Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Knight's Work Is Never Done ❯ Dark Horizon ( Chapter 5 )

A Knight's Work Is Never Done

Chapter 5: Dark Horizon

 

By: GINSAN

 

 

"So, who do you think he was Luna?"

 

The girls had eventually woken up, especially after Luna and Artimus had shown up. It took a little while for everyone to wake up. After they did though, they pounced on Luna and Artimus, trying to get as many questions answered as possible.

 

Luna looked thoughtfully over at Artimus, but he just shrugged his shoulders. "I can't say for sure. It is possible he was telling the truth. There was a planet Phaeton."

 

"WHAT?!"

 

All the girls at the meeting, except for Trista found this news very surprising. Darien didn't react at all. Mostly because he was wondering why Trista had opted not to join everyone else for this meeting.

 

Luna nodded her head slightly, as she continued. "I can't remember why, but during the Silver Millennium, it was destroyed. The remains of it eventually settled into what we now call the asteroid belt. It used to be a center for Spiritual Enlightenment, before it was destroyed. The survivors were scattered all over the remaining planets."

 

She stopped talking, as she thought over what else she could remember. She shook her head in frustration, as nothing else would come.

 

"Sorry, but that's all I can remember. How about you Artimus?"

 

Artimus took a while, before he started talking, obviously trying to think of how to phrase his words. "I remember about as much as Luna, but there is one other thing." He paused again, to make sure everyone was listening. "Phaeton never had a Sailor Scout to represent it. It always had a Prince. He wasn't around much though. I think Queen Serenity always had him out on patrols." He shrugged, as he looked over at Luna. "That's all I can remember. The information doesn't really help us determine who he is, but at least we can confirm that he could be on our side."

 

Silence met this, as they thought about it.

 

Eventually, Darien spoke up. "So how do we find out who it is?"

 

Luna and Artimus were silent as they thought this one over. It had been difficult enough to find the original Scouts, and they had had plenty of information on them. Trying to find someone they had very little information on would be a nightmare.

 

Finally, Luna spoke up. "The best we can do is hope that the next time he pops up, he's more talkative."

 

The others nodded at this, knowing that it was the only thing they could do. They couldn't pick up his energy signature anywhere, so they'd just have to wait for him to show up again. And hope, that the next time he did it wasn't because they were getting their butts kicked.

 

* * *

 

"Hey Hotaru! Wait up!"

 

Hotaru turned around, to spot a very energetic Morgan running up to her. Rini had missed school today, so she was on her way over to her house to bring her her homework. She was just about to walk up to her house, when Morgan had stopped her.

 

"Hello Morgan. I thought you had to go straight home today?"

 

"I did." Morgan was slightly out of breath, as she caught up to Hotaru. "Mom had someone pick me up from school, and bring me home. When I got there though, Jordan gave me this cake, and told me to take it to Serena." She gestured at the tightly bound box in her hands. "I'm supposed to give it to Serena, and give the note in my pocket."

 

Hotaru looked at the box, wondering at the condition of the cake, especially after Morgan had been running with it.

 

She started walking towards the house, when she realized what Morgan had just said. "Jordan made the cake? He's still in the hospital though, isn't he?"

 

Morgan shook her head. "Nope. He got the doctors to release him, so that he could finish recuperating at home. Apparently, the food didn't agree with him. He spent all day working on the cake."

 

Hotaru just looked at her for a minute, before shaking her head. The two of them reached the front door, and Hotaru pressed the doorbell. She looked over at Morgan as they waited.

 

How could Jordan be out of the hospital already? With his injuries, he should have been there for at least another month. It just didn't make sense.

 

The door opened, and Serena's mother looked out at the two girls. "Hotaru, Morgan. Rini is upstairs with Serena. They're trying to see who's the best one at that game of theirs." Mrs. Tsukino sighed. "They've been at it all day. See if you two can pry them away from it."

 

She smiled cheerfully at them, as she waved them inside the house. They took their shoes off, and quickly made their way upstairs to Serena's room. Even if they had never been there before, the screaming would have been an instant giveaway.

 

"It's my turn you little brat! Give me the controller!"

 

"No way! You went twice in a row, now I get two turns!"

 

The arguing stopped, as soon as Rini spotted Morgan, and Hotaru. "Hotaru! Morgan! Am I ever glad to see you!"

 

She tossed the controller aside, managing to smack Serena in the face as she did so. An angry Serena was about to smack her with the controller, when Morgan shoved the box into her face.

