Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Knight's Work Is Never Done ❯ No Rest For The Weary ( Chapter 9 )

A Knight's Work Is Never Done

Chapter 9: No Rest For The Weary

 

By: Ginsan

 

 

"Where is she?"

 

Jordan was sitting at the same table in the cafe as he had the last time he met with Trista. This time though, she was late. Over an hour to be exact. As the minutes ticked by on his watch, his mood was not improving.

 

"Can I get you a refill?"

 

Jordan glanced up briefly at the waitress and nodded his head. She quickly refilled his glass and left to check on other tables.

 

Jordan watched her for a few minutes, before turning to Trista as she sat down. "You're late. You were supposed to be here over an hour ago."

 

Trista ignored him for a moment as she signaled the waitress. She quickly ordered a drink before finally looking at Jordan.

 

"I'm sorry." She waited for the waitress, then thanked her as the drink was placed on the table. "There was an anomaly in the Time Stream that I had to investigate.

 

Jordan remained quite a moment, as he took a sip from his drink. "Well? What was it?"

 

Trista looked down at her drink. "I don't know. It vanished before I could lock on to it."

 

Jordan glared at her as he took another sip. "How does something just vanish from the Time Stream? There is always a trace of anything traveling through it."

 

Trista shook her head. "I don't know. Something could have found a way to hide itself there."

 

Jordan was quiet a moment, thinking this over. "Worry about it later. For now, I need your help. Ami's been attacked by a Soul Devourer."

 

At the appalled look on her face, Jordan nodded his head and showed her Ami's Soul Gem.

 

"What happened?"

 

"Ask one of the other Scouts later. For now, I need you to get a few things that Jorowyn left with you." He paused for a moment as he thought it over. "I need the books on Kingdom history. His storage chest. And the sealed box, with the Phaeton symbol on it."

 

Trista gave him a weird look as he requested the last item. "You never did tell me what was in that box."

 

"And I'm still not. Bring the items by my place. If no one answers, just leave them by the door."

 

Jordan got up and left, once again paying for both drinks. Trista watched as he left the cafe and headed down the steps. She continued to watch until he disappeared around the corner. With a resigned sigh, she got up and left. Jorowyn had never been keen on explanations, so why think this incarnation would be any different?

 

* * *

 

"I just want to kill him. A quick choke hold, and a twist."

 

The rest of the Scouts looked warily at Amara as she paced around the room. Jordan had left over three hours ago, but she still hadn't calmed down. Ami's current state didn't help either.

 

"For the last time, calm down Amara. Killing Jordan, especially right now, won't help matters. What happened wasn't his fault and you know it." Luna stared up at her.

 

Amara stopped in her pacing to glare down at the little black cat. After a few moments, she relaxed slightly, and collapsed into an empty chair.

 

"I'm sorry Luna. I didn't mean it. I just. I just feel so helpless."

 

The expressions on the faces around her, mirrored her statement. They all felt helpless, and it was starting to eat at them.

 

Luckily, Trista arrived to offer a little bit of good news.

 

She knocked politely at the door of the room before she entered. Immediately, everyone looked at her.

 

"Trista. Are we glad you're here."

 

She smiled meekly at them, as she sat down in an empty seat. "I've just come from Jordan's, with some slightly positive news." She had everybody's attention as she continued. "He thinks he might have found an old journal, from the days of the Moon Kingdom, that might help. He's reading through it now, as well as several other texts and journals. For now though, he wants one of you to bring Ami to his house. Who ever it is, is supposed to get at least a week's worth of clothing for themselves, as well as Ami."

 

Amara jumped up, and practically yelled at Trista. "Who does he think we are? If he wants us to do something, he can damn well ask, not order us around like a bunch of servants."

 

Trista waited for her to calm down slightly, before continuing. "He said, that it was so he could observe her. He also wanted to run a few tests, that wouldn't work within the temple's energy field."

 

Rae nodded her head. "Makes sense. There is a lot of spiritual energy around here."

 

After several moments of silence, Lita stood up. "I'll do it. I can miss a few classes." She paused to grin slightly. "Besides, Ami said he's got a killer kitchen."

 

Her slight attempt at humor managed to get a few weak chuckles, and even a few smiles.

 

"Perfect. He said you should come by as soon as possible. You could wait until tomorrow morning if you wanted." She paused as she remembered the last remark Jordan had said when she dropped off the requested items. "Jordan also said that you should come up with a really good excuse, so her mother wouldn't get worried."

 

It was the last part, that caused the most commotion.

