Jak and Daxter: Legacy

Chapter 15: Heart of Shadow, Heart of Gold

I look like shit, was Jak's first coherent thought.

After dragging him into the Willow House, Tess had brought him to a strange room. Its walls were covered in wood panels, and the floor in white tiles. A body-sized basin with a hood sat on one end, a bizarre seat with a lever next to it rested on the other, and between them was a bowl on a pedestal that spat water when Tess twisted a metal knob on the top. The one thing Jak did recognize was the mirror over the top of the water device, which showed his and Tess' reflections as she sat him down in front of it on a stool she'd grabbed from the corner.

"You poor thing," Tess said, pulling out a cloth from a cabinet, running it under the water, then patting blood and dirt-laden garbage juice off his face with it. Meanwhile, Daxter sat in the corner by the basin, one leg splayed out, unable to lean on it. He stared at Jak with concerned blue eyes and drooped ears.

Did he get hurt? What even happened last night? Jak thought.

"What's going on?" he slurred.

"You were out cold on the street and the guards were going to arrest you. I got them off your back, then brought you here. Don't worry, we'll get you cleaned up. Just hold still."

Jak stared past her shoulder as she continued, glad for the soft, cool touch of the cloth. In the open crack of the door, there were black outlines of heads. Whispers passed between them.

"You've got some weird friends."

"Hmm? Oh, don't mind them. They'll be making themselves scarce soon. Right, ladies?"

The whispers faded to giggles and the heads disappeared, leaving only a comforting golden light out in the hall for Jak to woozily stare at. At some point, Tess stopped mid-blot of the cloth on his neck. Jak glanced back at her.

"What's wrong?"

Tess' eyes were wide. She blinked away her shock, then buttoned the top of his shirt back closed and gave her trademark starlight grin. "Nothing. You're all cleaned up now. Are you feeling well enough to get up?"

It took him a few tries with Tess there to steady him, but he eventually rose to his feet. Tess holding his left elbow and right arm, she guided him towards the door and through the hallway.

"When's the last time you ate? Or drank anything?"

"Mmm…. dunno."

"No wonder you're so out of it. Here, we'll fix that. But first, let's go in here."

It was a room full of sunlight. A large window to the right overlooked the central courtyard of the Willow House, the building's titular tree standing just outside the glass. At the opposite end was a fireplace, and near it a tall table covered and baskets filled to the brim with pistols, rifles, eco cartridge boxes, and various steel and brass tools.

"Here," Tess brought him to a cushion beside a separate low table in the room's center with papers scattered across it. He gladly crumpled to it. "I'll be right back."

In the minutes she was gone, he stared out the window at the city beyond the tree. The way Haven's rooftops and the pillar districts were cast in shadow as the Bowl passed over them made him feel a sudden sense of shame. Why, he wasn't sure. Was there something he was supposed to have-

Fighting. Running. A glowing red vein. Daxter getting kicked once, twice, three times and the raising of a pistol-

Warm, slippery hands. Bone cratering at the impact of his fists. A nuisance of a bullet grazing his arm, annoyance, a final crack between his fingers, and then the sensation of being in two places at once as his enemy dared try to escape.

Darkness. Red men. A golden woman.

"Jak?"

Jak blinked a few times as he was shaken by the shoulder.

"Jak, I've got food and tea. Here."

Tess set down a porcelain plate of pastries and steaming tea, then took the spot across from him at the low table. They sat in silence for a long while. Had he been of regular mindset, he'd have questioned being offered food and drink so easily, even if it was from Tess, who had proven kind so far. But his spine-raking hunger and need to drown himself in anything besides his terrified, guilty thoughts overpowered his hesitance.

As if nothing were amiss, Tess passed the time by tapping at a small wooden box on the table with buttons and levers with her left hand, and scribbled away with her right over number-laden documents with a flut flut feather pen. On occasion, she stopped to take a bite of her own pastry, then offered sweet glances at him, like a mother slyly checking if her child had started his chores.

"Good, aren't they? Sig isn't Mrs. Cian's only customer. Seems your little friend likes them, too."

Daxter had settled at Jak's side and was nibbling on a pastry of his own. At those words, Daxter looked up at Jak, face tilted away from Tess just enough to hide a flash of human emotion. Jak thought he saw genuine relief in his eyes, but what for, he wasn't sure.

"So, those questions I had for you, Jak..."

Tess closed her button box and set down her pen in its well. She took out her pipe from her robes, lit it with a flare of yellow eco from her thumb, and sipped a polite puff. "How many did you kill last night?"

Jak froze mid-bite.

"If you think I'm asking to turn you in, both my ears and the fact that I saved you from those guards should convince you otherwise. And I would never invite someone who I thought had killed in cold blood into my own house."

Jak tried his best to focus only on the flaky, buttery sugar-shock in his mouth, but his burning cheeks - and occasional shameful glance up at narrowed amber eyes - procured bountiful evidence of his failure. He held one of the pastry's berries between his teeth, not wanting to clamp down on it. The thought of its red juice and fragile skin suddenly made his gut roil with nausea.

"Fine. Let me put it this way: I don't care that you killed them. I care about who they were, and what they were doing. And don't deny you did it. That was a lot of blood on you, and given that most of it was on your hands and arms, I'd say it was a pretty close struggle."

"I… slavers."

"That's what I thought. How many were after you?"

"Two."

"And who sold you out?"

"A little girl."

"Here I thought they couldn't stoop any lower." She sighed, lowered her pipe, and shook her head. "Jak, I need you to tell me everything that happened with the slavers. Every last detail. I swear on the Precursors that I'm only asking for good reasons."

Swearing on the Precursors , Jak thought. I haven't heard someone do that for a while.

"And those reasons are?"

"Protecting people like you and me, from getting taken by scum like them. How they tried it, names, even just faces or what their voices sounded like… all you can give me is useful."

And so Jak told her. His recounting was slow with long pauses at first, but over time, the truth spilled out as readily as Tess poured tea for him every time his cup drained to leaves. He left out certain things, such as what kind of eco he'd channeled, why the little girl had seen him channel it in the first place, and his dark eco and the manner in which he'd killed the slaver with it. But the rest was the full truth.

