Recovery and Adaption
As Shining had expected, the next time he woke up he was actually able to move about a bit without falling over or losing the soup he was fed. He didn't want to take any chances with his health or recovery just yet, so he kept his activity small. He rolled carefully onto his back, and then stretched each leg one by one into the air, flexing them each in turn to test his muscle tone, pleased to see no signs of atrophy. Rolling back onto his stomach, he lifted his head, repeating the process with his neck, twisting it this way and that. Finally, he pushed himself to his hooves, and carefully stepped down from the bed he was in.
Thankfully, the mattress was laid on the floor itself, so he didn't have far to step down to the floor. The hard metal felt uncomfortable against his hooves, but he steeled himself to get used to it. He didn't walk too far around, just twice around the bed. As soon as he felt his legs starting to shiver, he climbed back onto the mattress and laid down.
Finally, he turned to the one thing he was afraid of testing out. Seeing a warm bowl of soup, he focused his mind on it. He tried to send energy through his horn to grab hold of it. Slowly, the bowl began to lift in his magical aura.
As soon as the magic took hold, pain lanced down his horn and into his brain, twisting his insides into knots. Gritting his teeth, he struggled through it. He had expected this. His magic had interacted badly with the Dark Eco. If whoever had held him captive had been injecting him with the stuff - at least, that's what he interpreted from what he remembered - then it was to be expected that his magic would have suffered. Not only that, focusing magic at a distance like this was proving more difficult than he'd expected. The bowl was easier to hold as it got closer to him, but it wasn't even half way to him when it dropped from his grip.
"Whoa!" Daxter called out as he caught the bowl, managing to not spill anything. "Careful there, Shiny. Good food isn't exactly cheap, and this isn't even the syntho-crap most of the city settles for."
Shining managed a smile. "Hey Daxter...I was just-"
"Pushing yourself beyond your limits like the stubborn ass you are?" Daxter asked, setting the bowl down next to Shining. "Come on, eat up." He picked up a spoon. "Or do I have to spoon feed you?"
Locking his eyes on the spoon, Shining started to focus again.
"Oh, come on!" Daxter complained. "Didn't you just-"
"I need to overcome this somehow," Shining interrupted softly. "Even if it's one mouthful at a time..."
The pain wasn't as great holding the spoon so close to him, given how much lighter it was. He was able to feed himself a few mouthfuls of soup before his concentration failed. Daxter caught the spoon as it fell, before it could land in the soup.
"Not bad, not bad," Daxter complimented. "I'll feed you a few mouthfuls, and you can try again." Shining could only nod in return.
The meal continued like that, Shining levitating the spoon for a few mouthfuls, then resting as Daxter fed him a few more. Before too much longer, the bowl was empty, and Shining was able to set the spoon down in the bowl without dropping it. He let out a sigh, glad he'd worked through the worst of that little bit of magic usage.
As he pushed the bowl away, Daxter wrapped his little arms around his neck. "Shining...I was beginning to be afraid I'd never see you again...and even when I found you, I thought...I thought you might never wake up..."
Feeling the tears in his coat, Shining said nothing. Raising a hoof, he gently stroked his friend's back. Tears he'd accept, to help Daxter overcome this as well. He'd draw the line if he felt any snot. "And...Jak?" he asked hopefully.
"No word yet," Daxter replied, sniffling. Shining had apparently timed his question just right to avoid the snot. "I was lucky to even find you. I was raiding the dump for valuables to pawn off for credits the day before it was going to be incinerated when I found you."
Seeing just how downtrodden Daxter looked, Shining pushed aside his own worries and forced a smile onto his face. "Hey, if I made it, so did Jak. He's even tougher than I am, you know that."
"Yeah...I suppose so." Daxter turned to look out the window. "I just wish I knew where to look for him...or Keira...heck, I'd even be glad to find a trace of Old Man Samos at this point."
"So...where are we?" Shining asked curiously. While he did genuinely want to know, the surest way to cheer Daxter up was to get him talking.
"Haven City," Daxter replied. "One of the last vestiges of civilization, shielded from the assaults of the Metal Heads by the Eco Dome."
"Eco Dome?"
Daxter grinned widely as he raced up onto a nearby chair so he could look down at Shining the way Samos often had at all of them. "The Eco Dome is a shield surrounding the city. It was designed several hundred years ago by Mar-"
"Mar?" Shining gasped in shock, an old memory of a dream surging to the fore.
"The founder of the city," Daxter explained. "He's super famously historical. While his descendants still ruled the city, it wasn't uncommon for children of the line to be named after him." Not understanding Shining's sudden interest, he continued. "At any rate, the Eco Dome is maintained by five Eco Generators inside the Dome, one for each of the primary colors of Eco: Green, Blue, Red, Yellow, and Dark. It forms an impenetrable shield around the city from the ground up, that can only be passed with the proper keys, which are only issued by the government...or certain shady individuals who hire mercenaries."
"Or anyone with a shovel," Shining muttered.
Daxter blinked. "...what do you mean by that?"
"Well, you said it was an Eco Dome, right?" Shining asked. "Stops at ground level. So doesn't that mean anyone who could tunnel could get in and out at will?"
Daxter gulped loudly and rushed into the house's rafters. "I wish you hadn't said that!" he whimpered.
"Why?"
"Cause Metal Heads, according to rumor, are natural diggers!" Daxter blinked as Shining Armor suddenly appeared beside him in the rafters, clutching one of the roof beams. "Huh. I didn't know you could teleport."
"Me neither," Shining replied, staring down at the floor in terror.
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There is no need to worry, citizen! The Government will handle this!
Welp, shining learned Twilight's teleport spell. Good to know....I doubt the Dark Eco boosts his power like Jaks though.
Recovery and AdapTATION.
6640892
No. It's supposed to be adaption.
6640894 Sorry, I just never heard that word before. Likely because it's not on dictionary.com.
It seems that Ar-Mar is starting to recover. That, or the use of his magic is causing the Dark Eco to spread.
...
No, my bad. I was thinking Phazon for a second there.
6640907
Adaptation definition 7 reads, "Also, adaption", as the first two words.
If this explains why Shining's magic isn't as strong as Twilight's, then I'll take it. Heck, shut up and take all my credits!
6640923 That is the other brothers deal.
6640894 Adaption VS Adaptation.
Sounds like a good fiction debate to have.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
6640831 You mean the jackasses that I always ran into with bikes and then attempted to beat me into a pulp?
Welp, guess we know how Shining is going to handle his wedding when he gets back.
6641723 Sounds about right.
LET'S PLAY THE FLOOR IS LAVA GAME!!!!
Hey, it could be worse, you could have to deal with land sharks.
>"Or anyone with a shovel," Shining muttered.
Whats the Evil Overlord rule regarding having a child come in to poke holes in your plans? Cause that was honestly a REALLY dumb oversight. Like someone putting up a wall, and then people just walk around it. Sure it was high, but that didn't stop people.
7100241 That got me thinking of Shovel Knight. He will save the city.
7100241 you just destroyed the Mexican border wall
That's actually why you find Metal Heads in the sewers in the second game. Though they aren't able to get past the gates into the city proper.
At least until much later, that is. Nope, not giving any spoilers!
7100241
Ahem. I will have a child as a advisor. If he can see any holes in my plan, I will revise immediately.