Jak and Daxter: Heirs of Mar

by Blackdrag-rose

Brink: Retrieval

Since they were on a time clock, since they had no idea how long it would take for the unstable Eco Storm to spread out and endanger Haven, Sanctuary, and Kras, plus any other islands and continents they hadn't explored, Keira was only able to give Twilight thirty minutes to get ready for the next part of their quest, heading back down to one of the islands so she, Jak, and their sisters could recover the Eco Seeker. She wanted to give Twilight more time, especially after everything she had been through since they came to this part of the world, as her body had changed twice in a single day already and being out in the Brink was bound to influence her rapidly awakening Ottsel nature, increasing the amount of changes that she would be suffering most likely, but if they wasted too much time there was no telling what would happen. Twilight, for the most part, understood what she was saying and simply changed her clothing, putting on a blue shirt that showed off her midriff and a pair of blue shorts that had a slot for an Ottsel tail, which she had to make with a bit of her magic, while deciding not to cover up her right arm, because based on how fast she was changing she was sure that more would change in the near future and would make covering her arm up unnecessary. Keira, on the other hand, stayed in an area of the Pirate ship, so called the Phantom Blade, that had a number of crystals and devices to work with, meaning she would work on her own awakening nature as a Green Eco Sage and maybe make something to help them on their quest, though it also meant that she would be out of harms way, as it appeared that Phoenix was actually a good person, despite his first encounter with them, and Skyheed was definitely the villain.

Of course one of the things that Keira had to tell Phoenix was that Skyheed wasn't behind the changes Twilight happened to be experiencing, though as she spoke with him Jak and his sisters headed back to the Hellcat, as her readings indicated that the Eco Seeker had landed on the island they had crashed on earlier, to which he activated their ship as everyone took their places and departed before someone stopped them, allowing him to take them down to where they had crashed not even an hour ago.

"So, this is where you guys landed," Twilight commented, taking in the island in question, which had a volcano on it, while Jak flew down and landed in the makeshift loading bay that the old man she had been told about must have built for his own purposes at one point in time, though as he landed everyone climbed out and she got a good look at the hut that was on the other side of the door, before Starlight surrounded her with her magic, "Starlight, what are you doing?"

"Taking you to the Precursor Totems we found, since they gave us powers that don't harm us," Starlight replied, though as Twilight opened her mouth to complain, that more Eco was the last thing she needed at this point in time, she realized the reasoning behind why her sister wanted to do this, as it seemed like the Brink had Eco powers that were totally okay for a Sage or one in training to use, to which she simply sighed and nodded her head.

Jak said nothing as Starlight levitated herself into the air and carried Twilight with her, though none of them were used to seeing Twilight like this, something he hoped would pass in time since having her be afraid of her own powers weakened all of them, given that as a team they were nearly unbeatable and they had to get used to not having access to most of the arsenal they were used to having, before he noticed the pair move towards the Green Eco Totem, to which he said nothing for a few seconds and waited for them to rejoin him and Cozy. Sure enough he, Cozy, Daxter, and Tess discovered no new changes when Twilight was dropped onto the ground in front of them and Starlight landed nearby, where she confirmed that nothing happened when she had both Totems grant Twilight their power, meaning they might have found a way for her to slow down the transformation into an Ottsel, even though channeling these new Eco powers would also change her in due time, since it was Eco at the end of the day, but this was good enough. Twilight understood this fact and fell in with her siblings once more, while Daxter took his usual perch and Tess remained on Starlight's, as both agreed that riding on another Ottsel's shoulder seemed weird, even if Twilight wasn't a full Ottsel yet, before they made their way over to one of the metallic doors and found that it definitely headed towards the volcano, an area her siblings hadn't explored previously, even if the path seemed to have it's own hazards. The first thing that had to be done was tap into the crystals that were in the ground, in an area that was full of molten looking ground and platforms, despite the fact that each looked like no harm would come to them, to which Twilight stepped forward and used her new Eco power, which she called Eco Construct, on the crystals to raise a number of them to act as platforms so they could reach the top of this area.

