|Spargus|

Valentine sat on the rocks near the bay, waiting. She had her eyes closed, listening to the sound of the waves lazily sloshing on the beach. Calm. She needed to be calm. She mentally went through the list of meditation exercises Seem had given her. She was the water, slowly crashing down as the stars-

Jak.

'Gah!' she exclaimed, eyes popping open. It had been like that the entire evening. Every time she even came close to finding something that felt like inner peace her blood started to boil again. How the hell was she supposed to not cough her lunges out if all she could think about was the fact that Jak was back?
Attempt number two. She closed her eyes again, taking a deep breath. She could do this. She was the wind, gently stroking the desert sand as-

The sound of something heavy falling to the ground interrupted her train of thought. Valentine supposed she might as well accept her fate for the time being. She clenched her eyes shut for a moment, frowning.
'Meta, you were supposed to look after the kids. What are you doing here?'

She opened her eyes, indeed seeing the now mature Metal Head looking at her. In the night she was extremely hard to spot, or would have been if not for that shining gem on her forehead. Something else that stood out in the dark was the wildly spazzing Ottsel that had gotten his head caught in her mouth.

'Dear Precursors, spit him out right now Meta! You don't know where he's been.' Valentine said, shocked at this particular sight. With a snort her friend complied, sending Daxter bouncing over the stones until he hit Valentines boots.

'THAT WAS THE MOST DISGUSTING EXPERIENCE I EVER HAD!' Daxter shouted after Meta, who decided to go back to her original assignment. When he heard someone laughing behind him he turned around, still disgusted. 'I'm covered in Metal spit! Haven't these things ever heard of a toothbrush?' He looked up to a snickering Valentine. He wasted no time in jumping up on her lap. 'Valentine, babe! You're looking fine as always honey!'

'It's nice to see you too, Daxter. I missed you.' Now that wasn't a lie in the least. She had missed the orange fluff ball. She picked him up, pressing him against her in a hug. The moment didn't last long before he broke it off, climbing on her shoulder.

'Listen hon', what's this with you trying to kill my buddy? I thought we all were friends and shizzle. Not to mention back in Haven you had a pretty huge cr-' He found his capacities for speech greatly diminished all of a sudden when Valentine pressed his lips together, stopping the rest of his sentence.

'Not talking about that. Not that it matters anymore. He betrayed me Daxter. He was supposed to be there. If things had gone slightly different, I wouldn't be sitting here anymore. I'd be locked up somewhere as subject Alpha.' Valentine told him, eyes narrowing as she spoke.

When she released his lips Daxter walked over to her other shoulder, continuing from there. 'Listen babe, it's not like that. Jak actually-'

Valentine raised her eyebrows. 'Not another word. I'm not interested in excuses. No matter what he was doing, he should have been there. That's what partners do. I trusted him.' The way she stressed her words made very clear that now she wouldn't be doing that anymore. 'He comes near me again, I'll make sure he regrets it.'

'Yeah well…' Daxter didn't know what he was supposed to say to that. Perhaps he ought to inform Jak later on that he should thank his lucky stars they hadn't found Valentine that day. The woman gave off the impression she'd have knocked all his teeth out to thank him for the trouble. Speaking about getting to Jak…

'Say, about Meta, who so very generously covered me in her slobber.' He started, rubbing over his face again. Thanks to being an Ottsel he also had a heightened sense of smell, which did not work great when his face was stuffed halfway a Metal throat. 'What was her deal, bringing me back like I was some kind of lunch? Not that I'm not thrilled that you have her back, of course.'

Valentine rubbed her nose, suppressing a sneeze. 'Guess she was trying to keep an eye out for you. I gave my apprentices the job to clean the streets of kanga rats. Kleiver keeps complaining about them getting in the storage spaces. And their partners might have mistaken you for a rat. No offense, but you are quite small, and they're not that experienced yet.'

'You're a teacher now?' Daxter asked in surprise, hopping down on the rocks to look up at her in a spot of surprise.

Valentine shrugged. 'Teacher, mentor, foster parent. Sometimes I feel like I'm a nurse, the way they keep getting themselves hurt.' She smiled, the kind of gentle smile she rarely made these days. 'They're good kids. They'll grow up to be fine guardians. Ah, sounds like that's them.'

Valentine stood up as Daxter immediately turned to see who was worthy enough to not get killed by Valentine. His mouth nearly dropped to the ground when three kids appeared, each flanked by a Metal Head that looked to be roughly the size Meta had been the first time he'd seen her. And he didn't like the way these hatchlings were sizing him up from a distance.

'Alright, what have we got? Koram?' she asked, turning to the only boy. The kid looked as scrawny as Jak had in his younger years, and by the looks of him he couldn't be any older than eight or nine. He held up a bundle of tails.
'Me and Daori got eleven of them.' he announced with a grin. One of his front teeth was missing, which was very noticeable with that huge grin of his.