 

"And how do we do that? Ami's mom can spot a lie a mile away." Lita looked at Trista, begging her to come up with an answer. "How do we convince her that nothings wrong, much less explain why she's going to miss a week of school?"

 

Silence settled over the room, as everyone looked at Trista. Seeing no help from her, they tried coming up with excuses on their own.

 

Serena ventured one first. "Maybe we can say that she's on a special school trip. That she's going away with her class, on a research trip or something?"

 

Rae shook her head. "Sorry Meatball Head, wouldn't work. Ami's Mom would just call the school to find out why there wasn't any advance warning."

 

Serena lowered her head in defeat, and tried to come up with another idea.

 

"Maybe, we can just tell her the truth, sort of."

 

Everyone looked at Mina. Considering that her ideas usually backfired, they decided to go ahead, and see what she had to say.

 

"I know we can't tell her that Ami is a Sailor Scout, but maybe we can tell her what happened to her. That she was attacked by a monster, and was hurt pretty badly. And as for the reason why she won't be in school, it's because she can't be moved until she recovers."

 

Silence settled across the room as everyone continued staring at Mina.

 

"I knew it, another bad idea." Mina sighed dejectedly, and hung her head.

 

"Are you kidding! That idea just might work, with a bit of work." Raye patted Mina on the shoulder. "We might just get that brain of yours working after all Mina."

 

Everyone chuckled, as Mina glared at Rae for her last comment.

 

Lita stood up. "Sounds like we have a plan. I'll go tell her Mom in person, so it sounds a bit more convincing. I'm sure I can have all the kinks worked out of it by the time I get over there. I'll be back to tell you guys how it went."

 

Lita was out of the door, before anyone could say or do anything to stop her.

 

Amara turned back to face the rest of the group. "Well, I guess that's all we can do for now. Hopefully, Ami's Mom will buy it, and that pathetic excuse for a Senshi can restore her Soul Gem."

 

Though they weren't quite of Amara's opinion, everyone else did have the same hopes.

 

* * *

 

"Mrs. Mizuno? Hello?" Lita knocked on the door for the fourth time. "Are you home?"

 

She waited another five minutes, before using Ami's key. She had borrowed it, just in case. Apparently, it had been a good idea.

 

She let herself inside the apartment and looked around. "Mrs. Mizuno, are you home?"

 

Not getting an answer, she made her way to Ami's room and quickly packed some clothes for her. She left Ami's room and was about to leave, when she spotted a note on the refrigerator door. She walked over and read it. She sighed with relief as she did so.

 

'Ami. Medical Emergency. Out of Town till Monday.

Emergency Money in the usual place, call me if you

need me. Love Mom.'

 

Under it, was a phone number where she could be reached.

 

Lita grabbed the note and left the apartment. She wouldn't have to explain things to Ami's Mom after all. Relieved, she headed back for the Temple to pick up Ami, and to tell everybody that they were in the clear. Things were looking up.

 

* * *

 

"Hey, will someone open up already!" Lita continued to pound on the front door of Jordan's house, starting to get frustrated that no one was answering the door.

 

Lita was about to pound on the door again, and quite likely break it down, when an exhausted looking lady in a maid's uniform opened the door. "I'm sorry ma'am, I was upstairs cleaning the guest rooms. You are the two young ladies that Mr. Jordan was expecting?"

 

Lita started at the woman for a moment, before she noticed that the maid was starting to stare at Ami. "Yes we are. We'll go wait in the living room, while you go tell Jordan that we're here."

 

The maid shrugged her shoulders as she let the two of the into the house, though she watched as Lita had to push Ami to get her moving.

 

"Don't mind her, she's been under a lot of stress lately and she's kinda out of it."

 

The maid shrugged her shoulders again, and headed upstairs to tell Jordan that his guests had arrived a bit early.

 

Lita guided Ami inside, and towards the big sofa in the living room where she managed to get her to sit down. "Geeze girl. I hope Jordan finds a cure for you, because this is going to get tiresome."

 

Lita had just plopped down on the sofa herself, when Jordan came down the stairs. Lita was slightly shocked by the way he looked. In the few hours that had passes since she had seen him last, he had gotten rather haggard looking.

 

"What happened to you? You get mauled by another Devourer?"

 

Jordan ignored her comment as he looked at Ami. "You're a little early, I wasn't expecting you till later. Doesn't hurt I guess. Bring her, and follow me. I'll show you to your rooms."

 

Lita might have been able to brush off and ignore his rude behavior under normal circumstances, but not right now. "Alright buddy, I've had enough. It's bad enough that Ami's like this, but we don't need your attitude to go with it. If you want something, you can tell me why and ask for my help. I won't stick around, just so you can order me around like your maid."

