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|Temple|
Before either of them could make the decision to jump away from the circle of light the statue decided to act up. The eyes opened up to slits, revealing more white light to shine down on them.
"I'm officially creeped out now." Valentine said, holding herself ready in case the statue decided to attack. Next to her Jak was doing the same.
"Greetings, great warriors." The statue spoke, voice rumbling as if gears had to churn against their will to bring forth the voice. "Your return brings us great hope. This planet's future is at a critical juncture. The Dark Ones have found your world again and fate hangs in the balance where past and future collide."
Valentine scrunched her face, trying to make sense of the last part of the message. How would past and future collide? Unless it was talking about the present, meaning it was happening now. She couldn't guess anything else, unless he was talking about Jak being from the past.
"Do you have any idea what he just said?" Daxter asked them, sounding as confused as Valentine was feeling. "Speak-a-da-normal language, okay?" he said to the statue, moving his fingers as if he were mimicking Seem.
"You will need all the power you can muster to survive this terrible test, great ones." The voice continued.
Valentine folded her arms over one another. So far this sounded like some kind of taped message, playing for whoever would be entering the room. And what the hell did that implicate? If the Dark Ones were related to the Day Star then this message could be meant for them.
"Don't worry, I can handle it." Daxter boasted, pointing towards himself.
"I was talking to the tall one and the woman, shorty." The voice said, a certain measure of pleasure in its voice at being able to deal out that jab. There went Valentine's theory about this thing being a recorded message.
Unless someone had somehow prophesied an answer like that would be needed and… she rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. Why was thinking about this kind of thing never any easier?
The statue spoke again, causing her to look up. "Look into the light and receive new power."
Before she could realize what was happening, the light poured inside her. Her feet lifted off the ground as she suddenly felt very warm, as if being wrapped in hot air. Something was entering her body, almost feeling similar to an earlier experience, yet infinitely more pleasant. After what seemed like an eternity her feet touched the ground, though she didn't realize at the first moment.
She stumbled to the side, against Jak. This feeling… this kind of wellbeing… "Jak… tell me I'm not dreaming this." She managed to bring out, a hand to her chest.
He leaned back against her, keeping the both of them on their feet. He held a hand against his chest as well, looking as unbelieving as she did. "Not unless we're dreaming the same thing."
"Guys, what's going on? Tell me!" Daxter yelled, not happy at being left out of whatever was causing his two friends to grin like maniacs.
"The Dark Eco… it feels far away now." Jak said, pinching himself. "Daxter, we're feeling better."
Valentine put her hands to her cheeks. More than feeling better, she couldn't hear It whispering inside her anymore. Whatever the statue had done to them had even made the voice go away. She jumped into the air with a whoop. "This is amazing!" When she looked at Jak she let out a gasp. "Your cut is gone!"
He touched his cheek, running a finger where her nail had opened his skin. When his eyes grew bigger she knew he understood what had just happened. Valentine quickly peered underneath the soft leather tank top she was wearing. Meta had accidentally scratched her in her sleep, leaving four thin stripes across her stomach. "Hey, I'm not healed." She said, pouting. Of course her difference with Dark Eco would also be transferred to this… Light Eco. That had to be what it was.
Jak leaned closer to her, running his warm thumb across her stomach. A shiver went across her spine at the contact. "I wonder what that means." Jak said, looking up into her eyes. She swallowed, not able to look away.
"Probably means I don't get a danger free pass like you just did." She answered. Was she really that breathless? 'Pull it together woman, he just passed a hand across your stomach for crying out loud!' she chastised herself mentally. She let her top fall down again when he removed his hand, hoping she wasn't as red as she felt.
"Well, let's get out of here." Jak said, pointing at a portal she hadn't noticed before. "I'm pretty sure this one leads back to the entrance and- what's with that face you're making?" he sounded confused.
"How can you talk about leaving at a moment like this?" Valentine asked, pointing towards the statue. The lights on the inside had gone out, but that didn't have to mean she couldn't communicate with it anymore. "One of the Precursor statues just interacted with us, and you're going to waltz out of here? We owe it to the world, to science, to try and fish out what it wants besides us saving the world."
Jak scratched the back of his head at that, exchanging a glance with Daxter. "I don't think it works like that." He said hesitatingly, watching as she jumped up and down in front of it, trying to get it to talk again. "Maybe you should leave it alone before it- … does that."
A blast of air had come from the statues snout, sending Valentine flying backwards. Somehow ending up with her feet above her head she gave the two guys a glare. "Not a word. Not a single word." She managed to disentangle herself, looking at the ceiling with a sigh. "The things I do for science." She muttered at it, before she got back to her feet.
