Conspiracy theory time! I firmly believe, with all my heart, that Daxter didn't steal the Precursor orbs from the Explorer. In fact, I think the Explorer was full of shit and lost them himself. Do I have evidence to back this up? No. Am I going to make this baseless claim anyway? Of course I am.

Anyway, happy 2024~! May your next year be even better than your last.


The elevator took them up to the throne room, rattling and creaking. Jak had never felt it move so slow. He shifted anxiously on his feet.

They had it. He was sure of it, that the Eco Sphere was behind that door. What a weird turn of events, he thought, that they were once again opening a Precursor door like that.

The elevator stopped at the top and Jak stepped out, only to be greeted by nine pairs of eyes staring at him.

They were all arranged in a circle, with the throne (and Damas) on the far end. Jak recognized the faces as those of Wastelanders he'd seen around town, but it was strange to see them all circled around like this.

"Geez, they finally lost it, Jak! It's a cult!"

Daxter's voice cut through the strange tension of the room, so Jak cleared his throat. "Um...is Seem here?"

Damas eyed Jak with a mixture of irritation and curiosity. "We're in a council meeting. Whatever you require, it will have to wait."

Jak winced at the tone, but pressed on. "It's important."

Damas looked as if he was going to rebuff Jak again, but Daxter quickly added, "It's about those creepy Dark Makers!"

The king paused, considering the boys. Around the circle, the council members suddenly seemed interested. Damas tilted his chin up haughtily.

"If it's truly important, you can say it to all of us." He gestured around the circle. "This council represents the citizens of Spargus. These are the leaders who speak for their people, so if you have something to say, we'd all like to hear it. Do any council members object to Jak joining us?"

The council was silent for a beat, so Damas nodded. "Very well. Jak, you may speak."

Jak glanced around. Ionna gestured for him to join the circle, so he moved to stand in between her and Seem. He carefully took out the power cell and looked around nervously.

"Go on, Jak." Ionna gently nudged his elbow, spurring him to speak.

"In the Monk Temple," he said, "there's this weird carving on the wall. I couldn't figure out why it looked so familiar. Then, Dax and I found this," he held out the power cell, "and I remembered."

They were all watching him, even as Daxter suddenly gave a shrieky gasp. "The rift rider!"

Jak grinned and nodded. "That carving isn't a carving at all. It's a door!"

"Are you sure?" Ionna asked. "I've never seen any map or writing that tells of a door like that."

"It's a door," he said firmly. "Dax and I have opened one of them before, a long time ago. I didn't even think about it, but I'll bet anything…"

Seem made a noise in her throat. "The Eco Sphere."

Damas leaned forward, interested. Jak continued, "It's the only place we haven't checked. If we can get enough power cells, I'll bet we can open that door!"

Ionna glanced at Jak. "You said you've opened a door like this before: how many power cells do we need?"

"One hundred. I think. If it's the same as last time."

"I will make sure," Seem interjected. "They go in the divots, correct? I can count them."

Damas nodded. "See that you do. This Eco Sphere is the key to destroying the Dark Makers. We need it in our grasp to defend our planet."

"The question, of course," Ionna mused, "is where we'll find all those power cells."

Damas tapped his fingers on the arm of the throne. "Power cells…Malik? Any ideas?"

"Yes, sir." Malik, his voice slow and steady, nodded in understanding. "There are power cells kept in the electrical rooms, as backups when the storms are bad. I am not sure how many, but they can be repurposed."

"Guessin' they need to work, eh?" Kleiver cut in. "The artifact runners bring some o' those things back from their runs and leave 'em with me. Don't know if they still have power, but we can check 'em."

"...Sig. Put out a communication to the citizens." Damas glanced to his side. "Any power cells that they have should be taken to Jak directly." The king nodded at Jak. "You're in charge of collecting them, understood?"

"Oh, great!" Daxter rolled his eyes. "Just like old times! We get to work ourselves to the bone tryin' to get people to fork these things over, while you all just sit pretty up here!"

"Daxter," Jak hissed, but his friend paid him no attention.

"Lemme guess, we gotta go herd yakkow for some crazy farmer, or trade some Precursor orbs?!" Daxter stuck out his tongue. "No thank you!"

"I don't think I made myself clear." Damas' voice was sharp as he cut Daxter off. "You are not bartering for power cells. You are collecting them. Spargus citizens work together for our mutual survival."

The council had gotten silent as Damas spoke, but they were all nodding in agreement. Jak glanced around, confused. Luckily, Ionna came to his rescue.

"Child," she said gently, setting her hand on his shoulder, "no one will make you work to save the world. Just gather the power cells and bring them here for us."

