~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Don't judge me by my past. I don't live there anymore."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jordan woke up feeling stiff but comfortable, he was almost about to fall back to sleep, pulling the blanket gently around him tighter until he realized that there was arguing in the other room and one sentence caught his attention.

"You should have left Sky alone!"

Jordan's eyes opened, he looked at the couch, not seeing Sky on it anymore making panic set in him. 'I knew I shouldn't have fallen asleep! Not when Tom is here!' Jordan thought before he pushed the blanket off him and went into the kitchen seeing Tucker, Sonja, Ashley, and Jess arguing with each other and Ian in the middle of it all, barely able to get a word in. Ian looked at Jordan, his eyes widen in horror. Ian hit Tucker, Tucker glanced at Ian.

"What the ne--Jordan!" Tucker shouted when he saw Jordan standing in the doorway. Everyone went silent and turned to Jordan. Jordan crossed his arms.

"Where's Sky?" Jordan asked.

"Ask Tom," Ashley said instantly. Jordan glanced at her as Tom shook his head.

"Hey! Don't try to pin this on me! You--" Ashley looked at Tom.

"No! We will! Don't you understand that he was hurt and needed to heal? That means he shouldn't leave the house, Thomas!" Ashley snapped at him. There was a knock on the door, the others arguing again so Jordan went to the door, opening it and locked eyes with Noah.

"What are you doing here? Let me guess, Linda asked you to watch me? Is that--"

"No, Prince Tyler asked me to watch Sky and Ian. you are a General, you should be able to protect yourself. I know where Sky is by the way." Noah said.

"Where is he?" Jordan asked leaning against the doorframe. Noah crossed his arms at Jordan, not speaking. Jordan stared at Noah. "Noah, grow up please and just tell me. We're both fighting for the same side."

"He's at your friend Shelby's place and by the way, this guy you were looking for, Quentin was it?" Noah asked. Jordan nods, Noah uncrosses his arms. "Quentin is at Shelby's too....you're losing your touch, General. And by the way." Noah slaps Jordan. "Don't talk to Linda like that ever again." Jordan chuckled softly as he touched his chin, adjusting his sore jaw as Noah walked away. Jordan closed the door, he turned around seeing the others staring at him with wide eyes.

"He just slapped you," Ashley said. Jordan nods.

"Yeah...I kinda deserved it," Jordan said. Jordan looked at Ian. "Come on, we're getting Sky back."

"Do you want--" Jordan looked at Tom.

"I think you've done enough, Tom. Come on, Ian." Jordan said before he walked out, Ian following him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Jordan and Ian got to Shelby's, Sky was sleeping in her guest bedroom, Quentin and her sitting on the couch. Ian went to check on Sky while Jordan talked to Shelby and Quentin. Ian opened the door, cracking it to look in, and he saw Sky curled up in a bed, sleeping, but as he was about to leave, he heard Sky whimper making him stop. He looked back, hearing him whimper again.

"Sky?" He questions slowly stepping in. He heard him whimper again, his blankets twisted and clutching the pillow. 'Oh, crap.' Ian thought before he went over to Sky and gently shook him. "Sky! Sky! Wake up!" Ian shook him a few times and he finally woke up, gasping and gripping his hair in his hand. "You okay?" Sky nods a bit.

"N-Nightmare...I'm fine." He mumbled. He looked at Ian, his eyes soften a bit. "What are you doing here?" Ian smiled a bit.

"I'm sorry for what happened at the bar, I should have stepped in, I know that now." He said. Sky looks away from him.

"It's fine, Ian...I'm exhausted, so can we..." Sky trailed off and Ian nodded.

"Yeah, go to sleep, let your foot heal," Ian said before he let Sky lay back down, Ian leaving the room, shutting the door behind him. He went back to the living room, seeing Jordan sitting down and the three talking. Jordan looked at Ian.

"He okay?" Jordan asked. Ian nodded as he sat on the couch, Jordan looked at Shelby. "This is Ian, Sky's friend. Ian, this is Shelby." Shelby gives Ian a smile.

"Hi." She said as Ian gives her a smile.

"Have you heard anything from Max?" Jordan asked. Shelby looked at Jordan, shaking her head.

"No, but I bet he's busy helping King Mitchell." She said. Jordan nods a bit.

"What's the situation in Shivoa right now?"

"Bad, King Mitchell issued an evacuation of his citizens and the town of Fadea as well. The Magic Council agreed to housing his citizens and the Fadea citizens, just till the dark mages are pushed off the island. They should be evacuating right now." Shelby said. Jordan nods, Ian tilted his head a bit, confused.

