|Spargus|
Damos spent a long time sitting on his throne after Valentine had left. Any visitors had been met by a few barked orders, scaring them off before they could say what they wanted. His callused finger traced the picture of his son, of little Mar smiling at the camera.
With every page he turned in the book the years caught up with him. Suddenly he felt as brittle as the pages in the album, as if the tiniest gust of desert wind could make him break into pieces. He supposed he shouldn't be so hard on the young woman. She'd suffered just as much as he had when the news had reached Spargus. The body had never been found. Perhaps it was only logical she would flee in a fantasy world where Mar still lived as someone who was strong enough to fend for himself.
The warrior king had never even known his son was a mute before Valentine had told him. The Underground had kept the boy so closely guarded Sig had never been able to catch as much as a rumor about the child. Stolen from his mother on the same day as he had been born, Mar's birthday had been the day Damos had lost Haven. But he had been 'a sweet boy', or so he had heard. 'Innocent and trusting, with a penchant for trouble if unsupervised'. Valentine had told him all about it and he had absorbed every word, hungry for news about his son.
With a heavy sigh he stood up, the book still in his hand. Some of the pictures looked ridiculous, featuring Valentine's get-up from when she had lived in Haven. Thank the Precursors she now favored more natural colors than an overdose of black and dark purple. He was unable to tear his eyes away from the pictures, hungry for every little detail they could offer him.
He spent the entire night pouring over that album, receiving the other ones Valentine sent up for him a few hours after their conversation. She'd been wise enough not to add any comments, other than a note that read 'with my love'. Every once in a while someone from the council would come see him, complaining about mischief Ma'al had gotten into or other, less entertaining, occurrences. When dawn came he felt tired to the very core of his bones. The pictures hadn't just ripped open old wounds but made them bigger, given the pain a feeding ground they hadn't had before.
The boy had had his mother's hair but the eyes of the Mar house. Though he was too young to tell from the pictures Damos hoped he would have had his build, lean and fit for action. His dear wife had been strong of will but her body had been frail. He'd often wondered how a frame so tiny had been able to encompass a heart so big.
"Trouble at the gates, my King. That guy Jak is taking care of it for now, but you might want to check in just in case." One of the townspeople informed him, no doubt sent by Kleiver.
"Valentine?" he informed, his voice weary.
"Training in the Arena with Ma'al, sir. Like you ordered her to."
He actually hadn't ordered the Ma'al part but it was better than having the King parading around town in the nude. Several of the residents became impossible to live with in the days after one of those incidents. Not a day went by without him wondering if the King was a blessing or a curse. At least he added some spice to the complaints Damos received from the council every so often.
Rubbing his temple with one hand Damos held the album in his other hand, thinking about his conversation with Valentine the day before. He wanted to dismiss it as pure nonsense. By any reasonable way of thinking he ought to dismiss it as nonsense. But Valentine wasn't the type to make wild claims about the most holy things in her world; Mar and science.
Was there any motivation for her to behave this way? Another person he would have suspected to have ulterior motives. If Jak were to be Mar - impossible, every fiber in his body screamed - then the one to bring them back together could expect some hefty rewards. But Valentine already had everything she wanted. More, as she so keenly reminded him every few days when the council hounded her for not doing her duties.
"Report." He commanded Kleiver when he entered the garage.
The large man scratched the back of his head with a sheepish look on his face. "Well, let's see. I sent the kid out for some relic hunting. Then these Marauders show up like it's a fucking birthday party and we're the cake. The kid's the only one I had out there so I told him to take care of it. Can't open the fucking gates without giving the assholes a chance to shoot at us."
Damos sighed, happy he'd ordered Valentine to spend the day at the Arena. If she'd known Jak was outside fighting the Marauders she would've been over the wall faster than one could say 'idiot'. Not for the first time he considered splitting the two of them up. Warriors shouldn't be so dependent on one another. "How is he faring?"
"Holding his own, like usual. Pulled some stupid-ass stunts like you could've expected. I'll show ya." Kleiver announced, turning the old-fashioned monitor towards Damos.
Gritty black and white lines showed the progress of the battle outside of the gates. Though he noted some very good maneuvers, several which he would have employed himself, there was also more than a fair share of foolhardy ones. Those were made in pride and youthful foolishness. Damos shook his head as he observed. Someone really ought to have a talk with that boy about how to best fight a battle.
For a moment things threatened to get out of hand. Three cars were surrounding the lone buggy, causing Damos to feel a pang of concern. 'Ridiculous!' he chastised himself. 'There is no reason to care.' Unless he was paying heed to Valentine's theory far too much.
Jak pulled a gun, shooting what appeared to be enhanced Peacemaker bullets. The explosions were deafening, shaking even the city gate lightly. He'd heard stories about the destructions the two heroes had wrought back in Haven and he hoped wholeheartedly he wouldn't have to chastise the two of them. He was too old - as were they - to put them over his knee and slap some sense in them.
"Oh yeah, that was sweet! Ugh, Damos!" Jak nearly dropped out of the vehicle when he noticed the older man waiting, recovering with, if not grace, at least a semblance of skill. Clearly the young man thought Damos was still peeved with him.