 

"This is for you. Jordan told me to give it to you. And there's a note too."

 

Serena took the box, as Morgan fished through her clothes, trying to find the note. As Serena opened the box, Morgan finally found the note, and gave it to her, while Rini, and Hotaru started looking at the delicious looking cake in the box.

 

"He said you should read the note, before eating the cake."

 

Serena nodded, as she opened the note, and read it. When she was done, her eyes looked like there were going to pop out of her head. She read it twice more, before handing it to Hotaru, and Rini to read. Both of them were bugged eyed as well, after they finished reading.

 

'This cake's for you. Think of it as a thank you present.

P.S. Don't let that brat Rini have any of it.'

 

"What?" A confused Morgan looked at the three girls, and the weird expressions on their faces.

 

She couldn't figure out what would be in the note, that would cause such a reaction in them.

 

Hotaru managed to speak first. "When exactly, did Jordan get released from the hospital?"

 

Morgan thought a moment, before replying. "I'm not sure, but he was home when Rini called me to invite me to the picnic at Kinso Park yesterday. I couldn't come, because he was home."

 

The three girls all looked at each other.

 

Finally, Serena handed the box to Hotaru. "Why don't you three take this downstairs, and have a slice. Make sure you save one for me."

 

Taking the hint, Rini and Hotaru dragged Morgan out of the room, and downstairs to enjoy the cake. As soon as they were gone, Serena rummaged around in her bed, until she finally found her wrist communicator.

 

She flipped it open, and pressed the button for Ami. "Ami, come in. This is Serena." Almost instantly, Ami's face appeared in the little communicator, Luna sitting on her shoulder. "Good, Luna's still with you. I have some good news, and some bad news for you."

 

Luna and Ami exchanged a wary glance, before looking back towards Serena.

 

"What's the good news?" Luna was skeptical, especially, since this news was coming from Serena.

 

"Well, me, Rini, and Hotaru know who Phaeton is."

 

Luna was silent for a moment, now afraid of what the bad news was going to be. "The bad news?"

 

"It's Jordan."

 

* * *

 

Everyone was crowded into the now familiar site of Rae's room. Ami, Lita, and Mina were sitting on Rae's bed. Rae, Amara, Michelle, and Hotaru were sitting on the floor, up against the wall next to the bed. Serena, Hotaru, and Rini were sitting where the table usually was. Even Trista was there, standing near the door. Darien was still at work, and unable to attend the emergency meeting.

 

Everyone in the room, was looking at Serena, Rini, and Hotaru. The three had just finished telling about how they figured out that Jordan was Phaeton. After a few minutes, all eyes swiveled, to look at Trista.

 

She just smiled, as she answered their unspoken question. "Yes, I knew. And no, I can't tell you anything more about planet Phaeton. That's up to him to tell you, or for you to remember. I'm sorry."

 

Silence, and frustration met her statement. They were usually able to get more information from her than this. Even if it usually was a riddle.

 

"So what do we do now?" Lita sounded a bit worried. "We could barely scratch that last monster, and then he came along, and barely lifted a finger to destroy it. What's to keep him from doing the same to us?"

 

A laugh from Trista directed everyone's attention back to her. "You won't have to worry about him attacking you. He can be trusted. That much I can reveal."

 

Silence again, as they though about that one. Even though they now knew who Phaeton was, they still weren't comfortable. Jordan, no matter what Trista's opinion of him was, was still someone they couldn't quite trust. Especially after the way he had treated them.

 

Finally, Ami voiced the question that many of them were thinking. "How did he recover from his injuries so fast? Mom said that his new X-Rays looked like he had never broken a bone."

 

Once again, everyone looked to Trista for the answer. This time, she had a surprise for them.

 

"I honestly don't know." She paused for a minute, as she thought it over. "My best guess, is that his powers have been altered somehow. I'm afraid you'll have to ask him for the answer to that question."

 

Silence again, as they tried to absorb the fact that Trista was stumped. She always knew what was going on, even if she couldn't always tell them. It was part of her job. The thought that there was something she didn't know, was something totally new. And frightening.

 

"Are you sure you can't think of a reason?" The usually quiet Michelle sounded perfectly calm, considering what Trista had just revealed.

 

Trista shook her head. "No. With everything I've seen from the Corridors of Time, I've never seen or heard of someone's powers changing like this. I'm more confused, than I've been in a long, long time."

