Chapter LII: Eco Poisoning

LES: Okay, to make things clear, a day does not pass unless I say it does. So it is still the same day, October 10, 2269

Jak walked out of the Construction site and stole a zoomer before a group of Metal-Heads could impale him. "Do you thing Keira's got the Rift Rider set?" Daxter asked.

"Most likely." Jak said. "But we're still missing the Ring. The Rider without the Rift Ring is useless."

"Right."

Jak headed off towards the Stadium.

Jak pulled up to the Stadium, which was strangely empty, and tried to ignore the pains in his body, which had become constant. Keira had the Rift Rider moved outside. "The Rider is finished." She said, looking at something past Jak. "But, Daddy thinks the Rift Ring might be in the Metal-Head Nest. If he's right, how are we going to get it there?"

Jak thought for several seconds. "Leave that to me." He got out the TalkBox and dialed a number. "Ashelin?"

"Yes?" Ashelin answered.

"I need a favor."

"What is it?"

"I need a transport, one with a brave driver."

"Why?"

"I need something moved to the Metal-Head Nest."

"The Metal-Head Nest?" Ashelin demanded. "Are you insane?"

"Maybe." Jak said. "But it needs to be done."

"Well… I guess the majority of the Metal-Head army is attacking the City right now." Ashelin paused. "Storming the Nest… it might be possible."

"Wait!" Keira said suddenly. "Storming the Nest? No way, Jak! I won't let you do it! It's impossible!"

Jak looked over at Keira. "Keira… we've discussed this several times." He turned back to the TalkBox. "So, will you send over a transport to the Stadium?"

"Sure, just wait a bit." Ashelin hung up.

Jak sighed, then turned to face Keira again. "Is there nothing I can say or do to you that will make you give this up?"

"Nothing." Keira asked.

"You haven't forgotten what I did to you." Jak said simply. "That was… unforgivable."

"You really hurt me, you know." Keira said softly. "But I still feel the same way about you. Love is blind, I guess."

"Love shouldn't be blind." Jak said. "Keira, please, I'm asking you for the last time… don't do this to yourself!"

Keira watched Jak. "I can't leave you, Jak. I did that once… never again. I can't leave you when you need me most. You shouldn't die alone… no body should die alone."

The trio sat in silence for several minutes before a transport pulled up. Ashelin jumped out. "I've got your transport."

"Now…" Jak paused, looking from the rider to the transport. "How do we move that into the transport?"

Suddenly, old Samos and young Samos appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. "Leave that to us." Jak moved forward to help the Sages, but old Samos stopped him. "No, you shouldn't."

"But, why?" Jak asked. Samos simply shook his head, signaling that he was not going to answer Jak's question. Jak growled loudly, and then stood back to watch.

The Sages used their Green Eco powers to lift the Rider and move it into the cargo hold of the transport.

The transport was ready to go, but one man was not.

A terrible, stabbing pain, one that was worse than any that Jak had felt before, tore through his body. He let out a cry of pain and was forced to his knees.

"Jak!" Keira cried, running over to him.

Familiar nausea rose within Jak. He vomited, but this time it was different. It burned horribly as it came out.

"Oh my God!" Keira screamed.

"What the hell is going on here?" Daxter yelled.

Jak didn't want to look, but he had to. He opened his eyes and gasped. The vomit… it was made entirely out of Dark Eco! Jak began trembling. "No! No! Oh God, no!" Jak cried out as another wave of pain wracked his tortured body.

"Jak! Oh my God!" Keira cried. She couldn't believe what she had just seen. Jak, the man that she loved, had just vomited what looked like pure Dark Eco. She ran forward and helped Jak off the ground. "What's going on? Jak, what's happening to you?" She demanded.

"Eco…" Jak gasped. "Eco… poisoning. Oh, God, no!" He cried as he vomited again, more Dark Eco.

"Eco poisoning? But… that's how the Oracle said you would die!" Daxter yelled.

"The Oracle…" Jak gasped. He yelled in pain as what seemed to be wave after wave of pain washed over him. "I need to see… the Oracle."

"Don't worry, Jak." Keira said soothingly, although tears were running down her face to see the one she loved in such terrible pain. "I'll take you to the Oracle."