By the time he'd finished, she'd gotten up and was staring out the window over the central courtyard. "Pey and Kang. That doesn't surprise me."

"Who are they?"

"Members of a local gang. The Hiphogs."

Daxter struggled to stifle a laugh, letting it out as a fake, squeaky sneeze instead that anyone but Jak would have believed. Jak almost cracked a smile himself at the strange name. Hiphogs were unintimidating, stump-legged creatures that liked to spend their days rolling in mud or basking in rivers, but not much else.

"Gangs in Haven have always had a stake in the slave trade. Mostly Babak and Yin to be reprogrammed. The few channelers I heard about, they'd take for their own gangs as forced labor or ship them off to the floating cities. But you'd at least know they were still alive somewhere. Now since a year back or so, it seems all they take are channelers. Mostly humans and mainly the Wise like us, and no one knows why. And the worst part is? Poof. Never seen again."

"Isn't anyone looking for them? What about the guards?"

Tess turned back to him and laughed. "Has the Haven Welcoming Committee not gotten to you, yet?"

"If you call every inn suddenly having no vacancy when I walk in and 'no tribals need apply' signs on every shop a 'welcoming committee', then yeah."

"Charming, isn't it?"

"I knew it was bad here, but…"

"There are pockets of good. As long as you don't walk around here at night, Wise Junction's typically safe."

"What happens at night?"

"Slavers like to prowl around here. They know no one cares if someone in our corner here gets taken. And it's easier to do in the shadows."

"That's terrible."

"That's Haven. So however many you killed last night… good." Like clouds unveiling a sun, Tess' expression turned from gloomy to bright again. "Do you have anywhere to stay?"

Jak only stared at the wooden floor.

"I see. Well, how about here?"

Jak dropped the pastry he was holding. He reached to pick it up, but Daxter was already on it, leaving no trace other than crumbs on his whiskers.

"I mean it, Jak."

I admit I've killed someone and she wants me to move in?

He shook his head. "You've already done too much for me. Helping with those guards, for one. Speaking of, how did you know where to find me?"

Tess wiggled her fingers towards Daxter, who took the hint and padded towards her with a quivering tail and a crooked limp. He melted to the floor when she started scratching his back. "Should we tell Jak all about your courageous deeds, my little sweet?"

"Daxter?"

"Your friend here came to our door this morning and pawed and squeaked his little furry head off. Soon the whole house was awake. He nipped at our skirts and tried to pull us out towards the square where you were, so we looked up and saw what was happening, and the rest… well, you know. Yes, you're such a good boy, aren't you? Looking out for your best friend?"

Daxter started licking her hand. Had he been just an ottsel, Jak would have thought it cute, but knowing otherwise, the sight made him raise a brow. "He is a good one. Right, Dax? Always doing the right thing and behaving yourself?"

Daxter gave a tail flick in reply.

"So, what do you think? About staying here?"

The ottsel crawled into Tess' lap. Jak leaned over to grab him, but Tess picked Daxter up in her arms and, hugging him tightly, giggled. "I think this cutie already made the choice for you."

"I don't want to impose."

" Jak . Remember what I said before? I know what it's like for our people in this city. I couldn't live with myself if I turned you out on the street, especially after that attack. Plus, our family owes you a debt."

"Family?"

She set Daxter back down to her lap and pulled out a familiar letter from her sleeve. It was the one Jak had delivered to her before. "My sister told me all about how she almost toasted your face off in Fengullet."

"Kada's your sister?"

"Mm-hmm," Tess said with a sparkling grin. "Always a hothead, that one. I guess we both can be protective mama tigerbears at times. In any case, letting you stay here would also be a way of making it up to you."

"Kada already paid her debt back tenfold-"

"So I'll pay it one-hundredfold."

Jak scratched the back of his head. He barely knew Tess, and the thought of trusting anyone in Haven ever again gave him the sudden urge to put his back against a wall and start loading his pistol. His heart also pounded at the idea of being around so many fellow tribal folk, even though the day before he'd yearned to stay in Wise Junction if he could. For one, anyone from a green tribe might recognize him, and two, as comforting as it was to be around people like himself, he wasn't sure they might not have the same biases those back home had had.

And with what he'd done the night before…

Jak stared down at his right hand. His glove still had a faint trace of copper on it. He'd gotten used to the idea of killing in defense, but to his horror, each death was starting to feel less shocking than the last. Was this normal? Or was he more of a monster than he thought? Something deep within him emerged at that question, as if to answer it:

A flicker of satisfaction, fed by the memory of a jugular vein pounding beneath his fingers. His stomach churned again and he desperately tried to snuff out the feeling.

"I already know your secret."

Jak's heart skipped a beat. He instinctively grabbed his shirt over where his dark eco wound was. "My secret?"

"I have a young artisan who'd jump at the chance to get training from a green sage's apprentice."

"Apprentice? I don't know what you're-"

Tess wiggled the letter in the air. "Also, I know how you really got caught by those slavers. Healing at the temple, right? The gangs aren't the only people with ears and eyes around Haven. And in a place that my girls and I regularly visit, well… whispers sure do echo."

Why does every good thing I do come back to bite me? Jak wondered, then shuffled nervously. "I didn't mean to lie earlier, it's just-"

"I get it. We all do. We're all channelers in this house. Which is why you belong here with us."

"I can't," Jak got up and started to back away. "You've already been too generous already. Come on, Daxter."

Tess smiled like that of a foxcat who had cornered her prey. "Generosity. I suppose as a green sage's apprentice, you know all about that, don't you? Well, what if I told you that you'd be doing a favor to me if you stayed here as my house's resident healer, and little Symi's teacher? In fact, it would be generous of you."

Jak stopped in his tracks. "I'm not an apprentice anymore."

"Look, see it as you doing me and my girls a favor, doing your little ottsel here a favor, or doing yourself a favor, I don't care." Tess set Daxter aside, got up, and grabbed Jak by the wrist as he reached for the door. "Just stay. I don't want you to end up like one of those people we just talked about that go poof. You almost already did."