 

This comment brought a few smiles, and even a small chuckle or two. Eventually, everyone decided that Trista was right. They'd have to ask Jordan.

 

"So who's going to do it? Who's going to go ask Jordan?" Lita looked at the group, noticing that quite a few of them looked away from her. "I'll go, if no one else will. He doesn't scare me."

 

Amara looked at her. "I suggest we all go. The more of us there are, the less chance of him pushing us around."

 

Eventually, everyone agreed on this, except Trista. "I have to get back to my duties. I'd only be a hindrance anyway."

 

With that, she made a polite exit from the room. Looked like it would just be the nine of them going to see Jordan.

 

* * *

 

An hour's time found the nine girls at the front door of the Mallone residence. Since most them had never been there, they found themselves staring a little overwhelmed. Rini and Hotaru had failed to mention that Jordan lived in a three story pagoda mansion.

 

"Wow."

 

Mina's simple statement seemed to adequately define what the others were thinking. The mansion looked like it was at least two hundred years old. They could make out some newer building behind the mansion, but they weren't noticeable this close.

 

Nervously, Rini reached for the very modern doorbell. She pushed the button, and everyone waited anxiously, to see what sort of a welcome they would receive.

 

They didn't have to wait long, as the door opened, and Morgan poked her head out. "Hey Rini. Hey Hotaru. Jordan's been waiting for you all to show up. Come on, I'll take you to him."

 

She let them all in, closing the door behind them. She lead them through the house, to the approximate middle of the large mansion. In front of them, was a wall of mirrors that went from the floor to the ceiling. Morgan slid aside one of the mirrors, to reveal a large courtyard. At one time, it had probably been used as a Zen rock garden. Currently though, it was being used as a practice ground.

 

Morgan halted everyone just inside the practice ground, as she cupped her hands. "JORDAN!"

 

Her yelled stopped him in the middle of a slow moving exercise, and he turned to face his sister. When he saw who was with her, he grabbed the towel at his feet, and cleaned himself up. He walked towards them, trying to get some of the sweat out of his long hair. It was pretty obvious from the way he moved, that he wasn't in any pain.

 

He stopped in front of Morgan, and looked at her. "You can take Rini up to your room now. And yes, you can borrow my new video. Just keep it down."

 

Morgan immediately latched onto Rini's arm, and dragged her off. As soon as the two were gone, Jordan lead the rest of the girls into the living room.

 

He waited until they were all settled in chairs or on the couch, before talking. "Lets get one thing straight off the bat. I don't like most of you, and I know most of you don't like me. I don't care."

 

Amara got up and looked like she was about to do something to Jordan, when Michelle grabbed her arm and tugged her back onto the couch. She glared at Jordan, as he continued speaking.

 

"However, I also know, that you can't handle these new monsters. Consider me an expert on them. Sure, you can injure them when they first appear, but it doesn't last. They longer they remain after materializing, the stronger they become, until almost nothing can stop them. You are all going to have to alter your attack methods slightly, unless you manage to defeat them at the first encounter."

 

He leaned back into his chair, and looked at Artimus. The white cat was sitting in Mina's lap, and was looking quite skeptical.

 

Jordan smiled, as he focused his attention on the cat. "Don't believe anything I'm saying, huh? Well, let me tell you something. Unlike all of you, I have a perfect memory from the Moon Kingdom. That's more than any of you can boast about. I know exactly how each of you died back then, except for Amara and Michelle. They were with me on an assignment at the time. When we finished and returned to the palace, it was in shambles. I don't feel like talking about what happened on that particular mission, and most likely neither will you two if you ever remember."

 

He looked at the puzzled expressions that were now on Amara and Michelle's faces. "I remember everything, because I made a few alterations to my Star Seed. And there's the fact that I didn't perish in the assault on the Moon. I was sent forward into the future, along with Amara and Michelle, by Trista. She distorted Queen Serenity's Sending slightly. Before that though, I set up a dream sequence that would restore all my memories as soon as I was reunited with my Energy Focus. Something didn't go according to plan though."

 

He paused, as he looked at everyone. "Some of my abilities were transferred to my physical body. In so doing, most of it's energy was drained. The powers that were transferred to my physical body, remained mostly dormant until I arrived here in Tokyo. They started to become active as soon as I came across my Focus. The Focus activated my powers, and my powers started to recharge my Focus."

 

He stopped again to hold up the crystal amulet that he had shown Ami and Hotaru. Now though, the symbol for the planet Phaeton glowed inside of it, for everyone there to see.