"I'll go first this time." Jak said, pointing towards the portal. "Try to jump through it like I do, that should work better." Valentine rolled her eyes at this, before promising she would.
|Temple Entrance|
"Ehm, Jak." Daxter started, looking at how his friend was positioned right in front of the portal, standing sideways with his hands loosely in front of him. "Not that I'm doubting whatever brilliant plan you just hatched, but right now you're in Valentine's direct trajectory. If you don't want to get hit by her again, maybe you should come stand over here." Daxter himself had neatly removed him from anything that could be considered the vicinity of the portal. A wise move for anyone who had had the pleasure of dealing with Valentine and portals in the same occasion.
"Don't worry Daxter, I know what I'm doing." Jak replied. In a way, he knew exactly what he was doing. Valentine would probably be throwing a few more longing looks at the Precursor statue before she decided to follow after them, and only then would she consider following behind them. He'd seen her come out of plenty of portals, enough to guess where she would be popping out.
And true enough, he hardly had to move his position to catch a screaming Valentine being thrown out. He stumbled from the impact but managed not to drop her on the ground. When she noticed she wasn't planted with her ass on the ground she threw her arms around his neck, looking down.
"Huh? What happened? Where's my new bruise?" she sounded genuinely confused.
Jak chuckled, throwing Daxter a sly wink at that. "I know you well enough, even if I haven't seen you in a long time. Some things never change about you, and this is one of them." he flinched at the mean glare she gave him. "Hey, at least you didn't do another face plant. I think I deserve some credit for that."
He could see how she was resisting the urge to stick out her tongue at him. Thank the Precursors for that fight, it had allowed them to slip back into the regular routine. And joking around was easier without the Dark Eco making every breath a living hell. He felt giddy at the thought. "Put me down." She demanded. He ignored her pleas, taking big strides towards the Dune Hopper.
Valentine nearly leaped out of his arms when she saw the car. "Hell no! I'm waiting here for Meta."
He set her down, feeling as if someone had managed to slip some soap onto her, making her so slippery. "What's your problem?" he asked. The buggy was fine. Furthermore, the jump system was totally sweet.
"This thing does not have any seat belts in it." Valentine said, pointing out the major flaw. "It could just as well be a driving coffin for all I care. I'm a lot safer with Meta."
"Let me guess, you still haven't learned how to drive a car?" he asked her, giving Daxter a fist bump when she flinched, letting him know he'd hit the mark. "You can't keep depending on Meta, you know? And I don't know how long it will take her to get here, but you only have a few more hours until it'll be dark. Won't Damos be upset about his new heir being out in the Wasteland after dark?" Maybe he should give her some driving lessons, just in case.
Valentine's eyes grew bigger. She shot in the buggy, telling him to hurry up. When he asked her what was wrong, she let her head fall back, letting out a moan of despair. "I totally forgot about Damos. I'm not supposed to even be in the Wasteland, I snuck out." She screamed when Jak made the first jump, clasping the side of the Hopper to avoid being thrown out.
"What do you mean, you snuck out? Does he think you need a nanny or something?" Jak asked her, grateful he had thought about pulling up the red scarf to protect his face from the flying sand. It also ensure Valentine not seeing his smirk every time she screamed. "And what's with the fear of heights?"
"I'm not scared of heights, it's this dropping down so fast I hate!" she replied, eyes squeezed shut. "Meta is so much more comfortable. And Damos does seem to think I need a nanny. He's scared something will happen to me, now that he adopted me." She let out a sigh of relief when they reached the normal part of the desert, where it wasn't necessary to jump all the time.
Daxter started to laugh out loud. "If we ask nicely, maybe we can become your nannies. It'll be just like Haven all over again."
'That sounds okay. But for you guys' sake, you might want to change the title to bodyguard. Unless you want Kleiver to get some more ammo against you.' Valentine said, still not looking very comfortable in the car. She mumbled something about demanding improvements to be made.
'Well, I'll admit I could do with something like an automatic gun.' Jak said, before grinning at his partner. Not that she could see it, but she could probably guess. 'Not the kind of improvement you were talking about?'
She opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind when he decided to jump one last time before they entered the city gate. She screamed again, digging her fingers in his thigh when she sought support. When she heard him laughing she decided against telling him off, instead clenching her eyes shut on the way down.
Inside the garage she started to punch him on the arm, not as hard as she could have. "You irresponsible, annoying, frustrating-" she told him, only making him laugh harder.
'-girl that can't take orders." Damos finished her sentence for her. Valentine's mouth dropped open before she snapped into attention. One look from the King and Jak did the same. This guy had an even more piercing glare than Torn. Somewhere behind their backs they could hear Kleiver saying 'busted' in a singsong voice.
"I can explain." Valentine started. "There is such a good explanation for this, I swear you wouldn't believe it." She sounded like a teenager caught at sneaking out of the window at night. When Damos kept staring at her she tried once more, her voice barely a squeak. "Please let me explain. Dad."
Damos rubbed his temples, clearly wondering how he had deserved this. "Valentine, remind me what I told you earlier."
