Heads up, Nanowrimo is coming so updates will be iffy.
Thanks to Darkecofreak3 for reviewing!
In the end Seem rejected every elaborate plot Daxter came up with to sneak the Northern lord past his guards and simply decided to tell the truth.
"Tell your lord that if he cannot handle the strength of our liquor he shouldn't be drinking it during our meetings." Well mostly the truth. Razer's men looked properly embarrassed on the behalf of their leader as they dragged him towards his rooms. Seem was just relieved the dark haired man was someone else's problem now.
"So next on today's list of super fun things for the Empress to do...meeting the new 'employee' and making sure Gol hasn't turned him insane already." Daxter read from a list as he ambled two steps behind her down the spacious halls. "Then after that a quick peek in on the Haven guy to make sure he's still, ya know, alive. What's he even doing here again?"
"Negotiating an alliance against King Damas. Idiots." Seem rolled her eyes. Her people may have had an uneasy peace with Spargus but it was a peace nonetheless. Still war with Haven for turning down their offer flat out wasn't desirable either which was why these negotiations continued. It seemed like every corner was pressing for war in one way or another. Men! Thought Seem, this is why her people always had a female leader. Much more sensible and level headed.
Arriving at their destination Seem paused to allow Daxter to open the door for her. Expected duties of her personal servant at all. Expectations that DIDN'T involve loud and profane exclamations of shock.
"Holy SHIT, Jak?!"
Earlier...
Jak sunk gratefully into the plush pillow mound as the older men left, all attempts at containing the sparks of eco shooting off his body gone. Best to just let his personalities fight it out. The polar entities would get tired after a while and quit. they probably wouldn't even remember why they were fighting to begin with. It had been that way since Li'ght joined Darke in his head over a year ago. Constant petty squabbles followed by huffy make ups.
Most of the huffiness was on Li'ght's part surprisingly enough. Darke was more fond and protective of his 'little brother' than one would think a incarnation of dark eco capable of. The protectiveness probably came from the fact that Darke had been the first one to notice Li'ght existed, as a little forming thought in the back of Jak's mind. Which made sense since he lived there. At first Li'ght had been small and quiet, Jak didn't think he was capable of speech at first he was so quiet, but after long amounts of time with Darke the younger personality grew in size and snarkyness.
Most people would find it weird to have siblings that lived in their heads. To Jak it was just...normal. Darke had been with him since he was a little boy. Somehow dark eco had gotten into the food supply at the small town where Jak lived on the edge of the Wasteland. Naturally the food was thrown out. Naturally no one told the scores of hungry orphans plaguing the streets. A lot of kids got sick and died. Jak just grew horns and claws every now and then.
It didn't start out that way. At first he was just more prone to fits of temper. Then one of his surviving friends pointed out that if he was immune to dark eco maybe he could channel it like the other colors. They had been right, but more exposure to the volatile substance only increased his dependence on it.
Jak hadn't been the only one who turned out to have an dark eco immunity but unlike himself his best friend couldn't channel the stuff. Still Daxter had been immune and that made him Jak's second most constant companion in the years to come (the first being Darke, of course). Heck if it wasn't for Daxter Jak would have thought he was insane when Darke started talking to him. Except Daxter could hear him too. No one else ever could, which retroactively made him question both of their sanities, but at the time the green-blonde never questioned it.
As Darke and Li'ght finally started to settle down in the corners of his mind Jak wondered if this lead would finally be the one that lead him to Daxter. It had been nearly two years since slavers had grabbed the taller (yet slighter) boy. Two years of tearing apart camps looking for him. A year and a half since a light eco vent had exploded under him as he ran through buried ruins trying to escape angry Marauders during that search. After all this time Jak had gotten a lead that someone matching Daxter's description had been seen at the capital palace. That's why he'd allowed himself to be captured and sold. Easiest way into the Empress' palace.
"Holy shit, Jak?!" Came a familiar voice from the doorway, startling him out of his thought.
"Daxter!" Jak exclaimed, jumping to his feet.
'Daxter?' Darke questioned from his position on the floor of their mind, buried in glowing tentacles.
'Daxter?' Li'ght echoed in confusion.
"Jak! Darke! How- wait did I just hear a third guy in there?" Jak shrugged a little sheepishly. "That doesn't matter. Jak! You're alive! I always knew you were buddy!" The red head enveloped the shorter male with what would be a bone crushing hug to anyone without eco induced super powers.
"Ahem." Came from the doorway. Standing there was a pale white woman with white hair and red eyes. Jak had seen stranger combinations but Daxter jumped.
"Oh uh...Yer highness! Er, this is..." Daxter cleared his throat. "Sorry. We know each other, your ladyship." The woman looked more amused than anything.