Jak sighed, his hands tightening into fists, trying not to look back, but failing, and catching Daxter's eye. It was the greatest mistake he could have made, he soon discovered, as the ottsel pulled a look more pleading and desperate than he'd ever seen, even more than whenever he begged Jak to buy fish or jellied eel at markets, or whenever they passed by something Daxter wanted to steal (which was pretty much every shiny or tasty thing they'd ever come across).

Jak himself was just as tempted to say 'yes', though he didn't want to admit it. Comfort and open arms: these were scarce things in his life, and here someone was, offering him both freely when he was at the lowest he'd ever been. But was Tess too good to be true?

Sig trusts her, though. And Daxter might not ever forgive me if I say 'no'. Plus, they all are channelers here, like she said. Maybe this really is the best place for me? And if my dark eco gets uncontrollable, I can always leave.

He sighed. "Okay. But at least let me earn it. More than just teaching and healing, or whatever."

Daxter and Tess' eyes couldn't have sparkled more.

After being given a tour of the Willow House, offered the chance to fully bathe and wash his clothes, and served the first decent meal he'd had since Fengullet, Tess had taken them up a dropdown ladder to the attic from the east hall. There was a single straw bed covered in dust, though Tess had brought fresh bedding and a velvet pillow for Daxter.

"There you are, boys. What do you think? Forgive the mess. We used to store the dresses in here, but ever since we moved them downstairs, it's been empty."

Most would have thought little of the tiny, cobwebbed, A-shaped room. But it had a wide open view not only of the willow in the central courtyard, but also of Haven gleaming above and beyond. Jak walked to the ceiling-to-floor windows at the other end and opened them to the rail-thin balcony that overlooked the courtyard. The air outside stunk of factory smoke and smog, as it did everywhere in the city, but wisps of ocean peeked in here and there, floating between the distant call of gulls.

Here, in a traditional wooden house, surrounded by familiar scents and sounds, body clean and stomach full of rice, yakow meat, and moonfruit, Jak felt closer to home than he had in months. He closed his eyes, held his breath and the moment as long as he could, then let it out slowly.

"It's perfect," he said at last, turning around. "Once again, I don't even know how I can begin to repay you."

"Oh, don't worry about it! Besides, you might regret saying that after you figure out all the tasks I've got for you," Tess winked, then knelt and started to pet Daxter again. "Your first order of business is meeting everyone else. I don't know if you've noticed, but they sure have been curious about you."

"It probably doesn't help that I walked in covered in blood and garbage."

"Word on the street, is you were protecting a little kid from big mean Krimzon Guards after he swiped the only food he'd gotten in days to eat, and got beat up for it. Think that 'truth' will work?"

Jak gave her an appreciative, if somewhat ashamed nod. I wish the real story was that heroic, he thought.

"As for meeting the girls, how about I call us all together when the factory bells ring? We can have dinner out in the garden. Oh, and tea! And a little fish snack for Daxter too, of course. We wouldn't want him to feel left out."

Daxter licked her hand again, much to Jak's chagrin.

"Otherwise, the day is yours. Heal and rest up 'til dinner, then we'll talk about getting you to work later. I have a few jobs around here I think you'd be perfect for."

With that, Tess descended the ladder and shut the floor door behind her. As Jak listened to her steps retreat below, he slowly turned to Daxter with a raised brow.

"By the stinkin' Precursors, Jak! Did ya see how much she likes m-owwwhammmff?"

Jak clamped a hand over his mouth, picked him up by the scruff, and brought him to eye level.

"Promise me you'll never do that again?"

Daxter pawed Jak's hand off and spat, "Do what? Save your ass? I don't know if you've been payin' attention, but I've been playin' defense for it a lot lately. That slaver escapade racked up your debt to three hundred tankers. Though I suppose the way ya popped that guy's neck before he shot me, maybe that brings the total down to-"

"Just keep it in your pants from now on, please?"

"Jak, that is a very low blow. You know very well how much a sentence like that hurts me."

"Oh, come on. Licking her hand? Rolling around in her la-"

"Here I am, helpin' ya out as much I can, wanderin' all around Nadoa and keepin' ya safe, all with no downtown support or warm cloth to cover me. Do ya know what it's like havin' so much loose? Nothin', and I mean nothin' , protectin' me from the wind or water or your bony shoulder-"

Jak held Daxter out like a dirty diaper and set him on the floor as quickly as possible. "Precursors, please stop. Everything. Stop talking. And bugging Tess, too."

"Pfft," Daxter smoothed back the longer puff of fur atop his head with a paw. "Did ya see the way her eyes gleamed at me? Tess knows a real man when she sees one."

"Or she just thinks you're a cute, innocent animal and would be mortified if she knew what you really were?"

"Whatever. You're just jealous. Oh, and I call top bunk."

Daxter tried to pounce up to the bed, but his leg was still weak from being kicked the night before. He eventually gave up scrabbling at its side, sat back unevenly on his haunches, and crossed his arms. "Still mine."

Jak shook his head, then went to the balcony, reaching out to the willow and holding one of its strands in his palm.

"What was wrong with you earlier, anyways? When Tess asked if ya wanted to stay, ya got all fidgety and sweaty. More than normal, I mean. Everything we wanted just got handed to us on a gorgeous blonde platter."

"Well, I got caught by slavers last night, killed a man, slept in garbage, almost got thrown in jail, and now I'm living in the house of a woman I barely know who knows what I did and doesn't care. That's not weird at all?"

"Jak, you're a tree-huggin' hick that occasionally magically turns into an angry killin' machine. And I'm a talkin' ottsel. I don't know if you've noticed, but there's nothin' about us, or this journey we've been on, that's normal. This turn of events? Totally believable! And Tess? Come on, she's real nice."

Jak raised a brow.

"And not just 'cause she's pretty! She's real good at lyin', no doubt. That customer she charmed the other day was solid proof of that. But she's crap at hidin' when she drops the cheery act to serious mode, like she did with us in her office. She was bein' honest then. Trust me. And now we've got a place to sleep and eat and work, so lighten up! Not sure how much she'll pay ya for those jobs she mentioned, though."