She helped a writhing Jak into a near-by two-seater. (It wasn't hers, but she was more than willing to do anything to save Jak.) Daxter followed.

"Hey, what do we do with this?" Ashelin asked, pointing at the transport.

"Go out near the Metal-Head Nest and wait for us." Daxter ordered, taking Jak's place since he was rather indisposed at the moment.

Keira floored the accelerator in her rush to get Jak to the Oracle. Hopefully, he knew what he was doing.

Keira pulled up to the small hut that held the Oracle. She looked at Jak and her heart nearly broke. He was very pale and he was sweating profusely. His breathing was short and shallow, and he occasionally cried out as a wave of pain washed over him.

"Oh, Jak…" Keira breathed. She reached over and tenderly touched his burning skin.

The elf looked over at her, his eyes strangely glazed over. "Keira…" He gasped. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be sorry." Keira said. "You shouldn't be the one that feels sorry. I'm the one that should be sorry. I've treated you horribly since we reunited."

"Can't this wait 'til later?" Daxter demanded. "The Oracle's just inside…"

"There might not be a 'later'!" Keira cried.

"He's right." Jak said with a sharp intake of breath. "Keira… help me."

Keira got out and walked around the zoomer. She helped Jak get out. He had to lean heavily on her as he simply lacked the strength to stand on his own. She led Jak to the door and they walked in.

And then, Jak let go of Keira, took a few wobbly steps toward the Oracle, and then collapsed on the floor.

It broke the she-elf's heart to see Jak like this. The normally proud warrior, sprawled on the ground because he lacked the strength to stand.

"Oracle!" Jak cried. "Save me! I don't want to die!" The elf spasmed as more pain shot through him. "Please, Oracle, I don't want to die…"

There was silence for several seconds before the Oracle spoke. "I've told you, Dark One, I alone can not save you. Only…"

"A Precursor?" Jak gasped. "There are no Precursors left!"

"There is still hope." The Oracle insisted.

"There is no hope!" Jak despaired. And, for the first time in years, tears, actual real tears, ran down his face. A combination of everything that had happened to him and the prospect of death finally broke down the walls that had long held intact. Pure pain and sorrow was etched on Jak's face and tears continued to flow freely.

"I can not cure you." The Oracle said. "But I can give you a chance." Jak looked up. "Listen carefully, for your life depends on it. The answer to all you questions and salvation lies in wait at the Metal-Head Nest. That is where you must go."

Keira couldn't stand it any longer. "How?" She demanded. "He can barely stand!"

"Peace, young one." The Oracle said soothingly. "Now, it is within my power to stop the tormenting symptoms of Eco Poisoning from preventing you in completing your quest. Pay attention, this is not a cure. You will die at exactly the same time as if I didn't perform this."

"Do you think I want to spend my last hours like this?" Jak asked. "Do it, I understand."

The Oracle didn't reply for several minutes. Suddenly, it did speak. "It is done. Rise, Great Warrior!" Jak slowly got up and was able to remain standing. "But, beware, the date you dread is tomorrow. If you are to save yourself, and your race, you must do it before then." The Oracle's presence died.

Keira walked up to Jak. "Jak, are you alright?"

Jak looked at her, his face held no trace of the tears that had ran down it only minutes ago. Now, his face was unemotional. "I feel fine."

"Jak…" Keira paused, as though embarrassed. "Stay with me tonight… please?"

Jak stared at her. "Keira… we can't…"

"I know." Keira said hurriedly. "I just want to spend some time with you… before…"

Jak nodded. "I understand." A pause. "Okay, it's the least I can give you."

Jak and Keira walked into Carla's house quietly, however, it wasn't quietly enough.

"Keira? Is that you?" Carla walked around the corner. She spotted Jak. "Oh…"

"Carla… we sort of want to be alone." Keira said.

"Oh… I understand. I'll go to a friend's house." She left, just like that.

"That was easy." Jak commented. Daxter had been far harder to get rid of. Only when Jak said he could go to the Hip Hog did Daxter leave.

Jak sat on the couch and Keira joined him, sitting right next to him. She embraced him, and Jak made no move to push her off. "Jak?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm scared." Keira said. "You tried to tell me, put I wouldn't listen." Tears started to form. "What id you die tomorrow?"

