By the time Xeros was done, the mess left behind was no longer recognizable as human remains, much less those of any particular Original. Just a small, well minced pile of skin, bone and cloth smeared in what could have easily been grey and red jelly was all that was left to cover in loose dirt and straw. Xeros kept one of Nny's distinctive shoe buckles as a medal, a practice which Jak seemed indifferent towards but Axel was revolted by. By the time the group was under way again, Xeros was already beginning to heal, as per the restorative qualities of Fiction. She was also utterly silent. Axel could understand her need for revenge, even her need for murder, but the mutilation of Nny's corpse had disturbed him. Xeros had never seemed especially stable to him, but he assumed correctly that nobody in Fiction really was. Now he viewed her as downright psychotic.
"We'll need to make a detour." Xeros said abruptly, her fog returned completely. "Through the Heartwoods."
"The Hell? You really are trying to get us killed, aren't you?" Jak said, shocked.
"Explanation please." Axel griped, becoming extremely tired of not knowing what was going on.
"The Heartwoods are a dangerous portion of fixed land, occupied most often by bands of rogue Fan Characters. They're the base of operation for no less than five raider tribes and countless fictional villains. Sephiroth, for example, once made his home there. Avatars don't like going there, which is advantageous for us, since I believe we will have a great deal of offended Avatars after us fairly soon." Xeros explained in her deadpan way.
"And why would that be?" Axel asked skeptically.
"Because I killed Nny. He was a fairly popular Original, and will be missed by his fan club. I'm sure they would like to exact revenge on us." Xeros said unflinchingly.
"You got us into one Hell of a fucking mess, bitch." Jak growled, raising his rifle and aiming the barrel at Xeros' head. "Maybe if I shoot you, the Avatars will leave well enough alone."
"I wouldn't bet on it." Xeros said simply. "In fact, denying them their revenge might just enrage them more."
"In that case, get out of here." Jak ordered, shooing her with his gun. "You go our way, we go ours."
"Is that really fair Jak? If she hadn't killed him, he would have certainly killed her. Maybe one of us." Axel pointed out smoothly.
"She's insane Axel! A liability." Jak argued with a scowl. "You really can't trust Fan Characters to be able to control themselves. I mean, when you're invented by a hormone crazed teenage girl...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
"Look, I thought we established that we three.." Axel began.
"Four!" Daxter interrupted.
"...would be better off with each other rather than traveling separately. What Xeros did was pretty stupid, and we're all going to suffer for it, but I think we are all going to suffer more if we split up now." Axel pointed out.
Jak considered quietly before allowing his weapon to slack, "Jackass." he said, in the form of a concession to Axel's argument.
"Good. Now that we're all friends, let's get this show on the road. The next 12 hour shift in scenery probably won't be as kind as this current one is." Axel said, nodding for Xeros to continue.
Axel's guess at the next shift turned out to be correct, because the next desert that manifested itself was a barren, alien landscape with deep canyons cutting stark scars across the otherwise flat, red rock. Perhaps there was water at the bottom of these ravines, but none of the party was willing to take the plunge to check.
"I recommend resting for at least eight hours, and waiting this desert out." Xeros proposed. "We won't make much ground trying to avoid those canyons."
"Finally, a good suggestion out of you." Jak grumbled. "I'll take the first sleeping shift."
"I'll guard then." Xeros said, summoning her gisarme and sitting cross-legged on the ground. "You can sleep too Axel. I have an eye for each of you."
"Uh hello? What about me?" Daxter said, waving his hand. "Who's gonna keep an eye on me?"
"Sorry, I wasn't taking food items into account. I'm sure I can spare some attention to ensure something horrible doesn't carry you off." Xeros said, demonstrating that perhaps her fog wasn't corrupting her personality as much as before.
"Actually, I'll pass." Axel said, sitting down as well.
"On what, sleeping?" Jak asked with disbelief.
"Yeah. I'm trying to figure out what Nny said to me. That warning." Axel said off handedly, summoning some flames to toy with as he thought.
"I wouldn't take Nny's words to seriously. He was deranged." Xeros warned, watching the flames scurry alone Axel's fingers.
"Says you." Jak snorted, rolling over to sleep. Daxter cast Xeros a scared glance and scuttled behind Jak's boot. In seconds, both of them were sleeping lightly. Axel noticed Jak's ears remained peaked, listening for any disturbing sound.
Hours passed in silence as Axel ideally played with his fire. What bothered him about Nny's warning was the 'Even Stevens' bit of the speech. I know that there are plenty of people who would want to 'haunt' me, probably get even with me. But that's not much of a hint. 'Even Stevens'...it just seems out of place.
"Axel." Xeros said quietly, drawing him out of thought.
"Mm?" He asked, slightly annoyed at being disturbed from his puzzling.
"Nny's corpse...I'm sorry you saw me do that." She said flatly, staring fixedly at the grey horizon.
"But you're not sorry that you did it." Axel pointed out.
"No." She admitted. "You wouldn't understand unless you knew what he did to people. One of my Fan Characters, Kelsie...she was supposed to fit into a Media called 'Harry Potter' or something...she was a great magic user, but very young. Nny scalped her while she was still alive, deconstructed her brain and bled her out. She took a long time to die. He did it because I was selfish." Guilt snuck in behind Xeros' pupils, but it did not weaken her gaze. "He haunted the village like a plague, and I'm sure he took other lives as well, from other villages or traveling groups. Death was not an accurate punishment for his crimes."
Axel narrowed his eyes and examined Xeros' face. "Why are you telling me this?" She didn't say anything, still glaring forward. "Do you plan on apologizing to Jak and Daxter as well?" he persisted.
"I'll be over here." Xeros said smoothly, standing up and moving away from the circle.
What the Hell was I thinking? She berated herself as she tried to move calmly He isn't the one I care about. Just a pretty face. Xeros kicked a rock in frustration Imitation or no, I'd rather have the Axel I knew than that bastard Original. Ferocity smote the memory of sadness that rose like bile whenever she thought of the times before her author wrote 'the end' and severed the soulless semblance of romance Xeros and Axel had shared. I'll find him. I've searched this side of the mountains again and again, and never found him. When we cross, I'll keep looking, and he and I will cross to Reality. Together. Fuck that Original. The face can be the same, but the character's different. This seemingly satisfactory rhetoric should have settled the matter, except for a disgusting purr from a dark corner of her cerebrum which she dared not address directly or even acknowledge; the superstitious fear of saying the Devil's name. What if it's this new character you want to cross with now? What if you want to experience feeling for him…?
Meanwhile, Axel remained unconcerned by Xeros' clumsy apology and subsequent suspicious departure. If she was paired with a version of him in her story, it was only reasonable that she would be at least a little attracted to the Original version. And besides, I'm so damn irresistible, who can help it? He smirked. In fact, he considered her interest in him, if it was even strong enough to call it that, extremely useful. Makes me the less likely choice to be...how did Nny put it? 'Thrown to the wolves'. He thought with satisfaction. And speaking of Nny...there is still the matter of that warning he gave me. Talk about annoying with a capital 'A'. Axel reclined on the rock, looking up at that unfailingly grey sky, not obviously dawn or dusk. Guess it's what you make of it. Dawn, dusk... Then it came to him. "Oh fuck." he said aloud. "Even. Vexen."