 

He tucked it back inside his shirt. "My dream sequence, wasn't triggered though, until the attack. One of my powers kicked in, and saved my life, and also activated the sequence. However, since I wasn't wearing it while I was in the hospital, it couldn't work. After you two left, I looked at the amulet for a while. I'm not sure when, but at some point while I was holding it, the dream sequence activated. You all can guess what happened afterwards."

 

He looked around at the girls, as he saw understanding, in most of their faces, and utter bewilderment in a few. "I got my memories back, healed myself, and checked out of the hospital." He shook his head, as Serena, and Mina finally started to get it. "I came home, and Morgan told me about your picnic. I decided that I would come and have a talk with you. That Devourer showed up, and I decided to see how you would do against it. We all know how that went, and that I stepped in to stop it. I might say, that thing was actually a lot stronger than it should have been. Almost as strong as one I fought back in the Silver Millennium."

 

He stopped talking, as he thought that over for a minute. The girls took advantage of this distraction, and hurriedly converse with Artimus.

 

"Could he really have altered the powers of his Star Seed?" Ami leaned in close to Artimus, as she whispered her question.

 

"It's possible, though I don't have a clue as to how he did it." Artimus sounded confused, even as he answered Ami.

 

The girls separated and thought on it, as Jordan started talking again.

 

"That's enough of my life's story. Back to the Soul Devourers. I'll tell you what they are.

 

"I'll have to start at the beginning though. I don't know if the Mauians told you what Soul Gems are. Basically, they are why you are a human, and not a plant, or some other kind of animal. Each one is unique and every plant, animal, and person has one. They are the essence of your being, and they give you your motivation, and enthusiasm for living. Without one, you would be nothing more than a living zombie. Living, but with no will power. No will to enjoy life."

 

He had to stop here, as something he'd rather not remember came to his mind. The scene of that poor village and all it's inhabitants.

 

He shook it off, as he continued. "A Soul Devourer, is basically a flawed Soul Gem. It craves power, and its only wish, is to be whole again. They absorb other, complete, Soul Gems in hopes of restoring themselves. This will never happen though, since the absorbed Soul Gems are repelled from the fractured Soul Gem. This means, that the Soul Devourer will never be satiated, and yet, it also means that the Soul Gems can be removed from the Soul Devourer."

 

He paused, as he waited for the information to be absorbed. "If anyone noticed, after I beat the Devourer in the park yesterday, I took it's Soul Gem. Right now, it rests inside of my Focus. This keeps it sealed away, and my Focus can remove whatever Soul Gems it had. If a Soul Devourer is defeated, you must get it's Soul Gem. You'll know what it is, as soon as you see it. Bring it to me, and I'll contain it. If you don't, the Soul Gem will vanish, and eventually come back. Ten times as strong, and a hundred times more difficult to defeat."

 

He stopped, and his expression let them know they could now ask any questions they had. Whether he answered them or not, remained to be seen.

 

Ami came up with one first. "How do we restore a Soul Gem to it's owner?"

 

Jordan sighed, and actually looked sad for a moment. "You can't. I spent years trying to find a way, and I never found one. I know there's a way, but I haven't found it yet."

 

The others remained silent at this for a while, before Mina finally asked a question. "So where do Soul Destroyers come from?"

 

It took Jordan a minute to figure out what she asked. "Soul Devourers, they're called Soul Devourers."

 

He was silent for a few more minutes as he thought over his words. "The Void. A pocket of reality, that exists outside of our own. It's physical laws tend towards the chaotic, which leads to the creation of Soul Devourers. It's environment causes extreme stress to Soul Gems, and prolonged exposure, ultimately, leads to them fracturing. Thus creating a Soul Devourer. How they manage to get into our world, remains unknown. As does a way to their world."

 

Everyone was silent again, either thinking over all the information they had gotten, or thinking up questions.

 

Hotaru finally came up with one. "What happened to Phaeton?"

 

It was obviously the wrong question to ask. Jordan's hands clenched into fists, and his expression showed a deep anger.

 

Just as soon as it happened though, Jordan relaxed, and looked at Hotaru. "It was destroyed. Destroyed, so that the rest of Kingdom would remain safe. I think that's enough questions."

 

The girls all got silent, and Artimus looked closely at Jordan. The momentary look of anger was gone, but there was still a trace of it. There was also a trace of something else, but he just couldn't tell what it was.

