Word spread quickly through the pirate ship that Jak - the one they'd thought was just another Dark Eco abomination - was in fact the Prism Sage of legend, master of Planetary Eco. Before the repairs to the Corsair - the Pirate flagship - were complete, Jak was already regretting this.
Keira finally tracked him down in his hiding place inside the Hellcat cockpit. "...seriously, Jak?" she demanded grumpily. "You're hiding from them?"
"I don't like being hero worshiped, Keira," Jak grumbled as he stared out at her. "Especially when I don't deserve it."
"Don't deserve..." Keira shook her head in frustration. "Jak, you've all but singlehandedly saved the world three times now, plus what we did in that Grand Prix nonsense."
"Didn't do any of those alone," Jak pointed out, more than a little petulantly.
"And none of it could have happened without you, Jak," Keira countered irritably. "You're a hero many times over. If anyone deserves hero worship, it's you."
"And if this were about any of that, I could handle it," Jak agreed. "I wouldn't like it, but I could handle it. But that's not what this is about. They're all but falling on their faces and genuflecting every time I go by just because I'm a Prism Sage, and they think that means I can just wave my hand and fix everything! It's hard enough trying to figure out how to save the world without the burden of all that expectation..."
Keira let the tension inside her go. "Jak..."
"I don't want to do this anymore..." Jak whispered softly. "Once we've fixed the Eco Core and the world's stable...I wanna go straight to finding where Shining came from. I desperately need a vacation somewhere no one has any expectations of me. ...I miss Sandover..."
Carefully, Keira clambered into the Hellcat and wrapped her arms comfortingly around Jak. He sank into her embrace gratefully, and she gently stroked his back, pretending not to see the tears - a mix of fear and pain - that he tried to hide in his eyes. With all the amazing things he'd done, it was easy to forget he'd only been 15 when the adventure in Sandover had happened, and it had only been four years since for his experience...even if it had been eight for her. And those two years being experimented on hadn't done his psyche any favors.
With all this in mind, Keira decided to try and give him some comfort, to help him pull himself together. "We'll see what we can do about that, okay?" she offered softly. "If I know my father, he's probably working with Elder on finding a way to get to Shining's world right now on the assumption that we'll save the day." She winced internally as she realized what she'd just said.
"And more pressure..." Jak murmured softly. Before Keira could say anything, he shook his head. "Still...I can't go collapsing now. Just...don't tell the pirates where I'm hiding?"
"You realize Shining has this entire hanger blocked off with his shield so no one but Daxter and I can get this close to you, right?" Keira offered comfortingly.
Jak chuckled softly. "That's my bro..."
"So why don't we see what new abilities I can unlock for the pair of you before you head down to find where the Eco Seeker fell?" Keira suggested. "Ought to be useful, right?"
Jak smiled and nodded agreement, glad for anything relaxing.
As it turned out, the Eco Seeker had fallen onto the same island Jak and Shining had crashed on while pursuing Phoenix, though not in an area they'd explored before. Still, this meant that there was already an existing Harrier dock for them to land in, so they weren't forced to improvise a landing.
Once back in the area of the treehouse, they followed a sign they hadn't before, which had a depiction of a volcano on it. After passing through a few gates, it quickly became apparent the sign was no exaggeration, as the adventuring trio found themselves inside a rocky cavern with lava floes passing between various platforms. However, they quickly discovered that some platforms were simply too far to reach normally.
"So, what now?" Jak asked. "Can you teleport across, Shining?"
"Probably shouldn't," Shining observed. "Eco's not entirely stable here. I'd rather not risk something going wrong. Daxter, can you go Light mode and carry us up?"
"Physical strength is the one attribute that transformation doesn't amplify," Daxter countered irritably. "Why not just see what ability that Precursor Totem over there is going to give you? If it's anything like the way you've gained abilities in previous adventures, it's probably exactly what you need."
Jak chuckled softly. "It does seem to be that way, doesn't it?"
Jak and Shining stepped up to the totem, and were instantly infused with arcs of Yellow Eco. The Eco flowed through their bodies and then focused into their legs (all four in Shining's case) and Jak's arms. Deciding to test out the new ability, Jak started focusing the energy...only to find himself propelled high into the air. "Whoa!" he shouted out, trying to push energy down to slow his fall, only to find streams of Yellow Eco shooting out of his palms like rocket boosters, allowing him to descend to the ground at a more reasonable rate.
"Nice!" Shining proclaimed as he examined the whole process with his magic. Noticing pockets of Yellow Eco gas scattered around, Shining placed himself under one and utilized the Eco Rocket Jump. As he was slowing his fall, the jets from all four hooves caught the cloud, resulting in Shining being propelled even higher.
Jak, for his part, grinned widely. "Oh...I'm going to enjoy this power!"
Shining and Daxter exchanged a grin, glad to see Jak a bit happier now.