She looked at the ground, clearly not wanting to look Damos in the eyes. "I'm not allowed to go outside of the city anymore without a proper guard and a damn good reason. Because Precursors forbid something were to happen to the person that you-"
"That's enough," He interrupted her. "And what did you do?"
"Disobeyed orders." She admitted grumpily.
"And because you disobeyed my orders you missed your friend Ma'al coming to the city gates two days early." Damos told her, giving her a pointed look.
Jak watched as Valentine's mouth dropped open. He thought he'd heard the name Ma'al before, but he couldn't quite place the name. He listened to the conversation with rising interest.
"Please tell me he was wearing clothes when he arrived." She said in a pleading voice. Jak couldn't believe his ears. Who wouldn't be wearing clothes when they came to Spargus? Why wouldn't he be wearing clothes?
"One of the reasons he was acting so peeved, apparently he had taken extra care to wear some before coming here." Damos' tone insinuated that he had been regaled richly about how much extra care had been taken. "He was upset about you not being here, despite having promised you would lead him around the city."
Valentine let out a frustrated groan, turning a circle in place. "Why did the idiot come two days early?" she paused, her eyes growing bigger. "Where is he now?"
Damos pointed behind him, to the city. "He said there was a storm coming soon, and he did not want to risk missing the celebrations. I told him to feel free to use the Arena. Valentine, I am not done with you, young lady." He was cut off by Valentine pressing a kiss on his cheek, standing on her toes to reach.
"Thanks dad!" she yelled after her, running off. Her long hair waved behind her in the high ponytail as she waved behind her.
"I am not done with you yet!" he yelled after her. Damos gripped his staff tighter, pressing a hand against his face. "What am I do to with that girl?" He turned his gaze to Jak, who tried to stand up even straighter. Unlike Valentine he wouldn't be able to play the sweet adopted daughter card.
Damos seemed to be sizing him up, as if deciding how he should handle Jak. "I'm assuming from the fact you are still alive that you made up." He finally stated, crossing his hands over one another.
"Oh yeah…" Jak said, scratching his cheek where the cut had been. "We had a fight… but we ended up talking it out." No need to tell Damos that there had been some tears shed. Jak had his pride after all.
"Good work." Damos praised him. "Not many people can talk Valentine out of it once her mind has been made up." Pecker suddenly showed up beside the King, landing on his shoulder. "Don't tell me you're beginning to care about this one as well? Damos says –'"Pecker was shut up by Damos clenching his hand around his mouth.
Jak frowned. Pecker could stand taking it down a notch in his opinion, so he wasn't planning on interfering in this. "My concern was for Valentine, who has been returned safely. You're a man of talent, Jak."
Jak felt the sudden glow of pride at those words. Maybe he wouldn't end up cleaning gore from the Arena after all. With Damos praising him like this, maybe he'd even be able to get in the Arena to battle for his second Battle Amulet. With Valentine cheering him on instead of trying to kill him.
"I would like for you to help find some of the men who haven't reported back yet." Damos told him, pointing to some of the vehicles. "It is apparent that you have some skill concerning vehicles, and this mission requires such prowess."
Jak cracked his knuckles, a grin on his face. He wasn't getting chewed out, and getting a new mission to prove his worth? This day was getting better and better. Of course once his body had been cleared from Dark Eco the day couldn't have gone bad either way. Before he could move, Damos stopped him.
"Apart from that…" Damos scraped his throat, looking towards the city. "I would appreciate it if you could keep an eye on Valentine for me. You've proven yourself capable by keeping her safe today, and I have every trust you will continue to do so." The tone in which that was said suggested Jak had better make sure nothing bad happened to her.
"I will tell her that she is not to leave the city without you. That should give her some of the freedom she has been asking for, as well as grant me and the city some peace of mind."
Jak couldn't believe it. He had been prepared to beg – kind of – to be instated as Valentine's partner, and now the opportunity was just thrown into his lap? There was no way this day was getting any better. Daxter let out a big whoot next to him, clearly as excited as he was. "Do I hear that correctly? Did this dangerous duo just get upgraded to the terrific trio once again? Damos, I could kiss ya!"
Damos held up his hands to ward of any potential Ottsel kisses. "Then you will keep an eye out and make sure she doesn't do unnecessary things?" He asked once again.
"Both my eyes." Jak said with a smile. "As often as I can miss them."
|Moon's Note : first of all I'd like a warm applause for Sage Nightwing who is now my beta and getting out all of those mistakes that kept popping up. It's not an easy job, so show some gratitude to her!
LadyAmazon : I love how much situational humor and feels I can get out of Jak actually being Mar. It's one of the best things I could have asked for (evil laugh)
Dear Guest : Wait, you can't just snicker about an idea for a lemon between Jak and Valentine and then not tell me about it! I'm sure that's against some kind of rule. If you want you can put your idea in a review, and if you're embarrassed I promise I won't put that review where everyone can see it (just tell me to do that). I'd love to hear what you came up with!
M-Angel 05 : Thank you for the compliment! Have a nice day!|