Of course as Jak and his sisters climbed the area Daxter joined Jak in keeping an eye on Twilight, finding that she was a bit slower than usual, which was easily explained by the weight of her new tail, and the slight decrease in her height didn't do much to her ability to jump along the crystals and climb up to where her siblings were waiting for her, which caused them to smile as they quickly moved through the door the path had brought them to. The door lead outside and they found that they were on the outside of the volcano, on an earthen and slightly charred path that lead somewhere, though Jak was a little surprised to find another Precursor Totem resting nearby, to which they approached it and the four of them found a surge of Yellow Eco rushing into their bodies, awakening a new power that would be useful for whatever the future held in store for them. It was hard to tell what sort of power the Totem had given them, though since there happened to be a vent that was releasing what appeared to be Yellow Eco gas, or something to that effect as they stared at it, Jak approached it for a second and stepped on it, finding that nothing happened until he focused his mind and energy, allowing him to boost into the air like he had thrusters or rockets attached to his limbs, with small streams of energy coming from his hands so he could glide. It was an Eco Rocket Jump, as that seemed to be the simplest name for it, which made Twilight inform them that the new Red Eco power was more of an Eco Amplifier, causing Jak to chuckle, since it seemed like she had improved in a short period of time and might be back to her old self before they got back to the Phantom Blade, causing him to focus on their search for the Eco Seeker and any other powers that might be useful for this quest.

One thing that made traversing the area easier was the pockets of Yellow Eco gas that floated in the air, as if they moved through one with the Eco Rocket Jump ability active it allowed them to propel themselves even higher than before, though Jak found that the next part of the path seemed to be heading right into the volcano itself, meaning they had to deal with more heat than before, especially when they discovered that they needed to travel through what seemed to be the heart of the volcano. As such the siblings were very careful with this part of the path, as one wrong move would send whoever did it into the lava around them, though they also had to worry about falling rocks that seemed to be molten in nature, all of which told them that this place was a true hazard and that they really had to be careful, least something bad happen to them, before finding some spin poles that allowed them to move forward. Another thing the siblings discovered was that there were patches of ground, which were cracked and one would assume they were just damaged from the heat, which collapsed after one of them walked on top of it, so when they found one whoever stepped on it would continue and the rest would jump over whatever gap it created in a matter of seconds, even though Jak also knocked down a stone pillar so they could move forward. Such a thing allowed them to reach a few areas with patches of crystals that formed paths for them to use, allowing the siblings to smash and blast their way through the Armadillos that were in their way, a bad choice given the nature of this place, and some red robots that looked like Drill Bots, though once the siblings had smashed their way through their enemies they used their new Eco Rocket Jump to ascend to another level of the volcano, even if it meant taking out some more Armadillos before moving forward.

After that they used the Eco Construct power to form a walkway leading to some more collapsing rocks and a number of poles that seemed to lead even deeper into the volcano, making them wonder if there might be a creature of some kind in here, one they would ignore if that happened to be the case, though once thing they noticed as they moved even higher was that all of the lava below them was rising, causing Jak and his sisters to move faster, since getting caught by the lava would be terrible.

Given the trouble they were now in Twilight focused on using the Eco Construct power to form the walkways and paths for them to take, as it didn't seem to do much to her body and it was easier than having four people wiping out the enemies that were in the way, to which Jak nodded as he, Starlight, and Cozy focused on taking out the Armadillos and Drill Bots, as there happened to be a fair number of enemies in their way and they had to be dealt with. Of course they also had to take a few moments to avoid all the falling rocks and move around a fair number of fire vents, which spewed fire out of an area none of them could access, before finding their way to a set of jumps that required them to use the Eco Rocket Jump, due to a fair number of gas pockets that lingered in the air, propelling them even higher as each of them kept an eye out for the Eco Seeker, which had to be here according to Keira's readings. That brought them to another area with cracked bits of a path and some Drill Bots working on the ground, to which Twilight made her way over to a patch of crystals as the rest of her siblings dealt with the enemies that happened to turn on them a few seconds later, even if some Armadillos joined the fight for some reason and fell as quickly as the robots did, something that gave Twilight the time she needed to form a set of crystals that lead to where a familiar device rested. In that moment the siblings, this time all four of them, declared war on the enemies who turned on them once they landed on the platform that the Eco Seeker had landed on earlier, which had started out as a group of Armadillos and evolved into a set of Drill Bots, though it wasn't long before their foes were taken care of and Twilight picked up the Eco Seeker, knowing not to use Eco with it in her hands, otherwise she might be assaulted by more changes to her very being.