Damos brought his face closer to that of Jak, examining the fine features of his adopted daughter's paramour. Jak flinched, pulling his face back. "You are nervous?"
"I… ugh… recently had another experience with a guy bringing his face close like that. Long story, don't ask." Jak replied, turning a shade of pink Damos saw rarely on seasoned battlers.
"You were reckless out there." Damos continued, walking around the young man. Jak tried to keep Damos in his field of vision without actually turning around. The orange Ottsel sitting on his shoulder managed to keep its trap shut for once. Damos decided to venture a guess, see how the man would react. "I saw some moves that could have gotten you killed. Didn't your father ever teach you to fight with care for your own life?"
The averted gaze could indicate the man was conjuring up a lie, if it hadn't been redirected to Damos with what was clearly a surprised notion at the turn of the conversation. "I never knew my father."
"Where did you grow up?" Damos pressed on, losing sight of caution for a moment. Rationally speaking he knew Jak couldn't be his son, but hope was such a fickle, stubborn thing. Few things could outlast it and reason could never match it.
Again, hesitation. Was that a calculating look to see how he should lie best, or was he trying to decide what he could tell someone who supposedly didn't know he was from the past? "A small village. Like, insanely small. And if you'd ask someone else they'd probably call it prehistoric, but it was nice enough when the Lurkers weren't trying to overrun it."
"Lurkers would try to overrun your village?" Damos was surprised at the notion. Lurkers were intelligent but oppressed creatures who generally didn't dream of trying to harm others.
The way the boy flinched showed he'd said something he had never meant to. "I- uh… that is, when they weren't coming to town as merchants. Then there'd be so many it just felt crowded, you know? That's what I meant, obviously."
"What about your family?" Damos asked, less pressing this time. It was obvious the boy didn't attempt to lie to him about his origins, but he was trying to cover those origins up.
Jak scratched the back of his head, white teeth showing in an embarrassed smile. "Well, I never knew my parents, so I don't know if I ever had any siblings. I don't think so, or Valentine would have told me about it. Samos raised me, together with Uncle and the villagers. And then I ended up here and I got to know Torn and the others. No blood relatives though. Not that I know off."
Damos' head was spinning. He knew of the apprentice Green Sage - he had become the Shadow, according to Sig - but Jak placed the Sage in a time where the man couldn't have existed. But the way he spoke indicated that Haven had been a totally new place for him. Samos had never left Haven for as far as Damos knew.
"Sir, are you feeling all right? Want me to get you something?" Jak asked him.
Damos looked in concerned, piercing, cerulean eyes. Mar had eyes like that, according to the pictures. His son had eyes like that. But still, the notion was an impossibility. If Jak was Mar it would mean he had missed so much in his son's life. Too much. It would have been bad enough to have missed the years he had missed Mar. But if Jak was his son he would have missed so many more.
"I'm fine. Hasn't Valentine ever discussed your lineage with you?"
"She said she needed to sort some stuff out first, before she told him." The Ottsel finally broke loose, clambering over his best friend's head to get be part of the conversation.
Jak clasped his hand over the furry mouth. "That's right. She promised she'd tell me, and that I'd be happy that she waited. I don't know if I want to know though. What if they're all dead?" The young man hesitated for a moment, looking to the side. "Even if they're alive, I can't imagine talking to them. I don't know what I would say. How I'd introduce myself."
Something sharp pierced Damos' heart, something that refused to go away after the first reaction. Was it possible? No, surely not? If he was to believe in something as ludicrous as time travel he might as well give up his throne now to spare the city a senile ruler. It didn't help his successor already believed in time travel. But still, there were signs that could be interpreted as evidence.
He started to want it too much, he realized. Better a son that wasn't the age he had expected than no son at all. And Jak would make any father proud. But he shouldn't become sentimental. Wishing for things he couldn't have was a habit he had lost so long ago. "I am sure they would be proud to welcome you in the family."
A shy smile broke through, contrasting with tanned skin. "Thanks."
"For cryin' out loud, Sig, we're not abandoning Haven." Valentine could be heard from far off, followed by an arguing Sig and Ma'al, who seemed to be as unconcerned with everyday life as ever.
"You can't save everyone on this planet, cherry pop. Can't you just focus on this city and be happy with that?"
"Of course I can't be happy with just one city! There are people I care about in Haven!"
"And there's a lot more that don't care a Kanga Rat's ass about you! Don't go throwin' your life on the line of them!" Sig replied, crossing his arms as he towered over the princess he was arguing with.
Ma'al lifted his hands in a reconciliation gesture, though his choice of words only served to throw fuel on the fire. "King Valentine, I am sure your nest mate means to say that the weaker ones of the species are simply meant to die. Only the strong survive, that is just how nature works."
"I can't believe you're taking his side!" Valentine growled, slapping the back of a flat hand on the Metal Head's shoulder.
"I am taking nobody's side, dear King. It's merely reality that dictates my way of thinking." Ma'al tried to pat Valentine on the shoulder, only to be met with a finger practically shoved up his nose.