 

Jordan looked at her for a moment, before slowly shaking his head. "Fine. Since you two are early, I'm going to go ahead and do the tests. I need you to bring Ami up to the guest bedrooms, so I can do so in peace. As for the maid, I've dismissed her until further notice. And I really don't have time to be explaining everything I'm going to ask of you right now, so just do it when I tell you to. Now, will you please bring Ami with you?"

 

Jordan, headed up the stairs, not even caring if Lita was going to follow or not. The tests could wait till the morning, and he still had plenty of reading to do. Very little of which, was going to be pleasant.

 

Lita watched him go up the stairs, before muttering something under her breath about ungrateful brats. She got Ami off the couch and headed up the stairs, being careful not to let Ami hurt herself on the way up.

 

Once at the top, she guided Ami down the hallway and stopped at the open door at the end of it. Peeking inside, she saw Jordan setting out a bunch of crystals.

 

Before she could say something, Jordan turned around to face her. "Lay her on the bed." The was a small gap, and an annoyed expression crossed his face. "Please."

 

Shrugging, Lita guided Ami into the room and laid her down on the bed. She stepped back as Jordan placed a couple of the crystals on Ami's forehead, and one each on her hands, and feet. Lastly, he placed one at the center of her chest, approximately where her heart was.

 

Jordan stood up after placing the last crystal, and Looked at Lita. "Now, we wait. I'm going up to my room to read some more. You can either stay here and watch after her, or you can explore the house. Just stay out of any rooms that are locked. The next room over is yours."

 

He turned, and started walking towards the door. "If you try and feed her something later, I'd go with soup. No one else is here, so you don't have to worry about that." He walked out the door, and disappeared to the left.

 

"Yah. Thanks for the tour Jordan." Lita rolled her eyes, and gave Ami a quick once over. "Guess you'll be alright for a bit."

 

Lita made her way back downstairs to grab their things. She put the two suitcases into their rooms before she started exploring. After looking around in the Library, she headed back downstairs to finish exploring. She stopped though, when she finally found the kitchen.

 

She walked through the door and practically started drooling. Ami had said it was a killer kitchen, but she hadn't said it was this good. Thinking back to what Jordan had said, Lita started looking through the kitchen for ingredients. Maybe a little Miso soup would improve Jordan's mood.

 

 

 

"Damn it!" Jordan's exclamation was punctuated by a rather large book flying across his room, and hitting the wall. He watched it for a few seconds,as it slid down the wall, to land in a jumbled mess on the floor.

 

A several thousand year old book, and he threw it at a wall. He knew it wasn't the best thing to do, but right now he was getting pretty damned aggravated. Seven books so far, and all he had found was that one passage about the separation process. Something he already knew enough about.

 

"What I need, is a fricking passage about how to fix the damned separation. Or at least something that was written in a language from this century." He paused a moment. "Or at least this planet."

 

Jordan sat back in the chair he was in and rested his head on the back of it. Getting mad a piece of parchment wasn't going to help matters.

 

After a few minutes, he sat back up and looked at his watch. Enough time should have passed on the crystal test he started a few hours ago. Time to go see what results, if any, he could get from it.

 

 

 

Lita was on her way up to tell Jordan that she had fixed dinner, when she spotted him in Ami's room. She walked in and noticed that he was examining the crystals that he had placed on Ami earlier. They were laying in a small pile before him and he was looking closely at them, one by one.

 

"What are you doing? Or is it some secret I'm not allowed to know?"

 

Jordan continued to stare at the crystal in his hand for a moment, before placing it on the ground, and looking over at her. "It's too complicated to explain fully. To put it bluntly though, the crystals were scanning her body. None of them have changed color, except for the ones that were on her forehead."

 

"And that means what?"

 

"That, other than there being no Spirit energy whatsoever, there's nothing wrong with her." An annoyed look crossed Jordan faces, as he looked back down at the crystals. "Which means that I can't figure out what the problem is, or why I can't get the Soul Gem to return to her body."

 

Lita looked at him for a minute. "Well, since it doesn't look like you can do anything right now, I've got some Miso soup downstairs. You should get some, it'll do you good. Especially since I don't think you've eaten anything all day."

 

Jordan looked at the crystal for a few more seconds, before nodding his head. "Why not. I need a break anyway."

 

Jordan and Lita headed back to the kitchen, where she had set out two bowels and some glasses. "I didn't know what you liked to drink, so you'll have to get your own."

