Um, disclaimer for those of you haven't figured out that I'm not actually a slave driver and thus do not own any of these people.

"Ow ow ow oW OW!"

"Would you shut up? I'm trying to concentrate here."

Jordan glared at Tucker weakly from the small bed.

"Oh gee Tucker, I'm so sorry if my cries of pain bothered you. Do continue mutilating my skin." He spat.

Tucker shot Jordan a withering look as he lifted the needle none to gently from Jordan's raw skin, causing him to grunt at the sudden pain.

"They're called stitches, dumbass. And I'm doing the best I can." He grumbled unsympathetically.

Jordan hissed as the needle punctured his skin again, biting his tongue to hold down the scream that wanted to escape.

"Why can't Sonj do this?" Jordan whined.

"Mianite called her off on a task in the mortal world." He muttered back. "Something about a wild moose stampede?  Or was it geese..."

Distracted, Tucker punctured the needle too close to the wound. Jordan gripped the sides of the bed tightly, nearly biting his tongue off at the pain.

"Has anyone actually ever taught you how to stitch wounds?" Jordan asked, his voice a pitch higher than he would have liked.

His question was met with silence.

Jordan's eyes met Tucker's.

"Oh dear Mianite I'm going to die, aren't I?"

"They can't be that hard."

"I'm too young to die."

"Dude you're 25. You've pretty much gotten the only good part over with."

"I don't wanna die."

"For the love of Mianite, please shut up."

"I never even got to tell Tucker how I feel."

Tucker froze.

"You know this needle is a little too small. This would go much faster with my sword."

Jordan gulped.

"You're doing great, Doctor Boner."

Tucker nodded and Jordan grinned as he looked away.

Jordans grin quickly cracked as he felt the needle puncture an especially painful part. This time, Jordan was unable to stop the cry of pain.

Now it was Tucker's turn to grin.

"That I am."

Jordan could feel his eyes becoming moist, his entire body radiating with pain.

"Aren't I supposed to heal quickly? Why do I even need stitches?" He complained.

Tucker wiped some blood off the needle, shrugging half heartedly.

"Honestly, it should have stitched itself up. All I can guess is that Dianite did something when he touched you."

Jordan let that sink in. According to Tucker, he had fallen unconscious none too shortly after Dianite's blatant little "love proclamation". The devil had caught him and muttered something so low that nobody had been able to hear before he disappeared, leaving Jordan to fall to the ground.

However all he remembered was waking up with Tucker standing over him, needle in hand.

His life was just full of pleasant surprises.

He decided to change the subject.

"So teacher, you proud of me?"

"Proud of you?" Tucker quirked an eyebrow.

"I used punch!" Jordan spoke excitedly, looking up at Tucker with the expression of an expectant puppy.

Tucker smiled and in that moment, Jordan knew...

He had f*cked up.

"Congratulations. You perfectly punched down the oldest tree in Mianite."

Jordan's grin faltered, and he paled slightly.

"The last living remnant of Mianite's first walk across the earth."

His smile fell completely, his face beginning to go numb.

"Declan's favorite tree." Tucker added.

A ghost would be envious of how white Jordan was.

"Maybe the sword was a good idea." Jordan whispered and Tucker's grin widened.

"Do put off your suicide for now. It would be most inconvenient."

Tucker's eyes widened as he swiveled to look behind him. However, Jordan just felt himself sink deeper into the bed.

"Mianite." Jordan spoke tiredly.

"Lord Mianite." Tucker corrected loudly and Jordan scoffed.

Tucker then swiftly bowed, tugging the string still threaded in his hand tightly causing Jordan to jolt upright and gasp.

"Tucker!" He hissed, but Tucker said nothing, his attention purely on the god in the center of the room.

It was hard honestly not to look at the guy.

Mianite looked down at Jordan, his posture rigid and self righteous. It honestly made Jordan slightly sick to his stomach.  Declan stood beside the god, looking slightly put out with being there.

"Rise Jordan. You have no need for stitches." Mianite smiled.

Jordan was about to make a very snappy remark when he realized the pain was gone. Glancing down, be looked at his now smooth chest. Slowly, he sat up fully, grunting in pleasure as his stiff muscles stretched and popped, relieving the cramping that had built up after being tensed so long.

"Thank you, Lord Mianite." Tucker bowed, glancing back at Jordan and gesturing for him to do likewise. However Jordan had something else in mind.

He looked up into the god's eyes.

"Thanks and all but why did you have to wait to do this until after Tucker tortured me?"

If a god could look sheepish, Mianite would defenitely be a sheep.

"It was....entertaining." The god mumbled, not meeting Jordan's eyes.

He stared unbelievingly at the god before him.

"I want to go home." Jordan whimpered.

"Jordan."

"This is why I lived in isolation."

"Oh my gods, Jordan, why are you like this?" Tucker slouched against the wall, shoulders slumped and eyes raised upward in defeat.

Mianite stepped forward, suddenly recovered from his previous embarrasment.

"Sparklez."

"Oh, so now he's using the nickname too?"

"Sparklez."

"No, like seriously. That nickname came from an insult to your sister." Jordan pointed out, frowning.

Mianite took a deep breath. Do gods even need to breathe?

"I know of a way to help my sister."

All annoyances faded from Jordan's face, replaced with a gaze of such seriousness that Tucker stepped back in surprise. The change was so sudden and terrifying that one would not think they were looking at the same person there only seconds ago.

Mianite stepped forward, his confidence back now that all attention was on him again.

"I know of a way to help Ianite."

"You just said that." Jordan pointed out, his patience waning.  "Get on with it."

If Mianite heard Jordan, he didn't show it.  However, Declan shot him a glare that made him want to prostrate himself on the floor and beg forgiveness.  He pushed the feeling down, avoiding Declan's gaze as he returned focus on Mianite.