"Wait, but why is the Magic Council helping? I thought they didn't want to be involved in human problems?" Ian asked. Jordan looked at Ian.

"Shivoa and Laenadur have one of the oldest alliances, they have been working together since Shivoa was created. The Magic Council will come to Shivoa's aid, no matter what the conflict might be, so it makes sense the Magic Council is letting King Mitchell's citizens be housed in their city. Shivoa has done the same thing before, Shivoa has stepped in with magic conflicts in the past." Jordan explained. Quentin looks at Ian.

"When people say that you shouldn't mess with Shivoa, they mean it. Sure, they are in a very bad position right now, but the Magic Council won't let Shivoa fall. They care too much about the alliance between them and King Mitchell...and they did push the dark mages towards Shivoa on accident. Speaking of Shivoa, a messenger was here in Avalon, he wanted to speak with you." Quentin said looking at Jordan at the end of it. "He gave me a letter, it is from King Mitchell, he had to return to Shivoa." Quentin hands Jordan the letter, Jordan opened it up, reading it to himself. Ian looked at Quentin.

"What's King Mitchell like?" Ian asked him. Shelby smiles, looking at Ian, starting to talk but Jordan tuned her out as he finished reading the letter. He stood up, leaving the room, Quentin stood up, following him.

"What did it say?" He asked.

"He's requesting aid, this letter was addressed to the former King Nathan, not to me. We need to get to Shivoa." Jordan said before he knocked on the guest bedroom door. Jordan looked at Quentin. "Gonna come out of retirement? I could use your help, Quentin." Quentin nods, looking at the door.

"Yeah, besides, Sky doesn't seem to be in the best shape either. And if I know you, General, I know you are basically allergic to any type of hospital and filter out any and all medical advice given to you, so it would be better for his health if I come and look after him while we're on the road. So I'm coming along with you guys and I'll get us transportation. Meet me outside Ivory Woods in two hours." Quentin said to him. Jordan nods.

"Sounds good," Jordan said as Quentin left. Jordan went into the room, looking at Sky. He went to the lantern that sat on the nightstand, opening it and letting the flame inside light the room. Sky groaned. "Sky I hate to do this, but I'm gonna need an answer about if you are with us or not...you can either stay here with Shelby or continue traveling with me." Sky opened his eyes, he looked over his shoulder, at Jordan.

"I thought I had no choice." Sky said to him. Jordan shakes his head.

"No, you have a choice, you are safe here, Ashley, Jess, and Shelby can keep you safe. Not to mention Sonja, Tom, and Tucker as well. They are friends of mine and I trust them...you should too. But if you do stay here, you need to realize that you would have force not only me but King Mitchell as well, into a corner." Jordan said. Sky looked away from him, he pushed himself to sit up, thinking before he spoke.

"I'm not king material, General. I-I don't know if you know this, but I freeze up a lot and..don't really..talk a lot." Sky said. Jordan nodded.

"Oh trust me, I've noticed that. But do you want to change that?" Jordan asked. Sky nodded making him smile. "Good, because you won't change that staying here. Like I said before, you aren't gonna be alone in this, we won't let you fight alone, Sky. I think you've been hidden in the shadows long enough, don't you agree?" Sky looked at him, hesitating but nodded. Ian walked into the room.

"I'm coming along right?" He asked. Jordan looked at Ian.

"I would be surprised if you didn't, honestly, even if I told you not to," Jordan told him. Shelby goes beside Ian, looking at Jordan.

"Can I--"

"No, you can't," Jordan told her. She frowned. Jordan turned to her. "No, I need you to do something for me actually. I need you to deliver a message to Prince Tyler." Ian looked at him.

"Yelling at him too?" Ian asked making Jordan's eyes shift to him, Ian averted his eyes instantly, losing his smile. Sky stood up after he slipped on his shoes. Jordan grabbed ink and a quill, flipped the letter in his hand over, writing on the back of it, Shelby stood beside him, watching him.

"Where is Prince Tyler? I've never actually met him in person so how would he trust me?" Shelby asked. Jordan smiled a bit.

"Prince Ty is reasonable, unlike his brother, he is smart and knows the difference between deception and truth, I trust that he'll trust you," Jordan said as he wrote. He finished up and looked at Shelby. "This is important, this is for Prince Tyler only and no one else...got it?" Shelby nods, Jordan puts the letter into the envelope and hands it to Shelby. "They should still be at Citis, if not, if you cannot find them or something bad happens. I want you to destroy this letter, got it?" Shelby nods again.

"Got it."