With that done she stashed it in Jak's pack before they used a nearby vent with the Eco Rocket Jump to launch themselves out through the opening of the volcano, allowing Jak and his sisters to glide down to where the last Precursor Totem was in before landing, to which they headed through the door and retraced their steps as they headed back to the docking bay, though as they climbed into the Hellcat, however, they discovered that the old man was sitting in the back section of their ship, like he belonged there.

"So, where are we going, sonny?" the old man asked, directing the question to Jak, since he was the pilot of the ship and he figured the others manned the other systems, even though he did pause when he glanced at Twilight, no doubt this was the first time that he had seen someone like her before, before he focused on the one he directed the question to, even if he wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon.

"Off the island. I take it you want to come with us?" Jak replied in kind, though since the old man had done them a service in repairing their ship, even though the wing had been snapped off and he had patched that up like it was never harmed in the first place, he felt that repaying him was the best thing, especially since his expertise with machines might work with Keira's and aid them in their quest to save the world, causing the man to nod his head.

In the following moments Jak took off from the island, which Twilight confirmed happened to be the same one they had crashed on when they first entered the Brink and meant twice was an odd coincidence, so she wouldn't be surprised if it happened a third time, before he pulled them into the air and headed for the Phantom Blade, where it looked like most of the damage had been repaired already, to which he docked the Hellcat and everyone climbed out as he sought out Keira and Phoenix, to give them the good news.

"This guy fixed up our ship, after your ambush gunned us down," Jak explained, though while he was neutral, since part of him was still annoyed by what had happened, he still felt that it was a good maneuver and had to wonder if Phoenix would make a good racer, especially if he was such a good pilot, before he returned to the topic at hand as everyone gathered in the area that Keira was working in, with Twilight sitting on a stool for now, "it also seemed like he wanted off the island we crashed on, twice I might add, and he's good with machines, so I figured we might need his help."

"Do you know who you are, old man?" Phoenix asked, where it was easy for Jak and his sisters to see that he was cautious and careful around the man that Jak had brought up with them, meaning that his presence was important, though if they were right about Skyheed and all the Dark Eco it might mean this guy was linked to it in some manner, but for now none of them said anything.

"Nope! This your ship?" the old man replied, where he confirmed that he still had memory issues and that it would take a long time before he remembered anything important, though Twilight did consider using her magic and Eco on him, as it would be nice to have a name to give him, before deciding that it was a bad idea, as she might suffer too much if she tried to help him out, "Nice gearing! Good coupling on the steering motivator. So, where's this little device that everyone thinks can save the world?"

Jak and his sisters glanced at each other, as no one, not even Daxter and Tess, had mentioned the Eco Seeker, especially in the presence of the old man, but somehow he knew about it and that meant they were right, he was important in some manner and it was good that they had crashed on his island, before they produced the artifact and handed it over to him, where he took it without delay.

"Well, well, well... very nice manufacturing indeed..." the old man said, where he studied the artifact with his goggles and his hands for a short period of time, either because this was the first time he had seen it or it was causing an old memory to surface, and if it was the latter he could be recalling it before speaking to them, before he sighed for a moment, "good tolerances too... top notch craftsmanship! Sadly, I can't help you."

"But you said..." Twilight started to say, though in that moment the old man tossed the artifact behind him, causing her to weave her magic around it and catch it before it struck the floor, though she only held it for a few seconds since Jak took it out of the field in question, allowing her to dismiss her magic as she huffed, just another sign that her body was changing if a simple spell was too much for her to handle.

"I know what I said, but I also know trouble when I see it," the old man replied, where he glanced at all of them for a time, no doubt reading their expressions, especially since his movements could have damaged the Eco Seeker to a point where it was unusable and they would be at square zero, with no leads on how to save the world, "...the kind of trouble I've been trying to avoid."