"My pay is a bed and food. That's it. I'm not letting her give me any more."

"But what about… well, you know?"

Jak put his hand over his own chest. "I know. I'll find another way. So," he glanced at Daxter's leg, picked him up again, gently placed him on the bed, and summoned green eco. "What even happened after I blacked out last night?"

As Daxter told the story, Jak checked the ottsel's leg and healed it, then started to work on himself. The bruises on his ankle and knuckles faded, the bullet graze on his arm sealed, and sore spots were numbed away, but one wound remained. Jak stared at his own hand again as they sat side by side and Daxter chattered on.

"You listenin', Bigfoot?"

"Hm? Yeah," Jak put his hand back down to his side, tucking it away from view. "Our stuff's in the front?"

"Yup. While you were out, I patted down slaver boy back in the alley for our gear, then hid it in the front courtyard here behind a bush. So nothin' was lost. Except my fish. Bastards made sure to eat that."

"We'll get you some more."

"Yeah, and we can buy it with the dough I ripped off his ugly corpse."

"You stole his money?"

"Jak, he tried to steal us . I think swipin' his cash was quite tame in comparison. Oh, and, uh…" Daxter scratched the back of his head beneath the straps of his goggles. "Thanks for what ya did, by the way. I know the more ya use dark eco, the faster it grows, but I'd be ridin' a one way water slide into Sewerhusk right about now if it weren't for you."

When Jak's expression darkened, Daxter narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Wait, I know that look. Don't make me climb up on that ginger nest of yours again and blast your ear out with another pep talk. That slaver had it comin'. Nothin' ya did was wrong."

"I know. I don't really even feel that bad about it, honestly. Not as much as I would have a few months ago, I mean."

"But ya feel bad about not feelin' bad?"

"No, it's not that…"

"Truth a day question?"

"We stopped doing that."

"Oh, that's right. We promised to always be honest with each other one-hundred percent of the time. So… spit it out! What's botherin' ya?"

"Nothing."

Jak got up and started unfolding the bedding Tess had left on the floor. When Jak looked back up from where he was kneeling to start setting it out, a fuzzy orange head had popped over the foot of the bed, and two blue eyes were a mere inch from his. "It's somethin' to do with your dark eco, ain't it?"

Jak looked away. "No."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying."

"Jak, ya ever read a book?"

He shrugged. "Religious texts. And maps and star charts. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, some books are detailed, complex epics that take months to even years to really 'get'. Other books have pictures, few words, and ya can read 'em over a single piss break. You? You're a piss break book."

"Very flattering."

"My point is, you're easy to read. Now tell me: what's up with ya?"

Jak ignored him and kept working on setting out the bedding.

"Somethin' did change with the eco, didn't it? Jak, if it's gettin' worse, ya need to tell me. Did it get bigger? Are ya feelin' okay?"

Pillows were cased and a bedspread was patted down to perfect smoothness.

"Jak? Bumpkin? Carrot top? Hello?" Daxter leaped to his shoulder without warning, dodged a hand swipe, climbed atop his head, and leaned over to look Jak in the eye upside down. "Knock knock, may I speak with Mr. Jakan Kur, please?"

Jak sighed. "It was… different this time."

He'd hoped Daxter would take that scrap of truth and be satisfied with it, but it only made him narrow his gaze. "Ya mean when ya Jak smashed that idiot? How so?"

"I really don't want to talk about it."

"Full, honest to the Precursors truths, remember?"

"Can we change the subject?"

"No."

"Dax, drop it."

"C'mon! I just wanna to know!"

Thump, thump, thump . Satisfaction flickered up again within Jak at the memory.

That's not me, Jak thought, trying to will it away. That's just the dark eco.

Which he wasn't currently under the influence of. Or was he? Fear pulsed through his veins again at a thought he'd been avoiding since the fight with the slavers in the Precursor Basin. First, when he'd killed Vend and smiled about it like a madman, then when he'd gotten mad at Daxter after meeting the tailor, and then the night before with Pey, and that morning, and now, try as he may to smother the memory - and the sickening pleasure it gave him - away.

"Jak, do I ever flinch away from discussin' any topic?"

"No, you really don't. I wish you would, though."

"So there's nothin' you could say that would make me flinch."

Jak shrugged. "I… enjoyed it."

"What?"

The floodgates opened. "I hate hurting people. Or I'm supposed to, at least. From the bandits, to Vend. Vend was a bad person, I get that. So was Pey, or whatever his name was. But everything I've ever been taught… no wonder why Samos tossed me out. One hint of danger and I turn into this rabid, deadly monster. But that's not the worst part. I blew up at you in Riverjoint for no reason at all. And when I killed Vend, and last night, the feeling of that guy's throat in my hand…" Jak winced as another ember of joy sparked within him again at the thought. "Do you know how fucked up that is?"

Daxter was wordless, for once. Whether it was because Jak had cursed - which was rare enough even for less heavy words - or because of his answer, Jak wasn't sure. Jak sighed, pulled Daxter off of his head, set Daxter down on the bed, then sank to it next to him again.

"Samos told me the dark eco would affect me in more ways than one. Rampages. The mark spreads. Then my mind goes. And what could be more crazy than blowing up at people for nothing? Or feeling good about…" he lifted his hand again as if holding something, then squeezed it into a fist. "You know? I can't tell which parts of me are even me anymore, and which parts are the dark eco. In a way, I almost hope it's the dark eco, because then it's not me, but then if it is, then how much time do I have left if it's already affecting me so much?"

"You've got lots of time left, kid."

Jak glanced down at Daxter in surprise, who was looking off into a cobwebbed corner of the room, his stare distant.

"Dark eco doesn't work that way. Yeah, the mark spreads, and it'll hurt more and more over time. And sure, sometimes ya get some messed up thoughts when you're punchin' a few lights out. But you'll always be you, up 'til the end."

Jak opened his mouth to blurt out a hundred questions.

