jak blinked. Had Onin just called him a 'fallen angel'? "Well, that's a new one!" Daxter laughed. "How poetic! Jak the Fallen Angel!" Daxter laughed some more.
"The Angel lives in Heaven
White without a Stain
The Angel falls out of Heaven
Into a life of Pain
The Angel yearns for Heaven
But instead is stuck in Hell
Will he ever get back to Heaven?
Only the Angel can Tell"
Jak stared at Pecker, who had just translated the strange poem. "Whoa…" Daxter said. "I didn't mean that literally…" Onin smiled that mysterious smile again and Jak shivered violently.
"I'll get your stuff." Jak said, eager to get out of the strange soothsayer's presence. The incense was starting to burn his eyes, so he turned and walked out.
Once they were well out of ear-shot, Daxter spoke up." Did you see her make that poem up… right off the top of her head?"
Jak didn't know how he knew… he just knew. "That poem wasn't made up… it was recited."