'Very good.' His teacher praised him before turning to the girl in the middle. If someone had asked Daxter, she and the kid next to her were sisters. Both had curly black hair and tanned skin, and looked like they were around twelve. Not that Daxter was an expert at guessing how old a kid was. 'Kiara, how'd you do?'
'We only got seven this time.' she said, sounding a bit sad. 'But Zila found something that looks like a nest.'

Valentine nodded. 'How about you, Maylee?' she asked the last kid.
'We got eleven too this time. We would have gotten twelve, but Rant had to help me after I tripped.' She showed a long, bloody cut across her leg, a result from falling down.

Valentine looked down at Daxter with a pained look. 'See, this is why I feel like a nurse sometimes. Half my time I'm stitching these kids together again.' She pointed down at Daxter. 'Listen up. This is a friend of mine, so don't let your partners eat him. Trust me, they'll probably try.'

The girls grinned at that remark, especially when Daori tried to make a beeline for Daxter. Koram was dragged behind his assigned partner, pleading not to disobey an order they had just gotten. Meta landed behind them, picking up a protesting Daxter once again.

'Don't get your slobber all over me, Meta!' he complained. Valentine hunched down, looking at her old friend. 'Don't worry Daxter. She recognizes you. I just asked her to bring you back to your bed, before something else happens. Too many surprises aren't good for your health, you know.' She suppressed a cough when she thought about a certain surprise.

Daxter looked confused, both at Valentine's sudden grimace and at her claim she had asked the Metal Head something when Daxter hadn't heard her say a word to the animal. 'Anything you want me to tell Jak for ya?' he asked as he was being carried away.

Valentine's gaze grew cold as her apprentices gathered around her. Starlight drew intricate shadows on her face as she picked up to inspect one of the hatchlings, averting her eyes from him.
'Tell him to watch his back.'

|Morning|

'What did she mean by that?' Jak asked Daxter. They were walking around the city, having nothing to do for now. It felt nice, being able to walk around without people constantly whispering behind his back. Yet he had fallen into one surprise after the other when Daxter had told him what had happened that night.

'Probably that she's gonna try and stick a knife in your back.' Daxter said, his eyes examining every good-looking woman that passed. He was taken, but that didn't mean he couldn't watch, right?

Jak groaned. He had to find Valentine and explain everything to her. Maybe then she'd forgive him and they could be friends again. And maybe, if he was lucky-

'Hey, check out that thing!' Daxter pointed excitedly to something that was stranded near the beach. It looked strange, as if something from a sci-fi movie. Jak wasn't a scientist, but he could tell by the color that this thing had something to do with Dark Eco. Apart from that, he also recognized one of the monks standing near the thing. It was the woman who had given him a death glare right after his first Arena fight.

They moved closer, the monks seemingly ignoring them. 'Check out these threads. I didn't know rubber was back in.' Daxter commented. Judging from the way the female monk's face contorted for a moment, Jak guessed one of these days Daxter was going to get punched. 'What are ya working on, monk boy?' Daxter continued.

Seem took a deep breath. Valentine had told her about these two, but the orange one was even more annoying than she had described. Thankful that she had sent Valentine to her office to pick up some equipment she turned to the newcomers. 'It is none of your concern, animal.' She replied, trying to seem as off-putting as she could. Valentine had told her she could be very good at that, if she wanted to.

'Look, coloring book.' Daxter started, jumping down from Jak's shoulder. 'We've had a hard week. Being slobbered over by a Metal Head was the least of bad things happening. So don't push it.'

Seem looked down at this strange creature, before turning to Jak. 'The Arena shows all, Dark One.' Well, the Arena and what she had heard from well-informed sources, but there needed to be some mystery. 'Hate consumes your eyes.'

'Great, thanks for the tip.' Jak replied, clearly not in the mood for any soul readings.

'It will destroy you, just as these Precursors destroyed themselves.' That was an educated guess she was making, but judging from the damage she had been able to record in Valentine, it was very likely. What she needed now was the equipment Valentine was getting, so she could get to work on prying it open. It had reacted slightly to Valentine's presence, but not enough to actually get real information.

'Doesn't look like any Precursor crap we've seen.' Daxter said, thinking back to what they had encountered. The thing didn't even have the weird bulbous eyes he'd come to associate with Precursor artifacts.

'These are an abomination. One fell on the great volcano.' The fact that they were falling didn't mean good things were about to happen. She had sent out a team yesterday, and expected word from them as soon as possible. The more they found out about them, the better. She had told Damos as much as she could, without breaking the sacred scriptures. Spargus was preparing for the remaking of the world, as best as they could. 'Soon the world will be remade.'

Daxter let out a chuckle. 'I think someone's been frying in the sun a little too long.' Seem caught movement on the roof from the corner of her eyes. Valentine had returned, but seemingly had no intention of coming down to greet them. Instead she placed the heavy sack next to her, observing what was going on.