 

"There is one more thing I'll tell you, before I kick you all out." Jordan stood up as he spoke, causing everyone else to get up as well. "You have to actually want to kill these things. They aren't anything worth saving, and nothing you do to them will destroy their Soul Gems. Kill them, or they will kill you. Plain and simple. Now, you can all leave, or wait here for Rini and Morgan to come back down. I have things to do. Whatever you do though, do not go wandering around the house. I don't feel like picking up someone's mess."

 

Jordan left the room, going back down the hallway that lead to the courtyard. A soon as he was gone, everyone started talking at once. After a few minutes though, they all finally calmed down enough to actually hear what someone was saying.

 

Lita looked at Artimus, a severe look on her face. "It's funny how Luna didn't know all that stuff about Devourer's. And that you two don't remember anything about Phaeton. Start talking. Is he making that stuff up, or is it all true?"

 

Artimus gulped, as all eight girls fixed their eyes on him. "Uh, well. I don't know. It's almost like those memories are missing. I know that I know what happened then, but no matter what I try, I can't find those memories. Everything Jordan just said, sounded like the truth, but I can't be sure."

 

The girls sighed, realizing that interrogating Artimus was hopeless. They all plopped back down into their seats, trying to figure out what to do now.

 

Hotaru stood up, and started walking towards the stairs. "I'll go get Rini. We should probably leave now, before Jordan gets mad. I'm surprised he let us stay this long."

 

The girls looked at each other, as she headed up the stairs. She was right, Jordan didn't exactly seem like the person to host company.

 

"I'm going to take a look around! Rini said they had a game room around here somewhere." Serena dashed off down a hallway before anyone could stop her.

 

Rae sighed, as she looked at Lita. "You know she's probably going to end up breaking something, and that Jordan will most likely take it out on all of us, right?"

 

Lita sighed. "Probably. Lets go keep her out of trouble."

 

The two girls got up, and followed after Serena. Hopefully, she hadn't destroyed anything yet.

 

It took a while to find her. They hadn't found her in the game room. That was deserted. Instead, they found her peeking through a crack between two of the hall mirrors.

 

"Serena, what are you doing? We need to leave." Rae walked up to Serena, with Lita right behind her.

 

Not getting a response from her, Rae poked her in the shoulder. Nothing.

 

She walked around in front of her, and noticed that Serena was drooling. "Earth to Serena. Hello?" She waved her hand in front of her face, while Lita tried not to laugh.

 

Serena blinked her eyes, and looked blankly at Rae for a moment. She suddenly realized who it was, and looked behind, to see Lita laughing at her. A sudden blush crept up to her face, as Rae continued to look at her.

 

Rae fixed her with a curious look. "Just what were you looking at Meatball head?"

 

Serena's blush deepened, as she tried not to look at Rae. She started poking her index fingers together, as she chuckled slightly.

 

"Move aside meatball Head." Rae moved Serena out of the way, and put her own eye to the crack, to see what had Serena so worked up. "Wow."

 

Lita's curiosity got the better of her laughter and she poked Rae in the shoulder. "What is it? What could possibly be so interesting."

 

Rae waved Lita over to look through the crack.

 

Lita's posture slacked almost instantly. "Wow."

 

"That's what I said." Rae's posture was slowly starting to match that of Lita's.

 

The cause of their rapt attention was just beyond the mirrored barrier, flipping his body weight up and around a set of parallel bars. But the real reason Lita and Rae had become so senseless and the reason why Serena had been drooling moments before stemmed from the fact that Jordan had stripped down to the lower half of his red karate gi, which was cause for much feminine sighing. His torso was leanly built, very narrow in the hips and stomach but his shoulders widened out plenty to keep him from looking too overly skinny. The muscles in his chest, arms and back were toned to utter perfection, his biceps knotted and his flat abdomen slightly ridged with sinew. All of the lightly tanned skin showing was currently misted now with a faint skein of sweat as well, causing it to shine faintly under the halogen lights above.

 

Even as Rae and Lita watched, both drooling slightly now themselves, Jordan released his hold on the bars and came down onto the mat in a slight, faultless hop. They saw his muscled shoulders heave in a slight sigh before reaching back and tugging out the band holding his long hair at bay. He shook his head slightly, the curled tips swishing down well to his rear-end, then he suddenly grabbed it up and quickly re-tied the mass again in several deft twists, tying it back into a tail. Jordan shook out his arms slightly after that, then leapt back onto the lowest bar again.