 

Jordan nodded and headed to the fridge. After looking around for several minutes, he pulled out a pitcher of milk. After pouring a glass of it, he put it back, and sat down in his seat.

 

"Alright, so what is it?" Jordan started down at the bowl, and the unfamiliar contents.

 

"Miso soup. I was surprised you had the soy for it in your fridge."

 

Jordan shrugged, and tried a spoonful of it. "Not bad." Jordan paused for another spoonful. "Blame it on Hotaru. She got Morgan started on the stuff."

 

"You've never had Miso soup?"

 

Jordan shook his head. "No. Never really wanted to. It's good though. Can I get the recipe?"

 

Lita nodded. "Sure thing. I'll write it down for you after I clean up."

 

Jordan paused with the spoon halfway to his mouth and stared blankly at Lita. "What was that?"

 

Lita gave him a puzzled look. "That I'd give you the recipe."

 

"No, no, after that." Jordan seemed frantic as he dropped his spoon into his bowl.

 

"That I'd do it after I cleaned the dishes. Unless you want dirty dishes back in the cabinets."

 

Jordan jumped up and almost knocked over his bowl. "Lita, I could almost kiss you. Almost. You're a genius."

 

Before she could say anything else, Jordan was out of the kitchen and halfway up the staircase.

 

"Uh, thanks. I think."

 

 

 

A few hours later, Jordan was in much better spirits than he had been that afternoon. Never mind that it was after midnight.

 

"That's it. It was so damned obvious. No wonder I missed it." Jordan placed the last of the journals and books back in the box, all except for the two or three that he would need. "Now, let's hope it works."

 

Jordan made his way from his room and down to Ami's guest room. Journals in hand, he made his way into the room. Ami was still laying on the bed, and Lita was asleep in a chair next to her.

 

Setting the books down on the side of the bed, Jordan nudged Lita with his foot. "Hey. Wake up."

 

A groggy Lita looked up at Jordan and blinked her eyes. "What time is it?"

 

"One thirty in the morning."

 

She looked at him for a minute, as she continued to wake up. "And why are you waking me up now?"

 

"Simple. I've got the cure." A grin flashed on Jordan's face, before turning into a slight frown. "I think. I can't be sure till I try it." He looked at the books. "It was in there the whole time, I just couldn't read between the lines."

 

Lita looked up at him, as she stood up and stretched. "What's that supposed to mean?"

 

"The books all kept talking about the victim's body, and that no matter how it was treated, they could never return the Soul Gem. It wasn't until what you said downstairs, that I realized that none of the books ever mentioned looking at the Soul Gem for any problems."

 

"So the problem isn't with Amy?"

 

Jordan shook his head, as he picked up one of the books, and flipped through it till he found the section he wanted. "Listen to this. 'These creatures are the ultimate Abomination. Coming from a reality much harsher than our own, their very being is distorted beyond normalcy. Once in our world, they begin to contaminate their surroundings.'" Jordan closed the book and looked at Lita. "They knew the answer even back then, though they didn't realize it."

 

Lita looked at him. "You mean the Soul Gem won't go back because it's been contaminated, and not the body?"

 

Jordan nodded his head. "Yes. It'll be a bit tricky, but I found a way to modify an old Healing Spell that should do the trick."

 

"Is it dangerous?"

 

"Possibly. I'm going to try and start now. If you want, you can wait out in the hall."

 

Lita thought it over for a moment. "No, I'll stay."

 

"Alright. Step back though."

 

Jordan waited till Lita stepped back a little, before picking up the largest of the books he had brought with him. He flipped to the section he needed, and read for a moment before he held up his pendant.

 

Lita watched from a corner of the room, as Jordan's pendant flashed and he changed into his Phaeton Knight form. She was slightly surprised that he didn't have to use an activation phrase, but then again, neither did Darien.

 

As she watched, Jordan continued to hold up his pendant as it slowly began to glow. When the glowing became steady pulse, Jordan brought out Ami's Soul Gem. He placed it over Ami's body and left it floating in the air. The Soul gem began to glow, and pulse in sync with the pendant. She guessed everything was going right so far.

 

Jordan knew something was wrong. The modification was working, but it was taking too much energy. It felt like every spark of energy in his body was being used for this. He could barely maintain his transformation. Sweat began to bead on his forehead under the helmet, and fatigue began to set in all over his body. He wouldn't be able to last long at this rate. If he could just hold out a few more seconds though, it wouldn't matter.

 

Lita continued to watch as both the pendant and the Soul Gem began to glow brighter. After a few seconds, the Soul Gem flashed, and vanished. Immediately afterwards, Phaeton's armor shimmered and melted away to leave Jordan. He stayed still for a second, before the arm that was holding the pendant fell to the floor and he collapsed forward, to lay on the edge of the bed.