"I had guessed. A blessing in some ways to have a friend in a strange place filled with stranger people. Did I happen to hear you address a second person?" Said the woman, who from the way she was dressed and the way Daxter had reacted to her must have been the Empress. Great.
"...It's complicated." Daxter dodged. "Where the heck is Gol? Tallish guy with blonde hair, patched of purple skin from eco degradation?" he asked Jak.
"The...Haven ambassador? Showed up and Gol went back to his rooms for er, 'entertainment'." Jak flushed slightly, then harder when he remembered that the woman standing in the room had bought him for that very purpose. Not that he would be staying that long.
"I see." Said the Empress with an exasperated expression. She practically glided further into the room and made herself at home on the pillow pile. "While we wait for my irresponsible slave to return, tell me about yourself Jak. It's not often I can wring out details about my favorite servant's past." Jak noticed the distinction the woman made between 'slave' and 'servant' as though there was one. Jak wondered which category he fit into.
"Ah well, it's not that interesting..." Protested Daxter, also flopping down. Jak awkwardly followed suite, Darke and Li'ght mutually quiet for once.
'So is Dax a sex slave too?' Maybe Jak spoke too soon.
"Too? Oh yeah...that." Daxter flushed a bit "Naw I don't take care of that...aspect of our lady's needs."
'So this is the boy your two either wont talk about or wont shut up about in equal amounts?' Li'ght asked, peering at the red head as much as he could out of Jak's eyes.
"Yeah and who the heck is that?" Daxter said with wide eyes. "Don't tell me you picked up another one! I knew yer head was pretty empty but there can't be THAT much free space." He joked.
'I'm Li'ght. I joined Jak and Darke a few months after you left.' Said the light eco entity helpfully. 'How can he even hear us?'
'He just can.' Darke snapped.
"Lay-jit? Well at least that's more original than Darke's name." Shrugged Daxter with a grin.
"Excuse me." Seem deadpanned. All four (technically two) heads swiveled to meet her gaze. "WHO are you talking to?"
"Jak has voices in his head. It's ok though, he's pretty good at ignoring their urging to kill people!" Daxter replied happily, before going back to chatting with Li'ght and Darke. Jak held his silence because that was the EMPRESS sitting there. Weren't they supposed to be bowing and hanging on her every demand? Maybe he should just grab Daxter and run right now. Jak bet they could make it to at least the inner gates before the guards got organized enough to come after them.
"..And you guys are going to like it here. Seem is really nice and treats all her slaves pretty well. Plus if you try to escape Spargus is really the only place you can go without being turned in, if you can make it that far." Why did the red head sound so cheerful about that?
"If you made it to Spargus you'd have to participate in their barbaric citizenship exam." Seem rolled her eyes. "What kind of city makes you fight to the death to see who is more worthy of living there? Some of my Marauder camps are more civilized."
"What about Haven or the North?" Jak asked in what he hoped was a discreet manner.
"Haven will do anything at this point to get in my good graces, including returning lost 'property'." Seem said with a sharp look. Jak tried not to sweat.
"And who would want to go North? Do you KNOW how much snow is up there? Ick!" Daxter added. Seem narrowed her eyes in a calculating stare. Finally she rose to her feet.
"Daxter, why don't you stay here and catch up with your friend? I need to check in on our dear Havenite." Daxter nodded happily as Jak mentally panicked.
Seem strode down the hallway just short of a near run. She knew that look in Jak's eyes, she had had slaves run before. Well THIS one wasn't getting away before she got to have her fun with him! ESPECIALLY after all that money she paid for him! Arriving at Erol's door and finding it locked, she almost casually kicked it down. Said door hit the ground with a mighty 'whump'! followed by shouts of surprise from the two men inside.
"I need you to sit on my newest acquisition until I can get a tracker chip for him." Seem said in false sweetness, dragging a naked Gol from where he was entwined with an equally naked Erol.
"E-E-Empress!" Erol sputtered, covering himself with the sheet. "Couldn't you have at least waited a few more minutes?" He asked in indignation.
"No." She said simply, Gol only managing to gather his pants from the floor and pull them on due to much practice as the Empress dragged him away.
"We will have to continue this later!" Gol called as he was drug down the hall.
Well so much for HIS fun night, Erol thought with an aggravated sigh.
Meanwhile Gol and Seem had almost reached the man's quarters.
"Might I ask what this is all about?" Gol was used to his mistress' whims, but asking rarely hurt.
"The new boy, Jak, is looking to make a run for it. This one is NOT to get away, he's too hot!" She exclaimed, throwing open the door to an...empty room.
"Fast one, isn't he?" Gol mused.