"And if any citizen attempts to make you work for them," Damas added dryly, "I will speak with them myself. Let's see them attempt to make me do their dirty work for a power cell."

"Then we got ourselves a plan." Sig clapped his hands together. "We already have a defensive plan for the city. Now we're workin' on the offense. Any other council business?"

There was nothing but silence in response. Damas stood and said, "Meeting adjourned. Sig, Seem, Ionna. Please stay a few minutes."

The council members muttered curiously amongst themselves, but all filtered towards the elevator. Damas watched as it took them down, then turned his eyes to Jak and Daxter.

"Adjourned means you are dismissed," he told them. "You should probably head home, it's getting late."

Jak ignored the direction and shuffled forward, almost suspicious. "You don't want us to work or…pay for the power cells or anything like that? We just move them around?"

Sig chuckled. "You can take the kid outta the city, but the city never leaves the kid." He clapped a hand on Jak's back. "Listen, cherries, this place isn't Haven. We're not Krew or the Underground or the KG. What the hell kinda people would we be if we didn't help you out? I think we can spare a few power cells."

Jak hesitated, then grinned at Sig. "Thanks."

"What'dya mean, 'thanks'?!" Daxter howled. "That's how it's supposed to be!"

Damas stifled his laughter and shooed the pair away. "Go home," he told them. "Rest. And remember," he added, as they got on the elevator, "that you aren't in the city anymore."

The elevator rumbled to life. Jak opened his mouth, but shut it before he could respond. What did it matter, he thought, that they were all mistaken? That Haven City hadn't taught Jak to barter and beg.

That he'd learned that a long time ago, in a little village on the beach.


"Eighty-eight, eighty-nine…ninety!" Daxter whooped loudly, jumping a lot higher than he thought he'd be able to. Being small wasn't that fun, but apparently, ottsels had some muscles behind them. "We got another one, pal!"

Jak grinned down at his friend as he pocketed the orbs. Daxter hopped onto Jak's shoulder easily. "One step closer to getting my real bod back!"

They headed out into the village, across wooden bridges and sandy patches of grass. They passed by the Mayor's house, where he was fretting inside about…something. Not that his fretting had ever done any good. Finally, they entered their own hut: the one where Jak and Daxter lived with the Explorer.

It had been their first stop after they'd found out they would need power cells: surely, Jak's uncle, who collected things from his travels, had a spare or two lying around?

He did. And he wanted ninety Precursor orbs for it.

"Ah, my boy! You're back. And you brought the orbs? Jolly good!"

Jak handed off the Precursor orbs to his uncle, while Daxter meandered over to his bed. Jak had made it for him, after convincing his uncle to let Daxter live with them. It wasn't much, just the same straw mattress that they all slept on with the same woolen blankets and flut-flut feather pillows.

Still, it was Daxter's. Made by his best friend's hands.

The bed seemed huge now that he was an ottsel. He hopped into it and buried himself in the blankets, liking that it was warmer than usual. Oh, right, he had fur now. He stretched out and yawned dramatically.

"Man, I'm beat! Let's get some sleep, Jak."

Jak went to lay down in his own bed, but his uncle stopped him. "Just one minute, lad. Where's your little friend, the one who always stays over?"

Stays over. Daxter had lived in this hut for over ten years, but the Explorer still called it "staying over." Jak pointed to where Daxter was lying in the bed.

"Hmm? Oh, haha, what a good joke, my dear boy!" The Explorer chuckled loudly. "But, eh, really, where is he? He still has to do the dishes from last night, you see…really ought to make sure he does his chores before he goes gallivanting off…"

Daxter rolled his eyes from beneath the blanket. Of course the Explorer was mad about the chores. Chores, by the way, that he insisted Daxter had to do to earn his keep. Chores that, quite frankly, Daxter hadn't even thought about since they'd gotten back from Misty Island.

"Well, regardless, I'm off to talk to the Mayor about my upcoming trip. See if he doesn't have some things he'd like to trade from the Rock Village."

The sound of the Explorer stumping out of the hut could be heard. Daxter groaned and started to get up from the bed, knowing full well that if those dishes weren't done by the time the Explorer got back, he'd never hear the end of it.

But when he sat up, he saw that Jak was already pumping water, soaping the dishes and humming tunelessly. Daxter scampered over to his friend's side.

"Eh, you know, you don't have to do the dishes. It's my chore, ya know?"

Jak shook his head resolutely and dunked the bowl into the water. He gestured towards a towel and Daxter grabbed it for him.

"Hey, uh, thanks buddy." Daxter helped him put the dishes away, stretching a lot more than he'd had to when he was human. "I'll tell ya what, when I'm back to my beautiful self, I'll muck out the yakkow pen for you, okay?"