 

"Come on, I want to look some more. It's not fair." Serena whined, as she tried to get in between Rae, and Lita, to see again.

 

"Don't you have a boyfriend?" Rae looked from the crack, and it's tantalizing view, to Serena. "What do you think he'll do, when he finds out you've been spying on other guys?"

 

Serena went back to touching her finger tips together, as her blush deepened. "I wonder if Darien can move like that?"

 

Rae and Lita looked back at her, as continued to poke her fingers.

 

Serena looked back at them. "What?"

 

Lita sighed, as she looked back for one finally glance. "I think we better go, before the others think something happened to us."

 

Rae peeked another quick look, before turning Serena around. She dragged her heels reluctantly, as Rae pushed her down the hall.

 

They came out of the hall and were met by staring looks.

 

"There you are. We were about to send a search party to find you three. We thought you might have gotten lost or something." Amara's friendly comment relaxed Lita and Rae, but Serena was still a beet red color.

 

Rini looked at her for a moment, before a wicked little grin came across her face. "Serena, were so doing something naughty?"

 

The fact that her blush deepened, didn't help Serena. She turned an even deeper shade of red, as she started to stare at her shoes. She fidgeted a bit, while everyone burst out laughing.

 

Lita finally took pity on her. "We found her down one of the hallways, peeking at Jordan. One word ladies. Damn!"

 

Morgan fell back onto the couch, laughing. "Not you too! Back home, I had to beat my friends off with sticks. It didn't help, that he used to flirt back a lot." A momentary look of sadness crossed her face, as thought of something. "I miss the old Jordan." The girls all looked at her, as she sighed, and stood up. "Come on, you should all go before Jordan has a cow."

 

Morgan managed to get everyone out the front door, just as Jordan came into the living room, toweling himself off. He glanced up from drying out his hair, as Morgan came around the corner.

 

"So, was I polite enough for you? I didn't yell at anyone, and I didn't kill anyone."

 

Morgan looked at him as she plopped down in her favorite chair. "Why were they here anyway?"

 

Jordan chuckled, as he wrapped the towel around his neck, and started for the stairs. "They wanted to ask me some questions about a tough homework problem." he started up the stairs, before stopping, and glancing back at her. "How'd they like my work out? I know at least two of them were watching."

 

Morgan laughed, as he started back up the stairs. "Actually, it was three of them, and Serena seemed to like it quite well."

 

"Heh. Well, I'm going to take a shower. If anyone else comes by, hose them down for me Nickie."

 

Jordan continued up the stairs as Morgan flipped the TV on. "It's Morgan!"

 

* * *

 

"You wanted to talk to me?"

 

Trista slowly sat down across from Jordan. She had gotten a message from Hotaru earlier, saying that Jordan wanted to talk with her. She was to meet him at the little cafe above the arcade. She wasn't sure what he wanted to talk about, but she had a pretty good idea.

 

Jordan nodded, as he gestured for the server. They quickly ordered a couple of drinks, then got down to business.

 

Jordan looked at Trista for a moment. "Why don't they remember anything about Phaeton?"

 

Trista remained quiet, as she thought how to phrase her answer. "The Queen did it. She thought it would be best, if no one else had memories of what happened on Phaeton. She wanted to spare you from the same treatment as what you received back then. She didn't want you to be as isolated as you were then."

 

Jordan laughed, the sound causing several people to look in their direction. "Please. She shouldn't have bothered. If I could bear it then, I can bear it now. And, I will bear it, because you are going to restore their memories." He raised his hand to stop her, as she tried to protest. "Hear me out first. You aren't the only who can read the time stream, and I'm not hobbled the way you are, with the Temporal Laws. I know, that something is going to happen soon. When it does, you are going to tell the Scouts the truth, and restore their memories of Phaeton. It's the only way they'll be able to survive it."

 

Trista remained silent a moment, as she thought over his words. "I know what you're talking about, but it's too far away to be able to determine what will happen. For all we know, it could be nothing more than ripple in the Time Stream, or an after effect from all the Time traveling that's happened recently."

 

"Or, it could be her. We have to be ready for anything and everything if the Scouts are going to survive this. And you had better be prepared to break the rules Trista, or they will break you. I have to go. I've got to go back to school tomorrow. I hope you make up your mind soon Trista. You aren't going to be able to hide behind your duty forever."

 

Jordan got up and left, paying at the counter for the two drinks. Trista remained in her seat, trying to understand what Jordan was hinting at. Who was this person that he thought was so dangerous?

* * *