 

She ran over to him to see what was wrong. "Jordan. Jordan. You OK?" She shook him a couple of times, before checking his pulse. "What's wrong Jordan? Come on, snap out of it." His pulse was erratic and his breathing was very shallow.

 

As she moved her hand from his back, to try and sit him up, she noticed that it was wet with something. Looking closer, she realized it was blood. She looked at Jordan's back, and noticed that his shirt was soaked with it.

 

"This is so not good."

 

* * *

 

It was dark. And cold. So cold. And empty. Everything around her was black, and featureless. She didn't know where she was, or how she'd gotten here, but she knew she was in trouble. Ami remained curled into a ball, as she wished desperately for someone to save her.

 

Every time she tried to think about what had happened, all she could remember was someone yelling, and then an intense amount of pain. She couldn't remember any more, no matter how hard she tried.

 

She didn't know how long she was there, or how long it had been there, but she noticed that a light was slowly starting to brighten near her. The longer she watched it, the brighter it got. After a while, it settled into a glowing sphere of light about arm's length from her.

 

As she continued to look at it, it began to slowly drift in her direction. It stopped a few inches from her face. When she looked into it, she saw nothing but white light at first, then slowly an image began to form.

 

She didn't know where it was at, but she recognized two people in it. One of them was Lita. She seemed to be really worried about something, and was leaning over the second person, trying to do something. The second person, looked like Jordan. She couldn't tell for sure, since Lita was blocking most of his face.

 

After a few seconds of watching the image, sound slowly began to come from the light. It was faint at first, but then it started to come in at a normal volume.

 

"Come on Jordan. What's wrong with you. Wake up. Did you finish healing Ami, or not? Say something, Damn it! How'd you get hurt so badly anyway?"

 

As Ami continued to look, she noticed that Lita had Jordan's shirt off, and was trying to bandage something. As she looked closer, she noticed that Lita's hands were covered with blood.

 

"Jordan!"

 

Ami reached out and grabbed the sphere. Everything around her flashed, and changed.

 

* * *

 

Lita was starting to get frantic. Ami was still laying on the bed, though she seemed to be asleep now. Jordan was laying on the floor, bleeding everywhere. Nothing she tried could stop the bleeding. She had manage to take his shirt off, and look at where all the blood was coming from.

 

It wasn't pretty. There were several wounds all over his back, that looked like someone had stabbed him repeatedly with a spike. The blood was coming from these wounds. She'd never seen anything this bad, and she wondered how Jordan had gotten them. More importantly, how long he had had them?

 

As she searched frantically for something to use to try and staunch the blood, she heard a faint groan from behind her. Looking back, she saw Ami sitting up in the bed holding her head.

 

"What happened to me? Where am I?"

 

"Ami!" Lita hugged Ami, and tried not to get any blood on her. "Thank God you're alright. I was worried that Jordan hadn't been able to heal you."

 

Ami looked at her for a moment before noticing Jordan on the ground behind her. "Jordan? What happened to him?"

 

Lita shook her head as she let Ami go, and tried again to stop the blood. "I don't know. He just collapsed a few minutes ago after trying something on you to return your Soul Gem to your body. I checked on him, and found all this blood. And I can't get him to wake up."

 

"Here, let me." Ami got off the bed, and grabbed the sheet. She wrapped it around Jordan as tightly as she could and tied it in a knot. "That should do for now, though we should get some proper bandages on it. Now, will you tell me what's going on?"

 

Lita nodded, and began to tell her everything that had happened so far during that very long day. She couldn't tell Ami what had happened inside the building, but Ami remembered what happened.

 

"I know what happened. I remember now. Phaeton came in, to try and save me. As he did, some monster called Floran blocked him. While she said something to him, something attacked him from behind. He was stabbed by a lot of needles. After that, all I remember is Jordan screaming and a large amount of pain. And then nothing but dark emptiness, and cold."

 

Lita looked at her, then gave her another hug. "Girl, I'm just glad your back. As for Jordan, if he was injured then, how come he didn't start bleeding until now?"

 

Ami shook her head. "I don't know, but I think we should call the others. At least let them know I'm OK."

 

Lita nodded, and stood up. "Will do. I'll go wash my hands first, then I'll call Rae's place."

 

Lita left Ami with Jordan, who was now laying in the bed. His skin looked pale, but he was still breathing that was something.

 

"Oh Jordan. Thank you for saving me, but please, be alright."

* * *