Jak grinned and flicked a bit of soapy water at Daxter. He shook his head to get it off his face. "Yeah, yeah, I know. 'You're my friend, you don't have to do that, it's a favor.'" Daxter's voice mocking Jak's own voicelessness made his friend smile harder. "Well, can it! I hate bein' in debt to people! So you do the dishes for now, and once I'm back to normal, I'm doin' your chores for a few days! Clear?"

Jak chuckled silently and dried another dish. Daxter eyed him suspiciously as he put it away. "And don't you 'forget' our deal, you hear? Last thing I need is for you to hold this over my head for the rest of our lives."

Jak nodded as he started to clean a glass. Together, in an empty hut that didn't quite feel like home, they finished the job as a pair, alone.


"So, what do you need us for?"

Damas looked around. With Jak and Daxter gone, that only left the four of them: Seem, Sig, Ionna, and himself. He clasped his hands behind his back as he addressed them.

"We need to decide on our next steps," he told them. "Sig, you are my second-in-command. We're heading into our last push against these Dark Makers, which means they will be dangerous and desperate. That means that, if I fall, you take the command."

Sig didn't like to consider that part of his job, but he saluted. "Yes, sir."

"As for Seem and Ionna," he continued, "we need to decide how to go about getting ahold of the Eco Sphere. And then, how to get it to the center of the planet."

"Jak and Daxter should be here," Sig interjected. "Those two have been busting their humps to get everything in order. They should be a part of this conversation."

Damas exhaled slowly. "...We all know," he said slowly, "that Jak will try to argue his way into this mission. As his elders, I think that we should come up with a plan first."

Sig didn't look particularly pleased, but Seem nodded respectfully. It was Ionna who added, "We can get the boys' input after we have an idea of what to do next."

"So…" Sig asked, "what exactly should we do next?"

"Well," Damas said, frowning as he thought, "we have to think tactically. Someone will have to go to collect the Eco Sphere from the Monk Temple. We can assume that the Dark Makers will launch an attack on them."

"Then I should be the one to go." Ionna straightened her back. "You said the Dark Makers were weak to light eco."

"We oughta send someone with you," Sig began, but Ionna shook her head. "You wanna go alone?"

"The Dark Makers are led by Erol, correct? He was Praxis' protege. And, as much as I am loathe to admit it," she grumbled, "Praxis was a tactical genius. I doubt Erol's only target will be the Temple."

"You think he'll attack Spargus as well." Damas didn't sound surprised. Sig raised an eyebrow. "When we were examining the attack patterns of the Dark Makers," the king explained, "we noticed that they were circling the Temple and Spargus. I think Ionna has a point."

"We will need as many people to defend the city as possible." Ionna tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I'll keep my beacon on me, just in case I need back up, but everyone else should stay here."

"I will arrange for the monks to organize the Temple's defense," Seem added. "We are not fighters, but we'll do our best."

"I want you to stay in the city when Ionna goes," Damas told Seem. "We will need a skilled medic. Additionally, your expertise in dark eco can help us with specific injuries."

Seem bowed her head. "Understood."

"Jak will also be in the city," Ionna reminded them. "He might not be experienced, but he can do basic emergency aid."

"He's also our best gunner," Sig added.

"Excellent." Damas clapped his hands together. "Then let's discuss the next issue. Who will take the Eco Sphere into the catacombs of Haven City?"

The group went silent. Sig shifted uncomfortably before he finally said, "Look, I know you don't want him to…"

"It should be Jak," Seem said bluntly. "The Precursors already foretold that his heroism will save us."

Damas, never one to be impressed by the Precursors, grunted. "Jak is too young and too inexperienced."

"Respectfully, not that inexperienced." Sig put his hands on his hips. "Jak killed Kor, remember? Not even getting into how he beat the pants off Praxis every time they met. And he blew Krew sky-high."

"This is an incredibly dangerous mission," Damas replied stubbornly, "and our entire planet is on the line. I'm not sure that Jak is ready for something like this."

"We can talk about this later," Ionna said suddenly. "Right now, we need to secure the Eco Sphere. I don't know how long it will take to collect the power cells, but we have some time. Let's focus on making sure we're prepared for that."

Sig nodded in agreement. "I'll send out the comm about the power cells."

"I will alert the Monks. They'll be thrilled that we finally figured out what the mural is," she added.

They both headed for the elevator. Ionna waved for them to go down, so they did. Leaving her alone with Damas in the throne room.

In the silence of the room, with the starlight streaming through the windows and the clean smell of water around them, it almost felt like it had all those years ago. With a little boy, splashing cheerfully with his father, a different man than he was today. She took a deep breath.

"Damas," she said gently, "I think it's time we talk."