"Don't ask."

"Honest to the Precursors truths, huh?"

Daxter sighed. "Alright, fine. You're right. Let's just say I knew someone that knew a lot about it, and never stopped blabbin' about it. So I overheard some things."

"And they knew how it affected people?"

"You could say that."

"Could they... help me?"

"Nah, she's…" Daxter kneaded the bed with anxious paws. "They're very far away right now. If I thought they could, I'd have already sent ya their way. Gol and Maia are our best bet, still."

Curiosity seared inside Jak, but he pushed it down, simply glad for what Daxter had given him: hope. As long as Daxter was remembering correctly, he knew he wasn't losing himself to the dark eco. There was no twisting of his mind by an uncontrollable force, which - according to Samos - would have meant the beginning of the end. The relief it brought him made him lower his tense shoulders, which he hadn't even realized he'd been bunching up.

But a small fear still nibbled at him, one beyond the death that the dark eco still promised.

"So," Jak held up his hand again. "That was all me?"

"Yup. Makes sense, doesn't it? Like when we figured out what triggers it. It doesn't go off when you're in danger, only when those ya care about are. Which says a lot about how ya feel about yourself, by the way."

Jak shrugged. "That part's at least understandable. But the other parts, like yelling at you or last night…"

"Don't feel bad. We're all made of a little dark and light. And you're a lot more light than most people. In fact, you're almost blindingly innocent," Daxter put up his arms between him and Jak, as if to block out the suns, squinting. "I need to teach ya some street smarts 101, kid."

"Can I ask you a favor, though?"

"Shoot."

"It's not that I don't believe you, but if I do change… if I start to get worse from the dark eco, I mean, will you tell me?"

"Don't worry: if ya start standin' up for yourself, or forget to brownnose the Precursors even once, I'll make sure to let ya know. And cheer ya on, while I'm at it."

Jak chuckled. "Thanks, Dax."

He leaned back on the bed, smiling for the first time that day, one hand brushing over the small calluses on his left shoulder that he'd accumulated in recent months. As he lay there, a storm started to rumble and knock its raindrop fingers on the roof.

A lot more light , he thought, then drifted off to a deep, peaceful sleep.

The factory bells whistled as twilight blanketed Haven with purple sky and muggy air. After waking up to their piercing call, Jak came down from the attic with a similarly drowsy Daxter on his shoulder, then found Tess in the front lobby. She perked up from her post at the counter, grinned, and led them to the central courtyard.

In the middle stood the willow, brass shrines the size of birdhouses tucked about its roots and a pond at its back. There was a little depression in the ground at its front, where a slat of wood with a low table atop it rested. Tess lit the lanterns hanging from the willow tree with her eco, casting everything in a golden glow, then knelt on the head cushion at the table, its satin as boldly yellow as her hair.

Within seconds, six women emerged into the courtyard from multiple doors. Like Jak and Tess, they all had pointed ears, and bright colored hair and eyes. Two held trays with steaming food and cups. At first, they were boisterous, laughing and joking with one another. Then they saw Jak.

A silence greater than death ensued.

Jak shuffled his feet to stand straighter, arms nervously taut at his sides. Meanwhile, Daxter almost fell off of Jak as he stared wide eyed at all the women. Jak jostled his shoulder a bit and gave Daxter a quick dirty look.

The women knelt as Tess did on cushions around the table. They glanced between her and Jak as the ones who had brought food distributed plates and teacups to each of them. Tess smiled at all of them, then looked to Jak and nodded. They followed her stare in unison.

Jak's cheeks seared. Precursors, this is so awkward…

"Ladies, as you all know, our previous chaperone boy was let go a month ago due to… certain behavioral difficulties."

A blue tribe woman to Tess' right shrugged. She was the same one Jak and Daxter had passed in the front courtyard on their first visit to the Willow House. "Unwise bastard deserved what he got."

"Too bad I wasn't with you, Roru. After you'd toasted him with blue eco, I could have launched him into the sky," said a woman with short, bright red hair and sharp angles to her face.

"Think there would have been anything left of him afterwards for me to get some target practice, too?" said a third one with a straw colored bun atop her head.

Jak glanced at Daxter, hoping to find him as intimidated and bewildered as he was, but Daxter only looked more mesmerized by the women than he had before.

"Yeah, why do we need a chaperone anyway? Mother Tess," Roru pounded her fists on the table. "We could take out any idiot that tried to get handsy like Taku did."

There was a murmur of agreement around the table.

"Ladies, what is the first rule of artisanship?"

They collectively sighed and muttered, "Be gentle and graceful always."

"Yes. And as you all well know, Haven isn't always the safest place."

"Other artisans can't channel eco like us," Roru said.

"Which is precisely why you need extra protection. We've all got targets on our backs, especially lately. As you all know, so many channelers have gone missing lately. Which means, you need a chaperone. Speaking of, though I'm surprised he hasn't run off already, here he is. As well as a part time cooking and cleaning assistant for you all."

Everyone turned to stare at Jak again at Tess' gesture. He bowed to them, lower than he had to anyone in his life, save for Samos, cheeks still hot, as confused as they looked to this new development. He had no idea what artisans were other than that they dressed up, rich people hired them, and they all lived together for some reason, never mind what an artisan chaperone was.

"His name is Jak. As you can see by his ears, he's not like Taku. He understands our ways and is also a channeler. I am certain he will give you the respect you deserve. Now, where was it that you're from again, Jak? Sandover, right?"

Jak swallowed hard. "Yes, ma'am."

They all stared blankly, save for one girl near the back who Jak only now noticed. She had green hair in a large braid and matching eyes, a round face sprinkled with freckles, and couldn't have been much younger than Jak.

"Isn't that by where you're from? Jadecrest?" Tess asked the green haired girl.

She nodded and said, "I remember him. He's Samos' apprentice."

Jak froze, as did the others. He racked his brain for any memory of the girl, but found none.

"Yes, he was Samos'. Which, by the way, leads me to my next point. You've been bugging me to get you a teacher, Symi."