"Keira… if I die tomorrow, just imagine that I've gone on to a better place." Jak said. "My life has been nothing but pain since I arrived her almost three years ago."

"Jak? What happened to you… in prison?" Jak didn't answer. "I know that terrible things must've happened to you."

"Have you talked to Daxter?" Jak asked.

"A little."

"What's there to talk about?" Jak asked. "I got thrown into prison and tortured."

"Daxter told me something that worried me." Keira admitted. "Your first kill… tell me what happened."

The bottom of Jak's stomach dropped out. "Nothing." He lied. "He antagonized me, pushed me over the edge, and I killed him… end of story."

"I don't believe that." Keira said. "You won't kill anyone lightly."

"I didn't kill him lightly!" Jak roared. "Keira, I choked him to death! I dug my fingernails into his throat until I choked the life out of him! And then I drank the blood from my hands! I don't call that lightly!"

Keira stared. "What happened to you? What could cause you to do something like that?"

"Nothing." Jak looked away.

"Jak, I know you too well for you to lie to me." Keira said. "You're hiding something. Tell me, please. You can always tell me anything."

Jak buried his face in his hands. "It was… shortly after my torture began. I was weak and starving. A captain came to get us to take us to out daily torture. I could tell he was drunk…" Jak couldn't believe he was telling Keira this. He had kept this secret for so long, and it seemed to be spilling out of his mouth. "I was the first one chosen. But… instead of going to get tortured, he led me off somewhere else…"

"Oh my God!" Keira gasped.

"That's my secret!" Jak yelled. "That's right. The great Jak, beaten and weak in prison, almost got raped a drunk guard in a dirty prison hallway!"

"No!" Keira gasped.

"But I killed him before he could get close to what he wanted. I killed him, Keira!" Jak paused. "Oh God, I can't believe I just told you that!"

"Maybe you told me because you needed to tell someone." She leaned up to Jak and began to plant light kisses on his jaw line.

Jak looked down at the beautiful she-elf. "You'll still accept me? Even now?"

"Of course." Keira said. "I love you, Jak, I really do."

"Keira?" Jak started.

"Yes?" Keira asked, expectantly.

"I—well…" Jak stuttered over himself. "I…" Jak stopped and sighed, and then he said something that was inaudible.

"What?" Keira asked.

"I… well…" Jak sighed. It was now or never. Of course, he had said it before, but never to her. It was easier to say it when she wasn't listening. "I love you too, Keira."

Keira gasped. "Oh Jak! Really?" Jak blushed and nodded. "Oh Jak!" Keira leaned up to kiss him again, this time on the lips. Jak returned the kiss. He couldn't deny his passion anymore.

The kiss lasted almost a full minute. He wrapped his arms around her and she draped her arms around his neck. Only when their lungs screamed for air did the couple part. They gazed into each other's eyes, his blue ones and her green ones.

"You won't tell anyone what I've told you tonight… about what happened to me in prison?" Jak asked.

"Never." Keira promised.

Jak looked away from her. "I'm sorry."

Keira looked confused. "Why?"

"I never realized exactly how I felt for you." He said sadly. "If I had embraced my love for you earlier… we could have had years."

"Don't be sorry, don't ever regret anything." Keira said tenderly. "You can't blame yourself for any of this. You were forced into a situation that you couldn't control."

"There are so many things I wish I could have done… with you." Jak admitted, Keira blushed. "But that's impossible now."

"Jak…" Keira began, embarrassed.

But Jak cut her off. "I've never been so scared in my life." He admitted, as if being scared was a shameful thing.

"It's alright to be scared." Keira assured him. "Not many people have gone through what you've had to go through. How many people have known the exact moment of their death? How many people know that they are going to die a painful death by Eco Poisoning? How many other people have been tortured with Dark Eco?"

"None. None. And fourteen others." Jak answered.

"Fourteen?" Keira asked, surprised.

"All dead." Jak corrected. "Most died of Eco Poisoning, but the rest was killed by us." Jak paused. "Can we not talk about this? I lost friends that way."

"Fine." Keira said.

Jak grinned wickedly. "Can we kiss again?"

Keira smiled. "Whatever you want."

LES: Sorry, no sex. Yep! No sex! Just an innocent night of making out!