'You must leave this place.' Seem said, hoping that Jak and his orange friend would indeed leave. Valentine wouldn't be pleased having to wait on the roof for them to leave. 'Heroes always think they can save the world, when they can't even save those closest to them. And you couldn't possible understand the dark forces that are at work here.'

Now that clearly had the wrong effect. Instead of chasing the man away he moved closer to Seem. Not good. Seem glanced to the roof, seeing Valentine had gotten back up, flexing her hands. If Jak made a wrong move towards Seem, odds were great the female hero would fly at the other one's throat.

'Don't talk to me about dark powers.' Jak threatened, pointing a finger at Seem's face. She backed away a bit. If she got Valentine in trouble, people could start asking questions. They might even find out that Seem didn't want Valentine dead anymore. And if Veger heard about that it could be… troublesome.

'I just wanted to know what this is.' Jak continued, waving a hand towards the dead Precursor. In response a dark stream of energy moved between the two of them, opening up a panel. The two arguers looked taken aback for a moment, before Jak moved towards the screen.

Seem didn't want to let this opportunity to study the screen get away. She peered over the hero's shoulder, trying to read what it said. When Jak touched the screen, several menus opened up, flashing over the screen. Tiny creatures with tentacles could be seen moving around in the background, looking as if they were alive.

From a lower panel suddenly a Dark Eco crystal popped up. Seem stretched out her hand, too late. 'Don't touch that.' She ordered.
Jak ignored her, looking at the gem with an interested look.

Seem couldn't believe her eyes. When Valentine had touched a Dark Eco Crystal, the symptoms of Eco poisoning had increased so rapidly she only ever carried one of those stones with at least three layers of leather between them.

'Yeah, you're impressed now, aren't ya.' Daxter said, referring to Jak's skills. He clapped his hands, throwing Seem a smile. 'Come on, give him his preps.'

Seem scowled. The situation was going from bad to worse. At least Valentine didn't look like she was ready to pounce at the moment. What was worrying was that she was now joined by all four Metal Heads under her care. Seem hoped she had her feelings enough in check to not give those animals any smart ideas.

Her gaze was drawn to the screen. 'Strange…' she said out loud, thinking as she spoke. 'It speaks an ancient dialect.' So ancient that she only got about one in three sentences. Not good. 'Something about reclaiming this unfinished world.' The thing sped up, humming ferociously. 'It's picking up on a powerful signal.'

Too bad Valentine wasn't down here. The woman was constantly complaining how Spargus lacked even the most basic of technology. She would have had a field day trying to hack this thing. Instead Seem had to seem just hostile enough to get Jak to leave her alone. If there was one person she could not allow to become friendly with, it was Jak.

Suddenly the machine started to squirm on the ground, dark sparks emitting everywhere. The three of them started to back away, not wanting to get caught in whatever was going to happen next. When the thing exploded, Seem prepared herself for impact.

Nothing happened.

Instead of being blown to smithereens, strong, thin hands had grabbed her, yanking her away from the force. Opening her eyes, Seem could see a pair of concerned blue eyes checking her over. Valentine smiled softly, handing her the sack of equipment.

'I got you your stuff.' She said, her back turned to Jak. 'Though it looks like it's a bit late. See you later, Damos wanted me to check up on some of the new Nests.'

'Valentine, wait!' Jak yelled, moving to grab the woman by the shoulder. He was thrown back by a swift kick to the stomach.

'Stay away from me, hero.' Valentine told him. She still couldn't bear to look at him directly.

'What the…' Jak said, lying on the ground. Before he had scrambled up Valentine had already left. Seem gave him a disdainful glance. If he was really planning on saving them all, he would have to up his game. Right now he was far too weak to even take on a weakened Valentine. 'You can't even save her from the Eco, hero.' Seem told him, her voice disdainful.

Daxter sensed the mood and tried to break away attention from the fact that Valentine had just knocked her former crush to the ground. 'Hey, I'm the real hero here. You can call me Orange Lightning. Zazazing!'

'You may carry the colors of our creators, animal. But we have plans to save ourselves.' They wouldn't need to rely on a hero who had disappointed his close friend. The monks at the very least would be able to see this new world. They and those who had chosen to help them. Though Damos was a more honorable man than Veger, neither of the two was selfless enough to help them on pure goodwill. But that didn't matter. Seem had long learned that one had to accept help from wherever it came. It was the reason she had become head of her order.

'Stay out of our business.' She ordered the two men. 'You and Orange Lightning are not welcome here.'
They weren't. At least not in her eyes. Everybody in this town had their own agenda, some greater than others. Seem wasn't proud of even half the things she had to do to ensure their survival, but sometimes sacrifices had to be made.

At the very least she could still choose her friends herself.

|Moon's Note : good news everybody. With the completion of my Ren story, this one is now closest to completion! Which means this one will be most frequently updated as well. Oh happy days, right?

Always nice to hear from you, LadyAmazon! And it's also nice to get to know you, dear guest! Don't worry, you're not inconveniencing me at all, I was just being curious. Have a nice day!|