"Apprentices don't just leave their sages," said a different blue tribe woman from Roru, her eyes purple and her floor-length hair a near white shade of cerulean.

"I…" Jak scratched the back of his head. "It's a long story."

Does that green tribe girl know about what happened? How I should be dead? Or about the rumors the others had about me? Precursors, please don't know. What if Tess throws me out? Or-

"He's a good person, Mother Tess," the green tribe girl, Symi, said at last. "And a talented healer. We should keep him, if not to chaperone, then at least to teach me."

How does she even know who I am? I guess I probably stood out down there like a sore thumb, but I never even went to Jadecrest much. But she knows me enough to vouch for me?

Jak caught Symi's stare. He tilted his head to her in an informal bow; a silent 'thanks for sticking up for me'. "I'd be honored to pass on my knowledge to you."

"You hear that, Twig? He's gonna share something with you!" The straw-haired woman started jabbing Symi with her elbow. Symi's face scorched red at the same pace Jak's cheeks burned again. "Ahh, don't be shy! I'm sure he'll really grow things for you."

Everyone in the courtyard erupted into giggles, save for Jak, Tess, and Symi, who all looked mortified. Even Daxter was trying his best to not squeak with laughter.

Tess waved her arms. "Hush, all of you! Sorcha, quit teasing Symi and Jak. Also, who has the chaperone gun?"

No one spoke, though the women all glanced at Roru. Tess held out her palm. After a short staring contest, Roru sighed and pulled the pistol from the back of her waist bow, then handed it over. "Fine. Twig's boyfriend can have it."

A glittering smile. "Thank you, Roru. Now, let's eat. Jak, I'll get you a cushion. We'll put you next to Sorcha and Endisa."

Tess motioned Jak over as the artisans started to dig in. Jak did as he was told, but stood a respectful distance from the table. Even when Tess came back with a black cushion and put his food at the end of the table, it took Jak a moment before he mustered enough courage to sit at it, between Sorcha and a second red tribe woman, who he surmised was Endisa, her hair long in intricate, wine-toned braids, and her eyes the color of a gentle sunset.

Most of his dinner consisted of eating as politely as he could, staring down at his bowl, and trying to stifle the feeling that he was like a dried weed in a bouquet of vibrant flowers. That, and the occasional curious or suspicious glance from the artisans, assured him he didn't belong here. His lowering of his head slightly more each time he caught one likely assured them that he agreed.

At the end of dinner, Tess asked Jak and Symi to help her clean up while the other girls retreated back inside. Symi was silent as they worked, though Tess was happy to chatter away with Jak as they scrubbed plates in the kitchen.

After they finished cleaning, Tess pulled out the pistol she'd grabbed from Roru earlier from her pocket, then handed it to Jak. "Oh, forgot about this. This is yours for chaperoning. Hopefully you'll never need it, though. Eco cartridges for refills are in the west hall closet."

Jak examined the gun. It had smudges of makeup all over it, smelled of pungent perfume, and… he shifted it in the dim kitchen light. Is that glitter?

He holstered it. "Speaking of, when do I start?"

"Hmm… tell you what: meet me in the lobby in the morning, and we'll discuss the details. For now, get some good sleep. Especially you, my little schnookums," she answered and gave Daxter - who was preoccupied with pawing away a dollop of bubbles that had gotten on his tail - a gentle head scratch.

Jak thanked her again, gave Symi a polite nod, then left the kitchen. As soon as he was halfway down the hall, Symi finally spoke up.

"Can I come with you to the basement tonight, Mother Tess?"

"He's not coming tonight, sweetheart. But you can definitely join us when he does."

"Is he… okay?"

"Now, Symi, you know very well how strong he is. He'll be back, I promise."

"Of course."

Jak strained to listen longer, heard nothing, then turned around again and noticed a crack of light in one of the sliding doors down the hall. A pair of purple eyes were just behind it.

"Uh… hello?" Jak said. "Yasu, right?"

There was a long pause as she narrowed them and kept staring.

"Something wrong?"

"Those are some big ears you've got. I'd suggest you keep them down."

With that, the door slid shut. Jak glanced over at Daxter, who shrugged.

That night, Jak awoke with a start. He instantly reached for his own chest, rubbing at his dark eco wound. Although it was mildly warm and prickling, he experienced neither the adrenaline surge or heavy breathing that usually signified it was about to take over.

He let out a sigh of relief and tried to go back to sleep. But every time he neared it, the wound's dull ache would tear him back to full awareness, and there was a strange clamminess to his skin as he started to cold sweat.

Jak tossed and turned for an hour by the time he decided it was useless to keep trying. Back home, he cured insomnia by going to Sandover's beach to sit in the moonlit tide. The soothing pull of the water combined with the rhythmic sound usually put him right to sleep as soon as he returned to the hut.

But there was no beach here. Jak ruffled his goatee. I suppose a shower would work. I already took one today… though, I forgot to shave. Plus, I don't think I could ever bathe too much in Haven.

A chill breeze brushed against his arm as he got up. The window was open, though he remembered closing it. Daxter's cushion by it was empty save for a few tufts of orange and white fur. Jak peered over the balcony's railing at the courtyard, trying to find a pop of orange amongst the flowers and bushes. The night's silence was cut by the occasional hum of a zoomer passing by, but everything else was dead still and quiet.

Had to take a leak, probably. He'll be back soon, Jak thought.

Jak made it to the bathroom and - still getting used to the idea of what an indoor shower was - fidgeted with the bronze levers and pipes and spigots in the basin contraption's hood and bathed, hoping his dark eco wound would die down. But as time wore on, the clamminess of his skin only increased, and the ache in his heart started to pound with every beat, even long after when he'd finished and was pulling his pants back on.

It'll go away by morning. I'll just have to wait it out. Weird side effect, though.

Remembering his flint razor was still in his belongings Daxter had stashed in the front courtyard, Jak rifled through the cabinets for something sharp to shave his face with and found a rectangular blade. He stood before the mirror and did his best, dull as the blade was, and as shaky as he was getting, though sliced his skin partway through.