Damos' adopted daughter shook her head fiercely. "Don't give me that reality bull, Ma'al. You and I both know that reality also dictates people like me and Jak couldn't exist, and we both have been saving everyone's ass for a while now. So I refuse to be told who I can and can not save. And yes, I am looking at you, Sig."
"What is going on this time?" Damos asked, breaking up the fight before it got to migraine-inducing proportions.
Valentine pointed at Sig's face, her finger nary a hair width away from his prosthetic eye. "HE was with me when Seem sent out a distress call and suggested you wouldn't like it if I went out to save them. Then he started spouting nonsense about not saving Haven when things come to the worst."
"Sig would be completely right. Anybody who is not in the city right now won't find refuge or protection." Damos replied at once, forgetting the matter of Jak for the moment. At least this was familiar ground, or at least it was until Valentine started to drag her own kind of honor into it.
"That's nonsense. First of all, Seem is my friend so if you think I'm not going to save her, you are dead wrong. She has done her best to help you. Second of all, when was it decided we're not helping Haven?"
"During the days you were in said city, fighting battles you have no business with. It was an unanimous decision." Damos replied, glowering at the impudence of a former Guardian daring to speak at him in that tone.
Valentine's complexion resembled that of a ripe berry at the words. "Well, then you were all unanimously wrong. That's the city for which my parents died in order to protect. It's the city where your lineage spilled its blood to make sure people could live in peace. I'm not letting something ordinary like world destruction destroy that ideal."
"This had better not be some way to get back at me for our previous discussion, Valentine." Damos replied almost icily. He didn't intend to be mean to her, but sometimes she had a way of being obstinate without reason. Surely she could see the logic in what he had decided.
Her dark blue eyes flashed between her King and her lover, though she assumed he didn't know the boy had been following her around like a pup. Damos had his own informants in the city and kissing in broad daylight was hardly to be called discreet. "It's not, sir. This is a matter of personal conviction."
"Even if that conviction goes against the direct orders of your king?" Damos asked, knitting his eyebrows together in, not anger, but very closely bordering to frustration. Valentine had been getting more and more disobedient these days. On the one hand it was good because it meant she started to see herself as an equal to himself, necessary if she was to become a fitting Queen for the city in later times. But for now it just meant a lot of headaches and unnecessary arguments.
Valentine hesitated before she took a deep breath. She stood before him both proudly and certain of her case, chin raised up high, like the Queen he hoped she would be one day. "Yes. You may be my King, and you may be my adopted father, but I will be damned if I let people die when I could have stopped it. If you don't like it sir, you may ground me after I've done my duty as I once swore. Because I swore to keep your House safe, and your lineage is." A quick glance towards Jak didn't go unnoticed.
"But after that comes the people. I would be a horrible Guardian, or a princess, or a person, if I just let that happen while I could stop it. It's important sir. So important that, and I can't believe I'm saying it, we're taking the Dune Hopper and we're leaving. We've wasted enough time as it is."
The 'we' obviously referred to her, Jak and Daxter. The two third of the group that hadn't been yelling at Damos glanced towards the man, saluting in unison before they were dragged away by Valentine.
"Shouldn't we stop them?" Sig asked, clearly worried. "Seem said something about weird creatures in the temple."
Damos shook his head, seeing the Hopper ride off with a sense of pride in his chest. "No. She'll be back. And when she does I'll tell her she'll be a fine Queen some day."
And then he'd ground her for the coming three years, even if he had to tie her up and sit on her to make it happen.
Now I know you're all heart-broken, knowing that this story will be ending soon (hush, let me dream). To ease your heartbreak I would like to remind you that there are a bunch of good writers out there, two of whom I've had the pleasure of exchanging messages with. So, if you are looking for something interesting to read you should check out :
Oblique Strategies : If you're into landscapes and well-thought out story lines you should check out his two stories. True, I haven't had the time to review them yet but I will eventually. They write like in the movies, it's gorgeous. Honestly, it makes me jealous a little... okay, a lot. And they put a lot of work in their stories as well so they deserve props just for that.
Hiyaaapapaya : Apart from the lovely writer's name - it reminds me of a great song, okay - they also have a writing style that's a tad like mine. Only the first two chapters of their story 'She's Worth Defending' are out now but if you have a thing for kick-ass female scientists I don't think you'll be disappointed. She said her ideas are somewhat like mine and now I'm just waiting to see what her ideas are xD
Lady Amazon : well, someone had to kiss Ma'al! xD And our big boy will have his role to play in the coming chapters, so that should be fun ^^
Oblique Strategies : It would've been too easy if he just believed her straight of the bat. I mean, that takes all the fun out of being a sadistic fanfic writer...
ayylmao : Awww, that is so sweet of you! And of course I appreciate any and all reviews, because it shows people take the time to read this. And I'm one of those people that type too fast for the phone to keep up so I gave up on reading fanfics that way. Actually I hardly have the time to read anything at all these days... Anyway, thank you for being a big sweetheart and liking my story. I'll try to keep up the good work for you ^^
(and I know, stories where all the good stuff ends after they're an item are frequent and most of the time very disappointing. But it gets better when writers start to see there's more to life than just a relationship. At least, that's how I view it^^)