"When my sister was created, or born, she came to life lacking a necessary part of herself." He began.

"Her heart."

Tucker glanced back at Jordan in surprise, but his attention was now fully set on Mianite.

"When our father made her, he just couldn't put his heart into harming one of his children.  So despite having created her out of love, he deigned not to give her any so that she could make the difficult decisions blindly when he could not."

"This is horrible and all, but how is this going to help us?" Tucker spoke up and Jordan found himself nodding in agreement.  Declan glanced over at the god who met his eye and nodded.

Mianite held up a clenched hand.

"That fact is no longer completely true."

Tucker let out a gasp as Mianite opened his hand.  Jordan couldn't blame him.

It was beautiful.

It was every color and no color all at once.  The power radiating off of it was so intense that the air seemed to quake at its presence.  It was light and dark, crystal and air.  Seemingly made from nothing and everything.

"Aren't hearts supposed to be.. well heart shaped?" Tucker asked, his voice low.

Mianite closed his hand and the heart disappeared.  Jordan felt a hollow ache in his chest as it left.

"A god's heart is different from yours, my dear Jeriicho." Mianite smiled softly.  "They do not have a true physical form as such things wither and die."

"But, how?"

Mianite noticeably stiffened, remaing quiet for a moment.

"With the help of my brother."

Tucker and Jordan gaped, suddenly wary of the powerful object.

"Dianite helped make this?" Tucker hissed.

Mianite frowned.

"Yes, it's how he kidnapped her." He stated.

"Wait, hold on there for a second.  You're not making any sense, my lord."  Tucker stepped back, rubbing his head as though fighting off a headache.

Mianite sighed, and suddenly, the god looked older, if that were possible.  His eyes radiating fatigue as he looked down at the two of them.

"It was to be a gift to my sister for her birthday." He began somberly. "But I lacked one ingredient for the process. A powerful crystal held only in my brother's realm."

"Nether quartz." Tucker whispered and Mianite gave a small nod of affirmation.

"Nether quartz? But quartz are super common." Jordan frowned.

"Common? Yes.  Easy to obtain? No." Tucker shuddered.  "You can only get them in the Nether realm and if you so much as touch them, Dianite's undead army will tear you apart."

"Yes, it is as Jeriicho says.  And as the ruler of the overworld, my brother's realm is off limits to me."

"So why not send a follower? Why not send Tucker?"

"Jordan." Tucker turned to look at him.  "Only a true follower of Dianite is allowed into the realm without express invitation from the devil himself."

"So what? Dianite just offered you the quartz?"

"Yes.  I was surprised as well.  However, I was foolish enough to believe it was because he was coming around.  That he was close to becoming the Dianite I once loved."

"So how did he screw you over?"

Mianite didnt flinch, but Jordan saw the pain in his expression and immediately regretted his word choice.

"The ceremony.  The quartz did not hold as much power as my brother promised.  And one can not end such a process once it has begun. Thus, some of my own power was used instead, weakening me significantly."

"And that's when he struck." Jordan whispered.

Mianite nodded, his face devoid of emotion, though his eyes flickered briefly with grief.

Jordan wasn't sure how to take this.  Slowly, he felt himself lowering back into a sitting position onto his bed, his fingers digging into the plush slate-blue blanket.  He couldn't actually remember when he had stood up.

"What do you want us to do?"

Mianite turned his head.  Declan stepped forward.

"Ianite has an island in the mortal realm. A sacred island created and inhabited by her followers."  He looked at Jordan.  "There's a town there, as well as the last of Ianite's temples."

Tucker perked up.

"You want us to use the temple?"

"It is the safest way to get messages across to the gods." Declan shrugged and Mianite nodded.

"How so?" Jordan perked up, confused.

"Ah right, Jordan, I always forget how much of a recluse you were."

"Can it, Boner, and spill."

Tucker wrinkled his nose and was about to spit out a retort when Mianite laid a hand on his shoulder.

Declan cleared his throat.

"Within the temples are braziers where the mortals cast their written prayers and offerings." Jordan blinked, forgetting that he himself was no longer completely mortal.  "Things thrown into the flame are given expressly to the intended god and will not burn if cast with a pure intention."

"So we just throw the heart into the fire?" Jordan questioned incredulously.

"Precisely."

"But didn't Dianite create fire?"  Tucker perked up.

"This is true." Mianite conceeded.  "However, this is not any normal fire.  It is specially crafted flame that only bends to the will of the god who cast it."

"Alright, one more question.  How the nether are we supposed to get to this island?"

Declan looked at him with a bemused expression on his face.

"Oh why Sparklez, your guides are already here."

"What?" Both Tucker and Jordan cried out at the same time.

The door behind them burst open and a familiar figure stepped forward.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Tucker groaned.

Capsize grinned.

"Oh I'm not kiddin', I'm yer Captain now."

A/N

I WAS RIGHT

THERE IS A SEASON 3 FOR SWORD ART ONLINE

IT'S JUST CALLED SWORD ART ONLINE II

THOSE CHEEKY BASTARDS.

...

Sorry, that was a late response, but anyways.

Important question time.

WHERE DID ALL OF YOU COME FROM?

No like seriously, I started this story out of boredom.  I didn't tag it or promote this at all because I just kind of made it for myself.

So how the heck did you all find your way here?

Also, why the heck are you still here? I'm pretty sure it's been over a year since I started this mess, yet some of you still have it in your libraries.  Like I feel like this fandom died off once everyone realized there wouldn't be a season 3.

So what's keeping you all here?

Is it my good looks and classy humor?

Or are you guys just super loyal/late to this fandom?

Whatever it is, I salute you.

You've made me do something I've never been able to before.

Continue a story.

So thanks. :)

~Turtle