The blade clattered to the floor. Jak picked it up, hand on the burning cut, wincing. But when he rose again and looked in the mirror…

Black blood.

Jak stared dumbly at the shadowy ooze in his hand after he pulled it away from the cut. It shone with oily iridescence. Glancing back up at his face in the mirror, the cut started to run red, and after a while, there was no more black. Heart thumping, sweat rolling down his neck, he summoned green eco to heal the cut as quickly as possible.

It wasn't green.

Misty purple and black and twining angles of electricity billowed from his palm. As fear numbed his veins, the eco grew taller, and the thundering of his heart and clamminess of his skin increased. He flicked his hand, trying to cut off the energy, but instead it lashed out, biting at his arm with pinprick jolts. The yellow eco crystal lamps above the mirror started to flicker and surge, and the glass bells around them shattered and their light went out, bathing everything in raining shards and a moment of darkness.

Jak stood horrified in the violet glow and shadows, his only companion his reflection in the cracking mirror.

He and the dark eco sat with each other in silence for a long time, predator and prey, almost waiting to see what the other would do, and who would overtake who. The battle he'd fought within up until this point was now being fought outside, and try as he may to stop it, the dark eco would not back down.

Calm down, Jak. Just breathe. Happy thoughts-

"Jak?"

There had been footsteps in the hall outside and then Tess' voice. The dark eco climbed higher immediately and, in a single lash, broke the mirror completely.

"What's going on in there? I heard a crash or something. Are you okay?"

Another surge of panic made dark eco well in his other hand.

"Perfectly fine!" he responded, not fine in the slightest.

"It sure doesn't sound like it-"

She had started to open the door. Jak body slammed it back shut. "I'm not dressed!"

The two fought back and forth. Every time she opened the door far enough to allow a crack of light in, the dark eco in both hands got bigger, his fear of being discovered feeding it.

"Precursors, the mirror broke?"

"No! Maybe? I'll get a new one, I promise. Just let me finish in here and we can talk about it."

"How in the hell… and the lights! Jak, you've got ten seconds to get a towel on before I come in."

"Wait-"

"Ten."

Jak glanced around for a window to jump out of. There was one, but it was small and high up, and he wasn't sure walking around in just pants with his hands full of dark eco through Haven's streets at midnight was a better idea. The door Tess was behind was the only other exit.

He looked at his hands and muttered under his breath, " You picked a great time, didn't you? "

"Six."

Jak backed up to the opposite wall. It was no use. He was trapped. Her countdown continued, and at the sound of 'one', he shut his eyes tight. The door squealed open, its bottom edge scraping against mirror and eco lamp shards, then came the sound of a gasp.

"Precursors…"

He opened his eyes again. Tess stood with her hand at her mouth, her simple silk night robe and horrified face washed in the purple glow.

Jak found himself sitting before a tea set and plate of pastries in Tess' office again, though this time, they were bathed in moonlight instead of morning sun, a fire roared at his back, and his arms were anchors at his sides, still frothing with dark eco.

"So, just to make sure I'm getting this right… you went into a ruin, got injected with dark eco by a talking machine, were kicked out of your village, and traveled all the way to Haven to get the Acheron twins' help because, if it's not cured, it'll kill you?"

Jak shrugged. "Basically?"

Tess was on her third round of her pipe. She took the longest puff yet, sighed it out, then rubbed her upper arms and shook her head.

"Look, I'm… sorry. I should have told you earlier. That's why I didn't want to stay here. I'm never sure when this thing acts up, and then it did tonight, and I broke your mirror and your lights. I didn't want to hurt anyone."

She said nothing, only furrowed her brows and squinched her eyes.

He'd been trying to hold the disappointment and shame at bay, but seeing her look, they washed over him. "If you want to kick me out, I totally understand. I mean, I wouldn't want me here, eith-"

"Oh, you poor boy!"

She wiped her eyes with her night robe sleeves, and they came away dark and wet. Jak gawked at her.

"If I'd known earlier, I'd have let you stay the moment you delivered that letter! I saw that dark mark on your chest this morning when I was cleaning you up, but I never would have guessed… I just thought it was a birthmark or something. But dark eco is so dangerous, even just touching it, never mind being poisoned with it. And your sage threw you out?"

Jak shrugged. "He was only trying to protect the village and make sure I got healed, I think."

"Well, you didn't deserve it. Jak, you listen to me." She leaned forward and madly tossed as many pastries as she could fit on a plate, pushed it forward to him, and poured him some more tea. He'd never seen someone offer food in such an irritated way. "First, eat those. You deserve some sweets after what you've been through."

He awkwardly tried to reach for one. The dark eco in his hand, still frothing, though weaker than it had been before, toasted the pastry to black crumbs that dissipated into the air.

"I'll… wait a bit."

"Secondly, there is absolutely no way I'm tossing you out on the street, especially not now," she took another pastry for herself and devoured it in three bites, then spoke through her last mouthful, "If you even try to leave out of guilt, I will hunt you down and drag you back here. No, you're going to stay, and I'm going to help you in any way that I can. Let's see, Gol and Maia…"

She got up, pipe in one hand, her other tapping ponder-fueled fingers on her hip as she got up to look out the window, just as she had that morning. "Gol and Maia, Gol and Maia…"

"Sig said that I could try to get to them through the races."

"The races," she snapped her fingers. "That's it! They always show their creepy faces at the winner's banquet. How much do you know about racing?"

"Uh… nothing?"

"Hmm, and then there's the money they'd probably need. Let's see, their usual fee for visits outside of the Baron's circle is probably fifty-thousand. Greedy bastar-"

"Fifty thousand!? "

"Yeah, it's steep. But not impossible, if you know the right people."

"I don't know any 'right' people."

"But luckily for you, I do. Here's the plan: you stay here, work for me, I'll keep your stomach full and a roof over your head, then I'll pay you as much as I can on the side. So let's see, how much can we afford?" She went back to the table, pulled out her wooden button and lever box again, and started tapping on it. "Hmm, three-hundred a week… maybe three-fifty if I cut back on the roses…"

"You're already letting me stay here for almost nothing-"

"Jak, do you ever let people help you?"