"You remember something?" Cozy asked, because while she wanted to throttle him, for nearly damaging the artifact that would help them save the world, any memories he recovered might be useful for allowing them to understand what had happened in the Brink, even though she was also worried about Twilight, since this was the first time her magic had been this weak and it could only mean bad things for her.

"Maybe... yes... I don't know," the old man said, where it seemed like he was sinking into his mind for a time, even though none of them had actually asked him to do something like that, but any information he had for them would be good for all of them to understand the situation, "I can see, huge warehouses filled with Eco, vast and dark... stacked as high as the eyes could see."

"Please sir... we need to find a new source of Eco to help put the world back in balance." Keira spoke up, where she took the Eco Seeker and carefully placed it in the hands of the old man, as he was the only one who could help them right now, and he probably knew that fact, while doing her best to show him that they needed his help, otherwise everyone else who called their world home would be in grave danger, "Please, I know you can do this..."

"You are the prettiest face I've seen in some time... this is nothing but trouble, I'll tell you that right now, but for you, my dear, I'll do my best." the old man stated, though it looked like it took him a few moments to regain himself so he could tell them that piece of information, where any trouble Jak and his sisters would deal with in due time, before he faced the rest of the group as he carefully handled the artifact this time around, showing that he was working with Keira in mind and not his own desires to be left alone, "See, this whole device has a self-fusing locking mechanism so not everyone can use, or misuse, the device. If you just time the locking clock and then reverse the polarity... presto!"

What he did was fiddle with the spherical nodes on the top of the artifact, almost like he was putting in a code or sequence that it would recognize, before he turned it upside down, likely so he could meddle with the polarity section of the artifact, and then turned it around again as the artifact opened up before their eyes, revealing that the insides had contained what appeared to be a clockwork device that functioned slowly, pointing in a direction while displaying coordinates, causing the group to stare at it for a time.

"The Eco Seeker doesn't have much power left, which means it's pointing to a new energy fuel cell." Keira said, as based on what they were seeing that seemed to be the best possible answer, which made sense even though most of the Precursor artifacts didn't work this way, or at least she was sure about that since she had read nothing about artifacts requiring a source of power.

"And if we get it, we should be able to get some better readings from it." Starlight remarked, because if the artifact was on fumes, or it's last legs, delivering a new power source would allow them to figure out where the Eco Core was, or where an important piece of the puzzle happened to be resting, in case it needed more than a fuel cell to be fully repaired, and she found that they weren't the only ones staring at the coordinates.

"It's pointing directly over the Brink... dangerous, to say the least." Phoenix stated, as he recognized some of the code that had been revealed and had a faint idea of where they needed to go to find the item they needed to power the Eco Seeker, though his statement was more for the group that came from the mainlands, as while Jak and his sisters were golden back in the other lands they still had no idea what dangers were out in the Brink.

"Which is hardly the worst danger we've been in," Twilight commented, as most of their adventures seemed to be tougher than this one, or at least by this point in time anyway, but she sighed for a moment as she considered something that the rest of the group didn't talk about, even though she knew Jak and her sisters might have thought about it, "besides, if we don't do anything soon, the Eco Storm will evolve to the point where they'll spread beyond the Brink and consume the rest of the world... everyone will die if that happens."

"Agreed, we can't let that happen." Phoenix said, where he let out a sigh, as if he didn't like agreeing with those that were strangers, or maybe it was the fact that they were right and it was more because he was ashamed of his own thoughts on the matter, before he turned towards the brute of his group for a few seconds, "Klout, set a course for the coordinates, but first we need to make a detour at Far Drop, to prepare for the long voyage."

Jak, his sisters, Keira, and their Ottsels were given rooms near Phoenix's, which happened to be near the docking bay, due to them being allies and guests of his crew, plus they hadn't been used and were kept in good condition in case some new people joined them, but it allowed them to rest and relax before they arrived at their destination, as they had a feeling that they would need to be in peak condition for when they reached Far Drop.