Jak widened his eyes, then stared at the floor. "I just don't understand why you're doing this for me. I barely know you."

Her amber eyes fell. "Let's just say I ended up in Haven down on my luck once, too, and someone I barely knew helped me. That's why most of us are here in the Willow House, you know? First me, then I took others like me in. Why do you think I run this place? It's a haven for people like us."

"So shut up and let me pay back the blessings I was given so that I can die a guiltless old woman someday. Now, we'll get you some jobs on the side. Sig will definitely lend a hand there. Probably could use a helper, honestly. He'll likely split the big finds with you and let you keep what you scrounge up otherwise, so roughly five- no, four for each…

Jak's mind wandered as she continued mumbling her calculations aloud. Her earlier words rattled through his head:

"Do you ever let people help you?"

He sometimes asked Daxter for help with minor things, but before that… he couldn't recall any time he'd asked for help. Usually people had to shove help at him and run away before he could try to push it back. Samos had always taught him to be self-sufficient. But when he'd mentioned that Samos had thrown him out…

"He was only trying to protect the village and make sure I got healed, I think."

"Well, you didn't deserve it."

I betrayed his trust, though, Jak thought. I put the village in danger. Plus, if I'd stayed there, the dark eco would have killed me for sure, right? Samos was only trying to protect everyone, me and the village both.

Even so, a feeling for Samos he'd never had before welled in his heart. It made the dark eco in his hands grow a few inches taller again, feeding off of memories of Samos not even waking to see him off the morning Jak left, and bits from years before that. The man had found and took him in as a baby. Fed and clothed him.

But affection and true fatherly love had never been Samos' forte. In fact, Jak had always felt more like a burden than a son, and even as he tried to grasp and hold onto the thought, a separate part of himself tried to push it away, feeling bad for even letting the idea cross his mind. Samos had always been there for him.

And then a memory from long ago ripped his adult outer layers away, piece by protective and denying piece, back to a sniffling child:

He'd been sitting by the hearth warming his toes one unseasonably cold night in Sandover. Looking over to the bearded man staring out the window, the reflection of the village small and distant in his spectacles, Jak poked at freshly picked red flowers in the vase nearby and said, "Samos, are you my dad?"

Samos froze. Then, after a sigh, he said, "Jak, we've discussed this before. You and I are not related. Even with just one glance at us, you can tell that."

Jak pulled his leather cap further over his head, hiding his red and blond hair. "I know. But..."

"But what?"

"I dunno. There's this funny feeling I always get about it." He put his hand to his heart. "Keira said she got the same feeling with her parents, though, so I thought maybe-"

"Jak, you do not have a father. Or a mother."

"I know, but you can be my dad, if you want. I mean, no one else is."

Samos was quiet, and his back was still turned. Jak stared hopefully at him for a long while, a shy smile on his face. Then it faded. He turned back to the hearth and looked into the flames, trying to hide his bleary eyes. He never asked for much. Couldn't Samos just give him this one thing? Everyone else in the village had parents. Why didn't he have one? Was it something he did?

"I'll do extra chores if you say 'yes'. And I won't mess up in training ever again, I promise!"

Silence.

"Is it 'cause I'm a demon?"

"By the Precursors!" Samos flipped around and slammed his staff on the wooden floor. Jak flinched. "How many times have I told you that you're not a demon?"

"Then what am I? Who am I?"

"A perfectly normal human boy who should heed what I say instead of what those idiots out there do."

"Can I at least be your son?"

"I am not your father, and you are not my son. I am your teacher, and you are my student. That is final."

"Do you love me?"

"Love?"

"Yeah. Keira said dads and moms love you, and you love them back. And I love you. So if you love me too, then that means-"

Samos sighed. "Nothing you could ever do would give you a father or mother, Jak. Don't you understand?"

"A-ha!"

Jak startled back to the present at Tess' voice.

"After what I pay you, you'll still need about forty-five thousand more. But if Sig can show you the ropes of his trade, you could make most of that easily by the end of the races. And I'll see if any other high paying buyers are in need of something you could offer, maybe green eco healing, maybe some side jobs? Safe buyers, I mean."

"The first race is in a little over a month, right?"

"Yup! The track's open for anyone to practice, at all times of day. Other than during real races, of course. Sorcha's a big fan. I'll ask her to give you a rundown of how it works at the track the next time you're both free."

"Do you…?"

"Do I what?"

"I… can't really learn how to race and win that fast, can I?"

"Well, I won't lie: it's gonna be tough. Erol's a top champion, of course," she said and stuck out her tongue beneath an eye roll. "Razer won't be easy to beat, either. And Ashelin is a wild card; sometimes she lags behind, but she's never lower than fourth, and most of the time her and Erol are neck and neck for the top spot. But Jak…"

Tess got up and knelt next to him, pulling a handkerchief from her pocket and patting the black blood cut off of his face with it. "It's the only chance we've got. I know it's slim, but I believe in you."

Jak froze. She believed in him?

"Or maybe I just want to see someone I know Erol will look down on trash him on the track in front of the whole city? Oh, to see the look on his face when he gets beaten by one of us! Jak, you have to win, not just for your cure, but also for me and every other Wise person in this city that gets walked all over by scum like him at the top. Promise me you'll kick his ass?"

Jak swallowed hard. He'd hoped to avoid Erol as much as possible, but never realized until now that, by Erol not only being a racer, but the top racer, they'd eventually cross paths on the track if he managed to do well. His instant reaction was to shy away and mutter something about being unsure, but the thought of Erol's smug face and Daxter's words to him a few days before stopped him:

" Because if there's anyone on this stupid rock who's stubborn and dumb enough to look death in the face and keep stumblin' his way past it, it's you."

Confidence surged through him. At its fiery touch, he curled his hands into fists, and the dark eco in his palms dissipated at last into weak trails of smoke. He furrowed his brows, and, with his eyes set on the window, where the glass tubes of the race tracks pulsed with blue all throughout the skyline of Haven beyond, he nodded.

"I'll try."